314: 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 



believe that there is no physical cause in action 

 by which the subject has an inkling of the 

 drawings he is to make, or an indication 

 whether he is going right or wrong. This in- 

 credulous tendency will be greatly strengthened 

 if the assistance of spiritualistic performers is 

 called in. S. Newcomb. 



RADIANT MATTER IN AN EDISON 

 LAMP. 



In the Edison exhibit at the Electrical exhi- 

 bition was shown a phenomenon that deserves 

 careful investigation at the hands of plrysicists. 

 Midway between the two wires which carry the 

 current to the carbon filament of an ordinary 

 incandescent lamp, a third wire is inserted, 

 which terminates in a thin strip of platinum 

 extending up midway between the branches of 

 the loop with its faces turned towards them, 

 and ending about half an inch below the crown 

 of the loop. When the lamp was in action at 

 its ordinary state of incandescence, if a circuit 

 was closed through a galvanometer between 

 the insulated terminal of the platinum strip 

 and either terminal of the carbon filament, it 

 showed a current flowing across the vacuum 

 of the lamp, between the platinum and the car- 

 bon, in opposite directions, according to which 

 pole of the carbon was connected, but much 

 stronger — forty times stronger — when the 

 platinum was connected to the positive pole of 

 the incandescent carbon ; this through a gal- 

 vanometer of about twenty ohms resistance. 

 Moreover, this current was increased when the 

 current through the lamp was increased, so as 

 to heat it much be3'ond its normal temperature. 



After the lamp has been in use for some 

 time, the stronger, positive-platinum, current 

 becomes weaker, and finally changes direction. 

 By letting the lamp rest, the experiment ma} 7 

 be repeated. The same currents were obtained 

 through the glass when either terminal of the 

 carbon was joined to a small piece of platinum 

 stuck any where on the outside of the lamp ; 

 the same effects were also obtained when the 

 bulb was drawn out into a long tube and the 

 connection made at its end, and when this 

 tube was packed in ice to cool it down ; but 

 when the tube was bent round into a loop, no 

 current was obtained, probably from the cut- 

 ting-off of rectilinear radiation from the car- 

 bon. 



It would seem as if here were a field for 

 extending Crookes's experiments on radiation. 



H. M. Paul. 



THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' 



UNION. 



The second congress of the American ornitholo- 

 gists' union was held in the American museum of 

 natural history in New York, Sept. 30 and two fol- 

 lowing days. Dr. Philip Lutley Sclater, Mr. Howard 

 Saunders, and the Rev. E. P. Knubley, of the British 

 ornithologists' union, were present, and took part in 

 the proceedings. A large number of new members 

 were elected. 



The report of the committee on the revision of the 

 nomenclature and classification of North-American 

 birds was presented by Dr. Elliott Coues. The work 

 of the committee had been divided ; Messrs. Hidgway, 

 Brewster, and Henshaw being charged with determin- 

 ing the status of species and sub-species, while Mr. 

 Allen and Dr. Coues were to formulate the canons 

 of nomenclature and classification. Dr. Coues read 

 at length the report of this last sub-committee, the 

 reading occupying about an hour and a half, after 

 which Mr. Ridgway presented the report of the other 

 sub-committee, which emphatically and unanimously 

 indorsed the employment of trinomials for the desig- 

 nation of sub-species. 



The report of the committee on bird-migration was 

 presented by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. This committee 

 had been very industrious, and had been greatly 

 helped by the public press ; so that, by the distribution 

 of nearly six thousand circulars, the committee finally 

 secured nearly seven hundred observers, in addition 

 to the keepers of lights. The observers are distrib- 

 uted as follows : Mississippi valley district (Prof. W. 

 W. Cooke, superintendent), 170 ; New-England dis- 

 trict (John H. Sage, superintendent), 142; Atlantic 

 district (Dr. A. K. Eisher, superintendent), 121 ; 

 Middle-eastern district (Dr. J. M. Wheaton, super- 

 intendent), 90 ; Quebec and the maritime provinces 

 (Montague Chamberlain, superintendent), 56; district 

 of Ontario (Thomas Mcllwraith, superintendent), 

 38; Pacific district (L. Belding, superintendent), 30; 

 Rocky Mountain district (Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, 

 superintendent), 14; Manitoba (Prof. W. W. Cooke, 

 superintendent), 10 ; British Columbia (John Fan- 

 nin, superintendent), 5 ; North-west territories (Er- 

 nest E. T. Seton, superintendent), 5 ; Newfoundland 

 (James P. Howley, superintendent), returns not yet 

 received. Migration-stations now exist in every state 

 and territory in the union, excepting Delaware and 

 Nevada. 



The committee was fortunate in obtaining the co- 

 operation of the Department of marine and fisheries of 

 Canada, and of the Lighthouse board of the United 

 States. By this means it secured the free distribu- 

 tion of upwards of twelve hundred sets of schedules 

 and circulars to the keepers of lighthouses, light- 

 ships, and beacons, in the United States and British 

 North America. 



The returns thus far received from observers were 

 exceedingly voluminous and of great value; they 

 were so extensive, indeed, that it was utterly impossi- 

 ble for the committee to elaborate them without con- 

 siderable pecuniary aid. 



