December 21, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



309 



part. But that we shall at no very distant day be able to explore 

 the shallower parts of the ocean, and recover some of the enormous 

 wealth that lies hidden in wrecked vessels, there is little doubt. 

 Already powerful electric lamps are used to illuminate the oyster- 

 beds for the pearl-divers, being lowered to any depth required ; and 

 it is easy to predict that before long some submarine boat, pro- 

 pelled and powerfully lighted by electricity, will be searching for 

 the wrecks of galleons and treasure-ships. The things most 

 needed are faith in the success of the plan, daring, money for 

 equipment and experiment, and, what is so often needed for a new 

 application of electricity, a more perfect storage-battery. 



Another New Storage-Battery. — Patents have just been 

 granted to Louis Duncan of Baltimore for an improvement in sec- 

 ondary batteries. A great objection to the present battery lies in 

 the fact that the inactive support-plate is heavier than the active 

 material, — only one-third to one-fourth the total weight of plate is 

 active hi the ordinary cell, — while the limited surface prevents a 

 heavy discharge-rate. With ordinary lead supports, an increase in 

 surface causes an increase in the local action and depreciation of 

 the cell, while any decrease in the thickness of the support also de- 

 creases the life of the cell. In this patent it is the intention to get 

 a large surface, and a large proportion of active material to total 

 weight, without decreasing the life of the cell. Broadly the idea 

 is to coat the support-plate — a thin sheet of copper, washed with 

 lead, in one of the claims — with a very dense layer of an oxide of 

 lead, deposited on it from a solution of litharge in caustic potash, by 

 means of a weak electric current. The deposit is so dense that it 

 completely shields the sheet underneath from contact with the liq- 

 uid: so, when the plate is put in sulphuric acid, there can be no local 

 action between this coating and the lead beneath. By increasing 

 the strength of current in the solution of litharge, the character of 

 the deposit completely changes, becoming porous, and having a 

 considerable electrical capacity. The positive plate, then, has four 

 layers, — first, an outer active layer of peroxide of lead; second, a 

 layer of dense peroxide that has no capacity ; third, a thin coat of 

 lead ; and, lastly, the copper plate. Between the first and second 

 layers there is no local action, because they are of the same chem- 

 ical constitution ; between the second and third there is no local 

 action, since there is no liquid between them, while of course there 

 is no action of the lead on the copper. We have no data as to any 

 actual results. If the protective action of the dense peroxide 

 claimed in the patent is really perfect, then a cell can be made with 

 an immense surface for a given weight, and an excellent capacity. 

 Such a cell should be of the greatest value, especially in traction- 

 work ; but no opinion as to the practical value of the cell is worth 

 any thing unless supported by experiments carried on for a consid- 

 erable time. 



Underground Conduits. — A meeting of the committee on 

 underground conduits and conductors, of the National Electric 

 Light Association, was held at the association headquarters, i6 

 East 23d Street, New York, on Tuesday, Dec. n. The meeting 

 was called to order at 2 o'clock p.m. by Mr. E. T. Lynch, jun., 

 chairman. A preliminary discussion as to the present state of the 

 art was entered into by the members present, and there seemed to 

 be a very general impression that one of the most important things 

 at present was to ascertain more fully and accurately than had 

 heretofore been done, just what has so far been accomplished in 

 this country touching upon the undergrounding of arc-light con- 

 ductors. Several plans for accomplishing this were discussed, and 

 the committee adjourned until Monday, Dec. 17. when definite 

 plans for carrying out the work of the committee will be consum- 

 mated. The members of this committee are E. T. Lynch, jun., 

 chairman ; F. B. Crocker ; Gen. C. H. Barney ; and Walter C. Kerr. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Observations have been made in India, South Africa, and 

 Australia, which led to the conclusion that certain carboniferous 

 rocks were formed by the action of ice. Conglomerates were 

 found which contain large bowlders of various materials, some of 

 which have characteristic scratches and siriaj. Recently A. Derby 

 found similar rocks in southern Brazil. The general appearance 



of these rocks is much like those of India and South Africa, and it 

 seems probable that their origin is due to the same causes which 

 formed the latter. So far, no stria; have been observed ; but, as the- 

 region has not yet been investigated thoroughly, their existence 

 is quite possible. The wide distribution of strata of this character 

 is an undoubted proof that their origin is due to a general, proba- 

 bly a cosmic, cause ; and among these, glacial action seems to be 

 the most probable. 



