MISCELLANY. 



759 



searches, for the want of suflBcient knowl- 

 edge of the mathematics. Hence Prof. 

 Newton's advice to the young student in 

 almost any branch of science is to acquire, 

 first of all, a knowledge of geometry, analy- 

 sis, and mechanics, so that the main ideas 

 in them shall ever be familiar to him, and 

 their processes readily recalled. Through- 

 out the chemical and physical sciences, the 

 laws are more and more assuming a mathe- 

 matical form. 



The unwisdom of neglecting the mathe- 

 matics is again seen by considering some of 

 the problems which appear to be in their 

 nature capable of a mathematical solution. 

 To explain by the accepted laws of rational 

 mechanics all the forces and motions of the 

 ultimate particles of matter, of inorganic 

 matter even, may well be beyond the powers 

 of the human mind. But that some of these 

 forces and motions will be explained, even 

 at an early day, seems to be almost certain. 

 So the essential differences in the chemical 

 elements may not be beyond discovery and 

 explanation. Each line in the spectrum has 

 its definite place, and those places are the 

 results of certain laws of structure of the 

 substance that gives the spectrum, and of 

 its consequent action upon the light which 

 comes from or traverses the substance. The 

 time seems near for a Kepler who shall 

 formulate those laws, and for a " Principia " 

 which shall unite them in their most general 

 mathematical expression. In like manner, 

 along the hne which in astronomy and 

 physics separates the unknown from the 

 known, there are hundreds of questions 

 whose solution, if attained, must be in part 

 mathematical. 



Prof. Newton then speaks of the role of 

 the laws of quantity in the sciences of politi- 

 cal economy, geology, biology, and psycho- 

 logy- 



Coast -Snryey Measurements. We take 

 from the Tribune the following brief ab- 

 stract of Prof. Hilgard's paper on '' Coast- 

 Survey Measurements." The author de- 

 scribed the work of measuring a primary 

 base-line near Atlanta, Georgia. The work 

 is liable to error chiefly from changes in 

 the temperature and instability in the appa- 

 ratus. As every error in the base vitiates 

 all succeeding measures, in which any er- 

 rors are necessarily multiplied, it will be 



seen what care was needed to insure accu- 

 racy. The results, obtained by methods 

 which Prof. Hilgard described at length, 

 were tested three times by a repetition of 

 the measurement at different seasons of the 

 year. The greatest error thus detected was 

 a deviation from the average of about 

 TcurJouo piirt of the whole. To increase 

 the severity of the tests, one of the meas- 

 urements was made backward. Another 

 way of stating the possible error is that it 

 would be a third of an inch in six miles. 

 Already this system of measurement, which 

 is purely American, has elicited high praise 

 abroad, and it will probably be adopted by 

 European governments in their surveys. 

 In previous papers before the Association 

 the superiority of the American method for 

 ascertaining longitudes had been expounded, 

 and this system is now substituted for all 

 previous ones in Europe. The apparatus 

 used will form a part of our centennial dis- 

 play. 



Grassliopper Dinners. Prof. Charles V. 

 Riley read a paper on " Locusts as Food for 

 Man." The introductory portion of this 

 paper was historical, tracing the use of 

 locusts as human food to the earliest times 

 of which there is record. Among the 

 Nineveh sculptures are representations of 

 men carrying different meats to a place of 

 feasting, and some of the men are carrying 

 sticks on which locusts are tied. In the 

 book of Leviticus the locust is classed with 

 " clean meats," and elsewhere in the Bible 

 this insect is spoken of as food for man. 

 Herodotus mentions a locust-eating tribe in 

 Ethiopia, and Livingstone witnesses to the 

 existence of this habit among modern Afri- 

 can tribes. Even in the cities of Morocco,, 

 locusts are offered for sale in the markets 

 and eating-houses. Many American tribes 

 use this insect for food. In Southern Rus- 

 sia the locusts are salted and smoked ; in 

 Morocco they are boiled and then fried. 

 Prof. Riley has had the locust cooked in a 

 variety of ways, in order to test its flavor. 

 This he pronounces " quite agreeable." 

 Fried or roasted in their own oil, they have, 

 he says, a pleasant, nutty flavor. 



The Gar - Pike. Several papers were 

 read by Prof. Wilder, of Cornell University, 

 who has spent the summer in the West. Of 



