278 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No. 510 



ber, and, with the pulse-rate full, there is ordinarily less blood in 

 the brain. 



Now, it is evident that the anaemia of sleep is not caused by 

 constricted blood-vessels, else there would be the facial pallor 

 seen during an attack of epilepsy, or paroxysm of anger or fright; 

 and with this quieting of the brain-processes by stimuli with- 

 drawal, sucli as is aflforded by darkness, silence, and absence of 

 irritation generally, a further lessening of molecular interchange 

 in the brain occurs; and, I claim that it is the molecular activity 

 in the brain that attracts the blood there chemically and mechani- 

 cally, and the sympathetic, or vaso-motor system has evolved to 

 facilitate this regulation of demand and supply. Then, granting 

 this, there will be, during sleep, a passive condition of the blood- 

 vessels, and the blood supply will fall to a minimum. 



An extension of these considerations will enable all that per- 

 tains to sleep to be accounted for, such as aestivation, hibernation, 

 insomnia, dreams, and all derangements of sieep. I hope soon 

 to be able to treat this subject more fully. 



S. V. Clevenger. 



Chicago, Oct. 15. 



Two cases are reported of glycerine having become solidified 

 and crystallized during transport in the cold of winter. The first 

 case occurred in January, 1867, the crystals formed being described 

 as small octohedral, melting at 7.2° C. In the second case, 1876, 

 the crystals are described as belonging to the monoclinic system, 

 and melting at 15° C. 



According to Werner, commercial glycerine may be crystallized 

 by bubbling chlorine-gas through it. A method discovered by 

 Kraut in 1870, but to the best of ray knowledge not yet made 

 public, is used on a commercial scale in the works at Liesing, near 

 Vienna. The concentrated glycerine is cooled to 0° C. , and main- 

 tained at that temperature for some time, when crystals of 

 glycerine previously produced are introduced. This causes a 

 crystallization of the entire mass, leaving, however, much of the- 

 impurity in the mother liquor. The mass is then placed in a 

 centrifugal, and the crystals freed. These are described as mono- 

 clinic, melting at 20° C. to glycerine of 30.5" B. According to- 

 Von Lang, the crystals are orthorhombic. 



CHARtES PLATT, A.C> 



The Vandenbergh Laboratory, Buffalo, Nov. 8. 



Solid Glycerine. 



In response to the inquiry of Mr. C. C. Smith regarding the 

 solidification of glycerine, I would say : A mixture of glycerine 

 with water can be frozen at a suflBciently low temperature, and 

 this temperature must be the lower proportionately as the per- 

 centage of glycerine is high. Thus, a ten per cent glycerine solu- 

 tion solidifies at — 1° C, a twenty per cent solution at — 2.5° C, 

 a forty per cent solution at — 17.5° C. 



Concentrated glycerine will not crystallize when cooled quickly, 

 but at — 40° C. will solidify to a gum-like mass. If a concen- 

 trated solution be allowed to stand for some time at 0° C. crystals 

 may form, but not always. The melting-point of these crystals, 

 which are extremely hygroscopic, has been variously determined; 

 and, indeed, their form of crystallization is . uch in dispute. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Crania Ethnica Americana. Sammlung Auserlesener Amerikan- 

 ischer Schadelty^n. Herausgegeben von Rudolf Viechow. 

 Mit 36 Tafeln und 39 Text-Illustrationen. Large 4to. Ber- 

 lin, A. Asher & Co., 1893. 36 marks. 



Since the publication of Dr. Morton's " Crania Americana." now 

 more than half a century ago, there has been no contribution to 

 American craniology at all comparable to this work by the 

 acknowledged master of that science in Germany. Future inves- 

 tigators will undoubtedly follow the lines and be guided by the 

 principles here laid down or suggested. Let us briefly see what 

 these are. 



CALENDAR OF SOCIETIES. 

 Biological Society, Washington. 



Nov. 5. — C. Hart Merriam. The Fauna 

 and Flora of Roan Mountain. N.C. ; C. V. 

 Riley. Pea and Bean Weavils; Vernon 

 Bailey. The Influence of the Cross Timbers 

 on the Fauna of Texas; Theobald Smith, On 

 Certain Minute (Parasitic?) Bodies Within 

 the Red Blood Corpuscles. 

 New IVIexico Society for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, Las Cruces, New 

 Mexico. 



Nov. 3. —J. P. Owen, Notes on the Mound 

 Builders; C. H. Tyler Townsend, A Partial 

 Comparison of the Insect Fauna of the 

 Grand Caiion with that of the San Francisco 

 Mountain, in Arizona ; Arthur Goss, The Ex- 

 haustion and Renewal of Soils; C. T. Hag- 

 erty. Mathematical Computationof the Com- 

 parative Strength of Insects and the Higher 

 Animals. 



Publications Received at Editor's Office. 



BuBlER, E. T.. Slid. Questions and Answers About 

 Electricity. New York, D. Van ^ostrand Co. 

 16°. lOU p. 111. 50 cts. 



Church, Alfred J. Stories from the Greeli 

 Comedians. New Yorli, Macmillan & Co. 12°. 

 350 p. 111. $1. 



Crocker, P. B. and Wheeler, S. S. The Practical 

 Management of Dynamo and Motors Now 

 York, D.Van Nostrand Co. I2°. 1' p. Ill SI 



Ferree, Barr. Comparative Arehiiecture. New 

 York, The Author. 8°. Paper. 15 p 



Galton, Francis. Hereditary Genius. 2d ed. 

 New York, Macmillan & Co. 8°. 4ll p. $2.60. 



HioRNS, Arthur H. Metal Coloring and Briinzing. 

 New York, Macmillan & Co. 16°. 352 p. $1. 



