224 



SCIEJS'CE. 



[Vol. Vlll., No. IJ 



fats seems destined to assume as many shapes as 

 Proteus. At first the globose forms, obtained by 

 the boiling and subsequent slow cooliug of butter, 

 and exhibiting the Saint Andrew's cross under 

 polarized light, were brought prominently forward 

 as distinguishing marks of pure butter. Prof. 

 H. H. Weber, however, upon testing the method 

 as described by Dr. Taylor, found, that, although 

 the so-called butter crystals could be readily pre- 

 pared from butter, they could be as readily pre- 

 pared from beef -fat, or mixtures of beef -fat and 

 lard, under like conditions. The necessary condi- 

 tions are, the slow cooling of the melted fat in the 

 presence of minute solid particles about which the 

 fat may crystallize, the so-called 'butter crystals' 

 being aggregations of minute crystals radiating 

 from a centre. In the test as described by Dr_ 

 Taylor, the butter is boiled for one minute, and 

 then slowly cooled. During the boiling, some of 

 the water of the butter evaporates, and a corre- 

 sponding portion of its salt solidifies, and the 

 minute crystals thus formed serve as centres of 

 crystallization for the fat during the subsequent 

 cooling. 



After the publication of these results, the ' biit- 

 ter crystal ' and its Saint Andrew's cross were rel- 

 egated to a subordinate position, and in several 

 publications Dr. Taylor insisted that his most im- 

 portant test had been neglected, viz., the appear- 

 ance of the unboiled material under polarized 

 light with a selenite plate. According to Dr. 

 Taylor, butter shows a uniform tint, while lard 

 and tallow show prismatic colors. Here, again, 

 however, he has been pursued by Professor 

 Weber, who shows that either butter-fat or lard 

 or tallow, when cooled quickly, will show a uni- 

 form tint, while if cooled slowly, so as to admit 

 of the formation of larger crystals, prismatic tints 

 are shown by both. Since imitation butter is 

 cooled rapidly when made, and since both genuine 

 and imitation butter are liable to undergo sufii- 

 cient changes of temperature after manufacture to 

 allow of a partial re-crystallization, the test is 

 plainly fallacious. Apparently, Dr. Taylor pre- 

 pared his annual report with these results in mind, 

 for there, and in his paper before the annual 

 meeting of the American society of microscopists 

 at Chautauqua, Aug. 10 - 16, he gives his method 

 a stm different exposition. 



light. By the application of polarized light, 

 'amorphous crystals,' whatever these may be, 

 may be detected. To determine whether these 

 ' amorphous crystals ' are of beef -fat or lard, the 

 sample is boiled and slowly cooled, as already de- 

 scribed, and mounted in oil. Under these condi- 

 tions, he now finds, in accordance with Professor 

 Weber, that biitter, lard, and beef-fat all give 

 globular crystalline bodies which (apparently with 

 the exception of lard) show the Saint Andrew's 

 cross. These bodies are to be distinguished by 

 their forms, lard giving a stellar form, butter the 

 well-known ' butter crystals,' and beef -fat a stellar 

 form with biserrated spines. Dr. Taylor has also 

 discovered the noteworthy fact that Tennessee 

 butter of a certain grade yields globules which 

 are flattened or indented on one side ! The above 

 account of Dr. Taylor's method, as at present de- 

 scribed by him, is drawn mainly from his last 

 annual report to the commissioner of agriculture, 

 — Ms Chautauqua jjaper, to judge from the pub- 

 lished abstract, having been chiefly a criticism on 

 Professor Weber's experiments. We shall endeav- 

 or to keep our readers informed of the changes 

 which the method undergoes in the future. 



Dr. Taylor's first step is now to search for fat 

 crystals in the test sample by plain transmitted 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF AUG. 81, 1886. 



The accompanying map has been hastily com- 

 piled from the great mass of conflicting data from 

 all sources now available, and probably gives a 

 fair general idea of the origin of the shock, the 

 limits of the area disturbed, and the intensity at 

 many points within this area (plotted on the 

 American scale of intensity, 1 to 5). It will be 

 readily appreciated by every one that in this pre- 

 liminary report all that is or can be arrived at is 

 to give a general outline, as determined by the 

 most probable evidence at hand, to serve as a good 

 working hypothesis : to attempt any thing further 

 at present would be to make a mere pretence at 

 accuracy. 



A line of weakness in the earth's crust extends 

 from Troy, N.Y., south-westward, along the line 

 of tidewater, past Baltimore, Washington, and 

 Richmond, losing itself in a broad flexure south of 

 Raleigh. The cause of the shock seems to have 

 been a renewed faulting or displacement along 

 the line where it crosses the Carolinas. This 

 severe shock appears to have had its origin along 

 this line in central North Carolina and eastern 

 South Carolina, at 9.49 p.m. (75th meridian 

 time), Aug. 31. It was not without warning. 

 For a long time shght shocks have been occa- 

 sionally felt in North Carolina, and only a few 



