March 2-', 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



203 



hosiery- mills. 9; storage, 7; paper-mills, 5; bleach and d.ve works, 

 S: tenements, 3; jute factories, 2; rubber-works, 3; silk-mill, 1; 

 linen-miU, 1 ; cordage- works, 1; miscellaneous. 3. The processes 

 where the fires started were as follows: cotton-picker. 58; wool- 

 picl<er, 19: mules, i6; cotton-.irier. 7; wood-drier, 6; cotton- 

 card, 6: shafting, 6; spinning-frames. 4; fly-frames, 4; boiler- 

 house. 4; looms, 3; engine roo:n, -i; wool-card, 2; blacksmith. 2; 

 ofl3ce, 2; wheel-pit, 2; sulphur bleach, I: jute-card 1: rag sort- 

 ing, 1; brusliing-uiMchine, 1; core oven 1; wire dravving, 1; 

 japanning room, 1; wcol dyehouse, 1: slasher, 1; card-grinder, 1; 

 storage and miscellaneous, 52. 



— Those who are interested in the subject of manna! and in- 

 dustrial education may like to read a pamphlet on " Manual Train- 

 ing in the Public Si-hools of Philadelphia," by James MacAlister, 

 superintendent of the city schools. It is issued by the New York 

 College for the Training of Teachers, and gives an account of the 

 courses in manual training and industrial art that have been in 

 operation for some years in certain of the Philadelphia schools. 

 These institutions, however, — the Industrial Art School and the 

 Manual Training School, — are special scho >ls, consisting of picked 

 volunteer students; so that their success or failure is no criterion 

 of the usefulness of manual training in the ordinary public schools. 

 Both the institutions ha^e had good success in their special Beld, 

 as such schools usually have had where they have been tried. 

 More recently kindergartens have been established in Philadel- 

 phia, with manual training as one of the features, but sufficient 

 time has not elapsed to show the effect* of their working. Sewing 

 has been introduced into the higher girls' schools, and with favor- 

 able results. Mr MacAlister's pamphlet will be of interest on 

 special points. 



— In Bulletin Ko 4 of the Rhode Island Experiment Station, 

 the apiarist gives much information about bee-keeping, and re- 

 ports the work done in this department the first season. Quota- 

 tions from crop and other reports of the United States Agricul- 

 tural Department are given to show the importance of this industry 

 in the United States, while facts and figures from the Rhode 

 Island census for 1885 show its condition in that State. Old- 

 fashioned bee-keeping is compared with modern management, its 

 improved hives and better varieties of bees. The value of bees 

 as honey and wax producers is shown; and their greater value as 

 carriers of pollen from flower to flower, thus fertilizing and caus- 

 ing the fruit to set and mature, is considered, and many opmions 

 and facts presented. The desirabilit.v of the cross fertilization of 

 flowei's and the aid rendered by in>ects in this work is shown, as 

 well as the adaptabilit.v of the honey-bee to the flowers of the most 

 important fruit and vegetaVile crops dependent upon insect visits. 

 The question as to whether bees injure fruit is presented; the 

 opinion of the govemmem entomologist that they do not, and an 

 account of the careful experiments carried out under his direction 

 to settle the matter, are given. The views of Professors Packard 

 and Gray, as well as of prominent fruit-growers in Rhode I>land, 

 are also given. Attention is called to the decision of the Supreme 

 Court of Arkansas as to the unconstitutionality of prohibiting bee- 

 keeping; also to laws lately passed in Germany which give all land- 

 owners the privilege of keeping bees anywhere, promise protection 

 by civil right and law, as well as punish the destruction of bees by 

 poison or any other wa.^ by a fine of $150 or imprisonment for 

 one year. No one need refrain fmm keeping bees on account of 

 opposition due to ignorance, fear, jealousy, or the ill will of their 

 neighbors, though all reasonable precautions should be taken to 

 firevent accident An account of the work done at the station 

 during the limited time allowed for it is given. A yard of ten 

 colonies was established, and made as near as possible a model 

 working apiary. The desirable varieties of bees were procured, a 

 daily record taken of a hive on scales, a show of bees in glass hives 

 made at the county fair, and a collection of the different kinds of 

 hives, fixtures, etc., used by prominent American producers, and 

 designed as a permanent exhibit at the station, was commenced. 

 Sixteen colonies were prepared for winter, — tliree placed in the 

 cellar, and the rest packed in outer Cises on their summer stands. 

