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SCIENCE 


A WHEKLY JOURNAL 
DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. 8S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
J. LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. DAvis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8. H. SCUDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BessEy, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany ; C. 8S. Minot, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. Bowpitcn, Physiology ; 

J. S. Bruurnes, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W.. POWELL, Anthropology. 


NEW SERIES. VOLUME IX. 


JANUARY-JUNH, 1899. 


ae Z 
NATIONAL NWS: 


/ 
— 


NEW YORK 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1899 


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


CONTENTS AND INDEX. 


N.S. VOL, [x.—JANUARY TO JUNE, 1899. 


The Names of Contributors are Printed in Small Capitals. 


ABBE, CLEVELAND, Catalogue for Meteorology, 871 

ADLER, Cyrus, The International Catalogue of Scien- 
tific Literature 761, 799 

Age of the Earth, Lorp KELVIN, 665, 704; T. C. 
CHAMBERLIN, 889 

Allen, Alfred H., Commercial Organic Analysis, W. 
A. NOYES, 63, 818 

ALLEN, J. A., Birds, A. H. Evans, 647 

‘American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
28, 628, 881 

Amerind— A Designation for the Aboriginal Tribes 
of the American Hemisphere, 795 

Ames, J. S., Text-book of Physics, Charles S. Hast- 
ings and F. E. Beach, 545 ; Catalogue for Physics, 
864 

Anatomists, American, Association, D. S. LAMB, 320 

Angot, Alfred, Météorologie, FRANK WALDO, 743 

Anschiitz, R., Organic Chemistry, E. RENOUF, 749 

Anthropological, Section of the American Association, 
145 ; Society of Washington, J. H. McCoRMIcK, 
218, 590 

Anthropology, Current Notes on, D. G. BRINTON, 
37, 117, 156, 185, 227, 266, 299, 338 ; Advances 
in Methods of Teaching, FRANZ Boas, 93 

Arc of Peru, Remeasurement of, 916 

Astronomical Notes, WINSLOW UPTON, 36, 224; E. 
C. PICKERING, 417, 456 

Atomic Weights, FERDINAND G. WIECHMANN, 23 ; 
Quarter Century’s Progress, F. P. VENABLE, 477 


B., H. C., The Statistical Method in Zoology, 74 

Bailey, L. H., The Principles of Agriculture, ELISHA 
WILSON MORSE, 328 

Bailey, Solon I., Peruvian Meteorology, R. DeC. 
WARD, 715 

BARROWS, FRANKLIN W., New York State Science 
Teachers Association, 811 

BaRus, CARL, The Objective Presentation of Har- 
monic Motion, 385 

BatTuHer, F. A., Zoological Bibliography, 154 ; The 
Storage of Pamphlets, 720; Some Smithsonian 
Publications, 775 

BAvER, L. A., Trowbridge’s Theory of the Earth’s 
Magnetism, 264 

BEAN, TARLETON H., Fishes of the South Shore of 
Long Island, 52; Identity of Common and Lab- 
rador White Fish, 416 

Beddard, F. E., Structure and Classification of Birds, 
F. A. Lucas, 212; Elementary Zoology, CHAS. 
WRIGHT DODGE, 329 

Bell, Alexander Graham, on the Development by Se- 
lection of Supernumerary Mamme in Sheep, 637 

BERKEY, CHARLES P., Minnesota Academy of Nat- 
ural Sciences, 623 


Berry, Arthur, A Short History of Astronomy, DAvrp 
P. Topp, 682 

BESSEY, CHARLES E., 74, 226, 555, 689, 880; The 
North American Potentillez, per Axel Rydberg, 
548 ; The Evolution of Plants, D. Campbell, 618 

Binet, Na L’ Année psychologique, 292 

Biological, Stations of Brittany, JoHN H. GER- 
OULD, 165 ; Society of Washington, O. F. Coox, 
257, 486, 847; Fresh Water Stations of the 
World, Henry B. WARD, 497; Text-Books and 
Teachers, O. F. Cook, 541 ; Bulletin, 652 

Biology, Section of the N. Y. Acad. of Sci., GARY N. 
CALKINS, 718 ; FRANCIS E. Luoyn, 912 ; of the 
Great Lakes, JACOB REIGHARD, 906 

BLACKFORD, EUGENE G., Note on the Spawning 
Season of the Eel, 740 

Biss, C. B., Section of Psychology and Anthropology, 
New York Academy of Sciences, 219, 376 

Boas, FRANZ, Teaching of Anthropology, 93 

Botton, H. CARRINGTON, and W. P. CUTTER, Cata- 
logue for Chemistry, 867 

Boston. Society of Natural History, SAMUEL HEN- 
SHAW, 624 

Botanical Club, Torrey, E. S. BURGESS, 33, 295, 520, 
591, 819, 876; of Washington, CHARLES LoUIs 
POLLARD, 291, 914 ; of the University of Chi- 
cago, 413 ; Notes, CHARLES E. BESSEY, 74, 226, 
555, 689, Bee Gazette, 376, 589, 620 

BouTWELL, Ap , Geological Conference and Stu- 
dents’ weer aif Harvard University, 33, 113, 335, 
519, 591, 719, 752, 786 

BRIGHAM, A. IRS Physical Geography, W. M. Davis 
and H. W. Snyder, 410 

BRINTON, D. G., Current Notes on Anthropology, 37, 
76, 117, 156, 185, 227, 266, 299, 338 

BRITCHER, H. W., Onondaga Academy, 114, 376 

Brooks, W. K., Truth and Error, 121 ; The Wonder- 
ful Century, A. R. Wallace, 511 

Brunissure of the Vine, ALBERT F. Woops, 508 

Bumpus, H. C., Marine Biological Laboratory, 228 

BurGess, E. 8., Torrey Botanical Club, 33, 295, 520, 
591, 819, 876 

Burnside, W., Theory of Groups of Finite Order, F 
N. CoLe, 106 

Butler, A. W., Birds of Indiana, F. M. C., 66 


C., C. G., Practical Astronomy, W. W. Campbell, 842 

Oly F.C., ’ Physical Notes, 116, 378, 493, 555 

C., F. M., Birds of Indiana, A.W. Butler, 66 

C., H. W., Bacteriology, Ferdinand Hueppe, 513 

Casont, FLORIAN, Carl Friedrich Gauss and his 
Children, 697 

CALKINS, GARY N., Biological Section of the New 
York Academy of Sciences, 718 


Iv SCIENCE. 


CHAMBERLIN, T. C., Lord Kelvin’s Address on the 
Age of the Earth as an Abode fitted for Life, 889 

Campbell, D. H., The Evolution of Plants, CHARLES 
E. BESSEY, 618 

Campbell, W. W., Astronomy, G. C. C., 842 

Card, Fred. W., Bush Fruits, B. D. HALSTED, 109 

Catalogue, International of Scientific Literature, 187 ; 
Cyrus ADLER, 761, 799; J. VicrToR CARUvSs, 825, 
Physics, J. S. AMEs, 864, Chemistry, H. CAr- 
RINGTUN BOLTON, W. P. CUTTER, 867 ; CLEVE- 
LAND ABBE, 871; N.S. SHALER, 907 ; JACQUES 
Lors, 908 

CATTELL, J. MCKEEN, Degrees in Science in Harvard 
University, 522 

Cayley, Arthur, Collected Mathematical Papers, 
GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED, 59 

Chemical, Society of Washington, WILLIAM H. Krue, 
32, 517, 622, 751; Society, American, DURAND 
WoopMAN, General Meeting, 58 ; N. Y. Section 
of, 258, 487, 654, 820, 913; Journal American, 
151, 257, 451, 620, 718, 712 

Chemistry, Notes on Inorganic, J. L. H., 71, 155, 185, 
266, 297, 337, 457, 595, 623, 652, 656, 688 ; Phys- 
ical, Journal of, 151, 293 ; Organic, The Revival 
of, H. N. STOKES, 601 

CLARK, WILLIAM BULLOCK, Geology, James D. 
Dana, 147; Report of Official State Bureaus, 162 

CLEMENT, FREDERIC E., Pflanzengeographie, A. F. 
W. Schimper, 747 

Climatological Ass. Amer., GUY HINSDALE, 774 

CocKERELL, T. D. A., The Chinch Bug, F. M. Web- 
ster, 175; North American Rhopalocera, Henry 
Skinner, 373; A Date-palm Scale Insect, 417 ; 
Color in Nature, Marion J. Newbiggin, 448 

Cor, W. R., The Time of Breeding of some Common 
New England Nemerteans, 167 

CoE, F. N., The American Mathematical. Society, 
57, 322, 684 ; Theory of Groups of Finite Order, 
W. Burnside, 106 

Cole, R. S., Photographic Optics, FRANK WALDO, 
874 

Collins, Joseph, Faculty of Speech, E. W. F., 745 

Congdon, Ernest, A Qualitative Analysis, W. A. 
NOYES, 26 

CONKLIN, EDWIN G., Advances in Methods of Teach- 
ing Zoology, 81 

Cook, O. F., Biological Society of Washington, 257, 
332, 468, 847; Biological Text-books and Teachers, 
541 

CRANDALL, CHARLES §., Storing Pamphlets, 115 

CREIGHTON, J. E., The Groundwork of Science, St. 
George Mivart, 147 

Creighton, J. E., Logic, GEORGE REBEC, 779 

Cummings John, WM. H. NILES, 24 

CuTTER, W. P., and H. CARRINGTON BOLTON, Cata- 
logue for Chemistry, 867 


D., A. St. C., Notes on Physics, 225, 419, 655, 687 

D., T., The Choice of Elements, 418 

DALL, WM. H., Zoological Nomenclature, 221 

Dana, James D., Revised Text-book of Geology, W. 
B. CLARK. 147 

DAVENPORT, CHAS. B., Specific Place Modes, 415 

Davenport, Charles B., Experimental Morphology, 
T. H. MorGAN, 648 

Davis, W. M., and H. W. Snyder, Physical Geogra- 
phy, ALBERT PERRY BRIGHAM, 410 

DAWSON, GEORGE M., Duplication of Geologic For- 
mation Names, 592 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


Day, WM. S., Section of Astronomy and Physics of 
the New York Academy of Sciences, 653, 850 
DEAN, BASHFORD, Amer, Morphological Soc., 311, 

364 ; Lamprey Macrophthalmia Chilensis, 740 
DEARBORN, G. V. N., The Origin of Nightmare, 455 
DEGARMO, CHARLES, Talks to Teachers on Psychol- 

ogy, William James, 909 
Delage, Ives, L’ Année biologique, 292 
Derventer, Ch. van, Physical Chemistry for Beginners, 

Harry C. JONES, 750 
Dewar, on Liquid Hydrogen, 914 
DILLER, J. 8., Stalactites of Sand, 371 ; Latest Vol- 

canic Eruptions of the Pacific Coast, 639 
Discussion and Correspondence, 34, 70, 114, 154, 184, 

221, 259, 297, 376, 415, 455, 488, 520, 553, 592, 

624, 686, 720, 752, 787, 820, 850, 877 
DODGE, CHARLES WRIGHT, Elementary Zoology, 

Frank E. Beddard, 329 


DopGE, RicHArD E., Rivers of North America,- 


Israel C. Russell, 214; New York Academy of 
Sciences, 452 ; Suggestions for Scientific Semin- 
ars, 520 
Doo.uitrxe, C. L., National Observatory, 471 
Durand, J. P., Taxonomie générale, F. A. L., 150 
DwiGut, THoMAs, Human Anatomy, Henry Morris, 
27 


EASTMAN, C. R., Plastiline, 211; Some New Amer-- 


ican Fossil Fishes, 642 
Eel, Spawning Season of the, EUGENE G. BLACKFORD, 
740 ; Larval Stage of the THEO. GILL, 820 
EIGENMANN, CARL H., A Case of Convergence, 280 
ELKIN, W. L., National Observatory, 475 
Embouchure, N. A. Indian Flageolets, E. H. Haw- 
LEY, 742 


Entomological Society of Washington, L.O. Howarp, 


181, 413 

Evans, A. H., Birds, J. A. Allen, 647 

Explosions caused by commonly occurring Substan- 
ces, CHARLES E. MUNROE, 345 


F., W. H., Industrial Electricity, Henry de Graffig- 


ny, 374 

F., W. S., Notes on Physics, 336, 378, 418, 457 

FARRAND, LIVINGSTON, American Psychological As- 
sociation, 249 ; Indians of Western Washington, 
533 

FARRINGTON, OLIVER C., Moon Model, 35 

Fatigue, Mental, EDWARD THORNDIKE, 712 

Furnt, A. 8., Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, 179 

Folwell, A. P., Sewerage, M. M., 64 

Food Adulteration, Senatorial Investigation of, 793 

FOWKE, GERARD, Archeological Investigations on 
the Amoor River, 539 

FRANKLIN, W.S., The Sensation of Motion and its 
Reversal, 70; Etherion, 297 ; Fundamental Law 
of Temperature for Gaseous Celestial Bodies, 594 

Fuertes, E. A., National Observatory, 475 

FULLER, M. L., Rapidity of Sand-plain Growth, 643 


G., J. E., Freezing-point, Boiling-point and Conduct- 
ivity Methods, Harry C. Jones, 150 

GALLOWAY, B. T., Enzymes as Remedies in Infec- 
tious Diseases, 379 

Ganona, W. F., Methods of Teaching Botany, 96 ; 
Columbia Meeting of the Society for Plant Mor- 
phology and Physiology, 169 

GARDINER, Epw. G., Plymouth, England, and its 
Marine Biological Laboratory, 488 


NEw SERIES. 
VoL. IX. 


Gauss, Carl F iedrich and his Children, FLORIAN 
CAJoRI, 697 

Geological, Conference and Student’s Club of Harvard 
University, J. M. BOUTWELL, 33, 113, 335, 519, 
591, 719, 752, 786; Soc. of ‘Amer., J. F, KEMP, 
100, 138 ; Soc, of Washington, Wm. F. MorseEtu, 
152, 454, 551, 622; Survey, Publications, 177; 
of Maryland, BAILEY WILLIS, 252; In Alaska, 
W.F. M., 628; Club, University of Minnesota, 
F. W. Sardeson, 412; Expedition to the Philip- 
pines, W. F. M., 722° 

Geologist, American, 111, 517. 

Geology, ‘Journal of, 375, 783, 911; and Mineralogy, 
Section of the 'N. Y. Acad. of Sci., ALEXIS A. 
JULIEN, 719, 818. 

GEROULD, JOHN pe The Biological Stations of Brit- 
tany, 165 

GIDDINGS, FRANKLIN H., The Psychology of So- 
ciety, 16 

GILL, THEO., Larval Stage of the Eel, 820 

Gorvon, REGINALD, Section of ‘Astronomy and 
Physics of the N. Y. Acad. of Sci., 219, 488 

GRAFFIGNY, HENRY DE, Industrial Electricity, W. 
H. F., 374 

Groos, Karl, Die Spiele der Menschen, HrrRAm M. 
STANLEY, 619 

Guyer, MICHAEL F., Ovarian Structure in an Ab- 
normal Pigeon, 876 


H. J. L., Notes on Inorganic Chemistry, 71, 155, 
185, 266, 297, 337, 457, 595, 623, 652, 656, 688 

Hagen, J. G., Atlas of Variable Stars, 29 

Hacun, ARNOLD, The Early Tertiary Volcanoes of 
the Absaroka’ Range, 425 

HALL, ASAPH, National Observatory, 468 

HALuock, WILLIAM, Kirchoff’s Principle, 210 ; Re- 
ception and Exhibition of the N. Y. Acad. of 
Sci., 616 

HALsteD, B. D., Bush Fruits, Fred. W. Card, 109 

HALSTED, GEORGE BRUCE, Mathematical Papers, 59 ; 
La vie sur les hauts plateaux, A. L. Herrera and 
D. V. Lope, 255 ; Sophus Lie, 447 ; N. I. Lobat- 
schefski, 813 

HARSHBERGER, JOHN W., Transmitted Characteris- 
tics in a White Angora Cat, 554 

Hastings, Charles, 8.. and F. E. Beach, Text-Book of 
General Physics, J.S. AMES, 545 

Hawley, E. H., Embouchure in N. A. Indian Flageo- 
lets, 742 

Hay, O. P., Fossil Vertebrates, 593 

Hellmann G., Wetter Prognosen, A. L. Rotcn, 910 

Helmholtz, Hermann von, Brain of, 557 

HENSHAW, SAMUEL, Boston Society of Natural His- 
tory, 624 

Herrera, A. L., and D. V. Lope, La vie sur les hauts 
plateaux, GEORGE BRUCE HALSTEAD, 255 

Hill, Robert T., Cuba and Porto Rico, WJ M., 65; 
and T. W., Vaughan, The Lower Cretaceous 
Grypheeas of the Texas Region, F. W. SIMONDs, 
110 ; Geology of the Edwards Plateau and Rio 
Grande Plain, FREDERIC W. Simonps, 481 

HINSDALE, Guy, Medical Climatology, S. Edwin 
Solly, 485 ; Amer. Climatological Association, 774 

Hopes, WM. H., Science Club of the University of 
Wisconsin, 875 

Holland, W. J, The Butterfly Book, SAMUEL H. 
SCUDDER, 66 

HOLMAN, Siias W., 
Work, 154 


Matter, Energy, Force and 


SCIENCE. Vv 


Holman, Silas W., Matter, Energy, Force and Work, 
T. C. M., 24 

Howarp, L. O., Entomological Soc. of Washing- 
ton, 181, 413 ; Economic Status of Insects, 233 

Hueppe, Ferdinand, Principles of Bacteriology, H. 
W.C., 513 

Huntington, Geo. S., Teaching of Anatomy, 85 


JAMES, WILLIAM, Lehmann and Hansen on Tele- 
pathy, 654 ; Telepathy Once More, 752 

James, William, Talks to Teachers on Psychology, 
CHARLES DEGARMO, 909 

Jesup, North Pacific Expedition, L. FARRAND, 533; 
HARLAN I. SMITH, 535 ; GERARD FOWKE, 539, 
732 

JOHNSON, ROSWELL, H., Two-headed snakes, 625 

Jones, HArRy C., Physical Chemistry, J. L. R. 
Morgan, 717; Physical Chemistry Ch. van Der- 
venter, 750 

Jones, Harry C., Freezing Point, Boiling Point and 
Conductivity Methods, J. E. G., 150 

JORDAN, DAvip STarr, A Sage in Science, 529 ; 
A Posthom Phantom, a Study in the Spontan- 
eous Activity of Shadows, 674 

JORDAN, EDWIN O., Examination of Water, William 
P. Mason, 548 

Jupp, CHas. H., Sub-Section of Anthropology and 
Psychology of the N. Y. Acad. of Sci., 553, 685 

JUDD, SYLVESTER D., Birds as Weed Destroyers, 905 

JULIEN, ALEXIS A., Section of Geology and Miner- 
alogy of the N. Y. Acad. of Sci., 719, 818 


KEELER, JAMES E., National Observatory, 476 

KELVIN, Lorp, The Age of the Earth, 665, 704 

Kelvin, Lord, Address on the Age of the Earth, Pro- 
FEssoR T. C. CHAMBERLIN, 889 

Kemp, J. F., Geological Society of America, 100, 138 

KEYSER, C. J., Infinitesimal Analysis, W. B. Smith, 
844 

KRoEBER, A. L., Anthropological Section of the 
American Association, 145 

KRuG, WILLIAM H., Chemical Society of Washing- 
ton, 32, 333, 517, 622, 751 i 


L., F. A., The New York Zoological Park, 73 ; Taxo- 
nomie, J. P. Durand, 150; Neomylodon Listai, 459 — 

LAmp, D.8., Association of Amer. Anatomists, 320 

LAWRENCE, RALPH E., Mercury Pump, 510 

LEE, FREDERIC’S., Amer. Physiological Society, 
286; Laboratory Exercises in Anatomy and 
Physiology, J. E. Peabody, 331 

Leland Stanford Jr. University, 916 

Leroux, Ernest, Codex Borbonicus, M. H. SAVILLE, 
746 

Lie, Sophus, GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED, 447 

LITTLEHALES, G. W., The Prospective Place of the 
Solar Azimuth Tables in the Problem of Ac- 
celerating Ocean Transit, 640 

Lioyp, FRANCIS E., Section of Biology of the N. 
Y. Acad. of Sci., 913 

Lobatschefski, Nikolai Ivanovitsch, 
HALSTED, 813 

Lockwoop, M. H., and E. B. WHEPLER, On the 
Action of the Coherer, 624 f 

Locy, Wm. A., Northwestern University Science 
Club, 31 ; 

Logs, JACQUES, Catalogue for Physiology, 908 

Loew, OSCAR, ‘What is the Cause of the so- -called™ 
Tobacco Fermentation, 376 


GEORGE BRUCE 


vi SCIENCE. 


Loew, Oscar, Die chemische Energie der Lebenden 
Zellen, ALBERT F. Woops, 409 

LorinG, J. ALDEN, Virginia Opossum, 71 

Lucas, F. A., Structure and Classification of Birds, 
F. E. Beddard, 212; Nomenclature of the 
Hyoid in Birds, 323 ; Biological Society of Wash- 
ington, 785 

Lusk, GRAHAM, Physiology, E. A. Schiifer, 291 


M., F., Sanitary Engineering, Mansfield Merriman, 
109 

M. M., Sewerage, A. P. Folwell, 64 

M., T.C., Metric System, 377 ; Matter, Energy, Force 
and Work, Silas W. Holman, 24 

M., W. F., Geological, Survey Work in Alaska, 628; 
Expedition to the Philippines, 722 

M., W J, Cuba and Porto Rico, Robert T. Hill, 65 

MacDouaat, D. 'T., Physiology, Max Verworn, 650 

MACFARLANE, ALEXANDER, Algebra, A. N. White- 
head, 324 

MACLOSKIE, GEORGE, Physiological Osmosis, 206 ; 
Osmotic Solutions, 554 

Marine Biological Laboratory, H. C. Bumpus, 
228 ; of Plymouth, Eng., Epw. G. GARDINER, 
488; A New, HuGH M SmiruH, 658; Wood’s 
Holl, 721 

MARLATT, C. L., Some Common Sources of Error in 
recent Work on Coccidze, 825 

Marr, J. E., Stratigraphical Geology, HENRY S. WIL- 

_ LIAmMs, 547 

Mars, the Planet, G. SCHTAPARELLI, 633 

Marsh, Othniel Charles, J. L. WorTMAN, 561 

Mason, William P., The Examination of Water, 
EDWIN O. JORDAN, 548 

Mathematical Society, The American, F. N. Cone, 
57, 322; Transactions of, 375; Bulletin, 412, 
450, 751 

McCLENAHAN, Howarp, On the Wehnelt Current 
Breaker, 753 

McCormick, J. H., Anthropological Society of 
Washington, 218, 590 

MENDENHALL, T. C., National Observatory, 469 

MERCER, HENRY C., Men of Science and Anti-Vivi- 
section, 221 

Mercury Pump, Ralph R. Lawrence, 510 

MERRIAM, C. Hart, Zone Temperatures, 116 

Merriman, Mansfield, Sanitary Engineering, M., 109 

MERRITT, ERNEST The Discharge of Electricity 
through Gases, J. J. Thomson, 289 

Meteorology, Current Notes on, R. DE C. WARD, 72, 
116, 298, 458, 627, 657, 787, 878 ; Catalogue of, 
CLEVELAND ABBE, 871 

Minnesota Academy, CHARLES P. BERKEY, 623 

MINoT, CHARLES S., Anatomy and Histology of the 
Mouth and Teeth, J. Norman Broomall, 216 

Mivart, St. George, The Groundwork of Science, J. 
E. CREIGHTON, 147 

Morgan, J. L. R., Elements of Physical Chemistry, 
HARRY C. JONES, 717 

MorGan, T. H., Experimental Morphology, Charles 
B. Davenport, 648 

Morris, Henry, Human Anatomy, THomMas Dwiaut, 
27 

Morse, ELISHA WILSON, The Principles of Agricul- 
ture, L. H. Bailey, 328 

MOoRSELL, W. F., Geological Society of Washington, 
152, 454, 551, 622 

MUNROE, CHARLES E., Explosions Caused by Com- 
monly Occurring Substances, 345 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


MUNSTERBERG, HuGo, Methods of Teaching Psychol- 
ogy, 91; Physiological Basis of Mental Life, 442 
Myers, G. W., National Observatory, 474 


National Academy of Sciences, 621 

Newbiggin, Marion J., Color in Nature, T. D. A. 
COCKERELL, 448 

NEWcomB, Simon, National Observatory, 467 

Newcomb, Professor Simon, 851 

NEWELL, W. W., American Folk-lore Society, 173 

Newth, G. S., Quantitative and Qualitative Chemical 
Analysis, HENRY Fay, 176 

New York Acad. of Sci., Section of Astronomy 
and Physics, W. S. Day, 653, 850; R. GorDoN, 
219, 488; of Psychology and Anthropology, 
C. B. Briss, 219, 376; C. H. Jupp. 553, 685 ; 
of Biology, G. N. CALKINS, 718; FRANCIS E. 
Lioyp, 912; of Geology and Mineralogy, A. 
A. JULIEN, 719, 818; Annual Meeting R. E. 
Dopar, 452; Reception and Exhibition, W1L- 
LIAM HALLOCK, 616 

Nives, Wo. H., John Cummings, 24 

NoLan, EDWARD J., Philadelphia Academy of Nat- 
ural Sciences, 68, 181, 336 

Norris, JAMEs F., The Spirit of Organic Chemistry, 
Arthur Lachman, 817 

Noyes, W. A., Qualitative Analysis, Ernest A. Cong- 
don, 26; Commercial Organic Analysis, Alfred 
H. Allen, 63, 818; Industrial Chemistry, 160 


O., C. A., Defective Eyesight, St. Jonn Roosa, 846 

O., H. F., The Removal of Dr. Wortman to the Car- 
negie Museum, 755 

Observatory, The United States Naval, A. N. SKIN- 
NER, 1, 857; A National, 465; Discussion of a, 467; 
Stmon Nrewcomp, 468; ASAPH HALL, 468; C. A. 
YouneG, 468; T. C. MENDENHALL, 469; R. S. 
WoopwarD, 470 ; C. L. DooLirTLE, 471; W. H. 
PICKERING, 472 ; ARTHUR SEARLE, 472 ; FRANK 
W. Very, 473; Davip P. Topp, 473; G. W. 
Myers, 474; E. A. Fuertes, 475; W. L. 
ELKIN, 475 ; JAMES E. KEELER, 476 

Opossum, Virginia, J. ALDEN LorIN@, 71 

OsBoRN, HENRY F., Frontal Horn on Aceratherium 
Incisivum, 161 

OsBorN, H. L., A Remarkable Sun-dog, 521 

OsBURN, R. C., Ohio Academy of Science, 180 


P., T. S., Wild Animals I have known, Ernest Seton 
Thompson, 26 

PATRICK, G. T. W., Degeneracy, Eugene S. Talbot, 
372 

Patten, Simon N., The Development of English 
Thought, R. M. WENLEY, 713 

PEARSON, KARL, Reproductive Selection, 283 

Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences, EDWARD 
J. NOLAN, 68 ; Exposition of 1900, 649 

Philosophical Society of Washington, E. D. PRESTON, 
218, 296, 454, 621, 652, 686, 846 

Physical Society, American, A. G. WEBSTER, 784 

Physics, Notes on, 116, 225, 336, 377, 378, 418, 456, 
493, 555, 655, 687; Club of New York, A. T. 
SEYMOUR, 553 ; Catalogue for, J. S. AMES, 864 

Physiological, Society, American, The N. Y. Meeting 
of, FREDERIC S. LEE, 286 ; Basis of Mental Life, 
HuGo MUNSTERBERG, 442 

PICKERING, E. C., Astronomical Notes, 417, 456 

PICKERING, W. H., National Observatory, 47 


NEw SERIES 
VoL. IX. 


PIERPONT, JAMES, Analytic Functions, J. Harkness 
and F. Morley, 586 

Plant Morphology, and Physiology, The Society of, 

W. F. GANONG, 169 

POLLARD, CHARLES Louis, Botanical Club of Wash- 
ington, 294, 487, 652, 914 

PorTER, Wo. T., Methods of Teaching Physiology, 
87 


PoWELL, J. W., Reply to Critics, 259 

Powell, J. W., Truth and Error, W. K. Brooks, 
121 ; Lester F. WARD, 126 

PRESTON, E. D., Philosophical Society of Washing- 
ton, 218, 621, 296, 454,652, 686, 846 ; Geodetic 
Operations in the United States, 305 

PritcHETT, HENRY S., Magnetic Survey of the 
United States by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
729 

Pumas of Western United States, WITMER STONE, 34 


RAMALEY, FRANCIS, Scientific Society of the Uni- 
versity of Colorado, 720 

RAMSAY, WILLIAM, The Recently Discovered Gases 
and their Relation to the Periodic Law, 273 

Rauh, F., La psychologie des sentiments, H. M. STAN- 
LEY, 683 

REBEC, GEORGE, Introductory Logic, 779 

REIGHARD, JAcoB, Biology of the Great Lakes, 906 

RENovrF, E., Organic Chemistry, R. Anschitz, 749 

Roosa, St. JOHN, Defective Eyesight, C. A. O., 846 

Rorcn, A. L., Wetterprognosen und Wetterberichte, 
G. Hellmann, 910 

Russell, Israel C., Rivers of North America, RICHARD 
E. DopGE, 214 


SAFFORD, TRUMAN HeEnRy, On the Total Solar 
Eclipse of May 28, 1900, 115 

SARDESON, F. W., Geological Club of the University 
of Minnesota, 412 

SAVILLE, M. H., Codex Borbonicus, Ernest Leroux, 
746 

Schafer, E. A., Physiology, GRAHAM LUSK, 291 

SCHIAPARELLI, G., Observations of Planet Mars, 633 

Schimper, A. F. W., Pflanzengeographie, FREDERIC 
E. CLEMENTS, 747 

Schnabel, Carl, Metallurgy, J. STRUTHERS, 588 

Science, Nebraska Academy of, 29; Club of North- 
western University, WM. A. Locy, 31; and poli- 
tics, S. W. WILLISTON, 114; Academy of St. 
Louis, WILLIAM TRELEASE, 114, 220, 415, 488, 
624, 720, 786; Onondaga Academy of, H. W. 
BRITCHER, 114 ; Work, 152 ; Natural, 152 ; Ohio 
Academy of, R. C. OsBuRN, 180; American 
Journal of, 517, 652; Degrees in, at Harvard 
University, J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 522; A Sage 
in, DAVID STARR JORDAN, 529; American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of, 628: Ab- 
stracts, 784 ; Teachers Association of N. Y. State, 
FRANKLIN W. BaArrkows, 811; Club of the 
University of Wisconsin. WM. H. Hopss, 875. 

Sciences, Natural, Philadelphia Academy of, EDWARD 
J. NOLAN, 68; Minnesota Academy of, CHARLES 
P. BERKEY, 623; Arts and Letters, Wisconsin 
Academy of, A. S. FLINT, 179 ; Texas Academy 
of, FREDERIC W. SIMONDS, 217 ; National Acad- 
emy of, 621; New York Academy of ; Section of 
Astronomy and Physics, R. GoRDON, 219, 488 ; 
W.S. Day, 653, 850 ; of Psychology and Anthro- 
pology, C. B. BLIss, 219, 376; C. H. JUDD, 553, 
685 ; of Geology and Mineralogy, A. A. JULIEN, 


SCIENCE. 


vii 


719, 818; of Biology, G. N. CALKINS, 718; An- 
nual Meeting, RICHARD EH. DopGE, 452 ; Recep- 
tion and Exhibition, WILLIAM HALLOCK, 616 

Scientific, Books, 24, 59, 106, 147, 174, 212, 252, 289, 
324, 372, 409, 448, 481, 511, 545, 586, 618, 682, 
713, 743, 755, 813, 842, 872, 909 ; Journals and 
Articles, 29, 67, 111, 151, 178, 217, 257, 293, 375, 
450, 485, 517, 549, 589, 620, 718, 750, 783, 911; 
Notes and News, 38, 76, 118, 157, 188, 267, 300, 
339, 379, 420, 460, 494, 524, 557, 597, 628, 692, 
724, 755, 788, 820, 851, 883, 917; Seminars and 
Conferences, RICHARD E. DODGE, 520 ; Appoint- 
ments under the Government, 523; Alliance of 
New York, 550, 629 ; Society of the University 
of Colorado, FRANCIS RAMALEY, 720 

ScRIPTURE, E W., The Anesthetic Effects of a 
Sinusoidal Current of High Frequency, 377; 
Color-Weakness and Color-Blindness, 771 ; Cere- 
bral Light, 850; Arousal of Instinct by Taste, 878 

SCUDDER, SAMUEL H., The Butterfly Book, W. J. 
Holland, 66 

SEARLE, ARTHUR, National Observatory, 472 

Seg, T. J. J., An Extension of Helmholtz’s Theory 
of the Heat of the Sun, 737 

SEyMmourR, A. T., Physics Club of New York, 553 

SHALER, N.S8., Geology and Geography in the Inter- 
national Catalogue of Scientific Literature, 907 

SHARPE, B. F., A Double Instrument and a Double 
Method for the Measurement of Sound, 808 

Stmonps, F. W., The Lower Cretaceous Gryphzas 
of the Texas Region, 110; Texas Academy of 
Sciences, 217 ; Geology of the Edwards Plateau 
and Rio Grande Plain, Robt. T. Hill and W. T. 
Vaughan, 481 

SKINNER, A. N., The U. S. Naval Observatory, 1 

SMITH, EuGENE A., Alabama Industrial and Scien- 
tific Society, 296 

SmirH, Haran I,, Collections of the Provincial 
Museum of Victoria, British Columbia, 156 ; 
Archeological Investigations on the North 
Pacific Coast of America, 535 

SmitH, HuaH M., A New Marine Biological Labora- 
tory, 658; Exploring Expedition to the Md- 
Pacific Ocean, 796 

Smith, W. B., Infinitesimal Analysis, C. J. KEYSER, 
844 

Societies and Academies, 29, 68, 112, 152, 179, 217, 
257, 294, 332, 376, 412, 452, 486, 517, 550, 590, 
621, 684, 718, 751, 784, 818, 847, 875, 912 

Solly, S. Edwin, Medical Climatology, Guy H1ns- 
DALE, 485 

Solutions, M. A. W1ILLcox, 455 ; Osmotic, G. Ma- 
CLOSKIE, 554 ' 
Sound, A Double Instrument and a Double Method 
for the Measurement of, B. F. SHARPE, 808 
Specific Place Modes, CHARLES B. DAVENPORT, 415 
STANLEY, Hiram M., Artificial Dreams, 263 ; Evo- 
lution of Modesty, 553; Die Spiele der Men- 
schen, 619 ; La psychologie des sentiments, 683 ; 
Totemism, 877 

Steam-Engine, Theory of the, R. H. THURSTON, 659 

‘Steam-gas,’ R. H. THURSTON, 753 

StEvENS, W. LE Conte, Physics—Sound, J. H. 
Poynting and J. J. Thomson, 872 

STEVENSON, J. J., Our Society, 41 

STILEs, CH. WARDELL, Tuberculosis Conference, 491 

St. Louis Academy of Science, WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
114, 220, 415, 488, 624, 720, 786 

SrokeEs, H. N., Revival of Inorganic Chemistry, 601 


vill 


Srone, WitMER, Pumas of the Western United 
States, 34 

STRUTHERS, J., 
Schnabel, 588 


Handbook of Metallurgy, Carl 


T., E. W., Faculty of Speech, Joseph Collins, 745 

T., Kk. H., Anti-Friction Alloys, 247; Automatic 
Ship Propulsion, 915 

Talbot, Eugene S., Degeneracy, G. T. W. PATRICK, 
372 

Thompson, Ernest Seton, Wild Animals 
Known, T. 8. P., 26 

TuHomeson, M. T., Breeding of Animals at Wood’s 
Hole during the Month of September, 1898, 581 

Thomson, J. J., The Dis:harge of Electricity through 
Gases, ERNEST MERRITT, 289 

THORNDIKE, EDWARD, The Dawn of Reason, James 
Weir, 450; Mental Fatigue, 712; The Mental 
Fatigue due to School Work, 862 

Thorp, Frank, Industrial Chemistry, W. A. NoYEs, 
150 

Tuurston, R. H., The Suppression of Smoke, 55 ; 
Professional Schools vs. Business, 207; Engineer- 
ing and the Professions in Education, 407 ; Agri- 
cultural Electro-technics, 480; Economics in 
Manufactures, 583; Theory of the Steam Engine, 
659; Thermodynamic Action of Steam Gas, 753 

TITCHENER, E. B., Lehmann and Hansen on ‘the T: I- 
epathic Problem,’ 36 ; Professor James on Tele- 
pathy, 686 ; The Telepathic question, 787 

Topp, Davip P., Discussion of a National Observa- 
tory, 473; A Short History of Astronomy, Ar- 
thur Berry, 682 

Torrey Botanical Club, E. 8. BURGESS, 33, 295, 520, 
591, 819, 876 

'TRELEASE, WILLIAM, Academy of Science of St. 
Louis, 114, 220, 415, 488, 624, 720, 786 

Trowbridge’s Theory of the Earth’s Magnetism, L. 
A. BAUER, 264 ; JOHN TROWBRIDGE, 265 

True, A. C., Agricultural Experiment Stations, 199 ; 
The Scientific Study of Irrigation, 798 


I have 


University and Educational News, 40, 80, 120, 160, 
192, 271, 304, 341, 383, 424, 464, 496, 528, 559, 
600, 631, 695, 728, 759, 791, 824, 856, 887 

Upton, WINSLOW, Astronomical Notes, 36, 224, 492; 
The Storing of Pamphlets, 184 


VENABLE, F. P., Atomic Weights, A Quarter Cen- 
tury’s Progress, 477 

Verworn, Max, General Physiology, D. T. Mac- 
Dougal, 650 

VERY, FRANK, W., National Observatory, 473 


WaALpo, FRANK, Météorologie, Alfred Angot, 743 ; 
Photographie Optics, R. S. Cole, 874 

Wallace, A. R., The Wonderful Century, W. K. 
Brooks, 511 


SCIENCE. 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


Warp, Henry B., The Fresh-water Biological Sta- 
tions of the World, 497 

WARD, LESTER F., Truth and Error, 126 

WARD, R. DEC., Current Notes on Meteorology, 72, 
116, 298, 458, 627, 657, 787, 878; Peruvian 
Meteorology. Solon I. Bailey, 715 


WASHBURN, F. L., Hermaphroditism in Ostrea 
Lurida, 478 

Webster, F. M., The Chinch Bug, T. D. A. Cock- 
ERELL, 175 


WEEKS, F. B., Duplication of Geologic Formation 
names, 490, 625 

Weir, James, The Dawn of Reason, EDWARD THORN- 
DIKE, 450 

WENLEY, R. M., The Development of English 
Thought, Simon N. Patten, 713 

Whitehead, A. N., A Treatise on Universal Algebra, 
ALEXANDER MACFARLANE, 324 

WHITMAN, FRANK P., On the Brightness of. Pigments 
by Oblique Vision, 734 

WIECHMANN, FERDINAND, G., Atomic Weights, 23 

WILDER, BurT G., Some Misapprehensions as to the 
simplified Nomenclature of Anatomy, 566; 
Two Corrections, 655 

Willcox, M. A., The Making of Solutions, 455 

Williams, Talcott, The Primitive Savage, 37 

WILLIAMS, HENRY §., Stratigraphical Geology, J. 
E. Marr, 547 

WILLIs, BAILEY, Geological Survey of Maryland, 
252 


WILLISTON, S. W., Science and Politics, 114; Red- 


Beds of Kansas, 221 

WILLSON, FRED’K N., The Elements of Graphic 
Statics, 515 

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, A. S. FLINT, 179 

Woop, R. W., The Diffraction Process of Color Pho- 
tography, 859 

WoopMAN, DURAND, The American Chemical So- 
ciety, 58; N. Y. Section of the American Chem- 
ical Society, 258, 487, 654, 820, 913 

Woops, ALBERT F., Die chemische Energie der leben- 
den Zellen, Oscar Loew, 409 ; Brunissure of the 
Vine and other Plants, 508 

WOODWARD, R. S., National Observatory, 470 

WoopwortH, J. B., Kalendar fiir Geologen, K. Keil- 
hack, 174 

WortTMAN, J. L., Othniel Charles Marsh, 561 

Wortman, Dr., H. F. O., 755 


Youna, C. A., National Observatory, 468 


Zone Temperatures, C. HART MERRIAM, 116 

Zoological, Notes, F. A. L., 73; H. C. B., 73, 156, 
266, 459; Bibliography, F. A. BATHER, 154; 
Club, University of Chicago, MARY M. STURGES, 
183; R.S. LILLIe, 183; MIcHAEL F. GUYER, 
876 ; Station at Naples, 596 

Zoo'ogy, Methods of Teaching, EDWIN G. CONKLIN, 81 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MArsH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. Brirron, 
Botany; HENRY F. OsBorRN, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. Bownitcu, Physiology; J. S. Brnuinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JANUARY 6, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
The United States Naval Observatory: PROFESSOR 
PAVE NGG OKUUNINEDR irasncsteesscesesesestercsttceresssecscseas 1 
The Psychology of Society: PROFESSOR FRANKLIN 
Tay (GSUDDIENCIS) cedooababobslcascHoonbucaadeicn oosdcadacoc sere 16 
Atomic Weights: DR. FERDINAND G. WIECH- 
RVLAIIRY 9 nepsocsonsdoboppSudndoboenacoobdaconiEscqnn6sceqqn9H00 23 
John Cummings: PROFESSOR Wm. H. NILEs...... 24 


Scientific Books :— 
Holman on Matter, Energy, Force and Work: T. 
C. M. Congdon’s Qualitative Analysis; Muter’s 
Manual of Analytical Chemistry: PROFESSOR W. 
A. Noyes. Thompson’s Wild Animals I have 
known: T. 8. PP. Morris’s Human Anatomy: 
PROFESSOR THOMAS DWIGHT. Generdl.......... 24 
Scientific Journals and Articles :.....sccceceeeeeeseeeeeeees 29 
Societies and Academies :— 
The Nebraska Academy of Sciences; Science Club 
of Northwestern University: PROFESSOR W. A. 
Locy. The Chemical Society of Washington: 
WintiAM A. Krua@. Students’? Geological Club 
and Conference of Harvard University: J. M. 
BoOUTWELL. Torrey Botanical Club: E. 8. BuR- 
GHUES) ccoscocodbandodasd daobegsdedadassndano snobagedecoougbo0d 29 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Pumas of the Western United States: Wu1t- 
MER STONE. The Schmidt-Dickert Moon Model: 
OLIVER C. FARRINGTON. Lehmann and Hansen 
on ‘the Telepathic Problem’: PROFESSOR E. B. 
ALETENQORS TOAST, hoon denqnconsodpaddonooxdeasebocdonobadseds56060 34 


Astronomical Notes :— 

The November Meteors; Chase’s Comet (J. 1898) ; 
Stellar Motions : PROFESSOR WINSLOW UPTON... 36 

Current Notes on Anthropology :— 


The American Hero-Myth ; The Primitive Savage ; 
A Booklet on Ethnology: PROFESSOR D. G. 


TSISVENEORT  coocggonancadcosaabansosbbddossbooncoadseqcoonbqdes 37 
ScientaficrNotesand News mcsssenaisvectsccsececsesss ene sees 38 
University and E.lucational News........cscsceeeeeeeeeeees 40 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
zor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE UNITED STATES‘NAVAL OBSERVATORY. 

ALTHOUGH much interest was shown by 
individuals in the science of astronomy in 
the early history of our country, this in- 
terest did not culminate in the founding 
of any astronomical observatories until 
the third and fourth decades of the present 
century. About 1835 Professors Olmsted 
and Loomis observed Halley’s comet with 
a five-inch telescope placed in the steeple 
of one of the buildings of Yale College at 
New Haven, Connecticut, but the observa- 
tory erected by Professor Albert Hopkins 
of Williams College, in 1836, was probably 
the earliest establishment of the kind in the 
United States. It was 48 feet long by 20 
in breadth, and*consisted of acentral apart- 
ment surmounted by a revolving dome and 
flanked by two wings. The dome con- 
tained an equatorially mounted Herschelian 
telescope of 10-feet focus, and a 3.5-inch 
transit instrument was set up in one of the 
wings. Only two years later Professor 
Loomis built a small observatory at Hud- 
son, Ohio, and furnished it with a 4-inch 
equatorial telescope and a 2.7-inch transit 
circle. The longitude and latitude of this 
observatory was determined by Professor 
Loomis, and he observed five comets and 
sixteen occultations in the brief intervals of 
leisure left from his regular class work in 
the Western Reserve College. Another 
indication of the zeal of individuals in the 
advancement of science by actual astro- 


2 SCIENCE. 


nomical observation is shown by a paper 
published in the ‘Transactions’ of the 
American Philosophical Society, New Series, 
Vol. VII., pp. 165-213, detailing observa- 
tions of nebulze made by H. L. Smith and E. 
P. Mason at New Haven, Connecticut, with 
a 12-inch reflector. This memoir contains 
carefully executed plates of several nebule, 
on which the stars are accurately plotted. 

Among those in our country who re- 
peatedly urged the foundation of an astro- 
nomical observatory in the United States 
was John Quincy Adams. While Secre- 
tary of State, as early as 18238, he offered 
personally to contribute $1,000 towards the 
establishment of an astronomical observa- 
tory in connection with Harvard College, 
provided the requisite amount for complet- 
ing the work should be raised within two 
years, but this effort failed. In 1825, in his 
first message to Congress after becoming 
President of the United States, he made 
recommendations for the establishment of 
a national observatory, a uniform standard 
of weights and measures, a naval academy, 
a nautical almanac and a national univer- 
sity. Party rancor prevented the carrying- 
out of any of these far-reaching plans at 
that time, but all of them) except that of a 
national university, were executed by our 
government at a later date. It was some 
years after this notable message of Presi- 
dent Adams before Emperor Nicholas, of 
Russia, entered upon the preliminary steps 
which culminated in the creation of the 
celebrated Pulkowa Observatory. 

Even after leaving the Presidential chair, 
President Adams never once relaxed his 
efforts towards the founding of a national 
observatory. In 1838 our 
England announced that he had received 
the money bequeathed to the American peo- 
ple by James Smithson for the increase and 
diffusion of knowledge among men. Mr. 
Adams immediately urged that this fund 
should be devoted to the founding of an 


Minister to. 


[N. S. Vou. 1X. No. 210. 


astronomical observatory and a nautical 
almanac, and, as chairman of the select com- 
mittee on the Smithson fund, he advocated 
that plan on three different occasions be- 
tween 1838 and 1842. It is interesting to 
note that Senator Preston, of South Caro- 
lina, violently opposed these recommenda- 
tions of Mr. Adams, but that in 1842 Mr. 
Preston gave the weight of his influence in 
favor of the bill which finally created a 
national observatory under the name of ‘ A 
Depot of Charts and Instruments of the 
Navy of the United States.’ Let us trace 
the circumstances leading up to this event. 

In 1830, under orders from the Navy De- 
partment, Lieutenant Goldsborough estab- 
lished a depot of charts and instruments in 
the western part of the City of Washington, 
in the square bounded by 24th and 25th 
Streets, Pennsylvania Avenue and K Street 
Northwest. Here, in a small circular build- 
ing, on a brick pier with a foundation 20 
feet below the surface, he mounted a 30- 
inch transit instrument made by R. Patten, 
of New York City. Goldsborough was suc- 
ceeded in 1833 by Lieutenant Wilkes, who 
removed the depot to a site on Capitol Hill, 
on the west side of North Capitol Street, 
between B and C Streets north, about 1,200 
feet, north, 5° west, from the center of the 
Capitol. The dimensions of the small ob- 
servatory erected by Lieutenant Wilkes 
were 14 feet by 185 feet, and 10 feet from 
the floor to the eaves, and its outfit was 
as follows: <A transit instrument of 3% 
inches’ aperture and 63 inches’ focal length, 
made by Troughton under Hassler’s direc- 
tion for the U. 8. Coast Survey in 1815, 
which was loaned to the Navy Department 
and mounted on massive piers. A Borda’s 
circle presented by Troughton to Mr. 
Hassler in 1815; a 34-foot achromatic 
portable telescope by Jones; a portable 
transit instrument made by Richard Pat- 
ten, and a sidereal clock. The Patten 
transit instrument had previously been 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


mounted by Lieutenant Goldsborough in the 
depot of charts and instruments established 
by him, and was now mounted near the 
south door of the observatory for the use of 
the assistants. The sidereal clock was 
bolted to the western pier of the Troughton 
transit instrument, but it never performed 
satisfactorily. 

On assuming command of the United 
States Exploring Fxpedition, in 1838, 
Lieutenant Wilkes turned over the di- 
rection of this observatory to Lieutenant 
J. M. Gilliss. To perfect and complete the 
instrumental outfit Gilliss was permitted 
by the Navy Department to order the fol- 
lowing instruments: From Parkinson and 
Frodsham, of London, a sidereal clock and 
a meantime clock; from Ertel and Son, of 
Munich, a meridian circle of 4.5 inches’ 
aperture, furnished with circles 30 inches’ 
in diameter, one of which was graduated to 
three minutes; from William Simms a 
portable achromatic telescope of 34 inches’ 
aperture and 42 inches’ focal length. On 
the parapet of the Capitol building a 
south meridian mark was made, which was 
viewed by reducing the aperture of the 
transit instrument to 0.9 inch, and at a 
distance of 2,302 yards a north mark was 
erected, which could be viewed with the 
full aperture of the transit instrument. 
The north mark consisted of an obelisk of 
sandstone 18 feet high and 14 inches square 
at the top, having painted on its south face 
five black lines, three inches apart. 

Up to 1838 the work at the ‘Depot of 
Charts and Instruments’ consisted of such 
astronomical observations as were needed 
for the rating of chronometers. In the be- 
ginning of that year instructions, prepared 
by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, were trans- 
mitted through the Navy Department to 
Lieutenant Gilliss, directing him to coop- 
erate with the United States Exploring 
Expedition during the years 1838 to 1842 
by systematically observing the following 


SCIENCE. 3 


named objects: (1) The Moon and moon- 
culminating stars. (2) Falling stars, par- 
ticularly the periodic ones in November. 
(3) All eclipses of the Sun and Moon. (4) 
Eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites. (5) Occul- 
tations of the larger stars. In addition to 
the work required by these instructions 
Lieutenant Gilliss determined the right as- 
censions of 1,248 stars, which were reduced 
to the epoch January 1, 1840, compared 
with the right ascensions of the British As- 
sociation Catalogue and published in 1846 
in an 8vo. volume of astronomical observa- 
tions containing xxv-+671 pages. Dur- 
ing the years 1840 to 1842 Gilliss also 
made at the ‘ Depot of Charts and Instru- 
ments,’ a fine series of magnetic observa- 
tions, which were published in 1845 in an 
8vo. volume of xxviii+ 648 pages. 

The facilities for scientific work at the 
little observatory on Capitol Hill were very 
limited, but Gilliss used them most assid- 
uously. He endeavored by actual achieve- 
ment to demonstrate to the Navy Depart- 
ment and to Congress the desirability 
of providing an observatory especially 
equipped for executing the most refined 
astronomical work, and in this he was suc- 
cessful. On the 15th of March, 1842, the 
House Committee on Naval Affairs reported 
to the House of Representatives a bill ‘to 
authorize the construction of a Depot for 
Charts and Instruments of the Navy of the 
United States,’ together with a written re- 
port which stated at some length that the 
present ‘ Depot’ and its observatory are in- 
adequate for the purposes intended, and are 
unsafe for the protection of the valuable in- 
struments; that we are indebted to other 
nations for the data which enable our ves- 
sels to cross the ocean ; that an observatory 
is absolutely essential to the performance of 
the duties which devolve upon the ‘ Depot ;’ 
that the existing observatory was erected at 
private expense, and that facilities should 
be provided for the execution of magnetic 


4 SCIENCE. 


observations. The wording of the bill 
which accompanied the report and became 
a law August 31, 1842, was as follows: 

‘Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled : That the Secretary of the Navy be and he 
is hereby authorized to contract for the building of a 
suitable house for a depot of charts and instruments 
of the Navy of the United States on a plan not exceed- 
ing in cost the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. 

‘‘And be it further enacted: That the sum of ten 
thousand dollars be and is hereby appropriated of any 
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated 
towards carrying this law into effect. 

“And be it further enacted: That the said estab- 
lishment may be located on any portion of the public 
land in the District of Columbia which the President 
of the United States may deem suited to the purpose.’? 


The Secretary of the Navy immediately 
placed the preparation of the plans for the 
new observatory in the hands of Lieuten- 
ant Gilliss, who, after consulting with as- 
tronomers in America, visited Europe to 
obtain the views of those competent to 
advise in these matters. In March, 1843, 
he returned home, having ordered the 
instruments under authority from the Sec- 
retary of the Navy. Only eighteen months 
were consumed in the erection of the 
buildings, the mounting of the instruments 
and the procuring of a library, and on the 
7th of February, 1845, Gilliss presented a 
detailed report of his labors (Senate Docu- 
ment, No. 114, 28th Congress, 2d session, 
Vol. VII.) which contains a careful de- 
scription of the buildings and instruments, 
illustrated by accurate drawings. The site 
selected for the building was a reservation 
between 23d and 25th Streets west, extend- 
ing from E Street north to the Potomac 
river. The area of the plot was 17.85 
acres. The elevation of the ground on the 
building site was about 100 feet above the 
Potomac. Gilliss stated that the new 
equipment was as follows: Ist, an achro- 
matic equatorial telescope by Merz and 
Mahler, Munich, of 9.6 inches’ aperture. 
2d, a meridian transit instrument of 54 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


inches’ aperture by Ertel, of Munich. 3d, 
a prime vertical transit instrument of 4.9 
inches’ aperture by Pistor and Martins, 
Berlin. 4th, a mural circle by Troughton 
and Simms, London, with a telescope of 
4.1 inches’ aperture, and a circle 5 feet in 
diameter divided to 5’ and read by six 
micrometer microscopes. 5th, a comet 
seeker of 4 inches’ aperture by Utzschneider 
and Fraunhofer, Munich. 6th, magnetic 
instruments. 7th, meteorological instru- 
ments. 8th, books. In addition to those 
items purchased, there belonged to the 
‘Depot of Charts and Instruments’ a port- 
able transit and two clocks, purchased by 
Lieutenant Wilkes for the Exploring Expe- 
dition, and a 30-inch transit circle and two 
clocks ordered by Gilliss for the ‘ Depot.’ 

At the close of September, 1844, Gilliss 
reported the observatory completed, with 
the instruments mounted and ready for use. 
On the Ist of October, 1844, Lieutenant M. 
F. Maury was ordered to take charge of 
the institution, and directed to remove to it 
all the nautical books, charts and instru- 
ments of the then-existing depot. 

In reviewing the history of the Naval Ob- 
servatory during Maury’s administration, 
we shall first notice the instrumental equip- 
ment, in the selection of which it is probable 
that Gilliss was principally influenced by 
English advisers. Instrumental construc- 
tion was just then passing through a crit- 
ical period. The Observatory of Pulkowa, 
which was completed in 1838, following the 
German school of construction, rejected the 
mural circle, and supplied its place with 
the celebrated Ertel vertical circle. An 
Ertel transit instrument and a Repsold 
meridian circle completed the outfit of Pul- 
kowa for meridian work, and these instru- 
ments were amply provided with horizontal 
collimators and azimuth marks distant 550 
feet, which were rendered visible by the in- 
terposition of lenses of corresponding foca 
length. In contrast with this, the Naval 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


Observatory followed English precedent, 
and was supplied with a mural circle which 
remained its principal declination instru- 
mentuntil 1865. The remaining equipment 
was the Ertel transit instrument, of first- 
class construction, but without horizontal 
collimators and azimuth marks; the small 
Ertel meridian circle, which had been 
ordered by Gilliss for the Observatory on 
Capitol Hill; the Pistorand Martins prime- 
vertical transit instrument, identical in de- 
sign with the similar instrument at Pulkowa; 
and the Merz and Mahler equatorial refract- 
ing telescope. The Ertel meridian circle 
showed such serious defects of construction 
that it was subsequently sold, and the Merz 
and Mahler equatorial was much smaller 
than the refractors at Pulkowa and Harvard 
College Observatories, one of which was 
erected a little before and the other a little 
after that at the Naval Observatory. It 
may also be mentioned that instead of mak- 
ing the walls of its observing rooms of 
brick, the Naval Observatory might advan- 
tageously have followed the example of Pul- 
kowa by making them of wood, the use of 
sheet metal for such purposes being then 
unknown. 

Now, for a passing glance at the person- 
nel of the astronomical corps, which was 
composed of three more or less distinct 
classes, namely, line officers and staff offi- 
cers of the United States Navy and civilians. 
After years of persistent labor, Gilliss had 
“created an astronomical observatory only 
to have it snatched from his grasp when it 
was ready for work. Lieutenant Matthew 
F. Maury, who was ordered to take charge 
of the new ‘Depot of Charts and Instru- 
ments’ as its Superintendent on October 1, 
1844, was then thirty-eight years old. He 
was possessed of great energy, together 
with a high degree of native ability, and 
was well versed in naval affairs, but was 
very scantily informed in regard to the 
great advances in astronomical science 


SCIENCE. 5 


which had recently been made in Europe. 
From the line of the navy three lieutenants 
and six midshipmen were detailed as his 
assistants. These gentlemen entered upon 
their work with energy, but their tour of 
duty was so limited by the rules of the 
Navy Department that they were obliged 
to return to their nautical work when they 
had barely familiarized themselves with 
their astronomical duties. Among their 
names will be recognized many who at a 
later date attained distinction during the 
Civil War. To these line officers were 
added Professors of Mathematics Coffin, 
Keith and Hubbard, who were staff offi- 
cers in the Navy. The corps of Professors 
of Mathematics in the United States Navy 
was originally created to supply instructors 
for midshipmen afloat and ashore, and all 
of them served in that capacity, until the 
founding of the Naval Academy in 1845 
closed their seafaring career and gave the 
Navy Department an opportunity to utilize 
a part of the corps in other duties. Pro- 
fessor Coffin had instructed midshipmen on 
shipboard for some half dozen years before 
he was ordered to assist Lieutenant Gilliss 
in 18438 in fitting up the new Observatory. 
Hubbard, a recent graduate of Yale Col- 
lege, was appointed Professor of Mathe- 
matics, U. 8. N., in 1845, and was im- 
mediately ordered to the Observatory. 
Keith, who had just graduated from Mid- 
dlebury College, Vt.,. received his ap- 
pointment as Professor of Mathematics, 
U.S. N., in 1847. These gentlemen were 
each possessed of a high degree of mathe- 
matical ability and were destined to leave 
a lasting impress on the work of the 
Observatory. At that time the only civil 
appointee attached to the Observatory was 
Mr. Sears Cook Walker, who was em- 
ployed as a computer and observer. He 
was one of the ablest, and certainly the 
most experienced, of the corps of astrono- 
mers, but unfortunate differences with 


6 SCIENCE. 


Lieutenant Maury led to his resignation 
after a service of only fourteen months. In 
1848 Mr. James Ferguson received the ci- 
vilian appointment of Assistant Observer, 
and later that of Assistant Astronomer. He 
proved an indefatigable observer, and the 
records of the Observatory show a vast 
amount of valuable and painstaking work 
with the equatorial by him. In 1851 Pro- 
fessor Yarnall, U.S.N., was ordered to the 
Observatory, and in the most untiring and 
conscientious manner he made substantially 
all the observations obtained with the 
mural circle and the Ertel transit instru- 
ment during the decade from 1850 to 1860. 
Professor Keith withdrew from the Obser- 
vatory in 1853, and Professor Coffin was 
obliged to give up astronomical observing in 
1850 on account of an affection of his eyes. 

The work of the Observatory as published 
during Maury’s administration is contained 
in the following volumes: The Observa- 
tions for 1845, published in 1846 ; the Obser- 
vations for 1846, published in 1851; the 
observations for 1847, published in 1853; 
the observations for 1848, published in 1856; 
the observations for 1849-1850 (one vol- 
ume), published in 1859. It is worth noting 
that in the published volumes from 1845 to 
1848 inclusive the institution is designated 
as the National Observatory, but on Decem- 
ber 12, 1854, the Hon. J. C. Dobbins, Sec- 
retary of the Navy, directed that its official 
designation should be ‘The United States 
Naval Observatory and Hydrographical 
Office,’ and accordingly all subsequent vol- 
umes have been issued as the work of the 
United States Naval Observatory. 

The scheme of work arranged by Maury 
was as follows: To observe regularly in the 
meridian the positions of the Sun, Moon, 
planets and moon-culminating stars; to ob- 
serve a Lyre regularly with the prime ver- 
tical transit, to determine with that instru- 
ment the declinations of a catalogue of 
zenith stars, and to review the Dorpat 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


Catalogue of double stars with the equato- 
rial telescope. 

The meridian observations of the Sun, 
Moon and planets were commenced in 1845 
with some degree of ardor, and kept up 
with decreasing persistency for several 
years, but after 1850 only a few scattering 
observations occur in the published records. 
The prime vertical transit was also em- 
ployed for a few years, but soon after 1850 
it fell into disuse. 

The equatorial was used continuously 
during the entire period from 1845 to 1861. 
Assistant Astronomer Ferguson had charge 
of it during a large portion of this time, and 
the records show an unbroken series of care- 
fully executed observations of comets, minor 
planets and occultations of stars by the 
Moon. The assiduity of Ferguson is at- 
tested by his discovery of three minor 
planets, viz: Euphrosyne, No. 31, on Sep: 
tember 1, 1854; Virginia, No. 50, on Octo- 
ber 4,1857; Echo, No. 60, on September 14, 
1860. 

Tt would be an act of injustice to pass by 
unmentioned the numerous items of per- 
sonal work which enrich the published 
records. In them we find Coffin’s refrac- 
tion tables founded on Bessel; tables for 
aiding in the reduction of the apparent 


‘places of stars to mean places, by Coffin, 


Keith and Hubbard ; an investigation of the 
latitude of the observatory and a discussion 
of the errors of standard thermometers, by 
S. C. Walker; and last, but not least, we 
must mention 8. C. Walker’s discovery, on 
February 4, 1847, that certain stars observed 
by Lalande at Paris on May 8 and 10, 
1795, were the recently discovered planet 
Neptune ; thus extending the observations 
of that planet over an interval of fifty years, 
and thereby making the determination of 
its elements much more precise. 

By far the most ambitious task which 
Maury set for the new observatory was de- 
tailed in his letter to George Bancroft, Sec- 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


retary of the Navy, July 28, 1846. Speak- 
ing of the regular work upon the Sun, Moon 
and planets, he adds: “A regular series of 
observations is continued on these objects 
and the time which is not occupied in the 
round with them has, with your approval, 
been devoted to cataloguing ; to this end a 
regular and systematic exploration of the 
whole heavens from 45° south has been 
commenced, with the intention of penetra- 
ting with the telescope every point of space 
from that parallel of declination up to the 
north pole, and of assigning position to every 
star, down to the 10th magnitude, that shall 
pass through the field of view.’’ Theamount 
of labor involved in this colossal under- 
taking was entirely beyond the capacity of 
any one observatory to accomplish in a 
generation. Maury would never have un- 
dertaken it if he had possessed an intimate 
knowledge of the herculean labor in respect 
to observation and computation which its 
execution demanded. The result was that 
the observation of the zones was continued 
with some degree of energy through the 
years 1846, °47, ’48 and ’49 with the transit 
instrument, the mural circle and the merid- 
ian circle, by some eleven different obsery- 
ers, two of whom were experienced, and the 
remainder quite inexperienced. The num- 
ber of observations accumulated unreduced 
in these four years was fully 38,000. 
Maury did not publish any results until 
1860, when he issued the meridian circle 
zones observed in 1846, containing about 
4,000 observations. The publication of the 
remaining zone work was delayed until 
1873, when it was printed under the super- 
vision of Professor Asaph Hall, who re- 
marks : “ On account of the inexperience of 
some of the observers and the lack of good 
organization these observations contain 
many errors, and the whole work needs a 
careful revision.’”’ To furnish material for 
this revision, four hundred and fifteen zero 
stars were selected by Professor Hall from 


SCIENCE. u 


the zones, and their places have since been 
determined, but as yet the revision has not 
been accomplished. In contrast with this 
we may recall that during the decade 1850 
to 1860 Argelander, of the Bonn Observa- 
tory, in accordance with a carefully con- 
ceived plan, observed and published the 
approximate positions of more than 450,000 
stars of the first nine magnitudes betweeu 
23° of south declination and the north pole 
of the heavens. Maury failed because his 
scheme was entirely too herculean to be ac- 
complished with the means at his command, 
while Argelander achieved success by bring- 
ing the scope and precision of his work 
within the limits possible of execution. 

A review of this period would be incom- 
plete without a reference to the invention 
of the chronographic method of registering 
star transits and the general application of 
electro-magnetism to the transmission of 
time signals for the determination of differ- 
ences of longitude. Soon after the inven- 
tion of the telegraph several persons at 
about the same time conceived the idea of 
applying its fundamental principles to the 
transmission of clock signals and the regis- 
tering of star transits. Among them were 
Walker, Bache, Bond, Mitchell, Saxton and 
Locke. Lieutenant Maury became inter- 
ested in the labors of the last-named gentle- 
man, and induced Congress to appropriate 
$10,000 on March 3, 1849, to pay Dr. Locke, 
of Cincinnati, for the construction and use 
at the National Observatory of a magnetic 
clock, a fillet chronograph and a cylinder 
chronograph. These instruments, although 
not perfect in details, embraced the essential 
features of the chronographs in actual use 
at the present time. 

We come now to the third period of the 
history of the Observatory—namely, from 
Maury’s resignation to the removal to the 
new site. On April 20, 1861, Maury sud- 
denly resigned his commission and went 
south to join the Rebellion, and on April 


8 SCIENCE. 


23 Commander J. M. Gilliss, who had 
built the Observatory some sixteen years 
before, was ordered to assume charge. For 
ten years previous to his withdrawal Maury 
had ceased to have an active interest in 
astronomical work, and had been wholly 
absorbed in hydrographic studies. Upon 
the accession of Gilliss new life was im- 
mediately infused into the institution. He 
resumed meridian observations of the Sun, 
Moon and planets, which had been prac- 
tically suspended, and made it one of his 
first tasks to press the completion of all the 
unfinished work, which had been accumu- 
lating since 1852. At the same time he car- 
ried on with equal zeal the nautical work of 
the Observatory, which the Civil War, then 
just beginning, had very largely increased. 

Until June 21, 1866, when the Hydro- 
graphic Office was created, an important 
part of the duties of the Naval Observatory 
had been to care for and issue to the Navy 
all charts, sailing directions, compasses, 
chronometers, sextants, spy-glasses and 
other nautical instruments. At the date 
above mentioned the care of all this ma- 
terial, except chronometers, was transferred 
from the Observatory, but most of it was 
returned in 1883, and since then the Ob- 
servatory has had charge of all nautical in- 
struments of the Navy, except charts and 
compasses. Since January 1, 1884, all 
chronometers have been regularly subjected 
to a temperature test ranging from 45° to 
95° Fahrenheit. 

During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, 
the duties devolving on the Observatory, in 
connection with the inspection and issue of 
all varieties of nautical instruments, were 
especially arduous, and the constant atten- 
tion of a number of officers was required to 
supply each of our several hundred war 
vessels with their needed outfits. 

Since August, 1865, in accordance with a 
plan originated by Professor Harkness, the 
Naval Observatory has transmitted time 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 210. 


signals daily, except Sundays and holidays, 
over the telegraph lines running into the 
chronometer room. Up to the latter part 
of the year 1879 these signals were trans- 
mitted by hand, but since that date they 
have been sent by an automatic apparatus 
in connection with the transmitting clock 
devised by Professor J. R. Eastman. Time 
ballsin a large number of the principal cities 
of the country are dropped by them. 

In 1862 Congress authorized the appoint- 
ment of three civilians, called aids, to assist 
in meeting the increased demands on the 
Observatory on account of the war. Some 
of the changes in the personnel during this 
period were as follows: 

Simon Newcomb was appointed Professor 
of Mathematics, U. 5. N., in 1861; Asaph 
Hall, William Harkness and J. R Eastman 
received appointments as aids in 1862. Hall 
and Harkness were promoted in 1863, and 
Eastman in 1865, to be Professors of Mathe- 
matics, U.S. N. In 1863 the Observatory 
lost by death the gifted Professor Hubbard, 
whose labors had been restricted for years 
by a frail body. 

The later additions to the personnel were 
as follows: Edgar Frisby was appointed 
Assistant Astronomer in 1868; A. N. Skin- 
ner in 1870 and H. M. Paul in 1875. 
Frisby was promoted to be Professor of 
Mathematics, U. S. N., in 1878, on the re- 
tirement of Professor Yarnall. 

Soon after Gilliss’ accession to the super- 
intendency it became apparent that in order 
to meet the demands of science the Observa- 
tory needed a first-class meridian circle, 
and he took steps to remedy this defect in 
its equipment. The result was the sale 
of the small Ertel meridian circle, and the 
mounting in 1865 of a Pistor and Martins 
meridian circle 8.52 inches’ aperture. The 
Ertel transit instrument was moved to the 
east wing and the new meridian circle took 
its place in the west wing. 

In 1873 the Observatory received the 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


great 26-inch eqtatorial refractor by Alvan 
Clark & Sons, which was then the largest 
telescope in the world. 

A continuous series of Sun, Moon and 
planet meridian observations was carried 
on from 1861 to 1865 with the mural circle 
and the transit justrument. In the begin- 
ning of 1866 the new Pistor and Martins 
meridian circle was put in service, and ob- 
servations were made with it in the old 
west transit room until 1869, June 5. It 
was then removed to the new transit room, 
where it was used from February 2 to 
August 15, 1870, when observations were 
suspended for some repairs on the instru- 
ment. They were resumed in 1871, August 
1, and then continued until 1891, June 28, 
when the instrument was dismounted for 
removal to the new Observatory. In con- 
nection with the Sun, Moon and planet ob- 
servations, there were made on this instru- 
ment extensive determinations of the posi- 
tions of the Ephemeris stars and of large 
numbers of miscellaneous stars. When the 
mural circle and transit instrument were 
relieved of the planet work, Professor Yar- 
nall devoted them to the completion of the 
determination of the positions of all miscel- 
laneous stars which had been observed with 
them since 1845. These collected observa- 
tions form Yarnall’s catalogue, which was 
published later. The equatorials were as- 
siduously employed on the observation of 
asteroids, comets, occultations, double stars, 
satellites, and other work for which they 
were especially adapted. 

The annual volumes of observations were 
published regularly from 1861 to 1890, and 
the principal memoirs and researches of 
greater or less extent appearing in them 
during this period are as follows : 


The solar parallax ; from equatorial observations 
of Mars, 8.8415!’ by Professor Hall, Washington Ob- 
servatory 1863, p. XI; from meridian observations 
of Mars, 8.8310’ by Assistant Astronomer Ferguson, 
Washington Observations, 1863, p. XI. 


SCIENCE. 9 


Discussion of the solar parallax by all known 
methods, 8.848// by Professor Newcomb, Washington 
Observations, 1865, App. IT. 

A catalogue of the positions of 151 stars in Praesepe 
by Professor Hall, Washington Observations, 1867, 
App. IV. 

Reports on the solar eclipse of 1869, August 7 ; 
Washington Observations, 1867, App. I. 

Reports on the solar eclipse of 1870, December 22 ; 
Washington Observations, 1869, App. I. 

Reports on the solar eclipse of 1873, July 29 ; 
Washington Observations, 1876, App. III. 

Reports on the solar eclipse of 1880, January 11 ; 
Washington Observations, 1876, App. III. 

The following embrace all of Hall’s double-star 
work with the 26-inch equatorial ; Washington Ob- 
servations, 1876, App IV., and Washington Observa- 
tions, 1888, App. I. 

The time of rotation of Saturn on its axis was de- 
termined by Professor Hall by means of an equatorial 
spot which was visible from 1876, December 7, to 
1877, January 2. The period deduced was 10°14™ 
23.8 mean solar time. The paper may be found in 
the Astronomische Nachrichten No. 2146. 

On the right ascensions of the equatorial funda- 
mental stars, by Professor Newcomb, Washington 
Observations, 1870, App. III. 

Researches on the motion of the Moon, by Professor 
Newcomb, Washington Observations, 1875, App. II. 

The Uranian and Neptunian systems, Professor 
Newcomb, Washington Observations, 1873, App. I. 

The central parts of the nebula of Orion, Professor 
Holden, Washington Observations, 1878, App. I. 

A catalogue of 10,964 stars from observations on 
the mural circle and transit instrument, by Professor 
Yarnall, revised edition by Professor Frisby, Wash- 
ington Observations, 1884, App. I. 

A catalogue of 1963 stars observed by Gilliss, at 
Santiago, Chili, edited by Professor Harkness, 1868, 
App. I. 

Observations and orbits of the satellites of Mars, 
Washington 1878. This memoir is bound with some 
copies of Washington Observations, 1875. 

The two satellites of Mars were discovered by 
Professor Hall in August, 1877, with the 26-inch 
equatorial. 

The six inner satellites of Saturn, by Professor 
Hall, Washington Observations, 1883, App. I. 

Saturn and its rings, by Professor Hall, Washington 
Observations, 1885, App. I. 

Observations for stellar parallax, by Professor Hall, 
Washington Observations, 1883, App. II. 

The solar parallax and its related constants, by 
Professor Harkness, Washington Observations, 1885, 
App. III. 


10 SCIENCE, 


Reports on the observations of Encke’s comet dur- 
ing its return in 1871, by Professors Hall and Hark- 
ness, Washington Observations, 1870, App. II. 

Chronometer rates as effected by changes of tem- 
perature and other causes, by Commander C. H. Davis, 
Jr., Washington Observations, 1875, App. III. 


The following differences of Longitude 
have been determined between Washington 
and 


‘ 


Havana, Cuba, Professor Harkness, Washington 
Observations, 1867, App. I. 

St. Louis, Professor Harkness, Washington Obser- 
vations, 1870, App. I. 


Detroit, Mich. pee Eastman, Washington 


Carlin, Nev. Observations, 1872, App. Il. 


Austin, Nev. 

Ogden, Utah, Professor Eastman, Washington Ob- 
servations, 1874, App. II. 

Sayre Observatory, South Bethlehem, Pa.; Profes- 
sor Eastman, Washington Observations, 1875, App. I. 

Cincinnati Observatory, Professor Eastman ; Wash- 
ington Observations, 1876, App. IV. 

Morrison Observatory, Glasgow, Mo.; Professor 
Eastman, Washington Observations, 1876, App. V. 

Observatory Princeton, N. J.; Assistant Astronomer 
Paul, Washington Observations, 1878, App. II. 

The zone observations made in 1846-1849 were pub- 
lished as follows : 

Meridian circle zones observed in 1846 (a separate 
publication) contains 4,054 stars, 1860. 

Mural circle zones 14,804 stars, Washington Ob- 
servations, 1869, App. II. 

Transit zones, 12,033 stars, Washington Observa- 
tions, 1870, App. IV. 

Meridian circle zones observed in 1847, ’48, 749, 
7,390 stars, Washington Observations, 1871, App. I. 

Results of observations made with the transit in- 

trument and mural circle, 1853 to 1860 inclusive, 
Washington Observations, 1871, App. II. 

Report of Lieut. A. G. Winterhalter as delegate of 
the United States Naval Observatory to the Astrophoto- 
graphic Congress held in Paris 1887 ; with a report on 
European observatories, Washington Observations, 
1885, App. I. 

Announcement of the discovery in April 1888, and 
the subsequent determination of the elements, of a 
new short-period variable star, S Antliz = No. 3407 
of Chandler’s catalogue ; by Assistant Astronomer H. 
M. Paul, Astronomical Journal No. 215. 


A magnetic observatory was arranged by 
Maury in 1845, but its construction was so 
faulty and inadequate that its use was soon 
discontinued. Nothing further was done 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 210. 


in reference to magnetic observations un- 
til 1887, when the Bureau of Navigation 
erected on the grounds of the Naval Ob- 
servatory a complete magnetic outfit which 
was provided with facilities for obtaining 
continuous photographic records of declina- 
tion, inclination and horizontal force. In- 
struments were also provided for the neces- 
sary absolute determinations of the magnetic 
elements. This magnetic outfit was turned 
over to the Observatory in July, 1887. Ob- 
servations were commenced soon after that 
date, and continued until September, 1892, 
when the instruments were removed to the 
new site. 

The preparations for the observations of 
the transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882, by 
the United States Transit of Venus Com- 
mission, were made at the Naval Observa- 
tory as the headquarters of the operations 
of the Commission, but although this work 
was done principally by Professors New- 
comb and Harkness, it was entirely distinct 
from the work of the Observatory. 

During the years 1885, 1886 and 1887 
Professor S. J. Brown, U. S. N., was per- 
mitted by courtesy of the Superintendent 
of the Naval Academy to use its 4-inch 
Repsold meridian circle as an adjunct of 
the Naval Observatory in making a series 
of determinations of the positions of the 
3803 stars which had been selected to serve 
as the basis of the German Astronomical 
Society’s southern zones. 

When it became known that the work of 
the Naval Observatory would be inter- 
rupted by its removal to a new site the 
trustees of the Washburn Observatory, of 
Madison, Wis., very considerately offered 
the free use of the instruments of the Wash- 
burn Observatory to the staff of the Naval 
Observatory during that period. In ac- 
ceptance of this invitation Professor S. J. 
Brown went to Madison on the conclusion 
of his Annapolis work, and from October, 
1887, to October, 1890, conducted a series of 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


observations with the 4.8-inch Repsold 
meridian circle on the ‘ zusatz’ stars Nos. 
337 to 539 of the Berlin Jahrbuch. 

Principally through the exertions of Rear 
Admiral John Rodgers, during his superin- 
tendency, Congress purchased a new site 
for the Naval Observatory on Georgetown 
Heights in 1881. Appropriations for the 
construction of new buildings on this site 
were made by Congress in 1886, plans for 
them were prepared by the celebrated New 
York architect, R. M. Hunt, and in the be- 
ginning of 1893 they were sufficiently com- 
plete to warrant the transfer of the establish- 
ment to the new site. 

We come now to the fourth period in the 
history of the Observatory, namely, from 
‘its change of location to the present time. 

The new site is distant about two miles 
in a northwesterly direction from the old 
Observatory, and occupies 69.78 acres on 
Georgetown Heights, the buildings being 
situated on ground elevated from 260 to 280 
feet above the Potomac River. Theshape 
of the tract is so irregular that its reentrant 
angles occasionally approach the buildings 
more closely than is desirable, and, to rem- 
edy this, Congress has enacted a Jaw au- 
thorizing the laying out of a circle having 
a radius of one thousand feet about the 
center of the clock room, and the acquiring 
for the Observatory of all the land included 
therein which is not now owned by the gov- 
ernment. This consists principally of two 
tracts, one of 1.70 acres and the other of 
7.87 acres, and the area included in the 
proposed circle will closely equal that of the 
original irregular tract. The plans adopted 
for the new Observatory involved the erec- 
tion of one building principally for offices, 
and a separate cluster of isolated buildings 
for the principal instruments. The main 
building has the library on its eastern end, 
and a tower for the smaller equatorial on 
its western end, with an adjoining meridian 
room still further west. About 410 feet 


-azimuth instrument. 


SCIENCE. 11 


northwest of the center of the main build- 
ing is the clock room, which occupies the 
center of the cluster of instrument build- 
ings. It is flanked on the east and on the 
west by connecting observers’ rooms, which 
the observers occupy in the intervals be- 
tween observations ; the chronographs be- 
ing installed therein, and the rooms being 
heated by steam. Twenty-five feet to the 
east of the east observers’ room is the en- 
tirely isolated East Transit House, and at 
the same distance west of the west ob- 
servers’ room is the similarly isolated West 
Transit House. 

Fifty feet to the north of the center of 
the clock room is the entirely isolated Prime 
Vertical Transit House ; and 175 feet to the 
south of the clock room is the dome of the 
26-inch equatorial, with two connecting 
rooms for the use of the astronomer in 
charge. About 275 feet northwest of the 
center of the clock room is a circular 
wooden building 11.5 feet in diameter, sur- 
mounted by a revolving dome, for the alt- 
Four hundred feet to 
the southeast of the clock room is mounted 
the horizontal photoheliograph, and 250 
feet south of this is the magnetic observa- 
tory. Six hundred and fifty feet north of 
the main building is the Superintendent’s 
residence, and 250 feet southeast of the li- 
brary are quarters occupied respectively by 
the professors of mathematics in charge of 
the 26-inch equatorial and the 9-inch me- 
ridian cirele. About 200 feet northeast of 
the library is the boiler house, where steam 
is generated for heating most of the build- 
ings on the grounds. The main building 
and the 26-inch equatorial building are 
constructed of white marble, but the four 
transit houses are built entirely of metal, 
having iron frames, with double walls and 
roofs of corrugated metallic plates, which 
have proved very effective in preserving an 
equality between the outside and inside 
temperatures. The carefully constructed 


12 


foundations for supporting the piers of the 
instruments are unusually massive and give 
unsurpassed stability. All the revolving 
domes and the shutter machinery of the 
transit houses were made by Warner and 
Swasey, of Cleveland, Ohio, and operate in 
the most satisfactory manner. 

Passing now to the instrumental equip- 
ment, the 9.6-inch equatorial refractor is 
replaced by a telescope having a 12-inch 
object-glass made by Clark and equatorially 
mounted by Saegmuller. This instrument 
occupies a 26-foot dome on the tower at the 
west end of the main building. The 26-inch 
equatorial is provided with a new mounting 
by Warner and Swasey, and a powerful 
spectroscope by Brashear. Its dome is forty- 
five feet in diameter, and is provided with 
an hydraulic elevating floor having a range 
of motion of twelve feet. The Ertel transit 
instrument is remounted without change in 
the meridian room at the west end of the 
main building. The Pistor and Martins 
meridian circle has received the following 
modifications: The 8.5-inch object-glass of 
12-feet focal length has been replaced by a 
9.14-inch Clark object-glass of 107 inches 
focal length, and the tube has been short- 
ened accordingly ; the arms for supporting 
the microscopes have been replaced by a 
brass alidade, on the edge of which the 
microscopes may be clamped in any posi- 
tion ; the old collimators of 24 inches aper- 
ture have been replaced by new ones of 4 
inches aperture, for which new mountings 
have been provided, and the apertures in 
the cube of the instrument have been corre- 
spondingly enlarged. The shortening of 
the telescope made it necessary to reduce 
the height of the piers, and new marble 
piers have been provided for the collima- 
tors. A vertical collimator has also been 
added, together with a north meridian mark 
erected at a distance of 380 feet, which is 
viewed by means of a lens of the same focal 
length, having an aperture of six inches, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


and mounted on the north collimator pier 
immediately below the collimator. 

Two new instruments have been provided 
which were designed solely by Professor 
William Harkness, and built by Warner 
and Swasey, viz.: 1. A meridian circle, con- 
structed entirely of steel, which is mounted 
in the west transit house. The object-glass 
has a clear aperture of six inches, and the 
instrument has two circles each 26 inches 


in diameter and each graduated to two 


minutes. Itis provided with two horizontal 
collimators 3.5 inches in aperture, a vertical 
collimator, and a north meridian mark dis- 
tant 380 feet. The latter is viewed through 
a lens of corresponding focal length, which 
is mounted on the north collimator pier 
immediately below the collimator. 2. The 
other new instrument designed by Professor 
Harkness, and built by Warner and Swasey, 
is the alt-azimuth. This, like the new six- 
inch meridian circle, is constructed entirely 
of steel. The aperture of its object-glass is 
five inches, and the diameters of its vertical 
and horizontal circles are 26 inches, each 
being graduated to two minutes. 

One of the Transit of Venus 40-foot hori- 
zontal photoheliographs is mounted with all 
its accessories in the location previously in- 
dicated, and to the south of it a well designed 
magnetic observatory has been built, as 
mentioned above. 

From its inception until July 22, 1863, 
the Naval Observatory was under the 
Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography ; 
from July 22, 1868, to July 1, 1889, it was 
under the Bureau of Navigation; from 
July 1, 1889, to the present time, it has 
been under the Bureau of Equipment and 
Recruiting, whose name was changed July 
1, 1890, to the Bureau of Equipment. 

Before considering the present organiza- 
tion of the Naval Observatory it will be con- 
venient to give the following list of those 
who have held the office of Superintend- 
ent : 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


Lieutenant, later Commander, M. F. Maury, Oc- 
tober 1, 1844, to his resignation April 20, 1861. 

Commander, later Captain, J. M. Gilliss, April 23, 
1861, to his death February 9, 1865. 

Rear Admiral C. H. Davis, April 28, 1865, to May 
8, 1867. 

Commodore, later Rear Admiral, B. F. Sands, May 
8, 1867, to his retirement February 11, 1874. 

Rear Admiral C. H. Davis, February 16, 1874, to 
his death, February 18, 1877. 

Rear Admiral John Rodgers, May 1, 1877, to his 
death May 5, 1882. 

Vice Admiral 8. C. Rowan, July 1, 1882, to May 1, 
1883. 

Rear Admiral R. W. Shufeldt, May 1, 1883, to 
February 21, 1884. 

Commodore S. R. Franklin, February 21, 1884, to 
March 31, 1885. 

Commodore George E. Belknap, June 1, 1885, to 
June 7, 1886. 

Captain R. L. Phythian, November 15, 1886, to 
June 28, 1890. 

Captain F. V. MoNair, June 28, 1890, to Novem- 
ber 21, 1894. 

Commodore R. L. Phythian, November 21, 1894, to 
July 19, 1897. 

Commander, later Captain, C. H. Davis, from July 
19, 1897, the present incumbent. 


From its foundation until 1894 the Super- 
intendent was the sole head of the Observa- 
tory. On March 3, 1847, Congress enacted 
that he must be either a captain, a com- 
mander or a leutenant in the Navy, but 
on March 8, 1865, that restriction was re- 
pealed, and it was enacted that: ‘‘ The offi- 
cer of the Navy employed as Superintend- 
ent shall receive as salary only the shore- 
duty pay of his grade.” 

The work of the Observatory is distrib- 
uted under the following Heads of Depart- 
ments: The Astronomical Director, the 
Heads of the Departments of Nautical In- 
struments, of Chronometers and Time Ser- 
vice, and of Magnetism and Meteorology. 
The duties of these Heads of Departments 
are as follows : 

The Astronomical Director. This office 
was created by an order of the Secretary 
of the Navy, September 20, 1894, which de- 
fined the duties of the incumbent as fol- 


SCIENCE. . 13 


lows: The Astronomical Director has charge 
of and is responsible for the direction, scope, 
character, quantity and preparation for 
publication of all work purely astronomical 
which is performed at the Naval Observa- 
tory. He has charge of the 26-inch and 12- 
inch equatorial telescopes, the 6-inch and 
9-inch transit circles, the prime-vertical in- 
strument, the photoheliograph, and all other 
instruments and accessories used in his de- 
partment, together with the construction, 
remounting and repairing of all astronom- 
ical instruments placed in his charge. He 
personally inspects, both day and night, the 
methods of observation and computation in 
all the astronomical departments. 

The Head of the Department of Nautica 
Instruments sees that all nautical instru- 
ments issued from the Observatory, except 
chronometers, are thoroughly inspected and 
tested before issue. 

The Head of the Department of Chro- 
nometers and Time Service has charge of 
the chronometers deposited at the Naval 
Observatory; he inspects, tests, rates and 
prepares them for issue; he has charge of 
the transmission of the daily time signals 
and the apparatus pertaining to them; 
finally he makes all necessary determina- 
tions of local time for use in his depart- 
ment, and for this purpose has the use of 
the 5-inch Ertel transit instrument, which 
is mounted in the meridian room at the 
west end of the main building. 

The Head of the Department of Magnet- 
ism and Meteorology has charge of all the 
magnetic and meteorological apparatus and 
observations. 

The Superintendent as commanding offi- 
cer is charged with the general superin- 
tendence and government of the Observa- 
tory. The heads of departments, naval 
officers, assistant astronomers, computers 
and employes performing duty at the Ob- 
servatory are subject to him, and he is re- 
sponsible for the disbursement of all moneys 


14 ° 


appropriated by Congress to sustain the 
Observatory. 

The present personnel is as follows: Su- 
perintendent, Captain C. H. Davis, U. 8. N.; 
Lieutenant A. N. Mayer, U.S. N., in charge 
of the chronometers and time service, and 
also general storekeeper and inspector of 
nautical instruments ; Professor H. M. Paul, 
U.S. N., in charge of magnetic and mete- 
orologicai observations; Computer M. E. 
Porter; Instrument-maker William F. 
Gardner. 

The Astronomical Director is Professor 
William Harkness, U. S. N., and imme- 
diately under him are Professor Edgar 
Frisby, U.S. N., in charge of the 12-inch 
equatorial refractor ; Professor S. J. Brown, 
U.S. N.,in charge of the 26-inch equatorial 
refractor; Professor A. N. Skinner, U.S. N., 
in charge of the 9-inch meridian circle; 
Assistant Astronomer G. A. Hill, in charge 
of the prime-vertical transit and the alt- 
azimuth ; Assistant Astronomers T. I. King 
and F. B. Littell; Computers E. A. Boeger, 
G. K. Lawton, William M. Brown and F. 
H. Parsons; Photographer George H. Peters. 

The 6-inch transit circle is not yet ready 
for use. 

The work of the Observatory since its re- 
moval to the new site, in the beginning of 
1898, has been as follows: 

In 1888 the management of the Naval 
Observatory acceded to a request from the 
German Astronomical Society to determine, 
in accordance with its general program, 
the positions of the stars in the zone —13° 
50’ to —18° 10’ of declination. Various 
difficulties prevented the execution of this 
work at the old Observatory, but as soon 
as the 9-inch transit circle was got into 
working order at the new site the Superin- 
tendent, Captain F. V. McNair, directed 
Assistant Astronomer A. N. Skinner to 
proceed with the observations, and gave 
him the assistance of Computers T. I. King 
and F. B. Littell for that purpose. The 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 210. 


first zone was observed January 138, 1894, 
and with the exception of a few scattering 
stars, the entire work was completed in 
182 zones, the last of which was observed 
on May 26, 1897. The program involved 
the determination of the position of 8,689 
stars, with at least two observations of each. 
The number of observations actually made 
was 19,762, of which 18,062 were zone stars 
and 1,700 were zero stars. The reduction 
of these observations is about three-fourths 
completed. In the course of the zone ob- 
servations Assistant Astronomer Skinner 
discovered the variability of the following 
stars : 

X Hydre, announced in the Astronomical Journal, 
No. 332. 

W Ceti, announced in the Astronomical Journal, 
No. 342. 

RT Libree, announced in the Astronomical Journal, 
No. 352. 

Z Capricorni, announced in the Astronomical Jour- 
nal, No. 358. 

The meridian observations of the Sun, 
Moon and planets were necessarily inter- 
rupted by the removal to the new site. As 
stated above, these observations were sus- 
pended June 29, 1891, and it was not found 
expedient to resume them until after the 
appointment of the Astronomical Director 
in September, 1894. During the progress 
of the observations of the German zone, 
other meridian observations could not be 
pushed energetically, and until the zone 
reductions are completed they will be lim- 
ited to the Sun, Moon and planets, the 
necessary ephemeris stars, and a few mis- 
cellaneous stars. The Sun and major plan- 
ets are now observed on the meridian every 
day, except Sundays and holidays, and the 
Moon is observed at every visible transit. 
The reductions of these observations are 
nearly completed to within a few months of 
date. 

The 12-inch equatorial has been continu- 
ously employed by Professor Frisby on ob- 
servations of asteroids, comets, occultations 


JANUARY. 6, 1899. ] 


of stars by the Moon, and eclipses of Jupi- 
ter’s satellites. Much of the current work 
of this instrument may be found in the 
Astronomical Journal. 

The 26-inch equatorial has been continu- 
ously employed by Professor Brown on ob- 
servations of the more difficult asteroids, 
on double stars, and on the satellites of 
Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. In 
recent months some spectroscopic work has 
been done. 

Assistant Astronomer George A. Hill has 
charge of the Prime Vertical transit instru- 
ment and thealt-azimuth. With the Prime 
Vertical transit from July 24, 1893, to No- 
vember 20, 1898, he has made 1,140 obser- 
vations of « Lyre, @ Aurige, « Canum 
Venaticorum, » Andromedee and ; Bootis. 
With the alt-azimuth instrument from Feb- 
ruary 24, 1898, to November 20, 1898, he 
has made 425 vertical-circle observations of 
American Ephemerisstars, and from Novem- 
ber 22, 1894, to November 20, 1898, he has 
also made 599 zenith telescope observations 
of pairs of stars selected in groups as sug- 
gested by Kustner. 

As at the old Observatory, meteorological 
observations are taken every three hours 
by the watchman on duty. After removal 
to the new site magnetic observations were 
resumed, but it was soon found that the 
influence of the suburban electric roads in 
the vicinity entirely vitiated the photo- 
graphic records, and they were discontinued 
in the summer of 1898. 

The annual volume of Observations for 
the year 1889 was published in 1893, and 
that for 1890 was published in 1895. The 
latter contained an important appendix en- 
titled ‘A catalogue of 16,748 stars, deduced 
by the Naval Observatory from zone obser- 
vations made at Santiago de Chili by the 
United States Naval Astronomical Expedi- 
tion to the Southern Hemisphere during the 
years 1849, ’50, ’51, ’52, Lieut. J. M. Gil- 
liss, U.S.N., Superintendent.’ Advantage 


SCIENCE. 


15 


was taken of the interruption of the work 
of the Observatory by reason of its removal 
to a new site, to complete the reduction of 
these zone observations. Among the many 
persons who have shared in the computa- 
tions Professors Harkness, Frisby and 
Brown have performed the most important 
part. 

In November, 1898, was published Ap- 
pendix I to the Washington Observations 
for 1892, entitled ‘The Second Washington 
Catalogue of Stars, together with the an- 
nual results upon which it is based ; the 
whole derived from observations made at 
the United States Naval Observatory with 
the 8.5-inch Transit Circle during the years 
1866 to 1891 and reduced to the epoch 
1875.0, prepared under the direction of 
John R. Eastman, Professor of Mathemat- 
ies, U.S.N.’ This catalogue contains the 
positions of 5,151 stars which have been 
derived from 72,941 observations, being the 
entire series made while the Pistor and 
Martins transit circle was located at the old 
Observatory. 

It will be noted that the Naval Observa- 
tory owes its existence primarily to an at- 
tempt on the part of naval officers to pro- 
vide a depot for the care and issue of charts 
and nautical instruments. This naturally 
involved the equipment of the Depot with 
such astronomical instruments as are neces- 
sary for rating chronometers, but the needs 
of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition of 1838 
to 1842, and the inception of the American 
Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac ten years 
later, soon showed the necessity for an in- 
strumental equipment sufficient to cope with 
all astronomical problems, and that followed 
in due time. The principal aim of the Na- 
val Observatory has always been to carry 
forward a continuous series of Meridian ob- 
servations on the Sun, Moon and planets, 
such as can only be undertaken by great 
government observatories, like those of 
Greenwich and Paris. Since 1861 this work 


16 


has been kept up assiduously, and in recent 
years the number of meridian observations 
of the Moon has largely surpassed those 
made anywhere else. 

In spite of this limitation in the scope of 
its operations, the Naval Observatory has 
not been unmindful of other lines of work. 
As instances of this may be cited the brill- 
lant discovery of the moons of Mars by 
Professor Hall; the extensive work upon 
the satellites of the outer planets by Profes- 
sors Hall, Newcomb and Brown; and 
finally the star catalogues of Professors 
Yarnal] and Kastman and the contribution 
to the great star catalogue of the German 
Astronomical Society in the observation of 
the zone of stars from 13° 50’ to 18° 10’ of 
south declinations. KON GeiNnaR 


U.S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY. 


THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIETY. 

THE attempt to construct a science of 
society by means of biological analogies has 
been abandoned by all serious investigators 
of social phenomena. It was one of those 
misdirected efforts that must be looked 
upon as inevitable in the development of 
any branch of knowledge. The notion of a 
universal evolution compelled those who 
accepted it to try to find some other expla- 
nation of our social relations than that 
dogma of an original covenant which had 
come down to us from Hobbes and Locke. 
Biology supplied most of the facts and ideas 
of which the evolutionary thought was con- 
structed; and naturally, therefore, biolog- 
ical conceptions were first made use of in 
formal Sociology. At present, however, all 
serious work in Sociology starts from psy- 
chological data, and proceeds by a combina- 
tion of psychological with statistical and 
historical methods. 

Psychology has had a development some- 
what similar. Beginning with purely meta- 
physical terms and reasonings, it became a 
natural science with the advent of evolu- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 210. 


tionary thought, and for a long time drew 
its best materials and its most fruitful 
hypotheses from physiological data. Phys- 
iological Psychology was the only psy- 
chology very well worth attention. George 
Henry Lewes was one of the first writers 
to argue, as he did with great force and 
brilliancy in the ‘Problems of Life and 
Mind,’ that the physiological explanations 
of mind must be supplemented by explana- 
tions drawn from the study of society. At 
the present time the social interpretation 
of mental development is an important part 
of psychological activity. 

Psychological and sociological investiga- 
tions have thus converged upon certain 
common problems, namely: The problem of 
the social nature of the individual mind, 
and the problem of the psychical nature of 
social relations. Any new contribution to 
either Psychology or Sociology is likely to 
be found also a contribution to the other, 
and we may look in the near future for a 
number of books of which it will be difficult 
to say whether they are primarily works 
on Psychology or on Sociology. 

This is eminently true of Professor Bald- 
win’s ‘Social and Ethical Interpretations,’ 
the second volume of his work on ‘ Mental 
Development.’ The first volume, on ‘ Meth- 
ods and Processes,’ was definitely a study 
in Psychology. The problem dealt with 
was that of mental development through 
the interaction of physical and social causes, 
and the importance of social factors was 
emphasized throughout. In the volume on 
‘Social and Ethical Interpretations’ we 
again find the same problem. The develop- 
ment of the individual mind through its 
social relations and activities is further con- 
sidered. In this volume, however, the 
opposite problem also is introduced. The 
development of social relations and activi- 
ties through the outgoing of the individual 
is discussed, and the nature of society is 
subjected to a critical examination. 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


A division of the volume into two books 
corresponds to the above distinction of the 
problems dealt with. Book I. is a study of 
the person, public and private; Book IT. is 
a study of society. The four formal parts 
of Book I. deal respectively with the imi- 
tative person, the inventive person, the 
person’s equipment and the person’s sanc- 
tions. The three formal parts of Book 
II. deal respectively with the person in 
action, social organization and practical con- 
clusions. 

I shall not attempt in the present article 
to review Professor Baldwin’s treatment of 
all these subjects, or even to summarize his 
conclusions. I shall examine only the two 
conceptions that are of chief interest to the 
sociologist. These, of course, are the con- 
ception of the social nature of the self, or 
individual personality, and the conception 
of the psychic nature of society. 

Psychology, some time ago, got beyond 
the conundrum 

«Should I be I or should I be 
One-tenth another and nine-tenths me’’ 
if my great-grandmother had married an- 
other suitor? It seems to be agreed on all 
hands that in any case the ego is nine-tenths 
or more somebody else. That is to say, his 
individual personality is for the most part 
a product of his intercourse with other per- 
sonalities. Professor Baldwin, as readers 
of his earlier works are aware, goes even 
beyond writers like Ribot and James in his 
account of the composite origin of the self. 
He holds that not only does the self incor- 
porate elements from other personalities, 80 
that, at any given time, it includes thoughts 
and feelings derived from others, and acts 
in imitation of the conduct of others, but 
also that its very thought of itself is merely 
one pole of a consciousness ‘of a sense of 
personality generally,’ the other pole of 
which is the thought of some other person 
or alter. 

This comprehensive sense of personality 


SCIENCE. 


Ie 


at first is merely projective—to use Pro- 
fessor Baldwin’s term ; it is a mass of more 
or less vague impressions received from 
persons who are encountered and observed. 
It is secondly subjective; the ego, by its 
imitations of observed persons, incorpo- 
rates their peculiarities to some extent in 
itself. It is thirdly ejective; the self in- 
terprets observed persons in terms of its 
own feelings, thoughts and habits. This 
give and take between the individual and 
his fellows Professor Baldwin calls ‘ the dia- 
lectic of personal growth ;’ and’‘he says it 
may be read thus: ‘ My thought of self is 
in the main, as to its character as a personal 
self, filled up with my thought of others, 
distributed variously as individuals; and 
my thought of others, as persons, is mainly 
filled up with myself. In other words, but 
for certain minor distinctions in the filling, 
and for certain compelling distinctions be- 
tween that which is immediate and that 
which is objective, the ego and the alter are 
to our thought one and the same thing.” 
Thus the individual is always a socius, and 
not merely because, after reaching adult 
life, the necessity of cooperating with his 
fellow-men compels him to adapt himself to 
them and to modify an original egoism by 
the cultivation of social habits, but because, 
from his earliest infancy, his own develop- 
ment as a self-conscious person has been 
incorporating social elements and creating 
within himself a social no less than an in- 
dividual point of view. 

When adult life is reached, however, the 
process does not cease. The dialectic of 
personal growth continues to determine all 
our thinking, our social no less than our 
individual judgments; that is to say, in ar- 
riving at any judgment, we incorporate in 
our thought the judgments of other men; 
and we interpret the judgments of other 
men by our own. 

It follows that all of those social rela- 
tions and policies which are products of 


18 SCIENCE. [N. §. Von. IX. No. 210. 


reflection no less than of feeling are deter- 
mined by the ‘ dialectic of personal growth,’ 
and that, like judgments of things in gen- 
eral, they are, in the thought of indi- 
viduals, highly composite products of sub- 
jective and ejective views of the same 
phenomena. 

Approaching the study of society in this 
way, Professor Baldwin is naturally led to 
discriminate between the substance, con- 
tent, stuff, or material of society, and the 
functional method or process of organiza- 
tion of the social material. He criticises 
the sociologists for not having definitely 
enough discriminated these two problems. 
Consistently with his conception of our 
social judgments, he describes the matter 
of social organization as follows: ‘The 
matter of social organization consists of 
thoughts ; by which is meant all sorts of 
intellectual states, such as imagination, 
knowledges and informations.’ This ‘ mat- 
ter,’ he thinks, is found only in human 
groups, which only, therefore, can be called 
societies. Animal communities he would 
call ‘companies.’ The functional method 
or process of organization of the social 
material he is satisfied to find in the process 
of imitation as subjectively contained in 
the ‘ dialectic of personal growth,’ and ob- 
jectively described, in sociological terms, 
by M. Tarde. Social evolution results from 
the interaction of the individual as a par- 
ticularizing force and society as a general- 
izing force. Allsolidarity and conservation 
are due to the generalizing force ; all varia- 
tion to the particularizing force. Progress 
is a dialectic of give and take between these 
two elements. 

In examining these conceptions I shall 
admit their general or substantial truth, 
and inquire only whether they need modifi- 
cation, limitation or expansion. Do they 
sufficiently and precisely express the whole 
truth and nothing but the truth? 

Is the thought of self quite so largely a 


product of the social relation as Professor 
Baldwin represents? Is it accurate to say 
that *‘my thought of self is, in the main, 
filled up with my thought of others,’’ even 
if we admit ‘ minor distinctions in the fill- 
ing’ and ‘‘ certain compelling distinctions 
between that which is immediate and that 
which is objective ?’’? What are these com- 
pelling distinctions of the immediate ? Ob- 
viously, they are those presentations in 
consciousness which arise from organic con- 
ditions rather than from social relations. 
Hunger is a state of consciousness which 
can subvert the entire product of the ‘ dia- 
lectic of personal growth ;’ and the sociolo- 
gist is unable to lose sight of the fact that 
when men who have been developed by that 
dialectic into socii are confronted by star- 
vation they are liable to have thoughts of 
self which can hardly be construed as filled 
up mainly with thoughts of others, unless 
he is prepared to accept a cannibal’s defini- 
tion of others. The sociologist, then, must 
continue to think of the individual as being 
both an ego and a socius, and yet as be- 
ing at all times more ego than socius. 

The importance of this modification of 
Professor Baldwin’s formula is chiefly for 
purposes of economic theory. No econo- 
mist will be able to accept Professor Bald- 
win’s contention (bottom of page 13) that 
it is illegitimate to ‘endeavor to reach a 
theory of value based on a calculus of the 
desire of one individual to gratify his indi- 
vidual wants, multiplied into the number 
of such individuals.’ The truth is that, for 
most purposes of economic theory, this pro- 
cedure is not only legitimate, but is the 
only one psychologically possible. The 
compelling wants that political economy 
has chiefly to consider are those which arise 
from the organic nature and which, there- 
fore, magnify the ego at the expense of the 
socius. 

The modification is necessary also for 
purposes of ethical theory. Professor Bald- 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


win, if I rightly understand him, derives 
all ethical phenomena from social relations. 
This I believe to be an error. Economic 
motives are specific cravings of particular 
organs or groups of organs. Complete 
satisfaction of economic wants may deprive 
other organs of their due satisfaction. The 
protest of the neglected organs and the 
hunger of the entire organism for integral 
satisfaction is, I believe, the original source 
of all ethical motive, which, therefore, is in- 
definitely developed by, but not initiated 
in, the ‘ dialectic of personal growth.’ * 

It seems probable, then, that in ‘ the dia- 
lectic of personal growth,’ the original ego 
with which the dialectic starts, plays 
throughout a controlling part; and that, 
after all, the process of developing a socius 
is one which consists essentially in modify- 
ing, by means of social relations and activi- 
ties, an originally independent self. 

The modification, however, is undoubt- 
edly produced by the process of give and 
take between egoand alter. The question, 
then, that I wish next to raise is: Is the give 
and take, in which the ego engages, carried 
on indiscriminately with any alter, or is 
there, from the very beginning of conscious 
life, a tendency to discriminate between one 
and another alter, and to limit the condi- 
tions of personal growth by that state of 
consciousness which may be described as a 
consciousness of similars or of kind? Scat- 
tered throughout Professor Baldwin’s writ- 
ings are many intimations that he has 
suspected, or perhaps even been definitely 
aware of, such limitations. I do not find, 
however, that he has anywhere endeavored 
to formulate them or to bring them system- 
atically within the formulas of his dialectic. 

What, then, are some of the inquiries 
which should be made in regard to these 
limitations ? 

*T have considered this subject at greater length in 


an article on ‘ The Ethical Motive,’ in the International 
Journal of Ethics, April, 1898. 


SCIENCE. 


Lg 


First, I think that we should inquire 
whether, long before any discriminations of 
kind have become possible, a preparation 
for them and a tendency toward them is 
made in conscious experience. Of the sen- 
sations which first arise in consciousness 
some are received from the bodily organism 
which the self inhabits ; some are received 
from similar bodily organisms, and some 
are received from wholly unlike objects in 
the external world. Now, we know that 
many sensations received from self are so 
nearly like sensations received from like- 
selves that, merely as sensations, they can 
be distinguished only with difficulty. If, 
for example, I strike with my voice a cer- 
tain note of the musical scale, and another 
person a moment after strikes the same note 
with his voice, my auditory sensations in 
the two cases will be very nearly alike. If 
I ery out in pain, and then hear another 
man like myself cry out in pain, my audi- 
tory sensations will be nearly alike. If, 
however, I hear a dog bark the sensation 
will be different from that which I have re- 
ceived from my own voice. If I walk with 
my friend down the street, and happen to 
notice the motion of my feet as I take suc- 
cessive steps, and then to notice the motion 
of my friend’s feet, the visual sensations 
will, in these two cases, be closely alike. 
If, however, I happen to notice the trotting 
of a horse that is being driven by me the 
visual sensation will be different from that 
which I have received in observing my own 
steps. If I stroke the back of my hand, and 
then stroke the back of my friend’s hand, I 
shall receive tactual sensations that are 
closely alike. If, then, I stroke the fur of a 
cat or the mane of a horse, or touch the paw 
of a cat or the hoof of a horse, I shall re- 
ceive sensations very different from those 
received from the back of my hand. It ap- 
pears, then, that before there is any power 
to make discriminations of any kind, even 
to think of differences of sensation, sensa- 


20 


tions themselves fall into different group- 
ings. At the very beginning of conscious 
life certain elements which are to enter into 
a consciousness of kind begin to appear in 
experience. They consist of like sensations 
received from self and from others who re- 
semble self. 

On the basis of these experiences there 
are developed others that call for investiga- 
tion from the same point of view. When 
suggestion begins to play an important part 
in mental life are suggestions from persons 
very unlike self equally efficacious with 
suggestions from persons nearly like self? 
There is here a great field for investigation. 
A thousand familiar observations strongly 
indicate the superiority of suggestions that 
come from those whose neural organiza- 
tion resembles that of the person affected. 
Why, for example, does Maudsley venture 
to say, without offering the slightest proof, 
that, while men are as liable as silly sheep 
to fall into panic when they see panic among 
their fellows, they are not similarly liable 
when they perceive panic among sheep? 
Obviously, because facts of this general 
character are so familiar that no one would 
think of questioning them. In like man- 
ner, a child who objects to performing a 
certain task which his father asks him to 
do will do it without hesitation if he sees 


other boys in the street engaged in the same. 


work. Phenomena like these, of course, 
have their origin in a like responsiveness 
of like organisms to the same stimulus. 

A third class of experiences and activi- 
ties, which are ultimately to enter into a 
consciousness of kind, and that are already 
very probably dominating ‘ the dialectic of 
personal growth,’ are imitations. Here, 
also, there is room for exact investigation ; 
but we may predict at the outset that in- 
vestigation will verify the common opinion 
that we chiefly imitate our similars. The 
equally familiar fact that we do not always 
do so is of immense importance for the the- 


SCIENCE. 


{[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


ory of variation, invention and originality. 
And this theory, I believe, is not to be con- 
structed without referring back to the truth 
mentioned aboye, that the ego is at all times 
the original and dominant element in the 
‘dialectic of personal growth.’ I am not 
at present prepared to give my reasons, but 
T expect that it will be shown that in the 
same reaction of the organism upon the or- 
gan which is the source of ethical motive 
will be found the source of originality, vari- 
ation and the occasional imitation of those 
who differ from, rather than resemble, our- 
selves. 

The factors thus far considered, namely, 
like responsiveness of like organisms to 
the same stimulus, like sensations received 
from self and from others who resemble 
self, a greater responsiveness to suggestions 
from like selves than from not-like selves, 
and a greater readiness to imitate like 
selves than to imitate not-like selves, to- 
gether make up the organic sympathy that 
is a bond of union in those groups of animals 
that Professor Baldwin calls companies, and 
the bond of union of men who act together 
impulsively rather than reflectively—the 
bond, in short, of the mob. It is certain 
that organic sympathy depends on organic 
likeness, and the phenomena that have 
been named above are the psychological 
correlatives of organic likeness. 

How is organic sympathy converted into 
a higher or reflectivesympathy ? The true 
answer, I think, is : Through the mediation 
of that perception of resemblance which 
is the initial stage in the conversion of a 
mere sensational experience or likeness into 
a reflective consciousness of kind. When 
the power to perceive relations and to make 
discriminations arises, the perception of 
resemblances and differences among one’s 
fellow-beings becomes an all-important fac- 
tor in the further development of social 
relations and in the ‘ dialectic of personal 
growth.’ From that moment organic sym- 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 
pathy becomes a function of the perception 
of resemblance ; and sympathy becomes, to 
a certain extent, reflective. Hyven in mob 
action the reaction of the perception of 
kind may be seen with the utmost clear- 
ness. When, for example, a mass of men 
simultaneously respond to a party cry or 
symbol the action for the moment is merely 
a like responsiveness to the same stimulus. 
An instant later, when each man perceives 
that his fellow-beings are, in this respect, 
resembling himself in feeling and in action, 
his own emotion is enormously intensified. 
It is this which gives to all symbols and 
shibboleths their tremendous social impor- 
tance. ‘The phenomenon has been very well 
described in the concluding pages of Dr. 
Boris Sidis’s ‘ Psychology of Suggestion.’ 
Let us pass, now, to the conception of the 
psychical stuff or substance of society. 
Professor Baldwin’s thesis, as we have 
seen, is that ‘‘ the matter of social organiza- 
tion consists of thoughts, all kinds of knowl- 
edges and informations.’’ He thus places 
himself in definite opposition to those writers 
who have made sympathy, or any kind of 
emotion, the psychological stuff of society. 
It is for this reason that he makes a sharp 
distinction between animal ‘ companies’ and 
human societies. Criticism of this thesis 
may be made from two points of view : one, 
the historical, supported by observations 
from animal cegmmunities; the other, the 
psychological, supported by those analyses 
of the relations of sympathy and perception 
which I have sketched above. From the 
standpoint of the observer of animal and 
primitive human societies it is difficult, if 
not impossible, to establish a line of demar- 
cation between the more highly organized 
bands of animals, like troops of monkeys, or 
herds of elephants, or bands of wild horses, 
and the simplest hordes of human beings, 
like Bushmen or Australian Blackfellows. 
No one can say when, in the development 
of man from brute, sympathy ceased to be 


SCIENCE. 


21 


the chief stuff or substance of the social re- 
lationship, and thoughts in the form of in- 
ventions and knowledges began to assume 
that important place. In like manner, when 
modern human society is looked at from the 
psychological view-point, it is often, indeed 
usually, impossible to say whether sympathy 
or thought predominates in the intercerebral 
action of the associating individuals. Pro- 
fessor Baldwin’s thesis would compel him 
to maintain that the same individuals are a 
‘society ’ one day and merely a ‘company ’ 
another. At one time they are thoughtful 
and self-controlled ; at another time they are 
an audience swept by emotion, or a mob 
given over tofury. Shall we, then, say that 
the stuff of society is thought merely, or feel- 
ing merely, or some combination of the two? 
Surely the last of these possibilities is the 
one that is most consistent both with evolu- 
tionary hypotheses and with psychological 
conclusions. The substance of society at 
first is sympathy and instinct mainly. At 
its best estate society may rise to a level 
where thought has for the moment com- 
pletely subordinated feeling. But usually, 
and throughout the greater part of its career, 
society is sympathy and instinct more or 
less organized, more or less directed, more 
or less controlled, by thought. When the 
thought element appears society has become 
reflective, and a better way to mark the dis- 
tinction between the lowest and the highest 
societies than that which restricts the word 
‘society’ to the latter and calls the former 
‘companies’ is one which indicates this ele- 
ment of reflection. Animal and primitive 
human communities are, for the most part, 
sympathetic or non-reflective societies ; pro- 
gressive human communities in general are 
reflective societies. The reflective stage cor- 
responds to the appearance of the perception 
of kind and to reflective sympathy. 

But even if we were to accept the thesis 
that the social stuff is exclusively intellec- 
tual we could not possibly admit that it 


22 


consists of all sorts of thoughts and knowl- 
edges indiscriminately. It undoubtedly in- 
cludes all sorts of thoughts and knowledges, 
but not all sorts of thoughts and knowledges 
in and of themselves make society or the 
social stuff. The social stuff, so far as it is 
intellectual, is one kind of knowledge in 
particular, namely, knowledge of resem- 
blances, knowledge of those modes of like- 
mindedness that make cooperation possible. 
The same logic that leads Professor Baldwin 
to try to separate the social stuff from other 
kinds of stuff should lead him further to 
distinguish the thought that is essentially 
social and capable of organizing all other 
thoughts and knowledges into social ma- 
terial from the thought and knowledge that 
have no such inherent power. 

Perhaps, however, it is in his few remarks 
about the social process that Professor Bald- 
win has been most unjust to himself, and 
has missed an opportunity to make a really 
important contribution to social science. 
He is willing to grant that the social pro- 
cess consists inimitation. Yet, if the earlier 
chapters of ‘Social and Ethical Interpreta- 
tions’ prove anything at all, they prove 
that imitations are progressively controlled, 
as individual development proceeds, by the 
process of ejective interpretation. Tocarry 
this thought into sociological interpretation 
it is necessary to bear in mind the function 
of resemblance, especially of mental and 
moral resemblance, in controlling relation- 
ships. In the ejective processes of the 
‘dialectic of personal growth’ not all of 
our acquaintances are indiscriminately util- 
ized. We detect the difference between 
those who, in ways important to ourselves, 
resemble us and those who, in ways im- 
portant to ourselves, differ from us. Our 
ejective interpretations, therefore, are ac- 
companied at every step by a process of 
ejective selection. These ejective selections 
are the psychological basis of all social 
groupings, not only of those of the more 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No.-210.- 


intimate sort, such as personal friendships, 
but those also of the purely utilitarian sort, 
like business partnerships. Ina word, while 
imitation is a process that penetrates so- 
ciety through and through, it is not a dis- 
tinctively social process. It is wider than 
the social process, just as thought is more 
comprehensive than the social stuff. The 
distinctive social process is an ejective in- 
terpretation and selection. In its widest 
form it includes imitation controlled by or 
made a function of ejective selection. 

I may now very briefly indicate the fur- 
ther criticisms which, in pursuance of this 
thought, must be made upon Professor 
Baldwin’s views—criticisms, namely, that 
apply to his treatment of social policy. No 
exception is to be taken to the analysis 
which describes the individual as the par- 
ticularizing social force, and society in its 
entirety as the generalizing social force. 
But I fail to discover in Professor Baldwin’s 
account of the subject any adequate recogni- 
tion of the social causation of individuality. 
That causation must be sought in the phe- 
noma of unlikeness in the social population. 
Throughout human history individuality 
and the possibility of social variation have 
been due to the commingling of ethnic ele- 
ments, or, within the same nationality, to 
the commingling of elements long exposed 
to different local environments. The com- 
mingling itself is brought about by emigra- 
tion and immigration. If the biological 
phenomenon of panmixia is all that Weis- 
mann, Galton and other investigators have 
represented to be, its levelling effects are 
counteracted and social progress is made 
possible only by continual groupings and 
regroupings in the population under the in- 
fluence of ejective selection. 

Finally, there is no possible explanation 
of social policy which leaves out of account 
the facts of mental and moral resemblance 
and the consciousness of kind. Without 
like-mindedness there can be neither spon- 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


taneous nor reflective cooperation. Not 
only must there be an agreement of 
thought, but for most, if not for all, public 
cooperation there must be a vast mass of 
sympathies and agreeing emotions. Men 
must have like sensations, be similarly sen- 
sitive to suggestion from resembling fellows, 
and enter subtly into like judgments with- 
out always being fully conscious of the pro- 
cess by which their conclusions are reached. 
The greater part of all public action must 
be described as a consequence of sympa- 
thetic and half-reflective agreement in plans 
and purposes, rather than as a consequence 
of systematic deliberation Moreover, it 
must not be forgotten that all public policy 
is a means to an end, proximate or ulti- 
mate; and that the ultimate end in every 
case is the maintenance and development 
of a certain type of man. That type itself 
is a rode of resemblance; and the recogni- 
tion of it, which directs and controls all 
policies, is a mode of the consciousness of 
kind. FrANKiIN H. Gipprnes. 


ATOMIC WEIGHTS. 
Tue following table of values is recom- 
mended for general adoption in analytical 


Atomic 

Name. Symbol. Weight. Name. 
Aluminium............ Al 27.1 Helium (?)........... 
Antimony...... coo fh!) 120. Hydrogen.... 30 
Argon (?)... eee AY 40. Indium....... 
Arsenic ... AS OsmmePLOGIN Closcsacne-tin= 
Barium ...... Ba 137.4 Ivridium............ 
Bismuth .... Bi 20S DeelrON cesses «sess 
Boron ........ B 11. Lanthanum... 
Bromine .... Br 79.96 Lead............. 
Cadmium ... Ca oi2seithinm:......-. 
Ceesium ..... Cs 133. Magnesium ... 
Calcium... Ca 40. Manganese..... 
Carbon.. Cc 12.00 Mercury........ $09 
Cerium... Ce 140. Molybdenum........ 
Chlorine..... Cl 35.45 Neodymium (?)..... 
Chromium..... Cr SPAT  INHGMAlS eistedacoosaonse 
Cobalt ............ Co 59.) Nitrogen............... 
Columbium Cb 94.  Osmium..... 
Copper.........- Cu 63.6 Oxygen...... 
Erbium (?). Er 166.  Palladium.. 
Fluorine..... F 19. Phosphorus... 
Gallium........ aoa (ER 70. Platinum ...... 
Germanium ........... Ge 72. Potassium............. 
Glucinum ooo (El 9.1 Presodymium (?).. 
(GOI! peccconadabocseda009 Au 197.2 Rhodium............. 


SCIENCE. 


23 


practice by a commission appointed by the 
German Chemical Society consisting of H. 
Landolt, W. Ostwald and K. Seubert. (Ber. 
d. D. Chem. Ges. 7898, 31, 2761.) 

The commission recommends that : 

1. The atomic weight of oxygen be taken 
as 16.000, and that the atomic weights of 
the other elements be calculated on the 
basis of their combining ratios with oxygen, 
directly or indirectly determined. 

2, The following atomic weights of the 
elements be adopted in practice, as they are 
probably the most correct values known at 
the present time. 

These numbers are, as a rule, given only 
with so many decimals that even the last 
one may be regarded as accurate. In con- 
sequence, the atomic weights determined 
by Stas, in which the errors amount to from 
3 to 6 units in the third decimal, are 
given with two decimals; the other atomic 
weights which have been more accurately 
determined are given with one decimal, 
and those less accurately determined are 
given without decimals. Exceptions to this 
rule have been made only in the cases of 
nickel, bismuth and tin, marked with an 
asterisk in the table. 


Atomic Atomic 
Symbol. Weight. Name. Symbol. Weight. 
He Ate RUDIGIUM Mee cecceceiees Rb 85.4 
HH 1.01 Ruthenium............ RU Oled 
In 114. Samarium(?).......... Sa 150. 
I 126.85 Scandium......... Se 44.1 
Ir 193.0 Selenium......... Se 79.1 
Fe 5GL0l SILICON) ..s.ccecs esas Si 28.4 
Haye A Seawesilver..... Ag = 107.93 
Pb 206.9 Sodium.... Na 23.05 
Li 7.03 Strontium. sa itsye 87.6 
Mg 24.36 Sulphur...... SEAMS) 32.06 
Mn 55.0 Tantalum.... peivitie Be) 183. 
He 200.3 Tellurium .. Re eee 127. 
Mo 96On Dhallinmerccsccnecsess Tl 204.1 
Nd N4AL DED OLIUM sc enresenes's ng 232: 
Ni teh pei rb sacnscinboado Sn Tale} sy 
N 14.04 Titannium .. ann 48.1 
Os 191. Tungsten....... a. NS 184. 
O 16.00 Uranium.......... Roe tee} 239.5 
Pd 106. Vanadinum....... Bak a, 51.2 
12) 31.0 Ytterbium... WA” Ae} 
Pt 194.8 Yttrium... we 89. 
ein aH SOM SYZINC Termeseresiens 7 65.4 
1249 140. Zirconium ............ Zr 90.6 
cee 03:0 


24 


In the case of nickel this was done in 
order to emphasize the difference between 
the atomic weights of cobalt and nickel, 
although in both values there may be 
possible deviations of +0.2. The true 
atomic weights of bismuth and tin are not 
correct to a certainty, to within 0.1. The 
value of hydrogen is 1.008, correct to within 
0.001, but the approximation of 1.01 has 
been regarded as permissible for the re- 
quirements of practice, as it involves an 
error of only one-fifth of one per cent. The 
values given for the elements marked in 
the table with interrogation points are not 
necessarily exact within whole units of the 
atomic weights assigned. 

FERDINAND G. WIECHMANN. 


JOHN CUMMINGS. 

In the decease of Hon. John Cummings, 
of Woburn, Mass., on the 21st of December, 
there terminated a life which has been note- 
worthy for the encouragement it has given 
to the study and teaching of science. In 
the early part of his manhood days Mr. 
Cummings acquired a reputation for honor- 
able dealing and for his success in the 
manufacture of leather in his native town 
of Woburn. To that town he was always 
loyal and generous, but his intelligence and 
his activity led him into larger circles until 
he became favorably known and his influ- 
ence was felt in a large and populous com- 
munity. He became acquainted with the 
late William B. Rogers, for whom he al- 
ways cherished an admiration and a pro- 
foundregard. Healso knew Louis Agassiz, 
Jeffries Wyman, Asa Gray and others, and 
he soon became a student as well as a lover 
of nature. The offices of trust and of busi- 
ness responsibility which he filled make a 
long and notable list, but his large affairs 
did not prevent him from cultivatiug a love 
for science, and they aided him in multi- 
plying his gifts to the cause of education. 
Through his attachment for William B. 


SCIENCE. 


. the close of the Civil War. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


Rogers he was interested in the founding of 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
and he became one of its most substantial 
supporters, contributing to its financial 
needs and serving as its Treasurer for 17 
years. It was through his generosity that 
the Boston Society of Natural History 
started its ‘Teachers’ School of Science,’ 
and it was through his liberality that its 
botanical collection was developed and that 
it has received special care to the present 
day. He was actively and generously in- 
terested in the work of public instruction, 
and he extended his aid to the South after 
In one instance 
he purchased a building and supplied teach- 
ers, urging them to work for the estab- 
lishment of free public schools, and when 
this was about to be accomplished he do- 
nated the building to the cause. His gifts 
and his efforts were never calculated to at- 
tract attention to himself, and many of his 
good deeds were scarcely known even by 
his friends. He was one of a class of honor- 
able and broad-minded business men who 
have been magnanimous in their support of 
science education, and who have found time 
to participate in the acquisition of knowl- 
edge, while aiding others to means for the 
prosecution of their studies or investiga- 


tions. 
Wa. H. Nizzs. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Matter, Energy, Force and Work. By StLas 
W. Houtman, Professor (Emeritus) Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology. New 
York, The Macmillan Company. 

Lovers of exact science are already indebted 
to Professor Holman for numerous important 
contributions to our knowledge of physics and 
especially for valuable suggestions as to the 
best treatment of the experimental solution of 
physical problems. His most pretentious work 
thus far is that on ‘ Precision of Measurements,’ 
which is everywhere recognized as a standard 
and which ought to be in the hands of every 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


one who is preparing to do something in the 
way of experimental research. In the vol- 
ume now under consideration he has entered 
a different field, and with such success as 
to deserve and, I have no doubt, to win the 
approval of all interested in the fundamental 
principles and concepts of physical science. In 
addition to an excellent review of current 
theories of the nature of matter, energy, force, 
etc., in which the vortex theory and Le Sage’s 
theory of gravitation are exceptionally well 
presented, the work includes much that is new 
and original, a few proposed additions to the 
nomenclature of science and many extremely 
suggestive discussions. 

Professor Holman departs from the usual 
practice in the very beginning when he defines 


matter as ‘the inert constituent of substance.’ 


By ‘substance’ he means ‘ that which is inferred 
as existing in space, and as endued with powers 
to affect portions of itself,’ and it is made out 
of matter by theaddition of something. ‘ Con- 
tinuous, uniform and permanent occupancy of 
space’ is the ultimate and sole property of 
matter. ‘Mass’ is defined as ‘quantity of 
matter,’ and as matter has really no signifi- 
cance until it becomes ‘substance’ the word 
‘mass’ is practically banished. 

Atoms are ‘ permanent aggregations of matter 
differentiated from matter by some mode of 
motion’ (vortex motion), and they combine to 
make ‘substance.’ ‘ Bodies’ are limited por- 
tions of ‘substance.’ The ‘something’ which 
distinguishes substance from matter is energy. 
“A designated quantity of substance consists 
of a definite quantity of matter in permanent 
association with a definite quantity of energy 
or motion.’?’ The two words ‘or motion’ 
render this statement somewhat obscure. 
What is meant by a ‘definite quantity of 
motion?’ Professor Holman’s definition of 
‘motion’ is that of nearly all writers, namely, 
‘change of relative position.’ It is a curious 
but common practice to define it in this way 
and then to define its ‘ quantity’ by associating 
with it something (matter, mass) absolutely 
unlike it in every respect. It is certainly not 
in this sense that he means to use it in the phrase 
above quoted. 

To all ‘substance’ he attributes a ‘ capacity 


SCIENCE. 25 


for kinetic energy’ and to this capacity he ap- 
plies the term ‘ kinergety,’ of which much use is 
made in all subsequent discussions. Mass is 
assumed to be proportional to kinergety and the 
latter thus affords a means of measuring the 
former or rather of comparing different quanti- 
ties of it. 

Quantities of substance may also be com- 
pared by means of the force called ‘ weight,’ 
and a quantity thus determined by means of 
the equal-arm balance is called weightal. 

The ‘ International Kilogramme’ and the ‘Im- 
perial Pound’ are spoken of as standards of 
‘Kinergety’ and weightal is shown to be pro- 
portional to ‘Kinergety.’ What is commonly 
known as ‘the ether,’ the medium by which 
radiant energy is transmitted, is regarded as a 
kind of substance, and hence not the continuous 
uniform substratum of ‘matter’ from which all 
substance is evolved. 

It is impossible in a brief notice to make ex- 
tensive quotations, but especial attention ought 
to be invited to the author’s remarks on the 
various forms of energy. They are extremely 
interesting and suggestive, and particularly so 
in the exhibit which is made of the importance 
of the energy of elasticity as an intermediate 
stage of all energy transformations. The defi- 
nition of ‘force’ as related to energy will not 
fail to attract attention and possibly enable 
many readers to possess a reasonably satisfying 
concept of that much-abused word. Reference 
has already been made to the very full presen- 
tation of the vortex theory of matter, in the 
possibilities of which the author evidently has 
great confidence. The principal results of the 
splendid work of Professor J. J. Thomson in 
the application of this theory to chemical phe- 
nomena are here given in clear and simple lan- 
guage, without the mathematical backing upon 
which it leans. The singularly clear and satis- 
factory discussion of Le Sage’s theory of grayi- 
tation as affected by the vortex theory of 
atoms would alone put the volume on the 
shelves of every physical library, but the more 
distinctly original portions of it, the nature of 
which has only been hinted at in this notice, 
will fully justify its careful perusal by students 
of physical science. 

I think there can be no impropriety in a brief 


26 


word in reference to the circumstances under 
which this book was written. It is well known 
among his many friends that Professor Hol- 
man’s active participation in the work of the 
Rogers Laboratory of Physics was arrested two 
or three years ago by the development of an 
illness from which, unfortunately, he has not 
yet recovered. During this time he has been 
confined to a reclining chair, and, in his own 
characteristic words, ‘even the familiar utili- 
zation of the convenient gamut of ether waves’ 
has been denied. Although unable to move 
and unable to see, his courage has never fal- 
tered. There has been no loss in his power of 
thought, and he has gone on thinking the many 
fine things which he has put into this book, for 
which, even if it had not been prepared under 
conditions that would have defeated most men, 
all physicists, friends and strangers alike, will 
ever be his debtor. 
TCM: 


A Brief Course in Qualitative Analysis. By ER- 
NEST A. CONGDON, PH.B., Professor of Chem- 
istry in the Drexel Institute. New York, 
Henry Holt & Co. 1898. 

The method of treatment adopted in this 
book consists in giving, first, a clear, concise 
statement of the most important reaction for 
each metal and acid, and then tables giving one 
or more schemes of analysis for each group. 
The tables are supplemented by explanatory 
notes. At the end of the book a series of ques- 
tions, well designed to test the student’s grasp 
of the subject, are given. While the tabular 
form always has the advantage of presenting 
the scheme for analysis very clearly, in the 
opinion of the writer, the same object is better 
attained by a tabular record prepared by the 
student. Because of their concise form, tables 
necessarily omit many details which are essen- 
tial for the successful execution of an analysis, 
and the notes which follow do not entirely over- 
come this difficulty. 

The selection of reactions and of schemes for 
analysis is excellent, and in the hands of good 
teachers the book will prove a useful one. 


A Short Manual of Analytical Chemistry, Quali- 
tative and Quantitative, Inorganic and Organic, 
following the Course of Instruction given in 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 210. 


the Laboratories of the South London School of 
Pharmacy. By JouN MutTer, Pa.D. Second 


American Edition. Illustrated. Adapted 
from the Eighth British Edition. Philadel- 
phia, P. Blakiston’s Sons & Co. 1898. Pp. 


xiii 228. Price, $1.25. 

As the title implies, a very large amount of 
information is compressed into comparatively 
little space in this volume. In the qualitative 
portion the statements giving the deportment of 
metals and of acids toward reagents are given ; 
consecutively and are followed by tables of 
schemes for analysis. Then follow directions 
for the identification of alkaloids and of a num- 
ber of common organic compounds. The quan- 
titative portion includes volumetric and gravi- 
metric analysis, ultimate organic analysis, and 
directions for the examination of air, water, food, 
alcoholic liquors, ete. It is in this portion that 
American chemists will find most to criticise ; 
Gooch crucibles are nowhere described, not 
even for the cases where they should be used 
in place of weighed filters. Directions for the 
determination of ‘citrate soluble phosphoric 
acid’ are not given under the analysis of ‘ ma- 
nures,’ and no reference is made to the ‘ offi- 
cial methods.’ The old uranium acetate 
method is given for the volumetric estimation 
of phosphoric acid instead of the more satis- 
factory methods with a reductor or with a 
standard alkali. Metaphenylene diamine is 
recommended for the detection of nitrites in 
water analysis, although the reagent is not suffi- 
ciently sensitive to be of any practical use in 
many cases. But, while the authors do not 
appear to be conversant with the best Ameri- 
can practice in these and some other cases, and 
while some of the directions appear to be too 
much abbreviated for the satisfactory use of a 
beginner, it would be difficult to find another 
book which compresses so much information 
about analysis into so small a space and for so 
moderate a price. W. A. Noyes. 


Wild Animals I have known. By ERNEST 
SeTon THompson. New York, Charles Scrib- 
ner’s Sons. 1898. Square 12mo. Pp. 359. 
200 illustrations. Price, $2.00. 

Rarely are the qualities of naturalist, writer 
and artist combined in one person, but Mr. 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


Ernest Seton Thompson has won distinction in 
all three réles. Asa naturalist he has enjoyed 
opportunities for study and observation both in 
Canada and the United States, chiefly in On- 
tario, Manitoba and New Mexico. Asa writer 
he is known as the author of ‘Birds of Mani- 
toba,’ ‘Mammals of Manitoba,’ and numerous 
articles contributed to magazines and scientific 
journals. As an artist he is perhaps still more 
widely known through his ‘ Art of Taxidermy,’ 
and work in illustrating several popular books 
on natural history, more especially on birds. 

His latest book is original in conception and 
execution. Here he has brought together some 
of his most interesting adventures and field ex- 
periences, woven them into entertaining and 
instructive stories, and illustrated them in a 
manner entirely unique. Under the title of 
‘Wild Animals I have known’ Mr. Thompson 
has departed from the beaten path of natural 
history description, and given us an insight 
into the habits and daily lives of some of the 
lower animals with which he has been on more 
or less familiar terms. He describes his friends 
from what might be termed the human stand- 
point, 7. e., not as mere objects, but as individ- 
uals endowed with personality and reason. 
‘(What satisfaction,’? he asks in the prefatory 
note, ‘‘would be derived from a ten- page sketch 
of the habits and customs of Man? How much 
more profitable it would be to devote that 
space to the life of some one great man. This 
is the principle I have endeavored to apply to 
my animals.’’ 

The book consists of eight stories detailing 
the adventures of Lobo, King of Currumpaw ; 
Silverspot, a crow; Raggylug, a rabbit; Bingo 
and Wully, two dogs; The Springfield fox ; the 
pacing mustang; and Redruff, a partridge. 
Lobo was a large wolf well known to the cat- 
tlemen of northern New Mexico who suffered 
from his depredations ; Silverspot, an old crow, 
has received his name on account of a con- 
spicuous white spot on the side of his head ; 
Raggylug, a rabbit with a ragged ear. Each 
animal and bird had some peculiarity by which 
it could be readily distinguished and thus kept 
under observation, sometimes for several years. 
The stories are told in a delightfully interesting 
style and contain many new facts and observa- 


SCIENCE. 27 


tions. Nearly all end tragically, for, as the 
author explains, the end of a wild animal is usu- 
ally tragic. The book is not, and is not intended 
to be, a scientific treatise on mammals. The 
reader is assured that the stories are true, but 
this does not necessarily imply that every de- 
tail was based on actual observation. In fact, 
it would be practically impossible to observe 
some of the scenes depicted in the biographies 
of the rabbit and the fox. In describing the 
habits of a particular animal there is little more 
than a skeleton of fact on which to build. The 
record is so fragmentary that an author is com- 
pelled to fill in the gaps from his general 
knowledge of the species and to represent the 
characters as he conceives them to be. Such 
descriptions are of necessity composite and 
subject to personal equation and imagination. 

The book is copiously illustrated with 29 half- 
tone plates and a large number of marginal 
sketches. The type bed is narrow and the mar- 
gins are utilized for sketches which are some- 
times mere outlines or suggestions, but so skill- 
fully executed as to make it possible to follow 
certain parts of the story merely by the illus- 
trations. Noone can fail to notice the author’s 
careful attention to details and his skill in 
woodcraft. The student of natural history will 
find many things of interest in the descriptions 
and illustrations, and the general reader will 
not regret an introduction to some of the ani- 


mals Mr. Thompson has known. 
dts She 18 


Human Anatomy. Edited by HENRY Morris, 
M.A. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Sons & 
Co. 1898. Second Edition. 

The appearance of a revised and enlarged 
second edition of this work within less than six 
years from its original entry into the arena is in 
itself a sign of success. The well-known text- 
books of human anatomy which have held 
almost undisputed sway since the memory of 
the oldest teacher, continually enlarging their 
field with the lapse of years, are so strongly in- 
trenched that the prospects of a new rival at 
first can hardly have appeared hopeful. Not 
only have they done their work very well, but 
their methods have become so familiar to teach- 
ers, and the latter have got so habituated to 


28 


them, that a new text-book is like a new pair 
of shoes, which have to be broken in before they 
can be called a comfort to their owners. There 
can be no question that this process is likely not 
to be a very rapid one. It is clear that this 
book has stood this preliminary test. It is writ- 
ten by several authors, but is fairly homogene- 
ous. The aim is to disregard microscopic anat- 
omy and to offer a text book which shall present 
the facts of gross anatomy both in a practical 
and in a scientific way. It is needless to say 
that the latter requires references both to em- 
bryology and to comparative anatomy. The 
section on the bones by Sutton is remarkably 
welldone. When we say that the joints are the 
work of the editor we have said enough to 
vouch for excellence—to all, at least, who know 
his earlier monograph (now unhappily out of 
print) on that subject. The peritoneum is the 
work of Treeves, which, again, issaying enough. 
We mean no slight to the other able writers 
whom we do not more particularly mention. 
The first edition concluded with a section on 
surgical and topographical anatomy which can- 
not but be welcome. In the present edition this 
is followed by a too short chapter on vestigial 
and abnormal structures. Variations of the 
muscles, of the vessels, and some of those of 
bones are considered in their respective sec- 
tions. The book is a very good one. We could, 
perhaps, find flaws here and there, but a search 
for them is uncalled for, as most of our readers 
are not professed anatomists. We have but one 
serious criticism to make, namely, that in the 
section on the nervous system the most recent 
(but generally accepted) fundamental doctrines 
of the structure of that system have not re- 
ceived due recognition. 

The illustrations are a most important part of 
a text-book onanatomy. Weare happy to give 
these very high praise. We were on the point 
of making special mention of those of certain 
sections, but they are so good as a whole that 
we refrain. 

To what extent this book will displace old 
and established favorites the future will show. 
It is a matter eminently unsafe to prophesy 
about, but the success already attained is, no 
doubt, an earnest of future progress. 

THoMAS DWIGHT. 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 210. 


GENERAL. 


THE proceedings of the forty-seventh meet- 
ing and fiftieth anniversary of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
have been sent to members by the Permanent 
Secretary, Dr. L. O. Howard. The volume, 
which contains introductory matter extending 
to 83 pages and 658 pages of text, appears very 
promptly, the address of President Eliot given 
before the Association on ‘ Destructive and 
Constructive Energies of our Government com- 
pared,’ being here printed before the January 
issue of the Atlantic Monthly, which also con- 
tains it. 


Lavy WELBY has printed for private cireula- 
tion a pamphlet extending to 61 pages, entitled 
‘The Witness of Science to Linguistic Anarchy.’ 
The introduction opens with the statement: 
“The following collection of extracts, chiefly 
from Nature, SCIENCE and Natural Science have 
been selected from a much larger number, with 
the object of bringing together, in convenient 
form, evidence of an almost incredible state of 
things in the scientific world.’’? We find an in- 
teresting collection of quotations on scientific 
nomenclature, showing a certain amount of 
diversity and conflict. Still they. scarcely bear 
witness to a ‘paralyzing nightmare of impo- 
tence,’ and it does not follow as suggested by 
Professor Foster that an international tribunal 
should ‘stamp the coin of science’ by defining 
every new name. New words must come and 
language must be flexible if science is to grow. 
Certainly men of science should realize their 
responsibility and be careful in their use of 
terms, but words were made for science and not 
science for words. Those interested can prob- 
ably obtain a copy of Lady Welby’s pamphlet 
by addressing her at Denton Manor, Grantham, 
England. 


WE have received for review a copy of ‘ Life’s 
Comedy,’ Third Series (Charles Scribner’s Sons). 
Life, from the issues of which this Christmas 
book is a reprint, does not hesitate to leave its 
own field and display ignorance by attacking 
men of science who practice vivisection, which 
should warn us against tresspassing on foreign 
territory. As Punch treats the anti-vivisection- 
ists from the point of view that commends itself 


——— 


8 SSS EEE 


So 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


to men of science, we may be prejudiced, 
but it does seem that ‘Mr. Punch’ is always a 
gentleman, whereas Life is on occasion distinctly 
vulgar. 


THE Rey. J. G. Hagen, of the Georgetown 
College Observatory, announces that the first 
series of charts of his Atlas of Variable Stars is 
nearly printed and will be issued in a few 
weeks. The cost of engraving and printing 
the whole Atlas will be about $7,000 and, though 
one-fourth of this sum has been given by Miss 
Catherine Bruce, it is necessary that one hun- 
dred subscribers to the entire series be obtained 
in order that expenses of engraving and print- 
ing can be guaranteed and its completion se- 
cured. The present series contains twenty-four 
charts and is sold to subscribers to the whole 
series at one Mark per chart. The work is 
published by Herr. F. L. Dames, of Berlin, but 
subscriptions may be sent through the Harvard 
College Observatory or through the George- 
town College Observatory. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

Terrestrial Magnetism for December, 1898, 
contains the following articles: ‘Report of the 
Permanent Committee on Terrestrial Magnet- 
ism and Atmospheric Electricity to the Inter- 
national Meteorological Conference ;’ ‘The To- 
ronto Magnetic Observatory,’ R. F. Stupart ; 
‘The Attitude of the Aurora above the Earth’s 
Surface’ (concluded), C. Abbe; ‘Bigelow’s 
Solar and Terrestrial Magnetism,’ reviewed by 
Arthur Schuster; ‘Notes on the Magnetic 
Storm of November 21st-22d, and on the Secular 
Motion of a Free Magnetic Needle,’ by L. A. 
Bauer. Mr. Stupart in his article describes the 
new Toronto Magnetic Observatory, situated at 
Agincourt, nine miles northeast of the old and 
disturbed site. Beginning with March, 1899, the 
name of the journal is to be changed to Terres- 
trial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity. It 
has been found necessary to enlarge the period- 
ical somewhat, and, in consequence, the sub- 
scription price has been increased from $2 to 
$2.50. It will be conducted, as heretofore, by 
L. A. Bauer and Thomas French, Jr., both of 
the University of Cincinnati. The editors will 
be asssisted by Messrs. Eschenhagen (Pots- 


SCIENCE. 29 


dam), Moureaux (Paris), Littlehales (Washing- 
ton), Schuster (Manchester), Elster and Geitel 
(Wolfenbiittel), McAdie (New Orleans), and by 
an international council consisting of Rucker 
(England), von Bezold (Germany), Mascart 
(France), Rykatschew (Russia), Mendenhall and 
Schott (America). 

The American Journal of Science for January 
contains the following articles : 

‘Thermodynamic Relations of Hydrated Glass,’ 
by C. Barus; ‘Platinum and Iridium in Meteoric 
Tron,’ by J. M. Davison ; ‘Studies in the Cyperacez,’ 
by T. Holm ; ‘Regnault’s Calorie and our Knowl- 
edge of the Specific Volumes of Steam,’ by G. P. 
Starkweather ; ‘ Estimation of Boric Acid,’ by F. A. 
Gooch and L. C. Jones ; ‘ Descriptions of imperfectly 
known and new Actinians,’ with critical notes and 
other species, II.; by A. E. Verrill; ‘ Mineralogical 
Notes,’ by W. F. Hillebrand; ‘ What is the Loess ?’ 
by F. W. Sardeson ; ‘Absorption of Gases in a High 
Vacuum,’ by C. C. Hutchins. 

Appleton’s Popular Science Monthly for Janu- 
ary gives as a frontispiece a portrait of August 
Kekulé and a sketch of his life and contribu- 
tions to science follows. Among the other arti- 
cles in the number are ‘The Mind’s Eye,’ by 
Professor Joseph Jastrow, illustrating the part 
played by mental processes in visual percep- 
tion ; an argument by Professor G. T. W. Pat- 
rick, maintaining that children under ten should 
not be taught to read and write; and nature 
study in the Philadelphia Normal School, by 
Mrs. L. L. W. Wilson. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE NEBRASKA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


THE ninth annual meeting of the Nebraska 
Academy of Sciences was held at Lincoln, No- 
vember 25 and 26, 1898. 

The address of the retiring President, Dr. 
H. B. Ward, was upon the ‘ Fresh-water Bio- 
logical Stations of the World.’ 

These were divided into individual resorts for 
independent investigation, periodical resorts 
where groups of scientists go for a portion of 
the year, and permanent stations where work 
is carried on throughout the year by resident 
investigators. The best results can only be ex- 
pected in the latter class, which are necessarily 
under government protection. 


30 


On the evening of November 25th, after a 
banquet tendered to members of the Academy 
and their wives by the Lincoln members, an 
address was given before the Academy by Pro- 
fessor Lawrence Bruner, on the ‘Flora and 
Fauna of Argentina, S. A.,’ where he has spent 
the past year investigating a grasshopper plague. 

Professor Bruner first gave a few facts regard- 
ing the location and shape of Argentina, its 
climate and the effect of the climate on plant 
and animal life. A very large portion of Argen- 
tina has an average of less than eight inches of 
rainfall per annum; another portion has an 
average rainfall of from eight to twenty-four 
inches, while another has from twenty-four 
inches to sixty. Still all this territory is inhab- 
ited and is well supplied with plant and animal 
life. Here evolution in plant and animal life is 
most noticeable, every form of vegetation and all 
kinds of animal life changing as the climate 
changes in traveling from one portion of the 
country to the other. Argentina was a conntry 
where everything protected itself and was fitted 
by nature to do so. The trees had thorns, the 
grasses and weeds were provided with thorns, 
and pointed, sharp blades and herbaceous plants 
were shielded with burrs. In the dryest parts of 
Argentina Professor Bruner said he had found 
plant and animal lifeabundant. Forests of large 
trees could be found where rain was scarcest, and 
he had been told that when heavy rains fell the 
trees would die from too much moisture. Many 
forms of animal life thrived best where there 
was no moisture. Plants were found without 
leaves, and birds of the same order as our 
water fowl that avoided water. In no other 
country on the earth, excepting perhaps Aus- 
tralia, could forms of animal life be found that 
compared with what was to be found there. 
Many kinds of birds were provided with spurs 
on their wings, and to illustrate some of these 
wonders the stereopticon was introduced and a 
number of views of strange animal life shown. 

Other papers on the program were as fol- 
lows: ‘Methods of Collecting and Preserving 
Water- Mites,’ by Dr. Robert H. Wolcott, with 
exhibition of new forms of collecting apparatus. 
‘The Discovery of the Southern Maidenhair 
Fern in the Black Hills,’ by Dr. Charles E. 
Bessey. It had been reported to him that it 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 210. 


grew there in profusion, but as its northern 
limit was about 36 degrees, or the southern 
line of Missouri, he took a thousand-mile jour- 
ney that he might be able to state scientifically 
that it was there. He found it growing in pro- 
fusion on the banks of a stream fed by warm 
springs, beside the buffalo berry of the north. 

C. J. Elmore read the second chapter of his 
serial, begun last year, on ‘The Second Year’s 
Flora of a Dried-up Millpond,’ and was re- 
quested to continue the subject next year. 

‘One to One Correspondence,’ by Dr. Ellery 
Davis. ‘A Determination of the Latitude of 
the Observatory,’ by Professor G. D. Swezey. 
The reduction of fifty-nine observations for the 
latitude of the observatory on the University 
grounds, made with a small universal instru- 
ment, gave as a result 40° 497 9.“9+ 0.4. 
Over a hundred additional observations have 
been taken which haye not yet been reduced. 

A joint paper by Abel A. Hunter and G. E. 
Hedgecock on ‘Thorea,’ a seaweed found by 
Mr. Hunter in the northeastern part of Lan- 
caster county the past summer, was submitted. 
This very rare and exceedingly interesting sea- 
weed is now found for the first time in Ne- 
braska and the second time with certainty in 
North America. 

‘What is Phytogeography,’ by Dr. Roscoe 
Pound. A discussion of the province of phy- 
togeography and of the various names that 
have been used to designate this and other 
closely related lines of investigation. 

‘The Growth of Children,’ by Dr. William 
W. Hastings. Observations made in European 
cities and in the larger cities of this country, 
with the results of experience in the University 
and public schools of Lincoln. From two to 
sixteen years the growth of children is very 
regular, but from sixteen to seventeen it is re- 
tarded. The full growth of man does not cease 
until after he is twenty-five. Athletics extend 
the growing period to thirty years. Affluence 
increases and deprivation and hard work de- 
creases the growth. Size diminishes between 
the age of fifty and sixty. The speaker men- 
tioned the phenomenal increase of five and 
seven-eighths inches chest measure in a 15-year- 
old boy, but the discussion brought out the fact 
that his grade marks were only seventy-five. 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


Ernest A. Bessey, in ‘How some Pistils close 
up,’ gave a study of the pistils of the buttercup 
and larkspur. 

“Observations on the Leonid Meteors of 
1898,’ by Professor G. D. Swezey. Observations 
made simultaneously at Lincoln, Crete and Bea- 
trice, from which the heights and actual paths 
of a number of the meteors was determined. 

A. B. Lewis read a paper on ‘The Occur- 
rence of a Fresh-water Nemertine in Nebraska,’ 
which described a marine animal which has been 
discovered in fresh water near the round house. 

Miss Carrie Barbour showed geodes from the 
Bad Lands, formations which are called by the 
cowboys blossom-stones. 

Notes on the ‘ Falling of Leaves from a Cot- 
tonwood Tree,’ by C. J. Elmore, described a 
tree sixteen inches in diameter and forty-five 
feet high. The cottonwood was shown to 
adapt itself to climates and conditions and to 
be unaffected by the change of seasons. 

Dr. R. H. Wolcott, of the zoological depart- 
ment, read a paper on ‘The Hydrachnide of 
Nebraska.’ He had already found sixteen new 
species and one new genus. 

The geology of Lincoln’s surroundings, as de- 
scribed last year by C. A. Fisher, was illus- 
trated by charts and outlines by Miss Barbour. 

The following papers were read by title only: 
‘Botanical Notes for the Year 1898,’ by Dr. C. 
E. Bessey. ‘Fossil Bryozoans of Nebraska,’ 
by Mr. G. E. Condra. ‘Some new Grasshop- 
pers and other related Insects from Argentina,’ 
by Professor Lawrence Bruner. ‘A new Bird 
Tape Worn,’ by Mr. Geo. E. Condra. ‘On the 
Poisonousness of Pure Water,’ by Dr. A. 8. 
von Mansfelde.’ ‘Obituary of Professor Wells 
H. Skinner;’ by Mr. A. T. Bell. 

The following persons were elected to honor- 
ary membership in the Academy: Alexander 
Agassiz, LL.D.; John M. Coulter, LL.D.; Pro- 
fessor Samuel H. Scudder; Joseph Le Conte, 
LL.D.; Simon Newcomb, LL.D.; Dr. Otto 
Kunze; Professor Victor Hensen. 

The election for officers resulted as follows: 
President, Professor G. D. Swezey, of Lincoln ; 
Vice-President, Dr. H. Gifford, of Omaha; Sec- 
retary and Custodian, Professor Lawrence 
Bruner, of Lincoln ; Treasurer, G. A. Loveland ; 
Directors, Professor Charles Fordyce, of Univer- 


SCIENCE. 


31 


sity Place, and Professor J. H. Powers, of Crete ; 
Professor H. Brownell, of Peru. 


SCIENCE CLUB OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, 
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. 


AT the December meeting of the Science 
Club, of Northwestern University, Professor A, 
R. Crook, of the department of mineralogy, 
read a paper on ‘ Notes on Russian Geology.’ 

Until within recent years the number of Rus- 
sians working in geology has been insignificant. 
The results of their work have for the most 
part been published in a language inaccessible 
to non-Russians. The police barrier erected by 
the government against travelers has kept out 
foreign geologists. Hence our knowledge of 
Russian geology has been meagre. The meet- 
ing of the International Geological Congress in 
St. Petersburg was an event of great impor- 
tance. A hundred workers from other lands 
visited mines and formations from one part of 
the country to the other, and thus gained a per- 
sonal knowledge of Russian geology, an ac- 
quaintance with the tasks and methods of work 
of Russian geologists, and an inclination to 
learn the Russian language. Russian geology 
offers interesting material in paleontology, 
mineralogy and general geology. The first 
contains less of importance than the last two. 

The topaz, turmaline, emerald, alexandrite, 
phenacite, amethyst, rhodonite, malachite, 
platinum, gold and a hundred other less valu- 
able minerals found in the Urals shed light 
upon the association, occurrence and genesis of 
minerals, while exhibiting the species in most 
perfect form. 

The crystallines and eruptives of Finland and 
the Urals, the question of the Silurian in the 
Urals, the development of the Permian, the 
Carboniferous of South Russia, the igneous 
rocks of the Caucasus, together with their pres- 
ent glaciers, and the glacial deposits which 
cover the larger part of Russia, court investiga- 
tion and attract the petrologist, the glaciologist, 
the stratigrapher, the physiographer, the pale- 
ontologist. 

Natural and cut gems, maps and lantern 
slides were used in illustration. 

Wm. A. Locy, 
Secretary. 


THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

Tur regular meeting was held on November 
10, 1898. : 

The first paper of the evening was read by Mr. 
F. K. Cameron, and was entitled ‘Some Boiling- 
point Curves for Mixtures of Miscible Liquids.’ 
The general properties and significance of 
pressure-concentration and temperature-con- 
centration curves for pairs of perfectly miscible 
liquids were indicated, and the researches 
of Konowaloff, Nernst and others briefly cited. 
All the possible types now known were illus- 
trated by some as-yet-unpublished data from a 
preliminary investigation by Cameron and 
Thayer. A significant fact brought out by cer- 
tain of these curves, notably the one for alco- 
hol-chloroform mixtures, is that they possess 
not only a maximum and minimum point, but 
there is a decided sag in the opposite direction 
at another portion of the curve. So far no 
such curve is known which has both a maximum 
and minimum point, and the possibility of such 
a case has been denied by some authorities. 
But the fact just cited shows an indubitable 
tendency towards such a case and indicates 
that by a suitable choice of the constant factor 
(temperature or pressure) for some pair of 
liquids such a curve may yet be found. The 
great desirability of further experimental work 
in this field, both for theoretical and practical 
reasons, was indicated. 

The second paper was by Mr. F. K. Cam- 
eron, and was entitled ‘A Ternary Mix- 
ture.’ Given a mixture of two perfectly 
miscible liquids, A and B, and a third sub- 
stance, C, soluble in one constituent of the 
pair, at a definite temperature there will be 
a separation of the liquid mixture into its con- 
stituents, this definite temperature being de- 
pendent on the relative concentrations of the 
solution. By keeping C in excess of the amount 
soluble the problem is somewhat simplified. 
The results of a preliminary investigation on 
the curve for temperature of separation-con- 
centration, presence of a third substance solu- 
ble in only one constituent, were presented. 
Further, the third substance, C, was varied for 
certain concentrations. And, finally, mixtures 
of the substances which had been used as C 
were tried. The results were interesting, but 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 210. 


no causal connection could be detected. It is 
essential that more experimental evidence shall 
be in our possession before a satisfactory theory 
of the phenomena will be possible. 

The third paper was read by Dr. T. M. 
Chatard and was entitled ‘Note on the Rate 
of Loss in Cyanide Solutions.’ Dr. Chatard ex- 
hibited a sheet of curves representing the rate 
of loss of cyanide in solutions used for the ex- 
traction of gold in the electrolytic sluice. There 
is always a certain loss due to oxidation of the 
cyanide through agitation of the solution dur- 
ing the operation of the apparatus. Another 
loss results from the action of the ore on the 
solution. An electric current of about 0.2 amp. 
per sq. ft. of cathode plate and of about 2 volts 
is employed, and it is desirable to know what 
effect such a current has upon the solutions 
which usually contain from 0.20 to 0.25 per 
cent. KCN at the start. Samples of the solu- 
tion were taken at regular intervals during 
each run, the percentage of cyanide giving 
points of the curve. When ore is treated, the 
curves usually show a rapid loss of cyanide dur- 
ing the first period of fifteen minutes, due to the 
action of the ore, the rate of loss then decreas- 
ing so that the final result is often a fairly reg- 
ular curve. When the solution is run with 
neither ore nor current the fall in strength is 
usually regular, so that the line connecting any 
three consecutive points is practically straight. 
Using the customary current but no ore, other 
conditions being alike, the results indicate that 
the cyanide losses are lessened even though the 
tests are, as yet, too few for positive evidence. 
It may, however, be stated with confidence that 
the use of electricity, so important for the ex- 
traction of precious metals from ores and solu- 
tions, is not attended by any increased loss of 
the expensive cyanide. 

The last paper was read by Dr. C. E. Munroe 
and was entitled ‘The Examination of Acid 
for Use in the Manufacture of Gun-cotton.’ 
Dr. Munroe’s paper contained a summary of 
work done by his assistants, Mr. G. W. Patter- 
son and Mr. J. J. Tobin, and by him. The 
specifications for the acids given were accom- 
panied by descriptions of the analytical methods 
and methods of calculation to be followed in 
the inspection of the acids supplied, and a com- 


JANUARY 6, 1899. ] 


parison was made between these methods and 
others that have been proposed. Attention was 
called to the necessity of defining the sub- 
stances present by the methods by which they 
are to be determined and reckoned, as it not in- 
frequently happens that there are differences of 
opinion as to the form in which they occur and 
the methods for determining them, and a dis- 
pute is most easily avoided by a prior technical 
convention. Thus there is a difference of opin- 
ion as to the form in which a portion of the 
nitrogen present in these acids occurs, some re- 
garding it asin the form of hyponitrous acid, 
others as nitrosulphuric acid, but without ex- 
pressing any opinion on this point the specifica- 
tions simply required that it should be deter- 
mined in a carefully prescribed manner and 
reckoned as N,O,, and that as thus determined 
and reckoned it should not exceed a certain 
percentage of the mixture. The data of a con- 
siderable number of analyses showing the per- 
centage composition and specific gravities of 
both original acids and spent acids from the gun- 
cotton manufacture was given, and the differ- 
ences between the amounts of sulphuric acid in 
the different operations was seen to be remark- 
ably constant, showing the mixture to be well 
proportioned for this purpose, Observations 
were made on the permanency of composition 
of the mixed acids stored in darkness and in 
sunlight ; on the color of the acids as a criterion 
of the amount of nitrogen oxides present; on 
the change of color produced by heating them ; 
on the freezing of the acids and the rate of ex- 
pansion of different mixtures. The specific- 
gravity bottle used, which was devised by Pro- 
fessor Barker, and which was_ particularly 
adapted to this work, was exhibited. 
WILLIAM H. Krue, 
Secretary. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY : STUDENTS’ GEOLOGICAL 
CLUB, DECEMBER 6, 1898. 

Mr. P. 8. Smirx described ‘ An Occurrence of 
Corundum in Kyanite.’ This paper will be 
published soon in full. Mr. J. M. Boutwell 
spoke on ‘ Tides: Their Character and Cause.’ 
After reviewing our incomplete knowledge of 
tides in the open ocean, he explained a method 
of expressing, with plotted curves, certain facts 


SCIENCE. 


99 
v0 


obtained from observations on tides, as they 
traverse continental and estuaries. 
These curves show a perfect homology between 
wind waves and true tidal waves in form, range, ~ 
length (better termed breadth) and velocity. 
Under the cause of tides, the main points of the 
explanation advocated by Hagen, Airy, Dar- 
win and others were presented. 


shelves 


Geological Conference, December 13, 1898.—In 
a communication entitled ‘Dikes and Veins,’ 
Professor Shaler considered the origin of fissures 
occupied by these bodies. Field observation 
near the Spokane Placer, Montana, shows that 
intrusives part rocks along bedding planes more 
readily than transverse to them. Professor 
Shaler suggests that water, mechanically in- 
cluded in beds at the time of their deposition, 
becomes heated by an approaching, intrusive 
mass; and that by expanding it opens the way 
for the intrusion along previously existing, 
structural planes. According to this theory, in 
a region where the intrusives are of different 
age, the earliest intrusive should show evidence 
of its easy entrance along fissures opened by 
expanded water; and subsequent intrusives 
should exhibit signs of more difficult entrance, 
owing to the exhaustion of assisting waters. 

Mr. Robert DeC. Ward presented ‘Some Ob- 
servations on the Médanos of Peru,’ which will 
be published in a future issue of this JOURNAL. 

J. M. BouTWwELL, 
Recording Secretary. 


TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, NOVEMBER 30, 1898. 

On discussion of enlargement of the program 
for excursions, it was arranged that field meet- 
ings be provided on Saturdays after the first of 
January, for the purpose of studies of crypto- 
gams and of winter stages of higher plants. 

The first paper was by Mr. Marshall A. 
Howe, ‘Remarks on some Undescribed Califor- 
nian Hepaticze,’ and consisted of the description 
of three new species, soon to be published. 
Beautiful plates illustrating these species were 
exhibited, the work of Mr. Howe, to form part 
of the forthcoming volume of the Memoirs of 
the Torrey Club. 

The second paper was by Professor Francis. 
E. Lloyd, on ‘The Nucleus in Certain, Myxo- 


34 


mycetes and Schizophycee.’ Mr. Lloyd re- 
marked that the work of Strasburger (1884),and 
later of Lister, gives evidence that the nucleus 
of the Myxomycetes is a definite organ possessed 
of a nuclear membrane and containing chroma- 
tin. During cell-division the chromatin is seg- 
regated into rounded masses lying in the nu- 
clear plate. A spindle is formed. After the 
formation of a fine nuclear membrane the 
spindle fibres gradually disappear. The small 
number of these parallel fibres and absence of a 
cell-plate led Strasburger to compare the nu- 
cleus to the animal rather than the plant type. 
Precisely similar conditions are, however, found 
in some plant cells. 

The presence of a nucleus in the Schizophyta 
has been a point of controversy. Biutschli as- 
serts the nuclear character of the central body, 
and regards the red granules as chromatin. A. 
Fischer denies the accuracy of the former’s con- 
clusions, the question remaining an open one. 
When our knowledge is complete it is highly 
probable that the nucleus will be found to be of 
the distributed type, of a type, therefore, com- 
parable to that of the simpler protozoa. In any 
case the nucleus of the lowly plants is much 
more primitive than that of the Myxomycetes. 
We are led, therefore, to regard these curious, 
much-debated forms, the Myxomycetes, as 
either plants of a higher type than the Schizo- 
phyta, which have degenerated, or as animals 
related probably to the sporozoa. For the for- 
mer view there is now little evidence. 

The Secretary addressed the Club briefly re- 
garding the discarded species Aster gracilentus, 
T. & G., and exhibited its typespecimen, which 
formed a sheet of the herbarium of M. A. Cur- 
tis, now at Princeton, and was exhibited 
through the courtesy of Professor George Mac- 
loskie, of that University. 

Mr. Howe exhibited a number of examples of 
Wolffia, discovered floating in Van Cortlandt 
Lake, constituting the third recorded collection 
within New York State of this minutest of 
flowering plants. 

Dr. Rusby exhibited a Paulownia blossom in 
which half an anther had grown on the outside 
of the corolla. Dr. Britton reported two inter- 
esting additions to the collections of the New 
York Botanic Garden: Ist, a valuable collec- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


tion of photographs illustrating the cultivation 
of the poppy in Asia Minor; and 2d, a gift to 
the Garden from Mr. Peter Barr, the English 
horticulturist, of a collection of Narcissus and 
Peonia for planting in the Botanic Garden. 
The claim of free entry as museum material 
was at first refused by the New York custom 
house ; but, after five different appeals, the final 
decision was that the material was proper to an 
outdoor museum, and free entry was granted. 
EDWARD S. BURGESS, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE PUMAS OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


A RECENT examination of Rafinesque’s de- 
scription of Felis Oregonensis (Atlantic Journal, 
Vol. 1, No. 2, page 62, summer of 1832) brings 
up an interesting question as to the relationship 
of this name and those recently proposed by Dr. 
C. Hart Merriam for the Pumas of our Western 
States. 

Rafinesque in the above article describes two 
species. The second of these is Felis macroura, 
based on an account in Leraye’s Travels, of an 
animal resembling the Conguar of the Alle- 
ghanies, but not larger than a cat, ‘with tail as 
long as the body, which is from one to two feet 
long only.’ The source of this information is 
unreliable and the probability is that no such 
animal existed. 

The first species described is, however, of 
more importance. Rafinesque’s description is 
as follows: 

“1. Var. Oregonensis. Dark brown, nearly 
black on the back, belly white; body six feet 
long, three high, tail two or three feet long. A 
large and ferocious animal of the mountains. 
Is it not a peculiar species? Felix [sic] orego- 
nensis.’? 

In the introductory paragraph of the article 
he says: ‘‘In addition to the article on our 
Couguars, page 19, I have to state that several 
other varieties of tygers are found in the west- 
ern wilds of the Oregon mountains, or east and 
west of them, which deserve to be noticed. I 
find in my notes that two other varieties of Cou- 
guar have been seen there east of the moun- 
tains.’’ 

The Felis macroura, he states distinctly, 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


dwells on the plains east of the Oregon moun- 
tains, but no definite locality is given under the 
description of F. oregonensis. 

The indefiniteness of the opening paragraph 
where the forms are stated to occur, both east 
and west of the mountains, makes this name 
apparently applicable to either the Puma of the 
Rocky Mountains or the Northwest coast re- 
gion. However, the fact that the other species 
(macroura) is said to occur east of the mountains, 
gives this form the benefit of whatever the use 
of the word ‘ west’ was intended to imply, and, 
furthermore, the dark color which is distinctly 
pointed out would seem to fix the name orego- 
nensis on the Northwest coast form.* 

Dr. Merriam, in Proceedings of the Biological 
Society of Washington, July 15, 1897, p. 219- 
220, proposed the name felis hippolestes for the 
Puma of the Rocky Mountains, and Felis hippo- 
lestes olympus for the Northwest coast form, ap- 
parently overlooking the paper by Rafinesque. 

In view of the evidence here set forth, it 
seems that Rafinesque’s name must be recog- 
nized, and I would, therefore, suggest that the 
proper names for the two animals should be 

Felis oregonensis (Raf.) Northwest Coast 
Puma. 

Felis oregonensis hippolestes (Merr.) Rocky 
Mountain Puma. 

WITMER STONE. 

ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, 

PHILADELPHIA, December 9, 1898. 


THE SCHMIDT-DICKERT MOON MODEL. 

TuHE installation of the Schmidt-Dickert relief 
model of the moon in a scientific institution de- 
serves, perhaps, a passing notice. This seems 
the more desirable since in so generally accu- 
rate a work as‘Webb’s Celestial Objects for Com- 
mon Telescopes,’ edition of 1896, the statement 
is made that this model isin Bonn. It has not 
been in Bonn for fully twenty years, and for 
most of that time has been in this country. 

While occasionally exhibitions have been made 
of the model during this time they have been of 
short duration and in different cities, so that, 
for this time at least, it has been practically 
lost to the world. Through the generosity of 

** Oregon’ of this date, of course, included the pres- 


ent State of Washington and much of British Colum- 
bia. 


SCIENCE. ~ 85 


Mr. Lewis Reese, a citizen of Chicago, the 
model has now come into the possession of the 
Field Columbian Museum and has lately been 
installed in this institution. It is now, there- 
fore, freely available for purposes of study and 
instruction. Since it has been so long/lost from 
view some facts regarding the model may be of 
interest. It was constructed in 1854 by Th. 
Dickert, Curator of the National History Mu- 
seum in Bonn, under the direction and with 
the cooperation of Dr. J. F. Julius Schmidt. 
The name of the latter is of itself sufficient 
guarantee of the accuracy and perfection of de- 
tail exhibited by the model, especially as Dr. 
Schmidt states that he tested with his own hand 
the accuracy of nearly all the measurements. 
So much labor was necessary in order to insure 
accuracy in the details that the work of model- 
ling and construction occupied five years. The 
model is in the form of a hemisphere, 18 Paris 
feet (19.2 English feet), in diameter. Its hor- 
izontal scale bears the ratio to that of the moon 
of 1:600,000, the vertical 1:200,000. It is made 
up of 116 sections, each 15 degrees in length by 
15 degrees in breadth. The consecutively joined 
edges of these sections serve to mark upon the 
surface of the model, parallels and meridians. 
The different colors exhibited by different parts 
of the moon are also depicted upon the model, 
the prevailing color being a dull yellow, broken 
by gray-green where the ‘seas’ occur, and by 
representations in lighter yellow of the bright 
streaks which radiate so prominently from some 
of the craters. The orientation which has been 
adopted for the model is the normal one of the 
moon, not inverted as it is when seen through 
an astronomical telescope. The north pole 
of the hemisphere is therefore above, the 
south pole below; east is to the left, and 
west to the right. The surface details of 
relief shown upon the model are based upon 
the charts of Beer and Madler, but many new 
localities were added from the observations of 
Dr. Schmidt himself. In all over 20,000 dis- 
tinct localities are represented, modelled pro- 
portionally according to the relief which they 
present upon the moon. One may, therefore, 
study the relief with the greatest confidence 
that the actual topography of the moon is rep- 
resented, and is spared the confusion arising 


36 


from the varying effects of shadows which make 
the study of the moon itself possible only to 
specialists. With the advance which has taken 
place in the interpretation of topographic forms 
in the last twenty years, it seems not too much 
to hope, now that this model has been made ac- 
cessible to students of science, that its study 
will bring to light new facts regarding the 
nature and history of our satellite.. 
OLIVER C. FARRINGTON. 
FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM, CHICAGO. 


LEHMANN AND HANSEN ON ‘THE TELEPATHIC 
PROBLEM.’ 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I can assure 
Professor James that I do not knowingly leave 
unread anything that he or Professor Sidgwick 
writes. I carefully considered the two papers 
to which he refers, at the time of their appear- 
ance, and have recently turned to them again. 
I am afraid, however, that I cannot make the 
admission that Professor James expects. Even 
if I granted all the contentions of criticism and 
report I should still see no reason to change 
the wording of my reference to Lehmann and 
Hansen. But there is a great deal that I can- 
not grant. While, like Stevenson’s Silver, ‘I 
wouldn’t set no limits to what a virtuous char- 
acter might consider argument,’ I must confess 
that, in the present instance, the grounds for 
such consideration have not seldom escaped me. 

Professor James rules that the Phil. Studien 
article is ‘exploded.’ I have tried to take up 
the position of an impartial onlooker; and, 
from that position, I have seen Professor James 
and Professor Sidgwick and Herr Parish hand- 
ling the fuse, but I have not yet heard the 


detonation. 
KE. B. TITcHENER. 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 
THE NOVEMBER METEORS. 


Reports of meteor observations made this 
year between the 11th and 16th have been 
published from England, France and the United 
States. These are sufficient to show the char- 
acteristics of the display and to furnish hints 
as to the methods which should be followed 
in future years. The “ greatest number of 
meteors was noted on the morning of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 210. 


15th (civil reckoning), when the rate reached 
two each minute at some stations in the United 
States. A single observer could count forty or 
more per hour. It is probable that the max- 
imum had already passed, as more meteors 
were noted on the preceding than on the fol- 
lowing night at the few stations where the skies 
were clear on those nights. On the 14th a 
single observer at Lyons, France, noted 134 
between 1:04 a. m. and 4:05 a. m. On account 
of the cloudy weather at Paris M. Janssen 
made a balloon ascension and observed above 
the clouds. We are told that this plan of se- 
curing clear skies will be used more extensively 
next year. The number observed this year is 
fully ten times as great as those observed in 
1897 and is about the same as that noted at 
Grenwich in 1865, the year preceding the great 
shower of 1866. This augurs well for the year 
1899. 

Observers report several interesting facts: 
(1) Many meteors with the characteristics of 
the Leonids did not proceed from the radiant 
area within the ‘Sickle of Leo.’ The discrep- 
ancies in locating the radiant point are not to 
be wholly explained by the errors to which all 
eye estimates of meteor tracks are liable, but 
arein part real. (2) The radiant area has for 
its center a point which is farther south than 
that calculated from the observations of 1866, 
which was R A. 10h. 0 min., Decl. + 22°.9. 
The records this year, as far as known, range 
between 9 h. 50 min. and 10h. 20 min. in R. A. 
and + 18° to 22° in Decl. A preliminary de- 
termination from the photographed trails of 
four meteors made at Harvard Observatory 
gives 10h. 6.8 min., Decl. + 22°16”. (8) There 
were very few brilliant meteors compared with 
the total number. At Providence fourteen only 
out of nearly five hundred were brighter than 
the first magnitude. 

The practicability of the photographic method 
of studying meteors needed no demonstration, 
but its possibilities are greater than was sup- 
posed. An ordinary camera, such as those in 
use by amateurs, will photograph the brighter 
meteors. Thus one with an aperture of only 
one inch and focal length of nine inches, if care- 
fully focussed, will give trails of meteors as 
bright as the 0 magnitude. The camera need 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


not be driven by clockwork if the time of the 
appearance of the brightest meteors in the region 
towards which the camera is directed is noted. 
For then the exact positions of the comparison 
stars in their curved trails while the plate is 
exposed is known. Amateur assistance in me- 
teor photography is, therefore, valuable.’ Of 
still greater value is the photographic record by 
the largerinstruments. Not only can the paths 
of the meteors be located with accuracy and the 
position of the radiant points determined, but 
special characteristics of the trails may be 
studied. Thus the Harvard Circular, No. 35, 
mentions that the light attained a maximum 
and then diminished as rapidly as it increased ; 
that sudden changes due to explosions are well 
shown ; that the trail is sometimes surrounded 
by a sheath of light, and that in one case the 
trail remained after the meteor had passed. 
That these characteristics, which have been 
noted visually heretofore, should now submit 
to a permanent photographic record shows that 
photography will have a large place in this 
branch of astronomical study. 


CHASE’S COMET (J. 1898). 


THE discovery of this comet on the plates 
exposed at New Haven, on the radiant region 
of the Leonids, is the most interesting episode 
of the meteor observations. The photographic 
brightness was estimated to be equal to a star 
of the 11th magnitude, but it was much fainter 
in a visual telescope. It was hoped that it 
might be connected with the meteor stream, 
but its orbit shows that it simply chanced to be 
in that direction when observed. The pre- 
liminary orbits thus far published are unusually 
discordant, perhaps due to the combination of 
the photographic and visual determinations of 
position. é 

STELLAR MOTIONS. 


PRoFEsSOR W. W. CAMPBELL, of the Lick Ob- 
servatory, in the publications of the Astronom- 
ical Society of the Pacific, announces the rapid 
movement towards us of two stars, 7 Cephei and 
¢ Herculis. From four photographs of their 
spectra he determines a relative velocity of 53.9 
miles per second for the former and 48.7 for the 
latter. Allowing for the motion of the solar 
system, these figures are reduced to 46.0 miles 


SCIENCE. 


37 


per second and 33.5 miles per second respec- 
tively. 
WINSLow UPTON. 
BROWN UNIVERSITY, 
December 16, 1898. 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
THE AMERICAN HERO-MYTH. 


Two studies have lately appeared on the 
widely diffused myth of the ‘culture-hero’ in 
America. The one is by the Count de Charen- 
cey, on the legend of Huitzilopochtli, printed 
in the Proceedings of the French Association for 
the Advancement of Science, 1897 ; the other is 
by Dr. Franz Boas, reprinted from the Memoirs 
of the American Folk-lore Society, Vol. VI., 
and treats of the Salish Raven Myth and others 
from the Northwestern tribes. 

All these myths are strikingly alike in many 
details, and both these writers agree that ‘it is 
inconceivable that they originated independ- 
ently.’ Hence Dr. Boas claims that the various 
raven and coyote tales have a common source ; 
and with precisely the same and equally strong 
arguments M. de Charencey shows that the 
myths of the Mayas and Nahuas originated in 
eastern Asia. 

To my thinking, not the similarities (for 
these we should expect from the constitution of 
the human mind), but the differences in such 
myths are what should command our chief 
attention. 


THE PRIMITIVE SAVAGE. 

‘Was primitive man a modern savage?’ is 
the question asked by Dr. Talcott Williams in 
the Smithsonian Report, just issued, and an- 
swered by him in a constructive negative. To 
Dr. Williams, primitive man was a peaceful, 
happy creature, knowing not war or cannibal- 
ism, witha ‘surprising primitive development,’ 
which later on degenerated into civilization. 
This early man enjoyed ‘a juster conception of 
the divine’ than his descendants. His gods 
were peaceful, communication free, hospitality 
open. ‘The earth was still empty and happy 
and young.’’ 

If Dr. Williams intends this as a pleasant, 


humorous sketch, it Will pass; if a serious in- 


ference from the ascertained facts of prehistoric 


38 


investigation, its author is about a century be- 
hind time, as every student of the actual re- 
mains of earliest man knows the painful but 
irrefutable evidence of his worse than barbar- 
ous, his really brutal, condition, apart from all 
comparisons with modern savages. 


A BOOKLET ON ETHNOLOGY. 


Dr. MicHarL HABERLANDT is a ‘ Privatdo- 
cent’ in the University of Vienna and also 
Curator of the Ethnographic Collection in the 
Royal Museum of that city. A few months 
ago there appeared from his pen a duodecimo 
treatise on Ethnography which offers much the 
best summary of the science which I have any- 
where seen. Of its 200 pages half are devoted 
to general principles, those which belong to 
‘Ethnology ;’ and the remainder to descriptive 
ethnography. Both are characterized by thor- 
ough familiarity with the facts, and careful, in- 
dependent reflection on them. The introduc- 
tion discusses, with remarkable clearness, the 
principles of social degeneration and evolution. 

Just such brief, clear, up-to-date books as 
this are what we need in anthropology in this 
country. It is better to write them than to 
translate them, and it is unfortunate that we 
still lack them. (Voélkerkunde, G. F. Goschen, 
Leipzig. 1898.) 

D. G. BRINTON, 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

In the present issue of ScleENCE—which opens 
anew volume—the short notes are placed at 
the end, in the part of the number which is the 
last to be printed. These notes should contain 
reliable, prompt and full information, and men 
of science in America and abroad are requested 
to contribute items of news whose publication 
will forward the objects of this JOURNAL. 

Tue Paris Academy of Sciences has awarded 
its Lalande prize to Dr. 8. C. Chandler, of Cam- 
bridge, Mass., and the Damoiseau prize to Dr. 
George W. Hill, of Columbia University. 

Proressor G. W. FArtow, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, has been elected President of the Amer- 
ican Society of Naturalists. Professor H. C. 
Bumpus, of Brown University, to whom the 
recent growth and successful meetings of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No, 210. 


Society have been in large measure due, has 
resigned the Secretaryship and is succeeded by 
Professor T. H. Morgan, of Bryn Mawr Col- 
lege. 

PrRoFEssoR R. S. Woopwarp, of Columbia 
University, has been elected President of the 
American Mathematical Society in succession to 
Professor Simon Newcomb. 


Proressor JOHN DEWEY, of the University 
of Chicago, has been elected President of the 
An.erican Psychological Association. 

THE office of Mr. W. T. Hornaday, Director 
of the New York Zoological Park, has been 
moved from 69 Wall Street to the Park, South- 
ern Boulevard and 183d Street, and communi- 
cations should now be sent to this address. The 
offices are temporarily established in the Elk 
House, near the southwest corner of the Park. 


THE Rey. Dr. Bartholomew Price, Master 
of Pembroke College, Oxford, and until last 
year Sedleian professor of natural philosophy, 
died on December 29th in his 81st year. He 
was the author of works on dynamics and on 
the calculus. 

Dr. JoHn B. HAMILTON, formerly Surgeon- 
General of the U. S. Marine Hospital Service, 
editor of the Journal of the American Medical 
Association and professor of surgery at the Rush 
Medical College, Chicago, died at Elgin, IIl., 
on December 24th. 


Dr. WILLIAM MuNK, the well-known London 
physician, died on December 20th, aged 73. 
He was formerly Librarian of the Harveian Li- 
brary of the Royal College of Physicians and 
author of the Roll of the College and other 
works, both of a biographical character and on 
medical subjects. 


Tur New York Section of the American 
Chemical Society was able to receive the So- 
ciety at its recent New York meeting in the 
Chemists’ Club, newly established in the build- 
ing at 108 West 55th Street. The club-house 
contains a large assembly room for meetings, 
smaller rooms and accommodation for the li- 
brary, which it is expected will be deposited 
there. The President of the Club is Professor 
Charles F. Chandler, of Columbia University. 


Tue Royal Institution, London, was founded 


JANUARY 6, 1899.] 


in 1799 and will this year celebrate its cente- 
nary by special exercises, the character of which 
has not yet been announced. 


THE Boston Medical Committee has awarded 
its prize to Dr. Guy Hinsdale, of Philadelphia, 
for an essay on Acromegaly, which has just 
been published. For 1900 two prizes are of- 
fered by the Committee : (1) A prize of one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars for the best dissertation 
on ‘The Results of Original Work in Anatomy, 
Physiology or Pathology,’ the subject to be 
chosen by the writer. (2) A prize of one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars for the best dissertation 
on ‘The Method of Origin of Serpentine Ar- 
teries and the Structural Changes to be found 
in them; Their Relation to Arteria-capillary 
Fibrosis, Obliterating Endarteritis and to En- 
darteritis Deformans.’ Dissertations on these 
subjects must be sent on or before January 1, 
1900, to the Secretary of the Committee, Dr. 
W. F. Whitney, Harvard Medical School, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 


THE Paris Academy of Medicine has held its 
annual public meeting for 1898 and awarded 
the large number of prizes at its disposal. No 
less than forty prizes were given, not including 
a large number of medals. 


Dr. NouAN has presented to the Philadelphia 
Academy of Natural Sciences, as a memorial of 
the late Dr. Joseph Leidy, five volumes of 
biographical notices, portraits, autograph let- 
ters and original drawings. The first volume 
contains several addresses and articles prepared 
on the occasion of Dr. Leidy’s death and other 
interesting biographical material. The second 
volume contains botanical drawings and notes 
and the remaining three volumes zoological 
drawings and notes. 
. fully indexed. 

AT the next meeting of the British Medical 
Association, which will be held at Portsmouth 
“from the Ist to the 4th of August, the address 
in medicine will be given by Sir Richard Powell 
and the address in surgery by Professor Alex- 
ander Ogston. 


The volumes are care- 


AMONG those who will give Friday evening 
discourses before the Royal Institution, London, 
during the present season are Lord Rayleigh, 
Professor H. L. Callandar, Mr, Victor Horsley, 


SCIENCE. 


39 


Professor H. 8. Hele-Shaw and Professor Dewar, 
who will give the first lecture on January 20th, 
on Liquid Hydrogen. 


Tuer English papers contain details of the 
meeting to further the objects of the National 
Association for the Prevention of Consumption, 
held at Marlborough House on December 20th. 
The Prince of Wales presided, and addresses 
were made by Sir William Broadbent, Sir 
Granger Stewart, President of the British Med- 
ical Association, Dr. Moore, President of the 
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Sir 
James Sawyer, Dr. Andrew, President of the 
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and 
Professor McFadyean. The Marquis of Salis- 
bury moved the following resolution’: ‘This 
meeting desires to express its approval of the 
effort which is being made by ‘The National 
Association for the Prevention of Consumption 
and other Forms of Tuberculosis’ to check the 
spread of the diseases due to tubercle, and to 
promote the recovery of those suffering from 
consumption and tuberculous disease generally. 
It also commends the method adopted by the 
Association of instructing public opinion and 
stimulating public interest rather than the ad- 
vocacy of measures of compulsion.’’? This reso- 
lution was seconded by Sir Samuel Wilkes, 
President of the Royal College of Physicians, 
and carried unanimously. Remarks were made 
by Lord Rosebery, Mr. Walter Long, M. P., 
and the Prince of Wales. It was announced 
that the London partners of Werner, Beit & Co. 
had contributed £20,000 for the erection of a 
sanitarium to be administered by the Associa- 
tion. 


AccorDING to cablegrams to the London 
Times, Colonel Lawrie, Plague Commissioner in 
Haidarabad, gave evidence on December 19th 
before the Plague Commission. He stated that 
the first indigenous case occurred in January, 
1897. The measures adopted were evacuation, 
disinfection, and the burning of floors and walls 
in kilns. Haffkine’s fluid was not aserum, but a 
putrescent organic liquid containing micrococci 
of putrefaction and occasionally pathogenic or- 
ganisms. It was, therefore, directly against 
modern medicine and antiseptic surgery to 
inject the fluid. Inoculation had not been 


40 


adopted. The burning process was found sat- 
isfactory as a means of destroying the plague. 
Mr. Stevens, Deputy-Commissioner, said that 
68 villages in Haidarabad territory had been 
attacked during 1898. Disinfection by burning 
in kilns had absolutely destroyed all germs. 
No bacteria were found in the ashes; the 
plague never reappeared, and the villages were 
completely disinfected by the kilns. The 
plague fugitives were sent back in charge of the 
police. The classes most affected were low- 
caste Hindus. Mohammedans were not so liable 
to infection, nor were the herdsmen, who lived 
in the open air. Age and sex made no apparent 
difference. Captain Johnson, on December 20th, 
described experiments which had been made to 
determine whether living organisms were found 
in Haffkine’s fluid. Out of six bottles five 
showed a distinct growth; the other was doubt- 
ful. Mazhar Husain, a native practitioner, 
stated that in the villages in the Naldrug dis- 
trict corpses and their appendages were burnt 
where such a course was not forbidden by re- 
ligion ; in other cases the dead bodies were 
buried eight feet deep. The kiln process was 
adopted with all houses irrespective of individ- 
ual infection. After the evacuation the fall in 
mortality was striking. The villages were re- 
occupied two months after the cessation of 
deaths. No case occurred among infants. Fair 
success was obtained by treatment with red 
iodide of mercury pills. Colonel Lawrie, re- 
called, expressed his willingness to use Haff- 
kine’s fluid if it were rendered sterile, provided 
it was proved to retain its prophylactic power 
under those conditions. He admitted that the 
fluid as now used afforded considerable protec- 
tion, but denied that it gave immunity. Sterili- 
zation, he thought, might render it useless. 
The plague returns for the second week in De- 
cember showed a further rise for Bombay city 
and district, and also for Madras and the Cen- 
tral Provinces. There was a considerable fall 
in the returns from Mysore. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


In addition to the million dollars given by 
Lord Strathcona for the endowment of the 
Royal Victoria College for Women, McGill Uni- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 210. 


versity and the endowment of a chair of history 
by Sir William MacDonald, already announced 
in this JOURNAL, we are informed that at the 
same time Lady Strathcona and the Hon. Mrs. 
Howard each gave $50,000 for the Faculty of 
Medicine and that the Board of Governors of the 
University gave $200,000 for general endow- 
ment. 


AT a recent conference on secondary educa- 
tion convened by Victoria University at Owens 
College, Manchester, on December 3d, a resolu- 
tion was passed recommending that the educa- 
tion department should be represented by a 
Minister of Education of Cabinet rank. 


GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT will, it is understood, 
serve actively on the Board of Regents of the 
University of the State of New York, of which 
he is ex-officio a member, and will accept the 
Chairmanship of the Committee on the State 
Library. Recent Governors of the State have 
neglected this duty. 


At Trinity College, Cambridge, the Coutts 
Trotter studentship of the value of £250 for 
the promotion of original research in natural 
science, open to graduates of the College not 
being Fellows, has been divided between H. H. 
Dale, B.A. (zoology and physiology), and the 
Hon. R. J. Strutt, B.A. (physics), both scholars 
of the College. 


Dr. EvuGen Dupots has been called to a pro- 
fessorship in geology in the University of Am- 
sterdam. Dr. Kippenberger has been ap- 
pointed professor of chemistry in the University 
of Breslau. Dr. Wagner has qualified as do- 
cent in physical chemistry in the University of 
Leipzig and Dr. Weinschenk in mineralogy 
and geology in the Polytechnic Institute at 
Munich. In the University of Paris, M. Vidal 
de la Blache has been appointed professor of 
geography and M. Seailles has been made pro- 
fessor of philosophy. M. Lacour has been made 
associate professor in the Faculty of Science at 
Nancy. In University College, London, Mr. 
W. G. Savage has buen appointed as assistant 
in the department of bacteriology and Mr. G. 
Bertram Hunt, M.D., has been appointed as- 
sistant in the department of pathological his- 
tology. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsTon, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MArsH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. BRritron, 
Botany; HENRY F. OsBorN, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. BowpitcH, Physiology; J. S. Brnuinas, Hygiene; J. McKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. PowrELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JANUARY 138, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
Our Society: PROFESSOR J. J. STEVENSON.........- 41 
Fishes of the South Shore of Long Island: Dr. 
IDARLETONP EWAN a ccesctscssncscaseosresccasoosease: 52 
Suppression of Smoke: PROFESSOR R. H. THURS- 
GROIST noe cocounosaqcnnagodosaoopbonadsobdy daosupedcotoousneaobodd 55 
American Mathematical Society: PROFESSOR F. N. 
COTM Pi ieee ier sees ennceier eter ee setnerdetesonsesceet sees 57 
General Meeting of the American Chemical Society : 
DR. DURAND WOODMAN ......cccsscececseeeecseceeeee 58 


Scientific Books :— 
Cayley’s Collected Mathematical Papers: PROFES- 
SOR GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED. Allen’s Commer- 
cial Organic Analysis : PROFESSOR W. A. NOYES. 
Folwell on Sewerage: M. M. Hill on Cuba and 
Porto Rico: W J M. Butler on the Birds of In- 


diana: F. M. C.  Holland’s Butterfly Book: 
PrRoFEssOR 8. H. SCUDDER. Books received ..... 59 
Scientific Journals and Articles 2....scceceeerecsceeseeeees 67 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences : 


DRIED WalIERNOWAN ts ssccacccncssesscsrssssecscevessss 68 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

The Sensation of Motion and its Reversal: PRo- 

FESSOR W. 8. FRANKLIN. Occurrence of the 

Virginia Opossum in Southern Central New York: 

Je ALDEN PUORING 2. c-cseneccsssseceese = deon -7A0) 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. Ls H.........e0eee ee 71 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Climate and Hygiene of the Congo Free State ; A 
New Mountain Aneroid Barometer: 


R. DEC. 


Zoological Notes : 
The New York Zoological Park: F. A. L. The 
Statistical Method in Zoology: H. C. B...........+. ve) 

Botanical Notes :— 

A Botanical Almanac; Check List of Forest 
Trees; Cretaceous and Tertiary Plants; Lewis 
and Clark’s Plants: PROFESSOR CHARLEs E. 
TBIUSESTON cnsnesoaoadbooepoda¢oouadboanpbddcbanoadbebqadRONaGD 74 

Current Notes on Anthropology :— 

Arrow Feathering in South America; A Study of 
the Lips; Physiology of Criminals: PROFESSOR 
1D}, (Ch, 1BSTRIGN KOK ssnpaqdoaqssbacbodcoducecoboodedapadooDde: 76 

Scientific Notes and News :— 

The Endowment of the Jenner Institute. General 76 

University and Educational News......cccccvereseseseneees 80 


OUR SOCIETY.* 

SrveRAL travellers of the eighteenth 
century, among them especially Guettard, 
Alexander and Schoepf, gave more or less 
important information respecting the geo- 
logical structure and mineral resources of 
our country ; but geological work, properly 
so-called, began only with Maclure’s studies 
in 1806. Born in Scotland, Maclure came 
to this country in early youth and, embark- 
ing in business, acquired a fortune long be- 
fore reaching middle age. He returned to 
Europe to spend several years in the study 
of natural science, but came again to Amer- 
ica in 1806 to take up his geological work, 
which continued until 1808. 

The publication of his results, presented 
to the American Philosophical Society on 
January 20, 1809, led others to make stud- 
ies and soon afterwards there appeared 
numerous papers dealing with geological 
subjects. Professor Samuel L. Mitchell, a 
devoted follower of Werner, infused much 
of his enthusiasm into a group of youthful 
students in New York and induced Profes- 
sor Archibald Bruce to establish the Amer- 
ican Journal of Mineralogy, which, beginning 
in 1810, reached its fourth and last num- 
ber in February, 1814. Though small and 
short-lived, this journal served a useful 


purpose; it contained good papers by 


* Presidential address delivered at the annual 
meeting of the Geological Society of America, New 
York, December 28, 1898. 


42 


Akerly, Gibbs, Godon, Mitchell, Silliman 
and others; it did much to nurse the scien- 
tifie tendency which led to founding the 
New York Lyceum of Natural History in 
1817, and some have thought that it aided 
in like manner the founding of the Phila- 
delphia Academy in 1812. Bruce’s Journal 
was succeeded in 1818 by Silliman’s Amer- 
ican Journal of Science, which from the be- 
ginning exerted a notable influence upon 
the development of geological thought and 
work in our country. 

By 1820 students of geology had become 
so numerous that the American Geological 
Society was organized in New Haven, Con- 
necticut,where meetings were held certainly 
until the end of 1828. The last survivor 
of this Society died in New Haven only a 
few weeks before the formal organization of 
our Society in 1888. The prominent men 
in 1820 were Ackerly, Bruce, Cornelius, 
Cleveland, the two Danas, Dewey, Eaton, 
Gibbs, Godon, Hitchcoek, Maclure, Mitch- 
ell, Rafinesque, Schoolcraft, Silliman and 
Steinhauer, but there were some young 
men who began to publish within two or 
three years afterwards and who were des- 
tined to occupy prominent places in geolog- 
ical literature ; of these, Emmons, Harlan, 
Lea, Morton, Troost and Vanuxem were 
already engaged in investigation. 

Before another decade had passed there 
were groups of geologists in New England, 
New York and Pennsylvania, while Olm- 
stead and Vanuxem had made preliminary 
surveys in North Carolina and South Caro- 
lina, Troost had begun the survey of Ten- 
nessee and Hitchcock that of Massachu- 
setts. 

In 1832 the Pennsylvania geologists, 
feeling much in need of an official survey 
of their State, organized the Geological So- 
ciety of Pennsylvania, to arouse public in- 
terest and so to bring about the survey. 
The volume of publications contains papers 
which attack geological and economic prob- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. 1X. No. 211. 


lems of the first order. The investigations 
were not confined to Pennsylvania, but 
committees were appointed to examine im- 
portant matters in other States, that the 
worth of geological work might be made ob- 
vious. Beyond doubt, the efforts of this So- 
ciety had much to do with securing the First 
Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, though 
no member of the Society was appointed on 
on the staff. It is the fashion now and 
then to laugh at these old papers. True 
enough, in the light of our present knowl- 
edge, many of the statements respecting 
Appalachian structure are absurd, but they 
were made by men who, without State aid, 
without instruments and without maps, 
laid a foundation upon which the keen-eyed 
men of the First Pennsylvania Survey built 
the superstructure, which endured close 
re-examination by the second survey and 
proved the honesty and ability with which 
the work had been performed. 

But geology was becoming too broad in 
scope and its workers too numerous to be 
embraced in a merely local society, even 
though the list of correspondents was as 
large as that of the active members. The 
work in Massachusetts was approaching 
completion; that in New Jersey had been 
completed ; the Surveys of Maine, Connecti- 
cut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Delaware, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and 
Indiana had been begun, and before 1840 
New Brunswick, Rhode Island and Ken- 
tucky were added to the list. Several of 
these Surveys had large corps of workers, 
pushing their studies with all the enthu- 
siasm of anew calling. In the Appalachian 
region of Massachusetts, New York, Penn- 
sylvania and Virginia serious problems 
were encountered which could not be solved 
within the compass of a single State. A 
right understanding of the work done in 
one State was necessary to a right under- 
standing of the work done in the adjoining 
State. Correspondence proved a failure; 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


incidental or casual talks led to misunder- 
standings ; systematic conference was neces- 
sary with generous contribution by each of 
his knowledge to the other. 

On April 2, 1840, as the result of a con- 
ference held at Albany in 1839, eighteen 
geologists met at the Franklin Institute, 
Philadelphia, and organized the Association 
of American Geologists, with Professor Ed- 
ward Hitcheock as the first Chairman ; 
among these were the State Geologist of 
Massachusetts, six geologists of the New 
York Survey, six of the Pennsylvania Sur- 
vey, two of the Michigan and three not con- 
nected with any public work. Mr. Martin 
H. Boye is the only survivor of the eighteen. 
The succeeding meetings in Philadelphia 
and Boston were attended by many geolo- 
gists, of whom only Boye, O. P. Hubbard 
and J. P. Lesley remain. A volume pub- 
lished in 1843 contains several papers which 
made a deep impress on American geology ; 
here are the five great memoirs on Appala- 
chian conditions by the Rogers brothers ; 
Hall’s noteworthy discussion of the Missis- 
sippi basin section; Hitchcock’s elaborate 
discussion of the ‘ Drift;’ as well as num- 
erous contributions by other members. 

Professor Hall said on one occasion that 
the inspiriting effect of these meetings could 
not be overestimated. As one of the young- 
est members, he was impressed by the 
mental power of those great men, all un- 
trained in geology, except Taylor, whose 
training under William Smith proved ad- 
vantageous in many ways but very disad- 
vantageous in others, as it had provided 
him with a generous stock of well-set opin- 
ions. Though wholly self-taught, working 
in a country sparsely settled, without ba- 
rometers, without railroad cuts, oil borings, 
mine shafts or any of the advantages so 
necessary for us, those men had elaborated 
systems, had made broad generalizations, 
had learned much respecting the succession 
of life and had discovered the keys which, 


SCIENCE. 


43 


in later years, were to open mysterious re- 
cesses in European geology. 

But the geologists were not permitted to 
flock by themselves. The advantages of 
contact were so manifest that the natural- 
ists asserted their claims to relationship 
with sufficient energy to secure admission 
in 1841, and the name Association of 
American Geologists and Naturalists ap- 
peared in the constitution adopted at the 
1842 meeting. The number of scientific 
men was still comparatively small, and in 
most of the colleges the several branches of 
natural science were embraced in one 
chair, so that there were many professors 
who could lay claim to the title of geologist, 
physicist, naturalist or chemist, as_ they 
pleased. Men of this type, as well as 
physicists, chemists and mathematicians, 
constantly urged the propriety of broaden- 
ing the scope of the Association so as to ad- 
mit workers in all branches of science. 

In 1842 the first series of surveys practic- 
ally came to an end, and the geologists 
were scattered, many of the younger men 
being compelled to enter other callings. 
The Association held its meetings regularly, 
but its strength diminished, and in 1848 it 
yielded to the outside pressure, becoming 
merged into the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, which threw 
its doors wide open to all entertaining an 
interest in any branch of science. The 
first meeting of the new organization had a 
roll of 461 members. 

Comparatively little was done in geolog- 
ical work between 1842 and the close of the 
Civil War. Professor Hall maintained the 
New York Survey, after a fashion, but at 
very considerable pecuniary cost to him- 
self; surveys were carried on in a number 
of States, but, except in Illinois and Cal- 
ifornia, they were mostly reconnaissances 
by small corps; the annual appropriations 
in several instances were little more than 
enough to pay travelling expenses, so that 


44 


the work and the reports were practically 
gifts to the States. The Federal Govern- 
ment sent topographic expeditions into the 
Western country, most of them accompanied 
by a surgeon who had more or less knowl- 
edge of geology. Under such conditions 
the number of geologists did not increase, 
and when the American Association was 
divided into sections, in 1875, the geologists 
and naturalists became not Section A, but 
Section B. 

The rapid development of the country’s 
internal resources during the war and the 
attendant growth in manufacturing inter- 
ests made necessary increased efficiency in 
scientific training, and enormous gifts were 
made to our leading institutions for that 
purpose. The importance of geological 
knowledge had become very evident during 
the development of iron, coal and oil re- 
sources, and the geologist found himself ele- 
vated suddenly from a place surrounded by 
suspicion toa post of honor. As an out- 
growth of the restless activity due to the 
war came anxiety to learn more accurately 
the resources of our Western domain be- 
yond the 100th meridian. The War De- 
partment, through its Engineer Corps, or- 
ganized the Fortieth Parallel Survey, in 
charge of Clarence King, and two years 
afterwards authorized Lieutenant (now 
Major) George M. Wheeler to undertake 
what afterwards became the United States 
Geographical Surveys West of the 100th 
Meridian. Mr. King’s survey was _ pri- 
marily for geological work, that of Lieu- 
tenant Wheeler primarily for topographical 
work, but each in its own field did all the 
work, geological or topographical, necessary 
to the accomplishment of the allotted task. 
The Interior Department had charge of Dr. 
F. V. Hayden’s surveys, beginning in 1867, 
as well as of the work prosecuted by Major 
J. W. Powell after 1870. The consolida- 
tion, in 1879, of all the organizations then 
existing put an end to useless rivalries 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


and made possible the formation and exe- 
cution of broad plans requiring a high 
grade of preparation in those engaged upon 
the work. But while these surveys were 
advancing in the Far West great activity 
prevailed in the older area. Within a de- 
cade after the war ended State Surveys 
were undertaken in New Hampshire, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Ken- 
tucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Iowa, Missouri and other States, while the 
Canadian Survey, which had gone on unin- 
terruptedly from the early forties, was made 
more extended in character. Several of 
the State Surveys, being well supported by 
generous appropriations, employed large 
corps of assistants, paid and volunteer, and 
were prosecuted with great energy. Under 
these conditions Section E, that of Geology 
and Geography, grew rapidly and soon be- 
came one of the strongest portions of the 
American Association. 

The conditions which rendered impera- 
tive an association of geologists in 1840 
were the present conditions in 1880, but 
more oppressive. The problems of 1840 
were chiefly those of a narrow strip within 
the Appalachian area; those of 1880 con- 
cerned the whole continent. Geologists 
were increasing in numbers, but opportuni- 
ties for making personal acquaintance were 
few; meetings of societies in midsummer 
could be attended only by those who were 
not connected with official surveys or were 
detached for office work. Workers were 
gathering into little groups on geographical 
lines, and there was danger that our geology 
would become provincialized. Members of 
one group regarded those of another with a 
feeling not altogether unrelated to suspicion; 
letter-writing took the place of personal 
communication, with too often the not-un- 
usual result of complete misunderstanding, 
with the attendant personal irritation or 
worse. 

In 1881 the tension was such that several 


JANUARY 13, 1899. ] 


geologists connected with official surveys 
urged the formation of a geological society 
to bring about closer bonds among geol- 
ogists ; and they succeeded, at the meeting 
of the American Association, in securing 
the appointment of a committee to consider 
the matter. The geologists of the country 
were consulted, and a report, showing that 
the consensus of the replies favored the or- 
ganization of such a society, was presented 
in 1882 as well as in 1883, but without any 
result. The Association’s Committee on 
the International Geological Congress con- 
sidered the question in 1887 and announced 
approval. Professors N. H. Winchell and 
C. H. Hitchcock, as Chairman and Secre- 
tary of the 1881 Committee, issued a call 
asking geologists to assemble at Cleveland, 
Ohio, on August 14, 1888, to form a Geolog- 
ical Society. 

A large number of geologists and other 
members of Section E assembled on the af- 
ternoon of that day. Professor Alex. Win- 
chell presided and Dr. Julius Pohlman was 
Secretary. An earnest discussion respect- 
ing the type of society to be founded occu- 
pied most of the afternoon. The plan 
suggested in the call looked only to an 
expansion of Section E of the American 
Association by holding meetings at times 
better suited than summer to the conven- 
ience of geologists. But a difference of 
opinion quickly developed, for some knew 
that no such expedient would suffice, that 
the conditions called for something more 
definite. Loyalty to the American Associa- 
tion, which for forty years had been the 
bond between scientific men, held many 
back from an extreme position. Yet every 
one recognized that little injury could come 
to the Association, as, at best, only a few 
geologists could attend summer meetings. 
In any event, it was clear that the interests 
of geology required the formation of a so- 
ciety with severe restrictions upon mem- 
bership and with publications which would 


SCIENCE. 


45 


be a credit to American science. A com- 
promise prevailed, whereby the Original 
members, entitled to take part in organiza- 
tion, must be members of Section E of the 
American Association, and that all mem- 
bers of Section E might enroll prior to the 
first meeting if they so desired. This last 
provision caused not a little anxiety, as 
membership in any section of the Associa- 
tion predicates nothing more than a friendly 
feeling for science—whatever that may 
mean. 

A committee* was appointed to prepare 
a plan of organization with a provisional 
constitution. The committee’s report, on 
the morning of the 15th, provoked debate, 
as the provisional constitution placed a 
positive limit upon the membership by per- 
mitting, after the organization, only work- 
ing geologists and teachers of geology to 
become members and by requiring a three- 
fourths vote for election. The organization 
was to be effected when the list of Original 
members contained one hundred names. 
The provisional constitution, with a few un- 
important amendments, was agreed to 
unanimously and a committee continued as 
a committee of organization. The details 
of arrangements were placed in the hands 
of Professors A. Winchell and Stevenson. 

Happily the high dues and general belief 
that no society could be formed on the pro- 
posed basis kept the list of Original Fel- 
lows from being swollen by those whose 
relation to geology began and ended with 
attendance upon the American Associa- 
tion’s meetings. The committee was en- 
abled from the very outset practically to 
choose the men who should make the so- 
ciety. The required number having been 
obtained by the 1st of December, a meet- 
ing was held at Ithaca, New York, on De- 
cember 27, 1888. Only thirteen were pres- 

* This committee consisted of Alexander Winchell, 


J. J. Stevenson, C. H. Hitchcock, John R. Procter 
and Edward Orton. 


46 


ent, but ballots of preference had been 
received from seventy-two Fellows, in ac- 
cordance with which the organization was 
completed by the election of President, 
James Hall; Vice-Presidents, James D. 
Dana and Alexander Winchell ; Secretary, 
John J. Stevenson; Treasurer, Henry S&S. 
Williams; Councillors, John 8. Newberry, 
John W. Powell and Charles H. Hitchcock. 

The matter of publication was discussed 
at great length, but no definite decision 
could be reached, and a committee was ap- 
pointed to consider the whole question, with 
instructions to present a report at the sum- 
mer meeting. Another committee was ap- 
pointed to prepare a permanent consti- 
tution, to be presented at the next meeting. 

The Advisory Committee on Publication, 
another name for Professor W J McGee, 
made an elaborate investigation of the whole 
question of publication and,in August at To- 
ronto, presented the report, accompanied by 
a printed exampleof the form recommended. 
This report was adopted and, at the close 
of the following meeting, Dr. McGee was 
chosen as first Editor that the reecommend- 
ations might be carried out faithfully. Our 
Bulletin, which marked a new stage in 
scientific publications, owes its excellence 
of form and accuracy of method to his in- 
defatigable persistence. His determination 
to secure exactness in all respects proved 
not wholly satisfactory to many of us, but, 
before he demitted his charge, the justice 
of his requirements was conceded on all 
sides. The discipline to which the Fellows 
of this Society were subjected by the first 
Editor has served its purpose, and editors 
of other scientific publications have found 
their labors lightened and their bands 
strengthened in efforts to produce similar 
reforms elsewhere. 

Fears and misgivings abounded when it 
was discovered that this Society was a suc- 
cess from the start. The American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science had 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 211. 


been the one society for so many years that 
attempts at differentiation seemed to be 
efforts to cut away the pillars of scientific 
order. But the fears were merely night- 
mare. Our Society has proved itself an 
efficient ally of the Association. 

Our net membership at the close of the 
first year was 187. The new constitution 
placed severer restrictions upon member- 
ship by requiring a nine-tenths vote for 
election, the ballot being by correspondence 
and shared in byall the Fellows. This has 
kept the number within reasonable limits, 
and we now have 237 Fellows, our roll in- 
eluding almost all of those, who, by strict 
construction of our constitution, are quali- 
fied for membership. Owing to the rigid ad- 
ministration of our affairs by Professor 
Fairchild and Dr. White, who have piloted 
us for eight years, our financial condition is 
satisfactory, and the income from the perma- 
nent fund now goes far toward covering the 
cost of administration. 

Throughout, the Society has held closely 
to investigation; the recondite problems, 
those of little interest to many, of no inter- 
est to most, are those which have held the 
attention of our Fellows—work in pure 
rather than in applied sciences ; there has 
been no trenching upon the field of the 
mining engineer. As a storehouse of fact 
and of broad, just generalization the vol- 
umes of our Bulletin are excelled by those 
of no similar publication. 

We close our first decade justly gratified 
by success and full of hope for the future. 
Some of those who led us and gave us rep- 
utation at the beginning are no longer with 
us; Hall, Dana and Winchell, the first 
three Presidents, passed away in reverse 
order ; Cope, Cook, Sterry-Hunt, Newberry 
and a few others have gone from us, but the 
Society retains its membership with changes 
unusually small, showing no ordinary de- 
gree of physical force and esprit du corps 
on the part of its Fellows. As we look back 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


we recognize how far this Society has been 
of service to us as men; in nota few in- 
stances misunderstandings have been re- 
moved and coldness or suspicion has been 
replaced by personal friendship. American 
geologists are no longer a disorderly lot of 
irregwars marching in awkward squads, 
but form a reasonably compact body, 
though as individuals they may owe allegi- 
ance to Canada, the United States, Mexico 
or Brazil. Every one of us has felt the in- 
spiriting influence of personal contact. 

But our Society has to do with the world 
outside of itself and outside of its immedi- 
ate line of thought. It must have more to 
do with that world in the future if the out- 
come for science is to be what it should be, 
for the time is approaching rapidly when 
we must seek large sums for aid in prose- 
euting our work. To retain the respect of 
the community and to retain influence for 
good we must be able to justify the exist- 
ence of a society devoted to investigation 
as distinguished from application. The 
question Cui bono? will be asked, and the 
answer cannot be avoided. 

This is a utilitarian age—not utilitarian 
as understood by those who bemoan the 
decay of eesthetic taste ; or of those who feel 
that in the passing of Aristotle and Seneca 
there has come the loss of intellectual re- 
finement; or of those others who bewail the 
degeneracy of a generation which has not 
produced a Kant, a Newton, an Aristotle, 
a Laplace, a Humboldt or an Agassiz; all 
regarding the decadence as due to the de- 
grading influence of material development 
and overpowering commercial interests. 

These pessimists stand at a poor point of 
view, where the angle of vision is narrowed 
by many lateral projections. One may say, 
without fear of successful contradiction, 
that, in so far as actual knowledge is con- 
cerned, students of our day receiving grad- 
uate degrees in the more advanced univer- 
sities stand on a somewhat higher plane, 


SCIENCE. 


47 


each in his own group, than did the cele- 
brated men just named. The student now 
reaches beyond where they ended, and still 
is at only the threshold; for, in most in- 
stances, years of labor are required of him 
before he can receive recognition as an effi- 
cient co-worker. Men towering far above 
their fellows and covering the whole field 
of knowledge will never be known again. 
Kant, Newton, Humboldt stand out from 
their fellows as sharply as lighthouses on 
a level shore; but there are many Kants, 
Newtons and Humboldts to-day. Prior to 
the last seventy-five years the field of 
actual knowledge was insignificant and a 
man possessing large powers of observation 
grasped the whole. Seventy-five years ago 
one man was expected to cover the whole 
field of natural science in an American col- 
lege. Should any man pretend to-day to 
possess such ability he would expose him- 
self to ridicule. 

It may be true that this century has 
given to the world no great philosopher— 
that is, no great philosopher after the old 
pattern. But one must not forget that 
philosophy has to face a difficulty which 
was unknown in the last century. The 
unrestrained soaring of philosophers into 
the far-away regions of mysticism is no 
longer possible, for facts abound and the 
knowledge which is abroad in the land 
must be considered in any well constructed 
system. Some have maintained, if not in 
direct statement, certainly in effect, that 
study of material things unfits one for 
metaphysical investigation. Undoubtedly 
it would hamper him in some kinds of 
metaphysical research, as it would fetter 
him with a respect for actualities, but it 
would fit him well for other kinds. Aris- 
totle, Kant and, in our own time, McCosh 
and Spencer attained to high position as 
philosophers and in each case possessed re- 
markable knowledge in respect to material 
things. 


48 ; SCIENCE, 


The assertion of lost intellectual refine- 
ment and of depraved esthetic taste is but 
the wail for an abandoned cult. It is but 
a variation of the familiar song which has 
sounded down the generations. The world 
was going to destruction when copper ceased 
to be legal tender, as well as when Latin 
ceased to be the language of university 
lectures ; art disappeared when men ceased 
idealizing and began to paint nature as it 
is; religion was doomed to contempt when 
the Bible was translated into the vulgar 
tongue ; and the pillars of the earth were 
removed when the American Republic was 
established. 

But in a proper sense this is a utilitarian 
age. Everywhere the feeling grows that 
the earth is for man, for the rich and for the 
poor alike; that those things only are good 
which benefit mankind by elevating the 
mental or physical conditions. Until the 
present century the importance of the 
purely intellectual side of man was overes- 
timated by scholars, and matters connected 
with his material side were contemned. 
With our century the reaction was too 
great, for even educated men sneered at ab- 
stract studies as absurdities, while they 
thought material things alone worthy of in- 
vestigation. But the balance is steadying 
itself, and at each oscillation the index 
approaches more closely to the mean be- 
tween the so-called intellectual and material 
sides. Devotees of pure science no longer 
regard devotees of applied science as rather 
distant relations who have taken up with 
low-born associates. 

There appears, at first glance, to be very 
little connection between great manufactu- 
ring interests, on one hand, and stone peck- 
ing at the roadside or the counting of strize on 
a fossil, on the other. Yeta geologist rarely 
publishes the results of a vacation study 
without enabling somebody else to improve 
his condition. About twenty years ago one 
of our Fellows began to give the results of 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


reconnaissance studies made during vaca- 
tions. These concerned certain fault lines, 
and the notes included studies upon coal 
beds and other matters of economic interest 
involved in the faults. The coal beds were 
all bought up ; railroads were constructed ; 
mines were operated ; towns were built ; a 
great population was supplied with work at 


good wages, and many men were enriched. - 


But according to the latest information no 
one has offered to re-imburse the geologist 
his expenses, nor has any paper in the 
whole region suggested that the geologist 
had anything to do with bringing about 
the development. 

Geological work in this as in other lands 
was originally vacation work, but eventu- 
ally the investigations became too extensive 
and the problems too broad for the usually 
limited means of the students. Meanwhile, 
it became manifest, as in the case just re- 
ferred to, that important economic results 
were almost certain to follow publication 
of matters discovered by geologists, so that 
men interested in economics were ready to 
assist in securing State aid to advance geo- 
logical work. As one of our Fellows re- 
marked the other day, economic geology 
has been the breastwerk behind which 
scientific geology has been developed by 
State aid. 

Ducatel’s reconnaissance proved the im- 
portance of Maryland’s coal field and the 
survey was ordered ; the Pennsylvania 
Geological Society discussed coal fields until 
the Legislature gave the State a survey ; 
the geologists of New York promised to 
settle, finally, the question of the occur- 
rence of coal within the State; and so in 
many other States. 

The United States Geological Survey had 
a somewhat different origin, for the eco- 
nomic side did not attain importance until 
alate period. Soon after the annexation 
of California the necessity for railroad com- 
munication with the Pacific became appar- 


JANUARY 13, 1899. ] 


ent, and Congress ordered exploration of 
several lines across the Rocky Mountain 
rezion. At that time, the early ’fifties, the 
perplexities of American geologists had 
reacheda maximum. Most of the old State 
surveys had come to a close, rich in eco- 
nomic results and still richer in problems 
to be solved only by elaborate investigation, 
too extended and too costly for those days. 
The observations made by Wislezenus and 
army officers in New Mexico, by Fremont 
and Stansbury farther north in the Rocky 
Mountain and Plateau regions, as well as 
by Culbertson and Norwood in the Dakota 
country, had stirred the curiosity and awak- 
ened the interest of geologists everywhere. 
Strong pressure was brought to bear on the 
Secretary of War for the appointment of 
geologists to positions on the several parties. 
The efforts were successful and the appoint- 
ments were made, though in most instances 
the geologists were physicians and ap- 
pointed as acting surgeons in the army. 
This was an important advance in scien- 
tific work, for, almost without exception, 
exploring parties under the War Depart- 
ment from that time were accompanied by 
naturalists. The Civil War brought the 
Western work to a close, but when peace re- 
turned it was taken up again and geology 
was recognized as a necessary part of it, 
until at last the fragmentary works were 
placed in one organization and the Survey 
established as it now exists. 

In all of the later geological surveys the 
element of economics entered more largely 
into consideration and was emphasized in 
the legislative enactments. Men recognized 
that geological investigation had led to the 
discovery of laws, most important from the 
economic standpoint, and they were anxious 
to have the knowledge utilized in a broad 
way. 

Looking over the history of the old sur- 
veys one sees clearly that their origin was 
due solely to a desire for solution of prob- 


SCIENCE. 


49 


lems in pure science. The credit for the 
economic outcome of the scientific work is 
due to the geologist alone, to whom the ap- 
propriations were given, practically as a gift. 
The Legislators soothed their consciences by 
lofty speeches respecting the duty of the 
Commonwealth to foster the study of Na- 
ture, but they generally had an aside to be 
utilized as a justification before their con- 
stituents— especially when there is a very 
reasonable chance that something of value 
will be discovered to the advantage of our 
Commonwealth.” 

The New York survey had for its possible 
outcome the determination of the coal area. 
The work ‘was completed with great exact- 
ness, for it proved that the State contains 
no coal area whatever. Though only nega- 
tive in results for the State, this survey has 
proved of incalculable service to the coun- 
try at large, forit first elaborated the lower 
and middle Paleozoic sections; the scientific 
work, continued along the biological line, 
defined accurately the vertical limits of fos- 
sils and provided means for removal of dif- 
ficulties where the succession is incomplete 
and for tentative correlatiou in widely sep- 
arated localities, an apparatus whose use- 
fulness cannot be overestimated from an 
economic standpoint.  , 

Tf the man who makes two blades of 
grass grow where only one grew before bea 
public benefactor, what shall be said of the 
geologist who turns a desert into a garden ? 
This was done by the first survey of New 
Jersey, which differentiated and mapped the 
marls of that State, giving a complete dis- 
cussion of their nature and value. Great 


areas of the ‘ whites and barrens’ have been 


converted not into mere farm lands, but into 
richly productive garden spots. In later 
years the second survey, now almost forty 
years old, did, as it is still doing, admirable 
work along the same lines; the study of 
structural geology gave a clue to the causes 
of restrained drainage, and in not a few in- 


50 


stances showed that relief from malaria 
could be obtained with unsuspected ease, 
and that many miles of noxious swamp 
could be converted into lands well fitted for 
residence. 

The first survey of Pennsylvania was 
purely scientific in inception and execution. 
Economic questions had little of interest 
for its head, and in the work their place was 
very subordinate to those in pure science ; 
yet the outcome was inevitable. The study 
of the Appalachian folds and the discovery 
of the steeper northwesterly dip revealed 
the structure of the anthracite region and 
made it possible to determine the relations 
of the anthracite beds ; the vast extent 
of the bituminous area and the importance 
of the Pittsburg coal bed were ascertained 
during the search for facts to explain the 
origin of the coal measures; the ores of the 
central part of the State were studied with 
rigorous attention to detail that the prob- 
lem of their origin might be solved. But 
these and other scientific studies brought 
out a mass of facts which were seen at once 
to possess immense importance, and the re- 
ports were published broadcast. New in- 
dustries were established; old ones, pre- 
viously uncertain, became certain and de- 
veloped prodigiously ; the coal and iron 
interests moved at once to the front, so that, 
within two or three years after the survey 
ended, ‘ Tariff’ became the burning polit- 
ical question throughout the State. The 
results of the second survey were even 
more remarkable in their influence upon 
the development of the Commonwealth and 
the increased comfort of the population. 

Among the earliest results of the first 
survey of Michigan was the determination 
of the value of the salt lands and the an- 
nouncement of iron ore in the Upper Penin- 
sula. The successors to this survey, but 
under the United States supervision, made 
studies of numerous localities and de- 
termined the excellence of the ores. Un- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 211. 


questionably, the importance of the deposit 
became known to capitalists very largely 
through the reports of this survey, though 
at that time economic geology had no 
charms for its head. Much of the enor- 
mous development of the Lake Superior 
iron region was due to the influence of the 
later survey between 1869 and 1873. 

The first Ohio survey, made sixty years - 
ago, was at greater disadvantage than the 
Pennsylvania survey, yet in the first year 
the coal area was defined and during the 
second the geologists determined the distri- 
bution of the several limestones and sand- 
stones which, as building stones, have be- 
come so important. The second survey 
was made effective at once by the tracing 
and identification of the Hocking Valley 
coal, which brought into the State a vast 
amount of new capital and changed the 
face of a great district. The third survey 
determined the distribution of oil and gas, 
the relations of the coal beds and the char- 
acteristics of the clay deposits in such fash- 
ion as to remake the manufacturing in- 
terests of the State. 

The Mesabi and Vermilion ranges of 
Minnesota contain deposits of iron ore 
which, for the present at least, appear to 
be even more important than those of north- 
ern Michigan. Almost fifty years ago J. 
G. Norwood, while studying the easterly 
end of the region, discovered the Mesabi 
ores ; a few years later Whittlesey, after a 
detailed examination farther west, pre- 
dicted the discovery of similar ores, a dis- 
covery actually made in 1866 by Eames, 
who was then State Geologist and engaged 
in studying the Vermilion range. Though 
not utilized at once, these announcements 
were not forgotten and systematic explora- 
tion was begun in 1875, when the need of 
high-grade ores at low prices made neces- 
sary the opening of new areas. Almost at 
once, the State Geological Survey deter- 
mined the extent of the ore-bearing region, 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


differentiated the deposits and removed 
erroneous impressions respecting the extent 
and distribution of the ores. The effect of 
discussion and of the positive fixing of areas 
has been to increase development and to 
cheapen ores of the best quality so far that 
Bessemer steel can be manufactured more 
cheaply in the United States than elsewhere, 
in spite of the fact that wages are still 
higher, not simply numerically, but in pur- 
chasing power, than in any other iron-pro- 
ducing country. An examination of the 
reports which have brought about this re- 
sult compels one to say that the anxiety for 
economic results does not appear to have 
been an impelling motive during the work. 
There were perplexing geological problems 
to be worked out, and the solutions could 
be discovered only by the most painstaking 
work. This investigation led to the eco- 
nomic results. 

The United States Survey retained its 
original character for a number of years, 
the studies being devoted almost wholly to 
pure science. There were those who looked 
upon the elaborate petrographical work as 
merely an elaborate waste of public funds ; 
who, like the member of the Ohio Legisla- 
ture, regarded fossils only as ‘clams and 
salamanders’ and considered the diagrams 
of sections as merely bewildering humbug, 
while they asserted that attention ought to 
be given to other matters, which, however, 
they were not always ready to designate. 
But the outcome of these studies was the 
inevitable ; petrography has its applications 
now in the investigation of building stones, 
and it has proved of service in aiding to de- 
termine the source of precious metals at 
more than one important locality. The de- 
termination of fossils has led to the proper 
definition of the great coal horizons of the 
Upper Cretaceous ; the close study of strati- 
graphical relations made possible a wide 
development of artesian well systems in 
the Dakotas, just as similar work in Eng- 


SCIENCE. 51 


land led to the same practical result; while 
the study of climatic and structural condi- 
tions was brought to bear on the great 
problem of our arid lands with no mean 
results. 

But these illustrations must suffice, not 
because they exhaust the material—for 
every official survey on the continent affords 
illustrations—but because this is an ad- 
dress, not a history, and already the time 
allotted has been exceeded. 

It is the old story—the same in geology 
as in other branches. The kind of work 
for which this Society stands lies more 
closely to the welfare of the community 
than is supposed even by men in high posi- 
tion and of far more than average intelli- 
gence. This work is responsible in large 
part for the industrial progress of our con- 
tinent, which we must regard, in spite of 
protests from those who lament the domi- 
nance of commercialism, as the force which 
has made possible our great advance in 
physical comfort as well as the equally 
great advance in literary culture and «s- 
thetic taste. Coal, iron and oil, chief 
among our products, have been so much 
the objects of minute study by closet inves- 
tigators that improvement in processes of 
manufacture has not been a growth, but 
rather a series of leaps. 

We give all honor to applied science, yet 
we cannot forget that it is but a follower of 
pure science. The worker in pure science 
discovers; his fellow in applied science 
utilizes; the former receives little credit 
outside of a narrow circle; pecuniary reward 
is not his object and rarely falls to his lot ; 
the latter has a double possibility as an 
incentive, large pecuniary reward and popu- 
lar reputation in case of noteworthy suc- 
cess. The two conditions are well repre- 
sented by Henry, the investigator, and 
Morse, the inventor and promoter. 

Men are ignorant of their debt to closet 
workers because the facts have never been 


52 


presented. As geologists and as citizens of 
no mean countries we ought to present this 
matter clearly to men whose fortunes have 
come through application of principles dis- 
covered by obscure workers. Such men 
are quick to perceive the justice of the 
claim and usually are ready to pay a rea- 
sonable interest on the debt. 

The world must advance or retrograde ; 
it cannot stand still. Continued advance 
in physical comfort and intellectual power 
can come only through intenser application 
to investigation along the lines of pure 
science, which can be made possible only 
by affording increased opportunities for re- 
search in our colleges and by the expansion 
of research funds held by societies such as 


this. 
JouN J. STEVENSON. 
New YorK UNIVERSITY. 


FISHES OF THE SOUTH 
ISLAND. 

INVESTIGATIONS carried on by the New 
York State Museum from July to Septem- 
ber and continued by the U. S. Fish Com- 
mission until near the close of October, 
1898, in the waters of the southern part of 
Long Island resulted in the collection of 
eighty-four species of fishes belonging to the 
region. 

The work of collecting began July 21st, 
at Southampton, from which place excur- 
sions were made to Shinnecock, Mecox and 
Peconic Bays and to the ocean beach. The 
writer was assisted by Mr. Barton A. Bean, 
on behalf of the U. S. National Museum, 
during the first month of the explorations. 
Great South Bay was the scene of opera- 
tions from August 12th until October 19th. 

Fine-meshed seines, a gill net of two-inch 
stretch-mesh and a trawl line with about 
200 hooks were the principal means of cap- 
turing the fishes, and a few interesting 
species were obtained from the haul seines 
and set nets of fishermen on the ocean 


SHORE OF LONG 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. TX. No. 211. 
beach and the pound nets in Great South 
Bay. 

A noteworthy feature was the absence of 
many fishes which had been taken during 
the summer and fall months in previous 
years. Among them are: Albula vulpes, 
Etrumeus sadina, Clupea harengus, Pomolobus 
estivalis, Stolephorus argyrophanus, Fistularia 
tabacaria, Sphyrena borealis, Decapterus punc- 
tatus, Vomer setipinnis, Trachinotus faleatus, 
Trachinotus argenteus, Lagodon rhomboides, Lei- 
ostomus xanthurus, Acanthocottus eneus, Hemi- 
tripterus americanus and Platophrys ocellatus. 
Two things contributed to this condition, 
the prevalence of southerly winds, causing 
rough seas on the ocean beaches, and high 
water temperature which kept the migra- 
tory fishes well to the north of Long Island 
until late in October. A very serious hin- 
drance to seining in most parts of the bays 
was the abundance of living and dead sea 
weeds near the shores, and another great 
obstacle was found in the sunken stakes 
scattered by ice and storms from the fences 
used as sea-weed collectors. 

The sand shark ( Carcharias littoralis) was 
abundant on the grassy shallows south of 
Toby’s Flat until the middle of September, 
when it migrated westward. It preyed 
upon mullet, eels and flatfish, and, on ac- 
count of its habit of swimming slowly near 
the surface, was easily captured by spears 
from a row boat. A young mackerel shark 
(Lamna cornubica), about three feet long, 
was caught in a gill net set in the ocean off 
Southampton. Other sharks secured were 
the dusky shark ( Carcharhinus obscurus), the 
smooth dogfish (Jfustelus canis) and the 
horned dogfish (Squalus acanthias) . 

The skates represented three species, 
Raja erinacea, ocellata and eglanteria, all of 
which were sufficiently common. They 
were often found feeding in shallow water 
near the shores, especially in the evening 
and night. A large male was taken by the 
hands, on the night of October 17th, in a 


JANUARY 13, 1899. ] 


small dug-out creek emptying into Clam 
Pond Cove. It was at the edge of the shore 
and partly out of water, having followed 
the channel to the head of the creek and 
then failed to discover a way out. 

A large menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) 
was captured by an osprey in Great South 
Bay and carried through the air fully two 
miles. The osprey was struck by a charge 
of shot and dropped its prey, which was 
then found to be alive. The young of the 
menhaden were migrating westward in 
large schools, swimming near the surface of 
the bay, on October Ist. 

The lizard fish (Synodus fatens), which 
was obtained almost everywhere in Great 
South Bay in 1890, was almost entirely 
absent, only a single example having been 
secured. 

The half-beak (Hyporhamphus roberti) was 
found in small numbers and was occasion- 
ally seen swimming in the water. Its 
movements are closely similar to those of 
the silver gar (Tylosurus marinus). This is 
one of the species captured at night by the 
use of a large reflector lantern. The light 
apparently dazes the fish so that it can 
easily be taken out of the water with a dip- 
net. 

The small silverside (Menidia beryllina) 
occurs abundantly in fresh and brackish 
waters throughout the region explored and 
was once seined in salt water near Fire 
Island. On September 24th a young indi- 
vidual from Swan River measured one and 
one-sixteenth inches in length. The rough 
silverside (Kirtlandia laciniata) was added 
to the New York fauna by the capture of 
an adult example in Mecox Bay, August 
Ist. This has the following characters: 
DMV, L,7 3 Ay 1, 20: Bel4 Vi Id: scales 
7—47. It was associated with the common 
silverside (Menidia notata). 

The red mullet (Mullus auratus) was ob- 
tained, October 17th, from a fish pound near 
Clam Pond Cove. Although the species 


SCIENCE. 53 


occurs occasionally as far north as Cape 
Cod,it seems to be recorded now for the 
first time from Long Island. It was seined 
by the writer at Sandy Hook, October 8, 
1897, and was reported by fishermen to 
have been abundant there in September and 
October of that year. 

The saurel (Trachurus trachurus) was se- 
cured in a gill net, October 16th, in Clam 
Pond Cove, along with young bluefish and 
menhaden. Young horse-crevallé (Caranx 
hippos) were obtained at several localities 
in Great South Bay,and the common cre- 
vallé (Carana ecrysos) was brought from a 
pound near Clam Pond Cove late in October. 
The thread-fish (Alectis ciliaris) is repre- 
sented by two individuals from a pound near 
Islip. The look-down (Selene vomer) was 
seined at Duncan’s Creek, August 29th. 
The common compano ( Trachinotus carolinus ) 
made its appearance in October in the 
vicinity of Fire Island Inlet. Only the 
young were obtained. 

The black rudder fish (Palinurichthys perct- 
formis), usually occurring off shore under 
floating logs and boxes, made its way into 
Great South Bay, and one example was 
caught in Clam Pond Cove, October 11th, 
by Captain George Yarrington. Eucinos- 
tomus gula, formerly so abundant in north- 
ern waters in mid-summer, is represented 
in the collection by a single, very small in- 
dividual, seined in Clam Pond Cove, Au- 
gust 22d. 

The yellow tail or silver perch (Bairdiella 
chrysura), Which was plentiful in all parts of 
Great South Bay in 1890, proved to be 
scarce everywhere except at Nichols’ Point, 
where the young were collected in moder- 
ate numbers, September Ist. 

A single Chetodon (C. ocellatus) was ob- 
tained from a pound near Clam Pond Cove, 
October17th. This is conspicuously beauti- 
ful on account of the orange color of its fins 
contrasting sharply with the dark bands on 
the head and body. ‘The species was taken 


54 


also in Gravesend Bay in October, by Mr. 
W.I. De Nyse, who informs me that the 
roundish black spot in the soft dorsal re- 
mains fixed under all conditions, while the 
band extending from it to the anal fin 
sometimes disappears. The whole body of 
the fish at times appears to have an orange 
tinge, but at other times it is gray. 

The rabbit-fish (Lagocephalus levigatus) 
was not seen until October 14th, when a 
large individual was received from a pound 
near Clam Pond Cove. This was the only 
one obtained during the season. 

The small-mouthed flounder ( Citharich- 
thys microstomus )-was found in and near Fire 
Island Inlet on September 30th and Octo- 
ber llth. Ten individuals were taken, of 
which the largest is about four inches long. 
In 1890 this species was more abundant 
and occurred as far west as the Blue Point 
Life-Saving Station. In 1898 all but one 
of the recorded specimens were collected in 
a single haul of the seine. 

The following record will serve as,an_ il- 
lustration of the sudden changes occurring 
during the fall migrations : On October 11th, 
with southerly winds shifting to southwest- 
erly and strong, two hauls were made with 
the gill net and three with the twenty- 
fathom seine; the fishes obtained were 
Mugil cephalus, Mugil cwrema, Alutera schepfii, 
Prionotus carolinus, Prionotus strigatus, Me- 
nidia notata, Fundulus majalis, Fundulus het- 
eroclitus, Tautoga onitis young, Tylosurus 
marinus, Spheroides maculatus, Siphostoma fus- 
Citharichthys 
Pseudopleuronectes americanus, 


cum, Hippocampus hudsonius, 
microstomus, 
Bothus maculatus, Stenotomus chrysops young, 
Synodus fatens, Menticirrhus saxatilis, Centro- 
pristes striatus young. ‘To these were added, 
on the same day, at Clam Pond Cove, several 
miles farther east, Palinurichthys perciformis, 
Pomatomus saltatrix, Opsanus tau, Brevoortia 
tyrannus young, and Bairdiella chrysura. 
On October 17th we worked over the 
same ground, the wind blowing from the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


northeast, but gradually moderating. The 
gill net was hauled, but caught nothing. 
An orange filefish (Alutera schepfii) was 
speared. We then looked around east and 
west along the shore and saw no fish ex- 
cept Fundulus majalis and Menidia notata. 
It should be noted, however, that on the 
same date a pound near Clam Pond Cove 
furnished us with Chetodon ocellatus, Mullus 
auratus, Elops saurus, Carana erysos, Raia 
Raia Alutera schepfit, 


ocellata, erinacea, 


*Mustelus canis and Stenotomus chrysops, while 


the saurel (Trachurus trachurus) was pres- 
ent in Clam Pond Cove on the preceding 
day. 

A large reflector lantern used for ‘ fire- 
lighting’ eels at night was found useful for 
the capture of other fishes and for studying 
their attitudes and movements in the water. 
On the night of September 16th the lantern 
was held over the side of our sloop in Clam 
Pond Cove, and it attracted to us silver gar 
( Tylosurus marinus), killifish (Fundulus maja- 
lis and F. heteroclitus), silverside (Menidia 
notata), half beak (Hyporhamphus roberti), 
annelids (Nereis sp.), erabs, shrimp, beetles 
and moths. By means of a dip net it was 
easy to take any of the species. On the 
night of October 13th we were on the south 
shore of Great South Bay near Horsefoot 
Creek, spearing eels with the help ofthe 
lantern. 

We took about twenty pounds of large 
eels, and nearly all of them were in very 
shallow water, close to the shore, hiding 
in the grass or on the sand bottom. One 
large eel, at the mouth of Horsefoot Creek, 
was standing on its head, boring for worms 
when it was speared. The silver gars and 
silversides played around the light, follow- 
ing it persistently in a semi-dazed fashion. 
Killifish, toadfish and many crabs were seen 
resting on the bottom, the toadfish some- 
times lying on its side, with its tail curled 
toward itshead. Young bluefish were seen 
darting out of the way occasionally. Sev- 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


eral quawks were fascinated by the lantern, 
and we pushed up close to them before they 
started off with owl-like motion and dis- 
cordant cries. 

The writer is now able, from personal 
studies, to report 163 species of fishes in 
waters extending from Gravesend Bay east- 
ward to Mecox bay, and refers to his ar- 
ticles published in the Nineteenth Annual 
Report of the New York Fish Commission 
(1890) and the Bulletin for 1897 of the 
American Museum of Natural History, 
New York City. 

The marine fishes now certainly known 
in the New York fauna represent 200 spe- 
cies. The fresh waters contain 116 species, 
and there are, besides, 13 anadromous 
forms. The list might be further increased 
by the addition of the following fishes con- 
cerning whose pertinence to the fauna there 
is more or less doubt: Lucius vermiculatus, 
Seriola lalandi, Coryphena equisetis, Boleosoma 
nigrum, Polyprion americanus, Epinephelus 
niveatus, Dules auriga, Zenopsis ocellatus, Sphe- 
roides trichocephalus, Aspidophoroides monop- 
terygius, Ulvaria subbifurcata, Sticheus pune- 
tatus, Leptoblennius serpentinus, Cryptacan- 
thodes maculatus, Anarhichas lupus, Trigla 
cuculus, Brosmius brosme, Hippoglossoides pla- 
tessoides, Ogcocephalus vespertilio.* 

Thus, a catalogue of the New York 
fishes, based upon our present knowledge 
and including the foregoing 19 forms doubt- 
fully assigned to the fauna, will contain 348 
species. It should be remembered that no 
systematic account of the fishes has been 
published since 1842, and many large re- 
gions of the State are almost, or altogether, 
unknown to the ichthyologist. 

TARLETON H. Buran. 


*The bat-fish must be transferred to the list of 
species known to occur in New York. Dr. Theodore 


Gill, in the mid-summer of 1854 or 1855, saw a re- - 


cently-caught example of it at a wharf at the foot of 
27th Street, East River, New York. No record of its 
occurrence was published. 


SCIENCE. 55 


SUPPRESSION OF SMOKE. 

Tue devising of practicable methods of 
reduction of the ‘smoke nuisance’ has be- 
come one of the most important problems 
in applied science for our time, and has 
been a subject of experiment and of legis- 
lation for many years past. Of late, some 
success has been met with on both sides the 
Atlantic. In St. Louis, perhaps, as great 
success has been attained as in any city in 
the United States, through the public-spir- 
ited cooperation of the city government, 
the Board of Trade and the scientific men 
and leading engineers of the place; but 
there remains much to be done and inves- 
tigations are still in progress, some of which 
areimportant. Recent discussions at Phil- 
adelphia, under the auspices of the Frank- 
lin Institute,* have thrown much light upon 
the subject and have afforded many valu- 
able facts and data. 

We have now the published results of 
another and formal investigation by a com- 
mission, organized at Paris, composed of 
MM. Huet, Brull, Hirsch, Humblot, Lam- 
ouroux, Michel-Levy and DeTavernier, all 
holding important positions in the municipal 
administration, or in the great schools of 
mines and engineering, or as leading mem- 
bers of the Society of Civil Engineers. The 
commission was in session, at intervals, 
from June, 1894, to October, 1897. It made 
a study of reports and documents bearing 
upon the subject, conducted important ex- 
periments, reduced them to order and stud- 
ied out definite conclusions, and also inves- 
tigated the origin, state and the progress of 
the art, completing its report at the last- 
named date. This document of over 150 
pages, large 8vo, with 25 plates, is now in 
process of distribution. + 

Although more or less attention had been 


* Journal Franklin Institute, June, 1897. 

+ ‘‘Concours pour la suppression des fumées pro- 
duites par les foyers de chaudiéres 4 vapeur. Rapport 
de la Commission technique. Prefecture du Depart- 


56 


given the subject by the municipal govern- 
ment for years, nothing had been accom- 
plished, and it was, in this instance, proposed 
to organize a technical commission to con- 
duct competitive tests of various methods 
and apparatus having for their object the 
suppression of smoke from boiler-furnaces. 
The above-named commission was accord- 
ingly formed and was assigned a credit of 
8,050 franes for expenses. The commission 
was to select acceptable forms of furnace 
and report to the city government for their 
license and use. One hundred and ten 
competitors appeared, their schemes includ- 
ing the following : 
GENERAL PLAN OF PROCEDURE. 


(1) Mechanical feed and methodical combustion. 16 
(2) Supplementary injection of air, hot or cold.. 20 
(3) Injection of steam, with or without air..... 5 
(4) iStirring: thei gasessi . «cle ci rie1c'e «cle lel eteieislors'ore 7 


(5) Gas producers and heating the gases........ 7 
(6) Combustion of dust fuel... ........ ..... 2 
((G)) Washing: “the ’smoke: <..)..c:5,...!ssse)s-s.sis sss 16 
(8) Various other systems.................+.- 37 

110 


Of the total, three-fourths were French 
devices, one-fifth English, 3 American, and 
the others of various European nation- 
alities. A preliminary study led to the 
careful test of ten. These were tested to 
ascertain whether they were capable of 
burning ordinary fuels without smoke and 
whether they were suitable for use in steam- 
making. 

They were tested with rapid and with 
slow combustion, with operatives supplied 
by the makers and with firemen furnished 
by the commission, under the direction of 
first the one and then the other. The in- 
tensity of the smoke was observed and 
noted on a scale of five points. The usual 
standard methods of determining the effi- 
ciency of the apparatus were employed. 
The corps of observation was detailed from 


ment de la Seine, Ville de Paris, République Fran- 
caise—Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.’’ n. d. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


the offices of the city administration, or- 
ganized and directed by the commission. 

The history of legislation, as given, traces 
the progress of the subject in England from 
the time of Charles II., who, two hundred 
years ago, inaugurated repressive measures. 
In France this form of legislation began 
with an imperial decree in 1810. Both 
countries now have well-considered laws 
for suppression of smoke in cities. The 
technical history, curiously enough, begins 
with plans by Denis Papin. The next in- 
ventor to follow this illustrious man of 
science was James Watt, with his inverted 
draught and later arrangement of ‘ dead- 
plate.’ The ‘automatic stokers,’ ‘ tres usités 
en Amérique,’ are referred to and their inci- 
dental but none the less effective, smoke 
reductions are described. Legislation now 
exists in all civilized countries, and many 
more or less effective devices and methods 
are in use for suppression of smoke. 

A commission of distinguished engineers 
and scientific men was organized by the 
German government, in 1892, which, after 
prolonged experimental investigation, con- 
cluded that success had not been attained, 
but that the way to success was clearly in- 
dicated. This commission, in computing 
the heating power of combustibles from 
analyses, adopted the formula: 8000 C + 
29000 (H — 0/8) + 2500 S — 600 W; where 
W is moisture. 

The outcome of the work of the French 
Commission was the refusal to assign a first 
prize, the awarding of two second prizes, of 
two first mentions and of one second men- 
tion. The conclusions formulated indicate 
that the Commission is not satisfied that a 
real success has been achieved, but never- 
theless the researches were not without 
value. Like the German Commission of 
1892-4, it is concluded that ‘‘ The work of 
the Commission should be considered only 
as a contribution to the study of ‘ fumivo- 
rité,’ and it is to be hoped that these re- 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


searches may continue. There remains much 
to be done and a part of this collection of 
exhibits has very nearly attained the object 
proposed.” 

Among the specific conclusions are these: 

Smoke cannot be suppressed without considerable 
excess of cost. 

Special fuels, as anthracite, coke, fuel-gas and 
mineral oils, may be resorted to, and with success, 
where cost is not objectionable. 

The chimney-top should be visible to the man at 
the furnace. 

Prolonged trials should supplement such investiga- 
tions as those prosecuted by this Commission, to as- 
certain the durability of the apparatus and of its effi- 
ciency. 

Existing legislation, well enforced, is advised, 
rather than any specific new legislation. 

The appendix to the report is an elaborate 
presentation of the logs, tables and draw- 
ings of the apparatus of the trials described 
in the text. The whole constitutes a very 
valuable contribution to the literature of 
the subject, in the department of applied 
science, and deserves to be permanently 
preserved in every library of applied science, 
beside the reports of the Franklin Institute 
discussion. 

R. H. Tuurston. 


AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 

Tur fifth annual meeting of the American 
Mathematical Society was held in Fayer- 
weather Hall of Columbia University, on 
Wednesday, December 28, 1898. On the 
two following days the Chicago Section of 
the Society held its fourth regular meeting 
in the Ryerson Physical Labratory of the 
Yniversity of Chicago. At the election 
held at the annual meeting the following 
officers and members of the Council were 
chosen: President, R.S. Woodward; First 
Vice-President, E. H. Moore ; Second Vice- 
President, T. S. Fiske; Secretary, F. N. 
Cole ; Treasurer, Harold Jacoby ; Librarian, 
Pomeroy Ladue ; Committee of Publication, 
T.S. Fiske, F. N. Cole, Alexander Ziwet; 


SCIENCE. 


57 


members of the Council to serve for three 
years, Maxime Bocher, James Pierpont, 
Charlotte Angas Scott. 

The Society has now completed its tenth 
year of continuous existence, having been 
organized as the New York Mathematical 
Society in November, 1888, and reorganized 
under its present title in July, 1894. The 
Bulletin is now in its eighth annual volume ; 
the first number appeared in October, 1891. 
The present membership of the Society is 315. 
About ninety papers have been presented at 
its meetings during the past year. The 
Chicago Section was organized in April, 
1897, and has proved from the beginning a 
valued addition to the Society’s strength. 

At the annual meeting the following 
papers were read: 


(1) Proressor M. I. Pupin: ‘On multiple reso- 
nance.’ ; 

(2) Dr. A. S. CHEssIN : ‘On the development of the 
perturbative function in terms of the eccentric 
anomalies.’ 

(3) Dr. A. S. CHEssIN : ‘On some points of the the- 
ory of functions.’ 

(4) Proressor E. O. Loverr: ‘On the transforma- 
tion of straight lines into spheres.’ 

(5) Dr. E. J. Wriczynskr: ‘A generalization of 
Appell’s factorial functions.’ 

(6) PRoFEssoR ORMOND STONE: ‘On the solution 
of Delaunay’s canonical system of equations.’ 

(7) Dr. Virein SNyDER: ‘ Asymptotic lines on 
ruled surfaces having two rectilinear generators.’ 

(8) Dr. G. A. MILLER: ‘On a memoir on the sub- 
stitution groups whose degree is less than nine.’ 

(9) Dr. W. Scuutz: ‘On the partial differential 
equation 

O7u 
Ou? 


O7u 


3y? — ew 


afk 
and its connection with Dirichlet’s principle.’ 


The following is a list of the papers read 
before the Chicago Section : 


(1) Dr. L. E. Dickson: ‘The determination of the 
structure of all linear homogeneous groups in a 
Galois field which possess a quadratic invariant, 
with the announcement of two new systems of 
simple groups.’ 

(2) Mr. Cart C. EncBeRG: ‘The Cartesian oval 
and the auxiliary parabola.’ 


58 


(3) Proressor ARTHUR S. HATHAWAY: ‘A new 
way of presenting the principles of the calculus.’ 

(4) PRoressor H. MAscuKE: ‘Some general the- 
orems concerning linear substitution-groups of 
finite order.’ 

(5) Prorgssor E. H. Moore: ‘Concerning Klein’s 
groups of n! (n—1)-ary collineations.’ 

(6) Prorgessor E. H. Moore: ‘The decomposition 
of a modular system connected with the doubly 
generalized Fermat theorem.’ 

(7) Proressor H. B. Newson: ‘Normal forms of 
projective transformation (second communica- 
tion).’ 

(8) Proressor H. B. Newson: ‘A new solution 
of the Riemann-Helmholtz problem.’ 

(9) PRoFEessor H. B. Newson: ‘ What constitutes 
a continuous group ?’ 

(10) ProrEssor JAMES B. SHAW: ‘Some quater- 
nion integrals and their related classes of func- 
tions.’ 

(11) Dr. H. F. Strecker : ‘ Non-Euclidean images 
of plane cubics on rotation surfaces of constant 
negative curvature.’ 

(12) Prorrssor HENRY S. WHITE: ‘Note on cer- 
tain relations among fundamental covariants of 
a ternary cubic.’ 

(13) Proressor J. W. A. Youn@: ‘The teaching 
of mathematics in the higher schools of Prussia.’ 

F. N. Cots, 


Secretary. 
CoLuMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


GENERAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

Tue eighteenth general meeting of the 
American Chemical Society was held in 
New York on the 27th and 28th of Decem- 
ber, and was in every respect a most suc- 
cessful and notable gathering. 

The opening session was held at the rooms 
of the Chemists’ Club, 108 West 55th Street, 
with an attendance of about one hundred 
and fifty members and visitors. 

Dr. McMurtrie welcomed the visitors and 
then introduced Mr. Randolph Guggen- 
heimer, President of the Council, who wel- 
comed the Society to the city. Professor 
Alexander 8. Webb, of the College of the 
City of New York, welcomed the Society to 
the educational and scientific institutions 
of ithe city. President C. E. Munroe re- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


sponded in behalf of the Society, after which 
the following papers were read : 

‘A New Method for the Separation of 
Arsenic, Antimony, Selenium and Tellu- 
rium from one another and from other 
Metals,’ A. E. Knorr; ‘Separation of Im- 
purities in the Electrolytic Refining of Cop- 
per,’ by P. de P. Ricketts; ‘The Prepara- 
tion of Metallic Tellurium,’ Victor Lebner. 

The meeting was then adjourned to take 
a special train to the New Jersey Zine and 
Iron Company’s works at Newark, N. J., 
where a luncheon was served, and the pro- 
cess of manufacture of zine oxide was 
shown. Parties were also made up to visit 
the Wetherill Concentrator Works, Murphy ~ 
Varnish Company, Lister’s Agricultural 
Chemical Works and others. 

In the evening a business session was 
held at the club rooms, at which reports 
were received from standing committees 
and the retiring President made his ad- 
dress. M. Raoul Pictet gave an interesting 
discourse on the ‘ Retardation of Chemical 
Activities at Low Temperatures.’ His sub- 
ject was illustrated by a lantern projection 
showing a piece of metallic sodium held on 
a steel needle and both immersed in hydro- 
chlorie acid which had been cooled to the 
lowest temperature obtainable by means of 
solidified carbon dioxide. There was no 
reaction between acid and sodium or the 
iron until a considerable rise of temper- 
ature had taken place. 

The second day’s session was held at 
Havemeyer Hall, Columbia University, at 
which the following papers were read : 

‘Measurement of Turbidity in Water,’ 
W.P. Mason ; ‘ The Assay of Nux Vomica,’ 
E. R. Squibb ; ‘The Potato and Cassava 
Starch Industries in the United States,’ H. 
W. Wiley; ‘Notes on the Estimation of Car- 
bohydrates,’ Traphagen and Cobleigh ; ‘ The 
Action of Iodine on the Fatty Amines,’ J. 
F. Norris; ‘On the Constitution of Some 
Canadian Baryto-Celestites, C. W. Volney ; 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


‘ Laboratory Notes, A. C. Langmuir; 
‘Flame Colorations by Bromides and 
Chlorides of Nickel and Cobalt,’ A. S. 
Cushman; ‘Classen’s Reaction as an 
Aid to Determination of Constitution of 
Terpene Ketones,’ M. C. Burt; ‘Sixth An- 
nual Report of Committee on Atomic 
Weight,’ F. W. Clarke. 

A luncheon was provided by the New 
York Section, which was served in the 
Industrial Laboratory, after which visits 
to various manufacturing establishments 
and a demonstration of the properties of 
liquid air at the College of the City of 
New York occupied the rest of the day, 
and a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in 
the evening closed the official program of a 
meeting which had been successful beyond 
the expectations of the most sanguine of 
those who had worked for it. 

The attendance was not less than one 
hundred and fifty at any of the sessions, 
and among them a number of ladies, who 
also graced the dinner with their presence. 

Duranp WoopMAn. 
Secretary 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Collected Mathematical Papers of ARTHUR 
CAYLEY. 4to. 13 Vols., each $6.25. Supple- 
mentary Vol., containing Titles of Papers 
and Index. New York, Macmillan Co. $2.50. 
This republication by the Cambridge Univer- 

sity Press of Cayley’s papers, in collected form, 

is the most fitting monument of his splendid 
fame. 

He must ever rank as one of the greatest 
mathematicians of all time. Cayley exceedingly 
appreciated this action of the Syndics of the 
Press, and seven of the large quarto volumes 
appeared under his own editorship. 

As to what these thirteen volumes contain it 
seems vain to attempt even asummary. They 
cover the whole range of pure mathematics, 
algebra, analysis, mathematical astronomy, dy- 
namics, and in particular groups, quadratic 
forms, quantics, etc., ete. 

Though abreast of Sylvester as an analyst, he 


SCIENCE. 


59 


was, what Sylvester was not, also a geometer. 
Again and again we find the pure geometric 
methods of Poncelet and Chasles, though, per- 
haps, not full assimilation of that greater one 
than they who has now absorbed them-—-von 
Staudt. 

Cayley not only made additions to every im- 
portant subject of pure mathematics, but whole 
new subjects, now of the most importance, owe 
their existence to him. It is said that he is 
actually now the author most frequently quoted 
in the living world of mathematicians. His 
name is, perhaps, most closely linked with the 
word invariant, due to his great brother-in-arms, 
Sylvester. 

Boole, in 1841, had shown the invariance of 
all discriminants and given a method of deduc- 
ing some other such functions. This paper of 
Boole’s suggested to Cayley the more general 
question, to find ‘all the derivatives of any 
number of functions which have the property of 
preserving their form unaltered after any linear 
transformation of the variables.’ His first re- 
sults, relating to what we now call invariants, 
he published in 1845. A second set of results, 
relating to what Sylvester called covariants, he 
published in 1846. Not until four or five years 
later did Sylvester take up this matter, but 
then came such a burst of genius that after his 
series of publications, in 1851-4, the giant theory 
of Invariants and Covariants was in the world 
completely equipped. 

The check came when Cayley, in his second 
Memoir on Quantics, came to the erroneous 
conclusion that the number of the asyzygetic 
invariants of binary quantics beyond the sixth 
order was infinite, ‘thereby,’ as Sylvester says, 
‘arresting for many years the progress of the 
triumphal car which he had played a principal 
part in setting in motion.’ 

The passages supposed to prove this are 
marked ‘incorrect’ in the Collected Mathemat- 
ical Papers. But this error was not corrected 
until 1869 [Crelle, Vol. 69, pp. 323-354] by 
Gordan in his Memoir [dated 8th June, 1868]: 
“‘Beweis dass jede Covariante und Invariante 
einer binaeren Form eine ganze Function mit 
numerischen Coefficienten einer endlichen An- 
zahl solcher Formen ist.’’ 

Cayley at once returned to the question, found 


60 


the source of his mistake, the unsuspected and 
so neglected interdependence of certain syzygies, 
and devoted his Ninth Memoir on Quanties (7th 
April, 1870) to the correction of his error and 
a further development of the theory in the light 
of Gordan’s results. 

The whole of this primal theory of invariants 
may now be regarded as a natural and elegant 
application of Lie’s theory of continuous groups. 
The differential parameters, which in the or- 
dinary theory of binary forms enable us to cal- 
culate new invariants from known ones, appear 
in a simple way as differential invariants of 
certain linear groups. The Lie theory may be 
illustrated by a simple example. 

Consider the binary quadratic form 


f Hox? + 2a, ay + any? 
Applying to f the linear transformation 
(1) wax! + fy’, y = yx! + oy’, 
we obtain the quadratic form 
if =e A F 2a’ x!y! + a! ay”, 
where the coefficients are readily found to be 
a’, =a’a, + 2aya, + yan, 
(2) a’; =aBay + (a5 + By) a, + yay, 
a’, = Bay + 20a, + Pa2. \ 
We may easily verify the following identity : 
a’ a’, —a’?, = (ad — By)? (aya, —a?,). 

Hence a,a, —a’, is an invariant of the form 
f. In the group theory it is an invariant of the 
group of linear homogeneous transformations 
(2) on the three parameters a@,, a,, a,. 

The only covariant of f is known to be f itself. 
In the Lie theory it appears as the invariant of a 
linear homogeneous group on five variables, x, 
Y, 4, 4,, @,, the transformations being defined 
by the equations (2), together with (1) when in- 
verted. 

In general, the invariants of a binary form of 
degree n are defined by a linear homogeneous 
group on its n + 1 coefficients, its covariants by 
a group on n+ 8 variables. 

As in all problems in continuous groups, the 
detailed developments are greatly simplified by 
employing the infinitesimal transformations of 
the groups concerned. 

It is readily proven by the group theory that 
all invariants and covariants are expressible in 
terms of a finite number of them. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


This result is, however, not equivalent to the 
algebraic result that all rational integral in- 
variants (including covariants) are expressible 
rationally and integrally in terms of a finite 
number of such invariants. 

Twenty years ago, in my ‘ Bibliography of 
Hyper Space and Non-Euclidean Geometry’ 
(American Journal of Mathematics, Vol. I., Nos. 
2 and 8, 1878), I cited seven of Cayley’s 
papers written before 1873 : ‘ 

I. Chapters in the Analytical Geometry of 
(n) Dimensions. Camb. Math. Jour., Vol. IV., 
1845, pp. 119-127. 

II. Sixth Memoir on Quanties. 
Vol. 149, pp. 61-90 (1859). 

III. Note on Lobatchevsky’s Imaginary 
Geometry. Phil. Mag. XXIX., pp. 231-233 
(1865). 

TV. On the rational transformation between 
two spaces. Lond. Math. Soc. Proc. III., pp. 
127-180 (1869-71). 

V. A Memoir on Abstract Geometry. Phil. 
Trans. CLX., pp. 51-638 (1870). 

VI. On the superlines of a quadric surface in 
five dimensional space. Quar. Jour., Vol. XIL., 
pp. 176-180 (1871-72). 

VII. On the Non-Euclidean Geometry. 
Clebsch Math. Ann. V., pp. 680-634 (1872). 

Four of these pertain to Hyper-Space, and in 
that Bibliography I quoted Cayley as to its 
geometry as follows : 

“The science presents itself in two ways— 
as a legitimate extension of the ordinary two- 
and three-dimensional geometries, and as a need 
in these geometries and in analysis gener- 
ally. In fact, whenever we are concerned with 
quantities connected together in any manner, 
and which are or are considered as variable or 
determinable, then the nature of the relation 
between the quantities is frequently rendered 
more intelligible by regarding them (if only two 
or three in number) as the coordinates of a 
point in a plane or in space: for more than 
three quantities there is, from the greater com- 
plexity of the case, the greater need of such a 
representation ; but this can only be obtained 
by means of the notion of a space of the proper 
dimensionality ; and to use such a representa- 
tion we require the geometry of such space. 

An important instance in plane geometry has 


Phil. Trans., 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


actually presented itself in the question of the 
determination of the number of curves which 
satisfy given conditions; the conditions imply 
relations between the coefficients in the equa- 
tion of the curve ; and for the better under- 


standing of these relations it was expedient to~- 


consider the coefficients as the coordinates of a 
point in a space of the proper dimensionality.’’ 

For a dozen years after it was written the 
Sixth Memoir on Quantics would not have been 
enumerated in a Bibliography of non-Euclidean 
geometry, for its author did not see that it gave 
a generalization which was identifiable with 
that initiated by Bolyai and Lobachévski, though 
afterwards, in his address to the British Asso- 
ciation, in 1883, he attributes the fundamental 
idea involved to Riemann, whose paper was 
written in 1854. 

Says Cayley: ‘‘In regarding the physical 
space of our experience as possibly non-Euclid- 
ean, Riemann’s idea seems to be that of modify- 
ing the notion of distance, not that of treating 
it as a locus in four-dimensional space.’’ 

What the Sixth Memoir was meant to do was 
to base a generalized theory of metrical geome- 
try on a generalized definition of distance. 

As Cayley himself says: ‘* * * * the 
theory in effect is that the metrical properties 
of a figure are not the properties of the figure 
considered per se apart from everything else, 
but its properties when considered in connection 
with another figure, viz., the conic termed the 
absolute.”’ 

The fundamental idea that a metrical property 
could be looked at as a projective property of 
an extended system had occurred in the French 
school of geometers. Thus Laguerre (1853) so 
expresses an angle. Cayley generalized this 
French idea, expressing all metrical properties 
as projective relations to a fundamental config- 
uration. 

We may illustrate by tracing how Cayley 


arrives at his projective definition of distance. — 


Two projective primal figures of the same kind 
of elements and both on the same bearer are 
called conjective. When in two conjective 
primal figures one particular element has the 
same mate to whichever figure it be regarded 
as belonging, then every element has this 


property. 


SCIENCE. 61 


Two conjective figures, such that the elements 
are mutually paired (coupled), form an involu- 
tion. If two figures forming an involution have 
self-correlated elements these are called the 
double elements of the involution. 

An involution has at most two double ele- 
ments, for were three self-correlated all would 
be self-correlated. If an involution has two 
double elements these separate harmonically 
any two coupled elements. An involution is 
completely determined by two couples. 

From all this it follows that two point-pairs A, 
Band A,, B, define an involution whose double 
points D, D, are determined as that point-pair 
which is harmonically related to the two given 
point-pairs. 

Let the pair A, B be fixed and called the 
Absolute. Two new points 4,, B, are said (by 
definition) to be equidistant from a double point 
D defined as above. D issaid to be the ‘center’ 
of the pair A,, B,. Inversely, if A, and D be 
given, B, is uniquely determined. 

Thus, starting from two points Pand P,, we 
determine P, such that P, isthe center of P and. 
P,, then determine P; so that P, is the center of 
P,and P3, etc.; also in the opposite direction 
we determine an analogous series of points 
P—,, P—,,.... Wehave, therefore, a series 
of points 

my) pay Ia P, P,, P,, Ps, POY 
at ‘equal intervals of distance.’ Taking the 
points P, P, to be indefinitely near to each other, 
the entire line will be divided into a series of 
equal infinitesimal elements. 

In determining an analytic expression for the 
distance of two points Cayley introduced the 
inverse cosine of a certain function of the coor- 
dinates, but in the Note which he added in the 
Collected Papers he recognizes the improve- 
ment gained by adopting Klein’s assumed defi- 
nition for the distance of any two points P, Q: 

dist. (PQ) =c log ope 
where 4, B are the two fixed points giving the 
Absolute. 

This definition preserves the fundamental re- 

lation 
dist. (PQ) + dist. (QR) = dist. (PR). 
In this note (Col. Math. Papers, Vol. 2, p. 


62 


604) Cayley discusses the question whether the 
new definitions of distance depend upon that of 
distance in the ordinary sense, since it is obvi- 
ously unsatisfactory to use one conception of 
distance in defining a more general conception 
of distance, 

His earlier view was to regard coordinates 
‘not as distances or ratios of distances, but as 
an assumed fundamental notion, not requiring 
or admitting of explanation.’ Later he re- 
garded them as ‘mere numerical values, at- 
tached arbitrarily to the point, in such wise 
that for any given point the ratio 7: y has a de~ 
terminate numerical value,’ and inversely. 

But in 1871 Klein had explicitly recognized 
this difficulty and indicated its solution. He 
says: ‘‘ The cross ratios (the sole fixed ele- 
ments of projective geometry) naturally must 
not here be defined, as ordinarily happens, as 
ratios of sects, since this would assume the 
knowledge of a measurement. In von Staudt’s 
Beitrigen zur Geometrie der Lage (% 27. n. 
398), however, the necessary materials are given 
for defining a cross ratio as a pure number. 
Then from cross ratios we may pass to homo- 
geneous point- and plane-coordinates, which, in- 
deed, are nothing else than the relative values 
of certain cross ratios, as von Staudt has like- 
wise shown (Beitraege, 3 29. n. 411).”’ 

This solution was not satisfactory to Cayley, 
who did not think the difficulty removed by the 
observations of von Staudt that the cross ratio 
(A, B, P, Q) has ‘independently of any notion 
of distance the fundamental properties of a 
numerical magnitude, viz.: any two such ratios 
have a sum and also a product, such sum and 
product being each of them a like ratio of four 
points determinable by purely descriptive con- 
structions.”’ 

Consider, for example, the product of the 
ratioss(Ay BP. O)sand (As Bsr 40). a We 
can construct a point R such that (4,’ B,’ P,’ 
Q’) = (A, B, Q, R). The product of (4, B, P, Q) 
and (A, B, Q, R) is said to be (4, B, P, R). 
This last definition of a product of two cross 
ratios, Cayley remarks, is in effect equivalent 
to the assumption of the relation dist. (PQ) 
+ dist. (QR) = dist. (PR). 

The original importance of this memoir to 
Cayley lay entirely in its exhibiting metric as a 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 211. 


branch of descriptive geometry. That this gen- 
eralization of distance gave pangeometry was 
first pointed out by Klein in 1871. 

Klein showed that if Cayley’s Absolute be 
real we get Bolyai’s system ; if it be imaginary 
we get either spheric or a new system called by 
Klein single elliptic ; if the Absolute be an im- 
aginary point pair we get parabolic geometry ; 
and if, in particular, the point pair be the cir- 
cular points we get ordinary Euclid. 

It is maintained by B. A. W. Russell, in his 
powerful essay on the Foundations of Geometry 
(Cambridge, 1897), ‘‘that the reduction of met- 
rical to projective properties, even when, as in 
hyperbolic geometry, the Absolute is real, is 
only apparent, and has merely a technical 
validity.’’ 

Cayley first gave evidence of acquaintance 
with non-Euclidean geometry in 1865 in the 
paper in the Philosophical Magazine, above-men- 
tioned. 

Though this is six years after the Sixth Me- 
moir, and though another six was to elapse 
before the two were connected, yet this is, I 
think, the very first appreciation of Lobachév- 
sky in any mathematical journal. 

Baltzer has received deserved honor for in 
1866 calling the attention of Hotiel to Lobachéy- 
sky’s ‘Geometrische Untersuchungen,’ and from 
the spring thus opened actually flowed the flood 
of ever-broadening non-Euclidean research. 

But whether or not Cayley’s path to these 
gold-fields was ever followed by any one else, 
still he had therein marked out a claim for 
himself a whole year before the others. 

In 1872, after the connection with the Sixth 
Memoir had been set up, Cayley takes up the 
matter in his paper, in the Mathematische An- 
nalen,‘ On the Non- Euclidean Geometry,’ which 
begins as follows: ‘‘The theory of the non- 
Euclidean geometry,as developed in Dr. Klein’s 
paper ‘ Ueber die Nicht-Euclidische Geometrie,’ 
may be illustrated by showing how in sucha 
system we actually measure a distance and an 
angle, and by establishing the trigonometry of 
such a system.’’ 

I confine myself to the ‘hyperbolic’ case of 
plane geometry : viz., the Absolute is here a real 
conic, which for simplicity I take to bea circle ; 
and I attend to the points within the circle. 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


I use the simple letters, a, 4, . . to denote 
(linear or angular) distances measured in the 
ordinary manner; and the same letters with a 


superscript stroke @, A, . . to denote the same 
distances measured according to the theory. 
The radius of the Absolute is for convenience 
taken to be = 1; the distance of any point from 
the center can, therefore, be represented as the 
sine of an angle. 


The distance BC, or say d, of any two points 
B,C is by definition as follows : 


(where J, J are the intersections of the line BC 
with the circle). 

As for the trigonometry ‘‘ the formule are, in 
fact, similar to those of spherical trigonometry 
with only cosh a, sinh @, etc., instead of cos a, 
sin a, ete.”’ 

Cayley returned again to this matter in his 
celebrated Presidential Address to the British 
Association (1883), saying there: ‘‘It is well 
known that Euclid’s twelfth axiom, even in 
Playfair’s form of it, has been considered as 
needing demonstration; and that Lobatschév- 
sky constructed a perfectly consistent theory, 
wherein this axiom was assumed not to hold 
good, or say a system of non-Euclidean plane 
geometry. There is a like system of non- 
Euclidean solid geometry.’’ 

“But suppose the physical space of our ex- 
perience to be thus only approximately Euclid- 
ean space, what is the consequence which fol- 
lows?”? j 

The very next year this ever-interesting sub- 
ject recurs in the paper (May 27, 1884) ‘On the 
Non-Euclidean Plane Geometry.’ ‘‘Thus the 
geometry of the pseudo-sphere, using the ex- 
pression straight line to denote a geodesic of 
the surface, is the Lobatschévskian geometry; 
or, rather, I would say this in regard to the 
metrical geometry, or trigonometry, of the sur- 
face; for in regard to the descriptive geometry 
the statement requires some qualification * * * 
this is not identical with the Lobatschévskian 
geometry, but corresponds to it ina manner such 
as that in which the geometry of the surface of 
the circular cylinder corresponds to that of the 
plane. 


SCIENCE. 


I would remark that this realization of . 


63 


the Lobatschévskian geometry sustains the 
opinion that Euclid’s twelfth axiom is un- 
demonstrable.’’ 

But here this necessarily brief notice must 
abruptly stop. Cayley, in addition to his won- 
drous originality, was assuredly the most learned 
and erudite of mathematicians. Of him in his 
science it might be said he knew everything, 
and he was the very last man who ever will 
know everything. His was a very gentle, 
sweet character. Sylvester told me he never 
saw him angry but once, and that was (both 
were practicing law!) when a messenger broke 
in on one of their interviews with a mass of 
legal documents—new business for Cayley. In 
an access of disgust, Cayley dashed the docu- 
ments upon the floor. 


GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED. 
AUSTIN, TEXAS. 


Commercial Organic Analysis. A treatise on the 
properties, proximate analytical examina- 
tion, and modes of assaying the various or- 
ganic chemicals and products employed in 
the arts, manufactures, medicine, with concise 
methods for the detection and determination 
of their impurities, adulterations and prod- 
ucts of decomposition. By ALFRED H. ALLEN, 
F.1.C., F.C.S. Third Edition. Illustrated. 
With revisions and addenda by the author 
and Henry LerrMann, M.A., M.D. Phila- 
delphia, P. Blakiston’s Son & Co. 1898. 
Volume I., Introductions, alcohols, neutral 
alcoholic derivatives, sugars, starch and its 
isomers, vegetable acids, etc.; pp. xii+ 557; 
Price, $4.50. Volume IV., The proteids 
and albuminous principles; Second Edition; 
pp. xi+584; Price, $4.50. 

The immediate reason for the present publi- 
cation of the first volume of the third edition of 
this well-known work has been the appearance | 
ofan unauthorized reprint of the second edition. 
As the second edition was printed in 1885 it is 
out of date on some points, and many desirable 
additions and corrections have been made, 
partly by Mr. Allen, partly by Dr. Leffmann. 
The plan of the book not only includes careful 
directions for the analysis of commercial organic 
substances, and in many cases a discussion of 
various methods which have been proposed, 


64 


but it also gives very many illustrations of 
actual cases of adulteration, and of difficult 
problems in analysis which have come under 
the observation of the author and of others. 
These features of the work make it almost in- 
dispensable for any chemist who has occasion 
to make analyses in this field. Any one inter- 
ested in organic chemistry, indeed, will find 
very many things in the work which are valu- 
able and useful. 

In a work of such extent, and especially in 
one which has grown to its present form during 
many years under the hands of a busy ana- 
lyst, it would be impossible that there should 
not be some things which do not correspond to 
the best present knowledge. Thus, the same 
principle which led the author to give Victor 
Meyer’s air-displacement method for the deter- 
mination of molecular weights should have been 
the occasion for giving the freezing-point and 
boiling-point methods, which would be much 
more generally useful for analytical purposes. 
On p. 210 arsenic (from the red phosphorus 
used in its preparation) should have been given 
as an impurity to be looked for in ethyl bro- 
mide. On p. 247 arabinose is incorrectly given 
as a hexose. On p. 342 ‘alumina cream’ is 
given as a reagent with a reference to p. 357, 
but directions for its preparation cannot be 
found on that page or by means of the index. 
Some other criticisms of a similar sort might be 
made, but it would be a thankless task for a 
reviewer to select, among thousands of state- 
ments which are correct and valuable, a few 
which might be improved. 

The fourth volume is the last of the second 
edition. It discusses the analysis of proteids 
and albuminous principles. The first portion 
of the book gives the classification and general 
analytical reactions of the proteids. Then fol- 
low directions for the analytical examination 
of the proteids of eggs, blood plasma, urine, 
plants, milk, meat, of digestion ( pepsin, pep- 
tones, etc.) and of blood. Under the head of 
proteoids or albuminoids, such substances as 
gelatine, glue, silk, hair and wool are consid- 
ered. The following statement from the preface 
is especially significant: ‘‘I may here repeat 
that I am fully conscious that much of the mat- 
ter of Volume IV. is scarcely such as might be 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


expected to be contained in a work purporting 
to treat of Commercial Analysis, but I have 
thought it better to include all facts possessing 
for me an analytical or practical interest, be- 
lieving that what I find useful myself will also 
be of value or interest to others.’? It is just 
because Mr. Allen has made these books in- 
clusive rather than exclusive that they prove so 
useful to the experienced chemist. 


W. A. Noyes. 
Sewerage: The Designing, Construction and 
Maintenance of Sewerage Systems. ‘By A. 


PRESCOTT FOLWELL. New York, John Wiley 

& Sons. 1898. 8vo. Pp. x +872. Price, $3.00. 

The whole subject of sewerage is naturally 
divided into three parts: first, the plumbing and 
drainage of houses; second, the street con- 
duits and their appurtenances ; third, the dis- 
posal and purification of the sewage. This 
volume deals with the second part of the sub- 
ject almost exclusively, only seven pages being 
devoted to the first and sixteen pages to the 
third. The facts and discussions are hence 


‘mainly from the point of view of the construct- 


ing engineer rather than from the sanitary side, 
and the object is to give directions for building 
an efficient plant for the removal of sewage 
from a town and maintaining it in proper re- 
pair and cleanliness. This object is accom- 
plished in avery satisfactory manner. 

The use of cesspools as a receptacle for the 
refuse of houses is severely condemned; the 
author has found the soil of a city street col- 
ored black by the liquid from a cesspool 75 feet 
distant, which must have passed under or 
around the cellar of a house. The pail sys- 
tems of removal, used somewhat in France and 
England, asalso the earth-closet system, are re- 
garded as vastly preferable to the cesspool and 
privy methods which are so generally used in 
villages, and it is recommended that towns 
without a water supply should introduce them 
asa temporary measure. Towns having a good 
supply of water should introduce a water-car- 
riage system in preference to all other methods 
on account of its great sanitary advantages. 

The two water-carriage systems in common 
use, called the combined system and the sep- 
arate system, are described and compared, and 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


the methods for designing and constructing 
sewers for each are presented in full detail. 
The combined system carries both the house 
sewage and the storm water, while the separate 
system carries only the former, with a small ad- 
ditional amount of water for flushing. The 
first system may be the more advantageous 
when the conditions require an underground sys- 
tem of conduits to dispose of the flood water, 
and the second may be better when the storm 
water can be easily carried away through the 
street gutters. In general, theseparate system 
has been found lower in cost than the combined 
one for small towns, and hence its extensive use 
during recent years. 

The author’s treatment of methods of flush- 
ing and cleaning sewers is full and thorough. 
With respect to ventilation he concludes that 
chimneys, fans and other devices have been un- 
successful and that no method better than al- 
lowing free egress and ingress of air through 
manholes, street basins and house-roof pipes, 
has yet been found. Analyses of sewer air 
have failed to show greater impurity than that 
in the air of a crowded city street, whether car- 
bon dioxide or number of bacteria be taken as 
the basis of comparison, and hence no objection 
except that due to sentiment can be made to 
this method of ventilation. The methods of 
cleaning street basins and sewers and of remov- 
ing obstructions are explained at length ; for 
the small pipe sewers wooden balls called 
‘pills’ are run through with the current, each 
successive one being greater in size than the 
preceding ; for those larger than one foot in 
diameter a cylindrical carriage traveling on 
wheels is employed. The annual cost of clean- 
ing such pipe sewers is said to range from $4 to 
$15 per mile. 

The book is carefully written, well illustrated, 
and contains many tables for facilitating com- 
putations. It is the only American work which 
deals in detail with the construction of the 
sewers of both the combined and separate sys- 
tems. This is the correct plan of treatment, for 
there is no inherent reason why one is prefer- 
able to the other, and the engineer, in each 
particular case, must determine from the local 
conditions the most economic and efficient sys- 
tem. M. M. 


SCIENCE. 


65 


Cuba and Porto Rico, with the other Islands of the 
West Indies: Their Topography, Climate, Flora, 
Products, Industries, Cities, People, Political 
Conditions, etc. By Robert T. HILt, of the 
United States Geological Survey. New York, 
The Century Company. 1898. S8vo. Pp. 
xxviii+ 429. 2maps. 79 plates. 

Although popular in treatment, this book 
contains much information of value to specialists 
in geology and anthropology. Based primarily 
on personal observation during several ex- 
tended journeys through the West Indies, it is 
enriched by large acquaintance with the litera- 
ture of the West Indies covering the centuries 
since the discovery of the New World and the 
planting of the first European colony on the 
Island of Martinique. In his first chapter 
(‘The Geographic Relations of the West In- 
dies’) the author emphasizes his own general- 
ization as to the genetic independence of the 
three great regions of the western hemisphere, 
North America, Central America with its An- 
tillean extension, and South America; in the 
next three chapters (‘ The West Indian Waters,’ 
‘The Classification of the West Indian Islands,’ 
and ‘The Great Antilles’) the subject is ex- 
panded and illustrated by details; while the 
thirty-sixth chapter (‘Geological Features of 
the West Indies’) is the most convenient sum- 
mary extant of the geologic history, struc- 
ture and mineral resources of this half-sub- 
merged portion of the mid-American continent. 
Additional facts concerning the geology of the 
islands are scattered through many of the chap- 
ters, with significant details concerning the 
flora, fauna and climate. In the eleventh 
chapter (‘ The People of Cuba’), the eighteenth 
chapter (‘The People of Porto Rico’), the 
twenty-second chapter (‘Cities and People of 
Jamaica’) the description of the Republic of 
Haiti, and the thirty-seventh chapter (‘ Race 
Problems in the West Indies’), as well as in 
other portions of the book, the population is 
described in a notably appreciative way, the 
mythology and industries receiving especial 
attention. Throughout, the volume gives 
evidence of careful observation and mature 
thought, as well as a strong grasp of the scien- 
tific and social problems of the region ; it gives 
promise of becoming not merely the most 


66 


useful current hand-book on the West Indies, 
but a contribution of permanent value to the 
literature of that part of the western hemi- 
sphere. It is admirably printed, artistically 
bound, amply illustrated, satisfactorily indexed, 
and well arranged for reference, as well as for 


consecutive reading. 
WJM: 


The Birds of Indiana. By Amos W. BurLEerR. 
22d Report of the Department of Geology 
and Natural Resources of Indiana. 1897. 
8vo. Pp. 515-1187. 5 plates and numerous 
cuts in the text. 

Commissions for the preparation of State Nat- 
ural History Reports so often fall into incom- 
petent hands that all ornithologists, and par- 
ticularly those students of birds residing in the 
State of Indiana, may congratulate themselves 
that a person so well qualified as Mr. Butler 
was selected to write the work under consider- 
ation. 

The matter relating to the birds known to 
occur in Indiana is preceded by sections on the 
‘Indiana Bird Law,’ the physiography of 
the State (from Dryer’s ‘Studies in Indiana 
Geography’), ‘ Peculiarities affecting Bird Dis- 
tribution,’ ‘Changes in Bird- Life,’ ‘ Destruction 
of Birds,’ ‘Zoological Areas’ and ‘ Bird Migra- 
tion.’ There is also a bibliography giving some 
212 titles. 

This is followed by keys to the orders, fam- 
ilies, genera and spetvies, and biographies of the 
321 species recorded from Indiana, including 
descriptions of their plumages, general and 
local ranges, nests, eggs, times and manner of 
occurrences and habits. The report, in fact, is 
a complete ornithology of Indiana. 

Mr. Butler has followed the excellent plan of 
securing the best available material, for the use 
of which he makes ample acknowledgment. 
Thus his keys are taken from Ridgway’s and 
Jordan’s ‘Manuals,’ his illustrations from the 
publications of the U. 8. Biological Survey and 
Coues’s ‘Key,’ while the number of local ob- 
servers quoted assures us that the work con- 
tains all existing and desired information and 
that it will long remain the standard authority 
on Indiana birds. We trust, therefore, that a 
sufficiently large edition has been printed to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 211. 


prevent its early classification with other State 
lists, which become ‘ out-of-print’ before those 
who could make the best use of them learn of 


their existence. 
F, M. C. 


The Butterfly Book, A Popular Guide to a Knowl- 
edge of the Butterflies of North America. By 
W. J. HOLLAND. New York, Doubleday & 
McClure Co. 1898. Imp. 8vo. Pp. xx + 
382. 48 colored plates. 183 figures in the 
text. Price, $3.00. 

As the secondary title indicates, this work 
was prepared to meet a popular need. The pref- 
ace says: ‘‘Itis essentially popular in its char- 
acter. Those wko seek a more technical treat- 
ment must resort to the writings of others.?’ 
Nevertheless, it will ‘have utility also for the 
scientific student,’-since ‘the successful develop- 
ment in recent months of the process of repro- 
ducing in colors photographic representations of 
objects has been, to a certain degree, the argu- 
ment for the publication’ of the work. The 
forty-eight plates have been reproduced by the 
new process known popularly as ‘three-color 
printing,’ and this is its first application so far 
as we know—certainly on such a scale—to but- 
terflies. It is, however, an unquestionable and 
surprising success, destined—if the extraordi- 
narily low price at which the book is sold be any 
guide—to come into very general use. The rep- 
resentation of the colors as well as of the pattern 
outstrips all that can be done by chromolithog- 
raphy, and has the added value of an accuracy 
unattainable except at the high cost of the very 
best workmanship. As the photographic method 
employed requires the use of a screen, as in so- 
called ‘half-tone’ work, there is a certain loss 
of vividness, but it appears to be even less than 
is ordinarily the case with half-tones from a 
photographic print. This may be seen by an 
examination of the five plates of caterpillars 
and chrysalids copied from my ‘ Butterflies of the 
Eastern United States,’ where direct comparison 
is available. There are, it is true, a few, but 
very few, unaccountable and generally very 
slight changes in tint (as in Pl. 2, Fig. 20; Pl. 
3, Fig. 18, and Pl. 5, Fig. 3), and occasionally a 
blurring, or at least a loss of sharpness, due to 
imperfect registering, but such mishaps would 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


ordinarily be noticed only by an expert, so that 
we must welcome this new process as a great 
boon. How different copies agree we have not 
tested. 

We have spoken thus in detail regarding the 
plates, not only from our hope regarding this 
new process, but because of their special value 
from a scientifie point of view; a large number 
of the figures being, Chancellor Holland states, 
photographic reproductions from the types of 
the butterflies described. Strange to say, it is 
only in a very few instances that the author 
has specified which these are, and so he has lost 
an easy opportunity of adding greatly to their 
value. 

Not all the North American species are de- 
scribed or figured in the work, the author quail- 
ing before the numerous and rather insignificant 
Hesperide, of which but little more than one- 
half are treated, and omitting many others 
found in our lists, but either of doubtful specific 
validity or differing from their allies by distinc- 
tions too fine for any but the expert. This is 
in the interest of the popular audience to which 
the work appeals. It is, in fact, an iconography 
of all the forms interesting an amateur, and 
more. The only really desirable addition would 
have been to give more figures of the under- 
surface where this is characteristic, but one 
should not quarrel with the generosity here 
displayed; none can possibly complain that he 
does not get his money’s worth, at least. 

As to the text of the work, the first fifth of 
the book is given up to introductory matter on 
structure, collecting, etc., and the remainder 
(except a few interspersed essays) to asystematic 
but very general account of the insects figured, 
with very many text illustrations, principally 
of neuration. The different groups are de- 
scribed as well as the species—a desirable fea- 
ture, but one not altogether common in popular 
works; and the classification used is more 
modern than in most of such books. The au- 
thor’s use of genera is not equal, and is ‘con- 
servative’—that is, there are many magazine 
genera here and there, but with a tendency to 
the discrimination of later times. The descrip- 
tions of the species are short—often very short; 
and attention is paid to the early stages, but 
almost absolutely none at all to life-histories, 


SCIENCE. 


67 


which should be one of the principal aims in a 
popular treatise. 

The work will surely command a large sale 
and prove a great stimulus to the study of but- 
terflies. Certainly we have never before had 
such a generous aid to those wishing to cover 
the whole field. Why should the publishers 
stamp the cover ‘The Butter-Fly Book?’ The 
author surely is not responsible for this, for the 
proofs have been well read. The publishers have, 
otherwise, done their part well; the topography 
is clear and careful, and there is a good index. 

SAMUEL H. ScuDDER. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Michael Faraday, his Life and Works. SYLVANUS P. 
TuHompson. New York, The Macmillan Co. 1898. 
Pp. x + 308. 


The Elements of Physics.) EDWARD L. NicHots and 
WILLIAM S- FRANKLIN. Vol. I., Mechanics 
and Heat. Wew edition, revised with additions. 
New York, The Macmillan Co. 1898. Pp. xiii-+ 
219. $1.50. 

Principles of Plant Culture. 
The Author. 


E. S. GoFr. 
1899. Pp. 287. 


Madison, 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE Psychological Review for January opens 
with Professor Minsterberg’s presidential ad- 
dress before the American Psychological Asso- 
ciation, the subject being ‘Psychology and 
History.’ This address, together with other 
articles that Professor Miinsterberg has recently 
published in the Atlantic Monthly and elsewhere 
on the subject-matter of psychology and its re- 
lations to other sciences and to philosophy, will 
shortly be issued in book form by Messrs. Hough- 
ton, Mifflin & Co. Professor J. R. Angell and 
MissH. B. Thompson contribute from the labora- 
tory of the University of Chicago a study of the 
relations between certain organic processes and 
consciousness, elaborately illustrated with trac- 
ings of pulse and breathing. Mrs. C. Ladd 
Franklin publishes her paper on Professor Mul- 
ler’s ‘Theory of the Light-sense,’ read before 
the recent meeting of the American Associa- 
tion. There are other articles on ‘Theories of 
Play,’ by Mr. H. M. Stanley; on ‘ Eucken’s 
Struggle for a Spiritual Content of Life,’ by 
Professor Francis Kennedy, and on ‘ The Effects 
of Ether.’ 


6 SCIENCE. 


THE Educational Review for January, which 
is the first number of the seventeenth volume, 
opens with an article by Dr. W. T. Harris on 
the future of the normal school, reviewing ‘the 
five stages’ in education. Dr. Harris quotes 
for edification the anecdotes of Newton and the 
apple and Cuvier reconstructing an extinct ani- 
mal from asingle bone. Professor Thurston con- 
tributes the paper on professional and academic 
schools read by him at the Association of Col- 
leges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle 
States and Maryland, and Dr. E. L. Thorndike 
points out the sentimentality of nature study, 
which interferes with the teaching of science. 


THE Macmillan Company announces the pub- 
lication, in February, under the editorship of 
Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the first number of 
a popular bi-monthly magazine, addressed to 
observers rather than to collectors of birds. 
The contributors will include John Burroughs, 
Dr. Henry Van Dyke, Bradford Torrey, Olive 
Thorne Miller, Mabel Osgood Wright, Annie 
Trumbull Slosson, Florence A. Merriam, J. A. 
Allen, William Brewster, Henry Nehrling, Ern- 
est Seton’ Thompson, Otto Widmann and numer- 
ous other writers. 


A YEARBOOK of Neurology and Psychiatry 
is announced by 8. Karger, Berlin, edited by 
Drs. Flatau and Jacobsohn, under the direction 
of Professor Mendel. The work is prepared 
with the cooperation of a large number of lead- 
ing German neurologists, and will perform a 
useful function, owing to the wide dispersion in 
many journals of publications on the subjects 
included. It will give not only a bibliography 
of some thirty-five hundred titles of the litera- 
ture of 1897, but also short reviews of their 
contents. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILA- 
DELPHIA. 


October 4. Mr. LouIS WOOLMAN, reporting on 
a specimen of the earth said to be eaten in the 
South, received through Mr. Wilfred H. 
Harned from Davidson county, N. C., stated 
that the substance is not diatomaceous. It had 
been found, on examination by Mr. S. H. 
Hamilton, to be composed of twenty per cent.. 


[N. S. Voz. IX. No. 211. 


silica and eighty per cent. of kaolin, witha trace 
of alum. 

Mr. Epw. GoLpsMITH spoke of the igneous 
origin of the rocks on the Massachusetts coast. 
He suggested that they are of the same age as 
the Pennsylvania traps and may, therefore, 
furnish evidence of the existence of craters. 

October 11. Mr. Puttre P. CALVERT, in con- 
nection with the meeting of the Entomological 
Section, presented, a statement on recent study 
of neuroptera, reviewing the work of the last 
three years, or since 1895, when a synopsis of 
the natural history of the dragon-flies was given 
before the International Congress of Zoology by 
Dr. De Selys Longchamp, whose work on these 
insects extends over a period of sixty-seven 
years. He has described at least one-half of 
the two thousand recognized species. The im- 
portant papers published since the date given 
were reviewed and their scope commented on. 

Mr. CHARLES S. WELLES described a vast 
swarm of the larve of Daremma Catalpx ob- 
served during the summer at Media. The de- 
velopment and distribution of the insect were 
described and illustrated by specimens. 

Dr. HENRY SKINNER further commented on 
the life-history of the species. 

Mr. WITMER Stone spoke of the distribution 
and relationship of Neotoma pennsylvanica and its 
separation from the fossil Neotoma magister, de- 
scribed by Baird from the caves of Pennsylvania. 

October 18. Dr. Epw. J. NOLAN presented to 
the Academy five volumes prepared as a me- 
morial of the late Dr. Joseph Leidy. They con- 
sist of a collection of biographical notices, 
portraits, autograph letters, manuscripts, ori- 
ginal drawings of botanical and zoological sub- 
jects and notes, the latter having been con- 
tributed for the most part by Mrs. Leidy. After 
describing the contents of the volumes, Dr. 
Nolan commented on the attainments and per- 
sonal character of the distinguished naturalist 
out of loving regard for whom they had been 
prepared. 

Mr. Joun A. SHULZE called attention to 
specimens of Isthmia nervosa from Hudson’s 
Strait. The species was formerly supposed to 
be confined to the western coast. Its georaph- 
ical distribution was further considered by Mr. 
Lewis Woolman and Mr. Frank J. Keeley. 


JANUARY 13, 1899. ] 


Mr. N. H. HArNeEp and Dr. J. C. Morris 
spoke of the effect of a plentiful supply of water 
on the growth of trees. 

October 25, DR. DANIEL G. BRINTON made a 
communication, illustrated by specimens from 
the Academy’s collections, on the ethnography 
and resources of the Philippine Islands. 

Proressor J. WHARTON JAMES, by invita- 
tion, spoke of the Enchanted Meza and con- 
sidered the statements of Professors Libbey and 
Hodge on the subject. He believed that, while 
there was evidence of the former presence of 
man on the Meza, the weight of testimony was 
entirely opposed to his ever having had perma- 
nent places of abode there. 

PROFESSOR LIBBEY, who was present, being 
called on by the President, recounted his ex- 
perience in exploring the Meza and dwelt on 
the care with which he had reached his results. 
He declared that the cairn described by Hodge 
and Lummis has been built by himself. He 
agreed with Professor James that the top might 
have been temporarily occupied, but he was 
sure it never was a place of residence. 

November 1. Mr. STEwARDSON BRowN de- 
scribed the results of a recent botanical explora- 
tion of the South Mountain region of Somerset 
County, Pa., a district curiously distinct in its 
vegetation. The characteristic plants were 
enumerated. 

Mr. JOSEPH WILLCOX spoke of the use of 
fresh-water mussels in the manufacture of pearl 
buttons. 

November 8. Mr. H. A. Pitspry described 
the physical characters of the Roan Mountain 
region of North Carolina, and dwelt in detail 
on the mollusca collected there. Even when 
the species are widely distributed they are here 
remarkable as presenting mountain modifica- 
tions varying from racial characters to those 
of distinct species. The carinated forms of 
Polygyra, for instance, are extremely character- 
istic and found nowhere else. The district, 
in fact, has more peculiar species than any other 
outside the tropics. He was at a loss to account 
for this individuality. 

Mr. ARTHUR ERWIN Brown called attention 
to the specific characters of the Ourang, his 
observations being based on specimens in the 
Zoological Garden of Philadelphia and the 


SCIENCE. 


69 


museum of the Academy. He believed in the 
existence of two well-marked species, the 
Simia Satyris of Linnzeus and the Simia Wurmbii 
of Geoffroy St. Hilaire. 

November 15. Mr. 8S. D. HOLMAN communi- 
cated the life-history of Plewromonas as observed 
in covered life-slides. 

Mr. Purvip P. CALVERT and Dr. BENJAMIN 
SHARP spoke on the subject of cutaneous respira- 
tion. 

November 22. Dr. A. F. W1TMER, under the 
auspices of the Anthropological Section, made a 
communication on involution and the diseases 
of senility, dwelling on the atavistic tendency 
to certain diseases with special reference to 
forms of neurasthenia and their pathological 
conditions. 

Dr. Henry C. CHAPMAN spoke of the modern 
theory of the neuron, placing himself on record 
as believing that it rests on no foundation 
whatever. 

November 29. A symposium was held on the 
natural history of the Philippines illustrated by 
specimens from the Academy’s collections. Mr. 
Pilsbry spoke of the distribution and characters 
of the mollusca; Mr. Witmer Stone of the birds 
and mammals; Mr. Stewardson Brown of the 
plants; Dr. Henry Skinner of the lepidoptera, 
and Mr. P. P. Calvert of the dragon-flies. 

Mr. Stone placed on record the recent finding 
of a small rodent, Oryzimus palustris, in New 
Jersey. It had been discovered in 1816 by 
Bachman in South Carolina, and the specimen 
belonging to the Academy, described by Harlan, 
had been regarded as incorrectly labelled, re- 
peated search having failed to find the form in 
New Jersey until a week ago, when a number 
were collected in the southern part of the State 
by Mr. Henry W. Warrington. 

December 6. Dr. FLORENCE BAscom called 
the attention of the meeting to the determina- 
tion of rock constituents with special reference 
to optical methods, the application of polarized 
light to the work being particularly dwelt on 
and illustrated. 

December 13. Dr. J. C. Morris presented, in 
connection with the meeting of the Biological 
and Microscopical Section, a history of micro- 
scopic study and the development of microscopes 
and microscopic preparations during the last 


70 


fifty years, dwelling particularly on the work 
accomplished by Leidy, Goddard, Neill, Hyrtl 
and Gibbons Hunt before the recent improve- 
ments in methods and instruments were heard 
of. The communication was illustrated by a 
large number of instruments and slides and was 
fully discussed by Messrs. Goldsmith, Keeley, 
Calvert and Dixon. 

Papers under the following titles have re- 
cently been presented for publication: 

Some Cuban Species of Cerion. By H. A. 
Pilsbry and E. G. Vanatta. 

Notes on the Growth of the Hobble-bush, 
Viburnum lantanoides. By Ida A. Keller. 

The Occurrence of Marcasite in the Raritan 
Formation. By 8S. H. Hamilton. 

Margarita Sharpii, a new Alaskan Gastropod. 
By H. A. Pilsbry. 

The Bone-Cave at Port Kennedy, Pennsyl- 
vania, and its partial examination in 1894, 
1895 and 1896. By Henry C. Mercer. 

Observations on the Classification of Birds. 
By Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. 

A Study of the Type Specimens of Birds in 
the Collection of the Academy, with a brief 
history of the Collection. By Witmer Stone. 

Mr. Mercer’s paper will be published in the 
Journal of the Academy, the others in the Pro- 
ceedings. 

E. J. NOLAN, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE SENSATION OF MOTION AND ITS REVERSAL. 


To THE EDITOR OF ScIENCE: The writer 
has for a number of years noticed, during rail- 
way journeys, a very peculiar reversal of sensa- 
tions of motion received through the eye, of 
which he has never seen any description or ex- 
planation. The following description and ex- 
planation may, therefore, interest the readers of 
Science. A sensation of reversed motion of 
stationary points in the field of vision is per- 
ceived by the writer after gazing fixedly out of 
a car window at a moving landscape. This 
sensation is quite intense when the eyes are 
first turned away from the window, dies away 
gradually, and is greatly weakened by atten- 
tive vision. For example, when looking out of 
the rear door of the train the various objects in 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


the visual field appear to move towards the 
center of the field, and upon turning the eyes 
upon an object in the car everything seems to 
move away from the center of the visual field ; 
if the train comes to a quick stop while the 
eyes gaze steadily out at a window the motion 
of the landscape and the inferred motion 
of the train appears to be momentarily reversed 
at stopping, ete. 

The existence of this sensation of motion of 
stationary objects seems to indicate that neither 
the succession of stimuli nor the stimulation of 
successive nerve elements is the fundamental 
fact in the sensation of motion, but rather 
that the sensation of motion, like other 
specific sensations, depends upon a state of 
nervous commotion, a state which has, of course, 
resulted from and is the integral effect of a suc- 
cession of stimuli. A concrete notion of the 
character of this state of nervous commotion is 
as follows : 

End organs. 


SOO 


ee OY KOON 
Cx Si ie ia oD. 
Cells @ tee organ 


A 


Let the dots A B represent the end organs of 
sight—rods and cones—and the crosses C D the 
nerve cells of the central organ. We may im- 
agine each end organ to be connected, either 
directly or through ganglion cells, with a num- 
ber of the cells of the central organ. Let us 
consider the connections indicated by the diag- 
onal full lines and dotted lines. A succession 
of stimuli of the end organs from A to B and 
a succession from B to A would result in radi- 
cally different states of nervous commotion, 
especially if the cross connections are not en- 
tirely symmetrical or if the connecting nerve 
fibers are loaded with ganglion cells. Also 
during a succession of stimuli from A to B the 
fibers represented by the full lines might be fa- 
tigued, while the ones indicated by the dotted 
lines might be saved by inhibition due to the 
(outgoing) commotion to which they are sub- 
jected in advance of the meving stimulus, so 
that the effects of this moving stimulus reach 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


the central organs mainly through the full-line 
connections. A simultaneous stimulus of all the 
end organ from A to B would then reach the 
central organ mainly through the dotted con- 
nections just as would a stimulus moving from 


Bto A. . 
W.S. FRANKLIN. 


OCCURRENCE OF THE VIRGINIA OPOSSUM IN 
SOUTHERN CENTRAL NEW YORK. 

DurRING the present year several Virginia 
opossums (Didelphis virginiana) have been killed 
near Owego, Tioga Co., N.Y. Some twelve years 
ago a farmer residing near here told me he had 
killed one. Last fall a large female was killed 
ona mountain side two miles east of this vil- 
lage, and while myself hunting a mile farther 
east, on December 3d, I met a hunter who had 
just caught two. He had tracked them a mile 
or so through the snow, and finally dug them 
out of a woodchuck’s hole. They were both 
dead when found, probably having starved, as 
their stomachs were empty. Their skulls are 
in my possession. Several days later he secured 
another, an old one, the sex Ido not know. It 
was taken four miles west of where the two 
young ones were captured. The animal is 
alive andin his possession. This man is an old- 
time hunter and trapper, and considered truth- 
ful. He told me he had seen their tracks sev- 
eral times before. I have failed to learn of any- 
one who has liberated a pair of these animals 
or even had a pair in captivity. The capture 
of two, early in the fall, has come to me, but I 
cannot say if it is authentic. 

I wish particularly to note that this record 
comes from Owego, N. Y., not Oswego, two 


widely separated places. 
J. ALDEN LORING. 
OweEco, N. Y. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

THE December number of the Journal of the 
American Chemical Society contains an extended 
review of the year’s progress in applied chem- 
istry by Dr. Wm. McMurtrie. Development 
along these lines is going on more rapidly 
than ever before, and it is encouraging to note 
that this country is taking its place as an im- 
portant factor in chemical technology. While 


SCIENCE. 71 


Germany will long hold the first place in 
those industries in which chemistry plays an 
important part, America has already become 
an important factor, especially in the field of 
electro-chemistry, and it requires little effort of 
the imagination to see, in the not-far-distant 
future, the supremacy crossing the water. Dr. 
McMurtrie’s review is well worth careful perusal 
by the economist as well as the chemist. Only 
a few points can be noticed in this column. In 
Germany, at the close of 1896, 96 chemical 
works, with $64,000,000 capital, gave a return 
of nearly $8,000,000, an average of 12.3% as 
against 8.9% for 1897. Of these the coal tar 
industries gave the highest returns, 24%, while 
the fertilizer industries gave the lowest. An 
interesting announcement has been made by 
Dupre that gold can be extracted from ores 
by an inexpensive solution containing sodium 
thiosulfate, ferric halids, with an acetate. The 
solution extracts fifteen to twenty times as much 
gold as a cyanid solution in the same time, and 
does not attack sulfids ; hence, if the success of 
the process is confirmed, it may be expected to 
replace the cyanid and chlorination processes 
for low grade and sulfid ores. Great progress 
has been made in the metallurgy of zinc, and 
there is every reason to believe that within a 
few years the old and unsatisfactory process 
will be entirely displaced, except for very pure 
ores. The use of the electric furnace is revo- 
lutionizing the preparation of phosphorus, and 
with the increased production in France and 
Russia, and prospective developments in Ger- 
many and at Niagara Falls, the English mo- 
nopoly is seriously threatened. The advantages 
of the new processes are both the reduction of 
price and the increased protection of the health 
of the operatives. The electrolytic alkali in- 
dustry is still in an experimental stage, but 
with the certainty of future success, indeed, it 
may be said that the great question to-day is 
the selection and development of the best elec- 
trolytic method. Already in the manufacture 
of potassium chlorate the electrolytic methods 
have taken the lead, with a consequent marked 
fall in price. The commercial production of 
liquid air and of oxygen on a large scale will 
render possible many new developments along 
many lines. The production of calcium carbid 


72 


and acetylene continues to attract much atten- 
tion. Ten French factories are now making cal- 
cium earbid and four more are being built, and it 
is said two French villages are lighted wholly by 
acetylene gas, at a cost of 50 per cent. less than 
coal gas. On the other hand, Welsbach is mak- 
ing improvements in his burner, and Nernst 
gives hope of a yet more brilliant and econom- 
ical source of light, as has already been de- 
scribed in the columns of ScreNcE. In conclu- 
sion, Dr. McMurtrie says: ‘‘In every direction 
industrial progress is suggestive, and we may 
expect advancement in all directions with in- 
creasing intensity. Commercial artificial indigo, 
commercial artificial silk, commercial mercer- 
ized cotton in its various forms, the new colors 
and medicinal substances from carbon com- 
pounds, new concentrated nutritive substances, 
synthetic albumen, the various toxins and ex- 
tracts of animal matters of therapeutic value, all 
claim a large share of attention; and so do 
hundreds of other substances and processes in 
which the principles of chemistry find applica- 
tion to human needs.”’ 


In the Italian Gazetta Rebuffat contributes an 
exhaustive study of hydraulic cements. These 
he divides into two classes: (1) amorphous, 
compact cements, which consist of lime, calci- 
um orthosilicate and calcium aluminate, in 
which, however, the free lime may be wanting ; 
this class contains the hydraulic limes and quick 
settling cements. (2) Crystalline cements, con- 
sisting of a crystalline compound of calcium 
orthosilicate and lime, with a varying quantity 
of calcium aluminate ; this class contains Port- 
land cements and those rich in silica. After 
hardening, however, all these cements have the 
same qualitative composition, consisting of a 
mixture of calcium hydrate, hydrated calcium 
silicate of the formula 2(SiO,, 2CaO),H,O, and 
hydrated calcium aluminate, with a small 
amount of inert matter. In cements rich in 
silica a small amount of a double silicate of 
calcium and aluminum is present, which ac- 
counts for the resistance of these cements to 
sea water. The hardening of cements is chiefly 
due to the hydrating of the calcium silicate, 
and to a lesser degree to the hydrating of the 
calcium aluminate. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


In a recent English patent Weil and Levy 
claim to electroplate aluminum in baths to 
which various organic substances are added. 
Thus for the deposition of silver, hydroquinol 
is added toan ammoniacal cyanid solution ; for 
copper, ammonium gallate or pyrogallate is 
used; for nickel, milk sugar, and the same for 


gold. 
dp by al 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
CLIMATE AND HYGIENE OF THE CONGO FREE 
STATE. 


AN important volume on the climate, soil and 
hygiene of the Congo Free State has been issued 
as the second part of the Proceedings of the Con- 
grés National d’ Hygiene et de Climatologie Médi- 
cale de la Belgique et du Congo, held in Brussels, 
August 9-14, 1897. The investigation, of which 
the results are embodied in this report, was 
undertaken by a commission of the Société royale 
de Médicine publique et de Topographie médicale 
de Belgique. On this commission meteorology 
was represented by M. Lancaster, Director of 
the Meteorological Service of Belgium, which is 
equivalent to saying that whatever concerns 
meteorology and climatology in this report is 
admirably done. As a whole, this volume gives 
us the most complete and most scientific account 
of the meteorology and medical climatology of 
this interesting district that has yet appeared. 
The first chapter, of 404 pages, is devoted to 
the meteorology, and presents a careful sum- 
mary of what is known concerning the at- 
mospheric conditions and phenomena of the re 
gion, including many tables and diagrams. 
This portion of Africa is one of great interest 
to meteorologists on account of the seasonal 
migration of the belt of equatorial rains, and 
the data concerning the rainfall at Vivi and 
other stations are, therefore, especially wel- 
come. Chapter II., of twenty pages, is de- 
voted to the geology and soil conditions. Over 
400 pages are concerned with the medical cli- 
matology and hygiene of the region in general 
and of the different stations in particular. This 
last chapter is an extremely valuable one. Of 
especial interest at the present time is the evi- 
dence afforded (p. 464-5) by the result of 
European colonization in the Congo Free State 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


that, contrary to the general rule, northern 
Europeans have succeeded there better than 
southern Europeans. Italian laborers on the 
railroad are reported as having suffered more 
from the climate than many Scandinavians em- 
ployed on the river. It must be remembered, 
however, that, of the two occupations, railroad 
construction and steamboat service, the latter 
is usually far more healthy, especially in a 
tropical climate, and a higher disease and death 
rate are naturally to be expected among per- 
sons engaged in the former occupation. 


A NEW MOUNTAIN ANEROID BAROMETER. 


WuyYmMPER, in the London Times of December 
17, 1898, describes a new mountain aneroid 
which gives results of astonishing accuracy. 
The ordinary aneroid is well known as being a 
very inaccurate instrument at high altitudes. 
In Appendix C (‘Comparisons of the Aneroid 
against the Mercurial Barometer’), in his ‘Tray- 
els amongst the Great Andes of the Equator,’ 
Whymper himself says that ‘‘ with aneroids of 
the present construction it is unlikely that de- 
cent approximations to the truth will be ob- 
tained at low pressures, even when employing 
a large number of instruments.’’ The errors 
in Whymper’s whole series of observations 
amounted in the worst cases to as much as two 
inches, as compared with the mercurial barom- 
eter. The new barometer is the invention of 
Col. H. Watkin, C.B., Chief Inspector of Po- 
sition-Finding in the (British) War Department. 
It is so constructed that it can be thrown out 
of action when not in use, and put in action 
when required. When out of action no varia- 
tions in atmospheric pressure, however large, 
produce any effect on it. This adjustment is 
effected by having the lower portion of the 
vacuum box so arranged that it can rise, instead 
of having it fixed, as is usually the case. A 
screw arrangement is attached to the lower 
portion of the vacuum chamber, and under 
ordinary conditions this screw is released and 
the chamber put out of strain. When a reading 
is to be made, the screw is turned as far as it 
will go, thus bringing the instrument into the 
normal condition in which it was graduated. 
Whymper has made a large number of readings 
with the new aneroid and finds the error, in 


SCIENCE. ; 73 


the mean of 65 observations, below + 0.0 in. 
He feels confident that, ‘‘in the hand of those 
who will give the requisite attention, extra- 
ordinary results may be obtained from Watkin’s 
Mountain Aneroid in observations made for 
altitude and in determining differences of 
level.’’? The instrument is made by J. J. Hicks, 


8 Hatton Garden, London. 
R. DEC. WARD. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 
THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 


BULLETIN 3 of the New York Zoological 
Society bears testimony to the rapid progress 
that has been made since July 1, 1898, as may 
be seen by the following statement of work 
completed up to December 1, 1898. The Elk 
House has been practically finished. The Bird 
House is ready to receive its roof. The founda- 
tion walls of the Reptile House have been com- 
pleted, and the steel floor-beams put in place. 
All excavating for the first series of Bear 
Dens has been completed, also all plumbing for 
drainage and water-supply. The brick walls 
of the bathing-pools have been built, and stone 
walls to carry the iron work. The excavation 
of ponds for the Ducks’ Aviary and the con- 
struction of three islands have been completed. 
On the south island twelve enclosures have 
been laid out, with suitable shelter-houses, and 
about one hundred native shrubs have been 
planted. Astone wall, going down to bed rock, 
has been constructed around the Prairie Dogs’ 
Knoll (eighty feet in diameter), and capped 
with cut stone. Excavations have been made 
for the walls and stone work of eight Wolf 
and Fox Dens, and the walls have been laid 
ready for the cage work. One sleeping den 
for wolves has been constructed. About five 
hundred cubic yards of sandy earth has been 
hauled to the Pheasant’s Aviary, to make dry 
ground for therunways. This was remoyed by 
necessity from the Bear Dens, at no cost to the 
Aviary. The excavation for the Beaver Pond 
has been completed, and all the grading ne- 
cessary thereto. The excavation necessary 
for the Buffalo House has been made. A 
trench nine hundred and sixty-three feet 
in length, has been dug for the stone walls to 


74 


support the iron fence for the Beaver Pond. 
The Society is in urgent need of an antelope 
house and a monkey house, and it is hoped that 
these will come as gifts from individuals, as 
the provision hitherto made is for the accommo- 
dation of American quadrupeds and birds, and 
this will exhaust the $106,000 at the disposal of 
the Society. 

The most elaborate of the structures com- 
menced is, by all odds, the Reptile House ; 
this will have a length of 146 feet and a width 
of 100. . It is being constructed of buff mottled 
brick, combined with granite and terra-cotta. 
It will be roofed with slate, heated by hot water, 
and its cost, with cages, will be about $40,000. 
It is beautifully situated on the edge of a forest 
of great oaks, very near the geographical center 
of the park. Close to the southeastern corner 
of the building is a natural pool in a wide out- 
crop of granite rock, which will speedily be 
converted into a summer home for saurians. 

It is hoped that the Reptile House can be 
completed by April, 1899, in time to receive its 
cages and collections for the opening of the 
park in May. 

The Director has found it necessary to give a 
chapter ‘concerning the purchase of wild ani- 
mals,’ which deserves to be widely read, since 
with the proper changes it may be made to ap- 
ply to collectors in various branches of history. 
The gist of it is contained in the following 
paragraphs: 

‘Not unfrequently it happens that a hunter 
who captures an animal that to him is strange 
imagines that it is worth double its real value, 
and feels indignant when a zoological garden 
offers him what is really a fair price. In about 
nineteen cases out of every twenty the man 
who captures a wild animal thinks it is worth 
far more than it really is. For example, if we 
were to offer a farmer’s boy $2.50 for a wild 
goose that he had caught and cooped, the 
chances are he would be highly indignant; but 
at this moment we know of thirty-two wild 
geese for sale, property crated, at that price. 

If we were asked to name the greatest small 
annoyance that comes in the daily mail of a 
zoological park we would reply: The letters 
which say, ‘‘ What will you give me for it?” 
Very often not the slightest clue is given to the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 211. 


size, age, sex or condition of the captive ani- 
mal. All these are left to be divined by the 
man who is asked to submit an offer.’’ 

F. A. L. 


THE STATISTICAL METHOD IN ZOOLOGY. 


THE statistical method of biographical inves- 
tigation has recently been used by Walter Gar- 
stang, the naturalist in charge of the fishery 
investigation of the Plymouth Laboratory, with 
great success. He claims that it is possible to 
identify the different schools of fish which ap- 
proach the shore, even when these schools are 
made up of individuals which appear to be 
quite alike. He shows that the mackerel of 
the American coast are really different from the 
animals of the same name found along the 
European coast, and he further shows that the 
mackerel which frequent the shores of the Brit- 
ish Isles may be sub-divided into two principal 
races, an Irish race and a race frequenting the 
English Channel and the North Sea. It thus 
seems that a species heretofore supposed to be 
widely distributed and given to migrating over 
long distances of the ocean is really cut up into 
a number of races, which probably do not in- 
termingle and which may have very limited 
ranges. If it can be proved—and it now ap- 
pears to be proved—that the local representa- 
tives of each species of animals are branded 
with indices of consanguinity, which indices 
may be detected through the plotting of curves 
of frequency, a new and most fascinating line 
of investigation is opened to the zoologist, the 
comparative anatomist and the student of geo- 


graphical distribution. 
H. C. B. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
A BOTANICAL ALMANAC, 


A HANDY little book, bearing the title of 
‘Deutscher Botaniker- Kalender fiir 1899,’ has 
been prepared by Paul Sydow, of Berlin. It is 
modeled after the well-known ‘Chemiker Kal- 
ender’ of Dr. Biedermann, which for twenty 
years has been well-nigh indispensable to the 
chemists and physicists. This botanical alma- 
nac includes a diary (in which notable events, 
as the births and deaths of great botanists, are 
recorded), a money table, tables of weights and 


JANUARY 13, 1899.] 


measures, the ‘Berlin Rules,’ catalogue of ex- 
siccati, catalogues of botanic gardens, botanical 
museums, botanical collections and places where 
deposited. The publishers (Borntraeger, Ber- 
lin) have done their part well, both in printing 
and binding. The light-colored linen cover and 
its conventionalized water-lily ornamentation 
are in most excellent taste. 


CHECK LIST OF FOREST TREES, 


A VERY convenient, revised and condensed 
edition of Sudworth’s ‘ Arborescent Flora of the 
United States’ has recently been issued by the 
Division of Forestry, under the title ‘Check 
List of the Forest Trees of the United States.’ 
It makes use of the modern nomenclature, 
gives lists of common names, and includes notes 
as to the range of each species. The following 
corrections should be made in a later edition : 


Pinus ponderosa scopulorum Engelm., add in Ne- 
braska eastward along the Niobrara River to the 99th 
meridian, and to the 103d meridian on the North 
Platte and Lodge Pole Rivers. 

Hicoria ovata ( Mill.) Britt., change to southeastern 
instead of northeastern Nebraska. 

Hicoria laciniosa (Michx. f.) Sarg., add south- 
eastern Nebraska. 

Hicoria alba (Linn.) Britt., add southeastern Ne- 
braska. 

Populus tremuloides Michx., change from south- 
ern to western Nebraska. 

Quercus velutina Lam., add southeastern Nebraska. 

Asimina triloba (Linn.) Dunal., add southeastern 
Nebraska. 

Pyrus coronaria Linn. This species is recorded in 
local catalogues as occurring in eastern Nebraska, but 
it is P. ioensis (Wood) Bailey, if this is to be regarded 
as a distinct species. 

Prunus demissa (Nutt.) Walp., add from central 
Nebraska westward. 

Cercis canadensis Linn., add southeastern Nebraska. 

Rhus copailina Linn., add southeastern Nebraska. 

Acer saccharum Marsh., strike out eastern Ne- 
braska, as this species does not occur in this region 
in the wild state, although freely planted. 

Acer rubrum Linn., strike out eastern Nebraska, 
as this species does not occur in this region in the 
wild state, nor is it often planted. 

sculus glabra Willd., add southeastern Nebraska. 


This check list will render a good service not 
only to botany, but still more to forestry and 
horticulture, in giving currency to the revised 
nomenclature of our forest trees. 


SCIENCE. 


75 


CRETACEOUS AND TERTIARY PLANTS. 

F. H. KNowrron, phytopaleontologist of the 
United States Geological Survey, publishes, in 
Bulletin 152 of the Department of the Interior, 
a most valuable catalogue of the Cretaceous and 
Tertiary plants of North America. In Lesquer- 
eux’s catalogue of twenty years ago but seven 
hundred and six species were included, of which 
one hundred and fifty seven are from the Cre- 
taceous, and five hundred and forty-nine from 
the Tertiary. In the list before us about twenty- 
five hundred species are included. The list is 
strictly alphabetical and is not divided so as to 
enable one to easily estimate the number from 
each period. The date and place of publica- 
tion of each genus and species are given with 
much care. The modern nomenclature is used, 
even to trinomials and the double citation 
of authors. Much attention is given to syn- 
onymy, and to the citation of the more impor- 
tant references, especially to such as include 
descriptions and figures. 


LEWIS AND CLARK’S PLANTS. 

THoMAS MEEHAN was fortunate enough to 
discover, some time ago, in the custody of the 
American Philosophical Society, some packages 
of dried plants which, on examination, turn out 
to be the long-lost collection made by Lewis 
and Clark, in 1803 to 1806, during their expedi- 
tion across the Western country from St. Louis 
to the mouth of the Columbia River. They 
were examined by Dr. B. L. Robinson and J. M. 
Greenman, of the Herbarium of Harvard Uni- 
versity, and compared with Pursh’s treatment 
of this collection, in his Mlora Americe Septentrio- 
nalis in 1814, and the results have been published 
in the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences 
of Philadelphia (January, 1898). Mr. Meehan 
notes that ‘this collection contains all but six- 
teen of Lewis’s plants as described by Pursh in 
his Flora,’ and of the missing numbers seven 
are represented in the herbarium of the Academy 
by authentic specimens from Lambert’s herba- 
rium. Mr. Meehan says further that ‘only a 
few of these seven missing ones are of material 
importance,’ and that ‘for all practical pur- 
poses all the plants of Lewis and Clark’s expe- 
dition are now deposited in the Academy.’ 

CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


76 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
ARROW FEATHERING IN SOUTH AMERICA. 


AN excellent study of this subject by Herman 
Meyer has been translated and published in the 
Smithsonian Report for 1896 (just issued). Dif- 
ferent’ methods of feathering, seven in number, 
are shown to have prevailed among the native 
tribes, each occupying its own area and gener- 
ally embracing tribes of contrasted affinities in 
other respects. A map is added indicating 
these areas. The explanation of this is that 
many tribes first learned the use of the bow 
from their neighbors, but that there were as 
many centers of its invention as there were 
modes of feathering. At least, this is the sim- 
plest explanation, and it is one supported by 
language, as we find, in the Catoquina, for in- 
stance, the words for bow and arrow are both 
Tupi, and their people have the Tupi plan of 
feathering. The paper is valuable for other 
suggestions on native culture. 


A BTUDY OF THE LIPS. 


WE are all familiar with the teaching of the 
physiognomists that thick lips indicate a sen- 
sual disposition, and delicate, finely formed lips 
coincide with a certain spirituality, firmness 
and elevation of character. Dr. A. Bloch, ina 
thorough study of the lips from an anthropo- 
logical point of view, believes that all such in- 
dications are imaginary. The form, size and 
color of these organs belong to race distinctions 
quite as muchas the shape and dimensions of the 
nose. In fact, they are often in correlation. The 
pigmentation is notably different in the various 
sub-species of man, varying from a delicate rose 
toadark brown. In hybridity, like many other 
traits, the lips of one or the other parent may 
reappear in full character in the child. Really 
thick lips never occur, except as an anomaly, 
in the white race. (Bull. Soc. Anthropologie de 
Paris, 1898; Fasc. 3.) 


PHYSIOLOGY OF CRIMINALS. 


AN eminent criminal lawyer once told me 
that the criminals, as a rule, were better look- 
ing men than the ‘gentlemen of the jury.’ The 
assertion seemed jocose, but now comes the 
proof of it. Dr. J. Marty, a French criminolo- 
gist, reports his examination of 4,000 delin- 


SCIENCE. 


{[N.S. Von. IX. No. 211. 


quents in the French army. His results are 
curious. In height, in weight, in breast meas- 
ure, in muscular power and in general condi- 
tion these rascals averaged decidedly better 
than the well-behaved soldiers of the army ! 

But Dr. Marty is ready with an ingenious 
suggestion. Not that criminals are ‘by nature’ 
a finer lot physically than non-criminals, but 
the condition of criminal families is so much 
more wretched than respectable ones that only 
the uncommonly strong survive! Ingenious, 
but not quite satisfying. (Centralblatt fiir An- 
thropologie, Heft. 4.) 

D. G. BRINTON. 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
ENDOWMENT OF THE JENNER INSTITUTE. 


WE announced in a recent issue a gift by 
Lord Iveagh of £250,000 for the endowment of 
the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine. 
Further details of this important gift are given 
by Lord Lister, Chairman of the Council, and 
Sir Henry E. Roscoe, Treasurer, in the follow- 
ing letter to the press : 

‘We ask permission to announce in your columns a 
splendid offer in aid of scientific research which has 
been placed in our hands. : 

British and Irish men of science have long deplored 
the fact that the opportunities in this country for re- 
search directed to the prevention of disease are not 
equal to those possessed by foreign nations. 

Lord Iveagh wishes to help in removing this re- 
proach to our country, and, on the conditions named 
below, has offered the sum of £250,000 (two hundred 
and fifty thousand pounds) for the purposes of the 
highest research in bacteriology and other forms of 
biology as bearing upon the causes, nature, preven- 
tion and treatment of disease. 

He has proposed to the Council of the Jenner Insti- 
tute (lately the British Institute) of Preventive 
Medicine—a body which includes leading men in 
medicine and allied sciences in the British Isles— 
that the donation shall be handed over to the Insti- 
tute on condition that in future the control and man- 
agement of the affairs of the Institute shall be placed 
in the hands of a new board of seven trustees—three 
of the seven to be chosen by the Council of the Insti- 
tute, three by the donor, and one by the Council of 
the Royal Society. 

The offer has been cordially accepted at a meeting 
of the Council. 


JANUARY 13, 1899. ] 


The donor further proposes that part of the new 
fund shall be appropriated to the enlargement of the 
buildings of the Institute at Chelsea, part to increas- 
ing the at present sadly inadequate salaries of the Di- 
rector and other members of the scientific staff, part 
to the expenses of administration and maintenance, 
and the remainder chiefly to founding valuable 
fellowships and studentships, tenable for limited 
periods, for research either in the laboratories of the 
Institute or in centers of outbreaks of disease, whether 
at home or abroad. 

The conditions on which these fellowships and 
studentships may be held are not yet determined 
upon, but it is hoped to open them to all classes of 
her Majesty’s subjects. 

Lord Iveagh, in our opinion, deserves the gratitude 
of the nation for thus munificently providing for the 
cultivation, in the British dominions, of biology and 
allied sciences for the good of mankind in an institu- 
tion which henceforth will compare favorably with 
any similar establishment in other parts of the world. 

It will be remembered that the British Insti- 
tute of Preventive Medicine received from the 
Jenner Memorial Committee the funds that it 
had collected and altered its name in honor of 
Jenner. It has recently taken possession of 
new buildings on the Chelsea Embankment. 
Dr. Allan Macfadyen is the Director. 

Lord Iveagh has at the same time under- 
taken to rebuild the most unhygienic district 
of Dublin, erecting upon it model workmen’s 
dwellings, recreation halls, ete. The cost of 
the improvements are estimated at over £250,- 
000. 


GENERAL. 


PROFEssOR B. K. EMErson, of Amherst Col- 
lege, has been elected President of the American 
Geological Society in succession to Professor J. 
J. Stevenson, whose address on ‘Our Society’ 
is published in the present number of SCIENCE. 


Tue American Society of Naturalists at its 
recent meeting appropriated $50 towards the 
support of the American University Table at 
Naples, and $50 towards the support of the 
Naturalists’ Table at the Marine Biological 
Laboratory at Woods Holl. It was voted that 
the place of the next meeting be left with the 
Secretaries of the several societies, who will 
probably select New Haven. The following is 
a full list of the officers for the ensuing year: 


President, W. G. Farlow; Vice-Presideuts, H. 


SCIENCE. 


77 


C. Bumpus, W. H. Howell, F. H. Gerrish} 
Secretary, T. H. Morgan; Treasurer, John B. 
Smith; Members of the Executive Committee 
elected from the Society-at-large, Bashford 
Dean, F. H. Herrick. 

At the annual public meeting of the Paris 
Academy of Sciences, on December 19th, the 
Permanent Secretary, M. Berthelot, read a me- 
morial notice of Brown-Sequard, the eminent 
physiologist, who, it will be remembered, was 
the son of a citizen of Philadelphia. Brown- 
Sequard led a life full of vicissitudes, crossing 
the Atlantic more than sixty times, until in 
1878 he was elected Professor in the University 
of Paris and was naturalized as a citizen of 
France. The President of the Academy, M. 
Wolf, called attention to the approaching bi- 
centennial of the Academy and paid tributes to 
the members who had died during the year: 
MM. Aimé Girard, Souillard, Pomel and Cohn, 
of Breslau. 


AT the same meeting of the Academy the 
prizes for the current year were awarded. 
Three of these, as we have already announced, 
were given to Americans—the Lalande prize to 
Dr. Seth C. Chandler, the Damoiseau prize to Dr. 
George W. Hill and the Henry Wilde prize to 
Mr. Charles A. Schott. Another prize, the 
Lallemand prize, was divided, and one half 
given to Mr. Edward P. Allis, of Milwaukee, 
Wis., for his memoir on ‘The cranial muscles 
and cranial first spinal nerves of Amia calva.’ 
In addition to these four prizes coming to Amer- 
ica, apparently only two other prizes were given 
outside of France—the Janssen medal to A. 
Belopolsky, of the Observatory at Pulkova, for 
his contributions to astronomy, and the Des- 
maziére prize to Professor de Toni, of Padua, 
for his Sylloge Algarum. 


Tue Academy offered in all about fifty prizes, 
the largest of these, the Bréant prize, of 100,000 
fr., was in part given to M. Phisalux for his re- 
searches on chemical vaccines. The LeConte 
prize, of 50,000 fr., for an important scientific 
discovery, was not awarded. The grand mathe- 
matical prize (6,000 fr.) was awarded to M. 
Morel, and the Poncelet prize (2,000 fr.), also 
in mathematics, to M. Hadam. The Jecker 
prize in organic chemistry (10,000 fr.) was di- 


78 


vided among MM. Bertrand, Buisine and D. 
Berthelot. The Vaillant prize in geology (4,000 
fr.) was given to M. Cayeux, and the Estrade- 
Deleros prize (8,000 fr.) to M. Munier Chalmas 
for his work on paleontology and geology. 

PROFESSOR WILLIAM RAMSAY gave an ad- 
dress before the German Chemical Society, 
Berlin, on December 20th, describing the newly 
discovered gases and their relation to the peri- 
odic law. He also gave a popular lecture on 
the subject. 


Mr. Sypnry RowLanp has been appointed 
Assistant Bacteriologist at the Jenner Institute 
of Preventive Medicine. 


M. Troosr has received an anonymous gift 
of 4,000 fr. for researches on the liquefaction of 
air. 

THE Honorable R. J. Strutt, who, as we re- 
corded last week, has been awarded the Coutts- 
Trotter Studentship in Science at Trinity Col- 
lege, Cambridge, is a son of Lord Rayleigh, the 
eminent, physicist, formerly professor at Cam- 
bridge University. 

Dr. ALFRED A, KANTHACK, professor of pa- 
thology in the University of Cambridge and 
Fellow of King’s College, died at Cambridge, 
on December 21st, at the early age of thirty-five 
years. Dr. Kanthack was elected to the profes- 
sorship in Cambridge a little more than a year 
ago, succeeding the late Professor Roy. He is the 
author of a ‘Manual of Morbid Anatomy’ and 
ofa ‘Hand-book of Bacteriology’ and of numer- 
ous and important original contributions to 
these sciences. 

WE regret also to record the death at Phila- 
delphia, on January 5th, of Dr. E. Otis Ken- 
dall, in his eighty-first year. He had been for 
more than fifty years professor of mathematics 
in the University of Pennsylvania, though re- 
cently he had relinquished active duties. He 
had also held the chair of astronomy in the Uni- 
versity, was long dean of the scientific depart- 
ment, and was in 18838 elected vice-provost, be- 
ing honorary vice-provost at the time of his 
death. Dr. Kendall was for twenty-eight years 
one of the Secretaries of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, and for the following twenty- 
one years one of its Vice-Presidents. He was 
the author of a text-book of astronomy and of 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. TX. .No. 211. 


various contributions to mathematics, as well as 
of computations for the U. S. Nautical Alma- 
nac and the U. 8. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
Dr. Kendall will, however, be best remem- 
bered as a teacher, being greatly honored and 
beloved by many generations of college stu- 
dents. 


THE death is also announced, at the age of 
sixty-four years, of Professor H. W. Vogel, of 
the Institute of Technology at Berlin, known 
for his researches in photography and spectros- 
copy. 


GrounpD for the Horticultural Hall of the 
New York Botanical Gardens was broken on 
January 3d. The building will be 512 feet long, 
60 feet wide, with a dome 90 feet high. 


THE following lectures will be given during 
the present season at the American Museum of 
Natural History at three o’clock on Saturday 
afternoon. 

Jan. 7.—An Exploration for Dinosaurs in the Rocky 
Mountain Plateau Region..Dr. J. L. WORTMAN. 


Jan. 14.—A Hunt for Fossil Camels and Horses in 
Kansas and Colorado...... Dr. W. D. MATTHEW. 


Jan. 21.—The Bird Rocks of the Gulf of St. Law- 


MCMCCssseemraseneestescs Mr. FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 
Jan. 28.—Exploration of Zapotecan Tombs of South- 
Ghied WIIG a1 600) scosdoodasoneenaaar Mr. M. H. SAVILLE. 


Feb. 4.—The Jesup North Pacific Expedition: Ar- 
chological Exploration in British Columbia, 
Mr. HARLAN I. SMITH. 
Feb. 11.—The Jesup North Pacific Expedition : The 
Indian Tribes of the State of Washington, 
Dr. L. FARRAND. 
Feb. 18.—Rocks of the State of New York as illus- 
trated in the Museum...... Mr. L. P. GRATACAP. 
Feb. 25.—A Collecting Trip in Europe, 
Dr. E. O. Hovey. 
Mar. 4.—The Squirrels of North America, 
Dr. J. A. ALLEN. 
Mar. 11.—The Life Histories of Butterfliesand Moths 
of the Vicinity of New York, 
Mr. WM. BEUTENMULLER. 
Mar. 18.—The Hyde Expedition : Exploration of the 
Ruins of the Pueblo of Bonito, New Mexico, 
Mr. GEORGE H. PEPPER. 
Mar. 25.—Peoples of Asia—The Philippines to Japan, 
PROFESSOR ALBERT 8. BICKMORE. 


On Thursday evening at eight o’clock lec- 
tures will be given as follows : 


The New York Zoological Society. 


Jan. 12.—The Zoological Parks of Europe and The 
New Zoological Park of New York City 
PROFESSOR HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN. 


JANUARY 13, 1899. ] 


Linnean Society of New York City. 
Jan. 19.—A Naturalist in Florida 
FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 


Jan. 26.—A Naturalist in Labrador 
Dr. Ropert T. MorRIs. 


Feb. 2.—A Naturalist on the Pacific Coast 
Dr. BASHFORD DEAN. 
Feb. 9.—A Naturalist in Wyoming 
ERNEST SETON THOMPSON. 
New York Botanical Garden. 


April 6 and 13.—Subjects and lecturers to be an- 
nounced later. 


Members’ Course—1899. 
PROFESSOR ALBERT S. BICKMORE, Curator of the De- 
partment of Public Instruction. 

Feb. 16 —Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Feb. 23.—Gulf and River of St. Lawrence. 

Mar. 2.—The Great Lakes. 

Mar. 9.—Ceutral California—San Francisco 
and Yosemite Valley. 


Proressor A. C. HADDON writes to Nature 
that the members of the Cambridge Anthro- 
pological Expedition to Torres Straits have 
now completed their investigations in the 
Straits. Dr. Rivers and Mr. Wilkin have left 
for England, while the other members of the 
expedition have proceeded to Borneo to study 
the anthropology of the Baram district of Sara- 
wak. The health of the party has been excel- 
lent. The natives of Murray Island were studied 
with most detail, as, owing to their isolation, 
they have been less modified by contact with 
alien races. Some of the party stayed about 
four months on the island, while others had 
only a couple of months, owing to a trip 
having been made to the mainland of New 
Guinea. The New Guinea contingent visited 
the coast tribes between Kerepunu and the 
Mekeo district, and several excursions were 
made for short distances inland. There was 
not enough time spent at any spot for a thorough 
investigation of the natives, but a considerable 
amount of information was obtained in most of 
the branches of anthropology with which the 
expedition is concerned, which will prove of 
value for purposes of comparison. The re- 
searches on the Murray islanders were fairly 
thorough and will form a basis for comparison 
with the other islanders and allied peoples. 
Over a month was spent in Mabuiag (Jervis 


SCIENCE. 


79 


Island) by all the party, with the exception of 
Messrs. Myers and MacDougall, who had 
previously started for Borneo. Although the 
time spent in Mabuiag was short, a satisfactory 
amount of work was accomplished owing to 
the conditions being favorable. Observations 
were also made on several other islands in 
Torres Straits and Kiwai, which is situated in 
the mouth of the Fly River. <A large number 
of photographs have been taken, and consider- 
able collections have been made, which are now 
on their way to Cambridge. i 


In a recent address before the British Orni- 
thologists’ Club Mr. Sclater, after referring to 
the expedition to Socotra and southern Arabia, 
with Dr. Forbes and Mr. Ogilvie Grant as its 
leaders, referred to other expeditions of British 
ornithologists. Captain Boyd Alexander, who 
has worked in the Cape Verde Islands, is strug- 
gling through the middle of Africa from the 
Cape to Cairo. Under present circumstances 
he seems likely to come out successfully, and 
will, no doubt, bring information on birds, if 
not specimens, with him. Mr. Lort Phillips 
hopes to return to his favorite quarters in 
Somaliland during the course of the present 
winter, and expects to get together the supple- 
mentary materials still required for the prepara- 
tion of his proposed work on the birds of that 
most interesting country. Mr. John White- 
head, who has added so much to our knowledge 
of the zoology of the Philippines, proposes to 
return to the same country very shortly, in 
order to continue his researches in a field which 
he knows so well and in which he takes such 
great interest. Mr. Alfred Sharpe, C.B., who 
is shortly returning to his post in Nyassaland, 
promises to continue the employment of col- 
lectors in different parts of that Protectorate, 
the zoology of which he, following in the foot- 
steps of Sir Harry Johnston, has already done 
so much to investigate. 


WE learn from the British Medical Journal 
that an International Congress on Tuberculosis 
and the methods for combating it will be 
held in Berlin from May 23d to 27th next year. 
The Imperior Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, 
will preside, and will be supported by an in- 
fluential committee, headed by the Duke of 


80 


Ratibon and Professor von Leydon. Five di- 
visions of the subject have been agreed on: 
(1) Propagation, (2) Etiology, (3) Prophylaxis, 
(4) Therapeutics, (5) Sanatoria. Each of these 
questions will be introduced by a short and 
concise address, so as to leave ample time for 
free discussion and debate. Membership of the 
Congress is not to be confined to any particular 
class; any person interested in that terrible 
scourge of all nations, tuberculosis, can become 
a member by simply taking a ticket at the office 
of the Central Committee for Lung Sanatoria. 
As in the case of the Leprosy Conference a 
couple of years ago, foreign governments will 
be officially informed of the proposed Congress 
and requested to send delegates. 

THE Berlin correspondent of the London 
Times states that the official organ of the Prus- 
sian Ministry of the Interior gives some account 


of the work accomplished since its constitution . 


three years ago by the German Central Com- 
mittee for the establishment of sanatoria for 
consumptives under the protection of the Ger- 
man Empress and the presidency of the Imperial 
Chancellor, Prince Hchenlohe. The great ob- 
ject of the Central Committee was to promote 
the establishment of a sufficient number of 
sanatoria throughout the German Empire. 
Their efforts have been most successful, owing 
to the cooperation of wide circles of the public, 
and more particularly owing to the measures 
taken by the Imperial German Working People’s 
Insurance Office in providing hospitals and con- 
valescent homes for those of the insured who 
are attacked by illness and prevented from 
earning their living. A large number of sana- 
toria which are already receiving patients have 
demonstrated that Germans who suffer from 
tuberculous diseases do not require to go abroad 
in search of health, but can secure the best 
medical treatment in the immediate neighbor- 
hood of the place where they have to live and 
work. There will presently be some 50 sana- 
toria in Germany for persons in straightened 
circumstances. The Central Committee has co- 
operated in various degrees in the development 
of these institutions by placing at their disposal 
information and, where it was requisite, by 
making grants for their support. It has thus 
been found possible, while consulting in every 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 211. 


case the special nature of local necessities, to 
establish the institution of sanatoria for con- 
sumptives in Germany on a sound and perma- 
nent basis. A meeting of the Central Committee, 
at which Her Majesty, the Empress, will be 
present, will be held on January 9th. President 
Gabel, of the Imperial Insurance Office, will 
make a report on the new rules to be adopted, 
the object of which is to extend the sphere of 
the Committee’s operations on the lines which 
they have hitherto followed. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

AT the twenty-seventh convocation of the 
University of Chicago, on January 4th, Presi- 
dent Harper announced two gifts of land, one 
by Mr. N. A. Ryerson, valued at $34,000, and 
one by Marshall Field, valued at $135,000. A 
gymnasium will be erected on the latter site. 
The enrollment of the University is 1,621, an 
increase of 450 over last year. 


Mr. H. O. ArMouR has given $20,000 to 
Whitworth College, a Presbyterian institution 
at Sumner, Wash. The sum of $75,000 has 
been collected for Arcadia University, a Baptist 
institution at Wolfeville, N. 8., $15,000 having 
been given by Mr. John D. Rockefeller. 


THE alumni of Harvard College, by a vote of 
2,782 to 1,481, have reversed their previous 
vote extending the franchise in voting for over- 
seers of the University to the graduates of all 
theschools. President Eliot and most members 
of the faculty who are alumni voted with the 
minority. 

THE annual catalogue of Harvard University 
records 411 officers and 4,660 students, an in- 
crease of 7 officers and 84 students over last 
year. These figures include the summer school, 
but not Radcliffe College, the enrollment of 
which is 411 students. There are 1,851 students 
in the College and 560 in the medical school. 


THE new catalogue of the University of Penn- 
sylvania, about to be issued, will show that 
there are 258 officers and 2,790 students, of 
whom 1,337 are in the departments of medicine 
and dentistry. There are in the School of Arts 
365, in the Towne Scientific School 284 and in 
the Department of Philosophy 158 students. 


CIE NE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsron, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContveE, Geology; W. M. DAvis, Physiography; O. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

' C. Hart Merriam, Zoology; 8. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. BRITTON, 
Botany; Henry F. Osporn, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 
H. P. Bowpitcn, Physiology; J. S. Brnnrnas, Hygiene; J. McKEEN CATTELL, 
Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JANUARY 20, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
Advances in Methods of Teaching :— 
Zoology: PROFESSOR EDWIN G. CONKLIN...... 81 
Anatomy: PROFESSOR GEO. S. HUNTINGTON.... 85 
Physiology: PROFESSOR WM. T. PORTER........ 87 


Psychology: PROFESSOR HUGO MUNSTERBERG 91 
Anthropology: DR. FRANZ BOAS.........: Vee 
Botany: PROFESSOR W. F. GANONG 

Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of 

« America (I.): PROFESSOR J. F. KEMpP........... 100 

Scientific Books :— : 

Burnside’s Theory of Groups of Finite Order: 
PROFESSOR F. N. Cote. Merriman’s Elements 
of Sanitary Engineering: M. Card on Bush 
Fruits: PROFESSOR BYRON D. HALSTED. Hill 
and Vaughan on the Lower Cretaceous Grypheus 
of the Texas Regions: PROFESSOR FREDERIC 
W. Smmonps. Books Received........csecceseeees ... 106 
Scientific Journals and Articles 2.....ccsceceessecseeesees 111 
Societies and Academies :— 
The National Geographic Society ; Harvard Uni- 
versity, Students’ Geological Club: J. M. Bour- 
WELL. Onondaga Academy of Sciences: H. W. 
BRITCHER. The Academy of Science of St. Louis: 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM TRELEASE ...........0..006+ 112 

Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Science and Politics: PROFESSOR S. W. WIL- 


LISTON. The Storing of Pamphlets: PROFES- 

SOR CHARLES S. CRANDALL. Zone Temper- 

atures: DR. C. HART MERRIAM...........-..0.0068 114 
EPRYSUCAUPNOLES os EN Ow Ospenesscesanctestocdecstasanestaers 116 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
The Windward Islands Hurricane of September, 
1898 ; Probable State of the Sky along the Path of 
the Eclipse, May 28, 1900; Notes: R. DEC. 
\NWANTSD) ponongasabedenodnods bpopaceodsa6ponndacsdcpuCudbeHed 
Current Notes on Anthropology :— 
The Oldest Skull-form in Europe; The Supposed 
‘Otter Trap ;’ Anthropological Sludy of TFeeble- 
minded Children: PROFESSOR D. G. BRINTON... 117 
Scientific Notes and News...........00scsececescsececesenees 118 


.-- 120 
MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 


for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N.Y. 


116 


ADVANCES IN METHODS OF TEACHING.* 
ZOOLOGY. 

By advances in teaching I understand the 
use of desirable methods not now generally 
employed, for while the common methods 
of this generation are advances over those 
of a preceding one a discussion of this fact 
could have no possible value and only an 
historical interest to us. 

I take it that the common method of 
teaching zoology is by means of laboratory 
work supplemented by lectures or recita- 
tions, and, further, that both teacher and 
institution are well equipped for this work ; 
these are prerequisites, the need of which 
need not be emphasized here. Beyond and 
in addition to these common provisions 
what advances in teaching zoology are both 
possible and desirable? Many minor fea- 
tures might be considered, such as certain 
improvements in laboratory and museum 
methods, the best sequence of subjects, the 
relations of lectures to laboratory work, ete.; 
but I prefer to emphasize two, and only two, 
main features, viz.: (1) the relations of re- 
search to teaching, and (2) the study of the 
whole of zoology. 

I. One of the greatest possible advances 
in teaching zoology would be the promotion 
of research work in all institutions of col- 
lege or university grade and the establish- 
ment of the closest possible relations be- 


* Discussion before the New York meeting of the 
American Naturalists and Affiliated Societies, Decem- 
ber, 1898. 


82 


tween teaching and research. Advances in 
‘teaching must be, in the main, founded up- 
on advances in research. Objects which 

. every beginner in zoology sees and studies 
to-day were known to only a few investiga- 
tors ten years ago. Methods which are 
common property now were then being 
worked out for the first time. The interest 
and value of teaching is directly propor- 
tional to the teacher’s acquaintance with 
original sources of knowledge. The all too 
common method of leaning—or rather rid- 
ing—upon a text-book violates the whole 
laboratory idea, and the more advanced 
custom of relying upon original papers with- 
out making any attempt to see the things 
described is but little better. Every teacher 
should endeavor to see and know for him- 
self, and to give his students opportunity to 
see and know the classical objects upon 
which important doctrines of zoology rest. 
But the relation of the teacher to re- 
search should not be merely that of a hearer 
of the word, but of a doer also. Research 
work on the part of the teacher and, if pos- 
sible, by at least a few advanced students 
should be a part of the teaching equipment of 
every college and university. Too frequently 
and indiscriminately hasit been maintained 
that the qualities which makea man a good 
investigator ruin him as a teacher. The 
examples of Agassiz, Huxley, Leuckart and 
many others, both here and abroad, show 
how erroneous is such a view. Great ability 
as an investigator may be united with quali- 
ties which are ruinous to the teacher, but 
these are not qualities essential to research. 
On the other hand, a good teacher must be, 
at least to a certain extent, an investigator 
also. The ability to make a subject plain 
is not the first nor, indeed, the most impor- 
tant function of a college or university 
teacher ; his first duty is to arouse interest 
in his subject, to direct students to reliable 
sources of information and to encourage 
them in independent work. For all of these 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


purposes research is of the utmost value. 
A new fact discovered in a laboratory is a 
stimulus to faithful and independent work, 
such as nothing else in the world can be; 
whatever other requirements colleges and 
universities may make upon their teachers, 
they might safely require that they be con- 
tributors to knowledge. The greatest mis- 
take which a college or university teacher 
can make is to talk and act as if his science 
were a closed and finished one. A subject 
which seems old and stale to the teacher will 
seem uninteresting and unimportant to the 
learner. To the teacher who has only a text- 
book knowledge of things all subjects soon 
seem finished, fixed, bottled and labelled ; 
once a year, perhaps, he wearily exhibits 
these dead and changeless things before 
his suffering class. But the teacher who real- 
izes how little we know about any subject 
and how much remains to be learned—who, 
while accurately presenting what is known, 
can by both precept and example help to 
extend the bounds of knowledge—will never 
find his subject stale nor his class uninter- 
ested. 

It will be objected that in many subjects 
and in most institutions such a course is 
impossible. Undoubtedly it is more dif- 
ficult to make discoveries in some fields 
than in others, but it is one of the particu- 
lar charms of the biological sciences that 
the opportunities for research here are 
greater than in most other subjects. The 
great amount of teaching and of adminis- 
trative work which is required of many 
teachers is the greatest obstacle to this plan; 
and yet I know persons who teach from 
twenty-five to thirty hours a week and who 
yet find time to do research work, if in 
no other way, at least by keeping their 
eyes open for new points in the material 
used in their classes. 

It is sometimes maintained that there is 
a fundamental difference in kind between 
graduate and undergraduate teaching, and 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


that the former alone can have any rela- 
tions to independent work or research, 
while the latter must consist of information 
courses merely. But whatever may be true 
of other subjects, it is certain that biological 
studies encourage and develop independ- 
ence in observations and reflections from 
the beginning. I maintain, even at the 
risk of being charged with holding low 
ideals of graduate work, that the distinction 
between graduate and undergraduade work 
in biology is one of degree and not of kind. 
Of course, elementary students cannot do 
research work of any great value, and yet 
they may catch the spirit of research and 
assist in carrying out work of importance. 
Some valuable work of the last few years 
has grown out of the careful and independ- 
ent study, in undergraduate classes, of the 
structure, development and variations of 
well-known animals. The knowledge that 
new facts may be discovered even in ele- 
mentary work is an inspiration to both stu- 
dent and teacher. I pity the man who has 
to teach a finished science; I wonder how 
either he or his students stand it. The 
zoologist has here an advantage which he 
cannot afford to throw away. If it is fur- 
ther objected that this method would induce 
students to neglect well-known facts in 
ridiculous attempts to find new ones, or 
that it would assist an ignorant or lazy 
teacher to fill up gaps in his information 
by ingenious speculations, I can only reply 
that such an abuse should be credited to 
the teacher and not to the system. The 
thesis which I defend is simply and com- 
prehensively this: The spirit of zoological 
teaching should be the inquiring, independ- 
ent, alert spirit of research. 

II. Another advance not less important 
than the one just emphasized would be found 
in increased facilities for studying the whole 
of zoology. The time was when zoology 
meant merely classification; at present it 
means little more than morphology ; a great 


SCIENCE. 


83 


advance will have been made we all realize, 
and succeed in getting our institutions to 
realize, that these subjects, however im- 
portant, are but a part of zoology and that 
a large and important field is still almost 
unoccupied. The usual laboratory work in 
zoology, viz. : the anatomy of a few alcoholic 
specimens, is less than one-half of the sci- 
ence and in all respects the least interest- 
ing and important half. Research to-day 
is tending more and more to the study of 
living things, and in this respect, as in so 
many others, research points out the way 
for advances in teaching. The study of liv- 
ing animals; of their actual development 
under normal and experimentally altered 
conditions; of their food and the manner of 
getting it; their enemies and friends, para- 
sites and messmates; their mating, breeding 
and care of young; the effects of isolation, 
crossing and close breeding on structure 
and habits; the effects of varying light, 
color, temperature, density of medium, etc., 
on color, size and structure of every part; 
the daily and nightly activities of animals ; 
the origin and nature of peculiar habits and 
instincts—in short, the study of all the 
varied ways in which animals live and 
adapt themselves to their environment is 
an integral part of zoology; and who can 


doubt that together these things form its 


most important part, and yet there are few 
if any places where any systematic attempt 
is made to give instruction in these sub- 
jects. 

Practically the only attempt which is 
made in most institutions to meet these 
needs is by means of field work. The value 
of such work cannot be overestimated and 
it must always remain an indispensable 
part of any broad zoological training, but it 
is not in itself sufficient. In large cities 
and during the colder part of the year it is 
especially difficult to carry on field work, 
and inno case is it possible to have animals 
under observation for considerable periods 


84 


of time or to carry on experiments with 
them in the field. Field work must consist 
largely of collection, classification and scat- 
tered observations ; more serious work must 
be transferred to the laboratory. 

A most useful and important adjunct to 
zoological teaching is an animal house, or 
vivarium, in which may be found fresh and 
salt-water aquaria ; terraria for small land 
forms; hives for bees, ants and other in- 
sects ; rooms for various amphibia, reptiles, 
birds and small mammals; hatcheries for 
the eggs of various vertebrates and inverte- 
brates, and various appliances for the ex- 
perimental study of living animals. Such 
a vivarium might contain a synoptic col- 
lection of living animals, worth vastly 
more for teaching purposes than the or- 
dinary museum or laboratory. Botanists 
have long recognized the necessity of green- 
houses for teaching purposes, and the need 
of having living material for study is quite 
as great in zovlogy as in botany. Some 
such vivarium is a necessity if zoology is 
to be studied in any broad way. It is usual 
in building laboratories to provide an ani- 
mal room in some small, dark corner of the 
cellar,while the whole of the building proper 
is devoted to lecture rooms, laboratories 
and museums. It is sad to think that such 
a disposition of space represents the popu- 
lar view of the importance of the study of 
living animals. In a very important sense 
a vivarium is the most essential part of any 
laboratory of zoology, representing that for 
which all the rest exists. In cases where it 
is not possible to have a separate building 
or large, well-lighted rooms for this purpose 
a greenhouse and animal house could be 
combined ; and in all cases a few well- 
stocked ponds in the immediate vicinity of 
the laboratory can usually be provided 
without trouble or expense, which will fur- 
nish a never-failing supply of living ma- 
terial. 

But under the most favorable circumstan- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


ces the number of living animals which can 
be kept in or near the laboratory is not large; 
for making extensive studies on large num- 
bers of animals, recourse must be had to ex- 
perimental farms and to marine and fresh- 
water stations. Little has yet been donein 
the way of establishing experimental farms 
for purposes of pure science, though I believe 
they are destined to play a very important 
part in the development of our science in 
the future, but the establishment of biolog- 
ical stations has done more to advance the 
study of zoology than any other one thing 
in this generation. While the laboratory, 
the vivarium and perhaps also the experi- 
mental farm are things which each uni- 
versity must provide for itself, the marine 
and fresh-water stations can reach their 
greatest usefulness through the cooperation 
of many institutions. Without inany way 
disparaging the work done by other stations 
of a similar kind, I think it may truthfully 
and modestly be said that the Woods Holl 
Station, in the measure of cooperation which 
it represents; in the close relations which 
there exist between teaching and research, 
and in the fullness with which the whole of 
zoology is represented, has done more to ad- 
vance the teaching of zoology in this country 
than has any other institution or factor. 
The professor of anatomy in one of our best 
medical schools said to me a few days ago: 
“Tn all my teaching I try to follow the 
general methods employed in the classes at 
the Woods Holl Laboratory ; those methods 
are models of good teaching.” If this can 
be said for the teaching of human anatomy 
how much more is it true of the studies 
which are there directly represented. Some 
of the greatest possible advances in teach- 
ing zoology will be found in realizing in 
every college and university the Woods 
Holl ideal. 


Epwin G. ConkKLIn. 


UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


ANATOMY. 

Ir is not too broad a statement to say that 
the modern methods of teaching anatomy 
reflect the general progress of that science 
during the past decade. In the limited 
time at my disposal I am only able to ac- 
centuate some of the main facts as they 
pertain to instruction in human anatomy. 
In this branch the revolution in the spirit 
and method of our teaching is primarily 
based on the recognition of man’s scientific 
position in the vertebrate series. We have 
ceased, as teachers, to regard the human 
body as a thing apart and by itself, and the 
study of its structure and of the functions 
of its parts is no longer attempted without 
the aid which comparative anatomy and 
embryology so abundantly offer. The truths 
embodied in the doctrine of evolution have 
long furnished the quickening spirit of scien- 
tific morphological study and research, but 
their full utilization by the teacher of hu- 
man anatomy as his most valuable guides 
is of so comparatively recent date that I 
feel justified in citing their pedagogic adop- 
tion as the most important and funda- 
mental advance in late years in the methods 
of anatomical instruction. 

It is so evident that every complete or- 
ganism is only fully comprehended in all its 
relations when the method of its production 
and development is known, and the fact 
that the simplest conditions offer the logical 
starting point in learning or teaching compli- 
cated structural details is so in accord with 
our daily experience, that the disregard of 
phylogeny and embryology by teachers of 
human anatomy seems little short of incom- 
prehensible. And yet in my own experience 
as a teacher of human anatomy I remember 
grave academic deliberations as to the pro- 
priety of placing the study on the scientific 
basis which we occupy to-day, and some 
doubtful queries as to whether after all it 
would not be more advisable to uphold the 
traditional method, somewhat as the Mos- 


SCIENCE. 


85 


lem Kadis have continued to teach the 
Koran since the day of Mahomet. Human 
anatomy, considered from the standpoint of 
the instructor, has coursed through a curi- 
ous cycle since Vesalius in the 14th century 
raised it to the dignity of a science. 

From the point where he left it the 
knowledge of man’s structure continued to 
develop during the succeeding centuries. 
The details of human gross anatomy were 
elaborated until every minute portion of 
the human frame received its complete de- 
scription, and at least one more or less ap- 
propriate and lengthy name. The teach- 
ing of the science progressed along the same 
lines, and the increase in the details of 
descriptive anatomy found its response in 
the anatomical text-book. Edition suc- 
ceeded edition, each containing somewhat 
more erudite and minute information than 
its predecessor, and this accumulated mass 
of facts confronted the student at the out- 
set of his course. It is not remarkable that 
under these conditions the important funda- 
mental structural lines of the subject were 
obscured and overshadowed by the quantity 
of detail, nor that the study of anatomy 
appeared to resolve itself into a more or 
less successful effort at memorizing the 
largest possible quantity of facts without 
special regard to their quality or impor- 
tance. 

I well remember in my own student days 
that every man with any pretensions to 
anatomical prowess could glibly and ac- 
curately describe the five surfaces of the 
orbital process of the palate bone and give 
their boundaries, but I doubt if many of us 
realized that said process was extremely 
lucky if it attained the size of a respectable 
pea, and a still smaller minority would 
have passed with credit through a practical 
demonstration on the skull. In the same 
way the knowledge that the artery of the 
vas deferens arises from the superior vesical 
was a never-failing source of satisfaction to 


86 


its possessor, while a student who faced west 
on Madison Square had no occasion to strain 
his descriptive faculties in the least in order 
to enumerate the Fifth Avenue Hotel in its 
correct position among the structures re- 
lated to his common carotid artery. But 
the morphological connection and the mu- 
tual relation existing between prosenceph- 
alon and diencephalon, the principles gov- 
erning the development and structure of 
the lung and vascular system, the disposi- 
tion of the peritoneal membrane, and many 
like problems, were regarded in much the 
same light. 

What knowledge of these structures the 
student obtained he gained in the most dif- 
ficult manner, by a pure effort of memory. 
He had no constructive details at his com- 
mand, no series of stages which, while dem- 
onstrating the road by which a complicated 
human structure reached its highest degree 
of development or regression, enabled him 
at the same time to grasp and hold the de- 
tails of that structure as a permanent and 
lasting addition to his knowledge, not as 
facts memorized and hence to be forgotten. 
In this sense teaching by comparison and 
development marks our most important 
and fundamental advance in methods of in- 
struction. That this advance will be pro- 
gressive lies in the very essence of its char- 
acter. We all recognize the practical 
importance of careful descriptive detail in 
teaching human anatomy. But in striving 
after the necessary accuracy and elabora- 
tion the minutize should not be permitted 
to obscure and hide the broad morpholog- 
ical and functional principles which under- 
lie the construction of the animal body. 

They, after all, form the fundamental 
lines upon which the student must build 
his anatomical knowledge if the same is to 
be enduring, and these lines, if once firmly 
established, readily and logically permit 
the addition of the necessary details. The 
function of comparative anatomy and em- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 212. 


bryology, as aids in the teaching of human 
anatomy, is to define clearly and demon- 
strate, beyond question or doubt, the cardi- 
nal morphological principles upon which 
the structure of the vertebrate body is 
reared. I can merely refer in passing to 
the development of the equipment neces- 
sary to the vitality and success of the 
method. Perhaps no other single fact ac- 
centuates the advances in morphological 
education more than the change which is 
to be observed in the spirit and purpose of 
the anatomical museum. It has ceased to 
be astorehouse for a heterogeneous associa- 
tion of curios, and has assumed its proper 
place as an important factor in scientific 
education, presenting the cardinal strue- 
tural and functional principles of the verte- 
brate body in concrete serial form. From 
a collection it has become a library in which 
he who runs may read. 

While we are justified in characterizing 
this fundamental change in the spirit and 
conception of anatomical instruction as our 
most pronounced methodical advance in re- 
cent years, anumber of other improvements 
are entitled to your consideration. Hardly 
secondary in importance to the principle of 
the comparative and developmental method 
of teaching is the application of the princi- 
ple in practice. I need not detain this au- 
dience with illustrative examples, which 
will suggest themselves, but I may be per- 
mitted to emphasize the fact that we have 
advanced materially in substituting true 
object-teaching for theoretical instruction. 
Perhaps nowhere more than in anatomy is 
lasting and valuable knowledge gained only 
by direct and personal examination of the 
object of the study. 

Not only have our courses in practical 
anatomy increased in the time and material 
required and improved in the application of 
a thorough test by practical examination, 
but we have carried the same cardinai prin- 
ciple of sound anatomical instruction into 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


the details of the didactic course. It is 
probably true that, under proper conditions 
of environment, a parrot could be taught a 
hymn, for we have proof of his power in 
acquiring a secular vocabulary. In the 
same way, undoubtedly, a student can be 
taught a certain kind of anatomy by lecture, 
diagrams and models. But I question 
whether he will find this knowledge much 
more useful than the parrot hishymn. As- 
similation of anatomical knowledge requires 
demonstration of the actual structures, toa 
limited number of students, for the purpose 
of enabling each to see and examine the 
objects themselves with which he is to be- 
come familiar, not models ordiagrams. ‘I 
asked for bread and they gave me a stone”’ 
—or a model—is a saying which no student 
of anatomy should have occasion to apply 
to his own case. 

This reason has led to the replacement of 
the didactic lecture by the section demon- 
stration. I still concede to the lecture, 
modified and supplemented by demonstra- 
tion, an important function in furnishing 
the orderly, logical and systematic presen- 
tation of the subject which is to serve as 
the guiding thread in the student’s individ- 
ual examination of the structures, It is the 
proper place for the elaboration of the broad 
morphological principles of vertebrate struc- 
ture, but these should be illustrated and 
emphasized by the direct examination of 
the structures involved. The lecture should 
indicate clearly the main facts of which the 
student is to satisfy himself by personal 
observation in the demonstration. Both 
conducted side by side are mutual supple- 
ments. 

Such, in brief, I conceive to be the main 
factors in the advance of anatomical teach- 
ing. Many secondary aids, such as the 
complete pedagogic separation of elemen- 
tary and advanced students, the modern 
methods of preservation of material, the im- 
proved technique of preparations, the intro- 


SCIENCE. 


87 


duction of elective and optional courses in 
general morphology and others would de- 
mand consideration if more time were at 
our disposal. 

But, however brief and insufficient my 
presentation of the subject may appear, 
teachers of anatomical science feel that the 
advance along the lines indicated is a ma- 
terial gain and that, under the broad spirit 
of our universities, it will be progressive. 

Gero. 8. Huntineron. 


PHYSIOLOGY IN MEDICAL SCHOOLS. 


THE paper which I have had the honor 
of preparing for this occasion consists of 
three parts ; the first gives a critical review 
of the present unsatisfactory methods of 
teaching physiology in medical schools (in 
which institutions most of the physiological 
teaching is done); the second presents a 
detailed proposal for instruction in accord- 
ance with what are believed to be correct 
pedagogical principles; and the third dis- 
cusses ways and means, and demonstrates 
that the proposed changes are within the 
present means of any successful school. 
The time allotted to each speaker requires 
the omission of the critical account of 
present methods and the discussion of ways 
and means. Only the second part of the 
paper can be given here.* | 

The picture I have drawn of the instruc- 
tion in physiology in medical schools will 
not be challenged by teachers of that science. 
The sense that our methods of instruction 
neither develop nor much inform the mind 
is general. It is time that discussion of the 
difficulties and the way to remedy them 
should also be general. Physiology is the 
most highly developed rational discipline in 
medicine—not a merely descriptive science 
like anatomy and is well adapted to train 
the mind in scientific procedure, in the 
setting of problems for research, in the 


*The full paper is printed in the Boston Medical 
and Surgical Journal, December 29, 1898. 


88 


criticism of methods and results, and in the 
tests which lay bare shallowness— matters 
of great moment to men who shall practice 
an applied experimental science in the 
midst of quackery, illusion and pretence. 
Careful inquiry should therefore be made 
to determine how far defects of instruction 
can be remedied with the means at our dis- 
posal. The problem is: How far can the 
correct theory be realized in practice? To 
what extent can medical students of physi- 
ology be taught in the manner in which men 
are trained to be professional physiologists ? 
Evidently physiologists are likely to study 
their own subject in the most profitable and 
labor-saving way. 

Much can be done to reconcile theory to 
practice, but not everything. The size of 
physiology has broken it into specialties. 
Even professional physiologists can no 
longer have personal acquaintance with the 
whole subject or even a relatively large part 
of it. The truth of this will be obvious 
when it is remembered that since January 
1, 1894, more than three hundred researches 
have been published on the physiology of 
the heart alone. To a considerable degree 
the physiologist himself must acquire his 
information from reading the work of 
others. It would therefore be idle to ex- 
pect the student of medicine to get a per- 
sonal experimental knowledge of the whole 
subject. He has but a year for physiology 
and must share that time with anatomy. 
Grave economic laws demand this time 
shall not be lengthened, and the day of 
self-support postponed. The time which 
he now has must be used chiefly for train- 
ing and not chiefly for the acquisition of 
facts, as at present, and this training must 
follow the lines laid down by physiologists 
for their own development. 

The way of the physiologist is not pe- 
culiar. The method of getting a real educa- 
tion is the same from the kindergarten to 
the specialist. The principle is to train ‘ for 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


power,’ to use President Eliot’s phrase, and 
not primarily for information. | Deal so far 
as possible with the phenomena themselves 
and not with descriptions of them. Use as 
the basis of professional instruction the facts 
and methods which shall be used by the 
student in earning his living. Teach the 
elements by practical work. Associate facts 
which the student can observe for himself 
with the facts which he cannot observe. Con- 
trol the progress of the student, remove his 
difficulties, and stimulate him to collateral 
reading by personal intercourse in the labo- 
ratory, by occasional glimpses of the re- 
searches in progress in the laboratory, and 
by daily conferences or seminaries. Give 
the student careful descriptions of the 
method of performing his experiments, but 
require him to set down the results for him- 
self in a laboratory notebook, which, to- 
gether with the graphic records of his 
experiment, is to form a requirement for 
the Doctorate. Choose one sufliciently 
limited field in which experimental work 
shall be thorough and comprehensive, afford- 
ing a strong grasp of that special subject. 
Add to this the typical, fundamental ex- 
periments in other fields. 

When the student has come thus far, let 
him choose one of several electives affording 
advanced training in the physiology of the 
medical specialities, such as opthalmology, 
laryngology, the digestive tract, the nervous 
system, ete. These courses should be thor- 
ough, should contain the physiology re- 
quired of the best specialists, and above all 
should deal with nature directly. For ex- 
ample, in studying the physiology of the 
stomach, the gastric juice should be taken 
with the stomach-tube directly from the 
human object, and not obtained merely by 
adding hydrochloric acid to scrapings of 
the mucous membrane of swine. This spe- 
cial instruction should be directed by dis- 
tinguished specialists. Thus the student will 
be brought into contact with that which will 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


interest him most, the every-day methods 
of the best physicians, and the specialist 
will keep his own foundations in repair. 
It is in connection with these courses that 
didactic lectures should be given. Up to 
this point in his work the student is not 
ripe. Let there be one to four lectures of 
not more than forty-five minutes, the sub- 
ject very limited, so that each set shall 
present all the existing knowledge on the 
subject. The purpose of these lectures is 
to show the student the historical develop- 
ment of scientific problems, the nature of 
scientific evidence, and the canons of criti- 
cism that shall help him to sift the wheat 
from the chaff of controversy. Lectures of 
this kind cannot profitably be given by men 
who have not made experimental investiga- 
tions in the subject of the lecture; so far as 
practicable they should be given by the 
specialists who advise the physiological 
staff concerning the special courses. 

Each student should be required to pre- 
sent one written discussion of some very 
small and sufficiently isolated thesis, giving 
the work of the original investigators, to- 
gether with any observations the student 
has made for himself. The way of dealing 
with the sources at first hand will thus be 
learned. 

The student’s reading should be corre- 
lated strictly with his practical work and 
should be done in the laboratory in connec- 
tion with that work. It should not be 
memorizing, as at present, but the study 
of graphic records, physiological-anatomical 
preparations and other physiological mate- 
rial, with the aid of the text-book. The cor- 
rections necessary to bring the book up to 
date and to correlate it with the practical 
work can be furnished in printed or mimeo- 
graphed notes. 

Such are the lines along which sound 
theory directs that the teaching of physi- 
ology in medical schools should proceed. 
With such a training the student can safely 


SCIENCE. 


89 


find his way through the constantly aug- 
menting horde of facts and draw vicarious 
profit from those who are face to face with 
the mysteries of nature. Such instruction 
meets also the needs of men intending to 
make a profession of biological .sciences 
other than medicine. It will be observed 
that the course offers: (1) thorough ex- 
perimental acquaintance with one field, say 
the physiology of nerve and muscle, giving 
the point of view, the general physiological 
method, training in technique, a basis of 
analogy, adequate knowledge of one living 
tissue and thus the elements of all; (2) the 
fundamental elementary experiments in the 
remaining fields; with the key which the 
first course gives, these will unlock much ; 
(8) thorough experimental acquaintance 
with one special subject; (4) various com- 
plementary gains, of which may be men- 
tioned experience in reaching the original 
sources and in marshalling facts, a certain 
degree of skill in the methods used by 
practitioners, direct correlation between 
physiology and practical medicine. Much 
might be said of the value of this group, 
particularly of the correlation just men- 
tioned, but we must hasten on to the 
demonstration of how these ends are to be 
attained practically. 

The first problem to be solved in plan- 
ning instruction is whether the student’s 
time is to be given wholly or only in part 
to the subject taught. Men in training for 
professional physiology commonly concen- 
trate their energies for a sufficient period 
on this one subject, and this is regarded 
as the most economical way of mastering 
any science, for the ground gained by one 
day’s work is still fresh in the mind when 
the next day’s work begins, and continuity 
of thought is not disturbed. The plea that 
the instruction in one subject should be 
broken by the injection of other subjects in 
order that the instruction in each may have 
‘time to sink in’ need not be entertained ; 


90 


experience shows that much of it sinks in 
so far that it cannot be got up again with- 
out the loss of valuable energy. A more 
serious objection is that the method of con- 
tinuous application is highly fruitful in the 
case of men of exceptional powers, who are 
keen in spite of protracted effort, but is 
wasteful for the average brain, which is 
fatigued and unreceptive after some hours 
of unremitting labor. The truth of this 
must be allowed, but the objection does not 
apply to wide-ranging sciences, such as anat- 
omy and physiology, which are not narrow, 
hedged-in areas, but which consist rather 
of broad and diversified domains composed 
of many contiguous fields, the varied nature 
of which is a perpetual refreshment. In 
practice the student of anatomy may divide 
his time between general anatomy, descrip- 
tive human anatomy, histology and embry- 
ology, all of which are now taught in the 
medical curriculum, and the student of 
physiology may pass from general and 
special physiology to physiological chem- 
istry, thus resting the mind without inter- 
rupting the continuity of effort essential to 
instruction that must be both rich and 
frugal. 

I would propose, then, that the first year 
in medical schools be divided equally be- 
tween anatomy and physiology, the first 
four months being given to general anat- 
omy, descriptive human anatomy, histology 
and embryology ; the second four to physi- 
ology and physiological chemistry, studies 
which cannot be pursued without a knowl- 
edge of anatomy. 

In accordance with the principles already 
outlined, the instruction in physiology 
should be divided into three parts. Part I, 
of five weeks’ duration, should consist of a 
thorough drill in the physiology of nerve 
and muscle, the hours from 9 to 11 being 
devoted to experiments, the hour from 11 
to 12 to study of materia physiologica 
(physiological preparations, graphic rec- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vout. IX. No. 212. 


ords, etc.), and the time from 12 to 12:45 to 
a conference or seminary, which should be 
part lecture, part recitation. In the con- 
ference the bearing of the experimental 
work just done should be developed by 
systematic progressive questioning accom- 
panied by running comments, to clear up 
any possible fog. A brief account of other 
experiments which add to the truth estab- 
lished by those which the student has done 
for himself, but which are too complex or 
too protracted to lie within the student’s 
powers, should be brought in here. 

Part II, of seven weeks’ duration, should 
comprise carefully-arranged fundamental 
experiments giving in turn the elements of 
each field in physiology except that of nerve 
and muscle, which has just been studied. 
As before, the whole class works from 9 to 
11 upon experiments, from 11 to 12 studies 
all possible means of illustrating the subject 
of the day, and from 12 to 12:45 attends the 
conference or seminary. In the forty-two 
days covering this part of the course in- 
structors who find the mixture of lecture 
and Socratic method unsympathetic may 
abandon their questioning and fill the time 
with their own remarks; even such instruc- 
tion would be far more fruitful than the 
present lectures, for the student would have 
had experience in anatomy and would be 
well grounded in experimental physiology, 
through his work on nerve and muscle, be- 
fore the talk began; but the seminary is 
much more effective than the lecture. 

In Part III, covering the remaining four 
weeks of the term, the instruction is di- 
vided into special’ courses on the physiology 
of the eye, ear, larynx, digestion, the spinal 
cord, the innervation of the heart, ete. 
Each course should consist of experimental 
work from 9 to 11, the study of prepara- 
tions and other aids from 11 to 12, and a 
conference from 12 to 12:45. Each course 
should be long enough to include all the 
practicable experiments that should find a 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


place in a systematic, thorough study of the 
subject. The number of such experiments, 
and hence the length of the special courses, 
will naturally be very different in the 
various instances ; thus experimental physi- 
ology of the eye will occupy more time than 
the physiology of the larynx. As many 
courses should be given at one time as there 
are instructors in the department. The 
student may elect the subjects that most 
interest him, but must choose a suflicient 
number to occupy him during the entire 
four weeks of instruction. 

The afternoons of the days on which 
physiology is taught are devoted to physio- 
logical chemistry. 

Wu. T. Porter. * 


HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL. 


PSYCHOLOGY. 


THE invitation to talk about the methods 
of teaching psychology was to me in one 
way very welcome. All the year long I 
have done nothing with fuller conviction 
than to tell the psychologists that they 
ought not to meddle with methods of teach- 
ing, as they can hardly offer any aid. But 
there is one exception, and here I have at 
last a welcome chance to make the neces- 
sary appendix to my year’s sermon; the 
psychologists ought not to trouble them- 
selves with the methods of teaching which 
the other men apply, but they ought, in the 
highest degree, look out for the methods 
which they use themselves, as there is per- 
haps no science in which bad methods are 
so confusing and dangerous. 

But the invitation came also as an em- 
barrassment. The methods of psychology, 
on account of the many changes in recent 
years, have so far not had the time to erys- 
tallize; they have not reached the stage of 
an objective form about which the psychol- 
ogists themselves agree, and it is a hopeless 
task to seek there anything which is more 
than a reflex of personal experiences. I 


SCIENCE. 


91 


felt this difficulty strongly and cannot offer, 
therefore, anything but an expression of 
my subjective convictions, which can claim 
in their favor nothing but the fact that they 
are based on observations in a university 
where the rather uncritical rush towards 
psychology has reached unexpected propor- 
tions. 

The time is too short to demonstrate here, 
what even every outsider ought to know, 
that a scientific psychology is to-day in first 
line experimental psychology and that col- 
lections of instruments are thus the neces- 
sary, full laboratories the desirable back- 
ground of teaching psychology. The audi- 
ence, on the other hand, is here too various 
to allow a description of special important 
pieces of apparatus. I want, therefore, to 
emphasize merely questions of principle. 

Such a question of principle it is to ask 
which place this experimental psychology 
ought to have in the lecture courses of the 
university. To say the experimental work 
ought to be the whole is absurd; that is 
possible for physics or physiology, but it is 
impossible for psychology. The physical 
sciences start with fundamental conceptions 
and presuppositions which are acknowl- 
edged without difficulty, while in psychology 
just the basal conceptions like conscious- 
ness, psychical causality, psychical elements, 
psychophysical parallelism are full of dif- 
ficulties and certainly not open to experi- 
mental treatment. The usual way now is 
that the elementary treatment of mental 
life deals with this general theoretical book- 
psychology, while the more advanced lec- 
ture courses go forward to an exact experi- 
mental study of the special facts. 

This seems to me a methodological blun- 
der; the order ought to be just the op- 
posite. I think, firstly, that the treatment 
of the theoretical questions in psychology is 
of no value whatever if it is given in an 
elementary way; every problem leads here 
to epistemological discussions which go far 


92 


beyond a sophomoric mind, and which are 
not simplified by avoiding the difficulties, 
but trivialized and falsified. Theoretical 
psychology isan advanced course for seniors 
and graduates. On the other hand, I think 
that experimental psychology can never be 
the object of a really advanced treatment 
ina lecture course. In physies or physiology 
the lecturer can reach the most advanced 
points because he can follow up the most 
difficult problems under scientific discussion 
with his experiments ; notso in psychology. 
We must not forget that a psychological ex- 
periment is nothing but self-observation 
under artificial conditions. The lecture 
room cannot produce the conditions for any 
careful self-observation of every student be- 
yond the most elementary questions. We 
can produce tone-sensations or color-sensa- 
tions, or associations and space judgments, 
in a rough way for the whole class. If we 
try more we can do two things. Either we 
make demonstrations on one subject—for 
instance, reactions; then the whole class 
may see the person on whom the experiment 
is made, but the one person is really the 
only one who goes through the experience 
of the experiment ; it isan illusion to think 
that the others get the advantage of the ex- 
periment too because they are in the same 
room. Or we choose experiments which every 
one can make individually at the same time 
—for instance, touch sensations ; but it is 
clear that here only the most elementary 
problems are in question. Thus, wherever 
we come to a more complicated experimen- 
tal question, the possibilities of the lecture 
room are at an end,and we have either to 
talk about experiments without making 
them—certainly a very bad scheme—or we 
have to shift them over to the laboratory 
courses, the only correct way. No other 
experimental science can come into this 
troublesome situation, because no other 
deals with self-observation, but we psychol- 
ogists ought to confess that the experimental 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


work of the lecture room cannot go beyond 
the first elements of psychology, and is of a 
simplicity that every high school boy can un- 
derstand. We must give up the pose that our 
psychological work becomes difficult on the 
introduction of a chronoscope and a kymo- 
graph and a color wheel. It is logically 
endlessly simpler than even the ‘slightest 
serious discussion of theoretical psychology. 

Of course, I am speaking of experimental 
psychology, which must not be confused 
with physiological psychology. The latter, 
in its narrower sense dealing with mind 
and brain, is either a theoretical discussion 
of the psycho physical parallelism, and as 
such fully dependent upon philosophical 
arguments and independent of empirical 
observations, or it is a study of the special 
localizations and functions of the brain 
parts. The first belongs to advanced theo- 
retical psychology ; the second does not be- 
long to a student’s course on psychology at 
all, but to physiology. It is mere coquetry 
if we decorate our real psychological courses 
with physiological bric-a-brac. 

My method of teaching psychology in 
Harvard is as follows: I give a large ele- 
mentary course in psychology which hardly 
mentions the brain, but which is from the 
beginning to the end an experimental 
course, and it is our special aim to con- 
struct instruments on a large scale, allow- 
ing every student in the audience to go 
through the self-observational experience 
of the simple experiments. Theoretical 
problems are there not discussed, but only 
touched. Those who have passed this ele- 
mentary course have now no opportunity 
to cover the same experimental ground 
once more in advanced lecture courses, 
hearing three decimals where at first only 
one was given. No, they have two alterna- 
tives before them. They either enter the 
laboratory or they go on with lectures 
called ‘advanced psychology,’ hearing there 
hardly a single word about experiments, 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


and certainly never seeing an instrument 
in the lecture room. The advanced course 
is a theoretical discussion of the funda- 
mental conceptions in psycholgy. The 
course is very difficult, but the fact that 
about one hundred advanced students take 
the course this year shows sufficiently how 
earnestly they feel the need, in our time—in 
which a thoughtless playing with psy- 
chology has become the fad of society—of 
discussing the principles of that science 
from a higher standpoint, and not only as 
a superficial introduction into experimental 
psychology. 

Those who are interested in the details 
of the experimental work and want to fol- 
low it beyond the first elements which the 
lectures offered enter the training course in 
the laboratory, performing a prescribed set 
of individual experiments, working in 
groups of two. The question how far this 
training course ought to lead offers again 
methodological difficulties. We tried dif- 
ferent schemes. My assistants gave last 
year two courses, the first training merely 
in well-known experiments, the second 
training in the scholarly attitude of the 


psychological investigator by carrying out’ 


some small investigations from which no 
gain for science was expected. This year 
we have dropped the second course and 
welcome every one, already after a-half 
year’s elementary training course, to the 
regular original research work of the lab- 
oratory, in which, of course, everything is 
adapted to the effort to work towards the 
progress of science. We have come to this 
shorter circuit because with regard to the 
pedagogical value of original research work 
psychology has again quite an exceptional 
position ; the self-observation factor, which 
stands in the way of the experimental work 
in the lecture room, becomes the greatest 
advantage for the psychological education 
in the research work. In physics or 
physiology you take the part of the in- 


SCIENCE. 


93 


vestigator or you are outside ; in psychology 
you can take a different part—you may be the 
investigator or the self-observing subject. 
And this subject part is, as every experi- 
ment is self-observation, in no way a less 
important and less scientific factor of the 
research, and yet it is still free from the 
administrative responsibilities of the in- 
vestigator who carries on the experiment. 
To work for a time as subject in different 
investigations—every student of my labora- 
tory takes part in at least three different 
investigations of different fields—is thus 
the very best bridge between the simple 
training course and the work which points 
towards publication and the Ph.D. My ad- 
vice is thus to open the doors of the research 
laboratory rather earlier than the other ex- 
act sciences would wish to do; to work un- 
der constant supervision some time as sub- 
ject seems to me even a better preparation 
than any special training course. The 
psychological seminary finally has to ac- 
company this highest stage by advanced 
debates and papers ; this work, in Professor 

James’ hand, alternates in Harvard be- | 
tween more general questions and problems 
of abnormal psychology. The only defect 
which I must regret in this scheme is that 
we have so far no specialists for animal, 
child and social psychology. Child psy- 
chology finds a refuge in the department of 
pedagogy, social psychology in the depart- 
ment of sociology. They find in many uni- 
versities to-day a very large amount of 
good will in both departments, but—and 
that is the last methodological principle 
which I wish to lay down—good will alone 
is also for psychological studies not always 


sufficient. 4 
Huco MuNsTERBERG. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY. 


ANTHROPOLOGY is one of the subjects that 
have been added to the university curricu- 


94 


lum quite recently. For this reason I will 
devote my remarks to a consideration of the 
field that anthropological instruction is in- 
tended to cover and of its relations to al- 
lied sciences rather than to a discussion of 
methods of instruction. 

According to purely theoretical defini- 
tions, anthropology is the science of man 
and might be understood to cover a vast 
range of subjects. The physical as well as 
the mental characters of man may be con- 
sidered in a certain way as the proper field 
of anthropology. But sciences do not grow 
up according to definitions. They are the 
result of historical development. The sub- 
ject-matter of anthropology has been. ac- 
cumulated principally by travellers who 
have made us acquainted with the people 
inhabiting distant countries. Another part 
of the subject-matter of anthropology is 
due to the investigation of prehistoric re- 
mains found in civilized countries. Only 
after certain methods had developed which 
were based largely on the information thus 
collected was the white race made the sub- 
ject of investigation. 

For this reason the aim of anthropology 


has been largely to explain the phenomena ° 


observed among tribes of foreign culture. 
These phenomena are naturally divided 
into three groups: (1) the physical appear- 
ance of man; (2) the language of man, 
and (3) the customs and beliefs of man. 
In this manner three branches of anthro- 
pology have developed: (1) somatology, or 
physical anthropology ; (2) linguistics, and 
(3) ethnology. Up to this time anthropo- 
logical investigation has dealt almost ex- 
clusively with subjects that may be classed 
under these three headings. These subjects 
are not taken up by any other branch of 
science, and in developing them anthro- 
pology fills a vacant place in the system @ 
sciences. 

The treatment of these three subjects re- 
quires close cooperation between anthro- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


pology and a number of sciences. The in- 
vestigation of the physical characteristics 
of man has also been taken up by anato- 
mists, but the point of view of the an- 
atomist and that of the anthropologist are 
quite different. While the former is pri- 
marily interested in the occurrence of cer- 
tain modifications of the human form and 
in their genetic interpretation, the anthro- 
pologist is interested in the geographical 
distribution of varieties of form, in the 
variability of the human species in differ- 
ent areas and in their interpretation. The 
thorough study of physical anthropology, 
or somatology, requires the combined train- 
ing of the anatomist and of che anthropol- 
ogist. 

In the study of linguistics the anthropol- 
ogist deals with a subject that has been 
partially taken up by the student of special 
linguistic stocks. The study of the struc- 
ture of the Aryan languages, of the Semitic 
languages and of the Mongol languages has 
been carried on with great success by phil- 
ologists ; but the anthropological problem 
is a wider one—it deals with the general 
question of human language. 

In the study of ethnology the field of 
investigation of the anthropologist adjoins 
that of the field of research of the psychol- 
ogist and of the sociologist. The develop- 
ment of a truly empirical psychology makes 
it necessary to draw largely upon material 
furnished by anthropological studies. On 
the other hand, sociologists have found that 
the analysis of the culture of civilized so- 
ciety cannot be carried out successfully 
without a comparative study of primitive 
society, which is the subject-matter of an- 
thropological research. 

The method of anthropology is an in- 
ductive method, and the science must be 
placed side by side with the other inductive 
sciences. Our conclusions are based on 
comparisons between the forms of develop- 
ment of the human body, of human lan- 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


guage, of human activities, and must be as 
truly inductive as those of any other sci- 
ence. By including psychology and an- 
thropology in the present discussion on the 
methods of teaching science, we have given 
expression to the conviction that the method 
of investigation of mental phenomena must 
be no less an inductive method than that of 
physical phenomena. 

The teaching of anthropology may be 
made to supplement in many ways the 
teaching of allied subjects, and I will 
briefly outline its functions in the uni- 
versity curriculum. 

Physical anthropology has come to be 
primarily a study of the varieties of man. 
The differences between different types of 
man, defined either geographically or so- 
cially, are slight—so slight, indeed, that the 
biologist, until quite recent times, would 
have disregarded them entirely. Slight 
differences in type have been of importance 
to the student of anthropology at an earlier 
time than to the student of zoology, be- 
cause we are more deeply interested in the 
slight differences that occur in our own 
species than among animals. This has led 
to the result that in anthropology sooner 
than in zoology the insufficiency of descrip- 
tion was felt. Anthropology was the first 
of the biological sciences to substitute meas- 
urement for description and the exact num- 
ber for the vague word. The method of 
measuring variable phenomena—in the case 
_ of anthropology, of the variations compos- 
ing a type—had to be developed. It is 
only natural that in the course of this de- 
velopment mistakes were committed which 
had to be rectified, and that the sound 
method of metric description developed 
slowly. It would seem that at present we 
have reached the stage where the methods 
of metric description may be clearly recog- 
nized, and we may, therefore, expect confi- 
dently a rapid and wholesome development 
of physical anthropology. <A glance at 


SCIENCE. 


95 


recent biological literature shows very 
clearly that descriptive zoology and descrip- 
tive botany are passing at present to the 
substitution of metric description for ver- 
bal description that took place in anthro- 
pology some time ago. The study of 
anthropological methods may prevent biol- 
ogists from repeating the same errors that 
were committed in the early days of an- 
thropology. Anthropological subjects will, 
for a long time to come, remain the most 
available material for metrical studies of 
variations in the higher forms of life, be- 
cause the material can be obtained in 
greater numbers and with greater ease than 
in studies of most of the higher animal 
forms. The metric method, which is at 
present principally an anthropological 
method, will, in a very short time, become 
of great importance to the student of 
biology, who ought, for this reason, to profit 
by the experiences of the anthropologist. 

The fuller development of physical an- 
thropology will lead to a study of the 
physiology and experimental psychology of 
the races of man. But in these lines of 
work we have hardly made a beginning. 
The relation of these inquiries to physiology 
and to psychology will be the same as that 
of physical anthropology to anatomy. 

I may be allowed to pass by briefly the 
relations of the linguistic method of an- 
thropology to other sciences. You will 
recognize at once that this subject, as well 
as its methods, must have a stimulating 
effect upon the teaching of philology, be- 
cause its conclusions are based upon the 
broad grounds of human language; not on 
the studies of a single family of languages. 
The science of linguistics is growing slowly 
on account of its intrinsic difficulties. These 
difficulties are based as well on the lack of 
satisfactory material as on the amount of 
labor involved in the acquisition of knowl- 
edge in its particular line of research. 
Work in this field is most urgently needed, 


96 


because the languages of primitive man 
are disappearing rapidly, thus depriving us 
of valuable material for comparative study. 

Ethnology, the last division of anthro- 
pology, covers a vast field. Its main ob- 
ject may be briefly described as the dis- 
covery of the laws governing the activities 
of the human mind, and also the recon- 
struction of the history of human culture 
and civilization. The methods applied by 
ethnologists are twofold. The investiga- 
tion of the history of the culture of definite 
areas is carried on by means of geographical 
and of archeological methods. The methods 
are geographical in so far as the types 
inhabiting a country, their languages and 
their customs, are compared to those of 
neighboring tribes. They are archeeological 
in so far as they deal with the prehistoric 
remains found in the country in question. 
In this case we apply inductive methods for 
the solution of historical questions. The 
investigation of the laws governing the 
growth of human culture is carried out by 
means of comparative methods, and is 
based on the results of the historical analy- 
sis referred to before. These laws are 
largely of a psychological nature. Their 
great value for the study of the human mind 
lies in the fact that the forms of thought 
which are the subject of investigation have 
grown up entirely outside of the conditions 
whice govern our own thoughts. They 
furnish, therefore, material for a truly com- 
parative psychology. The results of the 
study of comparative linguistics form an 
important portion of this material, because 
the forms of thought find their clearest ex- 
pressions in the forms of language. 

It appears, from these brief statements of 
the scope and methods of anthropological 
research, that an acquaintance with the 
whole field is indispensable for the sociolo- 
gist ; that a knowledge of results and meth- 
ods will be of advantage to the psycholo- 
gist, and that the statistical method de- 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


veloped in physical anthropology will be 
very helpful to the student of biology. In 
a general way, a knowledge of the outlines 
of anthropology seems to be of educational 
value, particularly in so far as it broadens 
the historical views of the student, because 
it extends his view over cultures and civ- 
ilizations that have grown up uninfluenced 
by our own. The advances made by our 
own race will appear to him in a truer light 
when he is able to compare them with the 
work done by other races, and if he under- 
stands how much our own civilization owes 
to the achievements of people whoappear to 
be at present ona low level of culture. The 
methodological value of the teaching of 
anthropology lies in the fact that it shows 
the possibility of applying inductive meth- 
ods to the study of social phenomena. 
Franz Boas. 


BOTANY. 

THERE are some phases of botanical 
teaching that do not belong in the present 
discussion. University teaching, where se- 
lected, well-trained, devoted students pur- 
sue original investigation under the criti- 
cism and advice of great specialists, is 
excluded, for there is here no question of 
methods, but only of men. It represents 
the ideal relation of teacher to student, the 
true ideal for all botanical teaching. We 
have in this country some, but far too little 
of it. Again, college work proper, consist- 
ing in advanced thorough courses upon the 
practicum plan and in the investigation 
spirit, hardly belongs here. Such work has 
been stimulated by university example to a 
high degree of excellence, and in botany 
much of it is being done to-day in our col- 
leges, a fact with an important bearing upon 
our present subject, for thus are being 
trained the teachers of the near future who 
are to elevate the teaching of the schools. 
But in the teaching of systematic elemen- 
tary courses in botany, where these are not 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


under the direct control of teachers educa- 
ted thoroughly and in the modern spirit, 
that is, in the elementary courses in many 
of the smailer colleges and in most high 
schools, there are questions and problems 
enough. Just here lies the center of dis- 
cussion, effort and advance in methods of 
botanical teaching at the present time. Be- 
low the high schools, in primary and gram- 
mar grades, where systematic courses in the 
sciences are wisely not attempted, but a 
foundation is laid for them in continuous 
and thorough courses of ‘ Nature Study,’ 
there are problems, too, but of a simpler 
sort, whose solution will follow upon the 
solution of those of the high school. Just 
as university teaching has elevated col- 
lege teaching, both through example and 
through training teachers for it, just as in 
the same manner it is college teaching to- 
day that is elevating high-school teaching, 
so in the future will good high-school teach- 
ing improve that of the lower grades. 

In describing the quality of most elemen- 
tary botanical teaching I would not call it 
bad, but simply insufficient. It is not true 
that it commonly teaches error, or is useless 
as training, but it is true that it is far be- 
hind and unrepresentative of the present 
state of the science. This backwardness is 
illustrated in many ways, of which I shall 
mention but two. First, it is, as a study, 
low in public opinion, good public opinion, 
which regards it as synonymous with the 
study of the names of flowers, and hence as 
a discipline peculiarly fitted to the minds of 
school girls, or as an appropriate hobby for 
elderly persons of leisure. Second, it has 
stood iow in the estimation of many univer- 
sity and college authorities, as shown by 
their frequent neglect to provide for its 
proper teaching, while amply providing for 
the sister science zoology, and some of the 
leading universities have not considered it 
as of particular value as an element in 


training in biology. It must be confessed 


SCIENCE. 


97 


that these opinions are in the main just. 
Botany, as taught, has been too much the 
study of the names of flowers, and it has 
had very little to contribute of value for 
biological training. The reason for this 
backwardness is plain enough and most in- 
structive—it is the result of an almost ex- 
clusive cultivation of a single phase of the 
science, entailing an abortion of other phases 
and an inability of the whole to respond 
elastically to the science as it broadens. 
This one phase has been classification of the 
higher plants, a phase determined by the 
overpowering influence of Dr. Gray, who for 
two generations towered so far above all 
other leaders of botany in America as to set 
his work as the standard, both for investiga- 
tors and teachers. Systematic work in- 
volves an extreme attention to terminology 
and a concentration upon the statical as- 
pects of plant structure. In the hands of 
poorly trained or overworked teachers it 
has run much to the filling-out of blanks, 
collection of herbaria and memorizing of 
lists of terms, thus becoming educationally 
little better than a system of mnemonics, 
or the working-out of mechanical puzzles. 
This sort of thing is not necessarily bad, 
but it is woefully uneconomical, one-sided, 
and neglectful of those other phases of the 
science that are attractive, useful and illumi- 
nating as knowledge, and rich in breadth 
and sympathy as training. 

But these conditions have recently begun 
to change, and to-day are improving with 
a rapidity not realized outside of a few 


centers. The movement is with the ex- 
panding science, especially towards the 
study of the plant alive and in action. Its 


best evidence is to be found in the most re- 
cent elementary text-books, of which a 
large number, of increasing excellence, have 
appeared in the past two or three years. A 
comparison of the works, but a few weeks 
old, of Barnes or of Atkinson, with the best 
works of five years ago will show how rapid, 


98 


how great and in what direction the change 
is. Chief of the several causes of the ad- 
vance is this: University and college teach- 
ers, imbued with the newer and broader 
spirit, are taking an interest in the ele- 
mentary teaching of their subject not only 
in their own colleges, but also in the schools. 
If we consider the elementary text-books of 
approved standing and widest use in this 
country that have appeared within the past 
three years, those by Spalding, Bergen, 
Strasburger, Vines, Setchell, Curtis, L. H. 
Bailey, Barnes and Atkinson, we find that 
with but one exception, they are by uni- 
versity or college teachers. It is, of course, 
but presumption for any college teacher to 
attempt to instruct a school teacher in 
methods of imparting knowledge to school 
children ; but the college teacher, with his 
broader horizon, larger command of the 
sources of knowledge, and better facilities 
for experiment, can best set forth what the 
science has to offer to education, and the 
most useful proportioning and treatment of 
topics. The new school teacher can be 
trusted to take care of his own methods. 
This is the spirit of the newer books; they 
do not seek to impose any system upon 
teacher or student, but are storehouses of 
knowledge and advice to be drawn upon by 
all according to their needs. 

We turn next to a summary of advances 
actually being made in elementary botan- 
ical teaching, and of tendencies likely to be 
of importance in the near future. I need 
hardly speak of the continuous spread of 
laboratory and decline of rote instruction ; 
happily this is now a matter of course. Aside 
from this, the first and greatest of current 
advances is the shifting of the point of view 
from the static to the dynamic side of the 
plant, entailing a great increase of attention 
to physiology and ecology. We are ceasing 
to look upon the plant as, first of all, a strue- 
ture to whose parts certain functions attach, 
and are beginning to see it as a living thing 


SCIENCE. 


EN. S. Von. TEXu) No, 212: 


whose functions determine its structure, 
a working, struggling organism, plastic, 
though with an hereditary stiffness, to out- 
side influences, not striving to realize some 
ideal plan, but simply to fit itself to the 
conditions that exist. Thus the leaf, from 
one point of view a structure of such a 
shape, size, venation, cellular composition, 
ete., carrying on the work of photosynthe- 
sis, is from another a mechanism so built 
as to expose a large amount of green tissue 
to light and to protect, support, supply and 
aerate it, and any given leaf is a resultant 
of the working of all these factors upon it, 
and as any one of them varies with the 
external influences so does the leaf vary. 
Now the clue to this view of the leaf lies in 
the necessity for light in the formation of 
starch, the food and sole source of energy 
of the plant, and this can be appreciated by 
a student only after experiment upon the 
relation of light to starch formation, ex- 
periment that happily is very easy and 
everywhere practicable. Thus approached, 
leaf-structure becomes luminous. In the 
same way it is absorption of liquids by 
osmosis that explains the root, and the re- 
sultant between the physical requirements 
of this osmosis and the varying external 
conditions under which roots are forced to 
grow, explains why a given root is the form, 
size and texture it is. Again, it is observa- 
tion of modes of locomotion of pollen in 
effecting cross-fertilization, and secondary 
conditions connected therewith that explain 
the flower, and soon. Experience is show- 
ing that the only road to an objective un- 
derstanding of anatomy and morphology 
lies through physiology and ecology. And 
this conception of the plant, as a living, 
working, struggling, plastic being is not 
only the truest, the most objective concep- 
tion of it, but is, as well, the one that ex- 
cites the greatest human sympathy and in- 
terest, and, therefore, is in itself the best 
‘method’ the science has to offer. 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


It is sometimes objected that practical 
difficulties in thus teaching the science are 
too great to be overcome, for teachers are 
untrained, experiment is difficult and appli- 
ances are expensive. All this is in great 
measure true, but rapidly coming to be less 
so, and. no one expects, nor is it desirable, 
that changes should come too rapidly. Many 
colleges are now training teachers in this 
knowledge and spirit, and simpler, less ex- 
pensive and more logically conclusive ex- 
periments for demonstrating the funda- 
mental principles of physiology are being 
invented. There is, however, one difficulty 
which must be admitted to be very real, 
namely, the present unorganized state of 
ecology. At present this division of the 
science is little better than a series of huge 
guesses ; very little really conclusive work 
has been done in it, and no distinct methods 
of ecological experiment nor principles of 
ecological evidence have been formulated. 
Just here lies one of the most attractive 
fields open to botanists to-day, one whose 
returns will be of priceless value to botan- 
ical teaching. 

A second advance is towards a more nat- 
ural morphology. Next after classification 
the phase of botany most taught in elemen- 
tary courses is morphology. But morphol- 
ogy as taught in our schools is dominated 
by a rigid formalism based on the idealistic 
system introduced into botany by Goethe, a 
system easy to teach and one that appeals 
to a certain stage of culture in both race 
and individual, but one objectively un- 
true, and one that, if allowed to dominate 
and direct morphological conceptions, is 
actually pernicious and sterilizing. It is 
only through an approach to structure 
from its statical or systematic side that 
one can be satisfied with the conception of 
plant morphology which views the higher 
plant as a combination of elements so im- 
mutable as to retain their nature through 
the most extreme changes and combinations, 


SCIENCE. 


99 


even to the point of being present when in- 
visible, that can find carpel and calyx in 
all inferior ovaries, can homologize the 
parts of a stamen with the parts of a green 
leaf, or ovules with something on the leafy 
shoot. From this formalism the newer 
books have broken away ; their morphology 
conforms to the observed facts of plant de- 
velopment, which show adaptation not to a 
plan, but to conditions as they have existed. 

Among minor advances may be men- 
tioned a wider use of the inductive inves- 
tigating spirit showing itself in the growing 
custom of placing new matter before the 
student in the form of problems so arranged 
that their solution comes just within the 
scope of his own powers. Another is a 
greater flexibility in laboratory methods. 
The day of published laboratory guides to 
be put into the hands of students is, I be- 
lieve, passing; they will be replaced by out- 
lines made by the teacher for each exercise 
to fit his particular mode of instruction and 
the material in hand. There is greater 
nicety and exactness, too, in the laboratory 
work; the ‘rough sketch’ is less heard of, 
and drawings whatever else they may be, 
must be diagrammatically accurate. An- 
other is a better proportioning of laboratory 
and text-book work. There is a reaction 
from the tendency to make laboratory work 
everything and to scorn the text-book, and 
the latter, for supplementary reading after 
the laboratory work, is again in favor, and 
it is for this purpose the newer and better 
books are written. All of these advances 
and tendencies are most healthful and in 
the line of real advance. 

I shall close this subject by pointing out 
three marked tendencies, not of botany 
alone, but of education in general, which, 
in my opinion, are most rich in promise for 
the advancement of botanical teaching, and 
which, therefore, all botanists should unite 
to promote. The first is the tendency to 
pay less attention to methods and more to 


100 


men; to obtain better material for the mak- 
ing of teachers; to educate them thoroughly 
in the spirit and matter of some one 
subject or limited group of subjects, and to 
leave them free to develop their own meth- 
ods, judging them only by their results. 
This is what the universities have done with 
such signal success, what the colleges are 
now doing and what the schools must do if 
they are to advance. It is not methods 
that teach, but men and women. The second 
is toward the establishment of thorough and 
continuous courses in Nature Study through 
all grades from the kindergarten to the 
high school. There are two reasons for 
this from our present point of view. Thus 
only can students acquire a knowledge of 
the more obvious facts and phenomena of 
Animal and Plant life, Physical Geography, 
Physics and Chemistry so valuable as a 
basis for the systematic study of some one 
of the sciences in the high school. But, 
far more important than this is the use of 
Nature Study to preserve the natural in- 
ductive facilities of children unimpaired 
through school life, not to speak of improv- 
ing these facuties through training. No 
fact about our later and better courses of 
elementary botanical study is more striking 
than the unanimity with which they begin 
with exercises adapted to train observation, 
comparison, ete.—in a word, induction. 
Now, these are powers that children possess 
naturally, the most universal of human 
faculties, those by which new knowledge is 
won; those by which self-made men succeed; 
those which surely above everything educa- 
tion ought to cherish and develop. But, as 
a matter of fact, these faculties somewhere 
between the primary and high school are 
so effectually throttled out of nine-tenths of 
our students that the first need of the high- 
school or college teacher is to redevelop 
them. This suppression is, of course, the 
result of excessive text-book and deductive 
work, which always tends to make students 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. 1X. No, 212.. 


distrustful of their own powers and leads 
them to regard as the only real sources of 
knowledge the thoughts of others properly 
recorded in printed books. Thorough and 
properly taught Nature Study is, in my opin- 
ion, the first need in all education to-day. 

Third of the tendencies I have mentioned 
is this: The movement among the colleges 
to require, or at least accept, some one thor- 
oughly-taught science for entrance, amongst 
which botany is always included. This will 
compel preparatory schools to improve their 
teaching, for the science offered must be 


“enough in quantity and quality to allow stu- 


dents to omit the elementary course in the 
college and enter upon second courses. More- 
over, this movement will allow college teach- 
ers to exert more influence than ever upon 
school teaching, for, controlling admission, 
they can state which topics are to be stud- 
ied and what general methods are to be 
followed. <A great part of the value to 
botanical teaching of this movement will, 
however, be lost, unless, in the very near 
future, the colleges, through their proper 
representatives, agree upon approximately- 
equivalent requirements, so that the pre- 
paratory schools may not be distracted and 
weakened by widely-differing demands. 

Though botanists are thus eagerly striv- 
ing to promote the interests of their science, 
it is not their desire unduly to magnify its 
importance, but only to give it its proper 
place in education and among the sciences. 
Their aim, I believe, may be thus expressed: 
Let education advance; let science ad- 
vance; let botany advance. 

W. F. Ganone. 
SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MAss. 


ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GEO- 
LOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, DECEM- 
BER 28TH, 29TH AND 301TH, NEW YORK. 
1G 

Tuer Geological Society of America com- 
pleted the first year of its second decade with 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


the eleventh annual meeting at Columbia 
University, December 28th. Just nine years 
had elapsed since its last session in New 
York, which was held at the American 
Museum of Natural History. The Society 
assembled this year at 10 a. m., on Wed- 
nesday, the 28th, in the large lecture room 
of Schermerhorn Hall ; Professor J. J. Ste- 
venson, the retiring President, in the chair. 
President Low was introduced and in a few 
happily chosen remarks welcomed the So- 
ciety to Columbia. After the usual routine 
business, President Stevenson read a me- 
morial of the late Professor James Hall, so 
long State Geologist of New York and the 
first President of the Society. At the con- 
clusion of the memorial Professor Steven- 
son delivered his presidential address upon 
the subject ‘ Our Society.’ He sketched the 
rise and development of geological organiza- 
tions in North America and discussed the 
important influence that they have exercised 
in the material progress of the country. 
The address appeared in full in the last 
number of Scrmnce. 

The reading of papers was at once begun, 
as a list of fifty titles had accumulated. 


The Archean-Potsdam Contact in the Vicinity 
of Manitou, Colorado. W.O. Crospy, Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

THE speaker described the remarkably 
plane character of the contact of the Ar- 
chean granite and Potsdam _ sandstone, 
which is in striking contrast with the exist- 
ing topography of the granite even in 
coastal regions. He distinguished and de- 
scribed in detail, with numerous illustra- 
tions, the original and secondary irregular- 
ities, the latter including a few flexures 
and numerous small faults which throw 
important light upon the origin of the sand- 
stone dikes of the Manitou district. The 
original irregularities of the contact are all 
small, and, as a rule, are evidently related 
to the existence in the Archzean granite of 


SCIENCE. 


101 


a coarse concentric or spheroidal structure- 
The plane type of erosion-unconformity, 
although probably of rather widespread and 
common occurrence, appears to have at- 
tracted less attention than it merits. It 
suggests interesting possibilities as regards 
the development of peneplain surfaces in 
early times and invites a renewed com- 
parison of the relative efficiency in base- 
leveling of subaerial and marine agencies. 
These more theoretical aspects of the sub- 
ject were embraced within the scope of the 
paper, and the general conclusion was that 
the Archzean land surface must have passed 
with extreme slowness beneath the waves 
of the Potsdam sea. 

The paper was illustrated with maps and 
lantern slides and excited great interest, but 
did not arouse discussion. 


Outline of the Geology of Hudson’s Bay and 
Strait. Rosperr Beii, Ottawa, Canada. 
Tue author described the general nature 

of the depression of Hudson’s Bay; the 

contrasted characters of the opposite shores; 
the Huronian areas on both sides; the In- 
termediate Formation; the Animikie and 

Nipigon series; the Trenton group in Hud- 

son’s Bay and Strait; the middle Silurian 

rocks on the east, west and north sides 
of the Bay and in Baffinland; the large 

Devonian area southwest of James Bay; 

the Devonian rocks on Southampton Is- 

land; and the geology of the islands in the 

Bay. He gavea general geological descrip- 

tion of Hudson’s Strait and of the rocks of 

its north shore, or southern Baffinland. He 
also took up the Laurentian and older 

Cambrian strata of the Ungava district. 

Under the head of the economic minerals 

of the regions described, some details of the 

rich iron-ore deposits, involving carbonates, 
hematites and magnetites, were presented. 

In connection with the glacial geology of 

Hudson’s Bay and Strait he sought to show 

the source of the ice that had yielded the 


102 


scratches and its direction of movement. 
The Quaternary deposits and the question 
as to the rate of elevation of the land re- 
ceived somewhat extended discussion. The 
author believes in the recognizable elevation 
within the historic period and briefly ad- 
duced the phenomena on which he based 
his conclusion. 

In discussion B. K. Emerson stated that 
he was somewhat familiar with the rocks 
of the region from the collections of the 
Hall and Kane expeditions which are de- 
posited at Amherst, and from others gath- 
ered years ago by English officers. In the 
latter were fossils of the Utica epoch. J. 
B. Tyrrell opposed the idea of the recent rise 
in the west shore of Hudson’s Bay, basing 
his argument uponan old map of the region 
about Fort Churchill which showed rela- 
tions like the present ones. David White 
inquired about the presence of lower Silurian 
rocks about Frobisher’s Bay, and mentioned 
fossils of the Trenton period which had been 
identified by Schuchert. H. S. Williams 
asked if no strata above the Devonian were 
known. In reply, Dr. Bell again upheld 
the view that the land was rising and men- 
tioned many arguments in support of it. 
The Trenton fossils, he said, had come from 
the northwest in the drift, and that no 
Carboniferous or later rocks, except Pleisto- 
ecene, were known. 

The Society then adjourned for lunch, 
and at the afternoon session begun at once 
the reading and discussion of papers. 


The Faunas of the Upper Ordovician in the 
Lake Champlain Valley. THropore G. 
Wuire, New York City. 

Tue results of a detailed study of the con- 
secutive faunas contained in each stratum 
at numerous localities throughout the length 
of the valley were presented after a prelim- 
inary description of the general geology. 
A complete section is afforded from the 
base of the Black River formation through 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. EX. No. 212. 


the Trenton and terminating in the Utica. 
Species hitherto reported only from Cana- 
dian localities are found associated with 
those characteristic of the Trenton Falls 
type-province, showing the Champlain con- 
nection with Ordovician seas. Several zones 
characterized by restricted species are lo- 
cated, and also ‘ Conglomeratic zones.’ The 
fauna is very abundant and supplies a basis 
of comparison for similar detailed study 
from other provinces. The occurrence of 
the Hudson River and Oneida groups in 
the region is questioned. 

In discussion H. M. Seely spoke of the 
attractiveness of the region and of its in- 
teresting problems and of the need of close 
paleontological study of the faunas. H. 
P. Cushing spoke in the same strain, and 
H. M. Ami remarked the close relationships 
of the faunas with those of Canada. C.S. 
Prosser remarked the resemblances and the 
contrasts with those of the Mohawk Valley. 


The Newark System in New York and New 
Jersey. Henry B. Kummet, Chicago, Ill. 
Tue paper presented a general summary 

of the petrology, stratigraphy and condi- 

tions of origin of the Newark rocks in New 

York and New Jersey. The rocks form a 

northwestward dipping monocline, inter- 

rupted by gentle folds and many faults, two 
of which have a throw of several thousand 
feet. The lithological character varies 
greatly, so that sub-divisions established in 
one area do not hold for the entire field, and 
yet sub-divisions based on lithological char- 
acteristics are the only ones possible. The 
author classified them into the Stockton, the 
Lockatong and the Brunswick formations, 
together with the traps. Both extrusive 
and intrusive trap sheets occur and their 
relations to the sedimentary beds are in- 
structive. The question of thickness is com- 
plicated by the faulting. Estimates vary 
from 12,000 to 15,000 feet. Thestrata were 
probably accumulated under estuarine con- 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


ditions in shallow water. The surround- 
ing land areas seem to have been reduced 
nearly to base-level and deeply covered with 
residuary materials immediately preceding 
the deposition of these beds, but during 
their deposition subsidence of the estuary 
and elevation of the surrounding areas was 
in progress. The paper was illustrated by 
lantern slides. 

In discussion B. Kk. Emerson brought out 
many points of resemblance with the Jura- 
trias strata of the Connecticut Valley and 
N.S. Shaler compared them with those of 
the Richmond, Va., basin. He argued 
against their marine origin and in favor 
of lakes either salt or fresh. A. Heilprin 
spoke of the fishes which were considered 
as probably marine by Cope, but N. 38. 
Shaler stated in reply that near Richmond 
the fish were found in association with vege- 
table remains. No definite view was reached 
on this point, although B. K. Emerson re- 
marked that the casts of salt crystals were 
often seen in the shales in New England. 
I. C. Russell raised the point of the former 
extension of the Newark strata of New 
Jersey to the eastward, but the author had 
no light to throw on the question. J. E. 
Wolff and J. F. Kemp discussed the distri- 
bution of the boulders from the trap and its 
contacts over New York City and Long Is- 
land. 


Discovery of Fossiti Fish in the Jurassic of the 
Black Hills. N. H. Darron, Washing- 
ton, D.C. 

Tue speaker exhibited several specimens 
of the recently discovered fossil fish and 
described their occurrence in the Jurassic 
beds on the confines of the Black Hills. 
The fish are now being investigated by 
specialists. The paper was immediately 
followed by the next one. 


Mesozoic Stratigraphy in the Southeastern Black 
Hills. N. H. Darton, Washington, D.C. 
Tue author exhibited a diagram of details 


SCIENCE. 


103 


of stratigraphy determined in 1898. The 
investigation resulted in the discovery of 
marine Jurassic in the southern Black Hills, 
and of an horizon of large vertebrates in 
the lower Cretaceous. The paper was beau- 
tifully illustrated by lantern slides, and on 
its conclusion the Society adjourned un- 
tii the following day. 

In the evening the Fellows attended the 
reception, which was most hospitably ex- 
tended to the visiting scientific societies by 
the authorities of the American Museum, 
and listened with great interest to the ad- 
dresses of Mr. Morris K. Jesup and Pro- 
fessor Henry F. Osborn. They also at- 
tended the reception given by Professor 
Osborn, at his residence, at the close of the 
lecture. 

On reassembling Thursday morning the 
reading of papers was at once resumed, 
the following two contributions being pre- 
sented together : 


Relations of Tertiary Formations in the Western 
Nebraska Regions. N.H. Darron, Wash- 
ington, D.C. 

Tuis paper presented the results of sev- 
eral seasons’ investigations of the White 
River and the Loup Fork formations, ex- 
tending from the South Platte River into 
the Bad Lands of South Dakota. 


Shorelines of Tertiary Lakes on the Slopes of the 
Black Hills. N. H. Darton, Washington, 
D.C. 

Dourine the season of 1898 the author dis- 
covered extensive and beautiful shorelines 
and deposits of the Tertiary lakes far up 
the slopes of the Black Hills. They throw 
interesting light on certain stages of physio- 
graphic development of the Black Hills and 
the origin and condition of deposttion of 
some of the White River sediments. 

No discussion resulted. 


General Geology of the Cascade Mowntains in 
Northern Washington. Isrann C. RussELL, 


Ann Arbor, Mich. 


104 


Tue region under discussion covers an 
area from the Northern Pacifie Railroad to 
the Canadian boundary, sixty miles. east 
and west by one hundred and twenty north 
andsouth. The following topics were taken 
up: TerrRaANes—A. Eruptive, general ab- 
sence of basalt, the schists, granites and 
gneisses, greenstones, andesite of Glacier 
Peak, volcanic tuff and dust, acid and basic 
dikes, the source of the Columbia lava. B. 
Sedimentary, Pretertiary, i. e., Carboniferous 
and Triassic strata, including the Similka- 
meen system and the Ventura system. C. 
Tertiary strata, including Snoqualame slate, 
Winthrop sandstone, Camus sandstone, 
Swank sandstone, Roslyn sandstone, Ellens- 
burg sandstone. Abundance of fossil leaves. 
D. Pleistocene strata, moraines and valley 
gravels. 

SrructuRAL GroLogy.—Domes, includ- 
ing the Cascade dome, the Wenatchee 
dome. Folds and faults. Physiography: The 
Cascade peneplain, the Cascade plateau, 
dissection of the Cascade plateau. Mature 
topography. Low-grade valleys. 

Ancient GLActeRS.—On the east side of 
the Cascades: Yakima glacier, Wenatchee 
mountain glacier, Icicle glacier, Wenatchee, 
Chelan, Methow, Okanogan glaciers. On the 
west side of the Cascades: Sauk glacier, 
Skagit glacier, confluent ice sheet. Absence 
of northern drift. Gravel deposits. 

Trrraces.—Great terraces of the Colum- 
bia, the Snake and Spokane, due to climatic 
changes. No evidence of recent submerg- 
ence; absence of white silt. 

Existine Guacrers of the Wenatchee 
mountains and the Cascades. 

CrimatE.—The rainy western slope with 
dense forests and the dryer eastern slope 
with open forests and grass. 

Economic GroLogy.—Coal, gold, copper, 
iron, building stone, clays, ete. 

In discussion Bailey Willis expressed 
doubts as to the divisibility of the Tertiary 
sandstones into so many distinct members, 


SCIENCE, 


[N.&8. Von. TX. No. 212. 
believing that combination would be neces- 
sary. He also argued that the domes were 
due to cross-folding rather than to lacco- 
lithic uplift, as urged by Russell. S&S. F. 
Emmons suggested lava dams as the cause 
of the terraces rather than submergence or 
change of climate. G. M. Dawson said 
that the white silt was not to be expected 
in the region under discussion and favored 
submergence and glacial ice as the causes 
of the terraces. In reply I. C. Russell 
stated that the lava flows were older than 
the terraces, as the terrace gravels were 
present in cafions cut in the lava. He ad- 
mitted that Willis’s views regarding the 
sandstones and the uplifts might prove cor- 
rect and that the causes of the terraces was 
obscure. ; 

The Society then adjourned for lunch. On 
reassembling the subject-matter of W J 
McGee’s paper was introduced by W. H. 
Holmes. Holmes described the discovery 
of bones and artefacts on the surface in the 
vicinity of the California gravels that had 
yielded buried skulls and implements, and 
detailed the stories of old residents regard- 
ing the large part that practical jokes 
played in the discovery of the remains. He 
illustrated the geology of the Table Moun- 
tain region by sections, and developed the 
general argument that the relics were those 
of Digger Indians, who are still in resi- 
dence,or were within the period of the gold 
miners. He was followed by W J McGee 
before discussion opened. 


Geology and Archeology of the California Gold 
Belt. W J McGer, Washington, D. C. 
In continuing the paper of Holmes the 

speaker sketched the geological history of 

the Western Sierras, emphasizing the Ter- 
tiary age of the gravels, the ancient drain- 
age; the inflow of tuffs and lavas ; the sub- 
sequent erosion of the present steep river 
cafions to a depth of 2,000 feet. He stated 
that in this time the fauna and flora had 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


entirely changed, no species, and, so far as 
he knew, no genus lasting through to the 
present except that most variable of all 
genera, Homo, and the species most sensi- 
tive of all, to physical changes, sapiens. Not 
only this, but the relics were those of the 
men, the Digger Indians, living there to- 
day, and when not bones the objects were 
those connected with the acorn industry of 
the present tribes. From all these consid- 
erations a sweeping argument supporting 
the general improbability of the geological 
antiquity of the remains was adduced. 

In discussion W. H. Brewer spoke of the 
circumstances under which the discovery of 
the Calaveras skull was made, he hav- 
ing been at the time on the California Geo- 
logical Survey. He described its fossilized 
condition and its contained cemented grav- 
els and stated his belief in its very consid- 
erable age even if not Tertiary. He also 
gave an interesting account of the great 
theological and ecclesiastical opposition to 
Professor Whitney that the announcement 
of the geological age of the skull aroused, 
amounting almost to persecution. The dis- 
covery came shortly after the publication of 
Darwin’s views on the descent of man and 
in the midst of the excitement that these 
views aroused. 

Major Powell recounted a number of his 
experiences with discovered relics and the 
tendency of collectors to palm off modern 
things as antiquities either in joke or as a 
fraud. He emphasized the need of depend- 
ing absolutely on geologists for all reliable 
testimony as to authentic occurrences in 
sedimentary deposits. J. A. Holmes spoke 
in support of the Major’s view and related 
the recently recorded discovery of imple- 
ments in marl pits and Eocene limestone in 
North Carolina, the same being attested by 
affidavits of reputable citizens. 


Geology of the Lake Region of Central America. 
C. WiLtarp Hayes, Washington, D. C. 


SCIENCE. 


105 


Tue speaker discussed the following topics, 
illustrating his remarks by a fine map. His 
data had been accumulated while in the 
service of the Nicaragua Canal Commission 
and especially from test borings: Introduc- 
tion: general relations of the country under 
discussion. Topography: the coastal plain ; 
the Chontales hills; the Tola hills; the 
Costa Rican volcanic range; the Nicaraguan 
voleanie range; the Jinotepe plateau; the 
lake basin; the Rivas plain. ~Climate: the 
eastern section of heavy rainfall and dense 
forests; the western of lighter rainfall and 
savannahs. Lock formations: Tertiary sedi- 
ments including the older Brito formation 
and the later Machuca formation; Tertiary 
igneous rocks, dacites, andesites, basalts, 
voleanic breccias and conglomerates; recent 
sediments, alluvium; recent igneous rocks, 
trachytes, basalts, tuffs and pumice. The 
Regolith: the conditions favor rock decay; 
the great depth of weathering; red and blue 
residual clays ; concerning weathering in ig- 
neous and sedimentary rocks. Recent geologic 
history of the region: early Tertiary deposition; 
Tertiary erosion; late Tertiary and post-Ter- 
tiary uplift and dissection of uplands; recent 
submergence and alluviation; recent vol- 
canic activity; formation of lakes and shift 
of divide to westward. Characteristics of San 
Juan Valley: the upperflood-plain; the Cas- 
tillo-Ochoa gorge; the lower flood-plain. 

The paper aroused the liveliest interest 
from the great importance of the project of 
the international canal. J. E. Wolff asked 
about the nature of the rock decay and 
whether silica, the alkaline bases and iron 
were removed, leaving beauxite, or whether 
hydrated silicates resulted. Mr. Hayes re- 
plied that he thought the latter, but that 
no analyses had yet been made of his many 
samples. Inquiries were raised about the 
recency of the volcanic outbreaks and the 
nature of the lava. The reply was that 
the lava was basalt and the last outbreak 
about fifteen years ago. 


106 


An Unrecognized Process in Glacial Erosion. 
Witiarp D. Jounson, Washington, D. 
C. 

Tue glacial topography of mountains was 
analyzed, and the more distinctive forms 
discriminated from those of aqueous erosion. 
The recognized process, that of scour, its 
action downward and forward with the 
glacial advance, was described. Glacial 
scour and aqueous erosion were regarded 
as alike incompetent to bring about the re- 
sults and as a rule inimical to the produc- 
tion of known forms. An unrecognized 
process was set forth, that of sapping, whose 
action is horizontal and backward. The 
tendency of glacial scour is to produce 
sweeping curves and eventually a graded 
slope. The tendency of the sapping process 
is to produce benches and cliffs. Sapping 
is altogether dominant over scour. Under 
varying conditions, however, its developing 
forms become obsolescent ; their modifica- 
tion, then, by rounding off of angles, puts 
them seemingly into the category of scour 
forms. An hypothesis was advanced as to 
the cause of glacial sapping. The ultimate 
effect is truncation at the lower level of 
glacial generation. A second analysis and 
a more appreciative classification of transi- 
tion types terminated the paper. 

Before discussion the next paper was read 
because it dealt with allied phenomena. 
The hour, however, being late, the discus- 
sion went over till the next day. 


Geology of the Yosemite National Park. H. 

W. Turner, Washington, D.C. 

By means of lantern slides the author 
illustrated the topography of the granite 
areas in the high Sierras and the Yosemite 
and other allied gorges. He developed the 
view that joints had chiefly caused the 
precipitous cliffs, and concentric shelling 
off, the domes. Minor forms were also ex- 
plained. He opposed the view that fault- 
ing had caused the gorges. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 212. 
Gold Mining in the Klondike District. J. B. 

TYRRELL, Ottawa, Ont. 

By means of a fine series of lantern 
slides the author illustrated the geograph- 
ical situation and the geology of the Klon- 
dike gold-bearing gravels. The stream 
gravels are the usual type of placers, but 
the bench gravels are small lateral. mo- 
raines left by glaciers. The gold has not 
been derived from any distance. 


The Nashua Valley Glacial Lake. 

CrosBy, Boston, Mass. 

By means of lantern slides from photo- 
graphs and from maps and profiles based 
on bore-holes made by the officials of 
the Boston department of municipal water 
supply, the speaker described the bed-rock 
surface, the overlying gravels on the 
Nashua River, and the characters of the old 
glacial lake of whose former existence they 
gave evidence. ; 

On the conclusion of the paper, at 5:45 
p. m., the Society adjourned until the fol- 
lowing day. In the evening about one 
hundred Fellows, many with their wives, 
gathered at the Hotel Logerot for the an- 
nual dinner. Under the presiding oversight 
of Professor B. K. Emerson, the past grand 
master of all the toastmasters, another en- 
joyable gathering was added to the list of 
those previously held. 


WwW. O, 


J. F. Kemp. 


CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


(To be Concluded. ) 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Theory of Groups of Finite Order. By W. BURN- 
SIDE, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Mathematics 
at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. 
Cambridge, The University Press. 1897. 8Vvo. 
Pp. xvi+888. Price, $3.75. 

If, assuming a single but elevated point of 
view, we describe mathematics as the science of 
formal law, then the theory of operations easily 
commands the field, for it is the quintessence 
of mathematical form, the comparative anatomy, 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


so tospeak, of the mathematical sciences. Orig- 
inally appearing under the special guise of the 
theory of substitutions and developed in this 
form by the labors of Galois, Cauchy, Serret 
and Jordan with reference chiefly to its applica- 
tion to the theory of equations, it has of more 
recent years overleaped at once its scientific 
and its national limitations and, receiving new 
impulse at the hands of Kronecker and Cayley, 
has been developed largely by Klein and Lie 
into one of the chief general instruments of 
mathematical research. In every branch of 
mathematics the point of view of the theory of 
operations is now predominant; it is employed 
in almost every form of mathematical investiga- 
tion, and by the reaction the science is in turn 
constantly enriched. Conspicuous instances are 
Kléin’s theory of the modular equations and 
Lie’s theory of differential equations. 

The number of separate works devoted wholly 
or in part to the theory of operations is com- 
paratively very small. Serret’s Algebra held 
the field alone down to the appearance in 1870 
of Jordan’s classical Traité. Netto’s Theory of 
Substitutions, published in 1882, was the first 
German book on the subject and represents, as 
regards its special subject, the German (Kro- 
necker) standpoint down to that date. The 
American translation (1892) of Netto’s book 
was the first separate work in English to touch 
the field ; in fact, it was almost the first presenta- 
tion of the subject in any form in English. In 
1895-96 appeared the two volumes of Weber’s 
Algebra, a work the value of which as a sys- 
tematic and modern treatment of the various 
branches of algebraic science cannot be over- 
stated. To this work, rich in other treasures, 
belongs the distinction of being the first treatise 
to present the theory of operations in general 
form independent of the particular content to 
which the operation might be applied. Closely 
following the work of Weber, comes now the 
second English book on the algebra of opera- 
tions, Burnside’s Theory of Groups of Finite 
Order. Professor Burnside’s work is a doubly 
welcome contribution to the literature of the 
subject. It not only opens up to the English 
reader a great and hitherto almost foreign 
field, but it presents in a form often original 
and always valuable the most recent develop- 


SCIENCE. 


107 


ments in that field, to which the author him- 
self has, in fact, made no insignificant additions. 
Many portions of the subject, otherwise only to 
be gathered piecemeal from the journals, are 
here brought together for the first time in 
orderly sequence. Proofs have been recast and 
simplified or extended, and. the book contains 
an abundance of those special*details and ex- 
amples, perhaps too familiar in English mathe- 
matical works, but very acceptable here in the 
midst of a highly abstract theory. 

To the reader whose vocation or avocations 
have not lead him into this remote region of 
serene thought a short excursion among the 
groups may be instructive and more or less 
agreeable. Let him, then, first become familiar 
with the idea of the ‘product’ of two opera- 
tions. This is simply the single operation which 
alone produces the same effect as the successive 
performance of the two given operations. If it 
be asked: ‘‘ What sort of operations do you 
mean?’’? JI reply with unction: ‘‘Any kind 
you please, and the more general the concep- 
tion the better.’’ Algebraic, geometric, phys- 
ical, chemical, even metaphysical or ‘socio- 
logical’ operations, if nothing better offers, all 
are taken in one net. But to condescend from 
this lofty altitude, let us take for an example 
the rotations of a sphere about its diameters. 
Choosing any two of them, and applying them 
successively to the sphere, regarded as a rigid 
body, the resulting, or resultant, displacement 
of the sphere is equivalent to a third rotation 
about a proper diameter. This third rotation 
is, then, the product of the two given ones. 
The rotations of the sphere, taken all together 
as a system, serve also to exemplify the next 
important notion, that of a ‘group.’ When a 
system of operations is so constituted that the 
product of any two of them is itself an opera- 
tion of the system, so that the system is a closed 
one with respect to the process of forming prod- 
ucts, then if a couple of minor conditions are 
also satisfied, the system forms a group. And 
now the theory of operations in its present 
form concerns itself not with all kinds of opera- 
tions, but with these groups. Examples of groups 
are not far to seek, after the idea is grasped. 
Noscienceis exempt from them; in mathematics 
they simply tumble over each other. Transfor- 


108 


mations of coordinates in geometry form a group; 
so do the projections of a plane or of space; the 
motions of space as a rigid body form the Eu- 
clidean group of motions; the n! permutations 
of n letters form a group; the eight permuta- 
tions of 2, 2, %,, %, which leave the function 
% v, + a, x, unchanged in form, form a group; 
the multiplication table, the operations of the 
post office, the theory of the tides, psychological 
phenomena, all embody characteristic groups. 
A specially important class of groups, which 
may serve to close the list, is that of the linear 
transformations (which are formally identical 
with geometric projections and with various 
other operations). Thus the equation 


aE B 


yy az 


yz +o 
may be looked upon as defining an operation by 
which any number z is connected into a corre- 
sponding number z’. If we have two of these 
operations, and if, having applied the one to z, 
getting 2’ as a result, we apply the other to 2’, 
getting 2’’ as a result, then an examination will 
show that 2’ is itself a linear function of z, 7. e., 
the product of two linear transformations is a 
linear transformation. 

Prepare now for a step into the abstract. In 
expressing ourselves in terms of ‘operations’ 
we have been walking on the crutches of the 
concrete. But if we designate the operations 
of a group by 4, B, C,. . . , their products A B, 
BC,.. . have a definite mode of formation, 
constituting an algebra, and we will now throw 
away the ‘operations’ and keep the symbols 
and their algebra. The symbols are now ‘ele- 
ments,’ and if these elements form a group 
the product AB is identified by the algebra with 
some element C of the same group. Two other 
properties have to be added to make the defini- 
tion of a group precise: (1) the algebra must be 
associative, 7. e., (AB).C= A.(BC), and (2) if 
AB = AC then B= Cand if AB=CB then A 
=C. Algebras can, of course, be constructed 
which omit these conditions, but they are not 
algebras of groups. 

The order of a group is the number of its ele- 
ments. A group may be of finite or infinite 
order, e. g., all the rotations of a sphere about 
its diameter form an infinite group; those of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 212. 


them which turn into itself a regular polyhedron 
inscribed in the sphere form a finite group. In- 
finite groups are only touched on in Burnside’s 
book. Access to their theory is most readily 
had through Lie’s works. Burnside’s opening 
chapter on abstract groups (Chapter 2) is not so 
happily executed as Weber’s treatment (Vol. II., 
Chapter 1), which is a masterpiece (Cf. also 
Frobenius’s ‘Ueber endliche Gruppen,’ Berliner 
Sitzungsberichte, 1895, p. 163). Burnside re- 
tains the operations and makes use of their con- 
crete qualities in discussing properties which 
are better treated in the pure abstract. 

From the mere definition of a group itis pos- 
sible to raise a considerable crop of properties 
without any artificial fertilizer. Add the ideas 
of isomorphism and transformation, and con- 
sider the groups whose elements are commuta- 
tive (Chapter 3), and those whose orders are 
powers of single prime numbers (Chapter 4), 
and the wilderness fairly blooms. Even the 
non-specialist may rapidly make his way 
through the easy roads and add valuable ideas 
to his stock as he goes. He can hardly do bet- 
ter than to read this book, which gives a very 
clear and straightforward treatment of these 
general matters. But this is mere surface pro- 
duction. Underneath is gold, but only the 
Frobenius brand of dynamite will reach that. 
More than twenty-five years ago a solitary pros- 
pector, Sylow, found the lode and worked it 
with good results as far as he could follow it. 
Others have tried new leads, but none have 
accomplished anything remarkable until the 
work of Frobenius, who in the past ten years 
or so, and more particularly in his articles pub- 
lished in the Berliner Sitzungsberichte for 1895-6 
has opened up a vast wealth of new relations, 
at the same time revising and enriching the ear- 
lier methods, nomenclature, and general point of 
view. Some of the most prominent of Frobeni- 
us’s results are discussed in Chapter 6. Another 
line of ideas, which, however, dates back in its 
beginning as far as Galois, and has been im- 
proved especially by Holder, the theory of com- 
position of a group, is discussed in Chapter 7. 
The three following chapters are devoted to an 
extensive discussion of substitution groups, 
whose theory has also been considerably ex- 
tended of recent years. The theory of isomor- 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


phism of a group with itself, also a very recent 
notion, is given a full chapter. The scene then 
shifts to the graphical representation of groups, 
exploited by Klein in his treatment of the auto- 
morphic functions, and treated separately by 
Dyck, whose methods are here employed, 
Cayley’s color groups also receive attention, 
A chapter follows on the linear group, following 
Jordan’s classical discussion. Finally, Sylow’s 
theorem and its derivatives are applied to the 
determination of the composition of groups 
whose order are resolved into prime factors. 

The book concludes with a useful trilingual 
table of equivalent technical terms and a still 
more useful Index. The publishers have done 
their full duty ; the type is large and clear, and 
the paper gives a good impression. The text 
would have been improved by the introduction 
of descriptive section headings, and frequently 
the reader is not kept comfortably informed of 
what the author has in view, and must suspend 
judgment for a too lengthy interval. 

The small public to which such a work ap- 
peals makes it unlikely that books on the theory 
of groups should ever become very numerous. 
Itis fortunate, therefore, that in Professor Burn- 
side’s treatise we have a work of genuine and 
permanent value from which many a future 
student may draw wholesome inspiration. 

F. N. Coe. 


Elements of Sanitary Engineering. By MAns- 
FIELD MERRIMAN. John Wiley & Sons. 
1898. 

The book opens with an interesting and, for a 
student, instructive series of historical notes. 
This is followed by a section dealing with ‘ clas- 
sification of disease,’ wherein may be found the 
novel proposition that ‘disease is normal and 
health ideal—’ a view that will call forth much 
opposition. 

The illustrations distinguishing between con- 
tagion and infection are good, but the sugges- 
tion that goitre is probably due to the use of 
limestone water is hardly warranted ; for, were 
it a fact, the hard waters of southern England 
should produce the disease abundantly. 

An excellent and timely statement is given 
in the table on page 17, showing how much 
more serious is consumption than sundry other 


SCIENCE. 


109 


diseases against which we take far greater pains 
to guard. 

The relation of filth to disease is well put, 
and the illustrations are striking. The chapter 
on ‘drinking water and disease’ is in terse 
form, suitable for class-room work, but the re- 
marks concerning the Hamburg cholera epi- 
demic need to be supplemented by a map of 
the city, in order to grasp fully what may be 
learned from that instructive outbreak. 

The book is evidently intended for use as a 
student’s text-book, and excellent questions are 
inserted at frequent intervals, which require the 
student to make use of a reference library. 
This is a very valuable feature, and one but 
rarely found. There is, unfortunately, no. 
index. M. 


Bush Fruits : A Horticultural Monograph of Rasp- 
Blackberries, Dewberries, Currants, 
Gooseberries and other Shrub-like Fruits. By 
Frep. W. Carp, Professor of Horticulture, 
Rhode Island College of Agriculture. The 
Macmillan Company. 1898. Pp. xii + 537- 

Price, $1.50. 

Under this concise and somewhat descrip- 
tive title another book is added to the list 
upon small fruits, from which, in this instance, 
are excluded the grapes, strawberries and cran- 
berries. 

The contents are divided into three parts, 
namely, (I.) General Considerations, (II.) The 
Brambles and (III.) The Groselles. The last 
name is adopted from the French, includes both 
the currants and gooseberries, and is a con- 
venient term as a heading for a book division, 
but will scarcely be of much service elsewhere. 

Under brambles, of course, the red rasp- 
berries, black raspberries, blackberries and 
dewberries are considered each with its sepa- 
rate chapter. 

Part I. deals with the consideration of loca- 
tion, fertilizers, planting, tillage tools, pruning, 
propagation, thinning, spraying, picking, 
packing and marketing of fruit, with a few 
closing pages upon the methods of crossing 
and the results of such blending of the varieties 
and species. 

Many of the above-mentioned points ars 
again more specifically treated under the chap- 


berries, 


110 


ters devoted to the separate groups of bush 
fruits, and the whole book is so planned that 
the practical grower may quickly reach replies 
to the questions in hand by means of a full in- 
dex even to the varieties of each sort of fruit 
embraced by the work. 

