NOTES. 



575 



carried by the wind, the grains are small, 

 light, and more or less dry and spherical ; in 

 flowers in which it is carried by insects they 

 are variously adapted to adhere to the under 

 side of the carrier's body ; in those whose 

 pollen is distributed by birds it is carried in 

 so various ways that this circumstance com- 

 bined with other data indicate the possibility 

 of the humming bird being the most wonder- 

 ful distributor of pollen known to the animal 

 world. 



In an Engineering Laboratory. The 



work of an engineering laboratory, observed 

 Prof. A. B. W. Kennedy in his British Asso- 

 ciation address, is in intention and in essence 

 different from that of the physical labora- 

 tory. The aim of the latter is to make its 

 problems as simple as possible, to eliminate 

 all disturbing elements or influences, and to 

 obtain finally a result which possesses the 

 highest degree of absolute accuracy. In most 

 physical investigations the result aimed at is 

 one in which practical absolute accuracy is 

 obtainable, although attainable only if infi- 

 nite pains be taken to get it. It is the busi- 

 ness of the physicist to control and modify 

 his conditions and to use only those which 

 permit of the desired degree of accuracy be- 

 ing reached. In such investigations it some- 

 times becomes almost immoral to think of 

 one condition as less important than another. 

 Every disturbing condition must be either 

 eliminated or completely allowed for. That 

 method of making the experiment is the best 

 which insures the greatest possible accuracy 

 in every part of the result. The business of 

 the engineer, on the other hand, is to deal 

 with physical problems under conditions 

 which he can only very partially control, and 

 the conditions are a part of his problem. 

 Perhaps the whole matter may best be 

 summed up by saying that in a physical lab- 

 oratory the conditions of each experiment 

 are under the control of the experimenter 

 and are subservient to the experiment. In 

 an engineering laboratory the conditions 

 form part of the experiment. Whenever 

 the whole matter seems to be mastered from 

 one point of view, it is only to find with a 

 little more experience that from another 

 point of view everything looks different and 

 the whole criticism has to be started afresh. 

 Machines can not be finally criticised that 



is to say, they can not be pronounced good 

 or bad simply from results measurable in a 

 laboratory. One wishes to use steam plant, 

 for instance, with which as little coal shall 

 be burned as possible ; but clearly it would 

 be worth while to waste a certain amount of 

 coal if a less economical machine would al- 

 low a larger saving in the cost of repairs, or 

 it might be worth while to use a machine in 

 which a certain amount of power is obvious- 

 ly lost if by means of such a machine the cost 

 of attendance can be measurably reduced. 



NOTES. 



A South Jersey Woodmen's Association 

 has been formed, with headquarters at May's 

 Landing, N. J., the objects of which are 

 stated to be to improve and protect the for- 

 ests of the southern counties of New Jersey ; 

 to prevent all wanton and needless destruc- 

 tion of forests ; to adopt such methods of 

 cutting as will increase and prolong the yield 

 of timber and cordwood ; to insist upon the 

 enforcement of the laws in relation to forests 

 and the punishment of malicious and care- 

 less fire-setters; to encourage the planting 

 and seeding of valuable trees on Jersey 

 waste land and elsewhere wherever practica- 

 ble ; and to encourage such methods of for- 

 est management as will tend to conserve and 

 increase our water supply and protect the 

 wild animals of the woods. A monthly 

 pamphlet The South Jersey Forester is to 

 be published as the ofiicial organ of the as- 

 sociation. 



A NEW species of giraffe has been dis- 

 covered in Somaliland by Major Wood, of 

 the British army, who has killed one speci- 

 men and seen seven others. It is distin- 

 guished by a complete and whole body cover- 

 ing of rich bright chestnut, hardly separable 

 by very fine, almost invisible, lines of creamy 

 white. 



Of garden vegetables described by Prof. 

 Bailey in a Bulletin of the Cornell Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, the cabbage, Pe 

 Tsai, is described as a plant with a loose, 

 lettucelike head of crisp leaves, which may 

 be used in the same way as cabbage. A 

 mustard producing au enormous quantity of 

 herbage is excellent for greens. California 

 pepper grass is apparently a finely cut leaved 

 form of mustard, and is an excellent plant 

 for spring greens. Other mustardlike plants 

 are the Pak-Chol, used as greens and for the 

 thick white leaf stalk, and the tuberous- 

 rooted mustard grown for its small turnip- 

 like root. The fruit of the wax gourd, Zit- 

 Kwa, is excellent for conserves. The La- 

 Kwa, or momordica, has merit as a curiosity 

 and an ornamental vme. The Luffas, or dish- 



