258 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XVI. No. 405 



commercial, to justify a renewal of Antarctic research; and 

 I feel assured that nothing could bring to us greater distinc- 

 tion in the eyes of the vvhole civilized world than such an 

 expedition, judiciously planned, and skilfully carried out. 



THE USE OF OIL. 



Masters of vessels cannot V e reminded too often of the use of 

 oil in stormy weather. Its importance is well illustrated by the 

 fact that it is now referred to at length in standard books on sea- 

 manship; and the International Marine Conference at Washington 

 recommended that "the several governments require all their 

 sea-going vessels to carry a sufiScient quantity of animal or vege- 

 table oil for the purpose of calming the sea in rough weather, to- 

 gether with suitable means for applying it." As a good example 

 of the du-ections that ar3 now given for the best way to use oil, 

 the remarks in a recently published book on practical seamanship, 

 by Todd and Whall, printed on the ''Atlantic Pilot Chart" for 

 October, are of interest: — 



"To cross a bar in heavy weather, after battening down all 

 hatches, etc., take two pieces of India-rubber pipe about twenty 

 feet long and one inch in diameter. Put these through the hawse- 

 pipes, one on each side, and let their ends trail in the sea. On 

 the upper end of each piece of tube lash a good-sized funnel, se- 

 cure it to a stanchion in a vertical position, and station a man at 

 each, with a three-gallon tin of colza-oil. When the vessel enters 

 the outermost sea that breaks on the bar, let each man gently 

 liour the oil down the pipes. This will smooth the bar immensely, 

 and the vessel wUl steer much better. Almost any oil of animal 

 or vegetable origin will do; but petroleum is not of much service, 

 excepting to mix with and thin the other, if necessary. When 

 lying-to in a gale, head to wind and drifting slowly, if a Uttle oil 

 is used, a ship ought to pull through the heaviest storm. Running 

 in a gale, an oil-bag hung over the weather-side, or oil poured 

 down a pipe well forward, is of great service in preventing the 

 sea from breaking aboard; gale increasing, to round to, prepare a 

 sea anchor, watch for a smooth spell, and then put the helm 

 down, heave overboai-d a few gallons of oil, and float the sea- 

 anchor. Keep pouring the oil on the sea doivn a weather pipe or 

 scupper while the ship is coming up to the wind. A well-equipped 

 sailing-ship, even if deeply laden, will lie-to under a closely reefed 

 topsail or tarpaulin in the rigging, and weather almost any gale, 

 so long as she is not taken aback. Sailing-vessels under these cir- 

 cumstances nowadays otten use an oil-bag paid out to windward 

 to smooth the sea still more: this is the ideal position of a laden 

 vessel in a dangerous storm. Whilst towing a disabled ship over 

 a bar, or where the sea is very wicked, a couple of oU-bags over 

 the stern will ease the sea on the tow. In a good steamer, to 

 lake a shipwrecked crew off a wreck, run to windward of the 

 Mreck, lower the lee boat, put your vessel head to sea and dead to 

 windward, and let the boat drop down toward the wreck, veering 

 <)ut on the line, and constantly pouring considerable oil into the 

 ^ea, which will keep the sea smooth between your ship and the 

 \vreck. In using oil-bags in heavy weather, they should be 

 'veighted, if hung over the side, in order to keep them down. 

 ^Vhen scudding, it is best to pour the oil down the closet-pipes." 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



We learn from Nature that an expedition to Greenland will 

 start from Denmark next year, under the command of Lieut. Ry- 

 tler, to investigate the east coast between latitude 66° and 73°. 



