February 21, 1890.J 



SCIENCE 



125 



Walla "Walla, Wash. , where the snow was from ten to fifteen 

 feet deep, and solidly compacted by rain and thaws. The track 

 was cleared in a few hours. 



— In the current number of the Journal of tht Anthropologi- 

 cal Institute there is a valuable paper, by Dr. Ai-thur Thomson, 

 on the Veddahs of Ceylon. Discussing the affinities of the Ved- 

 dahs, he says there appears to be little doubt, that, if they be not 

 of the same stock as the so-called aborigines of southern India, 

 they at least present very strong points of resemblance as regards 

 stature, proportions of limbs, cranial capacity, and form of 

 skull. The similarities of hair and color between these races, 

 according to Nature, have often been remarked; so that, on the 

 whole, it physical features alone be taken into account. Dr. 

 Thomson thinks the affinities of the Veddahs with the hill ti-ibes 

 of the Nilgherries and the natives of the Coromandel coast and 

 the country near Cape Comorin, are fairly well proved. 



— According to the Perseveranza of Milan, quoted in the cur- 

 rent number of the English Board of Trade Journal, important 

 sponge-banks have lately been discovered close to the island of 

 Lampedusa, on the southern coast of Sicily. These deposits of 

 sponges extend for over a surface of from fifteen to eighteen 

 marine leagues, and are situated about an equal distance from 

 the south-eastern extremity of the island. The smallest depth 

 above these banks is twenty ells ; the greatest depth is from thirty 

 to thirty-one ells. At the lesser deptlis rock is met with, on 

 which the sponge grows ; at gi-eater depths a sandy soil is found. 

 All varieties of sponge are discovered here, including those which 

 are in the greatest commercial request, and they are easy to obtain. 

 Greek and Italian vessels have already (January) proceeded to 

 Lampedusa to take advantage of this discovery. 



— One of tlie most interesting applications of the electric light 

 yet made is to the passage of the Suez Canal at night-time. 

 This great waterway, which is so important to all European na- 

 tions, and particularly to England, ran the risk of being choked 

 by the continued development of the ti-aflic through it in the 

 years 1883 to 1885. At the end of this period, however, the 

 Canal Compamr determined to light the channel at night-time, 

 so that the passage could be made without danger, and hoped in 

 this way to sensibly diminish the ti-affic on the canal during the 

 day, and to render the state of affairs less annoying to ship- 

 owners, until the enlargements now in pi'ogress could be com- 

 pleted. The company accordingly installed a complete system of 

 beacons along the banks of the canal, supplemented by luminous 

 buoys burning Pintsch gas on the water, and in this way the 

 channel was clearly marked out. It was soon seen, however, 

 that this alone would be insufficient to insure safety in night 

 passages, and it was therefore decided, says Engineering of Jan. 

 31, that every vessel moving along the canal at night must itself 

 be supplied with arrangements for working a set of electric lamps 

 on board. Rules were accordingly drawn up, which provide that 

 these lamps shall be four in number, one of which is to be a 

 powerful light at the bow, inside of a projector lamp capable of 

 tbi-owing the beam to a distance of not less than 4, 000 feet in 

 front of the vessel. The other lights are placed, one at the stern, 

 and one on each side of the boat. The fu'st vessel to make the 

 passage under these regulations was the Peninsular and Oriental 

 steamship "Carthage," in 1886,' the ti-ansit lasting eighteen 

 houi-s; but, with the improvements recently effected, the time 

 has now been reduced to sixteen hours for large vessels. The 

 Mangin projector is that principally employed, both war-vessels 

 and vessels belonging to the gi-eat mail companies being fitted 

 with this apparatus. Smaller companies usually employ a por- 

 table apparatus, which they find ready for hire on their entering 

 the canal, and which they unship again on reaching Port Said or 

 Suez. These sets of apparatus include the projector, a dynamo, 

 and a motor, and certain firms make a specialty of the business 

 of hiring them out. The gi'eat companies generally employ a 

 similar apparatus, but ai'e themselves the o^^'ners of the plant. 

 The night traffic on the canal has increased very rapidly since it 

 was started. Thus in 1887 there were, in all, 371 night ti'ansits 

 made; but in 1889 this number had inci'eased to 3,454 out of a 

 total of 3,430, or upwards of 71 per cent of the vessels passing 



tlirough the canal ; and four-fifths of the total tonnage used the 

 electric light to assist them. At the same time the average 

 duration of the passage has been reduced upwards of 40 per cent. 

