September 2, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



135 



A half-dozen, or dozen, males chase down a female, roll her in 

 the dust or mud, as the case may be, and, despite the frantic 

 fighting back, pull her tail, peck her wings, pinch her with their 

 claws, and when the tormenters are tired out. and she panting 

 with exhaustion, the whole party adjourn to a convenient heap 

 of dung, and, in less time than it is spoken, the joke seems for- 

 gotten. 



They drive away birds larger and more courageous than them- 

 selves, if they are perching birds, by following at their heels, and 

 doubtless also making uncomplimentary remarks. Watch the 

 arrival of the first robin, and see the three or four hoodlums follow 

 him from tree to tree for the first week after his coming. Not one 

 dares touch him, but they make his life miserable. 



The song sparrow, though he will vanquish the Englishman 

 every time, soon tires of being tagged from bush to tree, and 

 leaves in disgust. The same is true of the catbird, and to some 

 extent of the oriole, which is also less common by half. I have 

 seen them pull a "chippy's" nest to pieces during the owner's 

 absence out of pure mischief, and I i>resume they do the same to 

 the nests of other birds. 



It is difHcult to see what there is to recommend the little villain, 

 and the man who introduced him should be classed with the man 

 who introduced rabbits into Australia. X. 



Port Edward, Aug. 22. 



Celestial Photomicrography. 



Stellar photography has advanced enough to justify the hope 

 that, by the next opposition of Mars, some means of scrutinizing 

 his landscape more closely may be found. If microphotography 

 and its associated science, photomicrography, are pushed on 

 parallel lines with stellar photography by co-operating specialists 

 who can appreciate the requirements in both fields, something 

 valuable may result. 



The possibility of an Atlantic cable was laughed at by good 

 electricians, and astronomers despair of overcoming the difficul- 

 ties presented by diffraction, irradiation, chromatic and atmos- 

 pheric blurrings, and light absorption; but these matters have 

 been conquered in many respects in telescopy and general photog- 

 raphy. 



Materials that will afford the densest homogeneity of surface 

 should be sought for, upon which the photographs can be taken, 

 to be later scrutinized with microscopic lenses. It may be possi- 

 ble to arrange a battery of microscopes to take enlarged camera- 

 lucida photographs, which in turn may be enlarged by "solar 

 prints;" and if surfaces can be invented or discovered smooth 

 and continuous enough to admit of these successive enlarge- 

 ments without breaking up the details, we may possibly capture 

 the Martial men in the act of filling Schiaparelli's canals, and 

 other ivise observe what their estimated five million years of sen- 

 iority over us affords thera. S. V. Clevenger. 



Chicago, Aug. 21. 



As to the " Extinction " of the American Horse. 



In 1881, in the Kansas City Review, E. L. Berthoud pointed 

 out the fact that, in maps drawn up by Sebastian Cabot (who went 

 in 1527 to the east coast of South America) to show his discoveries, 

 at the head of La Plata, with figures of other animals he gives 

 that of the horse. 



This fact, as thus put on such indubitable record, is accepted 

 by scientists, including Heilprin, Wilckins, and Flower. The 

 latter, in his manual on "The Horse "(1891), says: "The usual state- 

 ment as to the complete extinction of the horse in America is thus 

 qualified, as there is a possibility of the animals having still ex- 

 isted, in a wild state, in some parts of the continent remote from 

 that which was first visited by the Spaniards, where they were 

 certainly unknown. It has been suggested that the horses which 

 were found by Cabot in La Plata in 1530 cannot, have been intro- 

 duced."' 



The above is surely of great interest, and is worthy of repetition. 

 The writer has come across two statements, which, taken in con- 

 nection with the above, appear to be even more important and 



significant, and may profitably be given wider prominence. As 

 they are not generally known, they are given for the purpose of 

 their receiving the attention that they seem to deserve. 



In the volumeof the Naturalist's Library, entitled "The Horse," 

 by Major Hamilton-Smith, published in London in 1841, appears 

 the following: "Several recent travellers in the northern portion 

 of that continent [America] question the race of horses now ,«o 

 abundant bein.g imported subsequent to the discovery by Colum- 

 bus" (p. 147). 



In "The History and Delineation of the Horse," by the noted 

 authority, John Lawrence, published in London, 1809, the follow- 

 ing sentence occurs: " The non-existence of the horse in America, 

 previous to its discovery by Europeans, has, however, been dis- 

 puted; but I recollect not by whom, or upon what ground" (p. 



7). ROBT. C. AULD. 



Some Notes on The Rochester Meeting. 



"Where did the scientists come from? The first four hundred 

 names on the register show their geographical distribution as fol- 

 lows, by States: New York, 119; Washington, D.C., 44; Ohio, 35; 

 Pennsylvania, 24; Massachusetts. 22; Indiana, 19; Illinois, 18; 

 Canada, 17; Connecticut, 13; Michigan, 11; Wisconsin, 10; Iowa, 

 10; New Jersey, 9; Missouri, 7; Maryland, 4; Kentucky, 4; Ten- 

 nessee, 4 ; Alabama, 4 ; Maine, 3 ; Vermont, 3 ; California, 3 ; New 

 Hampshire, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Georgia, and Florida, each 

 2; Vu-ginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

 and Texas, each 1. 



More than one-fourth of the whole number came from New York 

 State. Of the 119 from the State, 82 were from New York City 

 and Brooklyn, 24 from Rochester, and 18 from Ithaca. Washing- 

 ton, D.C., furnished 44, the largest number from any one city. 

 The whole of New England sent oaly 45, although it has until 

 recently been considered the scientific headquarters of the coun- 

 try, and is more thickly dotted with colleges than any other sec- 

 tion. Cornell University was more largely represented than any 

 other University, while Princeton was not represented at all ; the 

 New Jersey delegation coming chiefly from Rutgers and Stevens. 

 The central western States showed up handsomely, and twelve 

 southern States sent from one to four men each; while from the 

 States and Territories west of the Missouri River there was no 

 representation at all, except three from California. 



Geographically, therefore, the scientists who attended the meet- 

 ing are not evenly distributed. New York State sent far more 

 than its quota, even after deducting the attendance from Rochester, 

 the place of meeting. In proportion to its population, Ohio sent 

 twice as many as Pennsylvania, although its average distance from 

 Rochester is greater. 



The programme for the third day of the meeting (Friday) con- 

 tained a list of 146 members that had been elected since the Wash- 

 ington meeting, with symbols expressing their affiliations with the 

 different sections. The majority of these new members specified 

 their intention of joining one section only, but many named two 

 sections, and some three. Twelve members did not specify any 

 section. The following shows the apportionment of these new 

 membere among the sections : — 



Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy, 14 



" B, Physics, 15 



" C, Chemistry, 21 



" D, Mechanical Science and Engineering, 5 

 " E, Geology and Geography, 21 



" F, Biology, 42 



" H, Anthropology, 21 



" I, Economic Science and Statistics, 23 



Totals, including duplications, 162 



The several branches of science are therefore far- from being 

 equally represented in the new membership. The branch of me- 

 chanical and engineering science, which in the country at large is 

 developing by leaps and bounds, sends to the association only one- 

 fourth as many members as chemistry and one-eighth as many as 

 biology. The latter sends more new members than the three ap- 



