i\Iay 25, 1888.] 



SCIENCE 



247 



whole number for the entire season was more than 200,000.000. 

 The three rivers are now yielding from 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 

 eggs daily. The commission is also giving attention to the moving 

 of eggs and the hatching and planting of young shad in the rivers 

 that flow into the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico : 30,000,- 

 000 eggs will be disposed of in this way this season. 



Whatever opinion may be held of the other work of the United 

 States Fish Commission (and the importance of all branches of its 

 work is coming to be universally recognized), its success in increas- 

 ing the supply of shad in the rivers to which it has given its atten- 

 tion, and in introducing it where it did not before exis'. has been de- 

 monstrated beyond question. The value of shad taken in the United 

 States in 1887 was $325,000 greater than in 1880, and this in spite 

 of the fact that the market-prices of the fish are now much lower 

 than formerly. Shad can be bought on the wharves in Washing- 

 ton for from ten to twelve dollars per hundred, and at retail in the 

 market for twenty-five cents each. Before 1884 the retail price of 

 similar fish was seventy-five cents each. The increase first became 

 noticeable in 1884. 



The Water-Spouts of April. 

 Science republished, about six weeks ago, one of the charts of 

 the Hydrographic Office, showing the location of a great number 

 of water-spouts observed m the western Atlantic in March ansl 

 early in April. Since that time many more detailed reports have 

 been received ; and among them one of the most interesting is that 

 made up from the log of the steamer ' Pavonia,' and from the testi- 

 mony of eye-witnesses who were on board of her. The following 

 is the substance of that report. The spout formed south-west of 

 the ship, and travelled in a north-east direction, making it neces- 

 sary for the ' Pavonia ' to change her course in order to avoid it. 

 Its movement was at the rate of thirty miles an hour ; and from the 

 time it was first seen, until it burst near the vessel, only ten min- 

 utes elapsed. Its rotary motion was against that of the sun. The 

 agitation of the sea at the base was tremendous, so that the ship 

 was greatly affected by it when the water-spout passed near. The 

 wind at the time was a light breeze from the south. As the water- 

 spout passed, the ship experienced a perfect whirlwind for about 

 a minute. The water-spout broke off the starboard bow, and this 

 was accompanied by a great deluge of rain, vivid lightning, and 

 heavy thunder ; and chunks of ice fell upon the decks of the ' Pa- 

 vonia,' irregular in shape, as though broken from a block, many of 

 them from four to six inches in diameter. As the water-spout 

 broke, the wind shifted to the south-west, and increased to a mod- 

 erate gale. The cloud hung very low, and the water-spout took 

 the form of an hour-glass. A terrific roaring noise was heard as it 

 passed the ship, and, as it went along, it threw the water to a height 

 of sixty feet at least, and churned it up into a mass of foam. There 

 was no evidence of ascending or descending currents. The water 

 appeared to be lifted bodily into the air, and held there until the 

 water-spout broke near the vessel. No observations of barometer 

 or thermometer were made. 



United States Fish Commission Work on the Pacific Coast. 

 The United States Fish Commission steamer ' Albatross,' Capt. 

 Z. L. Tanner, arrived at San Francisco last week, and, as soon as she 

 is fitted out, will start on her summer cruise. She has been ordered 

 to cruise from Kodiac to and along the Aleutian Islands, for the 

 purpose of studying the fishing-grounds of the Alaskan coast. The 

 most important fish found there is the cod. Captain Tanner is in- 

 structed to make a careful and systematic study of the whole coast, 

 not only hydrographically, but for the purpose of determining the 

 kinds of fish to be found there, the limits of their distribution, and 

 their abundance. He is also to make a thorough study of the fauna 

 of the sea and its distribution over the seavbottom. Important results 

 are anticipated from this summer's cruise of the ' Albatross.' 



ELECTRICAL SCIENCE. 



Edison's Improved Phonograph. 



