EDITORIAL NOTES. 



411 



or heavy spar, gypsum, feldspar, hornblende, 

 asbestos, Wolfram, etc., nitre, or saltpetre, 

 fire-clay, potter's-clay, kaolin, grindstone, 

 gritstone, slate, marbles, polishing-stone, 

 paving-stone, fuller's earth, limestones for 

 making lime, hydraulic cement stone, and 

 building stones of all kinds. The harder 

 stones, such as granites, sandstones, lime- 

 stones, etc., should be in cubes of one foot, 

 while marbles, soapstones and slates are bet- 

 ter if cut in slabs. The cubes should liave 

 one side broken, one side bushed, one ham- 

 mer-dressed, and one polished. 



Specimens of coal should show the thick- 

 ness of the vein. Of clays and earthy min- 

 erals at least ten pounds should be sent. 



Specimens should be well wrapped in pa- 

 per, with a label enclosed indicating the lo- 

 cality, and name of owner or forwarder. 

 Packed in a strong box and filled in with 

 paper to prevent shaking or rubbing, and 

 address to Major F. F. Hilder, St. Louis, Mo. 



On October 8th the Missouri River Im- 

 provement Commission, consisting of Majors 

 Suter, McKenzie and Ernst and Messrs. G. 

 C. Broadhead and Broatch, met in this city 

 to inspect the river banks and determine 

 what is needed to improve navigation and 

 prevent serious damage to property by the 

 washing of the current. If work can be 

 commenced this fall and continued during 

 the winter, while the river is low and the 

 current comparatively weak, it will probably 

 prove of incalculable benefit; but if post- 

 poned until spring the high water will un- 

 doubtedly, as usual, undo all that is attempt- 

 ed, even if it does not cut across the narrow 

 neck behind Harlem, and do damage that 

 millions of dollars will not repair. 



The total eclipse of the Moon of October 

 2d, was invisible in this country, but was 

 successfully observed throughout Europe, 

 and proved a most interesting spectacle. The 

 view of the eclipse in London was superb, 

 the atmosphere being phenomenally clear. 

 It began at 9:33 P. M. and ended at 1:16 A. 

 M. Elaborate preparations for scientific 

 observations wei'e made at Greenwich, Paris 



and St. Petersburg, and they proved entirely 

 successful. At the Trocadero in Paris the 

 public was admitted free of charge and given 

 the use of the telescopes, while the scientific 

 aspects of the phenomenon were explained 

 by popular lectures. 



Arrangements are on foot, it appears, 

 for a very comprehensive exhibition of Amer- 

 ican products and manufactures, to take 

 place in London, in 1885, and the project 

 has been placed in charge of General C. B. 

 Norton, secretary of the recent foreign exhi- 

 bition in Boston. The idea is a good one, 

 and General Norton, from his experience in 

 the Paris, Philadelphia and Boston exhibi- 

 tions, should be a good man to prosecute it. 



Mr. Jonathan Lidvpelij, living near Ul- 

 mon's Eidge, Mo., found the jaw tooth of a 

 large animal some two or three weeks ago in 

 a spring not more than one mile from the 

 head of the valley. Lately he commenced 

 again to dig around the spring and found six 

 jaw teeth and some bones. The first tooth 

 found weighs three and one-quarter pounds, 

 is nearly twenty inches in circumference and 

 has been nearly a foot long, including the 

 roots. The largest tooth found weighs over 

 five pounds. It is about twelve inches long*" 

 and four and a half inches thick. The bones 

 found last are a portion of the hip-bones. 

 The diameter of this bone at the joint is about 

 eight inches one way and about twenty inches 

 the other way. 



A cable message was received October 15th 

 at Harvard College Observatory, from Dr. 

 Krueger, Kiel, announcing the discovery of 

 an asteroid by Palisa, at Vienna. The posi- 

 tion given is as follows: October 14. 4033, 

 Gr. M. T. E. A. 2ti. 18m. 26.3s. Decl. + 

 1 3° \y Y'. Daily motion in E. A. 56s. West, 

 in Decl. 6^ South. 



Prof. F. H. Snow, of Kansas University, 

 reports that the month of September was re- 

 markable for its high mean temperature 

 and its extraordinary rainfall. Its mean 

 temperature exceeded that of every other 



