516 



8GIJENCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 225 



Now tuberculosis is domesticated among us, and 

 the dramatic and absorbing features of a more rapid- 

 ly fatal and readily acquired disease are wanting ; so 

 that, while we are busying oiirselves in the humane 

 and worthy effort to help the stricken individual, 

 the spread of the disease among more vulnerable 

 persons goes steadily on, and systematic efforts to- 

 wards the prevention of the distribution of infec- 

 tive material are almost completely ignored. 



Let all the conditions which Hambleton and 

 others urge — mistakenly, I think, as the cause of 

 the disease — be fully considered and guarded 

 against ; let climatic, hygienic, and hereditary in- 

 fluences be made as favorable as possible ; and let 

 the influence of drugs be brought to bear whenever 

 and however they safely and to good purpose may. 

 To attend to these things is the dutj^ of the physi- 

 cian. But beyond and above all this, is the problem 

 of the total eradication of the disease. Its practical 

 solution may and probably does lie far in the future ; 

 but it would seem unquestionable, in the light of 

 modern science, that any systematic and intelligent 

 effort in this direction must be based first of all on 

 the universal recognition of the fact that a particular 

 species of bacterium, and it alone, causes tubercu- 

 losis, although there are hosts of most important 

 external and internal conditions which favor or re- 

 tard the progress of bacterial invasion. 



T. Mitchell Pexjdden, M.D. 

 New York, May 23. 



Bassariscus, a nevy generic name in mammalogy. 



Having lately had occasion to do with the quad- 

 ruped commonly called Bassaris astuta, my attention 

 has been drawn to the fact that the generic name is 

 pre-occupied in entomology. It is said to have been 

 conferred by Hiibner upon a geniis of lepidopterous 

 insects, 1821 or earlier. There being no synonyme of 

 the mammalian genus, that I know of, a new name 

 for the latter seems to be required. The above may 

 be regarded as a diminutive of one of the several 

 forms of a Greek word meaning fox. and the two 

 species of the genus may be known as Bassariscus 

 astutus and B. sumichrasti. The English equivalent 

 would be ' bassarisk,' a term which may come into 

 use, since we have not yet any single word in the 

 vernacular as the name of the animal. As to the 

 technical name of the family of bassarisks, it may be 

 observed, that, if Bassaris be untenable in this con- 

 nection, then so is Bassarididae. The first tenable 

 generic name in this family is doubtless Bassaricyon 

 of Allen, 1876, whence it would appear that the 

 proper name of the family is Bassaricyonidae. 



Elliott Coi'es. 

 Smitlison. inst., Washington, May 14. 



A needed invention in coal-mining. 



In recommending air-jigs for separating coal from 

 slate, I fear that Mr. Ludlow {Science, May 13) is on 

 the wrong track. Two solids are readily separated 

 by a fluid whose specific gravity is intermediate be- 

 tween theirs : the heavier sinks, the lighter floats. 

 But if, as is usually the case, we must employ a fluid 

 lighter than either, the heavier that fluid the more 

 ready and complete the separation : hence the enor- 

 mous disadvantage under which air suffers as a sepa- 

 rating medium. Air- jigs, too, would probably break 

 the coal much more than water. 



Coal initially dry would suffer an apparently irrep- 

 arable injury from absorption of water, if separated 

 by wet jigging ; but, for coal initially wet, means 

 for using the waste water over and over apear to 

 offer a more promising field than air-jigs. 



Henky M. Howe. 

 Boston, May 17. 



A noteworthy specimen of Devonian lepido- 

 dendron. 



A noteworthy specimen of Devonian lepidoden- 

 dron (L. primaevum Rogers ?) has recently been, 

 added to the New York state museum of natural his- 

 tory at Albany. It is fifteen feet in length from the 

 roots upward, measures thirteen and a half inches in 

 diameter across the base, three inches at the broken 

 upper extremity, and preserves in great beauty and 

 perfection the cicatrices of the leaves, in places the 

 narrow elongate-lanceolate foliage and the delicate 

 rootlets. 



The fossil was discovered in the Portage arena- 

 ceous shales of Naples, Ontario county, N.Y., by 

 Mr. D. D. Luther of^ Naples and Mr. J. M. Clarke of 

 Albany ; and a portion of it, as much as had at that 

 time been excavated, was described in Bulletin No. 

 16 of the U. S. geological survey. The continxiation 

 of the excavation added greatly to the length of the 

 specimen, and exposed its base and roots. The 

 trunk has been flattened in the shales and its tissue 

 reduced to coal, but in its present condition it un- 

 doubtedly offers to paleo-botanists one of the most 

 striking examples known of this genus of plants. 

 It is interesting to observe, that, so wide a variation 

 exists at different distances from the base in the ar- 

 rangement of the cicatrices, one cannot but feel> 

 upon examining the fossil, that, if it had been found 

 in fragments taken from different spots, it would 

 furnish all the necessary material for a half-dozen 

 distinct species of lepidodendron, according to prev- 

 alent methods of determining these values. More- 

 over, towards the base the leaves are uniformly 

 arranged on elevated longitudinal ridges, as in 

 Sigillaria, showing nothing of the quincunx ar- 

 rangement apparent higher up, and regarded as a 

 diagnostic character of lepidodendron. In this re- 

 gion also the longitudinal ridges are interrupted by 

 a series of varices suggestive of an equisetaceous 

 mode of growth. 



While it is to be regretted that the summit of the 

 tree has been lost, it is a fortunate circumstance that 

 preserved to science so fine an example of Devonian 

 forest-growth. C. 



Albany, May 18. 



The Sonora earthquake. 



In the report of the earthquake sent you a day or 

 two ago, I think an error was made in the time 

 stated. It should have been 2.48 local time, and 

 2.13 standard. Additional data and information are 

 at hand, which I have not had time to carefully con- 

 sider, but which only confirm my previous assertions. 

 There was no great loss of life anywhere, all reports 

 to the contrary notwithstanding. The central area of 

 disturbance was about theFronteras valley, and likely 

 due to faulting. No eruptive disturbance has re- 

 liably been reported, and I can only iterate my 

 previous assertion concerning volcanic action. 



G. E. GOODFELLOW. 



Tombstone, A. T., May 14. 



