SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 335 



served in the British Museum, and the other a part of a palace. It 

 was not possible to secure an authentic representation of a Phffi- 

 nician house, although the suggestions and opinions of the most 

 competent critics have been followed. The result is therefore not 

 much more than a high probability, but as such it possesses great 

 interest. The dwelling has a stone base, with the upper part of 

 wood, ornamented with long slender columns, and with a balcony 

 above. 



Like the Assyrians, the Hebrews have two kinds of dwellings, — 

 one a tent, modelled after a carving in an Egyptian tomb dating 

 from before the time of Moses ; and the other a stone house, with 

 a flat terraced roof. Here, also, there is want of authentic mate- 

 rial, and the result cannot be regarded as more than approximate. 

 The Pelagic hut is a simple one of large stones, while the Etruscan 

 residence consists of a stone basement taken from an ancient terra- 

 cotta model, and an upper portion of wood, with an open-roofed 

 balcony, which is confessedly the personal fancy of the architect. 

 The result, however, may be regarded as near the actual truth as 

 our present knowledge permits. 



This completes the first series, and we come to those peoples 

 whose civilization has been affected by the Aryan invasions. First 

 is the Hindoo house, — a tall, narrow affair, built after a bas-relief 

 from the top of Sanchi, though the architect has availed himself of 

 the criticisrhs of Mr. Fergusson. The Persian house comes ne.xt. 

 It is in two parts, — one closed, intended for the women ; the 

 other, with a dome of enamelled brick, is the public part, and in- 

 tended for the master himself and his friends. It is designed after 

 information furnished by M. Dieulafoy. Then comes a German 

 village, — rude wooden cabins, with an elevated structure on poles, 

 which serves as a sort of observatory. Close to this is the Gaul 

 house, — a circular hut of wood, stone, and beaten earth. The for- 

 mer is taken from the bas-reliefs of the column of Trajan, while 

 the latter is taken from a host of authorities that render it probably 

 e.xact. A Greek house of simple construction comes next. A pro- 

 jection at one side serves to accommodate strangers. The walls 

 have, among other inscriptions, the name of the proprietor, "Hera- 

 cles liabite ici ; que rien de ?Jiauvais n'y enire." The Roman 

 house, which comes next, is an exact reproduction of a Pom- 

 peiian villa. The plan and details of this edifice have been pre- 

 pared with the greatest care. 



A new element in civiHzation is now introduced by the invasions 

 of the barbarians. The first represented are the Huns, who lived 

 in a wagon, and had no regular dwelling. A Gallic-Roman house 

 of the fifth century follows, and is built of fragments of other 

 buildings, which gives it a very peculiar appearance. The Scandi- 

 navian house dates from the fourteenth century, and is of wood, 

 with a granite foundation. It has been designed after the sugges- 

 tions of the Swedish architect Boberg, who has made a special 

 study of early Scandinavian dwellings. Three other buildings 

 bring us almost to our own times. These are, first, a Romanesque 

 house of the time of the successors of Charlemagne (tenth century); 

 second, one of the middle ages (twelfth century), and contemporary 

 with St. Louis ; and the third, a specimen of the civil architecture 

 of the Renaissance, a reproduction of a sixteenth-century house at 

 Orleans. 



Four other examples complete the list of the civilizations con- 

 tributing to the general culture of humanity. These are a Syrian 

 (Byzantine) house of the time of Justinian (sixth century), which is 

 an exact copy of one restored and drawn by the Marquis de VogUe. 

 It is of stone, as wood was scarce in that part of Syria. A Slavic 

 house, almost a primitive affair, comes next, and is close to the 

 Russian house of the fifteenth century. This latter is in two parts, 

 — one for men, and one for women, — with an external staircase. 

 No material for an authentic dweUing of this period was to be 

 had, but the edifice possesses characteristic features. An Arab 

 house of the eleventh century carries us into an entirely different 

 civilization. The building is not a representation of any standing 

 edifice, but is a combination of authentic elements. Lastly comes 

 a Soudanese dwelling, which, though comparatively modern, is, by 

 reason of its very strangeness, one of the most interesting of the 

 entire collection. This brings us to the third section of the series, 

 those illustrating isolated civilizations. There are houses of China 

 and Japan, huts of the Eskimo and Laplanders, a negro village 



from Africa, and an Indian hut from North America. The collec- 

 tion is closed by houses from ancient Mexico and Peru. 



