January 6, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



29 



to men of science, we may be prejudiced, 

 but it does seem tliat ' Mr. Punch ' is always a 

 gentleman, whereas Life is on occasion distinctly 

 vulgar. 



The Eev. J. G. Hagen, of the Georgetown 

 College Observatory, announces that the first 

 series of charts of his Atlas of Variable Stars is 

 nearly printed and will be issued in a few 

 weeks. The cost of engraving and printing 

 the whole Atlas will be about $7,000 and, though 

 one-fpurth of this sum has been given by Bliss 

 Catherine Bruce, it is necessary that one hun- 

 dred subscribers to the entire series be obtained 

 in order that expenses of engraving and print- 

 ing can be guaranteed and its completion se- 

 cm-ed. The present series contains twenty-four 

 charts and is sold to subscribers to the whole 

 series at one Mark per chart. The work is 

 published by Herr. F. L. Dames, of Berlin, but 

 subscriptions may be sent through the Harvard 

 College Observatory or through the George- 

 town College Observatory. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



Terrestrial Magnetism for December, 1898, 

 contains the following articles : ' Eeport of the 

 Permanent Committee on Terrestrial Magnet- 

 ism and Atmospheric Electricity to the Inter- 

 national Meteorological Conference ;' ' The To- 

 ronto Magnetic Observatory,' R. F. Stupart ; 

 ' The Attitude of the Aurora above the Earth's 

 Surface' (concluded), C. Abbe; 'Bigelow's 

 Solar and Terrestrial Magnetism,' reviewed by 

 Arthur Schuster ; ' Notes on the Magnetic 

 Storm of November 21st-22d, and on the Secular 

 Motion of a Free Magnetic Needle,' by L. A. 

 Bauer. Mr. Stupart in his article describes the 

 new Toronto Magnetic Observatory, situated at 

 Agincourt, nine miles northeast of the old and 

 disturbed site. Beginning with March, 1899, the 

 name of the journal is to be changed to Terres- 

 trial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity. It 

 has been found necessary to enlarge the period- 

 ical somewhat, and, in consequence, the sub- 

 scription price has been increased from $2 to 

 $2.50. It will be conducted, as heretofore, by 

 L. A. Bauer and Thomas French, Jr., both of 

 the University of Cincinnati. The editors will 

 be asssisted by Messrs. Eschenhagen (Pots- 



dam), Moureaux (Paris), Littlehales (Washing- 

 ton), Schuster (Manchester), Elster and Geitel 

 (Wolfenbiittel), McAdie (New Orleans), and by 

 an international council consisting of Riicker 

 (England), von Bezold (Germany), Mascart 

 (France), Eykatschew (Russia), Mendenhall and 

 Schott (America). 



The American Journal of Science for January 

 contains the following articles : 



'Thermodynamic Relations of Hydrated Glass,' 

 by C. Barus ; ' Platinum and Iridium in Meteoric 

 Iron,' by J. M. Davison ; 'Studies in the Cyperacefc, ' 

 by T. Holm ; ' Eegnault's Calorie and our Knowl- 

 edge of the Specific Volumes of Steam,' by G. P. 

 Starkweather ; ' Estimation of Boric Acid,' by F. A. 

 Gooch and L. C. Jones ; ' Descriptions of imperfectly 

 known and new Actinians,' with critical notes and 

 other species, II.; by A. E. Verrill ; ' Miueralogical 

 Notes,' by W. F. Hillebrand; 'What is the Loess?' 

 by F. W. Sardesou ; 'Absorption of Gases in a High 

 Vacuum,' by C. C- Hutchius. 



Appleton^s Popular Science Monthly for Janu- 

 ary gives as a frontispiece a portrait of August 

 Kekule and a sketch of his life and contribu- 

 tions to science follows. Among the other arti- 

 cles in the number are ' The Mind's Eye,' by 

 Professor Joseph Jastrow, illustrating the part 

 played by mental processes in visual percep- 

 tion ; an argument by Professor G. T. W. Pat- 

 rick, maintaining that children under ten should 

 not be taught to read and write; and nature 

 study in the Philadelphia Normal School, by 

 Mrs. L. L. W. Wilson. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE NEBRASKA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



The ninth annual meeting of the Nebraska 

 Academy of Sciences was held at Lincoln, No- 

 vember 25 and 26, 1898. 



The address of the retiring President, Dr. 

 H. B. Ward, was upon the ' Fresh-water Bio- 

 logical Stations of the World.' 



These were divided into individual resorts for 

 independent investigation, periodical resorts 

 where groups of scientists go for a portion of 

 the year, and permanent stations where work 

 is carried on throughout the year by resident 

 investigators. The best results can only be ex- 

 pected in the latter class, which are necessarily 

 under government protection. 



