636 



SCIENCE. 



IVoL. II., No. 40. 



to the best system that can be devised for overcoming 

 the difficulties of trans-alpine railways rather by add- 

 ing to the powers of the locomotive-engine, and by 

 other mechanical appliances for reducing the cost of 

 traction on steep inclines, which methods are capable 

 of indefinite improvement, than by burying in gigan- 

 tic tunnels enormous sums of unproductive capital, 

 that, when once expended, are irrecoverably lost. 



— We learn from Nature that the electric railway 

 from Portrush to the Giant's Causeway was opened 

 Sept. 28 by Earl Spencer; and among others pres- 

 ent, were Sir William Thomson, Sir William Siemens, 

 and Sir Erederick Brarawell. It is over six miles 

 long, and has cost £45,000. The line, after passing 

 through the priucipal street of Portrush, follows the 

 seaside road, a portion of a footpath six feet broad 

 being reserve! for the railway. The gauge is only 

 three feet; and the gradients are very steep, — in 

 places as much as one in thirty-five; and in parts of 

 its course the curves are sharper than might have 

 been desirable had the route which it takes been 

 chosen by the engineers. The force to work it is 

 generated by a waterfall in the river Bush, with an 

 available head of twenty-four feet, the electric current 

 being conveyed by an underground cable to the end 

 of the tramway. The water-power passing through 

 turbine water-wheels, which utilize the whole force 

 of the fall, is said to amount to ninety liorse., 



— At the meeting of the Engineers' club of Phila- 

 delphia, Oct. 20, Mr. John Haug exhibited and de- 

 scribed very complete sets of drawings for two vessels 

 designed by liim, — the one a tug-boat for the Phila- 

 delphia board of health, and the other a barge for 

 the transportation of freight and passenger cars. Mr. 

 J. H. Harden read a paper, prepared for publication 

 as part of the Report of -the second geological survey 

 of Pennsylvania, relating to the " Early mining opera- 

 tions in Berks and Chester counties, including the 

 present condition of the Jones mine." Prof. L. M. 

 Haupt presented notes on conventional colors for 

 drawing. 



— Before tlie Biological society of Washington, at 

 its meeting, Nov. 2, the communications were: Dr. 

 Oeorge M. Sternberg, U.S.A., Micrococci; Dr. E. 

 M. Schaeffer, Further remarks on manna, with ex- 

 hibition of specimens; Dr. T. H. Bean, Arrested 

 asymmetry in a flounder, with exhibition of epeci.' 

 mens; Professor Lester F. Ward, Mesozoic dicoty- 

 ledons. .., ■ . 



— The autumn meeting of the Society of mechan- 

 ical engineers, which has just closed in New York, 

 has been unusually well attended, and some important 

 lines of discussion have been drawn out. Consider- 

 able interest was shown in the proposed re-appoint- 

 ment of a board to supervise the work with the 

 Watertown testing-machine. 



— The Massachusetts agricultural experiment-sta- 

 tion at the Agricultural college in Amherst, Mass., was 

 established by an act of the legislature approved on 

 the 12th of May, 1SS2. Its management is vested in 

 a board of control, consisting of the governor of the 

 state, two members of the state board of agriculture, 

 two members of the board of trustees of the Massa- 



chusetts agricultural college, one member of the 

 Massachnsetts society for promoting agriculture, and 

 the president of the Massachusetts agricultural col- 

 lege. The present officers of the station are all 

 members of the college faculty, and are Prof. C. A. 

 Goessmann, director and chemist; Prof. M. Miles, 

 superintendent of field and stock experiments; and 

 Prof. S. T. Maynard, superintendent of horticultural 

 experiments, microscopist, and draughtsman. The 

 station proposes to publish monthly bulletins, of 

 which two have already appeared. The first contains 

 an account of the organization of the station, and a 

 general statement of its purposes, and also analyses 

 of ten samjiles of fodders. The second and third 

 bulletins contain analyses of four samples of fodders 

 and of fifty-six of fertilizers and fertilizing materials. 

 — An extended review of the results of the German 

 census of ISSl is given by Ch. Grad in the Bevue 

 scientifique, 1SS3, 10!). 



RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS. 



Bachmann, O. Unsere modcrnen mikroskope iind dereii 

 eammtliclie liilfa- und nc-bin appaiMte fur wissenschaftlicho 

 forschuiigen. Miiiiclien, OA/, viinn;, 1^83. 15+3W p., illuslr. 8". 



