March 21, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



19s 



— The discussion on anonymity in journalism will be con- 

 tinued in the March New Review (New York. Longmans), with 

 extracts from letters by Labouchere, Lang, Justin McCarthy, 

 Grant Allen, and others ; and Mr. Allen also contributes an arti- 

 cle on the " Origin of Animals." 



— " Motive Power for Street-Cars " is the title of a book pub- 

 lished by the John Stephenson Company of this city. The vol- 

 ume is made up mainly of extracts from the proceedings of a re- 

 cent meeting of the American Street Railway Association. It is 

 handsomely illustrated. 



— Harper & Brothers have just issued the second volume of 

 "What I Remember," by the octogenarian novelist Thomas 

 Adolphus Trollope, the elder brother of the late Anthony TroUope. 

 The first volume, which was published about two years ago, 

 closed with the death of Mr. Trollope's first wife in 1865 ; the new 

 volume covers the period from that date to the year 1889. Among 

 the well-known people with whom the reader becomes acquainted 

 in these pages are Liszt. Von Bulow, Gen. Sheridan, King Hum- 

 bert, Pope Leo, Salvini, Ristori, Cardinal McCloskey, Jenny Lind, 

 Lanciani, and Holman Hunt. 



— Messrs. Ginn & Co. announce "Open, Sesame!" edited by 

 Mrs. B. W. Bellamy and Mrs M. W. Goodwin. This book is a 

 collection of prose and verse, comprising more than a thousand 

 selections carefully edited, and arranged for committing to mem- 

 ory. It is in no sense an elocutionist's manual, the editors hav- 

 ing made the first test of each selection " Is it worth learning?" 

 and the second, " Is it adapted to recitation ? " The book is rep- 

 resentative of English literature, and also comprises many trans- 

 lations from foreign sources. Its various departments contain 

 many of the familiar classics, and also many extracts from late 

 literature never before included in such a collection. It is 

 arranged in three volumes, each complete in itself, and specially 

 adapted to the age for which it is intended. Volume I. is de- 

 signed for chOdren from four to ten years old ; Volume II., for 

 those from ten to fourteen ; and Volume III., for the oldest stu- 

 dents. The purpose of the book is to train the memory, to edu- 

 cate the literary taste, and to supply the student with the long- 

 needed standard collection of poetry and prose for recitation. 



—The Scientific Publishing Company, P.O. Box 1833, New 

 York, announce the publication of "Gems and Precious Stones of 

 North America," by George F. Kunz, gem expert with Tiffany & 

 Co. This book is a popular description of their occurrence, 

 value, history, and archasology, and of the collections in which 

 they exist, with a chapter on pearls. The standing of the author 

 will serve as a guaranty for the excellence of the work. The 

 several species and varieties of precious stones are described sys- 

 tematically, and the work is far more detailed and thorough than 

 has hitherto been attempted. This magnificent work is profusely 

 illustrated with the finest colored plates ever engraved for a work 

 of this kind, being the very best work of Messrs. Prang & Co. 



— In Garden and Forest for March 19, Mr. Charles Eliot con- 

 tinues bis series of articles on old American country-seats, with a 

 delightful sketch of Montgomery Place ; and this fine old home 

 of the Livingstons is illustrated by a view of its entrance front, 

 and another of an avenue on the grounds. The same number 

 contains articles on street trees, the dwarf Japanese plants at the 

 Paris Exposition, the winter colors of the bark of trees and 

 shrubs, and the cultivation of strawberries, besides much season- 

 able information concerning the garden in early spring. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. Tlie ror iter's name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character 

 of the Journal. 



On request^ twenty copies of the number containing his communication toill 

 be furnished free to any correspondent. 



Solar Halos. 



The forenoon of March 3 in central and southern Arkansas was 

 cold and calm, and the sky was cloudless though somewhat hazy. 

 About eight o'clock white and colored bows appeared in the haze 



about the sun, and continued to be visible until about half-past 

 ten, when it gradually disappeared. This i^henomenou seems to 

 have been most brilliant in the south-western part of the State. 

 One of my assistants on the Geological Survey of Arkansas, Mr. 

 James Perrin Smith, who witnessed it in Howard County, Ark. 

 sends me the figure accompanying this (made on the ground), 

 and a letter, a part of which I append. 



Mr. Smith writes from Venetia Grove, Howard County, Ark. ; 

 " At 8.30 there was not a cloud in sight, but the eastern sky had 

 a hazy appearance. The sun was shining with full brilliancy; 

 and on the right and left of it, and above it at equal distances, 

 three other suns appeared, shining almost as brightly as the sun 



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proper. The figure called for a fourth secondary sun, but it was 

 too near the horizon for this to be seen. Radiating from these 

 suns were brilliant rainbows forming regular spherical triangles. 

 The brightness of the suns and bows lasted but a few minutes, 

 and then began gradually to fade. Within fifteen minutes, how- 

 ever, the sun had risen high enough to bring the fourth secondary 

 sun to view, but bj this time the rainbow lines with it were very 

 indistinct. By ten o'clock the whole spectacle had faded away." 



John C. Beannee. 



Little Rock, Ark., March 10. 



Lake and River Temperatures. 



A SERIES of temperatui-es of the water taken during last sum- 

 mer near the outlet of Lake Ontario and in the St. Lawrence and 

 other rivers by the writer, and during the last and previ- 

 ous seasons in the Georgian Bay by Staff Commander Boulton, 

 R.N. , appears to establish some interesting results, which will 

 be detailed in the forthcoming number of the Canadian Record 

 of Science. While some of the results are not novel, they all 

 exemplify some characteristics of fresh water in the great masses 

 in which it occurs in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence and 

 its tributaries, under the varying conditions of climate which 

 the geographical position of these lakes and rivers presents. The 

 points of interest are, — 



That the Georgian Bay, as well as Lake Superior, forms a great 

 area of cold water, — apparently considerably colder at the bot- 

 tom than even the deeper parts of the centi-al basin of Lake Hu- 

 ron, and varying in July and August between 37.75° and 39. 5° F. 



That the occurrence in midsummer of a temperature at the 

 bottom of the Georgian Bay, below that of water at its maximum 

 density, is remarkable, and may be due to strong bottom cur- 

 rents. 



That the waters of the lakes and St. Lawrence flow onward in 

 areas of different temperatures; the variation being generally 

 from 1° to 3°, and being equally observable under as well as at 

 the surface. 



That the general rise in the temperature of the Lake Ontario 

 watei-s, as the summer advances, is at first slow, compared with 

 the general rise in the temperatui'e of the air ; but, as midsum- 

 mer is reached, the rise is more rapid. 



Tliat motion in water, as in a long rapid, appears to at least 

 sensibly raise its temperature. Continuous strong currents, on 



