January 8, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



53 



well as through his permanent researches. 

 Among those who benefited by his guid- 

 ance may be mentioned the names of 

 Brieger, Goldmann, Herter, Hiirthle, Kast, 

 C. Th. M5rner, Preusse, Rohmann, Schotten 

 V. Udranszkj', K. Wedenski. One who 

 came into personal contact with the man 

 could not fail to admire his untiring devo- 

 tion to science, and to feel grateful for the 

 inspiration derived from him. 



Lafayette B. Mendel. 

 Yale University. 



ALFRED TBESCA. 



The session of N"ovember 27, 1896, of the 

 ' Societc d' Encouragement pour I' Industrie 

 natio7iale,' under the presidency of M. 

 Mascart, was devoted mainly to ceremonies 

 in memory of the late M. Alfred Tresca, re- 

 cently deceased. The discourse pronounced 

 by M. Haton de la Goupilliere was the main 

 feature of the evening programme. 



Monsieur A. Tresca was the son of the 

 distinguished investigator, Henri Tresca, 

 who was the successor of General Morin as 

 the head of the Conservatoire des Arts et 

 Metiers, and who followed and improved 

 upon the methods of the latter in the prose- 

 cution of researches of importance in the 

 field of applied science, and especially in the 

 investigation of the characteristics of the 

 materials of construction and of the most 

 important classes of prime movers and other 

 machines. The younger Tresca followed in 

 the same path and gave his life to similarly 

 valuable work. The three men have lead 

 rather than followed in all developments in 

 their department of work during the cen- 

 tury. The work of Morin on the properties 

 of the materials of engineering and his ex- 

 tensive introduction, in original ways. Of 

 graphical methods of illustration, the exten- 

 sive study by the elder Tresca of the heat- 

 motors, and the researches of the younger 

 Tresca in applied physics and engineering, 

 have been the principal contributions of the 



Conservatoire, for many years past, to their 

 department of science. It is an interesting 

 case of ' intellectual heredity,' as the writer 

 has called it. A personal acquaintance, 

 slight, but quite suQicient to confirm the 

 conclusions here reached, impressed the 

 writer also with the fact that the influence 

 of each upon his successor, in this respect, 

 was deep and most effective of result. The 

 three men, talented, industrious and per- 

 sistent, by similar methods accomplished 

 similarly useful work. 



As M. Haton says : " Inheritor of a name 

 illustrious in science and honored also for 

 services rendered our societj', he has firmly 

 upheld its prestige. Trained in the school 

 of his father, Henri Tresca, he learned the 

 traditions of industrial science, that difficult 

 science, and, at the same time, traditions of 

 honor and of labor to which he was always 

 faithful." He was always inclined to avoid 

 public notice, " but his colleagues, his 

 students, unanimously render just tribute 

 both to the extent of his work and to its 

 value in instruction." The address closes 

 with an affectionate and graceful tribute of 

 esteem and admiration, of grief and of eu- 

 logy. R. H. T. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 ANCIENT MAYAN HISTORY. 



A YucATECAN author, Don Juan Fran- 

 cisco Molina Solis, has recently written a 

 meritorious history of Yucatan (Historia 

 del Descubrimento y Conquista de Yucatan, 

 pp. 911. Merida, 1896). By way of intro- 

 duction it has a sketch of the ancient his- 

 story of the peninsula, covering sixty pages 



This discusses the early immigrations, 

 the foundation of the great cities, the estab- 

 lishment of the confederation which for 

 some generations appears to have controlled 

 the peninsula and allowed a peaceful de- 

 velopment of its culture, and its unfortunate 

 violent dissolution leading to the destruc- 

 tion of the former mart of Chichen Itza 



