2 28 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 275 



•capital, — is full of enthusiasm for the early history of the country. 

 Appended is the address of Sir William Wilde to the Anthropologi- 

 cal Section of the British Association, delivered at Belfast, 1874. 



Alden's Manifold Cyclopedia of Knowledge and Language. Vols. 

 I.-V. New York, Alden. 12°. 50 cents per vol. 



The most striking features of the present cyclopa;diaare the handi- 

 ness of its volumes and its cheapness, which will make it accessible 

 to the general public. Another remarkable feature of this work is 

 the combination of the characteristics of a cyclopaedia and of a dic- 

 tionary, including in its vocabulary every word which has a claim 

 to a place in the English language. The sources from which it 

 ■draws are the standard cyclopaedias and dictionaries, and therefore 

 the contents of the various titles are probably accurate. A consid- 

 erable number of illustrations have been inserted in the text for 

 illustrating the subjects treated. Considering the marvellously low 

 price of the volumes, the printing is very satisfactory, the type being 

 ^■clear and sufficiently large. In selecting the titles, and in their 

 treatment, special attention has been paid to the wants of the 

 American public ; and those who are unable to procure one of the 

 expensive large cyclopaedias will find this work useful. So far, 

 five volumes have been issued, bringing the cyclopaedia up to the 

 word ' brave.' The work, when completed, will consist of about 

 thirty volumes. 



J'factical Hints for Draughtsmen. By Charles William 

 MacCord, New York, Wiley. 4°. $2.50. 



" The leading object of this treatise is to explain various modes of 

 representation, which are in many cases better than the precise 

 ■ones of projection." These words of the preface define clearly 

 the scope and object of the present volume, which is of the greatest 

 value to the student of mechanical drawing. The author is par- 

 ticular in emphasizing the fact that the object of the draughtsman 

 is not to make such drawings as are correct from a theoretical point 

 of view, but working drawings that will serve the purposes of the 

 workman, and that the method will be best which reaches this ob- 

 ject with the least outlay of time and labor. These principles are 

 so sound, and their application is set forth so clearly, that the book 

 must be recommended to all students of mechanics. The author, 

 recognizing the difficulty of laying down the rules in which it is 

 advisable to deviate from the laws of projection, shows in a great 

 number of examples in which way the working drawing ought to 

 ■differ from a correct projection, and emphasizes especially the 

 necessity to omit details which are of no use to the workman. The 

 imaxim, which he advocates most strongly, that each view should 

 be made to tell all it can, but that nothing should be put in it which 

 ■does not tell something worth knowing, ought to be kept in mind 

 by every mechanical draughtsman. A special chapter is devoted to 

 the representation of bolts, nuts, screws, and rivets. His hints for 

 sketching will be found eminently practical. In an appendix a 

 ■description is given of drawing-instruments, intended as a guide 

 for selecting a good set. Although we agree with the author's 

 opinion in a general way, we cannot concur in his wholesale con- 

 ■demnation of instruments adapted for special purposes. 



Memoranda on Poisons. By THOMAS Hawkes TannER. 6th 

 ed. Rev. by Henry Leffmann, M.D. Philadelphia, Blakiston. 

 24°. 75 cents. 



Tanner's ' Memoranda on Poisons ' is so well known, that it is 

 ■only necessary to call attention to the differences which exist be- 

 tween this and former editions. The principal changes that we 

 notice are the substitution of modern chemical nomenclature for 

 the older style, and the revision of the toxicology of poisonous food. 

 Although this book is specially intended for those engaged in actual 

 medical practice, it will be found to be a valuable addition to every 

 library, containing as it does, in a very condensed form, the symp- 

 toms and treatment of poisoning in its many forms. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The value of the work now doing by the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey will be appreciated when it is known that the engineer 

 of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad located its Hne through the 

 passes of the Wasatch Mountains from the government maps with- 



out sending out parties to determine the best route. The engineer 

 of the projected line from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City made 

 similar use of the National Survey maps; and, wherever engineer- 

 ing-work is to be done in territory which has been covered by the 

 survey, it has been found to be of the highest practical usefulness. 



— Eight field-parties left Washington on Sunday to begin the 

 work of the National Survey for the season on the Pacific coast. 

