ii6 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XIX. No. 473 



MARINE ENGINEERING AND NAVAL ARCHITECTURE 

 AT CORNELL. 



In October, 1890, the Board of Trustees of Cornell University 

 authorized the director of Sibley College, Dr. R. H. Thurston, to 

 organize a graduate school of marine engineering and naval 

 architecture as a department of that college. Owing to the diffi- 

 culty of obtaining suitable officers, no appointments %vere made 

 ■until September, 1891, when Professor W. F. Durand, late of the 

 Engineer Corps of the United States Navy, was appointed princi- 

 pal. This appointment was followed some months later by that 

 of Professor G. R. McDermott, late with J. & G. Thompson, 

 Clydebank, as assistant in naval architecture. 



The oliject of the school is to provide courses, both practical and 

 theoretical, where any one possessed of a good general engineer- 

 ing knowledge may learn of the applications of engineering and 

 science to the design, building, powering, and propulsion of ves- 

 sels of all types. The courses as at present offered cover two years, 

 and are designed to thoroughly ground the student in the funda- 

 mental principles of the science, and to give him a large amount 

 of practical application by the study and analysis of existing de- 

 signs, and the subsequent preparation of designs of an original 

 ■character. 



Tlie present year is considered as formative, but regular courses 

 are given in marine engineering, naval architecture, and ship- 

 building, the work being taken by from twelve to fifteen students. 

 During the coming spring and summer Professor Durand will 

 visit the schools of similar kind in Europe, studying their organi- 

 zation, methods, equipment, and objects, in order that the school 

 may have the advantage, as far as the differing conditions will 

 admit, of the results of experience in these older schools. 



The work at the univei-sity may be supplemented by an annual 

 excursion or inspection tour of from ten dajs to two weeks, in 

 •which the leading ship-yards and marine-engine shops of the At- 

 lantic coast are visited, in company with one of the teachers. By 

 means of these visits the student is brought into immediate con- 

 tact with the actual fulfilment of the various problems which he 

 has been studying from lecture, text book, and drawing board. 

 The practical methods of work are examined, notes and sketches 

 are taken, and a written report on the trip is prepared and sub- 

 mitted. 



In the arrangement of the subjects and in the division of time 

 for the professional work, it is intended to give sufficient time to 

 theory and general principles to furnish a good general grasp of 

 the subject, such theoretical work being always illustrated and 

 impressed by applications to practice, and supplemented by a large 

 amount of work more purely practical in character. 



The objects to be kept in view are considered as two-fold. First, 

 the power to deal intelligently with. the actual problems of ship 

 and power design and construction as they present themselves in 

 practice. Second, the fostering and development of that original- 

 ity of thought which, under proper control and with other gifts, 

 may form the suggestiveness of mind characteristic of those quali- 

 fied to aid in the continual advancement of engineering and sci- 

 entific work. 



Of special equipment the school is provided with the following : 

 Several iuindred photographs and drawings, both general and de- 

 tail, illustrative of marine construction of all forms. A number 

 of half-breadth models of ships, including some of the niorenoted 

 Atlantic liners. A complpte set of Copenhagen ship curves, with 

 battens, special drawing bo ircis, and all appliances for ship draw- 

 ing. An Ainsler integrator of the latest type Large additions 

 are being made to the books and other professional literature al- 

 ready in the library, and no pains will be spared to make the 

 Bibrary equipment as complete as possible in every form of litera- 

 ture relating to marine engineering and naval architecture. The 

 equipment of the general mechanical laboratory, unexcelled in 

 extent by that of any laboratory in the world, is also available for 

 use by the student, and every related department of the univer- 

 sity will offer its best facilities for such work as students in the 

 School of Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture may find 

 desirable. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Professor Cragin, in charge of the Department of Geology 

 and Palaeontology in Colorado College, Colorado Springs, is now 

 absent on leave in the service of the Geological Survey of Texas, 

 under State Geologist Dumble. His work will be largely palseon- 

 tological. His headquarteis and address are Austin, Texa^. 