Burr, W. II. The olasticitv :uiil iL-sistance of Uie materials 

 of (jngiiR-ei-ing. New York, irHt^;/, ISS:!. 15+T53 p. 8°. 



Campag"ne, E. Les muteores. Rouen, Mcgard, 1883. 189 

 p., illusu-. 8°. 



Denza, F. Lameteorologia e le sue piil rccenti applicazioni. 

 Torino, Speiruni, 18S3. 364 p. 8°. 



Pallet, O. Lesmerspolaires. Rouen, J/ejjrard, 1883. 160 p., 

 illustr. 8^ 



Gerardin, L. Lcs betes, elementa de zoologie tb^orique 

 etappliquee. Paris. J/«.5So;!, 1SS3. 2+418 p., illustr. 18°. 



Landolt, H., and Bornstein, R. rhysikaliscli-chemisclte 

 tabellen. Berlin, Sj>rli<r/ir, lSb3. 13+240 p. 8". 



MacCord, C. W. Kinematics: a treatise on the modifica- 

 tion of motion, as affected bv tile t'nrills and modes of connection 

 of the moving parts of m'acliines: illuslrat.d by diagrams of 

 mecbanicat movements, as practically eunstnicted; for the use 

 of draughtsmen, macliinists, and stiidents of mechanical engi- 

 neering. New York, Wilei/, 1SS3. 9+335 p. 8°. 



Malte-Brun. Lectures geographiques : I'Europe, descrip- 

 tion generale. Limoges. Burbou, 1SS3. 141 p. 12°. 



Olllvler-Beauregard. En Asie, Kachrair et Tibet, etude 

 d'etlinographie ancicnne et raoderne. Paris, .l/atw»«ewue, 1883. 

 144 p. 8°. 



Petit, II. Notes sur I'liabitat des coleopleres de France. 

 Chalons.snr-Marne, J/.(;//«. ISSS. 6l! p. 8°. 



Physik, die, im dirn^U' ilrr v issenscliaft, der kunst und des 

 praktifichen iebi-ns. lied. <_i . Kielis, nnter mitwirkung von J. 

 van Bebber, C. UrMbwinkel, E. llartwig. lief. i. Stuttgart, ^'n*!!, 

 1883. 112 p., illustr. 8°. 



Reusch, H. H. Die fossilien fiihrenden krystnllinischen 

 scldefervon Bergen in Norwegen. Autorisirle deutsche auagabe 

 von R. Baldauf.-Leipzig, .Fx^c/maiin, 1883. 4+134 p., 92iliUBtr., 

 map. 8°. 



Trautvetter, E. R. Incremonta florae phaenogamao ros- 

 sicae. fasc.i. Berlin, /•Wcrf/«Hrffr, 1882. 4+240 p. 8°. 



Tscliermak, Ci. Die mikroskopische beschaffenheit der 

 meteoriten. ei-laiitei-t diiieli pbotograpliische abbildungen. lief. 

 i. StuUgart, .Se/;(iv;,i,,7)«)7, 18S3." 12 p., 8 pi. 4°. 



Van Overbeck de Mail er. Les systSmes d'^vacuation des 

 cauxetimmondieesd'uneville. Paris, i'uj' Were, 1883. 143 p. 8°. 



"Weismann, A. Ueben die ewigkeit des lebens. Freiburg- 

 i.-Br., Mokr, 18S3. 79 p. 4°. 



"Weselsky, v., and Benedikt, U. Dreizig uebungs.auf- 

 gaben als erste anleitnng zur quantitaliven analyse. Wicn, Tre- 

 fiUz ,C- Dcutwke, 1SS3. 41 p., illustr. 8°. 



"Weyr, E. Die elemente der projectivischen geometric, heft 

 i. ; Tbeorie der projectivischen grundgcbilde erster stufe und der 

 quadratiscbeu involutiouen. Wien, BramniUkr, 1883. 9+231 

 p. 8°. 



"Witthaus, R. A. The medical student's manual of chem- 

 istry. New York, Wood, 1883. 3T0 p., illustr. 8°. 



"Wright, E. P. Animal life: being the natural history of 

 animals. New York, C'asscM, [1883.] S+618 p., illustr. 8°. 



