August 13, 1886.] 



SCIJENCE. 



139 



volumes for the efficiency of the service, reflect- 

 ing the greatest credit, not only upon tlie superin- 

 tendents and directors, but upon the keepers and 

 crews of all the stations as well. 



— Mr. W. M. Davis has recently given in the 

 American meteorological journal an account of 

 the derivation of the term ' trade- wind.' The 

 original meaning of the word ' trade ' has been so 

 far replaced by an acquired meaning, that a popu- 

 lar error has arisen as to the derivation of the 

 common term, ' trade-wind.' Webstei-'s dictionary 

 says the trade- wind is "so called because of great 

 advantage to navigators, and hence to trade." 

 Worcester's dictionary explains it as "so called 

 because favorable to commerce." But locking 

 further back, the following extract from Skeat's 

 etymological dictionary is instructive: "Trade- 

 wind, a wind blowing in a constant direction, 

 formed from the phrase, 'to blow trade,' to blow 

 always in the same course." A step further dis- 

 covers that trade is " properly that path which we 

 'tread.' ... It once meant, literally, a 'path.' 

 . . . The M. E. [Middle English] words are ' tred ' 

 and ' trod,' both in the sense of foot-mark. All 

 from the A. S. [Anglo-Saxon] ' tredan,' to tread." 

 The following extracts show the early use of the 

 term, two or three centuries ago, by the naviga- 

 tors of that time: Hakluyt wrote, "The wind 

 blowing trade, without an inch of sail, we spooned 

 before the sea" ('Voyages,' iii. 849, published in 

 1600). Dampier said, " Trade-winds are such as 

 do blow constantly from one point or quarter of 

 the compass. There are divers sorts of these 

 winds ; some blowing from east to west, some 

 from south to north, others from west to east, etc. 

 Some are constant in one quarter all the year ; 

 some blow one-half the year one way, and the 

 other six months quite contrary ; and others blow 

 six months one way, and then shifting only eight 

 or ten points, continue six months more, and then 

 return again to their former stations, as all these 

 shifting trade-winds do " (Discourse of the ti'ade- 

 winds, in his ' Voyages and descriptions,' London, 

 1705, vol. ii. part iii. pp. 1, 2). 



— The ' Fourth annual report of the U. S. ento- 

 mological commission,' after much seemingly un- 

 necessary delay on the part of the public printer, 

 has recently appeared, and forms a worthy addi- 

 tion to the preceding volumes. It deals chiefly 

 with the cotton-worm, with a chapter on the boll- 

 worm — two of the most injurious insect pests 

 that the south, at least, has to combat. The sub- 

 jects are treated fully, and a large share of atten- 

 tion is devoted to the consideration of insecticides 

 and insecticide apparatus, fully justified by the 

 importance of the subject. The losses of crops in 



some places in the south during different years 

 from the depredations of the cotton-worm or larva 

 of the cotton-moth (Aletia). are very heavy, the 

 total estimated loss for a single year of severe 

 depredation throughout the southern states being 

 as high as thirty million dollars, while the average 

 annual loss for the fourteen years following the 

 war is placed at fifteen million dollars. The chief 

 objects of such entomological investigations are, 

 of course, the discovery or improvement of reme- 

 dies and of their methods of application, the re- 

 sults of which, both positive and negative, in this 

 case indicate that arsenical compounds and pyre- 

 thrum, both first suggested by Dr. Riley, are the 

 most efficacious. The boll-worm (Heliothis), on 

 account of its wide distribution both north and 

 south, and the almost indifference in the choice of 

 its food-plants (or food-habits, for it is omnivorous, 

 carnivorous, and cannabalistic), is but little less 

 injurious a pest. The northern agriculturist, or 

 even the northern housewife, is only too familiar 

 with it for its injuries to growing corn in the ear. 

 Their depredations are within the boll or pod of 

 the cotton, and often render whole fields valueless. 

 Aside from the more practical natm-e of the work 

 accomplished, chiefly by or under the direction of 

 Professor Riley, the report contains considerable 

 matter of more strictly scientific interest on the 

 habits, etc., of different insects, including a chap- 

 ter on the anatomy of Aletia by Dr. Minot and 

 Mr, Burgess. 



— The Prince of Monaco sailed from the mili- 

 tary port of Lorient July 14, in company with 

 Professor Ponchet, to pursue a series of observa- 

 tions on the Gulf Stream. He carried with him 

 five hundred floats, so constructed as to be af- 

 fected by naught save the currents, to be placed 

 in the water near the twentieth degree of west 

 longitude, between the latitude of Cape Finisterre 

 and that of the south of England. In addition, 

 he has fitted out with the necessary appliances 

 for deep-sea and surface zoological collecting, 

 which will be pursued during the voyage. 



— A marked improvement in the criminality of 

 Spain has been apparent during the last few de- 

 cades. In 1843, with a population of twelve 

 miUion, there were 17,683 crimes agamst the per- 

 son, and 10,425 against property ; while in 1884, 

 with a population of seventeen milhon, the num- 

 bers had decreased to 9,187 and 9,599 respectively. 

 These figures are, however, yet very high in com- 

 parison with those of France. Thus, during 1883 

 there were 1,457 homicides or assassinations in 

 Spain against only seven hundred in Fi-ance, with 

 more than double the population. Infanticides, 

 however, are proportionally less common. It is 



