180 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 212 



long ago as 1806. The act now before the legisla- 

 ture repeals many of these laws entirely as well as 

 the inconsistent and useless sections of the others. 

 We have not had time to compare the proposed 

 law with those which it will repeal, but as the 

 act has been prepared by the counsel of the New 

 York county medical society, who has probably 

 had as much experience in these matters in the 

 courts as any of the lawyers, .we presume there- 

 pealing clause is right and proper. We are glad 

 to see that provision is also made by which the 

 question of registration will be settled, so that the 

 practice of county clerks throughout the state will 

 be uniform. It will hereafter be necessary for a 

 physician to register in person in but one county, 

 after which registration he will receive a certifi- 

 cate of registration from the county clerk. If he 

 desires to remove his practice to another county, 

 or to engage in practice or open an office therein, 

 he may present his certificate in person to the 

 clerk of that county, or mail it to him by regis- 

 tered letter. On this certificate the clerk will in- 

 dorse, ' registered also in county,' and the 



physician is then qualified to practise therein. 



cine, are also worthy of commendation. We 

 sincerely trust that the whole bill will promptly 

 pass both houses of the legislature and receive the 

 signature of the governor. 



Another section of the law which is most equi- 

 table and just, and one which will remove all 

 cause for doubtful interpretation of existing laws, 

 is as follows : " Nothing in this act shall be con- 

 strued to punish commissioned medical officers 

 serving in the army or navy of the United States, 

 or in the U. S. marine hospital service, while 

 so commissioned, or any one while actually 

 serving as a member of the resident medical staff 

 of any legally incorporated hospital, or any legally 

 qualified and registered dentist exclusively en- 

 gaged in practising the art of dentistry, or any 

 lawfully qualified physicians and surgeons resid- 

 ing in other states or counties meeting registered 

 physicians and surgeons of this state in consulta- 

 tion, or any physician or surgeon residing on the 

 border of a neighboring state, and duly authorized 

 under the laws thereof to practise physic or sur- 

 gery therein, whose practice extends into the 

 limits of this state, providing that such practi- 

 tioner shall not open an office or appoint a place 

 to meet patients or receive calls within the limits 

 of the state of New York ; or physicians duly 

 registered in one county of this state called to 

 attend isolated cases in another county, but not 

 residing or habitually practising therein." The 

 other provisions of the law which are intended to 

 punish all those who fraudulently practise medi- 



Capt. a. W. Gkeely's appointment as chief 

 signal-officer with rank of brigadier-general is a 

 well-merited promotion. It is also a compromise 

 with those who have been advocating the separa- 

 tion of the service from the army ; for, while the 

 new chief is an army officer, he is also a man of 

 scientific attainments and experience, and it was for 

 the purpose of securing a person with the latter 

 qualifications that the change was advocated. 

 The appointment is also applauded by the Presi- 

 dent's friends as being in strict line of civil-service 

 reform, as Captain Greely was next in rank in the 

 bureau to General Hazen, and had worked long 

 enough with him to understand fully the meth- 

 ods of the service. The general impression seems 

 to be that the senate will confirm the nomination. 



THE LATE ERUPTION FROM KILAUEA. 



Because of the increased numbers of tourists, 

 better facilities are now offered for visiting Kilauea. 

 Instead of the arduous equestrian journey of 

 thirty miles from Hilo, over rough lava, often in 

 the midst of rain, the traveller can now disem- 

 bark from the Eonau — the best of the inter-island 

 steamers — at Keauhou on the dry side of Hawaii, 

 and reach the Volcano House by a new road, only 

 eighteen miles long, and that mostly in a car- 

 riage. Arrangements have been perfected by 

 which the round trip can be taken from Honolulu 

 in six days' time, allowing two nights and one and 

 a half days at the caldera, and at a cost of sixty 

 dollars. 



The first recorded eruption from Kilauea was in 

 1789, when a ti'oop of native soldiers were suffo- 

 cated. The first scientific accounts are those of 

 Ellis in 1823, and of the U.S. exploring expedition 

 in 1840, as given by Commodore Wilkes and Prof. 

 J. D. Dana. Since then the more notable changes 

 have been recorded by Dr. Titus Coan in the col- 

 umns of the American journal of science. In 

 1882 Capt. C. E. Dutton explored Kilauea and the 

 Hawaiian Islands generally, presenting in the 

 'Fourth annual report of the U.S. geological sur- 

 vey' the best description of the volcanic phe- 

 nomena of that part of the world that has yet 

 appeared. In the following year, and also during 

 the past summer, the writer went over the same 

 ground. 



