servations fills 74 quarto pages. Certain special publications deserve particular mention. A catalogue of 10,658 stars, observed with the instruments 1, 2, 3, and 4, has been made by Professor YARNALL. It may be said to have been his life work, as he made a large share of the observations and reduced all of them. This catalogue is of great usefulness.

The Wind and Current Charts of MAURY, which have been adopted the whole world over, were constructed from observations collected and discussed here. With the equatorial, three asteroids were discovered by Professor FERGUSON, and Professor HALL and himself observed a great number of comets and minor planets. The theoretical researches of Professor WALKER on Neptune, of Professor HUBBARD on comets, and the work of Professors COFFIN and HUBBARD on points of practical astronomy, all belong to this first epoch.

The second stage of the Observatory's life may be said to have begun in 1861, with the superintendence of GILLISS, and to have extended to the present time under the direction of Rear Admirals DAVIS, SANDS and RODGERS. Two new first-class instruments were

purchased.

6. The Transit Circle (1865), made by PISTOR & MARTINS.

We may

7. The 26-inch Equatorial (1873) made by ALVAN CLARK & Sons. Both have been kept in constant use. With the first, the sun, moon, major and minor planets have been constantly observed and the materials for a very large and important catalogue of stars (soon to be published) have been collected. The telegraphic longitudes of many points in the United States and elsewhere, have been determined by Professors HARKNESS and EASTMAN. mention among these the longitudes of Havana (Cuba), St. Louis, Detroit, Carlin and Austin (Nevada), Ogden (Utah), Bethlehem (Pa.), Princeton (N. J.), Cincinnati, Nashville, Columbus, Harrisburg, and others. The large equatorial, besides making a great number of observations of double stars (HALL and NEWCOMB), and of Nebula (HOLDEN), has been employed on the observations of the faint satellites for which it is better fitted than any other instrument existing. The masses of Uranus and Neptune have been determined by Professor NEWCOMB and the capital discovery of two satellites to Mars made by Professor HALL.

The theoretical researches of Professor NEWCOMB on the Lunar Theory and on Fundamental Stars, and of Professors NEWCOMB and HALL on Satellites, belong to this period.

The Transits of Venus (1874), and of Mercury (1878), have been most thoroughly observed and discussed by the various astronomers.

The solar eclipses of 1869, 1870, 1878 and 1880 have been also elaborately observed by parties sent from the observatory, and the results are all published except those for 1878 and 1880, which will shortly appear. The work done here on solar eclipses alone is of the first importance, and will greatly forward our knowledge of solar physics. There is no space to mention the miscellaneous work done: the chronometers of the Navy, the furnishing of standard time to the United States, the observations of meteors, all receive their share of attention.

The third epoch of the history of the Observatory commences with the effort to change its site to one less exposed to the sickly influences of the malaria which rises from the marshes surrounding the Observatory on the river side, and to one where the fogs from the same source will not seriously interfere with the complete use of the instruments. This subject has, since 1870, received more or less attention, but the first serious effort to change the site for these reasons was made in a report of the Superintendent in 1877.

"UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY, Washington, September 15, 1877"SIR: I found upon taking charge of the Observatory, that the malarious influences surrounding it were notorious, and that from May to about the middle of October the officers whose services were necessarily in the Observatory at night, paid the penalty in impaired health and in diminished efficiency. The fogs which arise from the river, driven by the prevailing winds, float above the instruments and lessen their usefulness.

For these reasons, I earnestly recommend that a suitable site, north of the city and inside the District of Columbia, be procured for a new Observatory.

The area allotted to this purpose need not necessarily be more than twenty-five or thirty acres in extent; but as much as this is needed, since, if surrounded by dwellings or factories, the smoke would obscure the clearness of Vision, the traffic would shake the instruments, and some high structure, if placed upon the meridian near our instruments, might hide a useful part of the heavens. The present Observatory is in a very dilapidated condition.

the resources of the observatory, to continue its astronomers and its instruments in the present situation. A petition was presented to Congress (1878, Jan. 10), from prominent men of science, asking for its removal, and Jan. 16, 1878, a bill was introduced by Mr. SARGENT in the Senate, providing for the appointment of a commission to select a suitable site. In the mean time a plan for the new building had been prepared at the observatory, submitted to all the prominent astronomers of the country for their suggestions, corrected and adopted. The report of the Commission, consist, ing of Admiral AMMEN, U. S. N., Colonel BARNARDU. S. A., and LEONARD WHITNEY, Esq., was made 1878, Dec. 7. It recommended the purchase of "Clifton," a beautiful site of 45 acres in Georgetown,

situated on Rock Creek.

