86 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 339 



plax; 3. Give detailed statements of the habits and life-history of 

 the species chosen, based on original and careful experiments and 

 observations ; 4. Suggest a plan for breeding the insects in large 

 numbers, with a sketch of apparatus, and estimated cost of pro- 

 ducing them per thousand ; 5. Formulate a plan for using the in- 

 sects in the larva, pupa, or perfect state for the destruction of 

 mosquitoes and tlies, {a) in houses, {b) in cities, (c) in neighbor- 

 hoods. 



The prizes will be awarded after careful consideration by Dr. 

 Henry C. McCook, vice-president of the Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ence of Philadelphia, and vice-president of the American Society of 

 Entomologists, and Dr. J. S. Newberry, president of the New York 

 Academy of Sciences, professor of geology of Columbia College, 

 and late chief of the Geological Survey of Ohio. 



In awarding the prizes, clearness of statement obtained by ac- 

 companying sketches, and new and purely scientific facts in the 

 life-history of the LibelliilidcE, of which so little is known, will be 

 duly considered. 



All the essays received may be published wholly or in part, at the 

 discretion of the judges, and full credit will in all cases be given to 

 each observer. 



The essays should be forwarded by Dec. i, 1889, to Mr. J. H. 

 Winser, at the American Museum of Natural History, 77th Street 

 and 8th Avenue, New York, to whom all communications should 

 be addressed. Robert H. Lamborn. 



32 Nassau Street, New York, July 15. 



Are Beech-Trees ever struck by Lightning ? 



Referring to note on p. 7 of Science for July 5, and letter on 

 p. 50, July 19, I here record some observations on the same sub- 

 ject. During a prolonged summer drought, about one o'clock 

 P.M., the sun was shining brightly, but a small cloud came from 

 the south-east ; and while two other gentlemen and I were seated 

 in my parlor, conversing, a flash was seen, and a sharp explosion 

 heard. In a few moments a man came in, announcing that he had 

 been thrown from the wagon, the driver knocked down, also five 

 of the six oxen, " three of which were killed by lightning." Hasten- 

 ing to the spot, about two hundred feet from the parlor, we found 

 the wagon under the branches of a large beech-tree a few feet 

 from the trunk, the wheels in contact with roots, the fore-wheels 

 having passed the trunk ; the oxen all recovered and standing, 

 save the farthest one from the tree. He was dead, and never 

 moved a muscle. The messenger was seated on the hinder part 

 of the wagon when struck and knocked down. The driver walk- 

 ing on the opposite side of the tree, perhaps ten feet from the 

 trunk, but some of the spreading branches almost touching his 

 head, was knocked down, somewhat stunned, and, although stand- 

 ing on our arrival, had not fully regained his wits, nor his hat. 



The tree was tall, and thickly branched to the top. On careful 

 and minute examination, we found no mark of electricity on trunk, 

 root, or branch ; but later we discovered, perhaps twelve or more 

 feet from the top, a space about three inches wide and six or eight 

 feet long, as we guessed, from which the bark was torn and the 

 wood grooved. Some days later we discovered that a strip of bark 

 extending from' the rent above mentioned to the earth was dead 

 and peeling off, and the wood grooved. Our conclusion was that 

 the electricity mostly passed between the bark and the wood, there 

 being most moisture at plane of contact. Not a drop of rain fell 

 during the day, nor during many weeks before and after the above 

 incidents. 



This is by no means the only instance in which I have known 

 the beech-tree struck by lightning, nor the only one in which the 

 electricity seemed, at least, to pass between bark and wood o£ 

 beech, oak, tulip-tree, black gum, Magnolia grandiflora, etc. 



Why was neither man killed in this instance, and only the ox. 

 farthest from the stricken tree ? The explanation is simple enough. 

 Here was a ridge gently sloping to the east, west, and south. The 

 stricken tree was perhaps twenty feet from the lowest western 

 level. One ox had placed one foot on the lowest spot of ground 

 which it is presumed was near moisture beneath (the rest of the 

 land being dried, and on the crest of the ridge to such a depth as 

 to cause the death of several trees) : the circle from moist earth 

 through the ox, the chains, and iron of the wagon, was completed 

 to the tree. One of the two oxen nearest the tree did not fall. All 

 the phenomena caused me to think that the discharge was frottt 

 the earth. 



