382 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 328 



SCIENCE: 



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NEW YORK, May 17, 18 



No. 328. 



CONTENTS: 



Amateur Photography and its 



Possibilities 



Laura M. Marguand 37 

 Improvements in the Bentley- 



Knight E 



373 



Railways IN China 37S 



Science-Teaching in England 37S 



Health Matters. 



Tuberculosis Contagion 379 



Electrical Nhws. 



Electrical Course at Columbia Col- 



Ifge 179 



Notes and News 379 



Editorial 382 



The Vaccination Discussion in Eng- 

 land. 



Soaping Geysers 



The East Greenlanders . 



Third Annual Report of the 

 Dairy Commissioner of New 



Gould's Ornithological Works. . . 



Book-Reviews. 



Hints for Teachers of Physiology. . 

 The Leading Facts of French His- 



Among the Publishers 



The Ether and the Earth's Atmos- 

 phere Geo, Ffas. FHz Gerald \ 



The OPPONENTS OF vaccination in England have of late 

 been more active than ever ; and, as a result of their activity, a 

 royal commissioner has been appointed, whose duty it shall be to 

 make a full investigation of the whole subject, and submit a report 

 thereon. Friends of vaccination should welcome such an inquiry, 

 as the method stands upon such a firm foundation of facts as to 

 be able to stand the most searching examination. If it has not 

 accomplished all that is claimed for it, the failure is due to insuffi- 

 cient or inefficient performance of the operation ; and the sooner 

 such abuse of it is made public, the better. It is a rather remarkable 

 coincidence that just at this time events should transpire at Shef- 

 field, England, which show the value of vaccination. Small-pox 

 has recently been very prevalent in that city. In a population of 

 about 320,000 there have been 6,o8S cases of the disease, of which 

 number 590 proved fatal. Dr. Barry, who has made a report to 

 the Local Government Board, finds that the attack-rate of the vac- 

 cinated children under ten was 5 in a thousand ; of the unvacci- 

 nated of the same age, loi in a thousand. The death-rates for the 

 same classes were respectively .09 and 44. In every hundred- 

 thousand of those twice vaccinated, there were eight deaths ; once 

 vaccinated, 100 deaths ; and unvaccinated, 5,100 deaths. 



SOAPING GEYSERS.i 



At the Buffalo meeting, October, 1888, Dr. Raymond presented 

 a paper entitled " Soaping Geysers," in which he called attention 

 to the use of soap by tourists to cause eruptions of several of the 

 well-known geysers in the Yellowstone Park. Incorporated in this 

 paper appears a communication received from me, written from 

 camp in the park, in reply to some inquiries on the subject. The 

 letter discussed somewhat briefly the means employed by visitors 

 to the park to hasten the eruptions from hot-springs and reservoirs 

 of hot water, which remain dormant for days, or even weeks or 

 months, at a temperature near the boiling-point, without any dis- 

 play of geyser-action. As the paper has called forth considerable 

 comment, I desire to elucidate one or two points in relation to the 

 temperature of the springs, and to answer some inquiries about the 

 composition of the thermal waters. 



In the summer of 1885, a Chinaman, employed as a laundryman 

 for the accommodation of the tourists at the Upper Geyser Basin,, 

 accidentally discovered, much to his amazement, that soap thrown 

 into the spring from which he was accustomed to draw his supply 

 of water produced an eruption in every way similar to the actual 

 workings of a geyser. Tourists with limited time at their com- 

 mand, who had travelled thousands of miles to look upon the won- 

 ders of the Yellowstone, soon fell into the way of coaxing the laun- 

 dryman's spring into action, to partly compensate them for their 

 sore disappointment in witnessing the periodical eruptions of Old 

 Faithful. Successful attempts upon this spring soon led to various 

 endeavors to accelerate action in the dormant and more famous gey- 

 sers. In a short time, so popular became the desire to stimulate 

 geysers in this way, that the park authorities were compelled to 

 enforce rigidly the rule against throwing objects of any kind into 

 the springs. 



In connection with a thorough investigation of the thermal wa- 

 ters of the Yellowstone Park and the phenomena of the geysers, I 

 undertook a number of experiments to ascertain the action of soap 

 upon the waters, and to determine, if possible, those physical con- 

 ditions of various pools and reservoirs which permitted the hasten- 

 ing of an eruption by the employment of any artificial methods. 

 This investigation, conducted from time to time, as opportunity 

 offered, throughout the field-season of 1885, included experiments 

 upon the geysers and hot-springs of the Upper, Lower, and Norris 

 Geyser Basins. The results proved, beyond all question, that gey- 

 ser-action could be forced in a number of ways, but most conven- 

 iently by the application of soap. The greater part of the more 

 powerful geysers undergo no perceptible change with a moderate 

 use of soap, although several of them may, under favorable physi- 

 cal conditions, be thrown at times into violent agitation. In most 

 of the experiments, Lewis's concentrated lye, put up in half-pound 

 cans for laundry purposes, was employed. Each package furnished 

 a strong alkali, equivalent to several bars of soap. In this form,- 

 alkali is more easily handled than in bars of soap, more especially 

 where it is required to produce a viscous fluid in the larger reser- 

 voirs ; and, in conducting a series of experiments for comparative 

 purposes, it seemed best, in most instances, to employ the same- 

 agent to bring about the desired results. 



Old Faithful, the model geyser of the park, exhibits such marked 

 regularity in its workings, that attempts to hasten its action appear 

 futile. The interval between eruptions is about 65 minutes, and 

 rarely exceeds the extreme limits of 57 and 73 minutes. After an 

 eruption of Old Faithful, the reservoir fills up gradually ; the water- 

 steadily increases in temperature ; and conditions favorable to an- 

 other eruption are produced under circumstances precisely similar 

 to those which have brought about the displays for the past eight- 

 een years, or as far back as we have authentic records. The few 

 experiments which have been made upon Old Faithful are insuffi- 

 cient to afford any results bearing on the question ; but it seems- 

 probable that soon after the water attains the necessary tempera- 

 ture an eruption takes place. 



Of all the povi^erful geysers in the park, the Bee-Hive offers the- 

 most favorable conditions for producing an eruption by artificial 

 means, all the more striking because the natural displays are so 

 fitful that they cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. 



1 Abstract of a paper read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers 

 New York meeting, February, i88g, by Arnold Hague. 



