262 



NATURE 



[January 14, 1892 



has likewise promised his co-operation in securing lunar photo- 

 graphs of the highest degree of excellence now attainable. 



With the aid of these three prominent Observatories, which 

 have given especial attention to the subject of lunar photo- 

 graphy, it is proposed to prepare a volume representing upon a 

 large scale the best results that can be secured, thus placing on 

 record a detailed description of the lunar surface, the value of 

 which for comparison with observations and photographs of the 

 future can scarcely be over-estimated. 



In furtherance of the plan for the establishment of standard 

 sizes of screws and of diameters of tubing, &c., for astronomical 

 and physical apparatus — a subject which has received the atten- 

 tion of Committees of the National Academy of Science, as also 

 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science — 

 a few standards have been tentatively adopted, and copies of 

 these are attainable by all interested in securing uniformity in 

 this class of work. 



No memoir was added to the Smithsonian " Contributions to 

 Knowledge " during the year, but a paper presenting an account 

 of new experiments in aero-dynamics by Prof. Langley was in 

 course of preparation. These investigations were made at 

 private charge, but it is in accordance with a policy long ago 

 counselled by the Board of Regents that they should be pub- 

 lished in a volume of the Institution's "Contributions." 



A statement relating to the establishment of an Astro-physical 

 Observatory as a part of the Smithsonian Institution has already 

 appeared in Nature (vol. xliv. p. 254). With regard to this 

 Observatory, Prof. Langley recalls the fact that prepai-ations for 

 it had been made by the late Secretary, Prof. Baird. A special 

 interest was taken in the proposed Astro-physical Observatory 

 by the late Dr. J. H. Kidder, formerly Curator of Exchanges in 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and the sum of 5000 dollars was 

 received from his executors for this purpose. A like sum of 

 5000 dollars was presented personally to the Secretary by Dr. 

 Alexander Graham Bell for prosecuting physical investigations, 

 and particularly those upon radiant energy ; and this sum was, 

 with the consent and approval of the donor, placed to the credit 

 of the Smithsonian Institution upon the same footing as the 

 Kidder bequest. Congress was asked to appropriate io,ooo 

 dollars for annual maintenance, and this sum was granted, and 

 became available on July i last. 



Speaking of the National Museum, Prof. Langley notes that 

 at the close of the fiscal year the present building had been 

 occupied one decade, and that during that period the total 

 number of specimens of all kinds catalogued and ready for 

 exhibition or study had increased from about 193,000 to more 

 than 3,000,000. This rate of growth, as he says, is "probably 

 unprecedented in the history of Museums." The development 

 of the collections has not, howevei-, proceeded " in such a sym- 

 metrical and consistent manner as is essential to the necessities 

 of the work " ; and such is the competition for "material," that 

 the Museum is often unable to hold its own, not only with 

 foreign Governments and with local Museums in other American 

 cities, but even with private collectors. More space and a 

 larger staff of curators are urgently needed. 



Some interesting statements are made with regard to the work 

 of the Bureau of Ethnology. At the close of the last fiscal year, 

 specific exploration of the mound area by the United States 

 ceased, except so far as it was found necessary to correct errors 

 and supply omissions. A large part of the results of the work 

 of several past years is in print, though not yet issued. A plan 

 of general archasological field work has been practically initiated 

 by a systematic exploration of the tide-water regions of the 

 District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and the Ohio Valley, 

 which determined among other points of interest that the 

 implication of great antiquity to forms of stone implements of 

 America which have hitherto been classed with European 

 palajoliths in age as well as in fabrication has not been sub- 

 stantiated by the ascertained facts. 



Careful exploration of the Verde Valley in Arizona followed 

 that before made of other parts of the large south-western region 

 of the United States in which the presence of many extensive 

 ruins has given rise to fanciful theories. The data as classified 

 and discussed have shown that the hypothesis of a vanished 

 race enjoying high civilization, which has been proposed 

 to account for the architecture of the ruined structures is 

 unnecessary. 



