August 3, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



193 



Laboratory Apparatus ' is noticed by Frederic 

 P. Gorham and ' Methods of staining Flagella,' 

 by W. H. Robey, Jr. Finally an abstract is 

 given of a paper on the ' Action of Drinking- 

 water on Metals,' by Charles Harrington, in 

 which among other interesting points it is noted 

 that the same water may act very differently 

 at different times. 



The Osprey for June begins with Part VI. of 

 'Birds of the Road,' by Paul Bartsch ; some 

 'Bird Notes,' by Lady Broome, are reprinted 

 from the Cornhill Magazine, and in the fourth 

 part of William Swainson and his Times,' by 

 Theodore Gill, we are told of his literary work. 

 The editor discusses the ' Significance and Ety- 

 mology of the Word Mammals,' calling atten- 

 tion to the fact that the commonly accepted 

 derivation of the word is incorrect, and that 

 the term Mammalia, from which it comes, was 

 coined by Linnseus in analogy with animalia, 

 to describe the class mammalia which he was 

 the first to correctly define. 



The Auk for July is an unusually large 

 number, containing articles of much interest, 

 not only to the professional ornithologist, but 

 to the general reader. The ' Occurrence of 

 Larus glaucescens and other American Birds in 

 Hawaii ' is noted by H. W. Henshaw, and this 

 is followed by a graphic and gracefully written 

 article, ' Notes on the Breeding Habits of the 

 American Golden-eye Duck or Whistler,' by 

 William Brewster. The ' Ecology of the Mary- 

 land Yellow-throat and its Relatives ' is treated 

 at length by William Palmer. ' Notes on a 

 Few Species of Idaho and Washington Birds ' 

 are contributed by John O. Snyder, and a ' De- 

 scription of a New Shearwater from the Ha- 

 waiian Islands ' is given by H. W. Henshaw. 

 A. W. Anthony tells of the Nesting Habits of 

 the Pacific Coast Species of the Genus Puffinus-. ' 

 E. W. Nelson gives ' Descriptions of Thirty 

 New North American Birds,' and Reginald 

 Heber Howe describes ' A New Subspecies of 

 the Genus Hylocichla.' ' An account of the 

 Nesting Habits of Franklin's Rosy Gull {Larus 

 franklinii), as observed at Heron Lake in South- 

 ern Minnesota,' is given by Thomas S. Roberts, 

 and the concluding paper ' Notes on a Collec- 

 tion of Bahama Birds,' is by Outram Bangs. 



The articles on nesting habits are all illustrated, 

 the plate showing the burrows of the Wedge- 

 tailed Petrels being remarkably interesting. 

 The customary numerous notes and reviews 

 complete the number. 



The NeivYork Medical Journal, long published 

 by Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. , has been sold 

 to Mr. R. Elliott, an advertising agent in New 

 York City. It is to be hoped that the Journal 

 will remain under the same editorial manage- 

 ment as at present, as it is one of the few 

 American medical journals that have consist- 

 ently maintained a high standard. 



The Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 

 London for June contains Dr. A. Smith Wood- 

 ward's full paper on the much-discussed remains 

 of Orypotherium (Neomylodon) ligtai from Pata- 

 gonia. The specimens are described in detail 

 and the afiinities of the animal made clear. 

 They were found on the floor of a cave, in a 

 large enclosure, associated with cut hay and 

 much excrement, and Dr. Woodward concludes 

 that we can hardly refuse to believe that this 

 great ground sloth was actually kept and fed 

 by an early race of man. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESPONDENCE. 



KITE VS. BALLOON. 



Editor of Science : The high kite-flight de- 

 cribed in Science of July 6, 1900, was exceeded 

 on July 19th, when, by means of six kites at- 

 tached at intervals to four and three-quarters 

 miles of steel wire, the meteorograph was lifted 

 15,170 feet above Blue Hill, or 15,800 feet 

 above the neighboring ocean. At the time that 

 the temperature was 78° near the ground, it was 

 about 30° at the highest point reached, the air 

 being very dry and the wind blowing from the 

 northwest with a velocity of 26 miles an hour. 



The altitude reached in this flight probably 

 exceeds the greatest height at which meteor- 

 ological observations have been made with a 

 balloon in America. The highest observations 

 that have been published were made by the 

 late Professor Hazen of the Weather Bureau in 

 an ascent from St. Louis, June 17, 1887, to a 

 height of 15,400 feet. 



A. Lawrence Rotch. 



Blue Hill Meteoeological Obseevatoey. 



