758 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 410. 



were run tlirough the guides for the signal 

 cord inside of the train, and extended about 

 one-car length on either side of the coherer. 

 Owing to the natural vibration of the train 

 it was impossible to have the relay at the 

 most sensitive point, but the distance to 

 which it was possible to keep the train in 

 touch with the station was considered very 

 satisfactory by the various officials. The 

 apparatus was loaned for the experiments by 

 the physical department of McGill Univer- 

 sity, Professor E. Eutherford and Professor 

 H. T. Barnes, assisted by Mr. H. L. Cooke, 

 being present to look after the adjustments. 

 Dean Bovey and Professor C. H. McLeod, of 

 the engineering department of McGill, also 

 witnessed the experiments. 



The department of revenue and agricul- 

 ture of the government of India has recently 

 published the seventeenth issue of ' Agricul- 

 tural Statistics of India for the years 1896- 

 97 to 1900-01.' According to an abstract in 

 Nature the numerical data have been com- 

 piled under the supervision of the director- 

 general of statistics and are issued in two 

 parts, the first dealing with British India and 

 the second with native states. The informa- 

 tion is tabulated under fourteen headings, in- 

 cluding, among others, tables showing the 

 total area of districts; the amount of culti- 

 vated and culturable land; the gross culti- 

 vated area under each crop; agricultiu-al 

 stock; the principal varieties of tenure held 

 ' direct from the government; the progress 

 made in the production of tea and of coffee; 

 and the average yield per acre of the prin- 

 cipal crops. The tables are accompanied by 

 numerous short, explanatory notes which are 

 often of an interesting nature. The follow- 

 ing statistics referring to the cultivation and 

 production of indigo in British India during 

 the past few years show that a remarkable de- 

 cline has occurred, doubtless in consequence 

 of the competition of the artificial product: 



Acres under Production 



'■^^^- Cultivation. in Cwts. 



1897-1S98 1,339,099 166,812 



1898-1899 1,010,318 139,320 



1899-1900 1,026,900 111,890 



1900-1901 990,37.5 148,029 



1901-1902 803,097 121,475 



The U. S. Geological Survey has recently 

 made public the results of a series of measure- 

 ments which the division of hydrography con- 

 ducted in 1901 on a large number of streams 

 in the United States to determine the volume 

 of their flow. The work with which these 

 records deal is unique in character and ex- 

 tent, and consists in the daily record of the 

 height of water, together with the estimated 

 maximum, minimum and average monthly 

 flow in cubic feet, in upwards of two hundred 

 and fifty of the important rivers of the 

 United States. Accompanying these data are 

 important facts concerning the physical as- 

 pects of their watersheds, the extent and man- 

 ner to which their natural powers are utilized, 

 and other information of value to engineers 

 and water users. The report of the investi- 

 gation of the New York streams is particu- 

 larly full, an interesting feature being the 

 results of measurements on streams in the 

 Catskill and adjacent regions suggested as a 

 possible source for the supply of New York 

 city. Of interest also are the results of meas- 

 urements of the streams in the west upon 

 which depend the construction of the contem- 

 plated irrigation works under the new irriga- 

 tion law. The water-power streams of Maine, 

 the drainage from the vast watershed of the 

 southern Appalachians, and the rivers of the 

 central states are all represented in the in- 

 vestigation. 



The thirteenth annual general meeting of 

 the Mining Institute of Great Britain was 

 opened on September 16, in Newcastle-on-Tyne, 

 and simultaneously with it was held the jubilee 

 meeting of the North of England Institution 

 of Mining and Mechanical Engineering, upon 

 whose foundation the Mining Institute was 

 built up. Sir Lindsay Wood presided and in 

 his address, according to the report in the 

 London Times, reviewed the past history of 

 the institute, and showed that the objects of 

 the founders had been carried out and that the 

 results they anticipated had been realized. 

 He called attention to the great loss of life 

 which occurred in the working of the coal 

 mines of Great Britain previous to 1861, and 

 said it was a universal desire to stop or reduce 



