78 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIX. No. 470 



American Lepidoptera, which, with its untold wealth of type- 

 specimens and uniques, went to the British Museum, or the 

 Scott collection of the birds of Florida, the result of several 

 years of patient toil on the part of a skilled ornithologist, 

 which found its way into the same mighty storehouse, it can 

 be imagined how quick European science is to profit by this 

 display of parsimony in America. 



To recur to the case of the Amazonian explorer, this pres- 

 ent apathy can best be shown by quoting from a letter which 

 has just been written to him by one of the gentlemen prom- 

 inently connected with the American Museum of Natural 

 History in Central Park. After stating that the authorities 

 of the museum appreciate the " advantages to the museum " 

 of the proposition made them, he adds that they "felt it 

 would be impossible to meet its requirements; " yet these re- 

 quirements were simply that a sum of but a few hundreds of 

 dollars be raised for this purpose. After stating that " the 

 trustees are already overburdened with the load of extra ex- 

 penditures they have to meet from their own pockets to 

 equip the new exhibition halls," the writer continues, ''it 

 would not be practicable for the present to co-operate with 

 you in your very laudable enterprise. . . . Your case, 

 however, is only one out of a score or more of a somewhat 

 similar character which have ended in a similar way — 

 greatly to the disadvantage of our museum." 



This is a dark picture, coming as it does from the nation's 

 centre of wealth and business energy, but it is, unfortunately, 

 only a sample of what is of almost monthly occurrence in 

 one or the other of our larger cities. The occasional excep- 

 tion to this, which has made possible the infrequent dispatch- 

 ing of small expeditions, but emphasizes the general rule. 

 Our museums are carried on, made possible, in fact, by the 

 self-denial and enthusiasm of men who, after spending years 

 in attaining a degree of special knowledge fitting them for 

 their scientific positions, are yet willing to accept salaries 

 that would be spurned by book-keepers and country parsons, 

 that they may continue in touch with their chosen walk in 

 life. The idea so prevalent among successful business men 

 that such specialists are as a rule visionaries who are, by the 

 very nature of their long scientific training, unfitted for any 

 other life, is found on the most cursory examination of the 

 facts to be erroneous. The researches of Henry in electric-* 

 ity, of Langley in ariodynamics, of Goode in icthyology, or 

 Riley in entomology, to take examples from one museum, 

 are none the less practical and of incalculable value to the 

 public, given free to the world as they are, than they would 

 be if they had been protected by ample patents and had 

 yielded their discoverers great financial returns in place of 

 the plaudits of their fellows, best able to appreciate their 

 work, with the which they have been willing do rest con- 

 tent. 



It is time that more of our moneyed men were brought to 

 regard this subject in a different light. The country natu- 

 rally, and with right, looks to New York to set the example 

 in this direction of larger aid for public museums of natural 

 ^science. Eugene Murray Aaron. 



the comet will be favorably placed for observation during its 

 next return. In following returns the comet will not be so 

 favorably placed for observation. As seven revolutions of 

 the comet are nearly equal to three of-Jupiter, a second ap- 

 proach of the two bodies will occur in 1922-23, which will 

 probably deprive us of a view of this comet for a long time, 

 and perhaps forever. 



Again the telegraph flashes the announcement of the death 

 of another eminent English astronomer and mathematician. 

 Professor J. 0. Adams. To Professor Adams is due the 

 grandest work ever performed for astronomy by the human 

 mind — the discovery by mathematical reasoning of our 

 outermost planet, Neptune. At another time we hope to be 

 able to give the readers of Science a sketch of his life. 



The Sidereal Messenger, which has for the past ten years 

 been published by Professor W. W. Payne, at Northfield, 

 Minn., has been greatly increased in size, and in the future 

 will contain not only subjects in general astronomy, but will 

 take up the subject of astrophysics. In the January number 

 of the magazine will be found the photographs of promi- 

 nences upon the sun, obtained by Mr. Hale of Chicago. 

 That gentleman will have charge of the astrophysical depart- 

 ment of the magazine. 



In No. 253 of the Astronomical Journal Professor A. Hall 

 gives the result of his discussion of the observations made of 

 lapetus, the outer satellite of Saturn, made with the large 

 equatorial at the Naval Observatory. The resulting ele- 

 ments for lapetus give for the mass of Saturn 

 1 

 ^"" 3485.7 ± 1.28. 



The following is a continuation of the ephemeris of Win- 

 necke's comet, which is now due. The epoch is for Berlin 

 midnight: — 



E,A. Dec. 



h. m. s. o ' 



Feb. 6 12 47 23 + 17 



7 47 55 17 13 



8 48 26 17 26 



9 48 55 17 39 



10 49 23 17 52 



11 49 49 18 6 



12 50 -14 18 21 



13 50 37 18 36 



14 50 39 18 51 - . 



15 51 19 19 6 



16 51 38 19 22 



17 12 51 55 + 19 39 



G. A. H 



ASTEONOMIOAL NOTES. 



Mr. Berberich of Berlin has recently called attention, in 

 a letter to the editor of the Astronomical Journal, to some 

 interesting facts connected with the periodic comet discov- 

 ered by Wolf in 1884. He gives an approximate ephemeris 

 for the return of the comet in 1898, as it will not be greatly 

 perturbed in the interval. From these data it appears that 



HAINAN.' 



The great island of Hainan, ofi' the south-eastern coast of 

 China, is but little known to Europeans, although since 1877 

 there has been a treaty port there. Mr. Parker, the Consul 

 at Kiungchow, the port in question, lately made a short 

 journey in the interior of the island, of which he gives some 

 account in a recent report. He travelled about sixty miles 

 up the Poh-Chung River, to within a mile or two of Pah-hi, 

 which is, at most seasons of the year, considered the limit of' 

 navigation for all but the smallest craft. He walked round 

 the walls of Ting-an city, one of the disturbed districts during 

 the recent rebellions, on New Year's Day (Feb. 9); they are 

 just one mile in circuit, and difi'er little from those of other 



1 From Nature. 



