314 
slightest trace oflead. The quantity of tin found 
increased from year to year, as would have been 
inferred from the greater corrosion in the in- 
terior of the can in the older specimens. 
Wirthle concludes that the tin was in the form 
of the basic chlorid, and due to the action of 
the common salt in the meat, though in one in- 
stance the sulfid of tin was found. On the 
other hand tin was found by Cowan in canned 
fruits and tomatoes, and by Weber in canned 
pumpkins. It is greatly to be wished that a 
series of experiments should be carried out 
with a view of determining the effect of tin in 
small quantities upon the human organism, for 
little is known of its physiological action. 
From the amounts which are constantly in- 
gested with canned goods, and seemingly with- 
out injury, it is to be inferred that it has little 
if any deleterious action, but it would be well 
were this established. 
In this connection, Roman and Dellue eall 
attention in the Journal de Pharmacie et de 
Chimie to the presence of zinc in some samples 
of 95 per cent. alcohol examined by them. 
Since similar aleohol showed a reaction for zine 
after being kept in contact with galvanized iron 
scrap for two days, the presence of the zinc in 
alcohol was accounted for by its having been 
kept, as is often the custom, in a galvanized 
iron vessel. 
Vo Ib, Bl, 
THE U. 8S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY. 
THE Naval Appropriation Bill, as passed by 
the Senate, contains the following provisions, 
authorizing the appointment of a board of visi- 
tors to the Naval Observatory and incidentally 
requiring the superintendent to be a line officer 
of the Navy : 
For the expenses of the board of visitors to the 
Naval Observatory, two thousand dollars. There 
shall be appointed by the President from persons not 
officers of the United States a board of six visitors to 
the Naval Observatory, four to be astronomers of high 
professional standing and two to be eminent citizens 
of the United States. Appointments to this board 
shall be made for periods of three years, but provision 
shall be made by initial appointments for shorter 
terms so that two members shall retire in each year. 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. XIII. No. 321. 
_ Members of this board shall serve without compen- 
a 
sation, but the Secretary of the Navy shall pay the 
actual expenses necessarily incurred by members of 
the board in the discharge of such duties as are as- 
signed to them by the Secretary of the Navy or are 
otherwise imposed upon them. ‘The board of visitors 
shall make an annual visitation to the Observatory at 
a date to be determined by the Secretary of the Navy, 
and may make such other visitations not exceeding 
two in number annually by the full board or by a duly 
appointed committee as may be deemed needful or ex- 
pedient by a majority of the board. The board of 
visitors shall report to the Secretary of the Navy at 
least once in each year the result of its examinations 
of the Naval Observatory as respects the condition of 
buildings, instruments, and apparatus, and the effi- 
ciency with which its scientific work is prosecuted. 
The board of visitors shall prepare and submit to the 
Secretary of the Navy regulations prescribing the 
scope of the astronomical and other researches of the 
Observatory and the duties of its staff with reference 
thereto. When an appointment or detail is to be 
made to the office of astronomical director, director of 
the Nautical Almanac, astronomer, or assistant as- 
tronomer, the board of visitors may recommend to the 
Secretary of the Navy a suitable person to fill such 
office, but such recommendation shall be determined 
only by a majority vote of the members present at a 
regularly called meeting of the board held in the city 
of Washington. The Superintendent of the Naval 
Observatory shall be a line officer of the Navy of a 
rank not below that of captain. 
This is what Senator Chandler promised as 
legislation to improve the management of the 
Observatory, but it is not likely to meet with 
the approval of those interested in the efficiency 
A board of visitors of this 
character has but little real power, whereas it 
of the institution. 
would serve as an excuse for any shortcomings 
there may be in the work of the Observatory. 
The board may recommend persons to fill va- 
cancies in the staff, but it is not clear that the 
Secretary of the Navy is under any obligations 
to follow its recommendations. The astron- 
omers apparently remain naval officers and the 
‘These 
provisions make it still more desirable to urge 
superintendent must be a line officer. 
the passage of Senator Morgan’s bill, presented 
in the last issue of this JOURNAL. 