The more scientific portions of the volume 
are kept as far as possible by themselves, set 
in smaller type and include histories of the 
various sorts of fruits, their insect enemies and 
fungous diseases. This separation isa wise pro- 
vision for the convenience of the grower, for 
whom the book is especially written and who is 
more interested in theart of producing a profit- 
able crop than the underlying principles of bot- 
any upon which the art securely rests. For ex- 
ample, there are nearly fifty pages of descrip- 
tive text of species of Ribes set under the 
chapter title of ‘The Botany of the Groselles,’ 
and many of the species are figured. Such 
portions of the work as this are of much value 
to all who desire to advance American horti- 
culture by introducing new species to cultiva- 
tion or extending the range of hybridization. 

In the more practical part it may be noted 
that special stress is placed upon the evapora- 
tion of the fruit, and several illustrations are 
given of the apparatus employed in this grow- 
ing industry. In the preface, by the editor of 
‘The Rural Science Series,’ of which the ‘ Bush 
Fruits’ is the sixth volume, Professor Bailey 
states that ‘the aim has been to treat general 
truths and principles rather than mere details of 
- practice.’ 

The book is written by one who has both an 
experience with bush fruits and a knowledge of 
the best things that have been thought and said 
along the lines he has followed out to a success- 
ful issue in the volume in hand. 

Byron D. HAtsrep. 


The Lower Cretaceous Gryphxas of the Texas Re- 
gion. By Ropert THoMAS HILi and THomas 
WAYLAND VAUGHAN. Bulletin of the United 
States Geological Survey, No. 151. Wash- 
ington, Government Printing Office. 1898. 
Pp woGw bl scxxvs 
The main object of the authors in publishing 

this brochure is to set aright the confusion that 

has long existed regarding the classification and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


stratigraphic position of a series of fossil oysters 
commonly assigned to a single species, Gryphea 
pitcheri, Morton. They occur in especial abun- 
dance in the Lower Cretaceous formations of 
Texas, and when properly classified are found 
to be of great value in determining the position 
of strata. From forms heretofore known as G. 
pitchert at least eight species are here recog- 
nized (Table, pp. 45-46), viz.. G. vesicularis, 
Lam., 1806; G. newberryi, Stanton, 18938; G. 
mucronata, Gabb, 1869; G. washitaensis, Hill, 
1889; G. navia, Hall, 1856; G. corrugata, Say, 
1823; G. marcoui, Hill and Vaughan, 1898 ; 
G. wardi, H & V, 1898. It is found, further- 
more, that even Morton’s species (so long con- 
sidered the type) must be abandoned in favor of 
Say’s G. corrugata. 

The introduction, dealing historically with 
the controversy of many years’ duration con- 
cerning G. pitcheri and the formations in which 
it occurs, is not without a moral, inasmuch as 
it plainly shows that an inadequate description, 
with a poor figure, may become a fruitful source 
of error, which, as in the case of the species 
under consideration, may be greatly augmented 
by the want of proper stratigraphical knowl- 
edge on the part of collectors. 

An account of the fossil oysters of the Texas 
region and a classification of the Ostreide fol- 
lows. The difficulties encountered by the au- 
thors are not underestimated: ‘‘In undertaking 
the study of the Ostreidz one is soon confronted 
with the question: What constitutes species and 
genera in this group? The variation of species 
is much greater in the Ostreidz than in other 
molluscan genera. No other group presents 
such unsatisfactory criteria for specific differen- 
tiation. These forms, judging from their strati- 
graphic occurrence as well as their habits, seem 
to adopt new variations of shape with every 
change in physical condition of habitat, as is 
illustrated in the variations of our living spe- 
cies. Changes similar to those occurring at the 
present time have occurred in the past, and no 
doubt many species have arisen by some of these 
local variations becoming fixed and persistent. 
Large suites of specimens often show that two 
species usually considered very distinct may 
grade into each other. The intergradations 
are of such a kind that frequently it can easily 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


be shown that the two species have been de- 
rived from a common ancestor; in other cases 
one species is evidently derived from another 
occurring stratigraphically below it.’’ 

Contrary to the prevailing opinion that fossil 
oysters, on account of their great variation, are 
of little value in the recognition of strata, our 
authors are led by their observations to conclude 
‘‘that certain forms of the Ostreidz possess 
very distinct specific characters, have definite 
geologic horizons, and are of the greatest value 
in stratigraphic work.’’ They recognize the 
fact, also, that no scheme of classification can 
be entirely satisfactory until both fossil and 
recent oysters have been ‘‘ the subject of thor- 
ough investigation from a phylogenetic and 
morphologic standpoint, according to the lines 
of research followed out by Hyatt in the cepha- 
lopods, Jackson in the pelecypods, Beecher and 
Schuchert in the brachiopods and Von Koch in 
the stony corals.’’ 

Sixty-one accepted species and varieties of 
fossil oysters are listed as occurring in the 
Texas Cretaceous, and twenty-three indefinite 
and abandoned species. Of the former forty- 
seven are tabulated as characteristic of definite 
horizons (p. 31). 

Under the caption ‘ Historical Statement of 
the Discovery in the Texan Region of the Forms 
referred to Gryphza pitcheri, Morton,’ the con- 
fusion of various authors concerning this famous 
fossil is clearly presented and the sources of 
error pointed out. The following topics of more 
than ordinary interest are also discussed: ‘ Dif- 
ferentiation,’ ‘Geographic and Stratigraphic 
Distribution of the Lower Cretaceous Gry phas,’ 
‘Specific Classification and Evolution of the 
Lower Cretaceous Gryphveas,’ and the bulletin 
closes with careful descriptions of six species, 
characteristic of the Lower Cretaceous, which 
the authors believe to merit recognition, sup- 
plemented by a brief statement of their rela- 
tionship. The excellent and copious illustra- 
tions which accompany this paper deserve 
especial commendation. Of thirty-five plates, 
thirty, including copies of figures from Hall, 
Marcou and Roemer, are devoted to Grypheeas ; 
of the remainder, one is a view of a living 
oyster bed, showing the profusion of molluscan 
growth, the others sections showing the strati- 


SCIENCE. 


111 


graphic occurrence of the Texas Cretaceous 


Ostreidee. 
FREDERIC W. SIMONDS. 


UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Caleul 
Hermann. 


de généralisation. G. OLTRAMARE. 

1899. Pp. viii+191. 

Report of the Commissioner of Education for the year 
1896-97. Washington, Government Printing Office. 
1898. Vol. II. Pp. 1137-2390. 

The Human Body. H. NeEwELt MARTIN. Fifth 
Edition, revised by GEORGE WELLS Firz. New 
York, Henry Holt & Co. 1898. Pp. xiv-+408. 

Elements of Graphic Statics. PROFESSOR L. M. Hos- 


Paris, 


KINS. New York and London, The Macmillan 
Company. 1899. Pp. viii+199, and eight plates. 
$2.25. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE American Naturalist for January opens 
with an article by Dr. Arthur Hollick discuss- 
ing the relation between forestry and geology 
in New Jersey. Professor W. M. Wheeler 
gives a biographical sketch of the late George 
Baur, which is accompanied by a biographical 
sketch containing 144 titles. Articles follow by 
Miss Julia B. Platt, describing certain phe- 
nomena of geotaxis ; by Professor Cockerell, on 
‘Vernal Phenomena in the Arid Regions,’ and 
by Professor E. W. MacBride, reviewing Seitaro 
Goto’s work on the development of Asterias 
pallida. 

THE American Geologist for January opens its 
twenty-third volume with a notice of Edward 
Drinker Cope, by Miss Helen Dean King, with 
a portrait and a bibliography containing 815 
titles. There follow articles by Dr. N. H. 
Winchell, on ‘ Thalite and Bolingite from the 
North Shore of Lake Superior,’ and by Mr. 
Marsden Monson, on ‘The Loss of Climatic 
Evolution.’ 


THE Journal of the Boston Society of the 
Medical Sciences for December, 1898, contains 
an abstract of an interesting paper by Dr. 
Morton Prince entitled ‘ An Experimental Study 
of Visions,’ also an important paper by Dr. 
Franklin W. White upon ‘the Germicidal 
Properties of Blood Serum.’ Among the con- 
clusions reached are these: Human _ blood 
serum differs greatly in its germicidal action 


112 


upon various bacteria ; in fatal diseases it some- 
times loses part of its germicidal power for the 
colon bacillus shortly before death, but more 
frequently retains this power for several hours 
after death ; human blood serum does not lose its 
germicidal power for typhoid and colon bacilli, 
even in the late stages of chronic wasting disease. 

THE Philadelphia Medical Journal, which dur- 
ing its first year has secured a high position 
among medical journals, will hereafter publish 
a monthly supplement of 60 pages containing 
original articles. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, JANUARY 

6, 1899. 
Abstract. 

‘THE Work of Glaciers in High Mountains :’ 
By Willard D. Johnson. The greater number 
of the imposing forms in the summit regions of 
nearly all high mountains are of unknown 
origin. They are, however, strictly confined to 
tracts which either have in the recent past been 
glaciated or are glaciated now. Presumably, 
therefore, they are of glacial origin. But the 
difficulty is that, according to the known laws 
of glacial erosion, they are unintelligible. 

The recognized process in glacial erosion is 
scour. This process, like aqueous corrasion, 
must always tend—in uniformly resistant and 
unfractured material—to produce graded slopes. 
But in glaciated summit regions, especially in 
granite and in tracts of that rock which answer 
most nearly to ideal condition$ of uniform hard- 
ness, the topography is essentially that of flat 
valley floors and of upright cliffs, transverse as 
well as longitudinal to the direction of flow. 
In sound rock both glacial scour and aqueous 
corrasion will be not only incompetent but in- 
imical to the production of such forms. 

An unrecognized process appears to be that 
of sapping. The transverse, and therefore 
buried, cliff’ in the glacier’s pathway, as well 
as the amphitheatral cliff at its head, are 
cliffs of recession. The action of scour is 
downward and outward with the glacial ad- 
vance, but the action of sapping is horizontal 
and backward. It is seldom lateral, and then 
only for a brief space. The flat valley bottom, 
as well as the parallel valley walls (where sub- 


SCIENCE, [N. S. 


Vou. IX. No. 212. 


sequent scour has not dulled their upright 
profiles), are by-products of recession of the 
transverse cliff. 

So long as, along any advancing line, it con- 
tinues active, sapping will be altogether domi- 
nant over scour, accomplishing large results in 
excavation; but its action, apparently, is by 
successive attacks, from point to point, and has 
relatively brief duration. Its forms, thereafter, 
arrested in development, become obsolescent 
under the contiuous action of scour, and the 
rounding-off of angles puts them seemingly into 
the category of scour forms. 

The following hypothesis is advanced as to 
the cause of glacial sapping: The glacier pro- 
tects its bed against the sharp variations of 
temperature which, by mechanical disintegra- 
tion, waste exposed slopes. At the same time 
the covered rock surface is maintained close to 
zero, Centigrade—a critical temperature. By 
tearing away at its head from the mountain 
slope, and by reason of initial irregularities of 
bed along its line of flow, the glacier is broken 
across. If the depth of ice be not too great 
these breaks, or crevasses, will penetrate to the 
bottom. Along the narrow transverse line of 
bed, or floor, thus exposed—during summer, 
while the crevasse is open—there will be oscil- 
lations of temperature, between day and night 
perhaps, accomplishing an alternation of freez- 
ing and thawing. This alternation across the 
freezing point, at the crevasse foot, will be 
much more frequent than upon the exposed 
slopes without—a diurnal, rather than a 
seasonal, change. The crevasse foot will thus 
be a line of sharply localized and abnormally 
vigorous weathering, by coarse mechanical dis- 
integration. The glacier is an agent here, 
directly, only in the removal of waste products. 
Frost-fracturing acts vertically downward, as 
well as horizontally backward, into the cliff, 
which it thus undercuts ; but the products of its 
downward work are much less readily removed, 
and failure to remove operates to defeat down- 
ward action. Thus the cliff recedes, leaving in 
its trail an approximately flat and horizontal 
floor. In the slight unevennesses of this floor, 
after glacial conditions have passed and the 
cafion has become emptied, rock-basin lakes 
accumulate. 


. 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


By recession at the amphitheatre head—and 
the glacier makes the amphitheatre, rather than 
merely occupies it—the amphitheatral wall 
is carried backward, and divides are cut through. 
A summit region, upon either slope of which 
glacial streams are extended, will be trenched 
by streams heading thus in opposition. A first 
effect of the meeting of an opposing pair will be 
the aréte, or thin comb—the most evanescent of 
mountain forms; the final effect will be the col 
—a low-level pass between walls. The ulti- 
mate result of continued glaciation must be 
truncation of the crest region, close to the lower 
level of the glacial generation. Transitional 
forms will be not only the aréte and the col, but 
the aiguille, or minaret, the residual table, the 
cafion of diverted discharge, the cafion of 
Yosemite type, and the towering peak of Mat- 
terhorn type, against which divergent streams 
will burrow at their heads, scalloping its base, 
and maintaining its sinking summitas the sharp 
apex of a slender and fluted pyramid. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY : STUDENTS’ GEOLOGICAL 
CLUB, DECEMBER 19, 1898. 


UNDER the general title, ‘Geological Results 
of the Recent Storm upon the Massachusetts 
Coast,’ five members reported observations. 
Mr. R. B. Earle described results noted on the 
Winthrop and Beachmont shores. Winthrop 
Beach, usually sandy and of gentle slope, bore 
a series of gravel cusps, terminated on the sea- 
ward side by spits that pointed toward, the 
southeast. Whenever these cusps were com- 
posed of coarse gravel they were high and near 
together; when of fine material they were low 
and far apart. In the Beachmont Bluff, at 
similar intervals, was a series of cavern-like 
undercuttings. A portion of the beach, be- 
low the Bluff, was covered with heaps of sea- 
weed shaped into cuspate forms, but another 
portion was degraded to a depth of three feet. 

Mr. A. W. G. Wilson visited the south shore 
from Windmill Point to Cohasset Harbor. At 
the former locality sand and gravel were thrown 
inland thirty feet. The railroad track that ran 
close to high-tide level, along the front of the 
drumlin upon which the town of Hull is located, 
was protected by a breakwater of granite and 
diorite blocks. From this breakwater, some 


SCIENCE. 


113 


blocks, which weigh approximately a ton or 
more, were moved back ten feet and raised be- 
tween one and two feet. Nantasket Beach, in 
front of Strawberry Hill, was cut down four 
feet, and back in places twenty feet, for a dis- 
tance along the beach of five hundred yards. 
Sections of sewer pipe thus revealed afforded a 
basis for measurement. At the southern end of 
Nantasket, where most of the wrecks were 
washed up, large quantities of thoroughly 
rounded, soft coal were imbedded in the beach 
sand to a depth of at least ten inches. <A short 
distance east of Gun Rock, half a mile from Nan- 
tasket, some houses stand one hundred yards 
inland and from six to ten feet above normal 
high water level. Coarse gravel accumulated 
against these houses in heaps three feet high 
and buried a neighboring road between two and 
three feet deep. At Hull and in the region of 
Gun Rock, where a salt marsh and a pond, re- 
spectively, lay back of the beach, new, storm- 
built beaches have encroached upon the marsh 
and pond, in the form of well-marked series of 
gravel spits from one to five feet in height) -%: 
Mr. J. M. Boutwell offered three records of 
height of water. At Lynn Beach the position 
of pebbles and débris indicates the submergence 
ofits Nahant end. At its Lynn end, according 
to the statement of an eye witness, the water 
rose over the road to a depth of three feet and 
swept completely across the beach. At Milton, 
in the Neponset River, a rod has been so placed 
that its top marks the height reached by the 
high tide of 1851. One eye witness states that 
during the recent storm the water rose to within 
three inches of the top of this rod; another 
affirms that he saw it rise over the top. At the 
Boston end of the West Boston bridge the 
water in the Charles River rose to within one 
inch of the street level. The tide predicted for 
November 27th was the normal high-tide, ten 
feet two inches at Boston. Had the storm 
passed at the time of spring-tide, about two 
days later, the water would have risen fully a 
foot higher. As it was, the concomitant effect 
of an imminent spring-tide, a strong, low pres- 
sure area and an onshore wind was to raise the 
water higher, at some points, than it was during 
the high tide of 1851, J.M. BouTWELL, 
Chairman. 


114 


ONONDAGA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 


Av the November meeting of the Academy 
Professor P. F. Schneider read a paper on 
‘Onondaga Whetstones,’ giving a short history 
of the use of whetstones and comparing the 
various commercial stones. The Labrador stone 
is found at the southern border of the county 
and is manufactured in a nearby town. It 
makes an excellent ‘table stone.’ The Arkan- 
sas stone is also manufactured by the same com- 
pany, the 60,000 pounds annually shipped here 
yielding about 20,000 pounds of the finished 
product. 

At the December meeting of the Academy 
Professor Schneider spoke on ‘ Palzeobotany of 
Onondaga County,’ illustrating his remarks by 
about a dozen plant remains from the local Si- 
lurian and Devonian rocks. 

Mrs. L. L. Goodrich spoke on,‘ Variations in 
Trilliums,’ and exhibited specimens ranging 
from the typical Trillium grandiflorum through 
gradations of petioled leaved forms to extreme 
forms with purely radical leaves. In nearly all 
cases the petals were more or less marked with 
green, and various degrees of reduplication 
and suppression, of floral parts were noted as 
common occurrences. 

Dr. A. A. Tyler spoke on ‘The Origin of 
Species Through ,Variations,’ after which the 
topics of the evening were discussed by Dr. W. 
M. Beauchamp and Dr. Hargitt. 

H. W. BRITCHER, 
Corresponding Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


Av the meeting of the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis, of January 9, 1899, the following 
officers were declared elected for the current 
year: President, Edmund A. Engler; Vice- 
Presidents, Robert Moore, D. 8. H. Smith; Re- 
cording Secretary, William Trelease; Corre- 
sponding Secretary, Joseph Grindon ; Treasurer, 
Enno Sander; Librarian, G. Hambach; Cura- 
tors, G. Hambach, Julius Hurter, Hermann von 
Schrenk ; Directors, M. H. Post, Amand Ravold. 

Mr. Hermann von Schrenk presented infor- 
mally the results of a study of a sclerotium di- 
sease of beech roots which he had observed in 
southeastern New York during the past summer. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


The sclerotia, which were formed by the web- 
bing together of rootlets by sterile mycelial 
threads, were stated by the speaker to have ap- 
parently no connection with the mycorrhiza of 
the beech. Mr. von Schrenck’s remarks were 
illustrated by drawings and alcoholic and sec- 


tioned specimens. 
WILLIAM TRELEASE, 


Recording Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
SCIENCE AND POLITICS. 


ArT the last biennial session of the Legislature 
of Kansas there was passed what is known as 
the State uniform text-book law. A commis- 
sion was appointed whose duty it was to select 
the text-books of all grades used in the public 
schools of the State, which were to be furnished 
at a stipulated price to all pupils. No other 
texts than the one selected may be used by any 
school under pain of severe penalties. The law 
has now been in force for two years and these 
books are being used by several hundred thous- 
and pupils. So far as I can learn, specialists 
or experts were not consulted in the choice of 
the texts. Wide latitude was given to the 
commission, the one important stipulation be- 
ing that the books should be cheap! Protests 
have been made, but in vain—the books must 
be used in every case where prior contracts are 
not in force. Let us examine the wisdom of 
the Kansas Solons in one case; I am told that 
others are like it. 

The text in Physiology used in all grammar 
grades is one by a C. L. Hoxie, whoever he 
may be. As he is the author of text-books in 
Physics, doubtless his name will be familiar to 
the physicists of the country! The work had 
the benefit of revision by two high-school teach- 
ers of St. Louis. The part they took in the re- 
vision ought certainly to elevate them from 
obscurity. 

We can sympathize strongly in the introduc- 
tory statement by the author that the ‘‘ value 
of a thorough knowledge of physiology in all of 
its departments can scarcely be estimated. If 
one be well a knowledge of physiology will 
keep him so. If one be sick the same knowl- 
edge will enable him to regain that priceless 
treasure—good health.’? One must suspect 


JANUARY 20, 1899. ] 


that the author is a confirmed invalid! His 
definition of physiology is certainly unique: 

‘¢Physiology proper naturally divides itself 
into three departments, Anatomy, Physiology 
and Hygiene.’’ ‘‘ Bones, like all other organic 
structures, consist of cells ; the cells are more 
or less of a hexagonal form.’’ He seems es- 
pecially hazy about the lymphatic system : 
“The lymphatics perform the office of absorp- 
tion, chiefly in the skin.’’ At one time he has 
the lymph ‘poured into the blood through the 
thoracic duct into the vana cava in the neck,’ 
but farther on he modifies this by saying that 
the lacteals ‘terminate in two ducts, which 
open into the large veins, and finally into the 
heart,’ one on the right side and the other on 
the left side of the chest! ‘‘ The liver performs 
the double office of separating impurities from 
the blood and secreting bile.’? The ‘bile acts 
as a solvent of the fatty portions of food,’ while 
we are informed that ‘fat is an oily concrete 
substance, composed of stearine and elaine!’ 
One of the chief functions of the saliva is to 
‘quench thirst,’ and the ‘ epiglottis serves to 
deaden sound!’ Among other ‘important facts’ 
the author says that the ‘heart of quadrupeds 
lies in the middle line, and not to the left, as in 
man.’ ‘‘ All reptiles have two auricles and one 
ventricle.’’? From the fact ‘that coagulation 
is greater in the lower animals’ he derives the 
very interesting conclusion that ‘this seems to 
be a wise provision, since these animals can 
not stop a flow of blood from a wound by arti- 
ficial means.’ 

But enough. These few examples are chosen 
almost at random. The book contains more 
poor English, wild and loose statements of fact, 
errors and absurdities than I ever saw before 
in a text-book of modern times. One might be 
amused at such stuff, published as ‘science’ 
were it not that tens of thousands of children 
in this State are compelled to learn it, usually 
taught by teachers whose ignorance of the sub- 
ject is greater than that shown by the author 
himself. 

Everywhere that a moral can be lugged in 
by the ears or tail the baneful effects of the 
poison alcohol are urged. Can such a book be 
expected to serve any useful purpose in teach- 
ing the principles of temperance ? 


SCIENCE. 


115 


And this is what politics may do for science 
in the public schools ! 
S. W. WILLISTON. 
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, LAWRENCE. 


THE STORING OF PAMPHLETS. 


ON reading Professor Minot’s explanation of 
his method of storing pamphlets as given in the 
issue of December 380th I feel inclined to add a 
word in commendation of the method. I began 
using these boxes six or seven years ago and 
now have 152 upon my shelves. About one- 
half are devoted to Experiment Station bulle- 
tins, the boxes being labeled by States and 
arranged alphabetically. The other half is used 
for miscellaneous pamphlets on subjects pertain- 
ing tomy line of work. The boxes have proved 
perfectly satisfactory in every way, and as a 
simple time-saving device they are worth many 
times the cost. My system of pamphlet arrange- 
ment differs in some ways from that adopted 
by Professor Minot and has been adopted only 
after trial of several other methods. 

Each case is labeled and is also given a num- 
ber. The pamphlets are numbered consecu- 
tively and arranged in the cases, as far as pos- 
sible, by subjects, and each one is stamped with 
the number of the case in which it belongs. 
The location of each is, therefore, permanent. 
It is always returned to the same case and the 
same relative position as regards others in the 
case. 

In a convenient drawer of my desk is a card 
index where all papers are recorded by author 
and by title. Each ecard carries the pamphlet 
number and the case number, thus indicating 
the exact location of the pamphlet desired. 
Often a dozen or more pamphlets may be in 
use, scattered over my work table for several 
days ; when ready to be returned, the numbers 
direct to the case and to the correct position 
within the case. If each pamphlet contained 
but a single article the alphabetical arrange- 
ment would be the most simple; but many 
contain more than one title, often several, and 
not infrequently by different authors. These 
were a sourse of annoyance until the present 
system was adopted. I do not find the system 
cumbersome, and the time employed in keep- 


116 


ing it up is saved many times over by the 
facility with which reference is made. 
CHARLES 8. CRANDALL. 
THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 
Fort CoLLins, COLORADO. 
ZONE TEMPERATURES. 

My attention has been recently called by Dr. 
Walter H. Evans, of the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, to an error in the temper- 
ature tables accompanying my paper on the 
‘Laws of Temperature Control of the Geo- 
graphic Distribution of Animals and Plants,’ an 
abstract of which was printed in my recent 
bulletin on ‘ Life Zones and Crop Zones.’ The 
error in question relates to the effective temper- 
ature or ‘sum of normal mean daily tempera- 
ture above 6°C.’ In the tables bearing the 
above heading the quantities actually given are 
the sums of normal mean daily temperatures 
(without deducting the 6°C. each day) for the 
period during which the mean daily tempera- 
ture exceeds 6°C. 

The temperature data, as stated on the first 
page of my original paper, were furnished by 
the Weather Bureau. Not being of a mathemat- 
ical turn of mind, I did not detect the error 
until my attention was called to it by Dr. 
Evans. Corrected tables will be given in the 
next edition of ‘Life Zones and Crop Zones.’ 

C. HART MERRIAM. 


PHYSICAL NOTES. 

Dr. OLIVER LopGs, in a recent paper before 
the Institution of Electrical Engineers, speaks 
of the probable importance of leakage currents 
in the usual methods of telegraphing by mag- 
netic inductance through space. This form of 
wireless telegraphy has usually been accom- 
plished with long parallel wires on poles and 
ground returns. In some experiments made 
by Stephenson near Edinburgh horizontal coils 
of wire were used and signals transmitted half 
a wile with a morse key in one coil and a tele- 
phone receiver in the other. Mr, Lodge used 
similar coils covering areas of about 4,500 
square yards and transmitted signals about 
two miles. The characteristics of his method 
are the use of an alternating current of arather 
high frequency, about 380, and the tuning of 
the line to this frequency by the use of con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 212. 


densers, that is, the balancing of the inductance 
so that the current becomes equal to the induced 
E. M. F. divided by the ohmic resistance. As 
a result, he gets much greater effects than where 
the current is principally determined by the 
inductance of the circuits. This he shows by 
mathematical determination will be the case, 
the value of 27a the frequency, coming in one 
instance in the denominator, while in the other 
it comes in the numerator of the expression 
giving the ratio between the secondary current 


and the impressed primary E. M. F. 
1S IOA Oe 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
THE WINDWARD ISLANDS HURRICANE OF SEP- 
TEMBER, 1898. 

THE practical advantages gained by the es- 
tablishment of the new West Indian Service of 
our Weather Bureau are forcibly illustrated in 
the account of the hurricane of September 10th 
and 11th last, published in the September num- 
ber of the Monthly Weather Review. The Weather 
Bureau Observer at Bridgetown, Barbados, 
sent a special cable to Washington at 12:40 p. 
m., September 10th, announcing the approach 
of a hurricane. Warnings were immediately 
cabled to Weather Bureau stations in the Lesser 
Antilles, and the officials in charge were di- 
rected to give the widest possible distribution 
to the warnings. Advisory messages were sent 
to other islands, as far west as Jamaica and 
eastern Cuba, to points on the South American 
coast of the Caribbean Sea, and to Admiral 
Watson’s fleet, lying in the harbor of Caimanera, 
Cuba. The careful reports of the Weather 
Bureau Observers at Kingston, Jamaica, at 
St. Kitts and other stations also made possible 
an early and complete record of the hurricane. 

In this connection another paper, in the same 
number of the Review, is of interest. It con- 
cerns the telegraph service of the Weather 
Bureau with the West Indies, and is illustrated 
by a chart showing the routes of the submarine 
cables over which reports are transmitted and 
the points at which the cables connect with the 
land lines. 

At the December meeting of the Royal 
Meteorological Society (London) Captain A. 
Carpenter, R. N., gave an account of this dis- 
astrous hurricane. 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


Its diameter was 80 miles as it approached 
Barbados, and 170 miles after leaving St. Vin- 
cent. The actual storm center, in which the 
force of the wind greatly increased, was only 
85 miles in diameter until St. Vincent was 
passed, but after that the strength of the wind 
extended to 170 miles from the center, The 
diameter of the calm vortex was not less than 
four miles. The storm was accompanied by 
very heavy rainfall, the amount at St. Vincent 
being about 14 inches in 24 hours. In Barbados 
11,400 houses were swept away or blown down 
and 115 lives were lost, and in St. Vincent 6,000 
houses were blown down or damaged beyond 
repair, and-200 lives were lost. 


PROBABLE STATE OF SKY ALONG THE PATH OF 
THE ECLIPSE, MAY 28, 1900. 


ProFressor F, H. BiGELow, in the Monthly 
Weather Review for September, considers the 
probable state of the sky along the path of the 
total eclipse of the sun, May 28, 1900. His 
conclusion is as follows: ‘‘It would be much 
safer for the eclipse expeditions to locate their 
stations in the northern portions of Georgia and 
Alabama, upon the southern end of the Appa- 
lachian Mountains, where the track crosses ele- 
vated areas, than nearer the coast line in either 
direction northeastward toward the Atlantic 
coast, or southwestward toward the Gulf coast ; 
on the coast itself the weather is more unfavor- 
able than in any other portion of the track.” 
Professor Bigelow’s paper is illustrated by means 
of a chart. ; 

NOTES. 

THE November number of Climate and Crops, 
Illinois Section, in commenting upon the statis- 
tics of losses by lightning in Illinois during 
1898, says: ‘‘ A survey of the reports shows a 
very marked increase in the loss of stock due 
to the wire fence, and the urgent need of fre- 
quent ground wires in those in use.’’ (See 
note in this connection in ScIENCE, Dec. 2, 
1898, p. 785.) R. DEC. WARD. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
THE OLDEST SKULL-FORM IN EUROPE. 


In the Centralblatt fiir Anthropologie (Heft. 4, 
1898) are some abstracts touching the skull- 


SCIENCE. 


ye 


form which is believed to be the oldest in 
Europe. It is represented most perfectly by 
the remains found at Spy. The characteristics 
are: uncommon length, moderate width, very 
limited height, retreating forehead, prominent 
but depressed supra-orbital ridges and narrowed 
post-orbital diameter. Dr. Fraipont argues 
sharply for the genuine ancient character of the 
Neanderthall skull, and Dr. Schwalbe does not 
regard that found at Egisheim as a good type. 
As for modern examples simulating the Nean- 
derthal skull the latter asserts that, while they 
may resemble it in one or another point, they 
never present the group of inferior criteria 
which characterize its measurements. 


THE SUPPOSED ‘OTTER TRAP.’ 


Dr. Ropert Munro in his excellent work, 
Prehistoric Problems, has a chapter on a curious 
object found in the peat bogs of Kurope, from 
Italy to Scotland and North Germany. He has 
recently supplemented that chapter by an article 
describing further examples. (Jour. Roy. Soe. 
Antiquaries of Ireland, September, 1898.) 

The object is a thick board or plank, two to 
three feet long, in the center of which is an 
oblong aperture four to six inches wide, closed 
by one or two valvular doors. The purpose of 
thisarrangementis obscure Dr. Munro argues 
that it is an otter or beaver trap, while others 
have explained it as a boat-model, a sluice-box, 
a float for lines, etc. 

The suggestion which I would offer for its use 
differs from any I have seen. It is doubtful 
that the valves could hold firmly an otter or 
any such animal. The purpose for which it 
would be entirely suited would be that of the 
inlet to a fish-weir. The valves, opening in- 
ward, would allow the fish to enter and would 
prevent their exit. Similar, though not iden- 
tical, devices are in common use. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF FEEBLE-MINDED 
CHILDREN. 

In a supplement of the 48th annual report 
of the managers of the Syracuse State Institu- 
tion for feeble-minded Children, Dr. Alex. Hrd- 
licka presents an anthropological study of a 
long series of these unfortunates. It includes 
their family conditions, the supposed etiolog- 


118 


ical factors of the deficiency, and the physical 
examination of the subjects. 

While the report is very instructive on many 
individual features, it admits of few general 
conclusions other than that we need much more 
extended investigations than have heretofore 
been prosecuted, in order to reach positive 
opinions as to the causation and the status of 
the feeble-minded ; and this is Dr. Hrdlicka’s 
own decision (p. 95). 

D. G. BRINTON. 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

M. VaAwn TIEGHEM, the eminent botanist, 
succeeds M. Wolf as President of the Paris 
Academy of Science, while M. Lévy has been 
elected Vice-President. 


AT its meeting on January 11th the Amer- 
ican Academy of Arts and Sciences elected 
Charles Doolittle Walcott, of Washington, an 
Associate Fellow in place of the late Professor 
James Hall, and Oliver Heaviside, of Newton 
Abbot, England, a Foreign Honorary Member. 

Ir is proposed to erect a monument in mem- 
ory of Félix Tisserand, Member of the Institute 
of France, and of the Bureau of Longitude, and 
Director of the Observatory of Paris, at Nuits 
Saint-Georges (COte-d’Or), his native place. 
Subscriptions will be received at Nuits-Saint- 
Georges, by M. Desmazures, Receveur Muniei- 
pal; at the Observatory of Paris, by M. Frais- 
sinet, and at Dijon, by M. Ragot (rue Colson). 

SURGEON-GENERAL STERNBERG is at present 
in Cuba inspecting the hospitals and arranging 
for a new yellow fever hospital and a depot for 
medical supplies in Havana. 

THE Permanent Secretary of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 
Dr. L.O. Howard, would be glad to learn of 
the address of José de Riviera, who was elected 
a life member of the Association at the Boston’ 
meeting of 1880. 

THE Chemical Sociéty of Washington, at the 
annual meeting held on Thursday, January 12, 
1899, elected the following officers for the en- 
suing year: President, Dr. H. N. Stokes; 
Vice-Presidents, Dr. P. Fireman, Dr. H. C. 
Bolton; Secretary, Mr. William H. Krug; 


SCIENCE. 


. [N. 8. Von. 1X. No. 212. 


Treasurer, Mr. W. P. Cutter; Executive Com- 
mittee, the above officers and Dr. C. E. Munroe, 
Dr. E. A. de Schweinitz, Mr. Wirt Tassin and 
Dr. F. W. Hillebrand, ex-officio. 

PROFESSORS VON Kuprer, of Munich; F. 
Klein, of Gottingen, and E. Fischer, of Berlin, 
have been made members of the Bavarian 
Maximilian Order of Science and Art. 

Proressor M. E. Coouey, of the engineer- 
ing department of the University of Michigan, 
who has been Chief Engineer on the United 
States auxiliary steamer Yosemite since the 
outbreak of the Spanish-American war, will re- 
turn to the University in time to begin work 
with the second semester. He was detached 
from the Yosemite December 23d, since which 
date he has been doing temporary work at the 
League Island Navy Yard. He expects to be 
relieved from duty by the first of next month. 


Mr. Wm. T. Hornapay, Director of the 
New York Zoological Park, has been elected a 
corresponding member of the London Zoolog- 
ical Society. 

Nature states that Mr. Frederick G. Jackson, 
the leader of the Jackson-Harmsworth expedi- 
tion, has been presented with a first class of 
the Royal Order of St. Olaf by King Oscar of 
Sweden and Norway. 

THE Paris Academy of Sciences has nominated 
for the chair of chemistry in the Conservatoire 
des Arts et Métiers as first choice M. Florent, 
and as second choice M. Joannis. 


Mr. JoHN Barrow, F.R.S., the author of 
works on travel and physiography, has died at 
the advanced age of 91 years. 


PRoFrEssoR JOSEPH BALDWIN, who held the 
chair of pedagogy in the University of Texas, 
died on January 14th, aged 70 years. 


AT the annual meeting of the Indiana Acad- 
emy of Science held at Indianapolis during 
Christmas week, Mr.W. W. Woollen announced 
that he had set aside forty-four acres of land 
situated nine miles from the center of Indianap- 
olis, for a garden of birds and botany. He pro- 
poses to develop the garden and present it to 
the city of Indianapolis, to be placed under the 
control of the Superintendent of Schools, the 
President of Butler College, and the President 


JANUARY 20, 1899.] 


of the Academy of Science, for the use of the 
bodies represented by them. 


THE Association for maintaining the Ameri- 
can women’s table at the zoological station at 
Naples announces that it is prepared to receive 
applications for use of the table, which should 
be addressed to the Secretary, Miss Ida H. 
Hyde, 1 Berkeley St., Cambridge. The Execu- 
tive Board has at its disposal a small fund for the 
aid of scholars of the Association who may need 
assistance to meet the expenses of travel and of 
residence in Naples. The first two scholars of 
the Association were Professor Mary Alice Wil- 
cox, of Wellesley College, and Miss Florence 
Peebles, European Fellow of Bryn Mawr College. 


THE late Baron Ferdinand Rothschild has 
bequeathed to the British Museum art collec- 
tions valued at $1,500,000. 


THE French Society for the encouragement 
of national industry has been presented with a 
sum of 20,000 fr. by M. Gilbert. 


JuDGE JOHN HANDLEY, of Scranton, Pa., 
left $250,000 for a public library at Winchester, 
Va., and made the city his residuary legatee. 
It has been decided in the Courts that the latter 
bequest is valid, and the city will receive about 
$250,000 additional to the public library. 


Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has offered to give 
$250,000 for the construction of a building for 
the Washington Public Library if Congress will 
furnish a suitable site and provide for the main- 
tenance of the library. 


THE Imperial Academy of Military Medicine, 
St. Petersburg, celebrated on December 30th the 
centenary of its foundation, in the presence of 
official delegates from Germany, France and 
other nations. The Director of the Academy, 
Professor Ponchatine, made an address, giving 
a brief history of the institution and an account 
of the work that it had accomplished. 


THE Proceedings of the second annual meet- 
ing of the Association of Experiment Station 
Veterinarians, held at Omaha, Neb., September 
8, 1898, have recently been published by the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture (Bureau of 
Animal Industry, Bul. No. 22). Among the 
papers are those on ‘Growing Tubercle Bacilli 
for Tuberculin,’ by C. A. Cary ; ‘Feeding Wild 


SCIENCE. 


119 


Plants to Sheep,’ by 8. B. Nelson, and ‘ Lab- 
oratory Records for Veterinarians,’ by A. W. 
Bitting. 

THE meeting of teachers of chemistry held at 
the University of Michigan on December 27 and 
28, 1898, proved to be of great interest. A con- 
siderable number of high schools in Michigan 
were represented in the meeting. Among the 
institutions sending teachers were the Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin ; Lake Forest University ; Chi- 
cago University ; Notre Dame, Ind. ; Ohio State 
University ; Kenyon College, Ohio; Otterbein 
University, Ohio; Olivet College, and Lewis 
Institute, Chicago. There were also reports 
and papers from the University of Chicago. 
The discussions were limited to the subjects and 
methods of teaching chemistry in high schools 
and colleges. 


AN International Conference on Child Study 
will be held in Buda-Pesth next September. 


Ir is reported from Sydney that the private 
yacht Lady St. Aubyn has discovered some 
relics of the French navigator La Pérouse at 
Vanikoro Islands. The objects found include 
flint-lock muskets and Spanish and French 
coins. 


Tue Russian Imperial Geographical Society 
announces that neither the expedition of Strad- 
ling nor of Brede has been able to find in 
Siberia traces of Andrée. In the meanwhile an 
expedition has been organized at Copenhagen, 
under the direction of Dr. Daniel Brunn, to 
search for traces of Andrée in eastern Green- 
land 

THE Division of Statistics of the U. 8S. De- 
partment of Agriculture reports that the acre- 
age devoted to cotton in the United States in 
1897 was 24,819,584, an increase of 1,046,875 
over that for 1896. The number of bales pro- 
duced was in 1897 10,897,857, an increase of 
2,365,152 bales. There was an increase in al- 
most every State, being especially noticeable in 
Arkansas and Indian Territory. The investiga- 
tion of the amount of cotton purchased by mills 
located in the cotton-growing States shows that 
1,277,674 bales were taken from the current 
crop. This is 295,683 bales, or 380.1 per cent. 
more than was purchased by these mills in 
1896-97. Without an exception every State 


120 


shows increased purchases, the per cent. of in- 
crease ranging from 7.7 in Louisiana to 65.2 in 
Missouri. In the States of greatest consump- 
tion the increase is especially marked, that in 
Alabama being 41.9, in Georgia 25.2, North 
Carolina 36.6, and South Carolina 33.8 per cent. 
During the year there were 425 mills in opera- 
tion, as compared with 402 in 1896-97. 

THE Board of Health of New York City has 
obtained a conviction in the Courts for violating 
the law forbidding the burning of soft coal, a 
fine of $25.00 being imposed. 

A CORRESPONDENT writes to the London Times: 
“‘ Asit is just 100 years since Pestalozzi began at 
Stanz, on the Lake of Lucerne, the work among 
the orphan children which so deeply influenced 
the aims and methods of elementary education 
in German-speaking Europe and indirectly in 
Great Britain and America, it is intended to cele- 
brate the centenary by a public meeting, which 
will be held, by permission of the Council, in the 
large hall of the College of Preceptors, Blooms- 
bury-square, on Wednesday, January 4th, at 8 
p-m. Though many of Pestalozzi’s hopes have 
been unfulfilled and modern psychology is far 
from confirming some of his attempted general- 
izations, his labors at Stanz will always form one 
of the most inspiring chapters in educational his- 
tory. His work there emphasized the fact that 
religious influences are essential to all educa- 
tion which aims at strengthening the will and 
at elevating character, and that no educational 
instrument is so powerful as the self-devotion 
of the teacher. Sir Joshua Fitch will preside 
at the meeting, at which short addresses will 
be given by Professor Wilhelm Rein, of the 
University of Jena; Lady Isabel Margesson ; 
Miss Herford (Manchester), and Messrs. A. 
Sonnenschein, R. L. Morant, E. Cooke and 
others.”’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE sum of £115,000 has been subscribed 
towards establishing a university at Birming- 
ham. 

THE late Henry Clark Warren, of Boston, an 
accomplished Oriental scholar, has left to Har- 
vard University a large sum principally for the 
Sanserit department, but including $10,000 for 
the Peabody Museum of American archeology 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 212. 


and ethnology and $10,000 for the Dental 
School. The Sanscrit department is to have 
$15,000 for the endowment of the Harvard 
Oriental Series, and the balance, which is said 
to be large, is to be used for the benefit of the 
department. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY receives $5,000 by the 
will of the late Susan B. Lyman, Dedham, 
Mass., and $10,000 by the will of the late Mrs. 
Mary Ann P. Weld, of Boston, the latter sum 
being for the purpose of founding a Christopher 
Minot Weld Scholarship, which is to be awarded 
each year to some worthy student. 


Tue Teachers College of Columbia University 
has received an anonymous gift of $10,000. 


CoLuMBIA UNIVERSITY has established sixty- 
three benefactors’ scholarships and twenty-two 
faculty scholarships, in order to place the re- 
mission of tuition fees hitherto made on amore 
permanent basis. 


THE appropriation of the State for the Uni- 
versity of Georgia has this year been reduced 
by $14,000. The appropriation for the schools 
has also been greatly reduced. 


WE have received the calendar of the Tokyo 
Imperial University for 1897-98, which is 
printed in English. There were 2,239 students 
in the University, distributed as follows: Uni- 
versity, 177; the College of Law, 744; College 
of Medicine, 313 ; College of Engineering, 386 ; 
College of Literature, 279; College of Science, 
105; College of Agriculture, 235. There are 
90 professors and 41 assistant professors. The 
library now contains about 223,000 volumes. 
The Journal of the College of Science, estab- 
lished in 1887 and now in its tenth volume, has 
published many important contributions, which 
are written in English or in German. 

Atv Harvard University, Dr. R. W. Willson has 
been appointed assistant professor of astronomy, 
and Dr. C. R. Sanger, assistant professor of 
chemistry. 


Mr. L. B. Witson has been appointed 
demonstrator in pathology and bacteriology in 
the University of Minnesota. 


Dr. WILHELM THIERMANN, of the Technical 
Institute at Hanover, has been made professor. 


SCIENGE 


EDITORIAL ComMMITTEE: S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. ToHursToN, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
J. LE ConTE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart Merriam, Zoology; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. Britton, 
Botany; Henry F. Oszorn, General Biology; C. 8. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. Bowprrcu, Physiology; J. S. Binurnes, Hygiene ; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JANUARY 27, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
Truth and Error :— 
PROFESSOR W. K. BROOKS......... 


PROFESSOR LESTER F. WARD 
Inconsiderate Legislation on Birds, .......sccsceeeeeeees 137 
Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of 

America (II.): PRorEssor J. F. KEMP......... 138 
The Winter Meeting of the Anthropological Section 

of the American Association: A. L. KROEBER.... 145 
Scientific Books :— 


Dana’s Teat-Book of Geology: PROFESSOR W. 
B. CLARK. Mivart on the Groundwork of Science : 
PROFESSOR J. E. CREIGHTON. Jones on Freez- 
ing-point, Boiling-point and Conductivity Meth- 


ods: J. E.G. Thorp’s Outlines of Industrial 

Chemistry: PROFESSOR W. A. NOYES. Du- 

rand’s Apergus de taxonomie générale: F. A. 

PU CAS EBOOKS) HCCEWUEDsnedeesnctscenenacestssceceene's 147 
Scientific Journals and Articles. .....ccccccoecsereeeceees 151 
Societies and Academies :— 

Geological Society of Washington: DR. W. F 

IMMORSETTipeccateste cons naetaast ee satosceacadcaccidn cass 152 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 


Matter, Energy, Force and Work: PROFESSOR 
Sizas W. HOLMAN. Zoological Bibliography : 


ep AlT DATHE Rectesrsscscscnsectusrettandrelccattedesecstes 154 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H.......eeee 155 
SZ OOLOGLCAIPIN OL ES ee ene ee ccanei cece ones dcisececntiacesset ss 156 


Current Notes on Anthropology :— 


Another Mexican Codex; The Progressive Wo- 
man; The Seat of the Soul: PRrorressor D. G. 


IB UNIO Nienc tees cacecs sracscieaclie dec tatremercsceet te 156 
Collections of the Provincial Musewm of Victoria, 

British Columbia: DR. HARLAN I. SMITH...... 156 
Scientific Notes and News.........0.coscssscoseescsesonecere 157 


University and Educational News. .......csceeeseeeeeeeee 160 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N.Y. 


TRUTH AND ERROR.* 

‘Tr to do were as easy as to know what 
were good to do, chapels had been churches, 
and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces. 
It is a good divine that follows his own in- 
struction. I can easier teach twenty what 
were good to be done than be one of the 
twenty to,follow mine own teaching.”’ 

‘* Science,” says Powell, ‘‘ deals with re- 
alities. These are bodies and their proper- 
ties. Known realities are those about which 
mankind have knowledge; scientific re- 
search is the endeavor to increase knowl- 
edge, and its methods are experience, ob- 
servation and verification.” 

While most men of science admit all this 
as good precept, history warns them that 
they must be on their guard, lest they fall 
unknowingly into the dream-land of the 
‘ philosophers ;’ for our author tells us that 
“The dream of intellectual intoxication 
seems to some to be more real and more 
worthy of the human mind than the simple 
truths discovered by science.” 

While rebuking the metaphysicians, our 
author does not spare those men of science 
who assert that while science deals with 
the properties of matter the real nature of 
matter—what it is in itself—is quite un- 
known: ‘‘As though its properties did not 
constitute its essential nature.” 

“Would a sane person,” he asks, ‘“‘ speak 


* By J. W. Powell. 
lishing Co., 1898. 


Chicago, The Open Court Pub- 


122 


of the horse and head, the horse and body, 
the horse and legs, the horse and tail, and 
then consider the horse as one thing, the 
head, body, legs and tail as other things? 
Yet this is the error of those who consider 
matter as one thing and properties as other 
things.” 

“As it is of matter, so it is of space: One 
man sees the disc of the moon when it is 
riding high as having the size of the top of 
a teacup, another as large as a cartwheel. 
But the moon will be seen larger than a 
barn if it is seen behind a distant barn, or 
it may seem to be as large as a great moun- 
tain when it rises behind such a mountain. 
As the moon rides the heavens it seems to 
be this side of the surface of the sky, al- 
though we know that there is’no such sur- 
face. Such habitual judgments of space 
and time seem to contradict each other. 
By a natural process of fallacious judg- 
ment the idea of space as void is developed 
as an existing thing or body. This is the 
ghost of space—the creation of an entity 
out of nothing. The space of which we 
speak is occupied. We can by no possibil- 
ity consider true space or void as a term of 
reality. If we reason about itsmathemat- 
ically, and ‘call it «, the meaning of « in 
the equation is finally resolved%by express- 
ing it in terms of body as they are repre- 
sented by surface. This non-space has no 
number; it is not one or many in one— 
itis nothing. It is not extension as figure 
or structure—it is nothing. The fallacy 
concerning space is born of careless reason- 
ing. No harm is done by this popular mis- 
conception of space until we use if in rea- 
soning as a term of reality ; then the attri- 
butes of space may be anything because 
they are nothing.” 

‘““The universe is a concourse of related 
factors composed of related particles. <A 
relation cannot exist independent of terms 
We may consider a relation abstractly, but 
it cannot exist abstractly. To affirm a re- 


SCIENCE, 


[N.&. Von. IX. No. 213. 
lation the terms must be implied. When 
an abstract is reified, that is supposed to 
exist by itself independent of other essen- 
tials, and the illusion is entertained that 
there is something independent of the es- 
sentials which supports them, a mythology 
is created so subtle as to simulate reality. 
So when relations are reified and supposed 
to exist independent of terms the mind is 
astray in the realm of fallacies.” 

All this seems to me to be so important 
and significant that it cannot be said too 
often, for it is all so essential to clear think- 
ing upon the significance of science that I 
believe the author has done good service in 
repeating it, although it was all said long 
ago in still simpler and clearer words. 

Berkeley tells us that ‘‘what seems to 
have had a chief part in rendering specula- 
tion intricate and perplexed, and to have 
occasioned innumerable errors and diffi- 
culties in almost all parts of knowledge, 
is the opinion that the mind hath a power 
of framing abstract ideas or notions of things. 
He who is not a perfect stranger to the 
writings and disputes of the philosophers 
most needs acknowledge that no small part 
of them are spent about abstract ideas. 
These are in a more especial manner 
thought to be the object of those exercises 
which go by the name of Logic and Meta- 
physics, and of all that which passes under 
the notion of the most abstract and sublime 
learning. Whether others have this won- 
derful faculty of abstracting their ideas 
they can best tell ; as for myself I dare be 
confident I have it not.’”’ (‘Human Knowl- 
edge,’ Introduction, 6-10.) 

“JT am tempted to think nobody else can 
form these ideas any more than I can. Pray, 
Alciphron, which are those things you would 
call absolutely impossible ?”’ 

“Such as include a contradiction.”’ 

“Can you form an idea of what includes 
a contradiction ?” 

“ T can not.” 


JANUARY 27, 1899. ] 


‘*Consequently, whatever is absolutely 
impossible you cannot form an idea of?” 

“This I grant.” 

“But can a color ora triangle, such as 
you describe these abstract general ideas, 
really exist ?” 

“Tt is absolutely impossible such things 
exist in nature.” 

“ Should it not follow, then, that they can 
not exist in your mind, or, in other words, 
that you cannot conceive or frame an idea 
of them? I do not perceive that I can, by 
any faculty, whether intellect or imagina- 
tion, conceive or form an idea of that which 
is impossible and ineludes a contradiction.” 
(Alciphron VII., 6.) 

“T am of a vulgar cast, simple enough to 
believe my senses and to leave things as I 
find them. To be plain, it is my opinion 
that‘ the real things are the very things I 
see and feel and perceive by my senses. 
These I know and, finding they answer all 
the necessities and purposes of life, have no 
reason to be solicitous about any other un- 
known beings. A piece of sensible bread, 
for instance, would stay my stomach better 
than ten thousand times as much of that 
insensible, unintelligible real bread you 
speak of. It is likewise my opinion that 
colors and other sensible qualities are in the 
objects. I cannot, for my life, help thinking 
that snow is white and fire hot. Away, then, 
with all that skepticism, all those ridicu- 
lous philosophical doubts. I might as well 
doubt my own being as the being of those 
things I actually see and feel.” (Three 
Dialogues, III.) 

While we are unable to doubt the being 
of those things we see and feel, we do con- 
tinually doubt or question the evidence of 
our senses, for error and illusion and hal- 
lucination are, unfortunately, as real as 
truth ; and the part of Powell’s book 
which deals with illusions is that which the 
reader will find most attractive and sug- 
gestive. 


SCIENCE. 


123 


‘When a youth, as I was breaking prairie 
with an ox team, my labor was interrupted 
by a rattlesnake, and, during the day, I 
saw and killed several of these serpents. 
At one time the lash of my whip flew off. 
In trying to pick it up I grasped a stick. 
The fear of being bitten by a snake, and the 
degree of expectant attention to which I 
was wrought, caused me to interpret the 
sense impression of touch as caused by a 
rattlesnake. At the same time I distinctly 
heard the rattle of the snake.”’ 

‘‘A soldier in the suspense which precedes 
the battle, when sharpshooters are now and 
then picking off a man, may have his gun 
or his clothing touched by a rifle ball and 
in the suspense of the occasion may imagine 
that he has received a serious, perhaps a 
deadly wound, and may shriek with pain. 
A mustard plaster on the head may cause 
a man to dream of an Indian conflict in 
which he is sealped, as I have observed.” 

All savages believe that hallucinations are 
a means of divination, and, as many intox- 
icants produce hallucinations, all of the 
North American tribes make use of these, 
supplemented with many rites, such as 
dancing, singing, ululation, the beating of 
drums, and the tormenting of the body by 
various painful operations, all designed to 
produce ecstatic states and the consequent 
hallucinations. 

If the Society for Psychical Research 
were to make acensus of those who believe 
that hallucinations often reveal the un- 
known past or future, Powell tells us that 
they would find among the North American 
Indians one hundred per cent. ready to 
testify to the truth of this opinion. 

Erroneous judgments once made may be 
repeated in perpetuating fallacies,and myths 
are invented to explain them. Then the 
myths become sacred, and the moral nature 
is enlisted in their defense. 

‘“The stars were seen to move along the 
firmament, or the surface of a solid, from 


124 SCIENCE. 


east to west, as men run along the surface 
of the earth at will. But the heavenly 
bodies move by constantly repeated paths, 
and so primitive man invents myths to ex- 
plain these repeated paths.” 

‘Fallacies are,’ as our. author clearly 
points out, ‘‘ erroneous inferences in relation 
to things known. If there were no realities 
about which inferences are made, fallacies 
would not be possible. The history of sci- 
ence is the discovery of the simple and the 
true; in its progress fallacies are dispelled 
and certitude remains.”’ 

These extracts from Powell’s book will 
show how much that is valuable and 
suggestive and instructive is to be found 
in it. I regret that I am forced to form 
a very different estimate of the construc- 
tive part of the book, for, as the author 
expounds his own system of philosophy, he 
seems to me to be one of those ungracious 
pastors who, while pointing out to others the 
steep and thorny way, themselves the 
primrose path of dalliance tread, and reck 
not their own read. 

The book begins with a delightful and 
instructive anecdote of a party of Indians 
throwing stones across a cafion. The dis- 
tance from the brink to the opposite wall 
did not seem very great, yet no man could 
throw a stone across the chasm, though 
Chuar, the Indian Chief, could strike the 
opposite wall very near its brink. The 
stones thrown by others fell into the depths 
of the cafion. “I discussed these feats 
with Chuar, leading him to an explanation 
of gravity. Now Chuar believed that he 
could throw a stone much farther along the 
level of the plateau than over the cafion. 
His first illusion was thus one very common 
among mountain travelers—an underesti- 
mate of the distance of towering and mas- 
sive rocks when the eye has no intervening 
object to divide space into parts as measure 
of the whole.” 

“T did not venture,’’ says our author, ‘“ to 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 213, 


correct Chuar’s judgment, but simply sought 
to discuss his method of reasoning.”’ 

He explained that the stone could not go 
far over the cafion, because the empty 
space pulled it down, and, interpreting 
subjective fear of falling as an objective 
pull, he pointed out how strongly the empty 
void pulls upon the man who stands on the 
brink of a lofty cliff. 

‘* Now, in the language of Chuar’s people, 
a wise man is said to bea traveler, for such 
is the metaphor by which they express great 
wisdom, as they suppose that a man must 
learn by journeying much. Soin the moon- 
light of the last evening’s sojourn in the 
camp on the brink of the cafion, I told 
Chuar that he was a great traveler, and 
that I knew of two other great travelers 
among the seers of the East, one by the 
name of Hegel, and another by the name of 
Spencer, and that I should ever remember 
these three wise men, who spoke like words 
of wisdom, for it passed through my mind 
that all three of these philosophers had rei- 
fied void and founded a philosophy thereon.”’ 

The system of philosophy which it is the 
aim of this book to expound is, so far as I 
can gather it from a single reading, about 
as follows : 

“Tt was more than chance,” our author 
tells us, ‘‘ that produced the decimal system, 
for the universe is pentalogic, as all of the 
fundamental series discovered in nature are 
pentalogic by reason of the five concomitant 
properties. The origin of the decimal sys- 
tem was the recognition by primitive man 
of the reciprocal pentalogic system involved 
in the two hands of the human body.” P. 
112. 

“Thus, in geonomy, p. 48, we deal with an 
earth composed of five encapsulated globes 
enclosing a nucleus, and presenting: (1) the 
centrosphere, (2) the lithosphere, (3) the 
hydrosphere, (4) the atmosphere, (5) the 
etherosphere.” 

“In the human mind, again, we have the 


JANUARY 27, 1899. ] 


five psychic faculties: (1) sensation, (2) 
perception, (3) apprehension, (4) reflec- 
tion and (5) ideation.” P. 418. 

‘¢These five psychic faculties arise in the 
mind through the cognition of the five 
properties of the ultimate particles of 
matter. Every body, whether it be a 
stellar system or an atom of hydrogen, has 
certain fundamental characteristics found 
in all. These are number, space, motion, 
time (p. 13), and (p. 14) the fifth property 
here called judgment.’’ 

‘All particles of plants, soils and stars 
have judgment as _ consciousness and 
choice; but having no organization for the 
psychical functions, they have not recollec- 
tion or inference; they, therefore, do not 
have intellections or emotions. Only ani- 
mal beings have these psychical functions. 
Molecules, stars, stones and plants do 
not think; that which we have attributed 
to them as consciousness and choice is only 
the judgment of particles, but it is the 
ground, the foundation, the substrate of 
that which appears in animals when they 
are organized for conception.” P. 413. 

“These things are necessary to a primitive 
judgment: First, a sense impression ; sec- 
ond, a consciousness of that impression ; 
third, a desire to know its cause; fourth, a 
choice of a cause; fifth, a consciousness of 
the concept of that cause; sixth, a com- 
parison of one conscious term with the 
other; and seventh, a judgment of likeness 
or of unlikeness.”’ 

For all I know, that which chemists call 
affinity may be the ‘ choice of particles to 
associate in bodies.’ All the chemist tells 
us of the matter is that the word ‘ affinity ’ 
is a sign or symbol to generalize his obser- 
vations and experiments, and it is clear 
that this is no reason why he who finds 
reason to do so may not regard it as evi- 
dence of consciousness and choice. The 
"question the chemist is likely to ask is 
whether Major Powell can so play on the 


SCIENCE. 


125 


emotions of an atom of hydrogen as to per- 
suade it to do anything which we have 
not every reason to expect in course of na- 
ture. If he cannot do this his hypothesis is 
worthless, not because we can disprove it, 
but because we find no evidence of its truth 
and no value in its practical application. 
In fact, it seems to me to be one of the 
‘reified voids’ of which he has warned 
us. 

“The Utes say that the Sun could once 
go where he pleased, but when he came 
near the people he burned them. Tevots, 
the Rabbit-god, fought with the Sun and 
compelled him to travel by an appointed 
path along the surface of the sky, so that 
there might be night and day.” 

Truly, “It is a good divine that follows 
his own instruction. If to do were as easy 
as to know what were good to do, chapels 
had been churches, and poor men’s cottages 
princes’ palaces. I can easier teach twenty 
what were good to be done than be one of 
the twenty to follow mine own teach- 
ing.” 

Powell tells us that he has been robbed 
of his ‘beautiful world’ by Bishop Berkeley, 
but his attempt to neutralize the evils of 
‘idealism’ by a new philosophy seems to 
me to be anything but a happy one, for the 
application of his own principles to his 
system of philosophy seems to carry ideal- 
ism to dizzy heights where even Berkeley 
never dared to soar. 

If every particle of matter has conscious 
judgment of number, space, motion and 
time, as he tells us that it has, what be- 
comes of these concomitant properties? 
Why may not an ultimate particle assert 
that, while it cannot doubt the reality of 
the number, space, motion and time of 
which it is conscious, belief in these proper- 
ties, as distinct from the judgment of par- 
ticles, ‘ reifies a void’ and carries us into the 
realm of ‘ ghosts,’ since the essence of these 
properties is to be perceived or known, in- 


1126 


asmuch as every particle knows them, and 
it is only as known that they exist. 

According to our author’s own principles 
and assumptions, space or time, or number 
or motion, which are not the consciousness 
of particles are but the ghosts of judgment, 
the creation of entities out of nothing, for 
if he is right the esse of these properties 
must be percipt. 

It must not be inferred that Iam myself 
an idealist, for nothing could be farther 
from the truth. I seek to be neither an 
idealist nor a materialist, nor a realist nor 
a monist, but a naturalist, believing that it 
will be time to have an opinion as to the 
relation between mind and matter after we 
have found out. 

For all I know to the contrary, Powell 
may be right, and every particle of matter 
may have judgment as consciousness and 
choice ; but the test of truth is evidence, 
and not the absence of disproof, and belief 
in the judgment of particles does not con- 
cern me. 

Our author’s belief that all mind is mat- 
ter in motion, and all matter in motion 
mind, or, at least, the raw material of mind, 
isnot new. In fact, it seems to be the most 
characteristic ‘ philosophy ’ of our day. 

‘“« All systems of philosophy are vanity,” 
say the students of science ; but to Sam 
Weller’s question : ‘‘ What is your particu- 
lar vanity ?”’ they all, with one accord, be- 
gin to cry ‘ Monism !’ 

If I seem to some to have devoted more 
space to this new book on ‘philosophy ’ 
than it deserves; if I sit patiently among 
the audience, listening attentively as the 
philosophers play out their little plays ; it is 
because of my hope that they may destroy 
each other like Kilkenny cats before the 
curtain drops, and that, in the last act, 
they who are no philosophers, but simple 
honest folks, may come by their own and 
live at ease. 

Because of this hope I study the philoso- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 213. 


phers as well as I can that I may be the 
better able to do my part in bringing the 


desired end about. 
W. K. Brooks. 


JoHNS HopKINs UNIVERSITY. 

TRUTH AND ERROR.* 

WHATEVER else may be thought or said, 
all will probably agree that this is a unique 
and remarkable book. It is intensely orig- 
inal. The author is omniscient and dis- 
cusses the universe. He treats, like Scal- 
iger of old, de omni re scibili et quibusdam 
aliis, As a specimen of what Kant called 
‘architectonic symmetry ’it probably has 
never been excelled. It is essentially a 
philosophic or scientific terminology, but 
all the terms are new, for even where old 
terms are used they are invariably given 
new meanings. The whole book is, there- 
fore, like a foreign language, and the read- 
er’s first task is to learn the language. 
Everything that has been said or done by 
man is rejected as unsatisfactory and the 
temple of philosophy is entirely rebuilt 
out of new bricks cast in new molds. The 
friction thus caused in reading the book 
will, therefore, probably deter many from 
making so great an effort, and one of the 
objects of a sympathetic treatment should 
be to point out that the effort will be re- 
paid. 

Notwithstanding, however, this ‘archi- 
tectonic symmetry,’ the reader has a right 
justly to complain that his path has not 
been made as easy as it might have been. 
The terms are generally defined, it is true, 
but the definitions are scattered through 
the text and have to be hunted up many 
times, as they cannot be remembered on 
once reading. They should have been all 
collected together in one place and arranged 
in alphabetical order as acomplete glossary. 


*Truth and Error, or the Science of Intellection. 
By J. W. Powell. Chicago, The Open Court Pub- 
lishing Company. 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


As it is, even the index is absolutely 
worthless. But this is not the worst fault 
of method. The terms are all interrelated 
and these interrelations are set forth in 
divers ways and places in the text, but 
there are no tabular exhibits of the rela- 
tions, no graphic or diagrammatic repre- 
sentations. The reader is compelled to 
earry in his mind all these never-before- 
heard-of correlations among ideas expressed 
in wholly unaccustomed language. Whether 
the author wrote his book from such a con- 
densed scheme or not, he should have drawn 
it up for the use of others who have never 
dreamed of these things before. There are 
indications, however, that he worked en- 
tirely from a system evolved in his own 
mind, and certain passages show that he 
would have written it better if he had first 
worked it out in schedules, tables and 
diagrams. 

It is, of course, no part of our duty to 
undertake the task of tabulating the con- 
tents of a book, and few would probably 
be capable of doing this in the present 
case, but some attempt or stagger at this 
seems to be the only way of condensing the 
enormous mass of matter that the book 
contains into the compass of a reasonable 
summary. All the manifold terms em- 
ployed stand for principles, laws, relations, 
facts, or phenomena, and these are of widely 
different character, making it very diffi- 
cult to find any one term that will embrace 
them all. For want of a better one, and 
because little used by the author, let us 
call them all principles. In the second place, 
all these different kinds of principles are ar- 
ranged in series, or groups, or classes, each 
series, group, or class being distinct from 
any other. In the third place, each series, 
group or class consists of exactly five terms, 
standing for five principles, which have a 
definite and invariable order in the series. 
The universe is found to be quinary, or, as 
he calls it, pentalogic. Each principle in any 


SCIENCE. 127 


series is related to the ones standing before 
and after it, but if it has any relation to 
those of other series it must be to those oc- 
cupying the same place in the series, and 
not to any others. There are, therefore, 
vertical and horizontal relationships, but 
there can be no diagonal or oblique ones. 

There are, at least, twenty of these pen- 
talogic series, each of five terms, which 
alone would raise the number of terms to 
one hundred, but there are, of course, many 
other terms employed in defining and dis- 
cussing these primary ones. The author 
nowhere tells us the order in which the nu- 
merous pentalogic series should stand, and 
every one must arrange them as seems most 
logical. The following attempt in this di- 
rection makes no claim to infallibility. 

I. It seems clear that the first series must 
be that which relates to the constitution of 
matter. The five principles here involved 
are what he calls the constituents of matter, 
but which he quite as frequently denomi- 
nates concomitants, because, as he explains, 
they always go together and cannot be sepa- 
rated. These five constituents are: (1) 
number ; (2) space ; (3) motion ; (4) time; 
(5) judgment. 

IL. Without stopping to discuss the first 
series we may pass to another, the terms of 
which are correlated, 7%. ¢., horizontally re- 
lated, to the first. It embraces what he 
calls essentials or manifestations, and which, 
he says, are absolute. They are: (1) unity; 
(2) extension; (3) speed; (4) persistence ; 
(5) consciousness. 

III. Corresponding to these five essen- 
tials, which are absolute, there are five 
variables, which are relative, and stand as 
follows: (1) plurality ; (2) position ; (3) 
path ; (4) change; (5) choice. 

IV. Next in order seem to come what he 
calls the five categories, to which everything 
in the universe must be referred. These 
are: (1) kinds; (2) forms; (3) forces; (4) 
causations; (5) concepts. They also corre- 


128 


spond to the five constituents, the five essen- 
tials, and the five variables, number by 
number. 

V. Thus far the order of the series seems 
tolerably clear, but from this point on there 
may be room for difference. We will re- 
gard as the next and fifth series what he 
calls particles, and, without apologizing for 
the word, proceed to enumerate them as 
follows : (1) ethereal ; (2) stellar; (3) ter- 
restrial (geonomic); (4) vegetal; (5) ani- 
mal. 

VI. He has also a series of what he calls 
natural bodies, which are not precisely par- 
allel with the series of particles. These are: 
(1) celestial; (2) terrestrial; (3) vegetal; 
(4) animal; (5) social. The first term here 
corresponds to the second in the last series, 
and so on through to the last term, which is 
not represented in series V. 

VII. To the five particles (series V) 
there are five corresponding states, as fol- 
lows: (1) ethereal ; (2) fluid; (3) solid; 
(4) vital; (5) motile. 

VIII. Several series could probably be 
worked out, representing principles inher- 
ing in ethereal, stellar and terrestrial par- 
ticles, but to find clear statements of them 
in the book would be a difficult task. The 
author was anxious to reach the higher, 
psychological aspects of the subject, and 
hastened to deal with animal particles. In 
these he finds five processes, or operations, 
which he calls animal principles. These are: 
(1) metabolism; (2) reconstruction; (3) 
motility ; (4) reproduction ; (5) conception. 

IX. These might have been called func- 
tions, and for carrying them on there are 
five corresponding systems of organs, as fol- 
lows: (1) digestive; (2) circulatory ; (3) 
motor; (4) generative ; (5) cogitative (not 
his word). 

X. Adhering to the psychic elements, 
the five senses may be next considered. 
These vary slightly from the traditional five 
senses in very properly grouping taste and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


smell together as one and recognizing the 
muscular sense: (1) taste and smell; (2) 
touch; (8) the muscular sense ; (4) hear- 
ing ; (5) sight. 

XI. Parallel to these are the five modes of 
appeal to the senses, the senses representing 
subjective states, modes of appeal objective 
properties: (1) savors; (2) odors; (3) 
pressures ; (4) sounds ; (5) colors. 

XII. Major Powell distinguishes between 
sensations and feelings. The former term 
he confines to the subjective states residing 
in the end organs of sense (of course re- 
ferred to the brain), while the other he re- 
stricts to internal states, such as most psy- 
chologists recognize as emotional states in 
a broad sense. Without stopping to show 
that such a classification is illogical, we 
may enumerate here what he calls feeling 
impressions, of which there are, of course, ex- 
actly five. Expressed adjectively, they are: 
(1) metabolic; (2) circulatory; (3) mo- 
tor; (4) reproductive ; (5) cognitional. The 
reader cannot fail to note the close resem- 
blance of these terms to those describing the 
five systems of animal organs. 

XIII. The twelve series of principles 
thus far enumerated, though falling far 
short of the whole number that a closer 
analysis of the book would probably reveal, 
only bring us up abreast of the subject of 
mind in its intellectual manifestation, 7. e., 
intellection. The first series to be consid- 
ered here is that of the faculties. Of these 
there are also five, viz.: (1) sensation; 
(2) perception; (8) apprehension ; (4) re- 
flection ; (5) ideation. 

XIV. Each faculty probably has five ele- 
ments or factors, but only three of them 
seem to be treated from this point of view. 
In harmony with the fifth and last primary 
constituent of matter, judgment, all opera- 
tions of the mind, including sensations, are 
judgments, and the five elements of a judg- 
ment of sensation are: (1) choice of a past 
concept; (2) the consciousness of this 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


choice; (3) the choice of another concept ‘ 
(4) a consciousness of this; (5) the com- 
parison of the one with the other. 

XV. The five elements of a judgment of per- 
ception, Which he says are the same as for 
apprehension, are these: (1) conscious- 
ness of a concept ; (2) choice or recollection 
of another concept; (8) consciousness of 
the second concept; (4) comparison of the 
two concepts ; (5) the final judgment. 

XVI. In addition to these there are 
enumerated the five elements of a judgment 
proper (for he does not always use the word 
judgment in the same sense). They are: 
(1) consciousness of a sense impression ; 
(2) desire to know its cause; (8) guess or 
choice as to its cause, reviving the con- 
sciousness of the concept of the object 
chosen ; (4) comparison of this second con- 
sciousness with the first; (5) judgment of 
the likeness or unlikeness of the terms com- 
pared. 

Sixteen cosmic series have now been 
enumerated, each consisting of five princi- 
ples expressed by five terms or phrases, the 
whole forming a kind of diapason rising 
from the primary constituents of matter 
and culminating in an act of mind, or in- 
tellection. These sixteen series may now, 
for clearer comprehension, be re-enumerated 
without the pentalogic terms : 

. Constituents of matter. 

. Essentials or manifestations (absolute). 
. Variables (relative). 

. Categories. 

. Particles. 

. Natural bodies. 

. States of the natural bodies. 

. Animal principles. 

. Systems of organs, 


. Senses. 
. Modes of appeal to the senses. 


ara 
RPODDIAMTRwWWH 


12, Feeling impressions. 

13 Faculties. 

14. Elements of a judgment of sensation. 
Als, f sf a ‘* perception. 
16. af us “ “* intellection. 


As already remarked, there are many in- 


SCIENCE. 


129 


terrelations among the series, and it may 
be next inquired what are some of the most 
important of these. All after the first are 
connected in one way or another with that 
as the basis of the entire system, but the 
exact hierarchical dependence of the several 
series is not worked out. The constituents 
of matter—number, space, motion, time, and 
judgment—all belong to everything and are 
always concomitant in the sense that noth- 
ing can lack any of them and have exist- 
ence. [This is many times repeated, and 
yet there are passages, as near the bottom 
of page 13, from which it may be inferred 
that judgment only inheres in animate 
bodies.] The essentials, however—unity, 
extension, speed, persistence, and conscious- 
ness—are simply the manifestations of 
things and constitute the substrates of the 
next series, viz., the variables—plurality, 
position, path, change and choice. That 
is, unity is the substrate of plurality, exten- 
sion is the substrate of position, and so on 
through the series. 

The categories, or classific properties— 
kinds, forms, forces, causations, and con- 
cepts—also correspond, term for term, with 
the constituents, and several attempts are 
made to show their interrelations with the 
other series, but these can best be discussed 
a little later. The five species of particles— 
ethereal, stellar, terrestrial, vegetal and ani- 
mal—are arranged in an ascending series, 
such that each term after the first contains 
all that is contained in the preceding term 
and something in addition, a differenti of its 
own. This differentia in every case is re- 
lated to the corresponding term of the pri- 
mary series, 7. e., the constituents. Par- 
ticles are organized, and each class is more 
highly organized than the preceding class 
in that the next higher constituent is em- 
braced in the organization. In ethereal 
particles, which, he says, are probably ulti- 
mate, numbers alone are organized. In 
the stars numbers and spaces are organized. 


150 


In geonomic bodies numbers, spaces, and mo- 
tions are organized. In plants numbers, 
spaces, motions, and times are organized. In 
animals numbers, spaces, motions, times, 
and judgments are organized. All this 
seems to a layman to contradict the defini- 
tion of the five constituents as necessary 
concomitants of one another, which would 
predicate them all even of the first term, or 
ethereal particles, but the author could prob- 
ably explain the apparent discrepancy. He 
has not done so in his book. 

He sometimes distinguishes between par- 
ticles and bodies, and when he does so the 
bodies are composed of particles, but in his 
discussion of the natural bodies he ex- 
pressly excludes the first term of the series 
of particles, the ethereal, and begins with 
the second, giving us celestial, terrestrial, 
vegetal, animal, and social bodies, this last 
being added apparently to make the neces- 
sary five. These bodies are what he calls 
‘incorporated,’ and the order of the terms 
is an ascending order in the mode or degree 
of incorporation. This depends upon the 
character of the respective particles. The 
terms used describe this as follows : 

. Celestial bodies have molecular particles. 
Terrestrial bodies have petrologic particles. 
. Vegetal bodies have inorganic particles. 


. Animal bodies have vegetal particles. 
. Social bodies have ideal particles. 


we 


oO FP Ww 


He does not use these words in all cases 
and his terminology is here mixed and 
more or less confusing, but the above seems 
to be a fair statement of his meaning. 

If we continue to neglect the first class, 
ethereal bodies, and to begin with the 
second, celestial bodies, the corresponding 
states will be: (1) fluid; (2) solid; (3) 
vital ; (4) motile ; (5) social. Major Powel, 
never uses the word social nor the word col- 
lective, although he clearly understands this 
stage of development. His classification of 
the sciences, or scientific hierarchy, is as 
follows: (1) etheronomy ; (2) astronomy ; 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


(3) geonomy; (4) phytonomy; (5) zo 
onomy ; (6) demonomy.** Why he did not 
reduce this to five by combining phytonomy 
and zoonomy under the term bionomy (since 
from the standpoint of biology there is no 
distinction between them) is rather sur- 
prising, but explainable. We are here 
concerned only with the last term, demon- 
omy, which he prefers to socionomy, and 
throughout expresses the conception of col- 
lectivity by derivatives from the Greek 
word ojos, using the adjective demotic, and 
even extending it to animal societies, colo- 
nies, etc., to which it obviously does not 
apply. 

Passing over the animal principles, or 
functions, and their respective organs, 
whose bare enumeration above must suf- 
fice, we come to the senses. Here it is im- 
portant to point out that the senses are 
simply the organs of the categories in their 
numerical order, thus: 

. Taste (including smell) is the organ of kind. 
. Touch is the organ of form. 
. The muscular sense is the organ of force. 
. Hearing is the organ of causation. 
. Sight is the organ of conception. 

Major Powell does not say quite all of 
this in terms, but it can be safely inferred 
from the discyssion on page 279. 

When we come to the faculties we have 
another example of architectonic symmetry. 
We perceive that the faculties are simply 
cognitions of the categories, term for term: 


ar WW 


1. Sensation is cognition of kind. 

. Perception is cognition of form. 

. Apprehension is cognition of force. 
Reflection is cognition of causation. 
. Ideation is cognition of conception. 


Oe 0 Ww 


The special treatment of the cosmic series 
need not be carried farther, but it is of 
interest to note a few of the more general 
correlations that may be, with sufficient 
pains and effort, worked out of different 

* Compare the proposed classification given in the 


American Journal of Sociology for July, 1896, Vol. II., 
p. 82. 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


passages in the book. In the chapter on 
Intellections, after all the faculties have 
been dealt with, the author makes a number 
of wide sweeps across the whole field to 
show the numerous and complicated asso- 
ciations that arise among the various series. 
No tabular exhibits are offered, and the 
reader is asked to carry in his mind all 
that has gone before and to put things to- 
gether for himself. There are many gaps 
in the terminology which he must supply, 
and several new series come out that appear 
not to have been dealt with before. A care- 
ful digest of this chapter, and especially of 
the matter on pages 302 and 3803, seem to 
justify the following table of correlations. 
The five points of view are: (1) classifica- 
tion ; (2) morphology ; (3) dynamics; (4) 
evolution; (5) intellection. If by mor- 
phology he means about the same as ho- 
mology, these correspond to five of his chap- 
ters, viz., Chapters IX, X, XI, XIII and 


SCIENCE. 


131 


Some of the terms have been dealt with in 
previous chapters. The last terms of these 
series are the two highest faculties, reflec- 
tion and ideation. Metamorphosis and 
metagenesis are treated in Chapter V as 
processes or properties of geonomic bodies, 
along with other apparently coordinate pro- 
cesses, such as metalogisis (an etymologically 
impossible word) and metaphysisis (for which 
metaphysis would have done as well and been 
correct); but these do not appear in the 
present connection. Cooperation is the 
subject of Chapter XII, and development 
does not so greatly differ from evolution, 
which is the thing with which it is said to 
be associated, and is the subject of Chapter 
XIII. These two new series seem to be- 
long immediately after the categories. The 
first may be called processes: (1) series ; (2) 
metamorphoses; (3) energies or powers ; 
(4) metageneses ; (5) reflections. The sec- 
ond may, perhaps, be called products or re- 


XVIII. The pentalogies are as follows: sultant conditions: (1) classes; (2) organ- 
Associations I. Il. III. IV. Vv. 
considered in Essentials. Constituents. Categories. Processes. Products. 

1. Classification: Units. Numbers. Kinds. Series. Classes. 

2. Morphology : Extensions. Spaces. Forms Metamorphoses. Organisms. 

3. Dynamics: “Speeds. Motions. Forces. Energies or Powers. Cooperations. 

4. Evolution : Persistences. Times. Causations. Metageneses. Developments. 

5. Intellection : Sensations. Perceptions. | Apprehensions, Reflections. Ideations. 


It will be perceived that the first three of 
these columns of associations correspond to 
series 2, 1 and 3, respectively, viz., essen- 
tials,constituents, and categories, except the 
fifth and last term in each case, where sen- 
sation is substituted for consciousness, per- 
ception for judgment, and apprehensions 
for concepts. It will be further observed 
that the five associations considered in in- 
tellection are neither more nor less than 
the five faculties of intellection. We have, 
however, in this presentation, two series of 
principles that have not been previously 
considered among the pentalogic properties. 
These are seen in the two last columns. 


isms ; (3) cooperations ; (4) developments ; 
(5) ideations. 

In his final summary (p. 418) the au- 
thor throws some further light upon his 
general conception of these interrelated 
principles. He says that the constituents 
‘develop into’ the categories, and that in 
so doing both the essentials and the vari- 
ables ‘become’ something else, which gives 
rise to two other new series, here intro- 
duced for the first time in any systematic 
way, although, as in the cases last consid- 
ered, many of the terms have been dis- 
cussed, and several of them are the same 
in form at least as the terms of other series, 


132 


but seem here to have entirely different 
connotations. From his language at this 
point the following tabular arrangement 
seems justified : 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


does not correctly represent the scheme it 
shows at least that the scheme cannot be 
understood in its present form. Even 
should this presentation be accepted in its 


Constituents. Categories. Essentials. Varieties. 
1. As number develops into class unity becomes kind and plurality series 
2. As space ‘ i form extension rs figure ‘« position structure 
3. As motion We i" force speed ae velocity “path inertia 
4. As time “ Hi causation persistence te state “« change event 
5. Asjudgment ‘ ee conception consciousness tf recollection ‘‘ choice inference. 


No names are given to the series 
represented by the fourth and sixth col- 
umns of this table. The first, third and 
fifth columns are those respectively of the 
constituents, the essentials and the vari- 
ables. The second column would corre- 
spond to the categories had he not trans- 
ferred the first term, kind, to the fourth 
column, and put ‘class’ in its place. Per- 
haps the reverse was intended, and this 
would seem every way more logical. Mak- 
ing this change we would have as one of the 
new series: (1) class ; (2) figure ; (3) veloc- 
ity ; (4) state ; (5) recollection, and as the 
other: (1) series ; (2) structure ; (3) inertia ; 
(4) event; (5) inference. 

Twenty of these cosmic series of philo- 
sophie principles have now been enumer- 
ated. Others could probably be worked 
out of the text even as it stands, and the 
author is doubtless conscious of many more. 
It may be well to repeat that all these cor- 
relations are stated in the form of simple 
discussions and the tabulation has been 
made from these. Gaps are often left that 
must be supplied from remote parts of the 
book, and in a few cases terms are wanting 
and have had to be selected from the obvious 
meaning of the context. The author will, 
therefore, probably criticise these condensa- 
tions or perhaps repudiate many of them 
altogether. The only apology that can be 
made is that this seemed the only way of 
putting the contents of the book into a form 
which could be readily grasped, and if it 


main aspects it seems doubtful whether it 
will convey a clear idea to all minds. The 
terminology is so different from any hitherto 
employed that attention is constantly ar- 
rested on the words at the expense of the 
meaning. The practice of neoterism has 
been aptly compared to putting cannon 
balls inside of bales of cotton whereby their 
force and effectiveness are destroyed. The 
strongest writers are not those who use the 
greatest number of new words, and such a 
style as Huxley’s abundantly proves that 
the English language, clumsy genetic prod- 
uct as it is, is capable of conveying the 
deepest scientific and philosophic truth and 
of expressing the highest and finest shades 
of thought. The golden rule is never to 
introduce a new word when an old one will 
serve the purpose. Major Powell’s method 
reverses this, and he seems never to use a 
word that has a popular acceptance if he 
can find a synonym, however rare, or can 
coin a new term. His use of demotie for 
social, already pointed out, is simply one 
example in a hundred that might be named. 
More confusing still, perhaps, is his employ- 
ment of old words in new senses, as, for 
example, his use of apprehension as a mental 
faculty, with its opposite misapprehension, 
both of which are in common use with 
definite though highly derivative significa- 
tions. His category kind, in place of the 
Kantian quality, conveys to the average 
mind scarcely any idea at all. 

We know what his answer to all this 


® 
JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


would be, as he never tires of repeating it, 
viz., that the bane of all thinking is the use of 
the same word in different senses, whereby 
the ideas are confused by the sounds of the 
words. Butmust we make a new language 
to obviate this? Is it not due to the mud- 
dle-headedness of those who use the words? 
And will not order come out of this chaos 
when people learn to think clearly irrre- 
spective of words? It may be compared to 
the agitation about phonetics. Our lan- 
guage has only 26 letters, but over 40 
sounds, and yet many of these letters have 
several sounds. The spelling reformers say 
this is illogical. There should be just as 
many letters as sounds, and each letter 
should have one sound and one only. All 
this is true, and no one disputes it. But it 
is a condition and not a theory that con- 
fronts us, and it is found that our alphabet, 
with all its admitted defects, is capable of 
forming all the words of the language. Both 
the forms and the meanings of words are 
products of evolution and have had their 
history and genesis, and this evolution is 
constantly going on far more rapidly than 
the radical reformers suspect in the direc- 
tion of rationality and logicality. It is, in- 
deed, observed that attempts at hasty re- 
form in orthography tend to arrest natural 
development and fossilize language, as wit- 
ness the practice of dropping the syllable a/in 
all adjectives in ical, which interferes with 
an obvious natural differentiation in the 
meaning of the short and long forms, clearly 
seen in the difference already acquired be- 
tween such words as historic and historical, 
politic and political, microscopic and microscop- 
ical (what, for example, would a microscopic 
society be?). 

The natural impulse is to ignore the de- 
ficiencies that one sees in a work of this 
nature and take up the enumeration of the 
many sterling qualities that it so manifestly 
possesses, but aside from the fact that this 
would be quite useless to the reader, since 


SCIENCE. 


133 


he will see them for himself, one is here 
confronted with so many actual difficulties 
in the way of the comprehension of the 
scheme that it seems necessary to devote 
whatever space may be left after this at- 
tempt at exposition to the consideration of 
a few at least of these difficulties. There 
is certainly one salient feature of the work 
that demands a passing notice. It claims 
to be ‘the Philosophy of Science,’ as op- 
posed to ‘Idealism,’ on the one hand, and 
‘ Materialism,’ on the other, anda large part 
of it is devoted to soundly belaboring both 
these spurious systems, but especially what 
the author calls metaphysics, which rests upon 
idealism. The arch-enemy of Truth and 
chief source of Error is the philosophy which 
reduces the universe toa subjective state of 
the thinking or knowing mind. What is 
elsewhere called ‘ epistemology,’ and is de- 
fined as ‘the theory of knowledge,’ proves 
uniformly to be a theory of no-knowledge, 
or a proof that the mind can know nothing 
but its own states. Major Powell calls this 
book a treatise on epistemology (which is 
always written ‘ epistomology,’ as if it had 
to do with the digestive rather than the 
cogitative apparatus). But, unlike the cur- 
rent epistemology, its aim is to show that 
there is an objective, knowable world, the 
world with which science so effectively 
deals. All this is well, and no scientific 
man can object toit. But how does he suc- 
ceed in this? When, as at the thresh- 
old, he approaches the nature of mat- 
ter he is baffled as completely as the 
school boy, or as the other savants who 
have grappled with this problem. He 
seems to think, however, that he has found 
a way out of the difficulty. Between the 
thesis and the antithesis of the second 
Kantian antinomy he thinks he has found 
a Hegelian synthesis. This compromise or 
reconciliation consists in maintaining, as 
the term implies, that the five ‘ constituents ’ 
constitute matter. These constituents, as 


134 


we have seen, are number, space, motion, 
time and judgment. They must all exist 
in every particle, but besides and beyond 
them there is nothing. They are matter. 
Sometimes (e. g.,on p. 119) he calls these 
the ‘ properties of matter.’ At other times 
he seems to talk as though it were rather 
the five ‘essentials’ or ‘manifestations’ 
(unity, extension, speed, persistence, con- 
sciousness) that really ‘ constitute the par- 
ticle’ (p. 183). But at any rate there is 
nothing but these properties or manifesta- 
tions, and when he speaks of ‘ substrates’ 
he calls the essentials the substrates of the 
corresponding variables (plurality, position, 
path, change, choice), and does not mean 
any real substrate of which any one or all 
of these attributes can be predicated. Now, 
to the ordinary mind, or naive intellect, 
such things as space, time, motion, or as 
extension and speed (rate of motion), seem 
to be wholly immaterial. Some of them, as 
space and time, are mere conditions under 
which things exist. Motion we must agree 
with him in regarding as a state in which 
all matter always exists. Extension is a 
property that matter possesses. But when 
Major Powell refers to space he says he 
does not mean ‘ void space,’ which he says 
is a pseud-idea. Yet most persons can 
clearly conceive of void space. He must 
refer to the matter that is in space. This 
is simply a question of language. When 
he speaks of time he says he does not mean 
‘void time, but the time of states and 
events’ (p. 253). But any one can ‘ think 
away’ the whole universe of matter and 
both space and time will remain. He says 
there is no such thing as void space, and 
many passages indicate that he accepts the 
plenum. Although this is inconsistent with 
motion, and even with number, except 
unity, it will seem to many that if matter is 
made up of such intangible constituents as 
space, time, extension, speed, and judgment 
it makes very little difference whether the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 218. 


universe is full of them or not. Like the 
deathless Shades of Walhalla, hack and 
hew them as you may, they will instantly 
regain their forms and return to the combat. 

By thus constructing the material uni- 
verse out of five immaterial elements Major 
Powell seems to think that he has made 
his peace with the idealists and won the 
right to turn upon the materialists. It can- 
not be denied that he has evolved a system 
as thoroughly ideal as that of Berkeley, and 
about the only difference between it and 
the Berkeleyan idealism is that it consists 
of five nothings instead of one. For the 
last of the PRowellian nothings, judgment, 
consciousness, etc., is the whole of the 
Berkeleyan nothing, mind, and the Hegelian 
Nichts, thought. But are not consciousness, 
mind, thought, real things and important 
things? Undoubtedly, and so are justice, 
honor, truth, freedom, yet no one thinks of 
making these the constituents of matter 
and the contents of the material universe. 
All these numberless terms of elevated and 
refined thought and sentiment stand for 
relations subsisting among material things, 
but which are themselves necessarily im- 
material, as much so as distance or direc- 
tion. The number and kinds of relations 
are innumerable. By a little convenient 
expansion the term may be made to include 
space, time, motion, extension, velocity, 
persistence, resistance, judgment, conscious- 
ness, feeling, thought, mind, love, sympathy, 
virtue, justice, truth, liberty, peace, ambi- 
tion, character—all the higher and more 
evolved coneeptions of intellectual and 
emotional beings. But if any one prefers 
to call them properties, attributes, or even 
qualities, there need be no objection; they 
may be any of these things, but they are 
not matter nor the constituents of matter. 
Major Powell says that the metaphysicians 
‘reify’ mere properties or attributes. He 
has reified abstract relations and constructed 
a phantom world out of nothing. 


JANUARY 27, 1899. ] 


There is one other favorite idea in this 
book which it is difficult to resist touching 
upon, however lightly. It is the doctrine 
of hylozoism, which the author approaches 
at first haltingly and doubtingly, but which 
before the close assumes the form of a full- 
fledged dogma without the acceptance of 
which it is almost admitted the whole struc- 
ture falls to the ground. Really there was 
no occasion for the initial timidity, as the 
doctrine is backed up by a long line of the 
best thinkers of all ages. In fact, it is one 
of those conceptions which cannot be es- 
caped by the mind if only it goes on to the 
logical term in its reasoning, and it has 
never been gainsaid in any legitimate argu- 
mentation. There need, therefore, be no 
quarrel as to the notion itself that the high- 
est attribute of nature, call it mind, soul, 
spirit, thought, or what you may, resides 
also in the lowest and simplest form of ex- 
istence. No true philosopher will or can 
deny this proposition. The ‘fallacies,’ to 
use Major Powell’s regular word for the er- 
rors of human reasoning, all occur in the 
mode of approaching this great truth. It 
is so in the present case. His fallacy lurks 
at the outset in the fifth and last term of 
the first three or four series of cosmic prin- 
ciples—in the terms judgment, conscious- 
ness, concept, choice, ete.—terms which 
connote psychie processes not introduced in 
the course of evolution until the cosmic 
stage had been passed and the organic stage 
had been ushered in. The fallacy is most 
manifest in the discussion of the terms ‘ affin- 
ity’ and ‘choice.’ Here our author becomes 
thoroughly metaphysical. On pages 40 and 
41 he says: ‘“‘ We have now discovered that 
there is an additional property of the inani- 
mate particle when it is incorporated, and 
that this is affinity. All we know of affinity 
is that it is the choice of one particle for an- 
other as its associate or as their mutual 
choice. Here we are introduced to the 
multitudinous phenomena of affinity which 


SCIENCE. 135 


can be explained only as choice.” On 
pages 188 and 189 he further says: ‘The pri- 
mal law of evolution seems to be psychic. 
We shall call it the law of affinity and de- 
fine it as choice of particles to associate in 
bodies.” Finally, on page 267, he asserts 
that “the ultimate particles of inanimate 
bodies have self-activity in so far as they 
manifest choice or affinity.”? Now this is 
not ‘ reification,’ which belongs to the meta- 
physical stage of thought in Comte’s cele- 
brated trois états; it is ‘imputation,’ which 
belongs to the first or fetishistic phase of 
the theological stage, which, as Major 
Powell has elsewhere so ably shown, char- 
acterizes the thinking of the primordial 
savage. To the glorious company of Chuar, 
Spencer and Hegel, Powell must surely be 
added ! 

The whole idea of choice or affinity is 
anthropomorphic. It is to be compared 
with the popular idea of attraction, or 
gravitation as produced by one body draw- 
ing another through void space ; an idea, by 
the way, which Major Powell justly assails 
as essentially metaphysical, involving the 
actio in distans, and demanding a belief in 
some sort of magic. There is no difference 
between the attraction of bodies and the 
affinities of atoms, so far as this principle 
is concerned. To call it ‘psychic’ is an 
anachronism. To say that the action of a 
magnet or an attracting body, or the be- 
havior of chemical substances toward one 
another, is judgment, or consciousness, or 
choice, except metaphorically, is to ignore 
the vast series of steps in evolution which 
separate the chemical atom from protoplasm 
and span the chasm between the inorganic 
and the organic worlds. Hylozoism simply 
asserts that the elements and raw materials 
are there, even at the bottom of the scale, 
but it does not say that a bank of clay is a 
house of brick, or that a block of marble is 
a Venus of Milo. The worst feature of 
this doctrine, which pervades the work and 


136 


affects the whole scheme, is that it is quite 
unnecessary and superfluous. If, as the 
law of the conservation of energy demon- 
strates, all matter exists in a state of mo- 
tion which is as unchangeable and inde- 
structible as matter itself, is its one essen- 
tial attribute, what more is required? Is 
not this the true ‘self-activity,’ the true 
hylozoism? Everything else follows from 
this. Every higher manifestation is the re- 
sult of aggregation, of compounding and re- 
compounding—in a word, of organization, 
first chemical, then biotic, then psychic. 
All differences are differences of degree, and 
the universe is one. 

The last question to be asked is: Why 
pentalogic? Is the universe really a quin- 
cunx? Or has it been forced to take this 
form? We all know how strong the love 
of symmetry is in man, and too great sym- 
metry in a treatise claiming to be scientific 
stamps it as artificial if nothing more. It 
has been said that nature makes only in- 
dividuals and man make species, genera, 
families. The real world will not fit into 
our square or round or oval frames. The 
mind strains to make it fit. The search 
for analogies has been universal. The 
old cosmologies largely go by numbers—by 
threes, or fours, or fives, or sevens, or 
twelves. Reasons for this are always at 
hand—the number of fates, of points to the 
compass, of fingers on the hand, of days in 
the week, of tribes of Israel, of apostles, 
ete. There has never been any difficulty 
in making a philosophical system conform 
to any of these charmed numbers. Instead, 
therefore, of strengthening his argument 
by referring (p. 112) to the well-known 
origin of the decimal system in the number 
of digits, and declaring that ‘ the universe 
is pentalogic,’ Major Powell has thereby 
greatly weakened it by an analogy devoid 
of the least causal connection. Every 
biologist knows that it was an accident that 
in the phylogenetic development of the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


higher animals, from the many-boned fins 
of fishes through the multidigitate Dipneusta 
to the five-toed Batrachians, the reduction 
of digits happened to be arrested at this 
stage. Really, though, it never was ar- 
rested, but went on through the cloven- 
footed ungulates, until in the horse the 
number was reduced to one; so that the 
horse is the most highly developed animal, 
as Professor Cope and Dean Swift agreed 
in asserting. But this theological argu- 
ment is further demolished by the superi- 
ority of other than pentalogic systems, the 
duodecimal, and especially the octonal. If 
four instead of five had been the magic 
number no one can calculate the economy 
it would have wrought in human affairs. 

The direct study of nature reveals every- 
where irregularity, heterogeneity, amor- 
phism, chaos; and however laudable the 
effort to reduce this anarchy to law and 
this chaos to cosmos, any attempt in this 
direction which goes beyond the limit set 
by concrete facts is, by minds trained to 
the scientific habit, dismissed at once as not 
science, whatever else it may be. 

It seems a pity that a book which is ob- 
viously the product of such prolonged and 
profound philosophical meditation by a 
mind so well stored with scientific knowl- 
edge and direct experience with the real 
world should be handicapped in the manner 
here pointed out. The above specifications 
in this regard are not meant for criticisms. 
They are made rather to prepare the reader 
for what he may expect in the hope that he 
may ignore them as far as possible and 
persevere to the end, assuring him that, 
read in the right spirit, this book will 
furnish food for reflection and new views of 
science and philosophy. Meanwhile we 
commend to the author the two following 
passages from his book : 

“For some purposes of discussion a 
schematization may be of more or less 
value, but it easily degenerates into illogical 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


classification, especially when it becomes 
the foundation of a philosophy.’ (Pp. 
119-120.) 
“The true method of classification is not 
by invention, but by discovery.” (P. 113.) 
Lester F. Warp. 


INCONSIDERATE LEGISLATION ON BIRDS. 

Tue following bill has passed the House, 
and, as amended by Senator Hoar, has met 
with the approval of the Senate. If the 
amended bill meets with the approval of 
the House Conferees it will probably be- 
come a law: 


An Act to Extend the Powers and Duties of the 
Commission of Fish and Fisheries to Include 
Game Birds and Other Wild Birds Useful to 
Man: 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, that the United States 
Commission of Fish and Fisheries shall here- 
after be known and designated as the United 
States Commission of Fish, Fisheries and Birds. 
The duties and powers of said commission are 
hereby enlarged so as to include the propaga- 
tion, distribution, transportation, introduction 
and restoration of game birds and other wild 
birds useful to man. For such purposes they 
may purchase, or cause to be captured, such 
game birds and other wild birds as they may 
require therefor, subject, however, to the 
laws of the various States and Territories in 
which they may conduct such operations. 

The object and purpose of this Act is to aid 
in the restoration of such birds in those parts of 
the United States adapted thereto where the 
same have become scarce or extinct, and also 
to aid in the introduction of new and valuable 
varieties or species of American or foreign birds 
in localities where they have not heretofore 
existed. 

Said Commission shall from time to time col- 
lect and publish useful information as to the 
propagation, uses and preservation of such 
birds. 

And the said Commission shall make and 
publish all needful rules and regulations for 


SCIENCE. 


137 


carrying out the purposes of this Act, and shall 
expend for said purposes such sums as Congress 
may appropriate therefor. 

The Amendments are as follows : 

That the importation into the United States 
of birds, feathers or parts of birds for orna- 
mental purposes be and the same is hereby 
prohibited: Provided, however, That nothing 
herein contained shall be construed as prohibit- 
ing the importation of birds for museums, 
zoological gardens, or scientific collections, or 
the importation of living birds or of feathers 
taken from living birds without injury to the 
bird. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized to make regulations for carrying 
into effect the provisions of this section. 

That the transportation of birds, feathers or 
parts of birds, to be used or sold from any State 
or Territory of the United States is hereby pro- 
hibited. Whoever shall violate the provisions 
of this section shall, upon conviction in the 
district where the offense shall have been com- 
mitted, be punished for each such offense by a 
fine of $50. 

That the sale, keeping or offering for sale, 
within any Territory of the United States, or 
within the District of Columbia, of birds, 
feathers or parts of birds for ornamental pur- 
poses, except such as are excepted in the first 
section of this Act, be and the same is hereby 
prohibited. Whoever shall violate the pro- 
visions of this section shall, upon conviction, be 
punished for such offense by a fine of $50. 

In view of the high grade of ornithological 
work which the Department of Agriculture 
has already performed, and of the eminently 
scientific character of its personnel, it seems 
a great pity that work so clearly of an agri- 
cultural nature should be given to the Fish 
Commission, a department which has 
neither the experiment stations, the men 
nor the means to effectively undertake such 
duties, and whose hatcheries are in locali- 
ties so remote from sources of supply that 
the work can only be done, if at all, at a 
great sacrifice of time, money and energy. 

The introduction of new species into a 
country is, in any case, a dangerous ex- 


138 


periment—as witness the English Sparrow 
—and if undertaken at all should be done 
only under that branch of the govern- 
ment service which for many years has 
been charged by Congress with investiga- 
tions of the economic status of birds 
and mammals. While we should gladly 
see feathers and parts of birds obtained by 
killing the birds no longer used for orna- 
mental purposes, it is probable that legisla- 
tion would accomplish nothing. On the 
whole, the bill appears useless, and the new 
functions given to the Fish Commission are 
extremely ill-advised. Such bills should be 
referred to a committee of the National 
Academy of Sciences for an opinion. 


ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GEO- 
LOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, DE- 
CEMBER 28TH, 29TH AND 30TH, 
NEW YORK. 
alike 
Origin of the Grahamite in Ritchie Co., W. 

Va. I. C. Wurtz, Morgantown, W. Va. 

Tus mineral, resembling coal in physical 
aspect, and extending, in a vertical fissure 
two to three feet wide, downward to an un- 
known depth, was shown to be a residual 
product derived from the evaporation of 
petroleum. Its location is near the ‘ Oil- 
break’ anticline of Andrews, and it prob- 
ably tapped off oil from the ‘ Saltwater 
Sandstone’ of the drillers. This sandstone 
is now the source of productive wells lo- 
cated near the Grahamite vein. 


The paper led to the discussion of asphal-, 


tic deposits in fissures and to the source of 
graphite and other hydro-carbons in peg- 
matite veins. A. P. Coleman cited the an- 
thraxolite of the Sudbury region, an ultra- 
anthracitic materialin fissures. J.S. Diller 


mentioned the pitch-coal of the Coos Bay: 


lignite mines, Oregon, which cuts the lignite 
in veins. J. F. Kemp brought up the gra- 
phitic pegmatites of the Adirondacks, the 
presence of small amounts of carbon in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


the gabbros and the tarry material in the 
Branchville, Conn., quartz. M. E. Wads- 
worth referred to carbon in meteorites. 


Structure of the Lola Gas Field, Allen Co., 
Kansas. Epwarp Orton, Columbus, O. 
Read by I. C. White, in the absence of the 
author. 

NATURAL gas is more widely distributed, 
geologically and geographically, and exists 
in larger quantity than any one would 
have claimed 20 or even 10 years ago. Its 
productive horizons cover the entire Pale- 
ozoic column of the country. Cities sup- 
plied, at least partially, with natural gas 
for fuel and light are no longer uncommon. 
Two distinct divisions can be made of its 
accumulations, viz.: That which is stored in 
impervious rocks as shales, most limestones, 
ete., and that which is fownd in porous rocks. 
These divisions may be provisionally styled 
Shale gas and Reservoir gas, each having 
characteristics of its own. Shale gas occurs 
in comparatively small wells. Its wells 
lack uniformity of rock pressure. It does 
not occupy definite horizons; it exists in- 
dependently of petroleum in many cases, 
has staying properties, does not depend on 
the structural arrangement of the strata 
that contain it. Reservoir gas is found in 
great wells, approaches uniformity of rock 
pressure in each subdivision of territory, 
occupies definite horizons, is accompanied 
by oil, its wells generally come to a sudden 
end, is entirely controlled by the structure 
of the rocks in which it is accumulated. 


Two structural phases of rocks are specially 


important in this connection, the anticline 
and the terrace. The time has come for the 
acknowledgment of structure in reservoir gas 
fields even in advance of measurements. 
The Iola gas field is one of great promise. 
Its source is in a sandstone of the Cherokee 
shales, or near the bottom of the coal meas- 
ures. It proves to bea terrace of well-marked ' 
character. For seven miles the top of the 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


gas rock has an elevation of 131 feet above 
tide, rising at no point more than 45 feet 
above this. At this summit the largest 
well of the field is located. The relations 
were shown by a geological cross-section. 
The importance of the fuel to the local zine 
industry was described. 
There was no important discussion. 


The Conshohocken Plastie Clays. T. C. Hop- 

KINS, State College, Pa. 

Tue plastic clays near Conshohocken, Pa., 
form an isolated deposit. The resemblances 
to the New Jersey and Gay Head clays in 
colors, texture and structural features sug- 
gest clays of the same age. The location 
and character of the deposits were briefly 
described. There was no discussion. 


A Remarkable Landslip on the Rivivre Blanche, 
Portneuf County, Quebec. GrorcE M. 
Dawson, Ottawa, Ont. 

In this paper a brief account was given 
of the landslip that occurred on May 7th, 
last. It affected the thick deposit of Leda 
clay that floors this part of the St. Law- 
rence plain and serves to indicate that 
a clay: of this character may, under 
certain circumstances, for a short time, be- 
have almost as aliquid. The paper was 
illustrated by the lantern and threw light 
on disturbed glacial or post-glacial deposits 
elsewhere. 


Ripple-Marks and Cross-Bedding. G. K. Gri- 

BERT, Washington, D. C. 

Tue general theory of ripple-marks, as 
developed by Darwin and others, was out- 
lined and the relation of ripple-mark dimen- 
sions to dimensions of water oscillation was 
set forth. In general the distance between 
the crests of the ripple-marks is half the 
height of the wave that causes them. At 
the surface the particles sharing in the wave 
describe circles. In depths the circles flat- 
ten to ellipses and at last to forward and 
backward oscillations, which develop the 
ripple-marks. Giant ripple-marks of Me- 


SCIENCE. 


139 


dina sandstones were described, with crests 
up to 30 feet apart. The physical condi- 
tions in which they were developed were 
inferred, and waves up to 60 feet high were 
indicated. When ordinary wind waves are 
complicated by currents, compound and 
complex cross-bedding is caused by deposi- 
tion on rippled surface. The tops of the rip- 
ple-marks are cut off and deposited on the 
flanks of the ridges and lead to cross-bed- 
ding of variable dip and strike, which in 
this way differs from the cross-bedding of 
deltas and currents. The paper was illus- 
trated by the lantern. 

Volcanoes of Southeastern Russia. HARrry 

Frevpine Rerp, Baltimore, Md. 

Durine the Russian excursion of 1897 
the author visited the three very high vol- 
canic mountains, Elbruz and Kazbek, in 
the Caucasus, and Ararat, farther south. 
This paper gives a brief description of these 
mountains and was illustrated by lantern 
views. The physiography of the region 
traversed, its lake basins and glaciers were 
all described. Special attention was given 
to Mt. Ararat. The supposed thawing of 
its snow fields by the heat developed from 
oxididizing pyrites was set before the So- 
ciety and discussion asked, and the question 
of the abundance of fulgurites on one peak 
of Ararat and their scarcity elsewhere was 
proposed to the Society for explanation. 

L. V. Pirsson and others dismissed the 
pyrites as a source of heat on account of 
its manifest and absurd inefficiency, despite 
the fact that it had been seriously advanced 
abroad. Experience in the Sierras led C. 
D. Walcott to attribute the absence of snow 
in certain spots to the action of wind. E. 
O. Hovey spoke of the occurrence of the 
fulgurites on Little Ararat, and A. Heilprin 
remarked their independence of the kind of 
rock and cited the unusually large ones he 
had met in the desert of Sahara. He also 
spoke of the similarity of the profile of 


140 


Ararat to that of Shasta, and others said 
the same of Shishaldin. 
The Society then adjourned for lunch. 


PETROGRAPHIC SECTION. 

On reassembling for the afternoon session. 
the Society divided into two sections, in 
order to finish the program. The petro- 
graphic section listened to the following 
papers : 

Differences in Batholitic Granites According to 
Depth of Erosion. B. K. Emerson, Am- 
herst, Mass. 

THE speaker reviewed the distribution of 
granitic rocks in Massachusetts, illustrating 
his remarks with a sketch map of it and of 
the neighboring States to the south. He 
commented on the tonalite near Northamp- 
ton, the Cape Ann area, the Quincy area 
and the extension of quartz porphyries and 
felsites to the southwest of the last. He 
outlined another belt of igneous rocks that 
passes near Worcester. He then developed 
the idea regarding the tonalite that it had 
fused its way upward, involving in itself 
the overlying schists to such a degree that 
zones can be traced around the granite 
proper that mark the various stages of ab- 
sorption or metamorphism of the schists. 
From the granite outward there is a fibro- 
litic zone, then a chiastolitic, next an an- 
dalusitic and lastly the schists. Given one 
of these zones, such as the chiastolitic at 
Lancaster, the presence of the granite may 
be confidently predicted in depth, although 
not actually visible. The demarcation of 
the zones is sharp enough to admit of 
mapping. 

The next two papers followed before dis- 
cussion. 

Metamorphosed Basie Dikes in the Manhattan 
Schists, New York City. J. F. Kemp, New 
York City. 

HorNBLENDE schists in narrow belts have 
long been known in the prevailing mica- 
schists of Manhattan Island. This paper 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


describes one special occurrence on Morn- 
ingside Park, between 118th and 119th 
Streets, near the Columbia University Cam- 
pus. A small detailed map was shown, 
together with analyses and petrographic 
details of the amphibolite and of the mica- 
schists. The speaker stated that the am- 
phibolite must be referred to an igneous in- 
trusion or to limey bands in the schists. 
The most reasonable interpretation seemed 
to him to be the igneous. The rocks were 
illustrated by projecting thin sections with 
a polarizing microscopic lantern. 


The Granites on the North Shore of Long 
Island Sound, with some Observations on the 
Granites of the Atlantic Coast in General. 
J. F. Kemp, New York City. 

Tue general character of the crystalline 
rocks along the sound from New Haven to 
Narragansett Bay was outlined, and it was 
shown that they are chiefly granitic gneisses, 
with pronounced foliation, but with some 
augen-gneiss and considerable basic horn- 
blendic and biotitic schist. The granites 
at Niantic and Westerly, R. I., and at 
New London, Millstone Point, Stony Creek 
and some minor localities in Connecticut 
were discussed. They were shown to be 
biotite-granites of several varieties. Al- 
though they have nearly or quite the same 
mineralogy as the prevailing gneiss of the 
region, their intrusive character was shown 
by their relations to the wall-rocks and by 
their peculiar inclusions of the basic horn- 
blendic and biotitic schists. The supposed 
Carboniferous age of the Connecticut gran- 
ite,asadvanced by Pirsson,was mentioned as 
perhaps indicating a fairly late age for those 
in the gneissic areas. Slides of the rocks dis- 
cussed were afterwards thrown on the screen 
with the polarizing microscope. Theremark- 
able development of pegmatites that every- 
where characterize the region was also dis- 
cussed, both as regards mineralogy and 
geological relations. They vary from coarse 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


aggregates of pink microcline, natron-ortho- 
clase, quartz, biotite and ilmenite to prac- 
tically pure quartz, intermediate varieties 
being present. The paper concluded with 
a general review of the granites of the At- 
lantic sea-board and stated that they are 
with few exceptions biotite granites. Such 
analyses as are available were used in il- 
lustration. 

In discussion of the last three papers M. 
E. Wadsworth remarked with regard to 
the amphibolites of the second paper the 
similar changes in peridotite dikes on Lake 
Superior and their clear igneous character. 
In reply J. F. Kemp mentioned the serpen- 
tines near New York, which have lately 
been shown by D. H. Newland to contain 
recognizable olivine, and which are prob- 
ably altered basic, igneous rocks. Whit- 
man Cross stated that the Colorado granites 
with which he was familiar had sharp con- 
tacts with the wall rocks and showed no 
such infusion as described by Professor 
Emerson. They resembled rather the gran- 
ites of the Long Island Sound region. M. 
EK. Wadsworth remarked that he had al- 
ways been able to find evidence of the in- 
trusive nature of massive granites wherever 
he had searched for it and he controverted 
the idea that metamorphism was respon- 
sible for them. Referring to the supposed 
post-Carboniferous age of the Conanicut 
granite J. KE. Wolff stated that he and his 
associates at Cambridge had reached the 
conclusion that the granite intruded Cam- 
brian and not Carboniferous strata. In re- 
ply to the remarks of Whitman Cross, B. 
K. Emerson again reviewed his interpreta- 
tion of the Massachusetts phenomena. 
Augite-syenite near Loon Lake, N. Y. H. P. 

CusHine, Cleveland, O. 

Aw interesting section exposed in a rail- 
road cut near Loon Lake shows an intru- 
sive rock which has caught up fragments 
of the Grenville series. The rock is related 


SCIENCE. 


141 


to the augite-syenites but the chemical, 
analysis shows some unusual features. A. 
large area of anorthosite mapped in Frank- 
lin county, N. Y., the past summer, was 
found to grade into similar rocks on all 
sides, and they are, therefore, regarded as 
variants of the gabbro magma. They present 
a range from rocks of the acidity of granite 
to basic gabbros. The analysis quoted was 
by E. W. Morley and was as follows: 

SiO, 63.45, TiO, 0.07, Al,O, 18.31, Fe,O, 
0.42, FeO 3.56, MnO none, CaO 2.93, BaO 
0.13, MgO 0.35, K,O 5.15, Na,O 5.06. Loss, 
0.30. Total, 99.73. The rock is composed 
of microperthite, quartz, hyperstheme, a 
pyroxene near diallage and a little plagio- 
clase. It was compared with Cape Ann 
and Norwegian relatives. 

In discussion J. F. Kemp remarked the 
presence of related rocks in the Adirondack 
region south of Professor Cushing’s area 
and the possibility of others having been 
pinched into the gneisses and disguised by 
metamorphism. H.S. Washington empha- 
sized their close parallelism with the Cape 
Ann varieties described by him. M. E. 
Wadsworth discussed the passage of Min- 
nesota gabbros into rocks of this type, and 
N. H. Winchell gave a most interesting re- 
view of recent results in the study of the 
Minnesota gabbros and their relatives. Be- 
ginning with anorthosites be showed their 
passage into gabbros and their occurrence 
both as inclusions and as segregations in 
diabases. The gabbros grade into the 
‘muscovadites ’ of the Minnesota geologists 
and the muscovadites into greenstones and 
perhaps into jaspilite and iron ore. R. A. 
Daly remarked the presence of the same 
rocks as those described by Cushing in Mt. 
Ascutney, Vt., and quoted an analysis that 
was very much like Cushing’s. He outlined 
the curious change in color that the rock 
undergoes when quarried. He stated that 
it also occurs at Cuttingsville in the Kil- 
lingly Peaks, Vt. 


142 , 


On the Phenocrysts of Intrusive Igneous Rocks. 

L. V. Prrsson, New Haven, Conn. 

Tue speaker argued for the formation of 
phenocrysts at or near the places where 
they are found in rocks, and against the 
necessity of the generally accepted idea 
that they are deep-seated and older erystal- 
lizations brought up by the magma, 7. e., 
against the necessary ‘ intratelluric’ nature 
of them. He distinguished the ‘single’ 
type which does not occur as a mineral of 
the ground mass and the ‘recurrent’ type 
which does. As incompatible with an in- 
tratelluric origin, he advanced the follow- 
ing well-known phenomena: (1) Absence 
of phenocrysts from contact zones. (2) Ab- 
sence from dikes and sheets whose parent 
laccolite is richly provided with them. (3) 
The throngs of small rod-like crystals that 
surround phenocrysts and are not flow- 
phenomena, but due to crowding back, by 
growth of phenocrysts; further tabular 
phenocrysts which occur in all orienta- 
tions in a rock. (4) Phenocrysts of pro- 
phyritic granites may or may not be intra- 
telluric, according as we view porphy- 
ritic rocks as differing from granitoid in 
kind or in degree. (5) Micro-structure, 
both internal as regards inclusions and ex- 
ternal as regards surrounding crystals, may 
be explained by formation near the surface. 
The arguments for an intratelluric origin, 
viz.: (1) Large size, and (2) flow-arrange- 
ment and resorption-phenomena, were dis- 
cussed. As opposed to the views of the 
French petrographers, that there are two 
distinct periods in the crystallization of 
every igneous rock, and of the Germans, 
that there are two for the porphyritic and 
one for the granitoid, Pirsson argued for 
only one for each, and emphasized the vis- 
cosity of the magma as an important factor 
in conditioning the epoch of crystallization, 
and the rate of cooling as of great influence 
on the result. With a long time, i. e., slow 
cooling, the granitoid texture results; with 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 213. 


a short period, the porphyritic or felsitic. 
The presence of water-vapor is also impor- 
tant. With a quick fall in temperature the 
earliest minerals to begin have the best 
chance to develop; the later ones are hurried 
or are cut off. Hence, single phenocrysts 
result. Mass action isalsoimportant. The 
most abundant minerals have a predominant 
tendency to develop. Too great regularity 
is not, however, to be expected in Nature. 
The speaker closed with a statement that 
he had no hopes of the Section agreeing 
with him, but he courted discussion. He 
was mildly thunder-struck to find very 
general agreement and approval as evinced 
in remarks by J. P. Iddings and Whitman 
Cross, although, the hour being late, the 
paper could not receive the attention that 
its importance and interest merited. 

The last paper of the Section was the 
following : 


The Mica Deposits of the United States. J. 

A. Hotes, Chapel Hill, N. C. 

Tuer speaker stated that to-day all the 
commercial mica produced in the United 
States is derived from North Carolina. It 
is universally obtained from pegmatite 
dikes, in which as a maximum not or over 
1 or 14 per cent. of the dike is mica, and 
about 0.1 per cent. is the rule. About 5 per 
cent. of this mica or less is merchantable as 
sheets; the rest, if utilized, is ground. The 
chief defects are the crushing and warping 
due to dynamic processes, and the so-called 
‘ruling’ or cleavage which runs across the 
leaves and is probably due to pressure. 
The speaker described in particular the 
mica deposits of New Mexico, where the 
pegmatites are associated with granites at 
the base of the Grand Cafion series and are 
older than the Algonkian. They are dam- 
aged by folding and pressure, which, how- 
ever, largely fail in the Appalachian belt. 
The hour being late, no discussion followed, 
and after a vote of thanks to the authori- 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


ties of Columbia University the section ad- 
journed. 


GENERAL SECTION. 


In the other section, before which papers 
bearing on glacial geology and some more 
general topics were read, the following pro- 
gram was presented. The notes of the 
section on which the following account is 
chiefly based were kept by Arthur Hollick, 
but by a misunderstanding they are less 
complete than those for the previous papers: 


Pre- Cambrian Fossiliferous Formations. Cras. 

D. Watcotr, Washington, D.C. 

A DESCRIPTION was given of the pre-Cam- 
brian formations which have yielded traces 
of life, including the announcement of the 
discovery of fossils indicating highly organ- 
ized life in the pre-Cambrian belt terrane 
of Montana. The fossils occur in a fissile 
black shale or slate called the Empire shales 
and are of eurypteroid forms. The paper 
_ was illustrated by geological sections and 
by photographs and specimens of the fossils. 
It was discussed by J. A. Holmes, H. 8. 
Williams, Bailey Willis and H. M. Ami. 

After the reading of the paper oppor- 
tunity was given for the discussion of the 
papers presented the day before by W. D. 
Johnson and H. W. Turner. The discus- 
sion was participated in by I. C. Russell, 
H. F. Reid, G. K. Gilbert and W. D. 
Johnson. 


Ice Sculpture in Western New York. G. K. 

GitBerT, Washington, D.C. 

CaREFUL study of the Niagara escarp- 
ment in Niagara county shows that its 
greater features are pre-glacial, but glacial 
erosion has wrought important modification. 
The Medina shale has been so deeply seulp- 
tured as to obliterate its pre-glacial relief 
and substitute a broad fluting in the direc- 
tion of ice movement. At Thirty Mile 
Point a mass of strata several hundred feet 
broad has been moved by theice. The paper 


SCIENCE. 


143 


was illustrated by charts and was discussed 
H. F. Reid and Robert Bell. 


The Wind Deposits of Eastern Minnesota. C. 
W. Hatt and F. W. Sarpeson, Min- 
neapolis, Minn. 

TuE paper treated of the character, origin 
and age of the lag gravels and dune sands 
so frequently seen in eastern Minnesota— 
more particularly in the district between 
the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. These 
deposits in the vicinity of Minneapolis have 
been more particularly studied and their 
relations to some fossiliferous post-glacial 
water deposits were considered. The paper 
was illustrated by photographs and was 
discussed by Arthur Hollick and J. B. 
‘Woodworth. 


The Iroquois Beach at Toronto and its Fossils. 

A. P. Coteman, Toronto, Canada. 

Tue Iroquois beach north of Lake On- 
tario was long ago mapped in outline by 
Spencer, but many details in this shoreline 
remain to be filled in. Near Toronto two 
bays are found, one near Carlton on the 
west, the other near York on the east. 
Each has an area of several square miles 
and is cut off from the main lake by a 
gravel bar like the present Toronto Island. 
Horns of caribou are common in the Carl- 
ton bar, and teeth of the mammoth have 
been found in the bar near York. Fresh- 
water shells of four species—Campeloma 
decisa the most common—are found in beach 
gravels of Iroquois age near Reservoir 
Park, Toronto. These are the fresh-water 
fossils found without doubt in the Iroquois 
beach deposits. As the main Pleistocene 
beaches from Agassiz to Iroquois contain 
fresh-water shells, they must have been 
formed in lakes and not arms of the sea. 
The numerous marine shell-bearing de- 
posits of the east of Canada cease before 
Lake Ontario is reached. The paper was 
illustrated by diagrams and by fossil shells. 


144 


It was discussed by G. K. Gilbert, Robert 
Bell and J. B. Woodworth. 


Thames River Terraces. F. P. GULLIVER, 

Southboro’, Mass. 

Cuts have recently been made for a new 
line of railway on the east bank of the 
Thames river between New London and 
Norwich. They expose the structure of 
many terraces which were regarded as 
Champlain deposits by the late Professor 
J. D. Dana, and which were referred to the 
post-glacial, flooded rivers. The presence 
of eskers at lower levels has, however, al- 
ways been a fact difficult of explanation on 
this hypothesis. The railway cuts expose 
many delta lobes of fine sand which point 
down stream and toward the sides of the 
old valley and rest upon its covering of 
till. In instances their axes point up side 
valleys and away from the central axis of the 
main valley. The fine sand is covered by 
coarse boulders, such as are found in front 
of Alaska glaciers. The speaker explained 
them as due to a retreating glacier which 
filled the center of the main valley and dis- 
charged its waters and sediment laterally 
as well as longitudinally. This raised the 
question of possible side-ponds to the glacier, 
at one or several altitudes and of the cor- 
responding new interpretation of the ter- 
races that would follow as a result of the 
suggestion. 


The Gold-bearing Veins of Bag Bay, Western 
Ontario. Prrer McKetiar, Fort Wil- 
liam, Ont. 

Tue object of this paper is to show the 
peculiarities of the gold-bearing veins in the 
granite area at Bag Bay, Shoal Lake, west 
of the Lake of the Woods, Ontario. These 
veins are characterized by the smallness of 
the quartz fissures compared with the quan- 
tity of valuable ore they yield under devel- 
opment. The paper was read by Robert 
Bell in the absence of the author. At its 
conclusion the following were read by title: 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


Stratigraphy of the Pottsville Series in Kentucky. 
Martius R. CampsBett, Washington, D. C. 

American Homotaxial Equivalents of the Orig- 
inal Permian. CHARLES R. Keyes, Des 
Moines, Iowa. 

Geology and Physiography of the West Indies. 
Rosert T. Hitt, Washington, D. C. 

Surface Features of Northern Kentucky. Ma- 
rius R. CAMPBELL, Washington, D. C. 

Conditions of Formation of Dykes and Vein 
Fissures. N.S. SHALeR, Cambridge, Mass. 

Geology of the Crystalline Rocks of Manhattan 
Island and Vicinity. FrepErick J. H. 
MeErrRIL1, Albany, N. Y. 

Origin of the Highland Gorge of the Hudson 
River. Freprerick J. H. Merrizy, Al- 
bany, N. Y. 

The Iowan Drift. 
City, Iowa. 


SAMUEL Carvin, Iowa 

Loess Deposits of Montana. N. S. SHALER, 
Cambridge, Mass. 

Spacing of Rivers with Reference to the Hypoth- 
esis of Baseleveling. N.S. SHALER, Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Glacial Phenomena of the Yukon Valley. J. 
B. Tyrrett, Ottawa, Canada. 


The section then adjourned, after a vote 
of thanks to the authorities of Columbia 
University. 

The meeting proved a very successful 
one, 75 Fellows of the 280 of the Society 
being present. 

The following officers were announced as 
elected for the ensuing year: President, B. 
K. Emerson, of Amherst College; First Vice- 
President, G. M. Dawson, Canadian Geolog- 
ical Survey; Second Vice-President, C. D. 
Walcott, United States Geological Survey ; 
Secretary, H. L. Fairchild, Rochester Uni- 
versity ; Treasurer, I. C. White, West Vir- 
ginia Geological Survey ; Editor, J. Stanley 
Brown, Washington, D. C.; Librarian, H. 
P. Cushing, Western Reserve University ; 
Councillors, J. S. Diller, J. M. Safford, W. 


JANUARY 27, 1899. ] 


B. Scott, M. E. Wadsworth, W. S. Davis, 
J. A. Holmes. 

The following nominees were elected Fel- 
lows: A. R. Crook, Evanston, Ill.; N. F. 
Drake, Tientsin, China; A. H. Elftman, 
Grand Marais, Minn.; M. L. Fuller, Bos- 
ton, Mass.; A. W. Grabau, Cambridge, 
Mass.; J. H. Pratt, Chapel Hill, N. C. ; 
F. C. Smith, Deadwood, 8S. D.; F. B. Van 
Horn, Cleveland, Ohio; T. G. White, New 
York ; 8S. W. Williston, Lawrence, Kansas. 

J. F. Kemp. 


CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


WINTER MEETING OF THE ANTHROPOLOG- 
ICAL SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 
ASSOCIATION. 

Tue third winter meeting of the Anthro- 
pological Section of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science was 
held in New York on December 27th and 
28th. The sessions, which were three in 
number, and were immediately followed by 
the meeting of the American Folk-lore So- 
ciety, took place in the buildings of Colum- 
bia University. The attendance was ma- 
terially greater than at Ithaca last winter, 
and in general the meeting was successful 
and enjoyable. The chairman, Professor 
Cattell, presided, and Dr. M. H. Saville was 
Secretary. 

Eleven papers were presented, two read 
in abstract, and several read by title. A 
commendable feature of the program was 
its grouping of related papers. Thus the 
first session was devoted to physical anthro- 
pology, the second to archeology and the 
third was generally ethnological. It was 
found impracticable to follow this scheme 
rigidly, but it was observed sufficiently to 
give the discussions more distinct tenden- 
cies and greater coherence. 

The first paper read—one of more than 
ordinary value and interest on account of its 
dealing with aims and methods rather than 
material—was by Dr. Franz Boas, and was 


SCIENCE. 


145 


entitled ‘Some Recent Criticisms of Physical 
Anthropology.’ The first objection consid- 
ered was the assertion that any classifica- 
tion of mankind by physical anthropology 
must be valueless because it has been found 
impossible to identify positively an indi- 
vidual, at least from his skeleton, as belong- 
ing to a group. The answer to this criti- 
cism was found in the fact that the physical 
anthropologist studies not individuals, but 
geographical or social groups. He does not 
concern himself with assigning individuals 
to groups, but with marking the differences 
and relationships of groups as such. That 
is to say, physical anthropology deals with 
types, not persons, and the types can be 
clearly distinguished and classified. Of 
course, the significance of the type or group 
depends largely on its stability, and whether 
there is such stability depends upon the 
question whether heredity or environment 
influences anatomical changes to a greater 
degree, and this question can be finally 
solved only by an exhaustive statistical 
study of several generations. Meanwhile, 
however, heredity would seem to be the 
more potent, as various evidence instanced 
appears to show. Hence it is concluded 
that the types studied by the physical an- 
thropologist are permanent and not fortu- 
itous or meaningless, and, therefore, allow 
of classification. The rest of the paper was 
devoted to a consideration of objections to 
the metrical method. The values of this 
method, especially in giving information 
obtainable in no other way, were insisted 
upon. But the necessity of all measure- 
ments made having some biological signifi- 
cance was strenuously urged. Especially 
useless, even harmful, were sweeping classi- 
fications by merely one arbitrarily-chosen 
measurement, such as those based upon the 
cephalic index alone. 

Dr. Ales Hrdlicka followed with a paper 
upon the ‘Negro Problem.’ Dr. Hrdlicka 
analyzed and refuted the common belief 


146 


that, relatively to the white, the negro is 
decreasing. The greater increase among 
whites is due in large part to immigration. 
Without this factor, which has generally 
been overlooked, white increase is smaller 
than negro. This is borne out by the 
higher birth-rate among negroes. The 
present compensation of a higher infant 
mortality will tend to disappear as the 
negro is raised. Consequently we shall 
soon be confronted with the circumstance 
of an ever greater proportion of negro 
population. The author reviewed various 
methods of dealing with the negro problem, 
finally advocating that of dispersion. 

Dr. Thomas Wilson presented a paper 
upon modes of lighting museums, embody- 
ing the results of investigations made by 
him upon the transparency of kinds of 
glass, illustrated by photographs. A paper 
by Mr. Roland B. Dixon upon ‘ Color Sym- 
bolism of the Cardinal Points’ concluded 
the morning’s session. The paper was de- 
voted largely to a discussion of the various 
bases of association of colors with direc- 
tions, such as light, climate, geographical 
position, religion; with the conclusion, 
reached also in the ensuing discussion, that 
there is nosuch principle of association that 
is universal. 

The afternoon session was devoted to 
— archeology, and it is perhaps a significant 
fact that all the papers dealt with the ex- 
treme western portion of the continent. 
Dr. M. H. Saville presented a brief paper 
upon the ‘ Mexican Stone Yoke,’ which he 
concluded to be a symbol of death. The 
other papers on the program were: ‘ Con- 
tents of a Room Excavated in the Ruins 
of Pueblo Bonito, showing a Specialized 
Form of Pottery,’ by Mr. J. H. Pepper ; 
‘ Archeological Investigations on the North 
Pacific Coast of America,’ by Mr. H. I. 
Smith ; ‘ The California Indians,’ by Profes- 
sor McGee ; and‘ Archeological Problems of 
California,’ by Professor Holmes, the last 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 213. 


mentioned being postponed to the following 
session. Professor McGee’s extremely in- 
teresting paper opened a discussion as to 
the causes of the linguistic diversity of 
certain regions, such as California; and 
Professor Holmes demonstrated very clearly 
the great improbability of the remains in 
California auriferous gravels, including the 
Calaveras skull, dating back, as has been 
claimed, to Middle Tertiary times. Owing to 
the specialized and generally miscellaneous 
character of all these papers, it is impossi- 
ble even to attempt a summary of them. 
But one point which they all made and 
emphasized in common seems to deserve 
mention: the complete, or at least great, re- 
semblance of the archzological finds to 
articles of culture of the present time in the 
same localities. 

The second day’s session, at which Pro- 
fessor McGee presided, was opened by 
Major Powell, with a paper on the‘ Science 
of Estheology.’ Major Powell’s entire paper 
was schematic, as well as. exhaustive, and 
this, together with the fact that the system 
he presented is but part of a larger system- 
atization, renders it impossible to do it 
justice by reference to one or two of its 
points. Mr. James Mooney discussed the 
Indian Congress at Omaha. He spoke of 
the growing recognition which this method 
of ethnologic exhibition was gaining, and 
dwelt upon the especial opportunities at ex- 
positions. The Omaha Congress deserved 
high praise for the general arrangement 
of the exhibits and the ingenuity of many 
of the plans. The unrepresentativeness of 
the tribes collected, however, was a serious, 
and on the whole, avoidable defect. 

Papers by Miss Cornelia Horsford, on 
‘Cairus in Southwestern Norway,’ which 
reveal great likeness to those found on the 
Massachusetts coast, and by A. S. Gatchet, 
devoted to showing the radical identity, in 
various American languages, of the terms 
for real and true, and male, were read in 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


abstract. The following papers were read 
by title: ‘The Structural Peculiarities of 
the Eskimo of Smith Sound,’ by Dr. G.S. 
Huntington ; ‘On the Names Glooscap and 
Ma Tichi Uira Cocha,’ by Mr. Stansbury 
Hagar ; and ‘ Belief in Will-Power Among 
the Pawnees,’ by Miss Alice C. Fletcher. 
Dr. Boas represented the anthropologists in 
the discussion before the Society of Nat- 
uralists, and the Section took part in the 
other exercises and entertainments provided 
for the affiliated societies. 
A. L. KRorser. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Revised Text-Book of Geology. By JAMES D. 
DANA. Edited by Wm. Nortu Rice. Amer- 
ican Book Company. 

It is now more than sixty years since the late 
Professor Dana produced, in 1837, his first im- 
portant work, a System of Mineralogy. Dur- 
ing subsequent years, down almost to the day 
of his death, in 1895, he was engaged at fre- 
quent intervals in writing or revising the sev- 
eral important text-books of geology and min- 
eralogy that have done so much during the last 
half century to arouse among English-speaking 
students an intelligent interest in those subjects. 

The first edition of ‘A Manual of Geology’ 
was published in 1862, the more elementary 
work, ‘The Text-Book of Geology,’ following 
in 1864. So great has been the popularity of 
the briefer work that extensive revisions were 
made by the author in 1874 and 1883, while the 
final revision, begun by him just before his 
death, has been admirably carried to comple- 
tion, in the spirit of his old master, by Professor 
Wu. North Rice, of Wesleyan University. 

Professor Rice started out with the plan of re- 
taining the distinctive characteristics of the 
book, bringing it down to the present time as 
regards its facts, but still expressing Professor 
Dana’s well-known opinions. Although the 
general plan of arrangement has been kept un- 
altered in the main, some radical changes have 
been made in the interpretation of geological 
phenomena. Especially is this shown in the 
treatment of the subject of metamorphism, 


SCIENCE. 


147 


where the editor takes a very different view 
from that held by Professor Dana, and one in 
harmony with modern thought, when he states 
that the crystalline schists are ‘undoubtedly 
derived in some cases from granites and other 
plutonic rocks, a schistose structure being de- 
veloped by pressure and shearing.’ 

Another change less radical in its character, 
but affecting the whole work, is the fuller rec- 
ognition given to evolution as a factor in geo- 
logical history. The editor states that from 
this standpoint he has entirely rewritten the 
closing chapter, in which the general bearing of 
paleontology upon evolution is discussed. 

The zoological and botanical classifications 
are much modernized, although the angticized 
terminology used by Professor Dana in earlier 
editions is for the most part followed. Professor 
Dana’s plan of terminating names of rocks in 
yte in distinction from the names of minerals 
which terminate in ite is abandoned on the 
ground that the innovation in nomenclature 
has not been adopted by other writers. ‘ 

In general, however, Professor Rice has 
faithfully reproduced the well-known opinions 
of Professor Dana in his revision, but has in- 
troduced enough in the way of modern views 
to make the book a most acceptable addition to 
our list of elementary text-books of geology. 
It is not an easy task to revise the work of an- 
other, and it often involves much more labor 
than writing the entire book anew. Professor 
Rice is to be congratulated on the success of 
his labor of love in revising ‘The Text-Book of 
Geology,’ which, from the earlier relations of 
teacher and student, he states was entered upon 
with something like a feeling of filial obligation. 


W. B. CLARK. 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 


The Groundwork of Science. A Study of Episte- 


mology. By Sr. George Miyart, M.D., 
Pu.D., F. R.S. New York, G. P. Putnam’s 
Sons; London, Bliss, Sands & Co. 1898. 


Pp. xviii + 328. 

This book forms the second volume of ‘ The 
Science Series,’ which is now appearing under 
the editorial supervision of Professor Cattell 
and Mr. F. E. Beddard. ‘‘ Each volume of 
this series,’’? the prospectus sets forth, ‘‘ will 


148 


treat some department of science with refer- 
ence to the most recent advances, and will be 
contributed by an author of acknowledged 
authority.’”? The book before us represents 
epistemology, or the science of knowledge, in 
this series. It does not, as one might perhaps 
expect from the title, treat primarily of the 
methods of science, or of the fundamental 
conceptions which science employs, but deals 
with the essential nature of knowledge, or 
‘science’ in the broader sense, as developed by 
the human mind, in its relation to a world of 
real objects. 

The table of contents shows the following 
list of chapters: (I.) Introductory; (II.) An 
Enumeration of the Sciences; (III.) The Ob- 
jects of Science; ([V.) The Methods of Science; 
(V.) The Physical Antecedents of Science ; 
(VI.) The Psychical Antecedents of Science ; 
(VII.) Language and Science; (VIII.) Intel- 
lectual Antecedents of Science; (IX.) Causes 
of Scientific Knowledge; (X.) The Nature of 
the Groundwork of Science. The author re- 
gards as futile all attempts to furnish either a 
systematic or a historical classification of the 
sciences. He, therefore, contents himself with 
an enumeration of them, indicating briefly at 
the same time some of their more general log- 
ical relations. 

Tt will be of advantage to state at once the 
principal results of the book, and thus to show 
the main theses which the author defends 
against what he regards as certain more or less 
widely prevalent tendencies of the present age. 
These are as follows: (1) The continuous exist- 
ence of the Self or Ego; (2) the existence of a real 
world of extended things in themselves; (3) the 
necessity of assuming as intuitively known cer- 
tain propositions which cannot be proved ; (4) 
the possibility of absolute scientific certainty 
about some things ; (5) the existence of breaches 
of continuity at certain points in the world-pro- 
cess, as, for example, between the organic and 
the inorganic, between insentient and sentient 
organisms, and especially between merely sensu- 
ous and emotional states of consciousness and 
the intellectual or rational life; (6) the inad- 
equacy of a purely mechanical or naturalistic 
theory of evolution, and especially the impos- 
sibility of explaining in this way the various 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 213. 


forms of life, and the intellectual and moral 
nature of man. 

We may now look a little more closely at one 
or two of these propositions. The long chap- 
ter, ‘The Objects of Science’ (pp. 34-88), is 
occupied almost wholly with a refutation of 
idealism. The author feels ‘‘ that if idealism 
were true, the authority and certainty of other 
self-evident truths would be gravely compro- 
mised, especially if a truth so self-evident as the 
existence of our own body (as we and most men 
understand that body to exist) were but an illu- 
sion and self-deception of the mind’’(p. viii). Un- 
fortunately, Mr. Mivart is here fighting a prod- 
uct of his own imagination. He regards ideal- 
ism as the doctrine which denies the existence 
of an external world, and which can be summed 
up in Berkeley’s somewhat unfortunate phrase, 
‘the esse of things is their percipi.’ His own ar- 
guments consist mainly in an oft-repeated decla- 
ration that ‘‘ we have an intuitive knowledge of 
the external world as extended. ‘‘ This, of 
course, is as obvious an example of ignoratio 
elenchias were the appeals of the Scottish philos- 
ophers to ‘Common Sense’ in behalf of what 
neither Berkeley nor anyone else has ever 
dreamed of denying. Moreover, the assertion 
in this chapter that there is a world of things in 
themselves, existing apart, and not dependent 
upon any mind, is sufficiently refuted by the 
passage with which the book closes. There we 
are told that ‘‘the action of an all-pervading 
but unimaginable intelligence alone affords us 
any satisfactory conception of the universe as a 
whole, or of any single portion of the cosmos 
which may be selected for exclusive study’’ 
(p. 821). In spite of the author’s protestations, 
then, we shall have to regard him as an idealist, 
in exactly the same sense as we regard Aristotle 
and Hegel as idealists. 

Numerous discussions are devoted to the 
question of intuitively certain or self-evident 
truths. The author’s position seems to be that 
all inference rests upon the existence of certain 
indemonstrable propositions, which have to be 
accepted as intuitively self-evident (pp. vi, 103 
ff, 240 f., 309). These truths are of an entirely 
different order from the facts known to us by 
perception or by inference. Each is known as 
certain and necessary in itself, and this cer- 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


tainty and necessity are not derived from its 
relation to anything else. Moreover, these 
truths are directly apprehended by our power 
of intellectual intuition (p. 104). It is those 
fundamental certainties which constitute ‘the 
groundwork of science,’ and the author enu- 
merates the list several times with what appears 
to be slight variations (pp. 106, 241 ff., 810 ff). 
In this list are found: (1) the possibility of ab- 
solute certainty ; (2) the existence of an ex- 
ternal world of real objects ; (8) our own sub- 
stantial and continuous personal existence ; (4) 
the possibility of drawing conclusions from 
premises; (5) the existence of self-evident 
truths; (6) the law of contradiction ; (7) self- 
evident axioms ; (8) the principle of causality ; 
(9) the principle of uniformity ; (10) the fact 
that some things are contingent and some 
necessary. 

It is well-known that Aristotle maintained 
that all knowledge presupposes the existence 
of certain self-evident propositions which 
neither require nor are capable of proof. The 
earlier Scottish philosophers, also, adopting the 
same position, made several attempts to furnish 
lists of self-evident truths. But this doctrine 
no more belongs to the philosophical thought 
of to-day than does ‘phlogiston’ to modern 
chemistry, or ‘ vital force’ to biology. In the 
first place, experience has shown that each 
thinker who defends intuitive truths is likely 
to have certain propositions of his own which 
seem to him specially sacred, and which he is 
anxious to place beyond the pale of examina- 
tion and criticism. Secondly, what we believe 
to be a truer conception of the nature of mind, 
has led us to see that all knowledge is organic 
—that all of the facts of our experience are in- 
terrelated and mutually dependent. There 
are no truths, then, which are isolated and 
self-sufficient; every fact is known to be true 
and necessary only through its connection 
with other facts. The so-called self-evident 
propositions must be proved and justified in 
exactly the same way in which scientific hy- 
pothesis are shown to be true. Thus, for ex- 
ample, when I say that it is self-evident that 
an external world exists, or that nature is uni- 
form, I mean that these propositions are ob- 
viously true because in no other way can I 


SCIENCE. 


149 


account for the facts of my experience. The 
proof in these cases may be easier and more 
convincing than the demonstration of the natu- 
ral-selection hypothesis, but the former are no 
more self-evident than the latter. 

If space permitted, I should like to examine 
in some detail the doctrine of new beginnings, 
‘breaches of continuity,’ at certain points in 
the world process. Here, again, it seems to me 
that the conclusions reached by Mr. Mivart 
are not in accord with the results of modern 
scientific and philosophical thought. The 
modern defender of teleology does not, it seems 
to me, rest his case upon breaches of continuity 
in natural law, or upon new beginnings at this 
point or that. He rather insists that no part 
of the world—not even the inorganic—can be 
completely understood without regarding it as 
the manifestation of an energy in some way 
analogous, at least, to his own intelligence. If 
Mr. Mivart had made use of the idealistic prin- 
ciple which he so clearly expresses at the end 
of his book, and to which I have already re- 
ferred, he would have found a surer defence 
against materialism, and would have avoided 
what must seem to many scientists an attempt 
to introduce final causes into the field of natural 
science. 

In conclusion, I can not refrain from saying 
that it seems to me unfortunate that this book 
should represent Epistemology in a series which 
undertakes to deal’with the most recent advances 
in the various sciences. The volume doubtless 
contains a good deal that is interesting and sug- 
gestive ; but, at the same time, it is at once evi- 
dent that the writer’s special work has been in 
a different field from that of Epistemology. It 
seems to me that it is sufficiently clear, from 
what has been already said, that the author 
has not followed at all the epistemological dis- 
cussions of the last twenty years. I add two or 
three illustrations of very serious confusions 
with regard to the facts and problems of mod- 
ern philosophical systems which are not un- 
common in the book. ‘‘The whole philos- 
ophy of Germany and Holland,’’ we are in- 
formed, ‘‘ from Spinoza to Hartmann, has been 
the result of the mental seed first sown in men’s 
minds by Berkeley, who explicitly produced 
what was implicitly contained in Jiocke’’ (pp. 


150 


40-41). This is truly wonderful in view of the 

fact that Spinoza was dead eight years before 

Berkeley was born! But even with regard to 

the later philosophers, the statement is thor- 

oughly misleading. Again, the author might 
have learned from any standard history of phi- 
losophy, without even looking inside Fichte’s 
works, that the statement that ‘Solipsism was 
first developed and upheld by Fichte, though 
he ultimately abandoned it’ (p. 88), is wholly 
unwarranted. Finally, Mr. Mivart in denounc- 
ing the futility of the question : ‘How is ex- 
perience possible ?’? supposes that Kant and 
others who have formulated the epistemolog- 
ical problem in this form raised an absurd ques- 
tion as to whether knowledge does or does not 
exist, and apparently does not at all understand 
that they were inquiring what conditions its 

actual existence implies (pp. 56, 275). 

Why should one write on a philosophical 
subject without special knowledge, any more 
than on biology or physics? 

J. E. CREIGHTON. 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 

The Freezing-point, Boiling-point and Conduc- 
tivity Methods. By Harry ©. Jones, In- 
structor in Physical Chemistry in Johns Hop- 
kins University. Easton, Pa., Chemical 
Publishing Co. Pp. 64. Price, 75 cents. 

In this book, which is intended as a labora- 
tory guide, the author has not only included 
the mechanical processes, but has discussed 
briefly the principles upon which these methods 
are based. The subject is treated under three 
heads. In the first part the historical develop- 
ment and applications of the freezing-point 
method are discussed, as is the boiling-point 
method in a similar manner in the second part. 
In the third part the method used to determine 
the conductivity of solutions and the applica- 
tions of this method are described. An ap- 
paratus for use in the boiling-point method is 
described by the author which is much simpler 
than the Beckmann apparatus and very rapid 
and accurate in its results. The methods de- 
scribed in this book can be carried out in a 
short time and should be tried by every student 
of chemistry who is interested in the methods 
which have done so much to advance our ideas 
of the nature of solutions. J. E. G. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 213 


Outlines of Industrial Chemistry. A Text-book 
for Students. By FRANK THorpP, PH.D., In- 
structor in Industrial Chemistry in the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology. New York, 
The Macmillan Co. 1898. Pp. xx+543. 
This book aims to furnish an elementary 

course in Industrial Chemistry suitable for stu- 

dents in the schools of technology. The sub- 
jects treated are broadly classified under the 
heads, ‘Inorganic Industries’ and ‘ Organic In- 
dustries,’ about one-half of the book being de- 
voted to each. Metallurgy has been entirely 
omitted. Otherwise the topics selected for dis- 
cussion are essentially the same as in other sim- 
ilar works. The descriptions of processes, 
while necessarily concise, are clear and inter- 
esting. The author has evidently made a care- 
ful study of recent methods of manufacture as 
well as of older, standard processes. The fre- 

quent reference to American practice is an im- 

portant feature which distinguishes the book 

from other works on chemical technology. A 

select bibliography follows each subject, and 

will be found very useful to those wishing to 
study any topic in greater detail. 
W. A. NOYEs. 


Pari (Jeg 
Felix Alcan, 


Apergus de taxinomie générale. 
DuRAND (de Gros). Paris, 
Editeur. 1899. 

The title of this book leaves one somewhat 
in the dark as to the nature of its contents, but 
a brief perusal shows that its mission is not so 
much to tell us how to classify as how not to 
classify. Not that the author does not believe 
in classification ; on the contrary, he considers 
that everything should be classified and may be 
classified, provided we adopt the proper meth- 
ods. What these methods are we are not told; 
for, after exhorting us to set about fashioning 
the general science of classification without de- 
lay, M. Durand hastens to add that he himself 
proposes to take no hand in so important an 
undertaking, preferring rather to stand by and 
criticise the efforts of others. Towards all 
existing schemes the attitude of the author is 
very much like that of the ship-wrecked Irish- 
man who, as he crawled up the beach of the 
desert island, waved a piece of driftwood about 
his head, exclaiming : ‘‘ Whatever form of gov- 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


ernment I’m under I object to it!”’ This general 
dissatisfaction with the present order of things 
is evinced even in the title, where we find 
taxinomy instead of taxonomy, this latter 
word being rejected on the ground that its for- 
mation is vicious, a view that should meet 
with the approval of sticklers for nomencla- 
torial purity. 

Nevertheless, four chapters are devoted to as 
many orders, or categories, of classification, 
namely, those of resemblance, structure, degree, 
(hierarchie) and phylogeny (evolution), all of 
which are treated as if they were new discover- 
ies. These chapters contain numerous familiar 
examples of tiéxonomic methods as well as sun- 
dry ingenious diagrams, all very good in their 
way, but all more or less familiar to everyone 
who has hat do explain the principles of zoolog- 
ical classification. We are, then, given a dis- 
course on ‘the ternary correlation of the four 
taxonomic orders,’ after which M. Durand pro- 
ceeds to pour the vials of his wrath upon taxon- 
omists and taxonomic systems in general and 
Haeckel and his genealogical tree in particular. 
After this we are told that genealogical classifi- 
cation is the only natural method, those founded 
upon remembrances all being artificial, since 
they are based upon arbitrarily chosen charac- 
ters. Itis hardly worth while to pursue the 
subject further, but it may safely be predicted 
that few will share the author’s conviction that 
hisstatements are definite and firmly-established 
facts upon which we may confidently build. 

F. A. L. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Minerva, Jahrbuch der gelehrten Welt. Edited by K. 
TRUBNER and F. MEntTz. Strassburg, Karl J. 
Triibner; New York, Lemckeand Buechner. 1899. 
Eighth year, 1698-1899. Pp. xxiv-+1139. 

Transactions of the American Climatological Association 
for the year 1898. Philadelphia, Printed for the 
Association. 1898. Pp. xxxiii+243. 

The Second Washington Catalogue of Stars, together with 
the annual results upon which it is based. Prepared 
under the direction of JoHN R. EASTMAN. Wash- 
ington, Government Printing Office. 1898. Pp. 
lxi+287. 

The Last Link, Our Present Knowledge of the Descent of 
Man. ERNST HAECKEL. With notes and bio- 
graphical sketches by HANS GApDow. London, 


SCIENCE. 


151 


Adam and Charles Black; New York, The Macmil- 
lan Company. 1898. Pp. 158. $1.00. 
The Principles of Agriculture. L. H. BAILEY. New 


York, The Macmillan Company. 1898. Pp. xx+- 
300. 


The History of Mankind. FRIEDRICH RATZEL. Trans- 
lated from the second German edition by A. J. 
ButLER. With introduction by E. B. TyLor. Lon- 
don and New York, The Macmillan Company. 
1898. Vol. III. Pp. xiii+-599. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Journal of Physical Chemistry, November. 
‘Potassium Chlorid in Aqueous Acetone,’ by 
J. F. Snell; a study of what the author calls, 
at Professor E. B. Titchener’s suggestion, the 
dineric surface for the system potassium chlorid, 
acetone, and water. ‘On the Heat of Solution 
of Liquid Hydriodie Acid,’ by F. G. Cottrell ; 
liquid hydriodic acid proves to be an endother- 
mic compound with reference to gaseous hydro- 
gen and solid iodine, but its heat of decompo- 
sition is only a little more than a quarter of 
that of the acid in the form of gas. ‘Note on 
the Transference Number of Hydrogen,’ by 
Wilder D. Bancroft. ‘Alcohol, Water, and 
Potassium Nitrate,’ by Norman Dodge and L. 
C. Graton ; a study of the concentration-curve. 

December. ‘The Conversion of Ammonium 
Thiocyanate into Thiourea and of Thiourea 
into Thiocyanate,’ by John Waddell; the con- 
version of thiocyanate into thiourea takes place 
very slowly, if atall, below 110°, but above 150° 
is rapid and equilibrium is reached, whether 
starting from the thiocyanate or from thiourea, 
when the product contains a little more than 
20 per cent. of thiourea. ‘Solution Densities,’ 
by H. T. Barnes and A. P. Scott; a study of 
the density curves for different concentrations 
of solutions of zinc, magnesium, cadmium, po- 
tassium and sodium sulfates, magnesium, zinc, 
potassium and sodium nitrates, potassium and 
sodium chlorids, hydrochloric and_ sulfuric 
acids. ‘Electromotive Force between Amal- 
gams,’ by Hamilton P. Cady. 

American Chemical Journal, January. ‘ Meta- 
thetic Relations between certain Salts in Solu- 
tion in Liquid Ammonia:’ By E. C. Franklin 
and C. A. Kraus. ‘Some Properties of Liquid 
Ammonia:’ By E. C. Franklin and C, A. Kraus. 


152 


The great similarity of liquid ammonia and 
water in their dissociating power has led toa 
thorough study of the properties of liquid am- 
monia. It was found that in a considerable 
number of cases the nitrates of the metals were 
acted upon, when in solution in liquid am- 
monia, by the ammonium salts and a salt pre- 
cipitated as a result of the metathetic reactions, 
if the salt formed was insoluble in ammonia. 
It was also found that many of the physical 
constants, which in the case of water are so en- 
tirely different from those of all other liquids, 
are almost as strongly characterized in the 
case of ammonia as in that of water. ‘On 
the Constitution of the Phenylhydragones: ’ 
By P. C. Freer. ‘Note on the Action of 
Liquid Hydriodic Acidon Ethylether:’ By 
F. G. Cottrell and R. R. Rogers. In this case 
there was a partial conversion of the ether 
into ethyliodide. ‘Contributions to our Knowl- 
edge of the Oil of Lemon-Grass:’ By W. Stiehl. 
Isolation of the three aldehydes: Citriodoric 
aldehyde, Geranial and Allo-lemonal. The 
American Chemical Journal will hereafter ap- 
pear monthly, and two volumes will be issued 
yearly. J. ELLIOTT GILPIN. 


We have received the first issue of Science 
Work, a Monthly Review of Scientific Literature, 
edited by Mr. Waller Jeffs and published at 
Manchester by Messrs. Robert Aiken & Com- 
pany. It is stated in the introduction that the 
Journal ‘ will aim to give a general review of the 
world of science and present the reader as it were 
with the cream of the scientific press,’ but we 
fear that it will be difficult to do this within the 
limits of eight pages published twelve times 
a year. 4 

Natural Science, now published by Mr. Henry 
J. Pentland at Edinburgh, and still edited anon- 
ymously, but under new auspices, opens with 
the issue for January its fourteenth volume. 
The general character of the contents, which 
has always made Natural Science interesting 
and profitable, is well maintained. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
AT the regular meeting of this Society held in 
Washington, D. C., January 11, 1899, Mr. Wil- 
lard D. Johnson, U. S. G. S., read a paper on 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 213. 


‘Subsidence Basis of the High Plains,’ and Dr.C. 
Willard Hayes, U.S. G. 8., oneon the ‘Lake Re- 
gion in Central America.’ Dr. Hayes’ paper was 
based upon observations made recently in Cen- 
tral America while working under detail as 
geologist to the Nicaraguan Canal Commission. 
Abstracts of both papers follow. 


Subsidence Basins of the High Piains.—The 
Great Plains structural slope has been super- 
ficially modified by streams from the Rocky 
Mountains, in three stages of gradation—a first 
stage, in which a hard-rock topography was de- 
veloped by degradation; a second, in which 
this topography, by aggradation, became buried 
under an alluvial waste sheet to depths within 
its valleys as great as 300 feet; the third and 
present stage, in which the mountain streams 
are again engaged in cutting and have trenched 
the aggradation plain with parallel valleys, 
wide apart. But left thus above grade, this 
flat surface, in the greater part, has been eroded 
also by the drainage from its local precipita- 
tion. In notable exception isa transverse, mid- 
slope belt. Here the flat surface suffers no 
erosion from its local precipitation and has vir- 
tually no local drainage. It therefore stands 
in light relief. Transected by the mountain 
streams into broad plateaus of faint elevation, it 
forms a belt of residual tables or upland flats of 
survival. The Staked Plains plateau, of north- 
western Texas, constitutes the best individual 
example. These are the High Plains—to some 
extent locally so-called. The Great Plains slope 
has a graduated climate—from humid to arid, 
east to west. The High Plains correspond in 
position to its ‘subhumid’ belt. 

In the arid belt to the westward the vegeta- 
tion—of grass and brush—grows in tufts. It 
affords but slight protection against the feeble 
precipitation, and the surface is conspicuously 
eroded. Upon the High Plains, within the sub- 
humid belt, however, vegetation is wholly of 
grass, which forms a universal, close-knit sod. 
This vegetal cover affords complete protection 
against the considerable local precipitation. 
The High Plains are distinctively the ‘short- 
grass country.’ Asa residual topographic belt, 
within the climatic belt, they are held by their 
sod. The local precipitation—so much of it as 
does not evaporate—is absorbed. 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


These uneroded tables, however, have a faint 
topography due to subsidence. The flat surface 
is extensively pitted with saucer-form depres- 
sions. Their dimensions vary from a foot or 
two in depth and a breadth of 100 feet to 75 
feet in depth and a breadth of two or three 
miles. Wind action is plainly to be excluded. 
Occasionally they are surrounded, upon the 
hard, sod flats, by concentric cracks, deep 
enough to cause injury to cattle and to entrap 
calves. 

These forms, large and small, without differ- 
ences in type, are attributed to the operation of 
two distinct and unrelated processes: (1) set- 
tlement and compacting within the deep and 
unconsolidated mass of silt sand and gravel, 
through instrumentality of the ground-water ; 
and (2) solution of salt and gypsum, and conse- 
quent caving, within the rocks of the floor, 
where those rocks are the Red Beds. 

The concurrence of two unusual causes, to 
produce, alike, within a limited area, a result 
so unusual, appears, however, to be intelligible 
on this assumption, viz.: These processes are, 
in fact, of universal operation ; they are at the 
same time of too light effect to stand a chance 
in competition with erosive agency; but the 
sod-covered, subhumid plains, remarkable in 
that they retain a flat surface unscored by 
erosion, afford exceptional opportunity for the 
preservation of their delicate record. 

The Lake Region in Central America.—The 
region described includes southern Nicaragua 
and northern Costa Rica, extending from 10 
degrees and 30 minutes to 12 degrees and 30 
minutes north latitude, and from the Carribean 
to the Pacific. It includes the route of the pro- 
jected Nicaragua Canal and the largest lakes of 
the western hemisphere south of the glaciated 
region of North America. The region is char- 
acterized by two types of topography, viz.: (1) 
the recent volcanic ranges and plateaus in which 
the original constructional forms are more or 
less perfectly preserved ; and (2) the areas of 
Tertiary, igneous and sedimentary rocks in 
which the drainage is mature and the forms are 
due to long continued subaerial erosion, A note- 
worthy feature is the absence of any continuous 
mountain range or chain of dominant peaks 
through this portion of the isthmus, A shallow 


SCIENCE. 


153 


depression occupies the western portion of the 
region, its longer axis being nearly parallel with 
the Pacific coast. This contains Lakes Nica- 
ragua and Managua. The former is 110 miles 
in length, with an area of 3,000 square miles 
and a mean altitude of 106 feet. Its greatest 
depth is 200 feet. 

The climate of the region is tropical and in- 
sular, the annual range of temperature being 
small. The rainfall is greatest on the east coast, 
nearly 300 inches at Greytown, and decreases 
somewhat uniformly westward, being less than 
80 inches on the west coast. Connected with 
the decrease in the rainfall there is a striking 
change in the character of the vegetation, the 
dense tropical jungle of the east coast giving 
place to open forests and savannahs in the west. 

No rocks older than the Tertiary are formed 
along the line of the canal. They consist of 
eruptive and sedimentary formations, the former 
including basalt, andesite and dacite, and the 
latter calcarious sandstones and shales. In ad- 
dition to these Tertiary rocks there are exten- 
sive recent alluvial deposits and the tuffs and 
lavas of the modern volcanoes. The conditions 
throughout the region, 'but particularly in its 
eastern portion, are favorable for rock decay, 
and the regolith is unusually extensive. 

The late geologic history of the region is 
briefly as follows: In early Tertiary time this 
portion of the isthmus may have been wholly 
submerged. At any rate, marine sediments 
were deposited throughout a considerable part 
of its extent, and this was accompanied by 
intense volcanic activity. In middle Tertiary 
time there was an uplift and long continued 
erosion, the constructional voleanic topography 
being obliterated, and the region, at least 
toward the south, being reduced to one of low 
relief. The present basin of Lake Nicaragua 
was then occupied in part by a gulf connected 
with the Pacific to the northwest and in part by 
the valleys of tributary streams. The conti- 
nental divide then occupied the hilly or moun- 
tainous region east of the lake, crossing the 
present San Juan valley near Castillo. In late 
Tertiary or post-Tertiary time the isthmus was 
elevated at least 300 feet and deeply dissected. 
Following the elevation was a renewal of vol- 
canic activity. A series of vents opened on the 


154 


Pacifie side and their ejecta built a dam across 
the outlet of the gulf, thereby forming the lake 
basin. As this dam increased in height the 
waters behind it were raised until they over- 
topped the continental divide and escaped to 
the Atlantic, forming the present San Juan. 
The region has suffered a recent depression by 
which the rivers were drowned, and their estu- 
aries thus formed have since been silted up. 
Wa. F. MoRsELL. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
MATTER, ENERGY, FORCE AND WORK. 

To THE EpIToR OF SCIENCE: In the generous 
and appreciative review by Professor Menden- 
hall (in SCIENCE, p. 24, January 6) of my book 
on ‘Matter, Energy, Force and Work’ there 
occurs a line to which I would like to advert 
briefly. ‘‘‘The something’ which distin- 
guishes substance from matter is energy. ‘A 
designated quantity of substance consists of a 
definite quantity of matter in permanent as- 
sociation with a definite quantity of energy or 
motion.’ The two words ‘or motion’ render 
this statement somewhat obscure. What is 
meant by a ‘definite quantity of motion?’ Pro- 
fessor Holman’s definition of motion is that of 
nearly all writers, namely, ‘change of relative 
position.’ It is a curious but common practice 
to define it in this way and then to define its 
‘quantity’ by associating with it something 
(matter, mass) absolutely unlike it in every re- 
spect. It is certainly not in this sense that he 
means to use it in the phrase above quoted.”’ 

I desire to express my assent to this comment 
and to reply to the query therein contained, or 
rather to remove, if I may, the obscurity. 
This result will, I think, be effected if for the 
words ‘of motion’ in the description of sub- 
stance be substituted the phrase: or permanently 
endued with some definite mode of motion. 

May I also add, to preclude possible misap- 
prehension, that the proposition ‘ Continuous, 
uniform, and permanent occupancy of space,’ 
quoted at page 25, is one which I do not ad- 
vance as a definition of matter, or asa logical 
deduction from known premises, but only as a 
possible view of matter if the wnproved hy- 
pothesis of the kinetic nature of all energy be 
adopted as a step in the inference. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 213. 
With sincere thanks for your courtesy in pre- 
senting this review, I am 
Yours truly, 
Sitas W. HoLMAN. 
BROOKLINE, Mass., January 17, 1899. 


ZOOLOGICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Dr. Dall’s ‘ tol- 
erably active and rather long experience’ has 
been singularly blessed if he has never met with 
an advance copy of a paper issued at an uncer- 
tain date, not offered for sale, and conflicting 
in its contents with some other paper offered 
for sale at a known date about the same period; 
if he or the libraries he frequents have always 
been able to purchase without a delay of more 
than one year the new books or pamphlets that 
he wanted to see ; if he has always had so much 
as a printed postcard in reply from authors 
whose works he has sought in exchange for his 
own; and if he has always been able to find 
the address of every writer with whom he 
wished to communicate. <A restricted and short 
experience has acquainted me far too thoroughly 
with all these difficulties, but, as this is not an 
autobiography, the details need not be inflicted 
on yourreaders. Dr. Dall shall have them if 
he wishes. 

Apart from his scepticism, Dr. Dall appears to 
agree, at least in spirit, with the proposal that 
he has now twice criticised. But two remarks 
of his seem to call for reply. 

My committee has not yet definitely pro- 
nounced on the question: What constitutes 
publication? But it is safe to say that it does 
not regard printing as publication, and therefore 
sees no great value in placing ‘the actual date 
of printing’ on every signature. This, too, may 
be said: That a British Association Committtee 
would never recommend an author to sell his 
papers without an express agreement with the 
society that has been at the expense of setting 
up the type, and perhaps of drawing the plates. 
In our country this may be done, but it is not 
regarded as particularly creditable to the au- 
thor that does it. Customs are, no doubt, dif- 
ferent elsewhere ; but our proposal was an 
attempt to render the speediest possible 
publication compatible with commercial mo- 
rality as recognized here. Perhaps it is this 


JANUARY 27, 1899. ] 


difference in the point of view that has made 
our report (as reprinted, not ‘abstracted,’ in 
SCIENCE), so unintelligible to Dr. Dall. Another 
argument for due recognition of the publishing 
society may be found in such facts as this: A 
scientific library recently purchased three sep- 
arate papers, which had been advertised as in- 
dependent publications and enquired for by 
_readers ; all these have since arrived in the 
regular manner in the report of a society, and 
the library has as good as thrown away seven 
shillings through no fault of the librarian. The 
constant recurrence of this kind of thing ren- 
ders the authorities very chary of purchasing 
separately-issued pamphlets, and the workers, 
few of whom can afford to buy for themselves, 
have to suffer. Surely any proposal to remedy 
this should meet with support. 
F. A. BATHER. 
BritisH Museum (Nav. Hisv.), 
January 10, 1899. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

A PAPER was read by Dr. Morris W. Travers 
before the Royal Society, November 24th, on 
the origin of the gases evolved in heating 
mineral substances, meteorites, etc. According 
to the theory of Professor Tilden these gases 
are enclosed in minute cavities at high pres- 
sure. It is known that some minerals, as 
quartz, contain liquid hydro-carbons and 
carbon dioxid, enclosed in cavities, but from a 
series of exhaustive experiments Dr. Travers 
concludes that this cannot be the case with the 
more permanent gases, such as hydrogen, 
carbon monoxid, nitrogen, helium and argon. 
He proposes the theory that in the majority 
of cases where a mineral substance evolves gas 
under the influence of heat the gas is the 
product of the decomposition or interaction of 
its non-gaseous constituents at the moment of 
the experiment. In cleveite and other min- 
erals which contain helium only about one- 
half this gas is evolved by heat, and hence it 
would seem that it exists in the form of a com- 
pound which is only partially decomposable by 
heat. 

In a series of analyses of atmospheric air from 
different sources Armand Gautier, in the Comp- 
tes Rendus, finds that combustible gases con- 


SCIENCE. 


155 


taining carbon are present to a variable degree ; 
on high mountains and over the ocean only 
traces are found, but a decided quantity in the 
air of cities. More remarkable, and contrary 
to previous observers, Gautier finds hydrogen 
as a constant constituent. The amount he 
gives is 1.5 volumes in 10,000, or half as great 
as that of carbon dioxid. Fuller particulars 
are promised in a later article, which will be 
looked forward to with no little interest. 

THE confusion which attends the use of the 
sign % for both per cent. of weight and per cent. 
of volume is patent to all chemists as well as 
others. At the Congress of Applied Chemistry 
at Vienna it was proposed by Otto Bleier to 
confine the use of the sign % to per cent. by 
weight and to use %, for volume per cent. 
This was opposed in the discussion by Wein- 
stein. In a recent Chemiker-Zeitung Bleier 
makes a number of proposals, some one of 
which he hopes will so commend itself to chem- 
ists that uniformity may be secured. The pro- 
posals, in addition to his original one, are as 
follows: a. %g or %p (or */g or */p) for weight 
per cent., and 9°, (or »/.) for volume per cent.; 
b. 9/o or P/o (or 9/. or P/o) for weight percent., 
and °/p (or %/.) for volume per cent. ; ¢. 9/g or 
P|» for weight per cent., and %/, for volume per 
cent.; d. % for weight per cent., and ‘/. for 
volume per cent., or vice versa; e. °/g or °/p 
for weight per cent., and % for volume per 
cent. Since the sign % is used so much more 
frequently to indicate per cent. by weight, it 
would seem that Bleier’s original proposal, 
which is to confine the use of % to weight and 
to adopt 9/, for volume, would be most simple 
and would speedily reduce the present con- 
fusion to a minimum. 

THE bacteriological test for the presence of 
arsenic proposed by Gosio has been further in- 
vestigated by F. Abba and the results published 
in the November number of the Centralblatt fiir 
Bakteriologie und Parasitenkunde. The method 
consists in growing Penicillium brevicaule close 
to the substance to be examined for arsenic. 
arsenic is present a strong garlic odor is devel- 
oped. The method was found to be successful 
in testing a series of over a hundred dried 
hides. As regards its delicacy it was found far 
superior to Marsh’s test, as was shown in one 


156 


case when a piece of hide one centimeter square 
gave a distinct test by the bacteriological test, 
while five times the quantity failed to respond 
to Marsh’s test. It would be interesting to com- 
pare this test with that of Reinsch, which has 
been found by me decidedly sharper and more 
to be depended on than that of Marsh. 
dao as 


ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 

Dr. CARLOS BERG notes several occurrences of 
the Antarctic seal, Lobodon carcinophaga, well to 
the northward of its usual habitat, one example 
having been taken in the La Plata, near Puerto 
de Ensenada, and another to the northward of 
Buenos Ayres in lat. 84° 28S. This latter was 
a male captured in June, 1898, and must, from 
its size, 2.65 meters long, have been an adult 
animal. 

THE Zoological Record, Vol. 34, containing a 
list of the zoological papers which appeared in 
1897, has just been issued. Amid the rumors 
of the many good things that the working zool- 
ogist is soon to enjoy, itis a great satisfaction 
to continue to receive this valuable publication 
‘of the Zoological Society of London. Surely, 
‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’ 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
ANOTHER MEXICAN CODEX. 


From a personal letter I learn that Dr. Nico- 
las Leon, well known for his many contribu- 
tions to Mexican archeology and history, has 
discovered a hitherto unknown Mexican Codex 
in hieroglyphic characters, of which he will soon 
publish a photo-lithographic reproduction. It 
dates from the year 1545, and relates to the 
tributes paid by the town of Tepeai. The proper 
names of places are written in the usual rebus, 
or ‘ikonomatic’ method. They present com- 
binations not found in any of the other known 
documents of the kind, and some of them are 
quite puzzling. This discovery will make a 
welcome addition to the comparatively few 
specimens of the Mexican graphic method at 
that date. 


THE PROGRESSIVE WOMAN. 


A LITTLE book, ‘Le Feminisme,’ published 
lately in Paris (Colin et Cie, 1898), has some in- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 213. 


terest to the student of sociology. Its author, 
Mlle. Kaethe Schirmacher, gives an accurate 
sketch of the advance of womankind in social 
position throughout the world of civilization, 
beginning with the United States and passing to 
France, Great Britain, Sweden and Russia. Of 
our own country she says in her preface that 
she speaks from personal knowledge. We are 
gratified, therefore, to know that the character- 
istics of American women are courage (hardi- 
esse), the spirit of initiative and capacity for or- 
ganization. In France ‘feminism’ has been 
principally cultivated by the men, not the 
women ; in Sweden very few women are inter- 
ested in it, though the King favors it; in Eng- 
land it is opposed by the learned institutions, 
while in Russia they all favor it. On the 
whole, the outlook for full and equal rights and 
opportunities for her sex the author considers 
cheering. 


THE SEAT OF THE SOUL. 

UNDERSTANDING by ‘soul’ the highest intel- 
lectual faculties, it is worth considerable trouble 
to find out where these functions are located. 
Savages believe that it is in the liver or the 
heart ; cynics suggest that it is in the stomach ; 
phrenologists place them in the front part of 
the brain ; but the most advanced physiologists 
are now inclined to teach that the posterior 
cerebral lobes have the highest intellectual 
value. Dr. C. Clapham’s arguments to this ef- 
fect are quoted with approval in the Central- 
blatt fiir Anthropologie (1898, Heft 4). These 
arguments are that man has the most highly 
developed posterior lobes, and this is conspicu- 
ous in men of marked ability and in the highest 
races. In idiots the lobes are imperfectly de- 
veloped, and in chronic dementia these portions 
of the brain reveal frequent lesions. Numerous 
authorities are quoted in support of these and 


allied statements. 
D. G. BRINTON. 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLANIA. 


COLLECTIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL MUSEUM 
OF VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBA. 

A PRELIMINARY Catalogue of the Collections 

of Natural History and Ethnology in the Pro- 

vincial Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, 196 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


pages, 1898, is now being issued. As it deals 
only with the British Columbian specimens of 
the exhibition series, the value of the entire col- 
lection is much greater than is suggested by the 
Catalogue, 

The list of mammals includes information as 
to the source of each specimen and the distribu- 
tion of the species. The catalogue and index of 
birds, including 3389 species and sub-species, is 
of all those in British Columbia, while the spe- 
cies not represented in the Museum collection 
are specially indicated by a check mark. It is 
this mark which will enable the friends of the 
institution to devote their energies to securing 
the desired lacking specimens. Very little is 
known of the birds of the northeastern part of 
the province. It thus presents an attractive 
field for research. There are seven cases of 
bird groups. The catalogue of the study series 
of 740 bird skins is not published, but it is avail- 
able to students. The eggs are listed. 

Reptilia, Batrachia, Tunicata, Lepidoptera, 
Beterocera, Coleoptera, Crustacea, Echinoder- 
mata, Mollusca are all catalogued. The lists of 
fish, trees and plants, alge and the paleonto- 
logical specimens are extensive. 

The ethnological collection is classified in the 
list under ceremony, dress, amusement, crani- 
ology, houses, monuments, fishing, war, travel, 
domestic utensils and industries. In the intro- 
duction to the list of ethnological specimens the 
visitor is cautioned against assuming that the 
Indians of British Columbia resemble the 
Japanese or were influenced by foreigners prior 
to European contact. Their difference from the 
Indians of the Plains is mentioned. 

It is gratifying to have accessible so complete 
a list of the natural history and ethnological 
specimens of the whole province of British 
Columbia and to know where most of the speci- 


mens listed are available. 
HARLAN I. SMITH. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY has appointed as civil- 
jan members of a commission to report on the 
condition of the Philippine Islands: President 
Schurman, of Cornell University; Professor 
Dean C. Worcester, associate professor of zool- 
ogy in the University of Michigan, and Colonel 


SCIENCE. 


157 


Denby, for many years United States Minister 
to China. President Schurman, who is chairman 
of the commission, has been granted leave of 
absence until the end of the present year, and 
Professor T, F, Crane will during the year per- 
form the duties of President. 


THE sculptor Herr Ernst Herter has com- 
pleted the statue of von Helmholtz, which is 
to be erected in the court of the University of 
Berlin, between the statues of the two Hum- 
boldts. The monument will be unveiled in the 
spring. 

SENATOR PLATT, of Connecticut, has been 
appointed a Regent of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion in the room of the late Senator Morrill, of 
Vermont. 


FATHER RODERIGUES DE PRADA has been 
made Director of the Observatory of the Vati- 
can, 


M. Pawnas has been installed as President of 
the Paris Academy of Medicine, while M. 
Marey, the physiologist, becomes Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

THE following officers have been nominated 
by the French government for its ‘ Bureau des 
longitudes ;’ President, M. Poincaré; Vice-Presi- 
dent, M. Faye; Secretary, M. Lippmann. 


Proressor A. A. MicHELson, of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago, will give, during March, at Bos- 
ton, a course of Lowell lectures on ‘ Light 
Waves and their Uses.’ 


Nature states that the recent retirement of 
Sir John Evans from the Treasurership of the 
Royal Society, after a period of service of 
twenty years, has given an opportunity for 
Fellows of the Society to show their apprecia- 
tion of the efficient manner in which he dis- 
charged the duties of his office. It is proposed 
to have his portrait painted in oil colors, and 
to hang it on the walls of the Society’s apart- 
ments at Burlington House. 


THE honors annually conferred on New Year’s 
Day in Great Britain include a K.C.B. on Pro- 
fessor W. C. Roberts-Austin, professor of metal- 
lurgy in the Royal College of Science, and a 
K.C.M.G. on Mr. W. T. Thistleton-Dyer, Di- 
rector of the Kew Botanic Gardens. Sir Henry 
Thompson, a surgeon, who has also painted 


158 


pictures and written novels, has been given a 
baronetcy, and Dr. Herman Weber, known for 
his work on the prevention of consumption, has 
been knighted. Sir Charles Cameron, Medical 
Officer of Health of Dublin, has been made C.B. 


PROFESSOR HENRY ALLEYNE NICHOLSON, 
regius professor of natural history at the Uni- 
versity of Aberdeen, died on January 19th, aged 
fifty-four years. He was in 1871 called to the 
chair of natural history in the University of 
Toronto, and afterwards to Aberdeen. He was 
the author of important contributions to paleon- 
tology. 


Masor Jeb. HorcuKiss, who in 1895 was 
Vice-President for Geology of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science, and 
who was the author of contributions to eco- 
nomic geology and engineering, died on January 
18th, aged 71 years. 


Dr. WILHELM Dames, professor of geology 
and paleontology in the University of Berlin, 
died on December 22d, aged 55 years. 


Sir JAMES Movat, K. C. B., a distinguished 
army surgeon, formerly Inspector-General of 
Hospitals in Great Britain, died in London on 
January 4th, aged 84 years. 


THE death is announced of Dr. Eugen F. A. 
Obach, at the age of 46 years. He had made 
important contributions to electrical engineer- 
ing and had made a thorough study of the 
chemistry of gutta percha. 


Dr. GIUSEPPE Bosso, of the Turin University, 
died on January 17th, from infection contracted 
while cultivating bacilli in his laboratory. 


Drs. EHLERT AND MONNICH have lost their 
lives by an Alpine accident on the Susten Pass. 
Dr. Ehlert had made valuable contributions to 
seismology, working at the University of Stras- 
burg. Dr. Ménnich was Assistant to the Ba- 
varian Meteorological Central Station. 


THE directors of the Benjamin Apthorp Gould 
fund, which, it will be remembered, Miss Alice 
Bache Gould gave somewhat more than a year 
ago to the National Academy of Sciences, an- 
nounce that they are now prepared to receive 
applications for appropriations from the income 
of the fund, which will amount to about $1,000 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 213. 


annually. Preference will be given to investi- 
gators working in America or to Americans 
working abroad, and to work in the astronomy 
of precision rather than in astrophysics. 
directors of the fund, to one of whom applica- 
tions should be addressed, are Messrs. Lewis 
Boss, Seth C. Chandler and Asaph Hall. 


THE Cartwright prize of the Alumni of the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Med- 
ical Department of Columbia University, will 
be awarded for an essay received not later than 
April 1st, of the present year. The essay must 
contain original investigations made by the 
writer. The value of the prize is $500 and is 
open to universal competition. 

THE Swiss Society of Chemical Industry of- 
fers a prize of 2,000 fr. for an essay that will 
promote electro-chemical interests in Switzer- 
land. Essays must be sent by May 1, 1900, 
to the President of the Society, Mitlodi, Swit- 
zerland. 

THE Washington Botanical Club was organ- 
ized by a gathering of botanists held at the 
residence of one of its members November 11, 
1898. The limit of membership was fixed at 
20, and it was determined that the meetings 
should be, for the present at least, of a dis- 
tinctly social and informal nature, with free 
scope for discussion and the general interchange 
of ideas. Ata subsequent meeting, held De- 
cember 14th, the organization was perfected by 
the election of Professor Edward L. Greene as 
President and Mr. Charles L. Pollard as Secre- 
tary. The Club is to hold monthly sessions, 
devoting itself chiefly to systematic and eco- 
logical work, the field of plant physiology and 
pathology being covered by the already existing 
Botanical Seminar. ; 

At the annual meeting of the American 
Geographical Society, on January 16th, Judge 
Charles P. Daly, whose services to the Society 
have beenso important, was re-elected President. 
The other officers elected are: Vice-President, 
the Rev. C. C. Tiffany ; Treasurer, Walter T. 
Jones; Secretary, Chandler Roberts; Council- 
ors, Rear-Admiral Bancroft Gherardi, William 
Hamilton, Henry Holt, Clarence King and 
Charles A. Peabody. 


AT the annual meeting of the Philadelphia 


The - 


JANUARY 27, 1899.] 


Academy of Natural Sciences the following 
officers, Councillors and members of the Finance 
Committee, to serve during 1899, were elected : 

President, Samuel G. Dixon, M.D. ; Vice Presidents, 
Thomas Meehan, Rev. Henry C. McCook, D.D.; Re- 
cording Secretary, Edward J. Nolan, M.D.; Corre- 
sponding Secretary, Benjamin Sharp, M.D.; Treas- 
urer, George Vaux, Jr.; Librarian, Edward J. Nolan, 
M.D.; Curators, Henry A. Pilsbry, Henry C. Chap- 
man, M.D., Arthur Erwin Brown, Samuel G. Dixon, 
M.D.; Councillors to serve three years, Charles E. 
Smith, Uselma C. Smith, John Cadwalder, William 
Sellers ; Finance Committee, Charles Morris, Chas. 
E. Smith, Uselma C. Smith, William Sellers, Charles 
Roberts ; Councillor for unexpired term of two years, 
Charles Schaffer, M.D. 

The following standing committees were ap- 
pointed for the year : 

Publications : Thomas Meehan, Charles E. Smith, 
Henry A. Pilsbry, Henry Skinner, M. D., Edward J. 
Nolan, M. D. 

Library : Arthur Erwin Brown, Thomas A. Robin- 
son, Henry C. Chapman, M. D., Dr. C. Newlin Peirce 
and Charles Schaffer, M. D. 

Instruction and Lectures: UselmaC. Smith, Benj. 
Smith Lymann, Samuel G. Dixon, M. D., Philip P. 
Calvert and Charles Morris. 

Committee of Council on By-Laws: Isaac J. Wis- 
tar, Theodore D. Rand, Arthur Erwin Brown and 
Benjamin Sharp, M. D. 

THE Ninth International Congress of Oph- 
thalmology will be held at Utrecht from August 
14 to 18, 1899. The scientific work of the 
Congress will be divided among three sections, 
as follows: (1) Anatomy, Pathological Anatomy 
and Bacteriology; (2) Optics and Physiology ; 
(3) Clinical and Operative Methods. 

THE annual meeting of the Board of Man- 
agers of the New York Zoological Society was 
held on January 17th, with the Hon. Levi P. 
Morton, the President of the Society, in the 
chair. The Chairman of the Executive Com- 
mittee, Professor Henry F. Osborn, reported 
the important progress in the construction of 
buildings and other installations, to which we 
recently called attention. It was announced 
at the meeting that Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt 
had contributed $5,000 toward the building fund. 


THE Finance Committee of the Philadelphia 
City Council has reported favorably upon a 
proposed loan of $200,000 by the city for 


SCIENCE. 159 


the buildings and equipments of the Phila- 
delphia Museums. The bill will probably 
be passed by the Council, and this insures the 
raising of the $300,000 required under the Act 
of Congress appropriating $300,000 towards the 
aid of the exposition of manufactured products 
of the United States to be held in Philadelphia 
next autumn. $50,000 has been appropriated 
by the State Legislature and $50,000 has been 
collected by private subscription. The United 
States government has also appropriated a 
further sum of $50,000 for the purchase of sam- 
ples of foreign goods to show the kind of goods 
that should be exported. Dr. W. P. Wilson, 
Director of the Museums, will be Director-Gen- 
eral of the Exposition. 


A CHEMICAL and pharmaceutical laboratory 
has been opened in Rajkote, in western India, 
30,000 rupees have been given for the con- 
struction of the building by Azam Laxmon 
Meran. The equipmentis paid for by the state. 
Mr. H. L. Lee has been appointed director of 
the laboratory. 

M. Emite Dupois has introduced into the 
French Chamber of Deputies a bill providing 
for the creation in each department of France 
of one or more bacteriological laboratories, with 
a view to the repression and prevention of con- 
tagious diseases, particularly tuberculosis. 

E. C. Stumons, ex-Mayor of Kenosha, Wis., 
has offered to build and present to that city a 
library building and to purchase 25,000 vol- 
umes for it. The estimated cost of the gift is 
$100,000. 

THE Amesbury (Mass.) publie library will 
receive $10,000 by the will of the late Mary 
A. Barnard. 

THE corner stone of the School of Practical 
Horticulture was laid at Hyeres on January 
8th, in the presence of M. Viger, the French 
Minister of Agyiculture. 

Tue Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, has 
secured, through the generosity of Mr. Stanley 
R. McCormick, a valuable collection of articles 
from the Moqui tribes of the Pueblo Indians. 
It was made by a missionary and represents the 
arts of the tribes from their earliest association 
with the pioneers up to the present time. 


A TELEGRAM from Sydney has been received 


160 


at the Royal Society stating that the boring into 
the coral atoll of Funafuti had been discon- 
tinued on reaching a depth of 1,114 feet. Cores 
had been obtained, and the material traversed 
is described as ‘coral reef’ rock. 

THE English papers state that arrangements 
are being made, under the direction of Signor 
Marconi, at the South Foreland lighthouse and 
on board the South Goodwin lightship for a 
series of experiments in wireless telegraphy. 
If the experiments are considered satisfactory, 
it is stated that the wireless system will be 
adopted forthwith as a means of communica- 
tion between the South Foreland lighthouse and 
the South Sands Head lightship. The points 
of communication are about three miles apart. 


THE British Medical Journal reports that M. 
Cruppi recently laid before the French Cham- 
ber of Deputies a bill for reforming medical ex- 
pert evidence. M. Cruppi proposes that a list 
of medical experts should be drawn up every 
year. None but men of undoubted scientific 
ability should be on the list ; the accused person 
should have the right to name his or her own 
expert, who should work in cooperation with 
the expert named by the Judge. In cases where 
the two experts do not agree the matter should 
be decided by a committee composed of emi- 
ment scientific men. The Commission of Judi- 
cial Reform is considering the question. 


MEN of science will not be surprised to learn 
that an examination of the late John W. 
Keeley’s exhibition room has brought to light 
tubes and other arrangements by which com- 
pressed air could have been used to run his 
motor. Wheels went round without doing any 
work and could have been readily turned by 
compressed air or in other ways, in the exhibi- 
tion made some years ago to the present writer. 
It was at the time indicated that he would be 
given $5,000 if he would state over his signa- 
ture that the operations could not be accounted 
for by known natural forces. 

Ir is stated in the daily papers that Mr. Elmer 
Gates, Washington, wishes to form a commercial 
company to obtain money to enable him to pro- 
ceed with the invention of his microscope, 
which he is said to say magnifies 3,000,000 di- 
ameters. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 213. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


WE regret to learn that the California Courts 
have decided that the trust clause in the will of 
the late Adolph Sutro, giving Sutro Heights as 
a public park to the city of San Francisco, and 
San Miguel Ranch to support a scientific school, 
is invalid, and the property will now go into 
the residuary estate and be divided among six 
children. Perhaps these children will set the 
Courts an example by fulfilling the wishes of 
their father. 

THE late Miss Rebecca Flower Squiers, of 
London, has bequeathed £2,000 for scholarships 
for students at Oxford or Cambridge, and the 
residue of her estate, the amount of which is 
not stated, for the benefit of these universi- , 
ties. 

PROFESSOR CLEVELAND ABBE has given to 
the Johns Hopkins University his valuable col- 
lection of books, journals and pamphlets rela- 
ting to meteorology. The library has also re- 
ceived an anonymous gift of $5,000 for the pur- 
chase of books. 

Rey. Dr. GeorcGe E. MERRILL, of Newton, 
Mass., has accepted the call to the presidency 
of Colgate University, Hamilton, N. Y. 


Proressor J. B. Jonson, who holds the 
the chair of engineering in Washington Uni- 
versity, St. Louis, has been called to the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin, where he will be made 
Dean of the College of Engineering. 


Mr. G. F. Srour, Anderson lecturer on com- 
parative psychology at Aberdeen and formerly 
lecturer on psychology at Cambridge, has been 
appointed to the newly established Wilde lec- 
tureship of mental philosophy at Oxford. 


THE professorship of physics in the University 
of Sydney, New South Wales, is vacant. In ac- 
cordance with the British custom, applications 
for the position, with eight copies of all testi- 
monials, must be received not later than Febru- 
ary 18th by Sir Daniel Cooper, acting agent- 
general for New South Wales, 9 Victoria St., 
London, 8S. W. The salary of the professorship 
is £900 per annum, with a conditional pension of 
£400. Candidates must be under 35 years of 
age. We presume that citizens of the United 
States are eligible. 


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SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEWcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsTOoN, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScupDDER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. BRiTTon, 
Botany; HENRY F. OsBorN, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. Bowpitcn, Physiology; J. S. BILLinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, FEBRUARY 3, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


Frontal Horn on Aceratherium ineisivum (with 
Plate I) : PROFESSOR HENRY F. OSBORN......... 161 
Report concerning the Official State Bureaus con- 
nected with the Johns Hopkins University: PRo- 
FESSOR WILLIAM BULLOCK CLARK..............- 
The Biological Stations of Brittany: DR. JoHN H. 
GEROUID Pree cces-cnesreocusetecsss nsccessssteaaionson tee 165 
Notes on the Times of Breeding of some Common 
New England Nemerteans: DR. W. R. CoEk...... 
The Columbia Meeting of the Society for Plant Mor- 
phology and Physiology: PROFESSOR W. F. 
(EH NIRTOINIC) cuscadoasboosuopoqonosdobprubasdonnacsbaasunoHonage 
Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Folk-lore 
ISOCLELY TSM AW WVfel NED WWE Li Laos ts Seeisistesietsiicesisisecieciotse cies 173 
Scientific Books :— 
Keithack’s Kalender fiir Geologen, Paliéontologen 
und Mineralogen: J.B. WOODWORTH. Webster 
on the Chinch Bug: PRoressor T. D. A. 
COCKERELL. Newth’s Manual of Chemical Anal- 
ysis: DR. HENRY FAy. Recent Publications of 
the U. 8. Geological Survey. Books Received. 
Scientific Journals and Articles. .....ccecceceecseseeeeees 
Societies and Academies :— 
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters: 
Dr. A.S. FLINT. The Ohio Academy of Science: 
PROFESSOR R. C. OSBURN. Entomological So- 
ciety of Washington: Dr. L. O. HOWARD. 
The Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia: DR. 
Epw. J. NoLAN. Zoological Club of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago: MARY M. STURGES, PRO- 
BESSOR) Rey Ss AUUGLEi is. .sseceedesessceescecsssiensns oes 179 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Storing of Pamphlets: PROFESSOR WINSLOW 
WWEEERG) JooopanncSubceicdonacbocasbustobedbogbopdSanbocnouandece 184 


174 
178 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. Hu.........ee 185 
Current Notes on Anthropology :— 
Bad Form in Anthropological Writings; The 


Mangyans of Mindoro; The Jew and the Gypsy: 

PROFESSOR D. G. BRINTON ........-0seccoscseesseees 185 
Agricultural Education in Russid......-..sc0ccceeceeeees 
The International Catalogue of Scientific Literature.. 187 
Scientific Notes and News..........scescsssceeceecesccnesees 188 
University and Educational News. ......ssscceseceseeeees 192 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


FRONTAL HORN ON ACERATHERIUXM IN- 
CISIVUM. 


RELATION OF THIS TYPE TO ELASMOTHERIUM. 


In the classical collection of the Museum 
of Darmstadt there are the two type skulls 
of Aceratherium incisivum, Kaup, which have 
hardly been disturbed since the death of that 
distinguished paleontologist. Through the 
kindness of Professor G. Richard Lepsius, 
the writer was recently enabled to carefully 
examine these skulls, which are in a fragile 
condition. A slight rugosity was observed 
upon the frontal bones just behind their 
junction with the nasals, and a very careful 
examination demonstrated to both Professor 
Lepsius and the writer the undoubted pres- 
ence of a rudimentary frontal horn in this 
typical hornless type. Even more distinct- 
ive proof of the existence of a horn is afforded 
by the characteristic convergence towards 
the center of the rugosity of a number of 
small grooves which indicate the course of 
the blood vessels which supplied the horn. 
The support of a horn is further indicated 
by a distinct swelling of the skull above the 
orbits which is observed with especial dis- 
tinctness in the profile view. This swelling 
will probably be found to consist of a thick- 
ening of the frontals at this point. 

This discovery is of the very greatest in- 
terest. In the first place it practically 
removes this typical Acerathere from the 
group to which it has given its name and 
places it among the Rhinoceroses. Second, 


162 


the precocious development of the frontal 
horn, and the marked reduction of the 
nasals, at once suggested to the writer that 
this animal may possibly represent an an- 
eestor of Elasmotherium, which, as is well 
known, was distinguished from all other 
Rhinoceroses by the smooth, narrow nasals 
and enormously developed frontal horns, as 
shown in the accompaning figures. It is 
true that in A. incisivum the horns are small, 
the rugosity, or horn core, being rudimen- 
tary; but in paleontology a rudiment is 
almost invariably prophetic of a fully de- 
veloped organ in a later horizon. The 
* question whether this type actually marks 
the first branching-off of the Elasmotheres 
from the Aceratheres turns, therefore, upon 
a detailed comparison of the skull and 
skeleton of the two types. Both skulls are 
dolichocephalic with high occiputs. <A 
marked difference is seen in the very narrow 
space between the orbit and narial opening 
in A. incisivum, as compared with the broad 
space in Elasmotherium. These and other 
differences may be due to profound changes 
which occurred during the Pliocene period, 
for Elasmotherium is a well-advanced Pleis- 
tocene type. Other profound changes which 
would be involved in such a transformation 
are in the loss of old cutting teeth and the 
folding of the enamel in the-molar teeth, so 
characteristic of the Pleistocene form. 
Taken altogether, the evidence that A. 
incisiwum is an ancestral Elasmothere is, 
however, decidedly slender at present, and 
we must probably await the discovery of 
intermediate stages in the Pliocene of Eu- 
rope or Asia. Henry F. Osporn. 


REPORT CONCERNING THE OFFICIAL STATE 
BUREAUS CONNECTED WITH THE JOHNS 
HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.* 

I susmir for your information the follow- 
ing report concerning the Maryland Geo- 

* A report presented to the President of the Johns 
Hopkins University. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 214. 
logical Survey and the Maryland Weather 
Service during the past year. Much of the 
work of these bureaus is carried on in co- 
operation with the Geological Department, 
and the offices are provided by the Univer- 
sity free of all charges to the State. 


THE MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
The Maryland Geological Survey, which 
was established by an act of the General 
Assembly of 1896, began operations upon 
March 25th of that year, when, by the ac- 
tion of the Commission designated by the 
act, the organization of the Survey was for- 
mally effected. The General Assembly of 
1898 passed two additional acts which 
added largely to the powers of the State 
Survey Commission by providing for the 
construction of topographic maps and the 
investigation of the question of proper 
highways for the State. By the first act an 
additional appropriation of $5,000 annually 
was granted, while the second act appropri- 
ated $10,000 annually, the original appro- 
priation of $10,000 annually by the As- 
sembly of 1896 still remaining in force. By 
these acts the Survey received the very gen- 
erous appropriation of $25,000 annually. 
During the two and a-half years that the 
Survey has been in operation several lines 
of investigation have been taken up, some 
of which have already been followed to a 
conclusion. The preliminary survey of the 
State, in which general information in re- 
gard to the geology and economic resources 
was secured, placed the Survey in a position 
to inaugurate those lines of investigation 
which would prove most beneficial to the 
people of the State and at the same time 
would contribute most largely to the sum 
of knowledge regarding the stratigraphy 
and structure of Maryland. In connection 
with this general survey there has been 
maintained a system of collection of statis- 
tical data regarding the output of each in- 
dustry that has to do with the mineral 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


wealth of the State. Forms are annually 
placed in the hands of the producers of 
mineral products, which upon their return 
are filed at the office of the Survey. In this 
manner an accurate account is kept of the 
mineral products of the State, which aggre- 
gate in value from six to seven million dol- 
lars annually. 

The work ofthe Survey has been system- 
atically divided and a competent man 
placed in charge of each one of the divi- 
sions. Dr. E. B. Mathews, in addition to 
his duties as Assistant State Geologist, is 
Chief of the Division of Geology of the 
Piedmont Plateau ; Professor Charles 8. 
Prosser is in charge of the Division of Ge- 
ology of the Appalachian Region, and Dr. 
George B. Shattuck is in charge of the 
Division of the Coastal Plain. The work 
of the Survey embraces many subjects re- 
lated to geology,among which is the in- 
vestigation of our highways, Dr. H. F. Reid 
being Chief of the important Division of 
Highways. Dr. L. A. Bauer is in charge 
of the Division of Terrestrial Magnetism. 
Several special assistants in charge of in- 
dependent lines of work are also employed : 
Mr. A. N. Johnson in Highway Engineer- 
ing; Dr. Cleveland Abbe, Jr., in Physiog- 
raphy, and Messrs. Basil Sollers and B. W. 
Barton in Botany. 

At the same time active cooperation is 
maintained with several of the Washington 
bureaus, especially with the U.S. Geolog- 
ical Survey and the bureaus and divisions 
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
The aid which has been rendered by the 
Washington scientific departments has been 
of great importance to the successful prose- 
cution of the State work. 

The topographic work of the Survey has 
been much extended during the past year, 
an area of several hundred square miles 
haying been surveyed upon a scale of one 
mile to an inch in western Allegany and 
Garrett counties. The surveying force is 


SCIENCE. 


provided by the U. S. Geological Survey 
through a plan of cooperation between the 
national bureau and the Maryland Geolog- 
ical Survey. 

The magnetic work under the charge of 
Dr. Bauer was continued in the western 
part of Maryland. Dr. Bauer completed 
his work on the western boundary of the 
State during 1897, and was able to be of 
great service to the Attorney-General of 
Maryland, who had the matter in charge. 
All the magnetic and astronomical work 
was placed in charge of Dr. Bauer, and he 
was throughout recognized as the scientific 
authority upon the State force. During the 
summer of 1898 a part of Dr. Bauer’s time 
was taken up in the survey of the boundary 
line between Allegany and Garrett coun- 
ties, which had been authorized by a spe- 
cial act of the last General Assembly. This 
work, which had been many times unsuc- 
cessfully attempted, was satisfactorily ac- 
complished, and a report published in Sep- 
tember. 

The more strictly geological work of the 
Survey was carried on by the instructors 
and students of the Geological Department 
of the University, with such cooperation as 
was deemed necessary along special lines. 
Professor George P. Merrill, of the United 
States National Museum, rendered the Sur- 
vey a very important service in the conduct 
of the investigations upon the building and 
decorative stones of the State. Extensive 
areal and economic work was conducted 
both in the western and central counties of 
the State. Surveys of Allegany and Gar- 
rett counties were completed and a large 
amount of data collected for the special 
economic reports which will appear later. 

The highway investigations have occu- 
pied the attention of the Survey since the 
spring of the present year, and a consider- 
able force was employed under the direction 
of Dr. Reid and his associate, Mr. Johnson, 
in the study of the highway conditions of 


164 SCIENCE. 


Maryland. The distribution of those rocks 
which are adapted for highway construction 
has been carefully surveyed and points for 
the subsequent locations of quarries of road 
metals indicated. 

The agricultural conditions of the State 
have also been considered and a study made 
of many of the relations of the geological 
formations to the soils derived from them. 
This classification of the soils has been con- 
ducted under a plan of cooperation with 
Professor Milton Whitney, of the U. S. De- 
partment of Agriculture and the Maryland 
Experiment Station, and, outside of its 
scientific interest, will prove of much prac- 
tical benefit to the agricultural interests of 
the State. 

The distribution of plant and animal life 
is so closely connected with the soils and 
geology that the Survey plans a study of 
the fauna and flora from this standpoint. 
Already some work has been done under 
the direction of Messrs. Sollers and Barton 
upon the botany of Maryland, more partic- 
ularly in the western counties. It is planned 
in the future to carry on this work in co- 
operation with the newly organized State 
Horticultural Bureau. 

Much advance was made during the year 
in the preparation of the manuscript for 
subsequent volumes. Professor Merrill 
completed his work upon the Building and 
Decorative Stones of Maryland, and Mr. 
Henry Gannett, of the U. 8. Geological 
Survey, furnished an elaborate treatise upon 
the Aims and Methods of Topographic 
Work for the report upon the cartography 
of the State. These and other reports by 
the regular staff of the Survey are now be- 
ing collected for the second volume, which 
will be brought out during the autumn of 
1898. 


THE MARYLAND WEATHER SERVICE. 


The Maryland Weather Service was es- 
tablished in May, 1891, under the joint 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 214. 


auspices of the Johns Hopkins University, 
the Maryland Agricultural College and the 
United States Weather Bureau, and became 
an official organization by an act of the 
General Assembly approved by the Gover- 
nor April 6, 1892. Under authority granted 
by this act the Maryland Weather Service 
was permanently established at the Johns 
Hopkins University, under the direction of 
a Board of Control nominated by the heads 
of the institutions above mentioned and 
commissioned by the Governor. 

During the first five years of the exist- 
ence of the Service the investigations were 
confined largely to a study of the general 
meteorological conditions of the State. 
Numerous stations were established in the 
different counties, volunteer observers hav- 
ing been obtained at a sufficient number of 
points to render it possible to determine the 
more important features of the climate of the 
State. Throughout the same time monthly 
Meteorological Reports, extending through 
the year, and weekly Crop Bulletins, cover- 
ing the growing and harvesting seasons, 
were published. Two biennial reports to the 
General Assemblies of 1894 and 1896 were 
also prepared and subsequently printed with 
the necessary maps, diagrams and tables. A 
series of large Climatic Charts was also 
published and placed on exhibition in the 
Maryland Building in Chicago at the time 
of the Columbian Exposition, and copies of 
the same were subsequently distributed. 

Somewhat over a year ago an entire 
reorganization of the work of the Maryland 
Weather Service was effected. It seemed 
desirable to transfer the accumulation of 
the general climatic data to the Climate and 
Crop Service of the Weather Bureau, which 
is much more fully equipped for carrying 
on that phase of the work, and to devote 
the money and energies of the Maryland 
Weather Service to the study of special 
problems connected with the climatology of 
the State. It was thought possible, by con- 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


ducting the work in close cooperation with 
the State Geological Survey; the State agri- 
cultural institutions and the United States 
Department of Agriculture, to take up lines 
of research that would be of much perma- 
nent value to the people of the State. Ar- 
rangements were made for the publication 
of these investigations\in a new series of re- 
ports which should conform in all particu- 
lars to those already adopted for the State 
Geological Survey. These volumes, for 
which arrangements have now been per- 
fected, will contain the results of investiga- 
tions upon the climate of the State and will 
include reports upon the physiography, 
meteorology, medical climatology, agricul- 
tural soils, forestry, hydrography, crop con- 
ditions, botany and zoology of Maryland. 

The reports upon physiography and me- 
teorology are already largely prepared and 
will constitute the first volume of the series. 
Dr. Cleveland Abbe, Jr., has prepared a 
report upon the physiography, while the 
longer and more elaborate statement re- 
garding the meteorology of the State is di- 
vided into three parts, the general treat- 
ment of the subject being from the pen of 
the distinguished Professor Cleveland Abbe, 
of the U. S. Weather Bureau. Mr. F. J. 
Waltz, the Local Forecast Official of the U. 
S. Weather Bureau in Baltimore and the 
Meteorologist of the State Weather Service, 
will contribute the part relating to the me- 
teorology of the State; while Mr. O. L. 
Fassig, his associate, will prepare those 
chapters which relate to the history of me- 
teorological investigations in Maryland 
since early colonial days. The cordial sup- 
port of Professor Willis L. Moore, Chief of 
the U.S. Weather Bureau, has been secured 
in this work, as well as in many of the 
lines of special investigations which will be 
later pursued. 

The investigation of the agricultural 
soils of the State, already referred to in 
connection with the State Geological Sur- 


SCIENCE. 


165 


vey, are closely related to many of the 
climatological problems which will be con- 
sidered in the future, and the active coop- 
eration of Professor Whitney along these 
lines will add much to the effectiveness of 
the State work. Mr. C. W. Dorsey, of the 
State Agricultural Experiment Station, has 
been carrying on investigations in this field 
under the supervision of Professor Whitney, 
and the results of their combined work will 
be later brought out in the reports of the 
State Weather Service. 

The questions of hydrography are closely 
related to those of climatology, and already 
considerable progress has been made in the 
study of the drainage basins of Maryland 
through the cooperation secured from Pro- 
fessor Newell, in charge of the Division of 
Hydrography of the U.S. Geological Sur- 
vey, and special reports upon this subject 
will be incorporated in a later volume of 
the State Weather Service. 

The other lines of investigation above 
referred to have been projected, but little 
work has been done upon them thus far. 
They will occupy the attention of the local 
Service during the coming and subsequent 


years. 
Wm. Buttock CuLarK, 


State Geologist and Director State Weather 
Service. 


THE BIOLOGICAL STATIONS OF BRITTANY. 

Tue marine laboratories of the coasts of 
France and England can be reached with 
so little loss of time by students of zoology 
and botany who live near the Atlantic sea- 
board in America that a knowledge of the 
facilities for work at these stations and of 
their accessibility is of great importance to 
Americans. 

Aside from the hygienic advantages of 
the ocean voyage and a complete change of 
scene to a hard-working naturalist who de- 
votes his summer vacations to scientific re- 
search, one will in many cases find at soine 


166 SCIENCE. 


of the marine laboratories of France or of 
Great Britain such favorable conditions for 
his work as cannot be obtained in connec- 
tion with our own excellent laboratories. 

It is with this thought in mind that I eall 
the attention of the readers of ScrencE to 
two of the stations for the study of marine 
biology which are situated in Brittany. 

The Laboratoire de Zoologie Expérimentale at 
Roscoff, in Finistére, is under the direction 
of its founder, Monsieur le professeur de 
Lacaze-Duthiers, of the Sorbonne, whose 
hospitality to foreigners is most generous. 

Roscoff may be quickly reached from 
Southampton by the boat to St. Malo, a 
Breton seaport, or from Harve via Paris. 
It is a quaint old town, with a port devoted 
to the export of vegetables to England ; its 
narrow streets, among the ancient buildings 
of the village, are busy with the activities 
of the honest, sturdy Breton peasantry. 
The picturesque surrounding country, with 
its dolmens and menhirs, medieval chateaux 
and churches, attracts during the summer 
large numbers of tourists. 

The laboratory at Roscoff is a building 
of the 16th century which faces, on the 
east, the principal public square. Ivy cov- 
ered gables and round towers project be- 
hind into an enclosed garden. Between the 
garden and the sea, at the north, is a large 
grass-roofed aquarium room, with two spa- 
cious stone basins in the middle and numer- 
ous tanks along the north and south sides 
of the building. These are supplied with 
running seawater, which is pumped from a 
large stone vivarium situated between the 
aquarium and the sea. 

Opening into the aquarium room is the 
main laboratory for investigators, with eight 
tables, in addition to which four private 
work rooms are at the disposal of the Di- 
rector, besides those of himself and of his 
staff. The laboratory, which, like the other 
marine laboratories in France, is supported 
by the State, is well equipped with reagents, 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


stains, glassware, etc., and a dark room is 
provided for photographie work. 

As regards the fauna, the fact is to 
be emphasized that for plankton studies 
Roscoff is badly situated, whereas for 
shore collecting its position is admirable. 
The invertebrate fauna, especially, is very 
rich. The coast is diversified with numer- 
ous rocky islands and with bays which 
have a bottom of mud, sand or shingle. 
The spring tides at Roscoff rise and fall, at 
their maximum, about nine meters, so that 
a very large area is exposed at low tide. 

Thirty-one investigators and elementary 
students during the summer of 1898 availed 
themselves of the advantages of this excel- 
lent laboratory. The venerable Director of 
the station made a brief visit in August. 
The following were engaged with special 
studies : 

Monsieur L. Boutan, the Embryology of 
Aecmea, Haliotis and Scallaria; Professor 
Y. Delage, Experiments upon Fertilization 
of the Egg of Echinus; Doctor Dominici, 
Hematopoesis in the Chordata (Selachians 
and Amphioxus); Professor P. Francotte, 
of Brussels, Maturation and Fertilization 
of the Egg in Turbellaria; Dr. J. Georgé- 
vitsch, of Belgrade, Embryology of Den- 
talium ; Dr. N. Koltzoff, of St. Petersburg, 
Embryology of the Head of Elasmobranchs; 
Monsieur A. Robert, Embryology of Trochus; 
Monsieur P. Vignon, Excretion in the Crus- 
tacea. 

The present writer was occupied with the 
Embryology of Phascolosoma. 

Professor Chalon, of Brussels, studied 
aud made collections of the Alge. 

The Laboratoire de Zoologie et de Physiologie 
maritimes at Concarnean is under the charge 
of Professor Fabre-Domergue, of the Collége 
de France. Founded in 1859 by Monsieur 
Coste, it is said to be the oldest marine 
laboratory in existence. 

Concarneau is a village of southern Brit- 
tany, near the picturesque and beautiful 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


town of Quimper. Like Roscoff, it can be 
easily reached by the way of Southampton 
and St. Malo or from Havre via Paris. 
Fishing and sardine packing are the prin- 
cipal industries of the place. The port 
and the surrounding country are so pictur- 
esquely beautiful that many artists make 
their permanent residence in the vicinity. 

The laboratory is chiefly devoted to fish 
culture and the study of fishes, although 
work at the station is by no means restricted 
to this group. The building has two floors ; 
the first story is devoted to the scientific 
apparatus, to spacious private rooms for a 
small number of investigators, a library 
anda dark room for photography ; and the 
basement contains large stone tanks and 
other aquaria, provided with running sea- 
water. Large vivaria, designed for hold- 
ing fish, lobsters, etc., for scientific purposes 
and for the use of fishermen, adjoin the 
laboratory and extend out into the sea. 
The station is well equipped for scientific 
research. Here Selenka and other eminent 
zoologists have done much of their best 
work. 

The plankton at Concarneau is said to be 
very rich, and certain forms of invertebrates 
which inhabit a sandy shore and which do 
not occur at Roscoff are found in abundance 
at Concarneau. 

Finally, it should be said that the Direc- 
tors of these and of other marine stations 
in France which it has been the good for- 
tune of the present writer to visit are most 
hospitable and generous to American zo- 
ologists. One may be assured that if he 
goes to the coast of France to study he will 
receive a hearty welcome. 


JoHN H. GEROULD. 
STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA, 
NAPLES, December 8, 1898. 


NOTES ON THE TIMES OF BREEDING OF SOME 
COMMON NEW ENGLAND NEMERTEANS. 
SEVERAL papers by Professor Bumpus 

have appeared in this JouRNAL on the 


SCIENCE. 


167 


times of breeding of invertebrates at Woods 
Holl, Mass. In connection with these the 
following notes on the nemerteans may 
prove of interest to some who may desire 
to carry on researches on the embryology 
of this neglected group of worms. 

It does not seem to be generally known 
that the eggs of some of our nemerteans 
can be obtained in abundance at almost any 
season of the year; that those of many 
species can be artificially fertilized, and 
that they will develop readily in confine- 
ment. Even in the case of those which 
undergo an indirect course of development 
the embryos can readily be reared to the 
early pilidium-stage. The eggs of some of 
the common species, moreover, are so very 
transparent that many of the phenomena 
involved in maturation, fertilization and 
cleavage can be followed in the living ovum 
without the use of stains. For these rea- 
sons they afford most promising objects for 
embryological and cytological investigation. 

1. The eggs of Amphiporus ochraceus Verr. 
are laid during the months of May and 
June (or sometimes earlier) in the vicinity 
of New Haven. Worms which are kept in 
captivity sometimes deposit their ova in 
clusters of forty or more imbedded in a 
common mass of mucus. They develop 
readily in confinement, and the young 
worms may be kept alive until they attain 
a considerable size. As in most other 
Hoplonemerteans the development is di- 
rect. 

2. Amphiporus virescens Verr. Eggs ma- 
ture at Woods Holl in July and August. 
They develop readily when laid in captivity, 
although the number of eggs produced by a 
single worm is small. 

3. Tetrastemma candidum Oersted. Ma- 
ture in July and August at Woods Holl 
and New Haven. 

4. Tetrastemma vermiculus (Quatr.) Stimp. 
Common on piles at Woods Holl with ripe 
ova in August. 


168 


Several other species of Tetrastemma and 
Amphiporus have been found mature in mid- 
summer. 

5. Emplectonema giganteum Verr. has been 
found by Professor Verrill with large eggs 
in August. 

6. Lineus viridis Johnson = L. gesserensis 
Muller = Nemertes obscura Desor = Lineus 
obscurus Barrois. On the Coast of Maine 
Verrill* has found the eggs of this species 
very abundant under stones at low-water 
mark. These were imbedded in mucus and 
were deposited in mid-summer. At Woods 
Holl during three summers I have exam- 
ined thousands of specimens but have found 
no eggs. On the northern coast of Europe 
the eggs are mature from March to 
May. The development of this species 
was studied by Desort as early as 1848 
from material which he collected near Bos- 
ton in February. lBarrois{ and, later, 
Hubrecht§ have published detailed descrip- 
tions of its embryology. 

7. Lineus socialis (Leidy) Verr. The 
eggs mature in mid-winter at New Haven, 
and are sometimes deposited in captivity in 
masses of mucus. They develop readily at 
least to the stage of swimming gastrule. 

8. Lineus bicolor Verr. Specimens dredged 
in Vineyard Sound in July, 1898, contained 
mature genital products. 

9. Micrura affinis Verr. Specimens taken 
off Salem by Professor Verrill contained 
fully developed eggs and spermatozoa in 
mid-summer. 

10. Mierura ceca Verr. Matures its geni- 
tal products at Woods Holl during August. 
The eggs of this species are beautifully 
clear and transparent and develop readily 
when artificially fertilized. The cleavage 


* Trans. Connecticut Acad., Vol. 8, 1892. 

+ Boston Journ, Nat. Hist., Vol. 6, 1848. 

{Recherches sur l’embryologie des Nemertes. 
Lille, 1877. 

9 Proeve eener 
Lineus obscurus. 


Ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis 
Utrecht, 1885. 


van 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


is of the regular spiral type, of which these 
eggs furnish an almost ideal illustration. 
The pilidium which results will live two 
weeks or more in confinement. 

11. Cerebratulus lacteus Verr. The eggs 
are ripe at New Haven during February, 
March and April. On the coast of Maine 
the species is said to breed in early summer. 
I have never observed that the eggs are de- 
posited in captivity. Specimens filled with’ 
eggs have been kept alive in the laboratory 
for more than two months after the time 
of full maturity of the sexual products 
without discharging their eggs. Whether 
they would be capable of normal develop- 
ment after this length of time I was unable 
to determine, because all the males which 
could be obtained had long since discharged 
their spermatozoa. The worms attain an 
enormous size (up to 22 feet in length and 
an inch in breadth, according to Verrill) 
and consequently produce an immense 
number of ova. JI should estimate the 
number to be obtained from a fair-sized 
worm—say, 5 feet long—to lie between 
fifty thousand and a quarter of a million. 
A single individual, or even a small frag- 
ment, will thus furnish all the material 
required for an elaborate investigation. The 
eggs are easily fertilized artificially, and 
will develop into the pilidium-stage without 
difficulty. 

12. Cerebratulus Leidyi Verr. Breeds 
commonly at Woods Holl in July and 
early in August. In 1898 the majority of 
the individuals which I found at Woods 
Holl had discharged their genital products 
earlier than July, and in 1894 a few speci- 
mens at New Haven retained their ova as 
late as October. Among the nemerteans 
that I know, the eggs of this species are 
equalled in beauty and regularity of de- 
velopment only by those of Mierwra ceca. 
The first division occurs about one hour 
and ten minutes after fertilization, or in 55 
minutes if the eggs have been allowed to 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


remain in the water until the formation of 
the first polar spindle, before being fertilized. 
The second cleavage takes place about 24 
minutes later ; the third cleavage occurs af- 
ter 50 minutes more; the fourth after another 
35 or 40 minutes; and after a further lapse of 
about 50 minutes, or in a little less than 34 
hours after fertilization, the fifth division, 
with its resulting 32 cells, is completed. A 
very symmetrical blastula appears about 74 
hours after the eggs are fertilized, and in 
14 hours more the embryos begin to swim. 
The third cleavage, which is distinctly right- 
handed, shows the first differentiation of 
the cells in regard to size ; the upper four, or 
those next to the polar bodies, being slightly, 
though perceptibly, larger than the lower 
four. The cleavage is typically spiral and 
almost perfectly regular. There are only 
the slightest indications of a vitelline mem- 
brane, so that the polar bodies are lost at 
an early stage. The near equality in the 
size of the blastomeres also tends to in- 
crease the difficulties encountered in follow- 
ing out the details of the cell-lineage. The 
pilidium with peculiarly short side-lobes, 
which develops from these eggs, will live for 
two weeks or more in the laboratory, al- 
though I have never seen the young nemer- 
tean develop within it. 

13. Cerebratulusluridus Verr. Specimens 
collected in Cape Cod Bay by Professor 
Verrill contained apparently ripe eggs in 
August. 

14. Carinella pellucida Coe ripens its sex- 
ual elements in July at New Haven and 
Woods Holl. 

15. Parapolia aurantiaca Coe. Genital 
products mature in August at Woods Holl. 

16. Valencinia rubens Coe. A_ single 
specimen found at Woods Holl in August 
1894 was filled with ripe spermatozoa. 

17. Cephalothrix linearis Oersted. At 
Woods Holl this species commonly ma- 
tures its genital products in August. The 
eges may be artificially fertilized. The 


SCIENCE. 


169 


development is direct and may be readily 
followed. McIntosh* has published figures 
of the embryos of this species. 

The above includes merely those dates 
at which genital products have been found 
mature, and should by no means give the 
impression that they may not be found in 
some of the species at other times, both 
earlier and later than is here indicated. 
The times when the eggs are normally de- 
posited is certainly lable to considerable 
variation. Amphiporus ochraceus, for exam- 
ple, has on one occasion been found mature 
as early as January, although the eggs are 
produced more abundantly four or five 
months later. In this respect the nemer- 
teans agree with many other invertebrates. 
In some others, as Cerebratulus lacteus, the 
time during which the eggs can be fertilized 
lasts for a few weeks at the most, and this 
period, at New Haven, varies from Feb- 
ruary to April according to some undeter- 
mined peculiarity of the season. 

It will be seen that of the common species 
recorded here nearly all become sexually 
mature on the southern coast of New Eng- 
land during the summer months. Only 
one lays its eggs in mid-winter and only 
two in the very early spring. 

W. BR. Coz. 


YALE UNIVERSITY. 


THE COLUMBIA MEETING OF THE SOCIETY 
FOR PLANT MORPHOLOGY AND PHYSI- 
OLOGY. 

THE second annual meeting of this So- 
ciety was held in conjunction with the 
meetings of the American Society of Natu- 
ralists and the Affiliated Societies at Colum- 
bia University, December 27 to 30, 1898. 
On the evening of December 27th a reception 
was tendered to the members of the Society 
and visiting botanists by the Torrey Botan- 
ical Club of New York, and the Society 


* British Annelids ; Part I., Nemerteans. Ray So- 


ciety, 1873. 


TiO 


joined with the Affiliated Societies in the 
entertainments of Wednesday and Thurs- 
day evenings, and in the annual discussion 
on Thursday afternoon. On Friday a visit 
was made to the New York Botanical 
Garden, where the grounds and buildings 
were shown and explained by the Director, 
Dr. N. L. Britton. At the business meet- 
ing the following officers were elected for 
the ensuing year: President, Dr. J. M. 
Macfarlane; Vice-Presidents, Professor G. 
F. Atkinson and Professor D. P. Penhallow; 
Secretary, Dr. W. F. Ganong. The following 
new members were elected: Messrs. F. C. 
Stewart, C. O. Townsend, F.C. Newcombe, 
B. D. Halsted, J. B. Pollock, D. 8. John- 
son, L. M. Underwood, M. B. Waite. The 
President, Dr. W. G. Farlow, presided over 
the sessions, at which the following papers 
were read. Detailed abstracts of these will 
appear in the February number of the 
Botanical Gazette: 

Some Peculiar Morphological Features of Pau- 
lownia imperialis: Dr. J. W. HARSHBERGER, 
University of Pennsylvania.—This paper 
contained a discussion of noteworthy ana- 
tomical, ecological and morphological fea- 
tures in this introduced tree, particularly in 
buds, flowers, fruits and petioles. 

The Life-history of Leuchtenbergia principis 
(abstract): Dr. W. F. Ganone, Smith 
College.—This paper is an attempt at a 
complete life-history of this rare and highly 
specialized species of Cactaceae, whose de- 
velopment has hitherto been quite unknown. 
This contribution is offered as the first of 
a series of life-histories in this family in- 
tended to supply data for a better under- 
standing of phylogeny and of principles of 
morphology and ecology. 

Observations upon Root-tubercles: PROFES- 
sor B. D. Hatstep, New Jersey Agricultural 
College.—The author’s observations showed 
that the root tubercles on spring-grown 
beans of a certain variety are much more 
abundant than upon autumn-grown plants 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


of the same variety grown in the same soil. 
He discusses the reasons for this, finding 
that of temperature, directly or indirectly, 
most important, and points out the bearing 
of his facts upon some others which have 
puzzled students of the subject. 

Further Notes on the Embryology of the Rubi- 
acee: Mr. F. E. Lioyn, Teachers’ College. 
—The author described very peculiar fea- 
tures in the development of the ovule and 
seed in several members of this family, in- 
eluding the development of as many as 
eight or ten macrospores in one ovule, very 
large antipodal cells, and the development 
of haustoria from the suspensor which 
absorb the endosperm. 

The Inflorescences and Flowers of Polygala 
polygama: Mr. CHARLES H. Suaw, University 
of Pennsylvania.—In this paper it is pointed 
out that in this well-known species there 
are, in addition to the commonly recognized 
aerial and subterranean cleistogamic blos- 
soms, other green cleistogamic blossoms 
borne above ground, the characters of which 
are remarkably intermediate between those 
of the other two kinds. A full comparison 
of characters makes this plain. 

Observations on some Monocotyledonous Em- 
bryo-sacs: Mr. R. E. B. McKenney, Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania.—The author de- 
scribed an unusual method of development 
of the embryo-sac in two species of Scilla, 
and discussed its significance. Incidentally 
he gave attention to the centrosome ques- 
tion, and was unable to find them in any 
of the stages studied, thus confirming the 
work of Mottier and others who doubt their 
occurrence in the higher plants. 

The Structure and Relation of the Crystal Cells 
in Sensitive Plants: Mr. R. E. B. McKen- 
NEY, University of Pennsylvania.—It is 
here pointed out that the crystals in cells 
sheathing the phloem in sensitive plants 
are insoluble in the ordinary reagents and 
possibly are made of insoluble silicates. 
They are also more abundant in the more 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899.] 


sensitive species, and peculiar features are 
found in the cells containing them. The 
author thinks it probable they are con- 
nected with the transmission of stimuli, 
the real place and nature of which are not 
yet known. 

The Structure and Parasitism of <Aphyllon 
uniflorum: Miss AmetiA B. Surre, Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania.—This paper, prelimi- 
nary in character, described the anatomy 
of this species and its characters of degen- 
eration due to its parasitism upon a species 
of Aster. 

On the Occurrence of Tubers in the Hepati- 
ce: Dr. M. A. Hows, Columbia Univer- 
sity.—The author calls attention to the few 
known cases of tuber formation in Hepati- 
cx, and gives a detailed account of the anat- 
omy of the tubers in Anthoceros phymatodes, 
a California species. He interprets these 
tubers as structures adapted to carry the 
life of the plant over a season of drought 
and also as playing a part in vegetative 
propagation. : 

Morphology of the Genus Viola: Dr. Henry 
Krarmer, Philadelphia College of Phar- 
macy.—The author has made a detailed 
microscopical examination of selected char- 
acters, particularly in the flower, in several 
species of the genus Viola as a basis for the 
determination of the phylogeny of those spe- 
cies, and he gives a preliminary classification 
of those investigated. The work is the con- 
tinuation of earlier published studies, and 
is part of a detailed investigation the author 
expects to make of the entire genus. 

Influence of Electricity upon Plants: Dr. 
G. E. Sronr, Massachusetts Agricultural 
College.—The paper contains the results of 
experiments upon some 20,000 germinating 
plants to which electrical stimuli were ap- 
plied by various methods and in different 
intensities. The author shows, by careful 
quantitative methods, that, within certain 
limits, germination is accelerated by the 
application of electricity ; that there is a 


SCIENCE. 


latent period anda minimum, optimum and 
maximum response, and that the relation 
between perception and stimulus follows 
Weber’s Law. 

Notes on the Germination of Spores: Dr. 
C. O. TownsenpD, Maryland Experiment Sta- 
tion.—The author describes results of ex- 
periments made to determine the effect 
upon their germination of exposure of 
spores in distilled water to different ex- 
ternal conditions. Such exposure, as shown 
by comparison with control experiments, 
produced no appreciable effect upon the 
power of the spores to germinate, except’ 
when they were frozen, in which case they 
failed to germinate at all. 

Sensitiveness of certain Parasites to the Acid 
Juices of the Host Plants: Dr. Erwin F. 
Smriru, Department of Agriculture.—This 
paper describes the author’s experiments 
made to determine whether his hypothe- 
sis, based upon observation, is correct, that 
the slow progress of some bacterial diseases 
of plants is due to the restraining influence 
of the acid juices of the host plants. By 
comparison with the results of cultures in 
solutions of known acidity, he was able to 
confirm this belief. 

Further Observations on the Relations of 
Turgor to Growth: Dr. Carterton C. Cur- 
Tis, Columbia University.—The author de- 
scribed the results of experiments in alter- 
ing the strength of solutions in which 
certain fungi were being cultivated, and the 
effects of the transfer upon growth and 
turgor force. 

Symbiosis and Saprophytism: Prorrssor D. 
T. MacDovueat, University of Minnesota.— 
The author points out that the term sapro- 
phyte, or holosaprophyte, should be applied 
only to those forms that obtain organic prod- 
ucts without the aid of mycorrhiza, etce., 
and that hitherto but a single seed-forming 
plant has been placed in this category. To 
this, however, the author now adds Cepha- 
lanthera as result of his researches. 


172 


Influence of Inversions of Temperature and 
Vertical Currents of Air wpon the Distribution 
of Plants: Prorressor D. T. MacDovueat, 
University of Minnesota.—As a result of 
observations made at Flagstaff, Arizona, 
the author concludes that inversions of 
temperature through diurnal changes and 
resultant air currents are more important 
in affecting plant distribution than has 
hitherto been supposed. Such changes 
tend to give minor highlands a more equa- 
ble temperature than adjoining hills and 
cations; to deflect zonal boundaries on great 
level plains and among minor topographical 
features, and to favor the growth of mois- 
ture-loving species along the margins of 
table-lands bordering on valleys. 

Peculiarities of the Distribution of Marine 
Alge in North America: Presidential Ad- 
dress, Dk. W. G. Fartow, Harvard Uni- 
versity.—This address, illustrated by maps, 
discussed the distribution of NorthA merican 
Marine Algz with particular reference to 
the factors, temperature, direction of ocean 
eurrents, character of coasts, etc., deter- 
mining it. It is expected that it will later 
be published in full. 

Some Appliances for the Elementary Study of 
Plant Physiology: Dr. W. F. Ganone, Smith 
College.—The author exhibited and de- 
scribed some simple and inexpensive ap- 
pliances invented by him for illustrating 
some of the more fundamental physiological 
facts and phenomena of plants. These in- 
cluded a temperature stage,a clinostat, a self- 
recording auxanometer, an osmometer, a 
way of demonstrating the exchange of gases 
in respiration, a germination box, a useful 
way of preparing plants for transpiration 
weighings, and an efficient way of gradua- 
ting growing roots, ete. 

Some Notes on the Reproduction and Develop- 
ment of Nereocystis: PROFESSOR CONWAY 
MacMitian, University of Minnesota.— 
The author described his observations upon 
the life-history of this species, giving par- 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 214. 


ticular attention to the ecological aspects 
of the subject. 

The Formation and Structure of the Dissepi- 
ment in Porothelium: Dr. E. A. Burt, Mid- 
dlebury College.—The author traced the 
development of the fructifications of Porothe- 
lium fimbriatum from their origin to the tube 
stage, and contrasted the structure of the 
dissepiment in different cases. 

Gelatin Culture Media: Dr. Erwin F. 
SmirH, Department of Agriculture.—The 
author spoke of the value of gelatin cul- 
ture-media and pointed out certain precau- 
tions to be observed in its use, particularly 
with reference to the fixing of the melting- 
point, the occurrence in it of sugar and of 
acid salts, and how the influence of these 
may be overcome. 

Notes on the Relative Infrequence of Fungi 
upon the Trans-Missourt Plains and the Adja- 
cent Foothills of the Rocky Mountain Region: 
Dr. CHartes E. Bessey, University of 
Nebraska.—An abstract of this paper, given 
by Dr. Erwin F. Smith, showed that the 
author had noted, in the course of his four- 
teen years’ collecting of fungi in the region 
named, that the number of species of fungi 
is large while the number of individuals is 
small, exactly the opposite of what is true 
in the same region for the flowering plants. 

Different Types of Plant Diseases Due to a 
Common Rhizoctonia : Messrs. B. M. Dueear, 
Cornell University, and F. C. Srewart, 
New York Experiment Station.—The stud- 
ies of the authors have shown that a stem 
rot of the carnation is due to a fungus 
agreeing precisely with Rhizoctonia Bete, 
which has caused a serious rot of sugar 
beets in New York during the past year. 
The fungus is described and suggestions 
given for its treatment. 

The Stem Rot Diseases of the Carnation: Mr. 
F. C. Srewart, New York Experiment 
Station.—The author points out that two 
distinct diseases of carnations have been 
confused. One is that described by him- 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899.] 


self and Mr. Duggar (in the preceding 
paper), and another is due to a Fusarium. 
The differences in the effects of the two are 


described. 
W. F. Ganone, 


Secretary. 

SmitH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MAss. 
ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMER- 

ICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. 

Tus meeting, held in connection with 
the affiliated societies, at Columbia College, 
on December 28th and 29th, was indica- 
tive of progress. According to the report 
of the Council the number of members 
had remained about constant, amounting 
to about five hundred. The report of the 
Treasurer showed that annual receipts and 
expenses were about equal. As the next 
volume of the series of Memoirs of the So- 
ciety was announced a second part of ‘ Cur- 
rent Superstitions,’ by Mrs. Fanny D. Ber- 
gen, including those relating to animals 
and plants; the first part of this work forms 
the fourth volume of the Memoirs, of which 
six volumes have now appeared. 

As officers for 1899 were elected Professor 
C. L. Edwards, of the University of Cin- 
cinnati, President; Miss Alice C. Fletcher, 
Washington, First Vice-President; Mr. C. 
F. Lummis, Los Angeles, Cal., Second Vice- 
President. The Secretary and Treasurer 
hold over. 

A committee was appointed to take into 
consideration the subject of the collection 
and record of folk-music, and to propose 
plans for the more adequate collection of 
negro folk-music in America. 

The address of the retiring President, Dr. 
Henry Wood, of Johns Hopkins University, 
dealt with ‘ Folk-lore and metaphor in lit- 
erary style.’ The object of the speaker was 
to exhibit the dependence of the consciously 
artistic metaphor of literature to the tradi- 
tional metaphor which forms its underlying 
basis. 


SCIENCE. 


173 


Among papers read may be mentioned 
observations on ‘ The study of ethics among 
the lower races,’ contributed by Dr. Wash- 
ington Matthews. The writer considered 
the study of myths and traditions to be the 
safest guide in this field, which as yet has 
scarcely been traversed; but in the use of 
such material it is necessary to proceed 
with caution and employ the critical meth- 
ods of modern science. If the gods of the 
tribe are considered as approving any ac- 
tion, or if the author of the tale appears to 
look for the approbation of his audience, it 
may be concluded that the act is regarded 
as possessing a moral quality, however, 
repulsive it may appear according to our 
ideas. That there exists a strong sense of 
the morality of conduct is obvious from the 
security of life; thus the Navahoes live in 
entire peace withouts courts or punish- 
ments. With this people there exists no 
penalty for theft; the thief is merely re- 
quired to restore the stolen property. Ac- 
cording to the myths incest is presumed 
to be confined to witches and cannibals. 
Truthfulness is not inculcated as a duty, 
yet Dr. Matthews had found the veracity 
of the people to be about equal to that of 
the whites. Expectation of reward in a 
future life does not exist. Conscience forms 
an effective power. The tales attest the 
frequency of active benevolence. 

Mr. W. W. Newell offered some observa- 
tions on the relation, in sun-myths, of the 
visual impression to the symbulic concep- 
tion. He pointed out the antiquity and 
universality of the radiant disk as a solar 
symbol, arguing that the effect on the sight 
must have been constant. He considered 
the variety of the myths to be the result of 
causal explanations, the orb being consid- 
ered as an object somehow to be got through 
the sky, treating of the Indian myths re- 
garding the sun-bearer, who is often con- 
founded with the orb he carries. Dr. Boas 
observed that among the Kootenay, for 


174 SCIENCE. 


example, the sun is regarded as an animal; 
but perhaps it was conceived that the light 
emanated from a certain part of the crea- 
ture, just as in the numerous myths where 
the luminous disk is regarded as part of 
the decoration of a sun-bearer. 

Mr. A. L. Kroeber presented a collection 
of animal tales of Eskimo, in part as made 
by himself from Smith Sound Eskimo. In 
these tales there is a contrast between 
Indian and Eskimo conceptions. Among 
Indians animals play an important part 
and are conceived as human in character. 
With Eskimo, on the contrary, animal 
stories are few; they belong chiefly to two 
classes, the first describing a marriage be- 
tween a human being and an animal, the 
second answering to European beast fables. 
The paucity and brevity of the latter differ- 
entiate them from the Indian narratives. 
Dr. Kroeber subjoined a list of recorded 
Eskimo animal tales. 

Dr. Livingston Farrand read a paper on 
the ‘ Mythology of the Chilcotin,’ in which 
the relations of the tales of this people with 
those of their neighbors was disscussed, 
with a view to obtaining a criterion in re- 
gard to the vexed question of diffusion or 
independent origination of similar myths. 
Dr. Farrand concluded that identity of 
theme was of minor importance as proof 
of borrowing, while agreement in details, 
among races contiguous or in cummunica- 
tion, could be explained only on ‘the hy- 
pothesis of diffusion. 

Notes on American Indian names of 
white men and women were presented by 
Dr. A. F. Chamberlain, of Clark University, 
and ‘Contributions toward a bibliography 
of folk-lore relating to women,’ by Mrs. 
Isabel Cushman Chamberlain. 

Miss Cornelia Horsford communicated 
information in regard to traditions con- 
nected with an apparent footprint on a 
rock of Shelter Island. 

Other papers were offered by Dr. Robert 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


Bell, Professor Thomas Wilson and Mrs.’ 
F. D. Bergen. Demonstrations were made 
of phonographic records of Indian song. 

W. W. NEWELL. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Kalender fiir Geologen, Paliéontologen und Miner- 
alogen. Herausgegeben von Dr. K. KEIL- 
HACK. 2d annual edition, 1899, with a por- 
trait of Professor C.W. v. Giimbel. Leipzig, 
1899, published by Max Weg. Pp. 288, with 
blank pages for notes. Price, 3 Marks. 

A handbook for geologists comparable to the 
numerous pocket aids, edited for the use of en- 
gineers, has never been issued. Dr. Keilhack 
began in 1898 the work, which is here described, 
in such a way as to fill some of the needs for 
such a book of reference. The list of contents 
of the present edition will serve as a sufficient 
notice of the booklet. The work gives a list 
of the official geological surveys of all coun- 
tries, including the American States, with their 
officers, the maps published, the prices of the 
maps and information concerning the other 
publications of the surveys. Where possible, 
the annual money allotment is stated. Sec- 
ondly, a list of the professors and instructors 
in geology, paleontology and mineralogy in 
the colleges and high schools of the world, 
alphabetically arranged by towns. It is to be 
noted that the American high schools do not 
rank as ‘high schools’ of European grade. 
Hence American high-school teachers are not 
here named. Thirdly, a list of geological, 
paleontological and mineralogical societies, 
with a brief account of their publications and 
membership. Fourth, the addresses of geolo- 
gists, etc., of Germany, Holland, Australia, 
Switzerland and Hungary. Fifth, the public 
and private geological, mineral and paleonto- 
logical collections of the countries just named. 
Sixth, the subdivisions of the greater geological 
formations in Europe. Seventh, a tabular view 
of the massive rocks, after Zirkel. Eighth, 
the characteristics of common minerals, giving 
their system of crystallization, specific gravity, 
hardness, chemical composition, streak color 
and the crystallographic position of their leaf 
cleavage. Ninth, a comparative table of the 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899.] 


erytallographic systems of Naumann, Weiss 
and Miller, with formulas for converting the 
symbols of one system into those of another. 
Tenth, atomic weights of the elements. 
Eleventh, an essay on the history of the 
names of geologic formations, by J. Walther. 
Twelfth, rules for the termination of proper 
names in scientific literature. Thirteenth, a 
brief notice of the advance of geology for the 
year. Fourteenth, list of geologists who have 
died since October 1, 1897. Fifteenth, table of 
the commonly-used measures of length. Six- 
teenth, isogonic chart of Europe for 1899. 
Seventeenth, lists of periodicals now published. 
Eighteenth, a list of geological, paleontological 
and mineralogical literature for 1898. (Very 
incomplete, particularly as regards America, 
and frequently useless because name of period- 
ical is not given.) Following is a chart of map 
scales, a daily calendar, a few blank pages for 
accounts, and blank and cross-section pages for 
geologic notes. Then come 26 pages of adver- 
tisements of German materials for use in geologic 
investigation and teaching. Worthy of notice 
among these advertisements is Professor Dames’ 
Geological Globe, of 34 cm. diameter, which 
will be useful in every geological laboratory. 

The writer found the first edition of this 
book an invaluable vade mecum in a European 
trip. At home the book serves as a valuable 
check-list for the sending of separates, for in- 
formation concerning geologic maps, and while 
it is not particularly adapted to the American 
geologist it is a welcome addition to the refer- 
ence books one keeps about his desk. A hand- 
book for the field geologist has yet to be writ- 
ten. Just what such a book should contain is 
probably difficult to ascertain. 

J. B. WoopworrtH. 


The Chinch Bug. By F. M. Wepster. Bull. 
No. 15, N.8., Div. of Entomology, U.S. Dept. 
of Agriculture. [November] 1898. Pp. 82, 
This excellent bulletin deals with a subject of 

perennial interest to farmers and entomologists ; 

and although the literature of the chinch bug is 
already large, Professor Webster has found 
plenty of new and interesting things to say 
aboutit. Inthe most interesting and convincing 
way, he shows how the insect may have origi- 


SCIENCE. 


175 


nated in Central America, and spread northward 
in three columns, one along the Pacific coast, 
the second over the prairie region east of the 
Rocky Mountains, and the third along the 
shores of the Gulf of Mexicoand Atlantic ocean. 
On p. 72a map is given illustrating these mi- 
grations. The Pacific column appears to be 
weak, and is little known, but the other two 
are strong in numbers. In the course of these 
migrations the insects have become modified, 
and it is clearly shown that the Atlantic and 
prairie hordes differ both in habits and struc- 
ture. Just at this point the present writer is 
inclined to disagree with Professor Webster’s 
opinion, that there is only one species of Blissus 
in North America. There are reasons for be- 
lieving that we have at least three species, and 
Montandon (Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg., XXXVIL., 
1893) has described as new B. hirtus from North 
America, and B. pulchellus from Central and 
South America. Unfortunately, I have not ac- 
cess to these descriptions, but from the data 
furnished by Professor Webster we may sepa- 
rate the following : 

1. Form of Central America and the West 
Indies: Macropterous, perhaps of larger aver- 
age size than the North American type. This 
may be Montandon’s pulchellus. 

2. Form of the prairie region of North 
America, probably also of California: Macrop- 
terous, more slender and less hairy than the 
coast insect. This is doubtless Le Baron’s Rhy- 
parochromus devastator, and will be called Blissus 
devastator (Le Baron). This insect occurs in 
small numbers,and is evidently native, along the 
eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, in Colo- 
rado and New Mexico. Like the Colorado po- 
tato beetle, it has become destructive when, 
moving eastwards, it found the cultivated fields 
of the central States. Professor Webster shows 
that it is very destructive to wheat and corn, 
but rarely attacks timothy. It has two annual 
broods. 

3. Form of the coast region and northeastern 
States. This is doubtless the true Blissus leu- 
copterus, Say. It has both brachypterous and 
macropterous forms, and is somewhat broader 
and decidedly more hairy than devastator. It 
depredates almost exclusively upon timothy 
grass and is single-brooded. 


176 


4, Another brachypterous sea-coast form, 
quite hairy and with colorational peculiarities, 
has been found at Lake Worth, Florida, and 
Fortress Monroe, Virginia, as recorded by Dr. 
L. O. Howard. I do not know whether this is 
Montandon’s hirtus. 

It seems to the writer that the probability of 
there being at least three species among the 
above insects is great enough to deserve serious 
consideration. If those who have the material 
will boil up a number of each in caustic potash, 
and examine the structural characters under 
the microscope by transmitted light, it is prob- 
able that new differences will appear, especially 
in the male genitalia. If it can be established 
that the seriously destructive insect of recent 
years is B. devastator, and not B. leucopterus at 
all, and that the former is still migrating east- 
wards, the fact will not only be of scientific but 
of economic importance.* 

T. D. A. COCKERELL. 

MESILLA PARK, N. M., 

November 24, 1898. 


Postscript, December 9th. Dr. L. O. Howard 
writes me: ‘The eastern form [lewcopterus] injures 
many plants, including rice. That it is apparently 
more resistant to fungus attack, however, was shown 
in a curious way last summer, when it damaged grass 
lawns in the heart of the City of Brooklyn in an ab- 
normally wet season and in spite of repeated drench- 
ings from the sprinkler hose.’’ 


A Manual of Chemical Analysis, Qualitative and 
Quantitative. By G.S. NEwTH, Demonstrator 
in the Royal College of Science, London. 
New York, Longmans, Green & Co. 1898. 
Pp. vii + 462. 

This book is a decided departure from the 
usual manuals of qualitative and quantitative 
analysis. The author has endeavored, and 
with much success, to present a book which 
will teach the theoretical as well as the prac- 
tical side of analytical chemistry and to avoid 
as far as possible teaching mechanical opera- 


* On p. 50 Professor Webster notes that few chinch 
bugs died from the parasitic fungus in the timothy 
meadows of northern Ohio. These were the B. leucop- 
terus, which, coming from a relatively damp region, 
may have acquired greater powers of resistance to the 
fungus attack than Bb. from the dry 
prairies of the far West. 


devastator, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 214. 


tions. He has divided the volume into two 
parts: Book I., of 136 pages, treating of qualita- 
tive analysis; and Book II., giving the methods of 
gravimetric and volumetric analysis of inorganic 
substances, including the analysis of the more 
simple gases, of the determination of carbon, 
hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur and the halogens 
in organic compounds, and of some simple 
physico-chemical experiments. 

The subject of qalitative analysis is treated 
in a broad way, and the student who follows 
the text conscientiously will obtain a wide 
knowledge of general chemistry. The author 
first shows how the subject ean be classified ac- 
cording to the reaction with the group re- 
agents, and then considers the properties of 
the separate elements. The general chemistry 
of each of the more common elements is dis- 
cussed, giving only those properties which are 
useful for the separation and identification of 
the elements in analysis, and after having con- 
sidered the properties of a group of elements 
there is given a summary of the particular 
properties which are utilized in separating the 
members of the group. The general reactions 
taking place, the properties of the substances 
and their compounds are so clearly stated and 
the subject is so logically developed that the 
qualitative separation of the substances fol- 
lows naturally, and the quantitative separation 
is but a step further. This is particularly true 
of that portion of the book which treats of the 
oxidation and reduction of iron, chromium and 
manganese compounds. The reactions of chro- 
mium and the separation in the presence of 
phosphates, which are often difficult points for 
the student to grasp, are fully and satisfactorily 
explained. The separation of iron, chromium 
and aluminium is based upon the oxidation of 
chromium to chromic acid by sodium peroxide 
and the solubility of aluminium hydroxide in 
sodium hydroxide, and should commend itself 
more favorably than the usual methods of 
separation for this group. Another point 
which deserves special mention is the fact that 
after each group follows an appendix in which 
the properties of the rarer elements of that 
group are considered. The concluding chapter 
of the portion of the book devoted to qualita- 
tive analysis is full of sound advice on the in- 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


telligent interpretation of results and on the 
cultivation and development of habits of obser- 
vation. 

There are some points on which the author 
has either not laid enough stress or where a 
better method of procedure might have been 
offered. The difficulties produced by the 
simultaneous presence of chromium and zinc 
are not mentioned, and it would have been 
much better to have given here, as an alterna- 
tive method, the barium carbonate process, not 
only for the separation of zinc from chromium, 
but also for the separation in the presence of 
phosphates. Again the Fresenius method for 
separating small amounts of barium, calcium 
and strontium would prove more accurate than 
the separation by means of potassium chromate 
and acetic acid. The preliminary tests and 
operations necessary to get a substance into so- 
lution are systematically treated, but no men- 
tion is made of fusion with acid potassium sul- 
phate. There are two portions of Book I. which 
reflect on the intelligence of the student, and 
the book would have been much better without 
them, viz.: the tables at the end of each chap- 
ter giving an outline of the process ; and Chap- 
ter I., which treats of filtration, solution, evap- 
oration, fusion, precipitation, ignition and 
neutralization, processes, which properly belong 
to experimental general chemistry. If thestu- 
dent had not already been over the ground 
here given he would not be fitted to begin 
qualitative analysis. 

There will undoubtedly be a difference of 
opinion concerning that portion of the book de- 
voted to quantitative analysis, particularly in 
regard to the selection of the gravimetric 
analyses and to the details necessary to carry 
them out. After the preliminary operations of 
weighing and preparation of pure salts the 
gravimetric determination of the more common 
metals and acids is studied in detail, and then 
follows a chapter on the determination of the 
constituents of silver coin, solder, German 
silver, bronze, dolomite, zinc blende and an in- 
soluble silicate containing the alkalies. The 
well known typical methods of volumetric 
analysis are given. By excluding many de- 
scriptive details and by conciseness and clear- 
ness of expression the author has condensed a 


SCIENCE, 


AGT 


great deal into this portion of the book, which, 
if followed under the guidance of an instructor, 
should give any student a good general knowl- 
edge of quantitative methods. 

Following the gravimetric and volumetric 
methods, the physico-chemical methods for the 
determination of specific gravity, boiling point, 
melting point and vapor density are given. 
The author could very advantageously, and 
should, have included here the determination 
of molecular weights by boiling- or freezing- 
point methods, and then followed it by a brief 
résumé of the more recent applications of theo- 
retical chemistry to quantitative analysis. 
Such a chapter would have been in harmony 
with the rest of the book and would have in- 
creased its value greatly. 

In his preface the author says, ‘t I have care- 
fully avoided the use of those symbolic abbrevi- 
ated expressions, such as H,O (oxalic acid), 
H,,T (tartaric acid),’’ etc., and nevertheless he 
uses the formula ‘Cy’ instead of CN, offering 
as an excuse that ‘Cy’ is a recognized and con- 
venient symbol for the radical (CN) cyanogen. 
He is further inconsistent in the uses of the 
doubled formule for the hydroxides of iron, 
chromium and aluminium, as Fe,(OH),, etc., 
while perhaps in the same equation he will use 
the single formula for the chloride FCl,,. 

The author it seems takes unusual precau- 
tions in igniting filter papers apart from the 
main portion of the precipitate. This tedious 
operation might have been avoided in many 
cases by the use of the Gooch crucible, which 
receives no mention. 

As a whole the book is remarkably free from 
objectionable points, and isa distinct advance 
in the scientific treatment of analytical chemis- 
try. 

Henry Fay. 
RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE U. S. GEOLOG- 
ICAL SURVEY. 


Tue following bulletins have been recently 
issued by the U. 8. Geological Survey : 
Bulletin 89. ‘Some Lava Flows of the Western 

Slope of the Sierra Nevada, California,’ F. 

L. Ransome. 

The author describes a series of lava sheets, 
one of which forms the celebrated Table Moun- 


178 


tain, in Tuolumne county, California, and 
which has been usually described as_ basalt. 
The rocks are intermediate between the tra- 
chytes and andesites and are specially named 
‘Jatites.’ Inasmuch as six other names have 
already been proposed for rocks of this general 
character, the author had a magnificent oppor- 
tunity to resist the temptation to make a new 
one. 


Bulletin 149. ‘ Bibliography and Index of North 
American Geology, Paleontology, Petrology 
and Mineralogy for 1896,’ F. B. Weeks. 

This bulletin continues the excellent series 
already represented by Nos. 127, 130, 135 and 

146. 


Bulletin 150. ‘The Educational Series of Rock 
Specimens, collected and distributed by the 
U.S. Geological Survey,’ J. 8. Diller. 

The petrography of the series is set forth by 

Mr. Diller and others. The work will be more 

fully reviewed elsewhere in SCIENCE. 


Bulletin 151. ‘The Lower Cretaceous Gryphxas 
of the Texas Region,’ R. T. Hill and T. W. 
Vaughan. 

This Bulletin has been reviewed in SCIENCE 
for January 20, 1899 (p. 110), by Professor 

Frederic W. Simonds. 


Bulletin 152. ‘Catalogue of the Cretaceous 
Plants of North America,’ F. H. Knowlton. 


Bulletin 153. ‘ Bibliographic Index of North 
American Carboniferous Invertebrates,’ 
Stuart Weller. 

Bulletin 154. ‘A Gazetteer of Kansas,’ Henry 
Gannett. 


Bulletin 155. ‘Earthquakes in California in 
1896 and 1897,’ Charles D. Perrine. 

Bulletin 156. ‘ Bibliography and Index of North 
American Geology, Paleontology, Petrology 
and Mineralogy for 1897,’ Fred. B. Weeks. 
The titles of Nos. 152-156 inclusive indicate 

the contents. , 

THE Macmillan Company announce the early 
publication of the second part of Dr. Day- 
enport’s ‘Experimental Morphology, which 
treats of the effect of chemical and physical 
agents upon growth. They also announce ‘A 
History of Physics ; in its Elementary Branches 
Including the Evolution of Physical Labora- 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


tories’ which has just been completed by 
Florian Cajori, Ph.D., professor of physics in 
Colorado College and ‘author of ‘A History of 
Mathematics.’ 


THE Open Court Publishing Company have 
now in press the ‘ Principles of Bacteriology,’ 
by Professor Ferdinand Hueppe, of the Uni- 
versity of Prague, translated by Professor E. 
O. Jordan, of the University of Chicago. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Hand-book of Metallurgy. CARL SCHNABEL. Trans- 
lated by HENRY LEwis. London and New York, 
The Macmillan Company. 1898. Vol. I., pp. 
xvi-+ 876. Vol. II., pp. xiv-+ 732. $10.00. 


A Guide to the Study of the Geological Collections of the 
New York State Museum. FREDERICK J. H. MER- 
RILL. Albany, University of the State of New 
York. 1898. Pp. 207+ 65 plates. 40 cents. 


Earthenware of the New York Aborigines. WILLIAM 
M. BEAUCHAMP. Albany, University of the State 
of New York. 1898. Pp. 76-4142. 245 illustra- 
tions. 25 cents. 


The Last Link, our present Knowledge of the Descent of 
Man. ERNEST HAECKEL. London, Adam and 
Charles Black; New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1898. Pp. 156. $1.00 


The Principles of Stratigraphical Geology. J.E. MARR. 
Cambridge, The University Press; New York, 
The Macmillan Co. 1898. Pp. 304. $1.60. 


Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education 
Sixth Annual Meeting, Vol. VI. Edited by T. C. 
MENDENHALL, J. B. JOHNSON and A. KINGSBURY. 
Published by the Society. 1898. Pp. xxvii +324. 


Traité de zoologie concréte. YVES DELAGE and ED- 


UARD HeROUARD. Vol. VIII., Les procordes. 
Paris, Schleicher Fréres. 1898. Pp. vii +379. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE New England Botanical Club has estab- 
lished a journal to encourage the study of the 
local flora. It has been given the name Rhodora 
and will be published monthly at 740 Exchange 
Building, Boston. The editor-in-chief is Mr. 
B. L. Robinson, with Messrs. F. 8S. Collins, M. 
L. Fernald and Hollis Webster as associate 
editors. The first number, which contain twenty 
pages and two plates, opens with an editorial 
announcement, followed by a number of inter- 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


esting articles and notes on the flora of New 
England. 

THE initial number of the Builetin of the 
Cooper Ornithological Club of California con- 
tains a biographical sketch, with portrait of 
Dr. James C. Cooper, after whom the Club is 
named. Among the other contributions is one 
‘on the ‘ Nesting of the Fulvous Tree-Duck,’ 
showing that this species frequently deposits its 
eggs in the nests of other species, and also that 
it is either more prolific than any other duck, or 
that several females lay in one nest, 28 to 32 
eggs being found on several occasions. 


THE publication of the Osprey for December, 
1898, brings this magazine down to date, and 
we are promised that there will be no delays in 
the future. The leading article, by E. W. Nel- 
son, is devoted toa ‘ Morning with the birds on 
Mount Orizaba,’ and there is an interesting ac- 
count of the Sea-birds off the New England 
coast by H. K. Job. A fine plate of blue jays, 
by Fuertes, closes the number, but this, like the 
other illustrations, has suffered in the printing. 


THE Bulletin of the U. S. Fish Commission 
for 1897, Vol. XVII. of the series, is mainly oc- 
cupied with the papers read at the National 
Fisheries Congress, held at Tampa, Fla., in 
January, 1898. Among the other papers are 
accounts of the Salmon Investigation of the Co- 
lumbia River Basin in 1896, and of the Salmon 
Fishery of Penobscot River and Bay in 1895 
and 1896. 


THe February number of The Open Court con- 
tains an article by Professor R. M. Wenley, of 
the University of Michigan, on the Gifford Lec- 
tureships, established with an endowment of 
$400,000, by the late Lord Gifford, in the four 
Scottish’ Universities, for the purpose of en- 
couraging research in natural theology. In his 
will Lord Gifford stated that he wished the lec- 
turers to treat their subject strictly as a natural 
science—as astronomy or chemistry is treated. 
The present incumbents of the lectureships are : 
At St. Andrews, the Hebrew scholar, Profes- 
sor Wellhausen, of Marburg; at Glasgow, the 
physiologist, Professor Foster, of Cambridge ; 
at Aberdeen and Edinburgh, Professors Royce 
and James, respectively, professors of philoso- 
phy and psychology at Harvard University. 


SCIENCE. 


179 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


WISCONSIN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, ARTS AND 
LETTERS, 


THE 29th annual meeting of the Academy 
was held on December 27th and 28th last, at 
Milwaukee, with the President, Professor C. 
Dwight Marsh, of Ripon College, in the chair. 

Professor E. A. Birge, Director of the State 
Geological and Natural History Survey, made 
a report on the general progress of the Survey. 
Dr. E. R. Buckley followed with a special re- 
port on Wisconsin building stones and Professor 
D. P. Nicholson on lake investigations. Pro- 
fessor C, R. Van Hise and others urged that the 
recommendation of the Academy for the con- 
tinuation and extension of the Survey be pre- 
sented formally to the Legislature. A com- 
mittee was appointed for this purpose. 

It was voted as the sense of the meeting that 
the library of the Academy should be put in the 
custody of the State Historical Society when 
the latter should remove its own library to the 
new building provided for it by the State. The 
library of the Acadamy has become important, 
especially in the line of transactions of foreign 
societies, and it is expected that suitable rooms 
will be available for it in the new building. 

Mr. Ernest Bruncken, Secretary of the State 
Forestry Commission, reported on the legisla- 
tion which the Commission will endeavor to gain 
the present winter. Three lines of effort will 
be recommended : (1) to establish a complete 
corps of fire wardens and efficient supervision 
thereof; (2) to study conditions of forest 
growth, both in the forest itself and at experi- 
ment stations ; (8) to educate public opinion. 

The program of the meeting contained, to- 
gether with other papers, the following of a 
scientific nature : 


‘Lake temperatures.’ HE. A. Birge. 

‘Contributions from the histological laboratory 
of the University of Wisconsin.’ W.S. Miller. 

‘Further facts in relation to the succession- 
period of generations.’ C. H. Chandler. 

‘Lantern Projections of Three Dimensional 
Curves and Surfaces,’ and ‘ Theoretical Investi- 
gation on the Motion of Ground Waters—III, 
Mutual Interference of two or more Artesian 
Wells.’ C.S. Slichter. 


180 


‘The Maximum Gravitational Attraction at 
the Pole of a Spheroid.’ E. F. Chandler. 

‘Combinations of Pythagorean Triangles as 
giving Exercises in Computation.’ TT. H. Saf- 
ford. 

“A Study of the Class of Electric and Mag- 
netic Oscillations known as Aphotic.’ J. E. 
Davies. 

‘Some Factsin Regard to the Development of 
Epischura.’ C. Dwight Marsh. 

‘The Block System of Arranging Insect Col- 
lections.’ Harriet B. Merrill. 

‘Spines of Trilobites and their Significance.’ 
G. L. Collie. 

‘The Crystallography of a Gold Telluride from 
Cripple Creek,’ and ‘The Crystallography of 
a new Reduction Product of Terpene.’ W. H. 
Hobbs. 

‘The Volume Relations of Original and Sec- 
ondary Minerals in Rocks.’ C. R. Van Hise. 

‘The Electrical Properties of Non-Aqueous 
Solutions’. A. T. Lincoln. 

‘The Effects of the Presence of pure Metals 
upon Plants.’ Louis Kahlenberg and E. B. 
Copeland. 

‘Revision of the Pronouns, with Special Con- 
sideration of Relatives and Relative Clauses.’ E. 
T. Owen. 

The number of new members elected was 14. 
The active members of the Academy now num- 
ber 200. 

A. S. FLINT, 


Secretary. 
MADISON, WIs. 


THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 


THE Ohio Academy of Science held its eighth 
annual meeting at Columbus, Ohio, on Decem- 
ber 29 and 30, 1898, in Orton and Zoological 
Halls of the Ohio State University. Eighteen 
new members were elected. Hon. Emerson 
MeMillen, a life member of the society, donated 
the sum of $250 to be applied as the trustees of 
the Society may see fit, for the encouragement 
of investigation. Officers were elected for the 
coming year as follows: President, Professor 
G. Frederick Wright, of Oberlin; Vice-Presi- 
dents, Chas E. Albright, of Columbus, and A. 
D. Selby, of Wooster; Secretary, E. L. Mosely, 
of Sandusky ; Treasurer, Professor Herbert Os- 


SCIENCE. cist eh 


Vou. IX. No. 214.. 


born, of Columbus ; Executive Committee, E. 
E. Masterman and G. H. Holferty ; Publication 
Committee, F. M. Webster, of Wooster. 

Professor W. G. Tight, of Dennison Univer- 
sity, delivered the retiring President’s address 
on the subject ‘ Geographical Teaching and the 
Geography of Ohio.’ 

The following papers were read: ‘A Deep 
Pre-Glacial Channel in Western Ohio and East- 
ern Indiana,’ by J. A. Bownocker; ‘The Di- 
vision of the Macrospore Nucleus of Erythro- 
nium,’ ‘Two Interesting Filamentous Bacteria 
from Columbus’ and ‘Nutation of the Cultivated 
Sunflower,’ by John H. Schaffner; ‘Some Re- 
cently Discovered Pre-Glacial Cols in Ohio,’ 
“A Galenite Geode from Muskingum Co.’ and 
‘A Pocket Instrument for the Approximate De- 
termination of Distance by Triangulation,’ by 
W. G. Tight; ‘Some Observations on Unio 
subovatus,’ by F. L. Landacre; ‘Some Obser- 
vations on the Topography of Athens and Vi- 
cinity,’ by H. E. Chapin and C. H. Stearns; 
‘The Laboratory and the Field—Their Relative 
Importance,’ by H. E. Chapin; ‘ A Contribu- 
tion to the Knowledge of the Faunistic Ento- 
mology of Ohio,’ ‘Some Notes on the Grape 
Cane Gall Maker, Ampeloglypter sesostris,’ and 
‘Some Apparent Relations of Ants to Peach 
aphis, A. persiceniger,’ by F. M. Webster; 
‘Some Observations on the Pre-Glacial Drain- 
age of Wayne and Associate Counties,’ by J. 
H. Todd ; ‘A Plea for Science Teaching in the 
Public Schools,’ by Miss Mary E. Law ; ‘ Notes 
on Ecological Plant Geography of Summit, 
Wayne and Medina Counties’ and ‘ Field 
Notes,’ by A. D. Selby; ‘Some Sources of the 
Ohio Flora,’*by A. D. Selby and J. W. T. Du- 
vel; ‘Notes on Fasciation,’ ‘Some Abnormal 
Plant Specimens’ and ‘ Further Studies in Em- 
bryology,’ by Miss L. C. Riddle ; ‘ Distribution 
of the Microscopic Fungi,’ ‘Reliability of Spore 
Measurements of the Fleshy Fungi,’ ‘ The IIli- 
nois Biological Station’ and ‘Occurrence of 
Phalli near Cleveland,’ by H. C. Beardsley ; 
‘Climate of the Philippine Islands,’ ‘ Life in the 
Philippines’ and ‘Some Rare Ohio Plants,’ by 
E. L. Mosely ; ‘Development of the Micro- 
sporangium of Hemerocallis fulva,’ by E. J. Full- 
mer; ‘ Lichens New to Ohio,’ ‘ List of Phaeno- 
gams New to Ohio or Rare in and New to Coun- 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899.] 


ties in Northern Ohio’ and ‘ Lists of Erysipheze 
and Uredinex of Cuyahoga and other Counties 
of Northern Ohio,’ by Edo Claassen ; ‘ Studies of 
Ustilago Reiliana,’ by W. A. and K. F. Keller- 
man ; ‘ Plants New to the Ohio Flora’ and ‘ Ob- 
servations on the Ohio Flora,’ by W. A. Kel- 
lerman ; ‘ A Descriptive List of the Fishes of the 
Big Jelloway Creek System,’ by J. B. Parker, 
E. B. Williamson and R. C. Osburn; ‘ Addi- 
tional Notes on Franklin County Fishes,’ by 
E. B. Williamson and R. C. Osburn; ‘ Ad- 
ditional Notes on the Crayfish of Ohio,’ by 
E. B. Williamson; ‘ Additions to the Ohio 
List of Dragonflies,’ ‘ Additions to the Ohio 
List of Butterflies’ and ‘Twenty-five Species 
of Syrphide not Previously Reported for Ohio,’ 
by J. S. Hine; ‘Remarks on the Hemipterous 
Fauna of Ohio, with a Preliminary Record of 
Species,’ by Herbert Osborn; ‘A Bat New to 
Ohio,’ by J. F. Cunningham; ‘ A Female of the 
Purslain Sawfly, Schizocerus Sp ?, with a Male 
Antenna,’ by C. W. Mally ; ‘The Waste or Re- 
fuse in Fruit and Nuts,’ by W. R. Lazenby ; 
‘On the Occurrence of the Black-Capped Petrel, 
Bstrelate hasitata, at Cincinnati, Ohio,’ by Joshua 
Lindahl. 
R. C. OsBuRN. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


January 12, 1899.—Under the head of exhibi- 
tion of specimens Mr. Schwarz showed a true 
queen of an undescribed species of Termes 
which had been found by Mr. H. G. Hubbard 
in the Madera Caiion of the Santa Rita Moun- 
tains, Arizona. This is the first true Termite 
queen which has been found in North America. 

Mr. Heidemann exhibited a species of the 
genus Hoplinus found by Mr. Schwarz in south- 
ern Arizona (Catalina Mountains). This is a 
curious species thickly covered with spines, on 
account of which Mr. Ashmead suggested that, 
as the vegetation of that region is spiny, the 
presence of this armatured bug indicated a case 
of protective resemblance. <A long discussion 
ensued on the subject of mimicry and protec- 
tive resemblance among insects, participated in 
by Messrs. Gill, Ashmead, Judd and Howard. 

Dr. Dyar presented some notes on the phyl- 
logeny of the Lasiocampidee. Apropos of Mr. 
Tutt’s recent article on the subject he had gone 


SCIENCE. 


181 


over the group and established a genealogical 
tree based principally upon the larval charac- 
ters and the wing venation. The discussion of 
this paper took the form of a continuation of 
the subject of protective resemblance suggested 
by Dr. Dyar’s remarks about the larvee of this 
group of Lepidoptera, especially in relation to 
the sub-lateral structures developed as a means 
of eliminating the shadow cast by the caterpil- 
lars, consisting in one group of larve of a longi- 
tudinal white line and in others of lateral pro- 
cesses. Further discussion, by Messrs. Gill, 
Ashmead and Dyar, considered the larval 
characters of the Lepidoptera, Dr. Dyar stat- 
ing that the most generalized larva is tubercu- 
late, tubercules being lost and hairs being de- 
veloped in the process of specialization. 

Mr. Schwarz read a paper by Mr. H. G. 
Hubbard on the luminosity of a larviform Cole- 
opter supposed to be the female of Mastino- 
cerus, and supplemented Mr. Hubbard’s note 
by general remarks on the females of Lampyrid 
beetles. Discussion followed, relating espe- 
cially to the question as to whether luminosity 
in the Lampyride is a specialized condition, Dr. 
Gill taking the stand that from its more or less 
isolated occurrence in several groups of this 
family it is more likely to have been an original 
condition which has been lost perhaps by a ma- 
jority of species in the process of specialization, 
calling attention to the analogy between this 
phenomenon in the Lampyride and Elateride 
to the phenomenon of electricity in the fishes, 
occurring as it does here and there in several 
groups. Mr. Schwarz stated that the relation- 
ship between the luminous Lampyride and the 
Elateridze was closer than perhaps has hitherto 
been suspected and called attention to the fact 
that the larviform female of Phengodes was 
originally described by Le Conte as an Elaterid. 
Mr. Howard considered that from the fact that 
the species which lack this physiological quality 
correspond to the normal coleopterous type and 
that since the larviform females possess what 
may be termed highly degradational characteris- 
tics comparable to those acquired by a life of 
parasitism, for example, the luminosity should 
probably be considered a high specialization of 
comparatively recent origin. 

The final paper of the evening was presented 


182 


by Mr. Howard who exhibited a series of Aus- 
tralian insects of economic importance and made 
a brief statement of the present condition of 
economic entomology in the Australian colo- 
nies. He called attention to the fact that the 
introduction of agriculture on a large scale in 
this comparatively new region had resulted in 
the attacks of many native species upon culti- 
vated crops. The specimens shown had been 
sent him by Mr. W. W. Froggatt, the Ento- 
mologist of the Department of Agriculture of 
Sydney, New South Wales, and included a 
number of species of great economic importance. 
He noted the curious habit of the apple root- 
borer (Leptops hopei) in laying its eggs in the 
folded leaf of the apple, the newly hatched 
larvee dropping to the ground and entering the 
roots ; the damage done by the orange bug 
(Oncosalis sulciventris), the vine moth (Agarista 
glycina) and a number of other species, showing 
among other things that the so-called climbing 
cut-worm named by Mr. Froggatt Plusia verti- 
serrata is apparently nothing but our North 
American Prodenia lineatella. In briefly dis- 
cussing this paper Mr. Schwarz drew a com- 
parison between the large number of native 
species which, by a change of habit, have at- 
tacked cultivated crops in Australia and the 
extremely small number which have similarly 
changed their habits in our own Northwest. 
He recalled no native species in Washington 
and Oregon which have become crop pests. 
Y L. O. Howarp, 
Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF 
PHILADELPHIA. 


December 20, 1898. PROFESSOR ANGELO 
HEILPRIN made a communication on the phys- 
ical geography and geology of the Klondike 
region, with incidents of a summer trip to 
Dawson City. The general features of the 
country traversed were described and profusely 
illustrated by lantern views. 

A paper entitled ‘Synopsis of the United 
States species of the Hymenopterous genus 
Centris Fabricius,’ by William J. Fox, was pre- 
sented for publication. 

January 10, 1899. PROFESSOR H. A. PILSBRY 
described a New Mexican Helicoid land shell 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


received from Professor Cockerell. A dissec- 
tion showed that the form agreed with the Epi- 
phragmophora in the structure of the genera- 
tive organs and the form of the kidney, while 
the shell closely resembles Polygyra. The 
new genus thus defined was named Ashmun- 
ella in recognition of the services of the col- 
lector. 

Dr. WILLIAM H. DAtu referred to the discus- 
sion at the recent meetingof the Geological 
Society of America of the authenticity of the 
Calveras skull, and described the specimen as 
examined by him immediately after it came into 
the possession of Professor Whitney, of the Geo- 
logical Survey of California. The speaker 
believed that so far no sufficient reason had 
been adduced for doubting the genuine charac- 
ter of the skull and its original situs below the 
lava, though the question of the coexistence of 
man and the extinct mammals whose remains 
have been found in the same gravels is entirely 
distinct and may reasonably be left open. 

The subject was discussed by Mr. Lewis 
Woolman, who also referred to recent ineffec- 
tual attempts to find implements of human 
manufacture in the Trenton gravels. 

A paper entitled ‘New and _ Interesting 
Species in the Isaac Lea Collection of Eocene 
Mollusca,’ by Charles W. Johnson, was pre- 
sented for publication. 

January 17, 1899. Mr. CHARLES 8. BOYER 
read a paper on the general study of diatoms 
and on the characters of the forms found in the 
neighborhood of the mouth of Pensauken creek 
and elsewhere near Philadelphia. 

Mr. Louts WooLMAN dwelt on the geological 
position and characters of the deposits contain- 
ing the forms enumerated by Mr. Boyer and ex- 
hibited microscopic preparations in illustration 
of his remarks. 

PROFESSOR ANGELO HEILPRIN, alluding to 
Dr. Dall’s communication on the Calaveras 
skull, recounted the arguments for and against 
its authenticity recently presented to the Geo- 
logical Society of America. Heregarded the pres- 
ent evidence of the miners as worthless. He had 
calculated the age of the cafion to be quite con- 
sistent with the existence of Indians cotem- 
poraneous with the deposit of the skull, al- 
though he agrees with Dr. Dall that, with the 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


evidence now in our possession, the question 
could not be definitely settled. 

Mr. P. P. CALverRT referred to a recently 
published paper on the structure of the gizzard 
of dragon flies and recounted the results of the 
recorded observations. He had been able to 
dissect out the gizzard, in good condition for 
study, from dried specimens, one having been 
obtained from a fly captured in Burmah in 1889. 
The ridges, which form a prominent feature of 
the organ, do not seem to be smoothed away 
by food, their function being probably that of a 
sieve. 

Epw. J. NoLAn, 
Recording Secretary. 


ZOOLOGICAL CLUB, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 
MEETINGS OF THE AUTUMN QUARTER. 


Polymorphic Nuclei in Embryonic Germ-cells.— 
While studying the oogenesis of Loligo pealet 
Les., the squid common at Woods Holl, Mass., 
Tnoticed that the embryonic germ-cells showed 
nuclei much lobed and contorted—a condition 
which has been observed in other germ-cells 
and variously accounted for as due to amitosis ; 
to deterioration with accompanying fragmenta- 
tion, to increase of the assimilating surface, ete. 
I wish here briefly to call attention to this con- 
dition in the squid. An account of the oogene- 
sis will soon be completed. 

Sex first becomes distinct shortly after hatch- 
ing, the embryonic germ-cells being apparently 
indifferent. During and for a short time after 
the embryonic period the genital gland rests 
upon the left tongue of the internal yolk-lobe. 
Nourishment is evidently direct through the 
yolk-epithelium, the genital blood-vessels de- 
veloping toward the end of this period. During 
this time the nuclei of the germ-cells enlarge 
rapidly and show marked lobes, bays and con- 
tortions, a centrosome occurring in one bay of 
each nucleus. Their descendants, the oo- and 
spermatogonia, also show a polymorphism of 
the nuclei which becomes less striking as the 
number of generations increases and the size of 
the cellsdecreases. These cells always lie near 
the blood- vessels of the gland, and their chroma- 
tin, like that of the parent cells, is never finely 
divided, but massed in clumps, a large clump 
lying near each bay of the nucleus. A similar 


SCIENCE. 183 


though less marked polymorphism exists in 
nearly all the somatic nuclei at this embryonic 
period, and is conspicuous in those rapidly pro- 
liferating stroma-cells at the hilum in which 
the blood-vessels form. 

This condition of the nuclei in the germ- 
cells of the squid is due neither to deterioration 
nor to amitosis, for it is shown by all the germ- 
cells, which after attaining a large size divide 
by mitosis, giving rise to the oo- or spermato- 
gonia. It seems probable that it is here caused 
by the rapid growth of the nucleus, together 
with the retention of the centrosome and massed 
condition of the chromatin in these rapidly 
dividing embryonic cells. 

Mary M. STuRGEs. 


Larve of Arenicola cristata.—The highly 
resistant organization of these larve renders 
them remarkably well fitted for artificial 
rearing. They may be reared from the egg 
in sea water kept aerated by Ulva up to a 
stage where the structure and habits of the 
adult are practically complete. Addition of 
carmine powder to the sea water seems to ac- 
celerate development up to a certain point, 
probably on account of the increased food sup- 
ply which is thus furnished to the developing 
larvee. 

They leave the egg-strings as slightly elon- 
gated, strongly heliotropic larvee with two eye- 
spots and three body segments, each with two 
pairs of sete. Prototroch and paratroch, to- 
gether with a median ventral band of cilia, are 
present, and by their aid the larvee swim about, 
actively rotating on the long axis at the same 
time. After a day or two they settle down and 
begin to form the tubes in the interior of which 
they undergo the remainder of their develop- 
ment. These tubes are of very simple construc- 
tion, being composed of any convenient foreign 
particles united by a glutinous substance se- 
creted apparently by certain large clear cells, 
situated anteriorly, which are to be regarded as 
gland-cells. From now on development pro- 
gresses uniformly and growth proceeds as usual 
by the addition of segments at the posterior 
end. The opacity resulting from the presence 
of the yolk gradually diminishes as the yolk 
becomes absorbed, and when twelve segments 


184 


or so are present the larvee have become almost 
perfectly transparent. By this time the mouth 
and anus have appeared and the three divisions 
of the intestine are established, the mid-gut, or 
stomach, which is very early distinguishable, 
being sharply marked off from the fore- and 
hind-guts, the latter of which is ciliated. The 
anterior part of the fore-gut is eversible and 
forms a proboscis, which appears at an early 
stage, and by its activity the neighboring par- 
ticles of débris are taken into the intestine, and 
as they pass through the latter the food mate- 
rial is extracted, just as in the adult. 

The essential habits of the adult are thus as- 
sumed at a very early stage. As the larva 
grows older the uniform segmentation of the 
body undergoes an alteration, and by the time 
thirty segments or so are attained there is per- 
ceptible a division of the body into two quite 
distinct regions, which correspond to a similar 
division in the adult, where the anterior part 
of the body, including the first eighteen seg- 
ments, is of considerably greater diameter than 
the remaining posterior part, which consists of a 
large and inconstant number of very short seg- 
ments of similar structure. This division grad- 
ually becomes more definitely established, and 
at the same time the gills make their appear- 
ance a simple thin-walled outgrowth of the 
body-wall, which gradually become branched in 
a more and more complex manner. There are 
thus formed eleven pairs of these structures, 
situated in segments 8 to 18 inclusive and con- 
taining looped blood-vessels derived from the 
main vascular trunks. The nephridea are al- 
ready visible through the transparent body- 
wall, as six pairs of somewhat elongated sac- 
like structures situated in segments 5 to 10. 
The otocysts are now clearly visible ; the circu- 
lation of the blood, with the contractions of the 
dorsal vessel and of the two ‘hearts,’ can be 
readily seen, as can also the secondary external 
division of each of the anterior segments into 
five by superficial circular grooves. Atthisstage, 
in fact, apart from this small size (12 to 18 mm.) 
and complete transparency, the larve are in 
both habits and structure practically identical 
with the adult. R. 8. LILvie. 


The following papers were also presented 
during the quarter: ‘Caspar Friedrich Wolff 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 214. 


and the Theoria Generationis,’ Dr. W. M. 
Wheeler ; ‘ Field Work at Turkey Lake and a 
Series of Turtle Embryos from that Locality,’ 
Miss E. R. Gregory; ‘Recent Literature on 
Spermatogenesis,’ M. F. Guyer; ‘EHisig on the 
Development of the Capitellids,’ Dr. C. M. 
Child; ‘Early History of the Optic Vesicles 
and Accessory, Eye-like Vesicles in Verte- 
brates,’ Dr. W. A. Locy, of Northwestern Uni- 
versity; ‘ Characteristic Features of Mitosis and 
Amitosis,’ Dr. S. Watasé; ‘The Field Colum- 
bian Museum Expedition to Africa in 1896,’ 
Dr. D. G. Elliott, Director of the Expedition ; 
‘Protective Coloration,’ Dr. W. H. Dudley. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE STORING OF PAMPHLETS. 


A CHEAPER grade of pamphlet box than 
those described by Dr. Minot can be obtained, 
made of pasteboard instead of light wood. 
They are strong enough for ordinary service. 
Those which I use were obtained at a local 
bindery, not made to order, but kept in stock, 
and measures 11x 7x3 inches. They are open 
at the back; the front face, 11 x 3, is covered 
with black cloth, to which a label is easily at- 
tached. 

For pamphlets of quarto size, too large to get 
in these boxes, and not taking kindly to a ver- 
tical position, I have procured covers with 
pasteboard sides and a partly flexible back. 
The two sides measure each 12 x 10 inches, and 
the back, attached to 12-inch edges, is 3 inches 
wide. The outside is of black cloth, two thick- 
nesses of which make the flexible part of the 
back. <A strip of pasteboard one-inch wide 
gives stiffness to the middle of the back anda 
place for the label. When first put into ser- 
vice a sufficient number of pamphlets must be 
put in each cover to fill one inch indepth. The 
flexible part of the back, one inch on either side 
of the pasteboard strip, will allow an expan- 
sion of two inches before the contents require 
reassorting. The covers may be placed one 
upon another on the shelves, arranged in 
groups of subjects. These I find very service- 
able for the larger pamphlets. 


WINSLOW UPTON. 
BROWN UNIVERSITY, 


January 28, 1899. 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 


SEVERAL months ago M. and Mme. Curie 
separated from pitch blende a strongly radio- 
active substance for which they proposed 
the name polonium. In the Comptes Rendus 
for December 26th, in conjunction with 
M. Bémont, they describe another suppos- 
edly new element in pitch blende for which 
they propose the name radium, while the 
elementary character of polonium is con- 
firmed. Polonium in its chemical nature seems 
to resemble bismuth, while radium is analytic- 
ally indistinguishable from barium. Indeed, it 
would appear, especially as the spectrum of 
the new substance is apparently identical with 
that of barium, except one line, that in their 
samples radium is present only in small pro- 
portion and as an impurity in barium. The 
claim that it is a new element is based upon the 
radio-activity of the substance. Barium is not 
radio-active, while the substance obtained from 
pitch blende is extremely radio-active. By so- 
lution of the chlorid in water and precipitation 
with alcohol the substance may be fractioned 
until the chlorid is 200 times more active than 
uranium. In the spectrum of this substance 
Demarcy finds a line whose wave-length is 
3814.8, and which is not due to any known 
substance. The further the chlorid is frac- 
tioned the stronger this line appears. An 
atomic weight determination showed a varia- 
tion from that of barium only within the limits 
of experimental error. 


In the January number of the American Chem- 
ical Journal the work of E. C. Franklin and C. 
A. Kraus on liquid ammonia (already noticed 
in this JOURNAL) is continued. Since many in- 
organic salts are soluble in liquid ammonia, 
the probability of metathetic reactions, analo- 
gous to those in water, would be great. Such 
the authors find actually take place. Using 
the nitrates of sixteen metals, and the sulfid, 
ehlorid, bromid, iodid, chromate and borate of 
ammonium as precipitant, it is found that those 
salts which are insoluble in ammonia are readily 
precipitated. The reactions with ammonium 
sulfid present the most interest, as the com- 
pounds formed differ in many cases at least 
from those formed in aqueous solution, as is 


SCIENCE. 


185 


evidenced by their color ; for example, that with 
cobalt is pink, with nickel and with cadmium, 
white. The cobalt and the cadmium compound 
assume the normal color of the sulfid on adding 
water. These seem to be complex compounds, 
as the precipitate from magnesium nitrate with 
ammonium sulfid was examined and found to 
correspond best to the formula 2MgS, (NH,),S, 
x«NH,, where xis 9 or 10. 


CONSIDERING in a second paper some of the 
properties in liquid ammonia the authors show 
its close relation to water. As a solvent for 
salts it is only surpassed by water ; it closely 
approaches water in its power of dissociating 
electrolytes ; indeed, some salts conduct elec- 
tricity better in ammonia solution than in 
aqueous solution ; in many compounds it plays 
the same part as water of crystallization ; its 
specific heat is as great as that of water and its 
molecular elevation constant is lower than that 
of any other substance yet measured. As a 
solvent it differs from water in not dissolving 
the sulfates and sulfites, the alkaline carbonates, 
phosphates and oxalates, and hydroxids. In its 
solvent power for organic substances it comes 
nearer alcohol than water. The solidammonia 
is not, like water, specifically lighter than the 
liquid, nor does it exhibit a maximum density 
above its melting point. Altogether, the inves- 
tigations which Professor Franklin is carrying 
out on liquid ammonia promise to enrich our 
chemical knowledge in no small degree. 

Oy ap) dale 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
BAD FORM IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL WRITINGS. 


In a note to one of his recent articles Dr. 8. 
R. Steinmetz criticises, with just severity, two 
faults conspicuous in some writers on anthro- 
pology (though surely not peculiar to works in 
this branch). The one is the appropriation, 
without any or sufficient acknowledgment, of 
the work of others. This may arise from inad- 
equate preparation, an ignorance of what others 
have written, or a half- knowledge of it, as well 
as from deliberate intent. 

The second fault is constant self-repetition 
and self-reference. I can name a writer whose 
references to his own writings exceed those to 


186 SCIENCE. 


all other authors combined. Whether this is 
vanity, or simply because he does not read the 
works of others, may be left an open question. 

An author who omits references to what his 
predecessors have accomplished should be read 
with constant suspicion and distrust. 


THE MANGYANS OF MINDORO. 

THOSE who have read ‘Professor D, C. Wor- 
cester’s account of the Mangyans of the Island 
of Mindoro, in the Philippines, which he con- 
tributed to the National Geographic Magazine 
(1898, No. 6), must have finished his article 
with the impression that these were about the 
lowest savages belonging to the human species. 

Professor Worcester, however, does not men- 
tion the remarkable and redeeming fact that 
these people are literary ; that they have and 
have had, so long as they have been known, a 
phonetic alphabet and written records. I have 
a copy of a document in this alphabet before me, 
given in the appendix to Paterno’s work, ‘ Los 
Itas’ (Madrid, 1890) ; and in 1895 Dr. Foy pub- 
lished a study of it, with numerous examples, 
in the ‘Abhandlungen’ of the Ethnographic 
Museum of Dresden. A brief article on the 
subject, by the eminent specialist, Professor 
Blumentritt, may be found in Globus, March, 
1896 (No. 11). We cannot place such a people 
in the status of savagery. 


THE JEW AND THE GYPSY. 

UNDER the above promising title, Mr. W. H. 
Wilkins edits a volume of the literary remains 
of Sir Richard F. Burton (H. F. Stone & Co., 
Chicago). Nearly 300 pages are devoted to 
these two wandering peoples. The reader who 
expects new and entertaining facts from Bur- 
ton’s wide experience will be disappointed. The 
essay on the Jew contains nothing that has not 
appeared elsewhere, and that on the Gypsy is 
largely taken up with an ancient and barren 
controversy. The only portion of the former 
article which contained original observations 
the editor thought fit to suppress. 

Burton’s work in ethnology, though varied 
and abundant, was superficial and prejudiced. 
He was not thorough, and his enthusiasm, for 
and against, led him repeatedly to adopt and 
defend untenable opinions. Probably the most 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


carefully studied work of his life was that which 
his widow burned immediately after his death. 
D. G. BRINTON. 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN RUSSIA. 

THE forthcoming number of the Experiment 
Station Record describes the plans of the gov- 
ernment of Russia for the establishment of a 
system of agricultural education. At a recent 
meeting of the Agricultural Council, an ad- 
visory body, of which the Minister of Agricul- 
ture is Chairman, an outline presented by the 
Minister was considered at length and a general 
plan of agricultural education was elaborated. 
The introductory to this document states that 
notwithstanding the fundamental importance of 
agriculture to Russia and the great fertility of 
some of the Russian soils, ‘‘ the crops obtained 
even on the black soil are only one-third to 
one-half as large as those harvested from the 
incomparably inferior soils of western Europe. 
Almost everywhere in Russia the primitive 
processes of farming are persistently followed 
by the farmers, while the number of persons 
who are fitted by education and training to dis- 
seminate information on the rational methods 
of agriculture is comparatively insignificant.’’ 
The scheme is outlined for (1) higher education, 
furnished by independent agricultural institutes 
located in the chief agricultural zones of Russia, 
and by chairs of agriculture and allied sciences 
in the universities; (2) agricultural high schools, 
which are in the nature of technical schools 
and schools with courses in agriculture; (38) 
lower agricultural schools ; and (4) the diffusion 
of general agricultural information. The schools 
for the so-called lower education include (a) 
secondary agricultural schools, (b) primary 
agricultural schools, (c) agricultural classes, and 
(d) practical agricultural courses. These lower 
schools are to be under the jurisdiction of the 
Minister of Agricultural and Imperial Domains. 
They are to be maintained at the expense of 
municipalities, local communities, associations, 
etc., but may receive a part of their support 
from the government. They are to have the 
franking privilege for official mail matter and 
packages not exceeding 36 pounds in weight. 
The secondary schools are to be established on 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899.] 


government land or land donated for that pur- 
pose. The other lower agricultural schools 
may be established on private estates. The 
secondary schools are open to young men of all 
conditions who have completed the course in 
the primary public schools. The course of 
instruction covers four years, and includes 
in addition to the general studies the ele- 
ments of the natural sciences, agricultural 
and rural economy, cattle raising, veterinary, 
agricultural law, horticulture, gardening, etc., 
together with carpentry and blacksmithing in 
their application to agricultural machinery. The 
primary agricultural schools are open to all who 
can read and write and have a knowledge of 
arithmetic as far as fractions. The courses last 
from one to three years. They include, aside 
from general studies, instruction in the ele- 
ments of agriculture, with practical exercises. 
The classes in agriculture are intended for the 
instruction of young men of the peasant class. 
The course does not last longer than two years, 
and consists in the study of the rudimentary 
principles of agriculture and their application to 
the local conditions. The successful comple- 
tion of the course in these three grades of the 
lower agricultural schools carries with it certain 
reductions in the military requirement, depend- 
ent upon the grade. The practical agricultural 
courses are designed to impart popular informa- 
tion in particular branches of agriculture. The 
instruction does not continue for more than a 
year, and consists in demonstrations, talks and 
practical exercises in different branches of agri- 
culture in their application to local conditions, 
and especially to the conditions of the peasants. 
The diffusion of general agricultural informa- 
tion is to be provided for by : (1) the organization 
of public readings or lectures on agricultural 
questions for the benefit of different classes of 
the population ; (2) instruction of the teachers 
in the public schools in agriculture, horticulture, 
gardening, apiculture, etc., and providing the 
public schools with small plats of land and 
means for cultivating the same ; (3) the teaching 
of agriculture in the normal schools, and (4) the 
introduction of supplementary courses in agri- 
culture in the village schools. There are now 
in Russia 3 schools for higher agricultural in- 
struction, 9 agricultural high schools, 83 lower 


SCIENCE. 


187 


schools and 59 special courses. Steps have 
already been taken for the establishment of 
about 50 additional agricultural schools. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCI- 
ENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

THROUGH the courtesy of the Secretaries of the 
Royal Society, we have received a copy of the 
Acta of the Second International Conference ona 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature, together with 
the report of the committee of the Royal So- 
ciety, with schedules of classification, and hope 
to give full consideration to a subject which is 
probably the most important now before men 
of science. It is to be hoped that the verbatim 
report of the proceedings of the second confer- 
ence will be printed promptly and freely dis- 
tributed among men of science and scientific 
journals. This is especially important in view 
of the short time, now less than one year before 
the plans of the Conference are to be put into 
effect. In connection with this subject we 
quote the following editorial note from the last 
number of Natural Science : 

“Tn our last number we gave a short account 
of the proceedings at the International Confer- 
ence on Scientific Literature convened by the 
Royal Society. We did not think it necessary 
to say that we had abstracted this account from 
our highly valued contemporary Nature, since 
we assumed that the procés-verbaux were public 
property, and that copies would be distributed 
to the press, especially the scientific press, in 
due course. No copy has yet reached us, and 
we gather from SCIENCE, as well as from other 
sources, that no attempt has been made by the 
Royal Society to furnish the scientific public 
with any account of the work carried on by this 
Congress. We now recall the strange fact that 
the elaborate ‘Report of the Committee of the 
Royal Society of London, with Schedules of 
Classification,’ though bearing date March 30, 
1898, was never heard of by many of those 
most interested until late on in the year (vide 
articles in ScrmncE, and by Professor Victor 
Carus in Zoologischer Anzeiger). It seems to us 
that the Royal Society does not realize its re- 
sponsibilities. Why this shrinking from the 
public gaze? Are the members of the commit- 
tees so afraid of criticism? This is a scheme 


188 


that appeals to the whole world of science ; it 
will have to be supported by money ; it will re- 
quire the ardent cooperation of numerous in- 
dividuals. To say the very least, it is not wise 
of the Royal Society to put on its usual airs of 
superiority and indifference in a matter of this 
kind. We have excellent reason for believing 
that the eminent and courteous Secretaries of 
the Royal Society are not responsible for this 
darkness where there should be light. Who, 
then, is the culprit ?”’ 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Mrs. EsrHer HERRMAN has given $10,000 to 
the building fund of the Scientific Alliance of 
New York City. It will be remembered that 
about a year ago we gave an account of the 
plans for erecting a building for the different 
scientific societies of New York. Such a scien- 
tific center is greatly needed, and it is to be 
hoped that Mrs. Esther Herrman’s generous 
gift will be followed by others. 

Mr. Epwarp E. AYER has resigned the presi- 
dency of the Field Columbian Museum, Chi- 
cago. A successor has not yet been elected. 


Proressor A. E. TORNEBOHM has_ been 
elected President of the Swedish Geological So- 
ciety for 1899. 

Mr. W. ANDERSON, of the Geological Survey 
of India, has been appointed director of a sur- 
vey of Natal about to be undertaken by the 
Colony. 

Tue Academy of Science of St. Petersburg 
has elected as honorary members the King of 
Sweden, the Queen of Roumania, Fridjof Nan- 
sen and M. Emile Sénart, member of the Insti- 
tute of France. 

M.A. LoreEAv, President in 1898 of the French 
Society of Civil Engineers,and Count A. de Dax, 
Secretary of the Society, have been made by the 
Emperor of Russia a commander and a knight, 
respectively, of the order of St. Stanislas. 

Mr. R. T. BAker has been made Curator of 
the Technological Museum of Sydney, N.S. W. 

THE death is announced of Dr. Dumontpallier, 
an eminent Paris physician and an author of 
contributions to pathology, especially of the 
nervous system, at the age of 74 years ; and of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 214. 


Lieut.-Col. Robert Pringle, M.D., of the British 
army, the author of numerous papers on the 
hygiene and diseases of India. 


WE learn from the Botanical Gazette of the 
deaths of three foreign botanists, M. F. Gay, of 
the University of Montpellier, at the age of 40 
years, a student of the green algie, Pastor 
Christian Kaurin, of Sande Jarlsberg, Norway, 
at the age of 66, a well-known student of Scan- 
dinavian bryology, and Professor T. Carnel, 
professor of botany and director of the botanic 
garden at Florence, 


Tue London Times gives the following details 
concerning the Rey. Bartholomew Price, F.R.S., 
whose death we recently recorded: Born at 
Cole St. Dennis, Gloucestershire, in 1818, Mr. 
Price was educated privately and at Pembroke 
College, whence he obtained a first class in 
mathematics in 1840. He gained the Univer- 
sity Mathematical Scholarship in 1842, and two 
years later was elected Fellow of his College. 
In 1844 he became tutor and ten years after- 
wards Sedleian professor of natural philosophy. 
In 1852 appeared the first volume of his elabo- 
rate work on the infinitesimal calculus ; the last 
of the four was not published till ten years later. 
This book obtained for him a considerable repu- 
tation in the mathematical world ; but his prin- 
cipal work in life was practical, and he will be 
remembered rather as the active Secretary of 
the University Press during the years of its first 
great activities after the death of Dean Gaisford, 
than as a mathematical professor. Bartholo- 
mew Price was a keen yet cautious man of busi- 
ness, and in his best days did much for the in- 
terests of the University both at the Press and 
as member of the Hebdomadal Council. Prob- 
ably nobody of his time filled the latter post 
during so many years as he, or was so often 
called upon to be the spokesman of the Council 
in proposing new statutes and decrees to Con- 
gregation. 


WE learn from Natural Science that at a meet- 
ing in Edinburgh, on November 8th, a com- 
mittee was appointed to consider the feasibility 
of establishing a Scottish Zoological Garden. 
‘The idea of a ‘ Zoological Society’ was mooted, 
but did not, we are pleased to learn, find sup- 
port. There are already three or four societies 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899.] 


in Edinburgh which have to do with Zoology, 
and any attempt to insinuate another would 
simply alienate the sympathies of those who 
weuld be glad to see a well-considered Zoolog- 
ical Garden instituted. A committee, includ- 
ing Professor Cossar Ewart, Dr. Ramsay Tra- 
quair, Professor A. E. Mettam, Mr. Fairgrieve, 
Mr. W. 8. Bruce, Mr. Hope Findlay and oth- 
ers, Was appointed, and we wish them success. 
We venture to predict that a successful site is 
to be found in the direction where holidayers 
do most resort. Proximity to the sea would 
also be a great advantage. We hope the enthu- 
siasts and the capitalists may come to terms, 
and that more may soon be heard of this excel- 
lent scheme.’’ 


AT the recent annual meeting of the New 
York Academy of Medicine both the retiring 
President, Dr. E. G. Janeway, and the incom- 
ing President, Dr. William H. Thomson, advo- 
cated the establishment of a research laboratory 
in connection with the Academy. The library 
of the Academy now contains 70,360 books, 
being one of the most extensive medical li- 
braries in the world. 


THE Chelsea Physics Garden, established in 
1721 by Sir Hans Sloan, at present forms the 
site of the garden and buildings of the Society 
of Apothecaries, occupied by them at a nominal 
rent of £5, on condition that the garden be 
maintained for the purpose of botanical and 
medicinal study, and supply the Royal Society 
with specimens of fresh plants every year. The 
Society wishing to be relieved of the trust, the 
London County Council has drawn up a plan 
for its further maintenance. The scheme pro- 
vides that the City Parochial Foundation, which 
is prepared to madea grant of a capital sum and 
a maximum yearly amount of £800 for main- 
tenance, shall be the trustees. It is proposed 
to provide a museum, a lecture theatre, a bo- 
tanical laboratory and a biological laboratory, 
partly in the existing buildings and partly in 
new buildings, which, it is anticipated, will en- 
croach on the garden to the extent of only one- 
eighth of an acre. The trust is to be adminis- 
tered by the trustees and by a committee of 
management that will include representatives 
from the Royal Society, the’ Royal College of 


SCIENCE. 


189 


Physicians and other institutions. “Provision is 
made for the appointment of a Curator and other 
officers. 


THE New England Association of Chemistry 
Teachers held their first annual meeting at 
Boston on January 28th. The following officers 
wereelected: President, Dr. Lyman C. Newell; 
Vice-President, Rufus P. Williams, of Boston ; 
Secretary, M. A. Stone, Watertown; Treasurer, 
E. F. Holden, Charlestown; Executive Com- 
mittee, William H. Snyder, Worcester, Miss 
Delia M. Stickney, Cambridge, and Charles R. 
Allen, of New Bedford. The Association now 
numbers 49 members. 


THE centennial anniversary of the Medical 
and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland will be cele- 
brated in Baltimore, April 25th, 26th and 27th. 


A NUMBER of cases of bubonic plague have 
occurred on the Island of Mauritius. 


Dr. CARL PETERS has left London with a 
well-equipped expedition to explore the Afri- 
can territory south of the Zambesi River with 
a special view to the discovery of gold. 


Natural Science states that Sven Hedin is 
classifying his geological specimens, which he 
will present to the High School of Stockholm, 
and is preparing a detailed account of his jour- 
ney from Kathgar to Khotam for Petermann’s 
Mittheilungen. His archzeological collection and 
manuscripts will be arranged by Professor 
Grunwedel and exhibited in the Berlin Museum, 
whilst Dr. Ekholm is dealing with the meteoro- 
logical notes. The maps and charts, covering 
552 sheets, have been confided for enlargement 
and reproduction to Justus Perthes, of Gotha. 
Dr. Hedin proposes to start on his next journey 
of Asian exploration about the middle of 1899. 
He intends to cross the Taklamakan desert 
twice, thoroughly explore one of the largest 
rivers of Turkestan, and again study the inter- 
esting Lob Nor problem. The most important 
part of the work will, however, be explora- 
tions in the north and interior parts of Tibet. 
Dr. Hedin hopes to be able to spend a winter in 
some of the highest alpine regions of Tibet 
at a height of about 15,000 feet. Then he will 
pay a visit to the new Viceroy of India, and 
will return over Himalaya, Karakoram and 
Kashgar. Dr. Hedin will again go alone, and 


190 SCIENCE. 


he calculates that his three years’ travel will 
cost no more than £2,500. 


Ir is proposed to establish in University Col- 
lege, Liverpool, a class for students who will de- 
vote themselves to the investigation of tropical 
diseases, to which end a special lecturer will be 
appointed, and the students will have the ad- 
vantage of watching cases and their treatment 
in the Royal Southern Hospital. Mr. A. L. 
Jones, well known in the West African trade, 
has offered to contribute £350 a year towards 
the expenses of the intended special school. A 
general committee has been formed, which, in 
conjunction with a committee of the Royal 
Southern Hospital, will make adequate arrange- 
ments for the work in new buildings to be 
erected for the hospital. 


AT a meeting of the central committee for 
establishing sanatoria for consumptives on 
January 9th, says the London Times, it was 
stated in the annual report that there were al- 
ready 20 sanatoriain Germany for consumptive 
patients. Regret was expressed that accommo- 
dation was chiefly provided for male patients, 
and attention was called to the urgent neces- 
sity of establishing sanatoria for women. A 
committee of ladies under the presidency of 
Princess Elizabeth zu Hohenlohe had carried 
on a good work in providing for the families of 
those who, as patients in the sanatoria, were 
debarred from earning their living. <A large 
number of towns and also of provincial districts 
throughout the Empire had, through their rep- 
resentatives, given their adhesion to the central 
committee, which now numbered 466 members. 
At the close of the year 1898 the funds 
amounted to 250,000 Marks. A sum of 224,500 
Marks had already been devoted to subsidizing 
new sanatoria, and 70,000 Marks had been 
promised for the same purpose. The Duke of 
Ratibor, the nephew of the Chancellor, made a 
statement regarding the congress on tuber- 
culosis, its dangers and its prevention, which 
will meet in Berlin at Whitsuntide under his 
presidency. Invitations to attend this congress 
will be addressed to foreign countries. Profes- 
sor von Leyden spoke on the same subject and 
expressed a hope that the congress would con- 
tribute to make the success of the national 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 214. 


movement for combating tuberculosis in Ger- 
many more widely known and that it would 
secure fresh supporters for this work of 
humanity. 


CoNSUL-GENERAL Gowpy, of Paris, in his 
annual report, says that during the past year 
there has been a marked increase in the adop- 
tion of automobiles, not only as pleasure ve- 
hicles, but for practical application in the way 
of cabs serving the public in the city of Paris, 
and for business purposes in the way of delivery 
wagons, especially those for long distances. It 
is announced that at the beginning of next year 
there are to be 100 motor cars driven by electric 
power running in the streets of Paris, and, if the 
experiment be successful, the cabs will be in- 
creased to 1,000. With this project in view, a 
large plot of ground has been acquired, where 
the building of works necessary for the housing 
of the cabs and the machinery for the electric 
supply are being rapidly completed. A train- 
ing ground has also been made for the cabmen. 
This is laid out with every possible form of pay- 
ing, wood, asphalt, stone, etc., including two 
steep hills. Here and there are dotted about a 
number of dummy figures, and in and out of 
these the cabmen have to maneuver, under the 
orders of an instructor. As arule, in four les- 
sons, it is stated, the driver is ready to navigate 
Paris and after ten lessons is considered thor- 
oughly competent, Each cab is supplied with 
sufficient power to be driven 30 miles at about 
8 miles an hour. 


THE London Times states that Dr. Ferras, 
who has been in practice in Calcutta since 
18538, in his evidence before the Plague Com- 
mission, on January 4th, expressed the opinion 
that there had never been plague cases in Cal- 
cutta, but simply cases of malignant fever. He 
remembered seeing similar cases when a student 
in Caleutta which were indistinguishable from 
plague except bacteriologically. There had been 
no bacteriological experts in India since the time 
of Dr. Cunningham. Unless Calcutta was im- 
proved structurally and the bustis were cleared 
and the overcrowded areas opened out, there was 
no chance that malignant fever would disappear. 
Captain Bingley, who had been employed on 
plague duty in Bombay, recommended munici- 


FEBRUARY 3, 1899. ] 


pal camps as a remedy for overcrowding. 
They had been tried at Bombay, but were not 
successful, as they were started too late. A 
camp in his own district was very successful. 
The people willingly paid two rupees a month, 
which covered the expenses and paid the in- 
terest. The plague increased after the season 
of the export of grain, because the rats then 
left the bandars and spread through the town 
in their search of food, carrying the infection 
with them. The bandars were the foci of the 
plague. Mr. Griesbach, Director of the Geo- 
logical Survey of India, gave evidence as to the 
formation of the soil in the infected areas which 
pointed to the trap and crystalline area being 
specially adapted to the spread of the disease, 
but the witness explained that Bombay was 
situated near the center of the Deccan trap 
formation. On the alarm of the plague the 
people naturally spread fanlike over the adjoin- 
ing country. There was abundant evidence 
that the tenacity with which epidemics clung 
to localities was influenced by the geological 
formation. 


THE University of the State of New York an- 
nounces that one of the most important of the 
twenty-two bulletins issued by the museum is 
sent to the schools this month. This is a large 
octavo of 156 pages, entitled a ‘Guide to the 
study of the geologic collections of the New 
York State Museum,’ by Dr. Frederick J. H. 
Merrill, Director. In the front pocket is a 
folded relief map showing the boundaries of the 
geologic systems on a scale of twenty-four miles 
to an inch, and the entire volume is profusely il- 
lustrated with half-tone photographs of geologic 
features. The general plan is such that it will 
serve as a guide to any other geologic collections 
in New York, and will also be useful to teachers 
in New York secondary schools who wish to 
direct the attention of their studentsto local geol- 
ogy. It gives briefly a digest of the New York 
geologic reports, with much useful introductory 
matter, and is meant, not in any sense to re- 
place the small text-books, but to supplement 
them by giving information found as a rule only 
either in the larger and more expensive books 
which are not accessible to most teachers and 
students, or in a multitude of scientific pa- 
pers. 


SCIENCE. 


191 


From a Blue Book on the Straits Settlements 
Nature learns that the Perak Museum at Tai- 
ping is now overcrowded, and that there is con- 
sequently much difficulty in arranging the 
collections in their natural sequence, while 
there is practically no room for new specimens. 
The Taiping collections are specially rich in the 
ethnological and mineralogical branches, and 
the zoological specimens have recently been 
greatly improved. The photographic and botan- 
ical branches were extended during the year, 
and the museum now contains a valuable sec- 
tion allotted to economic botany. Investiga- 
tions were carried out, with satisfactory results, 
on the subject of insects attacking coffee, rice 
and other agricultural products, and some ex- 
periments were made in connection with tap- 
ping rubber. Discussion has been going on as 
to constituting the museum at Taiping a central 
museum, supported by all the Federated Malay 
States. The curator at Taiping suggests that 
local museums, of which one has been in ex- 
istence forseveral years at Selangor, and which, 
it is hoped, will soon be established in the other 
States, might either be affiliated to, or form 
branches of, the Federal Museum. On the 
other hand, the British Resident at Selango 
urges that the existence of a local museum 
creates and sustains in the minds of the com- 
munity an interest in local products, their 
sources and uses, which cannot fail to be bene- 
ficial and deserving of encouragement, and it 
cannot be urged that people in Selangor or the 
Negri Sembalin will obtain any advantage from 
a museum in Perak, however complete, which 
few of them will probably ever see. 


In the museum of the Royal Agriculture and 
Commercial Society of British Guiana at Deme- 
rara, says Natural Science, various changes 
have recently been introduced. The exhibited 
series of birds has been revised according to the 
British Museum catalogue, and over 200 speci- 
mens have been remounted. Other groups 
have been partially revised, so far asis possible 
in the absence of modern literature. It is 
hoped that the issue of a revised edition of the 
British Museum Catalogue of Fishes will enable 
the Curator to work up those animals as com- 
pletely as the birds; meanwhile a comprehen- 
hensive collection of British Guiana fishes is 


192 


being made, and preserved for the most part in 
formalin. Exhibition space in this museum has 
been extended by the addition of an upper 
gallery. Chief among recent acquisitions is a 
large series of rocks collected in the Northwest 
District by J. B. Harrison and H. I. Perkins, 
to illustrate a government report. The chief 
difficulty in the curatorial work of this museum 
is presented by atmospheric changes and over 
much moisture. It is satisfactory to learn that 
many inquiries are made at the museum, both 
personally and by correspondence, and that it 
is becoming more and more a general educating 
force in the colony. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

AT the annual meeting of the Board of Re- 
gents of the Smithsonian Institution, held in 
Washington on January 25th, an inquiry was 
raised as to the propriety and expediency of 
taking action toward the establishment of a 
national university, and a committee was ap- 
pointed to investigate and report at the next 
meeting. The committee is: John B. Hender- 
son, of Washington ; Alexander Graham Bell, of 
Washington ; William L. Wilson, of Virginia 
(the three members of the Executive Committee 
of the Board of Regents); James B. Angell, of 
Michigan, and Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois. 

CoLuMBIA University is making plans to es- 
tablish a summer school during and after the 
summer of 1900. The courses, as is usual in 
summer schools, will be planned with special 
reference to the needs of teachers, and the re- 
sources of the Teachers College will be fully 
utilized. 

THe Cornell Medical College proposes to es- 
tablish a summer schvol of medicine to be given 
in New York hospitals and dispensaries. 

THE State University of lowa announces a 
course of lectures on the Elements of Anthro- 
pology, to be delivered early in March by W 
J McGee, Ethnologist in charge, Bureau of 
American Ethnology. 

Dr. E. B. McGitvary, of the University of 
California, has been called to the Sage profes- 
sorship of moral philosophy at Cornell Univer- 
sity, vacant by the removal of Professor Seth 
to the University of Edinburgh. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 214. 


Proressor C, A. KEFFER, of the Division of 
Forestry, Department of Agriculture, has been 
elected professor of agriculture and horticul- 
ture in the New Mexico Agricultural College. 

Mr. J. S. E. Townsenp, B.A., of Trinity 
College, Cambridge, has been elected to the 
Clerk Maxwell scholarship. 

Dr. G. Meyer, till now first assistant in the 
Physical Institute, has been elected to an assist- 
ant professorship of physical chemistry in the 
University of Freiburg. Dr. Zehinder, assist- 
ant professor of physics at Freiburg, in Br., 
has been called to Wirzburg as first assistant 
to Professor Rontgen. Dr. Otto Wiedeburg, 
docent in physics in the University at Leipzig, 
has been promoted to an assistant professorship. 
Dr. Sidler, assistant professor of astronomy at 
Berne, has been given an honorary professor- 
ship. In the Faculty of Science at Nancy the 
following changes have been made: M. Flo- 
quet, professor of pure mathematics, has been 
made professor of analytical mathematics; M. 
Molk, professor of applied mathematics, has 
been made professor of mechanics; M. Haller, 
professor of chemistry, is professor of organic 
chemistry, and M. Gintz has been appointed 
professor of mineralogical chemistry. 

Two of the more important chairs at Oxford 
are vacant—the Sedleian professorship of 
natural philosophy, so long filled by the late 
Dr. Bartholomew Price, and the Linacre pro- 
fessorship of comparative anatomy, vacant by 
the removal of Professor Ray Lankester to the 
British Museum. Natural Science reports that 
the past students of Professor W.F. R. Weldon, 
of University College, London, are signing a 
testimonial to their former teacher in view of his 
candidature for the latter chair. Among others 
whose names are mentioned as candidates are Mr. 
F. E. Beddard, prosector to the Zoological Society 
of London; Mr. G. C. Bourne, who for many 
years has been demonstrator and lecturer at 
Oxford ; and Mr. W. Baldwin Spencer, formerly 
demonstrator to Professor Moseley and now 
professor of zoology at Melbourne. The last 
mentioned is now visiting Great Britain. The 
method of filling chairs at Oxford is not above 
criticism. On the board appointing a successor 
to Professor Lankester theology and medicine 
are well represented, but not natural science. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Conve, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MarsH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology; 8. H. ScuppDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. BRirron, 
Botany; HENRY F. OsBorNn, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. Bowpircu, Physiology; J. S. Brntrnas, Hygiene ; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Fesruary 10, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


The Smithsonian Institution ........cccsccceceeeeeeneeeees 193 
Agricultural Experiment Stations: Dr. A. C. TRUE 199 
Physiological Osmosis : PROFESSOR GEORGE M Ac- 

THOS AOS) cssqanqcbenbsouodosonbonaubupdedadedgansHoudocOGHeHO 206 
Professional Schools vs. Business: PROFESSOR R. H. 

SREUUIRSTONisssesscecsrsersossessaneessncocscoeshesesenes ses 207 
Mechanical Illustration of Kirchoff’s Principle: 

PROFESSOR WILLIAM HALLOCK..............22006 210 
Plastiline, a New Modeling Compound: Dr. C. R. 

IWPASTMUAIN atcseseneccsncasietesscoscssncseusesteccscaren ses 
Scientific Books :— 

Beddard on the Structure and Classification of 

Birds: F.A.LUCAS. Russell on The Rivers of North 

America: PROFESSOR R. E. DopGE. Broomell’s 

Anatomy and Histology of the Mouth and Teeth: 

PROFESSOR CHARLES 8S. Minor. Books Received. 212 
Scientific Journals and Articles .....ccccccceeceeereeeeees 217 
Societies and Academies :— 

The Texas Academy of Sciences: PROFESSOR 

FREDERIC W. Stmonbs. Philosophical Society 

of Washington: E. D. PRESTON. The Anthro- 

pological Society of Washington. DR. J. H. Mc- 

CoRMICK. The New York Academy of Sciences, 

Section of Psychology and Anthropology: DR. C. 

B. Buiss. Section of Astromony and Physics : 

Dr. REGINALD GORDON. Academy of Science 

of St. Louis: PROFESSOR WILLIAM TRELEASE 217 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Zoological Nomenclature: Dr. W. H. DALL. 

The Red Beds of Kansas: PROFESSOR S. W. 

WILLISTON. Jen of Science and Anti-vivisec- 

tion: HENRY C. MERCER. ....0.....:cscccsseceseeeees 221 
Astronomical Notes :— 

Reports of Observatories ; The Planet DQ: PRo- 

FESSOR WINSLOW UPTON.........:.sccscscosscesseees 224 
Notes on Physics : 

Some Recent Investigations upon the Becquerel 

J HOT R AS Nets Ohl DS Rate sen seen epacauccuccucondodaonaada 225 
Botanical Notes :— 

Sargent’s Silva of North America; Commendable 

Free-Seea Distribution; The Study of Towa Sedges ; 

North American Seaweeds ; Arthur and Holway’s 

Rusts : PROFESSOR CHARLES E. BESSEY......... 226 
Current Notes on, Anthropology:— 

Courses at the Ecole d’ Anthropologie; The Mean- 

ing of Race; The Extinction of the Polynesian: 

PROFESSOR D. G. BRINTON.........0ccceeeecoeeseees 227 


Meeting of the Trustees of the Marine Biological 


LABOnALOTY) <ewoncurscevertanstincuoresemrece tee 228 
Scientific Notes and News.........+++ «+. 228 
University and Educational News ........cccceseeeeeeeees 232 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. * 
FINANCES. 
THE permanent funds of the Institution 


are as follows: 


Bequest of Smithson, 1846.......... $515, 169.00 
Residuary legacy of Smithson, 1867.. 26,210.63 
Deposits from savings of income, 1867 108,620.37 
Bequest of James Hamil- 

POMS MoLe aisles wel Outen $1,000.00 


Accumulated interest on 
Hamilton fund, 1895. ... 1,000.00 
Sr ROLLE) 
Bequest of Simeon Habel, 1880...... 500.00 
Deposits from proceeds of sale of 
bondsHal SS lessee dee cicrst 51,500.00 


Gift of Thomas G. Hodgkins, 1891... 200,000.00 
Portion of residuary legacy, T. G. 
odgkinse1 B94 oe (re sci wisieiee ays ciel 8,000.00 


Total permanent fund........ - 912,000.00 


The appropriations made by Congress for 
the fiscal year 1899 were as follows: 
International Exchanges, Smithsonian 


Imstibution  Le99e cas ocelot -. $21,000 
American Ethnology, Smithsonian In- 
SLC UGIOMs pS O Om eretlatetepaietele eter crestor 50,000 
Astrophysical Observatory, Smithsonian 
AMStibUbON; COON. syoislerstrelslercnslevetstarses 10,000 
National Museum, Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, 1899 : 
Furniture and fixtures............ 35,000 
Heating and lighting............. 14,000 


*From the report of S. P., Langley, Secretary of 
the Smithsonian Institution, for the year ending June 
30, 1898. 


194 

Preservation of collections ........ 165,000 
IPOSbAL Clr A-peilorstetaieveste atstersters)sielels 500 
Galleries} sie saciclsxielsictsieie siciviele: +12)» 10,000 
Books wy ppotetieietinterreeheiersteres 2,000 
Rent of workshops...........2+e05 4,500 
Building repairs. ei... ieee fee 4,000 

Purchase of library of the late G. 
Brown Goode............s0.00: ,000 
National Zoological Park, 1899.......... 65,000 

HAMILTON FUND. 


The original amount of $1,000, the be- 
quest of Mr. James Hamilton, of Pennsyl- 
vania, received by the Institution in 187%, 
was increased in 1895 to $2,000 by the 
addition of accumulated interest under 
authority given by the Regents in their 
meeting of January 23, 1895, the sum of 
$150 expended from the income of fund in 
1876 for explorations having been re- 
funded. The present income, together 
with interest accumulated since 1895, seems 
to warrant some definite application of the 
interest on the bequest, and I am now con- 
sidering a plan of lectureships in accord- 
ance with the testator’s purpose. 


AVERY FUND. 


Concerning the Avery fund I have to re- 
port that by a decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States the Institution 
has obtained a clear title to the property 
on Capitol Hill claimed by the heirs of 
Mrs. Avery. 

It may be recalled that the testator, 
while leaving his property absolutely at the 
disposal of the Regents, expressed a wish 
that it might be made useful in promoting 
researches on the Ether, after certain math- 
matical and phonetic publications and cer- 
tain researches connected with a special 
form of telescope have been made. ‘The 
moneys received from the estate are as yet 
too small to carry out any part of this pur- 
pose but the last. 


BUILDINGS. 


No alterations were made in the Smith- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


sonian Building during the year except such 
slight repairs as seemed necessary to keep 
it in good condition. The space in the rear 
of the building, however, which for a num- 
ber of years had been occupied by unsightly 
and dangerous storage sheds and workshops, 
has been cleared of these and graded into a 
lawn, thus greatly improving the surround- 
ings. 

In the park south of the building, and at 
a distance sufficient to prevent annoyance, 
there has been erected a temporary wooden 
building of two stories for the use of the 
taxidermists and for other purposes. 

The investigations being prosecuted in 
the Astrophysical Observatory requiring 
more space than is available in the old struc- 
ture, plans have been approved and some 
progress made toward the erection of some 
very simple additions authorized by Con- 
gress at its last session by a clause permit- 
ting the expenditure for this purpose of an 
unexpended balance. 

Four additional galleries have been 
erected in the Museum building, three for 
exhibition purposes and one to serve as an 
increase for the quarters for the Library, 
thus adding 6,650 square feet to the floor 
space of the Museum, 6,040 square feet of 
which is available research for exhibition 
purposes. 

The promotion of original research has 
always been one of the principal functions 
of the Institution. Investigations in the 
anthropological, biological and geological 
divisions of science have been extensively 
carried on through the departments of the 
National Museum, and in the Bureau of 
American Ethnology there have also been 
special inquiries into Indian customs and 
languages. These lines of research being 
well represented by its bureaus, it has re- 
mained for the Institution proper to devote 
its energies more especially to some of the 
physical sciences. 

The Secretary himself has carried on re- 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


searches in the solar spectrum, which, by 
the active assistance of the aid in charge, 
have produced results now shortly to be 
published. They are believed to be im- 
portant and are referred to in another por- 
tion of this report. 

The Secretary has not wholly discon- 
tinued the studies which he has made in 
regard to aerodromic experiments, and it is 
perhaps not improper that he should state 
that these have attracted the attention of 
other departments so far that during the 
war with Spain a commission was directed 
by the Secretaries of War and the Navy to 
inquire into them with a view of their pos- 
sible utility in war. This is not the place 
to state the results of these inquiries. 

The Secretary desires to repeat, however, 
that his time is almost solely given to ad- 
ministrative work, and that what he has 
been able to do in these directions has been 
done largely in hours which he might con- 
sider his own. 


HODGKINS FUND. 


Although the Hodgkins fund competi- 
tion announced by the Institution in the 
widely distributed circular of March 31, 
1893, was definitely closed so long ago as 
December 31, 1894, a very general interest 
is still expressed in the subject, and spe- 
cialists in our own and other countries 
not infrequently forward copies of their 
original published memoirs as contributions 
to the Hodgkins fund library of the Insti- 
tution. 

Frequent applications for grants are re- 
ceived, and, notwithstanding the fact that 
the limitations on the use of the fund do 
not permit it to be employed for the sup- 
port of an investigation, unless under the 
exceptional conditions of the first published 
announcement, it has still been found prac- 
ticable to approve several awards during 
the past year. 

As noted in my last report, in July, 1897, 


SCIENCE. 


195 


an additional grant of $400 was made 
to Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch, of the Blue 
Hill Meteorological Observatory, Readville, 
Mass., and in the following October a fur- 
ther grant of $250 was approved to Mr. 
Rotch. These sums are to be devoted to 
experiments with automatic kites, for de- 
termining, by means of self-recording in- 
struments, meteorological data in atmos- 
pheric strata inaccessible except by some 
mechanical method of exploring the atmos- 
phere, and it will be of possible interest to 
the Board to learn that during the past 
year, and (to slightly anticipate), shortly 
after its close, experiments of remarkable 
success and interest have been made by 
Mr. Rotch, and, among others, that kites 
have been flown to the unprecedented height 
of 11,086 feet above the station, carrying 
up with them meteorological instruments 
which recorded the height, the pressure of 
the wind, the dew point, and other facts of 
interest at these great altitudes. 

Those who remember the situation at 
Blue Hill, one of the highest landmarks on 
the Atlantic coast north of the southern 
shores of the Gulf, and the aspect of the 
hills, blue with the distance from which 
they take their name, may be struck by the 
certainly notable fact that in these experi- 
ments the kites sent up from Blue Hill, and 
held there at the station, were occasionally 
directly over the distant ocean. 

November 1, 1897, a grant of $500 was 
made to Professor William Hallock, of 
Columbia University, New York City, for 
an investigation having for its object the 
complete analysis of a particle of air under 
the influence of articulate sounds, thus 
contributing a study of the atmosphere in 
one of its most important functions, that of 
a conveyer of speech. 

In February, 1898, a final grant of $250 
was made to Drs. Lummer and Pringsheim, 
of the Physical Institute of the University 
of Berlin. The investigation begun by 


196 SCIENCE, 


them, in 1893, to determine the ratio of the 
specific heats, at constant pressure and 
volume, for air, oxygen, carbon dioxide and 
hydrogen has now so far progressed that 
the memoir submitted by Drs. Lummer 
and Pringsheim, noting the results already 
attained by them, has been published by 
the Institution in the Smithsonian Contri- 
butions to Knowledge. 

A German edition of this original me- 
moir, with the consent of the Institution, 
is to be published by the authors, and it is 
understood that, if found desirable, their 
researches will be further prosecuted under 
the direction of the Physikalisch-Tech- 
nische Reichsanstalt, of Berlin, Professor 
Dr. Kohlrausch, the President, having 
courteously signified the readiness of that 
institution to furnish the means necessary 
for the purpose. 

In February, 1898, an additional grant 
was made to Mr. H.C. C. Baly, of Uni- 
versity College, London, to enable him to 
continue his research upon the decomposi- 
tion of the atmosphere by electricity and 
upon the ozonizing of mercury. The report 
of Mr. Baly stating the result of these inves- 
tigations is now awaited by the Institution. 

A grant of $250 to Professor Arthur G. 
Webster, of Clark University, Worcester, 
Mass., was approved in May, 1898, for the 
continuation of a research on the properties 
of air in connection with the propagation of 
sound, special effort being directed to the 
securing of data relating to the influence of 
the viscosity of air on expiring or vanishing 
sounds. An instrument devised by Profes- 
sor Webster for use in this investigation 
gives the physical measure of sound, not 
only when constant, but when rapidly vary- 
ing. It is expected that this research will 
furnish results of high practical value in 
connection with the question of the acou- 
stics of auditoriums, and will contribute 
information upon points that have not 
heretofore been satisfactorily investigated. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


A paper embodying the results of the in- 
teresting research, described in the Secre- 
tary’s report for 1894, primarily conducted 
under a grant from the Hodgkins fund to 
Dr. J. S. Billings and Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, 
and continued, under their supervision, by 
Dr. D. H. Bergey, of the Laboratory of 
Hygiene, University of Pennsylvania, has 
been published in the Smithsonian Miscel- 
laneous Collections. 


NAPLES TABLE. 

Among the applications for the occu- 
pancy of the Smithsonian seat at the Na- 
ples table during the years 1897-98, the 
following have been favorably acted upon : 

Dr. Bradley M. Martin, of the University 
of Chicago, whose work has been chiefly in 
the field of the algz, and who has pub- 
lished several papers detailing his re- 
searches, was appointed for November, 
1897, his period at Naples to be supple- 
mented by additional investigation in the 
laboratory of Dr. Strasburger, of the Uni- 
versity at Bonn. 

Dr. H. W. Conn, of the department of 
biology, Wesleyan University, received the 
appointment for six weeks early in the year 
1898; Dr. Dohrn, the Superintendent of the 
station, kindly arranging for his accommo- 
dation, although the Smithsonian table was 
occupied at that time. The fact that Dr. 
Dohrn finds himself not only willing, but 
able, to provide for two or, as in this case, 
even three students at the Smithsonian 
table during the same period is a courtesy 
much appreciated by the Institution. 

Dr. D. M. Mottier, of the State Univer- 
sity of Indiana, who wished to supplement 
his investigations at Bonn and Leipzig by 
some weeks at Naples, was appointed for 
the months of March and April, 1898. 

Dr. W. T. Swingle, of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, now honorary 
custodian of algee in the United States Na- 
tional Museum, occupied the Smithsonian 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


seat at Naples for an additional month dur- 
ing the spring of 1898. z 

Dr. J. H. Gerould, of Dartmouth College, 
who prosecuted his investigations in the 
laboratory of Professor De Lacaze-Du- 
thiers, at Roscoff, Finisterre, France, dur- 
ing the summer, was appointed to the 
Smithsonian table at Naples for the month 
of November, 1898. 


EXPLORATIONS. 


In the plan of organization of the Insti- 
tution, among examples of objects for 
which appropriations may be made, are 
cited: 

Explorations in descriptive natural history and 
geological, magnetical and topographical surveys to 
collect materials for the formation of a Physical Atlas 
of the United States. 

Ethnological researches, particularly with refer- 
ence to the different men in North America ; also ex- 
plorations and accurate surveys of the mounds and 
other remains of the ancient people of our country.* 

The first grant made by the Institution 
for scientific exploration and field research 
was in 1848 to Spencer F. Baird, of Car- 
lisle, for exploration of the bone caves and 
the local natural history of southeastern 
Pennsylvania; and during the half century 
that has elapsed since the grant to that 
eminent man, who afterwards became the 
Secretary of the Institution, every possible 
encouragement and support has been given 
to natural history and ethnological ex- 
plorations in America and throughout the 
world. The income of the Institution has 
not permitted the expenditure of large 
sums for this purpose, but valuable advice 
and instructions have been freely given to 
explorers connected with Government and 
private expeditions, and agents of the In- 
stitution have in very many cases partici- 
pated in these explorations. In recent 
years a vast amount of such work has been 
carried on by the bureaus under direction 
of the Institution, a work made possible by 


*Smithsonian Report, 1846, pp. 6. 7. 


SCIENCE. 


197 


Congressional appropriations for this pur- 
pose. 

As soon as there seemed a possibility of 
acquiring new territories as a result of the 
present Spanish-American war I began 
formulating plans for exploring the possible 
new regions, and in my next estimates to 
be sent to Congress I expect to ask defi- 
nitely for appropriations under which ex- 
ploring parties may be sent to them. 

It is hardly necessary to recall the last- 
ing impression that the French Govern- 
ment made throught the researches of the 
corps of savants sent along with the expe- 
dition to Egypt. It would seem incumbent 
upon this Government, not only from prac- 
tical economic purposes, but as a contri- 
bution to the general intelligence of man- 
kind, to institute scientific inquiry as to 
the natural history, geology, geography, 
ethnology, archeology and scientific utili- 
ties of any new possessions it may acquire. 
These inquiries should be made coherently 
and without clashing on the part of the 
various Government interests involved. 

During the present year investigations 
among the American Indians have been 
conducted by the Bureau of Ethnology, 
and several collaborators of the Institution 
have made natural history explorations. 


PUBLICATIONS. 

Secretary Henry said: ‘It is chiefly by 
the publications of the Institution that its 
fame is to be spread through the world, 
and the monument most befitting the name 
of Smithson erected to his memory.” From 
the beginning of the Institution a consid- 
erable portion of its annual income has 
been expended in publishing the Smith- 
sonian Contributions to Knowledge and 
the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 
Through these series, supplemented by the 
Annual Reports printed at the direct ex- 
pense of the Government, and the publica- 
tions of the National Museum, the Bureau 


198 SCIENCE. 


of Ethnology and the American Histor- 
ical Association, issued under the direc- 
tion of the Institution, nearly all branches 0 
human knowledge are represented in the 
works published during the last fifty years, 
which form a library of nearly 250 volumes, 
besides several hundred pamphlet reprints 
of the memoirs and articles contained in 
the serial volumes. 

Contributions to Knowledge.—One new mem- 
oir of this series was unpublished during the 
year, the result of the investigations by 
Drs. Lummer and Pringsheim, of Charlot- 
tenburg, Germany, on the ratio of the 
specific heats at constant pressure and at 
constant volume of air, oxygen, carbon 
dioxide and hydrogen. This research was 
aided by a grant from the Hodgkins fund 
of the Smithsonian Institution. After a 
period of notable advance the kinetic 
theory of gases seems to have fallen into 
temporary abeyance, possibly from a funda- 
mentally imperfect understanding of their 
behavior. Progress in the knowledge of 
this fundamental nature of gases may rea- 
sonably be looked for from interpretative 
researches on their thermal capacity, and 
this paper may be considered as a step in 
this direction. Aside from its exceptional 
portance in thermodynamics, the heat ratio 
is of interest as affording a clue to the char- 
acter of the molecule, and Drs. Lummer and 
Pringsheim, using a new method, appear to 
have for the first time reached coincident 
results on the incoercible gases examined. 

The original edition of the Secretary’s 
memoir on ‘The Internal Work of the 
Wind,’ published in 1893, having become 
exhausted, some additional copies have 
been printed from the stereotype plates, in 
which a few minor changes have been made. 

The Secretary now has in preparation for 
this series a review of his investigations in 
aerodynamics, and in particular of experi- 
ments in developing the principles and 
methods of mechanical flight. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


Miscellaneous Collections.—In this series 
five works have been published since my 
last report. These are a Catalogue of 
Scientific and Technical Periodicals, by Dr. 
H. C. Bolton; Catalogue of Pacific Coast 
Earthquakes, by Professor E. S. Holden ; 
Review and Bibliography of Metallic Car- 
bides, by Professor J. A. Mathews ; Bibli- 
ography of Metals of the Platinum Group, 
by Professor J. L. Howe, and a report by 
Dr. D. H. Bergey on the results of experi- 
ments to determine whether impure atmos- 
phere produees a detrimental influence upon 
the animal organism as shown in greater 
susceptibility to certain diseases. 

There have been also reprinted from the 
stereotype plates new editions of the Smith- 
sonian Meteorological, Geographical and 
Physical Tables. A Supplement to the 
Bibliography of Chemistry, by Dr. H. C. 
Bolton, containing about 4,000 additional 
titles, is in hand, and about half of the 
volume had been printed at the close of the 
year. 

Smithsonian Reports.—The annual reports 
of the Institution for the year 1896 and 
1897 had not been issued at the close of the 
fiscal year, although the volume for 1896 
was in the Government bindery and press- 
work was in progress on the report for 
1897, their completion having been delayed 
by the imperative need of supplying docu- 
ments required by Congress for the military 
departments by reason of the Spanish- 
American war. 

National Musewm Publications.—In addi- 
tion to the Museum volume of the Smith- 
sonian report, two series of publications are 
issued directly by the Museum, the Pro- 
ceedings and the Bulletin. Of the first 
series Volume XIX. was completed in 
bound form, the separate papers having 
previously been isssued as pamphlets, and 
seventeen papers comprising Volume XX. 
were distributed in pamphlet form during 
the year. A pamphlet containing instruc- 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899. ] 


tions for collecting scale insects was pub- 
lished as Part L. of Bulletin 39, and a cir- 
cular was issued relating to the collection 
and preservation of the bones and teeth of 
the Mastodon and Mammoth. 

Bureau of Ethnology reports—The seven- 
teenth report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
for the year ending June 30, 1896, was 
sent to the Public Printer on July 6, 1897, 
and proof reading was completed before 
June 30, 1898, but actual presswork has 
not begun. The eighteenth report is also 
in the printers’ hands, but no progress has 
been made beyond the revision of some first 
proofs. 

Astrophysical Observatory publications. — 
There has been prepared and is now ready 
for publication a full report on the results 
of the researches carried on in the Astro- 
physical Observatory since its establish- 
ment and this work will probably be printed 
in quarto form during the next fiscal year, 
the cost of the publication being charged to 
the appropriation for the Observatory under 
authority of Congress. 


LIBRARY. 


The number of accessions to the library 
has been greater than at any time hereto- 
fore, the total entries of volumes, parts of 
volumes, pamphlets and charts reaching 
40,715, an increase of nearly 5,000 over the 
previous year. The greater part of this 
has been sent to the Library of Congress to 
be placed with the Smithsonian deposit. 

The Museum library shows a greatly in- 
creased use over last year. The limited 
quarters assigned for library purposes in 
the Museum are so greatly crowded that it 
has become necessary to provide additional 
book room, for which purpose a gallery 
directly adjoining the library has been 
erected and fitted with shelves, where space 
is provided for 18,000 volumes. This is 
rendered necessary by the purchase for 
the Museum, by Congressional appro- 


SCIENCE. 


ilS}) 


priation, of the scientific library of the 
late Dr. G. Brown Goode. The In- 
stitution is especially fortunate in being 
able to obtain this library and the Museum 
now has the benefit of possessing the collec- 
tions of books both of Professor Baird and 
Dr. Goode. 
THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 
STATIONS.* 

Tuts is the fourth annual report on the 
work and expenditures of the agricultural 
experiment stations in the United States, 
made by the Director of the Office of Ex- 
periment Stations, under instructions from 
the Secretary of Agriculture. As hereto- 
fore, the report is based on three sources of 
information, viz, the annual financial state- 
ments of the stations, rendered on the 
schedules prescribed by the Secretary of 
Agriculture, in accordance with the Act of 
Congress ; the printed reports and bulletins 
of the stations, and the reports of personal 
examinations of the work and expenditures 
of the stations made during the past year 
by the Director, Assistant Director and 
one other expert officer of the Office of Ex- 
periment Stations. The stations in all the 
States and Territories were visited since 
the previous report was transmitted to 
Congress. 

During the past year the stations have, 
as a rule, steadily pursued their investiga- 
tions. There have been a smaller number 
of changes in the workers; the general man- 
agement has been less subject to radical 
and unwise changes ; much useful work has 
been accomplished, and the facilities for in- 
vestigations have been increased. 


RELATIONS OF COLLEGES AND STATIONS. 

There has been much activity during the 
past year in the developing and strength- 
ening of courses of instruction in agricul- 


* From Report to Congress on Work and Expendi- 
tures of Agricultural Experiment Stations for 1898. 


200 SCIENCE. 


ture in the land-grant colleges with which 
the stations are connected. This has been 
to the advantage of the stations in a num- 
ber of ways. The buildings and equipment 
of the colleges have been materially in- 
creased, and this has given the stations 
better facilities for their work. The in- 
struction in agriculture has been specialized, 
which has necessitated the employment of 
a larger number of well-trained officers, 
many of whom have devoted a portion of 
their time to station work. The governing 
boards and general officers of the colleges 
are coming to see more clearly the real sig- 
nificance and importance of experiment 
station work. They have, therefore, been 
more willing to make proper arrangements 
for the efficient conduct of this work and 
to pursue a more liberal policy toward the 
stations. In a number of instances there 
has been a more definite separation of the 
operations on the farms and in the barns, 
creameries, laboratories, etc., so that a 
definite place has been made for original 
investigations in agriculture, and these 
have been clearly differentiated from the 
work and facilities connected with instruc- 
tion. It is coming also to be more clearly 
seen that care must be taken lest the rou- 
tine duties connected with instruction shall 
so exhaust the energies of the officer em- 
ployed in both college and station that he 
will not be able to devote his best energies 
to the more difficult task of originating and 
conducting successful investigations in ag- 
ricultural science. The outlook is, there- 
fore, more hopeful for the building up, in 
connection with these institutions, of strong 
departments of original investigation on 
behalf of agriculture, which shall not only 
accomplish great good by the practical re- 
sults of the investigations disseminated 
among the farmers, but shall also materially 
aid in the proper development of courses of 
instruction in agriculture in the land-grant 
institutions. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


THE ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE 
STATIONS. 

The year past has shown considerable 
progress in the importance and thorough- 
ness of the original investigations pursued 
at our stations. The number of officers 
competent to undertake such investigations 
has been increased. There has been greater 
specialization of the work assigned to these 
officers. There have also been encouraging 
indications that cooperation between the 
officers engaged in different lines of inves- 
tigation is being more efficiently secured. 
More attention is being given to the con- 
sideration of problems which affect in a 
general way important agricultural inter- 
ests in the several States or are of funda- 
mental importance in different branches of 
agriculture wherever pursued. It is be- 
coming more clear that it is much better 
for an individual station to undertake 
thorough original investigations in a few 
lines and hold steadily to these until defi- 
nite results are secured than to scatter the 
work among a variety of small operations. 
If a station can make itself preeminent for 
original work in even one or two lines it 
gains strength in its own State and else- 
where which it could get in no other way ; 
and now, that general information regarding 
the work of all the stations is more widely 
disseminated, there is less reason why any 
one station should attempt very many lines 
of work. The success of those stations 
which have devoted themselves most largely 
to original investigations has, without 
doubt, been a powerful factor in stimulating 
the general adoption of sucha policy. The 
wisdom of the framers of the Hatch Act in 
limiting the work of the stations organized 
under that act to original and scientific in- 
vestigations which shall either attack ag- 
ricultural problems in a new way or have 
reference to the application of ascertained 
facts or principles to particular or local 
phases of these problems is more and more 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


apparent. Every dollar of the fund thus 
given from the National Treasury is needed 
for thorough original investigations on be- 
half of eh Ya and varied interests of ag- 
riculture in this country and the dissemi- 
nation of the results of such investigations. 
The more strictly this fund is applied to 
these purposes the more rapid development 


will our agriculture have along the lines of 
permanent success. 


DEMONSTRATION EXPERIMENTS. 


As the work of the stations develops it is 
seen that more adequate provision should 
be made for the application of the results 
obtained by the stations in actual practice 
in different localities, in order that the best 
methods of local application of these results 
may be worked out, and that the farmers 
may be taught how to make the best use of 
the work of the stations. It is in this direc- 
tion that there is the greatest need for a 
generous policy on the part of the States 
toward the stations. By supplementing the 
Hatch fund for work of this kind the States 
in a number of cases have greatly hastened 
the direct application of the results of orig- 
inal investigations to actual farm practice, 
and have done much toward arousing the 
farmers to a keener sense of the practical 
value of station work. With the aid of 
funds furnished by the States and by this De- 
partment thousands of the more simple ex- 
periments in the growing of different crops, 
such as sugar beets, and the use of fertil- 
izers, have been made by farmers in differ- 
ent parts of the country. It is much to be 
hoped that the States will more fully take 
up this work, and thatit will be more thor- 
oughly organized, as is being done, for ex- 
ample, in the State of New York, where 
special appropriations have been made for 
experiments of this character under the di- 
rection of the stations. A great deal of the 
work of the testing of varieties of agricul- 
tural and horticultural plants, to be of any 


SCIENCE. 


201 


practical value, needs to be carried on in a 
number of different localities in each State, 
and this can probably be most economically 
and efficiently done with the cooperation of 
intelligent practical farmers and horticul- 
turists. While cooperative experiments 
may often be of value in connection with 
original investigations, they will most often 
be of use in determining the extent to which 
the results of such investigations may be 
applied in actual practice. 


DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION. 


The Hatch Act expressly provides that a 
portion of the funds granted the stations by 
the United States shall be expended for 
printing and distributing reports and bul- 
letins, but limits the scope of the informa- 
tion to be thus published to the ‘ results’ of 
their investigations. The act further grants 
the stations the franking privilege for the 
distribution of their publications. Circum- 
stances have compelled the stations to go 
far beyond the limit set by the Act of Con- 
gress as regards the character of the infor- 
mation which they have disseminated. A 
number of causes have contributed to make 
a very heavy demand upon the stations for 
information regarding every detail of farm 
theory and practice. The successful issue 
of many of the investigations of the stations 
has been a very important factor in creating 
this demand. There has also been the ne- 
cessity of giving the farmers preliminary 
information along the line of many investi- 
gations, in order that they might clearly 
understand the practical application of the 
new results which,-the stations had ob- 
tained. But beyond this there has been 
during the last decade a remarkable awak- 
ening of our farmers to the desirability of 
having more definite information regarding 
all matters connected with their business. 
The result has been that the stations and 
this Department have been led to publish a 
vast amount of information, both old and 


20) Dees SCIENCE. 


new, which has been freely distributed to 
farmers in’ every county of the Union. 
Nothing like it has ever been seen before. 
No country has ever before attempted so 
systematic and thorough a distribution of 
information to its agricultural population, 
and no masses of farmers have ever so 
eagerly sought for information as have our 
own within the past few years; and not 
only has the free information furnished by 
the stations and the Department been 
eagerly sought for, but this period has also 
been remarkable for the amount of accurate 
information distributed to the farmers 
through the agricultural press and other 
newspapers and the number of good books 
on farming which have been published. 
Besides this, the agricultural societies, 
granges, farmers’ institutes, and other as- 
sociations have been more active than ever 
before in discussing the problems of agri- 
culture and in securing the services of ex- 
perts and successful practical men to lay 
before them the fruits of science and expe- 
rience for the more successful conduct of 
the art of agriculture. Such an intellec- 
tual awakening must have most important 
results, and there is every indication that 
it will go on increasing in volume and force 
until it has thoroughly permeated the entire 
agricultural population of the country. 

To secure the best results such a move- 
ment needs the wisest leadership to guide 
its aspirations in the best directions. For- 
tunately the facilities for agricultural edu- 
cation of a high order have been greatly 
increased within a few years, and there is 
to-day a much larger number of well- 
trained men who are competent to give the 
farmers the information which they demand 
than was the case ten years ago. What is 
especially needed now is the more thorough 
organization of the agencies for the diffu- 
sion of information among the farmers. 
Thus far the officers of our agricultural col- 
leges and experiment stations have had to 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


bear the heaviest portion of this burden, 
and it is much to be wondered at that they 
have so well discharged the great variety 
of duties imposed upon them ; but the time 
has come when there must be a specializa- 
tion of work in this as in other directions if 
we are to have the most efficient agencies 
for the securing as well as for the dissemi- 
nating of agricultural information. 
Everybody now admits that much may 
be done to advance agriculture by scientific 
investigations, but the absorbing character 
of this work, if it is to be well done, is not 
as yet thoroughly appreciated. The dis- 
covery of new truth is the chief function of 
our experiment stations, but the amount of 
new truth which they will discover will be 
very largely determined by the extent to 
which the investigators are left to pursue 
their investigations without interruption. 
The same is true regarding the teacher in 
our agricultural colleges. He must have 
time to keep pace with the increasing vol- 
ume of new information which is being 
published, and be able to give his best ener- 
gies to the planning of courses of study, 
and come before his pupils with an active 
mind, in order that he may not only im- 
part knowledge to them, but may inspire 
them with something of his own enthusiasm 
regarding the subjects which he teaches. 
The writer of popular bulletins and books 
for farmers must not only have ample 
knowledge, but he must have had time to 
acquire the most complete sympathy with 
his readers and a style of composition 
which is confessedly the most difficult to 
attain. The farmers’ institute worker 
should not only have wide familiarity with 
the science and practice of agriculture, but 
he should also have a ready wit and the 
fine art of putting things in a clear light 
and changing his point of view according to 
his audience, which can only come through 
natural aptitude combined with much ex- 
perience in public asking. Many of our 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899. ] 


best investigators and teachers have a won- 
derful versatility, so that they succeed pretty 
well in a number of different lines of work, 
but after all there is some one direction in 
which they excel, and one or the other 
feature of their work is almost sure to suffer 
if they attempt a great variety of perform- 
ances. We must in the future leave the 
investigators more fully to their investiga- 
ting, the teachers to their teaching, the 
writers of agricultural publications to their 
writing, and the farmers’ institute workers 
to their speaking. 

Already the movement in this direction 
has begun. In our colleges changes are be- 
ing made by which the experiment station 
offices are given more time for their inves- 
tigations, and additional teachers are being 
employed. One of our stations has recently 
employed an officer whose chief business it 
is to edit the station publications and pre- 
pare popular bulletins for the farmers. At 
another institution the superintendent of 
farmers’ institutes is a separate officer, and 
in a few States a corps of institute workers, 
exclusive of the college and station officers, 
has been organized. This movement should 
be encouraged, and the governing boards 
should see to it that the officers of stations 
are protected against unreasonable de- 
mands on their time, which would take 
them away from the planning and con- 
ducting of thorough original investiga- 
tions. 

We do not urge this because we wish to 
limit the disseminatian of compiled infor- 
mation to our farmers. We fully recog- 
nize the importance of this, and we would 
have the States and the National Govern- 
ment make ample provision for compiling 
and publishing all the information which 
our farmers ought to have. But we would 
insist more strongly than ever that original 
investigations by our experiment stations 
should be made more thorough and in- 
creased in number, in order that the stream 


SCIENCE. 


203 


of new information may increase in purity 
and volume with every year. 


LIBERALITY OF THE STATES. 


One of the most encouraging things con- 
nected with the progress of our experiment 
stations has been the disposition of the 
State Legislatures to deal more liberally 
with them as the importance of their 
work has become more apparent. This 
liberality has manifested itself in a number 
of ways. ‘There have been large grants of 
money directly for experiment-station pur- 
poses. In the erection of buildings for the 
colleges provision has often been made for 
increasing the facilities for experiment-sta- 
tion work. The printing of station publi- 
cations is regularly done in a number of 
States at the public expense. The laws re- 
lating to inspection of agricultural com- 
modities have been so framed that a con- 
siderable revenue has accrued to the sta- 
tions for purposes of investigation. The 
increased means thus acquired have en- 
abled the stations in a number of States to 
push their work far beyond what could 
have been accomplished with the Hatch 
fund alone. In comparing the work of dif- 
ferent stations this factor should always be 
taken into account, and communities in 
which a more narrow policy has been pur- 
sued must not expect that their stations 
will be able to do as much for their agricul- 
ture as is accomplished by stations receiv- 
ing more liberal treatment. 

We believe that under our American sys- 
tem nothing can be more promotive of the 
highest interests of the stations than that 
the States should take a just pride in 
strengthening and developing their opera- 
tions, and thus prove to the world that 
scientific institutions based upon the sup- 
port of the people can be made as strong and 
efficient as those which are directly main- 
tained under the centralized authority of 
the General Government. 


204 


POLITICAL INTERFERENCE AND THE INJURY 
TO SOME STATIONS THEREBY. 


While asa rule our stations have been 
free from the baneful influence of the intro- 
duction of political considerations into their 
management, there are still some States and 
Territories in which politics have been a 
disturbing element in the affairs of the sta- 
tions during the past year. This has re- 
sulted in unreasonable changes in the mem- 
bership of the governing boards, the re- 

moval of efficient officers without cause or 
on inconsequential pretexts, and, in a few 
cases, in the appointment of notoriously in- 
competent men as station officers. This 
Department has consistently held that 
where such an unsettled state of affairs ex- 
ists the real objects of the Hatch Act can 
not be attained, since these involve, first of 
all, a corps of competent specialists working 
under a well-defined policy, outlined to 
cover a series of years of interrupted inves- 
tigation, and having an assuranee that their 
work will be judged on its merits. It was 
not hesitated to protest against the action 
of governing boards wherever there was a 
plain case of violation of the proper princi- 
ples of station management. The communi- 
ties which permit such things, of course, reap 
their reward in the weakness or inefficiency 
of the operations of the stations. The rem- 
edy lies very largely with the people, and 
every effort should be made to form intelli- 
gent public sentiment on this subject. 


AGRICULTURAL INVESTIGATIONS IN ALASKA. 

For the past two years Congress has in- 
cluded in the appropriation for agricultural 
experiment stations an item for investiga- 
tions regarding the agricultural capabilities 
of Alaska, with the special object of deter- 
mining the desirability and feasibility of 
establishing agricultural experiment sta- 
tions in that Territory. With the first year’s 
appropriation a preliminary agricultural 
and botanical survey of Alaska was made, a 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 
report on which was transmitted to Con- 
gress. The results of this reconnoissance 
were so encouraging that the appropriation 
for this work was doubled, and during the 
present year not only has the survey been 
continued, but reservations of land have 
been made at Sitka, Kadiak and Kenai in 
Cook Inlet, and some successful experi- 
ments in growing and maturing barley, 
oats, flax, potatoes and other vegetables 
have been made, and excellent clover and 
grasses have been grown under cultivation. 
The detailed report of this work will soon 
be transmitted to Congress, and it is hoped 
that hereafter Alaska will receive at least 
the same financial support for experiments 
in agriculture as is given to the other por- 
tions of the United States by the National 
Government. 


EXPERIMENT STATION IN HAWAII. 


The Hawaiian Islands having been an- 
nexed to the United States, the question of 
the development of their agriculture through 
experimental inquiries, conducted on the 
same plan as in other parts of the United 
States, has become an important one. It 
seems proper, therefore, in this connection 
to call attention to the fact that an experi- 
ment station has been in successful opera- 
tion at Honolulu since 1895. This station 
is under the direction of the Hawaiian 
Sugar Planters’ Association, which supplies 
the funds for its maintenance. The Direc- 
tor and Chief Chemist is Dr. Walter Max- 
well, formerly an assistant in the Division 
of Chemistry in this Department, and later 
one of the chemists of the Louisiana Exper- 
iment Stations. The other members of the 
staff are two chemists and a field assistant. 
This station has studied especially the 
problems relating to the culture of sugar 
cane and the manufacture of cane sugar, 
but there have also been experiments with 
fertilizers, and a comprehensive investiga- 
tion of the soils of the Islands. The results 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


of the station’s work have been published 
in the Hawaiian Planters’ Monthly, and in 
bulletin form. The station has been ably 
directed, and its work has been systematic- 
ally and successfully pursued. 


THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 


Besides the work done in the supervision 
of expenditures of the stations and in con- 
ferences and correspondence with station 
officers, this office has continued to collect 
and disseminate information regarding the 
progress of agricultural investigations 
throughout the world. Not only has this 
feature of its work been made more 
thorough, as regards the review of the 
literature of agricultural science for the 
benefit of our station workers, but the 
preparation of popular réswmés of station 
work has been more systematically pur- 
sued. A series of such publications, de- 
nominated Experiment-Station Work, has 
been begun in connection withthe Farmers’ 
Bulletins issued by the Department. 

During the year the office issued about 
43 documents, aggregating 2,920 pages. 
These include 13 numbers of the Experi- 
ment Station Record, with detailed index, 
12 bulletins, 7 Farmers’ Bulletins (includ- 
ing 4 numbers of the subseries entitled 
‘Experiment Station Work’), 1 circular, 4 
articles for the Year Book of the Depart- 
ment, the annual report of the Director, a 
report to Congress on the work and ex- 
penditures of the experiment stations, and 
4 special articles published as separates. 

The ninth volume of the Experiment 
Station Record comprises 1,214 pages, and 
contains abstracts of 317 bulletins and 56 
annual reports of 53 experiment stations in 
the United States, 201 publications of the 
Department of Agriculture, and 842 reports 
of foreign investigations. The total num- 
ber of pages in these publications is 56,569. 
The total number of articles abstracted is 
1,810, classified as follows: Chemistry, 


SCIENCE. 


205 


121; botany, 86; fermentation and bac 
teriology, 28; zoology, 31; meteorology, 
57; water and soils, 72; fertilizers, 85; 
field crops, 153; horticulture, 138; fores- 
try, 16; seeds and weeds, 41; diseases of 
plants, 107; entomology, 252; foods and 
animal production, 186; dairy farming and 
dairying, 151; veterinary science, 134 ; 
technology, 11; agricultural engineering, 
38; statistics, 103. Classified lists of arti- 
cles, in some cases with brief abstracts, are 
also given in each number. The aggre- 
gate number of titles thus reported is 
2,471. 
STATISTICS OF THE STATIONS. 

Agricultural experiment stations are now 
in operation, under the Act of Congress of 
March 2, 1887, in all the States and Terri- 
tories. As stated above, agricultural ex- 
periments have been begun in Alaska with 
the aid of national funds, and an experi- 
ment station is in operation in Hawaii 
under private auspices. In each of the 
States of Alabama, Connecticut, New 
Jersey and New York a separate station 
is maintained, wholly or in part, by State 
funds, and in Louisiana a station for sugar 
experiments is maintained, partly by funds 
contributed by sugar planters. Excluding 
the branch stations established in several 
States, the total number of stations in the 
United States is 54. Of these, 52 receive 
the appropriation provided for in the Act of 
Congress above mentioned. The total in- 
come of the stations during 1898 was $1,- 
210,921.17, of which $720,000.00 was re- 
ceived from the National Government; the 
remainder, $490,921.17, coming from the 
following sources: State governments, 
$341,897.94; individuals and communi- 
ties, $177.20; fees for analyses of fertili- 
zers, $93,677.00 ; sales of farm products, 
$65,358.25 ; miscellaneous, $20,312.48. In 
addition to this the Office of Experiment 
Stations had an appropriation of $35,000 
for the past fiscal year, including $5,000 for 


206 


the Alaskan investigation. The value of 
additions to equipment of the stations in 
1898 is estimated as follows: Buildings, 
$109,851.65; libraries, $11,700.73; appa- 
ratus, $19,195.48 ; farm implements, $10,- 
800.27; live stock, $13,151.33; miscel- 
laneous, $11,972.97 ; total, $176,469.41. 

The stations employ 669 persons in the 
work of administration and inquiry. The 
number of officers engaged in the different 
lines of work is as follows: Directors, 75; 
chemists, 148; agriculturists, 71; experts 
in animal husbandry, 10; horticulturists, 
77; farm foremen, 29; dairymen, 21; bot- 
anists, 50; entomologists, 46; veterina- 
rians, 26; meteorologists, 20 ; biologists, 11 ; 
physicists, 11; geologists, 6; mycologists 
and bacteriologists, 19; irrigation engi- 
neers, 7; in charge of substations, 15 ; sec- 
retaries and treasurers, 23; librarians, 10, 
and clerks, 46. There are also 21 persons 
classified under the head of ‘“ miscellan- 
eous,”’ including superintendents of gardens, 
grounds and buildings, apiarists, herdsmen, 
ete. Three hundred and five station officers 
do more or less teaching in the colleges with 
which the stations are connected. 

During 1898 the stations published 406 
annual reports and bulletins. Besides reg- 
ular reports and bulletins, a number of the 
stations issued press bulletins, which were 
widely reproduced in the agricultural and 
county papers. The mailing lists of the 
stations now aggregate half a million 
names. Correspondence with farmers 
steadily increases, and calls upon station 
officers for public addresses at institutes 
and other meetings of farmers are more 
numerous each year. The station officers 
continue to contribute many articles on 
special topics to agricultural and scientific 
journals. A number of books on agricul- 
tural subjects, written by station officers, 
have been published during the past year. 

A. C. TRUE. 


U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


PHYSIOLOGICAL OSMOSIS. 


In going over this subject I have discov- 
ered a very simple method, which I would 
offer as an improvement on that of van’t 
Hoff, referred to, and its results given by 
Starling in Schaefer’s ‘ Physiology.’ 

All methods as to osmotic pressure are 
an application of the discovery that it is 
the largeness or smallness of the chemical 
molecules of solutes (matters in solution) 
that determines whether they shall be 
estopped by or shall pass through mem- 
branes. Citing common-places of chemis- 
try, we know that a gram-molecule of 
hydrogen gas, with a numerical value of 2, 
has the same volume as a gram-molecule of 
oxygen, weighing 382 per molecule, and as a 
gram-molecule of cane sugar dissolved in 
water, having a molecular weight of 342 and 
when in solution acting like a gas. The 
common volume of a gram-molecule of 
each of these substances, at 0°C. and ordi- 
nary barometric pressure, is 22.32 liters ; 
if the gases be compressed to the volume 
of 1 liter they will exercise a pressure of 
22.32 atmospheres per gram-molecule. This 
is the result with all solutions in water 
when taken according to their molecular 
pressure. But it will not apply to electro- 
lytes, as these are broken up by the water ; 
thus for sodium chlorid the value is 1.6 
times this amount. 

Taking as an example a 1 per cent. solu- 
tion of cane-sugar in water, a gram-mole- 
cule, that is 342 grams, of the sugar are 
dissolved in 34,200 grams of water, or 
1, of a gram-molecule in a liter of water. 
This will, therefore, exert #9, of 22.32 
atmospheres of pressure; or taking 10.33 
meters of water pressure for an atmos- 
phere, we find from the osmotic pressure 
of the solution at 0°C. p= 38; xX 22.32 x 
10.383 = 6.748 meters of water-pressure. 

At the ordinary temperature of the body, 
37°C., this will be increased by 375 of 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


itself, giving 7.662 water-meters, or about 
25 feet of water-pressure. 

For any other solute than sugar we have 
only to substitute its molecular weight for 
the denomination 342 in the above work. 
Substituting 2 for it, for hydrogen, the re- 
sult is 1153 water-meters, a forcible token 
of its lively diffusibility. 

The Freezing-Point.—Though this has no 
connection with physiology, the lowering of 
the freezing-point in solution is cited by 
Starling as a step towards finding osmotic- 
pressure, which we have seen to be de- 
terminable in a less troublesome way. We 
give the converse case; having found the 
pressure, to ascertain by its aid the freez- 
ing point of a 1 p. ec. solution of cane- 
sugar. 

The law of thermodynamics gives this 
proportion : 

Work done __ 

Heat during it — 
Lowering (A) of Total Heat 
Total Heat. 

In this case the work done is 6.748 water- 
meters-pressure (as was found above). The 
heat doing it is the latent part of water, 
79.9 calories per gram, which is reduced to 
water-meters-pressure by multiplying by 
427. 

The total heat is the absolute tempera- 
ture at 0°C.; this is 273. Thus the propor- 
tion becomes 

GAS ZN 
427 (79.9) 278, 
giving A = 0°.054C. This result is substan- 
tially identical with that cited by Starling 
from vyan’t Hoff, and signifies that the par- 
ticular solution of sugar in water lowers 
the freezing-point more than one-twentieth 
of a degree. If the solution had repre- 
sented a gram-molecule of sugar in a liter 
of water the depression of the freezing- 
point would be nearly 2°C., a constant 
well-known to physicists. 


SCIENCE. 


207 


Writers on physiology usually state that 
processes of absorption within the body are 
more rapid than can be fully explained by 
experiments on diffusion. A partial ex- 
planation of this peculiarity will, I think, 
be found in the fact that experiments are 
made on dead and comparatively rigid 
membranes, and the living membranes of 
the body are almost fluid in their soft- 
ness. Whether osmosis be by a transitory 
combination or by passing through tem- 
porary pores, it involves in the living body a 
minimum of friction. We know how much 
more rapidly blood. can pass through flexi- 
ble, living vessels than through rigid tubes. 

(1 am indebted to my colleague Professor 
E. H. Loomis for advice.) 

GrorGE MACLOSKIE. 


PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 
January 5, 1899. 


PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS VS. BUSINESS. 

Aw exceedingly interesting and instrue- 
tive experiment has been in progress dur- 
ing the last few years at Sibley College, 
Cornell University, the outcome of which 
will perhaps have peculiar interest for all 
who are concerned with education and pro- 
fessional training, the data of which experi- 
ment are exhibited in the accompanying 
diagram, showing the growth in numbers 
of that college from its date of reorganiza- 
tion as a professional school, in 1885, to the 
present time. The diagram is taken from 
the paper read before the Association of 
Promotion of Engineering Education, at 
the Boston meeting of 1898, by the writer. 

Up to the year 1885 Sibley College was 
without expert direction, a definite policy, 
a settled curriculum or a systematically 
organized faculty. It had been established 
as a ‘school of the mechanic arts’ for 
many years, but had not graduated a hun- 
dred students in its whole career. In 1885 
the Trustees of the University found them- 
selves in a position to undertake the work 


208 SCIENCE. 


of reorganization and reconstruction on 
a higher plane and in a more modern way. 
Mr. H. Sibley had enlarged and improved 
the College buildings and greatly added to 
the outfit of laboratory apparatus and work- 
shops, and it was considered practicable to 
undertake the inauguration of schools of 
undergraduate and post-graduate work in 
the various branches of mechanical engi- 
neering and the mechanic arts. Space was 
‘available and the apparatus was sufficient 
to meet the needs, as was thought, of as 
many as 200 students in its various depart- 
ments. The institution was placed in the 
hands of a Faculty composed entirely of 
professional experts ; the course was recon- 
structed and made mainly technical; the 
entrance requirements were made to ac- 
cord, as closely as was thought practicable, 
with those of the most advanced of existing 
schools of a similar class, and the equip- 
ment was made modern in character and 
exceptionally extensive in each of its pro- 
fessional branches. 

Later, special courses were established, 
undergraduate and advanced, in electrical 
engineering, in marine engineering, in rail- 
way machine construction, etc., and the 
College was brought into the form now 
familiar to our professional educators and 
technical men. 

The immediate result of this reconstruc- 
tion of the institution was to bring up the 
attendance from an average, for the earlier 
years, of about a dozen, with an average of 
five in the graduating classes, to about a 
hundred ; while the graduating classes in 
the course of the next four years ran up to 
30, in ten years to 100, and while the stu- 
dent-list increased to 400 in five years and 
to 634 in less than ten. In two years the 
College had reached its originally estimated 
limit, and the Director was compelled to 
notify the Trustees that some means must 
be found to prevent overcrowding. It was 
attempted to restrict admissions to the 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


freshman class ; but this proved ineffective, 
as students would then enter other depart- 
ments of the University, and, later, transfer 
to the upper classes of Sibley College. 
Meantime the numbers increased ; the fac- 
ulty was enlarged, new buildings were 
added and equipment greatly increased, 
without relief from the continual overcrowd- 
ing and pressure in all departments and in 
every phase of work. 

Finally it was concluded to adopt a rad- 
ical and certain method of checking an 
influx of students which threatened to de- 
moralize the institution by flooding all 
departments and overworking the whole 
staff, while, hardly less serious, making 
heavy inroads upon the always hard-pressed 
income of the University, which was 
already overloaded by the enormous de- 


mands of the State of New York for State © 


scholarships — now 600 in number — for 
which no compensation was made to the 
University. The immediate outcome was 
the cutting-down of the entering classes 40 
per cent., by demanding of them an addi- 
tional year in mathematics ; permitting the 
freshmen to take up analytical geometry 
and the calculus, and the sophomores to 
give their time for the year, in that branch, 
to applied mechanics, the backbone of every 
technical course. This was done in 1893, 
and classes which would have entered about 
175 strong were pruned down, by this ex- 
clusion of the weakest applicants, to some- 
thing above 100. The ‘ cream was skimmed’ 
and a magnificent body of students thus 
secured ; but the result, on the other hand, 
was then and later the compelling of hun- 
dreds of young men to go directly into busi- 
ness, who, otherwise, would have secured a 
systematic and scientific preparation for 
their life’s work. The facts of this very in- 
teresting case are shown in the accompany- 
ing diagram, originally from the report of 
the Director of Sibley College to the Board 
of Trustees of Cornell University, June, 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


1898. The experiment, in so definite and 
conclusive a form, is so unexampled and 
the results so exceedingly instructive and 
suggestive to faculties, or others proposing 
to deal in a radical manner with so delicate 
a subject, that it has been thought that a 
wide circulation of these facts would prove 
acceptable and useful in many ways. 

In illustration of the sensitiveness of the 
average technical college to changes in 
entrance requirements and consequent 
changes in its relations to the preparatory 
schools as now customarily conducted, 
ignoring demands of any other than aca- 


SCIENCE. 


209 


entrance and of the course itself, meantime. 
Referring to the diagram: Following the 
upper line, A, we observe that the total 
registration began rising instantly upon the 
establishment of an engineering course, 
from about 100, in 1886, to 200, nearly, in 
1887, 300 in ’89, 400 in 790, 500 in ’92, and 
to 638 in the year terminating June, 1894. 
At this point the non-professional entrance 
requirements were raised by demanding an 
additional year of higher mathematics, 
thus permitting the freshmen to take up 
analytical geometry and the calculus, and 
the sophomore class to study and complete 


amt T b 
1100 
Togo | os 
oe § 
900 “5 
3} oy 
800 -3| —R3y i— 
2 i] or 
700 c 1% 
~ VY 
& , 2 
me EL—<o<a — 4 
| | i pees ee 
500 2 s g a 
a ie} eo ara hy 
400 3 “3 $e Le 
Tc 3) on “7 
' Q Ca 2 ot O 
300 oto lemmines 2 Lenten 
gi w 9 1 CPL “+ 
po Mlyass Zen | ere” & 
200 = per im fs =| 
(ae es em in en ee 
100 @ G=Clraduatss in M: 7 en | 
n 
D — Graduates jin M\M.E. |----+--7" 
18% 86 87 88 89 1890 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 $9 1900 
STATISTICS OF SIBLEY COLLEGE, 1885-1900. \ 


demic colleges and universities, it will be 
instructive to study the accompanying dia- 
grammatic representation of the working 
of such a change compelled by the increase 
in numbers of students beyond what was at 
the time thought a limit for good work and 
of suitable equipment and accommodations. 

The accompanying diagram presents 
the statistics of growth of Sibley College 
from 1885, the date of its organization upon 
its present basis, to 1897-8, and the pre- 
sumptive changes to A. D. 1900, assuming 
no further modification of the conditions of 


applied mechanics—a change which proved 
of enormous advantage in improvement of 
the course of study. But the registration 
necessarily at once dropped off to lower fig- 
ures, until, in the year 1896-7, the registra- 
tion of undergraduates was less than 500. 

On the other hand, the numbers of the 
graduating classes continued to rise until 
this change had its full effect, and num- 
bered 125 in June, 797, but will not exceed, 
probably, 95 in ’99; after which date it may 
be expected to again resume its upward 
march. Curves B and C show the num- 


210 


bers of these classes at graduation and at 
their entrance into the College. 

The line a 6 indicates what might have 
been expected had no such radical and un- 
precedented increase of the demands at 
entrance been made. The College would, 
at its then rate of growth, have attained a 
census of 1,000 students in 1898 or 1900, 
possibly 1,200 in the latter year. Numbers 
were then restricted by thus cutting the ex- 
pectant entrance-class in half and its num- 
bers fell as shown, and the dotted line, ¢ d, 
indicates where the figures will probably 
reach, at those dates, as now thus reduced. 
Similarly, the lines f h and g i show what 
numbers were promised, between the speci- 
fied dates, under the one, and what under 
the later, arrangement. The lines 7 kand/ m 
show what shouid have been and what actu- 
ally will probably be the magnitude of the 
graduating classes, in 1898 to 1900, inclusive. 
The line D indicates the number of students 
taking the Master’s degree. The peculiar 
‘hump’ at the date’89, on B, indicates the ef- 
fect of the unsuccessful attempt to restrict 
numbers at that date by limiting the num- 
ber accepted. 

Just what is to be considered the real 
balance between advantage and disadvan- 
tage due the noted elevation of the entrance 
requirements, in ’94, is perhaps difficult to 
decide. It has given a vastly better course ; 
but the difference between the lines a 6 and 
ed shows that the College has lost the op- 
portunity to benefit many hundreds of stu- 
dents who have, as it is, been compelled, in 
most cases, probably, to go into business 
without professional training and who are 
thus placed almost hopelessly in the rear of 
their more fortunate fellows in their strug- 
gle for success through life.* 

R. H. Tourston. 


SIBLEY COLLEGE, CORNELL 
UNIVERSITY, January 2, 1898. 


* Proceedings Society for Promotion of Engineering 
Education, 1898. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. 1X. No. 215. 


MECHANICAL ILLUSTRATION OF KIRCHOFI’S 
PRINCIPLE. 

In teaching the reversal of the metallic 
lines in the Fraunhofer spectrum it is often 
difficult for the student to get a concrete 
idea of the principle that a molecule or 
atom will absorb especially radiant energy 
whose period is identical with the inherent 
period of the molecule itself. 

A customary method of illustrating this 
point is with two tuning forks upon reso- 
nance boxes, but this requires very careful 
manipulation and is not altogether satisfac- 
tory. The following method has proved 
quite satisfactory : 

The suggestion of Lord Kelvin for a me- 
chanical illustration of a molecule having 
inherent periods of vibration is used, re- 
placing his spherical shells by rings. Such 
a molecule with one rate is shown in Fig. I. 

The ring A is about 20 em. in diameter and 
made of brass rod about 1 cm. in diameter ; 
the ball B is preferably somewhere near the 
same mass as the ring A. The three spiral 
springs S are wound about 2 cm. diameter 
of about No. 22 hard brass wire. 

Such a molecule has a rate of vibration 
of about 4 or 5 per second when suspended 
on along string as at D. A close spiral 
spring C, similar to S, but about 50 cm. 
long, is attached to the ring at LZ, the other 
end being held between the thumb and finger 
at TF. 

While holding this spring slightly tense 
it can be set into longitudinal stationary 
waves by compressing the part at P toward 
TF and then letting go. The period of 
these vibrations depends upon the length 
TF to E. Commencing with this length 
about 15 to 20 em., it will be observed that 
the stationary waves in C do not effect the 
molecule. Taking C longer and longer a 
point is reached where the waves in C are 
taken up and a decided vibration is set up 
between A and B. That is, the molecule 
absorbs the energy from C when its period 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


is the same as its own inherent period. If 
the length of C be now slightly changed, 
the phenomenon of beats is readily apparent. 

An electric are will throw a sharp shadow 
of this apparatus upon a screen and make 
the experiment visible to a large audience. 
The spring C may be replaced by an electri- 


SCIENCE. 211 


casts or impressions. The materials com- 
monly used for this purpose are beeswax 
(either pure or mixed with some stiffening 
substance, such as ozocerite or paraffine), 
dentists’ modeling composition (which must 
first be softened in water heated nearly to 
the boiling point), glue, gelatine, melted 


cally excited tuning fork or other mechan- 
ical appliance. 

The armature of a small electro-magnet 
may be attached to the ring at H and the 
current interrupted by some mechanical 
circuit breaker whose rate can be varied. 

A molecule like Fig. 2 would have several 
inherent rates depending upon the relative 
masses of A, B, C, Dand upon their con- 
necting springs. Ingenuity will suggest 
many variations or improvements upon 
these suggestions. 

Wiui1AmM HALuoce. 

PHYSICAL LABORATORY, 

CoLUMBIA UNIVERSTIY. 


PLASTILINE, A NEW MODELING COMPOUND. 

PALEONTOLOGISTS have constantly to deal 
with organic remains preserved in the 
rock in the form of natural casts, molds 
and impressions, for the proper study of 
which it is indispensable to take reverse 


sulphur, and, of course, the common plaster 
of paris. One writer* has suggested the 
use of tinfoil for taking repoussé impres- 
sions, the foil being afterwards coated with 
varnish to insure retention of its shape. 
Each of the above-named substances has 
its own special advantages and applicability 
in certain cases. Buta comparatively new 
plastic material which is especially well 
adapted for modeling purposes, and hence 
is of interest to the taxidermist, cartog- 
rapher and others, is that known as plasti- 
line. This is the invention of Professor 
Luighi Giudice, of Genoa, Italy, by whom 
it has recently been perfected, and is, 


* Goodchild, H. G., How to take Impressions of Fos- 
sils (Geol. Mag. [3], Vol. IX., p. 206), 1892. See 
also, for various hints on modeling: Osborn, H. F., 
Models of extinct Vertebrates (SCIENCE, Vol. VII., 
p. 841), 1897. Davis, W. M., and Curtis, G. C., The 
Harvard Geographical Models ( Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. 
Hist., Vol. XXVIII., p. 85), 1897. 


212 


we believe, exclusively prepared. It was 
brought to the writer’s attention not long 
since through his friend Miss Hyatt, the 
well-known sculptor of Cambridge, who 
states that it has come into general use 
among artists during the past few years. 
It does not appear, however, to have be- 
come known, or at least extensively em- 
ployed in natural history laboratories, as it 
certainly deserves to be. 

The following properties are claimed for 
plastiline in a circular obtained by the 
principal dealers in this country, Messrs. 
L. P. Pastorini & Co., of 1140 Third Ave- 
nue, New York : 

“Tt is lighter than clay, does not dry nor contract, 
and remains firmly attached where it is placed, what- 
ever be the quantity employed. It will not mildew 
nor produce any other fungus growth ; will preserve 
indefinitely the shape given it, its color, and its ad- 
hesive and plastic properties. Heat or cold, and 
dryness or moisture of the atmosphere, have no effect 
upon it, whether exposed or hermetically sealed, 
Another great advantage is its harmlessness to 
health. 

‘*Plastiline is used in exactly the same way as 
clay. A layer or two of painters’ glue applied upon 
the wooden framework of the model or base will 
prevent any absorption of plastiline and greatly 
facilitate the latter’s adhesion. To take the impres- 
sion of an object and to prevent the composition from 
adhering to the original, powder the plastiline with 
pulverized talcum (glove powder). Plastiline does 
not adhere to the plaster when a cast is made. To 
insure the easy removal of the latter, simply bathe 
with water the outside of the plaster cast, when it 
will detach readily.* To give afiner finish to certain 
parts of the model, the application of a brush with 
alcohol or spirits of turpentine is reeommended.”’ 


Plastiline is supplied in three grades of 
consistency ; No. 1 being the softest, or 
about the same as glazier’s putty; No. 2 
being medium soft, and No. 3 medium hard. 
For taking impressions of fossils we have 
found No. 2 very satisfactory, but to render 
it more plastic one has only to knead it with 
a little vaseline or sweet oil. The best 


*For taking plaster casts directly from natural 
objects no better lubricant can be employed than a 
mixture of vaseline and refined kerosene oil. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 215. 


modeling tools are those used by sculptors, 
which consist of fine iron or brass wire 
wound evenly about a stiff wire loop and 
fastened to a short handle. One should 
always make his own tools, however, tak- 
ing care to get the coils fine and even. Box- 
wood spatulas, sand-papered down toa thin 
edge, or even steel ones, such as plasterers 
use, are convenient for shaping in the rough. 

The chief advantages of this compound 
consist in its non-liability to crack or dry 
up—hence it retains the most delicate im- 
pressions indefinitely ; in its durability, as 
the same material can be used over again ; 
in the ease with which plaster casts can be 
taken from it; and finally in its general con- 
venience, being always ready for use and 
not requiring any care. For these reasons 
we have thought it worth while to bring it 
more prominently before the notice of nat- 


uralists. 
C. R. EasTMan. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Structure and Classification of Birds. By 
FRANK E. BEDDARD, M.A., F.R.S., Prosec- 
tor and Vice-Secretary of the Zoological 
Society of London. London, New York and 
Bombay, Longmans, Green and Co. 1898. 
Pp. xx + 548, with 252 text figures. Price, 
$6.00. 

Mr. Beddard is to be congratulated upon 
haying brought to a successful issue a task 
contemplated, and even commenced, by his 
predecessors, Garrod and Forbes, and as these 
by their labors have done much to further the 
work, and as their note-books have been freely 
drawn upon, they too may be credited with a 
share in the finished product. While we may 
admit that a hand-book on avian anatomy is 
scarcely so much needed now as it was when 
conceived by Garrod, the present volume is none 
the less welcome. The monumental treatise of 
Fuerbringer and the detailed work of Gadow 
are not at everyone’s disposal, and there are 
still ornithologists who, to their sorrow, have 
failed to acquire that knowledge of German 
which is now almost indispensable to the orni- 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


thologist. Hence this book, replete with 
anatomical facts, is one that no working orni- 
thologist can afford to do without. Not only 
does it contain a vast amount of original work, 
but a host of references to that of others, and if, 
as stated in the preface, one bird is occasionally 
described under two names this is of small con- 
sequence. It is a poor bird that does not re- 
joice in at least two names, and there is no 
danger now-a-days that questions of nomen- 
clature will suffer from neglect. 

The first 158 pages are devoted to the struc- 
ture of birds, their more common anatomical 
features being described under such heads as 
pterylosis, alimentary canal, respiratory system, 
ete. Then follow 376 pages on the classifica- 
tion of birds where the structural characters of 
each group are given in detail and the affini- 
ties of each division discussed at some length. 
As Beddard and his immediate predecessors in 
the prosectorial chair have been more deeply in- 
terested in the soft anatomy of birds than in their 
osteology, it is not surprising to find the book 
particularly strong in those portions relating to 
myology and to the detailed structure of the 
syrinx and alimentary canal. The amount of 
original research displayed in these directions 
can but excite the admiration of anyone who 
has tried his hand at the dissection of small 
birds and found how trying it is alike to tem- 
per and eyesight. 

This being the case the occasional slighting of 
osteological characters—for instance, little or 
nothing is said concerning the hypotarsus— 
may be readily forgiven, as well as the rare 
errors, mostly due to generalizations based on 
insufficient data. For example, almost on the 
first page we find the time-worn misstatement 
that in the Swifts all four toes are directed for- 
ward when this applies mainly, or wholly, to 
the true Swifts, Micropodinx, since Hemiprocne, 
and probably Macropteryx, cannot, and the com- 
mon species of Chztura do not, turn the first toe 
forward. Dr. Stejneger and Dr. Coues have 
both stated the case correctly, and it is a pity to 
have this error perpetuated. That the patella 
of the Comorants is perforated by the tendon of 
the ambiens is but partially true ; it is thus per- 
forated in carbo, dilophus and vigua ; it is not in 
urite, penicillatus, punctatus and melanoleucus, 


SCIENCE. 


213 


while the orifice is minute in magellanicus and 
albiventer. 

A slip of another kind is made in describ- 
ing the hyoid, where the text neither agrees 
with the facts nor with the figure on the oppo- 
site page; this last, however, is hardly to be 
wondered at when scarcely any two writers are 
agreed as to the nomenclature of the parts of a 
bird’s hyoid, and the majority seem in some par- 
ticular to be incorrect. These little errors are 
pointed out merely to emphasize the danger of 
generalizations from observations on a few 
members of an apparently homogeneous group, 
and to note that the field of avian anatomy is 
so large that even the most diligent laborer 
therein may overlook some of the distant cor- 
ners. 

Passing to the portion on classification it may 
be said in the main that the groups are those 
adopted by Fuerbringer and Stejneger. Bed- 
dard’s divisions (orders?), corresponding, in a 
general way, to the super-families of Stejneger 
as given in the Standard Natural History. 
There is naturally some shifting about of de- 
batable forms, for it is not probable that any two 
writers would agree on all points of classifica- 
tion, this largely because birds, as a class, are so 
homogeneous, while their minor modifications 
are so infinite, that their arrangement is a diffi- 
cult matter. To add to the difficulty, the ten- 
dency is for convenience to pitch the divisions 
ou too high a key, so that they are not compa- 
rable to those of other vertebrates. 

The two principal divisions are, like those of 
Fuerbringer, Sawrure and Ornithure, the latter 
being sub-divided into Anomalogonate and Ho- 
malogonate, although, by a strange oversight, 
the latter group is only incidentally defined 
(p. 95), and is not even mentioned in the con- 
tents, and only by the process of elimination 
can we ascertain what birds belong to it. 

A similar lapse occurs in treating of the Galli, 
where, on page 302, we are told the Alectoro- 
podes may readily be divided into three groups 
and only two groups are given, while, to com- 
plicate matters still further, four families are 
spoken of a little later on. 

Perhaps this may be considered as atoned for 
by the casting overboard of the divisions 
Ratile and Carinat# and the placing of Tina- 


214 


mous, next the Ostriches, since the above 
groups have been clung to with a pertinacity 
worthy a better cause, while the breastbone 
of the Tinamous has too often barred them 
from associating with their next of kin. It is 
also gratifying to read that the likeness of 
Hesperornis to the Ratites seems mainly to rest 
upon the degenerate structure of the wings and 
that it cannot be put down definitely as the an- 
cestral form whence both grebes and divers have 
branched off. The author might perhaps have 
gone a little farther and said that the extreme 
specialization of Hesperornis seems to indicate 
that it represents one offshoot from the main 
stem which terminated then and there. The 
gulls are placed among the Limicole, but the 
auks are omitted, although this may strike 
some as showing undue _ partiality, while 
the placing of the Flamingo with the Hero- 
diones will be commended by some and con- 
demned by others. The balance of evidence, 
however, including some recent observations 
on the feathers, seems to lean towards the as- 
sociation here given, and this, like many other 
instances, may well serve to illustrate the diffi- 
culties that beset the classification of birds. In 
writing of the skull of woodpeckers the author 
apparently accepts the validity of the ‘sau- 
rognathous’ type, but, later on, in discussing 
the Hesperornithes, his allusions to ‘the pre- 
sumed vomers of the woodpeckers’ shows that 
he does not feel quite convinced, and for our 
own part we agree with Shufeldt in considering 
the so-called vomers as purely adventitious 
ossifications. It may be here remarked that 
Mr. Beddard is preeminently fair in his discus- 
sion of all matters, the pros and cons of doubt- 
ful questions being impartially considered, the 
book being entirely free from any didactic 
tone. 

It would have been well in defining the groups 
to have followed some uniform plan and, in- 
stead of setting down characters indiscrimi- 
nately, to have, so far as possible, given the 
same characters, osteological, myological or 
cecal, in the same order. This would have 
facilitated comparison and enabled any one to 
form a better estimate of the value of the vari- 
ous groups. But while we may differ from Mr. 
Beddard in the manner of using facts, we are 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


deeply indebted to him for the vast number he 
has placed at our disposal. 

The mechanical execution of the book is ex- 
cellent, the type clear and open, while the use 
of black-faced type for family names and of 
italics for anatomical characters is of great aid 
to the reader. The table of contents, however, 
is faulty, and it could be wished that the index 
was more than an index to species. 

F. A. Lucas. 


Rivers of North America. A Reading Lesson for 
Students of Geography and Geology. By 
IsRAEL C. RussELL. New York, G. P. Put- 
nam’s Sons; London, John Murray. 1898. 
Pp. xix+ 327. 17 plates, 1 table and 23 
figures in the text. 

The third volume in The Science Series, 
edited by Professor J. McK. Cattell, is the very 
welcome monograph by Professor Israel C. Rus- 
sell, the full title of which is quoted above. In 
this, the fourth volume that Professor Russell 
has given us concerning the greater topographic 
forms of North America, we have a treatise that 
has long been needed for every-day use, particu- 
larly by those of us who are teachers. The 
particular serviceableness of the book, however, 
does not lie in the fact that Professor Russell 
has given us a single-volume reference book 
concerning American rivers, but because he first, 
in this country, bas here presented a general 
consideration of the work, function and phe- 
nomena of rivers in general. Indeed, this vol- 
ume is the best popular and yet scientific treat- 
ment we know of the origin and development of 
land forms, and we immediately adopted it as 
the best available text-book for a college course 
in physiography. 

The nine chapters treat the many aspects of 
rivers and drainage in a logical, concise, clear 
and appealing manner, and, though in part they 
must be read closely,are very attractive to begin- 
ners because of the very apparent spirit in which 
the book was written. No beginner in earth sci- 
ence could gather from such a treatment the 
common conception that geography deals with 
‘dead things’ only. The book is full of life 
and vigor, and shows the sympathetic touch of 
a man deeply in love with nature. As we ex- 
pected such a naturalist’s treatment, we turned 


FERRUARY 10, 1899.] 


first in our reading to one of the later chapters, 
entitled ‘The Life History of a River,’ in 
which Professor Russell has given us a de- 
lightful summary of a river history as seen by 
a supposed being sufficiently long-lived to have 
outlived the river. In spite of the imagination 
demanded for the writing or reading, or per- 
haps better, because of the necessary imagina- 
tion, the chapter in question is of exceptional 
value in emphasizing the comparative lives of 
man and earth forms, and the difficulty of gain- 
ing proper ideas of time. It is, however, a 
chapter that should be read as a summary and 
not as an introduction by a beginner; for a 
body of facts is necessary in order to have such 
a broad view properly understood and appre- 
ciated. 

The plan of the book is very logical and 
practical, the first seven chapters being devoted 
to a careful account of the details of river 
work under the following larger headings: 
The Disintegration and Decay of Rocks, Laws 
Governing the Streams, Influence of Inequali- 
ties in the Hardness of Rocks on Riverside 
Scenery, Material Carried by Streams in Sus- 
pension and in Solution, Stream Deposits, 
Stream Terraces and Stream Development. 
The last two chapters are devoted to consider- 
ing the more important American rivers, and 
the Life History ofa River, in whicha summary 
use is made of the principles that have been 
previously developed. 

The first chapter is devoted toa consideration 
of the processes of mechanical and chemical dis- 
integration and the consequences of such work, 
and forms a natural and necessary introduction 
to the especial treatment of rivers, which 
really begins in Chapter II. Here we finda 
good treatment of the processes and results of 
river erosion and transportation, and the impor- 
tant controls of such river work. Especial 
and perhaps a little too emphatic emphasis is 
given to the effect of the rotation of the earth 
upon river cutting, particularly as seen on 
Long Island. From such a forceful exposition 
of this control the beginner might uncon- 
sciously gather an erroneous impression of its 
importance in general. 

The chapter devoted to the loads of rivers is 
very detailed and one of the most important of 


SCIENCE. 


215 


the book. In spite of numerous analyses and 
tables, the text does not lose its interest, and 
the treatment is not above the ability of the 
average reader. The chapter is sufficiently 
inclusive for general needs, and yet free from 
the mathematical difficulties that scare the 
student so frequently in text-book considera- 
tions of this difficult subject. y. 

In the consideration of river deposits the 
author gives a whole chapter to one group, 
namely, terraces, which, although of great 
interest, are not of such world-wide significance 
as the other greater groups considered together 
in Chapter Y. In spite of this seeming divorce 
of related subjects, the arrangement is good, 
because the more normal conditions of river 
deposition can thus be considered in extenso, 
without too serious modification of the idea of 
ariver’s life cycle. We are glad to see the 
river deposits treated causally and inclusively. 
The consideration of deltas is particularly help- 
ful and to the point. The classification is good, 
clear and workable, and one to be commended. 
The influences of climate, elevation and de- 
pression are treated at length, and the chapter 
closes with a summary devoted to the cross and 
longitudinal profiles of rivers illustrated with 
a few clear diagrams. 

The most helpful chapter in the book is that 
devoted to stream development. Here we have 
for the first time available for public use the 
theory and the details of the newer classifica- 
tion of land forms. The questions of stream 
development and adjustment, the stages in 
river history and the topographic forms to be 
found in the various instances are considered 
concisely and clearly. The newer terminology 
is used with discretion and success. Only those 
terms that have to a certain extent been estab- 
lished by usage are included, and these are not 
given dogmatically in technicallanguage. The 
author has not written his chapter to explain 
the terms to be found in the literature of his 
subject, as is so often the case, but has given 
each suggested term at the close of a clear ex- 
position of a composite fact as a shorthand 
method “of indicating the composite. The 
student reader of this chapter would not, we 
think, be led to use any term with quotation 
marks, either oral or written, but would avoid 


216 


a concise method of expression until his ideas 
were so clear that a short handle appealed to 
him, not as a possible, but as a necessary con- 
venience. The chapter as a whole is a very 
serviceable text-book on modern physiography 
and is of exceptional value to all who have 
previously been embarassed by the inaccessi- 
bility of the literature on this subject. 

The footnote references are many and well 
selected, and, although not complete, give a 
good introduction to the general literature. The 
illustrations are, on the whole, excellent, and 
the form of reproduction has been unusually 
successful. The book could well have been en- 
riched with more illustrations of normal river 
topography, and would then have been much 
more valuable, both to student and teacher. 
The typography is clear and pleasing, and the 
book very attractive in its general form. A 
good index completes the volume. 

We read the book through almost at one sit- 
ting, and laid it down with but two regrets: 
first, that there was not more; and second, 
that this, the best of the series of four mono- 
graphs by Professor Russell, was not uniform in 
general appearance with its predecessors. It is 
certainly a misfortune that three publishers 
should have issued these four books. Had they 
been uniform in appearance, they would have 
been of greater interest to the general reader, 
especially to those who get pleasure from the 
shelf as well as the hand appearance of a row 
of related books. 

We know of but few books that are so nearly 
what one would desire as this book. Adverse 
criticism can only be directed to details, and 
lamentation over details is out of place when a 
book is so generally pleasing as this. 

RIcHARD E, DopGE. 

TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


Anatomy and Histology of the Mouth and Teeth. 
By J. NorMAN BRooMELL, D. D. 8. Phila- 
delphia, P. Blakiston’s Sons & Co. 1898. 
With 234 Illustrations. 8vo. Pp. viii + 428. 
The book contains the best account of the 

teeth of man, which has yet appearéd in the 

English language. It includes the treatment of 

oral anatomy and of dental histology and de- 

velopment. It is illustrated chiefly by original 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


photographs engraved in half-tone. The most 
important and most meritorious part of the 
book is comprised in Chapters VIII.-XI. (pages: 
131-280), which offer detailed and valuable 
descriptions of the teeth, marred only by a. 
fantastic subdivision of the incisors, canines 
and first bicuspids of the upper jaw into four 
types, bilious, nervous, sanguineous and lym- 
phatic, an astonishing revival this of medi- 
eeval pseudo-science in the midst of a work 
otherwise serious and intelligent. The au- 
thor’s descriptions are clear and admirable, 
and by their thoroughness meet a real need. 
In fact, it has long seemed singular that there 
should be no adequate detailed account of 
human teeth, but the need seems to be now 
well supplied. A 

The chapters on the teeth, above referred to, 
are preceded by the seven which deal with the 
anatomy of the oral region, and are followed 
by six chapters on the development of the teeth, 
the histology of oral structures and the his- 
tology of the teeth. Dr. Broomell’s attempt 
to apply photography for histological illustra- 
tions is not encouraging, all of the figures of 
microscopic structure being very far inferior to 
cuts from drawings. Theaccount of the devel- 
opment of the teeth is fairly good, but noq 
equal to the standard of the anatomical part. 
Some minor errors appear in the embryological 
portions, for example, ‘ tooth band’ is used in- 
stead of ‘dental shelf ;’ the tooth germ in Fig. 
180 is so distorted that it gives no idea of the 
true relations; in Fig. 181 the hole between the 
tooth and the shrunken enamel organ is labeled 
enamel. But it is not worth while to dwell 
upon these defects in a work of solid merit. 

The publisher’s share has been well executed, 
the general appearance of the volume being 
dignified and attractive, the printing excellent. 

CHARLES S. MINor. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Foundations of Zoology. WILLIAM KEITH 
Brooks. Columbia University Biological Series. 
Vol. V. New York, The Macmillan Company. 
1899. $2.50. 

The Native Tribes of Central Australia. BALDWIN 
SPENCER and F. J. GILEN. London and New 
York, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. 
x +671. $6.50. 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


Die Spiele der 
Gustav Fischer. 


Menschen. KARL GrRoos. Jena, 
1899. Pp. iv-+538. Mark 10. 

Zoological Results based on Material from New Britain, 
New Guinea, Loyalty Islands and Elsewhere, collected 
during the Years 1895-1897. ARTHUR WILLEY. 
Cambridge University Press. 1899. Pt. 2. Pp. 
121-206. 12s. 6d. 

Lectures on the Evolution of Plants. DouGLAS HouGH- 
TON CAMPBELL. New York and London, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. viii+319. 
$1.25. 

Mental Arithmetic. J. A. MCLELLAN and A. F. 
AMES. New York and London, The Macmillan 
Company. 1899. Pp.x-+138. 

New York State Museum. Forty-ninth Annual Re- 
port of the Regents, 1895. Vol. 2, Report of State 
Geologist, Albany. University of the State of 
New York. 1898. Pp. 738. 

Physical Chemistry for Beginners. DR. CH. VAN 
DERVENTER. With an Introduction by PROFEs- 
sor J. H VAN’? Horr. Translated by BERTRAM 
B. Borarow. New York, John Wiley & Sons; 
London, Chapman & Co. 1899. Pp. x+154. 
$1.50. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE Auk for January is an unusually large 
number, and consequently is a little late in mak- 
ing its appearance. It commences with Mr. 
Chapman’s discussion of the ‘ Relationships of 
Ammodramus maritimus and its Allies,’ which is 
followed by Mr. O. B. Warren’s ‘ Chapter in the 
Life History of the Canada Jay.’ Mr. Ober- 
holser has a paper on ‘ The Blue Honey-Creep- 
ers of Tropical America,’ for which the new gen- 
eric name Cyanerpes is proposed, and Dr. Gill 
considers the generic names Pediocetes and Poo- 
extes, concluding that they must give way to 
Pedioecetes and Pooecetes. Many new species 
and subspecies are described, a New Hylocichla 
by Mr. Oberholser, a number of new forms from 
Mexico by Mr. Nelson, and several new species 
and subspecies of N. A. Fringillidx by Mr. Ridg- 
way. Under the caption ‘ Truth versus Error,’ 
Mr. Elliot and Dr. Allen continue the discussion 
of the propriety of correcting mis-spelled scien- 
tific names. Mr. Witmer Stone presents a 
long report, very encouraging in parts, on ‘The 
Protection of North American Birds,’ and, 
finally, is the Ninth Supplement to the A. O. 
U. Check List. This contains a long list of 


SCIENCE, 


( 


217 


changes, the most startling of which, perhaps, 
is at the outset, where the generic oame for 
the Loons is decided to be Gavia and the family 
name Gaviide. 


THE contents of The American Journal of 
Science for February are as follows: 

‘Contribution to the Study of Contact Metamor- 
phism,’ by J. M. Clements. 

‘Origin of Mammals,’ by H. F. Osborn. 

‘Chemical Composition of Tourmaline,’ by S. L. 
Penfield and H. W. Foote. 

‘Littoral Mollusks from Cape Fairweather, Pata- 
gonia, by H. A. Pilsbry. 

‘Thermodynamic Relations for Steam,’ by G. P. 
Stark weather. 

‘Descriptions of imperfectly known and new 
Actinians, with critical notes on other species, III,’ by 
A. E. Verrill. 

‘Volumetric Method for the Estimation of Boric 
Acid,’ by L. C. Jones. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

THE midwinter meeting of the Texas Acad- 
emy of Science was held in Austin during the 
last week of December. The program was as 
follows : 

Tuesday, December 27th.—(1) ‘Do the Reac- 
tions of the Lower Animals due to Injury 
indicate Pain Sensations?’ Professor W. W. 
Norman, University of Texas. Numerous ex- 
periments upon living animals were described 
in detail and the conclusion reached that so far 
as the invertebrates and the lower vertebrates 
are concerned the reactions due to injury do not 
necessarily indicate pain. (2) ‘Three Recent 
Gifts to the University of Texas,’ Dr. W. J. 
Battle. The gifts described in this paper con- 
sisted of, 1st, a storage amphora from the cellar 
of the Courts of Justinian in Constantinople ; 
2d, a stone bearing an inscription recording the 
gift of a crown to one Lysagoras by the people 
of Ilium, and 3d, a twelfth century manuscript 
of the Gospels from the Island of Prinkipos, 
Sea of Marmora. These interesting objects 
were presented to the University by the Hon. 
Alexander Terrell, late Minister of the United 
States to Turkey. 

Wednesday, December 28th.—(1) ‘Some New 
Measurements of Electric Waves,’ Regent R. 
S. Hyer, Southwestern University. This valu- 


218 SCIENCE. 


able paper is already in the hands of the printer 
and will soon be ready for distribution. (2) 
‘Variations of Indian Corn when brought from 
New York to Texas,’ Professor H. Ness, Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College of Texas. 
The experiments here described were begun in 
1896 at the suggestion of Professor L. H. 
Bailey, of Cornell University. Corn, of the 
same varieties, was planted at Ithaca, New 
York, and College Station, Texas ; comparative 
notes taken, and the results carefully tabulated. 
(3) ‘An Analysis of the Factors determining 
the Geographical Distribution of Plants in 
Texas’ (read by title), Dr. William L. Bray, 
University of Texas. (4) ‘Note onthe Descent 
of Erythronium Bulbs into the Soil,’ Professor 
O. C. Charlton, Baylor University. (5) ‘A Re- 
view of Bulletin, No. 151, of the United States 
Geological Survey,’ ‘The Lower Cretaceous 
Grypheeas of the Texas Region,’ by Robert T. 
Hill and T. Wayland Vaughan, Dr. Frederic 
W. Simonds, University of Texas. 

The recent publications of the Academy are: 
‘Applications of Non-Euclidean Geometry,’ by 
Dr. George Bruce Halsted; Address before 
the Academy, by President L.S. Ross; ‘The 
Essential Differences between Man and Other 
Animals,’ by Dr. S. E. Mezes; ‘ Pedagogical 
Notes on Mensuration,’ by Arthur Lefevre, 
C.E.; ‘Science and the State,’ by the Presi- 
dent of the Academy, Professor T. U. Taylor. 

FREDERIC W. SIMONDs. 


PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 494th meeting of the Society was held 
January 21st, at8 p.m., at the Cosmos Club. An 
informal communication ofan exceedingly inter- 
esting character was given by Surgeon: General 
Sternberg on Radiographs, accompanied by the 
exhibition of some remarkable photographs by 
the X-Rays. The first regular paper was by Dr, 
L. A. Bauer (read by Mr. J. F. Hayford, of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey), the subject being 
‘The Decomposition of the Earth’s Permanent 
Magnetic Field.’ This paper was an attempt 
to resolve the Earth’s permanent magnetic field 
into component ones physically interpretable, 
The normal distribution of the Earth’s magnet- 
ism is defined as that which can be regarded 
usresulting from a uniform magnetization about 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 215. 


a diameter inclined to the rotation axis. The 
normal magnetic components (northerly, east- 
erly and vertical) are next computed for 1800 
points on the Earth’s surface between parallels 
60° N. and 60° 8. These are then subtracted 
from the observed values and thus the residual 
components are obtained. With the aid of 
these is mapped out that portion of the Earth’s 
magnetism which cannot be referred to a uni- 
form magnetization (or to equivalent effects) 
about a diameter inclined to the Earth’s axis. 
The residual field consists mainly of two trans- 
verse magnetizations, one magnetic system lying 
in the northern hemisphere, the north end at- 
tracting pole being east of the south end at- 
tracting pole, and the second system lying in 
the southern hemisphere, the direction of 
magnetization being the reverse of the former. 
Striking coincidences manifest themselves be- 
tween the characteristics of the residual field 
and those of the diurnal variation field as de- 
termined by Schuster. The foci of both fields 
lie near parallels 40° (N. and 8.) As the author 
is conducting other related investigations, he 
refrains from drawing definite conclusions un- 
til these investigations have been completed. 
The second paper was by Mr. C. F. Marvin and 
was a description of the apparatus employed at 
several Weather Bureau stations during the 
past summer for the purpose of making a pre- 
liminary survey of meteorological conditions in 
the upper air. The results obtained from these 
investigations are now being classified and 
worked up. <A special form of Hargrave cellu- 
lar kite was employed and controlled in flight 
from a convenient form of hand windlass. The 
automatic records were obtained by means of a 
special kite meteorograph, of the author’s de- 
sign, and adapted to record the temperature, 
pressure and humidity of the air and wind 
velocity. The meteorograph was attached 
firmly to the kite. Its weight, complete, was 
2.1 pounds; that of the kite, about 8 pounds. 
E. D. PRESTON, 
Secretary. 


THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASH- 
INGTON. 
THE 284th regular meeting of the Anthropo- 
logical Society was held Tuesday evening, Jan- 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899. ] 


uary 38, 1899. The members of the Woman’s 
Anthropological Society were elected to mem- 
bership in the Society, the former Society as a 
body being absorbed by the Anthropological 
Society. Miss Alice Fletcher read a paper on 
‘A Pawnee Ritual,’ in which she laid stress 
upon the fact that a literal translation of the 
ritual did not convey the true meaning, did not 
express the poetic thoughts or the real phil- 
osophy of the ritual, and these could only be 
obtained by a free translation, based upon an 
intimate knowledge of the Indian’s picturesque 
and poetic expression of his thoughts. 

Mr. Francis La Flesche sang a part of the 
ritual, to show the manner in which the Priest 
rendered it. i 

Discussed by Mr. Cushing. 

Mr. W. H. Holmes read a paper on ‘One 
Step in the Evolution of the Maya Temple.’ 
Mr. Holmes described the remarkable edifices 
the ruins of which are found in numerous ancient 
cities of the Maya territory, and dwelt briefly 
upon their origin and development, but the 
chief object of the paper was to indicate the 
very pronounced influence of the corbelled 
arch, sometimes called the Maya arch, on the 
buildings. Without stopping to discuss the 
question as to whether the suggestion of this 
method of spanning chamber spaces came from 
within or without the Maya province, the man- 
ner in which it would probably supplant the 
horizontal beam of wood or the slab of stone 
was pointed out. Offsetting the upper stones 
of a wall enabled the builder to span the space 
with shorter beams or stones and led finally to 
the exclusive use of stone, a great step in the 
direction of permanency. The effect of the 
arch upon the chambers was to widen them 
considerably and greatly to increase their 
height ; but the most remarkable result was ex- 
terior, as the height was more than doubled. 
The doorways were not changed, however, and 
the original fagade remained the same, being 
limited above by a heavy cornice representing 
the ends of the horizontal beams or eaves of the 
early period. ‘The added upper wall, carried 
up vertically in Yucatan and at a high angle in 
more southern sections, was devoted entirely 
to ornament and became the most remarkable 
feature of the structures, affording the builders 


SCIENCE. 219 


no end of opportunities for displaying their 
genius for sculpture and their devotion to sym- 
bolism. 
Discussed by Messrs. Cushing and McGee. 
J. H. McCormicr, 
Secretary. 


THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES—SEC- 
TION OF PSYCHOLOGY AND ANTHRO- 
POLOGY, JANUARY 23, 


THERE was an unusually good attendance at 
the regular meeting of the Section. From the 
psychologists there were papers by Chas. H. 
Judd, of New York University, on ‘ The Visual 
Perception of Linear Distances ;’ by B. B. Breese, 
of Columbia, on ‘Some Experiments in the Vol- 
untary Control of Retinal Rivalry,’ and by C. B. 
Bliss, on ‘A Modification of one of the Psycho- 
physical Methods.’ 

On the part of the anthropologists there was 
a brief report by the returning members of the 
expedition sent out by the American Museum 
of Natural History to study the Gilliak tribes 
of eastern Asia. A paper was then read by 
A. Hrdlicka, of the Museum, giving the result 
of a study of the custom of painting bones. 

Two other papers on anthropology contained 
in the program went over to the next meeting 
for lack of time. C. B. Buiss, 

Secretary. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS—JANUARY 
2, 1899. 

THE section was called to order by Chairman 
Dudley, 19 persons being present. In the ab- 
sence of the Secretary, Mr. T. G. White was 
elected Secretary pro tem. 

The first paper of the evening was by Pro- 
fessor Wm. Hallock, printed on page 210. 

In the discussion which followed, Professor 
D. W. Hering suggested connecting the string 
or spiral by which impulses are imparted to the 
ring, to a tuning fork, the rate of vibration of 
which could be regulated by weighing and 
which could be operated electrically, for re- 
ciprocating motion of small amplitude and of a 
known rate. 

The second paper was by Dr. F. L. Tufts on 
the ‘ Absorption and reflection of sound waves 


220 SCIENCE. 


by porous materials.’ This paper gave the re- 
sults of experiments on the transmission and re- 
flection of sound by such materials as flour, 
sand, sawdust, shot and a few different kinds 
of cloths. It was stated that when sound waves 
strike against materials pervious to air they 
act very much like a pneumatic pressure, and 
that the amount of sand transmitted through 
such materials is inversely proportional to the 
resistance offered by the materials to the pass- 
age of a direct current of air. The results of 
the experiments upon the reflection of sound 
from the same materials showed that those ma- 
terials that transmitted the greatest amount of 
sound reflected the least. The paper also 
contained an account of some experiments in 
which the sound waves had to pass through 
some pervious material, such as the curtains 
upon a wall, and were then reflected back 
through the same by the impervious wall. 

In the discussion that followed the reading of 
the paper Professor Hallock suggested the 
practical application to the improvement of the 
acoustics of rooms which might result from 
these investigations, and the futility of the 
method of string wires in large halls to break 
up echoes, which had been often advised, but 
which was disproved by these experiments. 
Mr. Dudley also spoke of the attempts that 
had been made to obtain materials absorptive 
of sound, to deaden the noise in railroad cars. 

The third paper was by Mr. P. H. Dudley, on 
‘Translative curves of counter balance and 
crank pins in running locomotives.’ It was 
profusely illustrated by lantern views of loco- 
motives in the various positions described. 
These showed the loci of the center of gravity 
of the counter weights, crank pins and driving 
axles in running locomotives. Some of the 
photographs showed the position of the counter 
weights in the driving wheels of running loco- 
motives in reference to the stremmatograph 
under the rail. The counter weights added to 
the driving wheels to balance the reciprocating 
parts, crank pins, main and side connecting 
rods, when the engine is running, besides ro- 
tating around the axles, move along the rails 
per revolution a distance equal to the circum- 
ference of the drivers. The locus of the center 
of gravity of the counter weights six inches from 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


the tread of the tire in a seven-feet driving 
wheel travels above the locus of the driving 
axle more than three times as far as it does 
below. The locus of the center of gravity of the 
crank pin for 24-inch stroke of piston in a driv- 
ing wheel of 7-feet diameter travels 44 per cent. 
more above the locus of the driving axle than 
below it. 

The above cited facts show that the relative 
velocities of the center of gravity of the counter 
weights and crank pins are not constant for 
each portion of a revolution as in the stationary 
engine, but are unequal and constantly chang- 
ing. Therefore, the forces generated are un- 
equal, and perfect counter balance does not 
obtain in the locomotive. Part of the unbal- 
anced forces must be absorbed by the locomo- 
tive itself and part by the permanent way. 
The upper portion of the driving wheel moves 
much faster than the lower portion running on 
and in contact with the rail, in striking con- 
trast to the uniform velocity of the rim of the 
fly wheel of a stationary engine. 

Dr. Dudley also showed lantern views of 
running locomotives, in which the lower spokes 
of the driving wheels were sharply defined, 
while the upper ones, running so much faster, 
were not stopped for the same exposure. 

REGINALD GORDON, 
Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


AT the meeting of the Academy of Science of 
St. Louis of January 23, 1899, a paper by 
Professor A. S. Hitchcock, entitled ‘Studies 
on Subterranean Organs, Part I, Composite 
of the vicinity of Manhattan, Kansas,’ dealing 
with the structure of a number of rootstocks 
with reference to their environment, was pre- 
sented in abstract. Mr. C. H. Thompson also 
spoke of some plants the flowers of which orig- 
inate endogenously. He mentioned several 
species of Rhipsalis in which the much reduced 
leaves grow on triangular or cylindrical very 
succulent stems, their axillary buds originating 
deep down in the soft tissue and sometimes 
having a passage-way extending toward the 
surface. In two species of Rhipsalis (R. para- 
doxa and R. floccosa) there is no such passage- 
way, and the bud, in developing, breaks 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899. ] 


through the epidermis. In Rhipsalia glaucosa 
a number of accessory abortive flowers were 
found. Cuscuta glomerata was mentioned as the 
only other plant in which, so far as the speaker 
knew, subepidermal flowers occur. 

One person was elected to active member- 
ship. WILLIAM TRELEASE, 

Recording Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE. 


EpIToR oF Science: I fear that the sub- 
ject may verge on becoming tedious to your 
readers, but will ask the privilege of conclud- 
ing my part in the discussion by a few com- 
ments on two points raised in Mr. Bather’s 
communication of January 10th (p. 154). 

It will hardly be denied that the date of 
printing will always be useful to the systema- 
tist in noting a period earlier than which pub- 
lication of a paper cannot be claimed, even if 
we ignore the obvious fact that in nearly every 
case it will now-a-days closely approach the 
date of distribution or actual publication. 
Hence, the committee should consider well be- 
fore minimizing its value. 

Secondly, it has been held, with some plausi- 
bility, that the distribution by favor alone 
should not constitute publication, but that the 
ability of any one interested to procure a paper 
by purchase is essential to an effective publica- 
tion. If now, by a doctrine of ethics which ig 
certainly novel to me, the committee decides 
that no paper can be regarded as published 
until the society which prints it is ready to sell 
the complete volume of which it may form a 
part, it is obvious that the committee has it in 
contemplation to put a quietus on the prompt 
publication of separate papers, unless this is 
done commercially by the society in question, 
in the first place. To this proposition I believe 
it will be impossible to obtain the assent of 
workers in systematic natural history, and 
justly so. 

The reasons are obvious and need not be 
enlarged upon. I think it is not unfair to add 
that most libraries in this country would rather 
pride themselves on procuring, even at the cost 
of seven shillings, at the earliest practicable 


SCIENCE. 


221 


moment, a paper demanded by their readers ; 
and would consider its belated acquisition in 
the miscellaneous volume of a scientific so- 
ciety, subsequently, as no reflection upon their 
performance of their duties to the public, 

Wo. H. Dat. 


THE RED-BEDS OF KANSAS, 


THE correlation of the Red-Beds of Kansas 
has hitherto been impossible to satisfactorily 
settle, as has been stated by Professor Prosser 
in his admirable report upon them in the second 
volume of the University Geological Survey of 
Kansas. Many persons have diligently sought 
for fossils in them, but entirely without success 
until recently. About two years ago Mr. C. N. 
Gould discovered a horizon just south of the 
Kansas line and at the base of the Kansas 
series, containing large numbers of a small 
phyllopod crustacean, examples of which, when 
referred to Professor T. Rupert Jones, through 
Professor Prosser, were determined as Estheria 
minuta with some doubt, as stated in his paper 
in the Geological Magazine (1898, p. 291). 

Associated with these crustacean remains, the 
blocks sent with the skeleton showing numer- 
ous specimens, was a large part of the skeleton 
ofan amphibian. This specimen is now in the 
University of Kansas collection, but so far has 
been only partly freed from its matrix, a work 
of much tediousness. The parts already brought 
to light, however, enable me to determine it as 
Eryops megacephalus Cope, a form described 
from the ‘ Permian’ of Texas. 

This identification settles once for all the 
horizon whence it came as Permian, if the 
Texas beds be really of that age. There are 
several hundred feet of deposits in Kansas above 
this horizon that. still possibly may be con- 
sidered as Triassic, but there is no reason for 
so doing. LEstheria minuta is a Triassic species, 
but, even if correctly determined, its value is 
slight in comparison with that of the vertebrate 
in the correlation of the beds. It must be re- 
membered, however, that Eryops is by no means 
necessarily characteristic of the Permian, 

8S. W. WILLIsTon. 


MEN OF SCIENCE AND ANTI-VIVISECTION. 


Ir, according to my critic (ScIENCE, Dec. 16, 
1898, p. 878), the efforts of the anti-vivisection- 


229 


444 


ists are to be regarded as antics, or as the idiotic 
spot upon the brain of many people, the writer 
lacked wisdom in urging that men of science, 
thus far only cognizant at second hand of the 
points at issue, should divest themselves of the 
bias of esprit-de-corps, and, emerging from the 
influences exerted upon them by a sub-division 
of their colleagues, decide, through their own 
investigation, for or against experiments on liv- 
ing animals. 

In the writer’s opinion, however, not fully 
expressed in the number of SCIENCE referred to, 
the adequate hearing, which has not been, 
should be given to the allegations of the anti- 
vivisectionists, namely: (1) That the experi- 
ments have not helped medical or scientific 
knowledge. (2) That the experiments are not 
properly restrained, and can be pursued in the 
United States not only by scientific men, but 
by tyros, or by others in an undue, excessive 
and superficial manner. (3) That whether to 
the advantage of scientific knowledge or not, 
the practice of painful experiment on unwilling 
living creatures, by a human mind aware of the 
significance of pain upon the higher animals, is 
an act founded on no right and degrading to 
that human mind. 

In the latter allegation, passing by here the 
two preceding it, the writer sees the real issue. 
Denying such tendency of the experiment on 
the experimenter, seeming willing to leave to 
the latter his present unrestricted latitude, the 
advocate of vivisection, apparently under sanc- 
tion of the National Academy of Sciences, as- 
serts not only an excuse, but a right for the ex- 
periments in their alleged advantage to science 
and the human race. 

This is to fortify the practice in one of the 
strongest ways possible, since the thought trend 
of the human majority makes naturally toward 
a magnification of its own successes, and a jus- 
tification of the latter even when demonstrably 
achieved at the expense of insignificant and un- 
voiced suffering. The right of communities to 
advantage (amuse) themselves by human pain 
still exists among certain savage and barbarous 
peoples. The right of nations, proceeding, for 
their own alleged advantage, to practice felony 
and murder (according to their rule laid down 
for individuals), to act frequently upon the 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 215. 


abused precepts of Machiavelli, while proclaim- 
ing Christianity, is not potently questioned 
throughout Christendom, while the notion of 
restraining the alleged rights of civilized com- 
munities and individuals to advantage (amuse) 
themselves by the infliction of great pain on 
lower forms of life has entered the heads of but 
few of those thus advantaged. Nevertheless, 
some ameliorations have been made in certain 
cases towards the alleviation of the pain, which 
has been supposed to confer the benefit upon its 
inflictor, and the attempt of the human friend 
of animals, in this instance, to set limits to the 
gains of humanity is not more unreasonable 
than the existence of certain limits already set 
by humanity itselfto its own gains. 

When human public opinion forbids by law 
the practice of forcible vivisection upon a felon 
condemned to death, it limits the advance of 
scientific knowledge by ruling off the dissect- 
ing table a class of fiber and tissue more val- 
uable for medical study, while not demonstrably 
more significant to the community, than the 
fiber and tissue of a dog. If we forbid the 
hypnotist to learn by experiment upon the hu- 
man subject, whether the latter can be mes- 
merically influenced to steal, commit adultery, 
lie, or otherwise yield to inborn passions, we 
again obstruct science.’ When society denies 
the right of doctors to test theories and modes 
of treatment, or to advance scientific knowledge, 
by occasionally killing or paining moribund hu- 
man patients in hospitals, it retards scientific 
knowledge by limiting a class of experiment 
more valuable to the experimenter than similar 
inflictions by analogy upon animals. At the 
same time the restraint acts upon a principle no 
more logical, no less so, than that which moves 
the anti-vivisectionist. 

But in its deeper sense the late movement in 
defense of animals justifies itself not in logic, 
which has not yet solved the mystery of pain, 
torture and death, but rather in the expansion 
of the very potent principle of love or sym- 
pathy. 

Raising clearly and fully a momentous ques- 
tion which, it is to be regretted, Science did not 
honor herself by raising for them, the defenders 
of animals proclaim that the whole question of 
the ravages of Homo sapiens (who seems to have 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


lost touch with fellow animals somewhere in 
the stone or bonze age, since which time he has 
ceased to domesticate them) upon the lower forms 
of life needs revision ; that many of the ravages 
are unjust, nay cruel and degrading; that in 
many cases they should be ameliorated through 
human education, while in other indefensible 
instances they should be abolished by human 
law. 

In this agitation the observer of humanity, 
from the widening point of view of anthropo- 
logical science, sees not a fanatical outbust, but 
an extension of one of the potent familiar fac- 
tors of human development, an evolution of the 
ancient and ever-growing protest against the al- 
leged right of extreme might, constituting itself 
the judge, whether as populace, or despot, 
priest or tyrant, egotist or felon, science or 
creed, to forcibly inflict pain upon insignificant 
or helpless victims. 

Science, since Darwin at least, admits no such 
chasm as theology formally alleged, between 
animals and man, while, with the wider study 
of nature, the attitude of mind which has pre- 
viously circumscribed the activity of human re- 
dress to human ills fades away. 

It is the effort which affected the abolition of 
gladitorial combats, burnings at the stake, tor- 
ture chambers, the Inquisition, serfdom, the 
abatement of slavery and the persecution of 
Jews, which is now seen to expand. Long 
limited in sympathy to the groans of man, it is 
now led, by the power of expanding knowledge, 
to listen to the cry of man’s speechless victim, 
the tortured brute. 

Suddenly and strangely, at the close of the 
nineteenth century, we mark, throughout civil- 
ized peoples, the uprising of societies and indi- 
viduals who, again rejuvenating the thought of 
Buddha, appear unselfishly to strive to extend 
human sympathy beyond the human barrier. 
But the outgrowths are not spontaneous. It is 
because of one of the most potent of the forces 
which has led man from darkness toward civil- 
ization that they exist. It is because of a prin- 
ciple that should be dear to the heart of a man 
of science, and for which Science herself has 
suffered, that the idea of the human being ad- 
vancing his own knowledge by acts so selfish 
as vivisection meets with self-condemnation. 


SCIENCE. 


futile. 


223 


Flint (Text-book of Physiology) frequently 
exposing the nerve roots of dogs in public dem- 
onstrations ; Castex (Archives Gen. de Medicine, 
Jan. and Feb., 1892) clubbing out of joint the 
shoulders of unnarcotized dogs to show how to 
massage them; B. A. Watson (Experimental 
Study of lesions arising from severe concussion, 
1890) dropping living dogs from heights so as to 
produce and then study on them concussion of the 
spine ; cutting the intestines of living dogs and 
then sewing the ends together with dull needles 
in certain ways, to study circular sutures ; 
Phelps’ fixing the joints of living dogs in 
cramped positions for six weeks and five months, 
to see if anchylosis would ensue ; Porter (Jour- 
nal of Physiologists, April 6, 1895) exposing for 
its entire length the cervical cord of a narco- 
tized dog and severing it at the sixth cervical 
vertebra ; seizing the phrenic nerve of thirteen 
lightly narcotized dogs and rabbits and tearing 
it out of the chest; studying respiration (Report 
Royal Humane Society, 1865, pp. 31-66) by 
plunging the heads of seventy-six living ani- 
mals in liquid plaster-of-paris until suffocation 
ensued by the hardening of the plaster in the 
bronchial tubes in four minutes; Chauveau 
(Wilberforce to the Zoologist, London, July, 
1892) studying excitement of spinal marrow 
upon eighty living horses and asses by chiseling 
open the vertebree and exposing the marrow; 
washing out parts of the brains of living dogs 
and studying their future action in subsequent 
days or weeks (Pfluger’ Archives, 1888, p. 303). 
These are acts which, when known in the light 
of widening sympathy, gradually become intol- 
erable to the human mind. 

Henry C. MERCER. 

SECTION OF AMERICAN AND PREHIS- 

TORIC ARCHMOLOGY AT THE UNIVER- 
SITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, January 9, 1899. 


[It is desirable for this JOURNAL to admit 
discussion of scientific questions, however little 
the point of view may commend itself to most 
Mercer states that the 
anti-vivisection movement does not justify itself 


men of science. Mr. 


in logic, and hence argument seems somewhat 
If any of our readers are influenced by 
Mr. 


Mercer’s remarks we recommend them 


224 SCIENCE. 


first to try to verify the references given at the 
end, in which they will fail, and second to read 
‘ Vivisection : a statement in behalf of Science,’ 
published in the issue of this JouRNAL for 
March 20, 1896, and endorsed by President 
Eliot, of Harvard University, and the late 
Francis A. Walker, President of the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology.—ED. SCIENCE. ] 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 
REPORTS OF OBSERVATORIES. 


THE annual reports of three of the most ac- 
tive observatories of the world are at hand. 

1. Report of Her Majesty’s Astronomer at the 
Cape of Good Hope for the year 1897.—The 
astrophotographic telescope was used for 
chart plates, catalogue plates, variables, and 
with a 20-degree prism for a spectroscopic 
survey of stars to 34 magnitude. The tran- 
sit circle was used for stars needed for the 
measurement of plates to complete the Cape 
zones, —40° to —52°. 9,000 standard stars 
will be included in this area. The 7-inch 
equatorial has been chiefly used to look 
up discrepancies in the photographic plates 
and in checking missing stars. Among the re- 
sults obtained was the confirmation of the large 
proper motion of 9’ in the star which Kapteyn 
had detected on the plates. The heliometer 
was used chiefly in triangulation of comparison 
stars for observations of planets at opposition. 
Preparations were making for the mounting of 
the new McLean telescope, constructed by 
Grubb, and the new transit circle by Troughton 
and Simms. The computations were chiefly 
upon the meridian observations of former years, 
and upon heliometer observations for parallax. 
Dr. Gill has eleven regular assistants and com- 
puters, with other computers occasionally em- 
ployed. The observatory carries on an exten- 
sive system of time signals, and the geodetic 
survey of South Africa will be under the direc- 
tion of the government astronomer. 

2. Report of the Superintendent of the U. S. 
Naval Observatory for the year ending June 80, 
1898.—The 26-inch equatorial has been used for 
micrometric observations of the faint comets, 
satellites, close doubles and the diameters of 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


Venus and Mercury. The 12-inch telescope 
has been similarly used for astercids and comets. 
The 9-inch transit has been used for sun, moon, 
planets and certain stars. The new 6-inch 
steel transit is in process of erection. The 5- 
inch altazimuth has been used as a, zenith tele- 
scope and asa vertical circle. The opinion is 
expressed that declinations can be obtained with 
greater accuracy by this instrument than by a 
meridian circle. The astronomical work has 
been materially lessened by the detachment of 
line officers for active service in the recent war, 
necessitating the care of nautical instruments, 
chronometers and time service by the astro- 
nomical staff. This report goes into minute 
detail regarding the work of the Observatory, 
even mentioning such minor matters as the 
mounting of a new thermometer, and the re- 
pairing of the wooden cases of clocks, the glue 
in which had deteriorated. The Nautical Al- 
manac has been under the care of the Astro: 
nomical Director, Professor Harkness. The 
chief publication has been the Catalogue of 
Stars from observations made from 1866-1891, 
prepared by Professor Eastman. 

3. Fifty-third annual report of the Director of 
the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, 
for year ending September 30, 1898.—The 15-inch 
equatorial has been used for photometric obser- 
vations chiefly of variables. The 6-inch equa- 
torial has been used for observations of variables 
by the method of eye estimates. The meridian 
circle has been used to complete the observa- 
tions for the southern zone—9°50’ to—14°10/. 
The meridian photometer has been devoted to 
the reobservation of the stars in the Harvard 
Photometry and other stars fainter than those 
in that catalogue. The 8-inch and 11-inch 
photographie telescope, working under the 
Henry Draper Memorial, have obtained more 
than 3,000 plates. Their study has resulted in 
various discoveries, such as twelve variables, 
stars of peculiar spectra, one spectroscopic 
binary, one spectrum of a meteor with five 
bright lines, one spectrum of the aurora with 
four bright lines. At Arequipa, Peru, more 
than 2,400 plates have been made with the 
8-inch, 13-inch and 24-inch telescopes. Profes- 
sor Bailey’s study of variables in clusters has 
revealed 509 variables in 20 clusters ; the light 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


curves of 125 variables in w Centauri have been 
obtained. 

Among other matters discussed by Professor 
Pickering in his report is the organization of 
the Observatory. The Harvard College Observ- 
atory is not, like many other observatories, 
divided into departments each under an as- 
tronomer of high grade. The Director himself 
is in immediate charge of all the departments, 
in many cases making a daily inspection and 
planning the work in detail. The assistants 
become skilful each ina particular work, and 
three or four times as many can be employed 
at a given expenditure as under the depart- 
mental system. The report mentions the ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of each plan and 
advises that the plan in operation at Harvard 
should continue to be followed in one large 
observatory. Thecorps of assistants at Harvard 
and at the Southern Station, in Peru, includes 
~ forty persons. 


Hs PLANET DQ. 

TuIs planet has been named Eros. The As 
tronomical Journal and Circular 36 of the Har- 
vard Observatory contain the gratifying an- 
nouncement that numerous observations of the 
planet have been found on the Harvard plates 
in 1894 and 1896. In 1894 the planet was at 
its most favorable position for observation, and 
of the 7th magnitude when nearest. Observa- 
tions have been found extending for more than 
four months, making it possible to determine an 
accurate orbit for that opposition alone. Dr. 
Chandler has undertaken the rigid discussion 
of all available data, and will bring the calcula- 
tion down to the 1900 opposition, so that the 
observations then to be made will be under the 
best knowledge of the theory of the planet’s 
motion. 

This research has justified the policy of Pro- 
fessor Pickering in having the whole sky photo- 
graphed at frequent intervals. That the plates 
thus accumulating contain a vast amount of 
material which the future needs of astronomy 
will utilize is quite evident. That many new 
facts can be obtained from their examination is 
shown by the discovery during the search for 
the planet Eros of two variables and two stars 
which are not in the Durchmusterung catalogue, 


SCIENCE. 225 


besides observations of asteroids previously dis- 
covered. 
Winstow UPTon. 
BROWN UNIVERSITY, January 27, 1899. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
SOME RECENT INVESTIGATIONS UPON THE BEC- 
QUEREL RAYS. 


RUTHERFORD (Phil. Mag., Jan., 1899), in an 
important and interesting paper, shows experi- 
mentally that in a mass of gas exposed to the 
radiation from uranium, thorium or their com- 
pounds the following statements hold good: 

1. Charged carriers produced through the 
volume of gas. 

2. Ionization proportional to the intensity of 
the radiation and the pressure. 

3. Absorption of the radiation proportional 
to pressure. 

4, Existence of a saturation current; 7. e., a 
current passing through the ionized gas, whose 
magnitude is such that all of the carriers pro- 
duced by the radiation reach the electrodes. 

5. Rate of combination of the ions propor- 
tional to the square of the number present. 

6. Partial separation of positive and negative 
ions. 

7. Disturbance of potential gradient under 

certain conditions between two plates exposed 
to the radiation. 
‘ It is also shown that the radiation given off 
by both uranium and thorium is complex, con- 
sisting of two varieties which the author calls 
a and £ respectively; 8 being the one of greater 
penetrative power, whiie @ is the one chiefly in- 
strumental in causing ionization in gases. The 
intensity of the a radiation seems to depend 
chiefly upon the amount of surface of the uran- 
ium, while the / radiation depends upon the 
thickness of the layer. 

In Wied. Ann., No. 12, for 1898, Elster and 
Geitel give an account of a research undertaken 
by them to test the validity of two suppositions 
which have been made as to the cause of the 
Becquerel rays. Madame Curie (Comptes Rendus, 
CXVI., p. 1101) has suggested that the con- 
tinuous radiation from uranium, thorium and 
their compounds may be explained by suppos- 
ing all space to be filled with a sort of modified 
Rontgen radiation which possesses the power 


226 


of penetrating ordinary media to a much higher 
degree than the usual X-rays, and that in at- 
tempting to traverse substances having high 
atomic weights, like uranium and thorium, a 
portion of the incident energy is transformed 
into radiation having the power of affecting 
photographic plates, ionizing gases, etc. Elster 
and Geitel have tested this by examining the 
intensity of the uranium radiation by both the 
electrical and photographic methods, the ap- 
paratus being placed first upon the surface of 
the earth and then several hundred meters 
underground in a mine, their idea being that 
the intensity of the radiation incident upon the 
uranium would be weakened by passing through 
the overlying mass of earth. No difference was 
found in the intensity of the uranium radiations 
under the two conditions. 

To test the hypothesis of Crookes as to the 
radiation being caused by a transformation by 
the uranium of a portion of the kinetic energy 
of the molecules of air, the intensity of the 
radiation emitted by the uranium when in a 
vacuum was compared with that emitted when 
the metal was in the air. No difference was 
found. 

The results of this work are hence unfavorable 
to either hypothesis. 

M. and Mme. Curie have shown (Comptes 
Rendus, CXXYVII., p. 175) that in pitchblende 
there is a substance similar in properties to bis- 
muth, but which is strongly radio-active, and 
for it they have proposed the name Polonium, 
In Comptes Rendus, CX XYVII., p. 1255, they give 
an account of their more recent researches in 
which they have been associated with M. G. 
Bémont upon this subject. They are led to the 
conclusion that there is still another new sub- 
stance present, similar in properties to pure 
barium, but whose chloride is about nine hun- 
dred times as active as that of uranium. The 
new substance, provisionally called Radium, is 
distinguished by a hitherto unknown line in its 
spectrum. AS STACl 3D: 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
SARGENT’S SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
THE appearance of Volume XII. of this mag- 


nificent work again directs attention to what 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


will, forall time, be a monument to both author 
and publishers. Hight years ago the first volume 
appeared, and at more or less regular intervals 
the succeeding volumes, until the present one, 
which was originally designed to be the last. In 
these volumes we have 620 plates, thus more 
than making good the promise of author and 
publishers of fifty plates per volume. We have 
now the pleasant announcement by the pub- 
lishers that, ‘‘as it has been found impracticable 
to include in this twelfth volume of Professor 
Sargent’s great work the general index to the 
entire work, a thirteenth volume containing this 
index, together with descriptions and illustra- 
tions of recently discovered species, and such 
corrections of the original volumes as recent 
explorations have made necessary will be sent to 
subscribers without change as soon as ready.’’ 

The present volume includes descriptions and 
plates of Larix (3 species), Picea (7 species), 
Tsuga (4 species), Pseudotsuga (2 species) and 
Abies (10 species). We shall look with great 
interest for the appearance of the supplementary 
volume. 


COMMENDABLE FREE-SEED DISTRIBUTION. 


AT last the United States Department of 
Agriculture has made a free distribution of 
seeds, which must commend itself to every sci- 
entific botanist or horticulturist in the country. 
We refer to the distribution to colleges of the 
sets of ‘ Economic Seeds,’ prepared in the Seed 
Laboratory of the Division of Botany, by the 
lamented Gilbert H. Hicks, under the direction 
of Frederick V. Coville. The set as issued 
cousists of five centuries, each enclosed in a 
shallow tray-like box, which is divided into 
rectangular spaces, each large enough to con- 
tain the seed-tubes. Each tube is numbered 
and labeled, and on the lid of the tray is an al- 
phabetical list of all the species arranged under 
their appropriate families. It is a pleasure to 
note, moreover, that the most scrupulous care 
has been taken to secure accuracy in the no- 
menclature, which is of the strictly modern 
school, including double citation of authors and 
the uniform decapitalization of specific names. 
This distribution is a worthy and commendable 
labor of the National Department of Agricul- 
ture, and it reflects great credit upon the officers 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899. ] 


who are responsible for its inception and suc- 
cessful execution. 


THE STUDY OF IOWA SEDGES. 


In a recent bulletin of the Laboratories of 
Natural History of the State University of 
Towa, Mr. R. I. Cratty contributes a valuable 
paper upon the sedges of Iowa. 

The list includes the results of about thirty 
years of work by Iowa botanists, and brings to- 
gether data relating to ten genera and one hun- 
dred and fourteen species. With regard to the 
nature of the sedge flora of Iowa, the author 
says that it is ‘‘ characteristically Eastern and 
corresponds quite closely with that of the bor- 
dering States, and, though lying just east of the 
Great Plains, but one species, Carex stenophylla 
Wahl., has yet been found which does not occur 
east of the Mississippi River. The richest por- 
tion of the State in sedges is that bordering on 
this great waterway. This may be accounted 
for partly because of the greater diversity of 
soil, surface, woodland and prairie in that 
‘region, and partly because the natural agencies 
for the distribution of seeds and the greater 
rainfall combine to favor that portion of the 
State.’’ 


NORTH AMERICAN SEAWEEDS, 


Wir the distribution of the eleventh fascicle 
of Phytotheca Boreali-Americana by Messrs. Col- 
lins, Holden and Setchell there comes the an- 
nouncement of a new series, to consist of larger 
specimens, including such plants as Nereocystis, 
Laminaria, Fucus, Agarum, Dictyoneuron, etc. 
The fascicles of this series will be designated by 
letters, A, B, C, etc., and the specimens num- 
bered with Roman numerals, I., II., III., etc., 
so as to avoid confusion with the other series. 
Moreover, the fascicles of the new series will 
contain twenty-five numbers each, instead of 
fifty, as in the old series. There will thus be 
two series running side by side, and the an- 
nouncement is made that either one may be 
subscribed for separately or both may be taken 
simultaneously. 


ARTHUR AND HOLWAY’S RUSTS. 
Four years ago Dr. J. C. Arthur and Mr. E. 
W. D. Holway issued fascicle I of a distribution 
of specimens and figures of the Rusts under the 


SCIENCE. 


227 
title ‘Uredineze Exsiccateze et Icones.’ A few 
days ago the second fascicle was received, and 
it is so noteworthy as to call for a word here. 
It contains fifty-two packets of specimens, each 
accompanied by enlarged drawings of the 
spores, and in addition thirteen photomicro- 
graphs taken directly from prepared slides. 
When we remember that this fascicle is sent to 
subscribers for three dollars we may realize 
that it is entirely a labor of love. Its value to 
students of the Rusts is incalculable. 
CHARLES E, BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 


COURSES AT THE ECOLE D’ ANTHROPOLOGIE. 


TuHE following courses, public and gratuitous, 
are given this winter at the School of Anthro- 
pology, Paris: (1) Prehistoric anthropology : 
its general principles and methods (Professor 
Capitan). (2) Zoological anthropology: Origin 
of man (Professor Mahoudeau). (3) Ethno- 
graphy and Linguistics: French language and 
culture in the 12th and 13th centuries (Profes- 
sor Lefévre). (4) Ethnology: The Basques 
and Aquitanians (Professor Hervé). (5) Bio- 
logical Anthropology: The struggle for life 
(Professor Laborde). (6) Anthropological Geo- 
graphy : America (Professor Schrader). — (7) 
Physiological Anthropology: The sexes (Pro- 
fessor Manouvrier). (8) Sociology : China (Pro- 
fessor Letourneau). An extra course on North 
Africa will be given by Professor Zaborowski. 
There are two lectures a day on five days of 
the week. 


THE MEANING OF ‘ RACE.’ 


THAT much abused word, ‘race,’ has been 
the stumbling-block of many writers. Anthro- 
pologists try to make it a zoological term, con- 
noting certain identical physical features. How 
far this is from general acceptance is illustrated 
in the presidential address of Mr. Alfred Nutt 
before the Folk-lore Society. He says: ‘‘ Out- 
side the record of history, of literature, of art, 
of systematized thought, the word ‘ race ’.is, for 
me, void of meaning. When I speak of ‘race’ 
I have in mind a community which for a definite 
number of centuries has manifested itself in 
clearly defined products of the mind—has set 


228 


upon the universal human material of specula- 
tion and fancy its special stamp and impress. 
Such a manifestation is by no means necessarily 
conditioned by blood-kinship.”’ 

It is to be regretted that such a divergence of 
opinion as to the proper signification of this 
word exists in two branches of the same science. 
Does it not show the necessity of an improved 
terminology ? 


THE EXTINCTION OF THE POLYNESIAN. 


A HUNDRED years ago the Hawaiian Islands 
were said to have had 400,000 native popula- 
tion ; now 30,000 is a high estimate. The same 
fearful diminution has been going on through 
Polynesia. Dr. Tautain has recently studied its 
causes in the Marquesas Islands L’ Anthropolo- 
gie, 1898, No. 4). The principal are the follow- 
ing: (1) Leprosy, which leads to impotence 
and sterility ; (2) tuberculosis, which is emi- 
nently contagious and destructive ; (3) syphilis, 
which is less marked than might be supposed ; 
(4) licentiousness, the consequences of which 
are very visible in developing metritis and ster- 
ility or abortion. This last is the most injuri- 
ous of all the causes, and Dr. Tautain places it 
as the principal factor in leading to diminished 
natality. The total absence of sexual morality 
operates in many directions to undermine the 


viability of the race. 
D. G. BRINTON. 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


MEETING OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE MARINE 
BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 

AT a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees 
of the Marine Biological Laboratory, held at 
Columbia University, the report of the Treas- 
urer showed that the funds of the institution 
were in a satisfactory condition. Professor S. 
F. Clarke, of Williams College, very generously 
contributed $400 to defray the expenses of cer- 
tain necessary alterations and repairs in and 
about the laboratory buildings, and a rising 
vote of thanks was given, as an expression of 
the gratitude of the Board for the very accept- 
able gift. 

The following minute relative to the death 
of Professor Peck, the Assistant Director, was 
unanimously adopted : 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 215. 


“The Trustees of the Marine Biological Laboratory 
have heard with profound sorrow of the death of their 
colleague, Professor James I. Peck, of Williams Col- 
lege. They wish to record their appreciation of the 
invaluable service which he rendered to the Marine 
Biological Laboratory, and especially to express their 
high regard for the generous and unfailing way in 
which as Assistant Director he devoted himself to the 
maintenance and development of the Laboratory. 
They feel the deepest sympathy with Williams Col- 
lege and with his family in the loss which both have 
sustained.’’ 

