July 17, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



level in that narrow strip along the seaboard which contains our 

 great seaports. The density diminishes gradually and rather uni- 

 formly up to 3,000 feet, where the population becomes quite 

 sparse. The average elevation of the country, excluding Alaska, 

 is about 3,500 feet. The average elevation at which the inhabi- 

 tants lived, taking cognizance of their distribution, was 687 feet 

 in 1870; in 1830 it had increased to 739 feet, and in 1890 to 788 

 feet. 



— The following is a brief report of the operations of the Geo- 

 logical Surveyor Missouri during June. In the field, examina- 

 tions of the clay deposits and other structural materials have been 

 continued in Franklin County, and have been extended into 

 Cooper, Morgan. Miller. Callaway, Gasconade, Jefferson, and Ste. 

 Genevieve Counties. Preliminary insppction of coal beds have 

 been made in Ray, Moniteau, Ralls, Putnam, and Grundy Coun- 

 ties, and lead deposits have been examined in Madison County. 

 Detailed mapping has been prosecuted in Madison, Ste. Genevieve, 

 Johnson, Ray, and Randolph Counties, and about 135 square 

 mil^s have been covered. In the laboratory, analytical work has 

 been done on some twenty samples of mineral waters, forty sam- 

 ples of cals. seven samples of limestone, and fourteen samples of 

 clays. For tbe solution of problems of general stratigraphy and 

 for the preparation of the report on the paleontology of the State, 

 sections have been visited and collections have been made in Greene, 

 Jasper, Newton, Lawrence, Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, Clark, 

 Marion, Pike, Lafayette, Saline, and Cooper Counties ; and collec- 

 tions have been examined in Kansas City, Curry ville, Sedalia, 

 Clinton, and Springfield, Mo., and in Chester and Sparta, 111., and 

 in Burlington, Iowa. In the office. Bulletin No. 5 has been pre- 

 pared, and is now in the hands of the printer, and much progress 

 has been made in the preparation of the manuscript of Bulletin 

 No. 6. which will consist of a preliminary report of the distribu- 

 tion of coal in the State. Mr. Frank L. Nason, late assistant 

 geologist of the New Jersey Geological Survey, has been appointed 

 to a similar position on the Geological Survey of Missouri, and 

 wiU be in charge of the iron ores of tbe State. Professor Erasmus 

 Haworth has resumed work for the summer on the crystalline 

 rocks, and will also collect material for the preparation of a report 

 on the mineralogy and petrography of the State. Professor C. H. 

 Gordon has similarly resumed work for the summer in the coal 

 fields, and most of his time will be given to the detailed study and 

 mapping of the coal beds of Macon County. Professor J. E. Todd 

 of Tabor, Iowa, has been engaged to take up during the summer 

 the study of the quarternary deposits of Missouri, and to prepare 

 a report thereon. 



— The London Journal of Education intimates that M. Bour- 

 geois, the French Minister of Public lustruction, is a bold bad 

 man who has dared to run a tilt against the orthodox national 

 spelling. In a circular addressed to rectors, he calls their atten- 

 tion to the waste of time that takes place in many schools in mas- 

 tering the minutise of spelling, to meet the real or supposed exi- 

 gencies of examiners. To lighten the burden of scholars and 

 teachers, he lays down certain regulations for the future guidance 

 of examiners. (1) Wherever authorities differ, admit all varieties 

 — rhythme or rythme, colUge or college. (3) Where the accepted 

 spelling is illogical, do not be severe on the logical pupil — e.g , 

 the plurals in x like genoux, apercevoir, and apparaitre. (3) 

 Show the same indulgence with regard to the distinctions of re- 

 cent grammarians — the plural of cent and vingt, the plurals of 

 compound substantives, the agreement of dend. M. Bourgeois is 

 no advocate of phonetic spelling, but he preaches a wide tolera- 

 tion. English spelling is far more anomalous and illogical than 

 French. Is it too extravagant to hope that a similar instruction 

 will be issued to inspectors from the education department, and 

 that the reform may be spread to the civil service commissioners? 

 There can hardly be any more demoralizing study than learning 

 by heart the list of verbs in -cede and -ceed, and nouns in -ence and 

 -ense It is high time that this '• fetish of orthography," to which 

 our plough boys and young officers are equally sacrificed, should 

 be demolished . May we hope, too, that in time the revolution 

 may affect the teaching of French, and that English schoolboys 

 will not be required to know more than is demanded of natives ? 



