AcausT 31, 18S3.] 



SCIENCE. 



267 



The former figure is in some respects better than 

 Score-by's. as to form ami proponiniis; but a most 

 singular trcalinent lias eviilcntly bi-en accnrilrd it. 

 Tlie elemenls of the figure have been Iransposeil, and 

 the belly inaJe to .-erve the purpo-e of back, and vice 

 versa. It is evident lliat the fisjiire was copied from 

 a real model, a» the baleen is shown correctly, though 

 it projects ill one place outside tlie moutli. 



The remaining point relates lo the authorship of 

 the volume on whales in tlie 'Naturalists' library.' 

 The portion of the titlepage of our edition relating 

 lo this point reads as follows: "Slammalia — whales, 

 etc. By Rubt. Hamilton, Esq., M.I)., F.K.S.E., etc." 



We now desire to ask our critic how much remains 

 to justify the serious charges which lie lias caused to 

 be distributed wide-cast over the scieulitic world, to 

 more or less inevitable damage to institution and 

 person. J. B. Holdeu. 



If Dr. Holder is satisfied with the w.iy he has met 

 ' the serious charges,' 1 am quite willing to here rest 

 the matter; faihng, as I do, to see that any of them 

 are materially vitiated by his defence, while, amid llie 

 obscurity of much irrelevant matter, all of the more 

 important ones are virtually conceded. 



In regard to the authorship of the volume on whales 

 in the ' Naturalists' library,' not only have I, as I have 

 said before, e.'iaiiiiiied anonymous copies of the oii- 

 ginal edition, and found it given as anonymous in 

 bibliographies, but have seen it atiributed by contem- 

 porary British cetologists to .Jardiiie. The discovery, 

 however, of a copy by Dr. Holder, having Hamilton's 

 name as author on tlie titlepage, of conise settles the 

 question. ' J. A. Allicn. 



Achenial hairs of Senecio. 

 Sir. Jos. F. James does not know of any expla' 

 nation of the use of the threads which are projected 

 from the hairs on the achenia of most species of Sene- 

 cio. etc. Before calling on Science to help him, he 

 might read np his te.\t-books, say Gray's Structural 

 botany, p. 3UU. Botaniculus. 



Kalmia or rhododendron. 



In reply to Dr. Abbott, in SctKNCE for Aug. 17, I 

 will call his attention to the fact that the woods of the 

 kaliuia and the rhododendron are quite distinct in 

 appearance, and are not likely to be mistaken the one 

 for the other. Tlie kaliuia wood is frequently found 

 in commerce, in the form of handles for tools, such as 

 chisels and the like. The wood is of a very liglit pink, 

 with darker streaks through it resembling cells tilled 

 with woody fibre. 



The rhododendron wood is destitute of such mark- 

 ing. As to size, I have seen plenty of the kalmia, 

 four and five incites through the butt, in the moun- 

 tains of Virginia; and have had in my possession 

 sticks, large enough for any such purpose as the 

 Doctor names, from eastern Pennsylvania. The rho- 

 dodendron is an extremely rare plant in Chester and 

 Delaware counties, Penn., but the kalmia is common. 



S. P. Shauples. 

 Boston, Aug. 22. 



THE SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL 

 ENGINEEUS. 

 Transaclions of the American society of mechanical 

 engineers. Vol. iii. New York, 1882. 350 p. 

 illustr. 8°. 



This third volume of the transactions of the 

 youngest of the three great societies of engi- 

 neers in the United States is a well-piiuted large 



octavo of over three hundred pages. It con- 

 tains a list of the otliccrs and members of the 

 societ\', its rules, the |)i'oceediiigs of the I'hiia- 

 delpliia meeting of 1S.S2, tiiid the proceedings 

 at a memorial session in lemeinbranee of Dr. 

 A. L. Ilolley, a distinguisiied engineer and a 

 founder of the society. The proceedings at 

 the latter meeting consisted of an introduc- 

 tory address by [jresident U. H. Thurston, in 

 eulogy of the deceased, and a formal tribute 

 to bis memory b_v Mr. J. C- Bayles, the ora- 

 tor appointed by a coininillce for llie occasion. 

 Many members, as well as the ap|)oinled ora- 

 tors, paid earnest and eloquent tribute to the 

 great engineer. 



Among the more general!}- interesting and 

 ituportant pa|)ers, are liiose of Professor Egles- 

 ton, on the appointment of a government com- 

 mission to test iron, steel, and other metals; 

 G. W. Bond, on the I'ratt & Whitney 'stand- 

 ard gauge system ; ' Professor Robinson, on the 

 thermodynamics of the; Worlhiiigton piiinping- 

 eiigine ; an essay on the [irogress of engineer- 

 ing science from 1M2 t to 1882, by Mr. Fraley 

 of the Franklin institute ; the windmill as a 

 prime motor, by Mr. Wolff; and a long paper 

 on the several etticiencies of the steam-engine, 

 by Professor \l. II. Thurston. 



Professor Egleston gives a historj' of a 

 movement among the engineers and scientific 

 and business men of.tlie cotintrj-, to secin'e the 

 establishment of a permanent commission to 

 detertuine, b}' direct investigation, the absolute 

 and relative values of constructive materials in 

 the United States. Under the lead of the So- 

 ciety of civil engineers, such a commission was 

 demanded by a very large number of the lead- 

 ing men of the country, and was created b}' act 

 of Congress in the year 1875. It consisted of 

 Col. Laidley, Gen. Gilmore, Com. Bcardslec, 

 Chief-engineer Smith, Ur. A. L. Holle}% and 

 Professor Thurston, the latter acting as secre- 

 tary. This commission, in the course of two 

 years, working amidst many discouragements, 

 did an enormotis ainoiiiit of work ; the results 

 of which are published in a report consisting 

 of two large and fully illustrated volumes re- 

 cently issued from the government press. The 

 commission was not well sustained. Congress 

 refused to continue its a|)propriations ; and it 

 ceased to exist, despite the protest of all the 

 leading technical societies, polytechnic schools, 

 the principal colleges, and such assoejations as 

 that of the iron and steel makers, 'riie effort 

 is now making, to revive this commission, and 

 to secure the contiiuiance of its work. The 

 publication of the enormous mass of informa- 

 tion acquired by the board during the period of 



