94 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXI. No. 524 



vanished, yet the phenomena I have rlescribed were spen from 

 quite a distance, although if I moved about the streamers changed 

 in relative brilliancy. I have many times thought of this appear- 

 ance when I have looked over published reports of auroras from 

 voluntary observers, and it may be well to sho%v that all unusual 

 night-lights are not aurora. 



From Dr. Hatch's proximity to the lamp, " about the angle of 

 60" to the burner" (is this altitude, zenith distance, or an angle 

 measured from some street lines?), it may be possible that his 

 phenomenon has some relation to the halos which may be fre- 

 quently seen around the arc lamps here. When near the lamps 

 the halo is small and, under proper atmospheric conditions, very 

 brightly colored; at a greater distance the halo is larger but the 

 colors not so distinct. In either case if you can witness the upper 

 half of this halo as if it were on the celestial sphere, you will have 

 a large '• luminous arch " •• consisting of penc'ils of light radiating 

 upward from a dark arc, . . . the pencilsconstantly changing in 

 length, and having an apparent movement laterally " if the head 

 is moved in the least while noting different portions of the arch. 

 The "coloration of the pencils ' will be also "unmistakable." 

 See Dr. Hatch's reply to Professor Hazen in Sciencefcv Jan. 20, 

 1893. George II. Hudson. 



Vlce-Prlucipal State Normal and TraiQlng ^ctlool, Plattsburgh, N. Y, 



Continuous Rain. 



A REMARKABLE phenomenon was observed in the town of 

 Athens, Ohio. late in the fall, which has awakened wide interest, 

 viz., continuous rain during a succession of clear, beautiful days. 

 This vpas noticed extending for a considerable distance just below 

 thecre^t of a hill, and lasted through the day, from soon after sun- 

 rise till about sunset. The drops of water were at no time large. 

 but they reached their maximum size about two or three o'clock 

 iu the afternoon. 



The subject attracted the attention of professors in the Ohio 

 University, and it was soon determined that the phenomenon 

 must be due to the precipitation of vapor which had been carried 

 through an old railroad cut for several hundred yards. There had 

 recently been completed and set in operation extensive brick- 

 works, where three large ovens were continually in operation, and 

 from which hot currents of air steadily shot upwaivis In the 

 moulding of the bricks, water is mixed with clay, and an enor- 

 mous amount of hot, watery vapor was passing into the air above 

 the ovens, supplemented by large quantities from the stacks of a 

 large -dryer,'" which was kept at a high temperature. It is esti- 

 mated that in all fully forty-five tons of water were at this season 

 daily evaporated. 



Tbe plant is situated in the valley of the Hockhocking River, 

 close to a cut made many years ago for a projected railroad, and 

 this cut leads directly to the rise of land where the observations 

 were made. The observer at the University Weather Station re- 

 ports that the prevailing wind was at this time in a direction such 

 as would carry the hot air. laden with moisture, through this 

 artificial passage. The air was, In all probability, carried partly 

 up the hill and there dissipated along the side. About this time 

 it must have come iu contact with a cold current near the crest 

 of the hill, and precipitation followed, causing this unusual rain- 

 fall. The conclusion that the precipitation was due to these causes 

 is strengthened bv the fact that not until the manufacture of 

 bricks at this place was begun was any such phenomenon observed, 

 so far as is known H E. Chapin. 



Ohio University, Columbus, Ohio. 



Natural Selection at Fault. 

 In tbe issue of Science for Jan. 20 there appears, under the 

 above heading, an article from the pen of J. W. Slater. The 

 conclusions there arrived at do not necessarily follow from the 

 facts cited. That animals of the Felidae by tormenting and play- 

 ing with their victims often lose their prey, which otherwise 

 might have been devoured, is well known to evcy observer. The 

 facts, however, that this is most frequently done by the younger 

 animals, and generally at a time when they are not greatly in 

 need of food, are overlooked. Besides, what seems to be the 



mo^t important consideration in the case, is that by means of this 

 play that quickness and precision of motion so essential to success 

 in procuring food are acquired, so that doubtless the gain in the 

 end is much greater than the temporary loss occasioned by the 

 accidental escape of a victim now and again. 



