January 14, 1887.] 



SCmNCB, 



31 



ation of two thousand dollars pei* annum to equip 

 and sustain it), Indiana, Tennessee, Iowa, IJli- 

 nois, Missouri, New Jersey, Michigan, Kansas, 

 and New England (under the auspices of a meteor- 

 ological society). North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Pennsylvania, and Arkansas are in the process of 

 organizing them. Dr. C. W. Dabney, jun., has 

 been appointed director of the North Carolina, 

 with headquarters at Ealeigh ; and the first num- 

 ber of his Weather-review for December last prom- 

 ises a successful service. Already a hundred and 

 sixty-five towns and stations are informed of the 

 daily weather-predictions, by special messages re- 

 peated from Raleigh ; and at thirty-two of these 

 points flag-signals of the new pattern are now dis- 

 played for public information. By combination 

 of telegraph and post-office service, the announce- 

 ment of cold-waves will be made very general. 

 Local observation will also be attended to, and 

 twenty-nine stations were to be equipped ready 

 for record by the first of the year, besides eleven 

 signal-service stations in and near the state. No 

 funds are as yet appropriated by the state for 

 cost of instruments. 



— The report of Dr. Willis G. Tucker, analyst 

 of drugs to the state board of health of New 

 York, contains much that is of interest to the 

 public, dealing as it does with the drugs which 

 are daily prescribed by physicians in the treat- 

 ment of disease. The total number of samples 

 collected and examined was 194, of which 49.2 

 per cent were found to be of good quality ; that is, 

 to conform to the requirements of the U, S. phar- 

 macopoeia ; 29.2 per cent of fair quality falling not 

 far below these requirements, and 19.1 per cent of 

 inferior quality, some of them being entirely fic- 

 titious. The cream-of -tartar which was purchased 

 at the drug-stores showed 96.24 percent of purity, 

 while that from the groceries was but 87.48 per 

 cent, and one sample only 79.31 per cent. In ad- 

 dition to these, eight others were purchased at 

 groceries and purported to be cream-of -tartar, but 

 were, in fact, either grossly adulterated or entirely 

 fictitious, being made up of acid phosphate of 

 lime, starch, and sulphate of lime. Dr. Tuck- 

 er's advice would seem to be, that, when pure 

 cream-of -tartar is wanted, it should be obtained 

 from the drug-store, and not the grocery. The 

 vinegar sold at the groceries also comes in for 

 condemnation. Dr. Tucker says that an article so 

 largely used in the preparation of food ought to 

 be both free from adulteration, and of good 

 strength as well ; but the results of the examina- 

 tions so far made, show that here, as elsewhere, 

 wide differences in quality exist. The addition of 

 mineral acids is very uncommon ; but much vin- 



egar is sold which has been plentifully watered, 

 and the greater part of that sold as cider-vinegar 

 is a so-called white- wine vinegar colored by cara- 

 mel, with perhaps some cider- vinegar added to 

 give flavor. 85.2 per cent of the samples exam- 

 ined came below the legal requirement. The 

 standard required is "not less than four and one- 

 half per cent by weight of absolute acetic acid in 

 all vinegars." Only 14.8 per cent of the samples 

 tested contained the required amount, the highest 

 percentage being 6.2, and the lowest 1.8, the 

 average being 4 per cent. 



— The crown and flint glasses of the great ob- 

 jective of the Lick observatory arrived safely at 

 the summit of Mount Hamilton on Monday, Dec. 



27. 



— Since printing the article in last week's 

 Science on ' The prisoners of the Soudan,' we 

 learn by papers from Europe that Mr. Stanley 

 offered his services to the English government to 

 command an expedition to be sent to the relief of 

 Emin Bey ; that this offer was accepted, the ex- 

 penses, estimated at $150,000, to be defrayed by 

 the English and Egyptian governments. Mr. 

 Stanley, immediately upon his arrival in Eng- 

 land, after conferring with the English govern- 

 ment, went to Brussels to obtain permission of 

 the king of Belgium, as the head of the Kongo 

 Free State, to undertake this expedition. Mr. 

 Stanley goes directly to Zanzibar, thence to the 

 south end of Tanganyika, and thence all the way 

 by boats to Wadelai. The Belgium papers say 

 that this is a much longer and more dangerous 

 route than the one by the Kongo and the Arou- 

 huimi. 



— The American railroad journal and Van Nos- 

 trancTs engineering magazine have been consoli- 

 dated, now appearing as the Railroad and engi- 

 neering journal, under the editorial management 

 of M. N. Forney. The new monthly is devoted to 

 the discussion of engineering and mechanical 

 topics, with special reference to railroad con- 

 struction and operation. The January number 

 is well illustrated, and contains a good table of 

 contents. 



— The following are the recent assignments in 

 the personnel of the coast-survey service. Asst. 

 J. D. Baylor has left for Cedar Keys, Fla., to 

 establish magnetic stations between that place 

 and Washington, some seven or eight in number. 

 He will finish the work about April 1. Asst. O. H. 

 Titman and Mr. Henry G. Tiu-ner as aid have 

 taken up the primary triangulation work from 

 Alabama towards Mobile ; Asst. J. B. Weir, Sub- 

 Asst. McGrath, and Mr. W. D. Fairfield have left 

 Washington to take up the transcontinental geo- 