Unfortunately, it was not learned until after the report was made, that it had been seriously contemplated to build a railway down the valley of Rock Creek. This report was not acted on, owing to the fact that the presence of a railway would seriously interfere with the stability of the instruments. Therefore a new commission was appointed Feb. 9, 1880, consisting of Senator W. P. WHYTE, Representative L. MORSE, and Admiral RODGERS, U. S. N., under a bill approved Feb. 4, 1880, which appropriated $75,000 to the purchase

and selection of a suitable site. The officers of the Observatory were directed to examine the many sites offered for sale. These lay in three different parts of the city: first, north of the capital near the Soldiers' Home Park, and near the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; second, north of the main part of the city; third, northwest of the city, in Georgetown. The preferences were for the sites in the first section. Each site that was at all eligible was tried in the following way: the fundamental observations depend upon the accurate measures of the zenith-distances of stars. As the zenith is not a visible point the nadir point (which can be made visible, and which is directly opposite the zenith point) is chosen. A box of quicksilver is placed immediately beneath the meridian. instrument and the position of the reflected images of the spider lines of the instrument observed; when these coincide with the spider lines seen directly, the instrument is vertical or it is pointing to the nadir. Such observations as these have to be made at all hours of the night and day, and anything that seriously interferes with them will prevent the taking of satisfactory observations. The question then was, to try each of the proposed sites with this test and to unhesitatingly reject any site which did not fulfill the conditions. To do this a post was firmly planted in the ground. On the top of this a flat basin containing quicksilver was placed. A telescope was directed

towards the quicksilver about dusk, so that the image. of the pole star should be seen in the telescope. This image usually showed as a neat quiet round disk. The times of the passing of railway trains was known, and at these moments the image of the star was watched. For many of the places tried, the vibration of the mercury surface caused by the tremors of the ground was so great that no image of the star could be seen for many minutes during the passing of the trains. This was a fatal objection, since similar observations may have to be taken at any moment of the night or day.

For those places near a public road the experiment was varied by causing a loaded wagon to be driven rapidly up and down. The experiments were always made at least twice to avoid errors, and only those places rejected which were plainly unsuitable on this account. No matter what might be their other advantages, if they did not stand this test they were useless for astronomical purposes.

The places just north of the city were rejected on account of the smoke always rising from the mass of chimneys, an artificial and constant fog. In this way

No

the choice has been narrowed down to two places. One directly south of the great park of the Soldiers' Home and one in Georgetown. The first is so situated that to make it suitable for observatory purposes a very large quantity of land would have to be bought; the second place can be bought with the appropriation. The matter is in this condition at present. choice has been made by the commission as yet. There is, of course, a great desire on the part of landowners to force the commission to buy land in their neighborhood, but the choice must finally be made on the principles heretofore adopted. The new Observatory is to stand for a century at least and no small and petty personal considerations should be allowed

to enter.

THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF SCIENCE.

"I have endeavored to state the higher and more abstract arguments by which the study of physical science may be shown to be indispensable to the complete training of the human mind, but I do not wish it to be supposed that because I may be devoted to more or less abstract and unpractical pursuits I am insensible to the weight which ought to be attached to that which has been said to be the English conception of Paradise-namely, 'getting on.' Now the value of a knowledge of physical science as a means of getting on, is indubitable. There are hardly any of our trades, except the merely huckstering ones, in which some knowledge of science may not be directly profitable to the pursuer of that occupation. An Industry attains higher stages of its development as its processes become more complicated and refined, and the sciences are dragged in, one by one, to take their share in the fray."-Huxley.

A BIT OF SUMMER WORK.

BY PROFESSOR BURT G. WILDER, M. D.

Notwithstanding the number of "Summer Schools of Science" to be in operation this season, many teachers are likely to pass the vacation at a distance from the facilities afforded by organized laboratories. How shall they employ their time?

