May 22, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



287 



Mr. Ridley saw it alone charge and repulse three black ants one 

 after the other before it left the field. 



— The establishment of the Wharton School of Finance and 

 Economy as a department of the University of Pennsylvania in 

 1881, marked an epoch in American higher education. Mr. Joseph 

 Wharton, one of the most successful business-men of Philadelphia, 

 believing most thoroughly in the desirability of a higher educa- 

 tion for business-men, and seeing in the business world about him 

 but few college-trained men, determined to see whether a course 

 might not be arranged which would appeal to this class. With 

 this end in view, he gave the University of Pennsylvania $100,000, 

 on condition that it would establish and maintain a course in 

 finance and economy for the benefit more especially of those youth 

 who expect to enter business careers. The curriculum was made 

 up of two parts, — a liberal and a practical. The latter consisted 

 of accounting, mercantile laws and practice, the organization and 

 management of various industries, etc. The former was made up 

 of American history and politics, European history and politics, 

 political and social science, statistics, etc. The liberal elements in 

 the course attracted many young men who had no idea of going 

 into business, but wished the thorough training in history and 

 politics which this course afforded. As a result, the students of 

 advanced classes, who expected later to study law or go into 

 journalism, or to teach history and political science, chose this 

 course by way of preference. The school is only ten years old, 

 and consequently cannot point to its alumni by the hundreds or 

 thousands ; but the dinner given to Mr. Wharton by the alumni 

 and their friends on May 19 in Philadelphia bore ample evidence 

 of the success which the school has attained. The new curriculum 

 has produced a visible effect already on other American colleges. 

 The new university at Chicago proposes to have a college of prac- 

 tical affairs, which will be in essence a reproduction of the Whar- 

 ton School; while the Stanford University, in California, will at- 

 tempt an even more ambitious scheme along this line. 



— In the improvements in contemplation at the University of 

 Pennsylvania, the plans for which are now under way, two of the 

 needs of the university which have lately made themselves strongly 

 felt will be provided for. One is the necessity of improving the 

 heating and ventilation of existing buildings and providing for 

 that of new buildings. The other is the need of providing for the 

 growing demands of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. 

 Heretofore each building has been heated by a separate plant in 

 its basement, and has been lighted by gas. It has been decided 

 to build a central heating-station, with a present boiler capacity of 

 1,300 horse-power, from which to heat all the buildings, at present 

 eleven in number. In addition, the buildings are to be lighted 

 throughout by electricity, and to be thoroughly ventilated by the 

 use of large ventilating fans in the basement, which are to be 

 driven by steam or electric motors; while the ventilating flues in 

 the old buildings are to be changed to accord witli the best modern 

 practice. The engines and dynamos for this purpose are to be 

 placed on the ground floor of a separate building, the two upper 

 floors of which will be used by the Mechanical Engineering De- 

 partment. These two buildings are so designed that additions 

 may be made to them as need arises. The entire plant is to be put 

 in, not only for the purpose of furnishing light and heat in the 

 most economical manner, but, in addition, it is designed especially 

 for the purpose of instruction, for which it will at all times be 

 available. 



— The Kentucky Experiment Station is located at Lexington, 

 in the heart of the blue-grass region, and on a soil which has been 

 formed from the decomposition of the underlying limestone rocks. 

 On this soil potash has seemed to be the most needed element of 

 a fertilizer for corn and potatoes, although it has not produced so 

 marked an effect on wheat. Bulletin No. 33 of this station reports 

 a series of experiments in applying fertilizers to corn, of which 

 the following is the station's summary : " The results obtained this 

 year are almost identical with those of the last two years ; that is, 

 first, that, in those plots where potash was one of the ingredients 

 of the fertilizers used, there was a marked increased yield, both 

 in corn and fodder; second, that in plot 15, where a fertilizer was 

 used without potash, there was scarcely any increase in yield over 



those plots containing no fertilizer; third, that the greatest in- 

 creased yield was made by using a combination of potash and 

 nitrogen ; fourth, that the use of muriate of potash alone resulted 

 in a marked increased yield over the plots containing no fertilizers; 

