December 20, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



427 



— Brown, Thurston, & Co., Portland, Me., announce the com- 

 pletion of the six volumes of the " York (Me.) Deeds." This work, 

 which has been in progress for the past six years, is one of the 

 most important historical and antiquarian publications relating to 

 the early history of New England that has ever been published, 

 being of particular value and interest to the people of Maine, New 

 Hampshire, and Massachusetts, as in it is found a large portion of 

 the unknown and unwritten history of those States. The work 

 was done under the direction and patronage of the Maine Historical 

 Society and the State of Maine. 



— Of The Ladies' Home Joicrnal it is said that it has the 

 largest actual paid circulation of any magazine in the world ; it had 

 on its books at last count 422,356 paid annual subscribers, with a 

 subsequent daily increase ; it prints and sells each month 500,000 

 copies ; it has two editions a year of one million copies each ; it 

 goes monthly into 35,000 post-offices throughout the United States 

 and Canadian provinces ; it has regular paid subscribers in 46 of 

 the 60 countries of the civilized world ; it has a subscriber in 

 almost every English-speaking nation of the globe ; it requires 8 

 large cylinder presses, running an entire month, to print a single 

 edition ; it has over 5,000 employees, agents, and subscription can- 

 vassers in its employ ; it has a working staff of 80 writers and 14 

 editors, besides artists and engravers. 



— In Lippmcott' s Monthly Magazine for January a feature of 

 especial interest is the publication of the first part of some unpub- 

 lished manuscript of Nathaniel Hawthorne's, — a weird tale en- 

 titled " The Elixir of Life." This is a version of the theme of 

 "The Bloody Footstep," also treated by Hawthorne, in " Dr. Grim- 

 shawe's Secret," "Septimius Felton," "The Dolliver Romance," 

 etc. Mr. Julian Hawthorne, who edits the manuscript, by draw- 

 ing attention to the similarities and discrepancies between this and 

 other versions, presents a study of the great romancer's methods 

 of work, and, by paraphrasing such portions of the manuscript as 

 are repeated in the published stories above named, imparts to the 

 whole the character of a complete tale. " Nathaniel Parker Willis " 

 is the theme of R. H. Stoddard's study of American authors. This 

 paper is one of a series of critical articles which Mr. Stoddard has 

 contributed to Lippijicoit's. In an article entitled " Newspaper 

 Fiction," William Westall, the popular English novelist, t^lls of the 

 growth of the syndicate idea in England. " The Theatrical Re- 

 naissance of Shakspeare " is contributed by Edward Fuller, the 

 dramatic editor of the Boston Post, who reviews the extraordinary 

 revival of Shakspeare's plays at our theatres during the season of 

 1888 and 1889. The article is full of suggestions concerning the 

 setting of the plays, and also of criticisms upon modern actors. In 

 " Under the Mistletoe," Henry Collins tells about the origin of the 

 custom of kissing under the mistletoe ; and Miss Anne H. Whar- 

 ton, in " Our Winter Festivities," gives the origin of many of our 

 Christmas and New Year customs. 



