May 3, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



341 



at the same time gently blown upon with the breath. The finer 

 ■quartz-grains will thus be blown away, and hardly any but the 

 denser grains will remain. 



— During last year the archzeological researches that have been 

 •carried out in Norway were extended as far north as 70° 15' north 

 latitude, according to Nature. The results appear to show that 

 the islands and the coast were well populated in prehistoric times, 

 but that the cultivation of the soil did not begin until a late date. 

 Numerous burial-places were found ; and among the weapons and 

 implements discovered were schist arrow-heads, knives of three 

 kinds, and chisels. No stone axes like those found in the south 

 were discovered. From the fact that no bronze objects have ever 

 been found in the north of Norway, it is concluded that the in- 

 habitants of the stone age, on coming in contact with those of the 

 ■early iron age, adopted the use of iron, and never learned the use 

 of bronze. It is worthy of note that all the implements from the 

 ■stone age are of schist, none being of flint, as in the south. 



— At a meeting of the Berlin Physical Society, March 22, Dr. 

 Assmann gave, according to Nature, an account of the results he 

 had obtained by a microscopic examination of the structure of rime, 

 hoar-frost, and snow. In opposition to the view most usually 

 held, that the solid condensations of aqueous vapor from the air 

 are crystalline, he had observed some years ago, during a sojourn 

 ■in winter on the Brocken, that hoar-frost consists of amorphous 

 frozen drops, which, by their juxtaposition in rows, build up the 

 long needles of which it is composed. He observed the same 

 structure in some rime which he had collected from very various 

 objects in December last, during a cold which was not at all 

 ■intense ; in this case, also, the spicules of ice were composed of 

 amorphous drops of ice frozen together in lines. In one case the 

 little masses of ice which composed the rime were frozen together 

 into a leaf-like structure. At the same time some small, scattered, 

 and glittering ice-formations which had been formed in large 

 numbers on the ground were crystalline in structure, consisting of 

 thicker or thinner six-sided tablets or somewhat elongated prisms. 

 On other occasions he found that the rime was itself composed of 

 unequally developed crystalline structures, which branched at 

 angles of sixty degrees, and thus gave rise to a dendritic formation ; 

 at the same time the hoar-frost was also composed of crystalline 

 structures. He had also succeeded in forming ice-flowers artifi- 

 cially on a pane of glass, and had satisfied himself by a microscopic 

 examination of the same that they are always crystalline in struc- 

 ture. The structure of snow was investigated on the snow-garlands 

 which had been described at a ineeting of the Meteorological 

 Society, and consisted of amorphous granules, such as compose 

 the upper surface of a glacier. Dr. Assmann attributes the forma- 

 tion of rime and of hoar-frost to the existence of over-cooled drops 

 of water, which suddenly solidify when driven by the wind against 

 the solid substructure on which they are found. On the other 

 hand, solid transparent ice is formed when water at 0°, or some 

 temperature above zero, comes in contact with any solid object 

 whose temperature is very low. 



