November 21, 1884.] 



SCIENCE 



481 



and interest. Most of the observations on meteors 

 are of small value; and. at best, they have but an 

 etymological connection with a weather-review. 



— The fish-commission steamer Albatross will 

 spend the winter in the Gulf of Mexico. A special 

 study will be made of the waters in and about Mo- 

 bile Bay, where, during the past few years, a strange 

 and as yet unknown malady has poisoned the fish so 

 as to render them unfit for food ; but the larger part 

 of the cruise is to be spent along the coast of Texas 

 and Louisiana. 



The exact days and place of meeting will be an- 

 nounced later. Titles of papers to be read, and 

 nominations of candidates for election, should be 

 sent to the secretary at once. 



— Bulletin No. 5 of the U. S. geological survey is a 

 dictionary of altitudes in the United States, compiled 

 by Henry Gannett, chief geographer of the survey. 

 It is essentially an extension of the ' Lists of eleva- 

 tions,' prepared by the same author for Hayden's 

 survey; but, with the present broader organization of 

 the geological survey, the lists now appropriately in- 



EXPERIMENT WITH THE AEROPLANE MADE AT THE FRENCH MILITARY EXPERIMENT-STATION OF CHALAIS-MEUDON IN 1S79. 



{La Nature.) 



— The announcement is made, that copies in bronze 

 of a bust of the late J. B. Dumas of Paris, may be 

 obtained by subscription, addressed to the adminis- 

 tration of the Genie civil, Paris. The original bust 

 was executed by Guillaume, of the Institut, and was 

 pronounced highly satisfactory. The prices range 

 from sixty francs to six hundred francs, according to 

 size and quality of the bronze. 



— Phylloxera has made its appearance in the Pomo- 

 logical institute of Proskau (Silesia). It is hoped, 

 however, that the spread of the disease may yet be 

 prevented. 



— The next meeting of the Society of naturalists 

 of the eastern United States will be held at Wash- 

 ington during the week following Christmas, 1884. 



elude the whole country, while the earlier editions 

 were concerned chiefly with the region west of the 

 Mississippi. A list of authorities fills eight pages, 

 and railroad abbreviations occupy eight more ; then 

 the states and stations follow alphabetically, the num- 

 ber of altitudes given being about eighteen thousand. 

 It is stated that the collection of railroad profiles for 

 Pennsylvania is exceptionally complete and admir- 

 ably adjusted, making the portion of the diction- 

 ary referring to that state by far the fullest and 

 most satisfactory. By apparent oversight, it is not 

 stated whether the base level is high, mean, or low 

 tide. 



— Two volumes of the addresses and speeches of 

 Helmholtz have just been published in Germany. 



