338 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 218 



Polynesia. 



The eruption of Mauna Loa has almost entirely 

 ceased, although steam is still issuing from fissures 

 along the mountain-side. The activity in the 

 crater of Kilauea, more particularly in Halema'u- 

 ma'u {vide map in Science, ix. 181), is constantly 

 increasing. 



Polar regions. 



The well-known Scotch whaler David Gray of 

 Peterhead, who tried to find a new whaling-ground 

 in the sea surrounding Franz-Josef Land, has 

 failed to reach those islands, as the pack-ice ex- 

 tended far south, and was so closely packed that 

 he was unable to enter it. • , 



Mr. Alexander McArthl^r has returned from his 

 ' trip to the north pole,' after having reached York 

 Factory, and has given up his plans of proceeding 

 by the Hudson Bay route. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The Journal of the science college of the Im- 

 perial university of Japan, the first part of which 

 has just made its appearance, may be regarded as 

 a continuation of the scientific memoirs which 

 have been from time to time published by the 

 Tokyo university. This journal is intended to be 

 the journal through which the world at large may 

 receive Japan's own contributions to the progress 

 of science. One unique feature which will be ap- 

 parent at once has regard to the language or lan- 

 guages in which the various papers are to be pre- 

 sented. Each contribution must be written in one 

 of the three languages, English, French, or Ger- 

 man, the choice being left entirely to the author. 

 The necessity for this tri-lingual character springs, 

 of course, from the very peculiar but well-known 

 condition under which science has been cultivated 

 in Japan and by the Japanese. The appearance 

 of this journal is a strong commentary on the ad- 

 vance in culture in Japan, which, from being a 

 country depending on the culture of foreign parts, 

 is now beginning to return the debt. 



— Our readers who are interested in astronomy 

 will find an excellent guide for first explorations 

 of the constellations in an illustrated article by 

 Mr. G. P. Serviss (' Astronomy witli an opera- 

 glass— the stars of spring'), contributed to the 

 Popular science monthly for April. 



— A state board of health has just been organ- 

 ized in Vermont, making twenty-nine states which 

 now have state boards. 



— The Medical record quotes Dr. Mackenzie as 

 being of the opinion that American catarrhs are 

 largely due to the dust, and says that it is not un- 

 reasonable to believe that the tremendous clouds 



of unsterilized earth which are driven into the 

 faces of our city's population during this season 

 have something to do with the excess of coughs 

 and colds and the high mortality-rate during this 

 period, which in some years is exceeded only in 

 the hot months of summer. 



— An experimental passenger- train, lighted 

 throughout by electricity, and heated by steam 

 from the engine, now runs between New York 

 City and Boston. Each car is illuminated by 

 eighteen 16-candle glow-lamps, the current being 

 derived from storage-batteries hung beneath the 

 floor-timbers, charged for ten hours by dynamos. 

 Both light and heat are said to be ample; and dan- 

 ger from fire, in case of accident to the train, is 

 much lessened, if not almost wholly done away 

 with. 



— Messrs. Estes & Lauriat, Boston, announce 

 for early publication, ' Key to North American 

 birds,' third revised edition, by Elliott Coues ; also 

 ' Key to Noi"th American birds,' sportsman's and 

 tourist's edition. 



— Among recent numbers of the Van Nostrand 

 science series, we note the following : 'Petroleum, 

 its production and use,' by Boverton Redwood, 

 a reprint from the Journal of the Society of arts, 

 London, with the omission of such portions as 

 would seem to be of little or no interest to American 

 readers ; ' Leveling, barometric, trigonometric 

 and spirit,' by Ira O. Baker, prepared originally 

 as a part of the author's lectures on geodesy, 

 given in the University of Illinois ; ' Analysis of 

 rotary motion, as applied to the gyroscope,' by J. 

 G. Barnard, a reprint of the analytical exposi- 

 tion of the motions of the gyroscope, written by 

 General Barnard in 1858 for the Journal of edu- 

 cation ; ' Beams and girders, practical formulas 

 for their resistance,' by P. H. Philbrick, which 

 aims to deduce general formulas for the resist- 

 ance of beams and girders, applicable to all cases, 

 and to set forth truly practical formulas so far 

 as seemingly required in the use of existing 

 forms and sections ; ' Compressed gun-cotton for 

 military use,' by John P. Wisser, a translation 

 of the work of Lieutenant von Forster, with ad- 

 ditions giving an outline of the present process of 

 manufacture and a summary of the properties 

 of the best form now produced. 



— The fish commission will send the steamer 

 Albatross to the Pacific coast next fall, to remain 

 several years, and will make a thorough investi- 

 gation of all matters relating to food-fishes. The 

 cod, halibut, and other food-fishes are caught in 

 the Pacific ; but little is known of their distribution, 

 and the fisheries have not been developed. The 

 Albatross will also make investigations in the GuK 



