NOTES. 



43i 



W. Tike, of the island of Achill, Ireland, 

 and was hatched in 1877 by a tame eagle. 

 The eagle having laid three eggs, Mr. Pike 

 took them away, substituting for them two 

 goose-eggs, upon which the eagle sat, and 

 in due time hatched two goslings. One of 

 these died, and was torn up by the eagle 

 to feed the survivor, who, to the great sur- 

 prise of its foster-parent, refused to touch 

 it or any other flesh-meat offered by the 

 eagle. In course of time, however, the 

 goose learned to eat flesh, and now the eagle 

 always calls it by a sharp bark whenever 

 there is any fresh meat in the cage. On 

 hearing the call the goose hastens to the 

 cage, and greedily swallows all the flesh 

 and offal which the eagle gives it. 



The Kinsj-Vttltnre. A traveler in Co- 

 lombia, Andre, confirms from personal ob- 

 servation the popular belief in that country 

 that the urubu (or black vulture) dreads 

 the king-vulture (Sarcoramphus papa), and 

 slinks away when that monarch of the Cor- 

 dilleras makes his appearance. On one oc- 

 casion Andre saw the carcass of a cow 

 covered with urubus which were greedily 

 devouring it. Suddenly a black point ap- 

 peared in the sky overhead. One of the 

 urubus uttered a cry, and at once all the 

 heads were raised to observe the enemy, 

 who was coming ever nearer and nearer. 

 In less than a minute the urubus had fled 

 to a respectful distance, and the king, de- 

 scending like a thunderbolt into the entrails 

 of the carcass, began his meal with avidity. 

 This operation took up half an hour, the 

 urubus in the mean time standing around 

 in a wide circle. They did not return to 

 the carcass till after the king had risen 

 majestically into the upper air. 



The Size of Lightning-Rods. In calcu- 

 lating the relative sectional areas of copper 

 and iron lightning-rods, certain important 

 factors are commonly overlooked, and thus 

 of necessity incorrect results are obtained. 

 The relation usually given, that an iron rod 

 should have four times the sectional area of 

 the copper rod, is based on the fact that 

 copper conducts electricity six times as 

 well as iron, while the melting-point of iron 

 is about fifty per cent, higher than that of 

 copper, and 6 divided by l - 5 is equal to 4. 



This simple treatment, as is pointed out by 

 R. S. Brough, in the " Philosophical Mag- 

 azine," is incomplete, because it neglects 

 these factors : 1. The influence of the rise 

 of temperature in increasing the electrical 

 resistance of the metal ; 2. The difference 

 between the specific heats of the copper and 

 iron; 3. The fact that the iron rod being 

 made several times more massive than the 

 copper one, it will require a proportionally 

 greater quantity of heat to increase its 

 temperature. Taking these considerations 

 into account, Mr. Brough finds that the 

 sectional area of an iron rod should be to 

 the sectional area of a copper rod in the 

 ratio of 8 to 3. 



NOTES. 



The forty-ninth meeting of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 will be held at Sheffield on Wednesday, Au- 

 gust 20, 1879, under the presidency of Pro- 

 fessor G. J. Allman, M. D., LL. D., F. R. S., 

 L. & E. M. R. G. A., Pres. L. S. General 

 Secretaries, Douglas Galton, P. S. Salator ; 

 Assistant Secretary, J. E. H. Gordon. 



The American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science will assemble this 

 year at Saratoga Springs, New York, on 

 August 27th. Excursions to various points 

 are contemplated, and the meeting promises 

 io be a successful one. Officers of the 

 Saratoga meeting: President, George F. 

 Barker; Vice-President, Section A, S. P. 

 Langley ; Vice-President, Section B, J. W. 

 Powell ; chairman of Chemistry Sub-Section, 

 Ira Remsen ; chairman of Microscopy Sub- 

 Section, Edward W. Morley. 



The French Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science will meet this year at Mont- 

 pellier, on August 28th. The officers of the 

 Association are: President, M. Bardoux; 

 Vice-President, M. Krantz ; General Secre- 

 tary, Count de Saporta. 



We have received, but too late for men- 

 tion in our June number, a circular announ- 

 cing the second session of the Chesapeake 

 Zoological Laboratory of Johns Hopkins 

 University. The Laboratory is announced 

 to be opened about June 20th, at Crisfield, 

 on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. 

 One of the barges of the Maryland Fish 

 Commission will be fitted up as a labora- 

 tory, and another barge will be used as a 

 dormitory. As there will be room for only 