By special vote the Board expressed itself as 
favorable to the establishment of more intimate 
relations between the Laboratory and the Zoo- 
logical Bulletin. Circulars explaining these 
relations, and announcements for the forthcom- 
ing season, will be issued to members of the 
Corporation, and to others interested, at an 
early date. 

The election of an Assistant Director was re- 
ferred to a committee with power, and since 
the meeting Dr. Ulric Dahlgren, of Princeton 
University, for three years one of the instruc- 
tors at Woods Holl in the department of in- 
vertebrate zoology, has been appointed to the 
position. H. C. Bumpvus, 

Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

PRESIDENT J. G. SCHURMAN and Professor 
Dean C. Worcester arrived at Vancouver on Jan- 
uary 30th, and immediately embarked on the 
steamship ‘Empress of Japan’ on their way to 
the Philippines. 

Proressor D. T. MAcDouGAL, of the Uni- 
versity of Minnesota, has been appointed to be 
director of the laboratories of the New York 
York Botanical Garden. He will enter upon 
the duties of the new position next July, by 
which time it is believed the new museum 
building will be ready for occupancy. The 
laboratory system occupies the greater por- 
tion of the upper floor, connecting with the 
library rooms and the herbarium. 

PROFESSOR G. H. DARWIN has been elected 
President of the Royal Astronomical Society, 
London. 

PROFESSOR MENDELEJEV, of St. Petersburg, 
has been elected a correspondent in the Section 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899.] 


of Chemistry of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in 
the room of the late Professor Kékulé. Professor 
Mendelejev received twenty-eight votes; Pro- 
fessor Fischer, of Berlin, twenty-two, and Sir 
William Crookes, five. 


Ir is expected that either M. Risler, Direc- 
tor of the Agricultural School, or M. Roux, 
Sub-director of the Pasteur Institute, will be 
elected to the chair in the Section of Agricul- 
ture of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in the 
room of the late M. Aimé Girard. 


WE learn from Nature that Mr. J. G. Baker, 
F. R. §., has retired from the post of curator of 
the herbarium at Kew, in which he is succeeded 
by Mr. W. Botting Hemsley, F. R. 8. 


THE Swiney prize has been awarded for the 
present year to Dr. I. Dixon Mann for his book 
on forensic medicine and toxicology. The prize, 
which is awarded every fifth year by the So- 
ciety of Arts and the Royal College of Physi- 
cians, is of the value of £200. 


THE Geological Society, London, will this 
year make its awards as follows: The Wollas- 
ton Medal to Professor Charles Lapworth ; the 
Murchison Medal to Mr. B. N. Peach, and a 
second Murchison Medal to Mr. John Horne ; 
the Lyell Medal to Lieut.-General C. A. Mc- 
Mahon; the Bigsby Medal to Professor T. W. 
Edgeworth David; the Wollaston Fund to 
Professor J. B. Harrison ; the Murchison Fund 
to Mr. James Bennie ; the Lyell Fund is divided 
between Mr. Frederick Chapman and Mr. John 
Ward. 


THE annual meeting of the New York Acad- 
emy of Sciences will be held on February 27th. 
The President, Professor H. F. Osborn, will 
make the annual address, the subject being ‘The 
Succession of Mammalian Fauna in America 
compared with that in Europe during the Ter- 
tiary Period.’ 

Mr. Ropert L. JAcK, Government Geologist 
of Queensland, has been appointed to supervise 
the collection of exhibits sent by Queensland 
to the forthcoming Greater Britain Exhibition in 
London. Mr. Jack expects to reach England 
this month. 


Mr. S. A. KwaApp, a special agent of the 
Department of Agriculture, has arrived at San 


SCIENCE. 


229 


Francisco, returning from an expedition to 
Asia, where he has secured seeds of agricultural 
products that might with advantage be culti- 
vated in the United States. 


THE St. Petersburg Academy of Medicine has 
elected as honorary members from Great Britain 
Sir Willian. MacCormac, Sir William Tur- 
ner, Lord Rayleigh, Sir William Stokes, Dr. 
MacEwen, Dr. Thompson and Dr. Lauder 
Brunton, and from Germany Professors Walde- 
yer, of Berlin; Streda, of Kénigsberg; Kuhne, 
of Heidelberg, and Schwalba, of Strasburg. 

THE death is announced at the age of 53 of 
Dr. Joseph Coats, since 1894 professor of pa- 
thology at the University of Glasgow. He was 
the author of a well-known manual of pathol- 
ogy and of a work on tuberculosis as well as 
of numerous minor contributions. The death 
is also announced of Sir Alfred Roberts, one of 
the most eminent members of the medical pro- 
fession in Australia. 


WE also learn with regret of the deaths of 
Dr. Gottlieb Gluge, emeritus professor of phys- 
iology and anatomy in the University of Brus- 
sels, at the age of 86 years, and of Dr. Constan- 
tine Vousakis, professor of physiology in the 
University of Athens. 


News has reached Paris of the death of M. 
Potter, killed while making geographical ex- 
plorations in Central Africa. 


THE will of the late M. Louis Pierson, of 
Mircourt, gives 100,000 fr. to the Paris Acad- 
emy of Sciences for a biennial prize to be 
award to the Frenchman who has made the 
most important discovery in physical science. 


By the will of the late C. T. Mitchell, of 
Hillsdale, Mich., that city receives his resi- 
dence and an endowment of $10,000 for a 
public library. 

THe Physical Society of Berlin, established 
in 1845, decided at its meeting of January 5th 
that it would hereafter be known as The Ger- 
man Physical Society. The object of the 
Society is to advance physical science by the 
following means: (1) The publication of pro- 
ceedings especially for the prompt issue of 
short communications. (2) The publication of 
a year-book on the progress of physics. (3) 
Cooperation in the publication of De Annalen 


230 


der Physik und Chemie. (4) Participation in the 
meetings of the Section of Physics, of the Ger- 
man Society of Men of Science and Physicians. 
(5) Regular meetings in Berlin, and (6) A jour- 
nal club. 

THE Biological Laboratory of the Brooklyn 
Institute of Arts and Sciences, situated at Cold 
Spring, L. I., will open its tenth session on July 
5th. The regular class work will last for six 
weeks, but special work may be begun earlier 
and continued afterwards. Dr. Charles B. Dav- 
enport, of Harvard University, is director of the 
laboratory, and the staff of instructors includes 
Dr. D. 8. Johnson, of Johns Hopkins University; 
Professor C. P. Sigerfoos, University of Minne- 
sota; Professor Henry 8. Pratt, Haverford Col- 
lege; W. H.C. Pynchon, Trinity College; Nel- 
son F, Davis, Bucknell University ; Mrs. Ger- 
trude Crotty, Davenport; Stephen R. Williams, 
Harvard University, and Professor Frederick 
O. Grover, Oberlin College. 

AT a meeting of the Royal Dublin Society on 
January 20th Sir Howard Grubb, F. R. §., Vice- 
President of the Society, described a plan by 
which the Marconi system of wireless telegra- 
phy could be used for controlling public and 
other clocks. 

THE Prince of Monaco reported to the Paris 
Academy on January 23d on the scientific re- 
sults of the first expedition of his yacht, the 
Princess Alice II. He left Havre at the end of 
July and returned in the middle of September, 
going as far north as Spitzbergen. The fauna 
both of the sea and the fresh water was care- 
fully studied. Professor Brandt, of Kiel, ac- 
companied the expedition. 


THE following lectures are being given under 
the auspices of Columbia University at the 
American Museum of Natural History, New 
York, on Saturday evenings: February 4th, 
‘The Transmission of Light in Crystals,’ Pro- 
fessor Alfred J. Moses; February 11th, ‘Char- 
acters of Minerals in Rock Sections,’ Dr. Lea 
MclI. Luquer; February 18th, ‘Methods Em- 
ployed in Investigation of Minerals,’ Professor 
S. L. Penfield; February 25th, ‘Testing Min- 
erals,’ Professor A. J. Moses. 

THE British Treasury have approved the use 
of the electric light in the Natural History 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


Museum, South Kensington. It will be first 
introduced into the offices and workshops and 
later into the public galleries. 

AT a recent meeting of the Council of the 
Royal College of Surgeons, England, it was re- 
ported that fifteen investigators are at present 
carrying on original research in the laboratories 
of the two Royal Colleges. 

OFFICIALS of the Treasury Department, cus- 
toms division, have decided that books are the 


only articles subject to duty which can be 


legally imported into the United States in the 
mails. All other dutiable mail matter must be 
seized. This decision may cause some incon- 
venience to scientific men. 


THE Publishers’ Circular records 6,008 new 
books published in Great Britain in 1898, 236 
less thanin 1897. Under the class called vaguely 
arts, sciences and illustrated works, 263 books 
were published, a decrease of 25 as compared 
with the preceding year. For the United 
States in the year named the total number of 
new books published amounted to 4,886, a total 
smaller than that of any year since 1894. On 
the other hand, there was an increase over 1897 
of about 1,000 books in France, the number for 
1898 being 14,781. As the books published in 
Great Britain and the United States are mostly 
the same it appears that France with not half 
the population of the Anglo-Saxon races pub- 
lishes twice as many books, 


THE annual meeting of the New England 
Anti-vivisection Society is thus reported, in 
part, in the Boston Transcript: ‘‘ Back into the 
room again swarmed the rest of the gentlemen, 
and soon another wrangle was going on in which 
old gentlemen in silk hats talked loudly and vig- 
orously to oneanother. Threats were beginning 
to be made—threats of violence. Secretary 
Brazier finally secured a hearing: ‘As cus- 
todian of all the property in this room, I ask 
every one present to leave,’ said he, and sim- 
ultaneously several women arose and started to 
leave the room. But Mr. Greene again had the 
floor. ‘Don’t go, ladies; he has no right to 
order your departure.’ * * * Several per- 
sonal altercations followed, one of which 
seemed about to culminate in violence, when 
the meeting broke up in confusion.’’ 


FEBRUARY 10, 1899. ] 


THE Jamaica correspondent of the London 
Times writes that a conference at Barbados, 
under the auspices of the new Imperial Depart- 
ment of Agriculture in the West Indies was 
called for January 7th and 9th. The chief chem- 
ical and botanical officers in the West Indies 
have been invited to take part in it. These in- 
clude the officers in Jamaica, British Guinea, 
Trinidad and Antigua as well as Barbados. 
The object is to devise means for the prosecu- 
tion of a policy of cooperative effort in the eco- 
nomic interests of the various colonies. Dr. 
Morris, the Commissioner of Agriculture, wisely 
holds that the teaching of scientific agriculture 
is a subject that requires very careful consider- 
ation, and has, therefore, extended the invita- 
tion to some of the principals of high schools 
and colleges. The delegates from Jamaica 
are: Mr. W. Fawcett, B.Sc., F.L.S., Direc- 
tor of Public Gardens and Plantations; Mr. F. 
Watts, Government Analyst, and the Rev. 
W. Simms, M.A., Principal of University Col- 
lege. Among the subjects to be discussed are 
the cultural and chemical experiments to be 
undertaken to improve the saccharine con- 
tents of the sugar cane; the scientific teach- 
ing of agriculture in colleges and schools; a 
more skilful treatment of the soil and use of 
manure ; and concerted action to prevent the 
rapid spread of fungoid and insect pests. There 
is no doubt that definite conclusions will be ar- 
rived at on these important points and common 
action determined on which may prove of the 
greatest possible service in developing the re- 
sources of the West Indies. Although the Im- 
perial Department of Agriculture has been estab- 
lished with the specific aim of assisting the Wind- 
wardand Leeward colonies and to enable experi- 
ments in cane cultivation to be carried on in 
continuation of former efforts in British Guiana, 
Barbados and Antigua, the fact that Jamaica 
has been invited to send representatives to the 
conference has been taken here as a justifica- 
tion for assuming that this colony may also 
come within the scope of its operations. It 
is thought that the Imperial Government 
should establish at least an experimental sta- 
tion in this island, seeing that the taxpayers 
already pay so much for the maintenance ofa se- 
ries of botanical gardens, a chemical department 


SCIENCE. 


231 


and an agricultural society. Despite the ex- 
istence of these organizations, practically noth- 
ing is known yet regarding the varied character 
and possibilities of the soil. 

Mr. ALBERT B, LLoyp, a young English- 
man, who has just returned after traversing 
Stanley’s great pigmy forest. He is reported 
by Reuter’s Agency to have said: ‘‘I was 20 
days walking through its gloomy shades. I 
saw a great many of the little pigmies, but gen- 
erally speaking, they kept out of the way as 
much as possible. At one little place in the 
middle of the forest, called Holenga, I stayed 
at a village of a few huts occupied by so-called 
Arabs. There I came upon a great number of 
pygmies who came to see me. They told me 
that, unknown to myself, they had been watch- 
ing me for five days, peering through the 
growth of the primeval forest at our caravan. 
They appeared to be very much frightened, and 
even when speaking covered their faces. I 
slept at this village, and in the morning I asked 
the chief to allow me to photograph the dwarfs. 
He brought ten or fifteen of them together, and 
Iwas enabled to secure a snapshot. I could 
not give a time exposure, as the pygmies would 
not stand still. Then, with great difficulty, I 
tried to measure them, and I found not one of 
them over four feet in height. All were fully 
developed. The women were somewhat 
slighter than the men, but were equally well 
formed. I was amazed at their sturdiness. 
Their arms and chest were splendidly de- 
veloped, as much so as in a good speci- 
men of an Englishman. These men have 
long beards halfway down the chest, which 
imparts to them a strange appearance. They 
are very timid and cannot look a stranger 
in the face. Their eyes are constantly shifting 
as in the case of monkeys. They are fairly in- 
telligent. I had a long talk with the chief, and 
he conversed intelligently about the extent of 
the forest and the number of his tribe. I asked 
him several times about the Belgians, but to 
these questions he made no reply. Except for 
a tiny strip of bark cloth, men and women are 
quite nude. They are armed with bows and 
arrows—the latter tipped with deadly poison— 
and carry small spears. They are entirely no- 
madic, sheltering at night in small huts, 2ft.-to 


232 


3 ft. in height. They never go outside the 
forest. During the whole time I was with them 
they were perfectly friendly.”’ 

Tue British Medical Journal reports that all 
observations up to the present time tend to 
show that the presence of tubercle bacilli in 
butter is a rare event. Rabinowitsch, whose 
previous work on this subject was published in 
1897, has lately conducted some further experi- 
ments in Berlin with the object of testing pre- 
vious investigations. Fourteen butter manu- 
factories were examined, and 15 experiments 
made. The produce of one factory was thus 
examined twice, and tubercle bacilli were found 
on both occasions in the butter. The remain- 
ing 13 showed no trace of true living tubercle 
bacilli, but in many instances pseudo-tuber- 
culous bacilli were found. Inoculation experi- 
ments were made in allcases. During June and 
July the daily produce coming from the infected 
factory wasexamined. The result showed that 
70 per cent. of the butter contained living 
tubercle bacilli. Professor Koch thought this 
result so remarkable that he requested Rabino- 
witsch to inspect another factory. In this sec- 
ond experiment no tubercle bacilli were found, 
but in some instances pseudo-tubercle bacilli had 
to be carefully differentiated from the true 
bacilli. Animals when injected with this 
pseudo-tuberculous material died of peritonitis. 
The ‘isolation’ of this butter factory in Berlin, 
which is a source of danger to the community, 
is certainly a triumph for the scientific method 
of food examination. The questiun whether 
the pseudo-tuberculous material so often present 
in butter is harmful to human beings will be a 
matter for future investigation. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE sum of $50,000 is given to the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology by the will of the 
late Edward B. Hosmer, of Boston. 

By the will of Mr. David Aicheson £10,000 
is left to the University of Melbourne for the 
foundation of scholarships. 

THE convocation of the University of the 
State of New York will be held on June 26th to 
28th. President Harper, of the University of 
Chicago, will deliver the annual address, his 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 215. 


subject being ‘Waste in Education.’ Superin- 
tendent Horace S. Tarbell will present a paper 
on the schools of that city, describing their 
methods of dealing with especially bright and 
especially backward students. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY will spend $175,000 
in the erection of a new building for the de- 
partment of engineering of the Lawrence Scien- 
tific School. The building will be situated on 
Holmes Field. 


THE number of students matriculated at the 
University of Edinburgh during the past year 
was 2,813, of whom 211 are women. The en- 
rollment in the different Faculties is as fol- 
lows: Arts, 817; science, 147; divinity, 63; 
law, 373; medicine, 1,387; music, 26. 

AT a recent meeting of convocation of the 
University of London the following resolution 
was carried: That the value of the B.A. de- 
gree has been distinctly lowered by the recent 
changes in the final examination, which enable 
a candidate to obtain the degree without taking 
any of those subjects (e. g., mathematics and 
mental and moral science) which involve a 
discipline in the more abstract kind of thought. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY some time since estab- 
lished a class somewhat similar to the docents 
of the German University, though the lecture- 
ships are limited to a period not exceeding four 
months, and the University does not even collect 
such fees as may be charged. ‘The first lectures 
under this system are now announced. They 
are a course on the geology and geography 
of the oceans by Dr. R. A. Daly and a course on 
history of the philosophical tendencies of the 
19th century by Dr. W. P. Montague. 

THE resignation of Dr. D. T. MacDougal, to 
accept a position in the New York Botanical 
Garden, leaves a vacancy in the assistant pro- 
fessorship of botany at the University of Min- 
nesota. It will probably be filled at the April 
meeting of the Board of Regents. 

Dr. J. TAFEL has been promoted to an 
assistant professorship of chemistry in the Uni- 
versity at Wirzberg, and Dr. E. O. Schmidt, 
of Leipzig, has been made professor of chem- 
istry in the medical school at Cairo. Dr. Otto 
Nasse, professor of pharmacology in the Univer- 
sity at Rostock, has retired. 


SCIENC 


EDITORIAL ComMiItrEE: §. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. 8S. WoopDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. Le Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. Brirron, 
Botany; HENRY F. OsBorN, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

f H. P. Bowpitcu, Physiology; J. S. Brntinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 
Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Fresruary 17, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


The Economic Status of Insects as a Class: L. O. 
HOWARD rccate veceacsvcctenosacsassceseetenoasacce stress 233 


Anti-friction Alloys: R.-EL. T.......0..ccccesccsenseseee 247 
Annual Meeting of the American Psychological As- 
sociation: DR. LIVINGSTON FARRAND...........- 249 
Scientific Books :— 
The New Maryland Geological Survey: BAILEY 


WIiLLIs. La vie sur les hauts plateaux: PRoO- 

FESSOR GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED. Books Re- 

(GIST LD ShanogadaneneenSbodouSde Tacos prec CuHOCaScrED EB Sesded 252 
Scientifie Journals and Articles ......s0.cceeeeeeeeeeeceee 257 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Biological Society of Washington: Dr. O. 
F. Cook. The New York Section of the Amer- 
ican Chemical Society: DR. DURAND Woop- 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Reply to Critics: MAJoR J. W. POWELL. Ar- 
tificial Dreams: DR. HIRAM M. STANLEY. 
Trowbridge’s Theory of the Earth’s Magnetism : 
PROFESSOR L. A. BAUER, PROFESSOR JOHN 


PPROW BRIDGE ers scsnsec semen veledesticnoneeoesteeeae eee 259 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H............00 266 
PZOOLOGUCAL MN OLESsaseas Jaenasi-ensacisceidten scence eee eee 266 


Current Notes on Anthropology:— 
Ethnography of Liberia; The Significance of 


Skull-masks ; The Svastica in America: PRo- 
FESSOR D: G. BRINTON. .0.0....0:-c0-+ocecnseceesesre 267 
Setentific Notes and News....00:..c0rcscsssorcccaseescenaree 267 


University and Educational News.........cscecsecseseees 271 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell."Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF INSECTS AS A 
CLASS.* 

Tue popular conception of insects in gen- 
eral is undoubtedly that they are injurious. 
Many writers, it is true, have pointed out 
the benefits derived from insects, but we 
think of their damage to crops and of their 
annoyance to man and animals, and this as- 
pect of the subject is at once apt to prepon- 
derate in our minds. It is more than 80 
years since Kirby and Spence contrasted 
the injuries caused by insects with the bene- 
fits derived from them, and it has not been 
comprehensively done since. In the mean- 
time, whole groups of important injuries 
have been developed and whole classes of 
beneficial work have been discovered. 
Moreover, the tendency of modern thought 
has not taken this direction. The biologic, 
taxonomic and phylogenetic, and other as- 
pects of large groups of forms of life have 
been considered to the exclusion of the eco- 
nomic aspect, and even where this side has 
attracted attention investigators have con- 
fined themselves to specific problems and 
have not generalized. It may be interest- 
ing, therefore, once more to contrast the in- 
jurious insects with the beneficial ones in an 
effort to gain a clearer idea of the status of 
the group in its relations with man. 

In a broad way, we may consider the sub- 
ject under the following heads: 


* Address of the retiring President of the Biological 
Society of Washington, delivered January 18, 1899. 


234 


Insects are injurious : 

1. As destroyers of crops and other val- 
uable plant life. 

2. As destroyers of stored foods, dwell- 
ings, clothes, books, etc. 

3. As injuring live stock and other useful 
animals. 

4, As annoying man. 

5. As carriers of disease. 

Insects are beneficial : 

1. As destroyers of injurious insects. 

2. As destroyers of noxious plants. 

3. As pollenizers of plants. 

4, As scavengers. 

5. As makers of soil. 

6. As food (both for man and for poultry, 
song birds and food fishes) and as clothing, 
and as used in the arts. 


DESTROYERS OF CROPS AND OTHER 
PLANTS. 


USEFUL 


“In the present balance of nature one of 
the chief functions of insect life is to keep 
down superabundant vegetation. Almost 
every kind of plant has its insect enemies, 
and has had such enemies for many thous- 
ands of years. So soon as man began to 
make an effort to upset nature’s balance by 
cultivating certain plants at the expense of 
others he encountered nature’s opposition 
by means of the increase of insect enemies 
of the particular plant cultivated, and al- 
most as early as there is any record of agri- 
culture in literature there is also mention 
of the destruction to crops caused by insects. 
Witness the writings of the prophet Joel, 
who might almost be termed an agricul- 
tural pessimist. 

At the present time almost every culti- 
vated crop has not only its thousands upon 
thousands of individual insect enemies, but 
it is affected by scores and even hundreds of 
species. A mere tabulation of the insect 
enemies of the apple already recognized in 
this country shows 281 species, of clover 82 
species, and of so new a crop as the sugar 


SCTEN OE. 


~ beet 70 species. 


[N.S. Vou. TX. No. 216. 


The insects of the vine, of 
the orange, of the wheat crop, and, in fact, 
of all of our prominent staples, show equally 
startling figures. 

The actual damage which is done by in- 
sects in this way is difficult to express. 
Many attempts have been made by writers 
on economic entomology to express it in 
money values. For example, it was esti- 
mated by the late Professor Riley that the 
average annual damage to cultivated crops 
by injurious insects in the United States 
amounted to three hundred millions of dol- 
lars. The loss from the ravages of one 
species alone, the chinch bug, during one 
year was estimated at sixty millions of 
dollars. While it is true that the combined 
losses of individual growers might reach 
such enormous sums as these, there is an 
element in the total loss which we must 
not fail to take into consideration, and that 
is the enhanced value of the portion of the 
crop which remains. Even in the case of 
an individual a man may lose, for example, 
half of his crop through the work of the 
chinch bug, and yet, through widespread 
damage by this insect, the money value of 
the portion harvested may reach an amount 
almost as great as would have been gained 
through the low prices of a successful year 
of no insect damage, As this applies to an 
individual, it applies much more strongly 
to a State or to the country at large, so that 
even in the year when the grain crop of 
the country was said to have been damaged 
to the extent of sixty millions of dollars 
it is safe to say that the total price gained 
for the crop was as great as it would other- 
wise have been. These estimates of dam- 
age, therefore, would much better be ex- 
pressed in terms of bushels, or some other 
measure, than in money value. 

It is this aspect of our subject, the dam- 
age done by injurious insects to agriculture, 
that has given rise to the comparatively 
new branch of applied science which we 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


now know as economic entomology, and 
which, although originating in Europe, has 
been encouraged to such an extent in our 
own country, owing partly to our greater 
necessities and partly to our practical turn 
of mind, that it is safe to say that at present 
America leads the rest of the world in this 
direction. 

It is undoubtedly true that this enormous 
injury to crops is the chief item in a general 
consideration of the injuries brought about 
by insects. 


AS DESTROYERS OF STORED FOODS, DWELLINGS, 
CLOTHES, BOOKS, ETC. 

It is safe to say that there is hardly any 
product of man’s ingenuity, hardly one of 
the thousands of useful materials upon 
which depend his comfort and happiness, 
which is not damaged, directly or indirectly, 
by insects. The timbers of which his 
dwellings are built, nearly all of his house- 
hold utensils, his garments, practically 
everything which he uses as food, many of 
the liquids used as drink, his books, the 
ornaments with which he surrounds himself, 
the medicines which he takes when sick, 
the very tobacco with which he solaces him- 
self—all are destroyed or injuriously af- 
fected by insects. There is, perhaps, one 
group of exceptions, and that is those articles 
which are composed wholly of metal, and 
yet even here insects may occasionally play 
an injurious part, since instances are on 
record of the destruction of lead pipes by 
insect larvee, and the perforation of the 
metal linings of water tanks by small 
beetles. 

Such injuries to human products are more 
frequent and serious in tropical regions than 
in temperate zones, but even here insects 
of this nature cause very serious inconven- 
ience and great annual loss. It will answer 
our purpose, perhaps, to list some of the 
varying substances which are damaged in 
this way, to get an idea of their almost uni- 


SCIENCE. 


235 


versal character: Ham, cheese, salted 
fish, butter, lard, dried mushrooms, rye 
bread, sweetmeats and preserves, powdered 
coffee, almonds and other nuts, raisins, 
breakfast foods, chocolate, ginger, rhubarb, 
black pepper, vinegar, sugar, wines, canned 
soups, tobacco, snuff, licorice, peppermint, 
aromatic cardamon, aniseed, aconite, bella- 
donna, musk, opium, ginseng, chamomile, 
boneset, hides, shoes, gloves and other 
leather articles, furniture, carpets, drawings 
and paintings, paint brushes, gun wads, 
combs, ete., made of horn; hay, oats, straw, 
willow baskets, ax handles, ladders, wheel 
spokes and all sorts of agriculural imple- 
ments with wooden handles, barrels, wine 
casks, corks of wine bottles, sheets of cork, 
natural history collections, including skele- 
tons and mummies, and even Persian insect 
powder! The mention of this well-known 
insecticide reminds one of the latest discov- 
ery, which is that certain flies in California 
breed in the crude petroleum pools in the 
vicinity of oil wells, a fact which is almost 
paradoxical in view of the extensive use of 
petroleum as an insecticide. 


AS INJURIOUS TO LIVE STOCK AND OTHER 
USEFUL ANIMALS. 

Every species of animal which has be- 
come domesticated and is of value to man 
possesses its insect parasites and enemies. 
These in many cases are the same species 


’ which affect man and which we will men- 


tion in the next section ; others are specific 
to the animals or groups of animals which 
they affect. Horses, cattle, sheep, all 
possess insect enemies which are not only 
very deleterious to their health, but fre- 
quently cause their death in numbers. 

The disgusting bot fly of the horse, whose 
maggots live in incredible numbers in the 
stomach and intestines of this noble friend 
of the human race; the bot fly of the ox, 
which causes innumerable sores on the 
backs of cattle and by its perforations ruins 


236 


their hides for commercial use; the bot fly 
of the sheep, which inhabits the nasal and 
orbital sinuses of the sheep and produces 
insanity and death—will instantly be re- 
called by those who are familiar with stock 
raising, while hundreds of other species, 
some in no less degree, as the horn fly, the 
numerous gad flies, including the Tsetse fly 
of Africa, the screw worm fly of our South- 
western country, unite to make the lives of 
domestic animals a burden to themselves 
and a trial and a loss to their owners. 

An interesting attempt was made some 
years ago by a prominent Western agri- 
cultural newspaper, The Farmers’ Review, to 
estimate approximately the pecuniary loss 
from the attacks of a single one of these 
insects—the ox bot fly, or ox warble—on 
the cattle received at the Union Stock 
Yards, of Chicago. It was estimated that 
50 per cent. of the cattle received each year 
are affected. The number of cattle received 
at the yards during six months of the year 
1889 was 1,335,026; the average value of 
the hide was $3.90 ; the usual deduction for 
hides damaged by the ox warble was one- 
third. Estimating at less than one-third, say 
$1.00, the actual loss during six months on 
hides alone was $667,513. When to this 
was added the loss for depreciation in value 
and lessened quantity of beef, the loss for 
each infested animal was put at $5.00,a 
very low estimate, indicating the total loss 
from the animals in the Union Stock Yards, 
of Chicago, for a period of six months of 
$3,336,565. 


AS ANNOYING MAN. 

There are very few regions of the habit- 
able globe where man is not personally 
subject to more or less annoyance by in- 
sects. In this part of the world we natu- 
rally think at once of mosquitoes, house flies, 
fleas, and of a certain other species which 
it will not be necessary to name. 

A susceptible individual some years ago 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


wrote to the Department of Agriculture 
and said that he had come over from the _ 
old country and settled in New Jersey, but 
that the mosquitoes bothered him so greatly 
that on the advice of friends he moved to 
northern New York. Here he found that 
during a certain portion of the year black 
flies made life unendurable; thereupon he 
packed his household effects and moved to 
North Carolina. Here, however, in the 
summer months red bugs, or jiggers, both- 
ered him to such an extent that he feared 
he would go crazy, and in this desperate 
condition he applied to this office to learn 
whether there existed in the United States 
a locality where a sensitive individual could 
find peace from attacks of insects. He said 
that he had been told that in the Western 
country the buffalo gnat was greatly to be 
feared, while certain other biting flies would 
be sure to keep him in a constant state of 
dermal irritation; that further south he 
knew that peaceful nights were to be gained 
in the summer time only under the protec- 
tion of mosquito bars. He had thought of 
the newly developing country of Alaska, but 
had recently seen an account in the news- 
paper of the ferocity of the Alaskan mos- 


- quitoes, which had practically destroyed his 


last hope. 

Accustomed as most of us are to the mos- 
quitoes of temperate North America, we 
hardly realize the impression which they 
made upon the early English travellers. A 
story told by Kirby and Spence, to the 
effect that Mr. Weld in his travels relates 
from General Washington that in one place 
the mosquitoes were so powerful as to pierce 
through his boots, has always excited my 
interest and curiosity, and I recently took 
the trouble to consult the original publica- 
tion, which is ‘Isaac Weld’s Travels through 
North America, 1795-1797,’ London, 1799. 
In speaking of Skenesborough, in northern 
New York, Mr. Weld dilates upon the 
number and ferocity of the mosquitoes, and 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


makes use of the following words: ‘ Gen- 
eral Washington told me that he never was 
so much annoyed by mosquitoes in any 
part of America as in Skenesborough, for 
that they used to bite through the thickest 
boot.”” Now, knowing that the boots of 
those days were very thick and that the 
mosquitoes of that time must have been 
structurally identical with those of to-day, 
there arises instantly a question of veracity 
between Mr. Weld and General Washing- 
ton; and as we know from Dr. Weems’ 
veracious history that General Washington 
was 80 constituted that he could not tell a 
lie, it looks very much as though Mr. Weld, 
like many another English traveller who 
has written a book on his return home, has 
been inclined to overstate the truth. 

In these days of comparative personal 
cleanliness some of the most disgusting of 
the insect annoyers of man have dropped out 
of sight. The lice, which in former days 
were common in all classes of society, from 
king to peasant, are now comparatively un- 
known. The itch disease, which carried off 
many a famous character in history, is 
equally rare. That it still persists, how- 
ever, is shown by an occasional case re- 
ported in medical journals. For example, 
Dr. Robert Hessler, of Indianapolis, re- 
ported in 1892 a case in his own practice 
of typical Norway itch in which the itch 
mites were present in the skin of the patient 
in enormous numbers. A rough estimate 
showed seven million eggs and two million 
mites. 

Those of us who live in a reasonably civil- 
ized way are confined, in our experience of 
annoying insects, largely to the forms men- 
_ tioned in our opening paragraph, namely, 
mosquitoes and house flies and rarely fleas ; 
but a glance through the medical literature 
reveals the existence of more or less fre- 
quent cases of such a nature that they are 
little less than horrible. Prominent among 
these are the cases of so-called Myasis, and 


SCIENCE. 


237 


especially those resulting from the attacks 
of the screw worm fly, Compsomyia macel- 
laria. 

Residents of temperate regions are fortu- 
nate as compared with those of tropical 
regions in respect to the personally annoy- 
ing insects. Our troubles from these indi- 
vidually insignificant causes are intensified 
to a degree in warmer countries, where the 
comfort of the individual absolutely depends 
upon the adoption of measures, always dif- 
ficult and frequently impracticable, to ex- 
clude insects from his person and from his 
food. This is so well known in these days 
of numerous books of travel that I will 
close this aspect of our question simply 
with a quotation from a poet of the Indies, 
written many years ago: 

‘On every dish the booming beetle falls, 

The cockroach plays, or caterpillar crawls: 

A thousand shapes of variegated hues 

Parade the table and inspect the stews: 

To living walls the swarming hundreds stick, 

Or court, a dainty meal, the oily wick ; 

Heaps over heaps their slimy bodies drench, 

Out go the lamps with suffocating stench. 

When hideous insects every plate defile, 

The laugh how empty, and how forced the smile !’’ 


AS CARRIERS OF DISEASE. 


Manson’s demonstrated transmission of 
the filaria diseases of the East (elephan- 
tiasis, chyluria and lymph scrotum) by in- 
sects ; the discovery by Salmon and Smith 
of the carriage of the germ of Texas fever 
by the well-known Southern cattle tick; 
the discovery by Koch of the fact that the 
Tsetse fly of Africa is so destructive to 
animals, not by its bite alone, but by carry- 
ing into the circulation of the animal that 
it attacks the micro-organisms of disease ; 
the demonstration by Howe and others of 
the previously suspected fact that the puru- 
lent conjunctivitis of the Egyptians is spread 
by the house fly ; the partly proven hypoth- 
esis of Manson and Grassi of the relation 
existing between mosquitoes and malaria; 
the circumstantially proven carriage of the 


238 


germs of Asiatic cholera and typhoid fever 
by flies; the demonstration claimed by 
Finlay of the carriage of a mild type of 
yellow fever by mosquitoes; the suggestion 
by Hubbard that the ‘pink eye’ of the 
South is spread by Hippelates; the well- 
recognized fact among the Europeans of the 
Fiji Islands that without a veil a serious 
native eye disease will spread through the 
medium of gnats ; the suggestion by Symond 
of the agency of fleas in the spread of 
the bubonic plague; the demonstration of 
anthrax bacilli in malignant pustules in 
human beings, caused by the bite of Taba- 
nus and Stomoxys—all indicate an impor- 
tant and very injurious function of insects 
practically unsuspected until comparatively 
recent years. It is, in fact, a rapidly in- 
creasing field of investigations, the possi- 
bilities of which cannot be accurately estab- 
lished at the present time. It is, however, 
not a field which should be left entirely to 
the medical bacteriologist ; the entomolo- 
gist should haveashare. The life histories 
and habits of the insects concerned in the 
damage should be thoroughly understood, 
since it is not impossible that otherwise the 
medical investigators may find themselves 
arriving at perhaps unwarranted conclu- 
sions. For example, it is a fact probably 
unknown to the medical men who may be 
strongly impressed by the suggested car- 
riage of typhoid germs by flies, that the 
house fly, so common in our dining rooms, 
does not breed in and rarely visits human 
excrement, while those other kinds of flies, 
which do so breed, are rarely attracted to 
articles of food used by human beings. In 
the crowded and unnatural conditions of 
army camps, however, and especially where 
cavalry regiments are stationed, so that 
there are great amounts of horse manure, 
the house fly may breed in such enormous 
numbers as to render of very likely occur- 
rence a departure from the normal food 
habits of the adult. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


Enough has been shown, however, to em- 
phasize the potentiality of this phase of 
insect injury. 


BENEFITS 


AS DESTROYERS OF INJURIOUS INSECTS. 


The economic bearings of insect enemies 
of insects are very great, and perhaps this 
is, all things considered, the most important 
of the beneficial function of insects as a 
class. 

In the eternal warfare of organism upon 
organism, in the perpetual strife of species, 
one preying upon another and that upon a 
third, the complications of relations of 
forms which determine the abundance of 
one species and the scarcity of another are 
nowhere more marked than among the in- 
sects. In fact, to the student of insects who 
has followed out even a single chain of these 
inter-relationships the thought must neces- 
sarily come that upon its organic environ- 
ment, and especially upon its relations with 
its living neighbors of the animal kingdom, 
depend the chances of a species not only for 
increase, but for survival almost to no lesser 
degree than upon its inorganic environment. 
Temperature is the great factor which con- 
trols the geographical distribution of life, 
and temperature is at the back of all these 
apparent living first causes which control 
the abundance ofa species in a given region, 
provided we trace them far enough. Yet 
these living causes, themselves affected by 
other living causes in an almost endless 
chain, sometimes, to all appearance, dwarf 
even temperature as a controlling factor. 

There is not a species of insect that has 
not its natural enemies in the guise of other 
insects; there is not one of these other in- 
sects which has not its own insect foes. 
From a single species of Bombycid moth, 
the larve of which frequently damage 
forests in Europe to an alarming extent, 
there have been reared no less than sixty 
species of hymenopterous parasites. From a 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


single caterpillar of Plusia brassice have been 
reared 2,528 individuals of a little hymen- 
opterous parasite, Copidosoma truncatellum.* 

Outbreaks of injurious insects are fre- 
quently stopped as though by magic by the 
work of insect enemies of the species. 
Hubbard found, in 1880, that a minute par- 
asite, Trichogramma pretiosa, alone and un- 
aided, almost annihilated the fifth brood of 
the cotton worm in Florida, fully ninety 
per cent. of the eggs of this prolific crop 
enemy being infested by the parasite. Not 
longer ago than 1895, in the city of Wash- 
ington, more than ninety-seven per cent. of 
the caterpillars of one of our most important 
shade-tree pests were destroyed by para- 
sitic insects, tothe complete relief of the city 
the following year. The Hessian fly, that 
destructive enemy to wheat crops in the 
United States, is practically unconsidered 
by the wheat growers of certain States, for 
the reason that whenever its numbers be- 
gin to be injuriously great its parasites in- 
crease to such a degree as to prevent ap- 
preciable damage. 

The control of a plant-feeding insect by 
its insect enemies is an extremely compli- 
cated matter, since, as we have already 
hinted, the parasites of the parasites play 
an important part. The undue multiplica- 
tion of a vegetable feeder is followed by 
the undue multiplication of parasites, and 
their increase is followed by the increase of 
hyperparasites. Following the very in- 
stance of the multiplication of the shade- 
tree caterpillar just mentioned, the writer 
was able to determine this parasitic chain 
during the next season down to quaternary 
parasitism. Beyond this point, true internal 
parasitism probably did not exist, but even 


* This observation, which for some years ‘held the 
record,’ as the expression is, was made by Mr. Per- 
gande, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Re. 
cently, however, Professor A. Giard, of Paris, has 
more than 3,000 specimens of the same parasite reared 
from a Plusia caterpillar. 


SCIENCE. 


239 


these quaternary parasites were subject to 
bacterial or fungus disease and to the at- 
tacks of predatory insects. 

The prime cause of the abundance or 
scarcity of a leaf-feeding species is, there- 
fore, obscure, since it is hindered by an 
abundance of primary parasites, favored by 
an abundance of secondary parasites (since 
these will destroy the primary parasites), 
hindered again by an abundance of tertiary 
parasites, and favored again by an abun- 
dance of quaternary parasites. 

The subject of practical handling of in- 
sect enemies of insects has come into great 
prominence during the past ten years. The 
suggestion by the Rev. Dr. Bethune, of 
Canada, many years ago, of the desirability 
of importing the European parasite of the 
wheat midge into America was probably 
the first published international suggestion 
of this nature, and, although some subse- 
quent correspondence between English and 
American entomologists ensued, no parasites 
were actually sent over. Later, attempts 
were made by LeBaron in the case of a 
parasite of the oyster-shell bark-louse of 
the apple, and by Professor Riley in the 
case of a parasite of the plum curculio, to 
transport parasites from one section of the 
United States to another, both attempts 
meeting with some slight success. 

In 1873 Planchon and Riley introduced 
an American predatory mite, which feeds 
in this country on the grape vine Phyllozera, 
into France, where it became established, 
but where it accomplished no appreciable 
results in the way of checking the spread of 
this famous vine pest. 

In 1874 efforts were made to send certain 
parasites of plant-lice from England to New 
Zealand, without recorded results of value. 

In 1880, in an article upon the para- 
sites of American scale insects, the writer 
showed that international transportation is 
especially easy, and especially desirable in 
the case of these insects. 


240 


In 1883 Dr. Riley succeeded in importing 
a common European parasite of the im- 
ported cabbage worm into this country, 
where it established itself and has since 
proved tobe a valuable addition to our fauna. 

In 1891 the same distinguished entomol- 
ogist brought about the importation of one 
of the European parasites of the Hessian 
fly through the assistance of Mr. Fred. 
Enock, of London. This parasite main- 
tained itself in this country certainly as 
late as 1895, but has accomplished no ap- 
preciable good,so far as has beenascertained, 
in limiting the increase of this destructive 
enemy to wheat. 

All previous experiments of this nature 
were dwarfed into insignificance by the as- 
tounding success of the importation of Novius 
(Vedalia) cardinalis, a ladybird beetle, from 
Australia into California in 1889. This 
importation was made, as will be remem- 
bered, by Mr. Albert Koebele, an attaché 
of the Division of Entomology of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, whose ex- 
penses, however, were paid out of a fund 
appropriated to the Department of State, 
for the purpose of securing a representation 
from this country at the Melbourne Expo- 
sition. A California man, the late Mr. 
Frank MecCoppin, happened to be at the 
head of the Exposition Commission ; and, 
while the late Dr. C. V. Riley was endeay- 
oring in Washington to induce the Depart- 
ment of State to set aside a sum, from the 
Exposition fund, for the expenses of Mr. 
Koebele, representatives of the State Board 
of Horticulture of California were pressing 
the same facts upon Mr. McCoppin, the 
head of the Commission. These efforts 
were being made independently and with- 
out consultation, hence it happened that 
after Mr. Koebele had succeeded in sending 
live Vedalias to California, and after these 
insects, by their rapid multiplication and 
voracious habits, had absolutely destroyed 
the cottony cushion scale in the orange 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


groves of the State, a result which prac- 
tically saved millions of dollars to Califor- 
nia, and which attracted the attention of 
everyone interested in science or agricul- 
ture, a most unfortunate controversy en- 
sued between Dr. Riley and the California 
State Board of Horticulture as to the placing 
of the credit of carrying out this wonder- 
fully successful experiment. This contro- 
versy embittered the last days of both Dr. 
Riley and Mr. McCoppin, and was the cause 
of a disturbance of the formerly pleasant 
relations between the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and the State Board of 
Horticulture of California, which has only 
recently been overcome. 

Following this successful experiment, the 
same insect, Novius cardinalis, was sent to 
South Africa, where it exterminated the 
white or fluted scale in that colony. The 
next year if was sent to Egypt, where it 
exterminated a congeneric scale insect in 
the gardens of Alexandria. 

The following year Mr. Koebele, still an 
agent of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, was sent with the°consent of 
the Honorable Jeremiah Rusk, but at the 
expense of the California State Board of 
Horticulture, to Australia, New Zealand 
and the Fiji Islands, for the purpose. of 
securing other valuable beneficial insects 
for importation into California. Thousands 
of such insects, comprising a number of 
different species, nearly all, however, of 
them Coccinellids, or ladybirds, were sent 
over and established in California. Several 
of these species are still living in different 
parts of the State. The overwhelming suc- 
cess of the importation of Novius cardinalis. 
was not repeated, but one of the insects 
brought over at that time, namely, Rhizobius 
ventralis, has unquestionably ridden many 
olive groves of the destructive black scale, 
and is to-day present in many other orchards 
in such numbers that the scale practically 
makes no headway. 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


After this second Oriental trip the rela- 
tions between the Department of Agricul- 
ture and the State Board of Horticulture of 
California became so strained that the Cali- 
fornia agents of the Department were given 
their choice by the Honorable Secretary of 
Agriculture to resign their positions or be 
transferred to Washington. Mr. Koebele 
resigned and was soon after employed by 
the then newly established Hawaiian Re- 
public for the purpose of travelling in dif- 
ferent countries and collecting beneficial 
insects to be introduced into Hawaii for the 
purpose of destroying injurious insects. It 
is difficult at this time to ascertain the 
exact results of the more recent portion of 
this work. Mr. Koebele’s own published 
reports have dealt less with results than 
with the details of the introduction of in- 
sects, and anonymous newspaper reports 
are not to be accepted as scientific evidence. 
Fortunately, however, one of the collectors 
of the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, Mr. R. E. C. Perkins, was 
in Hawaii during 1896 and made a report 
on Mr. Koebele’s work to the committee ap- 
pointed by the Royal Society and the Brit- 
ish Association for investigating the fauna 
of the Sandwich Islands, which was pub- 
lished in Nature for March 25,1897. From 
this report it appears that the introduction 
of Coccinella repanda from Ceylon, Australia 
and China was so successful in the extermi- 
nation of plant-lice upon sugar cane and 
other crops as to obviate all necessity for 
spraying. The introduction of Cryptolemus 
montrouziert from Australia resulted in the 
entire recovery of the coffee plants and 
other trees which were on the point of be- 
ing totally destroyed by the scale insect 
known as Pulvinaria psidii. Hight other 
introduced species had at the date of writ- 
ing (November, 1896) been entirely natu- 
ralized and were reported as doing good 
work against certain scale insects. A Chal- 
cis fly, Chaleis obscurata, introduced from 


SCIENCE. 241 


China and Japan, multiplied enormously at 
the expense of an injurious caterpillar 
which had severely attacked banana and 
palm trees. Mr. Koebele, when visiting 
Washington during November, 1898, men- 
tioned a number of other importations of 
beneficial insects into Hawaii, about which 
it is as yet too early to speak. 

A very recent instance of an international 
importation of striking value is the sending 
of Novius cardinalis from this country to 
Portugal, where the white or fluted scale 
has been checked and in many orchards ex- 
terminated in the course of a single year. 
This importation was made by the writer 
with the invaluable assistance of the Cali- 
fornia State Board of Horticulture. 

Other experiments in this line are under 
way. A parasite of certain wax scales, 
which are abundant and injurious in the 
South, has been imported by the writer 
from Italy, with the cooperation of Pro- 
fessor Antonio Berlese, of the Royal Scuola 
di Agricoltura di Portici ; while an effort is 
being made to bring from Europe insects 
which will prey upon the Gipsy moth which 
has been so great a plague about Boston ; 
and other parasites of injurious scale insects 
in foreign countries are being studied with 
the purpose of eventually obtaining their 
introduction into the United States. 


AS DESTROYERS OF NOXIOUS PLANTS. 


Just as we have shown how important is 
the réle played by insects in the destruction 
of cultivated and useful plants, it will be 
easy to indicate their importance as de- 
stroyers of weeds and other noxious plants. 
We need only mention the common and 
cosmopolitan thistle butterfly (Pyrameis car- 
dui), the equally common milkweed butter- 
fly (Anosia plexippus), the purslane cater- 
pillar (Copidryas glovert) , the burdock beetle 
( Gastroidea cyanea), and the purslane sphinx 
moth (Deilephila lineata) to recall to the 
mind of the experienced entomologist many 


other species which do similar work. They 
are here, as in the former case, perhaps the 
principal agents in preventing the undue 
increase of any one species of plant, but as 
we find here not an effort of man to combat 
Nature, as it were, by increasing the growth 
and spread of one species at the expense of 
the others, but the exact opposite, so, here 
also, to a degree we find Nature arrayed 
against man, and insects thus play by no 
means the same part in the destruction of 
weeds that they doin the destruction of 
cultivated crops. Nevertheless, they have 
an important function in this direction, and 
it is safe to say that the benefit which the 
agriculturist derives from their work in this 
way is very great. As long ago as the be- 
ginning of the century it was pointed out by 
Sparrman that a region in Africa, which 
had been choked up by shrubs, perennial 
plants and hard, half-withered and unpal- 
atable grasses, after being made bare by a 
visitation of destructive grasshoppers, soon 
appeared in a far more beautiful dress, 
clothed .with new herbs, superb lilies and 
fresh annual grasses, affording delicious 
herbage for the wild cattle and game. 

In a similar way Riley has called atten- 
tion to the fact that after the great grass- 
hopper invasions of Colorado and other 
Western States in the years 1874 to 1876 
there were wonderful changes in the char- 
acter of the vegetation, the grasshopper dey- 
astations being followed by a great preva- 
lence of plants which in ordinary seasons 
were scarcely noticed. It is true that some 
of these plants were dangerous weeds, but 
others were most valuable as forage for the 
half-starved live stock. Moreover, other 
plants, and especially short or recumbent 
grasses, took on a new habit and grew lux- 
uriantly ; one species, for example, Hragrostis 
powoides, ordinarily recumbent and scarcely 
noted, grew in profusion to a height of three 
and a-half feet. 

An important, but not generally realized, 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


benefit which is derived from the insects 
may be mentioned under this head, though 
not strictly belonging here. Kirby showed, 
75 years ago, that the insects that attacked 
the roots of grasses, such as wireworms, 
white grubs, etc., in ordinary seasons only 
devour so much as_is necessary to make 
room for fresh shoots and the product 
of new herbage, in this manner maintain- 
ing a constant succession of young plants 
and causing an annual though partial reno- 
vation of our meadows and pastures, ‘so 
that, when in moderate numbers, these in- 
sects do no more harm to the grass than 
would the sharp-toothed harrows which it 
has sometimes been obliged to apply to hide- 
bound pastures, and the beneficial operation 
of which in loosening the subsoil these in- 
sect borers closely imitate.” 


AS POLLENIZERS OF PLANTS. 


It can no longer be doubted that cross 
fertilization is one of the very most impor- 
tant elements in the progressive develop- 
ment and continued health of the great 
majority of flowering plants, and, indeed, 
that it is with some almost a condition of 
existence. Opposition to this view, at no 
time especially strong since the publication 
of Darwin’s great work, has become feebler 
and more feeble until at the present it is 
not worth considering. 

Comparative pepe ec ator with self- 
fertilizing and cross-fertilizing plants, re- 
peated with many species and genera, have 
shown a superior growth and vitality on 
the part of those subjected to cross-fertili- 
zation of such a degree as to leave not a 
semblance of a doubt; while in individual 
cases self- fertilization has been scientifically 
shown to even result in a deterioration so 
marked that it has been compared to poi- 
soning. 

In this condition of affairs it at once be- 
comes evident that the good offices of in- 
sects in this direction are of incalculable 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


importance, since it must be plain that of 
the natural agencies by which cross-fertili- 
zation of plants is accomplished insects are 
far and away the most prominent. Every 
investigation which has been undertaken 
of recent years, and activity in this field is 
increasing by leaps and bounds, has shown 
the most marvelous adaptations between 
the structure of flowers and the structure 
of their insect visitants, all in the line of 
facilitating or really enforcing the collect- 
ing and carriage of pollen by flower-visiting 
insects from one plant to another. An esti- 
mate of the numbers of the species of insects 
engaged in this work would include the 
forms belonging to whole families and al- 
most orders, and if we could imagine the 
race of flower-visiting insects wiped out of 
existence the disastrous effect upon plant 
growth would be beyond estimate. I am 
not prepared to state that insects benefit 
plants in this way to such an extent as to 
overcome the results of the work of the 
plant-destroying species, but if it were pos- 
sible to compare in any way the results of 
these two classes of work itis safe to say 
that the effect would be surprising. 

We must, therefore, without going further 
into detail, place this pollenization of plants 
as one of the very most important beneficial 
functions of insects in their relations to 
man. 

AS SCAVENGERS. 

Another beneficial function of insects, the 
importance of which can hardly be overesti- 
mated, is their value to humanity in doing 
away with, and rendering innocuous, dead 
matter of both plant and animal origin. 
This subject has never been discussed with- 
out reference to the famous statement by 
Linnzeus that the offspring of three blow- 
flies would destroy the carcass of a horse 
as quickly as would a lion; and while the 
exact statement in its details is open to 
doubt, still it serves to illustrate, in a strik- 
ing way, the good offices of insects, and it is 


SCIENCE. 


243 


certainly true that after the offspring of the 
blow-fly have finished with the horse’s car- 
cass this would be left ina much less offen- 
sive condition than after the departure of 
the lion. 

There are inhabited regions in which the 
climate is so dry that dead bodies of ani- 
mals never become offensive, but, by natural 
mummification, remain simply as cumberers 
of the earth. In such regions insects play 
little part. Wherever, however, there is 
sufficient moisture to produce a natural de- 
cay, there insects occur in swarms and 
hasten the destruction of the decomposing 
mass ina marked degree. Were the bodies 
of dead animals not destroyed by insects in 
this way, and, still more, were the destruc- 
tion of dead vegetation not hastened as it 
is by the attacks of countless insects, it is 
perfectly easy to see that the earth would 
not be inhabitable, its surface would be 
covered with the indestructible remains of 
what was once life in some form. 

Large groups of insects, comprising many 
thousands of species, take part in this in- 
estimable work, and it will probably be un- 
necessary in order to bring about a realiza- 
tion of this value to dwell further upon the 
subject. 

AS MAKERS OF SOIL. 

It is a fact not generally realized that 
insects must take an important part in the 
changes in the character of the soil which 
are constantly going on. Occurring in such 
countless millions, as they do, constantly 
penetrating the soil in all directions, fre- 
quently dragging vegetation below the sur- 
face and bringing the subsoil up to the 
surface, changing the character of the soil 
humus by passing it through their bodies, 
and fertilizing the earth by their own death 
and decay, it is probable that insects are 
responsible for even more soil change than 
are the earth worms, which Darwin has 
placed before us in such an important light. 

Insects are found beneath the ground in 


244 


incredible numbers; some of them pass 
their whole life underground, feeding upon 
roots and rootlets, upon dead and decaying 
vegetable matter, upon soil humus and 
upon other insects; many of them have 
their nests underground, although they get 
their food elsewhere; while others hide 
their eggs or pupee underground. 

The depth to which they penetrate is 
something surprising; the minute insects 
of the family Poduridz have been found 
swarming literally by the million at a depth 
of six to eight feet in a stiff clay subsoil. 


AS FOOD AND CLOTHING AND AS USED IN THE 
ARTS. 

In this réle insects play an important 
part. Insects as food, and their products 
as clothing, are well known to all. The 
great silk industry of the world is derived 
wholly from insects, and almost entirely 
from a single species, the silkworm of com- 
merce. 

As food, insects have formed articles of 
diet for certain savage peoples since the 
beginning of the human race. Hope, in 
1842, catalogued forty-six species of insects 
used as food, and Wallace, in 1854, showed 
that insects of six different Orders were used 
as food by the Indians of the Amazon. 
Semi-civilized peoples to-day use certain in- 
sects as food, as witness the consumption 
of Corixa eggs by the Mexicans, and a book 
has been written under the caption ‘Why 
not eat insects?’ for the purpose of show- 
ing that many possibilities in the way of 
dietetics are being ignored to-day. M. de 
Fontvielle, in addressing the Société d’In- 
sectologie, in 1883, expressed regret that the 
attempts made to popularize the use of in- 
sects as food have made so little progress, 
and said that we ought not to forget the 
remark of the Roman Emperor who said 
that the body of an enemy never tasted 
bad, and that the banquet of the Society 
would always lack something so long as 


_ SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. LX. No. 216. 


there was not placed before them at least 
some grasshopper farina and fried white 
worms. 

A single insect, the honey bee, furnishes 
a notable article of food, and is the basis of 
a great and world-wide industry. 

As food for poultry, song birds and food 
fish, insects are indirectly of great benefit 
to man. Not only do they provide living 
food for such animals, but Coriza mercenaria, 
a water bug, is now being imported by the 
ton from Mexico into England as food for 
birds, poultry, game and fish. One ton of 
these bugs has been computed by Mr. G. 
W. Kirkaidy to contain 250,000,000 of in- 
sects (Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine, Au- 
gust, 1898). 

In the days of pure empiricism in medi- 
cine, insects were used extensively, and we 
have only to mention the Spanish fly to 


‘show that they are still of some value. 


In the arts, shellac and Chinese white 
wax, as is well known, are insect products, 
as also are the formerly greatly used coch- 
ineal dye and Polish berry dye, the so-called 
berry in this case being an insect and not a 
berry. 

The last-named instances are all derived 
from scale insects, a group of astonishing 
capacity for multiplication, the commercial 
possibilities of which are by no means ex- 
hausted, as I took pleasure in showing in a 
paper read before the American Association 
for the Advancement of Sciencein 1897. It 
should be noted here, also, that there is 
good reason to believe that the manna of 
the Bible, upon which the Children of Israel 
subsisted while in the Wilderness, was also 
the secretion of a scale insect. 


SUMMARY OF THE HABITS OF INSECTS. 
After this general account, arranged under 
the classes of damage and classes of benefits 
brought about by insects, it will be well to 
attempt an arrangement of the subject in a 
somewhat different manner, in order to gain, 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


if possible, some light as to the relative 
proportion of insects which are injurious or 
beneficial. 

It will be manifestly impossible to cata- 
logue the species or the genera in this way, 
and it will be obvious that a classification 
from families will be lacking in exactness, 
since some of the families are very large in 
number of species and others exceedingly 
small; but, taking the groups as a whole, 
no better and speedier means suggests itself 
than to summarize the habits by families. 

Another difficulty, however, which arises 
in such a classification is the fact that some 
orders are in a much more advanced stage 
of classification than others, and the force 
which is given to a family as a taxonomic 
group varies with the views of the latest 
monographer. Nevertheless, taking only 
the older and generally accepted families 
and analyzing habits, we find the situation 
to be as follows : 

Of 33 families of Hymenoptera, but two 
are strictly plant-feeding ; the Cynipide, or 
gall flies, are in the main injurious to 
plants, but some forms are parasitic ; nine 
families are strictly parasitic upon other 
insects; fifteen are predatory upon other 
insects ; two, comprising the bees, have no 
other especial vaiue in their relations with 
man than as pollenizers of plants, or pro- 
ducers of honey ; three, comprising the ants, 
are beneficial as scavengers, but injurious 
in their other relations. It must be re- 
membered, however, that at least 27 of the 
33 families are of the greatest value in the 
eross-fertilization of plants, in which work 
the insects of this order perhaps take the 
lead. 

In the Coleoptera, or beetles, considering 
82 families, the insects of nine families on 
the whole are injurious, and of 23 families 
on the whole are beneficial as destroying 
injurious insects; 10 families are beneficial 
as scavengers, and 30, or more, mostly small 
groups of little importance, contain some 


SCIENCE. 


245 


scavengers and many neutral forms of prac- 
tically no economic importance, although 
certain of them visit flowers; two families 
contain both injurious and beneficial forms, 
as well as many that are neutral. 

In the Siphonaptera, or fleas, the species 
of the single family are parasitic upon 
warm-blooded animals. 

In the Diptera, or true flies, if we classify 
the families according to habits of the 
majority of the species in each, we get ap- 
proximately : injurious families, 10; preda- 
ceous families, 11; parasitic family, 1; scav- 
engers, 19. In point of numbers, of indi- 
viduals in this order, as well as in the 
Coleoptera, no doubt the injurious will ex- 
ceed the predaceous ; while in the Diptera 
the scavengers will probably equal all of 
the others put together. 

In the Lepidoptera practically all of the 
60 odd families are injurious through the 
damage done by their larvze to vegetation, 
but here again it must be remembered—and 
the same comment holds for many of the 
Diptera which we have just considered—that 
the adult insects are among the most active 
and frequent visitors of flowers and have a 
great and beneficial effect on cross-fertiliza- 
tion. 

In the Trichoptera the insects of the 
single family feed upon aquatic plants and 
have no economic value except as furnish- 
ing food for food fishes. 

The insects of the single family in the 
order Mecoptera are indifferent in their 
economic relations, though probably slightly 
beneficial. 

In the Neuroptera all of the seven fami- 
lies are beneficial through their predaceous 
habits, with the exception of the Sialide, 
which, since their larve are aquatic, may 
be termed indifferent or neutral, though it 
has both a beneficial and an injurious rela- 
tion to food fishes. 

In the Homoptera we have nine families, 
all of which are injurious except that here 


246 SCIENCE. 


and there a species has had a commercial 
value, like the lac and dye insects. 

In the Heteroptera there are 11 fami- 
lies which are strictly plant feeders; 8 are 
strictly predaceous; 3 are both injurious 
and predaceous; while the economic value 
of 18 is more or less doubtful. Most of 
these last are aquatic and have some value 
as fish food. 

The insects of the single family of the 
order Physaptera are injurious. 

In the Orthoptera we have one family of 
strictly predaceous habits ; one which has 
a mixed food and is partly injurious and 
partly beneficial as its species become scav- 
engers; the habits of 1 family are unknown; 
while in the 4 remaining families the species 
are all injurious as destroyers of vegetation. 

The insects of the single family of the 
order Euplexoptera are probably beneficial 
as predatory forms and scavengers. 

The single family of the order Malloph- 
aga is injurious, containing parasites of 
birds and mammals. 

In the Corrodentia the habits of the in- 
sects of the single family are on the whole 
of little economic importance, though the 
species are to be classified in the main as 
scavengers. 

In the Isoptera the forms belonging to 
the two families are injurious. 

In the Order Plecoptera the species of 
the single family are practically neutral in 
their economic relations, although they 
possess some value as fish food. 

All of the insects of the single family of 
the order Odonata may be called beneficial ; 
the adults are predaceous upon other in- 
sects and are thus strictly beneficial, but the 
larvee may in a sense be termed injurious, 
since they are aquatic and prey upon other 
aquatic insects which themselves may be 
food for fishes. y 

The insects of the single family of the order 
Ephemerida are of little economic value, 
except that they are important fish food. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


Lastly, the insects of eight of the fami- 
lies of Thysanura are beneficial as scaven- 
gers and soil markers, while some of the 
species of one family are somewhat harmful 
from the damage which they do in house- 
holds. 

Tabulating the facts thus gained we have 
the following: 

Injurious as feeding upon cultivated and 
useful plants, the insects of 112 families. 

Injurious as parasitic upon warm-blooded 
animals, the insects of 1 family. 

Beueficial as preying upon other insects, 
the insects of 79 families. 

Beneficial as scavengers, the insects of 32 
families. 

Beneficial as pollenizers only, the insects 
of 2 families. 

Beneficial as forming food for food fishes, 
the insects of 3 families. 

Of undetermined economic importance, 
the insects of 49 families. 

Families containing both injurious and 
beneficial forms, 22. 

The totals are: 

Beneficial, the insects of 118 families. 

Injurious, the insects of 116 families. 

Both, or undetermined, the insects of 71 
families. 


CONCLUSION. 


And now the question is: Are we any 
nearer the answer of the query in the title 
of this paper than we were at the start? 
We have, perhaps, gained by this summary 
a clearer idea of the economic importance 
of the class Insecta, and possibly it may 
appear by this contrasting method that the 
benefits derived from insects entirely offset 
their injuries ; but we cannot, in our present 
stage of enlightenment (and I say it with all 
reverence), complacently and piously adopt, 
with the good old rector of Barham, the 
view that insects, with all the lower ani- 
mals, were created for man’s benefit, God 
permitting occasional injuries, to use Kirby’s 


Fepruary 17, 1899. ] 


words, ‘‘ not merely with punitive views, but 
also to show us what mighty effects he can 
produce by instruments so insignificant, 
thus calling on us to glorify his power, 
wisdom and goodness.” 

Contrast with this view the view of Pro- 
fessor Bailey, in one of his charming essays 
in the volume entitled ‘The Survival of the 
Unlike :’ ‘‘ We are now prepared to admit 
that this whole question of enemy and 
friend is a relative one, and does not depend 
upon right and wrong, but simply upon our 
own relationships to the given animals and 
plants. An insect which eats our potatoes 
is an enemy because we want the potatoes 
too; the insect has as much right to the 
potatoes as we have. He is pressed by the 
common necessity of maintaining himself, 
and there is every evidence that the potato 
was made as much for the insect as for the 
human kind. Dame Nature is quite as much 
interested in the insect as in man. ‘ What 
a pretty bug!’ she. exclaims; ‘send him 
over to Smith’s potato patch.’ Buta bug 
which eats this insect is beneficial; that is, 
he is beneficial to man, not to the insect. 
Thus everything in nature is a benefit to 
something and an injury to something; and 
every time that conditions of life are modi- 
fied the relationships readjust themselves.”’ 

In these words Bailey, with his accustomed 
felicity, has expressed the situation admi- 
rably. Man is but one of the forms of life 
struggling for existence, at continual war- 
fare with surrounding forms; but by virtue 
of his surpassing intelligence—itself as grad- 
ually evolved as have been the physical 
characteristics of any given species—he has 
overrun the earth, has accommodated him- 
self to the most unnatural environments ; 
he has dominated all other species in na- 
ture; he has turned to his own uses and 
encouraged or hastened the evolution of 
species useful to him or of useful qualities 
in such species; he has wiped out of exist- 
ence certain inimical forms, and is gaining 


SCIENCE. 247 


the control of others. He is the dominant 
type,and types whose existence and methods 
of life are opposed to his interests are being 
pushed to the wall. It is the culmination 
of a history which has many times repeated 
itself in past ages. The struggle of other 
forms of life to accommodate themselves to 
the conditions brought about by the rapid 
development of this dominant type is one 
the most interesting fields of study open to 
the biologist to-day. It would seem as if, 
in man’s efforts to make the face of the 
earth his own, all the complicated elements 
of life were arrayed against him, and the 
great and ultimate result of the labor of the 
biologist in his study of the relations of the 
different forms of life and the laws which 
govern their development will be to bring 
about the absolute control of all other life 
by man. Thus it is not only the economic 
worker who looks for immediate results of a 
practical kind from his labor—the scientific 
agriculturist, the horticulturist, the eco- 
nomic zoologist, the medical bacteriologist 
—who should command the respect of even 
the practical-minded man, but the biologist 
in whatever field, however restricted it 
may be, whether he is working towards the 
understanding of broad principles and gen- 
eral laws, or whether in some narrow corner 
of research, he is accumulating material 
which will help ultimately to lead to wider 
understandings—all are working helpfully 
and practically towards the perfect well- 


being of the human race. 
L. O. Howarp. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


ANTI-FRICTION ALLOYS. 

M. G. Cuarpy, the well-known investi- 
gator in this field, publishes in the Bulletin 
de la Société d’ Encouragement pour UV Industrie 
Nationale, for June, 1898, an extensive paper 
on the ‘ Travaua de la Commission des Alliages,’ 
of which the following are some of the main 
points : 


248 


The purpose of the investigation was 
largely that of finding a way of applying to 
alloys for bearings the tests previously de- 
duced respecting relations of fusibility and 
other properties. General experience has 
shown that white alloys, customarily used 
for bearings in machinery, are much less 
frequently overheated than those made, as 
previously common, of bronze, while they 
are found also to reduce friction something 
like 20 per cent. In some instances the 
reported accidents with the two classes of 
metal are but 24 with the white metal as 
compared with 100 with the yellow in ordi- 
nary railroad work. Their wear is also but 
about 0.4 that of the bronze. Solong, how- 
ever, as a layer of oil remains in effective 
depth, on the rubbing surface, the coeffi- 
cient of friction is substantially the same 
with all bearing metals. Flooded journals 
give immunity from friction, safety from 
heating and wear, and independence of the 
nature of the rubbing metals, except so far 
as their conductivity affects the removal of 
heat developed by friction. 

Charpy gives an extensive table of the 
composition of various anti-friction alloys 
as reported by the authorities, including 
substantially all those reported by Dudley, 
Ledebur and Thurston. His own investi- 
gations are upon alloys of lead and anti- 
mony; of lead, tin and bismuth; of tin, cop- 
per and antimony; of lead, copper and an- 
timony; of zinc, tin and antimony, and of 
copper, tin and lead; all of which are 
studied under compression and wear, and 
micrographically. Admirable prints are 
given of the micrographic development, 
and the ‘stress-strain’ diagrams, both for 
the binary and ternary alloys, are exhibited; 
the writer using the Thurston ‘tri-axial’ dia- 
gram, and the corresponding ‘glyptic’ rep- 
resentation in the solid, to illustrate his 
work.* The paper abounds in most inter- 


*See Transactions Am. Soc. Mech. Engrs., No. 
DCCLXXVII., Vol. XIX., 1898. Sauveur, in this 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No, 216. 


esting and helpful illustrations of these 
kinds. 

He concludes substantially as follows : 

(1) All these alloys, when fitted for use 
as anti-friction metal, exhibit the same 
general characteristics. They are made up 
of hard particles set in a soft and plastic 
alloy. The load is taken by the hard metal, 
while the friction is reduced by the com- 
paratively low coefficient of friction and by 
the power which is given by the soft alloy 
of adapting the loaded surface to the posi- 
tion of the journal and to its deformations. 
The ternary alloys are thought better than 
the binary. 

(2) The limits of practically useful al- 
loys and mixtures are determined by this 
method of investigation and the best com- 
positions are identified. 

(3) The processes adopted are mainly 
graphic and micrographic, to ascertain 
whether the quality is suitable and the 
composition such as has been found de- 
sirable, and compressive tests to ascertain 
whether it has the needed power of resist- 
ing pressure, without serious deformation 
under ordinary conditions of use. ‘ Cooling 
curves’ were found very helpful. 

(4) Alloys of lead and antimony should 
contain between 15 and 25 per cent. anti- 
mony. Those containing more of this con- 
stituent are too hard and those containing 
more lead are too soft; the one will lead to 
brittleness and fracture, the other to crush- 
ing and cutting. 

(5) The copper-tin-antimony alloy of 
best proportions is considered to be that 
containing Cu. 5.55; Sn. 83.33 and Sb. 11.11 
by weight. It is strong and tough, cor- 
responding with the alloys empirically se- 
lected for railroad journals by some railway 
authorities. 

(6) The lead-tin-antimony alloys should 
contain between 15 and 90 per cent. tin, and 


country, has most extensively employed these meth- 
ods of micrography in the work of his laboratory. 


FERRUARY 17, 1899.] 


not above 15 or 18 per cent. of antimony. 
An alloy employed for metallic packing 
contains Pb. 80; Sn. 12; Sb. 8. 

(7) The copper-lead-antimony alloy 
should not contain above 10 per cent. cop- 
per. One tested alloy of good character is 
Cu. 10; Sb. 25; Pb. 65. It has been used 
successfully on railway axles. 

(8) The copper-tin-lead alloys are the 
usual bronzes of anti-friction metal makers. 
The lead is probably a necessary constituent 
for highest efficiency. They contain from 
75 to 90 per cent. copper; 8 to 12.5 per cent. 
tin, and 0 to 15 per cent. lead. Fluxing with 
arsenic or phosphorus is usually advanta- 
geous, the amount found in such alloy aver- 


aging about 0.8 per cent. 
Tv) dala), 


ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN PSY- 
CHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. 

Tue American Psychological Association 
held its seventh annual meeting at Colum- 
bia University, New York City, on Decem- 
ber 28-30, 1898. Over fifty members were 
in attendance at the various sessions, this 
being the largest number at any meeting 
since the organization of the Association. 

Owing to the number offered, the sessions 
were entirely given up to the reading and 
discussion of papers, but the members were 
present at the discussion before the Ameri- 
can Society of Naturalists in ‘Advances in 
Methods of Teaching,’ being represented in 
the discussion by the President of the As- 
sociation, Professor Munsterberg. Many of 
the members also attended the reception 
given by Professor and Mrs. Henry F. Os- 
born to the Affiliated Societies on Wednes- 
day evening, and were present at the dinner 
of the Societies at the Hotel Savoy on 
Thursday evening. At the business meet- 
ing Professor John Dewey, of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago, was elected President for 
the ensuing year; Dr. Livingston Farrand, 
of Columbia University, Secretary and 


- ontological. 


SCIENCE. 249 


Treasurer ; and Professors J. McK. Cattell, 
of Columbia University, and H. N. Gardi- 
ner, of Smith College, members of the 
Council. 

Besides other business transacted, there 
was appointed, on motion of Professor J. 
M. Baldwin, a Standing Committee of Pay- 
chological and Philosophical Terminology, 
consisting of Professors Minsterberg, Cat- 
tell, Sanford, Creighton, Royce, Minot and 
Baldwin. The duties of this committee are 
to recommend from time to time new terms 
and choice of alternative terms in psychol- 
ogy and philosophy ; to recommend foreign 
equivalents for translation both into Eng- 
lish and into foreign languages, and to keep 
the Association informed as to the growth 
of terminology in other departments, espe- 
cially in neurology. 

Professor J. McK. Cattell, Chairman of 
the Committee on Physical and Mental 
Tests, reported on the work of the Com- 
mittee during the year and described the 
progress in this field in the different labora- 
tories. 

Professor Munsterberg, who presided at 
the meeting read his presidential address 
on Wednesday afternoon, taking as his sub- 
ject ‘Psychology and History.’ Professor 
Munsterberg argued that the psychological 
and historical views of human life are 
necessarily in conflict; for the one the per- 
sonality is a complex of elements and caus- 
ally determined ; for the other it is a unity 
and free. He held that claims of recent 
writers that psychology and history are two 
coordinated ways of dealing with the same 
problem are untenable; that the difference 
between the two is not methodological, but 
The materials are different. 
The material of psychology consists of ob- 
jects which as such can be described and 
explained ; the material of history consists 
of subjective will acts which can merely be 
interpreted and appreciated. Our interest 
in the two is different. The investigation 


250 


of the material of history brings us to a 
teleological system in which every will act 
is linked with every other will act and the 
general fact is not a causal law but a will 
relation. 

The subject of the ‘ discussion ’ which fol- 
lowed the address of the President was ‘The 
Relations of Will to Belief.’ Professors 
James and Miller, who were to have taken 
part, were unavoidably detained from the 
meeting, and the discussion was carried on 
by Professors Ladd, Hibben, Caldwell and 
Armstrong. The first three speakers pre- 
sented their views on the question, especial 
reference being paid to Professor James’ 
essay, ‘The Will to Believe,’ while Profes- 
sor Armstrong closed the debate with a his- 
torical summary of the subject. 

Of the regular meetings of the Associa- 
tion for the reading of papers the first 
was on Wednesday morning and was 
opened by Mr. E. A. Kirkpatrick on ‘ The 
Development of Voluntary Movement.’ 
After describing the case of a young child 
upon which he based his views, the speaker 
argued that movements, such as walking, 
that seem to be learned are in reality 
largely inherited, and that other nervous 
and muscular connections are less a matter 
of experience than is usually thought. 

Professor E. B. Delabarre reported certain 
experiments made upon himself with Can- 
nabis Indica, and attributed the effects to 
the hyperexcitability of the nervous system 
induced by the drug. There was a gradual 
increase in sensory, intellectual, emotional 
and motor activity, lasting about half the 
total duration of the main influence, and 
followed by a gradual decrease to normal 
or below. 

Professor George T. Ladd read a paper 
in which he held that psychology was not 
making the progress in this country which 
might reasonably be expected, and held that 
the hindrances are, in part at least, matters 
of personnel in the body of professional 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 216. 


psychologists. The particular hindrances 
mentioned by Professor Ladd were, in brief, 
the excessive scholastic spirit among psy- 
chologists and the consequent ignorance of 
the mental life of the great body of the 
people, the great number of publications by 
authors of insufficient training, the injury 
done to the science in the eyes of the laity 
by methods of discussion and controversy, 
the invasion of the commercial spirit and 
the maintenance of an improper attitude 
toward the other most closely allied sciences. 

In a paper on ‘ Reason a Mode of In- 
stinct,’ Mr. Henry Rutgers Marshall argued 
that the objective mark of an instinct is 
that it determines in an organism typical 
reactions of biological significance to the 
organism ; that opposition to instinct ex- 
hibits itself in variation from typical reac- 
tion, and is indicated by hesitancy and then 
choice. Reason is the psychic coincident 
of the physical process antecedent to choice. 
Variation and reasoning both appear as re- 
actions of a part of a complex physical and 
psychical system. Variation is statable in 
terms of instinct, and hence reason itself 
must be looked upon as a mode of instinct, 
the observed opposition between the two 
being due to the complexity of the organic 
connections of the phenomena. 

Professor Wesley Mills spoke on ‘ Animal 
Intelligence and Methods of Investigation,’ 
emphasizing the importance of normal con- 
ditions in experimenting with lower ani- 
mals, and objecting to the recent work of 
Dr. E. L. Thorndike, on the ground that he 
had violated this fundamental principle. 
The speaker further argued in general for 
greater caution in drawing conclusions from 
observations on animals. 

Professor Mary Whiton Calkins read a 
technical paper on ‘ Psychological Classifi- 
cation,’ dealing particularly with the attri- 
butes of sensation. 

On Thursday morning, December 29th, 
the members of the American Physiological 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


Society who were meeting in New York 
were invited to hold a joint session with 
the Psychologists in the Psychological Lab- 
oratory in Schermerhorn Hall, for the read- 
ing, by members of both societies, of papers 
which might have a common interest. This 
joint meeting was successfully carried out, 
with President Chittenden, of the Physiolo- 
gists, in the chair. Professor J. McK. 
Cattell opened the session with an exhibi- 
tion of certain new instruments of his own 
designing, for the study of movement and 
fatigue, and a brief description of certain 
researches now in progress in the psycho- 
logical laboratory at Columbia. Among 
other instruments was a spring ergometer, 
intended to replace the Mosso ergograph, 
and a dynamometer, in which the pressures 
are contiuually added and counted, mak- 
ing the study of muscular fatigue and the 
effect of mental conditions on fatigue pos- 
sible without elaborate apparatus. 

The other psychological papers presented 
at this session were by Professors Munster- 
berg, Patrick and Scripture. Professor 
Mimsterberg spoke on the ‘ Physiological 
Basis of Mental Life,’ pointing out certain 
fundamental objections to current physio- 
logical theories of brain processes, and sug- 
gesting several modifications which would 
account for more of the factors in psycho- 
physiological activity than is now the 
case. 

Professor G. T. W. Patrick reported ex- 
periments on tastes and odors made in the 
laboratory of the University of Iowa upon 
a subject with complete congenital anosenia. 
Among other conclusions he drew the fol- 
lowing: That what commonly passes for 
taste sensations, so far as their discrimina- 
tive or intellectual value is concerned, is 
the composite result of the mingling of sen- 
sations of smell, touch, temperature, sight 
and taste; the latter, however, playing little 
or no part in the discrimination of our com- 
mon foods and drinks. Taste sensations 


SCIENCE, 


. ported the work at Yale. 


251 


furnish rather the emotional element in the 
total conscious effect. 

Dr. E. W. Scripture gave a lantern exhi- 
bition of his methods of demonstrating the 
the physiology and psychology of color, and 
by special invitation Professor Ogden N. 
Rood, of Columbia University, demonstrated 
his ‘ Flicker Photometer.’ 

Physiological papers were read by Profes- 
sor F. 8. Lee on ‘The Nature of Muscle 
Fatigue,’ by Professor G. C. Huber on the 
‘Innervation of the Intracranial Vessels,’ 
by Professor C. F. Hodge on ‘ Possible 
Ameceboid Movements of the Dendritic Pro- 
cesses of Cortical Nerve-cells’ and by Pro- 
fessor G. W. Fitz on ‘A New Chronoscope.’ 

At the meeting on Friday morning Mr. 
J. E. Lough reported experiments made at 
Wellesley College, on the changes in rate 
of respiration during mental activity started 
by visual stimuli. There was in every case 
an increase in the rate during stimulation 
and areturn to the normal afterward, the 
amount of the increase produced by a given 


stimulus corresponding in a general way to 


the degree of mental activity produced. 
Dr. Robert MacDougall described re- 
searches now in progress in the laboratory 
at Harvard, and Dr. E. W. Scripture re- 
Among other in- 
vestigations Dr. Scripture reported interest- 
ing results from passing alternating currents 
of high frequency through the human body, 
producing practical anesthesia and anal- 
gesia to touch and cold, though apparently 
not to heat. The speaker called attention 
to the possible value of this method in pro- 
ducing analgesia for surgical purposes. Dr. 
J.P. Hylan gave an account of the work 
in the laboratory of the University of 
Illinois, and was followed by Dr. G. V. 
Dearborn, who described experiments on 
recognition under objective reversal, using 
chance blots of ink on white cards, arranged 
in series of ten and reversed in each of the 
four quadrants and in the mirror, and 


252 


always in a plane at right angles to the 
visual axis. He found that an object is 
recognized more readily when inverted than 
when in either of the two intermediate 
positions, and more readily also than in the 
erect mirror reversal or in that position 
inverted. 

Dr. Arthur MacDonald reported further 
measurements of pain and gave tables and 
results. Two purely philosophical papers 
were presented, one by Professor W. A. 
Hammond on the theory of the will in Ar- 
istotle’s Ethics, and the other by Professor 
W. G. Everett on ‘Ethical Scepticism.’ 
These papers closed the morning session. 
In the afternoon Professor W. Caldwell 
read an appreciative criticism of Professor 
J. Mark Baldwin’s recent work on Social 
and Ethical Interpretation. A paper on the 
genetic determination of the self, which had 
been announced by Professor Baldwin, he 
was forced to abandon on account of illness. 

In a ‘Study of Geometrical Illusions,’ 
Professor Charles H. Judd upheld the thesis 
that the underestimation of acute angles 


and overestimation of obtuse angles, which 


isa common feature of many illusions, is 
not a fundamental fact, but is to be ex- 
plained as due to the false estimation of the 
length of the sides of the angles. 


Professor Margaret F. Washburn spoke 


on ‘Subjective Colors and the After Image,’ 

and Professor Ladd closed the meeting with 

a description of a new color illusion. 
Livineston FARRAND. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The New Maryland Geological Survey. Volume 
I., 1897. Volume II.,1898. Johns Hopkins 
Press. 

The plan and the organization of the Mary- 
land Geological Survey are set forth in the in- 
troduction to the first volume of the reports. 
In many respects they present admirable ex- 
amples of common sense in scientific work. 
The business of a State Survey, if successful, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


must be conducted so that it nets the people a 
fair return for their money. It may neither 
soar to abstruse and doubtfully profitable specu- 
lation nor sink to polities for spoils only. Fail- 
ing to avoid one or the other unbusiness-like 
extreme, many State Surveys have died. The 
Maryland Survey appears to have struck a 
course between Scylla and Charybdis. 

According to the organic law the name is the 
State Geological and Economic Survey. The 
control is in the hands of a commission, con- 
sisting of the Governor and Comptroller of the 
Stateand the presidents of two principal edu- 
cational institutions—of Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity and the Maryland Agricultural College. 
The commissioners shall appoint as superin- 
tendent a geologist of established reputation, 
who shall nominate for appointment by them 
such assistants as they deem necessary; and 
they shall determine compensation of employees 
and may remove them. The objects of the Sur- 
vey are defined in six articles, of which three 
relate to appropriate investigations having prac- 
tical bearing, two give authority to publish 
maps and reports, and the sixth confers special 
authority to consider ‘such other scientific and 
economic questions as in the judgment of the 
commissioners shall be deemed of value to the 
people of the State.’ Among other sections is 
one appropriating $10,000 per annum for the 
purpose of executing the provisions of the act. 
This section must be repealed before the appro- 
priations for the support of the Survey can 
cease. 

By this law a board of commissioners, which 
is equally divided between the educational and 
executive or political leaders of the State, is 
given unrestricted authority to carry on ap- 
propriate observations for the benefit of the 
people. The scope is unlimited, their power is 
absolute, their responsibility is direct. 

The Commission organized the Survey to in- 
sure practical and thorough work. Professor 
Wn. B. Clark, of Johns Hopkins, was appointed 
State Geologist. It was resolved that there 
should be no salaried officers, all services to be 
paid at per diem rates for the time employed. 

The scope of the Survey was determined to 
be economic and educational. The economic 
character was sufficiently prescribed by the law ; 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


but an educational purpose has rarely, if ever, 
been so frankly assumed by a State Survey. 
The necessity to enlighten the general public as 
to the ends of a geological survey, though well 
understood, is generally stated in an aside. 

The position taken by the Maryland Survey 
gives it strength and a broader opportunity, It 
will be thought by many who know him that 
President Gilman has exercised a controlling 
influence in this as in other wise decisions of the 
Board. 

Strong in its close relations with the Mary- 
land Agricultural College and Johns Hopkins 
University, the Maryland Survey has sought 
still further to strengthen itself by cooperation 
with the scientific bureaus of the National Gov- 
ernment. The Agricultural Department, the 
Weather Bureau and the Geological Survey 
have met the State Survey’s advances cordially, 
and the work of Professor Clark and his col- 
leagues is supplemented by that of members of 
the several National organizations. 

Maryland undertakes no new. task in organ- 
izing this economic survey. Exploration and 
mapping have been in progress since the earliest 
days of settlement and thus cover more than 
two centuries anda half. Logically planned, 
the reports open with an historical account of 
this progress, which begins with the voyage of 
Captain John Smith in 1608. Reading the 
early accounts of the region about the Chesa- 
peake one is reminded of recent descriptions 
of Alaska or the Phillipines. The degree of 
knowledge expressed issimilar. In 1635 it was 
written of Maryland : 

“The Countrey is generally plaine and even, 
and yet hath some pritty small hills and risings ; 
It’s full of Rivers and Creekes and hath store of 
Springs and smaller Brookes.”’ 

“The Mineralls have not yet beene much 
searched after, yet there is discovered Iron 
Oare ; and Earth fitt to make Allum, Terra 
lemnia, and a red soile like Bolearmonicke, 
with sundry other sorts of Mineralls, which wee 
have not yet beene able to make any tryall of 
* * * and to conclude, there is nothing that 
can be reasonably expected in a place lying in 
the latitude which this doth, but you shall 
either find it here to grow naturally ; or In- 
dustry, and good husbandry will produce it.’’ 


SCIENCE. 


253 


Modern events were perhaps prophesied in 
the note on Herman’s map of Maryland (1670) : 

“Certain it is that as the Spaniard is pos- 
sessed of great Store of Mineralls at the other 
side of these mountaines the same Treasures 
they may in process of time afford also to us 
here on this side when occupyed which is Rec- 
omended to Posterity to Remember.’’ 

The first geological survey of Maryland was 
authorized by law in 1834. It is interesting to 
compare that act of the Assembly with the act 
passed with the same object sixty-two years 
later. The Act of 1834 authorizes the Governor 
and Council to appoint an Engineer and a Ge- 
ologist at salaries of $2,000 each ; it prescribes 
the duties of the engineer and even more pre- 
cisely those of the geologist. The latter shall 
‘make a complete and minute geological survey 
of the whole State, commencing with that por- 
tion which belongs to the Tertiary order of geo- 
logical formations, and with the southern divi- 
sion thereof, and progressing regularly with 
the course of the waters of the Potomac and 
Chesapeake through that region, and thence 
through the other subdivisions of the State, 
with as much expedition and despatch as may 
be consistent with minuteness and accuracy.’’ 

By a special section of the act the Geologist is 
instructed to analyze mineral substances or 
soils left at his office or residence by any citizen 
of the State ; he is to report all ‘remarkable 
discoveries,’’ a command whose phraseology 
sufficiently indicates the common understand- 
ing of asurvey’sraison d’étre. The expenses of 
the Engineer and Geologist are to be paid, ‘‘ so 
far as they may be deemed just, equitable and 
proper, to an amount not exceeding one thous- 
and dollars per annum. But the official ser- 
vices of these gentlemen shall cease at the end 
of one year, unless the act be re-enacted by the 
next Legislature. 

In strong contrast with the petty control thus 
assumed by the Assembly of 1834 is the freedom 
of action granted in 1896, and not less striking 
is the personal tone of the former act when 
compared with the impersonal character of the 
latter one. The one might have been entitled : 
An act to hamper a State Geologist ; the other 
has created a State Survey. 

The historical account is brought down to 


254 SCIENCE. 


the date of writing by sketches of the work of 
all existing institutions which are contributing 
to a knowledge of Maryland’s resources. The 
valuable work of the late Professor G. H. Wil- 
liams is appropriately set forth at length. The 
sketch closes with lists of the surveys and 
maps relating to Maryland made by the U. 
S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the U. S. 
Geological Survey, and these lists are sup- 
plemented by excellent index maps of the 
State, showing the triangulation and the ar- 
rangement of map sheets. 

Following this historical article by Professor 
Clark is a second, on the present knowledge of 
the physical features of Maryland, embracing 
an account of the physiography, geology and 
mineral resources. Of this it need only be said 
that it is concise, complete and accurate, so far 
as the data now available permit. This report 
frankly recognizes the existing information con- 
cerning the State as the seed from which future 
knowledge must grow. An excellent geologic 
map lithographed by Hoen & Co. illustrates the 
article. 

A bibliography and account of cartography of 
Maryland, by Dr. E. B. Matthews, logically 
completes the historical portion of the volume 
and constitutes an important work of refer- 
ence. 

An earnest of the important results which 
the Maryland Survey is to accomplish is con- 
tained in the article by L. A. Bauer on a mag- 


netic survey of the State. Including an ac-. 


count of the history and objects of magnetic 
surveys, this preliminary report is of broad 
general interest. Declination and dip of the 
needle and intensity of the magnetic forces are 
defined. A history of magnetic surveys and an 
account of methods follow. There is an ex- 
tended account of variations of magnetic decli- 
nation. The distribution of the declination in 
Maryland is described and illustrated by a map. 
And, finally, the economic value of the work is 
set forth in a discussion of the establishment of 
surveyor’s meridian lines. 

The second volume of the Maryland Survey 
reports, when compared with the first, is a 
demonstration of the wisdom of doing one thing 
well and the next thing better. Both volumes 
are superior in utility and appearance to any 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


State report previously issued. That the Mary- 
land Survey has already won the confidence of 
the people and the Legislature is shown by the 
appropriations of $5,000 to promote topographic 
surveys and $10,000 to conduct investigations 
for bettermentin highways. These sums, added 
to the appropriation of $10,000 for geology, 
place in the hands of the Geological Survey 
Commission annually $25,000 to be spent for 
the benefit of the people of the State. That it 
will be expended in securing authoritative in- 
formation appears from the contents of the sec- 
ond report. 

Dr. G. P. Merrill, an authority on building 
stones, contributes an article on the physical, 
chemical and economic properties of building 
stones in general, with special reference to the 
needs of the Maryland industry. This article 
is of general interest, as furnishing information 
of primary importance to capitalists, quarry- 
men and users of stone. It is followed by an 
exhaustive description by Dr. Mathews of the 
quarry products of Maryland considered with 
reference to their qualities, accessibility and 
adaptation. The subject is treated in detail, be- 
ing classified under the headings: ‘ Granites and 
Gneisses,’ ‘ Marbles and Limestones,’ ‘Sand- 
stones,’ ‘Slate,’ and the ‘Building Stone 
Trade,’ and further subclassified by localities 
throughout the State. The author personally 
examined each quarry and made his observa- 
tions with expert knowledge. The report is 
very beautifully illustrated, not only by the 
usual photographs of quarries, but also by 
photomicrographs of the rocks and by full-page 
colored heliotypes which represent the texture 
and color of the stone as they appear in a 
smoothed specimen. 

The appropriation of large sums to prepare a 
topographic map of Maryland affords a reason 
for stating the objects of such a map, and such 
a statement might suffice simply as an explana- 
tion. But to meet the educational purpose of 
the Maryland Survey more is required, and 
this something more is supplied by Mr. Gan- 
nett’s article on the aims and methods of car- 
tography with especial reference to topographic 
maps. The methods now in use in extensive 
surveys were developed by Mr. Gannett and 
his assistants and are characteristically original. 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


In their present development they constitute 
the most practical methods known, because 
they are the most economic while they are also 
adequately accurate. 

The succeeding article by Dr. Mathews on 
‘Maps and Map Makers of Maryland’ is of 
much historic interest. Dr. Mathews has ably 
assisted Professor Clark in his effort to make 
the Survey of Maryland a success, and to them 
both, as well as to the Geological Commission, 
belongs the credit of raising the standard of 
economic surveys to a grade that few can reach 


and none have surpassed. 
BAILEY WILLIs. 


La vie sur les hauts plateaux, Par le PROFESSOR 
A. L. HERRERA et le Dr. D. VERGARA LOPE. 
Published by A. L. Herrera, Museo Nacional, 
Mexico. 1899. 4to. Pp. 786. Price, $6. 
This remarkable work won the Hodgkins 

prize of the Smithsonian Institution, and now, 
translated from Spanish into French, is pub- 
lished in beautiful form through the munificence 
of President Diaz, of Mexico, to whom it is ap- 
propriately dedicated. 

Professor Herrera, as the best type of a man 
of science, is an honor to our sister republic. 
His epoch-making ideas on the subject of mu- 
seums have been very influential in France. 

The present important volume is on matters 
for whose investigation the authors are most 
advantageously situated, having lived that life 
on the high plateaux of which they so ably 
treat. 

The book opens with a chapter on the relief 
of both continents; the distribution of the great 
plateaux; their relations, ethnographic and 
hygienic. Chapter II. is on the vertical distri- 
bution of vegetable life and the phenomena of 
adaptation in the species of high altitudes. 
This is particularly rich in regard to the flora of 
Mexico and especially the Valley of Mexico. 
The action of the increased intensity of the sun- 
light is exhaustively studied. 

Chapter III. devotes two hundred pages to the 
vertical distribution of animals, with the phe- 
nomena of adaptation, and in particular the in- 
fluence of rarefied air. A study is made of 
mountain sickness as exhibited by animals. 

Chapter IV. passes to the vertical distribu- 


SCIENCE. 


255 


tion of mankind. Chapter V. is devoted to 
anthropometry and physiology of man at high 
altitudes. Worthy of note is the part on diges- 
tion, illustrated by considerations on the food 
supply of the City of Mexico. Chapter VI. is 
very short, treating of atmospheric pressure in 
geologic epochs and its supposed influence on 
organic evolution. Chapter VII. is largely 
taken up with experiments on the action of 
rarefied air. Chapter VIII. is on combustion 
and fermentation at high altitudes. Book II., 
applications, begins with Chapter IX., on typhus 
and scrofula at high altitudes. But of intense 
interest, of universal importance, is the matter 
of Chapter X., on the treatment of tuberculosis 
by altitude. 

Statistics prove that the maximum of mor- 
tality from this dread destroyer pertains to low 
regions, the minimum to high. In more than 
60 cases the curve of mortality rises as that of 
altitude descends. 

In Mexico, even among the poor and the 
soldiers, there are less deaths from tuberculosis 
than in the low regions of Europe. For a 
thousand victims in regions below 500 meters 
there are only 255 in regions above 500. In 
Mexico out of 100 persons the parents of 3 will 
have died of tuberculosis ; in Lima the parents 
of 18. 

A residence at high altitudes is indicated for 
persons with hereditary or any other predisposi- 
tion toward tuberculosis ; for persons with de- 
fective chest-conformation or respiratory ca- 
pacity, or in whom inflammatory affections have 
been incompletely cured. Even for animals 
the data show at high altitudes a certain im- 
munity against tuberculosis. 

In 1885 of 73,000 cattle killed at the general 
abattoir of the City of Mexico only 45 were 
tuberculous, while in England the proportion 
rises as high as 20 in 100 

It is known, say our authors, that in tuber- 
culosis the climate of high altitudes, even for 
those far advanced, prolongs life. What is it, 
then, that can diminish the number of cases 
or help those already attacked? Our authors 
attack this momentous question in the true 
spirit of experimental science. The illumina- 
tion by the solar rays attains its maximum at 
high altitudes, and experiment proves that light 


256 


kills the bacilli and their spores with incredi- 
ble rapidity. The dryness and cold also work 
against the existence of microbes. 

But how can the rarefied air influence favor- 
ably pulmonary tuberculosis? After prolonged 
experimental study our authors sum up their 
results in certain theorems, which are discussed 
separately: (I.) Lessening pressure increases the 
circulation of air in the lungs, dilates them and 
obliges torpid parts to functionize. (II.) Lessen- 
ing pressure determines a greater quantity of 
blood to the lungs. (III.) Lessening pressure, 
dilating the lungs, permits a uniform distribu- 
tion of blood, makes regular its circulation and 
thus combats congestion. ([V.) Lessening pres- 
sure diminishes intrapulmonary tension in gen- 
eral and in particular intravascular tension. 
(V.) Augumentation of red globules and white 
globules. (VI.) Desiccation of mucous surfaces. 
The favoring of evaporation. 

Numerous experiments on animals were fol- 
lowed by the actual treatment of tuberculosis 
by rarefied air, diminution of pressure. The 
results were highly encouraging and remark- 
able. Of the 13 healthy persons and numerous 
consumptives submitted to the action of rarefied 
air not one experienced the alarming symp- 
toms described by P. Bert (Pression baromét- 
rique, p. 750). The experiments of Paul Bert 
having been credited, put a stop to all progress 
in these matters, and the whole world is in- 
debted to Herrera and Lope for removing the 
embargo and smashing the tabu. 

Of 18 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis treated 
by baths of rarefied air only one lost weight, 
one remained stationary, eleven increased most 
notably in weight, one increasing 300 gr. each 
day, one increasing 28 gr. each day during 4 
months of treatment. 

Our authors hold that the acclimation of 
plants, animals and man to the atmospheric con- 
ditions of high altitudes is rapid and in general 
perfect, without the slightest loss of vigor. 

The vegetable kingdom reaches its maximum 
at high altitudes. As for mere size we need 
only mention the great tree of Tula and the 
tree of Montezuma. Any limitation is question 
of temperature, not atmospheric density. Spe- 
cies ascend the summits as they approach the 
equator. This is a pregnant hint for scientific 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


agriculture. The more intense light of the alti- 
tudes, as also the dryness and decreased pres- 
sure, influence favorably the formation of chloro- 
phyl, the decomposition of carbonic acid, the 
formation of amidon, the movement of proto- 
plasm, the multiplication of epidermic cells, the 
force of transpiration, the absorption of oxygen. 

As for animals, the fact that many species 
emigrate periodically to high altitudes and 


. flourish there proves that often acclimation is 


exceedingly quick. Mammals are subject to 
‘mal des montagnes’ and then must undergo a 
period of acclimation more or less troublesome: 
The symptoms are analogous to those in man. 
But the result is perfectadaptation. Longevity 
is not decreased, nor fecundity, nor secretions 
(e. g- milk), 

In the blood the number of red globules aug- 
ments with the altitude. There is an exact 
proportion between this number and the baro- 
metric pressure of the locality. This is so little 
known that in Mexico reputable physicians 
have declared patients not suffering from 
anemia despite most evident symptons, simply 
because microscopic examination of the blood 
disclosed the number of the globules considered 
as normal in Europe! ‘The tension of the blood 
diminishes with the altitude. On the other 
hand, the intensity of intra-organic combustion, 
the temperature, the colorification is exactly 
the same for inhabitants of the City of Mexico, 
at an elevation of 7,350 feet, as for man at the 
low European levels. 

This whole book is so unexpectedly rich in 
scientific contributions of the most momentous 
practical importance that no one working in 
any of the subjects touched can afford to be 
without it, and our sister republic deserves to 
be publicly congratulated on its appearance. 


GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED. 
AUSTIN, TEXAS. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


A History of Physics. FLORIAN CAgoRI. New York 
and London, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. 
viii + 322. $1.60. 

The Microscopy of Drinking Water. GEORGE CHAND- 
LER WHIPPLE. New York, John Wiley & Sons ; 
London, Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1899. Pp. xii-+ 
300 and 19 plates. 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


Who’s Who, 18992 Edited by DoUGLAS SLADEN. 
London, Adam and Charles Black ; New York, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xx + 1014. $1.75. 

Laboratory Manual in Astronomy. Mary E. ByRpD. 
Boston, Ginn & Co. 1899. Pp. ix-+ 273. 

Experimental Morphology. Part II. Effect of Chem- 
ical and Physical Agents on Growth. CHARLES 
BENEDICT DAVENPORT. New York and London, 
The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xviii + 508. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


American Chemical Journal, February: ‘On 
the Constitution of the Salts of Imido-Ethers 
and other Carbimide Derivatives,’ by Julius 
Stieglitz. ‘On the Hydrochlorides of Carbo- 
phenylimid Derivatives,’ by H. N. McCoy. 
‘On the Solubility of Argentic Bromide and 
Chloride in Solutions of Sodic Thiosulphate,’ by 
T. W. Richards and H. B. Faber. From astudy 
of the solubility and effect upon the freezing 
points of solutions caused by these salts certain 
conclusions have been drawn as to the probable 
nature of the substances present in solution. 
‘Note on the Spectra of Hydrogen,’ by T. W. 
Richards. The author considers the presence 
of the red spectrum to be due to a breaking- 
down of water vapor forming atomic hydrogen, 
which gives the red spectrum. If the gas is 
perfectly dry the white spectrum alone is ob- 
tained. J. E. GILPin. 


THE first number of Bird Lore, edited by 
Mr. F. M. Chapman, and devoted to popular 
ornithology, has just appeared. As the official 
organ of the Audubon Society, and in appeal- 
ing to young readers as well as old, Bird Lore 
essays to cover anew field. The frontispiece 
is a view of John Burroughs at ‘Slab Sides,’ 
and the first article, ‘In Warbler Time,’ is from 
his pen. There are two articles illustrated by 
photographs from life, by Dr. T. 8. Roberts 
and H. W. Menke; Miss Isabel Eaton has a 
department for teachers and students, and Miss 
Florence A. Merriam one for young observers; 
Notes, Reviews and Editorials follow ; while the 
Audubon Department, edited by Mrs. Mabel 
Osgood Wright, concludes the number. 


WE have received the first number of The School 
World, published in Great Britain, by Messrs. 
Macmillan & Co., and addressed especially to 


SCIENCE. 257 


teachers in the secondary schools. The first 
number presents an interesting table of con- 
tents including articles on ‘The Teaching of Al- 
gebra,’ by Professor G. B. Mathews, F.R.S.; 
‘Physical Observations of Brain Conditions of 
Boys and Girls in Schools,’ by Dr. Francis 
Warner; ‘Bimanual Training in Schools,’ by 
Mr. H. Bloomfield Barry; ‘Elementary Ex- 
perimental Science,’ by Professor R. A. Greg- 
ory and Mr. A. T. Simmons; and ‘Current 
Geographical Topics,’ by Dr. A. J. Herbertson. 


THE Annual Report of the Director of the 
Field Columbian Museum for 1897-98 notes 
good progress, particularly in the Departments 
of Anthropology, Geology and Botany. Two 
of Mr. Akeley’s fine groups have been added to 
the exhibition series, one of the Oryx and one 
of Waller’s Gazelle, the latter very striking from 
the pose of the principal figure and from the 
extreme length of neck and limbs obtained by 
these animals. One of the plates in the report 
shows the large model of the moon recently 
noticed in Screnck. The Director notes that 
special attention has been given to what he 
aptly terms the ‘ highly important but uninter- 
esting and endless labor’ of cataloguing, inven- 
torying and labelling 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 300th regular meeting of the Biological 
Society of Washington was held January 14, 
1899, President Frederick V. Coville in the 
chair. Brief notes were presented by the fol- 
lowing members: Ashmead, Bailey, Pollard, 
Erwin F. Smith, Chesnut and Cook. Mr. Ash- 
mead exhibited specimens of a very rare South 
American wasp (Chirodamus), the type of which 
was secured by Charles Darwin during the voy- 
age of the ‘Beagle.’ The new specimens were 
secured by the U. S. Fish Commission and be- 
long to the National Museum. 

Mr. Vernon Bailey described a case of pro- 
tective coloration in Ochotona, a coney native 
to the mountains of California. One of the 
broken pieces of the rocks among which the 
animals live was shown in comparison with a 
stuffed specimen. Mr. Chesnut submitted pho- 
tographs and fruits of the California Laurel 


258 SCIENCE. [N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


(Umbellularia californica), a small tree of the 
olive family. A volatile oil is distilled from the 
leaves and used for medicinal purposes, while 
the fruits are eaten by the Indians after being 
roasted to destroy an acrid principle which they 
contain, 

In the regular program Mr. C. L. Marlatt 
explained the difficulty and confusion which 
has appeared in connection with previous at- 
tempts at designating numerically the broods of 
the Seventeen- Year Locust, or Periodical Cicada, 
This insect presents two distinct races, or sub- 
species, the more southern of which has a 
thirteen-year period. Mr. Marlatt proposes to 
use the Roman numerals from I to XVII for 
the seventeen-year broods and then continue 
from XVIII to XXX for the thirteen-year series, 
thus providing a fixed designation for every 
possible brood. Preceding nomenclatures of 
the subject were compared with the new sug- 
gestions by means of charts. The paper was 
discussed by Messrs. Howard, Lucas, Gill, 
Waite, Ashmead and Cook. 

Dr. E. A. de Schweinitz explained the practi- 
cal working of the serum treatment for swine 
plague and hogcholera. In the previous season 
(1897) about 200 animals were treated, with a 
loss of about 20 per cent., while of the re- 
corded cases of uninoculated animals about 80 
per cent. died. During the past season the 
treatment was given to about 2,000, with a 
loss of about 23 per cent., while of 4,000 un- 
treated about 40 per cent. died. The slightly 
greater percentage of loss this season is ex- 
plained by the fact that the conditions of the 
experiment were not as carefully controlled. 
The difficulty of diagnosis renders it desirable 
to use a mixture of the serums prepared for the 
two diseases. 

Dr. Erwin F. Smith discussed ‘The Effect 
of Acid Media on the Growth of Certain Plant 
Parasites.’ Extended experiments with sev- 
eral bacterial diseases of plants demonstrate 
that some species of these are exceedingly sus- 
ceptible to an excess of acid in the culture me- 
dium. The very slow progress of some such 
diseases was explained by the fact that they are 
limited at first to the vascular system, the fluids 
of which are alkaline, while those of the paren- 
chyma are acid. Some of the germs refused, in 


fact, to grow at all in the media prepared with 
the juices of their own host-plants, until the 
acidity had been artifically neutralized, while 
in others growth was greatly retarded. A 
chart was exhibited showing the comparative 
reactions of the various species studied, with 
reference to a definite scale of acidity and 


alkalinity. 
O. F. Coox, 


Corresponding Secretary. 


MEETING OF THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE 
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


THE January meeting of the New York Sec- 
tion of the American Chemical Society was 
held on Friday evening, the 13th ult., in the 
Assembly Hall of the Chemists’ Club, 108 West 
55th street, Dr. Wm. MeMurtrie presiding. 

An arrangement for holding the meetings of 
the Society regularly in the club building was 
announced and ratified by unanimous vote, Re- 
ports were made showing that the funds con- 
tributed for the expenses of the midwinter meet- 
ing had been sufficient ; that the library had 
been moved to the club rooms, where it was 
undergoing classification and arrangement, and 
that the resident membership had reached one 
hundred, and the non-resident nearly, if not 
quite, as many more. 

The following papers were read: ‘ Determi- 
nation of the Bromine Absorption of Fats,’ P. 
C. Mcllhiney; ‘Indicators,’ John Waddell; 
‘Exhibition of Apparatus for Washing Precipi- 
tates,’ etc., W. D. Horne. 

Mr. Mcllhiney recommends the bromine 
number instead of the iodine number for identi- 
fying oils and fats, on account of the greater 
rapidity of reaction, greater stability of the 
bromine-carbon tetrachloride solution both be- 
fore and during use, and the want of differen- 
tiation by iodine, between addition and substi- 
tution compounds in the reaction. 

Mr. Waddell showed some very pretty ex- 
periments illustrating the behavior of indica- 
tors, and explanatory of their adaptability to 
acid or alkaline reaction, according to their re- 
spective constitution. 

Phenolphthalein, a weak acid, reacts red by 
dissociation in presence of a strong alkali; in 
presence of ammonia and alcohol the reaction 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899.] 


may be restrained and again developed by ad- 
dition of water. 

Methyl orange, cyanine and coralline were 
similarly demonstrated. 

A letter was read from the General Secretary 
stating that ‘‘ at the closing session of the mid- 
winter meeting at Columbia University, Decem- 
ber 28th, by unanimous vote, the cordial thanks 
of the Society were extended to the New York 
Section for the bountiful hospitalities of the 
Section, which were so heartily enjoyed by the 
members of the Society during the eighteenth 
general meeting.”’ 

DuRAND WoopDMAN, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
REPLY TO CRITICS. 


Suppose a house just finished is empty; sup- 
pose that it is painted inside and out so as to 
conceal from vision everything but the paint. 
Suppose I come upon such a house for the first 
time and consider it a body of paint, for paint 
is the only thing that appears at first! In time 
I discover that it is made of bricks. At first it 
had the appearance of paint; now it has the 
appearance of paint and bricks. After further 
investigation I find that it is partly of wood, 
for wood appears in its structure. Now, I con- 
clude that it is paint, bricks and wood. By 
further investigation I find that it is composed 
partly of iron. Now, I consider it as paint, 
bricks, wood and iron. Then I might investi- 
gate paint, bricks, wood and iron to discover 
their chemical constitution and the biological 
history of wood, and new facts would appear. 
I might go on indefinitely to show how new 
things are discovered in the building, both in 
structure and in purpose, and the new things 
discovered will appear to me. Those already 
mentioned are enough for this illustration. 

Common sense says that paint:is paint. The 
metaphysician says that paint is appearance ; 
that there is no paint as paint, or at least all we 
know about it is appearance. The same may 
be said with regard to the bricks. Common 
sense says bricks are bricks, whether they ap- 
pear or not; the metaphysician says the bricks 
are only appearances. Common sense says 
there is wood, whether it appears or not; the 


SCIENCE. 


209 


metaphysician says no, it is only appearance. 
When we discover the iron, common sense says 
there is iron in this structure, whether it appears 
or not ; the metaphysician says no, there is only 
appearance, 

Let us get a learned name for appearance. 
Let us call appearance ‘phenomenon,’ for that 
is the Greek word meaning appearance. Now, 
common sense says that paint, bricks, wood and 
iron are paint, bricks, wood and iron, respect- 
ively, and that appearance is appearance ; but 
our metaphysician says that all of these things 
are only appearance and we call appearances 
phenomena ; therefore, this house, with all its 
appearance, is only a concatenation of phe- 
nomena. Ofttimes it is asserted that the world 
is a phenomenal world. Those who make this 
assertion believe that the world is only appear- 
ance. Common sense says that all things of the 
world exist and manifest themselves by appear- 
ance, but that they exist whether they manifest 
themselves or not. Metaphysic says that the 
things of the world do not exist as they appear, 
but that their substrates exist, and that these 
substrates manifest properties which are not 
the things themselves. The properties are only 
illusions—there is no iron, but there is a sub- 
strate of iron which manifests certain attributes 
which are illusions. 

In modern times there are two ways in which 
these supposed illusions are explained. In one 
way the attempt is made to show that the sub- 
strate of things is psychosis or abstract mind; 
the other is the attempt to explain that the sub- 
strate is force or motion. Thus, metaphysicians 
may be classified as idealists and not materialists. 

Common sense says that we may know a 
body imperfectly and by investigation cognize 
more and more about it, and, however, simple 
a body it may be, we may, by investigation, 
learn very much about it and still not know all. 

The idealist says this is true, but by further 
investigation everything will turn into appear- 
ance until we resolve the body into a substrate, 
and its substrate will be found to be psychosis, 
which is timeless and spaceless. 

The materialists say we know more and more 
about a body until we resolve it into motion or 
force, some holding that force creates motion, 
others that force is a mode of motion; so that 


260 


this school is divided into two classes—those 
who believe force to be the substrate of bodies, 
and those who believe motion to be the sub- 
strate of bodies. Those who believe that force 
is a substrate believe that force is attraction 
and repulsion; those who believe that motion 
is the substrate believe that attraction can be 
resolved into repulsion and hence that force is 
a mode of motion. 

The idealist believes also that force is attrac- 
tion and repulsion, for this seems necessary to 
his doctrine that psychosis is the substrate of 
phenomena. 

In SCIENCE for January 27th two eminent men 
review my little book on ‘Truth and Error.’ 
One seems to be an idealist, for he is marked 
with the paint- pot of this philosophy, though he 
repudiates it. The other seems to be a ma- 
terialist as the term was defined in the book. 
Of course, the terms used do not characterize 
their theology or their religion, but only their 
philosophy. The philosophy of the second 
writer would be characterized better if it were 
called dynamism; but the popular designation 
is materialism, and the use of the term dynam- 
ism would probably offend Mr. Ward. Mr. 
Ward is the most illustrious champion of this 
philosophy in America, and he has written a 
work on this subject, entitled ‘Dynamic Soci- 
ology,’ which is dynamic philosophy applied to 
sociology. 

During the last decade of this century great 
activity has been developed in scientific psy- 
chology. The new science is confronted with 
this problem, which is solved in the way I have 
tried to indicate. All psychologists are drawn 
into a whirlpool of disputation, and those scien- 
tific men engaged in other departments of re- 
search often drift into it. 

Usually the idealist sneers at a philosophy 
of science, for ‘science deals only with phe- 
nomena,’ mere appearance—and philosophy 
deals with the substrate, the thing in itself— 
psychosis. Dynamism always advocates a me- 
chanical philosophy when its votaries attempt 
to philosophize, as Ward has done and as Spencer 
did before him. 

In the same number of SCIENCE to which 
reference has been made there is a review of 
Mivart’s book, probably from the standpoint of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


a dynamist, but perhaps from the standpoint 
of an idealist, for this philosophy is of many 
kinds. Notwithstanding the denial by the 
idealist of a possibility of a philosophy other 
than idealism, the warfare between the two 
philosophies is rife, and at the present day is 
the subject of disputation, as evolution was the 
subject a few years ago. Every new publica- 
tion on the broader aspect of science takes up 
the gauntlet for one or another of these sub- 
jects. Now, I believe that these metaphysical 
philosophies are mutually destructive, like the 
cats of whom Mr. Brooks speaks; yet I believe 
that both contain an element of truth, and that 
the Kantian doctrine of antinomies, which was 
elaborated into a doctrine of contradictories by 
Hegel, is a fallacious logic. 

Of course, I do not expect to please the ideal- 
ist or the dynamist, nor do I expect to kindle the 
love of those who believe that all philosophizing 
isin vain, but of this class there are compara- 
tively few. There are engaged in scientific re- 
search many men who cultivate a special field 
and who attempt to harmonize opinions only 
within that field. There are others who survey 
larger fields and make wider attempts to arrive 
at congruities, and there are still others who 
attempt to make all fundamental doctrines of 
science congruous, and this is what I have at- 
tempted to do in my book. 

Consciousness and choice, as the fundamental 
judgment, certainly inhere in animals, and I 
have proposed as an hypothesis worthy of con- 
sideration that all particles have these elements 
of judgment. Besides animals there are other 
bodies in the universe; these are molecules, 
stars, rocks and plants. In the science of 
chemistry it is universally recognized that there 
is a phenomenon in chemical reaction which is 
called affinity and which eminent chemists be- 
lieve to be choice. The late T. Sterry Hunt 
was an advocate of this doctrine. If there is 
choice of one particle for another there must 
be consciousness, and this is the doctrine held 
by Hunt. I merely cite the example and affirm 
that there are many such chemists. Chemistry 
is not my special field of investigation, but the 
doctrine which I learned from chemists and 
which has been advocated by many others, 
especially physicists, like Herschel, is taken by 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


me as an hypothesis to be applied in the new 
science of psychology, which I do try to culti- 
vate. 

I have already set forth that choice is the re- 
lational element which corresponds to the es- 
sential element—consciousness. Now, by this 
hypothesis, consciousness inheres in every par- 
ticle of matter. It does not inhere in bodies 
themsélves as such, but only in their several 
particles, unless they are animals, for both re- 
quire an organization for the faculties of mind 
in order that they should have judgments and 
concepts. The faculties of mind do not exist 
in molecules, stars, rocks and plants as bodies. 
The element of consciousness, together with 
the element of choice as inference, is exhibited 
only in the particles of what I call mechanical 
bodies to distinguish them from animal bodies. 

In molecules we have the affinity of the par- 
ticles, but the particles themselves are incor- 
porated only as numbers. The many particles 
constitute the organ of the one molecule. 
Hence chemistry is the science of kinds, but of 
natural kinds as distinguished from conventional 
kinds employed by man in the arts. In the 
molecules we discover a discrete degree of in- 
corporation and organization, because in nature 
incorporation or evolution is accomplished in 
stages by properties. 

The molecule has not consciousness as a body 
or kind, but it has consciousness in its several 
particles. Here we must understand the dis- 
tinction between organization and incorporation. 
When we consider incorporation we consider 
the one body ; when we consider organization 
we consider the many particles of the one body. 
Organization and incorporation are thus re- 
ciprocals. When we consider organization we 
consider the relation of parts to one another ; 
when we consider incorporation we consider 
the whole body. The incorporation of a mole- 
cule is by the affinity of its particles, and the 
particles are the organs of the molecule, and 
they make of the molecule a new kind of sub- 
stance. Modern chemistry recognizes this fact, 
for itis taught that when molecules combine 
with molecules to make molecules in a higher 
order or kind, the combination is of ultimate 
particles and not a mere juxtaposition of con- 
stituent molecules. So I interpret the teach- 


SCIENCE. 


261 


ings of the new chemistry. For example, 
solution is now held to be chemical action and 
to involve affinity, and is not a mere mechanical 
mixture of the matter held in solution. This 
molecule is a body with organs; as particles 
they perform the function of incorporation for 
the molecule. 

The nature of incorporation and organization 
may be illustrated. A hundred persons may 
meet to organize themselves into a society. 
They organize by first electing a president, the 
executive officer who governs the body; then 
they elect a secretary, who is the memory of 
the body ; they may elect a treasurer and other 
officers; I need not extend the subject beyond 
the president, secretary and treasurer. Now, 
a group of members constitute a body organized 
with a president and secretary. In this man- 
ner the hundred individuals become one body. 
In the same manner in every body of nature— 
molecules, stars, rocks, trees or animals—there 
is an incorporation which is effected by organ- 
ization. 

The particles of the society are its individual 
members; every one has consciousness, but the 
body itself has no consciousness ; so the mole- 
cule has consciousness in its particles, but there 
is no consciousness by the molecule. In nature 
all the particles of a body are organized ; but 
in social bodies all the members become the 
body, and every one is an organ of the body. 

In stars, kinds of molecules are incorporated 
into forms as globes; the kinds thus become 
the organs of form. Here we have another 
discrete degree of incorporation or evolution. 
While the forms as bodies or stars are consid- 
ered when we consider the incorporation, the 
parts of the body as molecules are considered 
when we consider its organization. In the 
stars there are no organs of mind, but there 
are organs of form which are molecules, and in 
the molecules there are organs of kind which 
are the particles. So the star body has con- 
sciousness and choice only in its ultimate par- 
ticles, for it has as a body no organs of mind. 

In rocks, forms are incorporated as forces in 
which stresses and strains are produced. The 
forms are organs of force. Here we have a 
third discrete degree of incorporation and or- 
ganization. To see how this incorporation is 


262 


effected by organization we must consider the 
spheres of geonomy. They are the centro- 
sphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere 
and ethrosphere. These are organs of stress 
and strain which cooperate with one another 
in producing a succession of changes. Strains 
are set up in one geonomic sphere which pro- 
duce stresses in another, and thus we have 
organs of force. These organs of force are 
forms, so that incorporation implies organiza- 
tion, and organization implies incorporation. 
Here we have no organs of mind ; but we have 
organs of force, which are forms, and organs of 
forms, which are kinds, and organs of kinds, 
which are ultimate particles. 

Plants are incorporated as causations in which 
an antecedent is followed by a like consequent. 
The child, or consequent, is like the parent, 
or antecedent, thus developing heredity. The 
forces now are the organs of causation, and we 
have a fourth discrete degree of incorporation 
and organization. Still, there are no organs of 
mind, but only organs of force. The forces 
have organs of form, the forms have organs of 
kind, and the kinds have organs of particles ; 
consciousness and choice, therefore, still inhere 
only in the particles. 

Animal bodies are incorporated as minds, and 
the organs of minds are causations. Here we 
have a fifth degree of incorporation and also of 
organization. With bodies incorporated with 
organs of mind, which are causations, and with 
bodies of causation incorporated with organs, 
which are forces, and with forces incorporated 
with organs, which are forms, and with forms 
incorporated with organs, which are kinds, and 
with kinds incorporated with organs, which are 
particles, all of the properties of matter are 
incorporated. Now, the animal body has con- 
sciousness because it has organs for the function, 
while the particles themselves have conscious- 
ness. Thus the body has consciousness as a 
body, as well as the particles, severally, of 
which it is composed. All of the mechanical 
bodies have consciousness and choice, but only 
in their particles; but animal bodies have or- 
ganized consciousness, which is mind. 

This is the conclusion we reach: Molecules, 
stars, rocks and plants have consciousness and 
choice only in their particles, but in animals 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


consciousness and choice are organized as 
mind. 

Hegel taught in his Phenomenology that every 
word, whenever used, has all its meanings, and 
he proceeded on this theory in the development 
of his logic. Mr. Ward seems to hold the same 
doctrine. I hold that whenever a word used 
in science is fundamental it should be used only 
in one sense, and this one sense should be re- 
tained throughout the discussion. Let me illus- 
trate this: In metaphysic the word quality is 
used as synonymous with property; sometimes 
it is used to signify all of the properties and 
sometimes only one of them. Kind, as I have 
shown, is one of the properties, and it is very 
often used as a synonym for kind. I have tried 
to show in this book that it is used also to show 
the relation of bodies in their properties to 
human purposes, which relations are always 
either good or evil depending upon the point 
of view. Now, I have attempted and suc- 
ceeded, as I believe, in using three terms for 
these three different meanings: Properties for 
the name of attributes that inhere in the object ; 
kinds for the name of one property in all its 
degrees of relativity, and qualities to designate 
those attributes which arise through the rela- 
tion of properties to purposes. I use the word 
attribute as a generic term which has two spe- 
cies—qualities and properties; and each of 
these species is again composed of five sub- 
species. This is offensive to Mr. Ward, not 
only in this particular case, but in all similar 
cases. In the book under consideration I have 
coined very few words, but I have tried in all 
fundamental cases to use a word always with 
the same meaning. There cannot be a science 
of psychology until its terms are used with con- 
stant meanings. 

In folklore we often find seven to be a mag- 
ical number; in the same manner we find nine 
and other numbers are considered magical—that 
is, they have occult meanings. The origin of 
these meanings goes back to savage cosmology. 
Now, Mr. Ward supposes that I use the num- 
ber five as if it were magical. But let me as- 
sure him that the magic is not in the number. 
If I pay five dollars to every one of a hundred 
men because of labor performed, I shall not be 
accused of using five as a magical number, but 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


my conduct will be interpreted as my judgment 
of compensation. The significance of the terms 
used depends on the fact that there are five 
essential constants of matter found in every 
particle of the universe; these are unity, ex- 
tension, speed, persistence, and consciousness. 
If the hypothesis that affinity is consciousness 
and choice fails, and affinity is still unexplained 
and consciousness is found only in animal bod- 
ies, then there are but four essentials in inani- 
mate matter, while there are five in animate 
matter, and whenever a new animal body is 
evolved a fifth essential is evolved. 

If the five essentials of properties are found 
in every body this should appear not only as 
affinity, but it should appear in a series in all 
bodies. This I have tried to show. I have 
called the essentials concomitants, and this term 
seems to offend Mr. Ward, but the term con- 
comitant is used in the same sense in all modern 
and scientific psychology. Again, I have tried 
to show the nature of reciprocality ; as, for ex- 
ample, when I set forth that quantities or prop- 
erties that can be measured are the reciprocals 
of categories, or properties that can be classified. 
When I come to the second volume I shall 
greatly multiply these series and shall then 
systematize them into an argument ; but I shall 
try not to make a pentalogic series where none 
exists, as Mr. Ward has done in the tables which 
he thinks he has compiled from my book. I 
find scientific men marshalled in three camps— 
one as champions of idealism, another as cham- 
pions of dynamism, and a third rejecting all 
philosophy as vain. Ihave begun on the attempt 
to propound a Philosophy of Science. 

J. W. POWELL. 


ARTIFICIAL DREAMS. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Maury and 
some others have, to a certain extent, experi- 
mented on artificial dreams, but, at my instance, 
my students, Messrs. Matthews and Morley, 
undertook a series of experiments which may 
have some value in further illustrating the 
subject and pointing the way to further work. 
The method employed was for the one at an 
early hour in the morning to stimulate sensa- 
tion in the other for a brief period, often 30 
seconds, and then waken the dreamer, who at 


SCIENCE. 


263 


once recorded the dream. In general, the 
dreamer did not know beforehand what stimulus 
was to be applied. 

The olfactory element in dreams being little 
recorded by experimenters, particular attention 
was paid to this point. Smell was slightly 
stimulated with heliotrope, and visual images 
mostly resulted, but in ten cases the dream was 
also olfactory, twice the dream being of a bunch 
of Violets and of smelling them. In a very 
strong stimulation of heliotrope the dream was 
of being choked with smell of perfume. This 
dream was in its early part composed of re- 
markable and vivid visualimages. The dreamer 
flew on an air-ship through a snow-storm, and 
then over a country covered with white enamel 
and filled with white elephants, one of which 
pulled down the air-ship but soon released it, 
and then the whole herd flew off ‘like somany 
butterflies.’ This imagery has the characteris- 
tic quality of opium dreams. 

In taste stimulation by salt and water there 
was a dream of eating olives. 

In stimulating hearing repeatedly with a 
middle C tuning fork, within an interval of two 
weeks, a visual-auditory dream was repeated 
in ‘every detail.’ A fork in a lower octave 
gave dream of hearing fog horn, but no visual 
image. Another time it was the roar ofa lion, 
but no visual image. | 

The record gives for temperature stimulation 
2 pure temperature dreams, and 8 visual and 
temperature; for pressure stimulation 2 visual 
and pressure, for smell stimulation 1 pure 
smell and 6 pure visual and 10 visual and olfac- 
tory ; for hearing stimulation 7 pure auditory, 
6 visual and auditory. 

These reports suggest that artificial dreams 
may be divided into three classes: First, the 
simple dream, where the stimulus is removed at 
the least sign of reaction, and the consequent 
dream is usually vague andmomentary. Second, 
the cumulative dream, where the stimulus is 
continued and made to increase to even the 
highest point of excitation, and the dream has 
a definite intensifying development till the 
waking point. (An interesting dream would 
probably be produced by a metronome brought 
nearer and nearer, either directly or through a 
tube connected with the dreamer’s ear.) The 


264 SCIENCE. 


third class is the complex dream which may be 
determined by different kinds of stimuli succes- 
sively applied. These reports also suggest a 
practical matter that those who find dream 
pleasures a necessity, as the opium eater, might 
obtain a large measure of such pleasures by per- 
fume and other stimuli which do not leave un- 
healthy reactions. 

As to my own dreams I may mention a few 
facts which may be suggestive. My dreaming 
is commonly of places and persons which are 
totally unknown, but, of course, the types are fa- 
miliar. I often dream of being in a crowd and 
studying faces which I have never seen before. 
Similarly I dream of being in a bookstore and 
picking up new books which I have never seen, 
and reading many pages, and looking at strange 
pictures. I once awoke from a vivid dream of 
this sort, and was able to recall several sen- 
tences, and to notice that they were far from 
my own style of writing, and had an individu- 
ality of their own which I could not recognize. 
But all this merely means that those in whom 
the constructive imagination is strong exercise 
it freely in sleep. 

A singular case of dream stimulation is this : 
I dreamed of being in a strange hilly country, 
and a man appeared driving a tandem. In 
vain he sought to get up the hills, and the horses 
became so ludicrously tangled that I burst into 
loud laughter; this was heard in another room. 
In my laughter I heard other voices laughing, 
all from a single direction, but there was no 
visual image. It is highly probable that my 
dream of hearing others’ laughter was stimu- 
lated by hearing my own laughter. 

Maury makes the ‘embryogeny of the dream’ 
to consist in ‘hypnagogic hallucination,’ that is, 
in the stage of waking just previous to sleep 
visual and auditory hallucinations occur which 
are carried into sleep, but it appears to me that 
he lays much too great stress on the point. I 
noticed the other morning during a succession 
of cat-naps that the formation was not in any 
wise hallucinatory. Awake for a few seconds 
I thought of dressing, and had the images of 
the process but not hallucinatory, but knowing 
them to be ideas to be realized, but the senses 
quickly falling asleep, these images constituted 
a dream reality, I was really dressing. Very 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


commonly our last waking thoughts turn into 
dream without any hallucinatory stage. 
Hiram M. STANLEY. 
LAKE Forest, ILL., January 23, 1899. 


TROWBRIDGE’S THEORY OF THE EARTH’S MAG- 
NETISM. 


In an article entitled ‘The Upper Regions of 
the Air,’ in the January number of the Forum, 
Professor John Trowbridge proposes a new 
theory to account for the phenomena of the 
earth’s magnetism, of the northern lights and 
of thunder storms. 

His theory, briefly stated, is that those waves 
of energy coming from the sun whose wave- 
lengths are of the order of those concerned in 
the X-ray phenomena are completely absorbed 
by the atmosphere and transformed into elec- 
tric and magnetic energy in the upper regions 
of the air, and that being thus transformed they 
fail to manifest themselves as light at lower 
altitudes. According to Perrin and Winkel- 
mann, the X-rays have the property of commu- 
nicating an electric charge to conductors. ‘‘If, 
therefore, X-rays reach the earth from the sun 
they are competent to give an electrical charge 
to our atmosphere. The side, therefore, of the 
earth turned toward the sun would receive a 
charge in the upper good-conducting regions of 
the air. This charge would tend to dissipation, 
and there would be a flow of electricity toward 
the side of the earth not turned to the sun. 
The rotation of the earth on its axis from west 
to east would bring forward at each revolution 
fresh regions of the upper air to receive the 
electrical charging from the sun. There would 
be an accumulation of electricity on one side of 
the earth and a diminution of electricity on the 
other. The conditions of the equalization of 
the electrical charge, or the flow of electricity, 
might be determined by the direction of rotation 
of the earth. If this flow took place from east to 
west, just opposite to the direction of rotation 
of the earth, and were sufficiently powerful, it 
would produce the magnetic north and south 
poles. It has been found that air submitted to 
the action of the X-rays continues for some 
time to manifest their influence. We should, 
therefore, expect a fall of electric pressure be- 
tween the regions just entering into daylight 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


and those in the full glare of the sun. This 
condition would direct the resulting electric 
current from east to west, or in the direction 
opposite to that of the earth’s rotation,”’ 

The author says we have no good theory to 
account for the earth’s magnetism unless we are 
ready to accept the one he has proposed. Let 
us see, then, how the well-known magnetic phe- 
nomena of the earth are accounted for by this 
theory. 

First. The north end of the compass needle 
points approximately toward the north. Ap- 
plying Ampere’s rule to Trowbridge’s currents 
flowing in the upper regions of the air from 
east to west we find that the north end of the 
needle would point south. Hence the author’s 
currents must be reversed, 7. e., they must flow 
from west to east, or in the same direction as 
that of the earth’s rotation. 

Second. The north end of the dip needle 
points down in our datitude; hence applying 
Ampere’s rule again, the electric currents must 
go in the clockwise direction around the needle, 
or, in other words, must proceed from east to 
west, or contrary to the direction of the earth’s 
rotation. Weshould have, then, here a peculiar 
state of things. In order to satisfy the phe- 
nomena of the horizontal needle, Trowbridge’s 
currents must go from west to east ; to account, 
however, for the known facts of the dipping 
needle, they must simultaneously go in a con- 
trary direction. 

In short, if electric currents produce the ob- 
served phenomena of the compass and of the dip 
needle they cannot be in the atmosphere, but must 
be inside the earth’s crust and proceed from east to 
west. 
these currents and he will find that they will 
now completely represent the known magnetic 
phenomena. 

The fact that the causes of the earth’s mag- 
netism must be almost entirely within the earth’s 
crust was shown mathematicalty by Gauss half 
a century ago and has been amply verified by 
the recent investigations of Schmidt. His 
elaborate mathematical analysis has resulted in 
the following conclusions: 

The earth’s magnetic force consists of three 
parts, viz: (1.) The greatest part ; this is to be 
referred to causes within the earth’s crust, and 


Let the author apply Ampere’s rule to ° 


SCIENCE. 265 


possesses a potential. (2.) The smallest part’ 
about 1-40 of the entire force; this is due to 
causes outside the earth’s crust, and likewise 
possesses a potential. (3.) A somewhat larger 
part than the preceding ; this does not possess a 
potential, and, in consequence, points to the 
existence of vertical earth-air electric currents. 
These currents amount, on the average, for the 
entire earth’s surface, to one-sixth of an ampere 


per sq. km. 
L. A. BAUER. 
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI. 


I AM much obliged to Professor Bauer for his 
courteous criticism of my theory of terrestrial 
magnetism, and I am inclined to give great con- 
sideration to the opinion of such an authority 
on the earth’s magnetism. I imagined, how- 
ever, that the electrical currents were largely 
localized at the region of the astronomical poles 
of the earth, and I supposed, also, that the 
earth, as a whole, is para-magnetic. 


Fie. 1. 


According to my theory, poles M and N, 
Fig. 1, might, perhaps, be formed in this mag- 
netic matter, which would be competent to 
produce both inclination and declination of a 
magnet 4 B. Considerations of the earth’s ro- 
tation and the temperature of the air currents 
led me to localize, so to speak, the electrical 
action at the poles of the earth. It has always 
seemed to me that Gauss’ theory may be con- 
sidered a mathematical theory, which would be 
true, considering the limited number of obser- 
vations he had to work with, whether we sup- 
pose the earth’s magnetic poles to be formed 
by currents in the crust of the earth or by ro- 
tary phenomena in the medium outside the 


earth. 
JOHN TROWBRIDGE. 


266 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

FURTHER studies of hydrozoic acid, HN,, are 
given in the Journal fiir praktische Chemie by 
Professor Curtius and Dr. Rissom. All of its 
salts as far as known are anhydrous. Lithium 
hydrazoate explodes violently on heating, and 
thallium hydrozoate detonates by percussion ; 
the other hydrazoates of the alkalies and alka- 
line earths are comparatively stable. When 
they are heated carefully in small quantities in 
thin glass tubes they decompose quietly with 
evolution of nitrogen and the metal is left in a 
pure condition. This is pointed out as being 
the easiest method of preparing small quantities 
of barium, strontium and calcium. In the 
light of Moissan’s recent researches, it would 
be interesting to know if the residual substance 
on heating calcium hydrozoate is really metallic 
ealcium, or calcium nitrid, which might read- 
ily be formed under these circumstances. The 
authors further find that a solution of the free 
hydrozoie acid decomposes to some extent on 
heating with dilute mineral acids, hence the 
amount of free acid obtained in this way from 
the salts is much less than the theoretical. 

AN interesting synthesis from acetylene has 
been accomplished by Berthelot, according to 
the Comptes Rendus. Acetylene is led into fum- 
ing sulfuric acid, and the potassium salt of 
the acid thus formed is fused for a short time 
at 200° C. On acidification and distillation, 
phenol is easily recognized. This synthesis is 
peculiarly interesting from the fact that it is 
accomplished at such a low temperature. 

THE work of Hantzsch and of others on the re- 
actions of inorganic salts in other than aqueous 
solutions, and especially in solutions of non-elec- 
trolytes, is bearing much fruit in enabling the 
preparation of new inorganic compounds. 
Hantzsch has just described, in the Zeitschrift fiir 
anorganische Chemie, the disulfid of silver Ag,S,, 
corresponding to the recently discovered di- 
oxid, Ag,O,. It is readily precipitated from a 
solution of silver nitrate in benzonitril, on add- 
ing a solution of sulfur in carbon bisulfid. Itis 
a brown amorphous powder, insoluble in ordi- 
nary solvents, melts ata fairly high tempera- 
ture, but rapidly decomposes, and oxidizes with 
great rapidity in the air when moist or in water. 
Other solvents, including pyridin, were tried in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


its preparation, but benzonitril was the only 
one found in which the disulfid could be 


formed. 
dg, 1p, del 


ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 


Proressors W. C. HERDMAN and Rupert 
Boyce have presented to the Royal Society a 
further study of Oysters and Diseases (pub- 
lished in Nature), from which we take the fol- 
lowing : 

Although we did not find the bacillus typho- 
sus in any oysters obtained from the sea or from 
the markets, yet in our experimental oysters 
inoculated with typhoid we were able to re- 
cover the organism from the body of the oyster 
up to the tenth day. We show that the ty- 
phoid bacillus does not increase in the body or 
in the tissues of the oyster, and our figures in- 
dicate that the bacilli perish in the intestine. 

Our experiments showed that the sea-water 
was inimical to the growth of the typhoid ba- 
cilli. Although their presence was demonstra- 
ted in one case on the twenty-first day after 
addition to the water, still there appeared to be 
no initial or subsequent multiplication of the 
bacilli. : 

In our experiments in washing infected oys- 
sters in a stream of clean sea-water the results 
were definite and uniform; there was a great 
diminution or total disappearance of the typhoid 
bacilli in from one to seven days. 

The colon group of bacilli is frequently found 
in shell-fish as sold in towns, and especially in 
the oyster ; but we have no evidence that it oc- 
curs in mollusca living in pure sea-water. The 
natural inference that the presence of the colon 
bacillus invariably indicates sewage contamina- 
tion must, however, not be considered estab- 
lished without further investigation. 

The colon group may be separated in two 
divisions: (1) those giving the typical reactions 
of the colon bacillus, and (2) those giving cor- 
responding negative reactions, and so approach- 
ing the typhoid type; but in no case was an 
organism giving all the reactions of the B. 
typhosus isolated. It ought to be remembered, 
however, that our samples of oysters, although 
of various kinds and from different sources, 
were in no case, so far as we are aware, derived 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


from a bed known to be contaminated or sus- 
pected of typhoid. 

We have shown also the frequent occurrence, 
in various shell-fish from the shops, of anaerobic 
spore-bearing bacilli giving the characteristics 
of the B. enteriitidis sporogenes recently de- 
scribed by Klein. 

As the result of our work, we make certain 
recommendations as to the sanitary regulation 
and registration of the oyster beds, and as to 
quarantine for oysters imported from abroad. 

CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
ETHNOGRAPHY OF LIBERIA. 

In L’ Anthropologie, for August, the French 
Consular Agent at Monrovia, M. Delafosse, 
gives a sketch of the present ethnography of 
Liberia. The colored immigrants from the 
United States, usually with more or less white 
blood in their veins, have mixed indiscrimi- 
nately and largely ‘de la main gauche’ with 
the native inhabitants. They form a parti- 
colored population, not of a promising charac- 
ter. The indigenous languages belong to four 
stocks, the Mande, the Kru, the Gola and the 
Guele, the last mentioned being that of the 
cannibal tribes on the southeast. The original 
people of this part of the coast were the Dé, 
who were related to the Kru tribes and those 
of the Ivory Coast. The Vei belong to the 
Mande (or Mandingo) stocks, and are interest- 
ing as using a peculiar syllabic alphabet, first 
observed by Lieutenant Forbes, U.S. N. M. 
Delafosse says that it was not their invention, 
as has been stated, but was borrowed by them 
from some tribe near the source of the Niger. 


THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SKULL-MASKS. 


THE use of skulls, or imitations of them, as 
masks, was not uncommon in America, and is 
quite frequent in Polynesia. Their symbolism 
and signification are examined by L. Frobenius 
in the Internat. Archiv fiir Ethnographie (1898, 
Heft IV.). Rejecting former and incomplete 
suggestions, he finds this custom arose from that 
of the adoration of skulls themselves. It is 
well known that in primitive religion the skulls 
of men and animals are conspicuous objects of 
worship, as representing the spirits of the de- 
parted. This was connected with the religious 


SCIENCE. 267 


homage to ancestors, to deceased chieftains 
and to the brute eponymous forefathers of the 
totem. Sometimes the symbolism of the skull 
in the mask was reduced merely to the inser- 
tion of teeth or some such single feature. 


THE SVASTIKA IN AMERICA, 


THAT a simple figure, like the Svastika, may 
arise independently, representing quite different 
objects, is again illustrated by Mr. Wm. W. 
Tooker in an article in the American Antiqua- 
rian for December. Among the marks which 
were tattooed on the backs of the Virginian 
Indians as totemic designs we find the Svastika, 
as Mr. Tooker says, ‘in full bloom.’ In this 
instance, from other figures given, the design 
seems to represent four tomahawks crossed in 
pairs, the blades in opposite directions. But, 
as Mr. Tooker remarks, ‘‘It.is a simple figure 
which, when compared with others of aborig- 
inal origin, might be evolved from an Indian’s 
brain,’’ without evoking the hypothesis of a for- 
eign immigration. As a ‘symbol’ it has no 
constant and universal meaning, and the mys- 
tical importance which has been attached to it 
by some imaginative writers has no foundation 
in facts. 

D. G. BRINTON. 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. P. L. SHERMAN, formerly instructor in 
general chemistry in the University of Mich- 
igan, has gone with Professor Worcester to the 
Philippines as his secretary. 

Dr. I. BoRNMULLER has gone to northern 
Persia on a botanical expedition. 

THE Berlin Academy of Sciences has made a 
grant of 2,400 Marks toward the expenses of a 
botanical expedition to Java by Dr. Paul 
Knuth. 

THE herbarium of Professor Chodat, of the 
University of Geneva, has been destroyed by 
fire. 

REPRESENTATIVE SAMUEL J. BARROWS, of 
Massachusetts, will be appointed Librarian of 
the National Library. This is regarded as an 
excellent appointment, that will insure the con- 
duct of the Library without reference to politi- 


268 SCIENCE. 


cal considerations. The position was first of- 
offered to Mr. Herbert Putnam, head of the 
Boston Public Library. 


PROFESSOR WILLIAM OSLER, F.R.S., of the 
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, has ac- 
cepted an invitation to deliver the Cavendish 
lecture for 1899, before the West London 
Medico-Chirurgical Society. 


THE report is circulated that the remains of 
Andrée and his companions and the car of the 
balloon have been found between Kemo and 
Pit, in the province of Yeniseisk, Siberia. 


Dr. R. F. Ciaus, the eminent zoologist pro- 
fessor in the University of Vienna, has died at 
the age of 63 years. 


Tue London Times announces the death of 
the Rev. Thomas Hincks, F.R.8., at Clifton, on 
January 26th. He was the son of the late Rev. 
William MHincks, F.L.8., and was born at 
Exeter in 1818. He was for many years a Uni- 
tarian minister, but had a wide reputation as an 
authority in several departments of marine zo- 
ology, being the author of a history of the 
British Hydroid Zoophytes, published in 1868, 
and a history of the British Marine Polyzoa, 
published in 1889. Both these books are 
largely the results of his own investigations. 
He was elected into the Royal Society in 1872, 
and continued to be an active worker in science 
until very lately. 

WE regret also to record the death of Dr. 
Hampe, professor of chemistry in the School of 
Mines at Clausthal, aged 57 years. 

THE House Committee on Appropriations has 
recommended an increase of $4,200 in the an- 
nual appropriation for scientific work of the 
United States Fish Commission; the entire 
amount now available for the Department of 
Scientific Inquiry being $15,000. This increase 
is the more gratifying since it is made after an 
examination of the practical results that have 
attended the lines of scientific research carried 
on during the past year. 

A BILL has been introduced into the New 
York Assembly appropriating $30,000 to con- 
tinue the promotion of the sugar beet industry, 
of which $2,500 is devoted to making experi- 
ments by the Commissioner of Agriculture. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 216. 


THE American Mathematical Society will 
hold a regular meeting in Room 301 of Fayer- 
weather Hall, Columbia University, on Satur- 
day, February 25th. The two sessions begin at 
10:30 a. m. and 2:30 p. m. 


AT the annual meeting of the Washington 
Academy of Sciences recently held, the follow- 
ing officers were elected for the ensuing year: 
President, Chas. D. Walcott ; Vice-Presidents : 
Anthropological Society, W J McGee ; Biolog- 
ical Society, F. V. Coville ; Chemical Society, 
H. N. Stokes; Entomological Society, Dr. H. 
G. Dyar; Geographic Society, G. K. Gilbert; 
Historical Society, A. R. Spofford ; Medical So- 
ciety, Dr. S. C. Busey; Philosophical Society, 
O. H. Tittmann; Secretary, Frank Baker ; 
Treasurer, Bernard R. Green ; Managers: Class 
of 1902: L. O. Howard, J. W. Powell, Carroll 
D. Wright; Class of 1901: Marcus Baker, 
Henry 8. Pritchett, Geo. M. Sternberg; Class 
of 1900: F. W. Clarke, C. Hart Merriam, Les- 
ter F. Ward. The Academy has arranged for 
a course of popular lectures on scientific sub- 
jects to be given during the months of March 
and April. A number of demonstrations will 
also be given on topics of special interest. The 
first of these was held on the evening of January 
31st, and related to Developments in the Art of 
Recording and Reproducing Sounds, with an ex- 
hibition of the new graphophone recently per- 
fected in the Volta Bureau of Mr. Alex. Graham 
Bell. A welcome donation to the Academy 
was recently made by Mrs. Gardiner Hubbard, 
who in view of the life-long interest in science 
shown by her deceased husband, presented the 
sum of $1,000 as a token of her desire to aid in 
the advancement of science and the union of 
the scientific interests in Washington. The 
Academy showed its appreciation of her gener- 
osity by at once electing her a patron. Ar- 
rangements have been made for the publication 
of the Proceedings of the Academy. The 
‘brochure’ plan will be adopted, each separate 
to have its own pagination as well as that of 
the volume, and to be dated with the actual 
date of delivery to members. Several papers 
have already been presented for publication, 
and it is evident that more funds than are at 
present available could advantageously be spent 
for this purpose. 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


Tue Anthropological Society of Washington 
and the Woman’s Anthropological Society have 
recently united for scientific work, the latter 
discontinuing separate scientific meetings, and 
the former modifying its by-laws in such man- 
ner as to combine the functions hitherto per- 
formed by the two organizations. The union 
was definitely completed at the annual meeting 
of the Anthropological Society of Washington 
on January 17, 1899, at which the modified by- 
laws were adopted, and at which representatives 
of both societies were recognized in the ensuing 
election of officers. The officers for the year 
are as follows: President, W J McGee ; Vice- 
Presidents—Section A, Somatology, Dr. Frank 
Baker; Section B, Psychology, Lester F. 
Ward ; Section C, Esthetology, W. H. Holmes; 
Section D, Technology, Frank Hamilton Cush- 
ing; Section E, Sociology, Dr. George M. 
Kober; Section F, Philology, Major J. W. 
Powell ; Section E, Sophiology, Alice C. Fletch- 
er; General Secretary, Jessie Moore Holton ; 
Treasurer, Perry B. Pierce ; Curator, Mariana 
P. Seaman ; Secretary of the Board of Managers, 
Dr. J. H. McCormick ; Councilors, J. Walter 
Fewkes, Weston Flint, F. W. Hodge, George 
R. Stetson, Edith C. Westcott, Thomas Wilson ; 
Ex-Officio Members of the Board (as Ex-Presi- 
dents), Robert Fletcher, Otis T. Mason. 


THE National Geographic Society offers two 
prizes for the best essays on Norse discoveries 
in America—a first prize of $150 and a second 
prize of $75. Essays submitted in competition 
for these prizes should be typewritten in the 
English language and should not exceed 6,000 
words in length. They should be signed by a 
pseudonym and must be received on December 
31, 1899. The judges are: Henry Gannett, 
Geographer of the U.S. Geological Survey, ete. ; 
Albert Bushnell Hart, professor of history in 
Harvard University ; Anita Neweomb McGee, 
M. D., Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. 8. A.; John 
Bach McMaster, LL. D., professor of history 
in the University of Pennsylvania, and Henry 
S. Pritchett, Superintendent of the U. 8. Coast 
and Geodetic Survey. 


A PROVISIONAL committee for the German Em- 
pire, in connection with the Thirteenth Inter- 
national Medical Congress, which is to be held 


SCIENCE. 


269 


in Paris in 1900, has been formed, with Pro- 
fessor Rudolph Virchow as President. 


As we have already announced, the eighth 
session of the International Geological Congress 
will be held in Paris from August 16 to 28, 
1900, in connection with the great Exposition. 
The American Geologist states that the Com- 
mittee of Organization, of which M. Albert 
Gaudry is President, MM. Michel-Lévy and 
Marcel Bertram, Vice-Presidents, and M. 
Charles Barrois, General Secretary, has already 
held several meetings. The Congress will meet 
in a special pavilion, and the length of its ses- 
sions will permit its members to visit the Ex- 
position and the geological museums of Paris. 
Three general excursions have been arranged 
in addition to nineteen excursions intended 
for specialists, in which the number of members 
who can attend is limited to twenty. <A circu- 
lar describing the plans for these excursions 
will be sent out in 1899, and a guide book 
written by the directors of the excursions will 
be placed on sale at the beginning of 1900. 


Dr. CHARLES Mone, of Mobile, Ala., Special 
Agent of the Forestry Division of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, has recently 
presented to the Museum of Pharmacognosy of 
the University of Michigan some interesting 
and valuable specimens. They consist of a 
section of a pine-tree trunk, showing the 
American method of boxing and bleeding long- 
leafed pines for turpentine ; and of samples of 
the twenty different turpentine products manu- 
factured in the South. The various stages of 
the manufacture of turpentine are well illus- 
trated by these specimens. 


ConsuL AYERS, of Rosario, under date of De- 
cember 9, 1898, writes the Department of State 
that by reason of the continuous onslaught 
made on the locusts through the efforts of the 
commissions, aided by a lately developed nat- 
ural enemy—the Champi beetle—the injury to 
the crops so far has been very slight. The 
consul incloses a letter by an American—Maj. 
O. C. James—describing the beetle, which, it 
appears, feeds upon the eggs of the locust. The 
letter reads, in part: ‘‘The ‘Champi’ is the 
most effective locust-egg destroyer we have in 
Argentina. He isa dirty blackish beetle, the 


270 


larger species being a little more than 1 inch 
long by half an inch broad, and must be looked 
for closely where locusts are laying their eggs 
or his presence may not be discovered. Both 
the mature insect and its larvee feed upon the 
eges of the acridian in large numbers. These 
beetles belong to the genus Trox of the family 
Scarabeide. Ordinarily they feed upon dead 
animals and animal matter more or less desic- 
eated. How they have developed the habit of 
feeding upon locusts’ eggs isa mystery. Still, 
it might be imagined that the steps from a car- 
rion-feeding habit could develop that which the 
insects now possess. In a country where hun- 
dreds of dead animals are left scattered over the 
pampa to decay, these insects have become plen- 
tiful. The eggs of the locusts are covered with 
a frothy exudation that soon becomes strong 
smelling and attracts the beetles, who devour 
them.’’ Under date of December 6th, Consul 
Ruffin, of Asuncion, writes that among the 
worst pests with which Paraguay is infested are 
the grasshoppers, which are almost as large as 
small birds. The name of locust is given them, 
but they are more like what we call grasshop- 
pers. A government commission to study the 
question of their extermination has been ap- 
pointed, and in the last few days a law compel- 
ling everybody to help kill the grasshoppers or 
pay a fine of $20 paper (equal to about $2.75 
gold) has been passed. The young ones, unable 
to fly, are killed, the method being to drive 
them into a long trench and cover them up. 
The grasshoppers, sometimes for a whole day, 
obscure the brilliant tropical sun in their flight 
and make it appear as though the weather were 
cloudy ; they also impede railroad trains. 

THE Weather Bureau office in New York 
City was moved on October 15, 1898, from the 
Manhattan Building, No. 66 Broadway, to the 
American Surety Building, No. 100 Broadway, 

_about two blocks farther north. The monthly 
Weather Review gives some details in regard to 
the old and the new ofiices. The office quarters 
in the Manhattan Building consisted of four cir- 
cular rooms, one immediately above the other, in 
the tower that rises to an altitude of about 88 
feet above the main roof and 355 feet above the 
curbstone on Broadway. Communication be- 
tween the four rooms was by means of a central 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


spiral scaircase. The barometer was in the 
first or lower room. Owing to the presence of 
the tower and the general configuration of the 
roof it was necessary to give the anemometer, 
wind vane and thermometers a much greater 
elevation than would be afforded by the ordi- 
nary supports. The thermometer shelter sup- 
port consisted of a skeleton framework of iron, 
high enough to give the thermometers an eleva- 
tion of 54 feet above the main roof. Ac- 
cess to the shelter was secured by means 
of a spiral staircase, the iron newel of which 
extended upward about 34 feet above the 
top of the framework as a support for 
the wind yane and anemometer. The last- 
named instruments were thus placed at an 
elevation of 326 feet above the curb, but 
still some distance below the top of the main 
portion of the tower. This station was thus 
occupied from March 15, 1895, to October 15, 
1898. The office quarters secured in the Amer- 
ican Surety Building consist of five rooms en 
suite on the twentieth floor, the next but one to 
the top of the building. The roof of the build- 
ing on which the instruments are exposed is 
almost flat and there are no projecting towers 
or chimneys on the building itself or surround- 
ing structures to obstruct the free sweep of the 
wind. The barometer is at the same elevation 
as in the Manhattan Building. The heights of 
the instruments above the Pine street curb and 
the roof are now as follows: 


Instruments. Above curb. Above roof. 
Feet. Feet. 
IBATOMEFErS.cssccsarseatrer sas scs eters 276 eenitaa 
Thermometer ....... 313 11.0 
Anemometer cups.... we. 845 43.5 
Wan evanierancannanesccerecnsse arena 322 19.8 
RAIMI SAUTE cs. cusssecacssostaseeetes 305 3.2 


Tue Boston Society of Natural History, in 
order to meet a considerable loss of income due 
to the lower rate of interest now paid upon 
conservative investments, and also that the ef- 
forts of the Society may keep abreast of the new 
demands arising from the growth of the metro- 
politan district of Boston, needs additional mem- 
bers. From the statement sent with this ap- 
peal we take the following facts regarding the 
Society: \ The Boston Society of Natural His- 
tory was founded April 28, 1830, for ‘the en- 


FEBRUARY 17, 1899. ] 


couragement and promotion of the science of 
natural history.’ It was incorporated February 
25, 1831, and has long been one of the eminent 
and essentially public institutions of the com- 
munity. The Society contributes at present to 
the promotion of science and of public educa- 
tion by the following means: (1) Meetings held 
on the evenings of the first and third Wednes- 
days of each month from November to May. 
These meetings are devoted to the presenta- 
tion of the results of scientific investigations 
and to the popular expositions of such 
studies as are of general public interest. 
(2) Publication of Memoirs, Proceedings and 
Occasional Papers, which all record the discov- 
eries of members and others. These publica- 
tions are widely distributed in all parts of the 
world, more than four hundred copies being 
sent to academies, learned societies and other 
correspondents, as well as to such members of 
the Society as express a wish to receive them. 
(8) The Library, which contains upwards of 
25,000 volumes and 12,000 pamphlets, includes 
numerous extensive sets and rare works, many 
of them not accessible elsewhere in this vicinity. 
Members are allowed eight volumes at a time 
for home use, and each volume may be retained 
a month without renewal. The library priv- 
ileges are granted without reference to resi- 
dence. Books are sent by express at the bor- 
rower’s expense. (4) The Museum contains 
the collections of the Society and is open to the 
public on two days of each week. The number 
of visitors is large on those days. The Museum 
is open to members on other days. Special 
efforts have been made to display the fauna, 
flora and geology of New England. To increase 
the educational value of the collections, printed 
guides have been placed on sale. (5) Lectures 
to teachers and others, which at present are 
largely maintained by the Trustees of the 
Lowell Institute. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Ir is announced that a donor, whose name is 
withheld, has endowed in Harvard University 
a chair of hygiene. 

Maxry HAtu, Brown University, has been 


injured by fire, the damage being estimated at 
$25,000. 


SCIENCE. 271 


Dr. JAMES MONROE TAYLOR has been elected 
President of Brown University. Dr. Taylor 
has been, since 1886, President of Vassar Col- 
lege, where his administration has been very 
successful. 

Dr. THomMAS J. SEE, well known for his im- 
portant researches in astronomy, has been 
nominated fora professorship of mathematics at 
the Naval Academy, Annapolis. 


Mr. W. L. Cascart has been appointed ad- 
junct professor of mechanical engineering in 
Columbia University. At the same meeting of 
the Trustees the title of Professor R. 8. Wood- 
ward was changed from professor of mechanics 
to professor of mechanics and mathematical 
physics. 

ProFressor Fritz REGEL, of Jena, and Dr, 
Erich v. Drygalski, of Berlin, have been ap- 
pointed to professorships of geography in the 
Universities at Wurzburg and Tubingen respect- 
ively. 

Dr. RoBERT OTTo, professor of chemistry in 
the Institute of Technology at Braunschweig, has 
retired. Dr. Voswinckel has qualified as docent 
in chemistry in the Institute of Technology at 
Berlin. 


ACCORDING to the new catalogue of Brown 
University 925 students are enrolled, an in- 
crease of 65 over last year. The increase of 
the Freshman class, from 168 last year to 216 
this, is especially noticeable. There are 99 
graduate students. 


In a recent number of the Harvard Graduates’ 
Magazine, Professor A. B. Hart publishes a 
comparative statement of the attendance at the 
leading American universities. According to 
his figures the institutions rank in numbers as 
follows: 

Undergraduates in arts and sciences: Harvard, 
2,260; Yale, 1,755; Michigan, 1,429; Wisconsin, 
1,097 ; Columbia, 802 ; Chicago, 783 ; Pennsylvania, 
653 ; Johns Hopkins, 187. 

Graduate students : Chicago, 370; Harvard, 319 ; 
Columbia, 313; Yale, 270; Johns Hopkins, 192 ; 
Pennsylvania, 151; Wisconsin, 87; Michigan, 73. 

The medical department: Pennsylvania, 793 ; Co- 
lumbia, 695 ; Harvard, 546; Michigan, 408; Johns 
Hopkins, 201 ; Yale, 112. 

The law department: Michigan, 720; Harvard, 
543 ; Columbia, 341; Pennsylvania, 312; Yale, 195. 


272 


TuHE following details are now given in regard 
to the establishment in Bombay of an Imperial 
University for India. Mr. Jamsetjee N. Tata 
offers a property representing a capital of over 
£200,000 and calculated to yield a yearly in- 
come of nearly £10,000 for the establishment of 
an Imperial University ora Research Institute, 
in order to supply the want of a higher course 
of post-graduate instruction in scientific re- 
search for the best students of the existing uni- 
versities. A provisional committee has drafted, 
for the approval of the government of India, a 
bill which provides for a scheme of studies with 
a threefold division: (1) scientific and techno- 
logical; (2) medical and sanitary, and (8) edu- 
cational and philosophical. The Jast of these 
branches has been included in the scheme in 
order to give the institution the character of a 
university. The new institution seeks to have 
the power of granting degrees and diplomas, 
and as it proposes to offer a strictly post-grad- 
uate course of studies it will not in any way in- 
terfere with the working of any of the existing 
universities. The scheme of the provisional 
committee involves an expenditure larger than 
is provided for by Mr. Tata’s generous offer. A 
grant in aid, therefore, will be asked for from 
the government of India. The support of 
native princes, of local governments and of the 
public generally will besought. Itis estimated 
that the initial expenditure required will 
amount to over £100,000 and the annual charge 
to about £20,000. On this basis, therefore, it 
is proposed to establish the several departments 
by degrees and to found subsequently special 
chairs through public and private munificence. 

THE following statements from a circular of 
the German Colonial School at Witzerhausen 
should be of special interest to Americans at the 
present time, as showing what Germany is doing 
to promote the education of men who intend to 
engage in industrial enterprises in her colonies. 
Similar institutions are maintained in Belgium 
and Holland. The purpose of this school, we 
quote from an announcement sent by the Division 
of Publications of the Department of Agricul- 
ture,is to educate young men to become practical 
superintendents of estates and plantations, 
planters, agriculturists, stock raisers and mer- 
chants for the German colonial possessions. The 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 216. 


course of study, which is completed in two years, 
comprises the following studies: Plant culture 
in general, including the study of soils, climate 
and fertilizers, farm management, bookkeeping, 
mechanics, engineering (bridge and road build- 
ing, drainage, irrigation) ; special plant culture, 
animal husbandry and dairying; culture, use 
and value of tropical plants; establishment of 
plantations; gardening; fruit culture; vege- 
table culture; viticulture; forestry ; geology, 
with special reference to tropical mining; bot- 
any (physiology, anatomy, systematic and geo- 
graphical); chemistry, with laboratory practice ; 
surveying and drafting ; hygiene for tropical 
countries ; veterinary science ; colonial history 
and geography ; a study of the people ; the his- 
tory of education, religion and missionary 
work; colonial government, and commercial 
laws and relations ; languages; trades (carpen- 
ters, masons, blacksmiths, harness-makers, 
bakers, butchers, ete.) ; practical work in field, 
garden, vineyard, forest, dairy, etc. ; athletics 
(sports) of all kinds. 

‘Proressor W. A. HeErpMAN, F.R.S., re- 
marks in the twelfth annual report of the 
Liverpool Marine Biological Committee, says 
Nature, that there are two practices in American 
universities which excite the envy of professors 
in England. One is the ‘sabbatical year’— 
the one year in every seven given for purposes 
of travel, study and investigation. The other 
is the frequent endowment of an expedition— 
or equipment of an exploring party—by an indi- 
vidual man or woman who is interested in the 
subject and can give a special fund for such a 
purpose. Columbia University, in New York ; 
the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore ; 
Yale University, in New Haven, and Har- 
vard, at Cambridge, have all been benefited 
immensely in the past by such exploring expe- 
ditions. Nearly every year of late has seen 
one or more of such, due to private generosity, 
in the field; and the work they have done has 
both added to general scientific knowledge, and 
has also enriched with collections the labora- 
tories and museums of the college to which the 
expedition belonged. 

Erratum: Vol. 1X., p. 174. Line 12 from bottom 
of second column, for Australia read Austria. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMiITrEE: S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Contr, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessy, N. L. BRITToN, 
Botany; Henry F. Osporn, General Biology; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. Bowpitcu, Physiology; J. S. BILLinas, Hygiene ; J. McKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Fesruary 24, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


The Recently Discovered Gases and their Relation to 
the Periodic Law: PROFESSOR WILLIAM RAM- 


SAVatesenientneesocuivascessccest sass ccserarscivecessteces 273 
A Case of Convergence: PROFESSOR CARL H. 
IBIGHNMAIN NG tess treccntcenchccetecsscsnerccasssiiccssaees 280 


Reproductive or Genetic Selection: PROFESSOR 
IKEAR TPP WAR SON cs csseatsonsseactescnscaesisencecsstsrnee 283 


The New York Meeting of the American Physiolog- 
ical Socicty: PROFESSOR FREDERIC 8. LEE..... 286 


Scientific Books :— 
Thomson on the Discharge of Electricity through 
Gases : PROFESSOR ERNEST MERRITI. Schdfer’s 
Text-book of Physiology: PROFESSOR GRAHAM 


Lusk. Scientific Year-books. General. Books 
PRECELUED senate mea voce cncececenemstcen ccactenncesene terest 289 
Scientific Journals and Articles .....cccsecececseeseeeeees 293 


Societies and Academies :— 
Washington Botanical Club : DR. CHARLES LOUIS 
POLLARD. Torrey Botanical Club; E.S. BuR- 
GEss. Philosophical Society of Washington: E. 
D. PRESTON. Alabama Industrial and Scientific 


Society: PROFESSOR EUGENE A. SMITH......... 294 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Etherion: PROFESSOR W. S. FRANKLIN......... 297 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry : J. L. H.....eceeeceee 297 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Waterspouts off the Coast of New South Wales: 
Annual Report of the Chief of the Weather Bu- 
reau : Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes: 
WNotest cng Rip DE} © pnWPAhDaceseaacceonectisiee seccecec sce 298 


Current Notes on Anthropology:— 
Megalithic Monuments : The Meaning of Primitive 
Ornament ; Genealogy as a Branch of Anthropol- 


ogy: PROFESSOR D. G. BRINUON..........:c00e0ee 299 
Scientific Notes and News...........csscsccscseseceesseseee 300 
University and Educational News .......sscccseeseeeeeees 304 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes_ 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. f 


THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED GASES AND 
THEIR RELATION TO THE PERIODIC 
LAW.* 

GENTLEMEN: It is well known to you 
all how the remarkable observation of Lord 
Rayleigh that nitrogen from the atmos- 
phere possesses a greater density than that’ 
prepared from ammonia or nitrates led to 
the discovery of argon, a new constituent of 
the air. I need not say that had it not 
been for this observation the investigations 
of which I shall speak this evening would 
never have been carried out, at least not by 
me. You also, doubtless, will remember that 
the search for some eompound of argon was 
rewarded, not by the attainment of the 
quest, but by the discovery, in clévite and 
other rare uranium minerals, of helium, an 
element whose existence in the chromo- 
sphere of the sun had already been sus- 
pected. And, further, I hardly need to re- 
eall to your minds that the density of 
helium is in round numbers 2, and that of 
argon 20, and that the ratio of specific heats 
of both these gases, unlike that of most 

others, is 1.66. 

From these figures it follows that the 
atomic weight of helium is 4 and that of 
argon 40. It is true that in many quarters 
this conclusion is not admitted, but I have 
always thought it better to recognize the 


*Address delivered by Professor William Ramsay 
before the Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, De- 
cember 19, 1898. Translated by J. L. H. 


274 


validity of the theory of gases and accept 
the logical deductions than to deny the 
truth of the present theories. The only 
reason for not admitting the correctness of 
these atomic weights is that that of argon is 
greater than that of potassium, but this is 
no severer attack upon the validity of the 
periodic law than the accepted position of 
iodin after, instead of before, tellurium. As 
a matter of fact, all the more recent deter- 
minations of the atomic weight of tellurium 
give the figure 127.6, while that of iodin re- 
mains unchanged at 127. 

Since these new elements form no com- 
pounds, it is not possible to decide the 
question by purely chemical methods. Were 
it only possible for us to prepare a single 
volatile compound of helium or of argon our 
problem would be solved. Inspite of many 
attempts, I have not been able to confirm 
Berthelot’s results with benzene or carbon 
bisulfid. I have, however, offered to place 
a liter of argon at the disposal of my dis- 
tinguished colleague, that he may repeat his 
experiments on a larger scale. No one can 
doubt that it is exceedingly desirable that 
the question of these atomic weights should 
be finally decided and that by chemical 
methods. 

In order that the subject may not depend 
wholly on physical theories, I have con- 
sidered it from another standpoint. If we 
assume, as from countless chemical facts we 
are fully justified in doing, that the periodic 
law is true, then, giving helium the atomic 
weight 2 and argon 20, there is no possible 
place for an element of their mean atomic 
weight ; for, unless we absolutely overturn 
the accepted views, there is no vacancy in 
the table for such an element. This ap- 
pears from the following portion of the 
table : 

H=1 He=2(?) Li=7 Gl=9-2 B=11 C=12 
Ni 1420 — 16) —— a On Ae 120 (2) 

It is true there is space enough between 

He = 2 and Li=7, but it is highly im- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 217. 


probable that an element belonging to the 
argon-series could have so low an atomic 
weight. The difference between adjacent 
members of the same group of elements is 
generally from 16 to18 units, but here such 
a difference is wholly excluded. If, on the 
other hand, we assume He = 4 and A = 40, 
it would be, in my opinion, by no means im- 
probable that such an element could exist 
whose atomic weight would be somewhere 
about 16 units greater than that of helium, 
and consequently 20 units less than that of 
argon. The discovery of such an element 
would be, therefore, not only a proof of the 
correctness of 40 as the atomic weight of 
argon, but also a confirmation of the pres- 
ent views regarding the significance of the 
specific heats of gases for their molecular 
weight. 

A glance at the periodic table will make 
these considerations clear, for in the latter 
case we have the following series : 


Li=7 Gl=9.2 B=11 C=12 N=14 
Na=23 Mg=24.3 Al=27 Si=28 P=3S81L 
He=4 


O=16 F=19 (?)=20 
S=32 Cl=35.5 A—40 

Shortly after the discovery of helium I 
began the search for this suspected element 
of atomic weight of about 20, at first in con- 
nection with Dr. Collie, my former assistant, 
and later with my present assistant, Dr. 
Travers. 

At first it appeared not improbable that 
this element might be found in those 
uranium minerals from which helium had 
been obtained. We did not, however, con- 
fine ourselves to these minerals, but tested 
all available minerals either by heating in 
a vacuum or by fusion with sodium bisul- 
fate. In many of these minerals helium 
was found; in many, on the other hand, 
only traces of hydrocarbons and hydrogen. 
One mineral only, malakon, gave sufficient 
argon to be recognizable by the spectro- 
scope; the others which contained helium 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899.] 


gave off generally also a trace of argon, as 
was later shown by our diffusion experi- 
ments. Naturally, it was impossible to be 
certain that the few cubic centimeters of 
gas which we collected from these miner- 
als contained no new gas, but we failed to 
detect the presence of any new lines with 
the spectroscope. 

You will, undoubtedly, recall that, soon 
after the discovery of helium, doubts were 
expressed in many quarters as to whether 
the gas was really uniform or a mixture. 
In order to dispel these doubts and also to 
search for the missing gas, Dr. Collie and I 
carried out a long series of diffusion experi- 
ments. Through these we reached the con- 
clusion that it was, in fact, possible to sepa- 
rate helium into two constituents, one of 
which possessed a somewhat higher density 
than the other. Later experiments, how- 
ever, in conjunction with Dr. Travers, 
showed that this conclusion was erroneous. 
In this second series much larger quantities 
of helium were at our disposal, and, to our 
disappointment, we found that the heavier 
fractions of our gas owed their greater 
density to the presence of a trace of argon. 
Here, again, we were unable to find any new 
line in the spectrum, and thus far our search 
was fruitless. 

We next directed our attention to mete- 
orites and to mineral waters. Only one out 
of seven meteorites examined by Dr. Trav_ 
ers and myself showed the presence of 
helium and with it a trace of argon; the 
others gave only hydrogen and hydrocar- 
bons, which were also present in the gases 
from the meteorite which contained helium 
and argon. Here, again, our search was in 
vain. The mineral water from Bath has 
been investigated by Lord Rayleigh; in the 
waters from Cantarets, in the Pyrenees, Dr. 
Schlosing has found both argon and helium, 
Dr. Travers and I examined these gases for 
new lines, but, as before, none were found. 

Our patience was now well-nigh ex. 


SCIENCE. 275 


hausted. There seemed, however, to be a 
single ray of hope left, in an observation 
which had been made by Dr. Collie and 
myself. You will recall that the atomic 
weight of argon was apparently too high ; 
at all events, it would be more in harmony 
with the periodic law if the density of argon 
were 19 instead of 20, and hence its atomic 
weight 38 instead of 40. Hence, after some 
fruitless attempts to separate argon into 
more than one constituent by means of so- 
lution in water, we undertook a systematic 
diffusion of argon. We did not, however, 
carry this procedure very far, for, at that 
time, we believed that helium was a more 
probable source of the desired gas; never- 
theless, we found a slight difference in den- 
sity between the gas which diffused first 
and that which remained undiffused. We, 
therefore, decided to prepare a large quan- 
tity of argon, and, after liquefying it, to in- 
vestigate carefully the different fractions on 
distillation. 

Such an operation demands much time. 
In the first place, the necessary apparatus 
is not to be found in any ordinary chemical 
laboratory ; the preparation cannot be car- 
ried out in glass tubes in an ordinary fur- 
nace, but requires iron tubes of large size 
and an especial furnace ; in the second place, 
the operation must be repeated several 
times, for it is not convenient to work with 
an excessively large quantity of magnesium. 
As before, we removed the oxygen from the 
air by means of copper at a red heat; the 
atmospheric nitrogen remaining was col- 
lected in a large gasometer holding about 
200 liters; after drying over concentrated 
sulfuric acid and phosphorus pentoxid, the 
gas was passed through an iron tube of 
5 cm. diameter, filled with magnesium fil- 
ings; the gas was then passed through a 
second copper oxid tube to remove the hy- 
drogen; it then entered a galvanized-iron 
gasometer, which was constructed like an 
ordinary illuminating-gas gasometer, in or- 


der that the argon should come in contact 
with as little water as possible, since argon 
is quite appreciably soluble in water, and, 
had the ordinary form of gasometer been 
used, much would have been lost in this 
way. Again, the gas had to be led 
over hot magnesium to reduce still further 
the quantity of nitrogen; and at last it 
was circulated between the gasometers, 
passing on its way through a mixture of 
thoroughly heated lime and magnesia at 
ared heat. This is ameans of absorption, 
recommended by Maquenne, to remove the 
last of nitrogen. Since, however, it is not 
possible to dry the lime absolutely, hydro- 
gen is taken up by the gas, and this must 
again be removed by copper oxid, in order 
that all the hydrogen may be burned, after 
which the water must again be removed by 
drying tubes. 

These operations required several months 
and were chiefly directed by Dr. Travers. 

Meanwhile, it seemed to be worth while 
to make an examination as to whether the 
desired gas might possibly form compounds 
and be; united with the magnesium, by 
which the nitrogen had been removed. 
Miss Emily Aston assisted me to settle this 
question. 

Some 700 grams of the magnesium nitrid 
were, for this purpose, treated with water in 
a large exhausted flask, in such a manner 
that the evolved ammonia was absorbed in 
dilute sulfuric acid which had been thor- 
oughly boiled; all the other gases were 
collected by a Topler pump. The total 
volume of this gas was hardly 50 cem.; it 
proved to be chiefly hydrogen, with a trace 
of hydrocarbons, arising from the small 
quantity of metallic magnesium present in 
the magnesium nitrid. After the hydro- 
gen had been removed by explosion, an 
excess of oxygen was passed into the tube 
and the nitrogen removed in the usual 
manner by sparking over alkali. The 
presence of nitrogen here was undoubt- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 217. 


edly due to the impossibility of perfectly 
exhausting all the air from so large a flask ; 
the volume of nitrogen was about 10 ccm. 
There now remained but a minute bubble 
of gas, and on transferring this to a vacuum 
tube at very low pressure the spectrum of 
argon appeared. There was here, there- 
fore, no trace of a new gas to be found. 

It was not deemed worth while to investi- 
gate the ammonia, since I had already 
prepared nitrogen out of this and Lord 
Rayleigh had determined its density ; he 
found this to be exactly the same as the 
density of nitrogen from different chemical 
sources. It remained, however, possible 
that the sought-for gas could combine with 
hydrogen, and that such a compound might 
possess an acid character; in this case it 
might have entered into combination with 
the magnesium. On account of the possi- 
bility that such a compound might be solu- 
ble, the magnesia was extracted with water, 
the solution evaporated and treated with 
sulfuric acid in a vacuum. A gas was 
evolved, but it proved to be exclusively 
carbon dioxid. We should have carried the 
treatment of the magnesium further had 
not the argon at last become sufficiently 
pure to subject it to the refrigerating action 
of liquid air; and it seemed to me there 
was more hope of finding the new substance 
in the argon from the atmosphere than in 
this residue of magnesia, which it would 
require much time and labor to work up. 

Dr. Hampson, the inventor of a very 
simple and practical machine for the prepa- 
ration of liquid air, which is based upon the 
same principle as that of Herr Linde, was 
so kind as to place large quantities of liquid 
air at my disposal. In order to become 
acquainted with the art of working with so 
unusual a material, I asked Dr. Hampson 
for a liter; with this Dr. Travers and I 
practiced and made different little experi- 
ments to prepare ourselves for the great 
experiment of liquefying argon. 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 

It seemed to me a pity to boil away all the 
air without collecting the last residue ; for, 
thoughit seemed improbable that the looked- 
for element could be here, yet it was, indeed, 
possible that a heavier gas might accom- 
pany the argon. This suspicion was con- 
firmed. The residue from the liquid air 
consisted chiefly of oxygen and argon, and, 
after removing the oxygen and nitrogen, be- 
side the spectrum of argon were two bril- 
liant lines, one in the yellow, which was not 
identical with D, of helium, and one in the 
green. This gas was decidedly heavier than 
argon; its density was 22.5 instead of the 
20 of argon. We had, therefore, discovered 
a new body, which was an element, for the 
ratio between the specific heats was 1.66. 
To this element we gave the name ‘ kryp- 
ton.’ Up to this time we have not followed 
further the study of this element; we have, 
however, collected and preserved many resi- 
dues which are rich in krypton. It was, 
however, our first intention to examine the 
lightest part of the argon. In many, how- 
ever, we remarked, in passing, that the 
wave-length of the green line of krypton 
is exceedingly close to that of the northern 
lights, being 5,570, while the latter is 5,571. 

Our whole supply of argon was now lique- 
fied in the following manner. The gaso- 
meter containing the argon was connected 
with a series of tubes in which the gas 
passed over respectively hot copper oxid, 
concentrated sulphuric acid and_phos- 
phorus pentoxid ; it then passed by a two- 
way cock into a small flask, holding about 
30 cubic centimeters, which was enclosed in 
a Dewar tube. By means of the other open- 
ing of the cock, the flask was connected 
with a mercury gasometer. By means ofa 
U-shaped capillary and mercury trough, it 
was also possible, through a three-way cock, 
to collect the gas at will in glass tubes. 
About 50 cubic centimeters of liquid air were 
poured into the double-walled tube, and, by 
means of a Fleuss air pump kept constantly 


SCIENCE. 


277 


in action, the liquid air boiled at 10 to 15 
millimeters pressure. The argon liquefied 
rapidly as soon as subjected to this low tem- 
perature, and in the course of half an hour 
it was completely condensed. Altogether 
there were about 25 cubic centimeters of a 
clear, limpid, colorless liquid, in which 
floated white flakes of a solid substance. 
By stopping the pump, the pressure over the 
liquid air was now increased, and the argon 
boiled quietly, the first portions of the gas 
being collected in the mercury gasometer. 
Changing now the three-way cock, the 
largest portion of the argon passed back 
into the iron gasometer ; after nearly all the 
liquid had boiled away and only the solid 
substance was left in the flask, the last por- 
tions of the gas were collected separately. 
The solid substance remained persistently 
in the flask; it was slowly volatilized by 
means of a Tépler pump, which stood in 
connection with the apparatus. 

We first directed our attention to the 
lighter fractions, for these had for us the 
greatest interest. The density of this gas 
was found to be 14.67; the ratio between 
the specific heats was as usual 1.66, and the 
spectrum showed, beside the well-known 
groupings of argon, a large number of red, 
orange and yellow lines of varying intensity. 
Evidently, we had before us a new element, 
which was contaminated with argon. 

This gas was then liquefied in a similar 
apparatus to that first used, but constructed 
on a smaller seale ; a portion, however, re- 
mained uncondensed. Even by raising the 
reservoir of the mercury gasometer until 
an overpressure of an atmosphere was 
reached, it was impossible to convert all 
the gas into a liquid, although the temper- 
ature of the boiling air was reduced as low 
as possible by rapid pumping. By repeated 
raising and lowering of the reservoir, we 
finally passed all the gas through the cooled 
space, in order to free it, as far as possible, 
from argon. The uncondensible gas was 


278 


CO 


collected by itself, and the remainder was 
evaporated into another gasometer. 

You can well imagine how eager we were 
to know what the density of this purified gas 
would prove to be. It was immediately 
weighed. Our satisfaction can well be re- 
alized when we found that its density was 
9.76. Since, however, its spectrum at low 
pressure still showed argon lines, though 
weak, we were compelled to admit that this 
number was certainly too high. It was 
impossible that this gas should not contain 
argon, since at the temperature used argon 
possessed a measurable vapor pressure. 

We have, therefore, estimated that the 
density of the pure gas is 9.65. Here our 
work for the time was ended by the begin- 
ing of the summer holidays. 

On our return we resumed the study of 
this gas, which we will hereafter designate 
by its name of ‘neon.’ Its spectrum was 
photographed by Mr. Baly, one of my as- 
sistants, by means of a spectrometer which 
we had constructed during the vacation. 
To our astonishment, the lines of helium 
were easily recognized. A comparison 
photograph showed this beyond all ques- 
tion. Hence the density of the gas was in 
all probability too low, owing to the pres- 
ence of the helium. Since now the temper- 
ature used was insufficient to liquefy the 
neon, and since the argon had been removed 
as far as possible, we had to face the problem 
of how one could free neon from its accom- 
panying impurities. A means was found 
in its solubility. It is well known that the 
solubility of those gases which do not react 
chemically with the solvent follows in gen- 
eral the same order as their condensibility. 
According to this helium should have a lesser 
solubility than neon, and neon than argon. 
The solubility of these gases in water is, 
however, too slight to be available for their 
separation. We have, therefore, used liquid 
oxygen asa solvent. This mixes with all 
three gases and boils at a temperature not 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. LX No. 217. 


far from the boiling point of argon. We, 
therefore, mixed the gas with sufficient oxy- 
gen to be almost wholly condensed at the 
temperature attained by boiling air at the 
lowest possible pressure. The uncondensed 
portion, about one fifth of the whole, was 
separated and collected as that richest in 
helium; the middle portion we considered 
as purified neon, while the remainder con- 
sisted of a mixture of argon and neon ; 
naturally, all these portions contained oxy- 
gen in larger or smaller quantities. 

After the removal of the oxygen, which 
was accomplished by passage over hot cop- 
per filings, we determined the density and 
refractivity of the middle portion. The 
density in two determinations was 10.04 
and 10.19; the second figure was obtained 
after passing the electric spark through the 
gas mixed with oxygen in the presence of 
caustic potash and subsequent removal of 
the oxygen by phosphorus. The entire 
quantity weighed was only 30 cubic centi- 
meters at a pressure of 250 millimeters. 
The weight was 0.0095 gram. I mention 
these figures in order to show with what 
an exceedingly small quantity of gas it is 
possible to carry out a very satisfactory 
density determination. 

The refractivity of this portion with refer- 
ence to the air as unity was 0.338. This 
portion still showed the spectra of argon 
and helium, and was, therefore, submitted to 
a second purification, in which the heavier 
part was more completely removed than 
the lighter. Even this purification, how- 
ever, did not remove all the argon, but its 
quantity was decidedly diminished. The 
density was somewhat diminished, and 
helium was stronger in the spectrum. The 
entire amount of neon had become, by these 
operations, so divided up that it was not 
possible to carry out a further purification 
without preparing a greater quantity of 
crude neon. On this Dr. Travers and I 
are at present engaged. 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


In the meantime Mr. Baly has made 
exact measurements of the lines of the neon 
spectrum, at the same time eliminating all 
the lines which belong to argon and to 
helium by superposed plates. The values 
were compared with iron lines photographed 
upon the same plate, and the measurements 
were carried out by means of different pairs 
of these known lines. The most important 
lines are the following : 


MOST IMPORTANT LINES OF THE NEW SPECTRUM. 


Red. Red. Red. Yellow (D;). Blue 
6402 6267 6096 5853 4716*: 
6383 6218 6074 Green 5401 4722 
6335 6164 6030 5341 4710 
6143 5331 4709 
4704 


Up to the present we have had little time 
to study thoroughly the other companion of 
argon in the atmosphere. Dr. Travers and 
I have, however, worked upon it. The 
heavier fraction of the air contains three 
gases, one of which appears very perplex- 
ing. We have named it ‘metargon.’ This 
gas remains, mixed with excess of argon, 
after the evaporation of liquid air or argon. 
Up to this time we have not succeeded in 
obtaining it in a condition free from argon. 
Its peculiarity is that when it is mixed with 
oxygen and subjected to the influence of the 
electric spark in presence of caustic potash 
it shows constantly the ‘Swan-spectrum’ 
as of carbon monoxid. We have treated 
a mixture of carbon monoxid and argon 
in a similar way, and, after fifteen minutes’ 
sparking, all the carbon had disappeared ; 
in a Plucker tube no trace of the carbon 
spectrum could be recognized. I will, how- 
ever, not yet venture to express an opinion 
as to the nature of this gas. It needs 
further investigation, and for this at present 
we have no time. 

As regards krypton, which is distin- 
guished by three brilliant lines, one in red, 


* The third figure in this number is probably a mis- 
print (Tr. ). 


SCIENCE. 


279 


one in yellow and one in green, we are in 
much the same position. We have col- 
lected a considerable quantity of the im- 
pure gas, which shows the spectrum finely, 
although that of argon is also present. We 
hope that we shall soon be able to pursue 
this portion of our work further. We can 
merely note here that the specific gravity 
of the gas which shows this spectrum in 
such a marked way is not far different from 
that of argon. 

The heaviest of these gases we have 
weighed, although in impure condition. Its 
density is 32.5. I need not call your at- 
tention to the fact that there is space for an 
element of the helium group between bro- 
min andrubidium. Such an element should 
have an atomic weight of 81-83, which cor- 
responds to a density of 40.5-41.5, under 
the very probable supposition that, like the 
other gases of this group, it is monatomic. 
The spectrum of this gas, which we have 
named ‘xenon’—the stranger—has many 
lines; none of these are of marked inten- 
sity, and in this respect the spectrum re- 
sembles somewhat that of argon. It is also 
analogous to argon in another particular, 
that the spectrum undergoes a remarkable 
change when a Leyden jar is put into the 
circuit. As with argon, many new, blue 
and green lines appear, while other lines, 
mostly in the red, either disappear or lose 
much of their intensity. Further than this 
we have not proceeded in studying xenon ; 
for our attention has been given chiefly to 
neon, as well as to a problem regarding 
argon. 

“We have repeatedly met the question: 
“Are the properties of argon not appreciably 
changed by the presence of this new gas?” 
In order to settle this question we have 
fractioned 25 cubic centimeters of liquid 
argon several times and have collected 
separately about 200 cubic centimeters of 
the lightest and as much of the heaviest 
fraction. This operation was repeated three 


280 


times. By this means we hoped to have 
removed the greatest part of the neon, 
krypton, metargon and xenon. Then we 
liquefied the argon a fourth time, and as it 
boiled away collected six samples, each after 
one-fifth of the whole quantity had evapo- 
rated. These samples were carefully puri- 
fied and weighed. The density referred to 

= 16 and the refractivity to air = 1 areas 
follows : 


Density. Refractivity. 
First fraction 19.65 0.962 
Second ‘‘ 19.95 0.969 
An orhys ks OPO SM msn aa 
Fourth ‘‘ 19.91* es 
Fifth se 19.97 0.968 
Sixth pie: 19.95 0.966 


The first fraction possesses, as appears 
from the table, a lower density and also a 
lower refractivity. The other fractions 
vary very little from each other. Since 
these determinations were made by using 
only 30 cubic centimeters, we have weighed 
160 cubic centimeters of the fifth and sixth 
fractions. The first determined density of 
the fifth fraction was 19.935, but at a pres- 
sure of 5 millimeters the spectrum of nitro- 
gen was easily recognizable in a Plucker 
tube. After the gas had been again purified 
by sparking, until all the nitrogen had been 
removed, the density was 19.957. In two 
experiments the fourth fraction of gas gave 
19.952 and 19.961. We must then accept the 
true density of argon as not far from 19.96. 
Independently Lord Rayleigh and I found 
the density of argon to be 19.94 ; soit is clear 
that the impurities of neon and the heavier 
gases have little influence. The somewhat 
greater density of pure argon arises from 
the fact that the neon, which is the chief 
impurity present, has been removed; the in- 
fluence of the other gases cannot be recog- 
nized, owing to the insignificant quantities 
present. In fact, in 15 liters of argon we 
found no appreciable trace of xenon ; it can 


* Contained nitrogen. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 217. 
be prepared only out of large quantities of 
liquid air. 

I must take this opportunity of thanking 
you most sincerely for the honor you have 
done me in inviting me to deliver this ad- 
dress. It has been said by some scientist 
that the greatest joy of life lies in dis- 
covering something which is new. There 
is, however, another joy almost equally 
great, that of making known the results of 
an investigation to one’s fellow scientists. 
This joy, my friends, you have given me to 
an extreme degree, and for this I express to 
you my warmest thanks. 


A CASE OF CONVERGENCE.* 

In 1859 Girard (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. 
Phila., p. 62) described a small blind fish, 
Typhlichthys  subterraneus, from Bowling 
Green, Ky. This species has since been 
found to be abundant in the subterranean 
waters east of the Mississippi and south of 
the Ohio. 

In 1889 Garman (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 
XVII., No. 6) gave an account of a blind 
fish from some caves in Missouri. Mr. 
Garman says: “Compared with specimens 
from Kentucky and Tennessee, they agree 
so exactly as to raise the question whether 
the species was not originated in one of the 
localities and thence distributed to the 
others. * * * There is no doubt that the 
representatives of Typhlichthys subterraneus 
in the various caves were derived from 
a single common ancestral species. The 
doubts concern only the probability of the 
existence of three or more lines of develop- 
ment in as many different locations, start- 
from the same species and leading to such 
practical identity of result.” 

Ably arguing the case from the data on 
hand Garman came to the conclusion ‘“ that 
these blind fishes originated in a particular 
locality, and have been and are being dis- 


* Contributions from the Zoological Department of 
the Indiana University, No. 27. 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


tributed among the caves throughout the 
valley ’’ (of the Mississippi). 

Two of the specimens from Missouri 
served Kohl (Rudimentare Wirbelthier- 
augen, 1892) for his account of the eyes of 
North American blind fishes. At my re- 
quest Mr. Garman sent me two of the Mis- 
souri specimens.. He urged me at the same 
time to make a more extensive comparison 
between them and the Mammoth cave 
specimens. A comparison of the eyes of 
specimens from the two localities not only 
proved that they represent distinct spe- 
cies, but that they are of separate origin. 
An announcement of the species without 
further description was published (Proc. 
Ind. Acad. Sci. for 1897, p. 231, 1898). The 
species was “‘named rose for the rediscoy- 
erer of the California Typhlogobius, a pio-. 
neer in the study of Biology among women, 


Fia. 1. 


Mrs. Rosa Smith Eigenmann.”’ In the 
spring of 1897 I visited various caves in 
Missouri to secure additional material of 
what was recognized as in many ways the 
most interesting member of the North 
American fauna. No specimens were se- 
cured, but a liberal number of bottles of 
alcohol and formalin were scattered over the 
country. During the fall of 1898, through a 
grant from the Elizabeth Thompson Science 
Fund and through the courtesy of the offi- 
cers of the Monon, the L. E. and St. L. 
and the Frisco R. R. lines I was enabled 
to visit the cave region of Missouri again. 
This time I visited nine caves and secured 


SCIENCE. 


281 


eight specimens. I have since received an 
additional number from a correspondent. 
From information gathered it would seem 
that this species (or similar ones) has a 
wide distribution in the subterranean waters 
of the southern half of Missouri and north- 
ern Arkansas, probably also the eastern 
part of Kansas. 

On the surface the specimens very closely 
resemble Typhlichthys subterraneus from 
Mammoth cave, differing slightly in the 
proportion and in the pectoral and caudal 
fins. These fins are longer in rose. It is, 
however, quite evident from a study of their 
eyes that we have to deal here with a case 
of convergence of two very distinct forms. 
They have converged because of the simil- 
arity of their environment and especially 
owing to the absence of those elements in 
their environment that lead to external 


Side view of Troghlichtys showing the extent and distribution of the tactile organs. 


protective adaptations. The details of the 
structure of the eyes of all the members of 
the Amblyopside: will be published shortly, 
and I need call attention here'only to the 
structures that warrant the conclusion that 
the cis- and trans- Mississippi forms of blind 
fishes without ventral fins are of distinct 
origin. The blind fish Amblyopsis may be 
left out of consideration, since it is the only 
member of the family that possesses ven- 
tral fins. Otherwise, it would be difficult 
to distinguish specimens of similar size of 
this species from either subterraneus or rose. 

The eye of 7. subterraneus is surrounded 
by a very thin layer of tissue representing 


282 


the sclera and choroid. The two layers 
are not separable. In this respect it ap- 
proaches the condition in the epigean-eyed 
member of the family, Chologaster. For 
other reasons that need not be given here 
it is quite certain that Typhlichthys is the 


Fic. 2. 


Fig. 3. 


Fic. 2. Dorsal view of the head, with distribution 
of tactile organs and location of eye. 
Fic. 3. Ventral view of the head. 


descendant of a Chologaster. The intensity 
of coloration_and the structure of the eye 
are the chief points of difference. The eye 
of rose is but about 1-3 the diameter of that 
of subterraneus, measuring .06 mm. or there- 
about. Itis the most degenerate, as distin- 
guished from undeveloped, vertebrate eye. 
The point?of importance in the present in- 
stance is the presence of comparatively enor- 
mous scleral cartilages.* These have not 
degenerated in ‘proportion to the degenera- 
tion of the eye and insome cases are several 
times as long as the eye, projecting far be- 
yond it orZare puckered to make their dis- 
proportionate [size fit the vanishing eye. 
This species is unquestionably descended 
from a species’ with well-developed scleral 
cartilages, for it is not conceivable that the 
sclera as found in Chologaster could, by 
any freak or chance, give rise during de- 
generation to scleral cartilages, and if it 
did they would not develop several sizes 


* Kohl mistook the nature of these structures, as 
he did of every other connected with these eyes, ex- 
cept the lens and ganglionic cells. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 217. 


too large for the eye. At present no known 
epigean species of the Amblyopside pos- 
sesses scleral cartilages. The ancestry of 
rose is hence unknown. Amblyopsis possesses 
scleral cartilages and the eye of rose passed 
through a condition similar to that pos- 
sessed by Amblyopsis, but the latter species 
has ventral fins and is hence ruled out as a 
possible ancestor of rose. The epigean an- 
cestry of Amblyopsis is also unknown. The 
ancestry of Typhlichthys being quite dis- 
tinct from that of rose, the latter species 
may be referred to anew generic name T'rog- 
lichthys. 

Judging from the degree of degeneration 
of the eye Troglichthys has lived in caves 
and done without the use of its eyes longer 
than any other known vertebrate. (Ipnopes 
being a deep-sea form is not considered.) 
More than this, rose is probably the oldest 
resident in the region it inhabits. 

Since the specimens kindly sent by Mr. 
Garman, in the course of examination have 
been reduced to sections, the specimens 
now in my possession, together with a few 
sent to the British Museum, all having 
come from the same cave, may be con- 
sidered typical. 

In addition to the acknowledgments 
made before I wish also to thank the offi- 
cers of the Louisville and Nashville R. R. 
for transportation to Mammoth Cave. I 
must especially express my appreciation of 
the assistance rendered me by Mr. William 
McDoel, General Manager of the Monon, 
in enabling me to make explorations in 
the numerous caves of the Lost River 
region along his line and to visit caves at 
greater distances. Mr. H. C. Ganter, the 
manager of the Mammoth Cave Hotel, not 
only granted me leave to collect in the 
cave, but did everything possible to make 
my trip to this cave successful. 


Cari H. EIGENMANN. 


UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA. 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


REPRODUCTIVE OR GENETIC SELECTION. * 


1. Tue object of this memoir is twofold: 
first, to develop the theory of reproductive 
or genetic selection} on the assumption 
that fertility and fecundity may be heritable 
characters ; and, secondly, to demonstrate 
from two concrete examples that fertility 
and fecundity actually are inherited. 

The problem of whether fertility is or is 
not inherited is one of very far reaching 
consequences. It stands onan entirely dif- 
ferent footing to the question of inheritance 
of other characters. That any other organ 
or character is inherited, provided that in- 
heritance is not stronger for one value of 
the organ or character than another, is per- 
fectly consistent with the organic stability 
of a community of individuals. That fer- 
tility should be inherited is not consistent 
with the stability of such a community, un- 
less there is a differential death-rate, more 
intense for the offspring of the fertile, 7. ¢., 
unless natural selection or other factor of 
evolution holds reproductive selection in 
check. The inheritance of fertility and the 
correlation of fertility with other characters 
are principles momentous in their results 
for our conceptions of evolution; they 
mark a continual tendency in a race to pro- 
gress in a definite direction, unless equili- 
brium be maintained by any other equi- 


* Mathematical Contributions to the Theory of 
Evolution. Part I, Theoretical: By Karl Pearson. 
Part II, On the Inheritance of Fertility in Man: By 
Karl Pearson and Alice Lee. Part III, On the In- 
heritance of Fecundity in Thoroughbred Race-horses : 
By Karl Pearson, with the assistance of Leslie Bram- 
ley-Moore. Abstracts read before the Royal Society, 
December 8, 1898. 

+ I have retained the term ‘reproductive’ selection 
here, although objection has been raised to it, be- 
cause it has been used in the earlier memoirs of this 
series. Mr. Galton has kindly provided me with 
‘genetic’ and ‘prefertal’ selection. The term is 
used to describe the selection of predominant types 
owing to the different grades of reproductivity being 
inherited, and without the influence of a differential 
death-rate. 


SCIENCE. 


283 


pollent factors, exhibited in the form ofa 
differential death-rate on the most fertile. 
Such a differential death-rate probably ex- 
ists in wild life, at any rate until the en- 
vironment changes and the equilibrium be- 
tween natural and reproductive selection is 
upset. How far it exists in civilized com- 
munities of mankind is another and more 
difficult problem, which I have partially 
dealt with elsewhere.* Atany rate it be- 
comes necessary for the biologist either to 
affirm or deny the two principles stated 
above. If he affirms them, then he must 
look upon all races as tending to progress 
in definite directions—not necessarily one, 
but possibly several different directions, 
according to the characters with which fer- 
tility may be correlated—the moment na- 
tural selection is suspended ; the organism 
carries in itself, in virtue of the laws of in- 
heritance and the correlation of its charac- 
ters, a tendency to progressive change. If 
on the other hand, the biologist denies these 
principles, then he must be prepared to 
meet the weight of evidence in favor of the 
inheritance of fertility and fecundity con- 
tained in Parts II and III of the present 
memoir. 

2. The theory discussed in Part I opens 
with the proof that if fertility be a function 
of any physical characters which are them- 
selves inherited according to the law of an- 
cestral heredity, then it must itself be in- 
herited according to that law. As fertility 
would certainly appear to be associated 
with physique, we have thus an @ priori 
argument in favor of its inheritance. 

3. In the next place the influence of 
‘record’ making on apparent fertility is 
considered. The mother with more off- 
spring has a greater chance than one with 
fewer of getting into the record which ex- 
tends over several generations, and, further, 
if every possible entry be taken from the 


* Essay on Reproductive Selection in ‘The Chances 
of Death and other Studies in Evolution,’ Vol. 1, p. 63, 


284 


record, she is again weighted with her fer- 
tility. Thus a record is not a true account 
of the fertility of successive generations. 
The fertility of mothers is always found to 
be more and their variability less than the 
fertility and variability of daughters. Ac- 
cordingly from the apparent fertility and 
variability of the record the actual values 
in each generation must be deduced. The 
difficulties and the theory of this investiga- 
tion are developed at some length, and 
methods determined by which it can be 
ascertained whether a secular change in 
fertility is actually taking place. The re- 
sults obtained are extended to fecundity. 

4. In the case of thoroughbred horses 
their number is so few and in-breeding so 
great, owing to the fashion in sires and 
stocks, that we have to deal with a large 
array of offspring of the same sire. It is 
easy accordingly to obtain 50,000 to 150,000 
pairs of a given relationship, e. g., half- 
sisters, and we rapidly get numbers too 
large for forming correlation tables in the 
usual manner. Accordingly methods are 
developed for finding correlation coefficients 
from the means of ‘arrays.’ These methods 
are of considerable importance, for they 
enable us to ascertain the correlation be- 
tween a latent character in one sex anda 
patent character in another, or between 
characters latent in two individuals. Thus 
it is shown that the correlation between the 
brood-mare’s fecundity latent in two related 
stallions can be deduced from the correla- 
tion between the mean fecundities of their 
two arrays of daughters. In this way a 
numerical estimate can be formed of the 
inheritance of latent characters. 

5. The brood-mare is for many causes, 
detailed at length in the paper, a highly ar- 
tificial product, and accordingly the record 
gives a considerable percentage of fictitious 
fecundities. The effect of a mixture of 
correlated and uncorrelated material on 
correlation and and variation is next inves- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 217. 


tigated, and it is shown that the former is 
more seriously affected than the latter. 
Hence results based on variation are more 
likely to be trustworthy than those which 
use correlation. Incidently the problem of 
the mixture of heterogeneous materials un- 
correlated in themselves is investigated, 
and it is shown that a correlation will re- 
sult in the mixture. This spurious correla- 
tion is of some importance for the question 
of mixtures of classes in fertility problems, 
but it is also significant of the general 
danger of heterogeneity in bio-statistical 
investigations, and further indicative of the 
possibility of creating correlation between 
two characters by breeding between small 
heterogeneous groups in which this correla- 
tion is zero. This illustration suffices to 
indicate how correlation between characters 
does not necessarily indicate a causal rela- 
tionship. 

6. Part II of the memoir deals with the 
inheritance of fertility in man. It is first 
shown by large numbers that fertility is 
undoubtedly inherited from mother to 
daughter, but that if we include all types 
of marriages the inheritance is largely 
screened by other factors. An attempt is 
made to remove one by one these factors} 
and the more stringently this is done the 
more nearly the regression of daughter on 
mother moves up towards the value re- 
quired by the law of ancestral heredity. 
If we could take only marriages in which 
both daughter and mother were married 
during the whole of their fecund period 
there is little doubt that we should find in- 
heritance according to the law of ancestral 
heredity. The sparseness of homogeneous 
material hinders, however, such an investi- 
gation. . 

The inheritance of fertility from father 
to son is then considered; this is really 
rather an inheritance of sterility or ten- 
dency to sterility, for the full fecundity of 
a man is not usually exhibited in mono- 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


gamic union. It is rather a problem of 
whether his fecundity lasts as. long as his 
wife’s. We find definite inheritance of this 
sterile tendency from father to son, although 
for the reason just given it falls below that 
indicated by the law of ancestral heredity. 

Lastly, the inheritance of fertility in the 
woman through the male line is dealt with, 
and it is shown that a woman’s fertility is 
as highly correlated with that of her pater- 
nal as with that of her maternal grand- 
mother. In other words the latent char- 
acter, fertility in the woman, is transmitted 
through the male line, and with an in- 
tensity which approximates to that required 
by the law of ancestral heredity. Inci- 
dentally the problem of ‘ heiresses’ is dealt 
with. It is shown that in the case of wo- 
men that are chiefly ‘ heiresses ’ there is at 
once a considerable drop in the correlation 
between their fertility and that of their 
mothers, while there is a small drop only in 
their average fertility. In other words, an 
‘heiress’ is not to be looked upon as com- 
ing in general from a sterile stock, but as 
having a mother whose fertility has a fic- 
titious value, 7. e., the apparent fertility of 
the record is not the potential fertility, the 
inherited character, in the mother. In 
other words, ‘heiresses’ are not as a rule 
due to sterile mothers, but in the bulk are 
due to such causes as late marriages, re- 
straint, incompatibility of husband and 
wife, absence of sons or death of other 
children, ete. 

7. Part III of the memoir contains the 
results of a somewhat laborious investiga- 
tion into the fecundity of brood-mares, 
which has been a number of years in prog- 
ress. Had better material been available 
for the inheritance of fecundity we would 
gladly have adopted it in preferance to 
dealing with such an intricate subject as 
the breeding of race-horses. Unfortunately, 
the absence of place and means hindered 
any experimental investigation on our part 


SCIENCE. 285 


into the inheritance of fecundity in some 
simpler type of life. Such investigation 
ought certainly to be made by a trained 
biologist, with the knowledge and the lab- 
oratory at his disposal. 

After discussing at length the steps taken 
by us to measure and tabulate the fecundity 
of brood-mares, we deduce the following 
conclusions : 

(i.) Fecundity in the brood-mare is in- 
herited from dam to mare. 

(ii.) It is also inherited from grand-dam 
to mare through the dam. _ 

In both cases the intensity is much less 
than would be indicated by the law of an- 
cestral heredity, but the divergence is not 
such that it could not be accounted for by 
a percentage of fictitious values such as 
the peculiar conditions of horse-breeding 
warrant us in considering probable. 

(iii.) The latent quality, fecundity in the 
brood-mare, is inherited through the sire ; 
this is shown not only by the correlation 
between half-sisters, but by actual deter- 
mination of the correlation between the 
latent character in the sire and the patent 
character in the daughter. 

(iv.) The latent quality, fecundity in the 
brood-mare, is inherited by the stallion 
from his sire. This is shown not only by 
the fecundity correlation between a sire’s 
daughters and his half-sisters, but also by 
a direct determination of the correlation 
between the latent quality in the stallion 
and in his sire. 

In both these cases of latent qualities the 
law of inheritance approaches much more 
closely to that required by the Galtonian 
rule. This is probably due to the fact that 
the determination of the correlation is 
thrown back on the calculation of the means 
and variabilities of arrays, and not on the 
direct calculation of the correlation between 
fecundities, a large percentage of which are 
probably fictitious (see § 5). 

8. Parts II and III accordingly force us 


286 


to the conclusion that fertility is inherited 
in man and fecundity in the horse, and, 
therefore, probably that both these charac- 
ters are inherited in all types of life. It 
would, indeed, be difficult to explain by evo- 
lution the great variety of values these 
characters take in allied species if this were 
not true. That they are inherited accord- 
ing to the Galtonian rule seems to us very 
probable, but not demonstrated to certainty. 
It is a reasonable hypothesis until more 
data are forthcoming. 

The memoir concludes with a discussion 
of the meaning of reproductive selection for 
the problem of evolution and with sixteen 
correlation tables, giving the dressed ma- 
terial on which our conclusions are based. 


THE NEW YORK MEETING OF THE AMERI- 
CAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

Tue American Physiological Society held 
its eleventh annual meeting in New York, 
December 28, 29 and’ 30,1898. The first 
day’s sessions were held at the physiolog- 
ical laboratories of the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, the medical school of Colum- 
bia University. The forenoon session of the 
second day consisted ofa joint meeting of the 
Society and the American Psychological As- 
sociation at Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia 
University ; in the afternoon the members 
attended at the same place the joint meet- 
ing of the Affiliated Scientific Societies. The 
sessions of the third day were held at the 
physiological laboratories of the University 
and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. In 
attendance and the number of papers pre- 
sented the meeting was the most successful 
yet held, and demonstrated the fact that a 
large amount of research in physiology is 
being carried on in the laboratories of this 
country. 

The forenoon session of Wednesday, the 
first day, was devoted largely to the pre- 
sentation of the chemico-physiological com- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 217. 


munications. Professor J. J. Abel (Johns 
Hopkins) discussed ‘Epinephrin, the ac- 
tive constituent of the suprarenal capsule, 
and its compounds.’ He has succeeded in 
isolating from the suprarenal capsule a 
specific chemical body which produces the 
peculiar physiological effects heretofore 
recognized with extracts of the capsule. He 
has carefully determined its chemical prop- 
erties and classes it with the alkaloids with 
the formula C,,H,,NO,. Drs. J. B. Wallace 
and W. Mogk, through Professor G. C. 
Huber, presented a report of an experi- 
mental study upon the ‘Action of 
suprarenal extract on the mammalian 
heart,’ performed in the laboratory of Pro- 
fessor A. R. Cushny (Michigan University). 
The extract was found to stimulate the 
vagus center, thus inhibiting the heart, to 
stimulate the heart muscle directly and to 
cause a constriction of the systemic arteri- 
oles. Dr. Walter Jones (Johns Hopkins) 
and Professor R. H. Chittenden (Yale) re- 
ported the results of independent investiga- 
tions of the melanines, the black pigment 
occurring in hair and in the skin of the 
negro. The former obtained the pigment 
from black horsehair by treatment with 
hydrochloric acid. Fusing with caustic 
potash gave a sulphur’ melaninic 
free, which when oxidized in an alka- 
line medium is easily decomposed into 
carbonic acid and ammonia, but in an 
acid medium yields certain more complex 
bodies. The facts presented by Professor 
Chittenden tended to show that melanines 
or melanine-like pigments can be prepared 
artificially from antialbumid and hemipep- 
tone by long heating with 10% sul- 
phuric acid at 100°C. The exact com- 
position of the melanine thus formed 
depends largely upon the extent of the hy- 
drolytic cleavage of the proteid. By invita- 
tion, Dr. Beattie Nesbitt (Toronto) read a 
paper on ‘ The presence of cholin and neurin 
in the intestinal canal during its complete 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


obstruction.’ His experiments lead to the 
belief that complete occlusion of the small 
intestine at its lower end will give rise to 
the occurrence of cholin, neurin, and, per- 
haps, other bases, provided the food taken 
contains a considerable quantity of lecithin. 
Cholin is only slightly, neurin powerfully, 
toxic. Professor W. T. Porter (Harvard) 
reported further ‘ Experiments on the mam- 
malian heart.’ Experiments on the isolated 
veutricles supplied with blood through the 
coronary arteries and cut in various direc- 
tions show that the synchronism of the ven- 
tricles is not dependent on nerve-cells, is 
probably maintained through muscular and 
not through nervous connections, and is not 
a function of the auricles, but is managed by 
the ventricles themselves. Dr. Reid Hunt 
(Johns Hopkins) gave an account of his 
extended researches on ‘ Direct and reflex 
acceleration of the mammalian heart.’ The 
accelerator nerves exert a tonic action upon 
the heart. The accelerator centers show 
greater resistance to the action of drugs, 
ete., than do the cardio-inhibitory or the 
vaso-motor centers. Continued stimulation 
of the accelerator nerves causes genuine fa- 
tigue in the heart, and, if long continued, 
even death. Reflex acceleration is due 
usually, if not always, to an inhibition of 
the tonic activity of the vagi. 

Dr. S. J. Meltzer (New York) opened the 
afternoon session with a paper on ‘The 
causes of the orderly progress of the peri- 
staltic movements in the esophagus.’ The 
author’s experiments tend to harmonize the 
statement of Mosso, who found that division 
of the cesophagus does not prevent the pro- 
gress of the peristalsis below the cut and 
concluded that the peristalsis is of central 
origin, and the statement of Wild, who 
found peristalsis to cease at the cut and 
inferred that its progress is of peripheral 
origin. The author proved that the differ- 
ence in the results was due to the fact that 
Wild experimented on animals under deep 


SCIENCE. 


287 


anzesthesia, while Mosso’s animals were 
only lightly anesthetized. 

The greater part of the afternoon session 
was devoted to demonstrations and the ex- 
hibition of new apparatus. Professor G. 
Carl Huber (Michigan University) demon- 
strated methylene-blue preparations of sen- 
sory nerve-endings in tendon —Golgi’s 
“tendon corpuscles. Professor W.'T. Porter 
(Harvard) demonstrated the coordination 
of the ventricles in the mammalian heart. 
The following exhibitions of apparatus were 
made: A convenient form of non-polar- 
izable electrode, by Professor W. H. Howell 
(Johns Hopkins); new laboratory apparatus, 
by Dr. E. W. Scripture (Yale); an improved 
form of Ellis’s piston recorder, by Professor 
W.P. Lombard (Michigan University); a 
simple etherizing bottle, by Dr. C. C. Stew- 
art (Columbia); a simple oncometer, by Pro- 
fessor F. S. Lee (Columbia); a new respira- 
tion apparatus, by Professor F. 8. Lee. 

The papers presented at the joint session 
of the Society and the American Psycho- 
logical Association on the forenoon of 
Thursday, the second day, were calculated 
to interest both physiologists and psychol- 
ogists. After an address of welcome 
by Professor Minsterberg, the President 
of the Psychological Association, Pro- 
fessor Chittenden, the President of the 
Physiological Society, was called to the 
chair and the prepared program was 
entered upon. Professor J. McK. Cattell 
(Columbia) gave a descriptive exhibition of 
instruments for the study of movement and 
fatigue. Professor F. 8. Lee (Columbia) 
presented the results of an extended series 
of experiments upon ‘ The nature of muscle 
fatigue.’ The course of fatigue in the 
muscles of the frog, the turtle and the cat 
shows certain differences, the common 
element being a decrease of lifting power. 
The chief cause of muscle fatigue appears 
to be poisoning by fatigue substances. 
Fatigue is a protective phenomenon, pre- 


288 


venting the oncoming of exhaustion. Pro- 
fessor G. Carl Huber (Michigan) reported 
his ‘ Observations on the innervation of the 
intracranial vessels.’ In the pia mater 
and the cranial dura mater of the dog, cat 
and rabbit two kinds of nerves were found, 
sensory and vasomotor, the former being 
medullated, the latter non-medullated. The 
-latter were found to terminate in the muscu- 
lar wall of the arteries. 
Hodge (Clark University) reported upon a 
research undertaken with Mr. H. H. God- 
dard to test the possible amceboid move- 
ments of cortical nerve-cells. The brains 
of rested and fatigued animals were com- 
pared. All the experiments in which defi- 
nite results were obtained confirmed De- 
moor’s results, showing a contracted and 
varicose condition of the dendrites, and, 
moreover, extend our knowledge to include 
effects of normal fatigue. The experiments 
were fully controlled, the control specimens 
showing dendrites and contact granules 
uniformly expanded. Dr. G. W. Fitz (Har- 
vard) exhibited a new chronoscope, in 
which the time is measured by the fall of 
water within a graduated glass tube. A 
valve at the lower end of the tube is opened 
and closed by electro-magnets connected 
with the keys of the reaction apparatus. 
By invitation Professor O. N. Rood (Colum- 
bia) exhibited his flicker photometer. Pro- 
fessor Mimnsterberg discussed ‘ The physio- 
logical basis .of mental life.’ Professor G. 
T. W. Patrick (Iowa) discussed ‘ The con- 
fusion of tastes and odors.’ Dr. E. W. 
Scripture gave an exhibition of methods of 
demonstrating the physiology and psychol- 
ogy of color. - 

At the joint meeting of the Affiliated So- 
cieties, on Thursday afternoon, in the dis- 
cussion upon ‘Advances in methods of 
teaching,’ Professor W. T. Porter read a 
paper upon ‘ The teaching of physiology in 
medical schools.’ 

At the first session on Friday, the third 


SCIENCE. 


Professor C. F.~ 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 217. 


day, Professor Chittenden exhibited a con- 
venient form of sphygmograph. Professor 
Graham Lusk (University-Bellevue), re- 
ported for Mr. W. H. Parker on ‘ The max- 
imum production of hippuric acid in rab- 
bits.’ If benzoic acid be fed to rabbits in 
quantity just sufficient to unite with the 
glycocoll formed in the animal, the nitrogen 
that is excreted in the hippuric acid is in a 
fixed ratio of about 1 : 20 to the total nitro- 
gen of the urine. This indicates that about 
5 % of the nitrogen of proteid may be elim- 
inated in the form of glycocoll. The latter 
is probably a cleavage product of proteid 
to this extent. Professor Chittenden pre- 
sented the results of ‘ A chemico-physiolog- 
ical study of certain derivatives of the pro- 
teids.’ The paper dealt especially with the 
results obtained in a careful study of the 
physiological action of a large number of 
specific cleavage products of proteids when 
introduced directly into the circulation. 
Antipeptone, antialbumid, antialbumoses, 
protogelatose, deterogelatose, pure gelatine 
peptone and so-called hemipeptone were 
among the products studied. The influence 
on the blood-pressure, blood-coagulation, 
immunity, lymph flow, urinary secretion, 
ete., were all carefully studied and results 
of interest were obtained. Professor G. N. 
Stewart (Western Reserve) presented the 
results of numerous experiments on ‘The 
molecular concentration and electrical con- 
ductivity of certain animal liquids with 
special reference to blood.’ Professer H. 
P. Bowditch (Harvard) read for Dr. J. K. 
Mitchell a paper on ‘The influence of mas- 
sage upon the number of blood globules in 
the circulating blood.’ In health massage 
increases the number of red corpuscles and 
to some extent their heemoglobin value. In 
anemia there is a very constant and large 
increase in the number of red corpuscles 
after massage. Anzemia may be due to a 
lack of activity or availability in the cor- 
puscles. Dr. P. A. Levene (New York) 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899.] 


gave the results of his investigations on the 
tissues of the higher animals as to their 
power of combining iodide intramolecularly. 
After administering potassium iodine to 
fowls and analyzing during ten weeks the 
eggs and later the tissues, he concludes that 
the power of combining iodine in the organ- 
ism belongs only to certain keratins, such as 
that of the hair, to certain proteids, such as 
that of the thyroid gland, and to certain 
fats. Professor Wesley Mills (McGill) spoke 
of the ‘Correlation of the functional and 
anatomical development of the cerebrum.’ 
Professor Chittenden reported progress in 
the investigation of the properties of the 
edible and poisonous fungi which was un- 
dertaken by a committee of the Society ap- 
pointed for this purpose two years ago. 

At the afternoon session on Friday, Pro- 
fessor G. Carl Huber presented ‘ A note on 
the sensory nerve-endings in the extrinsic 
eye-muscles of the rabbit—atypical motor 
endings of Retzius. The author has re- 
peatedly observed these nerve-endings and 
gave reasons for believing them to be sen- 
sory and not motor. In the absence of 
Professor L. B. Mendel (Yale), a paper by 
him, on ‘ The paths of absorption from the 
peritoneal cavity,’ was read by the Presi- 
dent. In a number of experiments upon 
absorption it was observed that the solution 
employed appeared in the urine consider- 
ably earlier thaninthelymph. The author 
is inclined to the blood-vessel theory of 
absorption. Drs. P. A. Levene and I. 
Levin (New York), made a preliminary 
communication on the absorption of the 
proteids. Because of their easy identifica- 
tion iodoproteids were studied, being in- 
jected into a loop of the intestine and later 
sought for in the lymph. The results were 
negative and in so far tend to confirin the 
accepted theory of absorption by the blood 
system. By invitation Professor E. O. Jor- 
dan (Chicago) gave the results of experi- 
ments upon ‘ The production of fluorescent 


SCIENCE. 


289 


pigment by bacteria.’ The presence of 
both phosphorus and sulphur is essential to 
the formation of this pigment. The rela- 
tive fluorescigenic values of a variety of 
chemical bodies were studied. ‘The pres- 
ence of acid and diffuse daylight are un- 
favorable to pigment production. Profes- 
sor C. F. Hodge described for Mr. H. H. 
Goddard a new brain microtome which is 
constructed on two new principles: the 
knife, which is stationary, is level in order 
to carry liquid in which the section floats, 
and the brain is moved against the knife. 
By invitation Dr. L. J. J. Muskens (New 
York) exhibited an instrument for meas- 
uring muscular tonicity in man. 

In addition to the above papers, a num- 
ber of others were read by title. The fol- 
lowing were elected members of the Society : 
Professor W.O. Atwater (Wesleyan), Pro- 
fessor 8S. P. Budgett (Washington), Dr. A. 
M. Cleghorn (Harvard), Dr. W. J. Gies 
(Columbia), Professor W.S. Hall (North- 
western), Dr. Walter Jones (Johns Hop- 
kins), Professor E. O. Jordan (Chicago), 
Dr. A. P. Mathews (Tufts), Professor B. 
Moore (Yale), Dr. C. C. Stewart (Colum- 
bia) and Professor F. F. Westbrook (Min- 
nesota). There were elected as members 
of the Council for 1898-’99: Professors 
Chittenden, Howell, Lee, Lombard and 
Porter. The details of the establishment of 
the American Journal of Physiology, under the 
auspices of the Society, were presented and 
made a part of the records. The Journal, 
now in its second volume, has abundantly 


justified its existence. 
Freperic §. Lr, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Discharge of Electricity through Gases. By 
J. J. THomson. New York, Charles Scrib- 
mner’s Sons. 1898. Small 8vo. Pp. 203. 
Price, $1.00. 

This volume contains, in modified form, the 
four lectures delivered by Professor Thomson 


290 SCIENCE, 


on the occasion of the sesqui-centennial cele- 
bration at Princeton, in October, 1896. As the 
subject is one that is rapidly developing, the 
author has added the results of numerous inves- 
tigations that have been published since that 
time ; so that the present volume gives an ex- 
cellent presentation of the subject as it now 
stands, 

Although the electrical discharge in gases 
has been investigated in its various phases ever 
since the study of electricity itself began, it is 
only in the last five or six years that our knowl- 
edge of the subject has begun to take systematic 
and satisfactory form. Careful observations had 
been made by hundreds of physicists, and the 
scientific literature abounded with descriptions 
of phenomena of great interest and undoubted 
scientific importance. But our knowledge of 
the subject consisted of a mass of isolated facts ; 
no satisfactory underlying theory had been 
found by which these facts could be correlated. 
The development of such a theory is largely 
due to Professor Thomson, and I know of no 
place where it is so satisfactorily treated as in 
the volume before us. The book is not one re- 
quiring the preparation of a specialist in order 
that it may be understood; the greater part can 
be read with pleasure and profit by one having 
only an elementary knowledge of electrical 
science. On the other hand, I should not speak 
of the book as containing merely a ‘popular’ 
account of the subject, especially if the word 
‘popular’ is to be regarded as having the same 
significance as inaccurate. Writers of popular 
science are, unfortunately, only too prone to 
look upon the two words as synonymous. Pro- 
fessor Thomson, however, possesses the rare 
power of writing upon a difficult subject with 
scientific accuracy, and at the same time in such 
a way as to be intelligible to the lay reader. 

The contents of the book are arranged under 
three chief sub-divisions, namely : the Discharge 
of Electricity through Gases; Photo-electric 
Effects, and Cathode Rays. This classification 
is not wholly satisfactory, for each sub-division 
contains a great deal more than is indicated by 
its title. But the numerous sub-headings, to 
which reference is made in the table of con- 
tents, make it a matter of no great difficulty to 
find any special topic sought. <A fairly com- 


[N. 8. Von. TX. No. 217. 


plete series of references to original sources con- 
stitutes a feature that cannot be too highly 
commended. 

To one unfamiliar with the subject the first 
twenty pages will probably prove the most 
difficult portion of the book. The topics there 
discussed are the various methods by which a 
gas may be electrified: for example, by chemical 
processes, by electrolysis, and by the splashing 
of liquids. The essential peculiarities of the 
conducting power of gases are first brought into 
prominence in the account of the -effect of 
Rontgen rays in giving toa gas the power of 
conducting electricity. Only a few weeks after 
the discovery of the X-rays it was found that 
an electrified body rapidly lost its charge when 
exposed to these rays. This property of the 
new rays was independently and almost simul- 
taneously discovered by at least five different 
physicists, Professor Thomson being one of 
these, and has since been the subject of numer- 
ous investigations. The subject is one in which 
experimental errors are especially difficult to 
avoid, and a great deal of confusion naturally 
existed at first regarding the laws of the phe- 
nomenon and the conditions of its occurrence. 
Practically all of the more reliable experiments 
are now seen to support the view that the dis- 
charge of an electrified body by the Rontgen 
rays is due to the fact that the gas surrounding 
the body is made a conductor by the action of 
these rays. It is thought that the condition 
developed in the gas is somewhat similar to 
that in an electrolyte, 7. e., ions are formed, 
some carrying positive charges and others nega- 
tive charges. A charged body placed in the 
‘ionized’ gas would attract one kind of ions 
and repel the other. Upon coming into con- 
tact with the charged body the ions are sup- 
posed to give up their charges and cease to 
existas ions. The gas is thus rendered capable 
of conducting electricity in much the same 
manner that an electrolyte conducts. But an 
essential difference exists between the two cases, 
due to the fact that the ionized condition of the 
gas is only temporary; in less than a second 
after the Rontgen rays have ceased the ions 
have recombined and the gas is as good an in- 
sulator as ever. 

Conducting power may be imparted to a gas 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


not only by the action of Réntgen rays, but also 
by extreme heat and by the chemical changes 
that occur in flames. These cases are consid- 
ered in the second part of the book. Here also 
the effects are readily explained upon the 
theory that the conduction is electrolytic. In 
fact, it is the development of this theory in its 
application to the various types of gaseous con- 
duction that constitutes the most characteristic 
feature of the book. An accidental error in 
one of the formulas on page 37, whose conse- 
quences appear also in some of the equations 
on the two succeeding pages, may cause annoy- 
ance to one reading hurriedly. A serious mis- 
print occurs on page 42, where 10—"! appears 
several times as 10". 

An interesting account is given, in the second 
division of the book, of the curious effect of 
light in causing the discharge of negative elec- 
tricity. This effect is produced chiefly by the 
shorter light waves, and preeminently by the 
invisible ultra-violet rays of the spectrum. It 
depends not only upon the gas surrounding the 
charged body, but also upon the nature of the 
charged surface. The electro-positive metals, 
such as zine, sodium and rubidium, show the 
effect best. The fact that phosphorescent sub- 
stances are especially sensitive to this effect, 
though as yet unexplained, is of undoubted 
significance. 

The third section of the book, devoted to 
cathode rays, contains an excellent account of 
the recent experiments on this subject. Such 
an account is of especial value because of the 
extraordinary rapidity with which our knowl- 
edge of these rays hasadvanced. It is interest- 
ing to note that the study of cathode rays, as 
well as the study of the other phenomena of 
vacuum tubes, has received a fresh impetus 
since the discovery of the X-rays; if this study 
leads to important discoveries, as it now seems 
almost certain to do, I think that these must 
be regarded as indirect results of the discovery 
‘of Rontgen. 

Tt is quite out of the question to call atten- 
tion in this brief review to the many interest- 
ing and important subjects that are discussed 
throughout the book. The discussion is often 
brief and lacking in the detail that would be 
useful to one making a specialty of the subject. 


SCIENCE. 


291 


But the book is written by one whose own in- 
vestigations have contributed largely to the 
development of each of the topics considered, 
and who is now engaged in further research 
along the same lines. This fact gives to the 
treatment a charm impossible of attainment 
otherwise, and adds to the book a suggestive- 
ness and inspiration which must appeal to all 
who read it. ErneEsT MERRITT. 


AN 
New 


Edited by 
Volt) sk 


Text-book of Physiology. 
ScHArer, LL.D., F.R.S. 
York, The Macmillan Co. 
This new text-book of physiology follows out 

the idea of combining under one editorship the 

writings of different men who treat of the spe- 
cial subjects in physiology with which they 
have had personal and intimate experience. 

In the face of the great and ever widening 

scope of the science of physiology, no work of 

general authority can be written in any other 
manner to-day. 

In illustration of this we find in this volume, 
which covers merely the chemical side of physi- 
ology, reference to fully six thousand original 
articles. The book is highly creditable to 
the eleven English physiologists who have con- 
tributed to it, and it strengthens the general 
opinion that in physiology the English are sec- 
ond only to the Germans. The Germans, how- 
ever, have no such comprehensive and thorough 
reference text-book as this. The work is hardly 
one for medical students, but is intended for 
the teacher, for the advanced investigator, or 
for reference in the medical library. 

The article on the chemistry of the digestive 
processes is ably written by B. Moore. He at- 
tacks the theory of the cleavage of proteid into 
two molecules, the ‘hemipeptone’ and ‘anti- 
peptone,’ for example, and claims that the ex- 
istence of the ‘hemi-’ bodies has never been 
proved. He suggests that trypsin may act on 
a single molecule of albumose which may yield 
a greater or lesser quantity of amido acids ac- 
cording to the albumose used, and that the 
residue of the molecule which cannot be further 
attacked by trypsin is antipeptone. In the dis- 
cussion of the composition of the faeces, Moore, 
in common with almost every text-book of 
physiology, makes the mistake of giving too 


292 


important a place to the residues of the food 
stuffs, omitting to state that the feeces consists 
rather of the residues of the excretions which 
pour into the intestinal tract. 

In the article on the ‘ Chemistry of Respira- 
tion,’ written by M. S. Pembrey, the statement 
is made that in Voit’s respiration apparatus the 
moisture expired by the animal may sometimes 
be deposited in the conducting tubes before 
reaching the vessel where it is caught and 
weighed. With proper manipulation, however, 
this does not take place, and such a statement 
should not be too lightly made when it tends 
to invalidate a large quantity of carefully exe- 
cuted work. 

The articles by Schafer himself are charac- 
terized by breadth of thought and a balanced 
judgment which often causes him to make clear 
a middle ground between opposing theories. 
In his article on the ‘Mechanism of the Secre- 
tion of Milk’ he is inclined to doubt that milk 
is the product of the bodily disintigration of 
the lactic cells, but that, as in formation of 
saliva, granules are extruded from the cells, 
which granules dissolve to form the milk. 

J. H. Langley has written a very complete 
monograph on the subject of the Salivary 
Glands, which includes his own important 
work. 

The other authors are W. D. Halliburton, 
Arthur Gramgee, E. Weymouth Reid, E. H. 
Starling, J. S. Edkins, D. Noél Paton and F. 
Gowland Hopkins, all familiar names to the 
working physiologist. 

The edition published here is identical in 
make up to that published in England and is 
everything that could be desired. 

: GRAHAM LUSK. 

UNIVERSITY AND BELLEVUE HosPITAL 

MEDICAL COLLEGE, NEW YORK CITy- 


SCIENTIFIC YEARBOOKS. 


THE second volume of L’ Année biologique, 
edited by Professor Yves Delage and published 
at Paris by Schleicher fréres, follows the ex- 
cellent lines laid down in the first volume and 
represents the best work accomplished hitherto 
by the various yearbooks recently established 
in France. The subjects are treated under 
twenty chapters, each beginning with a critical 


SOIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 217. 


survey, usually written by MM. Delage and 
Poirault, followed by a bibliography and ab- 
stracts of most of the papers. The digests are 
often detailed, e. g., the notice of Cope’s Pri- 
mary Factors of Organic Evolution extends to 
14 pp., and the account of the contents of a 
book or paper is usually clearly separated from 
such criticism as is given. The subjects treated 
and the number of titles given are as follows: 


The cell, 171. 

Sexual products and fertilization, 8. 

Parthenogenesis, 6. 

Asexual reproduction, 12. 

Ontogenesis, 52. 

Monstrosities, 71. 

Regeneration, 46. 

Grafting, 10. 

Sex and sexual characters, 28. 

Polymorphism, metamorphism and the alternation 
of generations, 29. 

Latent characters, vacat. 

Correlation, 26. 

Death, immortality, the germ plasm, 10. 

Morphology and general physiology, 275. 

Heredity, 57. 

Variation, 78. 

The origin of species, 110. 

Geographie distribution, 50. 

The nervous system and mental functions, 203. 

General theories, 48. 


It is unfortunate that this recently-issued vol- 
ume refers to 1896, instead of 1897, but the 
preparation of these 808 large pages represents 
a great amount of labor for which all students 
of the biological sciences should be grateful. 

M. BInEt’s L’ Année psychologique (Schleicher, 
Paris) combines the publication of special 
papers with a review of the progress of psy- 
chology in 1897. MM. Binet and Vaschide 
contribute separately and in conjunction no less 
than twenty-two researches to the present vol- 
ume, and there are in addition two papers by 
M. Bourdon and one by M. Leclére. The 
papers, which deserve special review, are 
chiefly concerned with the individual differ- 
ences of school children and contain many in- 
teresting suggestions, though, asarule, the work 
is not carried far enough to secure definite re- 
sults. The bibliography, compiled in the first 
instance by Drs. Farrand and Warren for The 
Psychological Review, contains 2,465 titles, and 

{ 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899.] 


about 90 of these papers are abstracted and re- 
viewed, chiefly by M. Binet. 

L’ Année philosophique, of which M. Pillon is 
the editor and Alcan the publisher, in the 
issue for 1897 reaches its eighth volume. It 
contains articles by M. Renouvier on the idea 
of God, by M. Dauriz on the philosophy of 
Paul Janet, and by the editor on Bayle and the 
altruism of Epicurus. The editor also offers a 
review of French philosophical publications ex- 
tending to 140 pages. There is no bibliography. 

Messrs. LEMCKE AND BUECHNER, New York, 
are the American agents of a newly established 
bibliography of French periodicals, edited by 
M. Jordell. The example set in America was 
last year followed in Germany, and we are 
now glad to welcome a similar enterprise in 
France. In this first issue 146 periodicals are 
included, a subject index and an authors’ in- 
dex being provided. Scientific journals are not, 
as a rule, considered, but it is exactly articles 
that appear in the general journals that are 
most likely to escape the attention of scientific 
men, and the usefulness to them of such an 
index is evident. It should be accessible in all 
the larger libraries. 


GENERAL. 


Ir is stated that progress has been made with 
the preparation, for publication, of the exten- 
sive scientific material collected during the voy- 
age of the Fram, and that there is a likelihood 
that the first volume of memoirs will be issued 
during the coming summer or autumn. The 
collection will be in quarto form, and the sep- 
arate memoirs will be the work of a number of 
specialists in the subjects treated, each being 
paged separately. The total number will prob- 
ably be about twenty, forming from three to 
five volumes. The memoirs will be published 
at the expense of the Nansen Fund for the ad- 
vancement of science. 


A QUARTO memoir upon Polypterus is being 
projected at Columbia University as the result 
of the Senff Expedition to the Nile. Specialists 
in the nerves, muscles, blood vessels and vyis- 
ceral anatomy will divide the work, which is 
designed to be of the most exhaustive char- 
acter. Mr. Harrington is taking charge 
of the distribution of the Senff collection 


SCIENCE. 


293 


to specialists in all parts of the country and 
in Europe, with the understanding that the 
results will be published by the New York 
Academy of Science, and thus constitute a 
special and uniform series, which can finally be 
issued in compact form. 


PROFESSOR TITCHENER, of Cornell University, 
is prepariug for publication early in the fall ‘A 
Laboratory Manual of Experimental Psychol- 
ogy,’ which will be published by The Macmillan 
Company. The work will be in two volumes 
and will detail an elementary course of labora- 
tory work. The first volume will deal with 
qualitative analysis, the second with the exact 
measurement of mental processes. Each vol- 
ume will be published in a student’s and a 
teacher’s edition, the former giving instructions 
as regards the conduct of experiments, control 
of introspection, ete., and the latter furnishing 
references, cognate questions and exercises and 
standard results. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

In the Australian Bush and the Coast of the Coral Sea. 
RicHARD Semon. London and New York, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xii +552. $6.50. 

The Principles of Bacteriology. FERDINAND HUEPPE. 
Translated by Dr. E. O. JoRDAN. Chicago, The 
Open Court Publishing Co. 1899. Pp. viii ++ 467. 
$1.75. 

The Dawn of Reason or Mental Traits in the Lower 
Animals. JAMES WEIR. New York and London, 
The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xiii -+ 234. 
$1.25. 

A Brief Introduction to Modern Philosophy. ARTHUR 
KENYON RoaerRs. New York and London, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. viii + 360. 

The Story of the Cotton Plant. F. WILKINSON. 
York, D. Appleton & Co. 1899. Pp. 191. 
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 
THE Journal of Physical Chemistry, January. 

‘Pressure temperature Diagrams for Binary 

Systems,’ by Wilder D. Bancroft.’ ‘The Dis- 

sociative Power of Solvents,’ by Louis Kahlen- 

berg and Azariah T. Lincoln : a study of elec- 
trical conductivity of a number of salts in 
non-aqueous solutions, more fully noticed in 

‘Notes on Inorganic Chemistry.’ ‘ Boiling-point 

curves,’ by E. F. Thayer: the boiling point 

curves for mixtures of alcohol and chloroform, 


New 


294 


acetone and alcohol, and chloroform and ace- 
tone; it is found that a mixture of benzene and 
alcohol with 33.5% alcohol distils unchanged at 
66.7° under 737 mm. pressure ; chloroform and 
alcohol with 7% alcohol distils without change 
at 58.5° under 732.5 mm. ; and chloroform and 
acetone with 19% acetone distils unchanged at 
63.4° under 787.1 mm.; the boiling points of 
all mixtures of alcohol and acetone lie between 
the boiling points of pure alcohol and pure ace- 
tone. ‘Reversible Reactions,’ by John Wad- 
dell: a mathematical paper on the conversion of 
ammonium cyanate into urea, criticising a re- 
cent paper by Walker and Hambly in the Jour- 
nal of the Chemical Society. 

‘ScIENTIFIC vs. Poetic Study of Education’ 
is the title of the opening article, by Charles 
DeGarmo, in the March Educational Review 
(Holt & Co.). Other articles in the number 
will be: ‘The High School Principal,’ by John 
Tetlow ; ‘A School-Garden in Thuringia’ (llus- 
trated), by Herman T. Lukens; ‘ Educational 
Value of Bird-Study,’ by Frank M. Chapman ; 
‘Vacation Schools,’ by Charles Mulford Robin- 
son; ‘Report of the Chicago Educational Com- 
mission’; ‘Fraudulent Diplomas and State 
Supervision,’ by Henry Wade Rogers ; ‘School 
Supervision in New York State,’ by Walter S. 
Allerton. 

THE Geographical Association of Great Brit- 
ain, at its annual meeting, on January 11th, 
adopted the Journal of School Geograyhy, edited 
by Professor R. E. Dodge, New York, as its 
medium for the publication of information of 
service to teachers of geography. 

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
WASHINGTON BOTANICAL CLUB. 

THE third regular meeting was held February 
1, 1899, at the residence of Mr. J. G. Smith. 

Mr. C. L. Shear exhibited and discussed a 
parasitic fungus found on Abiescon color and 
Picea Engelmannii in the subalpine regions of 
the Rocky Mountains. This fungus attacks the 
lower branches of the younger trees, first form- 
ing a brown, felt-like layer over the branch 
and gradually spreading until frequently a foot 
or more of the branch is enveloped and killed. 
The fungus is closely related to Herpotricha 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 217. 


nigra Hartig, which is frequent on conifers in 
similar regions in Europe. Though not agree- 
ing exactly with the description, it seems to be 
what was first described by Professor C. H. 
Peck in Hayden’s Report as Sphxria Coultert. 

Under the title ‘ Plant Formations of Western 
Lake Erie’ a brief account was given, by Mr. 
A. J. Pieters, of the swamp formation and of 
the aquatic plant formation of the Put-in-Bay 
region. The extensive swamps on the main 
land at East Harbor are made up of various 
plant associations in each of which there is a 
dominant species, while in the other, dominant 
species of the formation are nearly or quite ex- 
cluded, though many smaller forms are present 
everywhere if the depth of water does not pre- 
vent. The Scirpus Americanus Association is 
characteristic of the beach either when this is 
subject to heavy wave action or on dry sand 
bars; it also occurs in lagoons behind the bars. 
Throughout the swamp the different associa- 
tions succeed each other, their arrangement be- 
ing sometimes dependent upon depth of water, 
while at other times no relation could be de- 
tected between depth of water or character of 
bottom and the presence of the dominant 
species. 

The aquatic plant formation was classified 
provisionally into associations which were 
grouped under two headings: a, free swimming 
forms ; b, attached species. Three associations 
were recognized under the first : 

1. The Plankton. This includes the free 
swimming, microscopic forms in deep water. 

2. The Utricularia Association. Rootless, 
fine-leaved phanerograms and masses of algze 
floating free beneath the surface in quiet water. 

3. The Lemna Association. Small phanero- 
grams floating free on the surface of the water. 

Five associations of ‘attached forms were 
recognized : 

4. The Cladophora Association. Algz at- 
tached to stones on the bottom or to the sub- 
merged stems of plants. 

5. The Desmid Association. Mostly unicel- 
lular algee lightly attached to fine-leaved phan- 
erogams in quiet water. 

6. The Chara Association. Low-growing 
plants covering the bottoms of shallow bays or 
pools. 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


i 


7. The Potamogeton Association. Plants 
reaching nearly or quite to the surface, with 
long internodes and variously shaped leaves 
rooting in the mud and growing in water from 
one to ten feet deep. 

8. The Nelumbo Association. Plants root- 
ing the bottom and having floating or both 
floating and aerial leaves. 

Two or more of these associations often oc- 
cupy portions of the same area, but the plants 
of each association differ in their habits and 
usually remain distinct from those of other as- 
sociations ; not infrequently new combinations 
arise, the species of any association not always 
remaining where it is commonly found. This 
arrangement, however, expresses in the main 
the grouping of the plants as found in the 
waters and swamps of western Lake Erie. 

Mr. C. L. Pollard exhibited specimens of two 
proposed new species of Viola. One of these 
is from Vermont and is related to V. blanda 
Willd.; it is conspicuous, however, for its large 
flowers, robust habit and unusually-developed 
rootstock. The other plant comes from south- 
ern California and belongs to the Chrysanthe ; 
it has very glaucous foliage and flowers half 
the size of V. Douglasii, its nearest congener. 

The Club devoted the remainder of the even- 
ing to a general discussion on certain questions 
related to ecology. 

CHARLES Louis POLLARD, 
Secretary. 


TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB—ANNUAL MEETING, 
JANUARY 10. 


NINETEEN new members were elected, and 
the previous board of officers, including, as 
President, Hon. Addison Brown; Treasurer, 
Maturin L. Delafield, Jr.; Recording Secretary, 
Edward 8. Burgess; Editor, Lucien M. Under- 
wood. Annual reports were presented, that of 
the Treasurer indicating a cash balance in 
hand. 

The Recording Secretary, Professor Burgess, 
reported an average attendance of 39 at the 15 
meetings held during the year, one death, a 
present active membership of 193, correspond- 
ing membership 140, honorary membership 38, 
total 836. The 27 scientific papers presented 
include 20 authors, among these non-resident 


SCIENCE. 295 


being Dr. Radlkofer, of Vienna, and Casimir De 
Candolle. About 20 new species have been de- 
scribed. Among the papers 6 were on taxo- 
nomic and other subjects relating to cryptogams, 
2 on the nucleus, 2 were accompanied by lan- 
tern-views, and 2 by exhibits of photographs ; 
6 were followed by symposia for which general 
discussions had been prepared. Brief reports 
of collections and of botanical progress num- 
bered 42. Two collations had marked the 
year’s history, one tendered to the Club on 
March 8th, by the Teachers’ College, and one 
tendered by the Club to visiting botanists, 
especially to members of the Society of Plant 
Morphology, at Columbia Univers ty, Decem- 
ber 29th. 

The editor, Professor Underwood, reported 
the regular monthly issue of the Bulletin, in- 
cluding 640 pages and 29 plates, with a bal- 
ance to the credit of the Bulletin. Slight 
changes in the Bulletin include the introduction 
of author and subject head-lines, the arrange- 
ment of matter to begin each new article with 
a new page, and the use of improved plates. 
By discontinuing book reviews and miscellan- 
eous notes more space has been gained for 
articles of research. The number of pages is 
itself 50 in excess of those of the preceding 
year. New numbers of the Memoirs are in 
preparation. A series of complete volumes of 
the Bulletin has been filed ready for sale, and 
surplus numbers inventoried and separated to 
supply the demand for single copies. An en- 
dowment fund is greatly desired, by which 
secure provision may be made for prompt pub- 
lication and superior illustration of American 
botanical researches. 

The report of the Field Committee, through 
its Chairman, Mr. W. A. Bastedo, enumerated 
36 field meetings, all held in cooperation with 
the Brooklyn Institute; 3 of these were 3-day 
excursions in cooperation with the Philadelphia 
botanists, viz., at Decoration Day to Point 
Pleasant, N. J., at the Fourth of July to 
Stroudsburg, Pa., and at Labor Day to Whit- 
ing’s, N. J. 

In behalf of the Committee on Local Phanero- 
gamic Flora, Dr. Britton referred to the work 
hitherto accomplished, as represented in Dr. 
Torrey’s catalogue of 1819, and the two pre- 


296 


(ep) 


liminary catalogues published already by this 
Club, by Mr. W. H. Leggett in 1875-6, and by 
Britton, Sterns and Poggenburg in 1888. Local 
catalogues within our range include those of 
Suffolk County, L. I., by Miller and Young ; of 
Staten Island, by Dr. Hollick and others; of 
New Jersey, by Dr. Britton, Dr. Rusby and 
others ; of Long Island, by Dr. Jelliffe. Special 
interest attaches to Mr. Bicknell’s work on the 
Westchester County Flora. It was desired that 
the new committee continue and combine the 
researches contributory to the ultimate publi- 
cation of a comprehensive Flora of the Metro- 
politan District, adding such details as possible 
as to ecological and quantitative characters. 

In behalf of the Committee on Local Crypto- 
gamic Flora, Mrs. E. G. Britton reported that 
a catalogue of the Mosses of the Botanical Gar- 
den at Bronx Park is about to be published in 
its annual report. 

Dr. Britton read a letter which he had re- 
ceived that morning from Mr. A. A. Heller, 
from Ponce, Porto Rico, announcing his arrival 
in health. He observed many interesting 
plants, as Crotons, in the vicinity of Ponce. 
Mr. Henshaw is about to join him, for further 
collections, particularly of living material for 
the Botanical Garden. 

Dr. Britton also reported the formal opening 
of work on January 3d, toward the great range 
of Horticultural Houses for the Botanica 
Garden, which it is hoped may be ready for in- 
stallation in October. 

Dr. Rusby reported his possession of a manu- 
script catalogue of the economic plants of Cuba 
and Porto Rico, giving the botanic names, uses 
and common names, in about 8 volumes of 200 
pages each. This is the work of our corre- 
sponding member, Professor De la Maza, of the 
University of Havana, who, although but a 
young man, has formed a large collection of 
plants there, comparing them carefully with the 
Charles Wright collection of Cuban plants, 
which is also in the University of Havana. 

Dr. Britton also referred to the tour Dr. Fair- 
child is now taking along the Chilian coast in 
the hope of establishing some plant exchanges. 


EDWARD S. BURGESS, 


Secretary. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 217. 


PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 495th meeting of the Society was held at 
8 p. m., at the Cosmos Club, on February 4th. 
An informal communication was first presented 
by Dr. L. A. Bauer, read by Mr. J. F. Hayford, 
entitled ‘Is the Principal Source of the Secular 
Variation of the Earth’s Magnetism Within or 
Without the Earth’s Crust?’ The first regular 
paper was by Mr. J. H. Gore, on the ‘ Begin- 
nings of Geodesy in the United States.’ The 
second paper was by Mr. E. D. Preston, on 
‘Geodetic Operations in the United States.’ 
Both of these papers will, probably, appear in 
full in SCIENCE within a short time. 

E. D. PRESTON, 
Secretary. 


ALABAMA INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 


THE annual meeting of the Alabama Indus- 
trial and Scientific Society was held in the city 
of Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday afternoon, 
February 1, 1899, with about twenty members 
inattendance. In the absence of the President, 
Professor M. C. Wilson, caused by a delayed 
train, the meeting was called to order by ex-Pres- 
ident F. M. Jackson. After the reading of the 
minutes of the last meeting, the action of the So- 
ciety at that meeting, recommending amend- 
ments to the State mining laws for the purpose 
of securing monthly returns of the production of 
the various minerals of the State, was reconsid- 
ered, and it was decided to recommend that the 
laws be amended so as to include only yearly re- 
turns of the production of coal, coke, iron ores, 
pig iron, limestone, dolomite, building stones, 
clays, bauxite, ete. The present law requires re- 
turns only from the producers of coal and coke. 

Upon recommendation of the Council, three 
new members were elected and a number of 
papers accepted. 

Under the head of new business, a resolution 
was adopted favoring the passage of United 
States Senate Resolution No. 205, ‘To provide 
for a Division of Mines and Mining in the United 
States Geological Survey,’ and the Secretary 
was instructed to communicate this resolution 
to the Alabama Senators and Congressmen, and 
also to bring the matter to the attention of the 
Commercial Club of Birmingham, with request 
that like action be taken by that body. 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899. ] 


Upon the arrival of President Wilson, he read 
his address as retiring President, giving a gen- 
eral résumé of the work of the Society during 
the past year, and making some suggestions 
about its future work. The importance was 
also urged of establishing in the city of Birm- 
ingham a School of Natural Sciences, in which 
every youth in the limits of the city might 
have the opportunity of acquiring some scien- 
tific training, and especially in those branches 
of science which bear upon the manufacture of 
iron. The establishment of such a school would 
cause similar schools to spring up in the smaller 
towns and would be followed by industrial 
growth. 

Papers were then read as follows: ‘The Brown 
Ores at Leeds, in Jefferson County,’ by J. W. Cas- 
tleman, of the Sloss Iron and Steel Co. In 
this paper an account was given of the large 
deposits of brown ore recently developed by the 
Sloss company. ‘On Trichina spiralis,’ by Dr. 
John Y. Graham, of the State University. This 
paper, based upon original investigations by Dr. 
Graham, was illustrated by charts and by spec- 
imens under the miscroscope. ‘On Roads and 
Road Making,’ by Colonel Horace Harding. 
‘British Columbia and its Mineral Resources,’ 
by Wm. M. Brewer. ‘A Section through Red 
Mountain,’ by A. W. Haskell. 

The election of officers for the ensuing term 
was then taken up, with the following result: 
President, J. H. Fitts, of Tuscaloosa; Vice- 
Presidents, J. M. Garvin, of Rock Run, and 
J. H. McCune, of Woodward ; Treasurer, Henry 
McCalley, of the University of Alabama; Sec- 
retary, Eugene A. Smith, University of Ala- 
bama. The Society then adjourned, to meet 
again on May 3d, next. After the adjourn- 
ment the members of the Society and their 
invited guests partook of a banquet at the Mor- 


ris Hotel. 
EvuGene A. SMITH, 


Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ETHERION. 

To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In a recent 
number of ScrENCE attention was called to 
what appeared to be an unreasonable attitude 
on the part of the editors of Nature towards 


SCIENCE. 


297 


Mr. Charles F. Brush’s paper on Etherion, an 
attitude, namely, which simply refused to accept 
Mr. Brush’s results until they were demon- 
strated by the spectroscope. A recent criticism 
by M. Smoluchowski de Smolan in Nature for 
January 5th is, on the other hand, entirely rea- 
sonable, being, as it -is, a fair criticism of Mr. 
Brush’s work. The question whether heat 
conductivity can demonstrate the existence of 
an unknown thing, and the question whether 
Mr. Brush really found a gas which had one 
hundred times the thermal conductivity of 
hydrogen at the same pressure, are very different. 
It is this latter question which is raised by M. 
de Smolan. Itseems probable, indeed, that the 
anomalous thermal conductivity found by Mr. 
Brush may have been due to his not having 
rigorously excluded water vapor, thus making 
his pressure determinations uncertain. We 
may soon expect an answer to this point from 


Mr. Brush himself. 
W.S. FRANKLIN. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

AN extended research has been made by E. 
Hintz on the effect of varying quantities of the 
rare earths on the luminosity of the mantels for 
the Welsbach burners. The results are pub- 
lished in the Zeitschrift fiir analytische Chemie. 
Comparing the oxids of thorium and cerium 
alone and mixed in varying proportions, and, 
using for comparison the number of liters of gas 
consumed per hour per Hefner light unit, it ap- 
pears that the consumption for pure thoria is 
50 and for pure ceria 61. With traces of ceria 
in thoria the consumption decreases, 0.1% ceria 
giving 6.7; 0.2%, 3.1, and 0.5%, 2.1. On the 
other hand, thoria added to ceria has much 
less effect, 30% thoria requiring 48 ; 60%, 31, 
and 80%,12. The minimum consumption, that 
is, the greatest light efficiency, isreached with a 
mixture of 99% thoria and 1% ceria, with which 
the consumption of gas is only 1.4 liters per 
hour per Hefner unit. Some decrease of effi- 
ciency is noticed after several hundred hours’ 
use. As regards the addition of other oxids to 
this ‘normal’ thoria-ceria mixture (99:1) 1% of 
neodymia, lanthana, yttria or zirconia has no 
effect; nor does 2% of the first three. Two 
per cent. of zirconia, however, diminishes 


298 

slightly the efficiency. Larger proportions of 
these oxids are prejudicial, especially those of 
neodymia and yttria. 

COMMERCIAL calcium carbid has, as is well 
known, a reddish brown color. Moissan has 
lately studied this color and finds that it is due 
to the presence of iron, even traces of which 
give it a decided tint. He finds, however, that 
the pure calcium carbid crystals are colorless 
and transparent. 

Apropos of the disputed occurrence of cop- 
per as a normal constituent of plants, Pro- 
fessor G. B. Frankforter, of the University 
of Minnesota, describes, in the last Chemical 
News, a very interesting occurrence of metal- 
lic copper disseminated in the pores of an 
oak tree in Minneapolis. The tree had died, 
and, on cutting it up, the presence of copper was 
so noticeable as to attract attention. Micro- 
scopic examination showed that only the outer 
annual rings contained an appreciable quantity 
of the metal, which was in the form of fine 
flakes, some of them 1.5 mm. in diameter. The 
copper appeared to be very pure. It seemed as 
if the tree had begun to absorb the metal only 
in the last few years, and that this had occa- 
sioned its death. The origin of the copper was 
uncertain, though the soil is known to contain 
native copper. The fact that the copper was 
in the native state would raise the question as 
to whether this is the usual form in which it 
occurs in plants. Another question might be 
raised as to whether plants take up any of the 
copper which is so largely used in fungicides, 
and as to whether this would eventually destroy 
a tree on which it was used. 

Up to within acomparatively short time the 
physical chemistry of solutions has been almost 
confined to those in which the solvent is water. 
Attention is now being turned to other solutions, 
and very interesting questions arise as to the 
applicability of the theory of electrolytic disso- 
ciation and other theories which have been 
worked out only with aqueous solutions. We 
have already noticed in these columns the work 
of E. C. Franklin, of the University of Kansas, 
on liquid ammonia as asolvent. In the January 
number of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, L. 
Kahlenberg and A. T. Lincoln, of the University 


of Wisconsin, detail a number of experiments 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 217. 


with different non-aqueous solvents as to elec- 
trical conductivity. The solvents used were 
methyl and ethyl alcohol, acetone, ethyl aceto- 
acetate, benzaldehyde, and nitro-benzene. The 
substances dissolved were the chlorids of iron, 
antimony, bismuth, arsenic, tin and phosphorus. 
The molecular weights were also determined 
by freezing point depression with nitrobenzene 
asa solvent. The results obtained are not uni- 
form enough, nor large enough in number, to 
be used for any generalization, but the follow- 
ing significant sentences occur at the close of 
the paper: ‘‘The general outlook at present 
appears to be that, in order to harmonize the 
molecular-weight determinations in many non- 
aqueous solutions with the relatively high elec- 
trical conductivity of the latter, the assumption 
that combination between solvent and dissolved 
substance takes place will have to be made. 
Can it be true that, after its glorious success in ex- 
plaining the properties of aqueous solutions of 
acids, bases and salts, the dissociation theery will 
need the help of its old rival, the hydrate theory 
(perhaps in a somewhat modified form), to explain 
the facts in the case of non-aqueous solutions ?”’ 
The authors call attention to the ideas of Werner 
regarding the existence of hydrated metal ions 
in solution, a theory which partakes of the na- 
ture of the two rival theories of solution. While 
Werner’s theory may be in many respects un- 
satisfactory, it deserves to be better known 
among chemists, and may foreshadow something 
of the direction chemical thought will take, in 
the development out of the present valence 
theories. Jey eles 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
WATERSPOUTS OFF THE COAST OF NEW SOUTH 
WALES. 

AN incident quite unique in the history of 
waterspout observation occurred on May 16, 
1898, off Eden, New South Wales. On this day 
fourteen complete waterspouts, and six others, 
more or less incomplete, occurred in the space 
of five hours. It so happened that a mining 
engineer, Mr. D. R. Crichton, was engaged in 
making certain observations with a theodolite 
in Eden at the time when the waterspouts be- 
gan to form off-shore. Mr. Crichton made the 
most of his very exceptional opportunity ; 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899.] 


watched the spouts carefully through the tele- 
scope of his theodolite, and obtained some defi- 
nite measurements as to the height of the larg- 
est spout. According to his calculations the 
height above the sea of the top of the inverted 
cone was 5,014 ft. The cones at the top and 
bottom of the spout were about 100 ft. in diam- 
eter, and the length of each cone from its base 
to the points at which the sides of the spout ap- 
peared parallel was about 250 ft. Mr. H. C. 
Russell, the Government Astronomer of New 
South Wales, has published an admirable, illus- 
trated account of this remarkable series of 
waterspouts, together with a record of previous 
waterspouts, and some observations as to the 
conditions under which these phenomena oc- 


cur. (Journ. Roy. Soc., N.S.W., Vol. XXXII, 
1898.) 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE WEATHER 


BUREAU. 


THE Annual Report of Professor Willis L. 
Moore, Chief of the Weather Bureau, empha- 
sizes once again the wide scope of the work of 
the Bureau and the value of this work to the 
public at large. The extension of the meteor- 
ological service to include observations at vari- 
ous stations in the West Indies, Mexico and 
Colombia has already been referred to in these 
Notes. The observations made during the In- 
ternational Cloud Year are under discussion and 
will soon be published. The total number of 
forecasts distributed during the year, exclusive 
of those published in the daily papers, was, 
approximately, 23,531,500. Sixty-four per cent. 
of this distribution was by logotype cards, sent 
through the mail or carried by messengers ; 23 % 
by maps and bulletins ; 10% through coopera- 
tion of railroad, telegraph and telephone lines; 
3% by telegraph and telephone lines at the ex- 
pense of the Bureau. Weather maps to the 
number of 5,239,800 were distributed. A sec- 
tion of the Climate and Crop Service has been 
established in Alaska. A meteorological chart 
of the Great Lakes has been issued monthly 
during the season of navigation. 


METEOROLOGICAL CHART OF THE GREAT LAKES. 


THE Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes, 
dated January 4th, contains a summary, for the 
year 1898, of the storms on the Lakes, the 


SCIENCE. 299 


number of disasters and of lives lost, the values 
of the vessels lost, and the causes of the dis- 
asters. Thirty-nine vessels were totally lost, 
all as the result of gales. Of the partial losses 
(104), 22 were due to fog and 82 to gales. The 
number of lives lost was 96. The relative fre- 
quency-of fog over the Lakes during the season 
of navigation (April 1st to December 15th) is 
shown by five different styles of shading. 


NOTES. 


A NOTABLE work on the physiological effects of 
high altitudes has recently beenissued. Itis an 
English translation—entitled ‘Life of Man onthe 
High Alps’ (London, 1898)—of a book originally 
written in Italian by Professor Angelo Mosso, 
of Turin. According to Nature (January 26th) 
this ‘‘is the first attempt that has been made 
to present the various complex physiological 
phenomena which man exhibits at high alti- 
tudes in such a form as to be easily understood 
by those who are not trained physiologists.”’ 


In his Presidential address before the Royal 
Meteorological Society on January 18th, Mr. F. 
C. Bayard stated that in the British Isles only 
two shillings and sixpence per square mile is 
voted by the government for the support of 
meteorology. This amounts to one-third of a 
farthing per head. R. DEC. WARD. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 
MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS. 


AT the last meeting of the German Anthro- 
pological Society, Professor Virchow delivered 
a long and elaborate address on the ‘ megalithic 
monuments’ of Europe. He rejected all theo- 
ries so far advanced as to their builders, and 
left it as a question for the future to settle. 

Mr. W. C. Borlase, probably the best authority 
on the subject, is the author of a work in three 
volumes on ‘The Dolmens of Ireland.’ His 
descriptions are excellent, but in his search for 
their constructors he loses himself in the maze 
of Irish legendary lore, and falls into the com- 
mon error of supposing that because the same 
stories are told and the same superstitious prac- 
tices obtain concerning these monuments in 
Ireland, Spain, France and Germany there 
must have been relations and borrowing. This 


300 


mistake in his reasoning is well pointed out by 
Mr. Alfred Nutt in a review of the work in the 
Folklore Journal (March, 1898). Identity of 
psychology, he justly insists, is the true expla- 
nation, 


THE MEANING OF PRIMITIVE ORNAMENT. 


On few questions in ethnology is there wider 
diversity of opinion than about the intention of 
primitive decoration. Does it arise from a 
mere love of imitation, without further idea ? 
Is it mystical and symbolic, in some way an ex- 
pression of the religious sentiments? Is it due 
to utilitarian aims, a sort of graphic method ? 
Or is it the expression of the sense of the beau- 
tiful, genuinely artistic? 

Each of these opinions has its defenders. In 
the Internat. Archiv fiir Ethnographie (1898, 
Heft II.) Van Panhuys caustically reviews the 
question, and concludes with the pertinent in- 
quiries: Cannot the same decorative designs 
arise among peoples who have had no relations 
with each other? Why must the meaning or 
origin of these designs be everywhere the same? 
These are, indeed, pointed and pertinent inter- 
rogatories and hint at the true solution of the 
inquiry. 

GENEALOGY AS A BRANCH OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 


In his opening address before the last meet- 
ing of the German Anthropological Society, 
Professor Johannes Ranke emphasized the 
value of genealogical investigation as an aid to 
anthropology. By it we learn the facts of 
heredity, the influence of kinship, the conse- 
quences of intermarriage of relations, the per- 
manence or variation in family traits, psychical 
and physiological peculiarities and their trans- 
mission, the tendency to reversion of types, the 
effect on the children of marriages at different 
ages, and many more points of very great in- 
terest. 

For genealogy, however, to be thus promoted 
to the dignity of a science it is necessary that 
those who cultivate it should be willing to tell 
the truth about the family trees in which they 
are interested; and in America, notably in 
Philadelphia, they are yet a long way off from 
taking this position. 

D. G. BrInTon. 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 217. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THe Berlin Academy of Sciences has con- 
ferred its Helmholtz medal on Professor Vir- 
chow. It was established on Helmholtz’s birth- 
day in 1892, and has since been conferred on 
Du Bois-Reymond, Weierstrass and Lord Kelvin. 


Dr. Roux, of the Pasteur Institute, has been 
elected a member of the Agricultural Section of 
the Paris Academy of Sciences, in the room of 
the late M. Aimé Girard. M. Risler, Director 
of the Agricultural Institute, received fourteen 
votes, and M. Maquenne, professor of the ap- 
plications of physics to agriculture in the Paris 
Museum, received two votes, as compared with 
forty-one for M. Roux. 

AT the last meeting of the British Institution 
of Electrical Engineers, Lord Kelvin was elected 
an honorary member. Lord Kelvin is the oldest 
surviving past President of the Institution, hav- 
ing held the office of President in 1874. 


THE Hungarian Society of Natural History 
has elected M. de Freycinet a corresponding 
member, and has translated into Hungarian his 
essay, ‘Sur la philosophie des sciences.’ This 
translation is distributed among the members 
of the Society, which, we are glad to learn, 
number 8,000. 

InviraTions have been issued for the cele- 
bration, at Cambridge, of the jubilee of Profes- 
sor Sir George Gabriel Stokes, to the plans. 
for which we recently called attention. Sir 
George Stokes was elected Lucasian professor 
of mathematics on October 238, 1849. The 
ceremonies will take place on June Ist and 2nd 
of the present year. 

M. Picarp, Commissioner-General of the 
Paris Exposition of 1900, has been elected an 
honorary member of the British Institution of 
Civil Engineers. 

Proressor E. B. Wiison, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, after visiting the Naples Zoological 
Station, has gone to Egypt, and is endeavoring 
to follow up the work of Messrs. Hunt and 
Harrington in pursuit of the life-history of 
Polypterus. 

THE Berlin Academy of Sciences, with the as- 
sistance of the Heckmann-Wentzel foundation, 
has undertaken to explore Lake Nyassa and the 


FEBRUARY 24, 1899.] 


surrounding regions, with a view to studying 
the fauna and flora. Dr. Fulleborn will act as 
zoologist and Dr. Gétze as botanist of the expe- 
dition. 

Nature states that Dr. Don Francisco P. 
Moreno, Director of the La Plata Museum, and 
Commissioner of the Argentine Republic in the 
boundary delimitation with Chile, has arrived 
in London from Buenos Ayres. 


Proressor F, Ktstner, Director of the Ob- 
servatory at Bonn, has been appointed Director 
of the Hamburg Observatory, Professor G. Riim- 
ker having resigned this position on account of 
ill health. 


Mr. J. H. Hotianp has been appointed 
Director of the Botanical Gardens in Calabar. 


THE annual meeting of the Malacological So- 
ciety, London, was held on February 9th. The 
Presidential Address was delivered by Lieut.- 
Colonel H. H. Godwin-Austen, F.R.S. 


LeEcTURES on geology will be given at the 
American Museum of Natural History during 
March as follows: March 4th, Professor James 
F. Kemp, on ‘The Newer Gold Regions of the 
West,’ with especial reference to the Cripple 
Creek country of Colorado, Mereur, Utah, and 
the Yukon basin; March 11th, Mr. Walter H, 
Weed, of the United States Geological Survey, 
on ‘The Gold and Silver Mines of Montana ;’ 
March 18th, Dr. Hienrich Ries, of Cornell Uni- 
versity, on ‘Clay and Its Uses ;’ March 25th, 
Dr. David T. Day, on ‘The Geology of Petro- 
leum.’ 


TuE Vienna Medical Club has voted the sum 
of three hundred gold crowns for the founda- 
tion of a prize in memory of Dr. Hermann 
Franz Muller, whose recent death from the 
plague will be remembered. 


WE learn from Nature that at its annual meet- 
ing, on January 10th, the Russian Academy of 
Sciences awarded its Helmersen premium to A. 
Mickwitz for his work, ‘Die Brachiopoden. 
Gattung Obolus, Eichwald’; the Lomonosoff 
premium to N. I. Andrusoff for his work, ‘The 
fossil and the living Dreissenidae of Eurasia’; 
to E. Burinsky, for his improvements in pho- 
tography ; and to P. I. Brounow, for his works 
in meteorology. The large Tolstoi medal was 


SCIENCE. 


501 


awarded to L. Besser and K. Ballod, for their 
researches into the natality and mortality of 
the populations of European Russia, the Baltic 
provinces, and different countries of Europe, 
including Great Britain; and the small medal 
to P. G. Matsokin, for a MS. work on the half- 
breeds of Transbaikalia. 


Mr. E. A. MARTEL has been awarded the 
grand medal of the French ‘Société de Topog- 
raphie. 

THE second award of the Weber-Parkes prize 
and medals of the Royal College of Physicians 
of London (awarded triennially to the writer 
of the best essay upon some subject con- 
nected with the etiology, prevention, pathol- 
ogy or treatment of tuberculosis, especially 
with reference to pulmonary consumption in 
man) will be made in 1900. The value of the 
prize is 150 guineas and a silver medal. A 
similar medal, distinguished as the second 
medal, will be awarded to the essayist who 
comes next in order of merit. ' 


WE learn, with regret, of the death, from pneu- 
monia, of Professor Wilbur Wilson Thoburn, 
professor of biomechanics, at Leland Stanford 
Jr. University. 

WE regret also to record the following deaths: 
Dr. G. Wolffhigel, professor of hygiene in the 
University at Gottingen; Dr. Rupert Bock, 
professor of mechanics in the Technical Insti- 
tute of Vienna, and Dr. Lench, assistant in 
the Observatory at Zurich. 


In the British House of Commons on Febru- 
ary 8th Mr. Akers Douglas (Kent, St. Au- 
gustine’s) said: ‘‘ All the new buildings for 
South Kensington Museum on the east side of 
the Exhibition-road will be devoted to the art 
collections. The existing science building on 
the east side of the road will be the only por- 
tion which will continue to be used for science 
purposes. The new science buildings will be 
erected on the west side of the road. The 
plans have been prepared by the architect in 
communication with the officers of the art and 
science branches, and meet with the approval 
of the Lord President and his department. It 
is proposed to commence the new buildings in 
front of the South Kensington Museum within 
the next few weeks.”’ 


302 SCIENCE. 


SOMETIME since we called attention to the 
appointment of a commission in France to con- 
sider the question of colonial botanical gardens 
and agricultural experiment stations. This 
commission has now recommended that a sta- 
tion be established in each of the French colo- 
nies and a central station for the distribution of 
seedsand plants. A decree has been issued or- 

‘ ganizing such a station at Vincennes and M. 
Jean Dybowski has been appointed its director. 

PLANS have been made for the erection of a 
State Meteorological Station on the summit of 
Schneekope, one of the Riesengebirge, Silesia, 
which is 1,605 meters in height. <A scientific 
observer will be stationed in the observatory. 

Ir is feared that the instruments of the 
Manila Observatory have been injured by the 
recent battles. The Observatory is well] 
equipped for meteorological and seismological 
observations, and its publications have been of 
much scientific value. 

TuE Brooklyn Institute will establish in its 
museum a department in which natural history 
and technology will be exhibited in a manner 
that will interest and instruct children. There 
are such museums in foreign cities, but not, it is 
said, elsewhere in America. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE, in addition to offer- 
ing $250,000 for a free library in Washington, 
and $100,000 for a free library at Atlanta, has 
also offered to provide libraries for Richmond, 
Va., and Bellefonte, Pa. Mr. Carnegie has 
already given more than $8,000,000 for the 
establishment of free libraries. 

OPEN competitive merit examinations will be 
held March ist to 7th, 1899, in various cities 
throughout New York State for the positions 
mentioned below. Exact dates will be fixed later 
for the various cities, and candidates having 
applications on file will be given ample notice 
of the time and place of examination most 
convenient to their place of residence. In- 
tending competitors must file applications in 
the office of the Commission before February 
28th. Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture, 
Third Division.—Applicants must be residents 
of this division, which includes the counties of 
Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, 
Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and part 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 217. 


of Westchester. Salary, $1,500 per annum. 
The examination will relate entirely to the 
duties of the position, the experience of the 
candidate, his knowledge of agriculture and its 
interests in the division and his familiarity with 
the laws relating to the Department and its 
work. Assistant at the Agricultural Experiment 
Station, Jamaica, N. Y.—Candidates must have 
a practical knowledge of farm and garden work, 
and should have some training in the funda- 
mentals of botany and entomology ; they must 
also have the knowledge of the care of a forcing 
house, spraying and the supervision of other 
experiments conducted by such a station. Sal- 
ary, $600 per annum. The examination will 
relate wholly to the duties of the position and 
the knowledge and experience required for their 
performance. Time allowed, seven hours. 
Library Assistant, State Library.—Salaries, 
$30 to $50 per month. The examination will 
cover cataloguing, classification, indexing, li- 
brary economy, indexing and handwriting. 


THE Department of State has received from 
the German embassy at Washington, under 
date of January 21, 1899, notice of the interna- 
tional veterinary congress to be held at Baden 
on August 9-14, 1899. The subjects to be dis- 
cussed include prophylactic measures to prevent 
the spread of cattle diseases by the export of 
animals, treatment of tuberculosis in domestic 
animals, use of flesh and milk of animals 
affected by tuberculosis and requirements for 
inspection of meat, cure of foot and mouth 
disease and diseases of swine, dissemination of 
veterinary instruction, preparation of a uniform 
anatomical nomenclature in veterinary medicine 
and cure of rabies. The members of the con- 
gress shall consist of delegates from foreign 
countries and the German Empire, representa- 
tives of veterinary schools who are designated 
to the committee, delegates of veterinary and 
agricultural societies, representatives of state 
and communal offices of public health and pub- 
lic hygienic institutes, and veterinarians who 
record their names and pay 12 Marks. 


AT a meeting held January 20th by the Bel- 
gian Society of Electricians (M. Emile Closset, 
President) it was decided to open an exposition 
of electrical appliances applicable to domestic 


“FEBRUARY 24, 1899.] 


uses. The exposition will be held next May, 
in the new post and telegraph office, Place de 
la Monnaie, Brussels. 


THE Twenty-eighth Congress of the German 
Surgical Society will be held in the Langen- 
beckhaus, Berlin, from April 5th to 8th, under 
the presidency of Professor Eugen Hahn. 


A suiT is being brought by the Treasurer of 
the New England Anti-vivisection Society to 
prevent the former President from disposing of 
the funds of the Society. A lawsuit is, perhaps, 
the most innocent disposition that could be 
made of these funds. 


FURTHER information has been sent concern- 
ing the Seventh International Geographical 
Congress, which will meet in Berlin at the end 
of September. Among the subjects to be 
brought up are: Proposal to introduce inter- 
national uniformity in the methodical treat- 
ment of various subjects, such as the problem 
of the tides, the conventional signs on maps, the 
nomenclature and delimitation of oceans and 


seas, the attachment of the scale to every map, - 


the mode of arranging meteorological tables, 
etc. There are also suggestions for joint inter- 
national work: (1) in collecting materials of 
every kind referring to floating ice, to earth- 
quakes, to the utilization of arid lands, ete. ; 
(2) in the exploration of the Antarctic regions ; 
(8) in the systematic exploration of the oceans ; 
(4) a suggestion, dating from former congresses, 
and which is again to be discussed at Berlin, 
refers to the execution of an international geo- 
graphical bibliography. It appears that this 
will be finally disposed of at Berlin. (5) An- 
other important subject, dating from the meet- 
ing of Berne, is Professor Penck’s well-known 
project for the construction of a map of the 
world on the scale of 1 to 1,000,000. It is in- 
tended also to make arrangements, if possible, 
for the more efficient work of the committees 
appointed by the Congress, as, for example, by 
paying for the traveling expenses of members 
in order that meetings may be held. 


THE British Medical Journal reports that the 
first meeting of the ‘ Association des Anato- 
mistes,’ which is intended to form the nucleus 
of a ‘ Latin Anatomical Association,’ was held 


SCIENCE. 303 


recently in Paris, under the presidency of the 
distinguished embryologist, Professor Balbiani, 
of the Collége de France. The Vice-Presidents 
were Professors Mathias Duval, of Paris; 
Renaut, of Lyons, and Romiti, of Pisa. Profes- 
sor Nicolas, of Nancy, was appointed Secretary, 
Professor Ranvier, of Paris, and Professor Van 
Bambeke, of Ghent, were elected Honorary 
Presidents, in addition to a considerable num- 
ber of French teachers and investigators. Sev- 
eral foreign anatomists were present, including 
Professors Van der Stricht, of Ghent; Van 
Gehuchten, of Louvain, and Mitrophanoff, of 
Warsaw. The next meeting of the new Asso- 
ciation will be held in connection with that of 
the Anatomical Section of the International 
Medical Congress to be held in Paris in 1900. 


WE learn from the British Medical Journal 
that on February 2d a new Bacteriological In- 
stitute was formally opened in the University 
of Louvain. The Institute is on a large scale, 
and the installation and equipment are in ac- 
cordance with the most advanced ideas. Every 
facility for research is provided. The stables, 
kennels and other quarters for animals are 
built around a vast garden, and all the arrange- 
ments show careful regard for the health and 
comfort of the animals. Professor Denys began 
his work fifteen years ago in two small rooms, 
which later expanded into a respectable labora- 
tory, and now have developed into a scientific 
palace. Giving an account of the work that 
had been done, he stated that more than 80 
original researches had come from it, besides 25 
presented for travelling scholarships, 23 of 
which had gained a prize of £160. A special 
department in the new Institute will be devoted 
to the preparation of therapeutic serums of dif- 
ferent kinds, tuberculin, etc. At the Congress 
on Tuberculosis held in Paris last summer 
Professor Denys gave an account of a new 
tuberculin which he had used with considerable 
success; he proposes to continue his work in 
this field, and is hopeful of success. <A feature 
in the Institute which is likely to be particularly 
useful is an out-patient department for suffer- 
ers from tuberculosis and other microbic dis- 
eases who receive serum-therapeutic treatment 
adapted to their complaints, only substances 
which have been tested by experimentation on 


304 


animals being used. Already numbers of pa- 
tients, mostly the subjects of phthisis, are in 
regular attendance. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 
\ 


Tue Trustees of Trinity College have de- 
cided to erect a Natural Science Hall at a cost 
of $40,000. 

THE bi-centennial celebration of Yale Uni- 
versity will begin on Sunday, October 20, 1901, 
and will continue for four days. On Wednes- 
day a commemorative address will be made 
and honorary degrees will be conferred. 


THE fund which since 1880 has been collect- 
ing for a retirement fund for professors of Har- 
vard University has now reached $340,000, and 
the plan will be put into effect at the beginning 
of the next academic year. Professors who 
have served for twenty years and who are over 
sixty years old will be allowed one-third salary, 
with an increase for longer terms of service, 
which, however, is not to exceed two-thirds of 
the salary. 


THE following table shows the enrollment of 
the University of Michigan, February 9, 1899: 


Literary department................0.:00006 1,271 
Engineering department.................. 247 
Medical department 421 
Thaw GepartMent.. 2. :.s.1--0.cesccrernases 745 
Dental department..................seeeeeee 237 
Homeopathic department................. 61 
Pharmaceutical department.............. 7 

Ro bal Netemercsentvac tenes ocd cess nen 3,060 


A MEETING was held in London on January 
31st for the purpose of forming the Cambridge 
University Association, the chief object of 
which is to improve the financial condition of 
the University. The Duke of Devonshire, 
Chancellor of the University, presided and 
made an address. Other addresses were made 
by Dr. Hill, the Vice-Chancellor; Professor 
Jebb, Master of Trinity ; Sir Richard Webster, 
Professor Allbutt, Professor Ewing, Lord 
Rothschild and the Bishop of London. It was 
stated that the sum of about $2,500,000 was 
needed. Toward this sum the Duke of Devon- 
shire and Lord Rothschild each subscribed 
£10,000. It was also stated that the Drapers’ 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 217. 


Company would subscribe £800 a year for ten 
years in support of a professorship of agri- 
culture. Since the meeting Sir Walter Gilby 
has subscribed £200 for ten years for a reader- 
ship of agriculture, and in addition to smaller 
subscriptions £3,000 toward the general fund 
has been given by Mr. Benjamin L. Cohen. 


Dr. J. C. BRANNER, professor of geology in 
Leland Stanford Jr. University, has been ap- 
pointed Vice-President of the University. 


THE chairs of pathology vacant at Cambridge, 
by the death of Professor Kanthack, and at 
Glasgow, by the death of Professor Coats, will 
be filled during March. In accordance with 
the English custom, applications for these chairs 
should be presented to the University author- 
ities. 

M. RIEFFEL-SCHIRMER, professor of geog- 
raphy at Lyons, has been appointed lecturer in 
the University of Paris for the present year, in 
the place of M. Gallois, who has been given 
leave of absence. 


THE John Lucas Walker Studentship, of the 
annual value of £200, for the furtherance of 
original research in pathology, has been con- 
ferred upon Mr. Edward Sydney St. Barbe 
Sladen, M.A., M.D., B.C., of Gonville and 
Caius College. The studentship is tenable for 
three years. 


Dr. HOLDER, professor of mathematics of the 
University at Konigsberg, has been called to 
Leipzig, and will be succeeded at Kénigsberg 
by Dr. Schonflies, of Géttingen. Dr, Alois 
Lode has been made associate professor of 
hygiene at Innsbruck, and Dr. Helferich, of 
Greifswald, has been called to Kiel as successor 
to Professor v. Esmarch, who has retired. Dr. 
Otto Wiener, of Giessen, has been appointed to 
a full professorship of physics in the University 
at Leipzig, and Dr. Hans Held has been pro- 
moted to an assistant professorship of anatomy 
in the same University. Dr. Walter Konig has 
been appointed professor of theoretical physics 
in the University at Heidelberg, and Dr. Jakob 
Fruh, professor of geography in the Polytechnic 
Institute at Zurich. Dr. Pelikan has been pro- 
moted to an assistant professorship of mineral- 
ogy in the German University at Prague. 


SCleNC b 


EpIToRIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEWcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechamies; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMsEN, Chemistry; 
J. Le Conts, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MARsH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScuppDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessry, N. L. BRITTON, 
Botany; Henry F. Osporn, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. BowpircH, Physiology; J. S. BILLInas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Marcu 38, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
Geodetic Operations in the Uniled States: E. D. 
IBRESTO Neseonstsecsecetcssesessarcnscasasetensracscasses 305 


The American Morphological Society (1) : PROFES- 
soR BASHFORD DEAN 


Association of American Anatomists : 


JLVNINTS), donooodotéeogdpnodhesbaaddobondabodoud ese Buodagddddes 
American Mathematical Society: PROFESSOR F. N. 

(COTE -.codstabnaedbonebancd daddbudbenospcrna Ganupsohesadsnag 322 
The Nomenclature of the Hyoid in Birds: F. A. 


TDIBKGIAS aetocndeasoobosddocagpdcadddoosoapposudanousodadsigags 323 
Scientifie Books :— : 
Whitehead’s Treatise on Universal Algebra: DR. 
ALEXANDER MACFARLANE, Bailey on the 
Principles of Agriculture: ELISHA WILSON 
Morse. Beddard’s Elementary Zoology: PRO- 
FESSOR CHARLES WRIGHT DODGE. Peabody’s 
Laboratory Exe: cises in Anatomy and Physiology : 
PROFESSOR FREDERIC 8. LEE. Books Received. 324 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Biological Society of Washington: DR. O. 
F. Cook. The Chemical Society of Washington : 
WILLIAM KruG. The New York Section of the 
American Chemical Society; DR. DURAND Woop- 
MAN. Geological Conference and Students’ Club 
of Harvard University: J. M. BOUTWELL. 
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 


DRIVE UPN OLANERcovsccddecsssaseistesenesacscececee. 332 
Notes on Physics :— é 

The Measurement of Inductance: W.S. F......... 336 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H.......eeeee 337 


Current Notes on Anthropology:— 
Linguistics of the Chaco ; The Craniology of Crim- 
inals ; The Folk-lore of the Fjort: PROFESSOR D. 
GESBRINTONG-csssssssiscosccoetocenecrsccscrencsaiecce: 338 
Scientific Notes and News........ccsecseccsecseenseceseesees 339 
University and Educational News :— 
Mr. Agassiz and Harvard University ; The Cli- 
matological Laboratory of the University of New 
JGEED)D CELE} eceonasodapaagonosopddodcooleasHacHnooade 341 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


GEODETIC OPERATIONS IN THE UNITED 
STATES * 

Tue geodetic operations in the United 
States, as executed by the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey, may be grouped into three 
distinct periods of time. The work was 
authorized by Congress in 1807, but a quar- 
ter of a century elapsed before anything 
was done in the field worthy of the name 
of Geodesy. This closed the first period, 
which may be characterized as the era of 
preparation and education of public senti- 
ment. In 1832 operations were begun with 
vigor, and the foundation was laid for a 
great national work. The Survey was con- 
ducted on the same general lines of policy 
for eleven years, when the reorganization 
of 1843 established its permanent status. 
No great deviation has since been made 
from this plan, which has now held for 
fifty-five years. If we eliminate the Civil 
War period of five years, during which 
work was suspended, and regard operations 
before the reorganization as of a prelimi- 
nary nature, we have half a century of 
geodesy. During its comparatively short 
existence the Survey has been three times 
under the control of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, twice under the Navy, and once 
under law requiring its personnel to be 
army or navy officers. The direction of the 
work has, however, remained throughout 


* Published by permission of the Superintendent of 
the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 


in the hands of a civilian, and civilian 
methods have been applied in the adminis- 
tration. At the present time it has been 
continuously under the Treasury for a 
period of sixty-two years. Although statis- 
tics do not always give an adequate concep- 
tion of the work to which they are sup- 
posed to bear testimony, a general idea of 
the activity displayed may be had from the 
following statement of work done : 
350,000 square miles (906,500 sq. kilo.) of triangu- 
lation, embracing 
15,000 stations for horizontal measures, and de- 
termining 
28,500 geographical positions at which 
1,000 astronomical coordinates have been ob- 
served. 


38,500 square miles (99,710 sq. kilo.) of topog- 
raphy, embracing 

11,600 miles (18.670 kilometers) of general coast 
line and more than 

100,000 miles (160,900 kilometers) of shore line 
(rivers, ete.), also including 

51,000 miles (82,080 kilometers) of roadways. 


545,000 miles (877,100 kilometers) of sounding, 
covering 
164,000 square miles (424,800 sq. kilo) of area, 
besides 
93,000 miles (149,700 kilometers) of deep sea 
sounding, in which 
14,000 bottom specimens were obtained. 
4,600 original topographic and hydrographic 
sheets, from which 
1,300,000 charts have been made and distributed ; 
30,000 original volumes of observations, including 


magnetic records from 
1,100 stations. 


BASE LINES. 


Two hundred and three base lines have 
been measured, of which nineteen,on account 
of their accuracy, length and geodetic con- 
nection, are classed as primary. The average 
length of these is 9,892 meters. The prob- 
able error, which includes both that of 
measurement and the comparison with the 
standard, is 22.2 millimeters, or about 
1/#45,000 of the length stated. Speaking 
of the three types of apparatus used in the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. IX. No. 218. 


Survey, and referring now to errors of 
measurement purely, it may be said that 
with the different forms of metallic bars, 
compensating and otherwise, the error is 
one-millionth part of the length measured. 
With the tape line the accuracy may be in- 
creased to 1/2,000,000, while with a rod in 
melting ice 1/5,000,000 is easily attainable. 
In the first form the contacts are material ; 
in the last, optical; with the tape they are 
linear. The cost is greatest for the rod in 
melting ice, and least with metallic bars. 
Attention may here be called to a new 
form of base apparatus named the Duplex 
and designed by Assistant William Eim- 
beck. It consists of two bars, brass and 
steel, five meters in length, so arranged 
that the measure may be made with each 
component separately and simultaneously. 
It may also be employed as a Borda scale, 
or the temperature may be directly ob- 
served. Some unique features, which need 
not here be described, are employed in its 
manipulation. The Salt Lake base, meas- 
ured in 1896, gave results with either com- 
ponent having a probable error of less than 
1/5,000,000 part of the measured length. 


TRIANGULATION AND ARCS. 


The shore line of the United States, ex- 
clusive of Alaska, is 5,452 miles (8,774 kilo- 
meters). This has been covered by tri- 
angulation, with the exception of a few 
hundred miles on the northwest coast. An 
oblique are of 22° has been measured from 
the northeast boundary in Maine, to the 
southwest limit of Alabama, on the Gulf of 
Mexico, and an are of 49° on the 39th par- 
allel of latitude has been completed, from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. All of the New 
England States, a large part of the Middle 
ones, and considerable areas in the South 
and West, have been covered with triangu- 
lation. Adjacent regions have had careful 
reconnaissance. The work in this direction 
has been executed on a large and accurate 


Marcu 3, 1899. ] 


scale. The greatest triangle has sides of 
138, 167 and 190 miles (214,269, and 306 
kilometers). The highest station is over 
14,000 feet (4,267 meters). Operations of 
such magnitude justify the introduction of 
refinements not usually employed. The 
latitudes are corrected for elevation, and 
the horizontal directions are changed, to 
reduce them to the sea level of the observed 
station. A distinctive feature in the final 
adjustment is the application of weights de- 
pending on both the station errors and 
those arising from the closing of figures. 
These are treated separately, but the final 
weights consist of two parts, one resulting 
from local conditions and varying with each 
direction, and the other deduced from the 
formation of triangles and remaining con- 
stant for the network under consideration 
In the California work the probable error 
of a direction at any station was 0’’.081 
while that from the closing of triangles was 
about twice as much. The latter neces- 
sarily includes the former. The two are 
separated by means of the formula 


ae 2 2 
e, = Ve7—e, 


which gives the resulting combination error 
as + 0.169. e, is the probable error of a 
direction from the closing of triangles, and e, 
is the average probable error of an observed 
direction from station adjustment. Each 
direction, therefore, enters the final adjust- 
ment with a weight derived from measures 
at its own station, added to the above value, 
which represents the constant part for the 
entire figure. The cost of the transcon- 
tinental are from Cape May to San Fran- 
cisco was two hundred dollars per linear 
mile ($124 per kilometer), three and a half 
dollars per square mile ($1.35 per sq. kilo.), 
and two thousand dollars per station. 

A fine example of rapid expansion from 
the base to a fully developed net of triangu- 
lation is found in the vicinity of Salt Lake, 
and is a characteristic specimen of primary 


SCIENCE. 


307 


work as carried out in the Rocky Mountain 
region of the United States. The average 
height of the thirteen stations composing 
the main scheme is 11,256 feet (3,431 
meters), while the average length of the lines 
connecting them is 159,734 kilometers (994 
miles). The distance between Mt. Ellen 
and Uncompagre is 294,104 kilometers (182? 
miles). This remains to the present day 
the longest line observed from both ends 
and forming an integral part of a regular 
system of triangulation executed by any 
trigonometric survey in existence. Indeed, 
the entire chain from the Sierra Nevada on 
the west to the Mississippi plateau on the 
east is without a parallel in similar work, 
when we consider the magnitude of the 
geometrical figures, the elevation of the 
stations and the refinement of the individual 
measures. 

Referring to a part of this work—the base 
net at Salt Lake, Utah—the following de- 
tails are of interest: 

The elevation of the base above sea level 
is about 4,224 feet, while the mean height 
of the stations composing the quadrilateral 
is 11,088 feet. In only five steps we pass 
from abase 11.2 kilometers in length to a 
line 237,765 kilometers long (Pilot Peak, 
Mt. Nebo). This involves an average mul- 
tiplication of 44 times for each step of ex- 
pansion, which is within the limit set for 
development in well conditioned triangula- 
tion. The resulting quadrilateral in which 
the base line expansion culminates and on 
which the transcontinental extension rests 
contains nearly 10,500 square miles and is 
the largest yet realized. The base net in- 
cluding this figure (Ogden, Mt. Nebo, Ibe- 
pah and Pilot) was adjusted separately 
and brought out the following criteria of 
accuracy : 


FROM STATION ADJUSTMENT. 
Average probable error of a single observation 


OLFAGITECLLON eralelenetslehevete/steteteloneaetelefeveheney ste = 0171 
Average probable error of an adjusted di- 
TECHLON aye mrcins teltem meleleeeteis ciaeetcicete =0 .10 


308 


FROM FIGURE ADJUSTMENT. 


The) largest Corrections: sis 1's > ses ajels = ste!sl* 0/’.84 


And 55 per cent. of the corrections are less than. .0 .25 


The probable error of the side Ibepah- 
Nebo, depending on angular measures only, 
is 1/280,000 of its length. 

Heliotropes were continually employed, 
and the angles were measured with a the- 
odolite having a horizontal circle of 20” 
diameter and a magnifying power of 83. 


ASTRONOMICAL WORK. 

Aside from the work in practical astron- 
omy incident and necessary to the opera- 
tions of every trigonometrical survey, at- 
tention has been given to various other 
phases of the subject. It has not alone 
sufficed to point out and demonstrate the 
utility of the method of equal zenith dis- 
tances for latitude, and of the application of 
the telegraph to longitudes. The Coast and 
Geodetic Survey feeling the necessity of 
better star places, arising from the use of the 
methods just mentioned, has devoted some 
of its energy to the perfection of star cata- 
logues. It is probably no exageration to 
say that the declinations given in our field 
lists are the best attainable anywhere. 
More than fifty of the best modern cata- 
logues are corrected for their systematic 
errors, and each is given weight depending 
on the value of the work and number of 
observations. A collection of all these data, 
and their consolidation into one homoge- 
neous result, eliminates as far as possible all 
known sources of inaccuracy, and gives us 
finally the most reliable positions. A list so 
constructed of several thousand stars has 
been already published, many of which are 
especially adapted to southern work. The 
average probable error of a declination may 
be given as rather less than + of a second; 
a degree of precision, which enables an ob- 
server to determine his latitude from 20 
pairs, in one evening, with an uncertainty 
of only + 10 feet. Thisis sufficient for the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


purposes of geodesy. Incidental to regular 
astronomic work, the Survey has equipped 
and sent out no less than 35 parties for the 
observation of solar eclipses and transits of 
the inferior planets,which work has required 
the occupation of stations in every conti- 
nent and Polynesia. The variations of 
latitude have been determined at three sta- 
tions, each one having been occupied more 
than a year. 


MISCELLANEOUS OPERATIONS. 

The legitimate field of investigation in a 
geodetic service embraces many subjects 
outside of those already specified. In the 
execution of the task before us a free inter- 
pretation has been given to the law author- 
izing the work, and the kindred subjects of 
Hypsometry, Magnetism, Gravity and Phys- 
ical Hydrography have been pursued along 
with others more strictly within our prov- 
ince. 

Five thousand miles (8,047 kilometers) 
of precise levelling have been executed, in- 
cluding four independent determinations of 
the height of St. Louis. Two have been 
made from the Atlantic at Sandy Hook, 
and two from the Gulf of Mexico at Biloxi. 

A comparison indicates that the surface 
of the Gulf is somewhat higher than the 
sea level at New York, and this has been 
verified in character, although not precisely 
in amount, by a line across the peninsula of 
Florida, three times repeated. Other sub- 
sidiary lines have been observed. The limit 
of error has been that usually adopted in 
similar work, viz..5mm../K. The heights 
by spirit level have been supplemented and 
controlled. by micrometric measurements 
of zenith distances. In the determination 
of elevations necessary to reduce the base 
lines along the transcontinental arc to sea 
level the latter method has been employed 
across the Allegheny and Rocky Mountains. 
The spirit levels are continuous from Sandy 
Hook to Denver and Colorado Springs. 


Marcu 3, 1899.] 


They are checked by zenith distances from 
the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River, and 
supplemented by the same method from 
Denver to the Pacific coast, where the spirit 
levels are not yet completed. 

Permanent magnetic observations have 
been in operation at Philadelphia, Key 
West, Madison, Los Angeles, and each one 
has furnished records for five consecutive 
years; with one exception a self-registering 
apparatus has been continuously and ex- 
cclusively employed in each locality. These 
data added to records from 1,100 widely 
distant points, many of which are secular 
variation stations, furnish precious ma- 
terial for the study of the earth’s magnet- 
ism. The work of the Survey in the inves- 
tigation of the force of gravity has been 
carried on both within and without the 
limits of the United States. Twenty-eight 
foreign stations have been occupied, includ- 
ing points in Europe, Asia, Africa, Aus- 
tralia and many islands in both the At- 
lantic and Pacific. New light on the 
subject of volcanic formation, as well as on 
the constitution of the earth’s crust, has 
come from this work. Fifty nine-stations 
have been observed at home, including a 
line across the continent. Half-second 
pendulums are now exclusively employed, 
and the determinations are purely differen- 
tial. The period of oscillation is usually 
known to within a few millionths of a sec- 
-ond. 

In the field of Physical Hydrography 
most comprehensive studies have been 
made. 

The exploration of the Gulf Stream, in- 
cluding a study of its density, temperature 
and currents, the geology of the sea bottom, 
the establishment of cotidal lines, the de- 
termination of the ocean depth from earth- 
quake waves and other specialties in the 
domain of hydrography, have been made a 
part of the regular work. The hydrog- 
raphy of the coast, to the head of tide- 


SCIENCE. 


309 


water, has been developed side by side with 
the triangulation and topography. 

The practical results of the Survey are 
shown in the publication of the annual re- 
ports, the issue of charts, notice to mari- 
ners (corrected monthly), coast pilots for 
Atlantic, Pacific and Alaskan waters, tide 
tables (now extended to foreign ports) 
and various miscellaneous publications in 
special lines of research. 


PRESENT AND FUTURE OPERATIONS. 


A resurvey of Chesapeake Bay, the meas- 
urement of an are through the United States 
on the 98th meridian, and the development 
of Alaskan geography, are among the proj- 
ects of Dr. Pritchett, the present superin- 
tendent of the organization. All these 
have been carried on during the last two 
years. The line of transcontinental precise 
levels is being pushed westward with all 
available means. Primary triangulation on 
the Pacific coast has been resumed, and will 
soon be completed from San Francisco to 
the Mexican boundary. Hydrographic sur- 
veys are in progress along the Atlantic sea- 
board, on the Pacific, and at the mouth of 
the Yukon in Alaska. Numerous topo- 
graphic, astronomic and magnetic parties, 
are employed in the interior. 

An extension of the great arcs_of the 
United States into Mexico and the British 
possessions has been proposed by Dr. 
Pritchett, and diplomatic representations 
between the interested governments look- 
ing towards concerted action in the near 
future have already been made. This will 
give to North America an additional me- 
ridian are of about 55° and an oblique one 
of 88°. Together with existing arcs, the 
proposed material will practically exhaast 
our contribution to the determination of the 
earth’s figure. 

In the ordinary prosecution of the field 
work since 1895 about fifty parties have 
been employed during the course of each 


310 


year. Added to this, the purely hydro- 
graphic work has been carried on by a fleet 
of sixteen vessels, of which ten are steamers. 
The operations have been widely distribu- 
ted, extending as far as the Pribilof Islands 
in the Bering Sea. A longitude determi- 
nation was made from Sitka, of Kadiak 
and Unalaska, in which twenty-one chro- 
nometers were carried on four successive 
trips. The probable error of the resulting 
longitudes was 0°.20 for the former and 
0.21 for the latter. A tidal indicator, 
similar to the one in New York, has been 
erected at Philadelphia, and one is in proc- 
ess of construction at San Francisco. The 
mechanism, actuated by the tide, furnishes 
the navigator at any moment, at a dis- 
tance of one mile, with necessary informa- 
tion as to the character and amount of the 
tide. 

Among the auxiliary duties of the service 
may be mentioned the establishment of trial 
speed courses for ships of the Navy (a num- 
ber of which have been recently laid out); 
the exploration of oyster beds; the fauna of 
the Gulf Stream ; the administration of an 
Office of Standard Weights and Measures, 
from which prototypes are issued to the dif- 
ferent States ; meteorological researches for 
the use of the coast pilot; the study of as- 
tronomical refraction ; mathematical inves- 
tigations on the theory of projections, on 
the equations of steady motion, on errors of 
observations ; and finally, in experimental 
researches in engraving, electrotyping and 
lithography ; all of which knowledge finds 
application in the various fields of activity 
now covered by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. 


WORK OF THE UNITED STATES ENGINEERS. 


Geodetic surveys have also been carried 
on by the Corps of Engineers of the United 
States Army. That of the Great Lakes was 
completed in 1882. The work was reor- 
ganized in 1892, and resurveys and exten- 


SCIENCE. [N. &. 


Vou. IX. No. 218. 


sions thereto are now in progress. Changes 
in the original plan have been introduced, 
chiefly in the direction of rapidity of execu- 
tion. Fewer positions on the circle are now 
used for horizontal angles, and adjustment 
is effected by separate small figures, rather 
than through any extended scheme. In the 
measure of the Mackinaw base three tapes 
were used, each a kilometer in length. Each 
section of the tape was compared with a 
standard length of 100 meters established 
on the ground. This standard length was 
determined by means of an 8-meter bar 
packed in ice, which in turn was compared 
with the Repsold meter, R 1878. 

The Engineer Corps of the Army has 
also had charge of the Mexican boundary 
survey, and of the work done by the 
Missouri and Mississippi River Commis- 
sions. The report on the Mexican bound- 
ary is already in type, but is not ready for 
distribution. 

The Missouri River Commission has 
completed a triangulation from St. Louis 
to Three Forks, in Montana, a distance of 
2,551 miles. The work follows the river 
and covers the valley from bluff to bluff. 
Precise levels have been run over 807 miles 
of it, and ordinary levels cover the remain- 
der. Ten base lines have been measured 
with a standardized steel tape. 

The Mississippi River Commission, utiliz- 
ing some work already done by the Lake 
Survey and the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
has now a complete connection from the 
Gulf of Mexico to St. Paul,in Minnesota. 
The total distance is about 1,600 miles. 
Twenty-seven bases have been used, of 
which eighteen have been measured by the 
Commission with a steel tape 300 feet long. 
The work has been adjusted by quadri- 
laterals employing the method of least 
squares. 

E. D. Preston. 


EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO SUPERINTENDENT 
U. S. Coast AND GEODETIC SURVEY. 


MARrcH 3, 1899. ] 


THE AMERICAN MORPHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Te 

Tue ninth meeting of the Society was 
held at Columbia University, New York 
City, on December 28th, 29th and 380th. Pro- 
fessor H. F. Osborn was in the chair; Dr. 
G. H. Parker, Secretary. In the course of 
his introductory remarks, Professor Osborn 
welcomed the Morphologists to the new 
zoological laboratories at Columbia, and es- 
pecially congratulated the Society upon the 
rapid progress which morphology in all its 
branches is making in this country. He 
spoke of theimportant part which had been 
played by the Jowrnal of Morphology during 
the past eleven years, and the debt owed 
by American zoologists to Mr. Allis for his 
generous support. This journal now re- 
quires for its maintenance the financial 
support of all morphologists of this country, 
all of whom should assist by subscribing. 
One of the marked features of recent 
progress is the rapid development of fresh- 
water and marine biological stations, all of 
which are contributing to our detailed 
knowledge of American fauna, and in some 
cases extending even tothe study of impor- 
tant foreign types. The greatest defect in 
recent work is the tendency to prolixity. 
‘ Brevity is the soul of wit,’ and the very 
expansion of zoological literature necessi- 
tates as condensed a style of writing as is 
consistent with completeness and clearness. 
The recently collected papers of Huxley 
prove that it is possible to present the most 
important results in very condensed form. 

In the business session the following are 
the more important transactions : A resolu- 
tion expressing the grateful acknowledg- 
ments of the Society to Mr. Edward Phelps 
Allis, Jr., for his munificent gifts towards 
the founding and maintenance of the Journal 
of Morphology during the first ten years of 
its existence; the election to membership 
of F. W. Bancroft, C. L. Bristol, G..N. Cal- 
kins, J. J. Hamaker, Samuel Henshaw, C. 


SCIENCE. 


311 


F. W. McClure, C. B. Wilson and M. A. 
Wilcox; and the election of officers: Pres- 
ident, E. G. Conklin ; Vice-President, W. 
M. Wheeler; Secretary and Treasurer, 
Bashford Dean; Executive Committee, J. 
P. MeMurrich and G. H.Parker. 

Forty-five papers were presented before 
the scientific sessions, of which the greater 
number are here given in summary in the 
order in which they were read. 


Notes on the Development of a Myxinoid. 

Basurorp DEAN. 

PARTICULAR reference was made to the 
horn-like egg membrane as maternal in 
origin ; it is traversed by pore-canals analo- 
gous to those of the radiata of teleostomes. 
The anchor filaments represent the greatly 
specialized end-bulbs of the radial elements 
of theshell. Early segmentation is confined 
to a small but definite hillock of germinal 
protoplasm subjacent to the micropylar 
canal. In early blastula stages the cell cap 
extends downward to the region of the 
opercular ring. Gastrulation is noted when 
a downgrowth takes place on one side ; here 
the head of the embryo shortly appears, and 
the trunk is laid down longitudinally as the 
blastoderm progresses, now symmetrically, 
toward the vegetative pole. Neural folds 
are early apparent, and the brain is tubu- 
lar and relatively of great length. In some 
cases the tail buds out when the downgrowth 
of the blastoderm has enveloped scarcely 
more than the anterior half of the egg. In 
others the outgrowth of the tail is notably 
retarded. A primitive streak is present, 
terminating behind in an ovate yolk plug; 
the latter is latest apparent near the vege- 
tative pole. There is no evidence of a 
greater number of gill slits than the normal 
number. 


On the Reproductive Habits and Development 
of the Californian Land Salamander, Autodax. 
W. E. Rirrer. (Presented by G. H. 
Parker. ) 


312 


Tur subterranean egg-burrow of this sal- 
tatory urodeles resembles somewhat closely 
that of Ichthyophis. The eggs are retained 
in a cluster and attended and kept moist- 
ened, probably with urine, by the female. 
A series of embryos taken from a single bur- 
row will shortly be described. 


New Facts regarding the Development of the Ol- 
factory Nerve. W. A. Locy. 

Tue early embryonic history of the olfac- 
tory nerve is known. ‘There has been little 
advance in this direction since the appear- 
ance of Marshall’s paper in 1878, who gave 
the history of the nerve prior to the forma- 
tion of the lobe and anticipated by sugges- 
tion most of the views since expressed re- 
garding its nature and relationships. The 
chief advances have been made. in deter- 
mining the source of the fibers (His, Disse 
and others), and in the minute structure of 
the olfactory lobe, ganglion, ete. (Cajal, 
Retzius and others). But, in the meantime, 
the early embryonic history has not been 
elucidated, and, even to-day, we do not 
possess the complete history of this nerve in 
any one animal. 

This paper presented in outline the his- 
tory of the olfactory nerve in Acanthias 
from its earliest appearance to adult condi- 
tions, embracing (a) the embryonic history 
of the olfactory nerve prior to the formation 
of the lobe, and (b) the formation of the 
olfactory lobe, its various transformations, 
and the subsequent history of the nerve. 
The chief point of interest consists in dem- 
onstrating a hitherto unrecognized olfac- 
tory nerve, and determining its history and 
relationships to the olfactory bundle. The 
new nerve arises from the summit of the 
forebrain near the median plane, and passes 
laterally into communication with the main 
olfactory and thence into the olfactory cup. 
It is the first one to appear and may, there- 
fore, be primitive. It is ganglionated. It 
was discovered by dissections of very small 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S.. Vou. IX. No. 218. 


embryos—it lies in such a position that its 
relationships would not be appreciated by 
study of sections made in any of the con- 
ventional planes. 

There are two distinct, widely separated 
connections existing simultaneously be- 
tween the olfactory epithelium and _ the 
brain-wall, one is dorsal and median (the 
new nerve) and the other is lateral. The 
latter is complex, consisting of two main 
divisions. The new nerve can be demon- 
strated in specimens, as early as 6-8 mm. 
in length. The two brain connections are 
well seen in embryos 16 mm. and upwards ; 
they are very evident from 20mm. forwards, 
The lobe begins in specimens about 25mm. 
long; it is still small at 38mm., but well de- 
veloped at 44 mm. and upwards. The fibers 
of the new nerve were traced into the ol- 
factory epithelium. It was also shown to 
perish in the adult. 


Review of Recent Evidence on the Segmentation 
of the Primitive Vertebrate Brain. W. A. 
Locy. (Read by title.) 


The Metameric Value of the Sensory Compo- 
nents of the Cranial Nerves. C. JUDSON 
HERRICK. 

THE primary segmental or branchiomeric 
nerve is conceived as comprising four com- 
ponents : somatic motor, viscero-motor, so- 
matic sensory (general cutaneous) and 
viscero-sensory (communis). No cranial 
nerve of any gnathostome vertebrate has 
retained all these components. 

In the head each sensory component, as 
a physiological adaptation, has been con- 
centrated so that all its fibers tend to be 
related to a single center in the brain—the 
fasciculus communis (f. solitarius) and 
chief vagus nucleus in the ease of the vis- 
ceral sensory and the spinal fifth tract and 
related nuclei, chief sensory trigeminal n. 
and n. funiculi, in the case of the somatic 
sensory. This involves reduction of each 
component in some segments and hyper- 


Marci 3, 1899. ] 


trophy in others. Thus, the somatic sen- 
sory is represented only in the V and X 
nerves and the visceral sensory in the typ- 
ical branchiomeric nerves, X, IX, VII. 

Now when in course of vertebrate evolu- 
tion specialized sense organs appear in ad- 
dition to the two primary components, their 
nerves and intra-cranial centers will appear 
sporadically, depending upon the distribu- 
tion of the specialized sense organs in ques- 
tion. These nerves will in general follow 
the courses of the previously existing so- 
matic or visceral nerve trunks wherever 
possible, hence the formation of complex 
nerve trunks containing several of the com- 
ponents. Each of these cenogenetic systems 
of sense organs, like the palingenetic sys- 
tems, tends to be related to a single intra- 
cranial center. At present we may enu- 
merate the following such systems: 

1. Taste buds related to the fasciculus 
communis (f. solitarius) and its associated 
nuclei, the chief vagus nucleus (lobus vagi 
of fishes). 

2. Terminal buds of the outer skin; ter- 
minal relations as in the last case, plus in 
some fishes the lobus facialis. 

3. Lateral line organs, or neuromasts, 
related to the tuberculum acusticum and 
cerebellum, plus in some fishes the ‘lobus 
lineze lateralis.’ 

4, Ear; central connection as in the last 
case. 

5. Eye; related to the mesencephalon. 

6. Nose; related to the primary prosen- 
cephalon. 

7. Pineal organ; related to the dien- 
cephalon ? 

Diagrams were exhibited illustrating the 
actual relations of these components as de- 
termined by reconstruction from serial sec- 
tions in the bony fish, Menidia; and em- 
phasis was laid upon the necessity of taking 
these qualitative differences in the nerves 
into account before trying to work out their 
metamerism. 


SCIENCE. 


313 


The Maxillary and Mandibular Breathing 
Valves of Teleost Fishes. Utric DAHLGREN. 
Tue discovery of a pair of membranous 

valves placed just inside of the teeth and 

working automatically to prevent water 
from leaving by the mouth while they per- 
mit its free entrance, has enabled the act 
of breathing in fishes to be clearly described. 

These valves complete the pump-like struc- 

ture of the oral cavity, the other pair, or 

posterior valves, being the branchiostegal 
membranes. 

In breathing, but two muscular forces 
must be applied, one to expand the oral 
cavity by moving the opercular frames out- 
ward and another to contract the oral cav- 
ity by moving them inward ; when expand- 
ing, water comes in through the mouth, 
being prevented from entering through the 
gill clefts by the branchiostegal membranes, 
which act automatically and independently 
of and contrary to the opercular frames to 
which they are attached ; when contracting, 
water is forced out of the gill clefts, but is 
prevented from leaving through the mouth 
by the valves in question, which act automat- 
ically. While breathing, itis true, the fish 
opens and shuts its mouth somewhat, but 
this is due not to its effort to prevent a 
regurgitation of the respiratory stream, but 
to the relation of its mandible to the oper- 
cular frames. 

When the valves are cut, the fish is com- 
pelled to use muscular force to prevent re- 
gurgitation. 


On the Early Development of the Catfish (.No- 
turus). FF. B. SuMNER. 

1. No horizontal cleavage takes place till 
the 64-cell stage or after, and, when it oc- 
curs, does not result in a definite two-layered 
condition of whole germ-disc. 

2. The blastomeres resulting from the 
early cleavages retain their continuity with 
the protoplasmic network of the yolk. No 
sharp line of separation, such as Sobotta, 


ol4 


Behrens and Samassa describe for the Sal- 
monidze, exists in the egg of the catfish. 

3. After horizontal cleavage occurs, the 
lower cells resulting from this division re- 
tain their continuity with the yolk, as has 
been described by Kowalewski, Hoffman 
and Berent (Teleosts) and Dean (Ganoids). 
These partial cells (merocytes) continue to 
divide by mitosis both horizontally and ver- 
tically. In the former case, the upper of 
the products of division is added to the 
germ-dise. This process of supplementary 
cleavage continues until a late segmentation 
stage, cells being added to the whole lower 
surface of the germ-dise. 

4. The periblast arises from the resid- 
ual portion of the merocytes after supple- 
mentary cleavage has ceased, being thicker 
under the margin of the germ-disc, but 
present elsewhere from the beginning. 

5. The periblast is trophic in its function, 
playing only an indirect part in cell-forma- 
tion. Normal mitosis soon gives place to 
abnormal and this in turn to amitosis. 
Transitional forms occur. 

6. The subgerminal space (segmentation 
cavity) does not appear till about time of 
origin of germ-ring. At close of segmenta- 
tion, yolk and blastodise are in close con- 
tact in well-preserved specimens, although 
no longer continuous with one another. 
Clefts which early appear between blasto- 
meres or below them are probably artifacts. 
If not, they disappear later. 

7. The germ-ring (mesentoderm) arises 
primarily as a marginal ingrowth due to 
cell-proliferation from germ-wall (Rand- 
wulst). The germ-ring also receives abun- 
dant additions from the overlying primary 
germ-layer, even at considerable distance 
from the periphery. (See Reinhard, Arch. 
f. Mikr. Anat., 1898.) 

8. The whole germ-ring, extra-embryonic 
as well as embryonic, contains both ento- 
dermal and mesodermal elements (contra 
H. V. Wilson and Samassa). 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 218: 


9. Kupffer’s vesicle arises, as in the 
Salmonide, as a cavity completely shut in 
by cells from the first. It is at first much 
compressed horizontally and distinctly bi- 
lobed. Inembryos with a short tail it is still 
to be seen near tip of the latter, strongly 
suggesting neurenteric canal of Selachii. 
A second vesicle, situated in yolk under the 
posterior end of the embryo, appears slightly 
in advance of Kupffer’s vesicle and reaches 
a size exceeding the latter. It is bounded 
by periblast and perhaps contains more fluid 
yolk for service of the growing end of em- 
bryo. 


Respiratory and Breeding Habits of Polypterus 

Bichir. N. R. Harrineton. 

On physiological grounds Polypterus is as 
fully qualified for a ‘lung-fish’ as are any 
of the Dipnoans; it has also striking resem- 
blances in its circulatory and respiratory 
system to the Urodela. These points were 
demonstrated by means of mounted prepara- 
tions, the injecting of which had been done 
in the field principally by Dr. Reid Hunt. 

Beside the blood-supply to the lungs 
(which is from the last branchial arch), the 
dissections showed the very large glottis, or 
ductus pneumaticus, by which the lungs 
open ventrally from the cesophagus. Un- 
like the swimming-bladder of fishes in an- 
other respect, both the lungs are entirely 
invested with peritoneum, although one 
of them, the right, does occupy the normal 
position for an air-bladder, viz., between 
the aorta and kidneys, on the one hand, and 
the alimentary canal, on the other. The 
mesentery, however, in which the left lobe 
should be suspended, has almost entirely 
degenerated, and this somewhat smaller lobe 
lies entirely free in the body-cavity. 

Tt was pointed out that, while the strong- 
est disproof of the Dipnoan ancestry of the 
Amphibia lies in the paleontological evi- 
dence which indicates that they are a par- 
allel line, the same conclusion may be in- 


Marcu 3, 1899. ] 


ferred from the life habits of a form which 
encysts during periods of drought. For 
the ability to undergo suspended anima- 
tion necessitates such specialization that 
it is improbable that evolution operated 
through such an encysting form (which is 
absolutely helpless and inactive until it is 
set free into the water), in bringing about 
a vertebrate which breathed air the year 
around. ‘ 

Reference was also made to the breeding 
habits of Polypterus, and an accessory copula- 
tory organ in the male—a modified anal fin 
—was described. The breeding season fol- 
lows the inundation of the Nile. 

The general collections, some of which 
were exhibited, brought back by the Senff 
zoological expedition, are intended for 
general distribution to qualified investiga- 
tors, who can work up the material within 
a reasonably short time. Aside from a 
large collection of Nile fishes, there is ma- 
terial preserved for researches in embryol- 
ogy, electric organs, pseudo-electric organs, 
neurology and Plankton. 


The Coronary Vessels in the Hearts of Fishes. 

G. H. Parker and F. K. Davis. 

THE muscular substance of the heart in 
mammals receives its blood from a pair 
of coronary arteries which connect with 
coronary veins opening into the right 
auricle. The inner surfaces of the four 
chambers of the mammalian heart have 
upon them openings which lead into vessels 
connecting with the coronary capillaries, 
and especially with the veins. These ves- 
sels are the veins of Thebesius. Is there a 
similar system of vessels in fishes? Cor- 
onary arteries were identified in the com- 
mon skate, the sand shark and the mud- 
fish (Amia). In the skate they may come 
from various combinations of the efferent 
branchial arteries of the second to the fifth 
gill cleft; in the sand shark, from combina- 
tions reaching from the first to the fifth 


SCIENCE. 


3) md 
olo 


clefts ; in the mudfish, from the second bran- 
chial arch. In these three species coronary 
veins occur, all of which open into the 
venous sinus. On inflating these, bubbling 
was observed from the natural inner sur- 
faces of the auricles and sometimes from 
those of the ventricles. These fishes, there- 
fore, have veins of Thebesius. 


Longitudinal Fission in Metridium margina- 
tum. G. H. PARKER. 

Ten animals with double mouths were 
studied. Two had each two mouths on one 
oral disc, and the pedal ends of their 
cesophageal tubes were united. Eight had 
each completely separate oral dises and 
csophageal tubes. In six the mouths were 
monoglyphic ; in three one mouth was mon- 
oglyphic and one diglyphic, and in one one 
mouth was monoglyphic and one aglyphic. 
There were about twice as many pairs of 
complete mesenteries as in single mouthed 
individuals. Double specimens are not the 
result of fusion, for the two partial indi- 
viduals are strikingly similar in color, etc., 
a condition unlikely of occurrence in chance 
combinations of so variable a species. They 
may be monstrosities or dividing animals. 
One specimen nearly divided was kept un- 
der observation two months, but showed no 
advance in the process. In good collecting 
localities isolated pairs agreeing in color, 
marking and sex may be found. This 
evidence favors the view that IZ. margina- 
tum reproduces, by longitudinal fission, a 
process slowly accomplished, but it does not 
exclude the possibility of some double speci- 
mens being monstrosities. 


Additional Characters of Diplodocus, HENRY 

F. Osgorn. 

Tuts is one of the three types of herbivo- 
rous Sauropoda or Cetiosauria, represented 
by a very considerable portion of the skele- 
ton of one individual found by Barnum 
Brown and the writer in 1897. Thescapula, 


ilium, ischium and femur are associated with 


316 


a remarkable vertebral series extending 
from the 5th dorsal to the end of the tail: 
(1) The center of motion is the sacrum, 
where three vertebree are completely coa- 
lesced to the summits of the spines, besides 
a fourth rib-bearing sacral with a free 
spine. The sacro-iliac union is by means of 
both ribs and neuropophysial plates. The 
presence of such plates in all the anterior 
caudals, as first described by the writer, 
proves that the sacrum is reenforced by 
additions from the anterior caudals. (2) 
There are more than thirty caudals and 
three distinct types of chevron, instead 
of the single type to which Marsh ap- 
plied the generic name Diplodocus. The 
tail was undoubtedly a powerful swimming 
organ and also a lever by means of which 
the anterior portion of the body was ele- 
vated, the acetabulum serving as a fulcrum, 
while the trunk was immersed in water. 
This power did not exist upon land as in 
the Iguanodontia. 


The Ossicula Auditus of the Mammalia. 
Kinestey and W. H. Ruppics. 
Srupies on embryo pigs and rats show 

that the incus is the quadrate, the malleus, 

the proximal end of Meckel’s cartilage. 

These cannot be homologized with the 

columellar chain of Sauropsida, since they 

are in front of the spiracular cleft and in 
front of the chorda tympani, while the 
columella is behind the spiracle and 
chorda tympani. The incus (quadrate) 
articulates with the stapes in the mam- 
mals, exactly as is the case in the urodeles. 
Nothing similar occurs in the Saurop- 
sida. Thisis regarded as additional evi- 
dence that the mammals have had an am- 
phibian ancestry. The quadrate cannot 
have disappeared in the glenoid fossa, as 
maintained by Albrecht and Cope, as this 
would involve a translation of parts impos- 
sible to explain. The mammalian lower 
jaw articulates by means of the dentary 


J.S. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


rather than by means of the articulalare, 
i. €., its articulation is not homologous with 
that in lower groups. A. longer summary 
of the paper will appear in the American 
Naturalist for March. 


Notes on Mammalian Embryology. C. 8. M1- 
not. (Read by title.) 


Professor O. van der Stricht’s Researches on the 
Human Ovum. C.S. Minor. (Read by 
title.) ; 


Notes on the Morphology of the Chick Brain. 
5. P. Gace. 


A Specific Case’ of the Elimination of the Unfit. 

H. C. Bumpus. 

THE results of a comparative study of one 
hundred and thirty-six English sparrows, 
which were rendered helpless or actually 
perished during the severe storm of Feb- 
ruary last, was numerically expressed, and 
it was shown that there was not only a 
measurable but a striking physical differ- 
ence between the birds which actually suc- 
cumbed and those which survived the storm. 
The birds which perished were longer, 
heavier, possessed of shorter heads, shorter 
leg bones, of less breadth of skull and of 
reduced sternum, while those which sur- 
vived tended toward the possession of char- 
acters opposite to these. 

While these average differences between 
the two groups of birds were emphasized, 
attention was also called to the fact that the 
individuals of extreme variability occurred 
most frequently among the birds which per- 
ished. The longest bird and the shortest 
bird in the entire collection perished. The 
same is true of the one having the greatest 
and the one having the least alar extent. 
The heaviest bird died; the one with the 
longest and the one with the shortest head 
died, and the one with the shortest humerus, 
the one with the longest femur, the one with 
the longest and the one with the shortest 
skull, and the one with the shortest keel to 


/ 


MARCH 3, 1899. ] 


its sternum—all died. The average oscilla- 
tion of variation around an ideal mean was 
also shown to be almost invariably in excess 
for the birds which perished, and the con- 
clusions arrived at were as follows: 

The birds which perished were not simply 
accidental sufferers from the severity of the 
storm, but were birds which were physically 
disqualified for enduring the intensity of the 
New England climate, as expressed by the 
storm of February Ist, and they were con- 
sequently eliminated by natural agents. 
The result of this elimination produced in 
this particular locality a colony of birds 
measurably different from those existing be- 
fore the storm, that is, the action of natural 
selection resulted in the elimination of the 
unfit and the survival of the fit. 


On the Anatomy of the Spermatozoon of In- 
vertebrates. G. W. Fretp. (With demon- 
stration of the apical body.) 

Tue widest diversity in the form of the 
spermatozoon is found among the different 
groups of the invertebrated animals. Closer 
examination shows that there is, however, 
one type of form which obtains in by far 
the greater majority of species, and that the 
aberrant forms are peculiar to those species 
which have either become parasitic, e. g., 
certain worms and arthropods, or which 
have acquired specially modified secondary 
sexual organs, e. g., lobster, crayfish, Lim- 
ulus. 

The common type is the familiar tailed 
form, prevalent one in the groups Ccelen- 
terata, Vermes, Echinoderma, Mollusca, Ar- 
thropodaand Tunicata. The three general 
divisions are usually distinct and readily 
recognizable Rarely the spermatozoa of 
all the species studied have a special struc- 
ture or apical body at the anterior tip of 
the head. It has been variously described 
as (1) an adaptation for boring into the 
egg; (2) a remnant of the cytoplasm ; (3) 
fluid expressed from the nucleus upon 


SCIENCE. 


317 


shrivelling; (4) a micropore surrounded 
by ‘ Ringkorper;’ (5) an apical button 
present in the unripe spermatozoon ; (6) 
the sperm centrosome. The first five opin- 
ions seem to have little importance when 
considered in connection with the origin of 
this apical body. While the opinion of 
myself and others that it is the sperm cen- 
trosome is refuted by the weight of evidence 
that the sperm centrosome comes from the 
middle piece of the spermatozoon, yet, so far 
as I know, the function of this apical body 
has not been noted by any of those who 
have studied so successfully the fertiliza- 
tion process. Since it has the same micro- 
chemical reactions and the same. origin as 
as the middle piece, it would appear as if 
its fate must be of considerable consequence. 
T have found this apical body in more than 
forty species, representing all the groups 
from the Celenterates to Amphioxus (in- 
cluding Toxopneustes). By others it has 
been found in upwards of twenty additional 
species. 

The fact that the apical body is present 
in the spermatozoon of well-nigh every 
species studied indicates that it has some 
very special significance which should not 
be overlooked by workers on the phenomena 
of fertilization. 


The Middle Piece of the Urodele Spermato- 
J.H. McGrecor. (Read by title.) 


The Origin of the Yolk in the Egg of Molqula. 

Henry E. Crampron, JR. 

Tue author presented the principal re- 
sults of an extended study upon the early 
history of the ascidian odcyte, considered 
from a chemical as well as from a purely 
morphological aspect, made by means of 
carefully controlled aniline staining sup- 
ported by artificial digestion and other 
tests. It was found that the cell-body at 
the beginning of enlargement of the primary 
odcyte presents no albumen reaction. 
There is, however, a small albuminous gran- 


Zz00n, 


O18 


ular body formed just outside the nucleus, 
which enlarges by the addition of granules 
similar to those found in the nucleus, until it 
becomes first a cap-shaped mass and finally 
surrounds the nucleus.» Zst Period : Forma- 
tion of the ‘ yolk-mass.’ This body then dis- 
integrates, the constituent granules being 
spread evenly throughout the now highly 
vacuolated cell-body. The latter was shown 
to be composed probably ofa pseudo-nuclein. 
2d Period : Disintegration of the yolk-mass. The 
ovum assumes its final character by the 
progressive vacuolization of the cell-body, 
and by the enlargement of the products of 
disintegration of the ‘yolk-mass’ to form the 
definite ‘deutoplasm’ spheres. 3d Period: 
The original was considered to be of nuclear 
origin, and is probably what has been 
loosely homologized in some cases with the 
“corps vitellin de Balbiani,’ ete. 


Protoplasmic Movement as a Factor of Differen- 
tiation. Epwin G. ConkKLIN, 

Various factors have been suggested by 
different persons as the causes of differen- 
tiation, but so far no one has shown that the 
active movements of protoplasm constitute 
such a factor. 

The polarity of the egg and the speciali- 
zations of cleavage are two of the earliest 
differentiations of the developing organ- 
ism. In the gasteropod Crepidula both 
of these differentiations are associated with 
definite and orderly movements of the pro- 
toplasm. 

Before the maturation the germinal ves- 
icle lies near the center of the egg and the 
yolk is uniformly distributed. With the 
appearance of the centrosomes and the for- 
mation of the first maturation spindle the 
nuclear membrane is broken opposite the 
poles of the spindle, nuclear sap escapes 
into the cell and at the same time the nu- 
cleus, spindle and surrounding cytoplasm 
are carried bodily toward the surface of the 
egg. Coincidently with this migration of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X No. 218. 
nuclear constituents there is a segregation 
of the cytoplasm at one pole (the animal) 
and of yolk at the other (the vegetal). This 
separation of yolk and cytoplasm goes on 
during the second maturation division and 
throughout all the stages of fertilization. 
The movements of the germinal vesicle 
and of the maturation spindles, the separa- 
tion of yolk and cytoplasm and also the ap- 
proach of the pronuclei during fertilization 
seem to be due to protoplasmic currents. 

In the cleavage of the egg the evidence 
for such currents is much more abundant 
and complete. Centrosomes and Zwischen- 
korpern are preserved throughout the rest- 
ing period following division, and by means 
of the relative positions of these bodies at 
different stages, as well as the relative po- 
sitions of the nuclei, yolk and cytoplasm, 
the direction and extent of these movements 
can be accurately determined. During the 
anaphase of the first cleavage the spindle 
lies at right angles to the egg axis, and the 
centrosomes, chromatic plates and Zwischen- 
korper arein a straight line. In later stages 
the Zwischenkdrper is carried down to the 
center of the egg, the centrosomes are car- 
ried up to the surface and move toward 
each other until they come to lie on each 
side of the first cleavage plane and imme- 
diately under the polar bodies; the nuclei 
are also moved upward and toward each 
other until they are almost in contact on 
opposite sides of the first cleavage wall, and 
the cytoplasm moves down into the center 
of the egg, the yolk at the same time moy- 
ing up atthe periphery. Such movements 
could be caused only by vortical currents 
in the daughter cells moving up at the sur- 
face and down through the center of the 
egg; the cell wall forms where these oppo- 
site currents meet. 

Similar vortical currents occur in every 
cleavage up to a late stage,and they offer 
most important evidence not only as to the 
mechanics of cleavage, but also as to the me- 


Marcu 3, 1899. ] 


chanics of differentiation. Of the four 
commonly recognized features of differen- 
tial cleavage—viz.: (1) inequality, (2) non- 
alternation of directions, (3) qualitative dif- 
ferentiation and (4) lack of rhythm—the 
first three may be correlated with these 
movements. Unequal cleavages are due to 
movements which, beginning with the early 
anaphase, carry the nucleus out of the center 
of the cell. Non-alternation is due to the 
absence of currents, alternation to the regu- 
lar reversal of currents during each succes- 
sive division. Certain qualitative differences 
of the two daughter cells of every cleavage 
are also due to these movements. The re- 
mains of the centrosphere (idiosome of 
Meves, mother periplast of Vejdovski) in 
each blastomere is carried by definite rota- 
tions of the protoplasm into one only of the 
two daughter cells into which the blasto- 
mere divides; there is thus produced by 
protoplastic movement a visible qualitative 
difference in the two daughter cells formed 
at every division. 


The Characteristics of Mitosis and Amitosis. S. 
W ATASE. 


On Hematococcus. F. H. Herrick. 

OBSERVATIONS on Heematococcus began 
with Girod-Chantrans in 1797 and have 
been continued during the present century 
by Agardh, Cohn, Braun, Rostafinski, 
Butschli and others. The chief points of 
contention lie in the supposed sexual char- 
acter of this organism-and in the structure 
and functions of the zoospores. 

The following summary of results was 
presented: (1) Resting cells after long sub- 
mergence in water lose the power of devel- 
opment. In one case, after being submerged 
for two years, the cells have greatly thick- 
ened walls, but no zoospores are formed. If 
these cells are now dried, even for a short 
time, and then returned to water develop- 
ment rapidly follows. Hzematococcus has 
thus become adapted to the alternation of 


SCIENCE. 


319 


drought and moisture, so that desiccation or 
something equivalent to this has become 
necessary to bring about a normal response. 
(2) Great variation not only occurs in the 
form and size of the sporangium (developing 
mother cell wall) and in the number of the 
zoospores, but in the size of the zoospores 
produced in the same sporangium. In re- 
spect to size at least the terms ‘ macrozoo- 
spore’ and ‘ microzoospore’ have no signifi- 
eance. (3) The zoospores imbibe water 
after liberation and undergo marked changes 
in appearance. Before maintaining that all 
zoospores have a similar structure, it may 
be necessary to repeat and extend certain 
experiments, but we are convinced that no 
sexuality can be attributed to this form, and 
that no true copulation has ever been ob- 
served. (4) Monstrosities frequently occur 
in the motile stage, such as twins and cells 
with four or more ‘ heads’ (pairs of flagella) 
in all cases due not to fusion, but to incom- 
plete division of the mother cell. (5) Re- 
production by internal cell division has 
been observed in the motile stage in a few 
cases, in one of which the zoospore-colony 
consisted of four small cells freely moving 
in the sac of the mother zoospore, which was 
itself distinctly propelled by its own cilia. 
The mother capsule soon burst setting the 
young free. (6) When a motile cell comes 
to rest its protoplasmic sac contracts and a 
spherical resting cell is formed which secretes 
its proper wall while still enclosed in the 
evanescent wall of the zoospore. The flagella 
break at the ‘beak,’ leaving two slender 
rods united with the wall of the metamor- 
phosed zoospore. These are probably elastic 
cellulose tubes which serve to sustain the 
flagella at the points where they pierce the 
sac. (7) In the course of zoospore-forma- 
tion in large cells endosmosis is very great 
and the surface tension of the wall unequal. 
The transparent sphere is blown out in a 


‘form often resembling that of an incandes- 


cent light bulb, with abundant room for the 


320 


active cells. The wall at the small end of 
the bulb is still very thick, and at the mo- 
ment of bursting suddenly contracts and 
scatters the zoospores with a rush. (8) 
Under various conditions direet develop- 
ment of resting cell from resting cell seems 
to occur. This looks like a process of ar- 
rested development of zoospores, in which 
cell division is complete, but the character- 
istics of the motile cell do not appear. 
Basurorp DEAN, 


Secretary. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


(To be concluded. ) 


ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN ANATOMISTS. 
Tue eleventh annual session was held in 
New York City, December 28th-30th, in 
conjunction with the ‘Naturalists’ and other 
affiliated societies. Most of the meetings 
were held at the Medical Department of 
Columbia University. Forty-one members 
attended and 20 new members joined, mak- 
ing a total of 141, of whom 10 are honorary. 
The localities and names of the new mem- 
bers are as follows: From Ann Arbor, Pro- 
fessor J. P. McMurrich, University of Michi- 
gan; from Baltimore, Professors F. P. Mall 
and L. F. Barker and associate R. G. Har- 
rison, of the Johns Hopkins University ; 
from Buffalo, Dr. N.S. Russell, assistant 
in anatomy, University of Buffalo; from 
Ithaca, Dr. L. Coville, lecturer and demon- 
strator in anatomy, Cornell University Med- 
ical College; from Montreal, Dr. J. G. Mac- 
Carthy, senior demonstrator of anatomy, 
McGill University; from New York City, 
Professor J. D. Erdmann, of Bellevue Med- 
ical College; Dr. Evelyn Garrigues, assist- 
ant demonstrator of anatomy, Woman’s 
Medical College; Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, asso- 
ciate in anthropology, Pathological Insti- 
tute of New York Hospitals ; and the fol- 
lowing assistant demonstrators of anatomy 
in Columbia University: Doctors G. E. 
Brewer, C. Carmalt, H. D. Collins, G. W. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. Sv Von. IX. No. 218. 


Crary, W. Martin, W. H. Rockwell and A. 
8. Vosburgh ; from Philadelphia, Professor 
J. C. Heisler, of the Medico-Chirurgical 
College; from Savannah, Dr. E. R. Corson ; 
from Washington, D. C., Dr. C. I. West, 
demonstrator and lecturer in topographical 
anatomy, Howard University. 

The address of the President, Dr. Burt G. 
Wilder, discussed, ‘ Misapprehensions as to 
the Simplified Nomenclature ;’ the speaker 
urged especially a fuller recognition of what 
had been done by the English anatomists, 
Barclay, Owen, Pye-Smith and T. Jeffery 
Parker, and hoped the nomenclature of the 
future would be called the ‘ Anglo-Ameri- 
can.’ 

The Association voted that abstracts of 
papers be required in advance, and that 
brief abstracts be included in the program, 
that the time for reading papers be limited 
to thirty minutes; that the Secretary-Treas- 
urer be allowed his railroad fare and ten 
dollars toward his hotel expenses at each 
meeting. The Association also accepted the 
propositions of the editors of the (English) 
Journal of Anatomy and Physiology as to 
making that journal the official organ of 
the Association, and nominated Professor 
George S. Huntington as the American 
editor. The details of the arrangement will 
be given in a circular to be issued by the 
Secretary of the Association. Dr. E. W. 
Holmes, of Philadelphia, was elected mem- 
ber of the Executive Committee, and the 
President was authorized to fill the vacancy 
in the Committee on Anatomical Nomen- 
clature caused by the resignation of Dr. 
Dwight.* 

‘The subject assigned for discussion, ‘ The 
Teaching of Anatomy in Our Medical 
Schools,’ was opened by Dr. Holmes; ‘ The 
Defects of our Present Methods,’ and further 
considered under ten divisions, viz: (1) Pre- 
paratory education. (2) The value and place 


*Dr. E. C. Spitzka, of New York City, has since been 
selected. 


Marcu 3, 1899.] 


of General Biology and Comparative Anat- 
omy. (8) Histology and Embryology in the 
medical course. (4) The relative value of 
didactic methods. (5) Practical Anatomy 
and how to teach it. (6) The order of topics. 
(7) The correlation of structure and function 
in teaching. (8) The use of charts and black- 
boards. (9) The qualifications requisite for 
a teacher of anatomy. (10) The desirability 
of terminologic consistency ; by Dr. Gerrish 
(4, 6 and 8), by Dr. Huntington (2, 3,5 and 
6), and by Dr. Wilder (10). In view of the 
extent and importance of the subject it was 
suggested that at future meetings a smaller 
number of divisions be more fully con- 
sidered. 

The following papers were read and dis- 
cussed ; all were illustrated by specimens 
and charts or photographs, and several by 
lantern-slides or enlarged photographic 
projections: By J. A. Blake, ‘ The roof and 
lateral recesses of the fourth ventricle con- 
sidered morphologically and embryolog- 
ically ;’ by G. E. Brewer, ‘ Preliminary re- 
port on the surgical relations of the duodenal 
orifice of the common bile-duct ;’ by E. R. 
Corson, ‘An X-ray study of the normal 
movements of the carpal bones and wrist ;’ 
by F. Dexter, ‘ Morphology of the digestive 
tract of the cat;’ by T. Dwight, ‘The 
origin of numerical variations of the verte- 
bree,’ and ‘The living model showing the 
platysma in contraction ;’ by 8. H. Gage, 
‘Further notes on the relation of the 
ureters and great veins;’ by I. S. 
Haynes, ‘An explanation of a new 
method of cutting gross sections of the cad- 
aver, with demonstration of the technique ;’ 
by Ales Hrdlicka, ‘The normal human 
tibia ;’ by G. S. Huntington, ‘ Morphology 
and phylogeny of the vertebrate ileo-colic 
junction,’ ‘ Visceral and vascular variations 
in human anatomy,’ and ‘the sternalis 
muscle ;’ by W. Martin, ‘The czecum and 
appendix in 100 subjects ;’ by J. J. Mac- 
Carthy, ‘ The internal structure of the hip- 


SCIENCE. 


321 


pocampus ;’ by B. B. Stroud, ‘ Note on the 
staining of isolated nerve-cells,’ and ‘ Pre- 
liminary account of the degenerations in 
the central nervous system of frogs deprived 
of the cerebrum ;’ by B. G. Wilder, ‘Some 
current misapprehensions as to the objects 
of the Cornell collection of brains.’ For 
lack of time there were read by title only 
Dr. Wilder’s paper, ‘Further tabulation 
and interpretation of the paroccipital fissure 
(occipital division of the intraparietal com- 
plex);’ three papers by Dr. Huntington, 
‘The genito-urinary system of the American 
pit-viper,’ ‘ Contribution to the anatomy of 
the reptilian vascular system,’ ‘ Cerebral 
fissures and visceral anatomy of the Eskimo 
from Smith’s Sound;’ and Dr. Haynes’ dis- 
cussion of teaching. 

Atits closing session, December 30th, the 
Association adopted, without dissent, the 
report of the Committee on Anatomical No- 
menclature presented by the majority (Ger- 
rish, Huntington and Wilder). It com- 
prises four divisions, viz : 

A. Brief statement of reasons for prefer- 
ring certain terms (about fifty in number) 
already adopted by the Association. 

B. Recommendation of mesocelia as a 
name for the cavity of the mesencephalon, 
with reasons therefor. 

C. Recommendation of 181 names of 
bones (120) and muscles (61) identical 
with those in the B. N. A. (Basel Nomina 
anatomica ).* 

D. Recommendation of 17 names of bones 
and muscles differing from those of the B. 
N. A. 

D. S. Lams, 
Secretary. 


* Die anatomische Nomenclatur. Nomina anatom- 
ica, Verzeichniss der von der Anatomischen Gesell- 
schaft auf ihrer 1X. Versammlung in Basel angenom- 
menen Namen. LEingeleitet und im Einverstindniss 
mit dem Redactionsausschuss erlatitert von Wilhelm 
His. Archiv. fiir Anatomie und Physiologie. Anat. 
Abth., Supplement Band, 1895. O, pp. 180; 27 Figs., 
2 plates. 


322 SCIENCE. 


AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 

Tue regular meetings of the Amer- 
ican Mathematical Society were formerly 
held at monthly intervals from Octo- 
ber to May, the program being readily 
disposed of ina single afternoon session. <A 
summer meeting, occupying two days, was 
also held, usually in connection with that 
of the American Association. At the Buf- 
falo meeting in 1896 and the Boston meet- 
ing in 1898 a colloquium, or course of 
lectures on recent developments in mathe- 
matics, was also provided. With the growth 
of the Society in maturity and productive- 
ness if was found advisable about two 
years ago to modify this plan so far as con- 
cerned the winter meetings. In order to 
make the individual meetings more promi- 
nent and to secure them a concentration of 
interest, it was decided that they should be 
held at intervals of two months, viz., on the 
last Saturday of October, February and 
April, and on a variable day in the last 
week of December. In compensation for 
the reduction in the number of meetings, 
provision was made for two sessions at each 
meeting, to be held in the morning and af- 
ternoon. About the same time the Chicago 
Section was organized, and its April and 
December meetings have proved valuable 
additions to the Society’s activities. The 
results have fully justified the wisdom of the 
new departure. The attendance has greatly 
increased, the number of papers presented 
at each meeting has quadrupled, and the 
meetings have become more substantial and 
active centers of mathematical intercourse. 
This remarkable advance is in one way oc- 
casioning the Society a delectable embar- 
rassment. The number of papers offered for 
presentation is becoming so great that the 
two sessions of the meetings no longer fur- 
nish anything like adequate time for their 
reading and discussion. It will apparently 
soon be necessary to provide longer or more 
frequent meetings, against both of which 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 218. 


suggestions valid objections can be urged. 
Another consequence of this profusion of 
mathematical riches is the growing inade- 
quacy of the present facilities for publica- 
tion of original mathematical articles in the 
country. The Bulletin of the Society was 
established as a journal of critical and his- 
torical investigation, and although, by the 
publication of a great number of shorter 
original articles, it has widely departed 
from its original purpose, it is no longer 
able to keep pace with the steadily in- 
creasing output without sacrificing its 
proper functions, a course which cannot 
be permitted. The Council of the Society 
has, therefore, had for some time under con- 
sideration the question of providing better 
facilities for publication, and is at present 
seriously contemplating the periodical pub- 
lication of Transactions of the Society. 
This is a project very near to the hearts 
of many influential and productive mem- 
bers of the Society, and the enthusiasm 
which it has aroused has again contributed 
to stimulate the energies of the Society and 
affords gratifying evidence that the un- 
dertaking will be successfully carried 
through. 

A regular meeting of the Society was held 
at Columbia University on Saturday, Febru- 
ary 25th. The total attendance at the two 
sessions was forty-seven, including thirty- 
nine members of the Society. President 
R. 8. Woodward, who has succeeded Presi- 
dent Simon Newcomb, occupied the chair. 
The Council announced the election of the 
following persons to membership in the So- 
ciety: Mr. John B. Faught, Bloomington, 
Ind.; Professor Edward B. Fishburne, 
Waynesboro’, Va.; Professor William P. 
Graham, Syracuse, N. Y.; Dr. Waldemar 
Schulz, Ithaca, N. Y.; Dr. Ernest J. Wilc- 
zynski, Berkeley, Cal. Four nominations 
for membership were received. An amend- 
ment to the constitution was adopted, by 
which retiring Presidents of the Society 


MakcH 38, 1899.] , 


are retained in the Council for one year 
after retirement. 

The following papers were read at the 
meeting : 


(1) Proressor M. I. Purin : ‘ Electrical oscillations 
on a loaded conductor.’ 


(2) Proresson MAxime BOcHER : ‘ An elementary 
proof that Bessel’s functions of the zeroth order 
have an infinite number of real roots.’ 


(3) Proressor J. M. PErrce: ‘Determinants of 
quaternions.’ 


(4) Proresson Henry TABER : ‘ Thechief theorem 
of the theory of finite continuous groups.’ 


(5) Proressorn ALEXANDER MACFARLANE: ‘On 
the imaginary of geometry.’ 


(6) PRoFESSOR EDGAR ODELL Lovett: ‘On a cer- 
tain class of differential invariants.’ 


(7) PROFESSOR JAMES PIERPONT: ‘On arithmetiz- 
ing mathematics.’ 


(8) Dr. Virert SNypER: ‘Lines of curvature on 
annular surfaces having two spherical direc- 
trices.’ 


(9) Proressor W. F. Osaoop: ‘On a continuous 
function of a real variable whose derivative can- 
not be integrated.’ 


(10) PRroressor ERNEST W. Brown: ‘On the prog- 
ress of the calculations inthe new lunar theory. 


(11) Proressor M. I. Pupin: ‘Lagrange’s equa- 
tions and the principle of equality of action.’ 


(12) Proressor E. B. VAN VLECK: ‘On the deter- 
mination of a series of Sturm’s functions by the 
computation of a single determinant.’ 


(13) Dr. G. A. MILLER: ‘On the primitive groups 
of degree 17.’ 


(14) Dr. L. E. Dickson : ‘Concerning the abelian 
and hypoabelian groups.’ 


(15) Dr. F. H. SArrorp : ‘Surfaces of revolution in 
the theory of Lamé’s products.’ 


(16) Dr. D. F. CAMPBELL: ‘On linear differential 
equations of the third and fourth orders in 
whose solutions exist certain homogeneous re- 
lations.’ 


(17) Mr. E. R. Heprick: ‘On three-dimensional 
determinants.’ 


(18) Dr. G. H. Line: ‘An examination of groups 


whose orders lie between 1093 and 2000.’ 
e 


SCIENCE. 323 


(19) Prormssor A. G. WerssteR: ‘Traces illus- 
trating the motion of the top.’ 


The next meeting of the Society will be 
held on Saturday, April29th. The Chicago 
Section meets at the University of Chicago 
on Saturday, April Ist. 

F. N. Coxe, 
Secretary. 


THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE HYOID IN 
BIRDS. 


Tue hyoid apparatus of birds is so sim- 
ple a structure, one so long known and so 
well studied, thatit would naturally be sup- 
posed anatomists might agree upon the 
names of its component parts. Those 
who have occasion to refer to anatomical 
text-books, however, are well aware that 
there is a surprising, not to say bewilder- 
ing, variation in the nomenclature used by 
different authors, as a glance at the accom- 
panying figure and table of names will 
make apparent. 

It is quite evident that all of these names 


‘cannot be correct, and a little reflection will 


show some of the changes that are certainly 
needed, and others that probably should 
be made. Taking the last first, let us con- 
sider that part, B, termed urohyal by 
Mivart and Gadow. The urohyal of fishes 
is a membrane bone developed beneath the 
anterior portion of the branchial arches ; 
hence, it is quite evident that the name 
cannot be consistently applied to a carti- 
lage bone at the posterior end of the 
branchial apparatus, and that Parker’s 
term, second basibranchial, should stand. 
Equally simple is the case of the paired 
bones, D, called basibranchials by Gadow 
and hypobranchials by Beddard.  Basi- 
branchials are unpaired bones developed in 
the median line, and the term is inapplica- 
ble to paired bones lying on either side of 
an unpaired basal bone. As for hypo- 
branchials, these are among the first seg- 


324 


ments of a branchial arch to disappear, not 
being developed even in tailéd amphibians, 
and it will be safe to call the lower portion 
of the posterior arch of the hyoid a cerato- 
branchial, and the adjoining segment an 
epibranchial. The anterior pair of bones, 
in the body of the tongue, C, are naturally 


ceratohyals. 
| 


Fie. 1. 


Hyoid of Grebe showing 
component bones, much en- C 
larged. 
A First basibranchial. 
B Second basibranchial. 
C Ceratohyals. 
D Ceratobranchials. A 
E Epibranchials. 
Basibranchial] : Par- 
ker. 
A 4 Basihyal: Mivart, 
Gadow, Bed- 
dard-figure. B 
( Basibranchial 2 : 
Parker. 
B + Urohyal: Mivart, 
| Gadow, Bed- 
lL dard. 
( Ceratohyal : Parker, 
| Mivart, Gadow, D 
Cc Beddard in part. 
Basihyal: Beddard 
in part. 
( Ceratobranchial : 
Parker, 
| Thyrohyal : Mivart. 
D | Basibranchial : 


Gadow. 
| Hypobranchial : 
Beddard. 
{ Epibranchial : 
| Parker, 
E 4 Ceratobranchial : 
| Gadow, Bed- 
{i dard, E 


The next question, that of the proper 
name for the anterior basal bone of the 
hyoid, A, calls for some reflection, since it 
involves not only the nomenclature of the 
hyoid in birds, but in mammals as well. 


- SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


This bone is called basibranchial by Parker 
and basihyal by Gadow, this latter name 
being ordinarily used for the basal bone of 
the mammalian hyoid. 

A true basihyal, or as itis better called 
from its relations, glossohyal, is found in 
fishes at the upper, anterior portion of the 
hyoid apparatus. It is also present in tur- 
tles, where it has the same relation to the 
tongue as in fishes, and where it ossifies 
some little time after the first basibranchial, 
with which it soon becomes confluent. It 
seems a little doubtful if a true basihyal 
occurs among birds, although the median 
piece of cartilage contained in the fleshy 
portion of the tongue and articulating with 
the fused ceratohyals in such birds as 
ducks may represent this bone. The ques- 
tion is one which the embryologist can 
readily answer. As pointed out by Parker, 
the true basihyal does not occur in mam- 
mals, the term being given to a bone that 
is morphologically the first basibranchial. 
It would seem that exact morphological 
nomenclature should reject the term basi- 
hyal for the first basal median bone in the 
hyoid of birds and mammals, including, of 
course, man, as there is no reason why hu- 
man anatomy should stand as a stumbling 
block in the way of the student of com- 
parative anatomy, although it has often 


done so. 
F. A. Lucas. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

A Treatise on Universal Algebra. By A. N. 
WHITEHEAD, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of 
Trinity College, Cambridge. Cambridge, Uni- 
versity Press ; New York, The Macmillan Co. 
Vol. I. Pp. xxvii+586. Price, $7.50. 

By ‘Universal Algebra’ is meant the various 
systems of symbolic reasoning allied to ordinary 
algebra, the chief examples being Hamilton’s 
Quaternions, Grassmann’s Calculus of Exten- 
sion and Boole’s Symbolic Logic. The present 
volume contains an exposition of the general 
principles of universal algebra, followed by a 


MARCH 3, 1899. ] 


separate detailed study of the Algebra of Logic 
and of the Calculus of Extension; the second 
volume will contain a separate detailed study 
of Quaternions and Matrices and a detailed 
comparison of the symbolic structures of the 
several algebras. The main idea of the work 
is not unification of the several methods, nor 
generalization of ordinary algebra so as to in- 
clude them, but rather the comparative study 
of their several structures. But, it may be 
asked, if the branches of universal algebra are 
essentially distinct from ordinary algebra and 
from one another, what bond is there to con- 
nect them into one whole? A connecting bond 
is found in the generalized conception of space; 
the properties and operations involved in that 
conception are found capable of forming a uni- 
form method of interpretation of the various 
algebras. 

The work is well and clearly written and, 
when completed, will form an admirable presen- 
tation of the subject from the formal view of 
mathematical analysis. One excellent feature 
is conservatism in the use of symbols; by this 
means the author makes his pages easier read- 
ing to those who have already studied some of 
the special branches. 

Another excellent feature of the volume con- 
sists in the Historical Notes appended to some 
of the chapters. In these Mr. Whitehead gives 
a brief history of the development of the special 
branch, so far as known to him, without mak- 
ing an exhaustive research. The importance 
of the Historical Notes probably calls for a 
more exhaustive research, as the work covers a 
great and growing province of mathematics 
and will, when completed, be considered one of 
the best authorities on its subject in the Eng- 
lish language. 

The feature which is most open to discussion 
is the view which the author takes of the fun- 
damental nature of mathematics; and it is 
most important, for it determines the whole 
plan of the work. In the preface the author 
thus states his view, in very plain terms: 
‘¢ Mathematics is the development of all types 
of formal, necessary, deductive reasoning. The 
reasoning is formal in the sense that the meaning 
of propositions forms no part of the investiga- 
tion. The sole concern of mathematics is the 


SCIENCE. 325 


inference of proposition from proposition. The 
justification of the rules of inference in any 
branch of mathematics is not properly part of 
mathematics ; it is the business of experience or 
philosophy. The business of mathematics is 
simply to follow the rules. In this sense all 
mathematical reasoning is necessary, namely, 
it has followed the rules. Mathematical 
reasoning is deductive in the sense that it 
is based upon definitions which, as far as 
the validity of the reasoning is concerned 
(apart from any existential import), need only 
the test of self-consistency. Thus no external 
verification of definitions is required by mathe- 
matics as long as it is considered merely as 
mathematics. Mathematical definitions either 
possess an existential import or are conven- 
tional. A mathematical definition with an ex- 
istential import is the result of an act of pure 
abstraction. Such definitions are the starting 
points of applied mathematical sciences ; and, 
in so far as they are given this existential im- 
port, they require for verification more than 
the mere test of self-consistency. Hence ‘a 
branch of applied mathematics, in so far as it is 
applied, is not merely deductive, unless in some 
sense the definitions are held to be guaranteed 
a priori as being true in addition to being self- 
consistent. A conventional mathematical defi- 
nition has no existential import. It sets before 
the mind, by an act of imagination, a set of 
things with fully-defined self-consistent types 
of relation. In order that a mathematical sci- 
ence of any importance may be founded upon 
conventional definitions, the entities created by 
them must have properties which bear some 
affinity to the properties of existing things. 
Thus the distinction between a mathematical 
definition with an existential import and a con- 
ventional definition is not always very obvious 
from the form in which they are stated. In 
such a case the definitions and resulting prop- 
ositions can be construed either as referring 
to a world of ideas created by convention or 
as referring exactly or approximately to the 
world of existing things.’’ 

In reply, it may be asked: Is geometry a 
part of pure mathematics? Its definitions have 
a very existential import ; its terms are not con- 
ventions, but denote true. ideas ; its propositions 


Ne 7 
32 ) 


are more than self-consistent—they are true or 
false ; and the axioms in accordance with which 
the reasoning is conducted correspond to uni- 
versal properties of space. But suppose that 
we confine our attention to algebraical analy- 
sis—to what the treatise before us includes 
under the terms ordinary algebra and universal 
algebra. Are the definitions of ordinary algebra 
merely self-consistent conventions? Are its 
propositions merely formal without any objec- 
tive truth? Are the rules according to which it 
proceeds arbitrary selections of the mind? If 
the definitions and rules are arbitrary, what 
is the chance of their applying to anything use- 
ful? The theory of probabilities informs us 
that the chance must be infinitesimal, andthe 
author admits that the entities created by the 
conventions must have properties which bear 
some affinity to the properties of existing things, 
if the algebra so founded is to be of any im- 
portance. The author says ‘some affinity ;’ it 
may be asked how much? Unless the affinity 
or correspondence is perfect, how can the one 
apply to the other? How can this perfect cor- 
respondence be secured, except by the conven- 
tions being real definitions, the equations true 
propositions, and the rules expressions of uni- 
versal properties? In the last sentence quoted, 
Mr. Whitehead makes a large concession to the 
realist view; it is only necessary to change the 
sentence into—‘‘In the case of any algebra 
worthy of scientific attention the definitions 
and propositions refer exactly or approximately 
to the world of existing things.’’ 

M. Laisant, in his recent work, ‘La Mathe- 
matique,’ refers to the formal view of mathe- 
matical science when discussing the theory of 
fractions, p. 35. He opposes it, as marching in 
the direction opposite to progress, and as a 
survival of the spirit of the sophist. 

The realist view of mathematical science has 
commended itself to me ever since I made an 
exact analysis of Relationship and devised a 
ealeulus which provides a notation for any 
relationship, can express in the form of an 
equation the relationship existing between any 
two persons, and provides rules by means of 
which a single equation may be transformed, or 
a number of equations combined so as to yield 
any equation involved in their being true 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


simultaneously. The notation is made to fit 
the subject, and the rules for manipulation are 
derived from universal physiological laws and 
the more arbitrary laws of marriage. A very 
real basis, yet the analysis hasall the character- 
istics of a calculus, and throws light by com- 
parison on several points in ordinary algebra. 

But what is the subject of which ordinary 
algebra is the analysis? Quantity; and in 
space we have the most complex kind of 
quantity ; so that if space can be analyzed, the 
analysis will serve for any less complex kind of 
quantity. Mr. Whitehead admits that, as a 
matter of history, mathematics has till recently 
been the science of number, quantity and the 
space of common experience. But ‘‘ the intro- 
duction of the complex quantity of ordinary 
algebra, an entity which is evidently based 
upon conventional definitions, gave rise to the 
wider mathematical science of to-day. Ordi- 
nary algebra, in its modern development, is a 
large body of propositions interrelated by de- 
ductive reasoning and based upon conven- 
tional definitions which are generalizations of 
fundamental conceptions.”’ 

The imaginary quantity, more generally the 
complex quantity, of ordinary algebra is the 
foundation upon which the formalist builds his 
theory; if it can be shown that it is rot an 
entity based upon conventional definitions, but 
corresponds to a reality, then his whole super- 
structure falls down. The complex quantity 
first arises in analysis in the solution of the 
quadratic equation. The general form of the 
root consists of a quantity independent of the 
radical sign and a quantity affected by the rad- 
ical sign. - When the quantity under the radical 
sign is negative the root is said to be imagi- 
nary, because it appears to be incapable of direct 
addition to the part independent of the radical 
In certain papers recently published I 
have shown at length that the root of a quad- 
ratic equation may be versor in nature or scalar 
in nature. If it is versor in nature, then the 
part affected by the radical involves the axis 
perpendicular to the plane of reference, and 
this is so, whether the radical involves the 
square root of minus oneor not. In the former 
case the versor is circular, in the latter hyper- 
bolic. When the root is scalar in its nature 


sign. 


Marco 3, 1899.] 


the two parts add to form the final result, but 
in the case where the square root of minus one 
is present the sign must be preserved in the 
intermediate processes of calculation. A com- 
plex index (both terms involving a sign of direc- 
tion) has its meaning in an angle which is partly 
circular, partly hyperbolic; and ascalar complex 
quantity expresses the cosine or sine of such 
complex angle. It follows that the functions 
of a complex quantity can be defined really. 
It has been the practice of writers to follow the 
formal view, and define, for instance, the cosine 
of a complex quantity as the sum of a certain 
infinite series. Let 2 denote a complex quan- 
tity, then, according to that view, by cos 2 is 
meant the sum of the series 


gt 


ot 
1— an + a — ete. 
But when the cosine of a complex angle is de- 
fined in the same manner as the cosine of a cir- 
cular angle or of a hyperbolic angle, namely, 
as the ratio of the projection of the radius-vec- 
tor to the initial line, then 
2? gt 
cosz—1— 5, + 7,— eKe., 

becomes not a dead convention, but a living 
truth. 

In the first book the author states more fully 
the principles of universal algebra: ‘‘ There 
are certain general definitions which hold for 
any process of addition and others which hold 
for any process of multiplication. These are 
the general principles of any branch of uni- 
versal algebra. But beyond these general defi- 
nitions there are other special definitions which 
define special kinds of addition or multiplica- 
tion. The development and comparison of 
these special kinds of addition or of multipli- 
cation form special branches of universal al- 
gebra,’’ p. 18. The general principles are as 
follows: Addition follows the commutative and 
associative laws, viz: a + b—b+ aand (a+ bd) 
+e=a+(b+c). Multiplication follows the 
distributive law, viz: a(¢+d)—=ac-+ ad and 
(a+ b)c=ac + be. Multiplication does not nec- 
essarily follow the commutative and associative 
laws, that is, ab = ba and (ab) c =a (bc) are laws 
of special branches only. It has been main- 
tained by followers of Hamilton that the asso- 


SCIENCE. 


327 


ciative law is essential to multiplication. It is 
true of spherical quaternions, but is not true of 
the complementary branch of vector analysis. 
It is satisfactory to find that Mr. Whitehead 
adopts the latter view, and, indeed, it is in- 
volved in his detailed exposition of vector 
analysis in the concluding book of his first 
volume. 

But one who looks upon algebraic analysis 
not as the sum of several correlated branches, but 
as one logical whole, must consider the above 
principles or so-called definitions as arbitrary. ° 
For let pand gq denote two quaternions, then 
eve? is not in general equal to e%e?; conse- 
quently e?+%2 is not equal to e’+?; hence the 
commutative law does not hold in the addition 
of these indices. Thus to define addition as 
necessarily following the commutative law, and 
multiplication as not necessarily following it, is 
an arbitrary procedure. 

In expounding the algebra of logic the author 
follows largely the exposition of Dr. Schroeder 
in his learned treatise, ‘Vorlesungen tber die 
Algebra der Logik,’ but he does not take up 
the most valuable part of that work, namely, 
the Algebra of Relatives. Symbolic Logic as 
expounded by Schroeder differs essentially from 
the calculus devised by Boole in his ‘ Laws of 
Thought.’ It was Boole’s aim to keep as close 
as possible to ordinary algebra, and to make 
his method the foundation of a calculus of prob- 
abilities. In fact, the full title of his famous 
book is ‘An Investigation of the Laws of 
Thought on which are founded the mathemat- 
ical theories of Logic and Probabilities.’ Ac- 
cording to Boole the special peculiarity of the 
algebra is that «2—2, when wx is an elementary 
elective symbol. Jevons is said to have intro- 
duced the further supposed law that x + 2#=—a, 
which destroys the quantitative character of 
the calculus. Indeed, Mr. Whitehead says that 
the algebra is non-numerical, and in Dr. 
Schroeder’s elaborate work no mention is made 
of probabilities. According to the more recent 
school a—.b supposes that b is included in a 
(p. 82), whereas Boole made no such limitation. 
It is a step backwards, just as it would be a 
step backwards in ordinary algebra to hold 
that a— b carries the supposition that 0 is less 
than a. 


328 


The detailed exposition of Grassmann’s system 
is excellent and will be welcomed by all who 


wish to assimilate the ideas of that great master | 


of space-analysis. The last book of the present 
volume is on the application of the calculus of 
extension to geometry, and it is evident from 
the fourth chapter, entitled ‘On Pure Vector 
Formule,’ that the author considers vector 
analysis to be supplementary to quaternion 
They are not the same thing; and 
both gain when it is perceived that they are 
not redundant, but supplementary to one an- 
other. 

In conclusion, the work reflects great credit 
on the author and on the Cambridge University 
Press ; it is likely to lead to further advances 
in Universal Algebra, not only by what it lays 
down, but by the questions which it brings for- 
ward for discussion, 

ALEXANDER MACFARLANE, 


analysis. 


The Principles of Agriculture. 
New York, The Macmillan Company. 
Pp. xx + 300. 

‘Principles of Agriculture,’ by Professor L. 
H. Bailey and his associates in Cornell Univer- 
sity, isa new volume in the Rural Science Series 
and in many respects is the most important one 
of the series, as it serves as an introduction to 
the others. The book is intended to be used as 
a text-book for schools and rural societies, but 
it will prove interesting and valuable for the 
agriculturally inclined who have had little or 
no training in the natural sciences. It is essen- 
tially a book for beginners, and as such serves 
its purpose better than any of the small hand- 
books which have attempted to treat of the ele- 
mentary principles of agricultural science. 

The volume is edited by Professor Bailey and 
some of the chapters are written by him; the 
remaining chapters are written by his associates, 
who are specialists in the departments of which 
they have written. At the end of each chap- 
ter are suggestions which serve to elucidate the 
text for readers whose knowledge of natural 
science or of rural affairs is scanty, and also 
give useful hints for teachers who may use the 
volume asa text-book. 

In the introduction we are told that ‘‘ agricul- 
ture is not itself a science, but a mosaic of many 


By L. H. BAILEY. 
1898. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 218. 


sciences, arts and activities, or, a composite of 
sciences and arts, much as medicine and surgery 
are. * * * But the prosecution of agricul- 
ture must be scientific.’? The aim of the book 
is to deal with ‘ fundamentals’ rather than ‘in- 
cidentals.’ ‘‘The mistake is often made of 
teaching how to overcome obstacles before ex- 
plaining why obstacles are obstacles. * * * 
The purpose of education is to improve the 
farmer and not the farm.’’ Would that more 
of our farmers could see the truth contained in 
these statements. 

The book opens witha brief treatment of the 
formation of the different kinds of soils. On 
page 27 the author says: ‘‘ The profit in agri- 
culture often lies in making the soil produce 
more abundantly than it is of itself able to do.”’ 
On page 202: ‘‘ In intensive and specialty farm- 
ing manures may be bought.’’ These state- 
ments are true, but do not consist well with 
what is said about ideal agriculture on page 2. 
Inorganic compounds are explained as those 
which are not produced by living organisms, 
and phosphoric acid is given as one example, 
notwithstanding that a large amount of phos- 
phorie acid used in commercial fertilizers is 
made from bone. Although the chemists call 
it an inorganic compound, yet because it is 
found in the remains of animals the reader who. 
has had no knowledge of chemistry might be 


_puzzled until some further explanation was 


made. 

The second chapter, which is written by Pro- 
fessor Spencer, shows what is meant by ‘tex- 
ture’ of the soil, why good texture is important 
and how to obtain it. That ‘‘ the texture or 
physical condition of the soil is nearly always 
more important than its mere richness in plant 
food”? is a fact not recognized by some tillers of 
the soil. 

The ‘moisture of the soil’ and ‘tillage’ are 
next treated in a brief and creditable manner. 
Several figures are given to illustrate the art of 
plowing and one of an ‘ideal general purpose 
plow.’ All plowmen will think that this imple- 
ment might be improved upon, but the low 
handles should be appreciated by everyone. 
The handles of many plows are too far from the 
ground. 

Chapters IV. and V, treat of enriching the 


MakcH 38, 1899.] 


soil. The former explains the method of hand- 
ling home-made manure, while the latter has to 
do with commercial fertilizers only. Fig. 31 
shows a ‘common type of barnyard,’ in which 
home-made fertilizers are allowed to go to waste, 
while in Fig. 30 is shown a model method of 
protecting them ; yet the position of the water- 
ing trough is not an ideal one, looking at it from 
a sanitary point of view. Fig. 32 shows a 
‘handy and economical stable,’ which, in reality, 
is anything but desirable. It might do for a 
makeshift while refitting an old barn, but it 
cannot be recommended to anyone who is plan- 
ning to erect a new set of buildings. 

Other chapters deal with plants, their propa- 
gation and subsequent care. It is misleading to 
say that germs or bacteria may cause constitu- 
tional troubles in the plant, as is done on page 
167 and again on page 170, where we read that 
constitutional diseases are usually treated by 
burning the affected parts, which implies that 
‘such a plant may spread the disease if not 
destroyed. It is hard to see how a disease in- 
herent in a plant (constitutional) can spread the 
disease to other plants, unless the affected parts 
of the diseased plant are used for propagation. 
Bacterial diseases may affect the internal struc- 
ture of the host, although ‘the cause of it is 
not apparent on the exterior,’ yet such diseases 
are not constitutional any more than the dis- 
eases caused by the Peronosporiaceze. Some 
biologists deny that there are any true consti- 
tutional diseases, while here we have consti- 
tutional diseases treated as something different 
from contagious diseases, but what that some- 
thing is is not very clear. 

The life-history of one parasitic fungus given 
in detail would have been a valuable addition, 
for it would have helped much to explain why 
it is that one plant can cause sickness in another, 
a fact which is hard for any person to under- 
stand who has not viewed microscopic prepara- 
tions of fungi. In doing this the author would 
have followed out the aim ‘to seek why before 
seek how,’ as stated on page 15. 

Contact insecticides is a better term than 
‘caustic insecticides,’ for in many cases the in- 
secticide clogs the breathing pores and causes 
death by suffiocation rather than by caustie ac- 
tion on the tissues. Figs. 70 and 71 pretend to 


SCIENCE. 


329 


show sucking and biting insects respectively, 
but the reader will not be able to see the dis- 
tinction from the illustrations. 

Many farmers would think twice before fol- 
lowing the advice on page 187: ‘‘If the meadow 
fails to return two tons of field-dried hay to the 
acre, plow it up,’’ for there are local conditions 
where less than two tons per acre may be a 
justifiable crop. 

Chapter XIV., ‘How the Animal Lives,’ by 
Professor Law, and Chapter XV., ‘The Feed- 
ing of Animals,’ by Professor Wing, give sum- 
maries of our present knowledge of subjects of 
which our farmers, as a rule, do not know 
nearly so much as they should. 

The last chapter, on the ‘Management of 
Stock,’ is by Professor Roberts. On page 266 
he says that there are two theories respecting 
the number of animals to be kept on a farm, 
The fact is we are beyond the theory stage 
in this matter, and it can be said curtly that 
there are two methods, the practice of either 
one of which must depend upon local condi- 
tions. 

The severest criticism to be made of the book 
is that nearly every subject discussed in it is 
treated in too brief a manner, a result inevitable 
intrying to expound the principles of agriculture 
in one book of only 300 small pages, printed in 
largetype. This defect has been partially reme- 
died by references to other literature for further 
study, although it is to be regretted that these 
references are confined mainly to the work of 
the editor’s immediate associates. The arrange- 
ment of the contents is excellent, and on the 
whole the book is superior to any of its kind. 

In closing, we quote again from the preface : 
‘¢ Agriculture is a business, not a science. * * * 
Business cannot be taught in a book like this ; 
but some of the laws of science as applied to 
farm management can be taught.’’ 

ELiIsHA WILSON Morse. 


Elementary Zoology. By FRANK E. BEDDARD. 
New York, Longmans, Green & Company. 
1898. 12mo. Pp. vi+208. 98 illustrations. 
Every teacher examines with interest any 

new text-book dealing with the subject in 

which he gives instruction, and his interest is 
all the greater if the book is written by a recog- 


330 


nized authority and published by a reputable 
firm. He may find that the book treats the 
subject in a more satisfactory manner than the 
text he has been using, and hence be led to 
change. Or, if he cannot adopt the new book, 
he may learn from it much that is inspiring and 
suggestive of better methods of teaching. There 
are far too many teachers, however, who, hav- 
ing to give instruction in several subjects, have 
not become especially proficient in any one and 
are not fitted by experience and training to be 
competent judges of the merits of different 
texts. Zoology is one of those studies which 
are usually ‘lumped’ together and put into the 
hands of the ‘teacher of science,’ who, more 
often thay not, is a physicist or a chemist by 
training and, consequently, not likely to be 
qualified to select a good text-book in zoology. 
Too often is the choice determined by the scien- 
tifie reputation of the author, who may be of 
undisputed ability as an investigator, but not 
successful in his method of presenting his sub- 
ject ; or by the business enterprise of the book 
agent. Hence, it behooves those who are inter- 
ested in raising the grade of instruction in the dif- 
ferent scientific branches to exercise a careful 
watch to prevent, if possible, the introduction of 
text-books, and especially such as are elemen- 
tary, which are faulty in method and inaccurate 
in the statement of facts. There is no reason 
why a new text-book should be issued unless it 
present the subject by a better method and be a 
distinct advance over those already published. 

This elementary zoology ‘‘ contains an ac- 
count of a few types selected from the chief 
groups of the animal kingdom, followed and 
accompanied by a consideration of some of the 
more general conclusions of biology.’’ The 
author adopts the very commendable plan of 
treating the types in the ascending order, be- 
ginning with a discussion of protoplasm and 
the ameeba. The fifteen chapters of the book 
deal with the unicellular animals ; hydra ; earth- 
worm; crayfish; cockroach ; metamorphoses 
of insects; pond mussel; snail; frog; skeletal 
and integumentary structures of vertebrates ; 
the egg, sperm, and development of the chick ; 
morphology of organs ; morphology of tissues ; 
classifcaticn ; classification of animals. The 
most cf theses opics are discussed with a toler- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. LX. No. 218. 


able degree of clearness, although paragraphs 
are not infrequent which must be read more 
than once before the meaning is grasped. 

It is questionable whether an average high- 
school pupil could comprehend the author’s 
treatment of the morphology of the skull and 
the development of the chick. ~The first cannot 
be understood without much elaborate dissec- 
tion and comparison of specimens, nor the 
second without the use of sections, and the re- 
construction of the latter either into a model 
or in the imagination is not within the capacity 
of the beginner. 

There are so many grammatical and typo- 
graphical errors that one is forced to believe 
that the book was carelessly written and hastily 
printed. For instance, a singular verb is not 
infrequently burdened with a plurality of sub- 
jects. The unbiased reader has his choice be- 
tween ‘spermathical ’ and ‘ spermathecal’ pores 
in the earthworm. Hydra is figured as con- 
taining ‘interstital’ cells and ‘chromatphores,’ 
and anodon as having a ‘coelome.’ Several 
figures, e. g., 8 and 9, do not tally with their 
descriptions. Modifications of Maupas’ figures 
of the conjugation of vorticella are given, but 
no description of the process accompanies 
them. The directions for preparing dissections 
are not always accurate. On p. 23 it is stated 
that ‘ when an earthworm is opened by a median 
incision along the back, and the flaps of skin 
turned back, the entire anatomy is revealed.’ 
The student will find it necessary to do more 
than this before he will discover the nervous 
system. Again, on p. 68, ‘when the mantle 
flap of one side is removed the structures shown 
in Fig. 29 are brought into view.’ The pupil 
who accepts this statement in good faith will 
look in vain for the liver, pedal ganglion, con- 
nectives and commissures shown in the illus- 
tration. An anodon shell with the lines of 
growth running ‘parallel with the long axis of 
the shell’ (p. 62) would be a prize for any con- 
chologist. The explanation of the gaping of 
the mussel shell after death (p. 62) has the ad- 
vantage of novelty, if not of verity. It is in- 
teresting, too, to learn that the snail is a sym- 
metrical animal, that its radula bears calcified 
teeth (p. 68) and that the blue color of its blood 
is due to the presence of ‘ hzencyanin,’ p. 70. 


MARCH 3, 1899.] 


English frogs have the tongue ‘bifid at the 
tip,’ and breathe in an uncommonly awkward 
manner. ‘‘ When the frog breathes it fills the 
mouth with air; the mouth is then closed and 
the external nares, while the muscles forming 
the floor of the mouth force the contained air 
into the lungs’’ (p. 80). In the tadpole, respi- 
ration is carried on by a ‘free flow of oxygen 
containing water over the gills.’ The adult 
frogs are said to have ‘two first vertebre,’ 
from which the student infers that they are 
double-headed. On p. 103 the author says: 
“The skeleton of the fore limb consists of the 
pectoral girdle and of the limb which articulates 
with it.’”’ The student is left to wonder which 
of the two limbs enjoys this distinction and why 
the other is not equally favored. 

Nothing is said about geographical distribu- 
tion; sponges are nowhere mentioned ; in the 
chapter on histology there is no figure or de- 
scription of bone, no figure of nerve cells or 
fibers, of striated muscle fibers, of glandular 
structures, nor of adipose tissue. There is no 
index. Most of the figures are good, but there 
are not enough to make certain of the subjects 
clear to beginners. 

There would be no excuse for giving Mr. 
Beddard’s zoology an extended notice were it 
not that the scientific prominence of its author 
and name of its publishers are likely to carry 
much weight and to lead to its introduction into 
American schools in the place of other and 
better books, and this should not happen until 
it has been given a thorough and radical re- 
vision. 

CHARLES WRIGHT DopGE. 

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER. } 
Laboratory Exercises in Anatomy and Physi- 

ology. By JAMES EDWARD PEABopy, A.M., 

Instructor in Biology in the High School for 

Boys and Girls, New York City. New York, 

Henry Holt & Co. 1898. Pp. x+79. 

In view of the large amount of instruction in 
physiology that is given in secondary schools 
and the large number of text-books that exist, 
it is surprising how few attempts have been 
made to treat the subject practically by the 
preparation of laboratory directions. And the 
few attempts, although in several cases excel- 


SCIENCE. 


ool 


lent, are, without exception, inadequate. The 
immediate cause of this state of things is prob- 
ably the lack of a demand by teachers for aids 
of this kind ; and this lack of demand is prob- 
ably to be traced to a lack of realization on the 
part of the majority of the teachers, themselves 
imperfectly trained in this respect, of the ad- 
vantages of the practical method. Not a few 
teachers, however, have longed for help in 
endeavoring to raise the standard of instruction 
in this branch from its present alcoholic and 
narcotic condition, and such progressive ones 
will heartily weleome Mr. Peabody’s book. 

The book is apparently intended for high- 
school classes. Among the subjects treated are 
the human and mammalian skeleton, the 
muscles, the chemical testing of foods, diges- 
tion, absorption, the heart, the blood and its 
circulation, oxidation, respiration, the skin, 
the kidney, excretion, touch, taste, smell, 
yeast and bacteria. Directions for the use of 
the microscope and a list of apparatus and 
chemicals required for the exercises are added. 
The book is interleaved with blank pages for 
notes and is intended to be placed in the hands 
of the pupil. The latter is given simple di- 
rections for experimenting and, instead of 
being told what to observe, is asked concerning 
the results that follow. In this respect the book 
is in accord with the best of the practical guides 
in other departments of science. ‘‘The ques- 
tions * * * have been framed with the object 
of leading the student to seek the facts from the 
material itself. The student should be trained 
especially to distinguish in the experiments 0b- 
served results from the inferences that may be 
drawn from those results.’? This admirable 
intention is well carried out. To illustrate the 
care with which it is done one instance may be 
cited. After giving directions for making and 
using the common bell-jar apparatus to demon- 
strate the action of the diaphragm and lungs, 
the author asks the pertinent questions: ‘‘In 
what respects does this model illustrate the 
process of inhaling and exhaling air in our own 
bodies? In what respects does the model fail 
to illustrate the process of respiration ?’’ 

The book is preeminently a guide to the study 
of human physiology, and a large number of 
the experiments and observations are to be 


302 SCIENCE. 


made on the pupil’sown body. It is interesting 
to see how much pure physiology, as distinct 
from anatomy, can be learned in this way, 
without the aid of complex apparatus, dis- 
section or vivisection. Vivisection is neither 
employed nor referred to in any way in the 
book, and dissection only as it pertains to 
bones, muscles, the heart and the kidney. 
Anatomy is treated not as a finality, but as a 
basis for the study of function. The directions 
for the study of bacteria are excellent, and the 
practical applications of bacteriology include, 
among other things, the canning of fruits, the 
use of the tooth-brush, the cleaning of the 
streets, and the cleansing of wounds. 

In the opinion of the reviewer physiology is 
usually taught in high-school courses too much 
as a human, and too little as a broadly bio- 
logical, science. Hence some regret is un- 
avoidable that in the present book more atten- 
tion is not given to the comparative aspect. 
Notwithstanding this lack, the book is thorough, 
is calculated to arouse the interest and even 
the enthusiasm of the pupil, and is to be 
heartily recommended for use in schools. 


FREDERIC 8. LEE. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
A Text-book of General Physics. CHARLES S. HAs- 
TINGS and FREDERICK E. Beacn. Boston, Ginn 
& Co. 1899. Pp. viii+ 768. $2.95. 


The Development of English Thought. Simon N. PAt- 
TON. New York and London, The Macmillan 
Company. 1899. Pp. xxvii+ 415. 


The Shifting and Incidence of Taxation. EDWIN R. A. 
SELIGMAN. New York and London, The Mac- 
millan Company. 1899. Pp. xii +337. $3.00. 


The Cambridge Natural History. Volume IX., Birds. 
A. H. Evans. London and New York, The Mac- 
millan Company. 1899. Pp. xvi+635. $3.50. 


The Elements of Physical Chemistry. J. LIVINGSTON 
R. Morgan. New York, John Wiley & Sons ; 


London, Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1899. Pp. xiii 
+ 299. 


Examination of Water. WiLur1AM P. Mason. New 
York, John Wiley & Sons; London, Chapman & 
Hall. 1899. Pp. 135. 


De la méthode dans la psychologie des sentiments. F. 
RavuH. Paris, Alean. 1899. Pp. 305. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

THE 19th anniversary meeting was held Jan- 
uary 17th, under the auspices of the Washing- 
ton Academy of Sciences, in the hall of the 
Columbian University, the occasion being the 
address of the retiring President, Dr. L. O. 
Howard, entitled ‘Are Insects as a Class In- 
jurious or Beneficial in their Relations with 
Man?’ The paper was published in full in 
SCIENCE for February 17th. 

The 301st regular meeting was held January 
28th and was devoted to a consideration of the 
‘Great Dismal Swamp.’ Dr. David White 
traced the geologic history of the swamp and 
surrounding regions, showing how successive 
periods of elevation and depression had resulted 
in the formation of a considerable area so 
slightly elevated above sea-level that the 
natural drainage is insufficient to remove the 
rainfall. It was stated that the present period 
is considered to be one of subsidence, and it was 
noted by later speakers that Lake Drummond 
is evidently increasing in size. 

Mr. F. D. Gardner described the soils from a 
practical standpoint, with special regard to the 
agricultural possibilities of the land extensively 
reclaimed by drainage. Large deposits of peat 
exist, which it has not been found possible to 
utilize on a commercial scale. The water of 
the streams and drainage ditches is very 
strongly impregnated with the soluble prod- 
ucts of the enormous quantities of decompos- 
ing vegetable matter, and, like the soil, has a 
distinctly acid reaction. This acidity of the 
soil may be so excessive as to interfere with its 
fertility, although inexhaustible quantities of 
plant foods are present. 

Mr. Thomas H. Kearney exhibited a large 
series of photographs illustrating the charac- 
teristics of the flora of the swamp. The vari- 
ous plant-associations were enumerated and de- 
scribed at length, and their relative importance 
in the formation of humus was noted. Refer- 
ence was also made to the possible effects of the 
acidity and generally low temperature of the 
water as agents likely to retard growth and to 
require adaptations against excessive transpira- 
tion. The woody type of vegetation predomi- 
nates, there being very few herbaceous species 


Marcu 3, 1899.] 


and these invariably perennials. Bulbs and creep- 
ing rootstocks occur, but the cespitose habit so 
commonamong dry-land plantsis entirely absent. 
Notwithstanding the abundance of climbing 
woody vinesand bamboo-like Arundinarias which 
give an aspect of tropical luxuriance, the flora is 
predominantly boreal in origin. Many northern 
plants have their southern limit of distribution 
here, and, on the other hand, several southern 
types have never been found farther north. 

Mr. William Palmer continued Dr. White’s 
discussion of the physiography, with particular 
reference to the changes due to human agencies. 
The vegetation becomes very dense along canals 
and ditches where formerly the swamp was com- 
paratively open, as far as undergrowth was con- 
cerned. These ditching operations have been 
carried on since the days of George Washing- 
ton, who spent considerable time in the Dismal 
Swamp in surveying and managing the work, 
and who died possessed of $2,000 in stock in 
the enterprise. 

It was stated that the drainage of the swamp 
is very intricate, the direction of the current 
being not infrequently reversed in the same 
channel. Miocene bivalve shells are found in 
great abundance near the northern end of 
the Jericho Ditch. Of existing animals there 
are thirty mammals, the more prominent of 
which are deer, opossums and wild cattle. 
Forty-one species of birds are regular sum- 
mer residents, with many more transient visi- 
tors. The most characteristic bird of the swamp 
is perhaps the Prothonotary Warbler, a rare 
bird everywhere else, but not uncommon in the 
swamp. The resident birds and mammals in 
some instances show distinct characters, by 
which they may be readily separated from those 
of the neighboring drier regions, and have con- 
sequently been described as distinct species 
or subspecies. Fourteen species of fish are 
known from the waters of the swamp, although 
it is believed that none existed in Lake Drum- 
mond until admitted through the canals. 
Snakes may be said to be abundant, as Mr. Pal- 
mer has counted 153 while passing along one of 
the canals on a warm day. The King Snake is 
very tame and sometimes climbs into boats, but 
with no malicious intentions. Four frogs and 
six turtles were also enumerated. 


SCIENCE. 


339 


In conclusion, Mr. Palmer stated his regret 
that the opportunity of holding the vicinity of 
Lake Drummond as a National Park had not 
been improved before its great natural beauties 
were so largely destroyed. 

The 302d regular meeting was held February 
11th, but, owing to the unusually severe and in- 
clement weather, the attendance was small, and 
several members who had arranged to continue 
the discussion of the Great Dismal Swamp were 
absent. After electing to active membership 
Dr. Oscar Loew, of Washington, and Lieutenant 
Wirt Robinson, of New York, the Society 
voted to postpone the discussion and adjourn. 

O. F. Coox, 
Corresponding Secretary. 


CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 


THE’ regular meeting was held on January 
12, 1899. 

The first paper of the evening was read by 
Dr. E. A. de Schweinitz, and was entitled 
‘The Serum Treatment of Some Animal Dis- 
eases.’ 

In this paper the author gave a general re- 
view of the work begun in 1890 in the study of 
the substances secreted by the hog cholera and 
the swine plague germ in relation to immunity. 
He further pointed out the production of an 
enzyme by the hog cholera and other allied 
germs, and their importance in producing in 
animals immunity from disease. From this 
point the work was extended to a study of the 
serum obtained from animals that had been 
immunized to disease, and this was found to 
contain an immunizing principle and exerted 
curative properties upon experimental animals 
affected with hog cholera and swine plague re- 
spectively. Following these experiments, prac- 
tical work has been carried out in the field for 
several years, with very satisfactory results. 
The treatment with serum was found to save 
about 80 per cent. of infected herds, while in 
those herds not treated which served as checks 
the loss from disease was over 80 per cent. 

In practical work in the field it is difficult to 
decide often whether the animals are suffering 
from either hog cholera or swine plague alone 
or both of these diseases. To overcome this 
difficulty it has appeared advisable to use a 


334 SCIENCE. 


curative serum for one of these diseases mixed 
with a curative serum for the other. For pro- 
tective vaccination it appears advisable to use, 
in addition to the serum, the products of the 
bacteria as well as their cell contents, including 
the products of the secretion or excretion. 

The second paper of the evening was read 
by Dr. F. K. Cameron, and was entitled ‘On 
the Estimation of Nicotine,’ by E. A. de 
Schweinitz, J. A. Emory and F. K. Cameron. 

This paper described a critical examination 
of the analytical methods so far proposed, and 
with special reference to the so-called ‘ Kissling 
Method.’ Attempts to devise a satisfactory 
method were made by formation of double salts 
with metallic compounds, precipitation of an 
addition compound with bromine or iodine, 
precipitation with picric acid, precipitation with 
phosphomolybdic or phosphotungstic acid, de- 
composition of accompanying amines with ni- 
trous acid, decomposition of these compounds 
with hypochlorous or hypobromous acid, sepa- 
ration of the ammonia as oxalate by the addi- 
tion of alcohol. The results were summed up 
as follows : 

I. The so-called Kissling method was to be 
regarded as the best so far proposed. For the 
estimation of nicotine in tobacco leaves or pow- 
ders it may be regarded as satisfactory, but its 
application to tobacco extracts yields very un- 
reliable results. 

II. A complete extraction of nicotine by ether 
and some other solvents is readily accomplished. 

III. An evaporation of an ether extract will 
afford a practicable separation from ammonia 
alone, but not from other organic bases. 

IV. A complete separation by distillation 
with steam is much more difficult than is 
usually supposed, Certain deviations from the 
usual practice were suggested. 

V. No method involving the precipitation of 
the nicotine as an insoluble compound has been 
found practicable. 

VI. No method involving the decomposition 
of accompanying compounds has been found 
practicable. 

VII. The presence of tertiary amines, and 
probably some pyridin derivatives in tobacco 
extracts, is as yet an insurmountable obstacle 
in the separation or estimation of nicotine. 


[N. S. Vou. TX. No. 218. 


Finally, it is to be observed that nicotine 
comports itself as a tertiary amine. It does 
not yield a nitroso compound. Its separation 
from ammonia, primary and secondary amines, 
can be more or less readily accomplished by 
the adaptation of well-known general methods. 
Its separation from tertiary bases must be de- 
pendent on the discovery of some accidental 
physical or chemical property of the substance 
involved which cannot be predicated from 
known general principles. It would seem thata 
satisfactory solution of the problem is dependent 
upon some empirical relation, and it is in this 
direction that further investigation is indicated. 
But it is to be hoped that a more profound 
study of nicotine itself will yield satisfactory 
evidence as to its true nature, and from the 
knowledge thus gained the problem before the 
analyst may not beso aimless or complicated as 


it now seems. 
WILLIAM H. Krue. 


Secretary. 


MEETING OF THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE 
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


THE February meeting of the New York Sec- 
tion of the American Chemical Society was held 
on the 10th inst., in the Assembly Room of the 
Chemists’ Club, at 108 West 55th street, Dr. 
Wm. MecMurtrie presiding. Inaccordance with 
a resolution adopted by the Washington Section, 
it was resolved ‘‘ that it be recommended to the 
Council that the Society confer, through appro- 
priate channels, with the Chemical Society of 
London, as to the feasibility of the separate 
publication of their abstracts after the manner 
of the Chemische Centralblatt, the preparation of 
these abstracts to be undertaken by both So- 
cieties conjointly.”’ 

A report from the Committee on Patet Leg- 
islation was read, recommending that the pres- 
ent Committee be continued, with five additional 
members to be appointed by the chair. 

The duty of the Committee will be to prepare 
such alterations and amendments as may seem 
advisable and submit them to the different mem- 
bers of the Committee as well as to the Sections 
of the Society before the first spring meetings. 
From the reports of the Sections in different 
parts of the country a general report will be 


— 


MAncH 3, 1899. ] 


prepared for the next session of Congress in 
December. 

The following papers were read : 

‘Recent Extension of Our Knowledge Regarding 
Nitrates as Plant Food,’ Dr. J. A. Myers. 

‘A Method for the Analysis of Canned Condensed 
Milk,’ F. S. Hyde. 

‘Manufacture of Ether,’ Alfred Roos. 

‘Manufacture of a New Guaicol Compound,’ L. H. 
Reuter. ( 

‘Explosibility of Nitrogen Iodide and Acetylene 
Copper Compounds and Use of the Latter in Manufac- 
ture of Alcohol and Ether,’ L. H. Reuter. 

‘Chemistry of the Dynamite Process of Weighting 
Silk,’ Rafael Granja. 

‘Chemistry of the Velocitan Process—Quick Tan- 
ning,’ Rafael Granja. 

‘Melting Point asa Cyclic Function,’ Thos. Bayley, 
England. Read by title. 

DuRAND WOODMAN, 
Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS’ CLUB 
OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Geological Conference, January 10, 1899.— 
Dr. T. A. Jaggar, Jr. gave a communication on 
‘The Geology of the Northern Black Hills,’ 
and illustrated it with many lantern views, 
photographs and specimens. He dwelt espe- 
cially on certain facts, discovered by him dur- 
ing the past summer, which throw new light on 
the general problem of intrusives. These will 
be published in full later. 

Students’ Geological Club, January 17, 1899.— 
In a paper entitled ‘Our Present Knowledge 
of the Geology of the Boston Basin,’ Mr. R. E. 
Burke briefly summarized the literature on the 
geology of that area. 

Geological Conference, January 24, 1899.—Mr. 
H. T. Burr presented some results obtained in 
mapping the conglomerates of the Boston Area 
with a view to determining their relative age. 
The Commonwealth Avenue cut in the Roxbury 
conglomerate shows a series which strikes 
transversely (E-W) to similar, adjoining con- 
glomerates to the north and south. Evidence 
was offered to show that this structure is due to 
overthrusting from the north followed by 
normal faulting. 

The Brighton amygdaloids have generally 
been considered as flows. The speaker held, 


SCIENCE. 


335 


after a detailed study of their contacts, that 
these rocks are intrusive. Further, their injec- 
tion was probably preceded by faulting. 

In discussing this paper, Professor Shaler 
favored the division of the Roxbury conglomer- 
ates into formations, on the basis of recognized 
periods of denudation that alternated with 
periods of deposition. 

Mr. Robert DeC. Ward spoke on ‘ Acclimati- 
zation of the White Man in the Tropics.’ By 
acclimatization is meant adaptation to a new 
climate. This problem, although an old one 
for Europeans, has confronted us for only a few 
months. It arises as a result of physiological 
changes that take place in the body, and may 
be best studied from two points of view, (1) a 
consideration of these physiological changes, 
and (2) a study of the diseases most prevalent 
in the tropics which a resident there is most 
likely to contract. 

In connection with the former part of the 
problem the chief factors are heat and humidity. 
Heat, in itself, is not dangerous ; but it becomes 
so when significant humidity is added. Heat 
induces evaporation and thus greater desire for 
drink. Accordingly, considering a certain in- 
crease in drink necessary, those nations which 
drink hard liquor will suffer more than those 
which use wine. Cereals afford safer food than 
meats. In regard, then, to both liquid and 
solid food the southern Europeans have ad- 
vantages over the English. Too much or too 
little exercise is extremely dangerous ; a certain 
amount is absolutely necessary. The most 
healthy tropical districts are high and dry. 

In connection with the latter part of the prob- 
lem, three diseases are especially prevalent, 
namely, sunstroke, yellow fever and malaria. 
Sunstroke is chiefly influenced by the rains. 
Malaria, the greatest obstacle in acclimatization, 
comes with the rains, but is also closely related 
to soil conditions. Yellow fever, although vary- 
ing with the rainy season, finds its check in ele- 
vation. Thus, in the respective countries, the 
following altitudes have been found to be about 
the upper limit of that disease: in the United 
States, 800 feet; in Mexico, 2,300 feet ; in Bra- 
zil, 2,700 feet ; and in Jamaica, 4,000 feet. 

The chief physiological changes resulting from 
life in the tropics are increased respiration and 


396 SCIENCE. 


perspiration, a more rapid pulse, enlargement 
of the liver, anzemia, and perhaps arise of body 
temperature. Hygiene, as is shown by statistics, 
is effective in reducing the death rate, and thus 
in making life possible for white men in the 
tropics. While a strong person may, with prop- 
er care, live nearly anywhere in the tropics, 
he does not become independent of the tropical 
climate. Accordingly, authorities agree, with 
only a very few exceptions, that true acclimati- 
zation of the white man in the tropics is impos- 


sible. 
J. M. BourwE LL, 


Recording Secretary. 


ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, OF PHILA- 
DELPHIA. 


January 24, 1899, Mr. WirMer STONE 
made a communication on the Academy’s 
collection of birds and its history. He quoted 
from Sclater to the effect that in 1852 the 
collection was the largest in existence. The 
work of American ornithologists from Alex- 
ander Wilson to those of our own time, most 
of whom had been more or less intimately 
associated with the Academy, was commented 
on and two of Wilson’s types were exhibited. 
They were the only ones known to the speaker 
to be in existence, all the others having appar- 
ently been lost on the breaking up of Peale’s 
Museum, of which they formed part. After 
commenting on the growth of the collection, 
Mr. Stone spoke of the modes of preservation 
and exhibition, dwelling on the advantage of 
keeping the bulk of the specimens as flattened 
skins in air-tight drawers. Fine specimens of 
recent taxidermic work were exhibited and con- 
trasted with the ‘stuffed’ birds of half a cen- 
tury ago. The communication formed a most 
interesting contribution to the history of the 
Academy and will make part of the first number 
of the Proceedings for 1899. 

A paper entitled ‘Contributions to the Life- 
History of Plants, No. XIII.,’ by Thomas 
Meehan, was presented for publication. 

January 31. PROFESSOR HENRY A. PILSBRY 
called attention to a small collection of shells 
from New Mexico and Arizona, received from 
Mr. Ashmun, whose zeal as a collector had in- 
creased the number of species of the region 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


from about a dozen to over one hundred. The 
snails are almost entirely confined to the moun- 
tains and they exhibit the characters of forms 
from archipelagoes, only one species of a genus 
being found on one mountain range. Six spe- 
cies of Pupa were from six distinct localities. 

Dr. P. P. CALVERT commented on the influ- 
ence of the heat of the room in hastening the 
development of dragon-flies from nymphe. 

A paper entitled ‘A List of Fishes collected 
at Port Antonio, Jamaica,’ by Henry M. Fowler, 
was presented for publication. 

February 7. Messrs. GEORGE and WILLIAM 
S. VAux, JR., made a communication on the 
Illecellewaet and Asulkan Glaciers of British 
Columbia. After Mr. George Vaux, Jr., had 
exhibited a large number of beautiful lantern 
views of the region, illustrating the distribution 
of peaks, glaciers and ranges, Mr. William 8. 
Vaux, Jr., read a paper, which was afterwards 
presented for publication, describing in detail 
their investigations undertaken to determine 
the rate of recession of the two glaciers specially 
under consideration. The paper was also satis- 
factorily illustrated. 

A paper entitled ‘A New American Land- 
Shell,’ by Edward G. Vanatta, was presented 
for publication. 

February 14. Dr. P. P. CALVERT called at- 
tention to the new catalogue of the dragon- 
flies of New Jersey, the section of the general 
catalogue of insects of that State confided to 
him by Professor J. B. Smith. The number of 
species of these insects has increased since the 
issue of the first catalogue in 1890 from 39 to 
85. Middle-southern New Jersey has been 
touched but slightly and there is no doubt that 
other species will be added to the list. 

Epw. J. NOLAN, 
Recording Secretary. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE MEASUREMENT OF INDUCTANCE. 


OF the various electrical measurements which 
serve in the electrical testing laboratory, the 
measurement of the inductance (the exact elec- 
trical analogue of the moment of inertia of a 
rotating wheel) of a coil of wire is perhaps the 
most unsatisfactory. Mr. H. Martienssen 
(Wiedemann’s Annalen, 1899, No. 1) has im- 


MARCH 3, 1899. ] 


proved the little known method of Puluj for 
measuring inductance by means of alternating 
currents. The method of Puluj was devised 
independently by Professor 8. T. Moreland and 
reported to Section B at the Boston meeting of 
the American Association. The method, in its 
simplest form, is to connect two circuits in par- 
allel between alternating current mains and ad- 
just non inductive resistances until the currents 
in the two branches are in phase, when the in- 
ductances in the two branches are directly as 
the resistances. To show when the currents 
are in phase an instrument called a phase indi- 
cator is used, This instrument is essentially a 
small induction motor without iron. It con- 
sists of two small coils with their planes vertical 
and at right angles to each other, surrounding 
a suspended aluminum or copper rod. These 
coils are connected, one in each circuit, and 
when the two currents are not in phase 
with each other the suspended rod is deflected. 
Martienssen modifies the instrument by wind- 
ing one coil with two strands of wire, each 
strand being provided with separate termi- 
nals. One of these strands he connects in cir- 
cuit as before, and the other constitutes a sec- 
ondary coil in which a current isinduced by the 
current in the primary strand. This induced 
current is sensibly in quadrature with the 
primary current, and by the use of an adjust- 
able non-inductive resistance in this secondary 
circuit the instrument may be used, according 
to Martienssen, for the accurate measurement 
of much smaller inductions. 

Puluj’s method, as modified by Martiens- 
sen, is a zero method; it requires only a 
single adjustment; it does not require har- 
monic electromotive force, nor does the fre- 
quency of the e. m. f. need to be known; and 
it gives accurate results for inductances ranging 
from a few hundreds to many millions of cen- 
timeters. In short, we seem to have at last a 
feasible laboratory method for the accurate 


measurement of inductance. 
W.S. F. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
AN interesting discussion has been carried on 
during the last few years as to the constitution 
of inorganic compounds, especially of the 


SCIENCE. O37 


metal-ammonium bases, by Professor S. M. 
Jorgensen, of Copenhagen, and _ Professor 
Alfred Werner, of Zurich. Professor Jor- 
gensen, to whom we owe so much of our 
knowledge of these bases, especially those of 
cobalt, chromium and rhodium, defends the 
constitution based on the present ideas of 
valence, which has been developed in its ap- 
plication to these compounds largely by him- 
self on the basis furnished by Blomstrand. 
Professor Werner, feeling the insufficiency of 
the theories of valence to account for most of 
our complex inorganic compounds, has pro- 
posed a new theory of coordinated groupings, 
in which he seeks to account for the constitution 
not merely of the metal-ammonium bases, but 
also of all the complex inorganic compounds, 
including those containing water of crystalli- 
zation. The last number of the Zeitschrift fir 
anorganische Chemie contains the eleventh paper 
by Jorgensen and the fifteenth paper by Werner. 
In the former Jérgensen reviews Werner’s 
theory, replies to all the objections Werner has 
raised to the valence theory as applied to the 
metal-ammonium compounds, shows the in- 
sufficiency of Werner’s theory, and finally, by 
an ingenious piece of chemical logic, shows 
that Werner’s own theory must, if consistently 
carried out, lead him to Jorgensen’s own for- 
mule for these compounds. In this paper, and 
that of Reizenstein, recently mentioned in this 
column, one may get a good view of the argu- 
ments on both sides of the controversy. 


WERNER’S paper in the same number of the 
Zeitschrift is confined to a study of the appli- 
cation of his theory to the double chlorids. 
He has tabulated all the double chlorids from 
the whole field of chemical literature, and 
grouped them in types according to his theory, 
considering also the water of crystallization 
present. 


Ir is yet too soon for any final judgment to 
be pronounced on Werner’s theory, especially 
because the field to which it applies is so im- 
mense. The limitations of the valence theory 
are, however, only too keenly felt by chemists, 
and Werner’s work is leading in the right di- 
rection. Atall events, this lengthy controversy 
is productive of much good. It has turned the 


99Q 
foyer 


minds of many chemists to the necessity of 
broader views of chemical compounds ; it has 
stimulated many chemists to fuller investiga- 
tions in the inorganic field, and it has led at 
the hands of the two leaders to a vast enrich- 
ment of our chemical knowledge of large classes 
of compounds. We may add that for the most 
part it has been conducted in the best spirit. 

In the Trans-Caucasian region, from the 
Black Sea to the Caspian, are scattered many 
mud volcanoes, both in the naphtha regions 
and elsewhere. In the Zeitschrift fiir anorgan- 
ische Chemie, P. Melikoff describes the analyses 
of the products of one of these mud volcanoes, 
that of Achtala. The principal ingredients of 
the water are salt and soda. The solid matter 
is chiefly a plastic clay, with fine grains of cal- 
cite, feldspar and quartz. The greater part of 
the paper is a discussion of the origin of the 
soda and of sodium carbonate deposits and 
waters in general. The experiments of the au- 
thor show that in the presence of ferric or 
aluminum hydroxid, as well as of colloidal 
substances and zeolites of the soil, sodium sul- 
fate and calcium bicarbonate react readily with 
formation of sodium carbonate, and the same is 
true of sodium chlorid and calcium bicarbonate. 
The hydroxid present, and in soils the col- 
loidal substances, hold the reaction products 
with different degrees of firmness, preventing 
reverse reactions and allowing in natural leach- 
ing process the separation of these products. 
Thus in the latter reaction the ferric hydroxid 
has a greater capacity for absorbing soda than 
for calcium chlorid, hence the latter is first re- 
moved by washing, and the later wash waters 
contain largely soda. Similar reactions take place 
in the presence of ammonium carbonate, which 
is present in most soils. Thus the natural soda 
formation is attributable to the interaction of 
salt or sodium sulfate, on the carbonates dis- 
solved in natural waters in the presence of the 


soil. 
y Ala Gy dale 


CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 


LINGUISTICS OF THE CHACO. 


THE very few students of South American 
languages may be interested to learn that in 
the ‘Proceedings’ of the American Philosoph- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Voz. IX. No. 218. 


ical Society for October, 1898, I have published 
a paper of thirty pages, together with a lin- 
guistic map, on the languages of the Chaco 
region, embracing portions of the Argentine 
Republic, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia, The 
map covers the area from lat. 20° to 380° south, 
and long. 56° to 66° west from Greenwich. In 
this area the colors define the extensions of nine 
linguistic stocks, based on the most recent in- 
vestigations. Especial interest attaches to the 
newly-found Ennima stock, first recognized as 
such by Guido Boggiari in 1895, although vocab- 
ularies of it had been printed before that date. 
While this paper does not solve all the prob- 
lems of the Chaco tongues, it certainly dimin- 
ishes their number. 


THE CRANIOLOGY OF CRIMINALS. 


WHat are the differences between the skulls 
of criminals and those of ‘respectable people’ ? 
This is the question which M. E. Pitard under- 
took to solve by comparing the crania of fifty- 
one convicts who had died in the penal colony 
of New Caledonia, with the average crania of 
the citizens of Paris. Practically, there turned 
out to be no constant difference at all, unless it 
was that the vertical index of the criminal skulls 
was slightly higher; in other words, the con- 
victs were ‘ brainier’ than the good folks. There 
was also the same amount of variation in the 
heads of the criminals. Some were long, others 
broad-skulled ; some had a notably large, others 
a small cubical capacity; these variations run- 
ning parallel to those of the general population. 
M. Pitard’s article, with abundant data, is in 
the Bulletin of the Anthropological Society of 
Paris, 1898, Fasc. 3. 


THE FOLK-LORE OF THE FJORT. 


Tus is the title of the latest volume issued 
by the Folklore Society of Great Britain. It is 
written by R. E. Dennett and edited by Miss 
Mary H. Kingsley. The ‘Fjort’ is the name 
applied to the negro tribes of the French 
Congo, who once formed the great native king- 
dom of Congo. The volume is much more 
than a collection of folk tales. Miss Kingsley 
in the introduction and the author in his com- 
mentary and notes furnish fresh and valuable 
information on the religious beliefs, marriage 
and burial customs and mode of life of these 


MARrcH 3, 1899.] 


semi-savage peoples. Their songs and stories 
are carried in the memory by strings of objects 
each of which corresponds to a heading or line. 
These songs take us into the arcanum of the 
savage mind and present a strange picture of 
its psychology. The volume is illustrated and 
forms a welcome addition to the series pub- 


lished by the Society. 
D. G. BRINTON. 


UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANTA, 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE United States Fish Commission steamer 
Fish Hawk \eft Porto Rico for the United States 
on February 23d, having completed her work in 
the waters about the island and having visited 
all the principal ports. No details of the ex- 
pedition have yet been received, but the most 
interesting results are expected from the opera- 
tions on the sandy submarine plateau which 
extends to the eastward of the island. 


THE French Geographical Society has 
awarded its medals, the two chief gold medals 
being given, respectively, to General Galliéni for 
his work in Madagascar and to M. E. Gentil 
for his explorations in Africa. The Félix Four- 
nier prize has been awarded to M. Henri 
Brenier for commercial explorations in China. 

Mr. W. H. PREECE, C.B., F.R.S., having at- 
tained his sixty-fifth birthday, has retired from 
the position of Engineer-in Chief and Electrician 
to the English Post Office, but it is hoped that 
his services will be retained by the Postmaster- 
General as consulting engineer. 

PROFESSOR ALBERT F. BRIGHAM, of Colgate 
University, sailed on February 21st for Europe 
for ten months. He is now enjoying a sabbat- 
ical year, and will spend the time in geograph- 
ical study in England and Switzerland, and in 
literary work for several months at Oxford. He 
will probably make arrangements to be with 
Professor Davis for a trip in the summer 
through parts of the Alps. 

ProFessor R. VON WErISTEIN, of Prague, 
has been appointed Director of the Botanical 
Gardens of Vienna and professor in the Univer- 
sity. 

PROFESSOR WALTER WISLICENUS, of the Uni- 
versity of Strassburg, is intending, with the as- 


SCIENCE. 


99 
339 


sistance of the German Astronomical Society, 
to prepare a yearbook of astronomy, giving ab- 
stracts of the papers appearing during each 
year, beginning with 1899. 


THE death is announced of The Rey. Wil- 
liam Colenso, F.R.S., at the age of 87 years. 
Mr. Colenso began life as a printer, and when 
the Church Missionary Society established a 
press in New Zealand, in 1838, he was given 
charge of this and became both printer and 
missionary. He was one of the chief authori- 
ties on Maori antiquities and rites, and on the 
natural history of New Zealand. 


WE regret also to record the following deaths : 
Mr. John Kreusi, a mechanical engineer and 
inventor, at Schenectady, N. Y., on January 
22d, aged 56 years; Mr. Thomas Cook, a 
well-known teacher of anatomy and writer on 
the subject, in London, on February 8th; Dr. 
L. A. Veitmeyer, a civil engineer at Berlin, and 
Dr. Carl Schoenlein, of the Zoological Station 
at Naples, at the age of 40 years. 


Tur New York Academy of Sciences pro- 
poses to hold its sixth annual exhibition in the 
American Museum of Natural History on April 
11th and 12th. The first evening is reserved 
for members of the Academy and the second for 
the Scientific Alliance and friends of science in 
general. The afternoon of the 12th will offer 
an opportunity for students and those who can- 
not attend in the evening. The exhibition wil] 
illustrate the advances during the last year 
only. Any worker in the field of science who 
may have material which he believes of interest 
to the scientific world should communicate im- 
mediately with the chairman of the committee, 
Professor William Hallock, Columbia Univer- 
sity, New York City. The exhibition is not 
limited to the work of members of the Academy, 
but the committee has final authority as to 
what material will be accepted. The depart- 
ments represented are: Anatomy, astronomy, 
botany, chemistry, electricity, anthropology, 
ethnology, experimental psychology, geology, 
mineralogy, paleontology, photography, phys- 
ics, physiography, physiology and zoology. 


THE National Educational Association will 
meet next year in Chicago: Mr. A. B. Down- 


340 


ing, Superintendent of Normal Schools, New 
York City, has been elected President. 


Orricers for the International Association 
for Promoting the Study of Quaternions and 
Allied Systems of Mathematics for the years 
1889 and 1900 have been elected as follows: 
President, Sir Robert Ball, of Cambridge Uni- 
versity ; General Secretary, Dr. Alexander Mac- 
farlane, lecturer on mathematical physics in 
Lehigh University. The Secretary of the United 
States is Professor Arthur S. Hathaway, of the 
Rose Polytechnic Institute. 


Tue Association of Polish Men of Science 
and Physicians will meet at Cracow in 1900. 
It will be remembered that the meeting in 
Posen last year was forbidden by the Prussian 
government for political reasons which scarcely 
appeared to be sufficient. 

THE British Board of Agriculture have ap- 
pointed a Departmental Committee to inquire 
into and report upon the working of the Diseases 
of Animal Acts in so far as they relate to glan- 
ders, and to consider whether any more effective 
measures can, with advantage, be taken to pre- 
vent the spread of that disease. Lord Stanley 
is chairman of the committee. 

A MEETING of the Fellows of the Royal Bo- 
tanic Society was held on February 11th, at the 
Gardens, Regent’s-park, Mr. C. Brinsley Mar- 
lay presiding. Mrs. Ernest Hart exhibited a 
collection of Japanese dwarfed plants grown 
under certain secret methods much in vogue in 
the cultivation of trees in Japan. Lach speci- 
men was said to be upwards of one hundred 
years old, and the tallest was less than 18 in. 
in height, although possessing all the charac- 
teristics of perfect plants in miniature. They 
were pronounced to be the finest specimens of 
this peculiar art ever seen in England. There 
was also shown a seed incubator in}action in- 
tended for use in connection with the ‘Seed 
Control’ lectures now being given in these 
‘Gardens every Monday. 

THE first ordinary meeting of the}British So- 
ciety of Engineers for the present year was held 
on February 6th. Mr. W. W. Beaumont, the 
President for 1898, occupied the chair and pre- 
sented the premiums awarded for papers read 
during the year, viz., the President’s gold medal 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 218: 


to Mr. W. Fox, the Bessemer premium to Mr. 
8. O. Cowper-Coles, the Rawlinson premium to 
Dr. J. C. Thresh and a Society’s premium to 
Mr. G. Thudichum, Mr. Beaumont introduced 
the President for the ensuing year, Mr. John 
Corry Fell, who delivered his inaugural ad- 
dress. He said, as reported in the London 
Times, that the financial position of the Society 
was very satisfactory, and it had increased its 
numbers during 1898. During the past year 
they had lost six of their honorary members— 
Sir William Anderson, Sir Henry Bessemer, Sir 
James N. Douglas, Sir John Fowler, Lord Play- 
fair and Sir Robert Rawlinson. The vacancies 
thus created had been filled by Sir J. Wolfe 
Barry, Sir A. J. Durston, Sir David L. Salo- 
mons, Professor A. B. W. Kennedy, Mr. W. H. 
Preece and Mr. A. Siemens. It was a curious 
fact that civil engineers availed themselves less 
than any other members of the profession of the 
privileges accorded to inventors by patent, 
designs or copyright protection. It had been 
said that the British nation was less inventive 
than the American, and prior to 1883 that view 
appeared to be supported by the number of 
patent applicants in the United States as com- 
pared with those in Great Britain, but upon a 
reduction of the fees in 1883 the applications 
had reached over 30,000 per annum, and Great 
Britain now took a foremost place in the inven- 
tive world. With regard to successful inven- 
tion the conditions should be the result of 
analysis or synthesis, not mere chance dashes 
into an unknown field. Mr. Fell pointed out 
the necessity of having a special Court for the 
trial of patent actions. He had for long past 
been of opinion that such a Court should be 
established, and of late the Lord Chancellor and 
other Judges had expressed the same views. 
They had publicly attributed the block in the 
Law Courts to the increasing number of patent 
cases and the inordinate time many of them 
occupied. The President then gave a short 
summary of the advances made of late years in 
various departments of engineering. A hearty 
vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Fell. 

THE annual meeting of the British Institution 
of Mechanical Engineers was held on February 
9th at the new building in Storey’s-gate, St. 
James’s-park. Mr. S. W. Johnson, the re- 


MARCH 3, 1899. ] 


tiring President, being in the chair. Mr. Edgar 
Worthington, the Secretary, presented the 52d 
annual report, which showed that the member- 
ship in all classes had reached 2,684, represent- 
ing a net gain of 191 on the previous year, 
The receipts for the year were £8,452, and the 
expenditure £7,588, leaving a balance of £863. 
The total investments and other assets amounted 
to £66,462. References were made to the ex- 
periments carried on by Professor Beare at 
University College as to the value of the steam- 
jackets, and to those of Sir William C. Roberts- 
Austen, who had carried to a successful con- 
clusion a long series of experiments made at 
the Royal Mint on the behavior of steels during 
cooling. Congratulatory allusion was made to 
the summer meeting held at Derby, and it was 
stated that the next summer meeting would be 
held at Plymouth. The report was adopted, 
after which Mr. Johnson vacated the chair in 
favor of the President-elect, Sir. W. H. White. 
The fifth report of the Alloys Research Com- 
mittee on Steel, drawn up by Sir William 
Roberts-Austen, was afterwards read. 


A HYGIENIC institute is to be erected in 
Posen, Prussia. According to the British Med- 
ical Journal it will contain a hygienico-bac- 
teriological and a pathologico-anatomical de- 
partment, with the usual staff of directors and 
assistants. Their sphere of work is to com- 
prise supervision and improvement of water 
supplies, of drainage works and the bestowal 
of refuse ; soil and subsoil examination ; hy- 
gienic supervision of works, factories, ware- 
houses, etc.; prevention of the spread of in- 
fectious diseases; post-mortem examinations ; 
courses of lectures, some popular, on subjects 
connected with hygiene, bacteriology and 
pathological anatomy. It is hoped that the 
scientifically-conducted efforts of the institute 
will be successful in arresting epidemics, such as 
cholera, smallpox, typhus, ete., which fre- 
quently have come into Prussia from across the 
Russian frontier. 


THE Times states that at the South Foreland 
lighthouse, in the presence of representatives 
from the Councils of Dover, Ramsgate, Margate, 
Broadstairs, Sandgate, etc., trials have been 
made, under the supervision of Signor Marconi, 


SCIENCE, 


341 


of his system of telegraphing without wires, be- 
tween the East Goodwin lightship, twelve miles 
out at sea, and the lighthouse. The system 
acted well, the messages being received and re- 
corded on the tape with absolute accuracy, 
Signor Marconi had with him two assistants at 
the lighthouse, Messrs. Kemp and Cohen, and 
one on the lightship, Mr. Richards, but several 
of the messages were sent by men on the ves- 
sel who had been instructed in the work. The 
height of the pole used for transmission was 
130 feet, and Signor Marconi considered that 
by this a message could be sent to the French 
coast. The receiving wire on the lightship was 
run 80 feet up the mast. During the recent 
severe weather the system has worked per- 
fectly, and the men on the ship have sent mes- 
sages that have been transmitted to Ramsgate. 
All present were impressed with the demonstra- 
tion, and promises of support to a resolution 
urging the Board of Trade and the Admiralty 
to take up the system were given. 


A LAW was recently passed in Norway, says 
the New York Medical Record, prohibiting the 
sale of tobacco to any boy under sixteen years 
of age without a signed order from an adult 
relative or employer. Even tourists who offer 
cigarettes to boys render themselves liable to 
prosecution. The police are instructed to con- 
fiscate the pipes, cigars and cigarettes of lads 
who smoke in the public streets. A fine for the 
offence is also imposed, which may be as much 
as twenty-five dollars. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 
MR. AGASSIZ AND HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


THE following minute on the Corporation 
records of Harvard University concerning the 
services and gifts of Mr. Alexander Agassiz are 
given in the Annual Report of President Eliot : 

Voted, That in accepting from Mr. Alexander 
Agassiz the deed of gift which has been read, 
and which will be entered in full on the 
record of this date, the Corporation wish to 
enter on their records a statement of Mr. 
Agassiz’s services and gifts to the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology : 

From 1860 to 1865 Mr. Agassiz was Agent 
of the Museum and Assistant in charge of 
Worms, Echinoderms and Acalephs. 


342 SCIENCE. 


During part of the year 1866 he was in 
charge of the Museum while Professor Agassiz 
was absent in Brazil. In 1869, on his return 
from a three years’ residence at Calamut, he 
was appointed Assistant in charge of Radiates, 
but without salary. Early in 1874 he was 
made a member of the Faculty of the Museum, 
Curator, and a member of the Board of Trus- 
tees. In 1876 the Museum was transferred to 
the University by its Trustees. Mr. Agassiz 
has never received any salary as Curator. 

Between September 1, 1871, and September 1, 
1897, Mr. Agassiz expended for the benefit of the 
Museum from his private means, without mak- 
ing any communication on the subject to the 
President and Fellows, over seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars, including his expendi- 
tures on objects now formally transferred to 
the Corporation, beside contributing about 
fifty thousand dollars to other University ob- 
jects in gifts known at the time to the President 
and Fellows. 

The great sum expended for the Museum is 
divisible into the following items which are 
taken from Mr. Agassiz’s private accounts : 


Land, Buildings and Fixtures..... $219,007.00 
Cases, Collections and care of same.. 223,867.00 
IUD IT Cat ONS aster sisictelcvacceteyarayalcuavevetels 118,127.00 


Subscriptions to Agassiz Memorial 
Fund and for State grants (condi- 


GLONA Tose ays eae p Mate siatcoatalcts 65,000.00 
Tai branyancaters citeirelocteeteis erences 26,695.00 
Dalarteswnysrcicispeteleronvaeccitctatere ais tcicrets 27,051.00 
Deficits Humboldt Fund (Students). 8,260.00 
DOC) Bree Sire eA HN 8 BS ee a 7,807.00 
MINGELESEsfrisnsicrobetrapeyere verre mettre ie minietels 9,568.00 
Laboratory Supplies......:......... 3,100.00 
Naples Lables aslecteselnesieierste eieverl es 1,473.00 
Wood's Hole Fish Commission Tables 500.00 
Hey C-Gray Busby mictaeriactetecisteiere 355.00 
Not analyzed ; old accounts not ac- 

GESSUDT Os sicisierseterale See eter a ears 41,008.28 


$751,818.28 

Of the total expenditure about $107,000 was 
for current expenses, or expenses which cannot 
now be specified; the remainder is represented 
to-day by important parts of the land, building 
funds, collections, cases, fixtures, publications 
and library. 

The Corporation record here their gratitude 
for these great gifts, distributed over a period 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 218. 


of twenty-six years, and for devoted services 
rendered to the Museum in various capacities 
ever since 1860, with one interval of three 
years, 1866-1869. 


THE CLIMATOLOGICAL LABORATORY OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO. 


DuRING the past two years the University of 
New Mexico has been carrying on some work 
looking toward a scientific investigation of the 
climatology of the plateau, especially with re- 
spect to its beneficial effects in cases of tuber- 
culosis and analogous diseases. Statistical in- 
formation has been collecting, and special 
studies in the variation in vital capacity among 
students in the University and the public 
schools of the Territory have been carried on. 
The biological and bacteriological departments, 
under the special direction of President Herrick 
and Professor Weinzirl, have taken up the 
study of air and water and the conditions 
of sepsis, etc. It has been hoped to extend 
this investigation to include the physical and 
chemical characteristics of the climate and 
also a study of the blood changes due to alti- 
tude, with special reference to the virulence and 
curtailment of the diseases in question. 

A few weeks since Mrs. Walter C. Hadley 
made to the University a proposition to donate 
to the institution the sum of $10,000, to be used 
toward the erection of a building to contain the 
laboratories for this and allied research. This 
gift was conditioned upon the raising of $5,000 
for the completion of the building and a similar 
sum for equipment. The Regents have agreed 
to establish the chair necessary to continue and 
prosecute the research, and are making an 
earnest effort to secure the subscription of the 
amount requisite to secure Mrs. Hadley’s dona- 
tion. The location of the University is prob- 
ably unsurpassed for such research, and the 
faculty already contains a corps of bacteriolo- 
gists and biologists acquainted with the lines of 
work to be opened, several of whom have per- 
sonal familiarity with the beneficial results of 
the climate. 

One interesting result of the studies so far 
made is the evidence that a residence on the 
plateau during the growing years of later child- 
hood serves in a large measure to correct the 


MARCH 3, 1899. ] 


narrow chests and limited vital capacity result- 
ing from a bad heredity. It is hoped that a 
considerable response in the way of subscrip- 
tions will come from those interested outside 
the Territory, as the recent financial stringency 
has left those who would gladly respond inca- 
pacitated to carry the entire burden. It is un- 
derstood that subscriptions may be sent to 
Hon. F. W. Clancy, Mayor of the City of Al- 
buquerque, or to C. L. Herrick, President of 
the University. 
GENERAL. 


We are glad to learn that Washington Uni- 
versity, St. Louis, has just received generous 
gifts enabling it to remove to its new site facing 
Forest Park. This site was purchased with a 
fund of $200,000, contributed by seventy-five 
different subscribers. Funds for a library, to 
cost $100,000, are in the hands of the directors 
by the bequest of the late Stephen Ridgley. 
The following additional buildings have now 
been given by members of the Board of Direc- 
tors: (1) A hall of languages, costing $200,- 
000, by Mr. Robert S. Brookings; (2) an en- 
gineering building, costing $150,000, by Mr. 
Samuel Cupples, and (8) a chemistry building, 
costing $100,000, by Mr. Adolphus Busch. Mr. 
Brookings has also offered $100,000 on condition 
that $500,000 be subscribed at once for an en- 
dowment. St. Louis is, in size, the fourth city 
of the United States, and the University is now 
ready to take its place among the leading insti- 
tutions of America. 

Mr. Putiip D. ARMouR has giveu $750,000 to 
the Armour Institute of Chicago, which he had 
previously endowed with $1,500,000. 

THE will of the late Alexander M. Proudfit, 
of New York City, gives $30,000 to Columbia 
University for two fellowships, one in letters and 
one for advanced studies in medicine. There are 
also numerous other bequests to public institu- 
tions, including $10,000 each to the Public Li- 
brary and to the New York Free Circulating 
Library. 

Knox CoLuece, at Galesburg, Ill., has col- 
lected a fund of $100,000, thus securing the ad- 
ditional gift of $25,000 made by Dr. D. K. Pear- 
sons. 

AT a recent annual meeting of the Patent 


SCIENCE. 


343 


Nut and Bolt Company (Limited), held at Bir- 
mingham, the sum of £5,000 was contributed 
to the fund which is being raised for the estab- 
lishment of a University in the City of Bir- 
mingham, 


PRESIDENT SeTH Low, of Columbia Univer- 
sity, was the University Day Orator of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania at its annual celebration 
on Washington’s Birthday. 


THE Register of Lehigh University, South 
Bethlehem, Pa., for the year 1898-99 shows 
but few changes in the teaching force. Profes- 
sor Langdon C. Stewardson has assumed the 
duties of the chair of mental and moral phil- 
osophy, and the new professorship of history 
and economics has been filled by the election 
of Mr. John L. Stewart, late lecturer in that 
department. The department of mechanical 
engineering has lost the services of Messrs. B. 
H. Jones and L. O. Danse as instructors, and 
their places are filled by Messrs. L. N. Sullivan 
and J. C. Peck. Messrs. John Boyt and F. O. 
Dufour have been promoted from the grade of 
assistant to that of instructor, and Mr. Joseph 
Barrell has been elected instructor in geology 
and lithology. Solid geometry has been added 
to the requirements for entrance to the Latin 
Scientific course and to that in Science and 
Letters ;"and it is announced that in 1900 and 
thereafter the requirements for entrance- to 
the course in Science and Letters, or to any 
course in the School of Technology, will include 
Plane Trigonometry and Logarithms, through 
the solution of right and oblique triangles. 
The elective system has been extended to 
the Latin Scientific course, so that it now seems 
to be possible for a student in either of the 
literary courses to complete before graduation 
one-half or more of any one of the technical 
courses. Such a student might, therefore, 
complete in six years the general training of 
the literary course and the special training of a 
professional course, and would in the end be 
much better equipped for professional work than 
one who had taken the technical course alone. 
The principle of elective studies is introduced 
also into the technical courses. In the course 
of Civil Engineering the student may elect a 
large amount of work in Architecture, in addi- 


344 


tion to the designing and structural work of 
the regular course, and thus be fitted to take 
up on graduating the profession of an archi- 
tect. In the courses of Mechanical and Elec- 
trical Engineering a large proportion of the 
work is identical, and students in either course 
may in addition elect a considerable amount of 
special work in the other course, under the ad- 
vice of the Faculty, as a substitute for the same 
amount of work in his own course. 


EFForTS are being made to persuade Presi- 
dent Taylor not to leave Vassar College for 
Brown University. With this end in view a 
meeting of the Alumni decided to try to col- 
lect the sum of $2,000,000 for the endowment 
of Vassar. 

Ir is announced that Mrs. Julia J. Irving will 
retire from the presidency of Wellesley College 
in June of the present year. 

Dr. Myron D. GREEN has been appointed 
lecturer on photographic chemistry in the Uni- 
versity of Cincinnati. A yearly course has 
been established in the subject, including each 
week one lecture and one afternoon of labora- 
tory or field work. Our universities are begin- 
ning to recognize the importance of thorough 
and exhaustive instruction in this special 
branch of chemistry. 


AT a meeting of the electors to the profes- 
sorship of pathology of Cambridge University, 
held on February 11th, Mr. German Sims 
Woodhead, M.D., Edinburgh, was chosen to 
succeed the late Professor Kanthack. The 
London Times states that Professor Woodhead 
is the eldest son of Mr. Joseph Woodhead, 
formerly M.P. for Spen Valley, and was born 
at Huddersfield in 1855. He was educated at 
Huddersfield College and at the University of 
Edinburgh. He first became a teacher in anat- 
omy and then pathology, and carried on original 
investigations in pathology in the Minto-house 
School of Medicine, the University of Edinburgh, 
the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and the labora- 
tory of the Royal College of Physicians, Edin- 
burgh. For upwards of eight years he has held 
the post of Director of the Laboratories of the 
Conjoint Board of the Royal College of Physi- 
cians and of the Royal College of Surgeons. He 
was Assistant Commissioner to the Royal Com- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 218. 


mission on Tuberculosis, and his report was 
published in 1895. He has published a treatise 
on practical pathology, and, in conjunction with 
Dr. Arthur W. Hare, has published ‘ Patho- 
logical Myrology.’ He has also written on 
bacteria and their products. He has held the 
office of President of the Royal Medical Society. 


THE Balfour studentship of Cambridge Uni- 
versity, of the annual value of £200, for original 
research in biology, especially animal morphol- 
ogy, has been awarded to J. Stanley Gardiner, 
M.A., Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, for 
three years from March, 1899. Grants from the 
Balfour Fund of £50 each have been made to 
J.S. Budgett, B.A., of Trinity College, in aid 
of his researches on the development of Polyp- 
terus, and to L. A. Borradaile, M.A., of Sel- 
wyn Hostel, in aid of the expenses of his pro- 
posed journey in company with Mr. Gardiner, 
the Balfour student. 


AN examination will be held at Merton Col- 
lege, on June 27th and following days, for the 
purpose of electing to three open natural sci- 
ence scholarships, of which one will be at Mer- 
ton College, one at New College and one at 
Corpus Christi College. The scholarships are 
of the value of £80 per annum, and are open 
to all candidates, including, we believe, those 
who are not citizens of Great Britain, whose 
age on July 3, 1899, will not exceed 19 years. 
The subjects of examination will be: (1) chem- 
istry, mechanics and physics, or (2) biology. 
An English essay, and a paper in algebra and 
elementary geometry, will also be set to all 
candidates. Candidates will have an opportu- 
nity of showing a knowledge of higher mathe- 
matics. 


Dr. DOMENICO SACCARDO has been appointed 
professor of botany in the University of Bo- 
logna; Dr. Fleurens, professor of technical chem- 
istry in the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers at 
Paris ; Dr. Natanson, of Vienna, assistant pro- 
fessor of mathematics in the University of Cra- 
cow, and Dr. Moritz Hoernes, assistant profes- 
sor of prehistorical archzeology in the University 
at Vienna. Dr. Bing has qualified as docent in 
chemistry in the University at Bonn, and Dr. 
Emden as docent in physics and meteorology in 
the Technical Institute at Munich. 


SCIENCE 


EpIToRIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaARpD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Conts, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. MARSH, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Hart Merriam, Zoology; S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Bessry, N. L. Britton, 
Botany; Henry F. Osporn, General Biology; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. BownitcH, Physiology; J. S. Brntinas, Hygiene; J. McKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


EXPLOSIONS CAUSED BY COMMONLY OC- 


Fripay, Marcu 10, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
Explosions Caused by Commonly Occurring Sub- 
stances: PROFESSOR CHARLES E. MUNROE...... 345 
The American Morphological Society (IL): PROFES- 
SOR BASHFORD DBEAN.........0....2coscaccersaseessees 364 
Stalactites of Sand: J. S. DILLER...... IU tN 371 


Seientifie Books :— 
Talbot’s Degeneracy: PROFESSOR G. T. W. 
PATRICK. Skinner’s Synonymic Catalogue of 
the North American Rhopalocera : PROFESSOR T. 
D. A. COCKERELL. Graffigny’s Industrial Elec- 
tricity: W. H. F. General. Books Received.... 372 


Scientific Journals and Articles :.....0ccccceceeeeeeeeees 375 


Societies and Academies :— 
Section of Anthropology and Psychology of the 
New York Academy of Sciences: DR. CHAS. B. 
Buss. Onondaga Academy of Science: H. W. 
IB RIT OME Resets decwecsnsteasscassaradueseni eset saescesas 376 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
What is the Cause of the so-called Tobacco For- 
mation? DR. OscAR LOEW. The Anesthetic 
Effects of a Sinusoidal Current of High Fre- 
quency: DR. E. W. SCRIPTURE .......cceseeeseeeeee 376 
Notes on Physics :— 
The Metric System: T. C. M. The Electrolytic 
Interrupter for the Induction Coil: W. S. F. 
The Resistance of Carbon and Copper Brushes: 


100) (Obi i caeoneeedso conde san sobudue SuacdcecaBosordesontodea 377 
Enzymes as Remedies in Infectious Diseases: B. T. 

GAL LOWiAGYaG.s<ccccescecedscenesesseresijnterunicscceces sone 379 
Scientific Notes and News......-ssecseceserseeeeceeenseneees 379 


University and Educational News.......:sccceecseeeeeee 383 


MS8S. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


CURRING SUBSTANCES.* 


On the sixth of November last the 
country was startled by learning that an 
explosion had occurred in the Capitol at 
Washington which had caused extensive 
damage to that magnificent and historic 
building, and which, with the ensuing fire, 
had destroyed some and jeopardized more 
of the valuable archives with which the 
building was stored. Occurrences of this 
kind have long had a particular interest 
for me, and I have found them to recur 
with great frequency and to cause extensive 
damage and destruction not only to prop- 
erty but to person. Notwithstanding, there- 
fore, that much that I have to say is well 
known, it appears to be not inopportune to 
address you on the subject of ‘ Explosions 
Caused by Commonly Occurring Sub- 
stances,’ ommitting entirely ‘from consid- 
eration the substances commonly known 
and used as explosives, and it is possible 
that this repetition may serve to some ex- 
tent in preventing these accidents by lead- 
ing to greater precautions being taken. 

From the observations on the phenomena 
accompanying the combustion of solids it 
is well understood that the speed of the 
combustion is greatly accelerated by com- 
minuting the combustible and mixing it.in- 


* Address of the President before The American 
Chemical Society, New York Meeting, December, 
1898. 


346 


timately with the supporter of combustion, 
and it is also well recognized that many 
explosions are due solely to very rapid com- 
bustion, yet it is only within comparatively 
recent times, and since manufacturing 
operations have come to be carried on upon 
a very considerable scale, that we have had 


it strongly demonstrated that ordinarily _ 


combustible solids might, when finely di- 
vided and mixed with air, give rise, on 
ignition, to most violent and disastrous 
explosions, and it seems especially notable 
that the first well demonstrated cases of 
this kind should have arisen from the ap- 
parently harmless operations attending the 
grinding grain, and the more particularly 
as flour is not looked upon as a very readily 
combustible substance when compared with 
other commonly used solids. 

Among the many instances of this kind 
which we have now on record we will cite 
that which occurred on the 9th of July, 
1872,* when the inhabitants of Glasgow 
were startled by the report of an explosion 
which was heard to a considerable distance 
and which was found to have occurred in 
some very extensive flour mills, the front 
and back walls of which were blown out, 
while the interior was reduced to ruins, and 
speedily enveloped in flame which destroyed 
the remaining buildings. Several persons 
were killed, and a number of others were 
severely, burned, or injured by the fall of 
masonry. 

On May 2, 1878, a similar disaster oc- 
curred in the enormous flour mills in Min- 
neapolis, but in this case it was observed 
that the explosion which originated in the 
‘Washburn mill was communicated by flame 
successively to the Diamond mill and to the 
Humboldt mill. As a consequence of these 
explosions, the walls of these mills, which 
were solid masonry, six feet thick at the 
base, were razed to the ground; sheets of 
corrugated iron roofing, two by six feet in 

* Abel, Roy. Inst., March 12, 1875. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 219. 


area, were projected to a distance of more 
than two miles; a wooden building fifty feet 
from the center of explosion was burst open; 
stout plate glass windows one-fourth of a 
mile away were torn out bodily, sash and 
all, and projected into the street; an im- 
mense volume of smoke and flame was pro- 
jected to an estimated height of six hundred 
to eight hundred feet, and finally persons 
by the edge of the adjacent river observed 
a displacement of water, producing a wave 
estimated to be eighteen inches high, before 
they heard the report of the explosion. The 
concurrent testimony of persons employed 
in the mills, and of the experts who were 
called, proved the absence in each case of 
any of the so-called explosive substances on 
the premises and that the boilers had not 
burst, and from the facts brought out the 
origin was conclusively traced to the strik- 
ing of fire by a pair of mill-stones, through 
the stopping of the ‘feed,’ and the conse- 
quent friction of their bare surfaces against 
each other, with the result that the mixture 
of air and fine flour-dust surrounding the 
millstones became ignited. 

This ignition alone would not suffice to 
develop any violent explosive effects; for 
similar ignitions which have been not in- 
frequently observed in small mills, where 
they have been caused by the stones ‘ strik- 
ing fire’ or by the incautious use of a burn- 
ing lamp near the millstones, or the meal- 
spout attached to them, have not been 
attended by any serious results. But in an 
extensive mill, where many pairs of stones 
may be at work at one time, each pair has ~ 
a conduit attached, which leads to a com- 
mon receptacle called an exhaust box ; into 
this the mixture of air and very fine flour- 
dust which surrounds the millstones is 
drawn by means of an exhaust fan, which 
is sometimes aided by a system of air-blow- 
ers. The fine flour is allowed to deposit 
partially in this chamber or exhaust box, 
and the air then passes into a second cham- 


MARcH 10, 1899. ] 


ber, called a stive room, where a further 
quantity of dust is deposited. It follows 
that when the mill is at work, these cham- 
bers and the channels are all filled with an 
inflammable mixture of the finest flour-dust 
and air, and that the ignition of any por- 
tion of the inflammable mixture will result 
in the exceedingly rapid spread of the flame 
throughout the whole, and will thus develop 
an explosion. The violence of such explo- 
sions depends much upon the details of con- 
struction of the exhaust boxes and stive 
rooms, and upon the dimensions of the 
channels of communication; it must obvi- 
ously be regulated by the volume of the in- 
flammable mixture through which the fire 
rapidly spreads, and upon the degree of 
confinement. Inthe case of the catastrophe 
at Glasgow the production of a blaze at a 
pair of millstones was observed to be fol- 
lowed by a crackling noise as the flame 
spread rapidly through the conduits lead- 
ing to the exhaust box upon an upper floor, 
and a loud report from that direction was 
almost immediately heard. Professors Ran- 
kine and Macadam, who carefully investi- 
gated the cause of this accident, report* 
that other flour-mill explosions which they 
had inquired into had been observed to 
have been attended by a similar succession 
of phenomena to those noticed upon this 
occasion. The bursting open of the ex- 
haust box by a similar though less violent 
explosion, attended by injury of workmen, 
the blowing out of windows and loosening 
of tiles, appears to have taken place on a 
previous occasion at these particular mills. 
In the last and most disastrous accident, 
however, the more violent explosion appears 
to have been followed by others, the flame 
having spread with great rapidity to distant 
parts of the mills through the many chan- 
nels of communication in which the air 
was charged with inflammable dust, result- 
ing from the cleansing and sifting opera- 
* Abel, Roy. Inst., March 12, 1875. 


