SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, MARCH 2, li 



At the last meeting of the Washington Philosophical Society, 

 Mr. William Hallock presented a very noteworthy communication 

 upon the formation of fusible alloys. Wood's alloy, which melts at 

 about 64° C, is composed of lead, tin, cadmium, and bismuth, and 

 the lowest melting-point among its constituents is 230° C. Mr. Hal- 

 lock finds, however, that when the several metals are mixed together 

 in filings, and exposed for twenty-four hours to the heat of an or- 

 dinary water-bath, the alloy is produced, and the mass becomes 

 fluid. So, also, when freshly cut slices of sodium and potassium 

 are simply pressed together at ordinary temperatures, liquefaction 

 at once begins, and the fluid alloy is formed. In brief, it seems 

 probable that the phenomena may be generalized, and that all 

 fusible alloys may be obtained from their solid constituents at 

 temperatures very slightly in excess of the melting-points of the 

 compounds. Previous fluidity of either constituent is not neces- 

 sary. It will be seen that these results bear directly upon the work 

 reported by Spring, who claimed to obtain fusible alloys by pressure 

 alone, but who neglected to prove that the temperature of his ma- 

 terials never at any point reached 70" C. Probably, also, Mr. Hal- 

 lock's discovery may have decided bearing upon certain questions 

 of molecular dynamics. His results are extraordinary, but. it is 

 more extraordinary that the phenomena had escaped notice hitherto. 



A writer on the psychology of acting, in Longman s Mag- 

 azine, has introduced the inductive method into the solution of 

 problems connected with the histrionic art. The question has 

 often been debated, whether the effective personation of a part re- 

 quires a real experience of the emotions concerned, so that it is 

 acting only in the sense of artificially exciting a series of emotions ; 

 or whether the whole performance is a piece of art, with the emo- 

 tions, or what to the audience shall stand for such, as entirely as- 

 sumed as is the costume. The writer in question has addressed a 

 circular upon this and allied topics to members of the actor's pro- 

 fession, and the majority of his answers decide in favor of the real 

 emotion. The emotion of grief is taken as the typical one ; and 

 here the sad expression is, as a rule, not put on, but is the counter- 

 part of a real sympathetic state. Real tears flow, often to the 

 extent of interfering with distinct articulation ; nor can the impres- 

 sion be at once shaken off upon leaving the stage. A pertinent 

 instance is cited of an actor and an actress having to perform a 

 touching scene many scores of times, and each night resolving 

 ' not to make fools of themselves ' by sobs and tears ; but each 

 night they broke down, and showed the reality of their emotions. 

 Another actress is reported as saying that if she could play what- 

 ever piece most suited her humor each evening, her task would be 

 a much easier one. The general verdict is, that the greatest suc- 

 cess is produced by a real emotion. If one regards the performances 

 of persons in the hypnotic condition as ' acting ' in this sense, this 

 is precisely the conclusion that the psychologist would expect. It 

 is, however, not a universal experience, some actors testifying that 

 their performance is almost entirely a planned, cool, intellectual 

 artifice ; nor are such actors absent among the ' stars ' of the pro- 

 fession. That the assumption of a rSle can by repetition become 

 sufficiently assimilated to be taken up by the automatic self, is 

 shown by the experience of a very celebrated actress, who played 

 the ' potion scene ' in ' Romeo and Juliet ' without knowing it, and 

 could only with the greatest difficulty be prevented from playiiig the 

 scene over again, so confident was she that she had not played it. 



The committee on the geology of Rhode Island of the Provi- 

 dence Franklin Society has issued a valuable report on the geology 

 of Rhode Island, including a useful bibliography of this subject, 

 and setting forth briefly the various attempts made by the society 

 to organize a thorough topographical and geological survey of the 

 State. The committee was appointed in 1883, and we quote from its 

 valuable report the following general remarks, which show the ob- 

 ject of the work undertaken by the committee: " Our chief purpose 

 has been to bring to the notice of the Franklin Society what has 

 already been learned about the geology of Rhode Island. We have 

 attempted little original investigation, but have tried to lay the 

 foundations essential to future progress. The necessity for a col- 

 lation of authorities is apparent to one who seeks to gain a clear 

 idea of the geology of Rhode Island. Information is scattered 

 through many publications. The Franklin Society endeavored to 

 secure a new survey of the State in 1875-76, and again made an 

 effort for a topographical survey in 1885-86 ; but thus far nothing 

 has been accomplished. This report is published as the best con- 

 tribution the society can make to the cause, — a step towards a 

 complete survey ; for a knowledge of what has already been learned 

 is the proper foundation on which to build." It is to be hoped that 

 the unceasing endeavors of the society to undertake a survey on a 

 similar plan to that of Massachusetts, in co-operation with the 

 United States Geological Survey, will be successful. In 1885 Gov- 

 ernor Brown sent a message to the Assembly, commending such a 

 plan, which involved two annual payments of three thousand dol- 

 lars, but the Assembly did not act on it. The present publication, 

 which is a valuable help to all students of the subject of the geol- 

 ogy and geography of New England, we hope will help to show 

 the necessity of undertaking a thorough survey. 



IS THE RAINFALL INCREASING UPON THE PLAINS? 



To most of the inhabitants of that broad, billowy expanse which 

 stretches from the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and from 

 Canada to the Rio Grande, this question may seem unnecessary. 

 It has so long been assumed by them as an axiom that the rainfall 

 is increasing, that the opening of the question to discussion may 

 appear like questioning the Copernican system. They have seen 

 the frontier of settlement moving steadily westward, passing suc- 

 cessively the limits set for it. Thirty years ago all the country west 

 of the Missouri was considered as the ' Great American Desert,' 

 in which, without irrigation, agriculture was an impossibility. But 

 the stream of immigration has swept, with each succeeding year, 

 farther and farther up the slope of the plains, driving the border of 

 the desert before it. The 98th meridian was set as the boundary 

 which the farmer could not pass, but now millions of acres are un- 

 der cultivation beyond it ; then the looth meridian, but in Kansas 

 and Nebraska the farms stretch scores of miles farther westward. 



Progress has not, however, been uniform. Seasons of drought 

 have checked it, and have depopulated temporarily large areas ; 

 but the settlers have returned to the charge, and have invariably 

 won the day in the end. 



To-day the cereals are being cultivated in Kansas, without irri 

 gallon, nearly to the west boundary of the State, in regions where 

 the annual rainfall twenty years ago was less than twenty inches, 

 — a region which at that time, as was generally agreed, could be 

 rendered productive only by artificial watering. How has this 

 been brought about ? Have settlement and tree-planting induced 

 greater rainfall, as is almost universally believed in this region, or 

 are other causes involved ? 



Of course, if this westward extension of settlement has become 