— At a meeting of the Berlin Meteorological Society, April 2, 

 Professor Bornstein spoke on the ebb and flow of the tide. After 

 explaining the nature of the moon's action on the fluid part of the 

 earth's surface, and showing that the flood is essentially due to a 

 diminution of gravity and the ebb to its increase, says Nature, he 

 passed on to the consideration of the moon's attraction as it affects 

 the atmosphere. Many experiments have been made with a view 

 to proving the influence of the moon on the atmosphere ; and at 

 various places observers have succeeded in establishing a daily 

 variation in the pressure of the air dependent upon the moon, and 

 showing two maxima and two minima. These places are Singa- 

 pore, St. Helena, Melbourne, and Batavia. The amplitude of the 

 variation amounted to from 0.079 to °-2 of a millimetre. But op- 

 posed to these are the observations of Laplace on the variations of 

 the barometer in Paris, as also of Kreil in Prague, and, further, 

 Bessel's observations on atmospheric refraction. All these last- 

 named observers found that the action of the moon on the earth's 

 atmospheric envelope was either «z'/ or else the reverse of that de- 

 scribed above. Professor Bornstein then discussed the question 



whether any ebb and flow of the atmosphere could possibly be 

 detected with the means now at our disposal, and showed that the 

 mercurial barometer can never be able to give indications of 

 any such action, since it is itself affected by the alterations of 

 gravity which are due to the varying position of the moon. He 

 explained the phenomena observed at the four stations mentioned 

 above as due to the fact that they are situated either on the sea- 

 coast or on islands, at places on the earth's surface at which the 

 ebb and flow of the sea is very considerable. The ebb and flow 

 of the sea acts secondarily on atmospheric pressure, especially by 

 means of the alteration of surface, and gives rise to corresponding 

 increases and diminutions in that pressure. Paris, Prague, and 

 Kbnigsberg are, on the other hand, inland stations, at which the 

 barometer cannot be affected by any variations on the level of the 

 sea's surface. 



— The public funeral of M. Chevreul, which took place in Paris, 

 Saturday, April 13, says Nature, was one of great splendor. This 

 was due in part, no doubt, to the interest excited by M. Chevreul's 

 extraordinary age ; but it must also be taken as a striking indica- 

 tion of the respect felt in France for men who achieve eminence in 

 science. In front of the house in which M. Chevreul died, beside 

 the Jardin des Plantes, a tent was fitted up as a chapel ; and here 

 the body was placed in state. The procession to the Cathedral of 

 Notre Dame was headed by a detachment of police, who were fol- 

 lowed by a platoon of cuirassiers, the 103d Infantry Regiment, 

 with flags and a band of ushers, carrying wreaths presented by the 

 stearine-makers of France, the stearine-makers of Lyons, the 

 Friendly Society of Anjou living in Paris, and a large number 

 of other public and private bodies. Last of all came a wreath sent 

 by the Gobelin Works, surrounded by a woollen fringe dyed by M. 

 Chevreul himself. The pall-bearers were MM. Fallieres, minister 

 of public instruction ; Louis Passy, president of the Society of 

 Agriculture ; Chaumeton, president of the Students' Associa- 

 tion ; Des Cloizeaux of the Academy of Sciences ; Ouatrefages 

 of the Academy of Sciences ; Chautemps, president of the Muni- 

 cipal Council of Paris ; and Roy, manager of the Society of Arts 

 and Manufactures. Next came the members of M. Chevreul's 

 family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren ; and they were fol- 

 lowed by the representatives of the president of the republic, by 

 several of the ministers, the presidents of the Senate and the 

 Chamber, and representatives of all the great educational and sci- 

 entific bodies and administrative departments. At Notre Dame 

 there was an impressive religious service. The interior of the 

 church was hung with black ; and over the porch, which was also 

 hung with black, was a scroll bearing the dates " 17S6-1889." In 

 the centre of the choir was a catafalque resting on silver columns, 

 and surmounted by a canopy with bands of ermine. After the re- 

 ligious ceremony, the body was removed to L'Hay, and interred in 

 the family vault. In compliance with M. Chevreul's last wishes, 

 no speech was made over his grave. 



— The Massachusetts Agricultural College, says Agricultural 

 Science, is in a most prosperous condition. At no time, with one 

 exception, has there been a larger attendance of students ; the total 

 for the year 1S88-S9 being 149, the freshman class being 48. The 

 library contains 8,285 volumes, and during the year the students 

 drew out on an average 14 books each. Of the graduates of the 

 college, 45 are farmers, 6 fruit-growers and market-gardeners, 8 

 florists and landscape-gardeners, 4 planters, 9 poultry and stock 

 raisers, 7 veterinarians, 2 editors of agricultural papers, 4 fertilizer 

 manufacturers, 9 chemists to fertilizer companies, and 28 engaged 

 in agricultural colleges or experiment stations. There are 150 

 other graduates engaged in various occupations. The college farm 

 is being much improved, and has 46 head of cattle, consisting of 

 Jerseys, Guernseys, Short-horns, Holstein-Friesians, and Ayr- 

 shires, 31 pigs, and 23 Southdown sheep. In 1888, 212 tons of 

 hay were cut from a little over 80 acres of land. 



— The officers of the Boston Society of Natural History for 

 1889-90 are, president, F. W. Putnam ; vice-presidents, John Cum- 

 mings, G. L. Goodale ; curator, Alpheus Hyatt ; honorary secre- 

 tary, J. C. White ; secretary, J. Walter Fewkes ; treasurer, Charles 

 W. Scudder ; librarian, J. Walter Fewkes. 