SCIENCE. 347 


tions carried on in different parts of the 
building, and rapidly diffused through the 
air by the shock and blast of the first ex- 
plosion. 

In the experimental investigation of the 
Minneapolis explosion by Professor §. F. 
Peckham * it was shown that compacted 
masses of flour which had become heated 
and charred ignited readily and smouldered, 
but were inflamed only with considerable 
difficulty, though the atmosphere of the 
conduit from the stones, through which a 
strong current of air is being continually 
drawn and which is filled with a dense 
cloud of very fine particles of flour heated 
to a maximum temperature of 140° F, 
could be inflamed with comparative ease. 
White-hot wires and glowing charcoal were 
incapable of producing this inflammation, 
and only burned the particlesin actual con- 
tact with them, and the only means by which 
the mixture, in the best proportions, could 
be made to burn explosively was by contact 
with flame. 

The danger in thé process was found to 
arise from the friction of the stones heat- 
ing the last portion of the grist that re- 
mained between them to a temperature 
sufficient to char it or to convert it into a 
substance resembling tinder, which would 
readily ignite from a spark produced from 
the stones striking together. Although 
this burning mass could not inflame the 
dust-laden atmosphere, it did ignite wood, 
which a strong draught of air readily forced 
into a blaze. Under the conditions de- 
scribed with a draught of air passing 
through the dry stones strong enough to 
convey the pellets of smouldering tinder 
into the wooden conductor an explosion was 
a necessary consequence. 

Knowing the chemical composition of 
flour, we may calculate approximately the 
mechanical work which a given mass of 
flour can perform, and find that the con- 

* Am. J. Sci. 16 (3), 301-306 ; 1878. 


348 SCIENCE. 


tents of an ordinary sack, when mixed with 
4,000 cabic feet of air, will degenerate force 
enough to throw 2,500 tons mass to a height 
of 100 feet. If we now consider the many 
tons of flour there must have been in a mill 
such as the Washburn ‘ A,’ where as much 
as 1,000 pounds of dust per day was col- 
lected from a single pipe, we can readily 
comprehend how such great destruction 
could be wrought. 

Tt is to be regretted that the experts who 
duly considered all the circumstances con- 
cluded that, while, by suitable precautions, 
the frequency of these flour-mill explosions 
may be diminished and the extent of the 
damage inflicted may be very much re- 
stricted, the nature of the operations is 
such that these explosions cannot be alto- 
gether prevented. 

Since mixtures of wheat-dust with air 
have proved to be so explosive, we should 
naturally expect that analogous solids would 
form similar explosive mixtures with air, 
and, as a fact, we have recorded explosions 
of oatmeal in the Oliver mill in Chicago, of 
starch in a New York candy factory, * of 
rice in rice mills, of malt dust in breweries, 
of spice dust in spice mills, together with 
numerous instances of sawdust explosions, 
the more prominent being those which oc- 
curred in the Pullman car shops and at 
Geldowsky’s furniture factory in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., still we should scarcely look 
for an explosion from such a cause in a soap 
factory. Yet a violent explosion occurred 
in 1890, in a Providence soap-works, in 
which the finely powdered saponaceous 
substance known by the trade name of 
‘Soapine’ was being prepared, and the Cor- 
oner held in his finding that the explosion 
through which such injury was inflicted 
was caused by the ignition of soapine dust. 
Experiments made in this connection 
showed that this substance will explode 


*L. W. Peck, Explosions from Combustible Dusts, 
Pop. Sci. Month., 14, 159-166 ; 1878. 


[N.S. Von. 1X No. 219. 


under certain conditions with more violence 
than flour and apparently with the produc- 
tion of more heat. 

The most unusual case of dust explosions, 
however, with which we have met was that 
of finely powdered metallic zine which oc- 
curred at the Bethlehem Zine Works in 
1854. At that time Col. Wetherill devised 
a plan for utilizing the ‘ blue powder’ which 
is the finely divided metallic zine that is 
deposited in the prolongation of the conden- 
ser by swedging the powder into blocks and 
piling these blocks one above another in a 
furnace where they were melted down and 
run into spelter. The workmen in charge 
sought to facilitate the process by feeding 
the uncompressed powder directly into the 
furnace, but on trying to do so an explosion 
followed the loading of the first shovelful, 
and with such violence that the workman 
was blown from the top of the furnace and 
the blade of the shovel was driven into the 
roof of the building. 

In pharmacy and the arts substances 
have been made either knowingly or acci- 
dentally from mixtures of combustible sub- 
stances and supporters of combustion which 
have given rise to accidents, such as those 
from the parlor match and the chlorate 
troches,* or from sodium peroxide and so- 
dium bisulphite mixtures, as in the White- 
cross Street explosion, and the latter class 
of mixtures are to be particularly dreaded 
as the chemical action and subsequent ex- 
plosion may be incited not only by contact 
with fire, but also by contact with water. 
Cavazzi { points out that mixtures of sodium 
nitrate and hypophosphite detonate on heat- 
ing, while Violette § proposed to use a mix- 
ture of sodium nitrate and acetate as a sub- 
stitute for gunpowder, and these are but a 
few among the many explosive mixtures 
which may be compounded. 


* U. S. Nav. Inst. 11, 774; 1885. 

+ J. Soc. Chem. Ind. 13, 298-200 ; 1894. 

{ Gaz. Chim. Ital., 1886. 

2 Berthelot sur la force de la poudre (3) 2, 315. 


Makrcu 10, 1899. ] 


Still another source of danger arises from 
the production and use in laboratories, and, 
frequently in common life, of chemical sub- 
stances which areexplosive per se, though not 
generally recognized as such, and we have 
records of accidents, among others, from 
bleaching powder,* from erythryl nitrate, 
which has lately come into use in the treat- 
ment of Angina Pectoris,t from ammonia 
nitrate, { and there are many others, such as 
the organic nitrates,§ nitroso compounds,]|| 
diazo bodies,4) diamides,** hydrozoic acid 
and its derivatives, ++ hydroxylamines, {{ 
chlorates,$§ carbonyl compounds,|||| per- 
manganates, 9/4] peroxides,*** chlorides} +t 
and iodides, {{{ occurring in the laboratories 
and used to a varying extent in the arts that 
are so unstable as to give rise to serious acci- 
dents if incautiously handled. We may no- 
tice that so well known a compound as the 
cupric ammonium nitrate, a body which is 
often formed in the course of analysis, was 
deemed by Nobel to possess such value as 
an explosive that he took out patents for 
its use in blasting. 

The liquid state conduces more particu- 
larly to accidents taking place since bodies 
in this state are liable to escape from their 
receptacles and to be found in unexpected 
places. If combustible, when mingled with 
the atmosphere or when saturating oxidiz- 
ing agents they burn with extreme rapidity 


* Rept. H. M. Insp. Exp. pg. 47; 1897. 

+ Rept. H. M. Insp. Exp. pg. 50 ; 1898. 

tJ. Chem. Soc. 683 ; 1882. 

2 Compt rend 109, 92-95 ; 1889. 

|| Comp. rend 108, 857-859 ; 1889. 

{ Annalen 121, 257 ; 1860. 

** J, Prk. Chem. 30, 27 ; 107. 

+t Bericht. 23, 3023 ; 1890. 

tf Rec. d. trav. Chim. Pays Bas 10, 101; 1891, 
and J. Chem. Soc. 54, 425; 1888. 

22 Compte rend. 105, 813 ; 1887. 

\||| Bericht. 18, 7833 ; 1885. 

(J. Chem. Soc 54, 230 ; 1888. 

*** Compte rend. 106, 100; 1888. 

ttt Bull. Soc. Chim. 50, 635-638. 

tit J. Chem. Soc. 56, 766; 1889. 


SCIENCE. 


349 


and produce very violent effects. When 
such liquids give off vapors at the ordinary 
temperatures, or those prevailing during use, 
the danger is very materially increased, as 
such vapors are more vagrant and, through 
diffusion, readily mingle with the atmos- 
phere. These properties are especially 
characteristic of many of the products ob- 
tained from coal tar and from petroleum, 
bodies whose cheapness, abundance and 
special adaptability have led to their ex- 
tended use for domestic heating and light- 
ing and for many purposes in the arts, but 
which have, because of this widespread use 
and in consequence of their possessing the 
properties named, been the cause of an 
enormous number of casualties. Dr. C. F. 
Chandler* showed that much of the danger 
attending the use of these oils in lamps 
could be avoided by the elimination of 
the paraffines of low boiling points, and 
though not the pioneer, yet largely through 
his active efforts and the agitation which 
followed them, this principle has properly 
become widely embodied in legislation. 
This view as to the source of danger was 
confirmed by the experiments of Newbury 
and Cutter,} who found that all the par- 
affines below nonane formed explosive mix- 
tures with air at the ordinary temperatures, 
notwithstanding that the boiling point of 
octane is 124°C., and that the limit of a safe 
oil as fixed by the ‘flashing test’ defined 
by the New York State statutes is reached 
only in decane. Yet this last-named com- 
pound formed a violently explosive mixture 
at the legal flashing temperature if but a 
small quantity of the liquid was placed in 
the copper testing vessel, thus indicating 
that entire safety is not assured in its use 
and that accidents might occur when it 
is used in lamps so constructed that the oil 
chamber becomes highly heated. Dewar} 


* Petroleum as an Illuminator; Rept. N. Y. City 
Board of Health for 1870. 

+ Am. Chem. J. 10, 356-362 ; 1888. 

{ Rept. H. M. Insp. Exp. 21, 55; 1897. 


350 


holds that the relative volatility of petro- 
leum oil is asubject which is not sufficiently 
known and appreciated. By comparing the 
loss of weight during 24 hours of oils ex- 
posed in shallow vessels under similar con- 
ditions, he found at 66°F. an American 
water white oil of 106° flash point lost 20.4 
per cent., an oil of 75° flash point lost 27.4 
per cent., and a Russian oil of 84° flash 
point lost 28 per cent. 

In observations that I have made it was 
very apparent that the form and material 
of the containing vessel are most important 
factors in these volatilization experiments. 
I have found, for instance, that a given vol- 
ume of gasoline placed in an uncorked vial 
and exposed to the ordinary atmospheric 
conditions of a laboratory required 10 weeks 
for complete volatilization when the same 
volume of the same lot of gasoline placed 
in an evaporating dish standing beside the 
bottle volatilized completely in 8 hours. 
The rate of evaporation of various hydro- 
carbons under the same conditions has been 
studied by Boverton Redwood.* 

A menace in the use, storage and trans- 
portation of these liquids rests in the 
rapidity with which their vapors diffuse 
through the air and form an explosive train 
which reaching out to a source of ignition 
flashes back with extreme rapidity through 
the entire train and to its point of origin. 
Sir Frederick Abel cited an instance of thisy 
which happened at the Royal College of 
Chemistry in 1847 when a glass vessel in 
which benzene was being converted into 
nitro-benzine broke and allowed the warm 
liquid to escape and flow over a large sur- 
face. Though the apartment was 38 feet 
long, 30 feet wide and 10 feet high, and the 
only ignited gas jet was at the end of the 
room most remote from the glass vessel, yet, 
in a very brief space of time after the vessel 

* ‘Detection of Inflammable Gas and Vapor in the 


Air,’ Frank Clowes, p. 191, 1896 ; London. 
+ Roy. Inst. of Great Britain, March 13, 1885. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


broke, a sheet of flame flashed from the gas 
jet and traveled along the upper part of the 
room to the point where the fluid lay scat- 
tered. 

Also he cites the explosion of benzoline 
at the mineral oil store in Exeter in 1882. 
The store rooms were arched caves in the 
side of a bank facing a canal and separated 
from it by a roadway about 50 feet wide. 
There was a standing rule forbidding any 
light being taken to any of these store 
rooms when they contained petroleum 
spirit, but on the day in question it was 
desired to remove some of the benzoline in 
the early morning and the foreman visited 
the store rooms before daylight to make 
ready for the work. Forgetful of the rule, 
he carried a lighted lantern, which he placed 
on the ground some 27 feet away from the 
cave, and was proceeding to open the door 
when he observed a strong odor of benzo- 
line and almost immediately noticed a flash 
of flame proceed from the lantern to the 
store and had barely time to turn to escape 
when an explosion took place which blew 
the doors and lantern across the canal and 
inflamed the spirits in the store rooms. 

Of course, the distance that these vapors 
will travel will be determined by the cir- 
cumstances of each individual case, but in 
the case of the fire at the L. & N. W. R. 
R. Co.’s gas factory in February, 1897, 
through which the hydrocarbons in a cyl- 
inder that was being rolled across the yard 
about the works became ignited, the nearest 
source of ignition was found in the boiler 
fires, which were 60 feet away.* 

Conditions such as these are more likely 
still to obtain when these inflammable and 
volatile substances are stored in enclosed 
spaces, such as the hold of a vessel during 
transportation, and they have been the cause, 
under these conditions, of many fright- 
ful accidents. As an example of these we 
have the case of the explosion on Novem- 

* Rept. H. M. Insp. Exp. 22, 57; 1898. 


Y 
MARCH 10, 1899. ] 


ber 21, 1888, on the petroleum-laden ketch 
‘United’ at Bristol, England, through which 
the docks were blown up, three men killed 
and several injured, the glass in the win- 
dows shattered for a radius of upwards of 
300 feet, and extensive damage done by 
fire. 

The accident was made the subject of a 
special report by Col. V. D. Majendie* 
which contains the results of his investiga- 
tion and the experiments by Dr. Dupré and 
Mr. Boverton Redwood, from which it ap- 
pears that the material on the ‘ United’ 
was ‘ deodorized naptha’ in forty-two gal- 
lon barrels; that the average annual leak- 
age on petroleum oil in barrels amounted, 
in 1874, to 8 per cent. and on petroleum 
spirit to double this quantity, and that, 
though there has since been a great im- 
provement in the treatment of the barrels, 
it is still very large; that one volume of the 
liquid gives 141 volumes of vapor at ordi- 
nary temperature having a specific gravity 
of 3.5 to 3.8; that one volume of the liquid 
will render 16,000 volumes of air inflam- 
mable, 6,000 most violent explosive, 5,000 
strongly explosive, and 3,000 scarcely 
explosive but combustible. The naptha 
vapor alone or when mixed with air in 
the best proportions was not ignited by a 
shower of sparks from flint and steel; by a 
stream of sparks from fireworks of various 
kinds burning without flame; by incandes- 
cent match ends, or by incandescent plati- 
num heated by electricity to a red heat. 
Even red-hot coals held over and some- 
times falling upon a small quantity of the 
spirit spilled on a wooden floor failed usu- 
ally to ignite it, and the cause in those 
cases in which ignition did take place in these 
red-hot coal experiments was uncertain, as 
there was a fire burning in a near by room. 
Ignition was, however, certainly effected by 
- the application of a flame or by contact with 
a platinum wire approaching incandescence. 

* Hyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1889, 30 pp. 


SCIENCE. Ve SB 


The ‘fireworks’ test makes a striking 
lecture experiment, especially the one de- 
vised by Mr. Redwood with ‘ vesuvians,’ or 
incandescent cigar lighters. For this pur- 
pose he attaches two, of the glowing variety, 
to a wire so that the tip of one will be in 
contact with the base of the head of the 
other. The latter is lighted, and when it 
ceases to flame, and only glows, the mass is 
thrust into the explosive mixture, where it 
remains with the combustion, progressing 
from tip to base and base to tip without 
other effect until, when flame bursts from 
the tip of the second vesuvian, the vapor- 
ous mixture surrounding it is ignited and 
an explosion ensues. 

Col. Majendie has properly called atten- 
tion in this report to the fundamental dis- 
tinctions between the danger arising in the 
transportation of a cargo of dynamite and 
one of petroleum spirits, since in the former 
case an explosion does not take place until 
fire is brought to the dynamite, while in the 
latter case the dangerous vapors will travel 
to a fire ata considerable distance and even 
through intervening bulkheads. 

For this reason mixed cargoes of which 
volatile inflammable liquids and explosives 
constitute a part are particularly dangerous, 
as was long since shown in the explosion of 
the canal boat ‘Tilbury,’ in Regent Park, 
in 1874, having on board five tons of gun- 
powder and four barrels of benzoline and 
also having a small fire burning in the after 
cabin some 35 to 40 feet from the forehold 
in which the petroleum was stored. Not- 
withstanding that the cargo was covered 
with tarpaulins and that there was an in- 
tervening bulkhead, the vapors reached the 
fire and a most devastating explosion fol- 
lowed. The cargo was thus made up in 
spite of a similar disastrous experience 
from similar causes on the ‘ Lottie Sleigh,’ 
at Liverpool, in 1864,* and neither of them 
have proved a sufficient warning to alto- 


* Abel, loc. cit. 


vo 


e 


gether prevent subsequent reckless disre- 
gard of all dictates of common prudence. 

Yet, because of these experiences, at- 
tempts have been made in some instances, 
where small lots of spirit were taken by 
vessels, to avert disaster by carrying them 
as deck loads, but the experience on the 
‘Solway,’ which carried 24 barrels of this 
article on the main deck before the poop, 
shows that this does not ensure security, 
for, meeting with heavy weather, the casks 
broke adrift, their vapors reached the galley 
or cabin fires, and the vessel, with 19 per- 
sons, was lost. 

Even where great precautions are taken 
to prevent accidents they not infrequently 
occur from inflammable substances being 
met with in unexpected places, or being in- 
troduced surreptitiously in admixture with 
harmless bodies. Nowhere, perhaps, is more 
care taken in this respect than on passenger 
steamships and in the naval service, yet 18 
years ago a series of accidents occurred on 
board English ships, the cause of which 
was for a time veiled in mystery and which, 
in the then-existing state of feeling conse- 
quent on the dynamite outrages, aroused 
the gravest apprehensions. 

In June, 1880, a ‘violent explosion took 
place, without any warning or apparent 
cause, in the forepeak of the Pacific Steam 
Navigation Co.’s steamer ‘Coquimbo,’ 
shortly after her arrival in Valparaiso. 
Several plates were blown out of the bow, 
and other structural damage was inflicted 
while the ship’s carpenter, who was the 
only person apparently who would have 
thrown any light on the cause of the acci- 
dent, was killed. 

This explosion was followed on April 
26, 1881, by a much more serious one on 
the man-of-war ‘ Doterel’ (while at anchor 
off Sandy Point, in the Straits of Magellan), 
through which eight officers and 135 men 
lost their lives and the vessel was destroyed. 

In May, of the same year, an explosion 


52 SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vox. IX. No. 219. 


of trifling character happened on H. M.S. 
‘ Cockatrice,’ in Sheerness Dockyard ; while 
in November one, which was sufficiently 
severe to kill two men, dangerously wound 
two more (one fatally) and injure six oth- 
ers, besides doing much damage to the 
ship, occurred on H. M. S. ‘ Triumph,’ then 
at Coquimbo. 

The first suggestion as to the real cause 
of these accidents was obtained in the in- 
vestigation of that on the‘ Cockatrice,’ when 
it was developed that, just previous to the 
explosion, a man went into the store room 
with a naked light which he held close to a 
small can, that was uncorked at the time, 
and which contained a preparation recently 
introduced into the naval service (as a 
‘drier’ for use with paint) under the 
name of Xerotine Siccative, and that this 
largely consisted of a most volatile petro- 
leum product. As it had been issued with- 
out knowledge of this fact, instructions 
were at once sent out by the Admirality 
directing that it should be stored and 
treated with the same precautions as tur- 
pentine and other highly inflammable 
liquids or preparations; and these instruc- 
tions had but recently reached the ‘ 'Tri- 
umph’ when the accident narrated hap- 
pened to her. Inquiry here developed the 
fact that the explosion originated in the 
paint room through bringing a lantern to a 
compartment in which a leaky can of Sic- 
cative had been stored, and following up this 
clue the explosions on the ‘ Coquimbo’ and 
‘“Doterel’ were fully and definitely proved 
to have been due to the presence on board 
of this same substance; while experiments 
with the material showed that it was ca- 
pable of producing all the destructive effects 
observed, except, perhaps, in the case of the 
‘ Doterel,’ where, from the two reports noted 
and the other resemblances to the Regent 
Park explosion, there was but little doubt 
that the powder magazine was also exploded. 

Such accidents were not, however, con- 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


fined to British vessels, for on October 13 
1891, while the U.S.S. ‘ Atlanta ’ was going 
to the rescue of the wrecked ‘Tallapoosa’ 
an explosion occurred on the ‘ Atlanta,’ 
which caused her immediate return to New 
York. I was at once ordered by the Secre- 
tary of Navy to proceed to New York and 
investigate the accident. 

I learned that while the ‘Atlanta’ was 
laboring in a heavy sea she sprung a leak 
through the hawse pipes and the forward 
collision compartment began to fill with 
water ; that a handy-billy was rigged to 
pump the compartment; that about mid- 
night the suction pipe became plugged, and 
that on lowering a common lantern into the 
compartment an explosion ensued, severely 
injuring two men, slightly injuring four 
others and bulging the steel collision bulk- 
head. I found that the collision compart- 
ment had been used as a store room for 
paints; that among them were spar and 
damar varnishes and Japan dryer, each of 
which gave off inflammable vapors at ordi- 
nary temperatures ; that the packages were 
sealed in a very insecure manner, aud that, 
as this compartment filled and the vessel 
tossed, the cans were opened and their con- 
tents churned up so as to readily form ex- 
plosive mixtures with the air. 

I learned further that on June 15th pre- 
vious a fire and explosion had taken place 
on board the U. S.S. ‘ Philadelphia’ in close 
proximity to her powder magazine, and 
that another had occurred on the U.S. S. 
‘ Bennington,’ all being evidently due to the 
same material. 

But notwithstanding these vigorous les- 
sons the tale continues, and on April 14, 
1896,* a ‘petroleum accident’ occurred on 
board the Cunarder S.58. ‘Servia’ whena 
party of men were engaged in painting the 
inside of a water-ballast tank. The tank, 

-which was 3 feet 6 inches deep, was divided 
into 16 compartments, with 18 inches aper- 

* Rept. H. M. Insp. Exp. 21, 53; 1897. 


SCIENCE. 


303 


ture between each. The farthest com- 
partment was being painted at the time, and 
it was necessary to crawl through 15 of the 
small apertures toreachit. The paint used 
was styled Patent Bitumastic Solution, and 
one of the survivors testified that it took 
him four or five minutes to reach the com- 
partments, ten minutes to do the painting, 
and four or five minutes to return, and that 
he could not stoop down any longer, as it 
made him dazed and queer in his head. 
All the witnesses testified that the use of 
the solution in confined spaces made them 
drunk and delirious if they remained any 
length of time at work. This is a well- 
known effect of the lighter petroleums, and 
it is not surprising that the solution was 
found to consist of coal tar dissolved in 
crude oil, having a flashing point of 45° F. 
Abel, and containing so much volatile 
matter that one gallon spread over a large 
surface would render 48 cubic feet of air in- 
flammable. 

Notwithstanding this the workman went 
into this inner compartment, which was 
already partly covered with the freshly-laid 
solution and containing a_partly-filled 
bucket of it, with a lighted candle. Some 
time having passed without hearing from 
him, another workman went to his assist- 
ance and found the place on fire and the 
man burned and delirious. He was so de- 
lirious as to fight against coming out, and 
it took an hour and a-half with assistance 
to get him through the apertures and up 
the manhole, and he afterwards died in the 
hospital from the effects of the disaster. 

Even while writing this we learn from the 
local press that a fire, preceded by an ex- 
plosion, due to the use of Bitumastic Solu- 
tion, occurred at the Central Market House, 
Washington, D. C., on November 16, 1898. 

The notorious ‘ Hair Dresser’s Accident’ 
of June 26, 1897, through which Mrs. 
Samuelson was fatally injured in London, 
by the ignition of a petroleum hair wash 


304 


which was being used as a shampoo, illus- 
trates anew the manifold uses to which 
these hydrocarbons are being put, and it 
brought out strongly the belief of com- 
petent authorities, like Lord Kelvin, that 
these substances could be ignited by fric- 
tional electricity ; a theory which had been 
offered before in explanation of accidents in 
which there was no other apparent source 
of ignition. 

The widespread distribution of these 
spirits in the hands of retailers, or as used 
for carburetters in isolated vapor-lighting 
plants and as employed in the arts for sol- 
vents, cleansing agents and for other pur- 
poses has led to their accumulation, through 
leakage or by being discharged after use, 
in low places, such as cellars, cisterns, wells, 
sewers and the bilges of ships, where they 
have remained, in some instances for long 
periods of time, unknown and unnoticed, 
their origin even being completely forgotten 
and untraceable, until, when, in the course 
of events, these out-of-the-way places have 
been reentered, these bodies have given rise 
toaccidents. It is a well-known precaution 
of the past before entering a well or cave to 
test its atmosphere for carbon dioxide by 
means of a naked candle, but this very 
method of procedure has, since the intro- 
duction of petroleum, been the cause of 
accidents, and to be assured of security we 
must now remove and test the air before 
entering. 

The extended consumption of naphtha for 
carburretting water gas, and the ease with 
which it is conveyed through pipes, has re- 
sulted in the use of systems of pipe lines in 
our cities to carry the oil from the trans- 
portation lines or store tanks to the works. 
Such a line was laid in Rochester, New 
York, and on December 21, 1887, it gave 
rise to an explosion which killed three men, 
seriously injured twenty, destroyed three 
large flour mills, tore up the streets for a 
considerable distance and inflicted an esti- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 219. 
mated loss of $250,000. This pipe line, 
which was made of 38-inch wrought-iron 
pipe, one and one-half miles in length, had 
been in successful use for six years, the 
spirits being pumped through it every two 
weeks in lots of from twelve to fifteen thous- 
and gallons each. From the Appeal Book’ 
in re Ann Lee vs. The Vacuum Oil Co., 
Rochester, 1889, we learn that the convey- 
ance of the naptha was complete on De- 
cember 7th; on December 8th the contrac- 
tors constructing a,sewer exposed a section 
of the pipe line for several feet, and in 
blasting beneath it a piece of rock struck 
the pipe with sufficient force to bend it up 
nearly nine inches at the point struck and 
to separate it at a joint farther on under- 
ground and closely connected with a sewer ; 
that on the day fixed for the next delivery, 
December 21st, the Oil Company, being 
unaware of the then-existing conditions, 
pumped the full supply into the pipe, none 
of which reached the gas works, but, on the 
contrary, found its way, by the broken joint, 
into the sewers, and was thus distributed 
over the city; that the pumping of the oil 
began at 12:15 p. m.; the odor was noticed 
shortly after 1 p. m., coming from a sewer 
at a point nearly a mile distant from the 
break ; the first explosion occurred at this 
point at 3:20 p. m., and immediately ex- 
tended westward back to the break and 
eastward to the outlet of the sewers, tossing 
up manhole plates, uplifting roadways and 
overturning buildings; that the explosive 
mixture was ignited by a fire under a steam 
boiler, and that this vapor found its way 
from the sewer to the fire through an un- 
trapped water closet at a point where ex- 
haust steam was being injected into the 
sewer. 

At the trial, Mr. F. L. King, p. 173, 
stated that crude naphtha, flashing point 
13°F., percolated through earth six times as 
fast as water at the same temperature, his 
several experiments being made with tem- 


MARcH 10, 1899. ] 


peratures varying for the liquids from 38°F. 
to 60°F. and for the earths from 32°F. to 
60°F. Mr. George B. Selden, p. 178, 
found the mixture of naptha and air in the 
best proportions, to give, on explosion, a 
pressure of 140 pounds per square inch, 
while coal gas and air in the best propor- 
tions gave 160 pounds per square inch, and 
that the ignition point of the naphtha mix- 
ture was 950°C. while that of the coal gas 
mixture was 800°C. 

I have already referred to the means 
taken for ensuring the removal of the more 
volatile hydrocarbons from domestic kero- 
sene, a subject which has been very exhaus- 
tively treated by Rudolph Weber.* It has, 
however, been seriously stated that the 
lighter oils, such as benzoline or naphtha, 
might be rendered safe for use in lamps 
by adding alum, sal ammoniac or camphor 
to them, and many innocent persons have 
suffered in consequence of their belief in 
the efficacy of these substances. Some 
years since} I tested the effect of these bod- 
ies by determining their solubility in ben- 
zoline, the flashing points of benzoline and 
commercial kerosene when treated with 
these bodies and when in their original 
state, and also the readiness with which 
mixtures of the oils, in the two conditions, 
with air could be exploded. The results 
showed that alum and sal ammoniac were 
practically insoluble in the oils and pro- 
duced no effect whatever upon them ; that 
the camphor was soluble, one gram of ben- 
zoline dissolving about 1.5 grams of cam- 
phor; that an equal weight of camphor 
raised the flashing point of a kerosene 12° ; 
but that, on the other hand, the vapor of 
this camphorated kerosene, when mixed 
with air, had a lower point of ignition, and 
hence exploded with greater readiness than 
the original kerosene. 

What is true regarding the use, storage 


* Ding. poly. J. 241, 277 and 383; 1881. 
} Proc. A. A. A. S. 33, 174; 1885. 


SCIENCE. 


305 


and transportation of petroleum products 
holds for other easily volatile liquids. 
Professor Thomas Graham, in his report” on 
the cause of the loss of the ‘Amazon’ on 
January 4, 1852, pointed out clearly the 
danger in transporting turpentine, while 
the destruction of the ‘ Livadia,’ of Liver- 
pool, May 11, 1891, carrying a cargo of car- 
bon disulphide, emphasizes the hazard at- 
tending this substance, for this heavy and 
very mobile liquid gives off quite rapidly 
at ordinary temperatures a vapor which is 
2.64 times heavier than air, and which not 
only readily collects at the bottom of any 
space in which it is produced, but follows in 
a stream like water. 

One of the more striking characteristics 
of the mixture which this vapor forms with 
air is its low point of ignition. The tiniest 
spark; a cinder after it has ceased to glow, 
or the striking together of two pieces of 
iron without sparking, are sufficient to de- 
termine its ignition. This property may 
be exhibited by plunging a glass rod heated 
to 231° C., (450° F.) (a temperature at 
which it can be touched with the bare hand) 
into the mixture. 

The use of ether, alcohol, acetone and al- 
dehyde, with nitroglycerine and guncotton, 
for the manufacture of smokeless powders, 
and of the esters as solvents for pyroxylin 
in the making of the varnishes that are 
largely used in household decoration, are 
some of the more modern forms of hazard, 
while the explosion at the Hotel Endicott, 
in New York, and at Newark, N. J., indi- 
cate what may be expected from the more 
extended use of liquefied air and liquefied 
acetylene. 

Although Dr. John Clayton, the Dean of 
Kildare, in the sixteenth century, effected 
the destructive distillation of coal and col- 
lected and burned the gas from it, } it was 


* Spontaneous Combustion and Explosions occur- 


ring in Coal Cargoes, Thomas Rowan, p. 40, 1882. 
} Treatise on Coal Gas, William Richards, 1877. 


306 


not till 1792 that William Murdock devised 
the means for utilizing the substance and 
erected a plant at Cornwall, England, with 
which to light his house and office, and 
alter several years of active agitation by the 
energetic promoter, F. A. Winsor, that in 
1810 an Act of Incorporation was obtained 
for the London and: Westminster Gas-Light 
and Coke Co., and the first installation ona 
large scale for lighting the streets of a city 
and supplying the public began, and through 
the ingenuity and resources of Samuel 
Clegg, the engineer, the devices were in- 
vented or assembled by which the practical 
manufacture, storage, distribution and use 
was successfully accomplished. 

From this source the use of gas for light- 
ing and heating extended over the world, 
reaching New York in 1834 and bringing 
in its train comfort and cheer, increased 
security, and added power to man, so long 
as the substance was confined to its proper 
channels and used in proper devices, but 
carrying also the possibility of working 
harm if the vigilance of its keepers was re- 
laxed and it escaped from bounds; there- 
fore beginning with the explosion at the 
lime purifier of the Peter Street Station, 
London, in 1814, through which Mr. Clegg 
was injured and two 9-inch walls thrown 
down, we have a vast army of explosive ac- 
cidents originating in the ignition of mix- 
tures of illuminating gas with air. 

Owing to the circumstances attending 
some of these explosions there has arisen a 
vulgar opinion that illuminating gas is an 
explosive ; in fact, in a recent case* counsel 
cited opinions of courts deciding ‘gas’ to 
be explosive ; yet every chemist knows 
that it is not explosive per se and that it 
cannot even be made to ignite unless in 
contact with air or other supporter of com- 
bustion. 

While we know the truth and may be 
able to demonstrate the fact, itis very satis- 

* Proc. U. S. Nav: Inst. 22, 638; 1896. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 219. 


factory to be able also to cite the results of 
experience on a large scale; therefore the 
following from the Journal of Gaslighting, 
August 1, 1871, may be welcome. It ap- 
pears that at the bombardment of Paris the 
Governor of the city feared that the gas 
holders of La Villette would endanger the 
fortifications. He was assured that there 
was not the smallest risk; that if a pro- 
jectile penetrated a gas holder and set fire 
to the gas the latter would only burn out 
as a jet of flame, and that there could be no 
such thing as an explosion, since the con- 
stant pressure would effectually prevent 
any access of air. Shortly after a shell 
pierced the holder at Ivry and lighted the 
gas. There was a huge jet of flame for 
eight minutes; the holder sank slowly 
and all was over. At La Villette a shell 
penetrated a filled gas holder and burst 
in the interior without igniting the gas. 
At Vaugirard another shell entered, and 
again there was neither ignition nor ex- 
plosion. 

Many of the accidents from coal gas and 
its congeners, ‘water gas,’ ‘ producer gas,’ 
and ‘generator gas,’ have been due to the 
escape of the gases from the interred pipes 
and mains from which they have reached 
sewers, cesspools, celiars and other enclosed 
places, for, though these gas conduits may 
be sound and tight when laid, leakage will 
in time be caused by the corrosive action of 
materials in the soil, by electrolysis, by 
fluctuations in temperature, by settlement 
in filled ground and by seismic changes.’ 
The extent of this leakage from the mains 
in New York City was discussed in a Legis- 
lative investigation some nine years ago, 
and, while the Chemist and Health Depart- 
ment claimed that ten per cent. of the en- 
tire annual product or one thousand million 
cubic feet escaped, the gas companies’ rep- 
resentatives, denied that more than one 
hundred million feet were lost in each year. 

* Milne, McClure’s Magazine, 11, 77-27 ; 1898. 


MaARcH 10, 1899. ] 


W. C. Holmes & Co.* give the allowed 
leakage as five per cent. and the average 
leakage as ten per cent., while H. Tobey, in 
his paper on ‘ Elusive Leakages from Mains 
and Services,’} which was warmly discussed 
by the gas association before which it was 
read, shows that the condition still exists, 
and he gives illustrations showing the dan- 
ger consequent on leaving abandoned sew- 
ers in place. 

Owing to the fact that Bunsen, Angus- 
Smith, Letheby and Durand-Claye found 
large quantities of methane, hydrogen sul- 
phide, and sometimes carbon monoxide, in 
the gases from stagnant sewage decompos- 
ing under water, there has arisen a belief 
that ‘sewer gas’ is explosive. Simple con- 
sideration of the facts that such stagnation 
cannot occur in a properly constructed 
sewer, and that such a change does not take 
place in flowing sewage, is sufficient to cast 
doubt on the existence of such a gas. It 
has been completely shown by Professor 
Wm. Ripley Nichols, in his Chemical Ex- 
amination of Sewer Air,{ as the result of 
his own extended observations, and from the 
discussion of numerous data by other in- 
vestigators, that sewer air differs from ordi- 
nary air only in containing a larger percent- 
age of carbon dioxide, and that ‘sewer air 
is neither inflammable nor explosive.’ The 
air of vaults and cesspools is, of course, a 
different thing, as the material in these may 
become stagnant. 

It was as early as 1819 that an English 
patent was granted to David Gordon and 
Edward Heard for compressing gas in 
strong copper or other vessels fitted with 
ingenious reducing valves for regulating its 
rate of emission ; 30 feet of gas being com- 
pressed into a volume of one cubic foot, 
and gas so compressed in cylinders of two 


* Instructions for the Management of Gas Works, 
yp. 41, London, 1874. 

ft Am. Gas Light J. 64, 767; 1896. 

{ Rept. Supt. of Sewers, Boston, Mass., 1879. 


SCIENCE. 307 


cubic feet capacity were conveyed to the 
houses of consumers, with which to operate 
an isolated plant. Sometimes the pressure 
was sufficient to liquefy the gas, and it is 
interesting to note that it was in the liquid 
from one of these reservoirs that Faraday 
discovered benzene. 

Naturally the tension of the gas itself 
tends to rupture the receptacle, and many 
accidents from explosions of this nature 
have occurred owing to defects in the cyl- 
inders, or to the exposure of the filled cyl- 
inders to unduly high temperatures, or to 
shocks; a recent accident that could not 
be explained in any other way occurred at 
Albany, N. Y. on December 6, 1893.* 

With the increased demand for com- 
pressed gases of various kinds under high 
tensions, such as carbon dioxide, sulphur 
dioxide, ammonia, chlorine, nitrogen mon- 
oxide, acetylene, air and others which are 
being used or introduced for commercial, 
scientific or domestic purposes, there is be- 
ing developed a continued improvement in 
the strength and homogeneity of the cylin- 
ders, so that the danger from this cause is 
diminishing. 

Although Dr. Robert Hare had invented 
his oxyhydrogen blowpipe in 1801, } yet in 
1834 Gordon and Deville were granted a 
patent for their calcium or‘ lime’ light. It 
was expected by the projectors that this 
form of light would replace gas, as burned 
from ordinary burners, for lighting streets, 
and it caused the holders of gas securities 
much anxiety, but as we are now aware the 
device came to be used for geodetic, scien- 
tific and exhibition purposes only. 

Where the gases stored in vessels are of 
an inflammable nature there is an additional 
risk to that due to the tension of the gas, 
since by admixture with air or oxygen an 
explosion occurs on ignition. One source 
of these accidents arises from the diffusion 


* Proc. U. S. Nav. Inst. 22, 638 ; 1896. 
t+ J. Am. Chem. Soc. 19, 779; 1897. 


358 


of one gas back into the reservoir of another 
gas, but this is entirely prevented by proper 
regulation of the pressure and size of the 
orifice. Another arises from confusing the 
cylinders when filling them, and to prevent 
this the cylinders have been painted differ- 
ent colors. Yet, as shown by the fatal ac-_ 
cident described by W. N. Hartley,* this 
has not prevented the deliberate interchange 
of the cylinders under the pressing demands 
of trade, and the usual causalty has followed. 
Therefore, he proposes that the fittings for 
the two classes of cylinders be made so en- 
tirely different that it will be practically 
impossible to charge the cylinder with the 
wrong gas, and in view of the probable in- 
creased use of gas in this form, as indicated 
by Mr. Thomas Fletcher,} the change should 
be made. Yet I doubt if it will be, except 
under compulsion of law, for I have learned 
in my efforts to introduce safety explosives 
in this country that the great majority will 
not secure the assurance of safety if this 
entails a little inconvenience and the taking 
of a little more pains. 

A more common source of accident has 
come from impurities introduced in the 
making of the oxygen, as, at Nahant, Mass., 
where pulverized stibnite was mistaken for 
pyrolusite, and mixed with the potassium 
chlorate. Limonsin describes an accident 
at Cannes in 1880, which attracted unusual 
attention from the factitious circumstance 
that the gas was being prepared for the 
Empress of Russia,{ and found the cause 
in the evolution of hydrocarbons from the 
rubber connecting tube by particles of 
heated potassium perchlorate carried into 
it through the turbulence of the reaction. 
While Professor C. A. Young gives an ac- 
count § of the explosion at Princeton while 


* Chem. News, 59, 75: 1889. 

+ ‘On a New Commercial Application of Oxygen.’ 
J. Soc. Chem. Ind. 7, 182; 1888. 

£U.S. Nav. Inst. 14, 167 ; 1888. 

Sci. Am., p. 369, June 11, 1887. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


filling a steel cylinder with oxygen by 
means of a water-jacketed, steam force 
pump, and finds the cause in oil used for 
lubricating the pump being sprayed into the 
gas cylinder so as to form an explosive 
mixture with the oxygen. He recommends 
the use of soap suds as a lubricant in place 
of oil. Frankland* describes a similar in- 
stance and gives a similar explanation. 

Recently my attention has been called to 
several accidental explosions of oxyhydro- 
gen mixtures formed in the operation of 
storage batteries, the detonating gas being 
fired by the spark formed on breaking con- 
nections at the battery. 

But of all circumstances under which 
explosions occur the most awful are those 
which so frequently happen in mines, for if 
the miner escapes instant death it too often 
is but to die from suffocation, or, worse yet, 
to be entombed and perish from starvation 
preceded perhaps by insanity. 

It has long been known that fire damp 
found its way into coal mines, and in 1674 
Mr. Jessop communicated to the Royal So- 
ciety a description of the accident met with 
by Mr. Michel, who penetrated into the gal- 
lery of a coal pit, in Yorkshire, with a 
naked torch and was severely burned. It 
is interesting to note} that, when rescued, 
he declared he had heard no noise, though 
the workmen in the vicinity had been ter- 
rified by a tremendous report accompanied 
by a vibration of the earth. As is to be 
expected, from what we now know of nat- 
ural gas, inflammable gases are not confined 
to coal mines, but, as shown by B. H. 
Brough,t they are met with in metalliferous 
mines and other excavations also. 

The appalling nature of these catastrophes 
led to efforts being made to at least reduce 
their frequency, if not to prevent them alto- 
gether, an extended account of these being 

* Am. Gas Light J. 5, 289 ; 1864. 


+ Treatise on Coal Gas, Wm. Richards, p. 4, 1877. 
t School of Mines Quarterly 12, 13-22 ; 1890. 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


given in Mining Accidents and their Pre- 
vention by Sir Frederick Abel, N. Y., 1889. 
It was early recognized that the presence of 
naked light was a constant source of danger, 
and hence the invention of the safety 
lamp by Sir Humphrey Davy, in 1816, * 
was hailed as a most beneficent gift of 
science, and this was soon followed by the 
lamps of George Stephenson and Dr. Clauny. 
When exposed but a short time in at atmos- 
phere rich in gas and which is moving at a 
low velocity these lamps protected the miner, 
but if allowed to remain for some time in the 
gas-rich atmosphere the gauze becomes 
heated to the ignition point of the gas, from 
the gas mixture burning within it. By the 
introduction of ventilating appliances to re- 
move the gas the currents of air in the 
mainways frequently reach a velocity of be- 
tween twenty and twenty-five feet, and be- 
tween two airways it may rise to thirty-five 
feet per second. In breaking down the 
coal the confined gas may rush out at a 
very high velocity, it being found by experi- 
ment at the Boldon Colliery that the gas 
may be under as great a pressure as 461 
pounds to the square inch. And, finally, the 
air and gas may be set in motion at a high 
velocity by the firing of explosives to bring 
down the rock or coal, and more especially 
by a ‘blown out’ shot. Under such con- 
ditions the primitive safety lamps above de- 
scribed failed, but protected lamps have been 
invented which have resisted currents of 
even fifty feet per second for a brief period, 
though it is said that these are insecure in 
certain positions to which they may be 
tilted in practice, and that the glass eylin- 
ders are liable to fracture. 

Instead of relying upon the safety lamps 
for protection a better method of procedure 
is to test the atmosphere of workings for the 
presence of fire damp before allowing the 
workmen to operate. Various methods 
have been pursued, and these are resumed 

* Trans. Roy. Sec. 106, 1. 


SCIENCE. 


in ‘The Detection and Measurement of In- 
flammable Gas and Vapor in Air, by Dr. 
Frank Clowes, 1896, London,’ and he there 
describes a very ingenious and efficient fire 
damp detector which he has devised. This 
consists of a simple and convenient hydro- 
gen lamp by which one can detect 1/10 of 
one per cent. of methane or 25/100 of one 
per cent. of coal gas in air. He attaches a 
small steel cylinder (weighing about four- 
teen ounces) charged with hydrogen under 
100 atmospheres of pressure to the side of a 
safety lamp, and leads the gas through a 
minute copper tube up beside the wick 
holder of the lamp, there being a reducing 
valve attached to the cylinder by which to 
feed the hydrogen to the lamp as desired in 
order to control the height of the flame. 

The lamp is lighted as usual at the oil 
wick and covered; then, when the atmos- 
phere which it is desired to test is reached, 
the hydrogen is turned on and ignited, the 
oil flame is pricked out, the hydrogen flame 
adjusted to a regulation height of 10 mm. 
and the flame observed through the chimney 
against a black background. If an inflam- 
mable gas be present it will produce a pale 
blue cap about the hydrogen flame, and the 
height of this cap will increase with the 
per cent. of the gas in the atmophere. By 
means of a scale on the chimney the height 
is measured and the per cent. determined. 

In his experiments Clowes obtained the 
following : 


LIMITING EXPLOSIVE MIXTURES OF VARIOUS GASES 
WITH AIR. 


Combustible gas Percentage of Method of Kindling 


used. Gas in Air. 
Lower Explo- Higher Explo- 
sive Limit. sive Limit. 

Methane 5 13 Upward. 

6 11 Downward. 
Coal gas Nottingham 6 29 Upward. 

4 22 Downward. 
Water gas 9 55 Upward. 
Hydrogen 5 72 i 
Carbon monoxide 13 75 “ 
Ethylene 4 22 se 
Acetylene 3 82 Downward. 


360 


The lower ‘limit’ of inflammable gas 
represents the minimum proportion which, 
when mixed with air under ordinary con- 
ditions, will burn rapidly, and will, under 
certain couditions, produce explosions. If 
the proportion of inflammable gas mixed 
with the air is less than this in amount the 
mixture will only burn in the immediate 
neighborhood of the kindling flame, and 
will not burn throughout. If, on the other 
hand, the proportion of inflammable gas in 
the air exceeds the maximum ‘ limit’ the 
gas will only be kindled and burn where it 
is in contact with an additional supply of 
air. 

All proportions of gas intermediate be- 
tween these limits are explosive when 
mixed with air, consequently the chance of 
an explosion resulting from the presence of 
one of these gases in the air is the greater, 
the more widely the ‘limits’ are apart, 
since this gives rise to the possibility of a 
larger number of explosive mixtures being 
produced. Therefore, the danger of explo- 
sion is least with methane and greatest 
with acetylene. Methane is a safer gas 
also because it has a high temperature 
and a slow rate of ignition. All of these 
condititions tend to lessen the number of 
colliery explosions. It is to be noted that 
mixtures that cannot be ignited when the 
flame is applied to their upper surface may 
be fired from below, and this is the method 
of firing most probable to occur in coal 
mines. 

Few of the gases mentioned occur singly 
under conditions likely to give rise to dan- 
ger. More commonly the combustible gases 
are present in a state of mixture, as in water 
gas and in coal gas. 

In giving ‘limits’ it is assumed that the 
temperature of the mixture is not above 
18°C. and that the pressure does not exceed 
76 cm., for a gaseous mixture which is not 
inflammable under these conditions may 
become inflammable under increased tem- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. IX. No. 219. 


perature or pressure, and also that a mix- 
ture that by ordinary test appears unin- 
flammable will propagate flame if a con- 
siderable volume of gas be projected into it, 
owing to the resulting increase in tempera- 
ture and pressure. 

It will be observed that Clowes’ detector 
reveals the presence 6f gas in proportions 
much below the danger point and gives 
timely warning. 

The ignition of the fire damp has been 
frequently caused by the gunpowder and 
‘straw’ used in blasting, for the outbursts 
of gas from the shaken coal and the outrush 
of flame and incandescent particles from 
the blast were often coincident. The use 
of electric primers and detonators remedied 
entirely the evils following the use of straws 
and naked fuse, and the employment of the 
high explosives gave greater immunity by 
reducing the frequency of the blasts. 
Greater security still has followed the use 
of the flameless explosives made from nitro- 
substitution compounds, or dynamites in 
which crystalline salts, like sodium carbon- 
ate and alum, containing a larger amount of 
water of crystallization, are incorporated in 
the mass, or water cartridges, in which the 
explosive in the bore holes is placed in a 
water bag or surrounded by moss, or other 
porous substances, saturated with water. 

The occurrence of these mining accidents 
has caused the authorities grave concern, 
and several of the European governments, 
notably Prussia, France and England, have 
appointed many commissions, some tem- 
porary and others continuous, to investi- 
gate the reasons for the accidents and the 
methods of prevention. Many of the most 


prominent chemists of these countries 
have been called to serve upon the 
commissions, and their reports have 


proved not only useful in the solution of 
the problem in hand, but have been val- 
uable contributions to chemical science. 
One of the more recent consequences of 


MARkcBH 10, 1899. ] 


their deliberations is the establishment at 
Woolwich, England, of a station for testing 
all explosives offered for use in coal mines, 
and hereafter no explosives but those which 
successfully pass these tests can be used, 
and then only in the manner minutely de- 
scribed in governmental authorization.* 
The closer study of the phenomena of 
explosions in gases, consequent on these in- 
vestigations, has developed many interest- 
ing facts. Bunsen found that when mix- 
tures of hydrogen and oxygen and of carbon 
monoxide and oxygen in equivalent pro- 
portions were inflamed the union went on 
by fits and starts, and that the velocity of 
propagation of the reaction, through nar- 
row orifices, was 34 meters per second in 
the hydrogen-oxygen mixture, and but one 
meter per second in the carbon monoxide- 
oxygen mixture.t Mallard tested various 
mixtures of methane and air, and coal gas 
and air, in the same way finding the ve- 
locity of combustion to diminish rapidly as 
the proportion of inert gases present in- 
creased, and obtaining a maximum speed in 
the case of eight volumes of air to one vol- 
ume of marsh gas of 0.56 meters per second. { 
Berthelot, using tubes of 40 meters in 
length and 5 millimeters in diameter, ob- 
tained velocities of 2,810 meters per second 
for hydrogen-oxygen, 1,089 for carbon 
monoxide-oxygen and 2,287 for me- 
thane-oxygen, § and found that the reac- 
tion could be propagated in three dif- 
ferent ways: First, by combustion, as 
observed by Bunsen, in which the heat 
evolved is being continually lost through 
radiation and conduction, and in which, con- 
sequently, the pressure is exerted by the 
layer of burning molecules on their adjacent 
molecules, and hence their velocity of trans- 


* Rept. Com. to inquire into the History of Ex- 
plosives for Use in Coal Mines, London, 1897. 

} Ann. Chim. Phys. (4) 14, 449. 

{ Ann de Mines 8, 1871. 

2 Sur la force de la poudre, 1, 153. 


SCIENCE. 


361 


lation tends constantly toward a minimum. 
Second, by detonation in which the heat 
evolved, the pressure produced by the re- 
acting molecules on contiguous molecules, 
and the velocity of translation of the ex-' 
plosive reaction all tend toward the max- 
imum. And, finally, an intermediate stage ; 
all three being marked by distinct waves. 
Von Octtinger and von Gernet* have, by a 
very ingenious arrangement, succeeded in 
photographing, first, a fundamental one, 
which they style Berthelot’s wave ; second, 
more or less parallel secondary waves, 
whose existence they explain on Bunsen’s 
hypothesis of the reflex action of waves due 
to succéssive explosions produced by the 
electric spark, and which they style Bun- 
sen’s waves ; and third, polygonal waves of 
smaller amplitude. They obtained a veloc- 
ity of 2,800 meters per second, which is of 
the same magnitude as those obtained by 
Berthelot. 

Berthelot and Vieille’s experiments show 
that when an explosion occurs in a gaseous 
mixture a number of ignited molecules are 
projected ,forward with a velocity corre- 
sponding with the maximum temperature 
produced by the chemical combination. 
The impact of these molecules causes the 
ignition of the adjacent particles, and the 
rate of progression of the combustion is 
thus dependent upon the activity of the 
chemical action. 

Mallard and Le Chatelier find that the 
rate of propagation of flame through an in- 
flammable gaseous mixture is affected not 
only by the temperature and size of the 
igniting flame, but also by the mechanical 
agitation or disturbance of the mixture it- 
self. These results are not surprising when 
it is considered that for the spread of com- 
bustion in an inflammable gaseous mixture 
itis necessary that the temperature of the 
combustion should be sufficient to ignite the 
uninflamed portion. 

* Ann. der Phys. 


362 


Dr. W. H. Birchmore* has devised an 
apparatus for firing gaseous mixtures which 
shows many of those phenomena. He uses 
two large bulbs connected by a tube of de- 
termined for explosion 
chamber and a large tin foil condenser for 


dimension his 
igniting the mixture, and he finds the phe- 
nomena to be different from those observed 
in tubes ignited in the ordinary way. The 
reaction takes place more promptly and 
sharply, and when using hydrogen and air 
in variable amount not only is some of the 
oxygen ozonized, but hydrogen dioxide is 
produced with the water of the reaction. 

When using acetylene, with sufficient air 
to consume it theoretically, some of the 
carbon is separated out in the solid form, 
although free oxygen was found in the resi- 
dues, and it was not until he had reached 
eight times the volume of air required by 
the theory that he got the theoretical amount 
of carbon dioxide. 

He also describes a form of experiment 
which very cleverly illustrates the succes- 
sive phenomena occurring in the acetylene 
explosion at Paris. 

The minimum volume of_an inflammable 
gas which forms an explosive mixture with 
air is very considerably reduced if fine dust 
is present in the air. Buddle directed at- 
tention some 90 years ago, in an account of 
the Wallsend Colliery explosion, to the 
destructive effect produced by the ignited 
coal dust at a distance from the point of 
first explosion. Robert Bald, in 1828, 
pointed out} that the blast of flame from a 
fire-damp explosion might ignite the coal 
dust on the floor of the pit. Faraday and 
Lyell, in their report on the Haswell Col- 
liery explosion of September, 1844, demon- 
strated that coal dust may be instrumental 
in greatly extending and in increasing the 
disastrous effects of fire-damp explosions. 

* Am. Gas Light J. 67, 563-565 ; 1897. 


{ Ed. Phil. J. 5, 107; 1828. 
t{ Inst. C. E. Tracts, vol. 284. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


Abel* has shown that the presence of finely 
divided incombustible mineral matter in air 
containing less than 2 per cent. of fire damp 
causes the latter to become explosive on igni- 
tion, and Galloway has proved that a mixture 
of air containing less than oneper cent. of fire 
damp can be made to explode when charged 
with finely divided coal dust. I have applied 
this observation of the effect of the dust in 
facilitating explosions to lecture experiments 
with inflammable gaseous mixtures. + 

The explosion at the Capitol on Novem- 
ber 6th was confined to that portion of the 
building known as the, Supreme Court 
section and which joins the Senate wing to 
the central structure. In the center of this 
section isa dome which is rarely noticed, 
as it is completely overshadowed by the 
central dome of the Capitol. This dome is 
supported in the sub-basement on piers, 
while all about these piers are brick vaults 
and arches of varying heights, carrying the 
many partition walls and floors above them, 
and these, with those radiating from under 
the big dome and the connecting passages, 
form a perfect labyrinth. The complexity 
is increased by several of the spaces having 
been enclosed with brick walls so as to carry 
steam-heating coils and for other purposes. 
A large part of the wall space had been 
fitted with shelving, and these were filled 
to overflowing with pamphlets. One space 
was used as an engine room, from which to 
operate a Sturtevant blower that fed air 
over the coils. This engine was provided 
with a woven guard screen to protect 
passers-by, made from 5/16-inch wrought- 
iron rods, riveted on each edge into two 
wrought-iron bars, each of which was 7/8 
inches wide by 7/16 inches thick. Directly 
opposite this screen and leading south was 
a low, narrow passage that opened into one 
of the largest and highest of the vaults, in 
which was stowed, in the open spaces be- 


* Accident in Mines, Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 1888. 
+ Proc. U. S. Nav. Inst. 12, 429; 1886. 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


hind two supporting walls or piers, the ash 
from the wood fires which were burned in 
the rooms above. These hickory ash pits, 
as they were styled, were south of and 
directly in line with the passage leading to- 
ward the iron screen. This series of com- 
partments was on the extreme west of the 
sub-basement. A few of the exterior com- 
partments of the sub-basement received a 
very little daylight, but all the rest was 
wholly dependent on artificial light and 
several gas jets were kept constantly ighted. 
In the center of the sub-basement, under 
the dome, was a large gas meter connected 
to a 4-inch main and having on its outlet 
end a 200-light glycerine gas governor. 
This meter had not been in use for some 
time, and the inlet valve was closed, 
but the outlet valve was open, and it 
was discovered afterwards that this outlet 
pipe was also connected with a live 4-inch 
main. The explosion occurred about 5:15 
p- m.,and its effects were observed over 
47,000 cubic feet of the basement and up- 
ward quite to the dome. By the explosion 
the brick arches, covered with earth and 
then with heavy stone pavement slabs, were 
torn up, brick partitions and supporting 
walls were overthrown, stout locked doors 
on the upper floors were torn open, and 
there was a general wrecking of all the 
lighter structural parts. Observation of 
the lay of the wreckage showed conclu- 
sively that it radiated in all directions from 
a point about the gas meter, and that the 
most violent effects were in general at the 
points most distant from this center. The 
most violent effect of all was on the west, 
where the heavy granite screen wall form- 
ing the fagade of the building was displaced 
by 14 inches, and the stout wire protecting 
screen about the engine was forced into a 
depth of two feet from the original plane 
for an area of three feet in diameter, and 
many of the stout rods were ruptured. 
Searching examination showed that no ex- 


SCIENCE. 


363 


plosive or other explosive-forming material 
than illuminating gas could have been pres- 
ent ; that for thirty minutes prior to the ex- 
plosion there was for some reason a gas pres- 
sure of twice the normal ; that under an ex- 
cessive pressure gas would flow through the 
governor, and that this could furnish suffi- 
cient gas to do the work accomplished 

The gas had a specific gravity of 0.601, 
and as it escaped it flowed through the 
devious passages and compartments, filling 
first the pockets with mixtures of various 
proportions and settling lower and lower 
until the stratum reached down to the level 
of the burning gas jets where it was fired. 
These were near the meter, where, of course, 
the gas would be richest. Here was the 
region of combustion. As the tongue of 
flame rushed under the low archways and 
through the passageways to the higher 
vaults beyond, it produced a violent disturb- 
ance of the atmosphere, thoroughly com- 
mingling the gas and air and throwing a 
mass of inflamed gas into their midst, thus 
producing a greatly accelerated combustion 
and explosion. When this tongue of flame 
burst into the compartment containing the 
hickory ash this dust was also intimately 
commingled with the gas-laden atmosphere, 
and here was produced the most violent of all 
the effects manifested; for the granite 
screen wall that was displaced was on the 
right side of the hickory ash pits, and the 
stout wire screen that was perforated was 
directly in front of them and at the end of 
the low and narrow passage leading from 
the vault containing these pits; and fur- 
ther the most violent effects produced on 
the upper floors, quite to the top of the 
building, were about the spiral staircase 
leading from the compartment containing 
the wire screen and which was but a con- 
tinuation, through the low, narrow passages 
of the compartment containing the hickory 
ash. CuHar.es E. Munroe. 

COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY. 


364 


AMERICAN MORPHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
II. 


A Case of Eqg Within Egg. F. H. Herricx. 

A sMALL egg of the fowl, measuring 21 by 
17 mm., was taken from the yolk of an ap- 
parently otherwise normal egg. The in- 
cluded egg possesses a hard shell, shell 
membrane, albumen and yolk. Various 
kinds of inclusions belonging to this type 
have been recorded in the domestic fowl 
due to fusion of two egg-like bodies in the 
oviduct of the hen. Small eggs of this 
character are sometimes laid. They some- 
times contain albumen and no yolk, and 
probably never have a blastoderm. The 
idea has already been expressed, and is ap- 
parently well founded, that the small egg 
represents the fragment of a normal egg 
which was ruptured and threw off a part of 
its substance at the time of leaving the 
ovary, such fragments being treated in the 
oviduct like full-sized ova. 


Secondary Abdominal Pregnancy with Histolysis 
of the Fetus. F. H. Herrick. 

THE case reported occurred in the cat, 
where rupture of the uterus, leading to in- 
tra abdominal birth, had resulted in the 
following conditions: (1) Abnormal de- 
velopment of peritoneal structures (thick- 
enings, adhesions, fenestration of the mem- 
branes, and tag-like outgrowths over them) ; 
(2) fragmentation of the fcetus, and at- 
tachment of the parts to the omenta by 
overgrowth, the result of extensive pro- 
liferation in the constituent cells of these 
membranes ; (3) the more or less complete 
replacement of the soft embryonic tissues 
by the proliferating cells. 


On the Early Development of Cerebratulus. W. 

R. Cor. 

THE processes concerned in the matura- 
tion and fertilization of the ovum of C. mar- 
ginatus agree closely with those which have 
been described by Kostanecki and Wier- 
zejski for Physa, and by Chiid for Arenicola. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 219. 


The centrosome arising from the sperm- 
atozoon divides early. The division of its 
aster is accompanied with the formation of 
a delicate central spindle. The sperm- 
asters eventually degenerate, although their 
rays often remain even after the cleavage- 
asters have appeared. Their centrosomes 
usually become lost to view. Occasionally, 
however, it can be demonstrated, with a good 
deal of certainty, that they do not actually 
end their existence, but retain their identity 
and become the centers of the cleavage 
asters. 

The centrospheres of the cleavage asters. 
increase enormously in size. They are not 
artifacts, for they may be seen in the living 
egg. The centrosomes are very minute. 
They divide early, and the asters of the 
second cleavage begin to form about them 
quite within the body of the centrosphere, 
as in the Thalassema. 

The eggs of Micrura ceca and Cerebratulus 
leidyi furnish almost ideal examples of the 
regular spiral type of cleavage. The first 
two cleavages are almost exactly equal in 
size. In the third division the upper four 
cells are slightly larger than the lower four. 
A very regular blastula results. The marked 
backward inclination of the enteron is evi- 
dent from the very beginning of gastrula- 
tion. 

At the end of the first day the enteron 
becomes divided into two distinct regions. 
Pseudopod-like processes of cells grow out 
to separate the two cavities and almost com- 
pletely. The posterior blind sack of co- 
lumnar cells is not definitely cut off from 
communication with the exterior, however, 
and food may enter by a temporary open- 
ing between the cell-processes. 

Large cells of the larval mesenchyme, 
which wandered into the segmentation 
cavity at the beginning of the gastrulation, 
multiply rapidly and arrange themselves in 
certain definite positions, as in C. lacteus. 
Most of them send out branching and 


Marcu 10, 1899.] 


anastomosing fibrous processes, which be- 
come attached to the adjacent wall of the 
body, or of the enteron, to form the larval 
musculature. The others remain as paren- 
chyma cells. 


Fission and Regeneration in Cerebratulus. C. 

B. WIitson. 

For three years, while investigating the 
embryology of Cerebratulus lacteus, Verrill, 
very few perfect specimens were found at 
the close of the breeding season, while there 
were many with regenerating papille. 
Last summer a perfect male and female 
were secured and kept for ten weeks. The 
genital products were discharged simulta- 
neously three different times at intervals of 
several days. Then both worms dismem- 
bered the posterior half of their bodies 
without provocation. 

The anterior fragments at once regener- 
ated, growing in three weeks’ time papillee 
measuring 50’ mm. in the female and 38 
mm. in the male. The posterior fragments 
lived ten days and died without any signs 
of regeneration. But others have been kept 
alive several weeks under less favorable con- 
ditions and have yielded perfectly healthy 
sexual products. We are led to conclude, 
therefore, that Cerebratulus often dismem- 
bers voluntarily at the close of the breed- 
ing season, but, while the anterior fragments 
regularly regenerate, the posterior ones 
seldom if ever do so. Careful anatomical 
examination shows that actual fission is 
accomplished chiefly by means of the trans- 
verse muscles of the body-walls. There are 
no indications of the rows of nuclei found 
by Blenham in Carinella. 

Sections of papille show that in regener- 
ation the longitudinal muscles contain 
numerous transverse fibers; in the early 
stages the two kinds are about equal. 

The large lateral nerve cords are regen- 
erated from ectoderm cells. Two parallel 
longitudinal invaginations appear on the 


SCIENCE. 


365 


ventral surface of the papilla. The ecto- 
derm between them contains no gland cells: 
a shallow longitudinal groove soon sepa- 
rates this ectoderm into halves. In the 
center of each half nerve fibers are formed 
from modified ectoderm cells. 

They then migrate to their normal posi- 
tion, while both groove and invaginations 
quickly disappear and the ectoderm be- 
comes filled with gland cells. 


The Female Genital Tract in Melophagus. H. 

S. Pratt. 

MELOPHAGUS OVINUS, a dipterous insect, is 
peculiar because of the unusual length of 
its uterine life, the young animal being born 
as a fully grown larva. This long uterine 
life has been the cause of a profound modi- 
fication of the entire genital tract. The 
uterus is unusually large; two pairs of 
glands pour a milk-like food into the uterus 
which feeds the growing larva; the prox- 
imal portions of the oviducts are fused and 
function as a permanent receptaculum sem- 
inis; the ovary possesses a very thick 
peritoneal covering composed of branched 
muscle and connective-tissue fibres which 
forms a sac and encloses the two ovarioles ; 
these are composed each of two follicles and 
a germarium, no terminal thread being 
present, and are attached by the germarium 
to the inner distal surface of the peritoneal 
sac, their lower ends hanging free within 
the sac. There are thus in the two ovaries 
at any one time eight follicles, each contain- 
inga developing ovum. A single egg is pro- 
duced every two to four weeks ; it passes into 
the uterus, being fertilized on the way, and 
there remains two to four weeks until the 
young animal is born, an old larva. The two 
ovaries, and within each ovary the two ovari- 
oles, alternate in furnishing the next egg. 


Intracellular Differentiations in Gland Cells 
of Phascolosoma Gouldit. MARGARET LEWIS 
NICKERSON. 

In the epidermis of this Gephyrean are 


366 


found several well-marked forms of epider- 
mal organs, one of which is characterized 
by the presence of intracellular sacks or 
ampulle leading into anastomosing canals. 
Such organs contain both sensory and glan- 
dular cells; but in the gland cells alone are 
found the intracellular sacks. 

These organs present several well-marked 
conditions corresponding with different 
stages of functional activity. One sugges- 
tive condition shows the following details 
of structure. In the upper part of each 
gland cell are two sacks lying one within 
the other and separated by a considerable 
space. This intervening space is traversed 
by many delicate filaments connecting the 
walls of the two sacks. Theinner sack be- 
comes continuous at its outer end, with a 
narrow canal, while the outer sack is contin- 
uous with a sheath surrounding this canal. 
The several canals unite to form larger 
canals, and there finally results one main 
duct opening to the exterior. This duct is 
surrounded by a broad sheath, which is a 
continuation of the sheaths enveloping the 
ampullz and primary canals. By the side 
of the main duct, within its enveloping 
sheath, is a large nucleus surrounded by a 
clear area, which probably represents a 
vacuole. Regarding this nucleus the am- 
pulle, canals and sheaths the following 
hypothesis is offered. The sheath of the 
main duct and its branches, including the 
radial vesicles surrounding the ampulle, 
together constitute a cell of very irregular 
shape, a cell which in form may be com- 
pared toa bunch of grapes with its stem. 
This single cell contains the main duct, its 
branches and their terminal ampulle, and 
itself reaches down flask-shaped processes 
containing the ampulle, which are embed- 
ded in the outer ends of the surrounding 
gland cells. The walls of the outer sacks, 
and their continuations as the outer wall of 
the sheath, represent the boundary of this 
highly differentiated cell. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


The Development of the Adhesive Organ of 
Amia. JAcoB RerreHarp. (Presented 
for Miss Jessie Phelps. ) 

Tue adhesive organ of Amia consists of a 
pair of semicircular or sausage-shaped ridges 
forming together an incomplete ring on the 
end of the snout of the young larva. Each 
ridge is a row of six to eight epithelial cups 
which open on the surface of the snout. 
Their cells secrete a mucus by means of 
which the animal attaches itself. 

The organ is formed in avery early stage 
as a diverticulum of the fore gut. This 
diverticulum subsequently divides into two, 
each of which continues to communicate 
for a time with the cavity of the foregut. 

Each of the two diverticula later sepa- 
rates from the foregut, becomes elongated 
and curved into the form of a semicircle 
and divides into from six to eight closed 
vesicles. The vesicles finally open to the 
exterior and are thus converted into cups. 

After being functionally active for a time 
the organ is pushed beneath the surface by 
the thickening ectoblast, becomes infiltrated 
with leucocytes, and finally disappears 
Carve of 20 to 25 mm.) without leaving 
any trace behind it. 

The integumentary sense organs appear 
in the neighboring ectoblast, quite independ- 
ently of the adhesive organ. 

Dean’s comparison of the cups of the ad- 
hesive organ with the integumentary sense 
organs is thus seen to be untenable. 


Notes on Loxosoma Davenporti. 

ERSON. 

A parr of flask-shaped glandular organs 
is commonly present in the American spe- 
cies of Loxosoma, attached by their broader 
rounded ends nearly opposite the lower end 
of the stomach, one upon each side. Each 
consists of a central core of 4 or 5 glandular 
cells and a peripheral layer of flattened 
epithelial cells continuous with the epithe- 
lial body-covering of theanimal. The gland 


W..S. Nick- 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


cells have basal nuclei and cytoplasm filled 
with fine granules; their distal ends extend 
outward to a minute pore at the extremity 
of the flask. After the discharge of their 
contents the central cells appear shriveled, 
and it is probable that the whole organ is 
soon afterwards lost. Individuals lacking 
one or both flask-organs are frequently ob- 
served. After being lost, the structure is 
reformed in the same position. It arises as 
a conical thickening of the ectoderm, of 
which the central cells take on a glandular 
function, and the lateral ones form the epi- 
thelial covering. Similar organs have not 
been described as occurring in any other 
endoproct. The function of their secretion 
is unknown. 

On the outer surface of each tentacle just 
at the margin of the lophophore there is a 
single large cell which forms a slight pro- 
tuberance. Its nucleus is large and situated 
near the deeper surface; the cytoplasm 
shows a number of delicate lines extending 
through it perpendicularly toward the free 
surface, which is covered by a thickened 
portion of the cuticula, having the form of a 
flattened disk or of a saucer with its concave 
surface outward. The observation of the 
living animal shows that these structures 
are unicellular suckers or organs for attach- 
ment by means of which the little creature 
fixes itself by the margin of its expanded 
lophophore while changing the position of 
its foot attachment. 

The reproductive system of L. Daven- 
porti presents the rare condition of pro- 
terogynic hermaphroditism. Both kinds of 
sexual products arise in the single pair of 
gonads, the ova being formed before the 
sperm. The evidence for this consists in 


finding in the same individual a functional | 


ovary on one side of the body, while the 
gonad of the other side contained, together 
with an evidently degenerating ovum, a 
mass of cells showing various stages of 
spermatogenesis up to the mature sperma- 


SCIENCE. 


067 


tozoa with tails. Animals which are func- 
tionally males are relatively few during the 
summer months. 

Buds remain attached to the parent till 
well matured. They vary in number from 
lor 2to12. Abnormal buds lacking tenta- 
cles, digestive organs, reproductive system, 
ete., are not infrequently present. They 
consist of a small rounded body borne on a 
slender stalk. The proximal side of the 
lophophore margin forms a blunt projection 
against which the rest of the margin can be 
opposed, thus closing the atrial cavity. The 
epithelium lining the atrium is composed of 
large glandular cells. The relation of these 
buds to the parent is not different from that 
of the normal buds, nor does their attach- 
ment persist longer. They appear to be in- 
capable of leading an independent existence 
and have no known function. They are 
probably manifestations of a tendency to 
produce modified members of the colony 
comparable with the avicularia of certain 
Ectoprocta, a tendency derived from stock- 
building ancestors and which has not yet 
been eliminated. According to this hypothe- 
sis we must regard the non-colonial habit of 
life of Loxosoma as secondarily acquired, 
perhaps in adaptation to its semi-parasitic 
or commensal mode of life, not, as has been 
assumed heretofore, as a primitive condi- 
tion. 

Embryos are present, attached to the 
‘mammary organ’ of the parent during 
July and August. Onthe embryo a pair of 
buds arise very early and are fully formed 
by the time it becomes free from the parent. 
Soon after the buds separate from it the 
embryo perishes without undergoing a meta- 
morphosis. 


On the Motor Reactions of Paramecium. H. 
S. JENNINGS. 
THE paper was an analysis of the 
mechanism of reactions to stimuli in the cili- 
ate infusorian Paramecium. To all classes 


368 


of stimuli Parameciwm responds with the 
same motor reaction, in greater or less in- 
tensity. The direction of motion after a 
stimulus is determined by the structure of 
the animal’s body and has no relation to the 
localization of the stimulus. Paramecia 
are not directly attracted by any agent; 
they collect in the regions of certain condi- 
tions merely in virtue of the fact that these 
conditions cause no motor reactions, while 
the surrounding fluid causes a motor reac- 
tion that results in random movements, 
which must (through the laws of chance) 
eventually bring the animal into a region 
where these motors cease. 


Phototaxis of Daphnia. C. B. Davenport and 

F. T. Lewis. 

THE problem is to determine the depend- 
ence of the degree of phototactic sensitive- 
ness upon preceding conditions of illumina- 
tion. Other conditions being similar, do 
Daphnia reared in the dark respond to a 
fainter illumination than those reared in 
the light? Special apparatus afforded a 
quantitative answer to this question. Daph- 
nia reared in half-darkness moved, on the 
average, nearly three times as far toward a 
light of about minimal intensity as did Daph- 
nia reared in the light. We may conclude: 
Those individuals reared in the dark have 
become attuned to a lower intensity than 
those reared in the light. 

The minimum intensity inducing photo- 
taxis was, in the more sensitive Daphnia, 
0.002 candle power at a distance of 3.5 
meters, or ee = 0.00016 meter candles. 
The phototropic sensitiveness of Daphnia 
is quite equal to the phototropic sensitive- 
ness of the most sensitive seedlings. 


Early Development of Pennaria Tiarella. CHas. 
W. Hareirv. 
THE egg of Pennaria is of relatively large 
size and heavily yolk-ladened. In color it 
is of a light orange or pinkish hue. It is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


of ectodermal origin and grows by an active 
absorption of other ovarian cells. The egg 
is discharged almost immediately upon the 
liberation of the medusa, which takes place 
during the evening from seven to ten o’clock. 
Fertilization occurs very soon after the egg 
is discharged, or possibly in some eases be- 
fore, since in many specimens the medusee 
are never liberated, and the eggs seem to 
be discharged with difficulty and not in- 
frequently exhibit segmentation phases 
while yet within the bell of the medusa. 
But so far as I have been able to note, the 
sperms always gain access to the egg from 
the outside. 

The extrusion of the polar globules is 
only rarely to be noted, but occurs in an 
altogether normal way. Segmentation be- 
gins usually within fifteen minutes of the 
access of the spermatozoon. The first 
cleavage is usually into fairly normal two- 
celled forms, but seldom exactly in the same 
way, perhaps no two eggs exhibiting the 
same cleavage features. This is peculiarly 
the case in all the later phases. It is abso- 
lutely indeterminate and remarkably irreg- 
ular and erratic. So much so was this 
that during the first series of observations 
the whole lot were discarded, as probably 
for some unknown reason abnormal or 
pathological. A second series taken the 
next night behaved in the same way, and 
while still thought to be somewhat abnormal 
were followed through to the completion of 
the irregular cleavage, and were found the 
following morning to have become perfectly 
normal planule. 

That they were genuine cleavage phe- 
nomena was conclusively proved by sections 
of the various stages and the demonstration 
of mitotic figures in all phases of growth 
and decline. 

Somewhat similar though incomparably 
less marked phenomena had been noted long 
ago by Wilson in the development of Ke- 
nilla, and by Metschnikoff in Rathkea and 


Manrce# 10, 1899. ] 


Oceania, and, incidentally, by Bunting, in 
Hydractinia. The most nearly comparable 
observations, so far as I have been able to 
discover, are those recently reported by 
Andrews in Hydra. 

This work was begun at the Marine Bio- 
logical Laboratory in 1897, continued during 
1898, and is still in progress. It is hoped 
that a fuller account, with definite illus- 
trations, may soon appear. 


Grafting Experiments 
Cuas. W. Hareirv. 
In course of previous work upon regen- 

eration among the Hydromeduse, the prob- 

lem of grafting was forcibly impressed upon 
me, and during the summer of 1898, at the 

Marine Biological Laboratory, was under- 

taken and followed up during nearly two 

months, and with results as briefly outlined 
below. 

It was undertaken to show the practi- 
cability of uniting sections of different in- 
dividuals, different species and even genera. 

The first work undertaken was upon 
Hydroids, chiefly Tubularians, e. g., species 
of Eudendrium, Pennaria, Parypha, Clava, 
with only one series of experiments upon a 
Campanularian. _The latter was for some 
reason almost wholly negative in results. 
In al) the former the results were unusually 
successful, no less than 10% responding 
within the limits indicated. To merely 
summarize : 

1. No difficulty was found in securing 
perfect union between segments of the same 
species in from twelve to twenty-four hours, 
A delicate sheath of perisare overlapping 
the proximal ends was first secreted, and 
this was followed by organic union of the 
ecenosare of the hydroid. The grafting was 
equally successful whether made by oral, 
aboral or alternating contact of the seg- 
ments. Abundant heteromorphism was se- 
cured along with the other results. 2. 
It was equally easy to secure union of 


upon Hydromeduse. 


SCIENCE. 


369 


male and female specimens of the same 
species. 3. If the distinctness of Agassiz’s 
species of Eudendrium dispar and ramosum 
is to be maintained—a fact which has seemed 
to me doubtful—then there was secured a 
ready grafting of different species. 4. In 
no case was I able to secure successful graft- 
ing between different genera. This was 
tried repeatedly with several, but in each 
case with negative results. 

The second problem undertaken was upon 
the meduse. The most accessible form was 
and the results ob- 
tained were on this form alone. Grafting 
was made possible only by the expedient of 
paralyzing the specimens by emargination 
of the entire bell, thus removing the coordi- 
nating centers. This done, there was no 
more difficulty in securing perfect union of 
different portions of the body than with the 
hydroid forms. It mattered little from what 
portion of the body taken, or in what rela- 
tion placed, perfect union was usually se- 
cured in from 24 to 48 hours. Two meduse 
grafted orally recovered nervous activity, 
and even exhibited a definite coordination, 
the double medusa acting as one. 


Gonionemus vertens, 


The Life-History of Dicyema. WILLIAM 

Morton WHEELER. 

A stupy of the Dicyemidze (Dicyema colu- 
ber, n. sp.; Dicyemennea Whitmanii, n. sp., and 
Dicyemodeca sceptrum, n. gen. et n. sp.), par- 
asitic in the kidneys of the West Coast 
Octopus ( O. punctatus ),was undertaken with 
a view to answering the following questions 
concerning the life-history of these animals : 
1. What are the relations of the nema- 
togenic and rhombogenic individuals to each 
other? 2. What is the meaning of the 
so-called infusoriform embryo? 3. What is 
the meaning of the infusorigen? An ex- 
amination of the parasites of one hundred 
Octopus of different ages led to the conclu- 
sion that the Dicyemide first reproduce as 
nematogens for several generations, but that 


ultimately the same individuals become 
rhombogens and thenceforth produce only 
infusoriform young. Certain Dicyemids 
were found to contain both vermiform and 
infusoriform young. E. Van Beneden’s view, 
that the infusoriform is the male Dicyemid, 
was confirmed by a study of its structure 
and a comparison of this form with the male 
Orthonectid (Rhopalura). From the fact 
that deeply staining bodies resembling the 
granules of the urn of the infusoriform, and 
probably for that reason spermatozoa were 
found among the germ-cells of the infusori- 
gen, it was inferred that the infusoriform 
young may arise from fertilized ova, and 
that the infusorigen may be an adaptation 
for accumulating the germ-cells around a 
central cell to which the spermatozoa are 
also attracted, possibly by chemotaxis. It 
was regarded as probable that both the male 
(infusoriform ) and female Dicyemid migrate 
into the kidneys of the young Octopus and 
there form colonies of nematogenic females 
before males are produced. 


Notes on the Blind Fishes. 

MANN. 

1. THERE is a color pattern common to all 
the species of the Amblyopsidz. This pat- 
tern is due to the arrangement of the chro- 
matophores along the connective tissue 
septa separating successive muscle seg- 
ments. The result is a series of longitu- 
dinal stripes where the septa are bent on 
the surface and a series of zigzag cross 
streaks. This pattern is best marked in 
Chologaster agassizii, in which but little 
color is present. It is somewhat obscure 
in Chologaster cornutus on account of the 
great development of pigment. It remains 
only as an arrangement of chromatophores 
in the blind members of the family where 
color is no longer present in sufficient quan- 
tity to be evident to the naked eye. 

2. Chologaster agassizit, which has so far 
been known from the type only, was secured 


C. H. Ereen- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


through a grant from the Elizabeth Thomp- 
son Science fund. It is a species with well 
developed eyes living permanently in caves. 
Its eye is notably smaller than that of the 
other species of Chologaster which live in 
open waters. The retinais very much like 
that of C. papilliferus, with thinner pigment 
layer. The eyes of the species of Cholo- 
gaster show the following measurements : 
C. papilliferus, 32mm. long. Vertical diameter, 
.832 mm. Longitudinal, .880 mm. 

C. agassizii, 39mm. long. Vertical diameter, .720 
mm. Longitudinal, .800. 

C. cornutus, 32mm. long. Vertical diameter, 
-960mm. Longitudinal, 1.120. 

Thickness of the retina of 

C. papilliferus, 29-34 mm. long, .122 mm., 55 mm. 
long, .162 mm. 

C. agassizii, 38 mm. long, .107mm., 62 mm. long, 
-130 mm. 

C. cornutus 27 mm. long, .73 mm., 43 mm. long, 
.83 mm. 

3. The blind fish from Missouri is of dif- 
ferent origin from the blind fishes east of 
the Mississippi. The details of this part of 
the paper have appeared in ScrEencr. 


Regeneration and Regulation in Hydra viridis. 

Herpert W. Ranp. 

In a series of regeneration experiments 
upon Hydra viridis it was found that the 
polyps regenerate, on the average, fewer 
tentacles than are originally possessed. 
The more tentacles before regeneration the 
greater is the mean number after regenera- 
tion. Hight-tentacled Hydras showed the 
greatest reduction in the number of tenta- 
cles. Six-tentacled Hydras showed no re- 
duction. 

The average deviation from the mean 
was practically the same before and after 
regeneration. ‘The average deviation from 
the mean after regeneration, and also the 
average deviation from the original num- 
ber, was greater in the eight-tentacled 
groups and least in the six-tentacled. 

The mean number of tentacles regener- 
ated by whole six-tentacled Hydras was 


MARCH 10, 1899. ] 


6.0; by halves of  six-tentacled Hydras, 
4.6; by quarters of six-tentacled Hydras, 
3.8. Of Hydras having the same number 
of tentacles the larger Hydras, or parts of 
them, regenerate more tentacles than the 
smaller ones or corresponding parts of 
them. Hydras cut longitudinally into pieces 
of equal volume, but bearing different num- 
bers of tentacles, regenerate as many tenta- 
cles as are required to complete a normal 
number. 

In the regeneration of a small fragment 
of hypostome with tentacles attached, one 
tentacle became thickened to form the 
body. Often in the regeneration of whole 
‘heads’ a tentacle whose axis came to lie 
approximately in the axis of the body ap- 
parently became thickened to assist in the 
downward extension of the body. 

In ‘heads’ severed immediately below 
the tentacles forms of very abnormal ap- 
pearance resulted in the process of closing 
the wound. Abnormalities, consisting in 
tentacles abnormally placed and in unusual 
numbers of oral tentacles, persisted for a 
considerable period. Regulative processes 
resulted in the degeneration of abnormally 
placed tentacles and in the establishment of 
a normal number of oval tentacles. Tenta- 
cles but slightly displaced from the circum- 
oval ring were shifted back into it. 

The regenerative and regulative processes 
are directed toward the regaining of a per- 
fectly normal form. 


Notes on the Actinians of Bermuda. A. E. 


VERRILL. 
On the Atlantie Palolo Worm. A. G. MAymEr. 


The Origin of Blood Vessels in the Chick. LL. 
H. SNowpen. 


The Evolution of the Color Pattern of Columba 
livia from that Preserved in C. affinis Blyth. 
C. O. WHITMAN. 

BAsHForD DEAN, 
Secretary. 


SCIENCE. O71 


STALACTITES OF SAND. 

In Mr. Rose’s black-sand gold mine, on 
the Oregon coast, about fifteen miles south 
of Coos Bay, are some curious stalactites of 
sand which deserve attention on account of 
their exceptional character. 

The mine is along an ancient beach about 
160 feet above the sea level and nearly two 
miles distant from the present shore. The 
black sand in which the gold occurs rests 
directly upon the upturned and eroded 
edges of Tertiary shales. It is about 100 
feet in width and four feet in thickness, 
and is overlain by about thirty feet of hor- 
izontal Pleistocene sand beds with some 
gravel. These have to be removed before 
the black sand can be reached. The black 
sand at this point is composed chiefly of 
garnet, with a number of other heavy ferro- 
magnesian minerals. It is partially ce’ 
mented by oxide of iron, but may be readily 
crumbled in the hand. 

The gray sand by which the black sand 
is immediately overlain is composed chiefly 
of quartz, but contains also many grains of 
feldspar besides those of other minerals and 
rocks. In some places this gray sand is 
cemented so firmly as to form a friable 
sandstone, and when the black sand is re- 
moved from beneath the exposed under sur- 
face of the sandstones is found to be covered 
with stalactites of sand. The cross bedding 
in the sand dips gently to the west. The 
stalactites incline westward at the same 
angle, forming only a small angle with the 
surface to which they are attached. The 
forms of the stalactites are well developed ; 
some are small, others nearly a foot in 
length. Most of them are single, but a few 
are double, as if two were united in their 
development. There is no sign of a tube 
down in the center, as in the case of many 
stalactites of carbonate of lime. 

The cementing material by means of 
which the sand is held together, making 
these curious forms, is not soluble in acid. 


372 SCIENCE. 


In a thin section under the microscope it is 
seen that each grain of the sand is sur- 
rounded by a thin coating of crystalline 
quartz which fills the small interstices and 
binds the whole together. 

It seems altogether probable that the so- 
lutions bearing silica followed the porous 
layers of sand in the cross bedding, but what 
determined its deposition through the sand in 
the shape of an icicle is not so easily under- 
stood. It is not impossible, although quite 
improbable, that wind erosion had anything 
to do in developing these forms. The 
stalactites exposed in the mine were not so 
situated as to be attacked by drifting sand. 
Their local character is scarcely less diffi- 
cult to explain satisfactorily than the pecu- 
liar forms themselves. 

J. 8. DILuer. 


U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 18th. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Degeneracy: Its Causes, Signs and Results. By 
EvuGENE 8. Tausot, M.D., D.D.S. The 
Contemporary Science Series. London, 
Walter Scott, Limited; New York, Charles 
Scribner’s Sons. 1898. Illustrated. 

The busy reader who has dipped into the 
works of Morel, Lombroso, Nordau and other 
writers upon degeneracy, and who has become, 
perhaps, somewhat confused by conflicting 
opinions and sweeping applications of this in- 
teresting biological doctrine, will receive with 
delight this calm and dispassionate as well as 
condensed ‘conclusion of the whole matter’ 
(up to date). The plan of the book is good, 
giving as it does a brief survey of the whole 
subject from its historical, biological, psycho- 
logical and pedagogical points of view. The 
author, too, is well prepared for his task, having 
a wide dental and medical experience, and, 
particularly, a most extensive acquaintance 
with the literature of the subject, especially of 
that literature which is most valuable here, viz., 
that of the medical and biological journals. 
This gives the book a healthy inductive tone. 
The author spends no time in the discussion of 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 219. 


theories of his own or of others. He gives us 
rather a summary of facts relating to the ante- 
cedents and the symptoms of degeneracy in all 
its forms. Of the eighteen chapters some of 
the most interesting are the ones on heredity 
and atavism, consanguineous and neurotic in- 
termarriages, toxic agents, school strain, de- 
generacy of the brain and degeneracy of men- 
tality and morality. Inthe chapter on heredity 
and atavism the summary of the accumulated 
evidence against Weismannism is rather strik- 
ing. 

In a series of chapters the author discusses 
the causes of degeneracy. Among these, con- 
tagious and infectious diseases, led by tubercu- 
losis, syphilis, typhoid fever, scarlatina, small 
pox, measles and diphtheria, are the most pro- 
lific. Other leading causes are toxic agents, 
such as tobacco, alcohol, opium, tea and coffee, 
insufficient or impure food and unfavorable 
climate, and, finally, school strain among chil- 
dren. The immediate consequence of these 
agents is nervous exhaustion in the first gener- 
ation. The offspring of these neurasthenics do 
not possess the necessary vitality to carry them 
through the normal process of development. 
The result in the second generation is arrested 
development of the nervous centers and de- 
generacy of bodily structure, exhibited in the 
form of reversions to primitive types. Very 
full descriptions of the various stigmata of de- 
generacy follow. Among them are local re- 
versionary tendencies, such as anomalies of 
skull, jaws, teeth, ears, etc. ; nutritive degen- 
eracy, shown in cancer, gout, goitre, adenoids, 
plural births and excessive fecundity ; sensory 
degeneracy, such as deaf-mutism and congen- 
ital color-blindness ; intellectual degeneracy, 
such as paranoia, hysteria, epilepsy, idiocy and 
one-sided genius ; and ethical degeneracy, such 
as crime, prostitution, pauperism and inebriety. 
Degeneracy caused by alcohol is less dangerous 
to the community than that caused by opium 
and by various contagions and infections, since, 
owing to its deteriorating effects upon the re- 
productive organs, it tends to exterminate itself. 
This non-survival of the unfit is by no means 
true of all forms of degeneracy. Healthy ata- 
vism, however, is always at work and tends to 
counteract the immediate results of heredity. 


Marcy 10, 1899. ] 


Consanguineous marriages are not in them- 
selves, in perfectly healthy stock, causes of de- 
generacy, but where degeneracy has begun, 
such marriages, of course, accelerate its action. 

The book closes with a chapter on the pre- 
vention and treatment of degeneracy. The 
author is not an advocate of heroic methods, 
such as the legal regulation of marriage and 
other still more certain methods of checking its 
transmission. He proposes milder means, par- 
ticularly rational forms of prophylaxis adapted 
to circumstances and to individuals. 


G. T. W. PATRICK. 
UNIVERSITY OF IowA, 
Iowa City. 


A Synonymic Catalogue of the North American 
Rhopalocera. ~By HENRY SKINNER. Ameri- 
can Entomological Society, December, 1898. 
Pp. xiv+100. 

The catalogue of North American butter- 
flies published by Mr. W. H. Edwards in 1884 
listed 612 species from the United States and 
Canada. The new catalogue, now before us, 
enumerates 645; the moderate number of addi- 
tions in about 14 years of great activity among 
lepidopterists indicates that our butterfly fauna 
is fairly well known. The additions are in 
reality somewhat more numerous than the fig- 
ures cited indicate, owing to the rejection of 
some of the names of the earlier list; but there 
is no tendency to ‘lumping’ exhibited, which 
is rather surprising in consideration of some of 
Dr. Skinner’s previously expressed views. 

The literature is cited very fully, though we 
notice a few omissions, such as that of Edwards’ 
account of the larva of Lycena exilis. The 
genera are nearly as in the Edwards catalogue. 
It is to be regretted that Pamphila is still made 
to include a great number of forms, belonging 
to numerous genera; but it is certainly true 
that the best generic arrangement which could 
be offered at the present time would be largely 
provisional. 

An examination of the catalogue recalls and 
emphasizes certain interesting features of our 
butterfly fauna. Certain portions are of trop- 
ical origin, while other groups belong to what 
has been called the holarctic region. In the 
tropics conditions have been relatively uniform 


SCIENCE. 


979 
old 


for ages, and in consequence we have a large 
number of organisms in a condition of consid- 
erable stability—in other words, ‘ good species.’ 

The writer has found, when working with 
Coccidee, that the tropical species are, as a gen- 
eral rule, much more easily separated than those 
of temperate regions. The same is true, ap- 
parently, among the butterflies. Take the 
Hesperidz and Lyczenide, which are so numer- 
ous in tropical America. The tropical groups 
of Hesperidz, in particular, have largely in- 
vaded the United States, and very many species 
have been catalogued. Now Dr. Skinner him- 
self has told us in another connection that 
these species are, as arule, well-defined, though 
frequently superficially similar. But there is 
one characteristically holarctic series of Hes- 
peridze—the series of Painphila comma—and here 
at once we meet with innumerable local races 
or weak species, with, difficulty to be separated 
from one another. Soin Lyczna the holarctic 
group of pseudargiolus and its allies is especially 
polymorphic. When we come to the typically 
holaretic genera, such as Argynnis, we find a 
wilderness of plastic forms, which may be 
called species or varieties according to the taste 
of the student. 

It thus happens that for the evolutionist 
temperate regions, lately subject to glacial 
desolation, are in many respects more interest- 
ing than the luxuriant tropics. Here, especially, 
are species in the making; here is Nature’s 
kitchen and the cook at work. In the tropics, 
on the other hand, we often find more numerous 
and more finished products, and wonderful 
adaptations, the origin of which is past our 
comprehension.* The naturalist in South Amer- 
ica might well think species were created as 
he found them ; the naturalist of the northern 
United States could hardly imagine such a 
thing, unless convineed on a priori grounds. 

Yet when changes have occurred in tropical 
lands we find such phenomena as are common 
in the north. Thesnails of the Greater Antilles, 
islands that have undergone great changes of 
level in recent geological periods, are almost as 
confusing as the North American Argynnids. 
So, it seems, we may in some measure learn the 

*For plants compare Dr. E. Warming’s interest- 
ing paper in the Botanical Gazette, January, 1899. 


374 


past history of a group by studying its species. 
If the species are well defined and showelaborate 
adaptations to the environment the group has 
long existed under relatively uniform condi- 
tions. If, on the other hand, the species are 
defined with difficulty and connected by numer- 
ous races it may be presumed that the environ- 
ment of the group has changed in recent times, 
and especially that it is undergoing expansion 
and differentiation in new territory. In north- 
ern regions the retreat of the ice has exposed 
much such territory; in the Antilles it has 
been the elevation of the land; in other cases 
a type may have found new lands by migration, 
and may thus exhibit incipient new species in 
the midst of a stable ancient fauna. As an ex- 
ample of the last-mentioned class may be men- 
tioned Danais berenice jamaicensis in Jamaica, 
as against the old Jamaican type Papilio homerus. 
We have digressed from the immediate subject 
of this useful catalogue, bit the interest of such 
works lies largely in the suggestiveness of their 
orderly and condensed array of facts. 
T. D. A. CocKERELL. 
MESILLA PARK, N. M., February 12, 1899. 


Industrial Electricity. Translated and adapted 
from the French of HENRY DE GRAFFIGNY. 
Edited by A. G. ELuiortT, B.Sc. London and 
New York, The Macmillan Company. Pp. 
152. With 65 illustrations. Price, 75 cents. 
This little volume, according to the editor’s 

note, is the first of a series upon Electro- 
mechanics, the other volumes of which will 
treat the more important of the branches here 
touched upon, separately and in detail. It is 
divided into short chapters, and explains, in 
very clear and non-mathematical language, the 
various applications of electricity. 

Beginning with Nature of Electricity, a 
résumé of Hertz’s work is given, showing the 
identity of light and electrical vibrations. Then 
follow, in order, chapters on Electric Units, 
Magnetism and Induction, and Practical Meas- 
urement of Electrical Quantities. 

Chapters V.and VI. are respectively on Chem- 
ical Generators of Electricity and Accumulators, 
covering the subjects of primary and storage 
batteries and containing much useful information 
and explicit directions as to handling and care. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 219. 


Dynamo Electric Machinery is next touched 
upon, including direct current dynamos, alter- 
nators, two- and three-phase generators. The 
remaining five chapters merely touch upon the 
following subjects: Electric Light, Electricity 
as a Motive Power, Electro-chemistry and 
Electro-plating, Bells and Telephones, and 
Telegraphs. : 

The only criticisms that can be advanced are: 

1. On page 12 the table gives 10°C.G.8. units 
in one Henry instead of 10°, while the table on 
page 27 has many of the dimensions of the 
mechanical, electro-magnetic and magnetic 
unis given incorrectly. 

2. Besides these lapses the volume is, with 
one or two exceptions, entirely devoid of allu- 
sions to American apparatus and machinery. 

Taken as a whole, however, the volume is a 
creditable piece of work, for the task of con- 
densing so much in so small a space is, to say 
the least, herculean. W. HLF. 


GENERAL. 


Tue Teachers’ Professional Library, edited by 
Professor Nicholas Murray Butler, of Columbia 
University, is announced, by The Macmillan Co. 
The books already published on ‘The Develop- 
ment of the Child,’ byDr. Nathan Oppenheim ; 
‘The Study of Children and their School Train- 
ing,’ by Dr. Francis Walker, and a ‘ Handbook 
of Nature Study,’ by O. Lange, are included in 
the series and the following are announced for 
early publication : 


‘Tbe Practical Lessons of History,’ by William T. 
Harris, LL.D., U. S. Commissioner of Education. 

‘Social Phases of Education in the Home and in 
the School,’ by Samuel T. Dutton, Superintendent of 
Schools, Brookline, Mass. 

‘Educational Aims and Educational Values,’ by 
Dr. Paul H. Hanus, Harvard University. 

‘The Hygiene of the School and of Instruction,’ 
by Edward R. Shaw, Ph.D., New York University. 

‘Method in Education,’ by Walter L. Hervey, 
Ph.D., Department of Education, New York City. 

‘The Study and Teaching of History,’ by Miss 
Lucy M. Salmon, Vassar College. 

‘The Study and Teaching of Geography,’ by Dr. 
Jacques W. Redway, of New York. 

‘The Study and Teaching of English,’ by Percival 
Chubb, of the Ethical Culture Schools, New York. 

‘The Study and Teaching of Mathematics,’ by 


MAnrcH 10, 1899.] 


David Eugene Smith, Ph.D., State Normal School, 
Brockport, N. Y. 

Ir is announced that the government has 
compiled a History of the Territory of Alaska, 
bringing the explorations made by army officers 
up to date and including an elaborate descrip- 
tion of the physical resources of the Territory. 
The compilation when published will make a 
large octavo volume of about 500 printed pages. 
The material was supplied, by the War Depart- 
ment under the direction of Assistant Secretary 
Meiklejohn, to the Senate. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

General Physiology. MAX VERWORN. Translated 
from the second German edition and edited by 
FREDERIC S. Lez. New York and London, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xvi + 615. $4.00. 

L'audition et ses organgs. M. E. GELLE. Paris, Al- 
can. 1899. Pp. 326. 

La Céramique ancienne et moderne. 
EDOUARD GARNIER. 
311. 

The Theory of the Leisure Class: an Economic Study in 
the Evolution of Institutions. THORSTEIN VEBLEN. 
New York and London, The Macmillan Company. 
1898. Pp. vii+400. $2.00. 


E. GUIGNET and 
Paris, Alcan. 1899. Pp. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE American Mathematical Society is ac- 
tively pushing the plans for the publication of 
its Transactions, and it is probable that the 
first number will appear in January next. A 
committee, consisting of Messrs. T. 8. Fiske, 
R. 8. Woodward, E. H. Moore, Maxime Bocher 
and James Pierpont has been appointed to se- 
cure the necessary financial guarantees. Sub- 
scriptions of one hundred dollars annually for 
a term of five years have already been pledged 
by representatives and friends of each of the 
following institutions: Chicago University, Co- 
lumbia University, Yale University and Bryn 
Mawr College. Other pledges are anticipated 
and the plan is already assured of success. 


The Journal of Geelogy, Vol. 7, No. 1, for Jan- 
uary and February, contains the following 
papers : 

Frank Leverett : ‘The Lower Rapids of the 
Mississippi River,’ pp. 1-20. The writer dis- 
cusses the abandonment by the Mississippi 
River of its pre-glacial channel just above Keo- 
kuk, Ia., and the production of the newer and 


SCIENCE. 


375 


more contracted channel, in which are the rap- 
ids. The Kewatin ice sheet and its drift are re- 
garded as the principal cause. 

H. B. Kimmel: ‘The Newark Rocks of New 
Jersey and New York,’ pp. 238-53. The writer 
divides the strata under consideration into the 
Stockton, Lockatong, Brunswick and Trap for- 
mations. Their distribution, character, folding 
and faulting, and the conditions prevailing dur- 
ing their formation, are then discussed. 

Henry S. Washington:‘ The Petrographical 
Province of Essex County, Mass.,’ II., pp. 53— 
64. The paper continues one that was begun in 
the last number. It describes, with analyses, the 
essexites, diorites, quartz-augite-diorites, por- 
phyritic diorites and gabbros. 

J. A. Udden: ‘The Sweetland Creek Beds,’ pp. 
65-79. The beds are chiefly shale, and lie be- 
tween the Cedar Valley Limestone below and 
the Coal Measures above, in Muscatine county, 
Ia. Fossils indicate an Upper Devonian Age. 

G. H. Squier: ‘Studies in the Driftless Region 
of Wisconsin,’ pp. 79-83. One glaciated boulder 
has been found in a valley within the driftless 


- region. 


W. N. Logan: ‘ A Discussion and Correlation 
of certain Subdivisions of the Colorado Forma- 
tion,’ pp. 88-92. The paper discusses and cor- 
relates the subdivisions of this formation in the 
Kansas, Colorado, Black Hills and Iowa-Ne- 
braska areas. 

Editorials and reviews complete the number. 


THE leading article in the American Naturalist 
for February, is by Dr. W. H. Dall, and dis- 
cusses ‘The Proposed University of the United 
States and its possible Relations to Scientific 
Bureaus of the Government.’ Dr. Arthur 
Hollick continues the consideration of ‘The 
Relation between Forestry and Geology in New 
Jersey,’ this paper giving ‘The Historical De- 
velopment of the Flora,’ concluding that the 
gradual extinction of the gymnosperm type is 
indicated. Professors J. H. Comstock and J. 
G. Needham also continue the subject of ‘The 
Wings of Insects,’ the chapter being devoted 
to the specialization of wings by addition as 
illustrated by the venation of the wings of 
Ephemerida. Under the title of ‘The Pene- 
plain: a Review’ Dr. R. A. Daly considers at 
length Professor Tarr’s objections to the exist- 


376 


ence of peneplains on this earth of shifting base 
levels. Professor F. L. Washburn describes and 
figures the shoulder girdle of ‘A Peculiar 
Toad,’ presenting the abnormality of an extra 
(left) fore limb. “ The abundant literature on the 
subject of the Trenton Gravels receives an ad- 
dition from Dr. Frank Russell, who describes 
some ‘Human Remains from the Trenton 
Gravels,’ concluding that the skulls which are 
figured are those of modern Indians, probably 
of the Lenni Lenapé. A goodly proportion of 
Notes and Reviews fill out the number. 


THE Journal of the Boston Society of Medical 
Sciences for January comprises two parts, each 
containing a number of excellent plates. Those 
illustrating the articles on the ‘ Pathological 
Histology of Acute Lacunar Tonsilitis,’ by J. 
L. Goodale, and the ‘ Character of the Cellular 
Exudation in Acute Keratitis of the Rabbit,’ by 
W. T. Councilman, are particularly fine. Our 
anti-vivisection friends who discredit the exist 
ence of hydrophobia would do well to read the 
paper by Langdon Frothingham on ‘Rabies in the 
Vicinity of Boston,’ where 20 positive cases are 
noted between March, 1897, and December, 
1898. An interesting series of ‘Observations 
on the Effects Produced by the 6-mm. Rifle and 
Projectile,’ by H. G. Beyer, is well calculated 
to create respect for the new Navy arm. 


THE Botanical Gazette for February contains 
the following leading articles: ‘New or Little 
Known North America Trees,’ C. S. Sargent 
‘The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on 
the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan,’ Henry C. 
Cowles; ‘The Society for Plant Morphology 
and Physiology—Columbia Meeting,’ W. F. 
Ganong. The briefer articles include: ‘Notes 
on the Maximusn Thermal Death-point of Spo- 
rotrichum Globuliferum,’ B. M. Duggar; ‘ De- 
scriptions of Two Willows from Central Amer- 
ica,’ W. W. Rowlee; ‘A Peculiar Case of Spore 
. Distribution,’ F. L. Stevens ; ‘A New Silphium,”’ 
Wm. M. Canby. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
SECTION OF PSYCHOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY 
OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

Ar the regular monthly meeting of the sec- 
tion, on February 24th, papers were presented 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 219. 


by R. S. Woodworth on the ‘Accuracy of Move- 
ment, by F. C. Spencer on the ‘ Origin and Per- 
sistent Influence of Sacred Number Concepts,’ 
and by F. Boas on ‘ Anthropometric Charts.’ 
Dr. Boas presented the results of recent in- 
vestigations, which show that the anthropo- 
metric charts now used in the gymnasium by 
anthropologists are valueless as a means for es- 
timating the development of individuals. 
CuHaAs. B. Buiss, 
Secretary. 


ONONDAGA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 


Av the January meeting annual reports of 
officers and sections were received and the fol- 
lowing officers were elected: President, John 
Van Duyn, M.D.; Vice-President, J. A. 
Dakin; Secretary, P. F. Schneider ; Correspond- 
ing Secretary, H. W. Britcher; Treasurer, Miss 
L. W. Roberts; Librarian, Miss V. L. Jones. 

The report of the Geological Section showed 
considerable progress in the investigation of in- 
teresting local problems, and cited the discov- 
ery of a vein of quartz crystals in the Cornifer- 
ous rock at the Onondaga Indian Reservation. 

The report of the Botanical Section included 
new localities for several of the rarer plants of 
the county. One plant, Glaucium glaucium, was 
reported as new'to the county, and two, Crepis 
virens and Sanguisorba canadensis, were reported 
as new to the State. Selaginella selaginoides 
was also found and is probably new to the 
State. 

The report of the Zoological Section con- 
tained the result of feeding experiments on the 
larvee of Diedamia inscripta. During the year 
upwards of thirty spiders were added to the 
list of Onondaga county species. Of these, 
nine species had not hitherto been reported in 


the State. e 
H. W. BRITCHER. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE, 
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE SO CALLED 
TOBACCO FERMENTATION ? 

Tuus far it has been generally believed that 
the rise of temperature and the chemical changes 
that take place when the cured tobacco leaves 
are piled up in heaps are due to bacterial ac- 
tion. But careful investigations of the ‘ fer- 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


menting’ leaves revealed the absence of ex- 
tended bacterial colonies, the presene of which 
were naturally to be expected if bacteria were 
the cause of the phenomena in question. The 
true cause, I have recently established beyond 
a doubt, is the presence of two kinds of oxi- 
dizing enzymes in the tobacco leaves. As soon 
as the Bulletin describing these investigations 
is published a full review will be given in this 


JOURNAL. 
OscaR LOEW. 


DIVISION OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AND Pa- 
THOLOGY, U. 8. Depr. oF AGRICULTURE. 


THE ANESTHETIC EFFECTS OF A SINUSOIDAL CUR- 
RENT OF HIGH FREQUENCY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In your issue 
of June 3, 1898, I had the honor of communi- 
cating an observation on the anesthetic effects 
of a sinusoidal current of high frequency. I 
take the liberty of sending you the following 
further observations. 

a, The anesthetic effect may be produced 
by sending the current longitudinally along the 
the nerve. Thus, a current sent along one of 
the nerves of the arm can be used to produce 
anesthesia in parts of the arm supplied by it. 
With a pleasant current of about 28,000 alter- 
nations per second passing between the elbow 
and the hand, a needle can be painlessly run 
into the forearm. 

b. At the suggestion of Professor B. Moore, 
of the Yale Medical School, I applied the cur- 
rent to the tongue, with a view to testing the 
theory that the sensation of taste may be due 
to vibratory atimuli. If the theory were 
true the fluctuations in the sinusoidal current 
might be expected to produce sensations of taste 
of various kinds. The experiment showed that 
fluctuations up to about 29,000 complete periods 
per second produce no sensations of taste what- 
ever; the only sensation is that of tickling and 
puckering. 

ce. It should perhaps have been stated in my 
original communication that the main purpose 
of the investigations with the sinusoidal current 
was to determine the various sensations at 
different frequencies, They have been deter- 
mined for two subjects as follows: (1) Thresh- 
old of sensation of touch at a frequency of about 


SCIENCE, 


B77 


480 complete alternations per second; (2) 
threshold of disagreeableness at about 840; (3) 
threshold of pain at about 960; (4) disappear- 
ance of pain at about 1,440, followed by a pe- 
culiar, agreeable sensation; (5) disappearance 
of agreeableness at a point not yet determined, 
followed by a faint sensation ; (6) disappear- 
ance of sensation at a point not yet determined. 
For constant conditions these figures are quite 
constant, the probable error ranging from 1, of 
1% to4 %. 

d. Applying the electrodes to the nerves of 
the arm in a way to move the muscles of the 
forearm and hand I find a similar neuro- 
muscular effect. As the current rises in fre- 
quency from zero the muscles contract steadily 
up to a certain point, after which they gradu- 
ally relax. The process is the same when we 
start with a high frequency and descend to 
zero. The phenomenon can hardly be due toa 
diminished intensity of the high-frequency 
current. 

e. It may be added that the instrument used 
is a Kennelly alternator run at a very high 
speed. Similar high-frequency machines have 
been used by Nikola Tesla, who has not re- 
corded any of the above phenomena; possibly 
his machines do not produce sinusoidal currents. 

f. Using another machine which simply in- 
terrupted a galvanic current up to 100,000 
times per second I find that above a certain 
point (not yet measured) the interruptions 
cease to have any effect other than merely re- 
ducing the strength of the current when it is 
sent through the tissues. 

E. W. SCRIPTURE. 

YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, Conn., 

February 28, 1899. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE METRIC SYSTEM. 


Tue Hartford Steam Boiler, Inspection and 
Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., has 
issued a very neat and convenient volume, of 
‘pocket size,’ containing tables for the Conver- 
sion of English weights and measures into their 
metric equivalents, and vice versa. It opens 
with a very interesting discussion of the metric 
system, which lacks, however, any recognition 
of the International Bureau of Weights and 


378 SCIENCE, 


Measures and the great work it has accomplished 
during the past twenty-five years. Nothing is 
said about the International Prototype units of 
length and mass, which are the real standards 
of the world to-day, and it is implied that the 
meter and kilogramme are, except for practical 
purposes, what they were defined to be a hun- 
dred years ago. The ratios of the metric to our 
customary units used, in the book, are not those 
legally adopted by the U. S. Office of Weights and 
Measures, but the differences are so small that 
the conversion tables are not sensibly in error. 
There is a growing use of the metric system in 
this country, the result of an increasing trade 
with foreign countries, and this book will satisfy 
every demand of those who are called upon to 
convert from one system to the other. The 
tables are so numerous that it is difficult to 
imagine a call for anything which the book does 
not contain, and a convenient index renders 
them quickly available. Much time is saved 
by carrying the tables up to one-hundred mul- 
tiples of each unit, but in a few instances space 
and labor have been wasted in doing this, be- 
cause of the impossibility of such conditions 
ever being realized. For instance, in the table 
for converting ‘grammes in a cubic centimeter 
to ounces ina cubic inch,’ there does not appear 
to be any necessity for going beyond 23 or 24— 
as there isno known substance denser than this. 
Thus more than three-quarters of this table can 
be of no use, and this is true of several tables 
of a similar character. On the whole the work 
is exceedingly well done, and the book ought 
to be much sought after. TCM: 


THE ELECTROLYTIC INTERRUPTER FOR THE 
INDUCTION COIL. 


WHEN a high electro-motive force is connected 
to an electrolytic cell, one electrode of which is 
very small, the rush of current which takes 
place is quickly interrupted by the layer of gas 
which is generated at the small electrode. 
This layer of gas then collects as a bubble, the 
electrolyte again comes into contact with the 
electrode, a rush of current again takes place to 
be interrupted as before, and so on. ‘These in- 
terruptions are very abrupt, and their frequency 
varies from two or three hundred to a thousand 
or more per second according to the size of the 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 219. 
small electrode and the inductance of the cir- 
cuit. The small electrode should be the anode. 

Dr. A. Wehnelt (Electrical Engineer, February 
16, 1899) has applied this electrolytic inter- 
rupter to the induction coil. He uses dilute 
sulphuric acid, a sheet of lead as cathode, and 
the tip of a small platinum wire projecting from 
a glass tube as anode. The interrupter works 
with entire satisfaction with eléctro-motive 
forces as high as 110 volts; the condenser, 
needed with the ordinary interrupter, is use- 
less; and the effectiveness, especially of small 
coils, is greatly increased both in length of 
spark and frequency. 

Dr. Wehnelt’s experiments have been re- 
peated in the Physical Laboratory at Bethlehem 
Pa., his results have been confirmed, and it has 
been found that the primary of an induction 
coil should be wound with more turns of wire 
than usual to give the best results with this 
electrolytic interrupter. The interrupter gives 
good effects when used to supply intermittent 
current to the primary of a small transformer. 
Thus a small step-down transformer taking 375 
watts from the mains gave out about 30 watts 
from its secondary. 

When the electrolytic interrupter is used to 
supply intermittent current from a 110 volt 
source to the primary of a transformer, the 
e. m. f. which establishes the current after each 
break is, of course, 110 volts, while the e. m. f. 
which stops the current is the e. m. f. between 
the break points and may be very greatly in 
excess of 110 volts. 

The effective primary e. m. f. is, therefore, 
on the whole, greatly in excess of 110 volts, so 
that a 1:1 transformer may give several hun- 
dreds of volts at its secondary terminals when 
supplied with intermittent current from a 110 
volt source. 

This is shown by the fact that a 220 volt 
lamp, for example, may be lighted from the 
secondary, and, of course, it may be lighted 
equally well or even better if connected across 
the primary terminals. W.S. F. 


THE RESISTANCE OF CARBON AND COPPER 
BRUSHES. 

Proressor E. ARNOLD gives, in the Electrical 

Zeitschrift for January 5th, a study of the ‘ Con- 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


tact Resistance of Carbon and Copper Brushes 
and the Temperature Rise of the Commutator.’ 
He finds that the contact resistance decreases 
with increase of current density, especially with 
higher velocities of commutator surface ; thus, 
with a velocity of 368 meters (1205 ft.) per 
minute, the resistance per sq. cm. is for .7 amp. 
per sq. em. .6 ohm., while for 10 amp. it be- 
comes only .1 ohm., beyond which point it is 
nearly constant. He finds also that for a given 
current density the resistance increases with 
speed to a maximum, and then decreases for 
higher speeds; this he accounts for by suppos- 
ing an unfavorable relation. between the weight 
of the brush and the periodicity of the vibra- 
tions from passing over the segments; this 
theory is upheld by the fact that the same max- 
imum appears at a lower speed for the heavier 
copper brush. A highly polished metal surface 
gives a higher resistance, which oiling increases 
still further. He mentions eddy currents as pro- 
ducing losses in the segments, and gives formule 
for the friction losses and the rise of the tem- 


perature. 
HC: 


ENZYMES AS REMEDIES IN INFECTIOUS 
DISEASES. 

DuRING the past year Drs. R. Emmerich and 
Oscar Loew have been engaged upon an inter- 
esting problem in connection with enzymes as 
remedies in infectious diseases. The work was 
carried on in Munich, and as yet the results have 
not been published in full. We areindebted to 
Dr. Loew for the following facts in regard to the 
investigations: It has been surmised by Nencki 
and by Pfeiffer that the substances leading to 
recovery from infectious diseases, and producing 
immunity from them, belong to the enzymes. 
The latter author believed that these enzymes 
-are prepared by the animal organs and not by 
bacteria themselves. Dr. de Schweinitz has 
observed an enzyme in cultures of the hog 
cholera germ which had a potent action in 
rendering guinea pigs insusceptible to this dis- 
ease. However, this enzyme exhibited poison- 
ous action in but little higher doses than 
necessary for immunizing. 

Recently Emmerich and Loew have proved 
that certain kinds of bacteria, for example, 


SCIENCE. 379 


Bacillus pyocyaneus, produce enzymes which not 
only dissolve these bacilli themselves, but also 
other microbes, such as the germs of cholera, 
typhoid fever, anthrax, diphtheria, black 
plague, stapthlococci and probably also gon- 
ococci. The germs of tuberculosis and many 
others are not affected by this enzyme within 24 
hours. Micrococcus prodigiosus can also pro- 
duce a bacteriolytic enzyme, which does not ap- 
pear to actso favorably as that of the Pyocyaneus. 
The Micrococcus erysipelatos produces one, but 
this is associated, asin many other cases, with 
very poisonous qualities.* Emmerich and Loew 
have demonstrated that in a rabbit first infected 
with anthrax and then treated with subcutane- 
ous injections of the concentrated enzyme of the 
Bacillus pyocyaneus the anthrax bacilli in the 
spleen are found completely broken up and 
partly dissolved, exactly as it can be observed in 
vitro when a dose of millions of anthrax and the 
other named bacilli are transferred into a few 
cubic centimeters of the concentrated and puri- 
fied pyocyaneus enzyme. The latter enzyme 
can, by combination with an animal protein, be 
transformed into an immunizing substance. 
The authors have succeeded in obtaining both 
these agencies in a durable solid form. Thus 
the time seems near at hand when the treat- 
ment with serum will be replaced by a cheaper 
and simpler method, at least in certain cases. 
B. T. GALLoway. 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE refusal of Congress to establish a perma- 
nent census bureau for the proper conduct of 
the work has had its natural sequence in the 
appointment of a politician as Director of the 
Twelfth Census. The best that can be said of 
ex-Governor Merriam is that he had a credit- 
able record as Governor of Minnesota. The 
New York Evening Post speaks of the appoint- 
ment as follows: ‘‘Mr. Merriam is appointed 
Director of the Census simply because there 
was no other good office vacant at home or 
abroad. He has never had any experience as 

*The bacillus of the black plague, that of tuber- 
culosis, and other kinds, seem incapable of producing 
bacteriolytic enzymes, at least not to any noticeable 
degree, and the serum of black plague has, therefore, 
been applied without success in the cases at Vienna. 


380 


a statistician, and possesses none of those expert 
qualifications which the place imperatively de- 
mands. He is a spoilsman, and can be trusted 
to run the bureau on a spoils basis, from top to 
bottom. No appointment could be made which 
would so certainly secure the failure of the next 
census as a trustworthy and creditable work.’’ 


Mr. F. H. WINEs, who has been appointed 
Assistant Director of the Census, is an expert 
statistician. 

THE nomination of Mr. Barrows as Librarian 
of Congress has failed of confirmation by the 
Senate. It is to be hoped that the action of the 
Senate was due to the fact that Mr. Barrows is 
not a librarian by profession, and not to the 
fact that he is a good executive officer, who 
would probably have administered the National 
Library without regard to party considerations. 


THE civilian members of the United States 
Philippine Commission, President Schurman, of 
Cornell University ; Col. Charles Denby, and 
Professor Dean C. Worcester, of the University 
of Michigan, have arrived at Manila. 

D. ANTON Fritscu, Director of the Natural 
History Museum of Prag, who has just begun 
publishing the fourth volume of his Fauna der 
Gaskohle of the Permian of Bohemia, sails for 
New York in the Kaiser Wilhelm on March 
28th, to visit the museums of this country. 


Proressor T, KE. THorPE, F.R.S., has been 
nominated for the presidency of the Chemical 
Society, London, and Mr. William Whitaker, 
F.R.S., has been elected President of the Geo- 
logical Society, London. 

WE regret to learn that Dr. J. J. Valentini, 
the student of Mexicana, is seriously ill with 
pneumonia at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York 
City. 

Dr. H. Foster BAIN, Assistant State Geolo- 
gist of Iowa, is delivering a course of lectures 
on economic geology to the graduate students 
in geology at the University of Chicago. Dr. 
W. 5S. Beyer, professor of geology and mining 
in the Iowa State College of Agriculture and 
Mechanic Arts, has charge of the office of the 
Iowa Geological Survey at Des Moines during 
Dr. Bain’s absence. 


Mr. M. A. CARLETON, who has been engaged 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 219. 


for several years upon an investigation of the 
rusts affecting cereals, has just returned from 
Russia, where he has been collecting cereals 
for use in this country in connection with the 
investigations now being carried on by the 
Section of Seed and Plant Distribution. Mr. 
Carleton has collected much valuable material 
and information which will further the work 
of the Division of Vegetable Physiology and 
Pathology on cereal diseases and the breeding 
of new and valuable varieties. 


ARRANGEMENTS have been made by the 
Rothschilds to send Mr. G. W. Dunn on an 
expedition to the Philippine Islands for the col- 
lection of objects of natural history. Mr. Dunn 
has made many collecting expeditions to South 
America and Mexico. He is at present 85 years 
of age. 


Siagnor MArcontl described and demonstrated 
his method of wireless telegraphy at a meeting 
of the British Society of Electrical Engineers on 
March 2d. 


THE Academy of Sciences of Vienna has 
made a new departure in entertaining at a ban- 
quet Dr. Gerhardt Hauptmann, the eminent 
dramatic writer. Dr. Ed. Suess, the President, 
presided and made an address in honor of Dr. 
Hauptmann. 


ON the retirement of Mr. W. H. Preece, C.B, 
the British Postmaster-General has ‘appointed 
Mr. J. Hookey, previously assistant engineer- 
in-chief, to be engineer-in-chief of the post office, 
and he has also appointed Mr. J. Gavey to be 
assistant engineer-in-chief and electrician. 

M. BouQUET DE LA GRYE has been appointed 
President of the Council of the French Bureau 
of Meteorology. M. Darboux has been ap- 
pointed Vice-President and M. Anthoine, Secre- 
tary. 

Dr. ALLAN MCLANE HAMILTON, professor of 
mental diseases in Cornell Medical College, has 
been elected a member of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh. 

A CIvit SERVICE examination will be held 
on April 11-12, 1899, for the position of Assist- 
ant in Irrigation, Office of Experiment Stations, 
Department of Agriculture, at a salary of $1,500 
per annum. The examination will consist of 


MARrcH 10, 1899. ] 


the subjects mentioned below, which will be 
rated as follows : 


Subjects. Weights. 
Pe Dralbin ovmetetetereretctretestccleteleiielats)s/eleloxers)sVere 30 
2. Theory and practice of irrigation,....... 20 
3. Irrigation engineering,.........--...--- 20 
4. Essays on irrigation subject, ........... 20 
5. Training and experience,........-..--.- 10 
Total ye ayctasvetreroeteteleteletaleve/aVeteiricl cvetsvereYlere 100 


WE learn from Nature that at the annual 
meeting of the Russian Geographical Society, 
on February 2d, the following medals were 
awarded: The Constantine medal to Dr. Gustav 
Radde, the director of the Tiflis Museum, for 
his forty-five years’ work in the study of Russia ; 
the Count Liitke medal to J. I. Pomerantseff, 
for his researches into the forms of the earth’s 
geoid in the province of Fergana ; the Semonoff 
medal to M. Kleiber, for his investigations into 
the periods of high water in the Volga; the 
great gold medal of the Section of Ethnography 
to N. L. Gondatti, for his three years’ work of 
exploration of the Land of the Chuckchis; the 
Przewalski medal to L. A. Jaczewski, for his 
physico-geographical researches in Siberia ; and 
three smal] gold medals to M. Tachaloff, for his 
instruction of travellers in astronomical observa- 
tions; A. A. Rostkovsky, for a map of popula- 
tion in the Bitol vilayet of Turkey ; and N. A. 
Zarudnyi, for researches in Persia; a number 
of silver medals were awarded for minor works. 


IT is proposed to establish, with the sum of 
$5,000, at the University of Glasgow, a prize 
in pathology in memory of the late Professor 
Joseph Coats. 


STEPs are being taken to found a memorial in 
honor of the late Robert Hebert Quick, who 
accomplished much for the advancement of 
education in Great Britain. It is hoped that 
£500 may be collected and used to endow a 
Quick Memorial Library at the Teachers’ Guild, 
London, where Mr. Quick’s educational library 
is at present deposited. Subscriptions may be 
sent Mr. John Russell, Cripplegate, Woking 
Surrey. ; 

ARRANGEMENTS are being made to collect a 
fund in memory of the late Professor Kanthack. 
Owing to his early death, Mrs. Kanthack is not 
sufficiently provided for, and it is proposed that 


SCIENCE. 


381 


the income of the fund be given to her and at 
her death be used for a permanent memorial to 
commemorate his important contributions to 
pathology. Subscriptions may be sent to Dr. J. 
H. Drysdale, 25 Welbeck-street, London, West. 


Mason GENERAL JOSEPH J. REYNOLDS, U. 
8. A., formerly professor of mechanics and en- 
gineering at Washington University, St. Louis, 
and during and since the Civil War a distin- 
guished officer of the army, died on February 
26th, at the age of 77 years, 


THE death is announced of Alexandre La- 
boulbene, professor of the history of medicine 
in the University of Paris, at the age of 73 
years. Dr. Laboulbene had not only published 
valuable works on the history of medicine, but 
was also well known as a pathologist and ento- 
mologist, having published a ‘ Traité d’ Anato- 
mie Pathologique’ and a ‘Faune Entomologique 
Frangaise.’ 

WE regret also to record the death of Dr. 
William Rutherford, professor of physiology in 
the University of Edinburgh, which occurred on 
February 21st, from a relapse following influ- 
enza. We learn from the London Times that 
Professor Rutherford was born at Ancrum 
Craig, Roxburgshire, in 1839, and was educated 
first at Jedburgh Grammar School, and after- 
wards at Edinburgh University, where he grad- 
uated with honors in 1863, obtaining a gold 
medal for his thesis. He held office as house 
physician and house surgeon in the Edinburgh 
Royal Infirmary under Dr. Rutherford Haldane 
and Professor Spence, and then taught anatomy 
for a year in the Surgeons’-hall under Dr. 
Struthers. He afterwards went to the Conti- 
nent and studied at the great medical schools of 
Berlin, Vienna and Paris. In 1865 he was ap- 
pointed University assistant to the late Pro- 
fessor John Hughes Bennett. In 1869, when 
only 80 years of age, he was appointed profes- 
sor of physiology in King’s College, London, a 
post which he filled for five years, during three 
of which he was also Fullerian professor of 
physiology in the Royal Institution, London. 
His reputation as a teacher and lecturer spread 
rapidly, and in 1874, on the resignation of Pro- 
fessor Hughes Bennett, he was appointed to the 
chair of physiology in Edinburgh University. 


382 


Here he labored till the close of his life, and did 
much to develop the practical teaching of phys- 
iology, both in lectures and by the institution 
of practical classes. His chief work was ‘ The 
Action of Drugs on the Secretion of Bile,’ and 
he was also the author of ‘Outlines of Practical 
Histology,’ and a ‘Text-book on Physiology,’ 
besides many papers on various scientific sub- 
jects. His recent efforts were chiefly directed 
to the study of hearing, sight and other special 
senses. He was also the inventor of the freez- 
ing microtome, which has proved of great value 
in microscopical research and demonstration. 
In 1876 Professor Rutherford was elected a Fel- 
low of the Royal Society of London. 


THE French Mathematical Society is making 
active arrangements for the International Con- 
gress of Mathematicians, to be held at Paris, 
from the 6th to the 12th of August, 1900. Re- 
plies have already been received from 900 in- 
tending members. A meeting was recently 
held at Gottingen, at which representatives of 
the Academies of Vienna, Munich and Leipzig 
were present for the purpose of planning a pro- 
gram for the Congress. 


A COMMITTEE, of which Professor Newcomb 
is the chairman, is collecting information in 
regard to the best methods for observing the 
total eclipse of the sun on May 28, 1900. The 
track of the shadow runs from New Orleans to 
Norfolk and across to Spain and Algeria. Ar- 
rangements are also being made by the British 
Astronomical Society. A paper was read by Mr. 
A. C. D. Krommelin before the Society on 
February 22d. Asa result of a close study of 
the weather statistics the conclusions he drew 
were: (1) That Algiers was certainly worth 
occupying on account of its low cloud ratio, it 
accessibility and its excellent harbor; (2) that 
the Portuguese stations had a higher cloud 
ratio, but a longer totality (1 min. 36 sec., as 
compared with 1 min. 6 sec. at Algiers) ; (3) the 
region south of Madrid had a low cloud ratio, 
and several railway lines cut the shadow track, 
so that there would be no difficulty in trans- 
porting instruments; (4) the Alicante region 
seemed less clear than central Spain, but more 
so than Portugal. The Association’s special 
steamer could land detachments at various 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 219. 


points on the Portuguese and Spanish coasts, 
and then proceed to Algiers with the remainder 
of the party. It could remain at Algiers as a 
floating hotel to the party, and after the eclipse 
return by the same route, picking up the various 
detachments. 


American Gardening, New York City, offers 
prizes amounting to $150 for papers on hybrid- 
ization treated from the point of view of its 
relations to science and horticulture. The 
papers must be between 1,000 and 5,000 words 
in length and must be sent in before April 15th. 


TueE Paris Academy of Sciences has received 
a legacy of 35,000 fr. from M. Paul Frédéric 
Hély d’Oissel. 

THE late Dr. E. F. A. Obach has bequeathed 
his scientific library to the Siemens’ Engineer- 
ing Society, Woolwich, with the exception of 
his special library on india rubber, which, with 
specimens,-etc., is left to the Botanical Museum, 
Berlin. 


THE Zoological Society of London has sub- 
scribed £200 towards the fund being collected 
for a British Antarctic expedition. 


THE Goldsmith’s Company, London, has 
made a further grant, this time of £500, for the 
the continuation of experiments on the anti- 
toxin treatment of diphtheria undertaken un- 
der the direction of the Royal Colleges of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons. 


A HUNDRED-YEAR Club has been established 
in New York City, and will be glad to receive 
mnembers whose only duties are to pay the an- 
nual fees and to try to pledge themselves to en- 
deavor to live and persuade others to live more 
than a hundred years. A beginning has been 
made by a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. 


In connection with the work on pear blight 
conducted by Mr. M. B. Waite, of the Division 
of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, United 
States Department of Agriculture, an interest- 
ing feature has been developed in the way of 
growing the bacillus of blight on dormant pear 
shoots. The fact that the organism could be 
grown in this way was discovered by Mr. Waite 
about two years ago, and it furnishes means of 
throwing light ona number of points connected 


Marcu 10, 1899. ] 


with the disease. For illustrative purposes in 
class rooms or elsewhere it forms one of the 
most striking examples of the effects produced 
by a bacterial plant disease. Shoots the size of 
a lead pencil or a little larger are cut from pear 
trees, and after being washed in a clean water 
their upper ends are cut in a slanting way 
with a sharp sterilized knife. The shoots are 
then placed in a glass containing water, with 
the slanting ends free. The glass and its con- 
tents are now set in a plate or dish containing 
water, and a bell jar or large beaker placed 
over them in such a way that the rim is im- 
mersed in the water in the plate. This insures 
a saturated atmosphere and other conditions 
unfavorable to the shoots, but favorable to the 
germs themselves. Infections with pure cul- 
tures of the blight bacillus on the slanting cut 
surfaces of the shoots begin to show as beautiful, 
pearly-white, bead-like colonies in from 36 to 48 
hours, and as the disease progresses, which it 
does more or less rapidly under varying con- 
ditions of heat, the changes in the host and para- 
site may be easily watched. 

THE new Turbinia, of 220 feet in length and 
330 tons displacement, is, as we learn from the 
London Times, in an advanced state of construc- 
tion at Ellswick, and hopes are being enter- 
tained of her being tried in two months from 
the present time. The modifications found to 
be desirable after the exhaustive trials of her 
predecessor are considerable. The new vessel 
has eight propellers on four shafts, instead of 
the original Turbinia’s three shafts and nine 
propellers. Her ‘going-astern’ arrangements 
are far in advace of those of the pioneer boat, 
whose extreme speed caused great excitment 
in the Solent at the time of the Naval Review 
of 1897. ; 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


PRESIDEN! TAYLOR, of Vassar College, has 
declined the call to the presidency of Brown 
University. 


Mr. A. E. H. Love. F.R.S., Fellow of St. 
John’s College, Cambridge, and University lec- 
turer in mathematics, has been appointed Sed- 
leian professor of natural philosophy in succes- 
sion to the late Professor Bartholomew Price. 


SCIENCE. 


9QH 
000 


Mr. A. W. Hitt has been appointed dem- 
onstrator in botany in Cambridge University. 

Rotiins A. Emerson, of Washington, D. C. 
who was elected to the chair of horticulture in 
the University of Nebraska in June, 1898, as- 
sumed the duties of the position March Ist. 
After resigning his position in the Division of 
Experiment Stations in the Department of 
Agriculture, he spent some time in study in 
Cornell University before taking up his new 
duties. 

Dr. H. E. ANNETT has been appointed 
demonstrator of tropical pathology in the newly- 
founded school of tropical diseases in Liverpool. 
Both Edinburgh and Aberdeen have taken steps 
to establish lectureships on the diseases of 
tropical climates. 


THE chair of natural history at Aberdeen, 
vacant by the death of Professor Nicholson, will, 
it is expected, be divided, and professorships of 
geology and zoology will be established. 


THE late Mrs. Martha S. Pomeroy has be- 
queathed to Wellesley College $60,000 for the 
erection of a dormitory, and also the residue of 
her estate. 


WE are also glad to record the following gifts 
and bequests: Miss Maria Hopper has given 
$10,000 to Bryn Mawr College for the founda- 
tion of a scholarship. Syracuse University has 
received $5,000 from the heirs of H. H. Crary, 
of Binghamton, in accordance with the wishes 
he had expressed. The University of North 
Carolina has been given $15,000 by Mr. Julian 
S. Carr. Swarthmore College has received 
$5,000 by the will of the late Daniel Underhill. 


THE late Professor Rutherford has bequeathed 
to Edinburgh University his valuable medical 
library and his collection of physiological and 
microscopical specimens. 


On the fifteenth of February the University 
of Nebraska celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. 
It has been the custom for many years to ob- 
serve ‘Charter Day’ as a holiday, and to have 
parades, military exercises, addresses, etc., and 
for several years degrees have been conferred 
upon such students as completed their work at 
this time. On the present occasion seven stu- 
dents received the bachelor’s degree and two 


384 


the master’s degree. The University address 
was given by Dr. A. F. Nightingale, Superin- 
tendent of High Schools, Chicago. During 
the evening exercises Governor Poynter made 
the welcome announcement that he had that 
morning signed the ‘ University Revenue Bill’ 
and that it was now the law of the State. This 
bill is one in which all the friends of the Uni- 
versity were much interested. It provides first 
for the classification and handling of the funds 
of the University, as follows: The permanent 
endowment fund, the temporary University 
fund, the University cash fund, the United 
States Morrill fund and the agricultural ex- 
periment station fund, and requires that the 
State Treasurer shall be the custodian of all Uni- 
versity funds. The second and by far the most 
important provision is that by which the Uni- 
versity tax is increased from three-eighths of a 
mill to one mill on each dollar of valuation of 
the ‘grand assessment roll’ of the State. This 
will place a much larger sum in the hands of 
the Regents of the University and will enable 
them to plan for larger things in the future. 
It is one of the most important acts of any 
Legislature in Nebraska in its bearing upon 
higher education. 


WE hope that the following item printed in 
the San Francisco Call is correct: ‘‘ Three 
measures for the benefit of Stanford University 
have been presented in the California Senate. 
They are in the form of amendments to the po- 
litical code, allowing corporations formed for 
educational purposes to accept gifts and be- 
quests. When the bills finally become laws 
Mrs. Stanford stands ready to turn over her 
own personal fortune of more than $5,000,000 
to the college, and Governor Stanford’s 
brother, who has made a fortune in Australia, 
will turn over in installments nearly $15,000,- 
000 more. This vast sum, with the present 
funds at the disposal of the college, will place 
it on a financial standing far beyond its com- 
petitors. Under the present provisions of the 
codes an educational institution cannot accept 
a gift or bequest. It was the intent of the law 
to prevent certain eleemosynary institutions 
from securing possession of large tracts of land 
and sums of money, and hold them; with no 
benefit to anyone, and so when it was desired 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. VoL. IX. No. 219. 


to endow the University with all the Stanford 
millions it was found to be impossible to do so 
under the laws of the State. It was about a 
year ago that the Australian Stanford first 
broached the subject of adding his millions to 
those of his brother. It had always been Gov- 
ernor Stanford’s wish that his childless and kin- 
less brother should follow his example regard- 
ing the University, and a year ago it was decided 
to bring the two fortunes together.’’ 

THE annual report of President Eliot, of Har- 
vard University for 1897, is, as usual, an edu- 
cational document of great importance. With 
the appended reports of the deans of the facul- 
ties and schools and the directors of the scien- 
tific establishments it contains 322 pages, and 
the report of the Treasurer is given in much de- 
tail, occupying 89 pages. Among the subjects 
considered is President Eliot’s favorite plan of 
reducing the College course to three years, it be- 
ing pointed out that more than one-third of the 
students do practically complete the work re- 
quired inthis time. Itis noted that men of high 
scholarship are fully equal to others in physical 
development, as shown by the gymnasium rec- 
ords. President Eliot finds that during the past 
twenty-seven years the number of members of 
the faculty has increased more rapidly than the 
number of students and that the average ages 
of the members of the faculty has decreased 
by less than one year. The instructors of the 
first three classes are considerably older than 
formerly, while the instructors of the senior 
class are younger. The average age of the 
Harvard instructor is about forty years. Dur- 
ing the year the requirements for admission to 
Harvard College and the Lawrence Scientific 
School were revised in a manner favorable to 
the sciences. The text-book study of physics 
and astronomy is omitted and four new sub- 
jects are offered, namely, astronomy, physiog- 
raphy, meteorology and anatomy, with physi- 
ology and hygiene. No reason is given for not 
allowing zoology or botany to be elected, yet 
these are perhaps the sciences which can be 
best taught in the ordinary preparatory schools. 
The terms of admission to the Lawrence Scien- 
tific School will, we are glad to learn, gradually 
be raised to substantial equality with those of 
of the College. 


SCIENCE. N. 8., Vou. TX., PLATE II. 


Fic. 4. Adjustment for transverse space waves. 


Fie.1. Belt plate, ete. 


Fie. 5. Adjustment for compounding circular and 
plane polarized waves. 


Fic. 2. Cam axles with one, two and three wave- 
lengths. if 


Fie. 3. Adjustment for plane polarized waves. Fie. 6. Adjustment for rotary polarization. 


BARUS ON HARMONIC MOTION. 


CIENCE 


EpITroRIAL ComMiTrEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaRD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. Marsu, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 

C. Harr Merriam, Zoology; 8. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. Britton, 
Botany; Henry F. Oszorn, General Biology; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; 

H. P. BowpircH, Physiology; J. S. BrLLines, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, 

Psychology; DANIEL G. BRINTON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Marcon 17, 1899. 


CONTENTS: ~ 


The Objective Presentation of Harmonic Motion (with 
Plate II.) : PRoFEssOR CARL BARUS... 


The Work of the U. S. Fish Commission. .........+-++++ 


Engineering and the Professions in Education : PRO- 
FESSOR R. H. THURSTON ............00cseceeeeseeeees 407 
Scientific Books :— 
Loew’s Die Chemischen Energie der lebenden Zel- 
len: DR. ALBERT F. Woops. Davis’s Physical 


Geography : PROFESSOR ALBERT PERRY BRIG- 
HAM. General. 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Geological Club of the University of Minne- 
sota: Dr. F. W. SARDESON. The Botanical 
Club of the University of Chicago. Entomological 
Society of Washington: Dr. L. O. HOWARD. 
The Academy of Science of St. Louis : PROFESSOR 
WIELEAMIERREDWASE Hf ociiocscsvecsecsccnesescasceses 412 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Importance of Establishing Specific Place- 
Modes: PRorESSOR CHAS. B. DAVENPORT. 
Identity of Common and Labrador White-Fish : 
Dr. TARLETON H. Bean. A_ Date-Palm 
Scale Insect : PROFESSOR T. D. A. COCKERELL. 
The Choicerofa-Hlements (si DenD)ierc-ssccset «sce: 415 


Astronomical Notes :— 
Tuttle's Comet; A New Star in Sagittarius: 
PROFESSOR E. C. PICKERING.......00..sc0esceeees 417 
Notes on Physics :— 


Electrie Wire Waves; A New Indicator for Elec- 
trie Waves; The Electric Discharge in Rarefied 
Gas ; Brilliancy of Light Sources: W.S. F. The 
Magnetization of Iron ; General: A. St. C. D.... 418 


ISCLENTUfLCHNOLES ONAPNEWSicecteoslasecucesseeisecienseenecssiers 
University and Educational News 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE OBJECTIVE PRESENTATION OF HAR- 
MONIC MOTION. 


CONTENTS. 


DESCRIPTION OF A WAVE MACHINE. 
1. Introductory. 
2. General construction. 
3. Cam axles. 
4. Levers, riders and balls. 
Action of the machine. 
5. Method of compounding. 
6. Plane transverse waves. 
7. Transverse space waves. 
8. Compressional space waves. 
9. Rotary polarization. 
EXPERIMENTS. 
10. Method of designating phases. 
11. Do. Space waves. 
12. Effective cirles of reference. 
I. Compound S. H. M’s coplanar of the same wave~ 
length. 
13. Plane polarization curves. 
14. Waves of constant amplitude. 
15. Waves of varying amplitude. 
Il. Preceding case (I) with additional velocity 
superimposed on either wave-plane. 
16. Beats. 
17. Déppler’s principle. 
III. Preceding cases (I and IL) with the velocity 
of either wave-train reversed. 
18. Equal velocities. Stationary waves. 
tion. 
19. Wandering nodes. 
IV. Component S. H. M’s at right angles to each 
other, of the same amplitude and wave-length. 
20. Elliptic polarization. 
VY. Preceding case (IV) with component velocities 
and periods unequal. 
21. Incommensurable periods. 
VI. Preceding case (IV) with either component 
velocity reversed. 


Plane waves. 


Reflec- 


386 


22. Velocities equal. 
23. Velocities unequal 
VII. Preceding case (IV) adjusted for 
polarization. 
24. Plane and helical compounds. 
VILI. Waves of compression and rarefaction. 
25. Longitudinal vibration. 
26. Reflection. 
IX. Component 8. H. M’s. coplanar, with wave- 
length ratio, 1:2. 
27. Harmonic curves. 
28. Waves. 
29. Case IX with component velocities unequal. 
30. Case LX with one component velocity reversed. 
X. Component S. H. M’s. at right angles to each 
other, with wave-length ratio 1:2. 
31. Harmonie curves. 
32. Waves. 
33. Case X with component velocities unequal. 
XI. Components 8S. H. M’s. coplanar with wave- 
length ratio 2:3. 
34. Plane harmonies and waves. 
XII. Component S. H. M’s. at right angles to each 
other with wave-length ratio, 2:3. 
35. Transverse space waves. 
XIII. Component harmonics circular and vertically 
simple harmonic of any wave-length ratio. 
36. Harmonic curves for equal component wave- 
lengths. 
37. Waves. 
38. Curves and waves for other component wave- 
lengths. 
XIV. Component harmonics both circular, of any 
wave-length ratio, and opposite in direction. 
39. Remarks on the machine. 
40. Rotary polarization. Equal component wave- 
lengths 
41. Do. Unequal periods and velocities. 
42. Unequal component wave-lengths. 
velocities 
43. Do. Unequal velocities. 
44. Right-handed circular component harmonics. 
45. Do Unequal velocities. Equal wave-lengths. 
46. Do. Unequal wave-lengths. 


rotary 


Equal 


DESCRIPTION OF A WAVE MACHINE.* 


1. Introductory. — Although wave ma- 
chines of a variety of special patterns are 
well known, none of them, to my knowledge, 
are sufficiently comprehensive in design to 
embody in a single mechanism the types of 


*Compiled from notes on lectures delivered at 
Brown University. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 220. 


harmonic motion met with in acoustics, 
light, electricity and elsewhere, with a clear 
bearing on their kinematic analysis. I will, 
therefore, venture to describe such a ma- 
chine, even at the risk of becoming prolix, 
believing the apparatus to be more complete 
than any similar machine which I have 
seen, and having, after considerable expe- 
rience, become assured of its usefulness in 
class work. 

The machine which I have in view must 
be able, in the first place, to compound any 
two simple harmonic curves for any differ- 
ence of amplitude period and phase. The 
compound harmonic of two, or, at the most, 
three, components is quite complex enough 
for illustration, and whatever advantage 
may be gained from further components is 
more than counterbalanced by additional 
complexity of apparatus. The wave ma- 
chine must next be able to set all the com- 
pound harmonies in vigorous motion,* thus 
producing what I should like to call a train 
of resolute complex waves (not decrepit 
waves or waves of deficient vitality); it 
must do this when the components (meet- 
ing at the origin initially in any difference 
of amplitude period or phase) travel with 
the same or with different velocities in the 
same direction or in opposite directions. 
The latter adjustment affords an admirable 
illustration of the phenomenon of station- 
ary waves, either with fixed or with wan- 
dering nodes; the other an equally apt 
illustration of musical beats for slight dif- 
ferences of periods or slight differences of 
wave velocity. Doppler’s principle is thus 
put in evidence. Relative to stationary 
waves the adjustment is to be set either for 
reflection with or without change of phase 
in such a way as to clear up the wretched 
confusion which usually surrounds this sub- 
ject in elementary physics. 

With these possibilities for plane polar- 


*In this respect the photographs fail utterly to sug- 
gest the beauty of the machine when in action. 


MARCH 17, 1899. ] 


ized waves, the apparatus must next fully 
represent the corresponding cases for trans- 
verse‘waves in space. It must, therefore, 
represent all cases of elliptic and of higher 
(one might say Lissajous) polarization, 
both as regards the compounding of har- 
monic curves for all differences of amplitude 
period and phase of the two components 
and the corresponding waves resulting for 
like or different velocities of the compo- 
nents in the same or in opposite directions. 
It must show that the section of such waves 
are Lissajous curves for the particular 
ratio selected, and that these curves are 
either fixed or in uniform variation as the 
component wave-lengths, velocities and 
periods correspond or not. 

The machine should, furthermore, be able 
to compound simple harmonic and circular 
motion, showing both the complex har- 
monies and the waves, to which all variety 
can be given by changes of amplitude, 
period and phase. Indeed, types of singular 
complexity are thus obtainable. 

Again, the machine should compound two 
opposite uniform circular motions, differing 
in period or wave velocity or both, showing 
the helical harmonic curves as well as the 
twisted vibratory waves, with special refer- 
ence to rotary polarization. 

Finally, compressional waves must be ob- 
tainable,and this with particular reference to 
their inherently simple harmonic character. 

The machine itself must be made not only 
of easily replaceable parts and sufficiently 
simple to resist wear and tear, but so fash- 
ioned that the functions of the active ap- 
purtenances may be understood from mere 
inspection. As I have carried it out, the 
machine is built almost entirely of stout tin 
plate (about -027” thick) folded to secure 
rigidity, with axles of brass tube to facilitate 
soldering. Anybody in possession of an 
ordinary roofman’s tin bender* for making 


*The edge around which the plate is bent should 
be rounded. Sharp bends are not wanted. 


SCIENCE. 387 


lap joints, and a little skill in soldering, can 
make the machine for himself at a trifling 
cost. 

2. General Construction.—Fig. 1 shows the 
bed plate of the machine with the attached 
permanent frame work of tin plate; the 
movable cam axles, AB and CD; the driv- 
ing wheels or pulley cones, EF, with belt 
and crank, and the removable back plates, 
GG vertical and /7 horizontal. 

The framework of the rectangular shape 
seen is made up of strips of tin plate bent 
into an elongated C-section, as shown in 
Figure 7, firmly soldered together and 
screwed down to the baseboard. The up- 
rights which carry the axles are similarly 
made, fastened and suitably braced. A 
very light and open but strong frame is 
thus obtained which could be used even 
without the board. The slight yielding 
which remains is rather an advantage. 

The hollow cam axles AB and CD of 
brass, about 25” long, parallel and 15” apart 
at the same height, are sustained at the ends 
Aand Cby pins a and e secured by metal 
straps of copper at the ends of the uprights. 
The pins project about 1” or 2’ into the 
axles, so that the latter may revolve around 
them securely. The ends B and D of the 
cam axles similarly receive the reduced and 
shouldered axles of the pulley cones H and 
F, and spring latch pins (one visible at D, 
andin Fig. 2 at the other figures) fasten 
the pulleys rigidly to the respective cam 
axles. 

Detached cam axles are shown in Figure 2. 
The pulleys are grooved so that the speed 
ratios 4:2, 4:38, 4:4, 4:6 may be imparted 
to the axles by successively moving the belt 
from front to rear. They are mounted in a 
horizontal rectangle on four uprights corre- 
sponding to axles at the corners, and any 
tension given to the belt bears longitudi- 
nally upon the rectangle without straining 
framework. The rectangle is wide enough 
to allow the pulleys to slide laterally when- 


388 


ever a cam axle is to be removed. This is 
done for the front axle, for instance, as 
follows: Let the metal strap at c be 
loosened and the pin therein withdrawn ; 
this frees the end C. Now let the spring 
latch at D be withdrawn and the axle of 
pulley F’slid to the right. This frees the 
end D. The cam axle may now be with- 
drawn to be replaced by another on re- 
versing these operations. 

3. Cam aales.—Each of the cam axles 
(Figs. 1 and 2) carries 25 eecentrics of thick 
tin plate, equidistant, about 1” apart and 
differing in phase by ;; circumference in 
Fig. 1, so that in this case there are two 
complete right-handed turns in each of the 
helices. The diameter of the rear eccen- 
tries is 4’, with a double swing of 3”; the 
diameter of the front eccentrics is 3’’, with 
a double swing of 2”, but this series has 
an advantage of position or leverage, as 
will presently be seen. A safe minimal 
margin of } beyond the axle is thus left in 
each case. 

It is usually convenient to keep the rear 
axlein place. In the room of the front axle, 
however, the other right-handed helices 
(Fig. 2), containing respectively 1 or 3 turns 
to the whole length ; another containing one 
right-hand and one left-hand helix (the 
eccentrics alternating), and a final one left- 
handed, with 4” cams and 3” throw, corre- 
sponding to the rear axle (see Fig. 6), are 
provided. The two latter are adopted for 
the illustration of rotary polarization. The 
three former are a means of obtaining wave- 
length ratios 1:1, 1:2, 2:3 for all ampli- 
tudes, periods and phases on removing the 
front axle only. 

The general purposes of the machine will 
not require more axles than this, though I 
have used others to be referred to below. 

_The eccentrics themselves of the heavy 
tin plate specified are turned together to a 
common size on the lathe, and soldered to 
the axle by aid of a suitable gauge. This 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 220. 


need merely be a piece of board of a width 
corresponding to the distance apart of the 
cams, and having the phase angle carefully 
marked on both sides. If the board is per- 
forated normally for the reception of the 
axle, and cut across axially so as to be re- 
movable, the soldering of the cam axles is 
surprisingly easy. I have also tried other 
methods with success. The work must be 
done expeditiously, as prolonged heat warps 
the cams. 

The helices shown in the figure are usually 
right-handed screws. Since they are sta- 
tionary, a wave advancing from the operator 
corresponds to counter-clockwise rotation. 
This is an apparent disadvantage as com- 
pared with left-handed stationary screws, 
but as the waves in the former case advance 
from left to right (positively for the observer 
in front) for clockwise rotation by an oper- 
ator on the right of the machine the dispo- 
sition chosen is preferable. 

4, Levers, Riders and Balls.—To obtain the 
different types of wave motion from the 
cams described, long extensible levers of 
thin brass tube are provided, shown in de- 
tail in Fig. 8 (longitudinal dimensions }, 
cross dimensions +), and in place in the re- 
maining figures. 

The levers were originally made of heavy 
guttered tin plate behind and light guttered 
tin plate in front. Latterly, however, I re- 
placed these by the light extensible ‘ curtain 
rods’ of very thin brass tube,* consisting 
of a round tube F snugly telescoping into a 
wider round tube FF’, about 5/16” in diam- 
eter. The first tube / is provided with an 
axial pin Fk, 3” long, carrying a 1/2", cork 
ball Q (painted red), representing one of 
the vibrating particles of the wave. The 
rod #& is not seen in sunshine shadows and 
is added for this reason. Its end is tipped 


* These ‘rods’ are in the market, each about two 
feet long, thus admitting of a safe extension to much 
over three feet. Though made of thin split tube, 
they fit well. The price is trifling. 


MARcH 17 1899. ] 


with an eyelet (not shown), to actuate 
other apparatus §S8, 25, 24. 

The larger tube FF” carries a U-shaped 
wide gutter of tin plate K in front, soldered 
to FF’ and adapted to ride on one of the 
front series of eccentrics. The section 
through J is seen in thé auxiliary figure J, 
showing all the sectional parts E, F, K in 
their relative positions. KK is 74” long and 
must be carefully placed so as to be adapted 
to the various types of wave motion. Its 
position in figure is in the scale specified. 

The rear of the tube FF’ is fitted with a 
similar set of gutters of tin plate, Mand L, 
meeting at right angles with their concave 
sides rearward and downward. This right- 
angled gutter is adapted to ride on one of 
the cams of the rear axle, the bearing be- 
ing on M or ZL, or both, as the case may be. 
The section is shown in JJ. The gutter M 
terminates in a flat fork, securing and guid- 
ing a small vertical roller 0, as shown in 
the figure. 


Fig.10. 


Fias. 7 to 10. Details. 


| 
| Za 
1 


To bind the levers firmly down upon the 
rear cams, a long staple of thin steel wire 
(No. 16) P is attached about 5’’ below #F’. 
As shown in plan in Fig. 9, this is about 
5’ long and pulled downward to the rear 
by a helical spring the action of which is 
indicated by the arrow in Fig. 8. The rear 
ends of all helical springs are soldered to a 


SCIENCE. 389 


common cross rod (seen at S in Figs. 4 
and 5), and they are adjusted as to tension 
and direction by sliding both ends of the 
rod § along oblique notched laths of tin 
plate 7’ on both sides of the machine. The 
springs themselves appear clearly in Fig. 4, 
and the riders in different positions in the 
other figures. The cams in rotating run 
within the loop of the elastic staple P, and 
sufficient breadth must be given for clear- 
ance. The springs should be as light as 
practicable to obviate excess of friction on 
the axle. Steel wire No. 23, wound to a 
closed helix about 1/2”in diameter and 1/2” 
long, is suitable. 

The length of the gutter Z is 6’, of Mf to 
the end of the roller 74”, and they are sol- 
dered tol” to correspond with K. 

As regards sure guidance and ease 
of adjustment, springs placed in the 
rear of the machine are to be preferred. 
With less advantage they may be placed 
between the axles, as was done in my 


Fia. 12. 


Diagram. 


earlier apparatus. Levers heavier at their 
rear ends are desirable, and in some exper- 
iments, if not in all, the machine should be 
tipped up in front. Waves may then be 
sent along the axis with considerable veloc- 
ity. 
ACTION OF THE MACHINE. 
5. Method of Compounding.—Very little 


«£0 SCIENCE. 


need be said about the action of the ma- 
chine. It is clear that if the rear ends 
of the levers are horizontally at rest, 
but execute S. H.'M.* in the vertical 
by riding nearly parallel to themselves on 
the rotating cams, the balls Q would exe- 
cute similarly approximate S. H. M. if the 
fulerum AK were a common axis for all; but 
if the fulerum A, though horizontally at rest 
also executes S. H. M. in the vertical the 
motion at @ will be the complex harmonic 
of which the two stated motions (Mand JK’) 
determine the components. 

Again, if the rear end of the lever is ver- 
tically at rest, but executes S. H. M. in the 
horizontal by leaning against the rotating 
cams rearward (rider 1), the ball @Q will 
do the same provided the slide at Kis ina 
parallel plane ; but if the rider A simul- 
taneously executes S. H. M. in the vertical 
the motion at Q is the complex space har- 
monie corresponding to the two components 
stated, etc. 

Finally the wave-length ratio is given by 
the cam axles ; period ratios are determined 
by the pulleys or by the velocities of rota- 
tion imparted to those axles, respectively ; 
the cam axle and pulley ratios together 
then determine the velocities of propaga- 
tion of the component waves, 

6. Plane Transverse Waves.—With these 
explanations the remaining figures will be 
intelligible. 

Fig. 3 is the arrangement for plane po- 
larization. In this case all the levers abut 
at their rear ends against the vertical plate 
G, with freedom to slide up and down it in 
virtue of the rollers O (Fig. 8) when the 
wave is in motion. Grooves for O are an 
advantage. Riders K and JM are here in 
action, rider J being kept quite in front of 
the cams by the plate G. The levers are 
continually pushed to the rear by the clock- 
wise rotation at the crank, and additionally 
by the rearward action of the springs. 


*Simple harmonic motion. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 220. 


A notched lath (not shown in the figures), 
stretching quite across the machine between 
the axles and swung horizontally and up- 
ward on a swivel, is adapted to lifting all the 
levers at once quite above the front cam so as 
to permit the easy insertion of another cam 
axle. Riding on this rail the levers show the 
simple harmonic due to the rear axle alone. 

7. Transverse Space Waves.—The machine 
is adjusted for space wavesin Fig. 4. Here 
the rear ends of the levers are lifted so as 
to rollin the fore and aft grooves of the 
horizontal plate Hin virtue of the rollers 
O. Riders M are lifted quite above the 
cams, while riders AZ and the grooves on 
H now control the motion, the levers being 
drawn rearward by the spring. The figure 
shows a circularly polarized wave passing 
along the particles, being compounded of 
the horizontal rear wave seen on H and the 
vertical wave above the front axle. Of 
course, an inspection of the apparatus is 
more satisfactory. 

In a recent construction I have modified 
the rear plates G and H, discarding H and 
adopting Gin such a way that it may be 
slid from its vertical position into the hori- 
zontal position (H) by following lateral 
guides much like the platen of a printing 
press. The plate now carries all the rear 
ends of the levers with it, which much facili- 
tates the change from plane to space waves 
and vice versa. The grooves on the plate 
are preferably much wider and deeper than 
shown in Figure 4. 

In Fig. 5 the machine is in the act of 
compounding the circular motion of the 
rear axle with the vertical 8. H. M. of the 
front axle. The back plate is wholly re- 
moved and the three riders K M L (Fig. 8) 
now come into play. The figure shows the 
horizontal 8. H. curve, resulting for oppo- 
site phases of the vertical components. S. 
H. structure above the front axle and the 
circular harmonic arrangement of the rollers 
in the rear is manifest. 


MAkcH 17, 1899.] 


8. Compressional Space Waves.—Either of 
the adjustments, Figs. 4 and 5, is adapted to 
actuate sound waves, as will be shown below, 
§ 25. 

9. Rotary Polarization.—Figure 6 shows 
the apparatus adapted to compound two 
equal and opposite circular motions, Fig. 
10 being a detail relative to it. Both the 
front and rear series of eccentrics have the 
same diameter and swing, but there is one 
turn in front to two in the rear, respectively 
left and right. The riders are gutters 
about 4’ long, joined at right angles with 
the concave sides toward the eccentrics. 
The extensible levers ‘(tubular as above) 
are soidered in the prolongation of the bi- 
sectrix of the riders, and project from the 
salient side of the right angle obliquely up- 
ward, each passing through a perforation in 
the horizontal Jaths of folded tin plate shown 
at U U’ and V V’. The levers are effect- 
ively about 18’ long, and are held down 
upon the cams by springs * (like the above) | 
one end of each of which engages the lever, 
while the other is revolubly attached to the 
axle, between the cams (see Fig. 6). If 
U U' and V JV’ (adjustable) are symmetric- 
ally placed with reference to the two effect- 
ive ends of the levers the upper ends will 
trace a circle-like figure, corresponding to 
the circular motion of the lower ends. 
With the pulleys cross-belted as shown, the 
pin eyelets XY Y (3” long, soldered axially 
to the upper ends) may then be adjusted to 
the counter circular motion indicated in 
Fig. 10. 

Two methods of compounding were tried. 
In the first the ends of two silk threads, 
Fig. 10, carrying the cork W (vibrating 
particle) between them were fastened to 
delicate helical springs surrounding the 
upper ends of the levers. This method con- 
structs the wave very well, but in motion 
the friction at the eyelets (one of which is 
often high and the other vertically below 


* These springs are seen on the helix in Fig. 2. 
) 


SCIENCE. 


39] 


it) ig apt to be too unequal to keep the 
particle in the symmetrical position neces- 
sary. Better results are obtained by stretch- 
ing a very thin India rubber band, dd ee, 
between the eyelets, carrying the particle 
as before. Springs were similarly tested. 
Parallelogram motion is hardly appreciable 
here without elaborate construction. 

The vertical vibration is in this way very 
well obtained (of course, in semi-amplitude). 
The horizontal vibration is noticeably curvi- 
linear, seeing that the two motions com- 
pounded are not quite uniformly circular. 
Even in this case, however, the connectors 
dd ce move parallel to themselves. 

The helical characters of the wave ob- 
tained is well shown in Fig. 6, calling to 
mind that each ball vibrates normally to 
the strings by which it is suspended. 

The laths U V are supported by uprights 
Z Z', which fit in flat sockets (seen at J, in 
Figs. 4 and 5). With these the whole 
superstructure of laths, levers and riders is 
removed from the machine at once in a 
manner easily suggested. The bed plate 
then returns to the appearance of Fig. 1. 

The method of obtaining similar results 
in compounding circular motion for the case 
of Fig. 4 is given below §24. A special cam 
axle carrying two screws (alternate cams 
differing 180° in phase) is here needed. If 
rotary polarization is wanted tke wave- 
lengths of the front and rear axle must 
differ. 

EXPERIMENTS. 

10. Method of Designating Phases.—Before 
describing the consecutive experiments to 
be performed with the machine, it is well 
to come to an understanding as to the phases 
in which the two component disturbances 
meet. These are conveniently determined 
by the long axes of the first eccentrics on 
each axle, which (axes) may, therefore, be 
called pointers. Since the waves for clock- 
wise rotation at the crank travel from left 
to right, along the axle, and since a rise of 


392 SCIENCE. 


the front cams elevates the balls, whereas 
a rise of the rear cams depresses them, the 
two component waves will meet in the same 
phase at the origin when the long axes of 
the eccentrics there point horizontally away 
from each other, i. ¢., when the front 
pointer is to the front or left of the opera- 
tor at the crank, and the rear pointer to his 
right. This is also the null position, or zero 
of phase (to be marked + 0), for the first 
particle of each component wave, 7. e., the 
particle on the left hand (origin) of the 
observer facing the machine in front. Both 
component harmonic curves and the com- 


[N.S. Von. EX. No. 220. 


of both axles over 1, 2 and 3 right angles, 
while the compound harmonic is shoved 
forward },4,# wave-length. Further rota- 
tion of 90° restores the original case. 

If the two cam axles contain the same 
number of turns, the same phase difference 
obviously corresponds toall particles. Other- 
wise special consideration is necessary for 
each case. 

Restoring the front and rear cam axles 
to their original positions (pointers horizon- 
tally outward), rotate the rear axle 90°, 
clockwise, relative to the other. This puts 
all its particles 90° ahead in phase of the 


TABLE OF PHASE DIFFERENCES. CLOCKWISE ROTATION OF AXLES, POSITIVE. DISPLACEMENTS OF PAR- 


TICLES UPWARD AND REARWARD, POSITIVE. 


| ao HA Bo Hd ao Hd ao Kod 
Transverse Plane Waves. | Transverse Space Waves. oF Sind oy SH) ou Ett oy Ete! 
a Sates a AUets Ma ALU near | Bs | as |i e< | ad |) ee | ad | ea | wa 
Same Phases. +0 +0 |} +m | +m || —o —0 || —m | —m 
o A : i A 
<= | ee ib i [essere | Oe [ is 
Front ) Rear i 
Ae s + 270°, nee st 90211 inet 0, +m +m —0 —0 —m —m +0 
Front ). Rear 7 +Q | —m +m 0 ==10, ae = 
Axle § qag0as rer fede 4 + a se ( 
| ad i i se || > | : | ——— 
<= A th 
Same Phases. +0 +0 +m +m —0 —0 | —™m mee 
ea eae wash ie i oe | ae 
Opposite Phases. On Ole ta 20e. —m || —0 +0 | —m +m 
A as Paes i 
<= |<= , => | SS 
AN Hi Y 
pee + 90°, Beas | +270° ceo ea ia OH Oba) eon t—me 
ety EE EL Soest ve | tenes Eo oe ea || —_——|-_—||— | a 
Front 70) eaL a | it _ = = — 
iAGcle \ + 270°, ee + 90° ||} +0 +m +m 0 0 m m +0 
Opposite Phases. +0 —0 +m —m —0 +0 —m +m 


pound harmonic leave the origin with a 
descending node, the head of the wave 
(right semi-wave) being a crest. Absence 
of phase difference in the component har- 
monics of the particle at the origin will 
occur for other cardinal positions of the 
pointers, viz: front and rear pointers re- 
spectively up and down (maxima, marked 
+m), right and left or towards each other 
(mean position marked — 0), and down 
and up (minima, marked —m). These 
follow each other on like clockwise rotation 


corresponding particles of the front wave. 
The pointers in their cardinal positions will 
now be respectively left and down, up and 
left, right and up, down and right to the 
operator, etc., for successive additional rota- 
tions of 90° each. 

Beginning again with pointers away from 
each other, 7. e., with both component, 8. H. 
motions starting at the first particle, let the 
front axle be rotated clockwise 90° rela- 
tively to the other. The pointers in their 
cardinal positions will now be up and right, 


MARkcH 17, 1899. ] 


right and down, down and left, left and up, 
while the particles at the origin run through 
all phases together. This case corresponds 
to the preceding for 270°, ete. 

All this is evident enough; but it is, 
nevertheless, advisable to make a diagram 
of the position of the pointers as here 
shown, in order instantly to discern the 
phases in which the initial particles meet in 
any case. In the table the positions of the 
pointers are designated by arrows; + m de- 
notes maximum displacement, etc. Further 
explanation will be given presently. 

11. Space Waves.—The composition of two 
simple harmonics at right angles to each 
other will necessarily require special treat- 
ment, for here the rear riders are at right 
angles to those of the former case, and the 
S. H. motion of the rear axle is not reversed 
at the balls. If displacement up and for- 
ward from the observer’s view be consid- 
ered positive, then the null position or zero 
of phase of the particles at the origin corre- 
sponds to pointers left for the front axle and 
up for the rear axle, as seen by the operator. 
The compound simple harmonic of these 
components is thus a linear vibration with 
amplitude “2, as regards the equal com- 
ponents, and making an angle of 45° to the 
horizontal from the observer to the machine. 
It thus lies in the first quadrant, as seen by 
the operator at the crank. 

Both component S. H. curves leave the 
origin with a descending node. 

Hence, if in the above table we shove the 
first column of entries one row ahead, 7. e., 
if we begin for no phase difference with the 
second row and continue in cyclical order, 
the table will be adapted to the present case. 
Pointers in opposite directions will thus 
correspond to counter-clockwise circular 
motion in the compound wave; pointers in 
the same direction to clockwise circular 
motion, as seen by the operator at the crank. 
The first of these cases will, however, cor- 
respond to a right-handed, the second to a 


SCIENCE. 


393 


left-handed, screw when seen from the ori- 
gin, since all waves move from left to right. 

The table contains an entry relative to 
the present case. It thus indicates 16 car- 
dinal phase differences for plane and the 
same number for space waves. 

12. Effective Circles of Reference.—Finally, 
a word may be said as to the position of the 
circles of reference corresponding to the two 
component §. H. motions. Clearly, the cen- 
ters of the eccentrics (marked in Fig. 1) de- 
termine the amplitude of theS. H. M. In 
all phases, however, the riders are nearly 
normally above or else to the rear of these 
centers by a distance equal to the radius of 
the eccentric, and, therefore, always in the 
same kind of reciprocating motion which 
corresponds to the amplitude and period of 
the eccentric. 

Hence the circle of reference of the ver- 
tical 8. H. M. is on a vertical diameter and 
tangent to the highest and lowest positions 
of the edge of the eccentric on the same side 
of the axle. The diameter prolonged passes 
vertically through the cam axis, and its 
length is twice the throw of the center of 
eccentric. This circle of reference for the 
horizontal S. H. M. of the riders (displace- 
ment + rearward) is on a horizontal diam- 
eter and tangent to the extreme right and 
left positions of the edge of the eccentric on 
the same side of the axle. 

The amplitude of tbe vertical vibrations 
is modified by the lengths given to the ex- 
tensible levers. If 1 be the lever length 
between the axles and /’ that beyond the 
axles, and if a, a denote the front ‘and 
rear amplitude at the eccentrics, then the 
effective amplitude at the particles will be 
a(l+l’) /Land al'/l, and their ratio 

aati 
a) UE 
may be varied at pleasure from zero to 


about 9/8, since U is the extensible part. 
Usually the ratio one is desirable. 


394 


The amplitudes of the horizontal vibra- 
tions do not admit of change without giving 
useless complexity to the machine. Ad- 
vantageous lever ratios will be given with 
the experiments. 

I. Component S. H. Motions Coplanar, of the 
same Wave-Length. 13. Plane Polarization.— 
Let cam axles each with two complete turns 
be selected and the rear plate adjusted to 
the vertical (Fig.3). For harmonic curves 
this implies the same wave-length for the 
coexisting 8. H. motions. With the cams 
swinging nearly as 2:3, and lever ratios 
(+l and U ($12) as 3:2, the occurrence 
of no displacement along the line of parti- 
cles may be looked for in case of opposite 
phases. This furnishes a method of adjust- 
ing the particles at the outset. Practically 
the condition of no displacement is reached 
with relatively short levers, say a meter 
long. When the pointers on the initial 
cams are away from each other the com- 
ponents meet in the same phase, with the 
first particle in the axis of motion just about 
to start vibrating. The double amplitude 
given by the machine to this compound 
harmonic (25” long) of maximum displace- 
ment is about 9’. Ifa beam of parallel 
rays (sun light) be shot along the axis of 
the wave, the shadow of the balls on a 
screen normal to the axis necessarily be- 
trays slight curvature ; the double ampli- 
tude, instead of being vertical and straight, 
is coneave toward the cams. But the 
chord deviates from the are (9’’) by less 
than 1/2” at the center, and hence with 
balls 1/2’ in diameter the curvature is 
negligible to the eye of an observer in front. 
It must be remembered, however, that 
curvature is Superimposed in all subsequent 
higher figures. 

If the front cam axle be dephased 90° 
clockwise the amplitude of the compound 
curve is diminished, the curve remaining 
sinusoidal but beginning with 1/8 wave- 
length. If the rear cam axle is also de- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 220. 


phased 90° clockwise the compound curve 
of the first case is restored in the shadow 
(maximum amplitude), but the phase of 
the first particle has advanced 1/4 period 
and the curve itself 1/4 wave-length, etc. 
I allude to these points because of their 
value ininstruction. (Cf. table,$10.) By 
the very make-up of the machine a 8. H. 
curve is seen to result when the phase dif- 
ference of two particles varies as their dis- 
tance apart. In drawing such a curve it is 
simpler to place the circle of reference in 
the plane of the harmonic; in the machine 
the circle of reference is preferably placed 
at right angles to the curve. The addition 
of two such curves is another S. H. curve of 
the phase and amplitude directly specified 
by the machine. 

14. Waves of Constant Amplitude.—Belting 
the two equal pulleys and rotating uni- 
formly, waves corresponding to each of the 
harmonic curves produced in §13 may be 
sent along the axis of motion. Thus making 
the phase difference between two particles 
proportional to their distance apart, and 
then setting each particle in 8. H. M. ofa 
common period and amplitude, is object- 
ively seen to be the realization of simple 
wave motion. The wave-length being fixed 
by the apparatus, velocity and period must 
vary reciprocally. 

Particularly striking is the case for oppo- 
site phases in the two wave cams. Both 
component waves are seen travelling in the 
same direction along the axes with full 
vigor, whereas the compound effect at the 
line of particles is permanently nil. 

The warped surface of the levers now has 
a linear directrix at the particle edge and a 
sinusoidal directrix at the roller edge. It 
should be noted that the case of maximum 
amplitude in the compound harmonic pre- 
sents an approach to a similar linear direc- 
trix between the cam axles. 

15. Waves of Vurying Amplitude.—Change 
of amplitude is given to the levers by draw- 


MARCH 17, 1899. ] 


ing out the front tube (§12). Additional 
change may be obtained by allowing colored 
balls to ride on the levers. In case of equal 
periods the result is chiefly interesting when 
the amplitude varies from particle to parti- 
ele. A linear variation is well represented 
by a plane wave oblique to the direction of 
the axles, and in action is very striking. 

The more important wave with an ex- 
ponentially varying amplitude is only given 
when the axis of motion is along the corre- 
sponding exponential curve horizontally, 
but the effect to an observer at a little dis- 
tance in front is none the less good. 

II. Preceding Case (1) with Additional Ve- 
locity Superimposed on Either Wave Train. 16. 
Beats.—If the component waves are trans- 
mitted in like periods or velocities* and 
amplitudes, the compound wave is trans- 
mitted unchanged in form; but if any of 
these quantities vary, the compound wave 
continually changes form. With the ap- 
paratus as here adjusted the last case is 
readily realized by sending on one wave 
faster than the other. For instance, if the 
component wave velocities be as 3:4 (rear 
wave of greater speed), then in 4 complete 
turns at the crank the original wave will 
be reproduced, while all intermediate phase 
differences between corresponding particles 
are passed continuously in turn. All pairs 
of cams are undergoing like continuous 
change of phase. 

The shadow picture of this case (sun- 
light) shows a line elongating to maximum 
displacement and then contracting to a 
point in §. H. M. The slow change at 
maximum elongation is in strong contrast 
to the rapid change of length on passing 
through the position of equilibrium. Sim- 
ilarly in §14 the speed ratio must be care- 
fully adjusted if the linear compound wave 
is to persist. 

*In the present ‘special case variation of one im- 


plies the other ;,in the sequel, period and velocity 
must be carefully distinguished. 


SCIENCE. 


- 395 


The wave corresponding to this present 
experiment is an excellent example of an 
infinite beating wave train, two wave- 
lengths of which are accessible at a given 
place. The beats are due to a difference 
of wave velocity and frequency together. 
Though the two cases are usually gener- 
ically different, the gross effect is here coin- 
cident. Asa luxury a cam axle containing 
a small fraction of a wave-length more than 
two complete wave-lengths might be sup- 
plied. This would then show beats due to 
difference of wave velocity for the same 
period or (with the proper pulley) beats 
due to difference of period for the same wave 
velocity. The specific difference is this, 
that, whereas in one case (equal compo- 
nent wave-lengths) the compound harmonic 
is at every instant (for all pulley ratios) 
sinusoidal, in the other case (slightly dif- 
ferent component wave-lengths) it is at no 
instant strictly so. The latter adjustment 
thus admits of beats either when the com- 
ponent periods alone or the component 
wave velocities alone are not the same. In 
the former both necessarily change together. 

17. Déppler’s Principle.—If the beats are 
obtained by a difference of wave velocity 
the faster wave may be treated as having 
an additional linear velocity virtually im- 
pressed upon it in the direction of motion 
from without. Its interference with the 
wave not so affected is then an illustration 
of Doppler’s principle. 

III. Preceding Cases (I and IT) with the Ve- 
locity of Hither Wave Train Reversed. 18. Equal 
Velocities. Stationary Waves.—If one of the 
component waves be passed along the axis 
positively and the other in a negative di- 
rection, 7. ¢., if one axle be rotated clock- 
wise and the other counter clockwise by 
cross-belting equal pulleys, the compound 
wave is of the stationary type, since ampli- 
tudes were made effectively equal and 
periods are necessarily equal. The effect on 
the machine is striking, since the nodes are 


396 ° SCIENCE. 


here indicated by stationary particles half 
a wave-length apart, while the antinodes 
vibrate 9’. In all positions the form of the 
compound harmonic curve is at all times a 
simple sinusoid, but its mode of motion as 
compared with the same curve while both 
components are direct is totally different. 

Again, if the first pair of cams are in the 
same null phase (pointers away from each 
other) the first particle is a node, suc- 
ceeded by four other nodes one-half wave- 
length apart, and the wave is initially at 
maximum amplitude. If the first pair of 
cams are in opposite null phases (+0) the 
initial harmonic curve is linear, the first of 
four nodes one-fourth wave-length ahead, 
ete. 

Reflection.—The first of these cases cor- 
responds to reflection from a denser, the 
second to reflection from a rarer, medium 
at the origin. Itis worth while to examine 
the interpretation of both cases* for trans- 
verse waves first, and thereafter, $26, to sim- 
ilarly treat longitudinal waves. 

If the direction of a wave is reversed, 
particles without displacement (-- 0) are 
changed half a period in phase (becoming 
=. 0); particles at maxima or minima (+ m) 
are not changed in phase at all, while 
the phases of intermediate particles are 
changed in the corresponding harmonic ra- 
tio. This may be tested at once by sup- 
posing the full wave, Fig. 12, to advance 
first in direction d, thereafter in direction 7, 
when the particles vibrating in the line ea 
will respectively rise and fall, thus passing 
between opposed phases ; etc. 

The transverse wave advances through a 
given medium at rest, with the zero of dis- 
placement (=E0) in the wave front, so under- 
stood. Hence to reverse the direction of a 
wave is to reverse the phaseof the wave front. 

If the transverse wave encounters a denser 
medium this implies that the particles 
therein situated are capable of reacting with 


*Waves as here considered are essentially steady. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 220. 


forces in excess of those corresponding to the 
original medium. If the medium is quite 
impermeable (as when the wave on an 
elastic cord meets the peg) the reaction is 
exactly equal and opposite to the action. 
Thus if a wave advances toward the dense 
medium with a crest or group of pulls up- 
ward the medium itself must at every in- 
stant react with equal pulls downward. 
This reaction, which in its succession is 
bound to be rythmic like the impinging 
wave, is the impulse of the reflected wave, 
which must all be returned into the first 
medium (i.e., be reversed in direction) if 
none can enter the new medium. 

Now, let the particle in the wall aa (Fig. 
12) be in the zero of phase (+0). The 
direct wave advancing, as shown by d, is in 
the act of increasing the displacement. It 
is developing an increasing pull up. The 
reflected wave (prolonged) r is simultane- 
ously in the act of developing the counter 
pull down ; it is,in like degree, tending to 
decrease displacement: but, though the 
phases impressed by the direct and reflected 
wave are thus initially quite opposite, both 
waves d and r momentarily constitute con- 
tiguous parts of the same harmonie curve. 
If this curve separates at aa, with the parts 
d and r moving with equal velocity in op- 
posite directions the condition for action 
equilibrated by reaction at aais maintained 
throughout all time. 

The explanation is essentially the same 
if the reaction is not complete (permeable 
dense medium). In this case the amplitude 
of 7 will be smaller, other conditions re- 
maining the same. 

Hence in the machine the pointers are to 
be set for equal and opposite displacements 
at the origin, beginning with the null 
phases of each component wave—the case 
of Fig. 12, where if d and r were moving 
in the same direction, or the pulleys not 
cross-belted, the two components would 
meet in the same place. 


= ee 


MaARkcH 17, 1899.] 


On the other hand, if the direct wave 
meets a rarer medium at aa the reaction is 
less than that of the original medium. The 
pull up developed by the wave d in Fig. 12 
is not resisted by an excessive pull down as 
before. The reaction (which from its 
rhythmic character develops the reflected 
wave) is an additional pull up, such as 
would correspond to a wave 7’ in Fig. 12. 
Both waves r’ and d are in the same phase 
as regards their effect on the initial particle 
at aa, but they differ in direction of motion. 
In other words, the direct wave d and the 
reflected wave prolonged 7’, are not initially 
contiguous parts of one and the same wave, 
meeting without displacement at the wall. 
Half a wave-length is necessarily lost at the 
inception. 

This determines the method of setting 
the pointers of the machine for equal dis- 
placements of the same sign at the origin, 
beginning with opposite null displacements ; 
for the two waves d and 1’ if traveling in 
the same direction (cf. Fig. 12) would then 
annul each other. 

Summarizing; the reflected wave from a 
denser plane boundary normal to the axis 
is obtained from the incident wave by two 
rotations of 180° each; one around the axis 
of motion, the other around the trace of the 
wave plane on the plane of the obstacle ; 


these correspond respectively to the substi-. 


tution of reaction for action, and of an op- 
posed direction for the given direction of 
motion—two reasons for change of phase. 
The wave advancing crest on (crest fore- 
most) returns trough on and vice versa. 

The reflected wave from a rarer plane 
boundary is obtained from the incident 
wave by a single rotation around the trace 
in question. The only reason for change 
of phase is change of direction. The wave 
advancing crest on returns crest on, and the 
trough returns a trough. Cf. §26. 

If the component amplitudes are made 
unequal the nodes show a correspondingly 


SCIENCE. 


397 


slight vibration, the case corresponding toa 
medium at the origin neither absolutely im- 
permeable nor absolutely rare. 

19. Wandering Nodes.—If with equal am- 
plitudes the velocities or periods of the com- 
ponents be unequal in value and opposite 
in sign the case becomes one of stationary 
waves with continually drifting nodes. 
Thus if the 3:4 pulley be cross-belted four 
turns of the rear or faster cam axle will 
continuously move the node half a wave- 
length onward. The stationary character 
is, nevertheless, very thoroughly retained. 

In the extreme and transitional case where 
the velocity of one wave is zero and the 
other of any value a single turn at the 
crank moves the nodes half a wave-length 
and thus reproduces the original curve. 

IV. Component S. H. Motions at Right 
Angles to Each Other of the Same Amplitude 
and Wave-Length. 20. Elliptie Polarization.— 
Using cam axles with two waves each and 
adjusting rear ends of levers (Fig. 4), while 
the vertical riders Z engage the cams, two 
simple harmonic curves are available to be 
compounded at the particles. This is usu- 
ally an elliptic helix. It is advisable to 
tip the machine up in front with the object 
both of relieving the work of the springs 
and of exhibiting the wave symmetrically 
with reference to a horizontal plane through 
the axis. 

In order that circular polarization may be 
obtained, the amplitudes of the particles 
must be equal. The rear cams contribute 
their full swing independent of the levers. 
The fore cams enter with an amplitude 
which may be more than doubled, though 
the fulerum of the levers is now at the 
rollers. Thus the levers are to be shortened 
from 1 meter to about 70 cm. to obtain cir- 
cular paths 3” in diameter for the single 
particles. Shorter levers would give oblate 
ellipses, larger levers prolate ellipses, for 
their central figures. Cf. §36. 

The two 8S. H. motions will meet and 


398 SCIENCE. 


exist throughout in the same phase if the 
pointer on the rear eccentric is 90° ahead of 
the other, supposing, in accordance with the 
above table, that directions upward and 
rearward are positive. The zero of phase 
thus begins with front pointer left and rear 
pointer up. If the pointers are parallel and 
in the same direction the front harmonic is 
90° in phase ahead of the other. The com- 
pound harmonic is circularly polarized and 
the corresponding wave advances with 
counter-clockwise rotation if seen in the 
direction of advance, 7. e., from left to right 
to the observer in front. Dephasing the 
front axle 90° farther (180° advance) pro- 
duces plane polarization at 135° to the hori- 
zontal; 90° farther (total advance 270°) 
finally a circularly polarized harmonic 
curve with a wave advancing in the direc- 
tion of the components with clockwise rota- 
tion, as seen from the origin. All interme- 
diate cases are elliptically polarized with 
intermediate rotation. 

The sunshine picture on a screen normal 
to the axis with rays parallel thereto is in 
general an ellipse with the appropriate 
rotation discernible with remarkable clear- 
ness. 

V. Preceding Case (IV) with Component 
Velocities or Periods Unequal. 21.—If the com- 
ponent waves do not advance with the same 
velocity (necessarily implying difference 
of period in the present case) the differ- 
ence of phase of the first pairs of cams is 
continually changing, and the phase differ- 
ence of all succeeding cams is changed in 
like measure. Hence the compound wave 
passes continuously through all the differ- 
ent harmonic curves in turn. If the belt 
be placed on the 3:4 pulleys four turns of 
the rear axle restores the original form 
through all intermediate forms, beginning, 
for instance, with plane polarization at 
45°, passing through circular clockwise 
polarization (seen from the origin) into 
plane polarization at 135°; then back with 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 220. 


counter-clock wise rotation into plane polar- 
ization at 45°. 

The sunshine shadow of this case is 
identical with the Lissajous figures from 
two tuning forks slightly different in pitch 
but of the same amplitude. The directions 
of rotation are particularly evident, en- 
hancing the instructivenes of the figure. 

VI. Preceding Case (IV.) with Hither Compo- 
nent Velocity Reversed. 22.—If with equal am- 
plitudes and wave-lengths the component 
waves travel in opposite directions (pulleys 
cross-belted) the compound wave is a pecu- 
liar form of stationary wave in which the 
form of vibration of all particles is sustained, 
but in which the motion of each particle 
differs uniformly in regard to the phase dif- 
ference of its components, 7. ¢., in ellipticity, 
from its neighbors. Thus a group of parti- 
cles a wave-length apart are plane polarized 
at 45°; particles midway between plane 
polarized at 135° ; particles midway between 
both groups circularly polarized with alter- 
nately opposite rotations and all other par- 
ticles correspondingly elliptically polarized. 
The envelope of the harmonic curve would 
be given by a thin tube 3” in diameter, com- 
pressed at equal distances by a pair of 
shears to lines at right angles to each other, 
but alternately in the same direction. The 
case is thus thoroughly different from the 
case of unequal velocities in the same 
direction, where all the particles under ob- 
servation are instantaneously in the same 
ellipticity. 

23. Velocities Reversed and Unequal.—lIf the 
two component waves of the same wave- 
length have unequal velocities (and periods) 
of opposite sign the plane polarized groups 
wander. Thus if the 3:4 pulleys be taken 
4 turns of the rear crank reproduces the 
original wave. The transitional case is 
again that in which one cam axle is sta- 
tionary (wave velocity zero) while. the 
other rotates. A single turn reproduces 
the original figure. 


MARCH 17, 1899. ] 
/ 

VIL. Preceding Case (IV.) Adjusted for Ro- 
tary Polarization. 24.—If a special axle be 
provided with the cams alternately in op- 
posite phase tothe normal occurrence, but 
otherwise equal in amplitude and wave- 
length, and if the corresponding balls be 
painted red and white, the two circu- 
larly polarized waves occur simultaneously. 
Similarly, the two plane polarizations at 45° 
and at 135° occur simultaneously; ete. The 
former case is interesting in relation to ro- 
tary polarization, as will be more fully indi- 
cated below ; for the two circular motions 
may be compounded by the device shown 
in Fig. 10, and a harmonic curve plane po- 
larized in the vertical or the corresponding 
wave will result (ef. S40 et seq.). 

To obtain rotation of the plane of polari- 
zation by this method the alternate cams 
on both the front and rear axle would have 
to be set for some other wave-length in the 
manner stated. 


SCIENCE. 


399 


(vertical) axles of which are at the angles 
of the cranks, as far apart as the cams, 
and allarranged along a straight line paral- 
lel to the cam axle. The short shanks of 
the bell cranks now carry a series of 1’ 
balls, which, under present conditions,must, 
therefore, vibrate nearly parallel to the cam 
axles, i. e., longitudinally right and left in 
the line of advance of the wave, whereas 
the thrust of the levers* is harmonically to 
and fro. 

In practice the long shanks are open sec- 
tors of wire, swung so as to clear each oth- 
er’s axles. / 

In this way the alternate compression 
and rarefactions of such a wave are re- 
markably well shown (cf. Fig. 11), the 
sinuosity in the line of particles being 
negligible at least to the observer in front. 
The balls approach each other to about 
5/8’’ between centers (all but contact in 
the compressional phases), while they sepa- 


Diagram. Wave advances from left to 


Lever displacements positive rearward. Ball displacements necessarily re- 


Fic. 11. Adjustment for compressional waves, seen from above. 
right to an observer in front. 
versed. ° 


VIII. Waves of Compression and Refraction. 
25. Longitudinal VibrationWith the ap- 
paratus arranged as in Fig. 4, let the levers 
all be raised at the front ends, so as quite to 
disengage them from the front cam axle. 
This being, therefore, out of action, the rear 
or horizontal harmonic of 3’ double ampli- 
tude forward and rearward thrust is alone in 
play, as shown in plan by the parallel lines 
normal to theaxis in Fig. 11. Now, let the 
ball ends of the levers (eylets) engage the 
long shanks (6) of a series of horizontal, 
rvight-angled bell cranks, the equidistant 


rate to morethan about 12’’ in the rarefied 
phases. 

The great advantage of an arrangement 
of this kind from the kinetic point of view 
is the direct evidence furnished that each 
ball in the first instance is actually inS. H. 
M., and that the phase difference between 
balls is proportional to their distance 

* The reader should remember that Fig. 11 is seen 
from above and that direction rearward in the trans- 
verse harmonic (down in figure) is positive wave ve- 
locity left to right in the machine, becomes right to 
left in figure. Balls in front reverse their positive 
motion, 


400 SCIENCE. 


apart, while the compression and rarefac- 
tion of such a wave is an incidental phenom- 
enon. This essential structural character 
of the acoustic wave is not generally enough 
insisted on. 

In the same way any of the above or the 
following complex plane polarized waves 
may be converted into compressional waves 
by using vertical bell cranks (horizontal 
axes). For the case of stationary waves 
this would be of some interest, but I have 
not carried out the construction. Since 
small displacements are wanted, the en- 
gagement of levers should be located be- 
tween the axles. 

26. Reflection.—There is bound to be con- 
fusion if the reflection of a compressional 
wave from a denser or a rarer medium is 
to be explained without reference to the 
elementary S. H. M. of the particles of such 
a wave. Relatively to § 12 and Fig. 12 it 
follows that the explanation there given is 
at once applicable to 8. H. M. in sound 
waves, the only difference being that for 
pulls up and’ reactions down we have now 
pulls toward the right and reactions toward 
the left, ete., which in no way modifies the 
reasoning. A wave advancing toward the 
dense medium ‘crest on’ returns ‘ trough 
on’; advancing toward the rare medium 
with a crest returns a crest. Let no one 


suppose, however, that crest and trough. 


mean compression and rarefaction. For it 
is just here that a slough of despond awaits 
the incautious interpreter. A glance at 
Fig. 11, where the oscillations of particles 
have all been marked, shows that the centers 
of compression and of rarefaction are without 
simple harmonic displacement (phases + 0) ; 
that the maxima and minima of displacement 
(=m) lie in air of normal density. If the 
wave is to advance with particles in the 
wave front in the zero of displacement it 


must advance the center of a compression . 


or the center of a rarefaction sharply into 
normal air. Thus, the particles on one 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 220. 


side only of the balls marked + 0 in Fig. 
11 must indicate the status of an advanc- 
ing sound wave; moreover, if the former 
begins a crest, the latter (particles on the 
other side of + 0) begin a trough, and vice 
versa. 

In this structural fact lies the gist of the 
true explanation : If a compression meets a 
denser medium it is reflected as a com- 
pression surely enough, but the two com- 
pressions are not the same. The sym- 
metrical half of the incident compression is 
returned. The two halves lie on opposite 
sides of no displacement, and are the con- 
tiguous halves of crest and trough required 
by Fig. 12. So the two symmetrical halves 
of a rarefaction become incident and re- 
flected wave, initially meeting the plane of 
reflection as contiguous trough and crest. 
In both cases crest returns trough, and 
trough crest, even though two compressions 
or two rarefactions are in question. 

If reflection takes place from a rarer 
medium a compression returns a rare- 
faction ; this, however, is the rarefaction 
ending in a crest, while the given com- 
pression begins one, and vice versa. In 
other words, there are two crests advancing 
in opposite directions ; or crest returns crest, 
even though a half wave-length is initially 
lost and though a compression returns a 
rarefaction. 

The agreement with $12 is thus complete 
and the whole explanation logically simple 
throughout. 

IX. Component Simple Harmonics Coplanar, 
with Wave-Length Ratio, 1:2. Harmonic 
Curves. 27.—Replacing the front cam axle 
by another containing a single wave-length 
and 2” double amplitude, the plane com- 
pound harmonics for period ratio 1:2, for 
the same or different amplitudes and for 
any difference of phase, may be exhibited in 
succession. The cams are exchanged by 
lifting all the levers above the front axle, 
by aid of the notched swivelled cross-lath 


Maxrcw 17, 1899. ] 


(when an opportunity to show the rear har- 
monic alone is afforded as the levers now 
ride on a common fixed axle in front), after 
which the single wave axle is easily inserted 
and the levers dropped down upon it by 
lowering the cross-lath. 

Reference to the scheme of phases com- 
piled in §10 shows that 16 generically dis- 
tinct compound harmonies with an indefi- 
nite number of intermediate curves are 
obtainable. The variation is further en- 
hanced by changing the component ampli- 
tudes by drawing out the levers. Among 
forms for equal amplitude the symmetric 
types are distinctive. They are obtained 
concave upward more or less W-shaped for 
components meeting at the origin both at 
maximum displacement (-++m), and more 
or less M-shaped when both components 
meet at the origin at minimum displacement 
(—m). Similarly symmetrical forms are 
seen when the components at the origin are 
in opposite phases, viz., V-shaped when the 
front harmonic is at +m and the rear har- 
monic at —m, and ,4-shaped when the 
front harmonic is at —m and the rear 
at +m. 

28. Waves. If these curves are to be 
transmitted in a compound wave which does 
not changeits form each component must 
travel equally fast. Hence the rear axle 
with two wave-lengths must be rotated 
twice as fast as the front axle with one wave- 
length (pulleys 2:1) The periods are now 
also in the ratio of 1:2. Thus it appears, 
that it takes two rotations of the rear axle 
to exhibit the complete wave, or beginning 
with a symmetric type, for instance, the W 
and 4 curve together make a single har- 
monic curve; whereas the Mand V curve 
make another, in relation to waves; etc., 
for non-symmetrical forms. The character 
of the wave is markedly progressive, each 
little kink as well as large elevations or de- 
pressions running along the axis in turn. 

Referring again to the above table §10, 


SCIENCE. 


401 


the present succession of phases is a march 
along a diagonal passing from left to right 
downward across the diagram. 

29. Case LX. with Component Velocities Un- 
equal.—If the component waves are trans- 
mitted unequally fast the compound wave 
continually changes form. Thus, ifthe 2:35 
pulleys be used, it takes 3 turns of the rear 
axle to reproduce the original form ; in 3: 4 
pulleys, four turns; in 1:1 pulleys, but a 
single turn. In the last instance the waves 
produced are much like stationary waves, 
with two nodes at the ends if the compo- 
nents meet at the origin in opposite phases, 
and one node in the middle if they meet in 
the same phase, phase difference being 
maintained constant at each cam. The 
table, §10, shows that the passage is now 
from left to right across the diagram, along 
a single row. 

If one axle alone rotates a single turn 
again reproduces the original form, but the 
wave has now a progressive character, which 
is an inversion of the result in $28. In 
other words, the Vand V types or the M 
and 4 types of curvearesuccessive. Inthe 
table of phases, §10, the present succession 
for any single cam is given by a column 
passed from top to bottom. 

30. Case LX. with One Component Velocity 
Reversed.—If the axles rotate with equal 
velocity in opposite directions the wave 
presents the succession of forms of the first 
(normal) case, but its character is now non- 
progressive, each particle retaining its pecu- 
liar form of vibration, which differs regu- 
larly from that of neighboring particles. 
But half the full wave is represented at 
once. No particle is permanently at rest 
and the stationary character is less pro- 
nounced than for the case in §29 with equal 
pulleys. Particles at the end of the curve in 
view are in like figures of vibration. In the 
above table, $10, the passage for any single 
pair of cams is now diagonally across the 
diagram, but from right to left, downward. 


402 


X. Components Simple Harmonics at Right 
Angles to Each Other, with Wave-Length Ratio, 
1:2. Transverse Space Wave. 31. Harmonic 
Curves.—With the preceding cam axles, let 
the rear ends of the leaves be lifted upon 
the horizontal back plate and adjusted for 
the same component amplitude (Fig. 4). 

Space waves of this and the following 
kind may be conveniently termed Lissajous 
waves, since their sunshine shadow on a 
screen normal to the axis of motion is al- 
ways the appropriate Lissajous figure. 
Starting the waves with the initial eccen- 
trics towards each other, the harmonic 
curve has a meandering space form, char- 
acterized, however, by its sunshine shadow, 
which is the specific bow-shaped 1:2 Lissa- 
jous, concave toward the cams. Dephas- 
ing the rear axle +90° produces the sym- 
metrical 8-shaped figure ; +90° farther the 
bow-shape again, this time, however, convex 
toward the axles of the cams; +90° far- 
ther returns the 8-shape described in a di- 
rection opposite to the preceding. The 
intermediate cases are assymmetrical 8’s, 
but not well given unless the balls are small 
enough. 

The harmonic curves themselves present 
no marked complexity. Seen from above 
they contain two wave-lengths ; seen from 
the front but one wave, each in the appro- 
priate phase at the origin. This gives a 
very clear analysis of the occurrences. The 
wave envelope in the bow-shaped cases is a 
gutter. 

32. Waves.—The waves corresponding to 
the above space harmonics are instructive. 
If the figure of the compound wave is to be 
preserved, 7. ¢., if its shadow Lissajous is to 
remain fixed, both component waves must 
advance with rigorously the same velocity. 
This implies double rotation (double fre- 
quency ) for the rear waves of shorter wave- 
length. The direction of rotation in the 
shadow is particularly well marked. For 
initially opposite or for like phases at the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. EX. No. 220. 


origin the figure is alike 8-shaped, but 
when horizontal pointers on the front axle 
correspond to down on the rear or up on 
the rear the rotation is clockwise or coun- 
ter-clockwise respectively in its upper half; 
ete. 

33. Case X. with Component Velocities Un- 
equal.—lIf the velocities of the component 
waves are unequal, but of the same sign 
(pulley 2:3, for instance), the compound 
wave continually changes form, as is best 
shown by the sunshine shadow. This is 
identical with the Lissajous curve for two 
tuning forks of the same amplitude, but 
with period ratios slightly different from 
1:2. If the speeds of the two axles are 
equal (pulleys 1:1) a single rotation of the 
erank produces all the Lissajous between 
two occurrences of the same figure. 

If the component periods are equal, but 
of opposite sign, stationary wave conditions 
appear for this case. Particles at the ends 
of the compound wave oscillate in any 
fixed Lissajous; the intermediate particle 
has the inverse figure. In general the perma- 
nent vibration figures vary proportionally 
to the distance apart of the particles. The 
sunshine figure is reproduced for 1/2 rota- 
tion at the crank. One may note the con- 
trast that, whereas the particles themselves 
vibrate in the elliptical Lissajous series, the 
sunshine shadow produces the 2: 1 series. 

If the component periods are unequal 
and opposite in sign the figures drift as 
above. The transitional case is given when 
but one axle rotates. 

XI. Component S. H. Motions Coplanar 
with Wave-Length Ratio, 2:3. 34. Plane 
Harmonics and Waves.—The front cam axle 
is replaced by one containing 38 wave- 
lengths, with adjustments as above (Fig. 
3). The curves of this series are more 
complex than the preceding, and if the de- 
phasing be effected in steps of 90° each, 16 
marked forms of curves may be exhibited. 
Among these the symmetrical types are 


Marcu 17, 1899. ] 


best adapted for recognition. They corre- 
spond respectively to like phases at the 
origin with maximum or miminum dis- 
placement of both components (JW- and M- 
shaped forms), or to opposite phases at the 
origin with maximum and minimum, mini- 
mum and maximum displacements of the 
components ( V- and 4-shaped forms). 

If the component waves are to advance 
with the same velocity the rear cam axle 
rotates twice while the fore axle rotates 
thrice, thus establishing a period ratio of 
3:2. Hence each wave contains two of the 
specified harmonic curves in succession, or 
only one-half of it is seen at once. The 
progressive character of these waves as 
they dash along is singularly pronounced. 

If the axles rotate equally fast in the 
same direction the wave assumes a station- 
ary type, with one node at the middle of the 
component harmonics meeting at the origin 
in the same phase. If the latter meet at 
the origin in opposite phases, nodes occur 
at the two ends with marked vibration for 
intermediate parts of the compound wave. 
If the cam axles rotate equally fast, but 
in opposite directions, the compound wave 
shows 6 nodes if the components meet in 
opposite phases at the origin, and 5 nodes 
under other conditions. 

Finally, if the wave velocities are equal, 
but opposite in sign, there is permanence in 
the vibration form of each particle, with dif- 
ference of phase between them, but no nodes. 

XII. Component Simple Harmonics at Right 
Angles to Each Other, with Wave-Length Ratio 
2:3, 35. Transverse Space Waves.—The results 
are similar to the above cases, only more 
complex. Thesunshine shadow on the nor- 
mal screen shows the 2:3 Lissajous figure 
in permanent form if the axes are rotated 
at angular velocities of 3:2. The compo- 
nent waves are then transmitted with equal 
velocity and the period ratio becomes 2: 3. 
If the component waves are transmitted 
with other velocities the compound wave 


SCIENCE. 


403 


continually changes form, as does also the 
Lissajous shadow curve. The rotation 
within it is here again exhibited as to di- 
rection, etc., with remarkable clearness. 
To obtain steady results for this case the 
balls must be small and the ratio workman- 
ship of the machine accurate, otherwise the 
inconmensurable cases supervene. Experi- 
ments are made as above. 

XIII. Component Harmonics Circular and 
Vertically Simple Harmonic of any Wave-Length 
Ratio. 36. Harmonie Curves for Equal Com- 
ponent Wave-Lengths.—The present curves 
are interesting, inasmuch as they present 
an intermediate stage between the above 
cases of S. H. composition and the next 
cases relating to the composition of circular 
motions. The wave machine is put into 
adjustment, as shown in Fig. 5, with cam 
axles and pulley ratios 1:1. The machine~ 
is tipped up in front. 

Inasmuch as the 8. H. M. of the front 
axle interferes with the vertical component 
of the circular motion of the rear axle, the 
phase difference is best specified in terms 
of these coplanar vibrations. For like 
phases, therefore, the Lissajous figure of the 
compound curve is a tall vertical ellipse, 
say 9” high and 3” broad. Advancing the 
front phase +90° inclines this ellipse -to 
the rear, shrinking it throughout. Advanc- 
ing the front axle +90° farther produces 
the simple harmonic curve in the ,horizon- 
tal with a double amplitude of 3”. The 
further advance of the front phase of +90° 
expands the Lissajous figure into an oblique 
ellipse inclining to the front, etc. 

37. Waves.—The rotation in the waves is 
always clockwise for a clockwise circular 
component. In this and other respects 
(pronounced prolateness combined with 
horizontal plane polarization) they differ 
from §20. 4 

38. Waves and Curves for Other Component 
Wave-Lengths—On replacing the front cam 
axle with one of one or three waves to the 


404 


two of the rear axle, peculiar apparently 
beknotted wave forms are obtained, well 
adapted to give a notion of the complexity 
resulting from simple compounding ; but it 
is needless to refer to them further. 

XIV. Component Harmonics Both Circular, 
of any Wave-Length Ratio and Opposite in 
Direction. 39. Remarks on the Machine-— 
After the description of the machine and 
the remarks already made in the successive 
paragraphs above, it is not necessary to 
enter at length into a consideration of the 
present experiments. As to matters of ad- 
justment in Fig. 6, I may note that the 
common horizontal locus of the centers of 
the approximate circles described by the 
free ends of the levers (they are really 
curves of the 6th degree), and the respec- 
tive cam axles, must be equidistant from 
the perforated cross laths, Uand V. In 
the given apparatus the effective lever 
length is about 18”. In this case the lever 
ends describe curves which do not differ 
more than 1/8’ from circular circumfer- 
ence, a departure not discernible with 1/2” 
balls. Nevertheless, the angular velocity 
in the quasi-circles is not uniform, a circum- 
stance which from symmetry is without 
bearing on the vertical compound vibra- 
tions, but becomes more marked in propor- 
tion as the vibration is twisted around into 
the horizontal. The latter, therefore, ap- 
pears somewhat convex downward unless 
very long levers are chosen. The adjust- 
ment in § 24, where the circles are nearly 
quite perfect, is thus in many respects to be 
preferred, though the levers are necessarily 
farther apart and the lever ends incapable 
of resisting much tension. There is incon- 
venience, however, in constructing special 
pairs of front and rear cam axles. 

To find whether the circles at the lever 
ends have a common cylindric envelope 
the cam axles should be rotated in like di- 
rection. Coincident ends should then re- 
main nearly coincident throughout. The 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 220. 


cross laths, U and V, are adjustable with 
this test in view. 

40. Rotary Polarization. Equal Component 
Wave-Lengths.—Let the front cam axle be a 
left-handed, the rear axle a right-handed, 
screw (Fig.6). Let them be equal in wave- 
length and amplitude. Then the compo- 
nent harmonics (loci of the lever ends or 
eyelets) will be respectively right and left 
circular helices, otherwise equal. The vibra- 
tion lines of the particles, W, in Fig. 10, 
will all be coplanar, the plane being parallel 
to the cam axles at any angle to the hori- 
zontal depending on the phase difference of 
the initial cams. The compound harmonice, 
or longitudinal arrangement of the particles 
in the plane stated, is a simple harmonic, 
curve whose amplitude is the common 
diameter of the component circular har- 
monics. 

This case has already been referred to in 
$24 and there exemplified. The compound 
curve, as constructed by the machine, is on 
a scale of one-half. 

If the cam axles are rotated with the 
same velocity, opposite in direction (cross- 
belt), the corresponding plane-wave will 
result, unchanged in obliquity. One may 
note in passing that, whereas, in all the 
above compounding, plane-waves were ob- 
tainable in one or two special altitudes 
merely, they may now be obtained in all 
altitudes. 

41. If the axles are rotated with un- 
equal velocities, components of equal wave- 
length differ in period and velocity. The 
plane of the compound wave will, there- 
fore, rotate about the axis of the component 
circles. Hence, if the oscillation of the 
first particle be put back into the same line 
after each oscillation (in general, continu- 
ously), 7. ¢., if oscillation is continually 
supplied at the origin in this line, the amount 
of rotation resulting will be proportional 
to the distances between particles. The 
rotary polarization so produced is due toa 


MARCH 17, 1899. ] 


difference both in the period and the velocity 
of the component circular waves of like 
wave-lengths. 

42. Unequal Component Wave-Lengths.— 
With the front and rear cam axles still 
respectively left and right, if more turns be 
put on one than on the other, the harmonic 
curves will become helical. In other words, 
the compound of two plane simple har- 
monic curves of the same wave-length ratio 
and phase difference at the origin will now 
be inscribed on a regular helix. If the 
axles be rotated with the same angular 
velocity in opposite directions the compo- 
nent harmonics have the same period, but 
differ in velocity. The vibration lines in 
the compound wave remain fixed for each 
particle, but their directions differ in alti- 
tude proportionally to their distance apart. 
The rotary polarization so obtained is due 
to a difference in the velocities of the circular 
components. The helix may be rotated as 
a whole by dephasing the initial particles. 

43. If the axles are turned with unequal 
velocities the helical compound wave must 
rotate as a whole about the common axis of 
the component circles, in consequence of 
the continuous and like dephasing at all 
cam pairs. Rotary polarization is again 
due both to difference of velocity and of 
period, as in § 41. If, however, the period 
of rotation at the cam axles is proportional 
to the wave-lengths of the helices the 
velocities of the components will be tlie 
same and the continuous rotation occurring 
due merely to difference in the periods of 
the components. Hence,if the oscillation 
in the first particle of the compound wave 
is always supplied parallel to a given line 
the rotary polarization obtained will be due 
simply to the difference in the periods of the 
components. 

44, Right-Handed Circular Component Har- 
monics.—The same amount of rotation as in 
the last cases will be obtained when the 
wave-length of one of two equal right and 


SCIENCE. 


405 


left cam axles is increased and that of the 
other decreased by half the stated increase 
of the single axle in § 42. It will even be 
obtained when both cam axles are right- 
handed screws or both left-handed screws, 
alike in all respects but differing in 
phase by 180°, subject as before to counter 
rotation (cross-belted). But, whereas the 
rotary polarization in the preceding case, 
§ 42, is due solely to normal advance of 
the circular waves, it is now due to the 
independent counter rotations impressed by 
outsideagency. The two right-hand helices 
specified, being opposite in phase, constitute 
a series of stresses in equilibrium and pro- 
duce no displacement. 

If the cam axles of equal wave-lengths 
rotate with the same velocity the compound 
wave is a helix, but with each of its par- 
ticles in thesame phase. The neutral posi- 
tion is thus a line of balls in the common 
axis encircled by the lever ends, and this 
may be used as a test on the adjustment. 
Each particle persists in its line of vibration, 
and their locus is a helix which expands 
and contracts in diameter rhythmically. 

45. If the two axles rotate unequally 
swiftly the component circular waves ad- 
vance unequally swiftly and the line of vi- 
bration of each particle or the contractile 
helix as a whole rotates around the common 
axis. 

46. Finally, in two right-handed cam 
axles of equal amplitude, but different 
wave-length, the resultant harmonic curve 
will be the compound of corresponding 
plane harmonics, but inscribed on the cor- 
responding helix. For rotations of the same 
angular velocity (equal periods) the helical 
wave will not rotate as a whole. For un- 
equal periods it will so rotate. 

Some of these cases are more important 
than others. Their application is a question 
of optics. Cary Barus. 


BROWN UNIVERSITY, 
PROVIDENCE, R. I. 


406 


THE WORK OF THE U. 8S. FISH COMMISSION. 

THE report of the U. S. Commissioner of 
Fish and Fisheries for the year ending June 
30, 1898, shows an increase in the propaga- 
tion and distribution of food-fishes of about 
40 per cent. over the work of any previous 
year. 

The number of adult and yearling fishes, 
fry and eggs distributed in public and 
private waters or transferred to the State 
authorities was about 857,000,000, of which 
the largest number represented important 
commercial species, like the shad, cod, 
whitefish and salmon. There were thirty- 
three hatching stations and sub-stations in 
use, the steamer Fish Hawk being also uti- 
lized for shad-hatching in Albemarle Sound 
and the Delaware River. 

The extension of the salmon-hatching 
work on the Pacific coast was especially 
gratifying, as the enormous annual drain 
on the salmon streams of that region makes 
it very important that the supply should be 
kept up by artificial means. At the sub- 
station situated on Battle Creek, a tributary 
of the Sacramento River, the largest collec- 
tion of the salmon egg (48,000,000) in the 
history of fish-culture was made in the fall 
of 1897. 

Particular attention was also paid to the 
hatching of young lobsters, owing to the 
steady decline in the lobster fishery, and as 
a result of these efforts no less than 95,- 
000,000 fry were turned loose. 

There is little doubt but that the future 
success of the lobster industry depends on 
the possibility of artificial propagation, and 
the same may be said of the salmon fisheries 
of the Pacific coast. What may be hoped 
for is shown in the steady increase of shad 
in the eastern United States. 

In 1880 the catch was only about 18,000,- 
000 pounds, and the catch steadily decreased 
until 1885, when the results of artificial 
propagation became observable. By 1888 
the catch had doubled, and in 1896, the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 220. 


last year for which there are accurate data, 
the catch amounted to 50,866,368 pounds, 
with a market value of $1,656,711, the 
value of the increased catch for that year 
alone being something like $800,000 in ex- 
cess of the total cost of all shad propaga- 
tion up to that date. Extended tables show 
the output of the different hatcheries and 
the details of the distribution of the eggs 
and fry of the various species. 

The Division of Inquiry respecting food- 
fishes has made various investigations re- 
garding the oyster, including a survey of 
the oyster grounds of Louisiana and a re- 
examination of the much-vexed question as 
to the origin of the color of green oysters. 
In regard to this the report states that in 
the United States it has been repeatedly 
demonstrated by the Commission that the 
green color is due to vegetable matter which 
serves as food, and that there is no impair- 
ment of the edible qualities of the oyster. 
The reason for the color of the ‘ red oysters’ 
noted during the season of 1896-97 is un- 
known, as no opportunity was given to in- 
vestigate the problem, but it is suggested 
that it may be due to the presence of the 
infusorian Peridiniwm. 

In view of the scarcity of mackerel, 
which has extended over a longer period 
than ever before in the history of this fish- 
ery, special study has been given to the em- 
bryology, natural spawning and artificial 
propagation of this species. Its practical 
propagation is still an unsolved problem, 
and it is noted that under existing condi- 
tions the number of eggs obtainable is too 
small to produce any appreciable effect, 
while suggestions are given for enlisting the 
aid of the fishermen. The principal work 
of the Division of Statistics has consisted of 
canvasses of the more important fisheries of 
certain of the New England and Middle 
Atlantic States and of the Great Lakes, the 
information thus collected being made im- 
mediately available by the publication of 


Marcu 17, 1899. ] 


single-sheet bulletins. It is proposed to 
continue the issue of these from time to time 
whenever there is information of special 
interest. Attention is called to the fishery 
resources of the Yukon River, which so far 
have been utilized only by the Indians for 
their immediate needs, but which it is be- 
lieved may afford a food supply to the 
miners and traders who have been attracted 
to that region, and ultimately to the coun- 
try at large. Full statistics are given of 
the sections covered by the report, and it 
may be noted that at Gloucester and Boston 
there has been a falling-off in the aggregate 
receipts of fish since 1896, while the South 
Atlantic States as a whole show an increase 
in the product, the amount of capital in- 
vested and the number of persons em- 
ployed in the fisheries. 

What strikes one very forcibly in glanc- 
ing over this report is the many discourage- 
ments the fish culturist is called upon to 
face and the large number of serious losses 
due to unavoidable, often seemingly trivial 
and sometimes inexplicable, accidents. A 
few degrees of temperature, more or less, a 
heavy shower, the lingering of ice or an 
unfavorable wind may cause heavy damage 
and almost bring to naught the labor of 
weeks. Another thought is to what extent 
should the general government undertake 
the propagation and distribution of the 
more strictly game fishes, such, for example, 
as black bass and trout? The investiga- 
tion of the best methods for the accomplish- 
ment of such work should undeniably lie 
with the United States, but these once dis- 
covered, its continuance should rest with 
States and individuals. What may be done 
by individual effort is shown by the fact 
that a large number of the many ponds of 
Plymouth county, Mass., have been stocked 
with black bass by the simple process of 
carrying a few fish in pails from one pond 
to another. It may be said that the estab- 
lishment of many of the trout hatcheries has 


SCIENCE. 


407 


been due to the efforts of members of Con- 
gress and not to any desire of the Commis- 
sioner of Fisheries. The propagation of such 
widely-spread and all-important species as 
cod, shad, the Pacific salmon and the lobster 
is quite another matter and should properly 
be carried on by the United States. 

The statistical as well as the strictly scien- 
tifie work of the Fish Commission is again 
of national importance, and the special 
omission of fishery statistics from the com- 
ing census bears testimony to the value of 
the work done by this division. 

Tt is gratifying to learn that the appro- 
priation for scientific work has this year 
been materially increased, for, from past ex- 
perience, we know that what to-day appears 
to be a purely scientific problem to-morrow 
becomes an all-important practical matter. 
In this connection Dr. Smith urges the ap- 
pointment of an expert in fish pathology, 
calling attention to the large mortality which 
often prevails among fish, both under natural 
and artificial conditions, and for which 
there is at present no known cause or 
remedy. Theannnal losses at the hatcheries 
of the Commission, while not excessive, are 
still great enough to demonstrate the need 
of skilled investigation, and the present ex- 
penditure of a few thousand dollars may 
yield subsequent returns of millions. 

Last, but not least, it may be again noted 
that under the present Commissioner it has 
been arranged to keep the laboratory at 
Wood’s Hole under the scientific direction 
of Professor Bumpus open throughout the 
year. 

ENGINEERING AND THE PROFESSIONS 
IN EDUCATION. 

Tue receipt of the annual volume of Pro- 
ceedings of the ‘ Society for the Promotion of 
Engineering Education’ * is a reminder of 

* Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Meeting of the 
Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, 


Vol. VI. Published by the Society. 1898. 8vo. Pp. 
xxvii + 324 


408 


the extent to which all departments of edu- 
cation are becoming systematized and or- 
ganized in the United States. Hitherto, in 
all countries, there had been observable a 
very serious lack in this respect, even in 
Germany, where the central government, 
and the authorities of every kingdom alike, 
control and direct the education of all 
classes from central organized bureaux. 

With us primary and secondary educa- 
tion have had consistent and authoritative 
direction, not always wise or expert, but al- 
ways earnest and well-intended ; for the 
common school has been recognized, from 
the first, as the strongest bulwark of our 
institutions, political and social. Profes- 
sional education and training, however, 
have, like all higher learning, been sustained 
mainly by private, sporadic and unsystem- 
atic, unauthoritative, support and aid. 
Education, in a true sense and on the lower 
levels, has been fairly well-cared for; pro- 
fessional training, that education which is 
rather a noble form of apprenticeship to a 
noble vocation, finds even yet almost no 
public and little private recognition. Of 
late the schools of engineering are secur- 
ing some attention from investors in this 
form of higher security and from the State 
Legislatures and expert educators and pro- 
fessionals. In the West, particularly, the 
schools of the vocations are attracting more 
and more attention as their relation to and 
bearing upon the social condition of the 
people is coming to be generally appre- 
ciated. 

The volume before us contains the pro- 
ceedings of a single meeting of a representa- 
tive association of this class, and presents a 
very excellent picture of the purposes and 
methods of such an institution. The So- 
ciety, about five years old, numbers 244 
and includes practically all of the leaders 
in the development of this branch of tech- 
nical educational work in the country, and 
representatives from nearly all recognized 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX No. 220. 


professional schools in this field. Twenty- 
nine papers are published, together with 
lists of officers and members, the constitu- 
tion of the Society, its rules and its pro- 
ceedings at the Boston meeting of 1898. 

The leading paper is the address of Presi- 
dent Johnson, a discussion of the topic: 
‘A Higher Industrial and Commercial 
Education as an Essential Condition of our 
Future Material Prosperity.’ This is a 
most interesting and impressive statement 
of the needs of the United States in this 
direction, and of the dangers that threaten 
a nation neglecting to systematize its indus- 
trial system and the education of the ‘ In- 
dustrial Classes’ for their life and work in 
presence of a competition which is coming 
to be more constant and more dangerous 
as the means of communication and of 
transportation become more extended and 
more perfect. The foreign ‘ Mono-technic 
Schools’ are held up to our view as models 
of a type of school which is almost unknown 
in this country, and as having proved the 
salvation of the Germanic peoples. The 
establishment of high-grade mono-technic 
and commercial schools is urged as the 
most promising and desirable of all visible 
modern improvements in education and 
training for the industrial classes. 

A full evening was given to a paper ‘On 
the Organization of Engineering Courses 
and on Entrance Requirements for Profes- 
sional Schools,’ in which the writer, follow- 
ing a somewhat similar line of thought, 
developed the theory of professional educa- 
tion, exhibited the logical differences be- 
tween the real ‘education’ of the academic 
colleges and the primarily vocational train- 
ing, the ‘ higher apprenticeship’ of the pro- 
fessional schools ; showing that while the 
one should offer a ‘ladder from the gutter 
to the university,’ as Huxley said, the other 
lets down a ladder from the profession to 
the people, the two thus demanding radi- 
cally different methods of construction of 


MARCH 17, 1899. ] 


their curricula, as well as different methods 
of prescription of entrance requirements. 
The one supplements the schools, and must 
build smoothly up from below; the other 
builds down from the profession, and must, 
at all hazards, make its junction at the 
upper end effective, while its entrance re- 
quirements must be such as will least em- 
barrass the aspirant while satisfying the 
proper demands of the profession. Each 
curriculum, however, must be constructed 
by experts in its own field, and the profes- 
sional must be relied upon to perfect the 
courses and prescribe the requirements of 
the technical school, as must the expert in 
academic education be expected to be given 
a free hand in the upbuilding of general 
education. 

Shorter papers on laboratory work, on 
details of educational apparatus, ‘ thesis 
work,’ courses of instruction in various 
departments and reports of committees, fill 
the volume with a mass of material hitherto 
unparalleled in this line, and which must 
deeply interest, not only workers in this 
field, but all educators, and particularly all 
who are interested in the promotion and 
improvement of our still defective and in- 
adequate educational provision for the best 
interests of the industrial classes, and in the 
advancement to still higher planes of our 
professional schools. The careful study, not 
of this volume only, but of the series, be- 
ginning with the organization of the As- 
sociation at the Educational Congress at 
Chicago, in 1893, in connection with the 
Columbian Exhibition, cannot but well re- 
ward every one interested in the modern 
and current movements in this politically, 
as well as socially, important department of 
the scheme of national education, the per- 
fection of which is so vital an element in 
determining what shall be the political and 
the moral and intellectual status of our 
country in coming generations. 

R. H. Tuurston. 


SCIENCE. 


409 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Die chemische Energie der lebenden Zellen. DR. 
OscaR LoEw. Munich, Dr. E. Wolff, pub- 
lisher. 1899. Pp. 170. 

This publication gives the results of a series 
of observations on the chemical characteristics 
of living matter. It is proved that the proteids 
of living matter are of very labile nature and 
different from those of the dead matter, into 
which they are transformed by atomic migra- 
tions in the molecules. It is also demonstrated 
that in many plants a labile reserve-protein 
occurs which is not yet organized, but is changed 
by the same conditions as kill the cells. The 
book contains the following chapters : 


1. Views on the causes of the vital activity. 
2. General characteristics of living matter. 
3. Chemico-physiological characteristics of living 
matter. 
4. The essential concomitants of protoplasm. 
. The character of the biochemical work. 
. On the formation of protein in the lower fungi. 
On the formation of protein in the green plants. 
. Theory of protein formation. 
. A labile protein as reserve material in plants. 
10. Chemical characteristics of the labile proto- 
protein. 
11. Lability and activity in the protoplasm. 
12. Theory of respiration. Chapters 9 and 10 give 
the results obtained in conjunction with Th. Bokorny. 


CO DIADM 


The most modern progress of theoretical 
chemistry has been brought to bear in this 
work. The theories advanced in the work and 
the suggestions which they contain will make 
the book invaluable to students of bio-chemistry 
and physiology. Doctor Loew has concluded 
his work with the following brief summary : 

“It may be briefly recapitulated in a few 
words how much the theses put forth corre- 
spond or coincide with the observations made. 
In the first place, it should be remembered that 
the living substance shows a great resemblance 
to a chemically labile body and that the dying 
process of the protoplasm is suggestive of the 
transition of a labile into a stable modification 
of organic compounds. According to the 
theory developed in the eighth chapter con- 
cerning the formation of albumin, the lability 
of the plasma-protein is due to the simultaneous 
presence of aldehyde and amido groups. The 


410 


toxicological facts reported in the eleventh 
chapter, indeed, support this view. 

The further inference from the theory, that 
very labile but not yet organized protein sub- 
stances possibly occur in plants, has also been 
verified. An exceeding labile reserve protein 
of an aldehyde nature was proved by Bokorny 
and myself to exist in many kinds of plants ; 
its characteristics are described in the ninth and 
tenth chapters. 

Labile substances contain kinetic chemical 
energy; they contain certain loosely bound 
atoms, which under the influence of heat be- 
come more mobile than in case of a more stable 
arrangement. As a result chemical reactions 
are caused, the energy of these atoms being 
transferred to certain susceptible substances 
(sugar, fatty acids), which are thus drawn into 
a state of higher reactive power, especially with 
the otherwise indifferent oxygen of the atmos- 
phere. In other words, catalytic actions are 
produced through a charge with chemical en- 
ergy. The proteins of living substances ap- 
pear as relatively firm structures in which sepa- 
rate labile atoms perform great oscillations. 
This conception is essentially different from 
that of Pfliger and Detmer, both of whom as- 
cribe to all atoms in the plasma-proteins such 
an intense state of motion that a dissociation 
results, to be followed by a similarly energetic 
regeneration. Pfligersays:* ‘‘I do not ex- 
pect to meet with any opposition if I consider 
the living matter as not only being astonish- 
ingly changeable, but steadily decomposing.’’ 

Yet, when we consider that a minimal attack 
of extremely small quantities of a poison will 
produce the death of a cell, one may well 
doubt whether such a metabolism as Pfluger 
assumes would not sooner lead to death than to 
a possibility of regeneration. Neither can we, 
therefore, agree with Verworn when he says: + 
‘“‘The life process is the sum-total of all pro- 
cesses connected with the building-up and de- 
struction of the ‘biogens,’ or, ‘‘ life consists in 
the metabolism of the albuminous bodies.’? A 
more correct definition would be the following: 
Life is the sum-total of the effects made possible 
by the labile nature of the plasma-proteins and 

* Pfliger’s Archiv 10, p. 311. 

} Allgemeine Physiologie, 2d edition, p. 509. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 220. 


their respiratory activity, and governed by the 
specifie tectonic of the energides and of the ac- 
tive paraplastic structures. * 

The nature of the living matter is in the first 
place determined by lability and organization, 
that is, by a systematic kind of motion in a 
structure (tectonic) of labile proteins. The 
principle of organization is not yet known. 
Even if we assume with Pfluger that the pro- 
cess of organization consists merely in a poly- 
merization, the complicated details in genera- 
tion and karyokinesis, would still defy explana- 
tion, and the genetic differentiation would not 
become better intelligible. Difficult problems 
are here facing us.. Still it may be considered a 
slight advance to know at least a little more 
about the cause of respiration and the chemical 
energy of the cells than formerly. It is the 
lability of the plasma-proteins, which, sup- 
ported by the effects of light, leads to the build- 
ing-up of the carbohydrates in the green plants 
out of carbon dioxide and water with separa- 
tion of oxygen. It is also this lability which 
assists in combining the organic substances 
with oxygen and renders the obtained energy 
applicable to physiological work. 

In addition to the well-known fact that all 
life functions are based upon the energies of the 
sun, it must be inferred that the lability of the 
plasma-proteins is necessary to transform this 
sun energy into vital action. 

ALBERT F, Woops. 

DIVISION OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AND PA- 
THOLOGY, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 


Physical Geography. By WuILuLIAM MorRIs 
DAVIs, assisted by WILLIAM HENRY SNYDER. 
Boston, Ginn & Company. 1898. Pp. 431. 
Professor Davis well states in his preface the 

central principle of this volume: ‘‘ Physio- 

graphic facts should be traced back to their 
causes and forward to their consequences.’’ 

We find thus the widest departure from the 

piecemeal description and recital of facts, of 

most works in physical geography. We should 
expect this from one who has long been eminent 
as a student and teacher of the science and who 


* Kupfter designates ‘the contractile substance of 
the muscular fibrille, the nervous fibre and the red 
blood corpuscles as ‘ paraplastic’ formations. 


Marcu 17, 1899.] 


has not ceased to magnify the causal notion and 
the consequent educational value of geography. 
It cannot hereafter be said that the materials 
of the new geography are not available to the 
rank and file of teachers, as was conceded in 
the report of the Committee of Ten. The 
limits of a secondary text-book forbid anything 
like a full discussion, and it is to be hoped that 
a manual or college text-book may come from 
the author’s hand. He has discarded, for the 
most part, technical terms. Thus the doctrine 
of the peneplain is elucidated in the text, but 
the name appears only once, and that in a foot- 
note. 
of geology, but this has been done in a simple 
fashion which obviates the necessity of a pre- 
vious course in that subject for the pupil, 
though the teacher would find such knowledge 
all but indispensable. T'o dwell for a moment 
longer on the pedagogical aspects of the volume, 
the vital teacher need not hesitate to use it, 
though he be deficient in preparation, but it is 
emphatically a book for the best, and only such 
can wholly do it justice. It wisely joins itself 
to the present state of knowledge, but leads 
well out among the ideals and possibilities of 
the science. 

The illustrations are profuse and well se- 
lected. Especially useful are many diagrams 
which combine surface relief and vertical sec- 
tion, thus relating geographic form and geolog- 
ical structure. The appendix contains valuable 
bibliographic lists and a short catalogue of the 
best maps, whose use and importance are every- 
where emphasized. 

The Earth as a Globe, the Atmosphere, the 
Ocean and the Lands are the four main sub- 
divisions of the book. All but the last are 
briefly treated, offering an outline of the chief 
facts in mathematical geography, meteorology 
and oceanography, terms which we think, for 
the present purpose, wisely discarded. 

The lands are treated with greater fullness, 
the discussion occupying 273 pages. The chap- 
ter headings will best show the general charac- 
ter of this section. They are: The Lands, 
Plains and Plateaus, Mountains, Volcanoes, 
Rivers and Valleys, The Waste of the Land, 
Climatic Control of Land Forms, and Shore- 
lines. The origin of these forms and their con- 


The rational geography makes large use 


SCIENCE. 


411 


sequences upon organic and especially human 
life are never lost from view, and thus is real- 
ized the highest definition of geography as a 
study of the ‘physical environment of man.’ 
No separate sections are devoted to the races 
of man or the distribution of animals, but a 
reader of the whole volume will discover that 
these subjects have not been neglected, but 
have been treated in an intimate and educa- 
tional fashion. 

The principle of change of form by erosion 
and by change of relation to sea-level is early 
stated and receives manifold elucidation to the 
end. The Plain offers a good example of the 
author’s method. We have first the formation 
of a coastal plain by deposition of land waste 
and uplift of marginal sea-bottom, with subse- 
quent dissection by land streams. There log- 
ically follows the broader, higher, older and 
more dissected coastal plain, the eastern Caro- 
linas serving as an example. The favorable 
conditions for artesian wells form here a natu- 
rally related topic. Embayed coastal plains show 
the effect of the later, partial submergence, the 
Chesapeake being used asa type. Such use of 
physiographic types, as a means of seeking and 
classifying examples in all parts of the world, 
is a favorite and important principle with our 
author. Similar plains of very ancient origin, 
as in central-southern Wisconsin and western 
New York, are then described and connected 
with the younger, less modified types, but with- 
out involving the difficult ideas or nomencla- 
ture of historical geology. 

The plateau, or uplifted plain, appropriately 
follows. Thus we have young plateaus, as in 
Arizona; mature and well-dissected plateaus, as 
in the Catskill-Allegheny-Cumberland belt, and 
old plateaus, as recognized in the buttes, mesas 
and table-topped mountains of the West. 

The treatment of mountains is, for the space, 
equally thorough and interesting. The various 
kinds are described—block mountains in various 
stages of maturity ; folded and domed moun- 
tains, with such fruitful subtopics as climate of 
mountains, mountains as barriers, valleys 
among mountains, and inhabitants of lofty 
mountains. 

The chapter on Rivers and Valleys well illus- 
trates the strides of physiographic science dur- 


412 


ing the last score of years, as will appear from 
an outline of the chief topics. Thus we have 
young rivers, with lakes, falls and rapids as 
marks of immaturity ; graded rivers and the 
development of valleys; meanders and the 
shifting of divides ; mature and old rivers; re- 
vived, antecedent, engrafted and dismembered 
rivers, the causal or historical notion appearing 
at every stage of the discussion. 

The general reader who desires to cultivate 
an appreciation for natural scenery will find 
help in Professor Davis’s volume, and the stu- 
dent to whom most of the materials are familiar 
will find a convenient and systematic summary 
of the important facts and doctrines of a great 
and growing science. 

ALBERT PERRY BRIGHAM. 

COLGATE UNIVERSITY, February, 1899. 


GENERAL. 


The Bulletin of the American Mathematical So- 
ciety states that advices from the Vatican an- 
nounce that Abbé Cozza Luzzi, assistant libra- 
rian, has found Galileo’s original manuscript 
treatise on the tides. The manuscript is in 
Galileo’s handwriting and concludes with the 
words: ‘Written in Rome in the Medici Gar- 
dens on January 8, 1616.’ The currently ac- 
cepted text, the original of which was supposed 
to have been lost, differs considerably from that 
of the manuscript just found. Pope Leo XIII. 
has taken the greatest interest in the discovery 
and has ordered the manuscript to be published 
in an elegant edition at the expense of the 
Vatican. 

THE London Times announces that it will pre- 
pare a supplementary volume to the ninth edi- 
tion of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This edi- 
tion was published between 1875 and 1889. It 
is well known that the treatment of scientific 
subjects are in many cases the best accessible to 
English students, being prepared by leading 
English men of science. It is unfortunate that 
a new edition of the Encyclopedia cannot be 
prepared, as the last twenty-five years have 
brought many changes in all the sciences, but a 
supplementary volume will be of some service. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


A Handbook of Medical Climatology. S. EDWIN SOLLY. 
Philadelphia and New York. 1897. Pp. xii + 470. 


SCLENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 220. 


Minerals in Rock Sections, LEA MCILVAINE LUQUER. 
New York, D. Van Nostrand Co. Pp. vii + 117. 


Die Medial-Fernrohre. UL. SCHUPMANN. 
Tuebner. 1899. Pp. iv + 145. 


Leipzig, 

Mark 4.80. 

Die Lehre vom Organismus und ihre Beziehung zur 
Sozialwissenschaft. OSCAR HERTWIG. Jena, Fischer. 
1899. Pp. 36. Mark 1. 


Regeneration und Entwicklung. HH. STRASSER. Jena, 
Fischer. 1899. Pp. 29. Mark 1. 


Elementary Physiology. BENJAMIN MoorRE. New 
York, London and Bombay, Lorgmans, Green & 
Co. 1899. Pp. ii + 295. 


Primer of Geometry. JAMES SUTHERLAND. London, 
New York and Bombay. 1898. Pp. 117. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE GEOLOGICAL CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
MINNESOTA. 


AT a meeting of the Club on February 25th 
Professor C. W. Hall discussed the extent and 
distribution of the Archean in Minnesota. 
First, accepting the Archean as that original 
‘crust,’ or solidified portion of the earth, which 
is postulated in every existing view of the be- 
ginning of the geological record, he defined it 
as an era of igneous origins whose rocks repre- 
sent the original crystallization of earth matter 
added to from below by successive solidifica- 
tion and many subsequent intrusions. By 
this definition all overlying clastics or irrup- 
tions into or through the clastics are excluded 
from the Archean. If the base of the clastics 
can be found there certainly should be found, 
locally, at least, the rocks upon which they lie. 
Such underlying rocks, the Archean, are be- 
lieved to occur in Minnesota in two quite sep- 
arated districts, the northern and the south- 
western. 

Along the international boundary most geol- 
ogists have grouped all the rocks from Bass- 
wood Lake to Lake of the Woods as Archean, 
even when clastics have been clearly recognized 
and eruptives found breaking through them. 
Lack of care in delimiting the Archean up- 
wards has caused much confusion. Lawson 
set an example in distinguishing between clas- 
ties, ‘agglomerate schists’ and the rocks under- 
lying, though not necessarily those from which 
the clastics are derived. Structurally the 


Marcu 17, 1899. ] 


Archean of the Lake of the Woods forms a 
series of troughs—four is the number given— 
in which the Keewatin schists now lie. [Com- 
pare Geol. and Nat. Hist. Sur., Canada, N. 
Ser., Vol. I., 1885, C. C., pp. 10 et seq.] Al- 
though there are no sharp unconformities to be 
seen, yet, as Lawson observes, ‘‘ the fact that 
we find in the Keewatin series the first un- 
doubted evidences for this region of aqueous 
sedimentation and also of volcanic action, while 
in the underlying Laurentian gneiss of the re- 
gion we find evidence of neither, more than 
suggests that the Keewatin series had a totally 
different kind of origin from that of the 
gneisses and must, therefore, be in unconform- 
able relation to them”’ [Ibid., p. 84]. 

At Rainy Lake H. V. Winchell and Grant 
found a series of granites and granite gneisses 
beneath the other rocks (i. e., Archean) and 
eruptive into them. Since these authors did 
not think best to distinguish between under- 
lying and eruptive granite rocks their work 
is of but little taxonomic value. [Geol. and 
Nat. Hist. Surv., Minn., 23d An. Rep., 1895, 
p. 53.] 

Between Rainy Lake and Lake Superior there 
are several belts of schists with alternating 
granites and other rocks having a general 
northeast-and-southwest trend. Concerning 
one of these, Irving noted in 1886 ‘‘ that we 
have among the rocks * * * two types, in one 
of which the crystalline structure is com- 
plete and in which there is little or none of an 
original fragmental structure, while in the other 
the fragmental texture is still distinct and the 
alteration has progressed to a smaller degree.’’ 
He then adds ‘‘ that the supposed older one of 
the two groups of schists in the Vermilion Lake 
belt is intricately penetrated by the granites of 
the great areas north and south of the belt.’’ 
[7th An. Rep. Director U. 8. Geol. Sur., 1885- 
86, p. 437.] Hence areas of Archean lie north 
and south of these older schists. 

In the Minnesota River Valley lies the most 
carefully studied series of granite gneisses, 
gneisses and gabbro schists of the State. These 
rocks occur quite continuously from New Ulm 
to Ortonville and beneath the glacial drift 
stretch westward into South Dakota and disap- 
pear beneath the Dakota sandstone. At New 


SCIENCE. 


413 


Ulm they clearly underlie a quartzite conglom- 
erate regarded as Huronian (whether lower or 
upper is not determined). This Archean series 
is divided, for purposes of study, into a lower 
and upper; the former is named the Ortonville 
group of augite, hornblende and biotite granite- 
gneisses, and the latter the Granite Falls group 
of hornblende and biotite gneisses and asso- 
ciated gabbro schists. [Hall, Syllabus of Geol- 


ogy, 1897, p. 83. ] 
F. W. SARDESON, 


Secretary. 


THE BOTANICAL CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
CHICAGO. 


AT a recent meeting of the Club, Dr. Otis W. 
Caldwell gave the results of his study of Lemna 
minor. The following is an abstract of his 
paper: Owing to the greatly reduced body of 
the sporophyte of the Lemnacee there has been 
much interest in its morphology, and in the 
question as to the effect of the reduction upon 
the gametophyte. The investigations show 
that the sporophyte body is neither stem nor 
leaf, as often contended, but a shoot undiffer- 
entiated except at the basal or foot region and 
at the nodal region from which the root, the 
new shoots and the flowers arise. The root 
originates from a small group of hypodermal 
cells on the lower side of the node. The epi- 
dermis develops a temporary root sheath, while 
the persistent root cap is developed from the 
meristem, which is never many-celled and in a 
few cases was seen to be unicellular. Flowers 
are rarely formed, and frequently when they 
have begun to develop they are crowded out by 
vegetative buds which are produced in great 
abundance. Even when not encroached upon 
by vegetative shoots the flowers do not often 
sueceed in forming seeds. The pollen grains 
usually become fully formed, but the structures 
of the ovule and embryo-sac may disorganize at 
any stage in their growth. Although the chief 
stages in ordinary embryo-sac development 
were found, such were shown by very few 
preparations ; while in most of the preparations 
embryo-sacs were disorganizing, the disorgani- 
zation first affecting the antipodals, then the 
polar nuclei or primary endosperm nucleus, the 
ege being the last to succumb to the unfavor- 


414 


able conditions. Cases were observed in which 
the upper polar nucleus, failing to fuse with the 
lower one, had proceeded unassisted to the 
production of endosperm. Few embryos were 
found. 

In the young stamen but one archesporial 
mass appears. After this has enlarged some- 
what a plate of sterilized tissue divides it into 
two regions, each of which is again divided in 
a similar manner, thus constituting the four 
archesporial masses of the anther. The four 
loculi of the anther are four parts of one spo- 
rangium, and not four sporangia, as reported 
usually for other spermatophytes. The primary 
tapetal layer is not differentiated until after the 
archesporium is separated into four masses. 
The tapetum may be derived either from the 
sporogenous tissue or from the adjacent sterile 
tissue. The cells of the tapetum frequently di- 
vide and push out into the cavity of the loculus, 
where they assist in nourishing the spore 
mother cells. Some of the latter are nourished 
also by other mother cells whose growth has 
ceased. The microspore germinates while 
within the sporangium. The generative cell 
remains closely applied to the wal] of the spore 
for a considerable time before dividing to pro- 
duce the male gametes. 

The ‘winter buds’ seem to be summer buds 
which are not sufficiently vigorous to develop 
the necessary air spaces to keep them afloat. 
When conditions become favorable growth is 
renewed, air spaces develop in abundance, and 
the buds rise again to the surface. 

It seems clear that Lemna minor has de- 
scended from terrestrial forms. The entire 
body of the diminutive plant, as evidenced by 
the disappearing root, the system for aeration, 
and the devices properly to relate the chloro- 
plastids to the light, indicates attempts toward 
adaptation to the water habitat. It has not 
succeeded in working out such appropriate de- 
vices for pollination as are found in most water 
plants. The water environment also seems es- 
pecially injurious to the embryo-sac structures 
of this plant, and the ease with which vegetative 
buds are produced, and the fact that some of 
these buds may serve to perpetuate the plant 
from year to year, reduces the necessity of seed 
production. 


SCIENCE. [N. Ss. 


Vou. IX. No. 220. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

UNDER the head of ‘Short Notes and Ex- 
hibition of Specimens,’ Mr. Benton stated that 
on January 22d he had found brood honey bees 
in all stages of growth and new adults, indi- 
cating egg laying the last of December. This 
is a very early instance. 

Mr. Matthis exhibited specimens of what he 
takes to be Boreus brumalis Fitch, which he had 
caught upon the snow in the Rock Creek Val- 
ley after the recent blizzard. He showed for 
comparison specimens of a Boreus which he had 
caught last October at a high elevation on the 
Big Horn Mountains. This was a larger and 
darker form than B. brumalis and has not been 
specifically identified. 

Dr. Dyar showed a blown larva of Apatela 
clarescens Gn., previously undescribed. The 
larva nearly resembles that of A. hamamelis ; 
indeed, from the mature larva alone no constant 
differences can be pointed out, but Dr. Dyar 
has observed certain differences in the earlier 
stages of these larvee, which will be more fully 
worked out at the next opportunity. In this 
connection, he also presented a list of Apatela 
by Professor A. R. Grote, with generic and sub- 
generic types, which had been prepared by 
Professor Grote on request, and which is sup- 
plemental to the monograph of the genus re- 
cently published by Smith and Dyar. Dr. 
Dyar stated that he was pleased with Professor 
Grote’s erection of a subgenus for A. funeralis, 
since this was definable on larval character, as 
are all the other subgenera of Apatela, except 
Tricholonche as compared with Lepitoreuma. 

Mr. Schwarz exhibited some very dry and 
hard pulp of the giant cactus, taken by Mr. 
Hubbard in the autumn of 1897 and containing 
specimens of the extraordinary Scolytid, Cacto- 
pinus hubbardi Schwarz. He had examined 
this pulp in January, 1897, and found the bee- 
tles alive, with no indication of oviposition. He 
moistened it somewhat at that time and showed 
the same beetles still alive, thus indicating that 
they may live in the adult condition for two 
years. 

Mr. Howard showed a remarkably clear and 
beautiful photograph of Phasgonophora sulcata 
Westwood, which had been taken by Mr. M. 
V. Slingerland, and spoke briefly of the ad- 


Marc#H 17, 1899.] 


vantage of photography in entomological illus- 
tration, expressing the opinion that a fair photo- 
graph reproduced by the half-tone process is in 
many instances better than a poor drawing, 
but that the best photographs he had seen re- 
produced in this way were by no means equal 
to drawings made by competent artists. Such 
a photograph as the one exhibited, however, 
marks a great advance on previous efforts of 
the kind and would be invaluable at least as an 
aid to the artist, and if transferred by photog- 
raphy to a wood block and then handled by a 
competent wood engraver would obviate all 
necessity for drawing and would produce the 
most satisfactory results which could be ob- 
tained, since the slight failures in details could 
be easily rectified by the engraver. 

Dr. Gill mentioned the resemblance of cer- 
tain coleopterous larvze to certain Trilobites, 
especially among the Staphylinide. He said 
he had been struck by this resemblance in a 
figure of a Silpha larva, even the antenne re- 
sembling the antennae of Trilobites as recently 
discovered by Beecher. He mentioned the 
figure of Fluvicola, an Isopod crustacean, in 
De Kay’s volume on the ‘Crustacea of New 
York, and Le Conte’s conclusion that it was the 
larva of Psephenus, and asked for further in- 
formation as to this resemblance. 

Mr. Schwarz said that this wonderful resem- 
blance extends through several families of 
Coleoptera. He instanced Micropeplus among 
the Staphylinide, a genus of Scydmenide fig- 
ured by Meinert, various genera of Endomy- 
chide, groups of species in the old genus Silpha 
Psephenus and Helichus among the Elmide, and 
various genera of the Dascyllide and Lam- 
pyride. The resemblance is largely caused by 
the exfoliation of the sides of the body. What 
its function is he did not know, some of the 
larvee possessing it being aquatic, some sub- 
aquatic and some terrestrial. 

The first paper of the evening, by Dr. Dyar, 
was entitled ‘On the Fluctuations of the Post- 
spiracular Tubercle in Noctuid Larvee.’ 

The second paper included a continuation of 


Mr. Hubbard’s letters from the Southwest, pre- 


sented with notes and comments by Mr. 
Schwarz. The letters read at this time related 
to the Colorado Desert and to Salton Lake and 


SCIENCE. 


415 


its insect fauna. Some discussion ensued on 
the question as to whether the Colorado Desert 
has been occupied at any modern period by an 
arm of the sea, Messrs. Vaughan, Schwarz and 
Gill taking part. 

L. O. Howarp, 


Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


At the meeting of the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis of March 6, 1899, Professor J. H. 
Kinealy described some experiments on lifting 
water by means of compressed air, as is done 
by the Pohle air-lift pump, and discussed the 
efficiency problems of the use of apparatus of 
this description. Three persons were elected 
to active membership. 

WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
Recording Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING SPECIFIC 
PLACE- MODES. 


To THE EDITOR OF SclENCE—(Sir: I use the 
word ‘place-mode’ to embody a well-known 
idea, namely, that a species has a different 
mode (i. e., a different prevailing condition of 
size, color, etc.) in different localities. The 
person who seeks to determine a place-mode 
determines the prevailing dimension of the 
principal measurable qualities (and practically 
all qualities of organisms are measurable) of a 
species as it occurs in the locality in question. 

The importance of this work is as follows: 
It fixes the condition of a species in a particular 
locality at a particular time ; it affords a base 
from which we may measure any change which 
the species has undergone in the same locality 
after a certain number of years. That species 
in nature do undergo changes within a man’s 
lifetime is recognized by some conchologists 
who find that certain shells of the seashore have 
undergone within a half century an evident 
change of index (ratio of length to breadth). 
A case of especial interest because of the exact 
measurements which have been made is that of 
the rock crab of Plymouth, England, the frontal 
breadth of whose carapace has diminished year 
by year at a measurable rate (1 to 2 per cent. 
in five years), a result explained by certain 


416 


changes in the physiography of the region 
(Weldon). Such facts indicate that species 
are changing in essential specific characters 
and sometimes rather rapidly changing. The 
changes are not sufficient to be detected in cases 
where the descriptions are wholly qualitative 
or based upon the observation of a few indi- 
viduals. But where a large number of. in- 
dividuals, taken at random, are measured the 
modes may be used as standards for reference. 
With the aid of such standards we can observe 
not only the fact of change, but the rate and the 
direction, and draw conclusions concerning the 
causes of specific change. If two modes occur 
in a species in one locality we can determine 
whether they separate farther and farther from 
each other, and the rate of such separation. A 
careful correlation of the facts of separation of 
modes with changes in environment will give 
us an insight into the causes of specific differ- 
entiation. In a word, the establishment of 
these place-modes for various species in various 
localities is the first sure step toward the solu- 
tion of the problem of the Origin of Species. 

The methods of this work are very simple. 
They involve the measurement of size, of pro- 
portions and other elements of form, and of 
color, by the color wheel;* they involve also 
counting repeated organs. The measurements, 
or counts, are to be grouped into classes on the 
basis of size. The means of measurement will 
naturally be fonnd ; but, most important of all, 
far more significant than the mean, is the mode 
or the most frequented class. The mode gives 
the typical condition of the lot of individuals 
measured, 

The end of the old century or the beginning 
of the new one is a convenient time for making 
a number of these determinations, and it is on 
this account that I write to suggest to field 
naturalists that for a year or two they bend 
their efforts to the determination of place-modes. 
I am so convinced of the importance of this 
work that Iam planning, with the cooperation 


* The color wheel is an instrument for determining 
the percentage of constituent elementary colors in any 
compound color. A small, cheap and convenient 
form of this instrument—called the color top—with 
standard colors may be bought for six cents of The 
Milton Bradley Company, Springfield, Mass. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 220. 


of students, to work on this subject at the labo- 
ratory at Cold Spring Harbor during the com- 
ing summer, and I hope that simultaneous co- 
operative observations may be made at Woods 
Holl and other marine laboratories as well as at 
the various inland stations and by private col- 
lectors elsewhere. There is no fear of duplica- 
tion of work, for two persons will hardly study 
the same species in one and the same locality. 
Cuas. B. DAVENPORT. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, March 2, 1899. 


IDENTITY OF COMMON AND LABRADOR WHITE- 
FISH. 

THE Common Whitefish of the Great Lakes 
was first very imperfectly described by Dr. 
Samuel L. Mitchill, in The American Monthly 
Magazine and Critical Review for March, 1818. 
The description, in fact, is so unsatisfactory that 
his contemporaries and later ichthyologists for 
more than fifty years supposed it to refer to the 
Cisco, or Lake Herring, Argyrosomus artedi. A 
good account of the Whitefish was published 
by Richardson in 1836, under LeSueur’s name 
of Coregonus albus, a name published only a few 
weeks later than that of Mitchill; but, like 
Mitchill’s, unaccompanied by a sufficient de- 
scription. 

In 1836 Richardson established a new species 
of Coregonus upon a dried specimen which he 
received from Musquaw River, that falls into 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near the Mingan 
Islands, giving it the name Salmo (Coregonus) 
labradoricus. This has been retained in the 
literature as a distinct species up to the present 
time, although its close relationship to the 
Common Whitefish has sometimes been ob- 
served without recorded comment. 

Systematic ichthyologists have found it diffi- 
cult to show clearly the differences between\the 
Common Whitefish and the Labrador Whitefish, 
as may be seen by referring to the monographs 
upon the Whitefishes by Jordan and Gilbert, 
Bean, and Evermann and Smith. They have 
been forced to rely, finally, upon a single char- 
acter, the presence of several rows of teeth on 
the tongue to distinguish the two forms, and 
this was supposed to be constant and in- 
fallible. 

The writer has recently had occasion, while 


Marco 17, 1899. ] 


studying the fishes of the State of New York, 
to examine numerous specimens of the Common 
Whitefish from the Great Lakes and interior 
lakes of New York and of the so-called Labra- 
dor Whitefish from lakes of New York and New 
Hampshire and from rivers in New Brunswick 
and Labrador. As a result of these investiga- 
tions he is forced to the conclusion that Rich- 
ardson’s species, Coregonus labradoricus, is 
identical with the Common Whitefish, Core- 
gonus clupeiformis, there being no characters 
by which the two can be distinguished. Every 
individual of the Common Whitefish, young 
and old, was found to have teeth on the tongue 
and to possess the other characters by which 
Richardson’s species has hitherto been sep- 
arated. 

This conclusion has an important bearing 
upon fish cultural operations by the States and 
the United States, as it will tend to simplify 
the work of artificial propagation and, perhaps, 
extend its scope. 

TARLETON H,. BEAN. 

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 3, 1899. 


A DATE-PALM SCALE INSECT. 


Dr. A. 8. PACKARD writes from Biskra, Al- 
geria, January 23,1899: ‘‘I find myself in this 
oasis of the northern edge of the Sahara, where 
there are 170,000 date palms. In a beautiful 
garden I found a date palm, indeed several, af- 
fected by Coccids, which I enclose.’? The Coc- 
cids are crowded on the pieces of leaf and prove 
to be Aonidia blanchardi, Targioni-Tozzetti, 
Mém. Soc. Zool. France, 1892, Vol. V., p. 69. 
The insect, however, is not an Aonidia, but be- 
longs to Parlatoria, and must’be called Parlatoria 
blanchardi. It was originally found in the oasis 
of Ourir, and has never, I believe, been noticed 
since its original description until now redis- 
covered by Dr. Packard.* The figures of Tar- 
gioni-Tozzetti represent it well, except that in 
one of them (Fig. 3) there is an impossible lobule 
between the median interlobularsquames. The 
female turns bright olive green on being boiled 
in caustic soda. There are four small groups of 
circumgenital glands. This insect is likely to 


* Unless Maskell’s P. proteus var. Palme, found in 
Australia on date palms imported from Algeria, is the 
same, as indeed seems likely. 


SCIENCE. 


417 


be of some economic importance, as it is allied 
to, though easily distinguished from, Parlatoria 
victriz, Ckll.; which, introduced from Egypt, 
has proved a pest on date palms in Arizona, 
California and Queensland. The manner of 
the infestation is quite the same in the two 
species. 
T. D. A, CoCKERELL. 
MESILLA PARK, N. M., February 16, 1899. 


THE CHOICE OF ELEMENTS. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Once upon a 
time, according, I believe, to Messrs. Gilbert 
and Sullivan, a magnet hanging in a shop win- 
dow fell in love with a silver churn, but, to its 
great distress, was unable to awaken any re- 
sponse. Its pathetic plaint ran : 


“Tf I can wheedle 
A nail or aneedle 
Why not a silver churn.”’ 


T used to think the magnet very unreasonable, 
because I supposed the atoms of iron and steel 
were necessarily drawn to it willy nilly, while 
there was no such tendency in the silver atoms, 
which were consequently quite unable to re- 
spond toits call. Major Powell (SctENcE, Feb- 
ruary 17th) puts the matter in a new light, 
which awakens my sympathy for the magnet. It 
appears that the particles have choice. Both 
common sense and the dictionary tell us that 
choice is the power of choosing. Thus it 
was not of necessity, but of their free will, 
that the nails and needles were so responsive. 
The silver churn evidently considered the mag- 
net ineligible. The case of the latter is a truly 
sad one, worthy of all serious commiseration, 
for if,as Major Powell tells us, the particles 
have intelligence, why should they not have 
love also? True, the magnet as a whole does 
not know, but what can assuage the grief of 
each of its myriad particles? Is there any hope 
that in time the silver will think better of it? 
ARDY, 
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, February 27th. 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 
TUTTLE’S COMET. 


THIS comet was discovered by Méchain at 
Paris in 1790. Only a few observations were 


418 


taken, however, and the comet was rediscovered 
by Horace P. Tuttle at the Harvard College 
Observatory, January 4, 1858. 

Johannes Rahts, of Koénigsberg, made the 
most complete discussion of the orbit, combin- 
ing the observations of 1858 and 1871-2, having 
regard also to the perturbations. His value of 
the period is 18.7 yrs. The comet was next 
seen in 1885, and was expected during the pres- 
ent year. An ephemeris was accordingly dis- 
tributed from Kiel, and it was probably by 
means of this that a faint comet, supposed to 
be Tuttle’s, was discovered March 5th, by Dr. 
Wolf, as already announced. This ephemeris, 
as corrected by Dr. Wolf’s observation, is 
given below. 


Ephemeris. 
G. M. T. R. A. Dec. 
1899. Mar) 5.5° 12 16™. 397 + °31° 36" 
CHa a Sib Gili Sali tis) 
135i 46 St 30 AG 
aly aye eyes Absa bys reeds) iesth) 


HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY, 
March 8, 1899. 


A NEW STAR IN SAGITTARIUS. 


From an examination of the Draper Memorial 
photographs, Mrs. Fleming has discovered a 
new star in the constellation Sagittarius. Its 
position for 1900 is: R. A. = 18"56.2™, Dec. = 
—13°18’. It was too faint to be photographed 
on eighty plates taken between October 18, 
1888, and October 27, 1897, although stars as 
faint as the fifteenth magnitude appear on some 
of them. It appears on eight photographs 
taken while it was bright. On March 8, 1898, 
it was of the fifth magnitude, and on April 29, 
1898, of the eighth magnitude. A plate taken 
this morning, March 9, 1899, shows that the 
star is still visible, and is of the tenth magni- 
tude. Two photographs show that its spectrum 
resembles those of other new stars. Fourteen 
bright lines are shown, six of them due to hy- 
drogen. The entire number of new stars dis- 
covered since 1885 is six, of which five have 
been found by Mrs. Fleming. 


KE. C. PICKERING. 


HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY, 
March 9, 1899. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 220. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
ELECTRIC WIRE WAVES. 


THE theory of electric waves along wires has 
been worked out very completely by J. J. 
Thomson for the case of a wire surrounded by 
a cylindrical conducting shell. <A further de- 
velopment of the theory, together with some 
interesting numerical results is given by A. 
Sommerfeld in Wiedemann’s Annalen, 1899, No. 
2. The author gives a rigorous solution of 
Maxwell’s equations for electric waves trans- 
mitted along a straight wire of great length. 
This rigorous solution leads to an equation in 
Bessel’s functions, the roots of which give the 
velocity of transmission and the damping co- 
efficients. The author gives approximate solu- 
tions of this equation for wires of great conduc- 
tivity, diameter of wire being rather small com- 
pared to the wave-length, and for wires of 
medium conductivity, diameter of wire being 
very small compared to wave-length. In these 
two cases the equation in Bessel’s functions re- 
duces to a logarithmic form for which the roots 
may be found without serious difficulty. 

The author gives the following calculated re- 
sults: Electric waves of 80 cm. wave-length 
travel along a copper wire of 4 mm. diameter 
at a velocity which is less than the velocity of 
light by one part in 30,000, and the amplitude 
falls to a of its initial value at a distance of 1.5 
kilometers. 

Electric waves of 100 em. normal wave-length 
(period 33:10—!" second) travel at about three- 
quarters of the velocity of light along a platinum 
wire .004 mm. diameter, and their amplitude 
falls to s of its initial value at a distance of 
only 17 em. 

The author also gives a diagram of the lines 
of electric force inside and outside of the wire, 
the lines of magnetic force being circles around 
the wire. W.S. F. 


A NEW INDICATOR FOR ELECTRIC WAVES. 


A GALVANOMETER of medium sensitiveness is 
connected to a battery, astrip of silvered glass 
is included in the circuit and the coating of sil- 
ver is scratched across so as to break the circuit. 
The strip is placed in moist air and the galva- 
nometer shows a deflection. When the strip is 


Marcu 17, 1899.] 


exposed to electrical waves the galvanometer 
deflection is suddenly reduced to nearly zero ; 
and when the waves cease the galvanometer 
deflection is quickly reéstablished. This effect 
is described by A. Netigschwender (Wiedemann’s 
Annalen, 1899, No. 2), and the author finds that 
the film of moisture recovers its electrical con- 
ductivity so quickly after the cessation of the 
electrical waves that a telephone in circuit with 
the silvered strip gives the tone of the induction 
coil break even when the frequency of the 
break is very great. Wiesner 


THE ELECTRIC DISCHARGE IN RAREFIED GAS. 


MATHIAS CANTOR (Wiedemann’s Annalen, 
1899, No. 2), hasshown by means of the coherer 
(a mass of powdered metal forming a portion 
of an electric circuit), that the electric discharge 
produced through a vacuum tube by a large 
storage battery gives off electric waves. This 
discharge must, therefore, be either oscillatory 
or intermittent, contrary to the notion which 
has heretofore prevailed. Wi.) Eh. 


BRILLIANCY OF LIGHT SOURCES. 


In Wiedemann’s Annalen, 1898, No. 13, Mr. 
P. Jenko gives a curiously roundabout method 
for the determination of the intrinsic brightness 
or brilliancy of light sources. Before entering 
into the details, however, it is necessary—such 
is the confusion of photometric terminology— 
to state a few definitions. The brightness of a 
source here signifies the total amount of light 
given out by that source and is ordinarily 
measured in candles. The intensity of illumina- 
tion of a surface is the amount of light falling 
upon unit area of the surface and is usually 
measured in candles per square centimeter. 
Thus the intensity of the illumination of a sur- 
face distant one meter from a standard candle 
(assumed to give off light equally in all direc- 
tions for the sake of brevity of statement) is 
see ees, This intensity of illumination 
is universally but irrationally called the candle- 
meter. The brilliancy of a light source is the 
amount of light given off from each unit area 
of its luminous surface. This, also, is to be ex- 
pressed in candles per square centimeter. The 
candle per square centimeter is a convenient 
unit for expressing brilliancy of light sources, 


SCIENCE. 


419 


but is an inconveniently large unit for express- 
ing ordinary intensities of illumination. Thus, 
easy reading requires about z5}7> candle per 
square centimeter. 

Instead of determining the brilliancy of a 
light source by dividing its measured brightness 
(candle power) by the measured area of its 
luminous surface, making due allowance, of 
course, for irregular distribution in so far as this 
is possible, Mr. Jenko illuminates a screen of 
known area by a light of measured brightness, 
distance being measured. The intensity of the 
illumination of this screen is then known. He 
then compares upon a photometer bar the light 
given off by this screen with the light given off 
by the source of which the brilliancy is to be 
determined. He then measures the luminous 
area of the source and calculates its brilliancy 
in terms of the brilliancy of the illuminated 
screen, using an obvious relation between brill- 
iancies, brightnesses and distances along the 
photometer bar ! W.S. F. 


THE MAGNETIZATION OF IRON. 


In Wied. Ann., Band 66, No. 18, pp. 859-953, 
Max Wien communicates the results of a most 
careful and elaborate investigation upon ‘The 
Magnetization of Iron by Alternating Currents.’ 
The first part of the paper contains a general 
résumé of the literature of the subject, with a 
useful set of references to the original articles. 
Following this comes a discussion of the mag- 
netization of iron by alternating currents, in 
which it is shown that for a coil containing an 
iron core and having a purely sinusoidal E. M. 
F. applied to it, neither the induction nor the 
magnetizing force will be a simple sine function 
of the time, but will contain higher harmonics, 
on account of the varying permeability of the 
core, and that also the apparent resistance of 
such an electro-magnet is greater than the re- 
sistance of its windings, while its apparent is 
less than its true self inductance. 

A full description of the experimental ar- 
rangements and necessary corrections for Fou- 
cault currents, upper harmonics, etc., is then 
given together with the values obtained for the 
induction and hysteresis for irons of various 
qualities, using magnetizing currents having 
frequencies of 128, 256 and 520 per second. 


420 


The paper concludes with a general discus- 
sion of the experimental data, which may be 
summarized as follows: 

The permeability and induction are always 
smaller for an alternating field than for a steady 
one, the difference reaching a maximum for 
low values of the magnetizing force, while near 
saturation the difference is small. For low 
values of the magnetizing force the differences 
are the same for all frequencies. The softer 
and less subdivided the iron, and the higher the 
frequency, the greater the difference (amount- 
ing in one case for very soft iron to 40%). 

Tn moderate and strong fields, for equal values 
of the induction, the hysteresis is greater for 
alternating magnetization, than the value ob- 
tained by the usual static methods, the increase 
being greater the nearer saturation is ap- 
proached, the higher the frequency and the softer 
the iron. The opposite is true for weak fields. 

The only explanation which can be given is 
that the magnetism of the iron is unable to keep 
up with a rapidly varying field and consequently 
the hysteresis loop is broader and lower than 
it would be if determined for slow changes of 
the field. AGES Tar Cre. 


GENERAL. 

H. BECQUEREL (Comptes Rendus, t. CX XVIL., 
p. 899 and t. CXXVIII., p. 145) has been able 
to prove and study the existence of abnormal dis- 
persion in sodium vapor. He finds that the 
effects of the D, and D, lines in causing ab- 
normal dispersion are superposed and that for 
certain rays the refractive indices are less than 
unity. 

On account of its importance in the theory of 
atmospheric electricity the question as to 
whether the vapor of an electrified liquid is 
itself electrified is of great interest. It cannot 
be said that the subject has not received atten- 
tion, but the results obtained by different inves- 
tigators are not in accord. Pellat (Comptes 
Rendus, t. CXXVIII., p. 169) has lately re- 
investigated the subject and finds that the 
rate of loss of charge from an_ insulated, 
electrified, metal vessel is greater when it 
contains water than when empty. Applying 
this result to the phenomena of atmospheric 
electricity he comes to the conclusion that it can 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 220. 


only explain a part of the observed facts and 
further knowledge will reveal some as yet un- 
known cause acting. A. Sr. C. D. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

Mr. Henry GANNETT, Geographer of the 
Geological Survey, who was the political and 
statistical geographer of the last census, has been 
asked to take charge of the same work for the 
coming census. The Director of the Census, 
Mr. Merriam, has announced that all applica- 
tions for positions will receive consideration, and 
that examinations will be held as rigid as those 
before the Civil Service Commission. The 300 
Supervisors are to be appointed after consulta- 
tion with Senators and Representatives of the 
separate States, but without regard to party 
affiliations. 


THE professors of geology in the University of 
California and in Stanford University have or- 
ganized a geological club, to be called the ‘Cor- 
dilleran Geological Club.’ It is intended to 
include all the geologists of the Pacific and ad- 
jacent States, and its object is by occasional 
meetings to stimulate geological work. Whether 
it shall remain an independent organization or 
shall be affiliated with any other scientific body 
is left for future decision. 


PROFESSOR RAY LANKESTER has been elected 
Foreign Correspondent of the Paris Academy 
of Sciences for the Section of Anatomy and Zo- 
ology. Twenty-seven votes were cast for Pro- 
fessor Lankester and eight for Professor Van 
Beneden, of Liége. M. Lortet, professor of 
medicine, of Lyons, has been elected National 
Correspondent for the same Section. 

Lorp Lister, London, and Professor Koch, 
Berlin, have been elected Foreign Associates of 
the Paris Academy of Medicine. 

PROFESSOR RAY LANKESTER, London ; Pro- 
fessor L. Cremona, Rome, and M. Alexander 
Karpinsky, St. Petersburg, have been elected 
Associates of the Belgian Academy of Sciences. 


THE address in medicine at the next Yale 
commencement exercises is to be delivered by 
Professor Charles Sedgwick Minot, of the Har- 
vard Medical School. The title of the address 
has not yet been announced, but we are in- 


MAnc# 17, 1899.] 


formed that Dr. Minot will present some new 
aspects of medical education. 


PROFESSOR GEORGE T. LADD, of Yale Univer- 
sity, will be given a year’s leave of absence at 
the close of the present academic year, and will 
lecture on philosophical subjects before the Uni- 
versities of Japan and India. 


Dr. WittiAM T. Harris, United States 
Commissioner of Education, has been given an 
honorary doctorate of philosophy by the Uni- 
versity of Jena. 


Mr. W. E. D. Scotr has been appointed 
curator of the ornithological collection in the 
School of Science of Princeton University. 


Mr. A. KE. Bostwick, Librarian of the New 
York Free Circulating Library, has been elected 
Librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library. 


THE Permanent Secretary of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 
Dr. L. O. Howard, Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C., would be glad to receive 
information of the present addresses of the 
following: Mr. William J. Lewis, Mr. Frank 
McClintock, Miss Mary A. Nichols, Mr. Charles 
M. Rolker and Mr. Carl H. Schultz. 


Stenor Ropotro LANcIANI, D.C.L., LL.D., 
professor of ancient topography in the Uni- 
versity of Rome and Director of the Italian 
School of Archeology, has been appointed 
Gifford lecturer in the University of St. An- 
drews for the next two academical years. The 
subject of his lectures will be the ‘ Religion of 
Rome.’ 


WE learn from Nature that at the anniversary 
meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, 
Mr. Frank McClean, F.R.S., was awarded the 
gold medal of the Society for his photographic 
survey of stars in both hemispheres, and other 
contributions to the advancement of astron- 
omy. A prize of 500 frances, founded by 
Augustin-Pyramus de Candolle for the best 
monograph on a genus or family of plants, is 
offered in competition by the Société de physique 
et d’histoire naturelle de Genéve. The mono- 
graphs may be composed in Latin, French, 
German, Italian or English, and must be sent 
to M. Pictet, the President of the Society, be- 
fore January 15, 1900. Members of the Society 


SCIENCE. 


421 


are not permitted to compete. The Belgian 
Royal Academy has awarded prizes of 600 franes 
to M. Georges Clautriau, of Brussels, for his 
memoir, on the macro- and micro-chemistry of 
digestion in carnivorous plants, and to Professor 
L. Cuénot, of Nancy, for his essay on the ex- 
cretory organs of Mollusca. 


WE regret to record the death of Sir Douglas 
Galton, F.R.S., the eminent sanitary engineer. 
Born in 1822, he was educated at Rugby and 
Woolwich, and received a commission in the 
Royal Engineers in 1840. He subsequently 
served in many important capacities as Inspec- 
tor of Public Works, visiting the United States 
to inspect the railways in 1856. He was the 
author of books on ‘Healthy Dwellings’ and 
‘Healthy Hospitals.’ Sir Douglas Galton was 
for twenty-five years the General Secretary of 
the British Association, and on his retirement, 
in 1895, was elected President. It will be 
remembered that his presidential address at 
Ipswich was published in this JouRNAL. 


Str JOHN STRUTHERS, emeritus professor of 
anatomy in the University of Aberdeen, died 
on February 24th, aged 75 years. He was the 
author of numerous papers on human and com- 
parative anatomy, and exercised much influence 
on the improvement of anatomical teaching in 
Scotland. 


THE deaths are also announced of Dr. Dareste 
de la Chavanne, the French anthropologist, and 
Dr. Franz Lang, a Swiss zoologist and geolgist. 

A GRANT of £300 from the Worts Travelling 
Scholars’ Fund, Cambridge University, has 
been made to Mr. W. W. Skeat, M.A., towards 
defraying the expenses of his scientific expedi- 
tion to the Malay peninsula, on the condition 
that the results of the investigations made by 
the expedition be reported by him to the Vice- 
Chancellor in a form that may hereafter be 
published. Mr. Skeat is accompanied by two 
zoologists, Messrs. Evans and Annandale, of 
Oxford, and by Mr. Gwynne-Vaughan, bot- 
anist. 

News of the safety of M. Bonin, the French 
explorer, who has been missing in Thibet and 
the interior of China, has reached Shanghai. 
He arrived at Yachow, Sye Chuen district, after 
many exciting experiences, and will make his 


4 or) 


a4 


way to the coast by the river route. Witha 
few Chinese companions he has travelled 
through the greater portion of Thibet and made 
a trip from the Siberian line to Tong King. 


Srpps have been taken by the British gov- 
ernment to guard against undue destruction 
of wild animals in Africa, by the issue of game 
regulations. The German government has 
been consulted, and it is proposed to hold an in- 
ternational conference on the subject in London 
in the spring. 


THE New York Post-Graduate Hospital has 
received $100,000 from Mr. Harris Fahenstock 
for a training school for nurses. 


PROFESSOR R. W. Woop, of the University of 
Wisconsin, has discovered a new method of pho- 
tographing in natural colors. He reproduces 
the colors by diffraction, and, though at present 
the production of the first finished picture is 
somewhat tedious, duplicates can be printed as 
easily as ordinary photographs are made The 
pictures are on glass, and are not only color- 
less, but almost invisible when viewed in ordi- 
nary lights, but when placed in a viewing 
apparatus, consisting of a convex lens ona light 
frame, show the colors of nature with great brill- 
iancy. The principle is that the picture and 
the lens form spectra which overlap and the 
eye placed in the overlapping portion sees the 
different portions of the picture in color depend- 
ing on the distance between the grating lines at 
that place. Professor Wood says the finished 
picture isatransparent film of gelatine with 
very fine lines on it, about 2,000 to the inch 
on the average. The colors depend solely 
on the spacing between the lines, and are 
pure spectrum colors, or mixtures of such, the 
necessity of colored screens or pigments, used 
in all other processes except that of Lippman, 
having been overcome. The pictures can be 
projected on a screen by employing a suitable 
lantern, or can be viewed individually with a 
very simple piece of apparatus consisting of a 
lens and perforated screen mounted ona frame. 
A peculiarity of the process is that there is no 
such thing asa negative in it. Half-a-dozen pic- 
tures have been printed in succession, one from 
another, and all are positive and indistinguish- 
able from each other. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. 1X. No, 220. 


THE record for kite-flying for scientific pur- 
poses has again been broken at the Blue Hill 
Observatory ; 12,440 feet above the sea-level 
was reached on February 28th by a recording 
instrument attached toa string of tandem kites. 
This is 366 feet higher than the preceding best 
record, made at the same place on August 26th. 
The flight was begun at 3:40 p. m., Tuesday, 
the temperature at the surface being 40° and 
the wind seventeen miles an hour. At the high- 
est degree the temperature was 12° and the 
wind velocity fifty miles an hour. Steel wire 
was used as a flying line, and the kites, four in 
number, were of an improved Hargreave pat- 
tern, with curved surfaces, made after the pat- 
tern of soaring birds’ wings. The upper kite 
carried an aluminum instrument weighing four 
pounds, which recorded graphically tempera- 
ture, wind velocity, humidity and atmospheric 
pressure. The combined kites had an area of 
205 square feet and weighed twenty-six pounds, 
while the weight of the wire was seventy-six 
pounds. The upper kite remained above two 
miles for about three hours, and was reeled in 
by a steam windlass, constructed for that pur- 
pose. When within half a mile of the ground 
the fastening on one of the kites slipped, and 
this carried it up to the one above, the added 
pull snapping the wire and sending three kites 
adrift. A search for the lost kites was begun on 
Wednesday, and two of them were found at the 
Milton town farm, about two miles away, 
but the third was not recovered until later, 
when it was found at Field’s Corner, over six 
miles north of the Observatory, or more than 
half the distance between that point and the 
State House. The recording instrument was 
found uninjured. This was the last of a series 
of five high flights made on successive days, 
Sunday excepted. The average height reached 
was 10,300 feet, or nearly two miles. The 
temperature at 10,000 feet on February 23d was 
5°; on the 24th, 1°; on the 25th, 11°, and on 
the 28th, 20° above zero. 

THE British Iron Trade Journal attributes the 
remarkable expansion of the iron and steel in- 
dustries of the United States to the following 
favorable changes in economic conditions: (a) 
‘Intensive’ production, reducing costs gener- 
ally; (0) Reduced costs of ores and develop- 


Marcu 17, 1899. ] 


ment of the deposits of fine mineral in the dis- 
trict adjacent to the Great Lakes ; (c) Reduction 
of salaries through technical progress and 
changes in systems of administration ; (d) Re- 
markably low cost of fuel; (e) Concentration 
of production with unlimited capital; (/) 
Mainly, however, to reduced cost of transpor- 
tation. This last factor more than all others 
together has brought about this great change 
and placed the United States in its present re- 
lation to the world’s markets. 


In a note by M. Considére, published in the 
Moniteur Industrielle, recently, there are given 
the data of tests of mortars and cements in 
structures, their resistance being reinforced by 
the introduction of iron straps and ‘ arma- 
tures,’ which show that, as he states, these sub- 
stances may be thus caused to sustain tensions 
twenty times as great as when not thus rein- 
forced. 


Ir appears that the Nernst light, the scientific 
principles of which we recently described, is 
likely to rival the are lamp for general use. 
Companies have been organized in Germany, 
Great Britain and America with capitals ex- 
tending into the millions of dollars. The 
English company values its rights at about 
$1,800,000, and it is to be hoped that Professor 
Nernst receives the greater part of this sum. 


Knowledge states that a site has been secured 
at Kemp Town, overlooking Queen’s Park, 
Brighton, for the Gardens of the recently 
founded Zoological Society for Brighton and 
Hove. Some sixty years ago Brighton possessed 
a small zoological garden situated north of The 
Level, on the Lewes Road. The institution did 
not flourish owing to the ignorance of its orig- 
inators, who had no notion of the proper 
method of dealing with captive specimens. 
The consequence was a very high death-rate 
and a brief career for the institution. The new 
garden will not be likely to fail from the causes 
which produced the collapse of its predecessor, 
for it will be managed by competent zoologists 
who have experience in the treatment of animals 
of all kinds. Moreover, the encouragement 
held out to the projectors by residents and per- 
sons of distinction in Brighton is such as to 
warrant us in believing that the undertaking 


SCIENCE. 


423 


will prove to be a success in all respects. A 
special feature in the new institution will be 
the regular delivery of courses of instructive 
popular lectures for the benefit of the numerous 
schools in Brighton and Hove. Among those 
who have enrolled their names as patrons of the 
Society are several of the foreign Ambassadors, 
the Duke of Fife, Sir John Lubbock, Sir Ed- 
ward Sassoon, the Earl of Chichester and the 
Hon. Walter Rothschild. The managing-di- 
rectors are the Earl of Landaff and Mr. F. W. 
Frohawk. 


THE New York Medical Record states that the 
Japanese parliament has passed a bill authoriz- 
ing the free distribution of vaccine virus and 
rendering vaccination compulsory. It is pro- 
vided that a child must be vaccinated within 
ten month of its birth, and that, if the vaccina- 
tion does not take, it must be repeated within 
a period of six months, and yet again within a 
similar period if it be again unsuccessful. 
Further, all children must be re-vaccinated at 
the age of six and once more at the age of 
twelve. Thereafter vaccination becomes occa- 
sional, and may be declared compulsory at any 
time of threatened or actual epidemic, the 
power to order it being vested in local goy- 
ernors. 


A CouRSE of nine lectures upon science and 
travel has been arranged by the Field Colum- 
bian Museum, Chicago, for Saturday afternoons 
in March and April at 3 o’clock. The lectures 
are as follows: 


March 4—‘ Cuba and the Cubans,’ Dr. R. 8. Mar- 
tin, Chicago. 

March 11—‘Blind Fishes of North American 
Caves,’ Dr. Carl H. Eigenmann, Director, Biological 
Station, Bloomington, Indiana. 

March 18—‘ Religious Ceremonies of the Hopi In- 
dians of Arizona,’ Dr. George A. Dorsey, Curator, 
Department of Anthropology, Field Columbian Mu- 
seum. 

March 25—‘Colors of Flowers and Fruits,’ Pro- 


fessor W. H. Dudley, Wisconsin State Normal 
School. 
April 1—‘ Russia and the Russians,’ Professor A. 


M. Feldman, Armour Institute of Technology. 
April 8—‘ The Bad Lands of South Dakota,’ Pro- 
fessor O. C. Farrington, Curator, Department of Geol- 
ogy, Field Columbian Museum. 
April 15—‘ Extinct Vertebrates of the Bad Lands,’ 


424 


Mr. E. S. Riggs, Assistant Curator of Paleontology, 
Field Columbian Museum. 

April 22—‘ Animal Messmates and Parasites,’ Pro- 
fessor H. M. Kelly, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, 
Towa. ; 

April 29—‘ Aboriginal Methods of Manufacturing 
Weapons and Implements,’ Professor George L. Collie, 
Beloit College, Wisconsin. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mr. W. F. R. WELDEN, F.R.S8., professor of 
zoology of University College, London, has 
been elected Linacre professor of comparative 
anatomy at Oxford, in succession to Profes- 
sor Ray Lankester. Professor Welden, Pro- 
fessor Love, whose appointment to the Sedleian 
chair of natural philosophy we announced last 
week, and Mr. Stout, recently appointed to the 
Wilde lectureship of mental philosophy, were 
all Fellows of St. Johns College, Cambridge. 


THE following promotions have been made 
at Princeton University: Assistant Professor 
Herbert S. S. Smith to be professor of applied 
mechanics in the School of Science; Assistant 
Professor Walter Butler Harris to be professor 
of geodesy in the School of Science, and In- 
structor Ulric Dahlgren to be assistant profes- 
sor of histology in the academic department. 


E. L. THORNDIKE, Pu. D. (Columbia), instruc- 
tor in Western Reserve University, has been 
appointed instructor in genetic psychology in 
Teachers College, Columbia University. 


THE Isaac Newton Scholarship of Cambridge 
University for the encouragement of study and 
research in astronomy has been awarded to Mr. 
G. W. Walker, B. A. Scholar of Trinity Col- 
lege. The scholarship is of the annual value 
of £200, and is tenable for three years. 


Miss CAROLINE HAZARD, of Peacedale, R. L., 
has been elected President of Wellesley College. 


PROFESSOR SNELLEN will retire at the close 
of the present semester from the chair of oph- 
thalmology at the University of Utrecht. 

AT a recent meeting of the Council of New 
York University Chancellor MacCracken re- 
ported that endowments amounting to nearly 
$50,000 had been received, of which $20,000 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 220. 


will be devoted to the School of Applied 
Science. 


A CHAIR of English Literature has been en- 
dowed in Princeton University with $100,000, 
on condition that the Rev. Dr. Henry Van 
Dyke, of New York City, be the first incumbent. 
Princeton University has also received $65,000 
for the academic department. 


THE German-American citizens of New York 
are collecting a fund of $20,000 in honor of Mr. 
Carl Schurz, whose seventieth birthday was re- 
cently celebrated. The money will be used to 
endow a fellowship and a Library of Germanic 
Literature in Columbia University. 


THE following further gifts have been made 
during the week to educational institutions : 
$50,000 to the Catholic University by the Na- 
tional Council, Knights of Columbus, to estab- 
lish a chair for historical research ; $20,000 to 
Hobart College for the foundation of scholar- 
ships by Miss Catherine L. Tuttle; $10,000 to 
University of Virginia for books on the history 
of Virginia, and $5,000 from various donors to 
Syracuse University. 

AT congregation at Cambridge University 
on March 2d the report of the General Board of 
Studies recommending the establishment of a 
department of agriculture in the University 
under the direction of a professor was approved. 
The offers made to the University by Sir Walter 
Gilbey, the Board of Agriculture, certain county 
and borough councils and the Drapers’? Com- 
pany were gratefully accepted. 

Tue plans for the Cornell Medical School, 
New York City, have been filed. The entire 
frontage on First avenue, between Twenty-sev- 
enth and Twenty-eighth streets, is to be occu- 
pied by the building, which will cost $500,000. 


Erratum: In the abstract (p. 312 above) of Profes- 
sor Wm. A. Locy’s paper before the American Morpho- 
logical Society, ‘New Facts Regarding the Develop- 
ment of the Olfactory Nerve,’ the first sentence should 
read: ‘The early embryonic history of the olfactory 
nerve is very imperfectly known,’ instead of ‘is 
known,’ and the closing sentence should read: ‘It was 
also shown to persist in the adult,’ instead of ‘ to per- 
ish in the adult.’ Credit should also be given to the 
Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund for providing the 
material upon which the research was conducted. 


OrunteL CHARLES MArsu, Professor of Paleontology in Yale University, President 
of the National Academy of Sciences from 1883 to 1896, President of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science in 1878, and one of the editors of this 
JourNAL, died at New Haven on March the eighteenth, in his sixty-eighth year. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMITTEE: S. Newcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurRston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 

S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. Brirron, Botany; HENRY F. OsBoRN, 
General Biology; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcn, Physiology; 

J. S. Brutinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Marcu 24, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
The Early Tertiary Volcanoes of the Absaroka 
Range: ARNOLD HAGUE.........0.:ecccsseceeeseee 4R5 
The Physiological Basis of Mental Life: PROFESSOR 
HIUGO MUNSTERBERG.......0.cssceeecerenesescnsceeees 442 
Sophus Lie: PROFESSOR GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED 447 
Scientific Books :— 


Newbigin on Color in Nature : ‘Proressor T. D. 
A. COCKERELL. Weir on the Dawn of Reason : 
DR. EDWARD THORNDIKE........cc0ccceeeeescseees 448 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Annual Meeting of the New York Academy 
of Sciences: PROFESSOR RICHARD E. DODGE. 

~ The Philosophical Society of Washington: E. D. 
PRESTON. The Geological Society of Washing- 
ton: DR. WM. F. MORSELL..........:ecsceeeeeeees 452 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
On the Making of Solutions: PROFESSOR M. A. 
Wittcox. The Origin of Nightmare: G. 


Astronomical Notes :— 
A New Satellite of Saturn: PRoressor E. C. 


IPI CKWREN Gis cecccievacseccetanacciiseatiecsase suri astro 456. 


Notes on Physics :— 
The Nernst Lamp ; Pyroelectricity and Piézoelec- 
tricity ; The Rotary Converter; The Telescope- 
Mirror-Scale Method: W. 8. F......... ..- 456 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H...........000 457 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
The Theory of Cyclones and Anticyclones ; Car- 


bonie Acid in Death Gulch: R. DEC. WARD... 458 
Zoological Notes :— 

Neomylodon Listai: F. A. Lu..scececeeeseenee phono 459 
Scientific Notes and News........s.sccooveseecseereeceseeees 460 


University and Educational News . 464 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
tor review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE EARLY TERTIARY VOLCANOES OF THE 
ABSAROKA RANGE.* 

Ir is, I suppose, accepted by many geol- 
ogists that volcanic energy has played an im- 
portant part not only in bringing about the 
present configuration of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, but in building up the entire northern 
Cordillera, stretching from the Front Range, 
along Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, 
westward to the Pacific Ocean. Over this 
wide area the volcanic phenomena of Ter- 
tiary time present a varied and complex 
mode of occurrence, offering from different 
points of view many problems of geological 
interest. These problems have been vigor- 
ously attacked both in the field and in the 
laboratory, and something has been accom- 
plished tending toward their final elucida- 
tion. The literature upon the subject is 
already voluminous, being scattered widely 
through the publications of official reports, 
both State and National, and in the pro- 
ceedings of scientific societies. While I de- 
sire to call your attention to some of these 
features, I do not propose to summarize the 
work that has already been done in this 
direction in a manner which is perhaps 
usual on occasions like the present. Neither 
do I wish to review the field from my own 
standpoint, possibly because, although much 
has been accomplished, such a vast amount 
of work remains to be done that the broad 


*Address of the President before the Geological 
Society of Washington, February, 1899. 


426 


field seems even yet scarcely explored. I 
prefer, therefore, to place before you some 
results of personal observation in a region 
in which I have worked for several years 
and in which I have become deeply inter- 
ested. 

The Absaroka Range lies along the east 
side of the Yellowstone Park. Several of 
its higher peaks and its long western spurs, 
sloping gradually toward the Park, lie 
within the national reservation. During 
several successive summers, while engaged 
in geological observations in the Park, I 
found it necessary to penetrate beyond its 
boundaries into the higher encircling moun- 
tains. My first excursion into the Absa- 
rokas was undertaken in the summer of 
1885, and thereafter for several years I made 
long and protracted journeys into this rug- 
ged and at that time almost unknown re- 
gion, studying its geology, and returning 
each year more and more profoundly im- 
pressed by its many marvels. In the year 
1893, and again in 1897, the greater part of 
the summer was occupied in exploration of 
the wild recesses of the Absarokas. 

The range, which lies wholly in the State 
of Wyoming, stretches from the Beartooth 
and Snowy ranges, on the north, southward 
to the Owl Mountains. In width it is less 
sharply defined, certain outlying plateau- 
like areas, such as Mirror and Two-Ocean 
plateaus, being separated from the main 
body by deep valleys. Geographically they 
may be considered as distinct physical fea- 
tures. Geologically, from their mode of oc- 
currence and the nature of the rocks, they 
are intimately associated with the central 
mass, and for the purposes of this address 
they may be considered as forming a part 
of the Absaroka Range. As thus defined, 
the range measures 80 miles in length by 
50 miles in width, covering an area of nearly 
4,000 square miles. 

From one end to the other the Absarokas 
present a high, imposing plateau, with ele- 


SCIENCE, 


(N.&. Von. IX. No. 221. 
vations ranging from 10,000 to over 12,000 
feet above sea level. This entire mass is 
made up almost exclusively of Tertiary 
igneous rocks. Near the northern flanks 
Archean schists and gneisses crop out from 
beneath the overlying rocks. Resting upon 
the Archean, upturned Paleozoic limestones 
and sandstones having a considerable thick- 
ness come to the surface, and along the 
eastern borders of the range, exposed by 
erosion in the broader valleys, occur Cre- 
taceous rocks. With these exceptions, the 
range consists of a vast accumulation of ag- 
glomerates, tuffs, lava flows and intrusive 
masses. 

Degradation of the mass has taken place 
on a grand scale. Vast quantities of vol- 
canic ejectamenta have been removed from 
the summit, but no reliable data exist by 
which the amount can be estimated even 
approximately. All the higher portions 
have been sculptured by glacial ice. Enor- 
mous amphitheatres have been carved out 
of the loose agglomerates, and peaks, pin- 
nacles, and relics of great tablelands testify 
in some measure to the forces of erosion. 
The plateau is scored by a complete network 
of deep valleys and gorges, which dissect it 
in every direction and lay bare the structure 
of the vast volcanic pile. 

Nowhere in the northern Rocky Moun- 
tains do I know grander and more rugged 
scenery than ‘can be found in the Absarokas. 
But few natural passes lead across the 
mountainous tract, and these are high and 
difficult to scale. For years the range stood 
as an impassable barrier to the earlier ex- 
plorers in their attempts to reach the sources 
of the Yellowstone from the east; and even 
to-day the region is seldom penetrated to its 
inmost recesses except by those engaged in 
scientific exploration of the country, by the 
prospector in search of precious metals, or 
by a few adventurous sportsmen in pursuit 
of the big game of the Rockies. Much of 
this region is covered by a dense growth of 


Marcu 24, 1899. ] 


coniferous forest, and the greater part of 
the forests lying east of the Yellowstone 
Park belong to the Yellowstone timber re- 
serve, the first of the forest reservations set 
aside by proclamation of the President under 
the Act of Congress approved March 1, 1891. 

Rightly to understand the true position 
of this voleanic area it is necessary to re- 
view briefly the geological history of the 
surrounding region before the piling-up of 
the eruptive material. The Absarokas are 
hemmed in, both to the north and to the 
south, by high ranges with approximately 
east and west trends. On the north are the 
Beartooth Mountains, presenting a broad 
elevated Archean mass culminating in some 
of the highest peaks to be found in Montana; 
while to the south are the Owl Mountains, 
consisting of an Archean nucleus capped 
and for the most part concealed by an arch 
of Paleozoic beds highly inclined along the 
outer’ edges. Between these two ranges 
lies a depressed basin, and resting uncon- 
formably upon the Archean are sediments 
of great thickness, derived in large part 
from the earlier continental areas. 

These sediments,slowly deposited through- 
out a long period, represent nearly all the 
great divisions of Paleozoic and Mesozoic 
time. Beginning with the Cambrian, in 
their order of sequence, come the Silurian, 
Devonian, Trias, Jura and all the epochs 
of the Cretaceous recognized in Wyoming 
and Montana including the Dakota, Colo- 
rado, Montana and the Laramie standstone 
at the top, with its frequent fluctuations of 
sea level, foreshadowing changes in the de- 
velopment of the pre-existing continental 
area. 

With the close of the Laramie sandstone 
the long-continued deposition of Mesozoic 
and Paleozoic sediments finally came to an 
end. In this region unconformity of sedi- 
ments by deposition has not as yet been 
recognized, and in this sense alone they 
may be said to be conformable from Middle 


SCIENCE. 427 


Cambrian time to the summit of the Lara- 
mie. Stupendous orogenic movements 
took place, and the surrounding country 
became one of mountain building on a grand 
scale, accompanied by plication, folding 
and faulting. The evidence all points in 
one direction—that this uplifting was con- 
temporaneous in all the ranges of the 
northern Rocky Mountains. For this 
reason, and owing to its great geological 
significance, being one of the most impor- 
tant in Rocky Mountain geological history, 
the uplifting has been designated as the 
post-Laramie movement. 

Along the west side of the Absarokas, 
and lying within the Yellowstone Park, ex- 
tend north and south ridges of faulted and 
crumbled strata consisting mainly of highly 
inclined Cretaceous sandstone, the Laramie, 
nearly 10,000 feet above present sea level. 
From this ridge region eastward for fifty 
miles stretches this broad volcanic mass, 
finally dying out upon the plain over which 
the earliest lavas spread, resting on hor- 
izontal sandstones at an elevation of about 
6,000 feet above sea level. After a very 
considerable erosion of the uplifted Meso- 
zoic continental land area began the earliest 
of these volcanic eruptions, which later 
displayed such marvelous energy over this 
entire region of country, and which were 
closely related to the post-Laramie move- 
ment. This eruptive material, forcing its 
way upward, followed lines of least resist- 
ance along or near planes of faulting, or 
wherever the strain had been greatest upon 
the weakened strata. 

The Absaroka Range was formed by the 
piling-up of successive accumulations of 
volcanic ejectamenta, with occasional inter- 
bedded flows of lava, burying everything 
beneath them to a depth of several thous- 
and feet. Volcanic breccias, agglomerates 
and extrusive lavas, or those that have 
been poured out and cooled near the sur- 
face, constitute the bulk of the mountains. 


428 


These breccias and lavas were ejected from 
numerous fissures, vents and centers of ex- 
plosive energy. Infinite detail as regards 
mineral composition and texture, and great 
complexity in mode of occurrence, may be 
observed. Viewed in a broad way and re- 
duced to its simplest terms, the Absaroka 
Range consists of an uplifted volcanic 
region, presenting from one end to the 
other great uniformity, and even simplic- 
ity, in its main geological features. It 
is essentially a dissected plateau, deeply 
trenched by incisive gorges, offering ex- 
posures varying from 2,000 to 5,000 feet of 
nearly horizontal or only slightly inclined 
lavas. To this there are, of course, some 
exceptions, as is natural in any volcanic 
region. Notwithstanding the varied and 
complex manifestations of the eruptive 
breccias from many sources of outflow, this 
entire body of extrusive material has been 
divided broadly into six epochs, based upon 
their relative age and general sequence of 
lavas. They represent, in the geological 
history of the mountains, as many distinct 
phases of volcanic eruption. Beginning 
with the earliest in the order of eruption, 
they have been designated as follows: 
early acid breccia, early basic breccia, early 
basalt sheets, late acid breccia, late basic 
breccia, late basalt sheets. 

Briefly stated, the interpretation of this 
history, as I understand it, is somewhat as 
follows: 

So far as is known, the oldest volcanic 
rocks recognized in the Absarokas consist of 
a series of eruptives made up almost en- 
tirely of fragmental material, usually light 
in color, varying from grayish white to 
purple. In mineral composition they range 
from hornblende-andesite to hornblende- 
mica-andesite. Some of the siliceous varie- 
ties have developed phenocrysts of quartz 
in sufficient amount to be classed as dacites. 
These breccias appear to have been thrown 
out with violent explosive action from nu- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 221. 


merous centers, but from none of them was 
any large amount of material piled up; at 
least if it was thrown out it was subse- 
quently worn down by atmospheric agencies. 
In no instance do they attain great eleva- 
tion, the exposures being due to extensive 
erosion and deep trenching of narrow can- 
yons. They are known only in the northern 
end of the range, and there in limited area, 
being buried beneath vast accumulations of 
still later material. These centers appear 
to be independent of later eruptions. 

Overlying these acid breccias is a vast 
amount of volcanic ejectamenta, with here 
and there interbedded basaltic flows, the en- 
tire body having accumulated in many places 
to a height of several thousand feet. They 
occur far more widely distributed over the 
mountains than any other group of breccias, 
stretching both in its length and breadth 
from one end of the range to the other. 
They constitute nearly all the northern 
portion of the Absarokas, as well as the 
northeast corner of the Park. Unlike the 
early acid breccia, they are usually dark 
colored, owing to the amount of ferro-mag- 
nesian minerals present. The material 
consists largely of hornblende-pyroxene- 
andesite, proxene-andesite and __ basalt. 
Constant modifications and transitions oc- 
cur, but over the entire area the prevailing 
rock is pyroxene-andesite, passing into. 
slightly less basic rocks carrying horn- 
blende on the one hand and into basaltic 
forms on the other. By far the greatest 
portion of this eruptive material is formed 
of coarse agglomerates, sombre in color, 
held together by varying amounts of ce- 
menting ash and silts of similar composi- 
tion. The prevailing colors are black and 
brownish gray, while the finer silts and 
mud flows free from large bowlders are 
light brown, in strong contrast to the mass 
of the breccia. 

It is difficult to describe in few words 
such volumes of volcanic material scattered 


Marcu 24, 1899.] 


over broad fields and thrown out under 
varying conditions. Frequently these basic 
breccias present a rough and ropy surface, 
like ordinrry scoria irregularly heaped to- 
gether, but the bulk of it indicates indistinct 
bedding. A tumultuous heaping-up of ag- 
glomerate by explosive action characterizes 
this breccia, which not infrequently carries 
andesitic and basaltic bowlders. measuring 
5 and 6 feet in length and often double that 
size. In one or two localities huge bowlders 
of crystalline gneisses and schists are also 
embedded in the lavas. 

Scattered over the area occur the thin in- 
terbedded flows, apparently poured forth 
from numerous fissures and vents. These 
flows increased in frequency and thickness 
until finally massive outflows of basalt cov- 
ered a considerable portion of the earlier 
series of breccias. Over how large a field 
they at one time may have extended cannot 
now be told, erosion having certainly re- 
moved them from large tracts, but they may 
never have been spread over extensive re- 
gions. It is somewhat curious that this 
continuous broad field of basalt has a north- 
west-and-southeast trend and 
obliquely across the summit of the range 
from Mirror Plateau to Needle Mountain, 
whereas the body of the breccia in general 
has a north-and-south trend. The basalts 
lie upon the uneven surfaces of the breccia 
and occur piled up in a succession of flows, 
which in places near their sources have at- 
tained an aggregate thickness of 1,500 feet, 
although over large areas they measure 
about 1,000 feet, thinning out to a few hun- 
dred, while in certain places they appear to 
be wanting. Individual sheets range in 
thickness from 5 to 50 feet without showing 
any material change in the physical charac- 
ters of successive flows. The greatest accu- 
mulation of flows appears to be along the 
trend of the basaltic body, thinning out 
both to the northeast and to the southwest, 
indicating that the eruptions had followed 


stretches - 


SCIENCE. 429 


a fissure or system of fissures. Of course, 
this can be said only in a general way, as 
basaltic outflows may occur anywhere along 
the range. As regards mineral composi- 
tion, they are usually fine grained, with but 
few well-developed megascopic constituents, 
mainly augite, olivine and plagioclase. In 
chemical composition they show within re- 
stricted limits considerable variation, with 
accompanying changes in mineral develop- 
ment, analyses determining a large amount 
of the alkalies and a correspondingly low 
percentage of silica. Numbers of these 
flows have built up, from vents, rounded 
bosses of basaltic rocks characterized by a 
development of orthoclase, in several in- 
stances associated with leucite. They are 
the extrusive equivalents of intrusive rocks, 
designated as absarokites in distinction 
from normal basalts. Reference will be 
made to them later, in speaking of certain 
intrusive masses. So far as our present 
knowledge goes, they belong chiefly to this 
period of eruptions. Many of these indi- 
vidual sheets stretch out for long distances, 
but others show great lack of continuity, 
thinning and thickening in different direc- 
tions and often overlapping one another, in- 
dicating numerous sources of eruption and 
varying force and duration of flows. 

In their topograpic configuration the ba- 
salts stand out in marked contrast to the 
loosely compacted breccias, owing to great 
uniformity of flows and to differences in 
weathering. To these basalts the name early 
basalt sheets has been given, and they are 
here treated as a geological unit, since they 
mark a distinct period in the history of 
voleanic eruption. It is quite possible, and 
even probable, that they covered this entire 
region and were subsequently removed by 
erosion, but of this there is no direct evi- 
dence. If they did, the country must at 
one time have presented a gloomy, sombre 
field of basalt, poured forth in a molten 
condition after a long period of fragmental 


430 


eruptions. How long the basalt period 
lasted cannot now be told. In determining 
the sequence of lavas these early basalt 
fields play an important part, as they over- 
lie the early series of acid and basic brec- 
cias and underlie a somewhat similar series 
of eruptive material designated late acid 
breccia and late basic breccia and flows. 
Following the basalts come the late acid 
breccias. They occur less widely distrib- 
uted than the early acid breccias, and for 
the most part lie within the Yellowstone 
Park. Unlike the earlier breccias, they are 
less deeply buried beneath later eruptive 
material, but are piled up in successive 
layers one upon another, forming the sum- 
mits of several prominent peaks and broad, 
plateau-like ridges. Over considerable areas 
they lie spread out in thin sheets over the 
basalt flows. Their centers of eruption 
occupy a restricted area and seem to be in 
every way quite independent of the earlier 
breccias and basalts. In mineral composi- 
tion they closely resemble the early acid 
breccias, consisting of hornblende-andesite 
and hornblende-mica-andesite, in places 
mingled with a good deal of pyroxene- 
andesite, both augite and hypersthene be- 
ing recognized, sometimes one and some- 
times the other predominating. Much of 
the brecciated material is similar in mineral 
composition to the Ishawooa intrusive 
bodies, which will be discussed later. 
Nearly all of this material is fragmental, 
and the greater part of it is made up of 
coarse and fine tuffs. Frequently the con- 
tact between the light-colored acid breccia 
and the still later basic breccia is sharply 
drawn, the latter filling up depressions and 
levelling the accidented surfaces of the 
former, which occur at varying altitudes. 
In most instances the line of demarcation 
is not so sharply drawn, and not infre- 
quently there is a mingling of material, as 
if there had been a pouring-out of the 
later rock before the complete cessation and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 22%. 


closing-up of the more acid centers of 
eruption. Occasionally these light-colored 
rocks, from what appear to be local centers, 
lie directly upon basic breccia made up of 
basaltic bowlders and cementing tufts of 
the earlier series, without the intervening 
basalts. Overlying these acid breccias 
there poured forth from numerous yents a 
second great volume of basic rocks and 
agglomerates, 2,000 to 3,000 feet in thick- 
ness, bearing a close resemblance to the 
earlier basic rocks. They are found over 
the southern portion of the Absarokas, 
usually resting upon the basalts, the late 
acid breccias being, as before mentioned, 
restricted to a limited region of ‘country. 
Indeed, the second series of breccias forms 
the top of nearly all the high plateaus and 
the summits of the more prominent points. 
Cross-sections exposed in deep canyons re- 
veal grand escarpments of both breccias, 
with intervening monotonous sheets of ba- 
salts. Viewed in a broad way, these two 
series of breccias are singularly alike, and 
apparently the conditions governing their 
eruptions were much the same. If we are 
to draw any distinctions, it may be said 
that the early breccias are apt to be sco- 
raceous and slaggy and more chaotic in 
their tumultuous accumulation. The later 
breccia is more regular and distinctly 
bedded, and is almost wholly made up of 
both coarse and fine fragmental material, 
carrying large bowlders that could not have 
been thrown a great distance from the dis- 
charging vents. Bowlders weighing a ton 
or more are by no means uncommon. In 
general, it may be said of these later brec- 
cias that the coarsest material lies near the 
present crest of the range, and is seen to 
grow finer and more uniform, with distinct 
bedding, as one travels either east or west. 
To this rule, however, there are marked 
exceptions. 

Following the late basie breccia, basalt 
tables are found here and there capping the 


MARkc# 24, 1899. ] 


crest of the main ridge along the southern 
portion of the range. Probably they are all 
remnants of one continuous flow. They 
are best observed when seen eastward from 
Mountain Basin, when they present a cas- 
tellated appearance, capping the coarser 
and lighter-colored rocks. In general habit 
they resemble the earlier basalt sheets, and, 
except for their position, have little to dis- 
tinguish them from other similar flows. 
The part they play in the present configura- 
tion of the plateau is insignificant. The 
interest lies in the fact that these basalts 
complete a second cycle of eruption, which 
built up the Absarokas by the accumula- 
tion of successive flows of extrusive lavas, 
and that with them, so far as we have any 
positive record, the last phase of a long- 
continued series of eruptions came to a 
close. 

That the piling-up of this eruptive ma- 
terial lasted through a long period of time 
is clearly established. In the first place, 
the early acid breccias show evidences of 
considerable denudation before the pouring- 
out of later lavas which now occupy the 
eroded areas. Notinfrequently depressions 
may be seen filled with water-laid silts and 
fine gravels, which were afterwards covered 
by fresh outflows of breccia. Similar water- 
laid deposits may be observed in all the 
breccias, but they especially characterize 
the early basic series along the east side of 
the range, where the former existence of 
large lakes and ponds is manifest, with 
sediments of volcanic material over 200 
feet in thickness deposited in comparatively 
quiet waters. In certain localities the 
basalts appear to be the result of fitful dis- 
charge and slow building-up from numer- 
ous vents. The thinning and thickening of 
beds in various directions, the overlapping 
of thin beds from different centers, and 
the frequently chilled surfaces of vesicular 
basalt, all point to a slow accumulation of 
the ejected lava. Occasionally in basaltic 


SCIENCE. 431 


cliffs between lava sheets may be seen thin 
beds of volcanic sands and gravels, wind- 
strewn over an exposed surface before be- 
ing buried beneath fresh flows. Nowhere 
were interbedded layers of clay or earthy 
beds of decomposed rock observed, but such 
deposits are, I think, exceptional in most 
basalt areas. 

While the gradual building-up of the 
plateaus from fresh accumulation was 
steadily in progress, erosion was constantly 
at work upon the surface; and, although 
volcanic fires ceased long ago, erosion has 
been going on steadily ever since. One of 
the most remarkable and puzzling features 
of the country are the areas of undoubted 
water-worn volcanic material, with its 
smooth and polished bowlders. Accumu- 
lations through floods and freshets abound ; 
and, besides the evidence of ancient lakes 
and ponds found dotted over the surface, 
there are strong grounds for the belief that 
upon the upland existed broad rivers which 
carried the water-laid material across the 
plateau to the plain below. All this re- 
quired a long time for its accomplishment. 

Turning now to the land vegetation, con- 
vincing arguments are found not only for 
determining the age of the rocks, but for 
demonstrating that the eruptions lasted 
throughout a long continued period of ac- 
tivity. It is doubtful if any other known 
region in the world offers such a promising 
field of research, showing the relationship 
between plant life and volcanic eruptions, 
as is to be found in the Absarokas. In 
solving these problems the geologist is 
greatly indebted to the paleobotanist. From 
time to time extensive collections of fossil 
plants have been made, indicating a rich 
and varied flora. Portions of the region 
have been visited by our distinguished fel- 
low members, Professor L. F. Ward and 
Professor F. H. Knowlton. All of the col- 
lections have been referred to Professor 
Knowlton, who has made an exhaustive 


432 


study of the material, and his researches 
are now in press. For specific determina- 
tions of these plants I refer you to his mon- 
ograph. Already over 150 species of plants 
have been identified. 

The early acid breccias have yielded a 
terrestrial vegetation regarded as of earlier 
age than that obtained from the superim- 
posed lavas. It has furnished a grouping 
of species so closely allied to the flora found 
in the Fort Union beds, near the junction of 
the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, that 
the two floras are regarded as identical 
in age, and consequently referred to the 
Kocene period. From these acid breccias 
eighty species have been identified, and 
twelve of them were previously only 
known as belonging to the Fort Union hori- 
zon. Still others are common to both 
localities, but are found elsewhere as well. 
About one-half of the species are new to 
science, but according to Professor Knowl- 
ton their biological affinities relate them 
closely to the Fort Union flora. A second 
grouping of fossil plants, designated for 
convenience the intermediate flora, flour- 
ished at a time when the early acid breccia 
had about ceased to be emitted; at least 
they occur near the base of the lower basic 
breccia in beds indicating a mingling of 
both types of rock. In all probability they 
represent a flora which flourished in quies- 
cent times, during a transition period from 
one series of eruptions to another, but fore- 
shadowing a period of basic eruptions. This 
flora is of the highest geological signifi- 
ance, since it indicates a great duration of 
voleanic activity, with a change of cli- 
matic and physical conditions. This inter- 
mediate flora embraces about thirty species, 
of which only two or three are as yet known 
in the acid breccias. About the same num- 
ber have been recognized as common to the 
basic breccias, but the evident affinities of 
the grouping are such that the flora asa 
whole is apparently more closely allied to 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8S. Vou. IX. No. 221. 


the overlying than to the underlying rocks. 
For this reason it is referred to the base of 
the Miocene period and is regarded as older 
than the flora of the auriferous gravels of 
California. 

The vegetation which flourished during 
the period of the basie breccias was, like 
the breccias themselves, widely distrib- 
uted over the mountains wherever mud 
and silts were present to furnish a suitable 
soil. Nowhere can it be better studied 
than at the fossil forest of Specimen Ridge, 
in the Yellowstone Park, first explored by 
Professor W. H. Holmes over twenty-five 
years ago. Since that time other localities 
have been discovered, and quite recently 
beds holding leaf impressions of a similar 
flora have been found on the east side of the 
mountains. At the fossil forest precipitous 
walls expose nearly 2,000 feet of horizontal 
beds of breccias, silts and mud flows, in 
part laid down by floods and freshets and 
in part deposited by quiet waters. From 
base to summit at frequent intervals a ter- 
restrial vegetation has sprung up and flour- 
ished, only in turn to be destroyed by re- 
newed lava streams. In one of these buried 
forests a stump of a still-standing coniferous 
tree measures 10 feet in diameter and is 
surrounded by many fallen logs long since 
preserved by silicification. If one considers 
the length of time it takes for any vegeta- 
tion to spring up on an arid lava field and 
the great age of many of these trees, the 
time necessary to build up a series of such 
forests one above another can hardly be 
overestimated. That there were long 
periods of rest between the outpourings of 
the lava seems evident. Throughout this 
2,000 feet of erupted material it has been 
found impossible as yet to discriminate be- 
tween vegetation found at the base of the 
cliffs and that interbedded with the lavas 
at the summit. This implies similar cli- 
matic conditions during the time demanded 
to renew and develop a varied flora between 


Marcu 24, 1899. ] 


successive layers of tuffs and muds. It 
may be well to state that all this probably 
took place before the period of basalt erup- 
tions. This flora has yielded seventy spe- 
cies, and is regarded as markedly different 
from that of the earlier breccia, and of later 
age. As a grouping it shows the closest 
affinity to the auriferous gravels of Califor- 
nia, many of the species being identical, 
while still others have the closest resem- 
blance to species found only in the gravels. 
It has been named the Lamar flora, and 
referred, like the auriferous gravels, to the 
upper Miocene period. Both the late acid 
and the late basic breccias have recently 
yielded, well-preserved leaf impressions, 
proving the existence of a more or less 
luxuriant flora in all the great periods of 
breccia eruptions. Such fragmentary ma- 
terial as has been found in these later rocks 
agrees with plants preserved in the early 
breccia at Fossil Forest, and, therefore, has 
been correlated with the Lamar flora of 
upper Miocene age. It was a vegetation 
essentially characterized by deciduous foli- 
age. Several species of magnolias, aralias 
and other equally important groups which 
are marked features of the auriferous 
gravels flourished on these volcanic slopes. 
Specimens of Aralia notata occur widely dis- 
tributed, and the leaves of some of them 
are supposed to have measured 3 feet in 
length by 2 in breadth. Associated with 
them are leaves provisionally referred to 
the genus Artocarpus, indicating the pres- 
ence of the breadfruit tree. According to 
Professor Knowlton, this flora is extra- 
tropical and may be compared in many 
ways to the vegetation as seen to-day in 
southern Mississippi and the Gulf coast. 
He says: ‘It is obvious that the present 
flora of the Yellowstone National Park has 
comparatively little relation to the Tertiary 
flora and cannot be considered as a descend- 
ant of it. It is also clear that the climatic 
conditions must have greatly changed. The 


SCIENCE. 


Tertiary flora appears to have originated, 
or at least to have had its affinities, at the 
south, while the present flora is evidently 
of northern origin.” 

On the slopes of Overlook Mountain, in 
the center of the range, nearly 11,000 feet 
above the present sea level, occurs a pros- 
trate log, preserved by silicification, meas- 
uring 2 feet in diameter at its base. Not 
far distant other logs are found, and in the 
silts occur impressions of deciduous leaves. 
From this locality four species of plants 
have been determined as identical with 
species found in the fossil forest, among 
them an Aralia notata. 

In a personal communication Professor 
Ward informs me that in his opinion the 
flora of this region grew virtually at sea 
level. While I recognize his eminent 
authority in such matters, I am hardly pre- 
pared to accept such a radical view, but I 
cordially welcome this expression of opin- 
ion because it in a measure corroborates my 
own belief that the silts and ashes on which 
the flora of Overlook Mountain flourished 
were laid down at a much lower level than 
that at which they are now found. 

Briefly summarizing the facts brought out 
by a study of the fossil flora and their bear- 
ing upon the geology, it is, I think, indis- 
putable that the flora affords abundant evi- 
dence of a great range of Tertiary time 
during the period of volcanic eruptions, even 
if geologists do hesitate to accept the pre- 
cise determinations of the age of the differ- 
ent floras and their geological sequence. 
This luxuriant terrestrial vegetation, de- 
veloped through thousands ‘of feet of lava 
beds, tends to confirm the view that the 
accumulation of this erupted material was 
an exceedingly slow process. Again, the 
character of the vegetation lends a forcible 
argument to the belief that the entire region 
must have been elevated since the develop- 
ment of so varied an extra-tropical vegeta- 
tion. For my part, I desire to pay tribute 


434 


to the great value of the fossil flora as an 
aid in deciphering the geological history of 
the Absarokas. Its interest and impor- 
tance cannot be overestimated. 

Only brief allusions have been made as 
yet to the intrusive bodies, although they 
play a most important part in the build- 
ing-up of the Absarokas. Although such 
bodies in the form of dikes probably cut the 
breccias from time to time, it is clearly 
evident that all the large intrusions, to- 
gether with the greater part of the dikes, 
were forced upward and into the breccias at 
two well-defined periods of eruption. The 
first of these periods was in part contem- 
poraneous with the early basalt flows, and 
in part followed them. The second fol- 
lowed the late basic breccia and basalts, 
and, so far as can be told, completed the 
final chapter in the geological history of 
the immediate region. It is possible that 
later eruptions took place and that the 
material ejected was removed by erosion, 
but of this there is no positive record other 
than a few isolated patches of rhyolite 
which do not bear directly upon the prob- 
lems before us and which may be regarded 
as outliers of the rhyolite of the Park 
plateau. It does not follow that the in- 
trusions of either period were contempora- 
neous in age, but simply that they belong 
to a certain phase of the eruptive energy. 
Dikes may cut an earlier series of intru- 
sives, and subsequently other dikes may 
intersect those which preceded them. 

For the purpose of clearly discriminating 
between these two groups of rocks, the one 
that followed*the early basic breccia has 
been named the Sunlight intrusives, from 
their remarkable exposures along Sunlight 
Creek and valley, while the later group 
has been named the Ishawooa intrusives, 
from the canyon of that name, where the 
complexity of their occurrences forms one 
of the most striking features of that impres- 
sive gorge. In mineral composition the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


Sunlight intrusives range from a quartz- 
augite-andesite, through transition forms 
of syenite and diorite, to orthoclase-gabbro. 
The large body at the head of Sunlight 
Creek is mainly a syenite with associated 
monzonites and diorites. On Closed Creek, 
in Crandall Basin, the intrusive body con- 
sists for the most part of orthoclase, gabbro 
and diorite. The series as a whole shows 
an association of the minerals augite, plagio- 
clase and orthoclase, with quartz and 
biotite in its more siliceous members, and 
olivine and hypersthene in its basic mem- 
bers. In general, the Sunlight intrusives 
are more diversified in chemical composi- 
tion than those of the Ishawooa group. 
The latter are more siliceous, carrying less 
of magnesia and alkalies, and the coarsely 
crystalline masses are much more like 
normal diorite, diorite-porphyry, granite, 
granite-porphyry and andesite-porphyry. 

Of the Sunlight intrusive bodies the one 
situated near the source of Sunlight Creek, 
in the central portion of the range, is the 
most impressive, and at the same time the 
most typical in its occurrence. It measures 
nearly 3 miles in length and occupies the 
basins of all the deep glacial amphitheatres 
on the north side of Stinkingwater River, 
while all the high intervening ridges sepa- 
rating the basins consist of indurated 
breccia. Similar rocks are exposed in the 
Silvertip Basin, on the south side of the 
peak, and in all probability they form part 
of one continuous body. 

The Crandall Basin stock, under Hur- 
ricane Mesa, exposed by the erosion of 
Closed Creek, has far less lateral ex- 
pansion, but rises for nearly 3,000 feet 
above its base. Dikes radiate from all 
the large intrusive bodies, but nowhere else 
is their number so great and the part they 
play so strongly marked as in the region of 
the Sunlight stock. These dikes are by no 
means all connected with the large stocks 
seen at the surface, but may be observed in 


Marcu 24, 1899.7 


great force at a number of localities in the 
early breccia along the east side of the range, 
far removed from any recognized crystalline 
body. Wherever these early breccias occur 
dikes are apt to be a marked feature of the 
country, in contradistinction to the country 
occupied by the latter breccias. 

These dikes consist mainly of orthoclase 
basalts, which Professor Iddings, from his 
microscopical studies, has divided into ab- 
sarokites, shoshonites and banakites, de- 
pending upon their varying mineral and 
chemical composition. In the field it seems 
impossible as yet to differentiate between 
them, and so far as can be told they present 
the same mode of occurrence. For most 
geological purposes they may be grouped 
together under the general term of absaro- 
kites. They form a connecting link be- 
tween many of the eruptions in the early 
basalt sheets and the Sunlight intrusives. 
They are closely related to the syenites and 
monzonites of the Sunlight intrusive stock. 
Both these dikes and sheets occur over ex- 
tensive areas. 

Leaving for the present the Sunlight in- 
trusives, let us take up the Ishawooa in- 
trusives, which I select in order the more 
easily to bring out in detail certain facts 
bearing upon the origin of both types of in- 
trusive rocks. Of the many intrusive 
bodies, Needle Mountain, in the southern 
end of the Absarokas, is the most imposing 
and instructive of them all. At the base 
runs the Shoshone River, through one of 
the most rugged and picturesque canyons 
to be found in northern Wyoming. This 
great stock, which stretches along the val- 
ley for nearly four miles, rises abruptly 
4,000 feet above the stream bed, from an 
elevation of 7,000 feet above sea level. It 
is overlain by 1,000 feet of partially in- 
durated and metamorphosed breccia. From 
the rounded summit of this commanding 
peak the breccias may be seen stretching 
far to the west on the opposite canyon wall, 


SCIENCE. 435 


thence across Thoroughfare Plateau and 
on to the higher regions of Wind River 
Plateau, where they lie nearly horizontal 
at an elevation approximately the same as 
that of Needle Mountain itself. Upon this 
latter plateau the Shoshone River finds its 
sources, and in its rapid descent of 5,000 
feet before reaching Needle Mountain ex- 
poses large, irregular stocks of indefinite 
outline piercing the breccias. 

Looking eastward from Needle Moun- 
tain, the breccias extend as far as the eye 
can reach in the direction of the broad, 
open plain beyond. The massive stock of 
Needle Mountain consists essentially of 
diorite, quartz-diorite and diorite-porphyry, 
cut by numerous narrow dikes of appar- 
ently differentiated products of the same 
molten magma. Offshoots and apophyses 
from the parent stock pierce the surround- 
ing breccia, and a number of small dikes 
penetrate the overlying breccia. From 
these dikes sheets of granite-porphyry 
stretch out into the breccias, and on the 
spurs of the mountain erosion has worn 
them bare, leaving them exposed as the 
surface rock. The stock is found on the 
opposite side of the canyon, rising high 
above the stream and capped by the ever- 
present breccia. Bordering the diorite 
stock the breccias are indurated, crushed, 
and so altered that not infrequently it is 
impossible to discriminate between breccias 
and intrusive stocks without the aid of the 
microscope. Dr. Jaggar has shown that 
many of these fine-grained rocks are al- 
tered mud and silts and metamorphosed 
breccias. 

From Needle Mountain to Mount Chit- 
tenden, in the Yellowstone Park, a dis- 
tance of over fifty miles, there extends in 
a northwest direction a remarkable and 
probably a continuous belt of intrusive 
rocks. These intrusive bodies occur: as 
stocks, sheets, bosses and dikes, varying 
from irregular-shaped masses of stupen- 


456 


dous proportions, two and three miles in 
width and several thousand feet in height, 
to narrow dikes and seams traceable along 
the canyon walls for only a few feet and 
often disconnected at the surface from 
any other body. A short distance north 
of Needle Mountain, but on the opposite 
side of the canyon, another great stock 
rises precipitously above the stream bed, 
and it is clearly evident that its rela- 
tion to the breccias are in every way 
similar to those observed at Needle Moun- 
tain. Between these two massive bodies 
smaller outcrops of diorite and diorite- 
porphyry are exposed in lateral ravines on 
the mountain sides, and the network of 
dikes trending in every direction points 
conclusively to the fact that these intrusive 
bodies belong to one and the same stock. 
Dislocated and indurated bodies of breccia 
are found upon the mountain spurs, but 
the overlying capping of breccia peacefully 
crowns it all. 

From this point northward, following 
along the line of the powerful intrusions, 
each dissecting canyon, where it cuts the in- 
trusive masses, lays bare numerous expo- 
sures of crystalline rocks which have forced 
their way upward into the breccias, and, 
following lines of least resistance, have 
spread out in all directions with a marvel- 
ous complexity of form and outline. Some 
of the stocks penetrating the breccia have 
attained elevations slightly above the pres- 
ent level of the plateau, but most of them 
failed to reach so high a position. Wherever 
they have reached the top of the plateau 
their tendency is to spread out in sheets, 
which now form the exposed surface of 
spurs and ridges. Many of these inter- 
bedded sheets are directly connected with 
some of the larger stocks, but others show 
no such relationship at the surface and 
stand out quite independently of them. Oc- 
casionally the sheets bulge up with irreg- 
ular outline; others are dome-shaped, de- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 221. 


veloping laccolithic form. Vertical dikes 
cutting the interbedded breccias pass into 
sheets, and later again assume the condi- 
tions of normal vertical dikes. The vari- 
able character of the breccia, sometimes 
compact and uniform and at others made 
up of an incoherent mass of silts and ash, 
tends to constant change in the upward 
movement of the molten magma. 

The gorges of both Cabin Creek and Can- 
yon Creek expose similar rocks, with ac- 
companying phenomena of strain and rup- 
ture. Ishawooa Canyon, one of the most 
rugged of these incisive trenches, presents 
varied modifications of eruptive energy, a 
bold stock, Clouds Home, piercing the brec- 
cias with an irregular outline from the 
bottom of the canyon to the top of the 
plateau. One of the finest examples of a 
massive interbedded sheet extends for a 
mile or more along the canyon wall. Sim- 
ilar phenomena present themselves in 
Wapiti Canyon, where four tributary 
streams, uniting to make the river, have 
cut down in the intrusive masses in a most 
instructive manner. Near the sources of 
Eagle Creek diorite and andesite-porphyry 
are again laid bare, and thenee, trending 
across the crest of the range, extend as far 
as Sylvan Pass, where coarsely crystalline 
diorite and diorite-porphyries come to the 
surface for the last time in an exposure 
nearly a mile in length. Beyond this point 
eruptive energy gradually dies out, and is 
only shown by the presence of a few power- 
ful dikes noticeable for their uniformity and 
persistency. ( 

A distinctive feature along this entire 
line of intrusive rock is the belt of indurated 
breccia which accompanies it. Near the 
larger stocks the alteration of the breccia 
is especially noticeable, and not infre- 
quently it is difficult to discriminate be- 
tween the stock masses and the metamor- 
phosed material. The mode of weathering 
is so unlike that of the ordinary breccia, 


Marcu 24, 1899. ] 


and the transitions are so gradual, that it is 
by no means easy to define the outlines of 
the intrusive masses without personal in- 
spection. Although never haying been 
followed as a continuous body, owing to 
the nature of the topography, the zone of 
induration is one of the marked features of 
the region, and under favorable conditions 
may be traced in the canyon walls for fifty 
miles, with a width in places of more than 
one-half mile. Another important and 
significant feature is the inclination of the 
breccias away from some well-defined axis 
or central ridge. They do not as a rule 
arch over any single powerful protrusion, 
but present every indication of a broad 
anticlinal structure, with the piled-up lavas 
inclined toward the west and southwest on 
one side and toward the east and northeast 
on the other. Between the more massive 
bodies that have been forced upward to 
elevations above the general level there 
may be found areas of indurated breccia, 
traversed by a labyrinth of dikes and veins 
in their efforts to force their way upward. 

Without entering into petrographic de- 
tails, a few words in addition to what has 
already been said seem necessary. Granites 
and diorites are seldom met with other 
than in connection with the large uniform 
stocks. As most of these stocks are only 
partially exposed, their volume can only be 
a matter of conjecture, but in all the larger 
bodies, such as Needle Mountain, the rock 
is essentially that of a medium-grained 
diorite or diorite-porphyry. A true granitic 
structure is by no means uncommon. Most 
of the powerful intrusions, as regards their 
crystalline structure, may be classed as 
granular. The great bulk of these crystal- 
line rocks apparently carry some little 
groundmass. Porphyritic structure, with 
little groundmass, is a characteristic feature, 
with transitions into andesite-porphyry and 
andesite. Many similar bodies of indefinite 
outline, only partially exposed by erosion 


SCIENCE. 


437 


of the canyon walls, areandesites. Indeed, 
all the relatively small bodies are andesitic 
in habit, and the same is true of the many 
outlying bodies away from the general north- 
west-southeast trend of the intruded rocks. 

A field study of these rocks of vary- 
ing degrees of crystallization shows clearly 
that they were all exposed to virtually the 
same degree of pressure of overlying rock, 
and that their structural differences were 
not dependent primarily upon pressure 
from above. Many of these andesitic 
masses are much smaller than the diorite 
bodies and occur at much lower levels below 
the superimposed load. All observations 
upon the geological relations of these in- 
trusives to the breccias tend to show that 
their structural differences are dependent 
far more upon the chilling effect of the sur- 
rounding rock and the rate of cooling than 
upon the pressure of the overlying rock. 
Geologists and petrographers have been for 
a long time investigating the structural 
differences and mineral variations of igneous 
rocks. Of these philosophical investigators 
Professor Iddings stands in the foremost 
rank. Juan exhaustive petrographic study 
of the Crandall Basin intrusive body and 
its complex system of radial dikes of vary- 
ing composition he reaches the conclusion 
that they have all been derived from the 
same parent molten magma, but crystal- 
lized under different conditions. With this 
conclusion I heartily agree. Dr. Jaggar, 
who has been at work upon a petrograph- 
ical study of the intrusive rocks of the rest 
of the Absaroka Range, has reached a 
similar conclusion as regards the Ishawooa 
intrusive stock and associated sheets and 
dikes, and believes that they were derived 
from a common molten magma, which is 
quite in accord with geological observations 
in the field. From these observations, 
thus briefly and imperfectly stated, the 
conclusion seems inevitable that the Isha- 
wooa intrusive, for its entire length of fifty 


438 


miles, represents a continuous ridge, the 
result of the consolidation of a molten 
magma intruded into the breccias. Erosion 
has as yet laid bare only the more elevated 
portions and some of the connecting links. 

If a trained geologist were to stand on 
any one of the more prominent points in the 
Absarokas his attention would, first of all, 
be attracted by the vast amount of frag- 
mental ejectamenta lying with apparent 
horizontality in every direction. Closer 
observation would impress him with the 
bedded nature of much of this material and 
the action which running water had played 
in disintegrating the lava and rounding the 
andesitic and basaltic bowlders. If, by 
chance, he had acquainted himself with the 
huge stocks exposed in the canyons, know- 
ing the power of dense crystalline rocks to 
withstand atmospheric agencies better than 
the easily disintegrating breccias, he would 
be surprised to find that none of the larger 
ones towered above the plateau in com- 
manding peaks. At one or two localities 
they attain the present level of the plateau, 
but do not rise much above it, and usually 
give evidence of the dying out of the energy 
which forced the magmaupward. As these 
intrusive stocks are overlain by breccia 
sometimes 1,000 feet in thickness, it is diffi- 
cult to see how they ever could have been 
centers of powerful extrusive eruption. 

In an address delivered before the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
in September, 1893, Professor Iddings took 
the ground that the Crandall Basin stock 
was the core of a grand volcano, from 
which issued the breccias, silts and tuffs 
which have built up the north end of the 
range, while the gabbros and diorites repre- 
sent the coarsely crystalline development of 
that portion of the magma which cooled at 
great depths beneath the surface. He re- 
constructed a voleano to a height of 10,000 
feet above the plateau, and subsequently re- 
moved by erosion every vestige of the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


volcano down to the summit of Hurricane 
Mesa, the present level of the plateau. He 
likens it, in magnitude and in the processes 
by which it was built up, to the volcanoes 
of Autna and Vesuvius. An abstract of the 
address was. published in the Journal of 
Geology for September and October, 1893, 
and in a forthcoming report on the geology 
of the Yellowstone National Park a detailed 
description of the Crandall stock will be 
found, together with the results of his ad- 
mirable petrographic studies of the rocks, 
to which allusion has already been made. 
After what has been said, it seems hardly 
necessary to add that with these geological 
views of Professor Iddlings I do not agree. 
My interpretation of the history of this re- 
gion may possibly call forth the friendly 
criticism that this address is an account of 
the early Tertiary volcanoes of the Ab- 
sarokas with the volcanoes left out. For 
such criticism there may be some slight 
ground ; but, while I fail to see any evi- 
dence of the building-up of such volcanic 
piles as Vesuvius and /Mtna, or, as I should 
prefer to put it, volcanoes of the type of 
Rainier, Hood or Shasta, there was dis- 
played intense explosive energy accom- 
panied by immense volumes of steam and 
the piling-up of a vast block of lavas from 
many centers of activity. Instances of such 
explosive energy may be seen at Chaos 
Mountain, but the material thrown out 
yielded readily to atmospheric agencies and 
soon became spread out over the entire re- 
gion. The whole area of the late acid brec- 
cia suggests several powerful vents for the 
ejectment of fragmental material and the 
partial wearing-away of mounds and ridges 
of the heaped-up accumulations. It is pos- 
sible that before the Sunlight and Ishawooa 
intrusives were forced upward volcanoes 
existed, but that any one or two of them 
dominated the region and influenced the 
topographical configuration of the Absaro- 
kas is exceedingly doubtful. There is noth- 


Marcu 24, 1899.] 


ing to indicate the characteristic slopes of a 
great voleano. 

Within the Yellowstone Park and just 
west of the Absarokas occurs a fine example 
of a voleano, situated near the intersection 
of the prolongation of the Ishawooa intru- 
sive body and the fault along the southern 
slope of the Snowy Range. Mount Wash- 
burne is the culminating point of the vol- 
cano, which consists almost wholly of 
fragmental early basic breccia. From a 
well-recognized crater, since partially filled 
with rhyolite, the erupted material has been 
thrown out in every direction, building up 
true voleanic slopes encircling a central dis- 
charging vent. Such a structure I have 
never been able to recognize in the Absa- 
rokas. Mount Sheridan, in the Park, is an- 
other large volcano, but this is a Pliocene 
eruption consisting wholly of rhyolite, and 
is one of the sources of the great body of 
rhyolite which built up the Park plateau 
probably long after the Absarokas ceased to 
be a center of volcanic action. 

Of all known regions of eruptive energy 
within historical times, Iceland in many 
ways affords the best field for comparison 
of the voleanic phenomena of to-day with 
conditions as they existed during the early 
Tertiary time in the Absarokas. Iceland 
is one of the active centers of eruption on 
a stupendous scale. It offers a continuous 
voleanic history throughout Pleistocene 
time, and dates back to the early Miocene, 
as is indicated by its fossil flora. In early 
Tertiary time the island was a region of 
profound faulting, and it is supposed to 
have been separated from the mainland 
during that period. Dr. Thoroddsen, the 
Icelandic geologist, has published in Euro- 
pean scientific journals most interesting 
accounts of his explorations over the less- 
known regions of the island. The most 
complete and instructive of these accounts 
which has come to my attention was pub- 
lished by the Stockholm Society of Science 


SCIENCE. 439 


in 1888. Notwithstanding the volcanoes of 
majestic proportions which contribute so 
much to the scenic grandeur of Iceland, 
and which must give to all geologists who 
have seen them a profound sense of the 
power of volcanic energy, Dr. Thoroddsen, 
who has lived among them, protests against 
the idea that they were built up like Vesu- 
vius or Aitna. He says: ‘‘The vast lava 
waste of Odadahraun was produced by the 
eruption of over twenty volcanoes, and per- 
haps many of the oldest centers of eruption 
that contributed to the formation of this 
desert Lave become obliterated by later 
lava streams. When one recalls geological 
text-book descriptions of modern volcanoes 
and their activity, it is nearly always Vesu- 
vius that everywhere turns up like a spectre, 
whereas the regular voleanic cone composed 
of alternating lavas and tuffs is rather rare 
in Iceland.” 

The country which he is describing may 
be about one-half the size of the Absaroka 
Range, but I have no maps or accurate data 
for determining the area. Again, later, he 
says: ‘Only a few old volcanoes are found 
having this form. In Iceland it is very gen- 
erally found that the fissure has not given 
rise to the formation of any real volcano. 
The lava there has sometimes welled out 
along the entire length of the fissure with- 
out the formation of a crater, but mostly 
there has been formed a series of low slag 
cones at the points where the magna, by 
reason of the form of the fissure or for some 
other cause, found it easiest to break forth. 
Such rows of craters are found in all vol- 
canic regions of Iceland.’”’ Another notice- 
able feature, even in the active regions of 
Iceland, is the ease with which sources of 
eruption may become obliterated by fresh 
flows from neighboring vents of discharge. 
According to Dr. Thoroddsen the famous 
Heckla itself is a long ridge built up by a 
chain of small craters along a line of fissure. 

Sir Archibald Geikie, in his admirable 


440) 


work on the Ancient Volcanoes of Great 
Britain, in comparing the voleanic phenom- 
ena of the Icelandic eruptions with those 
exhibited by the basalt plateaus of the 
British Isles, remarks: ‘It is, therefore, to 
the Icelandic types of fissure eruption, and 
not to great central composite cones, like 
Vesuvius or Avtna, that we must look for 
the modern analogies that would best serve 
as commentary and explanation for the 
latest chapter in the long voleanic history 
of the British Isles.” 

In comparing volcanic areas of Iceland 
with the phenomena exhibited in the Ab- 
saroka Range there is one striking differ- 
ence to be noted. In the former thé ex- 
travasated molten magma consists largely 
of basaltic flows, while in the latter one is 
constantly impressed by the enormous 
amount of brecciated rock emitted. It is 
estimated that four-fifths of these extrusive 
rocks which make up the range consist of 
coarse and fine breccias, silts and related 
ejectamenta. Dead Indian Peak, one of 
the dominating points of the range, rises 
more than 6,000 feet above the valley, pre- 
senting layers of breccia which in the ag- 
gregate measure nearly one mile in thick- 
ness. It is a very conservative estimate to 
place the volume of breccia at one-half mile 
in thickness over the entire region under 
discussion, which, it should be remembered, 
embraces not much less than 4,000 square 
miles. This only allows for erosion an 
amount equal to the highest plateau sum- 
mit, but it is sufficient to give one an idea 
of its vast bulk. That the denudation from 
the top of the existing plateau was very 
considerable is unquestioned, but there 
exist, I think, no reliable data upon which 
to base even an approximate estimate of 
the amount. Possibly the country was at 
one time covered with a mantle of basalt, 
which, withstanding erosion, would, of 
course, protect the friable volcanic material 
throughout a long period. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 221. 


It is evident that the granular rocks re- 
quired for their uniform crystallization an 
overlying load of greater or less depth. For 
my own part, 1am more or less skeptical as 
to the need of an immense thickness of over- 
lying material to develop such uniform con- 
solidation as is generally supposed to be 
necessary to produce the so-called plutonic 
rocks. At Needle Mountain the medium- 
grained granular diorite for the entire 4,000 
feet of rock face is apparently the same 
throughout, whereas only a short distance 
from the mass and ata lower level small 
bodies of rock in cooling have developed a 
characteristic andesitic structure. 

It must be borne in mind that all this 
material, of varied mineral composition, 
grouped together under the designation of 
breccias, was congealed and crystallized be- 
fore it was hurled out by explosive action. 
This means stupendous crushing and 
crunching of the mass as it was forced up- 
ward, and disturbances of the first magni- 
tude, which must have had their origin in 
great crustal movements. Whence came 
this enormous mass of brecciated rock ? 
Twice during the long period of their 
eruptions these breccias had been 
vaded by enormous bodies of granular rock 
which had elevated the entire Absaroka 
Range, an elevation that was phenomenal 
in its nature and formed a part of the great 
series of orogenic movement which uplifted 
the northern Cordillera. This uplift was 
closely related to the post-Laramie move- 
ment, which was one of the most profound 
and far-reaching orogenic disturbances any- 
where recognized by geologists. 

Throughout this address the large in- 
dividual protrusions into the breccia have 
been alluded to as stocks, but I regard 
them as the more elevated portions of a 
great complex of crystalline rocks under- 
lying at least a large part of this region of 
country. Where the underlying molten 
magma was subjected to the severest pres- 


in- 


MARCH 24, 1899. | 


sure the material was squeezed upward to 
higher levels, following lines of least resist- 
ance, and consolidated at greater or less 
depths beneath the surface. This upward 
movement was probably coincident with the 
crustal movements that elevated the entire 
Absaroka Range. +The line of Ishawooa 
intrusives marks the trend of one such up- 
ward movement of molten magma, which 
for the most part congealed without finding 
egress to the surface. That a portion of 
the magma may have been pushed upward 
through fissures and vents and discharged 
as surface flows of andesite is possible, but 
of such flows, if they existed, no positive 
evidence remains. 

Conditions somewhat similar to those 
found in the Absarokas are described by Pro- 
fessor Adolph Stelzner as occurring in the 
Andes of Argentina. He describes granites, 
diorties and syenites as penetrating the 
andesitic tuffs and lavas of Tertiary age, and 
as cooling under a heavy load of superim- 
posed material. He does not regard these 
massive crystalline bodies as conduits of vol- 
canoes, but as large stocks formed independ- 
ently of such vents. He refers to them as 
taking part in the great orogenic uplift which 
elevated the Cordillera of South America, 
an uplift which began in Jurassic time, 
lasted through the Mesozoic, and continued 
through the greater part of the Tertiary. 

In the discussions of voleanic phenomena 
found throughout geological literature, cir- 
cular vents of great depth seem to be re- 
garded as indispensable and are supposed to 
furnish an open door for the molten mag- 
mas, permitting them to take a straight 
shoot from the eternal depths to daylight. 
In this way geologists certainly avoid many 
perplexing physical problems which con- 
front us in the case of stocks and laccoliths 
penetrating sedimentary rocks and stopping 
far short of the surface. In speaking of 
areas of igneous rocks, one almost hesitates 
to use the term laccoliths, so universally is 


SCIENCE. 


441 


it referred to in its relation to sedimentary 
rocks. For my part, it seems far more 
reasonable to look for such intrusive bodies 
in areas of igneous rock than in regions of 
sedimentation. That large intrusive bodies 
came to a standstill without any surficial 
manifestations, in the Absarokas, is, I 
think, fairly well determined. 

Two years ago it was my good fortune to 
cross the Cascade Range at a number of 
localities and to climb far above timber line 


_ the slopes of Mount Rainier, in Washing- 


ton; Mount Hood, in Oregon, and Mount 
Shasta, in California. From these com- 
manding points comprehensive panoramic 
views were obtained over a broad field of 
igneous rock. Majestic and impressive as 
are these volcanoes, and grand in their iso- 
lation, I could but feel that back of them 
all lay earlier chapters in the Tertiary his- 
tory of voleanic energy on the Pacific side 
of the Cordillera ; that these powerful vol- 
canoes were but a late expression of the 
intensity of the eruptive energy, and that 
still earlier volcanic masses had in some 
way taken part in the orogenic disturbances 
of an earlier Tertiary time. So, on the 
east side of the great Cordillera, the early 
Tertiary fires long since ceased to glow in 
the Absarokas, and the center of volcanic 
energy moved westward and built up on 
different lines the broad rhyolite plateau of 
the Yellowstone Park, a plateau strongly 
contrasted with the Absarokas in the al- 
most entire absence of breccias. The work 
of such investigators as Emmons and Cross 
in Colorado and Weed and Pirsson in Mon- 
tana is slowly but surely solving the prob- 
lems of the post-Cretaceous uplift in the 
northern Cordillera, and, it will, I think, 
finally be shown that the crystalline rocks 
consolidated below the surface have played 
an important part in bringing about the 
Cordilleran revolution. 

On a bright crisp autumnal day in 1897 
I left the Absarokas by the way of that 


442 


most interesting of valleys, Clark’s Fork of 
the Yellowstone, still impressed with the 
many unsolved problems connected with 
the geology of the range. JI at first visited 
the region in the expectation of finding a 
partially submerged range of Paleozoic and 
Mesozoic sediments. If ever such range 
existed, it had completely disappeared by 
profound subsidence. I then looked for the 
roots of some powerful dominating volcano 
which had been the source of the varying 
breccias, but this also I failed to discover. 
In its stead, if I interpret the facts cor- 
rectly, I found penetrating the breccias the 
towering domes and pinnacles of granular 
and porphyritic rocks, which in some far- 
distant day, when denudation has removed 
a greater part of the overlying mass, may 
be found to form one connected body which 
erosion has already so far laid bare as to 
indicate that they all form a part of one 
broad complex of coarsely crystalline rock 
of early Tertiary age. 
ARNOLD HAGUE. 
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 


THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF 
LIFE.* 

Ir we demand a physiological process cor- 
responding to every possible variation of the 
content of consciousness the structure of 
the brain seems far too uniform to furnish 
a sufficient manifoldness of functions. The 
mere number of elements cannot be de- 
cisive ; if they are all functionally coordi- 
nated they can offer merely the basis for co- 
ordinated psychical functions. If we have 
psychical functions of different orders it 
would not help us even if we had some 
millions more of the uniform elements. It 
would be useless to deny that here exists a 
great difficulty for our present psychology ; 
the only question is whether this difficulty 
really opposes the demands and supposi- 


MENTAL 


*Read before the joint meeting of the Psycho- 
logical Association and the Physiologicai Society. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


tions of psychophysical parallelism or 
whether it means that the usual theories of 
to-day are inadequate and must be im- 
proved. It seems to me that the latter is 
the case, and that hypotheses can be con- 
structed by which all demands of psychology 
ean be satisfied without the usual sacrifice 
of consistency. The situation is the follow- 
ing: 

The whole scheme of the physiologists 
operates to-day in a manifoldness of two 
dimensions: they think the conscious phe- 
nomena as dependent upon brain excite- 
ments which can vary firstly with regard to 
their localities and secondly with regard to 
their quantitative amount. These two 
variations then correspond to the quality of 
the mental element and to its intensity. In 
the acoustical center, for instance, the dif- 
ferent pitch of the tone sensations corre- 
sponds to locally different ganglion cells, 
the different intensities of the same tone 
sensation to the quantity of the excitement. 
Association fibers whose functions are not 
directly accompanied by conscious experi- 
ences connect these millions of psychophys- 
ical elementary centers in a way which is 
imagined on the model of the peripheral 
nerve. No serious attempt has been made 
to transcend this simple scheme. Certainly 
recent have brought many 
propositions to replace the simple physio- 
logical association fiber which connects the 
psychophysical centers by more complicated 
systems—theories, for instance, in regard 
to the opening and closing of the connecting 
paths or in regard to special association cen- 
ters or special mediating cell groups—but 
these and others stick to the old principle 
that the final psychophysical process corre- 
sponds to the strength and locality of a 
sensory stimulation or of its equivalent re- 
production, whatever may have brought 
about and combined the excitements. 

Tt is true that it has been sometimes sug- 
gested that the same ganglion cell may go 


discussions 


Manrcn 24, 1899. ] 


over also into qualitatively different states of 
excitement, and thus allow an unlimited 
manifoldness of new psychophysical varia- 
tions. But it is clear that to accept such 
an hypothesis means to give up all the ad- 
vantages of brain localization. The com- 
plicatedness of the cell would be in itself 
sufficient to give ground to the idea that its 
molecules may reach some millions of dif- 
ferent local combinations, and if every new 
combination corresponds to a sensation all 
the tones and colors and smells and many 
other things may go on in one cell. But, 
then, itis,of course,our duty to explain those 
connections and successions of different 
states in one cell, and that would lead to 
thinking the cell itself as constructed with 
millions of paths just like a miniature brain; 
in short, all the difficulties would be trans- 
planted into the unknown structure of the 
cell. If we, on the other hand, do not 
enter into such speculations the acceptance 
of qualitive changes in the cell would bring 
us to the same point as if we were satisfied 
to speak of qualitative changes of the brain 
in general. It would not solve the problem, 
but merely ignore it, and, therefore, such an, 
additional hypothesis cannot have weight. 

The only theory which brings in a really 
new factor is the theory of innervation 
feelings. This well-known theory claims 
that one special group of conscious facts, 
namely, the feelings of effort and impulse, 
are not sensations and, therefore, not par- 
allel to the sensory excitements, but are 
activities of consciousness and parallel to 
the physiological innervation of a central 
motor path. Atthis point, of course, comes 
in at once the opposition of the philo- 
sophical claim that every psychical fact 
must be a content of consciousness, and 
made up of sensations, that is, of possible 
elements of idea, to become describable and 
explainable at all. The so-called active 
consciousness, the philosopher must hold, 
has nothing to do with an activity of the 


SCIENCE. 


445 


consciousness itself, as consciousness means, 
from the psychological standpoint, only the 
kind of existence of psychical objects. It 
cannot do anything, it cannot have differ- 
ent degrees and functions, it only becomes 
conscious of its contents, and all variations 
are variations of the content, which must 
be analyzed without remainder into ele- 
ments which are theoretically coordinated 
with the elements of ideas, that is, with the 
sensations, while consciousness is only the 
general condition for their existence. But 
also the empirical analysis and experiment 
of the practical psychologist are in this case 
in the greatest harmony with such philo- 
sophical claims and opposed to the innerva- 
tion theory. The psychologist can show 
empirically that this so-called feeling of 
effort is merely a group of sensations like 
other sensations, reproduced joint and 
muscle sensations which precede the action 
and have the réle of representing the im- 
pulse merely on account of the fact that 
their anticipation makes inhibitory associa- 
tions still possible. It would thus from 
this point of view also be illogical to think 
the psychophysical basis of these sensations 
different in principle from that of other sen- 
sations. If the other sensations are accom- 
paniments of sensory excitements in the 
brain the feelings of impulse cannot claim 
an exceptional position. 

But are quality and intensity really the 
only differences between the given sensa- 
tions? Can the whole manifoldness of the 
content of consciousness really be deter- 
mined by variations in these two directions 
only? Certainly not; the sensations can 
vary even when quality and intensity re- 
main constant. Asan illustration we may 
think, for instance, of one variation which 
is clearly not to be compared with a change 
in kind and strength of the sensation ; 
namely, the variation of vividness. Vivid- 
ness is not identical with intensity ; the 
vivid impression of a weak sound and the 


444 


unvivid impression of a stronge”sound are in 
ho way interchangeable. If the ticking of 
the clock in my room becomes less and less 
vivid for me the more I become absorbed in 
my work, till it finally disappears, it can- 
not be compared with the experience which 
results when the clock to which I give my 
full attention is brought farther and farther 
away. The white impression, when it 
loses vividness, does not become gray and 
finally black, nor the large size small, nor 
the hot lukewarm. Vividness is a third di- 
mension in the system of psychiéal’ eles 
ments, and the psychologist who postulates 
complete parallelism has the right to de- 
mand that the physiologist show the cor 
responding process. .There are other sides 
of the sensation for which the same is true ; 
they share with vividness the more subjec- 
tive character of the variation, as, for in- 
stance, the feeling tone of the sensation or 
its pastness and presentness. Other varia- 
tions bring such subjective factors into the 
complexes of sensations without a possibility 
of understanding them. from the combina- 
tion of different kinds only ; for instance, 
the subjective shade of ideas we believe or 
the abstractedness of ideas in logical 
thoughts. In short, the sensations and 
their combinations show besides kind, 
strength and vividness still other varia- 
tions which may best be called the values 
of the sensations and of their complexes. 
Is the typical theory of modern physiolog- 
ical psychology, which, as we have seen, 
operates merely with the local differences 
of the cells and the quantitative differences 
of their excitement, ever able to find physio- 
logical variations which correspond to the 
vividness and to the values of the sensa- 
tions? 

An examination without prejudice must 
necessarily deny this question. Here lies 
the deeper spring for the latent opposition 
which the psychophysiological claims find 
in modern psychology. Here are facts, the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 221: 


opponents say, which find no physiological 
counterpart, and we must, therefore, ac- 
knowledge the existence of psychological 
processes which have nothing to do with the 
physiological machinery. The vividness, 
for instance, is fully explained if we accept 
the view that the brain determines the kind 
and strength of the sensation, while a phys- 
iologically independent subject turns the 
attention more or less to the sensation. 
The more this attention acts the more vivid 
the sensation ; in a similar way the subjec- 
tive acts would determine the feeling tone 
of the sensation by selection or rejection, 
and so on. » While the usual theory reduces 
all to the mere association of locally sepa- 
rated excitements, such a theory thus 
emphasizes the view that the physio- 
logically determined functions must be sup- 
plemented by an apperceiving subject which 
takes attitudes. We may call the one the 
association theory, the other the appercep- 
tion theory. We have acknowledged that 
the association theory is insufficient to solve 
the whole problem, but it is hardly neces- 
sary to emphasize that the apperception 
theory seeks the solution from the start in 
a logically impossible direction, and is thus 
still more mistaken than the association 
theory. 

The apperception theory, whatever its 
special label and make-up may be, does not 
see that the renunciation of a physiological 
basis for every psychical fact means resign- 
ing the causal explanation altogether, as 
psychical facts as such cannot be linked 
directly by causality, and that resigning the 
causal aspect means giving up the only 
point of view which comes in question for 
the psychologist. If those apperceptive 
functions are seriously conceived without 
physiological basis they represent a mani- 
foldness which can be linked merely by the 
teleological categories of the practical life, 
and we sink back to the subjectifying view 
which controls the reality of life, but which 


MAnRrcH 24, 1899. ] 


is in principle replaced by the objectifying 
view as soon as the experience of the sub- 
ject is acknowledged as a series of psycho- 
logical objects. 

But does this bankruptcy of all varieties 
of apperception theories necessarily force us 
back to the association theory? I do not 
think so. The demand of the association 
theory that every psychosis should be ac- 
companied by a neurosis cannot be given 
up, but this neurosis may be thought in a 
richer way than in the scheme of the asso- 
ciationists. It seems to me, indeed, that 
the physiological theory works to-day with 
an abstract scheme with which no observa- 
tion agrees. We do not know of a cen- 
tripetal stimulation which does not go over 
into centrifugal impulses. The studies on 
tonicity and actions of voluntary muscles, 
on the functions of glands and blood vessels, 
on tendon reflex centers, and so on, show 
how every psychophysical state discharges 
itself into centrifugal functions. And yet 
these perceivable peripheral effects are, of 
course, merely a small part of the centrif- 
ugal impulses which really start from the 
end stations of the sensory channel, as most 
of them probably produce only new disposi- 
tions in lower motor centers without going 
directly over into movement, and others 
may fade away in the unlimited division of 
the discharge in the ramification of the sys- 
tem. Those milliards of fibers are not 
merely the wires to pull a few hundred 
muscles ; no, the centrifugal system repre- 
sents certainly a most complex hierarchy of 
motor centers too, and the special final mus- 
cle impulse is merely the last outcome of a 
very complex cooperation of very many fac- 
tors in the centrifugal system. Manifoldas 
the incoming nerve currents must be, thus, 
also the possibilities of centrifugal dis- 
charge, and the dispositions in the nervous 
motor system determine the degrees in 
which the ganglion cells can transform the 
centripetal into centrifugal stimulation. It 


SCIENCE. 


445 


is thus not only the foregoing sensory pro- 
cess, but in exactly the same degree also the 
special situation of the motor system, its 
openness and closedness, which governs the 
process in the center. Whether the special 
efferent channel is open or plugged implies 
absolutely different central processes in spite 
of the same afferent stimulus. 

Here we have, then, a new factor on the 
physiological side which is ignored in the 
usual scheme that makes the psychical facts 
dependent upon the sensory processes only 
and considers the centrifugal action of the 
brain as a later effect which begins when 
the psychophysical function is over. There 
is no central sensory process which is not 
the beginning of an action too, and this cen- 
trifugal part of the central process neces- 
sarily varies the accompanying psychical 
fact also. As here the action of the center 
becomes the essential factor in the psycho- 
physical process, we may call this view an 
action theory as over against the association 
and apperception theories of the day. ‘The 
action theory agrees, then, with the asso- 
ciationism in the postulate that there is no 
psychical variation without variation on the 
physiological side and with the appercep- 
tionism in the conviction that the mere as- 
sociation of sensory brain processes is in- 
sufficient to play the counterpart to the 
subjective variation of the psychical facts 
as vividness and values of the sensations. 
Tt tries to combine the legitimate points in 
both views, and claims that every psychical 
sensation as element of the content of con- 
sciousness is the accompaniment of the 
physical process by which a centripetal stim- 
ulation becomes transformed into a centrif- 
ugal impulse. 

This central process thus clearly depends 
upon four factors: firstly, upon the local 
situation of the sensory track ; secondly, 
upon the quantitative amount of the in- 
coming current; thirdly, upon the local 
situation of the outgoing discharge ; and 


446 


fourthly, upon the quantitative amount of 
the discharge. The first two factors are, of 
course, determined by the incoming current, 
which can be replaced by an intracortical 
stimulation from an associated center, while 
the last two factors are determined by 
the dispositions of the centrifugal system. 
The association theory, which considers 
the first two factors alone, thinks them 
parallel to the kind and strength of the 
sensation. The action theory accepts this 
interpretation and adds that the two other 
factors determine the values and the 
vividness of the sensation—the values par- 
allel to the local situation of the discharge, 
the vividness to the openness of the cen- 
trifugal channel, and thus to the intensity 
of the discharge. 

If the centrifugal discharge is inhibited, 
the channel closed, then the sensory process 
goes on as before, but the impression is un- 
vivid, unperceived, while it may become 
vivid later as soon as the hindrance of the 
discharge disappears. The inhibition of 
ideas which remains unexplainable to the 
associationists would then mean that a 
special path of discharge is closed, and thus 
the idea which needs that discharge for its 
vividness cannot come to existence; the 
hypnotizer’s words, for instance, close such 
channels. Only discharges, actions, can be 
antagonistic and thus under mutual inhibi- 
tion ; ideas in themselves may be logically 
contradictory, but not psychologically, while 
one action makes the antagonistic action, in- 
deed, impossible, and the inhibition of ideas 
results merely from the inhibition of dis- 
charges. If this view is correct it is clear 
that while we strictly deny the existence 
of special innervation sensations we can 
now say that every sensation without excep- 
tion is physiologically an innervation sensa- 
tion, as it must have reached some degree 
of vividness to exist psychologically at all. 

With regard to the local situation of the 
motor discharge the manifoldness of pos- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. LX. No. 221. 


sibilities is evident. The channels may be 
closed in one direction, but open in others ; 
the actually resulting discharge must be 
the product of the situation in the whole cen- 
trifugal system, with its milliards of rami- 
fications, and the same sensory stimulus 
may thus under a thousand different condi- 
tions produce a thousand different centrifu- 
gal waves, all, perhaps, with the same in- 
tensity. The vividness would then be 
always the same, and yet the difference 
of locality in the discharge must give new 
features to the psychical element. A few 
cases as illustrations must be sufficient. 
We may instance the shades of time-direc- 
tion ; the same idea may have the subjec- 
tive character of past, present and future. 
It corresponds to three types of discharge : 
the discharge which does not include action 
on the object any more appears as past ; that 
which produces action as present, and that 
which prepares the action as future. In 
this group belong also the feeling tones: the 
pleasurable shade of feeling based on the 
discharge towards the extensors ; the un- 
pleasant feelings based on the innervation 
of the flexors. Here belong the differences 
between mere perception and apperception, 
as in the one case the discharge is deter- 
mined by the impression alone, in the other 
case by associations also. Here belong 
the characteristics of the abstract concep- 
tion which may be represented by the 
same sensational qualities which would 
form a concrete idea and yet has a 
new subjective tone because the cen- 
trifugal discharge is for the concrete idea 
a specialized impulse, for the conception a 
general impulse which would suit all objects 
thought under the conception. Here be- 
longs, also, the feeling of belief which 
characterizes the judgment; the judgment 
differs psychophysically from the mere idea 
in the fact that the ideas discharge them- 
selves in a new tonicity, a new set of the 
lower motor centers, creating thus a new 


MARcH 24, 1899. ] 


disposition for later reactions. To be sure, 
many of these discharges lead finally to 
muscle contractions which bring with them 
centripetal sensations from the joints, the 
muscles, the tendons, and these muscle and 
joint sensations themselves then become a 
part in the idea, for instance, of time, of 
space, of feeling. But the new part only 
reinforces the general tone which is given 
in the general discharge, and gives to it 
only the exact detail which gets its charac- 
ter just through the blending of these sen- 
sations of completed reactions with the 
accompaniments of the central discharge. 

A consistent psychology thus may start 
with the following principles: It considers 
all variations of mental life as variations of 
the content of consciousness, and this con- 
tent as a complex object, including in this 
first presupposition a complicated trans- 
formation of the real inner life, a transfor- 
mation by which the subjectifying view of 
real life is denied for the causal psychological 
system. Every content of consciousness is 
further considered as a complex of sensa- 
tions, that is, of possible elements of per- 
ceptive ideas. Every sensation is con- 
sidered as having a fourfold manifoldness, 
varying in kind, in strength, in vividness 
and in value. The physiological basis of 
every sensation, and thus of every psychical 
element, is the physical process by which a 
centripetal stimulation becomes transformed 
into a centrifugal impulse, the kind depend- 
ing upon the locality of the centripetal 
channel, the strength upon the quantity of 
the stimulus, the value upon the locality of 
the centrifugal channel, and the vividness 
upon the quantity of the discharge. 

Huco MUNSTERBERG. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


SOPHUS LIE. 
On the eighteenth of February, 1899, the 
greatest mathematician in the world, 
Sophus Lie, died at Christiania in Norway. 


SCIENCE. 


447 


He was essentially a geometer, though 
applying his splendid powers of space cre- 
ation to questions of analysis. From Lie 
comes the idea that every system of geom- 
etry is characterized by its group. In or- 
dinary geometry a surface is a locus of 
points ; in Lie’s Kugel-geometrie it is the ag- 
gregate of spheres touching this surface. 
By a simple correlation of this sphere- 
geometry with Pluecker’s line-geometry, Lie 
reached results as unexpected as elegant. 
The transition from this line-geometry to 
this sphere-geometry was an example of 
contact-transformations. 

Now contact-transformations find appli- 
cation in the theory of partial differential 
equations, whereby this theory is vastly 
clarified. Old problems were settled as 
sweepingly as new problems were created 
and solved. 

Again, with his Theorie der Transforma- 
tionsgruppen, Lie changed the very face and 
fashion of modern mathematics. 

A magnificent application of his theory 
of continuous groups is to the general prob- 
lem of non-Euclidean geometry as formu- 
lated by Helmholtz. To this was awarded 
the great Lobachévski Prize. Not even 
this award could sufficiently emphasize the 
epoch-making importance of Lie’s work in 
the evolution of geometry. 

Moreover, the foundations of all philoso- 
phy are involved. To know the non-Eu- 
clidean geometry involves abandonment of 
the position that axioms as to their concrete 
content are necessities of the inner intui- 
tion; likewise abandonment of the position 
that axioms are derivable from experience 
alone. 

Lie said that in the whole of modern 
mathematics the weightiest part is the 
theory of differential equations, and, true 
to this conviction, it has always been his 
aim to deepen and advance this theory. 
Now it may justly be maintained that in 
his theory of transformation groups Lie has 


448 


himself created the most important of the 
newer departments of mathematics. 

By the introduction of his concept of con- 
tinuous groups of transformations he put 
the isolated integration theories of former 
mathematicians upon a common basis. The 
masterly reach of Lie’s genius is illustrated 
by his encompassment of the fundamentally 
important theory of differential invariants 
associated with the English names Cayley, 
Cockle, Sylvester, Forsyth. 

Thirteen years ago Sylvester announced 
his conception of ‘ Reciprocants,’ a body of 
differential invariants not for a group, but 
for a mere interchange of variables. A 
number of Englishmen thereupon took up 
investigations about orthogonal, linear and 
projective groups, groups in whose trans- 
formations interchanges of variables occur 
as particular cases, and whose differential 
invariants are consequently classes of re- 
ciprocants, and of the analogues of recipro- 
eants, when more variables than two are 
considered. 

Now all these investigations were long 
subsequent to Lie’s consideration of the 
groups in question as leading cases of a 
general conception. Thus they were merely 
secondary investigations ! 

Again, the theory of complex numbers 
appears as a part of the great ‘Theorie der 
Transformationsgruppen.’ Indeed, this con- 
tinent of ‘transformations’ opened up and 
penetrated with such giant steps by Lie 
represents the most remarkable advance 
which mathematics in all its entirety has 
made in this latter part of the century. 

Sophus Lie it was who made prominent 
the importance of the notion of group, and 
gave the present form to the theory of con- 
tinuous groups. This idea, like a brilliant 
dye, has now so permeated the whole fabric 
of mathematics that Poincaré actually finds 
that in Euclid ‘the idea of the group was 
potentially pre-existent,’ and that he had 
‘some obscure instinct for it, without reach- 


SCIENCE, : 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No, 221. 


ing a distinct notion of it.’ Thus the last 
shall be first, and the first last. 

In personal character Lie was our ideal 
of a genius, approachable, outspoken, un- 
conventional, yet at times fierce, intractable. 
His work is cut short; bis influence, his 
fame, will broaden, will tower from day to 


day. 
y GEORGE BrucEr Hatsrep. 


AUSTIN, TEXAS. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. # 
Colour in Nature: A Study in Biology. By 


Marton J. Newsiern. London, John 
Murray. 1898. Pp. 344. 
On page 300 of this work we read: ‘‘We 


have now completed our general survey of the 
colours and colouring-matters of organisms. 
« * * That the survey as a whole is halting 
and incomplete must be obvious to all. We 
have seen that it is as yet impossible to classify 
pigments in a logical manner ; that most of the 
problems connected with the subject are en- 
tirely unsolved.’’ These statements are indeed 
true; and yet the book is an interesting and 
valuable one, and will be of real assistance to 
the working biologist. 

The whole subject of color in animals and 
plants has suffered from the fact that it con- 
cerns the chemist and physicist as well as the 
biologist, and in these days of intense special- 
ization it is hard to find anyone competent to 
treat the matter in all its aspects. Dr. New- 
bigin has endeavored, with some success, to 
take all the more important facts into consider- 
ation; but it is practically impossible for any 
one individual to have that intimate acquaint- 
ance with the vital phenomena of every group 
of living organisms which is necessary for a 
satisfactory discussion of their coloration. It 
was Darwin’s method to seek the assistance of 
numerous specialists in different branches, who 
supplied him with information which he brought 
together and interpreted in a masterly manner. 
It may be that Dr. Newbigin has not yet felt 
justified in asking for such help, but now that 
she has fairly won her spurs (if one may use 
such a phrase in regard to a lady) it is not un- 
reasonable to hope that she will adopt the 
Darwinian system, and eventually provide us 


MarcH 24, 1899. ] 


with an account of animal and plant coloration 
which will cover the ground as completely as 
the knowledge of the day permits. In the 
meanwhile, we may be grateful to her for a 
work which will at any rate serve as an excel- 
lent introduction to the subject, and as more or 
less of a revelation to those whose studies have 
been confined to a limited field. 

Attention is drawn to the interesting analogy 
between natural color-variations of organisms 
and the changes which can be induced in their 
pigments by suitable reagents. This is a mat- 
ter which, though well known, has not received 
the attention it deserves, partly because those 
aware of the chemical reactions have not usu- 
ally been familiar with the natural variations, 
and vice versa. It may be permissible, by way 
of illustration, to cite two new instances of this 
among the Coccideze which have just come to 
the writer’s notice. Icerya rileyi has a pure 
white ovisac, which is turned bright primrose 
yellow by chloroform, but regains its white 
color when the chloroform evaporates, A 
closely related form, Icerya littoralis, var. 
mimose, has the whole ovisac naturally of a 
delicate primrose yellow. The second case is 
more instructive. Mytilaspis concolor has ordi- 
narily a white scale, but on February 5, 1899, 
Mr. P. J. Parrott discovered a variety (IM. con- 
color var. viridissima, Ckll. and Parrott, ined.) 
in which the scales of both sexes are of a lively 
emerald green. This was on the campus of 
the Agricultural College, Mesilla Park, at the 
bases of stems of Atriplex canescens. The 
female insect itself, removed from beneath the 
scale, was found to be of a dark purple color, 
with a bright yellow patch in the anal region, 
and suffused crimson spots at intervals round 
the margins of the hind end. The purple 
color, when the insect was placed in caustic 
soda, immediately became green, but was changed 
back to purple by acetic acid. Now, it is evi- 
dent in this case that the insect must have had 
an acid reaction, but the pigment transferred 
to the scale had apparently been turned green 
by the ‘alkali’ salts which are known to occur 
in the soil at Mesilla Park. This at once re- 
calls the cheetopterin pigments described by Dr. 
Newbigin on pp. 89-91 of her work, and it may 
be that we have a new member of that series, 


SCIENCE. 


449 


On pp. 161-162 it is suggested that the re- 
semblance between certain Heliconian butter- 
flies and their Pierid mimics may be due, at 
least in part, to their relatively low organiza- 
tion and simple plan of coloration. In the 
Transactions of the Entomological Society of 
London, 1891, Mr. H. H. Druce published a 
paper on the Lycenid genus Hypochrysops, 
which inhabits Australia and the Malay Archi- 
pelago. To this paper are appended two beau- 
tiful colored plates, and the present writer was 
surprised to find that he could nearly match a 
number of very diverse species figured, as to 
color and pattern, ‘among a series of Lycenide 
collected in Jamaica! The resemblance per- 
tained only to the upper surface of the wings, 
the lower surfaces of the Jamaican insects being 
quite unlike Hypochrysops. Now the Lycenide 
show splendid ‘ optical’ colors, and are cer- 
tainly not simply organized as regards their 
coloration, so the suggestion made with regard 
to the Heliconians and Pierids would not hold. 
Neither, of course, is there any true mimicry, 
since the two sets of butterfiies occur on oppo- 
site sides of the world. Cases of this sort have 
been quoted as destructive to the theory. of the 
utility of mimicry among insects, but to the 
writer they seem only to remove the difficulty 
which was felt in accounting for the origin of 
genuinely mimetic resemblances. 

In a work of the kind now under review 
there must necessarily be details which could 
be adversely criticised. The writer had begun 
to take note of such, but it hardly seems worth 
while to dwell upon them. Botanists will un- 
doubtedly complain that the space devoted to 
the colors of plants is much too short, and that 
several of the statements therein are too general 
or too sweeping. It will probably be thought 
by many readers that if Dr. Newbigin had 
made more or closer observations of living 
animals she would have had greater respect for 
natural selection. And, finally, some will 
wonder how it is that one who has enjoyed the 
beautifully pure colors of living creatures can 
have permitted her book to be bound in such a 
muddy and unpleasing blue. 


T. D. A. CoCKERELL, 


MESILLA PARK, New MEXIco, 
February 27, 1899. 


450 


The Dawn of Reason, or Mental Traits in the 
By JAMES WEIR, M. D. 
Pp. xiii+ 


Lower Animals. 
New York, The Macmillan Co. 
234. Price, $1.25. 

Dr. Weir has evidently been a close observer 
of animal life for many years, and his zeal has 
given him wider opportunities for useful obser- 
vation than most amateurs and many profes- 
sional naturalists have had. His book contains 
the more important of his own original observa- 
tions of the intelligent activities of animals, 
some interesting verifications of the results 
gained by other observers, and his opinions 
about the nature of animal consciousness. 
Everything is purposely put in as simple lan- 
guage as possible, and this perhaps is a suffi- 
cient reason for the utter neglect of many ob- 
servations, experiments and opinions which 
oppose his views. Lloyd Morgan, for instance, 
is nowhere mentioned, not even in the bibliog- 
raphy. 

The popular nature of Dr. Weir’s exposition 
prevents any discussion here of his observations 
on the morphology of the sense-organs of 
various animals, e. gy., jelly-fish, grasshoppers, 
beetles. He finds the marginal bodies of jelly- 
fish to be visual, not auditory organs, locates the 
auditory organs of grasshoppers in the anterior 
pair of legs, finds those of the Diptera to be the 
‘balanciers’ of Bolles Lee, and those of the 
Cerambyx beetle to be in the maxillary palpi. 
It would certainly seem worth while for Dr. 
Weir to present his data in complete form soon, 
so that those competent may judge of the 
soundness of his conclusions. He gives no 
drawings. 

One cannot help lamenting the mental atti- 
tude which served as the inspiration to Dr. 
Weir’s observations of the intelligent activities 
of animals. He craves a high development of 
inentality for the animals and has his eyes open 
only to possible evidence of it. He likes to 
find keen senses better than dull ones, reason- 
ings than instincts, knowledge than ignorance. 
He psychologizes about animals as a lover 
might psychologize about his beloved. The 
disadvantages are obvious. On the other hand, 
there are some advantages, at least in the en- 
thusiasm and patient labor which perhaps are 
due to the eulogizing temper. Anyone inter- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


ested in the progress of comparative psychology 
must wish well to a man who, without the in- 
centives of the professed naturalist, makes it a 
labor of love to watch animal life. I, for one, 
shall welcome such observations, even though 
they are more one-sided than Dr. Weir’s. His 
favoritism toward animals, though it has de- 
prived us of any records of unintelligent con- 
duct and perhaps prevented the repetition of 
some tests and even distorted facts, has still 
failed to injure a very considerable number of 
suggestive and important observations. It will 
pay any student of animal psychology to read 
the book for the sake of these. They furnish 
interesting, and we hope reliable, data about the 
adaptive reactions of micro-organisms, the for- 
mation by insects of new associations in re- 
sponse to new situations, the formation by 
reptiles of habits due to the association of novel 
sights and sounds with certain reactions, about 
‘play ’ among insects, strange ‘friendships’ be- 
tween animals, letisimulation, the activities of 
the harvesting ants, ete. A sample of Dr. 
Weir’s keenness is his theory that the con- 
tinual barking of dogs at night is explainable 
by the supposition that they bark at an echo. 
This hypothesis he supports by some very 
striking facts. 

Of Dr. Weir’s opinions about the meaning of 
his facts there is little to be said. His mind does 
not move freely and surely among psycholog- 
ical terms or theories or deductions. Reason 
means for him the source of all performances 
above the level of instinct, and his only basis of 
discrimination is the difference between high 
and low. His only theoretical problem is as to 
whether or not the human mind has developed 
from the brute mind. It will be a birthday for 
animal psychology when naturalists realize 
that this is among the least of its problems. 

EDWARD THORNDIKE. 

WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE December number of the Bulletin of the 
American Mathematical Society contains an ac- 
count of the October meeting of the Society, 
by the Secretary, Professor F, N. Cole; ‘ Con- 
cerning a Linear Homogeneus Group in C,,,, 
Variables Isomorphic to the General Linear 


MARCH 24, 1899. ] 


Homogeneous Group in m Variables,’ by Dr. 
L. E. Dickson; ‘A Second Locus Connected 
with a System of Coaxial Circles,’ by Professor 
Thomas F. Holgate ; ‘ Reciprocal Transforma- 
tions of Projective Coordinates and _ the 
Theorem of Ceva and Menelaos,’ by Professor 
Arnold Emch; ‘Notes’ ; ‘New Publications.’ 
The January number of the Bulletin contains a 
report on the ‘ Theory of Projective Invariants : 
The Chief Contributions of a Decade,’ by Pro- 
fessor H. S. White; ‘Reye’s Geometrie der 
Lage,’ by- Professor Charlotte Angas Scott ; 
‘Burkhardt’s Theory of Functions,’ by Pro- 
fessor Maxime Bécher; ‘ Darboux’s Orthogonal 
Systems,’ by Professor Edgar Odell Lovett ; 
‘The New Mathematical Encyclopedia,’ by 
Professor James Pierpont; ‘ Errata’ ; ‘ Notes’ ; 
‘New Publications.’ The February number of 
the Bulletin contains an account of the Fifth 
Annual Meeting of the Society, by the Secre- 
tary ; ‘The December Meeting of the Chicago 
Section of the Society,’ by Professor Thomas 
F. Holgate; ‘Report on Recent Progress in 
the Theory of Groups of a Finite Order,’ by 
Dr. G. A. Miller; ‘ Note on Burnside’s Theory 
of Groups,’ by Dr. G. A. Miller; ‘On a Regu- 
lar Configuration of Ten Line Pairs Conjugate 
as to a Quadric,’ by Professor F, Morley ; 
‘Shorter Notices,’ by Professors Ernest W. 
Brown, Edgar Odell Lovett, J. W. A. Young, 
Alexander Ziwet ; ‘ Notes’; ‘New Publications.’ 


American Chemical Journal, March: ‘On the 
Rearrangement of Imido-Esters,’ by H. L. 
Wheeler and T. B. Johnson. ‘On an Isomer 
of Potassium Ferricyanide,’ by J. Locke and 
G. H. Edwards. By treating potassium ferri- 
cyanide with potassium chlorate and hydro- 
chloric acid an isomer of this salt was obtained. 
An isomeric silver salt was also prepared and 
the reactions studied, In some cases the re- 
actions of the isomers are so different that the 
author doesnot hesitate to accept this substance, 
which he calls potassium /-ferricyanide, as a 
new form. ‘Reaction of Orthodiazobenzoic 
Acid with Sulphurous Acid and Copper Pow- 
der,’ by W. E. Henderson. Experiments were 
carried out to test the statements so generally 
found in text-books that sulphonic acids are 
formed from the decomposition of diazo com- 
pounds by sulphurous acid in the presence 


SCIENCE. 


451 


of copper powder. The results showed that, 
under ordinary conditions, sulphonic acids 
were not formed. ‘Direct Nitration of the 
Paraffins,’ by O. A. Worstall. The author 
finds that the results as given in his earlier 
paper on the action of nitric acid on the 
paraffins hold for all the paraffins studied. 
‘Higher Primary Nitroparaffins,’ by R. A. 
Worstall. ‘The author has continued the study 
of the derivatives of the higher paraffins on the 
line suggested by Victor Meyer in his study of 
the lower members of the series. ‘The Action 
of Ethylic Oxalate on Camphor,’ by J. B. and 
A. Tingle. ‘Liquid Acetylene Diiodide,’ by 
E. H. Keiser. A second form of the three 
theoretically possible ones has been obtained in 
liquid form. ‘A Simple Color Reaction for 
Methyl Alcohol,’ by S. P. Mulliken and H. 
Scudder. The alcohol is converted into formic 
aldelyde by plunging a hot copper wire into it. 
Resorcin and sulphuric acid are then added and 
a characteristic color reaction follows. ‘ Re- 
actions for the Detection of the Nitrogroup,’ by 
S. P. Mulliken and E. R. Barker. The first 
method depends on the reduction to hydroxy- 
lamine and the test for this with silver nitrate, 
and the second on the conversion into rosa- 
niline. J» ELLIOTT GILPIN. 


THE Osprey, for January, has for its first article 
some interesting ‘ Notes on Eugenes fulgens’ by 
F. C. Willard, accompanied by a fine plate 
showing four nests. Next comes descriptions 
of the ‘Nesting of the Alaska Bald Eagle,’ by 
George G. Cantwell, followed by descriptions 
of the habits in captivity of Great Horned 
Owls, Barn Owls and young Short-eared 
Owls respectively, by M. A. Carriker, D. A. 
Cohen and Ludwig Kumlien. ‘A Visit to 
Pelican Island, Indian River, Florida,’ is de- 
scribed by L. W. Brownall, and the ‘ Nesting 
of the Black-and-White Warbler,’ by J. Warren 
Jacobs. Other brief articles, editorials, notes 
and reviews complete the number. 


THE leading article of the Journal of the Bos- 
ton Society of Medical Sciences is a series of ‘ Ob- 
servations upon the Elastic Tissue of Certain 
Human Arteries,’ by George B. Magrath. 
Richard M. Pearce has a paper on ‘Scarlet 
Fever; its Bacteriology, Gross and Minute 


452 


Anatomy,’ and Horace D. Arnold one on the 
‘Weight of the (Normal) Heart in Adults,’ 
the conclusion being that the average weight 
for males is 290 grams and for females 260 
grams. The final article, ‘A Study of the Encap- 
sulated Bacilli,’ by Lawrence W. Strong, finds 
that the gas production of these bacilli affords 
a valuable aid for their study and identification. 


THE Electrical World and the Electrical Engi- 
neer will be issued, hereafter, as one publication, 
to be known as the Electrical World and Engi- 
neer, under the editorship of T. Commerford 
Martin and W. D. Weaver. W. J. Johnston, 
former editor of the Hlectrical World, has retired. 


Dr. W. P. Wynne, F. R.S., has been elected 
editor of the Journal of the British Chemical 
Society. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


OF THE NEW YORK 
1899. 


THE ANNUAL MEETING 
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, FEBRUARY 27, 


AFTER the reading of the minutes of the last 
annual meeting, the reports of the officers for 
the year just closed were called for by the Pres- 
ident, Professor Henry F. Osborn. 

The Corresponding Secretary reported briefly 
that he had succeeded in correcting and revis- 
ing the list of honorary and corresponding 
members, after a considerable amount of cor- 
respondence, and that the corrected list would 
be published in Part I. of the volume of Annals 
for 1899. The Recording Secretary then pre- 
sented the following report, summarizing the 
progress and work of the Academy during the 
preceding year: 

The last year of the Academy has been ex- 
tremely satisfactory, and its affairs are in a 
much more promising condition than heretofore. 
Interest in our meetings has increased during 
the year, and the number of people cooperating 
in our work is much larger than ever before. 

During the last fiscal year there have been 
thirty-one meetings of the several sections, 
three public lectures and one public reception. 
The sections now organized are those of As- 
tronomy and Physics, Biology, Geology and 
Mineralogy, and of Anthropology, Psychology 
and Philology. The latter section has been 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. LX. No. 221. 


divided into two sub-sections, for economy of 
effort, Particular mention should be made of 
the good work and increased interest in the 
sub-section of Anthropology and Psychology, 
largely due to the personal and persistent ef- 
forts of Dr. Boas. 

During the year a total of ninety-four papers 
has been presented before the Academy, thirty- 
seven new members have been elected, twelve 
have resigned, leaving a total of three hundred 
and thirty-five on the Secretary’s list, including 
six new life members. The Fifth Annual Recep- 
tion held in April last was in some ways the 
most successful in the history of the Academy. 
During the year the by-laws have been very 
completely revised, simplified and made work- 
able, particularly in such a way as to give the 
individual sections and sectional officers more 
importance in the program, and so as to reduce 
the number of business meetings at which the 
Academy must be formally organized for gen- 
eral business to one each month. The public 
lectures have been more firmly established than 
heretofore, and have been assigned to the 
various sections so that each department may 
be popularly represented. The printed pro- 
gram of the year’s meetings has been an- 
nounced in advance, and has been found very 
helpful. 

The publications of the Academy have been 
greatly improved as to quality, appearance and 
dignity, by the change incorporated in January 
last, when the Transactions were abolished. 
The thanks of the Academy are certainly due 
to our enthusiastic and very careful editor, 
Mr. van Ingen, for the great amount of work 
and care that he has put upon the publications. 
It is through the publications only that we are 
known abroad in the world, and it is very nec- 
essary that we should thus appear in the most 
favorable manner possible. 

The Academy is in great need of more money 
for publication, and our efforts should be de- 
voted as fully as possible to the securing of 
contributions for such work. We are con- 
tinually obliged to decline valuable scientific 
papers by our members because of a lack of 
funds for printing. This is a condition of af- 
fairs which should not be allowed to continue 
long. 


Marcu 24, 1899. ] 


It is a great pleasure to the Academy to feel 
that certain of the scientific wants of the city 
are soon to be met, owing to the encouragement 
given by one of our Patrons, who has always 
been interested in the Academy. I refer par- 
ticularly to the gift to the Scientific Alliance, 
of which the New York Academy of Sciences 
is the original member, of $10,000 for a scientific 
building, donated by Mrs. Herrman. During 
the coming year it is hoped to bring the several 
sections in touch, so as to have a uniform policy 
of procedure, and the manner of printing the 
proceedings will be simplified and unified. 

The report of the Treasurer showed the 
finances to be in a promising condition, but 
that the expenses too nearly equalled the in- 
come, and that endowments are very necessary 
if the work is to be increased as it should be. 

One of the most interesting features of the 
meeting was the report by the Editor of the 
Annals concerning the details of his work dur- 
ing the last year in printing the volume just 
finished according to the new plan as to typog- 
raphy, pagination, illustration and general 
form, which was adopted a year ago and which 
has proved extremely successful and gratifying. 

The last official report was a brief one by the 
retiring Librarian concerning the present con- 
dition of the library, which is now housed in 
a large room in Schermerhorn Hall, of Colum- 
bia University, and available for reference by 
ail working scientists and members of the 
Academy. 

The following list of honorary and corre- 
sponding members was then elected, and seven- 
teen resident members were made Fellows be- 
cause of their attainments in scientific work: 


HONORARY MEMBERS. 

Lord Rayleigh, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., 
Royal Institution of Great Britain, Albemarle St., 
Piccadilly, N. W., London. 

George Howard Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., Trinity 
College, Cambridge, Eng. 


CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. 
Dr. Louis Dollo, Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Brus- 
sels, Belgium. 
Dr. Otto Jaekel, Kgl. Museum fiir Naturkunde, 
Invalidenstr. 43, Berlin. 
Professor Dr. Eberhard Fraas, Kgl. Naturalien 
Kabinet, Stuttgart, Germany. 


SCIENCE. 


453 


Professor Qr. Charles Depéret, Faculté des Sciences, 
Lyons, France. 

Dr. C. W. Andrews, British Museum of Natural 
History, London, England. 

Dr. Max Schlosser, Palaeontologische Sammlung 
des Staates, Alte Akademie, Munich, Germany. 

G. H. Boulenger, British Museum, London, Eng- 
land. 

Professor G. B. Howe, Normal College of Science, 
S. Kensington, London, England. 

Dr. Walter Innes, School of Medicine, Cairo, 
Egypt. 

Dr. A. Liversidge, Sydney, New South Wales. 

Professor Mansfield Merriman, Lehigh University, 
South Bethlehem, Pa. 

Dr. Stuart Weller, University of Chicago, Chicago, 
Il. 

Professor Ludwig Boltzmann, University of Vienna, 
Vienna, Austria. 

Professor P. LaCroix, Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, 
Paris, France. 

Dr. A. Smith Woodward, British Museum of Nat- 
ural History, London. 

Professor Dr. Fried. Kohlrausch, Physikalish Tech- 
nische Reichsanstalt, Charlottenberg, Marshstrasse 25, 
Berlin. 

Professor R. H. Traquair, Museum of Science and 
Art, Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Professor W. C. Brégger, Christiania, Norway. 

J. G. Baker, Royal Gardens, Kew. 

Professor Wilhelm Ostwald, University of Leipzig, 
Leipzig, Germany. 

The list of officers given below was then 
elected by ballot : 

President, Henry F. Osborn. 

Ist Vice-President, James F. Kemp. 

2d Vice-President, Chas. L. Bristol. 

Corresponding Secretary, William Stratford. 

Recording Secretary, Richard E. Dodge. 

Treasurer, Charles F. Cox. 

Librarian, Bashford Dean. 

Councillors, Franz Boas, Charles A. Doremus, Wil- 
liam Hallock, Harold Jacoby, Lawrence A. McLouth, 
L. M. Underwood. 

Curators, Harrison G. Dyar, Alexis A. Julien, 
George F. Kunz, Louis H. Laudy, William D. 
Schoonmaker. 

Finance Committee, Henry Dudley, John H. Hinton, 
Cornelius Van Brunt. 

The formal work of the evening was followed 
by the annual address of the President. Pro- 
fessor Osborn took for his title ‘The Succession 
of Mammalian Faunain America,compared with 
that in Europe during the Tertiary Period.’ 


454 


The formal meeting was followed by refresh- 
ments and a social gathering, which lasted until 
a relatively late hour. 

RicHARD E. DopGE, 
Recording Secretary. 


THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

THE 497th meeting of the Society was held 
on March 4th, at 8 p. m., in the assembly room 
of the Cosmos Club. The first paper was by 
Professor F. H. Bigelow on ‘The Influence of 
Electricity on Vegetation.’ It was stated that 
vegetation under the Aurora belt shows re- 
markable developments, due not to the length 
of the summer day, but to the electric cur- 
rents. Experiments indicate that static elec- 
tricity, supplied by machines, when applied to 
plants increases their growth about 40 per 
cent. Extensive trials in many places and 
under different conditions generally confirmed 
this result. 

The second paper was by Surgeon-General 
Sternberg on ‘Some Sanitary Lessons of the 
Late War.’ An abstract of this very interest- 
ing and instructive address has not yet come to 
hand. E. D. PRESTON, 

Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


AT the 89th meeting of this Society, held in 
Washington, D.C., on March 8, 1899, Mr. Ar- 
nold Hague, U. 8. Geological Survey, exhibited 
a geological relief map of the Yellowstone Park 
and of the Absaroka Range, in northwestern 
Wyoming, showing some of the physical fea- 
tures of the latter region by means of lantern 
illustrations. The map is constructed on the 
scale of one mile to an inch, the area represented 
being approximately 75 miles square. The 
base of the model is taken at 5,000 feet above 
sea level, from which rise several dominating 
peaks showing elevations of over 12,000 feet 
above sea level. It requires about forty dis- 
tinct colors to represent the different geological 
formations into which the sedimentary and ig- 
neous rocks have been divided. All the geysers 
and hot springs areas are delineated, together 
with the regions of extinct hydro-thermal ac- 
tion. In the model a sharp contrast between 
the rhyolite plateau of Yellowstone Park of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


Pliocene age and that of the eroded and dis- 
sected plateau of the Absarokas of Miocene age 
is clearly brought out. Mr. Hague stated that 
he hoped the map would be sent to the Paris 
Exposition next year. The lantern slides were 
selected to illustrate the manner in which the 
Absarokas were built up by the gradual accu- 
mulation of breccias, agglomerates and basalt 
flows, forced upwards from numerous fissures 
and vents during a long period of time, and the 
elevation of the range by the intrusion of pow- 
erful stocks of gabbro, syenite, diorite, diorite- 
porphyry and granite-porphyry. The character 
of the different breccias, the incisive trenching 
of the deep canyons, and the stocks, together 
with their associated sheets and network of 
dikes, were discussed. 

Mr. F. B. Weeks, U. S. Geological Survey, 
gave some observations made last summer in 
the course of a reconnaissance in Jackson 
Basin, northwest Wyoming. : 

The Jackson Basin, he said, occupies a de- 
pression within the Rocky Mountains, of Wy- 
oming, of 5 to 8 miles in width and 45 miles in 
length. The Teton range forms a lofty, pre- 
cipitous barrier along its western side. The 
valley has an elevation of 6,200 to 6,800 feet, 
and the Tetons rise 7,000 feet above it. The 
Tetons are noted for their wonderful Alpine 
scenery. Jackson Lake and several smaller 
lakes occur within the valley—all of glacial 
origin. The northeastern portion of the basin 
is covered with numerous morainal ridges and 
hillocks. The eastern side is buried beneath a 
great mass of material brought down by glacial 
streams. They have the forms of huge deltas, 
spreading out from the foothills in fan-shaped 
areas, several miles long and as many miles in 
width where they reach the Snake River. 
Along some of the main streams terracing has 
been well developed. The streams flowing 
over these deltas follow well-defined courses, 
but have a tendency to spread laterally instead 
of widening and deepening their beds. The 
Upper and Lower Gros Ventre buttes are prom- 
inent outliers of the Gros Ventre range. They 
are formed, in large part, of Paleozoic rocks, 
and are probably directly connected with the 
main range. The heavy mantle of débris makes 
it impossible to trace a definite connection. 


MARcH 24, 1899. ] 


The meeting closed with some remarks by 
Mr. W. Lindgren, U. 8. Geological Survey, on 
the Boise Folio (No. 45, of the Geol, Sury.), 


recently published. 
Wm. F. MoRsELL. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ON THE MAKING OF SOLUTIONS, 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: A remark in a 
recent paper by Professor Macloskie calls my at- 
tention afresh to a curious error which, so far as 
I know, is universally current in our zoological 
laboratories. Professor Macloskie remarks (Scr- 
ENCE, Vol. IX., p. 206) ‘‘a 1% solution of cane 
sugar in water, * * * thatis 342 prams, * * * 
dissolved in 34,200 grams of water.’’ In other 
words, a 1% solution is made by mixing 1 
part of the substance to be dissolved with 100 
parts of the solvent. In this conception the 
zoologists appear to be at one. It is sufficient 
to refer to any of the well-known text-books : 
Marshall and Hurst, ‘ Practical Zoology,’ 4th 
ed., p. 464; Gage, ‘The Microscope,’ 6th ed., 
p. 179 ; Dodge, ‘ Elementary Practical Biology,’ 
p. 391. Like many other text-books, Huxley 
and Martin’s ‘ Practical Biology’ (revised ed., 
p. 496), does not directly commit itself to the 
error, but gives directions tomake the ‘normal 
saline solution’ by mixing 7.5 grams of salt with 
a liter of water. That the normal saline solu- 
tion is a $% solution is directly stated by Whit- 
man (‘ Methods of Research,’ etc., edition of 
1885, p. 207), and Lee (The Microtomist’s 
Vade-mecum, 4th ed., p. 263.), 

These citations abundantly prove that Pro- 
fessor Macloskie’s conception of a 1% solu- 
tion corresponds with that of other zoologists. 
If, however, we ask a chemist how such a solu- 
tion is made, the reply willbe: ‘‘ Dissolve one 
part of salt, sugar, or whatever the substance 
may be, in ninety-nine parts of the solvent.’’ 
And that this is logically correct becomes self- 
evident upon amoment’s thought. A 1% solu- 
tion of HCl, as all will agree, consists of one 
part of the acid to ninety-nine parts of water. 
Why should the fact that in one case we deal 
with a solid, in the other with a liquid, alter the 
case ? 

It would seem that unless, or until the zoolo- 
gists come into agreement with the chemists, 


1 


SCIENCE. 455 


every investigator in publishing his researches 
should make a point of preventing ambiguity 
by stating whether his 1%, 5%, 20% solutions 
of solids are compounded on the logical or the 


zoological plan. INTAEAM CURE Gon 
WELLESLEY COLLEGE, March 6, 1899. 


THE ORIGIN OF NIGHTMARE. 


OVER and over again when a child I was for 
years the victim at night of a certain form 
of mild nightmare, so that it came to be to my 
fearful imagination no insignificant part of 
my unpleasant experiences. This nightmare 
always took the form of a great wave of some- 
thing gradually rolling towards me and finally 
engulfing and oppressing me to a painful ex- 
tent. It would roll up a huge shapeless mass 
of no particular material, but always irresist- 
ibly towards me helpless and overwhelmed. 
Most often it finally appeared to be a huge 
soft pillow or even formless feather bed, but 
without color or other qualities save that of 
engulfing and terrifying. At its worst on vari- 
ous occasions this mass as it rolled up became 
a huge fat boar, defined as such, however, only 
subconsciously, but always dreadful in its power 
to overwhelm me. All this was years ago. 

One night recently, as I was falling asleep in 
bed in alighted room, I became gradually aware 
of that sensation which compression of a nerve 
produces, a vague and quite indefinite sense of 
discomfort localized only in the region about my 
head and arms, but in my state of somnolence 
only a growing sensation of discomfort press- 
ing on my consciousness. Increasing steadily, 
it finally began to awaken me, and I then 
became distinctly conscious of the well-remem- 
bered nightmare of my childhood beginning 
to approach. With the noise in the room I was 
now sufficiently awake to be interested in this fa- 
miliar visitor, and I lay still deliberately. Grad- 
ually the mass rolled up towards me exactly as 
of yore, with no terror in its coming now, until 
finally it was upon me and all about me op- 
pressively. .I very slightly moved my arm 
(upon which my head was lying), and the night- 
mare was for the moment lost sight of in the 
sensations now localized there. I opened 
my eyes and instantly the whole experience 
vanished, closed them and it instantly returned 


456 


in allits force and peculiarities. Over and over 
again this little experiment was performed with- 
out variation in its results, until, finally, satis- 
fied, I moved my head off my arm and 
stretched my arm out of its cramped position, 
and felt no more this béte noir of earlier days, 
now again returned, bringing with it emphatic 
and unmistakable explanation of its cause. 
Give: 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 
A NEW SATELLITE OF SATURN. 

A NEW satellite of the planet Saturn has been 
discovered by Professor William H. Pickering 
at the Harvard College Observatory. This 
satellite is three and a half times as distant 
from Saturn as Iapetus, the outermost satellite 
hitherto known. The period is about seventeen 
months, and the magnitude fifteen and a half. 
The satellite appears upon four plates taken at 
the Arequipa Station with the Bruce Photo- 
graphic Telescope. The last discovery among 
the satellites of Saturn was made half a century 
ago, in September, 1848, by Professor George 
P. Bond, at that time Director of the Harvard 
College Observatory. 

EDWARD C. PICKERING. 

HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY, 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 17, 1899. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE NERNST LAMP. 


THE electric lamp recently invented by 
Nernst, as has been stated in this JOURNAL, con- 
sists of a small rod of magnesia which is heated 
to brilliant incandescence by an electric current 
which is pushed through it by an electromotive 
force of several hundreds of volts. The rod 
must be heated nearly to a red heat by a blow- 
pipe or other independent means before it passes 
sufficient current to operate. 

A number of these lamps have been made in 
the Physical Laboratory at Bethlehem, Pa. It 
has been found that a rod of pure magnesia can 
scarcely be started even with 1,000 volts anda 
good blow pipe. The surrounding air becomes 
electrically too weak to withstand the high elec- 
tromotive force at a temperature lower than 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Voz. IX. No. 221. 


that required to make the rod a sufficiently good 
conductor. This is true even when the rod has 
been heated to softness beforehand in a tem- 
porary mounting. 

The conductivity of the rod may be com- 
pletely controlled by mixing with the magnesia 
varying amounts of silica and of fusible silicates. 
A satisfactory lamp is made as follows: Pure 
calcined magnesia (heavy) is thoroughly mixed 
with two or three per cent. of powdered silica, 
one or two per cent. of magnesium sulphate, and 
one per cent. or less of sodium or potassium 
silicate (water glass). The mixture is dried 
until it is just moist enough to pack under pres- 
sure. A small piece of brass tubing is lined 
with aroll of several thicknesses of stiff writing 
paper, and the mixture is tamped into this tube. 
The tube is then baked until the paper is 
burned, when the rod of magnesia may be re- 
moved. This rod is then laid upon a bed of 
magnesia (powdered lime would, perhaps, 
answer) and by means of carbon terminals an 
alternating current is passed through the rod, 
heating it first to redness by a blow pipe. With 
some care avery hard and compact rod of mag- 
nesia is thus formed which is then ground to a 
thin rod with large grooved ends. Platinum 
wire is wound on these grooved ends and, if de- 
sired, cement made of water glass and powdered 
magnesia may be used to cover the platinum. 
The two platinum wire terminals may then be 
bound to the sides of a small glass tube as a 
support. A lamp made in this way may be 
started easily, although its resistance rises slowly 
with continued use, owing, perhaps, to the vol- 
atilization of the potassium or sodium silicate. 

~ Calcium silicate would, perhaps, be more satis- 
factory in this respect. 

A very striking experiment may be performed 
with a piece of glass tubing several inches long 
wound with copper terminals at its ends. The 
tube begins to pass considerable current at a 
low red heat, with a few hundreds of volts, and 
is quickly melted by the current. A thin-walled 
tube half an inch or more in diameter is best, 
and it should be heated along one side only so 
that the cool portion of the tube may for a short 
time serve as a support for the hot conductive 
portion. 

W.S. F. 


Manrcw 24, 1899. ] 


PYROELECTRICITY AND PIBZOELECTRICITY. 


W. Vorer (Wiedemann’s Annalen, No. 18, 
1898) shows that the electrification of certain 
crystals by heating (pyroelectricity) and the 
electrification by deformation (piézoelectricity) 
are in general one and the same phenomenon, 
and that it is only in such a crystal as tourma- 
lin, which has a single axis distinguished from 
all other axes by characteristic physical proper- 
ties, that pyroelectricity is not due wholly to the 
deformation accompanying arise of temperature. 
Professor Voigt also points out that a plate of 
tourmalin can be used to generate accurately 
known electric charges by subjecting it to 
measured compression, and he gives the results 
of a determination of an electrostatic capacity 
based upon the known charge generated by a 
tourmalin plate and the known e. m. f. of a 
standard cell. W.S. F. 


THE ROTARY CONVERTER. 


In two short articles in the Electrical World, 
for December 17th and 24th, Mr. C. P. Stein- 
metz gives a quite complete discussion of the 
theory and action of the rotary converter, a 
machine used to convert alternating current into 
direct current, mainly in connection with long 
distance transmission. Mr. Steinmetz’s papers 
are, almost without exception, very difficult to 
read for the reason, chiefly, that he always 
gives a great deal of precise information about 
difficult subjects not generally understood. The 
present paper cannot, of course, be abstracted, 
but it is mentioned for the reason that Mr. Stein- 
metz deserves to be more generally known as 
one of the foremost electricians of our time ; that 
he is ascientific electrician isa matter of course. 

W.S. F. 


THE TELESCOPE-MIRROR-SCALE METHOD.* 


Proressor 8. W. HoLMAN has given in the 
Technology Quarterly, for September, 1898, a 
most complete and usable discussion of the tele- 
scope-mirror-scale method for measuring angu- 
lar deflections. Almost at the very beginning 
of the paper a list of the fourteen instrumental 
errors is given, together with directions for 
making the adjustments which are necessary 


*Published separately by John Wiley & Sons, New 
York. Price, 75 cents. 


SCIENCE. 


457 


to reduce each error to a prescribed value, 
Following this is a general discussion of each 
error of adjustment and a derivation of the 
error in angle due to each. Most physicists 
have, of course, looked into the detailed theory 
of the telescope-mirror-scale method in spite of 
the fact that the literature on the subject is not 
generally accessible, but the habitual use of the 
method for rough measurements makes one 
lose sight of a dozen or more of the adjustments 
and precautions which are necessary in accurate 
work, and, therefore, almost every physicist 
will find this pamphlet of Professor Holman’s 
a useful reminder when the need arises to use 
the method with all the precision it is capa- 
ble of. IWayooneky. 
NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
Some time ago a committee was appointed by 
the German Chemical Society to formulate an 
atomic-weight table which should serve as a 
basis for practical use in analytical calculations. 
This committee consisted of Professors Landolt, 
Ostwald and Seubert, and has recently brought 
in areport which has been widely published. 
With three exceptions, the decimals in the 
atomic weights are given only as far as the last 
figure is practically correct. The weights as 
far as given agree in general with those pub- 
lished by Professer F. W. Clarke. The most 
interesting point in connection with the table is 
that the basis used is the atomic weight of 
oxygen = 16. It is now a number of years 
since Dr. F. P. Venable and others in this 
country and abroad uttered strong protests 
against the use of hydrogen = 1 as a standard, 
especially since the atomic weights with few 
exceptions are determined with reference to 
oxygen, and at that time the ratio between 
hydrogen and oxygen was uncertain. Now 
that this ratio has been, thanks to Professor 
Morley, rendered almost certain to three decimal 
places, it is still unnecessary and unscientific to 
bring in even this little uncertainty, which in 
the elements of high atomic weight amounts to 
quite an appreciable quantity. Professor Seu- 
bert has been one of the strongest advocates of 
the basis H = 1, and it is noteworthy that he 
has agreed to the committee report. In the 
report Seubert says that, while H =1 is in 


458 


principle the most correct and natural, he agrees 
to the report chiefly because with O = 16 many 
of the weights most frequently used in calcula- 
tions are represented by whole numbers, and 
hence these numbers are most conveniently 
used. Landolt adds that he hopes this report 
will lead to an international agreement as to 
the figures used. 

In arecent paper in the Journal fiir praktische 
Chemie, W. Hidmann describes the action of 
metallic magnesium upon compounds contain- 
ing nitrogen, especially upon the cyanids. At 
a red heat almost all compounds, inorganic and 
organic, which contain nitrogen are decomposed, 
generally with the formation of magnesium ni- 
trid, Mg,N,. The cyanids of the alkalies and al- 
kaline earths are decomposed without explosion, 
the carbid of the metal being formed. This, Eid- 
mann says, shows that the ordinarily accepted 
formula of the cyanids, e. g., Bat mi is 
correct. In the case of those cyanids which 
decompose at a red heat, as those of zinc, 
nickel, lead, copper, etc., the reaction with mag- 
nesium is more violent and decomposition into 
magnesium nitrid, carbon and the metal ensues. 
In the case of those cyanids, as those of silver 
and mercury, which decompose below ared heat 
the liberated cyanogen reacts with magnesium 
with explosive violence. ~ 


A SERIES of analyses of waters from wells 
near the sea-shore are published by P. Guichard 
in the Bulletin Société Chimique. The water in 
these wells rises and falls with the tide, while 
the composition of the water leads to the con- 
clusion that there is no direct connection be- 
tween the wells and the sea, and, hence, it fol- 
lows, according to the author, that subterranean 
waters must be affected by the moon, even as 
the ocean. This conclusion will, doubtless, find 
many to dissent from it. 


A DESCRIPTION is given in the Pharmaceu- 
tische Zeitung by Alfred Zucker of the manu- 
facture of whitelead by electrolysis, at Dell- 
briick, according to the Luckow process. The 
electrolyte is a 13% solution of 80% sodium 
chlorid and 20% sodium carbonate. The 
anode is soft lead, the kathode hard lead. The 
current is 0.5 ampére per square centimeter at 


SCIENCE. 


fur. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 221. 


2 volts. Water and carbon dioxid are carefully 
added as the electrolysis proceeds. With care 
as to the strength of the electrolyte, a purity of 
whitelead is obtained not hitherto reached. 
The hygienic regulations of the factory are 
worthy of mention. Every operative receives 
daily one liter of fresh milk, and at the conclu- 
sion of his daily work must clean very thor- 
oughly his hands, finger nails, ete. In addition 
he receives Glauber’s salts, and every fortnight 
must take a complete warm bath in water 
which contains a certain amount of liver of sul- 
By these precautions all cases of satur- 
nine poisoning have been avoided for several 
years. 

ALTHOUGH not under the head of inorganic 
chemistry, mention may be permitted of a de- 
scription of the manufacture of artificial silk in 
arecent number of the Zeitschrift fiir Angewandte 
Chemie from the pen of H. Wyss-Naef. The 
first practical.use of the process was in 1889. 
The raw material is carded cotton which is first 
converted into nitrocellulose by a bath of strong 
nitric and sulfuric acids. After washing and 
drying it is dissolved in a mixture of alcohol 
andether. This collodion is then spun through 
openings .08 mm. diameter. The alcohol and 
ether evaporate almost instantly on spinning 
and the material is carefully dried. It is then 
treated by a secret process to reduce the nitro 
groups, ammonium sulfid being probably the 
reducing agent used. The silk is then bleached 
with chlorin and is ready for the market. 

J. L. H. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
THE THEORY OF CYCLONES AND ANTICYCLONES. 


A PUBLICATION of unusual interest, contain- 
ing conclusions of the greatest importance in 
meteorology, has been issued as Bulletin No. 1 
(1899), of the Blue Hill Meteorological Obser- 
vatory (‘Studies of Cyclonic and Anticyclonic 
Phenomena with Kites,’ by H. Helm Clayton). 
This is a study of the results obtained during 
the kite flights of September 21st—24th and of 
November 24th—25th last, and it will aid ma- 
terially towards once more strengthening belief 
in the older Ferrel, or convectional theory of 
cyclones and anticyclones, as opposed to the 
newer Hann, or driven theory. Lack of space 


Marcu 24, 1899. ] 


prevents mention of many of the striking facts 
set forth in this Bulletin. The flights of Sep- 
tember 21st-24th brought down records from 
altitudes of 2,000 to 3,400 meters, ina well- 
marked anticyclone, and in a succeeding cy- 
clone which followed the same track. The 
temperature near the center of the anticyclone 
was the same at 2,100 meters as at 1,200 meters, 
and the humidity at the greater altitudes was 
. excessively low. These results agree with those 
previously found in similar conditions. The 
axis of the anticyclone was inclined backwards, 
the high pressure occurring later at high than 
at low levels. Up to 3,000 meters the temper- 
ature of the air was higher on the day of the 
cyclone than on the day of the anticyclone—a 
normal condition at Blue Hill, as previous kite 
ascents have shown. A further notable discovery 
is that cyclonic and anticyclonic circulations 
observed at the earth’s surface in this latitude 
do not seem to embrace any air movement at 
greater altitudes than 2,000 meters, except in 
front of cyclones. Above 2,000 meters there 
seem to be other poorly developed cyclones and 
anticyclones, with their centers at entirely dif- 
ferent places from those on the earth’s surface, 
and with different wind circulations. 

On November 24th—25th the kite meteoro- 
graph was sent up near the center of a cyclone 
and in a succeeding anticyclone. From sea- 
level to 2,800 meters the temperature was 
13°-24° F. higher on the day of the cyclone 
(November 24th) than on the following day. 
The results of the observations on November 
24th-25th also go to show that when the cold 
in the rear of asurface cyclone is exceptionally 
severe, the axis of the cyclone is inclined back- 
ward so sharply that the circulation breaks 
into two or more systems. Thus there come 
to exist asurface cyclone, a mid-air cyclone and 
an upper-air cyclone. On November 25th, 
at 3,000 meters, there existed a cold-center cy- 
clone, in which the air had a descending com- 
ponent of motion, as indicated by the low 
humidity. 

The results of the careful study made by Mr. 
Clayton lead him to the view that the convec- 
tional theory of cyclones isthe trueone. This 
Bulletin again bears evidence to the admirable 
work which is being done by the staff of the 


‘ited Tierra del Fuego in 1896. 


SCIENCE. 459 


Blue Hill Observatory, and to the important 
contributions which Mr, Clayton and his assist- 
ants, with Mr. Rotch’s liberal support, have 
made to meteorology. 


CARBONIC ACID IN DEATH GULCH, 


THE amount of carbonic acid in the atmos- 
phere, which, under ordinary conditions, aver- 
ages about 0.03%, may, in exceptional circum- 
stances, attain a considerably higher percentage. 
In certain volcanic districts the amount of car- 
bonic acid may be large enough to cause the 
death of animals which stray into the hollows 
where, owing to its density, the gas collects. 
The Grotto del Cane, near Naples, is a region 
of this sort. Another is Death Gulch, in the 
Yellowstone National Park. In an account of 
a recent trip in the Park, in Appleton’s Popular 
Science Monthly for February, Jaggar reports 
his discovery, in Death Gulch, of the carcasses 
of eight bears, all of which had doubtless been 
asphyxiated by the excessive amount of car- 


bonic acid in the air. 


R. DEC. Warp. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 
NEOMYLODON LISTAI. 


Dr. EINAR LONNBERG describes at length * 
some portions of skin found in a cave at Eber- 
hardt, near Last Hope Inlet, 51° 35’ 8., 72° 38” 
W., in the Territorio de Magallanes, Chile, and 
obtained by the Swedish expedition which vis- 
The cave, lo- 
cated a few kilometers from the coast and about 
500 feet above sea-level, was about 600 feet deep 
and 150 feet wide at the entrance. It was dis- 
covered by some farm laborers, who promptly de- 
stroyed the human skeletons found in the cave, 
although they fortunately preserved some pieces 
of thick, strange-looking skin, and the sheath 
of a claw found partly imbedded in the stalag- 
mitic deposit of the floor. The claw and two 
pieces of skin were secured by Nordenskjold ; 
the smaller piece measured about 715 cm.; 
the larger, irregular in shape, 50 > 76 cm., is be- 
lieved to be from the left fore leg. The small 

* Reprint from Wissenschaftl. Ergebnisse Schwedischen 


Expedition nach den Magellanslindern unter leitung von 
Otto Nordenskjold. 


460 SCIENCE. 


fragment of skin is 1 em. thick covered, exter- 
nally with coarse, dirty yellowish hair, and in- 
ternally so thickly set with rounded ossicles as 
to suggest a cobblestone pavement. The inner 
surface of the larger piece does not show any 
ossicles, but in the freshly-cut margin they are 
apparent, although small and completely im- 
bedded in the skin; the hair on this fragment 
is from 5 to 9 cm. long. Under the microscope 
a transverse section of this hair is seen to be 
solid, lacking the central pith usually present, 
and on comparison with the hairs of various 
South American edentates its greatest likeness 
is found in the central axis of the hair of 
Bradypus. The microscopical structure of the 
ossicles, which is described at length by Dr. 
Lonnberg, is strikingly like that of the ossicles 
of the true fossil Mylodon. The claw, 104 mm. 
long by 34 wide, is considered to belong to Neo- 
mylodon, as there is no existing South American 
mammal provided with similar claws, and is be- 
lieved to have belonged on a hind foot. The 
animal is estimated to have been at least 6 feet 
long and 4 feet or so high at the shoulder. After 
a careful consideration Dr. Lonnberg comes to 
the conclusion that, while Neomylodon was con- 
temporaneous with early man and was used as 
food, it certainly does not exist at present, be- 
cause it is absolutely impossible for it to have 
eluded the sharp eyes of the native Indians; 
neither is it identical with the animal that 
Ramon Listai is said to have shot at. It will 
be noted that the conditions under which the 
skin was preserved are very similar to those 
which led to the preservation of portions of the 


skin and feathers of Dinornis. 
MSVAS Tu: 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE, Second International Conference on a 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature requested the 
delegates from the countries represented to 
take steps for the formation of committees to 
study the various questions relating to the Cata- 
logue, and for the United States the following 
committee has been named: Dr. J. 8. Billings, 
Professor Simon Newcomb, Dr. Theodore N. 
Gill, Professor H. P. Bowditch, Dr. Robert 
Fletcher, Mr. Clement W. Andrews and Dr. 
Cyrus Adler. Different universities and scien- 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 221. 


tific societies have been invited to form com- 
mittees to report upon the questions involved. 

THE appointment of Mr. Herbert Putnam as 
Librarian of the National Library will be wel- 
comed by all friends of science and learning. 
It is well known that Mr. Putnam has excel- 
lently administered the Public Library of Min- 
neapolis and the Boston Public Library, and 
will undoubtedly make the National Library 
what he has himself said it should be, ‘‘ the fore- 
most library in the United States, a national 
library, the largest in the United States, a 
model and example of assisting the work of 
scholarship in the United States.’? Men of 
science are directly interested in this appoint- 
ment, as the great collection of scientific books 
of the Smithsonian Institution is deposited in 
the Library. 

Dr. THOMAS J. SEE, recently appointed pro- 
fessor of mathematics in the Naval Observa- 
tory, has been designated as Chief of the Nau- 
tical Almanac. 


PROFESSOR PATRICK GEDDES, of Edinburgh, 
is at present visiting the United States with a 
view to sociological and other studies. Profes- 
sor Geddes is well known for his accomplish- 
ments and versatility in biological science and 
for his efforts to improve sociological conditions 
in Edinburgh. 


Mr. G. F. Stout, recently appointed Wilde 
lecturer on mental philosophy at Oxford, and 
Mr. Charles Stewart, Curator of the Museum 
of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, have 
been given the degree of LL.D. by the Univer- 
sity of Aberdeen. 

THE Stockholm Society for Geology and 
Geography has awarded its Vega medal to 
Professor Georg Schweinfurth, of Berlin. 


THE Leopoldinisch-Carolinische Deutsche 
Akademie der Naturforscher, of Halle, has 
awarded the Cothenius gold medal to Dr. F. 
Zirkel, professor of mineralogy in the Univer- 
sity of Leipzig. 

Proressor A. H. SAYCE, of Oxford Univer- 
sity, has been appointed Gifford lecturer in 
Aberdeen University for 1900-1902. 


® PROFESSOR BURDON SAUNDERSON gave the 
Croonian lecture before the Royal Society on 


MARCH 24, 1899. ] 


March 16th, on ‘The Electric Concomitants of 
Motion in Animals and Plants.’ 


PROFESSOR JEBB, of Cambridge, will deliver 
the Romanes lecture at Oxford, June 7th, his 
subject being ‘Humanism and Education.’ 


THE following Friday evening discourses are 
being given before the Royal Institution, Lon- 
don: March 10th, ‘Measuring Extreme Tem- 
peratures,’ by Professor H. L. Callendar, F.R.S.; 
March 17th, ‘The Electric Fish of the Nile,’ by 
Professor Francis Gotch, F.R.S8.; and on March 
24th, ‘Transparency and Opacity,’ by Lord 
Rayleigh, F.R.S. 

Proressor C. C. GEoRGESON, of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, has left Washington for 
Sitka to superintend investigations in experi- 
mental agriculture. A building will be erected 
at Sitka this year which will contain offices for 
the experiment station and for meteorological 
observations. 


Tue Lord Mayor of Liverpool entertained, on 
March 4th, Professor Oliver J. Lodge, in recog- 
nition of his haying received the Rumford 
medal, which is awarded biennially by the 
Royal Society for the most important discov- 
eries in heat or light. Speeches were made by 
the Lord Mayor; Professor Fitzgerald, of Dub- 
lin; Sir John Brunner ; Professor Myers, of 
Cambridge; Professor Ricker and Sir W. 
Crookes. It was announced at the dinner that 
Sir John Brunner had offered £5,000 towards a 
new building for the physical laboratory for 
-University College, Liverpool, which is under 
Professor Lodge’s direction. 

A STATUE in bronze of the late Dr. William 
Pepper, of Philadelphia, will be erected in the 
plaza before the City Hall. 

PROFESSOR JOHN COLLETT, for many years 
State Geologist of Indiana, died at Indian- 
apolis, on March 15th, aged 71 years. 

Dr. W. HANKEL, professor of physics in the 
University of Leipzig, died on February 18th, 
at the age of 84 years. 

Dr. Francis M. Macnamara died on March 
5th, at the age of 57. He was formerly pro- 
fessor of chemistry at the Calcutta Medical Col- 
lege and chemical examiner to the Governor of 
India, where he made important investigations 


SCIENCE, 


461 


on the spread of cholera by water and on the 
distribution of disease. 

ConGREsS, in its closing hours, passed a bill 
containing the stipulation, ‘‘ That before Jan- 
uary 1, 1903, the fence around the Botanical 
Garden shall be removed, provided that at the 
first session of the Fifty-sixth Congress the Joint 
Committee on Library is directed to report a bill 
embodying a plan for removing the Botanical 
Garden to another location.’”? The Botanical 
Garden in Washington has done little for sci- 
ence, being administered by a Joint Committee 
on the Library of Congress. It is proposed to 
remove the Garden to a place where a larger 
area can be secured, and establish there a Na- 
tional Botanical Garden, which will probably 
be placed under the charge of the Department 
of Agriculture. 


THE New York City Board of Estimate and 
Apportionment authorized, on March 17th, an 
issue of bonds to the amount of $500,000, the 
proceeds to be used in defraying the cost of re- 
moving the Forty-second street reservoir and 
in laying the foundations for the building for 
the New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and 
Tilden foundations. Mayor Van Wyck is re- 
ported to have said: ‘‘ The original request was 
for $150,000. We looked the matter over care- 
fully and concluded that such a sum would 
suffice only for the demolition of the reservoir. 
It was suggested that the first requisition for 
bonds under the act authorizing the construc- 
tion of the library be large enough to cover the 
cost of the foundations for the structure. The 
trustees of the library agreed to this, and the 
plans were accordingly amended. With $500,- 
000 it will be possible within nine or ten months 
to raze the reservoir and lay the foundations. 
Then we shall be ready to order another issue 
of bonds and to prosecute the work to an early 
completion.’? The New York City Board of 
Estimate and Apportionment has also set aside 
$63,000 for work on the Zoological Garden in 
Bronx Park. 


Mayor VAN Wyck has given a public hear- 
ing on the bill passed by the Legislature author- 
izing the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 
to increase the annual appropriation for the 
American Museum of Natural History from 


462 


$90,000 to $130,000. Professor Albert 8. Bick- 
more, representing the Museum, and Senator 
Plunkitt, the introducer of the bill, declared 
that, on account of recent additions to the 
building, more money was required for its 
maintenance, the present allowance being in- 
adequate. The Mayor did not publicly declare 
his intentions towards the bill, but it is believed 
that he will sign it. 

THE Joint Committee of the Royal Society 
and the Royal Geographical Society, appointed 
to promote a National Antarctic Expedition, 
made application some time ago to the Council 
of the Royal Society and the Council of the 
British Association for grants of money in aid 
of the proposed expedition. The Treasurer of 
the Royal Society has applied, on behalf of the 
Council, to the Government Grant Committee 
for a grant of £1,000, and the Council of the 
British Association will recommend to the next 
meeting of the General Committee that a like 
sum be contributed by the Association. The 
scientific societies in Australia are moving in 
the matter with a view to influencing the Prem- 
iers of the different colonies. 

THE Navy Department expects to make a 
hydrographic survey of the Philippines. The 
Vixen, now on its way to Manila, will begin the 
work as soon as it can be spared, and it is ex- 
pected that the Yosemite, after making surveys 
about Guam, will proceed to the Philippines for 
this purpose. 

Dr. W. H. Furness and Dr. H. M. Miller 
have returned from an expedition to Florida, 
where they have been collecting fossils for the 
Wistar Institute of Anatomy, University of 
Pennsylvania. They have made collections 
from the limestone quarries and phosphate 
mines, where Dr. Leidy secured many valuable 
specimens. 

THE will of the late Herbert Stewart gives 
$2,000 to the American Society of Engineers 
for a library fund and $500 to the Engineers’ 
Club of New York City towards its building 
fund. The residue of the estate, subject to life 
annuities, is left to the Sheffield Scientific School 
of Yale University for Scholarships. The 
amount is estimated at $40,000. 


A CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION examination 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


will be held on April 11 and 12, 1899, for the po- 
sition of Soil Chemist, Division of Soils, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, at a salary of $1,400 per 
annum. The subjects and weights are as follows: 


Physicalichemistnypeemwisiecicaiscedetsictelcietesets sale 20 
PNOrgsanic Chemis biysetets clonelpolsysieleten eteleiereietets 20 
OrganicichemIstrysseseicletatestetsmieei elses 20 
Analy ticalym ethodsiteie: sects re Netaveterepaleysi seals 20 
Deiterabure Of SOs! jcc sctariercictays eteiiereisiclarseststel« 10 
Brenchiand! Germans c-)cjejsfetetcisiie syateceeiola = 10 

MObale estate wietsrcjarsisier states cieletel slap el cfsitoretor chokes 100 


On the same days an examination will be 
held for the position of Special Crop Culturist 
(Department of Agriculture). The subjects 
will be weighted as follows: 


Basis examination (first grade)............. 10 
English composition and general training and 
CX PETLENGO rests ascyaec ste creniaiesterstaecataleveuelsreds 10 


Agriculture and horticulture (general prin- 
ciples and practice of agriculture and horti- 
culture, including crop rotation, selection 
and breeding of variety, agricultural Chem- 
istry, fertilizers, treatment of plant diseases 
ANG INSECEEPESES) jeriersrcicievs ofeloretehaietelelercletelelese 20 

French (translation into English of a selec- 
tion relating to the cultivation of field 
CLOPS) Wey stenscpeperevvereesreverskeitaveca est overs eeetana coke 10 

Field crops (treatment of miscellaneous and 
little known field crops, including import 


SEALISEICS)) sare creuescncteserosatere sjatene rages etetenteeerete 30 
IPTOOLTEA CITI G sis reteyarets/aleta)ctarote etsisvsieyareverereheteletete 10 
Typewriting (tabulating, copying and spac- 

ing, and writing from dictation)........ 10 

Totalicrecstersicinvscslorsro stat anovereinsieentvarerectets 100 


WE have already called attention to the 
Volta commemoration to be held at Como dur- 
ing May of the present year. Como has ap- 
propriated $100,000 for the preliminary ex- 
penses. An electrical exhibition will be opened 
on May 14th. <A congress of electricians will 
also be held. 

Tue eleventh annual meeting of the Botanical 
Society of the University of Pennsylvania was 
held this week, and the following officers were 
elected: President, ex-officio, Provost C. C. 
Harrison ; acting President, Dr. Adolph Miller; 
First Vice-President, Mrs. L. R. Fox; Secre- 
tary, Professor J. MacFarland ; Treasurer, R. 
C. Beane. 

WE learn from the British Medical Journal 
that the French Medical Press Association held 


Marcu 24, 1899. ] 


its forty-third meeting on February 3d,under the 
presidency of Dr. Gézilly. It was decided to 
organize an International Congress of the Med- 
ical Press, to be held in Paris in 1900, at the 
same time as the other congresses which are to 
take place there in that year. 


THE beginning of an arboretum will be made 
made atthe University of Michigan this year, 
under the direction of the pharmacy depart- 
ment. The plan is to have specimens of as 
many different kind of trees growing on the 
University campus as will thrive in the latitude. 
Special attention, however, will be given to the 
securing of trees of medicinal or economic im- 
portance. A few trees will be set out each 
year, being selected and planted by the mem- 
bers of the graduating classes of the pharmacy 
department. 


THE report of the committee appointed by 
the Council of the Society of Arts to inquire 
into the requisite conditions of safety in acety- 
lene gas generators, and to report on the various 
apparatus shown at the exhibition held at the 
Imperial Institute, says the London Times, has 
just been issued. The object of the exhibition, 
which was undertaken with the approval of 
Sir Vivian Majendie of the Home Office, and 
of the London County Council, was to fa- 
mniliarize the public with the means of gener- 
ating acetylene gas, and with the simple pre- 
cautions with which its use at low pressures is as 
safe as that of coal gas. The committee, feeling 
that in the interests of the public it was advisable 
carefully to test the various forms of generators 
exhibited, appointed Professor Vivian B. Lewes 
and Mr. Boverton Redwood as a sub-committee 
to make a series of tests. As a result of these 
tests the committee have advised the granting of 
certificates to those generators which have com- 
plied with the requirements of the various tests 
to which they have been submitted, and which 
have worked safely and satisfactorily during a 
month’s every-day use. The committee classi- 
fied the generators into three groups: (1) those 
in which the gas is generated by water being al- 
lowed to drip or flow on to the carbide ; (2) those 
in which the water is allowed to rise in contact 
with the carbide, the rise being regulated by the 
increase of pressure in the generating chamber ; 


SCIENCE. 


463 


(3) those in which the carbide drops into the 
water. These are again subdivided into auto- 
matic generators whose storage capacity is less 
than the total volume which the charge of car- 
bide is capable of generating, and which, there- 
fore,require automatic regulation; and non-auto- 
matic, whose holders can receive all the gas pro- 
duced by the charge of carbide. The committee 
consider that the tests have clearly demonstrated 
that many types of acetylene gas apparatus can 
be so constructed as with ordinary precautions 
to be absolutely safe, and that lighting by 
acetylene need be no more fraught with danger 
than any other form of artificial lighting in 
general use. The committee, however, feel it 
their duty to state that, safe as they consider 
acetylene gas to be, when generated in a prop- 
erly-constructed apparatus outside the building 
to be lighted, and in accordance with the rules 
and suggestions contained in the report, they 
consider the generation of gas within the house, 
and the use of hand lamps, cycle lamps, etc., 
to be not unattended by danger, except in 
skilled hands. As to the storage of the carbide, 
the Home Office regulations allow 5lb. to be 
kept without a license in 1lb. packages. The 
committee recommend that the quantity, how- 
ever small, should always be kept in a dry 
place, and under lock and key. These precau- 
tions, they think, may not be necessary when 
its properties are fully understood, as it is no 
more dangerons than many other substances in 
daily use. 


TuHE Reale Instituto Lombardo announces in 
its Rendiconti the award of its prizes which are 
quoted in Nature as follows: The Cagnola 
prize of 2,500 lire and a gold medal of 500 lire 
has been awarded to Signor Angelo Battelli and 
Signor Annibale Stefanini for their joint paper 
containing a critical exposition of electric dis- 
sociation considered principally in regard to 
the experimental proofs of its deductions. 
For the Kramer prize, on an essay rela- 
ting to the use of condensers in the trans- 
mission of electric energy by alternating cur- 
rents and their construction for industrial 
purposes, two competitors entered, and prizes 
of 2,500 lire and 1,500 lire respectively have 
been awarded to Professor Luigi Lombardi, of 
Turin, and Signor Giovanni Battista Folco, 


464 


director of the electric tramways of Leghorn. 
For the Fossati prize, on some physiological 
point connected with the human encephalusy 
two competitors entered, and awards of 400 lire 
have been made to both—namely, Dr. Domenico 
Mirto, of Palerma, and Dr. Carlo Martinotti, of 
Turin. For the Brambilla prize, given for the 
invention or introduction of some new machine 
or industrial process of real practical value, 
seven competitors entered. A gold medal and 
500 lire has been awarded to Fratelli Boltri, of 
Milan, for their grain desiccators; a similar 
award to Premoli and Zanoncelli, of Lodi, for 
their preparation of Gaertnerised milk. Gold 
medals and 200 lire have also been given to 
Rossi, Enrico and Co., of Milan, for their 
manufacture of varnishes, ete.; to Piola Alfredo, 
of Milan, for artists’ colors; and to Pizonni 
Pietro, of Milan, for the manufacture of baskets. 
The prizes offered for future competition in- 
clude prizes of the Institution for 1899 for a list 
of unusual meteorological events that have been 
recorded from the earliest times, and for 1900 
for an essay on collective property in Italy ; 
two triennial medals for improvements in agri- 
cultural or industrial processes in Lombardy ; 
a Cagnola prize and gold medal on the subjects 
chosen by the Institution, viz., in 1899, for an 
essay on Hertz’s phenomenon, or the effect of 
active radiation or of products of combustion 
on the sparking distance in air, and in 1900 for 
a critical study of toxin and anti-toxin; a Cag- 
nola prize and gold medal for 1899 on one of the 
following subjects chosen by the founder, viz: 
the cure of ‘ pellagra,’ the nature of miasma and 
contagion, the direction of flying balloons, and 
the methods of preventing forgery of writings ; 
a Brambilla prize for industrial improvements 
in Lombardy; Fossati prizes for 1899 on the 
macro- or micro-scopical anatomy of the nervous 
system, for 1900 on the regeneration of pe- 
ripheric nervous fibres in vertebrates, and for 
1901 on the anatomy of the encephalus of the 
higher animals; a Kramer prize for an essay on 
the transmission of heat between the steam and 
walls of the cylinders of steam engines ; a Secco 
Comneno prize for 1902 for a description of 
Italian natural deposits of phosphates ; a Pizza- 
miglio prize for an essay on the influence of so- 
cialistic doctrines on private rights ; Ciani prizes 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 221. 


for popular Italian books, a Tommasoni prize 
for a history of the life and works of Leonardi 
da Vinci ; and a triennial Zanetti prize for some 
improvements or discovery in pharmaceutical 
chemistry. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


AT a meeting of the Board of Overseers of 
Harvard University on March 15th it was voted 
to concur with the President and Fellows in the 
election of William Morris Davis, M.E., now 
holding the chair of physical geography, to be 
Sturgis Hooper professor of geology ; Robert 
Tracy Jackson, 8.D., was elected assistant pro- 
fessor of paleontology, and Jay Backus Wood- 
worth, S.B., instructor in geology. 


Dr. Smmon FLEXNER, of the Johns Hopkins 
University, has accepted the chair of pathology 
in the University of Pennsylvania, to succeed 
Dr. John Guiteras. Dr. Guiteras will spend a 
year abroad and expects then to devote his 
services to the University of Havana. 


Mr. H. E. Brown and Mr. W. A. Niveling, 
assistant instructors in chemistry in the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, have resigned their positions 
to engage in technical work. 


AT Yale University Dr. Jervase Greene has 
been promoted to an instructorship in philoso- 
phy and Dr. I. K. Phelps to an instructor- 
ship in chemistry. Dr. Milton B. Porter 
has been appointed instructor in mathe- 
matics. 


CoLONEL HEINRICH HARTL has been ap- 
pointed professor of geodesy in the University 
of Vienna, and Dr. G. Bodlander, of Géttingen, 
professor of physical chemistry in the Institute 
of Technology at Braunschweig. Dr. Gutz- 
mer, of Halle, has been called to the new as- 
sistant professorship of mathematics in the 
University of Jena; Dr. Aladar Richter to be 
assistant professor of botany in the University 
at Kiausenburg, and Dr. Bengst Jéhnsson to be 
professor of botany in the Academy at Lund. 
Dr. Tobler and Dr. Streckeisen have qualified 
as docents in mineralogy and geography in the 
University at Basle. Dr. Ad. Fick, professor of 
physiology at the University of Wurzburg, will 
retire at the end of the present semester. 


SCIENCE 


EpirorRrAL ComMMITTEE: S. Newcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. DAvIs, Physiography; W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 

S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. BrssEy, N. L. Brirron, Botany; HENRY F. OsBorn, 
General Biology; C. 8. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowprrcu, Physiology; 

J. S. Brnuinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. \ 


Fripay, Marcu 31, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


AW National Observatory scare sss coueccsscacectessess 465 
Discussion of a National Observatory : PROFESSORS 
Smmon NEwcoms, ASAPH HALL, C. A. YOUNG, 
T. C. MENDENHALL, R.S. WooDWARD, C. L. 
DoouirtTLe, W. H. PICKERING, ARTHUR 
SEARLE, FRANK W. VERY, DAviIp P. Topp, 
G. W. Myers, E. A. FUERTES, W. L. ELKIN, 
JAMES E. KEELER 
The Atomic Weights—A Quarter Centur. 
ress: PROFESSOR F. P. VENABLE..............+ 
Hermaphroditism in Ostrea Lurida: PROFESSOR 


HP WASHBUR Necsctesadscsteactsseeccssesescsetesces 478 
Agricultural Electrotechnics: PROFESSOR R. H. 
PRE R SLO Nemcteccatcetecrcnase sce: ssecersteee sare. 480 


Scientific Books :— 

Geology of the Edwards Plateau and Rio Grande 

Plain: PROFESSOR FREDERIC W. SIMONDS. 

Solly’s Medical Climatology: DR. G. HINSDALE. 481 
Scientific Journals and Articles .......cccccceeseeeeeenes 485 
Societies and Academies :— 

Biological Society of Washington: O. F. Cook. 

The Washington Botanical Club: DR. CHARLES 

LoulIs POLLARD. The New York Section of the 

American Chemical Society: DR. DURAND 

WoopMAN. Section of Astronomy and Physics 

of the New York Academy of Sciences: R. GOR- 

DON. Academy of Science of St. Louis: PRo- 

FESSOR WILLIAM TRELEASE,.........0.00eceeceeees 486 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Plymouth, England, and its Marine Biological 

Laboratory: DR. EDWARD G. GARDINER. The 

Duplication of Geologic Formation Names: F. B. 

Weeks. The Berlin Tuberculosis Conference : 

DR CH. WARDELE)| STULHSS aie sscrcspucscoeesseses: 488 
Astronomical Notes :-— 

The Rutherfurd Photographs; The Solar Eclipse 

of May 28, 1900 : PROFESSOR WINSLOW Upton 492 
Notes on Physics :— 

The Effect of Commutators on the Field of Dyna- 

mos and Motors; Telegraphy and Magnetic In- 

duction: F. C. C 
The Bequests of the late Professor Marsh dad 
Scientific Notes and News........ce.csceresececseeseereceons 494 
University and Educational News........:1cssessevevees 496 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
tor review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


A NATIONAL OBSERVATORY. 

Tue letters which we publish in this 
number from prominent American astrono- 
mers on the general subject of a national 
observatory may be regarded as a sequel to 
Professor Skinner’s admirable history of 
the Naval Observatory found in our issue of 
January 6th. Justice to the latter institution 
demands that we should point out certain 
features of the case which have generally 
been overlooked. It has been too hastily 
assumed that the Naval Observatory should 
fill the requirements of a national astro- 
nomical observatory, and that, if it did not, 
some one must be at fault. To correct this 
view we have only to cite some authorita- 
tive statements on the subject. The matter 
was stated very forcibly and clearly by 
Commodore Belknap, Superintendent of the 
Observatory, as far back as 1885, when 
the building of the new observatory was 
about to begin, and when, in consequence, 
its purposes were the subjects of public dis- 
cussion. He wrote: 


It is first of all a naval institution, its astronomical 
work being, so far as the naval service proper is con- 
cerned of a purely secondary consideration. * * * * 
If the time has come when the purely scientific side 
of the institution has outgrown the needs of the naval 
service the converse is true, namely, that the navy 


466 


If the so- 
called scientific men of the country think that the 


has no need of it or of the scientific staff. 


time has come to apply to Congress for money to 
build a national observatory the Navy will not stand 
in their way; only it will take no responsibility for it, 
and will be glad to see it go to another department 
of the government, and to be under purely civilian 
control, including professors with civilian appoint- 
ments instead of Naval commissions. * 

This official view is enforced by the ab- 
sence of legislation providing for the organ- 
ization and government of the institution 
or prescribing its purposes or functions. 
Not only has Congress never uttered a word 
as to its purpose, but it has never, so far as 
we can learn, provided any authority to de- 
termine what work it should undertake. 
The highest officials recognized in the an- 
nual appropriations are assistant astrono- 
mers, but there is no statement whom they 
are to assist. Everything else is left with 
the Navy Department, which has no way 
to complete the organization except to order 
naval officers and professors to duty at the 
observatory, and establish such rules for 
their guidance as it may see fit. Weare not 
aware that any regulations have ever been 
issued prescribing a well-defined plan of as- 
tronomical observations. All this accentu- 
ates the secondary character of its astronom- 
ical work, and justifies the modesty of the 
part which it has played in the progress of 
astronomy since the new buildings were 
erected. 

If we accept the preceding view of the 
functions of the observatory, then we are 
the only one of the great nations that does 
not support a national observatory for the 


promotion of astronomical science. The 


*Senate, Ex. Doc., No. 67, 49th Congress, Ist 
Sess. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


question is whether our astronomers should 
not act on the suggestion of Admiral Bel- 
knap and petition Congress for the establish- 
ment of such an institution as they want. 
An astrophysical observatory is already 
supported by Congress under the auspices 
of the Smithsonian Institution ; why should 
not one for astrometry in its widest range 
be established under the same or other sci- 
entific auspices ? 

How such a proposal would be met by 
The first 
questions would be: Have we not already 


Congress goes without saying. 


such an institution? Has not Congress 
already expended an unprecedented sum in 
the erection of an observatory? Is it not 
supported at a greater annual expense than 
any other similar institution in the world ? 
What has it to do but prosecute the very 
researches you want prosecuted and make 
the very observations you want made ? 

It would be hard to meet these questions 
without exposing what, at first sight, would 
It might not be difficult 


to convinee Congress that an institution 
oD 


seem a weak point. 


where the prosecution of astronomical work 
was ‘of purely secondary consideration,’ and 
which was not specially organized as an 
institution for astronomical work, could 
never be expected to fulfil the requirements 
ofa national observatory. But how reconcile 
the subordination of scientific to naval work 
with what Congress has actually done? 
Why should our navy need a great establish- 
ment costing nearly a million dollars and 
fitted up with large and expensive astronom- 
ical instruments any more than the English 
or French or German navy? The English 
navy hasits chronometersrated at the Green- 
wich Observatory at a very small expense, 


Marcu 31, 1899. ] 


and the other countries have small and inex- 
pensive establishments for this purpose. All 
the national observatories but ours have 
purely civilian organizations. Why should 
ours be an exception ? 

