606 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 89. 



At the same time, seeing he failed to obtain a determi- 

 nation of its position, or to notice any disk or phase, 

 he considers it only right to reserve any conclusion 

 as to the probable nature of the object (Comptes 

 rendus, Sept. 17). Astronomers generally will be dis- 

 posed to believe, with those who observed the eclipse 

 at the same station with M. Trouvelot, that his limits 

 of probable error were, under the peculiar circum- 

 stances, some of which are mentioned in his original 

 report, much larger than he seems disposed to admit, 

 and quite extensive enough to include the star a 

 Arietis, which was not far from the place he assigns, 

 and in magnitude and color corresponds well with 

 his description. 



— The department of entomology, of the New- York 

 state museum of natural history, issues a circular 

 (no. 1) giving directions for ' ai-resting the chinch-bug 

 invasion ' of northern New York, with good figiu'es 

 of the insect enlarged and of natural size. 



— Wood sections and vegetable tissue was the 

 subject discussed by Mr. J. F. Whiteaves at the 

 meeting of the Ottawa microscopical society, Oct. 16. 

 Mr. Whiteaves was elected president, and Dr. E. J. 

 Wicksteed secretary, for the ensuing year. 



— Among the prizes given to American exhibiters 

 at the International fisheries exhibition just closed, at 

 London, gold medals were awarded to G. Brown 

 Goode, for work on ichthyology; D. S. Jordan, for 

 work on ichthyology; Alexander Agassiz, for work 

 on ichthyology; J. E. Hilgard, for optical densimeter; 

 Capt. C. Sigsbee, U.S.N. , for deep-sea sounding ap- 

 paratus; W. L. Bailee, II.S.N., for deep-sea ther- 

 mometer c silver medals to G. Brown Goode, 

 for publications relating to the fisheries; Marshall 

 McDonald, for universal hatching-jar; Lieut. Z. L. 

 Tanner, U S.N., for deep-sea sounding apparatus; 

 W. G. Farlow, for collection of marine algae; J. H. 

 Emerton, for model of squid and octopus; T. H. 

 Bean, for works on ichthyology; Marshall McDonald, 

 for map showing shad fisheries: and diplomas to J. 

 E. Hilgard, f or salinometer ; Capt. C. Sigsbee, U.S.N., 

 for parallel ruler. 



The United States receives 48 gold medals, 18 of 

 which go to the fish-commission, mostly on collective 

 exhibits, 47 silver medals, 29 bronze medals, 24 diplo- 

 mas, and 7 special prizes. Other gold medals are to 

 the national museum, for collective exhibit of fishes; 

 signal-service, for most complete collection of appa- 

 ratus for weather prediction ; and lighthouse board. 



— The French government has just issued a geo- 

 logical map of Algeria in five sheets, scale of 1 : 800,- 

 000, with two explanatory memoirs. This work is 

 only preliminary; and appropriations have been made 

 to organize a geological survey, which will make a 

 careful and detailed geological map, first on the scale 

 of 1:400,000, and then on a larger one, say 1:80,000, 

 or even 1:40,000. The directors are A. Pomel, .J. 

 Pouyanne, and J. Tissot. 



— Col. A. Parnell, E.A., states (Journ. sc, Sep- 

 tember), that, as recorded by official returns, the 

 number of persons killed by thunderbolts in Russia 

 (not including Poland and Finland), in the five years 

 from 1870 to 1874, was 2,270, of whom no less than 



2,161 were dwellers in the country; and that during 

 this period, in the same area, 4,192 fires were occa- 

 sioned by thunderbolts, 4,099 of them being in the 

 country. 



— The speeches of Sir Lyon Playfair and Sir Charles 

 Dilke, during the recent debate in the House of com- 

 mons on the vaccination question, have been pub- 

 lished by Messrs. Jarrold & Sons in pamphlet form, 

 under the title of ' Facts about vaccination.' It is 

 hoped that this little publication may prove a useful 

 antidote to the i>resent mischievous and ignorant 

 agitation against .Tenner's great discovery. The Cloth- 

 workers' company, one of the old London guilds, has 

 devoted a fund at its disposal for the encouragement 

 of research to offering a prize of a thousand pounds 

 for the discovery of a method of procuring lymph 

 that would obviate the present objections. 



— At a recent meeting of the Soci^t^ d' encourage- 

 ment pour r Industrie nationale, M. G. Meyer of 

 Paris submitted specimens of paper specially manu- 

 factured to resist fire. It was stated by him that the 

 papers and documents shown had been for four hours 

 in a retort in a pottery furnace; and it is further af- 

 firmed, that those present were unable to distinguish, 

 either by appearance or texture, the papers so treated 

 from others which had not undergone the ordeal of 

 fire. " From experiments made with a specimen of 

 wall-paper sent us," says a writer in Iron, " we are 

 enabled to say, that, although the appearance of 

 the paper does change, the fire-resisting properties 

 claimed for it are undoubted : the paper certainly 

 does not ignite." The paper can be made of a quality 

 suitable for deeds and other important documents, or 

 of a quality suitable for wall-paper, theatrical deco- 

 rations, or, in fact, for any purpose for which paper 

 is used. Mr. Meyer has also invented an incombus- 

 tible ink and incombustible colors. Artists using 

 those colors may preserve their works to a certain 

 extent. The invention would appear to be of the 

 greatest value to theatrical managers. By using 

 thick cardboard of Mr. Meyer's material, together 

 with his paints, they are able to render their scenery 

 uninflammable. At the same time, for documents of 

 importance, — deeds, wills, and agreements, — the in- 

 vention should come into universal use. 



— The catalogue of the Miller manual labor school 

 was issued recently, bearing date of June, 1SS3. It 

 is a neat pamphlet of some thirty pages, printed by 

 the boys of the school. The school is situated in 

 Albemarle county, Va., and was founded by the late 

 Samuel Miller of Campbell county, who left prop- 

 erty to the value of more than one million of dollars, 

 to be expended in the erection of buildings, and the 

 endowment of a school in which the students are to 

 be instructed in the branches of a ' good, plain, sound, 

 English education,' in ancient and modern languages, 

 and in the useful arts. The school is now in opera- 

 tion, and a considerable number of students are in 

 attendance, who are not only taught, but are fed and 

 clothed, at the expense of the fund, whioli yields an 

 income of sixty or seventy thousand dollars a year. 

 Every student works in the shop, in the printing- 

 office, on the farm, or in the garden. The workshop 



