January 15, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



35 



word or name even in our own language is frequently mis- 

 pronounced, — how much more with words of languagjes ut- 

 terly unknown to the reader. The same necessity does not 

 arise in most continental languages. In them a de6nite 

 combination of letters indicates a definite sound, and each 

 nation consequently has spelt foreign words in accordance 

 with the orthographic rules of its own language. Tt was 

 therefore not anticipated that foreign nations would effect 

 any change in the form of orthography used in their maps, 

 and the needs of the English-speaking communities were 

 alone considered. 



The object aimed at was to provide a system which would 

 be simple enough for any educated person to master with the 

 minimum of trouble, and which at the same time would 

 afford an approximation to the sound of a place name such 

 as a native might recognize. No attempt was made to rep- 

 resent the numberless delicate inflections of sound and tone 

 which belong to every language, often to different dialects 

 of the same language. For it was felt not only that such a 

 task would be impossible, but that an attempt to provide for 

 such niceties would defeat the object. 



The adoption by others of the system thus settled has been 

 more general than the council ventured to hope. The charts 

 and maps issued by the Admiralty and War Office have 

 been, since 1885, compiled and extensively revised in accord- 

 ance with it. The Foreign and Colonial Offices have ac- 

 cepted it, and the latter has communicated with the colonies 

 requesting them to carry it out in respect to names of native 

 origin. Even more important, however, than these adhe- 

 sions is the recent action of the Government of the United 

 States of America, which, after an exhaustive inquiry, has 

 adopted a system in close conformity with that of the Royal 

 Geographical Society, and has directed that the spelling of 

 all names in their vast territoi'ies should, in cases where the 

 orthography is at present doubtful, be settled authoritatively 

 by a committee appointed for the purpose. The two great 

 English-speaking nations are thus working in harmony. 

 Contrary to expectation, but highly satisfactory, is the news 

 that France and Germany have both formulated systems of 

 orthography for foreign words, which in many details agree 

 with the English system. The Council of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society, by printing the rules in " Hints to Trav- 

 ellers," and by other means, have endeavored to ensure that 

 all travellers connected with the society should be made 

 aware of them ; but as it is possible that some bodies and 

 persons interested in the question may still be in ignorance 

 of their existence and general acceptance, they feel that the 

 time has come again to publish them as widely as possible, 

 and to take every means in their power to aid the progress of 

 the reform. To this end, and with a view to still closer uni- 

 formity in geographical nomenclature in revisions of editions 

 of published maps, a gigantic task requiring many years to 

 carry out, the council have decided to take steps to com- 

 mence tentatively indexes of a few regions, in which the 

 place-names will be recorded in the accepted form. 



The rules referred to are as follows: — 



1. No change is made in the orthography of foreign 

 names in countries which use Roman letters: thus Spanish, 

 Portuguese, Dutch, etc., names will be spelt as by the re- 

 spective nations. 



2. Neither is change made in the spelling of such names 

 in languages which are not written in Roman characters as 

 have become by long usage familiar to English readers: thus 

 Calcutta, Cutch, Celebes, Mecca, etc., will be retained in 

 their present form. 



3. The true sound of the word as locally pronounced will 

 be taken as the basis of the spelling. 



4. An approximation, however, to the sound is alone 

 aimed at. A system which would attempt to represent the 

 moi-e delicate inflections of sound and accent would be so 

 complicated as only to defeat itself. Those who desire a 

 more accurate pronunciation of the written name must learn 

 it on the spot by a study of local accent and peculiarities. 



5. The broad features of the system are: [a] That vowels 

 are pronounced as in Italian and consonants as in English. 

 (b) Every letter is pronounced, and no redundant letters are 

 introduced. When two vowels come together each one is 

 sounded, though the result, when spoken quickly, is some- 

 times scarcely to be distinguished from a single sound, as in 

 ai, au, ei. (c) One accent only is used, the acute, to denote 

 the syllable on which stress is laid. This is very important, 

 as the sounds of many names are entirely altered by the 

 misplacement of this " stress." 



6. Indian names are accepted as spelt in Hunter's " Gazet- 

 teer of India," 1881. 



ELECTRICITY IN AGRICULTURE.' 



From the time electricity became a science much research has 

 been made to determine its effect, if any, upon plant growth. 

 The earlier investigations gave, in many cases, contradictory re- 

 sults. Whether this was due to a lack of knowledge of the sci- 

 ence on the part of the one performing the experiments, or some 

 defect in the technical applications, we are not prepared to say ; 

 but this we do know, that such men as Jolabert, NoUet, Mainbray, 

 and other eminent physicists affirmed that electricity favored the 

 germination of seeds and accelerated the growth of plants, while 

 on the other hand Ingenhouse, Sylvestre, and other savants denied 

 the existence of this electric influence. The heated controversies 

 and animated discussions attending the opposing theories stimu- 

 lated more careful and thorough investigations, wliich established 

 beyond a doubt that electricity had a beneficial effect on vegeta- 

 tion Sir Humphrey Davy, Humboldt, WoUaston, and Becquerel 

 occupied themselves with the theoretical side of the question; but 

 it was not till after 1845 that practical electro-culture was under- 

 taken. Williamson suggested the use of gigantic electro-static ma- 

 chines, but the attempts were fruitless. The methods most gen- 

 erally adopted in experiments consisted of two metallic plates — 

 one of copper and one of zinc — placed in the soil and connected 

 by a wu-e. Sheppard employed the method ia England in 1846, 

 and Foster used the same in Scotland. In the year 1847 Hubeck 

 in Germany surrounded a field with a network of wires. .Shep- 

 pard's experiments showed that electricity increased the return 

 from root crops, whfle grass perished near the electrodes, and plants 

 developed without the use of electricity were inferior to those grown 

 under its influence. Hubeck came to the conclusion that seeds 

 germinated more rapidly and buckwheat gave larger returns; in 

 all other cases the electric current produced no result. Professor 

 Fife in England and Otto von Ende in Germany carried on ex- 

 periments at the same time, but with negative results, and these 

 scientists advised the complete abandonment of applying electric- 

 ity to agriculture. After some years had elapsed Fichtner began 

 a series of experiments in the same direction. He employed a 

 battery, the two wires of which were placed in the soil parallel to 

 each other. Between the wires were planted peas, grass, and 

 barley, and in every case the crop showed an increase of from 

 thhieen to twenty-seven per cent when compared with ordinary 

 methods of cultivation. 



Fischer of Waldheim, believing atmospheric electricity to aid 

 much in the growth and development of plants, made the follow- 

 ing tests: — 



He placed metallic supports to the number of about sixty around 

 each hectare (2.47 acres) of loam; these supports were provided 



1 Abstreict of the January Bullellu of the Hatch Experiment Station, Am- 

 herst, Mass., written by Clarence D. Warner. 



