SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 335 



by no insect or fungus disease. In this country, according to Gar- 

 den and Forest, no extensive use has been made of the gingko as 

 a street tree except in Washington, where of course it is not sub- 

 jected to the test of an atmosphere impregnated with smoke. If it 

 is, indeed, able to withstand the most unfavorable conditions, it 

 might be more generally adopted ; for it grows rapidly, its shape 

 well adapts it for association with architectural forms, and the 

 peculiar character of its foliage always makes it interesting to the 

 popular eye. 



— The true eating banana, or " madura," is said to be unknown 

 in northern countries, the varieties we import being simply those 

 which are used in the land of their growth for cooking-purposes. 

 Garden ajid Forest states that many varieties of the madura are 

 recognized, each of which is distinct in flavor. The smaller are 

 the more delicious ; and the smallest of all, the so-called " lady- 

 finger banana," with a skin hardly thicker than paper, is the most 

 highly prized. Green cooking-bananas are peeled, and roasted in 

 the ashes, and eaten with butter ; partially ripe ones are boiled for 

 a few minutes with the skin on, and eaten with sirup or honey ; and 

 ripe ones are sliced lengthwise, and fried in olive-oil or butter. 



— It will be new to some Americans, even though they know 

 that peaches are commonly cultivated under glass in England, to 

 be told that cherries are also grown in this manner. A correspond- 

 ent of the Gardeners Chronicle recently described the cherry- 

 house at Gunnersbury Park, where many different varieties afford 

 fruit at different times during the season. " When the trees are 

 started into growth," he says, " a temperature of 45° by day, and 

 40° by night, is maintained. When they are in flower, plenty of 

 air is given, and the bees are encouraged to work among the blos- 

 soms as much as possible. Scarcely any fire-heat is employed : in- 

 deed, it had been employed only once or twice in order to keep out 

 frost. At the time of flowering, plenty of ventilation is given, top 

 and bottom. As soon as the fruit has set, the house is closed up 

 somewhat, and the temperature kept quite cool until the stoning 

 process is over ; then it is kept a little closer, as when the fruit has 

 stoned it ripens quickly. It is a little difficult to thin out the fruit 

 previous to the stoning stage, as it is uncertain which fruit will 

 mature, and which fail. A good watering is given to the trees be- 

 fore they get into flower, and then water is applied with modera- 

 tion until the fruit has set. Cherries appear to do best, and set 

 their fruit more freely, when somewhat dry at the roots, whether 

 the trees are planted out or in pots, and it appears to be quite cer- 

 tain that all flower more freely when worked on the mahaleb than 

 when on the cherry stock." 



— The following interesting report to the United States Hydro- 

 graphic Office from the American steamer " Indiana," Capt. W. I. 

 Boggs, seems to indicate a normal condition of the Gulf Stream in 

 the regions and during the times stated : " From noon of May 22 

 (latitude 40° 20' north, longitude 60° 8' west) to noon. May 23 

 (latitude 40° 46' north, longitude 54° 29' west), experienced a cur- 

 rent setting N. 68° E., drift 16.4 knots. The temperature of sea 

 was noted every two hours : maximum temperature, 72° ; mini- 

 mum temperature, 60° ; mean temperature, 66°. From noon of 

 May 24 (latitude 41° 15' north, longitude 49" 3' west) to noon. May 

 25 (latitude 43° 49' north, longitude 43° 47 west), current set N. 

 51° E., drift 23 knots. The temperature of sea was noted every 

 two hours (and during hours of darkness every half-hour) : maxi- 

 mum, 64° ; minimum, 54° ; mean, 62° ; twenty-four observations be- 

 ing taken." It is interesting to note, in this connection, that during 

 the above period, and for fully a week previous, no general storms 

 occurred in the regions referred to. On the contrary, the winds 

 were variable in force and direction, seldom reaching a force of 6 

 (Beaufort's scale). 