The first phonograph made by Edison, in 1878, differed from 

 many inventions — for example, the telephone and telegraph — in 

 that it was not the result of a process of evolution, and it was not 



almost simultaneously discovered by different investigators. As it 

 was first exhibited, it consisted of a diaphragm to which was 

 fastened a needle whose point pressed against a strip of tinfoil : the 

 tinfoil was rolled around a cylinder, which was rotated by hand, 

 and which had, besides its motion of rotation, a forward motion on 

 a screw, so that the needle traced a spiral on the surface of the foil. 

 When the diaphragm was spoken to, the cylinder being at the same 

 time turned, the needle made a record on the foil ; the number and 

 depth of its indentations depending, of course, on the vibration of 

 the diaphragm, and therefore on the sound it received. When the 

 needle was made to traverse the record again, it transmitted vibra- 

 tions to the diaphragm similar to those it had received, reprodu- 

 cing the original sound. There were several disadvantages in this 

 first instrument : the reproduction was by no means perfect, and 

 the mechanical arrangement was not convenient. Mr. Edison has. 

 however, continued his investigations on the subject, and has lately 

 produced an instrument that leaves little to be d«sired as far as 

 faithfulness of reproduction goes. There is no radical change in 

 principle. In place of the tinfoil, wax cylinders are used, and they 

 are uniformly rotated by an electric motor. The instrument is so 

 arranged that words can be repeated that are not understood. The 

 wax cylinders are of different sizes. One of two inches in diame- 

 ter, four and a half inches in length, and one-eighth of an inch 

 thick, will contain from one thousand to twelve hundred words, 

 and can be used over ten or twelve times, a turning-tool in front of 

 the diaphragm shaving off the old record. The accuracy with 

 which sounds, vocal and instrumental, are reproduced is remark- 

 able. On May 12 an exhibition of the phonograph was given at 

 the New York Electric Club, and Mr. Gilliland described the history 

 of the invention. Various applications were shown, and a number 

 of different sounds reproduced. There is no doubt that the phono- 

 graph can accurately record all varieties of sound, from the human 

 voice in ordinary conversation to a brilliant piano concert. The 

 records are portable and easily reproduced, and the field of applica- 

 tion of the instrument must be wide. 



Dynamo and Steam Turbine. — A combined dynamo and 

 steam turbine that has been in use in England for some time, has 

 recently been introduced into the United States for ship-lighting 

 purposes by the United States naval authorities at Newport, R.I. 

 The armature of the dynamo is connected directly to the shaft of 

 the turbine, which revolves at the extremely rapid rate of ten 

 thousand revolutions per minute. The turbine works on the gen- 

 eral principle of Helmholtz's double siren, except that instead of 

 two disks there are perhaps fifty, arranged on horizontal axes ; the 

 steam entering at the middle, and exhausting at the ends. While 

 this is in all probability not economical, it is extremely compact, — 

 a very important consideration on board ship, where space is valu- 

 able and belting is objectionable. The electro-motive force of the 

 dynamo is kept constant by an electric governor which regulates 

 the throttle valve of the turbine. The extremely high speed neces- 

 sitates the best possible lubrication : the bearings are long, with 

 ample oil-channels. 



Priestman's Petroleum-Engine. — The London Electrical 

 Review contains reports of tests of this engine made by Sir Wil- 

 liam Thomson, Sir Samuel Canning, and others. The reports are 

 most flattering. Tests were made of engines giving six-horse 

 power at the driving-pulley, with the result that the consumption of 

 oil was about 1.7 pints per horse-power per hour, while they need 

 very little attention. To quote a part of Sir Samuel Canning's re- 

 port : " We consider that there is a great field of usefulness for 

 this motor, and especially in America, where gas averages some- 

 thing like 7s. 6d. per thousand cubic feet, and where, owing to the 

 vast expanse of the country, it is very difficult to get motive power 

 in more or less inaccessible localities ; ... for isolated electric 

 light installations, and even larger operations of the kind, and for 

 every use to which a gas-engine can be put, with the special advan- 

 tage of being capable of employment where gas cannot be utilized." 

 The engine is run by the petroleum vapor, which is exploded in the 

 cyUnder, as is the gas in the cylinder of a gas-engine. There must, 

 of course, be a water-jacket to the cylinder, to prevent excessive and 

 dangerous heating. Let us consider what the cost of isolated 

 lighting would be, using this engine, as compared with gas. An 



