August 2, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



77 



opposite sense to the velocity ; but the rapidly moving winter thun- 

 der-storms have most hail. The velocity is maximum in winter : it 

 falls rapidly till May, slowly rising thereafter (with a second de- 

 pression in September) till winter. The velocity is greatest in 

 storms coming from the west. Dividing the region into four zones 

 from north to south, there is a decrease in the velocity, at first 

 slight, but getting very rapid on reaching the Alpine region. The 

 velocity is greatest about midnight, least about midday. At the 

 same meeting, thunder-storms and hail in Bavaria in 1880-88 were 

 the subject of a paper by Dr. Horn. These phenomena in general 

 correspond. Both have a maximum early in July ; but the hail 

 has a second maximum, nearly as great, in May. Both phenomena 

 show a pronounced day maximum about 3 to 4 (in winter about 2 

 to 3), and a minimum in the morning from 7 to 8. Dr. Horn said 

 hail never fell in Bavaria without electric discharge, but Dr. Ass- 

 raann maintained it did sometimes in Prussia. 



— The Transvaal Volksraad is reported to have placed $100,000 

 on the estimates for the current year, for the purpose of endowing 

 the first university of the Republic. 



— The monograph prepared by Mr. C. Meriwether, A.B., Johns 

 Hopkins University, and recently published by the United States 

 Bureau of Education, is designed to trace the history of higher 

 education in South Carolina, his native State, and to give a sketch 

 of the development of the free or public school system. The earli- 

 est educational efforts are described, and instances are given illus- 

 trating the interest of South Carolina when yet a colony in pro- 

 viding the means for the intellectual improvement of her sons. 

 Not only were schools founded and maintained in the province by 

 the government and through private and charitable aid, but many 

 youths were sent to England for their education. The influence of 

 such men on their return was so great and lasting, that, even to 

 the middle of the present century, schools in Charleston, modelled 

 on the English plan, were very popular. The birth of colleges 

 was late, and their growth slow : there was, therefore, chance for 

 a good system of academies to develop. These were planted in 

 all parts of the State, so that a good training-school was within 

 the reach of all. The number continued to increase until the out- 

 break of the war. The most famous academy was that presided 

 over by Dr. Moses Waddel, the Thomas Arnold of South Carolina. 

 Although there is mention, in the House Journal of 1723, of a pro- 

 posal to establish a college, and a bill was introduced into the 

 colonial Legislature in 1769 for this purpose, yet no action was 

 taken until the present century. An act was passed in 1785, es- 

 tablishing three colleges in the State, yet only one of them ever 

 gave collegiate instruction. The College of Charleston, while its 

 foundation can be traced to the legislative act of 1785, has given 

 collegiate instruction only since the first quarter of the present 

 century. It is supported very largely by income from vested funds, 

 the result of endowment by public-spirited citizens in and near 

 Charleston. Over half the three hundred thousand dollars endow- 

 ment was given by Mr. Baynard, during the war, in 1864. The 

 attendance has not been large, but the training in mathematics 

 and ancient languages has always been thorough. Every denomi- 

 nation of any strength in the State has founded a college. In the 

 main, they follow the average college course, but, owing to want of 

 funds, they cannot offer very many electives. It is gratifying to 

 state that the funds and attendance of nearly all of them are gradu- 

 ally increasing. The war was most disastrous to all these institu- 

 tions in sweeping away their endowments. The first attempt made 

 to establish a general system of free schools was in 181 1. The 

 act was passed after bitter opposition on the part of some of the 

 up-country members, and provided free instruction for all children, 

 but gave the preference to poor children ; but although the annual 

 appropriations were doubled in 1852, being made seventy-four 

 thousand dollars, the universal testimony was that the schools were 

 a failure. On the adoption of a new State constitution in 1868, 

 the present public-school system was introduced. Its usefulness 

 has been greatly increased by the efficient management since 1S76. 

 The attention paid by the State to the education of the colored citi- 

 zens is well illustrated in Claflin University, supported largely by 

 the State. It has seventeen teachers and six courses of instruction, 

 and its students at the last session numbered nine hundred and 



forty-six. The most important phases of advanced instruction in 

 South Carolina are those connected with the State institutions. 

