August 23, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



^2>7 



the death of 19,740 persons in addition. The Rev. Father Barry 

 argues for a " Gospel for the Century," claiming that the church, 

 like the age, must be progressive. Walter Frewen Lord describes 

 the life and writes of Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian dramatist 

 whose works are exciting so much attention in England. Lord 

 Brabourne replies to Mr. Gladstone's article on the Irish union in 

 the July number, in a paper in which he takes the great statesman 

 to task for not accounting for the actual condition under which the 

 cruelties he censured so severely were practised. Lord Ribbles- 

 dale has a light though interesting study on the " Art of Conversa- 

 tion," relating his own experience in acquiring that difficult accom- 

 plishment. Mr. Gladstone neglects politics this month, and returns 

 to his classical studies in a paper on the " Phoenician Affinities of 

 Ithaca," a much argued question among Greek scholars, which he 

 endeavors to answer. Professor Geffcken contributes a paper on 

 " The French in Germany," reviewing the history of French treat- 

 ment of Germany and Germans in the last few centuries. Ger- 

 many, he claims, has suffered more in that time from France than 

 she did from the war of 1871, and he therefore argues that the 

 treaty of Frankfort should be regarded as final. Frederick Green- 

 wood presents an interesting essay on love and men and women, 

 entitled " Wool Gatherings; " and John Morley, W. S. Lilly, R. E. 

 Prothero, Sir Frederick Bramwell, H. G. Hewlitt, Frederic Myers, 

 and the Hon. Hallam Tennyson review some noticeable books. 

 The number closes with a rejoinder on female suffrage, by Mrs. 

 Creighton, and a long list of signatures to the protest against suf- 

 frage printed in the June number. 



— The Clark Electric Company, 192 Broadway, New York, have 

 issued a new catalogue of their arc light apparatus. In this is 

 given, with illustrations, some account of their arc dynamo, with a 

 view showing the interior field and others of the armature, auto- 

 matic regulator, etc. The single and double arc-lamps are de- 

 scribed. The pamphlet closes with a description of their new 

 automatic regulator. 



— The current number of the American Joiir?ial of Psychology 

 is strong in four original papers. The first, by Dr. William Noyes, 

 contains a further account of an interesting paranoiac described 

 by him in an earlier number of the journal (May, 18S8). The pa- 

 tient, an artist of talent and originality, has continued his paint- 

 ing, and latterly busied himself with the composition and illustra- 

 tion of a manuscript book of two hundred pages. The six plates 

 accompanying this article reproduce nearly fifty pictijres, of which 

 three are taken for comparison from his pre-asylum work, and two- 

 thirds of the rest are pen-and-ink drawings from the book. Con- 

 siderable extracts, both of prose and verse, are given, the latter 

 especially showing the same mixture of facility and imperfect finish 

 that characterizes his pictures. It is rare that an alienist has the 

 opportunity of observing a case where the disordered mind has 

 such varied and delicate means of expressing itself. The next 

 article is an experimental study, by Dr. C. F. Hodge, of the effect 

 of electrical stimulation upon ganglion cells. The outcome of 

 these careful experiments is a method "by which changes due to 

 functional activity can be as easily and certainly demonstrated 

 in a ganglion as in a gland." Electrical stimulation noticeably 

 decreases the size of the nucleus, makes it jagged in outline, 

 obscures its reticulation, and makes its stain darker. In the cell 

 protoplasm it causes vacuolation and slight shrinkage, and makes 

 its stain less readily. The nuclei of the cell capsule are also 

 shrunken. These changes are figured in an accompanying plate. 

 In the third article. Dr. E. C. Sanford concludes his series on per- 

 sonal equation, taking up especially the ainount and cause of 

 personal differences under the simplest conditions of observation. 

 He brings together the contributions of the astronomers and 

 physiological psychologists, and considers the theories of Bessel, 

 Wolf, and others. A bibliography of a hundred titles or more is 

 appended. Dr. W. H. Burnham furnishes a very interesting paper 

 on the illusions and hallucinations of memory, or, as the phenomena 

 have been termed, paramnesia. An example of a single class is the 

 not uncommon feeling of strange familiarity in totally unfamiliar 

 circumstances. Other kinds are rarer, but by no means unknown. 

