154 



POPULAR SCIEIsTCE ITEWS. 



[October, 1888. 



Dr. D.. G. Brinton read in this section two inter- 

 esting papers, in one of which he opposed the the- 

 ory that the American Indians are of Asiatic 

 origin, and another in which he supported the 

 idea that they originated from the neolithic races 

 of Europe, who reached this country by way of 

 Great Britain, Iceland, and Greenland, over a 

 tract of land since submerged beneath the sea. 



In the section of chemistry. Professor C. E. Mun- 

 roe reviewed the progress of the science, giving 

 special attention to the idea of the unity of the 

 elements, and their genesis or evolution from one 

 primordial substance, summing up the evidence as 

 follows : — 



" Hence we find for the doctrine of evolution in 

 the domain of chemistry that the tests yield abso- 

 lute results when applied to compound matter ; but 

 the extension of the doctrine to the genesis of the 

 elements is a pure speculation, and bids fair at pres- 

 ent to be as incapable of absolute proof as is the 

 nebular hypothesis." 



The papers read in this section were not, as a 

 rule, of a popular nature ; but Professor W. L. 

 Dudley g^ve an interesting account of the recent 

 fatal accidents at Troy, NY., from the breaking 

 of the pipes conveying water-gas, which contains 

 a large percentage of the poisonous carbonic oxide. 

 Professor Spencer B. Newberry presented a paper 

 upon the safety of commercial oils. He concludes 

 that an oil which gives off explosive vapors at a 

 temperature below 120° F. is unsafe to use in the 

 modern forms of lamps with their large flames and 

 increased heating power, and that the chemical 

 composition of a safe oil is between nonane 

 (CgHjt,) anddecane (CioHj^)- 



One of the most interesting papers in the sec- 

 tion of physics was that by Professor A. A. Michel- 

 son on the use o£ wave-lengths of light as an 

 absolute standard of measurement. It was illus- 

 trated by a machine devised by himself and 

 Professor Morley for accurately measuring these 

 magnitudes; and an apparatus was arranged .so 

 that the interference fringes, by means of which 

 the wave-lengths are first determined, were pro- 

 jected on a screen by a lantern. So delicate is 

 the adjustment, that simply breathing upon the 

 reflectors, or holding the finger near them, is 

 suificient to cause the fringes to chase each other 

 over the screen in a most lively manner. 



The Panama and Nicaragua Canals were dis- 

 cussed in several papers, greatly to the advantage 

 of the latter enterprise. Dr. W. Nelson, who had 

 resided on the isthmus for several years, presented 

 a series of photographs of tlie Panama Canal, 

 showing the present condition of the work, which 

 clearly proved that the completion of the canal 

 is almost an impossibility. As an illustration of 

 the neglect and waste prevailing among the con- 

 tractors, he related that a valuable steam-shovel 

 was thrown from the track by an accident, and, to 

 save the trouble of replacing it, the contractor in 

 charge ordered up a gravel-train, and carefully 

 buried the shovel out of sight. It was not his prop- 

 erty, and it was a useless expense to him to set it 

 on the rails again. The numerous ofiicials of the 

 company have fine residences and high salaries, 

 but do not always escape yellow fever. 



Mr. W. J. Keep read a paper upon the influence 

 of aluminium upon cast-iron, illustrated by a 

 series of test-bars of iron containing more or less 

 of the metal. It was shown that the addition of 

 a fraction of one per cent of aluminium greatly 

 improved the quality of the iron, rendering castings 

 more solid and free from blow-holes, removing the 

 tendency to chill, increasing the strength, elasticity, 

 and fluidity of the iron, and decreasing the amount 

 of shrinkage. The practical value of this discovery 

 is undoubtedly very great. 



The evening meetings were held in the large 

 hall of the building, and were well attended, both 

 by members and the public. Professor S. P. Lang- 

 ley, the retiring President, delivered an address 

 upon the history of the undulatory theory of 

 radiant energy, including light and heat, and a 

 review of the causes which led to its displacement 

 of the emission or corpuscular theory of the earlier 

 philosophers. Professor G. Stanley Hall lectured 

 upon recent advances in psychology, and gave 

 many facts of great interest regarding this com- 

 paratively new science, but, in touching upon the 

 subject of hypnotism, failed to give more than a 

 review of the very doubtful results obtained by the 

 French scientists. A reliable and scientific inves- 

 tigation of the alleged phenomena of hypnotism is 

 greatly to be desired. An eloquent address by 

 Major Powell upon the principle of competition 

 as a factor in human progress, and a lecture by 

 Professor Mendenhall upon Japanese magic mirrors, 

 most pleasantly occupied two other evenings dur- 

 ing the meeting. 



For the numerous social entertainments of the 

 meeting the members are greatly indebted to the 

 citizens of Cleveland. Several receptions were 

 given by the ladies of the city, and some of the 

 most elegant residences on the magnificent Euclid 

 Avenue were thrown open to them. In addition a 

 bountiful luncheon was provided at the high-school 

 building each day of the session, so that the mem- 

 bers were saved the necessity of a hot two miles' 

 ride to the centre of the city. 



