OCTOBEK 10, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



347 



sounds rather bad ; but " — and he smiled con- 

 fidently and made a large gesture with his 

 open hands — " we'll make something new that 

 you'll have to have." It was a fine confidence, 

 and characteristic of the wonder-worker who 

 had all his life been making " something new." 



Vernon Kellogg 

 National Eeskaech CouNcm, 

 Washington 



the auroral display of september 18 

 On the evening of September 18, shortly 

 after eleven o'clock and continuing until after 

 twelve, there was the most unusual manifesta- 

 tion of aurora borealis at Fargo that we have 

 ever witnessed. It consisted of an intensely 

 luminous band some five degrees in width, ex- 

 tending through the zenith from one horizon 

 to the other. The eastern end was some fif- 

 teen degrees south of east and the western end 

 a corresponding distance north of west. The 

 band was very uniform in width and inten- 

 sity, though somewhat wider and more intense 

 at the zenith. It had the general appearance 

 of an intense shaft of light from a powerful 

 searchlight, except for its direction and posi- 

 tion. At the same time there was a consider- 

 able manifestation of aurora at the north, but 

 between that and the band spoken of there was 

 no illumination. 



"We have never had our attention called to 

 a like phenomenon and we are wondering if it 

 was observed at other points. 



C. B. "Waldron 



AURORAL DISPLAYS AND THE MAGNETIC 

 NEEDLE 



In connection with the auroral displays of 

 August 11 last, mentioned in these columns on 

 August 22, it may 'be of interest to mention 

 the behavior of the magnetic needle at Omaha 

 at the time. The wire chief of the Western 

 Union Telegraph Company called me by tele- 

 phone that morning and said that there was 

 very considerable and unusual trouble with 

 earth currents over the wires between Chicago 

 and Cheyenne as far south as Kansas City. 

 Upon this notification I began to observe the 

 behavior of the magnetic needle. I have two 

 fine needles about 4 inches long, one in a 



transit with a full circle, and the other in a 

 plane table with a range of only 5 degrees on 

 either side of the zero. As the first trembled 

 too much on account of the mechanical vibra- 

 tions of the floor of the room, I confined my 

 attention to the second. I isaw the north end 

 of the needle first creep a few degrees to the 

 west, and then by slow stages advance as far 

 as five degrees to the east. Although I kept 

 myself as motionless as possible, I saw the 

 needle swing violently to the west, the full 

 range of the ease, through an arc, therefore, of 

 more than 10 degrees, so that it rebounded by 

 its impact against the side. This was at about 

 5 P.M., Summer Central Time. 

 ; A double track electric railway ran north 

 and south about 150 feet to the east of the 

 needle. At almost its nearest point there is a 

 ibreak in both trolley lines, serving as a di- 

 vision point between two sections. This meant 

 that the current supplied over the trolley to 

 the cars was suddenly interrupted whenever 

 the cars came to this division point. I 

 .watched the needle very closely at these 

 jnoments to see whether this feature might 

 account for its oscillations, but could not find 

 the least connection. The next day the needle 

 iwas as quiet as if it had been riveted to its 

 case. 



William F. Eigge 



QUOTATIONS 



SCIENCE AND THE PRESS 



Is it possible for the newspaper press to be 

 a useful intermediary between the investigator 

 and the public? Mr. Chester H. Eowell, a 

 well-known American journalist, discussed the 

 question at the recent Pacific meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. Neither here nor in the United 

 States can there be any doubt, as to the ad- 

 vantage of widespread knowledge of the meth- 

 ods, the objects, the results, and the personali- 

 ties of science. Even during the war we 

 suffered much from misapprehension of these. 

 Science was called on to produce, and did 

 produce, magical results as a conjuror pro- 

 duces rabbits from his sleeve. There was no 

 appreciation of the long training, the elaborate 



