194 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 372 



writes of "The Indebtedness of the English Language to the 

 Latin;" Professor Adolf o Bartoli begins a series on "Italian 

 Literature;" "The Politics of Mediaeval Italy" are considered 

 by Professor Philip Van Ness Myers, A.M. ; Principal James 

 Donaldson, LL.D. , of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 

 contributes his second paper on "Roman Morals;" Albert Shaw, 

 Ph.D., predicts a hopeful future for "Rising Bulgaria;" a new 

 realm of investigation open to the physicist is discussed by Pro- 

 fessor Edward L. Nichols of Cornell University, in ' 'The Pro- 

 duction of Artificial Cold;" the English writer, Arabella B. 

 Buckley, continues her studies on the ' 'Moral Teachings of Sci- 

 ence;" and Mrs. Carl Barus does the same with "What are our 

 College Women Doing? " New to most readers will be the in- 

 formation in the article, ' 'A Botanical Garden in the Island of 

 ■Java. " "A Study of Spiritualism' ' likely to atti'act attention 

 is contributed by a member of the Seybert Commission, Robert 

 Ellis Thompson, of the University of Pennsylvania. The usual 

 •space is given to editorials and C. L. S. C. matters. 



— The March Magazine of American History contains a chap- 

 ter, ' 'Celebrating the Birth of William Bradford, ' ' by Thomas 

 Bradford Drew of Plymouth, taking us backward to the first set- 

 tlement in New England ; then we find some personal memories 

 from the pen of Hon. Charles K. Tuckerman, writing from Italy 

 on ' ' Sir Jolui Bowering and American Slavery. ' ' We have an 

 •account by W. R. Garrett, A.M., of the controvei-sy concerning 



' 'The Northern Boundary of Tennessee, ' ' which stretched over 

 sixty-eight years, and is interesting just now in view of the 

 boundary suit recently instituted by Virginia against Tennessee 

 in the Supreme Court of the United States ; and entertainment is 

 ^iven in "Haw1;horne's First Printed Article," by Kate Tannett 

 Woods. "The Story of the Greatest Auditing Ofiice in the 

 World," by Milton T. Adkins, is statistical, but desirable to 

 possess and preserve ; and the ' 'Neglected Grave of Seth Pome- 

 roy, " by Frank Sutton, will awaken sympathy. The leading 

 illustrated paper of the number is a picture of "Cife in New 

 York Fifty Years ago, ' ' by the editor. The period reproduced 

 opens with the completion of the Erie Canal ; and glimpses are 

 given, through the diary of an old New-Yorker for twenty-five 

 years, of characters and affairs, of inventions, politics, and 

 jianics, of clubs, dinners, fancy balls, and foreign visitors. 

 Dickens was here, and, being then regarded as the greatest living 

 novelist, was feted and complimented beyond any other writer 

 of his genei-ation. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co. announce to be published in April or 

 May, "Directional Calculus," by B. W. Hyde, professor of 

 mathematics in the University of Cincinnati. This work fol- 

 lows in the main the methods of Grassman's "Ausdehnungs- 

 lehre, ' ' but deals only with space of two a-nd tlu-ee dimensions. 

 The first two chapters give the theory, and fundamental ideas 

 •and processes, of Grassman' s admii-able and comprehensive ge- 

 ometric method, with sufficient fulness and completeness, it is 

 believed, to enable the student to pursue the subject satisfactorily 

 through the remaining chapters, containing applications to plane 

 -and solid geometry and mechanics, or to enable him to read with 

 comparative ease Grassman's original works. A very elemen- 

 tary knowledge of trigonometry, the differential calculus and de- 

 terminants, will be sufficient as a preparation for reading this 

 book. It is the hope of the author, that, by providing a text- 

 book on this subject in English, he may contribute in some 

 measure toward a more general study and knowledge of that 

 wonderful mathematical system which, though published by its 

 ■discoverer in 1844, has met with the most remarkable indiffer- 

 ence and neglect at the hands of mathematicians up to the present 

 time. 



— Interest seems never to be lacking in the controversy over the 

 relative value of realism and idealism in the researches of natural 

 science, and those who insist upon using the "subjective'' 

 method of investigation in studying phenomena of the "objec- 

 tive" work are still severely criticised. S. C. Griggs & Co. 