A steamboat excursion on Lake Erie to Put-in- 

 Bay was also tendered the Association, and was a 

 most delightful and successful one. The day was 

 perfect, and the water calm. A short stop was 

 made at Kelly's Island, to give an opportunity of 

 inspecting the wonderful glacial scratches which 

 have been found upon a ledge of limestone. The.se 

 scratches are perhaps the finest in the world. The 

 surface of the rock is traversed by great grooves 

 a foot or more in depth and from two to three feet 

 in width. There are al.so innumerable smaller 

 grooves and scratches, and in places the rock is 

 polished till it shines like marble. Nothing can 

 give one so realizing a sense of the power of a 

 glacier as a sight of these markings made by the 

 prehistoric ice-sheet as it moved over the rock, 

 holding in its grasp smaller and harder stones, 

 which, like an immense plane, grooved the deep 

 channels into the softer limestone. 



The principal industry of Put-in-Bay is the 

 manufacture and sale of Catawba wine, and the 

 members of the chemistry section introduced a 

 method of testing known as " gu.statory analysis," 

 which was quickly learned and applied by even 

 the least scientific persons present. The results of 

 the analyses were uniformly favorable. 



The reports of the officers showed that the As- 

 sociation was in a most satisfactory condition, both 

 financially and otherwise. Nearly one hundred 

 and fifty new members were elected; and the As- 

 sociation adjourned, to meet next year at Toronto, 

 with the feeling that they had participated in one 

 of its most enjoyable and successful meetings, and 

 with a high appreciation of the beauty of the city 

 of Cleveland and the hospitality and generosity 

 of its citizens. 



Perfect Rest. — Robinson: Are you off for a 

 trip. Brown ? " 



Brown : " Yes, I'm going to take a four-weeks' 

 run over to London, Paris, and some of the Ger- 

 man capitals." 



Robinson: " Business ? " 



Brown: "No, health. My physician says my 

 system is all run down, and that I need absolute 

 rest." 



[Specially repoited for the Popular Science New9.'\ 



METEOKOLOGY FOR AUGUST, 188S, WITH 

 REVIEW OF THE SUMMER. 



TEMPERATURE. 



The 28th was the coolest day of the last month, 

 with a mean of 58§° ; and the 5th was the warmest, 

 averaging 80^°. The IGth, ITth, and 0th were 

 warm, varying from 76° to 78^°; and the whole 

 month was a full half-degree above the average for 

 the last eighteen Augusts, nearly two-thirds of a 

 degree warmer than the last July, and five-sixths 

 of a degree warmer than June. These three sum- 

 mer months have thus varied only a fraction of a 

 degree from each other, givingan average of 60.11°; 

 August being the warmest of the three. The 

 entire summer was nearly an exact average of the 

 last eighteen; that in 1881 being the coolest, and 

 that in 1870 the warmest, — • a range of 4.48° (see 

 the table). 



SKY. 



The face of the sky in 93 observations gave 49 

 fair, 20 cloudy, 19 overcast, and 5 rainy, — a per- 

 centage of 52 7 fair. The average fair for the last 

 eighteen Augusts has been 62.7, with extremes of 

 50.5, in 1884 and 1885, and 86, in 1876. Only 

 two Augusts have been le.ss fair than the present. 

 The last week or ten days of the month furnished 

 some very fine weather, with beautiful sunsets on 

 the 18th, 20th, and 22d. 



The average percent fair the past summer was 

 54 3, while the average for the last eighteen sum- 

 mers has been 61.55, with extremes of 50, in 1887, 

 and 71.4, in 1876. The present summer was the 

 least fair, with two exceptions (in 1877 and 1887), 

 in eighteen years. 



PRECIPITATION. 



The amount of rainfall the last month was 6.08 

 inches, while the average for the last twenty 

 Augusts has been 4 06, with extremes of only .48 

 in 1883, and 10 03, in 1872. The amount of the 

 present month has been exceeded in August but 

 four times in twenty years. The largest fall atone 

 time, 3.35 inches, came suddenly during the night 

 of the 21st, attended with strong wind, doing .some 

 damage. Over one inch fell on the 6th, and again 

 on the 13th, with smaller quantities on three or 

 four other occasions, giving an abundance for 

 vegetation. The amount since Jan. 1 has been 

 36.39 inches, while the average for this period has 

 been only 31.67; showing an excess thus far of 

 4.72 inches. 



The amount of rain the present summer has 

 been 9.59 inches, while the average for the last 

 twenty summers has been 9.79, with remarkable 

 extremes of only 4.39 inches, in 1883, and 18.13, in 

 1872, — a wide difference for these importantgrow- 

 ing months. 



PRESSURE. 



The average pressure the past month was 

 29 934 inches, with extremes of 29.52, on the 

 22d, and 30.20, on the 11th and 12th, — a range 

 of .68 inch. The average for the last fifteen 

 Augusts has been 29.960, with extremes of 29.868, 

 in 1878, and 30 029, in 1884. The sum of daily 

 variations was 2.60 inches, giving an average daily 