The attention already given to In^lian languages has been 

 continued, in recignition of the fact that some of them are fast 

 passing beyond the possibility of record and study, and that the 



ethnic classification of all of the Indian tribes can be made 

 accurate only through the determination of their linguistic 

 divisions and connections. The studies upon aboriginal 

 mythology and religious practices have also been continued, with 

 special attention to the ghost dances and " Messiah religion," 

 which have produced important consequences bearing upon the 

 problem of proper national dealing with the Indians. Official 

 misconception of their religious philosophy, which has been 

 forcedly transfigured by the absorption of Christianity so as io 

 present more apparent than actual antagonism to civilization, 

 has occasioned needless loss of life and treasure. 



With regard to the National Zoological Park, Prof. Langley 

 says the primary object for which Congress was asked to establish 

 it was to secure the preservation of those American animals that 

 are already nearly extinct, and this object it was thought would 

 be best attained by the establishment of a large inclosure in which 

 such animals could be kept in a seclusion as nearly as possible 

 like that of their native haunts. Congress has been so unwilling 

 to provide the necessary funds that the .Smithsonian Institution 

 has found it hard to realize the original design. Nevertheless,, 

 the development of the Park proceeded steadily during the year, 

 as few changes as possible being made in its natural features. 

 Trees have been planted in different parts, in some places for 

 ornament, in others to secure the proper seclusion of animals ; 

 and a considerable area of open land has been prepared for lawn 

 and pasture grounds. Near what is for the present the principal 

 entrance is a disused quarry, from which arise precipitous cliffs 

 and bold rocky ledges. It seemed particularly well fitted for 

 the construction of dens and yards for bears. A series of caverns 

 has been blasted in the rock and inclosed by a stout iron fence. 

 Within the fence are large and commodious yards, in which have 

 been constructed bathing pools, with water flowing constantly 

 from a large spring outside the Park. The result has been a 

 place admirably adapted for the health and general welfare of 

 the animals, as well as a most picturesque and striking feature. 



Already the establishment of a National Zoological Park 

 under the management and guidance of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution has attracted the attention of similar institutions and of 

 naturalists in other countries, and liberal offers of gifts and 

 exchanges have been made. 



From Sumatra, from the islands of the Pacific, from the 

 shores of Alaska, and from American national parks, have come 

 offers of gifts or terms of purchase, but it has been necessary to 

 defer acceptance of all these offers owing to lack of funds even 

 to pay for transportation. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Chemical Society, December 17, 1891.^ — ^Dr. W. H. Perkin, 

 F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — The following papers 

 were read : — The composition of cooked vegetables, by Miss K. 

 I. Williams. The vegetables examined after cooking were the 

 artichoke (Jerusalem), broad bean, haricot bean, beetroot, 

 cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, lettuce, mush- 

 room, onion (Spanish), parsnip, pea (green), potato, radish, 

 salsafy, scarlet-runner, sea-kale, spinach, tomato, turnip, and 

 vegetable marrow. Ultimate analyses of the cooked vegetables 

 were made, and their heats of combustion determined. The 

 woody fibre, cellulose, fat, and the carbohydrates convertible 

 into glucose were also estimated. — Metallic hydrosulphides, by 

 S. E. Linder and H. Picton. The authors have investigated 

 the sulphides of copper, mercury, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, 

 zinc, bismuth, silver, indium, and gold ; and find that, with the 

 single exception of bismuth, all these metals form hydrosulphides 

 of a more or less complicated character. These compounds, 

 when treated with acids, in most cases lose part of their sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen, and form still more complicated hydro- 

 sulphides. Copper forms a soluble hydrosulphide possessing 

 the composition 7CuS,HoS ; this, on treatment with acetic acid 

 in presence of excess of sulphuretted hydrogen, yields a sub- 

 stance of the composition 9CuS,H2S; if no excess of sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen be present, the compound 22CuS,H2S is 

 obtained. Hydrochloric acid produces still further condensa- 

 tion. Mercuric sulphide forms products approximately repre- 

 sented by the formulae 3iHgS,H„S and 62HgS,H2S. The 

 latter formula represents the substance obtained in presence of 

 acid, and is a very stable substance. Zinc sulphide solution 



NO. I I 59. VOL. 45] 



