NAVY OP THE UNITED STATES. 



481 



in trust." A resolution was passed accepting 

 mi of money, and expressing the high ap- 

 ,tion shown by Dr. Gibbs in intrusting this 

 fund to the Academy. The scientific session 

 was held in Baltimore, Md., on Nov. 1 :!, when 

 Mowing papers were read : " On Isothermals 

 jind Isometrics of Viscosity," by Carl Harus ; 

 "Signitii -ance of the Follicle of Salpa" and 

 Biological Kelations of the Oldest Fo-siK" l.\ 

 \\illiain K. Brooks; "On the Motion of the 

 Karih's Pole," by Seth C. Chandler; "On (lie 

 i>rate Fauna of the Blanco Epoch," by 

 Kdwanl 1 >. ( 'o|>e ; The Evolution of the Moon, 

 1 1\ drove K. (iilbert; " Recent Improvements 

 in Astronomical Telescopes," by Charles S. 

 Hast ings ; " The Use of Planes and Knife Edges 

 in Pendulums," " On the Observations for Lati- 

 tude at Rockville, Md.," and " On the Latitude 

 vations at Honolulu," by Thomas C, Men- 

 dcnhall ; "On Some Curious Double Halides" 

 and " Study of the Action of Light on Acids in 

 Solutions containing a Salt of Uranium," by. Ira 

 kemsen : " A Spectroscopic Analysis of the Rare 

 Earths," " A Table of Standard Wave Lengths." 

 and On the Motion of a Sphere in a Viscous 

 Fluid," by Henry A. Rowland. The following 

 papers were by non-members : " Exhibition of 

 Photographs illustrating New Methods and Re- 

 sults in Solar Physics," by George E. Hale, in- 

 troduced by Charles S. Hastings; "Crystallized 

 Vegetable Proteids " and " Proteids of the Flax- 

 seed," by Thomas B. Osborne, introduced by S. 

 W. Johnson ; ' Some Effects of Magnetism on 

 Chemical Action," by George A. Squier and 

 Frank A. Wolff, Jr., introduced by Henry A. 

 Rowland ; and " Volcanic Rocks of South Moun- 

 tain in Pennsylvania and Maryland," by George 

 H. Williams, introduced by Ira Remsen. Dur- 

 ing the year the Academy "has met with severe 

 loss by the deaths of Thomas Sterry Hunt, a 

 member since 1873 ; Joseph Lovering^a member 

 since 1873 ; Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, a 

 member since 1865 ; John Strong Newberry, an 

 original member; Lewis Morris Rutherfurd, an 

 original member; William Petit Trowbridge, 

 a member since 1878; and Sereno Watson, a 

 member since 1889. Biographical memoirs of 

 these scientists have been assigned as follows : 

 T. Sterry Hunt to J. P. Lesley; Joseph Lovering 

 to Josiah P. Cooke ; Montgomery C. Meigs to 

 Henry J. Abbot ; Lewis M. Rutherfurd to Ben- 

 jamin A. Gould; William P. Trowbridge to 

 Cyrus B. Cornstock ; and Sereno Watson to 

 George L. Goodale. Brief notices of their ca- 

 reers also appear among the OBITUARIES, AMERI- 

 CAN, in the present volume. 



NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES. A 

 full account of the development of the new 

 navy, from the ordering of the first advisory 

 board in 1881 to January, 1892, will be found in 

 the " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1888, 1889, 1890, 

 and 1831, especially in the first and last of these. 

 During 1892 the progress in all directions was 

 continuous and satisfactory, and it is especially 

 marked in the manufacture of armor, gun-si eel', 

 projectiles, and smokeless powder. 



Ships. Of the vessels given in the tables on 

 pages 544 to 547 of the " Annual Cyclopa-dia" 

 for 1891, the following, then on the stocks, have 

 been launched: the "Columbia" (cruiser No. 

 12), the ' Olympia " (cruiser No. 6), the " Cin- 

 VOL. xxxn. 31 A 



ciniiati," the "Raleigh," the "Marblehead" 

 (eiuiMT No. 11), the "Castine " (gnnU.at No. B), 

 the "Bancroft" (practice vessel;, the "Texas," 

 and the " Katahdin " (ram No. 1). " The " Min- 

 neapolis " (cruiser No. 13) is still on the stocks, 

 as are the armored battle ships " Indinna," 

 .Ma ac -hnsetts," and "Oregon.'' The "Mon- 

 terey" is the only vessel completed and com- 

 missioned within the year. Two new .ship-. ih 

 armored seagoing battle ship "Iowa" and the 

 armored cruiser " Brooklyn,'' have been author- 

 ized by Congress, designed, contracted for, and 

 are about to be laid down. 



The " Iowa" is about 1,000 tons larger, but is 

 very similar in design to the " Indiana," " Mas- 

 sachusetts," and "Oregon." The chief differ- 

 ence in the hull is in the raising of the forward 

 part, from the bow to the central superstructure, 

 bringing the forecastle on a level with the latter. 

 This will improve the seagoing qualities very 

 materially. The length is increased 12 feet and 

 the beam 3 feet. The heavy guns are reduced 

 in caliber from 13 to 12 inches, but are arranged 

 in barbette turrets as before, as are also the 

 8 8-inch guns. The armor belt is reduced 

 in thickness, but extended in length and width. 

 The turret armor is likewise reduced, but in 

 view of the improved quality of the plates 

 produced by the Harvey process, the resistance 

 to penetration of the armor on both belt and 

 turrets is about equal to untreated steel plates 

 of the thickness of those on the "Indiana" 

 class. The speed, coal, and ammunition supply 

 are increased. The dimensions and other de- 

 tails of the "Iowa" are as follow: Length on 

 water line, 360 feet ; beam, 72 feet 2 inches ; 

 mean draught, 24 feet ; displacement. 1 1.296 tons: 

 freeboard (height of side above water) forward, 

 19 feet; sustained sea speed, 16 knots; coal 

 supply at load draught, 625 tons; total coal 

 supply, 2,000 tons; the armor belt, 7^ feet wide, 

 is not to be less than 14 inches thick amid- 

 ships ; the transverse armor at ends of belt not 

 less than 12 inches; the Iwrbettes and turrets 

 for the 12-inch guns will be not less than 15 

 inches : the side armor above the belt not less 

 than 5 inches; the armored deck will be at least 



3 inches thick forward and abaft the belt, and 

 2 inches over it; a cellulose belt will be fitted 

 above the protective deck forward and abaft the 

 belt and side armor ; the conning tower is to be 

 not less than 10 inches, and the communication 

 tube 7 inches ; the barbettes for the 8-inch guns 

 will be not less than 8 inches on the exposed 

 side and 6 inches elsewhere ; the 8-inch gun 

 turrets will be at least 6 inches, with 3-inch 

 loading tubes; the 4-inch guns will be protected 

 by fixed semicircular shields 4 inches thick and 

 li inch splinter bulkheads ; the smaller guns 

 will have shields and extra thick plating on the 

 side abreast them. The battery of the " Iowa " 

 will consist of 4 12-inch and 8 8-inch breech- 

 loading rifled guns, 6 4-inch, 20 6-pounder. and 



4 1-pounder rapid-fire guns, 4 machine guns, and 

 1 field gun. The axes of the forward 12-inch 

 guns will be 25 feet above the water and 6 feet 

 above the deck; the axes of tho after 12-inch 

 gnus will be 17 feet 8 inches above the water, 

 and the same height above the deck as the for- 

 ward guns ; the guns of both turrets will be capa- 

 ble of firing through an arc of 270 degrees. The 