Under these conditions what is wanted is 
that our astronomers and naval authorities 
should come together and agree upon a 
plan. Nothing can be worse than the con- 
tinuation of a system under which the 
country goes to all the expense of support- 
ing a great observatory without reaching 
results commensurable with the expendi- 
ture. Itis sometimes claimed that naval 
officers will not give up any part of their 
control. It seems to us that this claim in- 
volves a reflection upon their patriotism 
and their regard for their country’s in- 
terests which they should not tolerate. 
Congress gives its munificent support to 
the observatory under the belief that it is 
supporting a great and useful scientific 
establishment which is extending the fame 
of our country in the intellectual field as 
the observatories of Greenwich and Paris 
have extended the fame of the countries 
which have supported them. If this belief is 
ill founded the claim in question amounts to 
nothing less than saying that our naval 
officers will fight for the privilege of expend- 
ing large sums for objects which neither 
increase the efficiency of the service nor 
promote the scientific standing of the coun- 
try in the eyes of the world. We cannot 
suppose them animated by so low a spirit 
We believe 


that they are sincerely desirous of seeing 


as this attitude presupposes. 


the great institution established at such ex- 
pense made a credit to the country, and 
that if fifty years’ experience shows that 


SCIENCE. 


467 


this end can be reached only by separating 
the naval from the scientific work of the 
establishment, and placing the latter under 
the only sort of control that can ever be 
really successful, they will, in the words of 
Commodore Belknap, ‘not stand in the 
way.’ It is the duty of our astronomers 
to use their influence in making the exact 
facts of the case known, and in promoting 
such a solution of the problem as will con- 
duce to the good name of American science. 

Were we dealing with a small institution 
to which Congress extended only a nig- 
gardly support, we might look with indif- 
ference on a corresponding paucity of per- 
formance. But when Congress bestows a 
far more liberal support on our observatory 
than England, France or any other nation 
bestows on its national observatory, and 
does this in the belief that it is promoting 
astronomical science to a corresponding ex- 
tent, patriotism demands that our astron- 
omers should inform our authorities whether 
this belief is or is not in accord with the 
fact. 


DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL OBSERVATORY. 
In response to a letter sent to a number 
of leading American astronomers the replies 
printed below have been received.* 
The letter asked for answers to the fol- 
lowing questions : 


1. Isit desirable that the government of the United 
States should support a national astronomical ob- 
servatory ? 


* Tn addition to these replies a committee appointed 
at the Harvard Conference of Astronomers and Astro- 
physicists, consisting of Professor E. C. Pickering, 
Harvard College Observatory (Chairman); Professor 
George E. Hale, Yerkes Observatory, and Professor 
George C. Comstock, Washburn Observatory, has 
drawn up a report on the subject, which we hope to 
publish after it has been presented to the next Con- 
ference. 


468 


2. If so, what ends should such an institution have 
in view; especially to what classes of astronomica] 
observation and research should it be devoted ? 

3. Does the new Naval Observatory fulfill the ob- 
jects in question so completely that no other institu- 
tion of the kind is necessary ? If not, in what respects 
does its work differ from that required for the purposes 
in view ? 

To THE Eprror or ScrencE: In answer to 
your questions as to the policy of support- 
ing a national observatory, I would say that, 
making abstraction of features peculiar to 
astronomical science I see no reason why the 
government should support an astronomical ob- 
servatory any more than a chemical laboratory 
for chemists to use in making their experi- 
ments. The exceptional reason in favor of 
an observatory is that there are branches of 
astronomical science of world-wide interest 
and importance which are not adequately cul- 
tivated by private enterprise. The greatest of 
these relate to the motions of the heavenly 
bodies, especially the fixed stars. Of late years 
it has been seen that the study of these motions 
may throw light on problems formerly re- 
garded as insoluble, and supply posterity with 
records of priceless value in the advance of 
knowledge. 

An institution to supply the want thus indi- 
cated should be organized and fitted up with 
its own special end in view, and should not be 
diverted from that end by the temptation of 
more attractive work in other directions. The 
later results of experience and research should 
determine the instruments to be used, and the 
whole arrangements should be such as to com- 
mand the best talent and skill in planning and 


executing the work. 
Simon NEWCOMB. 


To THE EpiToR OF SCIENCE: The astro- 
nomical questions you propose to discuss in 
SCIENCE are interesting. Since I hold a posi- 
tion in the Navy it is not proper for me to dis- 
cuss the conduct of the Naval Observatory. As 
to the other questions I may say briefly : 

1. I think it is desirable that the government 
of the United States should support an Astro- 
nomical Observatory. 

2. I think such an observatory should deter- 
mine the positions of the stars, planets and satel- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


lites with the greatest accuracy possible, since 
theoretical astronomy rests on such observations. 
The astro-physical departments of astronomy 
are so attractive that they will not lack inves- 


tigators. 
ASAPH HALL. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Replying to 
questions raised in your communication of De- 
cember 4, 1898, I would say : 

I. I think that unquestionably the United 
States ought tosupporta National Observatory, 
unless it is willing to fall to the rank of a third- 
rate nation. Besides, we already have a fine 
building, with a costly and valuable equipment 
of apparatus. It would be a disgrace to aban- 
don it. 

II. As to the ends to be kept in view, etc., I 
think a National Observatory, maintained by 
the government, should aim chiefly at kinds of 
work not easily within the reach of private and 
educational observatories—extended series of 
observations which require persistent prosecu- 
tion without intermission or material change of 
plan—such, for instance, as: 

(a) Continuous observations of the positions 
of the sun, moon and planets, partly by the 
meridian circle, and partly, perhaps, by pho- 
tography, which is specially valuable in the 
case of such asteroids, as, for one reason or 
another, require attention. Observations of 
comets are also in order. 

(b) The determination of the absolute posi- 
tions of a reasonably large list of fundamental 
stars, and of such other stars as are needed for 
reference points by observers of planets or 
comets, or by those engaged in geodetic opera- 
tions. 

(ce) I think it desirable also that certain astro- 
physical observations should be included, es- 
pecially in the line of stellar spectroscopy, since 
the number of objects of investigation in this 
line is so great that the ground cannot be cov- 
ered in any reasonable time without the general 
cooperation of all well-equipped observatories, 

(d) The refined reduction and prompt publi- 
cation of the results of observation. This im- 
plies a thorough mathematical study of the 
theories involved and investigation of their 
corrections, and requires that among the as- 


Marca 31, 1899.] 


tronomers of the observatory there be included 
able mathematicians as well as skillful ob- 
servers. Joined with this work is very properly 
the calculation and publication of the National 
Astronomical Ephemeris, or some definite por- 
tion of an International Ephemeris, if such 
a work can be arranged for, as is now proposed 
in certain quarters. 

III. I do not think that the National Ob- 
servatory, whether organized as the present 
Naval Observatory or on any other plan, can 
wisely undertake to deal with all classes of as- 
tronomical observation. There are numerous 
lines of investigation which can better be fol- 
lowed up by institutions organized for the 
special purpose, or by individual amateurs. 
Nor do I believe that under its present organi- 
zation, nor under any organization which leaves 
it distinctively a naval institution, managed 
and directed according to naval traditions and 
methods, can it ever well fulfill the ends of a 
National Observatory. The pursuit, and es- 
pecially the superintendence and direction of 
astronomical investigation, is purely scientific 
work, and should be under scientific control. 

As to the question whether another observa- 
tory (for astro-physical investigation I suppose) 
should be founded and maintained by the gov- 
ernment Iam hardly clear. The examples of 
France and Germany, and to a certain extent 
that of England, point in this direction. But 
so long as the observatories at Cambridge, Mt. 
Hamilton and Lake Geneva maintain their 
astro physical activity it seems to me hardly 
necessary for us to move in the matter. 

PRINCETON, N. J. C. A. Youna. 


To THE Epriror oF Science: As I am not 
an astronomer there is no reason why my 
opinion should appear in your symposium on 
the National Astronomical Observatory. Your 
request that I should furnish it originated, 
doubtless, in the fact that I was appointed, at 
the Boston meeting of the A. A. A. 8., a mem- 
ber of a committee of which Professor E. C. 
Pickering is Chairman, to consider and report 
upon the organization and work of the Naval 
Observatory at Washington, which stands for 
whatever we have or have not in the way of 
government astronomical research at the pres- 


SCIENCE. 


469 


ent moment. At any rate I will venture upon 
a very brief discussion of the questions in- 
volved as I see them. 

To the first question I would reply that we 
already have and have had for many years a 
National Astronomical Observatory in the 
Naval Observatory at Washington. Congress 
has already shown its willingness to maintain 
such an institution in the magnificent buildings 
and expensive equipment for which it has gen- 
erously appropriated money and for the sup- 
port of which it makes liberal annual appropri- 
ations. It is too late, therefore, to discuss your 
first query, but the all-important question is 
the third: Does the Observatory as organized 
and managed at present fulfill the requirements 
of such an institution? On this point there is 
room for much discussion and, perhaps, some 
difference of opinion. My own answer would 
be: No. But there is likely to be a tendency to 
misrepresent the views and attitude of naval 
officers in this matter, and, without pretending 
to speak for them or by their knowledge or cor- 
sent, I venture the opinion that a large majority 
of them, especially of those generally acknowl- 
edged by their comrades to be the foremost men 
in the service, would be found in substantial 
agreement with the leading astronomers of the 
country. It has been my privilege to enjoy 
rather intimate association with many of them, 
and I have always found them unselfishly de- 
voted to the best interests of their corps, always 
ready to discharge in the most conscientious 
manner any duty with which they may be 
charged, doing the very best they can under 
the conditions and restrictions by which they 
are surrounded. 

That they should have a pride in the develop- 
ment of the great institution which has been . 
for so many years under their care is only 
natural. Originally the Naval Observatory was 
just what was required by the navy; but, by its 
gradual expansion into an establishment fitted 
for astromical research on an almost unrivalled 
scale, it has become very much of an elephant 
on their hands. But to expect that they will 
voluntarily relinquish all claim to or interest in 
it is to expect what is unreasonable. I am 
sure that the great majority of them know that 
the spirit of a military regime, which is at 


470 


once a virtue and a necessity in a military corps, 
is quite imcompatible with the spirit of scien- 
tific investigation pure and simple. So long as 
the Observatory is under a bureau of the Navy 
Department it must, of necessity, like a navy- 
yard or a receiving ship, be controlled by naval 
regulations, and any relations which naval 
officers may sustain to it must be governed by 
navy rules regarding rank, short details of 
service, assignments in regular order without 
regard to special fitness or taste and other estab- 
lished customs, absolutely necessary to military 
discipline, but utterly irreconcilable with the 
spirit of an institution devoted purely to scien- 
tific research. The only satisfactory solution 
of the problem is the removal of the Observatory 
from military control. No half-way measure, 
such as appointing a Director from civil life, 
will avail as long as it remains attached to the 
Navy Department. The amputation must be 
clean and complete. 

If any attempt is made to accomplish this it 
must be kept in mind that it is a fundamental 
principle of bureau administration to get hold 
of all you can and hold all you get. It is ac- 
cepted as an evidence of successful administra- 
tion to have added one or more new functions 
to the office which you happen to hold, and it is 
considered almost disgraceful to allow another 
bureau to begin operations in a field which you 
have traditionally cultivated, however unrelated 
they may be to the work for which your corps 
was originally organized. Much of the useless 
duplication of government work is due to this. 

It must also be remembered that Congress 
concerns itself very little with what ought to be 
done, but that it is very greatly influenced by 
what it is made to believe the people want done. 
As far as the interests of astronomy go, astron- 
omers are the people. Whenever they are 
ready to unite in a persistent effort to secure 
reform in the Naval Observatory, whenever 
they are willing to exert their influence in favor 
of making it a real national establishment, 
directed by astronomers for astronomy they 
will succeed. Naturally there will be a few 
‘naval officers who will seriously oppose any 
measure which deprives them of such agreeable 
shore duty, but the great majority of them know 
very well that to them professional distinction 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 222. 


is to be reached through skill in handling a 10- 
inch gun rather than a 26-inch objective and 
that the experience of commanding a battleship 
is vastly more valuable than anything to be 
gained in the performance of the petty routine 
duties of superintending an institution in whose 
work they have little real interest and no en- 


thusiasm. T. C. MENDENHALL. 


WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I beg to offer 
the following replies to the questions you raise 
with reference to a national astronomical ob- 
servatory. 

First, it is desirable that the government of 
the United States should maintain an astro- 
nomical observatory. The experience of the 
past two hundred years seems to demonstrate 
that there are certain kinds of scientific work 
that cannot be successfully carried on without 
the express sanction and support of stable gov- 
ernments. 

Astronomy, geodesy and geology are the 
most striking instances of such work, and it is 
hardly conceivable that they could have at- 
tained their existing degree of utility except for 
the aid extended to them by the leading gov- 
ernments. That the maintenence of such work 
is second only in importance in national econ- 
omy to the maintenance of law and order, 
and to the diffusion of education, is a proposi- 
tion which few readers of SCIENCE are likely to 
controvert. 

Secondly, the chief objects of a national 
astronomical observatory seem to fall under 
the following heads: (a) the registration of 
continuous series of observations of the sun, 
moon, planets and fixed stars; (b) the prep- 
aration of ephemerides of these celestial bodies 
for the use of surveyors, geodesists and navi- 
gators ; (c) theoretical investigations with refer- 
ence to the motions and physical properties of 
the celestial bodies, and with reference to the 
instruments, appliances and methods used in 
astronomical observations and computations ; 
(d) the cooperation with other similar organiza- 
tions in astronomical undertakings of inter- 
national importance. 

Thirdly, it may be said that the existing 
Naval Observatory has fulfilled and still fulfills 


Marcu 31, 1899.] 


these objects. It must be admitted, in fact, 
that the Naval Observatory, during the half 
century ofits existence, has done a large amount 
of first class work, and that its service has been 
dignified by the connection with it of some 
of the most eminent American astronomers. 
Nevertheless, it appears equally just to affirm 
that the administration of the Naval Observa- 
tory has never been favorable to the highest 
efficiency of such an organization. The scien- 
tifie work of the Naval Observatory has been 
done in spite of a bad form of administration 
rather than by reason of a good one. 

The radical defect of this administration lies 
in the assumption that the Superintendent of 
the Observatory should be, as he has been, gen- 
erally, a naval officer, who may have little 
knowledge of or interest in astronomy. The 
position is one of pleasing prominence to an 
officer on shore duty, and is hence likely to fall 
to one who.has ‘ pull’ with the party in power 
rather than to one who has distinguished him- 
self as an astronomor. The effect of such ad- 
ministration is much the same as would result 
in a university if the department of mathe- 
matics, for example, were placed in charge of a 
superannuated clergyman. The routine work 
goes on pleasantly, but with no scientific energy 
except that which the subordinates get from 
external professional associations. Subordi- 
nates who are exceptionally able may, as some 
have done, accomplish much good work under 
such depressing circumstances ; but those less 
ambitious are apt to lapse into mere time serv- 
ers. This form of administration leads also to 
pressure for position in the service by those little 
competent to undertake astronomical work. 
The way in which some of the highest positions 
on the Naval Observatory staff have been ob- 
tained in recent years, through ‘pulls’ and 
‘influence,’ and competition of all kinds except 
that of merit, is a standing disgrace to all men 
of science. ; 

To remedy these defects, and to make of the 
Naval Observatory a National Observatory, 
some rather radical changes are essential. The 
Observatory should cease to be a mere bureau 
of or appendage to the navy, and the surest 
way to accomplish this end will be to transfer 
the Observatory to some other department. The 


SCIENCE. 


471 


Director or Superintendent of the Observatory 
should be an astronomer of acknowledged 
ability, and the members of his staff should be 
chosen by reason of merit only. The conduct 
of the work of the Observatory should be sub- 
ject to the approval of a board of regents, sim- 
ilar to that of the Smithsonian Institution, half 
of whom should be chosen from astronomers 
and physicists not in the government service, 
and half from members of Congress. Some 
such system of administration, free so far as 
practicable from the contamination of spoils 
and politics, appears to be absolutely indispen- 
sable to the maintenance of an Observatory 
worthy of American science. 


R. S. WoopwARD. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In reply to 
your questions relating to the United States 
Naval Observatory I assume that you do not 
expect an elaborate article, but merely the 
expression of my individual opinion in a few 
words. I take the topics in order. 

I. If no such establishment existed, and it 
were a question of founding an observatory, I 
should say no. Atleast not before government 
methods had considerably improved. 

With buildings and plant on hand, which 
have cost nearly a million of dollars, it is prob- 
ably best to keep it up, though I am not quite 
sure of this. 

Il. Systematic work with meridian circle in 
determination of places of stars and planets. 
Measurements of double stars and positions of 
comets and minor planets with the equatorial. 
In short, the kind of work which Hall and 
Eastman kept up for many years and which is 
not likely to receive the necessary attention at 
private observatories. 

III. I do not quite understand this question. 
If the meaning is as follows: Is it desirable 
for government to establish another observatory 
in order to atone for the shortcomings of that 
now existing ? there can be only one answer. 

The requisite conditions, in my opinion, are 
not likely to be fulfilled by any observatory es- 
tablished within the political atmosphere of 
Washington. C. L. DooLirrie. 

FLOWER OBSERVATORY. 


472 SCIENCE. 


To THE EpIToR oF SCIENCE: In reply to 
question number one I should say: Had we no 
observatory, no. It does not require a 26-inch 
telescope to test a chronometer. (2) Since we 
already have such an institution, it seems to me 
that the best work it can undertake will be large 
and expensive pieces of routine work, such as a 
private observatory would be unlikely to take 
up, and could only be accomplished by a com- 
bination of them. (8) The Naval Observatory 
certainly does not fulfill this idea. The work 
it is to undertake should, I think, be decided 
by a committee suitably appointed. It should 
have a civilian astronomer at its head. 

W. H. PICKERING. 

HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


To THE EpIToR OF SCIENCE: The question 
whether the United States should maintain 
a National Astronomical Observatory must 
largely depend for its answer upon the opinion 
which we may adopt with regard to the pro- 
priety of employing money raised by taxation 
in the support of any branch of pure science. 
It may be held that the taxpayers should not 
be made to contribute to undertakings in which 
they cannot be supposed, as a whole, to feel 
any decided interest, and which, so far as they 
are beneficial, must benefit mankind at large, 
rather than the particular nation supporting 
them. But various branches of applied science 
must be cultivated at the national expense, and 
it is difficult to draw a definite boundary sepa- 
rating abstract inquiries and their practical ap- 
plications. Some liberty of research, too, on 
the part of men engaged in any scientific 
work, seems desirable to prevent them from 
falling into too mechanical a routine. In this 
country, where the science of astronomy is so lib- 
erally supported by private munificence, there 
is, doubtless, very little occasion for a National 
Observatory ; still, since such an institution 
exists, and has done much interesting work, as 
Professor Skinner shows, most of us would 
probably dislike to have it abandoned without 
further trial. 

The most obviously valuable service which a 
National Observatory can render is the mainte- 
nance of such observations as ure apt to be 
neglected elsewhere, from their want of im- 


\ 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


mediate interest. Such, for example, are the 
determinations of position of the sun, moon 
and planets, which have been kept up assid- 
ously at the Naval Observatory since 1861, as 
Professor Skinner assures us at the close of his 
article. It would hardly be advisable to con- 
fine the work of the institution rigidly to a 
routine of this kind, so planned as to leave the 
astronomers no time for pursuits more stimula- 
ting to the intellect ; but if they should attempt 
to undertake all kinds of researches most in 
vogue at the present moment we could not ex- 
pect from them many solid additions to human 
knowledge. 

IT do not feel myself competent to judge 
whether the Naval Observatory is to be re- 
garded, comparatively speaking, as a success or 
as a failure, or whether any change in its 
organization would decidedly improve it. I 
know that complaints of the amount and qual- 
ity of its work have often been made, and I 
have been puzzled by the manner in which 
these complaints have been met. In similar 
cases we usually find the persons criticised in- 
clined to excuse what may seem to be their 
shortcomings by their want of means, or by 
the uncertainty whether their present pecuniary 
support will be continued, or, perhaps, in other 
instances, by a defective organization imposed 
upon them from without. But, unless I misun- 
derstand what I have heard, the astronomers 
of the Naval Observatory generally agree that 
their chief has all necessary power to carry out 
his plans promptly and effectively ; that this 
power hardly needs to be exerted, because they 
form a united and harmonious body, animated 
by purely scientific zeal; that Congress has 
supplied them abundantly with funds, and that 
they entertain no apprehension that this liberal 
support will be withdrawn, or that they will 


be under the necessity of neglecting their scien-. 


tific pursuits in order to solicit its continuance. 
If this impression of mine, which I acknowl- 
edge to be a vague one, is correct, either the 
critics must be in error or there is something in 
the mere atmosphere of Washington, or in any 
connection with the government of the United 
States, which is unfavorable to the cultivation 
of astronomy. 

Public criticism of a public institution must 


MARcH 31, 1899. ] 


not be blamed, even if it is ill founded; and I 
am inclined to depend upon it for the correc- 
tion of any defects which may exist in the man- 
agement of the Naval Observatory. If the 
critics cannot agree among themselves no 
change is probably required, but if there is a 
general accordance among them it will be diffi- 
cult for the Washington astronomers to persist 
in opposition to the scientific sentiment of the 
country. For example, the publication of the 
Washington observations has often been con- 
sidered needlessly irregular and dilatory. If 
this criticism is just, and if the Naval Observ- 
atory has ample means for the reduction and 
publication of its work, I can hardly doubt that 
the mere repetition of the complaint will before 
long succeed in removing the occasion for it. 

ARTHUR SEARLE. 

HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: 
tions are fundamental. 

1. The right to existence of a National As- 
tronomical Observatory supported by the United 
States seems to me beyond dispute, and this 
too for the reason that certain classes of as- 
tronomical observations, such as those of the 
positions of sun, moon and the larger planets, 
must be maintained with a regularity seldom 
attained in an observatory subject to the vicis- 
situdes of a changing policy or to the fluctua- 
tion of available funds. In general, those re- 
searches which demand long series of observa- 
tions whose accumulation is likely to outlast 
the activity of an individual astronomer require 
an institution having the stability of a National 
Observatory. 

For example, Holden’s inquiry as to the 
evidences of change of form in nebulze, which 
appeared in the Washington Observations for 
1878, is a preliminary discussion whose final 
answer can best be given by comparison of a 
series of photographs taken under identical 
conditions at regular intervals and accumulated 
perhaps for some centuries. Such a work seems 
eminently suitable for a National Observatory. 

But (8) the New Naval Observatory does 
not now fulfill, andneed never fulfill, these ob- 
jects so completely that the cooperation of 
other institutions shall be unnecessary ; and a 


Your ques. 


SCIENCE. 


473 


carefully considered scheme for the division of 
labor and the cooperation of working astrono- 
mers would add to the efficiency of every ob- 
servatory in the land. Indeed, it may be said 
that already, without any set compact, there is 
a tacit recognition of the fitness of individuals 
for special work, and a partial relinquish- 
ment of such work to the men whose attain- 
ments, or the institutions whose outfits, promise 
the best results. 

It would be very easy to criticise the present 
Naval Observatory, but probably few of us 
could do better under the existing system, which 
is not sufficiently elastic, and which fails to rec- 
ognize that Science is like a living plant and 
must have room to grow. I will confine my- 
self to one example. The accumulation of 
accurate magnetic records, and their comparison 
with cosmic phenomena, ought to be an unin- 
terrupted work, undertaken with the design of 
making it permanent, and as such it is suitable 
for a National Observatory. The folly of con- 
tinuing magnetic observations in the rapidly 
altering environment of a great city, where 
electric currents generate a variable magnetic 
field of their own, has been abundantly demon- 
strated. Scientific opinion and common sense 
demand the immediate removal of the magnetic 
part of the working outfit of the Naval Observ- 
atory to one or more suitable localities, far 
removed from civilization, but the sluggish re- 
sponse of a conservative authority which finds 
it difficult to conceive of a National Observatory 
in any other place than Washington, D. C., bids 
fair to leave a gap in our records unless indi- 
vidual action comes to the rescue. Now, while 
it is not desirable that an institution having the 
especial character of permanence should shift 
its policy on small provocation, there ought be 
freedom to meet emergencies. 


FRANK W. VERY. 
BRowN UNIVERSITY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE : 
your significant enquiries : 

1. Is it desirable that the government of the 
United States should support a national astro- 
nomical observatory ? 

Yes, the United States, as a leading nation of 
the globe, is virtually pledged to equip and 


In response to 


474 


maintain an astronomical observatory of the 
first order. 

2. If so, what ends should such an institution 
have in view, especially to what classes of astronom- 
ical observation and research should it be devoted ? 

Such classes of observation and research 
should be conducted as will be of the utmost 
practical utility : 

(A) Observations for determining the precise 
positions of the stars upon the celestial sphere. 

(B) Spectroscopic observations of precision 
for determining the motions of fixed stars toward 
and from the solar system. 

One telescope of exceptional size should be 
devoted to this work. 

(C) Determination of the distances of the 
principal fixed stars. 

(D) Accurate evaluation of the elements con- 
cerned in the motion of the earth’s pole of rota- 
tion. 

A zenith telescope of the best construction, 
preferably photographic, should be constantly 
employed upon this research. Cooperation 
with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the 
uninterrupted support of an additional observer 
in Manila or Honolulu, is highly desirable. 
This service should be maintained with the 
utmost rigor for at least twenty-five years. 

(#) Meridian observations of position of the 
sun, moon and major planets. 

Planetary observations should be converted 
into errors of celestial longitude and ecliptic 
north polar distance, and equations formed con- 
necting these errors with the elements of the 
planetary tables used in the preparation of the 
Nautical Almanac. 

(F) Searching investigation of the constant 
of meridian refraction should be conducted 
uninterruptedly throughout a series of years. 

(G) Equatorial observations not previously 
specified. These need be but few. 

(H) Solar research in several departments. 

1. The spots, their number and area, photo- 
graphically and visually. An independent 
record should be maintained in either Manila 
or Honolulu, thereby supplementing, at half 
intervals, the similar work at Greenwich, Dehra 
Din and the Mauritius. 

2. The prominences, photographically and 
visually. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 222. 


3. The faculee, with the spectroheliograph. 

4. The corona, during total eclipses, chiefly 
photographically. 

5. The Sun’s Reversing Layer. 

6. Bolometric investigation of the infra-red 
rays of the solar spectrum. 

7. The permanency in character or the sec- 
ular variation of lines in the solar spectrum. 

8. The permanency or secular variation of 
the scolar constant. ~ In the prosecution of 6, 
7 and 8 a high-level station might adyan- 
tageously be maintained, in either Hawaii or 
southern California. 

(7) The department of the Astronomical 
Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac should not 
only prepare and publish this work, at least 
three years in advance, but should issue also 
accessory publications of especial service to 
navigators. 

(J) Magnetic observations ought to be main- 
tained, as regards declination, dip and in- 
tensity. 

(K) A time-service must be maintained, not 
only for the purpose of the Navy, but for the 
wide distribution of standard time and the 
dropping of time-balls at important localities. 

The Superintendent or Director of the goy- 
ernment observatory should be held respon- 
sible for the efficient prosecution of all branches 
of the work under his charge and for its prompt 
publication. Also he should be empowered to 
choose his subordinates, with or without ex- 
amination, their recommendation for appoint- 
ment to be subject to approval by a Board of 
Visitors at semi-annual sessions. Advance- 
ment and discharge should be regulated in a 


similar manner. 
Davip P. Topp. 
OBSERVATORY HOUSE, AMHERST, M_Ass. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: To the three 
questions submitted to me a few days since by 
yourself I would reply as follows: 

1. It is most emphatically desirable that the 
government of the United States should support 
a National Astronomical Observatory. There 
are certain important lines of astronomical re- 
search which are of a character such as not to 
appeal to the popular interest and which, if 
left to be taken care of by private endowment, 


Marcu 31, 1899. ] 
will not recieve proper attention. To these 
the institution should be devoted. 

2. Such an institution should have in view re- 
The training of special- 
The lines of astro- 


search work primarily. 
ists should not be ignored. 
nomical research which should receive special, if 
not exclusive, attention by such an institution 
should lie within the scope of what is recognized 
by astronomers as astronomy of precision, 
though I would not exclude from the realm of 
precise astronomy some lines of astro-physical 
research, 

3. Most emphatically it does not. Routine 
work, such as the rating and testing of chronom- 
eters and operating a time system, etc., should 
be no part of the work of a National Astronom- 
ical Observatory. The organization of the ob- 
servatory should not be such as to hinder the 
most efficient service of its officers nor to curb or 
discourage the ingenuity of subordinates. Indi- 
vidual initiative should be given freest play. 
The machine system of Sir George B. Airy, more 
in vogue elsewhere than in the New Naval Ob- 
servatory however, and so enthusiastically be- 
friended by directors of observatories, should 
have no place in its organization, or operation. 
It should not be a one-man institution in the 
sense that most institutions of this sort have 
been which have been called into existence 
among us in these latter days and have too 
frequently been made to play the part of ma- 
chines to lift their directors into notoriety. In 
a single word, the organization of the institu- 
tion should be democratic and not autocratic. 

G. W. MYERs. 


UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 


To THE EpIToR oF ScIENCE: I will briefly 
answer your questions even though I do not 
feel suitably prepared to offer unanswerable 
proofs or cite dates, events, etc. 

1. I feel that it is imperative that the gov- 
ernment of the United States should support a 
National Astronomical Observatory, not neces- 
sarily at Washington. 

2. Only through the work of that Observatory 
the usual tables of coordinates and other data 
can be efficiently and officially produced to 
serve the purposes of navigation, etc. 

3. The Naval Observatory does not fulfill all 


SCIENCE. 


475 


the conditions that it should, so as to bring to 
American science an amount of credit propor- 
tional to what is done in other branches of the 
government. The National Observatory should 
make investigations of all kinds with reference 
to astronomy, geodesy, meteorology and also 
in astro-physics. It should largely extend its 
list of apparent places and also add to the 
American Ephemeris a larger list of mean 
places for the better determination of latitudes 
throughout the country. 

4, I can see no reason why the National Ob- 
servatory should not engage in every branch of 
astronomy in which other observatories are at 
work. The only trouble lies in the administra- 
tion of the National Observatory. I do not 
know how things are there at present ; but our 
Observatory used to be a source of pride and 
usefulness to American scientists ; and since it 
has been placed under the control of line offi- 
cers it has done very little remarkable work, 
and several of its best men have gone else- 
where. It seems that military life leads even 
the best of men to do routine perfunctory work, 
and when the line officers look down upon the 
Naval Observatory professors as subordinates 
or inferior beings there are a large number of 
considerations which tend to diminish the am- 
bition which is the result of industrious zest in 
scientific work. 

I cannot see why the United States govern- 
ment could not have in this astronomical ob- 
servatory great men adequately paid, in a per- 
fectly defined high social position, and with 
sufficient appropriations to be engaged in useful 
research. The nature of the case demands the 
existence of several observatories, properly lo- 
cated geographically within our vast domain, 
which now extends around the earth. 


EK, A. FUERTES. 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In answer to 
the questions you have laid before me I may say : 

1. In my opinion there can be but little 
doubt as to the desirability of a National Astro- 
nomical Observatory, supported by the govern- 
ment of the United States. Our geographical 
position on a meridian one quarter way or more 
around the globe from those of the great Euro- 


476 


pean national observatories affords the means of 
supplementing, in a valuable manner, the work 
earried on by them, while our more southern 
latitude extends the limit and increases the ac- 
curacy of useful observation below the equator. 

2. The sphere of work of a National Observ- 
atory appears to me to comprise mainly such 
classes of research as cannot well be undertaken 
by university observatories. Of these we have 
quite a number, some with the most powerful 
of equipments, but in general they are likely, 
I think, to devote themselves to investigations 
which promise an immediate return of results. 
The systematic continuous observation of the 
bodies of the solar system for position, such as 
has been prosecuted at Greenwich; the con- 
struction of catalogues of fundamental stars, 
such as those furnished by the Pulkowa obsery- 
atory ; the procuring and measurement of photo- 
graphic plates of the heavens on the plan 
inaugurated by the observatory at Paris, seem 
to me, for instance, fields which require such 
large resources as scarcely any but a national 
institution can command. 

3. I should consider the present site of the 
New Naval Observatory an admirable one and 
the equipment in a considerable degree suffi- 
cient for the purposes of a National Observatory 
There should, doubtless, be added a powerful 


photographic apparatus. 
W. L. ELKIN. 
YALE UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: At your re- 
quest I give my opinion on some questions re- 
lating to the establishment of a national ob- 
servatory in this country, although I believe 
that it does not differ materially from the 
opinions of other American astronomers. 

It seems to me highly desirable that the 
United States, like other leading governments, 
should support a national astronomical observa- 
tory. In the U. 8. Naval Observatory, the 
honorable history of which has recently been 
so well told in these pages by Professor Skin- 
ner, the government already possesses suitable 
buildings and instruments and certain changes 
in the organization are alone required to con- 
vert this institution into a national observatory 
of the first rank. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 222. 


The opinion, which is probably widely held 
among astronomers, that this observatory would 
be benefited by a change in its organization, is 
based on general considerations and does not 
reflect on any individuals or class of men. The 
splendid efficiency of our naval officers in their 
own profession is due not merely to natural 
ability and aptitude, but to a long course of 
preparatory technical training. Astronomy is 
likewise a science which demands the whole of 
a man’s best energies. Common sense, there- 
fore, as well as the example of other nations, 
clearly indicates that a national observatory 
should be under the charge of an officer who 
has made astronomy his life work. To place it 
under the charge of one whose training has 
been along different lines is as objectionable as 
would be the appointment of civilians to re- 
sponsible military commands. 

The work of a national observatory would 
naturally lie mainly in the field of the older as- 
tronomy, more particularly in the making and 
discussion of those fundamental observations of 
the positions of the heavenly bodies which owe 
a large part of their value to their continuity, 
and which, therefore, require permanent, thor- 
ough organization and secure financial support. 
The private or small observatory enjoys the 
privilege, in some degree compensatory for the 
many disadvantages under which it generally 
labors, of taking up researches of doubtful 
promise without being called to account in case 
of failure. The elaborately equipped and or- 
ganized government institution devotes most of 
its energies to work of which the results are 
certain, the exploration of new fields and ex- 
periments in general having only a secondary 
place in its program. 

Professor Skinner’s article shows that only a 
small part of the work done at the Naval Ob- 
servatory has any direct reference to the needs 
of the Navy Department, while by far the 
greater part is such as would properly come 
under the province of a national observatory. 
The requirements of the navy could, I think, 
easily be met by a national observatory by 
adopting such methods of codperation as al- 
ready exist in other parts of the government 
service. JAMES HE. KEELER. 

Lick OBSERVATORY. 


Marcu 31, 1899. ] 
THE ATOMIC WEIGHTS—A QUARTER CEN- 
TURY’?S PROGRESS. 

Ir may be of interest so near the close of 
the century to follow a good commercial 
precedent and make an inventory and strike 
a balance so as to gain some idea of the 
progress in chemistry. One portion of our 
stock in trade has caused us a great deal of 
trouble all through this century. It was in- 


SCIENCE. 


A477 


by Mendeléeff in the construction of his 
first table and that given by Fownes, whose 
text-book was very largely used in England 
and in this country. For the later com- 
parison we will make use of the tables given 
by the American and German committees. 
Sixty-three elements come under the com- 
parison in the former case and seventy in 
the latter. The comparative table follows: 


COMPARISON OF LISTS OF ATOMIC WEIGHTS. 


No. atomic weights differing by less than 0.1 
“ee “ ae ac “eo ce ec 


O2Tt* 
0.5, <* 


troduced as a ‘new line’ at the beginning of 
the century and has been of the greatest 
value, but has suffered from serious fluctua- 
tions. The so-called chemical constants, 
namely, the atomic weights, which should 
be constants but have not been, have for the 
larger part of the century been in a humil- 
iating condition of incertitude. But they 
are improving, settling down to their true 
values, as it were, and there is cause to take 
heart of hope concerning them. 

Some thirty years ago the Periodic System 
was announced. The atomic weights had 
emerged from the slough into which they 
had sunk by the middle of the century, 
thanks to the labors of Cannizzaro, Wil- 
liamson and others, but still there was very 
little unanimity except with regard to those 
for which the fewest data were in our pos- 
session. It is difficult to select for com- 
parison any representative tables of atomic 
weights for these earlier years, as none were 
authoritative. In those days there were 
no national nor international committees 
to consider these matters. We shall not go 
far wrong, however, if we take the list used 


Mendeléeff and American and 


Fownes. German. 
35 46 
0.1 and less than 0.2 4 9 
more than 0.5 6 il 
“ce ce 1 4 4 
“ oe D 4 

ta OY 55 5 Be 

es eehO) 2 . 
ing “ 3 t 


While much is left to be desired, the im- 
provement most gratifying. In the 
earlier tables 55.5 per cent agreed within 
0.1 of the value. The majority of these as 
given in the table were whole numbers and 
were simply rounded off because the frac- 
tions were unknown. The tables of 1899 
give 65.7 per cent. of all the elements as 
agreeing to the same extent, and here the 
most scrupulous care has been observed in 
recording the fractional portions. Nearly 
eighty per cent. of the atomic weights used 
at present vary by 0.2 or less where in the 
earlier tables this proportion was only 
sixty-two per cent. Nearly thirty per cent. 
of the earlier atomic weights varied by 0.5 


is 


or more where only five per cent vary now. 
None of the present atomic weights vary by 
more than one whole number where four- 
teen varied a quarter of a century ago, five 
of these varying by more than five integers. 
It is evident that the list is narrowing down 
and that this blot of ignorance and inac- 
curacy which has rested upon the science 
will soon be removed. Few realize how 
great the army of workers along this line 


has been and how much work has been ac- 
complished. About one hundred and fifty 
new determinations of atomic weights have 
been made in the last twenty years. Still 
a great deal more work remains to be done. 
F. P. VENABLE. 
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


HERMAPHRODITISN IN OSTREA LURIDA. ° 


WHILE doing some work for the United 
States Fish Commission, during the summers 
of 1897 and 1898, to determine the possi- 
bility of propagating Eastern oysters on the 
Oregon coast, I had an excellent oppor- 
tunity to study the question of the sex of 
this West coast oyster. To the best of my 
knowledge, this question has never been ap- 
proached hitherto. 

During the spawning season of 1897 in- 
dividuals emitting sexual products which 


EtG rs 


proved under a magnifier to be in some 
cases sperm and in other cases eggs were 
carefully labelled and separately preserved 
in different media. As in Ostrea Virginica, 
there is no possibility of mistaking the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


identity of these sexual products obtained 
from the visceral mass; even with the 
naked eye the granular appearance of the 
eggs is distinct and pronounced, and the 
thick, creamy consistency of the non-granu- 
lar male fluid can never be confounded 
with them. 

In my notes for 1897 there is no mention 
of finding ova mingled with spermatozoa in 
the examination of living products with the 
microscope. But, after staining and sec- 
tioning a number of individuals, all of which 
are labelled males, I almost invariably found 
ova in the generative follicles, and amongst 
them I observed small, deeply-stained bodies 
in dense masses,which I was led to conclude, 
even on a preliminary examination, were 
masses of spermatozoa (see Fig. 1, Camera 
lucida drawing B. & L., 0.1. Obj.g). This 
belief was strengthened on using a 5; hom. 
imm., by which I could see occasional faint 
projections from the small bodies referred 
to, which projections I assumed to be the 
tails of the spermatozoa, the dots repre- 
senting the nucleated heads. The finding 
of ova in these sections was, of itself, start- 
ling, for when alive and tested for sex they 
gave unmistakable evidence of being males. 
In the figure, which only represents a por- 
tion of one generative follicle, four of the 
ova show germinal vesicles. 

This season I gave more particular atten- 
tion to the microscopic examination of liy- 
ing specimens. The seemingly conclusive 
results from the study of many individuals 
is here given. Ina specimen of fluid from 
a male I observed, among free spermatozoa 
covering the field, collections of sperm cells 
which I will call ‘sperm masses.’ Each 
sperm cell in a mass possessed a tail, and 
these tails, actively waving to and fro in 
the salt water under the cover slip, caused 
the mass to move about. These tails were 
seen fairly well with a} obj. These living 
sperm masses I regard as identical with the 
deeply-stained masses seen among the ova 


MaAnRcH 31, 1899. ] 


in sections, an example of which is shown 
in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows free sperm 
and sperm masses as they appeared in the 


Fic. 2. 


field of the microscope. Several oysters, 
evidently males, were opened with the same 
results. It yet remained to find living ova 
in specimens containing spermatozoa in 
order to more. fully support my conclusions 
as regards the bisexual conditions of this 
species. This was not difficult, for I shortly 
discovered in a specimen several immature 
eggs floating amongst spermatozoa and 
sperm masses. None of these ova were be- 


ing attacked by the male cells. Later, in a 
specimen full of spermatozoa, I found a ma- 
ture egg, completely surrounded by male 
cells, which were attacking it with great 
vehemence. Figure 3 (cam. luc.O,. 1, Obj. 


SCIENCE. 


479 


1) shows this egg, the light area evidently 
denoting the position of the germinal ves- 
icle. 

In the drawing only a portion of the pe- 
riphery is represented as being attacked. 
We know that in Ostrea Virginica the egg 
does not become round until fertilized. Ar- 
guing from analogy the egg shown above 
has been fertilized. 

From the results of the work described 
above I have no hesitation in declaring that 
Ostreu lurida, the native oyster of the North- 
west coast, is hermaphroditic. 

In this connection it is interesting to note 
that Karl Mobius, in 1871, claimed that the 
sexes of the European oyster, O. edulis, are 
separate at the breeding season (vide his 
‘ Untersuchungen tiber die Fortpflanzungs- 
verhaltnisse der Schleswigschen Austern.’ 
In 1877 (‘Die Austern und die Austern- 
wirtschaft’) he concluded that the sex of the 
European oyster changes after the repro- 
ductive elements have been discharged from 
the body. He has hardly valid reasons for 
this conclusion. Professor John McCrady 
(‘ Observations on the Food and Repro- 
ductive Organs of Ostrea Virginiana, with 
some account of Bucephalus euculus ;’ Proc. 
Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist., Dec. 3, 1873) 
declares that he saw in O. Virginica, among 
small immature ovarian eggs, spermatozoa, 
separate and in masses, moving about with- 
out attacking the eggs and without any ap- 
parent change taking place in the young 
germinal vesicle. * 

F. L. WasHBvurn. 


BIoLoGicaL LABORATORY, 
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, November 16, 1898. 


*In connection with Professor Washburn’s paper 
it may be desirable to quote the following note, from 
the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia (1892, p. 351 ),to which Professor Conk- 
lin has called our attention. ‘‘ The Hermaphroditism 
and viviparity of the Oysters of the Northwest Coast of 
the United States. Professor J. A. Ryder reported on 
behalf of Professor R. C. Schiedt of Franklin and 
Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., the latter’s discoy- 


480 


AGRICULTURAL ELECTROTECHNICS. 

M. Paut Renavp has recently contrib- 
uted an extensive and valuable paper on 
applications, effected in Germany, of elec- 
trical engineering in the processes of agricul- 
ture, and remarks upon its future in France 
and her colonies.* 

An earlier paper had been contributed by 
the same writer on the subject of agricul- 
tural electrical engineering, in which he 
had endeavored to exhibit the possibilities 
of such applications, and the present publi- 
cation has permitted the review of progress 
to date in realizing earlier dreams and 
hopes. He proposes, later, to study the 
progress of this new art and applied science 
in the United States. In Germany the 
government has placed its own domains at 
the disposition of investigators and exper- 
imentalists, and the German Society of 
Agriculture has established exhibitions and 
competitions resulting in the general dis- 
semination of knowledge thus acquired 
among its members and agriculturists gen- 
erally. 

In the production of this form of energy 
the wind has been availed of; the system of 
M. La Cour permitting the use of wind- 
mills by insuring a satisfactory system of 
regulation of mill and dynamo. Water- 


ery of the fact that the oysters native to the north- 
west coast of the United States are hermaphrodite 
and viviparous. Specimens from the coast of Oregon 
and Washington show that the same conditions exist 
in the reproductive follicles as in those of Ostrea edulis 
of Europe. The presence of eges and of spermato- 
blasts and spermatozoa in the same follicle is the in- 
variable rule. The ova, like those of O. edulis, are 
much larger than those of O. Virginica, though per- 
haps not quite so large as the former. The embryos 
are fertilized in the gill and mantle cavities, where 
they undergo development.’’—Ed. ScrENCE. 

os L’Electrotechnique agricole en Allemagne, son 
avenir en France and dans nos colonies ; par M. Paul 
Renaud, ingenieur, ancien éléve de V’Ecole de Phy- 
sique et Chémie industrielles de Paris ; Bulletin de 
la Société d’ Encouragement pour Industrie Nationale; 
Paris, Jan., 1899 ; p. 15. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


power has become the principal source of 
power in this work in many sections of the 
country, and its regulation has also been 
made effective, in some cases, by Reiter’s 
electric brake and governor, as constructed 
by the Reiter Co., at Winterthur (Switzer- 
land). Like all hydraulic regulators, how- 
ever, it is costly, its price being about $400. 

Recently the gas and petroleum motors 
are coming into use as prime motors for 
agricultural work of this character. They 
are considered to exhibit great advantages 
over the preceding forms. The use of pro- 
ducer gas (‘ gaz pauvre’) is said to give the 
horse-power at about one-half the cost, in 
fuel, of the power of the steam-engine, and 
it requires far less careful or continuous 
supervision than the latter. Korting, of 
Kortingsdorf, has taken the lead in the in- 
troduction of this system. A double-cylin- 
der gas-engine and direct-coupled gener- 
ators are usually found most satisfactory. 
Costs decrease with increase in the propor- 
tion of time of operation, and the mean 
given corresponds to pretty nearly a varia- 
tion as the fourth root of the annual time 
of working in hours. 

The costs of transmission of the electric 
energy and of its application in ploughing, 
in the transportation of merchandise and in 
other farm operations, are stated as resulting 
from experience of the character indicated, 
and it is finally concluded : 

1. The electric installation may be em- 
ployed where a prime motor is already in 
place, as a steam-engine or a water-wheel, 
for the purpose of transmitting that energy 
to the point at which it is proposed, for a 
time, to perform work, as of operating the 
plough, centrifugal pumps, ete., in the field, 
and the various apparatus of the farm, 
within and without the buildings. 

2. The electric plant may be installed at 
any point found convenient or desirable, as 
it can be arranged to supply the required 
power at any point, near or far, over a small 


MARrcH 31, 1899. ] 


copper wire at little cost in time, trouble or 
money. 

3. The same motor may be employed for 
various purposes, successively and at any 
time, with any forms of agricultural ma- 
chinery ; its small size and portability per- 
mitting its transport from one point to 
another with ease. 

4. The facility with which the current 
may be divided and applied permits its use 
in driving a number of machines, of various 
forms, at the same time and in different 
places. 

5. It allows the supply, at the same time, 
of power for machinery and for light and 
even for heat. 

6. It affords safety against fire, where 
properly established, and heat, light and 
power may be thus furnished at minimum 
risk. 

7. The manipulation of the apparatus is 
simple and easy. 

8. This system permits the instantaneous 
operation of fire-pumps to confine and ar- 
rest an incipient fire; it being provided 
with a suitable system of distributing 
water mains. 

9. By use in prompt suppression of epi- 
demics, by destroying the first cases, exten- 
sive contagion and resultant dangers and 
sacrifices of life and property are avoided. 

It is thought that the great sub-division 
of agricultural lands in France will prevent 
the introduction of such systems as rapidly 
as is desirable for the purpose of success- 
fully competing with adjacent countries of 
Europe. Butit remains for the electricians 
and engineers to secure capital, to distrib- 
ute electrical energy at low costs, to rent 
out apparatus and even to see it properly 
manipulated by furnishing expert opera- 
tives, in order that the peasant may not be 
called upon to provide capital which it is 
almost impossible for him to find. The 
agriculturists must combine, form syndi- 
cates, and thus make powerful that energy 


SCIENCE. 


481 


which is powerless in single and separated 
elements. The great proprietor will find it 
to his advantage to lead in the introduction 
of the new systems ; setting an example to 
his neighbors that may later prove fruitful 
of great good. 

In the colonies, it is stated, a spirit of 
threatening democracy is likely to make 
them, for a long time, comparatively unpro- 
ductive, and even the legislators are not 
always without blame. ‘ They go to their 
constituents with a ery against machinery 
which has always been most vehemently 
raised among these classes, especially 
against the introduction of machinery for 
hand-work.” The fact is, of course, precisely 
the opposite, and the introduction of ma- 
chinery has always benefited the workmen 
more than other classes. ‘‘ Augmenting 
the returns to the proprietor, they permit 
him to raise the wages of those who con- 
tinue to work on the soil.” 

R. H. TuHursron. 
SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Geology of the Edwards Plateau and Rio Grande 
Plain adjacent to Austin and San Antonio, 
Texas, with Reference to the Occurrence of Un- 
derground Waters. By Roserr T, Hitt and 
T. WAYLAND VAUGHAN. From the Eight- 
eenth Annual Report of the United States 
Geological Survey, 1896-97, Part Il.—Papers 
Chiefly of a Theoretic Nature, pp. 193-821; 
pl. xxilxiv. Washington, Government 
Printing Office. 1898. 

This is, without doubt, one of the most im- 
portant contributions to Texas geology in recent 
years. While the purpose of the authors is 
primarily to deal with the artesian water prob- 
lem, they have in reality done much more, as is 
at once apparent by reference to their complete 
and detailed descriptions of the geology of this 
region. 

‘The artesian wells of the eastern half of 
Texas belong to several distinct systems, the 
term ‘system’ including all wells having 
their source in the same set of rock sheets or 
strata. * In the Cretaceous formations 


alone there are no fewer than five, and two of 
these—the Travis Peak, or Waco, and the Ed- 
wards—receive consideration in this paper.’’ 

To those familiar with the Texas Cretaceous 
a change in nomenclature is at once noticeable 
—the term ‘Travis Peak’ being employed for 
the formation heretofore known as ‘Trinity 
Sands,’ and ‘Edwards’ for the ‘Caprina lime- 
stone.’ These and similar changes are made, 
as the authors state, by refining the previous 
nomenclature, appropriate geographic names 
being substituted wherever possible for paleon- 
tologic and mineralogic terms. 

An investigation of the source of the artesian 
water at and in the vicinity of San Antonio was 
productive of the following results: ‘‘ That 
while these well waters come from the same 
series of beds that supply the artesian wells of 
the Waco, Fort Worth and Dallas region north 
of the Colorado, their occurrence presents some 
important differences of detail. Instead of 
having their immediate source in beds of porous 
sands, like the wells about Waco, they are de- 
rived largely from the Edwards limestone, 
hitherto supposed to be one of the most imper- 
vious formations of the whole Cretaceous sec- 
tion’’ (p. 200). ‘‘It became apparent,’’ the re- 
port continues, ‘‘ that this hitherto unappreciated 
water-bearing formation had great possibilities 
for supplying with flowing or non- flowing wells 
a large area of country lying between Austin 
and San Antonio, extending west of the San 
Antonia River along the northern margin of the 
Rio Grande Plain towards the Pecos River, and 
even comprising the extensive summit region 
of the Edwards Plateau’’ (p. 200). 

Two classes of outflowing waters are recog- 
nized—the one following the margin of the Rio 
Grande Plain, the other appearing in the can- 
yous of the Edwards Plateau. 

The introduction which has here been briefly 
outlined gives but a faint idea of the detailed 
work which has been so creditably done by the 
authors. 

The geography of the region is now taken up, 
the chief features of which are the Rio Grande 
Plain, the Edwards Plateau and its, ‘jagged 
southeastward front’ called the Balcones Scarp. 
‘« Broadly considered, they are a lowland plain 
inclining gently southeastward to the Gulf of 


SCLEN OE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 222. 


Mexico, an upland plain rising gradually to- 
wards the northwest, and a rugged zone of 
separation which includes a quick ascent from 
plain to plain.’’ . 

The Rio Grande Plain is characterized by a 
low relief, yet attention is called to the fact that 
occasionally hills of considerable magnitude are 
encountered ; buttes, capped with limestone, or 
sedimentary below and igneous above; old vol- 
canic necks, as Pilot Knob, south of Austin ; 
rounded masses of basalt, as Sulphur Peak, in 
Uvalde county. ‘‘The Anacacho Hills, extend- 
ing east and west in southern Kinney county 
and constituting the most rugose part of the 
plain are of still another type, consisting of a 
monoclinal plateau, or cuesta, sloping south- 
ward and presenting a steep scarp to the north.”’ 

Climatically the plain may be divided into 
the eastern, or humid and sub-humid region and 
the western, or arid region. Beyond Bexar 
county Continuous cultivation is impossible on 
account of aridity. 

The Balcones Scarp, the position of which 
“is determined by a complex dislocation of the 
rocks, the Balcones fault,’’ is the dissected edge 
of the Edwards Plateau. Numerous hills of 
denudation, locally known as mountains, here 
rise above the Rio Grande Plain—in the vicinity 
of Austin, 400 feet ; in Uvalde county, 1000 feet. 

The elevated Edwards Plateau merges into 
the Llano Estacado. Between them there is no 
definite line of separation, yet their surface 
characters, soil and rocks, give to each a pecu- 
liarity of its own. 

The main drainage of the Edwards Plateau 
is to the east and southeast, and, as its water- 
shed lies well to the westward, the erosion of 
the streams flowing into the Pecos is but 
moderate. 

The observer in crossing the Balcones line 
“experiences a sudden and complete change of 
scenery, with accompanying changes in floral, 
geologic and cultured conditions.’? Three sim- 
ple topographic elements are presented, viz.: 
“The flat-topped summits of the decaying 
plateau; the breaks or slopes of its crenulated 
borders and canyoned valleys ; [and] the stream 
ways.”’ 

The cap-rock of the plateau is the Edwards 
(Caprina) limestone. 


Marcu 31, 1899. ] 


As the streams of this region have an impor- 
tant bearing upon the underground flow of 
water, the Rio Frio has been selected as a type 
and described in detail. ‘‘ The caletas and up- 
per canyons are usually dry and waterless ar- 
royos, except in time of storm. The flat-bot- 
tomed canyons contain permanent pools of 
flowing water, fed by springs and on the lower 
plain the running water disappears entirely or 
for a considerable distance.”’ 

Brief mention is also made of the caverns of 
the plateau, as they likewise are concerned 
with the question of underground waters. Three 
types are recognized : ‘‘(1) small cavities within 
individual limestone strata, giving them what is 
locally termed a honeycombed structure; (2) 
open caverns occuring in certain bluff faces 
along the stream valleys; (8) underground 
caverns of vast extent dissolved out of many 
strata.’’ 

The flora is next discussed. It presents three 
phases: that of the stream bottoms; ‘ that of 
the breaks, and that of the summit.’?’ Among 
the interesting facts recorded mention may be 
made of one: the occurrence of the cypress. 
‘¢This tree, which ordinarily grows only in the 
swamps and bayous of the low subcoastal re- 
gions, attains an enormous size at the edge of 
the deeper holes near the heads of permanent 
water of the Pedernalis, Blanco, San Marcos, 
Guadalupe, Cypress, Onion Creek and other 
streams. These localities are at altitudes from 
1,000 to 1,750 feet above the sea, and hundreds 
of miles west of the great cypress swamps of 
the eastern tier of Texan counties, with which 
they have no possible continuity. * * * * 

‘Before entering upon the geology of the re- 
gion a few pages are devoted to a statement of 
‘the general principals of artesian waters.’ 
Under the caption ‘Capacity of Rocks for Ab- 
sorbing Moisture’ the following succinct state- 
ment is given concerning the water-bearing 
strata of Texas: ‘‘ The artesian water-bearing 
strata of the State east of the Pecos River are 
composed mostly of extensive sheets of sands, 
clays and limestones, succeeding one another 
in orderly arrangement, except along the Bal- 
cones zone of faulting, and in general having 
a gentle inclination towards the sea, so that in 
travelling northwestward, although constantly 


SCIENCE. 


483 


ascending in altitude, one encounters the out- 
cropping edges of rock sheets of lower and 
lower stratigraphic position. This produces 
the simple arrangement of a tilted plain built 
up of a series of alternately impervious and 
pervious layers. The rain falling upon the out- 
cropping edges of the latter sinks into the 
embed and by gravity is conducted seaward 
down the plain of its inclination to lower levels 
beneath the surface. Each different stratum, 
including any particular water-bearing stratum, 
becomes embedded deeper and deeper to the 
southeastward of the point where it outcrops at 
the surface.’’ 

The rocks appearing in the region under dis- 
cussion are tabulated as follows : 


“ RECENT. 
Wash deposits of the hillsides, stream-bed ma- 
terial, ete. 
PLEISTOCENE. 
Onion Creek marl ; Leona formation, and other 
terrace deposits. 
PLIOCENE. 
Uvalde formation. 
EOCENE. 
CRETACEOUS. 
Gulf Series. 
Webberville and Eagle Pass | 
fOrMAbIONS eater sessetoe eee ees | 


Austin chalk......... meee rs Aplield 
Eagle Ford shales..............+ p Colorado division. 


Comanche Series. 
Shoal Creek limestone......... 
DelRiol clayese. ice cecen .... ~ Washita division. 
Fort Worth limestone......... i) 
Edwards limestone............. 
Comanche Peak limestone.... 


) Fredericksburg 


A division. 

Walnut formation............... ) 

Glen Rose formation........... ) 

Travis Peak and allied forma- + Trinity division.’’ 
GLONNS ener tar wee iced eelclcnvie setters 


Most of the above formations are minutely 
described, especially the Cretaceous, and many 
measured sections given. The carefully exe- 
cuted work about Austin will be extremely 
valuable to students, as that locality affords a 
most inviting field for study. 

The chemical lime deposits merit a line in 
passing. In many parts of Texas, where the 
country rock is chalky, some of the calcareous 
matter is evidently redistributed through the 


484 


agency of rains. By the subsequent evapora- 
tion of the water a superficial cement or crust 
is formed which may involve pebbles distributed 
over the surface—this is ‘ tepetete.’ 

The igneous rocks of the Rio Grande Plain 
occur ‘along the interior margin.’ They are 
basic. The rock from Pilot Knob has been de- 
scribed as nephaline-basalt.* 

The arrangement of the strata is next con- 
sidered. The Cretaceous rocks are shown to 
have great persistency, while their dip towards 
the coast is but slight. The Balcones fault zone 
has already been mentioned as forming the 
‘abrupt southern termination of the Edwards 
Plateau.’ ‘‘ The strata on the seaward side of 
the faults have been dropped down, so that any 
particular stratum—the top of the Edwards lime- 
stone, for instance—lies 500 to 1,000 feet lower 
on the coastward or downthrow side of the 
fracture than on the interior or upthrow side.”’ 
It should, however, be borne in mind ‘‘ that the 
fault zone really consists of many faults, having 
subparallel directions all concentrated in a nar- 
row belt of country.’’ The displacement at 
Mt. Bonnell, on the Colorado above Austin, is 
such that the Eagle Ford shales of the Gulf se- 
ries are brought in contact with the Glen Rose 
beds of the Comanche series. ; 

Our authors now enter upon a discussion of 
the water capacity of the various rock sheets. 
The impervious layers are, of course, non- 
water-bearing, and to this class, south of the 
Colorado River, belong nearly all the Creta- 
ceous rocks above the Edwards limestone. On 
the other hand, ‘‘rocks of open texture, such 
as sands, conglomerates, porous and chalky 
limestones, and massive rocks broken by joints, 
fissures, honeycombs or other openings, are 
usually water-bearing. These are mostly found 
below the Del Rio clay.’? The proof of the 
water-bearing property of the Edwards lime- 
stones is supplied by the ‘‘ great springs * * * 
bursting out of them at the head waters of the 
Llano, Guadalupe, Frio and Neuces Rivers ;’’ by 
the artesian well records at Manor, San Marcos 
and San Antonio, and by the ordinary wells of 
the Edwards Plateau. The distribution of water 

* J. F. Kemp. See Pilot Knob: ‘A Marine Cre- 
taceous Volcano,’ by Robt. J. Hilland J. F. Kemp. 
Amer. Geologist, Vol. VI., 1890, p. 292. 


SCIENCE. 


» taken up: 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


is facilitated also by the honeycomb and cavern- 
ous character of certain limestone layers. The 
opinion is expressed that the Travis Peak and 
Gillespie formations, at the very base, contain 
‘‘a greater quantity of water than any other 
beds of the Comanche series.”’ 

The underground water of the region is next 
(1) The waters of the Edwards 
Plateau ; (2) The waters of the Rio Grande 
Plain. In many instances non-flowing wells, 
springs and artesian wells receive detailed 
treatment; of the latter logs are frequently 
given, as in the case of the Austin wells, the 
San Marcos well, the Manor well and those of 
San Antonio. Under the chemical qualities of 
the waters mention should be made of the ex- 
cellent analyses of waters from Austin and vi- 
cinity, made by Dr. Henry Winston Harper, of 
the University of Texas. 

Of the fissure springs, those at San Marcos, 
San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, etc., are 
well known. On p. 311 is given a table of the 
discharge of the various spring rivers, the San 
Marcos reaching 57,522,200 gallons in twenuty- 
four hours, and the Comal 221,981,932 gallons 
in the same time. From a study of the strata 
and their faulting the authors conclude that 
“‘these waters come from the deep-seated rocks 
and are forced to the surface by hydrostatic 
pressure. Hence they are artesian in nature 
and constitute natural artesian wells.’’ Taking 
into consideration the color, taste, temperature, 
volume, freedom from sulphuretted hydrogen, 
the conclusion is reached that ‘‘ their water is 
derived from either the ‘sweet water’ horizon 
of the Edwards formation or the Travis Peak 
sands, that is, they have the same source as the 
purer waters of the artesian wells.’’ 

As to the source of the underground waters, 
the fact that the Pecos breaks the continuity of 
the strata renders it impossible, as the authors 
point out, to consider the Rocky Mountain 
region in this connection. They contend, on the 
other hand, that the Plateau of the Plains is the 
real source ; that ‘‘much of the rain water is 
caught directly upon the edges of the Glen Rose 
and lower beds which outcrop along the west- 
ern and northern summits, breaks and margins 
of the Plateau * * * atan elevation higher 
than that of their embedded continuation along 


Marcu 31, 1899. ] 


its eastern and southern margin.’’? Of the rain- 
fall on the Edwards Plateau a large part must 
reach the water-bearing strata by percolating 
downward. 

By the Balcones faulting, however, the con- 
tinuity of the beds is broken on the southeast 
and south; hence the contained water must 
either escape through fissures, forming fissure 
springs, or be forced into the porous beds un- 
derlying the Rio Grande Plain—beds which oc- 
cupy a different position in the geologic col- 
umn, as, for instance, the porous Edwards 
limestone abutting the water-bearing Glen Rose 
beds. 

The report is enriched with many excellent 
plates, not to mention maps and diagrams. Of 
the former, fourteen illustrate the characteris- 
tic fossils of the principal formations encountered 
in drilling for artesian water. 

FREDERIC W. SIMONDS. 

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. 


A Handbook of Medical Climatology: EXmbody- 
ing its Principles and Therapeutic Applica- 
tion, with Scientific Data of the Chief Health 
Resorts of the World. By 8. EDWIN SoLty, 
M. D., M. R. C.8., Late President of the 
American Climatological Association. Phila- 
delphia and New York, Lea Bros. & Co. II- 
lustrated. Cl. 8vo. Pp. 470. Price, $4.00. 
This work is a systematic treatise on climate 

in its medical relations. It affords precise in- 
formation with reference to health resorts, en- 
abling physicians and their patients to obtain 
unprejudiced reports as to localities without re- 
liance on the scattered and often unreliable 
data hitherto available. 

The first two sections deal with the principles 
of medical climatology ; the effect of cold; 
humidity ; perspiration ; barometric pressure ; 
the effect of climate as seen in different races of 
men; and the geographical distribution of dis- 
ease. 

The application of climate to the treatment of 
phthisis forms an important chapter of seventy 
pages. It bears evidence of the author’s large 
experience with this affection. The effect of 
climate on other organs besides the lungs is also 
included. 

We believe it would have been wiser not to 


SCIENCE. 


4AS5 


have attempted to cover the entire globe in the 
treatment of this extensive subject. The por- 
tion devoted to the United States is ample so 
far as it relates to the Rocky Mountain Region 
and the Pacific Slope. It is presented in such 
an attractive manner that we wish that the 
Eastern and Middle States had been more fully 
exploited. At least a paragraph on Atlantic 
City and Cape May might well have been added, 
not to mention other resorts on the New Jersey 
coast. Bedford Springs and Glen Summit, in 
Pennsylvania, seem to have escaped the author's 
attention. In a work of this kind sins of omis- 
sion are almost inevitable, and it is difficult to 
make the text so even as to satisfy critics from 
every locality. We do not know of any one 
better qualified to discuss the intricacies of the 
American climates than Dr. Solly; certainly no 
one hitherto has presented the subject in so at- 
tractive and useful a volume. 
G. HINSDALE. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE first number of the American Anthro- 
pologist, new series, to the plans for which we 
have already called attention, has been issued 
by Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. The number, 
which contains 200 pages and 10 plates, is made 
up as follows : 


Powell, J. W. Esthetology, or the Science of Ac- 
tivities designed to give Pleasure. 

Brinton, Daniel G. The Calchaqui: an Archeo- 
logical Problem. 

Mason, Otis T. Aboriginal American Zodtechny. 

Fletcher, Alice C. A Pawnee Ritual used when 
changing a Man’s Name. 

Boas, Franz. Some Recent Criticisms of Physical 
Anthropology. 

Holmes, W. H. Preliminary Revision of the Evi- 
dence relating to Aurifereus Gravel Man in Cali- 
fornia, (First Paper.) 

Brinton, Daniel G. Professor Blumentritt’s Stud- 
ies of the Philippines. 

Mooney, James. The Indian Congress at Omaha. 

Hough, Walter. Korean Clan Organization. 

Gatschet, A. 8. ‘Real,’ ‘True,’ or ‘Genuine’ in 
Indian Languages. 

Tooker William Wallace. The adopted Algonquian 
term ‘ Poquosin.’ 

Anthropologie Literature. 

Current Bibliography of Anthropology. 

Notes and News. 


486 


Mr. F. W. Hodge is secretary and managing 
editor, and the editorial board consists of Frank 
Baker, Smithsonian Institution, Washington ; 
Franz Boas, American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, New York; Daniel G. Brinton, Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; George M. 
Dawson, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa; 
George A. Dorsey, Field Columbian Museum, 
Chicago; Alice C. Fletcher, Harvard Univer- 
sity, Cambridge; W. H. Holmes, U.S. National 
Museum, Washington; J. W. Powell, Bureau 
of American Ethnology, Washington; F. W. 
Putnam, Peabody Museum, Cambridge. The 
journal, published quarterly, at a cost of four 
dollars a year, deserves the support of all in- 
terested in anthropology, as it will accomplish 
much for the science, which is now making such 
great advances. 


THE first article in the American Naturalist 
for March is by Professor J. P. McMurrich, on 
‘The Present Status of Anatomy ;’ various ad- 
vances in the study of anatomy are described, 
and a strong plea made for the study of com- 
parative anatomy as an aid to the understand- 
ing of human anatomy. Dr. Erwin F. Smith 
records ‘The Second Annual Meeting of the 
Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology,’ 
and submits abstracts of the papers presented. 
Professor J. 8. Kingsley and W. H. Ruddick 
discuss ‘The Ossicula Anditus and Mammalian 
Ancestry,’ deciding, as the result of their ob- 
servations, that the incus has been correctly re- 
garded as the quadrate. The probability of an 
amphibian origin for the Mammals is favorably 
considered. Professor Harris H. Wilder treats at 
some length of Desmognathus fusca (Rafinesque) 
and Spelerpes bilineatus (Green), two species 
often confused with each other, particularly in 
their larval state. The habitat and develop- 
ment of eachis described. ‘The Poisons Given 
Off by Parasitic Worms in Man and Animals’ 
are briefly noted by Dr. G. H. F. Nuttall, who 
considers that this isa fruitful field for research. 
Dr. Leonhard Stejneger describes ‘A Curious 
Malformation of the Shields of a Snake’s 
Head,’ whereby the scutellation was completely 
changed. Among the editorials one protests 
against too strict an adherence to the laws of 
priority. The many readers of the Naturalist 


SCIENCE, 


EN. S. Vou. IX. No. 222, 


will note with pleasure that the table of con- 
tents is provided with page references. 

THE leading article of the April Monist is on 
‘The Primitive Inhabitants of Europe,’ by Pro- 
fessor G. Sergi, of Rome, and sets forth the 
criteria which this anthropologist has estab- 
lished for distinguishing race-types. The monu- 
mental work of Mr. Shadworth H. Hodgson, 
‘The Metaphysic of Experience,’ is discussed 
at length by Dr. Edmund Montgomery. Mr. 
William Romaine Paterson contributes an ar- 
ticle on ‘The Irony of Jesus,’ in which the 
intellectual and critical side of the great Teacher 
is emphasized. Dr. Paul Carus has a study in 
comparative called ‘Yahveh and 
Manitou,’ in which he draws a parallelism be- 
tween Yahveh, the Israelitish God of the desert, 
and the great deity of the North American In- 
dians. Professor L. Lévy-Bruhl, of Paris, 
offers a study of ‘The Contemporaneous Phi- 
losophy of France,’ and Lucien Arréat his usual 
critical review of current French philosophical 
and scientific literature. The book reviews of 
the number deal mainly with works on the 
philosophy of science, mathematics, physics, 
and so forth. 


religion, 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 
REGULAR MEETING, SATURDAY, FEB- 
RUARY 25. 


38038D 


Mr. H. J. WEBBER spoke of some recent re- - 
searches in the development of Cobza scandens 
which exhibited a hitherto unknown method of 
spindle formation. 

The remainder of the evening was devoted to 
a discussion of the features of the Great Dismal 
Swamp. Dr. W. H. Seaman described the pe- 
culiar method of getting out lumber by digging 
a small ditch, just large enough to accommo- 
date a single log. He also stated that a sample 
of the clay underlying the lake showed no 
diatoms. 3 

Mr, F. D. Gardner presented some further 
remarks on the soils, saying that the reclaimed 
land was extremely good for raising corn, as 
the amount of rainfall during the critical month 
of August is about twice that of the Western 
corn belt. 

Mr. F. V. Coville noted the importance of 


MARCH 31, 1899. ] 


the lake as a feeder for the Dismal Swamp 
canal and also as a possible source of water 
supply for Norfolk. The cleared land was said 
to be well adapted for truck farming, while the 
cypress and juniper lumber was also available, 
and the latter, being of rapid growth, could be 
cultivated. 

Mr. William Palmer spoke further on the 
physiographic features of the region and of the 
animals, stating that the swamp lay near the 
northern limit of many Southern species. The 
Prothonotary Warbler was said to be abundant, 
and the manner in which the Chimney Swifts 
bred in the hollow ecypresses was described. 

Mr. Vernon Bailey noted the occurrence of 
such Northern forms as the Shrew, Star-nosed 
Mole and the Lemming Mouse. 

Dr. A. K. Fisher spoke of the manner in 
which the sphagnum pushed out into the ditches, 
and drew attention to the fact that the removal 
of the dam at the entrance of the canal feeder 
would drain the lake, as the canal had been 
dredged out some distance from the shore. 

Professor Lester F. Ward gave an account of 
a visit to the swamp in 1877. 

O. F. Cook, 
Recording Secretary. 


THE WASHINGTON BOLANICAL CLUB. 


THE fourth regular meeting was held at the 
residence of Mr. A. J. Pieters, March 1, 1899. 

Mr. T. A. Williams, in discussing ‘ New or 
Interesting Lichens,’ exhibited specimens of 
Omphalodium Arizonicum Tuckerm., and re- 
ported the collection of this rare lichen in the 
White Mountains of New Mexico, by Professor 
E. O. Wooton, this being the second time that 
the species has been obtained -by collectors. 
The original specimens were discovered by C. 
G. Pringle in Arizona. The validity of the 
genus Omphalodium was discussed, and the 
opinion expressed that it was abundantly dis- 
tinct from Parmelia. Specimens were also 
shown of four new species of lichens belonging 
to the genera Siphula, Lecanora, Gyalecta and 
Omphalaria, with comments on their distin- 
guishing characters and relationships. 

Mr. Frederick V. Coville gave a systematic 
review of ‘The Currants and Gooseberries of 
Southeastern Oregon,’ exhibiting many speci- 


SCIENCE. 


487 


mens and explaining the differentiation of 
species from aggregates, such as Ribes divarica- 
tum and R. lacustre. 

Mr. Pieters exhibited a gigantic specimen of 
Lophotocarpus calycinus from the shores of Lake 
Erie, commenting on its eastern extension. 

CHARLES LouUIsS POLLARD, 
Secretary. 
THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

THE regular monthly meeting of the New 
York Section of the American Chemical Society 
was held on Friday evening, the 10th inst., at 
the Chemists’ Club, 108 West Fifty-fifth street, 
Dr. Wm. McMurtrie presiding and eighty-five 
members present. Dr. Doremus made a special 
announcement of the annual exhibition of the 
New York Academy of Sciences, and urged any 
members having new and interesting material 
to contribute the same to the exhibits. 

The following papers were then read : 

1. Frederick 8. Hyde, ‘Preparation of 
Graphitoidal Silicium.’ 

2. W. O. Atwater, ‘The Conservation of 
Energy in the Human Body.’ 

3. Joseph F. Geisler, ‘ Paraffin as an Adul- 
terant of Oleomargarine.’ 

4. L. H. Reuter, ‘Manufacture of Pure 
Phenyldimethylpyrazolon-sulphonic Acid.’ 

5. L. H. Reuter, ‘ Manufacture of B Naph- 
thalene-sulphonic Acid and Benzoyl-sulphonic 
Acid for the Manufacture of Ether.’ 

6. A. Bourgougnon, ‘ On the Determination 
of Sulphur in Sulphites.’ 

While the first paper'was before the meeting, 
the President of the Society, Professor E. W. 
Morley, of Cleveland, arrived, and was invited 
to take the chair. He made a few remrks on 
the interest taken in the Section by its members, 
as evidenced not only by the ful] attendance 
and interesting list of papers to be read at this 
meeting, but by the uniformly high character 
and abundance of material announced for each 
and every meeting. 

Professor Atwater stated that the large calo- 
rimeter chamber, in which a man can live for a 
week or more at a time, has been so perfected 
that an analysis of pure alcohol by combustion 
can be made in it to within 0.1 per cent. of the 


488 ; 


theoretic composition. The results on the calo- 
rific value of foods as consumed in the human 
body agree very closely with the results calcu- 
lated from experiments with the bomb ealo- 
rimeter. The chief difficulties at present are in 
regard to certain constants, as, for instance, 
the value of the calorie, the latent heat of 
evaporation of water at different temperatures, 
ete. The calculation of the observations from a 
week’s run of the calorimeter chamber is itself 
an arduous and exacting piece of work. Thus 
far the law of the conservation of energy in the 
human body is fully demonstrated, within a very 
small error, which it is hoped to eliminate en- 
tirely. s 

J. F. Geisler exhibited a sample of paraffine 
extracted from adulterated oleomargarine, 
which contained about 45 grains of the wax per 
ounce. 

Samples had been purchased in New York 
and vicinity containing from 5 to 11.75 per 
cent. paraffine. DURAND WOODMAN, 

Secretary. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS OF THE 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 
MARCH 6, 1899. 


ANNUAL election of officers was held, and 
Professor M. I. Pupin elected Chairman, and 
Dr. W. 8. Day, Secretary, to serve for the en- 
suing year. 

Professor J. K. Rees described the great hori- 
zontal telescope for the Paris Exposition in 1900. 
This instrument is to have a focal length of 66 
meters, and is placed horizontally, on account 
of the great difficulty of building and moving a 
dome large enough for it, if mounted in the 
usual manner. A plane mirror is mounted so 
as to be capable of motion in any direction, in 
order to reflect the light of a star into the tube. 
The object glass is 49 inches in diameter. A 
number of lantern views of the Yerkes tele- 
scope were shown. This, when the Paris in- 
strument is completed, will no longer be the 
largest in the world. 

Dr. P. H. Dudley read a paper entitled: 
‘Stresses in Rails due to Thermal Changes,’ in 
which he showed that most fractures of rails 
occur on a decided fall of temperature, because 
the rails, held very tight by the bolts in the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 222. 


splice bars, are strained by the contraction 
beyond their tensile strength ; while on a rise 
of temperature the expansion of the rails puts 
them under a stress of compression ; and ap- 
parently the factor of safety of the steel is not 
so much reduced under compressive as under 


tensile stresses. 
R. GoRDON, 


Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Of ST. LOUIS. 


AT the meeting of the Academy of Science of 
St. Louis on the evening of March 20, 1899, 
fifty-three persons present, Dr. T. J. J. See de- 
livered an address on the ‘Temperature and 
Relative Ages of the Stars and Nebul.’ The 
address, which developed quite fully the tem- 
perature equation, was discussed at some length 
by Professor C. M. Woodward. A paper by 
Professor L. H. Pammel, on ‘ Anatomical Char- 
acters of the Seeds of Leguminoseze,’ was pre- 
sented by title. 

Two persons were elected to active member- 
ship. 

WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
Recording Secretary. 
DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND, AND ITS MARINE 
BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY.* 


PLYMOUTH is a place of great natural beauty 
and more undulating than any city with which 
I am familiar. It has a population of about 
200,000 and is a seaport of much importance, 
many of the Oriental and Australian steamships 
touching here. It contains one of the largest 
navy-yards and garrisons in England. In one 
respect it is unique, as far as my experience 
goes, for the city touches the harbor at its east- 
ern and western extremities only, the central 
part being separated from the water-front by a 
high open hill called Hoe Park. The rising 
face of this hill is tastefully laid out as a park, 
while on the summit is an asphalt promenade 
150 feet wide and extending for half a mile. 


*In a recent private letter toa friend, Dr. Edward 
G. Gardiner gives an account of Plymouth, its Labora- 
tory, its winter climate and other matters; which it is 
believed many readers of SCIENCE will be glad to 
have for reference. 


MaxgcH 31, 1899.] 


From this high platform the land falls rapidly 
toward the sea, but the grassy slope is broken 
here and there by terraced paths and drives and 
the sea breaks at the base on rugged limestone 
cliffs. Nestled among the nooks and crannies 
of the rocks are various public bath-houses, 
and until the end of November numerous bath- 
ers might be seen diving, swimming or sunning 
themselves like seals on the rocks. These rocks 
constitute a most beautiful piece of cliff scenery, 
and from the top of the promenade the view is 
magnificent. Northward lie the hills of the 
city and beyond these the wild uplands of 
Dartmoor; to the south, at one’s feet, lies the 
harbor with all its busy shipping, red-sailed 
fishing craft and strange looking warships. 
The harbor, or ‘sound,’ as it is called, is a bay, 
roughly speaking rectangular in shape, some 
three miles deep and about as broad, bounded 
by headlands upwards of four hundred feet 
high, falling abruptly, and in many places pre- 
cipitously, to the sea. 

Official documents state that the defences of 
this sound includefourteen miles of fortifications, 
and as many of these are on the headlands 
their towers, angles and projections break the 
sky line and add interest and beauty to the 
scenery. The entrance to the sound is pro- 
tected by a breakwater (on which is a light- 
house and a fort) a mile in length, thus convert- 
ing what must have been but a wild and danger- 
ous anchorage into a safe harbor. A few days 
ago we had a southwester which broke the 
record. The harbor was full of shipping, and it 
was interesting to stand on the Hoe in a shel- 
tered place and see the havoc. A good deal of 
damage was done, but no lives were lost. The 
word ‘Hoe,’ I am told, is an old name for 
‘Hill,’ and is common along this coast, for 
example, Plymouth Hoe, School Hoe, Sted- 
combe Hoe, Mort Hoe, Croyte Hoe, Martin 
Hoe, ete., along the coasts of Devon and 
Cornwall. Moreover, there are numerous 
‘Holes’ along this coast, Rent’s Hole, Croft 
Hole, Mouse Hole, Hole’s Hole, Butter Hole, 
Daddy Hole, Kent’s Hole, ete. Speaking with- 
out any philological knowledge whatsoever, I 
more than suspect that ‘Hoe’ and ‘ Hole’ may 
originally haye been the same word, though I 
have not found any very competent authority 


SCIENCE. 


489 


on which to rest such a theory. What first 
suggested it was the fact, generally accepted 
hereabouts, that Hoe means hill, and in the dis- 
covery that at least two of the above-mentioned 
Holes were hills where there are no ‘holes’ (or 
harbors) in the land. Whatever the origin of 
Hole may be, it is interesting to note that both 
Hoe and Hole are ‘ west-country’ names, 7. e., 
belong to Devon and Cornwall. The only 
‘Holes’ on the New England coast, so far as I 
know, are in southern Massachusetts, and in that 
part of the State are also Plymouth, Falmouth, 
Dartmouth, Truro, ete., all Devon and Cornish 
names, and the association of these with Wood’s 
Hole, Holmes’ Hole (now Vineyard Haven), 
Quick’s Hole, and the like, is interesting. 

Directly under the walls of an old iron-clad 
fortress which crowns the southern end of the 
Plymouth Hoe stands the Laboratory of the 
Marine Biological Association of Great Britain. 
Between the Laboratory and the fort—a distance 
of fifty yards—are a garden and tennis-court, 
while the sun reflected from the limestone wall 
beyond has all the value for microscopic work 
of a white cloud perpetually anchored in the 
right place. Those who built the fort did not 
know what good work they were doing for 
naturalists. On the other side of the Laboratory 
the land falls away abruptly to the sea. The 
designers of the Laboratory building had no idea, 
however, of exposing the naturalist when armed 
with dip-net and bucket for a collecting trip to 
the gaze of the curious public, for a cleverly 
constructed tunnel leads from the basement 
under the foot- and driveway directly to the 
cliffs whence a path winds downwards to the 
boat-landing and the beach. 

The Laboratory building is a handsome stone 
structure 179 feet long. The central part, 
70 x 34, is two stories in height, while at each 
end the remaining portion is higher and broader, 
thus giving an effect of low, flanking towers. 
In one of these towers is the residence of the 
Director, while in the other are rooms for the 
engineer, caretaker, etc., on the lower story, and 
in the second, chemical laboratories and supply 
department, with the library above in the third 
story. The library is a charming room, having 
two open fireplaces and offering a view which 
is so attractive as seriously to interfere with hard 


i 
S 


work. The library contains about 1,500 volumes, 
and it is not difficult to obtain books from else- 
where when necessary. 

On the ground floor of the central portion of 
the building is an aquarium well stocked from 
the native fauna and open to the public for a 
small fee. Above the aquarium is the main 
Laboratory, a well-lighted and well-ventilated 
room of moderate height, 70x34. The windows, 
which are very large, are separated by parti- 
tions about seven feet high, forming a series 
of alcoves, each about ten feet square. Through 
the center of the Laboratory runs a continuous 
line of aquaria designed for experimental work. 
The whole place is clean, orderly and well kept 
(except, of course, my own alcove), and as good 
a place for work as could be desired. Every 
investigator is given a pass-key to the Labora- 
tory, which is available for work day or night 
and every day precisely as one wishes or as his 
work requires. Smoking is allowed every- 
where, which is aluxury to me, for you may re- 
member that an occasional cigarette is neces- 
sary for my health. 

The staff consists of three naturalists, includ- 
ing the Director, and eight employees, such as 
janitor, boatman, Laboratory Diener, etc. The 
latter is well trained in the art of preserving 
marine animals in the expanded condition, in 
the art of mixing reagents, and the like. The 
Laboratory is provided with a steamer about 60 
feet long and with a sail-boat, both of which 
are kept well employed collecting for the sup- 
ply department, so that there is an abundant 
supply of fresh material constantly brought in. 
In the Official Reports of the Laboratory stress 
is naturally laid on its needs. Some with whom 
Ihave talked have seemed to interpret these ap- 
peals as signifying extreme poverty, and are sur- 
prised accordingly to find an establishment so 
well equipped. Itisnot, of course, perfect, but, 
in my opinion, it isan excellent laboratory, ad- 
mirably managed, 

In the university vacations the place, I am 
told, is full of workers, but during the present 
winter there have been in residence only the 
three naturalists on the staff and three other in- 
vestigators besides myself. 

I have read of the severe winter at home with 
many chuckles of satisfaction that I am not in 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 222. 


it, for, as you know, I have no affection for our 
blizzards, and I am contented that they are un- 
known here. The lowest temperature recorded 
this winter at Plymouth was 29° F. on what 
the newspapers called a ‘bitter cold night,’ and 
the highest during January was 56°. Asa rule, 
it has been 45° or thereabouts. We havea good 
deal of rain, but, by a fortunate meteorological 
arrangement, itis rarely cold and stormy at the 
same time. The south and southwest winds are 
mild and rainy and the easterly and northerly 
winds clear and cool. The winds are so tem- 
pered that sheep graze in the public parks all 
winter, while on tennis-courts, and on lawns 
where sheep are not allowed, lawn-mowers 
have been in constant use to keep the grass 
under control. Many of the more hardy gar- 
den plants bloom all winter, and the ivy and 
numerous shrubs are luxuriant with greenness. 
Spring is already at hand (February 17th), as is 
apparent from the wild violets and primroses, 
blossoms of which I have picked in the fields 
this week. One day it snowed for two hours, 
but at the end of that time there was no snow 
to be seen, every flake having melted as it fell. 

Of course, the people exercise the right 
of all free men to grumble at the weather, but 
I have seen many climates which gave far more 
cause for grumbling. There is a widspread im- 
pression, which I suspect may be correct, that 
the big storms here are hatched on our side of 
the Atlantic and find their way across. When- 
ever we get a good strong southwester people 
say with an injured air, ‘See how the Ameri- 
cans treat us,’ almost as if there were personal 
spite in it. On the whole, the climate is to me 
infinitely more agreeable than that of New 
England. 

To sum it all up, Plymouth and its surround- 
ings are beautiful ; the climate is (to me) agree- 
able; my family has been in most excellent 
health all winter ; and, lastly, the Laboratory 
is a most delightful place for work. 


THE DUPLICATION OF GEOLOGIC FORMATION 
NAMES. 

THE custom of giving more or less local geo- 
graphic names to geologic sub-divisions has be- 
come so universal that we are even now dupli- 
cating the use of such names to a considerable 


Marcu 31, 1899. | 


extent. Geological literature is of too great 
bulk for the working geologist to attempt to 
ascertain whether or not names which he pro- 
poses to use have been preoccupied. To illus- 
trate what the present system is leading to, a 
few instances of some prominence will be cited. 

In 18883 Hague described, in a report of the 
U.S. Geological Survey, the Eureka quartzite, 
a sub-division of the Silurian, in the Eureka 
district, Nevada. In 1891 Simonds and Hop- 
kins, in a report of the Arkansas Geological 
Survey, used the name Eureka shale for a sup- 
posed Devonian horizon ; while in 1898 Haworth, 
in a report of the Kansas Geological Survey, 
proposes the name Eureka limestone as a sub- 
division of the Coal Measures. 

In 1879 Peale, in the 11th Annual Report of 
the U. 8. Geological and Geographical Survey 
of the Territories, employed the term Cache 
Valley Group for a sub-division of the Pleisto- 
cene of Utah. Becker described, in 1888, the 
Cache Lake beds of California, in Monograph 
XIII of the U. S. Geological Survey, and re- 
ferred them to the Tertiary. In 1896 G. M. 
Dawson, in a report of the Canada Geological 
Survey, uses the name Cache Creek formation 
for an horizon of the Carboniferous to include 
strata described by Selwyn in 1872 as Upper 
and Lower Cache Creek beds. 

In 1842-46 Emmons, Vanuxem and Mather 
employed, the term Erie division as a sub-divi- 
sion of the New York system. In the Ohio 
Geological Survey reports, the Erie clay was 
used as a sub-division of the Pleistocene, and 
Erie shale was referred both to the Carbonif- 
erous and Devonian. In 1875 Lesley described, 
in a report of the Pennsylvania Geological Sur- 
vey, the Erie shale, which he referred to the 
Silurian. In 1898 Haworth described the Erie 
limestone of the Coal Measures of Kansas. The 
above references are given merely to illustrate 
the confusion that is likely to arise from use of 
new geographic terms if the literature is not 
carefully examined for previous use. 

For the past eighteen months the writer has 
been engaged in preparing a card catalogue of 
geologic formation names, during such time as 
could be taken from other office and field work. 
This catalogue has already assumed consider- 
able proportions, and is now being consulted by 


SCIENCE. 


491 


those geologists who are aware that such a 
work is being prosecuted. While preparing 
the annual bibliography of geological literature 
for 1898 the writer has found several instances 
of duplication of names that have become well 
established in geologic nomenclature. It will 
probably be a year or more before this cata- 
logue can be published, and, in the meantime, 
to assist in avoiding such duplication, the 
writer offers to furnish geologists who will 
correspond with him such information as he 
possesses regarding names which they propose 


to use as formation names. 
F. B. WEEKS. 
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


THE BERLIN TUBERCULOSIS CONGRESS.* 


THE German Central Committee for the erec- 
tion of Sanitaria for Consumptives have issued 
a call for a Congress to be held in Berlin, Ger- 
many, May 24-27, 1899, for the purpose of dis- 
cussing the subject of tuberculosis. The Con- 
gress will meet in the new building of the 
Imperial Diet and is under the patronage of 
Her Majesty, The Kaiserin, while Prince Hohen- 
lohe, the Imperial Chancellor, will serve as 
Honorary President. All ofthe German States, 
also local authorities, medical faculties and so- 
cieties, and all corporations interested in fight- 
ing tuberculosis, have been requested to send 
delegates, and all foreign countries represented 
at the Imperial Court have also been invited to 
take part. The United States Embassy has 
been requested to extend a cordial invitation to 
American physicians to become members of the 
Congress, and the same invitation has been ex- 
tended through other missions to physicians of 
other nationalities. 

As a basis for discussion papers will be pre- 
sented as follows: (1) ‘Distribution and ex- 
tent of tuberculosis’ by Geheimrath Koehler, 
Director of the Imperial Health Office, and 
Geheimrath Krieger, of Strassburg; (2) ‘ Eti- 
ology,’ by Professors Robert Koch and B. 
Fraenkel, of Berlin; (8) ‘Prophylaxis,’ by Pro- 

* Written at the request of Dr. Pannwitz, General 
Secretary of the Congress, and forwarded simulta- 
neously to several American journals. The medical, 
veterinarian and scientific press is requested to call 
the attention of its readers to this Congress. 


492 


fessor Gerhardt and Generaloberartzt Schjern- 
ing, of Berlin ; (4) ‘Therapy,’ by Professor von 
Ziemssen, of Munich, and Professor Schroetter, of 
Vienna ; (5) ‘Sanitaria,’ by Herr Gaebel, Presi- 
dent of Imperial Insurance Office, Berlin, and 
Dr. Dettweiler, of Falkenstein. 

Following the presentation of the two lead- 
ing papers (limited to 20 minutes each) in the 
respective divisions, there will be a general 
discussion, speakers being limited to 10 minutes 
each. All papers and remarks are to be in 
German, although the chairman is empowered to 
make exceptions during the general discussion. 

All persons interested in the subject of tuber- 
culosis are eligible for membership; membership 
cards (20 Marks, nearly $5) are to be obtained at 
the office of the Congress (‘ Bureau des Organi- 
sations-Komites, Wilhelm Platz 2, Berlin, W’) 
and entitle the holder toa copy of the ‘ Proceed- 
ings.’ An early registration is requested. 

The writer has been requested to furnish a 
list of Americans to whom special invitations 
to the Congress should be sent. He has com- 
plied with this request, so far as his personal 
and professional acquaintance with specialists 
in this line has permitted, and has also sug- 
gested to the committee that invitations be sent 
to the various medical societies and faculties. 
There are undoubtedly many American practi- 
tioners especially interested in tuberculosis and 
possibly some laboratory workers whom he has 
overlooked. Should any such person desire to 
attend the Congress, yet prefer to receive a per- 
sonal invitation, the writer will be pleased to 
forward the name of such persons, upon proper 
introduction, to the Executive Committee of 
the Congress. As ‘proper introduction’ will 
be considered a letter from any recognized med- 
ical, scientific or veterinary faculty or society. 

CH. WARDELL STILEs, PuH.D., 

Scientific Attaché, U. S. Embassy, Berlin, Ger- 


Many. 


ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 
THE RUTHERFURD PHOTOGRAPHS. 
AMONG recent additions to the literature of 
the astronomy of precision are four contribu- 
tions from the Observatory of Columbia Univer- 
sity which give the results of measurements of 
the Rutherfurd plates. Dr. Davis contributes 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 222. 


three of these, entitled ‘Catalogue of Sixty-five 
Stars Near 61 Cygni,’ ‘The Parallaxes of 611 
and 612 Cygni,’ ‘Catalogue of Thirty-four Stars 
near Bradley 3077.’ Mr. Schlesinger contrib- 
utes the fourth, upon ‘The Priesepe Group.’ 
All these are most admirable illustrations of the 
highest type of astronomical work in the de- 
termination of exact positions of the stars, and 
careful deductions therefrom. No pains have 
been spared to make the original measures un- 
der such conditions that the instrumental con- 
stants shall be well determined, and all cor- 
rections and reductions accurately applied. The 
result is three catalogues of stars whose coordi- 
nates relative to the reference star in each group 
are determined with great precision. The two 
catalogues of stars near 61 Cygni and Bradley 
3077 are for the purpose of discussing the paral- 
laxes of these well-known stars. The most in- 
teresting result of Dr. Davis’s discussion is the 
well-marked difference of parallax between 61! 
and 61? Cygni, determined from both position 
angles and distances, the numerical amount of 
which is 0’”.072 + 0’’.028. This large difference, 
if real, explains the failure of double-star ob- 
servers to detect any evidence of orbital motion, 
and would show that the stars do not form a 
binary system. A confirmation of this conclu- 
sion is found in a careful discussion of Wilsing’s 
determinations of the distance of these two 
stars, which gives 0’’.0876 for the difference. 
The mean of the different determinations of 
parallax for the stars made by other astrono- 
mers shows a difference of 0’7.082, which con-. 
firms further the reality of the result. The 
author urges the making of a more extended 
series of comparisons by photography to give 
further evidence on this subject. 

An interesting result of Mr. Schlesinger’s 
study of the measures of the Preesepe stars is 
that the method of orienting the plate by the 
method of trails is not as accurate as that ba ed 
upon assuming the coordinates of several com- 
parison stars on the plate, as determined by the 
meridian circle or the heliometer. It was Mr. 
Rutherfurd’s rule to make two impressions of 
the regions photographed, stopping the clock 
for a few seconds between them, and also to 
give a third impression of the brightest stars 
by stopping the clock about three minutes and 


MaArcH 31, 1899. ] 


making a brief exposure. In this way each 
plate contains its own data for orientation. 
The author thinks that the somewhat large dis- 
erepancies between this method and that by 
meridian circle observations is due to the jarring 
of the plate by stopping and starting the clock. 
Its value as an independent method, however, 
is recognized. 


THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF MAY 28, 1900. 


THE committee appointed at the recent con- 
ference of astronomers and astrophysicists to 
consider the observations to be made at this 
eclipse has issued a circular letter asking for 
opinions as to the observations deemed advisable 
and what cooperation our American astrono- 
mers can render. The eclipse path extends 
from the Gulf coast to the Atlantic, but the 
duration of totality is short, only 1™ 138° near 
New Orleans and 1™ 40% near Norfolk, Va., ac- 
cording to the circular. The figures given by 
the circular of the English Nautical Almanac 
are a few seconds larger than these, 1™ 17°.8 
west of New Orleans, and 1” 45°.6 south of Cape 
Henry, Va. Some excellent points of observation 
may be found in Portugal and Spain, where the 
totality will range from 1™ 348 to 1" 19°. Euro- 
pean astronomers are likely to locate at this 
end of the line. American observers should 
cover thoroughly the path through the United 
States, which includes many places readily ac- 
cessible. The U. S. Weather Bureau has is- 
sued a second bulletin upon the probable 
weather to be expected. This is based upon 
special reports made in May, 1898, the former 
report including those of 1897. A third report 
for 1899 is promised. The conclusion thus far 
is that the most unfavorable weather is to be 
expected on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and 
that the most favorable locations are in the 
northern parts of Georgia and Alabama, upon 
the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. 

WINSLOW UPTON. 

PROVIDENCE, R. I., March 15, 1899. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE EFFECT OF COMMUTATION ON THE FIELD 
OF DYNAMOS AND MOTORS. 


Messrs. EVERETT AND PEAKE, in a paper on 
‘The Effect of Commutation on the Field of 


SCIENCE. 


493 


Dynamos and Motors’ in the London Elec- 
trician of December 30, 1898, find, by means of 
an exploring coil and instantaneous contact 
maker, that the effect of commutation is to pro- 
duce somewhat regularly recurring ripples in 
the curve connecting E. M. F. and position of 
the exploring coil, the maximum of the ripples 
occurring at intervals equal to the width of a 
coil, decreasing in magnitude as the distance 
from the commutated coil increases and nearly 
disappearing before the interpolar gap is passed. 
These ripples were found to be more marked 
with narrow than with wide brushes, which is 
explained by the damping effect of the adjacent 
short-circuited coils acting as secondaries to 
each other. The ripples are also more marked 
for heavy than for light currents and for motors 
than for dynamos. 


TELEGRAPHY AND MAGNETIC INDUCTION. 


8. EVERSHED, in an article on ‘ Telegraphy by 
Magnetic Induction’ in the same journal, de- 
duces a formula for the mechanical energy 
available ina distant secondary circuit in which 
no capacity is used, in terms of dimensions, re- 
sistance, frequency, etc. ,and from this calculates 
that in the case of two circuits using together 
1,000 kgm. of wire, each 1,000 meters square 
and 10 kilometers apart, with a frequency of 100 
and 100 watts in the primary, there would be 
available in the secondary .34 ergs. per second. 
Experiment shows that 2:9><10-* amp. gives 
easily readable Morse signals in an ordinary 
telephone, this being double the audible current 
(this presumably for a frequency of 400). He 
then finds that in the above case, but with fre- 
quency equal to 400, there is 12 10~° amp., 
and that hence the readable signals could be pro- 
duced with 250 kgm. of copper. - For satisfac- 
tory audible signals the frequency must be at 
least as high as 400, and here the undetermined 
effect of absorption of these waves by the ma- 
terial of the earth comes in. If this proves 
serious it may be necessary to use lower fre- 
quencies and other forms of receivers. A re- 
ceiver is described consisting of a tuned rec- 
tangle of wire, vibrating in a strong field, or, 
better, two rectangles vibrating synchronously, 
but in opposite directions. Such instruments 
are being used at Lavernock and Flat Holm as 


494 SCIENCE, 


relays to close call-bell circuits. They are of 
iridio-platinum wire, 3 mils diameter and 2 by 4 
em. dimensions; they have a frequency of 16 
per second, and with a clearance of 2 mils 
.001 erg. per second is required to bring them 
into contact. This can be used at a distance of 
10 kilometers with 4 ton of copper and would 
be little affected by the absorption; it has not, 
however, been adapted to the transmission of 
Morse signals. The power used by the tele- 
phone is more than 600 times the power used 
by the rectangle in this case. BiG. 

THE BEQUESTS OF THE LATE PROFESSOR 

MARSH. 

THE will of the late Professor Marsh leaves 
his entire estate to Yale University, with the 
exception of $10,000 to the National Academy 
of Sciences. Its provisions are as follows: 1. 
The library which he had collected is to be 
placed in the Yale library, and all duplicates 
are to be given to the library of the Peabody 
Museum. 2. His home and the land surround- 
ing it, nearly three acres on Prospect Hill, is 
given to the University to be used exclusively 
as a botanical garden ‘and for no other pur- 
pose.’ The garden is to be under the custody 
of a regularly appointed curator at a salary of 
$2,000. The house is either to be used as the 
residence of the curator or as a botanical lab- 
oratory, as his executors may see fit. In case 
the corporation does not wish to accept the 
house and grounds for this purpose Professor 
Marsh orders that they be sold and the pro- 
ceeds added to the residuary estate. 38. His 
executors are ordered to sell all his pictures, 
paintings, furniture, bric-a-brac, silver and 
Oriental collections, the proceeds to be turned 
over to the University. 4. The gift is made 
to the University of a collection of 2,000 orchids 
and of all of his greenhouse plants. If not needed 
by the University these may be sold for the bene- 
fit of the estate. 5. The bequest is made of all 
of his scientific collections in paleontology, geol- 
ogy, zoology and archeology, to be kept in Pea- 
body Museum. 6. He gives to the National 
Academy of Sciences of Washington $10,000 as 
a trust fund, ‘the income to be used and expended 
for promoting original research in the natural 
sciences.’ 7. The sum of $30,000 which, by the 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 222 


terms of the will of George Peabody, Professor 
Marsh was authorized to dispose of in his will, 
is left to the corporation of Yale ‘ to be expended 
by the trustees of Peabody Museum in preparing 
for publication and publishing the results of my 
explorations in the West.’ 8. All the rest, resi- 
due and remainder of the property and estate 
real and personal, is given to Yale University 
to be used and expended by it for ‘ promoting 
original research in the natural sciences.’ 

The value of Professor Marsh’s estate is said 
to be about $100,000, but may not prove to be 
as much. It will be remembered that some- 
what more than a year ago Professor Marsh gave 
his extremely valuable collections in paleon- 
tology and other sciences to the University. It 
is estimated that these were secured at a cost 
of about $250,000. The Peabody Museum was 
given by Mr. George Peabody, Professor 
Marsh’s uncle, through his influence. It should 
also be remembered that Professor Marsh never 
accepted any salary from Yale University. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE first Hodgkins gold medal given by the 
Smithsonian Institution has been conferred on 
Professor James Dewar, F.R.S., for his work on 
the liquefaction of air. 

PROFESSOR HELMERT, of Berlin, has been 
elected a foreign correspondent of the Paris 
Academy of Sciences for the Section of Geog- 
raphy and Navigation. In the same section 
Pére Colin, founder and director of the observa- 
tory at Tananarivo, Madagascar, was elected a 
corresponding member. 

THE Paris Academy of Medicine has awarded 
its Lecaze prize (10,000 fr.) to Dr. Widal for his 
serum method of diagnosing typhoid fever. 

Ir is proposed, says the London Times, that a 
portrait of the late Dr. John Hopkinson should 
be placed in the Hopkinson Memorial Wing of 
the Engineering Laboratory at Cambridge Uni- 
versity, the cost to be defrayed by subscription. 
A chimney piece which Mrs. Hopkinson has 
presented for use in one of the principal rooms 
contains a panel in which such a portrait could 
appropriately be placed. Mr. T. B. Kennington, 
who painted a portrait of Dr. Hopkinson some 
years ago, has suggested that instead of simply 


4 


MARCH 31, 1899. ] 


copying that picture he could produce a better 
representation of Dr. Hopkinson as he was 
shortly before his death by painting an original 
portrait based on a recent excellent photograph 
and following the coloring of the previous por- 
trait. Subscriptions are limited to two guineas, 
in the expectation that a considerable number 
of Dr. Hopkinson’s friends not resident in the 
University, as well as residents, will wish to 
contribute. Among those who have already 
subscribed are the Vice-Chancellor, the Master 
of Peterhouse, the Master of Trinity, Sir 
Benjamin Baker, Sir J. Wolfe Barry, Sir Fred- 
erick Bramwell, Sir Douglas Fox, Sir James 
Kitson, Sir G. G. Stokes, Sir William White, 
Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayleigh and Lord Lister. 
Professor Ewing ig treasurer of the fund, and 
he will receive subscriptions, or they may be 
paid to the Hopkinson portrait account at Bar- 
clay & Co., Cambridge. 


THE statement sent from Washington to the 
press to the effect that Dr. Thomas J. See had 
been designated Chief of the Nautical Almanac 
is incorrect. Dr. See has been assigned to duty 
as Assistant in the Naval Observatory, but has 
nothing whatever to do with the Nautical 
Almanac office. 


THE funeral services of the late Professor 
Marsh were held in Battell Chapel, Yale Uni- 
versity, on March 22d. President Dwight con- 
ducted the ceremonies, and Professor George 
F. Fisher, of the Theological School, read the 
commemorative address. The pall-bearers were 
Charles D. Walcott and Arnold Hague, of 
Washington ; Professor Asaph Hall, Cambridge; 
Professor H. A. Barker, University of Penn- 
sylvania; and Professors William H. Brewer, 
Addison van Name, Edward S. Dana and Mr. 
George F. Eaton, of Yale. 


Dr. Poitier J. J. VALENTINI, a student in 
ancient Mexican and Central American history, 
and author of numerous publications, died 
March 16th, at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York. 
Dr. Valentini’s interpretation of the Mexican 
Calendar Stone placed him among the foremost 
American archeologists. He was born in Ber- 
lin in 1828, and received a careful training in 
philology from his father, an Italian teacher of 
languages and author of the first German- 


SCIENCE. 


495 


Italian dictionary. In 1854 Dr. Valentini went 
to Costa Rica, and there founded the seaport of 
Puerto Limon government auspices. 
Learning of the obscurity of the Spanish coloni- 
zation of Costa Rica, he returned to Ger- 
many to search for manuscript historical evi- 
dence. His first results in this line brought 
for him the recognition of Ph.D. from Jena. 
Later Dr. Valentini returned to Central Amer- 
ica, where, continuing his investigations, he 
made many expeditions to Guatemala and 
other parts of Central America. In this work 
he received government encouragement, but 
political disturbances prevented his Spanish 
and German texts from being published by the 
government. Recognizing that to thoroughly 
understand Spanish conquests the pre-Colum- 
bian peoples must be studied, he began work 
upon the glyphs of the stone monuments and 
codices. Thirty years ago he came to New 
York to make use of the greater library facili- 
ties here, and since that time has been promi- 
nent among students of Americana. The 
American Antiquarian Society of Worcester 
has published many of his papers. His most 
recent publication is ‘ A Study of the Voyage of 
Pinzon,’ printed in German in 1898. The 
major part of his notes and MSS. remain un- 
published. 


under 


HARLAN I. SMITH. 


Dr. OLIVER Marcy, professor of natural 
history in Northwestern University, and dean, 
died at Evanston, Ill., on March 19th. He was 
a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a 
member of the American Ornithologists’ Union, 
and of other scientific societies. 


PROFESSOR GUSTAV WIEDEMANN, professor 
of physics and chemistry in the University of 
Leipzig, well known for his contributions to 
electricity and magnetism, has died. 

Masor J. Evans, professor of pathology in 
the Calcutta Medical College, died on March 
13th from the plague. He is believed to have 
contracted the disease while engaged upon the 
post-mortem examination of a plague patient. 

AMERICAN men of science should see that the 
decimal system of weights and measures is 
maintained in Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philip- 
pines. It is the first principle of colonial gov- 


496 


ernment to respect the customs of the native 
peoples, and we certainly should not fail to do 
this in a case where their customs are better 
than our own. 

AN appropriation of $170,000 has been passed 
by the Massachusetts House for the extermina- 
tion of the Gypsy moth. 

THE German Reichstag has made a grant of 
60,000 Marks for Professor Robert Koch’s ap- 
proaching expedition to the tropics to investi- 
gate the nature and origin of malaria. 

Ir is said that Mr. Andrew Carnegie is pre- 
pared to give the Pittsburg Carnegie Library 
$1,000,000 endowment and $500,000 additional 
for improvements when the city authorities 
have appropriated $3,500,000 for Shenly Park. 

By the death of Mrs. A. H. Colson a bequest 
of $25,000 for the library of Stafford, Conn., 
becomes available. 

THE Ohio State University announces for the 
summer of 1899 the maintenance of a lake lab- 
oratory at Sandusky, the purpose of which is 
to provide laboratory facilities to any who may 
wish to engage in the study of the numerous 
forms of life there accessible. No courses of 
instruction are designed and no laboratory fees 
are charged, the special purpose being to pro- 
vide opportunities for investigation. Still, the 
opportunities for mutual improvement among a 
circle of earnest workers, by comparison of 
methods, discussion of results and exchange of 
ideas, are too evident to need mention. The 
variety of life accessible is unsurpassed, as the 
lake, river, extensive bays and marshes afford 
a basis for life conditions of great richness. 
The laboratory is provided with tables, aquaria, 
boat and other essentials, and necessary seines, 
dredges, nets, etc., will be available when 
needed. Rooms and board may be had con- 
venient to the laboratory at very moderate 
prices, and as, aside from the attractive loca- 
tions along shore, the beauties of Kelley’s, and 
Put-in Bay Islands are readily accessible by 
boat the opportunities are most favorable to 
combine a few weeks of earnest study with the 
recreations of a summer outing. Each investi- 
gator will be expected to provide his own mi- 
croscope, microtome and such special appli- 
ances as he may need in his particular investi- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


gation, unless otherwise arranged, but will be 
supplied with the usual reagents, glassware, 
etc., and will be given entire freedom in the 
matter and method of his investigation, except 
for such necessary arrangements concerning use 
of boat, assignment of table aquaria, etc., as 
may be necessary to secure equal advantages to 
all. The laboratory will be open from June 
15th to August 15th, or, possibly, till September 
Ist, if desired by a number of workers. Ad- 
vanced students, instructors or any persons 
qualified to use the facilities offered are cordi- 
ally invited to avail themselves of the oppor- 
tunity here provided. Further particulars may 
be had by addressing Professor Herbert Osborn, 
Department Zoology and Entomology, Ohio 
State University, Columbus. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

WE recently announced that Mr. Robert S. 
Brookings had offered to give $100,000 to Wash- 
ington University, St. Louis, on condition that 
$400,000 be subscribed by others. This sum 
has now been given and the $500,000 has been 
added to the endowment fund of the under- 
graduate department. Thisisin addition to the 
$450,000 given for buildings within the past six 
weeks as described recently in this JOURNAL. 


THE Woman’s College, of Baltimore, will 
receive between $25,000 and $50,000 as the re- 
siduary legatee of the late George R. Berry, of 
that city. 

Tue Teachers’ College, Columbia University, 
will erect, at a cost of $350,000, a bulding for its 
model school, the Horace Mann School. This 
will give, in its present buildings, more ample 
accommodations for the regular courses. 

Srx new scholarships of $100 each have been 
established in the Sheffield Scientific School of 
Yale University. They will be awarded to 
members of the graduating class who stand 
highest in scholarship. 

Mr. W. J. BLANKINSHIP has been appointed 
professor of botany in the Agricultural College 
of Montana. | 

Mr. R. C. MAcCLAURIN, Fellow of St. John’s 
College, Cambridge, has been called to the chair 
of mathematics in Victoria College, New Zea- 
land. 


SCIENCE 


EpITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 
8S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. BressEy, N. L. Brirron, Botany; Henry F. Oszorn, 
General Biology; C. 8S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcn, Physiology ; 

J. S. Bruuinas, Hygiene ; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

Ton, J. W. PoweEtL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aprit 7, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
The Fresh-Water Biological Stations of the World : 


PROFESSOR HENRY B. WARD............0:00c0000 497 
Brunissure of the Vine and other Plants: DR. AL- 

BER TPH pWiOODSasaeresescencccesensstentessaceecesses ses 508 
An Automatic Mercury Pump: DR. RALPH R. 

IPANWARIEN CRistresneaciencentsccsscrstarseatenctnacte scares: 510 
Scientific Books :— 

Wallace on the Wonderful Century : PROFESSOR 

W. K. Brooks. Hueppe’s Principles of Bacteri- 

ology: H. W. C. Hoskins on The Elements of 

Graphic Statics: PROFESSOR FREDERICK N. 

WILSON. General. Books Received............... 511 
Scientific Journals and Articles.......0.0.ccccececeeseees 517 
Societies and Academies :— 

Chemical Society of Washington: WILLIAM H. 

Kruc. Geological Conference and Students’ Club 

of Harvard University: J. M. BOUTWELL. Tor- 

rey Botanical Club: E. S. BURGESS...............4. 517 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Some Suggestions for Scientific Seminars and 

Conferences: PROFESSOR RICHARD E. DODGE. 

A Remarkable Sun-dog : PRoressor H. L. Os- 

BORN. Degrees in Science at Harvard Univer- 

sity : PROFESSOR J. MCKEEN CATTELL.......... 520 
Scientific Appointments under the Government........ 523 
Scientific Notes and News.........1..scsecsesseeceeees . 524 
University and Educational News.. . 528 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
tor review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell. Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE FRESH-WATER BIOLOGICAL STATIONS 
OF THE WORLD.* 

Away back at the beginning of the inves- 

tigation of minute forms of life, which fol- 

lowed upon the invention of the microscope, 


* Annual address of the President before the Ne- 
braska Academy of Sciences at Lincoln, November 
25, 1898. 


or shall I say discovery, for it seems to 
have been historically an accident, the 
early students searched the ditches and 
ponds and lakes for the organisms which 
constituted the objects of their study. 
Anton von Leeuwenhoek, whose name is 
familiar to you as one of the most zealous 
early workers among microscopic objects, 
enriched science by a long series of new 
organisms of this character. Roesel von 
Rosenhof, whose careful investigations on 
various fresh-water animals, published un- 
der the title of ‘Insect Diversions’ are 
still standard sources of information con- 
cerning the habits and structure of these 
forms, together with Swammerdam, Tremb- 
ley, O. F. Muller, and a whole host of 
others, devoted their attention almost ex- 
clusively to the fresh-water fauna. But 
this movement seems to have culminated 
with the appearance, in 1838, of Ehrenberg’s 
famous volume ‘The Infusion Animalcules 
as Complete Organisms.’ 

Extended investigations had already im- 
pressed zoologists with the richness of 
the marine fauna. Numerous animal 
groups of common occurrence in the 
sea were apparently entirely wanting in 
fresh water, and the astounding richness of 
the sub-tropical and tropical oceans with 
which the European investigators came 
early in contact on the shores of the Medi- 
terranean, and in the expeditions to the 
new lands of the Tropics, entirely over- 


498 


shadowed the life that had hitherto been 
found in pond or ditch. It is, in my opinion, 
also no small factor that many of the ma- 
rine forms which were brought to the at- 
tention of scientists were dazzling in their 
beauty of form and in the brillianey of 
their coloring. The quieter, more unas- 
suming forms of lacustrine life in temperate 
regions could make no corresponding im- 
press on the minds of the observers. So 
the scientific world went to the sea-shore 
for study and everywhere along the coast 
of Europe, and even in the islands of the 
Tropics were to be found the vacation re- 
sorts of scientists. 

This diversion of attention from the 
study of fresh-water life was undoubtedly 
aided by the fact that fifty years ago all 
centers of education and investigation 
were comparatively close to the ocean, and 
so it was easy for the scientist to reach the 
point, where, as he had learned from the 
reports of others, life was most abundant 
and varied, and at the same time, appealed 
to his esthetic sensibility as nothing did 
that he saw about him. The concentra- 
tion of interest on the life of the sea led to 
the foundation of marine stations, among 
which that at Naples was the first in point 
of time, as it always has been and is to- 
day, first in point of strength. But the 
development of educational institutions 
through the large continental areas and 
the limitations which their location imposed 
upon investigators connected with these 
institutions, together with the natural 
efforts of man to find a field for investiga- 
tion which should afford him a_ better 
chance than already overcrowded territory, 
have led again to the investigation of fresh- 
water life. So it was that Fritsch, in Bo- 
hemia, entered upon lacustrine investigation 
as early as 1871, while about the same time 
Forel, in Switzerland, was carrying on those 
studies published between 1874 and 1879 
in a series of papers on the ‘ Fauna of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 223. 
Swiss Lakes’ culminating in the crowned 
memoir of the Academy of Sciences on the 
‘Abyssal Fauna of the Swiss Lakes,’ that 
brought to the knowledge of the scientific 
world a hitherto unsuspected type of exist- 
ence and offered a new and enticing field 
for investigation. 

It was also in the same year, 1871, that 
Stimpson, one of the enthusiastic members 
of the old Chicago Academy of Sciences, 
conducted some dredging expeditions in the 
deep water of Lake Michigan, while about 
the same time Hoy, Milner and Forbes en- 
tered upon investigations at other points 
on these same lakes. The Chicago Academy 
and its collections, together with valuable 
manuscripts of Stimpson, were destroyed 
in the great fire, the U. S. Fish Commis- 
sion, under whose auspices the work of Hoy 
and Milner was inaugurated, did not pur- 
sue further the investigations on the lakes, 
and for years Forbes was the only investi- 
gator who occupied himself in this country 
with the study of lacustrine life. To his 
work and influence we owe beyond a doubt 
in our own country the awakened interest 
in limnobiology, and under his direction 
also was established the first general fresh- 
water biological station on this continent, 
of which more in another connection. 

The impulse toward the investigation of 
fresh-water life which was inaugurated by 
these men, gradually attracted to itself 
workers, slowly at first, but approximately 
a decade ago, with a sudden start the ranks 
of such were rapidly filled up. An enor- 
mous number of ponds and lakes, large 
and small, scattered over the surface of the 
continents, afforded an almost unlimited 
field for investigation, and many early 
studies were, to say the least, decidedly de- 
sultory. There were few workers who were 
content to confine themselves to a single 
locality, or to a well-defined problem. A 
scanty collection was made to serve as the 
basis of a faunal list supposed to charac- 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


terize the body of water in question, and 
the enumeration of species was regarded as 
the ne plus ultra of many investigators. 

Like the spiritless systematic zoology, 
which, in the work of many minor investi- 
gators, followed upon the example set by 
the great Linnaeus, so lacustrine investiga- 
tors in considerable number, were appar- 
ently satisfied to describe, as the results of 
brief sojourns, the fauna of a lake or lake 
regions, or, perhaps, even from a couple of 
vials of material collected by some rich 
patron in the course of a journey around 
the world, to discuss monographically the 
fresh-water fauna of the Fiji Islands, for 
instance. Under such circumstances there 
could be no biological study. The chief 
aim seemed to be to cover as much ground 
as possible ina short time. And what Lau- 
terborn said five years ago is even truer to- 
day in the light of our more extended ex- 
perience: ‘‘For the question as to the 
distribution of organisms, the methods so 
cherished even up to the present day of 
fishing in the greatest possible number of 


lakes (which recalls, in many respects, the - 


chase after new summits on the part of 
our modern high climbers—Hochtouristen !), 
really have only limited claim to scientific 
value, since through them but a very incom- 
plete picture of the faunal character of a 
water basin can be obtained.”’ 

The earlier investigators whose work has 
already been mentioned, Fritsch in Bohemia, 
and Forel in Switzerland, had been pursu- 


ing a single problem or investigating a lim- - 


ited locality for nearly twenty years, and 
they were among the first to emphasize the 
necessity of a modification of the prevalent 
tendency, and of a more formal character 
for lacustine work, if valuable scientific re- 
sults were to be expected from it. Forel 
was first to publish, in outline, a plan for the 
precise formal investigation of a body of 
water, in which emphasis was laid upon the 
necessity also of continuous and extended 


SCIENCE. 


499 


investigation, before satisfactory conclusions 
could be hoped for. This programme has 
suffered some modification in detail at the 
hands of various students, but, in its general 
features, remains the aim and desire of 
workers everywhere. With the apprecia- 
tion that such work must needs be formal, 
continuous and extended, came naturally 
the desire that stations of a permanent char- 
acter should be established at various points 
for the realization of the idea. And the 
first of these that were founded were of a 
general character, concerned with the bio- 
logical investigation of water as a problem 
of general scientific interest and importance. 

But almost immediately other influences 
made themselves felt which have led to the 
extension of the general idea along particu- 
lar lines of economic importance. Im- 
proved methods of fish catching and larger 
demands for fish food had brought various 
countries to the point where the drain on 
this kind of food supply was becoming very 
evident. The fish were being destroyed 
more rapidly than natural means could re- 
store their numbers, and it was felt that 
something must be done by governmental 
agency to replenish the depleted waters. 
The first expedient of collecting and keeping 
under satisfactory conditions large numbers 
of fish eggs until they should be hatched, 
and the young fry distributed through the 
waters, was not so successful as had been 
hoped. ‘The problem was too large to be 
attacked in such a superficial manner, and 
the further knowledge, which it became 
clear was absolutely necessary for proper 
handling of the question, must needs be 
sought through some means for the investi- 
gation of the conditions and determination 
of the steps necessary for the solution of 
the problem, and for carrying into effect 
the measures which might afford the de- 
sired relief. This led, first in Europe, to be 
sure, in connection with private enterprises 
for fish culture, to the establishment of bio- 


500 


logical experiment stations with the fish 
hatcheries, very much as chemical labora- 
tories are now necessary adjuncts of various 
manufacturing interests, or agricultural ex- 
periment stations are connected with the 
higher development of agricultural possi- 
bilities. There is, however, a still further 
demand which has led to the formation of 
institutions of the general type which we 
are considering. The water supply of our 
cities has always been a serious problem, 
and one of increasing interest in connection 
with crowded conditions in the more thickly 
settled countries of the world, and the bio- 
logical examination of the water, undertaken 
of necessity, has led to the organization of 
biological laboratories connected with the 
water systems of great cities, both on the 
continent, and in our own country. 

Having thus discussed the causes which 
have led to the establishment of limnobiolog- 
ical stations, we may now consider, briefly, 
the types which they present, and the par- 
ticular results which may be expected from 
a given sort. Of course all probable vari- 
ations may be found, and it is difficult to 
make any classification which is complete 
or even just, and yet, for convenience, we 
may divide these enterprises into a few 
great groups, recognizing the fact that cer- 
tain of them do not belong singly to any 
one class, but combine features of different 
types. But before outlining this classifica- 
tion, let me say that Ido not regard the 
existence or non-existence of a building or 
structure devoted to the purpose of investi- 
gation as a necessary mark of a biological 
station. Some of the most valuable contri- 
butions to general and special questions in 
this field have come from investigators or 
groups of investigators who have had no 
abiding place, while, on the other hand, 
stations well equipped with buildings and 
apparatus have in some instances, so far 
as can be ascertained, contributed noth- 
ing even after several years’ existence, to 


SCIENCE. [N. 


Vou. IX. No. 223. 


the progress of scientific knowledge. Ma- 
terial equipment is valuable, and, in gen- 
eral, conduces to better results, and yet it 
is the results themselves which finally de- 
termine the character of any enterprise and 
the position which it should hold in the 
esteem of the world. 

For the purposes of this discussion I pro- 
pose dividing biological stations into, first, 
individual resorts, second, periodic resorts, 
and third, permanent stations. Individual 
resorts are such as are characterized by the 
work of one or more individual investi- 
gators, working for the most part independ- 
ently, and solving their problems by virtue 
of their individual investigations. There 
are, of course, a large number of such places 
where some investigator has made sporadic 
or single efforts at the determination of the 
faunal character of a water basin, or has 
paid a number of occasional visits to such 
a locality for the same purpose. On the 
whole, these stations have accomplished 
comparatively little, although we find strik- 
ing contradictions of the general statement. 

They may also be of a more regular and 
definite character, and some of these per- 
sonal investigations have been most valuable 
in extending our present knowledge of fresh 
water life. It may be noted here that the 
permanence or regularity which contributes 
to the success may be either in the location 
of the point at which the investigations 
are carried out, or in the definiteness of 
the purpose which is followed; thus Im- 
hof’s investigations on the pelagic fauna of 
the Swiss lakes were permanent in their. 
value, and Zschokke’s investigation of the 
biological character of elevated lakes carried 
on at numerous points in the Alpine chain, 
has resulted in fundamentally important 
contributions to the lacustrine fauna of high 
altitudes. Yet neither of these was at all 
confined to a single locality, though limited 
by a definite purpose. 

Periodic resorts are those to which groups 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


of individuals are accustomed to go for a 
certain portion or season of the year, most 
commonly for a vacation period in accord- 
ance with which they are denominated 
summer or winter laboratories. The larger 
number of the investigators tends towards 
securing a more complete idea of the bio- 
logical problem as a whole, so that the re- 
sults obtained from such stations are of 
evident value. Yet, at the same time, it 
must be noted that they are distinctly in- 
ferior, even to many individual resorts, since 
during the larger portion of the year no in- 
vestigations are carried on and the results 
obtained are necessarily partial and incom- 
plete in their character, and hence unavail- 
able for the decision of the broader and more 
fundamental biological questions. 

Permanent stations are those at which 
operations are conducted throughout the 
entire year by a definite corps of observers. 
The continuity of their work renders their 
results valuable for the decision of general 
biological problems, and, at the same time, 
the permanent force which, in part, at least, 
is indispensable in such an institution, im- 
plies that the undivided attention of the 
observer is devoted to these problems; from 
this we may then expect justly that greater 
results will be obtained than in the case 
even of the best of individual resorts, since 
the investigators who are carying on opera- 
tions at these are, so far as I know, without 
exception, connected with educational or 
scientific institutions which demand at least 
a part of their time, and to that extent di- 
vide their interest and their energy. 

It is furthermore clear from what has 
been previously said that such permanent 
stations are of two distinct classes. First, 
those which may be denominated general, 
even though their work is of the greatest 
value for specia! purposes, and second, those 
which are distinctively technical by virtue 
of their association with specific enterprises. 

It is but natural that the different conti- 


SCIENCE. 


5O1 


nents are very unequally represented with 
regard to the number of stations that have 
been established upon them, and with re- 
spect to the knowledge that has been gained 
in reference to their fresh-water fauna and 
flora. Thus, our knowledge of the Aus- 
tralian fresh-water fauna is confined, at pres- 
ent, to the report of collections made by 
travelers, and to the investigation of speci- 
mens raised by Sars from dry mud which 
had been sent to him. Of Africa we know 
that fifteen years agoan expedition brought 
word from Lake Tanganyika that while 
rowing across its waters they encountered 
swarms of jelly-fish, while many of the 
gastropod shells which were brought back 
with them showed, in an equally striking 
way, their marine character. These reports 
have been confirmed by an expedition that 
has just returned, and the strikingly ma- 
rine complexion of the fauna of the lake 
ean hardly be doubted. This appears all 
the more strange since collections made at 
Lake Nyassa, which lies decidedly nearer 
the sea, show nothing but what is specif- 
ically lacustrine. Such facts point, of 
course, to the importance of the African 
fresh-water stations of the future. 

From various lakes of Asia, all the way 
from Ceylon to Siberia, numerous more or 
less extensive collections have been made 
by travelers, though there is hardly any- 
thing sufficiently extended to warrant the 
statement that a station has been located, 
even for a limited time, at any point, espe- 
cially since the collections have not been 
investigated by men who had made them, 
but have been turned over as alcoholic ma- 
terial to European investigators for study. 
We do know, however, that Lake Baikal, 
which is situated almost in the center of 
the continent, harbors a rich mollusean and 
crustacean fauna that is characteristically 
marine in its form, and is further distin- 
guished by possessing many sponges clearly 
of marine fype, and at least one species of 


502 


seal (Phoca), a genus which is typically 
oceanic. A discussion ou the meaning of 
these features lies far from the purpose of 
the present paper, but certainly such facts 
do point out most strikingly that the field 
of limnobiological investigation is not lack- 
ing in topics of extreme interest. 

From South America reports concerning 
the fresh water fauna are perhaps most 
scanty of all. Frenzel, a German investi- 
gator who lived many years in Argentine 
Republic, has published some interesting 
studies made while there on the Protozoa; 
a few isolated notices of the lacustrine 
fauna from various regions complete the 
list. 

From these statements it is apparent that 
the work done thus far outside of Europe 
and North America is exceedingly limited, 
and that for our judgment of the results in 
formal limnobiological investigations, we 
must look to the laboratories of these two 
continents. Among all European countries, 
Switzerland has furnished perhaps the great- 
est number of investigators and stations for 
limnobiology, together with the most ex- 
tended and valuable results, although even 
yet there is not in that country, so far as I 
can ascertain, a building exclusively devoted 
to the purposes of this investigation. First 
and foremost among these investigators may 
be mentioned Forel, of the University of 
Lausanne,* to whom reference has already 
been made. His investigations have been 
carried on for more than thirty years on 
Lake Geneva; to him we are indebted for 
the first knowledge of the abyssal fauna of 
a fresh-water lake, for the first extended 
program and plan for the investigation of 
such a lake, and for the first effort towards 
the realization of such a plan, which finds 
its full expression in his ‘Lac Léman,’ a 
monograph at present in the course of pub- 

* In a sense the laboratory of the University, which 


is located near the shore of the lake, is the building of 
the station, as in Wisconsin, mentioned below. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 223. 


lication ; the volumes which have appeared 
thus far treat of physical, chemical, and 
meteorological conditions on the lake, and 
are to be followed by others which will com- 
plete, with the flora and fauna, the entire 
limnologic investigation. The series will 
make a magnificent and permanent contri- 
bution to lacustrine investigation, and will . 
serve as a model for the work of all times. 

The work of Zschokke, professor at the 
University of Basel, has been directed as 
already mentioned towards the elucidation 
of the faunal aspect of elevated lakes. 
It has been carried on through many 
years at differents points, including the 
lakes of the Jura to the westward, as well as 
those in various regions of the Alps proper, 
and his papers on the fauna of elevated 
lakes contain the only general statement 
of the problem as well as of the char- 
acteristic features of such localities that 
has yet appeared. Lake Constance has 
been the scene in recent years of the work 
of numerous investigators under the guid- 
ance of an association for the investigation 
of the lake, which has its headquarters at 
Lindau. The published accounts of these 
investigations have thus far been prelimi- 
nary in character, and I am unable to learn 
whether there is a building devoted to the 
purposes of investigation, and whether the 
work is carried on throughout the entire 
year. 

This lake was the scene of early investi- 
gations by Weismann in 1877, and the pres- 
ent work which was inaugurated about 
1893 is under the direction of Hofer, of the 
University of Munich. 

To Bohemia belongs the honor of having 
had the first definite building for lacustrine 
investigations in the form of the Bohemian 
Portable Laboratory which was constructed, 
in 1888, under the direction of Professor 
Fritsch, of the University of Prague. Refer- 
ence has already been made to the early 
work of this investigator, who, in 1871, 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


reported to the Academy of Sciences, in 
Prague, the results of the investigations of 
Black Sea, a small body of water in the 
Bohemian forest, with reference to the dis- 
tribution of animals according to the depth 
of the water and their reiation to the shore. 
These investigation which were extended 
to other lakes in the same year, are, I be- 
lieve, the first at least’ to be recorded that 
were carried. out in this way. It was, how- 
ever, in 1888 before Fritsch sueceeded in ob- 
taining funds for a small portable zoological 
laboratory having some twelve square me- 
ters of floor surface. Thestation remained 
at its first location four years, and was re- 
placed by a permanent structure when it 
was removed to another locality. This 
portable laboratory has been regularly 
visited at brief intervals of time by the di- 
rector and his associates in the three locali- 
ties at which it has been situated during 
the last ten years, and the contributions 
from this work constitute most valuable 
studies on the lacustrine biology of Bohemia. 

In Finland there exists the laboratory of 
Esbo-Lofo, on one of the small islands which, 
though primarily a marine station, is so 
favorably located with reference to bodies 
of fresh water that it has devoted a consid- 
erable portion of its energy to the investi- 
gation of the fresh water fauna with valua- 
ble results. This laboratory has beeu 
maintained since 1895 under the direction 
of Professor Levander. Its contributions 
are published in the ‘ Acta Societatis pro 
Fauna et Flora Fennica.’ One of its 
workers, Dr. Stenroos, has for several years 
individually visited Lake Nurmijarvi, one 
of the small inland lakes with which Fin- 
land is so plentifully supplied, a body of 
water, which though itis about two and five- 
tenths kilometers in length by one in width, 
has a maximum depth of only one meter; 
he has given us a very complete faunistic 
and biologic study of its life. 

Russia has recently established a station 


SCIENCE. 


503 


on Glubokoe Osero, or Deep Lake, in the 
Province of Moscow, under the patronage 
of the Imperial Russian Society for Fish 
Culture. The station is under the direction 
of Professor Zograf, of Moscow University, 
whose contributions to lacustrine investi- 
gation, have been made known especially in 
a paper on the lake regions of Russia from 


_the biologic standpoint, which was read 


before the International Zoological Congress 
in 1893. I infer that the station is a per- 
manent one, though probably of technical 
character, although precise information on 
these points has not been obtained. Hun- 
gary has maintained for some years a lacus- 
trine station on Lake Balaton, one of the 
largest fresh-water bodies of Europe, hav- 
ing an area of over 266 square miles, though 
its maximum depth appears to be only 11 
meters; it is surrounded by enormous 
marshy areas which give thus varied con- 
ditions for the development of life. Several 
parts of the report on these investigations 
have already been published. In France 
there exists a lacustrine laboratory near’ 
Clermont-Ferrand, which seems to have 
been organized in 1893; no reports or con- 
tributions from the station are recorded in 
the bibliographical records. At Paris, Drs. 
Richard and de Guerne have investigated 
collections from a large number of lakes 
not only in France and neighboring coun- 
tries, but even from Algeria, Syria, the 
Azores and other points, and have pub- 
lished valuable contributions on the distri- 
bution of fresh-water crustacea, as well as 
systematic monographs of various groups. 

In Germany all types of stations are 
represented, as might be expected, from the 
importance of scientific study in that na- 
tion. Individual investigators, not a few, 
have examined various lakes or lake re- 
gions, most prominent among them being 
undoubtedly Apstein, whose studies on 
Holstein lakes have extended over many 
years, and whose work on fresh-water plank- 


504 


ton is the first general statement of the 
problems and of the methods used by Hen- 
sen in the investigation of the marine life 
with such success, and by Apstein first ap- 
plied to lacustrine investigation. Prob- 
ably the best known fresh-water station in 
the world is that on Lake Ploen also in 
Holstein. This was the first permanent 
general fresh-water station to be established 
in the world. It owes its inception to the 
energy of its present director, Dr. Zacharias, 
whose plan was to establish for fresh water 
an institution similar to the Naples marine 
biological station. The station opened in 
1891, and since that time it has been in 
continuous operation, and has afforded 
opportunities for investigation to a large 
number of scientific workers both German 
and foreign. It is the most pretentious of 
all fresh-water stations, having a building 
two stories in height, with numerous labo- 
ratory rooms and equipped with abundant 
apparatus for collecting and investigating. 
From it has been published yearly, since 
1893, a volume of studies, and the director 
has also contributed largely to other jour- 
nals on these problems. Two other stations 
in Germany owe their inception to the 
fishery problem, and have for their purpose 
more particularly the investigation of those 
limnologic questions which deal particularly 
with the life of the fishes. One of these is 
located at Miggelsee, near Berlin, and is 
conducted under the auspices of the Ger- 
man Fishery Association. The other, at 
Trachenberg, is under the auspices of the 
Silesian Fisheries’ Association. Both have 
made important contributions to the bio- 
logical questions concerned in fish culture. 

All the North American stations which are 
known to me lie within the limits of the 
United States, and they represent all the 
various types of such institutions. A con- 
siderable number of workers have reported 
isolated investigations of lakes in all parts 
of the country from Maine to California. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No, 223. 


Among the most important of these occa- 
sional observations are those made by 
Forbes on the fauna of elevated lakes in the 
Rocky Mountains. The observations which 
he has recorded were made in the course of 
a preliminary investigation of these lakes 
by the United States Fish Commission, and 
constitute the only information on record 
with reference to the lakes of the country 
west of the Missouri river. There are but 
two localities which may be listed, however, 
as individual resorts sufficiently regularly 
visited to entitle them to more particular 
mention in this place. Green Lake, in 
Wisconsin, has been carefully studied by 
Professor Marsh, of Ripon College, and his 
work has yielded valuable information with 
reference to the vertical distribution of the 
erustacea and with regard to the deep water 
fauna of the lake. Here he was able to 
confirm the observation of Stimpson, on 
Lake Michigan, that there are found in the 
deep waters of our large lakes crustacea of 
a purely marine type. At Lake Mendota, 
in Wisconsin, on the shores of which is lo- 
cated the State University, a careful inves- 
tigation, extending over a very considerable 
number of years, has been carried on by 
Professor Birge of the University. The re- 
sults which he has obtained with reference 
to the distribution, both vertical and sea- 
sonal, have been published by the Wiscon- 
sin Academy and are not only the most 
extensive, but beyond all comparison the 
most precise investigation which has been 
made on this problem. 

Of course, in one sense, this station has 
no building, but the scientific laboratory of 
the University, standing within a stone’s 
throw of the shore of the lake, affords op- 
portunities which are not surpassed at any 
fresh-water station in the world. 

Quite a number of periodic resorts of the 
type of summer laboratories are to be found 
in various parts of the country. Some of 
these are merely summer schools, such as 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


the biological laboratory of the Chautauqua 
College of Liberal Arts, on Lake Chautau- 
qua. Others are both for teaching and for 
investigation, while only a small number 
are exclusively devoted to the investigation 
of limnologic problems from one standpoint 
or another. The University of Minnesota 
has maintained at Gull Lake, near the cen- 
ter of the State, a laboratory for summer 
work by members of the University, and for 
the prosecution of the natural history sur- 
vey of the State under the direction of 
Professor Nachtrieb, of the University. The 
State University of Ohio has conducted, 
since 1896,a lake laboratory near Sandusky, 
on Lake Erie. It occupies one of the State 
fish hatcheries, and is supplied with the 
necessary apparatus by joint action of the 
University and State Fish Commission. 
Its purpose is to afford a convenient point 
of work for the members of the University, 
and also to aid in the prosecution of the 
State Biological Survey, which is being car- 
ried on by the Ohio Academy of Sciences. 
The immense stretches of shallow water, 
marshy regions, and protected areas, to- 
gether with the varied character of shore 
and the open lake within. easy reaching dis- 
tance, serve to make Sandusky perhaps the 
most favorable place on Lake ‘Erie for the 
study of the fresh-water fauna and flora. 
The station was closed a year ago, owing to 
the death of the Director, Professor Kelli- 
cott. 

In 1895 the University of Indiana opened 
a Biological Station on the shore of Turkey 
Lake in the northern part of the State, un- 
der the direction of Professor Eigenmann of 
the University; a constantly increasing 
number of students has visited the station 
each summer. The majority of them have 
been teachers of the State engaged in the 
prosecution of work to equip them for their 
teaching, but others have also assisted in 
carrying out a general survey of the lake 
fauna and in the collection of material to 


SCIENCE, 


505 


illustrate annual variation and associated 
problems. For comparison, collections have 
been made from adjacent lakes connected 
with other water basins. In the coming 
year the station is to be moved to the shores 
of Winona Lake, some 18 miles from the 
present location, where two building are to 
be constructed for its use by the Winona 
Assembly. The contributions from the 
laboratory have been published in the Pro- 
ceedings of the Indiana Academy. 

For a number of years the Michigan Fish 
Commission maintained a force of a few 
scientific investigators and assistants in con- 
ducting a biological examination of the in- 
land lakes of the State, under the direction 
of Professor Reighard of the University of 
Michigan. In 1893 it was determined to 
transfer the seat of operations from inland 
waters to one of the Great Lakes, and by 
virtue, both of its convenient location and 
of its importance as a famous spawning 
ground of the lake fish, which had, how- 
ever, almost ceased to visit it, Lake St. Clair 
was decided upon as the locality for the 
first year and the laboratory was located on 
a small bay at the northwest shore of the 
lake. The party consisted of half a dozen 
scientific workers whose attention was ex- 
clusively devoted each to his particular 
field, and the results of the survey were 
published in bulletins of the Michigan Fish 
Commission. In 1894 the station was moved 
to Charlevoix, a famous fishing region on 
the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, and, 
owing to the absence of Professor Reighard, 
in Europe, I was requested to take charge 
of the work. The scientific force and the 
methods of work were similar to those of 
the preceding year, but the location brought 
us in contact, not only with shallow waters, 
but also with the deeper regions of Lake 
Michigan, and the party made investiga- 
tions and collections of a precise character 
in the deepest fresh water which has as yet 
been investigated by such methods. The 


506 


results of the summer’s work were published 
in a bulletin of the Commission. Unfavor- 
able financial conditions compelled the sus- 
pension of the work on the part of the 
Michigan Fish Commission, but American 
investigators owe much to the impetus 
which has been given to such work through 
their agency. 

For many years the U.S. Fish Commis- 
sion has been urged to establish on the 
Great Lakes a biological station similar to 
that which has long been maintained on 
the ocean, at Woods Hole, Mass. Finally, 
a year ago,a prelininary survey was under- 
taken with a view to deciding the advisa- 
bility of such a movement and Professor 
Reighard was requested to assume the 
leadership of the enterprise. The U. 5S. 
Fish Hatchery at Put-in-Bay, a small island 
in the center of the west end of Lake Erie, 
was selected as the seat of operations and 
a party of scientific workers spent two 
months in studying the fauna and flora of 
the adjacent waters. It is to be hoped that 
this work may develop into a permanent 
experiment station on the Great Lakes. 

Among permanent American stations of a 
technical character, the Experimental Filter 
Station of the Massachusetts Board of 
Health, located at Lawrence, is the best 
known as it is also, perhaps, the most 
famous of its kind in the world. It has 
been in continuous operation since 1887 
and has conducted extended experiments 
on the biological examination of drinking 
waters; the methods worked out in con- 
nection with them are now standard for 
such purposes. Similar technical labora- 
tories are in operation in Boston, Lynn, 
Worcester and other cities ; but in most of 
them the biological examination of waters 
is only a secondary function. The Mount 
Prospect Laboratory, organized recently in 
connection with the Brooklyn Water Works, 
and placed under the direction of Mr. G. 
C. Whipple, whose contributions to limno- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S.)) Von. DX. “No! 223: 


biologic questions are well known, is more 
particularly devoted to the investigation of 
questions connected with the character of 
the water supply. Numerous samples 
taken from all the sources of the city’s sup- 
ply are subjected each week to physical, 
chemical, microscopical, and bacteriological 
examinations, and the quality of the water 
controlled thereby, since the reports made 
to the chief engineer serve to guide him in 
the choice of the sources from which the 
water isdrawn. The results of such studies 
are also of great importance in general lim- 
nologic questions. 

The University of Illinois was extremely 
fortunate in having associated with it, by 
statute, a state laboratory of natural his- 
tory which has been engaged for many years 
in a natural history survey of the State. 
Under the direction of Professor Forbes, 
whose pioneer work on the lake fauna has 
already been noted, particular attention was 
paid to such questions as the food of fresh 
water fishes, and the distribution of various 
groups of fresh water organisms, so that both 
by preliminary work, and in the person of 
its director, the state laboratory was pecu- 
liarly fitted for the successful inauguration 
of an Illinois Biological Station which be- 
came possible under state grant in 1894. 
The laboratory secured a permanent super- 
intendent in the person of Dr. Kofoid a year. 
later, and work has been carried on continu- 
ously by a permanent force since that date. 
The laboratory was unique in its inception 
since the director, Dr. Forbes, conceived the 
idea of locating it on a river system rather 
than as all previous stations on a lake, and 
it was not only the first in the world, but 
is yet the only station which has peculiarly 
attacked the problems of such a system. 

The Illinois river and its dependent 
waters were selected as the field of opera- 
tions and Havanna, Ill., as the center of 
work. The river here presents in its cut- 
offs, bayous, shallow, marshy tracts, sandy 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


areas with wooded margins and regions of 
spring fed waters, and with the enormous 
extent of land covered at high water, a va- 
riety of conditions which it must be con- 
fessed could not be surpassed, and hardly 
equalled elsewhere.. The abundance and 
variety of the flora and fauna, both in the 
higher and lower forms of life, demonstrate 
the good judgment exercised in the choice 
of locality. A noteworthy feature in the 
equipment of this station, and so far as I 
know, one that is unique, is the floating 
laboratory which enables an easy transfer 
of operations to other points, where work 
can be carried on for comparison or contrast, 
with equipment and environment as satis- 
factory as that which exists ina permanent 
building, but with the flexibility and facility 
of movement which characterizes field 
studies. The work has been conducted un- 
interruptedly for more than three years, 
and the results include studies on the in- 
sects and their development, on the earth- 
worms, on the Protozoa and rotifers, on 
various groups of crustaceans and general 
investigations on plankton methods and on 
the distribution of the plankton, while some 
work has also been done on the plant life 
of water. These studies have been pub- 
lished in the Bulletin of the Illinois State 
Laboratory of Natural History. 

Let us consider, in conclusion, the func- 
tion and future development of these insti- 
tutions. It is perfectly clear that the work 
of the different types of fresh-water sta- 
tions will vary somewhat with the class, 
and Zacharias has outlined carefully the 
differences in the work of the fixed and of 
the movable stations. But these are, after 
all, minor differences. All stations, whether 
fixed or movable, have really three objects : 
teaching, investigating, experimenting, ob- 
jects which may be subserved directly or 
indirectly, or in both ways, by each one of 
them. It is unquestionably true that the 
tendency within recent years has been to 


SCIENCE. 


5O7 


make the university trained scientist a lab- 
oratory man, unacquainted with work out 
of doors and among living things. This 
has reacted unfavorably upon his teaching 
powers, and thus indirectly upon the entire 
schoolsystem. Not that subjects in natural 
history are not better taught in our second- 
ary schools than they were twenty years 
ago, when, in truth, they were hardly taught 
at all, but that the naturalist to-day is not 
trained as an outdoor observer and is little 
capable of handling himself and his work 
in a new environment. As Forbes says: 
“Tt is, in fact, the biological station, wisely 
and liberally managed, which is to restore 
to us what is best in the naturalist of the 
old school united to what is best in the lab- 
oratory student of the new.’’ Thus, both 
through the influence of the investigators 
in the case of those stations which do not 
carry on directly any educational work, and 
through the teaching of those which do 
conduct summer instructional courses, new 
life will be instilled into the teaching of 
natural history throughout our country. 

In the second place, the fresh-water sta- 
tion is a center for investigation with all its 
stimulating effects on the individual thus 
brought in contact with problems of Nature 
and efforts for their solution, and in the 
contributions to the advancement of knowl- 
edge which are the fruits of a careful work 
on the part of its attachés. All that has 
been said of the advantages of marine sta- 
tions applies equally well to fresh-water 
laboratories, together with the added ad- 
vantages that their accessibility brings these 
advantages to considerable regions which 
would otherwise be entirely without them 
by virtue of their distance from the sea. It 
is unnecessary that I should emphasize 
further this phase of the question, or dwell 
upon the greater simplicity of biological 
conditions in fresh-water over those which 
exist in the ocean. These factors have been 
forcibly presented by many writers. 


508 


Finally, the fresh-water station should 
be above all things an experimental one, 
and in this direction the most valuable re- 
sults are to be looked for, both from the 
general scientific and from the technical 
standpoint. To thescientist, this needs no 
demonstration ; but it is essential that the 
importance of such work, especially for fish 
culture, be more widely understood. The 
advance in agricultural methods in the 
United States is unquestionably due in 
large part to the development of a splendid 
series of agricultural experiment stations in 
which agricultural problems have been sub- 
jected to intensive experimentation. Con- 
trasted with this, conditions in fish culture 
present almost the opposite extreme. Fish 
eggs have been hatched in enormous num- 
bers, but what is known of their subsequent 
history or what has been done to insure the 
safe development to maturity of the fish ? 
Present methods have reached their limit 
and the subject must be attacked from a 
different standpoint. Fish culture should 
receive by the liberality of state and nation 
the same favors that have been extended to 
agriculture, the use of permanent and well- 
equipped experiment stations where trained 
workers shall devote their time and energy 
to the solution of its problems. 'horough- 
ness and continuity are essential, for these 
problems really deal with all conditions of 
existence in the water. Of what does the 
food of each fish consist, where is it found 
and in what amount, how may it be in- 
creased and improved ; to what extent and 
how can the number of fish be multiplied, 
and how far is this profitable ; what are the 
best kinds of fish and what new varieties 
can be produced? These are a few of the 
many questions to be solved. 

The problems outlined are indeed vast, 
and yet we may be confident that their so- 
lution lies easily within the power of the 
human intellect, for they are all paralleled 
in the history of the agricultural develop- 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 223. 


ment of the race; and man, relying upon 
his success in the past, may go forward 
with supreme confidence to the attainment 
of their solution in this new field. 

Henry B. Warp. 


ZOOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


BRUNISSURE OF THE VINE AND OTHER 
PLANTS. 

Since the publication, in 1892, of the pa- 
pers by Viala and Sauvageau describing 
Brunissure of the Vine and the California 
Vine disease as due to Plasmodiophora vitis 
(Viala et Sauv.) and P. californica (Viala 
et Sauv.) much interest has been mani- 
fested in these supposed new parasites. F. 
Debray and A. Brive in Revue de Viticul- 
ture, 1895, claimed to have found the para- 
site in a large number of plants belonging 
to numerous families and genera. They 
made a new genus for the organism calling 
it Pseudocommis vitis. By far the best work, 
however, has been done by Viala and Sau- 
vageau. A full discussion of their work 
with bibliography may be found in ‘ Les 
Maladies de la Vigne, par Pierre Viala, Tro- 
isiéme édition 1893, pp. 400-413. Any 
one who has observed for himself the pecu- 
liar structures described would most likely 
decide at once that they must belong, or be 
at least closely related, to the genus Plas- 
modiophora. The peculiar vacuolate plas- 
modium-like structures may be best studied, 
following the directions of Viala (in Mal- 
adies de la Vigne), by slowly clearing the 
sections or tissues in dilute eau de javelle. 
The protoplasm of the host cell is said to be 
dissolved, while that of the plasmodes re- 
mains for a long time unattacked. The 
plasmodes may then be colored with iodine 
or other stains, bringing out their structure 
very sharply. I have recently repeated 
these experiments very carefully and find 
everything described by Viala and Sau- 
vageau in Vitis and also as described by 


APRIL 7, 1899.] 


‘Debray in other plants. In fact, the phe- 
nomena can be produced in all plants so far 
as I have examined, whether healthy or dis- 
eased, especially in cells containing chloro- 
phyll. I obtained the plasmode structures 
readily in leaves and stems of Vitis, Ialiwm 
harrisii, Tobacco, Tomato, Rose and Hyacinth 
and in Spirogyra cells. If one watches the ac- 
tion of eau de javelle closely under the mi- 
croscope a slight plasmolysis of the cells is 

first seen which may increase or afterwards 
- disappear. The chloroplasts swell and be- 
come colorless and unite with each other, 
and usually with the rest of the protein, 
into an amorphous mass almost transpar- 
ent. This mass after a time contracts into 
a single vacuolate plasmodium-like struc- 
ture or into several such structures in each 
cell. These become highly refractive and 
remain without much change for several 
hours or disappear, according to the strength 
of the reagent. In this stage the plasmodes 
may be coagulated with alcohol or iodine 
and stained and permanently mounted in 
glycerine containing alcohol or iodine. If 
dilute glycerine or pure water is added be- 
fore coagulation the plasmode structures 
swell, lose their high refraction and _ be- 
come amorphous. In coagulation these 
formations behave like any albuminoid 
substance. Their formation, however, is 
entirely different from the separation of 
active albumen in the cell by the addi- 
tion of an aqueous solution of caffeine as 
described by Dr. Loew. This difference 
will be discussed in a fuller paper now in 
preparation. The action of the eau de ja- 
velle is most likely an oxidation in the pres- 
ence of an alkali. Changes of the kind de- 
scribed are not produced by a mixture of 
sodium chloride 5% and sodium hydrate 
1% or of either of these acting alone. A 
phenomenon quite similar, however, is pro- 
duced in the Lily if the tissues are first 
soaked in peroxide of hydrogen till discol- 
ored and sections then mounted in sodium 


SCIENCE. 


509 


chloride 5% and sodium hydrate1%. The 
cell contents then quickly swell and be- 
come amorphous, and highly refractive- 
plasmode structures separate out. These 
gradually disappear if not coagulated with 
iodine or alcohol. In the latter case they 
behave as do the similar structures pro- 
duced by the eau de javelle. If the theory 
is correct that these changes are pro- 
duced by an oxidation of the chloroplasts 
and other cell contents in an alkaline me- 
dium it explains why such structures, or a 
reticulate form of them, usually appear in 
cells which slowly die and become brown 
around the punctures of aphids in the leaf 
of the Bermuda lily. Numerous tests made 
by the writer have shown that plants which 
react in this manner to aphis punctures 
contain much larger quantities of oxidizing 
enzyme than plants which do not so react. 
The presence of the substance injected into 
the wound by the aphis probably causes the 
neighboring cells to increase still more in 
oxidizing enzyme until the presence of the 
latter in excessive quantity destroys or oxi- 
dizes the chloroplasts. The cell slowly dies, 
and the rest of the cell contents may then 
be attacked. A brownish shrunken amor- 
phous mass is left. On the addition of 
dilute potassium hydrate or sodium hydrate 
to sections from such spots the oxidized 
protoplasm in the cells which have turned 
brown swells up and becomes a reticulated 
or vacuolate mass, such as is often obtained 
with the eau de javelle or the peroxide of 
hydrogen and sodium hydrate. It is quite 
likely, therefore, that plasmode structures 
would be formed by an alkali in any cells 
that had previously become oxidized either 
from the presence of oxidizing enzyme in 
themselves or from any other cause. These 
observations indicate quite decidedly that 
the supposed Plasmodiophora vitis or 
Pseudocommis vitis are nothing but micro- 
chemical reactions, brought on by oxidations 
and the influence of an alkali upon the en- 


510 


tire protein contents of cells, especially upon 
chloroplasts. ; 
A complete account of the work with il- 
lustrations will be published soon. 
Apert F. Woops. 
DIVISION OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY 
AND PatHoLtocy, U. 8. Dept. AGRICULTURE. 


AN AUTOMATIC MERCURY PUMP. 
AurHoucH there is nothing especially 
new in regard to the pump proper, the 
method of electrical control may be suffi- 
ciently novel to warrant a brief description. 


410 Volts 


The pump proper is a modification of a 
common form of Geissler pump. It con- 
sists of a long glass tube, about 14 inches 
in diameter, which has a mercury trap and 
a small glass valve at the top. The bottom 
of the tube is drawn down and dips into a 


SCIENCE. 


° 


[N.S. Vou. LX. No. 223. 


flask filled with mercury. A tight joint is 
made between the flask and pump by a rub- 
ber stopper. This stopper also serves asa 
flexible support for the body of the pump. 
The exhaust tube is sealed into the pump 
just above the point at which the pump 
passes into the flask. The arrangement is 
best shown by the figure. 

The tube to be exhausted is attached to 
the pump, through a drying bulb filled with 
anhydrous phosphorie acid, by a simple 
ground joint with a mercury seal. The 
valve at the top of the pump is ground to 


<= > 


| 


Trop made of capillary tube tanan bore 
Vatue, 

Fr fecth 

Drying Rute, 

Gyound jars uath antreury seal 
Refay 

Solenoid. 

Three urany coche 


tonmyuaod>d 


fit its seat and so weighted by filling with 
mercury that it closes, leaving sufficient 
mercury above it to form a tight joint. Di- 
mensions which give very satisfactory re- 
sults are shown on the figure, Suction is 
applied permanently to the top of the pump 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


above the valve. The mercury in the pump 
is raised or lowered by applying atmos- 
pheric pressure or suction to the flask. The 
suction necessary to operate the pump is 
obtained by a small watbr-jet pump giving 
a vacuum of about 28 inches. A pump 
with the valve alone will work fairly well, 
except that occasionally, when the quantity 
of air taken out at each stroke becomes 
small, a little bubble will cling to the valve 
and refuse to pass out of the pump. To 
avoid this, a trap is added below the valve 
to prevent any air which might fail to pass 
the valve from returning to the pump. 

The only requisite to make the pump 
automatic is to have some means of con- 
trolling a three-way cock which will apply 
either pressure or suction to the flask. This 
control is obtained electrically by making 
and breaking a circuit in the valve at the 
top, and in a float in the flask at the bottom. 
A permanent electrical connection is made 
with the mercury in the flask at the bottom. 
A platinum wire sealed into the tip of the 
valve serves to connect electrically the 
mercury in the valve with that in the 
pump. Aniron wire dips into the stem of 
the valve and serves as a final contact. The 
mercury rising in the pump first makes 
contact with the inside of the valve through 
the platinum wire. As it continues to rise 
the valve opens floats and ompletes the 
circuit by the iron wire. It will be seen 
that the final contact is made in the valve, 
and any sparking that may occur can in no 
way foul the mercury in the pump. When 
the mercury in the pump reaches its lowest 
level a float in the flask similar to the 
valve at the top closes another circuit. 
These two circuits control a relay which in 
turn controls a solenoid connected to the 
three-way cock. The solonoid is wound 
for 110 volts and takes only a small current. 
One or two Leclanché cells are sufficient 
for the relay. The electrical connections 
are shown in the figure. 


SCIENCE. 511 


A pump of this form has been in use at 
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
for over two years, and has proved very 
satisfactory. It works quickly, and will 
give high Crookes vacuum without trou- 
ble. 

In starting the pump, the pump and 
whatever may be attached to it are first 
exhausted by the water pump to about two 
or three inches’ pressure. For the first few 
strokes, which are make by hand, the mer- 
cury is allowed to rise only part way in the 
pump. After this the necessary electrical 
circuits may be closed and the pump will 
take care of itself. In this way the dan- 
gerous hammering of the mercury occurring 
when the quantity of air taken out at each 
stroke is large can be avoided. 

I am indebted to Mr. C. L. Norton for 
valuable assistance in developing this 
pump. 

Ratrg R. LAWRENCE. 


RoGERS LABORATORY OF PHYSICS, 
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
The Wonderful Century. By ALFRED RUSSELL 

WALLACE. 

As the human mind is more wonderful than 
anything else that we find in nature, so the 
greatest and most significant difference between 
the ‘ Wonderful Century’ and all that had gone 
before is an intellectual difference. 

It is not invention and discovery and the ex- 
tension of man’s dominion over nature, but the 
establishment of the conviction that we know 
no limit to this movement, that is the chief dis- 
tinction of our century. 

Among those who have, in our day, guided 
the thoughts of men to this conviction, future 
historians will. give the highest place to Lyell, 
and Wallace and Darwin; for no one in our 
century has done more than they to assure us 
that the scientific method is adequate; even if 
successive generations of ‘ philosophers’ still 
continue to teach that the very top and perfec- 
tion of human wisdom is the assertion that we 
know, and can know, nothing. 


512 


With modesty which some hold to do him 
less than justice, Wallace believed that Darwin 
so much surpassed him in strength and wisdom 
and in acquaintance with nature that it became 
his duty to devote his life to the assistance of 
Darwin in his efforts to extend the province of 
human knowledge into regions that had been 
declared closed. The intellectual revolution 
has come about, nor will the thoughtful permit 
Wallace’s part in bringing it about to be for- 
gotten; nor can we forget the generous devo- 
tion which chose the advancement of truth 
before the natural desire for recognition and dis- 
tinction. Noonecan suspect that such a man as 
Wallace has proved himself will ignore or de- 
preciate the share of anyone in this great work, 
and few chapters of his book on ‘ The Wonder- 
ful Century’ are more interesting than the one 
in which he touches, very gently and tenderly, 
upon the part which the ‘ philosophers’ have 
had in the progress of natural science. 

It is one thing to show that there is no logical 
basis for belief that species are immutable, but 
it is quite a different matter to show what 
modifies species. It was by finding out, and not 
by exposing the weakness in the logic of those 
who asserted that we never can find out, that 
Wallace and Darwin passed the bounds where 
they had been told that natural knowledge 
ends. 

Lamarck, and Chambers, and Herbert Spen- 
cer, and many others, even Wallace himself, 
had shown that there is no reason to doubt that 
species are mutable; but all had failed to show 
how the changes take place ; and many eminent 
men of science, as well as the general public, 
refused to consider beliefs which were as yet 
beliefs and nothing more. 

What educated public opinion was before the 
publication of the ‘Origin’ is shown, says 
Wallace, by the fact that neither Lamarck nor 
Herbert Spencer nor the author of the ‘ Ves- 
tiges’ had been able to make any impression 
upon it. The very idea of progressive develop- 
ment of species from other species was held to 
be a ‘heresy’ by such great and liberal-minded 
men as Sir John Herschel and Sir Charles 
Lyell; the latter writer declaring, in the earlier 
editions of his great work, that the facts of 
geology are ‘ fatal to the theory of progressive 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 223. 


development.’ The whole literary and scientific 
worlds were violently opposed to all such theo- 
ries, and altogether disbelieved in the possibility 
of establishing them. It had been so long the 
custom to treat species as special creations, and 
the mode of their creation as the ‘ mystery of 
mysteries,’ that it had come to be considered 
not only presumptuous, but almost impious, for 
any individual to profess to have lifted the veil 
from what was held to be the greatest and most 
mysterious of Nature’s secrets. 

Wallace tells us, ‘ The Wonderful Century,’ 
p. 139, that after he had studied what had been 
written, and even after he had himself written 
about the mutability of species: ‘‘I had no 
conception of how or why each new form had 
come into existence with all its beautiful adap- 
tations to its special mode of life; and though 
the subject was continually being pondered 
over, no light came to me till three years 
later (February, 1858), under somewhat peculiar 
circumstances. I was then living at Ternate, 
in the Moluccas, and was suffering from a 
rather severe attack of intermittent fever, which 
prostrated me for several hours every day dur- 
ing the cold and succeeding hot fits. During 
one of these fits, while again considering the 
problem of the origin of species, something led 
me to think of Malthus’ Essay on Population 
(which I had read about ten years before), and 
the ‘positive checks’—war, disease, famine, 
accidents, etec.—which he adduced as keeping 
all savage nations nearly stationary. It then 
occurred to me that these checks must also act 
upon animals, and keep down their numbers; 
and as they increase so much faster than man 
does, while their numbers are always nearly 
or quite stationary, it was clear that these 
checks in their case must be far more powerful, 
since a number equal to the whole increase 
must be cut off by them each year. While 
vaguely thinking how this would affect any 
species, there suddenly flashed upon me the 
idea of the survival of the fittest—that the indi- 
viduals removed by these checks must be, on 
the whole, inferior to those that survived. 
Then, considering the variations continually oc- 
curring in every fresh generation of animals or 
plants, and the changes of climate, of food, of 
enemies always in progress, the whole method 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


of specific modification became clear to me, 
and in the two hours of my fit I had thought 
out the main points of the theory.’’ 

If this had been only a fortunate guess it 
would have little interest, for no one cares to 
ask whether Empedocles, or Wells, or Mathew, 
or Darwin, or Herbert Spencor, or Wallace 
first had this happy thought. It was because 
Wallace had spent years of hard work in gath- 
ering facts and in pondering them that he was 
able to see that this sudden product of his ‘ fit’ 
was worthy of further examination, and be- 
cause he devoted the rest of his life to its ap- 
plication to new discoveries that he is held to 
be the joint discoverer of the law of Natural 
Selection. 

The origin of species by means of natural se- 
lection is now universally accepted as a demon- 
strated principle. ‘‘This,’’ says Wallace, ‘is, 
of course, partly due to the colossal work of 
Herbert Spencer; but for one reader of his works 
there are probably ten of Darwin’s, and the es- 
tablishment of the theory of the Origin of Species 
by Means of Natural Selection is wholly Darwin’s 
work. That book, together with those which 
succeeded it, has so firmly established the doc- 
trine of progressive development of species by 
the ordinary processes of multiplication and 
variation that there is now, I believe, scarcely 
a single living naturalist who doubts it. Prob- 
ably so complete a change’ of educated opinion, 
on a question of such vast difficulty and com- 
plexity, was never before effected in so short a 
time. It not only places the name of Darwin 
on a ievel with that of Newton, but his work 
will always be considered as one of the greatest, 
if not the very greatest, of the scientific 
achievements of the nineteenth century, rich 
as that century has been in great discoveries in 
every department of physical science.”’ 

To this we must add that, so long as the 
‘ Origin of Species’ holds its place on the shelves 
of students, close beside it we shall find the 
‘Malay Archipelago ;’ for the writer of this 
review has.no doubt that Wallace will be one of 
those to whom future generations will say: 
‘Friend, Go up higher.’’ 

W. K. Brooks. 

JOHNS HopKINS UNIVERSITY, 

BALTIMORE. 


SCIENCE, 


515 


The Principles of Bacteriology. 
NAND HUEPPE. 


By Dr. FErpI- 
Translated by PROFESSOR 
E. O. JorDAN. Chicago, The Open Court 

Publishing Co. Pp. 455. 

American bacteriologists certainly owe a debt 
of gratitude to Professor Jordan for putting 
into clear English this valuable contribution to 
the science of bacteriology of Professor Hueppe, 
of Prague. Hueppe’s contribution to bacteri- 
ology in this volume is no ordinary one. The 
book is not simply a review of facts, but is de- 
cidedly original. From the first to the last the 
author and his opinions are decidedly in eyi- 
dence. Whether or not one is inclined to 
agree with him in all his conclusions, no one 
will question the force of the arguments with 
which he upholds his opinions. 

After giving some general information in re- 
gard to bacteria (in which the author accepts 
the conclusion that the tuberculous bacillus is 
not a bacterium at all) he deals in successive 
chapters with the vital phenomena of bacteria, 
pathogenic bacteria, the cause of infectious dis- 
eases, cure by combating the cause, immunity, 
prevention and history. The chapter upon 
vital phenomena of bacteria is especially valu- 
able, since it treats, ina comprehensive manner, 
of the somewhat obscure subject of the chem- 
istry of bacterial poisons and bacterial nu- 
trients. 

But the most suggestive part of the work be- 
gins with the chapter upon the cause of infec- 
tious disease. Here he sets himself in opposi- 
tion to the school of Koch by denying that 
bacteria can in any proper sense be regarded as 
the cause of disease, and especially repudiating 
the idea that definite species of bateria are the 
‘specific’ cause of ‘specific’ diseases. No one can 
question Hueppe’s thorough acquaintance with 
the facts of modern bacteriology, and it seems a 
little strange that he can hold a position so gener- 
ally at variance with that of most bacteriolo- 
gists. But we soon learn that his position is 
not so different from that of Koch as at first ap- 
pears, and perhaps not so different as Hueppe 
triesto make it appear. Hueppe is, of course, 
fully aware that diseases are produced in ani- 
mals by inoculating them with certain bacteria 
cultures. His criticism is simply against the 
claim that they are the cause of the disease and 


514 SCIENCE. 


that definite species cause definite diseases. 
That they provoke diseases he recognizes ; that 
they cause them he denies. His own position 
is essentially as follows: Disease and health 
alike are attributes of the activity of living 
cells. 

Health is the result of the normal activity and 
disease of the abnormal activity of these cells, 
and it is hardly more correct to say that dis- 
ease is caused by bacteria than to say that 
health is caused by their absence. Disease is a 
process, not an entity, and is really caused by 
some condition of the living cells which makes 
them liable to act abnormally when stimu- 
lated. No disease can appear in the body 
except such as are predisposed in the living 
cells. The bacteria serve as a stimulus just 
as the spark serves as a stimulus for gun- 
powder. The spark is not the cause of the 
explosion, though it may excite it. There isa 
certain amount of resistance to be overcome 
before the cells will start to act abnormally, and 
the bacteria simply overcome this resistance. 
We are learning to appreciate more and more 
fully that one animal may be predisposed to a 
disease while another is more resistant, a fact 
in itself which shows that we are speaking very 
loosely when we say that the bacteria cause 
the disease. According to Hueppe disease is 
the result of a number of factors of unequal 
weight. External conditions constitute one 
factor, the condition of the body cells a second, 
and the presence of certain bacteria a third. 
When together they produce disease. Break 
the chain as one link and there is no disease. 
The school of Koch has paid attention to one of 
these links, the school of Virchow to the sec- 
ond, while Petinkoffer is trying to study the 
third, 7. e., external conditions. Hueppe in- 
sists that neither one causes the disease, but all 
three together. Disease is a vital activity, and 
while bacteria are needed to stimulate it they 
don’t properly cause it. 

This conception, of course, largely deter- 
mines the position which Hueppe takes in the 
other topics considered. The question of com- 
bating the disease by combating the bacteria 
is only one side of the matter. Prevention in- 
volves something more than simply looking 
after the bacteria. Hygienic measures are mis- 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 223. 


directed if they look simply toward the destruc- 
tion of bacteria. The disinfecting mania which 
developed a few years ago he regards as exag- 
gerated and largely needless. Hygienic measures 
in the past have been very useful and produced 
a decided improvement in public health, but 
this has not been because they have destroyed 
the ‘specific’ bacteria. Rarely do we succeed 
in this object. Sanitariums for tuberculosis pay 
little attention to the matter of germs. The 
success has resulted from the fact that hygienic 
measures and cleanliness, together with fresh 
air and sunlight, have improved the general 
health, given the cells greater vitality and made 
the individual less disposed to acquire the dis- 
ease. They are successful because they have 
been directed to the second link in the chain 
rather than the third. 

It is a question whether his position is quite 
so much at variance with generally accepted 
belief as Hueppe is inclined to think. In de- 
nying that distinct bacteria are ‘specific’ he 
fails satisfactorily to reconcile this position 
with the fact that definite species do provoke 
definite diseases. He fails to make it clear just 
how the bacteria act to produce distinct dis- 
eases if they are not specific. It is a somewhat 
curious position to assume that the silk worms 
have always had a special predisposition to 
pebrine, but that this disposition only appeared 
when the pebrine organism made its appear- 
ance, especially as it appears that all individuals 
yield to the attacks of this germ. But appar- 
ently Hueppe would assume that the animals 
have had this predisposition to a disease which 
never had a chance to develop until the proper 
organism produced the stimulus. Hueppe has 
perhaps just as truly overdrawn the case from 
his point of view as Koch did from his own 
standpoint. But certainly all bacteriologists 
may read with profit this somewhat new set- 
ting-forth of the problem of bacterial diseases, 
and Hueppe is certainly to be thanked for bring- 
ing forward so forcibly the part which the vital 
activity of the organism plays in the matter of 
disease. He has certainly done a valuable ser- 
vice in pointing out that the problem of the 
physician and bacteriologist is to be directed 
toward the man and not the bacterium. 

H. W. C. 


APRIL 7, 1899.] 


The Elements of Graphic Statics. By L. M. Hos- 
KINS, Professor of Applied Mechanics in the 
Leland Stanford Jr. University. New York, 
The Macmillan Company. 1899. Revised 
Edition. Pp. viii + 199, and eight plates. 
The character of works under the head of 

Graphical Statics varies between that extreme 
of which Cremona’s treatise may be regarded as 
typical, in which the name can be regarded as 
scarcely more than a peg on which to hang a 
large amount of theoretical projective-geometry 
matter, and the opposite extreme, where we 
may place the work before us, characterized, 
as it is, by intense practicality and general 
avoidance of everything of merely theoretic or 
historic interest. The favorable impression 
made upon one by the mechanical excellence 
of Professor Hoskins’ book is further confirmed 
by a careful examination of the text. 

Avoiding the error of Culmann in presuppos- 
ing too much information on the part of his 
students as to projective relations and graphic 
methods, the author lays his own foundation on 
which to build, treating the subject more, how- 
ever, as a branch of mechanics than of geometry. 
To this his Part I. is devoted, and it would seem 
impossible to set forth the fundamentals more 
clearly and concisely than in the fifty pages de- 
voted thereto. 

Familiarity with analytics and the calculus 
is assumed for the remainder of the work. 
Bow’s convenient system of notation is em- 
ployed throughout. 

Excluding entirely from the book any con- 
sideration of structures whose discussion in- 
volves the theory of elasticity, the hundred 
pages constituting Part II. are devoted to the 
usual problems of beams and of bridge and roof 
trusses. We have not at hand a copy of the 
original edition for comparison with the 
revision, but as Professor Hoskins’ preface in- 
dicates that the principal changes are in this 
section we state them in this connection in his 
own words: ‘‘In the present revised edition 
no change has been made in general plan, and 
few changes in the treatment adopted, except 
in the portions relating to beams and trusses 
carrying moving loads. These portions have 
been wholly re-written. It is believed that a 
substantial improvement has been made upon 


SCIENCE. 515 


the methods hitherto used, particularly in the 
criterion for determining the position of a given 
load-series which causes maximum stress in any 
member of a truss. The improvement consists 
in generalization, which is believed to be gained 
without sacrifice of simplicity. The graphical 
method of applying the criterion in the case of 
trusses with parallel chords has been fully 
treated by Professor H. T. Eddy. The method 
here given applies without the restriction to 
parallel chords. The algebraic statement of 
the same criterion, as given in Art. 152, is also 
believed to be a useful generalization of the 
methods hitherto used. Whether the algebraic 
or the graphical treatment is preferred, a method 
is useful in proportion to its generality, pro- 
vided this does not involve a loss of simplicity. 
There is a decided advantage in the use of a 
single general equation applicable to any mem- 
ber of any truss, instead of several particular 
equations, each applicable to a special member 
or to aspecial form of truss.’’ That this general- 
ization will be cordially weleomed and availed 
of by the profession may safely be predicted. 

Part III. gives graphic methods of determin- 
ing centers of gravity and the moments of in- 
ertia of plane areas, witha discussion of inertia- 
curves, carried as far as the practical engineer 
will ordinarily need. Eight clear, double-page 
plates complete the work, and one’s only re- 
gret in viewing them is that they cannot face 
the text describing them, to the saving of the 
student’s time and temper. 

We notice that the author uses a term, 
‘complanar’ (whether he suggests it or not is 
not evident), which we trust will not supplant 
the generally accepted ‘con-plane,’ which is con- 
sistent with the other equally self-explanatory 
terms con-focal, con-axial, etc., and needs no 
modification. 

The book is a thoroughly good one preém- 
inently for the class-room, and a course in it 
should be a pleasure alike to pupil and in- 
structor. Frep’x N. WILLson. 

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 


GENERAL. 


PROFESSOR MARTIN’S books on The Human 
Body are in many ways models in the presenta- 


516 


tion of a difficult subject. We are glad to re- 
ceive ‘The Briefer Course’ (Holt), revised by 
Professor G. W. Fitz, of Harvard University, 
and to commend it cordially. The book has 
been corrected throughout and a chapter added 
on growthand nutrition. The three apendices, 
which occupy nearly one fourth of the book, are 
all open to criticism. They are on ‘Emer- 
gencies,’ ‘ Alcohol and Tobacco’ and ‘ Demon- 
strations and Experiments.’ ‘ Emergencies’ 
make up part of the examination in physiology 
which may be taken for entrance to Harvard 
College, but it is not evident that a school boy 
will profit intellectually or practically by being 
told how to treat apoplexy. The demonstra- 
tions and experiments, also part of the Har- 
vard examination, may in their present form 
be useful for the teacher, but scarcely for 
the student. The reviser states that the 
appendix on narcotics is retained against 
his judgment. The injurious effects of nar- 
cotics must by foolish laws be taught in 
most public school courses on physiology; but 
it would be possible to prepare a statement that 
would be scientifically correct, even though its 
teaching might be ethically obnoxious. The 
statements in this book are not exactly incor- 
rect, but they would produce false impressions 
on young students. The results of excess are 
pictured, and the boy is left to infer that the 
final state of his father, who drinks a glass of 
wine for dinner, will be delirium tremens. But 
the boy will be more likely to conclude that 
physiology is not an ‘exact’ science. 
Minerva, ‘A Yearbook of the Learned 
World,’ is indispensable to the editor and useful 
to every one who wishes to keep informed on 
the progress of edyeation and science. As is 
well known, the book contains accounts of uni- 
versities, libraries, museums, learned societies, 
etc., throughout the world. The names of 
over 25,000 officers of these institutions are 
given, and with an accuracy that is truly re- 
markable. The eighth volume, 1899, which 
reaches us from Messrs. Lemcke and Buechner 
(12 Broadway, New York City), is thoroughly 
revised from official sources, and is enlarged 
and improved in several respects, including the 
addition of a number of Canadian institutions. 
Programs of the various international scientific 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 223: 


congresses are promised for next year. The 
importance of the great universities of the 
world cannot be judged from the number of 
students, as the data are not comparable, but 
in this respect the order of the first ten is given 
as follows : Paris, 12,047 ; Berlin, 10,306; Mad- 
rid, 6,143 ; Vienna, 5,710; Naples, 5,103; Mos- 
cow, 4,461; Budapesth, 4,407; Munich, 3,997 ; 
Harvard, 3,674; St. Petersburg, 8,615. Asa 
matter of fact, Harvard, with over 5,000 stu- 
dents all told, is probably now the fourth in 
size of the universities of the world, being sur- 
passed only by Paris, Berlinand Vienna. There 
are thirty universities having over 2,000 stu- 
dents, and, of these, nine are in the United 
States, four in Russia and in Great Britain, 
three in France, in Germany and in Austria- 
Hungary, two in Italy and one in Spain and in 
Greece. 


ANOTHER useful work of reference is Who's 
Who? edited by Mr. Douglas Sladen and pub- 
lished by Black in London and by Macmillan in 
New York. It contains brief bibliographies of 
people talked about in Great Britain, including 
all the leading men of science and a complete 
list of the members of the Royal Society. 
Americans are also noticed, but only in small 
numbers. Presidents Gilman and Harper are 
included, but not President Eliot. The late 
Professor Marsh is the only American man 
of science whose name we have noted. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Report of the Seventh Meeting of the Australasian Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, held at Sydney. 
Edited by A. LIVERSIDGE. Sydney, Published by 
the Association, Pp. lii+1161. 10s. 6d. 


Eléments de Botanique. PH. VAN TIEGHEM. Paris, 
Masson et Cie. 1898. 3d edition, revised and 
enlarged. Vol. I., pp. xvi+559. Vol. II., pp. 
xv+ 612. 


The Fairy Land of Science. 
New York, D. Appleton & Co. 
252. 


How to Know the Ferns. FRANCIS THEODORA PAR- 
sons. New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1899. 
Pp. xiv+210. $1.50. 


Papers and Addresses. 
lege, 1896-1898. Ithaca, N. Y. 


ARABELLA B. BUCKLEY 
1899. Pp. x+ 


N. Y. State Veterinary Col- 
1898. 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


GrorG Hor- 
1899. Pp. 118. 


Die Continuitiit der Atomverkettung. 
MANN. Jena, Gustav Fischer. 
Mark 3. 

Text-Book of Physies—Sound. J. H. PoyntTrine and 
J. J. TuHomson. London, Charles Griflings & 
Company ; Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co. 
Pp. x+163, 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 
THE American Journal of Science contains the 
following articles : 


Glacial Lakes Newberry, Warren and Dana, in 
Central New York, H. L. FAIRCHILD. 


Rapid Method for the Determination of the Amount 
of Soluble Mineral Matter in a Soil, T. H. MEANS. 


New Type of Telescope Objective especially adapted 
for Spectroscopic Use, C. S. HASTINGS. 


Phenocrysts of Intrusive Igneous Rocks, L. V. 
PIRSSON. 


Occurrence, Origin and Chemical Composition of 
Chromite, J. H. PRATT. 


Influence of Hydrochloric Acid in Titrations by 
Sodium Thiosulphate, J. T. Norton, Jr. 


Rock-forming Biotites and Amphiboles, H. W. 
TURNER. 


One Little Known and one Hitherto Unknown 
Species of Saurocephalus, O. P. Hay. 


Some American Fossil Cycads, G. R. WIELAND. 

THE American Geologist for April opens with 
an extended article by Professor William M. 
Davis on the peneplain, being a reply to an 
article by Professor Tarr in a previous issue of 
the journal. Professor Davis writes from 
Cannes, France. Following are articles: By 
Professor George E. Ladd, on the Cretaceous 
Clays of Middle Georgia; by Professor H. N. 
Winchell, on the optical characters of Jackson- 
ite, and by Professor C. H. Hitchcock, giving 
an account of his observations in Australasia. 

THE Journal of the Boston Society of Medical 
Sciences contains a paper by Dr. Franklin G. 
White on ‘Blood Cultures in Septicemia, Pneu- 
monia, Meningitis and Chronic Disease,’ in 
which, among the conclusions reached, is that 


the detection of specific bacteria in the blood in | 


cases of sepsis and pneumonia gives an un- 
favorable prognosis. A brief but interesting 
article by E. H. Bradford treats of the ‘Move- 
ment of the Front ofthe Foot in Walking ;’ and 
Dr. John Dane follows with a ‘ Report of Some 
Studies upon the Arch of the Foot in Infancy, ’ 
showing that this arch is present in infants but 
is masked by a sustaining pad of fat. 


SCIENCE. 517 


THE frontispiece of the Osprey for February 
isa plate of the Hairy Woodpecker by Fuertes ; 
the first article, ‘ Notes from North Dakota, ’ 
by E. S. Rolfe treats of egg collecting in the 
vicinity of Devil’s Lake. Mr. Geo. F. Bren- 
inger has an article on ‘Gambel’s Quail;’ and 
Rev. W. F. Henninger discusses ‘ The Scourge 
of Egg Collecting’ in a manner perhaps a little 
over-zealous, but with an array of facts that 
merit serious consideration. The feature of the 
number is Dr. Gill’s long letter headed ‘A 
Great Work Proposed,’ wherein he lays before 
the readers at some length a number of sugges- 
tions for a new history of North American 
birds. The publication of the Osprey for March 
brings this magazine down to date; Julia 8. 
Robins contributes an article on Wilson enti- 
tled ‘Behind the Wedding Veil,’ and Witmer 
Stone follows with a too short paper on ‘An Old 
Case of Skins and its Associations,’ being notes 
on one of the earliest ornithological collections 
in the United States. In ‘Snap Shots with Pen 
and Camera,’ E. S. Rolfe gives us half a dozen 
views of birds and nests, with accompanying 
text. ‘The Gourdheads in the Cypress Swamp 
of Missouri,’ by Otto Widmann, tells of the 
habits of the Wood Ibis, gourdhead being a 
local name for this bird. W. B. Davis has some 
suggestive notes on ‘Odd Actions of Birds Un- 
explained,’ and the customary notes, editorials 
and reviews complete this unusually good 
number. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE regular meeting was held on February 
i), alii he) 

The first paper of the evening was read by 
Mr. F. D. Simons, and was entitled ‘The De- 
tection of Caramel Coloring Matter in Spirits 
and Vinegar,’ by C. A. Crampton and F. D. 
Simons. 

The paper states that the two principal 
tests given in the books for the detection of 
caramel coloring matter are, first, the reduction 
of Fehling’s solution, and second, the precipita- 
tion of the caramel by means of paraldehyde. 
Neither of these tests has given satisfactory re- 
sults in the hands of the authors. 


518 


It was found that fuller’s earth had a se- 
lective affinity for caramel coloring matter in 
spirits, while the natural color derived from 
wood was but slightly affected. The test is 
made by beating up twenty-five grams of the 
earth with fifty ec. of the sample to be tested, 
allowing it to stand for thirty minutes at room 
temperature, and filtering. The color before 
and after treament is observed by means of 
Levibond’s tintometer or other form of good 
colorimeter, and the amount of color removed 
ascertained in this way. 

The test was applied to all the samples of 
spirits available in the laboratory of internal 
revenue, positive results being obtained in all 
eases. A series of 40 samples known to be 
naturally colored gave an average of 14.6 per 
cent. of color removed, while 18 samples of 
spirit known to be colored with caramel aver- 
aged 44.7 per cent. of color removed. 

The test was also applied to a few samples of 
vinegar, with good results. 

The second paper of the evening was read by 
Dr. David T. Day, and was entitled ‘ Charac- 
teristics of Iridosmium in the United States.’ 

A demand has lately arisen for this mate- 
rial as a source of osmium, with which it is pro- 
posed to impregnate the filaments of incandes- 
cent lights, with most beneficial results as to the 
amount of light supplied by a given current and 
the increased life of the lamp. The problem, of 
supplying a large amount of osmiridium is a most 
fascinating one and has led to much study in the 
localities of the West where platinum metals 
have been found. The results show that plat- 
inum is much more generally distributed through 
‘the western placer mines than was supposed 
and that there are localities containing so-called 
crude platinum, in which osmiridium is found. 
A sample sent from the Oregon beach contained 
as high as 99 per cent. of osmiridium. The 
Hay Fork District, in Trinity county, California, 
Junction City, and more especially the whole 
Pacific Coast beach, isa most interesting field of 
search because the platinum is mixed with much 
osmiridium. It can be said in general that 
nearly all the crude platinum sand contains os- 
miridium in greater or less quantity, according 
to the analyses of a great number of sands made 
by Dr. Waldron Shapleigh, for the Welsbach 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von, LX. No. 223. 


Light Company. An interesting exception is 
the Granite Creek District, of British Columbia. 
A curious form of osmiridium was noted at the 
Chapman Mine, near Junction City, California, 
where nuggets } inch in diameter, when treated 
with warm dilute nitro-hydrochlorie acid, yield 
platinum in solution and flakes of osmiridium. 
The separation of the platinum from the os- 
miridium is readily accomplished by means of 
nitro-hydrochloric acid, and the separation of 
osmic acid from the residue is quite simple by 
the ordinary process of passing chlorine over the 
osmiridium mixed with salt. The purification 
of the osmie acid is now effected by redistilla- 
tion, but it is probable that these methods will 
be much improved within the next few months. 
It is probable that 2,000 ozs. of the material will 
be obtained during 1899. 

The last paper of the evening was read by Dr. 
Day, and was entitled ‘Uses of Fuller’s Earth 
as a Filtering Medium.’ 

In 1892 an effort was made by the Owl 
Cigar Manufacturing Company at Quincy, 
Florida, to manufacture brick from a peculiar 
cream-colored clay found on their property. 
Instead of baking hard, it exfoliated in a pecu- 
liar manner and caused some comment from an 
Alsatian cigar-maker in the employ of the com- 
pany, who noticed this clay and called atten- 
tion to its close resemblance to German fuller’s 
earth. This led to an inquiry as to its value as 
fuller’s earth, at a time when the lubricating oil 
companies were looking for domestic fuller’s 
earth to replace animal charcoal as a means of 
lightening the color of lubricating oils by filtra- 
tion. The earth proved very suitable, and its 
use extended in this direction as well as to some 
extent in the bleaching of vegetable oils. But 
for the latter purpose the imported fuller’s earth 
is still approved. The number of samples of 
clays which have been called fuller’s earth and 
sent to the consumers for examination since 
that date is almost beyond belief. It has been 
shown that fuller’s earth is quite widely scat- 
tered in the northwestern counties of Florida 
and the adjacent counties of Georgia. In the 
latter region the fact that it grades into chalce- 
dony makes it more probable that the fuller’s 
earth isa chemical precipitate, and thisis further 
indicated by the replacement of calcium car- 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


bonate by the silica in many shells found asso- 
ciated with the fuller’s earth. 

The Florida and English fuller’s earth dif- 
fer greatly in appearance and to some extentin 
chemical composition. English fuller’s earth 
has found its analogue in the material discoy- 
ered at Fairburn, near Rapid City, South Da- 
kota, and Valentine, Nebraska. It is altogether 
probable that further developments will make 
' the material from these places an important 
article for use in bleaching cotton-seed oil. 
There is an interesting difference in the methods 
of testing the Florida fuller’s earth as compared 
with the English. It isthe constant practice of 
the lubricating oil companies simply to fill large, 
slightly conical cylinders with the fuller’s 
earth, ground to about 40 mesh, through which 
the oil is filtered at about the temperature equal 
to that of boiling water. At first the filtrate is 
perfectly colorless and, strange to say, lighter 
in specific gravity and more fluid than the un- 
filtered oil, a fact which will probably be made 
use of in chemical separations of the future. Dr. 
Day is now using this in investigating oils. Ful- 
ler’s earth is used for bleaching refined, golden 
cotton-seed oil to a light straw color. When 
the resultant is to be used for white products, 
such as lard substitutes, the fuller’s earth is 
ground to a fine powder and stirred into the oil 
slightly above the temperature of boiling water. 
After a thorough mixing by agitation for a few 
moments the bleached oil is simply filtered 
through bag presses. Perhaps the most inter- 
esting feature of this use of fuller’s earth is the 
very slight difference in the two varieties of 
fuller’s earth in regard to their bleaching ca- 
pacity, which leads to their acceptance or re- 
jection. Little regard is paid to chemical anal- 
ysis, but the tests made by filtration, on a small 
scale, are most severe.’’ 


WILLIAM H. KRrua. 


GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS’ CLUB 
OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Students’ Geological Club, February 28, 1899. 
In considering the ‘ Law of the Migration of 
Divides,’ Mr. J. M. Boutwell developed this law 
as stated by Cambell (Journal of Geology, 
TV, 580), and discussed the amendment to it 


SCIENCE. 


519 


which has been offered by Smith (18th Annual 
Report, U. S. Geological Survey, Part II., 472). 

Mr. H. T. Burr described ‘A Drainage Pe- 
culiarity in Androscoggin, Maine.’ Andros- 
coggin Lake, the last of a chain which drain 
into Androscoggin River near North Leeds, 
Maine, contains a unique delta, which is situated, 
not at the head of the lake, but at the outlet. 

The preglacial valley which the lake occu- 
pies is blocked just below the foot of the lake 
by glacial débris, which forces the outlet stream 
to flow backward, against the slope of the 
country, into the Androscoggin. Thus the fall 
between the lake and the Androscoggin is so 
small that at times of flood this main river 
rises so high as to reverse the flow of the out- 
letstream, At such times a flood of mud-laden 
water pours into the lake and deposits its load. 
Under normal conditions the outflow is incom- 
petent to remove the material thus brought in. 
Accordingly the delta has grown, and is still 
growing, against the normal course of the cur- 
rent. 

Geological Conference, March 7, 1899.  Pro- 
fessor J. E. Wolff communicated his discovery 
of ‘Hardystonite, a New Mineral from Frank- 
lin Furnace.’ The specimen of ore containing 
the mineral came from a new working of the 
Parker Shaft, at about the nine-hundred-foot 
level. The mineral is tetragonal, and its gen- 
eral formula is ZnCa,Si,0;.. A complete descrip- 
tion will be given in the Proceedings of the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Dr. Charles Palache described ‘ A Method of 
Enlarging Diagrams,’ which has been devel- 
oped in the Harvard Mineralogical Laboratory 
within the last few months. It purpose is for 
preparing large diagrams, from small, straight- 
line, text diagrams, for lecture use. The instru- 
ment used is a megascope made by Fuess. This 
consists of two sets of three mirrors, which con- 
centrate light upon the diagram. From that the 
light is reflected through a double-convex lens, 
which projects the image upon a screen. The 
diagram is then obtained by tracing the image, 
thus enlarged to any desired size, and by inking 
in this tracing. This method possesses a double 
advantage over photographic enlargements in 
that it affords a far more satisfactory product 
and is much cheaper. 


520 


Dr. A. S. Eakle presented ‘ Notes on Some 
Rocks from the Fiji Islands.’ The collection, 
which included both igneous and sedimentary 
rocks from about twenty of the smaller volcanic 
islands, was made by Mr. Alexander Agassiz 
during his recent studies in that region. The 
specimens of eruptive rocks were found to in- 
clude hornblende andesites, augite andesites, 
hypersthene andesites and basalts. 

J. M. BouTWELL, 
Recording Secretary. 


TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, JANUARY 95, 1899. 


Dr. N. L. Brirron presented a report on the 
progress of the New York Botanical Garden, 
with exhibition of photographs. Dr. Britton 
said that during 1898 the species cultivated in 
the Garden at Bronx Park have reached 2,119, 
a gain of 700 on the previous year. The fru- 
ticetum, on the plain northeast of the Museum 
building, was begun in October, and now in- 
cludes 195 species. The arboretum has been 
increased to 178 species, including those native 
to the tract. A viticetum is in preparation, to 
be planted next spring, including rock-ledges, 
and a rustic arbor about 600 feet long, now 
nearly completed. An additional nursery space 
near the southern corner of the tract was pre- 
pared in the spring, and planted partly with 
Siberian cuttings. Border screens are now 
planted around the entire tract except to the 
south. A complete record of all plants grown 
is kept by means of a card catalogue. From 
every plant which flowers on the ground an 
herbarium specimen is made; and these are 
classified in a special herbarium, useful already 
in satisfying inquiries. The use of the green- 
house on the Columbia University grounds at 
Morningside Heights was granted in 1896, and 
is still very important to the Garden. This is 
the old greenhouse built in 1857 by Mr. S. Hen- 
shaw for the Bloomingdale Asylum, and is one 
of the oldest greenhouses still standing in the 
United States. . 

Progress on the Museum building has been 
active, and it is thought it will be ready for oc- 
cupation by midsummer. The Power House is 
nearly ready to put into operation. A sub- 
way from this to the Museum is under construc- 
tion. A stable, toolhouse, etc., have been 


SCIENCE. 


{N.S. Vou. IX. No. 223. 


finished. The range of horticultural houses is 
planned to contain 18 houses; the contract for 
7 of these has been signed, and ground was 
formally broken for them on January 8, 
1899. Important work has been done toward 
improving the drainage of the Herbaceous 
Grounds, and a great deal of grading, and the 
terraces about the Museum have been begun. 
The Lorillard Mansion is now used as a police 
station-house, occupied by more than 65 offi- 
cers, making a new and wholesome water-sup- 
ply necessary. This has now been finished. 

The Hemlock Forest remains in healthy con- 
dition ; only three trees have died in the last 
three years. 

The Museum is planned to provide in the 
basement a lecture-room seating 900; on the 
first floor a collection of plant-products, with 
models and photographs ; on the second, a sci- 
entific collection for expert use, including a 
mounted collection of the local flora on swing- 
ing panels; followed by herbarium and laborato- 
ries on the top floor. 

The herbarium already includes 30,000 speci- 
mens. Through the liberality of Mr. Cornelius 
Vanderbilt, Mr. and Mrs. Heller are now mak- 
ing collections in Porto Rico. Messrs. P. A. 
Rydberg and Ernest Bessey made collections in 
1897 in Montana, through the liberality of Mr. 
W. E. Dodge. The results will soon appear as 
a Flora of Montana, forming the first volume 
of the Memoirs of the New York Botanical 


Garden. 
E. 8. BuRGEss, 


Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR SCIENTIFIC’ SEMINARS 
AND CONFERENCES. 


TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I feel that an 
experience of several years as a respectful and 
regular listener to scientific papers by young 
and old students, at college seminars or confer- 
ences, and at annual or periodic meetings of 
societies, gives me the basis for certain general- 
izations, without leaving me open to the criti- 
cism of judging from insufficient data. 

The principal generalization I should like to 
offer is to the effect that our scientific students 
in colleges and professional schools do not re- 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


ceive sufficient training in the public presenta- 
tion of their ideas, whether those ideas be 
original or borrowed. Most advanced scientific 
students in our colleges are obliged to attend 
and take part in seminars or conferences, at 
which their colleagues and teachers are sup- 
posed to criticise any scientific papers that may 
be presented. So far as my experience goes, 
the criticism is apt to be almost wholly as to 
scientific accuracy, with but little thought of 
several other points that are of vital impor- 
tance. I fear teachers and professors are too 
apt to tolerate poor order, poor English and a 
‘dead-and-alive’ manner of speaking, thinking 
the unfortunate beginner will gain wisdom by 
experience. 

Judging from my own experience and the 
comments of others, I would say that our 
scientific workers often fail to carry their point 
and to win public sympathy for their work and 
cause because in their public utterances they 
do not follow rational lines of procedure. They 
are very apt: (1) to present an unorganized and 
apparently unrelated series of facts—their plan 
is rambling; (2) not to choose and emphasize 
the important points, probably because of lack 
of training in measuring the comparative worth 
of facts; (8) to use poor and inexcusable Eng- 
lish; (4) to speak in a dazed sort of way, as 
though they themselves were not thoroughly 
convinced, as yet, of the truth of their results ; 
(5) not to address the audience, a map or a 
blackboard under their influence being as in- 
spiring as the audience, and much less embar- 
rassing ; (6) not to divide their time so as to 
complete their presentation within reasonable 
limits, thus causing weariness and restlessness 
on part of audience ; (7) not to make good use 
of illustrative material in the way of maps, 
diagrams, specimens, lantern slides, ete. 

Now the remedy for these serious failures 
that few men can outgrow seems to me to be 
largely in the hands of our college and scientific 
school teachers, and I would like to see a plan 
adopted in college seminars that would not 
allow a student to appear before his colleagues 
and masters until his plan of procedure had 
been censored, along the lines I have suggested, 
by some one of experience in public utterance. 

The student should also receive criticism 


SCIENCE. 521 


after his paper, so as to bring out the weak 
points in his argument or manner, thus min- 
imizing the possibility of an equal failure at 
his next appearance. Such criticism does not 
kill individuality, but strengthens it, and cer- 
tainly gives the student a greater confidence in 
and respect for his teachers. Should our col- 
leges and scientific schools uniformly adopt 
such a method of training, our scientific gather- 
ings ten years hence would not be so largely 
composed of specialists and those who attend 
from duty and with considerable sacrifice. It 
would also be much easier to secure public sup- 
port for scientific work were more of our lead- 
ers able to win the interest of the public, with- 
out becoming merely ‘popular lecturers,’ by 
whom scientific accuracy is apt to be sacrificed 
for the sake of impressiveness. 

Such work as I have suggested for our teach- 
ers takes much time and energy and seems at 
first not to pay ; but immediate returns are not 
always the best, and there is no work on the 
part of a teacher that can give greater satisfac- 
tion in the long run than that which has helped 
beginners to make the most of their latent 


powers. 
RIcHARD E. DODGE. 


TEACHERS COLLEGE, 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


A REMARKABLE SUN-DOG. 

THE appended diagram is an attempt to record 
the appearance presented by a rare and remark- 
able ‘sun-dog’ seen at Hamline, Minnesota, at 
9:50 a. m., on February 10th. It was a very 


Sic wate an eas 
& 


522 


cold and damp morning; the air was not clear, 
and there was a film of thin clouds over all the 
sky. The weather records at St. Paul Observa- 
tory, five miles distant from Hamline, indicated, 
S. E. 6 miles per hour for the wind, 29.50 as the 
Barograph reading of the barometric pressure, 
and 20 degrees below zero as the thermograph 
reading of the temperature. The two ‘sun-dogs’ 
proper were g and h of the figure and were so 
brilliant that it was painful to look at them, 
and a line of intense light stretched from them 
outwards toward dandc. There were two cir- 
cles surrounding the sun ; one, the inner one, was 
complete; the other was nearly so, but dipped 
below the horizon. There were arcs of two cir- 
cles turned from the sun at a and 5b, and at 
these points there was a display of prismatic 
colors. The large outer circle looked much like 
a rainbow, especially near the horizon. This 
latter fact seemed connected with the fact that 
there was almost moisture enough in the air to 
constitute a very fine snow. 
H. L. Osporn. 
HAMLINE UNIVERSITY, St. PAuL, MINN., 
February 20, 1899. 


DEGREES IN SCIENCE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY conferred for the first 
time last year the degree of ‘ Master of Science.’ 
As the creation of this degree appears at first 
sight to be a new recoguition of science, it may 
be desirable to point out that there are aspects 
under which it is, in fact, harmful to science 
and a retrograde movement in that university 
to which we look for guidance. It is, indeed, 
logical to have a degree between the S. B. and 
S. D. parallel to the A. M., but it would be 
equally logical and,in my opinion, far better to 
abolish the S. B. and 8. D. 

The composition of the Lawrence Scientific 
School of Harvard University is not made less 
heterogeneous by giving all its graduates the 
same degree. Some of the students are pursu- 
ing studies in applied science exactly parallel to 
those of the schools of medicine, law and theol- 
ogy, and should on graduation be given a tech- 
nical degree signifying the profession that they 
have been trained to practice, i. e., C.E., civil 
engineer, etc. Others of the students are follow- 
ing the same scientific studies as may be elected 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 223. 


by students of the college who receive the A.B, 
The difference is that the Lawrence Scientific 
School may be entered with an inadequate prep- 
aration. Fortunately, plans have been adopted 
that will gradually raise the requirements for 
admission to the Scientific School to substantial 
equality with those of the college. At present 
consequently the 8. B., in its sense of a liberal 
education based upon science, means, as com- 
pared with the A. B. for the same studies, an 
inadequate preparation ; later it will signify a 
secondary education without Latin. 

Students of Harvard College, as of the Great 
English universities, may now take the A.B. 
without any study of Latin or Greek at the 
University. This freedom of election has, as 
President Eliot points out in his last annual re- 
port, maintained at Harvard the relative nu- 
merical importance of the traditional degree 
better than in any other American institution. 
The A.B.is becoming almost obsolete in our great 
State universities. Thus at California last year 
among 191 bachelors only 380 were in arts, at 
Wisconsin among 173 only 13, ete. I regard 
this as unfortunate as the Ph.B. and 8.B. at 
these universities means simply a liberal edu- 
cation without Greek or without Latin and 
Greek. It seems to me more consistent to give 
the A.B. for liberal studies as is done at Har- 
vard, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Cornell and 
the English universities. But of these univer- 
sities only Cornell is sufficiently logical to ad- 
mit that a liberal education is possible without 
‘small Latin’ inthe preparatory school. Presi- 
dent Eliot will anticipate the course of educa- 
tional progress, as he has so often done, if he 
will transfer the required study of English to 
the preparatory school, as he aims to do, and 
will secure the admission of students to Har- 
vard College without Latin. The S.B., S.M. 
and §.D. would then be superfluous as degrees 
for liberal studies. I regard them as useless 
altogether, except that it might’ be desirable to 
give the Sc.B., simultaneously with a technical 
scientific degree and to maintain Sc.D. and 
Litt.D. as honorary degrees. In the English 
universities Se. refers to science, while B.S. 
and M.S. refer to surgery, consequently Sc. 
rather than 8. should beused.  - 

At Harvard the A.M. and the Ph.D. are 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


given for advanced work to Bachelors of Arts, 
and the 8.D,, and since last year the $.M., to 
Bachelors of Science. The S8.D. is given for ex- 
actly the same, scientific research and study as 
the Ph.D., and means the same thing, except 
that it is in addition a certificate of a poor pre- 
paratory education. It isno wonder that it is 
not popular, having been awarded only once in 
the past three years, while the Ph.D. has been 
awarded sixty-nine times. If a student comes 
to Harvard from a Western university, having 
studied Latin throughout his college course and 
received a Ph.B., he is apparently not eligible 
for the Ph.D. What would be done with a stu- 
dent coming with the A.B. from Cornell, but 
never having studied Latin, I do not know. 
The maintenance at Harvard of the 8.M. and 
$.D. as second-rate degrees appears to be a 
needless limitation of the usefulness of its 
graduate school, and a wounding of science in 
the house of its friends. 
. J. McKEEN CATTELL. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC APPOINTMENTS UNDER THE 
GOVERNMENT. 


WE have received notice of civil service ex- 
aminations as follows: 

On May 9th for Assistant Chief, Division of 
Agrostology, Department of Agriculture. (Salary 
$1,800 per annum.) The subjects and weights 
are as follows: 


EPA OTOSLOLONViaueccsseecssecsacccescestesieessneecsrerercns 
2. Replies to letters on agrostology 
3. German and French translation 
4. Botany (major), or Chemistry (minor), (See Sec- 
tion 67, ‘ Assistants, Department of Agriculture, 
Departmental Service,’ page 45 of the Manual of 
Examinations, revised to January 1, 1899)......... 20 


At the same time an examination will be 
held for the position of Assistant in the Division 


of Agrostology at a salary of $1,200. The sub- 
jects and weights being : 
PAO TOStOl OO Vamesasaasdsaccccnectooccatereerses BEE CORREE EE 50 


2. Translation from one foreign language (Spanish, 
French, German, or Italian) 
SweWabinmpLranslatlonwercedemessescecsecessnceascsererses 

4. Botany (minor), (See section 67, ‘ Assistants, 
Department of Agriculture, Departmental Service,’ 


SCIENCE. 


523 


page 35 of the Manual of Examinations, revised to 
January 1, 1899)............0...cececnecesscecenccerseeenecess 15 
5. Education and experience ............---eeeeeeeees 15 
On May Ist an eligible register will be estab- 
lished for the position of Irrigation Expert, 
office of Experiment Stations, Department of 
Agriculture, at a salary of $2,500 per annum. 
Subjects and weights are as follows : 
1. A statement of the education, training and 
technical experience af the competitor.........-....-++ 30 
2. A statement of the competitor’s experience asau 
administrative officer, with special reference to irri- 


gation laws and regulations. .........02-.0:eseeeeeeeeeee eee 30 
3. A thesis of not less than three thousand words 
ona topic relating to irrigation .............-seeeeeeeee ees 20 


4. A statement of not more than three thousand 
words setting forth a plan of irrigation investigations 
in the arid regions of the United States for the benefit 
of the farmers of those regions...........sseeesee essere eee 20 


Tt will not be necessary for applicants to ap- 
pear at any place for examination, but the 
statements and theses required may be prepared 
by the competitors at their homes upon forms 
which will be furnished by the United States 
Civil Service Commission upon request. Com- 
petitors will be required to furnish sworn state- 
ments as to the integrity of the work submitted 
by them. 

Under similar conditions and on the same 
day an eligible register will be established for 
the position of tobacco expert to the Department 
of Agriculture. The subjects and weights are 
as follows: 

1. Experience, including complete statement of per- 
sonal experience in connection with the development 
of the tobacco industry of Florida............-..-.....6+ 30 

2. Administrative ability, including a full state- 
ment of personal experience in the administration of 
work connected with the growth, purchase, manipu- 
lation and marketing of the Florida tobacco.......... 30 

3. Two theses, of two thousand to four thousand 
words in length, on subjects relating to the tobacco 
AN GUSH Yee essa sae esas nenet ae teSeeceastlestereseuetneat sats 40 


On May 9th and 10th an examination will be 
held for the position of computor in the Nauti- 
cal Almanac office, the subjects and weights 
being : 


mA re brasessstsacscueesccteaccecpssheansecncenetce se acae 15 
BOE NES TOT NGL 8 anes ponicporidodsuaddubdeoooponodopucdotmbEnads 10 
3. Plane and spherical astronmy................-+. 20 


4, Elements of differential and integral calculus 10 


524 
Dem LOPATILD IMS jeanerersestrcsecuecs sseeiecassieacee se snes 25 
6. Spherical astronomy........5..2....ecssesceeesceees 20 


Further information regarding these positions 
and blanks for applications may be obtained 
from the U.S. Civil Service Commission, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE National Academy of Sciences will hold 
its stated annual meeting, beginning on Tues- 
day, April 18th. 

AT the annual meeting of the Astronomical 
Society of the Pacific on March 25th the sec- 
ond award of its Bruce Gold Medal was an- 
nounced. It was conferred upon Dr. Arthur 
Auwers, of Berlin. 

Srk WILLIAM TURNER, professor of anatomy 
in the University of Edinburgh, has been elected 
President of the British Association for the 
Bradford meeting of 1900. 

Ir is announced that Mr. Llewellyn W. 
Longstaff, a member of the Royal Geographical 
Society of London, has contributed $125,000 
towards the fund for the British Antarctic ex- 
pedition. 

Dr. L. L. HUBBARD has resigned the position 
of State Geologist of Michigan. The American 
Geologist states that he has taken this action 
owing to the delay of the State Board of Audi- 
tors in authorizing the publication of the Re- 
ports of the Survey. 

Dr. E. V. WILLCox has resigned his position 
as zoologist and entomologist in the Montana 
Agricultural College and Station to accept a 
position in the office of Experiment Stations in 
the place of Dr. F. C. Kenyon, resigned. Dr. 
Willcox will have charge of the departments of 
zoology, entomology and veterinary science of 
the Experiment Station Record. 

Mr. LE GRAND Powers, of Minnesota, has 
been appointed Chief Statistician in charge of 
agricultural statistics, and Mr. William C., 
Hunt, of Massachusetts, has been given charge 
of the statistics of population in the twelfth 
census. Mr. Hunt held the same position in 
the census of 1890. Mr. Powers is Chief of the 
Minnesota Bureau of Labor. 


M. Frinou has been elected an associate of 
the Paris Academy of Medicine in the place of 


SCLENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No 223. 


the late Dr. Worms. M. Filhol is a member of 
the Paris Academy of Sciences, and has pub- 
lished important memoirs in anatomy, zoology 
and paleontology. 

Proressor Lurci CREMONA, professor of 
mathematics at the University of Rome, and 
Professor Alexander Karpinski, St. Petersburg, 
Director of the Russian Geological Survey, 
have been elected foreign members of the Bel- 
gian Academy of Sciences. 

Dr. T. Gricor Bropre, lecturer on physi- 
ology at St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, 
has been nominated by the Laboratories Com- 
mittee of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and 
Surgeons to be Director of the Research Lab- 
oratories on the Thames Embankment. 


Mr. E. E. GREEN, the well-known Ceylon 
entomologist, has been appointed Government 
Entomologist on the staff of the Agricultural 
Department of that island; with residence at 
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya. He 
is about to visit England, and will return to 
Ceylon to take up his work about September. 
For many years Mr. Green has been doing ad- 
mirable work on the insects of Ceylon, with 
especial regard to injurious species, and a better 
selection could not have been made for the new 
position. 

Dr. WALTER R. HARPER, of Sydney, New 
South Wales, starts this month on a trip in the 
New Hebrides to investigate the somatology 
and folk-lore of that group. We are informed 
by him that the museums of Australia, although 
new, have already secured some remarkable 
collections representative of Australian eth- 
nology. The museum at Sydney, under the 
curatorship of R. Etheridge, and the one at 
Adelaide in charge of Dr. Stirling, are especially 
good owing to the interest of their curators in 
ethnology. Lately the Western government 
sent a collecting party into the interior under 
the leadership of Mr. Alex. Morton, Curator of 
the Tasinanian Museum. This expedition was 
successful and secured among other things a 
series of carved bull-roarers, which are sacred 
objects there. Lack of funds hampers the work 
in Australia as elsewhere, and the field is yet 
largely unknown. Much valuable material re- 
mains to be investigated even in the Eastern 


APRIL 7, 1899. ] 


colonies, while Northwest Queensland is es- 
pecially rich. 

Mr. HJALMAR LunpBoHM, of the Geological 
Survey of Sweden, is now in the United States, 
with a view to studying the deposits of iron 
ore. 

Dr. BENJAMIN M. DvuGGAR, instructor in 
botany (plant physiology) at Cornell Univer- 
sity and Assistant Cryptogamic Botanist of the 
Experiment Station, sailed on March 22d from 
New York for Hurope. He will spend the 
year abroad in study, principally with Dr. 
Pfeffer in the laboratories for plant physiology 
at Leipzig, and with Dr. George Klebs. He 
will attend the meeting of the British Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science during 
September. Mr. Duggar received the degree 
of Doctor of Philosophy at Cornell University 
last June. He will return in a year to resume 
his work at Cornell. 


A MARBLE bust of the late I. H. Lapham, 
the geologist, was, as we learn from the Amer- 
ican Geologist, unveiled in the public museum 
of Milwaukee on March 7th. It was presented 
by Mr. John Marr. Several addresses were 
made, including one on the life and work of 
Lapham by Mr. John Johnston. 


A MONUMENT to Pasteur will be unveiled and 
a Pasteur Institute opened at Lille on April 9th. 


A MONUMENT will be erected in October to 
Charles Mare Sauria, said to be the original in- 
venter of lucifer matches, at St. Lothair, a 
small village in the Jura, where he spent his 
life as a country physician. 


Dr. ANGELO KNorR, docent in the Veteri- 
nary School of Munich, died on February 22d, 
from acute glanders contracted in the course of 
an experimental research on mallein. 


Miss ELIZABETH Brown, of Cirencester, Eng- 
land, who made valuable contributions to as- 
tronomy, died on March 6th. She observed 
the total eclipses of the sun in 1887, 1889 and 
1896, and had published both scientific and 
popular accounts of the solar phenomena. 


WE regret also to record the deaths of Dr. 
Wilhelm vy. Miller, professor in the Institute of 
Technology and member of the Academy of 
Sciences of Munich; of Dr. Friedrich y. Lih- 


SCIENCE. 


525 


mann, the mathematician, at Stralsund ; of Dr. 
Charles Fortuun, the mineralogist, in London, 
and of P. y. Alfr. Feuilleaubois, known for his 
researches on fungi, at Fontainbleau. 


A REUTER dispatch, dated March 16th, states 
that the steamer ‘Southern Cross’ has ar 
rived at Port Chalmers from Victoria Land, 
where she landed M. Borchgrevink and the 
other members of the Antarctic expedition. 
The explorers are 11 in number. 


Mr. A. W. AnTHONY and his party, who 
have been making collections for the Smith- 
sonian Institution, have been wrecked off the 
coast of Lower California. No lives were lost, 
but the collections could not be saved. 


THE Union Pacific Railway offers to trans- 
port geologists and paleontologists without 
charge from Chicago or San Francisco to Wy- 
oming, for the purpose of making explorations 
during the coming summer. 

AN expedition under Lieutenant Koslow is 
being sent by the Russian Geographical Society 
to make explorations in Central Asia. It will 
cross the Nanschu Mountains and explore the 
upper waters of the Yellow River. 


M. H. R. Dumonr has left to the Paris So- 
ciety of Geography a travelling fund that will 
yield 1,000 fr. per annum. 


A RADIOGRAPHIC institute has been opened 
at Madrid under the direction of Dr. Mezquita. 
It is said to have cost $400,000. 


THE French Congress of Learned Societies 
met at Toulouse on April 4th under the presi- 
dency of M. Levasseur. 

AT the March meeting of the French Astro- 
nomical Society M. Cornu made an address on 
the applications of physics to astronomy. M. 
Flammarion, the Secretary, reported that a 
number of astronomers had written saying 
that they had seen the phases of Venus with 
the naked eye, the possibility of which has 
been denied. The air throughout Europe has 
been unusually clear for a long time. 

THE first international congress of physicians 
connected with life insurance companies will 
be held at Brussels from the 25th to the 30th of 
next September. All Europe and the United 
States will be represented at this congress, 


526 SCIENCE. 


which proposes to establish universal formulas 
for the examination of persons desiring to be 
insured. 

ON March 18th the Austrian Society of Engi- 
neers celebrated its jubilee in the Municipal 
Council Chamber, Vienna, under the presi- 
dency of Mr. F. Berger. Nature says that 
there was a large attendance of members, and 
representatives of sixty six kindred societies 
presented addresses. Congratulatory speeches 
were delivered by the Austrian Minister of Rail- 
ways; the Minister of Commerce; the Governor 
of Lower Austria; the Secretary of the Iron 
and Steel Institute, London; the Secretary of 
the French Society of Civil Engineers, Paris, 
and the Secretary of the Society of German 
Engineers, Berlin. A paper was then read by 
Mr. A. Ricker on the part taken by the 
Austrian Society of Engineers in the technical 
progress of the past fifty years. The Austrian 
Society is a very influential one. Atits founda- 
tion in 1848 it numbered seventy-nine mem- 
bers ; at the present time there are 2,388. 


THE inaugural course of the Charles F. 
Deems lectureship foundation will be given by 
Professor James Iverach, D.D., of Aberdeen, 
on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:30 a. m., 
beginning on April 3d at University Building, 
Washington Square. The endowment of $15,- 
000 given by the American Institute of Christian 
Philosophy to the New York University pro- 
vides for lectures on science and philosophy in 
their relation to religion. 


Mr. Rircuiez, President of the British Board 
of Trade, received at the House of Commons on 
March 22d a deputation of representatives from 
the Decimal Association, chambers of commerce, 
educational institutions and trade unions, who 
urged upon the government the compulsory 
adoption of the metric system of weights and 
measures on January 1, 1901. The importance 
of this measure was urged by Sir Samuel Mon- 
tague, Sir Henry Roscoe, Sir E. S. Hill and 
others. Mr. Ritchie in reply said that the gov- 
ernment had done much by making the metric 
system legal and by introducing it in the schools, 
but did not think that public opinion warranted 
its compulsory adoption. The resolutions passed 
by the associated chambers of commerce was as 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 223. 


follows: ‘‘ That, in view of the time wasted in 
teaching a system of weights and measures 
which, according to the First Lord of the 
Treasury, is ‘arbitrary, perverse and utterly 
irrational,’ and in the opinion of Her Majesty’s 
Consuls is responsible for great injury to British 
trade, this association urges Her Majesty’s gov- 
ernment to introduce into and endeavor to carry 
through Parliament as speedily as possible a 
bill providing that the use of the metric system 
of weights and measures shall be compulsory 
in this country within two years from the pass- 
ing of the bill, and suggests that meanwhile the 
system should be adopted in all specifications 
for government contracts.’’ 


THe Eclipse Expedition to Japan under 
Professor Todd, two years ago, founded at 
Esashi a publie library, in return for courtesies 
shown the expedition. Professor Todd is now 
sending to this library, through the legation at 
Washington, acollection of books part of which 
have been given by a number of representative 
American publishers. 


THE original manuscripts of surveys of Van 
Diemen’s Land, made between 1821 and 1836, 
were sold recently at the rooms of Messrs. 
Hodgson, London, for $250. 

Tue Companie Générale Transatlantique is 
establishing a service of carrier pigeons, which 
it is believed will announce the arrival of steam- 
ships twelve hours earlier than is at present 
possible. 


Nature states that a dinner which took place 
at the Fishmongers’ Hall on March 14th pos- 
sesses especial interest on account of the fact 
that it was given in honor of science, and that 
the guests included a great number of scientific 
men, among them being the Presidents of the 
following societies and scientific bodies: Royal, 
Royal Horticultural, Royal College of Phy- 
sicians, Royal Geographical, Dermatological, 
Royal Microscopical, Victoria Institute, Royal 
Statistical, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal 
Astronomical, Zoological, Linnean, Chemical, 
Entomological, Philological and Clinical. The 
toast of the evening was ‘Science,’ and was 
proposed in an eloquent speech by the Prime 
Warden, Mr. J. A. Travers, who pointed out 
the great advance science had made in the last 


APRIL 7, 1899.] 


twelve years; he recommended, further, the 
special study of preventive medicine, to ensure 
for Great Britain a safer footing in foreign 
climates. Lord Lister responded to the toast, 
and urged City Companies to support pure sci- 
ence; he referred also to the help they had 
rendered the Jenner Institute. Sir William 
MacCormaec then proposed the health of the 
Prime Warden. is 


THE Railway and Engineering Journal reports 
that the War Department is arranging to make 
a test of the Marconi system of wireless teleg- 
raphy. The two experimental stations se- 
lected are the roof of the State, War and Navy 
Building and Fort Myer, across the Potomac, 
the distance being six miles. The government 
has purchased the necessary instruments and 
experiments will be conducted by Col. James 
Allen and Lieut. George D. Squire. 


AT a recent meeting of the Royal Geograph- 
ical Society a paper on ‘Exploration in the 
Canadian Rockies: A Search for Mount Hooker 
and Mount Brown’ was read by Professor Nor- 
man Collie, F.R.S. According to the London 
Times Professor Collie’s paper dealt with two 
journeys taken during 1897 and 1898 through 
that part of the Canadian Rockies that lies be- 
tween the Kicking Horse Pass on the south and 
the source of the Athabasca River on the north. 
The most interesting problem connected with 
the first journey which presented itself to Pro- 
fessor Collie and his party was whether a lofty 
mountain—probably 14,000 ft. to 15,000 ft.— 
seen from the slopes of Mount Freshfield, from 
which it lay distant about 30 miles in a north- 
westerly direction, might be Mount Brown or 
Mount Hooker, which were supposed to be 
16,000 ft. and 15,000 ft. high respectively. Pro- 
fessor Coleman, in 1893, starting from Morley, 
had arrived at the true Athabasca Pass, found 
the historic Committee’s Punch-bowl, and his 
brother had climbed the highest peak on the 
north, presumably Mount Brown. This peak 
he found to be only 9,000 ft. The question pre- 
sented itself: Could he have been mistaken or 
was it possible that there existed two Athabasca 
Passes ? Professor Collie and his companion re- 
turned to their camp on the Saskatchewan Pass 
without having solved the question of either 


SCIENCE. 


527 


Mounts Brown or Hooker, or the Committee’s 
Punch-bowl. It was finally settled on the re- 
turn to England by reference to the journal 
of David Douglas, the naturalist, dealing with 
his journey over the Athabasca Pass. From 
the authentic account of the two mountains 
there given it was seen that the credit of hay- 
ing settled with accuracy the real height of the 
peaks belonged to Professor Coleman. For 
nearly 70 years they had been masquerading in 
every map as the highest peaks in the Rocky 
Mountains. No doubt now remained as to 
where Brown and Hooker and the Punch- 
bowl were. That Douglas climbed a peak 
17,000 ft. high in an afternoon (as narrated 
in his account) was impossible; the Mount 
Brown of Professor Coleman, 9,000 ft. high, 
was much more likely. There was only one 
Athabasca Pass, and on each side of its sum- 
mit might be found a peak—Mount Brown, 
1,000 ft. high, on the north—the higher of the 
two—and Mount Hooker on the south. Be- 
tween them lay a small tarn, 20 ft. in diameter 
—the Committee’s Punch-bowl. The peaks to 
the south, amongst which the party wandered 
last August, were, therefore, new, and they 
probably constituted the highest point of the 
Canadian Rocky Mountain system. 


THE British Medical Journal states that the 
tenth meeting of the International Congress of 
Hygiene will be held in Paris in August, 1900. 
The division of hygiene will comprise seven 
sections as follows: 1. Microbiology and Para- 
sitology applied to hygiene. M. Laveran is 
President and M. Netter Secretary of this Sec- 
tion, in which the questions to be discussed are 
the measurement of the activity of serums; the 
prophylaxis and preventive treatment of diph- 
theria; meat poisoning, its causes and the 
means of its prevention; pathogenic microbes 
in soil and water (cholera, typhoid fever and 
other diseases); the part played by water and 
by vegetables in the etiology of intestinal hel- 
minthiasis. 2. Chemical and veterinary sciences 
applied to hygiene; alimentary hygiene, in 
which the questions to be discussed are tinned 
provisions and the means of preventing acci- 
dents ; unification of international control ; the 
establishment of a general and uniform system 
of inspection of slaughter houses, etc. 38. En- 


528 


gineering and architecture applied to hygiene, 
in which the question to be discussed is the pro- 
tection of water supplies. 4. Personal hygiene, 
in which the question to be discussed is conta- 
gious patients from the hospital point of view. 
5. Industrial and professional hygiene. 6. Mili- 
tary, naval and colonial hygiene, in which the 
question to be discussed is the means of ensur- 
ing the purity of water from the point of view 
of colonial hygiene. 7. General and interna- 
tional hygiene (prophylaxis of communicable 
diseases ; sanitary administration and legisla- 
tion), in which the questions to be discussed are 
the prophylaxis of tuberculosis in regard to in- 
dividuals, families, etc.; the compulsory notifi- 
cation of communicable diseases, its necessary 
consequences (isolation, disinfection) and its re- 
sults in different countries ; the prophylaxis of 
syphilis; and the international prophylaxis of 
yellow fever. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mr. Joun D. ROCKEFELLER has offered 
$100,000 to Denison University, Granville, O., 
if the friends of the institution will, within the 
next year, raise the sum of $150,000. 


Mrs. Simon Rerp, of Lake Forest, has ex- 
pressed her intention of giving to Lake Forest 
University a chapel and a library. 


THE further sum of £25,000 has been offered 
for the Birmingham University on condition 
that £225,000 are obtained within a year. The 
amount already promised is £135,000. 


Proressor Louis F. HENDERSON, professor 
of botany in the University of Idaho, at Moscow, 
Idaho, has recently donated to the botanical 
department of Cornell University a complete 
set of his duplicates of the phanerogams and 
ferns of Idaho. Over 900 species were con- 
tained in the collection, making it one of the 
most valuable single local collections that the 
University has received. Professor Henderson 
is an alumnus of Cornell University, class of 
7A. 

PROFESSOR W. v. BrANCOo, of Hohenheim, 
has been called to the chair of geology and 
paleontology in the University of Berlin, as 
successor to Professor Dames. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 223. 


CHARLES EDWARD ST. JOHN, PH.D., has been 
appointed to the professorship of physics and 
astronomy in Oberlin College. 


Mr. JosrepH BARCROFT has been elected Fel- 
low of King’s College, Cambridge. His chief 
work has been in physiology. 


ALEXANDER ANDERSON, professor of natural 
philosophy in Queen’s College, Galway, has 
been appointed President of the institution. 


Ir is said that the candidates for the chair of 
physiology at Edinburgh, vacant by the death of 
Professor Rutherford, include Professor E. A. 
Schafer, Dr. William Stirling, Dr. D. N. Paton, 
Dr. E. Waymouth Reid, Dr. E. W. W. Carlier 
and Dr. G. N. Stewart. 


M. Henri MoissAn has published for the 
Council of the University of Paris a report on 
its work during the year 1897-8. The increase 
in the number of students at periods of six 
years is shown in the accompanying table : 


1885-86. 1891-92. 1897-08. 
MedICINGtscensraesieaccies 3.696 4.250 4.494 
Tid Wiseaseersnescscseacarase 3.786 4.111 4.607 
(Pharmacyeaerssecscesnsase 1.767 1.547 1.790 
etbersit veto tescee tun. 928 1.185 1.989 
SClEMCES Re ctesccseseseese 467 655 1.370 
Protestant Theology... 35 36 95 

eTOba lem acunetasicase 10.679 11.784 14.346 


It will be noticed that the growth in the num- 
ber of students of science is the greatest, and 
the increase has been more than maintained 
during the present year, being 127 as compared 
with 85in letters. It should be recollected that 
there are many important institutions for higher 
education in Paris—The Collége de France, 
The Museum of Natural History, The School of 
Mines, the Normal College, The Polytechnic 
Institute, The School of Fine Arts, The Pasteur 
Institute, etc.—not included in the University. 
Paris is thus’ certainly the world’s largest 
educational center, but the provincial universi- 
ties are less important than the corresponding 
institutions in other countries. The gifts to 
the university during the year, about $30,000, 
appear small in comparison with those to 
American institutions. There are only 202 
scholarships, which: is also relatively fewer than 
in America and in Great Britain. 


SClgNCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWwARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 

§. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. BessEy, N. L. Brirron, Botany; HENRY F. OsBorN, 
General Biology; C. 8. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowprrcu, Physiology; 

J. 8S. Brutines, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. Powe, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aprit 14, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


A Sage in Science: PRESIDENT DAVID STARR 
JJ} BDA pocobododbonosacandancd oaodongoraneadoncocbadnunals 529 
Field-Work of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition 
in 1898 :— ; 
The Indians of Western Washington: DR. Liv- 
INGSTON FARRAND. Archeological Investiga- 
tions on the North Pacific Coast of America: 
HARLAN I. Smiry. Archeological Investiga- 


tions on the Amoor River: GERARD FOWKE......- 532 
On Biological Text-Books and Teachers: O. F. 

(IO caso docsoacao sdonodasound dadandcoddocaacnanpdce Haborotod 541 
Scientific Books :— 


Hastings and Beach’s Text-Book of General 
Physics: PROFESSOR J. 8. AMES. Marr’s Prin- 
ciples of Stratigraphical Geology: PROFESSOR 
Henry 8. WILLIAMS. Mason on the Exami- 
nation of Water: PROFESSOR EDWIN O. JoR- 


DAN. <A Monograph of the North American Po- 
tentilleae: CHARLES E. BESSEY...............006+ 545 
Scientific Journals and Articles.........2cc0ecsececeeeeeee 549 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Scientific Alliance of New York. Geological 
Society of Washington:+ Dr. W. F. MORSELL. 
The Philosophical Society of Washington: E. 
D. PReEsron. Physics Club of New York: 
A. T. SEYMOUR. Sub-section of Anthropology 
and Psychology of the New York Academy of 
Sciences: PROFESSOR CHARLES H. JUDD...... 550 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
‘The Evolution of Modesty: WHiRAM M. STan- 
LEY. Transmitted Characteristics in a White 
Angora Cat: DR. JoHN W. HARSHBERGER. 
Osmotic Solutions: PROFESSOR G. MACLOSKIE 553 
Notes on Physics :— 
Wireless Telegraphy : 
Botanical Notes :— 
An Elementary Book on Lichens ; A Texas School 
of Botany; False ‘ Aids’ in Botany ; Minne- 
sota Botanical Studies: PROFESSOR CHARLES 


1p (Ob (Che acuoabbocbosdacen6g 555 


HM DESSEWW Geese cedecsesce soveeeecenacsaedsdensseceteees es 555 
The Brain of Hermann von HelmholtzZ...........000000+ 557 
Scientific Notes and News. .........ccecserscocceccsseeesens 557 
University and Educational News........+.+6+ Recess 559 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
tor review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


A SAGE IN SCIENCE.* 

Brooks’ lectures on the Foundations of 
Biology constitute a book that will live as 
a permanent addition to the common sense 
of science. It belongs to literature as well 
as to science. It belongs to philosophy as 
much as to either, for it is full of that fun- 
damental wisdom about realities which 
alone is worthy of the name of philosophy. 
Writers of literature have been divided into 
those with quotable sentences, as Emerson 
and Thoreau, and those whose style runs 
along without break in the elucidation of 
matter in hand, as Hawthorne and Irving. 
To the former class Brooks certainly be- 
longs. His lectures are full of nuggets of 
wisdom, products of deep thought as well 
as of careful observation. There is not an 
idea fundamental to biology that is not 
touched and made luminous by some of 
these sagacious paragraphs. Whether it 
be to show the significance of some unap- 
preciated fact, or to illustrate the true 
meaning of some complex argument, or to 
brush away the fine-spun rubbish of theory, 
the hand of the master is seen in every 
line. 

The main lesson of the work is that to 
believe is not better or nobler or higher 


* The Foundations of Zoology, by William Keith 
Brooks, Ph.D., LL.D., professor of zoology in the 
Johns Hopkins University. A course of lectures de- 
livered at Columbia University on the Principles of 
Science illustrated by Zoology. New York, The Mac- 
millan Company, 339 pages ; price, $2.50. 


530 


than to know. Belief adds nothing to cer- 
tainty, and whatever is really true is the 
very best thing that could be true, else it 
had not been so. Dr. Brooks sees no reason 
for hoping, fearing or wishing in regard to 
truth. So long as it is true we can ask 
nothing better, and no new truth can be 
subversive of anything worth keeping in 
our previous stock of beliefs and induc- 
tions. 

Dr. Brooks shows in many cases that 
problems over which scientific men have 
worried for years without result are at 
bottom mere questions of words. The facts 
at issue are recognized by all, but the 
matter of their final interpretation is one 
of the ultimate truths which science can 
never find out, for man can come in contact 
with no ultimate truth of any sort. 

There is another class of problems 
which can never be settled by argu- 
ment. We must wait until we know 
the truth. One of these concerns the ex- 
istence of a principle of life which distin- 
guishes vital processes from the operations 
of ordinary chemistry and physics. ‘‘ Many 
biologists,’’ says Brooks, ‘* find their greatest 
triumph in the doctrine that the living body 
is a ‘mere machine ;’ but a machine is a 
collocation of matter and energy working for 
an end, not a spinning toy ; and when the 
living machine is compared to the products 
of human art the legitimate deduction is 
that it is not merely a spinning eddy ina 
stream of dead matter and mechanical en- 
ergy, but a little garden in the physical 
wilderness; that the energy localized in 
living bodies, directed by similarly localized 
vitality, has produced a collocation of other 
material bodies which could not be brought 
about in a state of physical nature, and that 
the distinction thus drawn between the 
works of non-vital nature and those of life 
is both useful and justifiable. What this 
distinction may mean in ultimate analysis 
I know no more than Aristotle and Huxley ; 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No 224. 


nor do I believe that any one will ever 
know until we find out. One thing we may 
be sure of, that it does not mean that the liv- 
ing world is anything but natural.”” Here 
he quotes from Aristotle, ‘‘ That is natural 
which holds good, either universally or gener- 
ally.” If anything occurs, it is, therefore, 
natural. 

“Faith and hope are good things, no 
doubt,” says Dr. Brooks, “and ‘expectation 
is permissible when belief is not;’ but ex- 
perience teaches that the expectation or 
faith of the master is very apt to become 
belief in the mind of the student, and 
“science warns us that the assertion that 
outstrips evidence is not only a blunder but 
acrime.’” The key-note to the series of 
lectures is found in the introductory sentence 
that ‘‘ life is response to the order‘of nature.”’ 
‘T should like to see hung ,’’ he says, ‘‘on 
the walls of every laboratory Herbert 
Spencer’s definition to the effect that life is 
not protoplasm but adjustment ; or the older 
teaching of the father of zoology, that the 
essence of a living thing is not what it is 
made of nor whatit does, but why it does it.”’ _ 

The study of biology is the study of re- 
sponse and adaptation. The study of 
structure is the consideration of concessions 
to environment. The phases in develop- 
ment are related to the stimuli, external or 
internal, on which they are conditioned. 

“Tt follows that biology is the study of 
response, and that the study of that order 
of nature to which response is made is as 
well within its province as the study of the 
organism which responds, for all the knowl- 
edge we can get of both these aspects of na- 
ture is needed as a preparation for the 
study of that relation between them which 
constitutes life.” 

The long dispute as to the inheritance 
of acquired characters is fairly closed by 
the words of Dr. Brooks. The arguments 
drawn from philosophical or analogical 
considerations are all brushed away, and 


eee 


APRIL 14, 1899. ] 


we are brought to the plain fact that no 
such inheritance is yet known to take place, 
and no one ean yet say that it does not. “I 
find,” he says, ‘‘as little value in the a priori 
arguments of those who hold that ‘ acquired 
characters’ cannot be inherited as I find in 
Haeckel’s assertion that ‘belief in the in- 
heritance of acquired characters is a neces- 
sary axiom of the monistic creed.’”’ In 
other words, a priori arguments are simple 
expansions of definitions or assertions, and 
can have no validity beyond that of the 
statements from which they are drawn. 
There is no truth to be derived from argu- 
ment, a priori. If itis truth it is already 
known and needs no argument. 

Dr. Brooks sums up his final conclusion 
that, whether ‘‘ it be a real factor or not, the 
so-called Lamarckian factor (inheritance 
of acquired characters) has little value as a 
contribution to the solution of the problem 
of the origin of species, and renewed study 
has strengthened this conviction.”’ 

Dr. Brooks has a suggestive and valuable 
chapter in reproof of those who would place 
the law or principle of evolution as some- 
thing apart or above the forces which are 
known to bring about orderly change or 
adaptation in living organisms. 

‘The tendency to regard natural selec- 
tion as more or less unnecessary or super- 
fluous, which is so characteristic of our day, 
seems to grow out of reverence for the all- 
sufficiency of the philosophy of evolution, 
and pious belief that the history of all living 
things flows out of this philosophy as a 
necessary truth or axiom. 

‘“ As no one can say that the basis for it 
[the philosophy of evolution] is not true, 
and as it seems much more consistent 
with scientific knowledge than any other 
systems of philosophy we must admit that, 
for all we know to the contrary, it may be 
true ; and we may ask whether, if true, it 
is any substitute for science ; although we 
must remember that there is no end to the 


SCIENCE. 531 


the things which, while no one treats them 
seriously, may nevertheless be true. * * * 
While anything which is not absurd may 
be good poetry, science is founded on the 
rock of evidence. 

‘‘So far as the philosophy of evolution 
involves belief that nature is determinate 
or due to a necessary law of universal 
progress or evolution, it seems to me to be 
utterly unsupported by evidence and totally 
unscientific. 

‘“Men of science repudiate the opinion 
that natural laws are rulers and governors 
over nature ; looking with suspicion on all 
“necessary ’ or ‘ universal’ laws.”’ 

Again he says, ‘‘ Natural laws are not 
rulers or governors over nature, but gener- 
alizations from an experience which seems 
to teach, among other things, that progress 
is neither necessary nor universal. 

“The hardest of intellectual virtues is 
philosophic doubt, and the mental vice to 
which we are most prone is our tendency 
to believe that lack of evidence for an 
opinion is a reason for believing something 
else. This tendency has value in prac- 
tical matters which call for action, but 
the man of science need neither starve nor 
choose.” 

Most suggestive chapters are those on 
the mechanism of nature with reference 
to Paley’s famous argument for design in 
nature, and the varied changes which the 
argument for teleology has undergone. 
There is a constant plea against reading 
into the relations of nature more than is 
actually seen there, as also against the de- 
nial of that which may occur and yet has 
not been actually seen. 

“We can give no reason why life and 
protoplasm should be associated except the 
fact that they are. And is it not equally 
clear that this is no reason why they may 
not exist separately ?”? In this connection 
we are given a charming analysis of the 
idealism of Agassiz, with the reason why 


532 D SCIENCE. 


his wide-reaching suggestions have found so 
little favor among later naturalists. 

‘‘TIn order to prove that natural history 
is a language which we learn and listen to, 
to our entertainment and profit and in- 
struction, he holds it essential to prove that 
it is nothing but a language; that the rela- 
tions between living things and the world 
about them, being ideal relations, cannot 
possibly be physical ones also; that our 
‘laws of biology’ are not ‘ necessary’ but 
‘arbitrary.’ ”’ 

The belief in Monism which Haeckel 
places first in his articles of scientific faith 
naturally wakens in Dr. Brooks little re- 
sponse. It is a philosophical expression 
wholly unrelated to reality. Whether it is 
the highest of all possible human gener- 
alizations or a mere play on words, science 
has no means of deciding, and man has no 
other court of appeal save his own experi- 
ence. 

I have already reached the limit of my 
space, while the majority of the passages I 
had marked for quotation are still un- 
touched. The stones which Dr. Brooks has 
chosen as ‘ Foundations of Zoology ’ will re- 
main there for centuries, most of them as 
long as human wisdom shall endure. The 
volume is a permanent contribution to hu- 
man knowledge, the worthy crown of a life 
of wise thought as well as of hard work and 
patient investigation. If there are any 
errors in statement or conclusion, from one 
end of the book to the other, the present 
writer is not astute enough to find them 
out, and Dr. Brooks’ logic may permit him 
at least to doubt their existence. 

The biologists of America have long since 
recognized Dr. Brooks as a master, and this 
volume, the modern and scientific sequel to 
Agassiz’s ‘Essay on Classification,’ places 
him in the line of succession from the great 
interpreter of nature, whose pupil and 
friend he was.  Davyip Srarr JorDAN. 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY. 


[N.S. VoL. IX. No. 224. 


FIELD-WORK OF THE JESUP NORTH PACIFIC 
EXPEDITION IN 1898. 

Tue Jesup North Pacific Expedition was 
organized in 1897 by Mr. Morris K. Jesup, 
President of the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History, for the purpose of investi- 
gating the ethnology and archeology of the 
coasts of the North Pacific Ocean between 
the Amoor River, in Siberia, and Columbia 
River, in North America, the whole ex- 
pense of the expedition being defrayed by 
Mr. Jesup. 

During the year 1897 the field-work of 
the expedition, was confined to the coast 
and interior of British Columbia. In 1898 
the work was taken up on a more extended 
scale. Parties were in the field on the coast 
of the State of Washington, in the southern 
interior of British Columbia, on the coast of 
British Columbia, and on the Amoor in 
Siberia. On both continents ethnological 
work as well as archeological work has 
been done. While the parties in charge of 
the work on the American continent re- 
turned with the beginning of the winter, 
the work in Asia is being carried on. 

The collections made by the various field 
parties of the expedition in 1897 are now 
on exhibit in the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History. These collections represent 
the results of archeological work in the 
interior of British Columbia and on the 
coast. The ethnological collections are 
particularly full in regard to the tribes of 
Thompson River, of northern Vancouver 
Island, and of the central parts of the coast 
of British Columbia. The Museum has 
commenced the publication of the scientific 
results of the expedition in the form of 
memoirs. Up to this time two numbers 
have been issued—‘ Facial Paintings of the 
Indians of Northern British Columbia,’ and 
‘Mythology of the Bella Coola Indians,’ 
both by Franz Boas. Other results of the 
explorations in 1897 are in preparation, and 
will be issued in the course of the year. 


APRIL 14, 1899. ] 


Among these are the results of archzeo- 
logical work in the interior of British Co- 
lumbia, by Harlan I. Smith; a description 
of the Thompson River Indians, by James 
Teit; and a discussion of conventional art 
among the Salish tribes, by Livingston 
Farrand. 

The field-work of the expedition during 
1898 was in the hands of Dr. Livingston 
Farrand and Mr. Roland B. Dixon, in the 
State of Washington and in southern British 
Columbia. The archeological work in Brit- 
ish Columbia has been carried on by Mr. 
Harlan I. Smith. Investigations on the 
Indians of the southern interior of British 
Columbia were continued by Mr. James 
Teit. The ethnological work on the Amoor 
River, more particularly among the Gilyak, 
was carried on by Dr. Berthold Laufer, and 
archeological investigations in the same 
region were in the hands of Mr. Gerard 
Fowke. Following is a statement of the 
outline of the work of these parties, so far 
as available at the present time. 


THE INDIANS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. 


In the plan of operations of the expedi- 
tion along the northwest coast of the conti- 
nent there was included from the beginning 
such research as might be needed to fill in 
certain gaps in our knowledge of the Indian 
tribes, from Vancouver as far south as the 
mouth of the Columbia River. The work of 
Gibbs, Boas, Eells, Willoughby and others 
had determined with considerable certainty 
the affiliations of the many tribes of this 
region, and in certain instances fairly com- 
plete information had been obtained regard- 
ing their customs, language, mythology, ete. 
There remained, however, a district on the 
west coast of Washington, from Cape Flat- 
tery to Grey’s Harbor, of which little was 
known, and which promised valuable results 
upon investigation. It was consequently 
upon this region that the efforts of the ex- 
pedition in Washington during the summer 


SCIENCE. 


533 


of 1898 were concentrated, the work being 
intrusted to Mr. R. B. Dixon, of Harvard 
University, and the writer. 

The stretch of coast-line mentioned is 
about one hundred miles in length, and in- 
habited only at a few points, where the In- 
dians have formed villages at the mouths of 
streams. South of Cape Flattery, which 
with its immediate vicinity is included in 
the Makah Reservation, the Indians of that 
coast are of two tribes—the Quilleute and 
the Quinault. The Quilleutes are the more 
northerly, occupying two villages; the 
larger, known as Lapush, at the mouth of 
the Quilleute River, about thirty miles 
south of Cape Flattery, contains all 
the members of the tribe except a few 
families who live at Hoh, a cluster of 
houses some fifteen miles farther south. 
South of Hoh the coast is uninhabited for 
about fifteen miles, as far as Queets, the 
more northerly of the Quinault villages, 
which contains but a few individuals ; while 
twelve miles farther down the coast, at the 
mouth of the Quinault River, is the main 
seat of the tribe, known by the whites 
as Granville, which is a sub-agency of 
the Indian Department, with a resident 
agent and post-trader. The climate of this 
region is mild throughout the year, but with 
an extremely high rainfall from October to 
June. Being freed from the hardships of 
the severe winters of the interior, these coast 
Indians find ita comparatively easy matter 
to procure the necessaries of life at all sea- 
sons. The waters teem with salmon and 
other fish ; shell-fish are abundant and much 
used ; seal are hunted in the late spring, 
particularly by the Quilleutes, whose situa- 
tion is more favorable for that purpose; and 
in the woods, which extend down to the 
beach at all points, deer, elk, black bear, 
and many varieties of small game, are 
abundant. The staple foods, however, of 
both tribes mentioned, are salmon (which 
are caught in great numbers with large nets, 


534 


dip-nets, and spears) and berries, gathered 
at the properseasons and dried. Of late 
years, with the development of the salmon- 
canning and hop-growing industries in the 
regions about Puget Sound and the Fraser 
River, the life of these Indians has under- 
gone a decided modification, due to the an- 
nual exodus of all able-bodied members of 
the tribes to secure work in the canneries 
and hop-fields. Employment is given to 
women, and even to children, and in pros- 
perous seasons very considerable sums are 
earned by families, which money is, how- 
ever, as a rule, promptly and not wisely 
spent at the nearest shop or trader’s; and 
the Indians return to their homes in the 
autumn with little to show for their three 
or four months’ labor except the experience, 
largely social, which is, after all, probably 
the great inducement which draws them to 
the work. 

This absence of the Indians from their 
villages was the greatest obstacle to the 
work of the expedition in these two tribes. 

Upon arriving at Lapush, about July 1st, 
it was found that the Quilleutes had gone 
in a body to the Fraser River for the fish- 
eries, leaving behind a few men too ill to be 
carried, and enough women to look after 
their needs. Some days were spent in ob- 
taining such linguistic information as was 
possible with the scanty material to work 
upon, and then, reports from the Quinaults 
being more favorable, the expedition pro- 
ceeded to Granville, where some thirty in- 
dividuals were found, the remainder having 
also gone to the Fraser River. The pros- 
pects being better at this point, it was de- 
cided to settle down and begin work. Meas- 
urements, casts, and photographs were 
obtained, as well as a mass of information 
regarding the language, customs, traditions, 
ete., of the people. As it was desirable to 
collect as large a series as possible of meas- 
urements and casts, it was decided early in 
August that Mr. Dixon should proceed to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 224. 


the Fraser River, and prosecute that work 
as wellas might be under the rather unfa- 
vorable conditions presented. This he did 
with entire success, obtaining a very valu- 
able series of casts and measurements, as 
well as notes on the languages of both the 
Quilleutes and Quinaults, and later visited 
the Lillooet Indians in British Columbia 
before returning East. 

The writer remained at Granville for 
some weeks longer, making researches and 
collecting ethnological material for the 
American Museum of Natural History, and 
about September 1st returned to Lapush to 
meet certain of the Quilleutes who had re- 
turned, and obtain further information re- 
garding that tribe. The members of the expe- 
dition returned to New York about Oct. Ist. 

Of the results of the summer’s work, 
aside from the collections made for the 
Museum, may be mentioned as of particular 
importance the casts, photographs, and 
measurements for a systematic study of the 
physical anthropology of the tribes; the 
linguistic material, which proves beyond 
question the stock affiliations of both groups, 
the Quilleutes being shown to be of Chema- 
kum origin (the true Chemakum tribe, 
which formerly had its seat near Port 
Townsend, being now extinct), while the 
Quinaults are of the extensive Salish stock 
which occupies nearly all of the territory 
about Puget Sound, and sends this offshoot 
north along the coast. The traditions of 
the tribes, of which full collections were 
made, are extremely interesting, exhibiting 
the characteristics of the traditions of the 
northwest coast in general, and showing 
particular affiliations with the immediately 
adjoining tribes. A great many of the 
stories are identical in every detail in the 
two tribes, except for slight changes of name, 
although the tribes are of totally distinct 
stocks, and the language of each is unintel- 
ligible to the other. The well-known myth 
of the ‘ transformer’ is found well developed 


APRIL 14, 1899.] 


in both instances, and the tales of the Raven 
as culture hero and trickster, so well known 
among the Indians farther north, are heard 
here among the Quilleutes, while the same 
adventures are told of Blue Jay among the 
Quinaults, as is the case among the Chinook 
and other neighboring peoples in the south. 
These traditions will form an excellent 
basis for a comparative study of the mythol- 
ogy of the region. 

Particularly valuable information in re- 
gard to the conventional development of 
design in basket ornamentation was ob- 
tained among the Quinaults, bearing out 
the theory that the common geometrical 
figures which are used so much are almost 
invariably conventionalized representations 
of natural objects, and, as a rule, of animals. 
Notes on the social life and beliefs of the 
Indians were also secured, and observations 
made on the influence of the so-called 
‘Shaker’ religion, which has been gaining 
a strong hold on the natives of that section 
during the last half-dozen years. In general 
itis hoped that the work of ‘the summer 
will contribute very materially to the solu. 
tion of many of the problems, general and 
special, which are offered by the Indians of 


the Northwest. 
LIvINGsToN FARRAND. 


ARCHXOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OWN THE 
NORTH PACIFIC COAST OF AMERTCA. 


Tue archeological work condu“ted on the 
northwest coast of America, prior to the 
organization of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 
pedition, was not extensive. The available 
knowledge concerning it is largely confined 
to three publications—two by Dr. William 
H. Dall, on cave and sbell-heap remains of 
the Aleutian Islands; and one by Mr. 
Charles Hill-Tout, a résumé of the arche- 
ology of the southwestern portion of Brit- 
ish Columbia. 

The archeologica! investigations which I 
carried on in conrection with the Jesup 


SCIENCE. 


535 


Expedition during the past two years 
dealt chiefly with two problems: (1) ex- 
amining the archeology of the southern 
interior of British Columbia; and (2) in- 
vestigating the shell-heaps of the coast of 
Vancouver Island, together with those of 
the adjacent mainland. 

In the southern interior of British Colum- 
bia, more particularly in the valleys of the 
Thompson and Fraser Rivers, now live 
tribes of the Salish Indians. - This region is 
one of almost desert dryness. The houses 
of the Indians are covered with a roof of 
timbers and earth, and are partly under- 
ground. Unlike the tribes of the coast, who 
have such an abundance of the few staples 
—cedar, seal, salmon, and shell-fish—that 
they depend almost exclusively upon them, 
these people have to resort to a great vari- 
ety of natural resources. Primarily among 
them may be mentioned the deer, which 
furnish them with skins for clothing, flesh 
for food, and bone and antler for imple- 
ments. The sagebrush-bark is used for 
textile fabrics. Salmon are taken for food 
in the rivers, and berries and roots are ob- 
tained in the mountain valleys. Many ob- 
jects are made of stone. They bury their 
dead in little cemeteries along the river, 
although an isolated grave is sometimes 
seen. Their method of burial in the ground, 
instead of in boxes deposited in trees, in 
caves, or on the ground, the conical form 
of their lodges, and their extensive use of 
chipped points of stone rather than of those 
ground out of stone, bone, and antler, ally 
their culture with that of the tribes of the 
East, and differentiate it from that of the 
coast people. None of the native peoples 
of British Columbia make pottery, and no 
pottery has been found by archeological 
work. Food was boiled by dropping hot 
stones into baskets or boxes containing it. 

The archeological remains are found in 
the light sand of the valleys and hillsides. 
The wind is continually shifting this dry 


536 SCIENCE. 


sand from place to place. For this reason 
no definite age can be assigned to the speci- 
mens secured. It is certain, judging from 
the complete absence of European objects 
at many of the localities explored, that the 
remains found at these places antedate con- 
tact with the whites. A number of them must 
carry us back several hundred years. The 
modern Indians make small arrow-points, 
and disclaim the large kind found in exca- 
vations. The work undoubtedly proves 
that these ancient people and those now 
inhabiting this region were practically the 
same. 

Numerous circular depressions were 
found, indicating the sites of ancient un- 
derground houses. The dry climate, and 
the action of copper salts, preserved bits of 
skin garments. Portions of the clothing 
and bags that were made of the bark of the 
sagebrush, remain in the dryest places. 
Beaver-teeth dice, exactly like those used 
by the present Indians; digging-stick han- 
dles made of antler, similar to those in use 
to-day; charred berries; fish-bones; and 
skin scrapers made of stone—were un- 
earthed. 

The graves were found in groups and 
also singly, as is the case with the modern 
ones. The bodies were buried upon the 
side, with the knees drawn up to the chest. 
They were wrapped in a fabric made of 
sagebrush-bark, and were covered with 
mats of woven rushes. Over the forehead 
and around the neck were strings of beads, 
some of copper, others of dentalium-shell. 
At the side, in a pouch also made of woven 
sagebrush-bark, were usually found such 
objects as pieces of glassy basalt, points 
chipped out of the same material for arrows 
and knives, a pair of grooved stones which 
were used for smoothing and straightening 
arrow-shafts, a set of beaver-teeth dice, 
bone awls and needles, quantities of red 
ochre, copper-stained clay and yellow earth 
used for paint. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 224. 


The beads of dentalium-shell from the 
Pacific coast probably indicate intertribal 
trade. A number of war-clubs and several 
small animal figures carved in bone were 
found. The handles of the clubs were 
artistically sculptured to represent human 
heads with plumed head-dresses. Such 
specimens show that the ancient people 
were capable of a high order of artistic 
carving, which, perhaps, more than any of 
their other work, resembles the products of 
the coast culture. Stones burned and 
crackled, evidently by basket or box boil- 
ing, are found at all the village-sites and 
shell-heaps explored in British Columbia. 

Several specimens, such as the stone 
mortar and the tubular pipe, remind us of 
the types found in Oregon and California. 
Ethnological investigations have shown the 
affiliation of the recent culture of this 
region to that of the Rocky Mountain re- 
gion. These archeological evidences sug- 
gest that this similarity was even greater 
in the past. 

Turning to the problem of the shell-heaps 
of the coast, it is necessary to note that the 
present tribes of the coast of British Co- 
lumbia build immense houses of cedar 
planks. They depend largely upon the 
cedar and other wood for their implements 
and utensils. The bark of the cedar ‘is 
made into garments, bags, mats, and the 
like ; in fact, the cedar is to these people 
what the bamboo is to the Japanese. They 
rely greatly upon salmon and shell-fish for 
food. The seal also furnishes them with 
food and material for manufactures. They 
have developed an exceedingly high art in 
carving and painting, which is quite char- 
acteristic for the North Pacific coast. 

The most extensive remains of the early 
inhabitants of the coast are shell-heaps. 
Their general distribution may be judged 
by the fact that in the region, less than a 
hundred miles square, on the shore of the 
north end of Vancouver Island, and the 


Aprit 14, 1899. ] 


mainland opposite, over a hundred and fifty 
were noted. In general they are located 
at the mouths of fresh-water streams, and 
are several hundred yards in length by five 
or six feet in depth, while a few are miles 
in length, and some reach a maximum 
depth of over nine feet. The presence of 
stumps over five feet in diameter standing 
on nine feet of these layers, of which but 
few are more than an inch or two in thick- 
ness, indicates a considerable antiquity for 
the lower layers. These are composed 
almost exclusively of the well preserved 
shells of clams and mussels, scattered 
among which are found a very few points 
and barbs rubbed out of bone, such as 
were used recently for harpoons, and bone- 
choppers for preparing cedar-bark, ex- 
actly like the implements used to-day in 
the manufacture of cedar-bark, mats, and 
clothing. Numerous stone pebbles with 
battered ends, such as are still used in a 
game resembling quoits, and a copper orna- 
ment in shape like those made of iron and 
now worn in southern Alaska, were also 
found in the heaps. One pair of these or- 
naments, made of copper, was found in a 
grave in the interior. The extreme scarcity 
of archeological specimens in the very ex- 
tensive shell-heaps of northern Vancouver 
Island is what we might expect if the early 
people depended as largely as do the pres- 
ent natives upon cedar products easily 
disintegrated by the warm, moist climate. 
The scarcity of human remains in the shell- 
heaps may be accounted for on the suppo- 
sition that tree-burial, where the bodies fall 
and are soon destroyed or the bones scat- 
tered, was as extensively employed in 
former times as at present. Everything 
which has been found tends to prove that 
the ancient people who discarded the shells 
forming these immense heaps, over succes- 
sive layers of which forest trees have grown 
to a diameter of four or five feet, were in all 
essential particulars similar in their culture 


SCIENCE. 


537 


to the tribes at present inhabiting the same 
areas. 

The shell-heaps in the delta of the Fraser 
River, while in general resembling those of 
the coast, present several marked differ- 
ences. There is much more black soil, 
charcoal, and ashes among the layers of the 
shell-heaps here than in those along the 
beaches of the sea. The shells are much 
more decayed, and mixed with the black 
soil. Among the layers are found numer- 
ous skeletons of two distinct types of men ; 
and the proportions of specimens to the ex- 
tent of the shell-heaps is vastly greater 
than in the other localities, the specimens 
in the coast shell-heaps being much sepa- 
rated by vast amounts of shell material. 
Whether these differences are peculiar to 
the lower Fraser River, or are common to 
all fresh-water streams of the region, is 
problematical; and their cause, whether 
due to a change in the customs of the 
people, or to a variation in the people by 
mixture or succession, is worthy of study. 

The age of these heaps is considerable. 
A stump of the Douglas fir over six feet in 
diameter stood on one of the heaps where 
the layers, there reaching a depth of over 
eight feet, contained human remains. This 
tree indicates an age, for the top layers, of 
more than five hundred years; and allow- 
ing for the formation of eight feet of strata of 
shell, ash, and earth, most of which are but 
a few inches in thickness, it must be con- 
ceded that the bottom layers are much 
older than this rather conservative estimate 
for the minimum age of the top layers. 
The annual rings upon an ordinary stump 
standing upon this shell-heap numbered 
over four hundred. The circumference of 
another stump exceeded twenty-eight feet. 

The shell-heap at Port Hammond, in the 
upper part of the Fraser delta, is over twenty 
miles by water from the present seashore, 
where the shell-fish are found. By land, the 
nearest point of seashore is over ten miles. 


538 


Judging from the customs of the present 
natives, the water route would be used. 
But they prefer to live near the shell-beds. 
It is hard to believe that any of them would 
earry shell-fish from the present seashore to 
the shell-heaps at Port Hammond... The 
distance that the delta is built out into the 
sea, and the time required for this deposi- 
tion, may furnish us some information as to 
the age of the Port Hammond shell-heaps. 

There is no apparent difference in the 
character of the specimens found in the re- 
cent and in the older layers. The general 
style of the objects is similar to those made 
by the present tribes of the coast. Several 
exquisite specimens of stone and bone carv- 
ings were discovered, which rival in artistic 
merit the’ best sculpture of the existing 
natives. 

Two types of skeletons were found which 
belonged apparently to coexistent people, 
as they were excavated from the same 
layers. Ifone of these types consisted of 
captives or slaves, there was nothing in the 
manner of burial to indicate it. Probably 
one type succeeded the other in occupation 
of the area. The fact that bodies were 
found in shell-heaps indicates that the cus- 
toms of this people must have differed from 
those of the people who formed the shell- 
heaps on northern Vancouver Island, or 
that the former people was subjected to 
other influence. 

The skeletons found were deposited at 
the time of the layers, and were not intru- 
sive burials, as was clearly shown by the 
numerous unbroken strata extending over 
them. The bodies were usually lying upon 
the side, with the knees close to the chest. 
Unlike the skeletons in the interior, these 
have but few, if any, objects accompanying 
them, except, in rare instances, a few shell 
beads, copper objects, and chipped and 
ground stone points for arrows, spears, etc. 
Such specimens, and even more interesting 
objects, were frequently found in the layers. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. EX. No. 224. 


There has been an apparent movement in 
prehistoric times of the Salish of the upper 
Fraser toward the coast. The skulls found 
in the old shell-heaps of the delta differ 
from those of the present coast Salish. The 
modern coast Salish has a skull apparently 
modified from this by admixture since com- 
ing to the coast. This is only additional 
evidence to what has already been suggested 
by linguistic research. A movement of 
such importance, and its attendant influ- 
ences, may account for certain changes in 
ethnological customs, such as the rapid 
modification of the method of burial on the 
southeastern part of Vancouver Island. The 
earliest known kind of burial, and the one 
that is known to have antedated contact 
with the whites by a considerable period, 
was in stone cairns. Later, and even since 
contact with the whites, the bodies were 
placed in wooden chests, which were de- 
posited on platforms in the branches of 
trees. This method was changed to de- 
positing the boxes in caves or on little 
islands. In such cases a canoe was some- 
times used instead of a box. Now, under 
missionary influence and legal restraint, 
these people bury as do the whites of the 
region. 

The cairns come within the field of ar- 
cheeological investigation. They consist of 
irregular piles of bowlders, from twelve to 
twenty feet in diameter, thrown over the 
body, which was placed in the usual flexed 
position. In most cases ib was surrounded 
by a rectangular vault formed by placing 
the straight sides of four or five bowlders 
toward the body, and covering the cyst 
thus made with one or two slab-shaped 
rocks. Over this the rough pile of the cairn 
would be reared. A few copper ornaments 
have been found buried in cairns. The 
skeletons are usually much decayed, and 
complete skulls from the cairns are rarely 
obtained. In excavating twenty-one cairns 
in 1897 no entire bones were secured. In 


APRIL 14, 1899. ] 


1898, however, we met with better suecess, 
obtaining a number of complete skeletons. 

Several burial-mounds were formerly 
located along the lower Fraser River, be- 
tween Hatzic and Port Hammond. The 
remains in them are usually much de- 
eayed, and but little is known about them. 
The one which we found intact was ex- 
. plored by us, and its contents were seen to 
be much decayed. 

It remains to find material upon which 
to reconstruct a knowledge of the builders 
of the burial-mounds of the lower Fraser 
River. The map showing the distribution 
of cairns should be completed. The marked 
difference between the shell-heaps explored 
along the salt water, and those investigated 
in the delta of the Fraser River, demands 
that inquiry be continued to determine 
whether this difference is correlated to 
salt- and fresh-water shell-heaps, to heaps 
of certain geographical areas, or is due 
to change in customs. The determination 
of the distribution of shell-heaps of both 
varieties is also necessary. Many of the 
specimens discovered in this work are 
known to be of considerable antiquity, 
and, on the whole, the culture shown by 
the archeological finds is similar to that 
of the present Indians. It is consequently 
known that this culture has continued 
practically unchanged during recent times. 
This being settled, it is desirable to learn 
of its development, for which it is impera- 
tive to search out older deposits. These 
may possibly be found in shell-heaps, under 
cave-floors, or in post-glacial gravels. 

Haran I. Suita. 


AMERICAN MUSEUM OF 
NATURAL HIsTORY, NEW YORK. 


ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE 
AMOOR RIVER. 

Tue Amoor River, below Khabarovsk, 

flows through a succession of former lakes 

and the rocky barriers which separated 


SCIENCE. 


539 


them. There are extensive level tracts, 
the bottoms of drained lakes alternating 
with passes between hills or mountains. 
Nearly all the flats are subject to overflow. 
They are covered with coarse grass from 
four to seven feet high, and intersected in 
all directions by sloughs and bayous. At 
no point is the river less than a mile wide ; 
in floods there are many places where no 
land is visible for ten miles or more; and 
at one locality it is fully twenty miles 
across. At such times the current in some 
parts of the channel flows from twelve to 
fifteen miles an hour. The shores are free 
from silt or mud. One may walk for miles 
on the beach, immediately after a heavy 
rain, without soiling his shoes. An impor- 
tant result of this, to primitive people, is 
that shell-fish are almost entirely lacking. 
A few periwinkles and occasionally a mus- 
sel are found, but there is not the slightest 
evidence that such were ever used as food. 
The water seems. comparatively free from 
lime. 

There is no flint from which arrow- or 
spear-heads could be made, and very little 


‘ stone, except bowlders and pebbles on the 


shores, suitable for the manufacture of 
axes. None of the former, and very few 
of the latter, were found. Wood, bone 
and antler seem to have been about the 
only material for weapons and implements. 

The winters are long and severe. A 
temperature of 67° below zero (Fahr.) has 
been recorded at Nikolaievsk, and a skim 
of ice was formed there in August (1898). 

There are no roads. Navigation is pos- 
sible for only four months, sledge travel 
on the river, another four, while for two 
months in spring and two in autumn all 
travel is suspended. 

The hills are steep, rugged, and covered 
with fallen timber, brush and vines. Only 
hunters and prospectors ever go among 
them. In most places primitive wilderness 
is reached within a few hundred yards of 


540 


the stream. Short journeys may be made 
on the beach, but one soon comes to the 
outlet of a lake or swamp which cannot be 
crossed. 

Settlements are confined entirely to the 
banks of the river, at points where there is 
good landing for canoes. 
lages, and some belonging to the Russians, 
are subject to overflow. There are very 
few high terraces bordered by a good beach. 
On a rocky shore, canoes would soon be 
dashed to pieces by waves, which in severe 
storms attain a height of five or six feet. 

Above the mouth of the Garoon River 
dwells the native tribe of Gold or Goldi. 
Below Sophisk, extending along the coast 
to Okhotsk Sea and Saghalien Island, are 
the Gilyaks. The intermediate territory is 
occupied by both tribes. At present they 
obtain guns and knives from the Russians ; 
formerly they had only such hunting or 
fishing material as they could make for 
themselves or get from the Manchu traders. 

In summer the elks come down from the 
mountains to feed on the lilies and grasses 
in the marshes. -The Gilyak hunter se- 
eretes himself and patiently waits for his 
quarry to come within easy range. In win- 
ter they go, either singly or in a party, into 
the mountains to hunt fur-bearing animals. 
The sable is the chief animal sought, as a 
good skin is easily exchanged for its weight 
in silver, and a fine one brings much more. 
Sometimes they spend the entire winter at 
the camp, though it may be only a few 
miles from home. 

At their summer camps they make huts 
of birch-bark. Sometimes there is con- 
structed a framework of posts, cross-poles, 
and rafters, on which the bark is fastened 
by tough, twisted vines, the roof being held 
down by poles and stones. Again, they tie 
a bundle of poles together at the top, and 
spread the bottoms as far as they wish. 
This framework is covered with bark (or 
sometimes with skins, and nowadays pos- 


SCIENCE, 


Most native vil- © 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 224. 


sibly with tent-cloth), in the fashion of an 
Indian wigwam. A fire is made in the 
middle of the floor; blocks of wood, or 
short forks driven into the ground, sup- 
port poles, brush, and grass for seats and 
beds. 

Winter dwellings are more elaborate. A 
space is marked out from twenty to fifty 
feet square, the size depending upon the 
number of persons to be housed. The earth 
is excavated within these lines, the depth 
of the excavation being governed somewhat 
by the character of the soil. It is usually 
between two and three feet. Posts are set 
around the edge of this, on which a wat- - 
tle is constructed ; mud is thickly plastered 
on both sides. The roof is made of poles 
and heavily covered with mud. Earth is 
also piled up around the base of the house 
to a height of three or four feet. A fireplace 
or furnace is made of stones in one corner. A 
large kettle is set into the top of this, and 
every crevice chinked with mud. From 
the fireplace, flues extend around the sides 
of the room, made of flat stones set on edge 
and covered with others. There may be 
two, three, or four of these flues, side by 
side. If flat stones cannot be had, others 
are used, the interstices being chinked. In 
large houses two furnaces are made in op- 
posite corners. All the flues unite finally 
into one, which is carried through the wall 
and to a chimney from fifteen to twenty- 
five feet away, on the outside. This may be 
a hollow trunk or may be made of boards. 
It furnishes sufficient draught in any 
weather. Over all the flues are piled sand 
and fine gravel, confined at the front by 
boards, and carefully levelled on the top. 
The ‘bench’ thus formed is sometimes six 
feet wide. The inmates literally live on it 
when in the house. It is always warm and 
dry when the fires are going. 

A careful and methodical investigation 
was made along the river for three hundred 
and fifty miles above its mouth, and of the 


Apnrin 14, 1899.] 


coast along the Channel of Tartary as far 
as Okhotsk Sea. No evidence whatever 
could be found to indicate a former 
population different from the present. 
The swift current and high waves 
keep the gravel and sand of the beach 
continually shifting. It was possibly 
for this reason that so little was found on 
the shores. Nota worked flint was seen. 
There were hundreds of fragments of pot- 
tery, about thirty polished stone hatchets 
or scrapers, some notched sinkers and a few 
other stones, showing marks of use or at- 
tempts at shaping. Above the water-line, 
grass and weeds grow so abundantly that 
the ground is hidden. In the few places, 
where vertical exposures of the banks oc- 
curred, every foot was carefully examined ; 
but there was nota fragment of pottery, a 
piece of charcoal, or any other evidence of 
human occupation, to be seen below the 
sod. This is true of all terraces, whether 
subject to overflow or not. The natives 
say the ‘ old people ’ (meaning thereby their 
predecessors, without regard to time) used 
the polished stone implements. Now bet- 
ter utensils can be had from the Russians. 
Most of the pottery is Manchurian, as is 
proved by its marking or decoration. The 
remains of a Chinese town may be seen in 
the woods at Tyr; three inscribed monu- 
ments formerly stood near here. The in- 
scriptions have been deciphered, and prove 
to be Manchurian. 

There are no shell-heaps, of course, be- 
cause no shells; no mounds; no stone 
graves; no graves, except modern ones, 
with any mark to show their existence. 

When a Gilyak house is abandoned, it 
soon goes to decay. The earth piled 
around the base is increased in amount by 
that falling upon it from the walls, and 
when the wood all decays there is left an 
embankment surrounding a depression. If 
the roof-timbers hold for a year or two, the 
earth is washed off and adds to the em- 


SCIENCE. 


541 


bankment ; if this dirt falls directly down- 
ward, it lessens the depth of the depression. 

In the entire region examined, these 
abandoned house-pits was found. In some, 
part of the timbers were still in their proper 
position. In others the timbers were all 
more or less decayed. In still others no 
trace of wood remained. Step by step could 
be traced the gradation from the house just 
deserted to the house-pit covered with moss 
and turf to an equal thickness with that on 
every side, and overgrown with pine trees 
up to thirty inches in diameter—as large as 
any observed along the river. All are con- 
structed in the same way, and several which 
were trenched across showed the stone flues 
just as they are made at present. 

There may be ancient remains here yet 
to be discovered ; butso far none have been 


‘found which may not be properly attributed 


to the present native tribes, or to the Man- 
churians, who until recently owned this 
territory. 

GERARD FOWKE. 


ON BIOLOGICAL TEXT-BOOKS AND TEACHERS 

A GENERAL indictment against text: books 
may be drawn, to the effect that, like the 
teachers who are usually their authors, they 
proceed on the assumption that all who pass 
through their sphere of influence are to be- 
come specialists in that particular depart- 
ment of knowledge. This tendency carries 
its own reductio ad absurdum and is the cause 
of frequent revolutions in ‘ methods of teach- 
A new phase of the subject, a new 
standpoint from which to present it, is at 
first tentatively added or partially substi- 
tuted for the old course of study, with 
noticeably excellent results. Not realizing 
that the improvement is secured by the 
introduction of moderation, balance and 
sanity into the work of instruction, the in- 
ference is at once drawn that still more 
startling effects are possible through further 
progress in the direction whence the light 


j ? 
ing. 


542 


came. Very soon, however, the mean is 
passed, the new has become the old, the 
simple the complex, and another advance, 
return, or deflection, is in order. 

The history of biological instruction in 
schools furnishes a good illustration of these 
phenomena. The’systematists had the first 
botanical opportunity, which they pro- 
ceeded to abuse. Not content with the 
original practice of giving beginners a slight 
acquaintance with the names and properties 
of the more prominent local plants, they 
arranged for the laying of broader founda- 
tions for systematic work; manuals con- 
taining thousands of species and requiring 
extended experience for their profitable use 
were put into the hands of academic pupils 
prepared only by a brief course in defini- 
tions. The vital activities of plants went 
unnoticed ; they were not organisms to be 
understood, but objects tobe named. Such 
a one-sided and sterile method could not be 
perpetuated in the treatment of a subject 
having any practical bearings, and the neces- 
sary revolt followed. 
internal structure and organic functions, 
problems in physics, chemistry and elec- 
tricity were then brought to light and put 
before the budding mind as containing the 
essence of botany, and now the extreme of 
development in this direction is being 
reached. 

That the training of specialists is not the 
primary object of instruction in biology, in 
primary and secondary schools, or even in 
the college, will be admitted by all. The 
available time is limited, more commonly 
painfully short. The interest of pupils is 
necessarily divided and fragmentary on ac- 
count of the numerous subjects they are ob- 
liged to follow simultaneously ; originality 
and the power of clear insight are in pro- 
cess of destruction by a continuous surfeit 
of educational provender. Biology cannot 
hope to monopolize time or attention, and 
hence the first problem of instruction is 


SCIENCE. 


Numberless facts of * 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 224. 


to employ the meager opportunities to the 
greatest good of the student. The course 
which will obtain the maximum of pleasur- 
able interest is also that which will produce 
the most lasting and satisfactory results, 
The teacher is the mentor and guide in the 
fields of knowledge. If he were in charge 
of a party of his pupils who were visiting 
England, and had a week to see London, the 
systematist would advise that six days be 
spent with the maps and guide books, so 
that his students might be able to call the 
principal buildings and streets by name 
while driving to Westminster on Sunday ; 
the laboratory instructor would consistently 
employ the week at the Tower, mostly in 
eareful examination of the foundations, 
Both suggestions would have advantages if 
the visitors were to remain in London six 
months or a year, but with the sojourn 
limited to a week the young people would 
in each case come back disappointed at not 
having seen the city, and this may properly 
be the state of mind of thousands of stu- 
dents of biology and its departments. They 
have a right to see as many and learn as 
much about living creatures as time and op- 
portunity will permit; to proceed as though 
they were to spend a lifetime in pursuit of 
some biologic speciality is a piece of crimi- 
nal stupidity not unfrequently alloyed with 
a considerable amount of laziness, since 
both the extreme methods are reducible to 
a definite class-room or laboratory routine 
capable of comparatively easy management, 
while to maintain a well-balanced middle 
course, giving a maximum of knowledge in 
logical and orderly arrangement, requires 
alert and sympathetic comprehension, both 
of facts and of persons. 

But of what should general tuition in 
biological subjects consist? The answer 
must vary with the pupils, the facilities 
and the time. To specify any method, 
standpoint or sequence as the unqualified 
‘best’ is to lose sight of the differences and 


Apri 14, 1899. ] 


limitations which must be considered in 
particular cases. There are, however, some 
simple and universal demands which all 
general courses in biological subjects may 
be expected to meet, but which are fre- 
quently neglected in favor of the special in- 
struction deprecated above. 

1. Formal instruction should not fall behind 
general knowledge in dealing with familiar 
things. This does not mean that students 
of zoology should all become veterinarians, 
but it does mean that they should know 
something more about horses than the aver- 
age of uninstructed humanity. It is no 
special credit to the educated man who 
“had a course in botany’ to be badly poi- 
soned by contact with a weed which thou- 
sands who never heard of botany have 
learned to avoid. To be able to recognize 
the more common edible fungi is an accom- 
plishment which none would be likely to 
regret. In fine, the educated man is a man 
none the less, and a part of nature through- 
out bis mortal life, and any so-called in- 
struction which does not, within its par- 
ticular province, increase his efficiency in 
contact with his environment lacks prime 
elements of interest and importance. 

2. Literary development requires the command 
of a reasonable scientific vocabulary. It is too 
late in the age of the world for whales and 
porpoises to be called ‘ fish,’ for corals to be 
ealled ‘insects,’ for lichens to be called 
‘moss.’ For literary purposes, if for no 
other, a man should know an elm from a 
hickory or a woodbine. The ignoramus is 
no longer at a premium on account of any 
supposed profundity. The poet who has his 
crows’ nest in the fence corner will surely 
come to grief and derision, likewise he who 
puts the swallows’ nest in the tree. 

3. Toinsure familiarity and subsequent recog- 
mition, natural objects should, as far as possible, 
be seen in nature. The graduate from school 
or college who has not gained a larger in- 
sight and a deeper interest in surrounding 


SCIENCE. 


543 


nature and natural objects may know, with- 
out peradventure, that he has suffered a 
grievous loss through the incompetence of 
the biological contingent of the faculty. 
The teacher who is accustomed to carry his 
classes ‘ through’ botany and zoology with- 
out taking them into the field is a danger- 
ous fraud whose ‘course’ consists in some 
routine work or specialized sawdust which 
the general student can safely neglect as 
likely to be of minimum utility or bearing 
on culture. 

4. Hvery science should give its students a gen- 
eral view of its subject-matter. At some time 
in the course of their biological education 
students should see and examine, if possi- 
ble, representatives of the principal groups 
of animals and plants. It may or may not 
be desirable to go into great detail in the 
study of these ‘types,’ certainly not if 
thereby the other numbers of this enumera- 
tion are to be neglected. It is far better to 
show the general student forty different 
sorts of crustaceans and point out their gen- 


eral agreement in structure than to have 


him spend the time in cutting up one par- 
ticular form and in learning the names of 
parts and organs which he never saw before 
and will never see again. 

In the botanical text-books used in the 
secondary schools ten years ago only the 
barest mention of the lower plants was made, 
ferns, mosses, fungi and sea-weeds being 
summarily dismissed as ‘ Cryptogams.’ In 
a recently published work of secondary 
grade the structure, organs and functions 
of mosses, for instance, are explained or dis- 
cussed in nine different places. It is safe 
to say that the information furnished in this 
form serves to obscure already confused 
ideas of physiology and morphology rather 
than to widen and clarify the student’s 
botanical horizon by giving him a modicum 
of elementary knowledge concerning an in- 
teresting group of organisms. 

5. Every science should give its students an 


544 


introductory acquaintance with its methods of in- 
vestigation. How has the science been built 
up? What extent of work has been ac- 
complished and what remains to be done? 
What important problems are now receiving 
attention, and how is the work being carried 
on? What are the possible bearings on 
utility or culture of such investigations ? 
These and numerous others are legitimate 
and pertinent questions being constantly 
asked by those inside as well as outside of 
scientific lines. Under this head it is de- 
sirable to make a careful dissection and 
thorough microscopic examination of at 
least one animal or plant. It is something 
to know how an eclipse is calculated or how 
a plant is ‘analyzed,’ even if we never at- 
tempt either feat after having ‘ passed up.’ 
Together with a reasonably thorough in- 
vestigation of the structure of some one 
form, the student should collect and learn 
to know the local flora or fauna in some 
natural group, even though a very small 
one. Instead of manuals of extensive 
regions, school purposes would be far better 
served by carefully written local monographs 
which could be made really adequate for 
purposes of determination in the hands of 
the inexperienced. By being less formid- 
able such works need not be less scientific. 
Greater simplicity would also make easier 
the comprehension of the principles of classi- 
fication and the meanings of its various 
categories. Repetitions and demonstrations 
of interesting or famous experiments are 
also valuable, but to confine a class in the 
laboratory and hurry it through a long 
series of such may result merely in intel- 
lectual nausea on the part of the victims. 
These limited specializations are desi- 
rable as part of every general course, but the 
field or the problem should in each case be 
so narrowed that the student may reason- 
ably be expected to gain some insight in the 
time available. To say that all work must 
be experimental or all histological or all 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 224. 


systematic is merely to commit the same 
mistake in three different ways. Biology 
has an advantage over many parts of schoot 
curricula in that its subject-matter contains 
much of daily interest and permanent 
value. Although other departments com- 
monly justify their existence by appeal to 
the fallacy that mental training can be suc- 
cessfully divorced from instruction, biology 
has less need of such an admission. The 
gymnasium may be theoretically the best 
place to secure symmetrical muscular de- 
velopment, but the stronger attraction is ex- 
erted by foot-ball or boat-racing, and col- 
lege faculties have themselves largely to 
thank for the fact that these subjects 
monopolize so extensively the attention of 
undergraduates. The growing mind de- 
mands some object of tangible, contempo- 
rary, individual interest, and if this is not 
found in the curriculum it will be sought 
outside. A knowledge of foot-ball relieves 
many a college graduate from the charge of 
being a complete ignoramus. Interest in 
nature for its own sake is, however, also a 
normal and very common characteristic of 
younger individuals of the human species, 
and while the rountine of school life tends 
to an early eradication of this quality, its 
extinction is seldom complete, and the com- 
petent teacher knows how to utilize it as a 
most pleasant and important adjunct to the 
work of instruction. The popularity of 
the weekly excursion of classes in botany 
and zoology has even caused resignations 
from the foot-ball team. 

While the training of specialists is not 
the object of any schools except the univer- 
sities, the importance of investigators in 
modern civilization is too great to justify 
the neglect of the interests of such during 
the educational period. Investigators, how- 
ever, of all others, need to acquire this 
more popular and more general knowledge 
of their own specialty. To be drilled from 
their earliest days only in methods of in- 


APRIL 14, 1899.] 


vestigation, either systematic, structural or 
physiological, is to destroy originality and 
keep narrow the ground on which future 
generalizations must be built. It is accord- 
ingly plain that to limit a student’s oppor- 
tunities for biological instruction to a 
specialized course along some one line has 
not even the single justification it at first 
seemed to possess. The present extreme 
tendeney toward ‘laboratory work’ and 
away from actual contact with nature on 
the part of beginners in biology is without 
doubt a temporary condition. Not every 
one who sits behind a battery of reagents 
in a laboratory is an investigator, and not 
all investigators are thus equipped. 

At the cost of an equal amount of labor, 
which would command the general prefer- 
ence, an acquaintance with the more com- 
mon plants of one’s neighborhood or a mass 
of facts about plants in general, but appli- 
eable as a whole to no plant in particular ? 
Organs, tissues and functions have been 
named and classified ; knowledge in these 
directions is becoming extensive and com- 
plex, and the specialists are zealously trying 
to keep the beginners up with the times. 
Recent text-books written from structural 
and physiological standpoints contain a 
mass of definitions and an amount of classi- 
fication equalling or exceeding that of the 
other extreme in systematic works. This 
classification is, indeed, not what promi- 
nently bears that name, but it is classifica- 
tion none the less, though artificial and 
based on abstractions instead of affinity or 
phylogeny. The details of structure and 
life history are arranged under such heads 
as ‘Growth,’ ‘ Reproduction,’ ‘ Nutrition,’ 
‘Trritability’ and ‘Symbiosis,’ and the 
emphasis is not upon the facts in nature, 
but upon the mechanical or chemical con- 
siderations which must be invoked to ex- 
plain the various special problems. 

A complaint has been voiced that these 
so-called modern methods of instruction are 


SCIENCE. 545 


atal to the interest and spirit which actu- 
ated the naturalists of former days, and 
this is not difficult to understand. Such 
work is preparatory only for chemists, phy- 
sicists and physiologists. Its interest is 
not in nature, primarily, but in matter and 
mechanisms. Under the extreme system- 
atic method we had introductions to plants 
of which we knew nothing; by the avow- 
edly unsystematic method we learn facts 
about plants which we do not know. 
O. F. Coox. 


U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Text-Book of General Physics for the Use of Col- 
leges and Scientific Schools. By CHARLES 8. 
HAstines, PH.D., and FREDERICK E. BEACH, 
Pu.D., of Yale University. Boston, U.S. A., 
Ginn & Co. 

Apart from the obvious distinction between 
good and bad, text-books in Physics may be 
divided into two well-marked classes. In the 
one the main point of view is to consider the 
study of Physics as a training of the mind; asa 
subject which requires the use of logical pro- 
cesses and which ought to develop mental ac- 
curacy and habits of thought better than any 
other science. 

The other class of text-books does not lay so 
much stress upon logical methods, but calls 
attention rather to the phenomena of Nature 
which are illustrations of the great fundamen- 
tal laws, and to the experimental methods by 
which these laws have been discovered. 

The continued success of such text-books as 
those of Ganot and Deschanel shows that there 
is a great need in American colleges and 
schools for the class of text-book which comes 
under the second head, just mentioned. The 
most recent text-book, this by Hastings and 
Beach, is distinctly one of the same order. It 
treats the subject, however, in a thoroughly 
modern manner and is free from the inaccura- 
cies of the earlier treatises. One’s first im- 
pression on opening the book is of great sat- 
isfaction. The paper, type, illustrations, ar- 
rangement of matter, everything which per- 


546 SCIENCE. 


tains to the printer’s art, is more satisfactory 
than perhaps in any modern text-book of sci- 
ence, and the more one investigates the book 
itself the more one is convinced that the au- 
thors have successfully accomplished their pur- 
poses. 

The subdject-matter is arranged in the follow- 
ing order: Mechanics, Heat, Electricity, Sound 
and Light. The scope of the book is rather 
wider than would allow its use in most colleges 
or schools, including, as it does, such points as 
radius of gyration, compound pendulums, Car- 
not’s cycle, Thomson and Joule’s experiment, 
entropy, virial, osmotic pressure, thermo-elec- 
tricity, theory of alternating currents, impe- 
dance and so on, electric waves, efficiency of 
optical instruments, theories of color sensation, 
and wave surfaces of uniaxal and biaxal crys- 
tals. A knowledge of trigonometry and the 
elements of analytical geometry are presup- 
posed for the study of the book, but no previous 
knowledge of physics is expected. 

Each of the main subjects of Physics is dis- 
cussed with considerable fulness and is illus- 
trated by many natural phenomena and by 
many mechanisms and devices in common use. 
This is particularly true in the subjects of Me- 
chanics and Electricity. One knows before 
one looks that there will be a most satisfactory 
explanation and discussion of optical instru- 
ments. In fact, all the chapters on Light are 
of marked excellence. 

It should be particularly noted that special 
attention is paid throughout the book to the de- 
scription of the various instruments used in 
physical measurements. The chapters on music, 
musical instruments and color-sensation are 
admirable. The book closes with an excellent 
index. 

One may think that occasionally there is 
want of balance in the amount of space given 
various subjects and in the arrangement of 
these subjects. For instance, the space given 
the ‘conservation of momentum’ is only about 
half a page, whereas that given the centrif- 
ugal drier and the centrifugal cream sep- 
arator amounts to nearly four pages. The 
discussion of measurement of matter and of 
the concept of force is most briefly stated. 
It may be said, however, that in a text-book of 


[N.&. Vou. IX. No. 224. 


this character, where the purpose is not to 
acquaint students with the fundamental princi- 
ples of Physics and with their logical develop- 
ment, but rather to give them a knowledge ex- 
tending over wide fields of the phenomena of 
Nature and to correlate these in groups, such 
criticism as this is not applicable. 

If one speaks of certain questions which do 
not seem to be treated as well as they might be, 
it is not from any wish to detract from the high 
merit of the book, but rather to call the at- 
tention of teachers who may use the book to 
certain points concerning which questions might 
be raised. In particular, it is doubtful if the 
chapter on Thermometry or on Calorimetry 
could be regarded as satisfactory by a class. It 
is hardly fair in defining a scale of temperature 
to use, as is done on page 165, the formula for 
the law of gases, and then to state, as is done 
on page 179, that ‘‘ Experiment has shown that 
in the case of a gas under constant pressure not 
only is the expansion strictly proportional to 
the increase of temperature, but that all gases 
have sensibly the same coefficient.’’ This 
seems to be using a quantity to define temper- 
ature and then to make use of the definition in 
stating a law. 

Again, the words ‘definite quantity of heat’ 
are used in what may be considered an indefi- 
nite manner. On page 251 the authors use 
the following words: ‘‘ The now universally 
adopted theory that heat is the kinetic energy 
due to the irregular motion of the molecules of 
a body ’’—a statement which is not altogether 
justifiable. It is possible to speak of the energy 
of a body and to consider it as partly kinetic 
and partly potential, using the latter name 
simply to include all energy that is not, strictly 
ea king, kinetic from our present knowledge ; 
and it is possible also to say by way of defini- 
tion that we will call the kinetic energy of the 
parts of the body by the name ‘Heat.’ This, 
however, is quite a different matter from saying 
that all the heat-effects are manifestations of 
kinetic energy, or from using the word ‘ Heat’ 
in the sense of something that is ‘applied’ 
to a body, which is the sense most commonly 
used by the authors. 

It is to be regretted that such phrases as 
‘molecular attractions of the particles of a solid 


APRIL 14, 1899. ] 


for those of a liquid are greater than the at- 
tractions ? p. 142; ‘zinc has a greater af- 
finity for oxygen than copper,’ p. 386; ‘the 
bond uniting the hydrogen to the acid radi- 
eal SO, will be ruptured,’ p. 388; ‘an elec- 
trolyte capable of a reaction with one of 
the conductors,’ p. 388, should be retained 
in a modern text-book. Exception must be 
taken also to the use of the word ‘molecule’ 
‘on p. 287 without any explanation; to the 
phrase ‘mechanical equivalent at 15° C.,’ on p. 
264; to the explanation of what is meant by a 
‘reversible’ cycle on p. 269 ; to the definition 
of the ‘ampere ;’ to the use of the expression 
‘stationary waves ;’? and to the expression ‘it 
is assumed that the current enters.’ 

Certain explanations are undoubtedly erro- 
neous, such as those of electrolysis, scintillation 
and the theory of ‘angle of contact’ in cap- 
iliarity ; while others are not rigid or not defi- 
nite, such as those of the simple pendulum, the 
barometer, Rontgen rays, iridescence. 

There are several slight mistakes throughout 
the book, such as the incomplete statement of 
Doppler’s principle, the use of & instead of 
R, in the two formule of Van’t Hoff on pages 
236 and 240, the statement on page 263 that 
there are discrepancies between the values of 
the mechanical equivalent as found by the two 
methods. 

As a text-book of the character evidently 
planned by its authors this treatise must, how- 
ever, be considered most successful. It is a 
book to which every student would have occa- 
sion to refer from time to time, and which con- 
tains within its covers much more matter than 
any existing book of its class. The style is 
pleasant, attractive and definite, and every 
laboratory and library would do well to pur- 
chase the book. 


J.S. AMES. 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 


The Principles of Stratigraphical Geology. By 
J. E. Marr. Cambridge Natural Science 
Manuals, Geological Series. Cambridge, Uni- 
versity Press; New York, The Macmillan 
CO m8 98.) ep. 304. 
Here is a book on a single department of 
geological science which is the type of many 


SCIENCE. 


5AT 


another. Written to give students some idea 
of the methods and scope of stratigraphical 
geology, it combines a digest of the contents of 
larger standard manuals, with an elaboration 


_of some points according to the author’s views, 


and requires for its full understanding a famil- 
iarity with structural and dynamical geology, 
the nomenclature of paleontology, and a minute 
acquaintance with the local nomenclature of 
English geography. 

The omissions in the earlier chapters imply 
that the student is preparing for field work 
after having read Lyell’s Principles and Geikie’s 
or some other text-book, while the substance of 
the chapters reads like lectures given to a class 
of beginners. 

The second half of the book is by far the 
more valuable, in that it givesa brief, but clear 
and well-written summary of the stratigraphy of 
Great Britain, with here and there references 
to the more conspicuous points of stratigraph- 
ical classification in other countries. The 
stratigraphy of England, Wales and Scotland is 
described with just enough detail to bring out 
the differences of sedimentation in separate 
regions for each period, and shows the growth 
of the island during geological time. 

A fuller treatment of this element of stratig- 
raphy is given in Jukes-Brown’s ‘ Building of 
the British Isles.’ 

Some of the author’s peculiarities are seen in 
his classification and use of terms. 

Lapworth’s term Ordovician is adopted. In 
his list of systems are included Permo-Car- 
boniferous and Permian, in addition to the Car- 
boniferous. 

The grounds of this usage are ‘ primarily’ the 
recognition of an unconformity between the 
Carboniferous and Permian in England; and 
secondly, the correlation of a portion of the Salt 
Range strata of India as intermediate between 
these two ‘systems’ of the English column. 

In the Cenozoic six ‘systems’ are cited, viz: 
Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleisto- 
cene and Recent ; but we are told in the text 
that these are hardly systems in the sense in 
which the term is used in the case of the older 
rocks. Further on, the chapters describing 
these formations are headed as _ follows: 
‘The Kocene Rocks,’ ‘Oligocene and Miocene 


548 


Periods,’ ‘Pliocene Beds,’ ‘Pleistocene Accu- 
mulations,’ ‘The Steppe Period,’ etc. 

The abysma! origin of the black shales of the 
Ordovician, with graptolites, is defended on the 
following grounds: The persistence of lith- 
ological characters over wide areas; their re- 
placement by much greater thickness of normal 
sediments along ancient coast lines; the fre- 
quent occurrence together of blind trilobites 
and those with abnormally large eyes, and the 
interstratification of the black shales with 
radiolarian cherts similar to the modern 
abysmal radiolarian oozes. 

The glacial origin of the boulder beds of the 
Talchin stage of the Indian series, proposed by 
W. T. Blanford, is accepted; and confirmatory 
evidence is cited in the cases of the similar signs 
of glaciation in beds of a corresponding age in 
Australia, South Africa and southern Brazil. 

As a digest of the general facts of British 
geology in its special nomeclature the book will 
be of value to those who have not access to the 


fuller treatises. 
Henry 8S. WILLIAMS. 


The Examination of Water (Chemical -and Bac- 
teriological). By WILLIAM P. Mason. New 
York, John Wiley & Sons. 1899. Pp. 135. 
The progress that has been made during the 

last decade in methods of sanitary water analy- 

sis, and especially in the interpretation of 
the results of such analysis, amply justifies 
an attempt at the marshalling of the new 
data and the revaluation of the old. To both 
students and practical workers the need of 

a really modern treatise in the English lan- 

guage has become imperative, and Professor 

Mason’s little book will, on this ground, be cor- 

dially received. It will be a fact regretted by 

many, however, that the present work is so 
limited in scope. While the author correctly 

insists upon the paramount importance of a 

complete knowledge of the source of a sample 

of water and of the conditions under which the 
sample is collected, and rightly emphasizes 
the futility of ‘standards’ of purity, he has 
evidently not intended to inelude in this book 
any discussion of some of the other and most 
vital problems of water analysis. 

The various methods for the determination of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 224. 


chlorine, nitrites, nitrates, free ammonia, albu- 
minoid ammonia, etc., and the other significant 
chemical tests are described in the second chap- 
ter, and the author’s selection of recommended 
methods will, on the whole, meet with gen- 
eral approval. The useful ‘normal chlorine’ 
maps, prepared respectively by the Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut State Boards of Health, 
ure reproduced and the hope is expressed that 
the task of the water-analyst will, in the future- 
be made still easier through the preparation of 
similar charts by other Commonwealths. 

Some analysts will consider that more stress 
might have been profitably laid upon the Heh- 
ner method for the determination of ‘perma, 
nent hardness,’ especially in view of the fact 
that this method has been found greatly su- 
perior to the ‘soap test’ in dealing with the 
waters in some parts of the United States. In 
this chapter, too, it will occasion some surprise 
to find no reference whatever to the Kjeldahl 
method for determining organic nitrogen. 

In the chapter upon bacteriological exami- 
nation the author seems to be treading on 
less familiar ground than in the preceding sec- 
tion. In his description of the method of prep- 
aration of sugar bouillon the importance of the 
preliminary removal of muscle-sugar is over- 
looked, as is the fact that the indol test may 
be vitiated by the presence of muscle-sugar in 
the broth. Miquel’s method of examination 
and his theory of ‘auto-infection’ of waters are 
given a much more important place than would 
be accorded them by most bacteriologists. The 
author’s statement on p. 117 that ‘ great cold is 
not fatal to germ-life’ certainly needs some 
revision. EpwINn O. JORDAN. 


A Monograph of the North American Potentilleae. 
By Per AX&L RYDBERG. Memiors from the 
Department of Botany of Columbia Univer- 
sity. VolumeII. Issued November 25, 1898. 
4to. Pp. 223. 112 plates. 

Some years ago Dr. Per Axel Rydberg, a 
Scandinavian botanist educated in America, 
became interested in the group of the Rose 
Family which contains the Cinquefoils, and 
which have been known as the Potentilleae. 
Finding in the great collections of Columbia 
University (now transferred to the New York 


Aprit 14, 1899. ] 


Botanical Garden) a rich mass of materials, he 
set himself to the task of making a complete 
monograph of the tribe, accompanying it with 
such a collection of plates as would throw as 
much light as possible upon the limits of genera 
and species understood by him. After nearly 
two years of delay the volume has appeared, 
and it is all that the friends of the author an- 
ticipated, and more too. It is a beautifully 
printed quarto volume of 223 pages and one 
hundred and twelve finely executed plates. 

In discussing the relationship of the tribe 
Dr. Rydberg regards it as representing the 
lowest or primitive type of the family Rosaceae, 
and from it arose, as separate, divergent groups, 
the tribes Dryadeae, Rubeae and Sanguisorbeae, 
while from the latter arose the Roseae (with 
possible relationship to the Dryadeae). On 
the other hand, from Dryadeae arose the Cerco- 
carpae and Spireae, and from the latter are de- 
rived by divergent development the families Po- 
meae, Drupaceae and Saxifragaceae. In regard 
to other relationships the author says: ‘‘Itis evi- 
dent that the Ranunculaceae and Rosaceae are 
very nearly related,’’ and in his diagram showing 
the foregoing relationships places the Ranuncu- 
laceae immediately below thé Potentilleae. 

Thirteen genera are recognized in the Poten- 
tilleae, of which the largest is Potentilla with 
107 species. The next in point of numbers is 
Horkelia with 47 species, followed by Fragaria 
with 20, and Drymocallis with 13. Quite nat- 
urally, the author found it necessary to describe 
many new species, and occasionally to give a 
new name to an old species, because of the 
preoccupation of the old name. He has been 
rather conservative in this part of his work, for 
which he deserves our thanks. In Fragaria the 
new speciesareas follows: J. crinita, F. sibbal- 
difolia, F. truncata, F. platypetala, PF. prolifica, F. 
pumila, F. terrae novae, F. paucifiora andF. firma. 
In the much larger genus, Potentilla, there are 
but nine new species, but this is due to the fact 
that Dr. Rydberg, in his work upon this genus, 
published many new species a couple of years 
ago in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 

A most interesting table closes the text, giving 
data as to the distribution of the Potentilleae in 
North America. From this we learn that in 
California there are 64 species, in the Rocky 


SCIENCE. 


549 


Mountains 61, in Oregon and Washington 53, 
Saskatchewan Region 29, Canadian Rocky 
Mountains 28, Texas and Arizona 27, the Great 
Plains 26, New England and Middle States 26, 
Great Basin 23, British Columbia 22, southern 
Mexico 19, Labrador and Baflin’s Bay 17, 
the Prairie Region 17, Canada 16,-Alaska 16, 
Greenland 15, Arctic Coast 12, Southern States 
8, northern Mexico 8, Lower California 7, Cen- 
tral America 2. 

This monograph must at once become au- 
thoritative for this group of plants, and to every 
working botanist dealing with the higher seed- 
bearing plants it will be indispensable. 

CHARLES E, BESSEY. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Elec- 
tricity for March.—The promised series of por- 
traits of eminent magneticians and electricians 
is begun in the present number with that of 
Professor Arthur W. Ricker, the President of 
the Permanent Committee on Terrestrial Mag- 
netism and Atmospheric Electricity of the In- 
ternational Meteorological Conference. The 
journal has been enlarged to 72 pages, the 
present number being also freely illustrated 
and containing several important contributions 
by eminent investigators, as will appear from 
the table of contents : 


Aimantation Induite par le Champ Terrestre sur 
les Aimants, E. Mascart. 

Is there a 428-Day Period in Terrestrial Magnet- 
ism? J. F. Hayford. 

Beobachtungen tiber die Eigenelectricitiit der At- 
mosphirischen Niederschlige, J. Elster and H. Geitel. 

The Physical Decomposition of the Earth’s Perma- 
manent Magnetic Field—No. 1. The Assumed Nor- 
mal Magnetization and the Characteristics of the 
Resulting Residual Field, L. A. Bauer. 

Is the Principal Source of the Secular Variation of 
the Earth’s Magnetism within or without the Karth’s 
Crust? L. A. Bauer. 

Tafeln zur Geniherten Auswertung von Kugel- 
functionen und ihren Differentialquotienten, Ad. 
Schmidt (Gotha). 

Erdmagnetische Beobachtungen im Umanaks. Fiord 
(Nordwest-Grénland), 1892-93, H. Stade. 

Abstracts and Reviews. 

Notes : Biographical Sketch of Professor Riicker. 
Activity in Magnetic Work. 


550 SCIENCE, 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE SCIENTIFIC ALLIANCE OF NEW YORK. 


A DINNER, arranged by the Scientific Alli- 
ance of New York, took place at the Hotel 
Savoy on the evening of April 5th. Mr. Cox 
presided and made an address emphasizing es- 
pecially the need of bringing scientific work to 
the attention of those who are not special stu- 
dents of science. Other addresses were made by 
Professor Van Amringe, Professor Osborn and 
Mr. Leipziger, and these were followed by 
shorter speeches by Professor Dodge, Professor 
Cattell, Dr. McMurtrie; Professor Lloyd, Pro- 
fessor Dean, Professor Rees and Professor Hal- 
lock. At the conclusion Professor Britton, the 
Secretary, gave an account of the history of the 
Alliance in the following words: 

The Scientific Alliance of New York was 
_ founded at a conference of delegates from the 
several societies held at the Museum of Natural 
History, March 11, 1891, pursuant to a sugges- 
tion made to the societies by the Council of the 
New York Academy of Sciences. These dele- 
gates were at first termed a Joint Commission, 
following the lead of the earlier established 
Alliance of the scientific bodies of the city of 
Washington. On May 19, 1891, a Constitution 
was adopted in which the term Council was 
first employed. At this time the issuing of an 
Annual Directory was provided for, and the 
first one printed was distributed in June of that 
year, containing the names and addresses of 
the 498 members of the Alliance comprised in 
the six original societies. The publication of 
the monthly Bulletin, announcing the titles of 
communications to be made to the societies and 
other matters of interest was authorized Sep- 
tember 28, 1891. Both the Directory and the 
Bulletin have since been continued, with minor 
modifications, in the form thus inaugurated, 
eight numbers of the Directory and sixty-three 
numbers of the Bulletin having been published. 

The New York Section of the American 
Chemical Society was admitted as a part of the 
Alliance in May, 1892. The second Annual 
Directory, issued in July of that year, shows 
that the membership was then 6383 ; on Novem- 
ber 15, 1892, the first joint meeting of the so- 
cieties was held at the Museum of Natural His- 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 224. 


tory, and a number of addresses bearing on 
the progress and the needs of science in New 
York were delivered ; these were subsequently 
printed in pamphlet form and widely distrib- 
uted. At a meeting held November 25, 1892, 
a Finance Committee was appointed ; this Com- 
mittee secured by subscription a considerable 
sum of money, subsequently termed the Gen- 
eral Fund of the Council, as distinguished from 
the sums annually contributed by the societies 
for the publication of the Directory and Bul- 
letins, known as the Societies’ Fund. The Gen- 
eral Fund has been of the greatest value and 
importance in the work of the Council; it has 
been used in arranging joint meetings and 
printing proceedings of them; in supplement- 
ing the Societies’ Fund ; in printing circulars, 
and in other ways as has proved desirable; 
it has twice been augmented by subscription, 
and it is well that it should be somewhat 
further increased. 

The second joint meeting was held March 
27, 1893, also at the Museum of Natural His- 
tory, in honor of the late Professor John Strong 
Newberry ; addresses were delivered, and the 
proceedings were published. On April 28, 
1893, the Council resolved to establish by sub- 
scription a fund to be known as the John Strong 
Newberry Fund for Original Research, which 
now amounts to about $1,200. Grants for the 
aid of original investigation from accrued inter- 
est on the Fund have been made to Dr. Arthur 
Hollick in Geology; to Mr. Gilbert Van Ingen 
in Paleontology, and a third grant has been 
recently authorized in Botany or Zoology. The 
Third Annual Directory, issued in August, 1893, 
shows that the membership had increased to 
724, 

The New York Entomological.Society was 
admitted into the Alliance in March, 1894. 
The Fourth Annual Directory, issued in July of 
that year, shows an increase in membership to 
818. 

After approval by all the Societies and by 
the Council, an Act of Incorporation of the 
Council was introduced into the New York 
Legislature in 1895, and became a law on June 
5th. Pursuant to this law, a new Constitution 
was adopted September 17, 1895. The 5th 
Annual Directory, July, 1895, contains the 


APRIL 14, 1899. ] 


names of 9389 members; the 6th contains 1,015 
names, and the 7th 1,055. 

On March 16, 1898, a reception and dinner 
was held at the Hotel Savoy, which gave so 
much pleasure as to form the reason for our as- 
sembling here again to-night. 

The 8th Directory, issued last fall, shows that 
at that time the membership had increased to 
1,069 ; it is now known to be over 1,100—that 
is to say, about twice as large as in 1892-93. 
This great increase in the membership of the 
scientific societies is a certain index to the 
scientific progress of the city,-and that this Al- 
liance has contributed much to this well-known 
remarkable progress there can be no doubt. 

The element that is most needed now, as it 
was at the formation of the Alliance, is a build- 
ing which will serve as a home for the societies, 
where all their meetings can be held and where 
their, proceedings and lectures may best attract 
more public attention ; the corner-stone for this 
building has recently been provided by Mrs. 
Esther Herrman, whose generous gift of ten 
thousand dollars, made to the Council, brings 
the great desideratum nearer than it ever has 
been before. 


GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


AT the 89th meeting of the Society, held in 
Washington, D. C., March 22, 1899, Messrs. W. 
C. Mendenhall and F.C. Schrader, of the U.S. 
Geological Survey, talked of the reconnaissances 
made by them the past field season in Alaska, 
while they were under detail with the military 
exploring parties sent out by the War Depart- 
ment. 

Mr. Mendenhall spoke of a reconnaisance 
from Resurrection Bay to the Tanana River. 
He said the. route followed by the military ex- 
ploring party to which he was attached ex- 
tended from Resurrection Bay, on the southeast 
shore of Kenai Peninsula, to the Tanana River, 
at the mouth of the Delta, one of its southern 
tributaries. The western continuation of the 
St. Elias Range was crossed by following up 
the valley of the Matanuski, which rises north 
of these mountains in a vast marshy plateau on 
which branches of the Copper and Sushitna 
Rivers also rise. Beyond this plateau extends 
the lofty Alaskan Range, with peaks 14,000 


SCIENCE. 


5d 


feet in height. The Delta River cuts a gap 
through these mountains, through which the 
explorers traveled. ; F 

The greater part of the region traversed was 
before quite unknown. It presents much di- 
versity in landscape and physical features. 
These different types, from the snowy barriers 
along the Pacific to the dreary wastes of the in- 
terior, were illustrated by original views. 

The geology of the various areas studied was 
brought out, and something of the history of the 
land forms as we now find them. But little gold 
is known in this part of Alaska, and that little 
is found along the coast and the adjacent parts 
of the mainland. Many claims have been staked 
since the boom struck the Cook Inlet country a 
few years since, and, although one or two of the 
richest of these yield as high as $120 a day to 
the man, the great majority do not pay expenses. 

Mr. Schrader described a hasty reconnais- 
sance of a part of the Copper: River district. 
The object of the expedition was to find an all- 
American route from the coast into the gold 
districts of the Upper Yukon. A route was 
found which, with some engineering through 
three miles of canyon on Lowe River, will 
probably prove satisfactory. 

The Copper is one of the largest rivers on 
the southern coast of Alaska. It heads far 
back of the Coast Range, but breaks through it 
at about 30 miles from the coast and then de- 
bouches over its large delta into the sea. 

A little west of Mount St. Elias the St. Elias 
Range divides into two ranges; of these the 
main continues westward as the Coast Range 
around the head of Prince William Sound; the 
shorter range, diverging northwestward, forms 
the divide between the Copper, on the south- 
west, and the White and Tanana Rivers, on the 
northeast. In the fork of these two ranges, 
back of the Coast Range, lies the basin proper 
of the Copper. A lobe of the northwest range 
extending into the basin on the east terminates 
in the Wrangell group of mountains, culmina- 
ting in a maximum height of more than 17,000 
feet. Between Prince William Sound, on the 
south, and the Copper Basin, on the north, the 
Coast Range consists of a mountainous belt 
about fifty miles broad, with its general land 
mass rising to a height of 5,000 feet and slightly 


552 


tilted toward the coast. Its surface is studded 
by innumerable barren peaks and short saw- 
tooth ranges interspersed by glaciers and nevee. 
Its edges, on both the costal and inland sides, 
where the mountains break off abruptly, are 
etched by short, deep canyons and gulches, 
which carry off the drainage. The canyon of 
the Copper alone cuts through the range. 

The northwest rim of the basin in the open 
fork of the ranges is poorly defined. It liesin a 
vast plateau-like tundra at an elevation of nearly 
3,000 feet. The interior of the basin is occu- 
pied by a plateau-like terrain consisting princi- 
pally of unconsolidated silts, sands and some 
gravel. It is horizontally stratified and seems 
to represent an extensive inland lake-bed or 
arm of the sea deposit covering several thousand 
square miles. Through this terrain the Copper 
River and its tributaries now flow, as a super- 
imposed drainage, in newly-cut canyon-like 
valleys, at a depth of five or more hundred 
feet. As bed rock has scarcely anywhere been 
reached by erosion, the deposit is probably a 
thousand or more feet in thickness. 

The surface of the terrain slopes gently south- 
ward and from the east and west toward the 
center of the basin, where its elevation is about 
1,500 feet. Back from the streams it is dotted by 
lakelets and some swamp areas, and is nearly 
everywhere covered by a fair growth of timber 
and moss, with local areas of luxuriant grass. 

At the head of Woods Canyon, where the 
Copper enters the mountains, all trace of the 
lake beds ceases, denoting apparently the bar- 
rier which confined the lake before the canyon 
was cut. The natural features were well illus- 
trated by original views. 

The rocks in the Coast Range are mostly 
sandstone, arkoses, slate, mica-schist and 
quartzites. On its north base some green am- 
phibolite schist occurs. This schist seems also 
to form the southwest base of the Wrangell 
group, but the group itself seems to be mostly 
volcanic rocks, of which the northwestern end 
appears to be principally red rhyolite. 

Wm. F. MorskE.u. 


THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 498th meeting of the Society was held 
at8 p.m. on March 18th, at the Cosmos Club. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 224. 


The first paper was by Dr. Artemas Martin on 
‘Triangles whose angles are 60° or 120° and 
sides whole numbers.’ 

From the equation 2?— 2ay cos ¢+ y?= 22 in 
which 2,y,2 denote the sides of any plane triangle 
and ¢ the angle included by x and y, the author 
deduces the general values 


2 


r= pi—q, y= 2%pq— 29? cos $, 
z= p?— 2nq cos $+ q’. 


When y= 60°, the sides are 


e=p— 7, y=29—-Y, 2=P—pe+ e; 
and when ¢=- 120°, they are 


a=p—q’, y= 2p + 9, 2 =p? + pat @. 


He determines the limitations of the values 
of p and q for both cases. Thesmallest triangle 
for ¢=60° is 8, 3, 7; the smallest for ¢= 120° 
is 3, 5, 7. 

Numerous examples were given and tables 
of such triangles were submitted. 

Mention was made ofa paper on ‘The Theory 
of Commensurables,’ by Edward Sang, pub- 
lished in the Transactions of the Royal Society 
of Edinburgh. 

The second paper was by Mr. Lyman J. 
Briggs on ‘ Electrical Methods of Investigating 
the Moisture Temperature and Soluble Salt 
Content of Soils.’ The abstract of this valu- 
able paper has not yet come to hand. The 
third paper was by Mr. C. K. Wead, on ‘Appli- 
cations of Electricity to Musical Instruments.’ 
Mr. Wead said in part : 

Electricity is to-day practically applied on a 
commercial scale to musical instrnments in 
three ways: (1) Asa motive power to blow or- 
gans and operate self-playing instruments. (2) 
To operate the pallets of large organs by means 
of the electro-pneumatic action patented and 
introduced by Barker in England in 1868, and 
shown at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 by 
Roosevelt, of New York. (3) To control the 
application of power to the keys of a piano, 
the electric circuits being governed by the per- 
forated paper sheet patented to Seytrein France 
in 1842 and to Bain in England in 1847. 

Patents have been granted for specific mech- 
anisms for applying electricity to ring bell 
chimes and play guitars; to record the music 
played on a keyboard instrument ; to sustain in- 


\ 


APRIL 14, 1899. ] 


definitely the vibrations of a piano-string by 
impulses from an electro-magnet supplied with 
an intermittent current of proper frequency, 
and to produce ‘ electrical music’ by the simul- 
taneous action upon a loud-speaking telephone 
of several currents of proper pitch and wave- 
form synthesized in the line-wire. If these last 
two inventions shall enjoy any considerable 
popularity they will inevitably influence, to a 
marked degree, musical ideas and philosophy. 
E. D. PRESTON, 
Secretary. 


PHYSICS CLUB OF NEW YORK. 


THE teachers of physics in secondary schools 
of New York City have formed an organization 
to promote efficiency in the teaching of physics. 
The more specific objects of the club will be to 
cultivate a personal acquaintance and inter- 
change of thought among laboratory men; to 
secure the cooperation of the departments of 
physics in the colleges; to discuss matters of in- 
terest concerning laboratory methods, appara- 
tus, new books and kindred matters. 

The officers for the present year are: Presi- 
dent, Frank Rollins; Vice President, Albert C. 
Hale; Secretary, A. T. Seymour; Treasurer, 
8. A. Lottridge. The Executive Committee 
consists of the officers and Messrs. R. H. Cor- 
nish, B. M. Jaquish,G. C.Sonn. The member- 
ship is limited to 30. There are at present 29 
members. The next meeting will be held at the 
Teachers’ College, April 22, 1899. 

A. T,. SEYMOUR, 
: Secretary. 


SUB-SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSY- 
CHOLOGY OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY 
OF SCIENCES. 


THE annual meeting of the Sub-section was 
held on Monday, March 27th. Dr. Franz 
Boas was elected Chairman and Dr. Chas. H. 
Judd Secretary for the ensuing year. The 
following papers were presented: ‘Notes on 
Chilcotin Mythology,’ by Dr. Livingston Far- 
rand; ‘Zapotecan Antiquities,’ by M. H. 
Saville and A. Hrdlicka; ‘ Recent Suggestions 
for a new Psychology,’ by Dr. Charles B. Bliss. 

Cuas. H. Jupp, 
Secretary. 


SCIENCE. 


5d3 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
‘THE EVOLUTION OF MODESTY.’ 


To THE Eprror oF Science: Mr. Havelock 
Ellis, in his interesting study, ‘The Evolution 
of Modesty,’ in the current Psychological Review, 
regards sexual modesty, concealment physio- 
logical and anatomical, to be mainly founded in 
the fear of disgusting others. But wherein, we 
must ask, does such fear merit the term modesty? 
Does this kind of fear have any distinct quality ? 
Is it areal species? And in any case is modesty 
a kind of fear? It appears to me that the fear 
of exciting disgust in others toward ourselves is, 
like fear of exciting anger, hatred or any other 
injurious emotion, not a distinct genus of emo- 
tion, nor even a species of fear. We have here 
amore subtle and complex fear than in dodging 
a stone, but social fears of others’ mental atti- 
tudes toward ourselves, while they form perhaps 
a species of fear, yet the particular fear of 
disgust can hardly be considered as having any 
peculiar quality over against fear of hatred, and 
other such emotions. In tracing the history of 
modesty-actions, Mr. Ellis is tracing not the de- 
velopment of a new psychosis, but merely the 
development of social fear with reference to a 
new object, the producing disgust by exposure 
of the body. Excretory acts in general come to 
be regarded as disgusting, but if I refrain from 
spitting in public for fear of disgusting others 
this can hardly be termed modesty on my part. 

Modesty as a really new and significant psy- 
chosis is not to be sought in mere objective 
modesty-actions of the sort which Mr. Ellis con- 
siders. We see this mere objective modesty in 
contrast with true subjective modesty in an in- 
cident which Miss Hapgood relates in ‘ Russian 
Rambles.’ While staying at a country house 
she was invited by the ladies to go to the ladies’ 
bathing pool, where the Russian ladies went in 
without costume, and she, to her reluctance, 
felt obliged to imitate them, since she saw that 
they plainly thought that the use of clothing at 
such a time could be only for the hiding of de- 
fects. The Russsan ladies had no real delicacy 
or modesty, and had no conception of it, though 
they had a fear of disgusting. Real modesty as 
a distinct psychosis, as a regard for one’s own 
feeling rather than for the feelings of others, 
resenting intrusion, calling for privacy, is a late 


5o4 


product of civilization. Modesty comes finally 
to be a feeling of reluctance to all vulgar pub- 
licity, either as to one’s person or mind, a re- 
luctance to all display, a delicacy and refine_ 
ment, which is late born in evolution, and is, 
in psychical progress, destined to fuller and 
higher development, as versus the mere fear of 
disgusting, which, as Mr. Ellis shows, is in de- 
eadence in high civilization. Modesty as a 
mode of self-respect is quite distinct from 
respect and fear of others’ opinions and feelings 
towards ourselves. Mr. Ellis, indeed, barely 
mentions (p. 145) modesty as a self-respect, but 
he seems to connect it with his general treat- 
ment. Itis noteworthy that modesty should be 
a term which denotes actions to conceal both 
defects and excellences, but that real modesty 
is at bottom as psychosis, a personal delicacy 
about social conspicuousness, and may have no 
real psychic connection with either of the other 
phases, that is, it proceeds not from sensitive- 
ness to one’s own excellences or defects as 
viewed by others, but merely a general reluc- 
tance to have one’s personality become in any 
wise open to public gaze and prying. 

The other psychic basis of modesty-actions 
which Mr. Ellis mentions, namely, fear of losing 
in some way sexual attractiveness, may be ob- 
jected to on the same ground as not real psychic 
modesty. 

If modesty were as closely related to fear as 
is claimed we should expect similarity of ex- 
pression, but the blush of modesty is the con- 
verse of the pallor of fear. The most brazen, 
unmodest woman fears exposure so far as it is 
disgusting to others. The blush is not the ex- 
pression of fear, but of self-attentive embarrass- 
ment, and secondarily the expression of real 
psychic modesty. We cannot, with Mr. Ellis, 
relegate the influence of darkness in restraining 
modesty to the blushing being thereby con- 
cealed; but at least the more obvious and 
primary factor is that modesty and modesty- 
action is originally a concealment from the eyes 
of others, and if the eyes of others are con- 
cealed by darkness this action and feeling 
naturally disappear. Mr. Ellis does not ex- 
plain how shame is distinct from modesty. Cer- 
tainly, so far as shame is modesty shocked, it 
is psychologically modesty. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 224. 


Our impression on the whole, then, is that 
while the origin and evolution of modesty- 
actions are as precautions against causing dis- 
gust, yet modesty as distinctive psychic quality 
which exhibits the same reactions is far later in 


date. i 
HirAM M, STANLEY. 


LAKE FoREsT, Iuu., March 7, 1899. 


TRANSMITTED CHARACTERISTICS IN 
ANGORA CAT. 


A WHITE 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: The following 
observations furnished me by Dr. 8. F. Gilbert, 
of Elysburg, Northumberland county, Pa., con- 
cerning his white Angora cat, which I examined 
a short time since, may be of some interest to 
those working upon the subject of the trans- 
mission of acquired characters. 

The cat of Dr. Gilbert is of the white Angora 
breed. The parentage of this cat is unknown. 
The mother-cat, referred to above, has the right 
eye blue and the left yellow, and is about 
three years old. The kitten of this cat is eight 
months old, male, and has the right eye yellow 
and the left eye blue, just the reverse of the 
mother. The kitten is subject to fits. The fits, 
as Dr. Gilbert describes them, are of a violent, 
excitable kind; the kitten running aimlessly 
about, falling down and scratching, or striking 
with its feet. These fits, which have occurred 
twice, lasted about ten minutes. The father 
of Dr. Gilbert’s kitten is a large mongrel with 
white breast and face, the other parts of the 
body being zebra-colored. 

The mother has had seventeen kittens, eleven 
of which were white, two having different colored 
eyes. Two of the kittens were deaf, and in 
general the breed seems to be very tender and 


difficult to raise. 
JOHN W. HARSHBERGER. 


UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


OSMOTIC SOLUTIONS. 


To THE Epiror oF ScIENCE: A letter in 
your columns shows that I ought to explain a 
special feature of the solutions used for deter- 
mining osmotic pressure. In my recent paper 
on ‘ Physiological Osmosis’ (SCIENCE, Vol. IX., 
p. 206) I cited a one-per cent. solution as hay- 
ing one part of sugar in one hundred parts of 


Apri 14, 1899. ] 


water. These were the proportions actually 
employed by Pfeffer and given by Ostwald and 
others. As compared with the conventional 
compositiom of a 1% solution they involve a 
deficiency of one ninety-ninth part of the sugar, 
which is far within the limits of error in these 
investigations ;} nor ought they to mislead any 
body, as the proportions of this kind of per- 
centicity are explained in the text-books and 
were given in my paper. 

The departure from the conventional propor- 
tions of a one-per-cent. solution are not from 
error nor arbitrary, as the method of compar- 
ing the osmotic pressure of different solutions 
relatively to the gram-molecules of the sub- 
stances dissolved involves the employment of 
a uniform quantity of the solvent. 

G. MACLOSKIE. 

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, March 25, 1899. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. . 


AT a recent meeting of the Institution of 
Electrical Engineers, Marconi described his re- 
cent work along the lines of wireless telegraphy. 
In transmitting he uses a 10-inch spark coil and 
a battery giving about 14 volts and 6 to 8 am- 
peres. For his spark circuit he uses two ar- 
rangements, depending upon whether it is 
necessary to confine the sending of the signals 
to one direction or not. In the former case 
cylindrical reflectors are used and capacity is 
obtained by strips of sheet metal attached to 
the two spark balls. In the latter case there 
are no reflectors and one ball is grounded while 
the other is connected to a vertical wire. A 
Morse key in the primary circuit makes the 
signals. The length of the vertical wire de- 
pends upon the distance to be covered. <A wire 
20 feet high will transmit one mile; 40 feet, 4 
miles; 80 feet, 10 miles approximately; the 
distance seems to increase about as the square 
of the height of the wire. The receiver con- 
sists of a coherer, or sensitive tube, about four 
centimeters long, fitted with metallic pole-pieces 
and partly filled with nickel and silver filings. 
When not under the action of the radiation the 
the resistance of this tube is practically infinite, 
but is reduced by the cohering of the filings 


SCIENCE. 


5d5 


under the action of radiation to from 100 to 
500 ohms. This allows a current to flow from 
a local battery through a relay circuit in which 
is a vibrating tapper and a sounder, or writer. 
The former, tapping the coherer, restores the 
high resistance by separating the filings. The 
receiver is also supplied, either with the metal 
strips and reflector or with the ground connec- 
tion and vertical wire, according as the former 
or the latter is used in the transmission. 

When the reflectors are used the ray within 
which the signals can be received may be made 
very narrow; in one case at a distance of 1} 
miles it was only about 100 feet. Marconi found 
that horizontal wires were useless, and ac- 
counted for this by the theory that the waves 
from the vertical wire had a vertical plane of 
polarization and were, therefore, not absorbed 
by the surface of the earth. 

A number of installations have worked suc- 
cessfully and without difficulty for prolonged 
intervals and in all sorts of weather. In one 
case an 18-mile transmission was carried on 
with an average of about one thousand words 
per day. With the vertical wire transmitter, 
hills seem to make little difference with the 
transmission. In one case a distance of five 
miles over land, with several intervening hills, 


was successfully covered. 
Hey CnC 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
AN ELEMENTARY BOOK ON LICHENS. 

Ir is a hopeful sign when we find amply quali- 
fied men engaging in the work of writing ele- 
mentary text-books for the use of students in 
the schools. It has been the duty of the writer 
on more occasions than he has wished to 
severely criticise books written for beginners by 
those who themselves had but little knowledge 
of the matter treated. It has been at once the 
scandal and the weakness of the elementary 
science text-books that they have too often con- 
tained very little Science, for the very good rea- 
son that their compilers were unacquainted with 
Science. Some time ago Dr. Albert Schneider 
published a large treatise on the lichens, which 
at once proved his profound knowledge of the 
subject as well as his ability to communicate it 
clearly and forcibly. It is not necessary that 


556 


we should agree with the viewsas to the nature 
of lichens held by Dr. Schneider in order to en- 
able us to appreciate the value of the service 
which he has rendered to the cause of Lichen- 
ology in bringing out first his large ‘ Text- 
Book’ and next his ‘Guide.’ The latter is in- 
tended for the use of beginners and amateurs, 
and since it is the only book which is adapted 
to their use it is of especial interest. It is now 
possible for a student to take up the study of 
these curious and very difficult plants with a 
reasonable hope of success. The Boston pub- 
lisher, Whidden, has brought it out in an at- 
tractive form. 


A TEXAS SCHOOL OF BOTANY. 


THE welcome announcement is made that a 
School of Botany has been established in the 
University of Texas, to become operative with 
the next University year. It will be under the 
directorship of Professor Doctor William L. 
Bray, of the chair of botany, The University 
of Texas has been noted for its progressive 
spirit, and this is but another illustration of the 
wise policy of its administrators. We learn 
that, in addition to the usual University instruc- 
tion in morphology, physiology, ecology, etc., 
especial attention will be given to the botanical 
survey of the State. To this end the School of 
Botany proposes to cooperate with local bota- 
nists, secondary affiliated schools, scientific so- 
cieties, etc., in all quarters ofthe State. Under 
the direction and leadership of an energetic and 
enthusiastic body of workers in the University, 
the botanists of Texas may well hope to accom- 
plish much. The State of Texas is to be con- 
gratulated upon this forward step. 


FALSE ‘ AIDS’ IN BOTANY. 


Tuts is the time of the year when the coun- 
try is flooded with circulars describing all sorts 
of ‘aids’ for use in teaching or studying botany. 
It must be that these worthless things are 
bought by ignorant teachers or school boards, 
for otherwise they would not be advertised so 
freely. We have before us one of the old-style 
‘Plant Analysis’ sheets, published by E. R. 
Good, of Tiffin, Ohio, which proves that in 
some portions of our country the botanical world 
is supposed to have remained absolutely at rest 
for the past twenty-five or thirty years. Asa 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 224. 


leaf from quite ancient history in botany one of 
these sheets is interesting, but as an aid in 
modern botany it is simply ridiculous. 

From J. M. Olcott, of Chicago, we have an- 
other reminder of the past in the form of a per- 
forated sheet of paper called ‘A System of Plant 
Study,’ which we are told isa sample of the 
sheets which make up a book ‘ containing space 
for mounting and fully describing fifty-one 
botanical specimens,’ and in addition ‘full 
directions for collecting, pressing, mounting, 
photographing, analyzing and preserving plant 
forms and specimens.’ Of course, no botanist 
will have anything to do with such trash, but 
for the non-botanical it may be well to say that 
this is not the way that botanists make herbaria 
and describe plants. The pupil who is so un- 
fortunate as to use such an ‘aid’ will have to 
unlearn practically everything he learns from it. 

By all odds the worst thing which has come 
to our attention recently is the ‘Teacher’s 
Botanical Aid,’ sent out by the Western Publish- 
ing House of Chicago, and consisting of twenty- 
eight charts, about two feet by three, on which 
are rough copies of many of the illustrations 
found in the older text-books of botany. The 
copying has been done by careless or incompe- 
tent hands, so that, in spite of the author’s 
statement that they ‘ will prove a direct aid in 
teaching drawing,’ we are compelled to say 
that they are not only inaccurate botanically, 
but quite shocking from the artistic standpoint. 
The author intends these charts to be used in 
Nature Study, so that we are to have our chil- 
dren’s time taken up by ‘reciting’ from these 
drawings under the impression that they are 
studying Nature. The teachers of Nature 
Study who know Nature, and ‘who have de- 
pended for years upon their own resources’ (to 
quote the author’s words), will not think of put- 
ting these charts between the pupil and Nature, 
but we fear that the unprepared and uninformed 
may be induced to use them. If the charts 
were accurately drawn they would be of doubt- 
ful value in Nature Study, but with all their 
glaring inaccuracies they are worse than use- 
less. 

MINNESOTA BOTANICAL STUDIES. 


No other State in the Union can boast of such 
high class work in botany as that which is pub- 


Aprit 14, 1899. ] 


lished in the Minnesota Botanical Studies as a 
part of the publications of the State Geological 
and Natural History Survey. Appearing at 
intervals in the form of a periodical, the 
‘Studies’ are unique among the botanical 
publications of the country. Here is a case of 
the endowment of research which is to be com- 
mended to other States. Eight titles appear in 
the current number (Part II., Second Series) in- 
cluding ‘Seedlings of certain woody plants, 
Comparative anatomy of hypocotyl and epicotyl 
in woody plants, Seed dissemination and distri- 
bution of Razowmofskya robusta, Observations on 
Constantinea,’ etc., ete. 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


THE BRAIN OF HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ. 


ProFEssoR DAyiID HANSEMANN, of the Uni- 
versity of Berlin, has contributed to the Zeit- 
schrift fiir Psychologie (Part I. of Volume XX., 
issued on March 7th) an account of his examina- 
tion of the brain of the late Professor von Helm- 
holtz. Death was due to apoplexy and occurred 
on September 8, 1894, when Helmholtz was 73 
years of age. The circumference of the head 
outside the scalp was 59 em. and of the skull 
55cm. The width of the skull was 15.5 cm. 
and its length 18.3 cm. The cephalic index 
was consequently 85.25, which represents a 
broad head. The size of the head was about 
the same as that of Bismarck and slightly 
smaller than that of Wagner, both of whom 
had large heads. Darwin’s head, on the other 
hand, was only 56.3 cm. in circumference. 
The weight of the brain with the coagulated 
blood was 1700 g. and without the blood about 
1440 g., which is nearly 100 g. heavier than 
the average. It is, however, now generally 
recognized that the weight of the brain alone 
is not an index of mental capacity. The 
convolutions are more important, and here 
the examination of von Helmholtz’s brain 
showed that the sulci were peculiarly deep and 
well marked, this being especially the case in 
those parts of the brain which the researches 
of Flechsig have shown to be concerned with 
associations. The frontal convolutions are so 
deeply cut by numerous sulci that it is difficult 


SCIENCE. 


557 


to follow the recognized fissures. The article 
contains two photographs of the brain taken 
from plaster casts. The brain itself has not 
been preserved. 

We are informed, both on the authority of 
von Helmholtz himself and as the result of the 
post-mortem examination, that he had been in 
youth somewhat hydrocephalous, which was 
also the case with Cuvier, who had one of the 
heaviest (1830 g.) brains known. It has been 
maintained by Perls, and more guardedly by 
Edinger, that hydrocephaly in youth is an ad- 
vantage in enlarging the skull and giving the 
brain space for growth. Hansemann thinks 
that the pressure on the brain resulting from 
slight hydrocephaly is an adequate anatomical 
explanation of unusual intelligence. He re- 
frains, however, from recommending the mak- 
ing of geniuses by injecting fluid into the skulls 
of babies. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

A MEETING of the Council of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science 
has been called by the President, Professor F. 
W. Putnam, and the Permanent Secretary, Dr. 
L. O. Howard, on Tuesday, April 18th, at 4:30 
p. m., at the Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C. 


Tue New York Academy of Sciences will hold 
its annual exhibition and reception on Wednes- 
day and Thursday, April 19th and 20th. As 
has been the case in other years, the first even- 
ing will be reserved for members of the Acad- 
emy and specially invited guests, while a large 
number of those interested in science will be in- 
vited to be present on the second evening. On 
Thursday afternoon students of the universities 
and schools will be invited to attend. Tickets 
for Thursday afternoon or evening can prob- 
ably be obtained from Professor William Hal- 
lock, Columbia University, Chairman of the 
Committee of Arrangements. 

THE Committee of Organization of the Inter- 
national Geological Congress, which meets at 
Paris from the 16th to the 28th of August, 1900, 
isas follows: President, M. Albert Gaudry, pro- 
fessor in the Museum of Natural History ; Vice- 
Presidents, MM. Michel Lévy and Marcel Ber- 
trand ; General Secretary, M. Charles Barrois. 

Dr. G. W. Hitt has declined to accept the 


558 


Damoiseau Prize, which was awarded to him by 
the Paris Academy of Sciences last December. 

Miss CATHERINE WOLFE BRUcE has, through 
Professor J. K. Rees, given $10,000 to Columbia 
University, to be used for the measurement and 
discussion of astronomical photographs. Miss 
Bruce’s gifts to the department of astronomy 
amount to $22,100. 

AT the recent session of the Legislature of 
Oregon the office of State Biologist was created, 
whose duty it is to conduct investigations on 
and develop the biological resources of the State. 
Professor F. L. Washburn, of the University of 
Oregon, has been appointed to the office by the 
Governor. A smallappropriation was made for 
experiments in propagating Eastern oysters in 
Oregon waters. Professor Washburn has been 
working along this line for three years, and re- 
sults of artificial fertilization are coming to light. 
Some young Eastern oysters hatched and grown 
in Yaquina Bay, Oregon, have recently been re- 
ceived. 


Dr. W. 8. CourRcH has been elected President 
of the Royal College of Physicians, London. 

Av the fourth annual meeting of the North 
Carolina Section of the American Chemical So- 
ciety, the retiring President, Dr. F. P. Venable, 
made an address on ‘ The Nature of Valence.’ 
Dr. Charles Baskerville was elected President 
of the Section. 

ArT the last meeting of the British Institution 
of Mechanical Engineers, Mr. Arthur Tannett 
Walker, a member of the Council of the Iron 
and Steel Institute, was elected a Vice-President 
in place of the late Sir Douglas Galton. 

PRoFEssOR R. S. Woopwarp, of Columbia 
University, will represent the University at the 
Jubilee celebrations of Sir George Stokes, to be 
held at Cambridge in June. 

PrRoFessor. HENRY 8. CARHART, of the de- 
partment of physics of the University of Mich- 
igan, has been granted a year’s leave of absence. 

M. NAupin, the French botanist, has died at 
the age of 838 years. 

MApDAME MICHELET, who shared with Jules 
Michelet the preparation of his books on natural 
history, has died at Paris. 


A WOMAN assistant to the New York State 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. IX. No. 224. 


Entomologist will be selected by civil service 
examination on April 22d. The duties are 
clerical, but require some scientific knowledge, 
and entomology is part of the examination. 
At the same time a Janitor of the Geological 
Hall will be chosen, with a salary of $1,200. 
This appears to be more than twice the salary 
of many museum curators. 


Dr. Hans DELBRUCK, professor of history 
in the University of Berlin, has been fined 500 
Marks and censured by the Prussian disciplinary 
court for criticising the action of the govern- 
ment in expelling Danes from North Schles- 
wig. The prosecution proposed that Professor 
Delbrick be transferred from Berlin to another 
university. There are evident limitations to 
academic freedom in Germany. 

THE Royal College of Surgeons, of England, 
was founded by royal charter in 1800, anda 
committee of the College has been appointed to 
decide whether its centenary should be cele- 
brated and, if so, in what manner. 

A CoLoRADO Ornithological Association has 
recently been organized, with Dr. W. B. Berg- 
told as the first President. 

THE French Physical Society held its annual 
exhibition on April 7th and 8th. 

THE opening ceremony of a Spinoza Museum 
took place at Rhynsburg, near Leyden, on 
March 24th, in the house where Spinoza lived 
during the last years of his life, and which has 
been restored in the 17th-century style. Pro- 
fessor Bolland, of Leyden University, delivered 
a. speech on the life and work of Spinoza. 

COMMUNICATION between England and the 
Continent was obtained on March 27th by the 
Marconi system of wireless telegraphy. The sta- 
tions were at South Foreland and Wimreux, 32 
milesapart. The Morse code was used, and the 
messages were read as distinctly as though the 
termini had been connected with wires. 

THE gift from Mr. Llewellyn W. Longstaff of 
£25,000 towards a British Antarctic expedition, 
with the £15,000 already subscribed, assures the 
sending of an expedition in 1900 to cooperate 
with that from Germany. The Berlin Geo- 
graphical Society has published a chart indica- 
ting the routes that might be followed by the two 
expeditions. It is proposed that the British ex- 


ApriL 14, 1899.] 


pedition shall confine itself chiefly to the Pacific 
side of the Antarctic, while the German expe- 
dition explores the side facing the Atlantic and 
Indian Oceans. 


News has been received from the Belgica, of 
the Belgian Antarctic expedition. The extreme 
latitude reached was 71 degrees, 36 minutes 
south, longitude 92 degrees west. Maps were 
prepared of Hughes Bay and Palmer’s Land, 
south of the South Shetland Islands. 


THE expedition of Mr. H. O. Forbes and 
Mr. Ogilvie Grant to the Island of Socotra has 
returned, after successful explorations. The 
island has been mapped and its geological fea- 
tures and its fauna thoroughly studied. 


IT is stated in Nature that the Russian expe- 
dition for taking meridian measurements in 
Spitsbergen will leave St. Petersburg on May 
1st. Two steamers have been placed at the 
disposal of the expedition by the Russian Min- 
istries of Marine and Ways and Communica- 
tions, and the Minister of Finance has granted 
50,000 roubles for two years. M. Bjalinizki, 
the zoologist, and Dr. Bunge, the Polar ex- 
plorer, will accompany the expedition, which 
will be under the leadership of Staff-Captain 
Sergievski. 

AN international congress against the abuse 
of alcoholic liquors was held in Paris from April 
4th to 9th. The subjects considered included 
medical science and hygiene, political and social 
economy, legislation, instruction, education and 
propaganda. 

THE Autumn Congress and Exhibition of the 
British Sanitary Institution will be held atSouth- 
ampton on August 29th and following days. 

THE extensive and valuable library of works 
in natural history collected by the late Profes- 
sor Mariano de la Paz Graells, as also the botan- 
ical library of the late Professor Axel Blyt, is 
offered for sale by Felix M. Dames, of Berlin, 
from whom catalogues can be obtained. 


THE annual dinner of the British Institution 
of Civil Engineers took place on March 15th. 
Speeches were made by the President, Mr. W. 
H. Preece ; Lord Wolseley, Lord Claude Hamil- 
ton and Mr. W. J. Jackson. 


We called attention recently to the recommen- 


SCIENCE. 


dation of the Select Committee of the House of 
Commons on the Museums of the Science and 
Art Department that the Frank Buckland Fish 
Museum should be abolished. The London 
Times states that on March 15th a memorial 
with a large number of signatures, including 
those of representatives of many piscatorial so- 
cieties and the chairmen of various provincial 
fishery boards, was presented to the Duke of 
Devonshire and Mr. Ritchie, praying that this de- 
cision be withdrawn. The memorialists point 
out that the Select Committee consisted of 15 
members, of whom seven only approved the re- 
port; three, including Sir John Gorst, voted 
against it, and five abstained. Against the 
opinion of Sir John Donnelly and Major-General 
Festing is cited that of Sir Richard Owen, who 
considered that the collection would be a most 
valuable appendage to the Salmon Fisheries 
Commission and Office. The memorial relates 
the history of the museum, and submits sug- 
gestions for extending its usefulness as sug- 
gested on different occasions by the Prince of 
of Wales and by Professor Huxley. For this 
the cooperation of the Board of Trade is con- 
sidered essential. It should, it is submitted, 
be made a part of the duties of the Inspectors 
of Fisheries to preserve and deposit in the Mu- 
seum of Economic Fish Culture any objects of 
permanent interest which may come under their 
notice, together with photographs or models of 
improvements in fish-passes, fish culture appa- 
ratus and appliances, and other matters useful 
for reference or record ; while the Inspectors’ 
knowledge and varied experience may perhaps 
be further utilized for the public benefit, by lec- 
tures in connection with the museum. The 
Secretary and Inspectors of the Fisheries Depart- 
ment, together, perhaps, with representatives 
of the Fishmongers’ Company, or other im- 
portant bodies connected with the sea and river 
fisheries, should, it is suggested, be appointed 
visitors to advise on and aid in the management 
of the museum. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Srr WILLIAM MAcpoNALD has made another 
munificent gift to McGill University. The gift is 
for the School of Mining and provides for a lec- 
turer, a demonstrator, an assistant and a com- 


560 


plete staff of mechanics, which, with his recent 
endowment of the professional chair, gives that 
department a complete staff. It also provides 
for the establishment of a Summer School in 
Mining. Sir William’s present gift is about 
$400,000, and it raises the total amount that he 
has given to McGill University to over $3,000, 
000. 


Mr. WittiAM K. VANDERBILT has made a 
donation of $100,000 to Vanderbilt University 
for the erection of a new domitory on the cam- 
pus. 


Ir is reported that the sum of over $250,000 
has been subscribed toward an endowment for 
Brown University. A committee is endeavor- 
ing to collect $2,000,000, which it is intended to 
devote to strengthening the departments already 
existing in the University. 


A BILL has passed the Kansas Legislature ap- 
propriating $55,000 for the erection of a new 
chemistry building at the State University. 


By the will of the late Senator Justin S. Mor- 
rill, of Vermont, $1,000 is given to Vermont 
University, for the establishment of a scholar- 
ship. 


Mrs. Freperick C. T. PHrLuips, of Law- 
rence, L. I., has given Harvard University an 
endowment of $50,000, the income to be used 
for the purchase of books in English literature. 


THE Royal Geographical Society has offered 
£400 a year for five years’ maintenance of a 
school or institute of geography at Oxford on 
condition that the University contribute an equal 
sum. The common University fund will con- 
tribute £300, and it is expected that the Uni- 
versity chest will add £100. The school will 
be under the direction of the present reader, 
Mr. H. J. Mackinder, and an assistant and two 
lecturers will be appointed. 


In addition to its great Lick Observatory, the 
University of California is erecting an astronom- 
ical observatory for the use of students. It 
contains a central dome 25 feet in diameter, 
which will contain a 16-inch telescope, and four 
domes for smaller telescopes. 


DEPARTMENTS of Mining Engineering and of 
Mechanical Engineering have been added to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 224. 


the School of Engineering of the University of 
Kansas. 


THE College of Agriculture of Cornell Uni- 
versity will conduct a school of nature-study at 
Ithaca for six weeks, beginning July 6th. 
Nearly 25,000 teachers in New York State are 
now receiving, at their own request, the Na- 
ture-Study-. publications of the College of Agricul- 
ture, and itis believed that many will be glad to 
attend a summer school devoted to this subject. 


Dr. JoHN T. Nicox“son, professor of me- 
chanical engineering in McGill University, has 
accepted an appointment to the chair of me- 
chanical and electrical engineering in the great 
Technical College recently established at Man- 
chester, England. 


Ar the University of Kansas the following 
promotions have recently been made: William 
C. Stevens, associate professor of botany, to 
professor of botany; Edward C. Franklin, asso- 
ciate professor of chemistry, to professor of phys- 
ical chemistry; Arthur St.C. Dunstan, assistant 
professor of physics, to associate professor of 
physics; Marshall A. Barber, assistant professor 
of botany, to associate professor of bacteriology 
and cryptogamic botany; George Wagner, as- 
sistant professor of pharmacy, to associate pro- 
fessor of pharmacy; Samuel J. Hunter, as- 
sistant professor of entomology, to associate 
professor of entomology; Walter K. Palmer, 
assistant in graphics, to associate professor of 
mechanical engineering; Edward Bartow, in+ 
structor in chemistry, to associate professor of 
chemistry. 


AMONG foreign appointments we note the fol- 
lowing : Dr. Curt Hassert, of Leipzig, has been 
appointed associate professor of geography in 
the University of Tubingen; Dr. Geppert, of 
the University of Bonn, professor of phar- 
macology in the University of Giessen; 
Professor Schilling, of the Institute of Tech- 
nology at Karlsruhe, professor of mathe- 
matics in the University of Gottingen ; Dr. 
Georg Karsten, of Kiel, associate professor of 
botany in the University of Bonn, and Dr. 
Dove, of Berlin, professor of botany in the Uni- 
versity of Jena. Dr. Georg Bohlmann, docént 
in mathematics in the University of Gottingen, 
has been promoted to a professorship. 


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SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwARD, Mechamies; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContTE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8. H. ScUDDER, Entomology; C. E. BrssEy, N. L. 
BRITron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpircu, Physiology; 

J. S. Brntines, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aprit 21, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


Othniel Charles Marsh (with Portrait): Dr. J. L. 
AWiORMCAINGsaseananeccsscineacheaaseceiainssaevenssasctse 561 


Some Misapprehensions as to the Simplified Nomen- 
clature of Anatomy: PROFESSOR BURT G. WIL- 
TOIT? quoqddbiaopoobdpddoudidooabonbaddoddbsobadacdnasnaHagaHon 566 


The Breeding of Animals at Woods Hole during the 
Month of September, 1898: M. T. THoMPsoNn... 581 


Economics in Manufactures: PROFESSOR R. H. 
PEILURSLONsscsecocsnesecatenscocscsscneccssersccsecssss: 583 
Scientific Books :— 
Harkness and Morley on Analytic Funetions : 
PROFESSOR JAMES PIERPONT. Schnabel’s 
Handbook of Metallurgy: Dr. J. STRUTHERS. 
J SWISS TAGGGTGTE fecocicoscoananeacooocoscsdsaddaqapsaasearasodd 586 


Scientific Journals and Articles........00ccececeeeseeneees 589 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Anthropological Society of Washington: DR. 
J. H. McCormick. Geological Conference and 
Students’ Club of Harvard University: J. M. 
BOUTWELL. The Torrey Botanical Club: Ep- 
WARD S-1 BURGESS: onccestsscescasacecessasesssoscaseess 590 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Duplication of Geologic Formation Names: Dr. 
GEORGE M. Dawson. On the Names of Certain 
North American Fossil Vertebrates: O. P. HAY. 
The Fundamental Law of Temperature for Gase- 
ous Celestial Bodies: PROFESSOR W. 8S. FRANK- 


7510s Bcenodsnacdoqudncdo cotieddadoodoodaenéEadaqean LacadoBaadtion 592 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H............. 595 
The Naples Zoological Slation......1.csecsseevereesveceeee 596 
Scientific Notes and News..... 597 
University and Educational News.......:sc0ssevesceeees 600 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
tor review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


OTHNIEL CHARLES MARSH. 

Tue last of the famous trio of American 
vertebrate paleontologists has passed into 
the unknown, and the rich legacy of 
discovery and advancement in biological 
knowledge which they have bequeathed to 
the world will ever stand as an enduring 
monument to their untiring energy and 
greatness in the realm of thought. It 
seems, therefore, especially fitting that the 
unveiling of this splendid monument and 
the final pronouncing of judgment upon the 
labors of these truly great Americans should 
take place in the closing years of the cen- 
tury, notable alike for the variety and 
brilliancy of its achievements in almost 
every department of learning. 

At the time when the doctrine of Evolu- 
tion was finally formulated and brought 
prominently before the thinking world by 
the labors of Darwin the direct and positive 
evidence in favor of such an hypothesis was 
inconclusive and uncertain. True, it re- 
ceived more or less powerful support from 
Mr. Darwin’s own particular field of re- 
search, as well as from the embryological 
studies which the Germans had brought 
into especial prominence, but the court of 
the iast resort, the tribunal of final judg- 
ment in which the case was to be argued 
and decided was that of the Geological 
Record, or, in other words, a direct appeal 
to the animals and plants themselves, 
which had inhabited the earth in times 


562 


past, and whose remains lie entombed in 
the rocks, mute but unimpeachable wit- 
nesses of the story of their becoming and 
development. It was generally agreed 
and fully admitted by the foremost think- 
ers of this critical period that these re- 
mains not only once formed parts of living 
animals, but that they furnish safe guides 
for the determination of the deposits in 
which they are found, in the general time 
scale of the earth’s history. 

Fossils representing the higher forms 
were not unknown in Europe at the time 
this discussion arose, but the specimens 
from which they were known were in gen- 
eral so fragmentary and lacking in con- 
secutiveness as to furnish little evidence 
for or againSt the pretensions of the Dar- 
winian hypothesis. To such an extent was 
this true that Darwin was compelled to add 
a chapter in his great work on the Origin 
of Species, on what he was pleased to call 
the ‘Imperfections of the Geological Rec- 
ord.’ 

It was at this juncture or shortly after- 
ward that the famous American trio ap- 
peared upon the scene, and the tremendous 
weight of their testimony derived from the 
unrivaled record of the fossil deposits of 
Western America has served to take the 
whole question practically out of the realm 
of discussion and reduce it tothe plane ofa 
demonstrated fact. It has been very truly 
said that if we regard the truth of Evolu- 
tion from Mr. Darwin’s especial point of 
view, viz.: that of living plants and ani- 
mals, we shall conclude that it is a pos- 
sibility ; if we look at it from the stand- 
point of embryology our judgment must be 
that it is a probability, but if we examine 
it from the evidence of paleontology it is 
no longer a possibility or a probability, 
but a living truth. 

Such, in brief, is the basis of the claims to 
distinction which the works of these men 
offer. The share which Leidy took in the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 225. 


performance of this great work has already 
been told; the second chapter, devoted to 
the brilliant discoveries of Cope, has like- 
wise been written, and it remains now to 
speak of the work of the man whose scien- 
tific labors form the subject of the present 
sketch. 

Othniel Charles Marsh was by nature a 
student and early gave evidence of what his 
future career was to be by a love for nature 
and natural objects. Asa boy he collected 
birds, insects, minerals and fossils. He was 
born in Lockport, N. Y., October 29, 1831, 
and in 1852 went to Phillips Andover 
Academy, where he graduated with honors. 
He afterwards entered Yale, from which 
institution he graduated in 1860. While 
in college he became deeply interested in 
geology, paleontology and mineralogy, and 
spent two additional years after his gradua- 
tion in the Sheffield Scientific School at 
Yale and three years in Germany in pur- 
suit of these branches. In 1866 a profes- 
sorship of vertebrate paleontology was 
established in Yale and he was called to 
fill it. Between this and the time of his 
graduation he had published a number of 
important papers on ‘Minerals and Fos- 
sils,’ many of which appeared in the Ameri- 
can Journal of Science. In 1868 he began 
his investigations of the Western fossil de- 
posits, and this he was all the better able to 
do on account of the inheritance of a con- 
siderable fortune from his uncle, George 
Peabody, the banker. It was largely 
through his influence that this latter gentle- 
man was induced to make the munificent 
gifts to the University which led to the 
establishment of the Peabody Museum at 
Yale. 

The record of his discoveries from the 
time of his appointment to the professor- 
ship is one of almost continual triumph in 
the bringing to light of new and strange 
forms of life that had inhabited the west- 
ern hemisphere in the distant past. Pre- 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


vious to the publication of any of his West- 
ern material he contributed some important 
papers upon the fossil birds and reptiles 
from the Cretaceous of the East. In 1869 
appeared ‘ Notice of some New Mosasauroid 
Reptiles from the Greensand of New Jer- 
sey,’ ‘ Description of a New Gigantic Fossil 
Serpent (Dinophis grandis) from the Ter- 
tiary of New Jersey’ and ‘ Notice of some 
Fossil Birds from the Cretaceous and Ter- 
tiary Formations of the United States.’ In 
1871 he gave a description of his trip 
through the Uinta Mountains and the Dis- 
covery of the Uinta Tertiary Formation, 
the uppermost member of the Eocene series. 
In May of this year he published a descrip- 
tion of some new fossil serpents from the 
Tertiary deposits of Wyoming, and in June 
of the same year he gave notice of the dis- 
covery of the first remains of Pterodactyles 
that had ever been found in America. In 
July of the same year he also published the 
first notice of Tertiary Mammals from the 
Western beds. In the following year, 1872, 
he was very active, and some of the most 
important discoveries of the long list to his 
credit followed in rapid succession. 

It is quite impossible to give more thana 
brief list of his remarkable finds published 
during this and the succeeding years ; the 
more important only must suffice. It ap- 
pears astonishing, however, in the light of 
our present knowledge of the subject what 
a keen insight into their meaning and im- 
portance he possessed and of which he gave 
such distinctive evidence in his descriptions. 
In this year (1872) he proved beyond all 
doubt the existence of the Pterodactyles in 
thiscountry,a group which hitherto had been 
regarded as entirely wanting in the western 
hemisphere ; he described the first remains 
of the now famous toothed bird Hesperornis, 
although at this time, May, 1872,he did not 
know of its having possessed teeth. Among 
the Mosasauroid Reptiles he determined for 
the first time the following important points 


SCIENCE. 


563 


jn their structure: (1) position of the 
quadrate bone, (2) presence of the stapes, 
(3) presence of the collumella, (4) presence 
of the quadratoparietal arch, (5) presence 
of the malar arch, (6) the nature of the 
pterotic bone, (7) nature of the anterior 
limbs, (8) presence and nature of the pos- 
terior limbs and pelvis and (9) the number 
of the cervical vertebra. He also an- 
nounced in September of this year the dis- 
covery of Ichthyornis, the curious Cretaceous 
bird with biconcave vertebrae. Just pre- 
vious to this came a long list of new genera 
and species of fossil mammalia from the 
Bridger Eocene horizon of Wyoming, which, 
although briefly described, are of the most 
intense interest and the highest importance 
in tracing the ancestry of many living 
mammalian groups. One of the most im- 
portant of these discoveries among the fossil 
mammals was the demonstration of the ex- 
istence of Lemurs, or Primitive Primates, on - 
this continent. 

Of scarcely less importance were his con- 
tributions of the following year; early in 
February, 1878, he announced the discov- 
ery of teeth, in both jaws, of Ichthyornis 
dispar and established for it, on this account, 
a sub-class, Odontornithes. This discovery 
was of far-reaching importance and satis- 
factorily established the fact that many of 
the Cretaceous birds are transitional be- 
tween living birds and reptiles. In this 
year he devoted much time and space to the 
consideration of the gigantic mammals of 
the Eocene, of which the first notices had 
been given by Leidy from a few fragmen- 
tary remains. To Marsh, however, belongs 
the credit of the final determination of their 
structure and affinities; he classified them 
in a separate and distinct order, Dinocerata, 
a name which has been very widely adopted 
by naturalists. 

In March, 1874, came the discovery which 
has tended to give Professor Marsha greater 
reputation than any other single piece of 


564 


work in his entire career. Various futile 
attempts had been previously made to trace 
the ancestry of the Modern Horse. Huxley 
and Kowalewsky in Europe had established 
the fact that mammals belonging to the 
equine stem were found in Europe in the 
early Pliocene and late Miocene, but their 
attempt to trace the line into any older 
formations signally failed. Shortly after 
this Professor Marsh pointed out the equine 
nature of his Bridger genus Orohippus, and 
was the first to show that the fossil forms 
of the American Continent furnished every 
conceivable link between the small poly- 
dactyle species of the Eocene and the modern 
horse. So strong, indeed, is the evidence 
of this descent that were there no other 
evidences of evolution to be found among 
the fossils this would be quite sufficient of 
itself to establish its truth. In May ofthis 
year he published an ‘important paper set- 
ting forth these discoveries on the ‘ Fossil 
Horses in America.’ 

In 1875 he published additional discov- 
eries among the Cretaceous birds, and de- 
termined for the first time that Hesperornis 
possessed teeth in both jaws. In the suc- 
ceeding year a series of important papers 
appeared, giving the principal characters of 
the Dinocerata, Tillodontia, Brontotheridz 
and Coryphodontia. Of this latter group 
he was the first to point out that they were 
very closely allied to a genus that was de- 
scribed by Owen as early as 1846 from a 

.few fragmentary remains found in the 
Eocene of Europe, thus giving the first se- 
cure basis for a comparison of the older 
Eocene deposits of the two countries. In 
this year he was elected Vice-President of 
the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, and inthe following year 
succeeded to the Presidency of the body. 
His address as the Vice-President upon the 
‘Introduction and Succession of Vertebrate 
Life in America’ is a notable production 
and shows the wonderful knowledge he 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


possessed of the organization of the Verte- 
brates. 

Some notable discoveries which marked 
the beginning of his extensive and impor- 
tant contributions to the knowledge of the 
extinct reptiles of the group Dinosauria 
from the Rocky Mountain region were pub- 
lished early in 1877. From this time on, 
almost up to the time of his death, one dis- 
covery after another pertaining to these 
weird gigantic creatures followed in rapid 
succession. ‘This subject came to engross 
his attention more and more, and at the 
time of his death was the one in which he 
was the most deeply interested. In 1879 
the first discovery of fossil Mammals from 
the Western Mesozoic was announced, and 
within the next few years a large number of 
genera and species were added to the list. 
His contributions to the subject constitute 
practically all we know of the American 
Jurassic Mammalia. In 1880 appeared his 
first important Monograph on the ‘ Extinct 
Toothed Birds of North America,’ an im- 
portant and beautifully illustrated volume 
published by the United States Geological 
Survey. In 1886 followed his second | 
Monograph on the ‘ Dinocerata, An Extinct 
Order of Gigantic Mammals,’ which served 
to bring together and present in extended 
form his many discoveries on this subject, 
a work which was likewise published by 
the Government Survey. In 1889 two dis- 
coveries of more than usual importance were 
made ; one was the finding of a very exten- 
sive Cretaceous Mammalian fauna in the 
Laramie Beds of Wyoming, and the other 
the discovery of those curious horned Din- 
osaurs, the Ceratopsia, in the same de- 
posits. 

It would be impossible to give here even 
a list of his papers which have contributed 
so immensely to our knowledge of the ex- 
tinct Reptilia. Itis in this difficult group 
especially that his splendid knowledge will 
be so sadly missed, and it will, indeed, be 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


many years before any of the younger 
generation of paleontologists who survive 
him can hope to acquire the information of 
these various groups-which he possessed. 
It was his intention and special desire to 
embody this knowledge in separate mono- 
graphs, to be published by the  eological 
Survey, several of which were in an ad- 
vanced state of completion at the time of 
his death. He had also projected extended 
works upon other groups. The volumes 
which he had mapped out and already done 
a considerable amount of work upon were 
as follows: The Sauropoda, Theropoda and 
Ornitbopoda, to be in three separate volumes 
representing the three great divisions of 
the Dinosauria. Last year the Geological 
Survey issued a preliminary volume from 
him on the North American Dinosaurs. 
He also had a volume projected upon the 
Mesozoic Mammalia and one upon the Bron- 
totheride. 

The scientific world at large had a just 
appreciation of his merits, and he waslargely 
rewarded by many marks of distinguished 
consideration. He was elected a member 
of nearly every scientific society of note in 
Europe and America. In 1875 he was 
elected Vice-President of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science, 
and in the year following he became Presi- 
dent. In 1877 he received the Bigsby Medal 
from the Geological Society of London for 
the most distinguished researches in geology 
and paleontology. In 1882 he was chosen 
President of the National Academy of 
Sciences, a position which he held for two 
terms of six years each. In the same year 


he was chosen Paleontologist of the U. S. 


Geological Survey, a position which he held 
for ten years. He was also made honorary 
Curator of Paleontology in the U.S. Na- 
tional Museum, and held this position at his 
death. In 1886 the University of Heidel- 
berg conferred on him the degree of Ph.D., 
and in the same year Harvard gave him an 


SCIENCE. 


565 


LL.D. Last year he was made a corre- 
sponding member of the French Academy, 
and later he was announced as the winner 
of the Cuvier prize, one of the most distin- 
guished honors ever conferred upon an 
American professor. 

In his younger days he was a man of 
tremendous energy and spent much of his 
time in the field exploring for fossils, fre- 
quently far from the outposts of civilization. 
These expeditions were often attended with 
many hardships, and at times no small 
amount of risk to his personal safety, but 
wherever a new field offered opportunities 
for adding something novel, calculated to 
advance the knowledge of his science, no 
expense, hardship or danger could deter 
him from undertaking its exploration. The 
methods of collecting and preparing these 
fossils for study and exhibition which he 
has introduced in the course of his long ex- 
perience forms the basis very largely of all 
similar work in almost every paleontolog- 
ical laboratory of the world, and it is a 
matter of common remark that nearly all 
the noted collectors and preparateurs have 
received their training under his immediate 
influence. 

The vast collections on this subject which 
he has brought together are without doubt 
the finest and most complete of any in the 
world, and, when properly installed and ex- 
hibited, will make a monument in every 
way worthy of the greatness of the man 
who dedicated his life and his fortune to its 
formation. The influence of his work for 
advancement in this department of knowl- 
edge has probably had no equal in any 
country, and it is to be hoped that his 
splendid example of unselfish devotion to 
the cause of education will not be allowed 
to go unheeded. 


J. L. WortTMAN. 


AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL 
HIistoRY, NEW YORK. 


566 


SOME MISAPPREHENSIONS AS TO THE 
SIMPLIFIED NOMENCLATURE 
OF ANATOMY.* 

Ler it not be interpreted as indifference 
to the honor of election to an office held 
by the lamented Joseph Leidy and Harri- 
son Allen if I express even more profound 
gratification in another action of this Asso- 
ciation at its meeting a year ago, viz., the 
adoption, without dissent, by such of the 
members as were sufficiently interested to 
attend, of the ‘Report of the Majority} of 
the Committee on Anatomical Nomencla- 
ture’ (Proceedings, pp. 27-55). 

It was then my hope and expectation to 
lay aside that matter for a year in favor of 
others already too long deferred. Least of 
all did I contemplate making it the subject 
of the present address. The change of plan 
is due to considerations which may be sum- 
marized thus: As investigators our main 
purpose is to comprehend; as writers and 
teachers our first duty is to be clear ; when, 
therefore, we have reason to believe that in 
the minds of our fellows there is obscurity 
upon a subject of common interest to which 
we have given particular attention we 
should avail ourselves of any special oppor- 
tunity of elucidation, the imperativeness of 
this obligation being directly proportionate 
to the personal, professional and official im- 
portance of those who seem to need enlight- 
enment. 

When, therefore, it is announced that at 
this meeting the Association will be called 
upon, in respect to nomenclature, to ‘ re- 
consider its acts from the beginning’ (‘ Mi- 
nority Report,’ p. 57); when those who 
make this announcement are among the 
original members of the Association and 
its only surviving past Presidents ; when, 
upon both sides of the water, there have 


* Address of the President at the opening of the 
eleventh annual session of the Association of Amer- 
ican Anatomists, December 28, 1898. 

+ F. H. Gerrish, Geo. S. Huntington and myself. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


been published reports, articles, reviews 
and paragraphs in books* containing, 
however unintentionally, statements so 
inadequate, exaggerated, or even inaccu- 
rate, as to mislead those not themselves 
acquainted with the facts; and when, 
finally, it is probable that the facts are 
more familiar to me than to any other sin- 
gle individual, it becomes not merely my 
privilege, but my duty, to share my informa- 
tion with the members of this Association 
and with others interested who may have 
lacked the time or opportunity to gain it 
hitherto. 

So.numerous are the misapprehensions as 
to the nature of the simplified nomencla- 
ture and the purposes of its advocates that 
it is impossible to consider them all fully 
upon the present occasion; some, indeed, 
will be merely stated,in the hope that such 


*1, Verhandlungen der anatomischen Gesellschaft 
auf der neunten Versammlung, in Basel, April, 1895. 
Anat. Anzeiger; Erginzungsheft zam X. Band; p. 
162. 

2. His, W.—Die anatomische Nomenclatur. Nom- 
ina anatomica. Verzeichniss der von der Anatomischen 
Gesellschaft auf ihrer IX. Versammlung in Basel 
angenommennen Namen. Eingeleitet und im Ein- 
verstiindniss mit dem Redactionsausschuss erlautert. 
Archiv fiir Anatomie und Physiologie. Anat. Abth., 
Supplement Band, 1895. O., pp. 180; 27 figs., 2 
plates, 1895 ; [pp. 6-7]. 

3. Herr Burt Wilder und die Anatomische Nomen- 
clatur. Anat. Anzeiger, XII., 446-448, Oct. 30, 1896. 

4. Koélliker, A. von.—Handbuch der Gewebelehre 
des Menschen. Sechste Auflage. Zweiter Band. 
Nervensystem des Menschen und der Thiere. O., 
pp. 874, 845 figs. Leipzig, 1896 ; [p. 814]. 

5. Dwight, Thomas.—Wilder’sSystem der Nomen- 
klatur. Ergebnisse der Anatomie und Entwickelungs- 
geschichte, 1897, pp. 471-479. 

6. Baker, Frank.—Review of the foregoing. Sct- 
ENCE, VII., 715-716, May 28, 1898. 

7. Baker, F., and Dwight, T.—Report of the Mi- 
nority of the Committee on Anatomical Nomencla- 
ture. Proceedings of the tenth annual session of the 
Association of American Anatomists, December 28, 
1897, pp. 55-57. 

8. Reviews of Mills,’ ‘The Nervous System and its 
Diseases,’ in various medical journals ; 1898. 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


statements may carry their own correction. 
Certain points were presented two years 
ago.** If, in a few instances, I repeat what 
I have previously published, precedent for 
so doing may be found in these words of 
Huxley : 

‘“ When objections are ignored without 
being refuted or even discussed, I suppose 
the best way is to emphasize them afresh.” 
Zool. Soc. Proceedings, 1883, p. 189. 

Misapprehension I.+ That the ‘ Majority Re- 
port’ embodies the positive convictions of one 
member and the merely passive acquiescence of 
the other two.—Such an impression not only 
might be, but actually has been, produced by 
the ‘Minority Report.’ Nothing could be 
less accurate or just. 

The members of this Association need 
only be reminded that the two other signers 
of the ‘ Majority Report’ are among the 
more active of our associates; that they 
are writers, and are, or have been, practi- 


* Neural Terms, International and National, Jour- 
nal of Comparative Neurology, VI., December, i896, pp. 
216-352, including seven tables. Parts VII.-IX. have 
also been reprinted under the title ‘Table of Neural 
Terms, with Comments and Bibliography,’ including 
also ‘Suggestions to American Anatomists.’ Copies 
of the entire paper and also of the ‘ Tables,’ etc., 
were sent toall members of all committees on nomen- 
clature, here and abroad, and to many other anato- 
mists and neurologists. To them were also sent copies 
of the ‘Table,’ etc., and the latter was still more 
widely distributed to others more or less directly in- 
terested in the subject. My reprints of the entire 
paper are exhausted ; of the ‘Table,’ etc., some 
copies remain that will be sent upon application. The 
larger part of the paper is contained in the lecture 
‘Some Neural Terms,’ in ‘ Biological Lectures’ 
[at the Marine Biological Laboratory] for 1896-7. 
The ‘Errors and Omissions’ detected in my Lists of 
Neural Terms have been corrected in the Journal of 
Comparative Neurology, VIII., pp. li-lii, July, 1898 ; 
a leaflet reprint has been inserted in copies of ‘ Neu- 
ral Terms’ and of ‘Table of Neural Terms’ dis- 
tributed since March 30, 1898, and will be sent upon 
request to those who received copies prior to that 
date. 

+The succeeding misapprehensions will be desig- 
nated simply by Roman numerals. 


SCIENCE. 


567 
tioners; and that they are teachers of anat 
omy in long-established medical schools. 

But even more significant in this connec- 
tion is something best known to those who 
know them best. These men, in a notable 
degree, combine intellectual independence 
with liberality; in other words, they are con- 
spicuously free from two qualities shared 
by the human species with certain other 
mammals, viz., uncritical imitation, on the 
one hand, and, on the other, hostility toward 
what appears to be new merely because 
they are personally unfamiliar with it. 

With regard to the matter in question, as 
was expressly stated in the ‘ Majority Re- 
port’ (p. 31, § 2,5), ‘ with few exceptions 
the terms recommended had been adopted 
by each member individually, and prior to 
the conference at which joint action was 
taken.”’ * 

Notwithstanding the nature of their.con- 
victions, if the larger number of those in 
attendance at the present session decide to 
materially modify or even reverse the action 
of a year ago, the majority of your com- 
mittee will offer no factious opposition. 
They will, however, feel none the less proud 
of their work and confident of its eventual 
readoption. Their sentiments may be com- 
pared, although somewhat remotely, with 
those of the surgeon who had devised a new 
flap for amputation of the thigh. Upon the 
first trial, just as the operation was trium- 
phantly completed, an overdose of chloro- 
form killed the patient. ‘‘Too bad,’ said 
the surgeon, ‘‘but at any rate he’ll go to 
heaven with the best flap that ever was 
made.” 


* For the complete appreciation of the situation it 
should perhaps be added that the two other signers of 
the ‘ Majority Report’ were appointed on the Com- 
mittee respectively by the two signers of the ‘ Minor- 
ity Report’ while serving as Presidents. 

+ At the closing session (December 30, 1898) of 
the eleventh meeting the second Report of the Ma- 
jority of the Committee was adopted by the Associa- 
tion. 


568 


II. That any action of the Association with 
respect to the use of terms has binding force. — 
From certain expressions it might be in- 
ferred that the adoption of a report on 
nomenclature was tantamount to the enact- 
ment of rules or by-laws, conformity to 
which constitutes an indispensable condi- 
tion of the maintenance of membership. 
On the contrary, the recommendation and 
acceptance of certain terms merely entitles 
them to particularly respectful considera- 
tion and throws upon those who prefer 
others the burden of proof that those others 
are superior. As an illustration of the im- 
punity with which somewhat stringent in- 
junctions may be disregarded may be men- 
tioned the following: In the Anatomischer 
Anzeiger (March 3, 1897, pp. 323-329), in a 
paper by Dr. Edward Flatau, ‘ Beitrag zur 
technischen Bearbeitung des Centralner- 
vensystems,’ prepared in the Anatomie In- 
stitute at Berlin, the Director of which is 
Professor Waldeyer, a member of the B. N. 
A. Commission and of the Gesellschaft that 
recommended Dura mater encephali and Pia 
mater encephali, the mononyms dura and pia 
occur two and four times respectively, and 
the authorized polyonyms are conspicuous 
by their absence. 

III. That action of the majority of w conmit- 
tee should be delayed indefinitely by the absence 
or unpreparedness of the minority after due 
notice is given. 

IV. That the condemnatory phrases of the 
‘ Minority Report’ can, in any considerable de- 
gree, be justly applied to the actual contents of 
the ‘ Majority Report.’ 

_ V. That the non-adoption of a term, whether 

from the German list or my own, constitutes a 
declaration against it.—It signifies merely a 
suspension of judgment and a postponement 
of action. 

VI. That differences of usage or recommenda- 
tion between American and foreign anatomists or 
organizations should be removed in all cases by 
the abandonment of our position. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


VII. That the efforts of this Association for 
the simplification of nomenclature should be par- 
alyzed by the disapprobation of foreign anato- 
mists whose unfamiliarity with what is done in 
America is to be explained only by an indiffer- 
ence thereto.——Among numerous instances of 
this indifference I select one with which my 
own connection is so remote as to eliminate 
the element of personal irritation. At the 
meeting of this Association in December, 
1895, there was presented an elaborate ‘ Re- 
port on the Collection and Preservation of 
Anatomical Material.’ It was pfinted>in 
our Proceedings (15-388) and in Screncg, IIT., 
January 17,1896; was mentioned in several 
journals and listed in the ‘ Literatur’ in 
the Anatomischer Anzeiger. Yet in Septem- 
ber, 1898, practically an entire number of 
that periodical, twenty-five pages, was oc- 
cupied by an article on that subject pur- 
porting to tabulate and discuss the methods 
employed in all parts of the world. The 
whole United States is credited with an 
article by Mall (Anzeiger, 1896, 769-775) 
and (in a footnote) a ‘ Note’ by Keiller 
in the Texas Medical Journal, 1891-2, VE, p. 
425. 

VIII. That terms consisting of a single word 
each constitute even the majority of the names 
preferred by me or adopted by this Association a 
year ago.—Whatever their abstract prefer- ‘ 
ences, the members of the Committee realize 
the impossibility of framing such a nomen- 
clature. Two years ago (‘Neural Terms,’ 
§ 153 et seq.) I showed by statistics the 
baselessness of the misapprehension and 
characterized it as a ‘terminologic phantasm 
erected by the Germans between themselves 
and the American Committees.’ 

More recently, however, the same notion 
has reappeared in several reviews of a text- 
book of nervous diseases, commonly with 
approval, expressed or implied, of the sup- 
posed condition. The impression was prob- 
ably gained from the fact that the author of 
the book, like myself, prefers single-word 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


names for as many as possible of the parts 
most frequently mentioned. Nevertheless, 
the misapprehension on this point ought to 
be corrected. The facts are : 

First, out of about 540 neural terms in the 
B. N. A. at least 40, about one-fourteenth, 
are mononyms. 

Secondly, in the ‘Majority Report’, in 
Tables C and D, are enumerated 274 terms 
differing more or less from those adopted 
by the Gesellschaft; the mononyms num- 
ber only 103. 

IX. That eminence as an anatomist neces- 
sarily implies either the capacity or the dispost- 
tion to deal wisely with questions of nomencla- 
ture.—Upon this point I quote from ‘Con- 
cluding Remarks’ in ‘Neural Terms,’ p. 329: 

Caution in Publishing New Terms.—It is true that 
words needlessly introduced into anatomy have no 
such embarrassing permanency as is conventionally 
assigned to synonyms in systematic zodlogy. Never- 
theless, for a time at least, they encumber current 
publications and dictionaries. Hence, however neces- 
sary and legitimate they may seem to the framer, 
neither a new term, nor an old one in a new sense, 
should be actually published without prolonged con- 
sideration, and consultation with at least four indi- 
viduals representing as many categories of possible 
critics: (qa) an investigator of the same general sub- 
ject; (0) an experienced teacher; (c¢) an earnest stu- 
dent; (d) a philologic expert whose admiration for 
the past has not blinded him to the needs of the pre- 
sent and the future. 

Method of Introduction of New Terms.—As urgently 
recommended by the A. A. A. S. Committee on Bio- 
logical Nomenclature, whenever a technical word is 
used for the first time the author should give in 
a special note: (a) the Latin form; (b) the etymol- 
ogy; (¢) the proper adopted form or paronym for his 
own language, with the adjective, etc., when applica- 
ble; (d) as concise and precise a definition as pos- 
sible. 


X. That among the terms included in the 
‘ Majority Report’ any considerable number 
have been specifically condemned by the Anatom- 
ische Gesellschaft or its authorized representa- 
tives. 

XI. That the grounds of such objections as 
have been offered are really sound and sufficient. 


SCIENCE. 


569 


XII. That the condemnation of a term by an 
anatomic authority disproves either its intrinsic 
fitness or its promise of vitality.—On this point 
there need be adduced only the cases of 
radius and ulna, which Robert Hunter de- 
nounced as ‘ ridiculous.’ 

XIII. That the anatomy of the future is to be 
based upon the structure and erect attitude of the 
human body.—The anatomists of the future 
will be zodtomists first and anthropotomists 
afterward. 

XIV. That every anatomic term should be an 
absolute idionym, 1. €., perfectly explicit in itself. 
—Since this requirement is implied in the 
objections to aula, etc., by Koélliker, and to 
medipedunculus by His,* there may be prop- 
erly adduced from the B. N. A. the follow- 
ing terms, whose explicitness is conditioned 
upon either the context or the actual addi- 
tion of the words here set in brackets : 
clivus [occipitalis], and [sphenoidalis]; pro- 
cessus coronoideus [ulne] and [mandibule]; 
processus styloideus [radii], [ulne], and [ossis 
temporalis]. Unless, indeed, it be granted 
that a certain degree of explicitness is 
afforded by the context, every one of the 
thousands of names of the parts of the 
human body should be increased by the 
phrase corporis humant. 

XV. That the occasional employment, by a 
member of an Association, or even by a member of 
its Comittee on Nomenclature, of terms other 
than those adopted by them is, in itself, evidence 
of deliberate intention.—For example, after 
using conariwm for fifteen years in place of 
‘pineal body,’ etc., now that the argu- 
ments of Spitzka and H. F. Osborn have 
converted me to epiphysis, conarium occa- 
sionally gets itself spoken. Indeed, it is 
easy for me to understand that an unin- 
tended but familiar word may be written, 
re-written, and even overlooked in the proof. 
The frequency of such lapses could be 
shown, if necessary, by letters from numer- 


*As stated and briefly discussed in ‘ Neural Terms,’ 
pp. 282-289. 


570 


ous correspondents in reply to the query, 
free from all critical or proselytic tenor, as 
to whether a given term was used inten- 
tionally or by inadvertence. 

XVI. That there is ‘imminent danger of the 
formation of a peculiar anatomic vocabulary 
in America such as seriously to impede scientific 
intercourse with other countries..—The unsub- 
stantiality of the grounds of this misappre- 
hension may be recognized in the impartial 
discussion by the brothers Herrick a year 
ago.* They conclude that there is no rea- 
son for serious alarm on this score. 

XVII. That the fundamental principles and 
characteristic features of the simplified nomencla- 
ture can be attributed to any individual in such 
degree as to warrant calling it by his name.—In 
correcting this misapprehension no false 
modesty shall lead me to belittle what I 
have done. On the contrary, to the ‘ Sum- 
mary of my terminologic progress,’ already 
published in ‘Neural Terms,’ etc. (pp. 
227-237), there shall be added here two 
items overlooked when that was printed : 

1. That the defects of encephalic ter- 
minology had been recognized by me as 
early as 1878 may be seen from the follow- 
ing paragraph in a popular lecture on ‘ The 
brain and the present scientific aspects of 
phrenology,’ delivered January 21st, before 
the ‘ American Institute,’ and reported in 
the New York Tribune of January 22d and 
in the ‘ Tribune Extra,’ No. 3: 

“CAs if these natural hindrances were not enough, 
the old anatomists fenced in the parts of the brain 
with the most fanciful and prodigious titles. Cere- 
drum is well enough ; the cerebellum, being only one- 
eighth as large, has a longer name, while medulla ob- 
longata, hippocampus minor, tubercula quadrigemina, 
processus e cerebello ad testes, and iter e tertio ad ventricu- 
lun quartum represent such insignificant parts of the 
brain as to suggest a suspicion that the nomenclature 
was established upon no other principle than that of 


in inverse ratio between the size of an organ and the 
length of its title. At any rate, these fearful names 


* Inquiries regarding tendencies current in neu- 
rological literature ;) Jour. Comp. Neurology, VIL., 
162-168, December, 1897. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


are stumbling-blocks to the student and an almost 
perfect hindrance to popular knowledge of the brain ; 
no doubt this pleases the ghosts of the old anatom- 
ical fathers, and is equally agreeable to many of the 
present day, both in and out of the profession, with 
whom Latin is a synonym for learning, and ponder- 
osity of words for profundity of wisdom.”’ 


2. My actual efforts toward the simplifica- 
tion of the nomenclature of the brain com- 
menced in 1880, in the preparation of a 
paper read before the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science on the 28th 
of August. The paper was never written 
out in full, and apparently no abstract was 
furnished for publication in the Proceedings. 
Somewhat inadequate and erroneous re- 
ports were printed in the Boston Daily Ad- 
vertiser of August 30th, and in the New 
York Medical Record of September 18th. But 
here is a duplicate of the abstract furnished 
in advance to the Secretary of the Associa- 
tion, and I venture to read it as a contribu- 
tion to the history of the subject now before 
us: 


‘PARTIAL REVISION OF THE NOMENCLATURE OF 
THE BRAIN. 


‘A. Introductory: The progress of anatomy is im- 
peded by the defects of nomenclature. These defects 
have been admitted by several anatomists, and a few 
have endeavored to remedy them. As stated by Pye- 
Smith, ‘the nomenclature of the brain stands morein 
need of revision than that of any other part.’ 

‘©B. Nature of the Defects: (1) General. In com- 
mon with that of the rest of the body, the nomencla- 
ture of the brain lacks precision as to the position 
and direction of parts. (2) In particular the number 
of synonyms is very large. Most writers employ some 
names which are vernacular or merely descriptive. 
Most technical names are compound ; many of the 
single ones are inconveniently long, and some of them 
are indecent. 

“CG. Special Obstacles to a Reform: (1) The difficulty 
of ascertaining the priority of terms. (2) The ten- 
dency of each nation to adopt purely vernacular 
terms which have been proposed or incidentally em- 
ployed by eminent anatomists of that nation. 

“TD. Principles Forming the Basis of this Revision : 
(1) Technical terms are the tools of thought, and 
the best workman uses the best tools. (2) Terms of 
classical origin are to be preferred. (3) Priority of 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


employment is to be regarded, but should not over- 
bear all other considerations. (4) Of two terms 
equally acceptable in other respects, to select the 
shorter. (5) Preference for names of general appli- 
cation over those which have an exclusive application 
to man or the other primates. (6) To convert some 
compound terms into simple ones, either by dropping 
unessential words or by the substitution of prefixes 
for adjectives. (7) For terms of position, to discard 
all which refer to the horizon or to the natural atti- 
tude of man, and to adopt those which refer to the 
longitudinal axis of the vertebrate body. (8) For 
terms of relative position and direction, to employ 
those used for position with the termination ad. 

““E. The Paper Will Indicate: (1) The terms pro- 
posed and their abbreviations. (2) The principal 
synonyms. (3) The originators of the terms and 
synonyms and the dates of their first employment 
so far as ascertained. (4) The terms which should be 
wholly discarded. (5) The new terms for new parts, 
the new terms for parts already known, the new 
forms of old terms. (6) The subordination of parts 
to wholes by differences in the kinds of type.”’ 


There were present Harrison Allen, Simon 
H. Gage, Charles 8. Minot and probably 
other members of this Association ; the sur- 
vivors will recall that on cloth sheets were 
written in parallel columns certain names in 
common use, together with those which were 
proposed to replace them. Amongst these 
were pons for ‘pons Varolii;’ insula for ‘in- 
sula Reillii ;’ thalamus for ‘thalamus opti- 
cus ;’ callosum and striatum for ‘ corpus eal- 
losum’ and ‘corpus striatum ;’ precommis- 
sura for ‘commissura anterior ;’ myelon for 
‘medulla spinalis,’ and cornu dorsale, for 
‘cornu posterius.’ This paper constituted 
the proton (the primordium, or ‘ Anlage,’ if 
you prefer) of my own subsequent contribu- 
tions, and likewise, so far as I knew at the 
time, of the simplified nomenclature in 
America. 

Proud as I am of these early propositions, 
and glad as I should be if they and their 
subsequent elaborations had been at once 
unprecedented and sufficient, nevertheless 
truth, justice and the peculiar conditions 
now confronting us alike impel me upon 
this occasion to insist even more distinctly 


SCIENCE. 


Ok 


Or 


than hitherto upon the extent to which the 
ideas and even the specific terms had been 
anticipated by four other anatomists in this 
country and in England. 

Already in the spring of 1880, although 
quite unknown to me, there had been pub- 
lished a paper by E. C. Spitzka, ‘The 
Central Tubular Gray’ (Journal of Nervous 
and Mental Disease, April, 1880), containing 
(p. 75, note) the following pregnant para- 
graph: 

“Tt would add much to the clearness of our ter- 
minology, in my opinion, if the adjectives anterior 


‘and posterior were to be discarded. Physiologists 


and anatomists are so often forced to deal with the 
nerve axes of lower animals, in whom what is with 
man the anterior root becomes inferior, and what is 
in the former posterior becomes superior, that they 
have either been confused themselves or have written 
confusedly, or finally have, to avoid all misunder- 
standing, utilized the terms applicable to man alone 
also for quadrupeds. The nervous axis, however, oc- 
cupies one definite position, which should determine 
the topographical designations. What in man is the 
anterior, and in quadrupeds the inferior, root or cornu 
is always ventral; while what in the former is poste- 
rior, and the latter superior, is always dorsal. The 
present treatise is not the proper place for renovating 
nomenclature, but I have thought it well to call at- 
tention to the matter in passing, and in anticipation of 
a work on comparative neural morphology which I have 
in preparation.’’ , 

The concluding words are italicized by 
me in order that there may be the more 
fully appreciated the generosity, indeed 
self-abnegation, exhibited in Dr. Spitzka’s 
commentary* upon my longer paper} of the 
following year : 


“Tt is with mingled pleasure and profit that I 
have read the very suggestive paper on cerebral no- 
menclature contributed to your last issues by Profes- 
sor Wilder. Some of the suggestions which he has 
made have been latent in my own mind for years, 


* Letter on nomenclature, SCIENCE, April 9, 1881. 
Also in Jour. Nerv. and Mental Dis., July, 1881, 661— 
662. ; 

{+A partial revision of anatomical nomenclature, 
with especial reference to that of the brain, SCIENCE, 
II., 1881, pp. 122-126, 133-138, March. Also Jour. 
Nerv. and Mental. Dis., July, 1881, 652-661. 


572 


but I have lacked the courage [time ?] to bring them 
before my colleagues. Now that he has broken 
ground, those who prefer a rational nomenclature to 
one which, like the present reigning one, is based 
upon erroneous principles, or rather on no principles 
at all, will be rejoiced at the precedent thus set for 
innovations. * * * He who has himself been com- 
pelled to labor under the curse of the old system, the 
beneath, below, under, in front of, inside, external, be- 
tween, etc., will look upon. the simple ventral, dorsal, 
lateral, mesal, cephalic, proximal, caudal, distal, ete.’ 
as so many boons. I have no hesitation in saying 
that the labor of the anatomical student will be di- 
minished fully one-half when this nomenclature shall 
have been definitely adopted. * * * In proceeding 
to comment on some of the terms proposed by Pro- 
fessor Wilder, I wish it to be distinctly understood 
that I do so merely tentatively and to promote dis- 
cussion ; in so doing I feel certain that I am carrying 
out that writer’s wishes. It is but just to state that 
the majority of the terms cannot be discussed ; they 
are perfection and simplicity combined.’’ 


Had Dr. Spitzka completed his proposed 
work he would doubtless have called atten- 
tion to our three British predecessors, John 
Barclay, Richard Owen and P. H. Pye- 
Smith. 

The first, as long ago as 1803, in ‘A New 
Anatomical Nomenclature,’ proposed the un- 
ambiguous descriptive terms, dorsal, lateral? 
proximal, with their adverbial forms, dorsad, 
laterad and prowimad, and thus laid the 
foundation for an intrinsic toponymy. 

In 1846 Owen published (‘ Report on the 
Vertebrate Skeleton,’ p. 171) what I have 
elsewhere (‘ Neural Terms,’ § 51) called the 
‘immortal paragraph,’ wherein the various 
phrases for the spinal portion of the central 
nervous system were replaced by the single 
word, myelon. Twenty years later he ut- 
tered (‘ Anatomy of Vertebrates,’ I., 294) a 
declaration which some of us are disposed 
to regard as an inspired prophecy : 

‘“ Whoever will carry out the application of neat 
substantive names to the homologous parts of the en- 
cephalon will perform a good work in true anatomy.’’ 
In the third volume of the same work (1868, p. 136) 
is a list of the cerebral fissures designated, in most 


cases, by adjectives of asingle word each, e. g., sub- 
frontal. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 225 


The paper of Pye-Smith (fortunately 
still spared to us) was entitled ‘Suggestions 
on Some Points of Anatomical Nomencla- 
ture,’ and appeared in 1877 (Journal of 
Anatomy and Physiology, XII., 154-175, Oc- 
tober, 1877). After enunciating certain 
sound general prnciples, he declared that 
‘the nomenclature of the brain stands more 
in need of revision than that of any other 
part,’ and made several specific suggestions 
some of which have been adopted by the 
three American Associations and the Ana- 
tomische Gesellschaft : 


“The term optic thalamus is a misleading and cum- 
brous abbreviation of the proper name thalamus ner- 
vorum opticorum, and the name thalamus, without 
qualification, is at once distinctive, convenient, and 
free from a false suggestion as to the function of the 
part. * * * Of all the synonyms of the Hippocampus 
minor (Ergot of Morand, eminentia unciformis, collicu- 
lus, unguis, calcar avis) the last is the most distinc- 
tive, and brings it at once into relation with the cal- 
carine fissure. The Hippocampus major may then drop 
the adjective, as well as its synonym of cornu am- 
The pineal and pituitary bodies are more con- 
veniently called conariuwm and hypophysis. * * * The 
word Pons ( Varolii) might well be restricted to the 
great transverse commissure of the cerebellum. * * * 
Insula is a far more distinctive name than any pro- 
posed to replace it.’’ Pye-Smith also prefers vagus to 
‘ pneumogastricus.’ (p. 162). 


Those who have done me the honor to read 
any one of my longer papers on this subject 
will recall my repeated acknowledgments of 
indebtedness to these three English anato- 
mists. Not to mention earlier publications, 
in 1889, in the article ‘ Anatomical Termi- 
nology’ (‘Reference Handbook of the 
Medical Sciences,’ VIII. , 520-522), Profes- 
sor Gage and I collected from all sources 
accessible to us ‘ Aphorisms respecting No- 
menclature;’ the most prolific sources were 
the three just named. At the third meet- 
ing of this Association, in Boston, December, 
1890, I read a paper the title of which was 
“Owen’s Nomenclature of the Brain,’ and 
which included this paragraph : 


‘Tn none of the above-designated publications or 
in those of other anatomists does it now seem to the 


monis. 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


writer that there has been adequate recognition of the 
terminological precepts and examples that occur in 
the works of Professor Richard Owen, and the writer 
takes this opportunity to express his constantly in- 
creasing sense of obligation in this regard ; had space 
permitted he would gladly have increased the num- 
ber and length of the selections from Professor 
Owen’s writings which are embraced among the 
‘ Aphorisms respecting Nomenclature’ on pp. 520-522 
of the article ‘ Anatomical Terminology.’ ”’ 


In this connection may appropriately be 
mentioned two later but highly significant 
British contributions toward a simplified 
and international system of nomenclature. 

1. The Latin names for the encephalic 
seginents.—In the seventh edition of Quain’s 
‘Anatomy’, edited by William Sharpey, Al- 
len Thompson and John Cleland, in Vol. 
II., dated 1867, the five ‘fundamental parts’ 
{corresponding to what I have called ‘defini- 
tive segments’) are named prosencephalon, 
diencephalon, mesencephalon, epencephalon, and 
metencephalon; and in a foot-note these 
terms are declared to be ‘‘adopted as appli- 
cable to the principal secondary divisions 
of the primordial medullary tube, and as 
corresponding to the commonly received 
names of the German embryologists, viz., 
Vorderhirn, Zwischenhirn, Mittelhirn, Hinter- 
hirn, and Nachhirn ; or their less-used Eng- 
lish translations, viz., forebrain, interbrain, 
midbrain, hindbrain, and afterbrain.’’ 

Notwithstanding several public requests 
for information as to the source of the Latin 
segmental names, the historic facts recorded 
in the above extract were ascertained by me 
only within the past week; I prefer to be- 
lieve that they were unknown to the No- 
menclatur Commission and to the Anatom- 
ische Gesellschaft at the time of the selec- 
tion and adoption of the Latin names for 
the encephalic segments as given in the B. 
N. A. Even, then, however, since the 
same Latin terms were repeated in the sub- 
sequent editions of Quain (1877-1882), I 
am compelled to regard the transference of 
metencephalon from the ultimate segment to 


SCIENCE. 


573 


the penultimate, and its replacement by 
myelencephalon, as constituting a violation of 
scientific ethics that merits the severest rep- 
robation. * 

2. Mononymic designations of the en- 
cephalic cavities.—In August, 1882, wholly 
unaware of my prior suggestion to the same 
effect (Screncr, March, 1881), the late T. 
Jeffery Parker, professor in Otago Univer- 
sity, New Zealand, proposed compounds of 
the Greek zo:Aéa, with the prepositions, etc., 
already employed in the segmental names ; 
e. g-, mesocele, prosocele, ete. Our mutual 
gratification and encouragement at the ap- 
proximate coincidence led to a cordial cor- 
respondence that continued until his death. 
Besides the publications enumerated in the 
Bibliography of‘ Neural Terms,’ Parker 
used celian compounds in two papers on the 
Apteryx (1890 and 1892) and in the ‘Text- 
book of Zoology’ by himself and Professor 
Haswell (1897). 

XVIII. That, even in its earliest and cru- 
dest form, the ‘system’ sometimes called by my 
name could fairly be characterized as ‘generally 
repulsive’ and as having ‘not the slightest chance: 
of general adoption.’ {—On this point it is 
sufficient to introduce the following letter f 
from Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose point 
of view was at once that of the literary 
critic and the experienced teacher of anat- 
omy in a medical school : 

‘* Boston, May 3, 1881. 

‘DEAR Dr. WILDER: I have read carefully your 
paper on Nomenclature. I entirely approve of it as 
an attempt, an attempt which I hope will be partially 


successful, for no such sweeping change is, I think, 
ever adopted asa whole. But I am struck with the 


* The intrinsic merits of various segmental names 
have been discussed by me in ‘Neural Terms,’ etc., 
326-328, and in the Proceedings of this Association for 
the ninth session, May, 1897, 28-29. 

+ These phrases occur in the ‘Minority Report.? 

{As a whole or in part this notable document has 
been printed previously in SCIENCE, May 28, 1881 ; in 
‘The Brain of the Cat,’ Amer. Philos. Soc., Proceedings, 
XIX., p. 530, 1881; ‘Anatomical Technology,’ 1882, 
p. 11; ‘Neural Terms’, p. 237. 


574 


reasonableness of the system of changes which you 
propose, and the fitness of many of the special terms 
you have suggested. 

“The last thing an old teacher wants is, as you 
know full well, a new set of terms for a familiar set 
of objects. It is hard instructing ancient canine in- 
dividuals in new devices. It is hard teaching old 
professors new tricks. So my approbation of your 
attempt is a sic vos non vobis case so far as I am con- 
cerned. 

‘What you have to do is to keep agitating the sub- 
ject ; to go on training your students to the new terms, 
some of which you or others will doubtless see reasons 
for changing ; to improve as far as possible, fill up 
blanks, perhaps get up asmall manual in which the 
new terms shall be practically applied, and have faith 
that sooner or later the best part of your innovations 
will find their way into scientific use. The plan is 
an excellent one ; it isa new garment which will fit 
Science well, if that capricious and fantastic and old- 
fashioned dressing lady can only be induced to try it 
on. 

‘* Always very truly yours, 
‘“OLIVER WENDELL HoLMEs.”’ 


XIX. That, at the present stage of the sub- 
ject, it is possible for any individual, however 
impartial and well informed, to wholly avert the 
possibility of misapprehension or even injustice, in 
attempting to indicate the attitude of living anat- 
omists toward the simplified nomenclature. —My 
impartiality may perhaps be challenged, 
but I am at least familiar with current lit- 
erature in this respect; moreover, since 
1880 I have preserved all letters in which 
the matter is considered. Probably no one 
agrees with me absolutely and in every re- 
spect. On the other hand, even some frankly 
avowed opponents now assent to what they 
would have regarded as quite heretical a 
few years ago.* 

XX. That whatever misapprehension may ex- 
ist in this country or abroad as to the degree in 
which the terms or principles advocated by me are 
indorsed by others can be justly ascribed to either 
unfounded declarations or intimations on my part, 
or to the omission of definite efforts to avert or 

*In the verbal presentation of a paper at this 
meeting Professor Dwight designated the costiferous 


vertebra as thoracic rather than dorsal, with a consist- 
ency both gratifying and encouraging. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


remove such misapprehension.—The enumera- 
tion of the conditions that led to the prepa- 
ration of ‘ Neural Terms’ included (p. 217) 
the following sentence: ‘I particularly de- 
sire to free the committees, their individual 
members, and the associations which they 
represent, from responsibilities not yet as- 
sumed by them.” More or less explicit and 
emphatic affirmations to the same effect oc- 
cur on pp. 278, 295, 299 and 301.* 

XXI. That ‘ most scholars are repelled by’ my 
‘ fantastic terms and defects of literary form.’— 
This assertion occurs in the ‘review’ (No. 
6), and presumably refers to the ‘system’ 
in its present or recent state. The position 
taken is apparently impregnable, since for 
every one who has declared his adhesion 
there might be named a score who have said 
nothing about it. Seriously, however, it is 
not easy to discuss such a proposition with- 
out adducing evidence that might fairly be 
challenged by one side or the other. At 
any rate, in the present connection I shall 
omit my more or less intimate friends and 
correspondents, living and dead ; Harrison 
Allen, W. R. Birdsall, Oliver Wendell 
Holmes, Joseph Leidy, and E. C. Seguin ; 
William Browning, Joseph Collins, Elliott 
Coues, H. H. Donaldson, F. H. Gerrish, 


*At the meeting of the American Medical Associa- 
tion in Philadelphia, June, 1897, the Section on Neu- 
rology and Medical Jurisprudence adopted the follow- 
ing resolution, recommended by the Committee on the 
Address of the Chairman, W. J. Herdman : 

“ Resolved, That the Section of Neurology and 
Medical Jurisprudence endorse the neural terms 
adopted by the American Neurological Association, 
the Association of American Anatomists, and the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and so far as practical recommend their use in the 


work of the section. 
C. K. MILs, 


C. H. HUGHEs, 
HAROLD N. MoyvER.’’ 


Since the action above recorded was taken in June, 
1897, it does not, of course, apply to the subsequent 
adoptions by this Association at the tenth and eleventh 
sessions ; Dec., 1897, and Dec., 1898. 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


George M. Gould, the brothers Herrick, G. 
S. Huntington, C. K. Mills, W. J. Herd- 
man, H. F. Osborn, C. E. Riggs, D. K. 
Shute, Sorenson, Spitzka, O. S. Strong, W. 
G. Tight, C. H. Turner, A. F. Witmer and 
R. Ramsay Wright; also past or present 
pupils or colleagues, T. E. Clark, P. A. Fish, 
S. H. Gage, Mrs. Gage, G. 8. Hopkins, O. D. 
Humpbrey, A. T. Kerr, B. F. Kingsbury, 
W. C. Krauss, T. B. Stowell and B. B. 
Stroud. I have now, I think, eliminated 
all whose more or less complete adoption or 
approval of my ‘system’ might be ascribed 
in some degree to personal considerations.* 

There has lately been afforded me, how- 
ever, the desired opportunity of collating 
the impressions of asomewhat homogeneous 
group of scholars, quite unlikely to have 
been influenced by a disinclination to antag- 
onize my views. Through the courtesy of 


*Curiously enough, in the single instance of the 
apparent operation of personal influence, the indi- 
vidual was of German descent and we had met 
put once. Prior to our meeting in December, 
1895, I prepared a typewritten list of the neural 
terms that had been adopted earlier in the year 
by the Anatomische Gesellschaft, and in parallel 
columns added those preferred by me. Copies of 
this list were sent to members of the Association ag 
a basis for the anticipated discussion. In January 
the late Dr. Carl Heitzmann, in acknowledging his 
copy, accounted at the same time for his absence from 
the meeting: ‘‘My intention was to urge the ac- 
ceptance of the nomenclature adopted by the German 
Anatomical Society, deficient as it is, simply to ob- 
tain uniformity. * * * Personally I cannot vote 
against you; hence I rather abstain from coming to 
the meetings till this matter will be settled.’’ 

My response was as follows: ‘‘ Your letter affects 
me deeply, and were my efforts toward the improve- 
ment of anatomical nomenclature for my own sake or 
for the present at all it would go far to deter me from 
further persistence. But I never lose sight of the fact 
that we of to-day, and even the honored workers of 
the past, are few and insignificant as compared with 
our successors, and I do not mean to be reproached by 
them for failing to do what Ican. Do not refrain 
from writing, publishing or voting against me accord- 
ing to your convictions. It will come out right in 
the end.”’ 


SCIENCE. 


575 


the author of a recent American text-book 
on ‘The Nervous System and its Diseases,’ 
in which the simplified nomenclature is 
fully and expressly employed, I have been 
enabled to read all the reviews of it that 
have thus far appeared. For the sake of 
homogeneity I have excluded two non-med- 
ical journals, the Revue Newrologique, which 
says nothing on the subject of nomencla- 
ture, and the Journal of Comparative Neurol- 
ogy, which, upon the whole, is favorable. 
This leaves thirty reviews of a book in- 
tended for students; reviews written by 
practitioners, some of them well-known ex- 
perts and also teachers of neurology. As 
such, upon general principles, any modifica- 
tion of the current terminology must be more 
or less unwelcome to them. 

Upon the basis of their attitude toward 
the simplified nomenclature the reviews fall 


naturally into four groups, viz.: A, those 


that ignore the subject (8, about 27 per 
cent.) ; B, those that merely mention it (6, 
20. per cent.) ; C, those that condemn the 
introduction of the simplified terms more or 
less decidedly (6, 20 per cent.) ; D, those 
that commend it (10, 33 per cent.). With- 
out going so far as to reverse the Scriptural 
saying and claim that ‘he who is not against 
us is with us,’ we may infer that the four- 
teen reviewers in groups A and B were at 
least not ‘repelled’ by the simplified terms; 
on the contrary, many of them call atten- 
tion to the clearness and accuracy of the 
anatomic and embryologic sections of the 
book where, of course, the terms are most 
conspicuous. 

In category C I have included one that 
might, without réal unfairness, have been 
left in category B; in the Colorado Medical 
Journal, after characterizing the anatomic 
portion of the work as ‘ especially excellent,’ 
Dr. Eskridge simply expresses the ‘ fear 
that the new nomenclature will not meet 
with general favor.’ 

The six antagonistic reviews are con- 


576 


tained in the Pacific Record of Medicine and 
Surgery, the London Lancet, the Colorado 
Medical Journal, the American Journal of In- 
sanity, the New York Medical Record and the 
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. I 
quote from the last two as highly influential 
and representative. The Record says: 


“There is to be found an ample, clear and thor- 
oughly scientific treatment of the anatomy of the 
nervous system. * * * Weare not in thorough 
sympathy with nomenclatural cataclysms, and feel 
that frequently the old and familiar is clothed in new 
terms for the sake of lending an air of novelty and 
apparent gloss of ‘science.’ Still in the biological 
sciences nomenclature forms one of the most impor- 
tant landmarks of progress, especially when by it new 
and wider conceptions are gained. We believe, how- 
ever, that in the adoption of the Wilder terminology 
the author has departed from a healthy historical 
conservatism, but this is, perhaps, an academic mat- 
ter after all.”’ 


The foregoing contains so many qualifi- 
cations as to leave its purport somewhat in 
doubt ; indeed, one may imagine its writer, 
as he finished it, exclaiming, with the Con- 
gressman, ‘ Where am I at?’ 

The remarks of Dr. B. Sachs in the Jour- 
nal of Nervous and Mental Disease are more 
explicit, and I should be glad to reproduce 
them in full; on the present occasion ex- 
tracts must suffice: 


“‘Ttis to be feared that the student will not be 
grateful for the introduction of the new cerebral ter- 
minology of Wilder and Gage. While recognizing 
the full merits of the new nomenclature and appre- 
ciating the benefits conferred upon the comparative 
anatomist and the comparative embryologist, the 
truth is, the student of neurology does not need it. 
* * * * Tt has been suggested that children should 
begin the study of brain anatomy. The plan is a 
good one with reference to this nomenclature ; the 
only way to acquire it is to acquire it early in life, 
when the cortical cells are ready for the reception of 
any and all auditory impressions. We have no doubt 
that in the course of time some of these names will 
be adopted by general consent ; but it will be well 
along in the next century before the system, as a 
whole, will come into use.’’ 


Upon the whole I find myself less de- 
pressed by the objections of Dr. Sachs than 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


encouraged by his almost startling forecast. 
He is young enough for me to venture the 
prediction that ‘ well along in the next cen- 
tury’ he will be surrounded by colleagues 
and pupils who, according to my plan,* 
commenced the practical study of the brain 
in the primary school, and who, by the aid 
of the simplified nomenclature, learned 
twice as rapidly as ourselves. 

Among the ten favorable reviews the 
most elaborate is in the Journal of the Amer- 
ican Medical Association (August 20, 1898). 
That in the New York Medical Jowrnal (May 
21, 1898) concludes thus: 

“We are very glad that the author has 
had the courage to introduce these terms, 
believing, as we do, in their correctness 
and in the need of their becoming familiar.”’ 

I refrain from reading the other reviewst 
in Group D, mainly because the expressions 
therein complimentary to myself are em- 
barrassingly numerous and emphatic. In 
view of this evidence those who contend 
that ‘most scholars are repelled by my fan- 
tastic terms and defects of literary form’ 
would seem called upon to either withdraw 
that claim as a misapprehension or to mod- 
ify materially the commonly accepted defi- 
nition of medical and scientific scholarship. 

XXII. That ‘barbarisms’ constitute an ob- 
jectionable feature of my ‘system.’—Upon the 
supposition that by barbarisms are here 
meant hybrid words, this point was some- 
what fully discussed in ‘ Neural Terms,’ p. 
290. Since the criticism was offered by the 


* The desirability and feasibility of the acquisition 
of some real and accurate knowledge of the brain by 
precollegiate scholars. Amer. Soc. Naturalists Records, 
p. 31, 1896 ; ScrENCE, December 17, 1897. 

+ The St. Lowis Medical and Surgical Journal ( April, 
1898); (Portland, Oregon) Medical Sentinel (April, 
1898); (Detroit) Medical Age (April 11, 1898); Can- 
ada Lancct (May, 1898); Richmond (Va.) Journal of 
Practice (May, 1898); Buffalo Medical Journal (June, 
1898); University (of Pa.) Medical Magazine (Septem- 
ber, 1898); North Carolina Medical Journal (Septem- 
ber, 1898). 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


chairman of the Nomenclatur Commission, 
Professor Kolliker, it might naturally be 
inferred that the list of terms adopted by 
that body is free from hybrid words. Yet 
not only does the B. N. A. contain several 
such, but certain of them are less eupho- 
nious than most of those for which I am 
responsible. Comparison is invited between 
the Greco-Latin combinations in the two 
following groups, the first from my list, the 
second from the B. N. A.; in each case the 
Greek element is printed in italics: Meta- 
tela, diatela, paratela, metaplexus, diaplexus, 
paraplexus, ectocinerea, entocinerea, hemice- 
rebrum, hemzseptum ; epidurale, mesovaricus, 
parumbilicales, parolfactorius, suprachoriot- 


dea,* pterygopalatinus, pterygomandibularis, 


phrenicocostalis, sphenopalatinum, sphenodc- 
cipitalis, occipitomastoidea, squamosomas- 
toidea. ; 

XXIII. That progress toward the right so- 
lution of the questions involved is really facili- 
tated by general denunciations of a given system 
or its advocates.—The attitude of some may 
be likened to that of the child in the lines : 


“*T do not love thee, Dr. Fell, 
The reason why I cannot tell, 
But this alone I know full well, 
I do not love thee, Dr. Fell.” 


History will record whether such con- 
servatives shall rank with heroic defenders 
of law and order, or be rated among the 
Canutes of science, their utterances, in re- 
spect to nomenclature, remembered mainly 
as ‘things one would rather have left un- 
said.’ 

History will likewise record whether 
some others, including, of course, the fra- 
mers of the ‘ Majority Report,’ shall be meta- 
phorically ‘hanged, drawn and quartered’ 


*In Table IV., p. 290 of ‘Neural Terms’ (likewise 
in Biological Lectures, p. 158) suprachorioidea was 
printed without the first (and, as it seems to me, 
superfluous) 7; also, most regrettably, there was in- 
cluded in the list perichorioideale, a wholly Greek 
combination. 


SCIENCE, 577 


as rebels, or, notwithstanding errors of 
judgment, credited with leaving the path- 
way of future students of anatomy smoother 
than they found it themselves. 

XXIV. That the English-speaking anatomists 
who have been laboring long for the simplification 
of nomenclature are called wpon to submit in- 
definitely to animadversions based wpon inertia, 
lack of information, misapprehension, or undue 
deference to the adverse pronunciamentos of scien- 
tific potentates abroad.—Speaking for myself 
alone, the spirit in which I prefer to meet 
hostile criticism is fairly exemplified in my 
reply (NV. Y. Medical Record, Oct. 2, 1886, 
389-390) to an article in a leading medical 
journal containing an egregious and inex- 
cusable misstatement that might readily 
have led uninformed readers to question the 
soundness of allmy proposals. That article, 
however, although upon the editorial page, 
was evidently prepared in haste. But such 
extenuation will scarcely be urged in the 
case of the publication numbered 6 in the 
list in the note on p. 566. This is a review 
of an article (no. 5), and to avoid confu- 
sion I shall speak of the ‘article’ and its 
‘author,’ of the ‘review’ and the ‘re- 
viewer.’ 

The review contains this passage: 

‘Some of the peculiarities of the Wilder 
system are then briefly discussed [in the 
article], attention being called to its disre- 
gard of the ordinary principles of language 
formation as exemplified by Ist. The muti- 
lation of words as by using * * * hippo- 
camp * for hippocampus major.”’ 


*JIn the original this is ‘chippocamp’. The re- 
viewer promptly assured me that the mistake was the 
printer’s and that it would be ‘corrected wherever 
possible’. I assume that the copies of SCIENCE sent by 
him to others were emended like that received by 
me. But, so far as Iam aware, no public correction 
has been made. Under some circumstances this might 
be regarded as superfluous. But it must be borne in 
mind that unjustifiable verbifaction constituted the 
very substance of the indictment; hence the situation 
was as if John Doe accused Richard Roe publicly of 


578 SCIENCE, 


It may be doubted whether scientific 
literature can furnish a single sentence of 


equal length containing so many erroneous * 


statements and implications. For clear dis- 
crimination the several points shall be put 
in the form of questions: 

1. In the article purporting to be the 
source of the criticism quoted is there men- 
tioned either the word hippocamp or any 
other word representing a comparable ety- 
mologic category ? 

In that article, beyond the reproduction 
of reports including the words hippocampus 
and hippocampus major, the single reference 
is as follows (translated) : 

‘‘Wilder holds that there is no longer ground for 
retaining avis with calcar, a term which is to be used 
in place of hippocampus minor. If this be granted, 
then naturally the major of hippocampus major ean be 
dropped. ‘The writer approves of these changes.’’ 

2. Is the reviewer himself on record as 
preferring the apparently alternative term, 
‘hippocampus major,’ to hippocampus ? 

The reviewer, as a member of our Com- 
mittee on Anatomical Nomenclature, signed 
the first report, in 1889, which recom- 
mended the replacement of ‘hippocampus 
major’ by hippocampus. . Since this change 
was also adopted in 1895 by the Anatom- 
ische Gesellschaft, I have not supposed that 
its abandonmert was embraced within the 
proposition of the ‘ Minority Report’ that 
the Association should ‘ reconsider its acts 
from the beginning.’ 

3. Has the word hippocamp ever been used 
or proposed by me in any other status than 
passing counterfeit money; as if the nature of one of 
Roe’s occupations at the time rendered it particularly 
desirable that his character be unimpeached; as if 
part of the evidence against him were a spurious coin 
that had been dropped into his pocket accidentally by 
an employee of Doe himself; and, finally, as if Doe 
held adequate reparation to be made by confining the 
admission of the mistake to the officers of the law and 
his personal friends. Nevertheless, in order that the 
issues before us may be kept free of all points upon 
which there may beroom for diversity of opinion, this 
mischance shall be hereafter ignored. 


[N.S. Vou. IX.. No. 225. 


that of a national, English form (Anglo- 
paronym) of the international, Latin hip- 
pocampus ? 

The negative answer to this may be found 
in various publications during the last 
fifteen years. Among the fuller and more 
accessible presentations are these passages 
from ‘Neural Terms’ (pp. 231-232, 226): 


‘* Each anatomist prefers to employ terms belonging 
to his own language ; at the same time he prefers 
that others should employ Latin terms with which he 
is already familiar. Sea horse, Cheval marin and See- 
pferd are synonyms (in the broader sense, 742), but 
to either an Englishman, a Frenchman or a German, 
two of them are foreign words and unacceptable. 
Hippocampus is distinctly a Latin word, and the fre- 
quent occurrence of such imparts a pedantic charac- 
ter to either discourse or written page. Hippocamp, | 
hippocampe, hippocampo, and Hippokamp are as dis- 
tinetly national forms of the common international 
antecedent (not to invoke the original Greek 
inroxaproc), and are readily recognized by all, while 
yet conforming to the ‘genius’ of each language.’’ 


4. Does the reduction of hippocampus to 
hippocamp represent a group of cases so nu- 
merous in even my complete list of neural 
terms as to constitute a prominent feature 
of what is called my ‘ system ?’ 

The list embraces about 440 terms; besides 
hippocamp there are just two cases in which 
I have been apparently the first to Angli- 
cize Latin words by dropping the last sylla- 
ble, the inflected ending; viz., myelon, myel, 
and encephalon, encephal (and its com- 
pounds). 

5. If, finally, every one of the 440 Latin 
terms happened to consist of a single word 
ending in either a, ma, us, on, is, wm, or tum, 
and if I had proposed that English-speak- 
ing anatomists should customarily omit 
those syllables, would that render the ‘ sys- 
tem’ open to the charge of ‘mutilation of 
words’ or ‘ disregard of the ordinary prin- 
ciples of language formation ?’ 

For a negative answer to this question we 
need not look beyond the limits of the re- 
view itself, the language of which is pre- 


( 


ri) 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


sumed to be sanctioned by the authoritative 
journal in which it is printed. All of the 
following English words occurring therein 
differ from their Latin (or Latinized) ante- 
cedents in the omission of the inflected 
syllable: Form, system, barbarism, act, 
public, defect, subject, natural, official, dis- 
tinct, historic, artificial, peculiar, human. If 
to these be added a few equally familiar, viz., 
arm, aqueduct, oviduct, tract, exit and stomach, 
it will be conceded, I trust, that hippocamp 
is in irreproachable etymologic company. 

Indeed, we may now adopt the affirma- 
tive attitude and declare that among all the 
principles of language formation no one is 
better established or more generally recog- 
nized by scholars than that certain Latin 
words may be Anglicized by the elision 
of the ultima.* 

I gladly forbear further direct and specific 
comment upon the case of hippocamp, but its 
more general aspects may be indicated in 
the three following queries : 

1. Does scientific comity (which is com- 
parable in some respects with what is called 
“senatorial courtesy ’) render it incumbent 
upon the author of an article to refrain from 
disavowing responsibility for unjust state- 
ments wrongly attributed to him by a re- 
viewer ? 

2. Should editorial regard for the privi- 
leges of writers tolerate the publication of 
unsound linguistic allegations that bring 
discredit upon American scholarship ? 

3. Is it probable that further assaults 
upon the simplified nomenclature from the 
etymologic standpoint will redound to the 
advancement of knowledge or the credit of 
the assailants ? 

* This is simply one of several well-known ways 
of converting Latin words into English ; others are 
enumerated in ‘ Anatomical Terminology ’ ( Reference 
Handbook of the Medical Sciences, VIII., 527) ; for 
all such processes of word-adoption the term pa- 
ronymy (from tapwvuuia, the formation of one word 


from another by inflection or slight change) was pro- 
posed by me in 1885. 


SCIENCE. 579 


XXV. That, saving perhaps in the case of 
such German anatomists as read English with 
difficulty, the amount and nature of the informa- 
tion contained in the article numbered 5 in the 
note to p. 566 over and above what was already 
accessible to them in my own publications com- 
pensates for the misapprehensions likely to be oc- 
easioned by it. 

XXVI. That efforts toward the establishment 
of an international nomenclature should be 
abandoned because of the arrogance of individ- 
uals or committees of particular nations,—As an 
evidence of the existence of a real discour- 
agement in this respect I quote from a re- 
cent private letter from a well-known nat- 
uralist : 

“‘T am nota believer in international codperation, 
since it generally means that one nation has it all its 
own way.’’ 

If we read between the lines and recall 
the epigram, ‘Man and woman are one, but 
the man is the one,’ it may be imagined 
that my pessimistic correspondent adum- 
brates the doctrine, ‘As to Anatomic No- 
menclature all nations are one—but Ger- 
many is the one.’ 

XXVIII. That, in estimating the probability 
of the soundness and eventual adoption of my 
terminologic proposals, there should be taken into 
account only on even mainly the terms that are 
new or otherwise less acceptable, rather than those 
respecting which my adoption antedates that of 
the Anatomische Gesellschaft.—Let us grant, 
for the sake of argument, that my aula, 
porta, cimbia, mesocelia, metatela, metaporus 
and the like are doomed to ‘innocuous 
desuetude ;’ shall the folly of their vain in- 
troduction outweigh the evidences of sane 
prevision exhibited between’ the years of 
1880 and 1895 in the deliberate and inde- 
pendent choice, among abundant and per- 
plexing synonyms, of, for example, the 
following: Palliwm, gyrus, fissura, insula, 
centralis (rather than Rolandi), collateralis, 
calearina, paracentralis, praecuneus, cuneus, 
hippocampus, fornix, thalamus, hypophysis, di- 


580 


encephalon, tegmentum, vermis, nodulus, floccu- 
lus, pons, lemniscus, obex, oliva, clava and 
vagus 2° 

XXVIII. That the originality of the B. N. 
A. (the Nomenclature adopted at Baselin 1895 
by the Anatomische Ctesellschaft) is to be meas- 
ured by the manifestation therein of non-ac- 
quaintance with what had been proposed or ac- 
complished by English-speaking anatomists.—To 
be more explicit, I repeat here a paragraph 
from ‘Neural Terms’ (§ 276) referring to 
the action of American Committees between 
1889 and 1892 : 


“ Although the specific terms included in these 
recommendations are few, they exemplify all the 
commendable features of the German report. Indeed, 
T fail to discover in the latter any general statement, 
principle, rule or suggestion that had not already been 
set forth with at least equal accuracy, clearness and 
force in the writings of British and American anato- 
mists prior to 1895.”’ 


XXIX. That-indijference or even hostility to 
terminologic improvement, especially wpon the 
part of the older generation, should be thought 
either surprising or discouraging.—The first 
point was conceded by me in 1881: 


‘The trained anatomist shrinks from an unfamiliar 
word as from an unworn boot; the trials of his own 
pupilage are but vaguely’ remembered ; each day 
there seems more to be done, and less time in which 
to do it ; nor is it to be expected that he will be at- 
tracted spontaneously toward the consideration that 
his own personal convenience and preferences, and 
even those of all his distinguished contemporaries, 
should be held of little moment as compared with the 
advantages which reform may insure to the vastly 
more numerous anatomical workers of the future.”’ 


The second point is covered by the review 
in the Philadelphia Polyclinic, which I have 
included in Category B (xxi.): 

“« While some of our friends across the Atlantic may 
possibly consider this too radical a departure from 
long-established customs, the author of the book be- 
lieves that time and familiarity with the terms will 
justify the course he has followed.’’ 

XXX. That action upon the general subject 
should be indefinitely postponed.—This is the 
hour and you are the men. Let not the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


‘ fools rush in, because the ‘angels’ of this 
Association ‘fear to tread.’ 

XXXI. That it is incumbent upon this As- 
sociation to decide immediately upon the names 
for all parts of the body or even for all parts of 
the central nervous system.—In a matter of 
such moment precipitation is to be avoided. 

XXXII. That there are contemplated by the 
majority of the Committee, or by any member 
thereof, with regard to the names of the other 
parts of the body, changes comparable in num- 
ber and extent with what have been proposed for 
the central nervous system.* 

XXXIII. That members of the Association 
shouid content themselves with simply awaiting 
the operation of the law of the survival of the 


jittest.—Upon this point I quote again the 


brothers Herrick. The conclusion of their 
article, ‘Inquiries,’ etc., reads: 

“The unification of our nomenclature is to be ac- 
complished, if at all, by a process of survival of the 
fittest among competing terms at the hands of our 
working anatomists rather than by legislative enact- 
ment. Yet the international discussions now in prog- 
ress may do much to further this end.’’ 

I trust they will pardon me for attaching 
the greater significance to the final conces- 
sion. The subject before us is preéminently 
one that concerns mind rather than mat- 
ter; and its determination should be reached 
not so much through the operation of 
numbers or force as by the exercise of the 
highest human qualities, deliberation, self- 
restraint, and consideration for others. 

XXXIV. That members of this Association 
should defer to what is called ‘general usage.’— 
Of all so-called leaders, the most incapable, 
blundering, and dangerous is ‘ General 
Usage’. He stands for thoughtless imita- 
tion, the residuum of the ape in humanity; 
for senseless and indecorous fashions, the 
caprices of the demi-monde; for superstition 
and hysteria, the attributes of the mob; for 

*See, for example, the report submitted and 
adopted at this session ; SCIENCE, March 3, 1899, p. 


321; also, Phil. Med. Journal, Feb. 25th, and Jour. 
Comp. Neurology, ix., No. 1. 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


slang, the language of the street hoodlum 
and of his deliberate imitator, the college 
‘sport’; and, finally, in science, for the 
larger part of the current nomenclature of 
the brain. As scholarly anatomists it is at 
once our prerogative and our duty to scru- 
tinize and reflect, and to deal with the 
language of our science in the same spirit 
and with the same discrimination that we 
maintain in regard to the parts of the body 
and the generalizations concerning them. 

It may be that a crisis has been reached ; 
that this is the turning-point. If defeat 
awaits us, let there be no doubt as to my 
attitude. Let me be regarded as the chief 
offender, and let the group of terms advo- 
cated by me be derided as ‘ Wilder’s Scien- 
tific Volapuk.’ But if, rather, despite errors 
and reverses, we are in the end to overcome 
inertia and prejudice, then I trust that the 
labors and sacrifices of so many English- 
speaking anatomists for the simplification 
of anatomic nomenclature may be recog- 
nized in the designation: ‘The Anglo- 
American System.’ 

Indeed, whatever be the fate of any par- 
ticular set of terms, of this I am assured : 
that system will ultimately prevail which 
is approved and used by anatomists of the 
English-speaking race—the composite, all- 
absorbing, expanding, dominating race of 
the future. 

In no spirit of national self-glorification, 
much less with any personal animosity, but 
rather as a friendly injunction to prepare 
for the inevitable, I shall not object if por- 
tions of this address (for all of which, be it 
understood, I alone am responsible) are in- 
terpreted as a declaration of intellectual 
independence ; as a claim for the recogni- 
tion of what is done in England and Amer- 
ica upon the basis of its intrinsic value ; 
and as a protest against an indifference 
which in some instances has seemed to lack 
even that semblance of consideration which 
at least was commonly maintained during 


SCIENCE. 


581 


the manifestation, a generation ago, of what 
an American scholar characterized as a 
‘certain condescension observable among 
foreigners.’ 

Let me conclude with a passage in more 
cheerful vein: 

‘“‘ When the first little wave of the rising 
tide comes creeping up the shore the sun 
derides her, and the dry sand drinks her, 
and her frightened sisters pull her back- 
ward, and yet again she escapes; and 
still her expostulating sisters cling to her 
skirts, and the rabble of waves behind 
cry out against her boldness, and all the 
depths of the ocean seem rising to drag her 
down. And now the second rank of waves, 
who would have died of shame at being the 
first, have unwillingly passed the earlier 
mark of the little wave that led them ; and 
now you may float in your ship, for lo! the 
tide is full. So it is with all systems of re- 
form; though the pioneers be derided, the 
great needs of humanity behind push on to 
triumphant acquisition of the new order of 
things.”’ 

Burt G. WILDER. 


CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 


THE BREEDING OF ANIMALS AT WOODS 
HOLE DURING THE MONTH OF SEP- 
TEMBER, 1898. 

Wirs the month of September the record 
of the breeding habits of the summer fauna 
practically closes. Very few of the species 
continue to breed into October. The auf- 
trieb, though less rich in species, is at the 
beginning of the month similar to that of 
late August, but after the first week the 
number of forms steadily decreases. It 
consists for the most part of crustacean 
larvee, the bulk of the material being brachy- 
uran and eupagurid. 

The temperature of the water was con- 
stant at 72° F. for the first week. It then 
fell steadily until the 25th, when it reached 
65° F., and remained at this point until the 


582 


close of the month. 
from 1.0208 to 1.0225. 

Vertebrata. The fishes present no fea- 
tures of special interest, as the summer 
forms are still present, and no species is 
breeding. The surface skimmings show a 
few fry at intervals. On the 20th one or 
two larval flatfish, in which the eyes had 
just begun to migrate, were taken. About 
the 25th three smooth dogfish, Galeus canis, 
which had been confined in the ‘ Pool,’ were 
killed, and twenty-seven embryos, 10 to 
11 cm. long, were found in the oviducets. 

Crustacea. None of the adult brachyura 
examined were breeding. Zoéz were con- 
spicuous in the auftrieb during the early 
part of the month, and later various mega- 
lops were abundant. 

The zoéa of Callinectes hastatus was the 
most abundant form, lasting about two 
weeks. The megalops of this species was 
plentiful at all times, particularly on the 
18th. Specimens in the laboratory changed 
to the beautifully-spotted ‘first adult’ on 
September 27th, 29th, and October 3d. An- 
other zoéa (which I have not identified) was 
very abundant in the latter part of August 
and the first week of September, disappearing 
about the 11th. It resembles the zoéa of 
Callinectes, but has a longer rostrum and 
dorsal spine, and the exopodite of the 
antenna is a straight blade as long as the 
rostrum. 

Among the Anomura, the larvee of Hippa 
had disappeared on September 4th. Eupa- 
gurid zoéze swarmed in August and the 
first week in September, and were present 
in decreasing numbers throughout the 
month. The ‘glaucothoé-stage’ was abun- 
dant at all times. Data relating to the 
breeding of Eupagurus bernhardus and E. 
pollicaris are scanty, but the few females of 
the latter species which were examined 
were without eggs. LH. annulipes was brought 
in on the 4th, when a few were bearing eggs 
in early stages of development. Females of 


The density varied 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


E. longicarpus with eggs were taken as late 
as the 13th. 

Among the Macroura, specimens of Vir- 
bius zostericola had eggs in the later stages 
on the llth. Larve and young adults, 
ranging in length from 5 mm. to 10 or 
15 mm., were present in the skim- 
mings. Those of small size persisted 
throughout the month. Palemonetes vul- 
garis was not breeding, but the larve 
(mostly the ‘fifth’ and ‘sixth’ stages of 
Faxon) were occasionally taken, and to- 
ward the end of the month several of the 
‘first adult stage ’ were found. A specimen 
of Crangon vulgaris with eggs was obtained 
on the 19th. Heteromysis, dredged at Vine- 
yard Haven on the 12th, and off Nobska 
Point about a week later, had well-ad- 
vanced eggs in the brood-pouch. 

No adult Isopoda were examined, but 
immature IJdotea robusta and I. irrorata, 
ranging in length from 2 mm. upward, 
frequently appeared in the skimmings. 

Among the Amphipoda, a minute form, 
apparently a species of Montagua, was very 
common among the hydroids. On Septem- 
ber 21st nearly all were carrying eggs in 
various stages of development. Many Ca- 
prelle obtained at the same time bore em- 
bryos approaching maturity. 

Squilla larvee (5 mm. long) appeared at 
intervals throughout the month. Copepods 
were abundant at all times. Diastylis was 
taken in the evening and is apparently at- 
tracted by any artificial light. On the 12th 
a number of ‘Goose Barnacles’ had eggs 
in all the later embryonic stages, and some 
began to liberate nauplii about this date. 

Mollusea. Sceycotypus continued to de- 
posit its ‘ege-strings’ during the first two 
weeks of the month. The breeding period of 
Crepidula fornicata hadclosed, but onthe19th 
I found a few specimens of Crepidula plana 
with eggs in early cleavage stages. The 
breeding period of Littorina littorea in Ameri- 
can waters is not known. On the 20th great 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


numbers of young, about one millimeter in 
diameter, were found on the rocks at Nobska 
Point. During the latter part of August 
and the early part of September, Veligers, 
all apparently of one species, were conspicu- 
ous in the surface skimmings ; these disap- 
peared at about the time that the young 
Tittorina were found. 

Vermes. Mr. R. H. Johnson found Bugula 
turrita liberating embryos, even after the 
middle of the month. 

Small specimens of Nereis limbata and cer- 
tain allied forms occurred sparingly in the 
auftrieb. _ On the evening of the 30th 
Autolytus was still fairly abundant, and 
many of the females were carrying eggs in 
early stages of development. Rhyncobolus 
and Diopatra were not breeding. 

Celenterata. With the exception of one 
or two minute forms, no Medusze were 
found. Gonionemus was abundant in the 
Eel Pond, and specimens brought into the 
laboratory about the middle of the month 
extruded eggs. The greater part of these 
eggs did not reach the blastula, and none de- 
veloped beyond this stage. Ctenophores 
Mnemiopsis, very conspicuous in late August, 
appeared inincreasing numbers during Sep- 
tember. Obelia, with a few ripe gonangia, 
was obtained on the.21st. Pennaria tiarella 
formed the bulk of the abundant hydroid- 
growths on the Fish Commission wharves, 
although a Erudendiuwm, probably E. ramo- 
sum, was plentiful. Here and there small 
patches of Plumularia tenella were found. 
East Chop and Edgartown were visited on 
the 12th. At the former place there were 
few colonies of Pennaria, but a great abun- 
‘ dance of Eudendrium and Plumularia. At 
Edgartown I did not find either Pennaria or 
Eudendrium, but Plumularia occurred in 
dense masses, which literally covered the 
submerged woodwork of the wharves. 

At Woods Hole the colonies of Plumularia 
were small and sterile, while at the other 
localities they were large and provided with 


SCIENCE. 


583 


gonangia in the various stages of develop- 
ment. 

The Hudendrium and Pennaria bore me- 
dusa-buds in all stages, and the latter 
species remained in fruit as late as the 21st, 


and perhaps later. 
M. T. THompson. 


ECONOMICS IN MANUFACTURES. 

One of the most difficult problems in 
practical economics, in the whole range of 
modern industrial systems, is that of se- 
curing a just and satisfactory method of 
insuring fair exchange of labor for capital 
or wages where large bodies of workmen 
are to be employed. Cooperation and in- 
numerable plans of‘ piece-work ’ and ‘profit- 
sharing’ have been proposed, and none 
have, in practice, been found either in the 
abstract entirely equitable or wholly satis- 
factory to the employer as securing sufficient 
output from his always burdensome invest- 
ments, profit on his sales, or a contented and 
fair-minded relation between himself and 
his employés; nor has any system been 
found which fully satisfies the workman in 
either extent of total compensation, oppor- 
tunity to secure compensation proportioned 
to his exertions and ability, or in abstract 
equity in distribution of profits. 

One of the most promising of the later 
plans for a fair and honest and satisfactory 
distribution of profits and a very effective 
stimulus of the right spirit in both em- 
ployer and employé was described, as a first 
experiment, to the American Society of 
Mechanical Engiueers, some years ago, by 
Mr. F. A. Halsey, then or earlier manager 
of the Canadian Rand Drill Co., at Sher- 
brooke, Quebec, Canada. Mr. Halsey called 
his plan ‘The Premium Plan of Paying for 
Labor,’ and the title is indicative of its na- 
ture.* 

The author of this system now reports 
the outcome of a considerable number of 


* Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng’rs ; Vol. XII. 


584 


experiments in its employment, some by 
important and famous manufacturers of 
various mechanical devices, from the steam- 
engine to the machine-tool. The following 
abstract is based upon his account of these 
later experiences, as given in the American 
Machinist, with extended tables of data and 
results.* 

The plan has been in use eight years, and 
has come into use, ina number of establish- 
ments, sufficiently to give ample experience 
in is workings. Curiously enough, how- 
ever, although devised for the benefit of 
the workmen, mainly and primarily, and 
invariably promising them gain, it has as in- 
variably been received with suspicion and 
reluctance by them, and in at least one 
case has been opposed by the trade-unions 
of the place. In all but a single case, how- 
ever, it has proved entirely successful in the 
accomplishment of its purpose—the promo- 
tion of the wage-earning power of the men 
and of the dividend-paying power of the es- 
tablishment ; sharing profits while stimula- 
ting ambition and increasing output. It 
gives the workman increased day’s wages ; it 
gives the employer increased output from 
his works, at reduced cost and increasing 
profits, shared with those who make them 
possible. The workman gains directly, day 
by day; the employer not only gains, di- 
rectly, by increased output from the same 
number of men, but also indirectly and in 
an exceedingly important degree, often, 
through the increased earning power of his 
capital, invested in plantand in funds. 

Piece-work has not been wholly success- 
ful, and in too many cases the selfishness 
and greed of the employer, seeking to mo- 
nopolize all the profit, compels the work- 
man to accept a rate which makes his day’s 
work no more profitable to him when work- 
ing under high-pressure than when doing 
an ordinary day’s work at fixed wages at 
such a rate that he can sustain that amount 

* March 9, 1899. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


of production indefinitely. Where properly 
adopted and adjusted, it is a vast improve- 
ment upon the older plan. Mr. Halsey’s 
plan puts a premium upon increasing pro- 
duction, in such manner that both employer 
and employé are inevitably alike advan- 
taged, and skill and industry and steady 
work secure proportional reward. It in- 
volves something of the principle of the 
common bargain by which a salesman is 
given a fixed and moderate salary plus a 
stated percentage on sales. Under this new 
plan the employer offers a workman a 
premium, perhaps ten cents, for each hour 
by which the production of a certain piece 
is reduced below that of the observed nor- 
mal average or below an assumed period of 
time ; the day’s wage being that of the time 
and place, as fixed by ordinary circum- 
stances in the market, and without control, 
usually, by either party to the bargain. 
Suppose that pay to be three dollars a 
day and an hour to be saved in a piece 
ordinarily requiring just a day’s work for 
its production. The proprietor gains the 
hour and his thirty cents otherwise paid as 
wages for the hour; he loses ten cents 
premium ; he gains in rate of output of the 
establishment, and so makes it possible to 
secure larger returns through more effec- 
tive use of all other capital than the ‘ wages 
fund’ The workman gains his ten cents 
and the privilege of adding an extra hour’s 
work on a new ‘job.’ Thus both parties 
gain. Had the premium been fifteen cents 
the money-gain would have netted both 
equal amounts, fifteen cents, per day. Thus, 
as in Table I., we sometimes actually find 
enormous gains possible through the in- 
genuity of the workman in finding ways of 
reducing time of production, as by increased 
personal activity, or by securing deeper 
cuts and higher speed of cutting, or less 
time in putting the piece in place or in 
replacing it by its successor, etc. The 
writer has known of a case in which the 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


cost of an important machine was reduced 
by such expedients from $250 to about $75, 


TABLE I.—OPERATION OF THE PREMIUM PLAN. 


1 2 3 4 5 
d| 8 é|#ut \agst 
Sse pee sere scl ak sis S 
8 se gure ae? SoS a 
S| AA ooh al 
Hours. liaise 
10 $3.00 $0. $3.00 $0.30 
9 2.70 -10 2.80 dll 
8 2.40 -20 2.60 .320 
uf 2.10 30 2.40 || 343, 
6 1.80 -40 2.20 366 
5 1.50 50 2.00 -40 


Table II. is taken from the books of one 
of this establishments actually employing 
this ‘premium plan,’ and shows a gain of 
more than one half, in this particular in- 
stance, in time of production—in produc- 
tivity, in fact—in the works, of just 
double wages for the workman, per piece 
produced, and a net increase in day’s wages 
of eighteen per cent.; while the gain to the 
company was very much greater through 
its operation upon the interest and mainte- 
nance accounts. 


SCIENCE. 


585 


In another actual case where the parts 
reported upon all belonged to a single con- 
tract, and comprised the whole contract, 
the gains of the workmen were 29 per cent. 
on the day’s wages, 25 per cent. on the 
piece, and the time of production of each 
piece averaged a reduction of 63 per cent. 
These figures are astonishing; but they 
mark the enormous difference between the 
productivity of a man working under the 
old conditions of the day’s-work plan, with- 
out incentive to either good work or to 
doing his best in continuous labor, and the 
premium-system, which is likely to give 
ambition, energy and productiveness to the 
most stolid. In this table Cases 41 to 44 are 
records made where both parties doubted 
the possibility of any gain at all One case 
was made by an apprentice boy and the 
standard was based on the work of an ex- 
perienced workman. Another case gives 
illustrations of successive gains with prac- 
tice on successive pieces. All illustrate 
large and equitably-shared gains over the 
old system of day’s wages. 

Everything depends, however, upon an 
equitable basis of inauguration. It is bet- 


TABLE II.—RESULTS OF APPLYING THE PREMIUM PLAN TO MISCELLANEOUS WORK. 
RATIOS OF TOTALS. 


Newtime 44 


New wages per piece 50 


New wages per day _ 118 


Old time 100 


Old wages per piece 


100 Old wages perday. 100 


RATIOS OF TOTALS WITH 46 OMITTED. 


New time 76 


New wages per piece 88 


New wages perday _ 118 


Old time 100 


_ production of over 900 pieces by each method. 


Old wages per piece 100 100 
Note that while this table deals with small parts it also deals with large lots. 


