June 15, 1SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



559 



upward reaction shall raise the craft, and thus dimin- 

 ish head-resistance at very higli speeds. 



Comparing tlie curve of resistance with that of 

 boats of tlie usual form, it is found that it does not 

 differ, in any great degree, at ordinary low speeds; 

 but at sixteen kilometres and upward (about ten 

 miles) the resistance is less, and at twenty-seven 

 kilometres (sixteen and three-fourths miles) the re- 

 sistance is but about one-half that of the common 

 form of vessel. The Pictet boat was tested beside 

 the fast yacht of Madame Rothschild, the Gitana, 

 and was found to be slightly inferior at low speeds, 

 but decidedly superior at the higher speeds. 



The new vessel is of a little more than twenty-five 

 tons' displacement. It would seem that the jiroposed 

 form would be of less importance for large vessels, in 

 which the resistance is in larger proportion frictional, 

 and less in head-resistance, and that the advantages 

 of the Pictet form are to be realized principally in 

 small yachts and in torpedo vessels. The boat and 

 its performance are described in La Nature, and re- 

 produced in the Sc. Amer. supplement. May 19, 188-3. 



— At the meeting of the Biological society of Wash- 

 ington, May 25, the following papers were read : Dr. 

 Thomas Taylor, on Actinomykosis, a new infectious 

 disease of man and the lower animals, with exhibition 

 of a portion of the diseased viscera of a dog, contain- 

 ing specimens of the fungus Actinomyces ; Dr. D. E. 

 Salmon, remarks on Actinomykosis; Prof. C.V. Riley, 

 remarks on curious Psyllidae and certain gall-making 

 species. 



— Mr. Lester F. Ward has made a preliminary study 

 of an interesting collection of fossil plants brought 

 to the U. S. geological survey in 1882, by Dr. C. A. 

 White, from the Laramie beds of the lower Yellow- 

 stone River. No less than thirty-four species are 

 identified with those already described and figured, 

 including many of those from Fort Union, described 

 by Dr. Newberry, and a number from other localities 

 in the west. A few, however, belong to species that 

 have not heretofore been found within the territory 

 of the United States (arctic or European). In ad- 

 dition to these, there was found a large number of 

 forms which could not be identified, some of which 

 are of peculiar interest. As Mr. Ward expects to 

 visit these beds during the present season, and hopes 

 to obtain more and better material, no descriptions of 

 new species will be published until further study of 

 these forms can be made. 



— Ten years ago the magnificent private collections 

 of Dr. Gustav Klemm, whom all anthropologists love 

 to lienor, were sold by his heirs to the city of Leipzig 

 for the Museum fiir volkerkunde. If we mistake 

 not, Dr. Klemm was the first to announce distinctly 

 the oneness of all human art and industry as a 

 unique subject of study, dividing human occupa- 

 tions, implements, processes, and productions into 

 genera and species, and aiming to find in each class 



the cause of its origin, as well as the law of its 

 evolution. Each year since the transfer, a report of 

 the progress of the museum has been published, the 

 tenth number of which has just come to hand. The 

 affairs of the institution are managed by a board of 

 trustees, who rely upon subscriptions mainly to pay 

 the current expenses. 



— The explorers whom the French geographic so- 

 ciety has recently adjudged worthy of its gold medals 

 are: Commandant Gallieni, for his expedition to the 

 upper Niger and Segu two years ago; Commandant 

 Derrien, leader of a topographic party in Senegal at 

 the same date ; M. Charles Huber, for travels in Ara- 

 bia during the past three years ; Lieut. F. Schwatka, 

 for his arctic voyage to King William's Land; and 

 M. Langlois, for maps of the department of Oran, 

 Algeria. 



— At tlie meeting of the Engineers' club of Phila- 

 delphia, May 5, Mr. T. M. Cleemann was enabled 

 to show, through the courtesy of Mr. W. W. Evans 

 of New York, a map and profile of the Southern 

 Pacific raih-oad in California, where it crosses the 

 dried-up bed of a lake, being below the surface of 

 the Pacific Ocean for 58 miles, and attaining a depth 

 below said surface of 266 feet. At this point it skirts 

 a deposit of salt from six to twenty-four inches in 

 thickness. He also showed a number of photographs 

 of the Tehachapi Pass, on the same railroad, near 

 San Fernando. In order to attain the summit with 

 a sufliciently reduced grade, the line was 'developed,' 

 advantage being taken of a conical hill to wind about 

 it in the form of a lielix, crossing itself, and continu- 

 ing on its way with several meanderings. The St. 

 Gothard railroad has several such helices, but they 

 are cut in the solid rock. A similar location was 

 made, about eighteen years ago, on the Southern 

 Pennsylvania railroad, but it was not built. Another 

 piece of interesting location was also exhibited ; name- 

 ly, the mountain division of the Western North Caro- 

 lina railroad, which shows great skill in fitting a line 

 to the country. Mr. George S. Strong described a 

 new method of manufacture of corrugated boiler- 

 tubes. Mi\ E. F. Loiseau gave a sketch of the prog- 

 ress and condition of the manufacture of artificial 

 fuels. Mr. R. H. Sanders described a derrick used 

 for hoisting material from a slate quarry by means 

 of cable and bucket ; and Mr. T. M. Cleemann noted 

 a similar method pursued in the construction of a 

 viaduct in Peru, 252 feet high, when the pieces were 

 conveyed by a traveller to the pier. Mr. C. G. Dar- 

 rach continued his remarks with regard to the rela- 

 tive quality of water at the top and bottom of deep 

 reservoirs, and discussed methods of meeting the dif- 

 ficulty encountered in the accumulation of impurities 

 below the surface. 



— C. F. Holder contributes to the June number of 

 Lippincott's magazine an excellent article on Animals 

 extinct within human memory. The greater portion 