— It will be remembered that a number of elements had atomic 

 weights which seemed not to be in correspondence with the de- 

 mands of Mendelejcff's periodical system. Recent experiences 

 have shown that these discrepancies were due to inaccurate deter- 

 minations of atomic weights. K. Seubert has proved that the last 

 of these discrepancies is due to the same cause. The theory de- 

 manded that the atomic weight of osmium be smaller than that of 

 iridium, while former experiments gave the opposite result. Seu- 

 bert has shown that the determinations which had been made by 

 Berzelius and Fr^my were inaccurate. He finds the atomic weight 

 of osmium to be approximately 191, while that of iridium is 192.5. 



— Hypnotism thrives in Washington. Two gentlemen interested 

 in psychological studies, Mr. W. A. Croffut, executive officer of the 

 Geological Survey, and Gov. N. J. Colman, commissioner of agri- 

 culture, give occasional soirdes hypnotigues, at which they hyp- 

 notize numbers of " sensitives." During some recent experiments 

 by Mr. Croffut, two young ladies, temporary victims of the hyp- 

 notic hallucination, were taken into an imaginary picture-gallery 

 and there left, while the operator turned his attention to a young 

 man who was engaged in the dangerous pastime of catching croc- 

 odiles. On returning to the ladies, Mr. Croffut found that he could 

 not make them cognizant of his presence. They did not appear tO' 

 see him, or hear his voice, and when he stood directly in front of 

 them they took no notice of him whatever. It was a new and 

 somewhat alarming experience, and a quarter of an hour passed 

 before the hypnotizer re-established his domination, and brought 

 them back from the land of dreams. 



— Prof. J. P. Lesley has sent out a few final proofs of the first 

 signatures of his report on the fossils of Pennsylvania, in the form 

 of a dictionary, for the convenience of students and collectors of 

 fossils in that State. It will be useful to them, and perhaps to- 

 others ; but Professor Lesley claims no scientific merit for it, ex- 

 cepting that it contains a small number of new species discovered 

 in the State collections, and named and figured by Mr. G. B. Simp- 

 son, in consultation with Prof. James Hall of Albany. The book 

 itself is a compilation, which Professor Lesley made from various 

 sources, mostly classical, and much of it old, and of diflScult attain- 

 ment by students of the present day. In the preface, when printed, 

 all these sources will be fully recited. The book is going through 

 the State Printing-Office at Harrisburg, will be bound in two vol- 

 umes, and each volume distributed, when bound, separately. 



— Mr. George F. Kunz, Hoboken, N.J., will purchase or take in 

 exchange meteorites for fine crystallized or rare minerals. Intact 

 falls, all the pieces of a fall, and newly found and undescribed ones, 

 are especially desired ; also aboriginal objects made of jade, jadeite, 

 chlormelanite. pectolite or other allied minerals, or new occurrences 

 of same ; facts in regard to and specimens of American pearls, and 

 American amber from all localities, especiallv if containing enclo- 

 sures of wood, vegetable, or other living matter ; gold and silver 

 ornaments from the United States, and data concerning them. He 

 is also desirous of securing the gem writings of certain ancient 

 authors. 



— It has long been known that rails of tracks in actual use oxi- 

 date much slower than those of dead tracks, but so fame satisfac- 

 tory explanation has been found. W. Spring, in the Bulletin of the 

 Royal Belgian Academy, shows that this is due to the formation of 

 a coating of magnetic oxide of iron under the influence of humidity 

 and pressure. In order to prove the correctness of this view, Mr. 

 Spring has brought moistened rust and a clean plate of iron under a 

 pressure of from a thousand to twelve hundred atmospheres, which, 

 corresponds to that of the wheels of a locomotive of a thousand 

 hundredweights. He found that the rust-powder had penetrated 

 the iron, and formed a coating of magnetic oxide. 