Hudson, W. H, The Naturalist in La Plata. Lon- 

 don, Chapman & Hall. 8°. 392 p. S3. 



Sloane, T. O'Connor. The Standard Electrical 

 Dictionary. New York, Norman W. Henley & 

 Co. 12°. 624 p. $3. 



Spear, Marv A. Leaves and Flowers. Boston, D. 

 0. Heath & Co. 12". 103 p. 30 cts. 



"University of Pennsylvania. Contributions from 

 the Botanical Laboratory. Phila., The Univer- 

 sity. 8°. Paper. 72 p. 111. 



Exchanges 



[Freeof charge to all, if of satisfactory character. 



Address N. D. C. Hodges, 874 Broadway, New YorkJ^ 



For Sale or Exchange.— The undersigned has a 

 lot of flrst-class duplicate bird's skins and sets of 

 eggs, both rare and common, for sate or acceptable 

 exchange Also about two hundred second class 

 skins and five hundred eggs, suitable for study 

 specimens, at very low figures. The latter, for 

 starting a collection, are as good as the best, em- 

 bracing all classes and nearly all families Also 

 about forty species of fossils, principall- De- 

 vonian. MORRIS UIBBS, M.D., Kalamazoo. Mich. 



For Exchange— "The Birds of Kansas,"— Goss, for 

 Gray's Anatomy, or Medical Dictionary. Must be 

 in good condition. Address, J. H. SIMPSON, Buch- 

 tel College. Akron, Ohio. 



For Sale or Exchange.— The subscriber would 

 like to receive cash offers, or an offer in exchange 

 for the earlier volumes of Poggendorf's Annalen 

 and the later volumes of Silliman's Journal, upon 

 the fol owing list: chenn —Manuel de Conchylio- 

 logi^. ■-' vols. Nearly 5,000 figures, some hand-col- 

 ored Paper. Paris, 1869. Edwards.— Butterflies 

 of N. A. 2 vols. Plates hand-colored. Vol. I., half 

 call Vol. II. in parts. Leyman, Agassiz. Hagen. — 

 Ills. Cat. Mus. Comp. Zool. at Harvard. N'o. I. 

 Ophiuridae. No. II., Acalephae. No. III., Astacndae. 

 All bound in one volume. American Naturalist. 

 Vols. I.-VII. Cloth. Silliman's Am. Jour, of 

 Science and Arts. Third Series. Vols. I.-X. Cloth. 

 Binney.— Terrestrial MoUusks of N. A. Colored 

 plates. 4 vols. Stretch.- Zvgaenidae and Bomby- 

 eidae of N. A. Colored plate's. Also a considerable 

 library of monographs, reports, and scientific 

 books, and a large number of duplicates of fossils, 

 minerals and shells. E. A. STRONG, Ypsilanti, 

 Mich., Sept., 1892. 



Reading Matter Notices. 



Ripans Tabules : for torpid liver. 

 Ripans Tabules banish pain. 



Wants. 



A POSITION is desired in the South, preferably 

 the Gulf States, where I can teach the sciences. 

 Can also ii struct in other branches. Salary only- 

 nominal, as I am simply desirous of employmen 

 while spending the winter in the South. Aprivatt 

 family preferred, but will acce t regular schooe- 

 work'if nottoo confining. MORRIS UlBBS, M.D. 

 Kalamazoo, Mich. 



WANTED.— By well - qualified and experienced 

 science master and associate of the Royal 

 School of Mints, London, aged 26 (at present in 

 England), a mastership in technical college or uni- 

 versity for any of the following subjects: Engineer- 

 ing sciences geology and mineralogy, physics, chem- 

 istry and metallurgy, etc.. etc. Can provide excel- 

 lent references and credentials. Apply, J. G., 17 

 Sussex St., Rochdale, England. 



METALLURGICAL CHEMIST will give instruc- 

 tion in the metallurgy and chemical analysis 

 of iron and steel. Complete or special courses ap- 

 phingto the manufacture of pig irons and steels, as 

 well as to their uses. Address " .VIETALLURGIST,"" 

 care Science 



A GRADUATE of the University of Pennsylvania 

 and a practical mineralogist of twenty years' 

 experience desires to give his services and a cabi- 

 net of 25,1 00 specimens, all named, with about the 

 same number of duplicates, in minerals, crystals,- 

 rocks, gems. fossUs. shells archte'-'logical and ethno- 

 logical specimens and woods to aoy institution de- 

 siring a fine outfit for study. The owner will in- 

 crease the cabinet to SO.OiiO specimens in two years, 

 and will act as curator Correspondence solicited 

 from any scientific institution. J. W. Hortter, 

 M.D., Ph.D., San Francisco, Cal., General P. O. 

 Delivery. 



CHEMIST AND ENGINEER, graduate German 

 Polytechnic, Organic and Analytical, desires a 

 position in laboratory or chemical works. Address. 

 213)^ E. 7th Street, New York, care Levy. 



The American Geologist for 1892. 



Edited by Prof. S. Calvin, University of Iowa; Dr. E. VV. Claypole, Bachtel College; John Eybrman, 

 Lafayette College; Dr, Persifor Frazer. Penn Hort. Soc; Prof F. W. Cragin. Colorado College;, 

 Prof. Rob't T. Hill, U. S. Irrigation Survey; Dr. Andrew C. Lawson. [jDiversity of California; R. D. 

 Salisbury, University of Wisconsin; Joseph B. Tyrrell, G-eol. Sur. ut Canada; E. O {Tlrich, Minnesota 

 Geological Survey: Prof. I. C. White. University of West Virginia; Prof. N. H. Winchell, Unlversity- 

 of Minnesota. Now in its ISth volume. $3 50 per year. Sample copies. aO cents. Address 



THE GEOLOGICALIPIJBLISHING CO., MinneapoUs, Minn. 



