346 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No. 515 



She kept it in her room in this way. at the hotel where she was 

 spending the summer, until about the first of November. She 

 then returned to her home some tliree hundred miles further 

 south, taking the insect with her. Here she at first kept it in her 

 chamber, but the nights being sometimes very cool, it would be- 

 come torpid and not get lively again until afternoon Thinking 

 it too cool for " buggie "' there, she removed it to the kitchen. 

 As it still appeared more or less dormant, she put it on a cloth 

 above the hot-water boiler. Here it revived somewhat, but was 

 not very lively nor did it eat very much. 



About the middle of December it fell to the floor accidentally, 

 by which fall it was evidently injured, as after that time it would 

 eat nothing, and no longer recognized the young lady. About a 

 week later it died. B. 



and seven miles east of here, who could not have been less than 

 ten miles apart on an air-line, and they report the sound together 

 with the other phenomena to have been about the same as they 

 were here. I have no reliable reports from any greater distance 

 than that. But this indicates that the body must have been of 

 considerable size, and at a considerable distance from the earth. 



C. F. Maxwell 



Dublin, Tex., Dec. 1. 



Meteoric Shower. 

 The well-known stream of meteors — the Andromedes or Bielids 

 — overtook the earth on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 1892. .4t this 

 observatory they were seen soon after sunset, and the fall was con- 

 tinued at a uniform rate until eleven hours, when their number 

 in a given time was diminished by half. The display was at a 

 maximum of magnificence between the hours of nine and ten. 

 From 9 to 9.16, one hundred fell; from 9.35 to 9.46, one hundred; 

 from 10 13 to 10.26, one hundred; and this rate was maintained 

 nearly all the evening. Likely, three fourths of all that came 

 were seen, since the e.ve was held steadily on the radiant, which 

 was in Andromeda, not far from Brooks's comet. Of course, the 

 meteors were not connected with that body. The highest number 

 seen et once was six, and they seemed to emerge from the same 

 point. Two were almost as brilliant as Jupiter, and left trains. 

 Perhaps one-tenth of all seen had trails. Their velocity was not 

 great, as this stream overtakes the earth, instead of meeting it. 



Edgar L. Laekin, 



Knox College Observatory, Galesburg, 111. 



Pseudoaurora. , 



In Science for Dec. 2 (p. 318) there is an interesting note re- 

 garding a peculiar appearance simulating the aurora around 

 electric lights in Minneapolis. The writer approached the city 

 from the suburbs and noticed nothing till he had passed the gas 

 lights, but as he approached an electric light he saw beams 

 emanating from it, and these disappeared on passing the light. 

 The air was full of frost particles, giving an appearance of light 

 fog. These appearances were simply shadows cast upon the fog 

 by projecting arms or objects in the beam from the light and had 

 no connection with electricity. These rays may be seen at any 

 time when there is smoke, light fog, or mist. The easiest way 

 to see them is to stand directly under the light and look up. 

 Another way is to approach the light from a distance of 300 feet 

 with the iron support of the lamp hiding the bright light from 

 the eye. Any little opacity in the globe will throw a shadow 

 into the fog. Oftentimes these rays are very beautiful, especially 



when seen through the branches of a tree. 

 These shadows are really the same as the Brocken Spectre, about 



which so much has been written. See this journal for Sept. 27, 



1889, for an explanation of the phenomenon. Also American 



Meteor ologicalJonmal, March, 1890, p. 515. 



H. A. Hazen. 



WaaWngton, D.C., Sept. 10. 



Ink-Stains. 

 To remove bad ink-stains from white linen (shirts, table-linen, 

 etc.) place the stained part in Sabarraque's Solution, leaving the 

 article in the solution until the linen is while. This must be used 

 only for white goods. After a short time in the solution the ink- 

 stain will gradually take on a copper color, gradually fading to a 

 greenish hue, and finally nearly white. Washing in cold rain- 

 water will finish. I believe this to be new. 



A. M. Whtton, M.D. 



Broctport, N.T., Deo. 8. 



Brilliant Meteor. 

 On the night of Nov. 39, about 8 o'clock, a very large meteor 

 was seen passing westward, a little to the south of this place. 

 Just as it seemed to be passing the body exploded, producing a 

 sound that was distinctly heard, resembling that of a rocket ex- 

 plosion or a pistol-shot. After the explosion a body half as large 

 as a full moon moved away to the westward, making a hissing, 

 or frying sound. I have seen no one who saw the meteor before 

 the explosion. The whole country was brilliantly lighted for a 

 moment as if by a continued electric discharge, but at the time 

 of the explosion the light was red and blue, or perhaps violet. 

 The sound of the explosion was heard by parlies five miles west 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Eleventh At, nual Reiwrt of the XJ. S. Geological Survey, 1889-1890. 

 Part II. /;Ti3'aCio?i.' Washington, 1891. xiv.,395p. PI. 30. 

 Fig. 4. 



Irrigation and Water-Stornge in the Arid Regions. By Gen. A. W. 

 Geeelt. Washington, 1891. 356 p. PI. 37. 



Final Report of the Artesian and Underflow Investigation and of the 

 Irrigation Inquiry, Made under the Direction of the XJ, S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. Washington, 1892. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4. 

 Many Plates and Maps. 52d Congress, First Session. Sen. 

 Ex. Doc, No. 41. 



Census Bulletins on Irrigation, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, 

 New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Arte- 

 sian Wells for Irrigation. By F. H. Nevs^ell. Washington, 

 1891-1893. 



E.itra Census Bulletin, No. 23. Agriculture, — Irrigation, By F. 

 H. Newell. Washington, Sept. 9, 1893. 



The subject of irrigation has of late years assumed an impor- 

 tance that it has long merited but has not received. If that man 

 be a benefactor of the human race who makes two blades of grass 

 grow where one grew before, how much more a benefactor was 

 he who first drew from creek or river the waters the heavens 

 refused to bestow, and who thus became tenfold, yes, a thousand- 

 fold, a human benefactor I Unfortunately, his name, his birth, 

 his lineage, are all unknown, for the process of irrigation under 

 one form or another has been practised since the earliest time of 

 which there is any historic record. Perhaps the idea originated 

 in those countries where rivers overflow their banks periodically, 

 and where a certain definite time in the year may be considered 

 to bring the flood. Be that as it may, in Egypt, in India, in 

 China, irrigation has been a practice for many thousand years, 

 and in these countries is now more extensively in vogue than ever 

 before. It is not only in civilized and semi-civilized communities 

 that irrigation is found, but in savage ones also, for recent trav- 

 ellers have noted the presence of irrigating ditches among certain 

 African tribes, which, while not savage in the worse sense of the 

 word, have still not yet reached the platform upon which semi- 

 civilized races are assumed to stand. 



In these older, eastern countries, irrigation is thus of very great 

 antiquity. In the newer ones of the western and southern hemi- 

 spheres, while of far less age, it cannot be said to be of any less 

 importance. The Australian colonies have done a wonderful 

 amount of irrigation engineering, this being necessary by reason 

 of the peculiar climatic conditions and their vast tracts of other- 

 wise unproductive territory. The work, too, being under gov- 

 ernment auspices, is of a more gigantic character than in any of 

 the newer countries using irrigation. Of these our own country 

 is not the least. In our western territory, while there are vast 

 areas that can never be brought under t'le dominion of the plow 

 and harrow, there are almost equally vast ones that will be gardens 



