NovEMUEii :!0, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



725 



zers, etc., ami gives lists of the useful minerals of 

 the United Stales, with localities, anil concludes with 

 extracts from (he new tariff relating to import duties 

 upon chemical products, metals, mineral products, 

 etc. It will therefore^ be seen that the work is of 

 practical value; and this fact is .also indicated by the 

 demand for it, which comes largely from miners and 

 mine-owners, particularly from the west. 



Bulletin no, 2 of the survey is ,ilso by Albert 

 Williams, jun. Its title is, ' Gold and silver conver- 

 sion-tables, giving the coining values of Troy ounces 

 of fine metal, and the weiglits of fine metal repre- 

 sented by given sums of United States money.' It 

 is a pamphlet of eight pages, and is of especial value 

 to assayers and bullion-dealers. 



The third annual report is printed, and waiting 

 for a few of the illustr.-itions. The fourth annual 

 report, with the exception of the inde.v, is in type. 

 Both these reports will probably be issued early dur- 

 ing the forthcoming year. 



Button's 'Tertiary history of the Grand Caiion 

 district, with atlas" (volume ii. of the Monographs of 

 the survey) has been distributed to European institu- 

 tions, anil will now be distributed to American insti- 

 tutions. 



Volume iii. of the Monographs, ' Geology of the 

 Comstock lode and Washoe district,' with atlas, by 

 George F. Becker, is being delivered to the survey 

 by the government printer, and will soon be ready 

 for distribution. 



The Monographs of the survey are not for gr.v 

 tuitous distribution. They can only be distributed 

 through a fair exch.ange for books needed in the 

 library of the survey. Copies over and above the 

 number needed for such exchange are for sale. The 

 price of volume ii, is $10.12, and of volume iii., $11. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



TitosE who are interested in our leading article 

 this week will be pleased to learn, that, in his will, 

 Barrande bequeathed his collections, library, and un- 

 distributed copies of his publications, to the museum 

 at Prague. lie further provided for the continuation 

 of his work by a bequest of ten thousand florins to the 

 museum, which, by its acceptance, pledges itself to 

 fulfil his wishes. Drs. Krejci, Fric, Koriska, Prach- 

 ensky, aiul Bellot were appointed by him a commis- 

 sion to see that his designs are carried out; and Drs. 

 W.aagen and Noviik, well-known paleontologists, des- 

 ignated to execute the work, — the former to com- 

 plete the 'colonies,' gasteropods, and echinoderms; 

 the latter, the bryozoans and corals. 



The museum proposes to establi.-h a Barrande fund 

 for supporting further studies on the Silurian forma- 

 tion of Bohemia; and any gifts that may come from 

 America for that piupose would, we are assured, be 

 deemed particularly valuable. The editor of Science 

 will be pleased to forward to the museum at Prague 

 any contributions th.at Americiu naturalists may 

 desire to make, and to acknowledge the same in these 

 columns. 



— Sir Charles William Siemens died in London, 

 Nov. 20. He w.as born at Leuthe, in Hanover, in 

 182;!. From 1844 he resided in England. In IS.")S he 

 established, with his brother, the firm which h.as be- 

 come famous through the telegr.aph-cables they have 

 made. For ten years (18o:!-Co) Dr. Siemens was 

 engaged on the regenerative gas-furnace, and since 

 that time his methods of manufacturing steel have 

 met with the greatest success. 



— Information has been received from .Sunda Straits, 

 giving details of the hydrographical and topograph-, 

 ical changes due to the great Java earthquake. Tlies© 

 seem to be less extensive than heretofore reported by 

 the press. Commander P. F. Harrington, U.S.N,, 

 reports the bills and trees in the vicinity of St. Nich- 

 olas Point covered with ashes, but otherwise un- 

 changed. The soundings here remain the same. The 

 sea has rushed through the valleys of Thwartw.ay 

 Island, tearing away the vegetation, ami Ie.aving the 

 low land bare; and, from a distance, these breaks in 

 the forest give it the appearance of five islands, but 

 there is no change in the shore-line or soundings. 

 The same is true of Anjei-, where the base of the 

 lighthouse at Fourth Point, and the buoys of the sub- 

 marine cable, are the only nu)numents of that populous 

 town. The plains have been swept by the sea, and 

 show only uprooted palms, and ghastly relics of the 

 inhabitants. Krakatoa volcano appeared active; but 

 on a nearer approach it was found that the appear- 

 ance resulted from ashes, etc., falling down the pre- 

 cipitous cliffs, and carried off by the wind. 



The north-western part of Krakatoa Island has 

 disappeared. The immense mass which is mi.ssin" 

 seems to have formerly been the choked-up crater- 

 and its material h.as probably modified the sea-boltom 

 northward from its place. No bottom could be found 

 in the vacant spot with twenty fathoms of line. Prior 

 to the eruption, Verlaten and Lang islands were cov- 

 ered with verdure. Their contour has been but 

 slightly changed, but they are covered with scoria. 

 A small island has formed eastward from Verlaten. 

 The Polish Ual h<as disappe.ared, and where it stood 

 is more than twenty fathoms water. A new rock 

 about twenty feet in height, has risen in eight fath- 

 oms, near the southern point of Lang Island. The 

 channel south from Bezee Island has been closed to 

 navigation by reefs and islets not yet surveyed. From 

 the northern end of the island a reef extends in a 

 north-westerly direction, apparently connecting with 

 other islands to the westn-ard. 



The whole coast of Java between Second and Fourth 

 points has been swept clean by the sea, but there is 

 no essential change in the shore-line aiul soundings. 

 Ma-'ses of floating pumice are wedged in Lampong 

 Bay, and interrupt communication with Telok Be- 

 tong. The lighthouse at Java Head renuiins undis- 

 turbed, as does that at Flat Point. Other dangers 

 may be developed on a careful survey, but the main 

 gate of the Straits of Sunda seems unimpeded. 



— Mr. W. F. Denning of Bristol, Eng., noting the 

 fact that accounts of large meteors form a Iretiuent 

 subject of correspondence in the columns of scientific 

 journals, but that it is not often the case that the 