 Acknowledgments are made of hives and other articles donated; 

 and samples of different kinds of honey from different parts of the 



country, as well as all articles of interest to bee-keepers, are 

 solicited, and voill be acknowledged in the bulletin. This work is 

 in charge of Samuel Cushman, and the address is Bee Department, 

 Experiment Station, Kingston, R.I. 



— Tlie carbons in the new Westinghouse alternating-current 

 arc-lamps are flat, two inches wide, seven -sixteenths of an inch 

 thick, and eight inches and a half long. The upper and lower 

 carbons are the same size, and are consumed at the same rate. 

 One set of carbons is said to last forty-eight hours. 



— A project is on foot to dig a ship-canal from a point opposite 

 Grand Island in Lake Superior to the northern extremity of 

 Green Bay in Lake Michigan, cutting across the narrowest part 

 of the long peninsula betiveen those two lakes. The proposed 

 canal is to be thirty six miles long, and would save two days and. 

 a half for steamers and five days for sailing-vessels that would 

 otherwise have to go around the peninsula. 



— The report of the Bidston Observatory for the five years 1884- 

 88 is mainly composed of meteorological observations from 

 which it appears that the anemographs furnish very question- 

 able data. The velocity of the wind has been computed on the 

 assumption that the motion of the anemograph's cui)s is equal 

 to one- third that of the air. The anemograph's pressure-nlate 

 presents a surface of two superficial feet to the wind. Both 

 these anemographs are about 210 feet above the sea-level. The 

 investigations conducted by Sir G. Stokes tend to show that 

 the constant for the cups is not 3, but more probably 2.4; and 

 the experiments made by Dines establish the relation between 

 the velocity and the pressure of the wind to be P= V^ x . 0035, 

 though hitherto it has been considered to be P=V-x .005. On 

 Jan. 23, 1884, the pressure of wind recorded at Bidston was 70.3 

 pounds per square foot, and the velocity 78 miles per hour. 

 Other extraordinary pressures with accompanying velocities are 

 as follows: Oct. 20, 1884, 40.6 pounds and 64 miles; March 

 30, 1886, 41.9;;pounds and 62 miles; Dec. 9, 1886, 40.4 pounds 

 and 69 miles;'Feb. 3, 1887, 40.1 pounds and 66 miles; May 20, 

 1887, 65.2 pounds and 78 miles; Nov. 1, 1887, 40.0 pounds 

 and 57 miles; Jan. 36, 1888, 49.3 pounds and 74 miles; May 

 3, 1833, 44.4 pounds and 6G miles; Nov. 20, 1888, 49.0 pounds 

 and 71 miles. The five maximum pressures, about 40, aver- 

 aging 40.6, accompany consistently hourly velocities, averaging 

 64 miles. Now, if the constant for velocity must be reduced 

 from 3 to 3.4, this 64 becomes 51 miles. According to the 

 old formula, the pressure corresponding to 51 miles would be 

 13, and according to the new formula only 9 pounds, which 

 numbers are in startling contrast to 40.6. Conver.sely, accept- 

 ing 40.6 pounds, the velocity by the old formula would be 90, 

 and by the new formula 108, which figures are in startling 

 contrast to 64 miles. Hence, whichever way the data are con- 

 sidered, the results are eminently unsatisfactory. For a press- 

 ure of 70 pounds, the corresponding velocity would be 141 miles 

 per hour by the new formula. Only the highest pressures have 

 here been tested, but similar discrepancies prevail all through 

 the series of these anemological statistics. Assuming these 

 maxima pressures to be correct, then the given velocities axe 

 greatly in defect ; but as the factor 3 has been employed, which 

 is now considered to be one-fifth too great, the given velocities 

 are just as much too large: hence that which is already great 

 should be greater, — an absurdity which leads to the inference 

 that the instruments are unreliable. Tlie mean velocity per 

 hour is really given, whereas the absolute velocity, expressed 

 as rate per hour, of the most violent gusts, lasting perhaps 

 only a few seconds, is wanted. Engineering points out that it 

 seems too much of a stretch of confidence to accept the press- 

 ures as reliable, inasmuch as none so high have been obtained 

 anywhere else. The inference, therefore, must be that the 

 accuracy of the anemographs at Bidston is extremely doubtful, 

 and it becomes important to make these apparatus the subject 

 of critical investigation. Until this has been efficiently done, 

 no reliance whatever can be put upon their results, which is 

 very much to be regretted, as the data extend over a long series 

 of years, and if reliable, or could be made so, would be of the 

 utmost scientific value. 



