SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 18S7. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean for 

 December, issued by the United States Hydrographic Office, calls 

 special attention to the importance of an understanding among 

 transatlantic steamship companies and captains relative to the 

 routes followed by eastward and westward bound vessels, in order 

 to diminish as much as possible the dangers of collision on this 

 great race-track of the ' ocean greyhounds.' A reprint from the 

 chart is devoted to a brief discussion of the routes recommended 

 this month, with the addition of a chart showing graphically their 

 positions relative to the December storm-belt ; storm-tracks are 

 plotted by means of dotted lines ; and the average force and fre- 

 quency of prevailing winds in each 5° ocean square north of the 

 40th parallel are also given, as indicated by the results of the inter- 

 national system of simultaneous meteorological observation, so far 

 as now available. It is an appropriate time to bring up this sub- 

 ject, now that the proposed international conference relative to the 

 increase of safety at sea bids fair to be held. The well-known 

 'steam-lanes' planned by Maury in 1855 at the suggestion of Capt. 

 R. B. Forbes have never been followed to any great extent, and 

 indeed were never obligatory. At present each captain is allowed 

 to use his own discretion to a very large extent, and almost every 

 consideration is secondary to the desire to ' beat the record ' by 

 making a fast passage. If the thousands of passengers who cross 

 the ocean every season could read the thoughts of their captains 

 during the sleepless nights they pass on the bridges of their vessels, 

 while rushing at full speed through a dense fog, it would hardly 

 add to their comfort. The hydrographer, in his recommendations, 

 marks out a new policy, and instead of the old lanes plots two 

 routes on the chart, — eastward-bound vessels to follow the south- 

 ern line, or nothing to the northward of it ; and westward-bound 

 vessels the northern line, or nothing to the southward of it ; the 

 two lines crossing the 50th meridian in 45° and 46° north latitude 

 respectively. This is regarded as the best and only practicable solu- 

 tion of the question likely to meet with general acceptance, all things 

 considered. The great difference between this plan and Maury's 

 lanes is in the much wider limits allowed, which are thought to be 

 necessary and reasonable on account of present conditions of navi- 

 gation, the different destinations of vessels, the increased knowledge 

 and better forecasting of the weather, and the necessity of room to 

 allow for change of course in avoiding storms whose probable paths 

 are now comparatively well known. The prompt use which is thus 

 made by the Hydrographic Office, of the results of the simultaneous 

 observations made by international agreement and published by the 

 United States Signal Service, shows an appreciation of this impor- 

 tant system of observation which is especially gratifying as indi- 

 cating that the collection of these observations from masters of 

 vessels will be energetically continued, now that it is in the hands 

 of this office. It is understood that General Greely has, at the re- 

 quest of Commander Bartlett, ordered the immediate compilation 

 of ten-year normals for each ocean square in the North Atlantic, 

 for use in connection with the Pilot Chart ; and the vast interests 

 involved make this subject of such paramount importance, that it 

 is a cause for congratulation that the United States has taken the 

 lead not only in the inauguration of the system and the collection 

 and publication of the observations, but also in the immediate and 

 practical utilization of the results. 



There is in session this week at Trenton, N. J., a body 

 which is something of a novelty in educational organizations, but 

 from which great good is expected. We refer to the New Jersey 

 Council of Education. We do not know of the existence of any 

 similar body in any other State, and we do not believe that the or- 

 ganization of the New Jersey Council is as yet very well or generally 

 understood. In his presidential address at the meeting of the New 

 Jersey State Teachers' Association last year. Superintendent C. E. 

 Meleney of Paterson advocated the formation of a State council of 

 education which should have general unofficial supervision over 

 the educational interests and educational legislation of the State. 

 The idea proved to be a popular one, and a committee was ap- 

 pointed to prepare a plan for the organization of the council. The 

 body has since been regularly organized, and is now holding its first 

 annual meeting. Its constitution lays down as its aims the inves- 

 tigation and discussion of topics relating to education, the dis- 

 semination of information bearing on these topics, the consideration 

 and recommendation of the best means of advancing the education- 

 al interests of the State, and the consideration of means by which 

 the policy of the State may be modified in view of the progress of 

 educational thought. The constitution limits the membership to 

 forty-eight, and these are divided into three classes, each class to 

 serve three years. The places of the sixteen whose terms expire 

 each year are to be filled at the time of the meeting of the State 

 Teachers' Association. The election of members rests with the 

 council itself, but one-half of the nominations to fill vacancies are 

 to be made by the State Teachers' Association, and one-half by the 

 council. The names of the present members of the council show 

 that its deliberations are to be participated in by representatives of 

 every phase of education, from the sub-primary to the university. 

 The council proposes to be the embodiment of the power of the 

 teaching profession of the State, and will unquestionably do a 

 great service in the cause of educational advancement. The present 

 president of the council is Superintendent W. H. Barringer of New- 

 ark, and his address at the present meeting was to be on ' Educa- 

 tion as a Problem.' The various working committees and their 

 chairmen are as follows : school organization. Principal B. C. 

 Gregory of Newark ; course of study, Superintendent C. E. Meleney 

 of Paterson ; high schools and colleges, President Merrill E. Gates 

 of Rutgers College ; normal and training schools. Principal J. A. 

 Reinhart of Paterson ; supervision of schools. Superintendent 

 Charles Jacobus of New Brunswick ; school law. Principal J. M. 

 Green of Long Branch ; examination and tenure of office of 

 teachers. Superintendent Randall Spalding of Montclair ; hygiene 

 and sanitation. Prof. S. A. Farrand of Newark ; moral education 

 and discipline. Dr. J. H. Vincent of Plainfield ; statistics, Mr. A. 

 Scarlett of Burlington ; industrial education, President Nicholas 

 Murray Butler of Paterson. It will be seen at a glance that the 

 New Jersey Council is a working, not a talking body, and the ex- 

 ample it sets could well be followed in other States. 



The recent meeting of the American Public Health Asso- 

 ciation at Memphis, Tenn., of which a summary has been given in 

 Science, was one of the most interesting and important which that 

 association has ever held. Nine years ago its members convened 

 in Richmond, Va., many of them having just come from cities which 

 had been almost decimated by yellow-fever, first among which was 

 Memphis itself. The National Board of Health had its birth in 

 this meeting ; and had the same broad and liberal spirit which 

 characterized that meeting been fostered and encouraged, that board 