— At a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of Australa- 

 sia, held at Melbourne on Aug. 33, a letter from Sir Thomas Elder 

 was read, in which he offered to bear the entire cost of an expedi- 

 tion to the unexplored regions of Australia. A report on the 

 question of antarctic exploration was also submitted to the meet- 

 ing. In this report, according to Nature of Oct. 9, it was stated 

 that public interest in the subject had been revived by the an- 

 • louncement that Baron A. E. Nordenskiold, after a conference 

 with his friend Baron Oscar Dickson, had consented to take the 



command of an expedition to the south-polar regions, on the con- 

 dition that the Australian colonies contribiited a sum of |25,000 

 towards the expenses Baron Dickson having offered to advance 

 the other moiety, or whatever more might be necessary. "The 

 offers were cordially acceisted, and the antarctic committee felt it- 

 self justified in making the necessary arrangements without delay 

 for collecting the amount to be contributed by the Australasian 

 colonies. The council of the society had passed resolutions recog- 

 nizing a national duty in the exploration of the antarctic regions, 

 especially that portion lying opposite to Australasia, pledging 

 itself to use its influence in promoting the enterprise, and giving 

 authority to head a subscription list in aid of the Swedish Austra- 

 lian Exploration Fund with a donation of $1,000 from the society's 

 funds. It would appear, from the hearty reception accorded to 

 the proposals of the antarctic committee, that the latter might rely 

 upon the energetic co-operation of all the scientific societies of Aus- 

 tralasia, and thus be enabled to collect the amount of the contribu- 

 tion promised towards defraying the expenses of the combined 

 Swedish and Australian Exploring Expedition to the South Polar 

 Regions." The report, on being put to the meeting, was "re- 

 ceived with acclamation." 



— Mr. Robert Swordy of Dryburn Cottage, Durham, in a letter 

 to Nature, the substance of which was printed in that journal for 

 Oct. 9, gives an account of a toad (Bufo vulgaris) which he saw 

 crawling out of the Pond Wood at Aykleyheads. The muscles of 

 the toad's body were (as usual) arranged in such a fashion that 

 the back of the toad looked like minute nodules of dark gravel 

 embedded in a damp path below trees; but what seemed to Mr. 

 Swordy most remarkable was, that on the top of this gravel-like 

 arrangement of muscles there was spread a mesh or network of 

 very fine lichen, with oval-shaped leaves of a lightish-green color, 

 connected more or less to each other by a hair-like process of 

 stems. This lichen spread irregularly over the toad's back, and 

 odd sprays of it were also to be seen on the legs and upper sur- 

 faces of the feet. " Now," says the writer, " had the toad been 

 in its regular haunts under the trees and shrubs, with this won- 

 derful counterfeit of gravel and protective coloring, it would have 

 been almost impossible to discriminate its form from the dark 

 gravel, lichens, moss, wood-sorrel, and dead leaves of the place ; 

 and I doubt not that this animal's unobtrusive attire would aid it 

 materially in capturing the insects necessary for its sustenance." 

 Mr. Swordy enclosed photographs of the toad sitting on a section 

 of lichen-colored gravel path, taken from near the spot where he 

 found it. 



— The following news]>aper anecdote will interest those fond of 

 animals: "A friend of the writer owns a monkey, which answers 

 to the name of 'Jocko." The children of the house and Jocko are 

 boon companions, and of a summer afternoon enjoy a frolic to- 

 gether upon the lawn. One day some one threw a match down, 

 and the grass ignited, making a little blaze. Jocko saw it, stopped 

 and looked, then glanced all around, and, seeing a piece of plank 

 not far off, ran for it, crept cautiously to the fire, all the time 

 holding the plank as a shield between himself and the flame, then 

 threw the plank on the fire and pressed it down and extinguished 

 it. What child could have reasoned better and done more ? Al- 

 though, perhaps, no danger could have come from the fire, still, 

 no one knows what the result might have been, and the monkey 

 evidently believed that prudence is the better part of valor." 



— The students' work in psychology at the University of To- 

 ronto, as reported by Professor J. Mark Baldwin in the last num- 

 ber of The American Journal of Psychology, has been hitherto 

 general and theoretical. The new cuiTiculum, however, as now 

 ratified by the university senate, provides for more special and 

 advanced courses, and opportunity for i-esearch. Tlie recent fire 

 in University College postponed the equipment of the psychologi- 

 cal laboratory, but in the plans for the new buildings more ample 

 accommodations are secured. The new laboratory is to be in the 

 restored building in a retired portion of the first floor immediately 

 over the rooms of the physical department. It will comprise two 

 communicating working rooms, each 16 by 21 feet; a professor's 

 private room, to be used also as a special psychological library 

 under charge of a fellow or instructor; and a dark room available 