 Putting these facts into another shape, it appears that the effect 

 of the electric light as applied at Suez has been the same as if 

 the canal had been' increased from 33 metres, its present width at 

 the bottom, to 33 metres, — an operation which would cost at 

 least $30,000,000. 



— The National Home-Reading Union, London, Eng., has 

 been formed for the purpose of developing a taste for recreative 

 and insti'uctive reading among all classes of the community, and 

 directing home study to definite ends, so as on the one hand to 

 check the spi'ead of pernicious literature among the young, and 

 on the other to remedy the waste of energy and lack of" purpose 

 so often found among those who have time and opportunity for a 

 considerable amount of reading. Its objects are (1) to draw up 

 and publish coui'ses of reading adapted to the tastes and require- 

 ments of different classes of readers, especially (a) young people, 

 (b) artisans, (c) general readers ; (3) to publish for each class of 

 readers a cheap monthly magazine, giving introductions to the 

 prescribed books, answers to questions, and other helps (the 

 readers will be organized, as far as possible, into local circles 

 under suitable leaders, certificates will be issued to those who 

 have completed regular courses of study, and such further assist- 

 ance as experience shows to be practicable will be rendered) ; (3) 

 to organize summer assemblies at convenient centres, when lec- 

 tures will be delivered by experienced teachers, social gatherings 

 held, and excursions arranged. The first reading season com- 

 menced on Oct. 1 last, and the union nnwnumbers 5,500 members. 

 It publishes a nronthly journal in three sections, printed at the 

 University Press, Cambridge, Eng.: (a) "The General Reader's 

 Magazine, ' ' which contains chapters on literature (English and 

 general) , nature (organic and inorganic) , history (English and 

 general), and political science; (&) "The Artisan's Section" of 

 the monthly journal; (c) "The Young People's Section" of the 

 monthly journal. These all give directions for the reading and 

 study of the prescribed books, abstracts of these books in most 

 cases, and questions on them to be answered after reading. The 

 union bids fair to be a great elevating and civilizing agency, 

 and its very rapid extension and success have already outstepped 

 the most sanguine expectations of its promoters. 



— The subject of spelling-refoiin is occupying a great deal of 

 attention in Fiance. M. Mich. Breal wrote a very exhaustive 

 article on it in a recent number of the Revue des Deux-Mondes, 

 and M. T. Carre has a reply to it in the January number of the 

 Revue Pedagogique. A^ter discussing the merits and demerits of 

 the proposals of the thoroughgoing phonetic school, which he 

 characterizes as too sweeping, he passes on to spelling on an 

 etymological basis, and points out the hopeless conti'adictions of 

 the present system viewed from the point of etymology : imbecile 

 with one, and imbecillite with two Z's; chariot and charrue, 

 charrette; philosophie and fantome, fantaisie, etc., parallel ex- 

 amples of which can be found, and have often been pointed out, 

 by the English spelling-reformers. He then enumerates the re- 

 forms which he considers moderate and within the bounds of 

 practicability: 1. To bring the spelling of the conjugated forms of 

 the verbs in eler and eter under one and the same rule, and to 

 cease writing ^e chancelle by the side of je niodJle. 3. To do away 

 with useless exceptions, as in the seven nouns in ou that take oa 

 instead of s in the plural. 3. To suppress useless double vowels 

 and consonants; to wi-ite honeur as well as honorer; abatre, 

 acabler, apeler, aporter, atraper, where only one consonant is 

 pronounced; but to continue to write appetence, acclamer, 

 amiuite, innovation, immortalite, etc., where the double conso- 

 nant is heard. He gives on this point an experience he had at the 

 inspection of a girls' school. He had expressed his surprise to 

 the head misti'ess at finding some of the eldest pupils copy out 

 from a dictionary lists of words commencing with ab and ac. 



' ' These jiupils, ' ' replied the head misti'ess, ' 'have an examina- 

 tion to pass. They must know how to spell academic and accabler. 

 apercevoir and apparaitre, alimenter and allaiter, agrandir and 

 aggraver, etc . If I trust to their getting up the spelling of such 