Barr Ferree. 



NOTABLE DERELICTS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC. 



Of the many wrecks afloat in the North Atlantic Ocean, none 

 has as interesting a history as the ItaUan bark " Vincenzo Per- 

 rotta." Abandoned Sept. i8, 1887, this vessel has been repre- 

 sented graphically on every edition of the " Atlantic Pilot Chart " 

 published since that time. Her wonderful drift began in about 

 latitude 36° north, longitude 54° west ; and on April 4, 1S89, when 

 last reported, she was about 60 miles north of Watling's Island, in 

 the Bahamas. She had thus made good a distance of about 1,400 

 miles in a general south-west by west direction in one year six 

 months and sixteen days. She has been reported twenty-seven 

 times in all, and when last seen had mizzenmast and about ten feet 

 of mainmast standing, foremast gone, end of jibboom broken off, 

 and port anchor on bow. 



On Nov. 26, 1888, the schooner "Ethel M. Davis " was capsized 

 in a hurricane, in latitude 35° 4' north, longitude 70° 52' west. 

 Her crew was rescued after having been adrift four days. The 

 schooner eventually righted, and began a long voyage, unguided, 

 in the general direction of the Gulf Stream. She was last seen 

 June 8, 1889, in latitude 42° 36' north, longitude 57° 38' west, and 

 at that time had about three feet freeboard in waist, forecastle and 

 poop well above water. Her poop-house is painted white, and 

 shows out well ; mainmast gone, bowsprit and ten feet of foremast 

 standing ; general drift, about 900 miles north-east by east ; time, 

 six months eighteen days ; number of times reported, fifteen. 



The same hurricane that wrecked the " Ethel M. Davis " also 

 brought disaster to the schooner " David W. Hunt." This vessel 

 was abandoned Nov. 25, 1888, in latitude 34° 30' north, longitude 

 72° 30' west. She was last reported May 26, 1S89, in latitude 45'^ 

 30' north, longitude 41° 30' west, at which time she had her bow- 

 sprit and jibboom complete, stumps of two masts broken off about 

 fifteen feet from deck ; general drift, east-north-east about 2,000 

 miles ; time, six months ; number of times reported, twenty-two. 



The schooner " Palatka " bids fair to rival the above vessels in 

 point of interest. She was abandoned April 10, 1889, off Hatteras, 

 and was last reported June 4, 1889, in latitude 43° 20' north, longi- 

 tude 56° 34' west. She was then water-logged and on fire, stern 

 high out of water, no masts standing. Like the " Ethel M. Davis " 

 and " David W. Hunt," she is right in the highway of the great 

 bulk of transatlantic commerce, and a serious menace to naviga- 

 tion, in one month and twenty-five days she has made good a 

 distance of about 1,200 miles, on a general north-east by east course.; 

 number of times reported, twenty-one. 



The above four derelicts were all timber-laden, and this accounts 

 largely for their great tenacity and buoyancy, at the same time 

 rendering their destruction no easy matter. Commander C. H. 

 Rockwell, U.S.N., of the United States steamship " Yantic," re- 

 cently engaged in blowing up wrecks, says, " From the experience 

 thus far gained in the work, I am convinced that lumber-laden 

 derelicts are very tenacious, and can only be overcome by repeated 

 blows from explosives of great power. These continued will un- 

 doubtedly do the work." 



PROGRESS OF ENGINEERING.^ 



The provision of the By-Laws of this society which requires 

 that its president shall deliver, at the annual convention, an ad- 

 dress upon the progress of engineering during the preceding year, 

 has been observed by my predecessors in various ways. While 

 some of the former presidents have confined themselves strictly to 

 the constitutional provision, by general reviews of the professional 

 progress and scientific advancement of the period, others have 

 dwelt more in detail upon some specific subjects of particular in- 

 terest at the time. I trust I may be permitted, in this instance, to 

 give you first a cursory glance of the field at large, and then con- 

 fine myself more particularly to a review of the progress in that 



1 Address of Max J. Becker, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 

 delivered at the annual convention of the society at Seabright, N. J.^ J-une 20. 