This, however, is a far-off divine event, and the French examiner 

 for the joint board, or the London matriculation, will fight to the 

 death for his travails and o&ils, his mil, mille, and milles, hi.s 

 gardefu and gardeschasse. 



— A new botanical club has just been organized in Canada 

 called the Botanical Club of Canada. The object of the club is to 

 adopt means by concerted local efforts and otherwise, to promote 

 the exploration of the flora of every portion of British America, 

 to publish complete lists of the same in local papers as the work 

 goes on, and to have lists collected and carefully examined in 

 order to arrive at a correct knowledge of the precise character of 

 the flora and its geographical distribution. The following is a 

 list of the officers for 1891-2 : President, Professor George Law- 

 son, Halifax ; secretary and treasurer, A. H. Mackay, Halifax ; 

 secretaries for the provinces: Ontario, Professor John Macoun, 

 Ottawa; Quebec, Professor D. P. Penhallow, Montreal; New 

 Brunswick, George U. Hay. St. John ; Nova Scotia, E. J. Lay, 

 Esq., Amherst; Prince Edward Island, Francis Bain, Esq., North 

 River; Newfoundland, Rev. A. C. Waghome, New Harbour; 

 Manitoba, Mr. Burman, Esq, Winnipeg; Alberta, W. H. Gal- 

 braith, Esq., Leth bridge; British Columbia, Dr. Newcome, Victoria. 



— Professor H. Garman, entomologist and botanist of the Ken- 

 tucky experiment station, reports in Bulletin 31 of that station a 

 series of experiments in the application of Bordeaux mixture to 

 strawberry plants for the prevention of leaf-blight, from which he 

 draws the following conclusions: (1) Injury from strawberry 

 leaf -blight can be largely prevented by the use of Bordeaux mix- 

 ture and eau celeste, and to some extent by potassium sulphide 

 and London purple. (3) Bordeaux mixture is much superior to 

 the other preparations used. (3) Applications of Bordeaux mix- 

 ture should be made as often as once in two weeks. From the 

 complete exposure of the leaves to rain, the mixture is removed 

 from strawberry leaves much sooner than from grape leaves or 

 those of ti-ees. (4) Prepared according to the following formula, 

 it may be sprayed without the slightest injury to leaves : Blue- 

 stone, 6* pounds; lime, 3J pounds; water, 33gallons. (5) Twenty- 

 two gallons of the mixture is sufficient for spraying during one 

 summer 337i feet of strawberry plants, as commonly planted in 

 rows ; and will cost for materials, considering bluestone worth 

 eight cents per pound, and lime worth one cent per pound, fifty- 

 six cents. By buying materials in quantity, this cost can be re- 

 duced. (6) A removal of the blighted leaves in summer, without 

 subsequent spraying, will increase instead of diminish injury from 

 blight. 



— The following notes on the home mixing of fertilizers, taken 

 from the annual report of the Maine experiment station, are as 

 applicable to some other states as to Maine. The mixing of 

 fertilizers on the farm through the use of chemicals and raw 

 materials does not seem to have been undertaken to any extent by 

 Maine farmers, although it is clearly shown that intelligent farm- 

 ers of other states, Connecticut for instance, are finding it profit- 

 able to adopt this method of obtaining commercial maiiures. 

 During the year 1887 and 1H88 the Connecticut experiment 

 station examined twenty-one fertilizers mixed by farmers from 

 chemicals purchased by themselves, and the analyses show : (1) 

 That these home mixtures compared favorably in composition 

 with the best factory-made fertilizers. (3) That the home mixtures 

 had a satisfactory mechanical condition. (3) That the ingred- 

 ients of the home mixtures cost the consumers on an average 

 from 30 to 35 per cent less than if purchased in factory-made 

 fertilizers, after allowing $3 per ton for the cost of mixing. It is 

 not claimed that all farmers would find it profitable to mix their 

 own fertilizers from chemicals, but it is believed that there are 

 many farmers in the State so situated with reference to markets 

 and transportation that they could buy and mix chemicals with 

 profit. This could be better done, perhaps, by an association of 

 farmers, so that by the purchase and transportation of large lots 

 at one time, a saving could be made in prices and freights. 



— A new medical sect has arisen in the West, and has already 

 founded a colleae in the State of Washington, in which medicine 

 is taught according to the biochemic doctrine, which according to 



