SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV II I. No. 440 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



In the table od page 11 of Science for July 3, the totals of the 

 third, fourth, fifth, and seventh columns should be 83, 85, 87, and 

 120 respectively, instead of S3, 84, 86, and 11. "j. 



— The University of Pennsylvania has decided to increase the 

 time given to the subjects of mechanical and electrical engineer- 

 ing by providing addilional courses in these subjects, extending 

 over four years. 



— Entomologists everywhere will deeply regret to hear of the 

 death of Mr. Henry Edwards, who loved his favorite studies quite 

 as much as he did the stage, and brought to both an ardor and 

 freshness contagious and perennial. " Do mention," writes one of 

 his correspondents to Psyche, " his unwearying kindness and un- 

 failing help to entomologists who were more ignorant than him- 

 self. I owe much to his help and encouragement, and shall miss 

 him sorely, though I never saw his face." and these qualities 

 which so endeared him to a lai-ge cirle of friends were indeed con- 

 spicuous in that face. It is understood that Mr. Edwards left 

 little to bis widow besides his collection, which is for sale. 



— The tanning of elephant hides is comparatively a new indus- 

 tr}-. according to tlie Boston Journal of Commerce. The method 

 eiii ployed is practically the same as in the tanning of cow hide, 

 except that a stronger combination of the tannic ingredients is 

 required, and greater length of time — about sis months — is neces- 

 sary to perform the «ork. When the hide is taken out of the vat 

 it is an inch and a half thick. Among the articles made of elephant 

 leather are pocket-books, small satchels, cigar-cases, card-cases, 

 and similar articles, and they are said to be expensive luxuries. 

 In finishing the hide, no attempt is made to glaze or polish it, 

 everything being done to preserve its natural color and appearance. 

 The leather is very enduring, several years" wear having but little 

 effect upon it. 



— Some experiments were recently made at the Riverside Iron 

 Works, Wheeling, W. Va., on the comparative liability to rust of 

 iron and soft Bessemer steel. As stated in Engineering, a piece 

 of iron plate and a similar piece of steel, both clean and bright, 

 were placed in a mixtm-e of yellow loam and sand, with which 

 had been thoroughly incorporated some carbonate of soda, nitrate 

 of soda, ammonium chloride, and chloride of magnesium. The 

 earth as prepared was kept moist. At the end of 88 days the 

 pieces of metal were taken out, cleaned, and weighed, when the 

 iron was found to have lost 0.84 per cent of its weight and the 

 steel 0.72 per cent. The pieces were replaced and after 28 days 

 weighed again, when the iron was found to have lost 2.06 per 

 cent of its original weight and the steel 1.79 per cent. 



— In the Pilot Chart for July the attention of masters of 

 vessels is called once more to the importance of using oil to pre- 

 vent heavy seas from breaking on board their vessels. The fol- 

 lowing report, printed in the chart, illustrates the fact that even 

 the largest and most powerful vessels may sometimes derive ben- 

 efits from its use, and that the precaution is especially necessary 

 when a vessel encounters the terrific seas of a West Indian hurri- 

 cane. Captain Ringk, of the German steamship " Fulda," reports 

 that at 5 a.m., June 9, in latitude 44" 06' north, longitude 43° 06' 

 west, the wind lulled to a dead calm for a short time and then 

 suddenly sprang up from the south, shifting to south-west and 

 north west and blowing a perfect hurricane. The sea was like a 

 boiling mass of foam, and the flying spray prevented those on 

 board from seeing far ahead. Soon a very high and heavy sea 

 came up from the west-south-west, and the ship (westward-bound) 

 labored heavily and shipped a great deal of water. An oil-bag 

 was then used with great success. 



— The following appointments to fellowships in the Johns Hop- 

 kins University, for 1891-92, are announced: William Wilson 

 Baden of Baltimore, Sanskrit; Edward Ambrose Bechtel of 

 Colora, Md., Latin; Julius Blume of Mtlnster, Germany, Romance 

 languages; Albert Bernhardt Faust of Baltimore, German; Siuion 

 Fl»xner of Louisville, Ky., pathology; Ulysses Sherman Grant of 

 Minneapolis, Minn , geology; William Asbury Harris of Richmond, 



Va., Greek; Harry Clary Jones of New London, Md., chemistry; 

