486 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 35. 



cheap as danger. Lately, with this object in view, 

 Prof. C. Gardner has perfected an invention through 

 which, by electrical energy and the cheap produc- 

 tion of carbonic acid, applied through a special 

 apparatus, in combination with the necessary acid 

 vapor at the proper temperature, the formation of 

 white lead of the purest color and best quality is 

 rapidly and chea2)ly carried out in closed chambers; 

 the lead resting upon shelves, which are lifted out 

 when converted, and emptied, witliout any dust being 

 raised, into a combination of machinery closed in, 

 from which it comes forth as white paint ground 

 ready for the market, or, if required, as dry powder. 

 In either case the dangerous operations of the 'white 

 bed,' and washing and stoviug, are completely done 

 away with, and no opportunity is given for the dust 

 to enter the air, or touch the persons of the workers. 



— Mr. Gr. Brown Goode, U. S. commissioner to 

 the fisheries exhihition, sailed from London for the 

 United States on the lOtU ult. 



— The summer station of the U. S. fish-commission 

 at Wood's Holl, Mass., will remain open until about 

 the 20lh of this month, at which time the commis- 

 sioner will return to Washington. 



— Dr. E. W. Shufeldt, U.S.A., who was engaged 

 in making collections in Louisiana, has been released 

 from duty on account of ill health. 



— Mr. Robert Eidgway has left his duties at the 

 national museum for the present on account of ill 

 health, and is recruiting in New York. 



— Dr. Charles Rau has iii preparation a mono- 

 graphic work upon prehistoric fishing-implements. 

 It will be published as one of tlie Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions to Itnowledge. 



— Professor Lester F. Ward has returned from the 

 west. He reports having thoroughly explored about 

 seventeen hundred miles of the Missouri River. 



— The very prevalent idea that aniline dyes have 

 poisonous properties has insx>ired the German chem- 

 ist, Dr. Grandhomme, to investigate the subject as 

 illustrated in the coal-tar color-works of Messrs. 

 Lucius and Briining at H6chst-on-the-Main. No- 

 where else could these researches have been con- 

 ducted in so satisfactory a manner, as the HiJchst 

 color-works employ six liundred and seventy-two men 

 in the actual manufacture of the colors, exclusive of 

 their large staff of mechanics and laboratory assist- 

 ants. One regulation piovides that no workman 

 shall enter any other deparlmeut than his own; so 

 that the works offer an excellent field for accurate 

 observation. The following results were obtained by 

 Dr. Grandhomme from personal observation, and the 

 tables of accident and illness keiit in the works. 

 Nitrobenzol is known to be poisonous, yet symptoms 

 of nitrobenzol-poisoning only appeared in the cases 

 of illness reported in that department during four 

 years. Aniline is unquestionably poisonous; yet, out 

 of one hundred and seventy-one cases ol' illness iu 

 that department, only eighteen were due to aniline: 

 none were fatal, and the average duration of the 

 illness was one and one-half days. Magentas made 

 by the arsenic process, and duly purified, are recog- 

 nized as poisons; but the symptoms recorded are 



those produced by arsenic, which, in some inferior 

 magentas, exists in the proportion of even eight per 

 cent. No illness caused by piu'e magenta was re- 

 corded at Hiichst, and aniline no more exists iu the 

 finished magenta than manure exists in wheat. In 

 the department where blue colors were made, only 

 one case of aniline-poisoning was recorded; none iu 

 the violet and green departments. A special disease 

 appeared in the cosine department, causing extreme 

 perspirations from the pores of the hands, but not 

 among the men employed in packing the finished 

 colors. No special disease was noted in the naphthol 

 and alizarine departments. The use of alcohol was 

 found to reduce the power of the conslitution to 

 bear the action of aniline: so no alcoholic drinks were 

 allowed in the Hochst works, and no men addicted to 

 drinking admitted. 