 The Military Academy at Charleston was designed to furnish 

 trained soldiers for South Carolina. Its course is modelled after 

 that of West Point. The College of South Carolina is the best of 

 all the institutions in the State. It was opened for students in 

 1804, and has ever since exercised a strong influence on the politics 

 of South Carolina, except during the reconstruction period. Every 

 politician of any note in the State, except John C. Calhoun, has 

 been for a time connected with the institution. 



— Since the perfection of the silo, maize or corn has come to 

 have an increased importance' in successful agriculture, especially in 

 dairying and stock-growing. The value of corn for the silo and as 

 a forage crop is a sufficient incentive for making a thorough and 

 systematic study of the development of, and chemical changes in, 

 maize during its period of growth. This work was begun last year 

 in a preliminary way at the New York Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, and is being continued in more detail the present season. 

 When this season's work is completed, it is hoped the results may 

 answer the question, " What is the proper stage of maturity for 

 cutting corn for the silo.' " To every farmer who is interested in 

 the silo, three important questions present themselves for consid- 

 eration : I. What is the best variety of corn to grow for the silo ? 

 2. What is the best method of planting ? 3. What is the proper 

 stage of maturity for cutting corn for the silo ? As the result of 

 experiment, the following conclusions are probable: i. That the 

 greatest weight of green fodder seems to have been at about the 

 period of full silking of the ears; 2. That the total weight dimin- 

 ished after this date, but the total dry matter increased ; 3. That 

 the total nitrogen does not appear to increase after the ears silk ; 

 4. That as the corn approaches maturity the per cent of amide 

 nitrogen diminishes, while the albuminoid nitrogen increases, thus 

 seemingly increasing the feeding-value of the crop ; 5. That the 

 sugars and starch increase rapidly during the latter period of 

 growth and maturing of the corn-plant, and that these are the 

 most valuable portion of the nitrogen-free extract ; 6. That for the 

 greatest amount of nutriment, considered from a chemical stand- 

 point, corn should not be cut before it has reached the milk stage 

 of the kernel; 7. That it remains for future investigation to deter- 

 mine whether it is better to be cut at the milky stage or at a later 

 period for the greatest amount of digestible and available nutri- 

 ment ; 8. That the Burrell & Whitman corn cannot, in ordinary 

 culture, be matured in this latitude. 



— It is well known that plants of Dictatiutus fraxinella, at the 

 close of a dry, sunny day, are surrounded by a gas which is in- 

 flammable, and will ignite with a sudden flash of flame when a 

 lighted match is applied to it. M. H. Correvon gives in The Gar- 

 den the results of some investigations lately made with regard to 

 this phenomenon. Certain plants, and very notably the RutacecE 

 and Labiates, secrete various products, such as essential oils, res- 

 ins, gums, balsams, etc. Secretory organs which are buried in the 

 substance of the parenchyma elaborate these products, while hairs 

 of various forms and textures conduct them to the surface, and 

 there excrete them. The secretory organs are termed " internal 

 glands," and the excretory hairs are known as " external glands." 

 These latter glands are surrounded at the base by a part of the 

 epidermis, which the hair has pushed up in issuing forth to make 

 its appearance on the surface of the stem, and in the fraxineUa 

 this raised part of the epidermis covers a gland which is very richly 

 provided with resin and essential oil. When this gland was ex- 

 amined with a microscope on a hot day, it was empty, its contents 

 having been drawn out by the heat through the cells of the epi- 

 dermis or through the hair that terminates the gland. It must be 

 understood that the surrounding air has to be pretty strongly im- 

 pregnated with the gas of the volatilized resin in order to take fire 

 when a lighted match is applied to it. This experiment has also 

 been carried out in France by placing a pot-plant of fraxinella 

 in bloom under a bell-glass, and leaving it there for some time, 

 when the air in the bell-glass was found to be so highly charged 

 with the resinous gas that it ignited the moment a lighted match 

 was applied to it, and, it may be added, without doing the slightest 

 injury to the plant. 