 fifth, that there was a profit in the use of fertilizers in every in- 

 stance where potash was one of the ingredients, the largest net 

 profit arising from the use of the mixture of nitrate of sodium 

 and muriate of potash ; sixth, that there was a loss by the use of 

 fertilizers where potash was not one of the ingredients ; seventh, 

 that so far, potash fertilizers have shown their effect the third 

 season after application." The Ohio station has been conducting 

 similar experiments to those reported above, both on its farm in 

 Columbus and on several other farms in different parts of the 

 State; but the results differ from those of Kentucky in that no 

 combination of fertilizers has produced a sufficient increase of crop 

 to pay for the cost of application. In only one place has potash 

 produced any marked effect in Ohio, and that was in Butler 

 County, on a soil that is probably largely derived from similar 

 rocks to those which have formed the blue-grass soil. 



— In his monthly report for April, Mr. Arthur Winslow, State 

 Geologist of Missouri, states that field-work during that period had 

 been actively resumed. Examinations of clays and structural 

 materials had been made in Franklin, Montgomery, Audrain, 

 Warren, and St. Charles Counties, and the experimental work 

 on the clays had progressed well. Examinations of coal deposits 

 had been extended into Clinton, Caldwell, Linn, Schuyler, Adair, 

 Sullivan, and Boone Counties. Detailed mapping was begun in 

 Ray and Madison Counties, and about fifty square miles have been 

 covered. Bad weather and the water-soaked condition of the 

 country had, however, interfered with the progress of this work. 

 Examinations of mineral waters had been made in St. Louis, Jef- 

 ferson, Perry, Madison, Wayne, Laclede, Howell, Oregon, and 

 Barry Counties, and samples had been carefully collected for 

 analysis. Work on the zinc and lead deposits of the southern por- 

 tion of the State has been resumed by the United States Geological 

 Survey in co-operation with the State Survey. About the middle 

 of the month a party of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, in charge 

 of Mr. Isaac Winston, began the work of extending a line of pre- 

 cise levelling from Jefferson City westwards. This line was 

 brought as far as Jefferson City several years ago, and is now ex- 

 tended in accordance with an application made by the State Sur- 

 vey to the superintendent of the Geodetic Survey. In the prepara- 

 tion of the report on the paleontology of the State good progress 

 has been made, and several other reports are in course of prepara- 

 tion. 



— A committee of the Appalachian Mountain Club has made 

 arrangements for the free exhibition of the geographical collection 

 of the Brooklyn Institute in Boston. The Winslow Skating-Rink 

 has been secured for the exhibition for three weeks. May 11 to 

 May 30. The collection includes all varieties of geographical ap- 

 pliances, chiefly for educational purposes, such as wall-maps, 

 atlases, globes, models, views, diagrams, text-books, etc. It is 

 comparable to the collection made by the Royal Geographical 

 Society, and exhibited in London a few years ago. The materials 

 have been given to the institute by all the leading publishers in 

 this country and Europe. The collection was on free exhibition 

 in Brooklyn during March, and was visited by about 30,000 per- 

 sons, including many teachers with their classes. It is designed 

 for exhibition in various cities before final incorporation in the 

 museum of the Brooklyn Institute. The University Extension 

 Society of Philadelphia, the Johns Hopkins University of Balti- 

 more, and the National Geographic Society of Washington, are in 

 correspondence with the institute with the intention of securing 

 the collection in their respective cities. The collection has been 

 carefully examined, and is deemed well worthy of attention from 

 those interested in general education. It will be found suggestive 

 to teachers from the large variety of materials that it includes; it 

 will promote an interest in the study of geography among the 

 pupils in our schools; itwUl prove of value to superintendents and 

 principals of schools in giving opportunity for comparison of a 

 large variety of maps, text-books, etc. ; it will be attractive to the 

 intelligent public generally. 



