Junk 8, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



527 



INTELLIGENCE FROM AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC STATIONS. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

 Ohio meteorological bnrean, Columbus, 



Weather report for April. —The mean barometric 

 height for the month of April, which was 30.009 

 inches for the state, was lower than any mean yet 

 reported from this bureau. The maximum of 30.382 

 inches is also lower than that of any previous report. 

 A lower minimum was reported for both January 

 and March ; so that the range is not so great as in 

 previous months, being, in fact, less than any before 

 given. The reports show no unusual atmospheric 

 disturbance during the month. 



In temperature the month was remarkable for the 

 high point reached in many localities. The mean 

 for the month, 48°.l, is above that of any other 

 month included in the reports. A maximum as high 

 as 90° was reached at Oberlin on the 14th; and the 

 minimum for the state, which was 15°, was recorded 

 at the same station on the 3d. Thus the thermo- 

 metric ranse for the state, 75°, is reported from one 

 station. Tbis range is less, however, than any before 

 published. The mean daily range, which was 21°.5, 

 was somewhat greater than that for previous months. 

 The station at the State university, which in Janu- 

 ary reported the minimum daily range, returns the 

 maximum for this month, it being 42°.8. The mini- 

 mum daily range is reported from Wooster, at which 

 station the most uniform temperature for twenty- 

 four hours has been recorded for three months in 

 succession. Notwithstanding the unusually high 

 temperature on certain days of the month, on the 

 whole it was slightly colder than the normal mean 

 for April, which is about 50°. 



In the amount of precipitation, the month fell 

 somewhat below the average for April, which is about 

 3.5 inches. The average number of days on which 

 rain or snow fell was almost exactly the same as in 

 March, but the mean depth of fall was considerably 

 greater. It will be remembered that the rainfall 

 during February was largely in excess of the normal 

 amount; and it will be noticed, that, since that month, 

 less than the usual amount has fallen. 



The prevailing direction of the wind during the 

 month was from the south-west ; and thunder-storms 

 are reported as occurring on the 4th, 5th, 9th, 11th, 

 13th, 19th, 27th, and 28th. 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS. 

 Museum of comparative zoology, Cambridge, Mass. 



Eecent addUions. — The latest additions to the ex- 

 hibition-rooms have been important, among them a 

 fine skeleton of a fin-back whale, measuring over 

 fifty-three feet in length. This skeleton, mounted by 

 Ward, is suspended from the ceiling of the room de- 

 voted to mammals. The four skeletons of Moas, pur- 

 chased for the museum at the Melbourne exhibition, 

 have also arrived. They represent three genera and 

 four species, and are probably, with the exception of 

 those of the museum at Christchurch in New Zealand, 

 the finest specimens discovered by Dr. Haast. The 

 skeleton of Dinornis maximus measures over nine 

 feet in height. It has been placed temporarily in the 

 African room till a proper case can be built for it in 

 the bird-room. 



The series of anthropoid apes purchased from Ward 

 — the orang, chimpanzee, and gorilla — have also been 

 placed on exhibition. The African, Indo-Asiatic, as 

 well as the Australian faunal rooms are now open 



to the public, although there are yet many blank 

 spaces to be occupied. 



The zoological collection is now so far arranged 

 that the public can fairly estimate the advantages of 

 the present distribution of limited exhibitions in 

 comparatively small rooms devoted to special objects, 

 as compared with the usual museum arrangement by 

 which all the collections of an establishment are 

 thrown open to visitors, without any attempt to se- 

 lect the more important or interesting objects, or to 

 arrange them in an instructive manner. 



As soon as the new geological and biological labora- 

 tories of the corner-piece are occupied, probably at 

 the commencement of the next academic year, the 

 same arrangement will be extended to the geological 

 and paleontological collections. 



The stalked crinoids of the Blake expedition. — The 

 preliminary report of Mr. P. H. Carpenter on the 

 stalked crinoids of the Blake {Bull. mits. comp. zool., 

 X. iv. ) shows how greatly our knowledge of these 

 animals has been increased by the recent dredging- 

 expeditions. Not many years ago the specimens of 

 Pentacrinus preserved in all the museums of the 

 world could not have exceeded six or seven. Re- 

 cently a few more specimens of a second species were 

 collected at the Barbadoes; and the late Sir Wyville 

 Thomson and Dr. William B. Carpenter had begun, 

 with the help of this material, an extensive memoir 

 intended to supplement" the paper on Pentacrinus 

 by Johannes Midler. But since the discovery of 

 Ehizocrinus by the younger Sars, a number of genera 

 and species of stalked crinoids have been dredged 

 by the Norwegian, English, and American deep-sea 

 explorers. With the exception of Rhizocrinus, how- 

 ever, none of the species were found in sufficient 

 numbers to enable zoologists to study them by the 

 modern methods. Fortunately the Blake brought 

 back from the Caribbean Sea two species of Pentacri- 

 nus in great numbers, a good supply of Rhizocrinus, 

 and a couple of Holopus, all of which were placed by 

 Mr. Agassiz in the hands of the late Sir Wyville 

 Thomson for study. Since his death, all this mate- 

 rial collected by the Blake has been transferred to 

 Mr. Carpenter, who will incorporate his results in 

 the final report he is preparing on the same subject 

 for the Challenger expedition. 



We may thus expect, judging from the excellent 

 work done by Mr. Carpenter among the crinoids, an 

 exhaustive memoir on this ancient group of crinoids, 

 based upon ample material. Thus far, however, the 

 study of the soft parts does not seem to have been 

 so fruitful of interesting results as had been antici- 

 pated. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The signal-service under Gen. Hazen has issued 

 a bidletin containing several reports, of which the 

 first is that of Mr. W. M. Beebe on the relief expe- 

 dition of 1882 to Lady Franklin Bay. This, as is well 

 known, failed in its object, owing to adverse con- 

 ditions of ice, etc. The second report, by Lieut. J. 

 S. Powell, is on the relief expedition to Point Barrow 

 for the purpose of replenishing provisions, and repla- 

 cing any disabled members of the party. The attempt 

 was also made to determine the astronomical position 

 of the station at Uglaamie, near Point Barrow. 



