MISCELLANY. 



5°7 



history in parallel columns, as Mr. Collier 

 has here done under Mr. Spencer's direction, 

 but his tables are a sufficient answer to all 

 disbelievers in the possibility of a science of 

 history. Where the chronicle of individual 

 lives often perplexes and mystifies the schol- 

 ar, the generalization of social principles 

 from the chronicler's materials shows an 

 order of human affairs where cause and 

 effect take their inevitable course, as in 

 Physics or Biology." 



MISCELLANY. 



New Material for Dental Plates. — Among 

 the novelties exhibited at the American In- 

 stitute Fair is a new base for artificial teeth, 

 the invention of a New York dentist. It 

 consists mainly of fish-scales, which, dis- 

 solved and combined with certain fibrous 

 and adhesive substances, form a compound 

 that is said to be well adapted for use as 

 dental plates. Greater strength, durability, 

 and lightness, and freedom from all taste, 

 are the advantages claimed for it over the 

 materials in comnfon use. It is capable of 

 receiving a fine polish, and may also be 

 readily colored to any desired tint, qualities 

 which adapt it to a great variety of pur- 

 poses outside of dentistry. It is also said 

 to be an excellent material for waterproof- 

 ing cloth. 



Meteorological. — In his report for 18Y2, 

 Mr. Daniel Draper, Director of the Meteo- 

 rological Observatory in Central Park, con- 

 siders the following points : 



1. " Has the summer temperature of the 

 Atlantic States undergone any modifications? 



2. " What is the direction in which at- 

 mospheric fluctuations cross the United 

 States ? 



3. " Is it possible to trace the passage 

 of American storms across the Atlantic, 

 and predict the time of their arrival on the 

 European coast ? " 



By carefully-arranged tables, he shows 

 that no change has taken place in summer 

 temperature, and concludes that " the mean 

 heat of summer and the mean cold of win- 

 ter are the same now as they were more 

 than a century ago." 



These conclusions are from observations 

 made in Boston, New Haven, New York, 



Philadelphia, and Charleston. It may be 

 added that, in his former reports, it was 

 shown that over the same areas the annual 

 rainfall has neither increased nor diminished. 

 The movement of atmospheric fluctua- 

 tions is illustrated by diagrams founded 

 on observations at the Observatory, and 

 the daily maps published at Washington. 

 It appears that these movements are not 

 all cyclonic — many are like waves of the 

 ocean, long and straight, and have a for- 

 ward motion. This motion over the United 

 States is eastward. The velocity of this 

 motion has been determined in a great 

 number of instances for the years 1869, 

 1870, 1871, and 1872. During the last 

 year the highest forward velocity was 569 

 miles in twenty-four hours ; the lowest 

 velocity, 82 miles in twenty-four hours. 

 The highest velocity recorded was about 

 29 miles an hour, or 690 miles in twenty- 

 four hours ; this occurred on the 28th of 

 March, 1870. The time required to cross 

 the Atlantic varied from ten to twenty 

 days. It sometimes happens that storms 

 which leave our coast three and four days 

 apart arrive on the coast of Europe to- 

 gether, and, in such cases, the storm is 

 usually severe. The observations made 

 show that, out of eighty-six storms expected 

 to cross the Atlantic, only three seem to 

 have failed. Moreover, it is shown that the 

 direction of the movement is maintained, so 

 that it may be known several days in ad- 

 vance what part of the coast of Europe will 

 be covered by the advancing storm. 



The great practical value of these obser- 

 vations and reports will be at once recog- 

 nized, and the conclusions they suggest and 

 confirm are among the most interesting of 

 the results of modern scientific research. 



Sewage Fertilization.— The following, 

 from the report of the committee of the 

 British Association on the "Purification 

 and Utilization of Sewage," effectually dis- 

 poses of some of the more important ob- 

 jections that have been urged against the 

 use of sewage for fertilizing purposes : 



" By properly-conducted sewage irriga- 

 tion a solution is afforded to the question 

 of sewage utilization. It has already been 

 stated that a precipitation process, or some 

 clarifying process, may be found useful : in 



