SCIENCE 



Editorial Committee : S. Newcomb, Mathematics ; E. S. Woodward, Mechanics ; E. C. Pickering, 



Astronomy; T. C. Mendknhall, Physics; E. H. Thurston, Engineering; Ira Eemsen, Chemistry; 



J. Le Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. Marsh, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, 



C. Hart Meeriam, Zoology; S. H. Scudder, Entomology; C. E. Bessey, N. L. Brixton, 



Botany; Henry F. Osborn, General Biology; C. S. Minot, Emhryology, Histology; 



H. P. Bowditoh, Physiology; J. S. Billings, Hygiene ; J. McKeen Cattell, 



Psychology; Daniel G. Brinton, J. W. Powell, Anthropology. 



Friday, January 28, 1898. 



CONTENTS: 



Logarithms on the ' Spoils System ' 109 



The U. S. Naval Observatory Ill 



Climatology as Distinguished from Meteorology : 



Milton Whitney 113 



The Age of the Artifact-hearing Sand at Trenton : 



Henry B. Kdmmel 115 



Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology : W. 



F. Ganong 117 



Report of the Committee on Antarctic Exploration : 



H. C. Bdmpds, Angelo Heilprin 121 



Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund: Charles 



Sedgwick Minot 122 



John A. Gano : Cleveland Abbe 123 



Current Notes on Physiography : — 



Transverse Alpine Valleys; Physical Geography of 



New York ; Plateaus, Table-lands and Basins : 



W. M. Davis 124 



Current Notes on Anthropology : — 



The Black Race ; Ethnography of Tunis ; The Chul- 



tunes of Labna: D. G. Brinton 125 



Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H 126 



Scientific Notes and News ; — - 



Siirveys of Forest Reserves : W. F. M. General.. V2.8 



University and Educational News 133 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 



Climatic Contrasts along the Oroya Railway : E. 



DeC. Ward. An Interesting Monstrosity : Edw. 



G. Dexter. Correction: Charles E. Bessey.. 133 

 Scientific Literature: — 



The Marquette Iron-bearing District of Michigan : 

 J. F. Kemp. The Phase Rule ; The Energetics of 

 Chemical Phenomena: Eobert B. Warder. 



The Coloration of Insects 137 



Societies and Academies : — 



3Ieeting of the Ohio State Academy of Sciences: 

 Eaymond Osburn. The Wisconsin Academy of 

 Sciences, Art and Letlers : A. S. FLINT. Philo- 

 sophical Society of Washington : E. D. Preston. 

 Geological Society of Washington : W. F. MoE- 

 sell. The Academy of Science of St. Louis: 



William Trelease 141 



Scientific Journals 144 



Neio Books 144 



LOGARITHMS ON THE 'SPOILS SrSTE3I.' 

 While the President of the United States 

 is considering whether he will follow the 

 advice of the naturalists of the country and 

 appoint as Fish Commissioner a really com- 

 petent man, or accept the recommendation 

 of one of his political friends and select a 

 man who, in the opinion of that friend, 

 knows nothing of the duties of the position, 

 but will 'catch on' if he is given a little time, a 

 good many other people are examining, with 

 no small degree of astonishment, a recent 

 example of the results of managing one of 

 scientific bureaus of the government on the 

 spoils system. 



This bureau has j ust issued its Annual 

 Report, a large quarto volume, and of its 

 720 pages 325— nearly one-half — are given 

 to the publication of a ten-place table of 

 logarithms ! If there never had been a 

 ten-place logarithmic table before this there 

 might be a shadow of an excuse for its pub- 

 lication by the government, but when such 

 tables have been available for more than a 

 hundred years, and can be bought almost 

 anywhere for a small sum, it is difiicult to 

 imagine a reason for the printing of this 

 one. Just what it has cost the government 

 from first to last cannot very well be esti- 



