344 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 411 



SCIENCE: 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



PUBLISHED BY 



N. D. C. HODGES, 



47 Lafayette Place, New York. 



Subscriptions.— United States and Canada. . 83.50 a year. 



Great Britain and Europe 4.50 a year. 



Communications will be welcomed from any quarter. Abstracts of scientific 

 (japers are solicited, and twenty copies of the issue containing such will be 

 mailed the author on request in advance. Rejected manuscripts will be 

 t etumed to the authors only when the requisite amount o£ postage accom- 

 panies the manuscript. WhateTer is intended for insertion must be authenti- 

 cated by the name and address of the writer; not necessarily for publication, 

 but as a guaranty of good faith. We do not hold ourselves responsible for 

 any view or opinions expressed in the communications of our correspondents, 



Attention is called to the "Wants" column. All are invited to use it in 

 soliciting information or seeking new positions. The name and address of 

 applicants should be given in full, so that answers will go direct to them. The 

 " Exchange " column is likewise open. 



Vol. XVI. NEW YOEK, December 19, 1890. No. 411. 



CONTENTS: 



Introduction of the Articu- 

 lating System for the Deaf 

 IN America 



Gardiner G. Hubbard 3.S7 



The Massachusetts Institute op 

 Technology 



Augustus Lowell 340 



Health Matters. 

 The Influenza in Massachusetts 341 



Fasting 342 



How the Pathogenic Bacteria do 

 their Harm 342 



Notes and News 342 



University and School Exten- 

 sion 344 



Letters to the Editor. 

 Dr. Hann's Studies on Cyclones 

 and Anticyclones 



Wm. Ferrel 344 

 Book-Reviews. 



Electricity in Daily Life 347 



Among the Publishers 347 



UNIVEESITY AND SCHOOL EXTENSION. 



The design of the University and School Extension recently 

 started in this city is to supplement the university and the school 

 systems by means of outlines for courses of study, class instruc- 

 tion, courses of lectures, correspondence, examinations, etc. The 

 executive committee of the faculty consists of President Timothy 

 Dwipht, president of Yale University ; Francis L. Patton, president 

 of Princeton University; Seth Low, president of Columbia Col- 

 lege; N. A. Calkins, superintendent of school extension; W. T. 

 Harris, United States commissioner of education; Seth T. Stewart, 

 general secretary. The officers of the board of directors are, 

 president, James W. Alexander (Princeton) ; vice-presidents, 

 Chauncey M. Depew (Yale), Charles S. Fau-child (Harvard). W. 

 Bayard Cutting (Columbia) ; treasurer, George Foster Peabody 

 (16 and 18 Broad Street, New York City) ; secretary, Matthew J. 

 Elgas (121 West 87th Street, New York City). 



The purpose is to develop a taste for further education and 

 broader culture among those who, from necessity, have been de- 

 barred from some of the advantages of college or academic train- 

 ing, and to provide the skilful guidance of college professors and 

 other experts in the study of the various subjects common to school 

 and to university education The courses of instruction will be 

 marked out by carefully prepared syllabuses, with directions as to 

 what is most essential to the subject. 



Individual students can be graded in lines of study and investi- 

 gation; and plans are provided for securing the interest, sym- 



pathy, and mutual help that come through class instruction and 

 lectures. Teachers and others associated in small or large classes 

 may he guided in their studies, or they may enjoy the presence 

 and advice of an approved class instructor in their chosen subject. 

 In this way societies organized for the study of any language or 

 department of history or science can be provided with reliable 

 guidance and competent instruction. The classes will be formetJ 

 for day or evening, at hours and places to suit the convenience of 

 the class. Individuals or classes may also have the benefit of in- 

 struction by correspondence. 



Syllabuses have been prepared by the professors named in con- 

 nection with the following subjects, and others are now in the 

 process of publication : German (four years), Professor H. H. 

 Boyesen, Columbia; French (four years); Latin (four years), Pro- 

 fessor Tracy Peck, Yale; Greek (three years). Professor T. D. 

 Seymour, Yale; English literature of the seventeenth, eifihteenth, 

 and nineteenth centuries, Professor F. J. Child, Harvard ; Shak- 

 speai-e and Chaucer, George Lyman Kittredge, Harvard ; American 

 history to 1789, American history from 1789, European history 

 from 1600 to 1750, European history from 1750, Professor S. M. 

 Macvane, Harvard ; law (two years). Professor Theodore Dwight, 

 Columbia; physical geography (first and second years). Professor 

 William Libbey, jun., Princeton; geology. Professor N. S. Shaler, 

 Harvai-d; physics. Professor C. F. Brackett, Princeton; chemistry 

 (two J ears). Professor William G. Mixter, Yale; astronomy. Pro- 

 fessor C. A. Young, Princeton; elements of zoology, Alpheus 

 Hyatt; political science. Professor John W. Burgess, Columbia; 

 descriptive psychology and physiological psychology, Professor 

 George T. Ladd, Yale; philosophy of education N. A Calkins; 

 plane and solid geometry, plane trigonometry, and spherical trigo- 

 nometry, Professor A. W. Phillips, Y'ale. 



The registration fee of one dollar entitles each registered student 

 to one syllabus, one book-list with prices, the privilege of purchas- 

 ing the books through the general secretary at list or wholesale 

 prices, and an examination-paper in any one of the subjects in 

 which an examination is held. It also entitles members to receive 

 information as to the formation of classes, and to register for 

 correspondence classes and for examination; but the correspond- 

 ence fee of ten dollars, or the examination fee of two dollars, will 

 be required before said correspondence or examination begins. 

 Additional syllabuses maj' be had at twenty cents each, or six for 

 a dollar. 



Societies guaranteeing minimum charge for course of lessons 

 or lectures will be accommodated as to time, place, and choice of 

 instructor or lecturer. Ladies and gentlemen desiring to become 

 patrons of a special subject of learning may organize auxiliary 

 societies under a prescribed constitution, involving an annual metn- 

 •bership fee of ten doUars per share. Any one desiring to promote 

 the work among any class of people may assist in organizing them 

 under constitutions involving membership fees of five dollars per 

 share, or of one dollar per share, covering registration fee, the 

 latter requiring extra charge for work done. A few general 

 courses of lectures will be announced in New York City this year; 

 but other courses will be given if a sufiScient number register for 

 the sanie iu any chosen subject. The registration fee of one dollar 

 will hold good until the member in any place shall have had an 

 opportunity to attend class instruction or lectures in some one sub- 

 ject, or to receive correspondence instruction or lectures in a de- 

 sired subject. Thereafter the fee will be an annual fee. 



The registration fee should he sent to the general secretary, or 

 in New York City to Matthew J. Elgas, secretary, 121 West 87th 

 Street. Per.sons interested in the formation of classes, or lecture 

 courses, or auxiliary societies, will be provided with the necessary 

 forms and information on applying, with stamp enclosed, to Setb 

 T. Stewart, general secretary, P. O, Box 192. Brooklyn, N.Y. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



Dr. Hanns Studies on Cyclones and Anticyclones, 



Under this heading appeared in Science. May 30 of this year, 



a notice, by Professor W. M. Davis of Harvard College, of a 



memoir by Dr. Hann of Vienna on " The High-Pressure Area of 



November, 1889, in Central Europe," etc., which has been recently 



