October 20, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



2ig 



everywhere found. The real cause of this sudden disap- 

 pearance has been found to be a contagious bacterial 

 disease whose rapid dissemination is favored by wet wea- 

 ther and by the crowding of the insects into restricted 

 areas as the food supply decreases. In this case the dis- 

 ease is left wholly to spontaneous development, but it is 

 reasonable to suppose that were the disease producing 

 bacteria artificially cultivated and multiplied, which is 

 readily done in properly equipped laboratories, and held 

 as a magazine to supply the germs as soon as the first in- 

 sects are seen, the pests might be swept away, at a merely 

 nominal cost, at the beginning instead of at the end of 

 their destructive career. This is not all theory ! In the 

 United States excellent results against the clinch bug- 

 have been obtained in Kansas, Illinois and other states. 

 In Europe very satisfactory results have been obtained in 

 combatting the "white grub" [ilelolantha vidgwis), by 

 means of the fungus, Bolrytis tenella and B. bassiana. In this 

 country the most satisfactory results have been obtained 

 from Sporotrichinm clensum and Empursa, several species. 

 This method of combatting noxious insects is now at- 

 tracting widesj)read attention from German and French 

 scientists and promises much for the future. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOE. 



^*^Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The 

 writer's name is in all cases required as a proof of good faith. 



On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number con- 

 taining his communication will be furnished free to any corres- 

 pondent. 



The editor will be glad to publish,any queries consonant with 

 the character of the iournal. 



Inductive Psychology. 



I WISH to thank you for your appreciative words and 

 criticisms of my "Inductive Psychology," which was has- 

 tily prepared for private u.se rather than to stand the test 

 of criticism for general circulation; I am pleased that 

 more defects are not at once discovered. I think, how- 

 ever, a little explanation from me is necessary upon one 

 point. In writing every sentence of the book my prin- 

 cipal question was, what experience of the pupil will this 

 appeal to '? what thoughts and observations will it suggest ? 

 and not, how can I most logically state these truths so as 

 to completely cover the subject ? The aim is not a com- 

 plete treatment of the science, but an introduction to it 

 that shall give the pupil psychological knowledge, power 

 and vocabulary that will enable him to continue the study 

 in both living subjects and books. To such an extent is 

 this true that inferences as to what portions of psychol- 

 ogy I value most cannot be correctly made, for my prin- 

 ciple of selection was not scientific value and importance 

 but pedagogical value to the pupil at this stage of the 

 study. 



Now, Mr. Editor, however much you may disagree with 

 my use of the word "inductive," if you will lay aside the 

 expectations that the word "inductive" in the title aroused 

 in your mind, you cannot but see that the book is peda- 

 gogically essentially different in method from any other 

 text-book on psychology. I feel as if explanation on this 

 point is due to myself; for if the book is not different in 

 method of presentation from other psychologies, I have 

 no excuse for writing it. The following, however, from 

 a teacher of psychology, confirms me in the belief that I 

 have such an excuse. "The book is the best I know of 

 from the teacher's standpoint. It illustrates a method of 

 treating the subject which I find in no other book. So 

 far as I know, most text-books have been elaborated with- 

 out regard to the pedagogics of the subject, but only the 

 logical and scientific arrangement of the facts enumer- 

 ated; but I feel that this cannot be said of yours." 



E. A. KiBKPATEICK. 

 Winona, Minn., Sept. 35, 1893. 



The Sounds of R. 



As Mr. Melville Bell complains, in your October num- 

 ber, that the sounds of R have been treated unscien- 

 tifically in my "Introduction to Phonetics," (Sonnen- 

 schein, London, and Macmillan, New York, 1891), I beg 

 to observe that the difference between us arises from the 

 difference in the facts observed by each. 



In my pronunciation, for instance, and in that of culti- 

 vated English people of the present day, his ear would, I 

 am sure, observe no difference between alms and arms, or 

 between laud and lord. 



In my treatment of the r sounds in English, I am sup- 

 ported by the evidence of all competent observers of the 

 best English spoken in the south of England in the pres- 

 ent day, and the leading phoneticians are also agreed in 

 regarding this as standard English. I refer to such men 

 as Dr. Sweet, Prof. Johan Storm, of Christiania, and Prof. 

 Victor, of Marburg. 



If I were making a study of American English it is 

 probable that my observations would be in accord with 

 those of Mr. Melville Bell. Ladea Soames. 



Brighton, England, 



The Absence of Air from the Moon. 



Seeing in the journal Nature, of London, date August 

 31, 1893, the announcement of a paper entitled "The 

 Moon,s Atmosphere and the Kinetic Theory of Gasses," to 

 be read next week at the meeting of the British Association 

 at Nottingham by the author, Mr. G. H. Bryan; and since 

 this subject was treated by me in Nature, Nov. 7, 1878 

 (15 years ago), I wrote to the author, Mr. G. H. Bryan, in 

 reference to this. He has informed me to-day by post 

 that this subject was dealt with in your journal. Science 

 of Feb. 24 last by Sir Robert Ball, who sent his communi- 

 cation to you as original, although Mr. Bryan considers it 

 "identical in substance" with my letter in Nature (above 

 mentioned) entitled "A question Raised by the Observed 

 Absence of an Atmosphere in the Moon " (foe. cit. sup.) 



As Sir Robert Ball makes no mention in your journal 

 of my letter (in Nature). I merely wish to claim just 

 priority here for the theory as mine and not his; since it 

 is discussed as his — Sir Robert Ball's — in subsequent 

 numbers of Science, such as that for August 18, 1893, in 

 a paper by Prof. Liveing, of Cambridge, England, who 

 suggests a further application of the theory in an article 

 entitled "The Aemosphere of Stellar Space." To make a 

 reclaim is somewhat of a task, and it would be fittino- if 

 an author's work were voluntarily recognized without 

 his incentive; but I cannot do otherwise under the cir- 

 cumstances than mention the matter to you in this letter. 

 Mr. Bryan informs me that his paper deals with "the bear- 

 ing of statistical calculations on the theory," and he makes 

 "no claim to originality except in the numerical results 

 arrived at." 



There may doubtless have been some advantage in Sir 

 Robert Ball treating of the theory in question in 

 your journal; but I am surprised at his not mentioning 

 my name in connection with the theory. 



S. ToLVER Pbeston. 



Hamburgh, Germany, Sept. 9. 



Fossils of the Bridgeport Quarries. 

 One' interested in geology, while looking over the fine 

 exhibit of Ward's Natural Science Establishment in the 

 Anthropological building at the "Worlds Fair, and also 

 the geological exhibit in the Government building will 

 notice that the finest crinoids and other fossils of the 

 upper Silurian, Niagara Terrane, are labeled "Bridgeport, 

 HI." Looking up Bridgeport on the map, myself and 

 friend found it to be only a portion of Chicago, situated 