 Three have gone to the gold-belt of California, under the direction 

 of Mr. H. N. Wilson ; two to the Cascade Mountains in south- 

 western Oregon, under Mr. W. T. Griswold ; and three to Montana, 

 under Mr. J. M. Douglass. The charts they are making of Cali- 

 fornia are on a scale of two miles to an inch, and those of Oregon 

 and Montana four miles to an inch. The California parties will 

 cover an area of about two thousand miles each during the season, 

 and those in Oregon and Montana from three thousand to four 

 thousand miles each. The parties that are going to south-western 

 Oregon are to work in a region which it is believed will develop into 

 a great gold-bearing country. It has already yielded a large 

 amount of placer gold, but the gold-bearing quartz has not yet 

 been developed. The survey will probably direct attention to it, 

 and cause its rapid development. The work of the Montana par- 

 ties will be about the head waters of the Missouri River, where the 

 floods originate which cause so much damage along the lower 

 Mississippi ; and in addition to mapping the country and noting its 

 topography, etc., they will make a special examination of the water- 

 shed, to determine where dams can be built to hold back the de- 

 structive floods. Attention will also be given to the use of the 

 water thus stored in irrigation. All triangulation upon the Pacific 

 coast has to be completed early in July, before the summer haze 

 sets in. This strange phenomenon has never been satisfactorily 

 explained. It seems to be a mixture of smoke and dust, filling all 

 the valleys, and rising thousands of feet into the air. It obstructs 

 the view so that no point over five miles distant can be distinguished. 



— May I, the local committee of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science, together with a number of the lead- 

 ing citizens of Cleveland, met in the Board of Education rooms in 

 the Public Library Building to make arrangements for the meeting 

 to be held in Cleveland next August. Prof. C. F. Maber)- of the 

 Case School of Applied Science took the stand as temporary chair- 

 man, and in a few preliminary remarks introduced Prof. F. W. 

 Putnam, the permanent secretary of the association, who gave a 

 most interesting history of the association and its objects. The 

 officers of the local committee are ; president, Cady Staley ; vice- 

 presidents, Hon. John Sherman, Hon. H. B. Payne, Pres. H. C. 

 Haydn, Gov. J. B. Foraker, Col. John Hay, Maj'or B. D. Babcock, 

 Hon. Samuel E. Williamson, Mr. W. J. Gordon, Gen. M. D. Leg- 

 gett, Mr. L. E. Holden ; secretary, Elroy M. Aver}'. Ph.D. Com- 

 mittee on post-office, telegraph, and express : Prof. A. H. Tuttle, 

 chairm.an ; Capt. F. A. Kendall, secretary. Committee on the 

 press : Prof. Bernadotte Perrin, chairman ; Prof. A. H. Thompson, 

 secretary. Committee on printing : C. G. Force, chairman ; Dr. 

 Elroy M. Avery, secretary. Committee on membership : Hon. C. 

 C. Baldwin, chairman ; Rev. Jabez Hall, secretary. Committee on 

 invitations, receptions, and excursions : Mr. W. R. Warner, chair- 

 man ; Newton M. Anderson, secretary. Finance committee : Mr. 

 Solon Severance, chairman ; Mr. Charles A. Post, secretar)'. Com- 

 mittee on rooms : Prof. Edward W. Morley, chairman ; Prof. Her- 

 bert C. Foote, secretary. Committee on hotels and lodgings ; Mr. 

 Edward H. Fitch, chairman ; Mr. Harry P. Gushing, secretary. 

 Committee on transportation : A. J. Smith, chairman ; Elroy M. 

 Avery, secretary. 



— The Texas State Geological and Scientific Association, which 

 has for a number of years endeavored to arouse a general interest 

 in the geological exploration of Texas, has memorialized the State 

 Legislature, asking that it be made the agent of the State for car- 

 rying on geological work, and that a director be appointed to 

 supervise such work. The ground which the association takes is 

 so clear and reasonable, that it must recommend itself to the legis- 

 lators. It is proposed to explore principally the deposits of min- 

 erals of economic value, and thus to give the citizens of the State 

 that knowledge of the real value of the land they hold which they 



