July 16, 1886.] 



8GIEN'CE. 



55 



bharata in monthly parts has been begun ; and 

 twenty-two parts have ah-eady been issued. To 

 insure permanency to the Bhilrata Karyulaya, it 

 is necessary to collect funds. Contributions may 

 be sent to W. E. Coleman, San Francisco ; to Prof. 

 H. Jacobi of the University of Kiel ; to M. A. 

 Barth of 6 Rue du Vieux Columbier, Paris ; to 

 Prof. Max Miiller, 7, Norham Gardens, Oxford, 

 England. 



— Captain Grimes, British steamship Hum- 

 boldt, Rio de Janeiro, to New Orleans, reports, 

 under date June 10, witnessing a battle between 

 a large sperm-whale, thrasher, and sword-fish. 

 The vessel was in latitude 13° 25' south, longitude 

 36° 16' west, off San Salvador, Brazil. The fish 

 were far off, and would not have been sighted 

 were it not for the great commotion occasioned by 

 the fight. The steamer ran down to the combat- 

 ants, and lay to till the end of the battle, resulting 

 in the death of the whale and sword-fish. 



— Mr. Douglas Home, the well-known medium, 

 died June 21, at Auteuil, at the age of 52. 



— Letters from Colonel Lockhart's party give a 

 complete contradiction to the story of his arrest. 

 The mission was well received by the Afghans, 

 who proved very friendly. 



— It is proposed to hold in the autumn of 1887 an 

 international congress of shorthand writers of all 

 existing systems, and of persons interested in 

 shorthand generally, to celebrate conjointly two 

 events of importance : 1. The jubilee of the intro- 

 duction of Mr. Isaac Pitman's system of phonog- 

 raphy, marking as it does an era in the develop- 

 ment of shorthand on scientific principles ; 2. The 

 tercentenary of modern shorthand originated by 

 Dr. Timothy Bright about 1587, continued by 

 Peter Bales (1590), John Willis (1602), Edmond 

 Willis (1618), Shelton (1620), Cartwright (1642), 

 Rich (1646), Mason (1672), Gurney (1740). Byrom 

 (1767), Mavor (1780), Taylor (1786), Lewis (1812), 

 and many others in j)ast generations, and finally 

 by Mr. Pitman and other English and continental 

 authors of the present day. 



— The rapid development of the technical 

 sciences and the specialization of the various de- 

 partments of civil engineering of late years have 

 so enlarged its field as to make it desirable that 

 the student should be allowed some freedom of 

 choice as to the particular line of work to be spe- 

 cially pursued in the application of these general 

 principles. To meet this requirement, the Massa- 

 chusetts institute of technology has arranged a 

 general com'se of study, covering the whole field 

 of civil engineering, adapted for those students 

 who have not decided what special branch they 



wiU afterward pursue, while it affords at the 

 same time an opportunity for those stxidents who 

 desire it to devote themselves more extensively to 

 certain special branches. 



— Ai>plicants for admission to the dental schools 

 of Great Britain must pass a satisfactory exami- 

 nation in English grammar and history, m Latin, 

 in algebra, geometry, and physics ; and, before 

 they can receive then degree of L.D.S., they must 

 study for four years anatomy, chemistry, surgery, 

 and such other branches as are taught in the medi- 

 cal schools, besides those which specially pertain 

 to dentistry, as operative dentistry, the adminis- 

 tration of anaesthetics. In London there are two 

 dental hospitals in which all the operations known 

 to that branch are practised, and to which stu- 

 dents have admission and opportunity to operate. 

 In the National dental hospital, durmg the year 

 1885, 9,001 fillings were inserted, of which 1,014 

 were of gold, the others being of gutta-percha or 

 other plastic material. 



— Consul-General Gibbs of Bolivia has given a 

 very interesting account of the coca-plant, which 

 is now so much employed in medical practice, and 

 which, together with opium, chloral, and other 

 drugs, is beginning to gain its victims from the 

 ranks of those who, having commenced its use for 

 medicinal purposes, have become so enslaved by it 

 that they cannot give it up. This plant is grown 

 in the province of Yimgas, and brought some 

 sixty miles to Lapaz, Bolivia, which is the great 

 market for it. The bushes, which are grown on 

 the sides of the mountains, furnish three crops a 

 year of the leaves, from which the drug is ob- 

 tained. The leaves are di-ied in the sun, and, 

 after being pressed, are packed in bales. The 

 annual production is 7,500,000 pounds, of which 

 Bolivia consumes fifty-five per cent ; the United 

 States and Europe, five per cent ; and the rest is 

 consumed in other parts of South America. 



— The Entomological club of the American 

 association for the advancement of science 

 will hold its meetings during the week of the 

 association in the library of the Buffalo society of 

 natural science. The first meeting will be held 

 on Tuesday, Aug. 17, at 2 p.m.; and Prof. J. A. 

 Lintner, president of the club, will dehver Iiis 

 address at that time. During the week there will 

 be an excursion to some point of interest ; and a 

 reception has been tendered the club by the ento- 

 mologists of Buffalo. It is very desirable that 

 those entomologists expecting to attend should 

 signify their intention to the secretary of the club, 

 John B. Smith, national museum, Washington, 

 D.C. 