Having had many extraordinary, very undesirable, and extremely 

 dangerous opportunities of witnessing phenomena of natural elec- 

 tricity, other facts may possibly be given later. D. L. Phares. 



Madison Station, Miss., July 24. 



Breathing. 



My attention has recently been called to your editorial comments 

 on my observations made on the chest-movements of some eighty 

 Indian females about two years ago, from which I felt justified in 

 concluding that the abdominal was the original type of respiration 

 in woman, and that the costal type has been acquired through the 

 influence of abdominal constriction. Now, although this observa- 

 tion and conclusion was confirmed more recently by the experi- 

 ments of Dr. Kellogg, who measured the chest-movements of a 

 number of Chinese women in the Far West whose abdomens were 

 never constricted by artificial appliances, you incline to the belief 

 that " the question of what is the natural type of respiration may 

 still be regarded as sub judice, unless (which perhaps may be the 

 truth) both types "are natural under varying conditions independent 

 of dress," because " other observers, notably Hutchinson in his ex- 

 amination of twenty-four girls whose waists had never been con- 

 stricted by corsets or other appliances, found the costal type pres- 

 ent." 



With the highest regard for your opinion, I beg to say that such 

 a deduction is scarcely allowable from the premises of my re- 

 searches. These show, in all probability, that Dr. Hutchinson's 

 girls were not entirely free from the influence of abdominal constric- 

 tion, even though they never wore corsets : for in the Indian the 

 abdominal type obtains the highest form of development in the full- 

 blooded girl, whose body, as well as the bodies of her ancestors,- 

 has never been subjected to the influence of abdominal constric- 

 tion ; and this type seems to disappear from the Indian girl in the 

 proportion of the admixture of white blood in her veins. It is very 

 probable, therefore, that heredity is an important factor in the 

 maintenance of women's breathing; and any experiment or deduc- 

 tion which fails to give this due consideration will naturally lead to 

 final disappointment. 



So far as I know. Dr. Kellogg's and my own experiments are 

 the only efforts which have been made to solve this problem by 

 studying the respiratory movements in their most primitive con- 

 dition in woman, and, until they are disproved by experiments 

 based on identical conditions, I think they must be taken as con- 

 clusive. Thos. J. Mays. 



Philadelphia, July 29.' 



Exchanges. 



[Exchanges are inserted for subscribers free of charge. 

 Address N. D. C. Hodges, 47 Lafayette Place, New 

 York.l 



Lead, zi 

 tary Chapl 



'idual members of the 

 25 fine specimens of fossil plants 

 from the Dakota group (cretaceous), correctly named, for 

 $2.50. Send post-office order to Charles H. Sternberg 

 (author "Young Fossil-Hunters"), 1033 Kentucky 

 Street, Lawrence, Kan. 



tor 

 making 





'* new model " double dr>'-pLite holder (4" X 5"), for fine 

 geological or mineralogical specimens, properly classi- 

 fied. — Charles E. Frick, 1019 West Lehigh Avenue, 

 Philadelphia, Penn. 



Drawings from nature 

 plants — to exchange for 

 send them in sets of ten 

 I\Iy drawings in botany 

 leaves, ilowers, seed, 

 Sharp, Gladbrook, lo 



The undersigned wishes to make arrangements for the 

 exchange of Lepidoptera of eastern Pennsylvania for 

 those from other localities. All my specimens are named 

 and in good condition. — Charles S. Westcott. 613 North 

 17th Street, Philadelphia, Penn. 



California onyx, for minerals and coins not in my col- 



rimals, birds, insects, and 



:cts for cabinet ; or I will 



h for ten cents in stamps. 



in detail, showing plant, 



pistils, etc. — Alda M. 



East 141st Street, New 



Will such members of the Agassiz Association as bot- 

 anize this summer, and can afford time, please observe 

 for me any case of doubling in any flower and in any 

 locality, stating name of flower (Gray), the abnormal 

 change, the time and place found, and whether monstros- 

 ity IS abundant or otherwise t Please address communi- 

 cations to Will G. Cole, 3643 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, 

 111. 



Any one'who has a botanical box in good condition will 

 please write. I will offer about 30 specimens in ex- 

 change. —C. B. Haskell, Box 826, Kennebunk, Me. 



A few first-class mounted birds, for first-class birds^ 

 eggs of any kind in sets. — J. P. Babbitt, secretary 

 Chapter 755, 10 Hodges Avenue, Taunton, Mass. 