— Attention is called to certain changes that have been adopted 

 on the " Atlantic Pilot Chart " for July, which,'it is thought, will 

 commend themselves to all who have occasion to use it. The most 

 important of these is the enlargement of the area represented, the 

 eastern limit being now 10° east longitude (instead of 4°, as here- 

 tofore). This allows the whole of the North Sea to be shown, 

 more of the Mediterranean than before, and the entire Gulf of 

 Guinea. The system by means of which the prevailing winds are 



indicated in each ocean square has also been changed slightly. In- 

 stead of representing a north-east wind, for instance, by an arrow 

 pointing away from the centre of the square at the south-west point 

 of the compass, it is now represented by an arrow pointing toward 

 the centre at the north-east point of the compass. This is re- 

 garded as more graphic than the old method, the point of each 

 arrow giving, at a glance, the true direction of the wind (the point 

 from which it blows). 



— The Brooklyn Academy of Science, a society incorporated 

 Aug. 22, 1888, has opened a free reading- rooin in their rooms in 

 Warner Institute, Willoughby Avenue and Broadway, in that city. 

 The various scientific journals will be upon the tables, and there is 

 no charge to the public. Donations of papers will be greatly ap- 

 preciated. 



— A boiler may be inspected to-day and found to be safe under 

 a working pressure of one hundred, and be weakened to-night by 

 low water so as to be dangerous to-morrow with fifty pounds press- 

 ure. Yet, as the Age of Steel says, it may explode a month hence 

 with sixty pounds pressure and plenty of water, but the cause is as 

 certainly low water as if it had exploded when the water was low. 

 There is but one sure remedy, and it is a simple one. Put on a 

 real safeguard, something simple, which has been tried, and proven 

 to be trustworthy. 



— According to the British Medical Journal, the programme 

 of the Leeds meeting of the British Medical Association in August 

 next " is developing in such manner as to afford the ample 

 promise of a meeting of great scientific as well as social interest, 

 and one which will be worthy of the traditions of this great medical 

 centre." 



— The sacred lotus {Nelumbium speciosinn) has become estab- 

 lished in a pond in New Jersey, and proves hardy, although the 

 surface of the water is frozen over during the winter. The history 

 of its planting, by E. D. Sturtevant, is given in Garden and Forest 

 for April 10, with a fine photo-engraving of the spot, showing hun- 

 dreds of open flowers. 



— There seems to be every prospect, according to Engineering, 

 that the efforts made by the French engineers to entertain the 

 American party of engineers will be very successful. It is intended 

 that an hour and a half or two hours should be spent in Calais to 

 examine the new harbor-works there ; and the special train which 

 the Northern Railway of France has so liberally placed at their 

 disposal will make a detour and stop near St. Omer, to give the 

 engineers an opportunity of inspecting the great hydraulic canal- 

 lifts. On the day after their arrival in Paris nothing official will be 

 done, but on the following morning a formal reception will be held 

 at the offices of the French Society of Civil Engineers. The party 

 will then breakfast with M. Eiffel on the first story of the tower, 

 and will afterwards ascend to the top in detachments. A part of 

 this day 'will also be spent in an organized visit to the exhibition. 

 The Ville de Paris has made arrangements for an excursion through 

 the Paris sewers, and further visits to the exhibition and elsewhere 

 will be paid. One of the most interesting of the latter will be the 

 compressed-air installations of the Popp Company. Altogether, 

 though the Paris programme is not yet complete, it is certain to be 

 a very full, hospitable, and attractive one. 



— The Engi7ieering and Mining Jotir7ial says, "It will be re- 

 membered that some enterprising associated press agent startled 

 the country a few weeks ago by announcing that the Standard Oil 

 Company had wired from the Media works to Philadelphia for two 

 hundred bull-dogs, which news item the telegraph editors and 

 ' home correspondents ' of some of the metropolitan dailies ingen- 

 iously enlarged into a small-sized sensation, lasting a day or two, 

 until it was discovered that the * bull- dogs ' wanted were merely 

 harmless lifting-jacks of a particular style. As an example of how 

 so much remarkable literature is floated, observe the following ju- 

 dicial and editorial comment of on^ of our technical exchanges in 

 its issue of June 22, at which late date it does not seem to have yet 

 ' caught on : ' ' The Standard Oil Company has, however, intro- 

 duced a new style of watchman, which we think will be efficient. 

 The company has suffered a good deal by tramps and loafers get- 

 ting too near its tanks and smoking, and thus setting fire to the gas 



