82 



SCIENCE. 



another specimen was sent to this University from Santa 

 Ana in the same section of the country by a resident who 

 stated in his letter that on throwing a match upon the ground 

 he was surprised to see these rocks take fire and burn. He 

 therefore sent a piece to be examined. 



The specimens furnished to Mr. Redding were examined 

 by me and the result published in the above mentioned ar- 

 ticle. The substance, which was extremely light, white and 

 porous, almost chalky, was shown to be mainly a well- 

 marked resin, leaving but a trace of an ash on combustion. 

 No theory was advanced as to its origin, and attention was 

 called simply to its structure: — "On fracture it presents a 

 slightly fibrous structure. Under the microscope it exhibits 

 a two-fold structure — a quantity of very fine, irregular fibers 

 permeating a mass of a brittle, amorphous, structureless 

 substance." Since that paper was written I have endeavored 

 to obtain more definite information as to the origin and oc- 

 currence of this peculiar substance. The region of its occur- 

 rence is so remote and so inaccessible that it has been im- 

 possible for me to investigate the matter in person, and dif- 

 ficult to find competent persons whose business takes them 

 into that region. However, from reports obtained through 

 the agency of Mr. Redding, I feel tolerably confident that 

 the true nature and origin of this substance has been cleared 

 up. 



It seems that there grows, and probably has grown for a 

 long time, a species of conifer which exudes large masses of 

 a resinous secretion from abrasions or wounds. These 

 resinous masses are reported to attain considerable size, and 

 to fall off from their own weight. However that may be, 

 the detached resin either from fallen and decayed trees, or 

 from living trees, becomes scattered over the surface of the 

 country and mixed with surface soil and rocks. By a long 

 process of evaporation, action of atmosphere, and the leech- 

 ing and bleaching agency of the snow which covers the 

 ground for a large portion of the year, these resinous masses 

 lose all vestiges of volatile and soluble matter, and at the 

 same time a fungus growth permeates and splinters the 

 whole mass into minute fragments rendered coherent by the 

 fibers of the fungus. Hence the two fold structure noted, 

 the fungus growth as shown in the previous paper, amount- 

 ing to less than 10 per cent of the mass. 



The perfect change which has taken place in the resin by 

 these agencies evidence that the resin must have been ex- 

 posed for an indefinite period to atmospheric agencies, and 

 have attained a position of equilibrium toward its surround- 

 ing conditions. It is therefore apparently entirely a surface 

 formation, which however has in process of time become so 

 mixed in with surface soil and rocks as in some instances 

 to present the appearance of being in situ. (American Jour- 

 nal of Science.) 



University of California, May, 1880 



EDUCATION OF YOUNG ASTRONOMERS. 



France has of late shown a greatly increased activity in 

 astronomical work, both in the improvement of existing, 

 and the institution of new, observatories. The question of 

 how to provide these with men thoroughly competent to 

 carry on the work has come prominently forward. 



Hitherto, the recruiting of the observatories has taken 

 place in the most irregular manner, and without the help of 

 any special schools, such as are provided for other scientific 

 careers. The candidates who have presented themselves 

 have often neither possessed the theoretical knowledge, nor 

 the ardor and special aptitude necessary for a career so 

 difficult. 



At the Paris Observatory, where the staff is the most nu- 

 merous, and the matiriel of instruments most complete, a 

 certain amount of practical instruction could be given, but 

 this only at the expense of the ordinary service, and through 

 the goodwill of the older officials, whose regulations did 

 not comprise this surplus work. 



Hut in provincial observatories education has been more 

 difficult, if not impossible. From lack of funds, it is unfor- 

 tunately often the astronomical professor of the local faculty 



who is also director of the observatory, and he has to divide 

 his time between these two functions. Sometimes, too, 

 this director, an excellent professor of mathematics and 

 celestial mechanics, has not been sufficiently initiated in 

 the practice of the very delicate observations of astronomy 

 requiring much experience and skill. Lastly, the materiel 

 of these observatories has remained hitherto in a state of 

 regretable inferiority, which could hardly inspire the ob- 

 servers with zeal. It will be readily understood, then, how 

 the number of astronomical observers has been very limited, 

 to the prejudice of astronomical work and discovery in 

 France. This is the more regretted since that country has 

 not been wanting in great geometers, who have remarkably 

 promoted the arduous science of celestial mechanics ; the 

 illustrious names of Laplace and Leverrier will here readily 

 occur. 



It was, then, an urgent matter to form as soon as possible 

 a superior school of practical astronomy, and with this view 

 a ministerial decree has recently been promulgated. With 

 candidates carefully selected and instructed for some time 

 in a systematic way under masters of the science, a number 

 of able astronomers may be looked for, competent to make 

 a good use of the excellent instruments and opportunities 

 that are now being plentifully provided. 



The duration of the studies (to be carried on in Paris) will 

 be two years. The first year will be chiefly devoted to the 

 theoretical and practical study of the meridian service, the 

 fundamental base of the astronomy of observation, and to 

 the use of portable instruments, comprising those with re- 

 flection, for it is necessary that every astronomer in an 

 observatory should be capable of teaching the use of instru- 

 ments employed in traveling, and methods of observation, 

 to the explorers, now so numerous, who, on leaving, seek 

 preparatory instruction, the determination of latitudes and 

 longitudes, &c, in the course of their travels. The second 

 year will be devoted to service of equatorials and physical 

 astronomy. The first half of each year will be occupied in 

 lectures, studies, and exercises. During the second half, 

 the students will make the regular service of observations 

 along with the officials of the observatory. 



The lectures will be as follows : During the first year, 

 theory of the meridian service, by M. Loewy ; practice of 

 meridian observations, by M. Perigaud ; calculations of 

 spherical astronomy, by M. Gaillot ; use of portable instru- 

 ments, by M. Mouchez. During the second year, physic.il 

 astronomy, equatorials, and physics of the globe, by M. 

 j Wolf; applied celestial mechanics, by M. Tisserand. 



Moreover, MM. Jamin and Desains, the eminent profes- 

 | sors of the Sorbonne, will open their physical laboratories 

 to the young astronomers, and direct them in their studies 

 1 and the management of instruments and various experi- 

 ments which may interest them, and facilitate their labors 

 in physical astronomy. M. Mascart, director of the central 

 meteorological office, will also put them an courant with re- 

 cent progress accomplished by meteorological science and 

 service. 



The work and lectures will be ai ranged so as to allow the 

 students to attend other courses at the College of France 

 and of the Sorbonne, having some direct relation to astron- 

 omy, or capable of being useful to them for obtaining uni- 

 versity diplomas. 



The science of human life has been the last to recognize 

 that minute interaction of all the sciences which every 

 other department of knowledge now readily admits. We al- 

 low at once that no man can be agood physiologist unless he 

 posesses a previous acquaintance with anatomy and 

 chemistry. The chemist, in turn, must know something of 

 physics, while the physicist cannot move a step until he 

 calls in the mathematician to his aid. Astronomy long 

 appeared to be an isolated study, requiring nothing more 

 than geometrical or arithmetical skill ; but spectrum 

 analysis has lately shown us its intimate interdependence 

 upon chemistry and experimental physics. Thus, the 

 whole circle of the sciences has become a continuous chain 

 of cycles and epicycles, rather than a simple sequence of 

 unconnected and independent principles. — Prof. Grant 

 Allen, Popular Science Monthly. 



