516 



KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



The proposed substitution of soft Bessemer 

 steel for iron in the manufacture of nails, etc., 

 at Wheeling and Pittsburgh will create quite 

 a revolution in the iron manufacturing busi- 

 ness, inasmuch as it will do away with pud- 

 dling and puddlers and thus cheapen the 

 cost as well as lessen the dependence on la- 

 borers. At a recent meeting of the Tariff 

 Commission it was asserted that within five 

 years low-grade Bessemer or open-hearth 

 steel would take the place of iron for every 

 purpose for which it is now used. 



The new permanent station for the Signal 

 Service at Pike's Peak has at length been 

 completed, as well as the construction of a 

 telegraph line to connect the station at the 

 summit of the mountain with the world be- 

 low. The signal station is 14,000 feet above 

 sea level, and 6,000 feet above Colorado 

 Springs, and is constructed of granite laid in 

 cement to resist the furious storms of that lo- 

 cality. 



The revelations of the " Zoopraxiscope" 

 in the hands of Mr. Muybridge regarding the 

 positions assumed by animals in motion will 

 give painters and sculptors several new ideas 

 and if heeded will cause great modifications in 

 their ordinary representations of horses, dogs 

 and other common animals when running, 

 trotting, etc. 



Professor William Harkness, of the 

 United States Transit of Venus Commission, 

 requests the publication of the following : 



'•There are many persons scattered over 

 the country who have good telescopes, and 

 who would be glad to observe contacts dui-- 

 ing the coming transit of Venus if they hkd 

 any means of obtaining Washington time. 

 The Western Union Telegraph Company has 

 most generously agreed to give wide distribu- 

 tion to noontime signals from the Naval Ob- 

 servatory, December 4, 5. 6. and 7. As this 

 service will be wholly gratuitous on the part 

 of the telegraph company, the officers request 

 all persons who intend to make accurate ob- 

 servations of the transit to immediately notify 

 the nearest Western Union Telegraph office, 



as the transmission of signals will involve the 

 use of many thousand miles of wire and the 

 making up of many special circuits, all of 

 which must be planned beforehand. Furn- 

 ishing these signals free of cost to all observ- 

 ers is a contribution to science on the part of 

 the Western Union Company which will be 

 appreciated to every one interested in astron- 

 omy." 



Professor Scudder is receiving no small 

 amount of "chaff" from the daily papers^ 

 based upon an article read by him before the 

 National Academy of Science, entitled "The 

 Triassic Insects of the Rocky Mountains,"" 

 which he explained to have been largely the 

 ancestors of the common cockroach. Sup- 

 plementary essays by the reporters are nu- 

 merous and some of them quite amusing, it 

 evidently being a familiar subject with them.. 



Professor A. V. Leonhard, late instruct- 

 or in assaying at Washington University, St. 

 Louis, has opened an assay office and labora- 

 tory at 322 Chestnut Street in that city. 



Dr. Phene, the noted English antiquarian 

 and archaeologist, has started from St. Louis 

 on his return home. Dr. Phene has visited 

 the principal aboriginal monuments yet re- 

 maining in this region and the chief collec- 

 tions of antiquities as far north as Lake Su- 

 perior, and doubtless found much to add to- 

 his already vast stock of antiquarian knowl- 

 edge. 



The Kansas City Review of Science and 

 Industry is one of the periodicals of which 

 we delight to say a word in commendation. 

 The Review is chiefly a record of progress 

 in science, although mechanic arts and liter- 

 ature are not foreign to its scope. The large 

 work which it entails is to its editor, Mr. 

 Theo. S. Case, chiefly a labor of love; but 

 his zeal and public spirit ought not to be put 

 to too severe a test. Every student and ev- 

 ery person who wishes to keep informed on 

 the topics with which it deals ought to be a 

 regular reader of this magazine. — Industftal- 

 tst. 



