502 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IV., No. 95. 



% into the text brief statements of the laws of 

 Gay-Lussac, Arogadro, Dulong, and Petit, and 

 by adding an appendix upon the determina- 

 tion of atomic and molecular weights. Still, it 

 strikes us that these alterations in the text 

 might have been carried farther with advan- 

 tage. As it is, the student can hardly fail to 

 be confused by the passage from equivalent to 

 atomic weights ; and the book should have re- 

 called to his memory a discussion of molecules 

 and molecular weights in order to make the 

 transition intelligible. The subsequent chapter 

 upon valence makes this omission all the more 

 noticeable. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Commander Bartlett's annual report on the op- 

 erations of the U. S. hydrographic office makes a good 

 showing for activity and enterprise. Lists of light- 

 houses and ' notices to mariners,' in which bearings 

 are given in degrees from true north, instead of 

 magnetic bearings in points, as formerly, have been 

 liberally published; the official correspondence with 

 other hydrographic offices has been increased; and a 

 complete set of the charts issued by all nations is kept 

 on file, and is always at the service of the public for 

 the determination of any questions relating to hydrog- 

 raphy. The only vessel engaged in making surveys 

 during the year was the Ranger, on the west coast of 

 Mexico and Central America; but it is strongly rec- 

 ommended that new surveys be undertaken in several 

 regions where they have long been wanted. The 

 charts of the northern coast of South America are 

 mostly based on old Spanish surveys dating back to 

 J794. ' Watson's rock,' latitude 40° 17' north, longi- 

 tude 53° 22' west, in the path of North-Atlantic 

 traders, has been reported so many times that its 

 existence ought to be definitely settled or unsettled. 

 The recommendation of previous hydrographers 

 with regard to surveys of the Caroline and Marshall 

 Islands, in the equatorial Pacific, should no longer be 

 neglected: they lie in the belt of the trade-winds 

 and westerly current, the natural highway of vessels 

 crossing the ocean to Japan, China, and the East 

 Indies, and require immediate examination. In the 

 North Pacific alone there are over three thousand 

 reported dangers that need decisive observation. In 

 many cases the same island has half a dozen different 

 positions, with as much as fifty miles between the 

 extremes. It is urged that every naval vessel be 

 provided with modern sounding-apparatus, by which 

 even deep-sea measures can be quickly made, and 

 required to sound wherever the charts show no depths 

 reported within twenty miles on any side; and it is 

 desired that a ship should be fitted out expressly to 

 make investigations into ocean temperatures at all 

 depths, and thus obtain data necessary to complete 

 the determination of the actual oceanic circulation. 



— In an attractive volume entitled 'Higher educa- 

 tion in Germany and England' (Kegan, Paul, & Co.), 



which may be read through at a sitting, Mr. Charles 

 Bird has given an account of what is done in Stutt- 

 gart, Germany, for the promotion of higher educa- 

 tion. In a recent visit to the capital of Wurtemberg, 

 it occurred to him to describe the educational equip- 

 ment of a German town, and to institute a compari- 

 son between what is already done in Germany, and 

 what is hoped for in England. All three varieties of 

 high schools, — the gymnasium, the real-gymnasium, 

 and the real-school, — corresponding very closely in 

 their purposes to our colleges and scientific schools, 

 are maintained in Stuttgart; but the university is 

 wanting. There is, however, a Polytechnicum, which, 

 as most of our readers are aware, has nearly the 

 same relation to the real-schools as the universities 

 have to the gymnasia. 



The book, being written by an expert for a specific 

 public purpose, is excellent reading. Among many 

 things which we might cull, we select a table show- 

 ing where the school population of Stuttgart may be 

 found. It is estimated that one-seventh of the popu- 

 lation, or 17,000 persons, should be under instruction; 

 and of this number, 15,550 are thus accounted for: — 



At universities . . 100 



At the polytechnic 350 



At the baugewerk schule 600 



At the art school 300 



At the two gymnasiums 1,300 



At the real-gymnasium 900 



At the realschule 1,100 



At the two girls' high schools 900 



At the burger school for boys 1,000 



At the burger school for girls 1,000 



At the volkschulen for boys 4,000 



At the volkschulen for girls 4,000 



Total 15,550 



Higher than elementary, 7,550; elementary, 8,000. 



How would our American towns bear comparison 

 with Stuttgart ? 



— It is now proposed to carry the railway-trains 

 across the English Channel on steamers; and the 

 London, Brighton, and South coast railway company 

 is having constructed at Glasgow two propellers suit- 

 able for the purpose. 



— Stenographic notes of Sir William Thomson's 

 course of eighteen lectures at the Johns Hopkins uni- 

 versity, on molecular dynamics, were taken by Mr. 

 A. S. Hathaway, B.S., Cornell university, lately a 

 mathematical fellow of the Johns Hopkins univer- 

 sity; and these notes, with additions subsequently 

 made by the lecturer, have been carefully reproduced 

 by the papyrograph plate process. A bibliography of 

 the subjects considered will also be given with the 

 lectures. In all, there will be about three hundred 

 and fifty pages quarto. A few copies are offered for 

 sale at five dollars net. The edition is strictly limited 

 to three hundred copies; and orders should therefore 

 be sent at once to the publication agency of the Johns 

 Hopkins university, Baltimore, Md. 



— A third series of Johns Hopkins university 

 'Studies in historical and political science,' com- 

 prising about six hundred pages in twelve monthly 

 monographs devoted to American institutions an 



