January 15, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



33 



accompanied by daily charts. M. Moureaux has published the 

 details of the magnetic observations made at St. Maur, witli a 

 summary of the disturbances ; eight plates reproduce exactly the 

 photographic curves of the most remarkable disturbances. M. 

 Angot gives the results of the first simultaneous observations made 

 at the Central Meteorological OtSoe and on the Eiffel Tower. The 

 diurnal variation of pressure at the summit of the tower shows 

 that the first minimum (4h.-.5h. a.m.) is much ?nore pronounced 

 in all months at the summit than at the base, and appears to occur 

 rather later. The first maximum (9h.-10h. A.M.)is much less im- 

 portant at the summit, especially during the summer months, and 

 also appears to occur later. The second minimum (2h.-3h. p.m.) 

 is much less important at the summit, and the second maximum 

 (about lOh. P.M.) is rather more pronounced at the summit than at 

 the base. The temperature of the air at the summit of the tower 

 during the night differs constantly from that of St. Maur by less 

 than the normal value; during the day, on the contrary, the dif- 

 ference of temperature is much greater between the two stations 

 than the normal value. The wind, during all months, has a diurnal 

 variation quite different from that at the Central Office; the maxi- 

 mum occurs at the middle of the night, while the minimum occurs 

 at about lOh. a.m., and rather later in winter. Vols. II. and III. 

 contain respectively the general observations and the rainfall 

 values at the various stations. 



— Two theories have been proposed to explain the formation of 

 blowholes in steel castings, neither of which has so far succeeded 

 in satisfying all parties. When it was discovered at Terrenoire 

 that an addition of silicon to the molten metal tended towards the 

 production of sound castings, the theory was advanced that the 

 blowholes were due to carbonic oxide, which compound is broken 

 up by silicon at high temperatures. But the discovery that the 

 gas contained in these blowholes was principally hydrogen and 

 nitrogen, with but a small px-oportion of carbonic oxide, did much 

 to unsettle this theory, though its advocates by no means aban- 

 doned the field. In, a recent work, M. Le Berrier, Engineer-in- 

 Chief of mines and professor at the Conservatoire des Arts et 

 Metiers, has proposed a theory, according to Engineering, which 

 accounts for the effect of silicon in producing sound castings and 

 also for the presence of hydrogen in these blowholes. According 

 to him, a bath of cast steel is a super-saturated solution of hydro- 

 gen and nitrogen. If it solidifies quietly, nothing disturbs the 

 molecular equilibrium, but if, by a secondary reaction, bubbles of 

 some other gas are produced in the body of the molten fluid, this 

 disengagement, feeble as it may be, destroys the equilibrium, just as 

 in a super-saturated solution of a gas in a liquid, the passing in of 

 a few bubbles of some other gas may cause the disengagement of 

 the first. This carbonic oxide, though forming only a small part 

 of the total gas set free, is quite capable of liberating the other 

 gases with wbich the blowholes are mainly filled. 



— The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences January Bulletin 

 is as follows : Jan. 4, Department of Microscopy, lecture by W. J. 

 Kerstetter of New York on " Nature as Revealed by the Micro- 

 scope; '' Jan. 5, Department of Philology, first lecture in the series 

 ■on " The Modern Novel,'' by Pi-ofessor Hjalmar H. Boyesen of 

 Columbia College, "Victor Hugo,"' with personal reminis- 

 oences; Jan. 5, Department of Entomology, lecture by Professor 

 ■George Macloskie of Princeton College on "Some Notes on the 

 Physiology of Insects ; " Jan. 6, Dei>artment of Geology, lec- 

 ture by Professor Henry L. Fairchild of Rochester University 

 on "The Age of Reptiles;" Jan. 7, Department of Political and 

 Economic^ Science, lecture by Mr. EUo S. Youtcheff, a Bulgarian 

 exile, on "The Policy of the Czar in the Expulsion of the Jews 

 and the War Movement in Europe; " Jan. 7, Department of Paint- 

 ing, meeting at the Brooklyn Art Association Building; Jan 8, 

 Regular Monthly Meeting of the Board of Trustees; Jan. 8, De- 

 partment of Electricity, illustrated lecture by Mr. Osborn P. 

 Xioomis on "Practical Experiences in Dynamo Designing;" Jan. 

 9, Department of Political aud Economic Science, first lecture in 

 the course on "The Great Political Leader's of the Empire Slate," 

 by Professor Charles H. Levermoreof the Massachusetts Institute 

 of Teclmology, Boston, " William Livingston and the Sons of 

 Liberty; " Jan 11, Department of Astronomy, paper by Mr. Gar- 



rett P. Serviss, president of the Department, on "The Periods of 

 Rotation of Mercury and Venus;" Jan. 11, Annual Meeting of the 

 CoriJoration of the Institute for Election of Trustees; Jan. 12, De- 

 partment of Philology, lecture in the series on " The Modem 

 Novel," by Professor Hjalmar H. Boyesen, "The French Novel;" 

 Jan. 12, Department of Engineering, lecture by Mr. C. J. H. Wood- 

 bury, vice-president of the Boston Manufacturers' Fire Insurance 

 Company of Boston, on "The Proper Construction of Buildings 

 to Resist Destruction by Fire;" Jan. 13, Geupral Meeting of Mem- 

 bers of the Institute, lecture by Sir Edwin Arnold on " The Light 

 of the Orient;" Jan, 14, Department of Zoology, lecture by Mr. 