In reference to the cackling of the hen, it may be that this ani- 

 mal has been so long domesticated that it is impossible to draw 

 inferences with any degree of certainty from its conduct in this 

 respect. Every house wife, though, who has kept hens, is well 

 aware that their cackle is very deceptive, that it is generally not 

 commenced till they have got a little distance from the nest, and 

 may, very likely, in most cases, serve to attract attention to them- 

 selves and away from their nests. Several of the wild birds that 

 nest on or near the ground, when suddenly disturbed, escape in a 

 manner evidently intended to attract attention to themselves and 

 away from their brood The action of the domestic hen may 

 generally serve a similar purpose, and jet at times fail or even 

 produce an opposite result. 



Neither does it appear that the human ear is any more a case 

 in fault. The principle of natural selection does not necessarily 

 require the loss of a useless member unless it is positively in- 

 jurious — a hindrance in the struggle for existance. The outer 

 ear is not that; it may even .serve a purpose. Writers on acoustics 

 tell us that it serves to some extent to condense or concentrate 

 the sound-waves Even if it serves no other purpose than to im- 

 prove the personal appearance, its retention would still be in per- 

 fect accord with the theory of natural selection. 



Besides, it cannot be shown that the human ear is not now 

 undergoing a process of atrophy. Grant that the outer ear has 

 been of no use to our fathers for many generations, it would not 

 necessarily follow that children of to-day should be born earless. 

 All evidence goes to show that changes of this character are so 

 gradual as to escape notice. Th'e fact mentioned by Mr. Slater, 

 that, owing to disuse, the outer ear has lost its power of motion 

 so far supports the theory of natural selection. That the ear is 

 not entirely gone, as he thinks it should be, may be due to its 

 still being of service or to lack of sufficient time since it became 

 useless, Hichard lees. 



Brampton, Ontario. 



Leaf Impressions in the Eocene Tertiary of Alabama. 



Those working geologists who are interested in what Professor 

 Lester F. Ward' terms ''The New Botany" may be somewhat 

 surprised to learn that in the Eocene Tertiary strata of Alabama 

 there is a promising and unexplored field for the paleobotanist. 

 In fact there is reason to believe that a careful study of the plant- 

 life existing in the Mississippi embayment during the well- 

 marked subdivisions of the Tertiary will throw some light upon 

 the knotty problems of the interior. 



While the study by Lesquereaux of the Mississippi Lignitic was 

 of interest and affords the present main means of correlating the 

 trans-Mississippi Tertiary with that of the Gulf Coast, the value 

 of this work for this purpose is somewhat diminished by the 

 doubts as to the exact age of tbe several horizous in which the 

 leaf impressions occur. On the other hand, the geological section 

 so accurately established for the Tertiary in Alabama affords a- 

 key for the critical solution of age-problems in the Gulf Region. 

 Between beds of marine shells, whose faunal features have been 

 determined with relation to kindred deposits on the Atlantic bor- 

 der, are beds of sandy clays containing well-freserved leaf im- 

 pressions. These are found in the Lower Tertiary at Bells Land- 

 ing on the Alabama River, wherenumeous dicotyledonous leaves 

 occur in the stratum between the Bells' Landing and Greggs 

 Lan lin:; marine shell beds. In the middle Tertiary of the Clai- 

 borne group both at the typical locality' and on Barrows Mill 

 CrC'^k, a tributary of Conecuh River, Covington County, are ex- 

 tensive occurrences of fine fossil leaves. 



The State G^olo2;ical Survey of Alabama has some few speci- 

 mens from each of these localities but no systematic collecting 

 has been done ami no determination of species has been made. 

 ' Science, Vol. XXI.. No. 581, p. 4.3. 



2 Bull. 41 U. S. Geol. Survey, 1887, p. 47. 



3 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d Ser., Vol. 31, 1886, pp. 2 2-209. 



