Vol. XXll. No. 10.] 



POPULAR SCIEN"CE NEWS. 



153 



€f)e popular Science |^ctDi£J. 



BOSTON, OCT. 1, 1888. 



AUSTIN P. NICHOLS, S.B Editor 



WILLIAM J. ROLFE, LiTT.D Ansociate Editor 



All NEW subscribers remittiag $1.00 before 

 Dec. 15 will receive the last three numbers of 

 tee present year free of charge. Dr. Nichols's 

 book, ^^ Whence, What, Where?" is also 

 given as a free premium to all new subscrib- 

 at$1.00. 



^° Those desiring this premium should 

 make a special request for it at the time of sub- 

 scribing, or there may be delay in sending it. 



One of the boldest engineering schemes 

 brought forward for a long time is that pro- 

 posed bj- Major Powell, of damming up some 

 of the canyons of the Rocky Mountains, and 

 converting them into immense reservoirs of 

 water, for use in irrigating the plains below, 

 and also serving to regulate the flow of water 

 in the Western tributaries of the Mississippi. 

 These immense ravines, extending far into 

 the lieart of the mountains, with their com- 

 paratively narrow mouths, offer extraordinary- 

 opportunities for accomplishiug such a work 

 at a small expense, although we think the 

 practical value of such a system of reservoirs 

 could only be determined by actual trial. 



In the matter of the use of galvanized iron 

 water-pipes or reservoirs, the Science News 

 has always taken the ground that it was a 

 practice attended with danger to health, on 

 account of the action of water upon the zinc 

 coating, forming soluble and poisonous salts. 

 Certain cases have come to our own knowl- 

 edge where sickness and even death have 

 undoubtedly occurred from this cause. These 

 views have not been ver3- generally accepted ; 

 and the Massacluisetts State Board of Health, 

 in one of its reports (No. 5), takes the 

 ground that the use of these pipes is unat- 

 tended with danger, although it admits that 

 zinc is acted upon by ordinary drinking-water, 

 and that water allowed to stand in reservoirs, 

 or drawn through pipes of zinc or galvanized 

 iron, usually contains an appreciable amount 

 of zinc, more or less, according to various 

 influences. The points in favor of galvanized 

 iron are all well brought out in an article in 

 the current number of the Manufacturer and 

 Builder: and although we have the highest 

 respect for the opitiions of its distinguished 

 editor, we must submit that a single case of 

 poisoning from tliis cause is of more value 

 than any amount of negative evidence ; and 

 although we do not believe that its evil effects 

 appear in ever3- case, 3-et we cannot admit that 

 galvanized iron is a perfect!}' safe material to 

 be brought into contact with drinking-water 

 or other articles of alimentation. We also 

 notice that the Paris Council of Hygiene has 

 prohibited the use of the metal for such pur- 

 poses, for the reasons mentioned above. 



The experiments of Ramsaj' upon the mo- 

 lecular formula of nitric peroxide, which has 

 usuallj' been written NO.^, seem to show that 

 the true formula is N.^O^. The method used 

 was that suggested bj' Raoult, and depends 

 upon the principle that the melting-point of 

 glacial acetic acid is lowered by the addition 

 of a dissolved solid or liquid, proportionally 

 to the absolute amount of the substance 

 dissolved, and inversely proportionally' to its 

 molecular weight. The molecular weiglit of 

 several of the oxides of nitrogen is quite 

 uncertain, owing to the anomalous results 

 obtained by the determinations of their vapor 

 densit}' ; and the above-mentioned experi- 

 ments will be of great service in helping to 

 solve a difTicult problem. 



During the past summer the streets of this 

 city have been in a state of constant upheaval, 

 owing to the laying of pipes for the purpose 

 of furnishing steam heat and power from a 

 central station. In this system no steam is 

 sent througli the pipes ; but, instead, super- 

 heated water is used at a temperature of 440° 

 F., corresponding to a pressure of 400 pounds 

 to tlie square inch. B}- this means much 

 smaller pipes maj' be used, the water expand- 

 ing into steam as soon as the pressure is re- 

 duced, either in the radiator or the cylinder 

 of the engine. The mains are about four 

 inches in diameter, and it is claimed that a 

 service-pipe the size of a pencil will supply 

 steam enough to heat a large building. The 

 results of the accidental explosion of one of 

 these pipes in the street are not pleasant to 

 think of. In wet weather a column of steam 

 ascends from the heated iron manhole covers 

 at the street corners, giving to a stranger the 

 impression of a miniature volcano ; and the 

 sudden bursting of one of the mains would 

 undoubtedly reproduce the accompanying 

 eruptive and earthquake phenomena in a most 

 unpleasantly realistic manner. 