 Ernest Ingersoll of New York on " The Embryology aud Structure 

 of the Turtle;" Jan. 15, Department of Psychology, first lecture 

 in the course on "The Psychology of Aesthetics," by Dr. Benja- 

 min Ives Gilman of Cambridge, Mass., "Musical Notes;" Jan. 15, 

 Department of Geography, lecture by Mr. Robert D. Benedict on 

 " The Hereford Map of the World," or " The World as Known in 

 the Thirteenth Century;" Jan. 16, Department of Political and 

 Economic Science, second lecture in the course on "The Great 

 Political Leaders of the Empire State," by Professor Charles H. 

 Levermore, "The Clintons and the Rise of the New York De- 

 mocracy;" Jan. 18, Department of Archaeology, lecture by Pro- 

 fessor Daniel G. Brinton of the University of Pennsylvania on 

 " The Origin and Early Distribution of the White Race;" Jan. 

 18, Department of Physics, by invitation of the secretary of the 

 Pratt Institute, the Department will visit and inspect the work of 

 that institution; Jan. 19, Department of Philology, lecture in the 

 course on the Modern Novel, by Professor H. H. Boyesen, "Real- 

 ism and Romanticism;" Jan. 19, Department of Botany, lecture 

 by Dr. Smith E. Jellifle, curator of the Department, on "Mosses; " 

 Jan. 20, Department of Architecture, lecture by Professor A. D. 

 F. Hamlin of Columbia College on " The Great Museums of 

 Europe;" Jan. 20, Department of Mineralogy, General Exhibition 

 of Minerals from the Famous Patterson Quarries; Jan. 31, Gen- 

 eral Meeting of the Members of the Institute, address by the Rtj 

 Rev. John J. Keane, president of the Catholic University of 

 America, on "Leo XIII. and the Social Problems of the Day;" 

 Jan. 22, Department of Psychology. lecture in the course on the 

 " Psychology of Aesthetics," by Dr. Benjamin Ives Gilman, " Sim- 

 ultaneous Structure, Chords; " Jan. 22, Department of Electricity, 

 lecture by Dr. A. D. Rockwell of New York on "The Uses of 

 Electricity in the Treatment of the Human Body;" Jan. 23, De- 

 partment of Mathematics, subject for discussion : " The Teaching 

 of Geometry;" Jan. 23, Department of Political and Economic 

 Science, lecture in the course on "The Great Political Leaders of 

 the Empire State," by Professor Charles H. Lavermore, " Martin 

 Van Buren and the Triumph of the New York Democracy;" Jan. 

 25, Department of Music, the Second Concert given by the Depart- 

 ment_will be conducted by Mr. Max Spicker, first vice-president 

 of the Department, assisted by Mr. Arthur Friedheim, piano; Mr. 

 Richard Arnold, violin; Mr. Rudolph Nagel, cello; and Miss Olive 

 Fremstadt, alto; Jan. 26, Department of Philology, lecture in the 

 series on " The Modern Novel," by Professor H. H. Boyesen, " The 

 Russian Novelists and Nihilists;" Jan. 26, Department of Photog- 

 raphy, lecture to be announced ; Jan. 27, Department of Philology, 

 French Section, lecture by Professor Charles Sprague Smith of 

 New York on "Victor Hugo's L'Annee Terrible;" Jan. 27, De- 

 partment of Physios, lecture by Mr. Walter H. Weed of Washing- 

 ton, member of the U. S. Geological Survey, on " Geysers and the 

 Physics of Geyser Action; " Jan. 28, General Meeting of the Insti- 

 tute, address by the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, United States Com- 

 missioner of the Civil Service, on "The National Service;" Jan. 

 29, Department of Psychology, lecture in the course on "The 

 Psychology of Aesthetics," by Dr. Benjamin Ives Gilman, on 

 "Successive Structure, Measure; " Jan. 29, Department of Chem- 

 istry, lecture by Mi-. Lucien Pitkin of New York on "The Germ 

 Theory in its Relation to Sanitary Chemistry ; " Jan. 29. Depart- 

 ment of Philology, German Section, lecture by Professor Frederick 

 W. Grube on "The Philology of German Case Endings ; "' Jan. 30, 

 Department of Political and Economic Science, lecture in the 

 course on " The Great Political Leaders of the Empire .State," by 

 Professor Charles H. Levermore, " Thurlow Weed, William H. 

 Seward, and the Rise of the Republican Party." 



