January 31, 1887.] 



8CIJENCE, 



51 



Entirely straightforward were the very admir- 

 able performances in muscle-reading by Mr. 

 Charles H. Montague, a gentleman who, in the 

 course of a few weeks' practice, has acquired an 

 extreme skill. He first repeated a mock murder, 

 similar to the repetition recently achieved by 

 Bishop and noticed in our columns {Science, viii. 

 p. 506). He then accomplished another feat, that 

 of reconstituting a tableau, which had been ar- 

 ranged by Prof. W. T. Sedgwick while Mr. Mon- 

 tague was out of the room. When he returned, 

 he took hold of Professor Sedgwick's hand, and 

 quickly found the persons and objects, and placed 

 them in the proper positions quite exactly. All 

 of this was done by muscle-reading ; and, in reply 

 to a question from one of the audience, Mr. Mon- 

 tague said that mind-reading had nothing to do 

 with his obtaining the requisite information from 

 the subject. 



The various committees made brief reports of 

 progress, that of the committee on apparitions 

 being the most interesting, several remarkable 

 cases being read by Professor Royce, who closed 

 his suggestive remarks by stating that the com- 

 mittee was desirous of accumulating a much more 

 extensive material. 



The chairman, Dr. Bowditch, called attention 

 to the fact that the society, in order to employ a 

 qualified secretary and meet the expenses of its 

 work, requires at least two thousand dollai-s, about 

 half of which has already been raised. Under 

 these circumstances, the council had regarded it 

 as safe to engage the service of Mr. Hodgson, 

 who had agreed to come. Mr. Hodgson is well 

 known by his thorough exposure of the Indian 

 theosophical society and the frauds of Madame 

 Blavatsky. The society has hitherto been at a 

 disadvantage, because its leading members have 

 been so pressed by professional duties that they 

 have been able to give very little time to the 

 active work of the committees. But, if the funds 

 which the society asks for are secured, it will be 

 enabled to prosecute its various researches into 

 psychic phenomena with activity as well as zeal. 



An appeal to all those interested in the objects 

 of the society to help contribute to the balance of 

 the required sum has been issued by the council, 

 Henry P. Bowditch, Charles B. Cory, George S. 

 Fullerton, Edward G. Gardiner, E. H. Hall, G. 

 Stanley Hall, Charles C. JacksOn, Joseph Jastrow, 

 William James, Charles S. Minot, Simon New- 

 comb, E. C. Pickering, W. H. Pickering, James 

 M. Peirce, Josiah Royce, Minot J., Savage, Samuel 

 H. Scudder, Coleman Sellers, R. Pearsall Smith, 

 William Watson. Subscriptions should be sent to 

 C. C. Jackson, 24 Congress Street, Boston. 



We trust that the society will expand its scope, 



and turn to the solution of some of those problems 

 of psychology which press on every side for solu- 

 tion. We are therefore glad to learn that a com- 

 mittee on experimental psychology has been 

 appointed. 



GOVERNMENT SCIENTIFIC WORK. 



The work upon the report of the Charleston 

 earthquake, to be made by Captain Button of the 

 U. S. geological survey, is progressing rapidly. 

 The data collected are very voluminous, and of a 

 character which is quite as satisfactory as could 

 reasonably be expected. The number of separate 

 reports, amounting to about twenty-five hundred, 

 have been card-catalogued, and the plotting for 

 isoseismals has begun. The data are less satis- 

 factory than could be wished, although a few re- 

 ports of the time of the passage of the earth- 

 quake shock in various parts of the country will 

 be sufficiently accurate to determine the velocity 

 of propagation of the earth-wave, and with a 

 much smaller probability of error than in any 

 other earthquakes previously reported. The final 

 computations have not as yet been made, but 

 sufficient is known to indicate with certainty a 

 velocity somewhat in excess of three miles per 

 second. The data relating to the epicentral locali- 

 ties and their immediate neighborhood are quite 

 full, and it is expected they will prove instructive 

 and suggestive. Captain Dutton is reluctant to 

 speak very decisively about the final results, be- 

 lieving that any very specific statements would, 

 for the present, be premature. 



Prof. Raphael Pumpelly, chief of the division of 

 archean geology, who has been on the temporary 

 roll of the U. S. geological survey, has been 

 placed on the permanent roll, in consequence of 

 the resignation of JVlr. F. V. Hayden. 



The question of successorship to General Ha- 

 zen is being discussed. Captain Greely is most 

 likely to succeed to the position of chief signal 

 officer. He will at least remain at the head of 

 the service temporarily, until arrangements are 

 perfected for separating the weather-bureau from 

 military control, and establishing it permanently 

 under a civil branch of the government. General 

 Hazen was quite opposed to any such transfer, 

 but changed his mind about six months ago. This 

 leaves the matter now open ; and, as no officer of 

 high rank would be affected by the change, it will 

 probably be made. None of the officers of the 

 service would offer any opposition to the move- 

 ment. 



Another important step has been taken in the 

 permanent exposition project in Washington, the 

 select committee of the senate having reported in 