Doubtless they all need rest, and in most cases at least a fortnight should elapse before any intellectual labor is undertaken. An equal period of repose may well occur just before the renewal of teaching in the Fall. But the teacher who hopes to make his instruction each year more thorough and successful than the last, will be pretty sure to spend the remaining month or two in the search of help from books, and, while regretting the vagueness of the information thus obtained, may seldom think of making it more real by personal observation.

Now it is true that in some branches of science this

may require appliances not readily obtained. This is the case with Chemistry and Physics, and some parts of Natural History. But Botany and Entomology may be pursued under almost any circumstances, and I venture to suggest that at least one kind of anatomical work may be carried on with but a slight amount of apparatus.

Obviously, the summer is not the most favorable time for study of the viscera, while anatomical details respecting the muscles, vessels and nerves are not especially required for ordinary instruction. But the brain is not only the organ least satisfactorily treated in the text-books, but at the same time the one concerning which the most should be known, from the double standpoint of physiology and psychology.

But how can the teacher procure brains, and how shall he preserve them when obtained?

The question is a perfectly natural one in view of the prevailing impression that cerebral structure is to be learned from the human brain alone. So far from correct is this idea, that from a single animal brain, perfectly fresh or well preserved, more may be gained than the average medical student learns from the human brains usually examined in the dissecting-room. This is due to the fact that, excepting the absence of the occipital lobes of the hemispheres, the brains of the cat, the dog, the rabbit and the sheep present nearly all of the structural features of the human brain, while their smaller size and greater accessibility better adapt them for manipulation and for the preservation of the numerous specimens which are needed to display all parts of the organ.

Of the animals above named the cat seems to be the most favorable subject. It is always and everywhere obtainable; the brain is larger than that of the

rabbit, and more easily extracted than those of the sheep and most dogs.

Some features of the brain, as the coloration of different parts, and especially the relation of the gray and white substances, are better seen upon fresh specimens; but the beginner will do well to examine hardened brains first, so as to become familiar with the form and relative position of the parts, and with their names.

work any

upon The best are

Among the instruments needed for the removal and dissection of the brain the most essential are a very sharp knife, and a pair of "wire-nippers" with the blades set at a slight angle with the handles. * As an aid to the study of the brain Human Anatomy will be found useful. those of "Quain" and "Gray." Descriptions, without figures, of the brains of the sheep, and of the dog and rabbit, are given in the little works of Morrell and Foster and Langley. With some modification these apply to the brain of the cat. †

Finally, it is hardly necessary to urge that outline drawings be made of the brain as a whole, and of its If this is done, by parts as exposed by dissection. the end of the summer the teacher will have become better able to appreciate the peculiarities of the human brain when one comes in his way, and will have laid a substantial foundation for the physiological and psychological instruction which he may be called upon to impart.

ANTIPATHARIA OF THE "BLACK" EXPEDITION.—In vol. iv. No. 4 of the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. (February), 1. F. Pourtales describes twelve species of this interesting group taken in the Caribbean Sea (1878-79). In determining the species an attempt has been made to use the differences in the shape of the polyps, as well as the disposition and form of the spines to draw characters for a muchneeded revision of their classification. It would seem as if there were at least two different types of spines: the triangular compressed and the more cylindrical. These latter are generally more densely set, even assuming sometimes a brush-like appearance, as in Antipathes humilis, a new and wonderfully spinous species, figured but not described by Pourtales. These cylindrical spines are also unequal on the two sides of the pinnules, being longer on the side occupied by the polyps, with a very few around the polyps. The triangular spines are disposed regularly in a quincuncial order around the pinnules, and in a cleaned specimen nothing indicates the place formerly occupied by the polyps. In one series, however, A. desbonni, the spines are in regular verticils. There would appear to be a connection between the shape of the polyps and the shape and disposition of the spines. Those species with triangular spines have polyps with longer tentacles than those with cylindrical spines, and the tentacles have a greater tendency to become regular in shape.

* These nippers are imported from Germany by H. Boker & Co., of New York, and are for sale by A. J. Wilkinson & Co., of Boston, and Treman, King & Co., of Ithaca, N. Y. They cost about 75 cents.

