LITERARY NOTICES. 



709 



correspondence about it, several quotations 

 from eminent physicists, whicli slie imagines 

 support her theory, and a lot of irrelevant 

 matter. Iler screed is a " terrible example " 

 of the way untrained persons form conclu- 

 sions about scientific matters in absolute de- 

 fiance of the scientific method of investiga- 

 tion. She says, "I assume that heat always 

 causes bodies to expand, and that cold al- 

 ways causes bodies to contract, but never 

 expand." Again, " I claim that cold water 

 is always more dense than that of a more 

 elevated temperature, and can not rise upon 

 the surface of that which is warmer." Not 

 a measurement nor a test of any sort does 

 she bring forward in support of these as- 

 sumptions, and, of course, can not, for her 

 statements are flat contradictions of readily 

 demonstrable facts. Further, she says, " As 

 electricity is diffused throughout all space, it 

 pervades water to a certain extent, and it 

 always remains in a latent state except it is 

 excited to action by some disturbing influ- 

 ence. And, again, as cold increases in tem- 

 perature the water increases its density, and 

 when it reaches the freezing-point it con- 

 denses to that extent that the pressure and 

 fraction excites the electricity to heat and 

 converts little particles of ice into steam, 

 which moves with great velocity and power ; 

 as the steam rushes out the cold air rushes 

 into the little voids and takes the place of 

 the steam, which causes the report called 

 cracking of the ice. ... It is first little 

 particles upon the surface that are condensed 

 into ice, and they would instantly sink if 

 they were not arrested in their course and 

 rendered light by the above-mentioned pro- 

 cess." Has Mrs. Hemiup ever observed any 

 one of these phenomena '? Has she ever de- 

 tected an electric current in a dish of freez- 

 ing water with the galvanometer? Has she 

 ever collected any of the little puffs of steam 

 as it escaped from the forming ice ? Has 

 she ever seen, either with the naked eye or 

 the microscope, the first-formed little parti- 

 cles of ice floating free on the surface of the 

 water ? Other people have seen the first ice- 

 particles attached to the sides of the con- 

 taining vessel or the shore ; hence it can not 

 be true that " they would instantly sink if 

 they were not arrested in their course " by 

 the action she describes. The letters about 

 her theory which she has extracted from 



prominent scientific men are no indorsement 

 of it, but are either politely non-committal 

 or frankly opposed to her view. She gives 

 the reader no reason to believe that she has 

 ever performed a single experiment to test 

 her supposition, or that in the twenty years 

 or more during which she has speculated on 

 scientific subjects, she has found out what 

 valid evidence is, or what makes a hypothe- 

 sis tenable. The effect of such a publication 

 is harmful if it falls into the hands of per- 

 sons whose common sense is not of the ro- 

 bust type, for it is sure to increase any 

 tendency to foggy thinking which the reader 

 may have. 



The second annual report of the Photo- 

 graphic Study of Stellar Spectra, conducted 

 at the Harvard College Observatory, and con- 

 stituting the Henry Draper Memorial, relates 

 that the additional facilities provided by Mrs. 

 Draper have permitted a considerable ex- 

 tension of this research during the past year. 

 The 1 1-inch refractor belonging to Dr. Dra- 

 per, and an 8-inch photographic telescope, 

 have been kept at work throughout every 

 clear night. The 28-inch and 15-inch re- 

 flectors constructed by Dr. Draper have been 

 moved to Cambridge, and the first of these 

 instruments will probably soon be employed 

 regularly. Four assistants take part in 

 making the photographs, and five ladies 

 have been employed in the measurements 

 and reductions. The catalogues of spectra 

 of bright and of faint stars, and the de- 

 tailed study of the spectra of the brighter 

 stars, will be finished, excei)t for about one 

 quarter part of the sky, which is too far 

 south to be conveniently observed at Cam- 

 bridge, in about a year, and it is proposed to 

 then send an expedition to the southern 

 hemisphere to complete the work to the 

 south pole. The 28-inch reflector will be 

 used for observing faint stellar spectra. 



Bulletin No. 3 of the New York State 

 Museum is an account of the Building- Stone 

 in the State of New York, by John 0. Smock 

 (Albany, State Museum). All the large quar- 

 ries were visited, to obtam material for this 

 paper, and information was obtained also 

 from quarry-owners and managers. The 

 Bulletin comprises an account of the geo- 

 logical position and geographical distribution 

 of building-stone in New York, and descrip- 

 tive notes of quarry districts and quarries. 



