February 1.2, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



87 



from that of a feral type? After what manner may one ex- 

 pect taxonomic characters modified in these generations of • 

 prisoners? 



The nature of malignant growths, it is not improbable, 

 would find a solution in a line of research based upon a 

 similar proposition. What proportions of malignant growths, 

 such as the sarcomata, are met with in the feral state of 

 quadrupeds as compared with those in the domesticated or 

 the captive state? Can experiments be devised by which we 

 may expect to cause these growths to appear by creating the 

 favoring conditions? Can we study the genesis of the sar- 

 comata to better advantage than has hitherto been done, by 

 outlining the biography, the lineage, and to some extent 

 possibly the destiny, of these tumors, by applying to them 

 experimental methods of research? 



Medically trained men are not apt to become pure mor- 

 phologists. The underlying thought is of function through 

 which structure is modified. In its best sense, therefore, 

 physiological anatomy is the branch of science that would 

 be most developed. Let us suppose that John Hunter had 

 lived in 1891 and had essayed his work by all the aids of 

 modern science, and had undertaken a plan of investigation 

 for the continuation of his labors: might he not have ac- 

 cepted some such scheme as I have feebly attempted to por- 

 tray? With the admiration we feel for his genius, let us not 

 only have Hunterian orations, but in each medical centre a 

 Hunterian laboratory and a Hunterian museum. 



"I am so utterly opposed to those cloud-builders who 

 would divorce physiology from anatomy," says Haller, 

 " that I am persuaded that we know scarcely anything of 

 physiology that is not learned through anatomy " (quoted 

 from E. Cresson Stiles's "' Life and Doctrines of Haller," 

 New York, 1867). 



In Solomon's house, in the " New Atlantis," in which Ba- 

 can essayed a scheme for intellectual advancement, we read 

 of " parks and enclosures of all sorts of beasts and birds, 

 which we use not only for view or rareness, but likewise for 

 dissection and trials, that thereby we may take light what 

 may be wrought upon the body of man; we have also par- 

 ticular pools where we make trials upon fishes, as we have 

 said before of beasts and birds." 



I hear objections that this scheme is visionary and im- 

 practicable. How is the money to be obtained by which it 

 can be rendered feasible? Where is the teaching- force to be 

 recruited? My answer is that if the need of establishing 

 such a course be acknowledged, the accomplishment of the 

 end in view is no more difficult than in any other branch of 

 pure science. A few years ago the establishment of seaside 

 laboratories would have been thought chimerical. Now they 

 are assured successes. 



If I am told the results obtained will appeal to but few, I 

 reply that important projects must be supported in propor- 

 tion as they so appeal, until such time as they shall have 

 proved their right to exist. Harrison Allen. 



TIME-SERVICE OF HARVARD COLLEGE OBSER- 

 VATORY. 



The time service of this observatory has been maintained 

 for nearly twenty years upon the system originated by the 

 late Professor Joseph Winlock. Continuous signals, that is, 

 signals throughout the entire twenty-four hours instead of 

 for a short lime each day have been furnished to the cities 

 of Boston and Cambridge, and have been used to strike the 

 bells of the fire-alarm daily at. noon. For many years a 



time-ball has been dropped, thus furnishing a precise time- 

 signal to many citizens and to the shipping in the harbor. 

 The continuous signals have been sent also to the railroads 

 centring in Boston, and to the Boston office of the Western 

 Union Telegraph Company, and have been distributed by 

 them over a large part of New England. Many cities and 

 corporations, althougli not subscribing for the time-signals, 

 have been in the habit of taking them from the railway and 

 telegraph stations, thus extending their use. The time-ser- 

 vice in New York City was thus supplied with our signals 

 for many years. The signals, again, have been furnished 

 to the principal jewellers in Boston and vicinity, and used 

 by them in the rating of fine watches The lines transmit- 

 ting the time-signals in these various directions affected the 

 telephone lines by induction and otherwise, and thus many 

 other persons obtained the signals by merely listening at the 

 telephone. 



The subscriptions of the city of Boston and of the rail- 

 roads, and the receipts from the jewellers were sufficient to 

 defray the cost of furnishing the exact time, and for some 

 years formed a source of revenue to the observatory. ' No 

 charge was made to the city of Cambridge or to the Western 

 Union Telegraph Company. The expenses were, however, 

 large, since it was necessary to duplicate the instruments 

 and clocks employed, although the cost of the necessary 

 duplication of the lines connecting the observatory with 

 Boston was diminished by the arrangement with the Western 

 Union Telegraph Company. For several years, also, the 

 city of Cambridge rendered similar assistance. Although 

 the best clocks were used and mounted in. vaults specially 

 constructed so as to secure a uniform temperature, great care 

 was necessary to keep not only the errors, but also the changes 

 in daily rate, as small as possible. It was necessary to com- 

 pare the clocks frequently, and to determine their errors by 

 observations of the stars at short intervals. Especially after 

 several days of cloudy weather, the first opportunity was 

 taken to secure observations, although this often occurred at 

 inconvenient hours. Frequent interruptions took place on 

 the lines, and it was therefore necessary constantly to have 

 men ready to detect and repair breaks, crosses, and other 

 injuries. 



The general introduction of standard time was considered 

 at the observatory some months before this step was taken. 

 Since the same signals could be used throughout the entire 

 country, it was recognized as a soui'ce of danger pecuniarily 

 to the time service. This argument, however, was allowed 

 to have no weight, since it was believed that the change 

 would be a benefit to the public. As it happened, this ob- 

 servatory was enabled to take an active part in making the 

 change, since all of the railroads centring in Boston assented 

 only on condition that our signals should be sent according 

 to the new system. When the change had been decided 

 upon, various steps were taken by the officers of the observa- 

 tory to secure the general and simultaneous adoption of the 

 new time by the country. 



A new source of difficulty and danger in distributing time- 

 signals has arisen during the last few years. The great in- 

 crease in the number of telephone and other wires has ren- 

 dered it much more difficult to maintain an unobstructed 

 circuit. Breaks and crosses are continually occurring, es- 

 pecially in stormy weather; and the privilege of placing 

 wires on housetops is every year less willingly granted. Re- 

 cently a more serious danger has arisen. The currents of 

 high tension carried by electric-light and electric-railway 

 wires, in case of a cross, may be transmitted indefinitely. 



