26o 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 278 



farther north numerous ruins of villages were found, and the 

 Eskimo had names for every point and island. Thus it appears 

 that the distance between the North Greenlanders and the inhabit- 

 ants of Smith Sound is not so great as was generally assumed, and 

 it becomes very probable that intercourse between these tribes in a 

 limited degree existed not very long ago, or maybe still exists. 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS IN WASHINGTON. 



Collectors and Collections of Jewels and Precious Stones : an Interesting 

 Chapter by George F. Kunz. — A Steel ' Vacuum ' Balloon : the Ab- 

 surd Proposition of a Scientific Crank indorsed by a Committee of 

 Congress. — Death of Prof. E. B. Elliott : a Great Loss to Science. 

 The Tape-Worm in Sheep. 



Collections of Jewels and Precious Stones. 



The following is an extract from a paper lately prepared by Mr. 

 George F. Kunz of Tiffany & Co., New York, which will be used 

 as the basis of a report on precious stones, which will appear in the 

 volume on ' Mineral Resources of the United States,' to be issued 

 by the United States Geological Survey a few months hence : — 



" A regrettable dispersion of jewels and precious stones took 

 place on May 12 and 14, 1886, when the famous collection formed 

 by the late Henry Philip Hope, and exhibited at the South Kensing- 

 ton Museum for many years, was sold at auction. The Hope col- 

 lection included the saplm'e ?nervezlleiix of Madame de Genlis's 

 ' Tales of the Castle ; ' the King of Candy's cat's-eye, the largest 

 known, having a diameter of an inch and a half ; the Mexican sun- 

 opal, carved with the head of the Mexican sun-god, and histori- 

 cally known since the sixteenth century ; an enormous pearl, the 

 largest known, weighing three ounces, and two inches in length ; 

 the aquamarine sword-hilt made for Murat, King of Naples ; and 

 also many curious diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and several 

 hundred unique and magnificent gems. Such a collection should 

 be preserved intact as a national possession. 



" In 1886 it was decided by the French Assembly that the crown 

 jewels, with the exception of the famous ' Regent ' diamond, two 

 of the mazarines, and a few historic pieces reserved for the national 

 museums, should be sold at public auction. These exceptions 

 were made because it was feared that they would fall into the 

 hands of Americans. The sale of this great historic collection 

 took place in May, 1887. The 48 parcels were subdivided into 146 

 lots; and there were 68 buyers, 12 of whom bought over 1,000,000 

 francs' worth each. The largest lot, the great corsage, which sold 

 for 811,000 francs, was purchased by a single American firm, the 

 largest buyer at the sale. The purchases of the firm amounted to 

 2,249,600 francs, or about 34 per cent of the entire sum realized ; 

 while as to quality, the same firm obtained more than two-thirds of 

 the finest gems. Among them were the three mazarines ; a pear- 

 shaped rose brilliant, weighing 24||^ carats, for 128,000 francs ; a 

 pear-shaped white brilliant, weighing 22J carats, for 81,000 francs ; 

 a white brilliant, weighing 28^'^ carats, for 155,000 francs ; and an 

 oval brilliant, weighing 18J5 carats, for 71,000 francs ; or 435,000 

 francs for the four. All but one of their purchases were secured 

 by private American customers. The great interest attached to 

 this sale was due not only to the fact that many of the gems were 

 of very fine quality, but also to their historic associations. The 

 history of many of them could be traced back several hundred 

 years. In its way this sale did more than any thing that had be- 

 fore occurred to establish a reputation abroad for American taste, 

 wealth, and enterprise. 



" The collection of antique gems, numbering 331 pieces, formed 

 by the Rev. C. W. King of Trinity College, England, the greatest 

 of all writers on engraved gems, was sent to the United States for 

 sale in 1881. This collection represents the keystone and the 

 summing-up of Mr. King's vast knowledge, and none has ever been 

 more thoroughly studied. His numerous writings mark an epoch 

 in the study of this branch of archeology ; and only the loss of his 

 sight led him to part with his treasures. The growing interest 

 and taste in archeeological matters in the United States induced 

 him to send it here to be sold intact. In October, 1881, through 

 the friendly mediation of Mr. Feuardent, it was purchased, and 

 presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Mr. John Tay- 



lor Johnson, then president of the museum, where it has since re- 

 posed. 



