I02 



SCIENCE. 



Vol. XXI. 



o 52 



lain, then president of the Board of Trade, introduced an act to 

 enable electric lighting companies to be formed, but. at the same 

 time, provided that city authorities might buy up their concerns 

 at the end of twenty-one years at the mere cost of the material ; 

 while, should they not be then pleased to use their right, it should 

 occur again at the end of every seven years. Only recently a 

 change was made, on the discovery that the act was a direct 

 hindrance to speculation, for in effect it meant, "We will let you 

 run the risk when the scheme is not paying, but will take it as 

 soon as you ha^e made it successful." The vicious principle is 

 still retained, but the same has been extended from 21 to 43 years. 

 The result I need hardly tell you. You see it in the general in- 

 stallation of electricity throughout the metropolis, and electric 

 principles I hardly need describe to you. The dynamo gives a 

 continuous low tension current, using, in its simplest form, two 

 wires for its transmission, but the three- wire system is one of the 

 most remarkable advances. A high-tension current traverses 

 the mains, and is transformed to low-tension when entering the 

 houses, the saving in copper being thereby enornaous. while, by 

 a switch arrangement, we can use the current at will for lighting 

 or for power. But you yourselves saw the largest and most in- 

 teresting example of Ihis method of distribution when you visited 

 the Deptford generating station of the London Company. 



Electric welding is another application of primary importance, 

 using either the two plates themselves as poles, or one plate as 

 pole, and what we might call a " soldering bit " for the other 

 pole. This method is extensively employed at SheBSeld for repair- 

 ing steel castings, and with great success. When I was appren- 

 ticed, there was used for similar purposes a metal known as 

 " Beau Monteague " (laughter), and from your faces I gather it has 

 not been entirely forgotten. It was not a method of repairing, 

 however, only one of deceiving. I wish I had time to tell you of 

 present-day steel manufacture, but I will simply say that, whereas 

 it was formerly made in pounds, it is now produced in hundreds 

 of tons. 



I am now about to extol myself. The Gifford injector caused 

 very great interest from the first, if only because its action seemed 

 impossible of comprehension. I was myself the first to give a 

 complete explanation of that action without the aid of mathemat- 

 ics. (Hear, hear). My contention was that the whole thing 

 might be summed up in the single word "concentration," and to 

 show this I devised an arrangement by which a head of water 

 left one vessel and entered another, rising almost to the same 

 height, bv simply shaping the opposite nozzles with such care as 

 to concentrate the pressure upon the smallest possible area. A 

 similar example is that of an armor-piercing projectile. A blunt- 

 ended shot will be flattened still further, but a hard-pointed one 

 will receive very little deformation in entering the plate. 



To close with a few remarks on technical education. For the 

 first eight years of its existence I was chairman of the executive 

 committee of the City and Guilds of London Institution. I am 

 now a vice-president, but have not time to take an active share 

 in the management. I am glad, however, to know of the good 

 that it is doing and of its recognition of merit in thofe which go 

 up for examination. I am glad to find that, even in this very 

 early period of the existence of your society, Mr. Walter Grant 

 has succeeded in obtaining the bronze medal of the Institute and 

 third position in the country for mechanical engineering, while 

 the same student has obtained a Queen's prize in advanced ma- 

 chine drawing, which is granted, I am told, to only a few top 

 men, (Loud cheers). I have some further notes placed in my 

 hand with regard to the success of other students of Section A, 

 from which I find that in three advanced subjects (steam, me- 

 chanics, and machine drawing) there has only been one failure in 

 each, equivalent to 13 per cent, while the grand total of all its 

 subjects represents a success of 83 per cent, a result of a very 

 gratifying character, which is greatly due to the excellent in- 

 struction which Mr. Linoham has given you. (Loud and con- 

 tinued applause.) 



A vote of thanks was next proposed by Mr. P-edmayne, which 

 was carried unanimously. 



