534 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VllL, No. 201 



part of M. Delray's report upon the subject. 

 After baring recalled past experiments in tbat 

 direction, M. Delray stated that M. Moissan's 

 method consisted in submitting hydrofluoric an- 

 hydric acid to the action of very strong electrical 

 influence and intense cold (from — 23" to — 51° C). 

 After two or three hours of this treatment, a gas 

 is obtained wliich it does not seem possible can be 

 any thing but fluor. 



The ancient Sorbonne re-opened its venerable 

 doors some days ago ; M. Lavisse, professor of 

 modern history in the literary faculty, delivering 

 the opening address. A new chair, that of phys- 

 ical geography, has been created, which will be 

 filled by M. Velain, a geologist. 



The Musee du Louvre some time ago received 

 several fine specimens of Persian art of very great 

 antiquity. They consist of a series of warriors, 

 in relief, natural size, of enamelled and colored 

 bricks. They come from the palace of Darius, in 

 Susa, having been brought thence by M. and 

 Mme. Dieulafoy. These specimens of Persian art 

 are the first that have been found, and have ex- 

 cited much admiration here. Unfortunately the 

 venerable warriors are not as well suited by the 

 climate of Paris as by that of the Susian province, 

 the dampness of t!ie air disagreeing with them ; 

 and, to prevent the crumbling of these remains of 

 the great Darius's palace, they are to be submitted 

 to a preservative process, — heating to a high tem- 

 perature after having been covered with sperma- 

 ceti. The operation will be an extensive one, as 

 each brick must be treated separately. 



Among the books recently published, I would 

 call special attention to Vulpian's second volume 

 on diseases of the spinal cord, which came from 

 the press two days ago. In this excellent work 

 the able physiologist makes known all that his 

 clinical experience and physiological experiments 

 have taught him these many years. A good book, 

 also, is that of Alex. Peyer : ' Atlas de microscopic 

 clinique.' It is a collection of a great number of 

 figures relating to pathological substances and 

 morbid products. Each plate is accompanied by 

 a lengthy explanation. This book will prove very 

 useful to the practitioner as well as to the student, 

 and is gotten up in very handsome style. V. 



Paris, Nov. 13. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The annual report of the surgeon-general of 

 the navy, Francis M. Gunnell, says that 8,439 pa- 

 tients in the navy were treated during the year, 

 with 53 deaths, — less than 1 to 163. He com- 

 plains that the navy has not sufficient induce- 

 ments in rank and pay for young physicians to 

 become medical officers, while the army has many 



applicants. An appropriation is urged for a yel- 

 low-fever hospital at Widow's Island, near Ports- 

 mouth, N.H, 



— Commander Schley has received the gold 

 chronometer voted to him by the Maryland legis- 

 lature as a testimonial in consideration of his 

 bravery and efficiency in the rescue of Lieutenant 

 Greely. 



— Gas has recently been discovered at several 

 places in Indiana in supposed paying quantities. 

 The following places are reported to have wells 

 which have been sunk to a successful end : Eaton 

 and Muncie in Delaware county, and Kokomo in 

 Howard county. Prospecting is being carried on 

 in most of the larger towns of northern Indiana. 



— Captain Anderson of the Norwegian bark 

 Hebe reports to the U. S. hydrographic office that 

 on Aug. 24, 1886, while in the Indian Ocean (11° 

 52' south, 90° 17' east), a tremendous sea passed the 

 vessel, looking as if it had come from shoal water. 

 The sea, just before and after the passage of the 

 wave, was perfectly smooth ; light breeze at the 

 time from the south-east. No soundings were 

 taken. The charts in this locality give no sound- 

 ings, and the captain is of the opinion that the 

 wave may have been due to an earthquake. 



— The French ministers of foreign affairs and 

 of public instruction wiU shortly i^lace before the 

 Chamber of deputies a projet de lot relating to 

 literary and artistic copyright, in order to carry 

 out the conclusions of the Berne international 

 convention. 



— The president and council of the Royal so- 

 ciety have awarded the Copley medal to Franz 

 Ernest Neumann of Konigsberg, for his re- 

 searches in theoretical optics and electro-dynamics, 

 and the Davy medal to Jean Charles Galissard de 

 Marignse of Geneva for his researches on atomic 

 weights. Prof. S. P. Langley of Alleghany City 

 was awarded the Rumford medal for his researches 

 on the spectrum by means of the bolometer. At 

 the same time Francis Gallon, F.R.S., and Prof. 

 Guthrie Tait were nominated for the royal medals, 

 the former eminent for his statistical inquiries 

 into biological phenomena, and the latter for his 

 various mathematical and physical researches. 



— In a pneumatic street-car system for which a 

 patent has recently been granted, air is compressed 

 at a central station, and distributed through pipes 

 to reservoirs, situated between the tracks and be- 

 low the street surface, at points on the road where 

 supplies of compressed air for the pneumatic lo- 

 comotives are needed. Tanks on the locomotive 

 hold sufficient compressed air to propel it from 