" Near it will be placed the SomerviUe collection. Mr. Somer- 

 viUe, a Virginian by birth, and a gentleman of fortune and artistic 

 tastes, while spending the past thirty-two years of his life in Eu- 

 rope, Asia, and Africa, has collected cameos, intaglios, seals, and 

 other historical gems ; and, as a result of his liberal expenditure of 

 time and money, he is to-day the owner of one of the most unique 

 and valuable collections of engraved gems in the world, numbering 

 over 1,500 specimens, including Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, 

 Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Mexican glyptic or jewel- 

 carving art. All of these are represented by specimens of singular 

 excellence, affording us a panoramic view of the achievements of 

 civilized man in this direction. This remarkable collection, now at 

 his home in Philadelphia, has been loaned to the Metropolitan Mu- 

 seum of Art, New York, where it will soon be placed on exhibition, 

 and the public will be afforded every facility to study the beautiful 

 achievements of the glyptic art. 



" Of greater antiquity and archasologic value, because represent- 

 ing a period before gems were cut in the form of intaglios, is the 

 collection of the Rev. W. Hayes Ward, consisting of 300 Babylonian, 

 Persian, and other cylinders. Two hundred of these he himself 

 collected in Babylon and its vicinity, and sold to the museum at a 

 nominal figure. Since that time he has collected 100 more cylin- 

 ders. Many of them date from 2500 B.C. to 300 B.C., and are cut in 

 lapis lazuli, agate, carnelian, hematite, chalcedony, jasper, sard, etc. 

 " The death of Dr. Isaac Lea of Philadelphia, which occurred 

 Dec. 19, 1886, in his ninety-fifth year, robbed the world of a great 

 investigator in the field of precious stones. During the last twenty 

 years of his exceptionally long and useful life, he devoted almost 

 his entire time to studying the microscopic inclusions in gems and 

 minerals ; and the cabinet he left contains thousands of specimens 

 of rubies, sapphires, chrysoberyls, tourmalines, garnets, quartz, etc., 

 all of which he had subjected to the most rigid microscopic scru- 

 tiny, noting every interesting fact on the accompanying label. 

 Only a small part of his work on this highly interesting subject has 

 been published by the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, in two 

 papers (in 1869 and 1876), but Dr. Lea made ample provision in 

 his will for the publication of the remainder. His extensive collec- 

 tions of minerals and shells were bequeathed to the National 

 Museum ; and the gem-collection, to his daughter. Miss Lea. 

 Two months before his death, I spent two hours with him, exam- 

 ining a series of quartz inclusions, over which he worked with all 

 the enthusiasm and brightness of youth. 



" One of the many benefits traceable to the New Orleans Exhi- 

 bition was the appropriation given to the National Museum for 

 their exhibit. This was wisely expended by Prof. F. W. Clarke in 

 the purchase of a complete series of precious stones, many of 

 which, although not expensive, are still the finest in the United 

 States, from an educational standpoint. Since the exposition many 

 fine specimens have been added by purchase and donation, espe- 

 cially the diamonds and pearls presented by the Iman of Muscat 

 to President Buchanan, consisting of 13S diamonds and 150 pearls, 

 all of good quality. The collection numbers about 1,000 speci- 

 mens, and embraces almost every known variety of precious stone, 

 many of them in very fine examples." 



A Proposed Steel ' Vacuum ' Balloon. 



The committee of the House of Representatives on acoustics and 

 ventilation has actually reported favorably a bill appropriating 

 seventy-five thousand dollars to subsidize a man who thinks he can 

 construct a steel 'vacuum' balloon of great power. He is to be 

 allowed to use the facilities of one of the navy-yards for the build- 

 ing of his machine, and is to have the money as soon as he has 

 expended seventy-five thousand dollars of private capital upon his 

 air-ship. 



One of the mathematical physicists of Washington was asked by 

 a member of Congress whether such a balloon could be successfully 

 floated. He set to work upon the problem, and here are some of 

 his results, which are rather curious : — 



A common balloon is filled with hydrogen-gas, which, being 

 lighter than air, causes the balloon to rise and take up a load with 

 it. But, as the pressure of the gas within is equal to the pressure 



