MaECH 21, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



475 



ton on the U. S. M. S. Philadelphia Febru- 

 ary 22(i and, with a prearranged system, com- 

 municated with his operator at Poldhu, regu- 

 larly, from a point 250 miles west of the Liz- 

 ard until reaching mid-ocean, over a thousand 

 miles away, the operator reported "Tine here. 

 Thanks for message!" Thence, to a point 

 1.551 miles away, messages continued to he 

 intelligible, the last, 'All in order,' indicating 

 that the cessation was due to lack of power in 

 the sending apparatus, not to any defect of 

 construction or adjustment. Single signals 

 nevertheless continued to be recognizable, and 

 were automatically recorded on the tape, until 

 the two operators were separated by 2,099 

 statute miles. The records of all these mes- 

 sages and signals were properly certified to 

 by the operators and by the officers of the 

 ship, in order that the scepticism manifested 

 at the first announcement of Mr. Marconi's 

 work in Newfoundland might not be given a 

 shadow of an excuse for expression in this 

 instance. During this experiment the mes- 

 sages and signals transmitted to the Phila- 

 delphia passed over the Umbria, following 

 in her wake all the way across the Atlantic, 

 or within easy communicating distance, with- 

 out being recognized or even detected. 



Mr. Marconi is now confident that he has 

 demonstrated that the distance over which his 

 method will prove available is only limited by 

 the power of the sending apparatus. He is 

 preparing to establish at Poldhu ten times 

 as much transmitting power as was available 

 on this occasion. It may probably be admitted 

 as demonstrated that we may anticipate the 

 successful transmission of messages between a 

 ship at sea and the shore, on either hand, 

 from the moment of her setting out on her 

 voyage until her passengers are landed at her 

 destination on the other side of the ocean. 

 Then the previously unavoidable period of 

 anxiety attending the disappearance of ship 

 and crew and passengers, for days together, 

 will be at ag. end forever. New, or temporary, 

 or moving stations may be established at sea 

 or on land, and a campaign may be conducted, 

 in time of war, with perfect communication 

 between forces and commanders however rela- 

 tively situated and, with suitable codes, with- 



out enlightening the enemy, even if the fact 

 of communication be detected by him at all. 

 E. H. Thurston. 



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CONCILIUM 

 BIBLIOGRAPHIGUM. 



The general statement for 1901 has just been 

 issued from Ziirich and shows that Dr. Field's 

 determination to carry this project through is 

 at last beginning to meet with reward. The 

 total number of cards published in 1896 was 

 3,345, and in 1901, 21,946. The total number 

 of cards issued up to December 31, 1901, is 

 9,671,500. The total expenditure up to the 

 same date is 119,015 francs, or in round num- 

 bers $23,803. The receipts up to the same date 

 have been 92,484 francs, thus leaving outstand- 

 ing amounts of upwards of 21,000 francs or 

 something over $4,000, probably due to losses 

 in the two first years of inauguration, which 

 will soon be covered by the present increasing 

 sales. 



The financial standing of the present year 

 shows a great advance over all that have pre- 

 ceded; the increase of subscribers has been so 

 great that whole sets have gone out of print. 

 The prices charged for subscriptions correspond, 

 however, so closely to the actual cost that the 

 increased sales have occasioned increased ex- 

 penditures to nearly the same amount. It is 

 the generosity of the Swiss Government to 

 which in the main the Concilium owes the 

 present improved state of its finances. While 

 this shows the permanence of the work, it is 

 very desirable that other countries sTiould give 

 similar aid and thus remove the last of the 

 difficulties under which Dr. Field and his staff 

 are struggling. 



In consequence of the failure of an expected 

 subsidy, the physiological part of the work has 

 been temporarily suspended, but it is hoped 

 that this impediment will soon be removed. 



A recent report of the Swiss Society of 

 Naturalists estimates the saving of time 

 afforded by the great catalogue in the specific 

 case of an investigation on the trout; the 

 report says that in looking up the recent 

 literature of this subject by means of the Con- 

 cilium catalogues the saving of time was esti- 

 mated at one half a day, but in regard to other 