Sir Frederick briefly tendered his thanks, and the proceedings 

 terminated. 



ON THE GROWTH OF THE RATTLE OF CROTaLID.^. 



BY S. GARMAN, MUS. COMP. ZOOL., CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



Since the appearance of the article on "The Rattle of the 

 Rattlesnakes" and its evolution. Bull. Mus. Comp. Z06I., XJII., 

 No. 10, Aug., 1888, the study of these crotalidse has been con- 

 tinued with the purpose of securing rates of growth and other 

 particulars not fully determined at the time of publication. As 

 the final report may be delayed for a time it seems proper in this 

 place to refer in advance to several items which have in some ex- 

 tent been questioned by other writers. The point to which atten- 

 tion is specially directed is the acquisition of new joints in the rat- 

 tle. In regard to this, variations occur in the time none have 

 been noticed in the method. In all cases observed the growth of 

 a new button, causing the appearance of a new ring or joint, was 

 connected with the process of sloughing. Growth was first de- 

 tected at the time of the advent of the whiteness in the eye and 

 under the epiderui in general This whiteness was evidence 

 of dermal groivth, which on the tail seemingly was prolonged 

 a little after the eye had become clear or until the slough 

 was ca^t. Possibly the apparent prolongation was due to a mere 

 pushing back and hardening of the newly-grown button. The 

 preparation for sloughing was in each instance preceded by the 

 whitish appearance under the outer cuticle, as was stated in the 

 above-mentioned bulletin. The railKiness, as it might be called, 

 lasted longer on specimens kept in the shade than on others ex- 

 posed to the sunshine. 



A few extracts from notes on several individuals will, without 

 further comment, suggest the results obtained. 



The first case is that of a large banded rattlesnake, Crotalus 

 horridus, on which the whiteness was visible on eye and button 

 August 17 There was no misiaking tbe fact that the epiderra 

 of the button was being pusued back to become a section of the 

 looser portion of the rattle. By the 36th of the month the button 

 was becoming darker, though the eye was still somewhat clouded 

 and remained so until tbe 30th. At this date the eye was bright 

 and clear and the new button had become dark colored and was 

 seen to have pushed back the recent slough as the newest ring or 

 joint of the series. It was not until September 4 that the slough 

 was stripped from the body; it had previously separated from the 

 new ring. 



Another case is that of a prairie rattler, Massassauga, Sistrurus 

 eatenatus. on which the milky appearance was seen September 

 13, It was then but slight on either eye or button. Two days 

 later it was very intense; by the 19th of the month it had become 

 almost obsolete. Only about half of the new button was visible 

 behind the small scales at that date. This snake sloughed on 

 the 24th The newly exposed button was whitish; it became 

 dark rapidly when placed in the sunshne. 



A third case to mention is that of a snake, of the same species 

 as the latter, kept on very short allowance of food, by which no 

 doubt sloughing was much retarded. This one did not show the 

 milkiness until December U. The whiteness vanished about the 

 33d, and the slough was put aside on the 31st. It came off 

 nearly entire, the exception being less than half an inch, which 

 remained attached to the anterior edge of the newest ring. 



In all cases under observation a new ring has been gained with 

 each sloughing, whether it occurred in the fall, the winter, or 

 the spring. The snakes are still in keeping to determine the 

 greatest number of sloughs in a season and other points. Thus 

 far the later studies have given very little reason indeed for 

 modifying the conclusions published in the above-mentioned ar- 

 ticle. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY.— XXIII. 



[Edited by D G. Brinton, M.D., LL.D.] 



The Language of Craniology. 



' ■ Sphenocephalic, tetragonic, dolichomeso-brachycephalic, 

 hypsieephalic, metrio cephalic, hypo-stegobregroatic, hypsion- 

 chobregmatic, cremnoopistocranic, chamelnogathic, euryzicic, 

 chameprosopio, platyrrhine, chameconch, orthognathic, hyper- 

 platopic "I ! 