— The committee on the memorial to be erected to the memory 

 of the late G. A. Hirn, the eminent engineer and physicist, com- 

 posed of selected representative men in his department of research 

 throughout the wor;d, has just issued, through its president, M. 

 6. Kern, a circular inviting contributions from all who desire to 

 aid in this work, and who appreciate the contributions made to 

 science and to the arts by that great man. M. Hirn died at Col- 

 mar, Alsace, January, 1890, and this committte was very soon 

 afterward formed for this especial purpose. Its plan is to erect 

 at Colmar a monument, to be designed by his friend, M. Bar- 

 tboldi, a statue in bronze, the pedestal to be inscribed with the 

 simple words: 



G. A. Hirn, 

 1815-1890. 



It is expected that the monument will be erected mainly by con- 

 tributions from the citizens of his native town ; but the voluntary 

 contributions of friends all over the world will he gladly received 

 as tokens of the respect and affection which the man and his 

 work have earned for him. Such funds as may be given for this 

 object may be sent directly to the treasurer, M. Georges Baer, 

 Cohnar, and to any member of the committee in this country. 

 Professors Asaph Hall, L. S. Holden, W. B Taylor, and Dr. 

 Thurston will gladly take charge of thera and forward with suita- 

 ble acknowledgments to the donors. 



— At the August meeting, in Washington, of the Society for 

 the Promotion of Agricultm-al Science, a paper was presented on 

 "Eastern and Western Weeds," by Byron D. Halsted, New Bruns- 

 wick, N.J. His remarks were founded upon the reports of a large 

 number of botanists and crop growers throughout the United 

 States, received in response to letters sent to them or questions 

 asked through Ihe public press. Having lived for four years in 

 Iowa, and being now a resident of New Jersey, the weeds of these 

 two States have received personal consideration, and therefore 

 these widely separated States will furnish a basis for a comparison 

 of the weeds of the East and the West, not being unmindful of 

 the fact that Iowa represents the central part of our continent, 

 while the West, strictly speaking, reaches beyoni the Sierras. The 

 New Jersey list can be made up from the one for Iowa by omit- 

 ting seventy-five of the native prairie plants mostly perennials, 

 and adding forty-three, a large percentage of which are annuals. 

 The only single weed of the first rank stricken from the Iowa list 

 in adapting it for New Jersey is a species of pig weed, but even 

 this within the last year has been found within the latter State. 

 On the other hand there are several first-class weeds that are added 

 in the adoption of the western list to the East. Of such, f ir ex- 

 ample, are: a pepper grass, the wild radish, two kinds of cockle- 

 bur, feverfew, wild onion, wild leek, nut-grass, Bermuda gniss, 

 and a kind of chess, or a total of ten of the worst weeds. That 

 which is true of New Jersey and Iowa likewise holds good for the 

 whole East compared with the whole West. The East is overrun 

 with a larger number of the most aggressive weeds; weeds that 

 assert their ability to resist the forces of the cultivator and plant 

 their banners upon the tilled ground, likewise annual vveeds that 

 stock the soil with a multitude of seeds, ready to spring into life 

 whenever an opportunity offers. Some species of weeds are found 

 everywhere, from Maine to California, as Chenopodium album, 

 Amarantus retroflexus, Xanthinm Canadense, Plantago lanceolata, 

 Capsella Bursa-pastoris, and Portulaca oleracea. There are others 

 prominent on the Pacific Coast and not elsewhere, as the Hordeum 

 murinum, Silybum Marianum, and Malva borealis. Likewise 

 there are weeds peculiar to the Rocky Mountain region, as the Iva 

 axillaris, Franseria tomentosa. while on the prairies, especially in 

 Kansas and Nebraska, the following head the list: Cenchrus trib- 

 uloides, Asclepias Syriaca, Solanum rostratum, and Helianthus 