— In Namaqua-land, South Africa, no rain has 

 fallen since Aug. 15, ISSl, and plants, animals, and 

 men are dying of drought and starvation. Wheat 

 and seeds have been sent by the Cape Colony, and a 

 relief committee has been formed. 



— Tillo has determined the total length of naviga- 

 ble rivers in European Russia, which is only 72,000 

 kilometres for that vast territory, a deficiency due to 

 the dryness of the climate. 



RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. 



Bacharach, M. Abrise der geschichte derpotentialtheovie. 

 QoMngen, Vundenbroeck ,& Iliiprec/it,lSS3. 3+78 p. 8°. 



Birnbaum, K. Die pvUfung der naliiungsmittel iind ge- 

 brauehs gegenstiiiide im grosBhurzogtbum Baden und die reeuU 

 tale einiger in der mit dera chemischen Inbor.itorium des poly- 

 tecliniliums in Karlsruhe verbundenen priifungs station ausge- 

 fiihi-tcu untersucbungen. Karlsruhe, Mratin, 1883. 8+119 p., 

 1 pi. 8°. 



Brass, A. Biologiscbe studien. thcil 1. : Die organisation 

 der tbierischen zelle. hefti. Halle, .Sirien, 1883. 8+80 p., 4 pi. 8°. 



Claus, C. Fragment einer monographie des platins und der 

 platiiiametalle, 1865-83. Leipzig, Vans, 1883. 6+92 p. 8°. 



Handwbrterbuch der chemie. Herausgegeben vcn Prof. 

 Dr. Ladenburg unter mifwirkung von Dr. Berend, Dr. Bieder- 

 mann, Prof. Dr. Drechsel, etc. band i. Bieslau, Trewendt, 

 18S3. 8+7r2p.,illu8tr. 8°. 



Hopkins, Louisa Parsons. Handbook of the earth : natural 

 methods in geography. Boston, Zee <£ ^Acpacd, 1883. 78 p. 24°. 



Kaempfer, D. Ueber die messang electrischer kriifte mit- 

 tclst des eleclrif Chen flugrads. (Inaug. diss.) Berlin, Friedlan- 

 di-r, 1S83. 36 p. 8°. 



Lo"57e, O. Ueber die regularen und Poinsot'sclien korper 

 und ihre inbalts beslimmung vcrraittelst determinanten. Miiu- 

 Chen, Riege>;WiZ. 28 p., 1 pi. 8°. 



Merkrual, das verlorene, des winkel-begriffes eine folge der 

 fortschreitendon bewegung auf dem gebiete der geometrlschcn 

 forrnenlehi-e nach wesentlichen ideen und neuen gesichtspunk- 

 ten. Teschcn, Colilla, 1883. 23 p. 8°. , 



Petzoldt, K. Petrographische studier an basaltgcstcincn 

 der Ilhon. (Inaug. diss.) Halle, Tausch, 1883. 48 p. 8°. 



Samuels, E. A. Oar northern .and eastern birds. New 

 Yovk, Wm-t/ungtim,lSS3. 600 p., illustr. 8°. 



Schruitz, F. Die vegetation des meercs. Bonn, Strama, 

 1883. 21 p. 8°. 



Smoke abatement committee, 1832, report of. With re- 

 jjorts of the jurors of the exhibition at South Kensington, and of 

 the testing engineer, to which are added the ollicial reports on 

 the Manchester exhibition. London, Smith, Elder, cfc (Jo., 1883. 

 14+193 p., 76 [)1. 4°. 



Taug-ermann, J. D. Licbt.harmonieundkraft. Eine natur. 

 wissenschaftlieh-philosophische studie. Leipzig, Mutze, 1883. 

 70 p. 8°. 



Tischner, A. The sun changes its position in space, there- 

 fore it cani]ot be regarded as being 'in a condition of rest.' 

 Leipzig, J'ork, 1883. 37 p. 12°. 



