NOTES. 



43* 



ment that are extremely near, if not coin- 

 cident, in spectral position with those ob- 

 tained for some other element or elements : 

 these have been called basic lines; third, 

 we know that in the sun's atmosphere there 

 is a process at work tending to separate the 

 various molecular and atomic structures, 

 and we find that the greater number of the 

 lines given out from the sun's hotter re- 

 gions are basic lines, such as are above 

 defined; fourth, in the very hottest stars, 

 where the dissociation is greatest, we have 

 only a few prominent lines given out, these 

 being lines belonging to hydrogen, calcium, 

 and magnesium. " I think," Professor Stew- 

 art adds, " we must conclude that the hy- 

 pothesis that the elements are in reality 

 compound bodies offers, with our present 

 knowledge, a very good and simple explana- 

 tion of the results of spectroscopic analysis 

 in the earth, the sun, and the stars." 



NOTES. 



In Professor Jordan's sketch of Rafi- 

 nesque, in the June number of the Monthly, 

 page 216, " Hendersonville," Kentucky, 

 should have been " Henderson." The cor- 

 rection was duly marked by the author, but 

 failed to reach our press-room. 



The thirty-fifth annual meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science will be held at Buffalo, New York, 

 August 18th to 24th. Professor E.S. Morse, 

 of Salem, Massachusetts, will be the presi- 

 dent of the meeting. The Secretary of the 

 Association is Professor F. W. Putnam, of 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



The meeting of the British Association 

 is to be held this year at Birmingham, un- 

 der the presidency of Sir William Dawson. 

 The sectional presidents will be : Section A 

 (Mathematical and Physical Science), Pro- 

 fessor G. H. Darwin ; Section B (Chemistry), 

 Mr. W. Crookes ; Section C (Geology), Pro- 

 fessor T. G. Bonney ; Section D (Biology), 

 Mr. W. Carruthers ; Section E (Geography), 

 Major-General Sir F. J. Goldsmid ; Section 

 F (Economic Science and Statistics), Mr. J. 

 Biddulph Martin; Section G (Mechanical 

 Science), Sir James N. Douglas ; Section H 

 (Anthropology), Sir George Campbell, M. P. 



George Roberts, of Lofthouse, Eng- 

 land, relates in " Science Gossip " that, hav- 

 ing found two white slugs under some 

 stones, he placed them on a green leaf, 

 when they became in a few minutes of a 

 greenish color. 



In our notice of Mr. Seely's " Genesis of 

 Inventions," in the May number of the 

 Monthly, an error of the press made us give 

 to the new branch of study which the au- 

 thor proposes the name of Eunematics, 

 which has no significance, for Eurematics, 

 the real name, which is a legitimate deriva- 

 tion from the Greek, and is appropriate. 



The Committee of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union, on the "Protection of 

 North American Birds," seeks to gather and 

 diffuse all possible information on the sub- 

 jects of the destruction and the protection 

 of North American birds, and the utility of 

 birds ; to encourage the formation of bird 

 protective associations, and anti-bird-wear- 

 ing leagues ; to secure the perfection of 

 suitable, practicable statutes in all the States 

 and Territories for the protection of birds ; 

 to prevent the. collecting of birds and eggs 

 for pseudo-scientific purposes ; and to con- 

 sider the best means for securing the en- 

 forcement of bird-protective statutes. The 

 headquarters of the committee are at the 

 American Museum of Natural History, Cen- 

 tral Park, New York city. Mr. George P. 

 Sennett is its chairman, and Mr. Eugene P. 

 Bicknell its secretary. 



The Rev. Canon Charles Lett used to 

 relate, in illustration of the reasoning power 

 of the bird, that a gentleman in Waterford, 

 Ireland, had, in 1828, a tame golden eagle, 

 which was allowed the freedom of the yard 

 and garden. The owner once, for amuse- 

 ment, placed the house-cat near the by-d, 

 which attempted to seize it and met the 

 usual fate of too close assailants of cats. 

 A chicken was next brought, and instantly 

 pounced upon. The owner, however, re- 

 leased it, whereupon the eagle hopped clum- 

 sily after it, but could not overtake it. The 

 bird then turned against its owner and at- 

 tacked him with vigor, as if in revenge for 

 being deprived of its prey. 



Up to the middle of April, M. Pasteur 

 had treated about seven hundred and fifty 

 patients with his remedy for hydrophobia, 

 with what is considered a very gratifying 

 success. In some of the cases the patients 

 may not really have received the virus, or 

 the dog may not have been really mad ; and 

 six out of thirty-eight Russians who had 

 been bitten by a rabid wolf died. But, when 

 allowance is made for these, enough is left 

 to give the seal of validity to the claims 

 which the eminent practitioner sets forth 

 for his remedy. 



" Land and Water " publishes, and cred- 

 its to a "local paper," a story told by a 

 Scotch railway -laborer, who saw a hawk 

 swoop upon a blackbird which was singing 

 on a bush by the side of the river Ettrick. 

 The blackbird, he says, was at once un- 

 perched and carried to the ground, strug- 



