588 



SCIEJSrCJEk 



[Vol. VIII., No. 203 



The penetrative power of Buch a flame, and hence 

 its beneficial uses in the foggy weather of our lati- 

 tude, combined with itB likotometria massiveness, 

 would compare, it would Hcem, very favorably with 

 the incandescent i)()int of light which now at night 

 markH the watch-tower of Liberty on Bedloe'H Island, 

 and in fogs dimly shines through the mist in an' 

 apologetic and feeble way fjuite disappointing. 



L. P. Gbatacap. 

 New York, Deo. 1.5. 



The relations of our colleges and preparatory 

 schools. 



In Science for Nov. 20 you comment editorially on 

 the teachers' convention at Philadelphia, and close 

 with the sentence, " It would be especially notable 

 should it prove to be the first step in bringing our 

 colleges and preparatory schools into frecpient and 

 close conference in some official manner." 



Allow me to call your attention to the fact that in 

 Michigan there now exists, and has existed since the 

 year 1870, a relation between the university and the 

 IDublic; high schools of the state, under which the 

 graduates of schools, whose courses of study have 

 received, after personal inspection by a committee 

 sent for that purpose, the approval of the miiversity 

 faculty, are admitted to the university on the presen- 

 tation of their high- school diplomas. The inspec- 

 tion of the schools is repeated at intervals, whenever 

 it seems desirable to do so. 



The privilege of admission on diploma, which was 

 at first restricted to the public high schools of Michi- 

 gan, has been gradually extended, and at the; present 

 time the University of Michigan holds this (iJose of- 

 ficial relation with thirty schools, public and private, 

 in Michigan, and also with schools in New York, Il- 

 linois, Minnesota, and California. 



Wm. H. Pettee. 



[We were, of course, aware that in Michigan there 

 is a system of co-ordination of university and high 

 schools and academies, and we are now gratified to 

 learn that this co-ordination embraces schools out- 

 side of the ftate of Michigan. It is to be regretted 

 that this system is not adopted generally by OTir uni- 

 versities and colleges, and we renew our ex25ression 

 of hoi)e that the late Philadelphia confei'ence may 

 emphasize the value of the Michigan system, and lead 

 to its general adoption. — Ed.] 



The Americanists. 



There is a ludicrous slip of the pen in the account 

 given in the last number of Science, of the Proceed- 

 ings of the sixth congress of Americanists, held at 

 Turin in September last. Suijreme wisdom does not 

 always seem to preside over the councils of this 

 learned body ; but it is hardly fair to Professor 

 Grossi to represent him as having read a pajjer on 

 the ' coins ' of the old and new worlds before a 

 society devoted to the stiady of prehistoric questions. 

 What he had to say was about inomies, and not 

 monnaies, in the two ccmtinents, and was a sensible 

 and learned discussion of the question. The same 

 gentleman also presented a paj^er upon pyramids in 

 the old and new worlds, and one upon the folk-lore 

 of the primitive tribes of America. » 



Henby W. Haynes. 

 Boston, Dec. 13. 



A new bat from Paget Sound. 



Among the specimens collected in 1880 by Prof. D. 

 S. Jordan, in the vicinity of Puget Sound, for the 

 national museum, is a small Vjat, which, upon exam- 

 ination, proves to be different from any hitherto de- 

 scriVicd. It resembles the common Vjlunt-nosed bat, 

 V. lucifugus, but differs from it in several important 

 characters. Most noticeaVjle of these is the great 

 length of the tibia; and I have therefore thought it 

 apprf)priate to name the species Vespertilio longicrus. 

 It is the third species added to the fauna of the 

 United States during the year. I subjoin a brief 

 diagnosis. 



Vespertilio longicrus : fur uniform, umber color 

 above; the same l)elow, Vnit with the upjier fourth 

 dull Naples yellow ; interf emoral membrane clothed 

 above and below to a line joining the centre of the 

 tibiae ; ears shorter than the head ; inner margin of 

 the couch convex, that of the tragus concave; cal- 

 caneum reaching only to middle of hind margin of 

 interfeiTioral membrane; teeth as in V. lucifugus, 

 but first premolar not imbricate with canine ; brain- 

 case very high; length of head and body 47.5 mm., 

 head 16; height of ear, 12.5, tragus 6.5, fore-arm 39, 

 thumb 6, tibia 20, foot 7.5. F. W. Teue. 



U.S. nat. mu8., Dec VL 



Preliminary description of a new pocket gopher 

 from California. 



Mr. F. Stephens, one of my Californian mammal- 

 collectors, has sent me several specimens of a small 

 pocket gopher, of the genus Thomomys (Thomomys 

 talpoides perpallidus, sub-sp. nov.), which I do not 

 find descriVjed. The sub-specific name ' perpallidus* 

 refers to the very pale color of the animal. It may 

 be distinguished at a glance from all its congeners, 

 except T. clusius of Coues, by its color, which is 

 very pale brownish-yellow above, and white under- 

 neath and on the sides and legs. It differs from 

 T. clusius in the great length of its tail, which is 

 half as long as the head and body, and in other char- 

 acters which will be pointed out in a later j^aper on 

 the animal. All the specimens were captured on the 

 arid Colorado desert, in southern California, in 

 March and April, 1886. C. Hakt Meeeiam. 



Contents of foreign educational periodicals. 



Zeitschrift fvr schul- geographic, October. — Be- 

 merkunjiien zum geographischen unterricbt an den 

 gyn)nasien nach den neuen instructionen, Dr. Karl 

 Lechner. — Ueber Has vei'haU.niss des land- and 

 wa.sserareales auf der erdoberflache. — Ncjtizen, Jib- 

 eratur, us. w. 



Zeitschrift fur schul-geographie, November. — 

 Emige bemerkungen iiber den zustand der ffeo- 

 graphie in Danemark alsschnifach. Prof. Dr. LofBer. 



— Die verbesserung des julianischen kalenders, Dr. 

 Pein-Belgrad and seine ume:ebung, Prof. G. Jauss. 



— Die prairie, ein geographisches charakterbild. — 

 Notizen, literatur, u.s.w. 



Zeitschrift fur das realschulwesen, November. — 

 Die plurahsation der substantivischeo wortcomplexe 

 ira Franzo.sischen, Felix Zverina. — Der planinie- 

 trische und constructive unterricbt in der unterreal- 

 scbule, Joseph Bayala. — Schulnachrichten, notizen, 

 anzeigen, u.s.w. 



