January 13, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



73 



that, contrary to the general rule, northern 

 Europeans have succeeded there better than 

 southern Europeans. Italian laborers on the 

 railroad are reported as having suffered more 

 from the climate than many Scandinavians em- 

 ployed on the river. It must be remembered, 

 however, that, of the two occupations, railroad 

 construction and steamboat service, the latter 

 is usually far more healthy, especially in a 

 tropical climate, aud a higher disease and death 

 rate are naturally to be expected among per- 

 sons engaged in the former occupation. 



A NEW MOUNTAIN ANEROID BAROMETER. 



Whymper, in the London 2'imes of December 

 17, 1898, describes a new mountain aneroid 

 which gives results of astonishing accuracy. 

 The ordinary aneroid is well known as being a 

 •^ery inaccurate instrument at high altitudes. 

 In Appendix C ('Comparisons of the Aneroid 

 against the Mercurial Barometer'), in his ' Trav- 

 els amongst the Great Andes of the Equator,' 

 Whymper himself says that " with aneroids of 

 the present construction it is unlikely that de- 

 cent approximations to the truth will be ob- 

 tained at low pressures, even when employing 

 a large number of instruments." The errors 

 in Whymper's whole sei'ies of observations 

 amounted in the worst cases to as much as two 

 inches, as compared with the mercurial barom- 

 eter. The new barometer is the invention of 

 Col. H. Watkin, C.B., Chief Inspector of Po- 

 sition-Finding in the (British) War Department. 

 It is so constructed that it can be thrown out 

 of action when not in use, and put in action 

 when required. When out of action no varia- 

 tions in atmospheric pressure, however large, 

 produce any effect on it. This adjustment is 

 effected by having the lower portion of the 

 vacuum box so arranged that it can rise, instead 

 of having it fixed, as is usually the case. A 

 screw arrangement is attached to the lower 

 portion of the vacuum chamber, and under 

 ordinary conditions this screw is released and 

 the chamber put out of strain. When a reading 

 is to be made, the screw is turned as far as it 

 will go, thus bringing the instrument into the 

 normal condition in which it was graduated. 

 Whymper has made a large number of readings 

 with the new aneroid and finds the error, in 



the mean of 65 observations, below dzO.O in. 

 He feels confident that, "in the hand of those 

 who will give the requisite attention, extra- 

 ordinary results may be obtained fjom Watkin's 

 Mountain Aneroid in observations made for 

 altitude and in determining differences of 

 level." The instrument is made by J. J. Hicks, 

 8 Hatton Garden, London. 



E. DeC. Ward. 

 Haevaed Univeesity. 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



THE NEW YOKK ZOOLOGICAL PAE.K. 



Bulletin 3 of the New York Zoological 

 Society bears testimony to the rapid progress 

 that has been made since July 1, 1898, as may 

 be seen by the following statement of work 

 completed up to December 1, 1898. The Elk 

 House has been practically finished. The Bird 

 House is ready to receive its roof. The founda- 

 tion walls of the Reptile House have been com- 

 pleted, and the steel floor-beams put in place. 

 All excavating for the first series of Bear 

 Dens has been completed, also all plumbing for 

 drainage and water-supply. The brick walls 

 of the bathing-pools have been built, and stone 

 walls to carry the iron work. The excavation 

 of ponds for the Ducks' Aviary and the con- 

 struction of three islands have been completed. 

 On the south island twelve enclosures have 

 been laid out, with suitable shelter-houses, and 

 about one hundred native shrubs have been 

 planted. A stone wall, going down to bed rock, 

 has been constructed around the Prairie Dogs' 

 Knoll (eighty feet in diameter), and capped 

 with cut stone. Excavations have been made 

 for the walls and stone work of eight Wolf 

 and Fox Dens, and the walls have been laid 

 ready for the cage work. One sleeping den 

 for wolves has been constructed. About five 

 hundred cubic yards of sandy earth has been 

 hauled to the Pheasant's Aviary, to make dry 

 ground for the runways. This was removed by 

 necessity from the Bear Dens, at no cost to Ihe 

 Aviary. The excavation for the Beaver Pond 

 has been completed, and all the grading ne- 

 cessary thereto. The excavation necessary 

 for the Buffalo House has been made. A 

 trench nine hundred and sixty three feet 

 in length, has been dug for the stone walls to 



