470 



8Cienc:e. 



fVoL. VIII., No. 199 



animals cannot be overestimated. These raanu- 

 facturers are comparatively few in number. By 

 requiring them to stamp and brand all their pro- 

 ductions, and to keep such books as will indicate 

 the destination of their products, such products 

 can be followed to the dealers, and through the 

 dealers to the customers. At the same time, by 

 the use of a system of exchanging stamps similar 

 to that now in operation as to distilled spirits, the 

 article may be i-eadily identified by the consumer 

 without necessitating the imposition of a second 

 tax." 



The skill displayed by Mr. Edward Burgess 

 in the application of scientific principles to the 

 construction of yachts has again received a mark 

 of appreciation from the Naturalists' club of 

 Boston, to which he belongs, and which last year 

 gave him a dinner to commemorate the victory of 

 the Puritan. Last Friday, at a dinner given in 

 his honor, at which some fifty members were pres- 

 ent, the club presented him with a pair of silver 

 salt-cellars modelled after ' nature's most graceful 

 designs,' — one of them a miniature Nautilus in- 

 scribed ' Puritan ; ' the other an Argonaut-shell of 

 similar size, marked ' Mayflower ; " and both excel- 

 lent copies of the originals ; while the spoons 

 have handles of twisted rope, and pn the back of 

 the bowls, delicately raised pictures of the fa- 

 mous yachts. No pains were spared in the work- 

 manship. 



WOMEN ON THE NEW YORK SCHOOL 

 BOARD. 



As was foreshadowed in a recent number of 

 Science (viii. No. 197), the movement in favor of 

 the appointment of women to the board of educa- 

 tion in New York City, has been successful. On 

 Wednesday of last week. Mayor Grace filed his 

 appointments, and the list was found to be made 

 up of three new men, two of the old commission- 

 ers who were re-appointed, and two women. In 

 taking this step, the mayor has put himself in line 

 with advanced thought on this subject, and has, 

 we feel certain, contributed in no small degree to 

 the increased efficiency of the public-school system. 

 For years women have sat on the school boards 

 of London, Edinburgh, and other foreign cities, 

 and many of our own towns and school districts 

 choose one or more women among their managers. 

 When we consider the character of education in 

 general, the peculiar conditions of public instruc- 

 tion, the fact that a large proportion — not in- 

 frequently a majority — of public-school students 



are girls, and that fully nine-tenths of the public- 

 school teachers are women, the reasons for the 

 presence of women on the boards of education are 

 apparent. Then, too, it is highly probable that 

 the presence of women commissioners will raise 

 the deliberations of a board of education to a 

 higher plane, and lift them out of the political 

 entanglements in which they are too often caught. 



All these considerations apply with peculiar 

 force to New York City ; and, moreover, these com- 

 missioners of education enjoy a position of great 

 influence and honor. The board of education has 

 general supervision of the whole school system. 

 It appoints the principals of schools, but not the 

 teachers . these are appointed by the trustees of 

 the various wards, who, in turn, are chosen by 

 the board of education for a term of four years. 

 All the money and supplies for the schools are 

 voted by the board, and all repairs and new build- 

 ings and the purchase of sites are directed by it. 



In making these particular appointments. Mayor 

 Grace has avoided what would have been a great 

 mistake. He has not appointed any ' cranks ' or 

 any professional agitators for ' woman's rights.* 

 At such a time plenty of these persons come for- 

 ward as candidates, but their appointment would 

 have been turning the whole movement into ridi- 

 cule. Both of the women chosen by the mayor 

 are of the highest standing, morally, intellectu- 

 ally, and socially. They are neither agitators nor 

 theorists, but women of pure Christian character, 

 great ability, and, what is quite as essential to a 

 commissioner of education, some common sense. 

 They are both deeply interested m education, and 

 close students of its theory and practice. Distin- 

 guished for years in connection with the promi- 

 nent charities and philanthropic institutions of a 

 great city, we have every i-eason to predict that 

 the character and talents wliich they bring to their 

 new and somewhat trying offi^ce will elevate and 

 improve its public-school system. 



THE CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE. 



We are indebted to the Philosophical society of 

 Washington for permission to use the accompany- 

 ing map in advance of its regular publication in 

 their Proceedings. It was presented by Mr. Hay- 

 den to illustrate his paper on the Charleston earth- 

 quake, read before the society on Oct. 23, and 

 represents graphically the data which had reached 

 the U. S. geological survey concerning the dis- 

 tribution of the earth-wave from the great shock 

 of Aug. 31, as to area, intensity (isoseismals), 

 and time (coseismals). It was compiled mostly 

 from information sent in by private correspond- 

 ents, and it will be interesting to compare it with 