The ratios at the bottom compare the 


pie Mais PREMIUM PLAN | ola | New | ola | New 
f TORK i ai _| wages | Wages wages|wages 
NATURE OF WORK. Operation wae per| Nowotl mime ney No. of |cost per|cost per per per 
pes. in i pes. in| piece | piece ay ay 
piece lot piece lot 
Hours Hours 
41. Long T-shaped piece cast-iron. -|Chuck, Drill & Ream 125 300 089 300 | $ .0275 | $ .0258 $2.82 
42. Parker size cast-iron 6 remarraima 178 200 112 200 -0492 -0317 2.84 
A) ic ane 8 | i fi ch 275 | 100 175 100 | 0605} .0533| 2.20| 3.06 
44, Md corre CSth damibee x S KolaiecHamtoe 366 100 -183 100 0805 -0624 | 2.20) 3.41 
45. Cast-iron wedge. Plane 3.5 2 8.25 4 805 “792 2.30 2.44 
46. Box-shaped castii Oblique planing b 1 21. 1 14.00 6.25 2.50 2.98 
47. Cast-iron wedge |Plane 8.75 2 2.62 4 825 727 2.20 | 2.76 
48. Small pulleys, ca: Chuck Drill& Ream 18 100 : 3 100 045 0417 2.50 3.20 
49. Spindle steel.. Grind 3 sizes 6_ 50 -36 50 144 09 2.40 2.50 
50. Small head sto .|Mill 8 operations 45 50 +32 50 1237 -0925 | 2.75] 2.90 
ALG AIK) acdpedeqoapeocodonen) — |b" 1 ceadaaadéage §5:424" | oc eee 28.239 |||\'slonise $16.1604| $8.1664 $24.45 |$28.91 
Totalseomittin SAG he cle<oteee| Wate selcieelsiels sels KO dl Bapada ROS OMI linsseistels $2.1604 | $1.9164 |$21.95 |$25.93 


586 SCIENCE, 


ter for the employer to be liberal in esti- 
mating the time-rate rather than with the 
premium-rate. Excessive premium-rates 
are apt to result in too large expectations 
to be fully met in the longrun. From one- 
half to one-third the saving are usual 
premium-rates, and probably one-third to 
the workman and two-thirds to the firm 
best brings out a permanent and satisfac- 
tory adjustment which, if found inequitable, 
can generally be easily readjusted to a cor- 
rect figure. In one machine-tool works 
the premium-rate is thirty-six per cent. and 
is found satisfactory to both sides. The 
higher premium-rates, however, should be 
paid for manual labor, as in blacksmithing, 
and the lower to power-tool work, as at the 
lathe or the planer or the milling machine. 

Undoubtedly every establishment, and 

every department of labor, from  floor- 

sweeping to book-keeping, has its own 
peculiar best rate. In all cases the result 
may be expected to be a largely increased 
output of the works, a greatly increased 
earning power on the part of the men, and 
decreased costs of production with increased 
dividend-paying power for the holders of 
the capital. ‘Wisely administered, the 
plan will do more to settle the wages- ques- 
tion than anything else that has been sug- 
gested,’ and the wages-question is to-day 
the burning question in the economics of 
manufacturing. 

R. H Tuourston. 
SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Analytic Functions. Introduction to the Theory 
of Analytic Functions. By J. HARKNESS 
and F, Mortrey. London, Macmillan & Co. 
1898 8vo. Pp. xvi+ 336. 

The appearance of the present work is a very 
pleasant sign to friends of the modern school of 
mathematics in England and America. It in- 
dicates that the movement which set in some 
years past with us in this direction has been 
steadily growing; that the theory of functions 
is no longer the property of a few bold and rest- 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


less minds, but has already descended to the 
masses. The present work may very happily 
serve as a text or reference book to a first 
course on the theory of functions in the senior 
class of any of our better universities. The 
theory of functions of a complex variable may 
be viewed from two standpoints. One was 
taken by Cauchy and Riemann ; the other by 
Weierstrass. The methods of Cauchy and Rie- 
man are more natural and intuitive; those of 
Weierstrass more abstract and lend themselves 
more easily to a rigorous treatment of the sub- 
ject. The authors have chosen the methods of 
Weierstrass. 

Roughly speaking, the subjects treated in the 
first 100 pages fall under two heads: 

1. The geometric representation of complex 
numbers, the conformal representation afforded 
by 

ax+b 
Yat 


and the first properties of rational functions. 

2. Topics which lie at the foundation of the 
calculus. 

The treatment of the first group of subjects 
is admirable. In regard to the second is 
seems*to us that the authors have attempted 
the impossible. The theory of function in com- 
mon with the calculus rests on certain notions, 
such as that of number, limit, continuity, ex- 
tremes of functions, etc. These subjects are 
very imperfectly treated in English works on 
the calculus, and our authors have thus found it 
advisable to give some account of them in the 
present volume. The amount of space at their 
disposal was very limited, and they have, there- 
fore, been obliged to be excessively concise. 
This has been carried to such an extent in the 
chapter on number, Chapter I., that the sub- 
ject, so it seems to us, will be utterly incom- 
prehensible to the student. 

We cannot understand why, if it is worth 
while to say anything about irrational numbers, 
the arithmetical operations upon them are passed 
over in absolute silence. Until the terms sum, 
product, etc., are defined they have no meaning. 

Chapter VI., which treats of limits and con- 
tinuity, suffers severely on account of the 
brevity of Chapter I. Jn this chapter it is im- 
portant to establish the existence of certain 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


numbers. The arguments cannot have much 
meaning to the student until the material of 
Chapter I. has been grasped, and this seems out 
of the question. 

Before leaving this section we call attention 
to acurious break. On page 48 complex func- 
tions of a real variable are differentiated and in- 
tegrated. This certainly is illogical until such 
operations have been defined. We are tempted 
to believe that the beauties of this chapter will 
fall very flat with the average student. If the 
geometrical theory of the logarithm is to appeal 
to him, what is stated here so rapidly should 
be given with leisure and detail. 

The next 60 pages, Chapters VIII.—XIL., 
deal with infinite series, and so lead us to 
Weierstrass’s conception of analytic functions. 
This, as is known, depends on infinite series 
ascending according to integral powers of 
(c—a). The treatment here is very superior— 
the authors show a masterly grasp of the sub- 
ject. A short chapter on the analytic theory of 
the exponential and logarithmic function now 
follows. 

Chapters XIV. and XV., pp. 178-209, turn 
again to the general theory. Singular points 
are discussed, and Weierstrass’s decomposition 
of a function into prime factors is deduced. 
Application is made to show that 


sin tx = rall(1—a2/n?). m= 1); 2, «--, 2. 


The consideration of the zeros gives at once 
sin ta = we TI (1 — 2?/n?). 


The determination of the integral transcen- 
dental function Gis singularly difficult. It seems 
a pity that the method invented for Cauchy for 
the same purpose and which may easily be 
made rigorous is to-day quite neglected. By 
this method G is readily found. 

With Chapter XVI., which treats of integra- 
tion, we arrive at the starting point of the 
Cauchy-Rieman theory. It seems to us that our 
authors have not maintained the high ideals 
here as well as elsewhere. In a passage, pp. 
11, 12, we read: ‘‘But in using geometric 
intuitions * * * we must emphasize one 
lesson of experience ; that the intuitional 
method is not in itself sufficient for the super- 
structure. It has been found that only by the 
notion of number * * * can fundamental prob- 


SCIENCE. 


587 


lems be solved. If, however, we are prepared 
to replace when occasion arises these geometric 
intuitions * * * then and only then is the use 
of geometry thoroughly available.’’ It is true 
that the authors here speak of points, distances 
and angle only, but these remarks apply with 
equal cogency, as they will be the first to admit, 
to all geometric intuitions when used in analy- 
sis. We are, therefore, surprised to find the ob- 
scure notion of curve, of its length, of a closed 
curve, of a region, etc., freely used without 
any attempt to put them on a number basis. 
Such statements as that on p. 189, viz: that a 
circuit divides the entire plane into two regions 
will certainly embarrass the authors to prove in 
its generality. Again, on p. 213, we see the 
authors implicitly define the length of a curve C 
to be faz. This definition differs from the 


one given our text-books, viz.: faevI + fi(ax)2. 
As our authors propose to use a broader defini- 
tion than usual, it seems only fair that they state 
this to the reader. Still a more serious objec- 
tion is to be urged to their procedure. It re- 
sults in stating Cauchy’s fundamental theorem 
and other important theorems of this chapter 
without any restriction regarding the path of 
integration. This seems to us like talking of 
infinite series without bothering ourselves about 
convergence. 

Chapter XVII. brings a brief discussion of 
Laurent’s and Fourier’s series. Then follow 
two excellent chapters on the elliptic functions. 
These are followed by two chapters or about 30 
pages devoted to Algebraic functions and Rie- 
mann surfaces. 

It appears to us that the fictitious number 
and point o has been treated too hurriedly. 
These notions are very important and also 
difficult for the student to master. Our authors 
have followed the usual custom of disposing of 
them with a few words here and there. We 
believe the custom of introducing the number 
o is bad. The theory of functions of a com- 
plex variable is a theory of two very special 
real functions of two real variables. In the 
theory of functions of real variables the num- 
ber o does not exist. It seems to us that its 
introduction can only produce confusion and 
embarrassment. 


588 SCIENCE. 


It is not a number o we are ever concerned 
with. When we say w (a) wereally mean 
lim |w(z)| =0,2=a. Again when we ask how 
does w(z) behave for =m we really mean 
how does w (1/¢) behaye in the vicinity of 
¢=owheres=1/z. Thereby ¢ is never re- 
quired to assume the value of 0. On using 
the sphere instead of the plane we get the 
punktierte Kugel. The missing point we can 
supply or not at our option. In any case 
no number shall correspond to it. We firmly 
believe that the easy intuitional way of treat. 
ing © in the function theory of a complex 
variable must be modified as here indicated. 

The last chapter is devoted to a brief apergu 
of the function theory from the standpoint of 
Cauchy and Riemann. We cannot appreciate 
the difficulties mentioned in 3164 as underlying 
the definition of a function from the Cauchy- 
Riemann standpoint. They seem to us to be 
due to the belief on the part of the authors 
that we must take the whole z-plane into our 
definition from this point of view. Such is not 
the case. Asa domain D for the variable z we 
take any point multiplicity consisting only of 
interior points. If it be possible to pass from 
any point of D to any other of it along a con- 
tinuous curve x= ¢(t), y= (t) we say D isa 
simple domain, Otherwise D is composed of 
simple domains D=D,+ D,+... To get a 
synectic function w(z) for D we take two single 
valued functions u(x,y), v(v,y) defined over D 
and such that for every point in D they have a 
total differential and satisfy the equation. 


ou ov ow. ov 
Chany ee) oy Ox 


In any one of these simple regions as R,, 
w (z) can be developed into an integral positive 
power series. The analytic function f (z) ob- 
tained from one of these elements is identical 
with w (z). There certainly is no reason to sup- 
pose that f (z) when continued into another re- 
gion Rg should be identical with w (z) in this 
region. This seems to answer all the objections 
in I and II of this article. Indeed, the advan- 
tage seems to be decidedly on the side of Cauchy, 
for exactly one of the points urged against 
Cauchy’s theory is now without force, while it 
is, indeed, an important matter from Weierstrass’ 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


standpoint. This, in the author’s words, is: 
‘That Cauchy’s definition implies in various 
ways a considerable preliminary grasp of the 
logical possibilities attached to the study of sin- 
gular points.’? From our standpoint we fix in 


advance the domain D; it has no more singular: 


points than we choose to assign. Notso with 
the analytic function. Here an element is given, 
one singular point must lie on its circle of con- 
vergence. Where the others are is a subject of 
further study. 

We cannot see the difficulty mentioned under 
III. It is, ineeed, an interesting matter to know 
‘the irreducible minimum of conditions to im- 
pose on w (z),’ but it seems to us nowise neces- 
sary. It suffices that we know the necessary 
and sufficient conditions in order that w (2) 
can be developed according to Taylor’s Theo- 
rem. This we know and we have taken them 
into our definition of w (z). It may be inter- 
esting to remark, however, that these conditions 
are already known, as will appear in a remark- 
able paper of E. Goursat shortly to be published. 

We close, congratulating the authors for writ- 
ing a work which we believe will prove an ex- 
cellent aid to acquire some of the essentials of 
the theory of function. We should have pre- 
ferred to see the two theories of Cauchy and 
Weierstrass blended together into an organic and 
indivisible whole. Although these two theories 
grew up quite distinct, they have already 
been welded into one greater and more power- 
ful theory. It is only the purist who still tena- 
ciously clings to the methods of Weierstrass. It 
seems, therefore, very desirable to us that an 
introductory work should be written more in 


accordance with this fact. 
JAMES PIERPONT. 


YALE UNIVERSITY, March, 1899. 


A Handbook of Metallurgy. By DR. CARL 
ScHNABEL. Translated by HENRY LOUIS. 
New York, The Macmillan Company. Two 
volumes, medium S8yvo. Total pages, 1608. 
Illustrated. Volume 1, copper, lead, silver, 
gold. Volume 2, zinc, cadmium, mercury, 
bismuth, tin, antimony, arsenic, nickel, co- 
balt, platinum, aluminum. Price, $10.00. 
The author states in the preface that, while 

many exhaustive works have appeared on the 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


metallurgy of individual metals, the few books 
on general metallurgy were arranged as text- 
books and made no pretence of thoroughness of 
detail or treatment. With these facts in mind 
the present work was compiled, with the stated 
object of giving a complete account of the 
metallurgical treatment of every one of the 
metals ordinarily employed, together with the 
recent improvements in the art, stating the un- 
derlying scientific principles and illustrating by 
actual practice. 

This object is highly commendable, but the 
statement is rather misleading, as iron and 
steel have been entirely omitted and no men- 
tion made of the omission or of a subsequent 
volume upon this all-important branch of 
metallurgy. This fact should have been stated 
plainly by the author in the preface and by the 
publisher in the advertisements. 

Dr. Perey’s historic work was selected as the 
basis, and on this are grouped many facts from 
the works of modern writers, notably Hofman, 
on lead; Peters, on copper; Egleston, on gold 
and silver, and Borchers on electro-metallurgy. 
The work is quite exhaustive in character, as 
the grand total of 1608 pages indicates, but, 
unfortunately, the exhaustion is not limited to 
’ the subject-matter of the book and ofttimes ex- 
tends to the reader, as much of the material 
is vague and unnecssarily verbose. The work 
lacks that clearness of description, lucidity of 
arrangement and concisement of statement so 
needful in the treatment of a large subject and 
so appreciated by American readers with whom 
time is an object. 

It is to be regretted that much ancient ma- 
terial is perpetuated in excruciating detail, 
particularly as it is so interwoven with modern 
practice that the general reader is left in doubt 
what is in use at the present time. To illus- 
trate this, under the chapter on silver, barrel 
amalgamation is quoted as now in use at the 
Pelican Mill, Georgetown, Colo., while, as a 
matter of fact, it was there abandoned twenty 
yearsago. Another instance, under the chapter 
on zine, the furnace used in the old English 
process—that rare bird of antiquity—shows 
forth resplendent in full detailed illustration. 
As to this furnace, Dr. Percy, in 1869, failed to 
find even the ruins of its foundation. 


SCIENCE. 


589 


The large amount of material collected in 
these two volumes contains much of value to 
the specialist, but it is too encyclopedic in char- 
acter to be of any marked assistance to the 
general reader. Its main value is for reference 
in a scientific or technical library. 

A few minor errors, such as the location of 
Boston in Vermont (Vol. 1, p. 115) and Orford 
in New Jersey (Vol. 2, p. 104), may be over- 
looked in a work of this large size. 

The criticism of this work may be considered 
harsh, but the eminent position occupied by 
Dr. Schnabel leads one to expect the highest 
standard of work and to be disappointed if it is 


not attained. 
J. STRUTHERS. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Organic Chemistry. Edited by R. ANscHtrTz. Au- 
thorized translation by EDGAR F.SmirH. Vol. L., 
Chemistry of the Aliphatic Series. Philadelphia. 
P. Blakiston’s Son & Co. 1899. Pp. xviii+ 625. 
$3.00. 

Commercial Organic Analysis. 
Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son & Co. 
II., PartI. Pp. x+337. $3.50. 

The Spirit of Organic Chemistry. ARTHUR LACHMAN. 


ALFRED H. ALLEN, 
1899. Vol. 


With an introduction by PauL C. FREER. New 
York, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp- 
xviii 299. $1.50. 

The Arithmetic of Chemistry. JOHN WADDELL. New 


York and London, The Macmillan Company. 1899. 
Pp. viii 133. 90 cents. 

J. Hann, Ep. BRUCKNER and 
III., Abteilung Pflanzen-und 


Algemeine Erdkunde. 
A. KIRCHHOFF. 


Tierverbreitung. ALFRED KIRCHHOFF. Prague. 
Wien und Leipzig, F. Tempsky. 1899. Pp. 
xi-+ 327. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Botanical Gazette for March contains the 
following papers: D. H. Campbell: ‘ Notes 
on the structure of the embryo-sac in Sparga- 
nium and Lysichiton,’ pp. 153-166, with one plate. 
This is a continuation of the author’s studies of 
the primitive monocotyledons. The discovery 
of special interest is the extraordinary develop- 
ment of the antipodal cells in Sparganium, an- 
other evidence of the variable nature of. the 
antipodal region. H. C. Cowles: ‘The ecolog- 
ical relations of the vegetation on the sand 


590 


dunes of Lake Michigan,’ pp. 167-202, with 
eight photographs. This very complete ecolog- 
ical study of the dune floras is continued from 
the February number. <A special feature of this 
part is the discussion of embryonic dunes. The 
active or wandering dunes are also taken up 
and will be completed in a subsequent number. 
The following briefer articles appear: Ralph 
EK. Smith: ‘A new Colletotrichum disease of 
the Pansy;’ E. J. Hill: ‘A new biennial- 
fruited oak,’ with two plates; Elias Nelson : 
“The Wyoming species of Antennaria,’ in which 
eight new species are described. Numerous 
Book Reviews and Notes for Students complete 
the number. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 289th regular meeting of the Anthropo- 
logical Society was held Tuesday, March 28, 
1899. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes made a commu- 
nication on the ‘Winter Solstice Altars at Hano,’ 
a Tewan pueblo in Tusayan. He began by 
saying that the Territory of Arizona is covered 
with mounds or ruins indicative of the habita- 
tions of prehistoric pueblo people, but that it is 
evident that these villages were never simul- 
taneously inhabited. Their distribution shows 
that this agricultural, aboriginal population of 
Arizona was more evenly distributed over the 
Territory in ancient times than at present. The 
presence of nomadic enemies—Utes, Apaches, 
Navajos and others—had led toa concentration 
of the pueblo aborigines of this region into 
limited areas, a movement which began in the 
15th century and was continued in the two fol- 
lowing. Theso-called province of Tusayan was 
one of those centers of concentration or refuge, 
and the inhabited pueblos of the area now con- 
tain some of the descendants of the survivors of 
the abandoned villages between the Mojollones 
Mountains and the Utah boundary. 

Three of these Tusayan pueblo—called Walpi, 
Siteomoriand Hano—are situated on one mesa, 
not more than a gunshot apart. Dr. Fewkes 
showed how Walpi had been founded by clans 
driven southward from the Colorado River, and 
how their pueblo had grown by successive in- 
coming clans from south and east. At the end 
of the 17th century the hostile nomads had so 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 225. 


closed in on Walpi that they swarmed in their 
farms, and utter annihilation stared the Hopi 
in the face. The Governor of Walpi sent to 
New Mexico for help, and after four appeals a 
band of Tewa warriors from a pueblo in the 
upper Rio Grande valley went to his aid. 
These warriors drove back the Utes, and in re- 
turn for this help, the Tewa were given a site 
for their home near the main trail to the mesa 
upon which Walpi is situated. The village 
which they built is now called Hano. For two 
centuries the successive generations of inhabit- 
ants of Hano have remained Tewan in their 
customs in the country of their adoption. Hano 
preserves the Tewan language, although, by 
marriage with the neighboring Hopi, the con- 
sanguinity of the inhabitants is more Hopi than 
Tewa. Similarity of language is not always a 
sign of blood kinship. There are also many 
Tewan customs in marriage, mortuary and other 
rites in Hano, but the most characteristic of all 
are the religious festivals. The most instruc- 
tive of these are the winter-solstice rites. 

Of all expressions of religious sentiment ob- 
jects like fetishes and ceremonial paraphernalia 
are the least variable from generation to genera- 
tion. Mythology changes as man advances in _ 
culture or lives in a new environment, and 
accretions in form of myths to adjust worship 
to the spirit of the times multiply from gen- 
eration to generation. Expression of the re- 
ligious feeling through acts or dramas called 
ceremonies is more conservative than through 
myth and less modified by the evolution of 
culture, and new myths are invented to harmo- 
nize and explain ceremonies handed down from 
ancient times. The objects used in worship— 
fetishes, idols, paraphernalia—change even less 
than rites or myths, and reflect better than 
both the true ancient religious sentiment of 
which they are expressions, and are, therefore, 
of preeminent importance to the ethnologist in 
the study of ethnographic religion. 

These ceremonial objects are very numerous 
among the Hopi; and their installation in sacred 
rooms, at times of great ceremonies, is called 
an altar. The two altars at Hano during 
winter-solstice rites were described in detail. 
The most striking fetishes upon them were clay 
images of the Great Snake. There were also 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


rain-cloud symbols, gaming implements, water- 
worn stones, puma paws and other objects. 
The imitation of an ancient ladder which stood 
back of the altar was called a sun-ladder, and 
was interpreted as a symbolic aid to the sun, 
who is supposed to be weary at the winter 
solstice. Through sympathetic magic he is 
thus supposed to gain strength to mount the 
sky from his home at sunrise. 

These altars at the winter-solstice ceremony 
in Hano made it possible to know something of 
the character of the ancient Tewan Sun and 
Snake worship, of which little has yet been re- 
corded, although this pueblo stock has been, and 
still remains, one of the most important in the 
upper Rio Grande pueblos. Possibly studies 
of secret rites in the estufas of the latter will 
bring to light the characteristics of their winter- 
solstice altars, but it is also possible that these 
altars have been abandoned, in which case the 
survivals at Hano, described by Dr. Fewkes, 
have value in a comparative way, as indicating 
the nature of Tewan altars in mid-winter. 

Mrs. Olive Ennis Hite presented a paper on 
‘New Mexican Folk-Lore,’ in which she de- 
scribed the environment of these people and 
showed the influence it had upon their super- 
stitions. Their belief in the ‘Hombrecito,’ or 
little brown people, was widespread, and it was 
considered lucky to see one of these creatures, 
who were visible to the ‘ pastores,’ or shepherds, 
only. Of ‘las brujas,’ the witches, there is less 
said, and that little with many ‘carambas’ and 
audible supplications for the intervention of ‘la 
Santissima Maria.’ 

Discussed by Drs. McCormick, Fewkes and 
Kober, Professor McGee, Dr. Wilson, Mr. Pierce 
and Miss Alice C. Fletcher. 

J. H. McCormick, 
Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS’ GEO- 
LOGICAL CLUB OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 


Students’ Geological Club, March 14, 1899, 
Mr. A W. Grabau reviewed the paper which 
Professor Shaler has recently published on the 
Geology of Cape Cod (18th Annual Rep., U.S. 
Geol. Surv.). The speaker did not agree 
with the view advocated by Professor Shaler, 
that the topography of lower Cape Cod, from 


SCIENCE, 


591 


Orleans to Highland Light, is mainly erosional 
and scarcely modified by ice action. But he 
held that the orientation of the valleys, the 
character of the slopes, and the presence of 
typical kettles all over the cape, indicate that 
most of the material of Cape Cod is of glacial 
origin. 

Geological Conference, March 21, 1899. Mr, 
F. M. Buckland gave a paper on ‘ Winter 
Changes about Fresh Pond.’ After briefly re- 
viewing the literature on the expansion and 
contraction of ice on water bodies, he described 
some of the effects of these agencies on the 
shore of Fresh Pond during the past winter. 

Mr. J. B. Woodworth presented some results 
of field observations on ‘Moen’s Cliff and the 
Maars of the Eifel.’ The Cretaceous and Pleis- 
tocene beds of the island of Rigen, off the coast 
of Germany, and Moen, off the coast of Den- 
mark, show a disturbance which is comparable 
in degree and character to that in the Creta- 
ceous and Pleistocene of Martha’s Vineyard. 
H. Credner attributes this deformation to the 
shoving action of an ice sheet which was im- 
mediately previous to the last. A few other 
geologists favor purely orogenic agencies. In 
neither case has conclusive physical evidence 
been found. The lantern views, which are 
recent accessions to the Gardiner Collection, 
illustrated this deformation and related fea- 
tures, and the Weinfelder and Gemundener 


Maars near Daun. 
J. M. BouTWELL, 


Recording Secretary. 


TORREY. BOTANICAL CLUB, FEBRUARY 28, 1899. 


Proressor L. M. UNDERWOOD presented a 
paper on ‘Species confused under the name 
Aspidium juglandifolium,’ discussing the charac- 
ters and geographical district of the forms re- 
garded by him as distinct species, eight in all, 
constituting the whole number attributed to the 
genus Phanerophlebia. He remarked in con- 
cluding that it would be unsafe to describe new 
species without consulting the valuable collec- 
tions of ferns in Europe, and especially at Kew. 
The paper will appear in the Bulletin. 

Miss Alice Lounsberry then exhibited the 
very valuable collections of flower paintings by 
Mrs. Ellis Rowan, which constitute the origi- 


592 


nals of the colored plates in Miss Lounsberry’s 
forthcoming work, ‘How to Know the Wild 
Flowers.’ Selections which showed the char- 
acter of the book were read, including the In- 
troduction, written by Dr. Britton, and the 
Preface, which pointed out the fact that the dis- 
tribution of plants according to soils was made 
the keynote of the work. 

Dr. Britton said that the book was interesting 
to him on two accounts, from the ecological 
basis of classification and the remarkable repro- 
ductions in color, 

In the absence of Mrs. Annie Morrill Smith, 
of Brooklyn, Mrs. E. G. Britton read for her 
the manuscript of a paper, entitled ‘The Flora 
of the Adirondack Mountain Club Area.’ 


Meeting of March 14, 1899.—The Summer 
Courses in Botany given jointly by this Club 
and the College of Pharmacy were announced 
to begin at 4:30, March 24th, ending June 10th, 
the General Course to be given by Dr. H. H. 
Rusby, that in Histology by Dr. M. A. Howe. 

The paper of the evening, by Mrs. Caroline 
A. Creevey, on ‘ Plant Juices and their Commer- 
cial Values,’ described the secretions, oils, gums, 
resins and other products of plants, with exhibi- 
tion of numerous specimens. Among the numer- 
ous oils considered none has become so important 
commercially as cotton-seed oil, now produced 
at about 28 million gallons per year, pressed 
from 800,000 tons of cotton seed. Another in- 
dustry dependent upon plant juices is that of 
tanning, the tannin found in the saw-palmetto 
and in Rumex hymenosepalus promising to rey- 
olutionize the process of the leather-industry. 
The waste sands occupied by these plants in 
the South and West bid fair to become valuable. 

Dr. Underwood exhibited a series of photo- 
graphs of the Fleshy Fungi by Mr. G. A. Ander- 
son, of Lambertville, N. J., colored from the 
living specimens by his daughter, Miss H. C. 
Anderson. They illustrate a new process of 
preserving fleshy fungi. 

Dr. Britton reported a brief communication 
from Mr. A. A. Heller sent from Porto Rico, 
February 18th, reporting collections made about 
Ponce, Ibonito, Coamo, ete., now reaching 584 
numbers after six weeks’ work. On the north 
side of the islands many species occur on the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


shore which are montane species when growing 
on the south side. 

Dr. Britton also read from a letter of Feb- 
ruary 26th, just received from Mr. 8. Henshaw, 
from San Juan, describing the sugar plantations, 
now in the midst of cutting and boiling. He 
finds the flora not so varied as in Trinidad ; the 
woods are few; in 100 miles he did not see a 
single large tree. 

Epwarp S. BuRGEss, 
Secretary. 
DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
DUPLICATION OF GEOLOGIU FORMATION NAMES. 


REFERRING to Mr. F. B. Weeks’ letter on 
this subject in your issue of March 18th, I ven- 
ture to doubt whether Cache Valley group 
(1879) or Cache Lake beds (1888) can properly be 
considered as conflicting with each other or with 
the name Cache Creek formation. If, however, 
regarded as an undesirable duplication of simi- 
lar names, I wish to point out that the Cache 
Creek group or formation undoubtedly holds 
priority, a circumstance which would scarcely 
appear from Mr. Weeks’ remarks. 

The name was first applied (by Dr. Selwyn, 
jn 1872) as Upper and Lower Cache Creek 
groups, to certain rocks in British Columbia. 
The age of the upper series was only conjec- 
tured, but the lower was known to occupy a 
position somewhere ‘between the base of the 
Devonian and the summit of the Permian.’ In 
1876 Carboniferous fossils were found in rocks 
assigned to the lower group in the northern 
part of British Columbia, and in the following 
year a re-examination of the original area led 
to the discovery of similar fossils in both lower 
and upper groups there. In my report for 1877 
these groups are, therefore, referred to collec- 
tively as the Cache Creek series. In the latest 
report dealing with these rocks the same usage 
is followed, although upper and lower parts of 
the Cache Creek series or formation are sepa- 
rately referred to. 

It thus appears that the name in question has 
been consistently applied by the Geological 
Survey of Canada to the same terrane since 
1878. Nor is it merely a ‘horizon’ of the Car- 
boniferous, but a formation estimated at more 
than 9,000 feet in thickness. It includes, in 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


fact, the Carboniferous formation in so far as 
this has been recognized in the interior district of 
British Columbia, and is the local representative 


of that formation. 
GEORGE M. DAwson. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, 
April 10, 1899. 


ON ‘THE NAMES OF CERTAIN NORTH AMERICAN 
FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. 


THE writer, having recently had occasion to 
examine the literature pertaining to some of 
the fossil mammals of North America, has 
made the following notes, which he desires to 
record : 

Hemiganus, a genus established by Professor 
Cope, had for its type species H. vultuosus. 
The species H. otariidens was described later. 
Dr. J. L. Wortman has, however, shown (Bull. 
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., ix., p. 167) that H. 
dultuosus is a synonym of Psittacotherium multi- 
fragum. The species oturiidens is, therefore, 
left without generic name. I hereby propose 
WorRTMANIA, in recognition of the valuable 
work which has been done by Dr. Wortman in 
vertebrate paleontology. The species will be 
Wortmania otariidens (Cope). 

A similar case occurs among the camels. The 
type of the genus Protolabis of Cope is P. het- 
erodontus. Dr. Wortman’s investigation (Bull. 
Amer. Mus., x., p. 120) have led him to the 
conclusion that this so-called species is the same 
as the earlier described Procamelus robustus. 
The type species being removed, the remaining 
species requires a new generic name. I pro- 
pose MioLABis. The type will be M. transmon- 
tanus (Cope). 

It has also been ascertained by Dr. Wortman 
that the type of the genus Systemodon, S, tapi- 
rinus, is really a Hyracotherium, in which genus 
it was formerly placed. The species which 
have been associated with tapirinus, viz, semi- 
hians, primevus and protapirinus are, therefore, 
without generic name. I offer HomMoGALAX 
(‘omoyaaat, a foster brother). As type of this 
genus I take Dr. Wortman’s Systemodon pri- 
mevus (Bull. Amer. Mus., viii., p. 89, fig. 3). 

Professor Cope has described from the Pliocene 
of Louisiana a fossil horse which he calls Equus 
intermedius (Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., xxxiv., p. 


SOIENCE. 


593 


463). This name has, however, been preoccu- 
pied for a quaternary horse of Europe. Troues- 
sart (Cat. Mam., 1898, p. 794) quotes it as a 
synonym of EF. caballus. The first mention I 
find of the name is in Ritimeyer (Abhandl. 
schweiz. pal. Ges., ii., p. 24, 1877). For Pro- 
fessor Cope’s FE. intermedius I propose Equus eous. 


Interea volucres Pyrois Hous et Aethon, 

Solis equi, quartusque Phlegon, hinnitibus auras 

Flammiferis implent, pedibusque repagula pulsant. 
— Ovid. 


Certain generic names of vertebrates have, 
without justice, it seems to me, been relegated 
to synonomy. 

In 1881 Professor Cope established a genus 
of Condylarthra which he called Protogonia. 
Later he correctly concluded that this name 
had been preoccupied, probably by Protogonius, 
Hibner. He, therefore, proposed to substitute 
for it Euprotogonia, which name first appeared 
in a paper by Earle (Amer. Nat., 1893, p. 378, 
foot-note). In a recent paper Dr. Matthew 
(Bull. Amer. Mus., ix., p. 303) accepts this 
name. At the same time he shows that those 
remains which had originally been described by 
Professor Cope as Mioclenus floverianus belong 
to the earlier described Euprotogonia puercensis. 
But, for this M. floverianus, Scott had in 1892 
(Proc. Acad. Sci., Phila., p. 299) proposed the 
genus Tetraclenodon. The latter name, there- 
fore, antedates Euprotogonia and must replace it. 

In the same excellent paper (p. 268) Dr. Mat- 
thew adopts Scott’s genus Protochriacus, founded 
in 1892, in preference to Cope’s Loxolophus, pro- 
posed in 1885. The reason assigned for this 
preference is that Professor Cope’s ‘ distinctions, 
so far as made, were based on error.’ I do 
not believe that the best usage among natural- 
ists at this day favors the rejection of generic 
names because of errors, real or supposed, in 
the definitions. It seems to me that Loxolophus 
must be reinstated. 

With exceptions, few but important, Oreodon 
has been employed by writers for a well-known 
genus of Artiodactyles. Flower and Lydekker 
in their joint work on Mammalia use Cotylops, 
on the assumption that Oreodon is preoccupied 
by Orodus of Agassiz, a genus of fossil fishes? 
Without now discussing this conclusion, I will 


594 


recall the fact that there is a still older name 
which is in all respects available. This is 
Leidy’s Merycoidodon, having for its type M. 
culbertsoni (Proc. Acad. Sci., Phila., 1848, p. 
47). Professor Cope has rejected the name on 
the ground that it is a nomen nudum; but a 
generic name is hardly nudum when it is sup- 
ported by a well-defined species and is, more- 
over, clothed with two pages of description. 

Merycodus is another of Dr. Leidy’s names 
which must be restored to its rightful position. 
This was proposed in 1854 and had for its type 
species M. necatus. On the supposition prob- 
ably that this name is pre-occupied by Owen’s 
Merycodon, it has been ignored. But it is in- 
correct to assume that any two names ending in 
odus and odon, but alike in other respects, clash 
with each other. As to their forms they are 
different enough to prevent confusion. As to 
their derivation, as has been suggested to me 
by my friend Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, of the U. 
S. National Museum, they are unlike ; odus be- 
ing the Latinized form of the Greek 6dovc, while 
odon comes from the Ionic 0de», The accept- 
ance of this view will relieve us of the necessity 
of rejecting, on philological grounds at least, 
either word of many such couples as Menodus 
and Menodon, Cosmodus and Cosmodon. 

O. P. Hay. 


THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF TEMPERATURE 
FOR GASEOUS CELESTIAL BODIES. 


Ir has been long known that an isolated ce- 
lestial mass of gas rises in temperature as it 
radiates heat and contracts. Dr. T. J. J. See 
[Astronomical Journal, February 6, 1899; <At- 
lantic Monthly, April, 1899] points out that the 
temperature of such a mass of gas is inversely 
proportional to its radius, provided the mass 
does not receive accretions of meteoric matter 
and provided the gas conforms to the laws of 
Boyle and Charles. When, however, the vol- 
ume of the gaseous body is very great large 
quantities of interstellar gases and particles 
would fall into it and the first condition would 
fail; and when the gaseous body contracts to 
small volume it would, perhaps, be far from a 
perfect gas in its properties, so that the second 
condition would fail; to say nothing of the 
probable dissociation and polymerization of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 225. 


gaseous constituents due to the great changes 
of temperature which, no doubt, take place. 

The suggestion of Dr. See that nebulous 
masses are extremely cold is very plausible, in 
view of his ‘ new law,’ which ‘may be assumed 
to regulate the temperature of every gaseous 
star in space,’ but it is certainly contrary to the 
indications of the spectroscope; for nebule 
surely are approximately in thermodynamic 
equilibrium in their smaller parts, if anything 
in the universe is; if so, there is no known 
agency, electrical or other, which can cause 
them to give off persistently abnormal radia- 
tions. Radiations (wave-length) are as inti- 
mately associated with temperature as are 
molecular velocities, although both may be tem- 
porarily abnormal in a given substance; for 
example, the velocities of the particles of a gas 
in a vessel may be made to deviate momentarily 
from Maxwell’s law ; a cold substance, such as 
calcium sulphide, may shine for a while after 
exposure to sunlight, and a gas in a vacuum 
tube may remain phosphorescent for a time as 
the disturbing influence of an electric discharge 
diesaway. But it is hard to think of a certain 
cubic foot of nebulous matter, surrounded for 
millions upon millions of miles with similar 
matter, remote from intense radiant centers, 
still giving off abornmal radiations after odd 
millions of years. Of course, such may be the 
ease, but Dr. See’s law, in all probability, has 
nothing so do with nebule at all. There is no 
physical reason why a nebulous mass might 
not be intensely hot, held together (if, indeed, 
we must assume it to be a gravitational unit) 
by the gravitation of refractory nuclei and re- 
ceiving continually from space as much matter 
as it throws off, because of the high molecular 
velocity of its gaseous parts. 

Dr. See’s derivation of his law of tempera- 
ture is incomplete and confused. It is based 
upon the assumption, which should be definitely 
proven, that the function which expresses the 
density in terms of the radius coordinate r re- 
mains of the same formas the external radius p 
diminishes; and he confuses pressure per unit 
surface and pressure between given portions of 
matter. Assuming the invariance of the density 
function Dr. See’s formula may be derived as 
follows. Let p be the radius of the gaseous 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


mass ata given epoch. Consider the state of 
affairs when the radius has become 4p. Gravi- 
tational forces (per unit mass) will be quad- 
rupled and, therefore, the pressure between two 
contiguous portions of given mass will be quad- 
rupled, but the area separating these portions 
will be quartered so that the pressure per unit 
area (p) will be 16 times as great. The volume 
v of each portion will be } as great, so that pv 
will be twice as great. But absolute tempera- 
ture is proportional to pv, therefore, the absolute 
temperature will have been doubled when 
the radius is halved. That is, 

constant 


T= 


Pp 
‘“This remarkable formula,’’ according to Dr. 
See, ‘‘ expresses one of the most fundamental of 
all the laws of Nature.’’ In simple truthitisan 
interesting and suggestive formula, and it may 
throw light upon some of the knotty questions 
of celestial physics. 

Dr. See, in his Atlantic Monthly article, says 
among other things: ‘‘ Itis somewhat remark- 
able that, while the law of gravitation causes 
bodies to describe conic sections, the law of 
temperature for every gaseous body is repre- 
sented by a rectangular hyperbola referred to 
its asymptotes, and thus by a particular curve 
of the same species.’’ Now, it would have 
been quite as well, or even better, for Dr. See 
to have said frankly tm-ta-ra-ra-bum-te-a, or 
words to that effect ; for, seriously, the object of 
popular scientific writing is to develop proper and 
significant associations, and the bane of popular 
science is verbal sense which by association becomes 
absolute nonsense. 


In the Astronomical Journal for April 8th Dr. 
C. M. Woodward calls attention to some of the 
manifest inaccuracies of Dr. See’s derivation of 
the temperature formula. He points out that 
the gaseous globe cannot be assumed to have a 
bounding surface of definite radius p; he calls 
attention to the fact that the gravitational force 
at a point does not determine the pressure, but 
the pressure gradient at the point; and he 
claims that the hydrostatic pressure at a point 
varies inversely with p”, not with p‘, as indicated 
in the above derivation of the temperature 
formula. In the above derivation, however, 


SCIENCE. 595 


the pressure is said to increase 16 times, not at 
the same point in space, but at a point one-half 
as far from the center. 

The objections raised by Dr. Woodward seem 
to be removed as follows: Consider the gaseous 
mass at the epoch ¢. Assume that during the 
contraction the radius coordinate of every par- 
ticle decreases in the same proportion (this is 
what is meant in the above discussion by the 
invariance of the density function.) Consider 
the gaseous mass at a subsequent epoch t’ when 
the radius coordinate of every particle has been 
reduced to one-half its initial value. The 
density at a distance }r from the center at epoch 
Vis eight times as great as at distance r from 
the center at epoch ¢, and the gravitational 
force is four times as great. Therefore, the 
weight per unit volume is thirty-two times as 
great, and this weight per unit volume is the 
pressure gradient. In integrating the pressure 
gradients at epoch ¢ and t’, respectively, imagine 
the paths of integration to be broken up into 
homologous elements. The elements at epoch 
t’ are then half as long as at epoch t, and, there- 
fore, the integral at epoch ¢’ from infinity to 3r 
is sixteen times as great as the integral at epoch 
t from infinity tor. Therefore, the pressure at 
homologous points is increased sixteen times 
when the mass of gas has contracted to half its 
initial dimensions, as stated in the above deriva- 
tion. W.S. FRANKLIN. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

AN attempt is described in the Chemiker 
Zeitung, by Johann Walter, to concentrate solu- 
tions by means of a centrifugal apparatus. But 
while even very light and finely divided pre- 
cipitates are rapidly separated by centrifugal 
force, an examination of different portions of 
a solution, taken while the machine was in 
rapid motion, showed that the composition was 
constant. The same was found true in the case 
of gaseous mixtures, no tendency being found 
for the denser constituent to collect in the most 
rapidly rotating portion of the vessel. This 
affords an interesting experimental confirma- 
tion of what might have been theoretically ex- 
pected from the laws of gases and of solutions. 


THE heat of formation of anhydrous oxid of 


calcium has lately been redetermined by Henri 
Moissan from’ the action of water on crystal- 
lized metallic calcium. The value was found 
to be Ca++ O—+ 145 cal. This value is greater 
than that for the oxids of potassium (+ 98.2) 
and sodium (+ 100.9), from which it appears 
that calcium can replace these metals in their 
oxids. It is also slightly greater than that of 
the oxid of lithium (+ 141.2). Corresponding 
to this, metallic lithium was obtained by heating 
the oxid with metallic calcium at a red heat. 
The heat of formation of magnesium oxid as 
found by Thomsen is + 143.4, but the previous 
observations of Winkler were confirmed, that 
at a low red heat calcium is freed from its oxid 
by magnesium. It is suggested, therefore, that 
the observation of Thomsen is erroneous, owing 
to impurities present in the metal used. 


Ir is interesting to find a paper from a Span- 
ish chemist in a recent Comptes Rendus. J. R. 
Mourelo, of Madrid, describes the preparation 
of phosphorescent strontium sulfid from the 
carbonate. Finely powdered strontianite and 
sulfur were heated in boats in a porcelain tube 
while a current of nitrogen was passing. In 
no case was a crystalline sulfid obtained. If 
the strontium carbonate was pure, especially 
free from alkalies, the sulfid was not phospho- 
rescent. If the temperature was too high (above 
a bright red heat), or if the nitrogen current 
was too rapid, the same was the case. The 
best results were obtained by using a strontia- 
nite which contained 96.12% strontium carbon- 
ate, 2.03% calcium carbonate and traces of 
water, manganese and iron. Particularly are 
the traces of manganese necessary if the stron- 
tium sulfid is to be highly phosphorescent. 


A srupy of aluminum has been made by P. 
Degener as to its use for culinary utensils, and 
published in the Hygienische Rundschau. While 
aluminum is but slightly acted on by weak 
acids when they are pure, in the presence of 
sodium chlorid it is rapidly attacked, as, for 
example, by sulfur dioxid, acetic acid, and even 
by alum. The inference is that some consider- 
able danger attends the use of aluminum ves- 
sels in the preparation of many kinds of food. 
Whether, as a matter of fact, the amount which 
would be dissolved would do injury in the sys- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.&. Vou. IX. No. 225. 
tem remains a mooted question. While many 
experiments seem to indicate that aluminum 
salts have a somewhat detrimental effect upon 
digestion, yet it is well known that the inhi- 
bition of large quantities of alum water is 
often found very beneficial to health, and many 
alum springs enjoy a high reputation. 

pve ale 


THE NAPLES ZOOLOGICAL STATION. 

WE have recently received from Professor 
Anton Dohrn, the Director of the Zoological 
Station at Naples, a complete list of the Amer- 
ican biologists who have worked at various 
times at the Naples Zoological Station. It is 
probable that the future demands upon the 
Naples tables will be quite as great as the pres- 
ent and the past, and the three tables, or rather 
two and one-half tables, which are now sup- 
ported by subscriptions from this country,should 
be continued. Professor Dohrn has never 
raised any technical question of rights, but has 
always welcomed every American investigator. 
The least we can do in return is to extend to 
his institution the strongest support. 

The Americans who have worked in the 
Zoological Station, the Tables they have occu- 
pied and the periods during which they were in 
attendance are as follows: 


Zoological Station. 


Professor Whitman, Boston. ..12 11 81 2 5 82 
Miss sOUN G1 Hes sce ciate crore) sis 11 3598 22 4 98 
Austria. 

DT EV WKe,} COTMING arcieres steelers 6 492 10 5 92 
Baden. 

Mr.) Hino) Ward yiroy nec. sid neOO 8 490 
Bavaria. 

DriDs SHALPOrereleialercusicie ciersionets 19 383 26 5 83 
Dr. B. Dean, Columbia...... 27. 4 92 3 6 92 


British Association. 


Dr. N. Cobb, Spencer, Mass...11 11 88 xf hak itsts) 
Cambridge. 

Miss HE Any NUN We icrrsleretorets ores 22 11 82 1 583 
Hamburg 

Dr. W. W. Norman, Ind..... 5 10 89 21 3 90 

Williams College. 

Prof. E. B. Wilson, Baltimore.30 3 83 20 10 83 
Prof. S. F. Clarke, Williams- 

LOMAN Kaodoeasuosopoanneoo 8 184 1 5 92 


APRIL 21, 1899.] 


SCIENCE, 597 


University of Pennsylvania and Zoological Station 


Dr. Ch. Dolley, Rochester....15 1 85 
Dr. W. Patten, Boston (Zool. 
St. Table, 14/4/85 18/6/85..14 4 85 


Davis Table. 


DNV Le Dise RUSSEL lit siete iclelererste 20 391 
Miss I. B. Platt, Boston.... 7 4 91 
Prof. E. B. Wilson, Phila..... ial salts. 
Dr. I. W. Field, Baltimore .. 5 10 92 


Dr. G. H. Parker, Cambridge, 


NESE eG obadsnpooodonon bod 10 3 93 
Prof. C. W. Hargitt, Syracuse 10 3 93 
Prof. J. Gardiner, Boulder....1 10 94 
Dr. Ida Hyde, Chicago........ 12 3:96 


Smithsonian Institution. 
Dr. G. Fairchild, Washington.16 11 93 
Dr. W. H. Wheeler, Chicago. .30 12 93 
Prof..H. C. Bumpus, Providence25 1 94 
Dr. L. Murbach, Berkey, Ohio.25 4 94 
Prof. T. H. Morgan, Bryn 


Prof. Herb. Osborne, Ames ...15 12 94 
Mr. W. T. Swingle, Washing- 

WO Sdpochesennobnoadoadan 10 3 96 
Dr. MacFarland, California..11 3 96 
Prof. F. H. Herrick, Cleveland, 

ONO sisogbboshaboanseuces 6 11 
Dr. E. Meek, Washington ....19 3 
Dr. H. Jennings, Michigan....10 4 97 
Dr. H. Neal, Cambridge, Mass.16 4 
Mr. B. M. Davis, Chicago....29 10 
Prof. H. W. Conn, Brooklyn..11 3 
Prof. D. Mottier, Indiana Univ.12 3 
Mr.W. T. Swingle, Washington.22 3 
Dr. J. R. Gerould, Dartmouth. 3 11 


Harvard College. 
Mr. E. Rice, Middletown....23 
Dr. C. Child, Chicago........ 4 
Prof. W. E. Ritter, Berkeley. .14 
Prof. J. Reighard, Michigan.. 2 
Prof. C. C. Nutting, Iowa..... 1 


wD PO D oo 
co 
ou 


Dr. R. T. Harrison, Baltimore. 1 96 

Dr. R. C. Coe, New Haven....17 96 

Dr. A. Weysse, Boston....... 9G Se96 

Columbia University, One-Half Year (Resp. 
Table). 


Dr. A. Matthews, New York..19 3 96 
Dr. J. Graham, New York.... 9 4 97 
Dr. E. O. Hovey, New York.. 3 11 97 


Woman’s College Table. 
_ Prof. Miss M. Willcox, Welles- 
Te ys College ciat. ircciejele «\e/sielele 9 4 98 
Miss Peebles Florence........ 2.9 98 


18 6 8 
23 4 85 
(Seth 
2 7 91 
L 7 92 
29 3 93 
1 693 
P6938 
1 395 
1 5 96 
17 393 
14 4 94 
2 494 
23 6 96 
15 7 95 
We 35 95) 
30 5 96 
24 3 96 
4 12 96 
yay ee 
25 6 97 
25 5 97 
3 12 97 
24 4 98 
18 4 98 
28 4 98 


cw) 

ie) 

dled 
wo 
Ne} 
r= 


H 
=) 
ao DW ® wo 
ive} 

a 


18 


fon) 


96 
University 
28 6 96 


14 6 97 
4 12 97 


20 5 98 
19 11 98 


The three tables now being supported in this 
country are as follows : 

Smithsonian Table.—Applications should be 
addressed to Professor S. P. Langley, Smith- 
sonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 

University Table.—The main subscription is 
by Wm. E. Dodge, Esq., of New York, in the 
name of Columbia University. The American 
Society of Naturalists has also subscribed $50 
towards this table for the year 1899. Applica- 
tions should be addressed to Professor T. H. 
Morgan, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 

Women’s College Table.—Supported by sub- 
scriptions from colleges, associations and pri- 
vate individuals. 

Applications should be sent to Miss Ida H. 
Hyde, 91 Langdon St., Cambridge, Mass. 

Students and investigators intending to visit 
the Station should apply to Dr. Anton Dohrn 
for a printed circular giving them all the neces- 
sary information as to preparation and the pro- 
cedure to be observed on arrival. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

AT a recent meeting of the Board of Trus- 
tees of the University of Pennsylvania the 
Provost was authorized to extend an invitation 
to the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science to hold its meeting in 1900 
at the University. 

THE medical department of Johns Hopkins 
University has sent a party to Manila to study 
the tropical diseases prevalent there in the hot 
season. The party includes Dr. Simon Flexner, 
recently elected professor of pathology in the 
University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. L. F. 
Barker, associate professor of anatomy at Johns 
Hopkins University. 

THE field work of the United States Biolog- 
ical Survey during the present season will 
be mainly in Texas and California. Vernon 
Bailey, chief field naturalist of the Survey, has 
begun work on the coast of Texas, and will work 
westerly to and across the Staked Plains. Later 
he will join Dr. Merriam in California. 

Nature states that Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, 
Balfour student of the University of Cambridge, 
and Mr. L. Borradaile have gone to the Island 
of Minikoi, situated between the Maldive and 


598 SCIENCE. 


Laccadive Islands, to study the formation of 
coral reefs, with special reference to to the depth 
at which the reef-building coral organisms live, 
the food of the coral polyps, the influence of 
currents upon coral formations and upon the 
distribution of life near them, and the inter- 
relationship existing between the various or- 
ganisms which occur on a coral reef. It is also 
proposed to survey the Maldive Islands, with a 
view to obtaining information as to their mode 
of formation. Mr. C. F. Cooper will join the 
expedition during the summer. 


ProFessor T. E. THORPE has been elected to 
succeed Professor Dewar as President of the 
Chemical Society, London, while Professor W. 
A. Tilden succeeds Professor Thorpe as treas- 
urer. Dr. A. Scott has been elected one of the 
secretaries. 

THE Seventh Dutch Scientific and Medical 
Congress opened its sessions at Harlem on 
April 7th. Professor Ramsay made an address 
before the Section of Chemistry on ‘The New 
Elements.’ 

THE first conversazione of the Royal Society 
will be held at Burlington House on Wednes- 
day, May 3d, at 9 p. m. 


IT is proposed to erect a memorial statue of 
Sir Thomas Browne in Norwich, where the 
author of the Religio Medici practised as a 
physician for forty-six years. It is estimated 
that the statue will cost about £2,000, towards 
which the sum of £200 has been subscribed. 


A PLAN has been proposed for erecting a 
monument to Dr. Jean Hemeau, of La Test, 
who is said to have discovered and applied the 
principles of microbic disease forty years before 
Pasteur. 


THE death is announced of Dr. Franz von 
Hauer, formerly head of the Austrian Geological 
Survey, at Vienna, aged seventy-three years; 
of Dr. Max Durand-Fardel, President of the 
French Society of Hydrology, and of the Hon. 
F, F. Thompson, of New York, who gave Wil- 
liams College scientific laboratories costing 
$180,000, and generous gifts to other educa- 
tional institutions. 

WE regret also to record the death of Dr. 
George Henry Rohé, of Maryland, at New 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 225. 


Albany, La., while in attendance at the recent 
National Prison Congress. Dr. Rohé was at 
the time of his death President of the American 
Public Health Association. 


THE death,at the age of 81 years, occurred on 
April 7th, of Mr. Joseph Stevens, the well- 
known geologist and antiquarian. Though a 
practising physician, he found time to make dis- 
coveries of neolithic and paleolithic implements 
and fossils, many. of which are deposited in the 
Reading Museum, of which he was long hono- 
rary curator. He was the author of numerous 
publications on anthropological and archeo- 
logical subjects. 

Miss E. Brown, to whose death we recently 
referred, has bequeathed one of her observa- 
tories with all the contents, and, in addition, 
£1,000, to the British Astronomical Association. 
Miss Brown was Director of the Solar Section of 
the Association. 


THE Barnard Botanical Club will give an ex- 
hibit of the work of the department of botany 
on the afternoon of April 28th. It is hoped 
that at that time the bronze tablet, given by the 
Club in memory of the late Dr. Gregory, will be 
in place. It bears the following inscription : 
“(This laboratory, for the study of physiolog- 
ical botany, is dedicated to the memory of 
Emily L. Gregory, Ph.D., first professor of 
botany in Barnard College, from its opening, in 
1889, until her death, in 1897.’’ 


Mr. W. S. LEAN has bequeathed £50,000 to 
the British Museum for the extension of the 
library and reading room. 


By the will of the late Sir William Jenner, 
£10,000 is bequeathed to the Royal College of 
Physicians of London. 

THE Hon. Stevens Salisbury has presented to 
the Worcester Natural History Society the col- 
lection of minerals and fossils made by Mr. 
John Gilman. 

ARRANGEMENTS have been made for the es- 
tablishment of an anthropological museum at 
the University of Aberdeen. Several collec- 
tions have already been presented to the Uni- 
versity. 

A SUBSCRIPTION has been opened in Scotland 
for erecting a stone over the tomb of Professor 


APRIL 21, 1899. ] 


Macgillivray, the ornithologist, in the New 
Calton cemetery, Edinburgh, and for founding 
a Macgillivray gold medal in Aberdeen Uni- 
versity as a prize to the best student in zoology, 
botany or geology. 

Ir is stated in Nature that some recognition 
will shortly be made of the services rendered to 
geological science by the Rev. Thomas Wilt- 
shire, professor emeritus of geology in King’s 
College, London. Of late years Mr. Wiltshire’s 
labors have not been of a nature to bring his 
name prominently before the public, but he has 
been toiling quietly as the honorary Secretary 
and Editor of the Paleontographical Society. 
That Society has now published fifty-two quarto 
annual volumes, and some thirty of these have 
been edited by Mr. Wiltshire. These volumes 
each contain forty or fifty plates of fossils, and 
two hundred or more pages of letter press, deal- 
ing with organic remains of all classes. Great 
credit is due to Mr. Wiltshire, and the members 
of the Paleontographical Society (of which Dr. 
Henry Woodward, F.R.S., is President, and 
Mr. R. Etheridge, F.R.S., Treasurer) have de- 
cided to present him with a testimonial, towards 
which subscriptions (not limited to members. of 
the Society) are now being received. 


Ir is stated that the French authorities are so 
gratified with the success of the wireless teleg- 
raphy demonstrations between Boulogne and 
the South Foreland that an attempt to tele- 
graph from Paris is proposed, and that the Hiffel 
Tower will be the French terminal. The Eng- 
lish terminal will remain at the South Fore- 
land. The direct distance between the two 
points is about 230 miles. 


WE have received the first part of the first 
volume of the Proceedings of the Washington 
Academy of Sciences issued on April 14, 1899. 
It consists of the first annual report of the Sec- 
retary, Mr. G. K. Gilbert. Thisis an interesting 
account of the foundation of the Academy, in- 
cluding the events antecedent to its formation, 
most of which have been recorded in this Jour- 
NAL. Itissaid that the Proceedings will be con- 
tinued with the publication of scientific papers. 


THE Geological Society of Washington has 
issued the address of the retiring President, 
Mr. Arnold Hague, on ‘Early Tertiary Vol- 


SCIENCE. 


599 


canoes of the Absaroka Range,’ originally pub- 
lished in this JouRNAL, together with an ab- 
stract of the minutes of the Society for the 
years 1897 and 1898. In 1898 forty-one papers 
were presented, the average attendance at the 
meetings being thirty-five. The present offi- 
cers of the Society are: President, Whitman 
Cross; Vice-Presidents, J. S. Diller, C. W. 
Hayes; Treasurer, M. R. Campbell; Secretaries, 
T. W. Stanton, David White ; Members-at- 
Large of the Council, 8. F. Emmons, Geo. P. 
Merrill, Bailey Willis, N. H. Darton, A. H. 
Brooks. 


Lorp KELVIN has just prepared a report on 
some interesting investigations made by Pro- 
fessor Archibald Barr and himself in Edinburgh, 
Bradford and Oldham on the subject of the 
destruction of town refuse. According to the 
London Times the report is not only of 
great interest to local authorities, but to the 
general public. In one instance he experi- 
mented on damp ashpit refuse containing a 
large proportion of night soil and vegetable 
matter from markets and shops. This was con- 
sumed without the slightest trace of smoke. In 
addition to this solution of the smoke difficulty 
the residual products proved to be of great com- 
mercial value. In another case the steam pro- 
duced by the process of destruction was utilized 
for the driving of electric lighting machinery 
and other power purposes. No coal or coke 
whatever was employed, and in this instance 
also there was an entire absence of smoke. 
Lord Kelvin’s report demonstrates that pub- 
lic bodies have no longer any excuse for re- 
ferring to ‘waste products,’ but have within 
their reach the means of turning the most un- 
promising kinds of refuse to a highly profitable 
account. 


THE Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting of the 
American Public Health Association will be 
held at Minneapolis, Minn., beginning October 
81st, and continuing until November 4, 1899. 
The Executive Committee has selected the fol- 
lowing topics for consideration: (1) The Pollu- 
tion of Water Supplies; (2) The Disposal of 
Garbage and Refuse; (3) Animal Diseases and 
Animal Food; (4) Car Sanitation; (5) Steam- 
ship and Steamboat Sanitation; (6) The Eti- 


600 


ology of Yellow Fever; (7) The Relation of 
Forestry to the Public Health; (8) Demog- 
raphy and Statistics in their Sanitary Relations; 
(9) The Causes and Prevention of Infectious 
Diseases ; (10) Public Health Legislation ; (11) 
The Cause and Prevention of Infant Mortality; 
(12) The Period during which Each Contagious 
Disease is Transmissible and the Length of Time 
for which each Patient is Dangerous to the 
Community ; (13) Sanitation, with special ref- 
erence to Drainage, Plumbing and Ventilation 
of Public and Private Buildings ; (14) Method 
of International Arrangement for Protection 
against the Transmission of Infectious Diseases; 
(15) Disinfectants ; (16) To Examine into the 
existing Sanitary Municipal Organizations of 
the Countries belonging to the Association with 
a view to Report upon those most successful in 
Practical Results; (17) Laboratories ; (18) To 
dgfine What Constitutes an Epidemic; (19) Na- 
tional Leper Home; (20) Revision of Classi- 
fication of Diseases; (21) Dangers to the Pub- 
lic Health from Illuminating Gas Leakage. 

A CORRESPONDENT of the London Times calls 
attention to a passagé in The Spectator (No. 
241, 1711) which is interesting in connection 
with wireless telegraphy and telegraphy in 
general. The passage read thus: ‘‘Strada in 
one of his Prolusions gives an account of a 
chimerical correspondence between two friends 
by the help of a certain loadstone, which had 
such virtue in it that if it touched two several 
needles, when one of the needles so touched be- 
gan to move, the other, though at never so 
great a distance, moved at the same time and in 
the same manner. He tells us that the two 
friends, being each of them possessed of one of 
these needles, made a kind of dial-plate, in- 
scribing it with the four and-twenty letters in 
the same manner as the hours of the day are 
marked upon the ordinary dial-plate. They 
then fixed one of the needles on each of these 
plates in such manner that it could move round 
without impediment so as to touch any of the 
four-and-twenty letters. Upon their separating 
from one another into distant countries they 
agreed to withdraw themselves punctually into 
their closets at a certain hour of the day and to 
converse with one another by means of this 
their invention. Accordingly when they were 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. 1X. No. 225. 


some hundred miles asunder each of them shut 
himself up in his closet at the time appointed, 
and immediately cast his eye upon his dial- 
plate. If he had a mind to write anything to 
his friend he directed his needle to every letter 
that formed the words which he had occasion 
for, making a little pause at the end of every 
word or sentence to avoid confusion. The 
friend, in the meanwhile, saw his own sympa- 
thetic needle moving of itself to every letter 
which that of his correspondent pointed at. By 
this means they talked together across a whole 
continent, and conveyed their thoughts to one 
another in an instant over cities or mountains, 
seas or deserts.”’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


In its session just closed the Legislature of 
Nebraska made provision for the University of 
Nebraska for the biennium ending March 31, 
1901, as follows: University salaries, $230,- 
000; University expenses (including U. S. 
funds for agricultural and mechanic arts), $172,- 
500 ; buildings and other improvements, $93,- 
500. 


THE Queen has appointed the Earl of Kim- 
berley, K.G., to be Chancellor of the University 
of London, in lieu of the late Lord Herschell. 


THE University of Chicago has awarded 
eighty-one fellowships, of which the following 
are given in the sciences: mathematics, G. A. 
Bliss, H. Lloyd, W. Findlay, D. N. Lehmer, 
J. H. MacDonald; astronomy, C. E. Rood, W. 
S. Adams, A. C. Lunn; physics, H. O. Murfee, 
R. F. Earhart, C. W. Chamberlain, F. Reich- 
mann; chemistry, H. E. Goldberg, W. Mc- 
Cracken, M. D. Slimmer, 8. F. Acree; geology, 
W. W. Atwood, W. N. Logan, R. George, W. 
T. Lee, W. G. Tight; zoology, H. E. Davies, 
R. S. Lillie, F. M. Guyer, H. H. Newman; 
botany, A. C. Moore, B. E. Livingston, 8. M. 
Coulter, F. M. Lyon; physiology, R. R. Rogers, 
W. E. Garrey, R. W. Webster; neurology, D. 
M. Shoemaker; sociology, R. G. Kimble, A. 
T. Freeman, A. D. Sorenson; anthropology, 
A. W. Dunn; pedagogy, W. A. Clark; philos- 
ophy and psychology, H. W. Stuart, H. B. 
Thompson, R. L. Kelly, H. H. Bawdin. 


CIENCE 


EpIToRrAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcomsb, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaArp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
J. LE Contr, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpitcH, Physiology ; 

J. S. Brntines, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aprit 28, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
The Revival of Inorganic Chemistry: DR. H. N. 
STORHS eee rere otecasses De sneatch an teen caesenecee 601 
On the Total Solar Eclipse of May 28, 1900: PRo- 
FESSOR TRUMAN HENRY SAFFORD...........0006++ 615 


Reception and Exhibition of the New York Academy 
‘ of Sciences: PROFESSOR WILLIAM HALLOCK.. 616 
Scientific Books :— 
Campbell on the Evolution of Plants: 
sOR CHARLES E. BESSEY. 


PROFES- 
Groos's Die Spiele 


der Menschen: HIRAM M. STANLEY. Books 
MECELVEC ors enn eee R rene ees eer ee ee cent eto nreens 618 
Scientifie Journals and Articles.........ccccceeeeveeeeeees 620 


Societies and Academies :— 
The National Academy of Sciences. The Philo- 
sophical Society of Washington: E. D. PRES- 
TON. Geological Society of Washington: DR. 

W. F. Morsetn. Chemical Society of Wash- 

ington: Dr. W. H. Krua. Minnesota Academy 

of Natural Sciences: CHAKLES P. BERKEY. 

The Academy of Sciences of St. Lowis: PROFES- 

soR WILLIAM TRELEASE. Boston Society of 

Natural History: SAMUEL HENSHAW .........--+ 621 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

The Action of the Coherer: M. F. LocKwoop, 

E. B. WHEELER. Two-Headed Snakes: Ros- 

WELL H. JOHNSON. Duplication of Geologic 

Formation Names: F. B. WEEKS .....0.ce0eeeeeee 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H 


Current Notes on Meteorology : 
Frost Prediction and Protection; A Fog Dis- 
pelle Notesicn tol) CC MWEAR Dtsch terete teceksu see 627 
Scientific Notes and News :— 
The American Association for the Advancement 
of Science ; Geological Survey Work in Alaska: 
Ww. F. M. Scientific Positions wnder the Gov- 
ETIUMENL 1a GENET AW acverceuiccesnenvessserecnictilenssscses 628 
University and Educational News :— 
Assistants in Physiology in Harvard Medical 
ISCHOOU ms GCNENALe saetatentectnnseetesticccaransanstetieds 631 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor. Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE REVIVAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY.* 

Norine can be more instructive to the 
student interested in the results of intel- 
lectual cross-fertilization than the effect of 
the recent fecundation of chemistry by 
physics. Through the application of phys- 
ical methods and ideas to chemistry, the 
latter has given birth to a new branch of 
study, physical chemistry, which prom- 
ises to produce as radical a change in 
our conceptions of molecular phenomena as 
did the overthrow of the phlogiston theory 
or the introduction of the conception of 
valency at a later period. 

The attempt of Berthollet to introduce 
dynamical conceptions into chemistry, at 
the beginning of the century, fell on thorny 
ground, and from that day until very re- 
cent years the growth of chemistry, great 
as it has been, has been most remarkably 
one-sided.. The Periodic Law has been dis- 
covered, many new elements have been 
found, new compounds without number 
have been prepared, the rules governing 
their formations and transformations have 
been ascertained, and even their micro- 
scopic anatomy has been studied to such an 
extent that for countless of them we have 
established formulas which express, sche- 
matically, the relative arrangement of the 
atoms in the molecule. In stereochemistry 
we have even gone so far as to be able to 


*Anuual address of the President of the Chemical 
Society of Washington, delivered March 30, 1899. 


602 SCIENCE. 


indicate, in a rough way, the actual rela- 
tions of the atoms in space; yet, with all 
this, a most important part of the problem 
has been almost neglected. To use a bio- 
logical expression, chemistry has been enor- 
mously developed on the morphological, 
and but little on the physiological side. 
Chemists have concerned themselves greatly 
with the products of chemical reactions, and 
but little with the nature of the reactions 
themselves. The molecule has been treated 
as a dead, rigid body is treated by the 
anatomist, but its study as a living, moving 
mass, filled with energy and capable of re- 
acting by virtue of this energy, has been 
largely left to the future. Even as late as 
1882 the German physiologist Emil du 
Bois-Reymond used the words which have 
since been in the mouth of every physical 
chemist : 

“Tn contradistinction to modern chem- 
istry, we may call physical chemistry the 
chemistry of the future.” 

Since 1882, thanks to the labors and in- 
spiring influence of Ostwald, van’t Hoff, 
Arrhenius, Nernst and others, physical 
chemistry is no longer the chemistry of the 
future merely, but of the present, and apart 
from the quickening influence which it is 
exerting in nearly all branches of chemistry 
proper, both pure and applied, we are be- 
ginning to perceive that we are entering a 
period in which chemistry will be of greater 
service to the allied sciences. Geological 
chemistry is showing signs of reviving un- 
der the stimulus of physico-chemical con- 
ceptions, and we are finding, too, that as 
physiological chemistry is not merely the 
chemistry of sugar, or urea, or albumin, 
but preemineutly a science of moving and 
changing molecules, it can only progress by 
the aid of a knowledge of the laws of chem- 
ical energy. 

The achievements of physical chemistry 
form, perhaps, the most interesting phase of 
the recent history of our science, but its 


(N.S. Von. IX. Ne. 226. 


followers have spoken for themselves so 
often of late years, and have presented the 
subject so much better than I could do it, 
that I feel compelled to consider a perhaps 
humbler, but yet not unimportant, field of 
research, which, in a sense, may also be 
called a part of the chemistry of the future, 
the field of Inorganic Chemistry. The rela- 
tions of physical and inorganic chemistry 
have recently been discussed by van’t Hoff 
in his admirable address delivered last 
summer before the Society of German 
Scientists and Physicians, and [ shall, there- 
fore, limit myself to the consideration of a 
few points of a more strictly chemical na- 
ture, touching the relations of physical and 
inorganic chemistry only incidentally. 

The aim of physical chemistry will have 
been accamplished when it has established 
a mathematical equation which, by proper 
substitution, will enable us to predict the 
nature of every possible chemical system or 
reaction, and the properties, physical and 
chemical, of every possible element or com- 
pound. Until he has reached this chem- 
ical millennium, unless he will risk falling 
into the pit which has received so many 
philosophers in the past, the chemist must 
continue to advance by the route by which 
our understanding of every other branch of 
physical science has been reached. Not- 
withstanding all that physical chemistry 
can do with this material at present in 
hand, the experimenter must long continue 
to take the short cut to knowledge and find 
out what his elements and compounds will 
do by first actually getting them in hand, 
by precipitation, filtration, distillation, crys- 
tallization and the like. It may be ques- 
tioned whether our present knowledge of 
facts would ever suffice to enable us to pre- 
dict, for example, a single atomic weight 
with accuracy, or to explain that wonderful 
relation between properties and atomic 
weights known as the Periodic Law. A 
few enthusiastic physical chemists have 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


spoken slightingly of the compound-maker, 
as a kind of inferior being, apparently for- 
getting that it is just this kind of pioneer 
work which has supplied the material for 
their labors, that the first requisite for suc- 
cessful generalization is the possession of a 
large number of pure substances, of accu- 
rately known composition and properties, 
many of which can only be obtained by 
work which is so elaborate and difficult, 
and which requires such concentration of 
effort that he who follows it can well be ex- 
cused if he does not always look on the 
product of his labor as merely means to 
another end. It is tolerably clear that, for 
a long time to come, experimentizing must 
keep equal pace with mathematicizing, and 
if the former have been pushed so far in one 
direction as to appear to afford no prospect 
of continued progress we must not abandon 
it altogether, but consider whether it may not 
be still profitably pursued along other lines. 
Let us consider whether we must all turn 
mathematical chemists, or whether there 
is not much left to be done by those trained 
in the older school, working along old-fash- 
ioned lines and by old-fashioned methods. 

Descriptive chemistry, as it exists to-day, 
is a science which has grown and is still 
growing enormously in a single direction, 
that of organic chemistry, the chemistry of 
the compounds of carbon. We are at pres- 
ent acquainted with about seventy-five 
chemical elements, which are found in the 
most varied proportion in those parts of the 
earth which are accessible to our observa- 
tion, namely, the crust, the sea and the air. 
The accompanying table, calculated by 
Clarke, shows the relative abundance of the 
elements in a sphere comprising the crust 
for a depth of ten miles, the ocean and the 
atmosphere : 


OR (SEIN conse sanancbadeqHachobddoondaanaaogaddMAasouddd 49.98 
BSH INET Ee ndnegue -eioaboocnecccnndaSsoshnadd econeaccHocanod 25.30 
PAU TUMIITIIU DAs scec sevens tetaasercsencsdsccsliesest cece 7.26 
JURY -cocsodabdaoqobaEodaadoDcbndsacadobagodonbdoodadanoo: 5.08 


SCIENCE. 


- 


603 

Caleiumilaccreceen ceca enemas cont oenaies Sas estoaaers 3.51 
Magnesium nainccctiescsccscdassssosecedecsesces se sss 2.50 
Soddumlesnsssemasscecsscescecacercesssacscsassscc ss 2.28 
IPOCASSLUMUP eeecresce ce eonesdectocecutiecanecscosess 2.23 
15 A AEb ROE) Svs odooadenganscbaoooasaondedeaodooodagohodguce 94 
PLIGANUUM secs ceesentecascesastencecasscnetessecsenecs .30 
Cardone eirmccsieacatdes te talento eon sais detects APA 
Sa } RS eu SA ME yl 
Bromine 

Phosphorus -09 
Manganese ef 
Sulphur tscwsewseonccaascscasticce secsscaecse ces 04 
Bari iim ansedac jiaaeslatcienc cake seesctadste sso .03 
INDEROG EN): Hotsiessaascnsceecsscuretsttesrcase Secbacians on -02 
Chromium .O1 


The nineteen elements here given make 
up nearly the whole mass; the remaining 
fifty-five or thereabouts, taken together, and 
making all possible allowance for error, do 
not amount to more than at most 1 per 
cent. Observe that the element carbon 
amounts to but one-fifth of 1 per cent. To 
be sure, this is no argument that the chem- 
istry of carbon is relatively unimportant ; 
on the contrary, there is no necessary con- 
nection between the abundance of an ele- 
ment and its ability to carry us further 
toward a knowledge of chemical laws. 
Nevertheless, to an intelligence not having 
its seat in a body largely made up of carbon 
compounds, it might appear somewhat sur- 
prising that chemists should have attempted 
to base a science on the investigation of an 
element which exists in such relatively insig- 
nificant amounts, the compounds of which, 
with but few exceptions, are incapable of 
formation at the freezing point of water, or 
of existence at the lowest red heat; and 
should have chosen to devote nearly all of 
their energy to its study. 

Apart from the special subject of coal, pe- 
troleum and asphalt, carbon is of practical 
importance to the geologist only in the form 
of carbon dioxide and the carbonates, while 
of the chemical properties of silicon, which 
constitutes 27 per cent. of the earth’s crust, 
and of the silicates, which make up nearly 
all of it, we know vastly less than of the 


604 SCIENCE. 


derivatives of the single carbon compound, 
benzene. A study of the chemical changes 
taking place in the sun, and of most of those 
occurring in the interior of the earth, might 
almost leave carbon out of account; it 
would certainly have no more importance 
than titanium, an element of which few but 
chemists have ever heard, but which is 
more abundant and as widely distributed. 

Carbon, as an essential constituent of 
living beings, constantly forces itself on 
our attention, yet this is not to be consid- 
ered as by any means the chief cause of the 
predominance of organic chemistry. Com- 
paratively few of the best studied organic 
compounds have more than the remotest 
connection with the phenomena of life. 
Phosphorus and sulphur, to say nothing 
of oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, are 
quite as important in this respect as carbon, 
yet how relatively little do we know of 
phosphorus and sulphur in their chemical 
relations, or even of nitrogen. The ex- 
traordinary development of carbon chem- 
istry is due mainly to reasons of a chemical 
nature, which, by rendering its compounds 
easier to study, have made progress in this 
direction a line of least resistance. This 
has not been without its advantages, for 
we have been led to discern laws which 
could not have been perceived so soon had 
the working forces been more evenly dis- 
tributed, but it has also had the unfortunate 
result that the theories of molecular struc- 
ture, derived wholly from the study of car- 
bon compounds, have been applied to all 
classes of inorganic compounds too hastily 
and without sufficient research. The inor- 
ganic chemist has done little but make new 
compounds, and ascribe to them structural 


formulas seldom based on the results of ex-° 


periment, but rather on the possibility of 
drawing schemes on paper, in which the 
various valences or bonds were mutually 
satisfied (how, did not matter much), while 
those substances which were inconsiderate 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 226. 


enough to refuse to submit to this opera- 
tion without violating every probable or 
possible assumption have been labeled 
‘molecular compounds,’ and under this 
name submitted to a forced neglect, which 
soon resulted in their being forgotten. We 
shall presently see that an increasing re- 
spect for these so-called molecular com- 
pounds is one of the features of the revival 
of inorganic chemistry. 

In the earlier days of chemistry no sharp 
line was drawn between inorganic and or- 
ganic substances. It is generally thought 
that we owe this distinction to Nicholas 
Lémery, who, in 1675, classified substances, 
according to their origin, as mineral, vege- 
table andanimal,a distinction which has sur- 
vived until the present day in popular speech. 
Lavoisier, recognizing in substances of 
vegetable and animal origin the elements 
carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, 
and led by his researches to attribute a 
peculiar importance to oxygen, regarded in- 
organic bases and acids as oxides of simple 
radicals, and organic bodies as oxides of 
compound radicals composed of carbon, 
hydrogen and sometimes nitrogen, but did 
not otherwise distinguish them. Even in 
1811 it was undetermined whether carbon 
compounds obey the laws of constant and 
multiple proportions, and it was two or 
three years more before Berzelius, having 
sufficiently improved the methods of organic 
analysis, definitely proved that they do, in 
fact, conform to these laws, but are of greater 
complexity than the comparatively simple 
inorganic compounds then known. In his 
electro-chemical theory, the theory of 
dualism, developed between 1812 and 1818, 
Berzelius regarded the simple inorganic 
bodies, such as the bases and acids, as 
binary compounds of positive with negative 
atoms, held together by electrical attraction; 
the more complex bodies, as the salts, being 
binary compounds of a higher order; the 
organic compounds, on the contrary, being 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


regarded as ternary or quaternary. Later 
he extended the dualistic conception to 
these also, adopting the idea of Lavoisier 
that they are binary compounds of oxygen 
with compound radicals, composed of car- 
bon, hydrogen and sometimes nitrogen, a 
view which he developed further and never 
wholly abandoned. In 1817 we find Leo- 
pold Gmelin maintaining that organic com- 
pounds are the products of a vital force and 
cannot be produced artificially. This view 
was entertained by Berzelius even as late as 
1827 or later. Berzelius attributed the 
formation of organic compounds, with their 
relatively weak positive and negative 
characters, to peculiar electrical conditions 
existing in the organism. We cannot re- 
produce these conditions in the laboratory, 
and, therefore, cannot produce organic com- 
pounds artificially. Those transformations 
which we are able to effect are always from 
the more complex to the simpler. We can 
isolate the intermediate stages in the break- 
ing-down of organic matter into carbon 
dioxide, water and ammonia, that is, we 
can follow the change of matter from the 
organic to the inorganic, step by step, but 
we cannot reverse the process and build up, 
nor can we hope to do so in the future. This 
opinion of Berzelius marks the widest gulf 
between organic and inorganic chemistry, 
a gulf too wide for human power to bridge. 
How dangerous it is to set limits to the 
power of science! But one year later, in 
1828, Wohler announced his discovery that 
urea, a body of animal origin, could be pro- 
duced from ammonium cyanate, a sub- 
stance, which, in its turn, can be built up 
from its constituent elements, carbon, 
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. This was 
the first of a series of innumerable synthe- 
ses which have fully disposed of the idea that 
any fundamental distinction exists between 
inorganic and organic compounds. Al- 
though we have not yet made albumin in the 
laboratory, we all expect that it will be done, 


SCIENCE. 


605 


and nearly every chemist now believes that 
even the properties of living protoplasm are 
due, not to any peculiar vital force inherent 
in the protoplasm itself, but to the special 
properties of the carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 
nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements of 
which itis composed. My subject does not 
permit me to consider in detail how the 
idea of organic chemistry, as the chemistry 
of compound radicals, was evolved; how the 
radical theory was replaced by the concep- 
tion of the molecule as a unit; how, in 
1853, the theory of valency began to develop, 
and how this, with the type theory, the 
theory of the linkage of atoms, and the 
constant tetravalency of carbon, led, in the 
early sixties, to our present conceptions of 
the structure of organic molecules. With 
the advent of the fully developed structural 
formula, the brilliant progress of organic 
chemistry toward fuller theoretical develop- 
ment came to an end with remarkable sud- 
denness. Kekulé’s ingenious and fruitful 
theory of the benzene ring, suggested in 
1865, was an application, to a particular 
class of compounds, of principles already 
established, but involved no fundamentally 
new conceptions. Organic chemistry en- 
tered upon what has aptly been termed a 
period of ‘ formula worship.’ The establish- 
ment of the constitutional formula became 
the highest aim of the devotees of this 
cult, against which but few chemists, for 
example, Kolbe and Mendelejeff, have had 
the courage to protest. In pursuing this 
aim the organic chemists have unques- 
tionably accumulated an enormous mass of 
valuable information and detail; have dis- 
covered new methods of synthesis, new 
laws of more or less special application and 
new compounds of practical value; but, with 
all their labors, the ordinary structural 
formula of to-day means no more than it 
did in 1865. In stereo-chemistry, however, 
the development of the structural formula 
in space of three dimensions, organic chem- 


606 


istry, has shown real progress, especially 
since 1887, when LeBel and van’t Hoff’s 
theory of the asymmetric carbon atom, 
which was proposed in 1874, but which 
slumbered almost forgotten, was revived by 
Wislicenus. At present the most impor- 
tant developments of structural chemistry, 
both organic and inorganic, unquestionably 
have the question of space relation as their 
basis. 

The development of inorganic chemistry 
presents some marked distinctions from 
that of organic chemistry. Up to the year 
1820 nearly all the important discoveries 
and generalizations came from the inorganic 
side. Richter’s discovery of the law of 
equivalents; the researches of Scheele, Cav- 
endish, Priestley; the development of the 
theory of oxidation by Lavoisier; the atomic 
hypothesis of Dalton and his laws of con- 
stant and multiple proportions, and the 
placing of them on a firm foundation by 
the remarkable labors of Berzelius ; Gay 


Lussac’s law of the simple relation of. 


the volumes of reacting gases; Dulong 
and Petit’s law, and the law of iso- 
morphism, all fall within this period and 
antedate the beginning of the rapid devel- 
opment of carbon chemistry. The same is 
true of the discovery of the alkali metals, 
the recognition of the elementary nature of 
chlorine, and of the establishment of the 
existence of hydrogen acids, and many other 
important facts. In these the study of car- 
bon played a relatively insignificant part. 
The electro-chemical theory of Berzelius, 
too, which was of such great importance as 
a working hypothesis, was of inorganic 
origin. By 1830 the predominance of or- 
ganic chemistry was already pronounced, 
and with the increased attention given to 
this new field the interest in inorganic 
chemistry lagged behind. All, or nearly 
all, the developments of theoretical impor- 
tance began to come from the inorganic side. 
The history of chemistry from 1830 to 1865 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. 1X. No. 226. 


is practically the history of organic chemis- 
try. I do not mean that research was con- 
fined merely to carbon compounds. The 
influence of Berzelius continued to be felt, 
and men like Heinrich Rose, Wohler, Bun- 
sen and many others made valuable contri- 
butions to inorganic chemistry, as well as 
several like Dumas, Liebig and others, 
whose reputation rests chiefly on their or- 
ganic work. The great inorganic chemists 
were mostly men of an analytical rather than 
synthetical turn of mind. The growth of 
mineralogy led to the discovery of new ele- 
ments, and the analytical requirements to 
which it, as well as practical chemistry, 
gave rise conduced largely to the study of 
inorganic compounds. The conception of 
valency, while due mainly to organic chem- 
istry, owes not a little to inorganic chemis- 
try, though it did but little to further it. 
Numerous atomic weight determinations of 
greater or less accuracy were made, some- 
times with a purely analytic purpose, some- 
times with the object of testing the validity 
of Prout’s hypothesis, but these exercised 
but little influence on the theoretical growth 
of inorganic chemistry, which remained for 
the most part a mass of unconnected facts. 

In considering the causes to which is due 
the preeminent attention given to organic 
chemistry since 1830, the point most to be 
emphasized is that at no time since that 
date has there been lacking a well-defined 
working hypothesis of the nature of organic 
compounds. Not only did these substances 
prove eminently susceptible of classification 
into types, but, for reasons to be stated 
later, the transformations discovered were 
80 numerous, and the possibilities of pro- 
ducing synthetically old or new compounds, 
and of working out new theories, were so 
attractive that most of the best chemical 
minds between 1830 and 1865, or even later, 
were drawn into organic chemistry. An- 
other important factor is that of inertia. 
Most students of nature do not willingly 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


enter upon entirely new fields of research. 
The pupils of the great masters of organic 
chemistry, Liebig, Dumas, Hofmann, Wurtz, 
Kolbe, Kekulé and others, found enough to 
do in following in the footsteps of their 
teachers, and were little inclined to seek 
new pastures. The requirements of candi- 
dates for the doctorate, whereby the experi- 
mental material for the dissertation had to 
be accumulated in a comparatively short 
time, led to the assignment of topics with 
which the instructor was familiar, and 
which were fairly sure of giving positive re- 
sults within a year or two, and, as we all 
know, no branch of chemistry yields results 
so readily as the study of carbon compounds, 
with its highly developed synthetical meth- 
ods. As the Chemiker-Zeitung has recently 
pointed out, even at the present day the 
full professorships in German universities 
are almost invariably held by organic chem- 
ists, while inorganic chemistry is left to 
subordinates. The weight of authority and 
influence being on the side of organic chem- 
istry, the student who looks forward to a 
university career sees that his chances of 
promotion are better if he follow the organic 
rather than the inorganic direction. I need 
hardly add that the more mercenary hope 
of obtaining a new dye-stuff or a new rem- 
edy, or of replacing nature in making an 
alkaloid, has also been a powerful incentive 
to many. 


Let us now consider some of the reasons — 


which have their root in the chemical] pecul- 
jarities of carbon, and which render its 
compounds, at least those which are not 
too complex, comparatively easy to study. 
These conditions are not peculiar to carbon, 
but no other element, as far as is known’ 
presents as many of them at the same time’ 

1. Carbon compounds being very gener- 
ally soluble in neutral solvents, frequently 
crystalline, and often volatile without de- 
composition at comparatively low tempera- 
tures, are peculiarly adapted to separation 


SCIENCE. 


607 


in a state of purity by fractional crystalli- 
zation or distillation, and for the same rea- 
son it is usually possible to determine their 
true molecular weights. The very general 
possession of melting or boiling points lying 
within easily observable ranges of tempera- 
ture greatly facilitates identification. 

2. The power of carbon of uniting, atom 
to atom, to form chains, the form and size 
of which can be easily regulated by known 
synthetic methods, and the stability of 
which is sufficient to allow of manipulation 
under easily attainable conditions, is a 
marked peculiarity of this element. This, 
with the power of forming stable compounds 
with hydrogen, is the basis of the defini- 
tion of organic chemistry as ‘ the chemistry 
of the hydrocarbons and their derivatives.’ 
With regard to self-linking power the 
other elements are in marked contrast. 
We know with certainty no compounds in 
which two atoms of boron are linked, not 
more than four nitrogen atoms have been 
arranged tandem, while of silicon, the near- 
est relative of carbon, we know at best a 
half-dozen well-defined compounds with 
two atoms of this element in series, and 
but one with three ; analogues of the hydro- 
carbons are unknown, with the exception 
of silico-methane, and the instability of 
this is sufficient proof that a series of silicon 
paraffines would be most difficult to pre- 
pare, and the same would apply to all 
classes of silicon compounds in which self- 
linking is a prerequisite. It does not ap- 
pear probable that we shall ever have a 
very extensive chemistry of the ‘ hydrosil- 
icons and their derivatives.’ Among the 
compounds of other elements self-linkage 
oceurs in but few cases and is limited in 
extent. 

3. It is a highly important property of 
carbon compounds that their molecules tend 
to preserve their individuality ; they gener- 
ally do not, though there are exceptions, 
spontaneously avail themselves of opportuni- 


608 


ties for condensation, whether by polymeri- 
zation or by union of two or more molecules 
with separation of water or ammonia. The 
so-called double and triple union between 
carbon atoms only exceptionally leads to 
spontaneous polymerization, while with sil- 
icon this latter is apparently the rule. The 
important carbonyl group, C = O, the char- 
acteristic group of organic acids, aldehydes 
and ketones, shows but little tendency to 
polymerize, while organic hydroxyl com- 
pounds are usually stable and do not spon- 
taneously give rise to ethers or acid anhy- 
drides. The silicon analogue of carbonyl, 
SiO, on the contrary, appears to poly- 
merize with great ease. The ethers of 
earbonic acid are well known, but the 
metasilicic ethers, those of the type SiO 
(OR),. appear to exist only as polymers. 
The silicic acids, too, show a marked ten- 
dency to condense by dehydration and pass 
spontaneously into complex bodies. It is 
easy to see what would have been the re- 
sult if carbon behaved like silicon. In- 
stead of the innumerable sharply defined 
organic acids, aldehydes, ketones and alco- 
hols, each produced by a definite synthetic 
process, each reaction would give rise to an 
almost inextricable mixture of condensation 
products, carbon dioxide would be a solid 
like silica, and organic chemistry would be 
searcely further advanced than is the chem- 
istry of silicon. This tendency of carbon 
compounds to simplicity in reaction, each 
molecule acting as if it were alone present, 
has been, therefore, an important factor in 
facilitating the growth of organic chemistry. 

4. Another feature of carbon, which plays 
an important part, is the ease with which 
intermediate or transition products can be 
formed. It is much easier to limit reactions 
in the case of carbon compounds than in 
others. Compare, for example, the action of 
chlorine on CH, and SiH,. 

5. The tendency to dissociation, both hy- 
drolytic and electrolytic, is in general less 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 226. 
marked among carbon compounds, whence 
it is easier to control the course of a reac- 
tion and to exclude changes of a sponta- 
neous nature. Finally, the carbon com- 
pounds show but little tendency to the 
formation of so-called molecular addition 
products, of which the metal ammonias, the 
double salts and the compounds with water 
of crystallization are examples, the rational 
interpretation of which is difficult. 

A full consideration of the peculiarities 
of carbon which have facilitated the synthe- 
sis of such vast numbers of organic com- 
pounds would be beyond the scope of this 
address. The above are the most impor- 
tant, and their relative absence in the ma- 
jority of elements explains largely the 
backward state of our knowledge of them. 
Our inability to determine the true molecu- 
lar weight of insoluble and non-volatile 
substances ; the difficulty of limiting reac- 
tions so as to obtain intermediate products ; 
of preventing condensations ; of separating 
mixtures and identifying their constituents 
by such simple methods as melting- and 
boiling-point determinations ; of building 
up step by step ; of dissecting atom by atom ; 
of explaining molecular compounds—these 
are hindrances which can only be overcome 
by greater perfection of our experimental 
methods, and which often render the study 
of the constitution of inorganic bodies a 
problem of great difficulty, even in the case 
of many of the simplest. 

At the very time that the organic struc- 
tural formula was beginning to turn the 
attention of organic chemists away from a 
further development of theory to a greater 
elaboration of details the Englishman New- 
lands was publishing papers which con- 
tained the germ of the Periodic Law. In 
1865 Kekulé announced his theory of the 
benzene ring; in 1864 Newlands showed 
that if the elements be arranged in the 
order of their atomic weights ‘the eighth 
element, starting from a given one, is a kind 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


of repetition of the first, like the eighth 
note of an octave in music.’ This discovery 
of Newlands of a fact which later developed 
into the Periodic Law does not, however, 
mark the beginning of a new direction in 
chemical thought. It marks rather that 
point in a long series of speculations at 
which chemists were beginning to grasp an 
idea after which they had been groping 
blindly for many years, the conception that 
the elements are not wholly unrelated 
bodies, but that there is some definite law 
connecting their. properties with their 
atomic weights. Beginning in 1815, with 
the claim of Prout that the atomic weights 
of the elements are multiples of that of 
hydrogen, which led him to suggest that 
hydrogen is the primitive element from 
which the others are built up, we find nu- 
merous speculations, some devoted merely 
to finding arithmetical relations among the 
atomic weights, such as the law of triads, 
others attempting to show how the elements 
could be built up from one or more primi- 
tive constituents. Most of these did not 
lead to any marked advance of chemical 
theory, but Prout’s hypothesis found very 
able defenders and greatly encouraged ac- 
curate atomic-weight determinations. The 
labors of Dumas, Marignac and especially 
of Stas, in this field, are directly due to the 
desire to test the validity of Prout’s sug- 
gestion. Up to 1860 not only were the 
atomic weights uncertain to within a few 
decimals, but, for other reasons, even the 
relative position of the elements in an as- 
cending series was often uncertain; our 
present empirical formulas had not been 
fully established; it was uncertain, for in- 
stance, whether water was HO with 0=8 
or H,O with 0 = 16, or whether silica was 
SiO, with Si = 28 or SiO, with Si= 21. So 
when Gladstone, in 1853, arranged the ele- 
ments in the order of ascending atomic 
weights he failed to perceive any note- 
worthy relation: Nine years later the 


SCIENCE. 


609 


French engineer and geologist de Chan- 
courtois, using the newer and now adopted 
atomic weights, arranged the elements in a 
spiral or helical form around a cylinder, in 
ascending order, and was led to the conclu- 
sion that the ‘properities of bodies are 
properties of the numbers,’ a vague state- 
ment of the now familiar phase that the 
properties of the elements are functions of 
their atomic weights. As already men- 
tioned, he was followed closely by New- 
lands, whose work, however, met with but 
slight recognition. Time is wanting to 
show how in the period 1864-1869 the 
Periodic Law was developed by the labors 
of Newlands, and more especially of Lothar 
Meyer and Mendelejeff, working independ- 
ently. It affords an interesting example 
of how a great idea is developed about 
the same time in the minds of several 
men working independently and unknown 
to each other. In 1871 Mendelejeff pub- 
lished a table which shows the periodic law 
essentially as we find it to-day, the only 
changes consisting in the addition of a few 
newly discovered elements and in placing a 
few of the older elements in their proper 
positions, as a result of more accurate 
atomic- weight determinations. 

The period 1863-1870 was, therefore, of 
the greatest importance for inorganic chem- 
istry, as it saw the development of the 
idea that the properties of the elements are 
periodic functions of their atomic weights. 
The time which has since elapsed has been 
even more fruitful than any previous period 
in speculations, having for their object the 
finding of mathematical relations between 
the atomic weights and in theories of the 
evolution of matter from one or two primal 
constituents. Many modifications of the 
periodic scheme have been devised, but 
they present but few or no advantages over 
the simple arrangement of Mendelejeff and 
Lothar Meyer. The great fact still remains, 
unmodified and unimproved, that if the ele- 


610 


ments be arranged in the order of increas- 
ing atomic weights there is a recurrence of 
the properties of elements lower in the 
scale—in short, that these properties are 
periodic functions of the atomic weights. 

The discovery of the new group of inert 
gases, helium, neon, argon and xenon, with 
perhaps krypton and metargon, has not 
modified our idea of the Periodic Law essen- 
tially. They appear to fit well into the sys- 
tem, and it is now only remarkable that their 
existence was not surmised by Mendelejeff, 
who so successfully predicted several then- 
unknown elements. Although the periodic 
system is, even to-day, the object of attack 
by a few chemists, who appear to be blinded 
by its unquestioned defects to the obvious 
truths which it expresses, it may be safely 
said that the great central fact of the perio- 
dicity in the properties of the elements is 
justas firmly established as the law of gravi- 
tation,and that, whatever modifications may 
have to be made in the scheme as a whole, 
this central fact will never be done away 
with. Theatomic theory may be supplanted 
by something better, but its successor will 
equally have to take account of the stoichi- 
ometrical relations of the elements, which 
are based not on theory, but on observation 
pure and simple, and it is on these, and not 
on the atomic theory, that the Periodic Law 
is based. 

The Periodic Law is exerting a stimula- 
ting influence on inorganic chemistry in 
various ways. It is leading toa more care- 
ful study of all the elements, with the ob- 
ject of discovering further analogies ; new 
compounds are being prepared and old ones 
studied better with this in view; new kinds 
of periodicity are being sought for in phys- 
ical as wellas in chemical properties. The 
question of the nature of the rare earth 
metals, the asteroids of the elementary 
system, as Crookes calls them, is being at- 
tacked with greater energy. Are these, of 
which Crookes claims there are thirty or 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 226. 


perhaps sixty, capable of being fitted into 
the system, as it now exists? Must we 
modify it in order to take them in, or do 
they represent certain exceptional phases 
of the evolution of matter from the original 
protyl, or different very stable modifica- 
tions or allotropic forms of a few elements ? 
Do the blanks within the system represent 
existing but as yet undiscovered elements ? 
Do some of them correspond to hypothetical 
elements which for some unknown reason 
are incapable of existence, like many or- 
ganic compounds which are theoretically 
possible, but which, if momentarily exist- 
ing, lapse at once into other forms, or must 
the scheme be so modified as to exclude 
them? These are some of the questions 
raised by the Periodic Law which it be- 
longs to the inorganic chemist to solve. 
Most important of all is the question of the 
cause of the periodicity. Before we can 
hope to establish a mathematical and pos- 
sibly a genetic relation between a series of 
numbers, such as the atomie weights and 
the chemical properties of the elements, we 
must establish with greater accuracy than 
heretofore the precise magnitude of these 
numbers, and it is this that an ever increas- 
ing number of atomic-weight chemists is 
striving todo. The question of the unity 
of matter is one to a solution of which we 
are no nearer than ever, and the Periodic 
Law, in its present form, does not afford a 
proof or, I think, even a presumption in 
favor of a genetic relation between the ele- 
ments. It is quite conceivable that we may 
have relations of properties without a com- 
mon origin. With ever increasing accuracy, 
we seem to be removing further and further 
from the possibility of any hypothesis like 
that of Prout. The electric furnace, with 
its temperature of 3,500° C., gives not a sign 
of the decomposition or transformation of 
the elements. These questions and the 
query why we know no elements below 
hydrogen or above uranium, why the num- 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


ber of the elements is limited, and why 
there are not as many kinds of matter as 
there are different wave-lengths of light—all 
these seem to belong as yet to a scientific 
dreamland rather than to the realm of 
legitimate research, yet their solution, if 
possible at all, will be accomplished only by 
the labors of the inorganic chemist. 

Let us now turn to the more special con- 
sideration of the questions of the constitu- 
tional formulas of inorganic compounds. 
The more conservative organic chemists 
have always been careful to state that the 
so-called structural formulas are reaction 
formulas merely, that is, that they are not 
intended to-express the actual relations of 
the atoms in the molecule, but are merely 
convenient schemes for rendering possible 
reactions visible to the eye. Probably most 
chemists regard them as more than this, as 
actual diagrammatic representations of the 
way in which the atoms are combined. 
The formula of marsh gas, for example, 


H 


| 
H—C—H, 


| 
H 


is regarded as more than a visualizing of its 
chemical properties; it implies that the 
carbon atom is an actual physical link be- 
tween the hydrogen atoms, which are com- 
bined directly with the carbon but not with 
each other. Stereochemical formulas are 
confessedly more than reaction formulas, 
and the steric conception of the so-called 
double and triple union asserts that these 
actually exist in the sense the words imply, 
and are not merely names for unknown 
conditions. 

Many of the simpler organic structural 
formulas unquestionably have an enormous 
mass of evidence in their favor, but many 
others we must be on our guard against 
taking too seriously, and must for the pres- 
ent regard as nothing more than reaction 


SCIENCE. 


611 


formulas. That we can regard any of them 
as well established is due, more than to 
anything else, to the almost invariably con- 
stant tetravalency of the carbon atom. 
Unfortunately, the valency of many of the 
elements entering into the composition of 
inorganic compounds appears to be ex- 
tremely variable and uncertain, and this 
has greatly impeded the study of the struc- 
ture of these bodies. The inorganic chemist 
has been far too prone to assume that the 
structural theories of the organic chemist 
are of universal applicability, and, having 
once for all attributed a certain valency to 
an element, has been often content with 
devising structural formulas which have no 
better claim to recognition than that all the 
so-assumed bonds are ‘satisfied.’ At other 
times a particular valency has been as- 
sumed for no other reason than that it en- 
abled him to contrive a formula for the 
special case under consideration. The books 
treating of such matters frequently exhibit 
wonderfully ingenious inorganic structural 
formulas which are wholly devoid of a rea- 
sonable amount of experimental evidence 
and which are, therefore, often nothing but 
pure rubbish. With many inorganic chem- 
ists, formula worship has degenerated into 
fetishism. Let us consider a few examples. 
For nitric acid, one of the simplest and 
most familiar inorganic compounds, several 
constitutional formulas may be written, in 
which the hydrogen is directly united to 
the nitrogen or separated from it by 
one or two oxygen atoms, and in which 
nitrogen may be either tri- or pentava- 
lent. Some of these are given in the 
books as if they were gospel truth. Bruhl, 
who has investigated the question by phys- 
ical methods, suggests that the hydrogen 
atom is not directly united to any part 
of the NO, radical, but is rotating around it 
and possibly combined with each oxygen 
atom in succession, a view approaching that 
of Werner. Thereare at least five formulas 


612 


proposed for this simple acid. For the 
familiar potassium chloroplatinate, K,PtCl,, 
there are four constitutional formulas seri- 


ously advocated at present. It may be 
K,=PtC),, with octavalent platinum; 
KCl = Cl 


eo a 


with tetravalent platinum and trivalent 
chlorine, as required by Remsen’s theory ; 
(PtCl],)K, in the sense of Werner’s theory, 
the two potassium atoms being combined 
with the PtCl, as a whole, or it may bea 
molecular compound in which two mole- 
cules KCl as wholes combine with PtCl, as 
a whole. The formulas suggested for most 
minerals are pure guess work. The silicates 
are usually written as if containing the 
group SiO, by analogy with carbonyl, 
C=O, yet there is not a single silicate in 
which this assumption rests on any experi- 
mental evidence, and the little we do 
actually know of the chemical behavior of 
silicon speaks against it. Such formulas, if 
not purely speculative and devoid of all 
basis and all value, as they frequently are, 
at best do not represent structure in the 
sense that the best established organic 
formulas do; they are at most reaction 
formulas only, or they represent partial 
molecules, in the same way that CH may 
stand for benzene (C,H,) or HPO, for a 
metaphosphoric acid. The attempt to in- 
terpret the double salts and halides, the com- 
pounds with water of crystallization or 
hydration, the metal-ammonias, the peculiar 
compounds of the zeolites described by 
Friedel, and other so-called molecular com- 
pounds, in the sense of the valence hypothe- 
sis, seems almost hopeless without taking 
such liberties with it as to render it nearly 
useless, and without making assumptions 
of very narrow and limited applicability. 
One may well question whether this 
hypothesis must not be very considerably 
qualified before it can be taken as the basis 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 226. 


of a general theory of the structure of in- 
organic compounds, 

One of the most striking indications of a 
revival of inorganic chemistry is the recent 
attempt of Werner to break away from the 
bonds of the organic-structure theory as 
applied to inorganic compounds and to es- 
tablish a more general theory in which 
valency plays a comparatively insignificant 
role. The arguments on which Werner’s 
hypothesis is founded are too numerous 
and elaborate to be presented here. Suf- 
fice it to say that it was primarily based on 
that peculiar class of bodies known as the 
metal-ammonias, consisting of metallic 
salts, combined with usually six or four 
molecules of ammonia, and in which the 
ammonia may be wholly or in part replaced 
by pyridine, water, acid radicals and other 
groups. These groups are supposed to be 
arranged symmetrically about the metallic 
atom, forming a radical, which, according to 
its nature, can combine as a whole with met- 
als, halogens or other positive or negative 
groups. Thus, in the compound CO(NH,), 
Cl,, cobalt forms with NH, aradical, which 
combines as a whole with the three chlorine 
atoms; in (PtCl,)K, the two potassium 
atoms are combined with the whole group 
PtCl, and not attached to any one part of 
it; the same applies to (NH,)Cl, and to 
K,(SO,) and K,(FeCN),. In the formation 
of these radicals the bivalent NH,, the 
neutral II,O and the univalent Cl can re- 
place each other indiscriminately; the 
valence theory is, therefore, practically 
thrown overboard entirely and in place of 
combination by bonds we have an exten- 
sion of the old theory of molecular com- 
pounds applicable alike to the metal-am- 
monias, the ordinary oxygen salts, the 
double halides and the compounds with 
water of crystallization. It is yet too soon 
to predict the future of this hypothesis, 
which has already won numerous active 
adherents. It is scarcely too much to hope 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


that it will lead, perhaps with some modifi- 
cations and extensions, to a more compre- 
hensive theory of structure, and to a clearer 
definition of the as yet only vague concep- 
tion of valency. It is the broadest gen- 
eralization of inorganic chemistry since the 
discovery of the Periodic Law, and shows 
that inorganic chemists are no longer will- 
ing to be mere imitators and to close their 
eyes to the existence of whole groups of 
bodies which do not tally with current 
theories, and are beginning to see that in 
these is to be sought the key to a broader 
inorganic chemistry. 

The slow development of inorganic chem- 
istry during the period from 1830 to 1865, 
as compared with that of organic chemistry, 
was due, as has been seen, in part to the 
greater breadth and greater diversity of the 
field, to the relative absence of leading ideas 
and leading motives, and to the comparative 
tractability of carbon compounds as com- 
pared with inorganic compounds under the 
restrictions of the experimental methods in 
vogue. Prout’s hypothesis and allied spec- 
ulations gave a working hypothesis for a 
limited number of investigators, but the un- 
certainty of the atomic weights, which in 
part was conditioned by the imperfection of 
analytical methods, prevented any satisfac- 
tory results being reached. Absolute purity 
of materials and absolute accuracy of 
analytical methods are not of the first im- 
portance to the organic chemist, to whom 
errors of one or two points in the first deci- 
mal are seldom of any significance. To the 
atomic-weight chemist, on the contrary, 
accuracy is the very first point to be con- 
sidered ; not only must his material be abso- 
lutely free from impurities, but his methods 
must be beyond criticism, and it is only 
with the increasing perfection of analytical 
methods, admitting not only of quantitative 
determinations of the greatest accuracy, but 
also of the detection of traces of impurities 
which for ordinary purposes are negligible, 


SCIENCE. 


613 


that this kind of work has offered induce- 
ments to a large number of workers. The 
long-wanting, leading idea or motive has 
been in large part furnished by the Periodic 
Law. The comparison of the chemical and 
physical properties of the elements and 
their compounds, the search for new ele- 
ments, the fuller investigation of those al- 
ready known, with the view of more firmly 
establishing their place in the system, and 
the redetermination of the atomic weights, 
are evidence of its influence. Witness, for 
example, the great activity in the subject of 
the rare earths, the work on the relative 
position of nickel and cobalt in the system, 
and the investigations of the atomic weight 
of tellurium, having for their object the 
decision of the question whether this ele- 
ment actually has an atomic weight greater 
than that of iodine, as the best determina- 
tions thus far seem to indicate, or whether 
it is less, as its chemical analogy to sulphur 
and selenium requires. 

Organic chemistry, with its limited range 
of temperature, is essentially a chemistry of 


. the beaker, the Liebig condenser and the 


bomb oven; it demands but comparatively 
simple and cheap apparatus of glass, not 
calculated to withstand high temperatures, 
and as such is within the means of the 
humblest laboratory. The reverence of the 
organic chemist for the platinum crucible 
is something astounding. With improve- 
ments in apparatus for producing and ma- 
terials for resisting high temperatures, new 
vistas have opened to the inorganic chemist, 
while the province of the organic chemist, 
limited as it is by the instability of his com- 
pounds, has derived no benefit therefrom. 
Not only do we owe to this the beautiful in- 
vestigations of Victor Meyer and others on 
high-temperature vapor densities, but with 
the recent development of electrical technol- 
ogy the electric furnace has appeared, and 
with it a new chemistry, the chemistry of a 
temperature of 3,500° C. Notonly have new 


614 


compounds been made which cannot be pro- 
duced at lower temperatures, but the ac- 
cessibility of many elements and compounds 
has been greatly increased. The reductions 
which Wohler and Deville effected gram- 
wise in glass and porcelain tubes can now 
be carried out in the electric furnace pound- 
wise and even ton-wise. The manipulation 
of the current for electrolytic purposes, ren- 
dered possible by increased knowledge of 
the laws of electricity, as well as by ease of 
its production, is yielding results chiefly in 
the domain of inorganic chemistry, while 
the organic chemist is but tardily utilizing 
the current as a means of oxidation and re- 
duction. Besides the extraordinary devel- 
opment of electro-metallurgy, the prepara- 
tion of soda and chlorates and other tech- 
nical processes, the application of electricity 
to purposes of analysis and for the synthesis 
of new compounds, such as the rare metal 
alums, perearbonic and persulphuric acids, 
and the isolation of fluorine, may be men- 
tioned. 

Passing to the opposite extreme of tem- 
perature, we find the development of high- 
temperature chemistry accompanied by the 
growth of a chemistry of low temperatures. 
The very recent improvements in the art 
of producing cold have made liquid air a 
cheap material, and with its aid Ramsay 
has been able to fractionally distil liquefied 
argon and to separate from it the contam- 
inating elements of the same group, neon 
and xenon, as well as krypton and met- 
argon. 

The part played by the spectroscope in 
chemistry is more or less familiar to every- 
one. From the further development of the 
science of spectroscopy it is clear that inor- 
ganic chemistry has much to gain. Whether 
or not the view first suggested by Clarke 
and long defended by Lockyer be true, that 
the elements undergo partial decomposition 
in the stars and nebule, it is upon this in- 
strument that we must rely for our knowl- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 226. 
edge of the high-temperature chemistry of 
these bodies, a chemistry which is wholly 
inorganic. 

The rapid growth of these sciences into 
which chemistry enters is producing an 
ever increasing demand upon the chemist 
for new researches. While the biologist must 
rely mainly on the organic chemist for his 
chemical data, no less must the mineralogist. 
and geologist appeal to the inorganic chem- 
ist for the solution of many problems in 
their field. The formation and decomposi- 
tion of minerals, the disintegration of rocks, 
the behavior of rock magmas, the phenom- 
ena of metamorphism, of ore deposition and 
vein formation, the influence of high tem- 
peratures and pressures—all these afford 
problems the solution of which is hopeless 
without the assistance of inorganic chem- 
istry either alone or aided by physical 
chemistry. The chemist who has to meet 
the inquiries of the geologist, and who must 
too often confess our ignorance of the causes 
of even the simplest phenomena, can not 
help feeling what a splendid field is here 
open, awaiting only the advent of workers 
suitably trained and of laboratories properly 
equipped for research in chemical geology. 
The demands of the geologists are unques- 
tionably destined to be among the most 
potent factors in the revival of inorganic 
chemistry. 

It is not to be expected, nor is it to be 
desired, that inorganic chemistry will at 
once sweep organic chemistry from its posi- 
tion of preéminence. The causes to which 
this is due may outlast our generation, but 
that the inorganic tide is rising, and that 
this branch will finally attain its due 
position, can not be doubted. The re- 
cent establishment of a Zeitschrift fiir an- 
organische Chemie, while it may be de- 
plored as increasing the already too great 
number of chemical journals, and as tend- 
ing to widen rather than diminish the gap 
between the organic and inorganic branches, 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


is helping to produce a feeling of solidarity 
among inorganic chemists which never 
existed hitherto. Even in Germany, the 
stronghold of organic chemistry, the ad- 
dress of van’t Hoff is exciting wide interest, 
and the Chemiker Zeitung, in urging the es- 
tablishment of independent chairs and lab- 
oratories of inorganic chemistry, is advo- 
eating what willin time unquestionably be 
realized. 

Inorganic chemistry is fortunate in that 
its renaissance is coming about at a time 
when physical methods are in vogue. The 
prediction of Du Bois-Reymond is being 
realized ; with the aid of physics it is at- 
taining an insight into the dynamical 
aspect of the science which it could never 
have reached unassisted. But it is not 
alone by supplying new methods and sug- 
gesting new points of view that physics is 
aiding the revival of inorganic chemistry. 
Perhaps equally important is the fact that 
the rising school of physical chemists, un- 
hampered by the traditions and limitations 
of organic chemistry, is finding it neces- 
sary to explore the whole range of the 
science in search of material for its in- 
vestigations. The physical chemist is 
neither organic nor inorganic, or rather he 
is either, according to his requirements, but 
it is precisely because the inorganic field is 
wider and less developed than the organic 
that his demands are more likely to be pro- 
ductive of activity. 

Energetics is now the basis of chemistry, 
and it is to be expected, therefore, that in- 
organic chemistry will not, in the future, 
have to pass through a period of arrested 
development and formula worship, such as 
have so long affected organic chemistry. 
There will always be compound makers, 
but their aim will be, not the establishment 
of constitutional formulas alone, but the 
study of the laws of chemical energy and 
the solution of the problem of the nature of 
matter. We may expect, too, that the still 


SCIENCE. 


615 


sharp line of demarcation between inorganic 
and organic chemistry and between dead 
and living matter will disappear. The in- 
organic chemist may not affect the synthe- 
sis of a proteid, but he will be able, with 
his wider knowledge, to contribute more to 
the solution of the problem of the nature of 
life than any amount of structurizing and 
synthesizing alone can do. To comprehend 
life we must understand carbon, but we 
can no more fully comprehend carbon with- 
out an understanding of the other elements 
than we can explain the earth without a 
knowledge of the other planets, or man 
without a knowledge of the fish. He, then, 
who pursues inorganic chemistry is not only 
contributing to a higher development of our 
science than can be reached by the study 
of carbon compounds alone, but is perhaps 
doing as much as the organic chemist to- 
ward realizing one of the greatest aims of 
research, the comprehension of life and its 
explanation in terms of physical science. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. H. N. Sroxes. 


ON THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 
MAY 28, 1900. 

Tue next total solar eclipse will be visi- 
ble as such in places both east and west of 
the Atlantic Ocean, and it is a matter of 
some thought to determine where it shall be 
observed. I have proposed to report to the 
governing board of Williams College that it 
is practicable to observe it on both sides at 
points to be fully determined later, as at 
present there is rather more than a year’s 
time to make the needful arrangements. 

The two countries where it shall be ob- 
served seem to be Portugal and our own 
Southern States, in the neighborhood of 
Coimbra and that of Norfolk, in Virginia, 
or perhaps farther south. The only doubt 
is the more or less uncertainty of weather. 
That, however, cannot be avoided, as the 
meteorologists are not yet able to predict 
with much certainty or at all for more 


616 


than a few days at a time. The Weather 
Bureaus at Washington and Lisbon will, of 
course, do all that they can, but the most 
that can now be done is to observe the 
weather in 1899, in the hope of getting some 
new light on the matter. 

So far as the eclipse is concerned, which 
will certainly take place at the predicted 
time, it is possible and practicable to make 
calculations from the data in our American 
Ephemeris, and to do this within a few days, 
and in the coming months to make all need- 
ful preparations of instruments and train- 
ing of observers, and with abundant spare 
time left. 

I shall report to our trustees that the 
main effort to be made then will be towards 
photographing the eclipse as well and com- 
pletely at both points as the time, short 
enough at best, will allow. 

At Norfolk, in Virginia, and Ovar, in 
Portugal, the eclipse will be total long 
enough to be well photographed by instru- 
ments costing but little more than a hun- 
dred dollars for each station, instruments 
which can be made useful in several 
directions and can be readily placed at 
either station. The advantage of making 
the effort to observe at both places will be, 
of course, not that of making observations 
at the same time, but that of following out 
a uniform set of rules both in America and 
in Europe. 

These rules can be readily formulated 
and practiced beforehand with compara- 
tively little trouble, provided the astron- 
omers can come to an agreement, which I 
think will be an easy matter. 

The process of taking the photographs is 
so easy now that no difficulty will arise 
from this, and it will also be easy to train 
intelligent students into the necessary pbys- 
ical manipulations, with the help, at least, 
of the necessary photographers, who, I pre- 
sume, will be readily brought to either sta- 
tion. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. TX. No. 226. 
As the object of the present paper is 
merely to indicate what is to be done, I 
shall defer to another occasion any further 
details. In this, asin many other problems 
of practical astronomy, the main require- 
ment is merely to indicate in common lan- 
guage the problems to be solved, and it will 
be sufficient to leave further consideration 
of the matter to another occasion. 
Truman Henry SAFFORD. 


RECEPTION AND EXHIBITION OF THE NEW 
YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

Tue Annual Reception and Exhibition of 
the New York Academy of Sciences has 
come to be one of the most interesting social 
events of the scientific circles of the city. 
This fine spring weather and a beautifully 
suitable hall combined with the zeal of the 
exhibitors to furnish instructive entertain- 
ment to about three thousand persons. The 
reception was held,as usual, at the American 
Museum of Natural History, the first evening 
being reserved for members, exhibitors and 
special friends, and some 500 availed them- 
selves of this opportunity to become better 
acquainted with their fellow members, and 
to see and discuss the advances in branches 
of science other than their own. Indeed, 
the justification and benefits of these exhi- 
bitions are to be sought quite as much in 
their broadening influence upon the point 
of view of specialists as in their possibili- 
ties for the layman and amateur. 

The Museum authorities are exemplary 
in their hospitality, and the relations be- 
tween this gigantic object lesson in science 
and the Academy are yearly growing more 
cordial. This year it was possible to hold 
the reception in the new hall of American 
Anthropology, west of the entrance on the 
main floor. The room is finished, but is 
not yet occupied by cases and permanent 
fixtures. A more suitable and appropriate 
location for a scientific reception it would 
be hard to imagine. 


—EE 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


The General Committee in charge of the 
various sections were as follows : 


Anatomy: Jos. 8. Blake. 

Astronomy: J. K. Rees. 

Botany: C. C. Curtis. 

Chemistry : Charles A. Doremus. 

Electricity: Geo. F. Sever. 

Ethnology and Archeology: L. Farrand. 

Experimental Psychology: Chas. H. Judd. 

Geology and Geography: J. F. Kemp and R. H. 
Cornish. 

Mineralogy: A. J. Moses. 

Paleontology : Gilbert van Ingen. 

Photography: Cornelius Van Brunt. 

Physics ; C. C. Trowbridge. 

Zoology: Gary N. Calkins. 


While the display was not marked by 
any one prominent object, such as X-rays, 
still it was characterized by an excellent 
average of exhibits of sterling value, and 
should give its visitors an illustration of 
scientific interest as distinct from the 
spectacular. 

It would, of course, be too prolix to at- 
tempt to give anything more than a few of 
the typical objects enumerated in the cata- 
logue of some twenty pages. 

The exhibit in Anatomy, though small in 
space, contained examples of most interest- 
ing points. The variations in the vermiform 
appendix, in the hepatic artery, ete. 

The Harvard, Lick and Yerkes Observa- 
tories joined with that of Columbia in mak- 
ing the department of astronomy thor- 
ougly representative of the recent interest- 
ing advances in that subject. Saturn’s new 
moon, the new planet Eros, the rotation of 
the sun as shown in the Johns Hopkins 
spectra, the variation of latitude, vied with 
one another for popular favor. 

The Bronx Park Botanical Garden con- 
tributed much interesting material to the 
Section of Botany, which contained some 
twenty titles. 

In Chemistry popular interest seemed 
about equally divided between Munroe’s 
illustrations of the effects of dynamite, 


SCIENCE. 


617 


smokeless powder and phenyldimethylpyr- 
azolonesulphonates. 

Ethnology showed Eskimo property 
marks, British Columbia baskets, a new 
hieroglyphic writing from Mexico, and other 
objects of almost equal interest. 

Photometry, illusions, binocular rivalry, 
accuracy of movement and endurance were 
the objects of measurements in psychology. 

Under Geology and Geography were 
shown recent work of the U.S. Geological 
Survey, the Maryland and the New York 
State Surveys, including the Geologic model 
of the Yellowstone National Park made by 
the U.S. Geological Survey to go to the 
Paris Exposition, and a relief map of the 
Adirondack Region made by Merrill. A 
suite of crude petroleums and several others 
of interesting rocks, together with large 
thin sections (three inches square) of rocks, 
furnished interesting material for the geol- 
ogist and petrographer. 

Mineralogy made a bewildering display 
of beautiful and interesting minerals and 
apparatus, with examples of photo-micro- 
graphs and photographs with uranium rays. 

Physics presented grating spectra from 
Johns Hopkins, illustrating rotation of sun, 
effect of pressure upon the are spectra, 
Zeeman effect and coincidence of metallic 
and Fraunhofer lines, special colorimeters, 
distillation apparatus, Crookes tubes, abbre- 
viated continuous mercury vacuum pumps, 
a special are light and audimeter, the effect 
of an alternating magnetic field upon a 
lamp filament, line screens for color photog- 
raphy, a complete set of apparatus for re- 
search in Hertz waves and wireless teleg- 
raphy, a low resistance and a standard- 
comparison Wheatstone bridge, apparatus 
used in measuring specific heat and tem- 
perature at mines 200 degrees Centigrade, 
also the new Dudley strematograph with re- 
sults of its use in measuring stresses in rail- 
road rails under moving trains. 

Among many interesting exhibits in Pale- 


618 SCIENCE. 


ontology the magnificent limbs of four mon- 
strous dinosaurs commanded special atten- 
tion. 

Similarly in Zoology the beautiful new 
case illustrating the nesting habits of the 
brown pelican rather out ran in popular 
favor other objects of great scientific inter- 
est. 

As may be inferred even from the above 
brief and unsatisfactory sketch, the exhibi- 
tion was as wide in its scopeas it was scien- 
tifically interesting in its details. It must 
have been seen to be appreciated, and the 
thanks of those who did see it are due to 
the zeal of the exhibitors, especially those 
out of town, among whom should be men- 
tioned Princeton, Harvard, Johns Hopkins 
and Chicago Universities, Lick and Yerkes 
Observatories, the United States, Maryland 
and New York Surveys. 

WitiiAmM HALLock, 
Chairman of Committee. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Lectures on the Evolution of Plants. By DouGLAs 
HouGHtTon CAMPBELL, PH.D., Professor of 
Botany in the Leland Stanford Junior Uni- 
versity. New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1899. 12mo. Pp. viii+ 319. 
Professor Campbell is probably the foremost 

of the small group of what may be termed the 

philosophical botanists in America, and he is, 
no doubt, better prepared to discuss the ques- 
tions taken up in this book, at least in so far as 
they deal with the archegoniates and seed 
plants, than any other of our students of plants. 

Some years ago he brought out his book ‘The 

Structure and Development of the Mosses and 

Ferns,’ in which he treated the subject in such 

a modern way as to give new meaning to what 

had to too great a degree been mere dry detail. 

In no uncertain words he traced the genetic 

relationship of group to group, and the student 

following him was made to feel that the fact of 
relationship was real and necessary, and not 
doubtful or shadowy. 

In the little book before us the author dis- 
cusses, in succession, the conditions of plant 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 226. 


life, the simplest forms of life, algee, fungi, 
mosses and liverworts, ferns, horsetails and 
club-mosses, gymnosperms, monocotyledons, 
dicotyledons, geological and geographical dis- 
tribution, animals and plants, influence of en- 
vironment, and at the end brings together 
his results in a chapter entitled ‘summary and 
conclusions.’ 

We can do no better in endeavoring to give 
our readers an idea of the author’s treatment 
and conclusions than to quote a sentence here 
and there from his final chapter, as follows: 
‘‘A}l plants agree closely in their essential cell 
structure, the typical cell having a cellu- 
lose membrane and a single nucleus.”’ ‘‘ The 
lowest plants are mainly aquatic, and it is ex- 
ceedingly probable that this is the primitive 
condition of plant life’? ‘‘The peculiar group 
of motile green alge, the Volvocineze, probably 
represents more nearly than any existing forms 
the ancestral type of all the higher green 
plants. These ciliated alge are also probably 
related to certain colorless flagellate Infusoria, 
which in turn may represent the starting-point 
for the whole group of Metazoa among animals. 
It is not unlikely that the separation of the 
two great branches of organisms, plants and 
animals, took place among the Flagellata.’’ 
‘Starting with this primitive motile unicellular 
organism, there have evidently arisen a num- 
ber of independent lines of development result- 
ing in very divergent types of structure.’’ 
‘“‘In these lowly organisms there is no clearly 
marked line between vegetative and reproduc- 
tive cells.”’ 

‘The increasing complexity of the plant body 
has beenaccompanied by acorresponding special- 
ization of the reproductive parts.’’ ‘‘ The origin 
of the Phzeophycez, or brown algz, from free- 
swimming brown flagellate organisms, is by no. 
means unlikely, and if this be shown to be the 
case they must be considered as a line of devel- 
opment parallel with the Chlorophycez, rather 
than an off-shoot from these.’’ ‘‘ The relation- 
ship of the fungi is still an open question.’” 
‘The ancestors of the higher green plants must 
be sought among the simple fresh-water green 
algee. The genus Coleochexte, the most special- 
ized of the Confervacez, is the form which 
shows the nearest analogy with the lower 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


Bryophytes.’’ ‘‘In the mosses * * the per- 
sistence of the motile spermatozoid indicates 
the derivation of the Archegoniates from aquatic 
ancestors.’’ ‘The Pteridophytes, also, show 
traces of an aquatic ancestry in the develop- 
ment of spermatozoids, which require water in 
order that they may reach the archegonium.”’ 

“Of the Spermatophytes the Gymnosperms 
are obviously the lowest types, 7. e., they show 
more clearly their derivation from the Pterido- 
phytes.’’ ‘‘The Angiosperms are preeminently 
the modern plant type. These have largely 
crowded out the other earlier types of vegeta- 
tion, and at present comprise a majority of 
existing species.’’ ‘‘It is among the Angio- 
sperms that the plant body reaches its highest 
expression. In the keen struggle for existence 
among the manifold forms of plants the An- 
giosperms have shown themselves to be extra- 
ordinarily plastic, and have developed every 
possible device to enable them to survive this 
fierce competition.’’ 

We need quote no more from this very sug- 
gestive and very readable book. Every botanist 
and every earnest botanical student will read 
it with interest and profit. 

CHARLES E. BESSEY. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 

Die Spiele der Menschen. Von KARL GRoos. 

Jena. 1899. 

Professor Groos follows up his work on Ani- 
mal Play with his promised book on Human 
Play. He divides this last work into two 
sections, the first discussing the facts of play 
under headings, Touch Plays, Temperature, 
Hearing, Sight, Motor Plays of various kinds, 
and purely psychic plays; the second, dis- 
cussing theories of play under headings, 
Physiological, Biological, Psychological, Aus- 
thetic, Sociological and Pedagogical. The gen- 
eral grouping of facts is, as regards biological 
results, into activities which serve as exercise 
and those which serve as display in impressing 
others—that is in the two divisions, where in- 
dividual significance is dominant, or social sig- 
nificance. Of course, this is a quite objective 
classification ; the child not consciously taking 
exercise—this being really work—but continu. 
ing the activity for its immediate pleasurable- 


SCIENCE. 


619 


ness. The showing-off play is largely con- 
sciously such; there is here more of the subjective 
and teleological factor. 

Under Hearing and Sight Plays Professor 
Groosis quite full and interesting, really giving 
in outline the evolution of these senses in the 
race and individual. We might ask why he 
divides Hearing Play into passive and active, 
and not other sense plays. The child is, indeed, 
diverted either by your singing, or by his singing 
to himself, but also both by your passing things 
before his eyes and himself passing things be- 
fore his own eyes. Later he both looks at 
pictures in books and draws pictures for him- 
self. Indeed, it is plain that gratification of 
any sense may be either active or passive, the 
active side leading off into art activity and art 
work. 

Professor Groos’s account of Motor Plays is 
hardly as full and satisfactory as that on Sense 
Plays. We find here, as elsewhere, too often a 
heaping-up of facts and of quotations with 
very cursory interpretation. Thus (p. 95) he 
rather hastily Jumps the American -habit of 
gum chewing with betel-chewing, and with the 
habit of chewing bits of sticks and grass, as 
motor plays for jaws and tongue. But while it 
is plain that the gum-chewer may use a piece 
gum as a mouth-plaything, yet toa large extent 
gum chewing is merely a morbid nervous habit, 
or a means of gratifying sense of taste, and in 
both these ways not play. So also the athlete 
who chews gum or other articles during a foot- 
ball game is not in this playing. Chewing is 
ouly play when it ischewing for chewing’s sake, 
and not asa mere relief from nervous tension, 
or for taste pleasure or to help endurance and 
grit. 

Professor Groos rightly regards the psycho- 
logical mark of play not as imitation, but as 
direct pleasurableness. The mere biological 
activity comes first as outcome of bare physio- 
logical impulse ; thus the infant grasping indefi- 
nitely feels something soft, experiences pleasure 
and keeps handling the object. Objectively 
and biologically all this activity is play, but 
psychologically only the later half (p. 95). 
As to physiology, ‘‘Es sind zwei Hauptprinci- 
pien, die eine psychologische Theorie des Spiels 
beherrschen miissen, das der Entladung tber- 


620 


schiissiger Krifte und das der activen Erholung 
erschopfter Krafte.’’ The sesthetic social point 
of view is enlarged on throughout much in the 
same way as in his previous work. 

In general the remarks we have made on 
Professor Groos’s previous work (Psychological 
Review, Vol. 6, p. 86 ff.) apply also to this. 
The last book is larger, fuller and more cautions, 
but it lacks in clearness and directness and 
penetration. Though sometimes suggestive, it 
is rarely illuminating. Very comprehensive 
and learned, it is useful as a summary and dis- 
cussion, but it has not the vitality of real re- 
search. The book isswamped in quotation, and 
we have more a history and discussion of opinion 
than a first-hand investigation. Though by 
bringing in everything of the least relevancy 
Professor Groos attains a certain completeness, 
itis greatly to be doubted whether in breaking 
ground in a new subject this is the most useful 
method. The foundations for a real science of 
play can only be laid by the direct detailed 
study of the life-history of the individual, the 
results being made to an extent verifiable by 
the photograph and phonograph. 

Hiram M. STANLEY. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Elements of Practical Astronomy. W.W.CAMP- 


BELL. New York and London, The Macmillan 
Company. 1899. Pp. xii+ 264. $2.00. 
Nature Study for Grammar Grades. WILBUR 8. 


JACKMAN. New York and London, The Maecmil- 
lan Company. 1899. Pp. 407. $1.00. 


The Fairyland of Science. ARABELLA B, BUCKLEY. 
New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1899. Pp. x+ 
252. $1.50. 


Electricity in Town and Country Houses. PERCY E. 
Scrurron. Westminster, Archibald Constable & 
Co. 1899. 2d Edition. Pp. xii+ 148. 


Report of the Commissioner of the United States Commis- 


sion of Fish and Fisheries. Pp. elxxy + 350. 


Corn Plants. F.L.SARGENT. Boston and New York, 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1899. Pp. 106. 75 cts. 


Anglo-American Pottery. E. A. BARBER. 
apolis., Ind., Press of the Clay Worker. 
Pp. xix +161. 


Indian- 
1899. 


Photographie Optics. R.S. Cote. New York, D. Van 
Nostrand Company. 1899. Pp. 330. 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 226. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Botanical Gazette for April contains the 
following leading articles: ‘A Conspectus of 
the Genus Lilium,’ by F. A. Waugh, which 
brings together and organizes the widely scat- 
tered material ; ‘Some Appliances for Elemen- 
tary Study of Plant Physiology,’ by W. F. 
Ganong, in which are described, with figures, a 
temperature stage, a clinostat, a self-recording 
auxanometer, an osmometer, a respiration ap- 
paratus, a germination box, a transpiration de- 
vice, the graduation of roots, tubes, etc., and a 
root-pressure gauge; ‘Oogenesis in Pinus Laricio,’ 
by Charles J. Chamberlain, a paper with plates, 
in which the following results are announced : 
The ventral canal cell occasionally develops as 
an egg; the chromatin of the egg nucleus takes 
the form of nucleoli which finally collect from 
all parts of the nucleus to a definite area near 
the center and there develop into a typical 
spirem; the chromatin of the two sexual nuclei is 
in the spirem stage at fusion; the fate of the spin- 
dle indicates that the kinoplasmic fibers arise 
through a transformation of the cytoplasmic re- 
ticulum ; a continuation of ‘The Ecological Re- 
lations of the Vegetation of the Sand Dunes of 
Lake Michigan,’ by Henry C. Cowles, the 
present part, profusely illustrated, discussing 
the encroachment on preexisting plant societies 
and the capture of the dune-complex by vege- 
tation. Under ‘Briefer Articles’ Julia W. 
Snow describes (with plate) the life history of a 
new Ulvella (U. Americana), and Bradley M. 
Davis discusses recent work on the life history 
of the Rhodophycew. The number closes with 
the usual reviews, notes for students and news. 


American Chemical Journal, April, 1899. ‘On 
the Hydrolysis of Acid Amides :’ By I. Remsen 
and E. E. Reid. The rate of hydrolysis of a 
large number of acid amides was compared 
and certain groups or positions of groups were 
found to exercise a marked influence on the re- 
action. In general the resultsagree with those 
obtained in the study of the rate of formation 
of ethereal salts. Ortho groups were found 
to exert a very marked ‘protective’ influence 
in many cases. ‘Aliphatic Sulphonic Acids:’ 
By E. P. Kohler. The author describes 
the preparation and reaction of (1) brome- 


APRIL 28, 1899.] 


thylene sulphonic acid and its derivatives. 
“A Serviceable Generator for Hydrogen Sul- 
phide:’ By W. P. Bradley. This generator is 
so arranged that all the acid is used, and it only 
needs filling several times a year. The iron 
salt formed does not mix with the acid, but is 
drawn off and thrown away. 
J. ELLIotr GILPIN. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


THE annual stated meeting of the National 
Academy of Sciences was held at Columbian 
University beginning Tuesday, April 18th, and 
ending Thursday, April 20th. The members 
missed the rooms to which they were so long 
accustomed in the National Museum, but the 
growth of this institution has been so marked 
that there is no longer any room available for 
such purposes. A committee has been ap- 
pointed to secure, if possible, permanent quar- 
ters, and it is hoped that, in view of the relations 
of the Academy to the United States govern- 
ment, rooms may be set aside in some public 
building for the use of the Academy. 

The papers presented at the public sessions 
were as follows : 

1. Ophiura Brevispina, W. K. Brooks and Caswell 
Grave. 

2. The Shadow of a Plant, A. Hall. 

3. On the Tanner Deep Sea Tow Net, A. Agassiz. 

4. On the Acalephs of the East Coast of the United 
States, A. Agassiz and A. G. Mayer. 

5. On the Limestones of Fiji, E. C. Andrews ; com- 
municated by A. Agassiz. : 

6. On the Bololo of Fiji and Samoa, W. MeM. 
Woodworth ; communicated by A. Agassiz. 

7. On the Diamond and Gold Mines of South Africa, 
A. Agassiz. 

8. Progress in Surveying and Protection of the 
U.S. Forest Reserves, Chas. D. Walcott. 

9. The Resulting Differences between the Astro- 
nomic and Geodetic Latitudes and Longitudes in“the 
Triangulation along the Thirty-ninth Parallel, H. 8. 
Pritchett ; introduced by Chas. D. Walcott. 

10. The Work of the Division of Forestry, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Gifford Pinchot ; introduced by 
Chas. D. Walcott. 

11. On the Development by Selection of Super- 
numerary Mamme in Sheep, A. Graham Bell. 

12. On Kites with Radial Wings, A. Graham Bell. 


SCIENCE. 621 


13. Remarks on the Work of the Nautical Almanac 
During the Years 1877-98 in the Field of Theoretical 
Astronomy, S. Newcomb. 

14. Exhibition of Specimens of Nautilus pompilius, 
W. K. Brooks and L. E. Griffin. 

The new members elected are : Professor C. 
i. Beecher, Yale University ; Professor George 
C. Comstock, University of Wisconsin; Professor 
Theodore W. Richards, Harvard University ; 
Professor Edgar F. Smith, University of Penn- 
sylvania, and Professor E. B. Wilson, Columbia 
University. 

The Academy adjourned to meet in New 
York next November. 


THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 499th meeting of the Society was held at 
8 p. m., April Ist, in the assembly room of the 
Cosmos Club. The first paper was by Mr. G. 
W. Littlehales on ‘The Prospective Place of, 
the Solar Azimuth Tables in the Problem of 
Accelerating Ocean Transit.’ <A brief abstract 
of this paper will appear later in ScrENCcE. 
The second paper was by Mr. E. G. Fisher on 
‘Data Relating to Nickel Iron Alloy.’ The 
third paper was by Mr. H. A. Hazen on ‘ Elec- 
tric and Magnetic Weather.’ Mr. Hazen said 
in part: 

One of the earliest coincidences between the 
weather and magnetism was published in a set 
of curves in the Annual Report of the C. S. O. 
for 188%, showing the exact correspondence be- 
tween the curves of diurnal range of magnetic 
declination and pressure of the air. In April, 
1898, a period of 25.912 days was found from 
temperatures for 20 years at Omaha, Neb., and 
this period applied to the annual observations 
in the United States from 1870 to 1898 (about 
400 occurrences) showed a marked maximum 
point on one day throughout. The largest 
number of auroras observed in any one day in 
the United States fell upon this same day (not 
included, however, inthe count). In February, 
1899, Dr. Ekholm sent a paper in which he had 
established a period of 25.92876 days from ob- 
servations of the auroras in Sweden for 175 
years. This period, applied to the above obser- 
vations, gave almost a straight line. The great 
danger of using the twenty-four-hour change in 
any element was pointed out. It was shown 


622 


that there was almost an exact accordance be- 
tween the diurnal range in magnetic diclination, 
horizontal and vertical form. When the fluc- 
tuations in these elements from day to day were 
compared, however, there were remarkable 
periods of coincidence, combined with non-co- 
incidence. It was shown that the curves for 
grains in a cubic foot of air and for pressure 
fluctuations were exactly coincident at St. 
Louis, Mo. When these curves were compared 
with the magnetic curves there was no difficulty 
found in matching them with one or another of 
the latter. This seemed to show an intimate 
connection between the phenomena, and it now 
remains for those versed in terrestrial magnet- 
ism to explain the want of coincidence in the 
phenomena. E. D. PREstTon, 
Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


AT the regular meeting of this Society, held 
in Washington, D. C., on April 12, 1899, Mr. 
Alfred H. Brooks communicated some ‘ Notes 
on the Geology of the Tanana and White River 
Basins, Alaska.’ 

The region embraces the Lower White and 
the major part of the Tanana River, both trib- 
utary to the Yukon. To the south the area is 
bounded by a part of the St. Elias range, by 
the Natzutin Mountains and by the Alaskan 
range, and lies chiefly in the region of the dis- 
sected Yukon plateau. 

A complex of gneisses, gneissoid and massive 
granites, with some dioritic rocks, are believed 
to be the basal series. They are succeeded by 
metamorphic rocks which have been differen- 
tiated into three groups. These are unconform- 
ably overlaid by the Wellesley formation, con- 
sisting chiefly of conglomerate, of Devonian or 
Carboniferous age. On the Lower Tanana 
some sandstone and slate beds were noted and 
called the Nilkoka beds, and these are probably 
also Paleozoic. These have all suffered con- 
siderable deformation and often carry mineral- 
ized quartz veins. In the older and more 
altered rocks the quartz is more plentiful than 
in the younger beds. Assays of a number of 
samples gave traces of both gold and silver. A 
small area of very slightly deformed soft yellow 
sandstone was tentatively classed as Eocene. 


SCLENCE, 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 226. 


The position of two systems of structure lines 
goes to show that the deformation of the region 
was caused by two synchronous thrusts coming 
from different directions, and these were prob- 
ably lines of movement during several periods 
of deformation. 

The summits of the old plateau remnants area 
striking feature of the region and mark an old 
peneplain. During the late Tertiary time this 
peneplain was elevated and probably somewhat 
deformed and was then deeply dissected. The 
evidence goes to show that the drainage of the 
upper Tanana and middle White then flowed 
southeast and probably found its way to Lynn 
Canal by way of the valleys of the Nissiling, 
upper Alsek and Chilkat Rivers. A depression 
succeeded the uplift, and the partially drowned 
valleys were then filled with sediments. To- 
ward the close of this period of depression the 
White River Valley was occupied by ice, and 
probably a little later glaciers moved down 
some of the southern tributaries of the Tanana. 
No evidence of general glaciation was found in 
the region. The last orographic disturbance 
was the elevation of the land mass to about its 
present position, and this caused a partial dissec- 
tion and terracing of the sediment of the older 
valleys. 

Mr. J. 8. Diller exhibited specimens of Paleo- 
trochis which had been described in 1856 by E. 
Emmons as siliceous corals and regarded as the 
oldest fosssils known. Professor James Hall 
regarded them as concretions. Professor J. A. 
Holmes, of North Carolina, examined the rock 
in the field and considered it of igneous origin, 
while Mr. C. H. White, who examined the 
specimens collected by Holmes, pronounced the 
forms organic. Nitze and Hanna, of the Geo- 
logical Survey of North Carolina, maintain the 
igneous characters of the rock, and this view is 
strongly supported by Mr. Diller, who showed 
that the supposed fossils and concretions are 
spherulites in a more or less altered rhyolite. 
Mr. Diller’s paper will be published in full in 
the American Journal of Science. 

W. F. MorsELL. 

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

THE regular meeting was held on March 9, 
1899. 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


The first paper of the evening was read by 
Dr. F. K. Cameron and was entitled ‘ Acetone- 
Chloroform, 2d paper,’ by F. K. Cameron and 
L. J. Briggs. 

The second paper was read by Mr. T. H. 
Means and was entitled ‘Estimation of the 
Salt Contents of Soil Waters,’ by T. H. Means 
and F. K. Cameron. This method has been 
devised for a rapid estimation of the relative 
proportions of chloride, sulfates and carbonates 
in the ‘alkali’ soils of the Western districts. It 
is used as a check upon the electrical method 
for the determination of the soluble salt con- 
tent of soils, as well as to furnish approximate 
analyses in the field without waiting for com- 
plete analyses to be made in the laboratory. 
The method determines chlorides, sulfates and 
carbonates in terms of the sodium salt. A 
sample of water is taken, or an extract is made 
of the soil, and the solution filtered or decanted. 
The solution need not be clear. An excess of 
barium nitrate (10 cc.) is added to 10 cc. of the 
soil extract, thus precipitating sulfates and car- 
bonates. The excess of barium nitrate is ti- 
trated back with potassium chromate, using sil- 
ver nitrate on a porcelain plate as an indicator. 
In the same vessel silver nitrate is added, using 
potassium chromate on the plate as an indica- 
tor, thus precipitating the chloride. A few 
drops of nitric acid are now added and the 
liquid heated, driving off the carbon dioxide 
from the barium carbonate. The excess of 
nitric acid is neutralized by powdered mag- 
nesium carbonate. Again the solution is ti- 
trated with potassium chromate, the quantity 
required giving the amount of carbonates. 
This subtracted from the sum of the sulfates 
and carbonates, as found above, gives the sul- 
fates. This method makes the three titrations 
in one vessel, the apparatus being of such a 
simple nature that all can be carried in a camp- 
ing outfit. 

The third paper was read by Mr. J. K. Hay- 
wood and was entitled ‘The Determination of 
Calcium and Magnesium in Ashes.’ The au- 
thor has found that in determining calcium and 
magnesium it is not essential to wash the volu- 
minous ppt. of basic acetate of iron and phos- 
phate of iron, but that results of almost equal 
accuracy are obtained by making the precipita- 


SCIENCE, 


623 


tion in a 500-ec. flask, filling up to the mark, 
passing through a dry filter and using aliquot 
portions of the filtrate for analysis. The above 
is substantiated by experimental data. 

The last paper was read by Dr. H. C. Bolton 
and was entitled ‘The Classification of Chem- 
istry Proposed by the International Catalogue 
Committee of the Royal Society, a Critical An- 
alysis,’ by W. P. Cutter and H. C. Bolton. 
The paper analyzed the proposed scheme of 
classification of chemical titles drawn up by the 
Committee on the International Catalogue of the 
Royal Society. It characterized the system as 
conglomerate, since numbers, Roman capitals, 
lower case, italic letters and Greek letters are 
mixed up with alphabetical headings. The 
system embraces also methods of notation 
which are very objectionable, inasmuch as the 
symbols are analogous in structure and appear- 
ance to chemical formule, yet they are essen- 
tially different. The scheme proposed, if in- 
tended to facilitate research, is pronounced by 
the authors of the analysis an almost total 


failure. Wo. H. Krue, 
Secretary. 
THE MINNESOTA ACADEMY OF NATURAL 


SCIENCES. 


AT the regular monthly meeting of April 4th 
three papers of general interest were presented. 
Dr. F. W. Sardeson discussed the primitive 
structure of the Crinoid stem. Specimens were 
exhibited showing the manner of development 
from the first Cystidean type of structure, 7. e., 
an elongation of the body wall supported by 
hexagonal plates; the arrangement into five 
vertical rows of the alternating transversely 
elongated six sided plates ; the arrangement of 
these plates in transverse circles forming dis- 
tinet sections and joints, this being the most 
primitive structure of the stem seen in the 
Crinoidea; the circle of five plates in each sec- 
tion united in such manner as to form a solid 
ring with a central pentagonal perforation or 
canal. 

Dr. U. S. Grant described a driftless area in 
northeastern Minnesota. The area in question 
is a small one, 8 by 12 miles, around Wilder 
Lake, entirely free from the drift which covers 
the country around it so deeply. The rock 


624 


surface is decayed as if no removal or grind- 
ing of the surface material had taken 
place by glacial action, and is entirely free 
from drift boulders. As a probable explana- 
tion the author suggested that this area lay to 
leeward of a great ice ridge which effectually 
shielded it from the direct action of the glacial 
ice stream. 

Mr. H. B. Humphrey detailed his observa- 
tions upon the influence of low temperatures 
upon plants, and described the difference of 
effect of sudden changes and gradual lower- 
ing of the temperature. Living specimens kept 
for a month or more in commercial cold-storage 
rooms at a point slightly below freezing ex- 
hibited phenomena of starvation. 

CHARLES P. BERKEY, 
Corresponding Secretary. 
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


AT the meeting of the Academy of Science of 
St. Louis of April 3d a paper by Mr. Stuart 
Weller, entitled ‘Kinderhook Faunal Studies, 
I: The Fauna of the Vermicular Sandstone at 
Northview, Webster county, Mo.,’ was pre- 
sented for publication; and Mr. Trelease ex. 
hibited a plaster cast of a gigantic monstrosity 
of Cereus marginatus, known as the Rosa de 
Organo, presented to the Missouri Botanical 
Garden by Professor Frederick Starr, and re- 
ported that this formation was locally abun- 
dant at points south from Aguas Calientes. The 
speaker exhibited a large number of compa- 
rable cactus monstrosities from the plant-houses 
of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the col- 
lection of the President of the Cactus Associa- 
tion of St. Louis, and a similar deformity of one 
of the cactus-like Euphorbias of the African re- 
gion, commenting on this teratological type. 
It was shown that for the purposes of gardeners 
for whom these unusual forms appear to pos- 
sess a considerable interest, they are commonly 
divided into two types, in one of which, com- 
monly designated by the varietal name cristata 
or cristatus, the monstrosity takes the form of 
a fan or a contorted ridge, while in the other, 
commonly designated by the varietal name 
monstrosa or monstrosus, it consists of irreg- 
ular bunching of the branches and an interrup- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 226. 


tion of the customary longitudinal ridges of 
such a genus as Cereus. 
WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
Recording Secretary. 


BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

A GENERAL meeting was held March 15th ; 
twenty-eight persons present. 

Mr. E. C. Jeffrey, in an account of the genus 
Equisetum, stated briefly the sexual and asex- 
ual methods of development. The internal 
structure of the stem was described, and the re- 
lationships of the Equisetz to the Lycopods 
and ferns were noted. Structurally Archzeo- 
calamites resembles the higher Lycopods. The 
branches of Calamites originate from the center 
of the ring of nodal wood or from its lower 
border. Casts of Calamites show pith. 

Dr. C. R. Eastman read a paper on some new 
North American fossil fishes. An abstract will 
appear in an early number of SCIENCE. 

SAMUEL HENSHAW, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ON THE ACTION OF THE COHERER. 


EXPERIMENTS have been made at the physical 
laboratory of the Missouri State University 
which show that the action of the Branly tube 
is due to an actual cohering of the particles. 
The action consists, first, in an electrostatic at- 
traction causing the particles to come in con- 
tact, andjsecond, in a fusion of the points of 
contact. 

An instrument has been designed and con- 
structed which clearly shows this coherence 
and renders its study possible. It consists of 
two electrodes, one a metallic plate on which 
the filings are placed, and the other a metallic 
point carried on a pivoted arm swinging in a 
vertical plane. Ifa considerable difference of 
potential is maintained between these elec- 
trodes, and the point be brought in contact 
with the filings and then carefully lifted, a 
thread will attach itself to the point and may 
be drawn out to two or more inches in length. 
The difference of potential has, in our experi- 
ments, been produced in a variety of ways. 
Thus the instrument was placed in circuit with 
two dry cells and a 160-ohm relay, and threads 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


produced. Here the effect was caused, not by 
the low potential of the battery current, but by 
the much higher potential of the extra current 
produced by the cons’ant breaks at the lower 
end of the thread. This was demonstrated by 
placing a non-inductive resistance of about 1,- 
000 ohms in parallel with the coherer. This 
entirely prevented the action. Attaching the 
ends of the secondary of an induction coil to 
the coherer gave similar results, as did also the 
Holtz machine. 

But these threads remained cohering after 
there had ceased to be a difference of potential 
between the electrodes. In a vacuum the 
threads still remained hanging, showing that the 
friction and pressure of the air did not maintain 
the coherence. Under the microscope the 
points of contact appear to be fused, and other 
observers have noticed bright points after cohe- 
rence is destroyed. That fusion occurs is also 
shown by the fact that metals having a high 
melting point give threads of much less tenacity 
than those with low melting points. Thus 
platinum and iron give very fragile threads, 
while tin, lead and aluminum give threads 
capable of enduring considerable flexure. 

With the Holtz machine threads could be 
produced only when the machine was run 
slowly. If it was run too fast the particles 
would fly back and forth between the elec- 
trodes of the coherer. The point of the 
coherer, becoming charged, induces a charge 
in the particle nearest to it. This causes 
an electrostatic attraction, the particle flies 
to the point and, receiving a like charge, is 
at once repelled. But the instant it comes in 
contact the points of contact fuse, and if the 
charge on the electrode be small this fusion 
will be sufficient to resist the tendency to fly off 
and the filing will remain, becoming a part of 
the electrode and repeating the action on the 
next particle. Thus consecutive filings are 
united and a continuous thread of filings fused 
together, which connects the eléctrodes, reduc- 
ing the resistance greatly. In a Hertzian field 
the action is precisely similar, the difference of 
potential here being produced by the action of 
the Hertz waves. Short threads of filings were 
obtained, as in the preceding experiments. 

These experiments show that the great re- 


SCIENCE. 


625 


duction in the resistance of the tube is due to 
the formation of continuous threads of metal 
connecting the electrodes. They also indicate 
some of the points which a good coherer, must 
possess. The filings used should be composed 
of metal not easily oxidized, of small specific 
gravity and low melting point. The electrodes 
should consist of points or roughened surfaces 
of similar metal. Further, it is difficult to de- 
cohere a thread while a current is flowing, 
since the induced current at any break tends to 
bring back the parts to coherence. Marconi 
avoids this action by the use of a high resistance 
in parallel with the coherer. The necessity for 
this resistance can be avoided by having the 
current through the coherer broken before the 
tapping occurs. Experiments are being con- 
tinued in the direction of a practical application 
of these principles. 
M. H. Locxwoop, 


E. B. WHEELER. 
MARCH 30, 1899. 


TWO-HEADED SNAKES. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I am en- 
gaged in the study and description of two- 
headed snakes by means of skiagraphy. Al- 
though I have in hand eight specimens from 
various museums, I have been unable to locate 
the Tropidonotus from the Massachusetts State 
Collection, described by Wyman in the Proc. 
Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. IX., p. 193, and the 
three snakes described by Mitchell in the Amer. 
Jour. of Science, Vol. X., p. 48. 

I write in the hope that one of your readers 
may be able to help me in my quest of these 
four specimens, and that I may be informed of 
any other snakes with this abnormality in 
American collections, in order that I may make 
note of, or describe, them in my forthcoming 
paper. 

RosweEuui H. JOHNSON. 

1727 CAMBRIDGE STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MAss., 

April 14, 1899. 


DUPLICATION OF GEOLOGIC FORMATION NAMES. 

Ir was not my intention, in my letter in Scr- 
ENCE of March 31st, to discuss the question as 
to whether certain names of geologic formations 
conflicted, or to discuss the undesirability of 


626 SCIENCE. 


using names that have more or less similarity. 
Its purpose, as stated, was ‘to illustrate what 
the present system is leading to.’ Names of 
formations and dates of publication were given 
for this purpose. 

However, Director G. M. Dawson, in his re- 
cent communication in SCIENCE, states that it 
is not apparent from my remarks that Cache 
Creek group of formation holds priority. I do 
not see how any other construction can be given 
to the third paragraph of my letter. It is there 
briefly shown that Dr. Selwyn described the 
Upper and Lower Cache Creek group in 1872, 
and that in 1896 Dawson applied the name 
Cache Creek formation to both series. It is 
further evident, from the names and dates given, 
that the Cache Creek group has priority over 
either Cache Valley group or Cache Lake beds. 


F. B. WEEKs. 
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

AT the meeting of the Chemical Society (Lon- 
don) on March 16th Professor Dewar pre- 
sented a paper on the boiling point of hydrogen, 
which is printed in the Proceedings. In obtain- 
ing liquid hydrogen great difficulty is expe- 
rienced owing to the presence of small traces of 
air. Quantities amounting to only one thous- 
andth of one per cent. accumulate in the solid 
state and eventually choke the nozzle of the ap- 
paratus, necessitating the abandonment of the 
operation. Dewar obtained 250 cubic cen- 
timeters of colorless liquid hydrogen and used 
this for the determination of the boiling point. 
His previous observations, using a platinum 
resistance thermometer, gave the boiling point 
as —238°. In these latest experiments a possi- 
ble constant error in the use of the platinum 
thermometers was checked by using a rhodium- 
platinum resistance thermometer, the alloy con- 
taining ten percent. rhodium. Examination 
had shown that alloys, unlike pure metals, 
showed no sign of becoming perfect conductors 
at absolute zero. The rhodium-platinum ther- 
mometer gave the boiling point of hydrogen as 
—246°, and this the author considers to be 
more accurate than the previous determinations, 
especially as it agrees very fairly with the boil- 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 226. 


ing point calculated from the results of Wrob- 
lewski and of Olszewski. 


In an addendum dated March 17th Dewar 
gives the first results from a constant-volume 
hydrogen thermometer working under dimi- 
nished pressure. This gave —252° as the boil- 
ing point of hydrogen. The three results in 
absolute temperature are: (1) platinum resist- 
ance thermometer, 35°; (2) rhodium-platinum 
resistance thermometer, 27°; (3) hydrogen ther- 
mometer, 21°. From this Dewar states that 
it appears that the boiling point of hydrogen is 
really lower than was anticipated. 


In the Journal of the Society of Chemical In- 
dustry the use of titanium compounds in the 
dyeing industry is discussed, and it is shown 
that in many cases they may be successfully 
utilized. Especially are they valuable as 
mordants for alizarin yellows and oranges, and 
for basic dyestuffs. The tannate is not unstable 
towards acids and little influenced by light, and 
according to the author is valuable as a water- 
color. As experiments progress it is by no 
means impossible that many of the elements 
which now have little or no practical value may 
find uses, and work along this line offers much 
prospect of success. 


In the last number of the Zeitschrift fiir ane 
organische Chemie, Piccini publishes the full de- 
tails of the preparation of cesium manganese 
alum and a complete description of the salt. 
This is of more than passing interest from the 
fact that it is the first salt of trivalent man- 
ganese whose constitution is not open to 
question. Manganese alums are described in 
older chemical literature, but efforts to repeat 
their preparation have not been successful. By 
utilizing the electric current to oxidize man- 
ganese sulfate, Piccini forms the alum with- 
out difficulty, and in crystals large enough for a 
complete crystallographic study. It is thus 
settled that in manganic compounds the man- 
ganese istrivalent, and henceallied to aluminum, 
chromium and iron. From a private communi- 
cation Ilearn that other manganese alums have 
been prepared and studied by Professor Chris- 
tensen, and will shortly be described. 

La leaalals 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
FROST PREDICTION AND PROTECTION. 


BULLETIN No. 23 of the Weather Bureau is 
entitled Frost: When to Expect it and How to 
Lessen the Injury Therefrom, and is by Professor 
W. H. Hammon, Local Forecast Official at San 
Francisco. This paper is a revision of one pre- 
pared three years ago, and is the result of care- 
ful study extending over a long period. The 
Bulletin classifies the different methods of frost 
protection under five heads. Of these the most 
important ones are as follows: I., diminishing 
radiation ; II., raising the dew point of the air, 
and, III., increasing the temperature of the air. 
Under the first class come screens of various 
kinds, such as glass, cloth or laths; and the 
well-known ‘smudges.’ The raising of the 
dew point is accomplished by burning damp 
‘smudges;’ by evaporation from water tanks 
heated by fires; by spraying and by irrigating 
at times of frost, etc. The heating of the air by 
means of small fires, scattered about through 
the orchard or over the field, has also been 
found a very effective protector against frost in 
the drier parts of California. Among the vari- 
ous ingenious devices cited by Professor Ham- 
mon, the following is worthy of note. The ma- 
chine, designed by Mr. George F. Ditzler, of 
Biggs, Cal., consists of a large, deep, sheet-iron 
tank, three or four feet square, mounted on a 
truck. About six inches from the bottom of the 
tank a wire grate is erected. Through a 
hole in the bottom of the tank, beneath 
the screen, a blast of air is admitted, 
which is produced by a_ revolving fan, 
operated by a sprocket chain and wheel at- 
tached to the wheel of the truck. A water 
cask and force pump, operated by the move- 
ment of the wagon, complete the outfit. A 
little tar or other fuel is placed upon the grate 
and ignited, and the tank is filled with wet 
straw or manure. When the machine is put 
in motion the blast produced by the fan causes 
an intense fire. All the heat of the fire has to 
pass through three feet of wet straw before it 
can reach the air. Thus evaporation is very 
active, and the vapor, rising from the wet ma- 
terial, immediately condenses, forming a dense 
fog or mist. While the machine is in motion, 
being driven forward and back between the 


SCIENCE. 


627 
rows of trees in the orchard, water is continu 
ally pumped from the cask and discharged 
from small holes about the top of the tank upon 
the fuel. One such machine is said to evapo- 
rate 100 gallons of water an hour. The fog 
thus formed is stated to be so dense that the 
driver has frequently to go ahead and lead the 


horses. 
A FOG DISPELLER. 


WHILE the production of fog, as a means of 
protection against frost, is an extremely desi- 
rable thing in some districts on land, the pos- 
sibility of dispelling fog over the oceans is an- 
other matter which is no less anxiously sought 
for. The following account of the so-called 
Tugrin Fog Dispeller is found in the Monthly 
Weather Review for January. The apparatus 
consists of an outlook pipe, eight feet long and 
three inches inside diameter, with a wide flange 
at the mouth, placed so as to be convenient to 
the navigating officer. A tube enters the pipe 
from below, and a blower sends a powerful 
stream of warm air through the tube and the 
pipe straight ahead, blowing a hole right 
through the fog, which is rolled back in every 
direction. It is said that the navigating officer 
is thus enabled to see through the densest fog 
for several hundred feet. 


NOTES. 

THE report of the Meteorological Council to 
the Royal Society for the year ending March 
31, 1898, shows that of the 8:30 p. m. forecasts 
issued daily the percentage of verification was 
81. Fifty-five per cent. of these forecasts were 
fully verified, and 26 per cent. were partly 
verified. The highest percentage of verification 
attained during the decade 1888-1897 was 84, 
in 1893. Of the storm warnings issued during 
the past year, 91.8 per cent. were justified by 
subsequent gales or strong winds. 


THE progress of the investigation of the free 
air by means of kites continues. From the 
Monthly Weather Review for January it is learned 
that a kite corps has been formed at Bayonne, 
N. J., and that nearly 40 ascents were made be- 
tween April and December of last year. The 
altitudes reached were in most cases not above 
500 feet, and observations of temperature only 
were made. R. DEC. Warp. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


628 SCIENCE. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCE- 
MENT OF SCIENCE. 


THE spring meeting of the Council of the 
American Association for the Advancement of 
Science was held April 18, in Washington, D. C. 

The Permanent Secretary, Dr. L. O. Howard, 
presented for the information of the Council an 
account of the operations of his office since the 
last Council meeting. He also presented his 
financial statement for the last half of the year 
1898, which was approved and ordered to be 
printed. He announced that a contract had 
been signed which provided for the printing of 
the Volume of the Proceedings of the Associa- 
tion for 1899 by the Chemical Publishing Com- 
pany of Easton, Pa. 

A number of matters relating to the Colum- 
bus meeting the coming August were discussed. 
The Council expressed its preference in favor 
of Saturday, August 26th, as the day upon 
which the all-day excursion should be given, 
and further, in order that the scientific sessions 
should not be interrupted, passed a resolution 
expressing its desire that afternoon excursions 
and other social functions should not be ar- 
ranged by the Local Committee to begin before 
4 o’clock in the afternoon. It was decided to 
hold the final public meeting of the Association 
on Friday night and the meeting of the Nomi- 
nating Committee on Thursday night. Inas- 
much as some dissatisfaction had been expressed 
with the plan adopted at the Boston meeting of 
doing away with the general morning sessions, 
it was decided to resume these daily sessions at 
10 o’clock each morning, confining the busi- 
ness, however, to a consideration of matters 
emanating from the Council and limiting their 
duration to half an hour. 

The Permanent Secretary was authorized to 
invite Mr. Elihu Thomson to deliver the public 
lecture at the Columbus meeting. 

The Chairman of the Committee on Associa- 
tion Badge reported progress and submitted de- 
signs. 

An application from Professor C. B. Daven- 
port, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 
Cambridge, Mass., for an appropriation from 
the Research Fund of $50 to enable Mr. Charles 
C. Adams to visit the headwaters of the Ten- 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 226. 


nessee River to collect shells for the genus Jo 
for the purpose of a specific study of variation 
was referred to the Committee on Grants, with 
power to act. 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WORK IN ALASKA. 


THE Secretary of the Interior has approved 
plans submitted by Director Walcott, of the 
Geological Survey, for the continuation of sur- 
veys in Alaska during the summer of 1899. 
It is proposed that one party, to consist of Mr. 
W. J. Peters, topographer in charge, and Mr. 
Alfred H. Brooks, assistant geologist, and 
equipped with pack animals and outfit, shall 
proceed from Chilkat Inlet, along the northern 
side of St. Elias Range, to the head of White 
River, and conduct such explorations as may 
be feasible to locate the sources of the Copper, 
Tanana and Nabesna Rivers. Between the 
Tanana and the Yukon there is a range of 
mountains composed largely of the gold-bear- 
ing schists. Although quite extensively pros- 
pected, but little is known of this range. The 
explorations will be by the most feasible route 
to Eagle City and thence westward within the 
area between the Tanana and the Yukon, It 
is expected that the party will reach a point on 
the Yukon in September, and return by the 
way of St. Michael or, if more advantageous, by 
way of Dawson. 

The second party, consisting of Mr. F. C. 
Schrader, assistant geologist, and a topographer, 
will proceed down the Yukon to Fort Yukon, 
and from there carry forward explorations 
northward toward the Koyukuk. The object 
of this party is to explore the principal waters 
of the Koyukuk within the Arctic Circle. As 
the region is almost unknown, the special route 
to be traversed will be left to the discretion of 
the head of the party. The equipment of the 
party is to consist of canoes of the same type as 
those used in the explorations during the field 
season of 1898. It is expected that the party 
will return down the Koyukuk to the Yukon 
and out by the way of St. Michael. 

The plans have been developed as a result of 
thorough discussion by the members of the 
Survey familiar with explorations in Alaska 
and the resources of the Territory. 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


SCIENTIFIC POSITIONS UNDER THE GOVERNMENT, 


A CIVIL service examination will be held on 
May 9th to establish an eligible register for the 
position of Expert in Terrestrial Magnetism, 
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Department 
of the Treasury, at a salary of $2,500. The ex- 
amination will consist of the subjects mentioned 
below, which will be weighted as follows: (1) 
experience in conducting magnetic surveys, 
including a knowledge of the literature, past 
and present, of the subject, 30; (2) original 
investigations and training connected with the 
study of magnetism, 40; (8) practical questions 
relative to terrestrial magnetism, 30. 

An examination will be held in June for the 
position of Inspector of Standards, Office Stand- 
ard Weights and Measures, U. 8. Coast and 
Geodetic Survey, Department of the Treasury, 
at a salary of $3,000 per annum. Competitors 
will not be required to be present at an exam- 
ination, but a decision will be made on the result 
of the following tests: (1) training and ex- 
perience, comprising, especially, original in- 
vestigations in physics, 30; (2) published papers 
having special reference to investigations in 
physics or pertaining to standards of weight 
and measure, 30; (8) thesis of not less than 
two thousand (2,000) nor more than four thous- 
and (4,000) words, on the proper functions of 
a national office of weights and measures, 40. 

On May 16th an examination will be held for 
the position of Field Assistant, Division of For- 
estry, Department of Agriculture, with a salary 
of $1,000 a year. The subjects and weights are 
as follows: (1) Forestry, 60; (2) Botany, 10; 
(3) English (essay), 10; (4) Education and Ex- 
perience, 20. 

In view of the scarcity of applicants the ex- 
amination scheduled to be held on April 11-12, 
1899, for Examiner of Surveys, General Land 
Office, Department of the Interior, has been 
postponed to May 9-10, 1899. The examina- 
tion is chiefly on land surveying and the salary 
is $5 per day. 


GENERAL. 

THE National Academy of Sciences at its 
meeting last week elected the following new 
members: Charles E. Beecher, professor of 
historical geology at Yale University ; George 


SCIENCE. 629 


C. Comstock, professor of astronomy in the 
University of Wisconsin; Theodore W. Richards, 
professor of chemistry in Harvard University ; 
Edgar F. Smith, professor of chemistry in the 
University of Pennsylvania, and EK. B. Wilson, 
professor of zoology in Columbia University. 


Dr. DAvip GILL, of the Royal Observatory, 
Cape of Good Hope, has been awarded the 
Watson medal of the National Academy of 
Sciences. 


Mr. I. H. BurkKILL has been appointed as- 
sistant to the Director of Kew Gardens. 


Dr. CHARLOTTE ANGUS ScoTT, professor of 
mathematics at Bryn Mawr College, has been 
elected an honorary member of the Amsterdam 
Mathematical Society. 


Mr. G. L. TELLER, whose recent work on 
the Chemistry of Wheat at the Arkansas Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station has attracted at- 
tention, has resigned his position as chemist of 
that Station for the purpose of taking charge of 
chemical work in the Chidlow Institute of 
Milling and Baking Technology, Chicago. ‘ This 
Institute, recently founded by Mr. David Chid- 
low, who has been for some time past chemist 
to the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Co., of 
Minneapolis, is the only institution in America 
which offers the advantages of technical instruc- 
tion to millers and bakers. 


Dr. HEINRICH KIEPERT, since 1859 professor 
of geography in the University of Berlin, well 
known for his explorations in Asia Minor and 
important publications, died on April 21st in 
his 80th year. 


CHARLES H. Swan, a well-known civil and 
and sanitary engineer, died in Roxbury, Mass., 
on April 17th. 


Mr. SPENCER H. DEVARRE, formerly instruc- 
tor in mathematics in Yale University, has died 
at Brooklyn. 


WE learn from Nature that the Easter dredg- 
ing expedition of the Liverpool Marine Biology 
Committee was brought to an untimely end by 
an unfortunate boat accident in Port Erin Bay. 
On March 31st dredging and trawling were car- 
ried on from the fisheries steamer John Fell, 
and on the following forenoon the Tanner clos- 
ing net ard the method of pumping plankton 


630 SCIENCE, 


from the bottom by means of a hose-pipe were 
tried on the steamer. On the afternoon of 
Saturday, April lst, two of the workers in the 
Biological Station went out to collect surface 
plankton in asmall boat. While hauling in the 
tow-net when returning, the boat capsized, and 
both were thrown into the water. One of them 
(Mr. E. J. W. Harvey, of Liverpool) was picked 
up by another boat from the Biological Station, 
but his companion (Mr. Eric T. Townsend, of 
Manchester) was unfortunately drowned before 
assistance could reach him. The body was 
eventually recovered. Mr. Townsend was a 
student at the Owens College, and was occupy- 
ing the College work-table at the Port Erin 
Biological Station. 


Dr. L. BuscALIONI is making collections in 
Brazil for the Botanical Museum at Rome. 


THE French government is sending an expe- 
dition to the Congo to make a topographical 
survey of the colony. 


M. ADRIEN DE GERLACH, the chief of the 
Belgian Antarctic expedition, will return with 
the Belgica without further explorations after 
repairs have been made at Buenos Ayres. M. 
Artowski, the naturalist of the expedition is 
already on his way home. Lieutenant Danco, 
who had charge of the magnetic observations, 
died in June, 1898. 


A Russo-SWEDISH scientific expedition will 
start for the Spitzbergen Archipelago in May. 
The Russians will be represented by Staff 
Captain Sergiebsky, the zoologist Vinitsky, Dr. 
Bunge and the geologist and mining engineer 
‘Chernysheff. They will go in the Libau ice- 
breaker No. 2, and the Bakan, and join the 
Swedish party at Stockholm. The expedition 
intends to winter in Spitzbergen, the Russians 
at Edge Island and the Swedes at Parry Island. 


As we have already stated, the next annual 
meeting of the British Association will be held 
at Dover under the presidency of Professor 
Michael Foster, commencing on Wednesday, 
September 13th. For the benefit of Americans 
who may propose attending the meeting, it 
may be added that notice of papers pro- 
posed to be read should be sent before July 1st 
to the Assistant General Secretary, Mr. G. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 226. 


Griffith, at the office of the Association, Burling- 
ton House, London. 


AN electrical exposition will be held in Madi- 
son Square Garden, New York, during the 
month of May. 


Tue King of the Belgians, as Sovereign of 
the Congo Free State, has contributed £200 to- 
ward the establishment of the London School 
of Tropical Medicine, and the Secretary of State 
for India has subscribed £1,000. The Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury has also contributed £50 
to the same object. Lord Lister, President of 
the Royal Society, was the principal guest 
on the occasion of the inaugural dinner in con- 
nection with the Liverpool School for the Study 
of Tropical Diseases on the 22d inst. A sum of 
£1,700 has been promised towards the expenses 
of the Liverpool School. 


THE Kansas State Legislature has appro- 
priated $25,000 for a dairy building at the Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station and $6,000 for its 
equipment. The Oklahoma Legislature has ap- 
propriated $30,000 for buildings and equipment 
for its Agricultural Station. 


Ir is said that the estate left by the late 
Baroness de Hirsch has been valued at $125,- 
000,000, of which $100,000,000 will be ex- 
pended in carrying out the various charities 
founded or fostered by the Baron and Baroness. 
The Hirsch Foundation in New York City re- 
ceives $1,200,000. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has increased his 
donation for the Washington Free Library 
from $250,000 to $300,000, in order that the 
building may be of more artistic construction. 


We learn from The Auk that the Philadel- 
phia Academy of Natural Sciences has acquired 
the collection of bird skins made by Mr. Joseph 
Hoopes, of West Chester, Pa. It contains more 
than 7,000 specimens, nearly all being North 
American land birds. 

Tue following are the lecture arrange- 
ments after Easter at the Royal Institution: 
Professor J. Cossar Ewart, three lectures on 
zebras and zebra hybrids; Professor Silvanus 
P. Thompson, two lectures on electric eddy-cur- 
rents (the Tyndall Lectures) ; Professor W. J. 
Sollas, three lectures on geology; Professor 


APRIL 28, 1899. ] 


Dewar, three lectures on the atmosphere ; Mr. 
Lewis F. Day, three lectures on embroidery ; 
Professor L. C. Miall, two lectures on water 
weeds; Mr. Louis Dyer, three lectures on Ma- 
chiavelli; Mr. W. L. Brown, two lectures on 
‘To Iceland in Search of Health’; Mr. Edgar 
F. Jacques, three lectures on ‘The Music of 
India and the East, and its Influence on the 
Music of Europe’ (with musical illustrations). 
The Friday evening meetings will be resumed 
on April 14th, when a discourse will be deliv- 
ered by Professor A. W. Ricker on ‘Earth 
Currents and Electric Traction.’ Succeeding 
discourses will probably be given by Dr. F. W. 
Mott, Professor C. A. Carus Wilson, Dr. W. J. 
Russell, Professor T. Preston, the Bishop of 
Bristol, Sir William Martin Conway, Mr. H. G. 
Wells and others. 


THE Belgian Royal Academy, according to 
Nature, proposes the following subjects for es- 
says in competition for gold medals of value 600 
francs each, to be awarded in 1900. The essays 
are to be sent to the Secretary before August 1, 
1900, each bearing a motto, and written in 
French or Flemish. Contrary to the usual cus- 
tom, five subjects instead of three have been se- 
lected in each of the two departments of mathe- 
matical and physical science and of natural 
science. The mathematical and physical ques- 
tions refer to: (1) critical phenomena in physics ; 
(2) viscosity of liquids; (8) the carbon deriva- 
tives of an element whose combinations are 
little known; (4) the history and theory of 
variation of latitude ; (5) the algebra and geom- 
etry of n-linear forms were n>3. The ques- 
tions in natural science refer to: (1) the geolog- 
ical formations at Comblain au Pont, and 
whether these are Devonian or Carboniferous ; 
(2) the physical modifications produced in min- 
erals by pressure ; (3) the organization and de- 
velopment of the platoda ; (4) the presence of a 
nucleus in the Sehizophyta; (5) the Devonian 
flora of Belgium. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 
ASSISTANTS IN PHYSIOLOGY IN HARVARD MED- 
ICAL SCHOOL. 

Two of the four positions offered by the Har- 
vard Medical School to properly qualified men 
desirious of training in physiological research 


SCIENCE, 


631 


and in the management of large laboratory 
classes in experimental physiology are not yet 
filled for the next collegiate year. Holders of 
these positions give more than half the day to 
research. The remaining time is spent during 
the first four months in learning laboratory 
methods and during the last four months in di- 
recting the laboratory work of the medical 
students, two hundred of whom work from two 
to three hours daily for sixteen weeks in ex- 
perimental physiology. The fundamental ex- 
periments in physiology done by two hundred 
men working at one time present every variety 
of results and impart a training in observation 
and administration not to be acquired in other 
ways. 

Much too may be learned by association ; 
from six to ten men are constantly engaged in 
research in the laboratory of physiology, and 
in the departments of anatomy, histology, 
pathology, physiology and physiological chem- 
istry, all of which have their laboratories in the 
medical school building, are more than thirty 
instructors. No charge of any kind is made, 
either for the training in physiological research 
and in teaching or for the use of animals and 
other material. Four of the eight investiga- 
tions already made by holders of these positions 
have appeared in the American Journal of Physi 
ology, and the others will be published shortly. 

In addition to these opportunities the school 
gives each assistant four hundred dollars for 
superintending the class work in experimental 
physiology three hours daily during sixteen 
weeks. 

Applications for these positions should be 
made to Dr. H. P. Bowditch, Harvard Medical 
School, 688 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 


GENERAL, 


‘ Tue following gifts and bequests to educa- 
tional institutions have been made since our 
last issue: $50,000 to Oberlin College for a 
chemical laboratory ; $8,000 to Vassar College 
by the will of Mrs. Luther Elthing for the 
founding of a scholarship; $6,000 from Miss 
Emily H. Bourne for the establishment of schol- 
arships in Barnard College; $10,000 to the 
Catholic University of Washington by the will 
of Miss Mary Moran, and a conditional gift of 


632 


$30,000 to Yankton College, S. D., from D. K. 
Pearson. 

FOREIGN journals report that the late W. J. 
Astrakoff has bequeathed to the University of 
Moscow a sum ofa million roubles, on condition 
that it shall be expended upon the foundation of 
a ‘ Moscow University for Women,’ with three 
faculties—mathematics, medicine and natural 
science. He requires that it shall be placed 
under the direct administration of the Ministry 
of Public Education and the program corre- 
spond exactly with that of the University for 
men. 

THE Mechanical Hall of the University of 
West Virginia was destroyed by fire on March 
4th. The building was insured for $28,000, and 
the loss beyond this sum is not great. The 
building will be immediately replaced. 


THE present state of affairs in the Russian 
universities in extremely serious. Not only 
has the University at St. Petersburg been closed 
for some time, but similar conditions exist at 
Moscow, Kieff, Kharkoff, Odessa, Kasan, 
Tomsk and Warsaw, and in most of the tech- 
nical institutes. More than 30,000 young men 
who will soon form an important part ofthe in- 
tellectual class in Russia are affected. The 
troubles began by a demonstration against the 
Rector of the University of St. Petersburg, 
which was followed by an encounter with the 
police in which Cossack whips were used upon 
the students. The Russian government ap- 
pears to sympathize to a certain extent with the 
students, and an investigation has been ordered. 

Tue statement in the daily press to the effect 
that Dr. J. L. Wortmann has been elected by 
the Yale corporation professor of paleontology 
and Curator of the Peabody Museum is in- 
correct. It is, however, probable that the work 
in paleontology will be in some way divided 
between Professor C. E. Beecher, of Yale Uni- 
versity, and Dr. J. L. Wortmann. 


Mr. J. ArrHuR THOMPSON has been ap- 
pointed professor of natural history in the Uni- 
versity of Aberdeen in succession to the late 
Professor Nicholson. 

Dr. RopeRT Murr has been elected to the 
vacant professorship of pathology in the Uni- 
versity of Glasgow. Dr. Muir was last year 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. EX. No. 226. 


called from a lectureship at Edinburgh to the 
professorship of pathology at St. Andrews. He 
has published important contributions especially 
on the pathology of the blood and of the bone- 
marrow. 

Mr. W. A. MurRiuy has been appointed As- 
sistant Cryptogamic Botanist of the Cornell 
University Experiment Station for one year, 
during the absence, in Europe, of Dr. B. M. 
Duggar. Mr. Murrill is a graduate of the 
Washington and Lee University, and of the 
Virginia Agricultural College. He entered 
upon graduate study at Cornell University two 
years ago, when he was appointed scholar in 
botany. During the last year he held one of 
the positions of graduate assistant in botany at 
Cornell. He is still continuing graduate work. 


EpGar BUCKINGHAM, associate in physics 
and physical chemistry in Bryn Mawr College, 
has resigned his position. 


J. H. McCracken, assistant professor of 
philosophy in New York University, has been 
elected President of Westminster College. 


TWENTY-SIX fellowships have been announced 
in the University of Pennsylvania, of which the 
following were given in the sciences: Reap- 
pointments—Philosophy, H. B. Alexander ; 
Mathematics, R. H. Vivian. New appoint- 
ments—Mathematics and Astronomy, U. 8. 
Hanna ; Physics, H. S. Conrad ; Chemistry, T. 
M. Taylor, M. B. MacDonald ; Zoology, J. R. 
Murlin, C. B. Thompson ; Pedagogy, I. B. Mc- 
Neal. 


Dr. Dante E, Rosa, of Turin, has been ap- 
pointed associate professor of comparative 
anatomy in the University at Sassari; Profes- 
sor Bergen, of Munich, has been made professor 
of geology and mineralogy in the School of Min- 
ing at Klausthal. Dr. Solomon, docent in 
mineralogy at the University of Heidelberg, has 
been promoted to an assistant professorship. Dr. 
W.-Wien, associate professor of physics at the . 
Institute of Technology at Aix, has been called 
to a full professorship at the University at 
Giessen. Dr. Eggeling has qualified as docent 
in comparative anatomy and embryology in 
the University at Strassburg, and Dr. Zermelo 
as docent in mathematics and theoretical phys- 
ics in the University at Giessen. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: 8. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsToN, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. 8. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcu, Physiology; 

J. S. Bryrnas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, May 5, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


“Observations of the Planet Mars:’ PROFESSOR G. 
SCHIAPAREDUG feeccsccstsessssneseassorssacsssecuesestess 633 

Dr, Alexander Graham Bell on the Development by 
Selection of Supernumerary Mamme in Sheep. 


(GWathPPlaten Va) ccc sadtsccssessestetcetensetnesess 637 
Latest Voleanie Eruptions of the Pacific Coast: J. 
SBDINTERAreccscccesscccscnscencnsscrevsececcteceersescse 639 


The Prospective Place of the Solar Azimuth Tables 
in the Problem of Accelerating Ocean Transit: G. 
W. LITTLEHALES 

Some New American Fossil Fishes: C. R. EASTMAN. 642 

Rapidity of Sand-Plain Growth: M. L. FULLER.. 643 

Proposed Survey of the Nile.......cccccscrcscsreosecvesene 644 

Scientific Books :— 

Evans on Birds: DR. J. A. ALLEN. Dav- 
enport’s Experimental Morphology : PROFESSOR 
T. H. MorGAN. Verworn’s General Physiology : 
PROFESSOR D. T. MAcDouGAL. General........ 647 
Scientifie Journals and Articles.......cccscceecececseceees 651 
Societies and Academies :-— 
The Philosophical Society of Washington: E. D. 
PRESTON. The Entomological Society of Wash- 
ington: DR. L. O. Howarp. The New York 
Academy of Sciences ; Section of Astronomy and 
Physics: DR. WM. S. Day. The New York 
Section of the American Chemical Society: DR. 
DURAND WiOODMAND ccseccsresstesiesdstssccsscsssee: 652 

Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Messrs. Lehmann and Hansen on Telepathy: 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM JAMES. Two Correc- 
tions: PROFESSOR BURT G. WILDER.............- 654 

Notes on Physics :— 

A New Theory of the Zeeman Effect ; Daylight- 
Phosphorescence VAG STsC 9D sjeerseccaeseshsscecesss ss 655 

Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. Hu...... eee 656 

Current Notes on Meteorology : 

Blue Hill Observatory Bulletins ; Snow Rollers ; A 
Course in Meteorology at Ohio State University ; 
Climate of the Congo Free State: R. DEC. WARD. 657 

A New Marine Biological Laboratory: DR. HUGH 


INL FSIO GY: Pe ooqscoadzoaadoce: LoonoossosqasoadoedBadaadadegas 658 
Theory of the Steam Engine: PRoressor Rk. H. 

ANTE HORE SIILONNT -haanpbudcabsdbadoooridcdaaccn sdodasoopdanndadag 659 
The Philadelphia Exposition Of 1900.....1cscececeeeees 659 
Scientific Notes and News.........scccsececececscavsescecers 660, 
University and Educational News.........c:cecvereceeeee 664 


‘ OBSERVATIONS OF THE PLANET MARS.’* 

Tuis is the first volume of a series which 
promises to be important for the physical 
study of the planets. It contains a detailed 
account of the observations made on the 
planet Mars during an interval of ten 
months (June, 1894—March, 1895) by Mr. 
Percival Lowell and his two collaborators, 
W. H. Pickering and A. E. Douglass. The 
observatory, especially constructed near the 
small town of Flagstaff, occupies a central 
position in the great plateau of Arizona, at 
an elevation of 7,250 feet above the level of 
the sea, in latitude 35° 11’ and longitude 
111° 40’ west of Greenwich. The choice of 
that location has been justified by the 
success attained. During the six months 
from June to November, 1894, the planet 
could be observed on nearly every day. On 
two days out of three it was possible to re- 
cord useful observations of difficult objects. 
The atmospheric conditions prevailing dur- 
ing that period (and often during the fol- 
lowing winter as well) are sufficiently char- 
acterized by the discovery of a great number 
of details unknown to previous observers. 
These observations suffice to give an idea of 
the optical perfection of the instrument em- 
ployed, which had an objective by Brashear, 


* Annals of the Lowell Observatory. Vol. I.—Ob- 
servations of the Planet Mars during the opposition 
of 1894-95, made at Flagstaff, Arizona. Percival 
Lowell, Director of the Observatory. Boston and 
New York, Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1898. Pp. xii+- 
392. Large quarto. Plates, xxi. 


634 


of 18 inches aperture and 315} inches focal 
length. The magnifying powers used were 
commonly 440 and 617; an eye-piece of 
power 820 served for the micrometric meas- 
urements. Among the auxiliary instru- 
ments we mention an Arago polariscope, 
which has been employed, perhaps for the 
first time, upon Mars by W. H. Pickering 
at Flagstaff ; also a scale of very fine lines 
of different sizes, which served for the com- 
parison and estimation of the size and in- 
tensity of the lines observed on the planet. 

The very numerous and varied observa- 
tions which form the contents of the pres- 
ent volume have led to many results, the 
most important of which have been an- 
nounced by Mr. Lowell in his book ‘ Mars,’ 
published in 1895. That book contains 
many discussions and theories of great in- 
terest as to the physical constitution of the 
planet and its atmosphere, its habitability, 
and as to the most plausible manner of ex- 
plaining the curious phenomena which have 
been observed. The substance of those re- 
searches and of those discussions has been 
reproduced in the present volume. The 
readers of ScrencE have been made familiar 
with them by the critical analysis of them 
given by Professor W. W. Campbell in 
the number for August 21, 1896. I have, 
therefore, not occupied myself with the 
theoretical and hypothetical portions, and 
I am able to confine myself to the observa- 
tions. In view of their great variety, I 
shall be obliged to limit myself to the con- 
sideration of some of the more character- 
istic points. 

First, as to the polar spots and their 
periodic variations, which are known to be 
analogous to those of our polar snows. 
The manner of development of the polar 
caps and the phases of their increase are 
entirely unknown, and it is probable that 
they will always remain so; for during the 
period of their increase they are for the 
most part or wholly enveloped in the night 


SCIENCE. [N. &. 


Vou. IX. No. 227. 


of the pole. But the process of their dis- 
solution can be followed without much diffi- 
culty when the inclination of the planet’s 
equator with respect to our line of vision 
approaches the maximum value possible, 
which occurred in 1894. As for that, the 
observers at Flagstaff have been able to 
study the phenomena of the southern spot 
from the beginning of June, when its di- 
ameter was about 55°, up toits total (or 
nearly total) destruction, which occurred 
toward the end of October. 

They were able to follow the changes of 
its size and shape, its division into several 
parts by the large black band, and to estab- 
lish further the persistence of certain parts 
isolated from the greater body. They also 
observed the changes of color which took 
place in the surrounding dark regions. 
Plate II., page 46, gives the definitive re- 
sults of that investigation, which, in com- 
parison with similar work hitherto, suffi- 
ciently shows the superiority of the means 
with which Mars has been visually studied 
at Flagstaff. 

I may be permitted to express here 
the conviction that it is by the exact and 
persevering study of the polar spots of 
Mars that we shall some day arrive ata 
sound knowledge of the physical nature of 
that planet, and the interpretation of its 
singular phenomena. I shall even venture 
to say thatif the southerncap is very instruc- 
tive in that respect, the northern cap is still 
more so. In fact, the latter develops toa 
large extent over the regions of a yellow 
color which it is customary to call conti- 
nents. The obscure band which reaches to 
its edge has a direct relation to the system 
of canals and lakes surrounding it. In the 
same measure as the white spot diminishes 
under the influence of the solar rays, there 
take place in the neighboring regions very 
considerable changes, the connection of 
which with the successive phases of the cap 
is evident. The facts that I was able te 


May 5, 1899.] 


establish during the oppositions of 1886 
and 1888 make me very strongly wish that 
the northern cap could be studied by the 
observers at Flagstaff with the same suc- 
cess as the southern. 

A considerable portion of the work is de- 
voted to the phenomenon which is called, 
according to usage, the canals of Mars, the 
nature of which is still entirely obscure, 
despite the theories, oftentimes pretty and 
very ingenious, which they have occasioned. 

Mr. Lowell has given a description of 
these singular formations which seems to 
me to conform to the truth in the great ma- 
jority of cases. He has succeeded in show- 
ing their character quite well in his draw- 
ings. See plates I, IV, V, VI. If thereis 
any defect here, it is that the differences of 
the size and intensity of the different canals 
are not indicated with sufficient clearness. 
Ihave had occasion to gain some experi- 
ence in that line of work, and I have no 
hesitation in saying that this part of the 
observations at Flagstaff seems to me to be 
worthy of the greatest consideration. Be- 
tween the south pole and the thirtieth par- 
allel of north latitude (three-quarters of the 
whole surface of the planet) previous ob- 
servers have more or less clearly recognized 
the existence of 70 or 80 canals. At the 
Lowell Observatory that number has at one 
stroke been increased to nearly 200, without 
counting those whose existence could not be 
satisfactorily verified. The record of ob- 
servations of these objects made from June 6, 
1894, to April 3, 1895, occupies no less than 
85 pages. Frequently 20 or 30 canals could 
be seen together. In less than an hour, on 
the night of October 6th, 42 were made out 
ona portion of the planet which did not 
amount to a quarter of the whole surface. 
All three observers took part in the work. 
The newly discovered canals naturally be- 
long to the most difficult class, and a certain 
number of them have since been verified by 
two European observers, Leo Brenner at 


SCIENCE. 


635 


Lussinpiccolo and Cerulli at Teramo. I 
greatly regret that Iam unable to add my 
own name to those, but my eye no longer 
has the power necessary for successfully 
carrying out such difficult observations. 

Several canals were observed in a state 
of gemination, among others Ganges, 
Nectar, Euphrates and Phison. On the 
8th of October Mr. Douglass made the very 
curious and remarkable observation of the 
gemination of the Lacus Solis, which seemed 
to be divided in two by a luminous band on 
the extension of Nectar. JI made a similar 
observation in 1890, but then the luminous 
band was on the prolongation of Eosphoros. 
The same thing is being observed by M. 
Cerulli at Teramo during the current op- 
position of 1899. 

As a result of these numerous discoveries 
and other subsequent ones, as well as future 
ones, areography is coming to find itself in 
a condition which may be called an em- 
barrassment of riches. The network of 
canals has become so complex that there 
begins to be considerable difficulty in orient- 
ing oneself. Imagine three or four hun- 
dred of these lines traced all together over 
a globe of but a few seconds of apparent 
diameter! The identity of lines seen by 
different observers at almost the same place 
is very often doubtful. The difficulty of 
seeing well and of precisely locating the 
coordinates of the two extremities may 
easily give rise to ambiguity and errors. 
Add to this the frequent changes which the 
lines undergo in their aspect and their de- 
gree of visibility ; being now fine and sharp, 
and again large and diffuse; sometimes 
double, often entirely invisible—and one is 
no longer astonished to see the same line, 
observed by two different men in a slightly 
different manner, regarded by them as two 
distinct objects ; or, on the other hand, to 
see two essentially different objects con- 
founded as a single one. The _ better 
remedy for avoiding these inconveniences 


636 


would be to give up the doubtful objects, 
and to make as complete and exact a study 
as possible upon those canals best known 
and most easily observed, following with- 
out interruption the variations of their 
aspect and of their course, and basing de- 
ductions upon precise measures. Precise 
measures ! the thing most necessary and at 
the same time the most difficult, which 
ought to receive more attention from skilled 
observers. 

The proportion of new discoveries at 
Flagstaff on the small dark spots called 
lakes (Mr. Lowell’s oases) is relatively still 
more considerable. Prior to the opposition 
of 1894 ten to twelve of these formations 
were known. Mr. Lowell gives a cata- 
logue of more than forty of them. He 
has shown that in most cases these oases 
are arranged in regular series on the 
routes of the longer canals. It is quite 
probable that minute dark spots, more or 
less readily visible, must exist at all points 
of intersection of any two canals. 

There is still another class of objects on 
which the Flagstaff observers have insti- 
tuted the first thorough research. These 
are the black lines which furrow the darker 
portions of the surface of Mars and are 
ordinarily called the seas. Some lines of 
that sort had been noticed before, and even 
a form of gemination had been established 
for two of them.* In general, previous 
observers had believed that they saw here 
lines of the greatest faintness rather than 
true canals; in only a very few special 
cases did they succeed in tracing the two 
edges distinctly. At Flagstaff these lines 
have been observed and reproduced with 
much care by Mr. Douglass, who seems to 


*See on my map of 1882 the two parallel lines 
which include between them the large island called 
Noachis ; one of these is named Prasodes on Cerulli’s 
map. See also the two lines which flank the right 
side of Syrtis Jiagna on my drawing of June 20, 1890, 
published by Flammarion (Za Planéte Mars, p. 476). 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 227. 


have a very sensitive and well-trained eye 
for that sort of objects. From measures of 
position angles he traced on two maps their 
course in the dark regions of the planet and 
their connection with the canals of the yel- 
low region. See plates XII and XIII. 

The third chapter of the volume is also 
the work of Mr. Douglass, and deals with a 
class of observations which are almost un- 
known, except for some essays in this direc- 
tion at Nice and at the Lick Observatory 
in 1890 and 1892. I refer to the irregu- 
larities which have been very often noticed 
at the terminator, 7. e.,on the line which at 
any instant separates the obscure from the 
illuminated hemisphere. These are very 
evident when the phase is considerable, 
near the quadratures. In by far the greater 
majority of cases these irregularities are 
merely optical illusions caused by the dif- 
ferent proportion of the oblique solar illu- 
mination returned to us in the different 
regions traversed by the terminator. But 
there seem to be certain of these irregular- 
ities which can only be explained by the 
presence of elevations or depressions on the 
surface of Mars. Still others seem to de- 
pend upon the presence of very high clouds. 
These investigations are of much interest, 
not only from their possible bearing on the 
topography and orography of Mars, but also 
from the point of view of the physical his- 
tory of the planet and its atmosphere. 

The work is enriched by a large number 
of drawings of Mars, some of which are 
really excellent even from an artistic point 
of view. See especially plates I and IV. 
We have seen nothing as beautiful since 
the drawings made by Mr. Green on his 
expedition to Madeira in 1877. We can 
recognize here not only the geometrical con- 
figurations and the varieties of light and 
shade, but we can also get some idea of the 
magnificent coloration observed on the 
planet. 

The chart placed at the end of the vol-- 


SCIENCE. N. S., Vou. IX., PLATE V. 


Fic. 4. Ewe born 1892, nipples increased by 
selective breeding. 


Fic. 1. Normal milk-bag of ewe showing two 
nipples. 


Fic. 5. Ewe born 1893, nipples increased by 
selective breeding. 


Fic. 2. One rudimentary extra nipple.—A Sport. 


Fic. 3. Two rudimentary extra nipples. — A Fic. 6. Ewe born 1895, nipples of equal size in- 
Sport. creased by selective breeding. 


BELL ON THE DEVELOPMENT BY SELECTION OF SUPERNUMERARY MAMME IN SHEEP. 


May 5, 1899.] 


ume is a simple schematic representation, 
I venture even to say a little too schematic: 
Each object is designated by a number, and 
the corresponding name is to be sought in 
the special tables of regions, canals and 
oases. This makes the use of the chart 
troublesome and comparison with other 
charts inconvenient. All the large and 
small canals, of whatever degree of impor- 
tance and visibility, are treated in a uniform 
manner and are represented by lines of 
equal intensity; and the same with the 
oases, with the exception of the largest one 
of all, called the Lake of the Sun. It is 
not easy to recognize promptly on the chart 
many of the objects which are ordinarily 
seen at the first glance and which are fa- 
mniliar to areographers. Such objects as 
Indus, Oxus, Ganges, Cyclops, Trivium and 
Elisium must be sought in an inextricable 
maze of lines. We have here not a simple 
index, but one which in use requires itself 
an index. 

I will close this incomplete description 
of the work on Mars at Flagstaff with the 
expression of a hope and a wish, namely, 
that so important a publication shoula not 
be limited to a single opposition. The 
exact and complete knowledge of Martian 
phenomena demands that the planet should 
be examined under all possible inclinations 
of its axis and during all seasons of its 
year. This requires observations continued 
at least through seven consecutive opposi- 
tions. I say, ‘at least,’ for if the terrestrial 
seasons are far from following the annual 
period with mathematical precision, the 
phenomena of Mars seem still more diver- 
gent; and the existence of other periods, 
longer and more complex, ought to be in- 
cluded among the possibilities. Neverthe- 
less, I think that if we could have before 
us seven volumes similar to the one under 
review, and corresponding to a complete 
cycle of seven oppositions, many facts 
would be revealed of which we are at pres- 


SCIENCE. 637 


ent ignorant, and many others of which we 
have at present only dubious indications ; 
especially would this be the case if the 
seven volumes were the work of the same 
observers. I therefore hope and wish, as 
do many others, that Mr. Percival Lowell 
may be in a position to continue the work 
so happily begun ; that he will soon publish 
the results of the observations during the 
opposition of 1896-97, and that the same 
means which he has employed for the study 
of the southern hemisphere of Mars may be 
applied to the still more important obser- 
vation of the phenomena of the northern 
hemisphere.* 
G. ScHIAPARELLI. 
MILAN, March 1, 1899. 


ON THE DEVELOPMENT BY SELECTION OF 
SUPERNUMERARY MAMM2 IN SHEEP.+ 
In the year 1890 Dr. Bell found that 50 % 

of the lambs born upon his farm in Nova 

Scotia were twins, and he made an exam- 

ination of the mothers in order to ascertain 

whether the twin-bearing ewes differed in 
any noticeable degree from those which 
produced single lambs. 

Thirty-three per cent. of the twin-bearing 
ewes were found to possess supernumerary 
mamme ina more or less rudimentary con- 
dition, whereas among the ewes having 
single lambs only 22% possesssed the pecul- 
iarity ; 43 % of the ewes having supernu- 
merary mamme bore twin lambs, whereas 
only 30% of the normally-nippled ewes 
had twins. 

Although the absolute numbers were far 
too small to yield reliable percentages, they 
afforded some ground for the idea that the 
extra-nippled ewes were more fertile than 
the others ; and Dr. Bell thought it would 
be interesting to ascertain (1) whether by 


- * Translated from the author’s MS. in French by 
E. BOR. 

ft Abstract of a paper read before the National 
Academy of Sciences at Washington, D. C., April 
19, 1899, by Alexander Graham Bell. 


638 


selective breeding the supernumerary mam- 
me could be developed from their rudi- 
mentary condition into real functional nip- 
ples yielding milk, and (2) whether in this 
ease the fertility of the ewes would be in- 
creased. 

In the autumn of 1890 his shepherd, Mr. 
John McKillop, made an examination of 
the mammz of 890 sheep belonging to 
farmers in the island of Cape Breton, Nova 
Scotia. In 811 cases, or 91%, the sheep 
were normally nippled, having only two 
nipples each. In 79 cases, or 9%, super- 
numerary Mamme were present in a more 
or less developed condition. Some of these 
‘sheep had three nipples, others four, a few 
five, and one ewe had six nipples. In 52 
cases, or 6%, the extra nipples were so rudi- 
mentary as to resemble pimples upon the 
milk bag. In 27 cases, or 3%, the extra- 
nipples, though much inferior in size to the 
ordinary-nipples, seemed to be sufficiently 
developed to be functional ; and most of 
these sheep were purchased by Dr. Bell and 
added to his flock. 

Dr. Bell presented statistics showing the 
results of ten years selective breeding for 
supernumerary mamme. The following 
tables show the number and percentage of 
lambs born each year having 2, 3, 4,5 or 
6 nipples, and the accompanying chart ex- 
hibits the percentages in graphical form : 


TABLE I. 


Number of Lambs born each year from 1890 to 
1899. 


Years of | Total Number of Mammze 
Birth Lambs 9 3 4 ae 6 
1890 ; 71 59 4 Be epee 
1891 78 38 10 30 — 
1892 71 29 5 36 1 — 
1893 67 15 HE 45 — 
1894 22 4 3 15 — = 
1895 26 —_— 1 24 il ae 
1896 27 —_— _— 23 Bp tial 
1897 34 — 1 ii 3 3 
1898 37 —_— — 26 5 6 
1899 41 — 1 26 6 8 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 227. 


TABLE II. 


Percentage of Lambs born each year from 1890 to 
1899. 


Number of Mammeze 


Year of Total 
Birth | Lambs 2 3 4 5 6 
1890 | 100% | 83% 6% | 11% | —— | —— 
1891 | 100 ‘* 49 ** TsO eteh —— 
1892 | 100 ‘‘ ANUSe Ciceit eodies 1% | —— 
1893 | 100 ‘‘ Pp Ogee | —— 9 
1894.) 100/**)) 18 “* =) 14* | 68 ¢ Te 
1895 | 100 ‘‘ —— AES iy QQieé 4% 
1896 | 100 ‘‘ —— Shue ildate 4% 
1897 | 100 ‘‘ — Shella Oh ae te (igh 
18983-10053 ——— — | 70'S | 14** | 16% 
1899 | 100 ‘‘ — SEO MIOS we iL oncen eo Ques 
a H H + | 
A+ Fr] Ere a ar an - 
BE EEEEEEIREE H 
a PREECE EE aa f a 
f a Hr 
CI ey 4a t 
H- 1 n +} - 
HEE PEREEEEEEE EEE EEEEEELEEEE A He H 
Sretiaceestss haaseenaeeeie™t it 
C cH EEL E9 st EEE : 
A E apa E H HEH 
Cel + 


Graphical Chart showing the percentage of lambs 
born each year from 1890 to 1899 having 2, 3, 4, 5 or 
6 nipples (See Table II.). 


In the autumn of 1893 the flock was cut 
down very severely, and only those ewes 
were retained which had supernumerary 
mamme in a functional condition. This 
accounts for the small number of lambs 
born in 1894. Since that time no ewe 
lambs have been retained excepting those 
having extra nipples large enough to yield 
milk. 

No normally-nippled lambs (2-nippled) 
have been born in the flock since 1894. 
Three-nippled lambs are gradually disap- 


May 5, 1899.] 


pearing. Four-nippled lambs increased 
from 11% in 1890 to 92% in 1895, since 
which time the percentage has gradually 
fallen, the four-nippled lambs being re- 
placed by five and six-nippled lambs. The 
first six-nippled lamb was born in 1896, 
and the percentage has increased from 4% 
in 1896 to 20% in 1899. 

Dr. Bell claimed that his statistics showed 
that he had produced by selection a breed 
of sheep possessing supernumerary mamme 
as a normal condition. 

Figures are given on Plate V. show- 
ing the normal milk-bag of a ewe, extra 
nipples occurring as sports and the extra 
nipples obtained by selective breeding. 


LATEST VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS OF THE PA- 
CIFIC COAST. 

Tue date of the last voleanic eruption on 
the Pacific coast of the United States, ex- 
clusive of Alaska, has long been a matter of 
doubt, and will probably remain so for 
many years to come. Speaking geologic- 
ally, much of the material in the great vol- 
eanic field of the Northwest, including a 
large part of Oregon and Washington, with 
portions of California, Idaho and Wyo- 
ming, is of comparatively recent eruption. 
The outbursts may have begun in the Eo- 
cene, were most violent and extensive dur- 
ing the Miocene and Pliocene, and, dimin- 
ishing in vigor, extended, perhaps, up to the 
borders of the historical period. In Alaska, 
however, there have been eruptions from 
Bogoslov, St. Augustin and other volcanoes 
as late as 1883 and even later, and there 
can be no question concerning the reliabil- 
ity of the testimony. G. F. Becker gives a 
list (U.S. G.S., 18th Ann. Rept., Part III., 
p. 14) of over forty volcanoes in Alaska 
which have been reported active within his- 
torical times. 

The evidence, so far as the Pacific States 
are concerned, is given chiefly by Professor 
J.D. Whitney (The United States, 1889, p. 


SCIENCE. 


639 


114), Major C. E. Dutton (Scrrncr, Vol. 
VI., p. 46), Professor George Davidson 
(Science, Vol. VI., p. 262), and Dr. H. A. 
Harkness, (Proc. of the Cal. Acad. of Sci., 
Vol. V., p. 408). Although there are no 
new facts at hand definitely fixing the date 
of the last eruption in that region, there 
has recently come to my attention some in- 
formation having a bearing upon other evi- 
dence. 

Last summer Mr. Frederick V. Coville, 
Botanist of the Department of Agriculture, 
while studying the flora of Mt. St. Helens, 
in Washington, found some _ interesting 
fragments of charcoal, which he transmitted 
to the Director of the U. 8. Geological Sur- 
vey, with the following letter: 


“*T collected two pieces of coniferous charcoal at 
the point where the trail from Lake Merrill to Mt. St. 
Helens crosses the Kalama River. Each came from a 
short charred piece of tree trunk about two feet long 
and a foot in diameter. My attention was first called 
to them by Colonel J. J. Hawkins, of Portland. The 
pieces of charcoal were caught with other fresh drift 
material brought down the Calama from Mt. St 
Helen’s in last spring’s flood. They were charred 
all the way to the center as evenly and thoroughly as 
the fragments sent you. 

‘« The character of the charcoal, which need not be 
described in detail here, is such as at first to suggest 
that it was made in a very carefully prepared kiln. 
There are, however, no charcoal pits in the region, 
and the charcoal from forest fires has a very different 
character. It is evident from the peculiarities of the 
flora of Mt. St. Helens, and from its limited erosion, 
that it is a mountain of very recent volcanic origin. 
Among other phenomena presented by it was one 
which, although it did not come under my own ob- 
servation, is well substantiated by people of the re- 
gion, and furnishes an explanation of the peculiar 
sections of charred logs found at the crossing of the 
Kalama. The phenomena described is the occurrence 
of molds of tree trunks at various points in the lava 
flows about the base of Mt. St. Helens. In some 
places these molds occur in large numbers and lie in 
the beds in either a horizontal or a vertical position. 
They are sometimes thirty feet in length, and bear 
the impress of the bark of the tree in the minutest de- 
tails. Though I was unable to visit the places where 
these tree molds occur, I talked with at least half a 
dozen men who had seen these casts, but none of 


640 


them had seen charred wood or bark in the holes. 
Presumably charcoal was formed only where the lava 
flow so completely covered the trees as to shut out the 
air, and the pieces found had been eroded by the 
Kalama River from wholly submerged molds.”’ 


Mr. Coville’s conclusion as to the forma- 
tion of the charcoal is probably correct. 
Mr. F. H. Knowlton, who studied the struc- 
ture of the charcoal, recognizes the wood as 
Douglas spruce (Pseudotsuga mucronata). At- 
tention was called (Nat. Geog. Mag., Vol. 
VIII., p. 226) several years ago to the tree 
molds or tree wells by Captain P. Elliott. 
Through Mr. J. H. West, of Woodland, 
Washington, Mr. F. A. Walpole, one of Mr. 
Coville’s assistants, secured a piece of the 
basaltic lava from one of these tree molds 
three feet in diameter. The piece of lava 
shows the impressions of the bark in 
great detail. In the hope of obtain- 
ing some evidence concerning the age 
of the lava flow associated with the tree 
molds and charcoal I entered into corre- 
spondence with Mr. West, who reports 
charred logs at least forty yards up the 
slope from the high-water mark of Kalama 
River. One of the charred logs is twenty- 
eight inches in diameter, and some of them 
are partly woody, not having been com- 
pletely converted into charcoal. Near the 
River at one point the charred logs are found 
under six feet of sand and gravel, on which 
are now growing fir trees having a diameter 
of three feet. Some of the charred logs, 
therefore, appear to be at least 100 years old, 
for a fir three feet in diameter would prob- 
ably require at least that length of time to 
attain its present size. If this be true it is 
probable that some of the charred logs are 
not the result of the last eruption of St. 
Helens, but of an earlier one. There is 
historical evidence furnished by Fremont 
(Memoirs, p. 282) to the effect that Mt. St. 
Helens and also Mt. Baker were in eruption 
November 23, 1843. At that time a light 
fall of ashes occurred at the Dalles, Oregon, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 227. 
on the Columbia, fifty miles from Mt. St. 
Helens, which was then noted as being in a, 
state of eruption. Rev. Mr. Brewer collected . 
some of the ashes and gave them to General 
Fremont, who visited the Dalles a year later. 
Mt. Baker is thought to have been in erup- 
tion at the same time, arid the natives re- 
port that the fish in the Skagit River were 
killed by its ashes. Mr. 8. F. Emmons gives: 
(Jour. of the Am. Gleog. Soc., Vol. IX., p. 53) 
the testimony of a former Hudson Bay 
trader who saw an eruption of Mt. St. 
Helens in the winter of 1841-2. 

It is hoped that the question may be settled 
sometime in the near future by a geological 
survey of both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. 
Baker. While it may not be possible to es- 
tablish the date exactly, the geological re- 
cords upon the mountain slope are likely to: 
be such as to give the relative age with cer- 
tainty. The case of the cinder cone, ten 
miles northeast of Lassen Peak, California, 
may be noted as an example of the results 
of investigation in the field. Professor 
Harkness was of the opinion that the erup- 
tion occurred in January, 1850. The fresh- 
ness of the material was so striking that 
Major Dutton and I, who visited the region 
in 1885, were at first of the same opinion, 
but fuller investigation, an account of which 
is published in the U. 8. Geological Survey 
Bulletin No. 79, shows conclusively that. 
the explosive eruption from the cinder cone 
must have occurred long before the begin- 


ning of the present century. 
J.S. DILLER. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 22, 1899. 


THE PROSPECTIVE PLACE OF THE SOLAR 
AZIMUTH TABLES IN THE PROBLEM 
OF ACCELERATING OCEAN 
TRANSIT. 

Tr is not generally recognized that science, 
employing the mathematician and the engi- 
neer alike in the problem of shortening the 
duration of ocean transit, has accomplished 


May 5, 1899.] 


as much by causing ships to go fewer miles 
as by causing them to go faster. 

This generation is familiar with the part 
that has been played by steam propulsion 
in increasing the speed of ships, but, besides 
the increase in the rate of travel, modern 
motive power, by making possible a depar- 
ture from the old meteorological routes, has 
had another and a greater effect in the 
progress of the universal policy of civilized 
nations to accelerate transit from place to 
place to the utmost possible extent. When 
the wind was the sole motor of ocean-going 
vessels the best economy was realized by 
passing through regions of favorable meteor- 
ological conditions without reference to 
the directness of the route. Thus, in sail- 
ing from Europe to the United States, it 
was customary to pass southward along 
the eastern shores of the Atlantic to the 
‘Cape Verde Islands, and thence westward 
through the trade-wind region along the 
route followed by Columbus on his first 
voyage to the New World, and finally 
northward into the region of prevailing 
westerly winds and along the western 
shores of the Atlantic to the point of desti- 
nation. In making this voyage, ships trav- 
ersed 4,400 miles in passing between ports 
that were only 2,400 miles apart on the 
surface of the earth. 

Under steam, even if they go no faster, 
ships may yet get farther toward the port 
of destination in a given time because the 
winds and currents may be disregarded, 
and they may be navigated over the oceans 
along great circles of the earth. 

The increasing recognition among mari- 
ners of the sound principle of conducting a 
ship along the arc of the great circle joining 
the points of departure and destination and 
the expanding sense of the advantages to 
be gained by a knowledge of this branch of 
nautical science have greatly heightened 
the value of methods which place the bene- 
fits of the knowledge and use of the great- 


SCIENCE. 


641 


circle track at the service of the mari- 
ner without the labor of the calculations 
which are necessary to find the series of 
courses to be steered. Inasmuch as great- 
circle courses alter continuously in proceed- 
ing along the track, it becomes necessary to 
know the latitude and longitude of the ship 
in order to determine the course to be fol- 
lowed. At the present day there are con- 
venient means for determining at sea the 
longitude as well as the latitude, but before 
the early part of the present century these 
means did not exist, and great-circle sail- 
ing was impracticable. The general lack 
of the application of the principles of the 
great circle in later times, and even in the 
present generation, seems to have resulted 
not from the want of recognizing that the 
shortest distance between any two places 
on the earth’s surface is the distance along 
the are of the great circle passing between 
them, nor that the great-circle course is the 
only true course and that the courses in 
Mercator and parallel sailing are circuitous, 
nor yet to a due appreciation of the advan- 
tages to be gained by a knowledge of the 
great-circle course as a means for obtaining 
the most advantageous track in windward 
sailing; but to the tedious operations which 
have been necessary, and to the want of 
concise methods for rendering these benefits 
readily available. 

The solution, every time the course must 
be determined, of a spherical triangle in 
which the two sides and the included angle 
are given is a formidable operation for a 
mariner as compared with the measure- 
ment on a compass diagram of the direction 
of the straight line representing the circuit- 
ous path of the ship’s track on the Merca- 
tor chart. At page 662 of the ninth edition 
of a work on Practical Navigation by Cap- 
tain Lecky, of the Royal Naval Reserve of 
Great Britain, there is a section entitled 
‘Great Circle Courses found from Bur- 
wood’s Tables,’ which has doubtless been 


642 SCIENCE. 


read with profit by thousands, for it states 
that “‘ to find the great-circle courses from 
the azimuth tables you have only to regard 
the latitude of the port bound to as declina- 
tion, and the difference of longitude, turned 
into time, as the hour-angle. The latitude 
of the ship you take from the top of the page 
as usual.’’ But the author goes on to remark 
that, as Burwood’s solar azimuth tables ex- 
tend only to twenty-three degrees of decli- 
nation, this ready-made method is only ap- 
plicable when the place of destination is 
within the tropics. 

It may be of value, therefore, to point out 
that the solar-azimuth tables are universally 
applicable for finding great-circle courses, 
because all great circles pass into the trop- 
ics, and, if the problem of finding the 
courses is with reference to a great-circle 
track between a point of departure and a 
point of destination, both lying outside of 
the tropics, it is only necessary to find a 
point lying on the prolongation of the 
great-circle are beyond the point of actual 
destination and within the tropics, and treat 
this point as the place of destination in 
finding the courses. 

The longitude of the selected point within 
the tropics may be found without any cal- 
culation by simply prolonging the straight 
line representing the great circle upon a 
gnomonic chart. By this combination of 
the gnomonic chart and the azimuth tables 
the courses upon a great circle track may 
be determined with very great facility. 

To illustrate, take the problem of finding 
the initial course on a voyage by the great 
circle route from Bergen, in latitude 60° N. 
and longitude 5° E., to the Strait of Belle 
Isle, in latitude 52° 1’ 2” N. and longitude 
55° W. On a copy of a gnomonic chart, 
such as Godfray’s, draw a straight line 
between the geographical positions above 
stated and extend it beyond the latter into 
the tropics. It will be found to intersect 
the 20th degree parallel of latitude in longi- 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 227. 


tude 90° W., or 95° from the meridian of 
the point of departure. Entering the azi- 
muth table at latitude 60°, under declina- 
tion 20°, and opposite hour-angle 95° or 
6h. 20m., we find the required course to be 


N. 75° -31' W. 
G. W. LitTLEHALEs. 


SOME NEW AMERICAN FOSSIL FISHES.* 

Tue following new occurrences of fossil 
fishes were reported: (1) A species of 
Cladodus, scarcely distinguishable from C. 
striatus Ag. in the Corniferous Limestone of 
Ohio. (2) Thelodus-like scales from same 
horizon. (3) A pair of naturally associated 
pectoral spines of Macheracanthus from the 
Hamilton, near Buffalo, N. Y. (4) A pty- 
chopterygian pectoral fin from Naples Shale 
of the same locality. (5) Two new species 
of Diplodus from Upper Devonian near Chi- 
cago, Ill. (6) Teeth of Phebodus from 
Keokuk Limestone of Iowa and Permian 
of Nebraska. (7) Largest known spine of 
Stethacanthus (length over 35 cm.) from 
Keokuk Group, Iowa. (8) A complete 
fin, spines and shagreen scales of a 
new and very large species of Acanthodes, a 
genus not hitherto met with in the United 
States, from Coal Measures of Mazon Creek, 
Ill. (9) Pholidophorus americanus sp. nov., 
also belonging to a genus new to this coun- 
try, founded on very perfect material dis- 
covered by N. H. Darton, of the U.S. 
Geological Survey, in the Jura of the Black 
Hills, South Dakota. 

Photographs of the new Jurassic fishes 
were exhibited and their specific characters 
summarized as follows: Gracefully fusi- 
form, upwards of 15 em. long, the head 
forming about one-fourth the total length 
and slightly less than maximum depth of 
trunk ; dorsal arising behind pelvic fins ; 
scales not serrated, thin, smooth, nearly 
rhomboidal, overlapping; flank series not 


* Abstract of a paper read before the Boston So- 
ciety of Natural History, March 15, 1899. 


May 5, 1899.] 


especially deepened. This places them 
among the more primitive members of the 
genus, and hence would seem to indicate a 
Lower Jurassic horizon. ; 

The distribution of American Devonian 
fishes was discussed with reference to those 
of other countries. During the Lower De- 
vonian there was none, and in the Upper 
scarcely any intermingling of United States 
and Canadian vertebrate faunas, but those 
of Canada and Great Britain belonged to a 
distinct province. Corniferous fishes of 
Ohio and New York are most nearly related 
to those of the Middle Devonian of con- 
tinental Europe, especially the Eifel, Bo- 
hemia, etc. The Hamilton faunas of New 
York and the Mississippian region, includ- 
ing Manitoba, are the direct successors of 
the Corniferous, but the Chemung of both 
eastern and western regions (or its equiva- 
lent) contains a remarkable mixture of in- 
digenous types and intruders from all direc- 
tions. Intercommunication between eastern 
Canada and Great Britain, Spitzbergen, 
etc., became general for the first time dur- 
ing this period. The transition between 
Devonian and Carboniferous faune is now 
known to be more gradual than was for- 
merly supposed. 

The only natural basis of family classifi- 
cation among Arthrodires was held to be 
through comparison of the sutures of cranial 
and dorsal shields, the differences in denti- 
tion being of only secondary importance. 
Degeneracy of the latter in Titanichthys, etc., 
is paralleled by that in certain toothless 
whales (Mesoplodon,etc.). Cranial osteology 
of Homosteus and Heterosteus compel their 
removal from Coccosteide to form a separate 
family called Homosteide. In this family 
the so-called antero-dorso-lateral corre- 
sponds to the like-named element in Di- 
nichthys and Titanichthys plus the clavicular. 
The latter plate functioned as a support for 
the gills,and hence may be interpreted asa 
modified branchiostegal apparatus, but in 


SCIENCE. 


643 


no sense as a part of the shoulder-girdle. 
There is no evidence that any of the Ar- 
throdires. possessed pectoral fins. The ob- 
vious resemblance of this group to Ostraco- 
derms, with implied relationship, is lost 
sight of through its removal by Woodward 
to the Dipnoi, and there seems to be suf- 
ficient evidence for regarding the Arthrodira 
as a distinct sub-class, of equal rank with 
Lung-fishes, Teleostomi, etc., as already 
suggested by Dean. 
Caries R. EASTMAN. 


RAPIDITY OF SAND-PLAIN GROWTH.* 


THE undisturbed character of the strati- 
fied deposits making up the sand-plains, 
taken in connection with the absence, or at 
most, the very slight development of con- 
structional back-sets, indicates, as was early 
pointed out by Davis, a stationary ice 
margin during the period of deposition. It 
follows, thérefore, that their formation must 
have been extremely rapid, and the natural 
conclusion is that they represent the de- 
posits of a single summer’s period of melt- 
ing, an interval not over eight months in 
length. 

It occurred to me that a calculation based 
upon the conditions now existing in the 
large glaciers of Alaska might give some 
indication as to the probability of such 
estimates, or at least would be of interest in 
this connection. 

To make this calculation it is simply 
necessary to divide the bulk of the sedi- 
ments by the daily discharge of detritus by 
the glacial stream which deposited them. 
This involves factors which are usually very 
difficult to determine, but at the sand-plain 
near the railroad station at Barrington, 
R. I., the conditions are almost ideally per- 
fect, and admit of the determination with 
considerable accuracy of both the bulk of 


* Abstract of paper read before Boston Society of 
Natural History, February 15, 1899. 


644 SCIENCE, 


the sediment and the size and velocity of 
the stream transporting it. Owing to the 
fact that observations as to the amounts of 
the fine clay-like detritus of glacial streams 
are more numerous and reliable than those 
upon the coarser material, the bulk of the 
contemporaneous clays was taken as a basis 
of calculation, rather than the sand-plain 
itself. In estimating the load of the glacial 
stream, I have taken the maximum value 
of 13 grams per liter, given by Reid for 
the Muir Glacier (the highest value on 
record ),as the one which, in all probability, 
would most nearly correspond to the load 
of a glacial stream during the closing stages 
of the continental ice sheet. 

At the time of the formation of the Bar- 
rington clays the Jand stood at a level of at 
least forty feet below that at present exist- 
ing, and the deposition took place in an in- 
closed bay, having the ice sheet as_ its 
northern boundary, a ridge of till and 
modified drift for its eastern boundary, 
and an earlier sand-plain as its southern 
boundary. On the west was a broad and 
deep opening, connecting with Narragansett 
Bay, and admitting of a complete com- 
mingling of the salt and fresh waters. Into 
this inclosed bay flowed a stream with a 
width, as indicated by its esker, of 150 feet, 
a depth of some 20 feet, and an average 
velocity of not over 5 feet per second. On 
the assumption that the amount of sedi- 
ment was 13 grams per liter, the daily dis- 
charge of clayey material would have been 
some 526,500 tons per day. 

Experiments recently conducted by Pro- 
fessor W. O. Crosby in connection with 
professional work for the Metropolitan 
Water Board of Massachusetts, the results 
of which he has kindly placed at my dis- 
posal, indicate that material such as the 
clay beds are essentially composed of, 7.e., 
quartz-flour, settles with great rapidity, 
and it can be shown that practically the 
entire amount of sediment brought in by 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 227. 


the glacial stream must have been deposited 
within the inclosed bay described. 

The clays cover about a square mile in 
area, have a maximum thickness of 60 feet, 
and a total bulk of 95,300,000 tons. Divid- 
ing this bulk by the daily discharge of sedi- 


ment by the glacial stream (526,500 tons), 


the time of deposition of the clays is indi- 
cated to have been 181 days, or almost ex- 
actly six months. 

The Barrington deposits probably repre- 
sent very nearly average conditions ; hence 
a period of six months seems a fair estimate 
of time for the formation of a simple sand- 
plain of moderate size. In the case of large 
plains, with areas of several or many square 
miles, the period of deposition may be con- 
sidered as extending over more than one 
season of melting, there being in the mean- 
time either no retreat of the ice margin ora 
retreat so slight that the intervening space 
was completely filled and the sand-plains 
united into a single compound plain. 

Myron L. FuLuer. 


PROPOSED SURVEY OF THE NILE.* 

THE Egyptian government has agreed to 
undertake a survey of the Nile with the 
object of determining the species of fishes 
inhabiting its waters. It is due in the first 
instance to the efforts and energetic action 
of Dr. John Anderson, F.R.8., who has al- 
ready done so much to enlarge our knowl- 
edge of the fauna of Egypt that this impor- 
tant project, to which so much scientific 
interest is attached, has now taken definite 
shape. A memorandum prepared by him, 
setting forth his proposals for the survey and 
the lines of his scheme for carrying it out, 
received the approval of Lord Lister, Presi- 
dent of the Royal Society ; Professor E. Ray 
Lankester, Director of the Natural History 
Departments of the British Museum; Dr. A. 
Ginther, President of the Linnzean Society, 
and Mr. P. L. Sclater, Secretary of the 


*“From the London Times. 


May 5, 1899.] 


Zoological Society, and was then forwarded 
by him to Lord Cromer, to be submitted to 
the Egyptian government, with a strong 
recommendation for its favorable consider- 
ation from these eminent scientific men. 
The Trustees of the British Museum further- 
more gave the scheme their powerful and 
influential support, and intimated their 
willingness to assist in a practical manner 
by undertaking to supply the necessary 
collecting-boxes, with alcohol to fill them. 
An essential feature of the scheme is that 
the fishes collected are to be sent to London 
to be studied and determined by Mr. Bou- 
lenger, the ichthyologist on the staff of the 
Museum, and the Trustees have, it is un- 
derstood, agreed to give him every facility 
for doing this, thus practically placing the 
services of their officer at the disposal of 
the Egyptian government for the purpose 
for the three years which it is estimated will 
be required to accomplish the survey. 

Our knowledge of the fishes of the Nile 
appears to be very imperfect. It may be 
said to have taken its origin in 1750, when 
Hasselquist described thirteen species found 
in the Deltaic area or in its immediate prox- 
imity. In 1847 sixty probably represented 
the number of known species. In 1861-63 
Petherick made, at Dr. Gunther’s request, a 
collection of fishes from the Nile for the 
British Museum. The specimens were ob- 
tained at Cairo, Khartum and Gondokoro, 
and were described by Dr. Giinther in an 
appendix to Petherick’s ‘ Travels,’ published 
in 1889. The collection contained eighteen 
new additions to the fauna, and raised the 
number of known species to eighty-two. 
Since 1869 the fishes of the Nile have been 
almost completely neglected. At present 
about ninety species are known to inhabit 
the river, but this number, considering the 
vast extent of its waterway and the very 
diverse physical conditions which charac- 
terize many parts of its course, cannot be 
considered as at all approaching finality. 


SCIENCE. 


645, 


The collections hitherto made from the 
Nile have principally been obtained from 
below the First Cataract; indeed, Ruppell 
and Petherick are the only two collectors 
who had opportunities to investigate the 
river above Assuan. The former distin- 
guished traveler and naturalist largely col- 
lected in lower Egypt, and not a few of 
Petherick’s specimens were from the same 
region. In Dr. Ginther’s account of this 
collection only six species were distinctly 
recorded as coming from Gondokoro, Khar- 
tum and the White Nile, while thirteen, 
besides the foregoing six, species were stated 
to belong properly to the reach of the Nile 
above the Sixth Cataract. Here it may be 
observed that, while we possess a fragmen- 
tary knowledge of the species from Khartum 
southwards, the immense tract of the Nile 
from the First to the Sixth Cataract re- 
mains practically untouched. 

Morever, as within the next few years a 
change will be effected in the distribution 
of the Nile waters by the construction of 
the controlling powers now in course of 
erection at Phile and Assiut, and as other 
similar structures or dams are likely to fol- 
low towards the south, all of which are cer- 
tain ultimately to limit more or less the 
range of certain species of fishes, it is much 
to be desired that, before any of these tri- 
umphs of the Department of Irrigation have 
been completed, we should be placed in 
possession of the main features and present 
condition of the piscine flora of the great 
reaches of the river. 

The present time is also extremely oppor- 
tune for the commencement of the proposed 
investigation, since the authorities of the 
Congo Free State have satisfactorily inau- 
gurated a survey of theCongo. Mr. G. A. 
Boulenger has been entrusted, with the 
sanction of the Trustees of the British Mu- 
seum, with the description of the fishes of 
the Congo for the Congo Free State, and, as 
his services will be at the disposal of the 


646 SCIENCE. 


Egyptian government for the Nile explora- 
tion, the two surveys should mutually ben- 
efit each other. The materials afforded by 
the one cannot but throw light upon those 
of the other, many of the species of the two 
great rivers being closely allied. 

As regards the scope and working of the 
survey, it is suggested, as a preliminary 
step, that a series of stations should be 
established along the river, extending, at 
intervals, from the Delta to Lado, in the 
territory Ieased by the Egyptian govern- 
ment to the Congo Free State, and as far to 
the south of this as possible. Instructions 
for collecting fishes, written in English and 
Arabic, will be sent to some responsible 
official in each of these localities, accom- 
panied by a collecting box and alcohol, sup- 
plied by the British Museum, while the ser- 
vices of fishermen and others will be en- 
listed in the work, a fair price being paid 
to them for the fishes they collect. 

Dr. Keatinge, the officer in charge of the 
Museum of Natural History of the Medical 
School of Cairo, has been entrusted with 
the general supervision of the service of the 
survey. He will see to the reception of the 
collecting materials from the British Mu- 
seum, to their distribution to the different 
stations, to their reception when returned 
filled with fishes, and to forwarding them 
to London. The actual superintendence of 
the working of the survey is to be under- 
taken by an officer, who will be constantly 
on the river at all seasons, visiting the dif- 
ferent stations, inspecting the collections 
formed, making sure that everything pos- 
sible is being done to obtain fishes, and gen- 
erally satisfying himself that the specimens 
are properly preserved, and that they are 
fairly representative. He will also par- 
ticularly note the physical characters of the 
river at each station, find out as much as 
possible about the habits of the fishes, the 
depth at which they are found, the general 
character of the river bed, the seasons in 


[N. S. Von. TX. No. 227. 


which the fishes breed, and the nature of 
their food. He will further be required to 
satisfy himself that the native names have 
been correctly recorded in Arabic and 
rightly applied. 

Mr. Leonard Loat has been appointed to 
this responsible post of superintendent of 
the survey, and on him will devolve the 
task of seeing that the work is carried out 
in a thoroughly efficient manner. He left 
London a short time ago for Cairo, and has 
already commenced operations on Lake 
Menzaleh. During the first year it is pro- 
posed to carry the investigation as far as 
Wady Halfa; in the second year the river 
will be worked between Wady Halfa and 
Berber, and in the third year it is hoped to 
continue the survey to Sobat, and, if con- 
ditions are favorable, through the sudd and 
rapids between Lado and Dufile, and, ulti- 
mately, perhaps to carry the exploration of 
the river to its origin in the Albert Nyanza. 
In this connection it may be stated that the 
assistance of the authorities of the Congo 
Free State has been invited, and an assur- 
ance of their hearty cooperation has, it is 
understood, been received informally, leav- 
ing no room for doubt that an official ex- 
pression to the same effect will be shortly 
forthcoming. 

These are the lines on which the projected 
survey of the Nile is to be conducted. It 
is obvious that, apart from the mere knowl- 
edge of how many species of fishes exist in 
the river, great economic questions will 
come to the front when their life-history is 
studied. Also it is hoped that the survey 
may help to elucidate many problems re- 
lating to the fishes sculptured on the ancient 
monuments of Egypt. Dr. Anderson is tak- 
ing special pains to obtain drawings of as 
many of these fish forms as possible, and he 
regards it as not improbable that a scientific 
investigation of the fishes obtained in the 
river will lead to an identification of many 
of the species represented in stone. These 


May 5, 1899.] 


‘questions, however, can never be usefully 
determined until there exists on record a 
basis on which to work, in the form of a 
detailed description on each species accom- 
panied, as far as practicable, by a figure. 
The scheme, therefore, includes provision 
for the publication of the scientific results 
in a book uniform with the sumptuous vol- 
ume which Dr. Anderson has recently issued 
on the ‘ Reptiles and Batrachians of Egypt.’ 
This work forms the first volume of the 
‘Zoology of Egypt.’ He is at present en- 
gaged in working out the collections of 
mammals on which the second volume will 
be based. The‘ Fishes of the Nile’ will 
form the third volume of this monumental 
record of the fauna of the country. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Birds. By A. H. Evans, M.A., Clare College, 
Cambridge. London, Macmillan & Co., Lim- 
ited; New York, The Macmillan Company. 
1899. 8vo. 144 text cuts. Pp. xvi-+ 635, 
Price, $3.50. 

Mr. Evans’s ‘Birds’ forms Vol. IX. of the 
*Cambridge Natural History,’ and is intended 
as a popular systematic review of the class 
Aves. In a volume of 650 pages itis, of course, 
impossible to treat in much detail any of the 
one hundred and thirty odd families of birds, 
or to particularize respecting many of the 12,- 
000 to 13,000 or more species now recognized 
by systematists. It would seem, however, that 
a little more space might have been profitably 
given to the generalities of the subject, asstruc- 
ture, classification, geographical distribution, 
migration, etc., all of which is compressed into 
the short space of twenty-two pages, of which 
three are devoted to the terminology of the ex- 
ternal parts of a bird. The remarks on classi- 
fication and geographical distribution are mainly 
historical. Mr. Evans adopts, with ‘some 
slight modifications,’ Dr. Gadow’s scheme of 
classification and Sclater’s scheme of geograph- 
ical areas. In referring to the wide differences 
of opinion among authorities on the subject of 
genera and species he says: ‘‘It cannot be 
denied that genera and species are merely 


SCIENCE. 


647 


‘convenient bundles,’ and that divisions of 
either, if carried too far, defeat the object for 
which classification is intended. Genera are 
only more distinct from species, and species 
from races, because the intervening links have 
disappeared ; and if we could have before us 
the complete series which, according to the 
doctrine of evolution, has at some time existed 
neither genus nor species would be capable of 
definition any more than races in many cases; 
while the same, remark will apply to the 
larger groups.’’ While such statements are not 
new they have not been presented in popular . 
works, the lay reader being allowed to retain 
the old idea of the tangible nature of generic 
and specific groups. The tendency among 
certain systematists to recognize subspecies on 
the basis of the slightest recognizable differences 
leads naturally to the multiplication of genera, 
and the increase of subfamilies, etc., to con- 
form, so to speak, to the new unit of measure- 
ment consequentupon the recognition, in nomen- 
clature, of the grade of differentiation that is 
considered as a sufficient basis for ‘ races’ or 
subspecies. It is to this, doubtless, that Mr. 
Evans alludes as being likely to ‘defeat the 
object for which classification was intended.’ 

_ Beginning with Archxopteryx, and ending 
with the Finches, the various groups of birds 
are passed briefly in review. The characters 
of the ordinal, subordinal and family groups are 
succinctly stated, and some little account is 
given of the number, distribution and habits of 
the species, the latter usually in general terms. 
Very little is said about any particular species, 
though sometimes a characteristic member of a 
group is taken as the subject of more definite 
remark, or in cases where the number of species 
is so few that something may be said of each. 
The reader may be thus often disappointed, 
in seeking information regarding particular 
species, to find little, if any, reference to the ob- 
ject of his search. Ina work of the dimensions 
of the present volume this must be inevitable, 
yet it will prove a convenient source of 
information on the general subject of bird life 
throughout the world. References to more de- 
tailed accounts of species or groups of particular 
interest are, however, often supplied in foot 
notes. Only about.one-sixth of the work is de- 


648 


voted to the Passeriformes, which nearly equal 
in number of species the rest of the class, only 
a few pages being allotted to even the larger 
families; and the various generic groups are 
mentioned, as a rule, only by their technical 
generic names. The book isthus evidently not 
really adapted to beginners, nor wholly suited 
to the general reader, though apparently de- 
signed ‘not only for the tyro in ornithology, 
but also for the traveller or resident in foreign 
parts interested in the subject.’ The wood- 
cuts that quite fully illustrate the text are, for 
the most part, excellent, and prepared especially 
for the work by G. E. Lodge ; others are famil- 
iar through frequent previous use. Consider- 
ing the limitation of space imposed for the sub- 
ject, the author has, perhaps, supplied all that 
could be rightfully expected, and has certainly 
shown himself to be ‘up to date’ in all of the 


essentials of his subject. 
Jay Any A. 


Experimental Morphology. By CHARLES B. DAv- 


ENPORT. New York and London, The Mac- 
millan Company. 1899. Part Second. Pp. 
228. 


The second part of Davenport's Experimental 
Morphology that has just appeared deals en- 
tirely with phenomena of growth. The first 
volume described the effects of chemical and 
physical agents upon protoplosm, and it is in- 
tended to devote the third volume to cell-di- 
vision and the fourth to differentiation. The 
author states that it is the aim of this series 
“so to exhibit our present knowledge in the 
field of experimental morphology as to indi- 
cate the direction for further research.’ 

The present volume gives a clear, brief state- 
ment of what is known in regard to growth in 
plants and animals. Most of the illustrations are 
taken from plant physiology, and it may, there- 
fore, be questioned whether a zoologist is in 
position to summarize so large and important a 
field of botanical research, but in justification it 
should be stated that Davenport has attempted 
to deal with the subject from a common biolog- 
ical standpoint. 

In reading this volume one cannot fail to be 
impressed by the enormous difference in our 
knowledge of growth-phenomena in plants and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 227. 


animals. The subjects dealt with cover one of 
the most interesting fields of biological study— 
the responses of organisms to their surround- 
ings and the relation of these responses to the 
conditions of life under which the form is liv- 
ing or has lived in the past. The introductory 
chapter is intended to give an idea of normal 
growth. Organic growth is defined as increase 
in volume—‘ it is not development, not differen- 
tiation and not increase in mass.’ A broad defi- 
nition of this sort, while convenient to include 
a large number of changes resulting in ‘an in- 
crease in volume,’ may lead to difficulties if an 
attempt is made to find a common explanation 
of all the phenomena included in the definition, 
for the processes that take place in plants and 
animals that produce an increase in volume 
may be entirely different in their nature. The 
author has skillfully avoided this pitfall in most 
cases, although at times one cannot but feel 
that a most heterogeneous collection of facts 
has been included in the same category. 

The first chapter (XI.) deals with the effects 
of chemical agents on growth, and gives in com- 
pact form a large amount of useful information. 
In most cases the action of the substance seems 
to be purely physiological and only secondarily 
formative. It is not obvious why so much 
space should be given to pure plant physiology. 
It is, no doubt, difficult to draw the line between 
substances that act as foods and others that 
produce growth, since the latter often (but not 
always) depend on the former. 

An admirable account of the rdle of water in 
growth is given in Chapter XII. Here the au- 
thor has some new facts that bear on the 
problem. In the next chapter, dealing with the 
effect of density of the medium on growth, the 
results are summed up as showing that ‘the 
diminution or growth is proportional to the 
osmotic action of the medium.’ It is possible, 
however, that the effect is due also, in part, to 
the direct injurious action of the salts used to 
increase the density of the fluids. If due to 
osmotic action alone, then, the results that fol- 
low when different substances are used should 
be in proportion to their osmotic equivalents, 
but the few facts that are given do not entirely 
support this general conclusion. 

In Chapter XIV. the effect of molar agents is 


May 5, 1899.] 


dealt with. The effects of rough shaking on 
bacteria and of tensions and torsions on plant 
tissues are described. Nothing is said in re- 
gard to the changes that take place in bones, as 
aresult of displacement, etc. The closing of 
wounded surfaces (in Stentor and Hydra) is 
said to ‘ be grossly mechanical.’ Imay add from 
observations of my own that, in some cases at 
least (in Tubularia and in the embryo of Rana), 
the closing of the wound after injury cannot 
be explained as grossly mechanical, but is due 
rather to a movement of the living cells in re- 
sponse to a stimulus. 

The action of parts of plants in response to 
contact and the general phenomena of bending 
in seedlings, etc., can scarcely be included in a 
definition of growth, even as broadly defined 
by the author, for while there is an increase 
in volume on one side there may be a corre- 
sponding decrease on the opposite side, the vol- 
ume of the whole plant or part remaining ap- 
proximately the same. 

A brief account of the effect of gravity is 
given in Chapter XV. Two classes of effects 
are distinguished, the first mechanical, ‘‘ due to 
gravity, acting on the growing organ as_ it 
might on any other heavy body. The second 
is a vital effect, having no immediate, direct 
physical relation to the cause.’’ Itseemsa little 
obscure to state that a vital effect has ‘no im- 
mediate, direct physical relation to the cause.’ 
That the connection is a causal connection, 
even if a remote one, few will be bold enough 
to deny. The distinction that the author 
wishes to make is, perhaps, fairly clear, but 
the words may easily lead to a misconception of 
what is meant by vital effects. Again, on page 
417 (in Chapter XVII., dealing with the effect 
of light upon growth), the author concludes, 
after showing that the eggs of many (but not 
all) animals are sheltered from sunlight, ‘ that, 
in general, growth does not take place in nature 
in full sunlight.’ It is obvious that in many 
cases the eggs deposited in the dark are better 
concealed, and it is not improbable that this 
may account for their development in the dark. 
Under these conditions they would become at- 
tuned to the absence of light. The more rapid 
growth of plants in the dark is described in de- 
tail, the effect of colored light on the growth of 


SCIENCE. 


649) 


animals and plants, and the direction of growth 
in reponse to light, are discussed at some length. 

The effect of heat on growth, as well as on 
the direction of growth (in plants), is dealt with - 
in Chapter XVIII. The interesting fact is 
pointed out that under certain conditions the 
bending of a plant towards the source of heat 
cannot be explained as the direct result of the 
heat causing growth on the warmer side, since 
the concave side is the one turned towards the 
source of heat. This experiment may well 
make one question whether or not these phe- 
nomena of bending are growth phenomena in the 
ordinary use of the terms. 

In the concluding chapter the cooperation of 
several factors in normal growth is analyzed. 
A clear summary of the work of Semper and de 
Varigny on the growth of water-snails in a con- 
fined space is given. There is some excellent 
matter in the few pages of this chapter, al- 
though here and there one may find fault with 
the expression rather than with the general 
sense. The attunement or acclimatization of 
an organism to its surroundings is emphasized. 
A tentative hypothesis to account for the at- 
tunement is offered. This attempt to construct 
a possible explanation brings clearly to light 
that the author pictures to himself these ‘ vital 
phenomena’ as chemical responses to external 
agents. The contrast, therefore, so often made 
in the text between physical and vital effects 
would seem to be a difference between physical 
and chemical reactions. If anything more than 
this is intended it is not included in the final at- 
tempt at an explanation, although it is stated 
on a preceding page that the ‘specific effects’ 
cannot at present be accounted for by known 
chemical processes, ‘but result from peculiari- 
ties of the specific protoplasms which depend 
largely upon the past history of each kind of 
protoplasm.’ 

If we have taken issue with the author 
on a few points it is only because in these 
the book appears incomplete or imperfect. 
Taken as a whole it is a valuable addition to 
our text-books, and the author is to be congrat- 
ulated on having performed so difficult and 
arduous a task with success. The careful and 
exact summaries that are given will be of use 
to those not having access to the original papers. 


650 SCIENCE. 


The book contains many tables compiled from 
various sources. The data are generally given 
in the form of curves so that a large amount of 
information may be comprised in a single dia- 
gram. ‘The clear and judicial discussion of the 
topics makes the book a model of its kind. 
Especially praiseworthy is the absence of the 
rash speculation so predominant in biological 


literature of recent years. 
T. H. MorGan. 
BRYN MAwWR COLLEGE. 


General Physiology. By PRoFESsSOR MAx VER- 
WorRN. ‘Translated and edited from the 
second edition (1897) by Proressor F. 8. 
Ler. New York, Macmillan & Co. 1899. 
Pp. xvi+616. 285 figures. 

The subject-matter of this book is arranged 
in five chapters with headings as follows: The 
aims and methods of physiological research, 
living substance, elementary vital phenomena, 
the conditions of life, stimuli and their action, 
and the mechanism of life. The English edi- 
tion is very happily rendered, and is character- 
ized by an extremely small residuum of Teu- 
tonic idioms, while the privileges of the editor 
have been very skillfully but sparingly exer- 
cised. 

The book is chiefly concerned with the cell as 
such and as organism, and it seems to the 
writer that it hardly justifies the resounding 
title of ‘General Physiology, or the Science of 
Life.’ It is usually unfair to pass judgment 
upon the nature of a work from any single 
paragraph which may be required in a review, 
but the closing sentences of the volume are 
fairly indicative of the author’s conception of 
his subject. ‘‘ The cell is the element of living 
substance. All living substance exists in cells, 
and all of the functions of living substance 
originate in the elementary vital phenomena of 
cells. Hence, if the task of the physiolo- 
gist lies in the explanation of vital phenom- 
ena, general physiology can be only cell- 
physiology.’’ These sentences are faultlessly 
rhetorical, but they do not exhibit an unas- 
sailable logic, at least from the point of view 
of the botanist, or the physiologist interested 
in the general properties of organisms. 

The work of investigators upon the physiology 
and organization of the protoplasm of plants 


[N.S. Vou. 1X. No, 227. 


has been somewhat more uniformly developed, 
and the results attained have been given a 
wider interpretation than similar efforts in the 
animal world ; hence the value of this volume 


as a reactionary protest against the minute and. 


profitless specializations which have absorbed 
so much of the energy of the animal physiolo- 
gist is not so apparent to the plant physiologist. 
The latter feels no need for a return to investi- 
gations in cell-physiology, since his researches 
upon all the more important activities of vege- 
tal protoplasm have been extended to cover 
material of the widest range of morphological 
and physiological differentiation, and have been 
an investigation of principles rather than a 
study of the functions of special tissues. 

Without reference to the above, the book is 
a very valuable and welcome addition to the 
library and laboratory accessories of the plant 
physiologist, not for what it contains about 
plants, for the paragraphs devoted to these or- 
ganisms are teeming with errors and omissions, 
or are badly antiquated, but for its comprehen- 
sive treatment of the composition and elemen- 
tary activities of protoplasm, and the metabolic 
and directive reactions to stimuli, and the sec- 
tions devoted to these subjects are well executed. 
The historical sketch of the development and 
methods of physiological research, as well as 
the metaphysical discussions of the conditions 
of life properly belong here, although they do 
not constitute the most valuable or striking part 
of the book. 

It appears to the reviewer that the physiolog- 
ical aspects of the form and size of the cell are 
but scantily touched upon ; that the réle and dis- 
tribution of inorganic matter in the cell does not 
take into account the greater mass of the availa- 
ble information on that subject, while secretion, 
absorption and election of food do not receive 
deserved attention. The fatuous distinction of 
ferments into ‘ organized’ and ‘unorganized’ 
bodies bids fair to be immortal, since it is con- 
tinued here and in many other prominent texts 
recently issued, although yeast, the well-worn 
example of the ‘ organized ferments,’ has been 
found to secrete definite enzymes, as is doubt- 
less the case with all ferment organisms. It is 
certainly antiquated to quote Sachs to the effect 
that starch is the first ‘visible product’ of the 


May 5, 1899.] 


activity of the chlorophyllaceous cell in the 
sunlight. The curvature of twining stems is not 
thigmotaxis (p. 443). The use of the phrase 
‘conduction of a stimulus’ to indicate the trans- 
mission of an impulse from the point of recep- 
tion of the stimulus to a reaction zone is a 
mistake resulting from the literal translation of 
‘Reizleitung.’ The German word ‘ Reiz’ hay- 
ing a broad meaning which permits its use to 
designate both the stimulus and the stimulus- 
effect. ‘Every change in the external condi- 
tions of an organism constitutes a stimulus ;’ but 
itis to be presumed that no one would mean 
that these changes in the intensity of external 
energy, rather than the shock of such change, 
are transmitted by nerves or other conducting 
mechanisms. 

Perhaps the most remarkable omission in the 
entire work is that which occurs in the discus- 
sion of the history of death. No attention is 
given to the aging or senescence of cells, and 
there is no mention of any example of the plant 
cell in the histolytic processes, or metamorphic 
death, although this phenomenon is of such im- 
portance that all types of plants furnish dead 
cells from normal atrophies and degenerations, 
while in the higher types the greater bulk of 
the plant-body is made up of dead cells. 

The greater number of the faults enumerated 
above would be due to the inaccessibility of the 
botanical literature to the animal physiologist, 
and are of such nature that they may be easily 
eliminated from future editions. The book has 
a long period of usefulness before it. It is 
stimulating and suggestive, and will do much 
to broaden investigation upon both the animal 
and vegetal organism ; a purpose it would ac- 
complish equally well under its proper title of 
‘The Physiology of the Cell.’ 

D. T. MacDouGat. 

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. 


GENERAL. 


THE last Legislature of the State of Arkansas 
provided for the printing of the hitherto unpub- 
lished reports of Dr. J. C. Branner, formerly 
State Geologist of that State. There are five 
volumes of these reports, viz: (1) Coal; (2) 
Lower Coal Measures; (8) Clays, Kaolins and 
Bauxites; (4) Zinc ‘and Lead; (5) Report on 


SCIENCE. 


651 


the general geology of the State. Provisions 
were also made for printing new editions of the 
reports already out. 


THE sixth volume of Biological Lectures from 
the Wood’s Holl Laboratory, in the press of 
Messrs. Ginn & Co., will contain : 

‘The Structure of Protoplasm,’ E. B. Wilson. 

‘Cell-Lineage and Ancestral Reminiscence,’ E. B. 
Wilson. 

‘Adaptation in Cleavage,’ Frank R. Lillie. 

‘Protoplasmic Movement asa Factor of Differentia- 
tion,’ Edwin G. Conklin. 

‘Equal and Unequal Cleavage,’ A. L. Treadwell. 

‘Cell Origin of the Prototroch,’ A. D. Mead. 

‘Relation of the Axis of the Embryo to the First 
Cleavage Plane,’ Cornelia M. Clapp. 

‘Observations on Various Nucleolar Structures of 
the Cell,’ Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr. 

‘Protoplasmic Contractility and Phosphorescence,’ 
8. Watasé. 

‘Some Problems of Regeneration,’ T. H. Morgan. 

‘The Elimination of the Unfit,’ H. C. Bumpus. 

‘Heredity of Coloration in Fishes,’ Jacques Loeb. 

‘Do the Reactions of Lower Animals, Due to Injury, 
Indicate Pain Sensations,’ W. W. Norman. 

‘North American Ruminant-like Animals,’ W. B. 
Scott. 

‘Caspar Friedrich Wolff and the Theoria Genera- 
tionis,’ W. M. Wheeler. 

‘Animal Behavior,’ C. O. Whitman. 

MM. GEorGES CARRE and C. Naud have be- 
gun the publication of a series of scientific mono- 
graphs under the editorial direction of leading 
French men of science. MM. Appell, Cornu, 
d’Arsonval, Friedel, Lippmann, Moissan, Poin- 
cearé and Potter are responsible for the physical 
and mathematical sciences and MM. Balbiani, 
d@’ Arsonval, Filhol, Fouqué, Gaudry, Guignard, 
Marey and Milne-Edwards for the biological 
sciences. The numbers so far issued are as 
follows: ‘Les Oscillations Electriques,’ by M. 
Poincaré{ ‘La Specificite Cellulaire,’ by M. 
Bard ; ‘La Sexualité,’ by M. le Dantec. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE papers in the American Journal of Science 
for May are as follows : 

‘Some Experiments with Endothermic Gases,’ by 
W. G. Mixter. 

‘Hypothesis to explain the partial non-explosive 
Combination of Explosive Gases and Gaseous Mix- 
tures,’ by W. G. Mixter. 


652 SCIENCE. 


‘Occurrence of Paleotrochis in Volcanic Rocks in 
Mexico,’ by H. 8. Williams. 

‘Origin of Paleotrochis,’ by J. S. Diller. 

‘Association of Argillaceous Rocks with Quartz 
Veins in the Region of Diamantina, Brazil,’ by O. A. 
Derby. 

Goldschmidtite, a New Mineral,’ by W. H. Hobbs ; 
‘Hydromica from New Jersey,’ by F. W. Clarke and 
N. H. Darton. 

‘Powellite Crystals from Michigan,’ by C. Palache. 

‘Volatilization of the Iron Chlorides in Analysis, 
and the Separation of the Oxides of Iron and Alu- 
minum,’ by F. A. Gooch and F. 8. Havens. 

‘ Descriptions of imperfectly known and new Actini- 
ans, with Critical Notes on other Species, V,’ by A. 
E. Verrill. 

‘Preliminary Note as to the Cause of Root-Pres- 
sure,’ by R. G. Leavitt. 

‘Study of some American Fossil Cycads, Part III.,’ 
by G. R. Wieland. 

Professor L. V. Pirsson, who holds the chair 
of geology in the Sheffield Scientific School of 
Yale University, has become an associate editor 
of the Journal in the place of the late Professor 
Marsh. 


AFTER the close of the current volume, in 
April, the Zoological Bulletin, edited by Profes- 
sors Whitman and Wheeler, of the University 
of Chicago and published by Messrs. Ginn & 
Co., will be continued under the title the 
Biological Bulletin and be published under the 
auspices of the Marine Biological Laboratory. 
The scope of the Bulletin will be enlarged so as 
to include General Biology, Physiology and 
Botany. It will further include occasional re- 
views and reports of work and lectures at the 
Laboratory. The Bulletin ‘will be open, as 
heretofore, to scientific contributions from any 
source. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 500th meeting of the Society was cele- 
brated on April 15th by a dinner at Rauscher’s. 
About fifty members were present. After 
coffee had been served, the President, Mr. O. H. 
Tittmann, in his usual felicitous manner, called 
on the past Presidents of the Society who had 
honored the banquet by their presence. Seven 
were present, namely, Newcomb, Harkness, 
Eastman, Dall, Clarke, Baker and Bigelow. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 227. 


Interesting remarks were made by each of these 
gentlemen, on the past history of the Society, 
its relation to present scientific progress, and its 
future sphere of usefulness. Informal inter- 
course was had for a short time after adjourn- 


ment. 
E. D. PRESTON, 


Secretary. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 
APRIL 18, 1899. 


UNDER the head of Exhibition of Specimens 
and Short Notes, Mr. Howard exhibited a vial 
full of specimens of a species of a Peripatus just 
received from some unknown correspondent in 
Trinidad. 

Mr. Schwarz showed a specimen of Chrysina 
erubescens Bates. The determination he said 
was somewhat doubtful, but probably correct. 
The species is a distinct Central American 
form, but the specimens showed were found in 
Madera Canyon, south Arizona. The insect is 
probably a grape feeder. 

Dr. Dyar showed specimens of Megalopyge 
krugti, Dew., collected by Mr. Busck in Porto 
Rico. The larva was described by Dewitz in 
his original communication, but so briefly that 
additional points were mentioned. 

Mr. Howard asked whether Mr. Busck had 
been stung by this larva, and Mr. Busck re- 
plied that the first one which he found had 
fallen on the back of his hand and produced 
severe pain and inflammation which lasted for 
three days. 

The first paper of the evening was read by 
Mr. Schwarz and consisted of a continuation of 
the Hubbard correspondence from the South- 
west.» The letter read at this meeting con- 
tained a discussion of the insect fauna of Dasy- 
lirion wheeleri. In discussion Mr. Pollard asked 
whether the agave and other large plants of 
that region have similar insect fauna. Mr. 
Schwarz replied that the agave is the only 
liliaceous plant of that region which has an in- 
sect enemy which attacks it when healthy. 
This is a lepidopterous larva of the genus 
Megathymus. The communication was briefly 
discussed by Messrs. Cockerell and Ashmead, 
Mr. Cockerell stating that two Coccids had been 
found upon the Dasylirion, but that both species. 


May 5, 1899. ] 


were also found upon yuccas. Mr, Ashmead 
said that the Dasylirion insects were very simi- 
lar in character to the insects found in decaying 
palmetto in Florida. 

The next paper was by Mr. Marlatt, and in 
the absence of the author was read by Mr. Ben- 
ton. It was entitled ‘Remarks on some recent 
work on Coccide.’ L. O. HowARD, 

Secretary. 


THE WASHINGTON BOTANICAL CLUB. 


THE fifth regular meeting of the Washington 
Botanical Club was held April 5, 1899, at the 
residence of Mr. Frederick V. Coville. 

Professor E. L. Greene made some remarks 
on the occurrence of parthenogenesis in Anten- 
naria, apropos of Juel’s recently published in- 
vestigations in A. alpina. He considered the 
phenomenon to be well established in several of 
our native species. 

Mr. J. G. Smith presented a synopsis of a 
proposed revision of the genus Sitanion, a group 
of grasses long included under Elymus. He 
was able to segregate a large number of new 
‘species, chiefly from Western localities. 

Mr. H. J. Webber gave some notes on the 
various forms of Zamia found in Florida. There 
are apparently two well-marked species, at 
least on the east coast, one confined to the 
northern, the other to the southern half of the 
State, while on the west coast occurs possibly a 
third. Neither of these species is referable to 
Z. integrifolia Jacq., a name under which the 
plants have been described in most text-books. 
Mr. Webber exhibited numerous photographs, 
pointing out remarkable differences in the shape 
and structure of the fertile spike. 

The Club extended invitations to the Phila- 
delphia Botanical Club and to the Torrey Botan- 
ical Club of New York to visit Washington for 
a series of botanical excursions during the last 
week in May. CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, 

Secretary. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS OF THE 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

A MEETING of the Section was heid on April 
10th, Professor M. I. Pupin, the Chairman of 
the Section, presiding. 

A paper was read by Dr. A. S. Chessin on 


SCIENCE. 


653 


‘The Temperature of Gaseous Celestial Bodies.’ 
The author said, in brief, that, in view of some 
extravagant and baseless assertions which have 
appeared lately in both scientific and popular 
periodicals with regard to certain supposed 
laws of temperature in gaseous celestial bodies, 
it seemed proper to state the true condition of 
our knowledge in this direction. Dr. Chessin 
showed that what Dr. See assumed, in a recent 
article, to be a ‘fundamental law’ of nature, 
namely, the formula RT = a constant, in which 
T=the absolute temperature of the gaseous 
body and R = the radius, was neither a ‘ fun- 
damental’ nor ‘any law’ at all; in fact, 
the formula is the result of erroneous and 
superficial calculations. Dr. Chessin also gave 
an account of the work done by others on 
the question of the temperature of heavenly 
bodies, particularly referring to the investiga- 
tions of A. Ritter, in Wiedemann’s Annalen 
for 1878. He showed how far from applicable 
to actual facts most of these theoretical discus- 
sions and calculations are, and he drew the 
conclusion that at this stage of our knowledge 
it would be but an idle speculation to formulate 
any law which may govern the changes of tem- 
perature in heavenly bodies. He called atten- 
tion to one interesting case discussed by Ritter 
in his theoretical investigations, a case in which 
when y, or the ratio of the specific heat at con- 
stant pressure to that at constant volume, is 
greater than 4/3, we could have a pulsating 
condition of the gaseous body about a condition 
of equilibrium. <A résumé of Ritter’s work ap- 
pears in Exner’s Repertorium for 1884. Betti, 
of Pisa, has discussed the same problems and 
obtained the same results. 

In the discussion Professor Pupin said that 
in the contraction of a heavenly body the work 
done by gravitation might be an excessively 
small fraction of the total work done by all the 
forces, including the so-called forces of chemical 
affinity, which we usually consider are due to 
electrical forces. But we cannot at present 
base any calculations on these, as we know so 
little about them. 

Professor Rees said that if astronomers can- 
not yet solve these problems, it is because they 
cannot get the proper knowledge from the 
physicists on the physical parts of the question. 


654 SCIENCE. 


Mr. W. ©. Kretz read a paper on the ‘ Posi- 
tions and Proper Motions of Stars in Coma 
Berenices from Rutherfurd Photographs.’ 
Rutherfurd took fourteen photographs in the 
years 1870, 1875 and 1876 of the cluster in Coma 
Berenices. The positions of these stars on the 
plates were measured with a Repsold measur- 
ing machine, and the reduction was made by 
the method worked out by Professor Jacoby. 
Great precautions were taken to eliminate all 
possible errors. The positions obtained were 
compared with those obtained by Chase with 
the Yale heliometer in 1892. In this manner a 
catalogue of the positions and proper motions 
of twenty-four stars was obtained, which was 


the object of the research. 
Wo. 8. Day, 


Secretary. 


THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


THE regular monthly meeting of the New 
York Section of the American Chemical Society 
was held at the Chemists’ Club, 108 West Fifty- 
fifth street on Friday evening, April the 7th; 
Dr. Wm. McMurtrie presiding, and about sixty- 
five members present. 

The following papers were read: ‘ The Toxic 
Action of Sodium Fluoride,’ by H. B. Baldwin. 
‘The Chemistry of the By-Products of Coke 
Ovens,’ J. D. Pennock. ‘ Notes on the Chemis- 
try of the Carbides,’ J. A. Matthews. ‘The 
Distribution of Alkali in Montana,’ F. W. 
Traphagen and W. M. Cobleigh; read by Mr. 
Cobleigh. 

Mr. Baldwin said that, owing to the now 
somewhat extended use of sodium fluoride in 
the arts and as a preservative and insecticide, 
there is considerable liability of accidental poi- 
soning from the substance. Several cases are 
cited with the symptoms observed, the most 
prominent of which are nausea and vomiting 
within a few minutes. One case resulted fatally 
from an unknown dose, probably about ten 
grams. Five grams produced serious results in 
another case. The author took several experi- 
mental doses and was made ill by 0.25 gram. 
A case is also cited where about 50 grams were 
taken with complete recovery. The literature 
of the substance as a toxic agent is very meagre, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 227. 


but experiments have been made by several 
German and French investigators. Shultz 
found that by subcutaneous injection the lethal 
dose per kilogram of body weight was for rab- 
bits 0.2-0.4 gram, for dogs 0.3 gram and for 
frogs 0.005-0.006 gram. Sodium fluoride should 
be classed among the less violent poisons and 
ought to find a place in works on toxicology. 

The paper of Messrs. Traphagen and Cob- 
leigh was an interesting description of the dis- 
tribution of alkali in Montana with analytical 
data. 

Professor Matthews gave a classification of 
the carbides thus far known, according to their 
methods of preparation and properties, and de- 
scribed their commercial development, beginning 
with carborundum, of which in 1895 the pro- 
duction was about 300 pounds per diem. Last 
July the daily output was 4,300 pounds and 
over. Itis said to be harder than emery and 
lighter. It has been successfully used in plate- 
glass grinding, as well as for all ordinary pur- 
poses. Recently it has been put to an entirely 
new use, that of furnishing silicon to steel, be- 
ing a substitute for ferro-silicon where the ad- 
dition of some carbon is not objectionable. 

The calcium carbide industry was also re- 
viewed, and several uses other than for prepara- 
tion of acetylene were mentioned, as follows : 
Drying alcohol and other organic liquids, abso- 
lute alcohol being easily prepared by its use; to 
deoxidize and carbonize iron, and as a reducing 
agent in fire assays. Moissan has used itas a 
reducing agent in the preparation of other car- 
bides. 

Mr. Pennock’s paper gave interesting particu- 
lars out of the construction of the coke ovens 
at Syracuse, N. Y., with details of the percent- 
ages of bye-products, composition of the gas, 
tar, etc., closing with lantern views of the ex- 
terior and interior of the buildings, showing the 
retorts and other important parts of the plant. 

DURAND WOODMAN, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
MESSRS. LEHMANN AND HANSEN ON TELEPATHY. 


To THE Epiror of SCIENCE: One or two 
of your readers may possibly remember a 


small exchange of words between Professor: 


May 5, 1899.] 


Titchener and myself apropos of his article in 
Scrence for December 23d (Vol. VIII., p. 
897). 

Messrs. Lehmann and Hansen had sought to 
show experimentally that the results of certain 
experiments by Professor H. Sidgwick, which 
the latter had ascribed to ‘ thought-transfer- 
ence,’ were really due to involuntary whis- 
pering by the agent, overheard hyperzsthet- 
ically by the subjects. Professor Titchener closed 
his article by saying: ‘‘The brilliant work 
of Messrs. L. and H. has probably done more 
for scientific psychology than could have been 
accomplished by any aloofness, however au- 
thoritative.”’ 

To these words I, in your next number, took 
exception, saying that if Professor Titchener 
would read Sidgwick’s and my criticisms of the 
work of the Danish investigators, he would 
probably agree ‘that, owing to the fewness of 
the data which they had collected, they entirely 
failed to prove their point.’ I, consequently, 
called their essay ‘an exploded document’; 
to which my ‘scientifically-minded’ confrére 
rejoined (in SCIENCE for January 6th) that he had 
carefully read the criticisms, and had thus seen 
us ‘handling the fuse,’ but that he had ‘not yet 
heard the detonation.’ 

As the explosion was so audible to me, the 
disproof being quasi-mathematical, I was as- 
tounded at this hardness of hearing in my 
colleague; and, to make sure that I was not a 
victim of auditory hallucination, I wrote to 
Professor Lehmann to know what he himself 
thought of his conclusions, in the light of the 
criticisms in question. His answer, somewhat 
belated, just arrives. + 

He says : ‘‘Your own as well as Professor Sidg- 
wick’s experiments and computations prove, 
beyond a doubt, that the play of chance had 
thrown into my hands a result distinctly too 
favorable to my theory, and that the said theory 
is consequently not yet established (bewiesen).”’ 

This is identically Professor Sidgwick’s and 
my contention ; and for his candor, as well as 
for his willingness to take pains to experiment 
in this region, Professor Lehmann deserves to 
stand high as a ‘ psychical researcher.’ 

Professor Titchener, meanwhile, still hugging 
the exploded document, wanders upon what he 


SCIENCE. 


655, 


calls ‘the straight scientific path,’ having it ap- 
parently all to himself. May the consciousness 
of his fidelity to correct scientist principles con- 
sole him in some degree both for his deafness. 


and for his isolation. 
WILLIAM JAMES. 
CAMBRIDGE, April 20, 1899. 


"TWO CORRECTIONS. 


My attention has just been called to this para- 
graph in SCIENCE, June 3, 1898, p. 784, foot of 
column two: 

“Erratum: In the review of Wilder’s System of 
Nomenclature, p. 716, col. I, line 5, for ‘ chippocamp ” 
read ‘hippocamp.’ ”’ 

This prompt public correction renders need- 
less and unjust the commentary upon the sub- 
ject in my address last December before the 
Association of American Anatomists (Proceed- 
ings, p. 33, and ScrENCE, April 21, 1899, p. 
577), and I deplore my non-acquaintance with 
it up to the present time. Since none of those 
who heard my address reminded me of the 
‘Erratum,’ it seems to have been overlooked 
by them also. 

In this connection may properly be corrected 
a typographical error in the address itself 
(Proceedings, p. 16, and ScrENcE, April 21, 
1899, p. 566, note, title 6); the date of publica- 
tion of the ‘Review’ in SctENcE should be 
May 20th, not 28th. 

These corrections will be incorporated in the 
Proceedings and sent to those who receive copies 


of SCIENCE from me. 
B. G. WILDER. 


IrHaca, N. Y., April 26, 1899. 


[It may be explained the typographical error 
referred to above was not due to any oversight 
on the part of the writer of the review. An 
inverted comma (‘) was inserted in the proof 
before hippocamp, which was mistaken by the 
printer and the proof reader for a c.—EDb. 
SCIENCE. | 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
A NEW THEORY OF THE ZEEMAN EFFECT. 
DuRING the last eight or ten years Gold- 
hammer has published at intervals in Wiede- 
mann’s Annalen a series of papers dealing with 
the electro-magnetic theory of light, and espe- 


656 


cially upon the transmission of light through 
ordinary media. The chief difference between 
his treatment of the subject and the classical 
one of Maxwell lies in the fact that Gold- 
hammer considers what are usually called the 
constants of the medium, the specific resistance 
or the dielectric constant, for instance, not to be 
constants, but to be functions of the wave fre- 
quency, developable in power series. It may be 
remarked that this view receives a certain 
amount of support from the researches of Blond- 
lot and J. J. Thomson, which show that the 
dielectric constants of certain materials do de- 
pend upon the frequency. 

Developing mathematically the preceding 
hypothesis, Goldhammer arrives at very general 
equations for the velocity and absorption of 
light in a given medium. It is worthy of re- 
mark that the formulas given by Helmholtz, Sell- 
meier and Lommel can all be considered as 
special cases of that of Goldhammer and can be 
derived from it. 

In Wied. Ann., No. 3, Band 67, Goldhammer 
applies the theory which has just been sketched 
to the Zeeman effect, and thus obtains a new 
theoretical explanation of the phenomenon. 
‘Considering the absorption spectra first, he 
shows that any alteration in the specific con- 
‘stants of the medium will causea change in the 
position of the absorption lines. He then as- 
sumes that the magnetic field does cause such 
an alteration in these quantities; in support of 
this assumption, he calls attention to a paper by 
Bolzmann (Wied. Ann., 31, p. 789), in which 
it is shown that a magnetic field increases the 
resistance of a gas placed in it. 

Kirchoff’s laws allow one to pass from the 
absorption spectrum to that of emission. Then 
in a bright-line spectrum the effect of a mag- 
netic field is to cause displacements in the lines 
and might give rise to doublets and triplets. 

In order to account for the polarization phe- 
nomena, Goldhammer makes a further assump- 
tion that the magnetic field causes the medium 
to become eleotropic and double-refracting. 
The circular polarization of the doublets, when 
viewed along the lines of force, is very closely 
connected with the well-known magnetic rota- 
tion of the plane of polarization. 

It will be noticed that this theory of Gold- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 227. 


hammer’s differs materially from those pro- 
posed by Lorentz and Larmor. Goldhammer 
makes the whole of the phenomena depend 
upon changes in the medium, while Lorentz 
and Larmor attribute them to the electrody- 
namic forces developed by the motion of elec- 
trified ions in a magnetic field. 

At present it seems that the ionic is the more 
promising of the two theories, since it gives an 
explanation, incomplete it is true, of the com- 
plexity of structure of the lines and of their 
polarization. The numerical value of the ratio 
between the mass of a vibrating ion and the 
charge carried by it as derived from the Zeeman 
effect is in good agreement with that obtained 
by J. J. Thomson from the phenomena of 
cathode rays. 


DAYLIGHT-PHOSPHORESCENCE. 


MovureELo (Comptes Rendus, t. CXXVIII., p. 
557) has made the curious discovery that 
sulphides of strontium, calcium, barium and 
zinc, prepared in a particular way, show 
much more brilliant phosphorescence after 
exposure to diffused daylight than they do 
after exposure to direct sunlight, and, further, 
that periodic exposure to diffused daylight in- 
creases very remarkably the power of phos- 
phorescing. After being brought to this sensi- 
tive state one phosphorescing portion is able to 
excite phosphorescence in another non-lumi- 
nous portion either when the two portions are 
in contact or when they are contained in sepa- 


rate glass tubes. 
A. St.C. D. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

AN analysis of the water of the Great, or Il- 
lecilliwaet Glacier, British Columbia, has been 
published in the Chemical News by F. T. Shutt 
and A. T. Charron. The waters were taken a 
few feet from the face of the glacier, and were 
of characteristic turbid or milky appearance. 
Analysis showed water of gréat organic purity, 
the free ammonia being 0.018 parts per million; 
albumenoid ammonia 0.027 to 0.087 ; nitrogen 
as nitrates and nitrites 0.0246 to 0.0442; 
chlorin 0.1; solids 12 to 30.8. On sedimenta- 
tion the waters became perfectly clear, and 
microscopic examination of the deposit showed 


May 5, 1899.] 


it to be very fine rock matter, chiefly fragments 
of quartzite. 


AN analysis of an artesian water from Derby- 
shire is given by John White in the Analyst, 
which is peculiar as containing barium, it be- 
ing the first recorded occurrence of this metal 
in waters in this section. The well is 1,300 feet 
deep and 160 feet above thesealevel. Accord- 
ing to the analysis given, the water first ob- 
tained at depth of 837 feet, contained of barium 
carbonate 1.77 parts per 100,000 ; the deep water 
contained at first of barium chlorid 38.55 parts, 
and six months later 40.7; water eighty feet be- 
low the surface contained 3.03 parts. The 
sodium chlorid in the deep water was over two 
thousand parts. The author discusses the origin 
of the barium salt. Clowes has found minute 
crystals of barium sulfate in the red sandstone 
near Nottingham, and Dieulafait has shown ba- 
rium to be a constant constituent of primitive 
rocks, but this does not explain the conversion of 
the sulfate into carbonate or chlorid. The only 
possible explanation, according to the author, 
is that the barium sulfate has been at high tem- 
perature reduced to the sulfid by coal, and this 
converted into the chlorid by concentrated salt 
solution. The carbonate is derived from the 
cehlorid. In confirmation of this it is pointed 
out that barium sulfate has been found in con- 
nection with coal deposits and barium chlorid 
in water in the vicinity of coal mines. It is, 
however, not impossible that under certain 
conditions, such as Melikoff has shown take 
place between sodium sulfate or sodium chlorid 
and calcium carbonate in the presence of alu- 
minum or ferric hydroxid, a reaction may take 
place between the barium sulfate and sodium 
chlorid in a concentrated solution of the latter. 


PROFESSOR VEZES, of Bordeaux, has con- 
tinued his work upon the oxalates and nitrites 
of the platinum metals, and his last contribu- 
tion to the Bulletin Société Chimique is on the 
complex salts of palladium. A concentrated 
solution of potassium chloropalladite is con- 
verted by potassium oxalate into the pallado- 
oxalate, and the same salt is formed by the 
action of oxalic acid upon the pallado-nitrite. 
On the other hand, the pallado-oxalate is 
readily converted into the chloropalladite by 


SCIENCE, 


657 


hydrochloric acid, and into the pallado-nitrate 
by potassium nitrate. These reactions corre- 
spond very closely to those of the platinum salts. 
as investigated by Vézes, except that only one 
modification of the pallado-oxalate has been 
found. The pallado-oxalic acid was also ob- 
tained and found to be tolerably stable. 

The same journal contains analyses of a se- 
ries of potassium, ammonium and silver salts 
of the so-called osmiamiec acid, by Brizard, in 
which the formula proposed. by Joly for this 
acid is fully confirmed. According to this, 
osmiamic acid is a nitroso compound, having the 
formula OsO(NO)OH, and corresponds to nitroso. 


hydroxid of ruthenium, 
Jee 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY BULLETINS. 

BULLETIN No. 2 (1899) of Blue Hill Ob- 
servatory, prepared by A. E. Sweetland, con- 
tains accounts of two remarkable snow storms 
which occurred during the past winter. The 
first storm, that of November 26-27, 1898, 
caused the wreck of 141 vessels on the New 
England coast, and the loss of 280 lives. It was 
during this storm that the steamer Portland, 
with about 175 persons on board, was lost off 
Cape Cod. The suddenness and violence of 
this storm were due to the rapid increase in 
energy which took place when a cyclone from 
the Gulf of Mexico and one from the Great 
Lakes met on the coast. The fall of snow was 
very heavy. On February 8-14, 1899, a severe 
cold wave and another heavy snowfall oc- 
curred. On February 13th, at 8 a. m., the 
zero isotherm extended as far south as latitude 
31°. At Blue Hill the average temperature of 
the five days February 8-13 was 3.1° lower 
than the average of any successive five days 
since the Observatory was established. This 
cold wave was followed by a heavy snow storm, 
with high winds, along the North Atlantic 
coast. It is interesting to note that the pre- 
ceding cold wave, although it caused much suf- 
fering by its severity at the time, had one very 
fortunate effect. The extreme cold which had 
almost closed some of the harbors with ice, and 
the difficulty of navigation when the waves, 
driven by the strong westerly gale, quickly 


658 SCIENCE. 


froze on decks and rigging, had resulted in 
keeping many vessels in port. In consequence, 
but few lives were lost at sea. 

Bulletin No. 3, by 8. P. Fergusson, is en- 
titled Progress of Experiments with Kites during 
1897-98 at Blue Hill Observatory, and presents 
an admirable summary of this work. Both 
Bulletins are abundantly illustrated. 


SNOW ROLLERS. 


THe March number of Climate and Crops: 
New England Section notes the occurrence of 
‘Snow Rollers’ at Grafton, N. H., on March 
16th, last. Thisis an interesting but compara- 
tively rare phenomenon, occasionally observed 
in the winter season wher. freshly fallen snow 
is rolled into balls or cylinders by the wind. 
At Grafton these are stated to have been rolled 
up in countless numbers. Some of the rollers 
were as large as a barrel, and the fields and 
hills were covered with them. Other occur- 
rences of the same phenomenon have been 
noted, within recent years, at Spokane, Wash., 
in December, 1895; at Hartford, Conn., on Feb- 
ruary 19, 1896, and in Saline county, Kan., on 
January 14, 1898. At Spokane there were 
‘hundreds of snow cylinders of uniform size, 
and as perfectly formed as though they had 
been cast ina mould.’ The rollers were from 
12 to 16 inches long, and from 6 to 10 inches in 
diameter. At Hartford some of the rollers 
measured 8 inches in diameter. In the Kansas 
case the size varied from that of base-balls to 
that of half-a-bushel measures. The uniform 
size, often noted, may be explained by the fact 
that the wind rolls the cylinders of snow along 
the ground until they become too heavy to be 
moved farther. If the velocity of the wind 
continues about the same it is likely, other 
things being equal, that the rollers will have 
about the same size. 


A COURSE IN METEOROLOGY AT OHIO STATE 
UNIVERSITY. 


Ir is a pleasure to note the establishment of a 
new course in meteorology at the Ohio State 
University, Columbus, Ohio. This course, 
which is being given by Mr. J. Warren Smith, 
Section Director of the U. 8. Weather Bureau 
at Columbus, is required in the junior year in 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 227. 


the course in agriculture and horticulture, and 
is elective in the courses in arts, philosophy and 
science. It is also open toallteachers. Lectures 
began on March 29th, andaregiven twicea week 
during a term of ten weeks. The object of the 
course, as stated in the prospectus, is ‘to open 
and outline a rational and systematic line of 
study of the leading facts concerning our atmos- 
phere, and of the methods of observing and in- 
vestigating the daily weather changes, and of 
the physical laws underlying these changes.’ 
Davis’s ‘ Elementary Meteorology’ is used as a 
text-book. The lectures are illustrated by means 
of lantern views, and the ‘ laboratory work’ in- 
cludes the use of the ordinary instruments and. 
practice in the construction of weather maps. 


CLIMATE OF THE CONGO FREE STATE. 


THERE has recently been published an admi- 
rable little pamphlet on the climate of the Congo 
Free State, by M. Lancaster, Director of the 
Meteorological Service of Belgium (Court Apergu 
du Climat du Congo, 12mo., Brussels, 1899, pp. 
43). This is a summary, in a very convenient 
form, of the meteorological portion of the 
volume on the climate, soils and hygiene of the 
Congo Free State, noticed in SCIENCE for Jan- 
uary 138, 1899, p. 72, and is reprinted from the 
Annuaire de I’ Observatoire royal de Belgique pour 


1899. 
R. DEC. WARD. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 


A NEW MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY. 

AMERICAN biologists will doubtless be grati- 
fied to learn that the United States Fish Com- 
mission will maintain a marine biological labo- 
ratory at Beaufort, N. C., during the coming 
summer, and will probably undertake to estab- 
lish a permanent laboratory at that place. The 
station will be fully equipped for a limited 
number of investigators and be ready for occu- 
pancy by June 1st. There will be one building 
devoted to laboratory purposes and another af- 
fording sleeping accommodations. 

Dr. H. V. Wilson, professor of biology in the 
University of North Carolina, has been asked 
to become the director of the laboratory. Dr. 
Wilson was associated with the Commission at 
its Woods Holl laboratory for several years 


May 5, 1899.] 


and needs no introduction to the scientific 
world, — 

Beaufort is situated near one of the great 
ocean inlets, and the waters of the harbor and 
adjacent sounds are remarkably well supplied 
with fishes and invertebrates. The advantages 
this locality affords for biological research are 
well known, as many naturalists have from 
time to time resorted thereto for the study of 
special problems. 

In the early fall Beaufort will be made the 
headquarters of the steamer Fish-Hawk during 
a biological and topographical survey of the 
oyster grounds of the State which the Commis- 
sion will conduct at the request of Professor J. 
A. Holmes, director of the North Carolina 
Natural History and Geological Survey, and 


other State officials. 
Hues M. SmirTH. 
U.S. COMMISSION OF 
FIsH AND FISHERIES. 


THEORY OF THE STEAM ENGINE. 

M. NADAL, in a very extended review of the 
recognized ‘Principles of the Mathematical 
Theory of the Steam Engine,’ in recent issues 
of the Revue de Mécanique, discusses the theory 
of heat-exchanges between working fluid and 
cylinder-walls, the influence of the duration of 
the admission period, that of the compression 
and of the velocity of operation of the motor ; 
touching upon the experimental work of Dwel- 
shauvers-Dery. His principal conclusions are 
the following : * 

1. The absorptive power of the metal in 
contact with the vapor is finite, and variable as 
a function of time. It is more considerable 
than the emissive power. The variation of 
this absorbing power is a function of the 
amount of liquid deposited upon the wall, and 
that amount has been shown by Donkin to 
vary, in the cases reported by him, from 20 cal- 
ories per square meter per unit difference of 
temperature between metal and vapor, per sec- 
ond, and, at the time of admission, down to 12 
during expansion and lower, and to 2 during 
the period of re evaporation and of emission, 
and to even less values as exhaust becomes 
complete; although this re-evaporation may be 


* Revue de Mécanique, 1898-9. 


SCIENCE. 


659 


exceedingly rapid at the moment of opening 
the eduction port. 

2. In the ease of the unjacketed cylinder 
the mean temperature of the wall is equal or 
superior to that of the vapor in contact with it. 

8. The heat surrendered by the vapor at in- 
duction increases less rapidly than does the 
period of action, that of induction. The indi- 
cations are that the range of temperature dur- 
ing expansion mainly affects the quantity of the 
heat-exchange and that the total temperature- 
range does not measure the waste, which is 
contrary to general opinion among engineers 
and physicists. 

4. Compression in the clearance or ‘dead 
spaces’ is not always advantageous. 

M. Nadal shows that the moisture on the 
wall plays an important part, augmenting the 
quantity of heat-waste as superheating dimin- 
ishes it. It is found that the variation of the 
magnitude of heat-exchanges during the for- 
ward and the return stroke accounts largely for 
the well-established, and often large, gains due 
to the use of the steam-jacket ; since that acces- 
sory may communicate heat rapidly and effect- 
ively during the earlier portion of the cycle, 
while the sluggish transfer of heat out of the 
cylinder wall during the period of low pressure 
and temperature checks the wastes that would 
otherwise then occur, and more extensively 
than in the earlier period. Thus this variation 
of transferring power of the wall acts as a sort 
of ‘ check-valve’ for the heat received from the 
jacket, permitting it to act efficiently, where 
most needed and preventing loss of heat where 
its transfer could do no good and would be 
purely a waste. Thus the jacket, also, is most 
economical in those engines which would be 
most economical without it, those in which the 
interior walls of the cylinder are dry during 


exhaust. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


THE PHILADELPHIA EXPOSITION OF 1900. 

WE have received from the officers of the 
Philadelphia Exposition of 1900 details in re- 
gard to their plans. It is their purpose to ex- 
hibit every kind of manufactured products of 
the United States especially suitable for export. 
Such exhibits will form the principal depart- 


660 SCIENCE. 


ment of the Exposition and will comprise every- 
thing which is, can or might be exported, from 
locomotives and heavy machinery to the small- 
est novelties. 

There will also be a department of foreign 
manufactured goods, but it will not contain a 
single exhibit shown by a foreign manufacturer. 
This department will consist of collections of 
samples of goods made in the commercial coun- 
tries of Europe and successfully sold in all for- 
eign markets in competition with American 
goods and in foreign markets in which Amer- 
ican trade has not yet been developed. These 
samples will be exhibited side by side with 
American products of the same class, and will 
show our manufacturers just what competition 
they must meet abroad, as well as the pecul- 
iarities in the demands of every foreign mar- 
ket. 

A third department of the Exposition will 
show how American goods must be packed, 
labeled and shipped in order to meet the re- 
quirements of foreign trade, which vary accord- 
ing to the degree of development or civilization 
in each country of the world. 

In October a Commercial Congress will be 
held in Philadelphia in connection with the 
meeting of the International Advisory Board of 
the Philadelphia Commercial Museums. There 
is every reason to believe that at least 800 repre- 
sentatives of foreign firms will be present at the 
sessions of the Commercial Congress and in at- 
tendance on the Exposition, in addition to the 
official delegates and those representing com- 
mercial organizutions. 

The Exposition will be under the joint 
auspices of the Philadelphia Commercial Mu- 
seums and the Franklin Institute. Sanction and 
support has been given to the Exposition by the 
National Government, Congress appropriating 
$350,000 to aid it. The City of Philadelphia 
has given $200,000, and the State of Penn- 
sylvania $50,000, and $100,000 is being 
raised in Philadelphia by individual subscrip- 
tions. 

The main buildings, which are now under 
construction, cover eight acres of ground, and 
the available exhibition space will be at least 
200,000 square feet Outside of the space occu- 
pied by the main buildings there will be within 


-miles, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 227. 


the Exposition grounds, which comprise a tract 
of fifty-six acres of land on the bank of the 
Schuylkill River, within fifteen minutes’ ride 
of the City Hall, ample space for the erec- 


tion of detached structures for special ex-° 


hibits. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS, 


VICE-PRESIDENT BRANNER, of Stanford Uni- 
versity, will conduct an expedition to Brazil dur- 
ing the summer to work upon the geology of the 
stone and coral reefs of the coast. These reefs, 
more or less broken, extend from Ceara to the 
Abrolhos, a distance of more than a thousand 
Dr. Branner did much work upon these 
reefs while he was connected with the Geolog- 
ical Survey of Brazil, but the field observations. 
were never finished and the results of the work 
were not published. He hopes to complete 
his work during the summer vacation. The 
expenses of the expedition will be paid chiefly 
by Professor Alexander Agassiz, and the results 
will be published by the Museum of Compara- 
tive Zoology at Harvard. 

PRINCETON proposes to send a small party to 
observe the total eclipse of the sun which is to 
occur on May 27, 1900. <A friend of the Uni- 
versity has provided the necessary funds, and 
the special apparatus that will be needed is- 
already being constructed. The station to be 
occupied is not yet finally selected, but will 
probably be near the boundary between North 
and South Carolina, where it is crossed by the 
track of the moon’s shadow, running northeast- 
ward from New Orleans to Norfolk, Va. 

Tue Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain 
has conferred the Bessemer Gold Medal for 


1899 on Queen Victoria in commemoration of 


the great progress made in the iron and steel. 
industries during her Majesty’s reign. 

Tue Academy of Sciences at Halle has elected 
Dr. Hans Lenck, professor of mineralogy at 
Erlangen, to membership. 

Str JAMES WRIGHT, C.B., late Engineer-in- 


Chief of the British Navy, to whom many of 


the improvements in British warships are due,. 
died on April 16th in his 86th year. 

THE death is also announced of Sir William 
Roberts, F.R.S., the eminent London physician,. 


May 5, 1899.] 


at the age of 69 years. He gave the Goulstonian, 
Lumleian and Croonian lectures and the Har- 
veian oration before the Royal College of Phy- 
sicians, and contributed in many ways to the 
advancement of medical science and education. 


WE regret also to record the deaths of Pro- 
fessor Karl Scheibler, the chemist at Berlin, 
aged 72 years; of Dr. Josef Wastler, docent in 
geodesy in the Technical Institute at Graz, and 
of Dr. H. A. Wahlforso, professor of chemistry 
at Helsingfors, at the age of 60 years. 


A CABLEGRAM from Constantinople states 
that in order to develop the agricultural re- 
sources of the empire, the Sultan has consulted 
with the United States Minister, Mr. O. 8. 
Straus, in regard to securing the services of 
two American agricultural experts, who will be 
attached to the Ministry of Mines, Agriculture 
and Forests. 


Mr. JoHN HAMILTON has been appointed 
Secretary of Agriculture for the State of Penn- 
sylvania by Governor Stone in the place of Mr. 
Thomas J. Edge, who has been compelled to re- 
sign. It is said that this change has been made 
for political rather than for scientific reasons. 


A Cryin SERVICE examination for the posi- 
tion of Computer in the Division of Forestry, 
Department of Agriculture, ata salary of $1,000 
per annum, will be held on May 16thand 17th. 
The examination is chiefly on computation in 
forestry. 


AT the annual meeting of the California 
Academy of Sciences officers and trustees have 
been elected to fill the various offices in the 
Academy for the ensuing year as follows: Pres- 
ident, Willam E, Ritter; First Vice-President, 
Chas. H. Gilbert; Second Vice-President, H. H. 
Behr; Corresponding Secretary, J. O’B. Gunn ; 
Recording Secretary, G. P. Rixford ; Treasurer, 
L. H. Foote; Librarian, Louis Falkenau; Di- 
rector of the Museum, Charles A. Keeler ; 
Trustees, William M. Pierson, George C. Per- 
kins, C. E. Grunsky, William H. Crocker, 
George W. Dickie, E. J. Molera, James F. 
Houghton. The yearly report of the President, 
William E. Ritter, showed the past year to have 
been one of earnest. activity in the various 
working departments. The necessity is urged 
of conceutrating the efforts and the funds of 


SCIENCE. 


661 


the Academy toward making complete the 
natural history collections of the State. Es- 
pecial stress is laid upon the desirability of ex- 
ploring the waters of the Pacific that wash the 
California coast, and collecting into the store- 
cases and exhibition galleries of the Museum 
the scientific treasures of these waters. The 
report mentions the gratifying commendation 
which the improved style in which the Proceed- 
ings are issued calls forth from both at home and 
abroad. Here may be mentioned the highly 
appreciated gift of $1,000 given to the publica- 
tion fund by Mr. C. P. Huntington. The re- 
port of the Librarian gives the number of vol- 
umes in the library as nearly 10,000. The 
crowded meetings held twice each month evince 
the public interest in the popular scientific lec- 
tures, which are open to all. The principal 
event of the year was the definite movement, 
appropriately initiated by the Society of Cali- 
fornia Pioneers and heartily participated in by 
the Academy, to secure from the State Legisla- 
lature funds for the erection of a statue to the 
late James Lick, to whom the Academy owes 
an ever-growing debt of gratitude for his benefi- 
cent gift to the institution. 


THE fourteenth annual meeting of the Asso- 
ciation of American Physicians will be held at 
the Arlington Hotel, Washington, D. C., on 
May 2d, 3d and 4th. 


THE annual meeting of the Iron and Steel 
Institute of Great Britain will be held on May 
4th and 5th. Sir William Roberts-Austen, the 
President-elect, will give an inaugural address, 
and a program has been arranged that includes 
papers by representatives from the United 
States, Austria, Russia, Spain and Sweden. 

THE Council of the Royal College of Surgeons 
has decided to celebrate the centenary of its 
foundation between March 22 and June 30, 
1900. The College is also considering the ad- 
visability of applying for power to grant at the 
time diplomas of honorary fellowships, of which 
not more than fifty shall be conferred. 

PLANS are being made for the establishment 
of an institute of bacteriology and experimental 
medicine at Bucharest. 

Tue Prince of Monaco is building at Monaco 
a Museum of Oceanography to contain the col- 


662 


lections made by the expeditions of the yacht 
Princess Alice. It will contain not only exhibi- 
tion rooms, but also laboratories for the use of 
men of science who wish to work upon the col- 
lections. The Museum will, in addition, repre- 
sent the relations of meteorology to navigation. 


THE conferences established three years since 
by Professor Milne-Edwards for the instruction 
of explorers and travelers have been resumed 
in the Paris Museum of Natural History. A 
number of the professors of the Museum take 
part, explaining the methods of collecting and 
preserving plants, animals, etc., of making maps 
and photographs, hygienic precautions, etc. 


THE Critic of May publishes, over the name of 
Professor O. C. Marsh, the portrait of Professor 
F. A. March, of Lafayette College, the eminent 
philologist. The account of the late Professor 
Marsh accompanying the portrait opens as fol- 
lows: ‘‘ This excellent portrait of the distin- 
guished paleontologist, whose unpaid service at 
Yale College did so much to strengthen the 
position of that University in the educational 
world, was made in this city only about a year 
ago. Professor Marsh himself was greatly 
pleased with it.’’ 


AT the last monthly general meeting of the 
Zoological Society, London, Lieutenant-Colonel 
L. H. Irby in the chair, it was stated that there 
were 83 additions made to the Society’s menag- 
erie during March, amongst which special no- 
tice was directed to a kiang, or wild ass of 
Tibet (Equus hemionus). Only two examples of 
this scarce animal had been previously exhibited 
in the Society’s gardens—namely, in 1859 and 
1885. There had also been received an example 
of Pel’s owl (Scotopelia peli), a rare species of 
owl from the Niger territory, presented by 
Lieutenant E. V. Turner, R.E., and a Cape 
jumping hare (Pedetes caffer), presented by Mr. 
William Champion, F.Z.S. 

In an important paper read by Mr. Charles 
Heycock before the Royal Institution, recently, 
a study of the method of union of the constitu- 
ents of alloys is followed which indicates that 
the same laws control as in solutions. Gold, 
for example, dissolves in melted silver, and the 
temperature of solidification is reduced in pro- 
portion to the weight of gold introduced, until 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 227. 


a limit is approximated with twenty per cent. 
gold. This ‘law’ is verified in the case of a 
number of alloys mentioned, but not with a few 
others (as Sb in Bi). The rate of lowering of 
temperature in the cases illustrating solution 
is inversely proportional to the molecular 
weights of the dissolved metal. 


Signor MARcont has successfully communi- 
cated from the South Foreland, Kent, to the 
French armed despatch vessel Ibis while sailing 
in the English Channel. 


THE scientific library of the late Dr. Stain- 
ton, F.R.S., the entomologist, has been sold at 
auction at London. The following works were 
included : ‘ Annals de Ja Société Entomologique 
de France,’ from the beginning in 1832 to 1892 
—£35 ; J. Curtis, ‘ British Entomology,’ 1824-89 
—£11 5s.; Transactions of the Entomological 
Society of London, from the beginning in 1836 
to 1892, 38 volumes—£32 ; P. Milliére, ‘ Incon- 
ographie et Description de Chenilles et Lépi- 
doptéres Inédits,’ 1859-74—£10 5s; G. A. W. 
Herrick-Schiffer, ‘Systematische Bearbeitung 
der Schmetterlinge von Europa,’ 1843-56—£27 
10s.; and J. Hiibner, ‘Sammlung Europaischer 
Schmetterlinge,’ Augsburg, 1805, etc., £24. 


In his presidential address before the Chem- 
ical Society, London, Professor Dewar, as re- 
ported in the London Times, discussed the 
means that might be used for measuring the 
range of temperature between the critical point 
of hydrogen and the zero of absolute tempera- 
ture. The electrical resistance thermometer 
was of great delicacy, but it depended on a 
knowledge of the law connecting resistance 
and temperature and involved the necessity of 
extrapolation, At such temperatures, however, 
conditions occurred which could not be antici- 
pated, and hence no confidence could be put in 
the results given by the curve. Platinum, for 
instance, which was frequently used for the 
construction of such thermometers, approached 
its zero of resistance when immersed in liquid 
hydrogen, and theoretically only required to 
be cooled five or six degrees further to become 
a perfect conductor of electricity. Such a re- 
duction should be effected by making the hy- 
drogen boil under exhaustion, but, in fact, the 


May 5, 1899. ] 


lowering of temperature indicated by the plat- 
inum thermometer in such circumstances did 
not exceed one degree. Hence the platinum 
must have come toa limit. Two pure platinum 
thermometers which Professor Dewar had tried 
both behaved in this way. Next he experi- 
mented with a resistance composed of an alloy 
of rhodium and platinum, which gave a different 
temperature altogether. According to it the boil- 
ing point of hydrogen was minus 246° as against 
minus 238° shown by the pure platinum arrange- 
ment, and it, too, failed to indicate the expected 
lowering under exhaustion. A thermo-junction 
of iron and German silver was next tried with- 
out satisfactory results, and another junction of 
lead and iridium-platinum proved equally inef- 
fective. Thus he was brought to an air ther- 
mometer and the use of hydrogen itself under 
diminished pressure to determine its own boil- 
ing point. In the instrument he had construc- 
ted the gas had a tension of 273 mm. at the 
temperature of melting ice, so that a difference 
of one millimeter, corresponded to one degree 
of temperature. The boiling point of hydrogen 
was by this thermometer given as about minus 
252°, but various corrections had to be made, 
and in particular the possibility of the hydro- 
gen being contaminated with a slight impurity of 
air or oxygen allowed for, so that it was uncer- 
tain what exactly was the true boiling point. 
Assuming it to be minus 252°, or 21° on the 
absolute scale, Professor Dewar went on to il- 
lustrate the difficulties of nearer approach to 
the absolute zero itself. By exhaustion the 
experimenter could not practically get more 
than 6° lower, and at that point he was 
barred and blocked with no means of bridg- 
ing over the remaining 15°. Even supposing 
that a new substance was discovered as volatile 
in comparison with hydrogen as hydrogen was 
in comparison with nitrogen, that under ex- 
haustion would only give a temperature 33° 
above the zero, and it would require a second 
‘hypothetical substance as volatile compared 
with the first as the first was compared with 
hydrogen to enable the experimenter to come 
near the extreme of temperature he is aiming at. 

THE report by Sir William Crookes, F.R.S., 
and Professor Dewar, F. R. 8., on the compo- 
sition and quality of daily samples of the water 


SCIENCE. 


663 


supplied to London for the month ending Feb- 
ruary 28, 1899, says: We have again to 
record an excess of rain, The rainfall at 
Oxford during the past month was 1.92 in., 
the average fall for the last 30 years is 1.76 in., 
giving an excess of 0.16 in., and making the 
excess for the first two months of the year 0.85: 
in., or 21.6 per cent. on the average fall. It is 
interesting to observe the effect of the rainfall 
on the number of microbes in the unfiltered 
Thames water. No rain fell on the 1st, 2d or 
3d, and the average number of microbes in the 
Thames at Hampton up to the 4th was 6,510: 
per c.c.; it then rained every day until the 
15th, during which time the average number 
of microbes, including the 16th, rose to 38,354 
per c.c.; after the 15th no more rain fell, and 
the average number of microbes from then to: 
the end of the month fell to 14,914 per c.e. 
This large increase in the number of microbes 
in the river, due to rain, originates not merely 
from the washing of the surface of the land, 
but is also largely due to atmospheric microbes. 
brought down by the rain. As far as our ex- 
periments go they are perfectly harmless. 
During the month the London waters, chem- 
ically and bacteriologically, have maintained 
their high character as an efficiently filtered 
river supply. 


PROFESSOR E. RAy LANKESTER has written 
a letter to the London Times stating that 
£3,240 have been subscribed toward a second 
expedition of Mr. J. E. 8. Moore to Lake 
Tanganyika, and that in addition £500 have 
been offered on condition that a further sum of 
£500 be collected. This insures the sending of 
the expedition regarding the scientific impor- 
tance of which Professor Lankester writes: 
Some ten years ago the discovery of a true 
medusa—similar to some marine jelly-fish—in 
the waters of Lake Tanganyika led naturalists 
to entertain the notion that this vast and re- 
mote inland sea might retain within its area 
other evidences of a former connection with the 
ocean. The medusa (which swarms in the lake 
at certain seasons) was duly described by Mr. 
R. T. Giinther in my laboratory at Oxford, and 
named Limnocnida Tanganyike. So great was 
the interest felt in the suggestions to which its 
presence gave rise that I obtained two small 


664 


grants from the Royal Society and the British 
Association, and was fortunate enough to induce 
Mr. J. E. 8. Moore to undertake, in 1896, a 
journey to Lake Tanganyika in order to collect 
the fish, shell-fish, medusze and sponges which 
occur in its waters. The result of Mr. Moore’s 
eareful study of his collections (especially by 
the examination of the internal anatomy of 
the whelk-like shell-fish obtained) has been 
to show that there is in Lake Tanganyika an 
ordinary fresh-water lake fauna similar to that 
-of other lakes, but that side by side with this 
there is a second fauna of marine character to 
which Mr. Moore has given the name ‘halo- 
limnic’ (oceano-lacustrine). Not only this, 
but Mr. Moore has shown that the mol- 
luses of the halolimnic fauna of Tangan- 
yika have an extraordinary resemblance to 
forms occurring in the fossil condition in the in- 
ferior oolites of Europe. I have recently placed 
in the northeast recess of the central hall of the 
Natural History Museum in Cromwell-road a 
ease showing a series of these Tanganyika 
shell-fish side by side with examples of the 
oolitic shells with which they so closely agree. 
Close to these are placed the fishes brought 
home by Mr. Moore, of which 26 were new to 
science. Mr. Moore, in his former visit to Tan- 
ganyika, was not able to do more than ‘scratch 
round some 150 miles of the shallow coast line 
of a lake over 350 miles in length’ (to use his 
own words). Naturally one is led to believe 
that a more thoroughly equipped expedition 
with the use of a steamer on the lake (which 
Mr. Moore had not the chance to obtain) would 
yield results of proportionately increased im- 
portance. Itis not merely as adding new forms 
to our collections that such an exploration is to 
be desired. The great geological problems of 
the history of this lake basin and its connec- 
tion possibly with the Nile or a northward sea, 
possibly with an ancient estuarine Congo, are 
what stare us in the face. There are deposits 
in the valley north of Tanganyika and in its 
immediate vicinity which must be examined 
and infallibly yield evidence on these subjects. 
There are also the northward lakes of Kivu and 
the Albert Edward Nyanza, the waters of which 
have never been sampled for their living wit- 
nesses of geological history. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 227. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


WE announced last week that Mr. Astrakoff, 
the Russian engineer, had left, under certain 
conditions, 1,000,000 roubles for the foundation 
of a university for women at Moscow. This 
trust has been accepted by the Moscow munici- 
pality and an annual subsidy of 3,000 roubles 
has been voted. 


THE medical library of the late D. Sigis- 
mund Waterman, of New York, has been be- 
queathed by him to Yale University. 


A FRIEND of Princeton University whose 
name has not been disclosed has given $100,- 
000 to establish a chair of politics. It is re- 
ported that the chair is for ex-President Cleve- 
land. 


Proressor H. P. Hurcuins, Dean of the 
Law Department of the University of Michigan, 
has been elected President of the Iowa State 
University. 


Dr. HENRY L. WHEELER, instructor in or- 
ganic chemistry in the Sheffield Scientific 
School of Yale University, has been promoted 
to an assistant professorship. 


AT Colorado College Dr. Florian Cajori, for- 
merly professor of physics, has been transferred 
to be head of the department of mathematics, 
and Dr. 8. J. Barnett has been promoted to the 
professorship of physics. \ 


Masor Ross, known for his work on the 
malarial parasite, has been elected lecturer in 
the newly established School of Tropical Medi- 
cine at Edinburgh. 


Dr. OSKAR DOEBNER has been promoted to a 
full professorship of chemistry and pharmacy 
in the University of Halle. Dr. Kunz-Krause, 
of Lausanne, has been appointed professor of 
physics in the veterinary school at Dresden. 
Dr. Beck von Managetta, of the University at 
Vienna, has been made professor of botany in 
the University at Prague. Dr. Sommer and 
Dr. Cohen have qualified as docents in geometry 
and physics respectively in the University of 
Gottingen. Professor Heinrich Ritthausen, pro- 
fessor of agricultural chemistry in the Univer-. 
sity at K6énigsberg, has retired. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Contr, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcu, Physiology; 

J. 8. Brntines, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Frripay, May 12, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


The Age of the Earth as an Abode fitted for Life: 

GORD) PRGRVUNGwodsccsesshnsacctessscedassssecenccreses 665 
The Posthom Phantom: A Study in the Spontaneous 

Activity of Shadows : PRESIDENT DAVID STARR 

VORDIAN Mstesnauag slacnescstnieshansecetc esas tus stecetsene 674 
Scientifie Books :— 

Berry’s History of Astronomy: PROFESSOR 

Davin P. Topp. Rauh’s Dela methode dans la 

psychologie des sentiments : HIRAM M. STANLEY. 

JERS JCB TIIET cenboosnnidoactgsocadocbocahonuseousonbuseds 682 
Societies and Academies :— 

American Mathematical Society : PROFESSOR F. 

N. CoLE. Sub-section of Anthropology and Psy- 

chology of the New York Academy of Sciences : 

PROFESSOR CHARLES H. Jupp. Philosophical 

Society of Washington: E. D. PRESTON........... 684 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Professor James on Telepathy : PROFESSOR E. B. 

TT OHNE Resesecdsesccsnsceadastnsdetsecncsesconcesenses 686 
Notes on Physics :— 

The Compensation Pyrheliometer: A. St.C. D..,. 687 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H..............- 688 


Botanical Notes :— 
7ood’s Holl Botany ; Canadian Botany ; The So- 
ciety for the Promotion of Agricultural Science : 
PROFESSOR CHARLES E. BESSEY ...............05 689 


Te HOnestSe 0 fsCANAAArdecwatecsccceuseteasceeetorcenttts 690 
An Exhibition of Geographical and Geological Ma- 


Serentific Notes And) NEWS. iorssesscadsesieneseteeeiereene ses 
University and Educational News 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE AGE OF THE EARTH AS AN ABODE 
FITTED FOR LIFE.* 

$1. Tue age of the earth as an abode 
fitted for life is certainly a subject which 
largely interests mankind in general. For 
geology it is of vital and fundamental im- 
portance—as important as the date of the 
battle of Hastings is for English history— 
yet it was very little thought of by geol- 
ogists of thirty or forty years ago ; how lit- 
tle is illustrated by a statement, which I 
will now read, given originally from the 
presidential chair of the Geological Society 
by Professor Huxley in 1869, when for a 
second time, after a seven years’ interval, 
he was President of the Society: 

““T do not suppose that at the present day any 
geologist would be found * * * to deny that the rapid- 
ity of the rotation of the earth may be diminishing, 
that the sun may be waxing dim, or that the earth it- 
self may be cooling. Most of us, I suspect, are Gal- 
lios, ‘who care for none of these things,’ being of 
opinion that, true or fictitious, they have made no 
practical difference to the earth, during the period of 
which a record is preserved in stratified deposits.’’ 

§ 2. I believe the explanation of how it 
was possible for Professor Huxley to say 
that he and other geologists did not care 
for things on which the age of life on the 

* The annual address (1897) of the Victoria Insti- 
tute, by Lord Kelvin, with additions written at dif- 
ferent times from June, 1897, to May, 1898. Printed 
also in the Philosophical Magazine. 

{In the printed quotations the italics are mine in 


every case, not so the capitals in the quotation from 
Page’s Text-book. 


666 SCIENCE. 


earth essentially depends, is because he did 
not know that there was valid foundation 
for any estimates worth considering as to 
absolute magnitudes. If science did not al- 
low us to give any estimate whatever as to 
whether 10,000,000 or 10,000,000,000 years 
is the age of this earth as an abode fitted 
for life, then I think Professor Huxley 
would have been perfectly right in saying 
that geologists should not trouble them- 
selves about it, and biologists should go on 
in their own way, not inquiring into things 
utterly beyond the power of human under- 
standing and scientific investigation. This 
would have left geology much in the same 
position as that in which English history 
would be if it were impossible to ascertain 
whether the battle of Hastings took place 
800 years ago, or 800 thousand years ago, 
or 800 million years ago. If it were ab- 
solutely impossible to find out which of 
these periods is more probable than the 
other, then I agree we might be Gallios as 
to the date of the Norman Conquest. But 
a change took place just about the time to 
which I refer, and from then till now geol- 
ogists have not considered the question of 
absolute dates in their science as outside 
the scope of their investigations. 

§ 3. I may be allowed to read a few ex- 
tracts to indicate how geological thought 
was expressed in respect to this subject, in 
various largely-used popular, text-books, 
and in scientific writings which were new 
in 1868, or not so old as to be forgotten. 
I have several short extracts to read and I 
hope you will not find them tedious. 

The first is three lines from Darwin’s 
‘Origin of Species,’ 1859 Edition, p. 287 : 


“Tn all probability a far longer period than 300,- 
000,000 years has elapsed since the latter part of the 
secondary period.’’ 


Here is another still more important sen- 
tence, which I read to you from the same 
book : 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 228. 


“He who can read Sir Charles Lyell’s grand work 
on the Principles of Geology, which the future his- 
torian will recognize as having produced a revolution 
in natural science, yet does not admit how incompre- 
hensibly vast have been the past periods of time, may 
at once close this volwme.”? 


I shall next read a short statement from 
Page’s ‘Advanced Students’ Text-Book 
of Geology,’ published in 1859 : 


“Again, where the FORCE seems unequal to the re- 


sult the student should never lose sight of the ele- 
ment TIME, an element to which we can set no bounds in 
the past, any more than we know of its limit in the 
future. 

“Tt will be seen from this hasty indication that 
there are two great schools of geological causation— 
the one ascribing every result to the ordinary opera- 
tions of Nature, combined with the element of wn- 
limited time; the other appealing to agents that 
operated during the earlier epochs of the world with 
greater intensity, and also for the most part over 
wider areas. The former belief is certainly more in ac- 
cordance with the spirit of right philosophy, though it 
must be confessed that many problems in geology 
seem to find their solution only through the admis- 
sion of the latter hypothesis.’’ 


$4. I have several other statements 
which I think you may hear with some in- 
terest. Dr. Samuel Haughton, of Trinity 
College, Dublin, in his ‘Manual of Geol- 
ogy,’ published in 1865, p. 82, says: 


“The infinite time of the geologists is in the past; 
and most of their speculations regarding this subject seem 
to imply the absolute infinity of time, as if the human 
imagination was unable to grasp the period of time 
requisite for the formation of a few inches of sand or 
feet of mud, and its subsequent consolidation into: 
rock.’’ (This delicate satire is certainly not over- 
strained. ) 

“Professor Thomson has made an attempt to cal- 
culate the length of time during which the sun can 


have gone on burning at the present rate, and has. 


come to the following conclusion: ‘‘It seems, on 
the whole, most probable that the sun has not illu- 
minated the earth for 100,000,000 years, and almost: 
certain that he has not done so for 500,000,900 years. 
As for the future, we may say with equal certainty, 
that the inhabitants of the earth cannot continue to- 
enjoy the light and heat essential to their life for 
many million years longer, unless new sources, now 


May 12, 1899. ] 


unknown to us, are prepared in the great storehouse 
of creation.”’ 

I said that in the sixties and I repeat it 
now, but with charming logic it is held to 
be inconsistent with a later statement that 
the sun has not been shining 60,000,000 
years, and that both that and this are 
stultified by a still closer estimate which 
says that probably the sun has not been 
shining for 30,000,000 years! And so my 
efforts to find some limit or estimate for 
Geological Time have been referred to and 
put before the public, even in London daily 
and weekly papers, to show how exceed- 
ingly wild are the wanderings of physicists, 
and how mutually contradictory are their 
conclusions, as to the length of time which 
has actually passed since the early geo- 
graphical epochs to the present date. 

Dr. Haughton further goes on : 


“This result (100 to 500 million years) of Profes- 
sor Thomson’s, although very liberal in the allowance of 
time, has offended geologists, because, having been accus- 
tomed to deal with time as an infinite quantity at their 
disposal, they feel naturally embarrassment and alarm at 
any attempt of the science of physics to place a limit upon 
their speculations. It is quite possible that even a 
hundred million of years may be greatly in excess of 
the actual time during which the sun’s heat has re- 
mained constant.’’ 


$5. Dr. Haughton admitted so much 
with a candid open mind, but he went on 
to express his own belief (in 1865) thus: 

“‘ Although I have spoken somewhat disrespect- 
fully of the geological calculus in my lecture, yet I 
believe that the time during which organic life has 
existed on the earth is practically infinite, because it 
can be shown to be so great as to be inconceivable by 
beings of our limited intelligence.’’ 

Where is inconceivableness in 10,000,- 
000,000? There is nothing inconceivable 
in the number of persons in this room or 
in London. We get up to millions quickly. 
Is there anything inconceivable in 30,000,- 
000 as the population of England, or in 38,- 
000,000 as the population of Great Britain 
and Ireland, or in 352,704,863 as the popu- 
lation of the British Empire? Not at all. 


SCIENCE. 


667 


It is just as conceivable as half a million 
years or 500 millions. 

$6. The following statement is from 
Professor Jukes’s ‘Students’ Manual of 
Geology :’ 


“The time required for such a slow process to 
effect such enormous results must, of course, be taken 
to be inconceivably great. The word ‘inconceivably ’ 
is not here used in a vague but in a literal sense, to 
indicate that the lapse of time required for the de- 
nudation that has produced the present surfaces of 
some of the older rocks is vast beyond any idea of 
time which the human mind is capable of conceiving. 

““Mr. Darwin, in his admirably reasoned book on 
the origin of species, so full of information and sug- 
gestion on all geological subjects, estimates the time 
required for denudation of the rocks of the Weald of 
Kent, or the erosion of space between the ranges of 
chalk hills, known as the North and South Downs, at 
three hundred millions of years. The grounds for form- 
ing this estimate are, of course, of the vaguest de- 
scription. It may be possible, perhaps, that the 
estimate is a hundred times too great, and that the 
real time elapsed did not exceed three million years, 
but, on the other hand, itis just as likely that the 
time which actually elapsed since the first commence- 
ment of the erosion till it was nearly as complete as 
it now is was really a hundred times greater than his 
estimate, or thirty thousand millions of years.’’ 


§7. Thus Jukes allowed estimates of 
anything from 3 millions to 30,000 millions 
as the time which actually passed during 
the denudation of the Weald. On the other 
hand, Professor Phillips, in his Rede lecture 
to the University of Cambridge (1860), de- 
cidedly prefers one inch per annum to Dar- 
win’s one inch per century as the rate of 
erosion, and says that most observers 
would consider even the one inch per an- 
num too small for all but the most invin- 
cible coasts! He thus, on purely geological 
grounds, reduces Darwin’s estimate of the 
time to less than one one-hundredth. And, 
reckoning the actual thicknesses of all the 
known geological strata of the earth, he 
finds 96 million years as a possible estimate 
for the antiquity of the base of the stratified 
rocks ; but he gives reasons for supposing 
that this may be an overestimate, and he 


668 


finds that from stratigraphical evidence 
alone we may regard the antiquity of life 
on the earthas possibly between 38 millions 
and 96 millions of years. Quite lately a very 
careful estimate of the antiquity of strata 
containing remains of life on the earth has 
been given by Professor Sollas, of Oxford, 
calculated according to stratigraphical prin- 
ciples which had been pointed out by Mr. 
Alfred Wallace. Here itis*: ‘So far as 
I can at present see, the lapse of time since 
the beginning of the Cambrian system is 
probably less than 17,000,000 years, even 
when computed on an assumption of uni- 
formity, which to me seems contradicted 
by the most salient facts of geology. What- 
ever additional time the calculations made 

“on physical data can afford us may go to 
the account of pre-Cambrian deposits, of 
which at present we know too little to serve 
for an independent estimate.” 

§ 8. In one of the evening Conversaziones 
of the British Association during its meeting 
at Dundee in 1867 I had a conversation on 
geological time with the late Sir Andrew 
Ramsay, almost every word of which 
remains stamped on my mind to this day. 
We had been hearing a brilliant and sug- 
gestive lecture by Professor (now Sir Archi- 
bald) Geikie on the geological history of 
the actions by which the existing scenery 
of Scotland was produced. Iasked Ramsay 
how long a time he allowed for that history. 
He answered that he could suggest no limit 
to it. I said, ‘‘ You don’t suppose things 
have been going on always as they are 
now’? You don’t suppose geological his- 
tory has run through 1,000,000,000 years ?” 
“« Certainly Ido.” ‘ 10,000,000,000 years ?” 
“Yes.” ‘The sun isa finite body. You 
ean tell how many tons it is. Do you think 
it has been shining on for a million million 
years?’”? ‘‘T am as incapable of estimating 
and understanding the reasons which you 
physicists have for limiting geological time 

* The Age of the Earth,’ Nature, April 4, 1895. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


as you are incapable of understanding the 
geological reasons for our unlimited esti- 
mates.’’ Ianswered, ‘ You can understand 
physicists’ reasoning perfectly if you give 
your mind to it.” I ventured also to say 
that physicists were not wholly incapable 
of appreciating geological difficulties ; and 
so the matter ended, and we had a friendly 
agreement to temporarily differ. 

$9. In fact, from about the beginning of 
the century till that time (1867), geologists 
had been nurtured in a philosophy origi- 
nating with the Huttonian system : much 
of it substantially very good philosophy, 
butsome of it essentially unsound and mis- 
leading ; witness this, from Playfair, the elo- 
quent and able expounder of Hutton: 

““ How often these vicissitudes of decay and renova- 
tion have been repeated is not for us to determine ; 
they constitute a series of which as the author of this 
theory has remarked, we neither see the beginning 
nor the end ; a circumstance that accords well with 
what is known concerning other parts of the economy 
of the world. In the continuation of the different 
species of animals and vegetables that inhabit the 
earth, we discern neither a beginning nor an end ; in 
the planetary motions where geometry has carried 
the eye so far both into the future and the past we 


discover no mark either of the commencement or the 
termination of the present order.” 


$10. Led by Hutton and Playfair, Lyell 
taught the doctrine of eternity and uni- 
formity in geology ; and to explain plutonic 
action and underground heat, invented a 
thermo-electric ‘perpetual’ motion on 
which, in the year 1862, in my paper on 
the ‘Secular Cooling of the Earth,” pub- 
lished in the ‘Transactions of the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh,’ I commented as fol- 
lows: 

““To suppose, as Lyell, adopting the chemical hy- 
pothesis, has done,t that the substances, combining 
together, may be again separated electrolytically by 


thermo-electric currents, due to the heat generated by 
their combination, and thus the chemical action and 
* Reprinted in Thomson and Tait ‘Treatise on 
Natural Philosophy,’ Ist and 2d Editions, Ap- 
pendix D (g). 
} ‘ Principles of Geology,’ Chap. XX XTJ., ed. 1853. 


May 12, 1899. ] 


its heat continued in an endless cycle, violates the 
principles of natural philosophy in exactly the same 
manner, and to the same degree, as to believe that a 
clock constructed with a self-winding movement may 
fulfil the expectations of its ingenious inventor by 
going forever.’’ 


It was only by sheer force of reason that 
geologists have been compelled to think 
otherwise, and to see that there was a defi- 
nite beginning, and to look forward to a 
definite end of this world as an abode 
fitted for life. 

§11. It is curious that English philoso- 
phers and writers should not have noticed 
how Newton treated the astronomical prob- 
lem. Playfair, in what I have read to you, 
speaks of the planetary system as being 
absolutely eternal, and unchangeable ; hav- 
ing had no beginning and showing no signs 
of progress towards an end. He assumes 
also that the sun is to go on shining forever 
and that the earth is to go on revolving 
round it forever. He quite overlooked 
Laplace’s nebular theory; and he over- 
looked Newton’s counterblast to the plan- 
etary ‘perpetual motion.’ Newton, com- 
menting on his own ‘ First Law of Motion,’ 
says, in his terse Latin, which I will en- 
deavor to translate, ‘‘ But the greater bodies 
of planets and comets moving in spaces 
less resisting keep their motions longer.” 
That isa strong counterblast against any 
idea of eternity in the planetary system. 

§ 12. I shall now, without further pref- 
ace, explain, and I hope briefly, so as not 
to wear out your patience, some of the ar- 
guments that I brought forward between 
1862 and 1869, to show strict limitations 
to the possible age of the earth as an abode 
fitted for life. 

Kant* pointed out in the middle of last 


* In an essay first published in the Koénigsberg 
Nachrichten, 1754, Nos. 23, 24 ; having been written 
with reference to the offer of a prize by the Berlin 
Academy of Sciences in 1754. Here is the title page 
in full as it appears in Vol. VI. of Kant’s Collected 
Works, Leipzig, 1839: Untersuchung der Frage : 


SOIENCE. 


669) 


century what had not previously been dis- 
covered by mathematicians or physical as- 
tronomers, that the frictional resistance 
against tidal currents on the earth’s surface: 
must cause a diminution of the earth’s 
rotational speed. This really great dis- 
covery in natural philosophy seems to have 
attracted very little attention—indeed to 
have passed quite unnoticed—among 
mathematicians and astronomers and nat- 
uralists, until about 1840, when the doc- 
trine of energy began to be taken to heart. 
In 1866, Delaunay suggested that tidal re- 
tardation of the earth’s rotation was prob- 
ably the cause of an outstanding accelera- 
tion of the moon’s mean motion reckoned 
according to the earth’s rotation as a time- 
keeper found by Adams in 1853 by correct- 
ing a calculation of Laplace which had 
seemed to prove the earth’s rotational 
speed to be uniform.* Adopting Delaunay’s 
suggestion as true, Adams, in conjunction 
with Professor Tait and myself, estimated 
the diminution of the earth’s rotational 
speed to be such that the earth as a time- 
keeper, in the course of a century, would 
get 22 seconds behind a thoroughly perfect 
watch or clock rated to agree with it at the 
beginning of the century. According to 
this rate of retardation the earth, 7,200 
million years ago, would have been rotating 
twice as fast as now; and the centrifugal 
force in the equatorial regions would have 


Ob die Erde in ihrer Umdrehung um die Achse, 
wodurch sie die Abwechselung des Tages und der 
Nacht hervorbringt, einige Veriinderung seit den 
ersten Zeiten ihres Urspunges erlitten habe, welches 
die Ursache davon sei, und woraus man sich ihrer 
versichern konne? welche von der Kodoniglichen 
Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin zum Preise 
aufgegeben worden, 1754. 

* «Treatise on Natural Philosophy ’ (Thomson and 
Tait), 2830, ed. 1, 1867, and later editions; also 
‘Popular Lectures and Addresses,’ Vol. II. (Kelvin), 
‘Geological Time,’ being a reprint of an article com- 
municated to the Glasgow Geological Society, Feb- 
ruary 27, 1868. 


670 


been four times as great as its present 
amount, which is ;4, of gravity. At pres- 
ent the radius of the equatorial sea-level 
exceeds the polar semi-diameter by 214 kilo- 
meters, which is, as nearly as the most 
careful calculations in the theory of the 
earth’s figure can tell us, just what the ex- 
cess of equatorial radius of the surface of 
the sea all round would be if the whole 
material of the earth were at present 
liquid and in equilibrium under the in- 
fluence of gravity and centrifugal force 
with the present rotational speed, and + of 
what it would be if the rotational speed 
were twice as great. Hence, if the rota- 
tional speed had been twice as great as its 
present amount when consolidation from 
approximately the figure of fluid equilib- 
rium took place, and if the solid earth, re- 
maining absolutely rigid, had been gradu- 
ally slowed down in the course of millions 
of years to its present speed of rotation, 
the water would have settled into two cir- 
cular oceans round the two poles; and the 
equator, dry all round, would be 64.5 kilo- 
meters above the level of the polar sea 
bottoms. This is on the supposition of 
absolute rigidity of the earth after primi- 
tive consolidation. There would, inreality, 
have been some degree of yielding to the 
gravitational tendency to level the great 
gentle slope up from each pole to equator. 
But if the earth, at the time of primitive 
consolidation, had been rotating twice as 
fast as at present, or even 20 per cent. 
faster than at present, traces of its present 
figure must have been left in a great pre- 
ponderance of land, and probably no sea 
at all, in the equatorial regions. Taking 
into account all uncertainties, whether in 
respect to Adams’ estimate of the rate of 
frictional retardation of the earth’s rotatory 
speed, or to the conditions as to the rigidity 
of the earth once consolidated, we may 
safely conclude that the earth was cer- 
tainly not solid 5,000 million years ago, and 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


was probably not solid 1,000 million years 
ago.* 

$13. A second argument for limitation of 
the earth’s age, which was really my own 
first argument, is founded on the considera- 
tion of underground heat. To explain a 
first rough and ready estimate of it I shall 
read one short statement. It is from avery 
short paper that I communicated to the 
Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 18th 
December, 1865, entitled, ‘The Doctrine of 
Uniformity in Geology Briefly Refuted :’ 


““The ‘Doctrine of Uniformity’ in Geology, as 
held by many of the most eminent of British Geolo- 
gists, assumes that the earth’s surface and upper 
crust have been nearly as they are at present in tem- 
perature, and other physical qualities, during millions 
of millions of years. But the heat which we know, by 
observation, to be now conducted out of the earth yearly 
is so great, that if this action had been going on with 
any approach to uniformity for 20,000 million years, 
the amount of heat lost out of the earth would have 
been about as much as would heat, by 100° C., a 
quantity of ordinary surface rock of 100 times the 
earth’s bulk. This would be more than enough to 
melt a mass of surface rock equal in bulk to the 
whole earth. No hypothesis as to chemical action, 
internal fluidity, effects of pressure at great depth, or 
possible character of substances in the interior of the 
earth, possessing the smallest vestige of probability, 
can justify the supposition that the earth’s upper 
crust has remained nearly as it is, while from the 
whole, or from any part, of the earth, so great a 
quantity of heat has been lost.’’ 


§14. The sixteen words which I have 
emphasized in reading this statement to you 
(italics in the reprint) indicate the matter- 
of-fact foundation for the conclusion as- 
serted. This conclusion suffices to sweep 
away the whole system of geological and 
biological speculation demanding an ‘in- 

* The fact that the continents are arranged along 
meridiaps rather than in an equatorial belt affords 
some degree of proof that the consolidation of the 
earth took place at a time when the diurnal rotation 
differed but little from its present value, It is prob- 
able that the date of consolidation is considerably 
more recent than a thousand million years ago.’’— 


Thomson and Tait, ‘ Treatise on Natural Philosophy,’ 
2d ed., 1883, ¢ 830. 


May 12, 1899.] - 


conceivably’ great vista of past time, or 
even a few thousand million years, for the 
history of life on the earth, and approximate 
uniformity of plutonic action throughout 
that time; which, as we have seen, was 
very generally prevalent thirty years ago, 
among British Geologists and Biologists ; 
and which, I must say, some of our chiefs 
of the present day have not yet abandoned. 
Witness the Presidents of the Geological 
and Zoological Sections of the British As- 
sociation at its meetings of 1893 (Notting- 
ham), and of 1896 (Liverpool): 


Mr. Teall : Presidential Address to the Geological 
Section, 1893, ‘‘ The good old British ship ‘ Unifor- 
mity,’ built by Hutton and refitted by Lyell, has won 
so many glorious victories in the past, and appears 
still to be in such excellent fighting trim, that I see 
no reason why she should haul down her colors either 
to ‘Catastrophe’ or ‘ Evolution.’ Instead, therefore, 
of acceding to the request to ‘hurry up’ we make a 
demand for more time.’’ 

Professor Poulton: Presidential Address to the 
Zoological Section, 1896. ‘‘Our argument does not 
deal with the time required for the origin of life, or 
for the development of the lowest beings with which 
we are acquainted from the first formed beings, of 
which we know nothing. Both these processes may 
have required an immensity of time; but as we 
know nothing whatever about them and have as 
yet no prospect of acquiring any information, we 
are compelled to confine ourselves to as much of 
the process of evolution as we can infer from the 
structure of living and fossil forms—that is, as re- 
gards animals, to the development of the simplest 
into the most complex Protozoa, the evolution of the 
Metazoa from the Protozoa, and the branching of the 
former into its numerous Phyla, with all their Classes, 
Orders, Families, Genera, and Species. But we shall 
find that this is quite enough to necessitate a very 
large increase in the time estimated by the geologist.’’ 


$15. In my own short paper from which 
Ihave read you a sentence, the rate at 
which heat is at the present time lost from 
the earth by conduction outwards through 
the upper crust, as proved by observations 
of underground temperature in different 
parts of the world, and by measurement of 
the thermal conductivity of surface rocks 
and strata, sufficed to utterly refute the 


SCIENCE. 


Doctrine of Uniformity as taught by Hut- 
ton, Lyell, and their followers ; which was 
the sole object of that paper. 

$16. In an earlier communication to the 
Royal Society of Edinburgh, * I had con- 
sidered the cooling of the earth due to this 
loss of heat ; and by tracing backwards the 
process of cooling had formed a definite 
estimate of the greatest and least number of 
million years which can possibly have passed 
since the surface of the earth was every- 
where red hot. I expressed my conclusion 
in the following statement: + 

“We are very ignorant as to the effects of high 
temperatures in altering the conductivities and spe- 
cific heats and melting temperatures of rocks, and as 
to their latent heat of fusion. We must, therefore, 
allow very wide limits in such an estimate as I have 
attempted to make ; but I think we may with much 
probability say that the consolidation cannot have 
taken place less than 20 million years ago, or we 
should now have more underground heat than we 
actually have ; nor more than 400 million years ago, 
or we should now have less underground heat than 
we actually have. That is to say, I conclude that 
Leibnitz’s epoch of emergence of the consistentior 
status [the consolidation of the earth from red hot or 
white hot molten matter] was probably between 
those dates.’’ 

$17. During the 35 years which have 
passed since I gave this wide-ranged esti- 
mate, experimental investigation has sup- 
plied much of the knowledge then wanting 
regarding the thermal properties of rocks 
to form a closer estimate of the time which 
has passed since the consolidation of the 
earth, and we have now good reason for 
judging that it was more than 20 and less 
than 40 million years ago; and probably 
much nearer 20 than 40. 

§18. Twelve years ago, in a laboratory 
established by Mr. Clarence King, in con- 


*‘On the Secular Cooling of the Earth,’ Trans. 
Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, Vol. X XIII., April 28, 1862, 
reprinted in Thomson and Tait, Vol. III., pp. 468— 
485, and Math. and Phys. Papers, art. XCIV., pp. 
295-311. 

t ‘On the Secular Cooling of the Earth,’ Math. and 
Phys. Papers, Vol. III., 2 11 of art. XCIV. 


672 


nection with the United States Geological 
Survey, a very important series of experi- 
mental researches on the physical proper- 
ties of rocks at high temperatures was com- 
menced by Dr. Carl Barus, for the purpose 
of supplying trustworthy data for geolog- 
ical theory. Mr. Clarence King, in an 
article published in the American Journal of 
Science,* used data thus supplied, to esti- 
mate the age of the earth more definitely 
than was possible for me to do in 1862, with 
the very meagre information then available 
as to the specific heats, thermal conduc- 
tivities, and temperatures of fusion of rocks. 
I had taken 7000° F. (3781° C.) as a high 
estimate of the temperature of melting rock. 
Eyen then I might have taken something 
between 1000° C. and 2000° C. as more 
probable, but I was most anxious not to 
underestimate the age of thevearth, and so I 
founded my primary calculation on the 
7000° F. for the temperature of melting 
rock. We know now from the experiments 
of Carl Barus} that diabase, a typical basalt 
of very primitive character, melts between 
1100° C. and 1170°, and is thoroughly 
liquid at 1200°. The correction from 3871° 
C. to 1200° or 1/8.22 of that value, for the 
temperature of solidification, would, with 
no other change of assumptions, reduce my 
estimate of 100 millions to 1/(3.22)° of its 
amount, or a little less than 10 million 
years; but the effect of pressure on the 
temperature of solidification must also be 
taken into account, and Mr. Clarence King, 
after a careful scrutiny of all the data given 
him for this purpose by Dr. Barus, con- 
cludes that without further experimental 
data ‘we have no warrant for extending 
the earth’s age beyond 24 millions of 
years.’ 

§ 19. By an elaborate piece of mathe- 


* “On the Age of the Earth,’ Vol. XLV., January, 
1893. 

} Phil. Mag. 1893, first half-year, pp. 186, 187, 
301-305. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


matical bookkeeping, I have worked out 
the problem of the conduction of heat out- 
wards from the earth, with specific heat in- 
creasing up to the melting point as found 
by Rucker and Roberts-Austen and by 
Barus, but with the conductivity assumed 
constant; and, by taking into account the 
augmentation of melting temperature with 
pressure in a somewhat more complete 
manner than that adopted by Mr. Clarence 
King, I am not led to differ much from his 
estimate of 24 million years. But, until we 
know something more than we know at ' 
present as to the probable diminution ot 
thermal conductivity with increasing tem- 
perature, which would shorten the time 
since consolidation, it would be quite inad- 
visable to publish any closer estimate. 

§ 20. All these reckonings of the history 
of underground heat, the details of which I 
am sure you do not wish me to put before 
you at present, are founded on the very 
sure assumption that the material of our _ 
present solid earth all round its surface was 
at one time a white-hot liquid. The earth 
is at present losing heat from its surface 
all round from year to year and century to: 
century. We may dismiss as utterly un- 
tenable any supposition such as that a few 
thousand or a few million years of the 
present régime in this respect was preceded 
by a few thousand or a few million years of 
heating from without. History, guided by 
science, is bound to find, if possible, an an- 
tecedent condition preceding every known 
state of affairs, whether of dead matter or 
of living creatures. Unless the earth was 
created solid and hot out of nothing, the 
régime of continued loss of heat must have 
been preceded by molten matter all round 
the surface. 

§ 21. I have given strong reasons* for 
believing that immediately before solidifica- 
tion at the surface, the interior was solid 


*On the Secular Cooling of the Earth, Vol. IIT. 
Math. and Phys. Papers, 22 19-33. 


May 12, 1899.] 


close up to the surface; except compara- 
tively small portions of lava or melted rock 
among the solid masses of denser solid rock 
which had sunk through the liquid, and 
possibly a somewhat larger space around 
the center occupied by platinum, gold, 
silver, lead, copper, iron and other dense 
metals, still remaining liquid under very 
high pressure. 

§ 22. I wish now to speak to you of 
depths below the great surface of liquid lava 
bounding the earth before consolidation ; 
and of mountain heights and ocean depths 
formed probably a few years after a first 
emergence of solid rock from the liquid 
surface (see § 24, below) which must have 
been quickly followed by a complete con- 
solidation all around the globe. But I 
must first ask you to excuse my giving you 
all my depths, heights and distances, in 
terms of the kilometer, being about six- 
tenths of that very inconvenient measure 
. the English statute mile, which, with all 
the other monstrosities of our British met- 
rical system, will, let us hope, not long 
survive the legislation of our present Parlia- 
mentary session destined to honor the sixty 
years’ Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign by 
legalizing, the French metrical system for 
the United Kingdom. 

$28. To prepare for considering consoli- 
dation at the surface let us go back toa 
time (probably not more than twenty years 
earlier as we shall presently see—§ 24) 
when the solid nucleus was covered with 
liquid lava to a depth of several kilometers; 
to fix our ideas let us say 40 kilometers (or 
4 million centimeters). At this depth in 
lava, if of specific gravity 2.5, the hydro- 
static pressure is 10 tons weight (10 million 
grammes) per square centimeter, or ten 
thousand atmospheres approximately. Ac- 
cording to the laboratory experiments of 
Clarence King and Carl Barus* on Diabase, 


* Philosophical Magazine, 1893, first half-year, p. 
306. 


SCIENCE. 


673 


and the thermodynamic theory* of my 
brother, the late Professor James Thomson, 
the melting temperature of diabase is 1170° 
C. at ordinary atmospheric pressure, and 
would be 1420° under the pressure of ten 
thousand atmospheres, if the rise of tem- 
perature with pressure followed the law of 
simple proportion up to so high a pressure. 

§ 24. The temperature of our 40 kilo- 
meters deep lava ocean of melted diabase 
may therefore be taken as but little less 
than 1420° from surface to bottom. Its 
surface would radiate heat out into space 
at some such rate as two (gramme-water) 
thermal units Centigrade per square centi- 
meter per second.+ Thus, in a year (314 
million seconds) 63 million thermal units 
would be lost per square centimeter from 
the surface. This is, according to Carl 
Barus, very nearly equal to the latent heat 
of fusion abandoned by a million cubic cen- 
timeters of melted diabase in solidfying into 
the glassy condition (pitch-stone) which is 
assumed when the freezing takes place in 
the course of afew minutes. But, as found 
by Sir James Hall in his Edinburgh experi- 
ments} of 100 years ago, when more than a 
few minutes is taken for the freezing, the 
solid formed is not a glass but a hetero- 
geneous crystalline solid of rough fracture ; 
and if a few hours or days, or any longer 
time, is taken, the solid formed has the 
well-known rough crystalline structure of 
basaltic rocks found in all parts of the 
world. Now Carl Barus finds that basaltic 

* Trans. Roy. Soc., Edinburgh, Jan. 2, 1849; Cam- 
bridge and Dublin JJathematical Journal, Noy., 1850. 
Reprinted in Math. and Phys. Papers (Kelvin), Vol. 
I., p. 156. 

{ This is a very rough estimate which I have formed 
from consideration of J. T. Bottomley’s accurate de- 
terminations in absolute measure of thermal radiation 
at temperatures up to 920° C. from platinum wire 
and from polished and blackened surfaces of various 
kinds in receivers of air-pumps exhausted down to 
one ten-millionth of the atmospheric pressure. Phil. 
Trans. Roy. Soc., 1887 and 1893. 

{ Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh. 


674 


diabase is 14 per cent. denser than melted 
diabase, and 10 per cent. denser than the 
glass produced by quick freezing of the 
liquid. He gives no data, nor do Ricker 
and Roberts-Austen, who have also experi- 
mented on the thermodynamic properties 
of melted basalt, give any data, as to the 
latent heat evolved in the consolidation of 
liquid lava into rock of basaltic quality. 
Guessing it as three times the latent heat 
of fusion of the diabase pitch-stone, I esti- 
mate a million cubic centimeters of liquid 
frozen per square centimeter per centimeter 
per three years. This would diminish the 
depth of the liquid at the rate of a million 
centimeters per three years, or 40 kilo- 
meters in twelve years. 

§ 25. Let us now consider in what manner 
this diminution of depth of the lava ocean 
must have proceeded, by the freezing of 
portions of it; all having been at tempera- 
tures very little below the assumed 1420° 
melting temperature of the bottom, when the 
depth was 40 kilometers. The loss of heat 
from the white-hot surface (temperatures 
from 1420° to perhaps 1380° in different 
parts) at our assumed rate of two (gramme- 
water Centigrade) thermal units per sq. em. 
per sec. produces very rapid cooling of the 
liquid within a few centimeters of the sur- 
face (thermal capacity .36 per gramme, ac- 
cording to Barus) and in consequence great 
downward rushes of this cooled liquid, and 
upwards of hot liquid, spreading out hori- 
zontally in all directions when it reaches 
the surface. When the sinking liquid gets 
within perhaps 20 or 10 or 5 kilometers of 
the bottom, its temperature* becomes the 
freezing-point as raised by the increased 
pressure; or, perhaps more correctly stated, 
a temperature at which some of its ingre- 


* The temperature of the sinking liquid rock rises in 
virtue of the increasing pressure : but much less then 
does the freezing point of the liquid or of some of its 
ingredients. (See Kelvin, Math. and Phys. Papers, 
Vol. LET. pp:.69, 70.) 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


dients crystallized out of it. Hence, begin 
ning a few kilometers above the bottom, 
we have a snow shower of solidified lava or 
of crystalline flakes, or prisms, or granules 
of feldspar, mica, hornblende, quartz, and 
other ingredients: each little crystal gain- 
ing mass and falling somewhat faster than 
the descending liquid around it till it reaches 
the bottom. This process goes on until, by 
the heaping of granules and crystals on the 
bottom, our lava ocean becomes silted up to 
the surface. 
( To be concluded. ) 


THE POSTHOM* PHANTOM: A STUDY IN THE 

SPONTANEOUS ACTIVITY OF SHADOWS. 

Ar the April meeting of the Astral Camera 
Club of Alcalde the veteran sciosophist and 
former President of ‘the Stanislaus Geolog- 
ical Society, Mr. Abner Dean of Angels, 
described his investigations of shadow-life, 
as exemplified in the strange case of Peter 
Schlemihl. 

It seems that this gentleman, late a resi- 
dent of Kunersdorf, in Germany, on one 
occasion was approached by a gray-haired 
stranger who offered to purchase his shadow. 
Schlemihl named a price, which was in- 
stantly accepted. Thereupon the stranger 
knelt upon the grass, rolled up the shadow, 
folded it neatly and thrust it into his knap- 
sack, at once disappearing down the road 
between two hedges of roses, leaving Schle- 
mihl himself absolutely shadowless. 

At first the poor man took the depriva- 
tion lightly. But, as time went on, the 
singularity of his position wore upon him, 
the whispered words and doubtful glances 
of his friends began to distress him, and 
he fell into a condition of marked phys- 
ical discomfort. He set out in search of 


*« Posthumous Humanity:’ A study of Phantoms, 
by Adolph D’Assier, Member of the Bordeaux Acad- 
emy of Sciences. Translated and Annotated by Henry 
8. Olcott; London, George Redway, York St., Covent 
Garden. 


May 12, 1899. ] 


the shadow and, after many adventures, he 
overtook the man to whom he had sold it. 
But neither promises nor blows availed 
anything. The stranger turned a deaf ear 
to the former, and the latter only served to 
tear or bruise the shadow which the stranger 
used in self-defence. When at last Schle- 
mihl died it was observed he left no wraith 
to rustle through the old graveyard at 
Kunersdorf. According to Mr, Chamisso, 
a friend of Schlemih], who has recorded the 
facts above noted, ‘‘ An event had taken the 
place of an action as has happened not in- 
frequently in the world’s history.” That 
he was unable to nullify this event was sup- 
posed to be the cause of the failure of his 
efforts at self-realization. But this ethereal 
epigram does not explain why the loss of 
his shadow made him physically uncomfort- 
able. For the cause of this we must search 
in the fluidic conditions by which he was 
surrounded. 

Mr. Dean has, therefore, devoted special 
attention to these details, to make clear 
the nature of the shadow itself and of the 
being who made way with it. 

Certain writers have too hastily assumed 
that this being was the Devil. This is 
obviously not the case, for this fabled crea- 
tion, the ‘ Faded fancy of an elder world,’ 
‘the fluidic phantom of effete orthodoxy,’ 
as Mr. Dean styled it, has no objective ex- 
istence. The fact that the stranger was 
dressed in black which seemed red by trans- 
mitted light, and that he exhaled a faint 
sulphurous aroma, would seem to bear out 
this supposition. But these details were 
more likely results of pure fancy, perhaps 
heightened by the presence of a highly con- 
centrated fluidic aura. 

The real nature of the being is shown 
by the erudite researches of Dr. Adolph 
D’Assier on the ‘fauna of the shades,’ as 
set forth in his remarkable volume on 
‘Posthumous Humanity.’ The stranger 
was, doubtless, a lycanthropic posthom, or 


SCIENCE. 


675 


shadow- devouring phantom, who, being un- 
able to suck the blood of Schlemihl himself, 
carried away his shadow to strengthen his 
own fast waning identity. There are many 
records, especially among the peasants of 
Little Russia, of phantoms who satisfy their 
hunger in this uncanny way. The word 
lycanthropic (wolf-manly) was drawn from 
this common habit with the wehr-wolf, the 
phantasmal double of the common gray 
wolf. The same tendencies are found in 
posthoms of wolf-like men to which the 
generic term ‘ lycanthropic’ is also applied. 
It may be noted that now the wolf is prac- 
tically extinct in the forests of Germany ; its 
posthom, the wehr-wolf, no longer appears 
and its familiar call of ‘willi-wa-wu: wito-hu’ 
is no longer heard in the German shades. 

The name posthom (post—after ; homo 
—man) was some years since offered by Mr. 
Dean as a general designation for those 
phantasmal doubles which D’Assier calls 
by the awkward and inadequate name of 
fluidic forms or fluidic phantoms. It was 
at first supposed that these creations were 
exclusively human and natural sequences 
of physical death. The error of this opin- 
ion is now made evident, but the conven- 
ient name, as more definite than phantom 


‘and more generic than wraith, may still be 


retained with this broader definition. 

The origin of the posthom is thus ex- 
plained by Mr. Dean: It is well known that 
all animals and plants are built up of cells 
or chambers, each cell containing the mag- 
netic life jelly or protoplasm. It is also 
well established that these cells are not 
completely filled by this substance. More- 
over, it is known that even protoplasm 
itself is not a true liquid, but a mass of net- 
work, like a skein of tangled yarn. In this 
cell and its skein of protoplasm the minute 
atoms of the odie forces of the universe 
penetrate. In so doing, by their entangle- 
ment and permeation, they built up within 
the cells a form corresponding in all re- 


676 


spects to that of the living creature as-a 
whole, but in reality its double or negative, 
being solid only when the first is empty, 
and being empty when the first is solid. 

The well-known astral body of man is a 
species of posthom. But astrality is not 
confined toman. It has been shown by Mr. 
William Q. Judge that the ‘body of the 
jelly-fish is almost pure astral substance.’ 
It is, in fact, a posthom of a marine organ- 
ism which has become saturated with water, 
which fills all the interstices in its anatomy, 
thus giving it an independent and self-per- 
petuating existence. For the distinguished 
scientist of the Society of Bordeaux has 
shown that the posthom phantom of man 
is ‘‘the exact image of the person of 
whom it is the complement. Internally it 
represents the mould of all the organs 
which constitute the framework of the hu- 
man body. We see it, in short, move, 
speak, take nourishment, perform, in a 
word, all the great functions of animal life. 
The extreme tenuity of these constituent 
molecules, which represent the last term of 
organic matter, allow it to pass through 
the walls and partitions of apartments. 
Nevertheless, as it is united with the body, 
from which it emanates by an invisible 
vascular plexus, it can, at will, draw to 
itself, by a sort of aspiration, the greater 
part of the living forces which animate the 
latter. One sees, then, by a singular inver- 
sion, life withdrawn from the body, which 
then exhibits a cadaverous rigidity and 
transfers itself entirely to the phantom, 
which acquires consistency, sometimes even 
to the point of struggling with persons be- 
fore whom it materializes. It is but ex- 
ceptionally that it shows itself in connec- 
tion with a living person.” But as soon as 
death has snapped the bonds (or vascular 
plexus) that attach it to our organism it 
definitely separates itself from the human 
body and constitutes the ‘ posthumous 
phantom’ or posthom. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


The fact of the occasional separation of 
the posthom during life is now perfectly 
authenticated. The case of Schlemih] comes 
under this head, as also the remarkable ex- 
perience related by Mr. H. C. Andersen, of 
Copenhagen. A Danish country gentle- 
man, of good family, it is alleged, lost his 
shadow at one time. He took a humorous 
view of the accident at first and consoled 
himself with the reflection that the world 
set too much store on shadows anyhow. 
But as time went on his philosophy failed. 
He noted that his own strength oozed away, 
and later that his clothing was becoming 
brittle and unable to support the slightest 
strain. It, too, had lost its shadow. His 
friends brought him word of strange pranks 
which his double performed in the society 
of the neighborhood, although at the same 
time he was confined to his room and finally 
to his bed. Apparently the posthom phan- 
tom felt a strange delight in bringing its 
master into ridicule. Finally it boldly 
usurped his place in social functions, ruling 
with a high hand and giving him an op- 
portunity tobe heard in his own defense. 
At last, in violent indignation, by a supreme 
effort of the will, the gentleman recalled the 
phantom, to the endless mystification of his 
friends. With the return of the posthom 
to his own cellular substance his physical 
and mental vigor returned and his new suit 
of clothes showed no lack of the ordinary 
shadow. 

It will be noticed that in this case the 
phantom man was clothed.in phantom cloth- 
ing. This was similarly formed, being made 
up of the tenuous molecules which filled the 
cloth cells of the original garments. As it 
is notorious that posthoms are clothed in 
materials similar to those worn by the per- 
son from whom they are derived, this de- 
serves a moment’s explanation. 

Dr. D’Assier has conclusively shown that 
even inanimate bodies have their doubles, 
or posthoms, as well as men and beasts. 


May 12, 1899.] 


This was at first doubted by that most crit- 
ical of scientists, Mr. Henry §S. Olcott, of 
Madras. He was, however, convinced of 
its correctnesss by the well-authenticated 
fact that inanimate bodies, as rocks and tea- 
cups, equally with animate bodies, are able 
to cast shadows. From the shadows of tea- 
cups philosophical generalizations of great 
value have been obtained in India and 
Thibet. The only body known to man 
which has no fluidic double, or shadow, is 
thesun. Its phantom is, perhaps, the whole 
visible universe, and it is the undoubted 
center of that fluidic force which is ex- 
pulsory of all shadows. The shadow of an 
object is not as most people suppose, merely 
the absence of sunshine. If that were all 
it would be much less substantial in its 
nature than is now the case and would have 
no definite boundaries. The shadow is the 
phantasmal double. All material bodies 
have interspaces among their atoms corre- 
sponding to the cells in living organisms. 
Indeed, it is well known that molecules of 
matter nowhere touch one another, nor do 
they come anywhere near touching. If we 
could conceive the physical molecules of a 
rock as inhabited worlds a being with a 
telescope on one of them would gaze at his 
neighbor atom as our astronomers gaze 
forth on the mighty sun of Sirius. It is 
also well known that molecules do not 
really exist at all, but that each is really an 
eddy or storm center, and thus a center of 
attraction in the fluidic atmosphere of astral 
substances, in which all inhabited worlds 
are bathed. But omitting these consider- 
ations, which belong to ultimate science, or 
sciosophy, there is no doubt that the shadow 
of a man or a rock is itself an objective 
reality. It is a posthom driven out from 
its original station by the expellatory force 
of the sun. ‘The huge conical shadow of 
the earth which reaches beyond the moon 
and is called night’ is not merely the 
absence of light. It is the hour of posthom 


SCIENCE. 


677 


phantoms when all nature is saturated in 
fluidic forces. It is natural, then, that at 
night phantasms of all degrees should be 
at large, and that in this period and under 
its conditions all successful studies in the 
natural history of the shades have been 
accomplished. 

During life the carnate body exerts a 
strong attraction for its posthom, so that 
the shadow is seldom seen far away from 
its host. Toward evening, however, it 
wanders more widely, and at last it may be 
apparently wholly detached. Whether this 
is really ever the case under normal condi- 
tions is not yet certainly known. This 
question will be the subject of further in- 
vestigations by the members of the club at 
Alcalde. 

Mr. James M. Barrie, of Edinburgh, in a 
volume bearing the curious title of ‘ Senti- 
mental Tommy,’ tells us that once in his 
youth he turned a corner in running so 
suddenly that he thereby ‘ dislocated his 
shadow.’ It is easy to see that this might 
occur, though probably infrequently. 

It is certain that at death the host ceases 
to exert any particular hold over its phan- 
tasm. The shadow wanders freely and at 
will. It is soon disconcerted because the 
stars begin to devour its substance, and it is 
but rarely that means can be found to resist 
their malign influence. For this reason all 
phantoms of the dead are disintegrated and 
reduced to primzeval vapor within a space 
of ten to twenty days after their disassocia- 
tion. This fear of dissolution is the cause 
of the violent excitement often shown by 
phantoms. From the same cause arises 
their proneness to linger about the haunts 
of the host in life or about his place of 
burial. 

Certain classes of posthom phantoms have 
been known to suck the blood of the living, 
and thus to maintain a precarious existence 
for a number of days or weeks. These are 
known as vampires, and their existence 


may usually be recognized by the roseate 
appearance of the body from which they are 
derived. It is said that the reduction of 
this body to ashes by fire will destroy the 
vampire posthom. At least Mr. Dean is 
convinced, from the experiences of several 
peasants in Lithuania, that this is correct. 
In all events, it is reasonable to suppose 
that the heat of a funeral pyre would attract 
the disintegrating posthom, and, once drawn 
into the current of hot air, it could in no 
way save itself. 

“The most common yearning of the post- 
humous being,’ says Dr. D’Assier, ‘is to 
bid the last farewell to those who are used 
to it.”” But experiments prove that it is 
equally accessible to ideas of vengeance, 
while the wraiths of those who are unhappy 
in their affections are somewhat extremely 
perverse and demonstrative, being ‘not 
always satisfied to signify resentment by 
noisy but harmless manifestations.’ 

While a vast array of cases are cited in 
support of the theory that posthoms delight 
in sympathy and in vengeance, one must be 
very cautious in receiving such evidence. 
We must not read our own emotions into 
the vagrant actions of the poor disconsolate 
shadows. The impending dissolution of 
posthom stares it, as it were, every moment 
in the face, and it may follow friend or 
enemy in the sole hope of somehow draw- 
ing substance, either blood or shadow, in 
order to continue its existence. They can- 
not Jast long at the best, nor is it right that 
they should do so, for if their status were 
indefinitely prolonged, as some have main- 
tained, the world would long ago have be- 
come solidly full of phantoms, and for the 
amount of fluidic ether necessary for their 
production we should be obliged to draw 
on some other universe. 

Dr. D’Assier very wisely observes (p. 
176, Posthumous Humanity): ‘‘ The peren- 
nial survival of shades would long ago have 
rendered this planet uninhabitable to us. 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 228. 


The dead would occupy the place of the 
living, for the accumulation of spectres of 
the different tribes of the terrestrial fauna 
heaped at the surface of the globe since the 
first geological epochs would render the 
air irrespirable. We could not move, save 
in a dense atmosphere of ghosts. Now, 
chemical analysis has never shown in the 
air the presence of either of the immediate 
principles which enter into the constitution 
of a fluidic phantasmal form elaborated in 
an animal economy. For our part we 
bitterly regret that these venerable shades 
have disappeared.” 

The evidence, on the other hand, is, how- 
ever, worth consideration, as is shown by 
the following experiments of the famous 
Allan Kardec. One day his fancy led him 
to evoke the posthom of Tartuffe. 

‘‘Tartuffe did not wait to be dragged out 
by the ears, but speedily showed himself in 
all his classical peculiarities! It was veri- 
tably the personage created by Moliére, with 
his soft and hypocritical speech, his wheed- 
ling ways, his air of sugar-coated piety. 
When, after close examination, he was sat- 
isfied as to the phantom’s identity he was 
transported with pleasure and said to it: 

““« By the way, how is it that you are 
here, seeing that you never had any real 
existence ?’ 

“<«That is true,’ answered the spectre 
in a most contrite tone, ‘I am the spirit 
of an actor who used to play the part of 
Tartuffe.’ Tartuffe, being unable to show 
himself for a very good reason, sends an 
actor in his place.’’ 

Kardec again tells of a nest of little birds 
inagarden. The nest having disappeared, 
the gentleman became uneasy as to the fate 
of his little pets. Being a person of enor- 
mous animal magnetism and, therefore, an 
adept in the calling and training of posthoms 
he went through the usual ceremony of call- 
ing the phantom of the mother bird, who 
was seeking caterpillars in a neighboring 


May 12, 1899. ] 


tree. The shadow of the bird immediately 
came to him and replied to the anxious 
questioner: ‘Be quite easy. My young 
ones are safe and sound. The house-cat 
knocked down the nest in jumping on the 
garden wall. You will find them in the 
grass at the foot of the wall.’”? The gentle- 
man hurried to the garden and found the 
little nestlings full of life at the spot in- 
dicated. 

As both these stories are pefectly authen- 
ticated, we must consider them in the light 
of our phantom knowledge. As the birds 
themselves were living at the time, the pro- 
jection of their shadow offers nothing in- 
congruous, especially if it took place in the 
dusk of the evening, a detail which Mr. 
Kardee omits, but which we may readily 
supply. The natural anxiety of the mother 
bird would, as it were, lend the shadow 
wings, and her intensity of feeling would 
produce the effect of conversation. It is 
not likely that the bird actually spoke, for 
the incident took place in France, and no 
bird, not even the most refined parrot, has 
yet spoken French. There are other ways 
of conveying information than word of 
mouth, and an enlightened master knows 
how to make use of them. In the case of 
Tartuffe the phantom may have been real 
and virtually immortal. It belongs to 
another class than the shadow phantoms. 
The creation of a great poet’s brain has an 
objective existence which may be far more 
permanent than the shadow of an ordinary 
actor. No doubt, the image formed in the 
brain having the gigantic aura of that of 
Moliere could so embody itself in astral pre- 
cipitates as to secure a life which might en- 
dure for centuries. 

It need surprise no one to meet the phan- 
tasm of Tartuffe in real existence. Surely 
the shades of Hamlet and Portia and 
Othello have a definite place among the ob- 
jective phenomena of Earth just as surely 
as their names have a fixed place in our 


SCIENCE. 


679 


literature. Doubtless, at times this posthom 
of Shylock crosses the Rialto bridge, and 
the phantom of melancholy Jacques may 
be found flitting disconsolate through the 
forest of Arden. The sad plight of the 
posthom King of Denmark, for example, 
has not failed to touch the hearts of all 
lovers of literature. Indeed, the strength 
of the genius of Shakespeare is such that 
the ancient king and his famous son and 
namesake have as firm a reality as that of 
the mediocre flesh and blood people which 
swarm in modern society. We may notice 
in passing that the speech of the phantom 
king indicates that he was plunged in the 
depths of sorrow. ‘‘ The impression left on 
the mind,” says D’Assier, ‘‘ by the lamenta- 
tions and the vain replies of the shades 
who succeed in making themselves heard is 
always a sentiment of profound sadness.”’ 
He compares the feelings of such a person- 
age to those of a European transported 
suddenly and nakedly into the wilds of 
Australia, with just enough of his reason 
left ‘‘ to have the feeling of his impotence 
and eternal isolation.” 

Dr. Eliphas Levi, in his famous ‘ Dogma 
and Ritual,’ traces the career of shades stil] 
more closely, emphasizing especially the 
existence of two mortal bodies after death, 
the one heavy and confined on the earth, 
the other flitting about in the mediate atmos- 
phere. ‘‘ When a man has lived well,” says 
Dr. Levi, the astral corpse or posthom 
‘“‘ evaporates like a fine incense in mounting 
to higher regions. If the subject lived in 
crime this phantom retained as prisoner 
seeks the object of its passions and tries 
still to cling to life. But the stars breathe 
it and drink it (‘les astres l’aspirent et le 
boivent’). It feels its intelligence grow 
feeble. Its memory is slowly lost; all its 
being must dissolve.” 

Those scientific men (and there are 
many) who find all attributes of the uni- 
verse derived from the four gases, hydrogen 


680 


(blue or spirit), phosphorus (red or hope), 
carbon (black or fear) and _ nitrogen 
(green or life), derive from their postulates 
a different view of the nature of shades and 
phantoms. In the famous treatise on the 
‘ Discovery of Misconceptions ’ this theory 
is set forth in an engaging manner. 

“The ethnological divisions of the human 
race,’ says the author, ‘ proceed directly 
from excessive vibrations of these four gases. 
The white skin of the Caucasian marks an 
approach to the harmonious relation of the 
four gases. This relation has been gradu- 
ally produced by salt or the hidden blue 
hydrogen imbedded in salt. The skin and 
characteristics of the Ethiopian mark the 


superior force of carbon and phosphorus ; . 


those of the Mongolian, of sulphur, or a 
combination of hydrogen and phosphorus ; 
those of the Indian, of nitrogen and hy- 
drogen. Through the same study of the 
natural relation existing between the four 
gases, all natural forms, from a microbe to 
a whale or elephant, may be understood.”’ 

In such fashion the materialists have en- 
deavored to set aside all problems of the pos- 
thom phantom, by resolving them with the 
hopes and fears of man into gas, controlled 
by colored forces of chemical relation. 

On the other hand, immaterialists claim 
that of all forms of fluidic forces personal 
magnetism is the most potent. It is shown 
by Mr. William Q. Judge that the astral 
light of the imagination can form images of 
allimaginable things, and these, by the mag- 
netism of the will, can be clothed in matter 
through precipitation. These objects will 
readily fade away unless fixed by some per- 
manent mordant. ‘The distinct image of 
every line of every letter or picture,” says 
Mr. Judge, “is formed in the mind, and then 
out of the air is drawn the pigment to fall 
within the limits laid down by the brain, ‘the 
exhaustless generator-of face and form.’ ” 

Mr. Dean found himself unwilling to differ 
from so high an authority as Mr. Judge, who, 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 228. 


more than any other recent investigator, 
has sounded the limitless ocean of scioso- 
phy. The facts, however, remain. To the 
materialist, on the one hand, he would say : 
“There are more things in heaven and 
earth than are dreamed of in our philoso- 
phy, surely far more than hydrogen, car- 
bon, nitrogen and phosphorus.” To the 
immaterialist he would emphasize this fact : 
There is not a posthom phantom extant 
which has not its double in material things. 
When the body decays the posthom disinte- 
grates. When the tree falls its shadow falls 
with it, and there is no adequate evidence 
that a true shadow can be made by the pre- 
cipitation of fine forms of matter on the 
image laid down in the brain. 

A vision thus formed in the brain could 
surely have no digestive apparatus, yet 
no phantom is better attested than the 
donkey of St. Croix, who for several days 
after his actual death and burial was 
seen by several gentlemen wandering about 
in its old pasture, cropping the fluidic 
shadows of the growing oats. Careful ob- 
servations showed that the actual oats suf- 
fered no injury. It is not likely that the 
donkey would feed on oats unless it retained 
a stomach in which oats could be placed. 
Whether actually digested or not would not 
affect the argument. 

Theimages formed in the brain have noan- 
atomy; and though, no doubt, actual matter 
is often precipitated upon them, in accord- 
ance with Mr. Judge’s observations, the re- 
sult is rather a picture than a posthom, as 
only the side of the posthom image nearest 
the brain is actually developed and material- 
ized. If Mr. Kardec had given close atten- 
tion to the shadow of Tartuffe he would 
have found it a flat bas-relief or spiritual 
cameo instead of ‘a figure in perspective. 

That posthoms can accomplish at times 
great material results is beyond question. 
Under the head of the ‘‘ geometry of phan- 
toms,’’? Dr. D’Assier makes the important 


May 12, 1899.] 


observation that “invisible projectiles hurled 
by posthoms produce mechanical effects as 
great as if they were of great bulk.’’ This 
he shows is due to the fact that “all bodies 
have their phantasmal doubles, which the 
shade can detatch and grasp. The gar- 
ments it carries, the objects it holds in its 
hand, are phantasmal images borrowed from 
its former wardrobe or its former utensils. 
It is presumable that the same holds as to 
invisible projectiles ; in lieu of stones they 
fling their duplicates.”’ 

It may seem surprising that the shadow 
of astone could harm any one or produce 
any sort of a physical commotion. But 
here we are to remember that it is not the 
weight of a thrown object which tells, but 
its momentum. Its momentum is its weight 
multiplied by its velocity. ‘Its live force 
at the moment of fall,’’ says D’Assier, ‘is 
equal to half the bulk multiplied by the 
square of its velocity.” It is well known 
that the velocity of a living posthom may 
be scarcely less than that of a flash of light. 
The instantaneous apparition and disap- 
pearance of phantoms shows this. The 
true posthom never deliquesces, as the old- 
fashioned ghost is said to do, but in reality 
it moves away with much celerity. It is 
plain, then, that however light a shadow 
may be, it is a terrible weapon when hurled 
with almost infinite velocity by a disem- 
bodied posthom. Its concussion might be 
heard as a great shock, if flung with suffi- 
cient force. It is related that in the castle 
of Schreckheim, in Franconia, a posthom 
once entered the pantry on a shelf of which 
was the ancestral china of the noble house. 
Soon a mighty crash of breaking dishes 
arose. On entering the room the noble lord 
of the castle found everything in place. 
The excited posthom had merely flung down 
the phantasms of the different pieces of 
china, but with a force so mighty that the 
noise reverberated to the outer walls of the 
castle. It may be thought that the posthom 


SCIENCE, 


681 


in question was that of a servant girl who 
had been deeply reproved for breaking a 
favorite teacup, and who, dying soon after, 
had this method of expressing her vanish- 
ing feelings. But, curiously enough, the 
servant girl whose posthom cansed the dis- 
turbance recovered from her illness and 
lived to break many more pieces of rare 
china, in this and other castles to which she 
was sent by the intelligence office in Nurem- 
berg. From this we may conclude that her 
illness was due to the temporary breaking 
of the vascular plexus which holds the 
posthom to the body, and that when her 
shadow came back from its rounds her 
health was promptly restored. 

It is, in fact, certain that very many forms 
of disease, known as anzemia, neurasthenia, 
echolalia and the like are due to the tempo- 
rary absence of the posthom shadow. It 
can be sought for by direct means, and it 
will usually be found engaging in absurd 
and freakish actions. An effective method 
of cure is to strengthen the degree of per- 
sonal magnetism and to bring the shadow 
back by a strong effort of the will. Mental 
healing, mind-cure suggestion, astral mag- 
netism and the like are forms of this pro- 
cess. Contact with certain relics has pro- 
duced an odie shock which has served the 
same useful purpose. 

In concluding this most interesting dis- 
course, soon to be printed in full in the an- 
nals of the Club of Alcalde, the distin- 
guished sage of Angels asserts that we shall 
do well to heed the wise words of Dr. 
Adolphe D’Assier: ‘‘Let us not be de- 
ceived by appearances and let us be on our 
guard that in exploring the domain of the 
shades we may not take a shade of reason- 
ing for reasoning itself.’”? For Logic as well 
as Magic has also its Phantasmal Double, 
and when truth dips wearily under oblique 
suns the two are apt to range very far apart. 

Davip STARR JORDAN. 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY. 


682 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


A Short History of Astronomy. By ARTHUR 
Berry. New York, Charles Scribner’s 
Sons. 1899. Pp. xxi+ 440. Price, $1.50. 
Astronomy is a science whose history may be 

said to have been over-exploited. In French 

there are the great works of Delambre, La 

Place and Bailly, Biot and Tannery; in Ger- 

man, those of Jahn and Wolf, Epping and 

Strassmayer; and in English, mainly Grant’s 

classic work, which won him the gold medal of 

the Royal Astronomical Society, Sir George 

Lewis’s Astronomy of the Ancients, and Miss 

Clerke’s admirable, accurate and delightfully 

readable history of astronomy during the 19th 

century, not to mention other and more recent 
works by Sir Norman Lockyer. 

Clearly there could have been no clamor for 
a new, history when Mr. Berry, an assistant 
tutor at Cambridge, England, undertook his 
task ; if demand there was, it was rather the 
exigency of the ‘ University Series.’ Had its 
volumes been twice their present size, and had 
Mr. Berry taken time to familiarize himself with 
originals, instead of compiling ‘largely from 
second-hand sources,’ as he has to admit, his 
book would still have been but a ‘Short His- 
tory’; but he might well have achieved a con- 
tribution of permanent worth, for he is by 
no means deficient in aptitude for the task. 
However, his confessed lack of knowledge of 
and sympathy for the observational side of the 
science has induced him to erect his edifice on 
insufficient foundations, so that homogeneity of 
structure is baldly impossible. 

Although the illustrations number 120, there 
is no picture of a telescope save one a hundred 
years old and more; no statement of the prin- 
ciple of the achromatic telescope, without which 
the astronomy of to-day would for the most 
part have been non-existent; no mention of 
Dollond, its acknowledged inventor, nor of the 
greatest builders of telescopes— Grubb, the 
Henry Brothers, Steinheil—not even the Clarks. 
Spectroscopes, the very staff of the new as- 
tronomy, are singularly neglected. With this 
author, compression has been insistent, but it 
has largely been gained by deliberate and not 
very well considered exclusion. His work 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 228. 


thus produces an impression of being fragmen- 
tary rather than comprehensive. 

Firstly, it seems unnecessary to have devoted 
an initial twenty pages to sheer elements, 
found in, and only appropriate to, a mere text- 
book of secondary grade. The most ancient 
astronomy is dismissed in rather summary 
fashion, as was necessary. Archaic and ele- 
mentary mathematical conceptions are well 
sketched, and the frequent biographic notes 
afford a much needed enlivening of the text, 
although of slender astronomical significance. 

Mr. Berry perpetuates the old-time error re- 
garding annular eclipses, by a diagram showing 
an impossibly large sun centrally obscured by 
an impossibly small moon, still further darkened 
by impossible black spots on its surface (page 
59). The advances of Hipparchus and Ptolemy 
are excellently narrated. With the life and 
work of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Des- 
cartes is concluded the first half of the vol- 
ume. 

Naturally, the lives and works of Newton 
and the Herschels receive the fullest attention ; 
but Mr. Berry fails to state the law of univer- 
sal gravitation quite correctly, its most general 
form involving the product of the masses of 
bodies concerned, not their sum (page 228). 
And it would be rather difficult to defend this. 
book against the charge of insularity, for the 
English astronomers are accorded vastly more 
consideration than the Continental, let alone 
Americans, who are conspicuously passed over. 
We have only scanty space for a catalogue of 
especial omissions; but may instance, among 
Germans, the classic work of Schmidt and Lohr- 
mann on the moon, of Brinnow and C, A. F. 
Peters on stellar distances and the constants of 
astronomy, of Chladni upon meteors, of Kaiser 
upon the planets, of Heis upon meteors and 
stellar magnitudes, of D’Arrest and Lamont 
upon the nebule, of Oppolzer upon eclipses, of 
Auwers upon stellar catalogues and other de- 
partments of exact astronomy, and of Spoerer 
upon the sun, his remarkable ‘law of spot 
zones’ being nowhere alluded to. For France 
and Italy the omissions are less serious, though 
Gassendi, De 1’ Isle, Pingré, Lemonnier, Mon- 
tucla, Méchain, Oriani, Pons, Foucault and 
Deslandres were much better included than 


May 12, 1899.] 


ignored ; while among Americans we look in 
vain for C. H. F. Peters and Watson, Benjamin 
Peirce and G. P. Bond, Olmsted and H. A. 
Newton, Rutherfurd and the Drapers, the 
Clarks and Gould, and Langley’s epoch-making 
research on the infra-red rays of the solar spec- 
trum. 

When Mr. Berry reaches the 19th century, 
staggered by the accumulation of material, he 
deliberately abandons his task by attempt- 
ing a summary in a single chapter. Here he 
scores a signal failure, in a sketchy agglomera- 
tion of fragments, With omissions quite as 
prominent as inclusions. As a running précis, 
or evanescent periodical paper, the chapter is 
excellent, though proportionately out of bal- 
ance with the preceding twelve chapters. Parts 
of Mr. Berry’s book are so well done that a 
subsequent edition would be quite worth an 
expansion or sub-division of this chapter, for 
the sake of appropriate exposition of the ‘New 
Astronomy,’ and the instrumental means that 
alone have made its marvelous revelations pos- 
sible. Had the whole of Mr. Berry’s short his- 
tory been compressed proportionately to this 
chapter, the book would have been but one- 
third its present size. Solar research, in par- 
ticular, is dismissed very cavalierly. 

Every one using Mr. Berry’s compend for 
reference would appreciate a new index. A 
double index isa mistake. Buta greater one is 
the baffling system of reference, wholly ignor- 
ing the pages of the book, and increasing at 
least fourfold the time and labor of finding any 
indexed allusion to a name or subject. What 
is printed is simply an index to the MS., not to 
the printed volume itself; whereby the author 
has saved his own time and that of his helpers, 
but has wasted that of everybody who attempts 
to use his book as a reference work. The same 
remark applies to frequent cross-references 
throughout the volume, which would otherwise 
have been most helpful. 

Misprints are, fortunately, few, but we find 
preserved and dignified that widespread error 
of the common kind that the navigator gets his 
longitude from solar sights at apparent noon: 
were all navigators to follow this method, and 
no other, we wonder how many ships would 
escape being put ashore. Nine excellent por- 


SCIENCE. 


683 


traits of astronomers adorn the book, from 
Copernicus to Sir William Herschel. 


Davip P. Topp. 
AMHERST COLLEGE. 


De la methode dans la psychologie des sentiments. 
Par F. Rauw. Paris, Felix Alcan. 1899. 
This book is not what the title would sug- 

gest, a monograph on Method in the Psychology 

of Emotion, but a general summary and discus- 
sion of theories of emotion, particularly of re- 
cent theories, and of methods so far as involved. 

After some introductory definition M. Rauh 

takes up the physiological, intellectual, the 

biological or voluntarist, and the specialist 
theories, if we may summarize the theories by 
abridging his terms. His critique of the phys- 
iological, or organic, theory of the James-Lange 
school is quite full. He concludes: ‘On peut 
dire qu’une des caractéristiques de la phys- 
iologie physiologique a été la superstition du 
mouvement, en particulier du mouvement mus- 
culaire. Si au lieu de considérer les relations 
des faits de conscience et des mouvements péri- 
phériques, on considére celle des faits de con- 
science et du cerveau, nous avons vu combien 
cette correspondance est complexe et encore 
obscure. Ce qui fait croire que l’on peut ex- 
pliquer scientifiquement les sentiments et en 
général les faits de conscience par les mouve- 
ments organiques, c’est que ces mouvements 
marquent en effet la limite d’action des faits 

psychiques.’’ (P. 148.) 

As to the intellectual interpretations of emo- 
tion, whether from the side of sensations or 
ideas, he regards this as of mueh more im- 
portance than the psycho-physiologists allow. 
It may be called a universal interpretation, 
though not an explanation. In this he follows 
a rather disputable distinction of theories. 
“Nous désignerons les théories, qui traduisent 
les faits sans permettre de les prévoir, du nom 
de théories interprétatives; nous appellerons 
théories explicatives celles qui permettent de les 
prévoir’’ (P. 27). But a mere formal or de- 
scriptive interpretation scarcely deserves the 
term theory. The biological principle of the 
struggle of existence is discussed at some length 
and granted some place, but not regarded as 
universal. He emphasizes such exceptions as 


684 


the neurasthenic and sea-sick, with whom emo- 
tion is a desire of death rather than life. But 
we do not think that these and other instances 
(e. g., play, p. 281) interfere with the general 
theory that the origin and development of nor- 
mal emotion is by its life significance. He 
identifies the voluntarist with the intellectualist 
theory. ‘‘Un organe tend 4 étre, c’était en 
réalité dire: il y a une pensée dans cet organe 
qui le veut tel ou tel: 1’étre qui tend a étre est 
toujours une pensée. Les sentiments indécom- 
posables, irreductibles 4 toute explication physi- 
ologique ou intellectualiste—qui en un sens ex- 
istent, comme nous l’ayons pu conclure de ce 
qui précéde, comme nous le verrons mieux dans 
le chapitre suivant—impliquent eux-mémes une 
traduction intellectualiste.’? In the next chap- 
ter here alluded to he treats of emotion as 
special, sui generis, indecomposable facts of 
consciousness. He regards ‘sentiments propre- 
ment dits’ as those which are either unanalyz- 
able or whose quality cannot be determined from 
their component parts. Such emotions are love, 
friendship, ete., but which are to be studied both 
from the organic and intellectual points of view. 
M. Rauh’s general conclusion is that analysis is 
the indispensable preliminary in the study of 
emotion. This should be followed by tracing 
them to their organic and intellectual causes 
and learning the mode of causal action, or, 
when emotions are unanalyzable, their causal ac- 
tion should be traced. But in all this we must 
remember that psycho-physiology can only show 
the body as limit, but not as real cause or even 
always as measure of emotion. Psychology, 
here as elsewhere, seeks not unity, but actual 
practical previson. 

While M. Rauh’s work appears to us too 
cursory and discursive, covering too wide a 
field and reaching too vague and eclectic con- 
clusions, yet it shows considerable thought, and 
ought to be suggestive to the student of Emotion. 

HirnAM M. STANLEY. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Talks to Teachers on Psychology ; and to the Students on 
some of Life’s Ideals, WILLIAM JAMES. New York, 
Henry Holt & Co. 1899. Pp. xi+ 3-1. 

Defective Eyesight. D. B. St. JoHN Roosa, M.D. 
New York and London, The Macmillan Company. 
1899. Pp. ix+ 186. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


Le Climat de la Belgique en 1897. A. LANCASTER. 
Brussels, Hayez. 1898. Pp. 202. 

La Specificité Cellulaire. L. BARD. Paris, G. Carré 
and C. Naud. 1899. Pp. 100. 

La Sexualité. F. Le DANTEC. Paris, G. Carré and 
Cy Nat rl899s Ppsix 98! f 

La Théorie de Maxwell et les oscillations Hertziennes. H. 
POINCARE. Paris, G. Carréand C Naud. Pp.iv + 
80. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 


In the month of April the American Mathe- 
matical Society held two meetings. On Satur- 
day, April Ist, the Chicago Section of the So- 
ciety held its spring meeting at Northwestern 
University; Evanston, Ill., and on Saturday, 
April 29th, the regular April meeting of the 
Society was held at Columbia University, New 
York City. At the latter meeting, guarantees 
of support having been received from a large 
number of universities, the final steps were 
taken for the publication of the Transactions of 
the Society. The Board of Editors appointed 
by the Council consists of Professors E. H. 
Moore, E. W. Brown and Thomas 8. Fiske. The 
first number of the Transactions will appear in 
January, 1900. The Bulletin of the Society 
will hereafter be devoted more exclusively to 
the publication of critical and historical material 
and to very short original articles, especially 
such as present in concise form results of gen- 
eral interest or importance. 

At the meeting of the Chicago Section the 
following papers were read : 

(1) Dr. Harris HANcocK : ‘ Primary functions.’ 

(2) Proressor E. W. Davis: ‘The group of the 
trigonometric functions.’ 

(3) Proressor H. MascukeE: ‘ On the continuation 
of a power series.’ 

(4) Dr. Kurt Laves: ‘Lagrange’s differential 
equations for a solid of variable form derived 
from Hamilton’s principle.’ 

(5) Proresson E. H. Moore: ‘The decomposition 
of modular systems connected with the doubly 
generalized Fermat theorem (second communica- 
tion).’ 

(6) PRoFEssoR JAMES B. SHAW: ‘Some generaliza- 
tions in multiple algebra and matrices.’ 

(7) Proressor J. W. A. Youna: ‘On the first 
presentations of the fundamental principles of the 
calculus.’ 


May 12, 1899.] 


(8) Prorgssor A. S. HATHAWAY : ‘ A new method 
of presenting the principles of the calculus.’ 

(9) Proresson E. H. Moore: ‘On the subgroups 
of abelian groups.’ 

(10) Mr. Carn C. ENGBuRG : ‘A modification of the 
theory of the characteristics of evolutes (prelim- 
inary communication ).’ 

(11) Dr. L. E. Dickson : ‘ Certain universal invari- 
ants of linear modular groups.’ 

(12) Dr. L. E. Dickson: ‘Concerning the four 
known simple groups of order 25,920.’ 


The following is a list of papers read at the 
New York meeting of the Society : 


(1) Dr. J. I. Hurcninson : ‘The asymptotic lines 
of the Kummer surface.’ 

(2) Dr. L. E. Dickson : ‘ The known finite simple 
groups.’ 

(3) Mr. E. B. Witson : ‘ Note on functions satisfy- 
ing the equation 


6 (x) o(y)=¢(@+y).’ 


(4) Dr. A. S. CuEesstn: ‘On the differential equa- 
tion of dynamics.’ 

(5) PRoFEssoR CHARLOTTE ANGAS Scott: ‘A 
proof of Noether’s fundamental theorem.’ 

(6) Dr. G. P. STARKWEATHER: ‘ Non-quaternion 
systems containing no skew units.’ 

(7) Proressor E. Goursat: ‘Sur la définition 
générale des fonctions analytiques d’aprés 

Cauchy.’ 


(8) PEOFEsSOR F. MORLEY: ‘ The value of 


( (log 2 cos ¢)™ordd.’ 
e/0 


(9) Proressor E. W. Brown: ‘An elementary 
illustration of the connection between the current 
and the height of the water in a tidal estuary.’ 

(10) Dr. W. M. Srrona: ‘The determination of 
non-quaternion systems in six units.’ 

(11) Proressor E O. Loverr: ‘Curves of mul- 
tiple curvature.’ 

(12) PROFESSOR JAMES PIERPONT : 
tions.’ 

(13) Mr C. J. KEYsEr: 
of the covariant.’ 


‘Elliptic func- 


‘On a definitive property 


The summer meeting of the Society will be 
held at the State University of Ohio, Columbus, 
Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, August 25th and 
26th, in affiliation with the meeting of the 


American Association. 
F. N. Coe, 


Secretary. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


SOIENCE. 


THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES—SUB- 


SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND 


PSYCHOLOGY. 


A REGULAR meeting of the sub-section was 
held April 24th, in association with the Anthro- 
pological Club. 

The first paper was read by E. A. Gerrard, 
and gave methods for the study of emotional 
expression as found in literary compositions. 
The relative emotional values of the different 
parts of speech, of different sentence lengths, 
and other variations in the kind of language 
used and in its arrangement, were discussed 
and illustrated by curves derived from a num- 
ber of writings. 

S. IL Franz presented some results of 
experimental investigations of visual after- 
images. The latent period increases as the 
area of stimulation decreases, but decreases as 
the intensity and duration of stimulation in- 
creases. The duration of the after image in- 
creases with any increase in the intensity, 
duration and area of the stimulation. The 
after-image of the colors in the middle of the 
spectrum is not more intense than that of the 
extreme colorsif the intensity of the colors is 
first equalized. The degree of attention is of 
the first importance in determining the dura- 
tion of the after-image. Retinal transference is 
not real; its apparent reality is due to the im- 
possibility of distinguishing the fields of vision 
of the two eyes. 

J. R. Swanton discussed the structure of the 
Chinook language. Discourse in this language 
shows great lack of subordination, its short 
sentences following each other without connec- 
tives. The verbs are aggregations of many 
pronouns added to a short stem. They serve 
in this way to epitomize the whole sentence, 
object and indirect object, as well as sub- 
ject. 

Stansbury Hagar read a paper on the Astro- 
nomical Cosmogony of the Peruvians. The 
paper aimed to show the large amount of as- 
tronomical knowledge possessed by the Peru- 
vians and the intimate relations between their 
ritual and political life and their astronomy. 


CHARLES H. Jupp, 
Secretary. 


686 


PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

THE 501st meeting of the Philosophical So- 
ciety of Washington was held at the Cosmos 
Club on April 29th. An informal communica- 
tion was first made by the Secretary on Recent 
Geodetic Operations in Spain, special attention 
being given to the Base of Madridejos and to the 
Triangulation connecting Spain and Algiers. 
The results from the Base Measurement showed 
it to be one of extreme accuracy. The manner 
in which the work was carried out threw new 
light on the most desirable lengths of Base 
Lines in general, inasmuch as it was shown that 
greater economy with equal accuracy can be at- 
tained by measuring short lines and expanding 
them by careful triangulation. The geodetic 
connection across the Mediterranean was made 
the occasion to demonstrate that longitudes 
may be determined by means of optical signals 
quite as accurately as by the electric telegraph. 

The first regular paper of the evening was by 
Mr. J. F. Hayford. The author made a state- 
ment of anew treatment of refraction in trigo- 
nometric-height computations recently used by 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey in connection 
with triangulation in Colorado, Utah and Ne- 
vada, involving lines of sight from 100 to 182 
mileslong. Theterm of the strict formula (See 
Wright’s Adjustments, p. 387), which involves 
the square of the distance and the difference of 
the refraction coefficients at the two ends of the 
line, and which is usually neglected, was here 
retained with marked improvement in the re- 
sults. It was assumed that the refraction coef- 
ficient is a linear function of the height of a sta- 
tion above sea level and of the air temperature 
at the station. 

The second paper was by Dr. H. 8. Pritchett, 
on ‘ An estimate of the population of the United 
States in 1900 derived from an empirical 
formula.’ Dr. Pritchett first called attention to 
the general form of the curve defining the re- 
lation between the population and the time. 
The data now at hand enabled the author to 
write eleven conditional equations of the form 


p=A-+ Bt+ C#+ Dé 
where p represents the population (the unit be- 


ing one million), tis the time counted from 1840 
the epoch of the sixth census results aud Ad B 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8. Von. 1X. No. 228. 


Cand D are constants to be determined. The 
solution of the normal equations led to the fol- 
lowing empirical formula 


p=17.4841 + 5.102¢ + 0.632 + 0.08088. 


Attention was called to the very close agree- 
ment between the curve and the actual popula- 
tion at the time of taking the census, the two 
largest discrepancies being in 1860 and 1870. 
Both these values were abnormal, partly because 
of the exceptional conditions then existing, the 
Civil War, lack of immigration, etc., and partly 
on account of inaccurate census results in one 
or both cases. 

The differentiation of the formula brought out 
the fact that the rate of increase is continually 
growing less, having fallen off from 32% per 
decade in 1790 to 24% in 1890. 

The result of the investigation was that the 
best value for the population of the United 
States in 1900, based on its growth since 1790 
is 77,472,000 with a probable error of about 
250,000. As a matter of curiosity the author 
added that if the same law holds good in the 
future we would have in 1990 a population of 339 
billions, in the year 2500 nearly 1¥ trillions and 
at the epoch 2900 this already appalling figure 
will have grown to such an extent that there 
will, on the average, be 11,000 inhabitants to 
the square mile. 

The third paper by Professor J. H. Gore, on 
‘Geodetic Work in Spitsbergen,’ was not given 
on account of lack of time. Professor Gore, how- 
ever, showed a number of interesting lantern 
slides illustrating his recent visit and scientific 
work in that country. The paper will be given 
at a subsequent meeting of the Society. 

E. D. PRESTON, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
PROFESSOR JAMES ON TELEPATHY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: It is evident 
that Professor James and I have been writing 
at cross purposes. On the point that Lehmann 
has not ‘established’ his explanation of the 
Sidgwick results I am heartily at one with 
James, Sidgwick, Parish and Lehmann himself. 
But Professor James need not have awaited the 
return mail from Copenhagen to wrest this 


May 12, 1899.] 


admission either from Lehmann or from me. 
Lehmann wrote in his original paper: ‘‘ Kin 
exacter Beweis hierfiir (7. e., for his explana- 
tion) kann wohl im Augenblicke nicht gefiihrt 
werden.’’ Nor, I take it, in any future Augen- 
blick. 

On the other hand, I have never regarded 
this point as the point at issue. Lehmann set out 
to examine telepathy at large. He chose the 
Sidgwick experiments simply as typical series, 
considering the authors’ names a guarantee of 
serious intent and careful work. In his inquiry 
he laid hold of a condition which had never 
been thoroughly investigated before, and traced 
its effects in experiments that were both inge- 
niously devised and rigidly controlled ; no one 
can neglect the unconscious whisper in future 
telepathic work. His paper is a model of 
scientific method ; he has shown us how bor- 
derland questions are to be attacked, and 
proved that the ‘ordinary channels of sense’ 
have unexplored resources. His suggestions 
will be fruitful, for the next stage of advance 
must be an exhaustive study of the ‘number 
habits’ which Sidgwick at first rejected, but 
now makes the headstone of the corner. Even 
granting all the contentions of the critics, there- 
fore, I should assert that Lehmann’s work is 
brilliant, and that it has done signal service to 
scientific psychology. But, as I hinted before, 
I do not know that quasi-mathematics has con- 
tributed much to psychology in any field of re- 
search. 

I conclude with a word on the logic of Pro- 
fessor James’ objection. A theory is propounded 
which, from the outset, lays claim to proba- 
bility and to probability only. ‘ Exact proof’ 
is acknowledged to be impossible. Criticism 
plays upon the theory, and the author again 
acknowledges that his hypothesis is not proven. 
Professor James, apparently forgetting the first 
acknowledgment, affirms that the criticism 
has ‘exploded’ the theory! What is not proven 
is, eo ipso, exploded! Is Professor James, then, 
ready to grant that his recent book on ‘Human 
Immortality ’—something which assuredly is not 
yet proven—is an ‘exploded document’? If 
the alternatives before me are scientific isolation 
and companionship on these logical terms I 
prefer the isolation. E. B. TITCHENER. 


SCIENCE. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE COMPENSATION PYRHELIOMETER. 


Most of the measurements heretofore made 
upon radiant energy by means of the thermopile 
or bolometer are relative rather than absolute 
in character, and the necessity for a simple and 
accurate method for reducing the indications of 
such instruments to the usual thermal units has 
long been felt. On this account a paper by 
Knut Angstrém (Wied, Ann., No. 3, Band 67) in 
which he describes an instrument for measur- 
ing radiation in absolute units is of great inter- 
est. Thisinstrument, to which he has given the 
name of Compensation Pyrheliometer, is appar- 
ently simple in construction, and the results. 
obtained from it are very reliable, the maximum 
error, as the author states, not exceeding 2%. 

The construction of the instrument is briefly | 
as follows: Two equal, thin (.001 to .002 mm.), 
blackened strips of platinum are mounted in 
such a manner that either or both, by means of 
appropriate shutters, can be exposed to the 
radiation to be measured. F 

One of the two junctions of a small constan- 
tin-copper thermo couple is attached to each of 
the rear surfaces of the platinum strips, the 
circuit of thermo couple including a galyanom- 
eter. It is evident that if one of the platinum 
strips is exposed to radiation the equality of 
temperature at the junctions is destroyed and 
the galvanometer is deflected. A current of 
electricity is now made to traverse the unex- 
posed strip, and the strength of the current is 
adjusted until the galvanometer returns to 
zero. Under these conditions the two junctions 
are receiving the same amount of energy per 
second, and the heat developed by the current 
in the unexposed strip is equal to that given to 
the exposed strip by the radiation. A knowledge 
of the strength of the current and of the resist- 
ance of the strip suffices to find the value of the 
radiation in gramme calories per square centi- 
meter per second. Since the strips are alike in 
all respects and are subjected to identical con- 
ditions, no corrections are necessary. 

An interesting result obtained by Angstrém 
is the value of the mean horizontal radiation of 
a Hefner normal lamp, which comes out to be 
13.2 gm.-cals. per square centimeter per minute: 


688 


at one centimeter distance. This value seems 
to be very constant, and the Hefner lamp may 
possibly become a standard of total as well as 


of luminous radiation. 
AUST. ConD: 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

Two papers have appeared in the Journal of 
the American Chemical Society, by Dr. F. P. 
Venable, on the ‘ Nature of Valence.’ The idea 
of valence in chemistry has been of gradual 
growth and has merely been the expression of 
certain chemical facts. In the case of the 
carbon compounds and in organic chemistry in 
the hands of Kekulé it has proved of immense 
service, and without it the wonderful develop- 
ment of this field in the past three decades 
would have been impossible. Its application 
to inorganic chemistry has been hardly as happy, 
and the original conception of a fixed valence 
has been abandoned for that of variable valence, 
but even this is limited to comparatively simple 
compounds. As an explanation of the struc- 
ture of double salts, water of crystallization) 
metal-ammonia bases and other complex inor- 
ganic compounds it is wholly inadequate and 
possibly a hindrance. While in one form or 
another the conception of valence has permeated 
and, one might almost say, dominated chemistry, 
little or nothing has been known regarding its 
nature. To be sure, in the last decade or so 
several hypotheses have been offered by van’t 
Hoff, Wislicenus, Victor Meyer, Knorr, Fla- 
witzky and a few others, attributing valence to 
electrical phenomena, space relations of the 
atom, etc., but none of these attempted ex- 
planations has received any measure of sup- 
port. The hypothesis which Dr. Venable puts 
forth is that valence is dependent upon vibratory 
(or kinetic) equilibrium of the atoms. ‘The 
question as to whether the atoms of two ele- 
ments will unite is decided by affinity which is 
in some way connected with the electrical con- 
dition of the atoms. There is no apparent con- 
nection between this and valence.’’ But the 
atoms ‘‘are endowed with motion, and this 
motion probably varies in velocity and phases 
with the different elements.’’ ‘‘A molecule, in 
order to exist, must maintain a certain equilib- 
rium and harmony between these various mo- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


tions, so that there can be all degrees of equi- 
librium from the very stable to that which may 
be upset by the least disturbing influence from 
without.’’ Variable valence will be, in part 
at least, dependent upon the temperature, and 
a ‘‘sufficiently high temperature may prevent 
any harmony of motion whatever being attained, 
and hence union may become impossible.’’ 
Valence would then be dependent upon the 
possible harmony of motion between the differ- 
ent atoms. The hypothesis is simple and satis- 
factorily explains many at least of the facts ; 
thus, for instance, the zero valence of elements 
like argon and helium might be due, not to 
their possessing no chemical affinity (though 
this may be the case), but to their motion not 
being capable of harmonizing with that of any 
other element. The weak point of the hypothe- 
sis is the difficulty of proving it to be true. It 
would be necessary to first know the nature of 
the motion of the atom, a problem yet unsolved. 
It is possible that the spectroscope could aid, 
but at present we have no clue as to why some 
elements, as iron, furnish a complex spectrum, 
while others, like sodium, give a relatively simple 
one. Atallevents Dr. Venable’s idea furnishes a 
good and simple working hypothesis, and one 
which may have its practical uses for teachers. 


ATTENTION should be called to the First Sup- 
plement to Dr. H. Carrington Bolton’s Select 
Bibliography of Chemistry, 1492-1892, which has 
just been published by the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution. It includes works omitted in that vol- 
ume, and brings the literature of chemistry 
down from 1892 to the close of 1897. Dr. Bol- 
ton has been fortunate in having the coopera- 
tion of a number of scholars abroad, who have 
contributed more than 2,000 titles in Arabic, 
Finnish, Japanese, Bohemian, Dutch, Portu- 
guese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Rus- 
sian, no less than 760 titles in the latter lan- 
guage being furnished by Professor A. Krupsky, 
of St. Petersburg. Dr. Bolton’s bibliograph- 
ical work is invaluable to chemists and is car- 
ried out in a manner which is above criticism. 


Proressor F, Emicu, of Graz, has been kind 
enough to send me a paper from his laboratory 
by F. Dorner, with a chemical investigation of 
the cement from antique water conduits. The 


May 12, 1899.] 


material was collected by Dr. P. Forchheimer 
during an exploring tour in Asia Minor, and 
was from Ephesus and Smyrna. The different 
specimens may haye been from different 
periods, from several centuries before Christ to 
three centuries after Christ, but the general 
composition of all was the same. The mineral 
matter was chiefly calcium carbonate, but from 
2to 8 per cent. of organic material was pres- 
ent. This proved to be merely a mixture of 
fatty acids, and gave evidence that the cement 
was the oil-cement mentioned by early writers, 
as Pliny and Vitruvius. A series of experiments 
showed that a cement of burned lime and olive 
or linseed oil was not permanent, but that a 
mixture of two-thirds air-slacked lime and one- 
third olive oil hardened rapidly and was very 
durable. It is probable that this was approxi- 
mately the mixture used in the ancient cements 


examined. 
AH) Gyo 8 Oe 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
WOOD’S HOLL BOTANY. 


Ir is encouraging to note the continuation of 
the good work in botany which has been a 
feature of the Marine Biological Laboratory at 
Wood’s Holl, Mass., and to observe that from 
year to year it is gaining in strength, both as 
to kind and quality. This year, beginning on 
the 5th of July, work is offered in the following 
lines, viz. : 


1. Plant Morphology and Physiology, including the 
Cryptogams. 
2. Lectures on the Alge, with a study of many 


types. 
3. Plant Cytology, for advanced students. 
4. Special Investigations. 


The first course should be especially helpful 
to students and teachers, since it will afford an 
opportunity of meeting and hearing many of 
the men who are adding to our knowledge of 
plants in many departments of botany. It is 
worth much to learn something of the person- 
ality, methods of work and point of view, of 
such men as B. M. Davis (algze), E. F. Smith 
(bacteria), D. T. MacDougal (physiology), D. 
H. Campbell (evolution of plants), L. M. Under- 
wood (liverworts), H. J. Webber (fecundation 


SCIENCE. 


689 


in gymnosperms), G. F. Atkinson (higher fungi), 
D. M. Mottier (cytology), and D. P. Penhallow 
(paleobotany), and the teacher who does so 
cannot fail to carry into his class-room next 
year an inspiration to higher and better work. 


CORN PLANTS. 


Mr. FREDERICK LEROY SARGENT has brought 
out a pretty and timely little book on ‘Corn 
Plants, their Uses and Ways of Life,’ which 
should be widely used as a supplementary 
reader in the schools. Unlike many supple- 
mentary readers, this one is written by a man 
who ‘knows what he is writing about,’ and 
hence the reader is not shocked by grossly in- 
accurate statements or crude misinterpretations. 
It is a thoroughly commendable little book, 

The following headings of some of the sec- 
tions of the book will give an idea of its scope 
and the treatment of the subject: ‘What Corn 
Plants are’; ‘Corn Plants in the Field’; ‘How 
Corn Plants Provide for their Offspring’; 
‘Wheat, the King of Cereals’; ‘Barley, the 
Brewer’s Grain’; ‘ Rice, the Corn of the East’; 
‘Maize, the Corn of the West’; etc. 

The publishers (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) 
have done their share in typography and bind- 
ing to make this one of the most attractive 
books of the season, 


CANADIAN BOTANY. 


From the Curator of the Herbarium of the 
Geological Survey of Canada we have recently 
received the following papers, viz. : ‘Contribu- 
tions to Canadian Botany,’ XI. and XII., by 
James M. Macoun, containing many new or 
hitherto unrecorded species (nearly all the new 
species were previously described by Professor 
Greene in Pittonia) ; ‘The Cryptogamic Flora 
of Ottawa,’ by John Macoun, including 220 
species of mosses, 55 liverworts and 152 lichens; 
‘Notes on Some Ottawa Violets,’ by James M. 
Macoun, devoted to the seven species of 
violets formerly included under the familiar 
Viola cucullata of the older mammals. These 
species are Viola septentrionalis, V. macounii, V. 
venustula, V. cucullata, V. cuspidata, V. affinis, 
V. populifolia. Admirable plates accompany 
the descriptions and make clearer the charac- 
teristics by which they are distinguished. 


690 


‘THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF AGRICUL- 
TURAL SCIENCE, 


NEARLY twenty years ago (September, 1879) 
half a dozen men conceived the idea of organ- 
izing a society of scientific men, the object of 
which should be to promote agriculture by fos- 
tering investigation in science applied to agri- 
culture. Asa result the Society for the Promo- 
tion of Agricultural Science came into exist- 
ence, and its members have met once a year in 
connection with the American Association for 
Advancement of Science. Last August the 
Society held its nineteenth meeting, at which 
the President, Dr. B. D. Halsted, presented a 
historical summary of the work accomplished 
since its organization. In this time (not includ- 
ing the Boston meeting last year) the members 
presented and the Society published 278 papers. 
It is gratifying to the botanists to know that of 
this number 102 dealt with botanical problems. 
These were grouped as follows: Structure and 
physiology, 26 ; agrostology, 16; pathology, 43 ; 
weeds, 7; seeds, 10. The following titles taken 
almost at random from the list of botanical 
papers will show that the botanist who wishes 
to have copies of all important botanical publi- 
cations must include those which have appeared 
in the Proceedings of this Society: ‘ Variations 
in Cultivated Plants,’ ‘ Notes upon the Flower- 
ing Plants of Ohio,’ ‘ Notes upon Bean and Pea 
Tubercles,’ ‘The Agricultural Grasses of Ari- 
zona,’ ‘Grasses and other Forage Plants best 
adapted to endure Drouth,’ ‘A Tomato Disease,’ 
‘The Scab of Wheat Heads,’ ‘ New Experiments 
with Fungicides for Smut of Wheat and Oats,’ 
‘The Weedy Plants of Ohio,’ ‘The Vitality of 
Seeds Buried in the Soil,’ ‘Delayed Germina- 
tion of Cocklebur.’ 

CHARLES E. BESSEY. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


THE FORESTS OF CANADA. 


THE United States Consul at Montreal, Mr. 
Bittinger, has sent to the Department of State a 
report showing the distribution of forests in 
Canada and throughout the world. The fol- 
lowing table shows the area of the forests in 
the different Provinces: 


SCIENCE. [N. 8. Von. IX. No. 228. 


Province. | Total area. | Woodland. | pereen wee 
Sq. miles. | Sq. miles. Per cent. 

Ontario.secccraeee 219,650 102,118 46.49 
Quebecsrereacueest 227,500 116,521 | 51.22 
New Brunswick... 28,100 14,766 | 52 55 
Nova Scotia......... 20,550 6,464 31.45 
Prince Edw. Is..... 2,000 | 797 39.85 
Manitoba............ 64,066 25,626 40 
British Columbia... 382,300 285,554 74.69 
N’thwest Ter....... 2,371,481 696,952 | 29.38 

Mo tales esercss | 3,815,647; 1,248,798 37.66 


The quantity of pine is estimated, in Ontario, 
as 19,404,000,000 board feet; in Quebec, at 
15,734,000,000 feet; in the other Provinces, at 
2,200,000,000 feet ; total, 37,338,000,000 feet. 
A low calculation of the annual cut is 1,000,- 
000,000 feet, in which case Canada has not 
more than forty years’ supply, and the growth 
of new wood, in spite of all regulations, is not 
nearly equal to the cut. It is impossible to 
give anything like a just return of the spruce 
limits, estimates being so diverse as to be use- 
less. 

The great tree of Ontario is the white, or 
Weymouth pine. There are also the red pine, 
spruce, hemlock, ete. The valuable black 
walnut, tulip, plane and coffee trees are almost 
extinct. The quantity or value of timber can 
not be given, as many millions of acres are 
utterly unexplored. In the known woods a 
return to the Ontario government states that 
there are 60,410,000,000 feet. 

Quebec, with its newly added territory, is 
now an even larger Province than Ontario. 
Vast regions to the north are unknown. The 
white pine is the most important tree, as in 
Ontario; it is, however, rapidly disappearing. 
Rich spruce is noted in Bonaventure River au 
Bouleau, Chicoutimi county, River French and 
Bay Lake. There is great waste of hemlock, 
on account of its bark. 

Some of the best cedar areas of the country 
are on the north shore of New Brunswick. An 
unsurveyed area of some 2,000,000 acres on the 
Upper Restigouche is reported to be full of good 
spruce and cedar. The pine forests, at one time 
rich, have been greatly impoverished. The 
same is true of Novia Scotia. A quantity of 
good spruce is left in the last-named Province, 
but it is being used in a similar way. 


May 12, 1899. ] 


British Columbia may be said to possess the 
largest compact timber resources in the world. 
Only the fringe has been cut. It is estimated 
that the Douglass pine, cedar, spruce, Alaska 
pine, etc., standing in the railway belt, amount 
to 25,000,000,000 feet, worth $25,000,000. The 
coast is heavily timbered as far north as Alaska, 
There is no white pine, but spruce attains per- 
fection in this section. 

The following table shows the area in forests 
in various countries of the world : 


Percent’ ge of 


Country. ‘rorentst total area. 
Europe. ° 
FAUISUNIAteecscnccecueteenearercss | 24,172,360 32 58 
Hungary 18,777,771 23.52 
Belgium..... 1,243,507 17.08 
Bulgaria .... 3,291,100 12 
France ....... 23,466,450 | 17.92 
Germany 34,347,000 25.70 
GTEECO Ms rene r ose tre Masco eeee 2,025,400 12.60 
Nibailiywesseeecseces ste cree cones sees 10,131,235 | 14.31 
NOT WAY js te iene ees, 19,288,626 | 24.53 
Portugal..... 1,163,841 5.25 
Roumania... 4,942,000 15.22 
AVUSSIAN  recsceereeswesco ests scees 498, 240,000 37.15 
PSETAE occagacadcuedsedstacsoocasn 5,763,163 48 
Spain sere ee ee cea 16,354,941 13.03 
Swedensw Ga tubednl, 44,480,000 40.65 
SWtZeANG)..2s.).ccnceneceseee, 2,259,018 | 20.12 
MRULKCYyiies.s.cssees es ence 3,500,000 8.93 
United Kingdom 2,695,000 4 
America. | 
799,230,720 | 37.66 
-| 450,000,000 23.29 
5,760,000 | 18 
140,000,000 | 25 
UPAR NOON) I eepeiectenoos 


28,700,000 | 30.24 


AN EXHIBITION OF GEOGRAPHICAL 
GEOLOGICAL MATERIAL. 

THE City Library Association of Springfield, 
Mass., has recently erected a fine building, 
which is to be devoted to the display and use of 
collections in Natural History. As some inter- 
val of time must elapse before the collections 
can be installed, there has been arranged in the 
main museum hall — 123x47 feet in dimen- 
sions—an attractive and instructive exhibition 


AND 


SCIENCE. 


691 


of material which illustrates the rapid advance 
in geography and geology. 

A study of this collection of maps and publi- 
cations reveals great activity on the part of gov- 
ernment and publishers in map-making and in 
the adaptation of recent discoveries for the use 
of school and colleges. An opportunity is of- 
fered to compare the technique and scope of the 
surveys and maps made by the United States, 
England, France and Germany. There are 
displayed a number of sheets of the Ordnance 
Survey of England and many staff maps from 
Germany and France. The clearness with which 
a multitude of details is shown on these pro- 
ductions is remarkable. Then the results of 
the topographical survey of the United States 
are shown in a carefully selected series of atlas 
sheets. The geographers of this country have 
taken up with much zeal the task of classifying 
various land forms. That such a proceeding is 
hedged round with difficulties is easily ap- 
parent. The best success has been had where 
the relative development of a region has been 
made the test in classification. Among the 
sheets on exhibition are several selected by 
Henry Gannett, chief geographer of the United 
States. Use has also been made of the recent 
work of Professor W. M. Davis, of Harvard 
University. 

There is in the exhibition material which 
illustrates recent progress in geology. The ex- 
hibit made by the United States Geological 
Survey at Omaha has been loaned for the pur- 
poses of this exhibition. There are also exam- 
ples of the work of the Geological Surveys of 
Great Britain, of Canada, of Germany and of 
many of the State governments. Especially 
fine work has been done in New Jersey under 
the direction of John C. Smock, and in Mary- 
land by William Bullock Clarke. Professor B. 
K, Emerson, of Amherst College, has loaned 
his valuable manuscript maps on the geology of 
old Hampshire county, in Massachusetts. 

There is also a very complete exhibition of 
the works of the best map makers in this 
country and abroad, and a number of relief 
maps. The Association cordially invites all 
persons interested in geography and geology to 
to visit the exhibition, which itis now planned 
to continue until July 1st. 


692 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

Dr. A. C. LANE has been appointed State 
Geologist of Michigan in succession to Dr. L. 
L. Hubbard. 

Proressor F. L. O. WApswortH has re- 
signed his position on the staff of Yerkes Ob- 
servatory. 

A BRONZE tablet, placed by the Corporation 
on the house in Bath in which Sir William Her- 
schel once lived, was unveiled on April 22d. 
Sir William Ball made an address, in the course 
of which he stated that it was in the back gar- 
den of this house that the planet Uranus had 
been discovered and many other important as- 
tronomical observations had been made. 


THE death is announced of Dr, Friedrich 
Karl Christian Ludwig Buchner. He was born 
in 1824 and after practicing medicine became 
docent at Tiibingen, from which position he was 
dismissed in consequence of the materialistic 
doctrines in his book on ‘ Matter and Force,’ 
published in 1865. Thereafter he practiced 
medicine at Darmstadt. Buchner was well 
known for his series of popular works on phys- 
ical science and the theory of evolution, as well 
as for numerous contributions to physiology, 
pathology and other sciences. 


PROFESSOR CHARLES FRIEDEL, the eminent 
French chemist, has died at the age of sixty-six 
years. Born at Strassburg, he studied chem- 
istry in Paris under Wurtz and became a cura- 
tor of mineralogy in the School of Mines and in 
1884 professor of organic chemistry at the Sor- 
bonne. He was elected member of the Paris 
Academy in 1878, succeeding Regnault. He 
made important contributions to organic chem- 
istry and was much interested in applications of 
chemistry to the arts. 

Mr. JAMEes Hoce, a well-known London 
ophthalmic surgeon and writer upon scientific 
topics, died in London on April 28d, aged 82 
years. In addition to numerous publications 
on diseases of the eye he wrote many books, in- 
cluding ‘A Manual of Photography’ (1845), 
‘A Manual of Domestic Medicine’ (1848), Eng- 
lish Forests and Forest Trees’ (1853), ‘ Ex. 
perimental and Natural Philosophy’ (1854), 
“The Microscope, its History, Construction and 
Applications’ (1854, the 15th edition 1898), 


SCIENCE. 


. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


‘Colour Blindness’ (1863), ‘ Boarding-out of 
Pauper Children’ (1870), ‘ Microscopic Exami- 
nation of Water’ (1874) and ‘ Arsenical Wall 
Paper Poisoning’ (1879-89). 

PROFESSOR G, C. SWALLOW, who has been 
State Geologist of Missouri and Kansas and pro- 
fessor in the University of Missouri, died on 
April 20th, at the age of 82 years. 

WE regret also to record the following 
deaths: Dr. Rijke, professor of natural his- 
tory, at Leiden, at the age of 85 years; the 
botanist Dr. Gremley, at Egelshofen, aged 66 
years ; Surgeon-Major Dr. C. C. Wallich, aged 
83 years; Graf Abbé Castracane at Rome ; 
Dr. L. v. Babs, sometime professor of chemistry 
at the University of Freiberg, aged 80 years ; 
Dr. M. D. Lwow, professor of chemistry in the 
Institute of Technology in St. Petersburg, and 
Mr. Joseph Wolf, the naturalist and illustrator 
of many important English works on natural 
history. 

THE Cambridge Anthropological Expedition 
under Dr. A. C. Haddon has arrived at Singa- 
pore on its way to England. 


Mr. Epwarp H. Harriman, of New York, 
has invited a number of scientific men to accom- 
pany him as his guests on an expedition to 
Alaska. The party will leave Seattle about the 
end of May, on a large steamer chartered and 
fitted up specially for the expedition. They ex- 
pect to take the ‘inside passage’ route to Lynn 
Canal, and then, after visiting Sitka, proceed 
westward along the coast to Yakutat Bay, 
Prince William Sound, Cook’s Inlet and Kadiak 
Island. Numerous places will be visited which 
are out of reach of ordinary travelers, and stops 
will be made toadmit of scientific work. Steam 
launches, tents, camp outfit, packers and so on 
have been bountifully provided, so that the 
largest amount of work may be done in the 
shortest time. Among those who have accepted 
Mr. Harriman’s generous invitations to go on 
this expedition are Professor William H. 
Brewer, of Yale; John Burroughs, the well- 
known writer; F. V. Coville, Botanist of the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture ; Dr. William 
H. Dall, of the Smithsonian, who has already 
visited Alaska 13 times; W. B. Devereaux, 
Mining Engineer; D. G. Elliott of the. Field 


May 12, 1899.] 


‘Columbian Museum, Chicago; Professor B. K. 
Emerson, of Amherst; Professor Bernard E. 
Fernow, Dean of the School of Forestry, Cornell 
University; Dr. A. K. Fisher, Ornithologist 
U. S. Biological Survey ; Henry Gannett, Chief 
Geographer U. 8S. Geological Survey; G. K. 
Gilbert, Geologist U. S. Geological Survey ; Dr. 
George Bird Grinnell, editor Forest and Stream ; 
‘Charles A. Keeler, Custodian of the Museum of 
the California Academy of Sciences ; Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam, Chief U. 8. Biological Survey; Dr. 
Lewis R. Morris, of New York; Robert Ridg- 
way, Ornithologist U. 8. National Museum ; 
Professor W. E. Ritter, of the University of 
California, and Professor William Trelease, 
Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. In 
addition to these men of science and their as- 
sistants, two artists accompany the expedition, 
the landscape artist R. Swain Gifford, of New 
York, and the bird artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 
of Ithaca, 


Mr. RussELL W. Porrer writes that he will 
conduct, during the coming summer, an expedi- 
tion under the auspices of the Peary Club, the 
main object of which is to communicate with 
Lieutenant Peary. The steam-bark whaler 
Hope will leave Sydney, Cape Breton, about 
July 15th. She will then go directly north, 
through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, up the Lab- 
rador coast, through Baffin’s Bay, to the west 
Greenland coast, stopping probably at Uper- 
navik, and then enter Melville Bay. After 
passing through Melville Bay the ship enters 
Whale Sound, where she will cruise until com- 
munication is made with Lieutenant Peary or 
his Eskimo representatives. The expedition 
will reach Sydney on its return at the end of 
September. The party will be limited to six 
and there is at present one place vacant. While 
intended primarily for hunting, the expedition 
will afford an excellent opportunity for*work in 
natural history. Any man of science who would 
like to join the party should communicate with 
Mr. Russell W. Porter, 6 Beacon St., Boston. 


A State Bacteriological and Pathological 
Laboratory has been established for Delaware. 
Professor Chester, State Bacteriologist, has been 
appointed director, 


WE learn from the American Geologist that 


SCIENCE. 


693 


the State of Wisconsin has appropriated the 
sum of $100,000 for two years to carry on the 
new geological and natural history survey of 
the State, of which Professor A. E. Birge, of 
the University of Wisconsin, is director. 

THE Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 
was formally opened on April 22d by Lord 
Lister. A visit was made to the Tropical Dis- 
eases ward in the Royal Southern Hospital and 
to the Thompson- Yates laboratories, and a ban- 
quet was given in the evening, at which Lord 
Lister made the principal speech. 


Dr. GEORGE BrRucE HALSTED has been in- 
vited to present a Report on Progress in Non- 
Euclidean Geometry at the coming Columbus 
meeting of the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science. 


THE Paris Society of Biology has awarded its 
Godard prize for the most important contribu- 
tion to biology to Dr. Vidal, of Périgueux, for 
his memoir on the influence of chloroform on 
nutrition. 

THE Lenval prize for an improvement in the 
treatment of deafness will be awarded at the 
International Otological Congress that will meet 
in London from the 8th to the 11th of August 
next. 


THERE will be a Civil Service examination in 
the State of New York on May 27th for the 
position of Assistant in Dietary Experiments, 
Lunacy Commission, at a salary of $100 per 
month. The duties are to assist in the experi- 
ments being conducted by Professor W. O. At- 
water with a view to the establishment of scien- 
tifically correct rations and dietary for the State 
hospitals. The examinations will relate to the 
experience and training of candidates and their 
knowledge of and ability to conduct scientific 
experiments of the kind indicated. 


THE French Chamber of Deputies has ap- 
pointed a committee to take into consideration 
the application of the decimal system to the 
measurement of time. The Society of Geog- 
raphy at Toulouse began to agitate the ques- 
tion in 1893 and has been especially active in 
the matter. It may be remembered that the 
Convention which adopted the decimal system 
applied it to time and it was actually used by 
the French government in the year 1794. 


694 


THE more important departments of the Rus- 
sian government have approved the reform of 
the Russian calendar urged by the St. Peters- 
burg Astronomical Society, and will adopt at an 
early date the system followed by the rest of the 
civilized world. 

THE International Bureau of Weights and 
Measures has been holding its sessions at Paris. 
Among the foreign delegates in attendance were 
Professors Michelson, from the United States ; 
Cheney, from Great Britain; Tahlen, from 
Sweden; Blazema, from Italy; Hirsch, from 
Switzerland; Hepiter, from Austria ; Foerster, 
from Germany, and Mendeljev, from Russia. 

Tue American Society of Mechanical En- 
gineers is holding its spring meeting at Wash- 
ington as we go to press. Rear-Admiral George 
W. Melville presides, and about 600 members 
have signified their intention of being present. 

THE American Climatological Association 
holds its sixteenth annual meeting at the 
building of the Academy of Medicine, New 
York City, on May 9th, 10th and 11th. 

THE American Library Association is meet- 
ing during the present week at Atlanta, Ga. 


EXPERIMENTS were made recently at the 
South Foreland to demonstrate the possibilities 
of communicating between a moving ship and 
the land. According to the London Times, 
Signor Marconi joined the French commission 
on board the despatch vessel Ibis. The receiy- 
ing and transmitting instruments on board the 
Ibis were in a cabin, the wire to take the cur- 
rent being connected with the instrument room 
from the top of the mast, about 150 feet high. 
The messages were transmitted to the Jbis from 
the South Foreland, from Wimereux, and from 
the East Goodwin lightship, as also from the 
gunboat to each of these points, and in each in- 
stance they were recorded with unerring dis- 
tinctness, the French commissioners expressing 
the greatest satisfaction with the system. 
Hitherto one of the chief objections raised to 
wireless telegraphy has been that it is impossi- 
ble to concentrate the current—in other words, 
to ‘cut out’ and prevent the message from be- 
ing received at other stations where installa- 
tions exist within an equal radius other than 
the one for which it was originally intended. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.&. Von. IX. No. 228. 
Signor Marconi has now discovered an ingenious 
but simple arrangement by which this difficulty 
can be overcome, and it was tested before the 
French commission and at the South Foreland. 
Messages were first sent from the Ibis to the 
South Foreland, and, as Professor Fleming 
pointed out on his recent visit, were received 
simultaneously by the Goodwin lightship. Sig- 
nor Marconi’s new invention was then tried, 
and the messages sent to the Foreland were 
concentrated there and received at no other 
point, the lightship being cut out. A similar ~ 
experiment was made with the lightship, the 
ships communicating with each other, while the 
Foreland was cut out. As a further test of this 
important invention messages were sent simul- 
taneously from Boulogne and the lightship to 
the South Foreland, where only the Boulogne 
message was taken by the receiver, the other 
being cut out at will. This experiment was 
also tried on board the Jbis and from the other 
points, in each instance with complete suc- 
cess. 

REUTER’S Agency states that Dr. Sven Hedin 
will start from Stockholm at the end of June on 
a new expedition to Central Asia, and will 
travel direct through Russia and Turkestan to 
Kashgar, taking a new route over the moun- 
tains. Dr. Sven Hedin will conduct the expe- 
dition alone, being accompanied only by his old 
Asiatic servant, Islam Bai, from Osh. He has 
received permission from the Czar to take two 
Cossacks as escort. On reaching Kashgar Dr. 
Sven Hedin will proceed in an easterly direction 
for the purpose of making fresh investigations 
in Chinese Turkestan, where he hopes to find 
further antiquities. Thence he will visit the 
unexplored Lob Region, and will cross the great 
Sand Desert by more than one route. After 
going to Tibet and exploring that portion of 
the country to the south of his former route, he 
will return via India. As in the case of his 
famous journey across Asia, Dr. Sven Hedin’s 
objects on this expedition are purely scientific. 
The difficulties to be expected are of much the 
same character as those experienced during his 
former trip. Dr. Hedin is, however, better 
prepared than he was on that occasion, and 
hopes to achieve even better results than he did 
then. The expenses of the expedition, which 


MAy 12, 1899. ] 


will amount to £2,000, have been defrayed by 
King Oscar, Mr. Emanuel Nobel and others. 


THE Brussels Geographical Society has re- 
ceived the first report of Lieutenant Gerlache, 
commander of the Belgian Antarctic expedi- 
tion. According to the London Times the report 
says that the expedition left St. John’s Bay on 
January 14, 1898, and on the 21st explored the 
South Shetland Islands. On January 15th, in 
55° 5’ south latitude and 65° 19’ west longitude, 
soundings to the the depth of 4,040 métres were 
taken. The Belgica left on the 23d for Hughes 
Bay, discovering a strait separating the lands 
of the east from an unknown archipelago. The 
land to the east wasnamed Danco Land. Mag- 
netic observations were made and interesting 
botanical, geological and photographic results 
were obtained. On February 13th the Belgica 
went in the direction of Alexander I. Land, 
exploring the belt of bank ice towards the west. 
On March 10th the ship became fast in the ice 
in latitude 71° 34/, longitude 89° 10’.. Thesun 
disappeared on May 17th, and there was con- 
tinual night until July 21st. M. Danco died on 
June 5th, and his remains were deposited in a 
tomb of ice. The Belgica, after leaving her 
winter quarters, again became fast in the ice in 
103° west longitude. She reached open water on 
March 14th. The expedition made successful 
magnetic and meteorological observations and 
obtained collections of pelagic and deep-sea 
fauna and samples of submarine sediments. 
On February 26th Black Island was explored, 
and on the following day the Belgica entered 
the Cockburn Channel, arriving at Punta 
Arenas, in Patagonia, on the 28th of last month. 


THE ranchmen of Seward County, Kansas, 
says the Electrical World, have connected their 
ranches by telephone facilities, using the barb- 
wire fences instead of setting poles and string- 
ing wires. It had been demonstrated that a 
fence wire worked perfectly for a telephone 
connection. The scheme was favored by the 
stockmen, and a local company was formed, 
with headquarters at Liberal, that being the 
nearest telegraph point. Lines have been con- 
constructed and are in operation, extending 
from Liberal over the whole of Seward, Stevens 
and Morton Counties, Kansas, and have reached 


SCIENCE. 


695 


out into Beaver County, Oklahoma, and Hans- 
ford County, Texas. Many of the ranches ‘in 
in this grazing country are situated miles from 
railroad and telegraph facilities. 


THE first stone of the oceanographic museum 
at Monaco was laid on April 26th by the Bishop. 
in the presence of Prince Albert, Princess Alice 
and the Crown Prince. Count Minster, on be- 
half of the Emperor William, spoke of the 
museum as a pledge of peace and amity among 
peoples, while Admiral Brown de Colstoun, on 
behalf of France, congratulated the Prince on 
his maritime researches. The Prince expressed 
his thanks to the German Emperor and Presi- 
dent Loubet for sending representatives to the 
ceremony. As westated recently, the museum 
has been founded by the Prince of Monaco for 
the exhibition and study of the collections made 
under his auspices. 


A TELEGRAM has been received at the Har- 
vard College Observatory from Professor J. E. 
Keeler at Lick Observatory, stating that comet 
Tempel was observed by Perrine, May 6, 9077 
Greenwich mean time in R. A., 18" 52™575.8 
and Decomber 4° 32/19’, Faint. This is an 
observation of comet Tempel, 1873 II., and 
not 1866 I., which is connected with the meteoric 
swarm of November 13th. An ephemeris was. 
published by Schulhof in Astron. Nach., Vol. 
149, p. 28, which agrees within a few seconds. 
of the position given above. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE great State Universities of the Central 
and Western States are continually growing in 
wealth and influence. During the present year 
the following additional endowments are re- 
ported: An appropriation bill recently passed by 
the Illinois Legislature gives to the University 
of Illinois about $600,000. The Wisconsin 
Legislature has appropriated for the University 
of Wisconsin $151,000, of which $100,000 is for 
an engineering building. The Colorado Legis- 
lature, besides passing a bill giving its State 
University an income of one-fifth of a mill on 
each dollar of assessed valuation, has made 
appropriations amounting to about $110,000. 
In Nebraska the State University has been 


696 


given a one-mill tax, which will, it is estimated, 
yield about $168,000 yearly. 

Av a meeting of the Board of Trustees of 
Columbia University on May 1st President Low 
announced that he would reimburse the Univer- 
sity for the interest paid on money borrowed to 
complete the library. .This will be about $75,- 
000, making his total gift for the building 
$1,200,000. The offer of the Chamber of Com- 
merce to give $15,000 a year for a course in 
commerce was accepted. 


CoLuMBIA UNIVERSITY has recently received 
a gift of $10,000, to be known as the Dyckman 
Fund for the Encouragement of Biological Re- 
search, the interest of which will be granted to 
post-graduate students. The fund is established 
by Mr. Isaac M. Dyckman in memory of his 
two uncles, Jacob and James Dyckman, of the 
classes of 710 and ’11. The former of these, 
although dying when scarcely over thirty years 
of age, was a Fellow and Trustee of the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, Health Commis- 
sioner of New York, and author of several 
works on medical and biological subjects. A 


second gift to the department of zoology is the- 


continuance of the John D. Jones Scholarship, 
which was created by the Wawepex Society 
and includes a workplace in the Cold Spring 
Harbor Biological Station. A third gift is the 
collection of shells of Henry D. van Nostrand, 
which comes to the University through the 
generosity of his widow. This collection is 
well known among malacologists. It is partic- 
ularly rich in pulmonates. 

In order that the scientific museum of Prince- 
ton University may have a complete collection 
of the quails of this country, Mr. W. E. D. 
Scott, curator of the museum, has sent out 800 
circulars to members of the alumni, asking for a 
pair of quail from each locality. From the 
many favorable replies received it is probable 
that the entire number desired will be secured 
by the fall, making a collection especially valu- 
able for studying the geographical variation of 
the bird. Excellent progress is being made in 
mounting representatives of the South Ameri- 
can birds received from the Patagonian expe- 
dition. The entire expense of this collection is 
borne by John W. Garrett, of the class of 1895. 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 228. 


THE current issue of Nature gives an illustra- 
tion of the proposed new buildings for the 
Royal College of Science, South Kensington. 
The British government has followed the ad- 
vice of men of science and has decided to place 
the building on the west side of Exhibition 
Road, originally secured for that purpose from 
the Exhibition Commissioners of 1851. 


THE state of affairs in the Russian univer- 
sities is not improving, and practically all the in- 
stitutions for higher educationin the Empire have 
been closed until the end of the present academic 
year. The expelled students have been scat- 
tered all over Russia, by which means it may be 
supposed the police are doing the most in their 
power to spread discontent and possible revo- 
lution. 


THE following table sent us from the Univer- 
sity of Michigan shows the ratio of the teaching 
force to the number of students in ten of the 
largest universities of the country. The first 
column gives the number of persons composing 
the faculty, including instructors of all grades ; 
the second gives the total number of students 
enrolled in the institution ; the third the pro- 
portion of students to teachers. 

Faculty. Students. Ratio 


Johns Hopkins 123 641 5.2 
Cornellliteedescsseccsec 328 2038 6.2 
Golan big ee cise sates exces 303, 2185 7.2 
Waliforniarecenesscenedeceses 286 2391 8.3 
Northwestern.............+.-. 222 2019 9.1 
anvarGhescccccntcescs ders cnsct 411 3901 9.4 
VLG ceteedeescercna Santas eeacees 255 2500 Che/ 
Chicago sree arccsscsantsncsesctes 212 2307 10.9 
Pennsylvania..............006 258 2834 10.9 
Michigans ssic.csse.s. elas a 222 3192 14.4 

Total irscneiiaecaactancees 2620 24008 hal 


Dr. FRANZ Boas, lecturer on physical anthro- 
pology in Columbia University, has been elected 
professor of anthropology in the same Univer- 
sity. Dr. J. H. Canfield, President of the Ohio 
State University, has been elected librarian. 


Dr. Max Wien, of the University of Wuiurz- 
burg, has been appointed associate professor of 
physies in the Institute of Technology at Aix. 
Professor Schrepfer, of Cologne, has been ap- 
pointed professor of mechanical and electrical 
engineering in the University of Wurzburg. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NeEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
Britton, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpitcH, Physiology; 

J. S. Brntinas, Hygiene; J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, May 19, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
‘Carl Friedrich Gauss and his Children: PROFES- 
SOR FLORIAN CAJORI ..........cceceeceeceeeseer essere 697 . 
The Age of the Earth as an Abode fitted for Life 
(GS) RTM ORDPKLVING Sccsecasecosteersescsaseerscsees 704 
Mental Fatigue: DR. EDWARD THORNDIKE....... 712 


Scientific Books :— 
Patten on the Development of English Thought : 
PROFESSOR R. M. WENLEY. Peruvian Meteor- 
ology: R. DEC. WARD. Morgan on the Elements 
of Physical Chemistry: PROFESSOR HARRY C. 
JONES: Books Becetved:.......ccccscusesnessessorsesens 713 


Scientific Journals and Articles. ....cccscecesevesecseesees 718 


Societies and Academies :— 
The New York Academy of Sciences, Section of 
Biology: DR. GARY N. CALKINS. Section of 
Geology and Mineralogy: ALEXIS A. JULIEN. 
Geological Conference and Students’ Club of 
Harvard University: J. M. BouTWELL. The 
Academy of Science of St. Louis: PROFESSOR 
WILLIAM TRELEASE. University of Colorado 
Scientifie Society : DR. FRANCIS RAMALY...... 718 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Storage of Pamphlets: F. A. BATHER......... 720 


The Murine Biological Laboratory at Wood’s Holl.. 721 
Geological Expedition of Dr. Becker to the Philip- 


FOWATE NNV5 186. Wiles nconosoboncoononobbodondAGuesboouboHbod 722 
Conversazione of the Royal Socicty........cccesereeeeeees 723 
Scientific Notes and News..........cccserecscerssersceossece 724 
University and Educational News.........0ccsececeeneees 728 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
-for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS AND HIS 
CHILDREN. 


Tue life of Carl Friedrich Gauss has been 
sketched repeatedly, yet, in view of the in- 
terest attached to every bit of new infor- 
mation concerning men of genius, we 
venture to touch upon a few events of his 
later life and to speak of his descendants. 

The 16th of July, 1899, will be the 100th 
anniversary of Gauss’s graduation with the 
degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The 50th 
anniversary was a day of celebration at 
Gottingen. Gauss was still in full possession 
of his powers and was greatly admired and 
beloved. His daughter Theresa describes 
the memorable day in a letter, dated De- 
cember 5, 1850, and written to her brother 
Eugene in St. Charles, Mo. In translation 
the passage is as follows: 


“T cannot tell you much of our quiet life ; one day 
and one year is always very much like e ery other. 
But they are contented days and years, as father even 
now in his advanced age still possesses unimpaired 
health and an always cheerful disposition. A year 
and a half ago, in July, ’49, he celebrated his ‘50- 
jabriges Doctorjubilium’—or rather the University 
and the city celebrated it for him with general love 
and sympathy. He himself was very much opposed 
to having this day noticed, but, without bis knowl- 
edge, everything had been prepared for it. From 
near and far the University had invited strangers ; 
father’s friends and eminent scholars came, many 
delegations from other cities, who brought him con- 
gratulations, honorary doctor’s diplomas and three 
new orders. From Braunschweig and Gottingen he 
received honorary citizenship ; from the King, con- 


698 


gratulations in his own handwriting and a higher 
order (erhdhten Ordensgrad). There was no end 
of letters and communications. In the morning 
festive processions began to congratulate him, all 
the authorities of the city, of the University, 
of the school, strangers, acquaintances — probably 
about fifty persons. Then father himself delivered 
a lecture in the hall of the University, which was 
overcrowded with spectators and listeners and had 
been decorated with garlands and flowers like a 
fairy hall. Even the houses in the streets were 
decorated with flowers; in the city there were waves 
of people in festive attire (wogte es von geputzten 
Menschen), asona holiday. When, at last, in the even- 
ing at seven, father came home from the great banquet, 
he was, indeed, quite exhausted, and it was well that 
the torchlight procession that the students had in- 
tended for him wasabandoned upon his wish, but the 
love and sympathy which had been shown him from 
all sides had, in spite of all fatigue, pleased him in- 
describably. How sad was it though that, where so 
many strangers had congregated on his day of honor, 
not one of his beloved sons could be with him !! 
Even Joseph had been compelled to decline, as his 
position as railway director did not, at that time, 
make his absence from Hannover possible.’’ 


Gauss was married twice. By his first 
wife he had two sons (Joseph and Louis) 
and one daughter (Minna). Louis died in 
childhood. By his second wife he had two 
sons (Eugene and Wilhelm) and one daugh- 
ter (Theresa). Eugene and Wilhelm settled 
in the United States. In Germany Gauss 
has only one grandchild, Carl Gauss, now 
living at Hameln, in Hannover. He is a 
son of Joseph. He was only six years old 
when his grandfather died, in 1855. He 
still remembers how his celebrated grand- 
father tried to show him a star through the 
great telescope; how he stood full of expec- 
tation near the ocular, while his grand- 
father, wearing a velvet cap, was turning 
the crank which moved the shutter on the 
dome of the observatory. Another time 
the child was playing in the garden of the 
observatory when his grandfather met him 
and asked: ‘‘ What do you expect to make 
of yourself?” whereupon young Carl re- 
plied: ‘‘ Well, what do you expect to make 
of yourself??? Then the old man patted the 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vox. IX. No. 229. 


child’s shoulder and said smilingly : ‘‘ My 
boy, I am already somebody.” 

In a letter addressed to the writer, Carl 

- Gauss speaks also of his father, Joseph, 
who, after completing the gymnasium in 
Gottingen, went into the German army, 
but subsequently got leave to assist his 
father in the triangulation of the Kingdom 
of Hannover. When the construction of 
railways was first begun in that part of 
Germany officers of the army were se- 
lected, along with some foreign experts, to 
superintend the work. So it happened that 
Joseph Gauss left the army and served as 
an engineer. In 1836 and ’37 he was sent 
by his government to the United States to 
study the more advanced methods of rail- 
way construction in the New World. Later 
he became ‘Oberbaurath’ and director of 
railroads and telegraphs in Hannover. 
Finally he was assigned to the superinten- 
dence of the special department of tele- 
graphs, which position he kept until the 
outbreak of the war of 1866. It is of in- 
terest to think of him in connection with 
the telegraph—the instrument in the in- 
vention of which his father had played so 
important a réle. It is well known that as 
early as 1833 C. F. Gauss and W. Weber 
had a telegraphic line between the observa- 
tory and the physical cabinet in Got- 
tingen. 

Some biographers assert that Gauss’s fa- 
vorite child was Joseph, but there is rea- 
son to believe that the father at first built 
high hopes on what Eugene would do. In 
a letter to Bessel (November 21, 1811), 
after writing about hypergeometric and 
logarithmic series, he says: ‘‘ Wenn eines 
meiner Kinder des Vaters Liebe zu den ex- 
acten Wissenschaften erben sollte, so ist es 
wahrscheinlich eher dieser Eugen als sein 
leichtblitiger Bruder Joseph.” As the in- 
fant reached boyhood he displayed far more 
than ordinary ability, especially in lan- 
guages. His father once took a French 


May 19, 1899.] 


book, examined him in the knowledge of 
French, and then said that he knew that 
language well enough and need not study it 
any further. Another time Gauss took the 
_ boy from Gottingen to a little town called 
Celle, to place him at a school. While 
stopping at an inn Eugene stated to his 
father his delight in having solved some 
little problem in grammar. His father, 
with eyes brightened with pleasure, replied : 
‘“Yes my son, the pleasure one gets from 
the solution of such problems is very great, 
but it is not to be compared with the sim- 
ilar pleasure one derives from the solution 
of mathematical problems.’ 

But the high hopes were followed by bitter 
disappointment. In a letter to Bessel 
(Dee. 31, 1831) Gauss says of himself: 
“Aber Ihr armer Freund ist seit andert- 
halb Jahren das Opfer der schwersten haus- 
lichen Leiden gewesen: den Ausgang des 
einen ahnen Sie leicht aus der seit vier 
Monaten gebrauchten Farbe des Siegels ; 
von einem andern, wo moglich noch hartern 
sehe ich kaum ein Ende ab als meines. 

~ Lassen Sie mich davonschweigen. Lahmend 
haben soleche Verhaltnisse auf alle meine 
wissenschaftlichen Beschaftigungen, fast 
ganz aufhebend auf meine Correspondenz 
eingewirkt.’’ The first sorrow alluded to 
was clearly the death of his second wife ; 
the cause of the second sorrow he leaves un- 
explained, but the facts which we have been 
able to gather concerning the relation 
between him and his son Eugene throw 
light on this point. At this time, when 
Eugene reached adolescence, it seems that 
Gauss did not want him or his brothers to 
attempt mathematics, for the father did not 
think any of them would surpass him, and 
he did not wish the name lowered. Ap- 
parently he felt the same way about any 
other line of scientific work, for, while 
Eugene, after completing the gymnasium, 
desired to make the study of philology his 
life-work, the father wanted him to take up 


SCIENCE, 


699 


law. At this time Eugene was disposed to 
indulge in the wild life of a Géttingen stu- 
dent. A scar on his face bore witness of 
his participation in a duel. What that life 
was we may judge also from the accounts 
of Bismarck’s stormy career at Gottingen, 
which began about avear after Eugene left 
the University. An incident happened which 
resulted in a serious disagreement between 
father and son. Eugene gave an elaborate 
supper to his fellow-students and sent the 
bill to his father. When the latter re- 
proached his son for this, Eugene suddenly 
concluded that he would leave Germany 
and come to America. He started off with- 
out bidding the family good-bye or making 
any preparation for his journey. When 
Gauss learned of his son’s intention he fol- 
lowed and urged him to return, at the same 
time telling him that he had brought his 
trunk and if he was determined to seek his 
fortune in America he would furnish funds 
for the journey. The son refused to return 
home, and the two parted. The young man 
of nineteen left the land of learning and 
culture, to expose himself to the dangers 
and temptations of a new world. Need we 
marvel if, in sorrow and humiliation, Gauss 
wrote to Bessel: ‘Lassen Sie mich davon 
schweigen.’ 

Eugene landed in New York and, after 
spending what money he had, enlisted as a 
private in the U.S. army. He was taken 
to Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, Minn. The 
post was in charge of General Taylor, and 
Jefferson Davis was a young officer there. 
By accident the officers found out that Eu- 
gene Gauss was an educated man, and he 
was put in charge of the post library. 
About the close of his term of enlistment 
(five years) his brother Joseph came to 
this country, as we have seen, to study rail- 
way construction. Joseph brought letters 
to General Winfield Scott and thought he 
could obtain for Eugene a commission in 
the regular army, if he desired it. But 


700 


Eugene had other plans; he entered the 
employ of the American Fur Company, on 
the head waters of the Mississippi and Mis- 
souri Rivers. There he learned to speak 
the Sioux language with ease, and assisted 
a missionary named Pond in preparing a 
Sioux alphabet. While there Eugene wrote 
to his father that he had met the French 
astronomer Nicollet. The latter was at- 
tracted to young Gauss by hearing someone 
pronounce his name and, upon inquiry, 
discovered that he was the son of the 
mathematician. Nicollet formed a plan to 
conduct an expedition across the continent 
to the Pacific, where he expected to take 
ship and go by water to Europe. Eugene 
was to go with him, but the enterprise was 
defeated by Nicollet’s death. In the first let- 
ter printed below, Gauss refers to Nicollet 
and attributes to him a sensational article 
on moon hoax, which appeared in 1835 in 
the New York Sun. It purported to be 
written by Richard Adams Locke, but De 
Morgan, in his ‘ Budget of Paradoxes,’ 
holds, as does Gauss, that its real author 
was J. N. Nicollet. 

