390 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 328 



"building and loan associations." The author is president of a 

 prosperous association, and thoroughly familiar with the details of 

 management. Professor Henry Drummond will make an earnest 

 appeal for the United States to join in the work of suppressing 

 slavery in Africa. He says, " America has never been provincial. 

 She must not become so. So manifold and pressing are now the 

 interests of her own great country, that she might also be par- 

 doned if she did. But the world will be bewildered and disap- 

 pointed if she separates herself now from the rest of mankind in 

 facing those great wrongs of humanity from which seas cannot 

 divide her, and which her poorer brethren in every part of Europe 

 are giving themselves to relieve. America does well in refusing 

 the entanglements of European politics. Let her be careful lest 

 she isolate herself from its humanities. None who know her will 

 iear for a moment that the breadth of her sympathies and the 

 greatness of her national heart will not continue to be shown in her 

 sustained philanthropies, in her joining hand to hand with the ad- 

 vanced nations of the earth in helping on all universal causes which 

 find their appeal in the world's great need and tribulation." Al- 

 though the series on electricity will begin in the June number, there 

 are several more of the railway articles to appear. Mr. H. G. 

 Prout, of the Railway Gazette, will write of " Safety Appliances ; " 

 and Benjamin Norton, second vice-president of the Long Island 

 Railroad, will describe the purchasing and supply departments un- 

 der the title " How to Feed a Railway." 



— A sympathetic sketch of the work of Mr. Bright, by Dr. R. 

 W. Dale, forms the opening paper of the Contemporary Review 

 for May (New York, L,eonard Scott Publication Company, 29 Park 

 Row). Dr. Dale admits it is yet too early to determine what rank 

 will be permanently attributed to Mr. Bright among English states- 

 men, but contends there need be no hesitation in expressing the 

 profound impression which his great personal qualities have made 

 upon his contemporaries. The paper is accompanied by two pages 

 ■of facsimiles of notes of speeches made by Mr. Bright, together 

 with a full report, thus affording an interesting insight into his 

 method of work. Lord Chief Justice Fry contributes an interest- 

 ing and suggestive paper on " Imitation as a Factor in Human 

 Progress ; " Thomas Burt, M.P., presents a review of the progress 

 of labor politics as represented in the British Parliament ; T. Vin- 

 <;ent Tymm makes another addition to the agnostic controversy 

 now taking so prominent a place in the English reviews, in a paper 

 on " Agnostic Expositions ; " Edward T. Cook brings together 

 many curious facts concerning popular judgment of works of art in 

 an article on " Prices at the National Gallery ; " Mr. W. S. Lilly 

 ■contributes the first of a series of papers on Mr. Herbert Spencer 

 in a paper entitled " Our Great Philosopher;" Grant Allen writes 

 on " Individualism and Socialism ; " and C. S. Addis, on " Rail- 

 ways in China." The number concludes with a valuable sympo- 

 sium on " The Industrial Value of Technical Training," with 

 opinions of practical men. The contributors include Lord Hart- 

 ington, president of the National Association for the Promotion of 

 Technical Education, and numerous representatives of manufac- 

 turers in England. 



— The Fortnightly Review for May (New York, Leonard Scott 

 Publication Company) opens with an essay by Lord Wolseley, 

 entitled " Is a Soldier's Life worth Living.' " which he answers in 

 the affirmative ; William Archer makes a plea for an endowed 

 theatre, urging that such an institution would render possible the 

 production of many plays that are now never seen ; Arsene Hous- 

 saye concludes his reminiscences of Alfred de Musset, begun in 

 the April number; an unsigned paper, "What is Ritualism.''" 

 will doubtless attract a wide circle of readers ; Professor Karl 

 Blind contributes a series of personal recollections of John Bright ; 

