246 



sciujsrcu. 



[Vol. IX.. No. 214 



teristic curve of a writer, — that is to say, if a 

 curve is constructed from one hundred thousand 

 words of a writer, taken from any one of his pro- 

 ductions, then a second curve constructed from 

 another hundred thousand words would be prac- 

 tically identical with the first, — and that this curve 

 would, in general, differ from that formed in the 

 same way from the composition of another writer, 

 to such an extent that one could always be dis- 

 tinguished from the other. To demonstrate the 



though not probable, that two writers might show 

 identical characteristic curves. 



T. C. Mendenhall. 



TIDAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE OREELY 

 EXPEDITION. 



The principal tidal observations were made at 

 Fort Conger, on Lady Franklin Bay, by various 

 members of the expeditionary force working under 



Fig. 10. —Two groups, of five thousand wokds bach, from addresses of Edward Atkinson; 

 to workingmen, ; to alumni of theological seminary, . 



Address 



existence of such a curve will require the enum- 

 eration of the letters in several hundred thousand 

 words from each of a number of writers. Should 

 its existence be established, the method might 

 then be applied to cases of disputed authorship. 

 If striking differences are found between the 

 curves of known and suspected compositions of 

 any writer, the evidence against identity of author- 

 ship would be quite conclusive. If the two com- 

 positions should produce-curves which are practi- 

 cally identical, the proof of a common origin 

 would be less convincing ; for it is possible, al- 



direction of Sergt. Edward Israel, and with a 

 general supervision by the commanding officer of 

 the expedition. They consisted of hourly heights 

 of the tide from Aug. 20, 1881, to July 1, 1882, 

 and the times and heights of high and low waters 

 from Aug. 20, 1881, to June 30, 1883, both series 

 read from fixed staff gauges and practically con- 

 tinuous. A broken series of high and low waters 

 from July 1 to Aug. 8, 1883, obtained under un- 

 favorable conditions, were not used in the discus- 

 sion. There were also short series at seven out- 

 lying stations on the coasts of Greenland and 



