3 20 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 325 



a telephone line on the next house, and in one case through an iron 

 crane. In all cases where the pipes were the conductors, the path 

 of the discharge could be clearly traced up to them, and then 

 ceased. One of the cases of discharge through the gas-pipes oc- 

 curred in an ordinary dwelling-house provided with a lightning- 

 conductor, from which the discharge had passed over a distance of 

 about two metres to the pipes. Subsequent tests showed that the 

 conductor-earth had a resistance of 138 ohms. In no case was 

 any damage done to the pipes by the discharge occurring through 

 them. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The following is a complete list of the papers presented and 

 read to the National Academy of Science, at its meeting in April : 

 " On Composite Coronagraphy," by D. P. Todd ; " Additional Ex- 

 perimental Proof that the Relative Co-efficient of Expansion be- 

 tween Eaily's Metal and Steel is Constant between the Limits Zero 

 and 95° F." (read by title), by W. A. Rogers ; " Notice on the 

 Method and Results of a Systematic Study of the Action of Defi- 

 nitely Related Chemical Compounds upon Animals," by .Wolcott 

 Gibbs and Hobart Hare ; " On Sensations of Color " and " Determi- 

 nations of Gravity," by C. S. Peirce ; " On the Pliocene Vertebrate 

 Fauna of Western North America " and " On the North American 

 Proboscidia," \)j E. D. Cope ; "On the Mass of Saturn," by A. 

 Hall, jun.; "On the Nature and Composition of Double Halides " 

 (read by title), "On the Rate of Reduction of Nitro-Compounds," 

 and " On Some Connection between Taste and Chemical Compo- 

 sition," by Ira Remsen ; " Recent Researches in Atmospheric Elec- 

 tricity," by T. C. Mendenhall ; " Measurement by Light- Waves," 

 by A. A. Michelson ; " On the Feasibility of the Establishment of 

 a Light- Wave as the Ultimate Standard of Length," by A. A. 

 Michelson and E. W. Morley ; " On the General Laws pertaining 

 to Stellar Variation," by S. C. Chandler ; " Review of the Trivial 

 Names in Piazzi's Star Catalogue," by C. H. F. Peters ; " On Cre- 

 taceous Flora of North America," by. J. S. Newberry ; " Terres- 

 trial Magnetism" (read by title), Cleveland Abbe; "Spectrum 

 Photography in the Ultra-Violet," by Romyn Hitchcock ; " North 

 American Pelagidce" (read by title) and " Development of Crusta- 

 cea " (read by title), by W. K. Brooks ; " The Plane of Demarca- 

 tion between the Cambrian and Precambrian Rocks," by C. D. 

 Walcott ; " Report of the American Eclipse Expedition to Japan, 

 1887," by D. P. Todd. 



— While it will be a long time before compound locomotives 

 will be in extensive use in the United States, the time is not far 

 distant when, in the opinion of the Railroad Gazette, they will re- 

 ceive considerable attention and extended trials on our railroads. 

 The demand for decreased operating expenses is becoming too 

 strong, particularly the demand made for a more economical use of 

 fuel, to permit the discouragement of any promising innovation 

 which indicates the possibility of a reduction of fuel-consumption. 

 The saving which is claimed for the double-expansion locomotives 

 in Europe, fifteen or twenty per cent, is sufficient, when applied to 

 the coal-bills of some of our Western roads, to pay a dividend of 

 one per cent ; and it is not likely that such a promised saving, of- 

 fered with so little radical change as that resulting from the intro- 

 duction of double-expansion engines, will be allowed to pass with- 

 out notice. It would be well to remember that there is no inherent 

 evil in the compound locomotive which would render it objectiona- 

 ble in American railroad-service. Any representation that it cannot 

 start heavy trains or propel them up steep grades is wholly without 

 foundation. Some of the most powerful locomotives on the face 

 of the earth are compound engines, working on the heavy grades 

 in the mountains of the Eastern Continent. 



— Entrance examinations for the Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology will be held in Boston on May 30 and 31. A second 

 series, for those unable to be present in May, will be held on Sept. 

