OcroBER 5, 18*?.] 



SCIENCE. 



471 



to a less extent, of maples; but the oak, ash, poplar, 

 and pine stand sturdily erect. I believe the leaning 

 of the elastic-fibred elms is due to the prevailing 

 winds, which are from the west and north-west, 

 these winds being also the strongest and coldest. At 

 the office of the U. S. signal-service in Boston, obser- 

 vations are taken three times a day. In 1SS2, out of 

 1,095 observations taken, 2U8 showed the wind to be 

 ill the west, and 225 showed it to be in the north- 

 west: in other words, about half (or forty-seven per 

 cent) of the observations showed the wind to be 

 somewhere between west and north-west. For the 

 other five years the record is as follows : — 



So much for the prevailing direction of the wind. 

 There seems to be no otlier cause than this, to wliicli 

 we can assign the phenomenon of growth in ques- 

 tion. All the many exceptions to tlie rule are to 

 be explained, doubtless, by local causes, — shelter, 

 neighborhood of other trees, and other more occult 

 conditions of fibre. The works on forestry and bot- 

 any seem not to notice the fact of asymmetry in tree- 

 growth. It is only a repetition, on a larger scale, of 

 the graceful deviation from monotonous symmetry 

 which characterizes all leaf and branch structure. 



W. S. Kennedy. 



Importance of lime-juice in the pemmican for 

 arctic expeditions. 



The recent failure to relieve the party under Lieut. 

 A. W. Greely at Lady Franklin Bay leads us to 

 recur to the repeated difficulties which have marked 

 the history of former arctic expeditions. We have 

 re-examined the accounts of the English expedition 

 of the Alert and the Discovery, under Xares and Ste- 

 phenson, which left England, May 29, 1875. It was 

 the first English arctic expedition which had orders 

 to endeavor to reach the North Pole. It had the 

 advantage of the advice of experienced arctic navi- 

 gators, its commander Nares having been a member 

 of several such expeditions. 



Thus it surprises tlie reader, that more thorough 

 precautions were not made against the scur\-y. The 

 Londim quarterly review for January, 1877, has the 

 fullest account of the ravages committed by that dis- 

 ease Willi the sledge-parties sent out by Nares. Of 

 the sledge-party under Commander Parr it says, — 



** Of scvrruOL'n of llic finest men of the navy, who composed 

 the original p.'trty, luit live were (on return) able to walk along- 

 side. One wan dead, and the remainder in the last extremity of 

 lllneM." 



It gives a minute account of the prostration by 

 scurvy of the two other sledge-parties, — one under 

 Commander Beaumont, and one under Commander 

 Aldrich. Concerning tlie latter, the Review says, — 



*'To quote from the journal of Commander Aldrich, who led 

 the western division, would be to repeat the same dreadful de- 

 tails. The parly broke down, ond were supported by the same 

 pluck, and brought back alive — that is all one can say — by the 

 help of Qod and the same determined courage. Surely, nothing 

 finer w:i8 ever recorded than this odvanceof three sledges, — one 

 to Ihe north, another 10 the east, a third tolhewest, — laden down 

 with sick and dying men, in obedience to an order to do their 

 best, each in their separate direction. It la the old story, — too 

 common in English annals, — the organization broke down, and 

 individual heroism stepped In to save the honor of the day. But 

 at what a cost! " 



All this was because the parties had no lime-juice. 

 And Capt. Xiires. " with a chivalry and candor wliich 

 do him honor, whether he has failed in judgment or 

 not, declared that such was the fact, and that the 

 omission was made by bis orders and on his respon- 

 sibility." He said, — 



" Acting on my lights and experience at the time, T followed 

 the example of such men as M'C'linlock, Richards, Michan, and 

 McClure, of the InvesUgator, and started ofl'our sledges with as 

 nearly as possible the same rations as had proved fairly success- 

 ful on all previous occasions ; that is, without lime-juice for issue 

 as a ration, a small quantity for use as a medicine being carried 

 by the sledges, which were not expected to be able to obtain 

 game. . . . I'p to the middle of May the lime-juice remains as 

 ck. Xo sledge-party employed in the arctic regio 



in the cold month of April has ever been able to issue a regular 

 ration of lime-juice. In addition to the extra weight to be 

 dragged, that its carriage would entail, there is the even more 



He added, — 



" Of course, hereafter, lime-juice in some shape or other must 

 be carried in all sledging journeys; and we eornestly trust that 

 nome mfans tcil/ be found to make it tn ti toztuge, for, as a fluid, 

 there is, and will always be, extreme diHicutty in using it in cold 

 weather, unless arctic travelling is considerably curtailed-" 



Tlie Quarterly/ review, in quoting these manly re- 

 marks of Capt. Nares at Guildhall, says, — 



" Even if it should be found that Sir George failed in judg- 

 ment in this matter, be has in our opinion shown the iiner form 

 of fitness for command, in his rendiucss to assume the responsi- 

 bility of his acts." 



His frankness and m.anliness in assuming the 

 whole blame to himself have evidently, in great meas- 

 ure, disarmed criticism. 



But this brings us to the main object in this letter; 

 and that is, to recur to the remedies which this story- 

 has suggested. If lozenges of lime-juice in a shape 

 for arctic exploration have not been manufactured, 

 they certainly can at least now be found at the drug- 

 gists in a shape to be used as troches for colds. 



But the efficient remedy is to have pemmican made 

 which is permeated with lime-juice, as recommended 

 in the ' Keport of the surgeon-general of the navy for 

 1880' (see p. 356). Gen. P. S. Wales said,— 



"The indlspensahle necessity of lime-juice in the sledging- 

 parties, and the difficulties of carrying it, and preparing it for 

 use, induced me to suggest the propriety of combining the juice 

 and pemmican in the proportion of one ounce to tlie pound of 

 the latter. The pemmican is greatly improved in laste and 

 flavor, and will, I believe, be more assimilable. This is an 

 important modification, as there are persons who cannot eat the 

 ordinary article." 



The article was prepared as proposed, and tried in 

 Washington, and pronounced to be very palatable. 



Gen. George II. Thomas, in preparing for one of 

 his battles, issued a general order, enjoining upon his 

 whole army strict attention to minutiae, saying that 

 " the loss of a battle might be due to one missing 

 linchpin." 



In recurring to this recommendation from the office 

 of the surgeon-general of the navy, we have thought 

 that it may be considered opportune, when the minds 

 of many are now turned upon the arctic expeditions. 

 We think that recommendation was followed, so far 

 as the preparations of the Jeannette and the Kodgers 

 were concerned ; but, alas! they never "got so far as 

 to turn their attention to fittingout explorations with 

 sledge-parties. Benjamin Alvokd. 



Rensselaeria from the Hamilton group of Pena- 

 sylvcinia. 

 Will you kindly afford me a small space to correct 

 an error in your rejiort of the discussion which fol- 

 lowed Ihe reading of my paper at Minneapolis? On 

 p. 327 of your issue for Sept. 7 occur the following 

 sentences: — 



