October 8, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



321 



under America, Cicero, Luther, London, and 

 many others, have ah-eady appeared. The last 

 of these is one of special scientific interest : it is a 

 reprint of that part of the Catalogue which is 

 classified under the head 'Academies.' The 

 definition of academies for the purpose is, ' learned 

 and scientific societies.' The entries fill five parts, 

 making a thick folio volume of about one thousand 

 pages. In the great vs^ritten Catalogue, vphich is 

 well known to all readers, twenty-eight volumes 

 were given to this one subject. The headings 

 have been thoroughly revised, and the names of a 

 number of societies have been expunged, to be 

 placed Tinder more appropriate headings. Thus, 

 agricultural societies, schools, political clubs, etc., 

 which had crept into the Catalogue by degrees in 

 course of time, have all been omitted. As it is, 

 the total number of entries is about 32,000. ' Lon- 

 don ' is the longest sub-heading : it fills nearly 200 

 pages, with about 6,500 entries. Paris, St. Peters- 

 burg, and Berlin have about 3,000 entries each ; 

 Vienna and Amsterdam, about 1,000. Towns are 

 used for sub-headings, and under these are ar- 

 ranged alphabetically the names of the societies 

 issuing the publications. The old sub-headings of 

 countries have been abolished. Formerly the sub- 

 headings would read thus : ' Academies, etc. , — 

 Great Britain and Ireland, — London, Royal so- 

 ciety.' The towns are now arranged alphabeti- 

 cally, regardless of countries. Only completed 

 series are fully entered : works in progress are, 

 according to the rule of the museum, catalogued 

 with the date of the first volume, and the words 

 ' in progress. ' The work covers the greater part 

 of the scientific literature of the world. When 

 the catalogue of ' periodical publications ' is fin- 

 ished, there will be little relating to science which 

 cannot be found under appropriate heads in one 

 or the other. It seems like looking the gift-horse 

 in the mouth, but w-e cannot refrain from observ- 

 ing that the value of these five volumes would be 

 enormously increased if some approximation to a 

 subject index could be added to them. It would 

 be a simple task to have headings, ' Chemistry,' 

 'Microscopy,' ' Geology,' etc., under which were 

 given the names of the towns where societies on 

 these subjects are to be found. The student 

 would then have before him at a glance the names 

 of all the societies on the globe working at any 

 particular subject. Instances will present them- 

 selves to every student in which the first name of 

 a society, and that by which it has to be sought in 

 the Catalogue, does not always indicate the sphere 

 of work. 



— Two valuable papers, — ' The six inner satel- 

 lites of Saturn,' and ' Observations for stellar par- 

 allax,' — the results of recent work with the 26-inch 



equatorial, have just been published by Professor 

 Hall as Appendices I. and II. of the Washington 

 observations for 1883. 



— The statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, 

 New York bay, when completed, will be illumi- 

 nated at night in a decidedly novel manner. The 

 torch of the statue will contain eight electric 

 lamps, of six thousand candle-power each, the 

 light from which will be thrown directly upward, 

 making a powerful beam and cloud illumination. 

 Four or eight lamps, of six thousand candle-power 

 each, will reflect then- light upon the statue, illu- 

 minating it, and causing it to shine forth in bright 

 relief. 



— The reduction of aluminium by means of the 

 electric current, now carried on by the Cowles 

 company of Cleveland, O., is not effected by the 

 voltaic arc, as is generally supposed. In the 

 Cowles process, a connection is established between 

 the carbon terminals through the medium of a 

 mass of finely pulverized carbon and other mate- 

 rials, the terminals being drawn some distance 

 apart after the circuit has been established. By 

 this system the intense heat of the arc is modified, 

 and diffused through a large area of minute par- 

 ticles, keeping them at a constant incandescent 

 heat, thereby effecting the reduction of the most 

 refractory materials. 



— The Journal of the Society of arts states, that, 

 from an official report lately issued, it appears 

 that the production of manganese in Russia is 

 steadily increasing. The exports for the first four 

 months of this year amounted to 9,000 tons, as 

 against 4,500 tons for the corresponding period of 

 1885. This is shipped principally from Poti, 

 where it is conveyed by the Trancaucasian rail- 

 way from the mines, in order not to interfere with 

 the petroleum trade of the neighboring port of 

 Batoum. Owing to the bad condition of the con- 

 veyance used in transporting it from the mines at 

 Tchiatoor to the Transcaucasian railway, large 

 lumps of ore only can be carried, the result being 

 that the smaller pieces, which are equal to two- 

 thirds of the total quantity extracted, are wasted, 

 although equal in quality to that exported. 



— From one ton of ordinary gas-coal may be 

 produced 1,500 pounds of coke, 20 gallons of am- 

 monia water, and 140 pounds of coal-tar. By 

 destructive distillation the coal-tar will yield 69.6 

 pounds of pitch, 17 pounds of creosote, 14 pounds 

 heavy oils, 9.5 pounds of naphtha yellow, 6.3 

 pounds naphthaline, 4.75 pounds naphthol, 2.25 

 pounds alazarin, 2.4 pounds solvent naphtha, 1.5 

 pounds phenol, 1.2 pounds aurine, 1.1 poimds ben- 

 zine, 1.1 pounds anihne, 0.77 of a pound tolui- 

 dine, 0.46 of a pound anthracine, and 0.9 of a 



