SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No. 416 



4.2° C. (7.6* F.) ; in the next twenty-four hours it fell 1.4° (2.5° F.), 

 and tlien fell 3.3° (5.8° F.), or a fall of 8.3° F. in forty-eight hours. 

 It seems to me that no more positive disproof of Dr. Hann'a posi- 

 tion could be found than these very observations which have ^ven 

 rise to so much discussion. Here is the temperature higher in the 

 centre of a storm than before and after it, both at base and sum- 

 mit, exactly in accordance with theory, and directly opposed to 

 Dr. Hann's position. 



Dr. Hann has tried to fortify his position by stating the fact 

 that in this storm the average temperature was 4° C. below the 

 thirty-years' normal, and this temperature was lower than that in 

 a high nearly two months later. As I showed in this journal for 

 June 6, 1890, " the temperature in a vertical direction in a storm 

 is not fixed, but may be ten degrees, or even more, lower than 

 the average, and yet be many degrees above that of the surround- 

 ing region. That the temperature in an October storm was lower 

 than in a November high area is not in any wise remarkable." This 

 position is exactly the one taken more recently by Professor Ferrel 

 (Science, Dec. 19); so that we see that on all acconnts Dr. Hann's 

 position is entirely untenable, and his disproof of the condensa- 

 tion theory, if it amounts to any thing, is a direct proof in its 

 favor, as shown by the records. H. A. Hazen. 



WashlDgtOD, Jan. 7. 



The Practicability of transporting the Negro back to Africa. 



A LITTLE more than a year ago there appeared in the columns 

 of The Open Court of Chicago some very excellent articles upon 

 the question as to the methods we should adopt in handling our 

 African population.in the future. There were two sides taken in 

 the premises, — those in favor of making the attempt to assimilate 

 this mighty host of millions of negroes we now have in our midst; 

 and those in favor of sending him back to the land of his ancestors. 

 In the opinion of the present writer, the most able of all these 

 ai'ticles came from the pen of Professor Cope, and in the main we 

 completely coincide with the views that that far-seeing thinker 

 puts fortii. 



Professor Cope's reasons for returning the African to Africa 

 are most cogent indeed, and are stated in a philosophic and mas- 

 terly manner. He lifts himself far above the state of the case as seen 

 by the short-sighted party politician, or the sentimental hopes of the 

 idealist or philanthropist, and, calling history and science to his 

 aid, shows most conclusively that we incur a great danger in 

 quietly submitting to the continued presence of this race of people 

 among us. It is not my object here to enlarge upon his ably 

 stated argument, for he has shown with marked precision and 

 strength the dangers of hybridization of the white and black races 

 in this country, and the constantly disturbing element the negro is 

 in our national organization. By far the greatest danger, how- 

 •ever, comes from the mixture of the two races ; and that such is 

 now going on, one has to but study the population of a city like 

 Washington to appreciate. 



It is to be most devoutly hoped that in the very near future the 

 pressing necessity of taking early action in this matter will be 

 fully recognized; and, when such comes to be the case, the prac- 

 tical question will surely arise as to the best ways and means of 

 accomplishing the transfer. Little has been written upon this 

 point as yet, though we all know that the proper exercise of 

 ability, of energy, and the use of sufficient money, will effect it. It 

 seems to me that the first steps that should be taken are those of 

 an organization of an extensive American expedition to Africa, to 

 primarily report upon the best available areas for colonization, 

 taking conditions of climate and for future improvement into con- 

 sideration. Such an expedition would have many decided advan- 

 tages ; for, in addition to making a well-organized initial move for 

 the removal of the negro to liis proper home, it would give 

 America an opportunity to reap the national benefits that flow 

 from such exploration, — credit of a nature that we now stand 

 greatly in need of, as our last African expedition was practically 

 a puerile failure. Finally, it would give scientific employment to 

 several of the huge and expensive battle ships we are now con- 

 structing, and for which there is no other especial employment in 

 fchese days of peace, beyond an exhibition of power. 



