EDITORIAL NOTES. 



387 



Mr. John Adams, of Boston, has taken 

 out a patent for a device intended to be used 

 as a brake on steam vessels for the prevention 

 of collisions. It is modeled after the pector- 

 .al fins of a fish and has been tested with 

 complete success on a ocean steamer, stop- 

 ping her within ten feet several times when 

 sailing twelve miles an hour. 



The transit of Venus in December is now 

 'filling the minds of the scientific men of the 

 whole world. Every civilized government is 

 extending aid, and simultaneous observations 

 will be taken from every available portion of 

 the globe. As this phenomenon will not 

 again occur fur one hundred and twenty-two 

 years the astronomers of the present day will 

 make the most of it. 



Professor J. D. Parker, who has fre- 

 quently assisted us in the preparation of the 

 Review, has received the appointment of 

 Post Chaplain in the U. S. Army, and has 

 left Kansas City to assume its duties at San 

 Ant^ o, Texas. It is a good selection and 

 Professor Parker hss the ability to fill the 

 position admirably. 



.ottest September day on record in 

 '•"^sficinity was the I2th, when the mercury 

 i^^iclied 104° at Kansas City, 105° at Law- 

 rence, Kansas, 100° at St. Louis, and about 

 t^ ^ame at all neighboring points, and was 

 accompanied by afiercehot wind that scorch- 

 ed vegetation like a flame and filled the air 

 with clouds of suffocating dust. On the 

 1 8th, after nearly two month's drouth, a 

 severe rain storm, amounting to over two 

 inches, as reported to us, occured, doing 

 much damage in this city and vicinity. 



Dr. D. G. Brinton, of Philadelphia, is 

 about to commence the publication of a se- 

 ries of works under the general title of Li- 

 brary of Aboriginal Literature. These 

 works will be published in the original 

 tongues with English translations and notes. 

 The first of the series will be '' The Maya 

 Chronicles." The price of each volume will 

 'be ;?l.oo. 



The Edison incandescent light in New 

 York City seems to be regarded now as a 

 success. New burners can not be put up fast 

 enough to supply the demand, and there is 

 no prospect of a return to gas in the build- 

 ings now illuminaed by electricity. This 

 means that the new light is more agreeable 

 than gas, and cheaper. 



Prof. A. N. Leonhard, of St. Louis, has 

 recently published a very full list of the 

 minerals of Missouri, with the localities 

 where found, etc. As Prof. Leonhard was 

 formerly connected with the State Geologi- 

 cal Survey and is now in charge of the de- 

 partment of Mining and Metallurgy in the 

 Washington University, this list may be re- 

 lied upon as very accurate and complete. 



Two comets are now engaging the attention 

 of astronomers. One was discovered first by 

 E. E. Barnard, of Nashville, on the morning 

 of Sept, 14, and is consequently called the 

 Comet Barnard. It is only to be seen by the 

 use of the telescope, and according to the 

 Boston Science Observer, its orbit does not 

 bear any resemblance to that of any known 

 comet. The other was discovered first by 

 Mr Cruls, at, Rio Janeiro, Sept. 11 ; and on 

 the i8th by c! C. Miller, of Leon, Kansas. It 

 is a very prominent object in the eastern sky, 

 on any clear morning, at about 4:30- The nu- 

 cleus appears to be heading directly towards 

 the sun, while the tail lies to the westward. 



P. Blakiston Son & Co. announce a hand- 

 some edition of Harley's Diseases of the Liv- 

 er, to be ready in October. It will be an 

 octavo volume, illustrated with colored plates 

 and wood engravings. It is offered as the 

 only thorough book on the subject now be- 

 fore the profession. 



ITEMS FROM PERIODICALS. 



The contents of the Popular Science Month- 

 ly for October are as follows : Massage : Its 

 Mode of Application and Effects, Douglas 

 Graham, M. D ; Literature and Science, by 

 Matthew Arnold ; What are Clouds? by C. 



