June 6, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



909 



injury. The onion was used for experiment, 

 and the wounded and uninjured bulbs were 

 placed in a saturated atmosphere. The normal 

 turgor pressure in terms of KNO3 solution is 

 about 3.5 to 4 per cent.; after wounding this 

 falls about 0.5 per cent. As the heating goes 

 on, four or five days after the wounding, the 

 turgor has increased again, and the wounded 

 and tmwounded onions are practically the 

 same in this respect. Carrot, beet and radish 

 were also used. 



Dr. MacDougall exhibited plants of Mono- 

 tropsis odorata sent by Professor Johnson, 

 of Johns Hopkins. He also showed a basket 

 made by the Pima Indians of Mexico, made 

 of Typha, Martynia and Salix. He also exhib- 

 ited the ayal or calabash fruit from Sonora, 

 of the genus Crescentia, a fruit of economic 

 importance. 



Miss Angell, of Plainfield, New Jersey, ex- 

 hibited living plants of Viola Angellas in 

 flower. When the plant is flowering the scapes 

 exceed the leaves; but later in the season the 

 leaves overtop the scapes. 



S. H. BUENHAM, 



Secretary pro tern. 



UNIVERSITY OP WISCONSIN SCIENCE CLUB. 



At the monthly meeting of the club, held 

 May 6, three papers were presented. 



Professor Wm. H. Hobbs discussed the 

 newly discovered Algoma meteorite. It was 

 ploughed up in Ahnapee Township, Kewaunee 

 County, Wisconsin, in 1887, and was recog- 

 nized as a meteorite in March, 1902, when pre- 

 sented to the University of Wisconsin. It is 

 an octahedral siderite weighing a little less 

 than nine pounds. Its shape is that of an 

 elliptical shield less than an inch in thickness. 

 Its convex surface is fairly smooth, but ex- 

 hibits strongly marked 'drift' markings con- 

 sisting of radial strijE upon the front which 

 proceed from a central flat boss to the periph- 

 ery, slightly curving to form a Isevo-rotatory 

 spiral. Its concave surface is irregular and 

 crusted. These facts indicate that the meteor- 

 ite moved 'broadside on' through the atmos- 

 phere with its convex surface to the front. 

 Casts of the meteorite in plaster may be ob- 

 tained by museums and persons interested. 



Professor C. S. Schlicter described the man- 

 ner of flight through the atmosphere of a 

 meteorite of the shape of the Algoma meteor- 

 ite. A meteorite, discoidal in shape and pos- 

 sessing a rapid motion of rotation about its 

 shortest axis, undergoes the following changes 

 in its motion upon entering the atmosphere. 

 The first effect of the impact is to give to the 

 spinning body a motion of precession similar 

 to that of a gyroscope. The next effect is the 

 lessening of the angle of the cone described by 

 the precessing axis, an effect entirely analogous 

 to the 'sleeping' of a coramon top. In conse- 

 quence of this the meteorite advances through 

 the atmosphere with its flat side presented to 

 the resisting medium. 



Professor 0. E. Mendenhall presented a 

 paper entitled 'The Measurement of Radiant 

 Heat.' The theory of the more important in- 

 struments for infra-red research — namely, the 

 bolometer, thermopile, radiometer, radiomicro- 

 meter and pyrheliometer — was discussed, and 

 examples of most of the instruments exhibited. 

 The radiomicrometer, thermopile and pyr- 

 heliometer were shown in actual operation, 

 and by means of the first named instrument 

 arranged for projection the infra-red spectrum 

 of a Nemst lamp was explored. 



C. K Leith, 

 Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



NORTHWESTERN AMERICA AND NORTHEASTERN 

 ASIA.* A CRITICISM. 



The current number (48, 1902, III., pp. 49- 

 58) of Petermann's Mitteilungen contains an 

 article of some length entitled 'Nordwest- 

 Amerika und Nordost-Asien. Geographische 

 Wechselbeziehung,' by Capt. Pr. Immanuel, 

 which purports to be a brief summary of the 

 most authentic information pertaining to the 

 geography and mineral resources of the ad- 

 jacent portions of the Asiatic and North 

 American continents. Most of the article 

 is devoted to Alaska, and to this part I desire 

 to offer some criticism. Capt. Immanuel, in 

 common with many compilers, has fallen into 



* Published by permission of the Director of 

 the U. S. Geological Survey. 



