July 22, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



53 



Corythuca ciliata Say, formerly known as Tingis hyalina 

 H. Schf., is, I believe, the one so common on the button- 

 wood, Platanus. I have a species taken from the paper 

 mulberry Broussonetia and another species from Stophylea, 

 both new to me. 



In the family ACANTHIDyE and sub-family CiMiciNA we 

 have Acanthia lectularia Linn., which is very abundant 

 and well distributed all over our city. In the family CAP- 

 SIDaE we are quite well represented. Plagiognathus ob- 

 scuriis Uhl. is very common. Episcopus ornatus Eeut is 

 quite rare; I have only taken about a dozen specimens. 

 Garganus fusiformis Say is rather common, and Hyaliodes 

 vitripennis Say is exceeding rare. 



Capsus ater Linn, is also rare, but is conspicuous on ac- 

 count of its shinino- black color. Orthops scutellatus Uhl. 

 is very rare indeed ; I have only taken about half a dozen 

 specimens. ComptobrocMs grandis Uhl. is also very rare. 

 Poecilocapsus goniphorus Say. is very common ; this has 

 been known as P. dislocatus Say. and P. melaxanthus H. 

 Schf. P. lineatus Fabr. is more common than goniphorus, 

 and destroys a great variety of plants. Poeciloscytus basalts 

 Eeut., formerly known as P. sericeus Uhl., is also common. 

 Lygus pratensis Linn., which much resembles the last, is 

 exceedingly common; this was formerly known as L. lineo- 

 laris Pol. Beauv, and L. oblineatus Say. Calocoris rapidus 

 Say. is common, and was formerly known as C. midticolor 

 H. Schf. Neurocolpus nubilis Say. is very rare with us; I 

 have but three specimens representing it. Phytocoris ex- 

 imius Eeut. is also very rare, and a species of Phytocoris, 

 not determined, more common. Lopidea media Say. is very 

 rare, as is Resthenia insignis Say. Collaria meilleurii 

 Prov., which Uhler gives as Tracheloniiris meilleurii Prov., 

 is quite rare. Leptopterna dolobrata Linn, is common 

 everywhere where there are grass and weeds. Miris offinis 

 Eeut., formerly known as M. instabilis Uhl., is not common. 

 Trigonotylus ruficornis Fall, is rare with us, making about 

 twenty species of CAPSID^^ taken here, which is probably 

 only about one-third of the species that occur with us. 



OBSERVATIONS AT BOSSEKOP.: 



The close connection between the Aurora and magnetism in- 

 duced Herr O. Baschin to accompany Dr. Brendel to Bossekop for 

 the purpose of observing this phenomenon. On January first of 

 this year they entered the Alten Fiord, at the end of which lies 

 Bossekop. It is built on the slope of one of the raised beaches so 

 common on the shores of the fiord and in the adjacent valleys. 

 An elevation of the shore amounting to 43 inches is said to have 

 taken place during the last fifty years, but the calculations are 

 not beyond suspicion. Dr. Brendel succeeded in obtaining pho- 

 tographs of different forms of the Aurora, the only ones at present 

 in existence. Violent magnetic disturbances have often been ob- 

 served during displays of the Northern Lights, and the close rela- 

 tion of these phenomena is further demonstrated by the fact that 

 the centres of the arcs of light lie on the magnetic meridian, and 

 that the corona, the most splendid form of Aurora, lies in the 

 magnetic zenith. The most remarkable disturbances took place 

 on February 14, accompanied by an unusually gorgeous di.-play 

 of the Aurora, when the magnetic declination was observed to 

 vary more than 12° — the greatest deviation ever noticed — 

 within eight minutes. At the same time the disturbances in 

 Europe and North America were so great that most of the self- 

 registering instruments were unable to record them. It is not 

 possible at present to determine with certainty the cause of these 

 striking phenomena, but it seems probable that the great sun-spot, 

 seventeen times as large as the surface of the earth, which was at 



' From the Scottish Geographical Magazine. 



the time visible even to the naked eye, was connected with the 

 disturbances mentioned. 



The meteorological observations also presented much that was 

 interesting. The temperature on the west coast of Norway does 

 not fall nearly so low as might be expected in such high lati- 

 tudes. Even at the North Cape the mean of the coldest month is 

 only 33" F., whereas in West Greenland on the same latitude the 

 temperature sinks every winter to — 40°. As, however, the dis- 

 tance from the coast increases, the temperature falls rapidly. The 

 minimum observed at Gjesvar, near the North Cape, is — 3° F. ; 

 at Bossekop, 33 miles from the open sea, — 22° ; and at Karasjok, 

 further south but 130 miles from the coast, — 60°. Thus the in- 

 fluence of the Gulf Stream, which prevents the fiords from freez- 

 ing over, does not penetrate inland. The fall of snow in winter 

 is not very large at Bossekop, but also increases towards the in- 

 terior. In very cold weather the snow does not come down in 

 flakes, but takes the form of crystals of ice, which, having no 

 cohesion, are blown about by every puflf of wind. 



The Lapps may be divided into two classes, — the very poor 

 fishermen of the coast and the nomadic Lapps of the mountains, 

 who often possess considerable property. Of late years a third 

 class has sprung up, which has settled in two inland places, 

 Karasjok and Kautokeino. At the beginning of March the Lapps 

 gather to a great fair at Bossekop, where many thousand ptarmi- 

 gan, several tons of reindeer flesh, besides butter and tongues, 

 change hands. Herr Baschin drove to Karasjok in a reindeer 

 sledge, a vehicle that requires a deal of management, in order to 

 inspect the dwellings of the Lapps settled there. The village is 

 situated on a stream of the same name, one of the headwaters of 

 the Tana, the second largest river of Norway, and contains about 

 200 inhabitants — all, with few exceptions, Lapps. Their dwell- 

 ings are conical tents, 13 to 16 feet in diameter, with openings at 

 the top to let out the smoke from the fire in the centre. Many 

 Lapps own 2,000 to 3,000 head of reindeer. These people are not 

 so powerful, intelligent, and honest as the Eskimo, and give the 

 Norwegian Government much trouble through their propensity to 

 steal reindeer. In Karasjok Herr Baschin found Balto and Ravna, 

 the two Lapps who accompanied Dr. Nansen on his journey across 

 Greenland, and on his voyage home he inspected that explorer's 

 new vessel, which is being built at Laurvig. It has a nearly 

 semi-circulac cross-section, and is rigged as a three-masted schooner. 

 It is of 350 tons register, and is constructed almost entirely of 

 German oak. A small engine will enable it to make six knots an 

 hour during calms. 



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Laboratory Teaching. 



In a recent number of Science there appeared an excellent arti- 

 cle by Professor Chas. F. Mabery upon "Aims of Laboratory 

 Teaching," in which occurred the following sentence : " Probably 

 the earliest attempt in this country to give systematic laboratory 

 instruction, to classes of any magnitude, was made in 1865 at the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology."' 



Professor Mabery is surely in error upon this point, as such in- 

 struction had been given the students of the Rensselaer Polytechnic 

 Instituie for many years previous to the date quoted. Our present 

 laboratory, which is very complete and accommodates seventy-six 

 students at a time in analytical chemistry, was built in 1863, to 

 replace the one destroyed by fire in that year. Permit me to quote 

 from a letter just received from Professor James Hall, geologist 

 of the State of New York, who graduated from this institution 

 many years ago: " In regard to systematic laboratory instruction 

 in chemistry, I can only say that when I entered the Rensselaer 

 School in 1831 there were already laboratories fitted up for giving 

 systematic instruction in chemistry, and each student of the class 



