88 



SCIENCE. 



[Tot. IX., No. 208 



twenty-nine minutes later, than at Sandy Hook. 

 Tbe tides are not affected by waves coming 

 through Hell Gate from the tides in the Sound 

 above. The results of Mr. Ferrel's analysis show- 

 that it is not nece?sary to make separate tide-pre- 

 dictions for both Sandy Hook and Governor's 

 Island, since the latter may be obtained from the 

 former by simply adding twenty-nine minutes to 

 the times. Other important appendices to the 

 coast-survey report for 1885 are, ' The geograph- 

 ical distribution and secular variation of the mag- 

 netic dip and intensity in the United States,' C. A. 

 Schott ; 'A plea for a light on St. George's Bank,' 

 Henry Mitchell ; ' On geodetic reconnaissance,' 

 C. O. Boutelle ; ' Note on a device for abbreviat- 

 ing time-reductions,' C. S. Peirce. 



— The coast-survey steamer Patterson, which 

 has been laid up since last October at the Mare 

 Island navy-yard, is being overhauled and painted, 

 to return to survey work on the Alaska coast early 

 in the coming spring. 



— Lieut. William H. Emory, who commanded 

 the Bear on the Greely relief expedition, has been 

 ordered to the Thetis, and will shortly sail for 

 Alaska. He will investigate the seal-fisheries, 

 and has received special instructions regarding 

 the boundary-line between Alaska and the British 

 possessions. 



— The will of the late Isaac Lea was admitted 

 to probate Jan. 23. The document is a volumi- 

 nous one, and contains twenty codicils. The will 

 bears date of execution May 25, 1878, and the final 

 codicil July 30, 1885. The petition, which was 

 filed by the executor with the document, places 

 the value of the estate left by the decedent at 

 about three hundred thousand dollars. He be- 

 queathed his collection of fresh-water shells, ma- 

 rine and land shells, minerals, fossils, and geologi- 

 cal specimens to the Academy of natural sciences 

 of Philadelphia ; but in a codicil dated Feb. 28, 

 1880, he says, "I revoke that part of my will 

 which gives to the Academy of natural sciences 

 at Philadelphia my collection of natural history, 

 and I give them all to the national museum at 

 Washington, D.C., on condition that the national 

 museum shall devote a room exclusively for the 

 Unionida, Stremopatida, Physaida, Paludinaida, 

 Pulmonifera, and others, the Unionida to be put 

 in the exact order in which thrnow are, with 

 their labels as I have placed them ; the whole to 

 be called ' The Isaac Lea collection ; ' the Musco- 

 vite collection to be placed in this room likewise." 

 A codicil executed on Oct. 1, 1884, reads, "Be- 

 lieving it important to the early history of the de- 

 velopment of the fluviatile and terrestrial Mollusca 

 of the United States to have some of my corre- 



spondence published, as well, also, some other sub- 

 jects, I desire my executors to devote a thousand 

 dollars to the object, provided they may agree with 

 me in that opinion." 



— A recent bulletin of the New England meteoro- 

 logical society states that the records of a meteor 

 seen from many points in New England on the 

 evening of September 6 were submitted to Prof. 

 H. A. Newton of Yale college, who reported as 

 follows : the meteor had an altitude of about 90 

 miles when first visible, over latitude 44° 15', 

 longitude 73° 8' ; and an altitude of 25 miles 

 when it disappeared, over latitude 43° 20', longi- 

 tude 71°. One of its explosions occurred near the 

 middle of the path, the other near the end. The 

 meteor was going away from the sun, having had 

 a perihelion distance of about three-quarters of the 

 earth-orbit radius. An extract is added from one 

 of Professor Newton's earlier papers. The altitudes 

 of 78 meteors observed on Nov. 13-14, 1863, were 

 calculated as follows : mean altitude at first ap- 

 pearance, 96.2 miles ; at disappearance, 60.8 miles ; 

 at middle path, 78.5 miles. Twenty-nine of these 

 meteors became visible at greater height than a 

 hundred miles, and seven disappeared before de- 

 scending to this height. For 39 meteors observed 

 on Aug. 10-11, 1863, the corresponding mean alti- 

 tudes are 69.9, 56.0, and 62,9 miles {Amer.journ. sc, 

 xi., 1865). It is desired that observers should report 

 the position of bright meteors, noting their paths 

 among the stars with as much accuracy and detail 

 as possible. The drift of the trail left by the 

 meteor should be closely observed, as it indicates 

 the direction of upper winds. The simple record 

 that a meteor was seen is of very little value alone. 



— The use of salicylic acid has become so preva- 

 lent to prevent fermentation in food-products, that 

 a committee of the Academic de medecine has had 

 the matter under consideration, and, in a report 

 recently made on the subject, says, " It being well 

 established by medical observation that feeble and 

 prolonged daily doses of salicylic acid and its 

 derivatives can cause considerable trouble to the 

 health of certain persons who are sensitive to those 

 forms of drugs, particularly old people and in 

 those whose venal or digestive functions are no 

 longer in perfect order, therefore the addition of 

 the salicylates to liquid and solid aliments will 

 not be permitted." 



— The agricultural appropriation bill reported 

 last week from the committee on agriculture car- 

 ries the following amounts for the support of this 

 service during the next year : experiments with 

 southern cane, $32,000 ; experiments in silk-cul- 

 ture, $15,000; slaughtering cattle, $100,000; cat- 

 tle quarantine, $20,000. The total amount recom- 



