90 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 393 



the year ended June 30, 1888, 69,623,795 pounds of oleo oil in 

 nine States. There were used in the manufacture of oleo- 

 margarine, as stated in the manufacturers' returns, 12,265,- 

 806 pounds during- that period, and 30,146,595 pounds were 

 exported, leaving 27,211,400 pounds used otherwise. As oleo 

 oil is sold at a much higher rate than tallow, it is presuma- 

 ble that this large quantity is tised in some other food prod- 

 ucts, as emulsified cream and cheeses. 



Edgae Richards. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



It is proposed to construct a raih-oad tunnel under Ihe Nar- 

 rows in New York harbor, to connect Long Island with Staten 

 Island. A company has been incorporated to build the railroads 

 connecting with the tunnel, and part of the route has been sur- 

 veyed. The total length of the tunnel will be less than two miles, 

 a great part of the way through easily worked stone. 



— The first convention of the North American Association for 

 the Propagation of Volapiik will be held in Boston, Aug. 21, 22, 

 and 33. According to Article IV. of the Constitution, "Any "Vola- 

 ptikist may become a member by sending one dollar to the 

 Lepenadan," Mr. C. C. Beale, No. 180 Washington Street, Boston, 

 Mass. This entitles to the grade of membership called kopanel or 

 associate member. "Upon proof of proBciency a kopanel be- 

 comes a kopanal or active member. Only the latter may vote or 

 hold office." 



— The thirty-ninth meetins; of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science will be held at Indianapolis, Ind., begin- 

 ning on Aug. 19. Jlembers desiring to attend are expected to 

 pay full fare at the point of starting, and should have the ticket 

 agent furnish a certificate which will entitle the holder, upon be- 

 ing indorsed by the secretary of the association, to a return ticket 

 at one-third of the regular fare. The railroads of the country are 

 divided into different passenger associations, and if the member's 

 route covers more than the territory covered by one such associa- 

 tion, a separate certificate must be taken covering eacli associa- 

 tion's tei-ritory traversed. The railroad companies have estab- 

 lished the following rule: "No refund of fare will be made on 

 any account whatever because of the failure of the parties to ob- 

 tain certificates." The local secretary, or assistant, will be in at- 

 tendance at a temporary oflBce in the Union Station, or immedi- 

 ately opposite, during the first two days of the meeting, while 

 members are arriving, to furnish any special information which 

 may be desired. The place of meeting is in the new Capitol 

 Building, where rooms will be furnished for all the officers, sec- 

 tions, and committees under one roof. The post-office authorities 

 have kindly arranged for a branch office at the Capitol, so that 

 all mail matter will reach its proper destination if addressed, 

 "Care of A. A. A. S." A room will be provided for storage of 

 apparatus and specimens sent by express, and all packages may be 

 addressed "in care of the local secretary." The council will 

 meet at the Denison Hotel parlots at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 19. 

 The opening general session will be on Wednesday morning at 

 the Capitol Building, when President Mendenhall will resign the 

 chair to his successor. Professor Goodale. On Wednesday even- 

 ing the retiring president will give his address in Plymouth 

 Church. This will be followed by a reception of the association 

 by the local committee and citizens at the Institute for the Blind. 

 With the exception of Saturday and Sunday, the sections will 

 hold morning and afternoon sessions until Tuesday evening, when 

 the general closing session takes place. On Monday afternoon a 

 special train will take the botanists to South Waveland. The 

 Science Club, of Terre Haute, has invited Sections B, C, and D to 

 hold their session at Terre Haute on Friday, where a visit will be 

 made to the Rose Polyteclinic Institute. The citizens of Lafa- 

 yette have extended an invitation to Section F to visit Lafayette. 

