April 13, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



291 



men, bearded, and carrying fire-arms, not Europeans, 

 coming annually to the mouth of the Columbia to pro- 

 cure dye-woods, and occasionally to carry off slaves. 

 M. de Quatrefages revives this narrative with notes 

 and coinments, arriving at the following conclusions : 

 1. Neither when du Pratz was in Louisiana nor when 

 he published his book was there sufficient geographi- 

 cal knowledge to invent the story told by Moncatch- 

 Ape; 2. The voyage was really aecomplislied; 3. Tlie 

 truth of Moncatch-Ap^ relative to waters, productions, 

 inhabitants, etc., renders his story about bearded 

 white men plausible; 4. The agreement of his ac- 

 count of the bearded white men with that of Basil 

 Hall and others, concerning the people of Loo Choo, 

 leads to the presumption tliat they were speaking of 

 the same people; 5. Therefore, anteriorly to the advent 

 of Europeans, tlie mouth of the Columbia was visited 

 by this people. It is best always to allow writers to 

 speak for themselves, and to stand or fall on their 

 own merit. But it does seem that the distinguished 

 anthropologist is grasping at a straw. — (Eev. d'an- 

 throp., (2) iv. 593.) J. w. p. [634 



The report of Professor Baird. — Although all 

 the matter of the Smithsonian annual report has 

 been in the printer's hands a year, the preliminary 

 portion, or report proper, has just appeared, and the 

 volume, or appendix, still drags its slow length along. 



Under the guardianship of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion are to be found several quite distinct enterprises; 

 such as the International scientific exchanges, the 

 Museum of arclieology, the National museum, the 

 Fish commission, and the Bureau of ethnology. A 

 full account of the operations in each of these depart- 

 ments will be found in the report of Professor Baird. 

 Here we shall speak of anthropology only. During 

 the year 1881, Mr. S. T. Walker explored Indian 

 mounds and graves in Florida; Judge J. G. Hender- 

 son of Illinois completed his investigations of the 

 mounds of that state; Mr. S. B. Evans and Mr. F. 

 A. Ober conducted some explorations in Mexico; Mr. 

 L. Guesde of Guadalupe sends a portfolio of beau- 

 tiful water-color sketches of West-Indian polished- 

 stone implements, with descriptions; Mr. Nelson 

 adds to his already splendid collection of Esqui- 

 maux culture-objects. Mention is made of the 

 following publications: Bransford's Antiquities of 

 Nicaragua, the Annual report of 1880, and Vol. 

 xxiii. of the Contributions to knowledge. The work 

 of the ethnological bureau in 1881 included the ex- 

 plorations of Mr. Cushing, Col. Stevenson, Dr. E. 

 Palmer, Mr. W. J. Taylor, Mr. S. T. Walker, Major 

 Powell, Mr. Meudeleff, Mr. J. K. Hillers, Tichke- 

 raatse, and George Tsarofll. — j. w. p. [635 



INTELLIGENCE FROM AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC STATIONS. 



GOVERNMENT OBGANIZATIONS. 



National musenm. 

 Invertebrate fossiln of Brazil. — The museum has 

 received from Museu nacional of Brazil, through Dr. 

 Orville A. Derby, the first set of duplicates of the 

 invertebrate fossils acquired during the recent geo- 

 logical exploration of that country. The collection 

 comprises about seventy species of fossil gasteropods, 

 the greater proportion of which are now being de- 

 scribed for the first time, together with other inverte- 

 brates equally interesting. 



Lectures upon materia medica. — A course of eight 

 . lectures upon materia medica, based upon and illus- 

 trated by the collection in the national museum, will 

 he delivered by Dr. D. Webster Prentiss. The course 

 will open on the 7th of April, and be continued on 

 consecutive Saturdays. Admission will be by ticket. 



Naval bureau of ordnance, 



Gunnery. — A series of experiments has been com- 

 menced at the Naval experimental battery near An- 

 napolis, Md., with the breech-loading steel rifle re- 

 cently completed at the South Boston iron-works. 



With a charge of 25 pounds of powder, and a pro- 

 jectile weighing 68 pounds, a muzzle-velocity of 

 1,996 feet per second has been attained, with a press- 

 ure in the bore of the gun of but 27,000 pounds per 

 square inch. This gun has a calibre of six inches, 

 a bore fifteen feet in length, and is capable of with- 

 standing an internal pressure of 55,000 pounds per 

 square inch. Considering the conditions of cham- 

 ber-space (920 cubic inches), length of bore, and 

 weight of projectile, the results are unsurpassed by 

 any hitherto obtained abroad. — j. M. B. 



Annapolis, March 21. 



Ordnance experiments. — The experiments with the 

 new six-inch rifle have been continued this week by 

 Lieut. Commander W. M. Folger, who is in charge 



of the experimental battery at this place. Yesterday 

 a projectile weighing 68 pounds was discharged with 

 a muzzle velocity of 2,130 feet per second, the charge 

 of powder being 32 pounds, and the pressure 30,720 

 pounds per square inch. Tlie velocity was ascer- 

 tained by means of two Le Boule chronographs work- 

 ing independently, the difference between the results 

 recorded being only a few feet. — J. M. R. 



Annapolis, March 23. 



Department of agriculture. 



Contagious diseases of animals. — The subject of 

 the prevention and cure of contagious diseases of 

 animals has for many years been considered in this 

 country. For a long time, extirpation was resorted to, 

 and with good results ; notably in the work of the com- 

 mission appointed by the state of Massachusetts in 

 1860, which entirely succeeded in freeing that state 

 of pleuro-pneumonia. Of late years, inoculation or 

 vaccination has been employed with such success 

 abroad, by Pasteur, that we are justified in anticipat- 

 ing the most beneficial results from the prosecution 

 of his methods in this country. Pasteur has been en- 

 gaged in efforts to establish some law, through the 

 agency of which such diseases as pleuro-pneumonia, 

 ciSarbon, foot and mouth disease, and otlier diseases 

 of domestic animals, could he controlled and cured. 

 Dr. D. E. Salmon has been pursuing similar experi- 

 ments under the direction of the department, though 

 necessarily in a more limited way, and has met with 

 such success that he has great faith in the result of 

 the more elaborate and extensive experiments which 

 he is about to undertake in the District of Columbia. 

 Commissioner Loring has determined to place at the 

 disposal of Dr. Salmon the necessary land, buildings, 

 animals, and apparatus, to enable him to make the 

 proper microscopical observations, and to carry on 

 any experiments that will tend to establish some eco- 

 nomical method by which our farmers or breeders 

 may control the diseases of their animals. Dr. Sal- 



