246 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 294. 



sories, one and one-half millions of dollars, 

 has lent tragic emphasis to this point. 



In 1888 the Director of the Geological 

 Survey was authorized by Congress to ex- 

 amine the arid region with reference to re- 

 clamation of agricultural lands by irriga- 

 tion. The initial appropriation of $100,000, 

 which was raised to $250,000 in 1889, was 

 discontinued for several years thereafter ; 

 but having been restored in part, it has 

 been from time to time increased, and of 

 the $100,000 appropriated for hydrographic 

 work a large part is expended in ascertain- 

 ing the service of streams, in surveying 

 reservoir sites, and determining the possi- 

 bilities and cost of flood water storage in 

 the West. 



During the present j^ear a notable in- 

 crease in hydrographic work is being made 

 in the State of New York in co-operation 

 with the office of the State Engineer and 

 Surveyor. Streams tributary to the Mo- 

 hawk and upper Hudson are being meas- 

 ured, the data having importance not 

 only in water power development, but also 

 in consideration of the quantity available 

 for the deep waterway across the State. 

 In the Southern Appalachian region the 

 amount of water coming from the area 

 which it is proposed to include within a 

 ISTational Park is being ascertained, this 

 work being in addition to systematic meas- 

 urement of streams entering the Atlantic 

 Ocean, such for example as the Delaware, 

 Susquehanna, Potomac, James and Savan- 

 nah. Various important streams are also 

 being measured along the head waters of 

 the Ohio and Mississippi. 



Through co-operation of the Hydro- 

 graphic and Geologic branches, the investi- 

 gation of artesian water conditions about 

 Black Hills is being continued, and plans 

 are under consideration for similar studies 

 of southern California and of the southern 

 coastal plain of the Atlantic and Gulf 

 States. Bailey Willis. 



SECOND REPORT OF THE CONSIITTEEOF THE 



GERMAN CHE3IICAL SOCIETY ON 



ATOBIIG WEIGHTS. 



Iisr 1897 a committee was appointed by 

 the German Chemical Society to consider 

 the subject of atomic weights with especial 

 reference to securing uniformity for practi- 

 cal analytical work. As a matter of fact 

 two distinct standards were in use, H = 1 

 and O = 16, and as the latest determina- 

 tions of Morley had reduced the atomic 

 weight of oxygen to 15.87 (H = 1) it made 

 a decided difference in the atomic weights 

 of the heavier elements which standard 

 was used. This committee consisted of 

 Landolt, Ostwald and Seubert, and to the 

 surprise of many, their first report in No- 

 vember, 1898, was unanimous in favor of 

 the standard O = 16. Up to this time 

 Seubert himself had used and advocated 

 H = 1 and the same was true of most Ger- 

 man chemists. The two chief arguments 

 for 0=16 are: (1) many of the atomic 

 weights are determined with reference to 

 oxygen or readily reduced to oxygen stand- 

 ard with little error, while reduction to hy- 

 drogen brings in a new and unnecessary 

 error, and necessitates a recalculation and 

 new table every time the hydrogen- oxygen 

 ratio is corrected, as it has been several 

 times in the past few years ; (2) if O = 16 

 is taken, a large number of most frequently 

 used atomic weights approximate very 

 closely to whole numbers, simplifying cal- 

 culations. 



A second point advocated by the com- 

 mittee in the first report was that only 

 so many figures should be given in the 

 atomic weight of an element, as that the 

 last figure should be correct within half a 

 unit. In this report the suggestion was 

 made of the desirability of international 

 agreement, and a little later the society di- 

 rected its committee to invite the co-opera- 

 tion of the chief scientific bodies of the 

 world who might be specially interested in 



