302 



SCIENCE, 



[Yo:l. IT., No. 86. 



change of opinion on the part of those in 

 whose decisions on the matter we have full 

 confidence. 



It is quite impossible for congress, when it 

 grants an immunity to colleges in the importa- 

 tion of printed matter duty-free} to set forth in 

 detail the administrative processes which are 

 necessary to secure its purpose. Congress acts 

 on the assumption that the executive depart- 

 ments of government have wisdom enough in so 

 ordering details, that the purpose of congress 

 shall be adhered to, and that education shall 

 have the advantages the people, through them, 

 have decreed. Everybody but an executive 

 routinist, whose perceptions are dwarfed by 

 his habit, sees a higher claim in the spirit than 

 in the letter of a law. It were a libel on bar- 

 barism to stigmatize as barbaric the recent 

 decision of the treasury, which requires twelve 

 oaths a year and attendant time and money 

 for a monthly periodical to secure a free entiy. 

 Let us commend to the astute revenue-officials 

 the story of Poor Richard and the barrel of salt 

 beef, when a single grace over the whole could 

 save for twelve-months' dinners a considerable 

 fraction of the time allotted to the poor dwell- 

 ers of the globe. Further let them remember 

 graces at dinner do not cost notary's and jus- 

 tice's fees. 



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. 



The Ohio earthquake. 



A slight earthquake was felt here at 2 h. 43 m. this 

 afternoon. Hanging lamps were made to vibrate, 

 and at one of the public-school buildings a panic 

 occurred among the children. The shock was not 

 noticed by those who were busily employed at the 

 time. No attempt was made to measure its direction 

 or force. E. T. Nelson. 



Delaware, Ohio, Sept. 19. 



The steep slopes of the western loess. 



In Mr. Macfarlane's paper on the formation of 

 canons and precipices (Science for Aug. 1), there is 

 a discussion of the cause of the steepness and perma- 

 nence of the slopes in the loess region of the west. 

 The fact is certainly a striking one. But Mr. Macfar- 

 lane's explanation, likening it to ' a well-built piece of 

 miniature natural earth masonry well bound together,' 

 scarcely does justice to the subject. For, in the first 



place, the steep slopes recur in the typical loess, even 

 after it has been moved and worked over; especially 

 after it has lain for a few years, so that a slight 

 'binding-together ' of the particles by calcic carbon- 

 ate is renewed. In the second place, the form of the 

 loess particles is, as a rule, not flattened, but round- 

 ish; as can readily be seen, when the sediments from 

 a mechanical analysis of the material are examined. 

 But this general roundness of the particles is accom- 

 panied by an extreme roughness of surface, precisely 

 such as is seen on the large scale in the • loess pup- 

 pets ' themselves. The entire mass, in fact, consists 

 of small calcareous secretions, with rough concre- 

 tionary surface, intermingled with a comparatively 

 small proportion of fine,, dust and clay (see Amer. 

 journ. sc, n. s., vii. 10) ; and, when treated with dilute 

 acid, the whole frequently becomes altogether im- 

 palpable. These rough concretionary sand-grains 

 naturally can move only with great friction in the 

 mass; and the latter being, moreover, very porous, 

 absorbing instantly even a copious shower, there is 

 little opportunity for washing away. Aside from 

 these purely physical causes, the rapid formation of 

 a tissue of cryptogamic fibrils and gummy matter 

 (mostly moss prothallia) on the fertile material, soon 

 binds the surface, and imparts additional stability. 



E. W. HlLGAKD. 



Berkeley, Cal., Aug. 20. 



An open polar sea. 



In an article in the New- York Herald of Sept. 10, 

 Joseph W. Cremin, A.M., comments upon some re- 

 marks made by me before the British association at 

 Montreal, in regard to the theory of an open polar 

 sea. Mr. Cremin agrees with Lieut. Greely in the 

 belief that there is such a sea, but fails to put forward 

 any facts in support of his theory. And in view of 

 the fact that so far we have found nothing but ice 

 along the southern border of this unknown region, 

 it is fair to presume that the ice-cap extends over the 

 pole, unless facts can be brought forward to prove 

 to the contrary. 



Now, the facts that have convinced me that there 

 is no permanent open water are these : 1°. Migratory 

 birds do not pass into this region beyond the highest 

 known land; and there is a decrease of animal life as 

 you go north, both in the sea and on the land. Also 

 the annual mean temperature falls as you approach 

 the pole. 2°. The ancient ice which is being con- 

 stantly displaced by the new ice that forms in the 

 cracks opened by tides and gales is constantly coming 

 down from the higher latitudes. If there were an 

 open sea to the north, would this be the case ? It 

 naturally yields toward the side of the least resist- 

 ance. 3°. The water in the Arctic Ocean stands at 

 a temperature of +29° F. from October until June, 

 with a range of less than .3 of 1°. Off the northern 

 coast of North America, the currents are variable; 

 and if there were an open sea, which must necessarily 

 be a warm sea, around the pole, we should have a 

 variable temperature in the sea-water. 4°. There is 

 less than 1,300 miles of this unexplored region on a 

 line drawn from Lockwood's highest, over the pole,, 

 to North-east cape, Siberia. Now, if there were a 

 sea of warm water in this comparatively small space, 

 we should have in the region surrounding it a meteor- 

 ological condition which does not exist. We should 

 have a vast amount of precipitation during the 

 winter, with cloudy weather; instead of the clear dry 

 weather, with frequent calms, that we do experience. 

 And the amount of precipitation decreases as you go 

 north. 



The difference in temperature between the flood 



