SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, il 



Washington seems destined in the not very distant future 

 to become a leading scientific centre for the student of natural his- 

 tory. The Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum have 

 long offered unsurpassed facilities for research in most branches of 

 science, although there has been a lack of facilities for the study of 

 natural history from live subjects. The National Museum, how- 

 ever, has taken a step in the right direction at last, and has made a 

 collection of live animals, which, though unimportant at present, 

 may prove the nucleus of what may, with proper congressional aid, 

 be made the most valuable zoological collection in the country. In 

 addition to this, the Fish Commission is preparing a fine collection 

 of fresh and salt water fishes, mostly confined to those of economic 

 value, but which will incidentally contain many varieties of marine 

 life not valuable for food, but interesting for study. There are at 

 present about forty varieties of fresh fish on exhibition in addition 

 to the regular hatcheries of carp, shad, etc. The most interesting 

 of these is a small fish from South Carolina, which brings forth its 

 young alive, as animals do, instead of in the form of eggs, as is al- 

 most the universal custom of fishes. In another tank may be seen 

 nearly one hundred Mississippi River catfish from a river in the 

 neighborhood of Quincy, III. These are Western fish, and the Fish 

 Commission intends to introduce them into Eastern rivers on ac- 

 count of their great value as food-fish. The flesh is white, firm, 

 and of fine flavor. The present experiment is to determine whether 

 they will spawn in captivity. Another tank is full of beautifully 

 marked goldfish originally from Japan. Goldfish are not indige- 

 nous to any part of America, and are all of Asiatic or Japanese 

 origin, the latter being much the handsomest. Several specimens 

 of the California grayling, the gamest of all the gamy fishes, are 

 also to be seen. A fine collection of salt-water fauna will also be 

 brought from Wood's HoU, Mass., where it has been for some 

 months, and placed on exhibition in Washington. In addition to 

 the various food-fishes of the .ocean, the exhibit will contain 

 many other interesting forms of sea-life. The location of the exhi- 

 bition in the Armory Building leaves much to be desired, and it is 

 but poorly adapted for the needs of the work. Such a collection 

 should be located in a building built expressly for the purpose, 

 which will, in all probability, be ultimately erected. The exhibit of 

 salt-water fishes is intended, in addition to its afifording valuable 

 means of study, to demonstrate the feasibility of keeping a collection 

 of ocean fauna at a point remote from the sea. The water used 

 will be artificial sea-water, and the experiment has never before 

 been made on so large a scale. The difficulties attending the 

 transportation of sea-water prevent such exhibitions at any distance 

 from the sea. The exhibit will be tastefully and conveniently ar- 

 ranged. The asphalt floor is always dry, and the display interest- 

 ing and instructive to the layman as well as to the scientist, and 

 will also give valuable aid in the other work of the Fish Commis- 



IN THE January issue of "CPift Journal of Mental Science, Miss 

 Ellen F. White gives a most interesting account of medical gym- 

 nastics. We hear in this country more or less about the Swedish 

 movement-cure, but it is quite usual to regard it as simply a new 

 phase of quackery. It is, however, something very far removed 

 from quackery, and Miss White's paper on it makes this very clear. 

 Ling, the originator of the system, was a Swedish officer, who hap- 



pened to discover that a lameness in his own arm was cured by 

 fencing. He reflected on this fact, and then made an exhaustive 

 study of anatomy, physiology, and pathology for the purpose of 

 testing the principle which he thought he had discovered. As a 

 result he evolved his system ; and it includes medical, military, and 

 educational or hygienic gymnastics. The object of the latter is to 

 preserve the balance of power in the body : that of the former is to 

 restore the balance when it has been disturbed by a loss of the 

 proper proportion between the parts. The theory premises that 

 blood is the carrier of life and of disease, and that the flow and the 

 quality of blood can be controlled, or at least regulated, by gym- 

 nastics. The writer instances a number of cases and of affections 

 which substantiate these claims, and describes the various classes 

 of movements, and explains their nature and aims. She mentions 

 the fact, which is very evident to us in the United States, that 

 hundreds of so-called gymnasts, who may have been a few months 

 or a few weeks only under a teacher, are advertising themselves as 

 specialists, and bringing discredit upon the whole system. If it is 

 to establish itself in the public confidence, it must be taken out of 

 the hands of charlatans and quacks. ■ 



THE UNITED STATES HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. 



An important bill has just been introduced in Congress by which 

 it would seem as though the continued efficiency of this office, both 

 as regards its relation to the navy, of which it is a most important 

 and necessary adjunct, and to commerce and the entire maritime 

 community, would be insured. The bill referred to provides for the 

 appointment of a permanent hydrographer and assistant hydrog- 

 rapher, to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the 

 Senate. 



Few landsmen are in a position fully to appreciate the scope and 

 character of the work done by this office, much of it being of a 

 purely technical character, involving the preparation of charts, sail- 

 ing-directions, light-lists, etc., for the use of navigation in every 

 port of the globe. Until recently, however, the tour of duty of the 

 officer detailed as hydrographer has been so short, in accordance 

 with the usual custom in the navy, that it has been impossible to 

 do more than keep up the routine work of the office, which in itself 

 requires unremitting attention and care. Thanks to a longer detail 

 than usual, granted by Secretary Whitney at the request of the 

 chief of Bureau of Navigation, in order to develop the latent pos- 

 sibihties of the office, the present hydrographer has succeeded in 

 lifting it out of the old ruts in which it was moving, and has infused 

 into it renewed life and energy ; so much so, indeed, that it is now 

 fully recognized as one of the great scientific bureaus of the gov- 

 ernment, and the cordial assistance and support which it is re- 

 ceiving from masters of vessels show far more forcibly than words 

 can do the great practical value of its work. Branch offices have 

 been established at six of our principal seaports, and with such 

 success that more are demanded at other ports ; American charts 

 and other hydrographic publications have come to the front again ; 

 and last, but by no means least, the monthly Pilot Chart, a publi- 

 cation which is unique of its kind, has been established, and has 

 obtained an influence and importance well attested by the fact that 

 a large edition is generally exhausted in a few days after it is issued. 

 All those of our readers who have crossed the Atlantic during the 

 past three years have probably had an opportunity to form their 

 own ideas regarding the esteem in which it is held by masters of 

 vessels. 



To keep such an establishment moving smoothly, economically, 

 and efficiently, undoubtedly requires a longer tenure of office for its 

 responsible head than the three years prescribed by naval custom ; 

 and the bill which is now before Congress must receive hearty and 