About 1840 Eugene settled at St. Charles, 
Mo., where he resided until about 1885, 
when he removed to a farm in Boone 
County, Mo., near Columbia. He died in 
1896. In St. Charles Eugene engaged in 
mercantile pursuits. In 1844 he married 
Henrietta Fawcett, who is still living, being 
now in her 82d year. They had seven 
children, two of whom have died. Of in- 
terest is the following letter written by 
the mathematician Gauss, to his son, just 
before the latter’s marriage : 


“MEIN LIEBER SOHN: 

Diein Deinen beiden Briefen an mich und Theresen 
enthaltene Anzeige von Deiner beschlossenen und 
nahe bevorstehenden Verheirathung habe ich in mehr- 
ern Beziehungen mit Vergniigen aunfgenommen. Bei 
der Unmoglichkeit, iber Verhaltnisse und Personen 
aus eigner Kenntniss ein Urtheil zu bilden, uberlasse 
ich mich gerne dem Vertrauen, dass Dein Alter und 
Deine Erfahrungen, Dich vor solchen Tauschungen, in 


&CIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX: No. 229. 


welche wohl unbesonnene und unerfahrene Jiinglinge 
verfallen, bewahren. Ich wiinsche und hoffe daher 
herzlich, dass alle die schénen Tugenden, welche Du 
von Deiner kunftigen Lebensgefiihrtin riihmst, und 
die den Mangel ausserer Gliicksgiiter fiir einen ver- 
standigen und auf eigenen Fiissen feststehend sich 
fiihlenden Mann wohl aufwiegen, sich stets als acht 
bewahren werden, zugleich aber auch, dass Du Dich 
des Besitzes eines solchen Schatzes immer wiirdig be- 
weisen werdest, und dass so die Verbindung zu Euer 
beider wahrem Gliick gereiche. 

Auch Deine beiden Briider haben sich Lebensgefahr- 
tinnen ohne Vermégen gewihlt. Dass Du dariiber, 
auch mit so vieler Leichtmiithigkeit hinwegsetzest 
ist mir auch in sofern angenehm, als ich darin eine 
Bestetigung von dem voraussetze, was Herr Eggers 
vor einigen Monaten hier ausserte, nemlich, dass 
Deine Umstiinde und Handelsgeschafte in einem pros- 
perirenden Zustande sind. Hrn. Eggers Besuch war 
iibrigens so kurz, dass ich tiber so vieles was ich gerne 
niher wiisste, nur sehr unvollkommene oder gar keine 
Kenntniss erhalten habe. So weiss ich namentlich von 
Deinem Geschafte bloss im Ailgemeinen, dass es ein 
Kaufmannisches sei, und dass Du mit einem Com- 
pagnon associirt seiest; naheres aber z, B. welcher 
Art jene Geschafte, ob der Compagnon ein Deutscher 
oder ein Amerikaner sei &c. habe ich nicht erfahren. 

Io einem Deiner friiheren Briefe erwahutest Du ein- 
mal eines jungen Franzosen Namens Nicollet, mit 
dem Du in Bekanntschaft gekommen seiest. Derselbe 
war vor Zeiten Gehiilfe an der Pariser Sternwarte und 
hat einige nicht verdienstlose Arbeiten geliefert. Aus 
welchem Grunde er Frankreich hat verlassen miissen, 
habe ich nicht erfahren.* Spater (etwa vor 7 oder 8 
Jahren) hat er (ich weiss nicht mehr ob anonym oder 
mit Nennung des Namens) in einer Amerikanischen 
Zeitung oder Journal einen possenreisserischen Arti- 
kel tiber angebliche wahrhaft unsinnige Entdeckung- 
en, die Herschel auf dem Vorgebirge der guten Hoff- 
nung gemacht haben sollte, geliefert. Dieser Arti- 
kel wurde sogar seiner Zeit ins Deutsche tbersetzt, 
und gab einen merkwiirdigen Beweis, wie sehr plump 
eine Mystification sein kann, ohne die Kraft zu ver- 
lieren, viele Leute zu Narren zu haben. Dieser Nicol- 
let nun soll vor Kurzem in Amerika gestorben sein. 
Ich mochte wohl wiinschen, tiber seinen dortigen Le- 
benslauf etwas mehr zu erfahren. Auch ein anderer 
Astronom, aus der Schweiz gebiirtig, aber seit fast 50 

* Laplace once recommended Nicollet for member- 
ship in the French Academy, but he failed of election 
because of Arago’s opposition. ‘‘A short time after- 
wards M. Nicollet had run away to America, and the 
Bureau of Longitude had a warrant passed to expel 
him ignominiously from its bosom.’’—From Arago’s 
Autob ography. 


May 19, 1899. ] 


Jahren, in Amerika einheimisch geworden, mit dem 
ich wohl von Zeit zu Zeit einige Korrespondenz ge- 
pflogen habe, nemlich Rudolf Hassler, Chef der Ame- 
rikanischen Messungen, ist, wie ich aus 6ffentlichen 
Nachrichten erfahre, vor kurzem gestorben. 

Unter den herzlichsten Wiinschen fiir das dauernde 
Glick Eurer Verbindung 

Dein treuer Vater 
C. F. Gauss. 

GOTTINGEN, 15 Februar, 1848. 

P.S. Briefe tiber Liverpool gehen weder sicherer 
noch schneller als tiber Havre, kosten aber hier jedes- 
mal ein enormes Porto, etwa 3 mal so viel wie tiber 
Havre. Schicke daher kiinftig keine Briefe iiber Eng- 
land sondern immer via Hayre. 


The correspondence between Gauss and 
Hassler, the organizer and first superin- 
tendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, would be 
of interest, no doubt, but none of the letters 
are in possession either of the U.S. Coast 
Survey or of Mrs. Simon Newcomb, who isa 
grandchild of Hassler. 

The original of Gauss’s letter, given 
above, is now in the Lick Observatory. The 
present writer has a photograph of it. <A 
strange thing in connection with it is the 
fact that Gauss, who possessed such wonder- 
ful power over numbers as to create a new 
Theory of Numbers, should make a mistake 
in so simple a matter as a date. The num- 
ber ‘1848’ should be ‘1844.’ This is 
evident from the postmark on the back of 
the letter as well as from Theresa’s letters 
and from the record of the marriage of 
Eugene, contained in the office of the Re- 
corder of St. Charles County, where the 
marriage took place. 

Another letter from Gauss to Eugene is 
now in the possession of a grandchild, 
Charles Henry Gauss, of Columbia, Mo. It 
is as follows: 

LIEBER EUGEN : 

Ich kann nicht unterlassen, Deinen vom 16 Mai 
datirten und am 30 Junius hier eingegangenen Brief 
wenigstens mit einigen Zeilen zu erwiedern, obwohl 
ich aus zwei Ursachen zur Kiirze gezwungen werde, 
nemlich, erstlich, weil Therese wegen Absendung des 


Pakets pressirt ist, und zweitens, weil ich ziemlich 
unwohl bin, und den grdssern Theil des Tages auf 


SCIENCE. 701 


dem Sofa liegend zubringen muss. Grossentheils 
mag dies die Folge der unertraiglichen Hitze sein, bei 
der ich immer sehr leide, und die in diesem Sommer 
grosser ist, als ich je in meinem ganzen Leben erduldet 
zu haben mich erinnere. Nach den 6ffentlichen 
Blattern scheint diese Hitze in Europa ganz allge- 
mein zu sein. 

Dass ich nun auch von Deiner Seite in der Neuen 
Welt einen Enkel habe, ist mir sehr erfreulich ; in 
der Alten Welt wird mein Name wohl aussterben, 
da Josephs Ehe schon ins siebente Jahr kinderlos 
geblieben ist. Aller Wahrscheinlichkeit wird Joseph 
nun mit Niichstem in eine veriinderte Lage kommen, 
ihm selbst mehr zusagend, als eine Lieutenantsstelle 
in Friedenszeit, und mir selbst auch aus dem 
Grunde lieb, weil er riumlich mir niher kommt. 
Er ist nemlich bestimmt, mit in unser Eisenbahn. 
Directorium einzutreten, wobei er seinen Abschied aus 
dem Militar und sein gewohnliches Domicilium in 
Hannover wird nehmen miissen, obwohl er dabei 
wihrend eines grossen Theils des Jahres auf Reisen 
zuzubringen haben wird. Er ist in diesem Augen- 
blickin Stade, um seine Fran nach Hannover abzu- 
hohlen. 

Dass Deine Geschifte gut prosperiren freuet mich 
sehr, aber in einem neulich von Deiner Grossmutter 
erhaltenen Briefe ist eine etwas unverstiudliche An-, 
deutung, als ob Du gewillet seiest, jene aufzugeben 
auf das Land zu ziehen, und von da aus bloss Gross- 
handel zu treiben. Dain Deinem Briefe an mich 
dariiber gar Nichts vorkommt, so vermuthe ich, dass 
jene Ausserung wenigstens zum Theil auf einem 
Misverstiindnisse beruhet. Ubrigens haben wir vor 
Kurzem ein tangibles Zeichen Deiner Geschiifts- 
thatigkeit erhalten, da Herr Westhof uns ein Fiiss- 
chen Mehl aus der Miithle Gauss & Weidner zuge- 
schickt hat, welches Therese sehr lobt, als besser, wie 
alles hiesige. 

Zufallig hatten wir gleichzeitig einen Topf Butter 
aus dem Altenlande von Josephs Frau erhalten, und 
es fehlten also zu einer Omelette abseiten meiner 
Kinder aus fremden Landen nur noch die Eier aus 
Wilhelms Hihnerstalle. 

Ueber das Daguerrebild, welches Deine liebe Frau 
Theresen geschickt hat, haben wir uns sehr gefreut; 
die Arbeit ist feiner, als ich sie an einem in Europa 
gemachten Daguerrebilde sonst yesehen habe 
Therese erwiedert es mit ihrem Daguerrebild, welches 
in zwei Exemplaren, eines fiir Dich, eines fiir Wil- 
helm Herr Angetrodt mitbringt. Ausserdem und 
zu gleicher Distribution bringt er zwei Lithographien 
von meinem Portrait mit ; sie sind im vorigen Winter 
von einem Oelgemilde abgenommen, welches vor 6- 
Jahren hier gemacht ist. (Das Original dieses Oe h 
gemildes von einem Kopenhagner Kiinstler kam nac 


702 SCIENCE, 


Petersburg, und eine Copie fiir Herrn Sartorius blieb 


hier, wonach jene Lithographie gemacht ist. Man ~ 


fand das Gemilde damahls sehr ahnlich ; jetzt werde 
ich ihm wohl unihnlich geworden sein. 

Auch fiir die Karte von Missouri und Arkansas, 
welche mit jenem Bilde zugleich ankam, habe ich 
Dir noch zu danken. 

Dass Ewald noch im vorigen Jahre sich wieder 
verheirathet hat, wird Dir wahrscheinlich die Gross- 
mutter geschrieben haben. Mit herzlichen Wiinschen 


fiir Dein Wohlergehen 
Dein treuer Vater, 


GOTTINGEN, C. F. Gauss. 


den 9ten August, 1846. 


An account of Gauss’s children is inter- 
esting from the standpoint of heredity. 
None inherited Gauss’s mathematical power. 
Eugene resembled his father mentally more 
than the others. Like his father, he pos- 
sessed great linguistic powers. Before his 
death he expressed it as his opinion—and 
from all I can gather it is probable—that had 
he continued his philological studies in Ger- 
many he would have secured a chair in a 
University. He spoke French so well that he 
was taken fora Frenchman. The English 
and the Sioux language he spoke to per- 
fection. He read the New Testament in 
the original. At the age of forty he had 
become deeply interested in religion, and 
thereafter he gave much attention to Bibli- 
cal and theological reading. His deep re- 
ligious convictions were shown by his ex- 
pression of satisfaction with his coming to 
America, because if he had not done so he 
might never have been led to profess the 
religion of Christ. 

Eugene was not the person to push him- 
self to the front. He lived over ten years 
near the seat of the University of Missouri, 
without seeking the acquaintance of any 
member of the Faculty. Milton Updegraff, 
the professor of astronomy, accidentally 
heard of him through one of his students 
and visited him (about 1890). He told 
Professor Updegraff that his father first 
thought of the heliotrope while walking 
with him and noticing the light of the 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


setting sun reflected from a window of a 
distant house.* Eugene possessed mathe- 
matical ability, but he never studied the 
higher branches. When he was over eighty 
years old and had become blind, he used to 
entertain himself by making long arithmet- 
ical calculations in hishead. For instance, 
he computed the amount to which one dollar 
would grow, if compounded annually at the 
rate of 4% interest from the time of Adam to 
the present, assuming this to be 6,000 years. 
This, if in gold, would make a cubic mass 
so large that 16 would require light quad- 
rillions of years to pass along one side of it.+ 
This mental computation is so startling as 
to be almost beyond belief. The only as- 
sistance he had was from his son Theodore 
(now deceased), who was asked to write 
down, at intervals during the several days 
he was so occupied, the results that marked 
the different stages of his work. Eugene 
arrived at his result by ordinary arithmetic. 
His son preserved the paper on which were 
written the long lines of figures which he 
thought he might not be able to retain in 
his memory. On the sheet are several 
memoranda that are interesting. For in- 
stance, Eugene directed his son to write 
down the figures : 


123456789057182178039 
38680824926969613857 
123456789060863002965969613857 
x 


The second line of figures was written 
down several days after the first and added 
to the upper one by Theodore. His father 
had directed him to begin the second line 
of figures by placing the figure 3 under the 
second 7 of the upper line. In reading off 
the result of this addition Theodore read 7 
in place of the 8 marked with an X. Eugene 
detected the error and his son made the 

* See also Bessel’s letter to Gauss, Oct. 18, 1821. 


+The answer exceeds five quadrillions of years, 
French numeration. 


May 19, 1899.] 


correction, showing that the blind and aged 
man was able to retain in his mind the long 
line of thirty figures. This wonderful com- 
putation, if it does not demonstrate great 
mathematical ability, certainly shows an 
extraordinary memory. We involuntarily 
ask: What might Eugene not have achieved, 
had his experiences in life been such as to 
draw out his faculties to the fullest extent? 

Eugene’s younger brother Wilhelm came 
to this country in 1837, immediately after 
his marriage to a niece on the mother’s side 
to the astronomer Bessel. Wilhelm wished 
to make farming his vocation and he be- 
lieved the opportunities were better in the 
United States than in Germany. For 
twenty years. he was almost continually en- 
gaged in farming in Missouri; then he en- 
tered the wholesale shoe business in St. 
Louis, in which he continued until his 
death, in 1879. Of his eight children six 
are now living; some are in business; two 
are Presbyterian clergymen. 

Near the beginning of this article we 
quoted from a letter, written by Theresa to 
her brother Eugene. I have seen another 
of her letters (dated May 16, 1855), in 
which she gives an account of the last ill- 
ness of her illustrious father. From the 
long letter we translate the following : 


‘*The Jast year of suffering—full of sickness de- 
manding constant attendance—has bound me still 
more closely to him. During the last weeks there 
was hardly a moment, day or night, when he permit- 
ted me to be away from him, and he expressed the 
desire that we might not be separated even by death, 
for only a few days before he died he said to me: 
‘The best and greatest that God could grant us 
would be this one favor, that we two on the same day 
might die together.’ * * * 

“My last letter to you, dated, I believe, April 30, 
”53, is two years old, and if at that time I wrote that 
father’s health was no longer quite robust, it never- 
theless did not cause any unusual anxiety. But in 
the course of the summer following he began to com- 
plain to such an extent as to cause alarm. Part of 
the time he suffered much, and, his strength failing 
rapidly, I, full of apprehension, besought him in vain 


SCIENCE. 703 


to callin a physician. Not till January, 1854, as the 
disease in a few weeks had made rapid progress, did 
he consent. The physician, who has since with unre- 
mitting love, care and sympathy attended him, les- 
sened his suffering where cure was impossible, and 
doubtless somewhat prolonged his life, declared to me 
positively, after the first visit, that his condition was 
dangerous and hopeless. He recognized the disease 
at once as a heart trouble, which probably had been 
coming on for years, in course of which there had been 
an accumulation of water about the heart, which in a 
few weeks also extended to other parts of the body. 
At that time the disease advanced rapidly and left 
little hope, but under the careful treatment of our 
loving physician, Dr. Baum, some improvement fol- 
lowed like a miracle. Some symptoms of the disease 
disappeared entirely, and father was able to go out for 
short distances, though only slowly and with immedi- 
ate exhaustion. * * * * But suddenly in November 
the old trouble returned in more decisive form, in- 
creased from day to day, and at the beginning of the 
present year the physician said to me the life of our 
beloved one would be of only short duration. The 
last weeks of suffering were terrible, as the disease of 
dropsy in general is terrible, because it visibly ap- 
proaches death inch by inch. But father has borne al 
his suffering to the end with unvarying, touching 
serenity, friendliness and patience. Entirely hope- 
less he never was ; he always believed in the possi- 
bility of recovery so long as one spoke encouragingly 
tohim. Ah! how difficult this has often been, when 
I, hopeless, knew the nearness of death! He never 
lost complete consciousness. Four hours before his 
death he still knew me, when, for the last time, he 
took a drink from my hand, drew my hand toward 
him and, kissing it, looked lovingly at me. He then 
closed his eyes and seemed to sleep, but I believe he 
did not sleep, but that his spirit, clear and conscious 
as ever, had freed itself from its earthly shell and had 
gone to its heavenly home.”’ 


We close with a letter written to Eugene 
Gauss by Professor Ernst Schering, C. F. 
Gauss’s successor at the observatory in 
Gottingen, who himself has since joined the 
ranks of the departed : 


STERNWARTE, GOTTINGEN, 1892, Nov. 21. 
SEHR GEEHRTER HERR GAUSS : 

Wie Sie aus beifolgendem Correcturbogen ersehen 
werden, sind wir hier in Géttingen im Begriffe ein 
Denkmal ftir Ihren bertihmten Vater zu errichten. 
In der Meinung, dass Sie wiinschen werden, Ihren 
Namen in der Aufforderung der Mathematiker, As- 


704 


tronomer und Physiker gedruckt zu sehen, habe ich, 
als Nachfolger hres Vaters, jetzt in seiner Dienstwoh- 
nung befindlich, und als Herausgeber seiner grossen 
Werke, mir erlaubt Ihren Namen mit in die Liste 
einsetzen zu lassen. Es war nicht mehr Zeit Sie um 
Thre Erlaubnis dazu zu fragen, aber es kann bei mir 
kein Zweifel sein iiber Ihre Genehmigung. Gerne 
werde ich mir erlauben, Ihnen weiteren Bericht tiber 
die Denkmalsfrage abzustatten, so bald etwas defini- 
tives feststeht. 

Der Prinz Albrecht von Preussen, Prinz Regent 
vom Herzogthum Braunschweig, Rector Magnificentis- 
simus von der Universitat Gottingen, hat sich bereit 
finden lassen, das Protectorat der Commission fiir das 
Denkmal zu tibernehmen. Er hat befohlen, dass aus 
Landesmitteln des Herzogthums Braunschweig 3000 
Mk. fiir das Denkmal gegeben werden. Das ist ja 
ein sehrguter Anfang. In den Zeitungen habe ich 
die Notiz gelesen : 

Gauss, E. F. L. erster Assistent von Frederik H. 
Hild dem Librarian of the Chicago Public Library. 
Gehoért dieser Gauss auch zu der berithmten Familie ?* 

Da das Deutsche Reich sich auch amtlich an der 
grossen Ausstellung in-Chicago betheiligt, so wird 
wahrscheinlich das Post—und Telegraphen—Museum 
in Berlin unter dem Reichsekretair von Stephan auch 
die Hauptstiicke seiner geschichtlichen Sammlung 
dorthin senden. Darunter findet sich ein Gemilde 
von dem grossen Gauss und eine Reproduction sein. s 
ersten Telegraphen. Jenes Gemilde ist Gauss sehr 
fihnlich, aber noch schdner finde ich das Gemiilde, 
welches sich hier in seinem Erdmagnetischen Obser- 
vatorium unter meinem Gewahrsam befindet. Es ist 
yon der Preussischen Regierung zum 150 jiahrigen 
Jubilaeum der Universitit Gottingen 1887 dem Insti- 
tute geschenkt worden. Ueberhaupt war dieses Jubi- 
laeum ein grossartiges Fest zur Verherrlichung von 
Gauss. Keine der vielen Tischreden, keine Festrede, 
keine Predigt wurde gehalten, ohne dass sein Name 
genannt und seine Erfindung des Electrischen Tele- 
graphen erwihnt worden wire. Seit jener Zeit befin- 
det sich auch seine Marmortafel an der Sternwarte, 
Abtheilung des Erdmagnetischen Observatorium, mit 
der Aufschrift 


Erster electrischer Telegraph 
GAUSS— WEBER 
Ostern, 1833 


*Mr. Robert Gauss, a son of Eugene Gauss and 
now managing editor of the Denver Republican, in- 
forms me that the E. F. L. Gauss in question is not 
a descendant of Gauss the mathematician. Schering’s 
letter is in the possesssion of Robert Gauss, through 
whose kindness the writer was permitted to makea 
copy of it. 


SCIENCE. LN. 


Vou. IX. No. 229. 


Mit den ergebensten Empfehlungen zeichne ich 
mich Ihr ERNST SCHERING, 
Herausgeber der Gauss’schen Werke. Gemeinrath 
u. Professor. 
FLorIAN CaJort. 


CoLORADO COLLEGE, COLORADO SPRINGS. 


THE AGE OF THE EARTH AS AN ABODE 
FITTED FOR LIFE. 
II. 


PROBABLE ORIGIN OF GRANITE. 


$26. Upon the suppositions we have 
hitherto made we have, at the stage now 
reached, all round the earth at the same 
time a red-hot or white-hot surface of solid 
granules or crystals with interstices filled 
by the mother liquor still liquid, but ready 
to freeze with the slightest cooling. The 
thermal conductivity of this heterogeneous 
mass, even before the freezing of the liquid 
part, is probably nearly the same as that 
of ordinary solid granite or basalt at a red 
heat, which is almost certainly* somewhat 
less than the thermal conductivity of 
igneous rocks at ordinary temperatures. 
If you wish to see for yourselves how 
quickly it would cool when wholly solidi- 
fied take a large macadamizing stone, and 
heat it red hot in an ordinary coal fire. 
Take it out with a pair of tongs and leave 
it on the hearth, or on a stone slab at a dis- 
tance from the fire, and you will see that in 
a minute or two, or perhaps in less than a 
minute, it cools to below red heat. 

$27. Half an hour} after solidification 
reached up to the surface in any part of the 
earth, the mother liquor among the granules 
must have frozen to a depth of several 
centimeters below the surface and must 
have cemented together the granules and 
crystals, and so formed a crust of primeval 
granite, comparatively cool at its upper 
surface, and red hot to white hot, but still 

* Proc, R. §., May 30, 1895. 

+ Witness the rapid cooling of lava running red hot 
or white hot from a volcano, and after a few days or 


weeks presenting a black, hard crust strong enough 
and cool enough to be walked over with impunity. 


May 19, 1899. ] 


all solid, a little distance down; becoming 
thicker and thicker very rapidly at first; 
and after a few weeks certainly cold 
enough at its outer surface to be touched 
by the hand. 


PROBABLE ORIGIN OF BASALTIC ROCK.* 


$28. We have hitherto left, without 
much consideration, the mother liquor 
among the crystalline granules at all 
‘depths below the bottom of our shoaling 
lava ocean. It was probably this inter- 
stitial mother liquor that was destined to 
form the basaltic rock of future geological 
time. Whatever be the shapes and sizes 
of the solid granules when first falling to 
the bottom, they must have lain in loose 
heaps with a somewhat large proportion of 
space occupied by liquid among them. 
But, at considerable distances down in the 
heap, the weight of the superincumbent 
granules must tend to crush corners and 
edges into fine powder. Ifthe snow shower 
had taken place in air we may feel pretty 
sure (even with the slight knowledge which 
we have of the hardnesses of the crystals of 
feldspar, mica and hornblende, and of the 
‘solid granules of quartz) that, at a depth of 
10 kilometers, enough of matter from the 
corners and edges of the granules of dif- 
ferent kinds, would have been crushed into 
powder of various degrees of fineness, to 
leave an exceedingly small proportionate 
volume of air in the interstices between the 
solid fragments. But in reality the effec- 
tive weight of each solid particle, buoyed 
as it was by hydrostatic pressure of aliquid 
less dense than itself by not more than 20 
or 15 or 10 per cent., cannot have been 
more than from about one-fifth to one- 
tenth of its weight in air, and therefore the 
same degree of crushing effect as would 
have been experienced at 10 kilometers 
with air in the interstices, must have been 


* See Addendum at end of Lecture. 


SCIENCE. 705 


experienced only at depths of from 50 to 
100 kilometers below the bottom of the lava 
ocean. 

$29. A result of this tremendous crush- 
ing together of the solid granules must have 
been to press out the liquid from among 
them, as water from a sponge, and cause it 
to pass upwards through the less and less 
closely packed heaps of solid particles, and 
out into the lava ocean above the heap. 
But, on account of the great resistance 
against the liquid permeating upwards 30 
or 40 kilometers through interstices among 
the solid granules, this process must have 
gone on somewhat slowly ; and, during all 
the time of the shoaling of the lava ocean, 
there may have been a considerable pro- 
portion of the whole volume occupied by 
the mother liquor among the solid granules, 
down to even as low as 50 or 100 kilo- 
meters below the top of the heap, or bottom 
of the ocean, at each instant. When con- 
solidation reached the surface, the oozing 
upwards of the mother liquor must have 
been still going on to some degree. Thus, 
probably for a few years after the first con- 
solidation at the surface, not probably for 
as long as one hundred years, the settle- 
ment of the solid structure by mere me- 
chanical crushing of the corners and edges 
of solid granules, may have continued to 
cause the oozing upwards of mother liquor 
to the surface through cracks in the first 
formed granite crust and through fresh 
cracks in basaltic crust subsequently formed 
above it. 


LEIBNITZ’S CONSISTENTIOR STATUS. 


§ 30. When this oozing everywhere 
through fine cracks in the surface ceases, 
we have reached Leibnitz’s consistentior 
status; beginning with the surface cool 
and permanently solid and the tempera- 
ture increasing to 1150° C. at 25 or 50 or 
100 meters below the surface. 


706 


PROBABLE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEAN 
DEPTHS OF THE EARTH. 

§ 31. If the shoaling of the lava ocean up 
to the surface had taken place everywhere 
at the same time, the whole surface of the 
consistent solid would be the dead level of 
the liquid lava all round, just before its 
depth became zero. On this supposition 
there seems no possibility that our present- 
day continents could have risen to their 
present heights, and that the surface of the 
solid in its other parts could have sunk 
down to their present ocean depths, during 
the twenty or twenty-five million years 
which may have passed since the con- 
sistentior status began or during any time 
however long. Rejecting the extremely 
improbable hypothesis that the continents 
were built up of meteoric matter tossed 
from without, upon the already solidified 
earth, we have no other possible alternative 
than that they are due to heterogeneous- 
ness in different parts of the liquid which 
constituted the earth before its solidifica- 
tion. The hydrostatic equilibrium of the 
rotating liquid involved only homogeneous- 
ness in respect to density over every level 
surface (that is to say, surface perpen- 
dicular to the resultant of gravity and cen- 
trifugal force); it required no homogeneous- 
ness in respect to chemical composition. 
Considering the almost certain truth that 
the earth was built up of meteorites falling 
together, we may follow in imagination the 
whole process of shrinking from gaseous 
nebula to liquid larva and metals, and 
solidification of liquid from central regions 
outwards, without finding any thorough 
mixing up of different ingredients, coming 
together from different directions of space— 
any mixing up so thorough as to produce 
even approximately chemical homogene- 
ousness throughout every layer of equal 
density. Thus we have no difficulty in 
understanding how even the gaseous 
nebula, which at one time constituted the 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


matter of our present earth, had in itself a 
heterogeneousness from which followed by 
dynamical necessity Europe, Asia, Africa, 
America, Australia, Greenland and the 
Antarctic Continent, and the Pacific, At- 
lantic, Indian and Arctic Ocean depths, as 
we know them at present. 

§ 32. We may reasonably believe that a 
very slight degree of chemical heterogene- 
ousness could cause great differences in the 
heaviness of the snow shower of granules 
and crystals on different regions of the bot- 
tom of the lava ocean when still 50 or 100 
kilometers deep. Thus we can quite see 
how it may have shoaled much more 
rapidly in some places than in others. It 
is also interesting to consider that the solid 
granules, falling on the bottom, may have 
been largely disturbed, blown as it were 
into ridges (like rippled sand in the bed of 
a flowing stream, or like dry sand blown 
into sand-hills by wind) by the eastward 
horizontal motion which liquid descending 
in the equatorial regions must acquire, 
relatively to the bottom, in virtue of the 
earth’s rotation. It is, indeed, not im- 
probable that this influence may have been 
largely effective in producing the general 
configuration of the great ridges of the 
Andes and Rocky Mountains and of the 
West Coasts of Europe and Africa. It 
seems, however, certain that the main de- 
termining cause of the continents and 
ocean-depths was chemical differences, per- 
haps very slight differences, of the material 
in different parts of the great lava ocean 
before consolidation. 

§ 33. To fix our ideas let us now suppose 
that over some great areas such as those 
which have since become Asia, Europe, 
Africa, Australia and America, the lava 
ocean had silted up to its surface, while in 
other parts there still were depths ranging 
down to 40 kilometers at the deepest. In 
a very short time, say about twelve years 
according to our former estimate (§ 24), the 


May 19, 1899.] 


whole lava ocean becomes silted up to its 
surface. 

§ 34. We have not time enough at pres- 
ent to think out all the complicated ac- 
tions, hydrostatic and thermodynamic, 


which must accompany, and follow after, - 


the cooling of the lava ocean surrounding 
our ideal primitive continent. By a hur- 
ried view, however, of the affair we see 
that in virtue of, let us say, 15 per cent. 
shrinkage by freezing, the level of the 
liquid must, at its greatest supposed depth, 
sink six kilometers relatively to the con- 
tinents, and thus the liquid must recede 
from them, and their bounding coast-lines 
must become enlarged. And just as water 
runs out of a sandbank, drying when the 
sea recedes from it on a falling tide, so 
rivulets of the mother liquor must run out 
from the edges of the continents into the 
receding lava ocean. But, unlike sand- 
banks of incoherent sand permeated by 
water remaining liquid, our uncovered 
banks of white-hot solid crystals, with in- 
terstices full of the mother liquor, will, 
within a few hours of being uncovered, be- 
come crusted into hard rock by cooling at 
the surface, and freezing of the liquor, at 
a temperature somewhat lower than the 
melting temperatures of any of the crystals 
previously formed. The thickness of the 
wholly solidified crust grows at first with 
extreme, rapidity, so that in the course of 
three or four days it may come to be as 
much as ameter. At the end of a year it 
may be as much as ten meters ; with a sur- 
face, almost, or quite, cool enough for some 
kinds of vegetation. In the course of the 
first few weeks the régime of conduction of 
heat outwards becomes such that the thick- 
ness of the wholly solid crust, as long as 
it remains undisturbed, increases as the 
square root of the time; so that in 100 
years it becomes 10 times, in 25 million 
years 5,000 times, as thick as it was at the 
end of one year; thus, from one year to 25 


SCIENCE. 


707 


million years after the time of surface freez- 
ing, the thickness of the wholly solid crust 
might grow from 10 meters to 50 kilo- 
meters. These definite numbers are given 
merely as an illustration, but it is probable 
that they are not enormously far from the 
truth in respect to what has happened under 
some of the least disturbed parts of the 
earth’s surface. 

§ 35. We have now reached the condition 
described above in § 380, with only this dif- 
ference, that instead of the upper surface of 
the whole solidified crust being level we 
have in virtue of the assumptions of S§ 33, 
34, inequalities of 6 kilometers from highest 
to lowest levels, or as much more than 6 
kilometers as we please to assume it. 

$36. There must still be a small, but im- 
portant, proportion of mother liquor in the 
interstices between the closely packed un- 
cooled crystals below the wholly solidified 
crust. This liquor, differing in chemical 
constitution from the crystals, has its freez- 
ing-point somewhat lower, perhaps very 
largely lower, than the lowest of their 
melting-points. But, when we consider the 
mode of formation ($25) of the crystals, 
from the mother liquor, we must regard it 
as still always a solvent ready to dissolve, 
and to redeposit, portions of the crystalline 
matter, when slight variations of tempera- 
ture or pressure tend to cause such actions. 
Now as the specific gravity of the liquor is 
less, by something like 15 per cent., than 
the specific gravity of the solid crystals, it 
must fend to find its way upwards, and will 
actually do so, however slowly, until stopped 
by the already solidified impermeable crust, 
or until itself becomes solid on account of 
loss of heat by conduction outwards. If 
the upper crust were everywhere continuous 
and perfectly rigid the mother liquor must, 
inevitably, if sufficient time be given, find 
its way to the highest places of the lower 
boundary of the crust, and there form 
gigantic pockets of liquid lava tending to 


708 


break the crust above it and burst up 
through it. 

§ 37. But in reality the upper crust can- 
not have been infinitely strong ; and, judg- 
ing alone from what we know of properties 
of matter, we should expect gigantic cracks 
to occur from time to time in the upper 
crust tending to shrink as it cools and pre- 
vented from lateral shrinkage by the non- 
shrinking uncooled solid helow it. When 
any such crack extends downwards as far 
as a pocket of mother liquor underlying the 
wholly solidified crust, we should have an 
outburst of trap rock or of voleanic lava 
just such as have been discovered by geolo- 
gists in great abundance in many parts of 
the world. We might even have compara- 
tively small portions of high plateaus of the 
primitive solid earth raised still higher by 
outbursts of the mother liquor squeezed out 
from below them in virtue of the pressure 
of large surrounding portions of the super- 
incumbent crust. In any such action, due 
to purely gravitational energy, the center of 
gravity of all the material concerned must 
sink, although portions of the matter may 
be raised to greater heights; but we must 
leave these large questions of geological dy- 
namics, having been only brought to think 
of them at all just now by our consideration 
of the earth antecedent to life upon it. 

§ 38. The temperature to which the 
earth’s surface cooled within a few years 
after the solidification reached it must have 
been, as itis now, such that the temperature 
at which heat radiated into space during the 
night exceeds that received from the sun 
during the day by the small difference dne 
to heat conducted outwards from within. * 
One year after the freezing of the granitic 

* Suppose, for example, the cooling and thickening 
of the upper crust has preceeded so far that at the 
surface, and, therefore, approximately for a few deci- 
metres below the surface, the rate of augmentation of 
temperature downwards is one degree per centimeter. 


Taking as a rough average -005 ¢. g. s. as the thermal 
conductivity of the surface rock, we should have for 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 229. 


interstitial mother liquor at the earth’s sur- 
face in any locality the average tempera- 
ture at the surface might be warmer, by 60° 
or 80° Cent., than if the whole interior had 
the same average temperature as the sur- 
face. To fix our ideas, let us suppose at 
the end of one year the surface to be 80° 
warmer than it would be with no under- 
ground heat; then at the end of 100 years 
it would be 8° warmer, and at the end of 
10,000 years it would be -8 of a degree 
warmer, and at the end of 25 million years 
it would be -016 of a degree warmer, than 
if there were no underground heat. 

§ 39. When the surface of the earth was 
still white-hot liquid all round, at a tem- 
perature fallen to about 1200° Cent., there 
must have been hot gases and vapor of 
water above it in all parts, and possibly 
vapors of some of the more volatile of the 
present known terrestrial solids and liquids, 
such as zine, mercury, sulphur, phosphorus. 
The very rapid cooling which followed in- 
stantly on the solidification at the surface 


the heat conducted outwards -005 of a gramme water 
thermal unit Centigrade per sq. cm. per sec. (Kelvin 
Math. and Phys. Papers, Vol. III., p. 226). Hence, 
if (ibid. p. 223) we take ;;55 as the radiational em- 
issivity of rock and atmosphere of gases and watery 
vapor above it radiating heat into the surrounding 
vacuous space (ether), we find 8000 > -005 or 40 de- 
grees Cent. as the excess of the mean surface tempera- 
ture above what it would be if no heat were conduc- 
ted from within"outwards. The present augmentation 
of temperature downwards may be taken as 1 degree 
Cent. per 27 meters as a rough average derived from 
observations in all parts of the earth where under- 
ground temperature has been observed. (See British 
Association Reports from 1868 to 1895. The very 
valuable work of this Committee has been carried on 
for these twenty-seven years, with great skill, perse- 
verance and success, by Professor Everett, and he 
promises a continuation of his reports from time to 
time.) This, with the same data for conductivity and 
radiational emissivity asin the preceding calculation, 
makes 40°/2700 or 0.0148° Cent. per centimeter as the 
amount by which the average temperature of the 
earth’s surface is at present kept up by underground 
heat. 


May 19, 1899.] 


must have caused a rapid downpour of all 
the vapors other than water, if any there 
were; and, a little later, rain of water out 
of the air, as the temperature of the surface 
cooled from red heat tosuch moderate tem- 
peratures as 40° and 20° and 10° Cent. 
above the average due to sun heat and radi- 
ation into the ether around the earth. 
What that primitive atmosphere was, and 
how much rain of water fell on the earth in 
the course of the first century after consoli- 
dation, we cannot tell for certain ; but Natu- 
ral History and Natural Philosophy give us 
some foundation for endeavors to discover 
much towards answering the great ques- 
tions: Whence came our present atmos- 
phere of nitrogen, oxygen and carbonic 
acid? Whence came our present oceans 
and lakes of salt and fresh water? How 
near an approximation to present conditions 
was realized in the first hundred centuries 
after consolidation of the surface. 

§ 40. We may consider it as quite certain 
that nitrogen gas, carbonic acid gas and 
steam, escaped abundantly in bubbles from 
the mother liquor of granite, before the 
primitive consolidation of the surface, and 
from the mother liquor squeezed up from 
below in subsequent eruptions of basaltic 
rock, cause all, or nearly all, specimens 
of granite and basaltic rock which have 
been tested by chemists in respect to 
this question,* have been found to con- 
tain, condensed in minute cavities within 
them, large quantities of nitrogen, car- 
bonic acid and water. It seems that in 
no specimen of granite or basalt tested has 
chemically free oxygen been discovered, 
while in many, chemically free hydrogen 
has been found, and either native iron or 
magnetic oxide of iron in those which do 
contain hydrogen. From this it might 
seem probable that there was no free oxy- 

* See, for example, Tilden, Proc. R. 8. February 


4, 1897: ‘On the Gases Enclosed in Crystalline 
Rocks and Minerals.’ 


SCIENCE. 


709 


gen in the primitive atmosphere, and that 
if there was free hydrogen it was due to 
the decomposition of steam by iron or mag- 
netic oxide of iron. Going back to still 
earlier conditions we might judge that, 
probably, among the dissolved gases of the 
hot nebula which became the earth, the 
oxygen all fell into combination with hy- 
drogen and other metallic vapors in the cool- 
ing of the neubla, and that, although it is: 
known to be the most abundant material 
of all the chemical elements constituting the 
earth, none of it was left out of combination 
with other elements to give free oxygen in 
our primitive atmosphere. 

§ 41. It is, however, possible, although 
it might seem not probable, that there was 
free oxygen in the primitive atmosphere. 
With or without free oxygen, however, but 
with sunlight, we may regard the earth as 
fitted for vegetable life as now known in 
some species, wherever water moistened 
the newly solidified rocky crust cooled down 
below the temperature of 80° or 70° of our 
present Centigrade thermometric scale a 
year or two after solidification of the primi- 
tive lava had come up to the surface. The 
thick, tough, velvety coating of living vege- 
table matter, covering the rocky slopes 
under hot water flowing direct out of the 
earth at Banff (Canada),* lives without 
help from any-ingredients of the atmosphere 
above it, and takes from the water and 
from carbonic acid or carbonates, dissolved 
in it, the hydrogen and carbon needed for 
its own growth by the dynamical power of 
sunlight ; thus leaving free oxygen in the 
water to pass ultimately into theair. Simi- 
lar vegetation is found abundantly on the 
terraces of the Mammoth hot springs and on 
the beds of the hot-water streams flowing 
from the Geysers in the Yellowstone Na- 
tional Park of the United States. This vege- 
tation, consisting of confervee, all grows 

* Rocky Mountains Park of Canada, on the Cana- 
dian Pacific Railway. 


710 SCIENCE. 


under flowing water at various tempera- 
tures, some said to be as high as 74° Cent. 
We cannot doubt but that some such con- 
fervee, if sown or planted in a rivulet or 
pool of warm water in the early years of 
the first century of the solid earth’s history, 
and, if favored with sunlight, would have 
lived, and grown, and multiplied, and would 
have made a beginning of oxygen in the air, 
if there had been none of it before their 
contributions. Before the end of the cen- 
tury, if sun-heat, and sunlight, and rain- 
fall were suitable, the whole earth not under 
water must have been fitted for all kinds of 
land plants which do not require much or 
any oxygen in the air, and which can find, 
or make, place and soil for their roots on 
the rocks on which they grow; and the 
lakes or oceans formed by that time must 
have been quite fitted for the life of many 
or all of the species of water plants living 
on the earth at the present time. The 
moderate warming, both of land and water, 
by underground heat, towards the end of 
century, would probably be favorable rather 
than adverse to vegetation, and there 
can be no doubt but that if abundance of 
seeds of all species of the present day had 
been scattered over the earth at that time 
an important proportion of them would have 
lived and multiplied by natural selection 
of the places where they could best thrive. 

$42. But if there was no free oxygen in 
in the primitive atmosphere or primitive 
water several thousands, possibly hundreds 
of thousands, of years must pass before 
oxygen enough for supporting animal life, 
as we now know it, was produced. Even 
if the average activity of vegetable growth 
on land and in water over the whole earth 
was, in those early times, as great in re- 
spect to evolution of oxygen as that of a 
Hessian forest, as estimated by Liebig* 50 

* Liebig, ‘Chemistry in its application to Agricul- 


ture and Physiology.’ English, 2d ed., edited by 
Playfair, 1842. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


years ago, or of a cultivated English hay- 
field of the present day, a very improbable 
supposition, and if there were no decay 
(eremacausis, or gradual recombination with 
oxygen) of the plants or of portions, such 
as leaves falling from plants, the rate of 
evolution of oxygen, reckoned as three 
times the weight of the wood or the dry 
hay produced, would be only about 6 tons 
per English acre per annum or 1} tons per 
square meter per thousand years. At this 
rate it would take only 1533 years, and, 
therefore, in reality a much longer time 
would almost certainly be required, to pro- 
duce the 2.3 tons of oxygen which we have 
at present resting on every square meter of 
the earth’s surface, land and sea.* But 
probably quite a moderate number of hun- 
dred thousand years may have sufficed. It 
is interesting, at all events, to remark that, 
at any time, the total amount of combus- 
tible material on the earth, in the form of 
living plants or their remains left dead, 
must have been just so much that to burn 
it all would take either the whole oxygen 
of the atmosphere or ‘the excess of oxygen 
in the atmosphere at the time above that, 
if any, which there was in the beginning. 
This we can safely say, because we almost 
certainly neglect nothing considerable in 
comparison with what we assert when we 
say that the free oxygen of the earth’s at- 
mosphere is augmented only by vegetation 
liberating it from carbonic acid and water, 
in virtue of the power of sunlight, and is 
diminished only by virtual burning} of the 


* In our present atmosphere, in average conditions 
of barometer and thermometer, we have, resting on 
each square meter of the earth’s surface, ten tons 
total weight, of which 7.7 is nitrogen and 2.3 is 
oxygen. 

{ This ‘virtual burning’ includes eremacausis of 
decay of vegetable matter, if there is any eremacausis 
of decay without the intervention of microbes or 
other animals. It also includes the combination of a 
portion of the food with inhaled oxygen in the regu- 
lar animal economy of provision for heat and power. 


May 19, 1899. | 


vegetable matter thus produced. But it 
seems improbable that the average of the 
whole earth—dry land and sea bottom— 
contains at present coal, or wood, or oil, or 
fuel of any kind, originating in vegetation, 
to so great an amount as .767 of a ton per 
square meter of surface; which is the 
amount, at the rate of one ton of fuel to 
three tons of oxygen, that would be re- 
quired to produce the 2.3 tons of oxygen 
per square meter of surface which our 
present atmosphere contains. Hence it 
seems probable that the earth’s primitive 
atmosphere must have contained free oxy- 
gen. 

§ 43. Whatever may have been the true 
history of our atmosphere it seems certain 
that if sunlight was ready the earth was 
ready, both for vegetable and animal life, 
if not within a century, at all events within 
afew hundred centuries, after the rocky 
consolidation of its surface. But was the 
sun ready? The well-founded dynamical 
theory of the sun’s heat carefully worked 
out and discussed by Helmholtz, Newcomb 
and myself,* says NO if the consolidation 
of the earth took place as long as 50 million 
years; the solid earth must in that case 
have waited 20 or 50 million years for the 
sun to be anything nearly as warm as he is 
at present. If the consolidation of the 
earth was finished 20 or 25 million years 
ago the sun was probably ready, though 
probably not then quite so warm as at 
present, yet warm enough to support some 
kind of vegetable and animal life on the 
earth. 

$44. My task has been rigorously con- 
fined to what, humanly speaking, we may 
call the fortuitous concourse of atoms, in 
the preparation of the earth as an abode 
fitted for life, except in so far as I have re- 
ferred to vegetation, as possibly having 
been concerned in the preparation of an 


*See ‘Popular Lectures and Addresses,’ Vol. I., 
pp. 376-429, particularly page 397. 


SCIENCE. 711 


atmosphere suitable for animal life as we 
now have it. Mathematics and dynamics 
fail us when we contemplate the earth, 
fitted for life but lifeless, and try to imagine 
the commencement of life upon it. This 
certainly did not take place by any action 
of chemistry, or electricity, or crystalline 
grouping of molecules under the influence 
of force, or by any possible kind of fortui- 
tous concourse of atoms. We must pause, 
face to face with the mystery and miracle of 
the creation of living creatures. 


ADDENDUM.—MAY, 1898. 

Since this lecture was delivered I have 
received from Professor Roberts-Austen 
the following results of experiments on the 
melting-points of rocks which he has kindly 
made at my request: 


Melting-point. Error. 
Felspar:...s.....0s 1520° C. +30° 
Hornblende...... about 1400° 
Mii cainecceecbecees 1440° ==302 
Quantzreceseceense 1775° =15° 
Basaltaccmertscste about 880° 


These results are in conformity with what 
I have said in §§ 26-28 on the probable 
origin of granite and basalt, as they show 
that basalt melts at a much lower tempera- 
ture than felspar, hornblende, mica or 
quartz, the crystalline ingredients of granite. 
In the electrolytic process for producing 
aluminium, now practiced by the British 
Aluminium Company at their Foyers works, 
alumina, of which the melting-point is cer- 
tainly above 1700° C. or 1800° C., is dis- 
solved in a bath of melted cryolite at,a tem- 
perature of about 800° C. So we may 
imagine melted basalt to be a solvent for 
felspar, hornblende, mica and quartz at 
temperatures much below their own sepa- 
rate melting-points ; and we can understand 
how the basaltic rocks of the earth may have 
resulted from the solidification of the mother 
liquor from which the crystalline ingre- 
dients of granite have been deposited. 

KELVIN. 


712 


MENTAL FATIGUE. 

THE purpose of this article is to givea 
preliminary report of some experiments on 
mental fatigue made by the writer. It is 
expected that they will later be presented 
in detail, and accordingly only the method 
and theoretical conclusions will be now 
stated. 

Mental fatigue may mean either the fact 
of incompetency to do certain mental work 
_ or a feeling of incompetency which parallels 
the fact or the feeling or feelings denoted 
by our common expressions ‘ mentally tired,’ 
‘mentally exhausted.’ Among the conclu- 
sions to which the experiments have led are 
the following: first, that the fact of incom- 
petency is not what it has been supposed to 
be; second, that there is no pure feeling of 
incompetency which parallels it and is its 
sign, that consequently the mental states 
ordinarily designated by the phrases men- 
tioned are not states made up of such a 
feeling of incompetency, but are very 
complex affairs; and third, that these mental 
states are in no sense parallels or measures 
of the decrease in ability to do mental 
work. 

We have been accustomed to think of 
mental work in terms of mechanics. The 
mind has been supposed to lose its power to 
work as a rubber ball loses its power to 
bound. As the ball rebounds to a lesser 
and lesser heightso the mind has been sup- 
posed to think with less and less vigor. We 
have talked as if sleep charged the mind 
with mental energy as a current might 
charge a storage-battery with electricity and 
that then the mind had this stock to spend. 
As it spent it, it could exert less and less 
energy in its thinking. One could easily 
show the impropriety of such views by 
demonstrating the inconceivability that the 
complexity of mental action should fit so 
simple a scheme, but it is also useful to 
show the same thing by proof that in the 
case of certain people the mind does not lose 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 229. 


its power to do work from having done 
large amounts of it. My experiments show 
in certain individuals no decrease in 
amount, speed or accuracy of work in the 
evenings of days of hard mental work over 
mornings or in periods immediately follow- 
ing prolonged mental work over periods pre- 
ceding it. 

So far as these and many other experi- 
ments go they all agree in denying that 
the cause for a decreased amount of mental 
work is such a simple lessening of some one 
factor, mental energy or whatever one cares 
to call it. They would affirm, on the con- 
trary, that we did less work when tired; 
not because this stock of mental energy was 
running low, but because ideas of stopping, 
of ‘taking it easy,’ of working intermit- 
tently came in and were not inhibited ; be- 
cause feelings of boredom led to their con- 
sequences of leaning back in one’s chair, 
looking at the clock, etc.; because a certain 
feeling of physical strain weakened one’s. 
impulse to read, write or translate ; because 
sleepiness clouded our mental vision ; be- 
cause headaches or eye-aches tended natu- 
rally to inhibit the processes which caused 
them, etc., etc. 

As to the pure feeling of incompetency I 
fail utterly to find it in myself or to get any 
intelligible account of it from others. After 
one separates out from the feelings of men- 
tal fatigue the factors just mentioned, espe- 
cially the feelings of physical pain and 
strain, the feelings of mental nausea at cer- 
tain ideas, and the feeling of sleepiness, I 
do not think that he will find anything left 
that is worth naming. 

That the feelings of fatigue which we do 
have are not proportionate concomitants 
with the decreasing ability to do mental 
work is shown by the fact that all the per- 
sons in our experiments reported a large 
measure of such feelings in cases where their 
mental work was quite up to the average. 
In general a comparison of the introspective 


May 19, 1899.] 


records of feelings with the actual mental 
ability displayed shows that the former are 
not a parallel or measure of the latter. 

The quantitative results obtained would 
seem to show that the degree of real inabil- 
ity caused by mental work was very much 
less than has been supposed ; that in ordi- 
nary life nature warus us by the complex 
feelings mentioned not to work mentally 
some time before we are really incapacitated 
for work. They would also suggest that 
the results which those investigators who 
have sought to measure mental fatigue 
in school children have obtained were due 
to the use of methods which did not meas- 
ure the inability, but the distaste for mental 
work, of the children. One is tempted to 
put forth the paradox that real mental in- 
competency is the rarest of all reasons for 
stopping or decreasing mental effort. 

The methods used to estimate the ability 
to do mental work are to some extent new 
and so worth mention. The chief was the 
mental multiplication of three figures by 
three (e. g., 794x683); of two figures by 
three, and in some cases four by four. This 
work, at least for the subjects of these ex- 
periments, required the utmost concentra- 
tion. It is very fatiguing (in the ordinary 
sense of the word). Any interruption or 
distracting influence is felt at once and 
makes successful work impossible. So one 
would suppose that it ought to show the 
influence of decreasing power to do mental 
work as clearly as could anything. The 
amount of work and the mistakes can be 
easily and accurately recorded. 

Another method involved the addition of 
columns of twenty numbers, each of five 
figures. This does not require close con- 
centration, but the work done should show 
perfectly the fact of mental fatigue in so far 
as that involves the accuracy and speed of 
associations between ideas. The speed and 
accuracy of discrimination of the lengths of 
lines and of the perception of letters were 


,such criticism. 


SCIENCE. 713 


also used. The tests were arranged so as 
to eliminate the effects of practice. 
Epwarp THORNDIKE, 
WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Development of English Thought: A Study in 
the Economic Interpretation of History. By 
Simon N. PATren, PuH.D., Professor of Polit- 
ical Economy, Wharton School of Finance 
and Economy, University of Pennsylvania. 
New York, The Macmillan Co. 1899. Pp. 
xxvii + 415. 

‘““We don’t know him; let’s heave half a 
brick at him.’’ The process is simple, obvious 
and, to the heavers, effective. There are only 
too many grounds for the fear that Professor 
Patten’s new work will be treated as a vile 
body for this old experiment. Everyone knows 
how easy it is to discredit generalization by 
advancing negative instances; how sweet to 
cavil at principles by alleging that facts have 
been twisted to fit; how seductive to empha- 
size the specialist’s standpoint and to magnify 
its abounding limitations. I do not exaggerate 
in saying that it is long since I have encoun- 
tered a book which lies so open, so invitingly 
open, to these insidious attacks; or, on the 
contrary, one which proves so conclusively the 
unfairness, superficiality, even stupidity, of 
For Professor Patten sets 
theory in the forefront of his discussion, and the 
body of his work sees the persistent application 
of this theory. Nevertheless, he whoruns may 
read that, in the author’s mind, the theory 
came last, being the inference from his detailed 
investigations, the final form in which the mul- 
titudinous facts shaped themselvyes—ceased to 
be mere isolated phenomena and became ration- 
ally one. 

Professor Patten’s theory reposes on a quasi- 
psychological basis. Sensory ideas, or ideas 
brought by the senses from the environment, 
constitute the material of knowledge; and 
‘sensory knowledge is merely the amplification 
and classification of the differences perceived by 
the senses.’’ (2) Such processes produce series 
of mental images ; these, in turn, occasion rela- 
tive motor reactions. Consequently a ‘‘ man’s 


714 


activities are determined by that part of his 
ideas for which motor reactions haye been pro- 
vided.’’ (3) These complicated results are, of 
course, affected profoundly by differences of en- 
vironment. In ‘local’ environments motor re- 
actions predominate, in ‘ general’ environments 
sensory ideas. Thus, ‘stratification of society ’ 
does not take place in obedience to such ‘super- 
ficial’ causes as wealth and social position, but 
must be referred to ‘ psychic’ characteristics. 
‘‘ A yace ideal differs from its elements or from 
an abstract concept by having a motor reaction 
united with it (173). * * * Before the time 
of Locke there were three types of Englishmen 
—the Puritan, the clinger and the sensualist. 
Locke’s analysis had split the Puritan party 
into two parts. One section was transformed 
into stalwarts, who placed race ideals above 
reason and sense impressions, and the other 
into mugwumps, who made the _ opposite 
choice’’ (185). Viewed in this light, English 
society has consisted of four great classes— 
‘Clingers, Sensualists, Stalwarts, Mugwumps’ 
(23-32). ‘Clingers’ spring from ‘local’ en- 
vironments; ‘Sensualists’ appear when” en- 
vironments become richer in objects; they break 
down local traditions and stand forth as con- 
querors. When society becomes sufficiently 
differentiated, ‘Stalwarts’ are evolved—men 
who love creeds and react from sensualism to 
asceticism. Finally, increased wealth produces 
‘Mugwumps,’ who evince a highly developed 
sensory side, and so are strong in thought, but 
weak in action. ‘‘ Its members are cosmopol- 
itan in their sympathies ; advocates of compro- 
mise and policy in politics ; sceptical in thought, 
and agnostic in belief. They dislike ideals, 
creeds and utopias, and are ever ready to ex- 
pose shams and cant in which other people dis- 
guise their sentiments’’ (81). The history of 
English thought is the history of the appear- 
ance, interaction and transformation of those 
classes. ‘‘ The sensualist is the original unmodi- 
fied Englishman, who retains the dross of prim- 
itive times. The clinger is the result of 
qualities grafted on English nature by the 
supremacy of the Church. The stalwart is the 
concrete Puritan. The conflict was a three- 
cornered fight in which either the sensualist or 
the Puritan was the aggressor, while the clin- 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S: Vou.) LX. No. 229. 


ger joined in with the defensive party (139). 
Tan a The three-cornered fight had to go on 
until some solution could be found other than 
those these parties could offer. A new type of 
man was demanded, a type endowed with men- 
tal qualities different from those Englishmen 
then possessed ’’ (141-2). If the matter be 
treated in this way one is freed from foreign 
methods of interpretation and gets to know 
English character as it actually was and is, in 
its own peculiar nature (cf. 43). It ought to 
be said that our author himself recognizes the 
limitations of this standpoint and not merely on 
his title-page. ‘‘ Economic conditions create 
the primary motor reactions, put them to new 
uses and give them a form quite different from 
that they have at the outset. * * * Thecon- 
sequence is that a motor reaction, after losing 
its primal economic importance, responds to 
abstract instead of concrete phenomena ’’ (50— 
1). Further, it ought to be added that the 
most interesting, and, as I believe, the most 
effective part of the work is the second half, 
where this limitation does not press so heavily. 
The execution of this portion, which deals with 
English thought as ruled by the ‘Mugwump,’ 
is a most important contribution to the subject, 
one that all English philosophers, especially 
those who see no good thing outside of Ger- 
many, would do very well to mark, learn and 
inwardly digest. ‘‘If we view English thought 
from this standpoint there are three clearly de- 
fined epochs. In the first Hobbes states the 
problem without solvingit ; Locke is the econo- 
mist on the upward curve; Newton is the 
thinker on the downward curve. In the 
second Mandeville states the problem ; Hume is 
changed from an economist into a philosopher, 
and Adam Smith from a philosopher into an 
economist. The third epoch, beginning with 
Malthus, ends when Mill is transformed into a 
philosopher and Darwin into a biologist’? (55). 

Taking the book as a whole, no one can fail 
to be impressed with its freshness, originality 
and great brilliance in some places. While the 
style is plain and straightforward for the most 
part, incisive sayings—almost epigrammatic on 
occasions—attract attention or serve to stimu- 
late rapid thought. Indeed, sometimes Pro- 
fessor Patten contrives to cast a flood of light 


May 19, 1899.] 


over an entire period by their use. I had 
marked a large number of penetrating purviews 
_and new reflections for quotation, but limits 
of space forbid more than briefest reference to 
avery few. The theory of curves of thought 
(43) ; the value of monastic influences (71); the 
contrasts between communal and family life 
(81, 192, ete.) ; the relation of Catholicism and 
Protestantism to vice and crime (94); the mis_ 
fortunes of the Reformation (104); the sudden- 
ness of English civilization (126) ; Locke’s office 
(162) ; the meaning of Deism (175) ; the contrast 
between England and France (187, 281); the 
presentations of Wesley and Whitefield (250) ; 
the ‘ origins’ of Adam Smith (264) ; the criticism 
of current sociology (333); Romanticism and 
religion (353)—all serve to illustrate the origi- 
nality and one might almost say weird sugges- 
tiveness of Professor Patten’s inferences, and 
other instances might be adduced indefinitely, 

On the other hand, a few things give one 
pause. To begin with, Professor Patten will 
perhaps not take it amiss if a Scot informs him 
that Scottish thought is not a variant of English, 
Hume and Adam Smith and the Mills would 
not have been what they were had their’ na. 
tionality lain south of the Tweed. At the same 
time, I am well aware how difficult it is for the 
foreigner to understand that the Cheviots di- 
vide, if not two civilizations, then two ways of 
thinking. The doctrine of the ‘manly man,’ 
the ‘womanly man,’ and so forth (255, 318, 341, 
etc.), seems a little far-fetched to be made so 
much of; perhaps it applies in the case of John 
Stuart Mill. The bath theory (192) of English 
civilization; the treatment of Calvinism (110, 
etc.); the contrast between Cavalier and Puritan 
(119); the gulf between the upper and lower 
classes in England (1380); the emphasis upon 
clothing (191); the passage from a liquor to a 
sugar diet (881)—all seem to me to be some- 
what fanciful or, at least, to be used in support 
of conclusions which do not necessarily connect 
with them. Many of the ‘Concluding Re- 
marks’ are vitiated by the author’s foreign 
standpoint. For example, the identification of 
religion and economics, while strikingly true 
of the United States, is incomparably less true 
of England, and must remain so till the Anglican 
Church loses its endowments. I ought to add 


SCIENCE. 715 


that some of these objections would probably 
appear less forcible to one fully informed on 
economic questions. 

Finally, the appreciations of English philo- 
sophical thought are wholly admirable. The 
value of the new lights cast on Locke (158), 
Mandeville, Hume (215, 223), the Mills, espe- 
cially the son (3831), Darwin (3845), and the 
present position of English philosophy (377) and 
religion (398), cannot be overestimated at the 
contemporary juncture. Emphasis ought to be 
laid on the masterly discussions of Ricardo and 
Adam Smith ; the interpretation of the former 
is most illuminating. 

So far as Iam capable of judging, the book 
is obviously the work of a very able man and 
one unusually well informed; of a man who 
has extraordinary capacity for seeing and tell- 
ing truths pointedly, even though he may 
miss the whole truth time and again. In any 
case, it must be reckoned with and cannot miss 
the exercise of wide influence, whether this be 
of a negative or positive character. 

R. M. WENLEY. 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 


Peruvian Meteorology, 1888-1890. Compiled 
and prepared for publication by SoLon I. 
BAILEY, under the direction of EDwaArp C. 
PICKERING. Annals of the Astronomical Ob- 
servatory of Harvard College, Vol. XXXIX., 
Part I. 4to. Cambridge, Published by the 
Observatory. 1899. Pp. 153. Pls. VI. 

It is safe to say that no publication has been 
awaited with greater interest among meteorolo- 
gists than the volume now before us. Ever since 
the establishment of the permanent Southern 
Station of the Harvard College Observatory at 
Arequipa, in 1891, and of the auxiliary meteor- 
logical stations in connection with it, every 
meteorologist the world over has been anxious 
to have access to the data which have been 
gathered concerning the climatic conditions of 
that unique region. The notable discoveries 
made on the photographic plates from Arequipa 
have turned the attention of every astronomer 
towards Peru. Now the meteorological world 
likewise turns towards Peru in the study of the 
records which are for the first time accessible. 
Readers of SciENCE will remember that the 


716 


astronomical and meteorological work of the 
Observatory of Harvard College in Peru is the 
result of a bequest left to the Observatory in the 
will of Mr. Uriah A. Boyden, in 1887. Under 
the terms of the will this money was to aid in 
the establishment of an observatory ‘‘ at such 
an elevation as to be free, so far as practicable, 
from the impediments to accurate observation 
which occur in observatories now existing, 
owing to atmospheric influences.’? It was in 
connection with the study of the atmospheric 
conditions of the desert strip of the west coast of 
South America, with a view to determining the 
best possible site for the new observatory, that 
the early meteorological observations in Peru 
were undertaken. The stations selected for the 
taking of these preliminary observations were 
Mollendo, Arequipa, Vincocaya, Puno and 
Chosica. The first four stations are between 
latitude S. 15° 40’ and S. 17° 5’, on the 
Ferrocarril del Sur del Peru, which runs from 
Mollendo, onthe sea coast, northeast to Puno, 
on Lake Titicaca, a distance of 325 miles (by 
rail). Mollendo is immediately on the coast (alti- 
tude 80 feet). Arequipa is at a distance of 80 
miles ina direct line from the Pacific Ocean, at an 
altitude of 7,550 feet. Vincocaya is 14,360 feet 
above sea level, on a desolate plateau, near the 
crest of the Western Cordillera. Puno (12,540 
feet) is on the western shore of Lake Titicaca. 
The station at Chosica was situated about 25 
miles northeast of Lima (altitude 6,600 feet). 
A few observations, chiefly of cloudiness, were 
made at the Pampa Central, near the central 
western part of the Desert of Atacama, in 
Chile. ; 

These early observations were made during 
the years 1888-1890, with more or less com- 
pleteness. They are, however, preliminary, 
They were almost all made by observers who 
had had little or no experience and who re- 
ceived no compensation for their services. The 
instrumental equipment in use at the different 
stations varied considerably ; the hours of ob- 
servation were not always the same ; the loca- 
tion of the instruments was sometimes changed. 
In short, the work as a whole was done in an 
unsystematic and incomplete and often in a very 
inaccurate way. This was, of course, abso- 
lutely unavoidable. It was impossible to secure 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 229. 


trained observers, to inspect the stations, or to 
test the instruments. The observations were, 
therefore, liable to be considerably in error. 
Thus, in connection with the minimum ther- 
mometer readings at Chosica the statement is 
made in a note that it is probable that the 
lower end of the index in the minimum ther- 
mometer was read, instead of the upper end. 
And in the wind observations at Arequipa and 
Vincocaya it is noted that ‘‘ the direction of the 
wind was always given, even if the remark 
appended was ‘calm’ or ‘dead calm.’ Ap- 
parently the position of the wind-vane was re- 
corded, whether at the time wind was observed 
or not.’? These two cases will serve to indicate 
the sort of errors which inevitably appear in 
these records. We do not intend to criticise 
adversely the publication of these early Peru- 
vian observations, but merely to point out their 
necessary inaccuracies. Professor Pickering says 
very clearly in the preface: ‘‘ These observations 
must not be regarded as indicating the accuracy 
of those made later. * * * It must be remem- 
bered that it was not possible under the condi- 
tions then existing to obtain observations of 
the accuracy of those made by professional ob- 
servers at permanent and easily accessible ob- 
servatories.’’? And again, on page 68, Professor 
Bailey says: ‘‘ The results are perhaps as reliable 
as are possible in such outlying stations, where 
experienced observers cannot be obtained and 
frequent supervision is impossible.’’ 

The published observations comprise tweuty- 
nine tables. The data are by no means equally 
complete for all stations. At Mollendo, Are- 
quipa and Vincocaya the instruments in use 
were the maximum, minimum and ordinary 
thermometers, thermograph and rain-gauge. 
At Arequipa a solar radiation and a wet-bulb- 
thermometer were also used. At Puno the ob- 
servations were continued but a short time, 
and there was no thermograph. At the Cho- 
sica station, in addition to the above-named in- 
struments, there were a barograph, sunshine and 
pole-star recorder. At Pampa Central cloud 
observations only were made, four times daily. 
There are several tables showing the hourly 
means of the barograph and thermograph, and 
a comparison of thermometer and thermograph 
hourly and monthly means. Curves are also 


May 19, 1899.] 


given showing the diurnal variation of temper- 
ature at Mollendo, Arequipa, Vincocaya and 
the Chosica station ; the diurnal variation of 
pressure for the Chosica station, and the annual 
range of the afternoon oscillation of pressure at 
the Chosica station. Beyond some general re- 
marks in explanation of the tables, there is no 
discussion of the observations. 

Besides the meteorological portion proper, 
this volume containsa very attractive account, 
by Professor Bailey, with some excellent illus- 
trations, of the voleano El Misti (19,200 feet), 
and of the establishment of the now famous 
Misti meteorological station on its summit. 
There is also a carefully compiled account of 
The Configuration and Heights of the Andes, 
which will be of distinct value to geographers. 

We presume that Professor Pickering may 
receive some rather severe criticism in certain 
quarters for the publication of meteorological 
data which are so incomplete and which, doubt- 
less, have very many inaccuracies. But we 
agree with him in believing that, considering 
the interest of the region in which these obser- 
vations were made, and the lack of information 
concerning its meteorology, such results deserve 
publication, provided careful statement is made 
in regard to the circumstances under which the 
data were collected. Professor Pickering and 
Professor Bailey have both made these condi- 
tions perfectly clear, and we believe that the 
results, when viewed in the light of these 
statements, will prove not only of great interest, 


but also of great value. 
R. DEC. WARD. 


The Elements of Physical Chemistry. By J. Liv- 
INGSTON R. MorGAn, PH.D., of the Depart- 
ment of Physical Chemistry, Columbia Uni- 
versity. First edition, first thousand. New 
York, John Wiley & Sons; London, Chap- 
man & Hall, Limited. 1899. Pp. 299. 
This little book deals with the gaseous state, 

the liquid state, the solid state, solution, the 

role of the ions in analytical chemistry, thermo- 
chemistry, chemical change, including equilib- 
rium and chemical kinetics, phases and electro- 
chemistry. 

The aim of the author is to present the 
elements of physical chemistry in brief form to 


SCIENCE. ele 


those who do not have the time or opportunity 
to go more extensively into the subject. An 
examination of the work will bring out much 
that is of interest and importance, and a care- 
ful study of it will help a beginner to obtain 
an insight into the subject. But the objec- 
tion might be raised to the work as a whole 
that it seems to deal rather with conclusions 
and generalizations than with the evidence 
upon which such are based. Further, there are 
many omissions which it is difficult to account 
for. Thus, under liquids no mention is made 
of Kopp’s work on atomic volumes; of the work 
of Pulfrich, Landolt, Gladstone, Brithl and 
others, on the refractivity of liquids; of the rota- 
tion of the plane of polarized light and the Le 
Bel-Van’t Hoff hypothesis; of the work of Per- 
kins, and of Rodger and Watson on magnetic 
rotation; of Thorpe and Rodger on viscosity; of 
Ramsay and Shields on the surface-tension of 
liquids as applied to the determination of molec- 
ular weights. It would seem that such impor- 


_ tant work as the above ought to be referred to 


briefly even in an elementary treatise designed 
to cover the whole field of physical chemistry. 
An examination of the book will show, further 
that much of the more recent experimental 
work has not been taken into account, indica- 
ting that text-books which have been published 
several years, rather than the original literature, 
have been drawn upon as the source of material. 
As in most text-books, so here, an occasional 
statement is not quite accurate. But what book 
is perfectly logical, thoroughly comprehensive 
and rigidly exact throughout ? 
Harry C. JONES. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Anatomy of the Central Nervous System of Man and 
of Vertebrates in General. LUDWIG EDINGER. Trans- 
lated from the fifth German edition by WINFIELD 
S. HALL, assisted by P. L. HoLLAND and E. P. 
CARLTON. Philadelphia, F. A. Davis Company. 
1899. Pp. xi-+ 446. 


Marriages of the Deaf in America. EDWARD ALLEN 


Fay. Washington, Gibson Bros. 1898. Pp. 
vii + 527. 

A Century of Vaccination. W. Scorr Tress, Lon- 
don, Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. 1899. Second 


Edition. Pp. 452. 


718 


Essai critique sur Vhypothése des atomes dans la science 
contemporaine. ARTHUR HANNEQUIN. Paris, Al- 
can. 1899. Second Edition. Pp. 457. 

Social Phases of Education in the School and the Home. 
SamuEL T. Durron. New York and London, 
The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. viii 259. 

The Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands of the North Pacific 


Ocean. DAVID STARR JORDAN. Washington, 
Government Printing Office. 1898. Pp. 606 and 
13 Plates. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

American Chemical Journal, May. The Action 
of Metals on Nitric Acid: By P. C. Freer and 
G. O. Higsley. The reduction of strong acid is 
due to the metals alone, but with dilute acid both 
metal and hydrogen take part in the reduction. 
On the Dissociation of Phosphorus Pentabro- 
mide in Solution in Organic Solvents: By J. H. 
Kastle and W. A. Beatty. On the Color of 
Compounds of Bromine and of Iodine: By J. 
H. Kastle. The explanation offered is that the 
color is due to a slight dissociation of the solid 
substance. On the Formation of Potassiums 
B- ferricyanide through the action of Acids on the 
Normal Ferricyanide: By J. Locke and G. H. 
Edwards. <A very small amount of acid is suf- 
ficient to produce this change without the 
presence. of any oxidizing agent. Trinitro- 
phenylmalonic Ester: By C. L. Jackson and 
J. I. Phinney. The Relation of Trivalent to 
Pentavalent Nitrogen: By A. Lachman. The 
authors report the results so far obtained in an 
attempt to establish the trivalent or pentavalent 
condition of nitrogen, in various compounds, by 
the action with zine ethyl. 

J. ELLIOTT GILPIN, 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES—SECTION OF 
BIOLOGY, MARCH 14, 1899. 


OBSERVATIONS on the Germ Layers of Teleost 
Fishes: F. B. Sumner. 

Mr. Sumner showed that Teleost eggs can be 
divided into two types according to their ap- 
proach to the holoblastic form of cleavage ; that 
germ dise and yolk cannot strictly be contrasted 
as epiblast and hypoblast respectively ; that 
the germ-ring arises either by involution or 
delamination or both; that the ‘ prostoma’ of 


SCIENCE, 


[N. 8S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


Kupffer is a reality. Kupffer’s contention that 
the prostoma represents the entire blastopore is, 
however, wrong. Mr. Sumner showed also that 
the hypoblast in the stone-catfish is derived 
partly from the posterior lip of the prostoma 
and partly from the germ-ring ; perhaps wholly 
from the prostoma in the trout; that the 
function of Kupffer’s vesicle, which arises as a 
cleft between the prostomal entoderm and the 
involuted margin of the blastoderm, is probably 
the absorption of fluid nutriment elaborated 
from the yolk by the periblast. 

Further Notes on the Echinoderms of Ber- 
muda: H. L. Clark. Presented by Professor 
C. L. Bristol. 

Dr. Clark’s paper sums up the work on the 
Echinoderms collected by the New York Uni- 
versity Expedition in the summers of ’97 and 
798, and presents a check list of the Echinoderms 
thus far reported from Bermuda. The collection 
of 1898 was especially rich in holothurians, con- 
taining many species hitherto collected, adding 
several others to the list from Bermuda, and one 
new to science. From his work on Stichopus 
Dr. Clark suggests that the different forms 
found in Bermuda may be mature and imma- 
ture individuals of S. mébii (Semp.). Synapta 
vivipara was found under conditions widely dif- 
ferent from those in Jamaica, The new Synapta 
is allied to S. inhewrens, and Dr. Clark has 
named it S. acanthia. 

The Echinoderms from Bermuda are distrib- 
uted as follows: Asteroidea, 4; Ophiuroidea, 
7; Echinoidea, 8 ; Holothuroidea, 10. 

The Sequence of Moults and Plumages of the 
Passerine Birds of New York State: Jonathan 
Dwight, M. D. 

Dr. Dwight fully described the process of 
moulting and its relation to the plumage of 
about one hundred and fifty species of land birds 
common to eastern North America. The early 
plumage of these birds was described, together 
with the time and method of the acquisition of 
later plumages. Stress was laid upon the un- 
derlying principles of the sequence or succes- 
sion of plumages peculiar to each species, and 
the moults and plumages were classified accord- 
ing to a definite scheme by the author. 

Gary N. CALKINS, 
Secretary. 


? 


May 19, 1899. ] 


SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY, APRIL 
17, 1899. 

Proressor J. J. STEVENSON in the Chair. 

Dr. A. A. Julien presented a ‘Note on a 
Feldspar from the Calumet Copper Mine, Ke- 
weenaw Point, Michigan,’ with specimens col- 
lected by him at the first opening of that mine. 
The wide distribution of the mineral was pointed 
out, through both the Portage Lake and On- 
tonagon districts, as drusy linings of cavities in 
the amygdaloid and in crystals scattered through 
the cement of the copper conglomerate. The 
crystals were of simple type, a rhombic prism 
with orthodome modification on obtuse angles, 
but both faces and cleavage-planes were often 
distinctly curved. By the complete analysis 
presented, it was identified as a normal ortho- 
clase, with an unusually large proportion of 
protoxides in isomorphous replacement. These 
seemed to bear a relationship to the instability 
of the mineral, indicated by its general partial 
‘decomposition ; to its remarkably low Specific 
Gravity, 2.455; and possibly, in part, to the 
curvature of its planes. 

Professor J. F. Kemp called attention to the 
unusual presence of cobalt oxide ina feldspar, 
shown in the analysis. 

Dr. E. O. Hovey then gave a very interest- 
ing description, with lantern illustrations, of 
‘Geological and Mineralogical Notes Gathered 
during a Collecting Trip in Russia,’ in connec- 
tion with the excursions of the recent Interna- 
tional Congress. Many of the lantern pictures 
were beautifully colored ; they referred in part 
to ethnographic observations ; and the accom- 
panying remarks awakened much interest. 

ALEXIS A. JULIEN, 
Secretary of Section. 


GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS’ CLUB 
OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

Students’ Geological Club, March 28.—Mr. C. 
H. White explained a method of field work that 
has been developed by the members of the Ap- 
palachian Division of the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey. It can be used only in regions of 
distinctly bedded rocks of low dip, and has the 
merit of greatly facilitating both field and lab- 
oratory work. Mr. A. W. Grabau exhibited a 


SCIENCE. 


719 


number of new paleontological specimens 
which were collected by Mr. W. W. Dodge 
from the middle Cambrian, at Braintree, Mass. 
These included nine very perfect specimens of 
a new species of Acrothele. 

Geological Conference, April 4, 1899.—In ‘A 
Comparison of Snow-chart with Ice-lobes,’ Mr. 
R. R. Kent described a method of comparing 
the location of snow accumulations of the pres- 
ent time with those of glacial time; the posi- 
tion of the former being indicated by snow- 
charts and the latter by frontal moraines. From 
these snow-charts, issued weekly by the 
Weather Bureau, composite charts for the 
winters of ’96-’97 and ’98—’99 were constructed. 
These showed that the lines of equal snow- 
averages follow lobations which in character 
and position closely correspond to the glacial 
lobes. The driftless area of Wisconsin was 
thus shown to have been an area of minimum 
snow-average, during the past winter. In their 
tendency toward local retention, the distribu- 
tions of snow for these two winters show in 
miniature a remarkable likeness to the supposed 
distribution of glacial times. 

In considering the causes of annual isochional 
lobations, maps were shawn which gave lines 
indicating equal frequency of exposure of local 
areas to traversal by cyclonic areas during 
these winters. These present a remarkable re- 
semblance between these lines and the distribu- 
tion of snow. Accordingly, the speaker con- 
cluded that the lobations shown by the charted 
averages are due to meteorological rather than 
to topographical causes. 

Dr. R. A. Daly communicated the results of 
a study of etch figures produced with hydro- 
fluoric acid and the caustic alkalies on the 
principal planes of the amphiboles, with espe- 
cial reference to the cleavage prism. He sum- 
marizes the chief problems which he studied in 
this connection as follows: ‘‘(1) The orienta- 
tion of the amphiboles—that of Tschermak 
(Dana, Lacroix) is preferred to that of Norden- 
skidld (Hintze) ; (2) the orientation of cleavage 
pieces of amphiboles; (8) the limits of variation 
on (110), (010) and (100) of the different species 
of amphibole—these can be used for determina- 
tive purposes; (4) the testing of Retgers’ law 
that isomorphous bodies must have, using the 


720 


same reagent, similar etch figures on the same 
face—it is concluded that, if the law hold actin- 
olite and all amphiboles without a sesquioxide, 
cannot be isomorphous, with a hornblende ; (5) 
the holohedral character of all amphiboles—it 
is established for monoclinic and orthorombic 
species ; (6) the demonstration of the orthorom- 
bic character of anthophyllite and of gedrite, a 
doubt of which has been expressed by Hintze 
and others; (7) a comparison between the am- 
phiboles and pyroxenes as to etching properties 
—an extraordinary likeness in the figures pro- 
duced on the pinacoids and on the artificial 
face of actinolite representing in position the 
plane (110) of diopside seems to ally the two 
groups even more closely than has been sus- 
pected ; (8) the proof that close attention must 
be given to the method of etching with hydro- 
fluoric acid.’’ 

The discovery of anomalous etch-pits on a 
hornblende from Philipstad, Sweden, led to the 
recognition of a new variety of hornblende 
characterized by a well-marked zonal structure, 
an unusually small optical angle, an unusual 
pleochroism and absorption scheme, and a pe- 
culiar chemical composition. For details see 
Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences, Vol. XXXIV., Nos. 15 and 16, 
March, 1899. 

J. M. BoUTWELL, 
Recording Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


At the meeting of the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis of May 1, 1899, nineteen persons 
present, the Secretary presented by title a paper 
by Professor F. E. Nipher, on gravitation in 
gaseous nebule. 

Dr. Amand Ravold exhibited cultures and 
microscopic specimens showing the Micrococcus 
intercellularis meningitidis of Weichselbaum, ob- 
tained from a case of cerebro-spinal meningitis, 
and stated that this case afforded an interest- 
ing instance of germ infection through the 
placenta, inasmuch as the cerebro-spinal system 
of an unborn child of the patient was likewise 
found to be infected by the germ, from which 
source, in fact, the specimens exhibited were 
derived. 

Mr. H. von Schrenk presented the general re- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


sults of a study of certain diseases of the yellow 
pine, illustrating his remarks by the exhibition 
of a number of specimens showing the charac- 
teristic phenomena of the diseases and the 
fruiting bodies of the fungi which cause them. 
WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
General Secretary. 


UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 

THE following papers have been presented 
during the year: ‘Methods of determining the 
Solar Parallax,’ Dr. Frederick L. Chase, of Yale 
University; ‘A Theory of the Nature of Philos- 
ophy, Dr. Francis Kennedy ; ‘The Velocity of 
Electrical Waves,’ Dr. Wm. Duane ; ‘ Graphical 
Methods of determining Stresses in framed 
Structures,’ Mr. Frederick T. Rubidge ; ‘ Wire- 
less Telegraphy,’ Dr. Wm. Duane. 

The Society meets the first Friday in each 
month from November to March. All men of 
science are invited to attend the meetings. 

FRANCIS RAMALEY, 


. Secretary. 
BouLpER, Couo., April 28, 1899. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE STORAGE OF PAMPHLETS, 

RECENT correspondence on this subject in the 
pages of SCIENCE suggests that a description of 
the method adopted in my private library, as 
also in that of the Geological Department of the 
British Museum, may interest some of your 
readers. 

The pamphlet-box finally evolved after some 
years of experiment is constructed thus: a solid 
back of wood (a), to each side of which is 
hinged (at h) a half-box (b). When closed, one 
half slightly overlaps the other by a rebated 
edge, so as to exclude dust; they may be fast- 
ened by a catch, but this is quite unnecessary in 
the smaller and lighter makes. When open 
both sides and back lie flat on the table ; or, if 
space be limited, one side can hang down over 
the edge of the table or can be kept standing 
up. In the lighter makes the sides are of paste- 
board, and are hinged to the back by a linen 
hinge (h), the outside is all covered with stout 
binder’s cloth and the inside is lined with white 
glazed paper. In the heavier makes (suitable 
for large quartos or for a public library) the 


May 19, 1899.] 


sides are of thin wood, similarly hinged to the 
back, but on the outside the back and the 
hinges are covered with roan. Attached to the 
inner side of the tail end of the back is a loop 
of tape or roan, by which the box can be pulled 
out from the shelf. The outside measurements 
of the size adopted in my library for ordinary 
pamphlets are, height, 114 inches; depth, 9 
inches; thickness, 3} inches. The thickness of 
the material is from } to } inch according to its 
position. 

The merits of this type of case are extreme 
simplicity, readiness of access to pamphlets, 
freedom from dog-earing the corners or folding 
the wrappers as pamphlets are taken in and out. 
To refer to a pamphlet one simply places the 
back of the case on the table, lets fall the two 
sides on to the table and turns over the pamph- 
lets until the desired one is found. Without 


Fic. 1. The pamphlet-case open and seen from the 
inside. 


removing the pamphlet one can turn over the 
pages, note the passage required and then with- 
out further ado close the sides of the pamphlet- 
box just as one would close a bound book, and 
replace it on the shelf. The cases are light, 
dust-proof and durable; and the lighter ones 
cost me 2s. 9d. (66 cents) apiece when ordered 
by the half gross. 

As for arrangement, each worker will follow 
the method that suits him best. I sort the 
pamphlets first into subjects, and within each 
subject arrange them alphabetically under au- 
thors’ names ; those of each author are placed 
chronologically. Any number of boxes may go 
to one subject. Each is labelled on the back 


SOIENCE. 


721 


with a white paper label on which the subject is 
stencilled in black, while the letters contained 
in that particular box are marked in broad soft 
pencil, easily changed as required (see Fig. 2). 


y 
V4 


/ 
MUSEUMS \ H 
PLACES | 
f 
7, 


Fic. 2. The pamphlet-case closed as it stands on the 
shelf. 


In this way the boxes devoted to Crinoidea 
have grown from 1 to 14 and the position of no 
pamphlet has ever been in doubt. 

Of course a card-catalogue is a necessary ad- 
junct to a collection of any size, as it enables 
one to assign a doubtful pamphlet to any sub- 
ject, and to find it again by a symbol pencilled 
on the catalogue slip. 

It may be paternal prejudice, but I certainly 
consider this form of case simpler and more 
effective than any I have seen or read about. I 
do not say that it is cheaper. 

F. A. BATHER. 


THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY AT 
WOOD'S HOLL. 


‘THE ANNUAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF 
MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY.’* 


THE 


THE Twelfth Session of the Marine Biological 
Laboratory will begin on June 1st, and will con- 
tinue for four months. This session promises 
to be the most successful in the history of the 
Laboratory. While the courses of instruction 
heretofore offered will be maintained by an ex- 
ceptionally strong staff, three entirely new 
courses have been added, these courses in 


* Copies of the Announcement may be had on ap- 
plication to the Director, Professor C..O. Whitman, 
University of Chicago, or to the Assistant Director, 
Professor Ulric Dahlgren, Princeton University. 


722 


(Cytology, Physiology and Psychology) being 
under the immediate supervision of men emi- 
nently fitted for their work. 

The course in Cytological Research will be 
conducted by Professor Watasé, with the as- 
sistance of Mr. W. H. Packard. The course is 
designed for a limited number of students who 
are prepared to begin investigation. A special 
problem will be assigned to each member of the 
class, and methods of dealing with it will be 
suggested.. The laboratory work will be ac- 
companied by a series of lectures on general 
cytological subjects, designed to give a view of 
the field of cellular biology as a whole, and at 
the same time to indicate the bearings of the 
problems under investigation. 

The course in General and Comparative 
Physiology will be conducted by Dr. Loeb, as- 
sisted by Drs. Norman, Lyon and Mathews, 
and will consist of laboratory work and lec- 
tures. The following is a brief outline of the 
work: 

I. The Tropisms of Animals. Galyanotro- 
pism, Heliotropism, Geotropism and Compen- 
satory Motions, Chemotropism, Heterotropism 
in sessile and free forms. 

II. Effects of External Influences upon Liv- 
ing Matter (lack of oxygen, acids and alkalies, 
temperature, etc.). 

III. Physiological Morphology. Experiments 
on Growth and Development, Regeneration 
and Heteromorphosis. 

IV. Comparative Physiology of the Central 
Nervous System and Comparative Psychology. 
V. Comparative Physiology of Digestion. 
VI. Comparative Physiology of Secretion. 

VII. Micro-chemistry. 

In Comparative Psychology, Dr. Edward 
Thorndike will give a course of lectures on the 
Sense-powers, Instincts, Habits and Intelligence 
of Animals, and will direct the work of a few 
students in this department. 

Opportunities for work in Botany are espe- 
cially inviting. Drs. Davis and Moore, as heads 
of the department, will have general charge of 
the laboratory. 

The course of lectures in Plant Morphology 
and Physiology is supplied by such a strong 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 229. 


corps, and the subjects are of such scientific 
importance, that we copy the program in full: 


A COURSE OF LECTURES ON PLANT MORPHOLOGY 
AND PHYSIOLOGY. 

First Week, July 5-12.—Erwin F. Smith, ‘ Bac- 
teria’; D. T. MacDougal, ‘ Physiological Subjects’; 
Douglas H. Campbell, ‘The Evolution of the Sporo- 
phyte in the Archegoniates and Flowering Plants.’ 

Second Week, July 12-19.—Miss Clara E. Cum- 
mings, ‘Lichens’; L. M. Underwood, ‘The Evolu- 
tion of the Hepatice’; Rodney H. True, ‘ Plants 
and Poisons.’ 

Third Week, July 19-26.—H. J. Webber, ‘Sper- 
matogenesis, Development of Embryo Sac, and Fe- 
cundation in Gymnosperms’; C. O. Townsend, 
‘Physiology of the Plant Cell.’ 

Fourth Week, July 26-August 2.—J. M. Macfar- 
lane, ‘Plant Irritability’; G. F. Atkinson, ‘ Higher 
Fungi.’ 

Fifth Week, August 2-9.—J. M. Macfarlane, 
‘Physio-morphology of a Few Angiospermic Orders’ ; 
Henry Kraemer, ‘The Unorganized Contents of the 
Cells of Plants.’ 

Sixth Week, August 9-16.—D. M. Mottier, ‘Cyto- 
logical Studies on the Pollen and Embryo-sae of An- 
giosperms’; D. P. Penhallow, ‘ Paleobotany.’ 


Within the last few years workers at Wood’s 
Holl have derived great profit from the free 
discussion of various biological methods, facts 
and theories. During the coming summer 
there will be three seminars: The Neurological, 
Biological and Botanical—a series of lectures 
on Zoological Technique, and the customary 
course of ‘Evening Lectures.’ The latter are 
designed to present the results of research in 
different lines and departments, in so far as 
these are of general interest. 

There are thirty names on the list of officers 
of instruction, and fifty-four names on the list of 
lecturers. In these two lists fully thirty-five 
educational institutions are represented. 


GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION OF Dk. BECKER 
TO THE PHILIPPINES. 

Dr. GEO. F. BECKER, the expert economic 
geologist, who, early last summer, was sent by 
the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, 
under a cooperative arrangement with the War 
Department, to Manila to make a reconnais- 
sance of the geologic structure and mineral re- 


May 19, 1899.] 


sources of the Philippines, has been prevented 
by the uncertainty of the political situation and 
the state of war there existing from prosecuting 
these investigations, through no fault, however, 
of either Admiral Dewey or General Otis, both 
of whom would ere this have provided the 
facilities for safe travel about the islands, ete., if 
it had been possible todo so. From recent ad- 
vices from the military authorities at Manila, 
however, it appears that, not content to rest in 
idleness, Dr. Becker early attached himself to 
the Bureau of Military Information of the 
Army, and soon became the right-hand man of 
Major J. F. Bell, in charge. Official reports 
and papers that have since passed between 
Major Bell and the Commanding General, and 
letters from the officers to Director Walcott, 
record numerous valuable services rendered by 
Dr. Becker to the army through the Bureau of 
Military Information, and also repeated acts of 
gallantry and soldierly usefulness in action, and 
accord him high praise for his conduct. He is 
repeatedly and strongly complimented by his 
military superiors, from Major Bell to Generals 
MacArthur and Otis. The reports, which cover 
events only to the middle of March, mention 
no fewer than 14 military reconnaissances and 
active engagements had with the forces, in all of 
which Dr. Becker took part. 

It has not yet been determined by the Direc- 
tor of the Survey how long Dr. Becker shall 
remain in the Philippine Islands, but it is be- 
lieved that he will be able to make some sub- 
stantial progress with his geologic investigations 
before he is recalled. Being skilled in rapid 
field observation, he will be able to advance the 
work rapidly if once he gets at it. It is not 
improbable that he is even now doing strati- 
graphic geology in the Island of Negros, with a 
view to correlating its structure with that of 
Cebu. At least, he expressed the hope when 
he last wrote to Director Walcott, March 1st, 
of being able to do this in April and after that 
of going to Cebu and studying the coal deposits. 

It is reported that Dr. Becker contemplates 
returning to America via the Suez Canal and of 
making a study en route of the great tin de- 
posits at or near Singapore. 

May 5, 1899 


SCIENCE. 


79 
(23 


CONVERSAZIONE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 

THE first Conversazione of the season was 
held by the Royal Society at Burlington House, 
on May 3d. The guests were received by the 
President, Lord Lister, and a large number of 
men of science was present. The following 
particulars concerning the exhibits, which were 
of a more strictly scientific character than 
usual, are taken from the London Times: Pro- 
fessor Arthur Thomson exhibited a model to 
illustrate how natural curliness of the hair is 
produced. An exhibit from the Marine Biolog- 
ical Association of Plymouth illustrated meth- 
ods of feeding of marine animals by means of 
living and preserved examples. A series of 
selected animals from the neighborhood of 
Plymouth was shown, illustrating different 
methods practiced for securing food. The As- 
sociation also showed charts illustrating the 
distribution of the fauna and bottom deposits 
near the 80-fathom line from the HEddystone 
grounds to Start Point. Dr. Francisco Moreno, 
who has done so much for the exploration of 
Patagonia, exhibited a portion of skin of an 
extinct ground-sloth from a cavern in southern 
Patagonia, which has been exciting great inter- 
est among naturalists. To Dr. Moreno was 
also due a fine plaster reproduction of the skele- 
ton of Toxodon platensis, an extinct ungulate 
quadruped from the Pampa formation, province 
of Buenos Ayres, Argentina. Dr. Woodward’s 
selection of zoological specimens from Christ- 
mas Island, Indian Ocean, collected by Mr. C. 
W. Andrews, was of special interest, containing, 
as it did, some remarkable forms of insects, 
birds, and even rats. Not less interesting was 
the varied collection of birds, insects, shells, 
ete., brought home by Dr. H. O. Forbes and 
Mr. Grant from Sokotra. 

Dr. Manson and Surgeon-Major Ross showed 
microscopes beneath which were displayed 
specimens of mosquitoes, showing the develop- 
ment of the parasites of malaria in their tissues, 
and also of the same parasites assuming deadly 
dimensions in the human tissues. 

Among other exhibits were the new element 
Victorium, of the Yttrium group, one of the 
latest results of Sir William Crookes’s long con- 
tinued researches in phosphorescent spectra ; 
Mr. Saville-Kent’s natural-color photographs 


of various zoological and botanical subjects; 
Mr. Carus-Wilson’s specimens of decomposed 
flints; Wehneit’s electrolytic contact breaker, 
which seems capable of producing extraordi- 
nary results; Mr. Everard im Thurn’s beautiful 
water-color sketches of Guiana orchids; Mr. 
Shelford Bidwell’s experiments demonstrating 
multiple vision; Mr. Joseph Goold’s intersec- 
tion patterns in compound-vibration curves; 
Sir Norman Lockyer’s photographs of stellar 
spectra, and a very delicate and threadlike 
photograph of a meteor taken by Mr. C. P. 
Butler on the night of April 8, 1899. 

Among the new instruments which specially 
attracted attention was the radiation recorder 
of Professor H. L. Callendar, so delicate that it 
shows when the slightest haze passes across the 
sky. The microscopic specimens illustrating 
the further researches which have been made 
into the effects of strain in metals by Professor 
Ewing and Mr. W. Rosenhain are noteworthy. 
Mr. A. Mallock’s ingenious adaptation of thin 
films of pyroxyline for use as mirrors deserves 
mention, as do also Mr. H. N. Dickson’s series 
of charts illustrative of temperature and salinity 
in the North Atlantic. The lantern exhibitions 
were particularly attractive, especially Mr. 
Kearton’s slides illustrating the haunts and 
habits of British birds. Dr. Sorby also used the 
lantern to show some beautiful slides of Actinice 
and other marine animals, and Mr. W. Duddell, 
oscillographs, applied to alternate current wave- 
forms, and to the Wehnelt interrupter. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


THE next meeting of the American Society 
of Naturalists will be held at New Haven, 
Conn., during Christmas week. Most of the 
‘affiliated societies’ have signified their inten- 
tion of meeting at the same place. 


AT the annual meeting of the American 
Academy of Art and Sciences, held May 10, 
1899, the Rumford medal was, on the recom- 
mendation of the Rumford Committee, awarded 
to Mr. Charles F. Brush, of Cleveland, for ‘the 
Practical Development of Electrical Arc Light- 
ing.’ 


PROFESSOR C. F. CHANDLER, of Columbia Uni- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 229. 


versity, has received the regular nomination 
for President of the Society of Chemical In- 
dustry. The election takes place in July at the 
annual meeting. This Society numbers 3,200: 
chemists, of whom nearly 600 reside in the 
United States. Its headquarters are in Lon- 
don; it has sections also in Liverpool, New- 
castle, Nottingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manches- 
ter and New York. In the list of former Presi- 
dents appear the names of Sir Henry E. Ros- 
coe, Sir Frederick Abell, Walter Welden, W. 
H. Perkin, E. K. Muspratt, David Howard, 
Professor James Dewar, Ludwig Mond, Sir 
Lowthian Bell, E. Rider Cook, J. Emerson 
Reynolds, Sir John Evans, E. C. C. Stanford, 
T. E. Thorpe, Thomas Tyrer, Dr. Edward 
Schunck, F. Clowes and George Beilby. 


CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY has conferred the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Science on Sir 
William Turner, professor of anatomy of the ° 
University of Edinburgh, and on the Rev. 
Thomas Wiltshire, emeritus professor of geol- 
ogy in King’s college, London. 

AT the annual meeting of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences on May 10, 1899, 
the following officers were elected: President : 
Alexander Agassiz; Vice-President for Class 
I.: John Trowbridge ; Vice-President for Class 
II.: Alpheus Hyatt; Vice-President for Class 
III.: Augustus Lowell; Corresponding Secre- 
tary: Samuel H. Scudder ; Recording Secretary : 
William Watson; Treasurer: Francis Blake ; 
Librarian: A. Lawrence Rotch; Member of the 
Committee of Finance: Augustus Lowell ; Coun- 
cillors from Class I.: Henry Taber, Theodore 
W. Richards, Harry M. Goodwin; Councillors 
from Class II.: Benjamin I. Robinson, William 
T. Councilman, John E. Wolff; Councillors 
from Class III.: Barrett Wendell, Edward 
Robinson, James B. Ames ; Rumford Committee: 
Erasmus D. Leavitt, Edward C. Pickering, 
Charles R. Cross, Amos E. Dolbear, Arthur G. 
Webster, Theodore W. Richards, Thomas C. 
Mendenhall; C. M. Warren Committee: Francis 
H. Storer, Charles L. Jackson, Samuel Cabot, 
Henry B. Hill, Leonard P. Kinnicut, Arthur 
M. Comey, Robert H. Richards. 

THe following 15 candidates have been se- 
lected by the Council of the Royal Society to be 


May 19, 1899.] 


recommended for election into the Society: 
Professor William F. Barrett, Mr. Charles 
Booth, D.Se., Major David Bruce, A.M.8., Mr. 
Henry John Horstman Fenton, M.A., Mr. 
James Sykes Gamble, Professor Alfred Cort 
Haddon, Dr. Henry Head, Professor Conwy 
Lloyd Morgan, F.G.8., Mr. Clement Reid, 
F.G.S., Professor Henry Selby Hele Shaw, 
M.Inst.C.E., Dr. Ernest Henry Starling, Pro. 
fessor Henry William Lloyd Tanner, M.A., Mr. 
Richard Threlfall, Mr. Alfred E. Tutton, B.Sc., 
Professor Bertram Coghill Allen Windle, M.D. 


Dr. L. A. BAUER has resigned his position as 
assistant professor of mathematics and mathe- 
matical physics at the University of Cincinnati, 
in order to accept the position of Chief of the 
newly-formed Division of Terrestrial Magnetism, 
of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
To this Division has been assigned the magnetic 
survey of the United States and the countries 
under its jurisdiction and the establishment of 
magnetic observatories. Dr. Bauer has also 
been appointed lecturer in terrestrial magnet- 
ism at the Johns Hopkins University. The 
journal Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric, 
Electricity, beginning with the June number, 
will hereafter be issued from the Johns Hopkins 
University Press, Dr. Bauer continuing as 
editor-in-chief. 

CoMMISSIONER-GENERAL PECK has appointed 
Dr. Tarleton H. Bean Director of Forestry and 
Fisheries of the United States Commission to 
the Paris Exposition of 1900. 


PROFESSOR EDGAR FRISBIE, of the U. §. 
Naval Observatory, having attained the age 
limit prescribed by the U. S. Navy, will retire 
on May 22d. 

Dr. G. LInDAU has been appointed Custodian 
of the Imperial Botanical Museum of Berlin. 


Nature states that Mr. F. V. Bennett, who 
joined the Geological Survey of England in 
1868, has resigned from the staff. During his 
long service he has mapped large areas of the 
Cretaceous, Tertiary and drift deposits in the 
eastern counties in Surrey, Berkshire and 
Wiltshire. 

THE daily papers state that the gold medal 
of the American Geographical Society will be 
presented to Sir John Murray, the celebrated 


SCIENCE. 725 


naturalist, on the occasion of the annual meet- 
ing of the Royal Geographical Society in June. 
The presentation will be made by United States 
Ambassador Choate. 


THE Council of the Institution of Civil Engi- 
neers have made the following awards for papers 
read and discussed before the Institution during 
the past session: A George Stephenson medal 
and premium to Mr. R. A. Hadfield, a Telford 
medal and premium to Mr. J. T. Milton, Watt 
medals and premiums to Sir Albert J. Durston 
and Mr. H. J. Oram, a Crampton prize to Mr. 
Francis Fox, a Manby premium to Sir William 
Roberts-Austen, and Telford premiums to Mr. 
J. M. Dobson, Mr. W. G. Kirkaldy and Mr, A. 
P. Head. The presentation of these awards, 
together with those for papers which have not 
been subject to discussion’ and will be an- 
nounced later, will take place at the inaugural 
meeting of next session. 


PROFESSOR CARL CHRISTIANSEN, who holds 
the chair of physics in the University of Copen- 
hagen, is at present visiting American univer- 
sities. 

THE following officers of the Royal Institution 
have been elected for the ensuing year: Presi- 
dent, the Duke of Northumberland ; Treasurer, 
Sir James Crichton-Browne; Secretary, Sir 
Frederick Bramwell; Managers, Sir Frederick 
Abel, Sir William Crookes, the Duke of Devon- 
shire, Lord Salisbury, Lord Halsbury, Dr. W. 
C. Hood, Professor D. E. Hughes, Lord Kelvin, 
Mr. A. B. Kempe, Mr. H. Leonard, Sir Andrew 
Noble, Mr. A. Siemens, Mr. B. W. Smith, Mr. 
W. H. Spottiswoode and Sir Henry Thompson ; 
Visitors, Mr. W. H. Bennet, Mr. A. Blyth, Mr. 
M. Horner, Mr. E. Kraftmeier, Lieutenant- 
Colonel L. W. Longstaff, Mr. F. McClean, Mr. 
H. F. Makins, Mr. L. Mears, Dr. R. Messel, 
Mr. L. M. Rate, Mr. J. C. Ross, Mr. W. J. Rus- 
sell, Mr. A. G. Salamon, Sir James Vaughan 
and Mr. J. J. Vezey. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has been elected an 
honorary member of the American Library As- 
sociation in recognition of his munificent gifts 
for American libraries. 

Mr. CHARLES LEESON PRINCE died at Tun- 
bridge Wells on April 22d. He became a 
member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 


726 
1848, but ceased the practice of his profession 
in 1874. He was a Fellow of the Royal As- 
tronomical and Meteorological Societies and 
a member of the Scottish Meteorological 
Society, and the author of ‘ Observations on the 
Climate of Uckfield,’ second edition, 1886; 
‘ Observations upon the Great Comet and Tran- 
sit of Venus,’ 1882 ; ‘On the Ancient Telescope 
of Hevelius, with Translation,’ 1882; ‘ Observa- 
tions upon the Climate of Crowborough Hill, 
Sussex,’ second edition, 1898; and ‘On the 
Rainfall at Uckfield for 50 years.’ 

Mr. BENJAMIN VINCENT, who was connected 
for more than half a century with the Royal 
Institution of London, died on May 3d. The 
London Times states that he owed his appoint- 
ment as Assistant Secretary in 1848 to Faraday, 
with whom he was connected by marriage. 
He became subsequently Keeper of the Library, 
retiring in 1889 with the title of Honorary Li- 
brarian. At the Royal Institution Faraday, 
who was about twenty years his senior, found 
in him an untiring and enthusiastic coadjutor 
in promoting the knowledge of scientific prog- 
ress and the welfare of the Institution. Fara- 
day was well aware of the importance of cre- 
ating and maintaining public interest in scientific 
work, and in this respect was greatly helped 
by Mr. Vincent, who for many years, quite apart 
from the official duties of his position, drew up 
clear, condensed reports of the lectures and 
discourses delivered at the Institution, which 
were published in The Times, the Athenzeum and 
the Illustrated London News. As Librarian he 
was responsible for the arrangement and 
selection of the large and valuable collection of 
books, and he found time to prepare an ad- 
mirable classified catalogue of these. 


Tue death is announced of M. M. Charles 
Brongniart, assistant in entomology at the Paris 
Museum of Natural History, at the age of 40 
years. He was the son of the eminent botanist 
and had himself made important contributions 
to entomology. 

Dr. WILHELM JORDAN, professor of geometry 
and geodesy at the Technical Institute at Han- 
over, died on April 17th, aged 57 years. 

PROFESSOR NEWTON, of Cambridge Univer- 
sity, announces that applications by students to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 229. 


occupy the University’s table in the laboratory 
of the Marine Biological Association at Ply- 
mouth should be sent to him on or before 
June Ist. 


THE Division of Forestry of the Department 
of Agriculture is prepared to appoint a few 
well-qualified student assistants. They will be 
given practical field work, their expenses will 
be defrayed and they will be given $300 a year. 
These assistants should have preparation as fol- 
lows: 


(1.) Botany, emphasis to be laid chiefly on the 
structure and life of plants. Systematic botany need 
not be dwelt on at length. The knowledge essential 
to the determination of the species of trees is, natur- 
ally, of great importance. Cryptogamic botany should 
not be entirely neglected, although only a general 
view is required. 

(2.) Geology, with special emphasis on the origin 
and meaning of the surface features of the earth. 

(3.) Some physics and chemistry are essential, and 
a slight knowledge of zoology and entomology should 
not be omitted. 

(4.) Mathematics should include geometry and 
trigonometry, and, preferably, mechanics also. A 
good working knowledge of surveying should be ac- 
quired. 

(5.) Some 
methods. 

(6.) German or French, preferably the former, and 
still better both together. 

(7.) A good course in economics. 

(8.) History and geography of the United States, 
with special reference to economic development and 
production. 


knowledge of law and _ business 


Further information concerning these posi- 
tions may be obtained from Mr. Gifford Pinchot, 
Chief of the Division of Forestry, Department 
of Agriculture. 

By the will of Benjamin F. Horwitz, of Bal- 
timore, $5,000 is bequeathed to Johns Hopkins 
University, the income to be used annually in 
bestowing a medal upon such member of the 
medical profession, either in this country or 
abroad, who has accomplished most during the 
preceding year in ameliorating the sufferings of 
mankind in the way of medical discoveries. 
This bequest is in honor of the memory of Dr. 
Eugene Horwitz, son of the testator. 


WE learn from the British Medical Journal 
that by a codicil to his will, dated February 


May 19, 1899. ] 


20, 1899, Sir John Struthers bequeaths to the 
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh the 
sum of £500 ‘for the purpose of promoting an- 
atomical science’ by founding a lecture to be 
delivered every third year before the College, 
the subject of the lecture to be on any part of 
normal vertebrate anatomy, the lecturer to be 
chosen at least a year before the lecture with- 
out restriction as to country or profession. Sir 
John Struthers left his large and yaluable stock 
of anatomical drawings to the University of 
Edinburgh for the use of the professor of anat- 
omy in the University. Most of the drawings 
were made by his own hand, and many of them 
direct from nature. Sir John Struthers also 
left to the University of Glasgow the sum of 
£500 for the founding of an award in anatomy 
for the purpose of encouraging original research 
or special practical work, the award to be made 
for original research or for the best special dis- 
sections or preparations or series of dissections 
or preparations relating to any part of anat- 
omy, human or comparative, the decision to 
rest with the professor of anatomy in the Uni- 
versity. The award is to be made every sec- 
ond year and to take the form of a gold medal 
with money prize. The prize is to be open to 
all students and graduates of the University of 
Glasgow, including the women students and 
graduates of Queen Margaret College. 


THE annual subscriptions promised to The 
Liverpool School of Tropical Diseases now 
amount to about £2,500. 


In June next the Royal Institution, London, 
will complete 100 years of its existence, the 
first meeting of its members in the building in 
Albemarle street having been held on June 5, 
1799. The managers have decided that this 
event, so interesting and memorable in the life 
of the Institution and in the history of science, 
shall be duly celebrated, and arranged for the 
delivery of two commemoration lectures. The 
first of these will be delivered on Tuesday, June 
6th, by Lord Rayleigh, when the Prince of 
Wales, Vice Patron of the Institution, will pre- 
side and receive the honorary members; the 
second of the lectures will be delivered on 
Wednesday evening, June 7th, by Professor 
Dewar, when the Duke of Northumberland, 


SCIENCE. 


(27 


President of the Institution, will preside. The 
Lord Mayor has consented to give a reception 
to the members and guests at the Mansion- 
house on the evening of Tuesday, June 6th. 


PROFESSOR GUSTAVE GILSON, of Louvain 
University, Belgium, has begun, under the 
direction of the government of Belgium, a 
series of experiments in the North Sea. On 
April 29th a set of bottles was let off from the 
West Hindar light vessel, 2 degrees, 26 minutes 
east longitude, 51 degrees, 23 minutes north 
latitude—7. e., about twenty miles northwest 
of Ostend. Each bottle contains a printed card, 
and it is hoped that any one who picks up one 
of these bottles will take out the card and fill up 
the blanks reserved for the place and date of 
finding, name and place if found on the shore, 
latitude and longitude if found on the sea, and 
send it to Professor Gilson. 


Dr. PETERS, the German explorer, arrived at 
Sena, on the Zambesi, on May 8th. 


THE Duke of Abruces started from Rome on. 
the 2d inst. for the polar regions. His pur- 
pose is to sail from Norway for Franz Josef 
Land in the steamship Star of Italy, go as far 
north as possible in the ship, and then to try 
to reach the pole with sledges. The king and 
the royal princes have, it is reported, subscribed 
$200,000 for the expedition, and the Duke will 
himself spend a large sum. 


THE first statutory general meeting of the 
British National Association for the Prevention 
of Consumption and other Forms of Tuber- 
culosis, of which the Prince of Wales is Presi- , 
dent, was held in London on May 4th. The 
Earl of Derby presided, and those present in- 
cluded Sir William Broadbent, Sir James 
Crichton-Browne, Sir Ernest Clarke, Sir John 
T. Brunner, M. P., Dr. Church, President of 
the Royal College of Physicians, Sir G. T. 
Brown, Mr. Edward Hulse, Professor Mc- 
Fadyean, Mr. C. Rube, Mr. Malcolm Morris, 
Treasurer, and Dr. St. Clair Thomson, Honor- 
able Secretary of the Organizing Committee, 


AT the annual dinner of the Sanitary Insti- 
tute of Great Britain on May 2d the Duke of 
Cambridge, who presided, referred to the great 
work which it had done in promoting sanitary 


128 


knowledge. The public had made such use of 
the Parkes Museum, maintained by the Insti- 
tute, that the Council had decided to start a 
building fund to provide a larger building to 
give the accommodation required for its increas- 
ing work. The Institute possessed 2,300 mem- 
bers and associates ; its income last year was 
over £8,000, and its captital amounted to over 
£12,000. It had held 200 meetings, attended 
by 90,000 people. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has given £50,000 to 
the proposed University of Birmingham, on the 
understanding that scientific work be especially 
emphasized in the University, instancing Cor- 
nell University as the best model to be followed. 
The committee, in thanking Mr. Carnegie for 
this gift, state that it had always been intended 
that special attention should be given to scien- 
tific training and research. 

Mr. PAssMORE Epwarps has given £10,000 
to the new London University for the teaching 
of economics and commercial science. The 
London Journal of Education states that the 
commissioners of the University have decided 
to establish departments of psychology, political 
science and engineering. 

Tue will of the late Professor Marsh, leaving 
his property to Yale University and the Na- 
tional Academy of Sciences, is being contested 
by anephew. It is unfortunate that such con- 
tests should be so common in the United States. 
It is in any case fortunate that Professor Marsh 
during his life devoted the greater part of his 
fortune to scientific work and Yale University. 

Tue Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs 
have presented a scholarship to the Teachers’ 
College, Columbia University, of the value of 
$450 a year. It will be assigned, on competitive 
examination, to an experienced teacher of the 
State of Georgia, and will be known as ‘The 
Georgia Federation Scholarship.’ 

LAstT year the University of Paris was given 
anonymously 75,000 fr. to permit five graduates 
to make a tour around the world. The gift has 
been repeated this year and increased so that 
each student will receive 16,500 fr. for the 
journey, which is expected to last two years. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 229. 


New arrangements have been made for the 
award of the Bowdoin prizes of Harvard Uni- 
versity. A prize of $300 will be offered to 
graduates who have been in residence within 
three years. The subjects are to be in the Jan- 
guages next year, in philosophy, political science 
and history the following year and in mathe- 
matics and science in 1902. 


The American Naturalist states that The 
Gray Herbarium of Harvard University has 
recently purchased a collection of Compositze 
of the late Dr. F. W. Klapp, of Hamburg. It 
contains about 11,000 specimens and will prob- 
ably add 60 genera, 1500 species, to the Gray 
Herbarium, which previously contained 35,000 
sheets of composites. 


A COLLECTION from the medical library of the 
late Dr. William Pepper, formerly Provost of 
the University of Pennsylvania, has been pre- 
sented to the University by his son. 


A COURSE in commerce, diplomacy and in- 
ternational law has been established at the 
University of Pennsylvania. The course will 
extend over two years. The subjects proposed 
being as follows: First year—American diplo- 
macy, American commercial relations, inter- 
national trade and foreign exchange, political 
economy, economical resources of European 
countries, and public finance. Second year— 
international law, European commercial rela- 
tions, diplomatic history of Europe, government 
of colonies and dependencies, practical economic 
problems, economic resources of the Far East, 
comparative constitutional law. 


Miss Linum J. Martin has been appointed 
acting assistant professor of psychology in Stan- 
ford University, to replace Dr. Frank Angell 
during a year’s leave of absence in Europe. 


Miss Eprra Curck has been appointed Quain 
student in botany for three years (£100 per an- 
num) at University College, London. 


THE professorship of pathology at St. An- 
drews, vacant by the removal of Professor Muir 
to Glasgow, will be filled on June 21st. In- 
formation regarding the appointment may be 
obtained from Mr, J. E. Williams, Secretary of 
the University. : 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsToN, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
J. LEConTE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. 8S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpircH, Physiology; 

J. S. BrLtinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, May 26, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


A Magnetic Survey of the United States by the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey: DR. HENRY S. 


RIT CHET Tense tcceecestenccesensccsuetecinedsescticcninns 729 
The Jesup North Pacific Expedition... ......c.ccereeeees 732 
On the Brightness of Pigments by Oblique Vision : 

PROFESSOR FRANK P. WHITMAN..........6000000+ 734 
An Extension of Helmholtz’s Theory of the Heat of 

CREW SUR MD RET Ik tsp OHM sccssstcavscasancsiece sess 737 
On the New Genus of Lamprey Macrophthalmia Chi- 

lensis : PROFESSOR BASHFORD DEAN...........-.- 740 
Note on the Spawning Season of the Eel: EUGENE 

GMBLACKEORD |. sissersssssecetocesssaassiseess eiiscssestes 740 
Evolution of the Embouchure in North American In- 

dian Flageolets: E. H. HAWLEY........3....000008 742 
Scientific Books :-— 


Angot’s Traité élémentaire de météorologie: DR. 
FRANK WALDO. Collins on the Genesis and 
Dissolution of the Faculty of Speech: E. W. T. 
Codex Borbonicus: M. H. SAVILLE. Schimper’s 
Pflanzengeographie auf physiologischer Grundlage: 
Dr. FREDERICK E. CLEMENTS. Victor von 
Richter’s Organic Chemistry: PROFESSOR E. 
RENOUE. Van Deventer’s Physical Chemistry : 
PROFESSOR HARRY C. JONES. Books Received. 743 
Scientific Journals and Articles .........cscecseecneeeeee 750 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Chemical Society of Washington: Wm. H. 
Krua. The Geological Conference and Students’ 
Club of Harvard University: J. M. BouUTWELL. 751 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Telepathy Again: PROFESSOR WM. JAMES. On 
the Wehnelt Current Breaker: HowArpd Mc- 


CLENATIAN srnscesetesessetacsensssecsccscedecscussiecssa sce 752 
Thermodynamic Action of ‘ Steam Gas’: PROFESSOR 
ep eERURSTONEausennuoctsscetcssccnessenaneadetess 753 


The Removal of Dr. Wortman to the Carnegie Mu- 


SATS: 1215106 0); coo onoponuaseescabondsanedooacsesHadceSade 755 
Scientific Notes and News.. bon 755 
University and Educational News.........0:cccceeeeseees 759 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


A MAGNETIC SURVEY OF THE UNITED STATES 
BY THE COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. 
In the plan of reorganization of the ‘sur- 

vey of the coast,’ adopted in March, 1843, 

explicit provision was made for magnetic 

observations. 

Determinations of the magnetic declina- 
tion were made at various points along the 
coast, under the superintendency of F. R. 
Hassler; the real work of magnetic observa- 
tions, however, began with Superintendent 
Bache, who had previously made a mag- 
netic survey of Pennsylvania and who had 
established the first magnetic observatory 
in this country, that of Girard College, 
Philadelphia. 

Since that time the three magnetic ele- 
ments, the declination, the dip and the in- 
tensity, have been determined by survey 
parties at various points in the United 
States, including Alaska, andin some foreign 
ports. 

The general charge of this work, as well 
as the theoretical discussion which has 
given it value, has been in the hands of the 
Assistant Schott, Chief of the Computing 
Division, who has called attention from 
time to time to the need of a systematic 
prosecution of a magnetic survey of the 
country. It is largely due to Mr. Schott 
and his energy in that work that the 
present state of advancement has been 
reached. 

In recognition of his contribution to Ter- 


730 SCIENCE. 


restrial Magnetism, the Paris Academy 
awarded him last year the Wilde prize of 
four thousand francs, which was personally 
presented by the President of the United 
States. This honor is especially apropos 
and particularly welcome to the friends of 
science in this country, inasmuch as Mr. 
Schott has just rounded out fifty years of 
magnificent work in the Survey. 

With the addition of the islands of the 
Atlantic and of the Pacific which have come 
tothe United States in the last year, and 
with the need for investigation of general 
laws of Terrestrial Magnetism for the whole 
globe, it seems that the time has now come 
for systematic magnetic operations, not only 
upon the continent of North America, but 
also on the islands in its vicinage. With 
the purpose of carrying forward such a 
magnetic survey and of completing in a rea- 
sonable time the collection of such data as 
may be necessary for a partial discussion of 
the problems of the Magnetic Field of the 
Earth, a new Division has been organized 
in the office of the Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey, known as the Division of Terrestrial 
Magnetism. Dr. L. A. Bauer, formerly 
assistant professor of mathematics and 
mathematical physics at the University of 
Cincinnati, and editor of the Journal of 
Terrestrial Magnetism has been called to take 
charge of this new division of magnetic 
work. 

The following general plan of work, which 
has been outlined as the basis for the mag- 
netic survey of the United States and its 
adjacent islands may be of interest. 

To indicate completely the laws which 
hold in the Magnetic Field of the earth, it 
would be desirable to have simultaneous 
observations at a vast number of stations 
over the continent of North America and 
of the adjacent islands. This is, of course, 
impossible, and the magnetic survey which 
must be made will necessarily depend on 
observations made at different times and 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 230. 


reduced as accurately as possible to some 
mean epoch. To arrive at a first prelimi- 
nary result, it will probably be necessary to 
make a general magnetic survey of the 
country, observing the magnetic elements 
at stations thirty or forty miles apart, mak- 
ing these stations more frequent in dis- 
turbed areas if necessary. The secular va- 
riations will necessarily be determined by 
repeating the observations at representative 
stations as the work goes on. The areas of 
the countries at present belonging to the 
United States are approximately as fol- 
lows : 


United States,............-.. 3,025,600 square miles, 

INES Acss-pobcnoceddaansonee. 577,390 *¢ ot 

Hawaiian Islands,.........- 6;250=) * a 

PUCLLOVRIGOs ss csseeesceawse ees 3:030i\ia: ss 
3,612,770 


This area is nearly equal to that of all 
Europe and is one-fifteenth of the entire 
area of the globe. As magnetic surveys 
have been most vigorously prosecuted in 
Europe, it will be of interest to note the 
density of distribution of the magnetic sta- 
tions in two recent, fruitful magnetic sur- 
veys, viz., that of Great Britain, where 
there was one station to every 159 square 
miles, and that of Holland, embracing one 
station to every 40 square miles. 

Suppose we were to decide upon one sta- 
tion, on the average, to every 100 square 
miles—an end that we must hope to attain 
some day—then we should require the de- 
termination of the magnetic elements at 
30,000 stations within the United States. 
At the rate of 400 stations a year, the mag- 
netic survey, as detailed as this, would re- 
quire for its completion 75 years. It is not. 
well, however, to have a magnetic survey 
extend over such a long interval of years. 
The errors incurred in reducing the obser- 
vations to a common epoch would greatly 
exceed the errors of observation. 

It is evident that we must either have a 
very large number of observers and instru- 


May 26, 1899.] 


ments at our disposal so as to complete the 
survey within a short interval, say 10 years 
at the most, or we must content ourselves 
for the present with taking a less detailed 
survey. 

Let us say that our present means will 
enable us to complete 450 stations per an- 
num, of which 400 are to lie within the 
United States. Suppose that at the end of 
the year 1910 we shall have occupied 4,000 
stations in the United States and have made 
the necessary ‘repeat observations,’ and 
that the stations have been to some degree 
uniformly distributed, then we shall have 
on the average one new station to every 756 
square miles. Selecting as the epoch to 
which the observations shall be reduced 
January 1, 1905, we should then have with 
the addition of about 1,000 former stations, 
which we could utilize, a magnetic survey, 
the stations ‘of which would be distributed 
at the average rate of one to every 600 
square miles, or, approximately, one station 
to an area 25 miles, 40 kilometers, square. 

This will give a very satisfactory repre- 
sentation of the distribution of the earth’s 
magnetism within our confines and will suf- 
fice for the accomplishment of many of the 
practical purposes of magnetic surveys. 

We will call this our ‘ first survey’ and, 
as stated, its epoch 1905. We shall now be 
able to tell in what portion of the country 
more stations are needed. That is the 
density of the ultimate distribution of sta- 
tions will not be auniform one. In regions 
where the distribution of magnetism is 
fairly regular comparatively few stations 
will suffice, while in magnetically disturbed 
areas the number of stations must be in- 
creased in uniformity with the character 
and extent of the disturbance. The subse- 
quent work will consist then in filling in 
stations where most needed and repeating 
observations at the ‘ repeat stations.’ 

In short, the plan of conducting a mag- 
netic survey of this country which appears 


SCIENCE. ie 


we) 
= 


to be best suited to the present conditions, 
and one that is possible to carry out within 
a reasonably short time, is as follows: 
To make, first, a general magnetic survey of 
the country with stations about 25 to 30 
tniles apart ; then, as opportunities present 
themselves, to observe more closely the 
magnetically disturbed areas. The observa- 
tions at the ‘repeat stations’ made from 
time to time will furnish the proper secular 
variation corrections. 

The great advantages of this plan over 
that of attempting a very detailed magnetic 
survey at once, the steady progress of 
which over the entire country, on account 
of its extent, would necessarily be very 
slow, will be readily perceived. The plan 
thus briefly outlined will make it possible 
within a reasonable time to construct two 
sets of magnetic maps for the same epoch, 
each set based upon a different distribution 
of the stations. An opportunity will thus 
be afforded, as in the case of the recent 
magnetic survey of Great Britain, to obtain 
some idea of the accuracy with which the 
iso-magnetic lines can be determined. The 
satisfactory solution of this question will 
serve asa valuable guide in future magnetic 
work, 

Several State Geologists are making plans 
for detailed magnetic surveys of their re- 
spective States, in cooperation with the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

In addition to the observation of the 
magnetic elements at numerous points it is 
necessary to maintain a few magnetic ob- 
servatories where continuous observations 
over a term of years will afford the data 
for comparing and reducing observations 
and for detecting the general changes in 
the earth’s magnetic force. The Coast and 
Geodetic Survey has a number of years 
maintained such an observatory, for a time 
at Los Angeles and later at San Antonio, 
at which point the observations were 
brought to a close, as they have been in the 


iho 
case of the Naval Observatory at Washing- 
ton, by the interference of trolley wires. 

Just what points will be chosen for the 
maintenance of continuous observatories 
will depend somewhat on the number of 
fixed magnetic observatories already main- 
tained by universities and other institutions. 
With continuous records in Washington, 
Toronto, one point in the Northwest, Mex- 
ico and Havana, the magnetic fluctuations 
over the continent of North America ought 
to be fairly well followed. In addition to 
these a magnetic observatory will be estab- 
lished by the Coast Survey on one of the 
Hawaiian Islands, where its situation will 
not only supplement the data furnished by 
the observatories in the mainland, but by 
reason of its position in an isolated island 
may well be expected to add new facts to 
our knowledge of one of the most interest- 
ing, but one of the least perfectly under- 
stood, branches of physical science. 

Henry S. PritcHerr, 
Superintendent. 


THE JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPEDITION. 
ETHNOLOGICAL WORK ON THE 
SAGHALIN, * 


ISLAND OF 


Tue following report has been received 
from Dr. Berthold Laufer, who is in charge 
of the ethnological work of the Jesup 
North Pacific Expedition on the Amoor 
River and on the Island of Saghalin. The 
expedition is being carried on under the 
auspices of the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History, the expenses being borne per- 
sonally by President Morris V. Jesup. Dr. 
Laufer left New York in May, 1898, and 
went to Saghalin by way of Japan and 
Viadivostok. He spent the time from the 
summer of 1898 until March, 1899, among 
the various tribes inhabiting that island. 
He writes under date of March 4, 1899, as 
follows : 


* Published by authority of the Trustees of the 
American Museum of Natural History. 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 230. 


In the collections which I made on the 
Island of Saghalin there are a number of 
very interesting specimens. On my journey 
made in the course of last winter I suc- 
ceeded in obtaining from the Olcha Tungus 
a collection of wooden idols and amulets 
made of fish-skins, which are quite new to 
science. I obtained from the Ainu of 
southern Saghalin a very interesting col- 
lection of ethnographical objects. I have 
had very good success in using the phono- 
graph, and have obtained songs of the 
Gilyak and Tungus. The only difficulty is 
that the instrument cannot be used in the 
winter, owing to the effect of severe cold. 

I intend to leave Saghalin the beginning 
of next week and continue my work on the 
Amoor River. It ismy intention to devote 
a good deal of my time to the study of lin- 
guistics, since this part of my investiga- 
tions has been least satisfactory. There 
are no interpreters on Saghalin capable of 
translating texts. There is no one who 
knows more than the most common phrases 
of Russian. Among the Ainu, Russian is 
entirely unknown, and for the purpose of 
interpreting I had to use Japanese, with 
which, however, they are not very familiar 
either. My knowledge of the Japanese 
language facilitated my work among them 
very much, since they like the Japanese 
very well. Isucceeded in obtaining a great 
deal of ethnological material and informa- 
tion, traditions, and a large amount of 
grammatical and lexicographical material, 
although a short time only was available 
for this purpose. I collected most of my 
material among the Ainu during the night 
time, because it is only at this time that 
everything is astir. I have no detailed 
translations of this material, but expect 
to be able to make translations with the 
help of my lexicographical material and 
comparisons with the Ainu dialect spoken 
in Japan. There is a great difference be- 
tween these two dialects. The Ainu of 


( 


May 26, 1899.] 


Yezzo have a vigesimal numeral system, 
while those of Saghalin have a purely dec- 
imal system. The latter dialect is much 
more archaic. Its morphology and pho- 
netics are richer. I have also found the 
pronominal prefixes recently discovered by 
Bachelor. Iam well satisfied with the re- 
sults of my ethnographical researches among 
these people. I have obtained full expla- 
nations of their decorative designs. I did 
not succeed in obtaining any measurements. 
The people were afraid that they would 
die at once after submitting to this process. 
Although I had their full confidence, I 
could not induce them to submit, not even 
by offering presents which they considered 
of great value. In Korsakovsk I succeeded 
in measuring a single individual, a man of 
imposing stature, who, after the measure- 
ments had been taken, collapsed and looked 
the picture of despair, groaning, ‘‘ Now I 
am going to die to-morrow !”” The opinion 
that the Ainu are exceedingly hairy is de- 
cidedly exaggerated, at least so far as Sag- 
halin is concerned. I have seen almost 
every single individual of the villages of 
the east coast of the island ; and as I slept 
in their huts I had ample opportunity of 
seeing naked individuals, since they undress 
in the evening. By far the greater number 
of the men whom I have seen have no hair 
on their bodies, or at least no more than is 
found among Europeans. <A more consid- 
erable amount of hairiness on chest and 
arms I have seen only in a few old men. 
Neither is the long beard characteristic of 
all Ainu. There are just as many with 
long beards as there are with short beards, 
or even without beards. I do not think 
that their type is homogeneous at all. Ido 
not understand the reasons for Schrenck’s 
statement that it is impossible to distin- 
guish a Gilyak from an Ainu. It seems to 
me they may be distinguished with cer- 
tainty, even from a long distance. I have 
no doubt that the information that I have 


SCIENCE. 


m-Q9 
100 


collected on this island contains a very 
considerable amount of what is new. There 
are a great many errors in Schrenck’s de- 
scriptions of the tribes of Saghalin. The 
Orok tribe, to which he refers, does not 
exist. 

I started comparatively late on my jour- 
ney along the east coast, because I was de- 
tained for two months and a-half by a se- 
vere attack of influenza. As soon as I had 
sufficiently recovered I went to Rykovsk, 
where the Gilyak were celebrating one of 
their bear festivals. I was welcomed with 
much delight, since I met several of my 
acquaintances of last summer. For five 
days I witnessed the ceremonial, and was 
even permitted to see the sacrifice of the 
dog, which is kept secret from the Rus- 
sians. Then I travelled southward a hun- 
dred versts on horseback to Kasarsk, the 
southernmost Russian settlement on the 
central part of the island. I visited the 
whole valley of the Poronai as far as the 
mouth of the river on a reindeer sledge, and 
stayed for some time in the large Tungus vil- 
lage Muiko, where I had the great pleasure 
of obtaining additional information in re- 
gard to the texts which I had recorded dur- 
ing the preceding summer. I have meas- 
ured almost the whole population of this 
area and collected statistical information. In 
this valley there are a number of Gilyak 
families who have begun to use the rein- 
deer. I had also an opportunity of seeing 
a few Yakut. In December I reached 
Tichmenevsk, which is called Siska by the 
natives. This place is situated on Patience 
Bay. On the following day I started on an 
excursion eastward, in which I was partic- 
ularly fortunate and successful. I obtained 
many specimens and much information on 
the Shamanistic rites and the ceremonials 
of the natives. When, later on, I had an 
opportunity to show my specimens to some 
Russians they were much surprised, since 
during the many years of their life on 


mo 


(O4 


Saghalin they had not seen anything of the 
kind. Then I visited the villages Taran- 
kotan and Taraika, where I first fell in with 
the Ainu. I also visited the Tungus vil- 
lages Unu, Muiko and Walit, after having 
passed the famous lake of Taraika. It was 
impossible to proceed farther eastward, 
since I received an official letter of warning 
not to proceed, because a few versts farther 
east a band of highwaymen consisting of 
escaped convicts had built a fort and were 
terrorizing the country. For this reason 
I returned without making the acquaintance 
of these gentlemen. 

On New Year’s Eve I reached Siska. 
On the following day I took phonographic 
records of songs, which created the greatest 
sensation among the Russians as well as 
among the natives. A young Gilyak 
woman who sang into the instrument said: 
“Tt took me so long to learn this song, 
and this thing here learned it at once, 
without making any. mistakes. There is 
surely a man or a devil in this box which 
imitates me!’’ And at the same time she 
was crying and laughing from excitement. 

On the second of January I started by 
dog-sledge for Naiero, where I had the best 
results in my work with the Ainu. Then 
I visited all the settlements on the coast as 
far as Naibuchi, which is 260 versts from 
Siska. This journey was exceedingly diffi- 
cult, and sometimes even dangerous. At 
one time I narrowly escaped drowning 
when passing the ice at the foot of a steep 
promontory. JI broke through the ice, 
which was much weakened by the waves. 
Fortunately, my guide, who was travelling 
in front of me, happened to capsize on his 
sledge at the same moment when I broke 
through. Thus it happened that he saw 
my situation and extricated me with his 
staff. 

Towards the end of the month J arrived 
at Korsakovsk, making the distance from 
Naibuchi, about 100 versts, on horseback. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 230. 


Originally I intended to return from this 
point along the west coast of the island; 
but this proved to be impossible, as there 
is no means of communication in winter. 
For this reason I had to return northward 
the same way by which I came, and I had 
to travel as rapidly as possible in order to 
reach Nikolaievsk in time. Towards the 
end of March communication between the 
island and mainland over the ice is sus- 
pended. Therefore, I returned with all 
possible speed; working and collecting, 
however, when opportunity offered. The 
last few days I travelled day and night, 
camping a few hours, but not more than 
necessary to give the reindeer time to rest. 
At nine o’clock this morning I arrived 
here, having covered, since six o’clock yes- 
terday morning, a distance of 200 versts. 


ON THE BRIGHTNESS OF PIGMENTS BY 
OBLIQUE VISION.* 

Iy the formation of any theory of color- 
vision the phenomena of color-blindness 
necessarily play an important part. This 
is especially true, of late years, of total color- 
blindness, or the absence of all color-sense. 
Of this phenomena there are three classes,: 
exemplified by the eyes of those rare indi- 
viduals who lack from birth all power of 
perceiving color by the normal eye in faint 
light and by the peripheral vision of the 
normal retina. 

In each of these three cases the spectrum 
appears as a colorless band of graduated 
brightness. It was pointed out by Hering, 
in 1891, that the distribution of brightness 
in the first two of these three classes is the 
same, and it has been generally supposed 
that the color-blindness of the retinal per- 
iphery is of similar character. Von Kries 
showed, however, that this supposition was 
untrue (Zeitschr. fiir Psychologie und Phys- 

*A paper read at the Boston meeting of the Amer- 


ican Association for the Advancement of Science, 
August, 1898 


May 26, 1899.] 


iologie der Sinnesorgane, XV., pp. 247-279, 
1897), the maximum brightness for peri- 
pheral as for direct vision in bright light 
being in the yellow ,and not, as in the other 
two classes, in the green. 

According to the theory of Von Kries 
the visual mechanism used in bright light 
differs entirely from that used in faint light. 
The former distinguishes colors as colors, 
and finds the greatest brightness in the yel- 
low of the spectrum, but requires a certain 
intensity of illumination before it can act 
at all. The other is insensible to color, 
seeing the spectrum, as stated above, as a 
strip of varying brightness, with its max- 
imum in the green. As one who is born 
totally color-blind sees the spectrum in the 
same way, von Kries argues that in this 
case the ‘brightness-apparatus’ is absent 
or ineffective, and that vision is due en- 
tirely to the ‘twilight-apparatus,’ which 
in the normal eye becomes important only 
in faint light. 

On the other hand, he goes on to say, the 
periphery of the normal eye acts ‘‘ not (as 
the totally color-blind eye) by means of an 
absence of the ‘ brightness-apparatus,’ and 
an exclusive use, therefore, of the ‘ dark- 
ness-apparatus,’ but through a limitation or 
change in the functions of the ‘ brightness- 
apparatus.’ In the language of the ana- 
tomical hypothesis, we must assume that 
even in the periphery of the ‘ brightness- 
adapted’ eye the cones play the most im- 
portant part, and that the color-blindness 
arises from a functional modification of the 
apparatus depending mainly on these ele- 
ments, the ‘brightness-apparatus.’ This 
view is supported by the fact that the per- 
iphery values show approximately the same 
relations in the distribution of brightness 
as the color-perceiving portions of the eye, 
with the maximum near the sodium-line.”’ 

As this question is of considerable im- 
portance in the theory of color-vision, it 
seemed worth while to re-examine it with 


SCIENCE. 730 


the flicker photometer, an instrument which 
appears excellently adapted to such a pur- 
pose. Its value in the study of ordinary 
color-blindness was pointed out by the writer 
in a paper read at the Detroit meeting of 
this Association, and Professor Rood, work- 
ing with a flicker instrument of an entirely 
different type, has come to the same con- 
clusion. The flicker photometer is also 
peculiarly adapted to the study of per- 
ipheral vision, since, as is well known, the 
peripheral regions of the retina are es- 
pecially sensitive to appearances of motion 
or of changing brightness. 

The instrument used in these experi- 
ments was of the revolving-disk type al- 
ready described by the writer (Physical 
Review, Vol. III., No. 16, Jan.—Feb., 
1896). To this instrument the arc of a 
circle was attached, the center of which 
was as nearly as possible the place occu- 
pied by the eye in front of the observing 
tube. This was marked in three points, 
at 30,50 and 70 degrees from the line of 
direct vision. When the eye was directed 
on one of these marks observations with 
the sight tube could be made at the corre- 
sponding obliquity. All observations were 
made in a horizontal plane on the nasal 
side of the retina. 

The conditions were those of ordinary 
photometric observation; the room was 
dark and the eye screened from any light 
except that under observation. Thus the 
eye was ,without doubt, partially ‘ adapted 
for darkness,’ though the lights under ob- 
servation were too bright to allow this 
adaptation to go very far. The sources of 
light were kerosene lamps, provided with 
Methven slits and burning a special high- 
grade oil. They were found to burn with 
great uniformity, but were checked by fre- 
quent direct observations. The right-hand 
lamp was used as a standard, was kept al- 
ways in one place, and used to illuminate the 
revolving disk. The left-hand lamp illu- 


736 


minated the pigments to be studied, and 
could be moved along the bar. All colors 
were brought to the same intensity before 
observations, that is, the photometer, con- 
taining the colored card, was set at a defi- 
nite distance from the right-hand lamp, and 
the other lamp moved backward or forward 
until a balance was approximately attained. 
It was left in this position, and the set of 
observations on any given color made by 
moving the photometer head in the usual 
way. Thusthe uncertainties were avoided 
which arise from working with lights of 
small intensity. 

Six colored papers were selected from the 
set published by the Milton Bradley Com- 
pany—red, orange, yellow, green, green- 
blue, blue. Each of these was examined 
by direct vision, and at each of the three 
angles before mentioned. T'wo concordant 
series of observations, each involving a 
large number of readings, were made on 
different days, and the mean of the two 
series taken as the final result. It soon be- 
came evident that the pigments at the red 
end of the spectrum decreased in bright- 
ness from the center to the periphery of the 
retina, while those nearer the blue end in- 
creased in brightness. It seemed probable 
that some color must exist for which the 
brightness would be the same for all parts 
of the retina, and to locate this color more 
closely the intermediate pigments yellow- 
green and green-yellow were added to the 
set originally selected. The results are 
exhibited in Table I. 


TABLE I. 
0° 30° 50° 0s 
Re .238 .128 .089 079 
O. -603 1297 227 .225 
Ye .902 755 674 .660 
Gay. -602 .544 .503 -505 
NEG: 463 .466 .459 .478 
G. .292 .347 .376 .391 
G.B. .245 .317 .329 343 
B 107 -151 eli¢o) .193 


It is shown by this table that the yellow- 


SCIENCE, 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 230. 


green remains nearly at the same bright- 
ness for all angles of vision; that, in fact, 
the brightness curve for the whole set of 
pigments might almost be said to rotate 
about this color as an axis, the red falling 
and the blue rising as the periphery is ap- 
proached. The character of the change is, 
perhaps, more clearly shown in Table II., 
which is derived from Table I. by multi- 
plying each series of figures by a factor 
which brings the yellow-green value to 
unity, changing all other results in like 
proportion. The value for any color at any 
angle of vision may then be directly read 
as a percentage of the value for yellow- 
green. 


TABLE II. 
0° 30° 50° 70° 
R. .514 .275 .194 .165 
oO. 1.303 .637 -495 471 
NG. 2.070 1.620 1.468 1.381 
G.Y,. 1.300 1.167 1.096 1.057 
Y:G: 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 
G. .631 -720 .819 .818 
Gabe .529 .680 arate? “717 
B. .231 .324 381 -404 


It is thus seen that while the red falls in 
peripheral vision to about one-third of its 
brightness when viewed directly, and blue 
is nearly doubled in brightness, yellow is 
reduced in brightness by about one-third, 
and yellow-green, that portion of the spec- 
trum where we should expect the greatest 
brightness if the peripheral color-blindness 
were of the same character as ‘twilight’ 
color-blindness, remains practically the 
same at all angles of vision. Yellow is 
still the brightest of the colors, and the 
maximum is shifted but little toward the 
blue. 

It is to be noted, also, that there is com- 
paratively little change from 50° of ob- 
liquity outward. At 50° most colors are still 
distinguishable ; at 70°, none of them. At 
50° the apparatus which gives us the sen- 
sation of color must still contribute its 
quota to the sensation of brightness, as in 


MAy 26, 1899.] 


‘direct vision. It is probable, therefore, 
from the similarity of the results at the two 
angles, that it continues to do so in the 
more peripheral parts of the retina, al- 
though it has lost its other function, of 
-color-sensation. 

The results at 70° confirm in a general 
way the measurements of von Kries. His 
results are given in Table III., with the 
‘column for 70° from the flicker experi- 
ments, both also reduced to the value unity 
in the yellow for purposes of comparison. 


TABLE III. 
VON KRIES. WHITMAN. 

Original Original 

Values. Reduced. Values. Reduced. 
nite 1.35 .199 079 .130 
0. 4.03 594 222 SBRy/ 
ve 6.7 1.000 .660 1.000 
BYE Grime persecution act .478 724 
G. 4.92 -726 391 592 
B.G. 3.87 esr Leet beat ge Wiser aera hes Win Sep 
AG ME alae cceee el Mil (hirysaaess .344 .521 
Banh lresssteonh joni eisteess .193 292 
V .86 PD Time caercc enn Witenes 


The two sets of measurements, though 
-differing considerably in detail, show a pro- 
-gression in brightness of a similar charac- 
ter, especially as to the position of the max- 
imum. An inspection of the table makes 
it evident that differences in the results 
might possibly be explained by the assump- 
tion of slight differences in the pigments 
used by the two observers ; but it is per- 
haps more probable that the difference is a 
real one, caused by the fact that my obser- 
vations were made in a darkened room, 
and, therefore, with an eye more ‘adapted 
for darkness’ than that of von Kries, who 
worked in a well-lighted place. 

While it appears evident, as von Kries 
holds, that the color-perceiving apparatus 
is of importance in determining the bright- 
ness of any color peripherally seen, it is 
plain that—in the language of his theory— 
the apparatus for twilight vision plays a 
more important part than in the central 


SCIENCE. 


737 


portions of the retina. For the diminution 
of the reds and increase of the blues in 
brightness are characteristic only of faint 
illumination by direct vision—illumination 
fainter than the lowest at which the flicker 
method can be advantageously used (Phys- 
ical Review, loc. cit., p. 247), whereas they 
are shown by these experiments to exist in 
the outer regions of the retina under con- 
ditions of considerable brightness. 

It may be said, in conclusion, that the 
brightness-sensation of the retinal per- 
iphery, so far as it differs from that of the 
central portions, differs from it in the same 
direction, though not so greatly, as in the 
other two types of complete color-blind- 
ness. 

FrANK P, WHITMAN. 

ADELBERT COLLEGE. 


AN EXTENSION OF HELMHOLTZ’S THEORY 
OF THE HEAT OF THE SUN.* 

On the occasion of the Kant Commemo- 
ration at Konigsberg, February 7, 1854, 
Helmholtz delivered an address on the ‘ In- 
teraction of Natural Forces,’in which he laid 
the foundation of the modern theory of the 
sun’s heat. The whole address, with the 
principal formule by which the numerical 
results were obtained, was translated into 
English and published in the Philosophical 
Magazine for 1856. In this paper the author 
discusses the conservation of energy, which 


‘he had been so instrumental in establishing 


upon a sound mathematical basis ; and as- 
cribes the maintenance of the sun’s heat to 
the potential energy given up by the par- 
ticles in descending towards the center of 
his globe. On the hypothesis that the solar 
sphere is of homogeneous density he sub- 
jects the problem to computation, and finds 
that the heat developed by a very small 
shrinkage of the mass will be sufficient to 


* Read before the Philosophical Society of Wash- 
ington, May 13, 1899. 


798 


account for the observed radiation. His 
principal conclusions may be summarized 
as follows : 

1. That a shrinkage in the radius of 35 
meters per year will generate sufficient 
heat to sustain the annual output of radi- 
ant energy. 

2. That on this basis the radius of the 
sun would not shrink more than 5} 557 part 
in 2,000 years, and this shrinkage could 
not be detected by any measurements 
which have been made within historical 
time. For the mean value of the sun’s 
radius is about 961 seconds of arc, and is 
still uncertain by about one-half second ; 
zaboy Of this radius is thus but one-fifth of 
the outstanding uncertainty in the sun’s 
semi-diameter, in spite of all the labor 
which has been spent in finding its exact 
value by refined measurement. As the 
diameters noted by the ancients are much 
less accurate than those which can be in- 
ferred from the recorded duration of an- 
cient eclipses in conjunction with the the- 
ory of the moon, we can only say that 
there is nu evidence that the radius has 
diminished since the earliest ages. Even 
with the finest measurements now avail- 
able, it would take ten thousand years for 
the shrinkage to become clearly sensible. 
There is, therefore, little hope that the 
shrinkage of the sun can ever be observed, 
yet from known mechanical laws we may 
confidently compute its amount, with even 
greater accuracy than we could hope to ob- 
tain from direct measurement. 

3. That all the energy generated in the 
mass of the sun by the falling together of 
its particles would suffice to raise an aque- 
ous globe of the same mass to a temperature 
of over 27 million degrees Centigrade. 
Pouillet estimated from experiments on 
solar radiation that the heat annually lost 
by the sun would raise the temperature of 
such a globe 1.25° C. On this basis the 
observed radiation of the sun could not 


SCIENCE. 


LN. S. Vou. IX. No. 230. 
have gone on uniformly in the past for 
more than about 22 millions of years. As 
more modern estimates increase the ob- 
served radiation appreciably, when full ac- 
count is taken of atmospheric absorption, 
we shall adopt 18 million years as the past 
duration of the sun, on the theory of uniform 
radiation and homogeneous density as- 
sumed by Helmholtz. 

4. Helmholtz further shows that all the 
energy given up by the condensation of the 
several planets amounts to but little more 
than j>700 part of that developed by the 
condensation of the sun, and that the energy 
of the motion of the planets amounts to 
only ;1, of that resulting from the potential 
of the homogeneous sun upon itself. Thus 
nearly all the energy of the solar system 
has resulted from the condensation of the 
solar mass, 

I propose this evening to present the re- 
sults of a determination of the potential of 
the sun upon itself, when the mass is 
heterogeneous, or made up of successive 
layers of a uniform density, and the density 
follows the laws found by our countryman, 
Lane, just 30 years ago, for a gaseous body 
in convective equilibrium. The density of 
each layer can be found from Lane’s theory. 
Beginning at the center and proceeding out- 
ward, we can thence determine the average 
density of the included spheres when suc- 
cessive layers of known density are added. 
(The speaker here explained the theory of 
the integration which he had developed, and 
said that the mathematical discussion of 
the process would appear in the Astronom- 
ische Nachrichten.) From an astronomical 
point of view the problem to be solved is best 
treated by some process of mechanical 
quadrature ; and accordingly I have divided 
the radius into 40 parts, and by successive 
steps obtained an integral for the potential of 
the heterogeneous sphere upon itself, which 
isalmost rigorously exact. It turns out that 
the condensation of the heterogeneous sun 


MAY 26, 1899. ] 


has produced more heat than the homo- 
geneous one, in the ratio of 176,868 to 
100,000. As the energy of condensation of 
the homogeneous sphere represents a radia- 
tion of 18 million years, the potential of 
this heterogeneous sphere would, on the 
same basis, sustain radiation almost exactly 
32 million years. Thus the effect of most 
of the particles of Helmholtz’s homogeneous 
sphere falling towards the center to produce 
the heterogeneous sphere here treated is to 
prolong the life of the sun through an additional 
period of 14 million years. 

It has been generally held by those who 
have studied the theory of the sun’s energy 
that this fiery globe can hardly continue its 
activity after the diameter has shrunk to 
one-half its present value, which would 
increase the average density of the sphere 
eight times, and make it equal to 11.2 that 
of water. Jf this supposition be admitted, it 
wili follow that our sun has a total longevity of 
thirty-six million years, of which thirty-two mil- 
lions lie in the past and only four millions are 
available for the future life of the solar system. 
Thus eight-ninths of the available potential en- 
ergy of the sun has been spent, and only one- 
ninth is available for futwre use. This conclu- 
sion is based upon the assumptions : (1) 
That the sun’s mass is gaseous and the 
density follows the laws found by Lane ; 
(2) that shrinkage will essentially cease 
when the globe has attained the average 
density of 11.2; (3) that the ratio of the 
specific heat of the solar gas under constant 
pressure to that of the gas under constant 
volume is 1.4, as in common air and most 
terrestrial gases, and, moreover, that the 
average specific heat of the sun’s mass is 
not enormously great, so that the latent 
heat of cooling would become a great source 
of energy after shrinkage had _ entirely 
ceased. All these hypotheses are extremely 
probable, and the first two will hardly be 
questioned by any one. For since Wilson 
and Gray (Phil. Trans., 1894) find by ex- 


SCIENCE. 138 


periment that the effective temperature of 
the photosphere is about 8,000° C., it will 
follow that the temperature of the body of 
the sun is very much higher. According 
to Lane’s theory this would make the tem- 
perature of the nucleus about a quarter of 
a million degrees Centigrade. The matter 
composing the body of the sun is much 
above the critical temperatures of all 
known substances, and thus is necessarily 
in a gaseous state, though in the nucleus it 
may be so far condensed, under the euor- 
mous pressure to which it is subjected, as 
to act like a solid or fluid of great viscosity. 
On the other hand, even though the central 
density be 28 times that of water, while the 
photosphere is rarer than the terrestrial at- 
mosphere, it is hardly conceivable that ap- 
preciable shrinkage can go on after the 
average density of the globe has increased 
to eight times its present value. For the 
resistances due to molecular repulsive forces 
must tend to overcome gravitation pressure, 
and thus render further contraction impos- 
sible. If this state be not fully realized 
when the sun’s radius has sunk to one-half 
its present value, it must yet be so fully at- 
tained in the greater part of the body of 
the sun that what further shrinkage is pos- 
sible in the external layers will produce 
little available energy for maintaining the 
sun’s heat. 

As to the average specific heat of the sun 
we can only say that water has the greatest 
specific heat of all known terrestrial sub- 
stances, and it is not probable that the 
average specific heat of the dense gases 
composing the sun can be enormously 
greater than that of the specific heats of the 
corresponding gases found upon our earth. 
Thus it is not likely that our sun can long 
maintain its radiation after shrinkage has 
ceased. 

From this investigation it seems that the 
future duration of the sun’s heat can hardly 
exceed four million years, and a_corre- 


740 


sponding limit is set for plant and animal 
life upon our globe. 
At Ae ds trot 
U. S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY, WASHINGTON, D. C., 
May 12, 1899. 


ON THE NEW GENUS OF LAMPREY, MACROPH- 
THALMIA CHILENSIS. 


THE preliminary account of Dr. Plate’s 
remarkable discovery published in the Sitz- 
ungsberichte der Gesellschaft Natwrforschende 
Freunde, Berlin (1897, No. 8, pp. 137-141), 
has, as far as I am aware, received no com- 
ment in recent literature, although there 
ean be little doubt that this remarkable 
Cyclostome has revived more of the im- 
portant discussions as to the position of the 
Cyclostomes than any publication since the 
time of the classic pamphlet of Professor 
Dohrn, ‘ Der Ursprung der Wirbelthiere.’ And 
morphologists will, I am sure, await im- 
patiently a further discussion of the anat- 
omy of this newly discovered type, shortly 
to appear in the Fauna Chilensis in the Sup- 
plement Volume of the Zoologische Jahr- 
biicher. 

As the preliminary account is not readily 
accessible, it may be noted that this re- 
markable lamprey has large and normally 
developed eyes. It measures but 107 mm. in 
length, is of a brilliant silver-white color, 
and its sides are literally compressed, as in 
the case of many of the typical bony fishes. 
The back region is blue-black, with light 
yellow, dusky flakes on the anterior half of 
the forehead. It is also noteworthy that 
the sides of the body are perfectly smooth, 
lacking the markings of the muscles, com- 
mon in other Cyclostomes. The nasal open- 
ing is slit-like, situated anterior to the eyes, 
and not opening in apapilla. The gill-slits 
are vertically compressed. The eye is of 
extraordinary size, 2.5 mm. in diameter, and 
resembles outwardly the eyes of a Teleost, 
with a circular pupil, 1 mm. in diameter. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. LX. No. 230. 
The dentition is relatively simple, and is 
said to resemble that of Myxine. 

Plate has not as yet expressed his opinion 
as to the significance of his morphological 
prize ; but, judging from a single phrase in 
his paper, he appears to regard it as a form 
which has not assumed parasitic habits, and 
has, therefore, not been subjected to degen- 
eration. To what degree, however, will he 
support Dohrn’s earlier teachings, which 
derived the Cyclostomes from a teleost-like 
ancestor? In any case, this discovery will 
by no means simplify the difficult problem 
as to the relationships of the Cyclostomes 
in general, for it is not unnatural to assume 
that if one of these forms has evolved nor- 
mally developed eyes probably the others 
also may originally have possessed them, 
and that the present condition of cornea, 
lens and retina may reasonably be inter- 
preted as degenerate instead of primitive. 
On the other hand, as far as the prelim- 
inary account enables one to judge, it is 
also possible to assume that under favorable 
conditions the Hyperoarte may have become 
highly specialized to the degree, indeed, of 
acquiring a more teleost-like body form, to- 
gether with more completely developed 
visual structures. Itis tobe hoped that Dr. 
Plate has succeeded in collecting material 
which will throw light upon the relations of 
this new type from the standpoint of meta- 
morphosis and embryonic development. 
Basurorp DEan. 


NOTE ON THE SPAWNING SEASON OF THE 
EEL. 

Tue recent and most interesting work of 
the Italian naturalists Grassi, Calandruc- 
cio and Ercolani has added, in all essential 
regards, the needed information regarding 
the spawning time, as well as the meta- 
morphosis, of the eel. Ido not find, how- 
ever, in my review of the literature, any 
definite observations with regard to either 


May 26, 1899.] 


time or place of spawning of the eel in 
American waters, and I wish, therefore, to 
present a brief note on the only instance of 
a spawning eel which has, up to the pres- 
ent time, come within my notice. I had 
hoped to give further instances relating to 
this matter, but Ihave, unfortunately, been 
unable to secure additional data. 

The general interest I have always had 
in the spawning of the eel has led me, from 
time to time during the past twenty-five 
years, to examine the condition of the 
ovary in numbers of specimens which have 
been brought to the New York markets 
during various seasons. The eggs which 
I have, however, noticed in this material 
were never larger than some which I 
observed twenty years ago in the so- 
called ‘eel-fat,’ that is to say, minute 
ovarian eggs, measuring possibly .03 mm. 
in diameter. It has long been known, in a 
general way, that in this neighborhood the 
eels are usually taken in great numbers dur- 
ing November and December, at the time of 
their passage seaward down the Hudson or 
in Gravesend Bay; and it has always been 
supposed that the spawning takes place 
within a month or so of this time, since in 
the early spring the elvers (montées), which 
ascend the rivers, are found never measur- 
ing less than two inches in length. That 
the actual spawning-time, however, may be 
a much later one, seems to me now more 
than probable for the following reason: On 
May 8, 1898, my attention was brought 
to an eel containing ova which separated 
readily from the ovary and filled the cavity 
of the abdomen, and I am able to give the 
following notes relating to this very un- 
usual specimen. JI find it was taken at At- 
lantic Highlands by Lewis Morris, in rela- 
tively shallow water, between two and 
three fathoms, in a locality which is well 
known as an eeling ground. The color of 
the specimen was relatively bright, but not 
unusually so, nor was the eye notably 


SCIENCE, 741 


larger than in similar specimens from the 
same locality. The specimen was rela- 
tively small, measuring 42 cm. in length, 
and weighed but 135 grammes. The eggs 
are .4 mm. in diameter. A microscopic ex- 
amination of the ova made by my friend, 
Professor Dean, of Columbia University, 
shows that the germinative vesicle is clearly 
defined, and that the egg is all but ma- 
ture. The ova, as I have already noted, 
are readily shaken free from the ovarian 
tissue. 

The distinct interest of this observation 
appears to be this, that the eel may, in ex- 
ceptional instances at least, ripen its eggs 
in relatively shallow water, possibly in the 
inlets of many of the bays and sounds, in- 
stead of at the great depths which the 
European observers have hitherto regarded 
as necessary for sexual maturation. As far 
as I am aware, the only instance of the tak- 
ing of a sexually matured eel has been in 
waters of one hundred or more fathoms in 
depth. In all these instances, moreover, 
the female eel has been of considerable size, 
at least half again as large as the present 
example. 

The present specimen, moreover, gives 
us a clue to the spawning time of the eel in 
our neighboring waters; in any event, it 
demonstrates that here the season of ovula- 
tion, during the month of May or there- 
abouts, is certainly many months later than 
in the Mediterranean, for in the latter 
locality, according to Grassi and Calan- 
druccio (Fischerei Zeitung, X XII., 428), the 
eggs can only be found between the months 
of September and January. I should note, 
however, that the possibility is not ex- 
cluded that the present eel was of excep- 
tional sexual characters, like the small ex- 
amples of shad showing almost ripened 
eggs which are sometimes taken one and 
even two months in advance of the regular 
‘run.’ 

EvuGcENE G. BLACKFORD. 


742 


EVOLULION OF THE EMBOUCHURE IN NORTH 
AMERICAN INDIAN FLAGEOLETS. 

Instrument No. 76,164 in the U. S. Na- 
tional Museum, from the Cocopa Indians, is 
made of cane. The septum of the reed is 
not removed, but two small holes are burnt 
into the cavity, one on either side of the 
septum and the wood between the holes re- 
moved. By covering the upper hole and 
the intervening space between the holes 
with the finger and blowing in the upper 
end of the reed, a proper direction is given 
to the breath against the outer edge of the 
lower hole and a whistling sound is pro- 
duced.. Finger holes in the section below 
the septum enable the player to produce a 
variety of sounds. 

The second step in the development of 
the embouchure is illustrated by instru- 
ments Nos. 107,535 from Tucson, Arizona, 
and 11,814 from the Apache Indians, in the 
same Territory. Both have the same style 
of embouchure as the first named. Buta 
piece of cloth or deerskin tied over the up- 
per sound hole and the space between the 
holes takes the place of the finger in di- 
recting the breath. It may be noticed that 
in none of the flageolets mentioned has the 
maker sharpened the edge of the lip or hole 
against which the wind impinges. 

The third step is marked by instruments 
with a thin edge on the lip where the sound 
is made. In No. 8,429, from the Ree In- 
dians, one section of quill is used to re- 
place the finger or cloth in directing the 
breath, and another to form a sharp lip, 
and they are lashed down tight with 
sinew. In Nos. 72,884 and 94,005, from 
the Creek Indians, and in many other ex- 
amples, the reed is replaced by a piece of 
soft wood split and hollowed to imitate the 
interior of the cane flageolet, and the pieces 
then joined with gum and thongs. In 
these the ‘languid,’ or languette, is left in 
the carving and the sound holes are united 
by an excavation as in 1 and 2. The air 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 230- 


channel is formed by excavating a shallow 
notch in the upper edge of the diaphragm, 
or ‘languid ;’ the lip being a thin piece of 
metal; the cover is a piece of wood, laid on 
and fastened with thong. This is usually 
carved and isa prominent feature in this 
style of flageolet commonly called ‘ court- 
ing flutes.’ 

The fourth and last step in this evolution 
is exemplified by No. 23,724, from the Sioux 
of Devil’s Lake Agency. The air passage 
between the two sound holes is not cut out 
of the diaphragm between, but a metal plate 
extends over and beyond both holes, and 
there is a rectangular slot cut out of the 
metal long enough to expose both holes and 
of the same width as the holes. The carved 
cap is lashed on top of the metal plate so 
as to form the air passage, which is bounded 
by the diaphragm, the edges of the metal 
and the underside of the wooden cap. 

The Ree specimen, No. 8,429, shows that 
the Indian flageolet was in use before the 
knowledge of the Europeans. This speci- 
men consists of a tube of hard wood. In- 
stead of making the embouchure like those 
in European whistles and flageolets, placing 
a plug with an air channel between it and 
the wall of the tube just above the sound 
hole, they have made a long hole or slot 
in the wall of the tube and plugged the bore, 
with the gum or wax so placed that the slot 
is open above and below the plug. This 
plug, or ‘ languid,’ is not quite even with the 
outer surface of the tube; the upper portion 
of the slot is covered with a split quill, its 
lower edge being even with the lower face of 
the plug, or ‘ languid,’ and the shallow space 
between the edge of the plug within the 
slot and the quill forms the air channel 
which directs the wind against the edge of 
another split quill lashed over the lower 
part of the slot to within a quarter of an 
inch or so of the upper quill, thus form- 
ing a modification of the Indian cane flageo- 
lets, but not of the European form at all. 


May 26, 1899. ] 


This peculiar style of the Indian flageolet 
T have not met with, except among the In- 
dians of the United States, and those chiefly 
west of the Mississippi. There are whistles 
made of bone, stone or other materials by 
the Indians of the United States which are of 
the European character and they may have 
been known before the coming of the Euro- 
peans. But the peculiar construction of 
the flageolet I have described is so different 
from the common form that I have no 
doubt of its entirely Indian origin. 

E. H. HAwtey. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Traité élémentaire de météorologie. Par ALFRED 
AnGoT. Paris, Gauthier- Villars. 1899. Pp. 
vi+417. Price, 12 francs. 

Professor Angot occupies the position of 
meteorologist to the Freuch Bureau Central 
Météorologique, and is so well known to meteor- 
ological workers the world over, that a formal 
treatise from his pen will receive careful con- 
sideration. It. is not too much to say that 
Angot is to-day the foremost meteorologist in 
France, and as such his treatise will be con- 
sidered an authority in his own country. The 
question naturally arises : Does the book repre- 
sent the meteorology of to-day ? 

The author in his preface explains that he is 
not giving a complete treatise on meteorology, 
but merely a non-mathematical presentation of 
the elements of the science. The subject of 
meteorological instruments and their use has 
been excellently presented by the author in his 
‘Instructions météorologique,’ and he has 
omitted this from his present treatise ; thus hav- 
ing more space to devote to the results of me- 
teorological observations and theories. 

Professor Angot remarks that little attention 
is paid to instruction in meteorology in the in- 
stitutions of learning in France, and he refers 
to the contrast existing in the United States, 
where ‘a great number of special chairs are 
devoted to meteorology in the high schools 
as well as in the universities.’ I must say that 
Iam surprised to learn of this activity in the 
study of meteorology in our country, for my 


SCIENCE. 


743 


own observation has revealed an almost utter 
indifference, in fact the indifference which 
comes from ignorance, to the claims of meteor- 
ology on the part of those who have the say of 
what shall and what shail not be taught in our 
schools and colleges. If there is any institu- 
tion in the United States, except Harvard Uni- 
versity, that devotes $500 a year to meteoro- 
logical instruction I have not yet heard of it ; 
and, looking at the matter from another point 
of view, it may be remarked that our pub- 
lishers who have brought out works on ele- 
mentary meteorology express a disinclination 
to have their fingers burned by a repetition of 
the experiment. 

Angot has divided his work into five books, 
which follow a brief introduction. Book I. 
treats of the Temperature; Book II. of the 
Atmospheric Pressure and Wind ; Book III. of 
the Water in the Atmosphere ; Book IV. of the 
Disturbances in the Atmosphere; Book V. of 
the Forecasting of the Weather and Meteoro- 
logical Periods. 

In the introduction the author explains the 
derivation of average values, the various 
periodic changes which occur in meteorology 
and the significance of interpolation. 

Under the heading Temperature there is 
given first an excellent chapter on actinometry, 
which is followed by the usual treatment of the 
periodic diurnal and annual changes of tempera- 
ture, and their variations with change of alti- 
tude, latitude and continental or oceanic sur- 
roundings, and the distribution of temperature 
over the earth’s surface. An unusually full 
section treating of the influence of temperature 
on vegetation, anda quite lengthy chapter on 
the temperature of the soil and water surface 
closes this book. The charts representing the 
geographical distribution of the temperature 
(and the other elements) show the convergence 
of the meridians, and are consequently an im- 
provement on the ordinary Mercator’s projec- 
tion. 

The treatment of the barometric pressure is 
especially full as regards the diurnal variation ; 
and, as was to have been expected, the cause of 
the semi-diurnal oscillation is referred to as still 
unknown. 

The general conceptions concerning the direc- 


744 SCIENCE. 


tion, force and velocity of the wind are fully 
explained, but it is not until the author reaches 
the subject of the causes of the wind, and its re- 
lations with the temperature and pressure, that 
the reader’s greatest interest is aroused. For 
it is here that the modern aspect of meteorology 
really begins, and it is just here that the author 
encounters his greatest difficulties. He gives 
first the cause and maintenance of fluid motions 
as depending on the differences of pressure at 
the same level, and establishes the complete 
circuit of such movements of the air; he then 
proceeds to explain the meaning of the terms 
isobaric lines and barometric gradients. Then 
follow, in succession, the influence of the earth’s 
rotation on the movements of the air, the curve 
of inertia, the formation of cyclonic and anti- 
eyclonic whirls, and the circulation of the air 
around centers of warm or cold air. After this 
comes the general circulation of the atmosphere; 
the constant winds, the ‘ Trades ;’ the seasonal 
winds, the monsoons; the diurnal winds, the 
land and sea breezes, mountain winds, ete. 

I must confess to a feeling of disappointment 
upon reading this part of Professor Angot’s 
book. I had hoped that he would have given 
us a simple, clear, logical development of the 
air circulation somewhat after the manner of 
Ferrel’s theory, but which should include the 
views of the best European investigators. That 
is what we need ; but the author has contented 
himself with the older method of a disconnected 
treatment of the different features of the at- 
mospheric circulation, some of which have been 
treated in one way and some in other ways by 
the various investigators who first developed 
them. I think that all of those who have tried 
to present in an elementary manner the results 
of the later investigators concerning the ‘ cir- 
culation of the atmosphere’ have attempted an 
impossible short cut in meteorological litera- 
ture, and that there must first be written an 
advanced treatment of the subject, which can 
later be simplified for an elementary treatise. 
Until this elaborate treatise has been written I 
think that Ferrel’s development of the subject 
as given in his ‘ Popular Treatise of the Winds’ 
(New York, 1889) will still remain the best for 
presentation to the student or general reader. 
We must bear in mind that Ferrel preceded 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 230. 


this popular exposition of the subject by his 
highly technical ‘Recent Advances in Meteor- 
ology.’ 

In Angot’s chapter on atmospheric humidity 
the sections on condensation and clouds deserve: 
special mention, and the reproduction of cloud 
photographs are unusually good. Under rain- 
fall the charts showing the continental distribu- 
tion of this element are valuable. 

The subject of meteorological optics is really 
too difficult for presentation in a very elemen- 
tary treatise on meteorology, but the author 
has succeeded rather better than is usual in his 
brief treatment of the subject. 

The development of the subject of cyclones, 
thunder-squalls and spout phenomena is very 
full ; but Faye’s theories are given perhaps un- 
due prominence from the German and Ameri- 
can points of view. 

In this, as in other recent treatises, the sub- 
ject of Weather Predictions has not the space 
devoted to it which its practical importance 
demands. 

The last chapter takes up briefly the meteor- 
ological periods or cycles, and cosmic influ- 
ences. 

Taking Angot’s book as a whole, there is a 
deliberateness of treatment of each topic which 
can only be attained either by the making ofa 
bulky volume or the exclusion of many impor- 
tant topics which deserve mention ; and in the 
reviewer’s opinion the use of the work as a text- 
book will be lessened thereby, but its value to 
the general reader will be increased. The lack 
of an index is, however, a most serious draw- 


back to the free use of the book as a work of 


reference, for it requires the knowledge of a 
specialist to be able to turn at once to minor 
topics by the aid of the rather full table of con- 
tents alone. 

Professor Angot’s ‘Meteorology’ is a much 
more important contribution to French litera- 
ture than it is to the world’s literature of the 
subject, and it will, undoubtedly, do a great 
amount of good in supplying French readers 
with information concerning the present con- 
dition of a subject of very rapidly increasing 
interest. The French meteorological literature 
of recent years has not been nearly as abundant 
as that of other countries, and we trust that 


oe ces 


MAY 26, 1899. ] 


this new book may arouse to action other 
authors and publishers, and especially such as 
will devote their energies to the presentation of 
the new meteorology. FRANK WALDO. 


The Genesis and Dissolution of the Faculty of 
Speech. A Clinical and Psychological Study 
of Aphasia. By JoserH Coins, M. D., Pro- 
fessor of Diseases of the Mind and Nervous 
System in the New York Post-graduate Med- 
ical School; Neurologist to the New York City 
Hospital, ete. Awarded the Alvarenga Prize 
of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 
1897. New York, The Macmillan Company. 
1898. Pp. viii+432. 

This volume, to which was awarded the 
Alvarenga prize of the College of Physicians of 
Philadelphia for 1897, is a monograph of im- 
portance. There is no more fruitful field of 
investigation than the various forms of speech 
disturbance, for the student both of psychology 
and pathological anatomy. That progress has 
been slow is due to the fact, as Collins points 
out, that observation and analysis of speech de- 
fect has been inaccurate and post-mortem ex- 
aminations incomplete. If not offering very 
much that is new the book before us has the 
merit of calling attention to our deficiencies 
and of urging greater care in the future. The 
author shows from beginning to end an admi- 
rable grasp of his subject and a complete ac- 
quaintance with the literature, which he has 
used with skill to produce throughout an emi- 
nently readable and stimulating book. 

The monograph opens with a chapter on 
‘Disorders of intellectual expression, known 
as aphasia.’ This is largely a discussion and 
criticism of terms, the outcome of which is a 
general classification of aphasia as follows: 

1. True aphasia—-aphasia of apperception. 
Due to lesion of any constituent of the speech 
region, the zone of language. 

2. Sensory aphasia. Due to lesion of the 
central and peripheral pathways leading to the 
zone of language. 

83. Motor aphasia. Due to lesion of the motor 
pathways, over which motor impulses travel in 
passing to the peripheral speech musculature. 

4. Compound aphasia. Any combination of 
two or more of these. 


SCIENCE, 745. 


Such a classification the author regards as 
sufficient for all practical purposes, but as a 
concession to established usage he makes cer- 
tain sub-divisions in order to avoid possible con- 
fusion of nomenclature. For example, he re- 
tains the word ‘motor’ as applied to aphasia 
produced by lesion of Broca’s convolution 
‘solely becau-e such usage has been consecrated 
by time,’ and not because he believes this center 
to be in reality entirely motor. 

Following this chapter is a valuable historical 
sketch comprised in twenty-three pages, with 
a good bibliography. Charcot’s autonomous 
speech centers are sharply criticised, both here 
and later in the book, and Dejerine’s services 
to the subject receive the warmest appreciation, 
particularly because of their general opposition 
to Charcot’s views, 

Under the heading of ‘An analysis of the 
genesis and function of speech,’ Collins an- 
alyses, from the point of view of physiological 
psychology, the various elements which ulti- 
mately result in the development of the faculty 
of speech. It is clearly too large a subject for 
so cursory a handling, and on the whole is less 
satisfactory than the discussions which are con- 
cerned solely with the physical side of the pro- 
cess. 

Chapter IV. concerns itself with remarks on 
the anatomy of the brain, the zone of language, 
and the evidence regarding a special graphic 
motor center. Itis largely anatomical and pre- 
sents with clearness the facts we should know 
relative to the structure of the brain in gen- 
eral, and particularly of those parts to which are 
attributed special functions in regard to speech. 
Flechsig’s recently expressed views as to the 
zones of projection and the zones of association 
are narrated in considerable detail, because of 
their more or less direct bearing upon the con- 
ception of aphasia which the author has elab- 
orated. Collins is definite in his opinion that 
the zone of language, made up mainly of Broca’s 
convolution, the posterior portion of the first 
temporal convolution, and the angular gyrus, 
does not send fibers directly into the motor pro- 
jection tract. The Rolandic cortex must first 
be called upon before an idea can be expressed 
as speech. He is equally confident that we 
now have sufficient evidence to overthrow com- 


746 SCIENCE. 


pletely Charcot’s conception of four more or 
less independent centers and particularly of a 
so-called graphic center, and that we may con- 
fidently maintain that the zone of language is, 
as it were, a unit in its action, no part of which 
may be seriously injured, without in a measure 
impairing the entire mechanism of speech. 
These claims are supported by much skilful 
analysis of reported cases, and a careful reading 
leaves us with the conviction of the reasonable- 
ness of Collins’ views. 

The greater part of the remainder of the book 
is taken up with a more detailed consideration 
of the varieties of speech disturbance, fre- 
quently and pleasantly interrupted by the nar- 
ration either of personal cases or of cases re- 
ported by others. In the discussion of motor 
aphasia much stress is laid upon a distinction 
too often overlooked, namely, that between 
cortical and sub-cortical motor aphasia. In the 
failure to recognize this distinction—and the 
same applies to sensory aphasia—Collins sees 
one of the greatest impediments to progress in 
our knowledge ; and, conversely, the greatest 
possible hope for more accurate knowledgein the 
future must lie in the careful microscopic study 
of the brains of aphasic individuals, particularly 
when the lesion lies beneath the cortex. The 
details of differential diagnosis do not concern 
the present review, but these chapters are to be 
cordially recommended to those desiring some- 
thing beyond a vague conception of the real 
problems of the future. 

The diagnosis, etiology, morbid anatomy, 
treatment and, finally, the medico-legal aspects 
of aphasia are discussed in a somewhat less 
complete form, as the scope of the book amply 
justifies. Collins disagrees with certain other 
writers as regards the responsibility of the 
aphasic. His contention here is that in so far as 
internal speech is unaffected, or put anatom- 
ically, if the cortical areas for stored memories 
are intact, a person must be regarded as re- 
sponsible, other things being equal. If, on the 
contrary, such areas are involved, e. g., the area 
for motor word memories, the person’s testa- 
mentary capacity should always be called in 
question. Hence, again, the extreme impor- 
tance of determining whether the lesion lead- 
ing to the speech defect be actually in the zone 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 230. 


of language or in that part of the nerve 
mechanism which simply subserves the emis- 
sion of words—sub-cortical. 

In general the monograph must be regarded 
as a valuable contribution to American neuro- 
logical literature. The subject-matter is pre- 
sented in a scholarly way, and with a directness 
and certainty of his position which is char- 
acteristic of the author. Itis to be regretted 
that Bastian’s recent work should have been 
published too late to be fully included in Col- 
lins’s critical analysis. On the whole the au- 
thor’s conception and treatment of his subject 
seem to us sound and representative of the best 
type of scientific discussion. He gives us few 
pew observations, worked out with the detail, 
particularly after death, which he so urgently 
recommends, but this, no doubt, is due to lack 
of opportunity. 

The style is for the most part clear. There 
is, however, a constant tendency to use unnec- 
essarily pedantic words, for which we can find 
no excuse. In writing on scientific subjects 
simplicity of diction is surely a first requisite, 
and this Collins lacks. The following words 
and expressions are correct, it may be, but cer- 
tainly not well chosen : ‘ Ancientness,’ ‘ super- 
ambient cortex,’ ‘speechfulness,’ ‘cotton rain 
guard,’ ‘perishment,’ ‘disablement.’ This is, 
however, a minor criticism in an otherwise ex- 
cellent piece of work. 

The book is admirably printed on rather un- 
necessarily heavy paper and the proof reading 
is almost faultless. An index adds materially 
to its usefulness and convenience. 


Bie Wistelss 


Codex Borbonicus. Manuscrit Méxicain de la 
Bibliothéque Du Palais Bourbon, Livre divi- 
natoire et Rituel figuré. Publié en fac-sim- 
ile avec une commentaire explicatif par 
M. E.-T. Hamy. Paris, 1889. Ernest LE- 
ROUX, Editeur. Text pp. 1-24, introduction 
and 4 chapters. Plates folded screen fashion 
No’s. 2-88 in colors. 

This ancient Mexican book, formerly known 
as the Codex Législatif, is now published for the 
first time, in exact fac-simile, color, size and 
form. The original is on maguey paper, and 


MAy 26, 1899.] 


the drawing is the work of an artist, displaying 
an accuracy not seen in any of the other Mexi- 
can codices. It has been hidden from the world 
in the recesses of the library of the Chamber of 
Deputies, Paris. The writer had the priviledge 
of carefully examining it in 1895, in company 
with the Duke of Loubat, through whose gener- 
osity its publication has been made possible. 
The bright colors with which it was painted are 
still well preserved, and the whole codex isin ex- 
cellent condition. The first two pages and prob- 
ably the last two are missing, undoubtedly having 
been destroyed, or abstracted shortly subsequent 
to the conquest. The division and mutilation 
of the Mexican codices is a well-known fact. 
This book, folded screen fashion, is painted 
upon but one side, unlike the majority of the 
Pre-Columbian codices. The pages bear texts 
written in poor Spanish, partly explanatory of 
their meaning. The first 18 pages contain the 
Tonalamatl, the divinatory or astrological calen- 
dar of the Aztecs. The contents of the missing 
first two pages can be supplied by a study of the 
other ritualistic calendars, of the Codices Vati- 
canus 3773, Vaticanus 3738, Borgianus, Bo- 
logna and the Boturini-Aubin-Goupil Tonala- 
matl. This subject has been exhaustively treated 
by Dr. Ed. Seler. The Tonalamatl of the Codex 
Borbonicus is far more complete than any 
other yet published, and helps to clear up some 
of their obscure points. Pages 19 to 38 contain 
astronomical, religious and historical material 
of great interest, and somewhat resemble the 
paintings found in the Codex Telleriano Re- 
mensis of the National Library, Paris, and its 
counterpart Codex Vaticanus 3738. Pages 37 
to 38 are instructive from the historical stand- 
point. Page 387 represents the two prophets 
who foretold to Montezuma the coming of the 
Spaniards to subdue the country. The dates: 
1, Tochtli; 2, Acatl; 3, Tecpatl, 1506-7-3, ac- 
company these figures, and suggest that the 
priests had heard of the appearance of the ships 
of Diaz de Solis and Pinzon off the coast of 
Yucatan in 1506, notice of which was undoubt- 
edly carried to most parts of the culture area. 

When all the old Mexican codices are repro- 
duced separately then the study will be much 
simplified, and it is gratifying to note the 
progress now being made in this direction, at 


SCIENCE. 


747 


the present time several unpublished codices 
being in process of publication. 
M. H. SAVILLE. 


Pflanzengeographie auf Physiologischer Grund- 
lage. Von Dr. A. F. W. Scuimper. Mit 
502 Tafeln und Abbildungen in autotypie, 5 
Tafeln in Lichtdruck, und 4 geographischen 
Karten. Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1898. 8ve. 
Pp. vi+ 876. 

The appearance of this text marks a distine- 
tive period in the development of phytogeog- 
raphy. The treatment is primarily ecological, 
but the floristic is presented so fully and woven 
in so logically that the arrangement is strictly 
phytogeographical in the best sense. Such a 
coordinate presentation of the subject-matter is 
novel. The standard texts, especially such 
classic ones as Humboldt’s, De Candolle’s and 
Grisebach’s, have been almost wholly floristic, 
while Warming’s recent Lehrbuch der Oeko- 
logischen Pflanzengeographie is, of course, 
purely ecological. Sketches of particular floras 
have, likewise, been floristic in character, to the 
practical exclusion of the ecological standpoint. 
Naturally, this does not mean that the author 
is the first to perceive the essential relation be- 
tween floristic and ecology, a relation practi- 
cally of cause and effect. The recognition of 
this fact is as old as Humboldt’s first work. It 
does indicate, however, the advance made in 
systematizing and in making more thorough the 
methods of investigating the floral covering. 
The appearance of the present excellent text 
evidences the author’s realization of his oppor- 
tunity. The skillful manner in which the mat- 
ter is handled bespeaks no small mastery of the 
subject. The volume contains a number of 
original and suggestive ideas, only a few of 
which can be mentioned here. 

The work consists of three parts, the first 
treating of the factors in ecology, the second of 
formations and plant societies, the third of the 
zones and regions of the floral covering of the 
globe. The ecological factors considered in the 
first part are water, temperature, light, soil, at- 
mosphere and animals. The treatment of each 
subject is as exhaustive as can be expected in a 
general text, especially in consideration of the 
enormous mass of detail available. In thorough- 


748 


ness and in manner of presentation of this por- 
tion, the book is probably without an equal. 
With respect to water content as a factor, 
Schimper’s divisions agree with those of Warm- 
ing, except that he uses the term tropophyte 
for mesophyte to apply to all plants not hydro- 
phytes or xerophytes. The same criticism ap- 
plies here that has been made elsewhere against 
Warming’s mesophytes. The term is a con- 
venient one, but it designates an ill-defined 
group and is almost impossible in application. 
The analysis of the conditions producing xero- 
phytes is critical; such conditions are here 
grouped with reference to decrease of absorp- 
tion and increase of transpiration. Under the 
former are ranged small water content, abun- 
dance of salts or humic acid in the soil, low soil 
temperature ; under the latter, low degrees of 
humidity of the air, high temperature, low at- 
mospheric pressure, intense illumination. Cor- 
responding to these characteristics, xerophytic 
habitats are: (1) deserts and steppes, with a 
dry substratum and a dry atmosphere, often, 
also, with excessive heat and intense sunlight ; 
(2) rocks and tree trunks, with low water con- 
tent due to rapid drying; (8) sandhills, rubble, 
talus, with extremely porous soil; (4) seashore, 
solfatara, with abundant salts in solution in the 
soil; (5) moors, with humic acid in the soil ; (6) 
polar areas, either in glaciated mountain ranges 
orin arctic latitudes, with extremely low ground 
temperature ; (7) alpine mountains with rarefac- 
tion of the atmosphere and strong insolation. 
The consideration of hydrophytes and tropo- 
phytesis naturally much morerestricted. Schim- 
per regards water plants proper as descended 
from primitive unstable amphibious forms—a 
conclusion rather too theoretical to be gener- 
ally accepted. He closes this section with a 
condensed statement of the relation of water to 
reproduction and to dissemination. 

In the consideration of temperature the 
author expressly states that he regards this 
factor of primary importance. He places its 
treatment after that of water solely because the 
modifications due to the latter are more easily 
investigated and determined. The considera- 
tion of temperature extremes is followed by that 
of optimum temperatures, in which the work of 
Sachs and Haberlandt is largely drawn upon. 


SCIENCE. 


_ cellence. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 230. 


Acclimatization is touched upon only briefly, for 
the most part with reference to Mayr’s contri- 
butions. For the general reader one or two 
re-statements are interesting: that no portion of 
the earth’s surface is too cold for plant life, as, 
with few exceptions, no portion is too hot ; that 
it is nowhere too dark, nowhere too bright, for 
plant life. There is opportunity to take ex- 
ception to the sweeping nature of these state- 
ments, but they are hardly intended to be taken 
as absolute. Under atmosphere is considered 
atmospheric pressure, air content of water and 
winds. The relatively much greater effect of 
the wind upon woody formations is pointed out, 
as also the influence of the wind upon transpira- 
tion. No mention is made, however, of the 
action of the wind in dune regions, sandhills 
and deserts, where it plays a primary réle in 
the determination of the floral covering. The 
importance of winds in pollination and dis- 
semination is treated briefly. 

The chapter upon soil as an ecological factor 
is very skillfully summarized. Though brief, it 
is so comprehensive that recapitulation is im- 
possible here; one can only reaffirm its ex- 
The influence of animals upon vege- 
tation has not been given as much attention as 
would be expected. Too little use has been 
made of the vast accumulation of data in this 
field. In many instances the ecological signifi- 
cance has not been fully wrought out. More- 
over, a large number of important biological 
factors in ecology, arising from the interrela- 
tions of plants to plants, and of plants to the 
physical conditions, such as vegetation pressure, 
zonation, layering, etc., have been entirely 
neglected. 

It is impossible to accept the author’s group- 
ing of formations into climatic and edaphic in 
the absolute way he seems tointendit. Forests, 
prairies and deserts are not purely, nor always 
primarily, determined by climatic factors. The 
so-called edaphic formations, determined 
though they are by soil characteristic, are often 
not formations, but zones or patches. They 
are but rarely coordinate with the author’s 
climatic formations. The conception of the 
facies, moreover, differs from that of Drude, 
which has been accepted in this country. The 
division of the floral covering into forests, 


MAY 26, 1899.] 


prairies or steppes and deserts is, of course, 
primary and affords an altogether satisfactory 
basis for the arrangement of the formations. 
The statement that the constitution of the floral 
covering is determined by the three factors, 
temperature, hydrometeors and soil, is axio- 
matic; one is inclined, however, to give only 
partial assent to the conclusion that temperature 
determines the flora, hydrometeors the vegeta- 
tion, and soil composition the formation. The 
analysis of the determining factors of forest, 
prairie and desert vegetation is excellent. 
Moderate frequency of precipitation is of first 
importance for forest vegetation. A rainy 
growing period is less favorable, the primary 
requisite being considerable water content in the 
soil, especially at some depth. The time of year 
in which the water supply is replenished is unim- 
portant. The latter may occur throughout the 
year or only periodically. In the last case the 
rainy season may coincide for the most part, or 
entirely, with the growing period, as in the 
tropics and in the interior of Argentina, or 
with a period of relative rest, as in extra-trop- 
ical regions with wet winters, Mediterranean 
countries, Chili, California, south and southwest 
Australia. Forests are limited only by such 
degrees of dryness as prohibit all other vegeta- 
tion, with the exception of fungi and algee. The 
polar limit of forested areas is determined by 
dry winds during the season of frosts. Sum- 
marizing, a climate favorable to forestation 
presents the following conditions: warm grow- 
ing period, constantly moist substratum, moist, 
quiet atmosphere, particularly in winter. It is 
unimportant whether the water content of the 
soil issupplied from meteoric or telluric sources, 
whether the precipitation is frequent or rare, 
coincident with the growing period or the period 
of rest. A climate with dry winters is unfavor- 
able to forests in the highest degree, since the 
trees are unable to recover from the transpira- 
tion loss of the winter. 

For prairies and steppes a moist substratum 
is unimportant, but a moist upper surface is 
essential. The most favorable conditions for 
grass vegetation are frequent, if only slight, 
precipitation during the growing period and 
coneomitant moderate warmth. Prairies are 
affected little by the moisture of the substratum, 


SCIENCE. 749 


except in the case of extreme capillarity of the 
surface, by the dryness of the air, especially 
during the period of rest, and by winds. Dry- 
ness in the maximum of the growing period, 
spring and early summer, is inimical, in a high 
degree, to grass vegetation. Axiomatically, in 
a climate favorable to forestation, forests pre- 
dominate; in one favorable to grasses, prairies 
and steppes are the rule. In transition regions 
predominance is determined by adaptation to 
edaphic factors. Extreme departures from the 
mean favorable to forest or to prairie vegeta- 
tion produce deserts. 

It is impossible even to touch upon the third 
part of the volume, which constitutes by far the 
largest portion. It deals with the zones and 
regions of the vegetative covering of the earth. 
The latter is treated in the most exhaustive 
manner since Grisebach under the captions: 
tropical zone, temperate zone, arctic zone, 
montane regions and hydrophytic formations. 
Each zone is considered in a very logical man- 
ner with reference to the three main manifesta- 
tions of the vegetation, forest, prairie and 
desert. The high value of the text is greatly 
enhanced by the large number of fine illustra- 
tions. It seems impossible to commend too 
highly this marked feature of the book. It may 
be regarded as significant of the time when 
phytogeographical results will be embodied, for 
the most part, in graphic fashion, in photo- 
graphs, abundance-frequence indices and charts, 
and formational lists and contrasts. 

FREDERIC E. CLEMENTS. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


Victor von Richter’s Organic Chemistry. Edited 
by Professor R. ANscHUTz, University of 
Bonn. Authorized Translation by EDGAR F. 
Smiru, Professor of Chemistry, University of 
Pennsylvania. Third American from the 
eighth German edition. Vol. I., Chemistry 
of the Aliphatic Series. Philadelphia, P. 
Blakiston’s Sons & Co. 1899. Pp. 625. 
Price, $3. 

Anschiitz, in editing v. Richter’s ‘Organic 
Chemistry,’ has raised it from the rank of a good 
descriptive manual to a place in the front rank 
of books on this subject. He has had the aid of 
Emil Fischer in the supervision of the chapters 


750 


on the carbohydrates and on uric acid; of v. 
Baeyer, Claisen, Waitz and others on the work 
in their respective fields. 

The introduction occupies 77 pages, and 
among other subjects includes condensed pres- 
entations of the aims of physical chemistry and 
stereochemistry, of the work based on the 
optical and magnetic properties of carbon com- 
pounds, and of that based on measurements of 
conductivity. The book is written tersely and 
clearly. The nomenclature in common use is 
retained, but that recommended by the Geneva 
Conference is also given. The literature and 
historical references are abundant. 

Professor Smith’s translation is very good. 
A slip is on page 122, where wine is said to be 
obtained from ‘St. John’s berries ;’ a term not 
found in the Century Dictionary. The German 
word ‘Johannisbeeren’ means currants. The 
volume before us contains the results of the 
latest work on the subject, and, as the second 
(and last) volume on the aromatic series is 
promised by the publishers during the present 
year, the student purchasing this excellent book 
may feel confident that he has the last word on 
the subject up to the date of publication. 

E. RENOUF. 


Physical Chemistry for Beginners. By Dr. CH. 
VAN DEVENTER. With an Introduction by 
Professor J. H. VAn’t Horr. Authorized 
American edition from the German edition. 
Translated by BERTHRAM B. BoLTwoop, 
Pu.D., Instructor in Physical Chemistry in the 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. 
First edition, first thousand. New York, 
John Wiley & Sons; London, Chapman & 
Hall, Limited. 1899. Pp. 154. 

In the preface it is stated that ‘‘in the book 
at hand the author has endeavored to collect 
the most important results of physical chem- 
istry in such a manner that this important 
branch of modern chemistry may be accessible 
to those who have not made an exhaustive 
study of physics and mathematics. The re- 
quirements of students of medicine and phar- 
macy, as well as of elementary chemistry, have 
been especially considered in the preparation of 
this work.’’ 

Chapters are devoted to the fundamental 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 230. 


laws of composition, the properties of gases?’ 
thermochemistry, solutions, phenomena of light 
and the periodic system. It would seem that 
a chapter on electrochemistry would add to the 
value of the book. 

The work has been used by Van’t Hoff in 
connection with his lectures on chemistry to 
students in Amsterdam, and is spoken of as 
having furnished him welcome assistance. 

The work of translation has been done with 
care by Dr. Boltwood, his purpose being, in 
part, to place in the hands of his own students 
a book which shall contain a clear and concise 
statement of the fundamental facts of physical 


chemistry. 
Harry C. JONES. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Das Tierreich. 
tide. 


7 Lieferung, Demodicide und Sarcop- 

G. CANESTRIUM and P. KRAMER. Pp. xvi 
+193. M. 9.20. 8 Lieferung, Scorpiones und 
Pedipalpi. KARL KRAEPELIN. Pp. xviii + 265. 
M. 12.60. Berlin, R. Friedlander und Sohn. 1899. 

Steinbruchindustrie und Steinbruchgeologie. O. HERR- 
MANN. Berlin, Borntraeger. 1899. Pp. xvi-+ 
428. M. 10. 

Essai critique sur Vhypothese des atomes dans la science 
contemporaine. ARTHUR HANNEQUEN. Paris, 
Alcan. 1899. Second Edition. Pp. 457. 

The Newer Remedies. VIRGIL COBLENTZ. Philadel- 
phia, P. Blakiston’s Sons & Co. 1899. Third Edi- 
tion. Pp. vi+147. $1.00. 

The Psychology of Reasoning. ALFRED BINET. Trans- 
lated from the second French edition by ADAM 
GOWANS WHITE. Chicago, The Open Court Pub- 
lishing Co. 1899. Pp. 191. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE first article in the American Naturalist 
for May is by H. 8. Jennings, and isa continua- 
tion of ‘Studies on Reactions to Stimuliin Uni- 
cellular Organisms.’ The present part, III., 
treats of ‘Reactions to Localized Stimuli in 
Spirostomum and Stentor,’ the writer reaching 
the conclusion that the organisms react as in- 
dividuals and not as substances. But while it 
will not do to think of their reactions as those 
of chemical substances, neither will it do to at- 
tribute to unicellular organisms the psycholog- 
ical powers of higher animals. Under the title 
of ‘Vacation Notes, II., The Northern Pacific 


MAy 26, 1899. ] 


Coast,’ Douglas H. Campbell touches on the 
botany of that region. W. D. Matthew con- 
siders the question: ‘Is the White River Tertiary 
an Aolian Formation,’ deciding it in the affirma- 
tive. F. H. Herrick describes several cases of 
‘Ovum in Ovo,’ and after classifying the vari- 
ous methods in which such abnormalities occur 
presents theories which account for them. The 
concluding paper by T. D. A. Cockerell is ‘On 
the Habits and Structure of the Coccid Genus 
Margarodes.’ Among the editorials is one on 
‘The Gypsy Moth and Economic Entomology,’ 
in which the ground is taken that it is not worth 
while to continue the present extravagant 
policy. The number is unusually full of brief 
and good reviews of recent scientific literature. 


THE March number of the Bulletin of the 
American Mathematical Society contains: ‘On 
Singular Points of Linear Differential Equations 
with Real Coefficients,’ by Professor Maxime 
Bocher ; ‘ The Hessian of the Cubic Surface,’ by 
Dr. J. I. Hutchinson; ‘On the Simple Iso- 
morphisms of a Hamiltonian Group to Itself,’ 
-by Dr. G. A. Miller; ‘Galois’s Collected 
Works,’ by Professor James Pierpont; ‘Three 
Memoirs on Geometry,’ by Professor Edgar 
Odell Lovett; ‘Stahl’s Abelian Functions,’ by 
Dr. Virgil Snyder ; ‘Calculus of Finite Differ- 
ences,’ by Dr. D. A. Murray ; ‘Notes’ and 
‘ New Publications.’ The April number of the 
Bulletin contains an account of the February 
meeting of the American Mathematical Society, 
by Professor F. N. Cole; ‘Determinants of 
Quaternions,’ by Professor James Mills Pierce ; 
‘The Largest Linear Homogeneous Group with 
an Invariant Pfaffian,’ by Dr. L. E. Dickson ; 
‘Asymptotic Lines on Ruled Surfaces having 
Two Rectilinear Directrices,’ by Dr. Virgil 
Snyder; ‘Willson’s Graphics,’ by. Dr. J. B. 
Chittenden ; ‘Pascal’s Repertorium of Higher 
Mathematics,’ ‘D’Ocagne’s Descriptive and 
Infinitesimal Geometry,’ by Professor Edgar 
Odell Lovett ; ‘ Sophus Lie,’ translation of Pro- 
fessor Gaston Darboux’s notice; ‘Notes’ and 
‘New Publications.’ The May number of the 
Bulletin contains an account of the April meet- 
ing of the Chicago Section of the Society, by 
Professor Thomas F. Holgate; ‘ An Elementary 
Proof that Bessel’s Functions of the Zeroth 
Order have an Infinite Number of Real Roots,’ 


SCIENCE. 


751 


by Professor Maxime Bécher; ‘A Generaliza- 
tion of Appell’s Factorial Functions,’ by Dr. E. 
J. Wilezynski; ‘On the Arithmetization of 
Mathematics,’ by Professor James Pierpont ; 
‘Two Books on the Tides,’ by Professor Ernest 
W. Brown; ‘ Notes’ and ‘ New Publications.’ 


THE Annals of Mathematics will henceforward 
be published quarterly, beginning with the num- 
ber issued on October 1st, by the department of 
mathematics of Harvard University. Professor 
Ormond Stone, of the University of Virginia, 
who founded and for many years supported the 
journal, has consented to act as a member of 
the board of editors in codperation with Pro- 
fessor H. S. White, of Northwestern University, 
and Professors Byerly, Osgood and Bocher, of 
Harvard University. The editors state that 
their object is to conduct the journal so that it 
may appeal not merely to the highly trained 
specialist, but to the general mathematieal 
public of America from students of mathematics 
in the graduate schools of our universities up- 
ward. Short research articles will be welcomed, 
but highly technical articles will be avoided. 
Articles containing little or no absolutely new 
matter, but giving a clear presentation of some 
important but not readily accessible field of 
mathematics, or a more thorough presentation 
of some subject which is generally treated in an 
unsatisfactory manner, are especially desired. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 

THE regular meeting was held on April 138, 
1899. 

The first paper of the evening was read by 
Mr. J. K. Haywood, and was entitled ‘Some 
Boiling-Point Curves.’ The results obtained 
have led to the following conclusions : 

I. All mixtures of the following pairs of 
liquids boil at temperatures between the boil- 
ing points of the constituents : alcohol-water, 
aleohol-ether, chloroform-carbon tetra-chloride, 
acetone-water and acetone-ether. 

II. A solution containing 17.5 % alcohol in 
carbon tetra-chloride distills without change at 
65.5° approximately, under a pressure of 768.4 
mm. of mercury. 

IfI. A solution containing 12.5 % methyl] al- 


702 


cohol in chloroform distills without change at 
54° approximately, under a pressure of 770.2 
mm. of mercury. 

IV. A solution containing 12-13 % methyl 
alcohol in acetone distills without change at 
55.9°, under a pressure of 764.8 mm. of mer- 
cury. The boiling point of this mixture is about 
0.8° below that of the constituent which is pres- 
ent in greatest amount. 

Vv. A solution containing 15-20 % of carbon 
tetra-chloride in acetone distills without change 
at a temperature but 0.05° below that of the 
pure acetone, and all mixtures containing more 
than 40 % acetone boil within one degree of the 
boiling point. 

VI. The close proximity of the boiling points 
of the constituents appears to be a favorable 
condition for the existence of a maximum or 
minimum point on the boiling-point curve. 

VII. In general one constituent remaining 
the same, mixtures with substances of similar 
chemical constitution yield similar boiling-point 
curves. 

The second paper was read by Dr. F. Kk. Cam- 
eron, and was entitled ‘ Boiling Points of Mix- 
tures.’ 

Dr. H. C. Bolton read an interesting paper 
on ‘The Development of Pneumatic Chem- 
istry,’ which was profusely illustrated with 
lantern slides. 


? 


WILLIAM H. KRue, 
Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS’ CLUB 
OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

Students’ Geological Club, April 11, 1899.—Mr. 
L. La. Forge reviewed Gregory’s ‘ Plan of the 
Earth,’ indicating several questionable steps in 
that writer’s recent exposition of the subject. 
Mr. A. W. G. Wilson described a unique lake 
in Ontario, which is known as Lake-on-the- 
Mountain. 

Geological Conference, April 28, 1899.—Mr. 
k. E. Burke communicated ‘The Discovery of 
Fossils in the Roxbury Conglomerate,’ and will 
publish on it at an early date. 

Under the title ‘Mineral Veins of the Mys- 
tic Quarries, Somerville,’ Mr. R. B. Earle re- 
ported the results of his studies in that field. 
The veins, which are almost entirely limited to 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. 1X. No. 230. 


a dike and a sill, are composed chiefly of cal- 
cite, but include small amounts of quartz, pyrite 
and prehnite. The speaker divided the fissures 
which these veins fill into five classes according 
to their origin, which he believed to have been 
by contraction of the molten magma, by earth- 
quakes, by tortion, by faulting or by decompo- 
sition. The growth and enlargement of these 
fissures, when once formed, was held to be 
mainly due to the expansive force of the vein- 
filling substance. 

Mr. G. C. Curtis exhibited a topographic 
model, which he has constructed, of an area lo- 
cated in the eastern foothills of the Cascade 
Range, near the great bend of the Columbia 
River, in Kitattas County, Washington. 

J. M. BOUTWELL, 
Recording Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
TELEPATHY ONCE MORE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Why Professor 
Titchener should have taken an essay which he 
now admits to have completely failed even to 
make probable its point, as an example of the 
‘brilliant work’ which ‘scientific psychology’ 
can do in the way of destroying the telepathic 
superstition, may be left to be fathomed by read- 
ers with more understanding of the ways of 
‘Science’ than I possess. 

Meanwhile, as one interested in mere ac- 
curacy, I must protest against two impressions 
which Professor Titchener, in your number of 
May 10th, seeks to leave upon the reader’s mind. 

The first is that whispering was first consid- 
ered by Professor Lehmann. It has been elab- 
orately discussed in the 8. P. R. Proceedings 
over and over again. Sidgwick’s 6-page discus- 
sion of it in the report of his own experiments 
is the basis of comparison used by Lehmann in 
his ampler but abortive investigation. 

The second of Professor Titchener’s implica- 
tions is that it was Lehmann who introduced 
number-habits, and even forced the admission 
of them on the recalcitrant Sidgwick. Lehmann 
makes no mention of number-habits. Sidgwick 
himself introduces them to account, not for the 
thought transference results, but for the many 
errors common to the guesses of his Subjects and 


May 26, 1899.] 


Lehmann’s; the two perhaps had the same 
number-habit. Does Professor Titchener seri- 
ously think that a number-habit in a guesser 
can account for the amount of coincidence be- 
tween the numbers which he guesses and those 
upon counters drawn at random out of a bag? 
Even in anti-telepathic Science accuracy of 
representation is required, and I am pleading 
not for telepathy, but only for accuracy. 
WILLIAM JAMES. 


ON THE WEHNELT CURRENT BREAKER, 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: The following 
facts, noticed while experimenting with the 
Wehnelt electrolytic current breaker, may be 
not without interest : 

In order to test if the action of the breaker 
could be due to a spheriodal state, produced 
by the high temperature of the positive elec- 
trode, some means for measuring the tempera- 
ture of this electrode had to be obtained. 
For this purpose I used electrodes of fusible 
metals melting at different temperatures, the 
temperature of the electrode being neces- 
sarily less than that at which the alloy 
melts, if the latter remain unfused. In this 
way one can at least obtain the superior 
limit for the temperature of the electrode. 
Starting with a fusible alloy which melted 
at about 78° C., the electrode melted as soon 
as the circuit was closed. The next metal 
used melted at 96° C., and was fused an ap- 
preciable, though very short, time after the cur- 
rent was established. Finally, using an anode 
made of ametal which melted at 168° C., no in- 
dication of fusion of the electrode could be de- 
tected, even after the breaker had run for ten 
minutes at a time. This seems to show that 
the temperature of the electrode was far below 
200°, the temperature necessary, at atmos- 
pheric pressure, for the production of the sphe- 
roidal state. 

The influence of self-induction on the action 
of the breaker was also studied, to some extent. 
Diminution of the self-induction in circuit di- 
minishes the period of the action, as is shown 
by the heightened pitch of the sound produced. 
But absence of all self-induction prevents wholly 
the working of the breaker. Thecell was used 
in a circuit composed of a storage battery, non- 


SCIENCE. risss) 


inductive electrolytic resistances and wires 
wound non-inductively. With this arrange- 
ment no interruption of the current could be 
produced, though the electromotive force was 
raised to thirty volts and the current to 
eighteen amperes. As soon, however, as a coil 
with self-induction was put in the circuit the 
action of the breaker recommenced. Induction 
in the circuit is essential to the action of this 
form of interrupter. 
Howarp McCLENAHAN,. 
PHYSICAL DEPARTMENT, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 


THERMODYNAMIC ACTION OF ‘STEAM-GAS.’ 

ONE of the most valuable papers recently 
published in the fields of applied science is that 
which has just been reprinted from the Revue de 
Mécanique of the last year, the work of Profes- 
sor Sinigagalia, a well-known author in that 
field.* 

This is the latest and, in many respects, the 
most complete discussion of a supremely impor- 
tant subject ; one to which the minds of men of 
science and engineers the world over are now 
again turning after a period of many years, 
during which the thermodynamic promise of 
gain in efficiency in the steam-engine through 
the conversion of a vapor into a gas by this 
process of superheating had been almost univer- 
sally believed to be more than counterbalanced 
by the very serious difficulties met in the earlier 
days in the attempt to profit by it. Changes 
have taken place during the last generation 
which are now thought by many authorities to 
have largely reduced the obstructions formerly 
seemingly fatal to a great thermodynamic ad- 
vance. 

In the practical thermodynamic operation of 
the steam-engine, as M. Bertrand has remarked, 
there is no such thing as ‘saturated vapor,’ as 
that term is customarily employed by the 
thermodynamists. The working fluid is always, 
in fact, a mixture of vapor and its liquid, ina 


*Application de la Surchauffe aux Machines 4 Va- 
peur par M. Francois Sinigaglia, Professeur agrégé 
des Ingénieurs de Naples; Ingénieur-Directeur de 
1’ Association des Propriétaires d’Appareils 4 Vapeur 
dans les Province napolitaines. Extrait de la Revue 
de Mécanique (1897-98); Paris, V’ve Ch. Dunod, Edi- 
teur, 1898. 


7TO4 


state of instability as to quality. The investi- 
gations of the ‘théorie générique’ made by Ran- 
kine, Clausius, Zeuner and others resulted in 
establishment of no rational expressions for the 
actual heat-exchanges of the real, as distin- 
guished from the ideal, engine, and Hirn’s 
‘théorié expérimentale,’ as developed by that 
great investigator and his disciples, is still the 
only resort of the student of the curious extra- 
thermodynamic processes accompanying the 
thermodynamic operation of the engine. 

Superheating has come to be looked upon, 
not as method of giving superior thermody- 
namic action, but as simply a provision for reduc- 
ing internal wastes due to heat-exchanges be- 
tween the steam and the metal surrounding it. 
Its effectiveness was recognized as early as 
Trevethick’s time (1828 or earlier) and became 
well understood about the middle of the cen- 
tury ; since which time numerous inventions 
have been made, looking to its utilization, few 
giving any promise of success. The Alsatian 
school has revealed very completely the method 
and the effect of its adoption, and it has come to 
be well understood that its province is simply 
to reduce that form of waste known as ‘initial 
condensation’ or ‘cylinder condensation.’ Its 
successful use would effect the suppression of 
those losses in such manner, in the words of 
Dwelshauvers-Dery, as to give maximum effi- 
ciency by securing the exhaust of the steam 
from the engine in the dry and saturated condi- 
tion. This is, in his opinion, the practical 
criterion of most perfect action. The actual 
gain has been found by Hirn to be, in several 
eases studied by him experimentally, from 20 
to nearly 50 per cent., with a superheat amount- 
ing to from 210°C. to 245°C. The nearest ap- 
proximation yet reported to the ideal, purely 
thermodynamic, case has been effected by this 
means—particularly, of late, by Schmidt. 

The failures of the past have been due to 
difficulties in securing an apparatus which can- 
not be rapidly injured by excess of heat in 
presence of superheated vapor of water, and a 
system of lubrication of the cylinder and piston 
eapable of working satisfactorily at the tem- 
peratures attained in effective superheating. 
The latter obstacle is now overcome, largely, by 
the use of the high-test mineral oils ; the former 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. VoL. LX. No. 230. 


remains a serious obstruction. The increasing 
steam-pressures of our day also reduce both the 
need and the availability of increasing super- 
heat. 

The results of successful superheating exhibit 
themselves both at the engine and at the boiler, 
and, as with multiple-cylinder engines, the gain 
at the boiler in economical employment of fuel 
is greater than that at the engine through a more 
perfect thermodynamic action; for the reduc- 
tion of the demand for steam at the engine re- 
sults in an increased economy in the produc- 
tion of such steam through the larger propor- 
tion of heating surface to weight of steam 
produced. Thus a gain of 20 per cent. at the 
engine may be accompanied by a gain of 22 per 
cent. or more in fuel as measured at the boiler. 
The desirable amount of superheat is that which 
will prevent the condensation of the vapor en- 
tering the steam-cylinder and insure its rejection 
as saturated vapor at exhaust. 

The apparatus employed by various inventors 
and investigators in this field, from 1850 to our 
own time is described at considerable length by 
M. Sinigaglia, and the results of experiment are 
recited. In many instances, recently, particu- 
larly, it is reported that no serious inconven- 
iences were met with in the application of this 
system ; in other cases much trouble and some- 
times serious accidents resulted, due to the 
‘burning’ of the apparatus and its yielding, 
thus weakened, to the pressure. Messrs. Lud- 
wig and Weber obtained, in an extensive series 
of experiments in Alsace, some very encourag- 
ing figures. An average gain of 7.5 per cent., 
net, was secured by moderate superheat (44°C.). 
Messrs. Walther-Meunier, and Ludwig, later, 
reported a gain of 13 to 15 per cent. from a super- 
heat of somewhat greater amount. Schwoerer 
obtained a gain in efficiency of 15 to 18 per 
cent. by superheating 68°C. Hirsch reports 
similar figures from an equal amount of gasifica- 
tionin a marineapparatus. Schroeter obtained 
gains of 10 per cent. and more in a very elab- 
orate and detailed investigation, in which the 
superheat amounted to 60°C. The most re- 
markable results reported are those of Schmidt, 
who, by adopting an enormous portion of super- 
heating to heating surface (six to one), secureda 
superheat of 190°C., and at another time, witha 


May 26, 1899. ] 


comparatively smail apparatus, secured the 
highest record yet established. With another 
engine a gain in weight of steam supplied the 
engine amounting to nearly 40 per cent. was 
effected, and in weight of fuel 28 per cent ; the 
difference being due, obviously, to the fact that 
each unit-weight of steam carried an abnormal 
quantity of stored heat. 

Professor Sinigaglia concludes : 

1. Superheating vapor is irrefutably proved 
to be the most effective system of reduction of 
internal wastes of heat in the steam-engine. 

2. The higher the degree of superheating at- 
tainable, the nearer does the thermodynamic 
result approximate that indicated by pure 
theory and by the formulas of thermodynamics. 

3. From the industrial point of view, it is 
necessary to note the gain, not at the engine, 
but in fuel demanded at the boiler, and the ap- 
paratus of vaporization and of gasification must 
be efficient and durable. 

4. The final test is in the study of the finan- 
cial aspect of the operation. 

“Mais, aujourd’hui, les installations nom- 
breuses de |’ Alsace et del’ Allemagne ont donné 
des résultats si remarkables qu’on finira par 
vaincre les derniéres difficultés qui s’opposent 
4 une application générale de Ja surchautffe aux 
machines 4 vapeur. Ce sera le meilleur hom- 
mage rendu A Hirn et 4 son école.’’ 


R. H. THursron. 


THE REMOVAL OF DR. WORTMAN TO THE 
CARNEGIE MUSEUM. 

Dr. J. L. WoRTMAN, of the American Museum 
of Natural History, has been called to take 
charge of the new collections of Vertebrate 
fossils in the Carnegie Museum at Pittsburgh, 
and has resigned his position in the American 
Museum in order to enter upon his new duties. 
The finest portions of the Cope collection of 
Fossil Mammals were made by Dr. Wortman 
previous to his connection with the Army Med- 
ical Museum in Washington. Since 1890 he has 
had charge of most of the parties sent out from 
the American Museum for Fossil Mammals and 
Reptiles and has conducted these explorations 
with extraordinary success. A very large part, 
therefore, of the collections in the Department 


SOIENCE. 


mer 
( 


Or 


of Vertebrate Paleontology are due to the 
energy and intelligence of Dr. Wortman and 
his assistants in the field. His field work has 
been carried on almost exclusively during the 
summer months, and he has been occupied dur- 
ing the winters in the preparation of a series of 
bulletins based chiefly upon the field collections, 
many of which have attracted wide attention. 
Notable among these are the papers upon the 
Skeleton of Patriofelis, the Anatomy of Agrio- 
cherus, the revision of all the early species of 
horses, and a geological paper upon the Stra- 
tigraphy of. the White River Beds. The most 
important of his original contributions in the 
series is, however, that upon the ‘ Origin of the 
Sloths,’ based chiefly upon the fortunate dis- 
covery of the foot of Psittacotheriwum in the 
Torrejon beds of New Mexico. Dr. Wortman’s 
latest paper, now in press, is upon the Ancestry 
of the Dogs, in which he successfully demon- 
strates the direct phylogenetic relationship be- 
tween the Canide and of certain dog-like Creo- 
donts. 

Dr. Wortman’s services to the Museum are 
greatly appreciated and his resignation has been 
accepted with much regret. He carries with 
him the best wishes of his friends for his suc- 


cess in his new undertaking. 
EES OF 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

Proressor F. L. O. WApDsworTH has been 
appointed by the managers of the Western 
Pennsylvania University, Director of the Alle- 
gheny Observatory, succeeding in the position 
Professors Keeler and Langley. Professor 
Wadsworth has been connected with Yerkes 
Observatory since its opening and was pre- 
viously at the Astrophysical Observatory of the 
Smithsonian Institution. 

UNDER authority of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, the Superintendent of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey has effected a reorganization 
in that Bureau in such a way as to relieve the 
head of the Bureau of a certain amount of the 
routine work and to insure also a more direct 
supervision of the field work. The following 
officers have been appointed: Assistant Super- 
intendent, Mr. O. H. Tittman; Assistant in 
charge of the Office, Mr, Andrew Braid ; In- 


706 


spector of Field Work in Hydrography and 
Topography, Mr. H. G. Ogden; Inspector of 
Field Work in Geodesy, Mr. John F. Hayford ; 
Inspector of Field Work in Terrestrial Magnet- 
ism, Dr. L. A. Bauer. 


M. PRILLEUX, known for his researches on the 
parasitic diseases of plants, has been elected a 
member of the Section of Botany of the Paris 
Academy of Sciences. The other candidates 
nominated by the Section were MM. Bureau, 
Maxime, Cornu, Renault and Zeiller. 


THREE botanists—Professors E. Pfitzer, of 
Heidelberg ; O. Brefeld, of Mumster, and E. 
Warmung, of Copenhagen—have been elected 
corresponding members of the Berlin Academy 
of Sciences. 


Mr. W. H. PREECE, C.B., F.R.S., has ac- 
cepted the presidency of the 18th Congress of 
the Sanitary Institute, to be held in Southamp- 
ton from August 29th to September 2d. 


CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY has conferred the 
degree of Doctor in Science, honoris causa, on 
Alexander Kowalevsky, professor of zoology in 
the Imperial University, St. Petersburg. 


THE Prince of Monaco has been elected an 
honorary member of the Royal Geographical 
Society of London. 


Mr. Puirie THomAs MAIN, Fellow of St. 
Johns College, Cambridge, died on May 5th. 
He lectured on chemistry at St. John’s College 
and did much to promote the study of natural 
science in the College and in the University. He 
was also the author of a treatise on astronomy 
which has passed through several editions. 


Mr. Henry WILLIAM JACKSON, a retired sur- 
geon, died at Louth, Lincolnshire, on May 14th, 
aged 67 years. He founded the Lewisham and 
Blackheath Scientific Association and was in- 
terested in anthropology and astronomy, being 
a member of the London and Paris Anthropo- 
logical Societies and a Fellow of the Royal Astro- 
nomical Society: 


THROUGH some as yet unknown ‘accident,’ the 
annual appropriation for the N. Y. State Weather 
Service were stricken out of the appropriation 
bill, April 24th Jast, and it is thus apparently 
impossible to continue a series of observations, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 230. 


meteorological and agricultural, that has been 
carried on without interruption for a genera- 
tion. In this service, which has its headquar- 
ters at Ithaca, in the College of Civil Engineer- 
ing, nearly 2,500 persons are engaged without 
cost to the State, including the Director of that 
College, who is also the Director of the Service. 
The work of the Bureau has been largely in the 
interests of the farmers of the State, and the 
compilation of weekly ‘Crop Bulletins,’ and 
the maintenance of a weather-signal station, 
which operates in conjunction with the U.S. 
Bureau at Washington, has been considered an 
important service to the whole Commonwealth. 
The minute appropriations hitherto made, but 
$4,500 per annum, by the great State of New 
York have been eprtirely inadequate to the op- 
portunities of the Bureau; but the volunteer 
labor of a corps whose services, if fully compen- 
sated, would amount to probably over a quarter 
of a million of dollars annually have gone far 
to make up for the defect. Even if re-estab- 
lished, this interruption for a single year will 
make a break in the files which can never be 
repaired and which may deprive the State of 
previously interested, and even enthusiastic, 
observers by so disheartening them that they 
will not resume their connection with the sys- 
tem; thus destroying stations having records 
of a length approximating thirty years. 

A MEETING was held on May 20th, at Co- 
lumbia University, for the purpose of discussing 
the formation of an American Physical Society, 
which would hold meetings in New York for 
the reading and discussion of papers. The 
meeting was called by the following committee 
of physicists, representing important American 
universities: Professor A. G. Webster, Clark 
University, Worcester; Professor J. S. Ames, 
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore ; Profes- 
sor E. L. Nichols, Cornell University, Ithaca ; 
Professor Carl Barus, Brown University, Provi- 
dence; Professor M. I. Pupin, Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York; Professor B. O. Peirce, 
Harvard University, Cambridge ; Professor W. 
F. Magie, Princeton University, Princeton. It 
is intended that the new organization shall be 
for this country what the Physical Society is for 
England and the Deutsche physikalische Gesell- 
schaft for Germany. 


May 26, 1899. | 


THE Council of the American Chemical So- 
ciety has authorized the establishment of a sec- 
tion to be known as the Philadelphia Section, 
with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pa., having 
a territory with a radius of sixty miles from the 
Philadelphia City Hall. 

THE foundation-stone of the extension of 
South Kensington Museum, henceforward_ to 
be known as the Victoria and Albert Museum, 
was laid by Queen Victoria on May 17th. 
Several members of the royal family, foreign 
diplomatists and members of both Houses of 
Parliament were among those attending. The 
Duke of Devonshire, the Home Secretary, and 
Mr. Akers-Douglas took a prominent part in 
the proceedings. The Prince of Wales assisted 
the Queen in the actual laying of the founda- 
tion-stone. 

A BILL has been introduced into the British 
Parliament for establishing a Department of 
Agriculture and other Industries and Technical 
Instruction in Ireland, and for other purposes 
-conected therewith. 


THE United States Civil Service Commission 
announces that applicants for the position of 
Inspector of Standards (Office of Standard 
Weights and Measures), U. 8. Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey (Treasury Department), at a salary 
of $3,000 per annum, will be permitted to file 
their applications as late as July 15, 1899, in- 
stead of June 1, 1899, as previously announced. 

Tue Examiners of the U. 8. Civil Service 
Examination for a ‘‘Sloyd Teacher’’ in the 
Indian Service (Dept. Interior) failed to find 
candidates, April 11th. The examination will 
now be held June 6th-7th and the successful 
applicant will receive 8600 per annum for teach- 
ing ‘‘ basket Sloyd’’ and carving. 

Mayor VAN WyckE, of New York, has signed 
the resolution of the Municipal Assembly pro- 
viding for the issue of $500,000 bonds to defray 
the expenses of removing the old reservoir from 
Bryant Park and building the foundations for 
the new library. The contract for the work 
will be let immediately by the Board of Esti- 
mate, and the work of tearing down the reser- 
voir will be begun as soon as practicable. 


AN anonymous gift of $25,000 has been made 
to Long Island College Hospital for the endow- 


SCIENCE. 757 


ment of a fellowship in the department of pa 
thology. The gift is to be known as the Van 
Cott Fellowship, in honor of Dr. Joshua Van 
Cott, the director of the laboratory. 

THE French Chamber of Deputies has voted 
an annual appropriation of 92,000 fr. for the 
publication of the Photographic Atlas of the 
Stars. 

THE French Association for the Advancement 
of Science will meet at Boulogne on the 14th of 
September, 1899. As we have already stated, 
the British Association will meet at the same 
time at Dover, the meetings of the two Associa- 
tions having been arranged so as to provide for 
an exchange of hospitalities. 


THE Indian Plague Commission has returned 
to London and is continuing its meetings in that 
city. 

THE daily papers report that a letter from 
Andrée has been found on the northeast coast 
of Iceland and has been forwarded, as addressed, 
to Gothenburg, Sweden. 


AN exhibition is being arranged at The 
Hague to illustrate what was accomplished by 
the Netherlands prior to the present century in 
navigation, discoveries, trade and _ fisheries. 
Those in America who possess objects that might 
be useful for exhibition are requested to com- 
municate with the Honorary Secretary, Mr. G. 
P. Van Hecking Colenbrander, The Hague. 


WE learn from the London Times that the two 
royal gold medals of the Royal Geographical 
Society have this year been awarded to two 
Frenchmen, both of them distinguished explo- 
rers. Only one French explorer, Francis Gar- 
nier, has hitherto figured on the Society’s list 
of honors, and only one other Frenchman, 
Elisée Reclus. The founder’s medal has this 
year been awarded to Captain Binger, who in 
the years 1887-89 carried out an extensive 
series of explorations in the vast area included 
in the bend of the Niger. During these jour- 
neys Captain Binger explored much country 
previously unknown, took numerous astro- 
nomical observations on which to base a map of 
the region, and in other departments of geog- 
raphy did a great amount of work of high 
scientific value. The results of Captain Bin- 
ger’s explorations were published in 1892 in 


758 


two large volumes, with one large map and sev- 
eral smaller maps and sections and numerous 
valuable illustrations, which form the chief au- 
thority on the geography of the region with 
which they deal. The patron’s medal has been 
awarded to M. Foureau for his explorations in 
the Sahara during the last twelve years. In 
his journey to Insalah in 1890 he travelled over 
1,500 miles and fixed the latitudes and longi- 
tudes of 35 places; in 1891 he penetrated far- 
ther into the Sahara than any other explorer 
since the Flatters mission, and determined the 
positions of 41 places; in 1893 he penetrated as 
far as the Tassili plateau ; in 1894-95 he again 
covered much new ground and made numerous 
astronomical observations to fix positions, be- 
sides making researches in physical geography, 
geology and botany ; in 1896 and in his present 
journey he contributed still further to geograph- 
ical knowledge. The whole comprises an 
amount of continuous scientific work under 
great difficulties which places M. Foureau in 
the first rank of African explorers. Few men 
have done so much to elucidate the topography 
and the physical geography of the Sahara. The 
Murchison award has been given to Mr. Albert 
Armitage for his valuable scientific observations 
and for his sledge journeys with Mr. Jackson 
in Franz Josef Land; the Gill memorial to the 
Hon. David Carnegie for his journey across the 
Western Australian desert from Coolgardie to 
Hall’s Creek and back by a different route, 
thus traversing the desert twice ; the Cuthbert 
Peek grant to Dr. Nathorst for his important 
scientific exploration of the Spitzbergen Islands 
and the seas between Spitzbergen and Green- 
land; the Back grant to Captain Sykes for his 
three journeys through Persia, during which he 
has made important corrections and additiors 
to the map of that country and done much to 
clear up the geography of Marco Polo. These 
honors will be awarded at the anniversary 
meeting of the Society on June 5th, and at the 
same time the American Ambassador will pre- 
sent to Sir John Murray the gold medal of the 
American Geographical Society for his valuable 
contributions to scientific geography. 

THE 30th annual meeting of the Iron and 
Steel Institute of Great Britain was opened on 
May 4th in the hall of the Institution of Civil 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 230. 


Engineers, Westminster. The chair was oc- 
cupied in the first instance by the retiring 
President, Mr. Edward P. Martin, who intro- 
duced his successor, Sir William Roberts-Aus- 
ten, who delivered the inaugural address. The 
report of the Council for the past year was read 
by the Secretary, Mr. Bennett H. Brough, and 
showed that during 1898 the number of mem- 
bers was increased by 98, the total number on 
the roll at the end of the year being 1,522. 
With 57 members elected at the present meeting 
the total numerical strength of the Institute 
was brought up to 1,579. To the list of honor- 
ary members the names of King Oscar II. of 
Sweden and Norway and Baron Gustav Tamm, 
Governor-General of Stockholm and President 
of the Association of Swedish Ironmasters, were 
added during the past year. The annual din- 
ner was held on the evening of May 4th, at 
which speeches were made by the Chairman, Sir 
William Roberts-Austen ; Mr. Horace Seymour, 
Deputy-Master of the Mint ; Sir William White, 
Director of Naval Construction ; Sir H. Bracken- 
bury, Director-General of Ordnance ; Professor 
Riicker, Lord Lister, Lord Strathcona, Mr. 
Preece and others. 


THE Sixth International Congress on Com- 
mercial Education opened at Venice on May 
4th, under the presidency of Signor Pascolata. 
It will next meet at Paris on August 26, 1900. 


THE report of the Council presented at the 
seventieth anniversary meeting of the Zoolog- 
ical Society of London stated that the number 
of Fellows on December 31, 1898, was 3,185, 
showing an increase of 27 during the past year, 
and the number of Fellows on the roll was in 
excess of what it had been in any year since 
1885. The total income during the past year 
had been £29,208, being £495 more than that of 
1897, and £8,357 in excess of the average dur- 
ing the preceding ten years. The increase in 
the income was attributable to the larger 
amounts received for admission fees, composi- 
tions and subscriptions, and also to the aug- 
mentation of the miscellaneous receipts caused 
by a contribution of Mr. Walter Rothschild, 
M.P., towards the outlay on the new tortoise 
house, built in 1898. The ordinary expendi- 
ture of the Society for 1898 had amounted to 


MAY 26, 1899. ] 


£25,979, which was an increase of £649 over 
that for 1897. A sum of £3,718 had also been 
paid to extraordinary expenditure, having been 
devoted mainly to the construction of new 
buildings in the gardens and to the acquisition 
of a young male giraffe, which, although it ar- 
rived in apparently good health, did not, un- 
fortunately, live long in the gardens. After 
payment of the ordinary and extraordinary ex- 
penditure a balance of £1,584 had been carried 
forward. The number of visitors to the gar- 
dens in 1898 had been 710,848, being 6,707 less 
than the corresponding number in 1897, The 
number of animals living in the gardens on 
December 81st last was 2,656, of which 818 
were mammals, 1,363 birds and 475 reptiles and 
batrachians. 


CoNnSUL-GENERAL HoLioway, of St. Peters_ 
burg, sends to the Department of State, under 
date of March 28, 1899, translation of an article 
from the ‘Novoe Vremia’ of the 17th instant, 
referring to the first trip of the new 10,000-ton 
ice boat recently built in England for the pur- 
pose of keeping the ports of St. Petersburg and 
Riga open during the winter months, as follows : 
The ice boat Ermak arrived at Cronstadt March 
5th-17th. This boat was made after plans pre- 
pared by Admiral Makaroff and built in Eng- 
land. Owing to the fogs, it had to remain two 
days in Belt. Near Reval it met with very 
thick ice, but still continued moving at 7 knots 
per hour. Near Seskei it met with large fields 
of ice, from 9 to 10 feet above the water 
line. Here the Ermak could not move on; 
but, with the aid of its machinery, it ac- 
quired a swinging motion, and the water 
running out of a special apparatus in the boat 
melted the ice under the vessel, which moved 
on, dispersing the ice mountains. The ice boat 
presses on the ice with its prow; the screw that 
is under it lets out water, which softens the ice, 
and the movement of the screw makes the ice 
go under it and breaks it into rather small 
pieces. This ice boat has no keel and should, 
therefore, be subject to great rolling, but, in 
order to avoid this, there is a receptacle in the 
hull of the vessel, filled with water, which is 
arranged in such a way that the water does not 
allow the vessel to sway too much one side or 
the other, and keeps it in equilibrium. The 


SCIENCE. 


709 


boat was met at Cronstadt with great triumph 
and music. Hundreds of people went out to 
meet it, running alongside of it on the ice. 
The ice boat belongs as yet to the Ministry 
of Finance. It is at the same time a 
passenger boat, a freight boat and a tug 
boat. It can accommodate nineteen first- 
class passengers, for which it has a fine cabin, 
decorated with imperial portraits, with double 
windows, double illuminators, and a special 
ventilator, which lets warm air into the cabin. 
The walls are of oak. The boat is lighted by 
electricity. On March 31st the Consul-General 
adds: ‘‘ The new iceboat Hrmak left Cronstadt 
on the 25th of March and opened the port of 
Reval, plowing through from 16 to 18 feet of 
ice, releasing three commercial steamers that 
were frozen fast some distance from the shore. 
On the morning of March 27th the Ermak left 
Reval, clearing the way to the sea for four 
vessels. During the first four days of the Er- 
mak’s arrival at Russian ports she released. 
sixteen vessels from the ice and opened the 
way for them to proceed to sea.’’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Mr. SAMUEL CuPPLEs has increased his gift 
of $150,000 for a building for Washington Uni- 
versity, St. Louis, to $250,000 for two buildings. 


Mr. MAXWELL SOMMERVILLE has presented 
to the University of Pennsylvania his collection 
of engraved gems and ethnological collections, 
said to be of the value of $600,000. 


THE Jewish Chronicle publishes full details of 
the bequests of Baroness de Hirsch. They 
amount in all to about $9,000,000, which is 
distributed chiefly among Hebrew charities 
throughout the world. The bequests include 
7,000,000 fr. to the Teachers’ Training School 
of the Hebrew Alliance at Paris and 3,000,000: 
fr. for elementary education in Galicia. 


NECESSARY alterations are being made in the 
physical laboratory of Western Reserve Univer- 
sity in order to erect an observatory upon it. 
The University has recently received a gift of a 
ten-inch refractor made by Messrs. Warner and 
Swasey. Mr. Samuel Mather, the donor of the 
laboratory, has offered to bear the expense of 
mounting the instrument. 


760 


HARVARD University has recently received 
two collections of shells which are at present 
being made ready for exhibition. One of these, 
given to the University by the heirs of Warren 
Delano, was made by Mr. Ballestier at the be- 
ginning of the present century and consists of 
specimens from the East Indies. The other is 
a very complete collection of ‘American land 
shells made by Mr. E. Ellsworth Call. 


THE Committee of Birmingham University 
announced, on May 18th, that the conditions at- 
tached to Andrew Carnegie’s offer of $250,000 
to the institution had been fulfilled, the sub- 
scriptions having reached $1,272,900. Mr. 
Chamberlain had also received a letter from the 
anonymous donor who had already given $187,- 
500, offering an additional $62,500 if the pro- 
posed endowment is increased to $1,500,000. 


In view of the large increase in the number 
of students attending the Institute of Tech- 
nology at Darmstadt, the sum of 1,137,000 
Marks has been appropriated to enlarge the 
buildings and 45,700 Marks for equipment. In 
addition to these improvements, an engineering 
laboratory will be erected at a cost of 270,000 
Marks. 

OxFoRD and Cambridge Universities have 
offered to admit to the privileges of affiliation 
graduates of McGill University and all matricu- 
lated students who have completed two aca- 
demicai years of study at McGill and have passed 
the intermediate examination for the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. These terms, if accepted by 
the McGill corporation, will permit an under- 
graduate who has passed the intermediate ex- 
amination to take his degree at Oxford or Cam- 
bridge in two years. 


A COMMISSION has been established to take 
charge of the relations between the City and 
the University of Paris. It consists of members 
of the Municipal Council and officers of the 
University, with M. Gréard, Vice-Rector of the 
University, as President. 


Dr. Hugo MUNsTERBERG, professor of psy- 
chology at Harvard University, will deliver the 
commencement address at the Women’s Col- 
lege of Baltimore, his subject being ‘The Rela- 
tion of Psychology to General Education.’ 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. TX. No. 230. 


PROFESSOR ALFRED CoRNU, the eminent 
French physicist, has been appointed Rede lec- 
turer in Cambridge University for the coming 
year. 

PROFESSOR EpwARD H. KEISER, for the last 
fourteen years professor in chemistry at Bryn 
Mawr College, has accepted the professorship of 
chemistry in Washington University to sueceed 
Professor Charles R. Sanger, who has been ap- 
pointed to a position in the chemical depart- 
ment of Harvard University. 

Dr. Howarp AYRES, professor of biology in 
the University of Missouri, has been elected 
President of the University of Cincinnati. 


Dr. F. C. Ferry has been appointed assistant 
professor of mathematics, and Dr. W. Waidner 
instructor in physics, in Williams College. 


Dr. C. E. St. JoHN has been appointed pro- 
fessor of physics and astronomy in Oberlin 
College, and Dr. L. Dickson has been promoted 
to a professorship of mathematics in the Uni- 
versity of California. 

Dr. F. H. SArForD, instructor in mathe- 
matics at Harvard University, has been ap- 
pointed assistant professor of mathematics and 
mathematical physics at the University of Cin- 
cinnati to succeed Professor L. A. Bauer, whose 
appointment as Chief of the newly-established 
Division of Terrestrial Magnetism of the U. 8. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey we announced last 
week. 

THE table at the biological laboratory at Cold 
Spring Harbor, provided for by the John D. 
Jones Scholarship of Columbia University, has 
been filled by the appointment of Mr. John C. 
Torrey. H. C. Surface, of Cornell University, 
has been chosen to be the first beneficiary of 
the Dyckman fund for biological research. 
Mr. Surface is well known for his work on the 
fishes of New York State. 

THE Babbot Fellowship of Vassar College has 
been awarded to Miss Anne Moore, assistant in 
biology. Miss Moore will spend next year in 
studying biology at Chicago University. 

Av the University of Berlin, Dr. S. Schwen- 
dener, professor of botany, has celebrated his 
70th birthday, and Dr. H. Munk, professor of 
physiology, his 60th birthday. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: 8S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LEContTE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBORN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. BressEy, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcu, Physiology; 

J. S. Brutinas, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JUNE 2, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


‘The International Catalogue of Scientific Literature 
—Second Conference (I): DR. CyRus ADLER.... 761 
-Color- Weakness and Color-Blindness: DR. E. W. 
SCRIPTURMEstessscsscesssstanttinectseecscecsscastectntees T7 
American Climatological Association: DR. GUY 
EUENS DIAS Wien scnnene sen anchoncscassacssnsenscenstusecencst 774 
Scientific Books :— 
Some Smithsonian Publications: F. A. BATHER, 
Creighton’s Introductory Logic: DR. GEORGE 


Scientific Towrnals and Articles 2....cscceccseceveeeeeees 783 


Societies and Academies :— 
American Physical Society: PROFESSOR A. G. 
WEBSTER. The Biological Society of Washing- 
ton: Dr. O. F. Cook. Geological Conference 
and Students’ Club of Harvard University > J. M. 
BouTWELL. The Academy of Science of St. 
Louis: PROFESSOR WILLIAM TRELEASE......... 784 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Telepathic Question: PROFESSOR E. B. 
MITCHENER rvcescsscersensscseoscsesesseceresctencsecess 787 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 


Climatic Changes on the Pacifie Coast; Wave 
Clouds; Recent Publications: R. DEC. WARD. 787 


A Bryological Memorial Meeting.......1cccccceceeeseeees 788 
Scientific Notes and News........ssreccccersccscesevsceccees 788 
University and Educational News......1...61ccceeeeeeees 791 


MSS. intended or publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
-sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCI- 
ENTIFIC LITERATURE.—SECOND 
CONFERENCE. 


Ne 


In Scrence for August 6, 1897 I gave an 
account of the steps which led to the hold- 
ing of the first Conference on an Interna- 
tional Conference of Scientific Literature, 
and a somewhat detailed description of the 
Proceedings of the Conference.* At the 
invitation of the editor of Screncg, I shall 
describe below the work done since that 
time to reach a working plan for this most 
important undertaking. 

The first Conference, in July, 1896, had 
reached certain definite conclusions, which 
may be briefly stated as follows: (a) That 
it was desirable to publish a catalogue of 
scientific literature by means of some inter- 
national organization; (>) that the cata- 
logue was to be primarily for the scientific 
investigator ; (c) that papers were to be 
indexed according to subject-matter; (d) 
that the catalogue should comprise all pub- 
lished original contributions to science ;(e) 
that the catalogue be issued in the double 
form of slips and books. 

The Conference passed a resolution to the 
effect ‘that the Royal Society be requested 
to form a committee to study all questions re- 
lating to the Catalogue referred to it by the 
Conference, or remaining undecided at the 
close of the present sittings of the Confer- 


* The article was also published in separate form. 


762 


ence, and report thereon to the governments 
concerned.’’ It was also left to the Com- 
mittee ‘‘ to suggest such details as will ren- 
der the Catalogue of the greatest possible 
use to those unfamiliar with English.” 

In accordance with the terms of these 
resolutions, the Royal Society appointed, in 
November, 1896, a Committee, with Profes- 
sor Henry E. Armstrong as Chairman, 
which presented a report on March 30, 
1898. This report consisted of a series of 
proposed regulations for the conduct of the 
Catalogue, a provisional financial statement, 
and schedules of the various sciences. Inas- 
much as this report formed, in a large meas- 
ure, the basis of the discussion and resolu- 
tions of the second Conference, it seems de- 
sirable to present an outline of its contents. 

Schedules of Classification. Authorized 
schedules are to be prepared for the several 
branches of science included in the Cata- 
logue; each of these to be indicated by a 
Roman capital letter known as the Regis- 
tration letter ; the division in each sched- 
ule to be indicated by numerical symbols 
called Registration numbers; when desi- 
rable, an alphabetical index of the several 
headings be appended to each schedule. 

Card Catalogue. For each communica- 
tion to be indexed at least one slip called 
Primary slip shall be prepared containing 
title entry, subject entry, registration sym- 
bols and significant words. These slips are 
to be prepared by the bureaus established 
in the various countries (regional bureaus), 
which will transmit them to the Central 
Bureau as rapidly as possible. When a 
primary slip bears more than one subject 
entry or registration number copies of 
secondary slips shall be prepared. Slips of 
standard size, stoutness and color are to be 
printed for issue to subscribers, each slip to 
be revised by an expert official of the Central 
Bureau. 

Book Catalogue. At determined regular 
‘intervals the Central Bureau shall issue, in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 231. 


book form, an author’s and subject index of 
the literature published within that period. 
This Book Catalogue shall be obtainable in 
parts corresponding to the several sciences 
or in divisions of such parts. After the 
first issue of the Book Catalogue the Com- 
mittee of Referees are to be consulted as to 
the desirability of making changes in the 
classification. 

International Council. This shall be con- 
stituted by one representative of each Re- 
gional Bureau and shall be the governing 
body of the Catalogue. It shall appoint its 
own Chairman and Secretary, and shall 
meet in London at least once in three years ; 
this Council is to be the supreme authority 
for all matters belonging to the Central 
Bureau, and is to report its doings to the 
Regional Bureaus. 

International Committee of Referees. The 
International Council shall appoint, for each 
science included in the Catalogue, five per- 
sons skilled in that science to form an In- 
ternational Committee of Referees. The 
members shall be appointed in such a way 
that one retires each year. These commit- 
tees shall be consulted by the Director of 
the Central Bureau on al] questions of 
classification not provided for by the regu- 
lations. 

The Central Bureau is to be composed of 
a paid staff, consisting of (1) a General 
Director, (2) for each branch of science a 
skilled assistant, (3) clerks. There is also 
to be a Consultation Committee, consisting 
of persons representing the several sciences: 
and residing in or near London. 

The next portion of the report is explana- 
tory of the schedules of classification. Itis 
expressly stated that the schedules are put 
forward as illustrations of feasible methods. 
of classifying the several sciences and not as: 
final or authoritative. A detailed account 
of the method of the work of the Central 
Bureau is given, which need not be entered 
upon here. 


JUNE 2, 1899.] 


Financial Statement. It is estimated that 
about 40,000 communications will have to 
be analyzed and indexed per annum. If 
there are on an average 3 analytical slips 
for each entry this would make 160,000 
slips per annum, or about 530 for each 
working day. It is further estimated that 
the Book Catalogue will amount to 16 vol- 
umes per annum. 

Book Catalogue. The estimated cost of 
the Book Catalogue (counting an edition 
of 500 copies) is £5,450, which would be 
covered by a subscription to 350 sets at £1 
per volume. 

Slips or Card Catalogue. If but a single 
or primary slip is considered the additional 
expense would be £3,076, and allowing 
£1,000 saving on printing the book it 
would require 130 complete subscriptions 
at £16 to cover this expense. If the full, or 
analytical-slip, catalogue be prepared 120,- 
000 additional slips would have to be dealt 
with per annum and 171 institutions would 
have to pay £35 to cover the cost, which 
would, however, slightly reduce the cost of 
the primary slips. It would, of course, be 
provided that portions of the catalogue 
could be subscribed for separately. The 
following table furnishes a clear idea of the 
expenses and charges : 


SOIENCE. 163 


to cover the expenditure, whereas if the Slip 
Catalogue were published as well the ex- 
penditure would probably be beyond the 
sum which can reasonably be expected to 
be raised. 

In view of this conclusion the Committee 
raises the question as to whether a pri- 
mary slip might not be sufficent, whether a 
monthly bulletin in book form would serve 
the purpose, or, should the entire Slip Cata- 
logue be desired, whether a ‘sustenation ’ 
fund could be raised to meet the difficulty. 
The need of a guarantee fund amounting to 
about £6,000 is also pointed out. 

The remainder of the report is taken up 
with the schedules, which cannot be dis- 
cussed here. Anticipating somewhat be- 
fore coming to the’ Conference, it may be 
well to mention that in November, 1898, the 
Committee issued a memorandum on the 
systems of classification and registration 
proposed. It is explained that the minute 
subdivision was adopted because if the 
cards accumulated several years the num- 
ber under each head might grow so large 
as to make it a work of great labor to search 
through them. Should the Card Catalogue 
be abandoned the number of divisions 
might be considerably reduced in the an- 
nual volumes, though it would be desirable 


Least remunerative) Average subscrip- Maximum subscrip- 
dost number of com- tion to single tion to single ao aD 
*  \plete subscriptions. science. science. OD 
Book Catalogue (1,000 
(0) NES) posocuacéaeg5ac000 £5,590 £350 LL On 10 £2 0 0 £16 
Primary Slip Catalogue 
(200Kcopies))ea-sset---- 3,075 130 100 P76 15 
Secondary Slip Cata- 
logue (200 copies)..... 5,992 171 25 0 AiO 35 
£14,657 = £4 5 0 £8 5 0 £66. 
Less saving on use of | 
FINO PEl-c---cnsccsness * 1,000 _ | 
£13,657 


The Committee expressed the opinion 
that if the Book Catalogue alone were pub- 
lished the subscription might be expected 


to retain them in the volumes ranging, over 
decimal periods, if such were published. 
System of Registration. — Each principal 


764 SCIENCE, 


science is indicated by a letter. The divi- 
sions of each science are numbered. These 
divisions can be subdivided by the use of 
significant words or symbols. 

This plan is explained in detail and de- 
fended. As a further evidence that the 
Committee did not consider its schedules 
final it has issued a revised schedule of 
Physiology (Animal). 


THE CONFERENCE. 


The second Conference, which, like the 
first, was summoned by the British gov- 
ernment, was attended by the following 
delegates, many of whom had participated 
in the first Conference : 


Austria. Professor L. Boltzmann ( Kaiserliche Akad- 
emie der Wissenschaften, Vienna). 

Professor E. Weiss ( Kaiserliche Akademie der Wis- 
senschaften, Vienna). 

Belgium. Chevalier Descamps (Membre de ]’Acad. 
Royale de Belgique, Président de 1’Office Inter- 
national de Bibliographe, Brussels). 

M. Paul Otlet (Secrétaire-General de 1’ Office Inter- 
national de Bibliographie, Brussels). 

M. H. La Fontaine (Directeur de l’Office Interna- 
tional de Bibliographie, Brussels). 

France. Professor G. Darboux (Membre de I’Insti- 
tut de France). 

Dr. J. Deniker (Bibliothécaire du Muséum d’His- 
toire Naturelle). 

Professor E. Mascart (Membre de l’Institut de 
France). 

Germany. Professor Dr. Klein (Geheimer Regier- 
ungs-Rath, University of Gottingen). 

Hungary. Dr. August Heller (Librarian, Ungarische 
Akademie, Buda-Pesth). 

Dr. Theodore Duka (Member of the Hungarian 
Academy of Sciences). 

Japan. Professor Einosuke Yamaguchi (Imperial 
University of Kioto). 

Mexico. Seior Don Francisco de] Paso y Troncoso, 

Netherlands. Professor D. J. Korteweg (Universi- 
teit, Amsterdam). 

Norway. Dr. Jérgen Brunchorst (Secretary, Ber- 
genske Museum), 

Sweden. Dr. E. W. Dahlgren (Librarian, Kong]. 
Svenska Vetenskaps Akademie, Stockholm). 
Switzerland. Dr. Jean Henry Graf (President, Com- 
mission de la Bibliotheque Nationale Suisse. ) 

Dr. Jean Bernoulli (Librarian, Commission de la 
Bibliothcque Nationale Suisse). 


(N.S. Von. LX. No. 231. 


United Kingdom. Representing the Government : 
The Right Hon. Sir John E. Gorst, Q. C., M. P., 
F. R. 8. (Vice-President of the Committee of 
Council on Education). 
Representing the Royal Society of London : 
Professor Michael Foster, Sec. R. S. 
Professor Arthur W. Ricker, Sec. R.S. 
Professor H. E. Armstrong, F. R. 8. 
Sir J. Norman Lockyer, K. C. B., F. R. S. 
Dr. Ludwig Mond, F. R. 8S. 
United States. Dr. Cyrus Adler (Librarian, Smith- 
sonian Institution, Washington). 
Cape Colony. Roland Trimen, Esq., F. R. S. 
India. Lieut.-General Sir R. Strachey, G. C.S.L., 
Ty Rass 
Dr. W. T. Blanford, F. R. S. 
Natal. Sir Walter Peace, K.C. M. G. (Agent-Gen- 
eral for Natal). 
New Zealand. The Hon. W. P. Reaves (Agent-Gen- 
eral for New Zealand). 
Queensland. The Hon. Sir Horace Tozer, K. C. M. G. 
( Agent-General for Queensland). 


The Conference met Tuesday, October 11, 
1898, in the rooms of the Society of An- 
tiquaries (Burlington House) the rooms of 
the Royal Society not being available, as 
they were undergoing repairs. Sir John 
Gorst, President of the previous Conference 
took the chair, and on motion of Professor 
Darboux (France) was elected President. 
Professor Korteweg (Netherlands) was 
elected Secretary for the German language, 
M. La Fontaine (Belgium) for French, and 
Professor Armstrong for English. Three 
short-hand reporters, one for each language, 
assisted the Secretaries. 

Professor Michael Foster then stated that 
invitations to the Conference had been is- 
sued through the Foreign Office, and gave 
a list of the acceptances.* The Greek gov- 
ernment regreted that they were unable to 
appoint delegates; + the Russian govern- 
ment did ‘not consider it necessary to be 
represented by a spetial delegate.’ The 
Danish government took the same view, 


* List is given above. 

{+ The Russian government has since requested the 
appointment of a representative on the International 
Committee. 


JUNE 2, 1899.] 


being satisfied that it could follow the mat- 
ter from the verbatim reports issued. The 
German government, ou October 4th, re- 
quested a postponement owing to the diffi- 
culty of appointing delegates, but it was 
not possible to arrange for this. Professor 
Klein, of Gottingen, representing Germany, 
arrived the second day of the Conference. 

The time of meeting was then arranged 
and a resolution agreed to ‘That each dele- 
gate shall have a vote in deciding all ques- 
tions brought before the Conference,’ it 
being understood that the decisions of the 
Conference did not bind the respective gov- 
ernments. It was further agreed that Eng- 
lish, German and French be the official 
languages of the Conference, but that any 
delegate might employ any other language, 
provided he supply a written translation 
into one of the official languages. 

Professor Foster then formally laid before 
the Conference, on behalf of the Royal So- 
ciety, the report summarized above, and 
Professor Riicker, in explaining the report, 
gave it as his opinion that the secondary 
cards entailed too great an expenditure and 
should be given up. Dr. Deniker (France) 
thought the question to be discussed was 
whether it was better to publish the Cata- 
logue in the form of volumes or cards. 

Professor Darboux was opposed to giving 
up ecards which rendered great service to 
scholars. He thought it best to discuss the 
scientific questions first and leave this mat- 
ter to the body which would be charged 
with the actual workings of the Catalogue. 

M. Otlet (Belgium) considered that the 
order of subjects was threefold: (1) scien- 
tific, (2) technical—relative to the method 
of employing the cards, and (3) financial. 

Dr. Graf (Switzerland) dissented, holding 
that the matter should be taken up in the 
order indicated by the Royal Society, inas- 
much as the financial questions depended 
upon whether the Catalogue should be is- 
sued in both book and card form. He added 


SCIENCE. 


765 


that his government had given him in- 
structions to advocate the double form. 

Dr. Heller (Hungary) also expressed 
himself in favor of the double form. Dr. 
Brunchorst (Norway) agreed in principle, 
but thought at the beginning the Catalogue 
could only be issued in book form. Profes- 
sor Boltzmann (Austria) thought that for 
the present only the book form and primary 
slips were feasible. 

Professor Darboux pointed out that it 
was at least necessary for the various Bu- 
reaus to prepare the Catalogue in slip form 
and send it to London. The financial 
question was: Could this Card Catalogue be 
published? If it could it would be done ; if 
not it could be consulted in London. 

Dr. Adler pointed out that if the com- 
plete Card Catalogue were published the 
subscription fee would by no means cover 
the entire cost to a library ; an additional 
sum for furniture to provide for it, as well 
as for the arrangement and care would 
have to be taken into account, as well as 
the space required, making the total cost of 
the whole Catalogue and its maintenance to 
each institution subscribing about £200 per 
annum. 

Dr. Deniker thought the statement as to 
the space, cost, etc., exaggerated, and for- 
mulated the proposition: ‘‘ The Conference 
decides in principle for the publication of 
the Catalogue in the double form of vol- 
umes and cards ;’’ after further discussion 
this resolution was agreed to. 

The report of the Committee of the Royal 
Society was then taken up seriatim and it 
was agreed after a brief discussion as to the 
form ‘ That schedules of classification shall 
be authorized for the several branches of 
science which it is decided to include in the 
Catalogue.’ 

Professor Foster then moved that ‘‘ Each 
of the sciences for which a separate schedule 
of classification is provided be indicated 
by a Roman capital letter (hereafter called 


766 


a registration letter) as a registration sym- 

bol, namely, as follows: 

A. Mathematics. 

B. Astronomy. 

C. Meteorology. 

D. Physics. 

KE. Crystallography. 

I. Chemistry. 

G. Mineralogy. 

H. Geology (including Petrology). 

J. Geography. 

K. Paleontology. 

L. Zoology (including Anatomy). 

M. Botany. 

N. Physiology (including Pharmacology and Experi- 
mental Pathology). 

O. Bacteriology. 

P. Psychology. 

Q. Anthropology.” 

Dr. Bernoulli (Switzerland) pointed out 
that the plan of dividing the Natural 
History sciences into several groups was a 
departure from systems already in exist- 
ence. 

Dr. Heller (Hungary) did not entirely 
agree as to the wisdom of the division; he 
pointed out that in the course of years cer- 
tain institutions and publications had grown 
up which treated several of the subjects 
named. Under this plan the publications 
would be entirely separated. If, however, 
this was necessary he would advocate a still 
further division and suggested the separa- 
tion of Anatomy from Zoology. 

Professor Weiss (Austria) suggested that 
the question be divided, first, as to whether 
registration letters be used, and second, 
how the several sciences should be arranged 
among them. This being agreed to, the 
original proposition was withdrawn. 

Professor Darboux pointed out that in 
the list of sciences Geography was given, 
whereas it was his understanding that the 
first Conference intended to include. only 
mathematical and physical geography. 

Professor Weiss indicated the difficulty 
in agreeing upon an absolutely definite list, 
due partly to the different development 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 231. 


some of the sciences had taken in England 
and on the Continent. The specialists of 
the Vienna Academy had suggested that 
human anatomy should be separated from 
zoology. No doubt similar suggestions 
would come from other countries on special 
points. He, therefore, advised that a small 
commission be formed by the Royal Society 
which might consult various specialists and 
secure a coordinated scheme. 

Dr. Deniker thought too much stress was 
being laid on the matter. It was his opin- 
ion that if Pharmacology were to be in- 
troduced it should be as a separate science, 
with a special letter, pointing out at the 
same time that it was an applied science 
and not in accordance with the original 
program, which was to include only pure 
science. 

M. Otlet propounded several questions in 
the hope of eliciting information as to how 
the work of the Committee had been done, 
and M. Darboux pointed out that the 
science of Mechanics was put down as a sec- 
tion of Physics. He considered Mechanics 
a fundamental science and thought it 
should have an independent section. 

Professor Armstrong stated in reply that 
practical considerations had come into play. 
For each separate science a separate series 
of boxes would have to be kept, and they 
provided as many letters as they thought 
separate boxes would be required. The 
separate letters were prepared purely for 
office purposes. The scheme of Geography 
was, he admitted, purely from the English 
point of view. The Committee had no 
communication with foreign academies, but 
consulted individuals. It desired, how- 
ever, that foreign individuals and academies 
should have the opportunity of examining 
the schedules. Professor Michael Foster 
stated that the sub-committee which drew 
up the schedule for Physiology put itself 
in communication with distinguished and 
practiced physiologists in other lands, and 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


that they were now attempting to put the 
schedule into practical use. He added for 
the whole Committee that they did not 
maintain the schedules in their entirety. 

Professor Armstrong pointed out that the 
introduction of a special science like Me- 
chanics was contemplated and was entirely 
possible under the scheme. He quoted the 
following from the report: ‘‘ It will be neces- 
sary to provide a separate volume, to be 
sold apart, for each science to be distin- 
guished by a registration letter; and in 
some sciences, Zoology in particular, there 
will, doubtless, be a demand for separate 
volumes dealing with special sections of a 
science.” ‘‘The extent to which the sub- 
division of the Book Catalogue into parts is 
carried will necessarily depend on the de- 
mand arising in practice.” 

Mr. Otlet thought that the matter had 
been somewhat cleared up and favored the 
subdivision referred to. Anthropology, he 
said, comprehended nearly all the sciences 
not included in the other sciences—such as 
theology, anthropometry, questions rela- 
tive to the various human races, their in- 
dustrial occupations, ete.—-the concomitant 
subjects would be nourishment, and hence 
agriculture, costume, hunting, navigation, 
etc. Under communication of ideas gram- 
mar and the sciences connected with it 
would come in history, religion, supersti- 
tion, sociology, slavery, social organiza- 
tions, all of which would have to be con- 
sidered. 

M. Korteweg said that the subdivision 
of sciences would also create great difficul- 
ties; he favored the exclusion of Political 
Geography. Professor Darboux said that 
he was in practical accord with what had 
been said, but still thought that Mechanics 
should form a separate class. Dr. Graf de- 
sired that Anatomy be separated from 
Zoology and be placed in a separate class. 
Dr. Boltzmann suggested that the first 
class be General Science. Meteorology, he 


SCIENCE. 


767 


thought, should be connected with Physical 
Geography. Chemistry should stand be- 
tween Crystallography and Mineralogy. 
Anatomy should be in a separate class. 
The questions raised concerning Mechanics 
and Anthropology were of great importance, 
but he thought that the Conference was not 
ripe for their solution. 

Professor Armstrong said that the ques- 
tion raised about Mechanics was a practical 
one, whereas the definition of the limits of 
Geography and Anthropology was a scien- 
tific matter, and suggested that the latter be 
dealt with first. 

Dr. Heller suggested, instead of the term 
Geography, that of Geo-Physics ; this would 
include physical geography and meteorol- 
ogy and exclude political geography. He 
thought, too, that experimental psychology 
might be included under Anthropology. 

Professor Armstrong, to bring the discus- 
sion to a conclusion, moved that Geography 
be- limited to mathematical and physical 
geography, to the exclusion of political 
and general geography. In doing so he 
pointed out, however, that this action might 
lead to the Geographical Catalogue, being 
of no use to the general geographical stu- 
dent and not being subscribed for. 

Dr. Adler stated that travels were of 
great importance to naturalists and anthro- 
pologists and had been included in the Bib- 
liography published by the German Geo- 
graphical Society. Dr. Duka also favored 
their retention, but Dr. Mond dissented, 
holding that this view deviated from the 
original intention of the Catalogue. The 
motion to limit the scope of Geography as 
above stated finally prevailed. 

After a brief discussion by Professors 
Armstrong, Boltzmann, Darboux and Deni- 
ker, a resolution was adopted that after 
Zoology, Anatomy be entered on the list as 
a separate subject. 

The following resolution was then unani- 
mously agreed to: 


768 SCIENCE. LN. &. Von. IX. No. 231. 


“Tt is proposed that a separate schedule be pro- 
vided for each of the following branches of science : 
Mathematics, Astronomy, Meteorology, Physics, 
Crystallography, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology 
(including Petrology), Geography (Mathematical 
and Physical, excluding Political and General) Pale- 
ontology, Anatomy, Zoology Botany, Physiology (in- 
eluding Pharmacology and Experimental Pathology ), 
Bacteriology, Psychology and Anthropology.” 


The next question taken up was that of 
the Registration Symbols. Professor Dar- 
boux objected to voting on a resolution 
naming specifically the letters for each sci- 
ence. He thought that it was a detail of 
execution and would change the character 
of the Conference if matters of such sec- 
ondary importance were discussed. 

Professor Armstrong, in accordance with 
this suggestion, presented a motion as fol- 
lows: ‘That each of the sciences, for 
which a separate schedule of classification 
is provided, shall be indicated by a symbol.” 
Professor Korteweg thought that the ques- 
tion involved that of many different sys- 
tems of classifications and various schemes 
of symbols, but Professor Armstrong pointed 
out, in reply, that if the resolution passed it 
would not bind the bureau to any particular 
symbols. M. Deniker thought that the 
question did not have the importance attrib- 
uted to it—that the symbols were simply a 
practical scheme for securing order in the 
publication and handling of the cards. M. 
Otlet was inclined to lay more stress on the 
question ; he thought they were not simply 
a matter for the convenience of the clerks, 
but would become useful to librarians and 
scientific men. The resolution was then 
adopted. 

The next question taken up was the regu- 
lations concerning the preparation of the 
cards or slips. These regulations refer not 
to the Catalogue itself so much as to the 
preparation of the Catalogue. Professor 
Foster moved that, ‘“‘ For each communica- 
tion to be indexed, at least one slip, to be 
called a ‘Primary slip,’ shall be prepared, 


on which shall be either printed, or type- 
written, or legibly hand-written in Roman 


script: Title entries, the author’s name,. 


and the full title of the communication in 
the original language alone if the language 


be either English or French, German or 


Latin.”’ In the case of other languages the 
title shall be translated into English, or 
such other of the above four languages as 
may be determined by the Regional Bureau 
concerned ; but in such case the original 


title shall be added when the language is 


one which can be conveniently printed. 
Professor Foster presented this with an 
amendment to the effect that Italian should 
be added to the languages named. 


Dr. Brunchorst thought it best to have 


but three languages and omit Latin and 
Italian, holding that there were very few 
publications in Latin and that its introduc- 


tion was not important. He further made 


the interesting statement that within a few 
years the Latin language will have disap- 


peared from use in Norway, and that there 


would probably be no public school in Nor- 
way in which Latin could be studied. Pro- 
fessor Rucker stated that, although the title 
of a paper might be given in Latin, it did 
not follow that the subject-entry should be 
in that language. Professor Foster added 
that Latin was introduced chiefly in the in- 
terest of zoologists. Mr. Triman, delegate 


from Cape Colony, thought it important: 


to retain it. Dr. Adler held that every 
title should be given in the language in 
which the paper is written, without any ex- 
ception whatsoever. Professors Foster and 
Armstrong both pointed out that some 
translation of titles was necessary, but Dr. 
Adler stated that,while translations of titles 
might be given when necessary, the original 
title should also be given, either in the 
original character or in a transliteration. 
It was agreed to omit Italian but retain 
Latin, and the first part of the resolution 
was then carried. 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


The next proposition under discussion 
was as follows: ‘In the case of other Jan- 
guages the title shall be translated into 
English, or such other of the above five 
languages as may be determined by the 
Regional Bureau concerned, but in such 
ease the original title shall be added when 
the language is one which can be conven- 
iently printed.” 

Dr. Adler suggested that instead of the 
last phrase the resolution shall read : ‘“ In 
‘such cases the original title shall be added ; 
if convenient it shall be printed in the 
original script, otherwise in Roman script.” 
Professor Foster inquired of the Japanese 
delegate whether the Japanese language 
could be conveniently written in Roman 
Script and whether educated Japanese could 
read transliterations of Japanese, and re- 
ceived an affirmative reply. The amend- 
ment was then unanimously agreed to. 

The question arose in connection with 
this matter as to the meaning of the term 
‘regional bureau,’ and Professor Rucker 
explained that it had been decided to em- 
ploy this term instead of the word ‘ Na- 
tional’ because it might happen that one 
nation, as, for instance, the British Empire, 
may have more than one bureau, whereas 
some of the smaller countries, like Holland 
and Belgium, might unite in a single bureau. 
If there was any objection, he said, to ‘ re- 
gional,’ the term ‘ Collecting Bureau’ might 
be employed. 

M. Otlet desired to add to the resolution 
the phrase‘ to diminish the number of 
necessary translations,’ which he pointed 
out as being extremely desirable, but the 
President thought this question might be 
more conveniently raised at a later stage. 
The entire resolution as amended was then 
carried. 

Professor Foster then moved that ‘‘the title 
shall be followed by every necessary refer- 
ence, including the year of publication, and 
-such other symbols as may be determined.” 


SCIENCE. 769 


The next resolution was “‘ Subject- entries, 
indicating, as briefly as possible, the par- 
ticular subjects to which the communica- 
tion refers. Every effort shall be made to 
restrict the number of these subject-eutries. 
Such subject-entries shall be given only in 
the original language of the communica- 
tion if this be one of the five previously 
referred to, but in other cases in English, 
or in such other language as has been used 
in translating the title.” 

M. LaFontaine pointed out what seemed 
to him certain inconsistencies in subject- 


, entries presented in the schedules, and 


thought that the idea of the subject-entries 
was not fully understood, but both Pro- 
fessors Foster and Armstrong combatted 
this idea. Dr. Adler pointed out the diffi- 
culty of grouping the subject-entries satis- 
factorily in view of the fact that the analysis 
could be made in five languages, but Pro- 
fessor Rucker explained that the alphabet- 
ical arrangement would be according to 
English words. 

Chevalier Descamps stated that the book 
issue would require the repetition of titles, 
and that on the whole it would be more eco- 
nomical to repeat them entire. To this 
suggestion Professor Armstrong agreed, 
pointing out that its necessity had been 
recognized by the Committee. 

M. Deniker inquired as to the relative 
value of the terms subject-entry and catch- 
word. Was the subject-entry to be sub- 
ordinated to the significant word, or vice 
Professor Foster explained that the 
subject-entry was to give ap idea what the 
paper was about, the symbols to aid in 
keeping the Card Catalogue in order, and 
the significant words to aid the student who 
did not carry the symbol in his mind. 

M. Deniker replied that it was now clear 
to him that what was proposed was not 
simply a catalogue, but an analysis. What 
limits he asked, would be imposed. Thus 
four or five subject-entries might be given 


versa ? 


770 


in describing a single memoir. While 
recognizing the usefulness of these, he 
thought some limit would have to be con- 
sidered. 


Professor Foster replied that for three 


years past the Royal Society had requested 
each author to give an analysis of his paper 
in such form that it might serve as a sub- 
ject-index, and that in a large majority of 
cases it had been found possible to limit the 
analysis to three subject-entries. 

Professor Rucker pointed out that signifi- 
cant words would serve as a sort of tempo- 
rary expedient where a sudden interest 
sprang up in some new discovery, instancing 
the Rontgen rays. After some further discus- 
sion the resolution as to subject-entries was 
carried unanimously (the Belgian dele- 
gates abstaining from voting). 

Professor Armstrong then moved that 
“registration symbols, in accordance with 
those in the schedules of classification, shall 
be entered upon the slips in some conspic- 
uous manner, and upon a uniform plan.” 
He explained that at the first Conference 
schedules in accordance with the decimal 
system had been prepared and submitted, 
and that the Conference had decided against 
them. The plan now proposed is distinctly 
not the Dewey system. The figures given 
have no absolute value, and are solely for 
the purpose of enabling librarians to sort 
the cards and arrange the material. 

This point was emphasized by Professor 
Rucker, who stated that in a system in 
which the numbers had an absolute value 
the method was equivalent to starting a 
new language, and he did not believe that 
the average scientific man would learn a 
language for such a purpose. 

Chevalier Descamps addressed himself to 
the question of classification. He recognized 
the serious attention which had been given 
to the subject by the Royal Society, but said 
that the Society was not the first to take up 
the study which had been pursued by a large 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No, 231- 


number of authors, men of science and 
practical men. To provoke a general de- 
bate on classification seemed inopportune. 
He had pointed out in 1896 the pos- 
sibility of a bibliographical classification 
based on the decimal system. This did not: 
meet with favor, and the Royal Society had 
endeavored to produce a purely scientific 
classification. For its labors it merited the 
most profound recognition, but he regretted. 
that the Royal Society had not explained 
the ideas which underlay its schedules. To. 
be good a_ bibliographical classification 
should be both stable and elastic. The 
adoption of a mixed system of symbols, and 
more especially the lack of identity of 
meaning of the same symbols in the differ- 
ent sciences, seemed regrettable. He saw no 
objection to giving symbols a definite signifi- 
cance. 

The statement of Chevalier Descamps (of 
which the above is but a brief abstract) 
brought from Professsor Riicker an argu- 
ment which probably expressed the opinion 
of most of the scientific men present, and is 
accordingly given in full : 

“TY think it would be desirable if I say a 
few words with regard to the very interest- 
ing remarks with which Chevalier Descamps 
has favored us. I think we must all agree 
that the questions he has raised are ques- 
tions of the greatest interest to any one who 
has attempted to take any share in a work 
of this sort. But I very much regret, 
speaking for myself, that I find myself at 
variance with him on several fundamental 
points. In the first place, he urges us to 
adopt the scientific system of classification, 
which shall not change from five years to: 
five years, or ten years to ten years, but 
which shall hold good for all time, or for a 
very long period of time. One of the very 
great advantages of our system is that we 
recognize that science is a growing subject. 
The notation that fits it to-day will not fit 
it next year, or ten years hence. Let us 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


suppose scientific knowledge had sooner led 
us to recognize the close relation of elec- 
tricity and light. Surely the mode of di- 
vision would be quite different. The defi- 
nition of Zoology before and after Darwin 
would have been different. A classification 
which then appeared to be scientific would 
now be recognized as inadequate. The very 
first thing we must recognize is that our 
scientific knowledge is imperfect and grow- 
ing, and we must adopt a system capable of 
easy modification as our knowledge in- 
creases. Another point which Chevalier 
Descamps made was that we adopt different 
methods with regard to different sciences ; 
in some cases the numbers are followed by 
symbols ; in some cases the numbers are 
separated by a hyphen, and soon. We have 
gone into this question as scientific men, 
and, although perfectly ready to submit the 
result of our work to the criticism of other 
scientific men, we do believe that the plan 
that suits best one science will not suit an- 
other. Take one example. Take, for in- 
stance, Zoology. There is the question of 


arrangement of the subject in accordance | 


with the species of animals, and the 
question of arrangement with regard to 


the geographical distribution. Here are 
two ideas to which there is nothing 
similar in physics or chemistry. It would 


be disastrous if we attempt to force all 
these sciences to adopt the same method. 
If two things are essentially different, we 
do not apply the same principles to both. 
In the last place, Chevalier Descamps says 
the main object of classification is to tell us 
where to find a particular object with which 
we are dealing. I do not much believe in 
the average memory of scientific men being 
able to grasp a large number of numbers. 
I believe it is much easier to find the place 
by using symbols, which are more distinct 
than a large number is from a small one. 
Significant words which are for temporary 
use have their own meaning. You find them 


SCIENCE. 7 


ca | 


alphabetically. I do think, on the question 
of general principle, thatit is very desirable 
that the Conference should express an 
opinion as to whether or not they think the 
symbols are to be devised in such a way as 
to help the memory or to find the place ; 
secondly, whether they do or do not hold 
the view that the plan good for one science 
is good for all, and whether it is desirable 
to attempt to plan a scheme in the belief 
that it will hold good for all time.” 

Dr. Bernoulli said that after hearing the 
statements in favor of the two systems he 
wished to add that the decimal system was 
in actual working order in Switzerland, and 
that its practical utility had been demon- 
strated there. He considered it superior 
to the system proposed by the Royal So- 
ciety, although originally he had been an 
opponent of the decimal system. 

M. Deniker replied that it was necessary 
to consult an alphabetic index to use the 
decimal-system catalogue. He favored a 
methodical or subject catalogue alphabet- 
ically arranged. 


Cyrus ADLER. 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 


(To be Concluded.) 


COLOR-WEAKNESS AND COLOR-BLINDNESS. 

Ir is generally accepted as a well estab- 
lished fact that the traveling public is fully 
protected by the present tests for color-blind- 
ness to which railway employees and pilots 
are subjected. Yetseveral of the mysterious 
accidents that have occurred during the 
last two years might be explained on the 
supposition of color-blindness on the part 
of responsible lookouts. In fact, I believe 
myself in position to prove that persons of 
dangerously defective color-vision actually 
do pass the regular tests and obtain posi- 
tions where their defects are continual 
dangers to public welfare. 

In the first place, I have at the present 
time among my students one who is abso- 


172 SCIENCE. 


lutely perfect at the wool-test. He can 
match wools with incredible precision at 
any distance away; he is, nevertheless, 
color-blind. This case is typical of a class 
of persons with eyes abnormally acute for 
differences in color, but yet with only two 
fundamental sensations instead of three. 

In the second place, I have had among 
my students those who possessed perfect 
color-vision for near objects or bright ob- 
jects, but who were practically color-blind 
for weakly illuminated or distant objects. 
These persons possess the typical three 
fundamental color sensations, but have one 
of them weaker than the normal. A per- 
son of this kind may pass the wool-test 
with the utmost perfection if the test is 
performed close by, but will fail if the 
wools are removed to a distance of 20 or 30 
feet. This peculiar defect I take the liberty 
of terming ‘ color-weakness.’ The first stu- 
dent of this kind that I examined passed 
the wool-test close at hand and yet was un- 
able to distinguish red and green lanterns 
a few hundred yards away. Cases similar 
to this have been reported by the British 
Marine Examiner, Edridge-Green. Among 
other cases he quotes a letter from an engi- 
neer containing the following statement: 
““T have been on the railway for thirty 
years and I can tell you the card-tests and 
wool-tests are not a bit of good. Why, sir, 
T had a mate that passed them all, but we 
had to pitch into another train over it. He 
couldn’t tell a red from a green light at 
night in a bit of a fog.”’ 

To eliminate both these classes of persons 
we must have a method of testing on quite 
different principles from the usual ones. 

In the first place, the sorting of Celicate 
shades of colors, according to likeness, must 
be replaced by naming certain fundamental 
and familiar colors. The sorting of wools is 
a quite unusual and perplexing task to a 
man brought up in a railway yard and on 
shipboard. It putsa nervous man at quite 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 231. 


a disadvantage; it furnishes the unsuc- 
cessful candidate with the excuse that the 
judgment required was so unlike any he 
had made before that he failed from nervous- 
ness; and, finally, itis not a guarantee that 
all who pass are not color-blind. The nam- 
ing of colors should—as Donders proposed 
—-be rigidly required. The engineer or the 
pilot in his daily routine is not called upon 
to match colors, but to decide whether a 
light is red, green or white; he should be 
tested on just this point. The color-blind 
student referred to above who can pass the 
wool-test to perfection fails at once when 
called upon to name the wools. The nam- 
ing of delicate and perhaps unusual shades 
should, however, not be required; the 
colors to be named should be the three fa- 
miliar ones: red, green and white, so 
manipulated that every possible chance for 
confusion is presented. 

The second necessity for eliminating 
danger is that of an absolutely certain test 
which shall detect both the color-blind and 
the color-weak. Acting on the basis of 
suggestions from the work of Donders and 
of Edridge-Green, I have devised a test 
that meets this requirement as well as the 
first one. 

The instrument * which I have invented 
may be termed the ‘color sight tester’ or 
the ‘ color sense tester.’ In general appear- 
ance it resembles an ophthalmoscope. On 
the side toward the person tested, Fig. 1, 
there are three windows of glass, numbered 
1,2 and 3, respectively. The opposite side of 
the tester, Fig. 2, consists of a movable disk 
carrying twelve glasses of different colors. 
As this disk is turned by the finger of the 
operator the various colors appear behind 
the three windows. At each movement of 
the disk the subject calls off the colors seen 


* For those interested in obtaining the Color-Sight 
Tester I will say that I have made arrangements to 
have it made by the Chicago Laboratory Supply and 
Scale Co., Chicago. 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


at the windows. The windows, 1, 2 and 3, 
are, however, fitted with gray glasses. No. 
1 carries a very dark smoked glass; all 
colors seen through it will be dark. No. 2 
carries a piece of ground glass, showing all 
colors in full brightness. No. 3 carries a 
light smoked glass. There are thus thirty- 
six possible combinations of the colors. The 
twelve glasses are, however, mainly reds, 
greens and grays. 

A suitable arrangement of the colors 


Fig. 1. 


gives direct simultaneous comparisons of 
reds, greens and grays of different shades. 
The well-known confusion by color-blind 
persons of dark greens with reds, greens 
with gray, etc., are exactly imitated, and 
the instrument gives a decisive test for 
color-blindness. Its peculiar advantage, 
however, lies in the fact that it presents 


SCIENCE. 


713 


reds, greens and grays simultaneously in a 
large number of different shades of inten- 
sity. The light of a green lantern, at dif- 
ferent distances or in a fog, is simulated by 
the green behind the different grays ; at the 
same time a white light is also changed. 
The color-weak person to whom weak green 
is the same as gray (white at a distance) is 
utterly confused and thinks that the weak- 
ened green is gray (white) and the dark 
gray is green. 


Fie. 2. 


The actual test is performed in the fol- 
lowing manner. The tester is held toward 
a window, at about 25 feet from the person 
tested. The operator begins with any 
chance position of the glasses, and asks the 
person tested to tell the colors seen through 
the three glasses, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. He an- 
swers, forexample: ‘‘ No. lis dark red; No. 


774 SCIENCE, 


2 is gray; No. 3 is green.’’? The operator 
records from the back of the tester the let- 
ters indicating what glasses were actually 
used. If he finds that A, D and G were 
opposite the glasses Nos. 1, 2 and 3 he 
records: A 1, dark red; D 2, gray; G 3, 
green. The disk is then turned to some 
other position ; the colors are again named, 
aud the operator records the names used. 
For example, the result might be: “No. 1 
is dark green ; No. 2 is white; No. 3 is red ;”’ 
and the record would read: G 1, dark 
green; J 2, white; A 3, red. Still another 
record might give: J 1, dark gray; A 2, 
red; D 3, medium gray. Similar records 
are made for all combinations. Of course, 
the person tested knows nothing concerning 
the records made. A comparison with a 
list of the true colors for each position de- 
termines whether the test has been passed 
or not. 

The three records just cited were all ob- 
tained from the red glass, A ; the gray glass, 
D; the green glass, G, and the ground glass, 
J,in combination with the dark gray, No.1; 
the ground glass, No. 2, and the medium 
gray, No. 8. Those familiar with color- 
blindness will notice that these combina- 
tions place side by side the colors most con- 
fused. 

The records can be taken by any one, 
and, on the supposition that the record has 
been honestly obtained and that the instru- 
ment has not been tampered with after 
leaving the central office, the comparison is 
mechanical. There is none of the skillful 


manipulation required in the wool-test and ' 


none of the uncertainty attaching to its re- 
sults. The only instruction given to the 
subject is: ‘* Name the colors ;” the results 
render the decision with mechanical cer- 
tainty. 

One of the testers is in use on one of the 
English railways, another on the central 
division of the New York Central Railroad. 
From the former I have not yet heard, but 


(N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 231. 


the examiner on the latter reports that 
since using the tester he has found men 
who get through the wool-test, but are 
caught by the tester. On the other hand, 
he states that ‘ the men examined say that 
this test is more like the signals they are 
used to seeing every day on the road, and 
is, therefore, fairer than to ask them to pick 
out a lot of delicately tinted pieces of 
yarn.” 

An experience of several years seems to 
justify the following claims for the color- 
sense tester: 

1. It detects with unerring precision both 
the color-blind and the color-weak. 

2. It is a perfectly fair test for the men 
concerned and injures no man by requiring 
an unfamiliar judgment. 

3. It requires but a very small fraction 
of the time used on the wool-test. 

4, Its decisions are self-evident and un- 


questionable. 
E. W. Scripture. 
PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
YALE UNIVERSITY, 
May 7, 1899. 


AMERICAN CLIMATOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. 

Tuesixteenth annual meeting of the Amer- 
ican Climatological Association was held 
in New York City on May 9th and 10th at 
the hall of the New York Academy of Med- 
icine. About fifty members were in attend- 
ance from all portions of the United States. 
Twenty-five papers were read upon subjects 
pertaining to climatology, hydrology and 
diseases of the respiratory and circulatory 
organs. These papers, which will appear 
in the annual volume of the Transactions, 
were as follows: 

‘Presidential Address,’ by Dr. Beverley Robinson, 


~ of New York. 


‘Treatment of Consumption by Air and Light in 
Colorado,’ by Dr. Charles F. Gardiner, of Colorado 
Springs. 

‘Tntermediate Altitude for the Consumptive,’ by 
Dr. B. P. Anderson, of Colorado Springs. 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


‘The Contagiousness of Phthisis Pulmonalis,’ by 
Dr. E. L. Shurly, of Detroit. 

‘Climate in Relation to Renal Disease,’ by Dr. J. 
B. Walker, of Philadelphia. 

‘Climate as it affects the Skin and its Diseases,’ 
by Dr. L. D. Bulkley, of New York. 

‘Hygienics of the Skin,’ by Dr. L. D. Judd, of 
Philadelphia. 

‘Hydrotheraphy in the Treatment of Insomnia,’ 
by Dr. Irwin H. Hance, of Lakewood. 

‘Altitude and Heart Disease,’ with report of cases, 
by Dr. R. H. Babcock, of Chicago. 

‘Prognosis in Chronic Valvular Affections of the 
Heart,’ by N. 8. Davis, Jr., of Chicago. 

‘Treatment of the Cardiac Asthenia of Pneu- 
monia,’ by Dr. H. L. Elsner, of Syracuse. 

‘Empyema from a Surgical Standpoint,’ by Dr. 
Johh C. Munro, of Boston. 

‘Traumatic Rupture of the Heart, without Pene- 
tration of the Chest Wall,’ with a case, by Dr. 
Richard C. Newton, of Montclair. 

‘Cold Wave of February, 1899,’ by Dr. Guy Hins- 
dale, of Philadelphia. 

Other papers by Drs. R. G. Curtin, C. F. MceGahan, 
Harold Williams, F. H. Williams, E. O. Otis and 
V. Y. Bowditch, S. G. Bonney and H. 8. Anders. 


The annual dinner of the Association was 
held at the Manhattan Hotel, at which the 
President, Dr. Beverley Robinson, of New 
York, presided. On the following day the 
Association made a visit to the Loomis 
Sanitarium in Liberty, Sullivan County, 
New York. This institution was founded 
1895 in memory of Dr. Alfred L. Loomis, 
the first President of the Association, for 
the treatment of tuberculosis. It has a 
favorable situation, 2,300 feet above tide, 
and is 120 miles from New York, on the 
Ontario and Western Railway. The re- 
markable success which has attended its 
work has been due in great measure to its 
physician in charge, Dr. J. E. Stubbert, 
liberally aided by the philanthropic support 
of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan and the ladies 
who are associated in its management. 

The scientific work of the Climatological 
Association tends to the better knowledge of 
the various American climates and health 
resorts and their employment in the treat- 
ment of disease. 


SCIENCE, 


775 

The subject of tuberculosis is now re- 
ceiving universal attention by the medical 
profession, and the public are being inter- 
ested in measures looking to its prevention 
and restriction. It is encouraging to note 
that in all our large cities the mortality 
from this disease is gradually falling, and 
through societies of this kind knowledge 
is disseminated which affords the public 
greater protection and prolongs life. The 
resources of New York and Pennsylvania 
for the climatic treatment of pulmonary 
disease are not so well known as they should 
be. Neither are the mineral springs of the 
United States fully understood and intelli- 
gently used. The Transactions of the 
Climatological Association, now numbering 
fifteen volumes, have contributed in no 
small degree to the better knowledge of 
this extensive subject. 

The following officers were elected for 
the ensuing year: President, Dr. A. Jacobi, 
of New York; Vice-Presidents, Dr. R. H. 
Babcock, of Chicago, and Dr. John W. 
Brannan, of New York; Secretary, Dr. 
Guy Hinsdale, of Philadelphia ; Representa- 
tive to the Executive Committee of the 
Congress of American Physicians and Sur- 
geons, Dr. F. I. Knight, of Boston. 

The next meeting will be held in Wash- 


ington in May, 1900. Guy HinspAtz, 


Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
SOME SMITHSONIAN PUBLICATIONS. 


Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution, showing the operations, 
expenditures and conditions of the Institution to 
July, 1896. 8vo, lii+ 728 pp., lxi pls. Wash- 
ington, 1898. [Received by the Bureau of 
International Exchanges, January 25, 1899. ] 

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution, showing the operations, 
expenditures and conditions of the Institution for 
the year ending June 30, 1896. Report of the 
U. S. National Museum. 8vo, xxiv + 1108 
pp-, excviiipls. Washington, 1898. [? 1899.] 


776 


Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 
Volume XX. Published under the direction 


of the Smithsonian Institution S8vo, xii+ 
932 pp., xevii pls. Washiugton, 1898. 
[? 1899. ] : 


The activities and influence of the Smithso- 
nian Institution have so extended that, instead 
of a modest Report of some hundred pages, its 
annual publishing output comprises several 
bulky octavo volumes. It is only 15 years since 
the Report of the United States National 
Museum was issued in distinct covers from that 
of the Smithsonian Institution. And now, to 
judge from the copy submitted for review, even 
this has reached limits that transcend the 
binder’s art, andsuggest that a further division 
into volumes would be beneficial. The line of 
division is obvious, for the Reports both of the 
Smithsonian and of the Museum owe their 
present thickness chiefly to the articles of gen- 
eral interest which are printed after the annual 
official statements. The public is, doubtless, 
grateful for these admirable articles, but its 
gratitude would be increased were they pre- 
sented in more convenient form, The numer- 
ous readers that will be found for Mr. Thomas 
Wilson’s richly illustrated account of ‘ Prehis- 
toric Art’ will not wish to be weighted with 
lengthy lists of accessions to the library, of new 
species described by the Museum staff, or of 
specimens sent to the Museum for identification. 
On the other hand, the professional museum- 
curator, who doubtless keeps the richly sugges- 
tive, one might say the classical, reports of the 
Smithsonian officials at hand for reference, will 
soon find his available space choked up with 
reprints of papers that he either has no longing 
for or already has in their original form. 

The present Appendices to the Administrative 
Reports have, itis true, grown in a natural man- 
ner, on the one hand out of the summaries of 
progress in science that used to be attempted by 
the Smithsonian, and on the other hand out of 
short accounts or catalogues of specimens in the 
National Museum. Moreover, there may besome- 
thing in the terms of the appropriation by Con- 
gress that renders the present mode of publica- 
tion an official necessity. In such case a strong 
expression of the value attached at home and 
abroad to the several sections of these Reports, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 231. 


and of the inconvenience resulting from their 
union, may do something to facilitate a change. 

There is another argument in favor of the 
proposed separation. The information con- 
tained in these reports is as out of date as that 
in an ordinary science text-book. The world 
looks for more actuality in news that come 
from the United States. There is little in this 
‘Report of the U. 8. National Museum for the 
year ending June 30, 1896’ that the intelligent 
readers of SCIENCE did not know nearly three 
years since. We all knew that ‘‘ Under an 
order issued by the President on May 6, 1896, 
the National Museum [with the other depart- 
ments of the Smithsonian Institution] was made 
subject to the law regulating appointments and 
promotions in the Civil Service of the United 
States.’? We have read all about the govern- 
ment exhibit at the Atlanta Exposition in Brown 
Goode’s contemporaneous report. We have 
mourned for Professor C. V. Riley and Mr. R. 
E. Earll, and, alas! for the writer of their obit- 
uary notices, here reprinted from ScrENCE. We 
have heard enough—perhaps too much—about 
Alaska and the seal fisheries of Bering Sea. 
There is little left but the statistics previously 
referred to. And since the letter of transmittal 
is dated August 8, 1896, why should we have 
to await these 284 pages for two years and a 
half? The reason appears to lie in the elabo- 
rate papers contained in Part II., which, it is 
obvious, could not have been published in 1896. 
Internal evidence shows that Mr. Thomas Wil- 
son’s attactive work on Prehistoric Art, of 340 
pages, 75 plates and 3825 text-figures, was not 
completed in manuscript before 1897. Mr. 
Stewart Culin’s fascinating account of the 
origin of chess and playing cards has an intro- 
ductory note dated August, 1897, and contains 
quotations from matter printed in that year. 
The equally interesting account of the exhibit 
of Biblical Antiquities at the Atlanta Exposi- 
tion, by Drs. C. Adler and I. M. Casanowicz, 
contains more than one such reference. It is 
not likely that Dr. Walter Hough’s exhaustive 
monograph on the lamp of the Eskimo was 
ready for the printer before the articles that 
precede it. Why should not all these have 
been issued separately, or at least reserved for 
the 1897 Report ? 


JUNE 2, 1899.] 


To write any comprehensive review of the 
extraordinarily diverse matter in the three 
volumes before us would be impossible for a 
single individual, however unlimited his time. 
The papers following the Smithsonian Report 
are representative of the various branches of 
science, and the general reader will gain from 
them a fair idea of what is now being done by 
scientific workers. Most of them have appeared 
elsewhere, but English-speakers will be glad to 
have the translations of Dr. L. Kénigsberger 
on ‘ The Investigations of Hermann von Helm- 
holtz on the Fundamental Principles of Mathe- 
matics and Mechanics,’ Professor A. Cornu on 
‘Physical phenomena of the upper regions of 
the atmosphere,’ O. Wiener on ‘Color pho- 
tography by means of body colors, and Me- 
chanical color adaptation in nature,’ Dr. 
Heim on ‘The biologic relations between 
plants and ants,’ H. Meyer on ‘Bows and 
arrows in Central Brazil,’ and J. de Morgan’s 
‘Account of the work of the service of an- 
tiquities of Egypt and of the Egyptian Insti- 
tute during the years 1892, 1893 and 1894.’ As 
an example of work carried out under the 
auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, we are 
presented with Dr. J. Walter Fewkes’ ‘ Pre- 
liminary account of an expedition to the Pueblo 
ruins near Winslow, Arizona, in 1896,’ which 
expedition, it may be noted, accomplished its 
work some weeks after the annual report was 
transmitted to Congress. Other communica- 
tions that appear to be published here for the 
first time are: ‘Was primitive man a modern 
savage ?’ by Talcott Williams ; ‘Memorial of Dr. 
Joseph M. Toner,’ by Ainsworth R. Spofford, 
and ‘ William Bower Taylor,’ by W. J. Rhees. 
The rest of the articles are reprints, mainly 
from the Proceedings of the Royal Institution of 
Great Britain and from SCIENCE. 

The more technical papers based on the col- 
lections in the U. S. National Museum are con- 
tained in Vol. XX., of the Proceedings of the 
Museum. In pursuance of the excellent policy 
pursued by the Institution, these have already 
been issued in pamphlet form, so as not to delay 
the publication of important scientific novelties. 
But it is to be wished that this policy could be 
carried into effect in a more practical manner. 
Let us take two examples. The volume opens 


SCIENCE. 


ee 


with an elaborate and (thanks to the Elizabeth 
Thompson fund) richly illustrated work on the 
Rocky Mountain locust and its allies, entitled 
‘Revision of the Orthopteran group Melanopli 
(Acridiidee), with special reference to North 
American forms,’ by that eminent entomologist: 
and bibliographer, 8S. H. Scudder. The work 
contains numerous new species and new genera. 
A key to the genera is given, and is said to 
have been ‘issued in advance in the Proceed- 
ings of the American Academy ;’ but from be- 
ginning to end no hint is given as to the pre- 
vious publication of the paper as a whole, and 
9 workers ont of 10 would be as likely as not to 
give it the date of the bound volume, which the 
title-page states to be 1898, but which, one may 
hazard a guess, was really 1899.* The tenth 
worker might have received the previously is- 
sued separate copy of Mr. Scudder’s paper, 
though it was unknown to the laborious com- 
piler of the section Insecta in the Zoological 
Record for 1897—a somewhat important fact in 
in this connection ; or he might chance to see - 
in the table of contents the affixed date, ‘De- 
cember 28, 1897.’ Is this date intended for the- 
date of previous publication? If so, a state- 
ment to that effect should have been repeated! 
at the beginning or end of the article itself. 
Even the previously issued separate copies of 
these articles do not bear the exact date. The 
paper wrappers give the year (truthfully, let 
us hope !), but what we have been led to expect 
from American systematists is at least the 
month, if not the day or even the hour of pub- 
lication, printed on the sheet itself. In the 
second example that we shall take, matters are 
more complicated. No. 1132 is ‘ Preliminary 
diagnoses of new mammals* * * * from the 
Mexican border * * *’ by Dr. E. A. Mearns. 
The competition between the describers of spe- 
cies in this class is now so keen that the de- 
mand for dates isimperative. The Smithsonian 
meets the appeal with its wonted generosity. 
It gives three dates: the date of the bound 
volume, 1898 [or 1899]; ‘Advance sheets, 
March 5, 1897 ;’ and again, ‘January 19, 1898.’ 
What, then, is the date of Neotoma cumulator 

*At any rate the volume has not yet been received 
by the British Museum (Natural History), 22 April, 
1899. 


its SCIENCE. 


Mearns? The date of the advance sheets is, in 
this case, given with the paper itself, and they 
are described as ‘published.’ Butifso, there can 
be no meaning in the date ‘January 19, 1898.’ 
If, on the other hand, ‘January, 19, 1898,’ is 
regarded by the Secretary to the Smithsonian 
as the date of publication, then the advance 
sheets must be ruled out of court. What do 
you mean by ‘advance sheets,’ anyway? Are 
they proofs under revision ? Are they to be had 
by the public? Can they substantiate a claim of 
ten or eleven months’ priority? These ques- 
tions are not rhetorical. We want to know. 
The ever-green preliminary notice is nuisance 
enough; but a preliminary notice that ranges 
vaguely between March, 1897, and February, 
1899, ought to be snuffed out by its own ab- 
surdity. 

To turn from these vexed and vexing ques- 
tions to the papers themselves—After Dr. 
Scudder’s monograph, which occupies nearly 
half the volume, the more important are Pro- 
fessor E. Linton’s ‘ Notes on Cestode and Trem- 
atode parasites of fishes,’ Professor Dean C. 
Worcester’s and Dr. F. 8. Bourns’ ‘ Contribu- 
tions to Philippine Ornithology,’ Walter 
Faxon’s ‘Observations on the Astacide in the 
U.S. National Museum and in the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology [Cambridge, Mass.], with 
descriptions of new species,’ Professor C. P. 
Gillette on ‘American leaf-hoppers of the sub- 
family Typhlocybine,’ Professor A. E. Verrill’s 
and Miss K. J. Bush’s ‘ Revision of the deep- 
water Mollusca of the Atlantic coast of North 
America, with descriptions of new genera and 
species. PartI., Bivalvia.’ From these and the 
lesser papers in the volume it is clear that the 
U.S. National Museum plays an effective part 
in the advancement, no less than in the diffu- 
sion, of knowledge ; and the high proportion of 
contributions from others than those on the 
staff indicates a total absence of that dog-in-the 
manger quality which often finds a congenial 
home in establishments of this kind. 

Indeed, if there is one character more praise- 
worthy than another in these records of work 
done it is thespirit of helpfulness and fraternal 
cooperation that animates the whole. The con- 
centration of the national collections in one 
group of buildings, the association of the 


PNaS:) iViOn. xs INOW 231. 


Museum with an institution of such world-wide 
scope as the Smithsonian, the proximity of other 
administrative and scientific departments of the 
government, all tend to foster this spirit. 
Nevertheless, its development, as we see from 
the example of other cities, is not a necessary 
consequence ; it needs cultivation. In Wash- 
ington its growth is due less to favoring circum- 
stances than to the high character and ideals of 
the men connected with the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, and notably of recent years to the 
charming personality and unwearying efforts of 
the late Assistant Secretary. A remarkable 
instance of this appears in the list of the scien- 
tific and administrative staff, which comprises 
among the Curators or Assistant Curators no 
less than 28 described as ‘Honorary, and serv- 
ing without salary.’ The work done by these 
unpaid curators is no mere amusement; they 
take their share in the drudgery of registration, 
labelling and cleaning. It is true that the 
majority of them receive pay from the govern- 
ment in other capacities ; but this emphasizes 
the point, for rivalry rather than cooperation 
between the various departments is the rule in 
most other countries. The gain, of course, is 
not wholly on the side of the Museum. 

In harmony with these principles of mutual 
aid, the Museum differs from many national 
museums in its custom of sending out large 
quantities of material. Partly this is in connec- 
tion with local exhibitions, and this branch of 
the Museum’s activity may be compared to that 
of the Loan Section of the British Science and 
Art Department. Further, specimens are lent 
to scientific workers freely and in large quanti- 
ties. Presumably this applies, not to specimens 
of historic interest, but te material in the re- 
serve collection. No doubt some damage is 
done and some specimens may be lost in conse- 
quence of these operations. For all that, the 


Museum is a gainer, on the one hand by the © 


awakening of national interest and the increased 
number of its correspondents, on the other 
through the elaboration of its material by 
specialists in all parts of the world. 

Apropos of correspondents, those of the Smith- 
sonian and the Museum are perhaps numerous 
enough already. Every citizen of the United 
States seems to be as tenacious of his right to 


> 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


‘question the officers on any subject under the 
sun as he is of his right to shake hands with 
the President. The list of specimens sent to the 
Museum for identification during the year fills 
24 columns. About 10,000 letters seem to have 
been received and replied to. The concholo- 
gists alone had to identify over 3,000 species and 
to write over 1,000 pages of correspondence. 
Defensive measures have become necessary. 
Circular 47, U. S. National Museum, stipulates 
that the material must be sent free of expense 
to the Museum, unless otherwise agreed upon, 
and that the localities from which the specimens 
_Were obtained must be given. The Museum 
reserves the right to retain, except under 
special arrangement, specimens needed to com- 
plete the national collection. 

There are many other points in these Reports 
one would like to discuss did one not feel the 
information to be a little out of date. Attention 
may, however, be directed to Dr. J. M. Flint’s 
account of methods for the public exhibition of 
microscopic objects (Rep. U. S. N. M., pp. 96, 
97, pls. i-iv.). There are two forms of ap- 
paratus ; in both an ordinary microscope is em- 
ployed, but in one the objects are fixed ona 
rotating disc, while in the other ordinary glass 
slips are attached by brass clips to an endless 
linen band passing over rollers. ‘‘ Microscopes 
copied from the original here described have 
been in use for several years, and no irre- 
mediable difficulties have been found in the way 
of their perfectly successful operation.’’ An ap- 
paratus of this kind has been in use at the 
Hamburg Natural History Museum for some 
years ; but few, if any, other museums have 
followed this example. Perhaps Dr. Flint’s 
account may induce them to adopt this method 
of overcoming the difficulty of exhibiting very 
minute objects. The foregoing is only one in- 
stance of the improvements in museum tech- 
nique that are constantly being introduced by 
the energetic officers of the U. S. National 
Museum. It is the detailed account of such 
matters that makes the Report of permanent 
value to other museum-curators, while it evinces 
the hearty interest taken in their work by all 
members of the staff. F. A. BATHER. 
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, 

Lonpon, 8. W. 


SCIENCE. tas) 


Introductory Logic. By JAMES EDWIN CREIGH- 

ToN. The Macmillan Company. 

The aims of this book, as indicated in the 
preface, are three. It is intended for an ele- 
mentary college text-book; it is founded on a 
belief in the value of the traditional ‘ formal’ 
logic, and hence on a desire to conserve, just so 
far as may be, the forms and exercises of that 
logic ; and the author hopes, before he has done, 
to have presented likewise a genuinely modern 
theory of thought. The first purpose, of course, 
must be kept in mind in judging ultimately 
both the omissions of the work and all the ad- 
missions into it that occur in the way of obvious 
reflection and simple enlarging comment. The 
aim of saving the greater body of the old log- 
ical teachings, is one which — provided only 
writer or teacher knows how to breathe again 
into the material some of the ancient Socratic 
living practicality and fresh keenness—the ma- 
jority among instructors of raw classes would 
still approve of. Their most critical query, 
therefore, touching this phase of Professor 
Creighton’s work, would be : How far is this en- 
deavor reconciled with the author’s third chief 
aim, that of satisfying also, in his expositions, 
the requirements of modern scientific truth and 
orderly completeness? And here, in this at- 
tempt of combining and correlating, in a purely 
elementary treatise, the methods, content and 
advantages both of the old logic and a newer 
one, is plainly intended to lie the special feature 
of our book; as here, indeed, would appear to be 
afforded, to any writer, his most distinet oppor- 
tunity for achieving a marked success, if not 
even his most valid reason for writing at all. 
For here—it would seem at least—is the largest 
room for competition with a number of most 
excellent text-books already outstanding. Thus, 
on the one side, Minto’s Logic is an al- 
most ideally satisfactory beginner’s-manual, 
save in the important circumstance that. it 
hardly more than informs the student of the 
existence of the modern profounder theory of 
thought ; while, on the other hand, a work like 
—say even Bosanquet’s Essentials of Logic, with 
all its incomplete expression and the tension in 
its style—presents the broad outlines of the 
organic view of thought with an admirable 
philosophic ability, but too far ignores, to ful- 


780 SCIENCE. 


fill entirely the uses of an ordinary introduction, 
the traditional staple of logic. These simple 
analyses and operations, as a matter of fact, 
besides retaining still a certain real point and 
meaning, would deserve some special consider- 
ation if only from the circumstance that, the 
new branch of induction aside, they are sub- 
stantially what, in the popular notion and 
even in the common run of handbooks, will be 
always confronting the student as logic, sole and 
simple. Professor Creighton commendably 
would recognize these facts more completely 
than Dr. Bosanquet has cared to do. 

The first two chapters of his book Professor 
Creighton devotes to an Introduction. The 
definition of logic, with which he sets out, suf- 
fice it to say, is thoroughly modern in spirit. 


So, too, his differentiation of the function and , 


materials of logic from those of psychology 
is carried out in a modern, and, moreover, a 
soundly practical way. In both these con- 
nections it would, indeed, have been in- 
structive to have been given some moderately 
searching review of the effect of different con- 
ceptions of the real nature of thought ; but this, 
doubtless, was a topic felt to lie outside the 
scope of the book. On the venerable theme 
whether or not logic is an art as well as a 
science, the author expresses himself thus: The 
analyses of logic are capable of a practical ap- 
plication, but not to the extent of constituting 
an art. Thinking is too flexible to enable 
us, on the basis of our theoretical knowl- 
edge, to lay down, as we can in photography 
or even in medicine, rules for its definite guid- 
ance. It is possible to prescribe only the gen- 
eral conditions that must be observed in reason- 
ing correctly.—The question here of our agree- 
ment or otherwise will largely be a verbal one 
as to how an artis to be defined. Professor 
Creighton himself speaks of the Aristotelian 
logic, in the ordinary representation, as perhaps 
more properly described as an art. Still, it may 
be suspected whether Professor Creighton’s 
general denial of a strict art-character to logic 
does not hinder him, in his subsequent exposi- 
tion of the old syllogistic logic (his exposition, 
but not the admirable ‘exercises’ he has ap- 
pended at the close of the volume), from quite 
giving due emphasis to those exercises in So- 


Vou. 1X. No. 231. 


[N. 8. 


cratic ‘dialectic’ and ‘induction,’ in interpre 
tation, definition and the like, wherein, rather 
than in the operation of mere abstract formulas 
—A’s and E’s, 8’s and M’s, Baroko’s and Bo- 
kardo’s—lies the best discipline of ‘formal’ 
logic. But even more is it to be feared whether 
the conventional presentation of the old logic, 
which, as we shall see, Professor Creighton for 
the most part follows—whether this presenta- 
tion, either in fulness or in order and method, 
can meet the requirements of science in the rig- 
orous modern sense, and must not rather seek 
its sole justification in a paramount simple ar- 
tistic than a strictly scientific interest and char- 
acter. 

The second chapter of the Introduction is 
very appropriately a historical sketch. A cry- 
ing need in the maze of contemporary logical 
doctrine is a simple but accurate and all- 
around elucidation for the student—if only for 
the sake of enabling him to approach the litera- 
ture intelligently—- of the various connections and 
distinctions of logical standpoints and so-called 
departments ; and of all methods, moreover, 
of effecting this end, the historical can hardly 
be denied to be the easiest and most enlighten- 
ing. Professor Creighton undertakes such a his- 
torical explanation with reference to Deduc- 
tion, Induction and the ‘New’ logic; and his 
sketch is concise and bright—so far as it goes at 
all. Thus his account of the origin, develop- 
ment and respective functions historically of 
the Aristotelian and the inductive logics is ani- 
mated, to the point, and for the most part very 
satisfactory. When, however, we come to that 
logic out of whose point of view his own treat- 
ment is to be determined, he merely says that: 
it has arisen under the influence of Hegel, but 
how it has done so, and what Hegel’s logic it- 
self is like, or what are its antecedents back to 
Kant or, perchance, to Plato—all this is utterly 
passed over. Assuredly this failure of the au- 
thor’s, after he has devoted ten pages to the 
origins and evolution of a logic (the syllogistic). 
which he does not accept, at least as final, to 
provide some account of the historical begin- 
nings and course of growth of that conception 
which he does accept as adequate, is to be set 
down as a defect not remedied even by the sys- 
tematic exposition of this truer view which we 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


get in Part ILI. of our book. How very difficult 
it is to put simply, and yetin orderly truth, the 
history of that fruitful notion of thought and 
logic which Professor Creighton adopts, every- 
one must appreciate who has endeavored to 


teach it; but then, in the degree that this his- | 


tory is essential for our students, its difficulty, 
as already remarked, is just a writer’s best op- 
portunity, and his best justification for adding 
one more book to the many. 

A more thorough preliminary working out 
of the development from the old to a new logic 
would have been not only helpful to the stu- 
dent, but of service to the author himself. For, 
in his desire to accord to the old logic that due 
recognition which consitutes one of his prime 
objects, he feels obliged, apparently, in the 
exposition of ‘Syllogism,’ which makes up 
Part I. of our book, to reproduce in the main 
also the old conventional, half-false order of 
topics—Terms, Propositions, Immediate Infer- 
ence, Syllogism, Fallacies—and the old narrow, 
distorted theoretical descriptions, with a fuller 


truth of relationships pointed out only inciden- 


tally or forgotten altogether. In Chapter I. of 
this same part, some general precautions are, 
indeed, put forward; but the author himself 
does not live up to them ; how much less will 
the thoughtless student! As an extreme illus- 
tration of failure of fidelity to the interests of 
the higher standpoint and a reversion, for the 
time-being, to olden easy-going, slipshod meth- 
ods, may be cited the treatment of Terms. We 
are abruptly informed (p. 46)—‘‘wie aus der 
Pistole’’—-that ‘‘ the first divisions which we have 
to notice is that into Singular or Individual, 
General and Collective terms.’’ These being 
defined in the familiar way, we are given the 
further divisions into abstract and concrete, 
positive and negative, absolute and relative ; 
which distinctions, it should be said, particu- 
larly that of abstract and concrete, are handled 
very well from the point of view of the old- 
time ‘art of logic.’ What, though, of ‘new’ 
theory of thought is there in this (p. 52) ?— 
‘¢ Positive (terms) express the existence * * *, 
A Negative term indicates the absence * * *, 
Words which are positive in form, are, however, 
often negative in meaning * * *.’? Orwhat in 
this (p. 55)?—‘‘ The nature of everything is 


SCIENCE. 


781 


largely [sic] determined by the nature of the 
things with which it stands in relation * * *. 
It is, however, possible to make a distinctiow be- 
tween words which are the names of things com- 
paratively [sic] independent and * * *.’’ It is 
but in keeping to find this chapter ending with 
the subject of extension and intension of terms, 7. 
e., With that which ought to form the beginning of 
the treatment of such distinctions as individual 
and general, collective and material, etc. Now, 
to be sure, all this can be no result of a sheer 
ignorance of the spirit and demands of modern 
logic. Part III. sufficiently shows the contrary ; 
and even in this same first Part we are given 
a chapter such as that on hypothetical and 
disjunctive arguments, one that is fertilized 
throughout by organic reflections, and, in con- 
sequence, is the freshest, most interesting and 
best of this entire section of the book. Or 
perhaps it would be juster to say that Professor 
Creighton knows quite generally how to be in- 
teresting, as also to be neat and concise, and, 
in most matters, pedagogically tactful. His 
only difficulty isan unresolved conflict of ideals— 
of the elementary practical interest of the old 
logic, with the theoretic one of exhibiting the 
doctrines of this logic under a wider scientific 
point of view. In this conflict, now the one 
end and now the other, is lost sight of; but 
herewith, of course, the author’s great purpose 
of satisfying the requirements of both old and 
new logic goes just so far by the board. 

The faults of Part I., however, are in sharp 
contrast with the merits of Part II. The latter 
is, by all odds, the best-done portion of the book. 
Here, too, perhaps, there might still be room 
for acompleter working-out of systematic impli- 
cations and relations ; and there remains, after 
all the author’s great deductions, too orthodox 
an assent to the ‘Five Methods’ of Mill; 
nevertheless, Professor Creighton here plants 
himself, everything considered, on modern 
ground, and in the attitude of live thought, 
with the result of giving us one of the very 
best introductory treatments of Induction that 
we possess. Aside from the difficulty of corre- 
lation that must arise for the student from his 
not having previously been given a genuine 
theory of thought deductively regarded, but 
only the mechanics of scholastic syllogistic—the 


782 


true relation of induction to deduction is both 
made clear in an introductory chapter and 
soundly adhered to afterwards. These are 
throughout described, not as two distinet things, 
but as distinguished phases of one and the same 
total activity of thought; deduction throwing 
an explicit emphasis upon the particularizing 
and synthetic aspect, while induction emphasizes 
the analytic and generalizing sides. The nature 
and distinction, likewise, of observation and ex- 
planation are very adequately set forth in the 
introductory chapter. Observation, the author 
earnestly enforces, is not a mere staring at facts : 
‘““To observe well it is necessary to be more or 
less definitely conscious of what one is looking 
for ; etc., etc.’’ Though he reserves the express 
assertion of the influence of hypothesis on even 
preliminary observation to a later chapter, it is 
implied throughout. Naturally, therefore, the 
difference, too, between observation and expla- 
nation is regarded not as absolute, but as largely 
a mere convenient one—of the final articulate 
bringing to bear of reason on experience, in 
contradistinction from an earlier half-groping 
stage of the same thing. So, likewise, of course, 
the goal of induction is conceived to lie, not in 
a mere empirical, passive gleaning of causal 
connections and generalities, but in the com- 
pletion of that explanation we have just been 
speaking of—the active expansion of the living 
system of self-conscious human reason for and 
by the inclusion of the facts under investigation. 

After the introductory chapter come three 
others on Methods of Obseryvation—the first 
dealing with Enumeration and Statistics, the 
two others with the Determination of Causal 
Relations—under which head is given an expo- 
sition of the Methods of Mill. All this is well 
done, though, as already suggested, the simple 
acceptance of Mill’s ‘methods’ as undisputed 
descriptions of the actual procedure of science 
is open to grave dissent. However, there is no 
failure to point out the drawbacks of the several 
methods separately ; nor is the author in any 
sense guilty of treating them as being more than 
what at best they are—mere methods of observ- 
ing, that is to say, methods not for the final 
solution of scientific problems, but, as Welton 
has aptly put it, methods merely for suggest- 
ing hypotheses. The two chapters on Methods 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 231. 


of Explanation—the first on Analogy and the 
second on The Use of Hypotheses—as_ well 
as the concluding chapter on Fallacies of In- 
ductive Reasoning, call for no comment. All 
are very good pieces of work. 

Part III. deals with The Nature of Thought. 
Starting from the view of thought as an organ- 
ism, and of knowledge as a passage not from 
the inward and known to the outside and un- 
known, but always from a previous partial 
knowledge to one of greater perfection, the au- 
thor goes on to point out that thought and 
knowledge unfold or develop in accordance with 
the general laws of evolution ; that this devel- 
opment is a progressive process both of differ- 
entiation and integration ; that the different in- 
tellectual operations, as conception, judgment 
and inference, or induction and deduction, are 
not separate processes, but stages in one and 
the same activity ; and that the nature of this 
activity is essentially discoverable in its sim- 
plest and most elementary form, the judgment ; 
—for the concept is not the original element, out 
of which judgment is afterwards compounded, 
but is only the series of judgments that have 
already been made and that serve as the start- 
ing-point for new judgments. Judgment, ac- 
cordingly, is the main theme of this present 
subdivision of our study. 

The chief characteristics of judgment as the 
type of all thought and knowledge are: (1) its 
universality (claim of truth for everybody) ; (2): 
its necessity (not a mere psychological compul- 
sion, but one arising from the dependence of 
judgment on grounds) ; (8) that it is always both 
synthetic and analytic ; (4) that it is construct- 
ive of asystem of knowledge. In this connection,. 
however, require to be considered also the so- 
called ‘Three Lawsof Thought.’ As very com- 
monly put, these pretended supreme ‘axioms’ 
of judgment are altogether false. Rightly for- 
mulated, though, they are real laws of thought, 
in the sense of being implied in and descriptive 
of the thought-procegss as just set forth. (The 
topic of laws of thought in general, or of Cate- 
gories, Professor Creighton does not enter upon.) 
The development of judgment, from a merely 
felt to a conscious necessity, gives rise to types- 
of judgment. The succession of these is traced 
on broadly Hegelian lines, from quality 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


through quantity (enumeration and measure) 
and causal connection (stages in this latter 
conception being pointed out), to the completed 
form of individuality (which is that of unified 
system). 

The chapter on The Nature of Inference re- 
quires no special comment, except that the 
solution offered of the old paradox: How can 
the mind pass from the known to the unknown? 
—to the effect that there is no such passage, 
there being ‘‘alwaysa certain amount of identity 
between the two ends of the process ’’ [p. 326] 
—is hardly searching. Should not questions of 
this sort, if taken hold of at all, be handled 
with a certain thoroughness, even where it is 
jnexpert novices that one has to reckon for? 
The concluding chapter, likewise, on Rational 
and Empirical Theories, calls for no discussion, 
its spirit beining manifest from what has been 
already related, and its upshot, in the rejection 
of either attitude in abstraction, sound, notwith- 
standing that the rationalism described is rather 
that of Descartes than the profounder doctrine 
of Kant. 

Of this Part as a whole, this much only need 
be said. So far as it really proceeds, it is ex- 
cellent and, doubtless, gives the entire book a 
value immeasurably beyond that of the dry, 
shallow, old-fashioned inanual. And yet a ques- 
tioning does arise, just how far the practically 
total avoidance of direct issue with the more 
fundamental difficulties concerning thought— 
the refusal to dip even lightly into the deeper 
waters of philosophy—is an advantage even for 
beginners, beginners of the sort who are ready 
to read such a book as this at all? For may it 
not be doubted if a bright student can fail— 
and is it not to be hoped that he shall not fail 
—to be perplexed by a groping perception of 
problems, a mere definite pointing out of which, 
or a mere hint towards whose solution, would 
have been of the greatest help to him, but which 
here are quite ignored? Surely our fear should 
be, not of bringing our pupils, when need is, 
into the labyrinths of metaphysic, but of our- 
selves not proving clear-sighted guides therein. 
However, in this point it may be that our judg- 
ments must turn on individual notions of how 
completely logic can and ought to be cut off 
from metaphysics. 


SCIENCE. 


783. 


Evidently in this work Professor Creighton 
has not given us the ‘definitive’ text-book— if 
there be any sense in the shallow favorite 
phrase. His book does not closely approximate 
its design. What he has produced is this, a 
book with a good many good things in it. 
These require a stricter organization ; in parts, 
some supplementation; in other parts (per- 
haps), a pushing deeper back into philosophy ; 
and, in one section, a considerable correcting. 
Yet with all these drawbacks—granted a 
teacher capable of coping with them—Professor 
Creighton’s book is not unsuited, as an: intro- 
duction, to become a very useful one; rather 
it undoubtedly is, as pointing in a wholly de- 
sirable direction, one of the very best on the 


market. 
GEORGE REBEC. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


THE Journal of Geology, February—March, 
1899. The first paper is by Henry 8. Washing- 
ton, and is the third installment of the series 
relating to ‘The Petrographical Province of 
Essex County, Mass.,’ pp. 105-122. Dr. Wash- 
ington treats of the rocks occurring in dikes, 
viz: Aplite, quartz-syenite-porphyry, paisanite, 
sdlvsbergite and tinguaite. The series is to be 
continued. B. Shimek, ‘The Distribution of 
Loess Fossils,’ pp. 122-141. The author em- 
phasizes certain important points in the charac- 
ter and distribution of the fossil shells found in 
the loess, basing his conclusions on facts ob- 
served in connection with existing land shells. 
His observations confirm the Aolian origin of 
the Western loess. H. W. Turner, ‘Granitic 
Rocks of the Sierra Nevada,’ pp. 141-163. 
This is an important addition to our knowledge 
of the general petrography of the granitoid 
rocks of the Sierras. Types embracing true 
granites, grano-diorites, quartz-monzonites, 
soda-aplites, quartz-diorite-aplites and pegma- 
tites we described with many analysis. Under 
the studies for students the development and 
geological relations of the mammalia are out- 
lined by E. C. Case. Editorials and a valuable 
summary of ‘ Current Pre-Cambian Literature,’ 
by C. K. Leith, close the number. The latter 
contributions are particularly to be commended, 


784 


as they afford excellent summaries and temper- 
ate and judicial comments. 

WE are glad to note that owing to its in- 
creasing circulation the publishers of Science 
Abstracts (Spon & Chamberlain, New York) 
have been able to make a reduction in the 
price. The journal, issued monthly under the 
direction of the Institution of Electrical Engi- 
neers and the Physical Society of London, is 
performing a very important service for the ad- 
vancement of science. The first volume con- 
tained 1,423 abstracts and thus gives a full sur- 
vey of the progress of physics and electrical 
engineering. The advantages both pure and 
applied science gain by cooperation in the pub- 
cation of this journal are evident on almost 
every page. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

In response to a circular sent out to physicists 
by a committee representing seven institutions, 
a meeting was held on Saturday, May 20th, at 
10:30 a. m., at Columbia University, New York, 
for the purpose of organizing a Physical So- 
ciety. Thirty-eight persons were present, rep- 
resenting seventeen institutions, as follows: 
Wesleyan University, 2; New York, 2; Yale, 
8; Cornell, 5; Columbia, 7; Pennsylvania, 2 ; 
Bryn Mawr, 2; Vassar, 2; Princeton, 2; Am- 
herst, 1; Mt. Holyoke, 2; Smith, 1; Harvard, 
2; Vermont, 1; Swarthmore, 2; Clark, 1; U. 
§. Weather Bureau, 1. Letters had been re- 
ceived by the committee from many physicists 


in all parts of the country, expressing approval- 


of the organization and a willingness to join. 
Professor Pupin welcomed the physicists pres- 
ent on behalf of Columbia University, and intro- 
duced Professor Cooley, of Vassar, the senior 
member present, as Chairman of the meeting. 
Professor Webster was elected Secretary, and 
addressed the meeting in explanation of the pur- 
pose of the call. Reports of communications 
received by members of the committee were 
made by the Secretary and by Professors Magie, 
Nichols and Pupin. On motion of Professor 
Rosa, it was voted that a Physical Society be 
organized. On motion of Professor Magie, it 
was voted that a committee be appointed to 
draft a constitution for the Society. On motion 
of Professor Magie, it was voted that the meet- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 231. 


ings be held in New York, except in special 
cases. An amendment offered by Professor 
Nichols was adopted, to the effect that the 
meeting express the willingness of the Society 
to establish local sub-sections meeting in other 
cities when ademand shall arise. After arather 
lengthy discussion, an amendment proposed by 
Professor Pupin was adopted, to the effect that 
the meeting express the sentiment of the So- 
ciety to cultivate the closest relations with Sec- 
tion B of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, and to contribute by 
everything in its power to the success of the 
Association. Upon motion of Professor Magie, 
it was voted that a bulletin be published by the 
Society. Professors Webster, Nichols, Magie, 
Peirce, Hallock and Pupin were elected as the 
committee to draft a constitution. The meet- 
ing adjourned at 12:30 and partook of lunch 
kindly provided by representatives of Columbia 
University. 

The session was resumed at 2:20 p. m., and 
the constitution submitted by the committee 
was adopted. All the above notes were therein 
embodied. A list of nominations for officers 
was reported by the same committee, and the 
following were unanimously elected: Presi- 
dent, Professor H. A. Rowland, of Johns Hop- 
kins ; Vice-President, Professor A. A. Michel- 
son, of Chicago; Secretary, Professor Ernest 
Merritt, of Cornell; Treasurer, Professor Wm. 
Hallock, of Columbia. Nominations were then 
made from the floor for members of the Council 
who, with the officers, are to have the general 
management of the Society, and the following 
were elected: Professors A. G. Webster, of 
Clark; J. S. Ames, of Johns Hopkins; H. 8. 
Carhart, of Michigan; B. O. Peirce, of Har- 
vard; W. F. Magie, of Princeton; E. L. 
Nichols, of Cornell; M. I. Pupin, of Columbia. 

It was voted that the election of new mem- 
bers be made by the Council ; that the annual 
fee be five dollars; that there be no initiation 
fee, and that four meetings be held annually. 

The constitution provides that the name of 
the Society shall be the American Physical So- 
ciety, and that its object shall be the advance- 
ment and diffusion of the knowledge of physics. 
A circular will soon be issued containing the 
text of the complete constitution, which will be 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


sent to physicists generally, and provision will 
be made that those voting upon it by mail shall 
be received as original members of the Society. 
The first regular meeting will be held in Octo- 
ber. Already about a hundred members are 
assured, and it is hoped that the Society 
may eventually contain all leading American 
physicists and take a prominent place among 
our scientific societies. 
A. G. WEBSTER, 
Secretary pro tem. 


THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 304th regular meeting was held March 
11th. The program consisted of an illus- 
trated lecture on the general physiographical 
and biological features of Puerto Rico by Dr. 
R. T. Hill, of the U. S. Geological Survey. The 
mountain and drainage systems were explained 
and classified, and the relations of the various 
geological formations and the resulting soils to 
the flora and agricultural resources of the 
island were pointed out. 

The lecture was supplemented by informal 
accounts from Dr. B. W. Evermann, of the U. 
S. Fish Commission, and Mr, A. B. Baker, of 
the Zoological Park, who had recently returned 
from Puerto Rico. Dr. Evermann stated 
that the coasts are almost everywhere 
abrupt and rocky, and that the water is 
generally agitated by a powerful surf. The 
result of these conditions is that only 
those types could survive which were adapted 
for life in deep water or which were fitted by 
habits and structure to secure protection among 
the rocks. This applies not only to the fishes, 
but to the molluscs, crustacea, algee and other 
groups, all classes of aquatic organisms having 
received the attention of the expedition. The 
fresh-water fish fauna is not extensive and has 
been derived independently from marine groups, 
having no connection with the fresh-water forms 
of the continent. Dr. Evermann also explained 
the methods of the native fisherman and ex- 
hibited examples of traps and decoys for fishes 
and turtles. 

Mr. Baker noticed some additional points re- 
garding the geography and physiography of the 
island and the almost complete destruction of 
the forests, which has had a disastrous effect 


SCIENCE. 


785 


upon the fauna, having more less completely 
exterminated some species and caused profound 
changes in the habits of others. 

At the 305th regular meeting, March 25th, 
Dr. T. S. Palmer traced the history of the in- 
troduction of the English sparrow into the 
United States and its subsequent gradual dis- 
tribution throughout temperate North America. 

The case of the mongoose in Jamaica, Puerto 
Rico and Hawaii was also considered, together 
with accounts of other accidental or intentional 
importations of mammals or birds, and the 
general conclusion was drawn that once re- 
moved from the natural conditions and checks 
of its original habitat it is impossible to know 
in advance of the experiment what the utility 
or injury of any given species will be, and 
hence such experiments should be undertaken 
withthe greatest caution. The speaker con- 
sidered the introduction of game birds attended 
with less danger on account of the fact that 
they would more easily be kept under control 
by human agency. 

Mr. M. B. Waite exhibited specimens illus- 
trating ‘ The Effects of the Recent Severe Cold 
on Vegetation,’ and described the processes at- 
tending the freezing of plant cells, explaining 
that sudden thawing caused death in many in- 
stances because the protoplasm of the cells was 
unable to reabsorb the water lost in freezing. 

The extent of recent injuries to fruit trees and 
ornamental and native plants was then touched 
upon and subsequently discussed by several 
members. 

Mr. F. A. Lucas then read a paper on the 
‘Mental Traits of the Fur Seal,’ saying that it 
had a practical bearing on the question as to 
whether or not the fur seal was likely to change 
its habits owing to the presence of man on the 
islands where it bred. The behavior of the 
seals on the drives and killing grounds was 
described as showing the low grade of the ani- 
mal’s intellect and its inability to think for 
itself. The female seals were said to take little 
interest in their offspring and to show no affec- 
tion, while the sight and smell of blood seemed 
to produce no effect on the animals. The con- 
clusion reached was that the fur seal isa creature 
of instinct and not guided to any extent by 
reason; that its habits, having been formed by 


786 SCIENCE. 


the slow process of natural selection, were not 
likely to be changed. The general impression 
that the seal is a very intelligent animal was 
thought to be partly explainable by the fact 
that its non migratory relatives, such as the sea 
lion and the hair seal, are in reality much more 
adaptable, not being possessed of the powerful 
and unyarying instincts of the fur seal. 
O. F. Coox, 
Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE AND STUDENTS’ CLUB 
OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Students’ Geological Club, February 14, 1899. 
Mr. A. W. G. Wilson gave a ‘ Demonstration 
of Mineral Determination by Volatile Iodide 
Coatings.’ After presenting a brief réswmé of 
Dr. Haanel’s paper ‘On the Application of 
Hydriodic Acid as a Blowpipe Reagent,’ he de- 
monstrated the use of plaster of paris tablets as 
supports, and of hydriodic acid as a reagent for 
the determination of a number of the common 
and some of the rarer elements. 

Geological Conference, February 21, 1899. 
Mr. J. E. Woodman spoke on ‘Notes on the 
Glacial Geology of Nova Scotia.’ The Province 
is divided into two parts by fairly sharp 
boundaries. In the south is the lake region, 
characterized by till, without distinct form, or 
in the form of moraines and occasional drumlins, 
and a little stratified drift. In the north, lakes 
are largely absent, and there is a considerable 
amount of stratified drift, with few morainal 
deposits. In thecenter, near the northern edge 
of the lake region, drumlins of a very elongate 
form are abundant. 

Throughout the country the direction of ice- 
movement was controlled by pre-Pleistocene 
topography to an extent seldom seen in New 
England. Thus, in Cornwallis and Annapolis 
valleys the ice followed the same lines as 
present drainage ; in the center of the Province 
it ran southward, and along the north shore 
east of Pictou it ran eastward. The short 
distance of carriage of much of the drift is 
noticeable. Changes in the character of the 
drift follow quite closely those of the larger 
features of bed-rock geology. 

The center and eastern part of the Province 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 231. 


shows little stratified drift. The northwestern 
portion shows a considerable amount, chiefly in 
the form of eskers and kame-terraces. Many 
fine eskers can be followed on the road from 
Yarmouth to Windsor, but east of there few 
occur. The absence of coarse material in the 
central part of the peninsula is very noticeable. 


“Few surface boulders are seen along the rail- 


road line after leaving the lake and morainic 
country at Windsor Junction, until well on 
toward the Strait of Canso, where a few mo- 
rainic accumulations were noted. All along the 
north coast the drumlins are indistinct in out- 
line, being, with very few exceptions, mere 
drumlinoid hills. In the Strait, ice-motion 
changed from east to south along the now 
sunken valley. 

In Cape Breton the obedience of ice-motion 
to topography is still more marked. The mass 
appears to have moved, in the interior, from 
the low region of the Bras d’Or lakes north- 
ward along the valleys of rivers which now flow 
south. This motion did not continue far, and 
the higher parts of the islands are all un- 
glaciated. On the west and northwest coast 
the ice affected only the bordering Carbonifer- 
ous lowland, penetrated a very short distance 
up the wider valleys, and left the central pene- 
plain, on granite and schist, untouched. 

J. M. BouTWELL, 
Recording Secretary. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


AT the meeting of the Academy of Science of 
St. Louis, on the evening of May 15, 1899, thirty 
persons present, the Secretary presented, by 
title, a paper by Professor F. E. Nipher, on 
‘Temperatures of Gaseous Nebule.’ 

Professor EK, M. Shepard exhibited an inter- 
esting series of lantern slides and ethnological 
specimens procured by him during a recent ex- 
tended trip through the islands of the South 
Pacific, especially New Zealand, Fijiand Samoa, 
illustrating the natural history and ethnology 
of those islands. 

Two persons were proposed for active mem- 
bership in the Academy. 

WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
Recording Secretary. 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE TELEPATHIC QUESTION. 

To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: When a scien- 
tific discussion degenerates into protest and im- 
putation of motive it is probably time for the 
discusion to stop. But I wish to state, in self 
defence, that I do not ‘seek to leave upon the 
reader’s mind’ the two impressions to which 
Professor James refers. I do not say that Leh- 
mann first considered whispering ; I say that he 
was the first thoroughly to investigate it. There 
is a difference. I do not imply that Lehmann 
introduced number-habits ; I say that the next 
step in advance beyond him is an exhaustive 
study of number habits. Again, there is a dif- 


ference. 
EK. B. TITCHENER. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
CLIMATIC CHANGES ON THE PACIFIC COAST, 


IN the National Geographic Magazine for May 
the question of climatic changes on the Pacific 
coast is discussed by J. B. Leiberg, under the 
title: ‘Is Climatic Aridity impending on the 
Pacific Slope? The Testimony of the Forest.’ 
The most important results of the study are as 
follows: The arid, non-forested plains of 
eastern Oregon yield silicified remains of arbo- 
rescent vegetation nearly or quite identical with 
existing species on adjacent areas, thus proving 
the presence of forest growth on these timber- 
less lands at no very remote period. On the 
semi-arid tracts the forest, although consisting 
of species capable of enduring dry climatic con- 
ditions, show everywhere a persistent and 
gradual dwindling in extent and density. In 
the subhumid forest there is a slow and appar- 
ently ineffectual adaptative evolution of smaller 
forms of the various species to replace the 
larger ones which require more moisture for 
their growth. In the humid forest the same 
phenomena are found. So far as the evidence 
derived from a study of the forest conditions is 
concerned, there seems to bea fairly well defined 
change of climate in progress on our Pacific 
coast, from a more humid to a less humid. 

In the same number of the National Geographic 
Magazine, Ganett, in a paper entitled ‘The Red- 
wood Forest of the Pacific Coast,’ states that 


SCIENCE. 787 


“everything appears to indicate that for some 
reason, probably a progressive drying of the 
climate, the present environment is not favor- 
able to the growth of redwood, and that with 
the clearing away of the present forests the end 
of the species as a source of lumber will be at 
hand.”’ 
WAVE CLOUDS. 

THE formation of waves between different 
strata of the atmosphere was carefully studied 
and described by von Helmholtz. These waves 
become visible only when clouds are formed in 
them at those points where condensation takes 
place, but undoubtedly invisible waves occur 
very commonly in our atmosphere. The ap- 
pearance of clouds in parallel lines across the 
sky is an indication of the presence of atmos- 
pheric waves. In the Februry number of the 
Monthly Weather Review, A. J. Henry, of the 
U.S. Weather Bureau at Washington, presents 
five excellent views, reproduced from photo- 
graphs, of alto-cumulus cloud rolls, observed at 
on November 28, 1898, and on January 27, 
1899. The views of November 28d are especially 
interesting as showing the gradual dissolution 
of the clouds. 


METEOROLOGICAL WORK IN ALASKA. 


THE Central Station of the Alaskan Section 
of the Climate and Crop Service of the Weather 
Bureau has been transferred from Sitka to Eagle, 
on the Yukon, near the British line. The Chief 
of the Weather Bureau hopes, by this change, 
to facilitate the establishment of meteorological 
stations in the region of the upper Yukon, 
where, owing to poor facilities for communica- 
tion, it was found impossible to establish such 
stations when the headquarters of the Service 
were at Sitka. 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 
Measurement of Precipitation. C. F. MARVIN, 

U. 8S. Department of Agriculture, Weather 

Bureau. Circular E, Instrument Division. 

8vo. Washington, D. C., 1899. Pp. 28. 

A pamphlet of instruction for the measure- 
ment and registration of precipitation by means 
of the standard instruments of the Weather 
Bureau. 

Ninth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of 

the New Jersey Weather Service, 1898. E. W. 


788 SCIENCE, 


McGann, 8vo. Trenton, N. J., 1899. Pp. 205. 

This Report contains a relief map of New 
Jersey, prepared by the Geological Survey 
of the State, with the note: ‘‘The influ- 
ence of the diversified topography of New 
Jersey upon its climate is apparent by com- 
paring this relief map with the temperature 
and rainfall charts which follow.’’ This plan 
of publishing topographic maps of the differ- 
ent States in the Annual Reports of the 
Weather Services is an excellent one, and 
should be generally adopted. 

Rivers of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Western 
Montana. B.S. PAcur. River Bulletin No. 
I., 1899, U. 8. Department of Agriculture, 
Weather Bureau. Portland Ore., 1899. 

This valuable Bulletin, the first of its series, 
concerns the precipitation over the Pacific 
Northwest and the possibility of high water 
from the melting snow in the mountains. It 
contains a general forecast of the probable 
height of the Columbia River in May and 
June, as dependent upon the temperature 
conditions and the resulting more or less 
rapid melting of the snow on the mountains. 
Monthly Rainfall Chart for Fifty Years at San 

Francisco. Compiled by HERMAN SCHUSSLER, 

C. E. Published by the Central Pacific Rail- 

road Company. 

A graphic representation ofthe monthly rain- 
falls for each year during the past fifty years. 


R. DEC. WARD. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


A BRYOLOGICAL MEMORIAL MEETING. 

CoLuMBus was the home for many years of 
William §. Sullivant and Leo Lesquereux, two 
names which will awaken love and reverence 
from all students of North American mosses 
and hepatics. It is twenty-six years since Sulli- 
vant died, and this last quarter of a century has 
seen a marked extension of the limits of bryo- 
logical study and a large increase in the number 
of students. It seems a fitting time and place 
to take a survey of the field, review the past 
and make plans for the future. Hence it is 
proposed to make the coming meeting of the 
American Association for the Advancement of 
Science, which is to be held at Columbus, the 
occasion for a Memorial Day in honor of the 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 231. 


Nestors of American Bryology and to call on 
all botanists and scientific magazines to help to 
make the occasion a memorable success. It is 
proposed to present a series of papers, illus- 
trated by photographs, specimens and wicro- 
scopical slides, books and pamphlets under the 
following topics : 

Historical papers and collections showing the 
bryological work of Hedwig, Palisot de Beau- 
vois, Michaux, Muhlenberg, Bridel, Torrey, 
Drummond, Hooker and Wilson, Greville, 
Sullivant and Lesquereux, James and Watson, 
Austin, Ravenel, Wolle, Eaton, Faxon and 
Miller; supplementing these there will be 
shown collections of specimens, macroscopic 
and microscopic, illustrating the monographic 
work of recent American students. 

If foreign students who have worked on 
North America bryophytes can be persuaded to 
cooperate with us the following will be asked to 
contribute: Bescherelle, Brotherus, Cardot, 
Dixon, Kindberg, Mitten, Pearson, Roll, 
Stephani and Warnstorf. 

An effort will be made to secure the loan of 
type specimens and illustrations from the fol- 
lowing sources: The Academy of Natural 
Sciences of Philadelphia, Academy of Sciences 
of New York, Columbia University, The National 
Museum, The Ohio State University, The Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin and Yale University, as 
well as from private collections. It is also in- 
tended to exhibit any portraits, autograph let- 
ters and type specimens and drawings of special 
interest, which may be loaned for the occasion, 
as well as presentation copies of books and 
pamphlets. 

The following committee of organization will 
gladly answer questions and give assistance to 
those who wish to contribute : Professor Charles 
R. Barnes, University of Chicago; Mrs. N. L. 
Britton, New York Botanical Gardens ; Profes- 
sor W. A. Kellerman, Ohio State University ;. 
Dr. George G. Kennedy, Readville, Mass.; Pro- 
fessor L. M. Underwood, Columbia University. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE Royal Institution of Great Britain, in 
commemoration of its centenary, has elected a 
number of honorary members, including Profes- 
sors 8. P. Langley, Carl Barus, A. A. Michel- 


JUNE 2, 1899. ] 


son, R. H. Thurston, J. S. Ames and George F. 
Barker, and President W. L. Wilson. 

THE American delegates to the Congress of 
Tuberculosis now meeting at Berlin are Dr. 
Boyd, of the Navy ; Dr. Vaughan, of the Ma- 
rine Hospital Service ; Dr. De Schweinitz, of 
Department of Agriculture ; Dr Stiles, scientific 
attaché to the embassy at Berlin. 

Mr. FRANK A. FLOWER, Chief Statistician of 
the State of Wisconsin, has been appointed 
Chief of the Agricultural Division of the Census. 


OxForRD University has conferred the honor- 
ary degree of M.A. upon Mr. Roland Trimen, 
F.R.S., formerly Curator of the South African 
Museum, Cape Town, and late President of the 
Entomological Society of London. 


Lorp JAMES, of Hereford, has been elected 
chairman of the governing body of the Imperial 
Institute, London, in the room of the late Lord 
Herschel. 

PROFESSOR GEORGE F. BARKER, of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, and Professor Carl 
Barus, of Brown University, are among the 
American delegates attending the Jubilee of Sir 
George Stokes, of Cambridge. 


PRESIDENT WILLIAM L. WILSON, of Washing- 
ton and Lee University, has been chosen by the 
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to repre- 
sent them at the approaching celebration of the 
centennial of the Royal Institution of Great 
Britain. 

THE St. Petersburg Geographical Society has 
awarded its great gold medal to Dr. G. Radde, 
Director of the Caucasian Museum at Tiflis. 


MaAJor Ross, who has recently been appointed 
lecturer at the newly established school of 
tropical diseases at University College, Liver- 
pool, has given a lecture before the Biological So- 
ciety of that city on the relations of the malarial 
parasite to the mosquito, to which his own re- 
searches have been such an important contribu- 
tion. 

THE death is announced of Sir Frederick 
McCoy, F.R.S8., professor of natural sciences at 
Melbourne University. We learn from the 
London Times that he was born in Dublin in 
1823 and that he was educated for the medical 
profession at Dublin and Cambridge Universi- 
ties, but early devoted himself to natural 


SCIENCE. 789 


science. Sir R. Griffith invited him to make 
the paleontological investigations for the Geo- 
logical map of Ireland for the boundary survey, 
the results of which he published in 1844. 
Afterwards he joined the Imperial Geological 
Survey of Ireland, and Sir R. Peel’s govern- 
ment appointed him professor of geology in the 
Queen’s University in 1850. Professor McCoy 
undertook, in conjunction with Professor Sedg- 
wick, a large work on paleozoic rocks and 
fossils based on the Woodwardian collection at 
Cambridge. In 1854 he was appointed the 
first professor of natural science in Melbourne 
University, and held the chair till his death. 
His services to Victoria were considerable, no- 
tably in regard to the Geological Survey of the 
colony, as a member of various commissions, 
and as the founder of the Melbourne National 
Museum. In 1880 he was elected F.R.S., and 
was one of the first to receive the honorary de- 
gree D.Sc. from Cambridge. In 1886 he was 
made a C.M.G., and in 1891 he was promoted 
to be K.C.M.G. Sir F. McCoy also received 
the Order of the Crown of Italy from King 
Victor Emanuel, the Emperor of Austria’s great 
gold medal for arts and sciences, the Murchison 
medal of the Geological Society of London, and 
many similar distinctions. 

Dr. Lupwic STRUMPELL, professor of phil- 
osophy and pedagogy at Leipzig, has died at the 
age of 87 years. He was an eminent repre- 
sentative of the Herbartian School. 

Mr. H. B. HEWerson, an eminent English 
oculist, has died at the age of 49 years. He 
was the author of numerous scientific contri- 
butions, being a member of the Zoological, 
Linnean and Geographical Societies and a 
member of the Ornithologists’ Union. 

Dr. THEODOR VON HEssLING, formerly pro- 
fessor of anatomy in the University of Munich, 
has died at the age of 83 years. 

THE Rey. T. Neville Hutchinson, died on May 
6th at the age of 73 years. Mr. Hutchinson was 
science master at Rugby from 1866-83 and did 
much to introduce the study of science in the 
English public schools. 

THE Secretaries of the Sections of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of Science 
are sending to members notices of the Colum- 


790 SCIENCE. 


bus meeting, which opens on August 21st. It 
is hoped that good programs may be arranged 
for the various sections at an early date. 


THROUGH elections at the annual meeting on 
May 19th, and designations at the ensuing 
meeting of the Board of Managers, the organ- 
ization of the National Geographic Society for 
the ensuing year was made as follows: Presi- 
dent, Alexander Graham Bell; Vice-President, 
W J McGee; Treasurer, Henry Gannett; Re- 
cording Secretary, F. H. Newell; Corresponding 
Secretary, Willis L. Moore ; Foreign Secretary, 
Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore ; additional members 
of the Board, Marcus Baker, Charles J. Bell, 
Henry F. Blount, F. V. Coville, G. K. Gilbert, 
General A. W. Greely, Assistant Secretary 
David J. Hill, John Hyde, 8. H. Kauffmann, 
Director C. Hart Merriam, Superintendent W. 
B. Powell, Superintendent Henry S. Pritchett 
and J. Stanley- Brown. ; 

THE 12th International Congress of Oriental- 
ists will meet at Rome on October 12, 1899. 
Cards of membership ($4.00) may be obtained 
from Mr. Cyrus Adler, Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, D. C. 

THE New York State Civil Service Commis- 
sion announces that examinations will be held 
on June 9th and 10th, which will include the 
position of assistant in zoology in the State Mu- 
seum, with a salary of $900; the positions of 
sanitary, electrical and heating experts in the 
office of the State Architect, with salaries from 
$1,200 to $1,500; and the position of bridge de- 
signer and inspector in the State Engineer’s 
Office, with a salary of from $1,800 to $2,400. 
The examination for an assistant in dietary ex- 
periments has been postponed to June 10th. 


Dr. DANIEL G. BRINTON, professor of Amer- 
ican archeology and linguistics at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, has presented to the 
University his collection of books and manu- 
scripts relating to the aboriginal languages of 
North and South America. The collection rep- 
resents a work of accumulation of twenty-five 
years, and embraces about 2,000 volumes, in 
addition to nearly 200 volumes of bound and 
indexed pamphlets bearing on the ethnology of 
the American Indians. Many of the manu- 
scripts are unique. A number of the printed 


[N.S: Von. IX. No. 231. 


volumes are rare or unique and of considerable 
bibliographical importance. The collection of 
works on the hieroglyphic writings of the 
natives of this country embraces nearly every 
publication on the subject. The special feature 
of the library is that it covers the whole Amer- 
ican field, North, Central and South, and was 
formed for the special purpose of comparative 
study. 


THE collection of shells of the late Mr. Henry 
D. Van Nostrand, recently given to Columbia 
University, is well known among malacologists 
as one of the most valuable of private collections 
in the country ; it contains the larger and better 
portion of the land shells of the West Indies col- 
lected by Thomas Bland, including many types, 
together with many of the rarest specimens of 
the Perry Expedition. 

THE Technical Education Board of the Lon- 
don County Council is cooperating with the 
Asylums Committee in offering a scholarship of 
£150 a year, tenable for two years, for students 
of either sex (preferably qualified practitioners), 
to enable them to carry on investigations into 
the preventible causes of insanity. The scholar 
will carry on investigations in the pathological 
laboratory attached to Claybury Asylum. 

Proressor A, G. NATHORST, of the Imperial 
Museum of Natural History of Stockholm, with 
several scientific companions, sailed ‘from Hel- 
singfors on May 25th to search along the north- 
east coast of Greenland for Andrée. Professor 
Nathorst hopes to meet the Fram with Cap- 
tain Otto Sverdrup. 

Mr. A. C. HARRISON, Jr., Mr. W. H. Fur- 
ness and Dr. H. M. Hiller, who recently returned 
from an exploration of Borneo, with collections 
for the University of Pennsylvania, are about to 
start on another expedition. They expect to 
make explorations in the northern part of Bur- 
mah and make archeological and ethnological 
collections. 


WE announced last week the laying of the 
foundation stone of the new building which is 
to complete the South Kensington Museum, 
hereafter to be officially known as the Victoria 
and Albert Museum. This building will con- 
tain the art and industrial collections, while 
new buildings for the Royal College of Science 


JUNE 2, 1899.] 


will be begun at once. The sum of £300,000 
has been appropriated for these buildings, which 
will occupy a position directly facing the Im- 
perial Institute. 

THE new building erected in the Dublin Zo- 
ological Gardens in memory of the late Profes- 
sor Samuel Haughton was formally opened on 
May 19th by the Lord-Lieutenant, in the pres- 
ence of a large gathering. Field-Marshal Lord 
Roberts, President of the Royal Zoological So- 
ciety, described the purpose of the meeting and 
said that the new building was intended as a 
tribute to the memory of Dr. Haughton, whose 
name was intimately connected with many of 
the leading institutions in Dublin, but with 
none more closely than with the Royal Zoolog- 
ical Society, of which he had been five years 
President and 21 years Honorary Secretary. 


THE City of Philadelphia has appointed a 
committee of expert engineers consisting of 
Rudolph Hering, of New York, Samuel Gray, 
of Providence, R. I., and Joseph L. Wilson, of 
Philadelphia, to make an investigation of the 
water supply of Philadelphia. 


AN institute for the study of tropical medicine 
will be established at Berlin, with Dr. Koch as 
Director. 

THE Electrical World abstracts from. English 
journals an account of the early work of Pro- 
fessor Huges (inventor of the microphone), in 
wireless telegraphy by means of etheric waves; 
it appears to be the first published account of 
his experiments, which were made in 1879. He 
was experimenting with his microphone and in- 
duction balance, and found that the microphone 
produced a sound in the receiver even when it 
was placed several feet distant from the coils 
through which an intermittent current was pass- 
ing and not in any other way connected. He 
found that the whole atmosphere, even in sev- 
eral rooms distant from there, would be invisibly 
changed and that this could be noticed with a 
microphone and telephone receiver. He ex- 
perimented on the best form of receiver for 
these invisible electric rays, which he found 
would pass over great distances through walls, 
etc. He found that carbon contacts or a piece 
of coke resting on bright steel were very sensi- 
tive and self restoring receivers. A loose con- 


SCIENCE. 794 


tact between metals, while equally sensitive, 
required restoring. He also used the micro- 
phone as a relay in detecting such rays. He 
endeavored to discover the best receiver so as 
to utilize such waves for the transmission of 
messages. He showed his experiments to a 
number of well-known physicists at that time. 
The distance was 60 feet in the building, but he 
also took the instrument on the street, and 
walked away from the transmitter, obtaining 
signals up to 500 yards. He claimed the exist- 
ence of the waves at that time, but was unable 
to convince others of their presence. He also 
calls attention to still earlier experiments of 
Professor Henry, of Princeton (U. S.), which 
were published by the Smithsonian Institution, 
Vol. I., p. 203, the date being probably about 
1850; he magnetized a needle in a coil 30 feet 
distant ; also by a discharge of lightning eight 
miles distant. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE election of Professor Arthur T. Hadley 
to the presidency of Yale University by the Cor- 
poration on May 25th marks the beginning of 
a new era in the development of a great univer- 
sity. Yale has adhered more closely than most 
of our larger institutions to the clerical and 
classical traditions of the American college, and 
President Hadley, while conserving what is 
good, will undoubtedly use his influence to 
make Yale, as a university,the equal of Harvard. 
Like the Presidents of Harvard, Johns Hopkins 
and Stanford Universities, President Hadley 
may be claimed as a man of science, his work 
on railway transportation and other subjects 
being strictly scientific in character, 

CLARK University proposes to celebrate its 
decennial by special exercises beginning on 
July 5th. These will include lectures by emi- 
nent foreign men of science. Invitations to 
speak having been accepted by M. Emile Picard, 
professor of mathematics at the University of 
Paris and a member of the Institute; Dr. An- 
gelo Mosso, professor of physiology at the Uni- 
versity of Turin ; and Dr. Santiago Ramon y 
Cajal, professor of histology and pathological 
anatomy at the University in Madrid. 

A SPECIAL course in the fundamental problems 
of geology intended particularly for college: 


792 


teachers will be offered during the first term of 
the summer quarter (July 1 to August 10, 
1899) at the University of Chicago by Professor 
T. ©. Chamberlin. This will embrace a discus- 
sion of the chief problems of geology involving 
basal principles and fundamental modes of in- 
terpretation. While old views will not ignored, 
a special feature of the course will be a rela- 
tively new series of working hypotheses based 
upon the accretion theory of the earth’s origin. 
These hypotheses will be carried out to their 
practical applications in the unsolved problems 
of geology and be made the basis of new modes 
of interpretation of geological history. The 
course will embrace an exposition of the stages 
of expansional, restrictional and provincial life 
evolution in the earth’s history and the con- 
ditions controlling them. The functions of 
base-levels, sea-shelves, epicontinental seas, and 
continental stages of quiescence and readjust- 
ment in the control of life evolution, will be set 
forth. Parallel with the above there will be 
given a course in glacial geology involving a 
discussion of principles, the phenomena and 
modes of interpretation. These courses will be 
offered for the coming summer only, in response 
to an expressed desire for them. The usual 
courses in general geology and physiology, and 
in field and laboratory work, will be given by 
Professor Salisbury, aided by Messrs. Goode, 
Atwood, Calhoun and Finch. 


THE Rhode Island College of Agriculture and 
Mechanic Arts, with the cooperation of Hon. 
Thomas B. Stockwell, State Commissioner of 
Public Schools, and Dr. Horace S. Tarbell, 
Superintendent of Schools in Providence, pro- 
poses to open a summer school for nature 
study at Kingston, R. I., from July 5 to 19, 
1899, provided forty applicants are enrolled 
before June 1st. A general summer school is 
not contemplated, and the work offered by the 
various departments constitutes a single course 
dealing solely with local phenomena in their 
adaptability to the teaching of nature study. 
The distinctive feature will be the study of 
living nature. On the excursions attention 
will be directed to special facts and illustrations 
in botany, zoology, geography and mineralogy, 
and to the manner in which chemical, physical 
and biological laws are utilized by practical 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 231. 


application to horticulture and agriculture. 
The evenings will be devoted to general lectures 
bearing upon nature and upon methods of 
teaching nature study. Among those who have 
consented to aid by conducting excursions, 
conferences and lectures are Professors H. C. 
Bumpus, E. G. Conklin, H. W. Conn, C. B. 
Davenport and W. M. Wheeler. 


THE Women’s Medical College of New York 
will be closed at the end of the year, when the 
thirty-first annual commencement will be cele- 
brated. When the College was established there 
was no opportunity for women to secure a med- 
ical education, but Johns Hopkins and Cornell 
having admitted women to their medical 
schools it has been decided that a special med- 
ical school for women is unnecessary. The in- 
firmary for women and children will be con- 
tinued, and the buildings of the College will be 
used for graduate work. 


THE medical faculty of the University of 
Pennsylvania has made nominations as follows: 
Dr. James Tyson, professor of clinical medicine, 
to the chair of medicine, vacant by the death 
of the late Dr. Pepper; Dr. John H. Musser 
and Dr. Alfred Stangel, to be professors of clin- 
ical medicine; Dr. Judson Daland, Dr. M. 
Howard Fussell, Dr. John K. Mitchell and 
Dr. Frederick A. Packard to be assistant pro- 
fessors of medicine, and Dr. G. Davis to be as- 
sistant professor of applied anatomy. 


Dr. C. E. BEECHER, professor of historical 
geology in Yale University, has been appointed 
to succeed the late Professor O. C. Marsh as 
Curator of the Geological Collections of the Pea- 
body Museum. Professor Beecher has been made 
a member of the Executive Council of the 
Museum. 


At the University of Kansas the following 
appointments have been recently made: W. R. 
Crane, of Janesville, Wis., to be assistant pro- 
fessor of mining engineering; Thomas M. 
Gardner, of Mitchell, Ind., to be assistant pro- 
fessor of mechanical drawing; Dr. Ida Hyde, 
of Cambridge, Mass., to be assistant professor 
of zoology; Hamilton P. Cady, of Ithaca, N. 
Y., to be assistant professor of chemistry, and 
Charles L. Searcy, of the College of Montana, 
to be assistant professor of civil engineering. 


SCIENCE 


‘EDITORIAL ComMITTEE: S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRsTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
Britron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bownpitcu, Physiology; 

J. S. Bruitrnes, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 
ton, J. W. PoweLL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JUNE 9, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 

Senatorial Investigation of Food Adulteration......... 793 
Amerind—A Designation for the Aboriginal Tribes 

of the American Hemisphere........:cscssesecseeeenees 795 
Exploring Expedition to the Mid-Pacifie Ocean: 

DR. HUGH M. SMITH.....:........00-0scceeeeeeecenes 796 
The Scientific Study of Irrigation: Dr. A. C 

TN RU ksoosugbooaeustos abokbodhdauaba henacsmenncshicaacdohoos 798 


‘The International Catalogue of Scientifie Literature 
—Second Conference (II.): DR. Cyrus ADLER.. 799 
A Double Instrument and a Double Method for the 
Measurement of Sound: Dkr. B. F. SHARPE..... 808 
New York State Science Teachers Association: DR. 
BRAN KLIN Wa BARROWS: .i00.s00escresssssearensces 811 
Scientifie Books :— 
Urkunden zur Geschichte der nichteuklidischen 
' Geometrie: PROFESSOR GEORGE BRUCE HAL- 
STED. Lachman’s The Spirit of Organic Chem- 
istry: DR. JAMES F. Norris. Allen’s Com- 
mercial Organic Analysis: PROFESSOR W. A. 
INOWES = Bookseheceived:nesste<cleececrataseceecuseress 813 
Societies and Academies :— 
Section of Geology and Mineralogy of the New 
York Academy of Sciences: DR. ALEXIS A. 


JULIEN. Torrey Botanical Club: EDWARDS. 

Burcess. The New York Section of the American 

Chemical Society: DR. DURAND WOODMAN...... 818 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Larval Stage of the Eel: DR. THEO. GILL....... 820 
Scientific Notes and News..........sccsssssccsesecscsnceeses 820 
University and Educational News.........-+.0s00ec0ee0e 824 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
-sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


SENATORIAL INVESTIGATION OF FOOD 
_ ADULTERATION. 

Durine the closing session of the last 
Congress, the Senate authorized the Com- 
mittee on Manufactures to conduct a recess 
investigation on the subject of the extent 
and character of food adulteration in the 
United States. By reason of expiration of 
the term of service, only three members of 
the Senate Committee on Manufactures re- 
mained, namely, W. E. Mason, Chairman, 
of IVinois; W. A. Harris, of Kansas, and 
G. P. Wetmore, of Rhode Island. Under 
the terms of the resolution it is not neces- 
sary to have a quorum of the Committee, 
but the Chairman or any member desig- 
nated by him is empowered to conduct the 
investigation, procure witnesses and to 
secure the analyses of suspected samples. 

The Committee has already begun its 
work by holding a two weeks’ session in 
Chicago. Dr. H. W. Wiley, the Chief 
Chemist of the Department of Agriculture, 
at the request of the Committee, has been 
detailed by the Secretary of Agriculture as 
an expert to attend the examinations and 
to assist in the work as far as possible. 

Much interesting testimony was secured 
at the meeting in Chicago in regard to the 
extent and character of food adulteration. 

Not only were business men who were 
engaged in adulteration placed upon the 
stand, but also some well-known. hygienic 
and scientific experts, among whom may be 


794 


mentioned Professor A. B. Prescott and Dr. 
V.C. Vaughn, from the University of Mich- 
igan. 

Dr. Wiley was placed first upon the stand, 
and gave an outline of the character and 
extent of food adulteration as it has been 
revealed through the many years of investi- 
gation in the Chemical Division of the De- 
partment of Agriculture. Manufacturers 
of ‘pure Vermont maple sugar’ testified, 
under oath, that much of the product that 
they sold contained not more than 25 per 
cent. of maple sugar orsyrup. Whenasked 
in regard to the purity of the maple sugar 
which they bought for mixing purposes 
they testified that they believed it to be 
pure, but were by no means certain. Glu- 
cose is the usual adulterant for maple syrup, 
although melted brown sugar is sometimes 
employed where a thinner product, more 
nearly resembling maple syrup, is desired. 
It was testified that when retail dealers 
desired maple syrup for their customers 
they specified the price they were willing to 
pay, and that the mixing was then done 
according to that price. 

Manufacturers of jellies also testified that 
the cores and skins from cider factories and 
drying kilns were employed as the base of 
much of the pure fruit jellies manufactured 
and sold. Glucose is used as the principal 
filler in these jellies, and the color and flavor 
are largely supplied by synthetic products. 
The quantity of these adulterated goods 
made is far greater than that of the pure 
article. 

Professor A. S. Mitchell, Chief Chemist 
of the State Board of Health and Pure 
Food and Dairy Commissioner of Wiscon- 
sin, was a valuable witness before the Com- 
mittee. He brought with him samples of 
adulterated goods secured in the State of 
Wisconsin, and explained in detail the na- 
ture of the adulteration as it had been dis- 
closed by his analyses. He described par- 
ticularly the antiseptics and preservatives 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 232. 


which were on the market under various 
trade names, such as ‘freezem’ and 
‘freezine,’ and so forth. ‘ Freezem’ was. 
shown to be a dilute solution of formalde- 
hyde, while ‘ freezine ’ was composed chiefly 
of sodium sulphite. The question of the 
use of preservatives was discussed by the 
experts before the Committee, and the 
universal opinion was expressed that 
they were all unwholesome. Since, how- 
ever, there are certain articles of food 
and condiments, such as cider, tomato cat- 
sup, ete., which require some preservative 
in order to prevent fermentation; and inas- 
much as it was brought out in the evidence 
that in the shipment of butter from Aus- 
tralia to English ports the use of boric acid 
was quite universal and was not objected to 
by the English customers, and as it was 
further stated in the evidence that English 
merchants required that hams sent to Eng- 
land from a distance should be rubbed with 
boric acid, the experts unanimously agreed 
that it would not be wise to pass a law pro- 
hibiting the use of all preservatives, but 
that thorough investigation should be made 
to determine which kinds of preservatives 
are least objectionable, and that in all cases 
any article of food, drink or condiment con- 
taining a preservative should have that 
fact plainly stated on the label and the 
quantity thereof indicated. 

It was brought out in the evidence that 
the oleomargarine law was practically vio- 
lated in many parts of Chicago. One wit- 
ness before the Committee went to five 
grocery stores and asked for creamery but- 
ter. In each case he received oleomar- 
garine. In each case the wrapper, which, 
according to law, should bear the word 
‘oleomargarine,’ plainly visible, was so ar- 
ranged that the purchaser could not pos- 
sibly see the word. The plan was to stamp 
the word ‘ oleomargarine’ near the corner 
of the wrapper and then to fold the corner 
of the wrapper over so that the stamp 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


would be invisible. One of the dealers 
selling these packages was brought before 
the Committee and testified that some of 
the richest people living in Chicago were 
his customers, buying this substance and 
knowing that it was oleomargarine, but 
who desired that the fact of its use by them 
should be kept secret. 

The ethics of coloring butter and oleo- 
margarine was also discussed before the 
Committee, and it was brought out in evi- 
dence that if oleomargarine was colored 
pink or any other color than butter color 
its use as butter would be practically de- 
stroyed. 

Evidence was also given in the matter of 
making artificial whiskies from cologne 
spirits, burnt sugar and the ethers of the 
organic acids, together with the essential 
oil to give the proper bead. It was de- 
veloped that the trade in these synthetic 
drinks was very large, and that the natural 
products suffer severely in competition. 

Much testimony wasalsogivenin regard to 
the adulteration of the ordinary condiments, 
such as ground pepper, mustard, cinnamon 
and so forth. It appeared that these bodies 
were largely mixed with inert matter, so 
that the purchaser would really get very 
little of the condiment which he desired. 
It was shown that ground coffee was mixed 
largely with chicory and other substances, 
and that the coffee bean was mixed with an 
artificial bean or with a certain proportion 
of the dead or imperfect beans, which were 
not only useless for flavoring the beverage, 
but, on the other hand, were bitter and un- 
palatable. 

The session of the Committee in Chicago 
had for its object the outlining of the scope 
of the investigation which will be continued 
during the summer months in other locali- 
ties of the United States. The final pur- 
pose of the Committee is to obtain material 
on which to base a report in favor of a na- 
tional pure food and drug bill, having for 


SCIENCE. 795 


its object the regulation of traffic in the 
adulteration of food in the District of 
Columbia and the Territories and the con- 
trol of inter-State commerce in adulterated 
food and drug products. 


AMERIND—A DESIGNATION FOR THE AB- 
ORIGINAL TRIBES OF THE AMERI- 
CAN HEMISPHERE. 

A part of the proceedings of the Anthro- 
pological Society of Washington, at a meet- 
ing on May 23d last, seem destined to 
produce permanent influence on ethnologie 
nomenclature ; this part of the proceedings 
taking the form of a symposium on the 
name of the native American tribes. The 
discussion was opened by Colonel F. F. 
Hilder, of the Bureau of American Ethnol- 
ogy, with a critical account of the origin of 
the misnomer ‘ Indian,’ applied by Colum- 
bus to the American aborigines; he was 
followed by Major J. W. Powell, who advo- 
cated the substitution of the name Amerind, 
recently suggested in a conference with 
lexicographers. A communication by Dr. 
O. T. Mason followed, in which the various 
schemes of ethnologic classification and no- 
menclature were summarized and discussed. 
Contributions to the symposium were made 
also by Dr. Albert S. Gatschet, Dr. Thomas 
Wilson and Miss Alice C. Fletcher. At 
the close of the discussion the contribu- 
tions were summarized (by President Me- 
Gee) as follows: 

1. There is no satisfactory denotive term 
in use to designate the native American 
tribes. Most biologists and many ethnol- 
ogists employ the term ‘ American’; but 
this term is inappropriate, in that it con- 
notes, and is commonly used for, the pre- 
sent predominantly Caucasian population. 
The term ‘ Indian ’ is used in popular speech 
and writing, and to a slight extent in 
ethnologic literature; but it is seriously ob- 
jectionable in that it perpetuates an error, 
and for the further reason that it connotes 


796 


and so confuses, distinct peoples. Various 
descriptive or connotive terms are also in 
use, such as ‘North American savages,’ 
‘Red Men,’ ete. ; but these designations are 
often misleading, and never adapted to con- 
venient employment in a denotive way. 

2. In «most cases the classifications on 
which current nomenclature are based, and 
many terms depending on them for defini- 
tion, are obsolete; and the retention of the 
unsuitable nomenclature of the past tends 
to perpetuate misleading classifications. 

3. While the name ‘ Indian’ is firmly 
fixed in American literature and speech, and 
must long retain its current meaning (at 
least as a synonym), the need of scientific 
students fora definite designation is such 
that any suitable term acceptable to ethnol- 
ogists may be expected to come into use 
In this, as in 
other respects, the body of working special- 
ists forms the court of last appeal; and it 
cannot be doubted that their decision will 
eventually be adopted by thinkers along 
other Jines.. 

4. As the most active students of the 
native American tribes, it would seem to be 
incumbent on American ethnologists to pro- 
pose a general designation for these tribes. 

5. In view of these and other considera- 
tions, the name Amerind is commended to 


with considerable rapidity. 


the consideration of American and foreign 
The term 
is an arbitrary compound of the leading 
syllables of the 
‘American Indian’; it thus carries a con- 


students of tribes and peoples. 
frequently-used phrase 
notive or associative element which will 
serve explicative ane mnemonic function in 
early use, yet must tend to disappear as the 
name becomes denotive through habitual 
use, 

6. The proposed term carries no implica- 
tion of classific relation, raises no mooted 
question concerning the origin or distribu- 
tion of races, and perpetuates no obsolete 
idea; so far as the facts and theories of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 232. 


ethnology are concerned, it is purely deno- 
tive. 

7. The proposed term is suffierently brief 
and euphonious for all practical purposes, 
not only in the English but in the prevail- 
ing languages of continental Europe; and 
it may readily be pluralized in these lan- 
guages, in accordance with their respective 
rules, without losing its distinctive sematic 
character. Moreover, it lends itself readily 
to adjectival termination in two forms (a 
desideratum in widely-used  ethnologic 
terms, as experience has shown), viz.: 
Amerindian and Amerindic, and is suscep- 
tible, also, of adverbial termination, while 
it can readily be used in the requisite 
actional form, Amerindize, or in relational 
forms, such as post Amerindian, ete.; the 
affixes being, of course, modifiable accord- 
ing to the rules of the different languages 
in which the term may be used. 

8. The term is proposed as a designation 
for all of the aboriginal tribes of the Ameri- 
can continent and adjacent islands, includ- 
ing the Eskimo. 


The working ethnologists in the Society 
were practically unanimous in approving 
the term for tentative adoption, and for 
commendation to fellow students in this and 
other countries. 


EXPLORING EXPEDITION TO THE 
PACIFIC OCEAN. 

THE unusual activity now being exhibited 
by various European governments in scien- 
tific exploration of the seas is soon to be 
supplemented by the United States, for ar- 
rangements are being perfected hy the 
United States Commission of Fish and 
Fisheries for one of the most important 
marine scientific expeditions ever under- 
taken in this country. The association of 
the name of Professor Alexander Agassiz 
with the expedition is a guarantee of its 
high scientific standing, and the employ- 


MID- 


JUNE 9, 1899. | 


ment of the Fish Commission steamer A lba- 
tross ensures the proper paraphernalia for 
marine research. 

The objective points of the expedition are 
certain groups of islands in the middle of 
the Pacific Ocean, of both sides of the equa- 
tor, about whose local fauna little is known, 
and in the waters contiguous to which 
little or no scientific investigation has been 
conducted. 

The Albatross will sail from San Francisco 
about the middle of August, and proceed 
directly to Tahiti, in the Society Islands, 
possibly touching at the Marquesas Islands 
for coal. On this trip of 3,500 miles, dredg- 
ing and sounding will be carried on at 
regular intervals on an almost wholly un- 
explored section of the sea bottom. 

Tahiti will be made the headquarters 
while the Paumotu Islands are being ex- 
plored. In this archipelago, which is about 
600 miles long, the Albatross will pass six or 
eight weeks, and important scientific dis- 
coveries should be made, as the natural his- 
tory of the region is practically unknown. 

After returning to the Society Islands 
the vessel will go to the Tonga, or Friendly 
Islands, a distance of about 1,500 miles, 
where a week or ten days will be spent. 
Thence the vessel will sail for the Fiji 
Islands, where a short stay will be made, 
and thence 1,700 miles to the Marshall 
Islands, visiting a number of the Ellice 
Islands and Gilbert Islands on the way. 
Six or seven weeks will be devoted to the 
exploration of the Marshall Islands, about 
whose fauna almost nothing is known. 

Between the Marshall Islands and the 
Hawaiian Islands, and between the latter 
and San Francisco, a distance of over 4,000 
miles, a line of deep-sea dredgings will be 
run, deep-sea tow-nets being used while the 
dredging is going on. This work is expec- 
ted to be one of the most interesting features 
of the expedition. 

The Albatross is expected to return to the 


SCIENCE. 


CAS) 


United States about April 10, 1900, after a 
voyage of 20,000 miles. 

Every effort is being made to thoroughly 
equip the vessel for deep-sea dredging, 
trawling and sounding ; surface and inter- 
mediate towing; shore seining; fishing 
trials with lines and nets; land collecting, 
and other branches of the work. The 
newest apparatus for deep-sea and plankton 
investigations will besupplied. Special ap- 
plances are being constructed for use in the 
very deep water to be found about some of 
the islands, and it is expected that the 
dredge will be hauled at a greater. depth 
than has heretofore been attempted. The 
Albatross, since her return to the Fish Com- 
mission by the Navy Department, on the 
conclusion of the Spanish-American War, 
has been undergoing extensive repairs and 
improvements, including the installation of 
new boilers, the building of an ice-making 
machine and cold-storage plant, electric 
fans, ete., and will, on this expedition, 
more than ever deserve the reputation of 
being the best equipped vessel in existence 
for scientific research. 

The personnel of the expedition will be 
as follows: Professor Alexander Agassiz, in 
charge of the scientific work, accompanied 
by his son; Lieutenant Commander Jeffer- 
son I. Moser, United States Navy, com- 
manding officer of the Albatross, in charge 
of topographical surveys ; Dr. H. F. Moore, 
ehief naturalist of the Albatross ; Mr. Charles 
H. Townsend, late naturalist of the Alba- 
Dr. W. McM. Woodworth and Dr. A. 
G. Mayer, Museum of Comparative Zoology, 
Cambridge, Mass.; Mr. A. B. Alexander, 
United States Fish Commission, fishery ex- 
pert; Mr. H. C. Fassett, United States 
Fish Commission, photographer. The ves- 
sel is manned by ten officers and seventy 
petty officers and enlisted men of the United 
States Navy. 

The Department of State evinces a lively 
interest in the expedition, and has through 


tross ; 


798 


our ambassadors communicated with the 
British, French and German authorities 
for the purpose of having the representa- 
tives of those governments instructed to ac- 
cord special privileges to the Albatross. The 
President has cordially approved the assign- 
ment of the vessel to this work. 

In a recent letter Professor Agassiz refers 
to his explorations in the Bahamas, the 
Bermudas, Cuba, Florida, the Fiji Islands, 
the Australian Great Barrier Reef, the 
Sandwich Islands, the Bay of Panama, the 
Galapagos Archipelago and the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia, and then says: 

The expedition now proposed I consider the most 
important one I have undertaken since the cruise of 
the ‘Blake’ in 1877-80. It covers an area of the Pa- 
cific which has not as yet been touched, as nothing is 
known of the line San Francisco to Tahiti, Tahiti to 
Fiji, Ellice and Jaluit, and Marshall Islands to Hon- 
olulu ; and most important results should be ob- 
tained with a vessel so admirably fitted for the work 
as the Albatross. In addition to the deep-sea work, 
we expect to visit many of the atolls and elevated 
reefs abounding along our track, and hope to throw 
additional light on the debatable theory of coral reefs. 
The proposed Albatross expedition is one which, with 
fair success, is sure to be creditable to this country. 
Since the great exploring expedition of Wilkes this 
government has done but little in the greater field of 
oceanic exploration as a whole, though the minor ex- 
peditions undertaken in connection with the work 
of the Coast Survey and the Fish Commission have 
beea among the most satisfactory explorations of lim- 
ited areas of our coast. 

It is the intention to have the Fish Com- 
mission and the Museum of Comparative 
Zodlogy jointly publish the reports embody- 
ing the results of the expedition. 

_ Huer M. Suirn. 

U. S. CoMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 


THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF IRRIGATION. 

Tue appropriation for the irrigation in- 
vestigations in charge of the Office of Ex- 
periment Stations, Department of Agricul- 
ture, having been increased at the recent 
session of Congress from $10,000 to $35.000, 
of which sum $10,000 was made immedi- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. IX. No. 232. 


ately available, these investigations are 
being further developed and the work in 
connection with them is being more thor- 
oughly organized. The scope of the inves- 
tigations has been more accurately defined 
in the last appropriation act. As there 
stated, funds are provided ‘To enable the 
Secretary of Agriculture to investigate and 
report upon the laws and institutions rela- 
ting to irrigation, and upon the use of irri- 
gation waters, with special suggestions of 
better methods for the utilization of irriga- 
tion waters in agriculture than those in 
common use, and for the preparation, print- 
ing and illustration of reports and bulletins 
on irrigation; and the agricultural experi- 
ment stations are hereby authorized and 
directed to cooperate with the Secretary of 
Agriculture in carrying out said investiga- 
tions in such manner and to such extent as 
may be warranted by a due regard to the 
varying conditions and needs of the re- 
spective States and Territories, and as may 
be mutually agreed upon.” 

The first bulletin prepared in connection 
with these investigations, which has re- 
cently been issued, contains a discussion of 
the irrigation laws which control the diver- 
sion and use of water from the Missouri 
River and its tributaries, by Professor 
Elwood Mead, including papers on the 
water laws of Colorado and Nebraska, by 
the engineers of these States. Other bulle- 
tins of a similar character are in prepara- 
tion. 

For the present the investigations on the 
use of irrigation water will be largely con- 
fined to the determination of the actual 
amount of water used by successful farmers 
in different parts of the irrigated region on 
different soils and in the growing of differ- 
ent crops. 

A temporary organization for the admin- 
istration of these investigations has been 
effected by the appointment of Professor 
Elwood Mead as irrigation expertin charge, 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


and headquarters have been established at 
Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is hoped that some 
work may be done during the present season 
in most of the States and Territories west 
of the Mississippi River in which irrigation 
is practiced to any considerable extent. Ar- 
rangements have also been made to aid the 
New Jersey experiment stations in continu- 
ing their investigations, which have already 
attracted much favorable attention in the 
East. 

As far as practicable the cooperation of 
the experiment stations will be sought in 
these investigations, and it is to be hoped 
that one result of this work will be that 
the stations will not only be able to de- 
velop their investigations relating to irri- 
gation in the lines in which the Depart- 
ment will work under this appropriation, 
but also in other important lines involving 
operations by different divisions of the sta- 
tion. It is believed that, by concentrating 
their efforts on problems based on the re- 
quirements of agriculture under irrigation, 
the stations in a number of States and Ter- 
ritories may materially enhance their use- 
fulness. 

It should be clearly understood that the 
irrigation investigations of this Department 
are intended to cover only a limited por- 
tion of the field of investigations relating 
to agriculture under irrigation which the 
stations and the different divisions of the 
Department may properly undertake. An 
effort will be made to mark out a line of 
work for these investigations which will 
give them a distinct place between the in- 
vestigations of the Geological Survey rela- 
ting to the topography and water supply of 
the irrigated region, and those of the dif- 
ferent branches of the Department and sta- 
tions which relate to the climate and plants 
of that region. Aside from the studies of 
the laws and institutions of communities in 
which irrigation is practiced, the irrigation 
investigations will have for their chief ob- 


SCIENCE. 799 


ject the determination of the economic and 
profitable utilization of water in agricul- 
ture as it is supplied to the farmer through 
reservoirs, canals and ditches. In these 
investigations, as in nearly all others rela- 
ting to the complex science of agriculture, 
there will be many points of contact with 
investigations conducted under other aus- 
pices, and thus many opportunities for co- 
operative effort will be presented. With so 
large a field of operations and so great in- 
terests at stake, there will be abundant 
room for all the agencies now at work for 
the benefit of agriculture of the irrigated 
region to fully utilize all the means at their 
command. Besides the development of the 
irrigation investigations, the Department 
will, for example, continue studies of alkali 
soils, the native and cultivated plants and 
trees best adapted to the arid regions, and 
other related questions. 

The people of that vast area of our coun- 
try in which agriculture and the other in- 
dustries are so largely dependent on the 
successful practice of irrigation are to be 
congratulated that attention was more earn- 
estly and successfully drawn to their needs 
during the recent session of Congress than 
ever before, and more ample provision than 
heretofore was made for studying the prob- 
lems of agriculture in that region, through 
increased appropriations for the work of the 
Geological Survey and different branches of 
the Department of Agriculture. 

A. Cv TRUE, 
Director. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCI- 
ENTIFIC LITERATURE.—SECOND 
CONFERENCE. 


II. 

Ir becoming apparent that no early con- 
clusion would be reached, based on the 
resolution of Professor Armstrong, it was 
withdrawn, and Dr. Adler moved ‘ That 
the registration symbols used in the Cata- 


800 


logue be based on a system of letters and 
numbers, adapted in the case of each 
branch of science to its individual needs.”’ 
Professor Darboux proposed the expression 
‘of letters or of numbers.’ Dr. Adler ex- 
plained his motion by saying that the use 
of letters and numbers which would furnish 
the opportunity of alternating gave a 
greater elasticity to the system than the 
use of either one by itself. 

Chevalier Descamps objected to the terms 
of the resolution as restricting the Catalogue 
to the use of letters and numbers as sym- 
bols, whereas it might be found desirable to 
employ other symbols. Professor Arm- 
strong thought that this construction need 
not be placed on the words, the idea being 
that letters and numbers were the funda- 
mental symbols. 

Professor Darboux said that the real 
matter to arrive at was a scheme of classi- 
fication suited to present needs, and of 
whose durability one might be assured. 
After some further discussion Dr. Adler 
made a further explanation as to the object 
of his resolution. The first Conference had 
discussed the subject of classification and 
symbols, and not being able to arrive at any 
conclusion had referred the matter to the 
Royal Society. The Society had appointed 
a committee, which, after long labor, had 
presented a report, and thus far the Confer- 
ence had done nothing but criticise it. He 
did not think it desirable or possible to 
discuss further detail. The resolution 
moved was broad and in general terms 
with the idea that its interpretation and 
details be left to the persons in whose 
charge the execution of the Catalogue 
would actually be. In order, however, to 
get further advice on the subject he would 
later on move a provision for an interna- 
tional committee and give the scientific men 
of the various countries an opportunity to 
pass on the details of classification. 

Professor Klein (Germany) strongly ap- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. IX. No. 232., 


proved of the appointment of an interna- 
tional committee and of special committees 
in the various countries, and supported the 
resolution with a suggestion as to verbal 
modification. 

Dr. Heller spoke in recognition of the 
work of the Royal Society and supported 
the statement of Professor Klein and others, 
that the various sciences had different 
needs. After remarks by Dr. Graf the 
resolution was slightly amended by insert- 
ing the words ‘or other symbols’ in addition 
to letters and numbers. 

M. Otlet asserted that the lack of uni- 
formity in the system proposed would re- 
sult in great inconvenience. Professor 
Darboux thought the whole matter not of 
great importance and going too much into 
detail. Professor Armstrong, however, 
stated that such a resolution was very 
much desired by the Royal Society, as it 
would clear the field. The Committee was 
of the opinion that the different sciences 
require different treatment, subject to a 
general uniformity. 

Dr. Adler stated that his resolution did 
not at all require that each science should 
have a different scheme of classification or 
registration. He maintained, however, that 
the arrangement should be from the point 
of view of the scientific man, and not of the 
classifier. If they could agree on a single 
uniform scheme so much the better. 

Professor Klein supported this view, 
holding that it was important to pass on to 
the next matter relating to the appointment 
of committees for the study of the sched- 
ules. 

Chevalier Descamps asserted that the 
resolution would result in more inconven- 
iences than advantages. He stated that he 
and his colleagues of the International 
Office of Bibliography at Brussels were in a 
peculiar position. Without wishing to dis- 
parage the work done in any other country, 
he would say that they had collected two 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


million slips and that most of their work 
was proved by results which were here 
being ignored. 

Dr. Adler reiterated it as his intention 
that as far as possible, a uniform system of 
registration be adopted. Chevalier Des- 
camps proposed adding words to this effect, 
asserting that classification was also a 
science with its own laws. From this Dr. 
Adler dissented, stating his view that 
classification and notation were simply con- 
venient tools for sciences. The resolution 
was then unanimously agreed to, with the 
modifications proposed, reading as follows : 

“That the registration symbols used in 
the Catalogue be based on a convenient 
combined system of letters, numbers or 
other symbols adapted, in the case of each 
branch of science, to its individual needs, 
and in accordance, as far as possible, with a 
general system of registration.”’ 

The second proposition of Dr. Adler was 
“¢That the authoritative decisions as to the 
‘schedules be intrusted to an International 
Committee, consisting of the following: 
Professor Darboux, Professor Klein, Profes- 
sor Weiss, Dr. §. P. Langley, Professor 
Korteweg and Dr. Graf, together with three 
representatives of the Royal Society ; that 
the Committee be instructed to consult with 
experts in each science and to frame within 
six months a report, which shall be issued 
by the Royal Society and incorporated in 
the decisions of the Conference.”’ 

Dr. Brunchorst agreed with the resolu- 
tion in principle, but stated that the sciences 
were not equally represented. 

Professor Darboux thought that the ques- 
tion raised by this resolution was a central 
-one for the Conference. It was a pity that 
some practical step of this sort had not 
been taken at the previous Conference re- 
-questing the states to form a sort of embryo 
of Regional Committees which might have 
placed themselves in relation with the 
Royal Society. 


SCIENCE. 


801 


Professor Korteweg pointed out that the 
resolution meant the nomination of a cen- 
tral commission to control, as far as possible, 
the different projects of classification. This 
commission need not contain representa- 
tives of all sciences, especially as it had the 
authority to secure the aid of special com- 
mittees. 

Professor Darboux thought it best that 
the official representatives at the Conference 
should constitute the local or regional com- 
mittees of classification. 

Dr, Bernoulli thought that the Conference 
had approached its second important ques- 
tion—that of organization. With regard 
to the first question—that of classification 
—he fully agreed with Dr. Darboux that it 
should be settled by the specialist in each 
branch of science for his own subject. The 
central committee proposed by the repre- 
sentative of the United States should have 
to do only with notation. Switzerland, he 
said, could not constitute a regional bureau 
or committee. But to a central committee 
of this sort he agreed, if it were made 
representative of the libraries as well as 
the sciences, and if the Director of the 
Bibliographical Institute at Brussels were 
included. 

Professor Klein desired to bring the Con- 
ference back to the principal point as to 
how the classification of the schedules was 
to be made. It had been the intention to 
hold a conference of scientific men in Berlin 
for the purpose of arriving at some opinion, 
but this had been delayed, though the idea 
was not given up, and the plan of arriving 
at opinions, at least so far as Germany was 
concerned, seemed quite feasible to him. 

Professor Weiss thought the resolution 
of the delegate from America quite agreed 
with Professor Klein’s idea. Professor 
Ricker supported a resolution of this 
nature. He thought that the next scheme 
published should have some international 
weight. 


802 


Chevalier Descamps agreed in the main 
with the plan, though he remarked, in pass- 
ing, that Belgium was not represented on 
the Committee. Professor Darboux and 
Dr. Graf discussed the best method of 
arriving at the opinions of the scientific 
men in the various countries. Dr. Mond 
thought the delegates from the various 
countries were the best medium for estab- 
lishing the Committees; otherwise he fav- 
ored the appointing of an International 
Committee as the best means of arriving at 
a definite conclusion—a view which was 
supported by Professor Klein. 

M. Maseart requested permission to pre- 
sent the following resolution: ‘The Con- 
ference is of the opinion that the delegates 
be requested to take steps in their respective 
countries to organize local commissions 
charged to represent the Royal Society in 
the various countries; to study all questions 
relative to the Internationai Catalogue of 
Scientific Literature, and to send a report 
to the International Committee.” 

Professor Foster favored the resolution 
introduced by Dr. Adler. The Royal 
Society had done its best, and the matter 
should now be left to a broader court, this 
latter body to be an authoritative one em- 
powered to make final decisions. He did 
not regard this commission as representing 
different countries, but simply as composed 
of men chosen by this Conference. 

Dr. Bernoullii suggested that the sched- 
ules be submitted to the various Interna- 
tional Congresses, such as the Mathematical, 
Zoological and Chemical, ete. 

Professor Foster replied that the Con- 
gresses of Zoology and Physiology met only 
once in three years. The matter had been 
brought to the attention of the Congress of 
Physiology, but not seriously discussed. 
He thought a Congress the worst body pos- 
sible to which to submit the questions. 

M. Mascart stated that after hearing the 
discussion he desired to modify his amend- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 232. 


mentin the folowing manner: ‘‘ The Con- 
ference holds the view that the delegates be 
requested to take steps through the govern- 
ments of their respective countries to organ- 
ize local commissions charged with studying 
all the questions relative to the cataloguing 
of scientific literature of the Royal Society, 
and to send a report in six months to an 
International Committee constituted under 
the patronage of the Royal Society. The 
International Committee shall examine all 
the solutions sent and reach a definite de- 
cision.” 

Professor Klein agreed with the proposi- 
tion, pointing out, however, that the time 
allowed was too short, and declaring that 
any connection with International Scientific 
Congresses was impracticable, as they had 
no permanent organization. The debate 
continued for some time, and finally the 
first portion of Dr. Adler’s motion, modified 
by Professor Klein, ‘That the authoritative 
decisions as to the schedules be intrusted 
to an International Committee to be hereaf- 
ter named by the Conference, together with 
three representatives of the Royal Society,’’ 
‘was unanimously agreed to. The resolu- 
tion of M. Mascart concerning the appoint- 
ment of local committees to report in six 
months was next adopted, and a further 
resolution that the International Commit- 
tee frame its report not later than July 31, 
1899. 

Professor Boltzmann brought up the sub- 
ject of some additional classes to be added 
to the list of sciences, more especially a 
class of general science. Professor Foster 
objected to having the subject reopened, 
and after a lengthy discussion the Presi- 
dent ruled the discussion out of order ; 
which, it may be said, was the single case 
of such a ruling at the Conference. 

President Foster next raised the question 
of the functions of the regional bureaus. 
Dr. Graf stated the difficulties which were 
in the way of the organization of a regional 


JUNE 9, 1899. ] 


bureau in Switzerland, and thought it best 
that all the work be done by a central bu- 
reau. Professor Riicker pointed out that 
it would probably be easier for the various 
countries to find the money to pay for work 
done within their own borders. He also 
thought that in time authors could be got 
to prepare their own analyses. Dr. Ber- 
noulli agreed with the opinion of his col- 
league. Dr. Graf and M. Otlet also sup- 
ported the idea of a single central bureau. 
Professor Darboux, however, warmly up- 
held the decision reached at the first Con- 
ference, of having a central bureau and re- 
gional bureaus. All the resolutions relating 
to this subject as well as to the business 
conduct of the bureau were finally adopted, 
or referred to the International Council. 
They are given in the Acta and need not 
be referred to here. 

The next matter of importance was with 
regard to the persons who should form the 
International Committee. 

This was discussed at length, informally 
(the discussion not being reported), and it 
was finally agreed that the members be 
Professor Armstrong, Chevalier Descamps, 
Professor M. Foster, Dr. 8. P. Langley, 
Professor Poincaré, Professor Rucker, Pro- 
fessor Waldeyer and Professor Weiss, with 
the nnderstanding that the Committee may 
appoint substitutes, should any member be 
unable to serve, and that it have the privi- 
lege of adding two members. 

M. Mascart then called attention to the 
desirability cf the passage of a resolution 
which would give the Central Bureau the 
power of modifying decisions of the Confer- 
ence, should they be found impracticable ; 
and this, after discussion, was agreed to. 
There were some further remarks about the 
arrangement of the various sciences, which 
resulted in no formal action, it being held 
that the International Committee was com- 
petent to deal with these matters. 

The final sitting of the Conference was 


SCIENCE. 


803 


devoted to the consideration of the finances 
of the Catalogue. 

Professor Riicker, on behalf of the Royal 
Society, stated that, while they had not gone 
into the matter in great detail, they were 
of the opinion that their estimates were ap- 
proximately correct. The cost of producing 
the Book Catalogue was, in round numbers, 
£5,600. The least remunerative number of 
complete subscribers would be 350, taking 
the average of the complete subscription of 
£16. For the Primary Slip Catalogue a 
further £3,000 per annum would be neces- 
sary, which would be met by 130 complete 
subscriptions. This estimate is based upon 
the use of the linotypesystem. The Second- 
ary Slip Catalogue would cost, in round 
numbers, £6,000 per year. If the scheme 
were carried out on this scale it would be 
possible to supply 183 cards for a franc, or 
160 cards for a shilling. It was the hope 
of the committee that the Catalogue would 
ultimately pay its own way, though some 
plan must be found for guaranteeing its 
success. One way would be to receive di- 
rect subseriptions from foreign countries, 
as is done in the case of other interna- 
tional bureaus, or a guarantee fund might 
be established. The minimum period of 
experiment for the Catalogue would be 
fixed at five years, and should the entire 
scheme for books and ecards be entered 
upon, a sum like £40,000 would have to 
be guaranteed to make sure of the success 
of the plan for the period of five years. 
This would be met if, say, ten of the 
great powers each take one share, the 
smaller powers two between them and the 
English colonies one amongst them; each 
share would then amount to £4,000 in the 
course of five years. 

The delegates of the various countries 
were then requested to state what their 
countries might be expected to do. 

Professor Klein, for Germany, stated that 
he was in no wise authorized to enter into 


804 SCIENCE. 


any engagements; he said, however, that 
at a recent conference of German scientific 
men it had been decided to recommend to 
the German government a subvention of 
12,000 Marks per annum for the regional 
bureau; he was also prepared to recom- 
mend a subvention of £1,000 for the central 
bureau. 

Professor Weiss stated that the Austrian 
government had agreed to provide fully for 
the expense of a regional bureau. The 
Vienna Academy was prepared to recom- 
mend a subvention of £200. 

Doctor Heller said, in the name of the 
Hungarian government, that he had been 
authorized to state that the regional bureau 
for Hungary would be completely provided 
for at the expense of the Hungarian Acad- 
emy of Science. He was not prepared to 
make any statement with regard to the 
guarantee fund. 

Professor Darboux stated for France that 
his country would undertake the organiza- 
tion of a regional bureau, but with regard 
to a subvention he thought it difficult to 
obtain it outright; it might be much more 
feasible to accomplish the same result by 
guaranteeing a subscription to a certain 
number of copies of the Catalogue. Profes- 
sor Rucker stated that such an arrange- 
ment with regard to subscriptions would 
be equivalent to a guarantee and would be 
satisfactory. 

Doctor Adler stated, on behalf of the 
United States, that he was not authorized 
to make any ayreement in regard to ex- 
penses ; that in accordance with the recom- 
mendation of Dr. Billings and Professor 
Newcomb, delegates to the previous Con- 
ference, the Secretary of State had asked 
an appropriation of £2,000 per annum for 
the establishment of a regional bureau. 
He did not think that in any event the 
United States government could be brought 
to contribute to a guarantee fund, and if 
this were necessary it could be done more 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 232. 


readily through universities and scientific 
societies, and that the most feasible plan 
for the United States was that suggested by 
Professor Darboux, a given number of sub- 
scriptions to the Catalogue. 

Dr. Graf, speaking for Switzerland, stated 
that he was prepared to make no promises, 
but that the plan suggested by Professor 
Darboux, to have his government subscribe 
for a given number of copies of the Cata- 
logue, would be the one most easily car- 
ried ont in his country. 

Chevalier’ Descamps stated that he had 
no instructions from his government, but 
thought that the proposition made by Pro- 
fessor Darboux, that is, a subscription of a 
given number of copies, was one that Bel- 
gium would be most likely to carry out. 

No definite statements were made on be- 
half of Norway, Sweden and Japan, the 
delegates being without instructions. 

Sir John Gorst, speaking for Great 
Britain, stated that he too was without 
authority to pledge his government, but 
thought that the British government would 
be more likely to subscribe for a number of 
copies of the Catalogue than to give a guar- 
antee. 4 

It was suggested by Professor Foster that 
the delegates be requested to obtain infor- 
mation at an early date as to what assist- 
ance might be expected from their respec- 
tive countries towards the éxpenses of the 
central bureau. 

M. Mascart thought that the plan was 
still too indetermined to make the question 
of expense sufficiently definite. Professor 
Klein also seemed to think this somewhat 
premature ; that the whole matter depended 
as to whether the scheme for the Catalogue 
could be brought into such form that one 
might say: ‘This is good, and we agree 
that it should be done in this way.” 

Dr. Graf desired that the Provisional In- 
ternational Committee should take the op- 
portunity of examining the bibliographical 


JUNE 9, 1899. ] 


work now in actual operation in Switzer- 
land, mentioning that of Dr. Field. 

Tt was agreed further that the time of 
calling the Provisional International Com- 
mittee together be left to the Royal Society. 

Some discussion arose at this point with 
regard to the meaning of Article 22, as to 
whether the delegates continue to exist as 
delegates after the adjournment of the Con- 
ference. There was a joint agreement that 
the committees should be appointed by the 
delegates, and the report of these commit- 
tees transmitted by the delegates. 

After a vote of thanks to the Society of 
Antiquaries, and to the President, Sir John 
Gorst, the Conference adjourned. 

It would seem ungracious not to mention 
the very pleasant hospitalities of the Royal 
Society, which gave a dinner to the dele- 
gates, presided over by its distinguished 
President, Lord Lister, and of the English 
delegates, who also gave a dinner, presided 
over by Sir Norman Lockyer. 

The delegates had frequent meetings out- 
side of the regular meetings of the Confer- 
ence, which fact expedited the work. There 
was no division or national lines, all the 
conclusions being reached either as a result 
of the individual opinions of those present 
or based upon conditions existing in the 
country of the particular delegate. 

The official Acta of the Congress were 
printed in the issue of ScreNcE for Novem- 
ber 11, 1898. 

On returning from abroad I submitted the 
accompanying report to the Secretary of 
State : 


WASHINGTON, November 15, 1898. 

SIR: : 

Haying been appointed, together with Mr. 8. P. 
Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a 
delegate on the part of the United States to the Con- 
ference on an International Catalogue of Scientific 
Literature, to be held at London on July 12, 1898, we 
proceeded abroad on July 2nd. : 

The British Government found it expedient to 
postpone the conference until October 11. At the re- 


SCIENCE. 


805 


quest of the Department, and with the consent of the 
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I continued 
abroad and attended the Conference. Mr. Langley’s 
official duties necessitated his return to the United 
States in September. 

The deliberations were in continuation of those 
had at a previous Conference in 1896, at which this 
Government was also represented. Satisfactory con- 
clusions were reached, leaving only such questions 
as can be definitely determined by an International 
Committee, on which the United States is repre- 
sented by Mr. Langley. 

T have the honor to transmit herewith the Acta of 
the Conference. The procés verbal will be issued later, 
and a copy forwarded to the Department. 

I beg most respectfully to bring to your notice the 
report of the delegates of the United States to the 
first Conference ( Professor Simon Newcomb and Doc- 
tor J. S. Billings) to repeat the recommendations 
made by them, and to further draw your attention to 
the recommendation of the Secretary of the Smithso- 
nian Institution, all of which is contained in Senate 
Document No. 43, 54th Congress, 2nd session, a copy 
of which is herewith appended. 

Ihave much pleasure in informing you that both 
in public and privately, the Delegates ‘of the United 
Kingdom, and of other Powers, expressed a very 
generous appreciation of the scientific activity of the 
United States, and I beg to be allowed to commend 
to the favorable consideration of the Department, the 
recommendation of such legislation as will enable the 
United States to worthily take its share in this highly 
important International project. 

I have the honor to be 
Sir, Your most obedient servant, 
(Signed) Cyrus ADLER. 
THE HONORABLE, 
THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 
His reply is given herewith : 
L/S DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
Washing'on, Novem*er 25, 1898. 
PROFESSOR CYRUS ADLER, 

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your let- 
ter of the 15th instant in regard to the work of the 
Conference on an International Catalogue of Scientific 
Literature which met at London on the 11th ultimo 
and to which you were a delegate on the part of the 
United States. 

With reference to your suggestion that such legisla- 
tion be recommended to Congress as will enable the 
United States to worthily take itsshare in this highly 
useful and important international project, I have to 
state that I had already in the estimates for this De- 


806 SCIENCE. 


partment for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, 
submitted an item of $10,000, or so much thereof as 
may be necessary, for the purpose of carrying out on the 
part of the United States the recommendation of the 
International Conference on a Catalogue of Scientific 
Literature, and for the expense of clerk hire and for 
the other expenses of the work of cataloguing the 
scientific publications of the United States. the same 
~ to be expended under the direction of the Secretary 
of the Smithsonian Institution, and pointed out that 
as the preparation of the catalogue is to begin on Jan- 
uary 1, 1900, it would be necessary for appropriate 
action to be taken by Congress at its forthcoming 
session, if this Government is to participate therein. 

In support of this recommendation, I enclosed as 
appendices a copy of the Congressional document to 
which you refer and acopy of your report on the Con- 
ference of 1896. The estimates are now in print and 
it is too late to have your present letter included 
therein; but I shall, upon the assembling of Cou- 
gress, communicate it to that body in further support 
of the item. 

I am Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) Joun Hay. 


The following additional communication 
from the Department has also been re- 
ceived : 


T/W DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
Washington, December 16, 1898. 
Dr. Cyrus ADLER, 

Delegate of the United States to the Second Interna- 
tional Conference on a Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture, Smithsonian Institution. 

Sir : I enclose for your information copy of a note 
from the British Ambassador at this capital, convey- 
ing to this Government an expression of the grateful 
appreciation of the President and Council of the 
Royal Society for the cordial codperation of the Ameri- 
can Delegate in the arduous and difficult work of the 
recent Conference on a Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 


ture. 
Tam Sir, 


Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) Davin J. HILL, 
Assistant Secretary. 
Enclosure : 
From British Ambassador, December 12, 
1898, with enclosures. 


Washington, December 12, 1898. 
THE Hon. JoHN Hay, 
Secretary of State. 
Str: With reference to my note of July 12th re- 
specting the International Conference in furtherance 


{N.S. Von. IX. No. 232. 


of the project of an International Catalogue of Scien- 
tific Literature I am instructed by Her Majesty’s 
principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to 
convey to the United States Government the grateful 
appreciation of the President and Council of the 
Royal Society for the cordial codperation of the United 
States Delegate in the arduous and difficult work of 
the Conference. 

Tam also instructed to furnish you with four copies 
of the Acta of the Conference, two for the use of the 
United States Government, and two for that of their 
Delegate. 

J have the honor to be 

with the highest consideration 
Sir: 
Your obedient Servant, 
(Signed) JULIAN. PAUNCEFOTE. 


The House of Representatives took no 
action in pursuance of the request of the 
secretary of State, but the following amend- 
ment to the Diplomatic and Consular Bill 
was reported to the Senate and passed by 
that body. 


INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON A CATALOGUE OF 

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

For the purpose of carrying out on the part of the 
United States the recommendation of the Interna- 
tional Conference on a Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture, held in London in July, 1896, for the expense 
of clerk hire and other expenses incident to the work 
of cataloguing the scientific publications of the United 
States, the same to be expended under the direction 
of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, tive 
thousand dollars. 


The Amendment was, however, disagreed 
to in Conference and lost. 

The following petitions in behalf of the 
proposition were presented to the Senate: 


THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE CITY OF BOSTON, 
Boston, Mass., January 25, 1899. 
Hon. GARRETT A. HOBART, 
Vice-President of the United States, President of the 
Senate. 

Str: The trustees of the Public Library of the City 
of Boston understand that Congress is to be asked for 
an appropriation to be placed at the disposal of the 
Smithsonian Institution to enable that institution to 
render necessary service in connection with the Royal 
Society index of scientific publications. 

The trustees beg to urge upon you the importance 
of this undertaking. Although it carries the name of 


JUNE 9, 1899. ] 


the Royal Society, it is in fact international ; it has 
been organized by representatiyes from the various 
civilized countries ; its benefits will be shared by all 
civilized countries, and the index itself will be the 
product of contributions from them. The contribu- 
tion asked for is not a direct gift of money, but a 
special service. For this country the proper agency 
for such service is at present the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion. This institution cannot undertake it with its 
ordinary funds, and requires for it a special appro- 
priation. 

The amount of this is small compared with the im- 
portance of the service to be rendered. 

Full information as to the details of the undertak- 
ing and of the particular work for which the appro- 
priation would be expended will no doubt be laid 
before Congress. 

The trustees of this library content themselves 
with calling to your attention the significance of the 
undertaking itself, and desire to express their con- 
viction that the benefits which will result to libraries 
and other learned institutions and to individual 
scholars throughout the United States will be a most 
ample return for the expenditure proposed. 

Very respectfully, 
THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE 
Crry oF Boston : 
FREDERICK O. PRINCE, President, 
SOLOMON LINCOLN, JVice-Peesident, 
JostaH H. BENTON, JR., 
Henry P. BownpitTcH, 
JAMES DE NORMANDIE. 
By order of the board. 
Attest : 
HERBERT PUTNAM, Clerk. 


Mr. Platt, of New York, presented the 
following resolution of the Board of Trus- 
tees of the New York Public Library, 
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations : 


‘““ WHEREAS, The honorable Secretary of State has 
recommended to Congress the appropriation of the 
sum of $10,000, to be expended under the direction 
of the Smithsonian Institution, for cataloguing the 
current scientific literature of the United States, to 
form a part of an International Catalogue of Scien- 
tific Literature : and 

‘““WHEREAS, Each of the great European nations 
has undertaken to catalogue in like manner its own 
scientific literature for the same purpose, the whole 
to be edited and published by a central bureau: 
Therefore, 

“* Resolved, That the trustees of the New York Pub- 
lic Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, 


SCIENCE. 


807 


respectfully urge upon Congress the great desirability 
of making the appropriation requested by the honor- 
able Secretary of State for this purpose, as the work 
to be done is international in character and will be 
for the benefit of all scientific men and of all libraries 
and institutions of learning in the United States.’’ 


The motion was agreed to. 

Petitions were also presented by the 
American Library Association and the John 
Crerar Library of Chicago, and a strong en- 
dorsement of the project was sent to the 
Committee on Appropriations by the Secre- 
tary of State. 

For the purpose of obtaining the advice 
of scientific men and persons interested, in 
accordance with Resolution 22 of the Con- 
ference, the following Committee was named 
on the part of the United States: Dr. J. 
S. Billings, Chairman; Professor Simon 
Newcomb, Dr. Theo. N. Gill, Professor H. 
P. Bowditch, Dr. Robert Fletcher, Mr. 
Clement W. Andrews, Mr. Herbert Put- 
nam and Dr. Cyrus Adler. This Commit- 
tee requested that Harvard University, 
Yale University, Columbia University, the 
University of Pennsylvania, Princeton Uni- 
versity, Johns Hopkins University, the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, the University of Chi- 
cago, Leland Stanford Junior University, the 
American Museum of Natural History, the 
Academy of Natural Sciences, the American 
Philosophical Society, the Library of Con- 
gress, the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, the United States Geological Survey 
and the United States Weather Bureau 
appoint committees on the subject, these 
committees to report to the Committee 
above named by April 15th. 

The request was generally acceded to, 
and with a few exceptions reports have 
been received which represent the opinions 
of a large number of scientific men and 
librarians in this country. 

All of these reports and various informal 
suggestions were considered, and a series of 
resolutions, together with the reports, have 


808 


been transmitted to the Secretaries of the 
Royal Society, with an occasional expres- 
sion of opinion as to the merits of the views 
presented in the several reports. 

The next step will be the consideration 
of these reports and of similar reports 
from other countries and the formulation 
of a definite plan by the Provisional Inter- 
national Committee. 

In view of the failure of Congress to make 
an appropriation for carrying on the work 
in this country, it will be necessary should 
the Catalogue begin January 1, 1900, to 
make some special provision. It is hoped 
that, by the cooperation of universities and 
libraries in five or six of the large centers, 
the work can be carried on for one year, and 
that when the subject is next presented to 
Congress it will meet with more favorable 
consideration. ; 


Cyrus ADLER. 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 


A DOUBLE INSTRUMENT AND A DOUBLE 
METHOD FOR THE MEASURE- 
MENT OF SOUND. 
Tue work briefly sketched here, at the 
request of the editor of Sctrncr, was done 


by the writer in the laboratory of Clark 


University, and grew out of the suggestion 
of Professor Webster, that the optical ar- 
rangement of Michelson’s refractometer, 
combined with an accoustical method em- 
ployed by Wien,* might yield a sound- 
measuring apparatus of great sensitiveness. 


RECEIVER. 
For this purpose one totally reflecting 
mirror of the refractometer was made very 
small and light, and was mounted upon a 
thin glass plate, which formed a portion of 
the walls of a spherical, Helmholtz reson- 
ator. A pure tone of the same pitch as 
the resonator causes the interference bands 
to vibrate with the same frequency. In 
order to render the maximum displacement 
* Wied. Ann., 1889, p. 835. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. IX. No. 232. 


visible, the fringes were made vertical, then 
cut down to anarrow band by a screen with 
a horizontal slit. This band was viewed by 
means of a telescope whose object glass was a 
small lens mounted upon the end of a tun- 
ing fork of the same frequency as the 
source of sound. The fork was driven 
electrically and the motion of the lens was 
perpendicular to the narrow band, so that, if 
the sensitive resonator plate were protected 
from all sound, the fringes would not be 
displaced, but the motion of the object glass 
would stretch out the narrow band into a 
broad band of vertical fringes. If now a 
tone were admitted to the resonator the 
fringes would be simultaneously displaced. 
In case of the identical agreement of both 
frequency and phase of the telescope fork 
with the forced vibration of the resonator 
plate (excited by the source of sound) the 
composition of motions would result in 
asimilar band, but one covered with ob- 
lique fringes whose slope is a function of 
the intensity of the sound. Identity of 
phase is easily realized by making the tele- 
scope fork actuate the source of sound; 
but identity of phase depends upon the dis- 
tance of the source of sound (as well as 
upon some elements involved in the me- 
chanical construction of the source of sound, 
which elements cannot be varied within 
limits sufficiently wide to compensate for 
all phase differences depending on various 
distances of the source), and consequently 
this identity could be obtained only at par- 
ticular settings. In a room filled with 
standing waves from the source, these set- 
tings can be found by moving in the three 
dimensions either the source of sound or 
receiver. But this adjustment is laborious, 
and this limitation renders the apparatus 
unsuited to general investigation. Without 
such adjustment the composition of the 
motions of the bright spots in the narrow 
band gives a set of overlapping ellipses, ob- 
scuring the displacement. 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


Accordingly the frequency of the lens fork 
was made slightly different from that of the 
source, by loading it sufficiently to obtain 
slow beats. Thus the phases of the one over- 
took those of the other very slowly, and con- 
sequently the interference bands were ob- 
tained, sloping first to the right and then 
after an interval to the left, the changes 
occurring periodically and following each 
other as slowly as desired. By means of a 
suitable eye-piece with divided circle the 
angle of this slope can be measured, and 
gives immediately a means of measurement 
of relative intensities. 


CAMERA. 


For some work the stroboscopic method 
of direct observation was replaced by a 
photographic method by which permanent 
records of sound disturbances were ob- 
tained and intensities determined. In this 
case the telescope with vibrating eye-piece 
was replaced by a fixed lens system which 
focussed a narrow band of fringes upon a 
sensitive film mounted upon a uniformly re- 
volving cylinder, in a manner similar to 
that employed by Raps.* The cylinder was 
driven by a small motor, whose speed was 
kept constant by Lebedew’s} method. Since 
this photographic record can be made 
equally well in case of irregular disturb- 
ances of the air, the instrument, with the 
receiving resonator removed from the sensi- 
tive plate, affords an unequalled means of 
studying the physical characters of a great 
variety of sounds and noises, such as vowel 
sounds and consonants, the notes of various 
musical instruments, the calls of birds, the 
cries of animals, bells, whistles, the din of 
the streets, the rumble of thunder, etc. The 
effect of the peculiar note of the sensitive 
plate may be eliminated by means of dif- 
ferential measures with plates of different 
natural periods. 


* Wied. Ann., 1893, p. 194. 
+ Wied. Ann., Band 59, s. 118. 


SCIENCE. 


809 


SOURCE OF TONE. 
For the determination of the instrumental 
constants, and for fundamental researches 
in sound, it is essential that the source of 
sound be pure in tone, constant in inten- 
sity, and that its intensity be easily varied 
within considerable limits. It should also 
be portable. The following arrangement 
meets these requirements in a very satis- 
factory manner. <A tuning fork of about 
the same pitch as the note desired was 
driven by an electromagnet with a current 
interrupted by a similar control fork, elec- 
trically driven by the usual method of 
self-interruption. The first fork was fast- 
ened vertically upon a heavy iron base, and 
one of its tines was connected to a circular, 
thin iron plate, of approximately, the same 
pitch as the fork, by means of a short stiff 
wire. This plate formed a side of a Helm- 
holtz resonator, constructed to give the note 
desired and rigidly supported. The motion of 
the fork tine was in the direction of the wire, 
i. é., perpendicular to the plane of the plate, 
so that the vibrations of the fork were com- 
municated to the plate ; thus the air within 
the source resonator is thrown into forced 
vibrations of very nearly its own frequency. 
Accordingly a very small vibration of the 
fork causes the resonator to emit a very 
loud tone. Its intensity depends upon the 
current driving the source fork, and this 
current is governed by a sliding resistance 
and shunt. A single storage cell suffices 
for the loudest tones, and 4, ampere pro- 
duced a tone loud enough to be heard very 
distinctly all over a large lecture room 
(about 14x24 yards). This source was en- 
closed in a heavy, padded box, so that only 
the lip of the resonator protruded. Per- 
fect silence could be obtained by simply 
corking the mouth of the resonator with a 
rubber stopper, so that a single and defin- 
itely located source was obtained, and one 
which is portable. 
Care was taken that no sound should 


810 


reach the receiving resonator from the 
telescope-fork, for it also was carefully 
boxed. The box was provided with glass 
windows for the transmission of the beam 
from the refractometer, which was similarly 
boxed in such a way thaf a portion of the 
receiving resonator protruded and pulsa- 
tions of sound acted only upon the side of 
the sensitive plate which faced the mouth of 
theresonator. The adjusting screws of the 
refractometer were brought outside the box. 
The whole was small and portable. Equal 
care was taken to keep all sounds from 
motor and cylinder from reaching the re- 
ceiving resonator, and all these pieces 
rested upon little piers of soft rubber and 
tin in layers, this to prevent vibrations from 
being transmitted through the table and 
supports. Careful tests were made for im- 
munity from such disturbances. 

Results obtained thus far give promise of 
a high degree of constancy, and of sensitive- 
ness greater than the human ear, 7. e., 
ability to detect both extremely faint sounds, 
such as escape the sense of hearing, and 
also the most minute differences in intensity 
For this reason this instrument may prove 
useful in the psychological laboratory. 

The limits of this sketch allow but an 
outline of the mathematical theory of the 
source, and of the receiver, by which the 
intensity of a tone is reduced to absolute 
measure. For a measure of intensity can 
be made independently by each, and one 
may be used as a check on the other. 


ENERGY OF SOURCE. 

The energy emitted by the source re- 
sonator in sound may be measured in a 
manner analogous to one employed by Ray- 
leigh* in determining the minimal sound, 
The rate at which the source fork expends 
its energy is readily shown to be 


= 4 (CE) IG ete nie erase Css 


* Phil. Mag., 1894, p. 365. 


SCIENCE. 


ENSS 23 VioLs Wx; eNO 232; 


and this energy is constantly supplied by 
the current driving the fork. But not all 
this energy is converted into sound. In 
fact AK” is composed of three distinct parts : 


JX, peculiar to the fork alone 
st , 

UG. ce “ oe plate (a9 

K, oc a3 a3 resonator 73 


If the resonator is made very smooth within 
we may neglect the dissipation of energy in 
other forms within the resonator and say 
that the production of tone is due to A, for 
the system. Accordingly the energy of the 
tone produced is KY; E., when E, represents 
the sum of the energy of fork, plate and 
connection at thetime. The energy of fork 
and connection are approximately 


E; = t plw x (2n)* '/2 for fork, 
E, = $7 M, (2n)° */ “ connection. 


The energy of the plate is an infinitesimal 
of the second order. 

Since 27 = Ae ~***, K can be obtained by 
noting the time required for the amplitude 
to fall one-half. The resonator plate is 
mounted upon a separate ring so that the 
resonator may be removed without disturb- 
ing the plate. Then a differential measure 
serves to determine A;. First, A is deter- 
mined with resonator in place; then the re- 
sonator is removed and K, + K, is deter- 
mined ; thence 


=k — (Ki ti RO) tor Cyne ee, 


A galvanometer, or millivoltmeter, is in- 
terposed in the circuit containing the source 
forks, so that a few measures, taken 
through some range of intensities, suffice to 
calibrate the current in terms of absolute in- 
tensity at the mouth of the resonator. From 
this a simple assumption regarding propa- 
gation gives the intensity at any point- 
Since the intensity can be varied at will, 
this instrument alone, with the ear for re- 
ceiver, can be employed for a considerable 
number of investigations. 


JUNE 9, 1899. ] 


ENERGY AT RECEIVER. 


The energy of the tone at the mouth of 
the receiving resonator is proportional to 
the square of the amplitude of vibration of 
the sensitive plate. And since this plate 
earries one of the refractometer mirrors its 
amplitude can be expressed in terms of 
wave-lengths of monochromatic (sodium) 
light. 
intensity will be: 


Btana\? 
(ear) 


when B is the double amplitude due to the 
motion of object glass, «4 is the slope of the 
fringes due to tone, and wis the width of 
a double fringe. This relative measure 
can be reduced to absolute measure in a 
manner differing from that employed by 
Wien* only in the fact that the energy of 
the little mirror is taken account of and the 
identical resonator in the identical position , 
but with plate of high pitch, is used to cale- 
brate the sensitive arrangement in absolute 
units. 

This combination of source and receiver 
seems exceptionally well adapted to the 
investigation of such problems as the vari- 
-ation of the intensity of sound with dis- 
tance, the viscosity of the air, sound 
shadows, reflection of sound from various 
substances, refraction of sound in various 
media, the distribution of sound in a room, 
with the natural pitch and damping (echo) 
of a room, intensity of the minimum sound 
audible, test of Weber’s Law,t ete. 

The elaboration of the instrument has left, 
thus far, no opportunity for systematic 
research. Some results of interest have 
been obtained, such as tests for constancy 
and sensitiveness, photographs of vowel 
and other sounds; but these results are 
fragmentary, and have been of value chiefly 
to serve the purpose of tests, and of sug- 


*Wied. Ann., 1889, p. 834. 
tFechner, ‘ Hauptpuncte der Psychophysik,’ p. 185. 


SCIENCE. 


In short, an expression for relative « 


811 


gestion to further improvements in means 
or method. In the near future some 
acoustical problems will be attacked in the 
laboratory of Clark University, and the re- 
sults, as well as a fuller account of instru- 
ments and method, will be published, it is 
planned, jointly by Professor Webster and 


myself. 
BensAMiIn F. SHARPE. 
GREENWICH, N. Y., June, 1899. 


NEW YORK STATE SCIENCE TEACHERS AS- 
SOCIATION. 

Tue third annual meeting was held at 
the Teachers College of Columbia Univer- 
sity, December 29 and 30, 1898, affording 
to the members of the Association an op- 
portunity to attend most of the meetings 
of the Society of Naturalists. 

Dr. Charles B. Davenport, of Harvard 
University, read a paper on zoology as a 
condition for admission to college. He 
favored the study of animals by the labora- 
tory method as outlined in the Harvard re- 
quirements, and thought that too much at- 
tention was being given to dissection in 
most secondary schools. He encouraged 
the study of economic zoology in a prepara- 
tory course, leaving most of the dissection 
to be done in the college. 

The first afternoon was devoted to the 
report of the Committee of Nine, by Dr. Le 
Roy C. Cooley, after which the Association 
attended the annual discussion of the So- 
ciety of Naturalists on ‘Advances in Meth- 
ods of Teaching.’ In the evening the Presi- 
dent, Dr. Charles W. Hargitt, delivered the 
annual address, on ‘Science and the New 
Education,’ in which he defined the relation 
of science to the other elements of the mod- 
ern curriculum. The address was followed 
by a most enjoyable reception by the Trus- 
tees of Teachers College. 

The second day began with four simul- 
taneous section meetings. Section A, Bi- 
ology, in charge of Dr. Charles L. Bristol, 


812 SCIENCE, 


discussed three papers: Professor George 
F. Atkinson, on ‘ Entrance Requirements 
for the University in Botany and Zoology’ ; 
Professor James EK. Peabody, on ‘ Physi- 
ology in the High School,’ and Miss Idelette 
Carpenter on ‘ The Teaching of Botany in 
the Girls High School of New York.’ 

Section B, Earth Science, conducted by 
Professor Richard E. Dodge, considered 
papers by the Chairman, by Mr. E. W. 
Sampson and by Miss L. Belle Sage. Sec- 
tion C, Nature Study, in charge of Mr. 
Charles B. Scott, attracted a larger number 
of teachers than any other, and presented 
too many papers to be mentioned in detail 
in this report. The discussions dealt prin- 
cipally with the aims of nature study, the 
materials for study, and plans for helping 
teachers. An excellent report of this sec- 
tion appears in the February number of 
New York Education (Albany). Section D, 
Physics and Chemistry, conducted by Pro- 
fessor Albert lL. Arey, discussed these 
sciences from the point of view of the sec- 
ondary schools, the colleges and the Regents. 
Professor Edwin H. Hall, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, Dr. William Hallock, Dr. Edward 
L. Nichols, Professor Frank Rollins, Mr. 
Charles N. Cobb and Professor Irving P. 
Bishop presented papers. 

Following the Section meetings Dr. C. F. 
Hodge, of Clark University, spoke on ‘The 
Active Method in Nature Study.’ Mr. Arthur 
G. Clement read a paper on ‘ The Use of the 
Microscope in Secondary Schools.’ At the 
last session, which was held in the Amer- 
ican Museum of Natural History, Mr. 
Frank M. Chapman gave an illustrated lec- 
ture on ‘The Educational Value of Bird 
Study.’ 

The Association cordially endorsed the 
report of the Comimittee of Nine, and asked 
a continuation of their work for another 
year. Resolutions were adopted in favor 
of one year of physical science, one of bi- 
ological science and one of earth science in 


[N.S. Vox. IX. No. 282. 


all the secondary schools of the State, and 
steps were taken toward the recommenda- 
tion of subject-matter and effective methods 
in each of these branches. It was also re- 
solved “That any physical, biological or 
earth science which has been pursued con- 
secutively for one full year, by the approved 
class-room and laboratory methods, and 
which has stood the approved tests for 
quality, should be accepted by the colleges. 
for admission to their freshman classes.” 


Authority was given to a committee of 


five ‘‘to ascertain and report what is defi- 
nitely known regarding the physiological 
effects of alcohol and narcotics on the human 
body, and to recommend suitable methods. 
for teaching the same in the schools of this 
State.” 

The sessions were well attended and the 
character of the papers and discussions was 
a sufficient evidence of the interest that 
centers in the Association and its work. 
The Teachers College provided amply for 
all the wants of the visitors and made their 
stay in the city comfortable as well as 
profitable. 

A complete report of the meetings will be 
published by the Regents and may be ob- 


tained by applying to the Secretary of the. 


Association. 

The next meeting will be held at Syra- 
cuse during the Christmas holidays. 

The following officers were chosen for 
1899: President, Le Roy C. Cooley, Vas- 
sar College, Poughkeepsie. Vice-President, 
Albert L. Arey, Rochester Free Academy,. 
Rochester. Secretary and Treasurer, James 
E, Peabody, The High School, 3080 Third 
Avenue, New York City. Executive Coun- 
cil, Mr. Charles N. Cobb, Regents Office, 
Albany; Dr. Franklin W. Barrows, Cen- 
tral High School, Buffalo; Professor J. H.. 
Comstock, Cornell University, Ithaca; Pro- 
fessor William Hallock, Columbia Univer- 
sity, New York; Miss Mary E. Dann, Girls 
High School, Brooklyn ; Professor D. L~ 


JUNE 9, 1899. ] 


Bardwell, State Normal School, Cortland ; 
Dr. Charles W. Dodge, University of 
Rochester; Principal Thomas B. Lovell, 
High School, Niagara Falls; Professor, W. 
C. Peckham, Adelphi College, Brooklyn ; 
Professor J. McKeen Cattell, Columbia 
University, New York; Professor John F. 
Woodhull, Teachers College, New York ; 
Professor E. R. Whitney, High School, 
Binghamton. 
FRANKLIN W. Barrows. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
Urkunden zur Geschichte der nichteuklidischen 
Geometrie. Von F, ENGEL und P, STAECKEL. 

I, Nikolai Ivanovitsch Lobatschefski. Leipzig, 

B. G. Teubner. 1899. 8vo. Pp. 476. 

The name of Lobachévski is inseparably con- 
nected with a scientific advance so fundamental 
as actually to have changed the accepted con- 
ception of the universe. 

Yet his first published work and his greatest 
work have both remained for over sixty years 
inaccessible, locked up in Russian, and are now 
for the first time given to the world in this 
monumental volume by Professor Engel. 

As to the precise time at which Lobachévski 
shook himself free from Euclid’s two thousand 
years of authority there is still room for a most 
interesting doubt. ; 

The first of the two treatises given in this 
book, ‘On the Elements of Geometry,’ was 
published in 1829, with this note at the foot of 
the first page : 

‘‘Extracted by the author himself from a 
paper which he read February 12, 1826, in the 
meeting of the Section for Physico-mathematic 
Sciences, with the title: ‘Exposition succincte 
des principes de la Géométrie, ete.’ ”’ 

Again, when the four equations are reached 
which really contain the essence of the non- 
Euclidean geometry, Lobachévski subjoins this 
note: ‘‘The equations (17) and all that follows 
these the author had already appended to the 
paper which he presented in 1826 to the Section 
for Physico-mathematic Sciences.’’ 

In the introduction to the second of the two 
treatises here given, the ‘New Elements of 
Geometry,’ the author says: ‘‘ Everyone knows 


SCIENCE. 


813 


that in geometry the theory of parallels has 
remained, even to the present day, incomplete. 

“The futility of the efforts which have been 
made since Huclid’s time during the lapse of 
two thousand years to perfect it awoke in me 
the suspicion that the ideas employed might 
not contain the truth sought to be demonstrated, 
and for whose verification, as with other natural 
laws, only experiments could serve, as, for ex- 
ample, astronomic observations. 

‘* When, finally, [had convinced myself of the 
correctness of my supposition, and believed my- 
self to have completely solved the difficult 
question, I wrote a paper on it in the year 
1826, ‘ Exposition succincte des principes de la 
Géométrie, avec une démonstration rigoureuse du 
théoréme des paralléles,’ read February 12, 1826, 
in the séance of the physico-mathematic Faculty 
of the University of Kazan, but never printed.’’ 
No part of this French manuscript has eyer, 
been found. The latter half of the title is 
ominous. 

For centuries the world had been deluged 
with rigorous demonstrations of the theorem of 
parallels. We know that three years later 
Lobachévski himself proved it absolutely in- 
demonstrable. 

Yet the paper said to contain material to 
stop forever this twenty-centuries-old striving 
still was headed ‘démonstration rigoureuse,’ 
just as Saccheri’s book of 1733 containing a 
coherent treatise on non-Euclidean geometry 
ended by one more pitiful proof of the parallel- 
postulate. 

If Saccheri had lived three years longer and 
realized the pearl in his net, with the new 
meaning, he ‘could have retained his old title: 
‘Euclides ab omni naevo vindicatus,’ since the 
non-Euclidean geometry is a perfect vindica- 
tion and explanation of Euclid. But Lobachéy- 
ski’s title is made wholly indefensible. 

A new geometry, founded on the contra- 
dictory opposite of the theorem of parallels, and 
so proving every demonstration of that theorem 
fallacious, could not very well pose under 
Lobachévski’s old title. Least said, soonest 
mended. He never tells what he meant by it, 
never tries to explain it. 

Yet Engel thinks that under this two thou- 
sand years stale title, ‘avec une démonstration 


814 


rigoureuse du théoréme des paralléles,’ ‘‘ Lo- 
batschefskij sprach es klipp und klar aus, dass 
das Euklidische Parallelenaxiom niemals werde 
bewiesen werden konnen, weil es unbeweisbar 
sel.’’ 

At the International Mathematical Congress, 
1893, I maintained in his presence that Felix 
Klein was utterly in error where in his ‘ Nicht- 
Euklidische Geometrie,’ I., p. 174, he says of 
the letter from Gauss to Bolyai Farkas, 1799, 
‘Tn this last letter is particularly said that in 
the hyperbolic geometry there is a maximum 
for triangle-area;’’ and again where he says, 
p. 175, ‘‘ There can be no doubt that Lobachéy- 
ski as well as Bolyai owe to Gauss’s prompting 
the initiative of their researches.’’ 

Klein’s only answer was that his position 
would be sustained when the public got access 
to Gauss’s correspondence. 

Staeckel and Engel have now had complete 
access to these papers, and this is what Engel 
says, pp. 428-9: ‘‘But at all events in Gauss’s 
letters there is nowhere a support for this tra- 
dition ; at no point of these letters can be found 
even the slightest intimation that Gauss con- 


nected the discoveries of Lobachévski and J. 


Bolyai with any direct or roundabout prompt- 
ing from him. 

“‘On the contrary the letters show (see p. 432 
f. and Math. Ann. 49, p. 162, Briefwechsel G. 
B., p. 109) that Gauss throughout recognized 
the independence of both, exactly .as he recog- 
nized that of Schweikart, whose independence 
of Gauss is subject to no doubt. 

‘With Staeckel I am at one herein that 
exactly this circumstance is particularly weighty 
for the decision of the whole question.”’ 

The whole scientific world will breathe a 
sigh of relief that Klein’s ungenerous GOot- 
tingen legend, mortally wounded in 1898, is in 
1899 annihilated forever. 

More inexplicable is Klein’s bald misinter- 
pretation of Gauss’s letter of 1799 to Bolyai 
Farkas. I gave this letter in my Bolyai as 
demonstrative evidence that in 1799 Gauss was 
still trying to prove Euclid’s the only non-con- 
tradictory system of geometry, and also the 
system regnant in the external space of our 
physical experience. The first is false; the 
second can never be proven, 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 232. 


Summing up this same letter, Engel, p. 379, 
instead of finding in it the hypothetical white 
elephant of Klein’s fairy tale, gives the utmost 
that can be attributed to it in the following 
sentence: ‘‘ Hier ist er also ganz nahe daran, 
an der Richtigkeit der Geometrie, das heisst, 
des Euklidischen Parallelenaxioms zweifelhaft 
zu werden.’’ : 

Five years later, in a letter of November 25, 
1804, Gauss speaks of a ‘group of rocks’ on 
which his attempts had always been wrecked, 
and adds: ‘‘I have, indeed, still ever the hope 
that those rocks sometime, and, indeed, before 
my death, will permit a passage. Meanwhile I 
have now so many other affairs on hand that at 
present I cannot think on it, and, believe me, I 
shall heartily rejoice if you forestall me and if 
you succeed in surmounting all obstacles.’’ 
‘Surely,’’ says Engel, ‘‘ that does not sound as. 
if the authority of Euclid had diminished in 
power since the year 1799 ; on the contrary, one 
gets the impression that Gauss in 1804 rather 
stood more completely under its ban than 
before.’’ 

This was clearly the view of Bolyai Janos, 
whose autobiography, after quoting Gauss’s 
letter of 1832, says: ‘‘ Ina previous letter Gauss. 
writes he hopes some time to be able to circum- 
navigate these rocks—so then he hopes !!’’ 

“These last words,’’ say Staeckel and Engel 
in the Mathematische Annalen, ‘‘show a certain 
suspicion on the part of John against Gauss.’” 
But the mention of this earlier letter was highly 
natural. 

Janos had known of it from boyhood. The 
joy of his triumph in solving what had baffled 
all the world for two thousand years was inten- 
sified by his knowing that even Gauss had tried 
and was hoping for the impossible. 

His splendid trumpet call of glory announc- 
ing his creation of a new universe, scientiam. 
spatii absolute veram exhibens, is answered 
how? Gauss answers that method and re- 
sults coincide with his own meditations insti- 
tuted in part since 80-35 years. But of these 
meditations Gauss had published never a word f 
How natural then for Janos to refer to his. 
previous letter, where he still was hoping to- 
prove Euclid’s parallel postulate. 

The equally complete freedom of Lobachéy~ 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


ski from the slightest idea that Gauss had ever 
meditated anything different from the rest of 
the world on the matter of parallels is demon- 
strated most happily. 

Bartels, the teacher of Lobachéyski, never 
saw Gauss after 1807, received at Kazan one 
letter from him in 1808, probably a mere 
friendly epistle containing nothing mathemat- 
ical, and not another word during his entire 
stay there. 

But in November, 1808, Schumacher, in Got- 
tingen, writes in his diary that Gauss has re- 
duced the theory of parallels to this, that if the 
accepted theory were not true there must be a 
constant a priori of length, ‘ welches absurd 
ist,’ yet that Gauss himself considers this work 
not yet completed. 

Thus in 1808 Gauss still vacillates. The 
proposition about the @ priori given unit for 
length is due to Lambert, 1766, and on the 
supposed absurdity Legendre in 1794 had 
founded a pseudo-proof of the parallel postulate. 

Thus until after 1808 Gauss had made no 
advance beyond the ordinary text books. 

A most fortunate piece of personal testimony 
from the distinguished astronomer Otto Struve 
finishes the whole matter. 

When at Dorpat in 1835 and 1836 Struve was 
attending his lectures, Bartels repeatedly spoke 
of Lobachévski as one of his first and most 
gifted scholars in Kazan. 

Lobachévski had then’ already sent his first 
works on non Euclidean geometry to Bartels, 
but, as Struve writes, Bartels looked upon these 
works ‘more as interesting, ingenious specula- 
tions than as a work advancing science.’ 

Struve adds he does not recall that Bartels 
ever spoke of any accordant ideas of Gauss. 

Such misconception of the import of non- 
Euclidean geometry was due in part to that 
lack of grit or slip in judgment which let Lo- 
bachévski damn this child of his genius with 
the name ‘Imaginary Geometry.’ 

If Lobachévski had possessed the magnificent 
Magyar mettle of Bolyai Janos, and dared to 
name his creation the Science Absolute of Space, 
he would not have taught mathematics with 
ability throughout his life without making a 
single disciple. 

His ‘New Elements of Geometry,’ here at last 


SCIENCE. 


815- 


made accessible to the world, is such a master 
piece that it remains to-day the completest and 
most satisfactory text-book of non-Euclidean 
Written at the flood of hope and 
confidence, with ardor still undampened, it is 
in his ‘New Elements’ preeminently that the 
great Russian allows free expression to his pro- 
found philosophic insight, which, on the one 
hand, shatters forever Kant’s doctrine of our 
absolute a priori knowledge of all fundamental 
spatial properties, while, on the other hand, 
emphasizing the essential relativity of space, 
and the element of human construction, human 
creation in it. 
Lobachévski’s position 


geometry. 


is still, after sixty 
years, the necessary philosophy for science. No 
one has succeeded in finding any escape from 
its cogency. No one has gone beyond it. 

Our hereditary geometry, the Euclidean, is 
underivable from real experience alone, and 
can never be proved by experience. Not only 
can the truth or falsity of Euclid’s parallel 
postulate never be proved a priori; not even a 
posteriori can ever its truth be proved. There- 
fore, Euclidean geometry, in so far as Euclid- 
ean, must ever remain a creation of the human. 
mind. 

The introduction to the ‘ New Elements’ con- 
tains a piercing critique of Legendre’s attempts 
on the parallel-postulate. 

Here at times Lobachévski almost conde- 
scends to be humorous. For example, he says :- 
‘« Although Legendre designates his demonstra- 
tion as completely rigorous, he, without doubt, 
thought otherwise, for he adds the proviso that 
a difficulty which one would perhaps still find 
can always be removed. For this he has re- 
course to calculations founded on the first 
familiar equations of rectilinear trigonometry, 
which it would be necessary previously to 
establish, and which just in this case are useless. 
and lead to no result.”’ 

Here for the word trigonometry in the Rus- 
sian of the ‘ Collected Works,’ p. 222, Engel has 
substituted, p. 70, by some slip, the word 
geometry? Further on Lobachéyski continues : 
‘But Legendre has not noticed here that EF 
may possibly not meet AC. To overcome this 
little difficulty you have only to suppose that EF 
is the perpendicular from F on BD; but then 


816 SCIENCE. 


how can we conclude therefrom that FE = AB 
and the angle EFC=37? It is not possible to 
mend the false deduction, wherein Legendre’s 
inadvertence was so gross that, without remark- 
ing this grave error, he considered his demon- 
stration as very simple and perfectly rigorous.’’ 

Now for a specimen of Lobachéyski’s philos- 
ophizing: ‘‘ Strictly we cognize in nature only 
motion, without which sense impressions are 
not possible. Consequently all other ideas, for 
example, geometric, are artificial products of 
our mind, since they are taken from the proper- 
ties of motion; and, therefore, space in itself, 
for itself alone, for us does not exist. 

Accordingly it can have nothing contra- 
dictory for our mind if we admit that some 
forces in nature follow the one, others another 
special geometry. 

To illustrate this thought, assume, as many 
believe, that the attractive forces diminish 
because their action spreads ona sphere. In 
the ordinary geometry we find 4rr? as magni- 
tude of a sphere of radius r, whence the force 
must diminish in the squared ratio of the dis- 
tance. 

In the imaginary (sic) geometry I have found 
the surface of the sphere equal to 


m(e”—e-")% 


and possibly in such a geometry the molecular 
forces may follow, whose whole diversity would 
depend, consequently, on the number e, always 
very great.’’ 

How far Lobachévski was, not only from 
Riemann’s geometry with closed finite straight 
line, but also from the perspective point of 
view where the straight is closed by having 
only one point at infinity, is illustrated by the 
following sentences of the introduction. ‘T 
consider it not necessary to analyze in detail 
other assumptions, too artificial or too arbi- 
trary. Only one of them yet merits some atten- 
tion—the passing over of the circle into a 
straight line. However, the fault is here visible 
beforehand in the violation of continuity, when 
a curve which does not cease to be closed, how- 
soever great it may be, transforms itself directly 
into the infinite straight, losing in this way an 
essential property. 

Tn this regard the imaginary geometry fills in 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 232. 


the interval much better. In it, if we increase 
a circle all of whose diameters come together 
at a point, we finally attain to a line such that 
its normals approach each other indefinitely, 
even though they can no longer cut one an- 
other. This property, however, does not ap- 
pertain to the straight, but to the curve which 
in my paper ‘On the Elements of Geometry’ I 
have designated as circle-limit.’’ 

Lobachéyski anticipated in 1835 all that was 
said not long ago in the columns of SCIENCE on 
the length of a curve. For example: ‘‘In fact, 
however little may be the parts of a curve, they 
do not cease to be curves; consequently they 
can never be measured by the aid of a straight.’’ 

“Tagrange takes as foundation the assumption 
of Archimedes that on a curve one can always 
take two points so near that the are between 
them may be considered greater than its chord, 
but smaller than the two tangents from its ex- 
tremities. Such an assumption is actually 
necessary, but by it is destroyed the primitive 
idea of measuring curves with straights. Thus 
the evaluation of the length of a curve represents 
not at all the rectification of the curvature ; but 
it seeks a wholly different aim—the finding of a 
limit which the actual measure would approach 
the more as this measure was made the more 
exact. But measuring is considered more ex- 
act the smaller the links of the chain employed. 
This is why in geometry one must show that 
the sum of tangents decreases while the sum 
of chords increases until the two sums dif- 
fer indefinitely little from the limit both ap- 
proach, which geometry assumes as length of 
the curve.”’ 

In the splendid treatise which follows this in- 
teresting introduction Lobachéyski has given a 
complete coherent development and exposition 
of the non-Euclidean geometry. Until I visited 
Maros-Vasairhely it was not known that Bolyai 
Janos had actually commenced and made re- 
markable progress in an even greater, more 
masterful treatment of the whole matter. From 
the mass of John’s papers tumbled in a big 
chest I singled out especially a manuscript in 
German entitled ‘Raumlehre,’ and on pointing 
out to Professor Bedéhizi Janos some of the 
striking passages in it he promised its publica- 
tion. 


JUNE 9, 1899. ] 


In Scrence for September 24, 1897, I men- 
tioned these treasures as ‘extended researches 
anticipating the discoveries of Cayley and 
Klein.’ Engel now says of them, p. 393: ‘J. 
Bolyai had also commenced to work out a great 
and consecutive presentation of geometry, but 
what he had written down remained entombed 
in his papers and has never been published. 

‘*Staeckel will before long make generally ac- 
cessible so much of it as issuitable for publication, 
and it will then appear that J. Bolyai in his 
exposition set to work according to principles 
similar to those Lobachévski actually followed.”’ 
But though Lobachévski has given his complete 
message to the ages, yet is perceptible a touch 
more masterful in even the brief two dozen 
pages of the young Magyar. 

Through a given point to draw a parallel to 
a given straight; to draw to one side of an 
acute angle the perpendicular parallel to the 
other side ; to square the circle—these problems 
would be sought in vain in the two quarto vol- 
umes of Lobachéyski. 

Bolyai Janos gives solutions of them startling 
in their elegance. For example (Halsted’s 
Bolyai 2 34), ‘‘ Through D we may Draw DM || 
AN in the following manner: From D drop 
DB LAN ; from any point A of the straight AB 
erect ACLAN (in DBA), and let fall DC ,AC. 
A quadrant described from the center A in 
BAC, with a radius = DC, will have a point B 
or O in common with ray BD. In the first case 
the angle of parallelism manifestly is right, but 
in the second case it equals AOB. If, therefore, 
we make BDM = AOB, then DM will be || BN.”’ 

About 100 pages of Engel’s book are devoted 
to a life of Lobachévski, yet no word is said of 
his wife, his children, his family life, his home 
fortunes and misfortunes, nor is mentioned the 
biography by E. F. Letvenov (St. Petersburg, 
1894, pp. 79) containing romantic pictures of 
these eternal interests. 


GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED. 
AUSTIN, TEXAS. 


The Spirit of Organic Chemistry. An Introduc- 
tion to the Current Literature of the Subject, 
By ARTHUR LACHMAN, B.S., PH.D., Professor 
of Chemistry in the University of Oregon. 
With an Introduction by PAu C. FREER, 


SCIENCE, 


817 


M.D., Pu.D., Professor of General Chemistry 

in the University of Michigan. New York, 

The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xviii 

+229. Price, $1.50. 

Under the above title an historical account of 
the development of some of the most important 
chapters is given. The subjects selected are 
among those which have exercised the minds 
and skill of the greatest chemists, and which 
are to-day before the chemical world. Prob- 
lems which haye been solved in a single mas- 
terly research are omitted. In the nine chap- 
ters the following subjects are treated: The 
constitution of rosaniline, Perkins’s reaction, 
the constitution of benzene, the constitution of 
aceto-acetic ether, the uric-acid group, the 
constitution of the sugars, the isomerism of 
fumaric and maleic acids, the isomerism of the 
oximes, and the constitution of the diazo com- 
pounds. 

The author has used excellent judgment in 
condensing the literature, and has presented the 
subject in a logical and clear manver. The 
account is brought upto date, even the most 
recent work receiving brief mention. The book 
is, therefore, an introduction to the chemical 
literature of to-day. On this account it is of 
special value to the student who’has just mas- 
tered the text-books of organic chemistry and 
who desires to go farther. The mass of litera- 
ture which is summed up in but 225 pages is so 
great and complex that it is doubtful whether 
the student would have the time and energy to 
get as clear a conception of the subject by | 
searching through the journals as he can get by 
a careful study of this book. After mastering 
it he would bein a position to follow a paper on 
any of the subjects treated. 

The literature of organic chemistry is so vast- 
that there is room for such critical reviews, for, 
it seems to the writer, they tend to inspire 
rather than prevent reading. Professor Lach- 
man’s book will make the reading of the current 
journals easier and is, therefore, helpful. It is. 
a contribution to chemical history.and supple- 
ments Schlorlemmer’s well-known ‘ Rise and 
Development of Organic Chemistry.”’ 

James F. Norris. 

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE 

oF TECHNOLOGY. 


