September 17, 1886.] 



sciejscm:. 



255 



delinquent classes, is full of interesting details. 

 The number of males confined in prisons and work- 

 houses in the United States in 1880 was 53,604, and 

 of females, 5,005. The number of prisoners to 

 each million of the population was 1,069 : in 1870 

 it was but 853. There were 1,833 insane persons, 

 1,533 idiots, and 976 blind persons to each million 

 inhabitants. There were 21,595 out-door paupers, 

 and 66,203 inmates of almshouses, during the cen- 

 sus year. 



— A writer in the August number of the 

 Nineteenth century begins an interesting discussion 

 on the question, ' Are animals happy?' The view 

 that the author takes practically amounts to say- 

 ing that an animal with a less highly organized 

 brain is more apt to be happy. While many of 

 his inferences are suggestive, they are not founded 

 on that broad knowledge of biological facts which 

 the subject deserves. The article has been severe- 

 ly criticised in English periodicals. 



— It has recently come to light that the state 

 of New York, in 1806, paid to John M. Crous a 

 thousand dollars for a remedy against hydrophobia 

 which he considered infallible. The measure was 

 advocated by DeWitt Clinton and Chancellor 

 Kent. This remedy consisted of one ounce of 

 the jaw-bone of a dog, burned and pulverized ; 

 the false tongue of a newly foaled colt, dried and 

 pulverized ; and ' a scruple of verdigreas,' raised 

 on the surface of old copper by laying it in moist 

 earth. The warrant of the comptroller on which 

 the money was paid, and the receipt of Crous, 

 are on file with other state papers at Albany. 



— The submarine torpedo-boat briefly described 

 in Science recently is having some changes made 

 in its machinery and in details of construction. 

 It will be equipped with horizontal ruddei's at the 

 bow, in addition to those at the stern, so that it 

 may be submerged with an ' even keel.' 



— One of the amateur aeronauts whose experi- 

 ences are recorded in the September number of 

 the Century makes the interesting observation, 

 that, immediately upon alighting, all remembrance 

 of the events of the journey is gone, and only 

 after several hours can he recall his experiences. 

 He adds, that after a battle, soldiers have ex- 

 perienced the same phenomena. 



— The temperature of August, 1886, was over 

 four degrees above normal in Iowa, being the hot- 

 test on record for over twenty-five years, except- 

 ing August, 1881, which was one degree warmer 

 still. The number of hot days on w^iich the tem- 

 perature reached or exceeded 86° was twenty-one, 

 ■which is the highest ever recorded, being three in 

 excess of August, 1881. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*i* Correspondents are requested to he as brief as possible. The 

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



Barometer exposure. 



Mr. Clayton's last letter on the above subject 

 shows that he has been considering all along the so- 

 called ' serration effect.' It seems to me that this 

 narrows down the problem very materially. Kindly 

 allew me space to emphasize a point or two that I 

 laid down in my previous letter, and to give a few 

 facts regarding the above effect. I still think, that, 

 if the wind has a tendency to diminish the pressure 

 in a room by blowing across a chimney communicat- 

 ing with it. there will be a slight draught up the 

 chimney, of the air forced into the room on the wind- 

 ward side. Mr. Clayton's theory of a smoky chim- 

 ney is satisfactory only as a theory, but the facts are 

 all against him. Any builder will tell him that a 

 properly constructed chimney will draw under the 

 conditions mentioned by him ; namely, ' wind blow- 

 ing across it ' He will also find a large number of 

 cases in Boston where chimneys have been built up 

 in such a way as to make the effect suggested by 

 him a maximum ; and this, too, to obviate a lack of 

 draught. 



I have studied the above serration effect with some 

 care, and have compared wind-velocity and baro- 

 graph sheets for nearly two years. The barograph 

 is enclosed in a rather tight case, and its sheet has a 

 motion of about .75 of an inch per hour. The highest 

 wind noted was 36 miles per hour, though there 

 may have been momentary gusts reaching 50 miles 

 per hour. The effect was noticed rather faint with 

 a velocity of 4 miles per hour. Several times a 

 velocity of28 miles per hour produced no effect ; and 

 velocities of 20 miles per hour, with no effect, were 

 quite frequent. Almost all the cases occurred with 

 relatively low pressure, and they were often mixed 

 up with the irregular fluctuations so often noticed at 

 the centre of a cyclone. The maximum effect below 

 the middle line was about .010 of an inch, with a 

 mean value of about .005 of an inch. One singular 

 fact noted was that often there would be a jump of 

 .010 of an inch above the general trend of the line 

 of pressure. A part of this might be caused by the 

 momentum of the pencil, but this would be very 

 slight. It would be very interesting to try the effect 

 of opening a window to windward while the serra- 

 tion effect is taking place. I believe this has already 

 been done to some extent, with the result that the 

 serrations are not materially changed. At all events, 

 I find that among those who have studied the prob- 

 lem in the light of these barograph sheets, thei-e is a 

 well-established belief, that while the wind has an 

 influence in producing the serrations, yet just how 

 it acts is problematical. Any such serration effect 

 by the wind as .100 of an inch below the general 

 pressure line is well-nigh incredible. I am so 

 strongly convinced on this point, that I am perfectly 

 willing, for the benefit of the readers of Science, to 

 be at a little expense in ordei' to enable us to see this 

 effect for ourselves. If Mr. Clayton will make a 

 tracing of one of his best effects, and send it to 

 Science, 1 will furnish the editor with the funds neces- 

 sary to reproduce it. I impose but two conditions, 

 and vsdll modify these if Mr. Clayton thinks them too 

 severe. The conditions are, 1*^, the chimneys or 

 trap-doors of the house, or connecting with the room, 

 where the barograph is, must be near the centre of a 

 rather flat roof, that is, not at the edge or near the 