The following strange story was related to 

 us by the mate of a merchant-vessel, person- 

 ally known by us to be a gentleman of the 

 highest character and reliabilit}', and may be 

 of interest to students of psj'chologj'. While 

 his ship was loading at Calcutta, he accepted 

 the invitation of a native to visit his homo. 

 The native was a pedler of the lowest class, 

 and previously unknown to the officer. On ar- 

 riving at the hovel of the Hindu, he introduced 

 his father, an emaciated old man of great age, 

 but with piercingly brilliant e3-es. After greet- 

 ing the young American, in a few minutes he 

 commanded him to look into the palm of his 

 hand. Although at first unwilling to comply 

 with the request, he felt himself constrained 

 to do so, and, on looking down, saw before 

 him in his hand a perfect vision of a room 

 in his distant New-England home, with the 

 different members of the family seated around 

 a table. Although a man of iron nerves, our 

 friend confessed that it was some time before 

 he recovered his equanimitj-. We forbear to 

 comment on this incident, only remarking that 

 it seems better authenticated than most similar 

 stories. 



The Parisian weekly journal La Nature, to 

 which we are frequently indebted for the use 

 of its engravings, is one of the best jour- 

 nals of popular science pul)lished, and in the 

 character and quality of its illustrations stands 

 alone in its class. We are glad to make a 

 favorable mention of our contemporary, al- 

 though not solicited to do so, and can cordially 

 recommend it to the attention of such of our 

 readers as are somewhat familiar with the 

 French language. The price, including post- 

 age, is $5.25 per year, or SG.OO with the 

 Science News, and subscriptions will be re- 

 ceived at and forwarded from this office. 



[Specially reported for the Popular Science Neva.] 



THE CLEVELAND MEETING OF THE 

 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 



The thirty-seventh meeting of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science was 

 held at Cleveland in the month of August last; 

 and although the attendance was not quite equal 

 to some of the previous meetings, it was an occa- 

 sion of great interest and pleasure, and the major- 

 ity of the papers read were of much importance 

 and value. The sessions were held in the high- 

 school building, which was most excellently 

 adapted for the purpose; and the local committee, 

 and citizens of Cleveland generally, exerted them- 

 selves most successfully for the comfort and enter- 

 tainment of their visitors. 



At the opening exercises the members were wel- 

 comed to Cleveland by Dr. Cady Staley of the 

 local committee, to which President J. W. Powell 

 replied in fitting terms. In the afternoon the 

 different sections organized, and were addressed 

 by their respective vice-presidents. The section 

 of anthropology is always one of the most attrac- 

 tive to the general public, as was shown by the 

 large audience which listened to Dr. C. C. Abbot's 

 address on the antiquity of man in America. 

 Beginning with reference to the recent decision of 

 an ecclesiastical body, that man, perfect in all his 

 parts, had been created de novo from the dust, he 

 spoke of the greater antiquity of the men of the 

 Pacific over those of the Atlantic coast. The 

 actual geological age in which man first appeared 

 is very doubtfid. Miocene man is extremely prob- 

 lematical, and even pliocene man is a question 

 still unsettled. We are certain, however, that 

 man lived on the American continent in the inter- 

 glacial period, and, at the time of the melting 

 glaciers, undoubtedly followed the ice-sheet as it 

 retreated towards the north. The actual date of 

 the final close of the glacial period is now con- 

 sidered more modern than formerly. Taking the 

 most moderate estimate of six thousand years, we 

 must allow from eighteen thousand to sixty thou- 

 sand years for the time between the first and 

 second glaci.al epochs, and, in addition, the long 

 stretch of time during which the second epoch of 

 cold continued, thus giving the ai-chieologist all 

 the time he needs for the long train of human 

 activities that have transpired during prehis- 

 toric time. Dr. Abbot described the implements 

 of indurated argillite, or clay rock, found near 

 Trenton, N.J., which he considered to be dis- 

 tinctly palaiolithic in type.. The fate of these 

 palaeolithic men is uncertain, but the theory that 

 they survive in the modern Esquimaux is hardly 

 tenable. They were undoubtedly displaced by the 

 immigration of the modern Indian races, — them- 

 selves of great antiquity, for it is believed that the 

 progenitors of the Indians were coeval with the 

 mastodon, an animal which has been extinct for 

 many hundreds if not thousands of years. 



