1864. | Recent Scientific Progress in America. 519 
to be named Stawrotypus Salvinii. He also read a paper upon the 
Chelydide, as distinguished by their skulls; and gave a synopsis of 
the sand-moles of Africa, including a description of two new species 
discovered by Captain Speke. 
Amongst the notes read at the various meetings were the follow- 
ing :—by Mr. Flower, of the Royal College of Surgeons, on a lesser 
Fin Whale (Balena rostrata), stranded upon the coast of Norfolk ; 
by Dr. E. Crisp, on the Anatomy of the Eland ; by Dr. Geo. Bennett, 
on the habits of the tooth-billed Pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris) ; 
and by Mr. J. K. Lord, upon the use of a shell of the genus Dentalium, 
as a currency medium by the natives of Vancouver's Island, British 
Columbia. 
XII. CHRONICLE OF RECENT SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS 
IN AMERICA. 
By Henry Draper, M.D., Professor of Natural Science in the 
University of New York. 
Suvcz the breaking out of the civil war in the United States in 1861, 
a strong military tendency has been communicated to scientific pur- 
suits. This is well seen in the records of the Patent Office at Wash- 
ington, where, during the past three years, not less than 1,140 
improvements in cannon, projectiles, cartridges, &c., have been 
patented. A considerable number of these refer to attempts at 
producing breech-loading weapons of large calibre. The application 
of this principle has thus far been unsuccessful, and probably will 
continue to be so, on account of the difficulty of securing strength 
without unwieldiness. In smaller cannon it has been partially suc- 
cessful, while in fire-arms it has done so well as to give rise to 
serious discussion concerning the propriety of abandoning muzzle- 
loaders altogether. 
The most effective artillery that the war has produced has been 
the Parrot rifle, and the Rodman hollow-cast 15 and 20 inch guns. 
The former consists of a cast-iron barrel, strengthened at the breech 
by a reinforce of wrought iron. The durability of these weapons is 
so great, that a 30-pounder used against Charleston was fired 4,615 
times before bursting. The range was five miles. The largest size 
as yet furnished for active service is a 300-pounder; many 200- 
pounders have been made. 
For heavy battering purposes and the destruction of iron-plated 
vessels, the Government has encouraged the construction of smooth- 
bore cannon of great calibre; one of the forts in New York harbour 
having a battery of 15-inch guns, carrying 440-pound balls. The 
efficacy of these was tested in the battle between the ‘ Atlanta’ and 
‘ Weehawken,’ in which the latter virtually decided the contest by the 
first discharge of her 15-inch gun prostrating 40 men. 
