JULV 6, 1SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



13 



tlirough a naval friend, of an officer in the Navy 

 depiirtinent, unofficially, whether any report liail been 

 pnbli-hed. This j;eTitleniaii was kind enouiih to make 

 inquiries, and finally replied that he could not find 

 out that any thing had been printed, but that the log- 

 books were at tlie department On this account I 

 made no further search for printed data: but later, 

 on Commander Bartlett's installation at the Hydro- 

 graphic office, I mentioned it to him, and he had the 

 goodne.-s to search the log-hooks, and to send me 

 copies of all references to the work with wire, con- 

 tained in them, from which my note was compiled. 

 Doubtless other note-books might h;ive been used 

 also. In resjard to the breaking of the wire, it is spe- 

 cifically stated in the log-book liuU it parted 'owing to 

 some of the links catching at times on others,' as the 

 line was jiaid nut in one or two cases, and in others 

 as it was being hauled in. In another instance it 

 parted 'owing to one of the joints catching upon 

 another joint on the reel.' It is nowhere in the 

 original loi/ referred to the heaving of the vessel; and 

 the last entry repeats, ' entirely owing to the short 

 nip of the catch upim the reel.' Having had some 

 experience in sounding in great depths of water with 

 a small sailing-vessel, I have come to the opinion, 

 in which I think most practised hydrographers would 

 concur, that it is impossible that a plumb sound 

 should be obtained from such a vessel under any cir- 

 cumstances likely to occur in actual work. The 

 words ([uoted by Professor Verrill from Walsh's report 

 show that the latter officer deceived himself; for it is 

 evident, that, if the wire ' served as an anchor to keep 

 the vessel steady,' it could not have been plumb; and, 

 even if it appeared to be so at the .surface, what it 

 was below tlie surface no man could state with con- 

 fidence, except that it was not plumb. A steamer 

 may be kept over the wire, and, with wire properly 

 spliced and heavily weighted, a plumb sound can be 

 had, but not otherwise; and it may be confidently 

 said that accurate sounding in deep water dates from 

 the combination of these two factors. I may say, also, 

 that in my note I did not, nor do I now, consider that 

 successful trial of a sounding apparatus has been 

 arrived at, until bottom has been reached, and the 

 signs of it brought up. W.M. H. Dai.l. 



WnsliiiiKton, .June 23, 1SS3. 



False claims. 



It is to be regretted that the pages of a popular 

 magazine of high standing should be made the vehicle 

 of such an advertisement a? appears in the Century 

 for July, entitled 'Cheap food for the million,' re- 

 printed in the publisher's department of t^ciKNCE 

 for June 22. Of the merits or demerits of a new 

 food-pre.servative, of which so many have been 

 brought forward within the last few years, X have 

 nothing to say : the testimony of Prof. S. W. Johnson, 

 oiled in its favor, is certainly entitled to respectful 

 consideration. But I wish to call attention to the 

 claim of the inventor of the new nostrum to public 

 confidence on the ground that he is " a fellow of the 

 Chemical society of London, and also of the Geological 

 society, being elecleil after unusually severe e.iamina- 

 tions. President Huxley, of the latter society, said 

 that 'no American should boast of an election with- 

 out a severe struggle.' In evidence of this prejudice 

 towards Americans, the fact that Professor Humiston 

 was given two hundred and fifty questions (five times 

 the usual number) may be cited. He is now super- 

 intendent of the company's works,"' etc. 



It is not clear what meaning is to be attached to 

 the words put into Huxley's mouth; but it is a well- 

 known fact that neither in the societies named, nor 



any others with which I am acquainted, is there any 

 nxamination whatever required, or are any ques- 

 tions asked. A nomination by three members, one 

 of whom must have personal knowledge of the candi- 

 date, and the payment of fees, are the only conditions 

 necessary to membership of tlie Geological society of 

 London, which has several hundred members upon 

 its lists, including many Americans. In the complete 

 catalogue of all scientific papers published in Europe 

 and America up to lt^77 (Hoy. hoc. cat.) we search in 

 vain for the name of the 'superintendent of the 

 company's works.' It is not creditable to the adver- 

 tisers that the names of illustrious men of science 

 and of learned societies, coupletl with erroneous 

 statements and absurd appeals to national prejudices, 

 should be invoked, even indirectly, to recommend 

 their wares. T. Stehry Hunt. 



Montreal, .June 2.5, 1SS3. 



MACLOSKIE'S ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



Elementary botany, with students' guide to the exami- 

 nation and description of plants. By Gkorgb 

 IMacloskie, D Sc , LL D., profes.sor of natural 

 liistory in the J. G. Green .school of science, 

 Princeton, N J., etc. Xew York, Holt, 1883. 

 370 p. 12°. 



Science is ready to welcome a new text- 

 book, asking only for some particular line of 

 excellence as a warrant of its reason to be. 

 Considering that " this volume aims to supply 

 a readable sketch of botany," and so to treat 

 the subject "as to meet the wants of a large 

 class of readers wlio wi.sh to know something 

 of the fundamental principles and philo.sophi- 

 cal bearings of tlie science without being dis- 

 tracted by technicalities," we think that its read- 

 able character and the coniiiarativel}- sparing 

 use of unnecessary technical terms are among 

 its commendable features. The style is easy, 

 sometimes a little odd in its concatenations, as 

 where "it is said that a monkey first intro- 

 duced tea to the notice of the Chinese ; the 

 English government started its cultivation in 

 Assam, whence tlie best teas now come ; " and 

 ill the following paragraph it becomes even 

 sensational. 



"Their power of increasing in thickness 

 imiiarts to roots their capacity for mischief. 

 Their vigor is somewhat surprising. Tliey 

 make their way tiirougli dense soil, loo.seniiig 

 it so that it becomes soft and spongy. They 

 can split rocks, overturn walls and buildings, 

 stop up sewers, and root up our street-pave- 

 ments. Tiicy eflect more injury to man's 

 handiwork than tempest, fire, and war com- 

 bined. . . . We possess a root hugging an 

 old bottle in irredeemable captivit}'." 



In a well-known passsige at the close of one 

 of his books, Darwin likened the tip of a root 

 to the brain of one of the lower animals ; and 

 brains, we know, are capable of mischief, and 



