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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



clear ice. In various places white spots were 

 noticed in the ice. Some one bored a hole 

 through one of these and applied a flame to 

 the opening, when a gas jet appeared and 

 burned for some time. The gas, of course, 

 was marsh ^gas, which had collected under 

 the ice and formed the apparent air bubbles. 



The observer who travels about much in 

 the various larger cities of the country, says 

 the Kansas City Architect and Builder, can 

 not fail to notice the marked change that 

 has of late taken place in the construction 

 of hirge buildings. Everywhere one goes he 

 sees the work going on of putting iron and 

 steel where stone and wood formerly held 

 very much of a monopoly. It is believed by 

 architects and engineers generally to be the 

 beginning of the iron and steel era in build- 

 ing, and that it will go on, becoming more 

 and more general in all classes of building 

 work. 



The bad moral effect of a national policy 

 of militarism and an enormous standing army 

 was recently illustrated in the German Reichs- 

 tag. The question of dueling was brought up 

 by the death of Herr von Schrader, and vari- 

 ous methods for stamping out the practice 

 were proposed. It is well known, however, 

 that the emperor approves dueling, and the 

 result of the debate was nil. The imperial 

 chancellor delivered a speech which practi- 

 cally said that public sentiment in favor of 

 dueling was so strong that prohibitive legis- 

 lation could not be enforced. 



The centenary of the introduction of 

 porcelain into France is to be celebrated by 

 an exposition at Limoges this year. The 

 history of porcelain manufacture will be 

 traced by specimens of work and processes. 

 The exposition is being organized by the 

 Soci^te Gay-Lussac, working in conjunction 

 with representatives of the town of Limoges. 



The name of the New York Microscopical 

 Society should have been included in the list 

 of the co-operating bodies represented in the 

 Scientific Alliance of New York which was 

 published in the April number of the Monthly. 



The deepest hole in the enrth has been 

 bored at Parushowitz, near Rybnik, Silesia, 

 to the depth of 2004-34 metres, or 6,514 

 feet. At that point the drill rod broke off, 

 and the cost of withdrawing the broken end 

 has prevented a resumption of operations. 

 Eighty-three beds of coal were penetrated 

 during the borings, and 884 thermometrical 

 measurements were taken. The latter indi- 

 cated a very irregular increase of tempera- 

 ture with the depth. 



The third International Congress for Psy- 

 chology, Prof. Dr. Stumpe, of Berlin, presi- 

 dent, will be held in Munich, August 4, 1897. 

 The names of Profs. Stanley Hall, of Wor- 

 cester; Uenrik G. Petersen, of Boston; Wil- 

 liam S. Wads'.vorth (2) ; C. Stauiland \\'ake, 



of Chicago ; Mark Baldwin, of Princeton ; and 

 Edward B. Tichener, of Cornell, are entered 

 upon the provisional list of contributors of 

 papers published April 15th. The American 

 members of the International Committee of 

 Organization are Profs. Baldwin, H. Donald- 

 son, G. S. Fullerton, Stanley Hall, William 

 James, Lightner Witmer, and Newbold. 



Macmillan & Co. announce as in prepa- 

 ration a Dictionary of Philosophy and Psy- 

 chology, under the editorial supervision of 

 Prof. Baldwin, of Princeton University. It 

 will contain concise definitions, historical 

 matter, and bibliographies on subjects in 

 the whole range of philosophical study (phi- 

 losophy, metapliysics, psychology, ethics, 

 logic, etc.). Distinguished American and 

 British specialists will contribute original arti- 

 cles to the several departments of the work. 



The first session of the Bahama Biologi- 

 cal Station was held during the summer of 

 1893 at Bimini Islands, Bahamas. For the 

 coming season it has been decided to locate 

 the laboratory at Biscayne Bay, Florida, in 

 the latitude of the Bimini Islands, and just 

 across the Gulf Stream. Here are found the 

 same equable climate, clear water, and sub- 

 tropical fauna and flora for which the Baha- 

 mas are famous. The station will be under 

 the direction of Prof. Charles L. Edwards, 

 of the University of Cincinnati, and, begin- 

 ning June 22d, will continue six weeks. The 

 course of instruction consists of lectures, dis- 

 section and microscopic work in the labora- 

 tory, with oijservation of the organisms in 

 natural environment. The fee of twenty-five 

 dollars includes tuition, use of microscope, 

 reagents, and material for dissection. Pro- 

 visions are made for collecting and preserv- 

 ing representative forms as laboratory ma- 

 terial. 



Dr. John Russell Hind, superintendent 

 of the Nautical Almanac, who died near the 

 close of 1895, became generally known about 

 the middle of the century by his discoveries 

 of minor planets, which were then few and 

 rare, and by his computations of the orbits 

 of comets and studies in the histoiy of those 

 bodies. He had been a superintendent of 

 the Nautical Almanac since 1853. He re- 

 ceived medals for his discoveries, and was 

 elected to many learned societies. 



Prof. Adalbert Krueger, of the Ob- 

 servatory of Kiel, and editor of the Astro- 

 nomische Nachrkhtcn, died Apiil 21st, at the 

 age of sixty-four years. He was for many 

 years assistant to Argelander, whose daugh- 

 ter he married at Bonn, then director of the 

 Observatory of Helsingfors, then at Gotha, 

 and lastly at Kiel. As editor of tlie Astro- 

 nomiscJiC NachriclJoi and chief of the cen- 

 tral oiiice for the telegraphic transmission of 

 astronomical discoveries, Prof. Krueger was 

 brought into relations with the astronomers 

 of the whole world. 



