202 



SCIENCE. 



As the writer of this threat has no authority to dic- 

 tate such an order, or the power to enforce it, it may be 

 safe to assume that it was written under the instruction 

 of those who have the power to give it effect. To such 

 a menace there can be but one reply ; much as we de- 

 sire to see justice done to authors and their rights as- 

 sured by international treaty, we would, without hesi- 

 tation, decline concessions thus tendered, and ham- 

 pered with conditions which would destroy the essence 

 of the gift. We would rather counsel literary men 

 " to possess their souls in great patience," and 

 calmly await the day when their adversaries' souls may 

 be possessed with moderation and justice, or public 

 opinion be sufficiently strong to secure for them their 

 just rights. 



The reported arrival at the port of New York of 

 two male woolly elephants of dwarfish dimensions, 

 has resulted in a request from a subscriber for authen- 

 tic information regarding these strange animals. 



It was alleged that the elephants in question were 

 discovered upon the Himalaya mountains, and that 

 the hairy covering found upon their bodies, and the 

 great diminution of the natural size, were due to the 

 cold of that region. 



The inference to be drawn from such a descrip- 

 tion was, that the present specimens were in a 

 measure a return to the extinct Elephas primigenius, 

 the remains of one of which was found at the mouth 

 of the river Lena in Siberia, with the flesh still in 

 a good state of preservation, showing the skin cov- 

 ered with hair. 



We find that the new arrivals were not found on 

 the Himalaya mountains, but were purchased at the 

 Parah River, Malay Peninsula, after the ship had left 

 Calcutta. Their size is normal, for their age is not 

 four and six years ; but, probably, the smaller is about 

 twelve months old and still feeds on milk, while the 

 larger specimen is about two years old. 



All young elephants are covered with hair, which 

 afterwards falls off as they increase in age. These 

 animals have this infantine crop of hair somewhat 

 abundant, but not to an extent to create any especial 

 wonder. 



As Mr. Conklin, of the Central Park Menagerie, 

 states, our knowledge of baby elephants is very limited 

 in this country, and perhaps after all, the apparent 

 excess of hair on the flanks of these animals may be 

 normal. The young elephant, born at Philadelphia 

 about nine months since, had a similar crop of hair, 

 but not to the same extent. 



I )r. Spitzka, of New York, who has seen these 

 young elephants, confirms the opinion we have given, 

 and states that they are not a new species or even a 



variety; and he believes that the hair will eventually 

 disappear, and even now finds, on the larger specimens, 

 bald spaces. 



We do not desire to spoil the speculation on these 

 animals by stating the price at which they were sold 

 on their arrival here, but the multiplication table has 

 not been without its use to create an artificial value. 



ACCURACY IN THERMOMETERS. 



By recommendation from the Winchester Obseva- 

 tcry, a bureau has been established at Yale College 

 with the practical view of accurate verification of these 

 instruments. Any person may send thermometers to 

 this institution for the purpose of having them com- 

 pared with the standard thermometer, and any varia- 

 tion from the accurate standard will be recorded. For 

 the purpose of defraying the expense of these com- 

 parisons, the following scale of charges has been 

 adopted for this verification : For standard meteoro- 

 logical thermometers, one dollar ; for ordinary meteor- 

 ological thermometers, fifty cents ; for ordinary maxi- 

 mum thermometers, seventy-five cents ; for ordinary 

 minimum thermometers, seventy-five cents ; for clini- 

 cal thermometers, fifty cents. In case more than 

 eight instruments of one kind are submitted at the 

 same time, twenty per cent, will be deducted from 

 these charges. Clinical thermometers, in numbers of 

 two dozen or more, will be verified for four dollars a 

 dozen. For thermometers of exceptional pattern, the 

 charge will vary according to the character of each 

 instrument. Communications relative to this subject 

 may be addressed to Leonard Waldo, New Haven, 

 Conn. 



THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASH- 

 INGTON. 



The accumulation of material at Washington illustrative 

 of the several branches of Anthropology, has drawn together 

 a large number of specialists in Comparative Anatomy, 

 Archaeology, Ethnology, Linguistics, and Sociology. For 

 mutual improvement a number of these gentlemen have 

 organized the above-named society, with Major J. YV. 

 Powell as President, Dr. Elmer R. Reynolds as Secretary, 

 and Professor Otis T. Mason as Corresponding Secretary. 

 The facilities which the Army Medical Museum and the 

 Smithsonian Institution, with its Bureau of Ethnology, fur- 

 nish for the preservation of valuable papers obviate the 

 necessity for a voluminous journal of the Society. We 

 have made arrangements, however, to present abstracts of 

 communications and discussions on the week succeeding 

 the meetings, which take place on the first and the third 

 Tuesday of each month. The following is .1 <, : siti>i& of the 

 proceedings of Tuesday'evening, October 20th : 



The Anthropological Society met in the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, Major |. \V. Powellin the Chair. After the reading 

 ol the minutes the following papers were communicated ; 



" Notes on the Identity and 1 [istoryof the Shawano or Sliaw- 



uee I adians," bj < '. ( '. Royce ; "Ci\ ilization," by Mr. B. YV. 

 I lough. M r. Royce slated that his paper was an introduc- 

 tory effort to a thorough study of the Shawnese, who were 

 the Bedouins and Ishmaelites of our territory at the time 

 of its first settlements. The early home of these people is 

 shrouded in mystery. Attn carefull) going over the Jesuit 

 relations and othei early histories, the author concluded 

 with the bold proposition that the Massawomacks, the Erics 



