SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1888. 



One of the important functions of a State geological survey 

 is to furnish accurate and impartial information on the general 

 character of so-called ' mining districts.' Nearly all of our State 

 geologists have had experience in such matters, from the early days 

 when the ' black shale ' was exploited for coal, to the later times, 

 when certain iron-fields in Wisconsin needed discouragement. 

 The most recent example comes from Arkansas, where much ex- 

 citement has arisen in a mining district from which rich discoveries 

 of valuable metals were reported. Professor Branner, recently ap- 

 pointed State geologist, was called upon to examine the region and 

 its ores, and as he failed to find evidence of value in them, and 

 clearly stated his unflattering results in a brief report, he is now 

 made the object of violent abuse from the parties whose hopes are 

 dashed by his work. The belter people of the State, however, are 

 with him, and, with their support in his honest course, we shall 

 hope to see his survey continue and thrive. He was elected secre- 

 tary of the geological section of the American Association at the 

 Cleveland meeting, his nomination being in part due to a desire on 

 the part of his colleagues to express their appreciation of his integ- 

 rity and their approval of the course he has taken. 



The importance of preserving the forests becomes evident 

 in South Africa. J. G. Gamble, in the Proceedings of the Institute 

 of Civil Engineers, points out that the soil of Africa becomes dryer 

 every year. Although the amount of precipitation is not decreasing, 

 the springs become less strong, and rivers that used to flow per- 

 manently are dry during summer. Gamble considers the devasta- 

 tion of forests, and the grass and bush fires, the principal reasons 

 for this state of affairs. Besides this, the trails made by animals 

 are transformed into cafions of considerable depth by sudden rain- 

 falls. In these cafions, which are in some cases more than thirty 

 feet deep, the surface water runs off before it has time to per- 

 colate the soil. Tripp has made observations on the amount of 

 evaporation, and found that on the highlands fully one-half of the 

 falling rain runs off without penetrating into the soil. This expe- 

 rience emphasizes the fact that the ultimate aim of rational 

 forest-culture, so far as its influence upon agriculture is concerned, 

 is the increase of the power of the ground to hold moisture, and 

 thus to prevent the rapid flowing-off of the precipitated rain. 



The Pilot Chart for September, under the title ' Transatlantic 

 Routes,' refers to the collision between the two Danish steam- 

 ships ' Geiser ' and 'Thingvalla,' Aug. 14, about thirty miles south 

 from Sable Island, the sinking of the former in a few minutes, and 

 the drowning of 117 persons, and adds, "The Pilot Chart for 

 December, 1887, discussed this subject of transatlantic navigation 

 at some length, and a supplement was published calling attention 

 to the importance of some general understanding as to the routes 

 to be followed by eastward and westward bound vessels. The 

 plan thus inaugurated has been adhered to each month since that 

 time, one track being plotted as the southern limit for westward- 

 bound vessels, and another as the northern limit for eastward- 

 bound vessels." This discussion, in which it was stated to be " the 

 object of this chart to recommend only what masters of vessels 

 may reasonably be expected to follow, having due regard to the 

 mutual benefits to be derived from such an agreement, as well as 

 the mutual concessions to be made in order to make it effective," 



was reviewed editorially at some length in No. 256 of Science, so 

 that it is unnecessary to repeat it here; but it is pertinent to re- 

 mark, that on the Pilot Chart for each of the last ten months the 

 transatlantic routes recommended for eastward and westward 

 bound steamships for the succeeding month have been carefully 

 plotted ; and this fact adds startling emphasis to the closing sen- 

 tence of the note on the September chart, which is as follows : 

 " This recent disaster would not have occurred had the 'Geiser' 

 been farther to the southward, as recommended for eastward-bound 

 vessels ; and the collision thus emphasizes the importance of this 

 matter, not only to owners, agents, masters, and marine under- 

 writers, but to the public generally." This fixes the responsibility 

 for the loss of the ' Geiser,' and the appalling sacrifice of life and 

 property that resulted, beyond the possibility of question ; for, as 

 every reader of Science knows, the Pilot Chart is published on the 

 first day of each month, and enough copies are furnished at each 

 Atlantic port of the United States to furnish a copy, free of cost, 

 to every vessel that departs during the month. The captain who 

 does not pay heed to its recommendations assumes a fearful per- 

 sonal responsibility, which should not be overlooked in fixing the 

 severity of the punishment he is to receive if disaster results from 

 this neglect. The work of the United States Hydrographic Office 

 is universally recognized as the best of its kind done in the world, 

 and mariners cannot aiTord to disregard its recommendations. 



Mr. Everett Havden, who is in charge of the meteorological 

 division of the Hydrographic OITice, and who has recently distin- 

 guished himself by his exhaustive study of the great storm of last 

 March, the results of which are about to be published at length, 

 illustrated by a series of six superb charts, as well as by his contri- 

 butions to the monthly Pilot Chart, which, under his direction, has 

 become a most wonderful compendium of information that is of 

 vital interest to mariners, has been authorized by Commodore Har- 

 mony, acting secretary of the navy, to go to Havana, Cuba, for the 

 purpose of studying the laws of hurricanes. Mr. Hayden will visit 

 the observatory of the Real Collegio de Belen, in Havana, the 

 director of which has carried the study of hurricanes further than 

 any other student of the subject in the world ; and he will carry 

 from Washington a great mass of material which he has already 

 collected, and which he hopes to work up in the light of additional 

 information which he expects to obtain in Havana, and from the 

 actual observation of hurricanes during the remainder of the hurri- 

 cane season. Mr. Hayden expects to be absent about si.x weeks. 

 Very soon after his return he will make a special report. He also 

 hopes to be able to qualify himself, as no one in the United Slates i^ 

 now qualified, to discuss hurricanes in such a manner as to be able 

 to give to the navy and commercial marine of this country, and of 

 all other countries whose ships navigate the North Atlantic Ocean, 

 much most valuable, practical information, and to contribute im- 

 portant data to the science of meteorology. 



PHOSPHORUS PENTOXIDE AS A DISINFECTANT. 

 Since the publication in Science of the report of a series of ex- 

 periments conducted by the Marine Hospital Service at the quaran- 

 tine station below New Orleans to determine the efficacy of the 

 different disinfectants used, and especially since that article has 

 been copied in so many of the medical journals of the country, 

 great interest has been manifested among quarantine officers, city 

 health-officers, sanitarians, and chemists, in the discovery of some 

 additional disinfectant. Phosphorus pentoxide was suggested, and 



