270 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. IV., No. 85. 



Among the meetings which have just been 

 held in Philadelphia, was a friendly and in- 

 formal gathering of some of the contributors to 

 Science. About thirty persons came together, 

 and listened to some statements which were 

 made on the part of the managers, and ex- 

 pressed their views in respect to the position 

 which this journal has taken and may take. 

 The tone of the meeting was in all respects 

 encouraging. A review which had been made 

 of the subscription-list, by our publisher, shows 

 that these pages now reach the chief scientific 

 institutions and the chief scientific workers of 

 the country. An effort will next be made to 

 secure an extension of the circulation among 

 other intelligent and educated classes. 



Our contributors were invited at this meet- 

 ing, and are always invited, to bear in mind 

 that not only Science as a journal, but science 

 in higher and broader aspects, will be best pro- 

 moted by enlisting the attention of the general 

 reader to the results which are attained in all 

 departments of knowledge. This can only be 

 done if our friends will write as persons who 

 are specially informed, to persons who are not 

 specially informed, on the subjects treated in 

 our columns. One of our most valued con- 

 tributors says that the man who is eminent 

 in one department ma}^ have only an ordi- 

 nary knowledge of other subjects : the greatest 

 astronomer may be a tyro in entomolog}^ ; the 

 best of chemists may have no conception of 

 elliptic functions. Science in its articles should 

 be readable throughout ; and, if our friends 

 will continue to help us, we shall soon reach 

 success. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. 

 The writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



Phosphorescence in the deep sea. 



The following paragraph by Dr. Studer, 1 the natu- 

 ralist of the Gazette, has probably escaped the notice of 

 those who have lately written regarding the protective 

 nature of the phosphorescence of pelagic animals. 

 He closes a general description of phosphorescence in 



1 Ueber einige wissenscbaftlicue ergebnisse Aer gazellen- 

 expedition . . . Verbandlungen des zweiten deutschen geogra- 

 phentages. Berlin, 1882. 



marine animals, and the probable nature of it, as 

 follows : ' Immer aber ist es ein von aussen kommen- 

 der reiz, welcher das leuchten hervorbringt, so dass 

 wir vielleicht die erscheinung als erne schutzvorrich- 

 tung fur das tier betrachten durfen.' He further 

 says, on the same page, 'Wir durfen vielleicht anneh- 

 men, dass es vorwiegend rote und orange strahlen 

 sind, welche in diese tiefen gelangen (2-300 faden), 

 dass die blauen und violetten schon vorher absorbiert 

 und reflektirt werden. Daraus wiirde sich dann die 

 vorwiegend rote farbung der Crustaceen als eine 

 schutzfarbung erklaren lassen, wie die vorwiegend 

 blaue der am tage erscheinenden geschopfe.' 



Alexander Agassiz. 



Newport, Sept. 12, 1884. 



Fish remains in North- American Silurian rocks. 



The Eev. W. S. Symonds seems somewhat disturbed 

 by my letter of July 11. He apparently fears lest 

 the honor of yielding the earliest fish-remains should 

 pass from England to North America. 



My note to Science was purposely made very short, 

 but I was quite aware of the fact that a single speci- 

 men of Scaphaspis Ludensis (not fish-remains) had 

 been found in the lower Ludlow rocks. Mr. Symonds 

 will excuse my reminding him that Sir C. Lyell men- 

 tions this discovery by Mr. Lee at Leentwardine in 

 1859. The statement may be found in his Elements 

 for 1865 : not having the book at hand, I cannot name 

 the page. Professor Lankester also, in 18(59, refers 

 this species to the lower Ludlow. To have been un- 

 acquainted with the fact would therefore be inex- 

 cusable. 



Mr. Symonds will probably be surprised to learn 

 that I am a native of the county (Herefordshire) in 

 which he has himself done so much excellent geo- 

 logical and archeological work. I have been famil- 

 iar from boyhood with much of the country which 

 forms the 'hunting-grounds' of the Woolhope club, 

 and visited some of them as lately as 1879. 



As an abstract of my paper will shortly appear, I 

 refrain from giving details at present. 



E. W. Claypole. 



B. A. A. S., Montreal, Aug. 29. 



Korean curios. 



The article in Science, No. 82, entitled ' Korean cu- 

 rios,' contains some errors, excusable, however, when 

 one considers the difficulty of speaking through two 

 languages, and getting the information filtered back 

 through the same channel. For these corrections, 

 and the brief information embodied in them, I am 

 indebted to one of the Korean embassy, Mr. Yu, who 

 has been with me constantly for several months, and 

 who now speaks very good English. 



The ring worn upon the thumb of Min Yong Ik 

 (who, by the way, is not a prince, but a noble) is the 

 Chinese thumb-ring worn in archery, by means of 

 which the bowstring is drawn back. These rings are 

 often very expensive. I was shown one in Canton 

 valued at one hundred and fifty dollars, and some are 

 valued much higher. The Korean archery-ring for 

 the thumb is nearly always of horn, and entirely dif- 

 ferent in shape. 



The amber bead is not necessarily imported; as 

 amber is found in Korea, and is recognized by the 

 Koreans as being a kind of gum from pine. They 

 regard the best and oldest, which is of light color, as 

 being three thousand years old, the darkest and poor- 

 est as being one thousand years old. 



The button represented in Fig. 4 can only be worn 

 by high officials. Officers of the first rank wear 



