I02 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XVII. No. 420 



— According to the latest observations which Dr. Finsterwalder 

 has published, as stated in The Scottish Geographical Magazine 

 for February, the region occupied by advancing glaciers is ex- 

 tending from west to east, and has lately crossed the limits of the 

 eastern Alps. The glaciers in this region have been receding dur- 

 ing the last thirty years, but now there is undeniable proof that 

 those of the Ortler group, at any rate, are in a state of progres- 

 sion. 



— Assistant E. D. Preston of the United States Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey will soon go to the Hawaiian Islands for the purpose 

 of making a series of latitude observations, to be used in con- 

 nection with others to be made by several of the countries who 

 are connected with the International Geodetic Association. The 

 question of a change in the position of the earth's axis has led to 

 some special refinements in the method of observing astronomical 

 latitudes. Whatever may be the cause of the supposed motion of 

 the pole, whether it results from the shifting of volumes of the 

 atmosphere or water above the surface, or the movement of 

 liquid or semi-liquid masses within the earth's crust, the quantity 

 to be measured is so small that it is necessary to reduce the un- 

 certainty of tbe determination to a very few feet. The obser- 

 vations at Honolulu soon to be taken up simultaneously by the 

 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the International 

 Geodetic Association of Europe will decide wliether the variation 

 is a pm-ely local one or whether there is a real change in the 

 position of the axis of rotation. Observations made last year in 

 Europe, and also in this country by Professor Comstock at 

 Madison, Wis., seem to indicate that there is an interference be- 

 tween tbe motions of the axis of rotation and the axis of inertia, 

 producing a maximum every year in the mean motion, and a 

 larger maximum at the end of five years. In Europe the minimum 

 of 1890 was 0.20" smaller than the miniaium of 1889. Besides, 

 the Greenwich observations of latitude for the last sixty years 

 show there is a long period of inequality of at least this length. 

 In order to bring out these small changes, the following pre- 

 cautions will be taken in the execution of the work : no zenith 

 distances greater than 30° will be used, and differences of zenith 

 distances shall not be more than 12' ; stars will be chosen so that 

 any error in the value of the micrometer-screw will be eliminated, 

 and the preference will be given to stars whose proper motions 

 are well known ; the barometer and thermometer will be read in 

 order to note atmospheric changes. The Coast and Geodetic. 

 Survey representative, Mr. Preston, will also avail himself of the 

 opportunity to make magnetic and gravity observations at a 

 number of points on the islands, including one station on the 

 summit of Mauna Kea at an elevation of 14,000 feet, Some 

 meteorological observations will probably be made as well. The 

 following instruments will be taken : a zenith telescope for the 

 regular international latitude work, a meridian telescope (or com- 

 bination instrument) for time and latitude observations at the 

 pendulum stations, and a theodolite- magnetometer and dip circle 

 for magnetic observations. The pendulums for the gravity obser- 

 vations will be of a new pattern, very portable, and will be 

 observed by means of an elegant method of coincidences devised 

 by Professor Mendenhall. 



■ — The monthly report for January of Arthur Winslow, State 

 geologist of Missouri, states that only such field-work has been 

 done as was necessary co complete those divisions of work which 

 were included among the operations of the past season. Thus, in 

 Jackson County some little field-work was done to complete the 

 examination of the clay and building-stone industries of the 

 •western counties; and in Randolph, Howard, and Lafayette Coun- 

 ties instrumental levelling was done in order to determine the 

 altitudes of various coal-beds. But the bulk of the work during 

 . the past month has been in the office, where the members of the 

 survey are engaged in plotting the results of surveys made during 

 the past summer and autumn. In addition, they have been busy 

 correcting the proof of Bulletin No. 3, and in preparing the manu- 

 script of the biennial report and of Bulletin No. 4 for the printer. 

 Bulletins Nos. 2 and 8 have been printed, and about a thousand 

 copies of each have been distributed. Bulletin No. 2 is a bibliog- 

 raphy of the geology of Missouri, the manuscript of which was 



prepared and donated to the survey by Mr. F. A. Sampson of 

 Sedalia. It is a valuable work of reference, and will be of great 

 use to all who are interested in the geology of Missouri and her 

 minerals. Bulletin No. 3 contains papers on the clay, stone, lime, 

 and sand industries of St. Louis City and County, and on the 

 mineral waters of Johnson, St. Clair, Henry, and Benton Counties. 