 ■have now in press, and will issue at an early day, "Tlie World 

 Energy and its Self -Conservation, " in which the author, W. 

 31. Bryant, reasoning from the standpoint that "truth in its 



vital reality is to be attained only through a complete blending 

 of these two methods, ' ' discusses the deepest questions of 

 science. 



— Briefly stated, ihe results of the inquiry by W. E. Stone re- 

 garding the saccharine substance in Ihe sweet potato, reported in 

 the February number of Agricultural Science, are these : the 

 saccharine substance of the sweet potato exists chiefly, it not 

 entirely, in the form of sucrose; the use of the polariscope in the 

 quantitative determination of the same seems possible (such de- 

 terminations showed one and a, half to two per cent of sucrose in 

 the fresh potatoes); the temperature of cooking (baking) inverts 

 the sucrose, and converts more or loss of the starch into a soluble 

 form. A part of Mr. Stone's investigation was made at the lab- 

 oratory of ihe Tennessee Experiment Station, the remainder at 

 Purdue University. 



— "The Scratch Club," by Hugh A. Clarke, Mus. Doc, pro- 

 fessor of music in the University of Pennsylvania, has been 

 issued by the Poet-Lore Company, Philadelphia. Under the 

 title of ' 'The Scratch Club, ' ' the author has given a lively 

 record of the meetings of an imaginary group of musicians, 

 who discuss music and kindred subjects, and tell stories, some 

 grave, some gay, forming a sort of musical ' 'Tales of a Wayside 

 Inn." Musical taste in America, Handel's "Messiah," Beetho- 

 ven's "Aurora" Sonata, music in the public schools and in the 

 churches, international copyright, and bad music, are some of 

 the subjects touched upon in the course of these animated 

 conversations. 



— We learn from The Scottish Geographical Magazine that a 

 new and corrected edition of the topographical map of France, 

 which was commenced in 1818, will shortly be issued, The 

 map printed from the original copperplates is now, of course, 

 out of date; but to alter these large plates is a work so tedious, 

 that it has been put off as long as possible, new roads, etc., 

 being marked on the zincographic edition. The latter process, 

 however, lacks the clearness and sharpness of copperplate en- 

 graving; and therefore the Service Geographique de I'Armee, 

 presided over by Gen. Derrecagaix, is engaged in correcting the 

 original plates. In the new edition, alterations and extensions 

 of roads and railways will be duly marked, the towns be en- 

 larged to their present size, the spelling of names corrected, 

 and even fortification works will appear. The unwieldy sheets 

 will be divided into four sections each, measuring 40 by 25 

 centimetres (about 15| by 9f inches). Each section will be 

 sold for 50 centimes. 



—Lieut. -Col. Sir Andrew Clarke delivered an address before 

 the London Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 6, 1889 (Chamber 

 of Commerce Journal, Dec. 5, 1889), in which he demonstrated 

 the remarkable rapidity with which the British protected states 

 have developed. The foreign trade of Perak has increased from 

 £248,796 in 1876, to £3,134,685 in 1888; and the little state 

 of Selangor, with an area of about 3,000 square miles, which 

 in 1873 had practically no trade at all, exported and imported 

 in 1888 goods to the value of £2,372,756. Revenue and popu- 

 lation have correspondingly increased. The twenty miles of 

 railway opened in Selangor in 1887 pay a dividend of 25 per 

 cent, and the eight miles completed in Perak in 1888 pay 8^ 

 per cent. These railways are now being extended, and will 

 promote the prosperity of the country, and yield a satisfactory 

 dividend. Half the tin in the world is exported from these 

 states, and there is a large auriferous region, watered by a 

 navigable stream. The agricultural prospects are equally 

 bright. Perak can produce coffee of fine quality, and yields 

 abundance of pepper and nutmegs. Selangor grows coffee, 

 pepper, tea, and tapioca ; indigo has been successfully tried ; 

 and land has been granted for the cultivation of tobacco. In 

 Sungei Ujong, 35,871 acres are already imder cultivation, and 

 good crops of coffee are produced. Pahang, which has only 

 recently been received under British protection, has hardly 

 been exploited at all; but it will probably prove to be the 

 richest of all these states. Besides its mines, it has fine tim- 

 ber, and most tropical products have been grown in small 

 quantities. 



