804 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. UI. No. 74. 



building begun; but delays have been so fre- 

 quent that it is best not to prophesy. 



Nature states that M. Moissou is reported 

 ( Centr. Zeit. fur Opt. u. Mech. xvii. 6 ) to have 

 discovered a substance harder than the diamond 

 in the form of a compound of carbon and boron, 

 produced by heating boracic acid and carbon in 

 an electric furnace at a temperature of 5,000°. 

 This compound is black and not unlike graphite 

 in appearance, and it appears likely to super- 

 sede diamonds for boring rocks, cutting glass 

 and other industrial pvirposes. It will even cut 

 diamonds without diflficulty, and it can be pro- 

 duced in pieces of any required size. 



It is reported that the metric system has been 

 legally introduced into Turkey, and that the 

 Russian Minister of Commerce recommended 

 its consideration at the recent Industrial Con- 

 gress. 



It appears from La Vie Scientifique that ' La 

 society frangaise de physique' has recently held 

 in Paris an exhibition similar to the recent Con- 

 verzatione of the Royal Society and the exhibi- 

 tion of the New York Academy of Sciences. 

 Rontgen photographs, the manufacture of acety- 

 lene, applications of aluminum and other re- 

 cent advances in scientific apparatus were 

 exhibited. 



Natural Science states that a summer meeting 

 of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and 

 Ireland will be held at Oxford on Saturday, 

 July 4th. This Society, which was founded in 

 1887, meets, as a rule, four times a year, three 

 of the meetings being held at the Loudon med- 

 ical schools in rotation, and the other at one of 

 the provincial universities or schools. 



Macmillan & Co. announce ' An Interme- 

 diate Course of Practical Physics,' by Prof. 

 Arthur Schuster, F.R.S., and Dr. C. H. Lees. 



The death is announced of the Abbe Delaney, 

 a missionary in China, who discovered and in- 

 troduced into Europe a large number of unde- 

 scribed species of plants. 



M. Germain See, the eminent French patho- 

 logist, has died at Paris at the age of 77. 



Lieut. Peary will embark from Cape Breton 

 in July, in a steamship under the command of 

 Captain John Bartlett, which will proceed to 



Cape York, where Lieutenent Peary last year 

 discovered a meteorite said to be the largest in 

 the world. If the conditions are favorable he 

 may go further north to his former headquarters 

 on Inglefield Gulf Prof. Ralph S. Tarr with 

 a party from Cornell University will be taken 

 by the steamship to some point in Greenland, 

 where they will remain while the steamship 

 goes further north. 



Db. Washburn writes to the London Times 

 from Constantinople that on Saturday evening, 

 April 18th, at 7 o'clock, as the M. M. steamer 

 Sindh was passing to the south of the island of 

 Cyprus, a brilliant meteor was seen, which ap- 

 peared to burst just over the island. It seemed 

 to be in all respects an exact duplicate of the 

 meteor which was seen at Madrid several 

 months since. It started about 30° from the 

 zenith, took a direction of about 80° from 

 the horizon, and burst when about 20° from 

 the horizon. For 15 minutes, three zigzag lines 

 of silver light marked its course, and the fiery 

 cloud when it burst did not disappear for half 

 an hour. This appeared to be about 2° in 

 diameter, was very brilliant for some minutes, 

 and then slowly faded. The sight was so 

 startling that those who saw the meteor did not 

 notice the sound of the explosion, but several 

 persons noticed the explosion who did not see 

 the meteor. 



The Hydrographic OflBce has issued a chart 

 of the Arctic regions prepared under the direc- 

 tion of Commander C. D. Sigsbee. It extends 

 to about 4° south of the Arctic circle, show- 

 ing the tracts of seventy-six expeditions, and 

 indicating forty-eight explorations of coasts. 



A SUMMER session of the New York State 

 Library School, which will take up the elemen- 

 tary principles of library economj^, will begin 

 on July 7th and last five weeks. 



Sir William Priestley, a well-known phy- 

 sician and writer on medicine, has been elected 

 a member of the British Parliament represent- 

 ing the universities of Edinburgh and St. 

 Andrew. 



The Duke of York has been elected president 

 of the Roj'al Agricultural Society of Great 

 Britain. The Society has received a bequest 

 of $50,000 by the will of the late Mr. E. H. 



