420 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



Miscellaneous Scientific Intelligence. 



1. A deep-sea depression in the Pacific near Tongatabu. — In a 

 " List of Oceanic Depths" published by the British Hydro-graphic 

 Department, bearing the date of February, 1889, for a copy of 

 which' we are indebted to the Department, soundings of 4295 and 

 4428 fathoms are reported to the southeast of Tongatabu, the 

 southern and the largest of the Tonga or Friendly Islands. The 

 soundings were made by H. M. Ship Egeria, under Captain Pel- 

 ham Aldrich, in the course of a line of soundings from New Zea- 

 land to the islands, and they were repeated around the depression 

 so as to make a complete investigation of the area. The depths 

 obtained about the area are the following : 



Lat. 



Long. 



Depth in frns. 



Lat. 



Long. 



Depth in i'ms 



24° 2*7' 



176°15' 



530 



24° 49' 



174°07 / 



2889 



24 18 



]75 50 



2030 



24 49 



173 56 



3036 



24 26 



175 38 



2449 



24 37 



175 08 



4428 



24 49 



175 07 



4295 



24 26 . 



175 10 



900 + 



24 59 



174 46 



3110 



24 00 



175 16 



3692 



24 55 



174 29 



2990 



23 18 



175 38 



941 



24 44 174 18 3006 23 12 175 40 596 



The depths appear to indicate a crater-like depression. Its 

 position with reference to Tongatabu is very much like that south 

 of the Ladrones with reference to Guam, the largest and most 

 southern island of that group. j. d. d. 



2. Lists of Dredging Stations in North American waters, 

 from 1867 to 1887, by Sanderson Smith. 144 pp. 8vo. From 

 the Report of the Fish Commission. — Mr. Smith has prepared 

 these tabulated lists of deep-sea soundings on the North Ameri- 

 can side of the Atlantic with great labor and care. The sound- 

 ings of the U. S. Fish Commission, the Fish Hawk, Albatross, 

 Challenger Expedition, Travailleur, Talisman, Washington, and 

 of other vessels or expeditions, Norwegian and British, are all 

 here registered, with the necessary precision as to time of obser- 

 vation and geographical position; and, besides, the routes and 

 locations are exhibited on a number of accompanying folded 

 charts. 



3. National Academy of Sciences. — At the meeting of the 

 Academy held in Washington, April 16-19, Professor O. C. 

 Marsh was re-elected President, and the following new members 

 were elected : Professor Boss, of Dudley Observatory, Albany, 

 Professor Sereno Watson, of Cambridge, Professor C. S. Hastings, 

 Yale University, Professor C. A. White, IT. S. Geological Survey, 

 and Professor Michel, of Tufts College. The following papers 

 were accepted for reading : 



D. P. Todd : Composite coronography. 



W. A. Eogers : Additional experimental proof that the relative coefficient of 

 expansion between Baily's metal and steel is constant between 0° and 95° P. 



Wolcott G-D3BS and Hobart Hare : Method and results of a systematic 

 study of the action of definitely related chemical compounds upon animals. 



C. S. Peirce : Sensations of color. — Determinations of gravity. 