 The above invitations from Terre Haute and Lafayette will be ac- 

 cepted if approved by the council . On Wednesday a special ex- 

 cur:?ion will be run to the Mammoth Cave. On Saturday an ex- 



tensive trip will visit the gas territory of Indiana, and a visit will 

 be made to the largest plate glass factory in the United States, 

 and other concerns where natural gas is applied to manufacturing 

 uses. For all matters pertaining to membership, papers, and 

 business of the association, address the permanent secretary. Pro- 

 fessor F. W. Putnam, until Aug. 15. Salem, Mass.; after Aug. 15 

 at the Denison Hotel, Indianapolis, Ind. 



— A steam life-boat which recently made her trial trip in Eng- 

 land is described by the London journals as being built of steel, 

 with fifteen watertight comjjartments. The boiler and engine 

 rooms are brought up about three feet above the main deck, and are 

 closed by iron covers to the man-holes, air being supplied by 

 forced draught. The passengers' space is abaft the engines, seated 

 all round, and will hold about thirty persons. The mode of pro- 

 pulsion adopted is a turbine, taking in water through the bottom 

 of the boat at its apex, and discharging the water when it has at- 

 tained its maximum velocity through tubular orifices on each side. 

 About one ton of water per second is discharged. The speed at 

 which the vessel ran on her trial trip was over eight knots. From 

 full speed ahead the vessel can be stopped in thirty-two seconds, 

 and way can be got on her again in four seconds. She carries a 

 mast with some sail power forward, the mast being lowered when 

 needful. The new life-boat is stationed at Harwich. 



— If we follow the march of the vicissitudes of temperature, 

 evidently determined by some cosmical agency, says Nature, we 

 find at the beginning of Tertiary times a moderately warm climate; 

 then a rise during the Eocene, and then a gradual cooling, inter- 

 rupted possibly by some oscillations, down to a degree nearly 

 corresponding to that now prevailing, at the beginning of the 

 Pleistocene epoch. Then the cooling continued below the present 

 temperature, to a minimum at the time of the greatest glaciation 

 of the land; then a re- warming in the inter-glacial period nearly 

 up to the present temperature; after which cold and glaciation re- 

 gained the upper hand, finally to give way to the present condi- 

 tions, which are about midway between the greatest warmth of 

 the Tertiary age and the greatest cold of the Pleistocene. One 

 fact stands out conspicuously, viz., that these changes progressed 

 very irregularly, and were subject to much oscillation, and the 

 period during which we can approximately follow the coiu:se of 

 the change is much too short to enable us to learn the law that 

 regulated it. We can not decide whether oscillations like those 

 of the Pleistocene will be repeated, and we are now progressing 

 towards another temporary Glacial period, or whether we have to 

 expect the return to a warmer temperature such as prevailed in 

 Tertiary times, or, finally, whether the outcome of all the devia- 

 tions will be a lasting refrigeration of our climate. Just as little 

 can we determine at present by what agency all these vicissitudes 

 are brought about; most plausible and simple would it certainly 

 be were the sun a variable star that at different periods emits 

 different quantities of heat; but for this or any other assumption 

 there is no proof forthcoming. This enigma, like so many others, 

 will some day be solved by man's searching intelligence, but, like 

 all other acquisitions of science, tliis goal can be won only by 

 assiduous and patient labor. Haply the triumph may not be for our 

 generation; but what we may certainly accomplish is to prepare 

 the way to it, by an accurate and critical collection of the facts. 



— In no other Scandinavian country is school education a State 

 affair to the same degree as in Sweden, says a correspondent of 

 the London Journal of Education. Not only are the higher sec- 

 ondary schools public, as in Norway and Denmark, but all pri- 

 mary schools are subject to public regulations and controlled by 

 public functionaries, and the elementary teachers are appointed 

 by the authorities. ■ Likewise, the intermediate schools are nearly 

 always public institutions, whose masters are civil servants, with 

 all the duties and privileges resulting therefrom. In Norway, in- 

 termediate school education is in most places municipal, with 

 State subvention, although the towns which have public secon- 

 dary schools also have public intermediate schools; while in Den- 

 mark the intermediate schools are always municipal or private. 

 The result of the Swedish system is that their schools are excel- 

 lent, as the public appointment and the independent position of 

 almost all the teachers greatly contribute to attract talented young 