Hektograph copies of instructions for the removal, preservation and dissection of the cat's brain may be had upon application to Mr. F. L. Kilborne, Anatomical Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

ELECTRICITY AS POWER.

BY FRANCIS P. UPTON, ESQ.

In the early history of electrical science, many forms of engines were made, by which the power of electricity could be shown. Each was as wonderful as the other to the unthinking observer; for, without apparent combustion of fuel, work was done. We find, among the largest of these engines, one used in St. Petersburg, to drive a small boat, and one in this country to propel a train.

The United States Congress voted a sum of money to Prof. Page to carry on his experiments and he built a very efficient motor. After many experiments, though it was found that any amount of power could be obtained, yet the expense was so great as to make it of no practical value. In a small machine, the consumption of zinc might not be noticed, while in a large machine it would be found to burn exactly as the work was taken. Now that the doctrine of energy is clearly understood, the folly of the attempt can easily be seen. In a battery the fires are fed with an expensive metal. The energy developed by the zinc, thus used, was given to it artificially when it was reduced from the ore. In order to obtain a convenient fuel, both the coal and zinc ore must be mined, and the latter reduced, absorbing in the reduction a very small per cent. of the energy of the coal used in the process. Thus batteries for furnishing power consume a fuel at least fifty times more expensive than coal.

Besides the cost of fuel, the atmosphere, so to speak, in which the zinc burns, must be furnished to it artificially in the shape of acids or solutions. Though this has nothing to do with the theoretical cost, yet in practice, it is found to be the largest item of expense. It resembles furnishing a boiler with air made by a chemical process, so far as the economy of combustion is concerned. Yet the convenience and reliability of a battery to burn zinc has, where very small amounts of power are required, allowed of its use commercially, since steam is extremely difficult to manage in fractions of horse power.

To-day the practice has been entirely reversed from what the first experimenters expected to realize. For electricity is now entirely made by means of steam engines to drive large motors. The last few years have brought the means of generating and using electrical currents to such a high state of perfection that power may be with economy transferred by them.

The loss in transferring is double; if a machine converts fifty per cent. of the power it receives from a staem engine, only fifty per cent. of that can be utilized, that is, twenty-five per cent of the original; thus wasting seventy-five parts out of each hundred of energy. A sixty per cent. machine can render effective thirty-six per cent. ; an eighty per cent. machine can turn into useful work sixty-four per cent., and so on. This wasting of power in the transmission is more than counterbalanced in a great many cases by its delivery at the point where needed; for example, from a waterfall to a field for ploughing and threshing, as has been done in France; or from the shore to the water for the purpose of driving a torpedo boat, as has been done in this country.

Lately experiments have been made to show the application of electricity to railroads. Mr.

Siemens, in Berlin, and Mr. Edison, at Menlo Park, are experimenting with electrical railroads. Mr. Edison uses the rails as conductors of electricity, the current going in one and returning in the other. The wheels are insulated, so that, by means of brushes on them, the electricity may be brought to the moter, which is on a carriage. The moter is simply one of Mr. Edison's generating machines, laid on its side, and connected by suitable mechanism to the axle of the driving wheels. On an experimental track of one-half mile length, a speed of twenty to thirty miles an hour has easily been reached, in spite of heavy grades and sharp curves.

For elevated and underground railroads, this method has many advantages; it does away with all the smoke and noise from the puffing of the locomotive, and substitutes for the many locomotives a few stationary engines scattered along the route. Mr. Edison feels very confident of success, since his troubles so far have all been in transferring the power from the armature to the driving wheels. He thinks that if the armature is only reliable, experiment will lead to proper mechanical devices for transferring the power from the quick-running armature to the slower driving wheels.

The road will be very useful in mountainous regions, since the engine is quite light, and can be carried by trestle work and light earth work, over any country. The engine and boilers are not in this case put on wheels and required to push themselves over grades and around curves, but are placed in the valley below. Perhaps in many cases they may be done away with and water used to drive the generators.

For beach roads, in grand exhibitions, as feeders to main lines, and in many ways it is easy to see that use may be made of a properly constructed road. been the swift messenger of man, is now showing that The gentle fluid, which has so quietly, for many years it is also able to be a strong and lusty servant, and carry any load that it may be asked to take.