 F. C. Selous describes the newly acquired Mashunaland, treating 

 of an almost totally unknown portion of Africa ; Lady Dilke con- 

 tributes a paper on the foreign missions controversy, that has been 

 prominent in this review, in a short article entitled " The Great 

 Missionary Success ; " Hamilton Aide has a thoughtful paper on 

 " Color in Domesticity and Dress ; " Thomas H. Thornton pre- 

 sents an interesting sketch of the development of English judicial 

 and administrative history in a paper entitled " Two Centuries of 

 Magistrates' Work in Surrey ; " Col. Maurice criticises present 

 systems of military training ; and Professor Tyrrell views " Robert 

 Elsmere as a Symptom," and finds serious fault with Mrs. Ward's 

 literary style. The number concludes with an article by Cardinal 

 Manning on " The Educational Commission and the School Rates," 

 in which he argues for the extension of popular education. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



* ^^Correspondents cere requested tobe as brief as possible. The writer's name is 

 in all cases required as proof of j^ood faith. 



The editor Tvitt be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character of 

 the journal. 



Twenty copies of the number containing his comtnunication will be frcr7iished 

 free to any correspondent on reg7test. 



The Ether and the Earth's Atmosphere. 



I HAVE read with much interest Messrs. Michelson and Morley's 

 wonderfully delicate experiment attempting to decide the impor- 

 tant question as to how far the ether is carried along by the earth. 

 Their result seems opposed to other experiments showing that the 

 ether in the air can be carried along only to an inappreciable ex- 

 tent. I would suggest that almost the only hypothesis that can 

 reconcile this opposition is that the length of material bodies 

 changes, according as they are moving through the ether or across 

 it, by an amount depending on the square of the ratio of their velo- 

 city to that of light. We know that electric forces are affected by 

 the motion of the electrified bodies relative to the ether, and it 

 seems a not improbable supposition that the molecular forces are 

 affected by the motion, and that the size of a body alters conse- 

 quently. It would be very important if secular experiments on 

 electrical attractions between permanently electrified bodies, such as 

 in a very delicate quadrant electrometer, were instituted in some 

 of the equatorial parts of the earth to observe whether there is any 

 diurnal and annual variation of attraction, — diurnal due to the 

 rotation of the earth being added and subtracted from its orbital 

 velocity ; and annual similarly for its orbital velocity and the 

 motion of the solar system. "" GEO. ERAS. FiTZ GERALD. 



Dublin, May 2. 



INDUSTRIAL NOTES. 

 A Satisfactory Motor. 



Over a year ago the Spokane Falls Chronicle Company of 

 Spokane Falls, Washington Territory, decided to operate their 

 presses by electric power, and purchased a 2-horse-power Sprague 

 motor for the purpose. Since that time, this motor has been run- 

 ning one standard Babcock cylinder press and two quarto job 

 presses at the same time, giving great satisfaction. The proprie- 

 tor of the Chronicle says that during this time it has not cost one 

 cent for repairs, and is in every particular just, as good as when it 

 was installed, and that the Chronicle Company are perfectly satis- 

 fied with their electrical power. 



Some Contracts closed Last Week. 



During the past week the street-railway companies which are 

 about adopting the electric system for operating their cars have 

 not been idle, and the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Com- 

 pany of New York report a number of new contracts closed during 



the past week. One of these is at Plattsmouth, Neb., where the 

 Plattsmouth Street Railway Company have closed their contract 

 with the Sprague Railway and Motor Company at Kearney, Neb., 

 for a complete electric-railway equipment. The Pennsylvania 

 Railroad have been so well pleased with the operation of the- 

 Sprague cars at Atlantic City, N.J., that they have ordered ten 

 more complete trucks. In Binghamton, N.Y., the Washington 

 Street and State Asylum Railroad has closed a contract with the 

 Sprague Company to equip their line with the latest improved 

 railway appliances, and latest type of motors. 



The list of roads which have closed contracts during the week 

 ending May ii, 18S9, is as follows: Atlantic City Electric Rail- 

 road, extension, Atlantic City, N.J.; CoUamor Line. East Cleve- 

 land, O.; Key City Electric Railroad, Dubuque, lo.; Long Island 

 and Newtown Electric Railroad, Long Island City, N.Y.; Platts- 

 mouth Electric Railroad, Plattsmouth, Neb.; Union Electric Rail- 

 road, Sterling, III; Washington Street and State Asylum Railroad, 

 Binghamton, N-.Y. 