 These papers contain a mass of facts concerning the subjects to 

 which they relate, in addition to statistics of production. They 

 are, however, provisional publications ; and the resrdts of analyses 

 and tests now in progress, together with other matter not yet 

 ready for presentation, are reserved for the final report on these 

 special subjects, which it is hoped will be prepared this year. In 

 the laboratory, analyses of clays and mineral waters have been 

 prosecuted, and 136 determinations have been made. In addition, 

 a number of substances sent in by various citizens of the State 

 have been determined and reported upon. 



— The third annual meeting of the Association of American 

 Anatomists was held Dec. 29 and 30, 1890, in the anatomical lec- 

 ture-room of the Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. It was 

 presided over by Dr. F. D. Weisse, second vice-i^resident, and Dr. 

 Thomas Dwight acted as secretary pro tern. Papers were read 

 as follows: "Corrosion Preparations," by Dr. S. J. Mixter; 

 "Studies on the Spine," by Dr. Dwight; "A Comparison of the 

 Fibrine Filaments of Blood-Lymph in Mammalia and Amphibia," 

 by Profe.=sor S. H. Gage; "The Semi- Lunar Bone," by Professor 

 Shepherd; "The Structure of Protoplasm and Mitosis," by Dr. 

 Carl Heitzmann; " The homology of the Cerebrospinal Arachnoid 

 with the Other Serous Membranes," by Professor F. W. Langdon; 

 '■The Occlusion of the Rhinocaele (Olfactcu-y Ventricle) in the 

 Dog," by Mr. P. A. Fish ; and three papers — •' Tbe Relations of 

 the Olfactory to the Cerebral Portion of the Brain," " The Brains 

 of a Cat and of a Sheep lacking the Callosum," " Owen's Nomen- 

 clature of the Brain, with Suggestions based Thereon " — by Pro- 

 fessor B.G. Wilder. With one exception, the papers were illus- 

 trated by specimens, photographs, or diagrams, and all were fully 

 discussed. The committee on anatomical nomenclature (Pro- 

 fessors Leidy, Harrison Allen, Frank Baker, Thomas Dwight, 

 T. B. Stoweil, and B. G. Wilder) were authorized to publish as 

 their second report "such general and specific recommendations 

 as may be unanimously agreed upon by them." The following 

 were elected members : Dr. W. W. Dana of Portland, Me. ; Dr. 

 John C. Munro of Boston, Mass.; Mr. Pierre A. Fish of Ithaca, 

 N.Y. The next meeting will be held at Washington, D.C., in 

 September, 1891, at or about the time of meeting of the Congress 

 of American Physicians and Surgeons. The officiers for that 

 meeting are as follows : president, Joseph Leidy; vice-presidents, 

 Frank Baker, F. D. Weisse ; secretary and treasurer, D. S. Lamb ; 

 executive committee, Harrison Allen, Thomas Dwight, and B. 

 G. Wilder. 



— It is reported, says The Engineering and Mining Journal, that 

 an organization is in progress of formation at Youngstown, O. , 

 which will be one of the strongest in iron circles in the United 

 States, representing an investment of $7,735,000. The body will 

 be known as the Mahoning & Shenango Valley Iron Manu- 

 facturers' Association, and includes the iron manufacturers of 

 both valleys. These concerns include twenty-two furnace stacks, 

 thirteen rolling-mills, one pipe-works, and one wash-metal plant. 

 The output of pig iron is 1,200 tons annually and 450,000 tons of 

 finished iron, while the number of men employed will exceed 2,000. 

 It is the first time in tbe history of the iron business in eastern 

 Ohio and western Pennsylvania that the iron manufacturers have 

 been united. 



— M. H. Coudreau has completed the first part of the mission 

 of exploration in the basin of the river Oyapock, Guiana, with 

 which he was intrusted by the French Government. The travel- 

 ler, when among the mountains of Emerillons, between the Inipi 

 and tbe Appronague, was abandoned by his guides. This misfor- 

 tune, which occurred in January, 1890, caused the loss of much 

 valuable time, so that the work of exploration had to be under- 

 taken during the rainy season. The results of this winter cam- 

 paign are as follows (' ' Proceedings of the Royal Geographical 

 Society," Jan.) : The seven chief affluents of the Oyajjock, which 