— A. E. Kennelly, Mr. Edison's chief electrician, who has so 

 frequently been called as an expert in important litigations, will 

 contribute to the January Scribner's the sixth article in the electric 

 series, entitled "Electricity in the Household," which is a popular 

 discussion of the numerous devices that can be conveniently ap- 

 plied to every modern home where comfort is aimed at. The 

 article will be illustrated. In his very interesting and timely article 

 on " Water Storage in the West," Walter Gillette Bates discusses 

 in the same number some of the reasons which may make it ad- 

 visable that in the near future the government should undertake 

 the whole question of reclaiming the arid regions of the West by 

 an immense system of artificial dams and lakes. Of the Eiffel 

 Tower, W. C. Brownell says, " It was, however, not only not vulgar, 

 but agreeable. Technically the Tour Eiffel was superb. It may 

 have been intended merely to be astonishing, but in reality it was 

 in the highest degree impressive." In his article on " The Beauty 

 of Spanish Women," Henry T. Finck says, " If I were asked to 

 state in one sentence wherein lies the chief advantage of Spanish 

 women over those of other countries, and to what they chiefly owe 

 their fame for beauty, I should say, that if a Spanish girl has round 

 cheeks, and has medium-sized, delicately cut nose and mouth, she 

 is almost certain to be a complete beauty ; whereas, if an Ameri- 

 can or English girl has a good nose, mouth, and cheeks, the 



chances are still against her having a beautiful complexion, and 

 fine eyes, hair, and teeth, which Spanish girls are always endowed 

 with as a matter of course. But over and above every thing else, 

 it is the unique grace and the exquisite femininity, unalloyed by 

 any trace of masculine assumption or caricature, that constitute 

 the eternal charm of Spanish women." 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



','Correspondetiis are requested to be as brief as passible. The writer's name is 

 in allcases required as proof of t:ood faith. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character oj 

 the journal. 



On request, twenty copies of the number containing his communication will be 

 furnished free to any correspondent. 



A Peculiar Case of Adhesion. 



A VERY singular case of adhesive power has come under my 

 notice lately, and the results of an investigation made with the view 

 of establishing its nature are recorded in the following lines. 



Mr. Louis Hamburger of Baltimore, sixteen years old, and of 

 rather delicate build, noticed for the first time, about the middle of 

 November last, that a cane would, as he expressed it, " stick " to 

 his fingers, and that wiping off the cane and washing his hands 

 would not prevent this occurrence. Laying his fingers on other 

 light articles, such as lead-pencils, penholders, etc., he found that 

 he could lift them up by simply placing his fingers upon them, the 

 objects adhering firmly to the skin. Not being able to explain 

 these phenomena, Mr. H. came to see me on Nov. 19, and sur- 

 prised me by performing a few of the experiments which he had 

 learned to execute, and which consisted in the raising of various 

 objects by their adherence to his fingers. The heaviest of these 

 articles did not weigh twenty grams. 



At a loss to understand the nature of these phenomena, I began 

 a series of experiments, which, in the course of a few weeks, 

 brought to light a number of facts more interesting, and even 

 more startling, than those which had been observed by Mr. H. 

 himself up to the time he first called upon me. The experiments 

 performed were made with the view of determining (i) the quality 

 and nature of the adhering substances, i.e., their chemical com- 

 position and texture ; (2) the quality or weight of adhering masses, 

 and their relation to the hand's surface brought into play in a 

 given experiment ; (3) the exact points or surfaces of the fingers or 

 other parts of the body which exhibit this adhesive power ; (4) the 

 length of time during which substances will adhere. 



Before stating the results of the various experiments made, I 

 will mention that it was soon found that the hands had to be care- 

 fully cleaned by washing with soap and water, and then with al- 

 cohol and ether, in order to attain the highest degree of adhesive 

 power; and that the surface of the articles experimented upon had 

 likewise to be well cleaned, and rubbed absolutely dry. Particles 

 of dust or moisture greatly interfere in all experiments where the 

 highest power is demanded. 



In regard to the first point of inquiry, the nature of the material 

 which would adhere, it was easily proven that chemical composi- 

 tion had nothing whatever to do with the adherence. Metals, 

 stone, glass, rubber, wood, etc., — all probably adhere equally well, 

 provided their surfaces possess the same degree of smoothness. 

 As a general rule, it may be stated that the adhesive power in- 

 creases with the degree of smoothness of surface. It is for this 

 reason only that well-polished metals or glass show the highest 

 degree of adhesion. The latter substance answers especially well, 

 because it can be cleaned easily. In proportion as the surface be- 

 comes less even, the adhesive power diminishes ; and porous sub- 

 stances, such as paper, cloth, etc., or articles covered with them, 

 cannot be made to adhere at all. 



The second question, regarding the determination of the extreme 

 limit of the weight of matter adhering, was found more difficult to 

 answer. A number of factors influence the results of experiments 

 made in this direction. It was found that not only the shape of 

 the adhering mass had to be considered, but also the position of 

 the hand itself. Cylindrical forms seem to be preferable, while 

 flat surfaces adhere but poorly ; and a much larger weight may be 

 attached to the fingers while the hand is held perpendicularly than 



