264 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XXI. No. 536 



for QiaDy years, and slightly to this day, I hesitate in naming 

 Dearborn and Randolph Streets. Of course, any one living upon 

 either of these streets would soon overcome such confusion 

 through one name appearing oftener than the other in use. 



The knowledge of this disposition has enabled me sometimes to 

 recover the proper word by taking other words with the same 

 " pivotal" letter, or sound, regardless of their sequence in spelling 

 the word sought. S. V. Clevenger. 



Supt. III. East. Hospital for Insane. 



Singing of Birds. 



In reply to a query by E. B. Titohener (Science, April 7) with 

 regard to the expression of emotions in the singing of birds, I 

 have a few notes. A song-sparrow, Melospiza melodia, with a 

 broken leg past mending, was kept in our house in a cage about 

 a year and a half, fed, bathed, otherwise cared for and occasion- 

 ally allowed the freedom of a room. A happier, merrier fellow, 

 I never saw. He sang early and late, nearly the year round, 

 moped a few days and died. The taxidermist said he was much 

 wasted in flesh, and had lived as long as he could. He was kept 

 as comfortable as possible, and his song seemed purely an expres- 

 sion of happiness. Mart B. Moody. 



Fair Haven Heights, New Haven, Conn., May 2. 



Photographs of Botanists. 



YO0R botanical subscribers and readers most likely will be in- 

 terested in the collection of photographs of about 150 American 

 botanists and a small number of foreign botanists, that Michigan 

 State Agricultural College is displaying in the Departments of 

 Liberal Arts at the Columbian Exposition. 



I hope still others of the " fraternity" will be willing to add a 

 cabinet-sized picture of themselves to a supplementary list, to 

 gratify their friends. W. J. Beal. 



Agricultural College P. O., Mich., May 3. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 

 Coal-Pits and Pitmen : A Short History of the Coal Trade and 

 the Legislation Affecting It. By R. Nelson Boyd. Lon- 

 don, Whittaker & Co., 1892. 256 p. 13°. 



In this volume, which is an enlarged edition of a paper pub- 

 lished under the title of " Coal- Mine Inspection : Its History and 

 Results," the author has gathered a great number of facts relative 

 to the subject. In one chapter he gives an account of the condi- 

 tion of the colliery population during the last century, which is 

 not a pleasing one. The harsh methods of treatment led to many 

 strikes and great destruction of property. The men were at first 

 practically slaves, but an act of Parliament passed in 1775 and 

 another in 1799 did away with the system of bondage, although 

 with little benefit to the men at first. Subsequent acts have 

 mitigated the rigors of their condition and protected them from 

 the rapacity of mine owners and overseers. 



The history of the coal trade is treated of in considerable detail, 

 and mention is made of early explosions and means of ascertain- 

 ing the presence of fire-damp. The early machinery, of a very 

 primitive character compared with modern appliances, is also de- 

 scribed. The investigations of one of the various Parliamentary 

 committees show the condition of the colliery operatives in 1833. 

 In referring to this subject, Mr. Boyd states that, "The children 

 were frequently beaten by the men for whom they worked ; so 

 much so, that 'they seldom slept with a whole skin.' Besides 

 this, their backs were cut with knocking against the roof and 

 sides of the roadway, and their feet and legs covered with sores 

 and gatherings, owing to the water. The children, boys and 

 girls, earned their wages by drawing the coals in tubs along the 

 galleries by means of a belt and a chain passing between the legs. 

 Many girls were thus employed, and after a time became crooked 

 and deformed. From the nature of the work they soon became 

 as rough and uncouth as the men and boys, fighting and swearing 

 like them." 



Considerable attention is given to colliery explosions, and the 



CALENDAR OF SOCIETIES. 



New Mexico Society for the Advancement 

 of Science, Las Cnices, N.M. 



April 6.— F. C. Barker, The English Form 

 of Government; C. H. Tyler Townsend, 

 Life Zones of the Organ Mountains in 

 Southern New Mexico. 



Anthropological Society, Washington. 



May 2. — Henry Gannett, Estimates of 

 Wealth ; Wm. T. Harris, The Great Benefit 

 to the Public of the Estimates of Wealth ; 

 Anita Newcomb McGee, Transmission of 

 Congenital Deformity ; J. D. McGuire, The 

 Evolution of Stone Working. 



May 9. — J. N. B. Hewitt, Common Errors 

 in Regard to Indian Language ; H. E. War- 

 ner, Primitive Belief in a Future State: 

 a Comparative Study; F. A. Seely, The 

 Pivot Point in Modern History : Andrew 

 Palaeologus at Barcelona; Thomas Wilson, 

 Fourth Centenary of the Discovery of Amer- 

 ica, at Madrid, 1892. 



Geological Society, Washington. 



May 10. —Walter H. Weed, The Post- 

 Laramie Beds of Montana ; J. S. Diller, The 

 Tertiary Revolution in the Topography of 

 the Pacific Slope. 



Philosophical Society, Washington. 



May 13. — E. D. Preston, Remarks on the 

 Method of Reducing the Waikiki Observa- 

 tions for Changes of Latitude — Results; F. 

 H. Gushing, Ancient Pueblo Arches; Cleve- 



land Abbe, The Formation of Rain ; G. K. 

 Gilbert, The Average Temperature of the 

 Earth. 



THE AMERICAN RACE. 



By DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D. 



" The book is one of unusual interest and value.""— 

 Inter Ocean. 



" Dr. Danipl G. Brinton -writes as the acknowledged 

 authority of the sxihject.''''— Philadelphia Press. 



" The work will be of genuine value to all who 

 wish to know the substance of what has been found 

 out about the indigenous Americans." — Nature. 



"A masterly discussion, and an example of the 

 successful education of the powers of observation." 

 —Philadelphia Ledger. 



Price, postpaid, $2. 



FOSSIL RESINS. 



This book is the result of an attempt to 

 collect the scattered notices of fossil resins, 

 exclusive of those on amber. The work is of 

 interest also on account of descriptions given 

 of the insects found embedded in these long- 

 preserved exudations from early vegetation. 



By CLARENCE LOWN and HENRY BOOTH. 



13°. $1. 



N. D, C. HODGES, 



874 Broadway, New York. 



Reading Matter Notices. 



Ripans Tabules : for torpid liver. 

 Ripans Tabules banish pain. 



ACK NUMBERS and complete setsof leading Mag- 

 azines. Sates low. AM. MAG. EXCHANGE. 

 Schoharie, N. Y. 



RESTORE YOUR EYESI6HT 



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This binder is strong, durable and 

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