 24 and 25, For the convenience of applicants outside New Eng- 

 land, entrance e.xaminations will be held on May 30 and 31 in the 

 f oUq wing. cities : New York, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel; Phila- 

 delphia, at the Lafayette Hotel ; Montreal, at the Windsor Hotel ; 

 Chicago, Board of Education rooms. City Hall ; St. Louis, office of 



the superintendent of public schools ; Cincinnati, office of the 

 superintendent of public schools; San Francisco, 211 Drumm 

 Street; Washington, United States Geological Survey; St. Paul. 

 High School Building ; Pittsburg, at the rooms of the Engineers' 

 Society of Western Pennsylvania ; Kansas City, at the office of the 

 Board of Education. Candidates for admission will be allowed, at 

 their option, to divide their entrance examinations between two 

 successive years. The first divided examination will be held only 

 in June ; the second, in either June or September of the following 

 year. To be admitted to the first divided examination, the candi- 

 date must be at least sixteen years of age, and must have notified 

 the secretary of the faculty, at least two weeks before the date 

 fixed for the examination, of his intention to apply. This notifica- 

 tion must be accompanied by a list of the six subjects in which he 

 will submit himself, and by a certificate from his teacher stating 

 that he is qualified in them. 



— The Zoological Museum at Leyden, one of the most consider- 

 able on the Continent, we learn from Nature, has narrowly escaped 

 a terrible disaster. On Monday, the ist of this month, a fire broke 

 out, and all the resources of the officials and of the town were 

 taxed to extinguish it. Indeed, it was not got under until a con- 

 siderable portion of the collection of specimens of hollow-horned 

 ruminants had been destroyed. Had the accident, which arose 

 from the defect of a flue, taken place at night instead of in the 

 afternoon, when plenty of assistance was promptly at hand, it is 

 believed that the whole museum would have perished. The au- 

 thorities of other museums, especially those which contain many 

 spirit preparations, should not neglect this warning. 



— We have already mentioned that an international meeting of 

 zoologists will be held in Paris in August. The president, accord- 

 ing to Nature, will be M. Milne-Edwards, and some important 

 questions will be submitted for consideration. Among them will 

 be the question of the unification of the language of zoology in 

 classification and specific denotation. M. R. Blanchard has pre- 

 pared an important report on the subject, which will be published 

 shortly in the Revue Sczentijique, and form the basis for the dis- 

 cussions at the congress. 



— The Physiological Congress which is to be held in Basle in 

 September will be attended, says Nature, by many French physi- 

 ologists, if all those who propose to go are able to carry out their 

 intention. 



— The Eiffel Tower continues to be the hero, so to speak, of 

 various adventures. According to Le Gdnie Civil, which is its 

 official biographer, a story was circulated not long ago in Paris to 

 the effect that it had begun to lean. The outline of the structure 

 makes it very difficult to see whether it is vertical or not ; and the 

 rumor spread rapidly, until it came to be asserted that the tower 

 would soon resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to which it was 

 constantly compared. There was no reason whatever to suppose 

 that any movement had taken place ; but the public solicitude be- 

 came serious enough to make it advisable to have the matter tested, 

 and two engineers were sent with theodolites to make a careful 

 survey. As there are no vertical arrises in the tower, the method 

 of observation employed was to trace the intersection of two ver- 

 tical planes meeting at right angles in the centre of the tower, and 

 bisecting each face. This was done, and the two theoretical planes 

 were found to divide the faces of the tower with almost perfect 

 symmetry, showing that the shaft was not inclined in any way 

 from the vertical. On three of the sides the curvature was found 

 to be exactly as designed, while the fourth side showed a hollow 

 amounting to about an inch of deviation from the intended line. 

 In another affair the tower is the aggressor, instead of being the 

 victim of outside malice. It seems, says the American Architect,. 

 which is no friend of this structure, that the structure claims to be 

 a work of art, like a picture or a statue, and to be therefore entitled 

 to the benefit of the statutes for the protection of artistic property. 

 Whatever rights of this kind may attach to it have been assigned 

 to a M. Jaluzot, who has undertaken to defend his acquisition by 

 claiming that all persons who sell photographs, models, pictures, 

 or representations of any kind, of the tower, must pay him a royalty 

 on such sales of twenty per cent on the price. As pictures and 



