160 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 918 



Let F be the given point and AB and CI) the 

 given lines intersecting at a point beyond reach. 



Construction. — Through P draw any line, cutting 

 AB and CD at points e and /; and at some dis- 

 tance from fe, draw hn parallel to fe. Draw fr, 

 at any convenient angle with fe. Take fn equal 

 to hn. Draw Pfci parallel to en^. Lay off nfc equal 

 to iijci. Then Ph is the line sought. If produced, 

 it would pass through the distant intersection of 

 AB and CD. (Proof omitted.) 



Note. — When the given point P is not between 

 the given lines, the above construction still applies. 

 In this case, put / and h on the line furthest 

 from P. 



George Marcgrave, the First Student of American 



Natural Eistory : E. W. Gudger, State Normal 



College, Greensboro. 



George Marcgrave was a member of the 

 Dutch expedition to Brazil under Johann Moritz, 

 Count of Nassau-Siegen, during the first half 

 of the seventeenth century. He assiduously 

 studied the animals and plants of Brazil during 

 the years 1638-1644. In 1648 his drawings and 

 observations under the title ' ' Historic Eerum 

 Naturalium Brasilia?" were published jointly with 

 the "De Medicina Brasiliensi" of William Piso 

 under the general title ' ' Historia Naturalis Bra- 

 silise. ' ' Marcgrave 's part of this work covers 303 

 folio pages, in which he describes 301 plants with 

 200 figures and 367 animals, of which 222 were 

 figured. Of these 668 forms practically all were 

 new to science and probably none of the 422 fig- 

 ured had ever been drawn before. 



Marcgrave knew nothing of the classification of 

 flowers based on stamens and pistils or of fishes by 

 the count of fin rays, but his descriptions are for 

 the times remarkably clear and his drawings suffi- 

 ciently exact for the plant or animal to be unmis- 

 takably recognized. No country in its early ex- 

 ploration has ever had such a great work published 

 on its natural history. 



The full paper will shortly be published in The 

 Popular Science Monthly. 



Capture of Saleigh, N. C, hy the Wharf Eat: 



C. S. Brimlet, Ealeigh. 



Up to March, 1909, the only species of house 

 rat seen by the author in a residence of over 

 twenty-five years was the roof rat (Mus alexan- 

 drinus) ; since then the brown rat or wharf rat 

 (^Mus nonwgicus) has overrun Raleigh, mainly or 

 entirely replacing the former species. 



The full data appear in the current number of 



the Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific So- 

 ciety. 



No abstracts have been received for the follow- 

 ing papers: 



' ' Some Records of Incipient Fern Growth in 

 Carboniferous Time," Collier Cobb, University of 

 North Carolina. 



"The Seedling of the Water Oak," W. C. 

 Coker, University of North Carolina. 



"Notes on Mutation," W. N. Hutt, State De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



' ' The Effect of Temperature on the Contact 

 Resistance of Carbon on Copper," P. H. Daggett, 

 University of North Carolina. 



' ' The Dispensary as a Factor in the Prevention 

 and Cure of Hookworm Disease" (lantern), John 

 W. Ferrell, State Board of Health. 



"The Toxicity of Cotton Seed Meal," W. A. 

 Withers and B. J. Ray, with the cooperation of R. 

 S. Curtis and G. A. Roberts, Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College. 



"The Walden Inversion," Alvin S. Wheeler, 

 University of North Carolina. 



"The Work of the State Laboratory of Hy- 

 giene," Director C. A. Shore, Raleigh. 



' ' Some Reduction Phenomena in Hydroids, ' ' H. 

 V. Wilson, University of North Carolina. 



' ' Some New Questions Concerning Ventilation, ' ' 

 C. W. Edwards, Trinity CoUege. 



' ' The Electrical Resistance of a Flowing Con- 

 ductor, " A. H. Patterson and V. L. Chrisler, Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina. 



' ' The Water Molds of Chapel Hill, N. C, ' ' W. 

 C. Coker, University of North Carolina. 



' ' Further Notes on the Geology of the Carolina 

 Coast Line," Collier Cobb, University of North 

 Carolina. 



' ' Transient Electrical Phenomena and their Re- 

 lations to Modern Problems in Electrical Engi- 

 neering," P. H. Daggett, University of North 

 Carolina. 



"The Toxic Action of Hematin and Bile," W. 

 H. Brown, University of North Carolina. 



"Notes on the Maturing of Bermuda Grass 

 Seed," O. I. Tillman, State Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



' ' Studies of Cottonseed Meal Intoxication as to 

 Pyrophosphorie Acid," W. A. Withers and B. J. 

 Ray, Agricultural and Mechanical College. 



E. W. GUDGEB, 



Secretary 

 State Normal College, 

 Greensboro, N. C, 

 May 13, 1912 



