Apbil 20, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



297 



From 1868 the improvement, though well 

 marked, is rather slow. The mean result for 

 the three years, 1879-81. is, — 



Sec. 

 Mean diiierence between daily rates on two consecutive 



days 0.63 



Difference of rate when flat and vertical 1.84 



Sum of the variations in all four positions 8.23 



It would be interesting to know how these 

 numbers compare with the corresponding ones 

 for American watches. But in no other coun- 

 tiy than Switzerland are the public interests so 

 deeply- involved that such data are officially pub- 

 lished. We know that the Waltham watches, 

 and probablj' those of all other American fac- 

 tories, are adjusted with the greatest care, to 

 have, as nearly as possible, the same rate in 

 different positions ; but we do not know how 

 near they approach precision, nor how thej' 

 would stand the test after being a few months 

 outside the factor^'. 



After all, the practical question is not so 

 much how good a watch is it possible to make, 

 as how cheaply can you make a watch of the 

 first class. One has long been able to get as 

 good a watch as could be made from Frodsham 

 or Jurgensen by paying from $300 to ^500 for 

 it. What the world has gained by the revolu- 

 tion is the abilit}' to command a watch equal, 

 or but little inferior, to the best, at less than 

 half the old price. Here seem to lie, at the 

 present time, the best grounds foi- the claim of 

 superiority on the part of the Swiss. I am 

 informed that the best anchor escapement 

 watches, such as those whose performance is 

 given in the preceding table, are sold in gold 

 cases for $120, manufacturer's price: tliis for 

 watches that cannot be exceeded in qualit3^ 

 Can anj' American company do as well as this? 



The Swiss manufacturers have not been slow 

 to avail themselves of the American system of 

 machineiy, but I doubt whether thej' have 

 been able to bring the system to the perfection 

 which it has attained at Waltham. There are 

 two or three great factories on the American 

 plan ; but I have not had an opportunity to 

 visit any of them. Owing to the want of steam 

 and water power, and the habit of having the 

 operatives work at home, only such machineiy 



as each man can manage for himself is availa- 

 ble at the great centres. Such is the case at 

 Locle and Chaux-de-Fouds. That this is a 

 great disadvantage can hardly be doubted. 



A iDoint which the official Swiss tests do not 

 sufficientlj' consider is the isochronism of the 

 balance under changes of pressure. The Swiss 

 follow the American plan of dispensing with 

 the fusee and chain, and winding up the main- 

 spring from the centre. A great advantage is 

 thus gained in simplicity of structure and free- 

 dom from accident ; the frequent breaking of 

 the chain, in former times, having been the 

 greatest source of annoj'ance to the owners of 

 watches. But, if great accuracy of running is 

 aimed at, we now have the disadvantage that 

 the spring acts with greater force when the 

 watch is first wound up, and that the pressure 

 continually diminishes as the watch runs down. 

 The change of rate between day and night 

 thus arising may exceed the variations from 

 all other causes combined. To avoid this diffi- 

 culty, each balance and hair-spring has to 

 be adjusted by repeated trial ; and the perfec- 

 tion of the adjustment should, in all cases, be 

 one of the subjects of any scientific test. This 

 gives rise to an ulterior question, on which I 

 am not quite satisfied. One carries the most 

 perfectly adjusted watch in his pocket for two 

 or three years, and then has to hand it to 

 a watchmaker to be cleaned and oiled. Will 

 the watchmaker be able to put it together 

 again, in perfect adjustment, without spending 

 on it the same time, trouble, and skill which 

 was originally spent by the maker? If this 

 question is to be answered in the negative, it 

 will practically be a waste of labor to perfect 

 the pocket-watch further withotit re-introdu- 

 cing the fusee and chain. But in these times, 

 when eveiy one who wants accurate time can 

 get it without trouble, an error of a few seconds 

 a day in the running of a watch will be a less 

 evil " than the liability to accident from the 

 breaking of the chain. S. N. 



Neuchatel, March 12, 1883. 



THE TAGALS OF LUZON. 

 The present natives of the Philippines are 

 generally believed to be of Malay origin, and 

 to have been carried there from the Pacific 

 islands involuntarily by the monsoons, or pur- 

 posely' bj^ migration. They have the same 

 form," character, and habits, as the more bar- 

 barous branches of the same race, though of 

 more agreeable and manly features. Those 

 of the southern islands look more like Malays 

 than do the Tagals of Luzon, who are more or 