 James Lawrence Kellogg of Kewanee, 111., biology; Elmer Peter 

 Kohler of Egypt, Pa., chemistry; Paul Erasmus Lauer of Cleve- 

 land, O., history; David Judson Lingle of Chicago, 111., biology; 

 John Hanson Thomas Main of Baltimore, Greek; Frank Jewett 

 Mather, Jun , of Morristown, N.J., English; Michael Andrew 

 Mikkelsen of Sioux Falls, S.D , history; John Dyneley Prince of 

 New York City, Semitic languages; Brantz Mayer Roszel of Bal- 

 timore, astronomy; George Owen. Squier of Baltimore, physios; 

 Sydney Grant Stacey of Kezar Falls, Me., Latin; Joseph Moody 

 Willard of Orford, N.H. , mathematics. 



— The British consul at Hankow, China, writing of the varnish 

 exported from that city, says, according to Nature, that he is in- 

 formed it is the gum of a tree, the Rhus vernicifera. On this tree, 

 before daylight, incisions are made, and the gum that runs out is 

 collected in the dark, and strained through a cotton cloth bag, 

 leaving behind a large amount of dirt and refuse. This operation 

 can only be performed in the dark, as light spoils the gum, and 

 causes it to cake with all tlie dirt in it. It cannot be strained in 

 wet weather, as moisture causes it to solidify. When the Chinese 

 use this varnish, they rub it on with a sort of mop, or swab, made 

 of soft waste silk. It should only be uspd in wet weather, as, if 

 the atmosphere is dry when it is rubbed on, it will always be 

 sticky. As used by the Chinese, the varnish takes about a month 

 to dry, and during the time it is drying it is poisonous to the eyes. 

 The consul thinks that this gum may have been one of the in- 

 gredients of the celebrated Cremona varnish, and he suggests that 

 it might be worth the while of musical instrument makers to ex- 

 periment with it with a view to producing a varnish that would 

 give a mellow instead of a glassy sound. 



— Ever since the story of Robert Bruce and the spider, says a 

 correspondent of Engineering, that insect has been proverbially 

 held up to view as an example of pertinacious skill. An attempt 

 to establish instinct as a guide to reason is, however, a fallacy. 

 The setting hen is an example of instinct, not maternal constancy. 

 This perseverance of spiders may have been an encouragement to 

 Robert Bruce, but it is often a discouragement in engineering 

 work. In sinking plumb lines down shafts for middle headings 

 in tunnelling, in order to obtain an alignment for the tunnel, the 

 accuracy of the work is often seriously impaired by spiders at- 

 taching their webs to the lines and drawing them towards the 

 walls, often with sufficient tension to introduce material ei'rors in 

 the position of the plumb bobs. In fixing the alignment of the 

 Hoosac Tunnel, in Massachusetts, at the bottom of a shaft 1,028 

 feet deep, the spiders prevented accurate work with plumb lines, 

 until two cases were made inclosing the whole length of these 

 lines. For shallow pits the spiders" webs can be broken by raising 

 the lines and then lowering them to position shortly before fixing 

 upon points ; but in this instance the distance was so great as to 

 requii-e several hours before the vibration of the lines would cease, 

 even with the bobs in vessels of mercury. The suggestion is made 

 that the lines might be freed from similar interferences by insu- 

 lating the suspended apparatus and the bob from the earth and 

 attaching a grounded electric light circuit to the wire, relying 

 upon the dampness in the \>\t to give sufficient conductivity to the 

 cobwebs to cause them to be seared by the escape when any cob- 

 web connected the earth to the plumb wire. Many years ago', 

 when the writer used the level with an engineering party, there 

 were frequent di/uculties with the instrument. Curved lines like 

 arcs of circles would appear in rapid sequence across the field of 

 vision, which would be nearly eclipsed at times. These difBoul- 

 ties would arise at irregular and generally inconvenient intervals. 

 The instrument was carefully examined without revealing any 

 cause. The writer, distrustful of his ovvn eyesight, visited an 

 eminent oculist, receiving some vague advice and paying a realis- 

 tic fee. It was afterwards discovered that a minute spider had 

 ensconced himself in the cover of the eyeglass of the telescope of 

 the level. Recently it was found that the meter in the store of a 

 patron of an electric lighting station in America was recording 

 what was a small fraction of the electricity known to be used. 

 The meter was of the revolving fan type, and it was found that a 

 spider had entered the case through a screw hole, and spun a web 



