November 10, 1&S3.] 



iSCJENCE. 



()«! 



painting with red lead all points of contact of iron 

 and copper. The height of the statue is 40 m. 

 (150.9 ft.) from base to top of its torch, and 34 ra. 

 (111.5 ft. j to the top of the he.id. The inde.x-fingcr 

 is 2.45 m. (S.04 ft.) long, the eye is 0.05 m. (2.2 ft.) 

 in diameter, and the nose is 1.12 ni. (3.07 ft.) long. 

 .•V dinner of 20 covers has been given in the (runlv 

 of the statue. Tlie total weiglit will be 200,000 

 kilograms (440,000 lbs.). The granite pedestal will 

 he 25 m. (S2 ft.) high, and the cost of the whole not 

 far from 1,200,000 francs ($240,000 nearly). The 

 maximum pressure of tlie wind on the surface of the 

 statue is reckoned at 87,000 kilograms (191,400 lbs.). 



— (ie seiiie c!i-!7, Aug. I.) n. u. T. [357. 



METALLURGY. 

 The basic process at Peine -works, Germany 



— All difficulties at these works are said to have been 

 overcome, and phosphoric pig is being made into 

 Bessemer steel. 



Analyses of the steel vary as follows: — 



1 2 



Manganese 0.47 0.30 



Phosphoru.s 0.00 0.02 



Sulphur 0.00 0.03 



Carbon 0.14 0.09 



The cinder yields the following analysis: — 



Silica 2.45 



Ferric oxide 6.74 



Ferrous oxide 1.5.10 



Manganous oxide 2.75 



Alumina 2.S5 



Lime 40.82 



Magnesia 1.14 



Phosphoric acid 22.23 



Sulphuric acid 0.38 



Sulphur 0.54 



The Ilsede pig used in the above works contains 

 2.5 % to S.l % phosphorus. The wiiUs of the converter 

 stand SO to 95 blows ; the bottoms, 10 to 24 blows. — 

 {Eng. mil), journ., Ju\y li.) R. ii. H. [358 



Copper production of the world. — Messrs. 

 llenry Merton & Co. of London have compiled 

 statistics of production of copper in tons, from which 

 the following figures are selected: — 



46,451 

 171,613 



The figures are claimed to. have been compiled with 

 great care. — {IMd., .July 14.) R. n. R." [359 



AGRICULTURE. 

 Manuiing -with potash salts. — In a large num- 

 ber of experimenis in which potash salts (.sulpliate 



and chloride) were applied in the spring, and within 

 three days of the lime of .sowing, Farsky found the 

 effect to be a decrease of the crop. It is evident, from 

 the author's statements, that the salts were applied iz 

 too large quanlily in the immediate neighborhood of 

 the seed. Experiments with the crude Stassfurt salts 

 gave more favorable results in many cases. Potas- 

 tiuni chloride gave, in most of the trials, belter re- 

 sults than the sulphate, anil fall nuuiuring belter than 

 spring. The effect in the second year was often 

 better than that in the first. — (liiedcrmann's centr.- 

 Wfl/t., xii. 4.^)9.) H. p. A. [360 



Manuring oats. — An extensive series of experi- 

 ments by Beselcr and Miircker gave the following 

 interesting results: — 



Manuring willi phosphoric acid alone produced no 

 notable increase of the total crop or of the grain. 

 Manuring with nitrogen alone, in the fomi of nitrate 

 of soda, gave an increase of crop roughly piopor- 

 tional to the amount of nitrogen applied. With a 

 light manuring of nitrogen, addition of phosphoric 

 acid produced a further increase of crop: with a 

 heavy manuring of nitrogen this was not the case. 



Manuring with phosphoric acid alone did not in- 

 crease the percentage of proleine in the grain. Ma- 

 nuring with nitrogen alone increased the proteine, 

 but diminished the fat. Addition of phosphoric acid 

 to the nitrogenous manure restored the fat to its origi- 

 nal amount, or even raised it above that point. The 

 quality of the grain was best when the total amount 

 of the crop was greatest. In these experimenis the 

 total nitrogen of the crops equalled about fifty-five 

 per cent of the amount applied as manure. — {]l>id., 

 xii. 472.) II. p. \. [361 



GEOLOGY. 

 Synchronism of geological formations. — Pro- 

 fessor A. Heilprin called attention to Prof. Huxley's 

 conclusions, that, 1°, formations exhibiting the same 

 faunal fades may belong to two or more very distinct 

 periods of tlfe geological scale as now recognized, 

 and, conversely, formations whose faunal elements 

 are quite distinct may be absolutely contemporaneous ; 

 and that, 2°, granting this disparity of age between 

 closely related faunas, all evidence as to the uniform- 

 ity of physical condilioiis over the surface of the 

 earth during the same geological period falls to 

 the ground. Prof. Heilprin maintained that it can 

 be readily shown by a logical deduction that the first 

 conclusion is ivlmost certainly erroneous, and that 

 the second derives no confirmation from the supposed 

 facts. If, as is contended, several distinct faunas, 

 or faunas characteristic of distinct geological epochs, 

 may have existed contemporaneously, then evidences 

 of inversion in the onler of deposit ought to be com- 

 mon, or, at any rate, they ought to be indicated 

 somewhere; since it can scarcely be conceived that 

 animals everywhere would have observed the same 

 order or direction in their migrations. Why has it 

 so happened that a fauna cliiiacteristic of a given 

 period has invariitbli/ succeeded one which, when 

 the two are in superposition all over the world (as 

 far as we are aware), indicates precedence increalioii 