The next step should be in the direction of constructing a suffi- 

 cient number of comfortable and commodious steamers by means 

 of which the transfer could be made; and upon their completion, 

 the necessary national legislation should be promptly enacted that 

 would efficiently result in the removal of every negro in this 

 country to those parts of the African continent selected for them. 

 The settlement for such personal properties as the comparatively 

 few negroes could justly lay claim to in the United States could 

 be easily settled. It would not create a circumstance aside 

 similar financial problems that we have most promptly and satis- 

 factorily solved in former times. 



We do not need the ne^ro vote; we do not need his labor; and, 

 least of all, do we need the injection of his lowly blood into our 

 veins. On the other hand, " Darkest Africa" can well stand, and 

 with the greatest benefit, the introduction into her fertile valleys 

 and upon her fair hillsides, of the very material she most requires 

 to inaugurate her development; that is, several millions of the 

 descendants of her people, which, for a century and a half, have 

 enjoyed the tuition of the most highly civilized race upon the face 

 of the globe. R. W. Shufeldt. 



Talioma, D.C., Jan. 2. 



L" Letters to Editor" continued on p. 50.] 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



An exhibition at Grolier Club, 29 East 32d Street, New York, 

 of books on alchemy and early chemistry belonging to Dr. H. C. 

 Bolton, is announced to close Monday, Jan 26; open afternoons 

 from two to six o'clock. 



— Dr. Don Jose Nicolas Gutierrez, founder of the Cuban Academy 

 of Medical, Physical, and Natural Sciences at Havana, died Dec. 

 31, 1890, at the age of ninety. The rector of the university, and 

 Professor Poey of the same, still live, — one at the age of ninety, 

 the other ninety-one. 



— Owing to theii' greatly increased trade in New York, George 

 L. English & Co., mineralogists, have leased rooms at 733 and 735 

 Broadway (within three doors of their former location), in which" 

 they have more space than heretofore in their Philadelphia and 

 New York stores combined. The consolidation of the two stores, 

 and the formal transfer of the business, were made on Jan. 1. 

 Mr. Niven, a mecnber of the firm, started Dec. 13 on another col- 

 lecting-trip to the South-west and Mexico. 



— The question has been asked, " Does the weather of Kansas 

 divide itself into seven-year wet and dry periods?" Another 

 question that has been asked, and it is an important one too, is, 

 "Is the rainfall of Kansas increasing?" Audit is the object of 

 a paper by E. C. Murphy, C.E., Kansas University, Lawrence, 

 Kan., to answer these questions as correctly as the rainfall rec- 

 ords of the State will permit, in which he concludes from the 

 record of the observations tlijis far taken, that the law of seven- 

 year wet and dry periods does hold in Kansas, and also that the 

 rainfall is steadily increasing in Kansas. 



— The next meeting of the American Branch of the Society for 

 Psychical Research will be held at the Association Hall, corner of 

 Berkeley and Boylston Streets, Boston, Mass.. on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 

 at 8 P.M. The following papers wiU be read: "Report of Some 

 Recent Experiments in Automatic Writing," by T. Barkworth, to 

 be read by the secretary; " Report 3f Some Sittings with Mrs. 

 Piper in America," by R. Hodgson. No admittance except by 

 ticket. Extra tickets may be obtained by members or associates 

 on application to the secretary, Richard Hodgson, 5 Boylston 

 Place, Boston, Mass. 



— Staff-Commander J. G. Boulton, R.N., who has, since the 

 autumn of 1883, been engaged in a hydrographic survey of the 

 Georgian Bay, during the past season completed a large propor- 

 tion of the work yet remaining to be done, being that part of the 

 east coast from Indian Islands to Moose Deer Point, and including 

 the important harbor and approaches of Parry Sound. The part 

 not yet completed comprises the south-east extremity of the bay, 

 lying south-eastward of a line joining Moose Deer Point and Point 

 Rich, of which the most important portion is Matchedash Bay. Two 

 charts have just been issued by the British Admiralty, covering 

 the work done by Capt. Boulton in 1889. One of these embraces 



