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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 252 



, painstaking, and make a simple stand of small size and compact 

 imodel with first-class lenses, they would furnish something which 

 could be recommended to students and others by conscientious 

 advisers. 



Turning now to the consideration of continental microscopes, so 

 universally used in Europe, and now happily gaining supremacy in 

 this country, we see at once that they conform to the practical re- 

 •quirements which are disdained in the making of most American 

 microscopes. 



They are built with a firm base. The stage is easily reached by 

 ■the fingers when the hand is resting upon the table. It carries no 

 superfluous appurtenances, but is large and flat. The eye-piece is 

 of such a height, that when the instrument is vertical it is easy to 

 look into it. Concerning the lenses, it must be said that most of 

 the European manufacturers are very conscientious in regard to 

 those which they furnish. There are, of course, some makers who 

 put upon the market objectives of inferior quality, and which are 

 sold as such, and therefore at a correspondingly low price. This 

 is of course legitimate, as there is a demand for cheap microscopes. 



The price of these desirable microscopes is very much less than 

 that of undesirable American ones. According to our system of 

 protection, the physicians, scientific men, and students are taxed 

 enormously if they buy a foreign instrument. Put into plain Eng- 

 lish, this means that we are heavily fined if we secure what we re- 

 quire in the way of microscopes, while a small number of manu- 

 facturers, whose money-making is of very little significance to 

 the public, receive a bonus for furnishing an inferior article at a 

 high price. Thus what is really important is sacrificed for what is 

 unimportant. Many valuable members of the nation are sacrificed 

 by being obliged to pay* for the advantage of a small number of 

 men who have never shown themselves willing to supply to those 

 by whose sacrifices they benefit, the kind of instrument wanted. 



Can any thing be more unjust ? and are not we, who are engaged 

 in university careers, in the practice of medicine, or any other use- 

 ful occupation requiring the employment of microscopes, justified in 

 complaining of the condition of affairs, wluch is little short of a 

 national calamity .' Is it unreasonable to ask the manufacturers of 

 microscopes in this country tq furnish us instruments of the kind 

 we really need, as some sort of acknowledgment of the money they 

 extract from us whether we will or not .' 



In expressing myself so decisively and emphatically upon the 

 subject of American microscopes, I have not considered it neces- 

 sary to give a detailed discussion of the relative merits and demerits 

 of the different makes, because what I have expressed is the opin- 

 ion, in these matters, of all the competent judges with whom I have 

 talked on the subject. 



I know positively that many of the best scientific men of America 

 are ready to join me in saying, as I said at the beginning, that there 

 is no American microscope which we should like to buy at any 

 price for our own use. Charles Sedgwigk Minot. 



Boston, Nov. 24. 



The ' Act of God ' and ' Fuerza Mayor.' 



Mr. Morgan's article in 5«««i:^ of Nov. i8, 'The" Act of God" 

 and the Railway-Company,' is highly interesting, and suggests an 

 illustration drawn from comparative national jurisprudence. The 

 English common-law doctrine of the ' Act of God ' appears very 

 scientifically elaborated in the laws of Mexico under the title of 

 ' fuerza mayor.' Our neighboring republic is greatly advanced in 

 the science of law. While certain disturbing elements there inter- 

 fere somewhat with the practical application of statutes at times, 

 according to our views at least, nowhere on the continent has the 

 science of law been more carefully studied, and the results of that 

 study more accurately defined and set forth in both constitutional 

 and statutory form. Religious faith, too, in Mexico is to-day as 

 living and active a force in common personal life with the great 

 body of the people as it was in Europe in the middle ages ; and 

 this fact again, as Mr. Morgan's article suggests, illustrates how, 

 while the limitations of the Old-World doctrine have been gradual- 

 ly narrowing in the United States, it still holds its ground in Mexico 

 with proportions which practically make it the leading condition of 

 all contracts, expressed and implied. 



As an instance of how this provision enters into express contracts, 



let us take the great railway-concessions to the leading American 

 companies. In these concessions ' fuerza mayor ' generally appears 

 in three distinct places. The obligations of the company to build 

 within certain fixed periods are suspended incase of 'fuerza mayor.' 

 The concessions are forfeited by the companies carrying any foreign 

 armed force or goods contraband of war, unless they can show that 

 this was done because they were unable to resist ' fuerza mayor.' 

 Certain bounties granted to the railways cease during the time that 

 the operation of the lines is suspended, even if the suspension 

 should take place by reason of ' fuerza mayor.' 



In the smaller transactions of daily life this doctrine continually 

 appears as an unwritten law, which suspends all other laws, or 

 contracts, or obligations. Superior force, which often in Mexico 

 means what would simply be called disaster in the United States, 

 is to the Mexican mind a good defence against almost any obliga- 

 tion. For instance : should one lease a boat for a month at a fixed 

 sum, and unusual storms prevent using the boat for half the month, 

 that would be ample reason why the lessee should tender only half 

 the rent to the lessor, and he feel constrained to accept the offer. 



' Fuerza mayor ' is translated as ' superior force,' or ' uncontrolla- 

 ble circumstances.' These circumstances are nowhere, to my 

 knowledge, defined, but the facts of what are uncontrollable cir- 

 cumstances are to be decided in each case. The coercion of an 

 armed force is ' fuerza mayor.' The violence of storms is ' fuerza 

 mayor.' The flooding of a river is ' fuerza mayor.' And, as before 

 remarked, very generally what we are apt to consider as disaster, 

 in Mexico becomes ' fuerza mayor,' and operates to relieve a con- 

 tract of its obligations. To the American mind a contract made 

 must be carried out, and disaster, if there is any, falls on the man 

 who has loosely guarded his contract. In the confluence of the 

 American and Mexican civilizations now taking place, it becomes 

 an interesting question how this wide difference between the usage 

 and thinking of the two countries will adjust itself. 



W. W. Nevin. 



New York, Nov. 21. 



The American Physique. 



In order to find out how closely the figures of makers of knit 

 goods would correspond to those of the clothiers, I sent a letter to 

 one of the largest manufacturers. I enclose his reply, together with 

 the figures. You will observe that the figures on men's ware cor- 

 respond very closely with those of the clothiers, making allowance 

 for the tighter fit of the undergarments. 



Edward Atkinson. 

 Edward Atkinson, Esq. I 



Dear Sir, — Your favor of the nth inst. was duly received, but 

 the article referred to was not enclosed. It is impossible to give a 

 perfect assortment of sizes of underwear for men and women, as 

 the assortment varies in the weight of goods, and the section of 

 country they are for. I enclose, however, a copy of an average 

 order for 1,040 dozen of men's shirts and drawers, and one for 507 

 dozen ladies' vests and drawers, which will show very closely the 

 sizes that we sell, and the proportion of shirts and drawers : — 



. Queries. 



18. Meteor-Fall. — A few days ago there appeared in the 

 newspapers a circumstantial account of the fall of a two-ton 

 meteorite in front of a bank in the town of Amsterdam, N.Y. I 

 have seen nothing but this first announcement about it, and fear 

 the whole story may be a canard, yet would like to know that it 

 was a genuine happening. Can you report the matter in Science, 

 and doubtless oblige many others besides ? C. H. Ames. 



Boston, Nov. 37. 



