Vol.. XXIV. No. 7.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
105 
Slje Popular Science l]ew». 
BOSTON, JULY i, 1890. 
AUSTIN p. NICHOLS, S.B Etiitor. 
WILLIAM J. ROLFE, LittJ>., . Jtsodnte Editor. 
A FEW subscribers who arc still in arrears 
)r 1890 will find their bills enclosed in the 
present number. As these small amounts, 
iken collectively, are of great importance to 
"the publishers, it is to be hoped that the bills 
will be promptly returned to them, with draft 
or money order for the amount due. 
The possibility of the formation of the vio- 
lently explosive iodide of nitrogen is a point 
of positive danger in its manufacture, to say 
nothing of its valueless properties as a 
counter-irritant. 
The competition between the various 
Atlantic steamship lines for the doiditful 
honor of making the quickest passage, is 
even greater the present summer than in 
previous seasons. Up to the time of writing, 
three hairbreadth escapes from disaster to 
these "ocean greyhounds" have been re- 
ported, either of which, under slightly less 
favorable conditions, would have resulteil in 
the death of all on board. The Normannia 
is reported to have sailed so near to an ice- 
berg, while running at a seventeen-knot 
speed in a fog, that the passengers could 
touch it bv reaching over the side. The gen- 
eral collapse of the overstrained engines of the 
City of Paris is still fresh in the minds of all ; 
and the unsuccessfid attempt of the City 
of Rome to go over, instead of around. Fast- 
net rock, has just become a matter of history. 
It is suggestive that the same dispatch which 
brought the news of this accident, stated that 
the steamer -was ninety minutes ahead of a 
Iwat of another line, which, however, it is 
needless to sa}', arrived first at Liverpool. 
If these occiuTcnces had taken place on the 
Mississippi River, a general howl at Ameri- 
can recklessness would have gone up from 
the foreign press; but a "trial of speed" 
between Uritish steamers is, apparently, a 
perfectly safe and proper proceeding. If the 
managers of these lines would pay more 
attention to the safety and comfort of their 
passengers, we think little fault would be 
fountl if the length of the voyage was thereby 
increased by a few minutes or even hours. 
Those people who like to find medical 
authority for the use of alcoholic stimu- 
lants, and who live in regions where yellow 
fever is liable to prevail, will be grati- 
fied to learn that Dr. G. P. Maxwell, of 
Jacksom ille, Fla., in the A^cw 7'ork Medi- 
co/ Journal for April 26 and May 3, com- 
mends a "gin cocktail" — concoctcil of one 
part of compound tincture of cinchona to 
foin- parts of "good gin" — as a prescription 
in the incipient stages of the disease, " when 
the pulse l)egins to faltei." lie regards it as 
far preferable to morphine, wiiich has been 
recommended by some physicians. He says 
he "must have given half a barrel" of this 
"cocktail" medicine to his patients in 1S88. 
Possibly some of them who had heard of his 
method of treatment were prompt in fancy- 
ing that their pidses began to falter from the 
onset of the epidemic. In a "prohibition" 
district we can imagine that this might be no 
uncommon occurrence. 
place we observed a fissure in a hillside 
several feet in width anil -extending for 
half a mile or more, which was formed 
during the previous night by the extraordi- 
nary vibration of tiie earth, while fallen chim- 
neys in the region alfected were very numer- 
ous. Fortimately, no loss of life or serious 
damage to property resulted from this remark- 
able manifestation of the forces of Nature, 
the cause of which still awaits a satisfactory 
scientific explanation. 
^♦K - - — 
A PECUi.iAii freak of lightning occurred 
last month near Saleni, Mass., where a horse 
was struck and instantly killed, while the 
buggy to which he was attached was entirely 
unharmed, and tiie harness left intact, with 
the exception of one of the blinders. The 
driver was also unhiut, and only felt a slight 
shock in one arm. It was a most remarkable 
and narrow escape, and also an excellent 
illustration of the high tension and small 
quantity of this form of electrical energy, 
which caused its destructive elfects to be 
confined within such narrow limits. 
Wini.K waiting in a drug store, recently, 
our curiosity was excited by a call for 
"colorless iodine," and, after the customer 
had been supplied with the preparation, we 
made some in<|uiries in regard to its compo- 
sition. It appeared that the iodine solution 
was bleached by the addition of ammonia ; 
so that what the purchaser reall)' obtained 
was a solution of iodide of ammonium, pos- 
sessing none of the characteristic properties 
of iodine itself. Colorless iodine is said to 
be in considerable demand; butit contains 
no active iodine at all, and is evidently the 
invention of some druggist or physician with 
more ingenuity than chemical knowledge. 
An extremely severe earthquake shock 
occurred in California in the latter part of last 
April, the centre of the disturbance being 
located about one hundred miles south of San 
Francisco, in the vicinity of Monterey. The 
writer, who was at the latter place, was 
awakened bj- the shock, or rather by the 
characteristic and peculiar rumbling noise 
preceding it, in time to observe the very- 
interesting phenomeiKjn. The building — a 
frame one — was quite violently shaken for 
several seconds, the culmination of the shock 
being of the natiu-e of a violent blow, as 
if some giant had struck it with his fist. The 
gas chandelier vibrated like a pendulum in an 
arc of considerable magnitude, and the plas- 
tering overhead cracked, and small pieces 
were detached. Two other much less vio- 
lent shocks followed within a few hours. 
Several persons reported that they were 
thrown out of bed by the shock, but this' is a 
manifest delusion. A movement sufficient to 
accomplish this woidd not have left a build- 
ing standing in the whole region. While 
•we have no doubt that the "quake" was 
very conducive to early and immediate rising 
on the part of those who experienced it, the 
result was due to mental and jihysiological, 
rather than to seismological, causes. 
The eflects of this earthquake upon the 
surrounding countr}', as observed the next 
day, were vei'y interesting. A railroad 
bridge near Monterey was lifted up and 
moved two feet out of its place, and several 
smaller injuries to embankments and cuttings 
delayed the trains for several hours. At one 
PuoKESsoR William James, of Harvard 
University, Cambridge, Mass., is conducting 
an inquiry, or private "census," in regard to 
the prevalence of hallucinations, and requests 
that as many persons as possible will send 
him answers to the following question : 
"Have you ever, when completely awake, 
had a vivid impression of seeing or being 
touched by a living being or inanimate object, 
or of hearing a voice ; which impression, so 
far as you could discover, was not due to any 
external physical cause.?" It is obvious that 
for the purely statistical inquir)', the answer 
"No" is as important as the answer " Yes." 
Professor James will be happy to supply 
blanks to any volunteer enumerators who 
may be willing to assist him in the inquiry. 
Dr. John C. Rolfe, son of the Shakes- 
pearian scholar, William J. Rolfe, and 
teacher in the Latin department of Harvard 
University, has accepted an election to an 
assistant professorship in the University of 
Michigan, and will enter upon his duties in 
the autumn. 
A VISIT TO TIIE LICK OBSERVA- 
TORY. 
It is not alone the possession of the largest 
telescope in the world that renders the Lick 
Observatory pre-eminent among all others. 
Situated as it is on the summit of Mount 
Hamilton, in California, overlooking the 
beautiful Santa Clara Valley, it has not only 
the advantages of a most magnificent and 
healthful location, but, what is of more im- 
portance from a scientific point of view, an 
atmosphere of unequalled clearness and 
transparency, which is of no small impor- 
tance to the successful working of even the. 
