May 6, IRsai 



SCIENGJE. 



647 



operative classes of all Spanish and Portuguese 

 expeditions they crowded into the -western 

 hemisphere, and that is one way in which 

 Egypt came to America. Discussed by Pro- 

 fessor W J McGee. 



Dr. Thomas Wilson read a paper entitled 

 ' The Mysterious Chamber and the Magic Key.' 



Mr. Isaac P. Noyes read a paper on ' The 

 Peruvian Mummy.' 



J. H. McCORMICK, 



Secretary. 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 483d meeting of the Society was held at 

 the Cosmos Club at 8 p. m. on April 16th. The 

 first paper of the evening was by Mr. C. C. 

 Yates on ' Personal Equation in Estimating 

 Tenths.' The author stated that attention was 

 first called to this equation by Pierce, in the Coast 

 Survey Report for 1854. It was defined as a 

 persistent deviation from the law of probability 

 applied to the distribution of purely accidental 

 estimates. 



Mr. Yates illustrated this by diagrams rep- 

 resenting equations obtained from readings of 

 chronometers, micrometers, thermometers, lev- 

 els, etc., involving, in all, 38,499 estimated 

 tenths. 



His conclusions from the study were that : 



1. The personal equation in estimating makes 

 its appearance in every species of observations 

 involving an estimate. 



2. It is the result of a defective habit or 

 condition of the observer. 



3. It can be more or less modified when at- 

 tention has been called to it, except in its ele- 

 ments due to fixed conditions, such as astigma- 

 tism of the eye. 



The second paper was by Mr. G. W. Little- 

 hales on ' The Progress of Trans-oceanic Navi- 

 gation in the 18th and 19th Centuries.' 



The address described the extent of the in- 

 fluence of scientific work in the material affairs 

 of mankind by pointing out what the investi- 

 gators in astronomy, meteorology, mathematics, 

 mechanics and physics have done during the 

 last two centuries toward the improvement of 

 navigation and the advancement of commerce 

 on the sea. 



Perhaps the striking progress in trans-oceanic 



navigation which the paper portrayed may best 

 be reflected by these two sentences taken re- 

 spectively from the former and the latter part : 



" Driven by the variable winds — which were 

 the sole motor of ocean commerce and of the 

 fleets of nations in that age — and generally 

 without other implements for navigation than 

 the compass, log and line, it became the first 

 duty of every captain to keep his ship in the 

 company of others having the same general 

 destination and thus to regulate his speed to 

 the progress of the dullest sailor and the most 

 indolent master in the fleet." 



"A modern steamship works against time. 

 Her paying qualities depend upon the celerity 

 with which she can get from port to port, and 

 her captain — generally disregarding the wind 

 and weather upon which all depended in the 

 old days, but mindful of the perils of naviga- 

 tion — chooses that course which offers the least 

 number of miles of travel and upon which, if 

 practicable, he can head his ship for the port of 

 destination as if it were in sight throughout the 

 voyage." 



The third paper was read by Mr. W. H. 

 Dall, in the absence of the author, Mr. Signe 

 Rink. This interesting communication was 

 ' On the Origin of the Eskimo Name for the 

 White Man.' 



E. D. Preston, 



Secretary. 



NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES — SECTION OF 

 BIOLOGY. 



The annual election of sectional oflicers re- 

 sulted in the re-election of Professor E. B. Wil- 

 son and Mr. G. N. Calkins to the offices of Chair- 

 man and Secretary respectively. 



Dr. O. C. Strong reported on a new point on 

 the Innervation of the Lateral Line Organs, 

 and the substance of his paper was as follows : 



The view as to the innervation of the organs 

 of the lateral line system which is upheld by 

 the most recent investigations is that these 

 organs are exclusively innervated by certain 

 special roots, having a common center in the 

 medulla. Certain exceptions have been re- 

 corded, however, which apparently militate 

 against this view. One of these exceptions is 

 the innervation of a certain canal organ by a 



