November 28, 1884. J 



SCIENCE. 



505 



after being quarried in the coal season, is taken 

 down to Sunamganj, on the Surma River, where it is 

 burnt in holes in the river-bank, reeds being used as 

 fuel. The lime is finally taken to Calcutta, but an 

 interval of two years elapses from the time the stone 

 is quarried until it is sent to market. It is suggested, 

 that, if the coal on the spot were used in properly 

 constructed kilns, a great saving of the time and ex- 

 penditure would be effected. 



— The French minister of instruction has de- 

 spatched the following scientific missions: Mr. Brau 

 de St. Pol Lias is sent to Sumatra and Malacca to 

 make collections ; Professor Guard i a, to study the 

 Balearic dialects; Mr. Etienne Gautier, to make inves- 

 tigations in natural history and anthropology in 

 Asiatic Turkey and Persia; and Professor Henri 

 Lerwis, to study leprosy in Norway. 



— The composition and properties of the light 

 emitted by insects of the Pyrophore genus form the 

 subject of a paper recently presented to the Paris 

 academy of sciences by Aubert and P. Dubois. 

 The spectrum of the light, examined by the spec- 

 troscope, is very beautiful, but destitute of dark 

 bands. When, however, the intensity diminishes, 

 the red and orange disappear, and the green and 

 yellow only remain. 



— Admiral Cochrane of the English navy has re- 

 cently suggested a novel plan for the defence of ves- 

 sels of commerce from attacks of men-of-war. He 

 proposes that these vessels should be armed with, a 

 pair of mortars of considerable range, placed in the 

 same plane fifty to eighty feet apart, and so arranged 

 that they may be simultaneously discharged by elec- 

 tricity. The mortars are each to be loaded with a 

 small charge of powder; and on this is to be placed 

 a buoyant, concussive torpedo of light weight and 

 thin metal, which is to contain a bursting charge of 

 gun-cotton or other high explosive. The torpedoes 

 are to be connected by a light but very strong line from 

 a hundred to two hundred feet long, the surplus of 

 which is to be coiled about the torpedoes when in the 

 mortar. When the mortars are discharged, the tor- 

 pedoes will diverge slightly, and fall into the water 

 some distance apart, where they will float with the 

 line between them. If then the man-of-war in pur- 

 suit continues in a direct path toward her intended 

 prey, she will run foul of the line, and the torpedoes 

 will be drawn under her sides, and explode on contact. 



— Some interesting fulgurites have been received 

 by the National museum from Whiteside county, 111. 

 The largest one found measured two inches in diam- 

 eter: it was unfortunately broken in transportation. 

 The largest specimen of those received intact meas- 

 ures one inch and a half in diameter and four inches 

 in length. Mr. Abbott, the donor of these specimens, 

 states that he traced the tubes to a depth of seven 

 feet in the sand. 



— Past assistant surgeon H. G. Beyer, U.S.N., is 

 giving a course of twelve illustrated lectures before 

 the Naval medical society of Washington upon the 

 development of vertebrate animals. 



— A somewhat novel device for illustrating the 



microscopic structure of rocks has been brought into 

 use in the geological department of the National 

 museum. A series of photomicrographs was pre- 

 pared from twelve thin sections of typical rocks, and 

 the former were then thrown upon glass, forming 

 transparencies twelve inches in diameter. The latter 

 were afterwards colored by hand, the artist taking 

 his tints from an examination of the sections them- 

 selves under the microscope and in polarized light. 

 The transparencies thus produced are highly artistic 

 in effect, and, on account of their accuracy and at- 

 tractiveness, must prove an important addition to the 

 educational series of the museum. 



— The increasing interest in good methods of library 

 administration is illustrated by a call for a conference 

 of western librarians, to be held at Eock Island, 111., 

 Dec. 3, and to continue in session during two days. 

 Mr. W. F. Poole of the public library in Chicago is 

 the president and convening officer. 



— To supplement the building-stone collection of 

 the National museum in the way of illustrating the 

 adaptability of certain kinds of stone to architectural 

 purposes, a series of photographic negatives of some 

 of the important stone buildings of the country has 

 been obtained, from which enlarged prints (thirty 

 inches by forty inches) have been prepared. These 

 prints have been painted in a manner to show the 

 natural colors of the stone of which the buildings 

 are constructed. Among the prominent buildings 

 represented are the Smithsonian institution, the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, the residence of Mr. William 

 H. Yanderbilt (New York), and the Harvard law 

 school (Cambridge). 



— It is reported in Berlin that Dr. Koch has suc- 

 ceeded in transferring the cholera bacilli to several 

 rabbits, which have died with all the symptoms of 

 genuine cholera. The priority of success in this ex- 

 periment is disputed by two Swiss physicians, Messrs. 

 Nicati and Ritsch. 



— The Japanese native papers are cryingjout at the 

 extinction of the lacquer industry of the country. 

 The trees from which the varnish is obtained are dis- 

 appearing. Formerly, like the mulberry-tree on which 

 the silk- worm feeds, it was protected by law. Each 

 family of the upper classes was obliged to rear a hun- 

 dred trees, the middle classes seventy, and the lower 

 classes forty. Since this law became a dead letter, the 

 cultivation of the lacquer-tree has rapidly declined. 

 The trees were cut down without care, and none were 

 planted to replace them, so that they hive become 

 exceedingly rare, while the price of lacquer has enor- 

 mously increased. Similar complaints are heard of 

 the process of deforestation going on in Japan since 

 the ancient law, which required every one who 

 cut down a tree to plant two in its place, was abol- 

 ished. 



— A Chinaman, named Chen-Ki-Souen, has writ- 

 ten a monograph on the famous Chinese ink, com- 

 monly known as India ink, from a translation of 

 which the Oil and colourman's journal prints the fol- 

 lowing abstract. The Chinese writer describes every 

 stage of the preparation of India ink with great accu- 



