FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



739 



continuous and self-derivative since the 

 beginning, lie then raises the question 

 whether this continuity of physical and 

 vital action proceeded by heterogeneous 

 impulses or by correlated pulsations. 

 The author's conclusion is in favor of 

 the hypothesis of correlated pulsations 

 involving a rhythmical periodicity. 



Nettle fiber is said to be coming 

 into great favor for the manufacture of 

 line yarns and tissues. Several facto- 

 ries in Germany are using it, and the 

 introduction of the extensive cultiva- 

 tion of nettles into the African colony 

 of the Cameroons is contemplated. 



There are now, according to the 

 last annual Report of the Commissioner 

 of the Genei-al Land Oilice, thirty-six for- 

 est reservations (exclusive of the Afog- 

 nak Forest and Fish-Culture Heserve in 

 Alaska) in the United States, embrac- 

 ing an estimated area of 40,021,899 

 acres. This estimate is for the aggre- 

 gate areas within the boundaries of the 

 re '^'ations, but the lands reserved are 

 .y the vacant public lands therein. 

 The actual reserved area is therefore 

 somewhat less than the estimate. 



Experiments made by Professor 

 Dewar and Sir W. Thisleton Dyer, and 

 reported to the British Association, 

 upon the effect of the temperature of 

 liquid hydrogen upon the germinative 

 power of seeds, go to show that life 

 goes on at a temperature so low that 

 ordinary chemical action is practically 

 stopped. Seeds of barley, vegetable 

 marrow, mustard, and the pea were im- 

 mersed in liquid hydrogen for six hours, 



cooled to a temperature of 4.53° F. below 

 the temperature of melting ice, and 

 came out unchanged to tlie eye, and, 

 when planted, all germinated. 



Sir Joiix Lubbock, having been 

 raised to the peerage, has adopted Lord 

 Avebury as his title, and will be hence- 

 forth so known. 



In our obituary list of men known 

 to science are the names of N. E. Green, 

 F. R. A. S., who was distinguished for 

 the excellence of his planetary observa- 

 tions, particularly of Mars, made at 

 Madeira in 1877, and was the second 

 President of the British Astronomical 

 Association, died November 10th, in his 

 seventy-sixth year; Prof. E. E. Hughes, 

 inventor of the Hughes printing tele- 

 graph machine, the microphone, and the 

 induction balance, I'ellow of the Royal 

 Society, gold medalist, and Chevalier of 

 the Legion of Honor, who was born in 

 London in 1831 and was brought to the 

 United States at an early age; Mr. J. 

 R. Gregory, mineralogist; M. Marion, 

 professor in the Scientific Faculty in 

 the University of Marseilles and Keeper 

 of the Natural History Museum there, 

 who took part in the dredging trips of 

 the Travailleur and the Talisman, and 

 contributed to the Anriales of the mu- 

 seum at Marseilles; Dr. Hans Bruno 

 Geinitz, geologist and paleontologist, at 

 Dresden, Saxony, in his eighty-sixth 

 year; Walter Gotze, botanist, while on 

 an expedition to German East Africa, 

 December 9th; and Mr. W. T. Suffolk, 

 treasurer of the Royal Microscopical So- 

 ciety of Great Britain. 



PUBLTCATIOTs^S RECEIVED. 



Agricultural Experiment Stations, i ger. Pp. 28, with maps.— West Vir- 

 Bulletins and Reports. Connecticut: Iginia: Bulletin No. 61. Sheep-Feeding 

 Twenty-third Annual Report. Part' Experiments. By J. H. Stewart and 

 I. Fertilizers. Pp. 92; Bulletin No. Horace Atwood. Pp. 10; No. 62. A 

 130. Commercial Feeding Stuffs in the Study of the Effect of Incandescent Gas- 

 Connecticut Market. — North Dakota light on Plant Growth. By L. C. Cor- 



Weather and Crop Service, November, 

 1899, and January, 1900. Pp. 8 each.— 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture: Agrostology Circular No. 54. 

 Smooth Brome-Grass. Pp. 10; No. 57. 

 Experiments with Forage Plants in On- 

 tario. Pp. 3; Meteorological Chart of 

 the Great Lakes. Summary for the 

 Season of 1899. Vol. II, No. 9. By 

 Alfred J. H. Henry and Norman B. Con- 



bett. Pp. 38, with plates. 



American Grocer Publishing Com- 

 pany. Scientific Testimony against the 

 use of Alum in Food. (Evidence before 

 the United States Senate Investigating 

 Committee.) Pp. 12. 



Andrews, William. The Diuturnal 

 Theory of the Earth, or Nature's Sys- 

 tem of constructing a Stratified Phys- 

 ical World. New York: Myra Andrews 