 Important contributions have come from the alienists, notably from 

 Kraepelin, whose classification Dr. Burnham follows. The author 



has been fortunate in collecting a number of illustrative cases 

 (such tricks of memory seem frequent in dreams, with some people 

 at least), which parallel in normal life the grosser cases of the in- 

 sane. The subject has also a practical bearing ; for Hughlings- 

 Jackson, while admitting that the feeling of reminiscence above 

 mentioned does occur in normal people, would regard its frequent 

 occurrence as a confirmatory symptom of a certain form of epilepsy. 

 In persons of somewhat defective memory and judgment, as chil- 

 dren and old people, a skilful lawyer can, by proper manipulation, 

 create, entirely without the consciousness of the witness, a memory 

 of events that never happened ; and, like Professor Royce, the 

 author would account for many cases of presentiments, telepathy, 

 etc., reported by trustworthy people, as cases of pseudo-memory. 

 The number contains, as usual, reviews and abstracts of literature 

 on the nervous system and experimental and abnormal psychology, 

 besides miscellaneous notes. In the abnormal section is included 

 also a paper of practical suggestions to physicians in asylums, 

 hospitals, etc., for the observation of patients suffering from mental 

 and nervous diseases, by Dr. H. H. Donaldson. The suggestions 

 are accompanied throughout by references to the literature. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*^*Correspondents are retjiiesicd to be as brie/ as possible. The writer's name ir 

 in alt cases required as proof of ^ood faith. 



The editor will be ,^lad to publish any (Queries consonant with the c/iaracter of 

 the journal. 



Twenty copies of the number containing his communication will be furnished 

 ftee to any correspondent on request. 



Sunset Glows. 



We have just been enjoying a re-appearance of sunset glows 

 like those following the Krakatoa eruption of 1883, though much 

 less bright. The phenomenon was first noticed here after sun- 

 down of July 13. On the 14th and 15th it seemed to increase in 

 intensity. After this it declined, and I think could not be clearly 

 distinguished after the 20th. 



I noted a whitish glow around the sun, occupying a space of 

 about fifteen degrees' radius, as in " Bishop's ring." The outer 

 colored ring characteristic of that corona seemed to be entirely 

 lacking. 



I have remarked the following peculiarities in which these differ 

 from the Krakatoa glows : they are very much less bright, perhaps 

 like those after a lapse of several months. 



A notable difference is in a beautiful tertiary glow. This con- 

 sisted of a rich and delicate rosy flush occupying a tract of sky 

 in the west, say of sixty degrees horizontally, and from live down 

 to ten degrees of altitude. At the edges this melted into purple 

 upon the clear blue of our North Pacific sky. A faint purple tint 

 extended along the horizon quite to the south : no color in the 

 north. There are islands a little north of west, intercepting re- 

 flections. This third glow failed to gather down and deepen upon 

 the horizon like those preceding it. I think its tint the most beau- 

 tiful I have ever seen in the heavens, like that of some rare and 

 perfect jewel. 



A very marked peculiarity is the early time at which the primary 

 and secondary glows take place. The primary glow gathers soon 

 after the sun is down, and is at its height while daylight is yet 

 strong. Hence it is less conspicuous, although its broad streaming 

 radiations of glowing surface are very remarkable. 



The secondary glow promptly follows, and makes the grand dis- 

 play. It is nearly finished before any stars are visible. The 

 Krakatoa secondary began in a somewhat darkened sky, — as dark 

 as when the late tertiary appeared, — and lingered until after full 

 darkness, slowly settling down into a low, dense, blood-red stratum, 

 which simulated the reflection of a remote conflagration. 



That strange dull-red glow was entirely absent from the late 

 appearances. The secondary gathered and settled away in a bright 

 orange glow. Both at its close and throughout its course, this 

 secondary substantially resembled the Krakatau primary as seen 

 several months after the eruption. Like that, it presented at 

 its close a well-defined and serrated upper edge, bordered by dark 

 sky. The serrations of the latter, however, were small and numer- 