(oe) 


Commercial Organic Analysis. By ALFRED H. 
ALLEN, F.C., F.C.S. Third edition, illus- 
trated with revisions and addenda by the au- 
thor and HENRY LEFFMANN, M.A., M.D. 
Volume II., Part I., Fixed oils, fats, waxes, 
glycerol, nitroglycerine and nitroglycerine 
explosives. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son 
& Co. 1899. Pp. 387. Price, $3.50. 

The new editions of Volumes I. and IV. of 
this excellent work were noticed in SCIENCE 
some time ago. The present part contains only 
a portion of the matter originally included in 
the second volume, the discussion of the hydro- 
carbons and their immediate derivatives being 
reserved for the second part of the same volume, 
The more important additions to this part are : 
the bromine thermal method, methods for the 
determination of glycerol, acetyl number, vari- 
ous tests for oxidation of oils, composition and 
official methods for examination of dynamites 
and smokeless powders, degras and cloth oils. 

The standard character of the work is so well 
known that any detailed criticism is unneces- 
sary. The revision has been well done and the 
book gives a good account of the present state 
of knowledge in what must be acknowledged as 
one of the most difficult as well as important 
fields of analytical chemistry. 

W. A. NOYEs. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 

I Sogni. SANTE DE SANCTIS. Torino, Fratelli Bocca. 
1899. Pp. 390. 

Geometrical Drawing for Army and Navy Candidates 
and Public School Classes ; Vol. 1., Practical Plane 
Geometry. EDMUND C. PLANT. London and New 
York, The Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xiv-+ 
185. 

Poems of Nature and Life.. JOHN WITT RANDALL. 
Edited by FRANCIS ELLINGWOOD ABBOT. Boston, 
Ellis. 1899. Pp. 556. 

The Making of Hawaii, a Study in Social Evolution. 
W. F. BLACKMAN. New York and London, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. xii-+ 266. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES— 
SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY, 
THE section met on May 15, 1899, Dr. A. A. 
Julien presiding. The following program was 
then offered : 


18 SCIENCE, 


LN. &. Von. IX. No. 232. 


1. Arthur Hollick : ‘A Reconnoissance of the 
Elizabeth Islands, Mass.’ 

2. W. Goold Levison : ‘ Several Notes on Mi- 
croscopical Attachments and Photography of 
Minerals.’ 

3. Heinrich Ries: ‘ Preliminary Notes on the 
Physical Properties of Clays.’ 

Another paper announced in behalf of Pro- 
fessor J. C. Smock, State Geologist of New 
Jersey, on ‘Artesian Water Supply in New 
Jersey,’ was postponed on account of sickness 
and absence of the author. 

The following is an abstract of Dr. Hollick’s 
paper on the Elizabeth Islands, which was 
illustrated by specimens, photographs, sketches 
and charts. 

The Elizabeth Islands extend in a southwest- 
erly direction from Wood’s Holl, Mass., forming 
the barrier between Buzzard’s Bay, on the 
north, and Vineyard Sound, on the south. 

The principal islands are five in number, and 
beginning at the eastern end of the group they 
are knownas Naushon, including Nonamessett, 
Uncatina, Pine Island, Buck Islands and the 
Weepeckets ; Pasque ; Nashaweena ; Penikese, 
including Gull Island, and Cuttyhunk. 

Little or nothing has been written in regard 
to them for the reason that each island, with 
the exception of Cuttyhunk, on which there 
are a number of separate holdings, belongs to 
some one individual, family or corporation ; 
hence there is no line of public travel to or 
through them and no house of public entertain- 
ment, except in connection with Cuttyhunk. 
The trip occupied a week and was made possible 
through the courtesy and kindness of the 
owners. 

Taken as a whole the islands represent a par- 
tially submerged morainal ridge, which has be- 
come separated into islands and isolated from 
the mainland in recent geologic times. They 
apparently represent a later, more northern 
branch of the terminal moraine, the southern 
or older portion of which is represented by 
Montauk Point, Block Island and Martha’s 
Vineyard. 

One of the most interesting discoveries was 
an exposure of plastic and lignitic clay, pre- 
sumably Cretaceous in age, on the south side of 
Nonamessett. The proximity of this locality 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


to the mainland leads to the inference that 
other deposits of the same age, which have es- 
caped erosion, may be found farther north, up 
the old estuaries, where theoretically the forma- 
tion once extended. 

The general surface features of the islands are 
such as are characteristic of typical morainal 
regions, consisting of rounded hills and corre- 
sponding depressions, many of the latter occu- 
pied by ponds or swamps. 

To an inquiry by Professor Kemp, Dr. Hol- 
lick stated that only indefinite lignitic remains 
had been detected in the deposits, and that no 
ilmenite boulders had been recognized. The 
Chairman explained that the Pinus rigida, of 
sparse occurrence on Naushon, was the prevail- 
ing conifer along the south shore of Cape Cod 
to the eastward, while, on the other hand, the 
beech was rarely found on the Cape. The 
morainie chain of the Elizabeth Islands ex- 
tended to the northerly part of the Cape, in 
Brewster, separated from the south shore by 
modified glacial deposits in Dennis, Harwich and 
‘Chatham. 

Professor R. E. Dodge was inclined to be- 
lieve that the whole aspect of the topography of 
‘these islands was that of a drowned shore line, 
modified by subsequent erosive action, probably 
not caused by easterly winds. Professor J. F. 
Kemp favored the view of the author, that 
present erosive action was mainly concerned ; 
and Dr. Hollick pointed out that the prevailing 
direction of the wind was southeast, that ex- 
tremely violent currents prevailed in the chan- 
nels, especially during ebb-tides, that sandspits 
occurred only at the east end of the channels, 
and that, during the process of sinking and ero- 
sion, the embayments deepened, met and united, 
and thus the channels were cut through. 

Professor Levison exhibited by the lantern 
six photographs of minerals, natrolite and cal- 
cite, taken by reflected light ; four enlargements 
of photomicrographs, by reflected light, of minute 
groups of aragonite, pyrite, apophyllite and 
stilbite ; a new method of showing the photo- 
graphic action of the Becquerel rays on a sensi- 
tive plate, by use of a written inscription on a 
card, in the form of a glue-line dusted with the 
powdered uraninite; a simple mode of attach- 
ment of a separate foot to a microscope, in 


SCIENCE. 


819 


order to render it portable; and read a note on 
a visit to Hubbard’s Mine, Fairfield county, 
Connecticut, with description and analysis of 
apparently a new lithia mineral from that local- 
ity. The Chairman suggested that such photo- 
graphic enlargements might be of great service 
for study of faces and even goniometric de- 
terminations on very minute crystals, where 
numbers of such crystals were arranged in co- 
incident planes and proper adjustments could 
be made. 

In the absence of Dr. Ries, an abstract of his 
paper was presented by Professor Kemp, with 
emphasis on two important conclusions: First, 
that the plasticity of clays was not caused by 
the predominance of any particular constituent, 
such as Kaolin, but by the physical coherence 
of minute surfaces; secondly, that the fusi- 
bility of clays was due, not so much to their 
mineral components, but to their ultimate chem- 
ical composition, and that this could be, there- 
fore, practically improved, when necessary, by 
intermixture with the proper constituents. 

The Academy then adjourned to October 2, 


1899. 
ALEXIS A. JULIEN, 


Secretary of Section. 


TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, MAY 9, 1899. 


THe regular program of the evening con- 
sisted of an address by Mr. Samuel Henshaw, 
‘Notes on the Flora of Porto Rico,’ giving an 
account of the people, customs, climate and 
present conditions of that island. He exhibited 
numerous specimens of Porto Rican utensils and 
articles of household use of vegetable manufac- 
ture, including many applications of the cala- 
bash gourd, from spoons to chopping-bowls, 
many ways of using palm leaves, etc., etc. He 
referred to the immense growths of Bougain- 
villea, showing a specimen, of Crotons in the 
open sun, of Fourcroya, Lantana, etc. He 
showed many photographs, portions of large 
tree fern and banana trunks, a tall wooden 
mortar and dumbbell-shaped wooden pestle, 
musical instruments made from gourds and 
from other sources. Orchids were few, the re- 
ports of their occurrence proving to be founded 
chiefly on aroids and Tradescantias, By one 
coming from the North the most singular sen- 


820 SCIENCE. 


sation is experienced on finding every common 
weed under foot to be what would have been a 
greenhouse plant at home. But he heard our 
soldiers say: ‘‘ We would rather go out and pick 
a dandelion once more.’’ i 
EpWARD 8S. BURGESS, 
Secretary. 


THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 

THE May meeting of the New York Section 
of the American Chemical Society was held on 
the 5th at the Chemists’ Club, 108 West Fifty- 
fifth Street. 

Mr. A. H. Allen, of Sheffield, England, well 
known as the author of the ‘Commercial Or- 
ganic Analysis,’ was present as the Society’s 
guest and was warmly welcomed. In response 
he made a short address expressing keen ap- 
preciation of his reception by the Section and 
his pleasure of being able to attend this meet- 
ing. 

The papers of the evening were by : 

1. W. 8. Myers: ‘On the Alcoholic Content 
of Some Temperance Drinks.’ 

2. J. H. Stebbins: ‘Upon the Action of Diazo 
Compounds upon Thymol para-sulpho-Acids.’ 

3. J. H. Stebbins : ‘ Note upon the Reichert 
Figure of Butter.’ 

4. L. L. Van Slyke, Geneva, N. Y.: ‘Some 
Facts and Fictions about Milk.’ 

5. Martin L. Griffin, Mechanicsville, N. Y.: 
‘Comparative Value of certain Reagents for 
removing Lime and Magnesia from Natural 
Waters for Industrial Uses.’ 

6. Charles F. McKenna: ‘A New Labora- 
tory Valve.’ 

DuRAND WoopDMAN, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
LARVAL STAGE OF THE EEL. 

To THE EDITOR oF ScrencE: Mr. Eugene 
Blackford’s ‘Note on the Spawning Season of 
the Eel’ in ScIENCE (p. 741-742) is interesting 
as well as important. As Mr. Blackford has 
indicated, almost ‘‘the only known instance of 
the taking of a sexually matured eel has been 
in waters of [nearly] one hundred or more 
fathoms in depth.’’ Others are rare. It 


[N. S. Voz. IX. No. 232. 


is probable, however, that our east-coast eels 
generally spawn in water of less depth. The 


occurrence of an eel with well-developed eggs. 


in water only two or three fathoms deep 
in May is, however, truly exceptional. The 
question then arises whether the eel had ma- 
tured eggs ‘ many months later than in the Med- 
iterranean’ or earlier. I am disposed to believe 
that the individual noticed had wandered be- 
yond its breeding ground and abnormally re- 
tained its eggs on account of its uncongenial 
environment. As Mr. Blackford also remarks 
about New York, ‘‘it has always been sup- 
posed that the spawning season takes place 
within a month or so of the’’ descent of the eels 
in November and December, and that ‘the 
elvers (montées) which ascend the rivers’ in the 
next ensuing ‘early spring’ are the young of 
those that had entered the seaa few months be- 
fore. For along time I have been of a different 
opinion. Inasmuch as (1) the sea-going eels do 


not mature their ova till the winter season, (2): 


the leptocephalus young are found from Febru- 
ary to September, or later, and (3) the transi- 
tional form between the leptocephalus stage 
and the cylindrical stage has been found in 
January, it appears tolerably certain that the 
elvers which ascend the rivers in the early 
spring are the progeny of eels that descended 
therefrom not later than winter of the penul- 
timate (and not last) year before. 

It may be of interest to add that brief notices 
and figures have been published of the develop- 
ment of the eelin a readily accessible journal— 


Nature—for March 18, 1897 (Vol. 55, pp. 467—- 


468), and for May 27, 1897 (Vol. 56, p. 85). 
THEO. GILL. 
WASHINGTON, May 26, 1899. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


AT a general meeting of the members of the- 


Royal Institution of Great Britain on May 22d 
the following scientific men were elected hon- 
orary members in commemoration of the cen- 
tenary of the Institution, which is being 
celebrated this week: Professor S. Arrhenius, 
(Stockholm), Professor C. Barus (Brown Uni- 
versity), Professor H. Becquerel (Paris), Pro- 
fessor G. L. Ciamician (Bologna), Professor N. 
Egorof (St. Petersburg), Professor A. P. N. 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


Franchimont (Leiden), Professor A. E. Gautier 
(Paris), Professor H. G. Kayser (Bonn), Pro- 
fessor W. Korner (Milan), Mr. S. P. Langley 
(Washington), Professor G. Van der Mens- 
brugghe (Ghent), Professor A. A. Michelson 
(Chicago), Professor H. Moissan (Paris), Pro- 
fessor R. Nasini (Padua), Professor W. Nernst 
(Géttingen), Professor W. Ostwald (Leipzig), Dr. 
E, Solvay (Brussels), Professor R. H. Thurston 
(Cornell), Professor E, Villari (Naples), Pro- 
fessor J. L. G. Vielle (Paris), Dr. E. Ador 
(Geneva), Dr. L. Bleekrode (The Hague), Pro- 
fessor J. S. Ames (John Hopkins University), 
Professor G. F. Barker (University of Pennsyl- 
vania), Geheimrath Professor Dr. Liebreich 
(Berlin), and President W. L. Wilson (Wash- 
ington and Lee University). 


Aspartof the exercises of the jubilee of Pro- 
fessor Stokes, Cambridge University has con- 
ferred the degree of Doctor of Science on the fol- 
lowing delegates: Albert Abraham Michelson, 
professor of experimental physics in the Univer- 
sity of Chicago; Marie Alfred Cornu, member of 
the Institute of France, professor of experi- 
xaental physics in the Eeole Polytechnique of 
Paris; Jean Gaston Darboux, member of the 
Institute of France, professor of higher geom- 
etry in the University of Paris; Friedrich Wil- 
helm Georg Kohlrausch, member of the Acad- 
emy of Sciences of Berlin, Director of the 
Physikalisch-technische Reichsanstalt, Charlot- 
tenburg ; Magnus Gustaf Mittag-Leffler, pro- 
fessor of pure mathematics at Stockholm ; 
Georg Hermann Quincke, professor of experi- 
mental physics in the University of Heidelberg ; 
Woldemar Voigt, professor of mathematical 
physics in the University of Gottingen. 


THE President of the Dover meeting of the 
British Association will as we have already 
announced, be Professor Michael Foster. The 
Presidents of the various Sections are to be: 
Mathematical and Physical Science, Professor 
J. H. Poynting; Chemistry, Mr. Horace T. 
Brown; Geology, Sir Archibald Geikie ; Zo- 
ology, Mr. Adam Sedgwick; Geography, Sir 
John Murray ; Economical Science, Mr. Henry 
Higgs; Mechanical Science, Sir William White ; 
Anthropology, Mr. C. H. Read; Physiology, Mr. 
J. N. Langley ; Botany, Sir George King. The 


SCIENCE. 821 


local committee have already collected £1,500 
toward the expenses of the meeting. 

THE honors conferred by Queen Victoria on 
her eightieth birthday included a baronetcy for 
Professor J. S. Burdon-Sanderson, the well- 
known physiologist, regius professor of medicine 
at Oxford University, and the K. C. B. for Pro- 
fessor Michael Foster, professor of physiology at 
Cambridge University, and to Mr. W. H. Preece, 
President of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 

PROFESSORS WILLIAM JAMES (philosophy), J. 
E. Wollf (petrography and mineralogy) and W. 
F. Osgood (mathematics), of Harvard Univer- 
sity, will be abroad on a leave of absence next 
year. Dr. Dickinson 8. Miller will take the 
work of Professor James, and Professor James 
Pierpont, of Yale University, the work of 
Professor Osgood. 

PROFESSOR S. P. THompson, F.R.S., has been 
nominated for the presidency of the British In- 
stitution of Electrical Engineers. 

WE learn from Nature that at the last meet- 
ing of the Midland Malacological Society, held 
in Mason University College, Birmingham, on 
May 12th, Mr. H. A. Pillsbury, of Philadel- 
phia, and Mr. Henry Fischer, of Paris, were 
elected honorary members. 

THE gold medal of the Paris Geographical 
Society has been presented to General Galliéni. 


ProFressor C, JuDSON HERRICK, who holds 
the chair of biology in Denison University, has 
received the Cartwright Prize ($500) of the Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Uni- 
versity. 

Mr. Joun S. Lorn, of Springfield, Ill., has 
been appointed Chief of Division in the Depart- 
ment of Statistics of the Census Bureau. Mr. 
Lord has been Chief of the Illinois State Labor 
Bureau and held a position in the Eleventh 
Census. 

Dr. WILLIAM Z. RipLey, of the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology and Columbia 
University, has been elected a corresponding 
member of the Societa Romana di Antropologia. 

Errorts are being made to collect £5,000 to 
erect a monument on the spot in Africa where 
Livingstone died. 


Miss ELIzABETH M, BARDWELL, professor of 


822 SCIENCE. 


astronomy in Mount Holyoke College, died on 
May 28th at the age of 67 years. 

Mr. G. F. Lysrer, a well-known English 
engineer, has died at the age of 76 years. 

THE British Association will, at its Dover 
meeting, not only exchange visits with the 
French Association, but will also entertain the 
Belgian Geological Society. 

THE United States Weather Bureau, which 
was opened at Colon, Colombia, last September, 
has finally been closed, its site being out of the 
track of the hurricanes. The instruments are 
to be transferred to Jamaica. 

King HumBeErtT opened at Como on May 
20th the International Electrical Exhibition or- 
ganized to celebrate the centenary of Volta. 


Tue Biological Survey of the Department of 
Agriculture has sent Mr. W. H. Osgood and 
Mr. L. B. Bishop to study the geographical dis- 
tribution of animals in Alaska. 


THE scientific expedition visiting Alaska on 
the invitation of Mr. Edward H. Harriman, to 
which we have already called attention, left 
Seattle on May 31st. It is expected that the 
expedition will return about August Ist. 


THE Entomological Society of Albany has 
recently been organized with an initial mem- 
bership of about twenty, under the following 
officers: Dr. E. P. Felt, President ; Professor 
Charles 8. Gager, Vice-President ; Mr. Charles 
S. Banks, Recording Secretary ; Miss Margaret 
F. Boynton, Corresponding Secretary ; Profes- 
sor H. M. Pollock, Treasurer. The headquar- 
ters of the Society will be, for the present, at 
the office of Dr. Felt, the State Entomologist, 
where the regular meetings will be held the 
second Friday in each month. The objects of 
the organization are the promotion of interest 
in entomological seience and the furtherance of 
fellowship, among those interested, for their 
mutual benefit and enjoyment. 

Tue Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 
is holding a conference during the present 
week. According to the program Mr. W. H. 
Preece, the President, makes an address, and 
various engineering subjects will be taken up 
in seyen sections. The subjects for discussion 
range over the whole field of engineering ser- 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 232. 


vice and practice, and include railways, harbors 
docks, canals, machinery, shipbuilding, mining 
and metallurgy, water works, gas works, sewer- 
age and electricity. It is proposed that each 
subject be introduced by a short paper, to be 
read by the author and discussed by the meet- 
ing. 

Nature states, in reference to the scientific 
commission which was appointed a short time 
ago by the Colonial Office and the Royal So- 
ciety to investigate the mode of dissemination 
of malaria, with a view to devising means of 
preventing the terrible mortality which now 
takes place among Europeans resident in trop- 
ical and subtropical climates, that Dr. Patrick 
Manson, chief medical adviser to the Colonial 
Office, has made a statement to a representative 
of the Exchange Telephone Company. Dr. 
Manson states that Dr. C. W. Daniels, of the 
Colonial Medical Service, British Guiana (who 
first proceeded to Calcutta to familiarize him- 
self with the work which had been carried on 
by Surgeon-Major Ross for determining the re- 
lation of mosquitoes to the dissemination of 
malaria), has now arrived at Blantyre, in the 
Central African Protectorate, where he has 
been joined by Dr. J. W. W. Stephens and Dr. 
R. S. Christophers. At Blantyre all the re- 
sources of the Protectorate will be placed at: 
the disposal of the commissioners, who, before 
their return to London, will probably pay a 
visit to the west coast of Africa. 


THE State Board of Health of Pennsylvania. 
has passed resolutions in view of the attempt of 
the Health Department of Philadelphia to con- 
ceal the presence of contagious diseases in that 
city. As the matter is one of scientific impor- 
tance from several points of view, we quote 
the resolutions : 


Resolved, That the State Board of Health and 
Vital Statistics earnestly deprecates the declared in- 
tention of the Director of Public Safety of the city of 
Philadelphia to conceal the presence and number of 
cases of smallpox, or any other communicable dis- 
ease in that city, and for the following reasons : 

First. Attempts of this kind invariably end disas- 
trously, defeating their own object. Rumor always: 
magnifies danger, creating suspicion, anxiety and 
panic. The publication of the exact truth indicates. 
that the authorities are vigilant, possessing full 


JUNE 9, 1899.] 


knowledge of the facts of the case, and have control 
of the situation, thus engendering a sense of security 
and dispelling alarm. 

Second. The policy of concealment prevents those 
living in the immediate neighborhood of infected 
houses, or who may desire to visit such neighbor- 
hoods, from taking necessary precautions for their 
own protection, and in this way facilitates the spread 
of the infection. 

Third. This course would vitiate the vital statis- 
tics of the city and State, impairing their accuracy 
and value, and destroying the confidence of the na- 
tional health authorities and of those of other States 
and cities in the trustworthiness of our returns. The 
latter will, therefore, hesitate to advise their citizens 
to visit a community which adopts the ostrich-like 
policy of burying its head in the sand in the presence 
of a danger, instead of frankly acknowledging and 
bravely facing it. 

Resolved, That the Board, however, desires to ex- 
press its belief that the danger at present existing is 
not of a character to excite serious apprehension, its 
entire confidence in the ability and intelligence of the 
Health Department of the city, and its assurance 
that the efficient measures which have been inaugu- 
rated will speedily terminate this merely localized 
outbreak. 


ACCORDING to the London Times the commit- 
tee which is organizing the German Antarctic 
expedition has decided that the expedition is 
to be composed of one ship only, any possible 
disadvantages being compensated for by greater 
independence and mobility. The vessel is to 
be built entirely of wood. The committee are 
confirmed in this decision by Nansen’s expe- 
rience with the Fram, and by their desire to 
eliminate all possible causes of error in their 
magnetic observations. The ship is to be laid 
down this autumn, and the expedition is to be 
ready to start in the autumn of 1901. It is to 
be away two years altogether. After touching 
at the Cape the expedition is to make for the 
Antarctic Continent south of the Kerguelen 
Islands, and there establish a scientific station 
at some point suitable for wintering. A pack 
of Siberian dogs is to be taken, and dashes will 
be made on sledges towards the South Pole and 
the south magnetic pole. Meteorological ob- 
servations will also be made from a captive 
balloon. After the breaking-up of their winter 
quarters the expedition will attempt to make 
as complete a survey as possible of the coast 


SCIENCE. 


line of the Antarctic Continent. The leader of 
the expedition is to be Dr. von Drygalski, who- 
conducted the German exploration of Greenland 
in the years 1891-93. The committee expresses 
great satisfaction that the English Antarctic 
expedition has at last been definitely decided 
on, and points out that the value of the two 
sets of meteorological observations will be 
greatly enhanced by their being carried on si- 
multaneously. According to their information, 
the English expedition is to make the attempt 
to penetrate southward from the South Pacific. 
The meeting of the International Geographical. 
Congress in Berlin in October will give an op- 
portunity for deciding on the details of the 
scheme of cooperation. 


Owince to the public improvements in the 
neighborhood of Parliament-street the Royal 
Meteorological Society has been obliged to va- 
cate its offices in Great George-street, and find 
accommodation elsewhere. The Council ulti- 
mately took rooms at Prince’s Mansions, 10, 
Victoria Street, which have been fitted up to 
meet the requirements of the Society. On the 
evening of May 16th the President, Mr. F. C. 
Bayard, held an ‘at home’ in these new rooms, 
which was largely attended by the Fellows. 
An exhibition of instruments, photographs, ete., 
was arranged in the various rooms, and there 
were also several demonstrations by the lantern. 


A BLUE book has been issued by the British 
government, giving a report prepared by Pro- 
fessors Thorpe and Oliver and Dr. Cunning- 
ham on the use of phosphorus in lucifer matches. 
According to an abstract in Nature Professor 
Thorpe deals with the questions from the 
chemical standpoint, and enters into such mat- 
ters as the differences between the allotropic 
forms of phosphorus, the composition of phos- 
phorus fumes, their solvent action on teeth, and 
the composition of the various pastes, etc., used 
in the manufacture of matches. Full and illus- 
trated accounts of the process of manufacture 
are given, both in Great Britain and in other 
countries, and the precautions taken to mini- 
mize the danger of the workpeople. Dr. 
Oliver, whose work in connection with other 
dangerous trades is so well known, approaches 
the question from the medical standpoint, and 


824 


the portion of the report for which he is respon- 
sible is clear, concise and practical. Dr. Cun- 
ningham’s report contains a full account of 
phosphorus necrosis, is illustrated by 
diagrams showing various stages of the dis- 
eases in the teeth and jaws. This condition 
is the most frequent and most obvious of 
the poisonous effects of the phosphorus; it 
is not by any means the only one. He also 
gives in full the precautions which should be 
adopted in all factories for combating the in- 
jurious effects of the poisonous fumes. There 
are various appendices which give in detail the 
facts upon which the main body of the report 
is founded. In the match industry two forms 
of phosphorus are used: yellow phosphorus, 
which is highly poisonous, and gives off poison- 
ous fumes which consist mainly of low oxides 
of phosphorus; and red phosphorus, which does 
not fume, and is hardly poisonous even if swal- 
lowed. Then, as is well known, there are two 
principal varieties of matches used: ‘safety 
matches,’ which are tipped with a composition 
free from phosphorus; the surface on which they 
strike is covered with a composition of which red 
phosphorus forms a part. The ‘strike any- 
where’ matches are tipped with a paste con- 
taining yellow phosphorus in a proportion which 
varies from 3 to 30 per cent. It is in the mak- 
ing of such matches only that danger arises. In 
regard to them the commission reports: ‘‘So far 
as the home consumption is concerned, it does 
not seem that the prohibition of the use of yellow 
phosphorus would involve any serious hard- 
ship, and this course has already been adopted 
by Denmark, and decided upon by Switzerland, 
care being taken at the same time to prohibit 
the use or importation of yellow phosphorus 
matches. But neither of these countries has or 
had any export trade to lose. The United 
Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden and Japan manu- 
facture largely for export, and it is feared that 
immediate prohibition of yellow phosphorus 
would at once divert that portion of our trade 
to other countries, unless international agree- 
ment upon the subject was arrived at. If grave 
injury to the health of the workpeople were in- 
evitable the loss of the trade might well be re- 
garded as the smaller sacrifice of the two, but 
the result of the inquiry points to a different con- 


and 


SCIENCE. 


{[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 2382. 


clusion. With due selection of workpeople, 
strict medical and dental supervision, proper 
structural and administrative conditions, and 
substitution of machinery for hand labor, it 
seems that the dangers hitherto attending the 
use of yellow phosphorus can be overcome.’’ 


JINIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Mrs. JANE L. STANFORD has executed deads 
conveying to Stanford University the greater 
part of her property. 

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY has received a 
further gift of $150,000 from Mr. Samuel Cup- 
ples for the support of the department of Civil, 
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and 
Architecture for five years, and a dormitory to 
cost $100,000 from Mrs. John E. Liggett, in 
memory of her late husband. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has given $50,000 
to the Stevens Institute, Hoboken, for the 
erection of an engineering laboratory. 

THE quarter of a million pounds required to 
inaugurate the University of Birmingham has 
been collected. The anonymous donor who 
has already subscribed liberally towards the 
fund has offered to give £12,500 if the total 
amount be raised to £300,000. 

Mount Holyoke College has received a gift 
of $10,000 from James Talcott, of New York, to 
complete the botanical gardens and plant- 
houses which are now under way at the insti- 
tution. 


A COLLEGE of Comparative Medicine is about 
to be established at Harvard University. <A 
chair of comparative pathology has been en- 
dowed by the fund given by Mr. George Fabian, 
and appropriations have been made from the 
bequest of the late Henry L. Pierce for a chair 
of comparative physiology and for laboratories. 
It is intended that the college shall perform the 
functions of the Pasteur Institute, of Paris, and 
the Jenner Institute, of London. 

THE Rev. W. H. P. Faunce, pastor of the 
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York City, 
has been elected President of Brown University. 

Proressor Henry G. JESUP, who has held 
the chair of botany at Dartmouth College for 
twenty-two years, has resigned. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwArRD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
J. LE ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. BrssEy, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowprrcu, Physiology; 

J. S. Bruuines, Hygiene ; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. PoWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JUNE 16, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


On the International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture of the Royal Society: PROFESSOR J. VIC- 


TOR\CARUSi.--ccccsescssececeectasscuaccsestssssanners ssn 825 
Some Common Sources of Error in Recent Work on 
ae Coccide: DR. C. L. MARLATT.......-.-00-eseeeees 835 
The Royal Institution ......0.cccccccececececscsccesesccccees 838 
Scientific Books :-— 


Campbell’s Elements of Practical Astronomy: G. 
C.C. Infinitesimal Analysis: DR. C. J. KEYSER. 
Roosa on Defective Eyesight: C.A.O. Books 
PRECCLUCH Maewetseeciissocctecore ces cesetaincasenese scenes 842 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Biological Society of Washington: Dr. O. 
F. Cook. The Philosophical Society of Washing- 
ton: E. D. Preston. Section of Astronomy 
and Physics of the New York Academy of Sci- 
ences: DR. WM. S. DAY........0cccccesceeeneecceeee 847 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 


Cerebral Light—Further Observations: DR. E 

WI SCRIPTURE scsscceutscessacestosssccsnnassecn: 850 
Professor Simon Newcomb......secccecccceseeeececeeneneas 851 
Scientific Notes and News.........sssecssesecsscceeneeeenees 851 
University and Educational News..........:1.sseeeeeeees 856 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


ON THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF 
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE OF THE 
ROYAL SOCIETY.* 

TuHE Royal Society of London has already 
demonstrated its great interest in bibliog- 
raphy and literature by the publication of the 
‘Catalogue of Scientific Papers.’ It pro- 
poses to continue its efforts. In the ‘ Inter- 


* Translated from the Zoologische Anzeiger, No. 
566. 


national Catalogue of Scientific Literature,’ 
which it has now planned, the Society in- 


. tends to correct the chief defect of the first 


undertaking, the absence of a subject in- 
dex. As is well known, it convened an in- 
ternational conference, which held meetings 
in London from the 14th to the 17th of 
July, 1896. The Conference voted to re- 
quest the Royal Society to appoint a com- 
mittee to consider all the unsettled ques- 
tions laid before it by the Conference. The 
report of the committee, signed by its chair- 
man, Professor H. E. Armstrong, was issued 
late in March, 1898. As compared with the 
‘Catalogue of Scientific Papers,’ the new 
work is (1) to be more complete, since it is 
to include all the literature within the 
fields under consideration—not alone that 
‘contained in certain periodicals,’ and 
‘books of definite categories;’ (2) to present 
the works in two methods of arrangement, 
(a) according to the name of the author, 
and (6) according to the contents of the 
catalogued article or book—and in the two 
forms, card-catalogue and book-catalogue. 
But it is to be (3) just as restricted as its 
predecessor, the ‘Catalogue of Scientific 
Papers,’ since it is to take into account only 
the natural sciences, together with mathe- 
matics and astronomy, as wellas psychology 
and anthropology. Finally (4) it is to be 
very much more voluminous, since the title 
is to be repeated on cross-reference cards 
under catch-words taken from the contents. 


826 


It is the business of bibliography to cata- 
logue all works appearing separately—viz : 
books, periodicals, publications of societies, 
monographs, atlases and pamphlets, whether 
published by dealers, by institutions or 
privately—with exact statement of the name 
of the author or authors, if known, the 
form, the extent (including the number of 
pages, and, if present, of plates, tables or 
other additions), the place and time of pub- 
lication, and where and at what price pro- 
curable. This part of the literature, so im- 
portant for the special workers in different 
fields, has been collected in separate works 
of a general nature (like that long since 
published by Reuss) or in reports on the 
literature of the separate branches. The 
custom of several societies of giving their 
separate papers to the dealers as soon as 
they were printed and of uniting these into 
a volume only at a later date, as well as the 
practice of antiquarian book dealers since 
the middle of the present century, of cutting 
up the volumes of periodicals and society 
publications (because treatises on separate 
subjects are more salable than volumes 
treating of a great variety of matters), re- 
sulted in the incorporation of the titles of 
such works in bibliographies, often, indeed, 
without any statement as to their source. 
In order to protect the special investi- 
gator from the mistake of supposing that 
these were independent works that bad es- 
caped his notice, it became necessary to in- 
corporate in bibliographies the contents of 
periodicals with a statement of the volume 
and the time of publication. It was in ac- 
cordance with these principles that I elabo- 
rated the Bibliotheca Zoologica. 

It is in this way that bibliography, in a 
somewhat enlarged sense, it must be ad- 
mitted, can and shouldbe compiled. But the 
needs of scientific investigators were not fully 
met by this. In addition to these bibliog- 
raphies arose the Jahresberichte on the sepa- 
rate sciences. It is the province of the latter 


SCIENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 233. 


to note not only the contents of the publica- 
tions under consideration, but also the scien- 
tific results contained in them. Bibliog- 
raphy may, indeed, meet the needs of the 
writers of Jahresberichte, first—by giving 
the contents of the separate works, yet this 
ought to be restricted to those cases where 
the contents refer to two or more not imme- 
diately connected subjects (e. g., if, in a 
work on precession and nutation, the special 
form of a new meridian circle is described, 
or if a treatise on one class of animals con- 
tains communications on an entirely differ- 
ent class); and, secondly, by exceeding the 
minimum limit for the citation of scientific 
contributions and incorporating, for ex- 
ample, from periodicals, notices of only 3 or 
4 lines, if these contain important or inter- 
esting new facts (e. g., the discovery of a 
definite organ in a group of animals in 
which it has not hitherto been found, or the 
presence of a species of animal in a place 
where it has not been previously observed). 
This, however, is the utmost limit to which 
bibliography (sensu latissimo) should go. 
The first objection to be raised to the plan 
of the Royal Society Catalogue lies in the 
impracticable though only partial amalga- 
mation of bibliographic work with that of 
the abstracts and reviews. No. 17 (Resolu- 
tion No. 6) of the Conference reads: ‘That, 
in indexing according to subject-matter, re- 
gard shall be had, not only to the title (of 
a paper or book), but also to the nature of 
the contents.”” According to the wording 
this practically corresponds to my last state- 
ment. But the undertaking planned by the 
Royal Society deviates from this in essen- 
tial particulars, and, indeed, in a manner 
that is absolutely impracticable and, at 
least as far as regards the examples given 
in the Report, useless. The plan is im- 
practicable because the matter to be in- 
dexed is subdivided far too minutely. If, 
for example, all the new species of animals 
were to be enumerated under the name o 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


the genus—whether in the book-catalogue 
alone, or on the separate cards—or even 
only the new genera, not only would the 
work be multiplied twenty-fold or a hun- 
dred-fold, but the catalogue would be so in- 
creased in size that it would be unmanage- 
able. And, finally, the enumeration of these 
names without an accompanying <lescrip- 
tion has only a doubtful value for the in- 
vestigator. This belongs in the Jahresbe- 
richte. The noting of new generic names, 
as I give them in the Bibliography of the 
Zool. Anzeiger, is of value to working 
zoologists in preventing the use of names 
already employed. No. 13 (Resolution No. 
2) is to the effect that in preparing such a 
catalogue ‘regard shall, in the first in- 
stance, be had to the requirements of scien- 
tific investigators.”’ Butis it really of special 
value to investigators to have in addition to 
the title three references (with special in- 
dices, while the article itself remains with- 
out any index number) to an article like 
that of E. Wiedemann und E. Ebert: 
““Leuchterscheinungen in elektrodelosen 
gasverdtnnten Raumen unter dem Einfluss 
raschwechselnder elektrischer Felder ?’’ Or 
will a zoologist working on Mammals, or a 
physiologist looking for communications on 
the use of separate organs, need three refer- 
ence cards for de Winton’s article ‘on the 
existing forms of Giraffe?’ On p. 11 of the 
Report (under 7) it is expressly stated that 
‘““it is not proposed that it [the card or slip] 
should provide an abstract, in any shape or 
form, of the communication to which it re- 
lates.’’ Apart, then, from this inconsistency 
(for the noting of all new species and 
genera, and the noting of the forms referred 
to in the synonymy [vide Zoology, 35 A.], 
is in reality an abstract), emphasis is laid 
on simple bibliography. Why, then, this 
enormous ballast, which is neither valuable 
for the investigator nor of use to the 
librarian or the public? It is self-evident 
that cross-references must be made use of, 


SCIENCE. 827 


but only in so far as is demanded by the 
nature and form of publication and by the 
wording of the title. 

But, besides this, one of the chief ques- 
tions is: Who shall abstract this statement 
of contents and select the necessary catch- 
word (which is required to be in English! )? 
Will working, busy physicists, chemists, 
physiologists, etc., have time and inclina- 
tion, after having mastered the publications 
required for their own work, to read through 
so carefully the publications in the remoter 
fields of their special sciences, which do not 
particularly interest them, as to be able to 
write the necessary reference cards on every 
chief and accessory subject treated? It will 
be necessary, then, to have recourse to as- 
sistants. But it can scarcely be expected 
that they, even though they may have a 
‘literary education,’ will be so familiar with 
all details of the subject that they will 
select those really important. And even if 
they were so well educated as to be able to 
reproduce correctly, ¢. g., the chief headings 
from Italian, German, French and English 
works, would they be familiar with the 
technical expressions, often so different in 
the different tongues, that are to be em- 
ployed as catch-words? The same difficul- 
ties would be repeated, if the (moreover 
quite superfluous) translation of the Italian, 
German, etc., catch-words were to be done 
by the Central Committee in London. 

According to Resolution No. 2, as I have 
said, the needs of scientific investigators 
were to be regarded first. But these are 
not precisely the same as the needs of 
libraries. Will the latter be met by a cata- 
logue of the form and extent planned? 
Hardly! And yet an undertaking involv- 
ing so great an expenditure of time and 
money as this ‘ Catalogue’ ought to furnish 
libraries—a part of whose duty it is to 
serve as a go-between for science and the 
public—with other advantages than a 
voluminous work of reference. But that 


828 SCIENCE. 


will not be the case. The best arranged 
subject-catalogues cannot embrace refer- 
ences which may be entirely appropriate to 
vechnical scientific bibliographies, but do 
not belong in general reports. The library 
officials will be overwhelmed by the separate 
references to articles, a great part of which 
they do not possess. A survey of that 
which a given library possesses, and that 
which is still wanting, must be secured by 
assorting the cards, and this will require an 
enormous amount of work, constantly in- 
creasing with each additional cross-refer- 
ence. <A library catalogue cannot and ought 
not to give information about the contents 
of things which are not in the library, un- 
less it is to increase infinitely the difficulty 
of determining what new acquisitions are 
needful. A library is not a repertory of 
literature. Of course, it should be able to 
give ample information concerning those 
things which it does possess ; it must, there- 
fore, introduce extensively into its cata- 
logue cross-references, but only such as are 
of a bibliographic nature. 

Reflection on the problems and needs of 
libraries and on the possibility of the gen- 
eral acceptance and introduction of their 
plans should have protected the Royal So- 
ciety from another important mistake, from 
the limitation of their plans to the natural 
sciences in the broad sense. In the case of 
so gigantic an undertaking as the creation 
not only of an alphabetic authors’ catalogue, 
but also of an alphabetically arranged sub- 
ject catalogue, it is useful to limit the plan 
at first to the inauguration of a part of the 
scientific literature. But the whole plan— 
the general scheme—ought under all cir- 
cumstances to have been extended to the 
whole realm of knowledge ; first, in order to 
facilitate—even to render possible—the 
same arrangement of parts in the literature 
of other sciences; secondly, so that the ne- 
cessity of uniformity might be grasped by 
the framers of the scheme. But the Royal 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


Society purposely avoids uniformity even 
within the limits which it has drawn. “ No 
attempt has been made to use similar num- 
bers in a similar way in two or more 
sciences [one must, therefore, learn the 
scheme and the signification of the charac- 
ters employed for each science by itself], 
the only instance in which agreement is 
met with being in the opening section, 
which in most cases [therefore, not in all] 
includes the general bibliography of the 


science” [p. 10 of Report]. But how is it 


carried out? Let us take the first scheme 
of classification: A. Pure Mathematics. The 
first division contains the heading ‘ Bibli- 
ography’ (without number or other designa- 
tion of the rubric); then follow : 


“0000 Philosophy, 
0010 History, 
0020 Biography, 
0030 Dictionaries and text-books, 
0040 Pedagogy, 
0050 Addresses, lectures, essays, 
0060 Works on methods.” 


What place, what number, does Bibliog- 
raphy receive here? In the case of ‘C. 
Meteorology’ history is 0020 and Bibliog- 
raphy 0040, in that of ‘J. Geography’ Bi- 
bliography is 0400. Elsewhere the things 
which are grouped together under ‘ Peda- 
gogy’ recieve, generally, the index 0040, 
but under ‘J. Geography’ it bears the num- 
ber 0500. If, further, one compares with 
these ‘LZ. Zoology,’ he finds here a Table 
with 297 sub-divisions (namely, 33 system- 
atic and nine times these from various 
standpoints), beginning with ‘02 General 
Zoology’ ‘(comprehensive : 0203).’ The 
wonderful division ‘31’ ‘Pedagogie and Eco- 
nomic’ embraces: ‘‘ Special text-books and 
manuals. Preservation of specimens ; Mu- 
seums; Zoological Gardens and Aquaria. 
Relations to plants, injurious insects, etc. 
Galls. Special products: wax, silk, honey. 
Animals injurious to man. Bibliographical, 


eT, ee ath oe 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


including Historical. Biographical.’ Can 
one imagine anything less distinct, less con- 
nected, less natural? (Museumsand honey, 
the San José scale insect and the biography 
of Huxley in one group!). But how is this 
applied? The previously mentioned article 
by de Winton on the forms of giraffe re- 
ceives the index L0000, which, according 
to analogy with all the other sciences, 
would be ‘ Philosophy,’ not, indeed, in re- 
lation to Mammals or any form of Rumi- 
nant, but to Zoology in general ! 

The chief ground of this want of unifor- 
mity and naturalness, of these inconsisten- 
cies, lies in the system of classification and 
indexing adopted by the Committee of the 
Royal Society. This is essentially an imi- 
tation of the decimal system of Melville 
Dewey. But, instead of simply adopting 
this system, developed and tested by twenty 
years’ of work and extensive experience in 
numerous libraries, the Committee has 
thought best to employ in the separate divi- 
sions other numbers for the same rubrics, 
and also another sequence for the sub-divi- 
sions, as well as other and changeable signi- 
fications for these. One must unqualifiedly 
agree with M. Ch. Richet in his derogatory 
and harsh judgment upon this procedure 
(v. Revue scientif., sér. 4, T..9, No. 24, p. 
751). While M. Richet is decidedly right 
in pointing out with severe criticism that 
the Committee simply ignores previous 
classifications and methods of indexing, and 
has only aimed to produce something differ- 
ent from what already existed, one may go 
further and affirm that, from the form in 
which the Committee has drawn up a kind 
of decimal system, it is evident that the 
Committee either did not perceive the main 
advantages of the Dewey system or that it 
did not wish to recognize them. It adheres 
to the externals, but misunderstands their 
significance. Thus, according to Dewey, the 
formal index 07 in all cases refers to the 
method of study and its aids, such as the 


SCIENCE. 829 


establishment of collections, etc. Under 
‘Sociology ’ Dewey calls this ‘ Education’ 
(307). In order not to adopt one of 
Dewey’s expressions, the Committee intro- 
duces the term ‘ Pedagogic,’ which in such 
a connection is misleading. But the way 
in which this is interpreted is shown by the 
example of the division ‘31 ’of Zoology, 
cited above, and by the placing of compu- 
ting machines, models, etc., under separate 
indices coordinate with ‘ Pedagogy.’ 

The English boast of being an eminently 
practical people. In this case they have 
not shown it to be true. There is scarcely 
anything less practical than the ‘ Schedules 
of Classification’ and the numerical indices 
employed in them. Equally unpractical is 
the method of citation of sources. In ‘Chem- 
istry’ what is the meaning of ‘B.,’ ‘ BL,’ 
‘Soc.;’ what (under ‘Crystallography ’) is 
‘ZsK.?’ The catalogue ought not to be 
produced for chemists alone; but the power 
to interpret such hieroglyphics is not to be 
expected of other educated people. Alpha- 
betic catalogues of the abbreviations should 
be furnished ; and there should be two of 
them—one, for the use of cataloguers, ar- 
ranged according to the titles of the period- 
icals; another, for those using the catalogue, 
according to the initial letters of the abbre- 
viation. The space that is perhaps saved 
is not worth the cost—the constant trouble 
of looking up references. One may abbre- 
viate, but only so far as is compatible with 
certain recognition of the source intended. 
But this must be given accurately. ‘Mém- 
oires des Sav. Etrang’ is ambiguous. Is 
Paris or is Brussels meant? The cards re- 
lating to the contents of works (‘secondary 
slips’) must contain abbreviated state- 
ments ; thus ‘Teeth, histology of those of 
Notoryctes, Tomes, etc.,’ is correct. But 
to convert the title into another form is 
not permissible. Thus Beddard’s paper, 
‘Notes on the Anatomy of a Manatee 
(Manatus inunguis), lately living in the 


830 SCIENCE. 


Society’s gardens,’ appears on the ‘sec- 
ondary slip,’ under the form ‘Various points 
of anatomy of Manatus inunguis and lati- 
rostris.’ Such an example misleads, result- 
ing in inaccurate citations, and sanctions 
‘the loose manner in which, unfortunately, 
citations of literature are much too fre- 
quently made. Instead of adopting the 
most direct and natural method, there has 
been an attempt to introduce a certain 
‘Schematismus,’ which is impractical, how- 
ever, because it is not rigidly adhered to. 
But the new ‘Catalogue’ is to be in English, 
in contrast to the plans elaborated by the 
Office international de bibliographie in 
Brussels and by the Congrés international 
de bibliographie held at the same place in 
the year 1895, which the Committee of the 
Royal Society has regarded simply as non- 
existent. This use of English (ignoring 
of the work of others) extends even to the 
specification of the size of the cards (which, 
of course, differs from that of the cards now 
in use) in English inches and lines, not in 
the metric scale, which is more and more ex- 
tensively used even in the scientific circles of 
England (v. Report, p. [15], 22). It isa 
great satisfaction that Professor W. E. 
Hoyle, who has attained high scientific emi- 
nence and possesses experience in biblio- 
graphic and library matters, criticises the 
proceedings of the Royal Society quite as 
harshly as M. Richet (v. his communica- 
tion in Natural Science, Vol. IX., July, 1896, 
p. 48, and the addendum of the editor of 
the periodical, p. 48-52). 

It would be going too far to go into de- 
tails; certain points, however, may be of 
interest. Under the Division L (Zoology) 
35, ‘Taxonomy and Systematic,’ it is ex- 
pressly stated that the book-edition of the 
catalogue is to present a complete system- 
atic record of the literature of the year, 
“ similar to that which is at present carried 
out in the ‘sytematic’ sections of the Zoolog- 
ical Record.’? Therefore, there are to be 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 233. 


added to the cards, with the names of new 
genera and species, statements as to the 
families and orders to which they belong, 
and as to the locality where they are found ; 
valuable information about genera and 
species already known is also to be given. 
Fossil species are to be treated in the same 
way (notwithstanding that there is likewise 
an elaborated system of Paleozoology). 
The Book Catalogue in this respect differs 
from the Card Catalogue. The latter con- 
tains only the General, the Taxonomic and 
the Phylogenetic ; itis to contain the names 
of new families, sub-families and other im- 
portant groups, as well as synonymic re- 
marks. The separation of the two editions 
—one of which is to be issued in card form, 
whereas the other, giving details of the 
new genera and species, is to be employed 
only in the preparation of the book-edition 
—is very artificial and arbitrary. The ar- 
rangement of other divisions of ‘ Zoology’ 
is also extremely unnatural and wanting in 
comprehensiveness. Under L 11, ‘ Physi- 
ology,’ are found in motley array: ‘“ Par- 
thenogenesis, Pedogenesis, Dissogony, Her- 
maphroditism, Function of the Sense Organs, 
Function of Special Structures, e. g., of 
Glands, Environmental Effects, Regenera- 
tion, Change of Function.” This is cited 
as an example of what in Zoology may come 
under the heading ‘ Physiology.’ If one 
compares with this ‘ N Physiology,’ which re- 
ceives the qualification ‘(animal),’ the latter 
(animal) is found to contradict the adopted 
classification ; for the whole division is es- 
sentially human or vertebrate physiology, 
with everywhere additions concerning the 
pathological conditions of the organs and 
the effects of drugs, and only a few chapters, 
rather as appendices, on lower animals. 
The existence of an elaborated scheme for 
Physiology by Ch. Richet is passed by 
with the same silence as is the zoological 
scheme worked out by me in the Zoologischer 
Anzeiger. Whether the branches embraced 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


under ‘Physiology’—certainly important 
for zoologists too—are to be contained iu 
the Annual Report is not stated. 

But Analytical Reports (Jahresberichte) 
and Bibliography are, as already empha- 
sized, two different things, the combination 
of which is injurious to both. Forty or 
fifty years ago a single person might pos- 
sibly have been able to meet the require- 
ments of both successfully and accurately, 
but that is no longer possible. In the An- 
alytical Report many things must be men- 
tioned of which the Bibliography cannot 
make note. 

The explanations of the other main di- 
visions (in the Report of the Committee) 
nowhere state whether Analytical Reports 
are to be issued for them, or whether Zool- 
ogy alone is thus to be provided for. It 
looks as though there was a desire to make 
use of the existing machinery of the Zoolog- 
ical Record, but not to the advantage of all 
parts of the undertaking. Moreover, for an 
Analytical Report a special system of regis- 
tration would be more or less superfluous, es- 
pecially in the form here selected, inasmuch 
as the systematic arrangement, together 
with the alphabetical, would furnish an ade- 
quate means of orientation. But, neverthe- 
less, there is introduced a scheme of arrange- 
ment going into the minutest details and 
even impossibilities. What sense or purpose 
is there in creating a separate rubric for 
‘ Tower Paleozoic and Upper Paleozoic Mam- 
mals and Birds?’! But how, for example, a 
work ‘On the History of Entomology in 
England’ would be designated and assigned 
a place is not discoverable. Likewise, diffi- 
culties are encountered in attempting to in- 
dex such a paper as ‘ On Fossil Molluses of 
Sicily.’ For the letters which are, unfor- 
tunately, introduced for geographical groups 
give a designation, ‘dh,’ only for ‘Italy, with 
Sicily and Sardinia’ (Corsica is left with 
France), and concerning its possible further 
sub-division nothing is stated. There is no 


SCIENCE. 


831 


explanation whatever about the significance 
of the position of the separate characters in 
the series constituting an index; ‘35,’ it is 
true, indicates everywhere the General ; 
and yet this is influenced by the the regis- 
tration letters and by its position. ‘ Fossil 
Molluses of England’ are ‘K 35, 42 de.’ 
‘K 35, 02’ is Paleozoology in general. ‘L 
0235 (just the reverse order) is general 
Zoology, while ‘Ll 0035’ is used for the 
names of new genera and new groups. That 
a system of notation should allow the possi- 
bility of its being afterwards extended to 
other branches of knowledge has been dis- 
regarded. As it now stands, this is ex- 
cluded; for, since the natural sciences 
already use up as registration symbols the 
letters A to Q, the incorporation of other de- 
partments of knowledge appears to be 
practically impossible. 

Thus it becomes evident how perilous it 
was for the Committee of the Royal Society 
to endeavor to discover a new system anal- 
ogous to, and in imitation of, the Dewey 
decimal system, instead of simply adopting 
that. Certain modifications which, indeed, 
Dewey himself holds to be possible or per- 
missible could have been adopted, if only 
the chief numbers and the main features of 
their employment had been retained. It 
can scarcely be maintained that combina- 
tions of letters are more easily remembered 
than groups of figures. It is a matter of 
habit, and certainly Dewey taxes the mem- 
ory less, since his numbers have mutual 
relations, and especially since certain im- 
portant groups of ideas retain throughout 
the whole system the same designation, and 
because, moreover, the figures follow a fixed 
sequence. It has been objected to the deci- 
mal system that it is too detailed, since 
already twelve-place numbers have been 
reached. This objection is in part well 
founded, in so far as the expanders of the 
system, almost from the beginning of their 
employment of it, have given an index to 


832 


every possible idea. It appears to me, there- 
fore, that, e.g., the scheme elaborated by 
Richet for Physiology is not practical. 
There are few writings that could not be 
put with equal propriety in two or more 
places in the system of sciences. Conse- 
quently one ought to establish rules as in 
the framing of statutes, indicate general 
points of view, and not lose oneself in cas- 
uistics. But the going into details is carried 
further in parts of some other systems of 
classification than in Dewey’s. Thus, in the 
Schema des Realkatalogs der Kgl., Uni- 
versitatsbibliothek zu Halle a.8.,’ Eschat- 
ology is designated by Jg VI. g. F. a. to Ig 
VI. g. F. 1, polemics on eschatologic sub- 
jects in the preceding division by Jf IV. 6. 
tlh o If IV. 6.1.7. Dewey employs for 
these the indices 236 and 237 with the di- 
visions 236. 1-9 and 237. 1-7. Hartwig 
devotes about 800 alphabetically arranged 
catch-words to Roman Law, 138 to Feudal 
Law and 91 to Commercial Law, Maritime 
Law, ete. Which classification goes the 
further, and which symbol is the easier to 
remember ? 
* * * * * * * 

By placing side by side the method of ar- 
rangement and indexing of the Halle Cata- 
logue, the Dewey system and the recommen- 
dation of the Royal Society in a special case, 
the character of each is recognized. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 233. 


dations of the Royal Society, the indexing of 
the literature of these sciences does, indeed, 
need to be altered in the direction of the 
decimal system. But examples from other 
branches of science were cited above which 
prove not only the applicability, but the 
great usefulness, of the Dewey system. The 
main disadvantage of the Hartwig plan lies 
in this, that the schedules have been elabo- 
rated separately and without regard to one 
another. They have, in part, been drawn 
up by able specialists, and may, indeed, be 
excellent as such, but are not, from the 
library point of view, suitable. The Com- 
mittee of the Royal Society desired to avoid 
all analogy with the Dewey system, and, 
instead of adopting the simple and already 
existing system that had proved its useful- 
ness, the Committe has created a system 
which is impracticable because illogical and 
artificial. ; 

It is, however, not my purpose to espe- 
cially recommend here the Dewey decimal 
system. The aim of every bibliographic 
system of classification is not so much to 
produce a scientific system carried out to 
the last details as to present a scheme ac- 
cording to which the writings of all periods 
can be arranged in a comprehensive and 
easily recognizable way. The plan must, 
therefore, be kept so flexible that, on the one 
hand, any desired amount of space may be 


HALLE CATALOGUE. DEWEY. RoyAL Society. 
Fauna of Naples Sc. II. 2.6. N(eapel) : 591. (457) L 0227, dh(i. e. Italy) 
Paleontology “‘ Sa. I. 8. C. N (eapel)| 560. (457) K 35, dh(i. e. Italy) 
Mollusks Fo Ses LLL OSB ael(c us) 594. (457) L 4227, dh(i. e. Italy) 
rapt See Sica Nh 8 564, (457 K 3542, dh(i 

2 (Sa. I. 8. C. ?) i ) 542, dh(i. e. Italy) 

Tertiary ‘© ‘ 2? 564.(t :457) | K 7542, dh(i. e. Italy) 
Fishes ‘ ‘ Se, IID. 13. C. (?) 597. (457) L 1427, dh(i. e. Italy) 
Fossil “ ‘ Sa. IV. 3.B.i. 6 (?) 567. (457) K 35, 14, dh(i. e. Italy) 


It is the opinion of many that the Dewey 
system is best adapted to the Natural Scien- 
ces. According to the preceding examples 
from the Halle Catalogue and the recommen- 


easily had for every new branch of a science 
that may arise, and that, on the other, it 
can be adopted without difficulty to every 
requirement of the scientific worker who 


JUNE 16, 1899. ] 


needs a convenient survey of the literature 
in question, as well as to the peculiarities 
of libraries, whether large or small, public 
or private. There is no doubt that, sooner 
or later, some system like Dewey’s must be 
adopted ; in the interest of unity it is to 
be desired and hoped that it will be Dewey’s 
system itself. That the Committee of the 
Royal Society has come to an analogous 
system is significant. What was said 
against Dewey’s system by some persons at 
the London Conference in July, 1896, can 
only be regarded as having resulted from 
a misconception of it. It was said, e. g., 
that it would be difficult with the decimal 
system to introduce new discoveries in 
Physics ; but I should like to ask with what 
other system this would be easier without 
alteration of the scheme itself? No part of 
science is tied down by it, is rigidly 
hemmed in, firmly restricted by it [certainly 
not more firmly than by other systems, in 
which there is in certain sciences such an 
unlimited extension of sub-divisions (com- 
pare Roman Law, Dogmaties, etc., of the 
Halle Catalogue)]. On the contrary, the 
decimal system is the most elastic and 
adaptable that can be imagined, since it 
everywhere presents the possibility of mak- 
ing additions and extensions; it even lends 
itself, under certain conditions, to the in- 
troduction of modifications to suit the needs 
of the individual investigator or of special 
libraries. The system of the Committee of 
the Royal Society,on the contrary, is the 
most rigid and inelastic of all. Let one at- 
tempt to make an intercalation into Zoology, 
for example! Everything is, indeed, tied 
down, but notin the desirable sense that 
the same thing always bears the same num- 
ber. Further, it has been said, that it is a 
very weak side of the decimal system that 
numbers 1,2, etc., have to serve at the 
same time for a general system of science 
and as the tokens of the separate books. 
But this is not the case. Nowhere has 


SCIENCE. 


833 


this been said, either by Dewey himself or 
by any of his followers. The separate 
numbers can, and are intended to, give 
nothing further than the rubrics into which 
the separate writings are to be grouped, 
exactly as do the combinations of letters 
and figures in the Halle Catalogue. Hand- 
books of Zoology are 590.2 according to 
Dewey, Sc. II. 1, according to Hartwig ; 
but the arrangement and designation of the 
numerous works belonging in this category 
must, of course, be carried out, according to 
some other fixed method conformable to 
the custom prevailing in each individual 
library, just as in the case of monographs, 
etc., it is left to each library and to each 
private person to arrange the writings bear- 
ing the same indices according to pleasure. 
For a general bibliography, in book form or 
in cards (slips), this question does not arise 
at all, since in these cases each user and 
each library is at liberty to arrange the 
cards according to preference. 

The procedure of the Committee of the 
Royal Society as regards the introduction 
of the system of classification and indexing 
drawn up by them leaves a singular impres- 
sion. After the question of classification 
had been designated in the words used by 
Professor Armstrong at the opening of the 
Congress in July, 1896, as a burning one, 
and after the agreement of the aims of the 
Royal Society with those of the Congrés 
international de bibliographie in Brussels 
(1895) had been mentioned, it would have 
been of the greatest value to all who are in- 
terested in the further development of this 
international undertaking if the Committee . 
had stated, even in the briefest manner, 
what position their undertaking (in imita- 
tion of that of Brussels) was intended to 
assume toward this model, which pursued 
absolutely the same object and was already 
in active operation. For, aithough the 
Royal Society limits itself to the Natural 
Sciences, the idea, the plan is identical in 


834 


both. Moreover, after the Dewey system 
had been thoroughly discussed in the de- 
liberations concerning ‘ Resolution 17’— 
although this resulted in the cancellation of 
the words relating to this system and in the 
adoption of a wording which designates as 
unacceptable all recently recommended 
systems of classification and transfers the 
elaboration ot a new system to the Com- 
mittee of Organization—it would have been 
appropriate for the Committee, inasmuch 
as it was pledged to give a ‘ Report’ on the 
work entrusted to it, to have explained how 
it came to construct a system essentially in 
imitation of Dewey’s, and differing from 
this only by its unsuitableness and incon- 
sistency. There should also have been 
given an explanation to serve in using it. 
Finally, it might reasonably have been ex- 
pected that the Committee of the Royal 
Society would have had knowledge of the 
existence of a Committee of the British As- 
sociation, which, appointed for zoological 
bibliography, might perhaps have had in- 
fluence upon the determinations of the 
Royal Society’s Committee of Zoology, in 
view of the exceptional position which this 
Committee assumes. Instead of this, the 
paper called ‘Report of the Committee, 
etc.,’ gives the incomplete sketch of a system 
of classification and indexing devised by the 
Committee, which completely ignores all 
similar previous labors and all that had 
been formerly accomplished in the direction 
of this great undertaking, all of which, 
taken in connection with the report of the 
Conference of July, 1896, seems almost a 
betrayal of trust. 

The particulars of the organization of the 
whole machinery cannot be gone into here. 
However, it is necessary to give warning on 
two points—against the far too great cen- 
tralization, by which all titles are to be sent 
to the Central Bureau in London, where 
they are to be revised by suitable experts; 
and against too great confidence in the ‘Re- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


gional Bureaux.’ In regard to the first 
point, should a certain uniformity of ex- 
ecution appear to be secured, nevertheless 
it must be pointed out that it is quite incon- 
ceivable how the ‘ expert,’ without having 
the works themselves before him, could 
make use of the subject cards and cross- 
reference cards (compare the examples cited 
above). So far as regards the activity of 
the Regional Bureaux, I will call attention 
to only one fact. In the year 1895 the 
Société Zoologique de France formed an 
organization elaborated according to a 
definite plan for the purpose of securing the 
most complete collection of the zoological 
bibliography of France possible, with com- 
mittees and sub-committees, all represented 
by experts and men zealous in the cause. 
And what has this organization accom- 
plished? Next to nothing! The chief part 
of the labor will in the present case also be 
left to that individual industry which, with- 
out continually meditating on ‘ Organiza- 
tion,’ accomplishes the real work. 

The subscription to all departments 
amounts to £66 ($330.00); that of the 
separate sciences from £4 5s. Od. to £8 
5s. Od. ($21.25 to $41.25). Zoology belongs. 
to the most voluminous, and will, therefore, 
demand the last-named price. These calcu- 
lations are, of course, only preliminary, and, 
so far as regards Zoology, for example, rest 
on total absence of knowledge of the sub- 
ject. ‘Experts’ have estimated the num- 
ber of zoological articles (including the 
whole of Anatomy !) at 5,000. Ihave cat- 
alogued yearly during the last three years, 
without Anatomy and with omissions unfor- 
tunately not wholly avoidable, about 8,000 
zoological titles. If one reckons for Anat- 
omy only half as many additional titles, 
these two branches furnish nearly one-third 
of the 40,000 estimated as the yearly num- 
ber for all thesciences. If this is compared 
with the scheme of classification in Zoology, 
Paleontology, Physiology, etc., there is in- 


JUNE 16, 1899. ] 


contestable evidence that it was the inten- 
tion to produce in this something which, 
with sovereign disdain for all that now ex- 
ists, was to flow forth from the Royal So- 
ciety’s well of wisdom. But the Royal 
Society has not thereby erected a monumen- 
tum aere perennius, for if the plan should 
actually be carried out—from which sad 
result may the good fates spare science—it 
is unquestionable that in a very short time 
the whole scheme, together with numbers 
and everything else, will have to be changed. 
However thankfully the news might be re- 
ceived that a body like the Royal Society 
—to whose esteemed position in the scien- 
tifie world so general a participation in this 
planis to be attributed—finds itself im- 
pelled to continue the plan of a biblio- 
graphic repertory conceived by the ‘ Office 
international bibliographique de Bruxelles,’ 
still the question must be raised: Does 
the uncertain and precarious condition of 
this undertaking, calculated entirely upon 
English conditions, warrant the granting of 
the great cost of its cumbersome organiza- 
tion from the public means ? 
J. Victor CARus. 
LErpzic, UNIVERSITY. 


SOME COMMON SOURCES OF ERROR IN RE- 
CENT WORK ON COCCID. 

No group of insects has excited more in- 
terest nor attracted more new students 
perhaps in the last few years than the 
scale insects, or Coccide. Entomological 
magazines, and, in fact, journals of all sorts 
and descriptions, and in the most unex- 
pected and unusual quarters, have been 
heavily charged with literature of new spe- 
cies, sub-species, etc. The great number of 
such new species has struck the attention 
even of non-workers in this group, and par- 
ticularly has the designation of an astonish- 
ing percentage of sub-species, physiological 
species, varieties, etc., been calculated to 
arouse the gravest suspicion as to the re- 


SCIENCE. 


835 


liability of the work done and the validity 
of the forms characterized, especially when 
the characters on which the new species, 
sub-species, etc., are based are at all care- 
fully investigated. That with all the en- 
thusiasm manifested in working up new 
material and describing new forms many 
good species are found and characterized 
cannot be doubted, and it is, therefore, the 
more to be regretted that the authors re- 
sponsible for much good work have been 
led by a surplus of zeal to be guilty also of 
much that must be a positive detriment to 
the knowledge of this group of insects. For 
the benefit of future students, and with the 
intention merely to bring about, if possible, 
a much needed reform in the interest of the 
scientific value of the work done, it may 
not be out of place to call attention to some 
of the common sources of error and ques- 
tionable work. The criticisms to follow 
apply more particularly to the scale insects 
belonging to the Diaspinee, with which the 
writer is most familiar, and especially to 
the genus Aspidiotus in its old and broader 
sense. 

In the first place, it does not seem to 
have been sufficiently impressed on most 
writers that the scale covering, though an 
important adjunct of the insect, is not the 
insect itself, and still less the extraneous 
matter, such as sooty mold, epidermis of 
bark or leaf, etc., with which the scale may 
be covered. Many of the Diaspinze—in fact, 
almost any of them—at times may assume a 
slight or marked so-called ‘ mining’ habit. 
In other words, the female insect in revolv- 
ing from side to side in the formation of 
the covering scale, and in making additions 
to it, is very apt, with her flat chitinous 
lobes, to cut under the superficial and more 
or less loosened layers of the bark, with its 
covering of mold or other extraneous mat- 
ter, and this loosened material slides up 
over the scale and adheres closely to it, 
much modifying and changing its color and 


836 


appearance. This mining habit varies, of 
course, with the plant, being less on per- 
fectly smooth bark, and much more promi- 
nent on bark that is rough or fibrous, or on 
older wood. The same mining habit is ex- 
hibited in scales occurring on leaves where 
the epidermal growth or any sooty mold, 
or other foreign matter, is lifted and covers 
the scale in the same way. Several species 
or sub-species of scale insects have been 
established on accidental variations of this 
character, as, for example, Chionaspis fur- 
furus, var. fulvus King. Examples of the 
type of this species sent to the Department 
of Agriculture exhibit many scales which 
show none of the epidermal coverings, while 
others, owing to the character of the adja- 
cent bark, are covered more or less com- 
pletely by the outer layer of the bark of the 
plant. On this basis any scale insect al- 
most may be split up into two or three 
species or varieties. The careful study of 
the scale in its relation to its situation on 
bark or leaf made by the writer has shown 
that the majority of the species in the 
Diaspine occasionally or frequently present 
epidermal or extraneous coverings. 

The scale varies also in shape as influ- 
enced by the nature of its surrounding con- 
ditions. The exuviee is often shifted, or ap- 
parently so, by obstructions, such as veins 
or inequalities of the surface or the prox- 
imity of other scale insects. A convex scale 
becomes flattened when the insect occurs 
beneath the sheaths of the leaves, as on 
palms or bananas. 

Color also varies very notably, being in- 
fluenced undoubtedly by climatic condi- 
tions, dryness or humidity, the presence of 
mold or other fungi. The food of the in- 
sect on different plants undoubtedly also 
affects the character of the excrements. 
The effect of weather and age in bleaching 
or otherwise changing the appearance of 
the scale is often notable. The character- 
istic appearance of the scale varies im- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


mensely in proportion as it has free room 
for growth or is crowded or massed to- 
gether densely on the bark or leaves. The 
San José scale, growing in scattered numbers 
here and there on the terminal twigs, bears 
no resemblance whatever to the crowded 
masses. on old, badly infested wood. The 
same is true of almost any other scale insect. 

The covering scale, therefore, cannot be 
taken as a criterion of very great value in 
the separation of species, and by itself is 
almost without value. The specific char- 
acters must be found in the insect itself, 
the scale covering furnishing indications 
only of arough sort. The describer of new 
species who fails to notice the importance 
of these sources of error, and sees a species, 
a sub-species, a physiological species or a 
variety, in every such accidental difference, 
greatly retards rather than advances the 
knowledge of this group of insects. It 
would be just as legitimate to describe as a 
new species an insect found on the under 
side of a leaf, as opposed to an insect found 
on the upper side, as to designate as new a 
species because a little extraneous matter 
is adhering to its scale covering, or to 
describe men as distinct species because 
they wear different colored coats. 

When the insect itself comes to be ex- 
amined, other sources of error present 
themselves. For example, the question of 
the maturity or adultness of the specimens 
under study arises, and also the problem of 
individual variation. In the determination 
of material it is,as a rule, absolutely neces- 
sary to have the adult female insect. In 
the Diaspinz, for example, the full grown 
second stage of the female is often nearly 
as large as the third or last stage, if not 
larger in some instances, and yet the dif- 
ference in the structural characters of the 
two stages is very great. As an example 
of a description of a new species from a 
failure to recognize the maturity of the 
specimens, Cockerell’s so-called variety 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


lateralis of Newstead’s difinis may be cited, 
lateralis merely representing the immature 
stage of Comstock’s cydonic. 

In the matter of individual variation 
this is just as notable in scale insects as in 
man or other animals. The two halves of 
the anal plate of a female Diaspine are 
never exactly alike, and often vary within 
quite wide limits. In different individuals 
from the same colony such variations are 
still greater. Fortunately, however, the 
characters of real value in this group of in- 
sects are much more constant than one who 
had not studied the subject would suppose, 
even in the case of material representing 
the same species from widely separated quar- 
ters of the world, and on totally dissimilar 
food plants. In the Diaspine, perhaps 
more markedly than in most other groups of 
insect, the specific characters are sharply 
and satisfactorily defined, and, hence, the 
less excuse for the cumbering and befogging 
of the literature which has resulted from 
careless, hasty and thoughtless work. 

Minute differences in the pores or glands 
and appendages, or in the lengths of the 
joints of antennze or legs, are usually indi- 
vidual and would often make two species 
of the same specimen if the latter were cut 
in half in the line of the main axis of the 
body. To return to an illustration already 
employed, one might as well describe men 
as distinct because they have Roman or 
Greek noses or short or long chins. 

In other groups than the Diaspine I 
cannot speak from careful personal study, 
but I have the gravest doubts of the value 
of descriptions based on slight variation in 
the lengths of the joints of legs and anten- 
ne, all of which must be subject, within 
specific limits, to variation with the age of 
the specimens and with its condition as to 
abundance or scarcity of nourishment. In 
this connection I cannot do better than 
quote the views expressed relative to the 
group Lecanine, by Mr. Theo. Pergande, 


SCIENCE. 


837 


in a recent letter to a correspondent, views 
in which I heartily concur. He says: 

“ With regard to the difference in length 
of one or the other of the antennal joints, 
* 3 k %& -& JT will say that it is simply 
individual variation; even in the same 
specimens the comparative length of 
either of the joints of both antenne 
varies frequently, more or less. There is 
generally, also, a more or less perceptible 
variation in size, color and shape, in the 
same species, dependent in a measure on 
the food plant on which it may have estab- 
lished itself, and also on the locality. Old 
specimens, which have attained their full 
growth and have died a natural death, are 
generally darker, if prepared for the micro- 
scope, than younger individuals of the same 
stage, and with all the pores of the derm 
much more distinct. As to the shape of 
the individual scales and their sculpturing 
IT find in our material of typical specimens 
of Lec. armeniacum the same variations as 
those mentioned * * * * * To con- 
sider every slight variation of specific value 
would lead to endless species which nobody 
would be able to recognize, and which 
would cause endless trouble in the study of 
this most difficult group of scale insects.” 

The writer trusts that the foregoing criti- 
cisms will be taken in the kindest spirit, as 
they are intended, and he does not wish it 
to be thought, for an instant, that he fails to 
recognize the learning and enthusiasm 
shown by the prominent workers in the 
Coccide, by no means all of whom have 
been equally guilty, and whose work in the 
main has been most excellent, and com- 
mands the heartiest approval, but, having 
experienced the great difficulty and labor 
necessary to discover and correct errors 
arising from the conditions criticised, the 
need of calling attention to them seems 


imperative. CO. L. Martarr. 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


838 SCIENCE. 


THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 

Tus celebration of the Centenary of the 
Royal Institution, London, which took 
place last week, is an event of interest and 
importance to scientific men, emphasized to 
us, perhaps, by the fact that the founder of 
the Institution was an American. Itisa 
somewhat curious fact that the Smithsonian 
Institution should have been founded by an 
Englishman and the Royal Institution by 
an American. There has not been time for 
an account of the exercises in connection 
with the celebration to reach us, but ac- 
cording to the program they were to include 
a lecture by Lord Rayleigh on the physical 
work of the Institution during its hundred 
years’ existence and a lecture by Professor 
Dewar on its chemical work. The attend- 
ance of a large number of foreign delegates 
had been assured. In the meanwhile we 
take from the London Times the following 
facts regarding the history and scope of the 
Institution. 

It was founded by Sir Benjamin Thomp- 
son, or, as he preferred to call himself, 
Count Rumford in the Holy Roman Em- 
pire, and was an offshoot or extension of a 
Society for Bettering the Condition and In- 
creasing the Comforts of the Poor, formed 
in 1796, according to the proposals of that 
somewhat eccentric genius. His ideas on 
the matter were formally submitted to a 
select committee of that Society, which re- 
ported in their favor on February 1, 1799. 
The next step was to circulate a definite 
outline of the scheme among people who 
were thought likely to subscribe to the 
undertaking, and so successful was their 
appeal to the public that 58 of the ‘most 
respectable names’ were obtained in a few 
weeks. On March 7th these original sub- 
scribers of 50 guineas each met at the house 
of Sir Joseph Banks, then President of the 
Royal Society, and elected a committee of 
managers, who were desired to take pre- 
paratory measures for opening the Institu- 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


tion, and in particular to solicit the King 
for the grant of a royal charter, which was 
obtained early the next year. Less than 
two months later the purchase was ordered 
of Mr. Mellish’s house in Albemarle Street, 
and on June 5th the managers held their 
first meeting on the premises, which have 
ever since remained the home of the Royal 
Institution. 

This, as may easily be inferred from the 
circumstances of its origin, was in the con- 
ception of Rumford a very different style of 
place from what it subsequently became. 
It was, in fact, nothing but a glorified me- 
chanics’ institute, its objects being, as de- 
fined in his proposals, the speedy and gen- 
eral diffusion of the knowledge of all 
new and useful improvements, and teach- 
ing the application of scientific discoveries 
to the improvement of arts and manu- 
factures and to the increase of domestic 
comfort and convenience. The first was to 
be attained by the public exhibition, pref- 
erably in actual operation, of useful inven- 
tions applicable to the common purposes of 
life. A perusal of the detailed measures 
by which this end was to be achieved al- 
most makes the reader suspect that in the 
Count’s view salvation was to come by 
cooking. His list of the things to be shown 
in the repositories, indeed, includes models 
of ‘that most curious and most useful ma- 
chine, the steam engine,’ of ventilators, 
lime-kilns, spinning wheels and looms, agri- 
cultural implements, bridges of various con- 
struction, etc., but the place of honor is 
given to stoves of all sorts and to the ‘ most 
perfect models of the full size’ of kitchens 
and utensils suitable for a cottage, a farm- 
house and the family of a gentleman of 
fortune, respectively. The Institution, too, 
had not been in existence for a year when 
a good cook was engaged for the “ improve- 
ment of culinary advancement, one object 
and not the least important for the Royal 
Institution,’ while another of Rumford’s 


a 


—~ 


——————rrrorereeee 


JUNE 16, 1899. ] 


pet projects was the establishment of a 
dining-room in the house where experi- 
mental dinners could be ordered, to test the 
merit of any new method of cooking or any 
new dish that may be proposed. To at- 
tain the second of the primary objects of 
the Institution, Rumford proposed to fit up 
a lecture room for philosophical lectures and 
experiments and to provide a complete 
laboratory and philosophical apparatus for 
making chemical and other experiments. 
Only men of the first eminence in science 
were to be invited to “ officiate in the most 
important and distinguished situation of 
lecturers,” and, to judge from the prospec- 
tus, they were to confine themselves to 
the most severely practical applications of 
science. 

For the first two or three years Rumford 
devoted all his energy to the realization of 
his ideas, and it is evident enough that dur- 
ing that time he was the ruling spirit of the 
Institution. The first part of his scheme to 
be brought into operation was the course of 
philosophical lectures. These were begun 
in March, 1800, Dr. Garnett being the first 
professor. For a time a temporary lecture- 
room was used, but it was not long before 
the theatre, built from the designs of Web- 
ster, was brought into occupation. This 
room, which is singularly successful in its 
acoustic properties, remains substantially 
unaltered at the present day, the chief 
structural changes being the abolition of a 
stone staircase that led directly from the 
upper gallery to the street, and the improved 
exit, which was finished only a month or 
two ago. The only other important event 
in the first year of the Institution’s exist- 
ence was the appointment of 14 committees 
for the purpose of specific scientific investi- 
gations ; but that the managers had not the 
least idea of promoting what we should 
now call original research in pure science is 
obvious from the subjects into which they 
were to inquire. Rumford’s hand is plainly 


SCIENCE. 839 


discernible in the list, which includes bread, 
soup, cottages, stoves, household furniture, 
food for cattle, mortar and cement, fireballs 
and combustible cakes, etc. In the next 
two years still greater progress was made. 
The chemical laboratory was brought into 
use, and a director, operator and assistant 
were appointed ; the workshops, in which 
models of new and useful inventions were 
to be constructed and sold at reasonable 
prices to subscribers and professors, were 
finished and provided with the best tools 
obtainable ; a number of skilled mechanics 
were engaged, and arrangements were made 
for the reception of ingenious and well- 
behaved young men, who were to be 
boarded in the house, working in the work- 
shops by day and in the evening attending 
classes in drawing, practical geometry and 
mathematics, under the direction of the 
clerk of the works (Mr. Webster). 

But in 1802 a change began to make it- 
self felt. Doubtless the circumstances that 
personal reasons caused Rumford to leave 
England and relinquish the superintend- 
ence of the Institution was not without 
influence, but the main factor was want of 
money. Rumford was perhaps justified in 
writing early in 1801 that the Institution 
was ‘not only the fashion, but the rage’; 
but in 1802 the case was certainly different. 
In 1799 the income was £6,379 and in 1800 
£11,047, but in 1801 it fell to £3,474 and in 
1802 to £2,999, while at the same time the 
expenses were increasing. In short, the 
state of affairs became so bad that the idea 
was seriously discussed of closing the place 
and selling off its property to pay its debts. 
Luckily, however, it was saved, and the 
management passed into the hands of men 
stigmatized by Sir Joseph Banks as ‘the 
enemy’ and ‘ the profane,’ which was, per- 
haps, his way of saying that they possessed 
some businesslike instincts. Quietly drop- 
ping the kitchens, the models, the work- 
shops and the school for mechanics, in 


840 SCIENCE. 


which Rumford’s interest had centered, 
they determined to carry on the scientific 
establishment and to get money for so doing 
by giving ‘ fashion to science.’ This policy 
may not have been magnificent, but it was 
successful, and has resulted in securing to 
the Royal Institution a place in the history 
of scientific progress which all the patent 
stoves and roasters in the world would 
never have assured. Nor, after all, was 
there anything very dreadful about it. 
The private patron of science or art is not 
despised because his liberality has afforded 
some struggling genius the opportunity of 
using his talents ; why, then, should an in- 
stitution have been abused because it set 
itself to organize the public into a sort of 
collective patron ? 

The domestic record of the Royal Insti- 
tution from the time when, in Davy’s 
words, it definitely took the ‘‘form of a 
body for promoting experimental science 
and for diffusing every species of philo- 
sophical knowledge ”’ contains few events of 
surpassing interest. Financial crises have 
been not infrequent, and sometimes acute, 
but have never proved fatal. Increased 
prosperity was hoped for as a result of the 
modification of its constitution by Act of 
Parliament in 1810, but its first endowment, 
some 23 years later, was none the less wel- 
come. This consisted of a sum of £10,000 
from John Fuller, and rumor says that it 
was a token of gratitude because the lec- 
ture theatre of the Institution was the only 
place where he could overcome the insom- 
nia from which he habitually suffered. 
With two-thirds of the money professor- 
ships of chemistry and physiology were to 
be endowed, while the remaining portion 
went to form an accumulating fund, the in- 
terest on which, when the capital amounted 
to £10,000, was to be applied to the general 
purposes of the Institution. Since then it 
has received many legacies and donations. 
Money left by Mr. Alfred Davis in 1870 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


enabled the chemical laboratory to be re- 
built in accordance with modern require- 
ments; in 1892 Mr. T. G. Hodgkins, of 
Setauket, Long Island, gave $100,000 for 
the ‘investigation of the relations and co- 
relations existing between man and his 
Creator’; and in 1896 Dr. Ludwig Mond 
founded and endowed the Davy-Faraday 
Research Laboratory, which is contiguous to 
the Royal Institution and under the super- 
intendence of its managers. This is spe- 
cially interesting as being in great meas- 
ure the realization of a scheme which the 
Institution all but adopted more than half 
a century before. In 1843 a proposal was 
made to establish on its premises a school 
of chemistry, not only to give instruction to 
students, but to provide a place where orig- 
inal research could be carried on by skilled 
workers. The scheme met with cordial ap- 
proval from Faraday and the managers of 
the Institution, and they only abandoned 
it because they were reluctantly driven to 
the conclusion that the accommodation was 
not sufficient to carry it out properly. Since 
that time schools of chemistry have been 
started in abundance, but no place designed 
exclusively for the prosecution of independ- 
ent research existed in England until Dr. 
Mond’s liberality provided this laboratory, 
which is open to qualified workers without 
distinction of sex or nationality. 

The real history of the Royal Institution 
is the history of the discoveries made by 
the distinguished men who have worked in 
its laboratories, and to write that in full, at 
least for the early part of this century, 
would be little less than writing the history 
of scientific progress in England. The 
Institution had the good fortune to secure 
among its first professors three of the great- 
est natural philosophers this century has 
known. The first, Thomas Young, was a 
man of the most remarkable and varied at- 
tainments, but, perhaps, his best title to 
fame is that he was one of the prime found- 


——————————————n 


JUNE 16, 1899. ] 


ers of the wave theory of light, which plays 
so important a part in modern physics. It 
was left to later generations to appreciate 
his merits in this respect and to discover 
that he had anticipated many points for 
which Fresnel was given the credit. Sir 
Humphry Davy’s tenure of the professor- 
ship was nearly coextensive with his scien- 
tific life. Engaged in 1801, he immediately 
proved himself not only a lecturer of sin- 
gular charm, but a most skilful and prolific 
investigator. His most far-reaching re- 
searches were probably those on the chem- 
ical agencies of electricity, for it was in the 
course of them that he decomposed the 
alkalies by a strong electrical current, thus 
not only discovering the metals sodium and 
potassium, but laying the foundations of 
electrolytical chemistry, a science whose 
industrial applications are now becoming 
more numerous and important every day. 
In addition, he made many researches in 
pure chemistry, and his work in the phil- 
osophy of flame led to the famous invention 
of the miner’s safety lamp. The third of 
this triumvirate, Michael Faraday, entered 
the service of the Institution as assistant in 
the laboratory and rose to be its chief orna- 
ment and support. His scientific output 
during the 50 years in which he labored is 
quite unequalled for range and quality, in- 
cluding, as it does, researches in alloys, new 
organic compounds, optical glass, the lique- 
faction of gases, regelation, the action of 
metals on light, magnetism and diamag- 
netism, the magnetization of light, and the 
induction of electrical currents. The place 
of honor must undoubtedly be assigned to 
his work in the last department, not only 
because of its enormous theoretical sig- 
nificance, but also on account of the prac- 
tical results of which it has been the start- 
ing point ; it forms the foundation of the 
huge and increasing fabric of modern elec- 
trical engineering. 
Another distinguished name in the annals 


SCIENCE. 


841 


of the Royal Institution is that of John 
Tyndall, who for 34 years maintained the 
traditions of the place as a brilliant lecturer 
and experimentalist. His researches were 
numerous and varied, the main ones rela- 
ting to heat, to sound and to the behavior of 
small particles, such as compose dust, 
whether of living or dead matter. Of the 
first the difficult investigation of the ab- 
sorption by gaseous bodies of invisible radia- 
tion is the most important, but his book 
on ‘ Heat considered as a Mode of Motion ’ 
is a classic which shows to advantage his 
splendid power of popular scientific exposi- 
tion. Insound some of his most interesting 
work, that on the laws governing the audi- 
bility of foghorns and other signals in thick 
weather, was done as scientific adviser to 
the Trinity Board, a position in which he 
succeeded his friend and colleague Faraday, 
while his inquiries on atmospheric dust 
yielded results of great value alike to the 
physicist and the biologist. Tyndall was 
succeeded, both at the Royal Institution and 
the Trinity House, by Lord Rayleigh, who 
is universally recognized as one of the ablest 
mathematical physicists now living. Doubt- 
less he is best known popularly in connec- 
tion with the discovery of argon, but, in fact, 
his scientific reputation rests upon investi- 
gations of the most abstruse and difficult 
kind and upon practical achievements, 
among which the isolation of a new gas 
takes a secondary place. Of the men who 
followed Faraday in the chair of chemistry 
all are still at work. The first, Sir Edward 
Franklin, perhaps, in strictness should not 
be called a successor of Faraday, since he 
never held the Fullerian professorship, 
which was bestowed on Faraday for life, 
but he was appointed professor of chemistry 
when the latter’s failing health obliged him 
to give up lecturing, and in the laboratory 
of the Royal Institution he carried out some 
of those researches on organo-metallic com- 
pounds which stamped him as one of the 


842 


most remarkable experimentalists of the 
time. The next two Fullerian professors 
were Dr. Odling and Dr. Gladstone, and 
the fourth was Professor Dewar, the present 
occupier of the chair, who was appointed 
in 1877. Continuing the work initiated by 
Faraday on the liquefaction of gases, he has 
succeeded in proving by experiment that, as 
indicated by theory, there is no such thing 
as a ‘permanent gas ;’ for, since his recent 
liquefaction of fluorine, helium and hydro- 
gen, no known gas remains that has not 
been reduced to the liquid state. His 
work has opened up an entirely fresh field 
of physical research, and, rich as the first 
results have been so far, they are in all 
probability only small in comparison with 
those which will be obtained by further in- 
vestigation of the properties of matter near 
the zero of absolute temperature. 

The Institution has undoubtedly been 
fortunate in the professors who have worked 
in its laboratories. But even genius can- 
not do much without opportunity, and, 
therefore, some of the credit is deserved by 
the long succession of officers and members 
of the Committee of Managers, who have 
for a hundred years looked after its business 
affairs and guided it safely through many 
vicissitudes, not only without fee or emolu- 
ment, but at the expense of much time and 
not infrequently of much money. In this 
connection it is interesting to note that the 
presidency almost seems to have become an 
hereditary appanage of the Dukes of North- 


umberland, for, with the exception of the. 


years between 1865 and 1873, when it was 
held by Sir Henry Holland, it has been in 
their hands continuously since 1842. Men- 
tion, too, must be made of what the mem- 
bers themselves have done. Over and 
above their regular subscriptions, they, with 
their friends, have contributed since 1863 
something like £13,000 to the fund for the 
promotion of experimental research, and it 
is safe to say that had it not been for this 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 233. 


fund English science in general would have 
been the poorer, and the Royal institution 
in particular would not possess the inter- 
national reputation it bears to-day—a repu- 
tation won, be it remembered, in the good 
old English way, without state subvention 
or government aid. Modern scientific re- 
search daily becomes more costly, because 
apparatus grows in delicacy and compli- 
cation, on the one hand, and in ‘size and 
weight, on the other, and thus there arises 
a proportionate increase in the need for 
individual generosity. The fact that such 
pecuniary aid has been forthcoming in the 
last century warrants the expectation that 
the stream of benefactors to the Royal 
Institution will not fail in the next, and 
that they will enable it to point to as proud 
a record on its second centenary as it now 
does on its first. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Elements of Practical Astronomy. By W. 
W. CAMPBELL. New York, The Macmillan 
Company. 1899. Second Edition, Revised 
and Enlarged. Pp. xii+ 264. Price, $2. 
This second edition of a work favorably 

known to American astronomers who are 

charged with the duty of instruction appears 
in bulkier form and better mechanical execu- 
tion than its predecessor, but with its general 
character not very greatly altered. Its merits 
and defects are to be estimated from the stand- 
point assumed by the author, who assures us 
that ‘‘My experience in presenting the ele- 
ments of practical astronomy to rather large 
classes of students in the University of Michi- 
gan led me to the conclusion that the extensive 
treatises on the subject could not be used satis- 
factorily, except in special cases.’’ In this 
opinion we heartily concur and, absolving the 
author from obligation to deal with the more 
specialized and recondite parts of his subject, 
we find his self-imposed task properly expressed 
in the words ‘‘It is intended that this book 
shall contain the elements of practical as- 
tronomy with numerous applications to the 
problems first requiring solution.’’ For this 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


purpose one may properly enough select the 
conventional material and methods found in 
such authoritative treatises as those of Chau- 
venet and Bruennow, and for the most part this 
has been done in the present work with great 
fidelity, although the author has found room for 
some few ameliorations of astronomical practice. 
The material selected for presentation is that 
leading up to the determination of time, lati- 
tude and azimuth with portable instruments, 
together with a brief treatment of the meridian 
circle and equatorial telescope and a welcome 
chapter, not usually found in such works, upon 
the surveyor’s transit. This really efficient in- 
strument has been strangely neglected by 
astronomers, and its astronomical capabilities 
find scant appreciation even in the present work, 
whose author, doubtless through a slip of the 
pen, appears to consider the accuracy attain- 
able with it to depend upon the least count of 
the verniers. A further most welcome innova- 
tion, which the author has not seen fit to make 
here, but which we bespeak fora future edition, 
would have been the introduction of an ele- 
mentary treatment of the spectroscope consid- 
ered as an adjunct to the equatorial telescope. 

Asa whole the work may be cordially com- 
mended, but its general excellence is marred 
here and there by sins both of omission and 
commission. Opinions may differ as to the 
author’s wisdom in appending to the text a bald 
exhibit of the principal formule of the 
method of least squares, with no pretense at 
their derivation and with but little explanation 
of their use, but surely ‘the best modern prac- 
tice of observing’ does not justify the giving 
up of four per cent. of the entire treatise to 
such antiquated matter as lunar distances and 
the ring micrometer, nor does the scope of a 
beginner’s book seem to call for giving up 
another four per cent. to diurnal parallax as 
affected by the earth’s compression, although 
precedent for such treatment may be found in 
the standard works. 

The author’s methods of observation and 
computation are for the most part those of 
Chauvenet, an excellent model for half a cen- 
tury ago, but one which now admits of improve- 
ment in respect of formule to be employed for 
the reduction of observations. The general in- 


SCIENCE. 


843 


troduction of addition and subtraction loga- 
rithms into all the better logarithmic tables in 
common use has removed that supposed neces- 
sity for ‘adapting formule to logarithmic com- 
putation ’ under which the older writers labored, 
and in many cases permits their formuls, and 
those of Professor Campbell, to be considerably 
simplified. An instance in point may be found 
at p. 107, where the author derives the hour 
angle of a star from its measured altitude 
through the formula for tan 4 ¢ and is obliged 
to write down seventeen numbers for this pur- 
pose. The same result may be derived through 
cos ¢ and the addition and subtraction loga- 
rithms with thirteen numbers, and the latter re- 
sult is in no wise inferior to the former in re- 
spect of the unavoidable errors in logarithmic 
computation. In this particular case the two 
methods, when applied with five-figure loga- 
rithms, give results which differ by only one sec- 
ond of are, after correction of two errors in the 
the author’s computation which make his 
printed hour angle 74’’ wrong. 

A similar case occurs at page 199, where the 
author introduces the parallactic angle into the 
formule for determining the azimuth of a cir- 
cumpolar star when its declination, hour angle 
and the latitude are given. In the example 
given to illustrate these formule and solved at 
p- 201 with six-figure logarithms the author 
writes down nineteen numbers in order to pass 
from ¢to A, where the ordinary formula which 
furnishes tan A directly in terms of the data 
permits the transformation to be made with 
eleven numbers. In respect of precision the 
short method has an even greater advantage, 
and when applied with five place tables will 
in general give results as precise as can be ob- 
tained with six place tables by the method of 
the text. 

Throughout his entire work the author ap- 
pears to have ignored the advantage offered by 
addition and subtraction logarithms, with re- 
sults distinctly unfavorable to his formule. 
Another example of correct and conventional 
but cumbrous methods of reduction may be 
found in connection with the readings of a 
spirit level, p. 80. By the use of diagonal 
differences the result may here be found and 
checked without writing down a single figure. 


844 


The rather tedious treatment of the transit 
instrument in 45 pages contains no reference 
to two innovations, the most important since 
the invention of the chronograph, which have 
been successfully introduced into modern Euro- 
pean practice with this instrument. The in- 
vention of the transit micrometer has furnished 
a simple and effective means of almost per- 
fectly eliminating the influence of personal equa- 
tion in transit observations, and the practice 
which has come into vogue in connection with 
this micrometer, of reversing the instrument 
upon every star observed, equatorial as well as 
polar, is revolutionary in its effect upon work 
with a portable transit. This reversal may be 
employed equally well with any good form of 
transit, and furnishes the very great advantage 
of automatically eliminating from the observa- 
tion of each star a host of errors, such as the 
effects of collimation, flexure, ineqality of 
pivots, etc., and the further signal advan- 
tage that the number of unknown quantities 
in the observation equation furnished by the 
star is reduced from the three or four recom- 
mended by the author to two. A work in 
which these advances are ignored is of doubt- 
ful service in ‘illustration of the best modern 
practice’ with the transit instrument. 

The most serious general criticism to be 
brought against Professor Campbell’s treatment 
of his subject is illustrated above; that he has 
not chosen methods and formule with sufficient 
reference to economizing the time and labor of 
the computer, although for the guidance of the 
latter, in matters left to his own judgment, 
there is furnished in Appendix A an excellent 
series of hints on computing. 

Other points at which the author nods in 
varying degree from obscurity of statement to 
absolute error are the foot-note to p. 207 rela- 
tive to projecting the sun’s image upon a screen 
by ‘ focusing the eye-piece so that the images of 
the sun and wire are seen on the paper’ and 
the statement, p. 75, that in the determination 
of the value of a revolution of a micrometer 
screw from transits of a star ‘the effect of re- 
fraction is inappreciable if the observations are 
made near the meridian.’ The first quotation is 
technically correct, but few students would infer 
from it that two distinct operations are®o be 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


performed, one of which in the ordinary type 
of instrument consists in moving the objective. 
The second quotation is quite wrong if more 
than three significant figures are required in the 
result and in the illustrative example given by 
the author, by neglecting the refraction he has 
vitiated the final result to an amount twice as 
great as the probable error which he assigns 
to it. 

An error made with all the emphasis of ital- 
ics requires that an altitude measured from the 
sea horizon shall be corrected for refraction be- 
fore the dip of the horizon is taken into account, 
and another error occurs at p. 160 (and also in 
the first edition of the work) where the rate of 
a chronometer is represented as a linear function 
of the temperature, although experience and 
theory alike indicate that the relation between 
these quantities must be expressed by an equa- 
tion of at least the second degree. 

It is very doubtful if a consensus of astro- 
nomical opinion could be brought to sanction the 
method of reduction of zenith telescope latitudes 
recommended by the author, viz: a least-square 
solution in which the value of a level division 
is introduced as an unknown quantity. Under 
all ordinary conditions the observations should 
be so conducted that the direct determination 
of this quantity shall far outweigh any value 
which can be derived from the latitude observa- 
tions. 

The mechanical execution of the work is ex- 
cellent ; it is provided with an adequate index 
and illustrated by cuts which are in the main 
well chosen, although here we regret that the 
author has selected as ‘an excellent form of the 
prismatic (broken) transit’ an instrument which 
is a complete failure and has been consigned to 
oblivion by the government bureau for which 


it was constructed. 
G. C. C. 


Infinitesimal Analysis. Vol. I., Elementary : 
Real Variables. By WILLIAM BENJAMIN 
SmirH, Professor of Mathematics in Tulane 
University. New York, The Macmillan 
Company. 1898. 8vo. Pp. xvi+ 352. Price, 
$3.25. 

The book in hand is the initial volume of a 
treatise in course of composition which is to 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


consist of three volumes. Concerning the 
merits of this first part in so far as these may 
ultimately depend on its relations to the rest of 
the work, it would be premature to form an 
opinion. Apart, however, from this contingent 
and inchoate character of the volume, it has 
a unity and maturity of its own, being avowedly 
written as an introduction to the calculus, and 
as such is properly before the public for review. 

The author’s aim has been ‘‘ to penetrate as 
far as possible, and in as many directions, into 
the subject—that the student should attain as 
wide knowledge of the matter, as full compre- 
hension of the methods, and as clear conscious- 
ness of the spirit and power of this analysis as 
the nature of the case would admit.’’ It is not 
easy to realize so high and composite an ideal. 
The nature of the case, it is well known, pre- 
sents some grave difficulties. Of these the most 
obstinate inheres in the combination of doctrine 
and applications, of the general and abstract 
with the particular and concrete, in securing, 
despite the fragmentariness incident to illus- 
tration and example, the effect of unity and 
wholeness in the development of theory. 
French and German writers, such as Jordan, 
Harnack, Stolz, escape the difficulty of combin- 
ing theory and practice by simply ignoring the 
latter. By this easy disregard of the needs of 
all students except specialists in graduate years, 
these authors are enabled to attain a coherency 
and symmetry of development which lend to 
their work, besides the scientific, something of 
an artistic character. The Englishman, on the 
other hand, is prone to lose both of these ad- 
vantages by sinning in the opposite direction, 
by a distinct subordination of theory to practice, 
a collocation, however interesting and useful, 
of exercises for the ingenuity of students, being 
neither an esthetic nor, in strictness, a scien- 
tific production. 

The problem of overcoming instead of dodg- 
ing the difficulty in question, of escaping the 
mentioned vices without losing their peculiar 
virtues, admits of only approximate solution. 
The necessary compromise has, as is well known, 
been skilfully effected in German in the de- 
servedly much-praised treatise by Kiepert. In 
the book under review a notably similar suc- 
cess has been achieved in English. In fact, 


SCIENCE. 


845 


these two works, though differing widely in 
method and detail, are closely allied in spirit 
and aim. The motive in both is to guide and 
inspire; both are honest, anxious not to de- 
ceive, faithful in indicating assumptions and lim- 
itations, and, while seeking first to be intelligi- 
ble, are in general as rigorous as circumstances 
will allow. Neither author forgets that in last 
analysis his science resides in theory, which, 
therefore, properly receives the greater empha- 
sis. Nevertheless, both works abound in con- 
crete examples. These, curiously enough, are 
nearly all worked out in the German text, 
while in the English most of them are, as 
usual, left as exercises for the student. 

In point of matter these works are not coin- 
cident nor coextensive either with one another 
or with their rivals, such as the treatises by 
Edwards, Williamson and Greenhill. For ex- 
ample, Kiepert gives a concise preliminary 
treatment of certain algebraic themes, as the 
binomial theorem, the potential and logarithmic 
series, convergency and divergency, determi- 
nants and others, while Smith has, for the sake 
of brevity, presumed knowledge of some of 
these, treatment of others being reserved for 
Vol. II. A like reservation is made in case of 
the complex variable, and, save for an elegant 
though very brief account, in case also of differ- 
ential equations, to each of which topics Kie- 
pert gives an introduction. On the other hand, 
Smith, like Williamson, deals with the gamma 
functions and inserts a helpful chapter on curve 
tracing, while Kiepert excludes the former sub- 
ject and considers the latter but incidentally. 
The omission by the American, as by the Ger- 
man, of the theory of probability and the calcu- 
lus of variations is a noticeable departure from 
British precedent. 

The opening chapter of the volume before us 
is, in many respects, an admirable presentation 
of fundamental concepts and operations. The 
path pursued leads quickly into the heart of 
the subject. The student meets first things of 
first importance. The notion of limit is at 
once lifted into prominence, being carefully un- 
folded at the very outset, and employed with- 
out delay in definition and proof. The infini- 
tesimal is correctly defined, and its subjective 
character is pointed out, the fact, namely, that 


846 


its essence consists not in any value it may as- 
sume, but in our power over it to make it small 
at will. The advantage of introducing the in- 
finite in connection with the infinitesimal is not 
availed of; the former notion is, in fact, not de- 
fined at all. Similarly, the discussion of infini- 
tesimals of higher order would have been en- 
hanced by mention at least of the complementary 
topic. The author retains the entire respect- 
able but obsolescent definition of algebraic 
function, the modern definition of such function 
as the root of an equation having coefficients 
rational in the independent variable, being ap- 
parently nowhere employed. Continuity is not 
adequately treated, and this preéminently im- 
portant subject will doubtless be accorded suit- 
able recognition in the next volume. Numerous 
examples of discontinuity, such as are given by 
Kiepert, are well-nigh indispensable aids to the 
student, whose attention, moreover, might with 
profit have been explicitly directed to the fact 
that the derivability of a function always im- 
plies, though is not implicit in, its continuity. 
The idea of uniform continuity is introduced, 
but only on occasion, as in the deduction of the 
theorem of total differential, On p. 11 the 


H ‘ etek 
reader is warned against regarding as a frac- 


tion, and on p. 79, where the differential nota- 
tion is explained, he is cautioned against ‘at- 
tempting a magnitudinal interpretation’ of du 
and dx in the ‘symbolic equation du = u,dz,’ 
which ‘means that the derivative of wu as to x 
isu,.’ The author’s view of this critical matter, 
while not in full accord with that, for example, 
of Jordan’s Cours, p. 61, is nevertheless intelli- 
gible, consistent and adequate. 

The early introduction (Chapter II.) of the 
notions of integral and integration is attended 
with obvious advantages. The treatment is good 
scientifically and pedagogically. A specially 
commendable didactic feature is the calculation 
of several integrals by actually making the re- 
quired subdivisions, forming the corresponding 
products, generalizing, and throwing the sum- 
mation into a form suitable for perceiving its 
limit. 

Space is wanting for briefest comment on 
many interesting sections as those dealing with 
illusory forms, maxima and minima, geomet- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 233. 


ric interpretation of higher derivatives, change 
of variable, partial integration, Jacobians, mul- 
tiple integrals, parametric derivation, and so on. 

It remains to say that not the least praise- 
worthy quality of the book is found in its style. 
To be scientific it is not necessary to be vulgar. 
The volume affords another illustration of the 
compatibility of rigor and austerity of thought 
with a generous regard for the amenities of ex- 
pression. To many the book will be distinctly 
the more attractive because of its human flavor, 
its dialectic color, its life, an occasional glance 
at the philosophic phases of the subject. A 
rare union of conciseness with precision and 
clearness is characteristic. For judicious ac- 
centuation little more could be desired. The 
reader is taken into confidence, invited to ac- 
company rather than to follow. The work is 
not a compilation and not a mechanical struc- 
ture; it is rather an organism, a growth, nota- 
ble for its merits, though, of course, sharing ina 
measure the imperfections of its kind. 

C. J. KEYSER. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


Defective Eyesight; The Principles of its Relief by 
Glasses. By D. B. St. Joun Roosa, M.D., 
LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of 
the Eye, New York Post-Graduate Medical 
School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Man- 
hattan Eye and Ear Hospital; Consulting 
Surgeon’to the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hos- 
pital, etc. New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1899. 8vo. Pp. 193. 

This work is practically a revised edition of 
the author’s little book ‘On the Determination 
of the Necessity for Wearing Glasses,’ pub- 
lished as one of the ‘ Physician’s Leisure Library 
Series’ in 1887, by George 8. Davis, of Detroit, 
Michigan. 

The volume has gained much by its revision, 
has had some excellent illustrated matter intro- 
duced and has been considerably enlarged. 

The subject is divided into seven parts, all of 
which are written in the author’s well-known 
easy style, making those who have had the 
pleasure of personally reading his writings 
more firmly convinced of his earnestness and 
erudition. 

Considering the subject-matter in its given 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


order, a most interesting historical notice of the 
first attempts to accurately estimate the visual 
power, the invention of the ophthalmoscope 
and the apparatus required for testing vision 
opens the volume. This is followed by a com- 
prehensive description of presbyopia, myopia 
and hypermetropia. 

Astigmatism in its various forms is taken up 
next, under which heading an extended account 
of ophthalmometry to its minutest detail is 
given. Asthenopia, particularly that which is 
found in association with binocular vision, is 
described in a graphic manner, while a number 
of useful general remarks as to lenses, specta- 
cles and eye-glasses finish the volume. 

A careful perusal of the contents of the work 
is recommended to any one who may be inter- 


ested in the subject. 
C. A. O. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

German Higher Schools ; The History, Organization and 
Methods of Secondary Education in Germany. JAMES 
E. RussELL. New York, London and Bombay, 
Longmans, Green & Co. 1899. Pp. xii-+ 455. 

Year-book of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
1899. Washington, Government Printing Office. 
1899. Pp. 768. 

Imperial Democracy. DAVID STARR JORDAN. New 
York, D. Appleton & Co. 1899. Pp. viii + 293. 
$1.50. 

Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological 
Survey, 1896-97. CHARLES D. WALcort, Director. 
Part II., Papers Chiefly of a Theoretical Nature. 
Part IV., Hydrography. Washington, Govyern- 
ment Printing Office. 1899. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 306th regular meeting was held April 
8th. The first paper entitled ‘The Ferns of 
Hemlock Bluff’? by Mr. Wm. Palmer included 
a preliminary sketch of the geology of Hemlock 
Bluff, a point on the Virginia shore of the 
Potomac between Georgetown and Great Falls. 
The locality is particularly rich in cryptogamic 
plants, over twenty species of ferns being 
enumerated. 

A recent noteworthy addition to this list is 
that of <Asplenium pinnatifidum hitherto un- 
known from the District of Columbia or the 


SCIENCE. 


847 


adjacent parts, and supposed to be confined to 
limestone rocks in mountain regions. The 
rocks at Hemlock Bluff are, however, gneissic. 
Mr. Palmer stated that this interesting and 
beautiful station is threatened with destruction, 
and expressed the hope that Congressional action 
would be taken in time to protect the banks of 
the Potomac from further devastation. 

‘Notes on the Habits of African Termites’ 
was the subject of the second paper, read by O. 
F. Cook. On the basis of observations made in 
Liberia several points in the domestic economy 
of termites have been established. Among 
these may be mentioned the fact that some ter- 
mites regularly collect. rotting wood, which 
they put through a process of curing and then 
comminute into the pulp used in building the 
irregularly honeycombed fungus gardens which 
produce the food of at least the young animals 
of the colony. The soldiers of these species 
(Termes bellicosus and allies), which sally out 
from the nest in response to attacks by men or 
animals, do not return to the nest, but wander 
about and soon perish from exposure to the out- 
side air. Other soldiers, the so-called nasuti, 
of which the head is produced above into a long 
beak, eject from this process, which is hollow, 
a transparent, acrid, malodorous and corrosive 
fluid, which forms a most effective means of 
defence against ants and other insect enemies, 
and renders them distasteful to birds. <A third 
type of soldier can neither shoot nor bite, but 
the large, unequal mandibles are especially 
adapted to produce a loud clicking sound 
which furnishes protection at least against other 
species of termites. It was also found that the 
perfect insects associate in pairs when flying 
over water and that, after dropping their wings, 
such pairs are able to burrow into the ground, 
thus suggesting the possible origin of termite 
communities. 

Under the head of ‘ Biological Characteristics 
as a means of Species Differentiation’ Dr. 
Erwin F. Smith described in detail the very 
numerous culture-methods, reactions and other 
tests now in use in bacteriology. To accomplish 
all these investigations a species is sometimes 
carried in the laboratory for two years or 
longer. The insufficiency of the older and, 
indeed, of many of the more recent descriptions 


848 


wasnoted. The descriptive methods applicable 
to larger organisms here fail almost completely, 
necessitating that diagnoses depend upon physio- 
logical facts which receive little attention in the 
descriptions of species belonging to groups of 
greater structural complexity. 

At the 307th meeting, April 22d, Dr. 8. D. 
Judd gave an account of a recent observation 
on chimney-swifts. A large flock was seen fly- 
ing in a circle at great height and then gradu- 
ally descending over a chimney of Georgetown 
College, which they finally entered. Discus- 
sion followed by Dr. L. O. Howard and Pro- 
fessor E. L. Morris. The latter had noticed 
that individual swifts leave the flock in small 
parties of equal size until near the end of the 
flight, when the remaining birds hurry into the 
chimney without any regularity of proce- 
dure. 

Professor T. D. A. Cockerell then opened the 
regular program with a paper on the ‘ Faunce 
and Faunule of New Mexico,’ in which he de- 
scribed the various life-zones of New Mexico, 
beginning with summits of the mountains. 
The different belts are usually well marked 
and are best designated by the names of abun- 
dant and characteristic plants, such as the 
spruce, pifion, scrub-oak, Dasylirion, Yucca, 
Larrea and Atriplex canescens. One of the most 
notable peculiarities of New Mexican condi- 
tions is that the Larrea belt, supposed to repre- 
sent the Lower Sonoran zone, occurs on the 
bases of the mountains above Atriplex canescens, 
which is considered a more northern type. 
This apparent anomaly is explained by the fact 
that the bottoms of the valleys are visited 
by currents of cold air which render the 
changes of temperature more rigorous than at 
somewhat greater elevations. In all groups the 
species of the New Mexican region are largely 
peculiar, doubtless to a considerable extent the 
result of the fact that the naturalization of in- 
troduced species is rendered extremely difficult 
by the severe late frosts which native forms 
avoid by remaining dormant through the gen- 
erally very warm weather of early spring. 

In the course of the ensuing discussion Dr. 
Merriam explained that the conditions de- 
scribed by Professor Cockerell were consider- 
ably different from those studied by himself in 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Vou. IX. No. 233. 


Arizona, while Mr. Osgood noticed a close 
parallel in some of the valleys of California. 
Mr. Coville suggested that Professor Cockerell’s 
Atriplex might prove to be A. tetraptera, A. 
canescens being a plant of more northern dis- 
tribution. Dr. Loew related experience gained 
while a member of the Wheeler Expedition 
(1872-1875), which led him to the view that the 
cold air which collects in the bottoms of valleys 
sinks on account of its greater weight, causing 
the warm air to rise along the slopes of the 
mountains, which are thus maintained at a 
higher temperature. Dr. Merriam resumed the 
discussion and explained how in a similar way 
upward currents of warm air are formed in val- 
leys of more heated southwestern slopes of 
mountains, frequently permitting the extension 
of the flora and fauna of the valley to an alti- 
tude sometimes 2,000 or 3,000 feet above the 
normal. . 

The next paper, ‘Some Microchemical Re- 
actions resembling Fungi,’ by Dr. A. F. Woods, 
explained that living protoplasm of plant cells, 
when treated with certain reagents in common 
use in histological investigations, will form pre- 
cipitates which closely resemble and have been 
mistaken for fungi supposed to be living as 
parasites inside the cell. Dr. Woods had been 
able, by adding very gradually such a reagent 
(eau de Javelle), to observe the progress, in living 
cells of the Bermuda lily, of a reaction closely 
similar to the appearances which have been 
described by Viala and others as a species of 
Plasmodiophora and which they believed to be 
the cause of a disease of the grape. The pa- 
per was illustrated by specimens and photo- 
graphs. 

The program was concluded by Dr. Oscar 
Loew with a paper on ‘The Fermentation of 
Tobacco.’ The processes of tobacco curing and 
fermentation were described. The rise in tem- 
perature and improvement in flavor during the 
latter process have been in recent years uni- 
formly ascribed to the presence of bacteria, and 
many attempts to isolate the specific germ have 
been made, several of which have been reported 
as successful. Dr. Loew finds, however, that 
bacteria have no part in these changes, that the 
conditions are unfavorable for the growth of 
bacteria, there being too little moisture, and 


JUNE 16, 1899. ] 


finally, that even such bacteria as may have 
been accidentally present on the leaves are 
killed in the curing process. He has discovered 
two oxydizing enzymes the proportions of 
which are determining factors in the produc- 
tion of the color and aromaof tobacco. Faulty 
methods of curing may destroy these enzymes 
and prevent the changes which bring about 
improved flavor. The nicotine, which does not 
exist in the fresh leaf, is one of the products 
formed during the action of the enzymes. 
Professor Whitney offered the opinion that 
Dr. Loew’s discoveries were to be looked upon 
as the beginning of a scientific understanding of 
the processes of acquiring color and aroma, and 
' that they marked a new departure of great 
scientific and practical importance. Dr. Loew 
then replied to various questions by Dr. de 


Schweinitz and others. 
O. F. Coox, 


Secretary. 


THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 503d meeting of the Society was held in 
the assembly room of the Cosmos Club at 8 p. 
m., May 27th. The first paper was by Mr. 
Frank Radelfinger on ‘Some Recent Researches 
on Linear Differential Equations.’ 

After a brief introduction reviewing and sum- 
marizing the methods used in the solution of 
differential equations before the introduction of 
the complex variable into analysis the work of 
Fuchs on the theory of linear differential equa- 
tions was considered and its salient points 
denoted. The researches of Thomé and Poin- 
caré on equations with irregular integrals were 
very briefly treated, and then came the princi- 
pal part of the paper, giving an account of the 
recent introduction of the ideas of the Galois- 
group theory into the theory of the linear differ- 
ential equation. The work of Picard and Ves- 
siot was discussed. A statement of the princi- 
pal theorems of the linear group was given and 
their analogy to those relating to the symetrical 
group of algebra mentioned. A concise state- 
ment of the theory of irreducibility and its ap- 
plication to the theory of linear differential 
equations was made, and it was shown that 
the results obtained by the group theory when 
combined with this idea furnished us with a 


SCIENCE. 


849 


rational basis for their classification. This was 
illustrated by making an application to the case 
of an equation of the second order. The con- 
ditions that must be satisfied by a linear equa- 
tion in order that it may be integrated by quad- 
ratures was next discussed. In conclusion, some 
points to be perfected in the theory of equations 
with irregular integrals were indicated and 
mention made of recent researches in the 
theory of divergent series that may throw some 
light on these points; the importance of the 
group theory was mildly emphasized and a 
statement made of the results to be expected 
from its further application to the theory of 
linear differential equations, especially in re- 
gard to arithmetization of this theory. 

The second paper was by Mr. Louis D. Bliss 
on ‘Hertzian Waves as applied to Wireless 
Telegraphy and Firing of Guns from a Distance.’ 
The substance of Mr. Bliss’s remarks was as 
follows: Upon the electro-magnetic theory of 
light proposed by Maxwell in 1867 Hertz in 
1888 sueceeded in producing signals through 
space, without the aid of any material medium, 
by the propagation of electro-magnetic waves. 
For a transmitter he employed an ‘Oscillator’ 
and for a receiver a ‘Resonator’ of special 
design. 

Marconi, in 1895, reduced to practical form 
what was thus far experimental, by the con- 
struction of a ‘Coherer’ or ‘Electric Eye,’ 
consisting of a glass tube filled with metal 
powder on which the waves could strike. The 
resistance of the powder was thereby greatly 
diminished on account of the cohesion of the 
particles under the influence of the waves. 
This permitted a battery (which was constantly 
in circuit) to force a powerful current through 
the device, and thus operate a telegraph relay 
or sounder, or operate a fuse to fire a cannon, 
mine or other device at will. These signals 
may now be transmitted through space between 
stations 30 miles apart, the height of the verti- 
cal wire which must be connected to the ap- 
paratus at each station varying as the square 
root of the distance. (Demonstrations of firing 
a cannon without wires and telegraphy through 
space were made.) 

E. D. PRESTON, 
Secretary. 


850 SCIENCE. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY AND PHYSICS, OF THE 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 
MAY 1, 1899. 

THE regular meeting of the Astronomy and 
Physics Section was held at 12 West 31st 
Street, New York, on May 1, 1899, Professor 
Pupin, the Chairman of the Section, presiding. 


The first paper, describing experiments by 


Professor Pupin and Mr. F. Townsend, on the 
magnetization of iron with alternating currents, 
was read by Mr. Townsend. The paper was 
only a preliminary account, as the experiments 
are still in progress. The current wave in a 
transformer with open secondary circuit is a 
complex harmonic vibration, and the particular 
object of this research is to determine the am. 
plitudes and phase relations of the components 
of the fundamental vibration. 

The component due to eddy currents is de- 
termined from the curves of electromotive 
force and current, together with the static 
hysteresis loop for the given magnetization, by 
a graphical method. The eddy current com- 
ponent is found to lag behind the electromotive 
force. Also, the dynamic hysteresis loop is 
found to have a rounded point, as distinguished 
from the sharp point characteristic of the static 
loop. 

The phase of the fundamental of the total 
current wave is found by means of a specially 
constructed phase meter. Its amplitude is de- 
termined from the electromotive force and total 
watts. 

The remaining component to be determined 
is that due to hysteresis and induction reaction. 
This and the eddy current component form two 
sides of a parallelogram of which the fundamen- 
tal of the total current wave is the diagonal. If 
the last two are determined in amplitude and 
phase the fundamental of the distorted wave of 
magnetizing current can readily be found. 

The ultimate object of the investigation is to 
formulate the laws which govern the reactions 
accompanying the magnetization of iron by 
alternating currents. 

The second paper was by Mr. C. C. Trow- 
bridge on phosphorescent substances at liquid- 
air temperatures. Calcium sulphide, made 
phosphorescent by exposure to sunlight at ordi- 
nary temperatures, was made non-luminous by 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


immersion in liquid air. Then, when allowed 
to heat up gradually to normal temperature, 
the phosphorescence again became visible at 
about —100° to —75° C. The same material, 
if exposed to sunlight while immersed in liquid 
air, phosphoresced faintly while still immersed. 
When exposed to the electric are it phospho- 
resced strongly. In both of these cases the 
phosphorescence became brighter when the 
temperature was raised. From these results, 
and what was previously known, it was con- 
cluded that when a phosphorescent substance 
like calcium sulphide is excited by light the 
phosphorescent energy will be given up at the 
temperature of excitation even when as low as 


—190° C. But if it is cooled below the tem- ° 


perature of excitation the phosphorescent dis- 
charge is arrested, and remains so until the 
temperature is raised again until it is within at 
least 100° of the temperature of excitation. 

It was found that calcium tungstate, which 
gives a whitish fluorescence when exposed to 
Rontgen rays, gave a green phosphorescence 
when exposed to light while immersed in 
liquid air. 

Wm. 8S. Day, 
Secretary. 


DISSCUSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


CEREBRAL LIGHT: FURTHER OBSERVATIONS, 


IN SCIENCE, 1897 N.S. VI. 138, I published a 
set of observations to prove that what is at 
present considered to be retinal light arising 
from chemical changes in the retina is really 
not derived from the retina but from the brain. 
The observations were essentially: 1. That 
there was only one field of light instead of two, 
and that this field showed no signs of binocular 
union, binocular strife or stereoscopic union. 
2. That the figures in the light do not change 
as the eye moves, but follow the movement 
later. 3. That the figures do not show move- 
ment when the eye is displaced by pressure 
with the fingers. A recent German reviewer, 
while admitting the possibility that the light is 
cerebral and not retinal, refuses to accept my 
observations as sufficient proof. 

Last night I was able to perform what seems 
to be a crucial experiment ; I record its results 


wh 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


while they are fresh in mind. I observed the 
cerebral figures for some hours, repeating the 
observations previously reported. When the 
dawn faintly illuminated the window frame I 
was able at one stage of brightness to see both 
the frame and the figures. Placing the fingers 
of the two hands against the outer ends of the 
eyeballs, I displaced them simultaneously in 
opposite directions; this was repeated a number 
of times in rapid succession. As a result there 
appeared two images of the frame moving in 
opposite directions. The retinal figures seen 
in front of the frame still remained single and 
did not move. Granting that there was no 
error in my observation, I cannot imagine a 
more conclusive proof as to the cerebral nature 
of the light. 

The problem is really one of importance. If 
this light is cerebral we have a means of 
distinctly observing some of the phenomena in 
the brain. The cerebral figures are intimately 
associated with the contents of dreams. I be- 
lieve also that the forms of the figures of cerebral 
light are intimately connected with the phe- 
nomena of nutritionin the brain. I find at the 
present time that my figures are quite different 
from those which I have been accustomed to 
observing in past years ; this may correspond 
to a radical change in the condition of the 
nervous system which I have observed to have 
taken place during the past six months. I find 
also that the figures on first awakening from sleep 
are very different from those that are seen when 
the mind becomes fully awake. Systematic 
observations by medical men may show that 
diagnostic conclusions can be obtained by ask- 
ing patients to describe their cerebral figures. 

The question at the present time concerns the 
sufficiency of the observations. If they are cor- 
rect and reliable there is, I believe, no escape 
from the conclusion that the figures are cere- 
bral. I can see no reason to believe that my 
carefully and repeatedly made observations are 
erroneous, but it is highly desirable to have 
them confirmed by other observers. 


E. W. SCRIPTURE. 
PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, Conny., 
May 29, 1899. 


SCIENCE. 


851 


PROFESSOR SIMON NEWCOMB. 

THE issue of Nature for May 4th contains an 
admirable portrait in photogravure of Profes- 
sor Simon Newcomb, together with an article 
describing his scientific work by M. Loewy, Di- 
rector of the Paris Observatory. M. Loewy says : 


Newcomb must be considered, without contradic- 
tion, as one of the most celebrated astronomers of our 
time, both on account of the immensity of his work 
and the unity of view which marks the choice of the 
subjects treated by him. 

All is linked together in our solar system ; the 
study of the motion of each one of the celestial bodies 
forming part of it is based upon the knowledge of a 
great number of numerical data, and there exists no 
fundamental element whose influence is not reper- 
cussed on the entire theory of these bodies. To 
endeavor to build up the theory of our whole plan- 
etary world onan absolutely homogeneous basis of 
constants was an almost superhuman task. 

After giving an extended account of some of 
Professor Newcomb’s more important contribu- 
tions M. Loewy concludes : 

We have only been able to give a short sketch of 
Newcomb’s achievements ; he is gifted with a pro- 
digious power of work, which is testified by the ex- 
traordinarily long list of his researches. 

The reception which has been accorded to them by 
all competent men points to their author as one of the 
most illustrious representatives of celestial mechanics. 

This activity has embraced the most diverse 
branches of astronomy. Not only has he given a 
great scope to the intellectual movement of his coun- 
try, but he has also contributed, in a very successful 
manner, to elevate the level of the civilization of our 
age, enriching the domain of science with beautiful 
and durable conquests. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
OXFORD University conferred, on June 8th, 
the degree of D.C.L. on Professor Simon New- 
comb. 


THE uew biological laboratory of Adelbert 
College, Western Reserve University, was ded- 
icated on June 13th. An address was delivered 
by Professor W. K. Brooks. 

PROFESSOR W. C. BROGGER, of the University 
of Christiania, the distinguished Norwegian 
geologist, has accepted an invitation to deliver 
the second course of the George Huntington Wil- 
liams memorial lectures at the Johns Hopkins 


852 


University, in April, 1900. Professor Brogger 
has published a series of memoirs upon the 
geology of southern Norway that have given 
him rank among the leading investigators of 
his time. Professor Brégger comes as the suc- 
cessor in the Williams course to Sir Archibald 
Geikie, the Director-General of the Geological 
Surveys of Great Britain and Ireland, who 
opened the lectureship two years ago with a 
course upon ‘The Founders of Geology.’ Pro- 
fessor Brégger will lecture upon ‘ Modern De- 
ductions regarding the Origin of Igneous 
Rocks.’ 


PRESIDENT MCKINLEY has appointed a com- 
mission to determine the best route for a canal 
across the Isthmus of Panama or Nicaragua as 
follows: Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, re- 
tired ; Samuel Pasco, of Florida; Alfred Noble, 
C. E., of Illinois; George S. Morrison, C. E., 
of New York; Colonel Peter C. Hains, U. 8. 
A.; Professor William H. Burr, of Columbia 
University ; Lieutenant-Colonel Oswald H. 
Ernst, U. S. A.; Lewis M. Haupt, C. E., of 
the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor 
Emory R. Johnson, of Pennsylvania. Thesum 
of $1,000,000 has been appropriated for the ex- 
penses of the Commission and a number of sur- 
veyors will accompany the party which will 
shortly leave for Colon. 


THE Editorial Board of the National Geo- 
graphic Magazine has been enlarged, and, as ap- 
pears from an announcement in the June num- 
ber, an effort is being made to extend the 
field of usefulness of the journal. The new 
Board is as follows: Editor, John Hyde, Statis- 
tician of the U. S. Department of Agriculture ; 
Associate Editors, A. W. Greely, Chief Signal 
Officer, U. S. Army; W J McGee, Ethnologist 
in Charge, Bureau of American Ethnology ; 
Henry Gannett, Chief Geographer, U. S. Geo- 
logical Survey ; C. Hart Merriam, Biologist of 
the U. 8. Department of Agriculture ; David J. 
Hill, Assistant Secretary of State; Charles H. 
Allen, Assistant Secretary of the Navy ; Willis 
L. Moore, Chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau ; 
H. S. Pritchett, Superintendent of the U. 8. 
Coast and Geodetic Survey ; O. P. Austin, Chief 
of the Bureau of Statistics, U. S.; Eliza Ruha- 
mah Scidmore, author of ‘Java, the Garden of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 233. 


the East,’ etc.; Carl Louise Garrison, Principal 
of Phelps School, Washington, D. C.; Assistant 
Editor, Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Washington, 
D. C. 

THE Cape of Good Hope University has con- 
ferred the degree of D.Sc., on Mr. A.W. Roberts, 
of Lonsdale, for his astronomical discoveries 
and the degree D. Litt.:on the Rey. Dr. Brincker 
for researches on the native language. 


Proressor Koc# and his assistants have been 
pursuing their investigations on malaria at 
Grosseto, a town between Rome and Genoa, 
where much land has been reclaimed from the 
marshes, thus greatly reducing the prevalent 
malaria. 

PROFESSOR LARS FREDRIK NILsON, Director 
of the Agricultural Chemical ExperimentStation 
at Stockholm, died on May 14th, aged 59 years. 

M. ApoLtpHE LEGEAL, a French geologist, has 
been killed by the natives while making ex- 
plorations in the French Soudan. 

A CABLEGRAM to the daily papers from Japan 
states that a party of scientific men, eleven 
Japanese and one German, the names not being 
given, while making explorations near Tosang, 
on the Liao Tung Peninsula, were made pris- 
oners by Russian cavalry and shot as spies, 
without a trial. 

WE are requested to announce that the 
Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin will award 
in 1903 the first Vallauri prize for the most 
important work on physical science (the term 
being used in its widest sense) published dur- 
ing the four preceding years. The value of the 
prize is about $6,000, and it is open to Italians 
and foreigners on equal terms. Professor To- 
masso Vallauri, Senator of the Kingdom of Italy, 
who died in 1897, left his whole estate to the 
Turin Academy for the establishment of two 
prizes, one for scientific research and the other 
for the study of Latin literature. 

WE have now received a proof of the an- 
nouncement of the approaching Dover meeting 
of the British Association, which, however, does 
not contain much information beyond what has 
already been published. The President, Profes- 
sor Foster, will deliver his address on Thursday 
evening, September 14th. Professor Charles 
Richet will lecture on Friday evening on ‘ La vi- 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


bration nerveuse,’ and on Monday evening Pro- 
fessor Fleming will lecture on the ‘ Centenary of 
the Electric Current.’ Members of the Asso- 
ciation Francaise pour l Avancement des Sci- 
ences will visit Dover on Saturday, September 
16th. Members of the British Association 
are invited to visit Boulogne on Thursday, 
September 21st. The Vice-Presidents for the 
meeting are the Lord Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Mayor 
of Dover, the Major-General Commanding the 
Southeastern District, the Right Hon. A. Akers- 
Douglas, M.P., the Rev. F. W. Farrar, Dean 
of Canterbury, Sir J. Norman Lockyer and 
Professor G. H. Darwin. 


THE Swiss Society of Natural Sciences will 
hold its 82d annual meeting at Neuchatel from 
the 31st of July to the 2d of August. In ad- 

‘dition to a number of special lectures the 
Society meets in seven sections as follows: 
(1) Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy; (2) 
Chemistry, Pharmacology and Hygiene; (3) 
Zoology and Anthropology ; (4) Botany ; (5) Ge- 
ology, Paleontology and Mineralogy ; (6) Med- 
icine, and (7) Agriculture. At the same time 
the Swiss Societies of Geology, Botany and Zo- 
ology hold their annual sessions. A number of 
interesting excursions have been arranged and 
foreign men of science are assured of a cordial 
welcome. 


THE position of superintendent of tree plant- 
ing in the Division of Forestry, Department of 
Agriculture, salary $1,800 per annum, will be 
filled by Civil Service examination on July 11th. 
The subjects and weights are as follows: 


1. Forestry and Tree-planting, ............... 60 
Sm BOCA sercesncssenesenseasrussssccsecesaseduesees 10 
SoM ENGISh wecssaescnesossdancnecasscsearsscsececcors 10 
4, Training and Experience, .............066+ 20 


THE position of instrument maker at the 
Naval Observatory, Washington (salary, $1,500 
per annum), will be filled by an examination on 
the same day. The examination will be al- 
most exclusively confined to practical ques- 
tions relating to the construction and mechan- 
ical operation of telescopes of large size. 

THE recent action of President McKinley 
providing for the exemption of the higher 
scientific positions in the Smithsonian Institu- 


SCIENCE. 


853 


tion from Civil Service examinations was taken 
at the recommendation of the Board of Regents, 
who find that leading men of science will not 
take these examinations. 


THE annual convention of the Association of 
Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations 
will be held in the hall of the California 
Academy of Sciences, from the 5th to the 7th 
of July. In addition to the ordinary meetings, 
which are always of much interest, arrange- 
ments have been made for an excursion of the 
delegates on a special train for a study of the 
agricultural industries of California. It will be 
possible for delegates to make the trip to Cali- 
fornia by paying about a single fare. Further 
information may be obtained from the Secretary, 
Professor Edward B. Vorhees, New Brunswick, 
New Jersey. 

THE Association of Official Agricultural 
Chemists will hold its sixteenth annual meeting 
at the same time and place as the Association 
of American Agricultural Colleges and Experi- 
ment Stations. Information concerning this 
meeting can be secured by addressing the Sec- 
tary, Dr. H. W. Wiley, Department of Agri- 
culture, Washington, D. C. 


THE American Medical Association held its 
fiftieth annual meeting at Columbus, Ohio, last 
week. The President, Dr. Joseph M. Matthews, 
in his address, recommended that the society 
be permanently located in Washington, and 
that its journal be published in that city. Pro- 
fessor W. W. Keen, of Philadelphia, was elected 
President of the Association, and it was decided 
that the next meeting should be at Atlantic 
City, New Jersey. 

THE Congress of the Royal Institute of Pub- 
lic Health of Great Britain will be held in 
Blackpool from September 21st to September 
26th, under the presidency of the Marquis of 
Lorne. There will be four Sections: (a) Pre- 
ventive Medicine and Vital Statistics; (0) 
Chemistry and Meteorology; (c) Engineering 
and Building Construction ; (d@) Municipal and 
Parliamentary. 

THE City of Bristol is now arranging for the 
establishment of a reference scientific library, 
made possible by a bequest of £50,000 from the 
late Mr. Stuckey Lean. 


854 SCIENCE. 


A TELEGRAM was received at the Harvard 
College Observatory on June 12th from Pro- 
fessor E. Keeler, at Lick Observatory, stating 
that comet Holmes was observed by Perrine 
June 107.9644 Greenwich Mean Time in R. A. 
1» 15™ 315.6 and December + 17° 29’ 39’ Faint. 
This comet was originally discovered by Holmes 
in London, November 6, 1892, and has a period 
of about seven years. By January 12, 1893, 
it had become very faint, but on January 16th it 
was found to have undergone a remarkable 
change, an outburst of light having occurred. 
It resembled a bright planetary nebula of about 
the seventh magnitude, the nucleus being at 
first very hazy, but afterwards becoming 
sharper and about as bright as a star of the 
eighth magnitude. On January 1, 1894, it 
could not be found with the 26-inch refractor of 
the Washington Observatory, being then fainter 
than the magnitude 14. 


Popular Astronomy gives an interesting state- 
ment of the progress which is being made in the 
new reduction of the Piazzi star observations. 
Dr. H. 8. Davis, who recently resigned from 
the Columbia University staff, in order to de- 
vote himself more exclusively to this work, is 
to be congratulated upon the cooperation which 
his zeal has obtained. Professor Porro and Dr. 
Balbi, of Turin, will reduce the transit right-as- 
cension observations, and Dr. Gill, of the Cape 
of Good Hope Observatory, will reobserve the 
southern Piazzi stars. All the Piazzi stars are 
being redetermined for 1900. Miss Flora Harp- 
ham is aiding most efficiently in the computa- 
tion, while Miss Catharine W. Bruce places as- 
tronomy under still greater obligations of 
gratitude by generously contributing to remove 
the financial obstacles. In the twenty years 
about 1800 Piazzi made some 125,000 observa- 
tions. When Dr. Davis has reduced these with 
modern accuracy they will afford a valuable 
catalogue of some 8,000 stars for the beginning 
of the century now closing. 


Av a meeting of the Royal Geographical So- 
ciety, on May 29th, a paper was read by Dr. 
Francisco P. Moreno on ‘ Explorations in Pata- 
gonia.’ According to the report in the London 
Times he pointed out that up to quite recent 
times the geography of the southern part of the 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 233. 


New World had been in a very backward state: 
Having recounted his own travels, he remarked 
that Patagonia did not merit the bad reputation 
given to it, but, on the contrary, a vast field 
for human initiative existed there, with a 
healthy soil capable of supporting a large popu- 
lation. It was evident to him that they had in 
Patagonia a portion of the Antarctic Continent, 
the permanency of which, in so far as as its 
main characteristics were concerned, dated from 
very recent times. So, then, the history of the 
Patagonian plateau was connected with the 
problem of the southern continent, which to so 
great an extent had disappeared. He had 
handed to the staff of the British Museum 
duplicates of the extinct and present animal 
remains of Patagonia and of its flora, as well as 
of those obtained by the La Plata Museum, of 
which he was Director; and he trusted that, 
with such competent collaboratian, it would 
soon be easy to give an exact idea of Patagonian 
biology. 


AT the annual meeting and conversazione of 
Selbourne Society, on May 31st, Sir John Lub- 
bock, the President, spoke of the advantages of 
of the Wild Birds’ Protection Act and pointed 
out the importance of the enclosing of the un- 
enclosed area of the New Forest. 


AT a meeting of the Accademia Medica di 
Roma, held on April 30th, Drs. G. Bastianelli 
and Bignami read a summary of the results of 
their investigations on the Cycle of Life of the 
Parasites of Tertian Fever in the Anopheles 
Claviger. They are, according to Zhe British 
Medical Journal, as follows: The large pig- 
mented forms of the Tertian parasites, incapable 
of multiplying in man, may be distinguished 
morphologically into two categories; some, 
with a large vesicular nucleus and little chro- 
matin, represent the female (macrogameti) ; 
others, richer in chromatin, the male (micro- 
gametociti of zoologists). In the middle intes- 
tine of the male Anopheles Claviger six micro- 
gamete (flagella) generally protrude, one of 
which fecundates a macrogamete after the 
chromatin of the latter has undergone a 
process of reduction. The fecundated mac- 
rogameti penetrates into the middle intes- 
tine of the Anopheles, where it develops, 


JUNE 16, 1899.] 


passing through a cycle of life similar to that 
described by Ross for the proteosoma of birds 
in the gray mosquito, and by the anthus and 
grassi for the semilunz in the Anopheles Clay- 
iger. In this cycle of life the Tertian sporozoon 
remains distinguishable by its morphological 
characters from that of semilunar origin; the 
young forms are distinguished principally by 
the form of the sporozoon and the characters 
of the pigment; the forms undergoing develop- 
ment by the size of the bodies produced suc- 
cessively by nuclear division; the mature 
forms are distinguished as a rule by the dis- 
position of the residue of segmentation, per- 
haps also by the size. The distinction of the 
species of malarial parasites, therefore, remains 
unaltered. The same conclusion is also obtained 
from the third experiment, which demonstrates 
that the semilunze which have given only Ter- 
tian at first, passing through the Anopheles 
Claviger, maintain unchanged their specific 
characters. The study of the life of the Ano- 
pheles in the Roman Campagna explains, in a 
satisfactory mode, the behavior of the Tertain 
at the change of the seasons. It has been 
demonstrated experimentally that very few 
punctures—indeed, even one only—by the in- 
fected Anopheles may produce the infection in 
man. 


A CIRCULAR letter has been issued by the 
committee arranging for a University of Birm- 
ingham, asking for subscriptions to make the 
the first endowment £300,000. A copy of Mr. 
Andrew Carnegie’s letter giving £50,000 to the 
fund is enclosed. As this is of interest to 
American men of science we quote it in full: 


Langham Hotel, London, May 9, 1899. 


DEAR Mr. CHAMBERLAIN.—You have interested 
me in your proposed University at Birmingham for 
the people of the Midlands. May I suggest that an 
opportunity exists for such an institution to perform 
a great service for the whole country? After the 
members of the Iron and Steel Institute had returned 
to New York from their tour of observation through 
the United States, the officials dined with me. Many 
pleasing short speeches were made ; the close of one I 
have never forgotten. A partner in one of your fore- 
most steel companies said: ‘Mr. Carnegie, it is not 
your wonderful machinery, not even your unequalled 


SCIENCE. 


855 


supplies of minerals, which we have most cause to 
envy. It is something worth both of these combined; 
the class of scientific young experts you have to man- 
age every department of your works. We have no 
corresponding class in England.’ Never were truer 
words spoken. Now this class you must sooner or 
later secure, if Britain is to remain one of the princi- 
pal manufacturing nations, and it seems to me the 
Midlands is the very soil upon which it can most surely 
be produced. If I were in your place I should recognize 
the futility of trying to rival Oxford and Cambridge, 
which, even if possible, would be useless. These 
twin seats of learning have their mission and fulfil it, 
but Birmingham should make the scientific the prin- 
cipal department, the classical the subsidiary. If 
Birmingham were to adopt the policy suggested, tak- 
ing our Cornell University as its model, where the 
scientific has won first place in the number of stu- 
dents, and give degrees in science as in classics, I 
should be delighted to contribute the last £50,000 of 
the sum you have set out to raise, to establish a scien_ 
tific department. Iam sure our people of the Birm- 
ingham across the Atlantic will heartily approve this 
gift to their prototype on this side of the water, for 
what does not the younger owe of its greatness and 
prosperity to the old land. Bessemer, Siemens, 
Thomas—the triumvirate through whose inventions 
we have been enabled to make and sell steel by the 
millions of tons at three pounds for a penny—all 
made their experiments in your midst. Let the gift, 
therefore, be considered as only a slight acknowledg- 
ment of a debt which Pittsburgh, the greatest bene- 
ficiary of your steel inventions, can ever hope to re- 
pay. 
Wishing you speedy success, sincerely yours, 
ANDREW CARNEGIE. 


WE learn from The British Medical Journal 
that a grand festa has been held in Reggio, 
Emilia, in honor of the first centenary of the 
death of Lazzaro Spallanzani, who was born at 
Scandiano, in Modena, January 12, 1729, and 
died at Pavia, February 12, 1799. Spallanzani 
studied at Bologna, took holy orders, and in 1775 
was elected professor of logic, Greek and rhetoric 
at Reggio. Among his works are: Le osserva- 
ziont microscopiche sulla teoria della generazione 
di Needham e Buffon, in which he defended the 
doctrine of biogenesis against those authors ; 
and Dei fenomeni della circolazione and Memorie 
sulla respirazione. Spallanzani was the first who 
saw the circulation of the blood of warm-blooded 
animals under the microscope. He made use 


856 


of the hen’s egg during the development of the 
chick. 


INQUIRIES as to the schools in which leading 
men in various professions were educated have 
been made by The School World, and the results 
for men of science are abstracted in Nature. 
Of 250 representative men of science—mostly 
Fellows of the Royal Society—chosen for the 
present inquiry, one-fifth received their early 
education either in private schools or at home 
under tutors. The schools which claim the 
greatest number of old pupils in the selected 
list are Edinburgh High School, Edinburgh 
Academy and Aberdeen Grammar School. The 
Scotch schools are followed, as regards the 
number of old pupils of distinguished eminence 
in science, by the City of London School and 
King’s College School. Eton, Harrow and 
Rugby succeed these, and are in turn followed 
by Liverpool College, Royal Institution School 
(Liverpool) and St. Paul’s. The remarkable 
point brought out by this comparison, says 
Nature, is the small part the great public schools 
have taken in training the leaders in science of 
the present day. When the men who are now 
in the foremost rank among philosophers were 
receiving their early education science was 
almost, if not quite, omitted from the public 
school curriculum, with the result that com- 
paratively few boys from such schools have be- 
come eminent in the scientific world. The 
neglect of science in comparison with other 
subjects is shown by the fact that Eton, Harrow, 
Rugby, Winchester, Westminster and one or 
two other public schools, though comparatively 
poor in their scientific record, are shown to 
have furnished the greatest number of leading 
men in Parliament, the church and the law, 
Eton leading the way as regards numbers in 
each of these classes. 


THE Regents of the University of the State of 
New York have voted that the Secretary be au- 
thorized to sell any of the University publications 
at half price to any university institution or to 
any teacher or officer of such institution, and to 
give such publications outright to such deposi- 
tories as shall be registered as entitled to such 
consideration because they agree to preserve 
and catalogue the publications and make them 


SCIENCE. 


LN. S. Von. IX. No. 233. 
available for public use. Pamphlet editions of 
the reports giving administrative details and in- 
formation as to the workings of the department 
may be givenaway ; but scientific contributions 
of the museum staff and other valuable matter 
printed as appendices to the reports, and the 
bound volumes containing such matter, shall not 
be for free distribution, but shall be sold ata 
nominal price approximately covering cost of 
paper, presswork and binding. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

In addition to Professors Picard, Mosso and 
Ramén y Cajal, whom we have already an- 
nounced as lecturers at the decennial celebra- 
tion of Clark University, to be held July 5th to 
8th, we are informed that Dr. Ludwig Boltz- 
mann, professor of theoretical physics at the 
University of Vienna, and Dr. August Forel, 
formerly professor of psychiatry at the Uni- 
versity of Zurich, will give short courses of 
lectures. 

Mr. B. H. DUKE has made an additional gift 
of $50,000 to Trinity College, at Durham, N. C. 

THE degree of Bachelor of Science has been 
given to 170 candidates by the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. 

Ir is reported that nine professors at St. 
Petersburg University have resigned as an ex- 
pression of sympathy with the grievances of 
the students. 

THE Rey. William H. P. Faunce, D.D., pastor 
of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York, 
has accepted the presidency of Brown Univer- 
sity. 

Dr. D. J. BIEHRINGER and Dr. Troger have 
been promoted to assistant professorships of 
chemistry in the Institute of Technology at 
Braunschweig. Dr. Abegg has qualified as 
docent in physical chemistry in the Univer- 
sity of Breslau; Dr. Schultze in zoology in 
the University at Jena; Dr. Kowaleysky in 
mathematics in the University of Leipzig ; Dr. 
Feitler in physical and theoretical chemistry in 
the Institute of Technology at Vienna; Dr. 
von Oppolzer in astronomy and astrophysics in 
the German University at Prague, and Dr. 
Relstab in physics in the Institute of Tech- 
nology at Braunschweig. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THurston, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. LE ContTE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; Henry F. OsBorn, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; 8. H. ScupDER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpircu, Physiology; 

J. S. Brutinas, Hygiene; J. McCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JUNE 23, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 
United States Naval Observatory........0.:c0ccsecesereees 857 
The Diffraction Process of Color Photography: 
IPROBESSOR/ ERs) Wiel WV OOD. 1scseacaresescussaew esses: 859 
The Mental Fatigue due to School Work: DR. Ep- 
DVARDMDHORNDIKE sosesrdsacescsscescenccascesenseeses 862 


The International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture :— 


Physics: PROFESSOR J. 8. AMES...........0.00005 864 
Chemistry: DR. H. CARRINGTON BOLTON and 
WHILELTAMPPN CUTTER i ticcedsssctstsscosecste sss: 887 
Meteorology: PROFESSOR CLEVELAND ABBE .. 871 
MRC SLOKCSHI UDI Ceres wecceteracccescecsssccecsectesctcecses 872 
Scientific Books :— 


Poynting and Thomson on Sound: PROFESSOR 

W. LE CONTE STEVENS, Cole on Photographic 

Optics: DR. FRANK WALDO. Books Received. 872 
Societies and Academies :— 

The Science Club of the University of Wisconsin : 

PROFESSOR WILLIAM H. Hopss. Torrey Bo- 

tanical Club: EDWARD S. BURGESS. Zoolog- 

ical Club of the University of Chicago............+++ 875 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Totemism: HIRAM M. STANLEY. Arousal of an 

Instinct by Taste Only: DR. E. W. SCRIPTURE. 877 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Influence of the Great Lakes on Precipitation ; Re- 
port of the Chief of the Weather Bureau ; Jamaica 
Weather Service; New Daily Weather Maps ; 
Winter Temperatures at Dawson City; Recent 
Publications: R. DEC WARD.............0000e00e 878 
Botanical Notes :— 
The Varieties of Corn; The Agricultural Grasses 
of Kansas ; Diseases of the Sweet Potato: PRo- 


FESSOR CHARLES E. BESSEY.............0cseseeeees 880 
The American Association for the Advancement of 

ICHAT e boc ceonbaccdesnnceaqdancbeeddocuageosdacnbboonpasacds 882 
The Centenary of the Royal Institution. ........-+...+++5 882 
Scientific Notes and News........sccesecescsesssscecececeee 884 
University and Educational News.........:scscceeereeeee 887 


f*<MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
-sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY. 

ASTRONOMERS everywhere will be grati- 
fied by the announcement from Washing- 
ton that Secretary Long has appointed a 
board to visit, examine and report upon the 
U. S. Naval Observatory. The work of 
this body will be of such far-reaching impor- 
tance—perhaps determining the character 
of our government astronomy for fifty 
years to come—as to make it worthy of the 
serious consideration of the public. Whether 
it shall prove as nugatory as the efforts 
heretofore made to improve the administra- 
tion must depend upon the wisdom with 
which the board executes its difficult and 
delicate task. 

We believe a grave mistake will be made 
if the board confines itself to matters of 
detail and merely points out the features in 
which the administration can be improved. 
We have had plenty of such criticism in 
the past and always without any impor- 
tant result. The subject should be ap- 
proached from a broader point of view, 
taking in its scope the whole history of the 
What 
we are concerned with are the work and 


institution, past and prospective. 


results of the most richly endowed and 
liberally supported astronomical observa- 


858 


tory in the world. The funds for its sup- 
port come from the pockets of our tax- 
payers, and the latter, speaking through 
our astronomers as their mouthpiece, should 
be satisfied with nothing less than that the 
work done by the institution shall corre- 
spond to the liberality with which they are 
supporting it. The fact that our country 
has a larger proportion of the ablest as- 
tronomers of the world than any other, not 
excepting even Germany, leaves us without 
any excuse if our national observatory fails 
to be completely up to the present time. 

For more than fifty years we have been 
trying an experiment in astronomical ad- 
ministration which no other nation ever 
thought of trying and which we ourselves 
have never tried in any other field, that of 
managing a great national observatory like 
a naval station. One of the most impor- 
tant questions is whether this experiment, 
taking the whole fifty years together, can 
be called a success. This question can be 
answered only by a critical examination of 
the work of the institution, as found in its 
volumes of published observations and offi- 
cial reports. In this connection it will be 
wise to review the laudable efforts made 
from time to time to improve the adminis- 
tration and determine the causes of their 
success or failure. 

When the subject is considered from this 
point of view it is a serious question whether 
any other than an adverse conclusion can 
be reached. It is true that excellent work 
has now and then been done at the obser- 
vatory and that this, taken in connection 
with the favorable impression made by the 


splendor of its new buildings, prepossesses 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 234. 


the public, which never looks below the 
surface in its favor. But, as was very 
clearly pointed out by the National Acad- 
emy of Sciences in a report in 1885, this 
good work has been mostly the voluntary 
work of individuals who happened to be at- 
tached to the institution and acted on their 
own initiative. The part of the adminis- 
tration was only to get the men together 
and procure them facilities for work. 

It should also be remembered that even 
this work is not by any means a permanent 
feature of the institution. If we take away 
from the latter such work as that of Seers 
Cook Walker in investigating the motions 
of Neptune, and of Professor Asaph Hall in 
discovering the satellites of Mars and in in- 
vestigating the motions of other satellites, 
what have we left? If anything but a 
heterogeneous collection of observations 
and researches, sometimes intermitted en- 
tirely and sometimes carried on with vigor, 
sometimes devoted to one object, sometimes 
to another, sometimes able and sometimes 
useless, generally of the most perfunctory 
kind, nearly always with more or less im- 
perfect instruments and with little evidence 
of any concerted plan, we hope the board 
will find it out. 

An excellent text will be found in the re- 
cent catalogue of stars by Professor East- 
man, which, we are told in the preface, has 
occupied two-thirds of the observatory force 
for a period of more than thirty years. 
What should the committee say when it 
compares the unflagging zeal and persist- 
ence of the author with the imperfections of 
the instrument he had to use ? 

In the same class may come the more re- 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


cent work of Professor George A. Hill with 
the prime vertical transit. There can be 
no question of the zeal and industry with 
which Mr. Hill has for.five years continued 
a series of observations bearing on one of 
the most important problems in exact as- 
tronomy with which we are dealing to-day. 
Yet the results of his work so far as pub- 
lished show now and then anomalies and 
irregularities leading to the suspicion that 
there is something wrong about the instru- 
ment. The cause can be found only by crit- 
icalinvestigation. Itwould certainly bevery 
regrettable if such rare qualities as those of 
Mr. Hill should fail to be productive of their 
best results through adverse circumstances 
which would be speedily remedied under a 
proper system of administration; and we 
hope the Committee will either demonstrate 
that the suspected defects of the work are 
unreal, or show their cause if they exist. 


THE DIFFRACTION PROCESS OF COLOR 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 

Tue production of color by photography 
has been accomplished in two radically 
different ways up to the present’ time. In 
one, the so-called Lippman process, the 
waves of light form directly in the pho- 
tographic film laminee of varying thickness, 
depending on the wave-length or color of 
the light. These thin laminze show inter- 
ference colors in reflected light in the same 
way that the soap bubble does, and these 
colors approximate closely the tints of the 
original. The technical difficulties involved 
in this process are so great that really very 
few satisfactory pictures have ever been 
made by it. The other, or three-color pro- 
cess, has been developed along several dis- 
tinct lines ; the most satisfactory results 
having been produced by Ives with his 


SCIENCE. 


859 


stereoscopic ‘Kromskop,’ in which the 
reproduction is so perfect that in the case 
of still-life subjects it would be almost im- 
possible to distinguish between the picture 
and the original seen through a slightly 
concave lens. The theory of the three- 
color method is so well known that it will 
be unnecessary to devote any space to it, 
except to remind the reader of the two 
chief ways in which the synthesis of the 
finished picture is effected from the three 
negatives. We have, first, the triple lan- 
tern and the Kromscope, in which the syn- 
thesis is optical, there being a direct addi- 
tion of light to light in the compound col- 
ors, yellow being produced, for example, 
by the addition of red and green. The 
second method is illustrated by the modern 
trichromit printing in pigments. Here we 
do not bave an addition of light to light, 
and, consequently, cannot produce yellow 
from red and green, having to produce the 
green by a mixture of yellow and blue. 
Still a third method, that of Joly & Mc- 
Donough, accomplishes an optical synthesis 
on the retina of the eye, the picture being a 
linear mosaic in red, green and blue, the 
individual lines being too fine to be dis- 
tinguished as such. 

The diffraction process, which I have 
briefly described in the April number of 
the London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philo- 
sophical Magazine, is really a variation 
of the three-color process, though it pos- 
sesses some advantages which the other 
methods do not have, such as the complete 
elimination of colored screens and pigments 
from the finished picture, and the possibility 
of printing one picture from another. The 
idea of using a diffraction grating occurred 
to me while endeavoring to think of some 
way of impressing a surface with a struc- 
ture capable of sending light of a certain 
color to the eye, and then superposing on 
this a second structure capable of sending 
light of another color, without in any way 


860 


interfering with the light furnished by the 
first structure. This cannot, of course, be 
done with inks, since if we print green ink 
over red the result will not be a mixture 
of red light and green light, but almost 
perfect absence of any light whatever ; in 
other words, instead of getting yellow, we 
get black. Let us consider, first, how a 
picture in color might be produced by dif- 
fraction. Placea diffraction grating (which 
is merely a glass plate with fine lines ruled 
on its surface) before a lens, and allow the 
light of a lamp to fall upon it. There will 
be formed, on asheet of paper placed in the 
focal plane of the lens, an image of the 
lamp flame, and spectra, or rainbow-colored 
bands, on each side of it. Now, make a 
small hole in the sheet of paper in the red 
part of one of these spectra. This hole is 
receiving red light from the whole surface 
of the grating; consequently, if we get be- 
hind the paper and look through the hole 
we shall see the grating illuminated in pure 
red light over its whole extent. This is 
indicated in Fig. 1, where we have the red 


GRATING LENS 
ry ~ 


——— 
LAMP FLAME 


Ss 


Fie. 1. 


end of the spectrum falling on the hole, the 
paths of the red rays from the grating to 
the eye being indicated by dotted lines. 
Now, the position of the spectra, with 
reference to the central image of the flame, 
depends on the number of lines to the inch 
with which the grating isruled. The finer 
the ruling the farther removed from the 
central image are the colored bands re- 
moved. Suppose, now, we remove the 
grating in Fig. 1, and substitute for it one 
with closer ruling. The spectrum will bea 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 234. 


little lower down in the diagram, and, in- 
stead of the red falling on the hole, there 
will be green; consequently, if we look 
through the hole we shall see this grating 
illuminated in green light. A still finer 
ruling will give us a grating which will ap- 
pear blue. Now, suppose that the two first 
gratings be putin front of the lens together, 
overlapping, as shown in Fig. 2. This 


Fic. 2. 


combination will form two overlapping 
spectra, the red of the one falling in the 
same place as the green of the other, 
namely, on the eye-hole. The upper strip, 
where we have the close ruling, sends green 
light to the eye and appears green ; 
the under strip, with the coarser 
ruling, sends red light to the eye 
and appears red ; while the middle 

portion, where we have both rul- 
‘~ ings, sends both red and green 
j light to the eye, and in conse- 
quence appears yellow, since the simulta- 
neous action of red and green light on any 
portion of the retina causes the sensation of 
yellow. In other words, we have, in super- 
posed diffraction gratings, a structure capa- 
ble of sending several colors at once to the 
eye. 

If we add the third grating we shall see 
the portion where all three overlap illumi- 
nated in white, produced by the mixture 
of red, green and blue light. 

Three gratings, with 2,000 lines, 2,400 
lines and 2,750 lines to the inch, will send 
red, green and blue light in the same di- 


IMAGE OF 
FLAME 


JUNE 23, 1899 ] 


rection, or, in other words, to the same spot 
_ on the screen behind the lens. 


Suppose, now, we have a glass plate with 
a design of a tulip, with its blossom ruled 
with 2,000 lines to the inch, its leaves ruled 
with 2,400 and the pot in which it is grow- 
ing ruled with 2,750 lines, and place this 
plate before the lens. On looking through 
the hole we shall see a red tulip with green 
leaves growing in a blue pot. Thus we see 
how it is possible to produce a colored pic- 
ture by means of diffraction lines, which are 
in themselves colorless. Those portions of 
the plate where there are no lines send no 
light to the eye and appear black. 

We have, now, to consider how this prin- 
ciple can be applied to photography. That 
photographs which show color on this prin- 
ciple can be made depends on the fact that 
a diffraction grating can be copied by con- 
tact printing in sunlight on glass coated 
with a thin film of bichromated gelatine. 
The general method which I have found 
best is as follows. Three gratings ruled on 
glass with the requisite spacing were first 
prepared.* To produce a picture in color, 
three negatives were taken through red, 
green and blue color filters in the usual 
manner. From these three ordinary lan- 
tern-slide positives were made. A sheet of 
thin plate glass was coated with chrom 
gelatine, dried, and cut up into pieces of 

*These gratings were ruled for us on the dividing 


engine at Cornell University, through the courtesy of 
Professor E. L. Nichols. * 


SCIENCE. 


861 


suitable size; one of these was placed with 
the sensitive film in contact with the ruled 
surface of the 2,000-line grating, and the 
whole covered with the positive represent- 
ing the action of the red light in the picture. 
An exposure of thirty seconds to sunlight 
impressed the lines of the grating on the 
film in those places which lay under the 
transparent parts of the positive. The 
second grating and the positive represent- 
ing the green were now substituted for the 
others and a second exposure was made. 
The yellows in the picture being transpar- 
ent in both positives, both sets of lines were 
printed superposed in these parts of the 
picture, while the green parts received the 
impression of 2,400 lines to the inch only. 

The same was done for the blue, and the 
plate then washed for a few seconds in 
warm water. On drying it appeared as a 
colored photograph when placed in front of 
the lens and viewed through the hole in the 
screen. Proper registration during the 
triple printing is secured by making refer- 
ence marks on the plates. A picture of 
this sort once produced can be reproduced 
indefinitely by making contact prints, since 
the arrangement of the lines will be the 
same in all of the copies as in the original. 
The finished picture is perfectly transpar- 
ent and is merely a diffraction grating on 
gelatine with variable spacing. In some 
parts of the picture there will be a double 
grating, and in other parts (the whites) 
there will be a triple set of lines. Having 
had some difficulty in getting three sets of 
lines on a single film in such a way as to 
produce a good white, I have adopted the 
method of making the red and green grat- 
ings on one plate and the blue on another, 
and then mounting the two with the films 
in contact. It is very little trouble to mul- 
tiply the pictures once the original red- 
green grating picture is made. 

The pictures are viewed with a very sim- 
ple piece of apparatus shown in Fig. 4, 


862 


consisting of a lens cut square like a read- 
ing glass, mounted on a light frame provided 
with a black sereen perforated with an eye 
hole through which the pictures are viewed. 


Fia. 4. 


The colors are extremely brilliant, and 
there is a peculiar fascination in the pic- 
tures, since, if the viewing apparatus be 
slowly turned so that its direction with 
reference to the light varies, the colors 
change in a most delightful manner, giving 
us, for example, green roses with red leaves, 
or blue roses with purple leaves, a feature 
which should appeal to the impressionists. 
The reason of this kaleidoscopic effect is 
evident, for, by turning the viewing appa- 
ratus, we bring the eye into different parts 
of the overlapping spectra. 

It is possible to project the pictures by 
employing a very intense light and placing 
a projecting lens in place of the eye behind 
the perforation in the screen. Of course, a 
very large per cent. of the light is lost; con- 
sequently great amplification cannot well 
be obtained. I have found that sunlight 
gives the best results, and have thrown up 
a three-inch picture on a four-foot sheet, so 
that it could be seen by a fair-sized audi- 
ence. 

By employing a lens of suitable focus it 
it possible to make the viewing apparatus 
binocular, for similar sets of superposed 
spectra are formed on each side of the cen- 
tral image by the gratings, so that we may 
have two eyeholes if the distance between 
the spectra corresponds to the interocular 
distance. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 234 


It is interesting to consider that it is 
theoretically possible to produce one of 
these diffraction. pictures directly in the 
camera on a Single plate. If a photo- 
graphic plate of fine grain were to be ex- 
posed in succession in the camera under 
red, green and blue screens, on the surfaces 
of which diffraction gratings had been ruled 
or photographed, the plate on development 
should appear as a colored positive when 
seen in viewing apparatus. J have done 
this for a single color, but the commercial 
plates are too coarse-grained to take the 
impression of more than a single set of 
lines. With specially-made plates I hope 


to obtain better results. 
R. W. Woop. 


UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 


THE MENTAL FATIGUE DUE TO SCHOOL 
WORK. 

Tuer meaning of the results obtained by 
the different investigators of fatigue among 
school children has been much confused be- 
cause either the experimenter has not 
proved that what he measured was fatigue 
at all or has so arranged his experiments 
that the influence of practice on the one 
hand, and of unwillingness and lack of in- 
terest on the other, have not been dis- 
counted. Especially when, as has so often 
been the case, the teacher gives the work 
as a part of the school routine one may be 
measuring only a conventional habit of the 
school children of doing less at a certain 
time of day, or an unwillingness to work 
due to ennui. What a person does do need 
not be a measure of what he could do. 

The experiments a summary of which 
follows were devised in order to get an an- 
swer to the question: ‘‘ Does the work of a 
school-session fatigue the pupils mentally, 
make them really less able to do mental 
work than they were at its commencement, 
and, if so, to what extent ?’’ 

The method was to give to a sufficient 


JUNE 23, 1899.] 


number of scholars a certain test which 
would measure their ability (in a certain 
direction, at least) to do mental work, 
early in the school session, and then to give 
this same test to a different lot of children 
of approximately equal general maturity 
and ability late in the session. The influ- 
ence of practice is thus entirely obviated, as 
the scholars do not have the same sort of 
work twice. In order to save the results 
from being vitiated by differences in the 
general ability of the students, four differ- 
erent tests were used, and the pupils who 
had two of these tests early had the other 
two late, while those who had the first two 
late had the other two early. The influ- 
ence of possible differences in the average 
ability of the two sets of students can thus 
be estimated. In order to make sure that 
the willingness and interest of the pupils 
was a constant except in ‘so far as due to 
causes outside our control, all the tests were 
given by myself. 

The work given was: (1) a set of multi- 
plication examples to be done in a given 
time ; (2) a page of printed matter full of 
mis-spelled words which were to be marked 
in a given time; (3) two sets of nonsense 
syllables to be written from memory after a 
ten seconds’ look at them, and (4) two sets 
of figures and one set of simple forms (e. g., 
square, triangle) to be written from mem- 
ory in the same way. 

About 150 children (four classes) were 
given 1 and 3 early and 2 and 4 late. An 
equal number of children in the same school 
grade were given 2and 4 early in the school 
day, the other half late. In order to elim- 
inate the influence on the work which ex- 
citement at my first visit, or being used to 
me or being tired of me at my second visit, 
might cause, I made my first visit coincide 
with an early test in half the classes and 
with a late test in the other half. The early 
tests were all given between 10 minutes and 
40 minutes after the opening of school in 


SCIENCE. 


the morning, while the late tests were given 
between 40 minutes and 10 minutes before 
the close of school, half of them at the close 
of the morning and half at the close of the 
afternoon session. 

Thus any general decrease in the amount 
or accuracy of the late work will be due to 
mental fatigue, or to some aversion to work 
caused by the school day and quite apart 
from the aversion to conventional routine 
work or to some factors yet to be demon- 
strated. And if there is no difference we 
can say with assurance that the day’s work 
has not decreased the child’s ability to 
work, that though he may in school do less 
in the latter part of the day it is not in any 
wise due to real exhaustion, to a lowering 
of his mental energy. 

As a fact what difference there was be- 
tween the early and late work was in favor 
of the latter. The multiplication test was 
given to 152 scholars early and 144 late. 
After reducing the amount done and mis- 
takes made by the 152 to what would have 
been done by 144, and comparing the re- 
sults obtained with the work of the 144 
who had the test late, we find that the lat- 
ter did nearly 14% more work and made 
less than 5% more mistakes. 

The spelling work was given to 152 
pupils early and 146 late. After estimating 
the work of 146 early pupils on the basis of 
what the 152 did and comparing with the 
146 late, we find that the latter worked 
through 9955% as many lines, marked 
about 2% more words and marked 2,5% 
more words which should have been left 
unmarked. 

The nonsense syllables were used with 
152 pupils early and 148 pupils late. When 
reduced to an equality in numbers the 
late pupils did 97-5,% as well as the early. 

The figures to be remembered were given 
to 152 pupils early and 145 late. When 
reduced to an equality in numbers the late 
pupils did 89 % as well as the early. 


864 


In remembering the simple forms the 
late pupils did 94,%>% as well as the early. 

It seems clear that the mental work of 
the school day does not produce any marked 
decrease in the ability to do further work. 
The data here given are somewhat influ- 
enced by certain factors, though not by 
practice. These factors will be fully dis- 
cussed in a later report. 

The multiplication, spelling and figure 
tests when given to about 300 children in 
another city showed the following results: 

The multiplication test was given to 156 
children early and to 154 later. When 
evaluated for 153 children the results 
show the latter to have done 863% as 
much work, to have made 14;5% more 
mistakes. Taking together the work of all 
the children tested (594, 297 early, 297 
late), we find that the children who did the 
work late did 2,%,% more work, and made 
exactly the same number of mistakes. 

The spelling test was given to 135 early 
and 128 late. When evaluated for 127 
children the results show the latter to have 
worked through 92,5 % as many lines, to 
have marked ;°, of 1% more words, and to 
have marked wrongly 87 % as many words. 
Taking together the work of all the chil- 
dren tested, we find that those who did the 
work late worked through 94,°, % as many 


10 
lines, marked 1,3, % more words and marked 
wrongly 93,5 % as many. 

The figure test was given to 156 chil- 
dren early and to 152 late. After reducing 
the results of the 156 to a basis of 152 we 
find that those who had the tests late did 
17 % better. 

Taking together the work of all the chil- 
dren tested, we find that those who had the 
test late did almost 2% better than those 
who had it early. 

Besides these three tests, which are of the 
same sort as some of those given to the first 
lot of children, there was given to this sec- 
ond lot a test with letters similar to the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 234. 
figure test. This test was given to 140 
children early and to an equal number late. 
Those doing the work late did 97 % as well 
as those who had it early. 

The factors mentioned as influencing the 
work of the first set of children were largely 
counterbalanced by factors at work in the 
second ; one, however, should be mentioned. 
A certain circumstance probably lessened 
the work of one class (of 30) of the first lot 
of children during an early spelling test. 
So the early work in this test should prob- 
ably be reckoned about 2% higher. On 
the whole these additional data render 
more probable our previous conclusion that 
“‘the mental work of the school day does 
not produce any decrease in the ability to 
do mental work.’’ A glance at the follow- 
ing table, which summarizes the more im- 
portant data, shows this better perhaps than 
the detailed accounts already given. 


Toate | Nos of Scholars Ratio of Teteute Early 
Multiplication. | 297 102°, % 
Spelling. | 273 101°; % 
Figures. | 295 102 % 
Nonsense syllables. | 147 98 % 
Form. | 145 94.8, % 
Letters. | 140 99 % 


Epwarp THORNDIKE. 
WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, 
CLEVELAND, OHIO. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIEN- 
TIFIC LITERATURE. 


PHYSICS. 

Tue plan proposed is to issue a book 
catalogue once in five years, arranged ac- 
cording to both subjects and authors, and 
to issue also, from week to week, two sets of 
card catalogues—one according to subjects 
and the other according to authors. sti- 
mates are given of the proposed cost of this ; 
and various alternatives are proposed, such 
as the issuing of a book catalogue by itself, 
or a book catalogue and an author card 
catalogue. It is estimated that each arti- 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


cle will require four entries, on an average 
one according to the author, the others ac- 
cording to the subjects treated of in the 
paper. 

It is proposed also to print, at the head of 
each of the cards or slips, distinctive sym- 
bols to indicate the science and particular 
sub-division of the science to which the 
paper refers. 

There can be no doubt but that, to satisfy 
the needs of workers in laboratories, the 
plan of having a card catalogue of subjects 
is by far the most satisfactory. A book 
catalogue would be practically useless ex- 
cept to a student looking up references for 
historical reasons, and should, therefore, be 
kept in a general library, and not in a 
laboratory library. For the use of workers 
in laboratories the subject card catalogue 
would be of the greatest importance, as 
everyone knows who has ever kept one. It 
is of great use to the director of the labora- 
tory in the saving of time and brain matter, 
because he no longer needs to remember all 
articles which have appeared, and to the 
student or investigator in keeping him in- 
formed of all that is going on in his particu- 
lar line of work. From the standpoint, 
then, of Physics there can be no doubt but 
that it would be desirable for the Interna- 
tional Committee to print all three cata- 
logues, the book catalogue and the two card 
catalogues ; and of these the card catalogues 
should be kept, it seems best, in the labora- 
tory itself, or at least in such a situation as 
to be ready for use by all the students. 

No suggestions are asked by the Commit- 
tee concerning the division of the sciences 
or the classification proposed ; and, in fact, 
this matter is of secondary importance. The 
plan is to have the assistants and the clerks 
in the Central Office in London make a 
division of the titles according to subjects 
and to label the cards and slips in some 
definite way; so that anyone, although 
ignorant of the subject-matter, can arrange 


SCIENCE. 


865 


the cards easily and quickly when they are 
received. 

Each. card in Physics is to be marked 
with the letter ‘D,’ and each subject card 
is to have, further, a number, such as 
‘5410,’ which signifies the particular sub- 
division to which the subject has reference. 
In this particular case the 5 would indicate 
the primary division, ‘ Light ;’ the 4 the sub- 
division, ‘ Polarization ;’ the 10 the special 
subject, ‘Methods of Producing Polarized 
Radiation.’ 

According to this system Physics is divi- 
ded into seven ‘primary divisions,’ so- 
called, namely: Bibliography and Dynamics; 
Heat; Mechanical and Thermal Effects of 
Contact and Mixture; Vibrations, Waves 
and Sound ; Theories of the Constitution of 
the Ether and of Matter; Light, including 
Invisible Radiation ; Electro-magnetism. 

‘Bibliography and Dynamics’ is sub- 
divided into seven sections: Bibliography of 
Physics ; Dynamics in General ;. Dynamics 
of a Particle and Rigid Dynamics ; Elas- 
ticity ; Hardness, Friction and Viscosity ; 
Dynamics of Fluids; Measurements of 
Dynamical Quantities: 

‘Heat’ is divided into seven sections : 
Temperature and Thermometry ; Calorim- 
etry; Determination of the Mechanical 
Equivalent of Heat; Fundamental Laws of 
Thermodynamics ; Thermal Conduction and 
Convection; Changes of Volume and of 
State (Experiment and Theory); Radia- 
tion. 

‘Mechanical and Thermal Effects of Con- 
tact or Mixture’ is. divided into five sec- 
tions: Friction ; Capillarity ; Diffusion ; 
Transpiration and Mechanical Perme- 
ability ; Imbibition and Surface Condensa- 
tion of Gases; Solution and Osmose. 

‘Vibrations, Waves and Sound’ is di- 
vided into five sections: Theory and Obser- 
vation of Harmonic Vibrations ; Theory of 
Wave Motion; Sound; The Sensation of 
Sound ; The Physical Basis of Music. 


866 SCIENCE. 


‘Light, including Invisible Radiation,’ 
is divided into six sections: Geometrical 
Opties and Photometry ; Velocity, Wave- 
length, Energy, etc., of Radiation ; Inter- 
ference and Diffraction ; Reflection and 
Refraction ; Polarization ; The Emission of 
Radiation, Phosphorescence, etc. 

‘ Electro-magnetism ’ is divided into eight 
sections: Electric and Magnetic Units ; 
Electrostatics; Magnetism; The Electric 
Current; Electrolysis; Electrodynamics ; 
Electric Discharge ; Terrestrial Magnetism; 
The Compass, Earth Currents. 

These sections are divided further into 
270 sub-divisions. The cards are to go to 
the subscribers fully labelled, the marking 
being done by expert assistants in London. 
On being received they can be filed away 
in suitable cases by a clerk, no expert 
knowledge being required. With a suit- 
able key as to symbols any desired reference 
can be found quickly, and the work being 
done in any subject can be ascertained 
easily. Anysystem of classification, there- 
fore, which is extensive, definite, and free 
from ambiguity, will be satisfactory. 

In the main, the systems proposed by the 
Committee of the Royal Society are most 
satisfactory ; and the labor expended in per. 
fecting them in the different sciences, al- 
though enormous, will be fully repaid. 

Unfortunately, the classification in 
Physics does not entirely satisfy the require- 
ments demanded. The primary divisions 
are not altogether logical, nor is the classifi- 
cation of certain subjects; but this is com- 
paratively immaterial. 

In some cases it would undoubtedy be 
well still further to sub-divide a subject. 
For instance, the sub-divison devoted to the 
‘discharge in rarefied gases,’ or the one de- 
voted to the ‘measurements of wave-lengths 
by optical and photographic methods.’ In 
other cases this process has been carried 
toofar. For instance, there is no particular 
reason why a special sub-division should be 


[N. S. Vou. IX. No. 234. 


given to the ‘vapor pressure near curved 
surfaces.’ 

Again, certain subjects seem to be en- 
tirely omitted, such as ‘ spectrum analysis ;’ 
the ‘effect of different external causes on 
wave-lengths,’ such as the Zeeman effect 
and the pressure effect ; the ‘numerical re- 
lations between the lines of any one spec- 
trum and between the spectra of different 
elements ;’ ‘ Doppler’s principle ;’ the ‘ laws 
of radiation and absorption ;’ ‘ forced vibra- 
tions and resonance ;’ the ‘laws of steady 
currents as distinct from alternating cur- 
rents ;’ ‘heat effects of currents ;’ ‘ photog- 
raphy ;’ ete. 

There are sections which are almost 
identical, such as the ‘vibration of strings 
and rods’ under ‘ Sound’ and the ‘ dynamics 
of flexible strings’ under ‘ Elasticity.’ It 
is hardly an accepted fact that the Hall ef- 
fect is due to changes in specific resistance, 
and, therefore, one would not necessarily, 
place it in that section. Again, in speak- 
ing of dynamies, the word center of inertia 
or center of mass is preferable to center of 
gravity. The name ‘Electro-magnetism ’ 
is not a particularly happy one for the last 
primary division. 

The only points of importance in the 
classification which need be criticised, 
however, are, I think, the omissions, the 
other matters being of very little importance, 
owing to the fact that the classification has 
a key, and the fact that anyone can, there- 
fore, easily find the reference which he de- 
sires. It would increase, however, the 
value of the catalogue if the scheme of 
classification could be somewhat remodeled, 
and I venture to express the hope that some 
action of this kind may be taken before the 
recommendations of the committee are ac- 
cepted by the countries concerned in the 
proposal. 

There has been no plan proposed in re- 
cent years which seems to be of so great 
importance to the students of Physics 


JUNE 23, 1899.] 


throughout the world as this, and it is 
earnestly to be desired that enough countries 
and enough universities and libraries will 
subscribe to the enterprise to make it 
possible for the Central Committee to pub- 
lish the book and the card catalogues. 


J.S. AMEs. 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 


CHEMISTRY. 

Ir the object of arranging titles of books 
in a bibliography in certain groups or 
classes is to enable readers and investi- 
gators to find more readily an article on a 
given subject, then the anonymous Commit- 
tee that drew up the schedule of classifica- 
tion for Chemistry in the Report of the 
Royal Society’s International Catalogue 
Committee has made an almost total failure. 

Two methods were open to the Commit- 
tee appointed to devise a classification 
scheme for Chemistry, either to adopt an 
arbitrary system, in which symbols uni- 
formly indicate definite subjects, or to adopt 
the dictionary plan, in which specific words 
are arranged alphabetically. The latter 
plan has, in our opinion, great and incon- 
testable advantages over the former, but-as 
the Committee chose to adopt the first 
named method the second cannot be here 
considered. 

The provisional plan which was submit- 
ted to the delegates at the Conference of 
the International Catalogue Committee, 
held in London, October, 1898, forms Sec- 
tion F, of the general scheme printed in a 
small volume, very difficult for others than 
delegates to obtain. The grand divisions, 
with their registration symbols, are as fol- 
lows: 


(No number) Chemical Bibliography. 

0100 Chemistry (Specific) of the Elements. 
0900 Laboratory Procedure. 

1000 Organic (Carbon) Chemistry (Specific). 
1010 Hydrocarbons. 

1100 Alcohols and Ethers. 

1200 Acids. 

1300 Aldehydes and Ketones. 


SCIENCE. 


867 


1400 Carbohydrates ; Glucosides ; Resins. 
1500 Amino- and Azo-Compounds. 

1600 Mixed Cycloids. 

1700 Organo-Metallic and allied Compounds. 
1890 Alkaloids. 

1900 Proteids. 

2000 Coloured Compounds. 

2500 Operations in Organic Chemistry. 
3000 Analytical Chemistry. 

3900 Theoretical and Physical Chemistry. 
4000 Physiological Chemistry. 

These grand divisions are sub-divided so 
as to provide a class and asymbol for every 
substance known to the chemist or awaiting 
discovery ; at least such is the intention. 
Chemical Bibliography is divided into six 
groups, to wit: 

0000 Philosophy. 

0010 History. 

0020 Biography. 

0030 Dictionaries, collected works, monographs, and 
text-books. 

0040 Pedagogy. 

0050 Addresses, lectures, essays and theses. 


Curiously, no symbol is provided for bib- 
liographies of chemistry, a topic that must 
have been prominent in the minds of the 
persons on the Committee. 

The second grand division ‘0100 Chem- 
istry of the Elements’ is intended to em- 
brace ‘all specifically chemical subject- 
matter, and such other entries as may be 
desirable, relating to the elements generally, 
excepting carbon.’’ In this category the 
elements are arranged alphabetically and 
to each a symbol is given, thus : 


0110 (Al) Aluminium. 
0120 (Sb) Antimony. 
0130 (A) Argon. 

* * * * * 
0200 (Cd) Cadmium. 
0210 (Cs) Cesium. 

* * % * * 
0250 (Cl) Chlorine. 

0260 (Cr) Chromium. 

* * * * * 
0800 (Va) Vanadium. 
0810 (Yt) Ytterbium. 
0820 (Y) Yttrium. 
0830 (Zn) Zine. 
0840 (Zr) Zirconium. 


868 


Students, and even older chemists, who 
find difficulty in recalling the atomic 
weights of common elements will scarcely 
welcome the proposition to give to each ele- 
ment another factor, though in the case of 
antimony this objection disappears. 

This alphabetical arrangement of the ele- 
ments prevents carrying out one of the 
prime objects of classification, namely, the 
grouping of related matters ; thus 

0270 = Cobalt, 0500 = Nickel, 

0690 = Sulphur, 0710 = Tellurium. 
The natural group Ba, Ca and Sr, have re- 
spectively the unrelated numbers 0150, 
0220 and 0680. Surely the elements might 
have been arranged systematically, so that 
related bodies would have contiguous sym- 
bols. 

Annexed to the table of elements are in- 
structions for sub-dividing entries and the 
following paragraph: ‘‘ Specific entries re- 
lating to the halogens collectively shall be 
arranged in Division 0250 under Halogens.’’ 
This mixing of a word-heading with nu- 
merical symbols is a weak feature to be 
again noticed. 

The instructions for entering titles in 
sub-divisions of 0100 include the following 
paragraph: ‘‘ Entries relating to com- 
pounds, which in the Slip Catalogue bear 
the number and symbol of the dominant 
element, together with the symbol of the 
secondary constituent, or dominant second 
constituent, shall be printed in the sub- 
division of their second constituent.” If 
we understand aright this rather obscure 
sentence, it provides for writing on slips 
according to one rule and for printing them 
in book-form according to another rule; 
sodium chloride would appear, therefore, 
under the symbol for sodium in the written 
slips and under chlorine in the printed 
volume ! 

A second paragraph provides that “ refer- 
ences to hydroxides, acids and salts shall 
be entered under the oxide, and corre- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 234. 


sponding sulphur compounds under the 
sulphide.” 

A third paragraph reads as follows: ‘‘ (d) 
In each sub-division the entries shall be 
arranged in such order that those relating, 
a, to the history or origin of the substance 
come first, and following these, in the order 
mentioned, those relating, /, to its prepara- 
tion or manufacture; 7, to its structure, or 
of a theoretical nature ; 4, to its interactions 
or use ; «, to its compounds—these five sev- 
eral sections being denoted by the letters a, 
By 7, 6, €.”? ; 

Passing without comment this non-pars- 
able English (which occurs elsewhere in the 
report), the scheme introduces another 
arbitrary feature, Greek letters for specific 
subjects, which is an admission that the 
numerical plan is found insufficient ; though 
it need not be, provided decimals were 
used, a plan which does not seem to be con- 
templated by the Committee. The sugges- 
tion is even made that “ it would be possible 
to carry the analysis still farther by means 
of symbols, such as ¢, z, and so forth, to 
indicate physical properties, crystalline 
form, ete.’”’ The writers of this review ven- 
ture to suggest that when the Greek alpha- 
bet is exhausted the Hebrew will come in 
handy. 

This mixture of numerical symbols with 
word-headings is again resorted to in di- 
vision ‘0930 Operations in inorganic chem- 
istry,’ where it is suggested that ‘‘ entries 
shall be made under significant headings, 
such as dissolution (sic) and _ solvents, 
crystallization, distillation, * * * oxi- 
dation, electrolysis, furnace operations, 
etc., arranged alphabetically.” 

To organic chemistry the symbol 1000 is 
assigned, under which all entries shall be 
arranged that relate to the subject gen- 
erally ; substitution derivatives of the com- 
pounds included in each of the numbered 
divisions—especially haloid and allied de- 
rivatives—shall, as far as possible, be en- 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


tered under the compounds from which they 
are derived. 

The next paragraph provides that ‘ entries 
under the name of a substance may, if 
necessary, be sub-divided in the same way 
as that proposed for inorganic substances.” 
. Hydrocarbons receive the numerical sym- 
bol 1010, and the scheme for indicating 
their substitution derivatives leads to amaz- 
ing propositions ; the general group is di- 
vided thus : 


1010 Hydrocarbons. 

1020 Parafiins. 

1030 Unsaturated Open-Chain Hydrocarbons. 

1040 Benzenoid Hydrocarbons. 

1050 Reduced Benzenoid Hydrocarbons (Terpenes, 
ete. ). 

1060 Unclassified Hydrocarbons. 


“« Kach of these divisions shall be sub-di- 
vided (excepting 1010 and 1020) into 
isologous groups, in each of which com- 
pounds shall be entered in homologous 
order.”’ Then follow two new arbitrary 
signs for distinguishing derivatives ; these 
are full-faced numerals, 2, 4, etc., used to 
indicate homologous series C,H,,_,, C,H,, 4, 
and the full-faced letter C, with exponents 
attached to indicate the number of carbon 
atoms in a given compound. 

Applying this scheme to nitropropane 
(CH,.CH,.CH,.(NO,) ) it will receive the 
registration symbol 1020.C,.NO,; allene 
(C,:C:CH,) will be indicated by the symbol 
1030.2.C,, and bromotuluene (C,H,.CH,.Br) 
will be indicated by 1040.6.C,. Br. 

This plan of assigning to definite chem- 
ical bodies arbitrary symbols resembling in 
structure well-established formule is most 
objectionable ; if carried out it would prove 
vexatious to chemists and of no practical 
value to librarians. 

To alcohols and ethers the symbol 1100 
is assigned ; to acids, 1200; each of these 
groups is sub-divided exactly as are the 
hydrocarbons, but the symbols of the sub- 
divisions do not harmonize. Since paraf- 


SCIENCE. 


869 


fins = 1020, ‘ols’ should have been 1120, 
and acids 1220 (instead of 1110 and 1210). 

In the paragraph on acids provision 
is made for indicating the number of oxy- 
gen atoms, the character of the acid 
and the basicity by numbers, to which 
ol, al, on, id or cy shall be appended, ac- 
cording to the origin of the acid. ‘‘ Thus, 
lactic acid would be marked 1210.C,0, 
(Lol), and protocatechuic acid, 1230.8.C,0, 
(1.2.01).”” Here, again, we have registra- 
tion symbols resembling in a general way 
chemical formule, yet they do not show the 
constitution nor even suggest the name of 
the substance. 

Number 1440 is given to carbohydrates 
other than mono-, di- and trisaccharides and 
1450 to glucosides and 1460 to resins, and 
it is provided that compounds belonging to 
these divisions shall be entered alphabet- 
ically ; this is again a departure from the 
numerical plan. Another rule provides 
that ‘‘ under alkaloids (1800) a list shall 
be given of vegeto-alkaloids, together with 
the Latin names of the plants from which 
they have been obtained, arranged in the 
alphabetical order of the plant names.” 
Chemists not versed in botany would find 
this arrangement a puzzling one. Again, 
‘‘ alkaloids derived from plants (1810) and 
from animals (1820) shall be arranged 
alphabetically.”’ 

Division 2000 is styled ‘Coloured com- 
pounds’ [!], a singular misnomer for com- 
pounds used in dyeing ; yet another division, 
2010,is called ‘Coloured substances,not dye- 
stuffs,’ and division 2020 is named ‘dye- 
stuffs.’ Provision is made for sub-dividing 
these categories thus: ‘2010 into Hydro- 
carbons (coloured), Alcohols (coloured), 
Ketones (coloured), ete.; 2020 into Azo 
dyes * * * dye-stuffs of vegetable origin, 
unclassified dyes,’’ arranged alphabetically 
in each sub-division. 

The rules concerning the entries of the 
sub-divisions of 3000, Analytical Chem- 


870 
istry, also lack uniformity, clearness and 
exactness ; ‘‘ division 3200 shall include all 
entries relating to the determination of in- 
dividual elements in their compounds and 
in mixtures, excluding determinations of 
atomic weights’? which belong to division 
3500 (theoretical and physical chemistry). 
“Division 3300 shall include all entries 
relating to the determination of individual 
compounds, e. g., alkaloids, carbohydrates 
* 7K > but excluding gases. If necessary 
gravimetric, volumetric, electrolytic, phys- 
ical, etc., methods may be distinguished 
by letters, such as g, v, ete.’”’ ‘ Division 
3400 (Applied Analysis) shall include all 
entries relating to the analysis of composite 
materials, such as drugs, foods, soils, waters 
and technical products generally, arranged 
under appropriate significant headings.” 

The remaining divisions, 3500, Theoret- 
ical and Physical Chemistry, and 4000, 
Physiological Chemistry, must be passed ; 
the specimens given are sufficiently numer- 
ous. 

A study of this remarkable scheme of 
classification shows that the Committee 
failed to recognize the fact that classifica- 
tion and notation are two distinct things, 
and that a notation need have no relation 
to the character of the class to which the 
notation is given. To differentiate the 
houses in a city, street and number are 
given; ‘120 Grand Avenue’ suffices to dis- 
tinguish a given house, and it is not neces- 
sary to construct a symbol indicating the 
number of stories, the number of windows 
and the color of the paint in order to recog- 
nize the address. 

Accompanying the schedule of classifica- 
tion is a specimem page giving illustrations 
of the way in which these rules should be 
applied; the examples bring out forcibly 
the absurdities of the conglomerate method 
proposed. The paper on Argon, by Lord 
Rayleigh and W. Ramsay, receives the 
Kabbalistic formula ‘0100. 7.¢,’ but, if we 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 234. 


understand rightly the Committee’s rules, 
the numerals should be 0130, which stands 
for argon. 

An article by J. J. Sudborough and L. 
L. Lloyd, on ‘Stereoisomerism as affecting 
formation of etheral salts from unsaturated 
acids,’ is assigned simply the number 3500 ; 
when, however, the same paper is entered 
under a different title, namely : ‘ Etherifica- 
tion of stereoisomeric unsaturated acids a 
criterion of structure,’ it has the number 
12007; when, on the other hand, this paper 
is catalogued as: ‘Cinnamic and allied acids 
as a criterion of structure, Etherification 
of,’ the catalogue slip must bear the symbol 
1230.10.€,0,5. 

To a chemist the formula of cinnamic 
acid C,H,.CH:CH,.CO,H has a definite 
meaning, and we protest against a system 
that introduces symbols, analogous in ap- 
pearance, yet wholly misleading as respects 
the composition. 

An examination of the schedule of classifi- 
cation of Chemistry proposed by the Inter- 
national Catalogue Committee shows that 
it consists of a medley of several methods. 
The system includes : 

1. Numbers, full-face and inferiors, used 
for several distinct purposes. 
. Roman capitals, to denote component 
elements. 
3. Roman lower-case, to denote kind of 
chemical process. 
Italic letters in parenthesis, to denote 
basicity of acids. 
. Greek lower-case letters. 
. Word-headings arranged alphabetically. 
. Special provisions ; exceptions to rules. 
In 1772, at Ulm, was printed a thin octavo, 
having the title ‘ Medicinisch-chymisch und 
alchemistisches Oraculum,’ which contains 
a key to over two thousand symbols and 
kabbalistic figures found in alchemical 
manuscripts and books ; the book is curious 
and instructive, as well as really service- 
able to antiquarian chemists. The number 


bo 


iP 


ou 


“Io 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


of synonyms for a given substance is large ; 
alum has twenty-six; aqua fortis, twenty- 
two ; mercury, thirty-eight; a pound 
weight, eight, and cream of tartar is cred- 
ited with thirty-two; the symbols have an 
uncouth appearance, but are hardly more 
fanciful than those proposed by the Com- 
mittee on the International Catalogue. 
Should their schedule of classification pre- 
vail, a new edition of the ‘ Alchemical 
Oracle’ would soon become a necessity. 

H. Carrineaton Bourton, 

Wiiiam P. Currer. 


METEOROLOGY. 


Tue schedules of classification in meteor- 
ology proposed by the International Cata- 
logue Committee of the Royal Society 
seem to be fairly well adapted to secure 
the objects sought by the International 
Conference on the bibliography of science. 
I do not understand that the Conference or 
the Committee has in mind any attempt at 
a philosophical classification of human 
knowledge as embodied in the publications 
of scientific societies. On the contrary, 
their object is merely to collect together in 
London all possible titles of scientific works, 
and to so arrange these that the clerks of 
the Royal Society may easily copy out all 
the titles on any given subject that may be 
called for by any student or investigator. 
For instance, under the head of ‘ Earth 
Temperature,’ No. 2,100, there may be 
10,000 titles and cards ; these will be sub- 
divided into a number of divisions, prob- 
ably according to special aspects and 
according to the countries or stations. 
Each of these sub-divisions may have a 
vumber between 2,100 and 2,199, or, if more 
sub-divisions are needed, they will be 
between 21,000 and 21,999. Of course, the 
ease with which a clerk picks out the cards 
that belong to a given subject desired by 
the student depends, first, upon the minute- 
ness of this sub-classification, and, sec- 


SCIENCE. 


871 


ondly, upon the accuracy with which the 
content of a memoir is expressed by its own 
title. This latter is the béte noir of all 
classification by titles, and there is no rem- 
edy for it except that the bibliographer ex- 
amine the original memoir itself, page by 
page. In this respect the Royal Society 
must depend upon the thoroughness of 
those who send titles to it. The Society is 
simply the central office, or agent, for all 
the other societies and men in the scientific 
world. Every card thatis sent to it should 
have inscribed on it the one or more sub- 
divisions into which it falls. If these sub- 
divisions do not appear on the preliminary 
schedules of classification that have been 
sent out for criticism and suggestion, then 
they will be inserted as fast as needed. 

It seems to me that the method adopted 
by the Conference and the Royal Society 
will work just as well as any other that 
could be suggested, and will be a great 
boon to science if kept up during the next 
century. Of course, it will require at 
least ten years of experience for us to begin 
to appreciate either its defects or ad- 
vantages. Fortunately, so far as regards 
meteorology, the Weather Bureau has the 
great international bibliography, started in 
1881 under my personal supervision and 
already partially published. The classifi- 
cation adopted therein by Mr. C. J. Sawyer, 
after consultation with all the recognized 
experts of Europe and America, embraces 
many details not specifically mentioned in 
the schedule of the Royal Society, and is 
found very convenient when once the stu- 
dent has become slightly familiar with it. 
It endeavored to attain greater elasticity 
by adopting a mixture of capital and small 
letters, Roman and Arabic numerals, in or- 
der to designate the various divisions and 
sub-divisions. Thus we have IBlb to 
designate the Aristotelian works on meteor- 
ology in general, whereas the Royal Society 
classification would, undoubtedly, designate 


872 SCIENCE. 


these as 0002, or, possibly, 00021. There is 
very little to choose between the two meth- 
ods except as to the ease in writing, speak- 
ing and printing. 

As to the classification or arrangement of 
subjects, my personal preference would be 
strongly in favor of a simple dictionary 


catalogue. 
CLEVELAND ABBE. 


_ THE STOKES JUBILEE. 

On June 1 and 2, 1899, the University of 
Cambridge celebrated the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the appointment of Sir George 
Gabriel Stokes to the Lucasian professor- 
ship of mathematics in that institution. 
During the half century of his connection 
with Cambridge, Professor Stokes has dis- 
tinguished himself by a remarkable series 
of investigations in the fields of hydrome- 
chanics, physical geodesy, elasticity, the 
undulatory theory of light, and pure mathe- 
matics. His activity has continued down 
to the present date, one of his most recent 
papers dealing with the mechanical proper- 
ties of the X-rays. 

The celebration of so rare an event in 
academic life,and the eagerness of educa- 
tional and scientific institutions to render 
homage to so eminent a man, naturally 
brought together a large body of special- 
ists in the mathematico-physical sciences. 
About 400 delegates and other guests were 
present. Nearly all of these were en- 
tertained either in the colleges or in the 
homes of members of the professorial staff. 
Thus was it made easy for the stranger 
within the gates of this renowned University 
to see much of its inner life and to enjoy in 
the fullest degree its charming hospitality. 

The ceremonies began on the afternoon 
of June 1st, with the Rede Lecture, delivered 
in the Senate House, by Professor Cornu, on 
‘The wave theory of light ; its influence on 
modern physics.’ This was delivered with 
admirable clearness in French. In the 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 234. 


evening following a conversazione was held 
in Fitzwilliam Museum, and busts of Sir 
George Stokes were presented to the Uni- 
versity and to Pembroke College (that of 
Stokes) by Lord Kelvin. 

On the morning of June 2d the delegates 
and guests were received in the Senate 
House by the Vice-Chancellor and the dele- 
gates presented the addresses sent by the 
various academic and scientific institutions. 
There were about seventy such addresses, 
so that it was essential to dispense with the 
formal reading of them in most cases. Pro- 
fessor Stokes responded briefly and with 
great modesty to these addresses, saying 
that they made him feel that in his long 
life he ought to have accomplished much 
more; but, he added, humorously: If I had 
done more I probably should not have lived 
to celebrate this jubilee. 

On the afternoon of June 2d the address 
of the University of Cambridge and a 
gold medal were presented to Sir George 
Stokes; and immediately thereafter the 
degree of Doctor in Science, honoris causa, 
was conferred on the following distin- 
guished men of science: Marie Alfred 
Cornu, professor of experimental physics 
in the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris; Jean 
Gaston Darboux, dean of the faculty of 
sciences in the University of Paris; Albert 
Abraham Michelson, professor of experi- 
mental physics in the University of Chi- 
cago; Magnus Gustav Mittag-Lefiler, pro- 
fessor of pure mathematics, Stockholm ; 
Georg Herman Quincke, professor of ex- 
perimental physics in the University of 
Heidelberg ; and Woldemar Voigt, profes- 
sor of mathematical physics in the Univer- 
sity of Gottingen. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

A Text-Book of Physics—Sound. By J. H. Poryn 
TING and J. J. THomson. London, Charles 
Griffin & Co. 1899. Pp. 163. 

This is the first one of five volumes in 


JUNE 23, 1899.] 


course of preparation by the authors, the others 
relating to ‘Properties of Matter,’ ‘Heat,’ 
‘Magnetism and Electricity,’ and ‘ Light,’ re- 
spectively. 

These text-books are intended ‘‘ chiefly for 
the use of students who lay most stress on the 
study of the experimental part of physics, and 
who have not yet reached the stage at which 
the reading of advanced treatises on special 
subjects is desirable.’’ The nature of sound 
and its chief characteristics are first considered 
in a chapter that is wholly free of mathematics. 
The velocity of sound in air aud other mediais 
then discussed, the reflection and refraction of 
sound, frequency and pitch of notes, resonance 
and forced oscillations, the analysis of vibra- 
tions by Fourier’s theorem, the transverse 
vibrations of stretched cords, longitudinal vi- 
brations in pipes and other air cavities, vibra- 
tion of rods, plates and membranes, the 
Trevelyan rocker, sensitive flames and musical 
sand. The last chapter is on the superposition 
of waves, with application to the physical basis 
of concord and discord, and on combination 
tones. 

The distinguished authors are so well known 
for their original and accurate work as investi- 
gators that the critic who is in search of mis- 
takes will find little to note, beyond a very 
small number of obvious typographical errors. 
In the descriptive parts the style is clear and 
the paragraphing is good. <A majority of the 
illustrations are in the form of diagrams. In 
the mathematical parts the use of calculus is 
wholly avoided. 

In judging the practical value of a text-book 
it is necessary to take into view a number of 
considerations which have no place in connec- 
tion with what is intended for the advanced 
reader. Regard must be had also for differences 
of educational method in different countries. 
If instruction is given by lectures entirely the 
text-book is merely an accompaniment for pri- 
vate reading. But if the text book is to be a 
drill book, as is, perhaps, most frequently the 
case in America, and especially if much of its 
contents be mathematical, it will almost surely 
be unsatisfactory unless prepared by one who 
has had much experience, not merely in the 
art of presentation, but especially in that of 


SCIENCE. 


873 


testing the student’s success in acquisition. At 
the outset there must be aclear understandthg 
as to the amount of preliminary knowledge 
that can be reasonably assumed on the part of 
the student. It is a matter of common obser- 
vation that a mathematical genius is rarely 
ever a good mathematical teacher, because he 
usually fails to appreciate the difficulties ex- 
perienced by those who are less gifted than 
himself. Even when the teaching is to be not 
oral, but by use of the printed page, it is 
wonderfully easy to express mathematical truths 
in such form as to put them quite beyond the 
grasp of a fairly intelligent student. 

It is not in the domain of acoustic science, 
but in the art of text-book adaptation that the 
present volume is found somewhat wanting. 
If the reader can be assumed to possess already 
a good knowledge of general physics he will 
find much to interest him. Butif he is to obtain 
his introduction to acoustics through the me- 
dium of this text-book he will not proceed 
very far without becoming discouraged. Unde- 
rived formulas are employed so frequently that 
the reader who does not recognize them is jus- 
tified in being impatient. He takes little satis- 
faction in reading that an unfamiliar mathe- 
matical statement ‘can be proved ;’ or that it 
‘can be shown from the equation, etec.,’ which 
in turn ‘can be reduced to’ another unrecog- 
nized form. Such statements are, of course, 
occasionally necessary, but in a text-book their 
use should be reduced toa minimum. In the 
great majority of cases such demonstrations 
amount to no demonstration at all. It is readily 
perceived that the author has gone through the 
requisite mathematical work, but does not wish 
to cumber his page with the details that are 
indispensable to a clear understanding of the 
subject by the student. 

In a mathematical text-book, whether this 
term be applied to pure mathematics or to a 
book involving the applications of mathematics, 
jt is of the utmost importance that all para- 
graphs shall be numbered, that equations shall 
also be numbered, and that the relation between 
new and old topics shall be indicated by fre- 
quent cross references. Attention to such 
details increases the labor of composition for 
the author, while the neglect of them greatly 


874 SCIENCE. 


magnifies the labor which hundreds of readers 
are compelled to undergo. They are wholly 
neglected in the present volume. 

There are certain topics in acoustics which 
require the use of calculus for satisfactory treat- 
ment, but of which the practical results are so 
important that these cannot be omitted in an 
elementary treatise. Such, for example, is the 
equation expressing the relation between ve- 
locity of propagation, elasticity and density. 
For propagation of longitudinal waves the 
method of deduction without higher mathemat- 
ics, first brought out by Rankine thirty years 
ago, is well known. In the present text-book 
an independent method is employed in which 
the formula is briefly deduced by discussion of 
the displacement curve for a longitudinal dis- 
turbance. Laplace’s correction is satisfactorily 
explained, but in the application to numerical 
examples the student is required to apply ther- 
modynamic principles, with which certainly the 
elementary student cannot be assumed to be 
familiar, but which will, doubtless, be explained 
in the future volume on ‘ Heat.’ 

The chapter on ‘Frequency and Pitch of 
Notes’ is particularly good. In the discussion 
of musical quality and of concord and discord 
prominence is justly assigned to the masterly 
researches of Helmholtz, but very little atten- 
tion is given to the work of Rudolph Konig. 
In like manner the work of Mayer in America 
fails to receive any mention. The discussion 
of singing flames will be found better than in 
most text-books, including an excellent expo- 
sition of Lord Rayleigh’s investigation on this 
subject. 

On the whole the book is much to be com- 
mended to those who are already acquainted 
with the priciples of acoustics and who wish a 
modern presentation of the subject by men of 
high standing. Fora class text-book, as com- 
monly employed in America, it will scarcely be 


found well adapted. 
W. LE Conte STEVENS. 


WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. 


Photographic Optics. By R. S. Cote, M.A. 
New York, D. Van Nostrand Co. 1899. Pp. 
330. 

The aim of this handbook, which was origi- 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 234. 


nally published in England by Samson Low, 
Marston & Co., is to give an elementary 
presentation of such of the problems of op- 
tics as find application in practical pho- 
tography. A careful perusal of the book leaves 
in the reviewer’s mind the impression that the 
emphasized word in the title should be ‘ optics’ 
and not ‘ photographic ;’ thatis, ‘photographic’ 
in the sense that most American amateur pho- 
tographers would use the word. The book is 
written from the standpoint of the student of 
optics rather than that of the up-to-date prac- 
tical photographer. 

The photographer will find given in the vari- 
ous chapters of the book an excellent treatment 
of the various optical conditions encountered 
in using the camera, and this treatment is thor- 
ough and made as simple as the nature of the 
subject will admit; the author going back to 
first principles in all possible cases. 

Perhaps the most important section is the 
one on lens testing, which contains an account 
of the tests employed at the Kew Observatory. 
Photographers are too apt to assign the same 
degree of excellence to all lenses of the same 
make; but the fact is that no manufacturer 
turns out two lenses just alike. 

The photographic-lens industry is assuming 
such large proportions in this country that some 
one of our institutions ought to establish a lens- 
testing department which shall duplicate here 
the work of the Kew Observatory in England, 
so that when the practical photographer buys 
his lens he can receive with it a certificate of 
excellence. 

We could wish that Mr. Cole had given us 
detailed information in regard to the construc- 
tion and use of the various modern lens combi- 
nations, such as the Zeiss, Goerz and Steinheil 
lenses. These are points on which the ordinary 
amateur photographer is utterly ignorant, and 
even a modest amount of enlightenment would 
be of great benefit to him. 

The author certainly dismisses too abruptly 
the subject of calculating the brightness of the 
image and timing exposures. It is not such a 
wholly empirical matter as is represented. 
Our best amateur photographers do calculate 
as accurately as possible the time of their ex- 
posures, and their results warrant this expendi- 


JUNE 23, 1899.] 


ture of care and time. Still another point that 
should have been treated in greater detail is 
the use of the ortho-chromatic plate. 

On such points as the last two mentioned 
there is a lack of practical information which will 
give the book less of a circulation than it should 
have and deserves to have on account of its 


many excellent qualities. 
FRANK WALDO. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Man, Past and Present. A. H. KEANE. Cambridge 
University Press. 1899. Pp. xii+ 584. 

A Short History of Free Thought ; Ancient and Modern. 
JoHN M. RoBERTSoN. London, Swan, Sonnen- 
schein & Co., Ltd.; New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1899. Pp. xii + 446. 


Vital Statistics. ARTHUR NEWSHOLME. London, 


Swan, Sonnenschein & Co.; New York, The Mac- 
Pp. xii + 353. 


millan Company. 1899. 


SCIENCE. 


875 


Handbook of British, Continental and Canadian Univer- 
sities, with special mention of the Courses open to 
Women. ISABEL MADDISON. New York, The Mac- 
millan Company. 1899. Pp. iv+174. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE SCIENCE CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
WISCONSIN. 


AT the meeting of the Club held on May 12th 
papers were read by G. C. Comstock on ‘Some 
Recent Applications of Photography to Astro- 
nomical Discovery ’ and by F. H. King on ‘ The 
Flow of Liquids through Porous Media.’ 

Officers for the ensuing year 1899-1900 were 
elected as follows: President, Mr. Charles R. 
Van Hise; Vice-President, Mr. Edward Kremers; 
Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. Charles F. Bur- 
gess, 

On the evening of May 6th the Club gave a 


MEDAL OF THE SCIENCE CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 


Every-day Butterflies: A Group of Biographies. SAM- 
UEL HUBBARD ScUDDER. Boston and New 
York, Houghton, Miffiin & Company. 1899. Pp. 
386. 

A Selected Biography of the Anthropology and Ethnology. 
WILLIAM Z, RIPLEY. Boston, Trustees of the 
Boston Public Library. 1899. Pp. 159. 

Thatsachen und Auslegungen in Bezug auf Regeneration. 
AuGuUST WEISMANN. Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1899. 
Pp. 31. 

Traité élémentaire du méchanique chimique fondée sur 
le thermodynamique. P. DUHEM. Paris, Her- 
mann. 1899. Pp. 381. 


dinner in the Madison Guild Hall in recognition 
of the election of its first President, Mr. George 
Cary Comstock, to the National Academy of 
Sciences, and the awarding of a medal to its 
second President, Mr. Stephen Moulton Bab- 
cock, by the Legislature of the State of Wis- 
consin. 

On June 22d the first award of the Science 
Club Medal will be made to that member of 
the senior class of the University of Wisconsin 
who presents the best thesis giving the results 
of his own original investigation of a scientific 


876 SCIENCE, 


subject. Dies have been prepared by Thomas 

Moring, of London, from which a medal in 

bronze will be struck annually for this purpose. 
Wo. H. Hopes. 


TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, MARCH 29, 1899. 


THE first paper was by Francis E. Lloyd, on 
‘The Functions of the Suspensor,’ and was 
illustrated by drawings and a series of micro- 
scopes exhibiting slides. 

Mr. Lloyd described the structure of the sus- 
pensor typical of the genera Galium, Asperula, 
Vaillantia, etc., and showed that haustoria are 
formed which absorb food from the endosperm. 
The large basal cell of Capsella was shown also to 
possess a function quite similar, because, as the 
preparations showed, the basal cell destroys the 
tissue of the inner integument in its vicinity 
and thus becomes imbedded in it. 

The second paper was by Mrs. E. G. Britton, 
on ‘The Ferns of the Eastern United States,’ 
illustrated by the stereopticon. 

Mrs. Britton exhibited mounted specimens of 
all the rarer ferns of the Eastern States, many 
of them of her own collection, giving the range 
of each species. She also exhibited lantern 
slides made from photographs of these ferns 
taken as they grow. Those of the maiden-hair, 
hart’s tongue and beech-fern were taken from 
the fernery in the New York Botanical Garden ; 
five of them were views from the Catskill 
Mountains taken by Mr. Van Brunt; Mr. Hulst 
contributed one from Lake George, and Mr. 
Lorenz five from Willoughby Lake, Vt. Others 
were Adirondack views taken by Stoddard. 
Mrs. Britton stated that she would continue to 
fillin the omissions where she had not been 
able to obtain photographs, and hoped to com- 
plete her collection in the future. She expressed 
the hope that as the interest in ferns increases, 
the love of them would likewise grow, and that 
the rarer ones would not be exterminated by 
useless transplanting to locations where they 
will not survive. It was stated that thus far 
Rutland county, Vermont, shows the greatest 
number of ferns of any county in the Eastern 
States, having 42 species and 10 varieties. 
There are seldom more than 20 species in any 
locality, except where there is a great variety 
of soil and habitat, as at Jamesville, N. Y., 


[N.S. Vox. IX. No. 234., 


where Professor Underwood has found 34 spe- 
cies. Long Island has 25 and Staten Island 23 
species. 

In further illustration, the Torrey Club col- 
lection of ferns and many sheets from the Co- 
lumbia collection were exhibited, also a series 
of photographs from Professor Atkinson, show- 
ing the variations produced by cultivation of 
Onoclea sensibilis. 

An exhibit to illustrate Onoclea sensibilis in 
in the fossil state was also furnished by Dr. 
Hollick, being of special interest as the only 
living species which is actually found fossil. 

Mr. William A. Lawrence, of Hartford, Conn, 
was introduced by Dr. Rusby, as one who had 
collected 34 species of ferns about Willoughby 
Lake, Vt. Mr. Lorenz described the lake and 
neighboring cliffs, with the illustration of lan- 
tern slides, and spoke of the hundreds of plants 
of Woodsia glabella flourishing there close to 
gether, fruiting at one inch or at six inches. 
In the sunshine it becomes more leathery, as if 
passing into W. hyperborea. Mr. Lorenz also 
finds Aspidiuwm spinulosum dilatatum reverting 
there to the type of the species. 

Dr. Rusby and Dr. A. R. Grout also described 
their visits to Willoughby Lake. 

Mr. W. A. Clute exhibited several fronds of 
Dryopteris simulata, collected by him at Babylon, 
L. I., last summer, and pointed out a distinc- 
tion from D. Thelypteris in the fact that each 
pinna of D. simulata is not of uniform breadth 
but broader near the middle. It fruits chiefly 
in the shade, D. Thelypteris in the sun. 

Dr. Rusby spoke of the beauty of the ferns 
on the mountain slopes near Plainfield, N. J., 
and of the localities near there for Asplenium 
ebenoides, Cystopteris fragilis and Cheilanthes 
lanuginosa. 

Mr. Clute remarked that he had collected 16 
species of ferns within a mile of Fort Lee, and 
59 species are now growing at the Botanic 
Garden. EDWARD S. BURGESS, 

Secretary. 


ZOOLOGICAL CLUB, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO— 
MEETINGS OF WINTER AND SPRING 
QUARTERS, 1899. 

Ovarian Structure in an Abnormal Pigeon.— 
The bird in question was the offspring of a 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


Vienna white (Columba alba) and a common 
ring dove (Turtur risorius). She was remark- 
able for her unusual appearance and manner, 
and upon dissection the ovary was found to be 
abnormal. The first thing in the structure of 
the ovary to strike the attention was the large 
number of double eggs, that is, two or more 
eges lay within the common follicle; they 
might or might not be separated by a distinct 
membrane. 

Most of the larger eggs were vacuolated, the 
vacuoles always appearing in connection with 
the substance of the sphere or yolk-nucleus. 
This sphere substance seemed to be also closely 
related to the membrane separating double 
eggs. 

The nuclei in many cases were shrunken and 
seemed to be degenerating. Nucleoli were 
frequently present, but in many cases were in- 
distinct and irregular in outline. Mitotic di- 
vision of the nucleus was never observed, al- 
‘though one or two centrosomes were often 
present. Many of the eggs, especially the 
larger ones, were undergoing resorption by 
means of phagocytes which were the trans- 
formed follicle cells. Instances were found 
where the follicle cells had disappeared along 
part of the periphery of the egg, leaving behind 
a deposit of pigment. The doubling of the 
eges seemed to be due in most of the smaller 
ones to division of the primordial egg cell, and 
in the larger ones to fusion of contiguous cells. 
The cause of such abnormalities is not known. 
Some connection with hybridization may be 
shown later. 

MIcHAEL F. GUYER. 

Titles of papers given during the two Quar- 
ters: ‘Life-History of Dicyema,’ Professor 
W. M. Wheeler; ‘Abnormalities in Ovigene- 
sis,’ M. F. Guyer; ‘ Recent Literature on An- 
nelid Morphology,’ R. 8. Lillie ; ‘Experimental 
Production of Meroblastic Cleavage in the 
Frog’s Egg (O. Hertwig), Dr. C. M. Child; ‘Re- 
cent Experimental Work on the Ctenophore 
Egg’ (Fischel & H. E. Zeigler), Dr. C. M. 
Child ; ‘Some Native Americans’ (illustrated), 
A.L. Melander & C. T. Brues ; ‘The Formation 
of Giant Embryos in Ascaris’ (Zur Strassen), 
H. H. Newman; ‘Blind Fishes,’ Professor C. H. 
Higenmann, of the University of Indiana; ‘In- 


SCIENCE. 


877 


stincts and Habits of Solitary Wasps (Peckham), 
Miss M. M. Enteman; ‘The Evolution of the 
Color-pattern in the Pigeon’s Wing,’ Professor 
C. O. Whitman; ‘The Excretory Organs of 
Petromyzon,’ Professor W. M. Wheeler; 
‘The Excretory System of Turtles,’ Miss EB. R. 
Gregory; ‘A Review of the Phosphorescent 
Organs of Animals’ (illustrated), Professor S. 
Watase; ‘Hybridism in Pigeons,’ M. F. Guyer. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
TOTEMISM. 


To THE EpIToR oF SCIENCE: Totemism 
has been a most obscure subject, and it is 
only of late that any real light has been 
thrown on it by the publication of Bald- 
win-Gillen’s ‘Native Tribes of Central Aus- 
tralia,’ which is ably discussed by Mr. J. G. 
Frazer in the April and May numbers of the 
Fortnightly Review. Among the Australians an 
Emu group, e. g., is that who by refraining from 
killing and eating emus show that by their 
friendship with emus they acquire power with 
them, and identify themselves with the emus by 
blood ceremonies and by masquerading as emus, 
Now, all this we may interpret as a trap, a bit 
of animistic cunning like that of the hunter 
stalking. The Emu men are specialized as a 
group to a control over the emus by magic 
rites, making them multiply and be convenient 
food for the rest of the tribe. Totemism is a 
cooperation primarily for food supply; ‘‘ you 
Grub men get grubs for me by your special 
kinship with grubs, and we Emu men likewise 
will get emus for you.’? The Totemic method 
is a sly specialization by which a tribe of men 
get the best of their animistic fellows—emus, 
grubs, rain, etc.—for their own advantage, and 
so the Totemic organization is not a religious, 
but wholly an economic, socialization. 

It appears to us that this interpretation, as 
we have just expressed it, is sufficient, and Mr. 
Frazer’s remark about the motive of ‘incon- 
sistency’ which restrains from eating Totem, as 
a cannibalism, presumes too much on the logical 
power of the native. And cannibalism is a 
common thing in nature; but among men and 
most animals is reduced to eating one’s enemies 
or persons of another tribe ; hence when the 


878 SCIENCE. LN. &. Vou. IX. No. 234. 


Totem is adopted into near kinship we merely 
see, in the not-killing and eating, that which 
follows naturally the rule of human kinship. 
But if the main motive in abstaining from eat- 
ing Totem ‘is to conciliate,’ then Totemism is 
so far religious as a method of dealing with 
superiors, for in a broad sense religion includes 
all acts toward the superior as such. But 
Totemism, so far asit makes the native coercive 
to his fellow animals by force of cunning magic, 
certainly is unreligious. 

As to Exogamy, while this may arise simi- 
larly with abstinence from killing and eating, 
and is thus a saving from supposed incest, as 
Mr. Frazer says, we would also see that mar- 
riage within a Totem group might have the 
undesirable result of a Totem animal as off- 
spring instead of a human child. Mr. Frazer 
reports something analogous in his book on 
Totemism (page 16): ‘‘ Bakalai think that if a 
man were to eat his Totem the women of his 
clan would miscarry and give birth to animals 
of the Totem kind or die with an awful dis- 
ease.”’ 

It would be of interest to know whether there 
is a Totemic instinct and whether it emerges in 
civilized children. I think it might be found, 
especially among street Arabs and others early 
thrown on their own resources. As to Totem- 
ism bearing on the domestication of animals, the 
researches of McGee and others in the United 
States favor domestication of animals from com- 
mensalism. (Cf. also domestication of snakes as 
ratters in the Philippines.) Totemism certainly 
acts analogously to a limited close period by re- 
stricting those who shall kill and eat certain food 
animals; but the Totemic idea of controlling by 
spell is contrary to the idea of direct subjec- 
tion, and would scarcely lead to it. The Totem 
group are merely those who stay at home, and 
by their intimate relationship weave the spells 
by which the prey is made plenteous and con- 
venient to the hunter. 

In Totemism and also Fetichism—which is 
but a means to Totemic power—we see the first 
groping of the human mind toward causal re- 
lation and its practical application; but so 
grossly animistic, especially in its kinship idea, 
as to be difficult of understanding by civilized 
man with his scientific mode of thought. The 


Totemic control of nature by making oneself 
akin, is antipodal to the depersonalizing scien- 
tific method. Totemism is the human animal 
fascinating his prey by kinship rite and spell. 
Hiram M. STANLEY. 
LAKE ForREstT, ILL., May 29, 1899. 


AROUSAL OF AN INSTINCT BY TASTE ONLY. 


Epiror OF SCIENCE: The following observa- 
tion is submitted on the chance that it may be 
of use. A dead mouse was given to two kittens 
eight weeks old. They showed no interest in it 
from sight or smell, but as soon as they were 
made to taste the mouse they went into a fight- 
ing passion, which remained as long as the 
mouse was tasted. When they were forced to 
give up the mouse, all interest was lost and 
could not be aroused even by smell. Yet as 
soon as the tongue again touched the mouse 
the kitten fell into the same passion of fight- 
ing. One test showed marked results. Giv- 
ing the mouse to one kitten, I held it, scratch- 
ing vigorously, in one hand, while with the 
other hand I made the other kitten touch and 
smell the mouse and finally taste it. As long 
as the second one did not taste the mouse it 
showed no interest, but it began to fight vig- 
orously at the moment of tasting. As soon 
as the first kitten was made to release its hold 
on the mouse it at once ceased to show any 


interest. 
E. W. ScRIPTURE. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 


INFLUENCE OF THE GREAT LAKES ON 
PRECIPITATION. 


THE Meteorological Chart of the Great Lakes for 
June (U. S. Weather Bureau) presents a chart 
of the normal annual precipitation of rain and 
snow in the drainage basins of the Great Lakes, 
with a set of tables and a brief summary pre- 
pared by A. J. Henry. The conclusion reached 
as to the influence of the Lakes on precipitation 
is as follows: With the possible exception of 
Lake Superior, the lakes do not seem to have a 
very marked influence on the precipitation over 
adjacent land areas. There is more precipita- 
tion on the south than on the north side of 
Lakes Superior, Erie and Ontario, the differ- 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


ence in the case of Lake Superior being about 
eight inches, while the average precipitation on 
the south shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario is 
about three inches greater than that on the 
north shores. The eastern shores of Lakes 
Michigan and Huron have a greater precipita- 
tion than the western, but the differences are 
not so strongly marked as between the northern 

. and southern shores of the other lakes. The 
annual precipitation is somewhat less over the 
northern peninsula of Michigan as compared 
with the immediate shore line, and the precipi- 
tation over the interior of the northern portion 
of the lower peninsula is considerably less than 
on the shores of the lakes on either side. 


REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE WEATHER 
BUREAU. 


THE Report of the Chief of the Weather Bureau 
for 1897-98 is an unusually interesting volume. 
We nete that Section I., which deals with New 
Work and Special Investigations, includes an ac- 
count of the kite work, illustrated by repro- 
ductions of a considerable number of kite me- 
teorograph curves. Deaths by lightning dur- 
ing the year 1897 are reported as reaching 362, 
which is the largest number in any single year 
since a record has been kept. The number of 
deaths due to violent storms was 55. Part VII. 
contains The Climate of Cuba, by W. F. R. Phil- 
lips, a somewhat fuller account than that pub- 
lished in Bulletin No. 22 (see ScrENCE, July 1, 
1898, p. 16); Temperature, Rainfall and Humidity 
at San Juan, Porto Rico, and The Weather of 
Manila, both by W. F. R. Phillips. The 
latter account was contained in Bulletin No. 
22. Two papers by Professor H. A. Hazen, 
one on Meteorologic Waves and one on The Dis- 
tribution of Moisture in the United States, both 
well illustrated, close the volume. 


JAMAICA WEATHER SERVICE, 


Owine to the withdrawal, by the govern- 
ment, of the annual subsidy, the Jamaica 
Weather Service came to an end on April Ist 
of this year. This service was established in 
1880, and has done valuable work in furnishing 
warnings of coming hurricanes, as well as in 
carrying on and publishing investigations of 
hurricanes, rainfall, damage by lightning, etc. 


SCIENCE. 


879 


Mr. Maxwell Hall has been in charge of the 
Jamaica Weather Service from the start, and 
has had the able assistance of Mr. Robert John- 
stone, as observer in charge at Kingston. The 
announcement is now made that Mr. John- 
stone’s services must be dispensed with, and 
that the first-class station at Kingston and the 
second-class station at Montego Bay must be 
discontinued. 


NEW DAILY WEATHER MAPS. 


THE Monthly Weather Review for March notes 
the issue of two new daily weather maps, one 
in Canada and the other in Mexico. In the 
summer of 1898 the Canadian Meteorological 
Service established a Pacific Coast Division with 
headquarters at Victoria, B. C. An _ inter- 
change of daily telegraphic reports takes place 
between our own Weather Bureau and that of 
Canada, so that the information available to one 
is also accessible to the other. It is expected 
that daily maps and forecasts will be issued by 
the Pacific Coast Division of the Canadian 
Weather Service similar to those now issued by 
the U. S. Weather Bureau at San Francisco 
and at Portland, Ore. On March 1, 1899, the 
Republic of Mexico began the publication of a 
daily weather map, 12 by 16 inches in size, the 
observations being made at 8 a. m., 75th merid- 
ian time. The map makes possible an imme- 
diate connection with the daily maps of the 
United States and of Canada. 


WINTER TEMPERATURES AT DAWSON CITY. 

THE Monthly Weather Review for March also 
contains a summary of some meteorological 
observations made at Dawson City during 
November and December, 1898, and January, 
1899, by U. G. Myers, Observer, Weather 
Bureau. Themaximum in November was 23.3°; 
the minimum, —41.4°. In December the maxi- 
mum was 38.0° and the minimum —41.0°. 
In January the maximum and minimum were 
2.0° and —45.0°, respectively. 


RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 
The Use of Kites in the Exploration of the Upper 
Air. C. F. Marvin, Professor of Meteor 
ology, U. S. Weather Bureau. Year-book of 


880 SCIENCE. 


the Department of Agriculture for 1898. Pp. 

201-212. Pls. I. Figs. 9. 

Description of the standard Weather Bureau 
kite and apparatus, with illustrations. 


Proceedings of the Convention of Weather Bureau 
Officials held at Omaha, Nebraska, October 13— 
14, 1898. Prepared under the direction of 
Wituis L. Moore, Chief of Weather Bureau. 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Weather 
Bureau. Bulletin No. 24. 8vo. Washing- 
ton, D. C.,.1899. Pp. 184. 

This Bulletin contains a large number of 
papers on a wide range of subjects connected 
with the work of the Weather Bureau and with 
the relations of the Bureau to the public. 


R. DEC. WARD. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
THE VARIETIES OF CORN. 


SEVERAL years ago the lamented Dr. Sturte- 
vant published privately the results of his 
studies of Indian Corn, with especial reference 
to the varieties which have been created by 
man since he has had it under cultivation. 
The value of the original paper was such that 
the Department of Agriculture has done wisely 
in determining to bring out this considerably 
enlarged and improved edition as one of the 
publications of the Office of Experiment Sta- 
tions (Bulletin No. 57). It is an attempt to 
treat in a scientific manner the whole problem 
of the varieties into which the originally single 
species has developed under man’s selection. 
It is thus a contribution to our knowledge of 
the evolution of a species under cultivation. 

The paper opens with a technical description 
of the Family Gramineae, the tribe Maydeae and 
the genus Zea, and then follow descriptions of 
‘the one recognized species,’ Zea mays L., and 
the ‘species groups.’ In discussing the vari- 
ations in the species the author says: ‘‘The 
species Zea mays includes exceedingly divergent 
forms. The height of the plant in varieties 
and localities has been reported from 18 inches 
for the Golden Tom Thumb pop to 30 feet or 
more for varieties in the West Indies, and 
single stalks in Tennessee at 22} feet. I have 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 234. 


seen ears 1 inch long in the pop class and 16 
inches long in the dent class. The rows in 
varieties may vary from 8 to 24 or more, and 
in individual ears are reported from 4 to 48. 
A hundred kernels of Miniature pop weighed 
46 grains, of Cuzco soft 1,531 grains. In some 
varieties the ears are long and slender; in 
others, short and thick ; in the Bear Foot pop, 
flat. Some varieties have flat kernels; other 
varieties have spheroidal kernels ; yet others, 
conical kernels. The summits of the kernels 
may be flat, rounded, pointed or indented. 
These kernels, usually upright on the cob, may 
be sloping or imbricated, firm or loose, usually 
sessile, yet sometimes stalked. In structure 
some are corneous throughout; others are 
partly corneous and partly farinaceous, others 
entirely farinaceous. * * * The season also 
varies. A variety that ripens in one month is 
mentioned from Paraguay, and seven months 
are said to be required in some southern coun- 
tries. * * * In one group of corn each kernel 
is surrounded by a husk and the ear thus formed 
is itself enveloped in husks. In all our field 
and garden corns, however, the seed is naked 
on the cob.”’ 

With all these variations before him the 
author finds little difficulty in dividing the 
‘polymorphic species Zea mays’ into a number 
of groups, ‘‘ which, on account of their well- 
defined and persistent characters, may be con- 
sidered as presenting specific nomenclature.”’ 
Accordingly, the author proposes six ‘species 
groups,’ each having the value of species in 
process of formation (if we understand the 
author aright). These species of a lower order 
are as follows : 

1. Zea tunicata, the pod corns, in which each 
kernel is enclosed in a pod or husks. This is 
thought by some to be the type of the primitive 
maize, but Dr. Sturtevant very shrewdly sug- 
gests that ‘‘a more complete study, with more 
ample material, may possibly bring this group 
under the classification of abnormalities, the 
pod being but a proliferous condition.”’ 

2. Zea everta, the pop corns, in which the 
excessive proportion of corneous endosperm 
and the small size of the kernels and ears are 
characteristic. Twenty-five varieties are recog- 
nized. 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


3. Zea indurata, the flint corns, in which the 
corneous endosperm encloses a mass of starchy 
endosperm, the summit of the kernel being in 
all cases covered by the corneous layer. Sixty- 
nine varieties are recognized, among which the 
common ‘ Hight-rowed corn of New England’ 
is a familiar example. 

4. Zea indentata, the dent corns, in which 
the corneous endosperm occurs at the sides only 
of the kernel, the starchy endosperm extend- 
ing to the summit. By the drying and shrink- 
age of the starchy matter the summit of the 
kernel becomes indented, whence the name 
‘dent’ corn. No less than 323 varieties are 
recognized as belonging to this ‘species group,’ 
of which the common corn of the Central 
States, North and South, furnishes many ex- 
amples. 

5. Zea amylacea, the soft corns, characterized 
by the absence of corneous endosperm. Twenty- 


seven varieties are recognized. Tuscarora, 
Cuzco and Zuni are examples. ‘‘ The mummy 
corns, from Peru and Chili, that I have 


examined have been soft corns in four varieties.’’ 

6. Zea Zaccarata, the sweet corns, character- 
ized by the translucent, horny appearance of 
the kernels, and their more or less crinkled, 
wrinkled or shriveled condition. Sixty-three 
varieties are recognized. 

While we may not be willing to accept these 
‘species groups’ as species in the ordinary 
sense, it is fair to say that, in our opinion, they 
are as much entitled to specific rank as many 
of those which have been described recently. 
If the systematic botanists ever turn to such 
plants as Maize, Wheat, etc., we may expect 
not only the acceptance of the forms indicated 
above as good species, but also the addition of 
many more. 


THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF KANSAS. 


A RECENT Experiment Station Bulletin (No. 
87) issued by the Kansas Station contains some 
matter of more than usual interest to botanists. 
It deals with the grasses of importance to agri- 
culture, and on that account might be supposed 
to contain little, if anything, of value to the 
scientific botanist, but it requires only an ex- 
amination of this bulletin to show that one can- 
not judge of the value of a paper by the title. 


SCIENCE. 


881 


Professor Hitchcock has made a paper of much 
interest to the botanist, and we dare say that it 
is not one whit less useful to the farmers for 
whom, primarily, it was written. Twenty-six 
species of wild grasses are mentioned, and, by 
means of illustrations and popular descriptions, 
their identity will not be difficult for the farmer 
and stockman. To the botanist the neat little 
maps which show the distribution of the species 
are full of interest, as are also the paragraphs 
which indicate, popularly, it is true, the main 
phytogeographic features of the State. The 
latter are as follows : Wooded regions ; sloughs, 
swales and wet meadows; bottom lands ; 
prairies of eastern Kansas; sandy regions ; 
stony hills; salt plains and alkali spots. One 
cannot but regret that the text is disfigured by 
the spelling ‘thru’ and ‘thruout,’ but we sur- 
mise that this is not to be laid at the door of 
the writer of the Bulletin. 


DISEASES OF THE SWEET POTATO. 


THAT delicious vegetable, the sweet potato, 
is affected most grievously by diseases which 
must make life a burden to the grower, what- 
ever they may do to the unfortunate plants 
themselves. In a recent bulletin issued by the 
Maryland Experiment Station, Dr. C. O. Town- 
send described eight diseases of the sweet po- 
tato. These are known under the following 
names: Black Rot, Soil Rot, Soft Rot, Stem 
Rot, White Rot, Dry Rot, Scurf, Leaf Mould. 
In every case the disease is produced by a fun- 
gous parasite which attacks the tissues. Thus 
Black Rot is caused by Ceratocystis fimbriata ; 
Soil Rot by Acrocystis batatas ; Soft Rot by the 
ubiquitous ‘black mould’ Rhizopus nigricans ; 
Stem Rot by Nectria ipomex; White Rot by 
some Penicillium; Dry Rot by Phoma butate ; 
Seurf by Monilochetes infuscans; Leaf Mould 
by Albugo (Cystopus) ipome@x-pandurane. Nine 
years ago Dr. Halsted, of the New Jersey Ex- 
periment Station, published a similar paper 
(Bulletin 76) in which he described still another 
disease of this sorely afflicted plant, viz., Leaf 
Blight caused by Phyllosticta bataticola, making 
nine diseases in all. The remedies to be em- 
ployed by the growers include the following : 
Discard all diseased sets ; spray with Bordeaux 
mixture ; rotate crops; treat the soil with sul- 


882 


phur, four hundred pounds to the acre; gather 
and burn all diseased roots at the time the crop 
is harvested ; destroy all related weeds, avoid 
bruising the tubers; store in dry places at a 
temperature of about 70°; remove and burn 
diseased tubers as soon as they begin to decay. 
Surely the grower of the sweet potato must be 
alert to bring his crop to a successful issue. 
CHARLES E. BEssEY. 
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

THE preliminary announcement of the forty- 
eighth meeting of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science has been issued by 
the local committee. It will be remembered 
that the meeting will be held at Columbus, 
Ohio, from the 21st to the 26th of August, un- 
der the presidency of Professor Edward Orton. 
The first general session will as usual be held 
on Monday morning, when the President elect 
will be introduced by the retiring President, 
Professor F. W. Putnam, and addresses of wel- 
come will be made by the Governor of Ohio and 
the Mayor of Columbus. The addresses of the 
Vice-Presidents will be given on Monday after- 
noon, and the address of the retiring President 
in the evening. The several sections will meet 
as usual during the week, and Saturday will be 
devoted to an excursion, probably to the 
mounds at Fort Ancient, the coal mines in 
Hocking Valley and the natural-gas fields. 
Further information may be obtained from the 
Permanent Secretary of the Association, Dr. L. 
O. Howard, Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C., 
and from the Local Secretary, Professor B. F. 
Thomas, Ohio State University. 

The societies meeting in affiliation with the 
Association are as follows : 

The American Forestry Association will meet 
on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 22d and 
23d, in Horticultural Hall. Hon. James Wilson, 
Washington, D. C., President ; G. P. Whittle- 
sey, Washington, D. C., Secretary. 

The Geological Society of America will meet on 
Tuesday, August 22d, at the same time and 
place with Section E. B. K. Emerson, Amherst, 
Mass., President; H. L. Fairchild, Rochester, 
N. Y., Secretary. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. 1X. No. 234. 


The American Chemical Society will hold a 
general meeting on Monday and Tuesday, 
August 21st and 22d, and the remainder of the 
week will be given to Section C. Edward W. 
Morley, Cleveland, Ohio, President; Albert C. 
Hale, 551 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., 
Secretary. 

The Society for the Promotion of Agricultural 
Science will meet on Friday and Saturday, Au- 
gust 18th and 19th. B. D. Halsted, New 
Brunswick, N. J., President; C. S. Plumb, 
Lafayette, Ind., Secretary. 


The Association of Economic Entomologists will 
hold its eleventh annual meeting on August 
18th and 19th. C. L. Marlatt, Washington, 
D. C., President; A. H. Kirkland, Malden, 
Mass., Secretary. 

The American Mathematical Society will meet 
on Friday and Saturday, August 25th and 26th. 
R. S. Woodward, Columbia University, New 
York, President; F. N. Cole, Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York, Secretary. 

The Society for the Promotion of Engineering 
Education will hold its meeting on August 17th, 
18th and 19th. Albert Kingsbury, Durham, 
N. H., Secretary. 

The American Folk-Lore Society will probably 
meet with Section H on Thursday, August 24th. 
W. W. Newell, Cambridge, Mass., Secretary. 

The Botanical Society of America will meet on 
Friday and Saturday, August 18th and 19th. 
On Friday, at 4 p. m., business meeting; 8 p. 
m., address of retiring President ; on Saturday, 
9 a. m., business meeting; 9:30 a. m., and 2 p. 
m., sessions for reading papers. G. F. Atkin- 
son, Ithaca, N. Y., Secretary. 

The American Microscopical Society will meet 
August 16th, 17th and 18th. Henry B. Ward, 
Lincoln, Neb., Secretary. 


THE CENTENARY OF THE ROYAL INSTI- 


TUTION. 

THE celebration of the centenary of the 
foundation of the Royal Institution, London, 
took place in accordance with the plans we 
have already announced. Commemorative ad- 
dresses were made by Lord Rayleigh and Pro- 
fessor Dewar, and at the banquet on June 5th 


JUNE 23, 1899.] 


the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge 
and Professor Langley, of the Smithsonian In- 
stitution, made speeches. 

As part of the celebration there was an exhi- 
bition of historical apparatus, regarding which 
we take the following from the London Times : 
Most of it belongs to the Institution’s own col- 
lection, but a considerable number of articles 
are on loan, some memorials of Davy having 
been sent by Dr. Humphry Davy Rolleston, 
his grand-nephew, and some of Faraday by his 
niece, Miss Jane Barnard, and other members 
of the Barnard family. The founder, Count 
Rumford, is represented by some models—a 
grate, fireplace, chimneys, roaster and stew- 
pan, which may be taken as typical of the pur- 
poses which he conceived the Institution should 
serve. Of the first professor, Dr. Garnett, 
nothing seems to remain but his picture, and 
the objects that belonged to the second, Dr. 
Thomas Young, are not very numerous or 
striking. 

Of Sir Humphry Davy, however, the relics 
are most interesting, for they carry the mind 
back to what are probably his two best-known 
achievements. In the first place there is a 
couple of the batteries or galvanic troughs with 
which he was able to effect the decomposition 
of the alkalis, and in the second a large collec- 
tion of the lamps with which he experimented 
in the effort—finally, of course, successful—to 
find a form safe for use in dangerous coal mines. 
Other memorials of Davy include a portrait of 
him in court dress occupying the presidential 
chair of the Royal Society, the three medals he 
received at various times from that body, the 
Napoleon medal for the ‘best experiment on 
the galvanic fluid’ awarded him in 1807 by the 
French Institute, whose action raised a storm 
of indignation, because England and France 
were then at war, and many specimens of his 
correspondence, not the least interesting being 
some of the love letters he addressed to the 
charming Mrs. Apreece, his marriage with 
whom in 1812 terminated his connection with 
the Institution. 

The articles associated with Faraday are still 
morenumerous. There is the original apparatus 
with which he obtained the magneto-electric 
spark; the big electro-magnet with a copper 


SCIENCE. 


883° 


dise spinning between its poles, which formed 
the first machine for continuously generating an 
electric current by means of magnetism, and 
which is, therefore, the direct ancestor of the 
modern dynamo; early forms of galyanometers 
and electrical-influence machines; a series of 
delicate glass vessels filled with various gases, 
which he used in his determinations of magnetic 
and diamagnetic properties, together with the 
‘diamagnetic box’ he presented to Tyndall ; 
the apparatus employed in the first experiments 
on the liquefaction of gases, with some of the 
tubes filled by himself; many specimens of the 
heavy glass in which he did such memorable 
work; and a curious bit of apparatus, consist- 
ing apparently of a block of this glass, sur- 
rounded with a coil of fine wire, which he 
doubtless used in one of his numerous experi- 
ments to discover a connection between light 
and magnetism. The way in which the last is 
put together shows plainly the influence of the 
apprenticeship to a bookbinder which Faraday 
served in his early life, and another beautifully 
neat example of his expertness in this craft 
may be seen in a bound manuscript volume of 
Davy’s lectures ‘taken off from notes by M. 
Faraday,’ which is particularly interesting as 
having led to his engagement as an assistant in 
the institution’s laboratory. 

Among the apparatus belonging to men more 
recently connected with the Royal Institutiow 
may be mentioned that used by Tyndall in his 
investigations on radiant heat and on germ life, 
the electrical instruments of Dr. Warren de la 
Rue, and last, but not least, the magnificent 
collection of physical apparatus that was the 
property of the late Mr. William Spottiswoode, 
successively Treasurer and Secretary of the In- 
stitution. This includes a splendid series of 
Nicol’s prisms and other apparatus for experi- 
menting in the polarization of light, a huge 


- electro-magnet made by Ducretet, of Paris, and 


the famous induction coil containing 280 miles 
of wire in its secondary circuit and capable of 
giving a spark 3} feet long. The whole has 
just been presented to the Institution by Mr. 
W. Hugh Spottiswoode, and it will form a most 
worthy memorial of the year in which that so- 
ciety completes its century of useful and honor- 
able existence. 


884 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


SECRETARY Lona, of the Navy Department, 
has appointed a Board of Visitors to examine 
and report upon the U. 8. Naval Observatory, 
to consist of Senator Wm. E. Chandler; Repre- 
sentative Alston G. Dayton; Professor Geo. C. 
Comstock, Director of the Observatory of the 
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.; Pro- 
fessor Geo. E. Hale, Director of the Yerkes 
Observatory, Williams Bay, Wis.; and Professor 
Edward C. Pickering, Director of the Harvard 
College Observatory, Cambridge, Mass. This 
Board of Visitors will meet at the Naval Ob- 
servatory on the 30th of the month. 


WE learn from Dr. Tiessen, of Berlin, that 
the Norwegian Storthing has passed an act regu- 
lating the administration of the Nobel founda- 
tion. The prizes, which it will be remembered 
are in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature 
and for the promotion of peace, will each be of 
the value of 15,000 crowns (about $11,000) an- 
nually. The prizes are to be conferred on the 
anniversary of Nobel’s death, on the 18th of 
December, and for the first time in 1901. The 
prizes in physics and chemistry are to be 
awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences 
and the prize in medicine or physiology by the 
Medico-Surgical Institute of Stockholm. Any 
one making application for one of the prizes is 
thereby excluded. A prize may be divided be- 
tween two persons who have carried out a joint 
work. It appears that part of the income is to 
be used for the establishment of Nobel Insti- 
tutes, regarding the scope of which we are not 
informed. 

SEVERAL years ago Dr. Robert Lamborn be- 
queathed to the Philadelphia Academy of 
Natural Sciences his entire estate, valued at 
over $600,000. The will was contested and a 
compromise has now been effected by which 
half of the property is received by the Academy. 


Tue American Geographical Society, New 
York, has bought a plot of land 50 x 102 feet on 
the north side of West 82d St., near Central 
Park, and facing the open square on which 
stands the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory. In addition to the legacy of General 
Cullum, subscriptions amounting to $30,400 
have been received, and the Council proposes to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 234. 


begin the construction of a fire-proof building, 
completing it at present only so far as may be 
necessary to provide for a library and offices. 

On the occasion of the official inspection of 
the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, on June 
3d, the new buildings were opened to visitors. 
The new Observatory building, which has been 
in progress since 1891, was completed last 
March by the addition of the east and west 
wings, and a new magnetic pavilion, in an en- 
closure in Greenwich Park, about 360 yards from 
the Observatory, was completed last September. 
Among the distinguished visitors present were 
M. Cornu and Professor Newcomb. 


THE University of Oxford, on June 8th, enter- 
tained the delegates to the centenary of the 
Royal Institution and conferred the honorary 
D.C.L. upon the following : Henri Becquerel, 
Membre de l'Institut, professor of physics at 
the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris; Guglielmo 
Korner, professor of chemistry in the Scuola 
Superiore d’ Agricultura, Milan ; Matthias Eu- 
gen Oscar Liebreich, Director of the Pharma- 
cological Laboratory, and professor of pharma- 
cology in the University of Berlin; Henri 
Moissan, professor of toxicology in the Ecole 
Supérieure de Pharmacie, Paris, and Simon 
Newcomb, U.S. Navy and Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity. At the luncheon, given in the hall of 
Christ Church, Professor Newcomb responded 
to the toast in honor of the guests. 

Tue following have been elected foreign 
members of the Royal Society: Dr. Ludwig 
Boltzmann, professor of theoretical physics in 
the University of Vienna; Dr. Neumayer, 
of the Hamburg Observatory; Dr. Anton Dohrn, 
Director of the Zoological Station, Naples; Pro- 
fessor Emil Fischer, professor of chemistry at 
the University of Berlin, and Dr. Melchior 
Treub, Director of the Buitenzorg Botanical 
Gardens. 

Ernst A. Bessry, A.M., of the University 
of Nebraska, has been appointed to the position 
of Assistant Vegetable Pathologist in the Di- 
vision of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology 
in the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, the appointment dating from June Ist. 


THE subjects of Professor Emile Picard’s lec- 
tures to be delivered at Clark University, in 


JUNE 23, 1899.] 


connection with the Decennial Celebration, 
July 5th to 8th, are as follows: (1) Sur le 
développement des mathématiques, et en par- 
ticulier de Vidée de fonction, depuis un siécle. 
(2) Quelques vues générales sur la théorie des 
équations différentielles. (8) Sur la théorie 
générale des fonctions analytiques et sur quel- 
ques fonctions spéciales. 


THE statue of Benjamin Franklin, presented 
to the city of Philadelphia by Mr. Justus C. 
Strawbridge, was unveiled on June 14th with 
ceremonies under the auspices of the University 
of Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical 
Society, the Franklin Institute, the Library 
Company of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylva- 
nia Hospital. The oration was delivered by U. 
S. District Attorney James M. Beck. 


THE death is announced of Dr. A. Charpen- 
tier, professor in the faculty of medicine in the 
University of Paris, and the author of contribu- 
tions on vision numbering over 100. His pub- 
lications concern especially the time phenomena 
of vision, intensity, contrast, etc. 


Dr. LAwson TAIT, a surgeon of Birmingham, 
England, who was eminent for his operations 
in abdominal surgery, died in London on June 
13th, aged fifty-five years. 


THE next meeting of the International Com- 
mittee on Meteorology has been called for Au- 
gust 25th of the present year at St. Peters- 
burg. 

THE annual meeting of the Royal Geograph- 
ical Society, London, was held on June 5th, when 
the medals were awarded in accordance with 
the announcement that we have already made. 
A banquet was held in the evening. Among 
the speakers were Count du Pontavice de Heus- 
sey, who had received one of the medals in the 
afternoon, and the American Ambassador, Mr. 
Choate. 

THE 21st Congress of French Geographical 
Societies will be held at the building of the 
Paris Society of Geography, from the 23d to 
the 29th of July, 1900. 

Dr. Cyrus ADLER informs us that Comte 
Angelo De Gubernatis, President of the 12th In- 
ternational Congress of Orientalists, to meet at 
Rome, October 12, 1899, states that a special 


SCIENCE, 


885 


section of this Congress will be devoted to re- 
searches concerning the origin of the American 
Indians, and that papers from students of 
American archeology, ethnography, mythology 
and folklore will be welcome. 


A REUTER telegram from Stockholm, dated 
June 6th, says that the Anthropological and 
Geographical Society of Stockholm has received 
the following telegram from Herr Vathne, a 
shipowner at Mandal: ‘‘Captain Hueland, of 
the steamship Vaagen, who arrived there on 
Monday morning, reports that when at Kola 
Fjord, Iceland, in 65° 34’ north lat., 21° 28/7 
west long.,on May 14th, he found a drifting 
buoy marked ‘ No. 7.’ Inside the buoy was a 
capsule, marked ‘ Andrée’s Polar Expedition,’ 
containing a slip of paper, on which was writ- 
ten the following: ‘Drifting buoy, No. 7. This 
buoy was thrown out from Andrée’s balloon on 
July 11, 1897, 10:55 p. m., Greenwich mean 
time, 82° north lat., 25° east long. We are at 
an altitude of 600 metres; all well. Andrée, 
Strindberg, Fraenckel.’’’ Herr Andrée made 
his ascent from Danes Island on July 11, 1897, 
at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so that when the 
buoy was thrown out the explorer had only 
travelled seven hours and 55 minutes. 


THE Stella Polare, with the Duke of Abruzzi, 
nephew of the King of Italy, and his polar ex- 
pedition on board, sailed from Christiania on 
June 12th. 


AmonG those who will embark on the steam- 
ship Hope for the Arctic regions are’ Professor 
Wm. Libbey, of Princeton University, and Dr. 
Robert Stein, of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. Dr. Stein will spend the winter in 
Ellesmereland, and will be accompanied by Dr. 
Leopold Kann, who will pay special attention 
to the study of terrestrial magnetism. 

THE New Mexico Biological Station will be 
conducted this summer at Las Vegas, N. M., 
beginning work about June 25th. Mr. T. D. 
A. Cockerell will be in charge, and will be 
assisted by Miss W. Porter. It is also ex- 
pected that two parties will undertake field-in- 
vestigations in New Mexico, Professor C. L. 
Herrick having charge of a geological party, 
and Professor E. L. Hewitt of an anthropolog- 
ical one. Professor E. O. Wooton will also be 


886 


in the field, investigating the flora of the White 
Mountain region of New Mexico, which has al- 
ready yielded him so many interesting novelties. 
Professor C. H. T. Townsend and Mr. C. M. 
Barber are collecting in the region of the Sierra 
Madre Mountains, in northern Mexico. 

PROFESSOR W. A. SETCHELL, of the Univer- 

sity of California, and other botanists of the 
University, are about to leave on an expedition 
to study the flora of the Aleutian Islands. 
* Two French explorers have returned to 
Paris, Dr. Maclaud, who had been in French 
Guinea, and M. Peroy, who has been for three 
years in Gen-Thé and Cai- Binh. 

Mr. CHARLES H. SENFF has given $5,000 to 
the zoological department of Columbia Univer- 
sity for purposes of exploration and publication. 
Mr. Harrington and Mr. Sumner expect, with 
the assistance of this fund, to make a second ex- 
pedition to the Nile in search of Polypterus, if 
the unsettled political conditions make this 
possible. The fund will also be used for the 
publication of a memoir on the anatomy of 
Polypterus, to be undertaken conjointly by 
Messrs. Dean, Harrington, McGregor, Strong, 
Herrick and Professor Wheeler, of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago. Professor E. B. Wilson, 
after ascertaining last spring that the trip to 
Khartoum was impracticable, established a 
temporary laboratory at Mansourah, upon the 
lower Nile, the point visited by Messrs. Har- 
rington and Hunt last summer, The fishermen 
assured ‘him that Polypterus would return in 
quantity, and raised his hopes greatly; but, 
when after a long period, the fish began to ap- 
pear it was ascertained that all the females had 
spawned, so that further efforts to obtain the 
eggs would be futile during the remainder of 
the season. Professor Wilson is now occupying 
the Columbia University table at Naples and is 
engaged in the revision for the third edition 
of his volume, ‘ The Cell,’ which is to be trans- 
lated into Italian and French. 


THE Peabody Museum, of Harvard Univer- 
sity, has received from the heirs of the late 
Moses D. Kimball a valuable collection of ar- 
cheeological and ethnological specimens. 


AT a meeting of the British Astronomical 
Association on May 31st Mr. E. Walter Maun- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 234: 


der announced that the report of the eclipse 
expeditions of last year were now far advanced 
and were expected to be issued before the next 
meeting. With regard to the arrangements of 
the expeditions for next year, they had not yet 
entered into a contract with any steamship 
company, but they were carrying on negotia- 
tions in that direction. They expected to ar- 
range without difficulty for asteamship to take 
a party out from England, leaving approxi- 
mately a fortnight before the eclipse, and reach- 
ing England again about a week after it. It 
would probably call at some port in Portugal— 
either Oporto or Lisbon—then, perhaps, at 
Cadiz and Alicante, finally going to Algiers, 
where the steamer could be used as a hotel by 
those members of the party who went the full 
journey. They had received 109 names so far 
for the European and Algerian expedition, and 
additions to that number were expected. 


TuE University of the State of New York has 
just issued a museum bulletin by the State 
Entomologist, Dr. Felt, on Shade Tree Pests. 
Those likely to prove most destructive this 
season are described and depicted in various 
stages, and directions for the most effective 
means of exterminating them are given. This 
bulletin, No. 27, will be sent to any address for 
five cents. State Paleontologist Dr. John M. 
Clarke has prepared a Guide to excursions in 
the fossiliferous rocks of New York (University 
Hand-book 15), which will be of special interest 
to teachers and students wishing to acquaint 
themselves more intimately with the classic 
rocks of this State. Itineraries of 32 trips are 
given, covering nearly the entire series of 
paleozoic rocks, with careful details as to typ- 
ical localities, how to get to them without loss 
of time and comfort, what strata and fossils to 
look for and where to find them. It is hoped 
to send this hand-book to all the schools in the 
University before the end of the school year. 


AMONG important American scientific books 
announced for early publication are the ‘ Races 
of Europe,’ by Professor W. Z. Ripley (Apple- 
tons) based on the series of articles published 
in the Popular Science Monthly ; and ‘ Statistical 
Methods with Special Reference to Biological 
Variation,’ by Dr. C. B. Davenport (Wiley), de- 


JUNE 23, 1899. ] 


scribing the statistical methods elaborated by 
Galton and Pearson and their application in 
the natural sciences, 


ACCORDING to the Boston Transcript the Uni- 
versity of Chicago has set aside $5,000 to defray 
the expenses of explorations which are about 
to be conducted under its auspices in Yucatan. 
A collection of hitherto-unknown ruins has 
been discovered lately some distance southeast 
of the city of Merida, on the north coast, and a 
representative of the institution paid a visit to 
the spot this winter. He found the remains of 
what seemed to be an enormous tribal dwelling, 
with buildings scattered around it over an area 
of nearly a mile. The main edifice was built 
massively of stone, and the facades were liter- 
ally covered with the most intricate and beau- 
tiful carving. The top is covered. with earth 
and vegetation, and from a distance looks like 
a square wooded hill, so there is fairly good 
reason for supposing that the interior rooms are 
in a state of good preservation, at least that 
they have not been opened and ransacked by 
prowling Indians. There are many tombs also 
that have every appearance of being intact, and, 
if so, they may contain much matter to shed 
light on one of the most mysterious pages of 
the history of humanity. The exploring 
expedition will start some time within the 
next month, and New Orleans will be the point 
of departure. 


A conversazione in connection with the meet- 
ing of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Lon- 
don, was given on August 9th, the guests 
being received by the President, Sir W. H. 
Preece. The London Times states that Sir W. 
Martin Conway showed a series of photographs 
taken during his recent expedition to the Andes, 
and Mr. Mansergh exhibited views in the Elan 
valley, illustrating the progress of the works, 
of which he is the engineer, for giving Birming- 
ham a new supply of water from Wales. For 
those who desired still lighter amusement a 
number of electrophones were fitted up in 
connection with the theatres. Of engineer- 
ing models and scientific apparatus there 
was a very interesting display. Among the 
former, which were particularly numerous, 
were representations of the Powerful, Latona 


SCIENCE. 


887 


and Jearless, lent by Messrs. Vickers, Sons 
& Maxim; of the Turbinia and a tor- 
pedo-boat destroyer with a guaranteed speed 
of 385 knots, from the Hon. Charles A. 
Parsons ; of the steel ice-breaking steamer 
Ermak, from Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth 
& Co.; of the proposed new bridge at Kew, 
from Sir John Wolfe Barry ; of the new high- 
level bridge at Newcastle, from Mr. Charles 
Harrison ; of the new P. and O. steamer Isis, 
from Sir Thomas Sutherland ; and of dredgers 
of various descriptions, from Messrs. J. C. Coode 
and William Matthews. The Royal Ordinance 
Factories had an interesting exhibit showing 
the component parts of a 3803 Lee-Enfield 
magazine rifle and the stages in the manufac- 
ture of a solid-drawn 6-inch cartridge case. 
The Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company 
showed some specimens of Professor Callendar’s 
beautiful electrical recording instruments. One 
was arranged as a pyrometer recording the 
variations in the radiation from an ordinary in- 
candescent lamp, and it was very curious to see 
the constant alterations in the readings with 
minute fluctuations in the current when the eye 
could perceive no change whatever in the 
lamp. The same firm also showed the seismo- 
graph, designed by Professor Ewing, and Mr. 
W. Duddell’s oscillograph for tracing alternate- 
current wave forms. Another model in action 
that attracted considerable notice was Professor 
Dunkerley’s machine to illustrate the whirling 
and vibration of shafts in rapid rotation. 
Among the railway exhibits may be mentioned 
examples of Mr. James Holden’s liquid fuel 
burner for locomotives, as successfully used on 
the Great Eastern Railway; an interesting series 
of rail sections from Mr. W. Dean, illustrating 
the development of the permanent way on the 
Great Western ; and a working model of a mag- 
netic system of train signalling from Mr. W. 8. 
Boult. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE gift of Mr. B. N. Duke, of the American 
Tobacco Company, to Trinity College, which we 
announced last week, makes his gifts to the 
College during the year $183,000; $6,000 of 
which is to improve the scientific laboratories. 


888 


The gifts of Mr. B. N. Duke and his father, Mr. 
W. Duke, to Trinity College have aggregated 
over half a million dollars in the last six years. 


THE sum of twenty-five thousand dollars has 
been offered by an anonymous friend to Vassar 
College for a biological laboratory on condition 
another $25,000 be collected for the purpose. 


By the death of Mrs. Jeremiah Halsey the 
Norwich Free Academy will receive a bequest 
of nearly $100,000, and Trinity College, Hart- 
ford, $20,000, according to the provisions made 
by Mr. Halsey in his will. 


THE Rey. H. Latham, Master of Trinity Hall, 
Cambridge University, has given £2,000 for the 
proposed Sedgwick Memorial Museum. 


Miss SuSAN DyCKMANN has given $300 for a 
scholarship in zoology in Columbia University 
for the year 1899. 


THE class of 1899 of the University of Penn- 
sylvania has given the University $5,000 toward 
a scholarship in memory of the late Professor 
E. Otis Kendall, for many years professor of 
mathematics. 


Tue Thirty-seventh University Convocation 
of the State of New York will be held at Al- 
bany, beginning June 26th. President Harper, 
of the University of Chicago, will make the 
annual address, his subject being ‘ Waste in 
Education.’ 


AT the recent Commencement, on June 8th, 
the University of Nebraska conferred the follow- 
ing degrees: 


Bach elormoLwATis|tangvcrieislsteieiaveisisrelevcislele's 84 
Bachelorjof SClenCesiviee sanciore c ciel isis sieeis 32 
BachelorjiOL Moa wSietencterecketctsveisisrsicreinrsiie 51 
Masterjofsarts deitletertcveretslessteierete eceeeiebeloists 14 
Doctor of Philosophy............... 0. iL 


The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was con- 
ferred for work in mathematics, Dr. Engberg’s 
thesis including a study of (1st) The Cartesian 
Oval, and (2d) An Extension in the Theory of 
the Characteristics of Evolutes. The following 
are the titles of the theses in science presented 
for the degree of Master of Arts: 

‘The Demagnetizing Effects of Currents in Iron 


when electro-magnetically compensated,’ by Z. E. 
Crook. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. IX. No. 234. 


‘ Beta- Phenyl-Meta-Nitroglutarie Acid and Deriv- 
atives,’ by Mariel C. Gere. 

‘Studies on the Genus Cittotenia,’ R. A. Lyman. 

“A volumetric Method for the quantitative Esti- 
mation of Sulphuric Acid,’ by Y. Nikaido. 

‘A Contribution to the Chemistry of Aromatic 
Glutarie Acids,’ by H. C. Parmelee. 


PROFESSOR BENJAMIN IDE WHEELER, who 
holds the chair of Greek and comparative phil- 
ology in Cornell University, has been elected 
President of the University of California. 


AT a recent meeting of the Board of Control 
of the Michigan College of Mines, Professor 
Fred W. McNair was unanimously elected 
President of the institution. Professor McNair 
has been for some years in charge of the de- 
partment of mathematics and physics, and so 
closely identified with the work and growth of 
the College that its history, aims and methods 
are entirely familiar to him. 


Dr. F. Strone, of Yale University, has been 
elected President of the University of Oregon. 


Mr. Unysses 8. Grant, of the Minnesota 
State Geological Survey, has been appointed 
professor of geology in the Northwestern Uni- 
versity. 

Mr. FRANK R. LILLIs£, instructor in zoology 
in the University of Michigan, has been ap- 
pointed professor of biology at Vassar College. 
At the same College Miss Winnifred J. Robinson 
has been made instructor in biology and Miss 
Caroline E. Furness, Ph.D., assistant in the 
observatory. 


AT Syracuse University, Mr. 8. M. Taylor 
has been made associate professor of physics ; 
Dr. Henry M. Smith, instructor in chemistry, 
and John G. Coulter, instructor in botany. 


CarL A. Bessey, A.B., and B.Sc. in Elec- 
trical Engineering, of the University of Ne- 
braska, has been appointed assistant professor 
in the department of mechanic arts in the 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, Still- 
water, Oklahoma. 


FELLOWsHIPs at Bryn Mawr College have 
been given to Miss Elizabeth Towle in biology, 
and to Miss Anna L. Wilkinson in mathe- 
matics. The fellowship in physics has not yet 
been awarded. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THuRSTON, Engineering; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry; 
J. Le ContE, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; W. K. 
Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScuppER, Entomology; C. E. Brssry, N. L. 
BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowprrcu, Physiology ; 

J. S. Brntines, Hygiene; J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology; DANIEL G. BRIN- 

TON, J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, JUNE 30, 1899. 


CONTENTS: 


Lord Kelvin’s Address on the Age of the Earth as 
an Abode fitted for Life (I): PROFESSOR T. C. 


CHAMBERLIN cecscscdnedccsstscsscecssedecdcossenseesecces 889 
Perspective Illusions from the Use of Myopic Glasses : 

Dr. ROBERT MACDOUGALL...........c00seeceeseeeee 901 
Birds as Weed Destroyers: DR. SYLVESTER D. 

CWO) o.cocaqnacpaoqesoacronodboon doouccooudcdoosuocadoodden 905 
The Biology of the Great Lakes: PROFESSOR 

WACOBIREIGHUAR Discsseccseresscusenacesatesceiecsccess 906 


‘The International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture :— 
Geology and Geography: PROFESSOR N. §. 
Physiology : PROFESSOR JACQUES LOEB.......... 908 
Seientifie Books :— 
James’s Talks to Teachers on Psychology: PRO- 
FESSOR CHARLES DEGARMO.  Wetterprognosen 
und Wetterberichte des XV. und XVI. Jahrhun- 
derts: Dr. A.L. Rorcu. Books Received...... 909 
Scientific Journals and Articles........0scccceeeeeeeeceees 911 
Societies and Academies :— 
The New York Academy of Sciences—Section of 
Biology: PROFESSOR FRANCIS E. LLoyD. 
The New York Section of the American Chemical 


Society: DR. DURAND WoopMAN. ~ The 

Washington Botanical Club: DR. CHARLES 
THOUISH POLLARD, accssescessececsesseocecceee ss 912 
Professor Dewar on Liquid Hydrogen...... 914 
Automatic Ship-Propulsion: R. H. T... 915 
Remeasurement of the Are of Peru......... 916 
Leland Stanford Jr. University... 916 
Sceientifie Notes and News...........++ coda ele 
University and Educational News........:0.:0cceeseeeeee 919 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
-sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


LORD KELVIN’S ADDRESS ON THE AGE OF 
THE EARTH AS AN ABODE FITTED 
FOR LIFE* 
I. 

In the early half of the century, when 
the more sober modes of interpreting geo- 
logical data were struggling to displace the 
cataclysmic extravagances of more primi- 
tive times, it is not strange that there 
should have arisen, as a natural outgrowth 
of the contest, an ultra-uniformitarianism 
which demanded for the evolution of the 
earth an immeasurable lapse of time. It is 
not remarkable that individual geologists 
here and there, reacting impatiently against 
the restraints of stinted time-limits imposed 
on traditional grounds, should have incon- 
siderately cast aside all time limitations. 
It was not unnatural that the earlier uni- 
formitarians, not yet fully emancipated 
from inherited impressions regarding the 
endurance of rocks and the immutability 
of the ‘ everlasting hills,’ should have en- 
tertained extreme notions of the slowness 
of geological processes and have sought 
compensation in excessive postulates of 
time. Natural as these reactions from prim- 
itive restrictions were, a reaction from them 
in turn was inevitable. This reaction must 
have ensued, in the nature of the case, when- 
soever geologists came seriously to consider 
those special phenomena which point to 


*This JOURNAL, May 12, pp. 665-674, and May 19, 
pp. 704-711. 


890 


limitations of time. But in the earlier part 
of the century geological attention was ab- 
sorbed in the great phenomena that testify to 
the vastness of the earth’s history. The time 
for the study of limitations had not come. 

Nevertheless, however inevitab le must 
have been the ultimate recognition of limi- 
tations, it remains to be frankly and grate- 
fully acknowledged that the contributions 
of Lord Kelvin, based on physical data, 
have been most powerful influences in has- 
tening and guiding the reaction against the 
extravagant time-postulates of some of the 
earlier geologists. With little doubt, these 
contributions have been the most potent 
agency of the last three decades in restrain- 
ing reckless drafts on the bank of time. 
Geology owes immeasurable obligation to 
this eminent physicist for the deep interest 
he has taken in its problems and for the 
profound impulse which his masterly com- 
putations and his trenchant criticisms have 
given to broader and sounder modes of 
inquiry. 

At the same time, it must be recognized 
that any one line of reasoning, however 
logically and rigorously followed, is quite 
sure to lead astray if it starts from limited 
and uncertain premises. It is an easy 
error to press the implications of any single 
phase of the complex phenomena of geology 
until they shall become scarcely less mis- 
leading than the looser speculations which 
they seek to replace. A physical deduction 
which postulates an excessively short geo- 
logical history may as easily lead to false 
views as did the reckless license of earlier 
times. Interpretations of geological and 
biological phenomena made under the 
duress of physical deductions, unless the 
duress be certainly known to be imperative, 
may delay the final attainment of the real 
truth scarcely less effectually than interpre- 
tations made on independent grounds in 
complete negligence of the testimony of 
physics. It is in the last degree important 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. IX. No. 235. 


that physical deductions and speculations 
should be regarded as positive limitations 
only so far as they are strictly demonstra- 
tive. Falling short of demonstration, they 
are worthy to be regarded as moral limita- 
tions only so far as they approach moral 
certainty. In so far as they are drawn 
from doubtful assumptions, they are as ob- 
viously to be placed in the common cate- 
gory of speculations as are those tentative 
conceptions which are confessedly but the 
possible foreshadowings of truth. The fas- 
cinating impressiveness of rigorous mathe- 
matical analysis, with its atmosphere of 
precision and elegance, should not blind us 
to the defects of the premises that condition 
the whole process. There is, perhaps, no 
beguilement more insidious and dangerous 
than an elaborate and elegant mathemat- 
ical process built upon unfortified premises. 

Lord Kelvin’s address is permeated with 
an air of retrospective triumph and a tone 
of prophetic assurance. The former is 
fairly warranted to the extent that his at- 
tack was directed against the ultra wing of 
the uniformitarian school of the earlier 
decades. It might be wholesome, however, 
to remember that there were other camps 
in Israel even then. There were ultra- 
conservatives in chronology as well as 
ultra-radicals. There were ultra-catastro- 
phists as well as ultra-uniformitarians. 
Lord Kelvin’s contributions have as sig- 
nally failed to sustain the former as they 
have signally succeeded in overthrowing the 
latter. The great body of serious geol- 
ogists have moved forward neither by the 
right flank nor by the left, but on median 
lines. These lines have lain, I think, 
rather in the field of a qualified uniformi- 
tarianism than in the field of catastrophism. 
Even the doctrine of special acceleration in 
early times, or at other times, has made 
only qualified progress toward universal 
acceptance. The body of competent geol- 
ogists to-day are probably more nearly dis- 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


ciples of Hutton, Playfair and Lyell than 
of their opponents. But such is the free- 
dom and the diversity of belief, of attitude 
and of method, among geologists that as a 
class they cannot be placed either here or 
there in the schools, nor could they thirty- 
five years ago. 

But we are not primarily concerned with 


these matters of the schools and of the 


past. The address presses upon our atten- 
tion matters of present interest and of pro- 
foundimportance. Referring to his former 
wide-ranged estimate of the time of the 
consolidation of the earth, Lord Kelvin 
says that ‘‘we now have good reason for 
judging that it was more than twenty and 
less than forty million years ago, and prob- 
ably much nearer twenty than forty (This 
JournAL, May 12, p. 271), and he gives 
qualified approval to Clarence King’s esti- 
mate of twenty-four million years. In the 
course of the address he speaks of ‘ strict 
limitations,’ of ‘sure assumption,’ of ‘ cer- 
tain truth,’ and of ‘no other possible alter- 
native ;’ he speaks of ‘ one year after freez- 
ing,’ and even of ‘half an hour after the 
solidification’; he speaks of ‘a crust of 
primevai granite,’ of a depth of ‘several 
centimeters,’ and of other details of dimen- 
sion and of time and of certitude so spe- 
cifically and so confidently that it must en- 
courage, in the average reader, the impres- 
sion that the history of the earth is already 
passing into a precise science through the 
good offices of physical deduction. Is this 
really true? Can the uninstructed layman 
or the young geologist safely repose confi- 
dence in these or any other chronological 
conclusions as determinate ? Can these def- 
inite statements, bearing so much the air of 
irrefutable truth, be allowed to pass without 
challenge? What is their real nature and 
their true degree of certitude when tested 
respecting their fundamental postulates and 
their basal assumptions ? 

With admirable frankness Lord Kelvin 


SCIENCE. 


891 


says (This Journat, May 12, p. 672): “ All 
these reckonings of the history of under- 
ground heat, the details of which Iam sure 
you do not wish me to put before you at 
present, are founded on the very sure as- 
sumption that the material of our present 
solid earth all round its surface was at one 
time a white-hot liquid.” It is here can- 
didly revealed that the most essential factor 
in his reasonings rests ultimately upon an 
assumption, an assumption which, to be sure, 
he regards as ‘very sure,’ but still an as- 


sumption. The alternatives to this assump- 


tion are not considered. The method of 
multiple working hypotheses, which is pe- 
culiarly imperative when assumptions are 
involved, is quite ignored. I beg leave to 
challenge the certitude of this assumption 
of a white-hot liquid earth, current as it is 
among geologists, alike with astronomers 
and physicists. Though but an understu- 
dent of physics, I venture to challenge it on 
the basis of physical laws and physical 
antecedents. 

By way of preface it may be remarked 
that the postulate of a white-hot liquid 
earth does not rest on any conclusive geolog- 
ical evidence, however generally it may be 
entertained as a probable hypothesis. Stu- 
dents of the oldest known rocks are not yet 
agreed that these are all igneous even. But 
granting that they may be all either igneous 
or pyroclastic, there is a wide logical gap be- 
tween this admission and the postulate that 
they were all liquid at one time and enveloped 
the whole earth. Looking quite in the op- 
posite direction is the testimony of the 
complex structure and intricate combination 
of rocks, diverse at once in chemical, min- 
eralogical and structural characters, which 
the basement complex presents. The rela- 
tions of the great batholite-like masses to 
the enveloping foliated rocks, and of analo- 
gous combinations of intrusive aspect, im- 
ply the presence ofa portion of the basement 
complex in the already solid state when 


892 


the remainder entered it in the liquid state. 
It would be a bold petrologist who would 
insist that it has been demonstrated that 
the basement complex is simply the molten 
envelope of the primitive earth solidified in 
situ, however much he might be disposed to 
entertain this view among his working 
hypotheses. It would be petrological 
hardihood to maintain that it was even a 
‘sure assumption.’ Without denying that 
the basement complex may be the direct or 
the indirect offspring of a supposed molten 
state, no dogma of certitude is now admis- 
sible on geological grounds. 

The hypothesis of a primitive molten 
earth is chiefly a deduction from the high 
internal temperature and from the nebular 
hypothesis. But it remains to be shown 
that the high internal temperature may not 
also be a sequence of an earth which grew 
up by meteoric accretion with sufficient 
slowness to remain essentially solid at all 
stages. Anattempt has recently been made 
to show that a highly-heated state of the 
interior of the earth would have resulted 
from the self-compression of the mass dur- 
ing its accretion.; The methods of reason- 
ing employed in this attempt were identical 
with those of Helmholtz relative to the 
heat of the sun, save that they were ap- 
plied to a solid body. The computations 
of Mr. Moulton seem to indicate that 
gravitative concentration may have been 
an adequate cause of internal heat. In 
addition to this the thermal effect of mo- 
lecular change and tidal kneading require 
recognition. Until these agencies are rigor- 
ously tested and found wanting, inferences 
based on the alternative hypothesis can 
searcely be the ground of sure assumption. 
The irregular distribution of internal heat 
is more notably in harmony with the hy- 
pothesis of internal compressive generation 

*A Group of Hypotheses bearing on Climatic 


Changes. Jour. Geol., Vol. V., No. 7, Oct.-Nov., 1897, 
p. 670. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 235. 


than with that which makes it a residuum 
of a molten state whose temperature should 
be approximately uniform. If this irregu- 
larity be assigned to volcanic action it must 
be remembered that vulcanism is itself a 
part of the irregularity and adds to the 
burden of explication. Both hypotheses 
ultimately appeal to the same source, the 
gravitative descent of the earth’s substance. 
Their differences lie in the modes of action 
assumed respectively, and these modes are 
determined by the antecedent conditions of 
aggregation. Has it been demonstrated 
that these antecedent conditions were of 
the one kind and not of the other? 

Lord Kelvin obviously assumes a nebu- 
lous state of the earth as the controlling 
antecedent condition. It is not quite clear 
whether he adopts the complete gaseous 
theory of Laplace, including the earth- 
moon gaseous ring, or not. Apparently, 
however, he has not adopted the gaseous 
earth-moon ring, but has substituted there- 
for a meteoroidal ancestry for the earth, 
for he says (p. 706): ‘ Considering the al- 
most certain truth that the earth was built 
up of meteorites falling together, we may 
follow in imagination the whole process of 
shrinking from gaseous nebula to liquid 
lava and metals, and solidification of liquid 
from central regions outwards.” A little 
farther on he speaks of ‘‘ the gaseous nebula 
which at one time constituted the matter 
of our present earth.’? Without feeling 
quite certain that I am not in error, I in- 
terpret these sentences to mean that the 
matter of the earth was in a meteoroidal 
condition just previous to its falling to- 
gether, and that it passed into the gaseous 
condition as a result of the heat of impact, 
and that from thence it shrank into the 
liquid and later into the solid state. If 
this be correct it would be interesting to 
learn on what grounds the older hypothesis 
of a nebulous ring, once regarded as a quite 
sure assumption, has been abandoned, and 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


whether the reasons for that abandonment 
do not bear adversely also on this modified 
phase of the gaseous hypothesis. The 
strongest objection recently urged against 
the Laplacean gaseous ring is the apparent 
inability of the feeble gravity of such a ring 
to overcome the high molecular velocities 
of its lighter constituents at the high tem- 
peratures necessary to maintain the refrac- 
tory material of the earth in a gaseous con- 
dition.* In addition to this radical objec- 
tion to the gaseous earth-moon ring, there 
is the extreme probability that, if formed, it 
would cool below the temperature of 
volatilization of rock substance before it 
would concentrate into a globe. 

The studies to which reference has just 
been made seemed to show that even in the 
globular form it is doubtful if the earth 
could be volatilized without the dissociation 
of its water and the loss of its hydrogen by 
molecular projection away from the earth. 
The inquiry seemed even to raise a doubt 
whether the vapor of water, as such, or the 
atmospheric gases could be retained at the 
temperature of rock volatilization ; indeed, 
it seemed that the oceanic and atmospheric 
constituents might even be in jeopardy at 
the temperature of white-hot lava. With- 
out insisting that these molecular inquiries 
are demonstrative—for they only profess 
to be preliminary—they seem, at least, to 
justify the radical inquiry whether the 
hypothesis that the earth was once a 
gaseous nebula can be entertained with any 
confidence, in the light of modern molecular 
physics. As an abstract proposition in 
physics addressed to physicists would Lord 
Kelvin feel free to assert that the water 
now on the surface of the earth would be 
retained within its gravitative control if the 
earth were heated so that its rock substance 
was volatilized? May I be pardoned for 


* A Group of Hypotheses bearing on Climatic 
Changes. Jour. Geol., Vol. V., No. 7, Oct.-Nov., 
1897, pp. 658-668. 


SCIENCE. 


893 


inquiring whether Lord Kelvin has not 
joined the company of geologists and ne- 
glected some of the physical considerations 
that bear pertinently on the problem in 
hand ? 

But passing this point, and striking 
hands with Lord Kelvin in assuming ‘‘ the 
almost certain truth that the earth was 
built up of meteorites falling together,” 
what imperative reason is there for infer- 
ring a gaseous or even a white-hot liquid 
condition asa result? It goes without say- 
ing that the energy of impact of the fall- 
ing meteorites would be sufficient, under 
assumable conditions, to give rise to the 
liquid condition and much more, but the 
actual condition that would be assumed by 
the earth would be dependent wholly on 
the rate at which the meteorites fell in. If they 
fell in simultaneously from assumable dis- 
tances an intensely hot condition may be 
predicated with all the confidence of logical 
certitude. If they fell at as great intervals 
as they do to-day a low surface temper- 
ature may be predicated with equal cer- 
tainty. If they fell in at some intermedi- 
ate rate an intermediate thermal state of 
the surface must be postulated. No phys- 
ical deduction can be more firm than that 
the temperature of the surface of the earth 
would be rigorously dependent on the rate 
of infall so far as the influence of infall 
alone is concerned. Before a white-hot 
condition can be regarded as a safe assump- 
tion it must be shown that the meteoroids 
would necessarily fall together at a highly 
rapid rate; otherwise the heat of individual 
impacts would be lost concurrently, as is 
now the case, and would not lead to gen- 
eral high temperature. 

Now, has Lord Kelvin, or any other of 
our great teachers in physics or in astron- 
omy, followed out to a final conclusion, by 
the rigorous processes of mathematics, the 
method and rate of aggregation of a multi- 
tude of meteorites into a planet, so as to be 


(076) 


able to authoritatively instruct us as to the 
rapidity at which the ingathering would 
take place? Can the problem be solved at 
present with any such close approximation 
to precison as to determine whether a liquid 
or a gaseous state would or would not ensue ? 
I assume that the most probable hypothesis 
relative to the distribution and movements 
of the meteorites is one that assumes that 
they consisted of a swarm or belt revolving 
about the sun in the general neighborhood 
of the present orbit of the earth; in other 
words, some form of meteoroidal substitute 
for the gaseous ring of the Laplacean hy- 
pothesis. The hypothesis may, doubtless, 
diverge much in detail, and, indeed, in 
some very important factors, but I assume 
that no radical departure from this can be 
entertained without endangering the pecu- 
liar relations of the earth to the rest of the 
solar system and the harmonious relations 
of the whole; without, in other words, 
jeopardizing the consanguinity of the plan- 
ets. Ifa distribution of meteorites bear- 
ing any close resemblance to the Saturnian 
rings, the foster parents of the nebular hy- 
pothesis, be assumed, a definite problem is 
presented for determination. If the rings 
of Saturn, which are quite certainly formed 
of discrete solid matter, were to be en- 
larged so that they should lie outside 
Roche’s limit, and so escape the sphere of 
specially intense tidal strain which will 
permit no aggregation, what reason is there 
to think that they would gather together 
precipitately? Does the tidal influence, 
which, within Roche’s limit, is able to tear 
a satellite to pieces, cease instantly outside 
the limit and give place to a precipitate ten- 
dency to come clashing together? On the 
contrary, is it not difficult to demonstrate, 
by rigorous processes, even the method by 
which the meteorites will aggregate, much 
less their rate, or even to demonstrate that, 
apart from extraneous causes, they will fall 
together at all. Is not the presumption in 


SCIENCE, — LN. 8. 


Vou. IX. No. 235. 


such a case favorable to a slow rather than 
to a rapid aggregation? Ifa distribution 
like the meteoroidal swarms that are asso- 
ciated with the comets of the solar system 
be assumed, a definite problem is set con- 
cerning which some appeal to observation 
is possible. Here the observed tendency is 
toward dispersion rather than aggregation. 
In either of these assumptions, or in any 
other assumption, the problem involves the 
balance between gravitative forces, revolu- 
tionary forces and tidal forces, and the 
gravitative forces are not simply those be- 
tween the meteorites mutually, but those 
between the meteorites and the central so- 
lar body and the exterior planetary bodies, 
a complex of no mean intricacy. Is it cer- 
tain that these forces would be so related 
to each other as to produce a swift ingath- 
ering of the whole swarm or belt, or, on 
the other hand, an ingathering prolonged 
through a considerable period? If the lat- 
ter be the case (and, in the absence of dem- 
onstration, is it unreasonable to think it 
quite as probable as the opposite) are there 
any imperative grounds for assuming that 
a liquid state of the earth would result? 
Until the rate of aggregation is worked out 
fully and rigorously are there any moral 
prohibitions, strict or otherwise, to a free 
interpretation of geologic and biologic evi- 
dence on its own grounds? Is not the as- 
sumption of a white-hot liquid earth still 
quite as much on trial as any chronological 
inferences of the biologist or geologist? 

It, of course, remains to be seen whether 
the alternative hypothesis of an earth grown 
up slowly in a cold state, or in some state 
less hot than that assumed in the address, 
would afford any relief from the limitations 
of time urged upon us. At first thought it 
would, perhaps, seem that this alternative 
would but intensify the limitations. Since 
the argument for a short history is based 
on the degree to which the earth is cooled, 
an original cold state should but hasten the 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


present status. But this neglects an essen- 
tial factor. The question really hinges on 
the proportion of potential energy convertible 
into heat which remained within the earth 
when full grown. There is no great differ- 
ence between the alternative hypotheses so 
far as the amount of sensible heat at the 
beginning of the habitable stage is con- 
cerned. For, on the one hand, the white- 
hot earth must have become relatively cool 
on the exterior before life could begin, and, 
on the other, it is necessary to assume a 
sufficiency of internal heat coming from 
impact and internal compression, or other 
changes, to produce the igneous and crys- 
talline phenomena which the lowest rocks 
present. The superficial and sub-super- 
ficial temperatures in the two cases could 
not, therefore, have been widely different. 

So far as the temperatures of the deep 
interior are concerned there is only recourse 
to hypothesis. It is probable that there 
would be a notable rise of temperature 
toward the center of the earth in either 
case. In a persistently liquid earth this 
high central temperature would be lost 
through convection, but if central crystalli- 
zation took place at an early stage through 
pressure, much of the high central heat 
might beretained. Ina meteor-built earth, 
solid from the beginning, very much less 
convectional loss would be suffered, and the 
central temperature would probably corre- 
spond somewhat closely to the density. The 
probabilities, therefore, seem somewhat to 
favor a higher thermal gradient toward the 
center in the case of the solid meteor- built 
earth. 

But if we turn to the consideration of 
potential energy, there is a notable differ- 
ence between the two hypothetical earths. 
In the liquid earth, the material must be 
presumed to have arranged itself according 
to its specific gravity, and, therefore, to 
have adopted a nearly complete adjustment 
to gravitative demands; in other words, to 


SCIENCE. 


895 


have exhausted, as nearly as possible, its po- 
tential energy, 7. ¢., its ‘energy of position.’ 
On the other hand, in an earth built up 
by the accretion of meteorites without free 
readjustment there must have been initially 
a heterogeneous arrangement of the heavier 
and lighter material throughout the whole 
body of the earth, except only so far as the 
partial liquefaction and the very slow, 
plastic, viscous and diffusive rearrangement 
of the material permitted an incipient ad- 
justment to gravitative demands. A large 
amount of potential energy was, there- 
fore, restrained, for the time being, from 
passing into sensible thermal energy. This 
potential energy thus restrained is sup- 
posed to have gradually become converted 
into heat as local liquefaction and viscous, 
molecular and massive movements per- 
mitted the sinking of the heavier material 
and the rise of the lighter material. This 
slow conversion of potential energy into 
sensible heat is thought to give to the slow- 
accretion earth a very distinct superiority 
over the hot liquid earth when the com- 
bined sum of sensible and potential heat is 
considered. The theoretical difference is 
capable of approximate computation, and 
Mr. F. R. Moulton has kindly undertaken 
to make the computation in a simplified 
hypothetical case which may give some im- 
pression of the possible order of magnitude 
of this factor. For the purposes of the 
computation the earth was assumed to have 
been composed of 40 % of metal with a 
normal surface specific gravity of 7 and 
60 % of rock with a normal surface specific 
gravity of 38. These combined would give 
an earth whose average specific gravity 
would be only 4.6. The real specific grav- 
ity (5.6) is supposed to have been obtained 
by compression which would amount to 
about 18 %. Very likely the proportion 
of metal is put too high and the effect of 
compression too low, but the purpose of the 
computation is only to show the theoretical 


896 


possibilities of the case. The metal is sup- 
posed to have been originally scattered 
uniformly through the rock material in 
meteoric fashion, and to have gathered 
thence to the center, forcing the rock mate- 
rial outwards so far as necessary. The heat 
produced, Mr. Moulton found to be suffi- 
cient to raise the temperature of the whole 
earth (specific heat taken at .2) more than 
3,000° C. The magnitude of this result is 
sufficient to require the careful considera- 
tion of the potential element unless the 
whole hypothesis can be set aside. It is 
large enough to cast the gravest doubt on 
any conclusion based on the rate of a sup- 
posed decline of internal temperature. Com- 
plete readjustment of the interior matter, 
however, is not postulated under the slow- 
accretion hypothesis. It is only assumed 
that a slow readjustment has been in 
progress throughout the geological ages 
and still is in progress, and that this has 
changed a certain amount of potential en- 
ergy into sensible heat and that this heat 
has contributed to the maintenance of the 
internal temperature of the earth. 

But there are in addition, incidental fac- 
tors which enter effectively into the case. 
The gravitative readjustment of the hete- 
rogeneous interior material is presumed to 
have taken place by the descent of the me- 
tallic and other heavier materials toward 
the center and the reciprocal ascent of 
lighter materials from the central region 
toward the surface, this being accomplished 
in various ways, the most declared of which 
has its superficial manifestation in volcanic 
action. Now, this process of vertical trans- 
fer, beside developing heat in proportion to 
the work done, as above indicated, also 
incidentally brings the hotter material of 
the interior toward the surface and thus in- 
creases the subsurficial temperature. It is 
a species of slow convection. This convec- 
tion is in no radical sense different from 
that which is supposed to have taken place 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 235.. 


in the liquid earth, save that it was delayed 
so that the heat is available within the life 
era of the earth, instead of being brought to. 
the surface and dissipated in the prezoic 
hot stage, when it was a barrier to the 
existence of life instead of an aid. 
Again, in the liquid earth there were the 
best imaginable conditions for the inter- 
mixture of the earth constitutents and for 
the formation of such chemical and mineral 
combinations as best accorded with the 
high pressures of the interior. In the 
heterogeneous solid earth, on the other 
hand, such combinations were restrained 
and delayed and have been able to take 
place only slowly throughout the secular 
intermingling of the internal material. It, 
therefore, hypothetically follows that. 
throughout geological ages, as the internal 
material was able slowly to readjust itself, 
new chemical and mineral combinations 
become possible. These combinations would 
be controlled by the high pressure in 
the interest of maximum density, and of 
hypothetically possible mineral combina- 
tions, only those would form which gave 
the higher density.* Thus a slow process 
of recrystallization in the interest of greater 
density would be in progress throughout 
theages. This denser crystallization would 
set free heat. It would furthermore permit. 
the shrinkage of the whole mass and the 
consequent intensification of its self-gravi- 
tation and this would in turn result in 
further development of heat. This large 
possible shrinkage meets the demands of 
geological phenomena at a point where the 
liquid earth has been felt to conspicuously 
fail. The losses of heat from the earth, as. 
computed by Lord Kelvin and other au- 
thorities, and the shrinkage resulting there- 
from have long been held to be quite 
incompetent to produce the observed in- 
equalities. Their incompetence is now 


* Professor C. R. Van Hise has worked this out 
elaborately in manuscript not yet published. 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


very generally admitted by careful students. 
Lord Kelvin also admits this, by implica- 
tion, when he says (sec. 31, p. 706) ‘If the 
shoaling of the lava ocean up to the surface 
had taken place everywhere at the same 
time, the whole surface of the consistent 
solid would be the dead level of the liquid 
lava all around, just before its depth became 
zero. On this supposition there seems no 
possibility that our present day continents 
could have risen to their present heights, 
and that the surface of the solid in its other 
parts could have sunk down to their pres- 
ent ocean depths, during the twenty or 
twenty-five million years which may have 
passed since the consistentior status began or 
during any time however long.” 

In addition to this recognized quantita- 
tive deficiency, the present writer has been 
led to question its qualitative adaptability. 
The phenomena of mountain wrinkling and 
of plateau formation, as well as the still 
greater phenomena of continental platforms 
and abysmal basins, seem to demand a 
more deep-seated agency than that which is 
supplied by superficial loss of heat. This 
proposition demands a more explicit state- 
ment than is appropriate to this place, but 
it must be passed by with this mere allu- 
sion. It would seem obvious, however, 
that an earth of heterogeneous constitution, 
progressively reorganizing itself, would 
give larger possibilities of internal shrink- 
age, and that this shrinkage must be deep- 
seated as well as superficial. In these two 
particulars it holds out the hope of furnish- 
ing an adequate explanation for the de- 
formation of the earth where the hypothe- 
sis of a liquid earth seems thus far to have 
failed. 

But the essential question here is the 
possibility of sustained internal tempera- 
ture. It is urged that the heterogeneous, 
solid-built earth is superior to the liquid 
earth in the following particulars: (1) It 
retains a notable percentage of the original 


SCIENCE. 


897 


potential energy of the dispersed matter, 
while in the liquid earth this was con- 
verted into sensible heat and lost in pre- 
zoic times; (2) it retains the conditions 
for a slow convection of the interior ma- 
terial, bringing interior heat to the surface, 
a function which was exhausted by the 
liquid earth in the freer convection of its 
primitive molten state; (3) it retains larger 
possibilities of molecular rearrangement of 
the matter and of the formation of new 
minerals of superior density, whereas the 
liquid earth permitted this adjustment in 
the prezoic stages. In short, in at least 
these three important particulars, the slow- 
built meteoric earth delayed the exercise 
of thermal agencies until the life era and 
gradually brought them into play when 
they were serviceable in the prolongation 
of the life history, whereas the liquid earth 
exhausted these possibilities at a time of 
excessive conversion of energy into heat and 
thus squandered its energies when they. 
were not only of no service to the life his- 
tory of the earth, but delayed its inaugura- 
tion until their excesses were spent. 

Let it not be supposed for a moment that 
I claim that the alternative hypothesis of a 
slow-grown earth is substantiated. It must 
yet pass the fiery ordeal of radical criticism 
at all points, but it is the logical sequence 
of the proposition that a swarm of meteor- 
ites revolving about the sun in independent 
individual orbits and having any probable 
form of dispersion would aggregate slowly 
rather than precipitately. If the astron- 
omers and mathematicians can demonstrate 
that the aggregation must necessarily have 
been so rapid as to crowd the transformed 
energy of the impacts into a period much 
too limited to permit the radiation away of 
the larger part of the heat concurrently, the 
hypothesis will have to be set aside, and we 
shall be compelled to follow the deductions 
from the white-hot liquid earth, or find 
other alternatives. 


898 


But I think I do not err in assuming that 
mathematical computations, so far as they 
can approach a solution of the exceedingly 
complex problem, are at least quite as fa- 
vorable to a slow as to a rapid aggregation. 
If this be so, the problem of internal tem- 
perature must be attacked on the lines of 
this hypothesis as well as those of the com- 
mon hypothesis before any safe conclusion 
can be drawn from it respecting the age of 
the earth. 

Another basis upon which the address 
urges the limitation of the earth’s history 
is found in tidal friction. The limitations 
assigned on this basis are not, however, 
very restrictive. The argument is closed 
as follows: ‘ Taking into account all un- 
certainties, whether in respect to Adams’ 
estimate of the ratio of frictional retarda- 
tion of the earth’s rotary speed, or to the 
conditions as to the rigidity of the earth 
once consolidated, we may safely conclude 
that the earth was certainly not solid 5,000 
million years ago, and was probably not solid 
1,000 million years ago” (p. 670) and in a 
foot-note itis added: ‘It is probable that 
the date of consolidation is considerably 
more recent than 1,000 million years ago.” 

The foundations of any argument involy- 
ing the relations of the moon to the earth 
are very infirm. In the first place, no 
hypothesis respecting the moon’s mode of 
origin, or of the time in the history of the 
earth when it became aggregated and came 
into effective possession of its tidal function, 
can claim even a remote approach to sub- 
stantiation. There is not only no substan- 
tiated theory of the origin of the moon, 
but there can scarcely be said to be even a 
good working hypothesis, for the radical 
reason that the hypotheses offered will not 
work. George Darwin, who has probably 
studied the subject more assiduously and 
more profoundly than any other investi- 
gator, ancient or recent, strongly expresses 
the situation when he says, in his recent 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


work on ‘ The Tides,’ (p. 360) ‘‘ The origin 
and earliest history of the moon must 
always remain highly speculative, and it 
seems fruitless to formulate exact theories 
on the subject.”” The annular theory of 
Laplace encounters in their maximum in- 
tensity the objections which arise from the 
application of the modern doctrine of 
molecular velocities. The gravitative con- 
trol of an attenuated ring having the mass 
of the moon over its constituent material 
must have been exceedingly low, while the 
high temperature necessary to sustain the 
refractory material of the moon in a gaseous 
condition must have rendered the molecular 
velocities very high, so that no material ex- 
cept that of very high atomic weight and 
consequent low molecular velocity could be 
presumed to have been retained. But the 
specific gravity of the moon (38.4) seems a 
fatal objection to the assumption that it is: 
composed wholly of material of very high 
atomic weight. Besides, it is difficult to 
understand how the high temperature of a 
ring of such attenuation could have been 
maintained during the time necessary for 
its concentration. This was less difficult 
when it was assumed, as formerly, that the 
temperature of the sun at that time was 
excessively high, as was also that of the 
earth. But modern inquiry seems decidedly 
opposed to the assumption of excessively 
high temperatures at that stage. On the 
contrary, it has recently been urged from 
different quarters that the early tempera- 


ture of the sun’s surface must have been 


much lower than at present, and this is also 
implied in certain statements of the address 
(p. 711, Sec. 43). There are also grounds 
for grave question as to the high tempera- 
ture of the earth, as has already been indi- 
cated. Under the revised forms of the 
nebular hypothesis there seems no sub- 
stantial reason for supposing that if the 
matter of the moon was once distributed in 
a ring about the earth, it could maintain 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


the gaseous condition throughout the stages 
of its condensation. The hypothesis there- 
fore rests upon exceedingly doubtful prem- 
ises and upon exceedingly questionable 
deductions from these doubtful premises. 
The fission hypothesis of George Darwin 
has recently replaced it in favor, but the 
above quotation implies that even its 
founder does not now rest much confidence 
in it. The objections to the theory are 
several and grave. In the first place, 
the theory of the fission of a celestial 
body by high rotation, as worked out inde- 
pendently by Darwin and Poincaré, re- 
quires that the separated bodies should not 
be very greatly different in mass, 7. e., the 
smaller body should not be less than one- 
third the mass of the larger. But the mass 
of the moon is but 5 of that of the earth, 
and hence it lies far outside the computed 
limits of applicability of the fission process, 
Another difficulty lies in the effect of 
tidal strain itself. George Darwin, in his 
recent work on ‘The Tides’ (p. 259), as- 
signs 11,000 miles from the center of the 
earth as Roche’s limit. This leaves a tract 
of 7,000 miles above the terrestrial surface 
within which the earth’s tidal force would 
be so great as to tear the moon to fragments, 
and, perhaps, scatter these into the form of 
aring. The rings of Saturn are supposed 
to illustrate this form of intense tidal ac- 
tion. The escape of the moon, even pre- 
suming it to have been separated from the 
earth would, therefore, have been jeopard- 
ized by its transformation into a meteoroidal 
ring or swarm. If the fragments, after 
having been torn apart, were still suf- 
ficiently affected by a minute tide to be 
carried away from the earth in a slow 
spiral, the time occupied in passing out- 
ward beyond Roche’s limit must have been 
protracted ; and, after their escape from it 
into a zone where conditions not hostile to 
aggregation might, perhaps, have been af- 
forded, there must probably have been 


SCIENCE. 


899 


another protracted period before the aggre- 
gation of the moon would have been suf- 
ficiently advanced to give it appreciable 
tidal effect upon the earth. It remains, 
therefore, to be determined, if this hy- 
pothesis is followed, at what stage in the 
evolution of the moon it was sufficiently 
concentrated to assume effective tidal func- 
tions. This isa question also applicable to 
the aggregation of the moon under the 
Laplacean hypothesis, if it be modified so 
as to conform to the demands of modern 
scientific probability. It also applies to 
any hypothesis which postulates aggrega- 
tion from a dispersed condition. In any 
case, it seems necessary to determine when 
the moon became full grown before it is 
possible to assign a positive date for the 
commencement of effective tidal action. It 
would appear that such action might be de- 
veloped gradually as the material of the 
moon became aggregated. During such 
gradual assumption of the tidal function 
the reaction between the moon and the 
earth must have been of a feeble sort, and a 
recomputation of its amount based on a se- 
ries of hypotheses which shall cover the 
whole ground of legitimate speculation 
would seem necessary before any satisfac- 
tory conclusions can be reached. 

It may be, urged that the computations 
of George Darwin following, in backward 
steps, by the masterly application of mathe- 
matical analysis, the stages of the earth- 
moon relationship give a firmer ground for 
conclusions. In a qualified degree this must 
be conceded. But it is to be remarked, in 
the first place, that the mathematics be- 
comes indecisive before the origin of the 
moon is reached, which may signify that 
this is not the true line of approach to the 
origin of the moon, or that there is some 
error or defect in the assumptions. It 
would seem to be obvious, however, that if 
the tidal function was the result of a slow 
aggregation which began at an indetermi- 


900 


nate stage in the earth’s existence the 
numerical results of a computation based 
on a full-grown moon may need radical re- 
vision. 

Furthermore, the agencies which are as- 
sumed to have accelerated the rotation of 
the earth in its earlier history must not.be 
neglected. If they may safely be assumed 
to have been competent to give the earth a 
rotary speed sufficient to detach from itself 
the matter of the moon, as is postulated in 
the Laplacean and the fission hypotheses in 
common, the same agencies, if more evenly 
distributed in time, might prolong the pe- 
riod of acceleration so that it should be 
coincident with that of tidal retardation 
and offset it in any degree that falls within 
the legitimate limits of assumption. We 
encounter here again, in another form, a 
deduction from the assumption of a very 
rapid concentration of the matter ingath- 
ered to form the earth and moon, and the 
consequent exhaustion of its energy in an 
early stage. If, however, the concentra- 
tion were less rapid and less complete in 
the early history of the earth, as is postu- 
lated by the accretion theory, as herein 
entertained, acceleration might be far less 
advanced in the earliest stages and be 
greater in the later stages. Hence the re- 
tarding effects of tidal friction may have 
been more effectually antagonized by the 
shrinkage of the earth during the progress 
of geological history. Mr. Moulton has 
computed the effects of the internal change 
of metal and rock material, assumed in a 
hypothetical case on a previous page, on 
the speed of rotation of the earth, and found 
that it would accelerate the then-current 
rate, whatever it was, about one-fifth. If, 
therefore, the delayed central concentra- 
tion left some notable part of the accelera- 
tion. to be gained during the period of 
geological history, and if, at the same time, 
a slow aggregation of the moon delayed its 
effectual tidal influence upon the earth and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 235.. 


the reciprocal influence of the earth upon 
it, the whole history may be notably affected 
in the direction at once of less maximum 
speed and of less retardation, @. ¢., of more 
near approach to uniformity. 

If we turn to the geologieal data that 
bear on the question of former high rotation 
and subsequent retardation we find ample 
support for profound skepticism regarding 
the applicability of the tidal argument. As 
pointed out by Lord Kelvin, if the rotation 
of the earth were once notably greater than 
at present it should have resulted in an 
oblateness of the spheriod such that the 
equatorial regions would now be all dry 
land, unless the body of the earth were de- 
formed to correspond to the slackening 
rotation in an almost perfect manner. But 
there is not the slightest evidence in the 
configuration of the earth of such an equa- 
torial land tract. The equatorial belt is 
notably oceanic rather than otherwise. 
Reciprocally, there should have been, with 
the gradual slackening of the earth’s rota- 
tion, an accumulation of the oceanic waters 
about the poles, but there is no geological 
evidence of such an accumulation in any 
appreciable degree. In the Arctic regions, 
as exemplified in Greenland, Spitzbergen 
and the Arctic islands of America, there 
are ancient shallow water deposits which 
lie both above and below the present oceanic 
level. These deposits range throughout 
the Paieozoic and represent in some less 
degree both the Mesozoic and Cenozoic 
eras. The nature of these shallow-water 
deposits issuch that they cannot have been 
formed at great depths below the oceanic 
surface, so that, with the allowance of a 
few hundred feet, it is possible to locate 
the ancient horizons relative to the crust of 
the earth, at most or all of these periods. 
From these it may be inferred with great 
confidence that the ancient ocean surface 
n the Arctic regions was in numerous 
stages of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic 


JUNE 30, 1999. ] 


eras not notably different from that of to- 
day. The facts even justify the seemingly 
extravagant statement that at several stages 
in geological history, early and late, the 
surface of the ancient ocean did not vary a 
foot from that of the present, since it must 
have passed both above and below the pres- 
ent horizon repeatedly during the earth’s 
history. Geological evidence, therefore, 
interpreted on its own legitimate basis, 
seems to lend no appreciable support to any 
theory that postulates a high speed of rota- 
tion for the early earth, or a low speed of ro- 
tation for the present earth, unless that 
hypothesis is correlated with the assumption 
of an almost perfect adjustability of the 
form of the earth to the changing rotation, 
in which ease the argument of Lord Kelvin 
set forth on p. 670 stands confessedly for 
naught. 

If we postulate a slow accretion of the 
earth and of the moon alike, the whole 
subject of the former speed of rotation of 
the earth and the relations of the earth to 
the moon take on a new aspect and invite 
investigation along the lines of new work- 
ing hypotheses. Can it be shown that it is 
absolutely necessary that the aggregating 
meteoroids gave to the earth an exceedingly 
high rotation at the outset? Is not this as- 
sumption of high rotation merely an off- 
spring of the nebular hypothesis? If the 
moon were aggregated slowly and came into 
tidal functions at a late stage, and at a dis- 
tance from the earth’s center quite un- 
known, may not all its relations to the 
earth have developed on much more con- 
servative lines than those worked out by 
Darwin and at the same time preserve 
those apparently significant relations to 
the movements of the two bodies to which 
Darwin has so strongly appealed in support 
of his hypothesis of the history of the two 
bodies? In other words, without challeng- 
ing the validity of Darwin’s most beautiful 
investigation in the essentials of its method, 


SCIENCE, 


901 


may not a change in the premises dedu- 
cible from an equally legitimate hypothesis 
of the original condition of the two bodies 
lead to results in equally satisfactory accord 
with the existing relations of the two bodies? 

At any rate, as remarked at the outset, 
the time-limits assigned on tidal grounds 
are not very restrictive, even on the as- 
sumptions made, and when they shall be 
worked out on revised data in accord with 
the newer hypotheses they may, perhaps, 
even be found to favor the longevity of the 
earth and become one of the arguments in 
support of it. 

T. C. CoamBertin. 
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 


(To be concluded.) 


PERSPECTIVE ILLUSIONS FROM THE USE OF 
MYOPIC GLASSES. 

Tue phenomena to be described occurred 
during the first days’ use of myopic glasses, 
and may be grouped under the following 
beads : 

a. There was an apparent diminution 
in size of moving objects—persons, animals, 
street cars—as compared with buildings, 
natural scenery, and, in general, with the 
elements of the background of the visual 
field. Here the total visual fields of the 
normal and of the myopic eye are equally 
extensive ; there are the same number of 
projection points in each. Over this back- 
ground, in the case of a myopic individual, 
there is distributed a relatively small num- 
ber of distinct and at the same time inter- 
esting or important objects. When the 
near-sighted person puts on powerful glasses 
the number of such important and interest- 
ing distinct objects thrown upon this back- 
ground is vastly increased ; it is crowded 
with a multitude of persons, animals, trees, 
buildings, and the like. There are here two 
sets of factors whose interpretation in terms 
of perspective point in divergent directions. 
Multiplicity of objects in the visual field 


902 


means farness of the observer from the 
things viewed, while definiteness of detail 
in the individual object means nearness in 
point of view. Inthe given case there is, 
relatively to the number of discernible ob- 
jects, an abnormal distinctness, or, rela- 
tively to their definition, an abnormally 
great number of objects. Adoption of the 
one as criterion will lead to an underesti- 
mation of size; adoption of the other will 
result in an overestimation of distance. 
The former actually obtains, and for this 
reason as it appears. 

The dominant factor of the change in 
character of visual objects here is the in- 
creased distinctness of them at any given 
distance—the greater definiteness of line 
and shadow, the elaboration of detail. Such 
distinctness of form means in general near- 
ness of the object to the observer. Now the 
near object in order to be seen as a total, a 
unity, must be comparatively small. The 
arrangement of a garden plot cannot be 
grasped while one walks along its paths as 
when viewed from a window overlooking 
it ; the course of a river can be apprehended 
only when seen from some neighboring 
height. The same holds true of smaller as 
of larger groups of elements—the observer 
must step back in order to get the general 
effect—i. e., toappreciate the factors as a 
total object. The more complex or grander 
the proportions of an object the farther 
away must be the point of view from which 
it can be grasped asa unity. If, then, it 
is so to be apprehended while yet near to 
the observer its parts must be small and 
simple. In the case in question the effect 
of the new glasses was thus to increase the 
definiteness of detail in visual objects, while 
these objects were still regarded as totals, a 
combination directly tending to produce 
that sense of smallness in the individual 
object which was actually noticed. 

Another fact points in the same direction. 
Of curved surfaces a large radial extent 


SCLENCE, 


[N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 235. 


can be seen distinctly by the myopic eye 
only when the object is a small one, and, 
therefore, not greatly affected by the paral- 
lactic angle. Of equally distinct objects, 
therefore (which in the two cases will be 
at different distances), the myopic subject 
sees less curative-extent than the normal ; 
or, for two equally distinct objects in the 
myopic field of view (which are, therefore, 
at the same distance from the eye) greater 
visible extent of curvature means smallness 
of size. By the use of the new glasses the 
extent of visible curvature was thus in- 
creased, while the distinctness of the objects’ 
details remained unaffected. This influ- 
ence, therefore, cooperated with the pre- 
ceding to produce the feeling of unnatural 
smallness in the nearer objects of vision. 

b. The change in relative curvature- 
extent visible from the point of distinct 
vision appears to have been active in the 
production of another perspective illusion, 
the exaggeration of curvature in objects 
bounded by convex surfaces. The cheek 
or brow of a person, for example, appeared 
to bulge out unduly in the middle, and 
there was a constant tendency to put out 
the hand and test by touch the accuracy of 
of the sight perception. In the myopic eye 
the point of view of distinct vision lies so 
near to its object that for any given group 
of things the perceived curvature extent is 
small in comparison with that visible to the 
normal eye. In objects beyond the range 
of distinet vision, when such are not over- 
looked and referred to the unnoticed back- 
ground, the curvature gradations are ob- 
scured and the myopic eye must depend 
upon other cues for its interpretation of 
convexity degree. It reinforces the percep- 
tion by contributed curvature elements. 
When the finer gradations of curvature are 
restored to sight by the stronger glasses the 
contributed emphasis appears to be con- 
tinued, with the result of an apparent ex- 
aggeration of curvature. I have not had 


JUNE 30, 1899.] 


opportunity to observe if in the case of 
concave surfaces there is an analogous ex- 
aggeration of hollowness or depth. 

c. The use of stronger glasses produced 
an apparent dimunition in the perspective 
relations of objects within the visual field, 
which at times reached almost the vanish- 
ing point. Men and women on the street 
were silhouetted against the background of 
trees and houses, or moved like shadows 
over a screen. A similar reduction in per- 
spective can be produced by piercing a bit 
of cardboard with a small hole, and viewing 
a group of objects in the middle distance 
through it, while the cardboard is held 
close to the eye. The fineness and cer- 
tainty of distance perception depend greatly 
upon the continuity of the visual field from 
the feet of the observer to the object viewed, 
and in the last mentioned case the obscura- 
tion of this sense is due to the interruption 
of these conditions. In the case of my- 
opie glasses the illusion is due, in part at 
least, to an underestimation of the distance 
of the objects, resulting from their abnor- 
mal definition as seen through the stronger 
glasses. In any series of uniformly spaced 
objects the apparent size and the visual dis- 
tance between any two adjacent members 
decreases as their absolute distance from 
the eye increases. In all normal cases this 
decrease is correctly interpreted through the 
coordinated perception of increased dis- 
tance. If, however, an illusion of increased 
nearness to the observer arises from any 
cause, not only do the objects themselves 
appear smaller, but the relative distances 
between them are likewise reduced, and the 
perspective of the field of individualized ob- 
jects thereby diminished. 

d. The faces of persons in the middle 
distance—that is, towards the farther limit 
of distinct vision for the character of the 
facial lines and expression—appeared to 
hang in the air near by when first caught 
sight of. Here the distance of the object 


SCIENCE. 


903 


appears to have been estimated correctly by 
the use of various familiar criteria, chiefly 
the multiplicity of objects between the ob- 
server and the person seen. When, how- 
ever, the eye first rested upon the face of 
the person in question these cues fell into 
the background and the abnormal definition 
of the face became the dominant factor of 
the experience, a definition possible to the 
unaided myopic eye only within a much 
narrower range of vision ; and the shock of 
contradiction between the felt distance of 
the object and its observed distinctness re- 
sulted in a dissociation of the face image 
from that of the rest of the body, the latter 
maintaining its estimated distance, the for- 
mer approaching to that corresponding 
habitually with the observed definition. 
The illusion maintained itself only during 
a few moments while the attention was 
strongly centered on the face. 

e. This focussing of attention upon the 
face had itself an abnormal element in it. 
The faces of persons at a distance appeared 
mask-like and grotesque; the eyes stared, 
the light and shadow fell unnaturally, the 
lines and expression were distorted. Sub- 
jectively this change was manifested chiefly 
as an alteration in the affective overtone of 
the object, but one which itself is derived 
from a change in the character of the percep- 
tion. The magnitude of the visual angle 
whichany object subtends varies with its 
distance from the observer. As this distance 
changes, the mechanism of the eye must be 
adjusted to keep the object in the focus of dis- 
tinct vision. Up toacertain point this is 
possible, but beyond that limit accommoda- 
tion of the eye must be replaced by approach 
of the point of view toward its object. 
The latter form of adjustment is habitual 
with the myopic eye as compared with the 
normal. In consequence the angle which 
the object of distinct vision subtends in 
the case of the myopic eye is habitually 
greater than in that of the normal eye. It 


904 SCIENCE. 


always sees things at a different angle—in 
other words, it sees a different thing. Sup- 
pose that for the normal eye A and the 
myopic eye B the ranges of distinct vision 
be respectively abe and be, and that 
there be viewed an object consisting of a set 
of plane surfaces at right angles to the line 
of vision of the normal eye and a second set 
coincident with it. The normal eye will 
habitually see only the set of plane surfaces 
at right angles to its axis of vision, and at 
successively greater distances from its point 
of view; while the myopic eye, observing 
the same object, will not only regard these 
planes at a different angle, but will see also 
the surfaces connecting the extremities of 
the first mentioned planes. In other words, 
the two eyes will have before them different 
sets of visual elements. The same principle 
applies in detail to all objects of distinct 
vision; therefore, as the point of view 
changes to a new focal distance from nor- 
mal to myopic, or the reverse, the constitu- 
ents of the visual field are altered and an 
accent of strangeness and unfamiliarity is 
given to its objects. This matter of focal 
distance becomes of distinct importance in 
photography, where the space relations of 
camera and object must be as nearly as pos- 
sible those under which the picture will af- 
terward be viewed ; otherwise a distortion 
of perspective appears which materially 
interferes with the truth of the represen- 
tation. 

jf. There is a final group of changes in 
visual perception to be considered in con- 
nection with concomitant motor adjust- 
ments. These consist, in the first place, of 
deflections and curvatures of right lines 
when viewed through the marginal areas of 
the glasses, which are obviously due to the 
non-homogeneous refractive qualities of the 
lens. They are identical with the distor- 
tion of vertical lines upon the sides of the 
visual field in a photograph the focal dis- 
tance of which is short in relation to the 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


length of these lines. The divisions of the 
sidewalk, the rails of the car tracks, and all 
lines whose direction lies at right angles to 
that of vision, are thus warped from the 
rectilinear. The same is true of house- 
walls and trees, and of all vertical lines at 
the sides of the visual field. When coming 
down a flight of stairs the steps curve for- 
ward at the sides, making them appear a 
semicircular, hollow flight. 

The result of these changes is a confusion 
of the relations between visual perception 
and motor-adjustment. The familiar visual 
cues by which the latter is habitually gov- 
erned have been destroyed, and movements 
are awkward and mal-adjusted. It is im- 
possible to walk down a familiar flight of 
steps without stumbling repeatedly. The 
illusionary reduction in visual size and fore- 
shortening of perspective work disastrously 
here, and result in a short, mincing step 
which brings the foot constantly into colli- 
sion with the step from which it is descend- 
ing, instead of allowing it to clear for the 
next. There is an absolute contradiction 
between visual measurement and motor ad- 
justment. The only way to secure such 
adjustment and reach the bottom in safety 
is to look quite away from the steps and to 
trust wholly to joint and limb perception. 
Thus the connections of muscular memory 
become the controlling cues, uncontradicted 
by present visual impressions, and the 
descent grows at once secure and rapid. 

Secondly, the shortening of perspective is 
not uniform for all areas of the lens, but 
increases continuously from the margin 
towards the center. The effect of this 
appears in a curious optical illusion and a 
second form of mal-adjustment of motor re- 
action in consequence of it. The ground in 
front, as one walks, appears constantly to rise 
ina sharp curve, as if a steep hill were being 
mounted, and the foot is raised to meet the 
imaginary elevation, only to be brought 
down again with a shock to the original 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


level. It is acontinual repetition of taking 
a step too many at the top of the stairs. 
The most strongly marked characteristics 
of the whole experience lay in the change 
wrought in the affective overtone of per- 
ceptual objects in the suggestion of new 
touch-qualities and impulses, and the exist- 
ence of abnormal emotional attitudes, but 
these matters lie too far afield to be con- 
sidered in the present paper. 
Rosert MAacDouGAa.t. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


BIRDS AS WEED DESTROYERS.* 

A MILLION weeds can spring up on a sin- 
gle acre. Cultivation will do much to 
eradicate these noxious plants, but some 
will always succeed in ripening a multitude 
of seeds to sprout the following season, so 
as to make tilling the soil an everlasting 
war against weeds. Certain garden weeds 
produce an incredible number of seeds. 
Thus a single plant of purslane may mature 
a hundred thousand seeds in the fall, and 
if unchecked would produce in the spring 
of the third year ten billion plants. 

Probably the most efficient check upon 
this unbounded increase of seeds is to be 
found in the seed-eating birds which flock 
by myriads to agricultural districts to feed 
upon the bounty of the weed-seed harvest 
from early autumn until late spring. Since 
birds attack weeds in the most critica! stage 
of the plant cycle, it follows that their ser- 
vices will be of actual practical value. The 
benefits are greatest in case of hoed crops, 
since here found the largest number of an- 
nual weeds, which, of course, are killed by 
frost and must depend for perpetuation 
solely upon their seeds. Seed-eating species 
of birds prevent, in alarge measure, weeds 
of this class, such as, for instance, ragweed, 
chickweed, purslane, crab grass, pigweed, 

*Birds as Weed Destroyers. Year-book of De- 
partment of Agriculture for 1898, pp. 221-232 in- 
clusive. 


SCIENCE. 


905 


lamb’s quarters and several weeds of the 
genus Polygonum, from seeding down the 
land with a rank vegetation fatal to culti- 
vated crops. The problem of weed destruc- 
tion is of such magnitnde that Mr. F. V. 
Coville, Botanist of the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture, in discussing weed 
legislation, hassaid, * * * ‘Since the 
total value of our principal field crops for 
the year 1893 was $1,760,489,278, an in- 
crease of only 1 per cent., which might 
easily have been brought about through the 
destruction of weeds, would have meant a 
saving to the farmers of the nation of $17,- 
000,000 during that year alone.” 

The birds most actively engaged in con- 
suming weed seed are horned lJarks, black- 
birds, cowbirds, meadow larks, doves, quail, 
finches and sparrows. In a field sparrow’s. 
stomach I found 100 seeds of crab grass, in 
a snowflake’s stomach 1,000 seeds of pig- 
weed, and in a mourning dove’s crop 7,500: 
seeds of Oxalis stricta. That the destruction 
of weed seed by birds is extensive enough 
to be of considerable benefit to the farmer 
is shown by Professor F. E. L. Beal, who 
estimated that in the State of Iowa alone a 
single species, the tree sparrow, consumes 
annually 875 tons of weed seed. 

From the examination of the stomachs of 
some 4,000 birdsit has been determined that 
the best weed destroyers are the goldfinches, 
grosbeaks and a dozen species of native 
sparrows. 

In cities the English sparrow, assisted by 
several native species, does good work by 
feeding upon the seeds of Jawn weeds, such 
as crab grass, pigeon grass, chickweed and 
the dandelion. On the lawns of the De- 
partment of Agriculture, in Washington, the 
birds feed upon dandelions from the middle 
of March until the middle of August. Af- 
ter the yellow petal-like corollas have dis- 
appeared, and the flower presents an 
elongated egg-shaped body, with a downy 
tuft at the upper end, the sparrow re- 


906 


moves several long scales of the inner in- 
volucre by a clean cut close to the re- 
ceptacle, thus exposing the plumed akenes, 
and then seizes a mouthful of these between 
the plumes and ‘seeds,’ lopping off the 
plumed pappus and swallowing the ‘seeds.’ 
The mutilation of the involucre by the 
sparrow’s beak can be seen until the flower 
stalk dries and falls. Fully three-fourths 
of the dandelions that bloomed on the De- 
partment grounds during April and May, 
1898, were mutilated by birds. 

The English sparrow, in spite of the ser- 
vices it renders in consuming weed seed, is 
a pest because of its despoiling buildings, 
and because of its extensive pillaging of fruit 
and grain. The native sparrows, on the con- 
trary, have no such noxious habits, and are 
much more eflicient as weed-seed destroyers. 

The several species of goldfinches are 
equally beneficial. The American goldfinch 
confines its attacks almost entirely to the 
Composite; the thistle, ragweed and dande- 
lion being its favorites. Last October I 
observed a flock of fifty on a New Hampshire 
farm. <A bird would alight on a bull this- 
tle and the pappus would float away as it 
feasted. Under a thistle head I found over 
a hundred empty akenes that had been 
split open on one side and had their seeds 
removed. These goldfinches alighted, sev- 
eral at a time, in a single ragweed plant 
and fed so busily that I could approach 
within a few feet of them. On another day 
this flock of birds fed upon the evening 
primrose. According to Mr. H. C. Ober- 
holser the goldfinch also feeds upon beggar 
ticks (Bidens frondosa) and milkweed (As- 
clepias syriaca ) . 

Dr. E. V. Wilcox has observed American 
goldfinches in Montana feeding in flocks of 
fifteen to twenty on the wild sunflower, 
which is a very bad pest in the West. In 
the same State he observed Juncos and red 
poll linnets eating the seeds of the Russian 
thistle. 


SCLENCE, 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 235. 


The goldfinches and native sparrows are 
more beneficial to agriculture than a num- 
ber of other species, such as the English 
sparrow and blackbirds, which at times in- 
jure grain and fruit, but there are, how- 
ever, in the work of weed-seed destruction 
some fifty species of birds engaged, and the 
number of species of weeds which they tend 
to eradicate amounts to more than three 
score. 

SyLvEsTER D. Jupp. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 


THE BIOLOGY OF THE GREAT LAKES. 


Science for July 1, 1898, contained a no- 
tice by Dr. H. M. Smith, of a proposed 
Biological Survey of Lake Erie to be car- 
ried out under the auspices of the United 
States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. 

Unfortunately, none of the work of the 
season of 1898 could be entered upon until 
the middle of July, and it was discontinued 
about the first of September. Since the 
work outlined in the second paragraph of 
Dr. Smith’s notice is of such a character 
that if must be carried on continuously, 
it must wait for the establishment of a per- 
manent biological station on the lakes. 

The work that could actually be under- 
taken was that outlined in the third para- 
graph of the notice. The shortness of the 
time (4-6 weeks) did not permit results to 
be reached in many of the problems under 
investigation; so that the results of the 
summer’s work so far published are con- 
tained in three papers by Dr. Jennings, a 
brief notice of the occurrence at Put-in- Bay 
of Trochosphera solstitialis, contained . in 
Science, October 21, 1898, and two papers 
on ‘The Motor Reactions of Parameciwm’ 
and the ‘Laws of Chemotaxis in Parame- 
cium’ in the American Journal of Physiology, 
May 1, 1899. Progress was, nevertheless, 
made in all the other lines of work. Some 
of the results are now awaiting publication 


JUNE 30, 1899.] 


and others will be ready for publication 
during the coming autumn. 

During July and August, 1899, work will 
be continued at Put-in-Bay. The party will 
consist of the writer, as director ; Professor 
H. B. Ward, of the University of Nebraska ; 
Dr. H. 8. Jennings, of Dartmouth College ; 
Dr. Julia B. Snow, and Mr. R. H. Pond, 
besides a number of assistants. The mem- 
bers of the party will continue the work 
undertaken last summer, and referred to in 
Dr. Smith’s notice, except that Mr. Pond, 
who takes the place of Mr. Pieters, will 
undertake an experimental investigation of 
of the nutrition of the larger aquatic plants. 

The entire party will work at Put-in-Bay 
during July. During August it is intended 
to divide the party. Those engaged in ex- 
perimental work will remain at Put-in- 
Bay. The writer and Professor Ward, to- 
gether with a number of assistants, to act 
as collectors, will make a tour of the lake 
for the purpose of making collections, and 
in order to study the distribution and con- 
‘stitution of the plankton in the different 
parts of the lake. 

The locality at Put-in-Bay affords a va- 
riety of conditions and is rich in aquatic 
fauna and flora. The occurrence of the 
huge infusorian Bursaria truncatella and of 
Trochospera are of especial interest. 

During August it will be possible to offer 
the facilities of the laboratory to a limited 
number of investigators. The United States 
Commission of Fish and Fisheries will fur- 
nish all apparatus, glassware and reagents 
and place the entire resources of the labora- 
tory at the disposal of such investigators 
without charge. Those who wish to take 
advantage of this opportunity should com- 
municate with the writer at Ann Arbor, 
Michigan, before July Ist; at Put-in-Bay, 
Ohio, after July Ist. 

JAcOB REIGHARD. 


ZooLOGICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
oF MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR, MICH. 


SCIENCE. 


907 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCI- 
ENTIFIC LITERATURE. 


GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 


Tur schedule of classification of writings 
relating to Geology and Geography which 
it is proposed by the International Catalogue 
Committee to adopt appears, on the whole, 
to have been well considered, though, as re- 
gards its details, it is evidently open to 
certain criticisms. Thus it will be noted 
that there is no recognition of any sub- 
divisions of the Archean. The matter of 
soils, clearly of much importance, finds no 
place in the list. It is hardly to be grouped 
under the heading of Denudation and Dep- 
osition. So, too, the matter of shore lines 
appears to have fairly a share in a scheme 
where glacial geology is ranked by itself 
apart. It may also be remarked that the 
whole field of economic geology is not sug- 
gested by any of the headings, and surely 
deserves recognition in any catalogue. Were 
this heading adopted it would naturally in- 
clude a large part of the papers concerning 
veins and other ore deposits. As it is, 
these phenomena appear not to have been 
thought of. 

Under the heading of Geography is a 
schedule of classification on a topographic 
basis, which is probably intended to serve 
also for the distribution of a portion atleast 
of the works on geology, though this is not 
clearly stated. As a whole, the topograph- 
ical classification which has been adopted 
commends itself to the reader. In places, 
however, the meaning is not clear, as in 
‘kK Arctic : Greenland and the area north 
of the Arctic Circle, or all the coasts of Con- 
tinental America, Asia and Europe, which- 
ever is farther north’ (the italics are ours). 
It is possible, by systematic exegesis, to ar- 
rive at some conception of what the writer 
meant, but at first sight it seems to imply a 
variable northness of these several areas. It 
may also be noted that the category denoted 
by ea., viz., Asiatic Russia, is much too 


908 


large for convenience. In time a great lit- 
erature will, doubtless, have to be referred 
to this division. The realm could be sub- 
divided, perhaps, on the base of its drain- 
age. 

Under gb., gd., gd. and ge. the division is 
troublesome. First, we have Canada as a 
whole, then the Canadian Dominion west, 
including Yukon and British Columbia, 
Mackenzie, Athabaska, Alberta, Saskatche- 
wan and Assiniboia ; but gd., the Canadian 
Dominion east, includes only Newfound- 
land. In this specification Labrador and 
the neighboring districts seem to be left out. 
To add to the confusion comes ge., which 
takes in the Laurentian Lakes, with no 
statement as to the limits of the territory 
included in the category. Following down, 
we find, after the United States as a whole, 
a division which includes the northeastern 
field, 7. e., all the States east of the Missis- 
sippi down in general to the Ohio and the 
Potomac, but omitting in the list Maryland 
and Delaware. The southeastern United 
States east of the Mississippi does not in- 
clude a list of States. It may be intended 
to contain those last mentioned, but under 
the circumstances the names should be 
specified. 

The subject classification under Geog- 
raphy is, as will be observed, much more 
detailed than the like grouping under Geol- 
ogy. It appears tolerably complete, but 
there again the matter of soils and of shores 
is omitted, though such matters as rocks, 
minerals and mines, which are less fitly to 
be regarded as geographic, find a place. It 
may also be noted that, while under Geology 
there is a ‘seismic’ division (including 
elevation and depression and mountain 
building), the matter of earthquakes is only 
mentioned in the geographic classification. 
We may fairly wonder whether this sug- 
gested difference in treatment was actually 
designed. Inthe geologic scheme volcanoes 
are included. They can come in again under 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


the head of volcanic phenomena under 
Geography. Again we wonder whether this 
arrangement is by chance or design. 

If it is intended by this classification to 
demark the fields of geology and geography 
it is clearly open to objection from many 
points of view. Thus such matters as dunes, 
coral reefs, minerals, mines, ete., which find 
mention only under Geography, are, by com- 
mon understanding, regarded as subjects for 
treatment under the head of Geology. 


N.S. SHALER. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


PHYSIOLOGY. 

Tue Editor of Sctrnce has kindly asked 
me to comment on the physiological part of 
the Catalogue of Scientific Literature, pre- 
pared by the Royal Society. I should like 
to call attention to a few points. 

1. It seems to me that the space given 
to comparative physiology is uot sufficient. 
Physiology is undergoing the same change 
that has taken place in morphology. The 
latter science was originally confined to 
man and a few of the higher vertebrates, 
but at present scientific morphology is 
identical with comparative morphology. 
The same change is taking place in physi- 
ology. It is true that the text-books of 
physiology have as yet taken no notice 
of this change, but a catalogue of ‘ scientific 
literature’ cannot afford to ignore the de- 
velopment of physiology. The catalogue 
must take into consideration the fact that 
the field of comparative physiology is much 
wider than that of human physiology, and that, 
therefore, more space and a more prominent 
position is necessary for comparative physi- 
ology than is allotted to it in the provi- 
sional schedule. 

2. It seems to me that physical chemistry 
has not received the consideration it de- 
serves. It is hard to tell, for instance, in 
which part of the catalogue the effects of 
ions should be mentioned. There is a sub- 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


division on isotony and other osmotic phe- 
nomena of the cell, and there is another sub- 
division in physiological chemistry on ‘ semi- 
permeability and physiological properties 
of colloids,’ but I am at a loss to find where 
experiments on the osmotic properties of 
muscles or connective tissues, ete., could be 
properly catalogued. It seems to me that 
fuller provision should be made for the 
whole realm of the application of physical 
ehemistry to physiology. 

3. It seems to me, further, that provision 
should be made for the facts of physiolog- 
ical morphology. By physiological mor- 
phology I mean the energetics of the phe- 
nomena of organization. Physiology has 
thus far chiefly been a study of the phenom- 
ena of irritability. But there can be no doubt 
that phenomena of growth, irritability and 
metabolism are so thoroughly interwoven 
that neither metabolism nor irritability can 
be fully understood without taking into 
consideration the phenomena of growth. 
For instance, only the active muscle is able 
to undergo hypertrophia. The resting 
muscle atrophies. It is evident that con- 
tractility and growth are in some way con- 
nected. In plants the heliotropic and other 
curvatures are connected with the phe- 
nomena of growth. It is even possible that 
our inability to explain contractility is due 
to the fact that we have not yet taken into 
consideration the phenomena of growth. 
Furthermore, I do not quite see where in 
the present catalogue such experiments on 
physiological morphology as those on 
heteromorphosis (the experimental substi- 
tution of one organ for another) could be 
mentioned. Physiological morphology in- 
cludes also the physiological analysis of 
heredity. The field of physiological mor- 
phology is wider and certainly more funda- 
mental than the present physiology of 
nerves and muscles. 

Jacques Lors. 

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 


SCIENCE. 


909 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Talks to Teachers on Psychology, and to Students 
on some of Life's Ideals. By WILLIAM JAMES, 
New York, Henry Holt & Co. 1899. 

In his first chapter Professor James discusses 
the relation of psychology to the teaching art. 
We have so many statements from non-psy- 
chologists concerning what psychology may do 
for teaching that it is pleasant to hear what a 
psychologist himself has to say on the subject. 
In the first place, it is pointed out that sciences 
do not directly generate arts. The study of 
logic does not make a thinker, nor that of 
grammar a correct speaker; so the study, even 
the mastery, of psychology does not insure suc- 
cess in teaching. A science and its correspond- 
ing art can be brought together only by means 
of a mediator ; that is, a mind full of tact and 
invention for the application of the rules of the 
science to the practice of the art. Given a 
skilful mediator, psychology can be of the great- 
est aid to teaching. This is especially true in 
this country, where the system is so elastic that 
it becomes a vast laboratory for educational 
experiment. To this advantage we have the 
concomitant circumstance of a body of psychol- 
ogists anxious to instruct another body of 
teachers eager to learn. 

Incidentally, in this chapter, Professor James 
attempts to allay the pangs of bad conscience 
in those teachers who have been made to feel 
that they must contribute to child psychology 
or be unworthy their calling. He heartily 
agrees with Professor Miunsterberg that the 
psychologist’s attitude toward mind must be 
abstract and analytical, whereas the teacher’s 
should be concrete and ethical. Haunted by 
Emerson’s lines— 


‘When duty whispers lo, thou must, 
The youth replies, I can,’’ 


the conscientious teacher is pained that she does 
not. But Professor James eases this pain by 
intimating gently that obligation is obviated by 
inability. 

The second chapter contains an abridgement 
of Professor James’s well-known description of 
the Stream of Consciousness, while the third 
and fourth chapters are devoted to conduct as 
the outcome of education. 


910 


Chapters five, six and seven show the nature 
and need of spontaneous and acquired reactions. 
This discussion is new, forceful and illumina- 
ting. 
succeeding chapter on the laws of habit. This 
is taken almost bodily from the author’s ‘ Psy- 
chology.’ That it is brilliant and sound will be 
attested by many. Yet what shall we say of 
the man who can produce new books, but who 
simply copies his old ones verbatim in the most 
important parts? Professor Patten, in his ‘ De- 
velopment of English Thought,’ declares that 
geniuses are always lazy. Professor James can 
bear this double imputation, yet one can hardly 
excuse him when he says he needs to offer no 
apology for copying his own books. The 
apology is needless only because it is useless. 
An author should treat himself as well as he 
treats other authors. He would not incorpo- 
rate their matter without transforming it by the 
force of his own thinking; no more should he 
repeat himself without subjecting his older 
thought to the transforming influence of a new 
point of view. Who wants to buy the same 
book twice ? 

The chapters on Interest and Attention are 
among the best and most typical in the book. 
The treatment is eminently popular and general, 
yet none the less helpful on that account. If it 
is much less rigid than that of Dr. Dewey, it is 
perhaps as useful to the ordinary teacher. The 
difference is that which exists between a dia- 
gram and ademonstration ; the one is esthetic, 
the other intellectual. 

Apperception is described at some length in 
chapter fourteen, the discussion making no pre- 
tension to scientific exactness. Indeed, Pro- 
fessor James has always given the topic a 
step-motherly treatment, viewing the word ap- 
perception as a blanket term in psychology, and 
following the older traditional division into 
sensation, perception, memory, etc. Yet even 
from the standpoint of psychology itself, the re- 
searches of Wundt and others have shown that 
there are distinct advantages in treating apper- 
ception as an elemental process in psychic life ; 
when we come to education the advantages of 
this procedure are great and unquestionable. 
It isto be hoped that Professor James will some 
day give his mind to a thoroughgoing scientific 


SCIENCE. 


Not all of these things can be said of the - 


[N. 8. Von. IX. No. 235. 


exposition of the subject. If one may be per- 
mitted to cut out work for his neighbor, one 
may perhaps suggest to Professor James that a 
monograph upon apperception in its educative 
bearings would be gratefully received by Amer- 
ican teachers. 

Of the significance and value of this volume 
as a contribution to the cause of education 
there can be no question. Like everything that 
Professor James writes, it is at once lucid and 
interesting. If the treatment is popular and 
general, itis, atall events, founded on scientific 
insight, and, so far as it goes, may be confidently 
trusted as sound. If it ridicules ‘ brass instru- 
ment’ study of children, it yet tends to awaken 
sympathy with childhood. If it disappoints the 
seeker after ‘scientific’ study of education, it, 
at least, satisfies the heart of the earnest teacher. 

Finally, this book is to be welcomed because 
it shows that in educational theory, as in trea- 
tises upon subject-matter, the writing of books 
is passing from the hands of professional book- 
makers into those of the real leaders of thought. 
In this fact we find the brightest hope of our 
educational progress. 

CHARLES DEGARMO. 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 


Wetterprognosen und Wetterberichte des XV. und 
XVI, Jahrhunderts. No. 12, Neudrucke von 
Schriften und Karten tiber Meteorologie und 
Erdmagnetismus herausgegeben von PRo- 
FESSOR Dr. G. HELLMANN. Berlin, A. Asher 
& Co. 1899. 

In this volume, which is the latest and largest 
of the series, Dr. Hellmann explains the origin 
and growth of weather predictions in almanacs, 
etc., and the practice in the different countries 
of describing remarkable meteorological phe- 
nomena, illustrating both subjects by facsimile 
reproductions of printed documents of the fif- 
teenth and sixteenth centuries. As Dr. Hell- 
mann remarks, the art of foretelling the weather 


has always been the object of meteorological 


research, but it has been practiced in various 
ways according to the theoretical knowledge 
that existed of the occurrences in the atmos- 
phere. Among the Greeks, at the time of 
Meton, public placards announced the past and 
expected weather. Later, astrology controlled 


JUNE 30, 1899.] 


the predictions in the almanacs, which were 
first printed in Latin and afterwards in the 
language of the country where they appeared. 
Such an almanac, the Bauern-Kalender, or 
peasants’ calendar, having symbols to represent 
the predicted weather, is still published in the 
Austrian Tyrol. The custom of writing ac- 
counts of extraordinary meteorological events is 
very old, and, after the invention of printing, 
these reports, in pamphlet form or on single 
sheets, were widely distributed throughout Eu- 
rope. As they were intended for the people, 
few have been preserved in libraries, but some 
of these are here reproduced. 

The volume contains 33 pages of historical 
and critical introduction and 26 facsimiles of 
German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, 
Danish and Dutch tracts, most of them curi- 
ously illustrated. Probably to no other person 
than Dr. Hellmann would so many rare works 
in all parts of Europe be accessible, and his 
scholarly preface greatly aids the comprehen- 
sion of these interesting specimens of ancient 
weather lore. One or two copies of the vol- 
ume may be obtained for the publisher’s price, 
viz., 20 Marks, or $5, from the undersigned, at 
Hyde Park, Mass. 

A. L. Rorcs, 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of 
Zoology, Cambridge, 22-27 August, 1898. Lon- 
don, C. J. Clay & Sons. 1899. Pp. xiv + 422 
and 15 plates. 15s. net. ; 

Cinématique et mécanismes potentiel et mécanique des 
fluides. H. PorNcARE. Paris, Carré et C. Naud. 
1896. Pp. 385. 

Alaska and the Klondike. ANGELO HEILPRIN. New 
York, D. Appleton & Co. 1899. Pp. x + 312. 
Leitfaden der Kartenentwurfslehre. WKAR‘ ZOPPRITZ. 

Leipzig, Teubner. 1899. Pp. x +178. Mark 4.80. 

Der Gang des Menschen. II part. OrTo FISCHER. 
Leipzig, Teubner. Pp. 130 and 12 plates. Mark 8. 

Elektrische Untersuchungen. W. G. HANKEL. Ab- 
handlung der mathematisch-physischen Classe der 
kéniglichen sdchsischen Gesellschaft der Wissen- 
schaften. Leipzig, Teubner. 1899. Vol. 24. Pp. 
471-97 and 2 plates. Mark 2. 

Practical Physiology. DR. BURGH BircH. Philadel- 
phia, Blakiston’s Son & Co. 1899. Pp. x + 
273. $1.75. 


SCIENCE. 


91t 


The Steam Engine and Gas and Oil Engines. JOHN 
PERRY. New York and London, The Macmillan 
Company. 1899. Pp. viii + 646. 

Geological Results, based on Material from New Britain, 
New Guinea, Loyalty Islands and elsewhere, collected 
during the years 1895-7. Cambridge, The Univer- 
sity Press. 1899. Pp. 356 and 5 plates. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Journal of Geology, April-May, 1899.— 
H. F. Reid, ‘The Variations of Glaciers,’ pp 
217-225. Professor Reid presents the fourth 
of his summaries of observations on the ad- 
vance and retreat of glaciers in different parts. 
of the world. While recession is the rule, 
there are some instances of advance, and some 
evidence has been gathered of recurrent cycles 
of maxima and minima. In the case of two 
Swiss glaciers the periods proved, respectively, 
44 and 51 years. 

G. C. Curtis and J. B. Woodworth, Nan- 
tucket, ‘A Morainal Island,’ pp. 226-236. 
The former author describes a recently con- 
structed model of Nantucket, and the latter its 
geology. 

Mark 8. W. Jefferson, ‘Beach Cusps,’ pp. 
237-246. The small cusps along beaches are 
explained by the action of retreating high 
waves, whose waters breach the strip of seaweed 
that is usually present just above the line of 
ordinary waves, and that binds the shingle 
together. Between the breaches the cusps 
gather at intervals of ten to forty feet. 

Walter D. Wilcox, ‘ A Certain Type of Lake 
Formation in the Canadian Rockies,’ pp. 247— 
260. Interesting data are given regarding the 


‘glacial phenomena of the Canadian Rockies, 


and particularly regarding Lake Louise. <A 
means of estimating the time since the retreat 
of the great ice sheet is suggested, but for lack 
of the necessary apparatus it has not been car- 
ried out. 

J. P. Goode, ‘The Piracy of the Yellow- 
stone,’ pp. 261-271. Recent changes in the 
drainage of Yellowstone Lake are described and 
explained. The Yellowstone River, as at pres- 
ent known, appears to be of development in 
late geological time. 

C. E. Monroe and E. E. Teller, ‘The Fauna 
of the Devonian at Milwaukee, Wis.,’ pp. 272- 


912 


283. Recent excavations for the the Milwaukee 
water works have made available a large quan- 
tity of loose rock, which proves. to be rich in 
Devonian fossils. These have been identified 
and tabulated by the authors. 

H.S. Washington, ‘The Petrographical Prov- 
ince of Essex Co., Mass.,’ pp. 284-294. This 
paper on the basic dikes concludes the series. 

Under ‘ Reviews’ an excellent summary by 
T. A. Jagger is given of the recent valuable 
experiments of Morosewicz in the artificial 
production of rocks and minerals. 


American Chemical Journal, June, 1899.—‘ The 
Valuation of Saccharin,’ by E. Emmet Reid. 
By boiling for two hours with a hydrochloric 
acid solution of the proper strength and then 
distilling with alkali, the ammonia can be col- 
lected in a standard acid solution and readily 
determined. It was shown that para sulpha- 
mine benzoic acid was not acted upon under 
similar conditions. This, therefore, appears to 
be a quick, accurate method for determining 
the amount of the sweetening substance in the 
commercial saccharine. ‘Some Derivations of 
Camphoroxime,’ by G. B. Frankforter and A. 
D. Mayo. ‘Camphoroxime Derivatives,’ by 
G. B. Frankforter and P. M. Glasoe. ‘The 
Laboratory Production of Asphalts from Animal 
and Vegetable Materials,’ by W. C. Day. The 
author has obtained substances similar to the 
natural asphalts by distilling animal and vege- 
table matter, both separately and mixed. ‘The 
Composition of Nitrogen Jodide and the Action 
of Iodine on the Fatty Amines,’ by J. F. Norris 
and A. I. Franklin. The evidence points to 
the fact that the compound formed by the ac- 
tion of iodine on ammonia is not a direct addi- 
tion-product, nor do the fatty amines form 
such compounds. ‘On the Action of Sodic 
Ethylate on Tribromdinitro Benzol,’ by C. L. 
Jackson and W. Koch. ‘The Action of Sul- 
phocarbanilide on certain Acid Anhydrides,’ by 
F. L. Dunlap. ‘The Action of Ammonia and 
Amines on Chlorides of Silicon,’ by F. Leng- 
feld. ‘The chlorine is replaced by the ammonia 
and amine residues, forming amides of silicon. 

J. E.G. 


APPLETON’S Popular Science Monthly for July 
has as a frontispiece an excellent portrait of Pro- 


SCIENCE. 


'[N.S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


fessor W. K. Brooks, and the number contains a 
sketch of his life and scientific work. The num- 
ber contains articles by President D. S. Jordan, 
describing the succession of fishes inhabiting a 
brook; by Professor W. K. Brooks, entitled 
‘Thoughts about Universities ;’ by Professor 
Edward Renouf, on ‘ Acetylene,’ and by Dr. C. 
C. Abbott, on ‘The Antiquity of Man in North 
America.’ 

WE regret that the Index Medicus has been 
discontinued. It is unfortunate that the efforts 
for its continuation have not been successful, 
but the mass of medical literature has become 
so great, and, it must be added, in most cases so 
unimportant, that an index would require some 
form of public support. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 


THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES—SECTION 
OF BIOLOGY. 


THE Section met on May 8th, Professor F. §. 
Lee presiding. The following program was 
then offered : 

1. W. A. Rankin: ‘The Crustacea of the 
Bermuda Islands, with Notes on the Collection 
made by the New York University Expeditions 
to the Bermudas in 1897 and 1898.’ 

2. H. F. Osborn: ‘Upon the Structure of the 
Mule-footed Hog of Texas.’ 

‘Upon the Structure of Tylosaurus dyspelor, 
including the Cartilaginous Sternum.’ 

Professor Rankin’s paper gives a list of 61 
recorded species of Crustacea from the Ber- 
muda Islands. During the summers of 1897 
and 1898 a party from the New York Univer- 
sity spent a few weeks investigating the fauna 
of the islands, and the Crustacean collections 
were studied by the author, 

Of the total number of species 43 were found 
by the expedition, and notes on their distribu- 
tion are given. Eight of these species are ‘new 
to the Bermudas, and two, Nika bermudensis and 
Alpheus lancirostris, are new species described 
and figured inthis paper. The genus Nika is 
now for the first time recorded from the West 
Atlantic region. 

The physical conditions of the islands are 
touched on, and the Crustacea are shown to be 
in the main similar to those found in the West 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


Indies and the adjacent coasts of America, 
though 18 have a more or less extended range 
over both hemispheres. 

Professor Osborn reported upon the anatomy 
of the feet of a specimen of the well-known 
‘mule-footed hog’ of Texas, recently presented 
to the Zoological Museum of Columbia, by Dr. 
Wickes Washburn. Externally the -feet pre- 
sent the appearance of complete fusion of the 
third and forth toes. Internally, however, 
considerable differences are observed. In the 
pes the third and fourth metapodials and the 
first phalanges are entirely separated and nor- 
mal], the second pair of phalanges are closely 
united, and the terminal phalanx is also closely 
united, so it has the appearance of a single ele- 
ment. The fusion is less advanced in the 
manus ; here the metapodials, first and second 
phalanges are separate, one of the second pha- 
langes being abnormally hypertrophied and a 
supernumerary element being inserted beneath 
it. The terminal phalanges are very firmly 
united into a single element, which holds the 
bones above it together. Some discussion fol- 
lowed, during the course of which Professor 
Bristol stated that a large number of experi- 
ments were being carried on at a Western ranch 
to ascertain the effects of breeding upon this 
peculiar variety. Professor Osborn remarked 
that this anomaly presented an interesting case 
of the persistence of a character which must 
have originated as a sport. 

Professor Osborn’s second paper included a 
description of the remarkably complete skeleton 
of a Mosasaur, recently mounted in the Amer- 
ican Museum of Natural History. 
ton was procured two years ago from the 
famous Smoky Hill Cretaceous beds of Kansas, 
through Mr, Bourne, and has been worked out 
with the greatest care. It is practically com- 
plete as far back as the 78th caudal, and the 
bones are approximately in position, including 
the fore and hind paddle and, what is more re- 
markable, the almost complete cartilaginous 
sternum, sternal ribs, epicoracoids. The spe- 
cies represents the largest type of American 
Mosasaur, Tylosaurus dyspelor Cope. As illus- 
trated by numerous photographs and drawings, 
the specimen throws a flood of new light upon 
the structure of the Mosasaurs. The principal 


SCIENCE. 


The skele-, 


913 


characters are the following: 7 cervicals, 10 
dorsals connected with the sternum by carti- 
laginous ribs, 12 dorsals with floating ribs, one 
sacral and 72 caudals (out of a total number of 
86), coracoids connected by broad epicoracoids 
having a transverse diameter of 22 em. The 
sternum is triangular in shape, tapering pos- 
teriorly and having the general form of that in 
Trachydosaurus; there is no evidence of an 
episternum, the shoulder girdle in general being: 
more degenerate than Platecarpus, in which an 
episternum has been observed. The fore pad- 
dles are smaller than the hind ones and include: 
two co-ossified carpals. The fifth digit is some- 
what enlarged and set well apart from the 
others. The hind paddle is slightly larger and 
very completely preserved. The tail is re- 
markable in presenting an upward curvature in’ 
the mid-region, which probably supported a 
prominent caudal fin, but it is not angulated 
as in Ichthyosaurus. The skull shows the pres- 
ence of epipterygoids. The total length of the 
skeleton as preserved is a little over 270 feet ; 
the estimated total length of the animal is 30 
feet. In mounting, a single large panel has 
been used, the animal lying upon its ventral 
surface, with the paddles outstretched, the 
sides of the back bone curved in a graceful 
manner, exactly as originally imbedded in the 
matrix. FrRANcIS E. Luioyp, 
Secretary. 


THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


AMERICAN 


THE regular meeting of the New York Section 
of the American Chemical Society was held on 
Friday evening, the 9th inst., at the Chemists’ 
Club, 108 West Fifty-fifth street, Dr. William 
McMurtrie presiding. The following papers. 
were read: ‘Apparatus for testing the Density 
of Cements,’ by Morris Loeb, Ph.D.; ‘The De- 
termination of Sulphur in Bitumens,’ by S. F. 
and H. E. Peckham. 

The apparatus described by Dr. Loeb is a 
modification of the well-known method for de- 
termination of the density of powders by dis- 
placement of liquid contained in a flask, but by 
the system of calibration adopted and the use 
of a specially graduated burette the volume 
of liquid displaced is obtained by difference 


914 


between the amount added from the burette 
and an arbitrary volume contained between two 
marks on the neck of the flask. 

Drawing out the liquid to the zero mark by 
a pipette enables one to make another and sey- 
eral successive determinations without cleaning 
out the apparatus until the flask is actually 
almost filled with the powdered cement, so that 
three or four determinations may be made in 
about ten minutes. 

Messrs. Peckham’s paper recommended the 
deflagration method for determining sulphur in 
bitumens, using about two parts bitumen to 
thirty parts of mixed sodium carbonate and 
potassium nitrate. Some discussion followed 
as to the possible loss of volatile sulphur com- 
pounds—mercaptans, mercaptids and sulpho 
ethers—but the amounts of these forms of sul- 
phur were conceded to be extremely small and 
probably without appreciable effect on the be- 
havior of an asphalt. 

A report by the Committee on Patent Legis- 
lation was read by Major C. C. Parsons, with 
the recommendation that it should be brought 
before the members of the Society at large. 

A report by Durand Woodman, Secretary and 
Treasurer, stated that nine regular and two 
special meetings had been held, at which thirty- 
seven papers were read. The average attend- 
ance at these meetings was sixty-five. 

The expenses of the Section had been $1.19 
per member for the year. The membership 
numbers about 305. 

The election of officers for the ensuing year 
resulted as follows : Chairman, C. F. McKenna; 
Secretary-Treasurer, Durand Woodman; Ex- 
ecutive Committee, William McMurtrie, E. G. 
Love, G. C. Stone; delegates to the Scientific 
Alliance, E. E. Smith, M. T. Bogert. 


A SPECIAL meeting of the Society was held on 
Saturday, May 27th, at 8:45 p. m., in the As- 
sembly Room of the Chemists’ Club. 

Announcement was made by Dr. C. A. Dore- 
mus of the preliminary program of the Fourth 
International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 
to be held at Paris next year. The meetings 
will be held in the halls and amphitheatre of 
the new Sorbonne, and every important branch 
of applied chemistry will be covered. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


The feature of the evening was a paper by 
Dr. H. W. Wiley on ‘The Chemistry of Nitri- 
fication,’ fully illustrated by lantern slides. 

DuRAND WoopMAN, 
Secretary. 


THE WASHINGTON BOTANICAL CLUB. 


REGULAR meetings of the Club were held on 
May 3 and May 30, 1899. At the former the 
members participated in a symposium on the 
topic ‘The Origin of Insular Floras.’ Discus- 
sion was opened by Professor E. L. Greene, Dr. 
F. H. Knowlton and Mr. O. F. Cook. In the 
short notes which preceded attention was called 
to the discovery of Asplenium ebenoides in the 
District of Columbia, and proof sheets of Pro- 
fessor Bailey’s ‘New Encyclopedia of Horti- 
culture’ were exhibited. 

The meeting of May 30th was devoted toa 
discussion of the more salient features of the 
District flora,several specimens being exhibited. 
The Club held a most enjoyable excursion on 
Decoration Day, to which other botanists were 
freely invited, visiting Plummer’s Island, in the 
Potomac, and the neighboring Virginia shore. 

CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, 
Secretary. 


PROFESSOR DEWAR ON LIQUID HYDROGEN. 

THE second lecture in connection with the 
Royal Institution’s centenary was given by 
Professor Dewar on June 7th. Professor Dewar 
said, according to the report in the London 
Times, that he did not intend to take any long 
flight into the great work of the Royal Institu- 
tion in the past, since that had already been 
done by his colleague. His object was rather 
to introduce his audience to a new instrument 
of research—that was to say, to liquid hydro- 
gen. This he exhibited boiling gently in a 
vacuum tube immersed in liquid air, the access 
of heat being, by this precaution, greatly im- 
peded. They would notice it was a transparent 
liquid, in which there appeared a whitish de- 
posit. This consisted of solid air, and it was 
impossible to avoid its presence, because im- 
mediately the cotton-wool plug was removed 
from a vessel of liquid hydrogen the air of the 
atmosphere came under the influence of so 
low a temperature as to ,be at once frozen 


JUNE 30, 1899.] 


solid. To prove that the liquid he was 
manipulating with such freedom was really 
liquid hydrogen Professor Dewar put a light to 
asmall quantity, a brilliant burst of flame being 
the prompt result. Of its exceedingly small 
density he gave an idea by showing that a light 
material like cork would not float on its sur- 
face, but sank to the bottom as if it were lead. 
‘The lowness of its temperature he illustrated 
by anumber of experiments. Thus a solid body 
immersed in it fora short time was shown to 
become so cold that the air round it was lique- 
fied and ran off in drops, while when a tube 
containing liquid air was plunged into it the 
air immediately became solid. On this tube 
being lifted out again a double effect was seen, 
for the melting of the solid within it yielded 
liquid air, which was also formed by condensa- 
tion on its outside surface. An empty vessel 
placed for a short time in the cold atmosphere 
just above this liquid, filled with solid air in the 
form of snow, soon melted into liquid. Oxygen 
in a sealed tube when lowered into it quickly 
became solid, and when lifted out it could be 
‘seen, as heat was absorbed, to assume first the 
liquid and then the gaseous form. <A sponge of 
porous material, soaked in liquid hydrogen and 
brought into a magnetic field, apparently be- 
haved as if it were magnetic. That, however- 
‘was due to the condensation of the oxygen of 
the air, which, of course, was magnetic, and, 
though an observer might in this way be easily 
‘deceived into thinking hydrogen magnetic, Pro- 
fessor Dewar said he was satisfied that it was 
nearly neutral or diamagnetic. 

Speaking of the real temperature of this 
liquid, he said it had taken him nearly a 
year to come to a definite conclusion on 
that point because he could not get any 
two thermometers to agree. Pure platinum 
resistance thermometers gave 35° absolute (or 
238° below zero Centigrade), one of the plati- 
num-rhodium alloy 27°, while hydrogen itself 
in a gas thermometer gave 21°, areading nearly 
identical with one obtained with a German-sil- 
ver electrical thermometer. The last part of 
the lecture was devoted to the extraordinarily 
low vacua obtainable by the use of liquid hydro- 
gen. Thus, by immersing one end of a closed 
tube in it for a short time and then sealing it 


SCIENCE. 


915 


off in the middle, a vacuum was formed in the 
upper part which was substantially perfect, as 
was shown by the fact that the electrical charge 
could not be made to pass. In conclusion, Pro- 
fessor Dewar, after exhibiting several other 
beautiful experiments, including one to illus- 
trate the rapidity with which gases were dis- 
charged into a vacuum, claimed that the lique- 
faction of hydrogen was a triumph for theory 
not less than for practice. 

Lord Kelvin, in moving a vote of thanks to 
Professor Dewar for his brilliant, beautiful and 
splendidly interesting lecture, said that if those 
present wished to measure the importance of 
the occasion, let them think what Count Rum- 
ford, or Davy, or Faraday would have thought, 
could they have been present. They could not 
have hoped for their scientific dreams and 
prophecies to be so splendidly verified within 
the century. The end of experiment in re- 
search at low temperatures had by no means 
been reached, and perhaps in a few years sub- 
stances yet unknown and more refractory than 
hydrogen would have been found which would 
bring the experimenter to within five degrees 
of the absolute zero. 


AUTOMATIC SHIP-PROPULSION. 


AUTOMATIC ship-propulsion is once more pro- 
posed, this time by M. Linden, Secretary of the 
Naples Zoological Station, according to Sr. Me- 
nard in Cosmos of December 17, 1898. He at- 
taches elastic plates to the bow and stern of the 
boat, which act precisely as does the tail of a 
fish. They are bent by the pitching of the boat 
in a seaway, and the reaction of their forcible un- 
bending, as well as that of their motion against 
the water while being bent, produces forward 
motion in the boat, in effect as the fish drives 
himself forward by springing its tail in lateral 
movements. Thus every motion of the boat on 
the surface of the waves produces greater or 
less acceleration. 

The boat employed is stated to be four meters 
(13 feet) long, its driving plates 50 centimeters 
long (20 inches) and one-half that width. They 
are thicker at the point of support than toward 
their extremities, giving a proper flexure when 
pressed by the water into their impelling 


916 


curves. Other experiments have been made, 
also, at Berlin, which are thought to offer some 
encouragement, and it is suggested that such a 
plan may prove satisfactorily operative wit 
large vessels. 

The idea is, however, very old; no one 
knows where or when it originated. Some 
twenty-five years ago Mr. Gerner, a then well- 
known inventor and patent attorney, of New 
York, proposed a somewhat similar scheme, em- 
ploying rafts or floats at the stern and on either 
side, which, with the rolling and pitching of 
the vessel, and the relative motion thus pro- 
duced, should operate levers on board the ves- 
sel, and through them a system of mechanism 
which should drive a screw and thus impel the 
ship. Nothing came of it, however. 


Re Ee 


REMEASUREMENT OF THE ARC OF PERU. 


UNDER date of May 12th the Minister of Pub- 
lic Instruction and Fine Arts announced to the 
French Academy of Sciences the coming depart- 
ure from Bordeaux, on the 26th of May, of M. 
Maurain, captain of engineers, and M. La- 
combe, captain of artillery, for Quito. These 
two officers constitute a commission to visit the 
stations of the old are of Peru, measured be- 
tween 1736 and 1739 by Bouguer, La Conda- 
mine and Godin, with the view of a remeasure- 
ment of the arc and its extension so as to com- 
prise from five to six degrees of latitude. 

This action is hailed with pleasure by geod- 
esists everywhere. It is the direct outcome of 
the renewal of the suggestion for its remeasure- 
ment made at the last meeting of the Interna- 
tional Geodetic Association, at Stuttgart, in 
October, 1898. 

The proposition that the work should be soon 
undertaken was brought up by the American 
delegate, Mr. E. D. Preston, of the U.S. Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, at that Conference, and 
his action was interpreted to mean that if 
France would not undertake it some other 
nation, probably ours, would take steps to- 
wards the remeasurement of the are whose re- 
vision is considered of such great importance to 
geodesy. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


LELAND STANFORD JR. UNIVERSITY. 

By the recent gifts of Mrs. Stanford, Leland 
Stanford Jr. University becomes the richest 
university in the world, far surpassing in its 
resources Harvard, Columbia or any foreign 
university. Situated where the development 
of civilization has been most rapid, and where 
its future promise is unlimited, under a wise 
and far-sighted administration, the University 
will become within a generation one of the 
greatest universities in the world. Correct de- 
tails of the gifts and bequests of Senator Stan- 
ford, and of the gifts of Mrs. Stanford, will be 
of interest to readers of this JOURNAL. 

The resources of the University consist of 
three great farms, aggregating 95,000 acres of 
land, deeded by Act of Legislature. On one of 
these farms, which constitutes the University 
Campus, buildings to the value of $1,000,000 
were erected before Senator Stanford’s death. 
By his will the University received $2,500,000 
in cash, invested in interest-bearing bonds. 
During the litigation following his death Mrs. 
Stanford deeded to the University her own 
private fortune, amounting to about a million 
dollars. The bulk of his fortune was left by 
Senator Stanford by will to his wife, with the 
understanding between them that in case she 
survived him she would do all forthe institu- 
tion that he would have done. This wish she 
has carried out to the letter, although, as a mat- 
ter of fact, idle litigation has prevented her 
from doing anything until very recently. By 
her recent gift she transferred the residue of 
the estate to the University, it being necessary 
to do this by deed of gift under the laws of the 
State. Mr. Stanford’s purpose was a chival- 
rous one, emphasizing the equality of his wife 
in their mutual work. The property just 
turned over has a commercial value—judging 
from the revenue stamps put upon the deeds— 
of $35,000,000. It would probably bring in the 
market about $13,000,000. What its actual 
value may be only the future can determine. 
The income arising from this final gift is at 
present relatively small, as by agreement among 
the railroads, in bonds and stock of which it. 
largely consists, the earnings are for atime to be 
used in freeing the property from debt and in 
making improvements. 


JUNE 30, 1899.] 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


THE statue of Helmholtz, in the court of the 
University of Berlin, was unveiled on June 6th, 
in the presence of the German Emperor. 


THE statue of Darwin by Mr. Hope Pinker, 
presented to Oxford University Museum by 
Professor Poulton, was unveiled on June 14th, 
with an address by Sir Joseph Hooker. The 
statue, which is of life-size and which somewhat 
dwarfs the figure of Newton, by the side of 
which it is placed, represents the philosopher 
in an attitude of meditation, his hands crossed 
on his breast. 


Dr. MILTON UPDEGRAFF, professor of as- 
tronomy in Missouri University, has been ap- 
pointed, by President McKinley, professor of 
mathematics in the United States Naval Obser- 
vatory. 


THE Arago medal of the Paris Academy of 
Sciences was presented to Sir George Stokes on 
the occasion of his recent jubilee. 


THE Council of the London Mathematical 
Society has awarded the sixth DeMorgan medal 
to Professor W. Burnside, F.R.S., for his re- 
searches in mathematics, particularly in the 
theory of groups of finite order. 


Mr. WILLIAM MARTINDALE was, on June 
7th, elected President of the Pharmaceutical So- 
ciety of Great Britain. 


THE John Marshall prize for 1899 has been 
awarded to Jacob H. Hollander, Ph.D., associ- 
ate professor of finance, for his publication en- 
titled ‘The Financial History of Baltimore.’ 
The Marshall prize consists of a relief portrait 
in bronze of Chief Justice Marshall. It is 
awarded annually toa graduate of the Johns 
Hopkins University who has published the 
most important work in the department of 
history, politics and economics. 

THE death, is announced, at the age of 74; of 
M. Nourrisson, professor of philosophy at the 
Lycée Napoléon since 1858, and since 1870 a 
member of the Academy of Political Sciences. 

Dr. THomAS O. SUMMERS, professor of anat- 
omy at the St. Louis College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, known for his researches on yellow 
fever, died by suicide on June 19th. 

THE United States Civil Service Commission 


SCIENCE. 


917 


announces that it desires to establish an eligible 
register for the position of Scientific Aid, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. Candidates are not re- 
quired to appear at any place for examina- 
tion, but should file statements with the 
Commission not later than August Ist. For 
the information of applicants the follow- 
ing statement is made, as received from the 
Secretary of Agriculture: (1) Applicants will 
be limited to graduates of colleges receiving the 
benefits of grants of land or money from the 
United States; (2) each applicant must file 
with the United States Civil Service Commis- 
sion, Washington, D.C., a properly certified 
statement as to the length of time spent in 
college, the studies pursued, the standing in 
these studies, the special work it is desired to 
take up and the special qualifications for such 
work, and, finally,a thesis upon such special 
scientific subject as the applicant may select, or 
in lieu of this any literature on scientific sub- 
jects published over his own signature ; (3) the 
length of time any Scientific Aid may serve in 
the Department is limited to two years; (4) 
the salary shall not exceed forty dollars per 
month, 


THE Maryland Geological Survey has started 
investigations in forestry in codperation with 
the Division of Forestry at Washington, and 
Mr. George B. Sudworth, of the U. 8S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, has been detailed to work 
in Maryland and has already completed a 
forestry survey of Alleghany county. This 
work will be gradually extended throughout 
the State as fast as the topographic maps are 
completed. The Maryland Survey has also 
started biological investigations in Maryland 
under the supervision of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, who 
has detailed members of his staff to begin a 
study of the distribution of the faunas and 
floras of the western section of theState. This 
work will be carried on as an adjunct to the 
Geological Survey of the State, and reports upon 
the life zones and areasof the State will be pub- 
lished from time to time by the State Geologist. 


THE members of the Maryland Geological 
Survey recently made an extended trip along 
the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, upon one of 


918 


the State steamers, for the purpose of examin- 
ing the stratigraphy of the Neocene and Pleis- 
tocene formations, which are to be the subject of 
special study during the present field season. 
Professor W. B. Clark, the State Geologist, was 
in charge of the expedition, and he had as- 
sociated with him Messrs. H. F. Reid, E. B. 
Matthews and G. B. Shattuck as well as other 
members of the Survey. Dr. Arthur Hollick, 
of Columbia University, who is to undertake 
some investigations in paleobotany for the Sur- 
vey, was one of the party. The expedition 
occupied ten days, and the trip extended into 
the lower Potomac basin as well as to several 
of the rivers of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 


WE have already called attention to the ex- 
cursion arranged by the Union Pacific Railway 
Company to visit the fossil fields of Wyoming. 
Invitations have been sent to about 300 geolo- 
gists and paleontologists, each of whom may 
bring at least one assistant with him. The 
party meets at Laramie on June 19th, and will 
be under the general direction of Professor 
Knight, of the University of Wyoming. The 
railway has issued a popular illustrated ac- 
count of fossils in Wyoming, which can be ob- 
tained by application to one of their offices. 


Mr. A. J. BALFour, the government leader 
in the House of Commons, on June 27th as- 
sured a deputation representing the Royal 
Society and the Royal Geographical Society 
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir 
Michael Hicks-Beach, was prepared to give 
substantial aid to the proposed Antarctic ex- 
pedition. 

Ir is reported in the daily papers that Dr. 
Nansen has resolved to enter the lists as an 
Antarctic explorer. Letters received in Lon- 
don from him state that he hopes to have an 
expedition organized and ready to start in 1902. 
He is at present engaged in preparing his plans, 
and will endeavor to shape them so that he 
may supplement the work which the British 
and German expeditions propose to accomplish. 
Dr. Nansen intends to go to Berlin for the In- 
ternational Congress of Geographers, and Sir 
Clements Markham and Sir John Murray will 
also be there to meet Professor yon Drygalski, 
the leader of the German expedition. An Ant- 


SCIENCE, 


(N.S. Vou. 1X. No. 235. 


arctic conference will be held, at which a gen- 
eral plan of action can be decided upon. 


Mr. H. J. MACKINDER, reader in geography 
at the University of Oxford, has just left Eng- 
land in charge of an expedition, the object of 
which is to make a thorough study of Mount 
Kenia, in British East Africa. The London 
Times states that the expedition is partly subsi- 
dized by the Royal Geographical Society, though 
a very considerable portion of the funds is con- 
tributed by Mr. Hausburg, one of the members 
of the expedition. Mr. Mackinder is also accom- 
panied by two competent Swiss guides and two 
taxidermists and collectors. The expedition is 
well equipped with instruments, caméras and 
other means of carrying on scientific work. Dr. 
J. W. Gregory, when he visited Mount Kenia, 
succeeded in attaining a height of 17,000 ft., and 
his observations proved that further investiga- 
tion would certainly yield interesting scientific 
results. My. Mackinder and his party propose 
to camp ata height of about 16,000 ft., and from 
this as a base they hope to make a good map of 
the whole mountain, ascend to its summit, 
journey all around it, investigate its glaciation 
and its geology, and make ample collections of 
animals and plants. As the expedition goes to 
work under specially favorable conditions, in- 
teresting results are expected. Mr. Mackinder 
hopes to spend at least a month on the mountain, 
and expects to be back in England about the 
beginning of October. 

Ir is intended that the first malaria expedi- 
tion of the tropical medicine department of 
University College, Liverpool, should go to 
Sierra Leone in August. The expedition will 
be headed by Major Ross, and willinclude Dr. 
Sunnett, the demonstrator to the Liverpool 
school. The malarial season is at its height 
in August, and the conditions are then most 
favorable for research. Major Ross hopes to 
prove his theory that malaria is caused by the 
bites of a certain species of mosquito. The ex- 
pedition will determine, by the methods which 
Major Ross employed in India, which are the 
malaria-bearing species in the locality chosen, 
and then inquire whether it is possible, by filling 
up the particular puddles in which they breed, 
to exterminate malaria in a given district. 


JUNE 30, 1899. ] 


Ir has been decided that the Imperial School 
for the Study of Tropical Diseases, the estab- 
lishment of which is due to the suggestion of 
Professor Koch, is to be settled at Hamburg. 
Professor Koch originally wished to have it in 
Berlin, but reasons of convenience have led to 
the substitution of Hamburg, where patients 
can be landed directly. The institution is for 
the present to be equipped to receive 30 
patients. 


Masor Ronatp Ross, I.M.S8., inaugurated 
his first course of lectures on Tropical Medicine 
at University College, Liverpool, on June 12th, 
by an address on the ‘ Possibility of Extirpating 
Malaria,’ in which he dealt in detail with the 
means of exterminating malaria-bearing mos- 
quitos. 


A REPRESENTATIVE of Reuter’s Agency has 
had an interview with Doctor Henryk Arc- 
towski, the Polish mineralogist and geologist of 
the Belgica Antarctic expedition. The Belgica 
expedition entered the Antarctic circle from 
the opposite direction to that in which the 
British expedition under Mr. Borchgrevinck 
is now working, Lieutenant Gerlache, with the 
Belgica, going via Cape Horn and the South 
Shetland Islands, while the British expedition 
started from Hobart for Victoria Land. Dr. 
Arctowski said that their first object was to 
make a voyage in the Antarctic, but beyond this 
there was on starting no definite program. It 
was intended to examine the various scientific 
conditions. On leaving Staten their object was 
to go direct to the south and to explore in the 
region of Grahamsland and Palmer Land, on 
which no landing had been made since their 
discovery, in the early part of the century. On 
February 13th, four weeks after leaving Staten 
Island, they left the newly-discovered land 
which they named Danco Land and in three 
days sighted Alexander I. Land. On the 28th 
the Belgica ran into the Antarctic ice pack. 
The temperature fell andthe Belgica stuck fast. 
For a whole year she remained immovable, and 
for the first time human beings prepared to 
spend a winter in the Antarctic. They had 
quite expected to winter in the south polar re- 
gion, but they had hoped’ to do so on land. 
For that purpose they had everything prepared, 


SCIENCE. 


919 


as it was their intention to build an observatory 
and depét. They were, however, quite unable 
to find land on which to establish a depot, and 
and had to remainon the ship. The Antarctic 
winter lasted two months, but owing to the bad 
weather that prevailed they did not see the sun 
for three months. They spent the winter in scien- 
tific work. All of them suffered a good deal dur- 
ing the Antarctic night, owing to defective circu- 
lation and heart trouble. All pulled through ex- 
cept Lieutenant Danco, who succumbed to 
heart failure in June of last year, and his re- 
mains were buried beneath the ice. The only 
other member of the expedition to lose his life 
was Carl Wiencke, a Norwegian sailor, who 
was lost overboard between Staten Island and 
the Antarctic. At the beginning of the present 
year they began cutting a channel through the 
ice for the Belgica. After much hard work they 
cut a passage 900 meters in length, the ship got. 
free of ice on March 14th last. As soon as they 
got free of the ice they steamed direct for Cape 
Horn, and reached Punta Arenas, Patagonia, on 
February 27th. The scientific results were satis- 
factory and were quite what was expected. 
Unlike the Arctic the Antarctic has no animals. 
The only signs of life found on land were a 
number of very small insects, which were dis- 
covered among the penguin rookeries. In the 
water there was plenty of life. There were far 
more seals than in the north polar regions, a 
great quantity of small whales and an abun- 
dance of penguins. The Antarctic land they 
found to be entirely mountainous, absolutely 
glaciated—covered with snow and ice. In some 
places, where the cliffs were too precipitous for 
ice and snow to lodge, lichen and moss were 
found. Dr. F. A. Cook, of Brooklyn, surgeon 
and anthropologist of the expedition, has re- 
turned to New York and has given similar ac 

counts to the press. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

By the will of the late R. C. Billings, of Boston, 
Harvard University, The Massachusetts Insti- 
tute of Technology and the Boston Museum of 
Fine Arts each receive $100,000 and an addi- 
tional $50,000 is given to the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology for scholarships. The 


920 SCIENCE. 


will also contains a large number of bequests to 
hospitals and other charitable institutions. 


Avr the commencement exercises of Brown 
University it was announced that $77,000 had 
been received in gifts, the names of the donors 
being in most cases withheld. 


Dr. D. K. Pearson has given $125,000 to 
Olivet College. 

At the annual commencement at Oberlin 
‘College it was announced that, in addition to 
the gift of $50,000 for a chemical laboratory, two 
other sums of $50,000 have been given, the 
names of donors being withheld. 


In view of the bequest of $50,000 for the 
department of astronomy at Smith College by 
the will of Eliza Haven, won after long litiga- 
tion, it has been decided that the department 
shall be known as the Elizabeth Haven School 
of Astronomy. 


TuHeE following summary of students for the 


years 1898-’99 is taken from the catalogue 
just issued by the University of Minnesota : 
Graduate students............002-00- 195 

Undergraduates; College of Science, Lit- 

erature and the Arts...............- 898 
College Engineering and Mechanic Arts 151 
The School of Mines...... Boabat doco 62 
The School of Chemistry..........2206 9 
Department of Agriculture.....:.... 409 
Pollegeioi Wa Wa isicireicvele'sic/cisio/s'ticyelepsvelats 447 
Department of Medicine.............- 475 
Summer School for Teachers....... . 380 
3,026 
Counted more than once...........-66 101 
MO GAIES teysyalstvcicietarelaietternstesicielaldlelersvarets 23925 
Total) IMStrUCbOTS 2)a's1jcleseveisle!sieve)«/e\elala’ sie 266 
Students to each instructor............ 12 


Ir has been decided to found a chair of pa- 
thological anatomy in the Laval University, 
Montreal. The list of subscribers to the fund 
which is being raised for the purpose is headed 
by the Archbishop of Montreal. 


Dr. C. W. SuPER has been re-elected Presi- 
dent of Ohio University. He occupied the 
position twelve years previous to 1896, when 
he declined re-election. 

Dr. E. B. MATTHEWS has been advanced to 
the position of associate professor of petrog- 


(N.S. Von. IX. No. 235. 


raphy and mineralogy, and Dr. G. B. Shat- 
tuck to the position of associate in physio- 
graphic geology, at Johns Hopkins University. 
In the Medical School Dr. L. F. Barker has 
been promoted to be associate professor of pa- 
thology, and Dr. R. G. Harrison to be associate 
professor of anatomy. 


Mr. Joun L. VAN ORNUM, a graduate of the 
University of Wisconsin with the degree of B.8. 
in Civil Engineering, has been appointed pro- 
fessor of civil engineering in Washington Uni- 
versity, where he has been for three years in- 
structor. Mr. Van Ornum has lately been 
major of the Third U. S. V. Engineers. 


Miss FLoRENCE M. Lyon, Pu.D. (Chicago), 
has been appointed assistant in botany, and Miss 
Annie I. Barrows assistant in zoology, at Smith 
College. 


OF the twenty-two fellowships awarded in the 
Johns Hopkins University the following are in 
the sciences: 


William Martin Blanchard, of Hartford, N. C., 
A.B., Randolph Macon College, 1894. Chemistry. 

Charles Edward Caspart, of Baltimore, A.B., Johns 
Hopkins University, 1896. Chemistry. 

Luther Pfahler Eisenhart, of York, Pa., A.B., 
Pennsylvania College, 1896. Mathematics. 

Lawrence Edmonds Griffin, of Hamline, Minn., 
A.B. and Ph.B., Hamline University, 1895. Zoology. 

Joseph Cawdell Herrick, of Virginia, A. B., Uni- 
versity of Virginia, 1896. Physiology. 

Charles A. Kraus, of Lawrence, Kan., 8.B., Uni- 
versity of Kansas, 1898. Physics. 

Harry Taylor Marshall, of Baltimore, A.B., Johns 
Hopkins University, 1894, and M.D., 1898. Pathol- 
ogy: . 

John Charles Olsen, of Galesburg, Il]., A.B., Knox 
College, 1890. Chemistry. 

Herbert Meredith Reese, of Baltimore, A.B., Johns 
Hopkins University, 1897. Physics. 

George Burr Richardson, of New York City, S.B., 
Harvard University, 1895. Geology. 

Richard Burton Rowe, of Clarksville, N. Y., Ph.B., 
Union College, 1896. Geology. 


Dr. H. M. MACDONALD, of Clare College, has 
been appointed University lecturer on mathe- 
matics at Cambridge University in the place of 
Professor Love. 


Av Oxford University Dr. Herbertson has 
been appointed lecturer in physical geography. 


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Biddle’s Bulletin for 1890 ssa, 


I began to publish this eight-page paper in April, 1898. It has not changed in size but there 


Wi W 
M4 is improvement in quality, hope. For 1899 I shall try to make it still more interesting. W 
p3 It should prove of real value (much greater than the cost of a yearly subscription) to all who 4 
ay are interested in Scientific Apparatus—Physical Apparatus, Electrical Measuring Instruments, 
aN Projection Apparatus, X-Ray Apparatus, Psychological Apparatus, Storage Batteries, etc. M4 
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@ Scientific and Electrical Instruments. 909 Drexel Building, Philadelphia. 


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ii SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


JUST READY. 


A TEXT=BOOK  rrsesues sy 


By 
Carl Schnabel Henry Louis 
of the Royal OF Professor of Mining 
Academy of Mines, at the Durham 


Clausthal. M ET A Ll. I. U RG Y College of Science. 


Two Volumes. Illustrated. Medium 8vo. $10 net. 


A Translation of Dr. Carl Schnabel’s Hand-Book of Metallurgy. Edited by 
Henry Louis, Professor of Mining in the Durham College of Science. 
Volume I.—COPPER—LEAD—SILVER—GOLD. 
Volume II.—ZINC — CADMIUI — MERCURY—BISMUTH—TIN — ANTIMONY— AR- 
SENIC—NICKEL—COBALT—PLATINUM—ALUMINIUM. 


The German original is acknowledged to be the best existing work on the subject ; and 
this new translation has the advantages of being well up to date and absolutely modern 
in its descriptions of methods of treatment, etc. 


Pitees The author's high reputation vouches for the book which 

Up-to-date. will appeal the more to American students for the considerable 

Modern in Method attention given to work done in different parts of the United 
States. 


} Applicable to 
American conditions. 
The best work on 
the subject. 
ae Tilustrated. 


Dr. Schnabel’s rank among metallurgists is indicated by his 
recent call to Australia to advise as to complex silver ores dis- 
covered there. 

The translator’s name has long been connected with mining 
and kindred subjects, not only through his book on “ Gold 
Milling,” described by the ‘ Mining Review” as “one of the 
most concise, practical and complete treatises yet published,” 
but also because of his practical knowledge of all the details ( the chemistry, etc.) of the 
subject, and of the investigations which have been made in all parts of the world. 


pee. 


Sree totes 


“Tt isa curious fact that there does not exist in the English language a single com- 
plete treatise on Metallurgy. There are a number of smaller text-books mainly adapted to 
use of students, which cover the entire field but make no pretense of describing it with 
any thoroughness of detail; and there are a number of very admirable works dedicated to 
the metallurgy of individual metals. 

Such being the position of our literature on this subject, I venture to think that I am 
rendering a distinct service in submitting a translation of the most recent and most ex- 
haustive work on the subject in any language from the pen of that eminent metallurgical 
authority, Dr. Carl Schnabel, of Clausthal. The object of his work has been to give a 
complete account of the metallurgical treatment of every one of the metals ordinarily em- 
ployed, together with all the recent improvements in the art, whilst at the same time point- 
ing out the scientific principles underlying each process, and illustrating each by examples 
drawn from actual practice in various parts of the world.”—From the Author’s Preface. 


Published by THE MACMILLAN COPIPANY, New York 


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il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


THE EVOLUTION OF PLANTS 


DOUGLAS HOUGHTON CAMPBELL, PH.D. 
Professor of Botany of Leland Stanford, Jr., University, Calif. 


Cloth. 12mo. $1.25. 


This book is intended to present in brief form, and in as untechnical a way as possible, a sketch of the 


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Chapters on the geological history of plants, the factors affecting their geographical distribution and the 
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THE RURAL 


SCIENCE 


SERIES 


Recent and Forthcoming Volumes 


CARD.—Bush Fruits. A horti- 
cultural monograph of raspber- 
ries, blackberries, dewberries, 

’ currants, gooseberries, and other 
shrub-like fruits. By FRED W. 
CARD, Professor of Horticulture 
in the Rhode Island College of 
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, 
and Horticulturist to the Ex- 
periment Station ; formerly Pro- 
fessor of Horticulture in the 
University of Nebraska. Edited 
by L. H. BaiLEy. Cloth, Fully 
illustrated. $1.50. 


KING.—Irrigation and Drain- 
age. By F. H. Kine, Univer- 


sity of Wisconsin. Author of 
“«The Soil,’ ete. In preparation. 


There is no practicable book, ac- 
cessible to American readers, on 
the principles of irrigation. Pro- 
fessor King has travelled in the 
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regions to study the question, and 
the book will be a compact illus- 
trated handbook of these interest- 
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VOORHEES.—Fertilizers; the 
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Suggestions as to their use for 
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by Epwarp B. VOORHEES, 
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12mo. Cloth. $1.00. 


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PROFESSOR BAILEY’S LATEST BOOKS 


THE EVOLUTION OF 
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By L. H. Barney, Professor of 
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In this entertaining volume, the 
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THE PRINCIPLES 
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This is an attempt to analyze the 
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A Flistory of Physics 


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This brief popular history gives in broad outline the development of the science of physics from an- 
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book is an agreeable narrative of the most material —The Bookman. 
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fessor Cajori incontestably supplies. The book was | of Mathematics. It isan entirely new book, giving a 
much wanted.’’—The Nation. | somewhat detailed account of the rise and progress 
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Professor of Physics in Colorado College. 
Cloth, Crown 8vo, $1.60 net. 


This brief popular history gives in broad outline the development of the science of physics from an- 


tiquity to the present time. 


It contains also a more complete statement than is found elsewhere of the evo- 
lution of physical laboratories in Europe and America. 

primarily intended for students and teachers of physics. 
troduction of historical matter, a science can be made more attractive. 


The book, while of interest to the general reader, is 
The conviction is growing that, by a judicious in- 
Moreover, the general view of the de- 


velopment of the human intellect which the history of a science affords is in itself stimulating and liberal- 


izing. 


In the announcement of Ostwald’s Klassiker der Exakten Wissenschaften we read as follows . 


“ While 


by the present methods of teaching, a knowledge of science in its present state of advancement is imparted 
very successfully, eminent and farsighted men have repeatedly been obliged to point out a defect which too 


often attaches to the present scientific education of our youth. 


It is the absence of the historical sense and the 


want of knowledge of the great researches upon which the edifice of science rests.’? 


It is hoped that the present volume may assist in remedying the defect so elearly pointed out by Pro- 


fessor Ostwald. 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR 


A 
History of Mathematics 
Cloth, 8vo, $350 


‘* What we have a right to expect in such a hand- 
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events in the history of mathematics, and this Pro- 
fessor Cajori incontestably supplies. The book was 
much wanted.’’—The Nation. 


‘* 4 scholarship both wide and deep is manifest in 
this History of Mathematics which the author has in- 
fused with his own ardor in this department of 
science.’’—Journal of Education. 


“To the student with a love for mathematical 
science this book will be as entertaining as a ro- 
mance.’’—The Transcript, Boston. 


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rat SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


BIinkDS 


By A. H. EVANS, M.A. 


Clare College, Cambridge 


Being Volume IX of the Cambridge Natural History. Edited by S. F. Harmer, Sce.D., 


and A. E. Sarptey. With Numerous Illustrations. 
Cloth Svo, $3.50 nei. 


A short description of the majority of the forms in many of the Families, and of the most typical or impor- 
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“(The greatest and best book ever written about birds.’’—E..10rr Cours. 


A DICTIONARY OF BIRDS 

By PRoFEssoR ALFRED NEWTON, University of Cambridge. 

Assisted by Hans F. Gavow, Ph.D., F.R.S. With contributions from Ricuarp LypEKKer, author (with Sir W. 
H. Firower) of “ An Introduction to the Study of Mammals,’’ etc. ; Cuares 8S. Roy, Professor in the Uni 
versity of Cambridge ; Roserr W. Suuretpr, Late U.S. Army, Author of ‘The Mythology of the Raven,”’ etc. 

Complete im One Volume. Med. Svo, Price $10 vet. 


«Tt is a better introduction to ornithology and to ornithologists than has ever been written before . 
indeed it is one to lie upon the desk of every worker in this branch of natural history as an almost inexhaustible 
storehouse of facts he needs to know.’’—The Nation. 


« The most valuable and most interesting contribution ever made to the subject of which it treats.’’—Scrence. 


BIRDCRAFT 


A Field Book of Two Hundred “The Book is attractive, interesting, helpful, and 
4 should be in the library of every lover of birds.” 
Song, Game, and Water Birds, —SCIENCE. 


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Eighty Plates by Louis AGAssiz Furrres. Small Quarto, $2.50 net. 


CITIZEN BIRD 


Scenes from Bird Life in “One of the most charming as well as most 
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ii SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


Bik. 


By A. H. EVANS, M.A. 


Clare College, Cambridge 


Being Volume IX of the Cambridge Natural History. Edited by S. F. Harmer, Sc.D., 


and A. E. Saiptey. With Numerous Illustrations. 
Cloth Svo, $3.50 ne. 


A short description of the majority of the forms in many of the Families, and of the most typical or impor- 
tant of the innumerable species included in the large Passerine Order. Prefixed to each group is a brief sum 
mary of the structure and habits with such further particulars as may be necessary with a statement of the main 


fossil forms as yet recorded. 


“The greatest and best book ever written about birds.’’—E uiorr Cours. 


A DICTIONARY OF BIRDS 

By Proresson ALFRED NEWTON, University of Cambridge. 

Assisted by Hans F. Gapow, Ph.D., F.R.S. With contributions from Ricuarp LyprxKer, author (with Sir W. 
H. Frower) of “An Introduction to the Study of Mammals,’’ etc. ; Cuarzes 8. Roy, Professor in the Uni 
versity of Cambridge ; Roperr W. Suurerpt, Late U.S. Army, Author of ‘‘ The Mythology of the Raven,”’ etc. 

Complete in One Volume. Med. Svo, Price $10 zet. 


“It is a better introduction to ornithology and to ornithologists than has ever been written before 
indeed it is one to lie upon the desk of every worker in this branch of natural history as an almost inexhaustible 
storehouse of facts he needs to know.’’—The Nation. 


“The most valuable and most interesting contribution ever made to the subject of which it treats.’’—Scrunce. 


BIRDCRAFT 


A Field Book of Two Hundred “The Book is attractive, interesting, helpful, and 
fs should be in the library of every lover of birds.” 
~ Song, Game, and Water Birds, —SCIENCE. 


By Masext Oscoop Wricar. 


Eighty Plates by Louis Acassiz Funrres. Small Quarto, $2.50 net. 


CITIZEN BIRD 


Scenes from Bird Life in “ One of the most charming as well as most 
Plain English for Beginners. useful books.”—FoREST AND STREAM. 


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THE SCIENCE SERIES 


Edited by PROF. J. McKEEN CATTELL, M.A., Ph.D., and F. E. BEDDARD, M.A., F.RB.S. 


NOW LN READINESS: EARTHQUAKES. By Major C. E. Durroy, 
1.—_THE STUDY OF MAN. By Professor A. U.S.A. 
C. Happon, M.A., D.Sc., M.R.I.A. Fully illus- 
trated. 8vo. $2.00. PHYSIOGRAPHY: The Forms of the 
‘CA timely and useful volume. . . . The author wields Land. By Prof. W. M. Davis, Harvard Univ. 


a pleasing pen, and knows how to make the subject attrac- 
tive. . . . The work is calculated to spread among its | THE STARS. By Prof. Stmon Newcoms, U.S.N.. 


readers an attraction to the science of anthropology. The ical / at . a ua .* 
author’s observations are exceedingly genuine, and his de- Nautical Almanac Office, and Johns Hopkins Uni 


scriptions are vivid.”—London Atheneum. versity. 
2.—THE GROUNDWORK OF SCIENCE. | METEORS AND COMETS. By Prof. C. A. 
A Study of Epistemology, By Sr. Gzoran Mivarr, Youna, Princeton University. 
F.R.S. 8vo. $1.75. 
THE MEASUREMENT OF THE EARTH. 
3.—_RIVERS OF NORTH AMERICA. A By President T. C. Mennennuaxt, Worcester Poly- 


Reading Lesson for Students of Geography and technic Institute, formerly Superintendent of the 
Geology. By Israrn C. Russeut, Professor of | . YU. 8. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

Geology, University of Michigan ; author of ‘‘ Lakes 
of North America,’’ ‘Glaciers of North America,” | ETHNIC PSYCHOLOGY. By Prof. Danren 
etc. Fully illustrated. 8yvo. $2.00. G. Brinton, University of Pennsylvania. 


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Gerkiz, F.R.S., University of Edinburgh. Fully RECENT THEORIES OF EVOLUTION. 


illustrated. 8y0. $2.00. By Prof. J. Marx Ba.pwin, Princeton Uniy. 
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has been so rapid, and its place in modern life has become so dominant, that it is needful to revise continually the statement 
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AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 


NEW SERIES. VOL. I. NO. 1, NOW READY. 


The new series of the American ANTHROPOLOGIST Will be issued under the editorial management of the fol- 
lowing board: Dr. Frank Baker, Smithsonian Institution Washington; Dr. Franz Boss, American Museum of 
Natural History, New York; Dr. Daniet G. Brinton, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Dr. Groran M. 
Dawson, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa; Dr. Grorcn A. Dorsny, Meld Columbian Museum, Chicago; Prof. 
Witt1am H. Homes, U. 8. National Museum, Washington; Maj. J. W. Pownit, Bureau of American Ethnology, 
Washington ; Prof. Frepreric W. Purman, Peabody Museum, Cambridge. Secretary and Managing Editor, F. W. 
Hopes, 1333 F Street, Washington, D. C. 


The new journal will be devoted to the interests of Anthropology. Anthropology, as the science of man, appeals 
strongly not only to specialists, but also to other classes of intelligent readers ; yet the science is young and has not hitherto 
produced an adequate journal in this country. It is the aim of the editorial board to meet the need of such a journal, a 
need which has for some years been apparent and is steadily growing. 

Each number will contain 200 octavo pages, and will be fully illustrated. Issued quarterly. 


Subscription Price per Year, $4.00; Price of Single Numbers, $1.25. 


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A 


il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


JUST READY. 


The Spirit of Organic Chemistry 


AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CURRENT LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. 


By ARTHUR LACHMAN, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Oregon. With an In- 
troduction by PAUL C. Freer, Ph.D., Professor of General Chemistry in the University of 
Michigan. Cloth, Crown S8vo, $1.50 net. 


“The Spirit of Organic Chemistry ’’ is a supplement to the standard text-book of the sub- 
ject ; it consists of selected chapters, historically and critically presented. With the chief object. 
in view of enabling its readers to follow the development of organic chemistry in the current 
journals, it analyzes the chief propositions of the science into their logical component problems ; 
interpreting the general in terms of the specific facts. The method employed is the historical ; 
in each case, the origin, growth, and gradual evolution of the problem are discussed in detail. 
The topics chosen for presentation have been selected mainly because of their adaptability to the 
above manner of treatment, but they will be found to include nearly all the fundamental prob- 
lems and conceptions of this branch of chemistry. Stereochemical doctrines, in particular, have 
been incorporated to an extent commensurate with their importance. No great familiarity with 
the subject is presupposed, the more difficult points being explained in full detail. 


Experimental Morphology 


By CHARLES BENEDICT DAVENPORT, PH.D., Instructor in Zoology in Harvard University. 
Parti. Errects oF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL AGENTS ON PROTOPLASM. 
Cloth, Svo, $2.60. 


‘‘The material which is discussed has been well digested and is well arranged . . . and 
the style is on the whole clear and concise. The book is a readable one and the descriptions and 
criticisms of methods employed in experimentation, and the bibliographical lists at the conclusion 
of each chapter, contribute materially to the value the book possesses for both the morphologist 
and physiologist.—J. P. McMUuRRICH in SCIENCE. 


PartIl. Errrecr or CHEMICAL AND PHysIcAL AGENTS UPON GROWTH. 
Cloth, 8vo. Ready this Month. $2.00 net. 


The widespread interest in the study of the conditions of development and its experimental 
control makes it certain that this book will be welcomed by a large number of students of zoology, 
physiology, botany and agriculture. The general arrangement of the book is the same as that of 
Part First. Growth is treated apart from differentiation, as one of the factors of development, 
and the effect of each agent both upon the rate of growth and its direction is discussed. The part 
played by the different chemical elements in the growing as opposed to the adult organism is con- 
sidered in the first chapter, where especial reference is made to the questions of the assimilation 
of free nitrogen and the stimulation of growth by lecithin and poisons. The important rdle of 
water in growth is insisted upon. The marked effect of dense solutions is demonstrated by the 
aid of new experiments. The hastening effects of electricity upon plant growth and the laws of 
the effect of light rays of different wave-length and those of temperature are inquired into. The 
dwarfing effects of small vessels on the size of animals reared in them is also considered. Finally 
the growth movements of plants in response to chemicals, moisture, contact, gravity, electricity, 
light and heat, are fully discussed. The tendency of the whole book, which contains consider- 
able original material, is away from the mechanical explanation of vital processes. Such pro- 
cesses are to be explained only by the action of causes more complex and remote than most phy- 
siologists have hitherto conceived them to be. There are 66 illustrations in this part and an 
index to the first and second parts. ; 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York 


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“Manipulation of the Microscope” 


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ii SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


JUST READY. 


The Arithmetic of Chemistry 


BEING A SIMPLE TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT OF CHEMICAL CALCULATIONS. 


By JoHN WADDELL, B.Sc. (Lond.), Ph.D. (Heidelberg), D.Sc. (Edin.), formerly Assistant to the 
Professor of Chemistry, University of Edinburg. Cloth, r6mo, go cents net. 


An accurate, simple and systematic treatment of the subject, arranged so as to make the text 
present a continuous line of argument. Useful tables are appended, the French metric system, 
comparison of thermometric scales, atomic weights, equations in frequent use, four-place loga- 
rithms, ete. 


The Spirit of Organic Chemistry 


AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CURRENT LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. 


By ARTHUR LACHMAN, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Oregon. With an In- 
troduction by PAUL C. FREER, Ph.D., Professor of General Chemistry in the University of 


Michigan. Cloth, Crown Svo, $1.50 net. 


“The Spirit of Organic Chemistry ’’ is a supplement to the standard text-book of the sub- 
ject ; it consists of selected chapters, historically and critically presented. With the chief object 
in view of enabling its readers to follow the development of organic chemistry in the current 
journals, it analyzes the chief propositions of the science into their logical component problems ; 
interpreting the general in terms of the specific facts. The method employed is the historical ; 
in each case, the origin, growth, and gradual evolution of the problem are discussed in detail. 
The topics chosen for presentation have been selected mainly because of their adaptability to the 
above manner of treatment, but they will be found to include nearly all the fundamental prob- 
lems and conceptions of this branch of chemistry. Stereochemical doctrines, in particular, have 
been incorporated to an extent commensurate with their importance. No great familiarity with 
the subject is presupposed, the more difficult points being explained in full detail. 


Experimental Morphology 


By CHARLES BENEDICT DAVENPORT, PuH.D., Instructor in Zoology in Harvard University. 


Part I. EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL AGENTS ON PROTOPLASM. 


Cloth, Svo, $2.60. 


‘¢The material which is discussed has been well digested and is well arranged . . . and 
the style is on the whole clear and concise. The book is a readable one and the descriptions and 
criticisms of methods employed in experimentation, and the bibliographical lists at the conclusion 
of each chapter, contribute materially to the value the book possesses for both the morphologist 
and physiologist.—J. P. McMuRRICH in SCIENCE. | 


PARTI. Errecr of CHEMICAL AND PHysICAL AGENTS UPON GROWTH. 
Cloth, 8vo. Ready this Month. $2.00 net. 


The widespread interest in the study of the conditions of development and its experimental 
control makes it certain that this book will be welcomed by a large number of students of zoology, 
physiology, botany and agriculture. The general arrangement of the book is the same as that of 
Part First. Growth is treated apart from differentiation, as one of the factors of development, 
and the effect of each agent both upon the rate of growth and its direction is discussed. There are 
66 illustrations in this part and an index to the first and second parts. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York 


SCIENCE 


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il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


JUST READY. 


The Arithmetic of Chemistry 


BEING A SIMPLE TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT OF CHEMICAL CALCULATIONS. 


By JoHN WADDELL, B.Sc. (Lond.), Ph.D. (Heidelberg), D.Sc. (Edin.), formerly Assistant to the 
Professor of Chemistry, University of Edinburg. Cloth, r6mo, go cents net. 


An accurate, simple and systematic treatment of the subject, arranged so as to make the text 
present a continuous line of argument. Useful tables are appended, the French metric system, 
comparison of thermometric scales, atomic weights, equations in frequent tse, four-place loga- 
rithms, etc. 


The Spirit of Organic Chemistry 


AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CURRENT LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. 


By ARTHUR LACHMAN, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Oregon. With an In- 
troduction by PAuL C. FREER, Ph.D., Professor of General Chemistry in the University of 


Michigan. Cloth, Crown Svo, $1.50 “et. 


‘The Spirit of Organic Chemistry ’’ is a supplement to the standard text-book of the sub- 
ject ; it consists of selected chapters, historically and critically presented. With the chief object 
in view of enabling its readers to follow the development of organic chemistry in the current 
journals, it analyzes the chief propositions of the science into their logical component problems ; 
interpreting the general in terms of the specific facts. The method employed is the historical ; 
in each case, the origin, growth, and gradual evolution of the problem are discussed in detail. 
The topics chosen for presentation have been selected mainly because of their adaptability to the 
above manner of treatment, but they will be found to include nearly all the fundamental prob- 
lems and conceptions of this branch of chemistry. Stereochemical doctrines, in particular, have 
been incorporated to an extent commensurate with their importance. No great familiarity with 
the subject is presupposed, the more difficult points being explained in full detail. 


Experimental Morphology 


By CHARLES BENEDICT DAVENPORT, PH.D., Instructor in Zoology in Harvard University. 
Part il. Errects oF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL AGENTS ON PROTOPLASM. 


Cloth, 8vo, $2.60. 


‘“'The material which is discussed has been well digested and is well arranged . . . and 
the style is on the whole clear and concise. The book is a readable one and the descriptions and 
criticisms of methods employed in experimentation, and the bibliographical lists at the conclusion 
of each chapter, contribute materially to the value the book possesses for both the morphologist 
and physiologist.—J. P. McCMuRRICH in SCIENCE. 


Parr Il. Errrect of CHEMICAL AND PHysICAL AGENTS UPON GROWTH. 
Cloth, S8vo. Ready this Month. $2.00 net. 


The widespread interest in the study of the conditions of development and its experimental 
control makes it certain that this book will be welcomed by a large number of students of zoology, 
physiology, botany and agriculture. The general arrangement of the book is the same as that of 
Part First. Growth is treated apart from differentiation, as one of the factors of development, 
and the effect of each agent both upon the rate of growth and its direction is discussed. There are 
66 illustrations in this part and an index to the first and second parts. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York 


SCIENCE 


NEW SERIES. SID C £ 
VoL. IX. No. 224. Fripay, Aprin 14, 1899. aNOAE SERCatEOn. $5.00 


Queen Self-Regulating X-Ray Tube 


Less than two years have passed since the Queen Self-Regulating X-Ray Tube was announced. It won imme- 
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QUEEN & CO.,, inc. 


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i SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


“T began to study animals about 1857, and am still at it. My conclusions in the 
matter agree substantially with your own. . . . I am glad to find you keeping all 
metaphysical, theological, and teleological speculation out of your science. 

“Tt seems to me that you express a great fact when you speak of neuroplasmic as 
well as nerve action proper ; for otherwise we cannot account for the amount of sense an 
ameeba certainly possesses.”—Dr. Ettiorr Cours, Editor of The Osprey. 


Just Ready Cloth, Crown 8vo, $1.25 New and Original 
GaN fascinating book . . . his observations are of in- 
+ FE tense interest.” — The Congregationalist, Boston. 


“An exhaustive and scholarly study . . . in a clear, 
simple and brief form.”— Louisville Times. 


D A W N “ Exceedingly interesting . . . wholly original.”—Lowis- 


ville Dispatch. 


“« Any one interested in the progress of comparative psy~ 

O F chology must wish well to a man who, without the incentives 

of the professed naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch 

animal life. I, for one, shall weleome such observations, even 

R E A SO N though they are more one-sided than Dr. Weir’s. His favor- 

itism toward animals, though it has deprived us of any records 

of unintelligent conduct and perhaps prevented the repetition 

of some tests and even distorted facts, has still failed to infuse 

Mental Traits a very considerable number of suggestive and important obser- 

vations. It will pay any student of animal psychology to read 

in the the book for the sake of these. . . . A sample of Dr. Weir’s 

keenness is his theory that the continual barking of dogs at 

° night is explainable by the supposition that they bark at an 

Lower Animals echo. This hypothesis he supports by some very striking 
facts.”,—Dr. Epwarp THORNDIKE, in Science. 


B “The author is a bold and independent thinker as shown 
| by a previous work . . . and his observations profoundly 


JAM ES W E| R interesting.” — The Chronicle, San Francisco. 


; “ Entirely new and a valuable addition to the evidence 
Jr., M.D. already published by Darwin, Romanes, Lubbock, Buchner, 


he Kirby, Spence, and others.” — The Evening Post, Chicago. 
uthor of 


“The Physical Correlation of “The work is one of thought and indicates laborious 
Religious Emotion and study.” — The Times, Louisville, Ky. 
Seles ce “Tn this little book are gathered together a great many 


interesting data . . . the author has observed and experi- 
mented for himself and in many respects his conclusions are 
Cloth, cr. 8vo, $1.25 striking and novel.” —Literature. 


“One rises from the perusal of this fascinating book with a feeling as having heard 
of anew world. . . . Space will not permit further allusion to this charming book, 
but we advise all who are interested in such matters to obtain it.”— Public Health. 


THE MACMILLAN COPMPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


New SERIES. 2Q¢ SINGLE CopiEs, 15 crs. 
Vou. IX. No. 225. FRIpAy, APRIL 21, 1899. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, €5.00. 


Chemicals : Chemical Apparatus. 


V pue sadodsossiW ‘SSI9Z [ABD 


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EIMER & - AMEND, New York. 


il SCTENCE.—AD VERTISEMENTS. 


The Macmillan Company’s New Books 


JUST READY. 
Defective Eyesight: The Principles of Its Relief Glasses. 


By D. B. Sr. Joun Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate ‘Med- 
ical School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, etc., etc., author of ‘A Clinical 


Manual of Diseases of the Eye;’’ ‘‘ Ophthalmic and Otic Memoranda;”’ ‘‘ A Practical Treatise on the Dis- 
eases of the Ear;’’ ‘The Old Hospital and Other Papers; ’’ ‘‘A Vest-Pocket Medical Lexicon,”’ ete. 
Cloth. 12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 


stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. 


The book may 


also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race. 


A Text Book of the Embryology 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscuett, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Hrier, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Parifera Cuidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. Translated by Ep- 
warp L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopwortu, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
«The book has been in the hands of zoologists ‘all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor Jacos RriG- 

HARD in Science. 

Vol. II. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Palzostraca. Trans- 
lated by MatinpA Bernarp. Revised and Edited, 
with Additional Notes, by Martin F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv-+875. $3.00, net. 
The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 
to remain for many years without a rival.’’ 
Part III. is in preparation. 


Of Man and Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wia, Professor Extraordinarius of Anatomy and 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the II. Anatom- 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
Harvard University. Second Edition, with 339 
Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xvi+670. $5.25, net. 
‘« While it is in details largely confined to the study 
of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 
within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 
book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book is 
of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 
that at the present time there is no text-book so well de- 
signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—~Science. 
“The translator's work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, especially 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’—British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


«Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 
DAWN 
OF 
REASON 


shall welcome such ... 
and important observations. 


THORNDIKE in Science. 


previous work . . 


«<The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 
. and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed BY 
naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 
a very considerable number of suggestive 
It will pay any student of animal psy- 
chology to read the book for the sake of these.’’—Professor Epwarp 


I, for one, 


JAMES WEIR, Jr., 
M.D. 
Author of 
“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious 
Emotion and Sexual 


Mental Traits = 776 Chronicle, San Francisco. Desire.’? 
in the 
oneraniimals “(In this little book are gathered together a great many interesting Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
data . . . the author has observed and experimented for himself and $1.25. 
in many respects his conclusions are striking and noyel.’’ —Literature. 


THE MACMILLAN COPPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


NEW SERIES. ny) SINGLE Co m8, 15 5 
K RIDAY, APRIL 28, 1899. ANNUAL Saar $5.00 
TUR TED A AAO ; ens Rd ihe ON Ay naa ress ri 1 DV. 4 


VoL. IX. No. 226. 


“Manipulation of the Microscope” 


A MANUAL FOR THE WORK TABLE AND A TEXT BOOK - 
FOR THE BEGINNER IN THE USE OF THE MICROSCOPE 


By EDWARD BAUSCH 


Bound in Silk Cloth. 200 pp. Price, $1.00 


“Manipulation of the Microscope” presents clearly and concisely the 
essential information regarding the principles, and leads to the intelligent use 
of the microscope. Beginning with the purpose of the microscope, the parts of 
the instrument are described in detail, together with the principles involved 
in their construction, followed by a chapter outlining requisites for work. 
How to work not only with the microscope, but with its various accessories, 
is supplemented by a chapter on advanced manipulation. Chapters on how 
to select and care for a microscope also éontain valuable information. 

This book is recommended for the use of students beginning the use of 
the microscope in any branch of science and especially as a supplementary 
aid to the instruction usually given. It will also be found a valuable refer- 
ence book by the advanced worker. 

Too often the use of the microscope is begun with little or no knowledge 
of its construction, what the various parts are for, and their manipulation to 
obtain the best results. There is also, in very many cases, too great a ten- 
dency, even in the most advanced laboratories, to undervalue a knowledge 
of the proper use and care of the microscope. It is a well known fact that 
improper manipulation may easily lead to incorrect deductions, and the 
microscope will be found a much more obedient and useful servant if the 
user will only familiarize himself with its mechanical and optical construc- 
tion and the best way of keeping it in good order. 


BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. 
ER ANH ROCHESTER, N. Y, 


NEW YORK CITY 


il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


The Macmillan Company’s New Books 


JUST READY. 
Defective Eyesight: The Principles of Its Relief by Glasses. 


By D. B. Sr. Joun Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate Med- 
ical School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, etc., etc., author of «A Clinical 
Manual of Diseases of the Eye;’’ ‘Ophthalmic and Otic Memoranda; ‘‘A Practical Treatise on the Dis- 
eases of the Ear;’’ ‘‘The Old Hospital and Other Papers; ’’ ‘‘A Vest-Pocket Medical Lexicon,’ etc. 


Cloth. 12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 


stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. 


The book may 


also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race. 


A Text Book of 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscuett, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Herper, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. ‘Translated by Ep- 
warp L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopworra, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
“The book has been in the hands of zoologists all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor JAcos Rric- 

HARD in Scvence. 


Vol. Il. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Palzostraca. Trans- 
lated by MarinpA Burnarp. Revised and Edited» 
with Additional Notes, by Martin F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv-+875. $3.00, net. 
The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 


to remain for many years without a rival.” 
Part III. is in preparation. 


the Embryology 


Of Man and Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wic, Professor Estraordinarius of Anatomy and , 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the II. Anatom- , 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
Harvard University. Second dition, with 389 
Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xvi+670. $5.25, net. 

‘While it is in details largely confined to the study 

of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 

within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 

book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book it 

is of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 

that at the present time there is no text-book so well de- 

signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—Science. 

«The translator's work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, especially 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’—British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


«« Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 
DAWN 
OF 
REASON 


shall welcome such .. . 
and important observations. 


THORNDIKE in Science. 


previous work . . 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed 
naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 


chology to read the book for the sake of these.’’—Professor Epwarp 


«<The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 
. and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— 


BY 
I, for one, JAMES WEIR, Jr., 
a very considerable number of suggestive M.D 
It will pay any student of animal psy- ui Hh . if 
uthor Oo 


“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious 
Emotion and Sexual 


Mental Traits = ‘7p. Chronicle, San Francisco. Desire.”” 
in the 4 = ; 
L BA in als “Tn this little book are gathered together a great many interesting Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
oe, data . . . the author has observed and experimented for himself and $1.25. 
in many respects his conclusions are striking and novel.’’ —/iterature. 


THE MACMILLAN COPPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SoClIENCE 


NEW SERIES. = wee n) Kee [x 6 SINGLE Copigs, 15 cTs, 
VoL. IX. No. 227. Fripay, May vo; 1899. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $5.C0, 


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il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


The Macmillan Company’s New Books 


‘ JUST READY. 
Defective Eyesight: The Principles of Its Relief by Glasses. 


By D. B. Sr. Joun Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate Med- 
ical School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, ete., etc., author of “A Clinical 
Manual of Diseases of the Eye;’’ ‘‘ Ophthalmic and Otic Memoranda;”’ ‘‘ A Practical Treatise on the Dis- 
eases of the Ear;’’ «The Old Hospital and Other Papers; ’’ ‘*A Vest-Pocket Medical Lexicon,’’ etc. 


Cloth. 12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 


stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. 


The book may 


also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race. 


A Text Book of the Embryology 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscuztr, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Herer, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. ‘I'ranslated by Ep- 
warp L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopwortn, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
«The book has been in the hands of zoologists all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor Jacos Ruic- 

HARD in Science. 

Vol. Il. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Palzostraca. Trans- 
lated by Marinpa Bernarp. Revised and Edited, 
with Additional Notes, by Marry F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv+375. $3.00, net. 
The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 
to remain for many years without a rival.” 
Part LII. is in preparation. 


Of Mam and Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wic, Professor Extraordinarius of Anatomy and 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the II. Anatom- 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
Harvard University. Second dition, with 339 
Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

Cloth. Pp. xvit670. $5.25, net. 
“While it is in details largely confined to the study 

of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 

within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 
book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book it 
is of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 
that at the present time there is no text-book so well de- 
signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—Science. 

«The translator's work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, especially 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’— British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


8vo. 


«‘ Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 
DAWN 
OF 
REASON 


shall welcome such 
and important observations. 


THORNDIKE in Science. 


previous work . . 


«The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 
. and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed BY, 
naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 
a very conviderable number of suggestive 
It will pay any student of animal psy- 
chology to read the book for the sake of these.’’—Professor Epwarp 


I, for one, 


JAMES WEIR, Jr., 
M.D. 
Author of 
“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious 
Emotion and Sexual 


Mental Traits = 7% Chronicle, San Francisco. Desire.”’ 
in the : 4 
L Waericnal “Tn this little book are gathered together a great many interesting Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
ower Animals data . . . the author has observed and experimented for himself and $1.25. 
in many respects his conclusions are striking and novel.’ —Jiterature. 


THE MACIULLAN COPFMPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


NEw SERIES. J r 49 SINGLE Copigs, 15 cts, 
Vou. IX. No. 228. Fripay, May 12, 1899. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $5.00 


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59 Fifth Avenue 


NEW YORK | 1010 CHESTNUT ST., PHILADELPHIA 


il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


The Macmillan Company’s New Books 


JUST READY. 
Defective Eyesight: The Principles of Its Relief by Glasses. 


By D. B. St. Joun Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate Med- 
ical School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, etc., etce., author of ‘A Clinical 


Manual of Diseases of the Eye;’’ ‘‘ Ophthalmic and Otic Memoranda ;”’ ‘‘ A Practical Treatise on the Dis- 
eases of the Ear;’’ ‘“‘The Old Hospital and Other Papers; ’’ ‘A Vest-Pocket Medical Lexicon,’’ etc, 
Cloth. 12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 


stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. 


The book may 


also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race. 


A Text Book of 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscnetrt, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Hurper, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. Translated by Ep- 
warp L. Mark, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopworts, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
“«The book has been in the hands of zoologists all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor Jacos Rric- 

HARD in Science. 

Vol. II. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Paleostraca. Trans- 
lated by Matimpa Bernarp. Revised and Edited, 
with Additional Notes, by Martin F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv-+375. $3.00, net. 


The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 
to remain for many years without a rival.” 

Part III. is in preparation. 


the Embryology 


Of Man and Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wic, Professor Extraordinarius of Anatomy and 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the II. Anatom- 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Mark, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
Harvard University. Second Edition, with 339 
Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xvi+-670. $5.26, net. 
“While it is in details largely confined to the study 
of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 
within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 
book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book it 
is of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 
that at the present time there is no text-book so well de- 
signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—Science. 
“The translator’s work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, eapecialy 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’—British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


«« Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 
DAWN 
OF 
REASON 


shall welcome such .. . 
and important observations. 


THORNDIKE in Science. 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed 
naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 


chology to read the book for the sake of these.’’—Professor Epwarp 


«<The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 


BY 
1, for one, JAMES WEIR, Jr., 
a very considerable number of suggestive M.D 
It will pay any student of animal psy- an a 4 of” 
uthor 0, 


“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious 


previous work . . . and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— Emotion and Sexual 
Mental Traits 7% Chronicle, San Francisco. Desire.’ 
in the 
LoweorAnimals “Tn this little book are gathered together a great many interesting Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
data . . . the author has observed and experimented for himself and $1.25. 
in many respects his conclusions are striking and novel.’’ —Literature. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


NEW SERIEs. SINGLE CoPIiEs, 1 
VoL. IX. No. 229. Fripay, May 19, 1899. ANNUAL ‘SupscirPn10%, ON, $5.00 00 


Chemicals : (hemical Apparatus 


Greenough’s 
Binocular 


Microscope 
(two-fifths full size) 
made by 


Carl Zeiss, Jena. 


Schott & Gen., Jena Laboratory Glassware. 
SrspeowoyD wind s,uneq|yey “4 “Vv “OIS 


EIMER & “AMEND, New York. 


il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


The Macmillan Company’s New Books 


Defective Eyesight: The 


JUST READY. 
Principles of Its Relief by Glasses. 


By D. B. Sr. Jonn Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate Med- 
ical School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, etc., etc., author of ‘A Clinical 
Manual of Diseases of the Eye;’’ ‘Ophthalmic and Otic Memoranda;”’ ‘‘ A Practical Treatise on the Dis- 
eases of the Ear;’’ “The Old Hospital and Other Papers; ’’ ‘‘ A Vest-Pocket Medical Lexicon,’ etc. 


Cloth. 12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 


stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. 


The book may 


also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race. 


A Text Book of the Embryology. 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscuetr, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Herprr, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. ‘Translated by Hp- 
warp L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopworvrn, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
‘<The book has been in the hands of zodlogists all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor Jacos RrEIG- 

HARD in Science. 

Vol. II. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Paleostraca. Trans- 
lated by Matinpa Bernarp. Revised and Edited, 
with Additional Notes, by Martin F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv4+375. $3.00, net. 
The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 
to remain for many years without a rival.’’ 
Part III. is in preparation. 


Of Man and Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wia, Professor Extraordinarius of Anatomy and 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the II. Anatom- 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
Harvard University. Second dition, with 339 
Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xvit670. $5.25, net. 
‘While it is in details largely confined to the study 
of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 
within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 
book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book it 
is of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 
that at the present time there is no text-book so well de- 
signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—Science. 
«The translator's work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, especially 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’— British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


«« Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 
DAWN 
OF 
REASON 


shall welcome such ... 
and important observations. 


THORNDIKE in Science. 


previous work . . 


naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 


chology to read the book for the sake of these.’’—Professor Epwarp 


«<The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 
. and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed BY, 
1, for one, JAMES WEIR, Jr., 
a very comiderable number of suggestive M.D 
It will pay any student of animal psy- te 
Author of 


“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious 
Emotion and Sexual 


Mental Traits = 7 Chronicle, San Francisco. Desire.”’ 
in the 
Power nimnal ‘Tn this little book are gathered together a creat many interesting Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
Wie S data . . . the author has observed and experimented for himself and $1.25. 
in many respects his conclusions are striking and novel.’’ —Literature. 


THE MACMILLAN COPPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


es Froay, May 26, 1899. pee 


VoL. IX. No. 230. 


“Manipulation of the Microscope” 


A MANUAL FOR THE WORK TABLE AND A TEXT BOOK 
FOR THE: BEGINNER IN THE USE OF THE MICROSCOPE 


By EDWARD BAUSCH 


Bound in Silk Cloth. 200 pp. Price, $1.00 


“Manipulation of the Microscope” presents clearly and concisely the 
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is supplemented by a chapter on advanced manipulation. Chapters on how 
to select and care for a microscope also contain valuable information. 

This book is recommended for the use of students beginning the use of 
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Too often the use of the microscope is begun with little or no knowledge 
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user will only familiarize himself with its mechanical and optical construc- 
tion and the best way of keeping it in good order. 


BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO. 
BRANCHES: ROCHESTER, N. Y. 


NEW YORK CITY CHICAGO 


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By D. B. Sr. Joun Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate Med- 
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Cloth. -12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 


stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. 


The book may 


also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race. 


A Text Book of 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscuerr, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Hemwer, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. ‘Translated by Ep- 
warp L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopworru, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
‘«The book has been in the hands of zoologists all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor Jaco Ruic- 

HARD in Scvence. 

Vol. II. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Paleostraca. Trans- 
lated by Maritpa Bernarp. Revised and Edited, 
with Additional Notes, by Martin. F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

; 8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv+375. $3.00, net. 
The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 
to remain for many years without a rival.’ 
Part IIT. is im preparation. 


the Embryology 


Of Man and Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wic, Professor Extraordinarius of Anatomy and 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the IT. Anatom- 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
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Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xvi+670. $5.25, net. 
“While it is in details largely confined to the study 
of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 
within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 
book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book it 
is of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 
that at the present time there is no text-book so well de- 
signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—Science. 
‘«The translator's work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, especially 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’— British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


«« Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 
DAWN 
OF 
REASON 


Mental Traits 
in the 
Lower Animals 


shall welcome such .. . 
and important observations. 


DIKE in Science. 


previous work . . 
The Chronicle, San Francisco. 


data .... 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed 
naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 


It will pay any student of animal psy- 
chology to read the book for the sake of these.’’—Epwarp THORN- 


«<The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 
. and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— 


“In this little book are gathered together a great many interesting 
the author has observed and experimented for himself and 


BY 
Y I, for one, JAMES WEIR, Jr., 
a very considerable number of suggestive M.D 


Author of 
“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious 
Emotion and Sexual 
Desire.”’ 


Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
$1.25. 


in many respects his conclusions are striking and novel.’’ —Literature. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


NEW SERIEs. SINGLE Copies, 15 crs, 
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Defective Eyesight: The Principles of Its Relief by Glasses. 


By D. B. Sr. Joun Roosa, M.D., LL.D., Professor Emeritus of Diseases of the Eye and Ear, Post Graduate Med- 
ical School and Hospital; Surgeon to the Manhattan Hye and Ear Hospital, ctc., ete., author of ‘A Clinical 
Manual of Diseases of the Eye;’’ ‘‘ Ophthalmic and Otic Memoranda;’’ ‘‘ A Practical Treatise on the Dis- 
eases of the Ear;’’ ‘*The Old Hospital and Other Papers;’’ ‘‘A Vest-Pocket Medical Lexicon,’’ ete. 


Cloth. 12mo. $1.00, net. 


No pains have been spared to make the manual a complete guide to the practitioner who wishes to under- 
stand and practice the rules for the prescription of lens for the improvement of defective sight. The book may 
also be interesting to educated men in all departments of life, who desire to be informed as to advances that have 
been made in this interesting subject, one which concerns such a large proportion of the human race, 


A Text Book of 


Of Invertebrates. By Dr. E. Korscustt, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in the 
University of Marburg, and Dr. K. Herrprr, Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Berlin. 


Vol. I. Porifera, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Vermes, En- 
teropneusta, Echinodermata. ‘Translated by Ep- 
warp L. Mark, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of An- 
atomy, and W. McM. Woopwortn, Ph.D., Harvard 
University. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. 484. $4.00, net. 
‘«The book has been in the hands of zoologists all 

over the world and is recognized as an excellent and 

indispensable reference book.’’—Professor Jacop Rric- 

HARD in Science. 

Vol. II. Phoronidea, Bryozoa, Ectoprocta, Brachio- 
poda, Entoprocta, Crustacea, Palzostraca. Trans- 
lated by Marinpa Brernarp. Revised and Edited, 
with Additional Notes, by Martin F. Woopwarp, 
Demonstrator of Zoology, Royal College of Science. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xv+375. $8.00, net. 
The second part of a work described in the review 
quoted above as ‘‘so well done that the book is likely 
to remain for many years without a rival.” 
Part LIT. is in preparation. 


the Embryology 


Of Mam amd Mammals. By Dr. Oscar Herr- 
wic, Professor Extraordinarius of Anatomy and 
Comparative Anatomy, Director of the IJ. Anatom- 
ical Institute of the University of Berlin. Trans- 
lated from the Third German Edition by Epwarp 
L. Marx, Ph.D., Hersey Professor of Anatomy in 
Harvard University. Second dition, with 339 
Figures in the Text and 2 Lithographic Plates. 

8vo. Cloth. Pp. xvi+670. $5.25, net. 
«While it is in details largely confined to the study 
of mammals, there is so much of general embryology 
within its covers as to give it a value as a general text- 
book of vertebrate embryology. As such a text-book it 
is of the greatest value to a student and it is safe to say 
that at the present time there is no text-book so,well de- 
signed to give the student a general knowledge of ver- 
tebrate embryology as the present one.’’—Science. 
«The translator’s work has been exceptionally 
well done, for the rendering is both accurate and 
smooth. . . . The work has been welcomed by all em- 
bryologists and is highly esteemed by them, especially 
on account of the admirable presentation made by the 
author of many of the most interesting problems with 
which their investigations have to deal.’’—British Med. 
and Surg. Journal. 


~ «Any one interested in the progress of comparative psychology 


THE 


shall welcome such ... 


must wish well to a man who, without the incentives of the professed Ne 
naturalist, makes it a labor of love to watch animal life. 1, for one, JAMES WEIR, Jr., 


a very coniderable number of suggestive M.D 
DAWN and important observations. It will pay any student of animal psy- sake 
chology to read the book for the sake of these.’ —Epwarp THorn- Author of 
OF DIKE in Science. 


REASON 


previous work . . 


«<The author is a bold and independent thinker, as shown by a 
. and his observations profoundly interesting.’’— 


“The Physical Corre- 
lation of Religious: 
Emotion and Sexual 


Mental Traits = 7% Chronicle, San Francisco. LD eeineee 
in the 
Lower Animals “Tn this little book are gathered togethera great many interesting Cloth, cr. 8vo, 
data . . . the author has observed and experimented for himself and $1.25. 
in many respects his conclusions are striking and novel.’’ —Literature. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York. 


SCIENCE 


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the Insect World. By L. N. BADEN- 
ocH. With illustrations by MARGARET 
D. BADENOCH and others. Second 
Edition. Gilt top. $1.25 
“The volume ‘is fascinating from 

beginning to end, and there are many 

hints to be found in the wisdom and 
thrift shown by the smallest animal 
creature.’’—Bostan Times. 


BRIGHTWEN.—Inmates of My House 
and Garden. By Mrs. BRIGHTWEN. 
Illustrated 12mo. $1.25 


“The book fills a delightful place 
not occupied by any other book that 
we have ever seen.’’—Boston Home 
Journal. 


CARPENTER. — Insects, their Struc- 
ture and Life. Fully Illustrated. 
In Press 


GEE.— Short Studies in Nature 
Knowledge. An Introduction to 
the Science of Physiography. By 
WILLIAM GEE. 8yo. $1.10 net 
“A charming book . . . fascinating 

to read.”—Jour. of Education. 


INGERSOLL.—Wild Neighbors. Out- 
Door Studies in the United States. A 
Book about Animals. By ERNEST 
INGERSOLL. Illustrated. $1.50 


“Tn all respects a most welcome 
book . . . in the club, in the libraries, 
and among the treasures of the grow- 
ing boy no less.’’-—Hvening Post. 


JACKMAN.—Nature Study for Gram- 
mar Grades. A Manual on the Study 
of Nature for Teachers and Pupils 
below the High School. By WILBUR 
S. JACKMAN, Chicago Normal School. 
12mo. Cloth. $1.00 net 


In preparing this Manual, it has been 
the author’s aim to propose a few of 
the problems within the comprehen- 
sion of grammar school pupils, which 
arise in a thoughtful study of nature, 
and to offer suggestions designed to 
lead to their solution. 


LANGE.—A Hand-Book of Nature 
Study. By D. Laner, Central High 
School, St. Paul, Minn. Cloth. 12mo, 

$1.00 net 


“The style of the book is fresh and 
inspiring, its descriptions clear and 
full, and its illustrations numerous.’’— 
Wisconsin Journal of Education. 


LUBBOCK.—The Beauties of Nature 
and the Wonders of the World we 
Livein. With Illustrations. Third 
Edition. Cloth, gilt top. $1.50 


“In this pleasant volume Sir John 
Lubbock talks in a familiar yet always 
accurate manner of the wonders of 
animal life, of plant life, and of the 
woods and field, telling not merely the 
dry scientific facts, but the poetic asso- 
ciations and suggestions that surround 
them. .. . So much of recent know]- 


. edge upon all these great subjects has 


scarcely been conveyed elsewhere in so 
bright and interesting a way.’’—Phila- 
delphia Times. 


MURCHE (Wilson)—Science Readers. 
By VINCENT T. MurRcHE. Revised and 
adapted for use in schools with a 
preface by Mrs. L. L. W. Witson, 
Philadelphia Normal School. Author 
of “Nature Study in Elementary 
Schools,” etc. 

Vols. I. and II. 25 cents each. 

Vols. III. and IV. 40 cents each. 

Vols. V. and VI. 50 cents each. 
Of this series of Science Readers, 
Books I., II. and III. are adapted to 
Secondary Grades comprising pupils 
who are in their third and fourth 
year of school work. Books IV., V. 
and VI. are suitable for Grammar 
Grades both in reading and in sub- 
ject-matter. 


SCOTT.—An Introduction to Geology. 
By Wituiam B. Scort, Professor of 
Geology and Palxontology, Prince- 
ton University. 12mo. $1.90 net 


“Tt is adapted to older beginners, 
and to the liking of a teacher who in- 
troduces a large share of deduction in 
his work. . The closing chapters 
deal with historical geology.’—The 
Nation. 


TARR.—When the Earth was Young. 
HEART OF NATURE SERIES. In Press 


—An Elementary Text-Book of 
Physical Geography, for High 
Schools. By RALPH STOCKTON TARR, 
B.S., F.G., S.A., Professor of Geology 
and Physical Geography at Cornell 
University ; Author of ‘‘ Economic 
Geology of the United States,’ ete. 
Second Edition. $1.40 net 


Without question a complete, com- 
prehensive, and scientific work on a 
very important subject of present in- 
terest. In subject-matter, illustrations, 
style, and clearness, it is admirable. 
It is the most valuable contribution 
yet made to the study of Geography.” 
—CLARENCE E. MELENEY, Teachers 
College, New York. 


—Elementary Geology for the use of 
Preparatory and High Schools. By 
RawupwH S. Tarr, Cornell University. 
Author of ‘Economic Geology of 
the United States.” A Companion 
Volume to the preceding. Half- 
Leather. Small 8yo. $1.40 net 


A most fascinating book for any one. 
In combination with his ‘Elementary 
Geography’ of special scientific value.” 
—Chicago Inter-Océan. 5 


WEED.—Life Histories of American 
Insects. By Prof. CLARENCE M. 
WEED, New Hampshire College of 
Agric. and Mech. Arts. Fully Illus- 
trated. Cloth. $1.50 


‘An unusually attractive book.” 
—The Dial. 


“An excellent manual for a non- 
technical student or general observer 
...in a simple, direct style... full 
of value and interest.’’—Independent. 


WILSON. —Nature Study in the Ele= 
mentary Schools. By Mrs. L. L. W. 
WILSON, Ph.D., Philadelphia Normal 
School for Girls. 


First AND SECOND READERS; Myths, 
Stories and Poems. Each, 35 cents net 


TEACHERS’ MANUALS, 90 cents net 


“Mrs. Wilson’s little manual affords 
excellent assistance to those who mean 
to equip themselves for the best kind 
of work.- It isa good book for every 
teacher to have and to study when 
preparing to give lessons in Nature 
Study.’’—Dr. R. K. BUEHRLE, Superin- 
tendent, Lancaster, Pa. 


WRIGHT (MABEL OsGoop)—Birdcraft. 
A Field Book of Two Hundred Song, 
Game, and Water Birds. By MaBEL 
Oscoop WRIGHT. With full-page 
Plates showing 128 Birds. $2.50 net 


“Even if this volume were devoid of 
illustrations, it would be welcomed as 
an addition to English literature. It is 
more than an accurate and compre- 
hensive description of all the birds one 
is likely to find in an extended search. 
1t is also an introduction to them and 
their haunts.’—The Hvening Bulletin, 
Philadelphia. 


—The Friendship of Nature. A New 

England Chronicle of Birds and 

Flowers. By MaBEL OSGOOD WRIGHT. 

Second Hdition. .18mo. 75 cents 

“A dainty little volume, exhaling 
the perfume and radiating the hues of 
both cultivated and wild flowers, echo- 
ing the songs of birds, and illustrated 
with exquisite pen pictures of bits of 
garden, field and woodland scenery.” 
—Riechmond Dispatch. 


Mrs. Wriyht’s two volumes in The 
Heart of Nature Series are not 
repeated here since they are already 
described on another page. 


SEND FOR A SPECIAL LIST OF BOOKS ON NATURE 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


SCIENCE 


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Appendix to Dana’s System of | Descriptive General Chemistry 


A Text=-Book for Students Taking a General 


Mineralogy Course of Chemistry 
Being an account of the Progress of the Science from By Ss. E. TILLMAN 
pbovapte of issue/ot the Gthieditionin 1892 to 18. Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology, in the 
By EDWARD SALISBURY DANA United States Military Academy, West Point 


Large 8vo. Cloth. $1.00 8vo. Cloth. Illustrated. $3.00 


Statistical Methods Indicators and Test Papers 
With Special Reference to Biological Variation By ALFRED I. COHN 
By C. B. DAVENPORT For the Use of Chemists, Pharmacists, and all those who 


have to do with Volumetric Analysis. 
12mo. Cloth. $2.00 


Instructor in Zoology at Harvard University 


16mo. Morocco, 31 Figures. 135 Pages. Price $1.25 


PUBLISHED BY 


JOHN WILEY & SONS, 53 E. 10th St., New York City 


il SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


Recent # Standard Publications on Nature Study 


BAILEY.—Lessons With Plants. Sug- 
gestions for Seeing and Interpreting 
some of the Common Forms of Vege- 
tation. By L. H. BaILry, Professor 
of Horticulture, Cornell University, 
with delineations from nature by W. 


8. HOLDSWORTH, of the University of | 


Michigan. Half Leather. $1.10 nei 


“ ftisan admirable book, and cannot 
fail both to awaken interest in the sub- 
ject and to serve as a helpful and re- 
liable guide to young students of plant 
life.—Prof. V. M. SPALDING, University 
of Michigan. 


—First Lessons With Plants. 
Abridged from the above. 
40 cents net 


“A remarkably well printed and 
illustrated book, extremely original 
and unusually practical.’’—Supt. H. W. 
Foster, Ithaca, N. Y. 


BADENOCH (L. N.)—The Romance of 
the Insect World. By L. N. BADEN- 
ocH. With illustrations by MARGARET 
D. BADENOCH and others. Second 
Edition. Gilt top. $1.25 


“The yolume is fascinating from 
beginning to end, and there are many 
hints to be found in the wisdom and 
thrift shown by the smallest animal 
creature.’’—Boston Times. 


BRIGHTWEN.—Inmates of My House 
and Garden. By Mrs. BRIGHTWEN. 
Illustrated 12mo. $1.25 


“The book fills a delightful place 
not occupied by any other book that 
we have ever seen.’’-—Boston Home 
Journal. 


CARPENTER. — Insects, their Struc= 
,ture and Life. Fully Illustrated. 
In Press 


GEE.— Short Studies in Nature 
Knowledge. An _ Introduction to 
the Science of Physiography. By 
WILLIAM GEE. 8vo. $1.10 net 
“A charming book... fascinating 

to read.”—Jour. of Education. 


INGERSOLL.—Wild Neighbors. Out- 
Door Studies in the United States. A 
Book about Animals. By ERNEsT 
INGERSOLL. Illustrated. $1.50 


“Tn all respects a most welcome 
book . . . in the club, in the libraries, 
and among the treasures of the grow- 
ing boy no less.’’—Hvening Post. 


JACKMAN.—Nature Study for Gram- 
mar Grades. A Manual on the Study 
of Nature for Teachers and Pupils 
below the High School. By WILBUR 
$. JACKMAN, Chicago Normal School. 
12mo. Cloth. $1.00 net 


In preparing this Manual, it has been 
the author’s aim to propose a few of 
the problems within the comprehen- 
sion of grammar school pupils, which 
arise in a thoughtful study of nature, 
and to offer suggestions designed to 
lead to their solution. 


LANGE.—A Hand-Book of Nature 
Study. By D. Lanes, Central High 
School, St. Paul, Minn. Cloth. 12mo. 

$1.00 ned 


_ “The style of the book is fresh and 
inspiring, its descriptions clear and 
full, and its illustrations numerous.’’— 
Wisconsin Journal of Education. 


LUBBOCK.—The Beauties of Nature 
and the Wonders of the World we 
Live in. With Illustrations. Third 
Eeition. Cloth, gilt top. $1.50 
“In this pleasant volume Sir John 

Lubbock talks in a familiar yet always 

accurate manner of the wonders of 

animal life, of plant life, and of the 
woods and field, telling not mezely the 
dry scientific facts, but the poetic asso- 
ciations and suggestions that surround 
them. .. . So much of recent knowl- 
edge upon all these great subjects has 
scarcely been conveyed elsewhere in so 
bright and interesting a way.’’— Phila- 

delphia Times. f 

MURCHE (Wilson)—Science Readers. 
By VINCENT T. MurcHE. Revised and 
adapted for use in schools with a 
preface by Mrs. L. L. W- WILson, 
Philadelphia Normal School. Author 
of “Nature Study in Elementary 
Schools,’ ete. 

Vols. I. and II. 25 cents each. 

Vols. III. and IV. 40 cents each. 

Vols. V. and VI. 50 cents each. 
Of this series of Science Readers, 
Books I., Il. and III. are adapted to 
Secondary Grades comprising pupils 
who are in their third and fourth 
year of school work. Books IV., V. 
and VI. are suitable for Grammar 
Grades both in reading and in sub- 
ject-matter. 


SCOTT.—An Introduction to Geology. 
By WILuIaM B. Scort, Professor of 
Geology and Paleontology. Prince- 
ton University. 12mo. $1.90 net 


“Tt is adapted to older beginners, 
and to the liking of a teacher who in- 
troduces a large share of deduction in 
his work. . The closing chapters 
deal with historical geology.’’—The 
Nation. : 


TARR.—When the Earth was Young. 
HEART OF NATURE SERIES. Jn Press 


Physical Geography, for High 
Schools. By RaLPH SrockTON TaRR, 
B.S., F.G., S.A., Professor of Geology 
and Physical Geography at Cornell 
University ; Author of ‘‘ Economic 
Geology of the United States,’’ ete. 
Second Edition. $1.40 net 


Without question a complete, com- 
prehensive, and scientific work on a 
very important subject of present in- 
e terest. In subject-matter, illustrations, 
style, and clearness, it is admirable. 
It is the most valuable contribution 
yet made to the study of Geography.” 
—CLARENCE E. MELENEY, Teachers 


College, New York. 


—An_ Elementary Text-Book of | 


—Elementary Geology for the use of 
Preparatory and High Schools. By 
Rawpu S. Tarr, Cornell University. 
Author of ‘‘ Economie Geology of 
the United States.” A Companion 
Volume to the preceding. Half- 
Leather. Small 8vo. $1.40 net 


A most fascinating book for any one: 
In combination with his ‘Elementary 
Geography’ of special scientific value.” 
—Chicago Inter-Ocean. 


WEED.—Life Histories of American 
Insects. By Prof. CLarRENCE M. 
WeED, New Hampshire College of 
Agric.and Mech. Arts. Fully Illus- 
trated. Cloth. $1.50 


“An unusually attractive book.” 
—The Dial. 


“An excellent manual for a non- 
technical student or general observer 
...in a simple, direct style... full 
of value and interest.”—Independent. 


WILSON. —Nature Study in the Ele- 
mentary Schools. By Mrs. L. L. W. 
WItson, Ph.D., Philadelphia Normal 
School for Girls. 


FIrsT AND SECOND READERS; Myths, 
Stories and Poems. Each, 35 cents net 


TEACHERS’ MANUALS, 90 cents net 


“Mrs. Wilson’s little manual affords 
excellent assistance to those who mean 
to equip themselves for the best kind 
of work. It isa good book for every 
teacher to have and to study when 
preparing to give lessons in Nature 
Study.”—Dr. R. K, BUEHRLE, Superin- 
tendent, Lancaster, Pa. 


WRIGHT (MABEL Oscoop)—Birdcraft. 
A Field Book of Two Hundred Song, 


Game, and Water Birds. By MaBEL 
Oseoop WricHt. With full-page 
Plates showing 128 Birds. $2.50 net 


‘“Even if this volume were devoid of 
illustrations, it would be welcomed as 
an addition to English literature. It is 
more than an accurate and compre- 
hensive description of all the birds one 
is likely to find in an extended search. 
It is also an introduction to them and 
their haunts.’—TZhe Evening Bulletin, 
Philadelphia. 

° 


—The Friendship of Nature. A New 
England Chronicle of Birds and 
Flowers. By MaBEL OsGOOD WRIGHT. 
Second Edition. 18mo. 75 cents 


“A dainty little volume, exhaling 
the perfume and radiating the hues of 
both cultivated and wild flowers, echo- 
ing the songs of birds, and illustrated 
with exquisite pen pictures of bits of 
garden, field and woodland scenery.” 
—Richmond Dispatch. 


Mrs. Wright's two volumes in The 
Heart of Nature Series are not 
repeated here since they are already 
described on another page. 


SEND FOR A SPECIAL LIST OF BOOKS ON NATURE PUBLISHED BY 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


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