ELECTRICAL INSECTS.-It is not generally known that there are insects which possess the peculiar electrical properties of the Raia Torpedo and Gymnotus Electricus. Kirby and Spence, in their entomology, describe the Reduvius Serratus, commonly known in the West Indies by the name of the wheel bug, as an insect which can communicate an electric shock to the person whose flesh it touches. The late MajorGeneral Davis of the Royal Artillery, well-known as a most accurate observer of nature, and an indefatigable collector of her treasures, as well as a most admirable painter of them, once informed me, that, when abroad, having taken up this animal and placed it upon his hand, it gave him a considerable shock, with its legs, as if from an electric jar, which he felt as high as his shoulder, and dropping the creature, he observed six marks upon his hand where the six feet had stood. Two similar instances of effects upon the human system resembling electric shocks, produced by insects, have been communicated to the Entomological Society by Mr. Yarrell; one mentioned in a letter from Lady de Grey, of Groby, in which the shock was caused by a beetle, one of the common Elateridae, and extended from the hand to the elbow on suddenly touching the insect; the other caused by a large hairy lepidopterous caterpiller, picked up in South America by Capt. Blakeney, R. N., who felt on touching it a sensation extending up his arm, similar to an electric shock, of such force that he lost the use of his arm for a time, and his life was even considered in danger by his medical attendant.

SCIENCE:

A WEEKLY RECORD OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.

JOHN MICHELS, Editor.

PUBLISHED AT

229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

P. O. Box 3838.

SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1880.

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SALUTATORY.

In presenting to the public the first number of "SCIENCE," we would briefly define its aim and scope, so that its position in the periodical literature of the country may be clearly understood.

While Literature proper, and Art, both ornamental and useful, nay, almost every distinctive social and economic interest in the United States, have their several organs for the interchange of views or the diffusion of information, Science still remains without any weekly journal exclusively devoted to chronicling of its progress, and the discussion of its problems.

This may be stated without disrespect to many excellent weekly journals restricted to special branches of science, or allied to trade interests.

The field being thus open, after consultation with many of the leading scientists in this country, it has

been decided to publish "SCIENCE" in its present form. Its aim will be to afford scientific workers in the United States the opportunity of promptly recording the fruits of their researches, and facilities for communication between one another and the world, such as are now enjoyed by the scientific men of Europe.

A distinctive feature in the conduct of this Journal will be that each department of science will be supervised by some recognized authority in that field. of research, and it is believed that the names of these Associate Editors will be a guarantee that accuracy be maintained so far as possible.

There will be a department of "Notes and Queries," which cannot fail to be of benefit to those engaged in original research. By this means many may attain the speedy solutions of difficulties which otherwise might cost them much unprofitable labor.

It is the desire of the Editor that "SCIENCE" may, in the United States, take the position which "Nature" so ably occupies in England, in presenting immediate information of scientific events; the Smithsonian Institution and other scientific bodies have promised their co-operation in this respect, and representative men in all branches of science have cordially volunteered their aid towards making "SCIENCE" as useful as its foreign contemporary.

We shall supply with each volume a comprehensive Index. The size of the journal is convenient for binding, and it should form a valuable work of reference in every library.

A short time must elapse before our arrangements, at home and abroad, can be completed, but we trust that this journal, even in its earliest stages, will be welcomed by all interested in scientific progress.

As one of its "Occasional Papers" the Boston Society of Natural History has published a volume of great value on the "Geology of Eastern Massachusetts," by W. O. Crosby. It is evidently the result of long and competent investigation, is well illustrated, and contains a large and well-printed geological map of the region treated of.

Interesting discoveries are reported from Italy. Near Este, in the Venito, at the foot of the Eugancian Mountains, Prof. Prosdocismi discovered a prehistoric burial ground with many bronze and clay vessels. Eighty-two tombs were found, of which forty-four seemed to have been opened already by the Romans, while the contents of the others seemed untouched. The urns belong to three different periods; some are stained black with linear ornaments; others are striped red and black. Some vases are of such exquisite workmanship that they could, even to-day, serve as patterns. A small case of bronze is adorned with human and animal figures.