44 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 102. 



The use of slips in scientific correspondence. 1 



An account of the ' slip-system of notes ' was pub- 

 lished by me in the Proceedings of the Boston society 

 of natural history in 1867 (May 15, p. 242), after 

 using it for more than a year. A fuller description is 

 given in Wilder and Gage's ' Anatomical technology' 

 (pp. 45-52). On p. 46 it is said that "slip-notes are 

 of the following kinds: museum catalogues, library 

 catalogues, references, extracts, statements of obser- 

 vations (original or otherwise, with or without draw- 

 ings)." 



During last summer I began to use slips in another 

 way, suggested, perhaps, by the fact that postal-cards 

 referring to a single point were frequently filed away 

 with the slip-notes on the same subject. In my sci- 

 entific correspondence I enclose slips (postal-card 

 size) relating each to a special point. If written closely 

 or with the type-writer, there is usually ample space, 

 not only for the original note, but for an answer to 

 it, if in the shape of inquiry: if not, a second is 

 attached. 



As compared with a letter in the usual form, such 

 ' correspondence-slips ' present the following advan- 

 tages : 1. Each point may be attended to by the 

 sender or the receiver independently of others which 

 may require more delay ; 2. Without transcription, the 

 slips maybe filed with others on the same subject; 

 3. The same slip, with or without attachments, may 

 be sent back and forth, or to other correspondents, 

 for comment or inquiry; 4. The date of each writ- 

 ing may be affixed, when desirable, either by hand, or 

 by tbe use of Perkins rubber stamps, or other me- 

 chanical device. 



As a matter of detail, I may add that I have found 

 it convenient to keep by me envelopes addressed to 

 those with whom I desire to communicate frequently 

 upon matters of common interest, to insert the slips 

 as they were written, and to send the letter as occa- 

 sion arose. 



Among those who have more or less fully co-oper- 

 ated with me in the use of slips in correspondence, 

 should be named, especially, Dr. F. P. Foster, editor 

 of the New- York Medical journal; Prof. H. F. Osborn 

 of Princeton college; and my colleague, Prof. S. H. 

 Gage. B. G. Wilder. 



Ithaca, N.Y., Dec. 26. 



American pearls. 



Remembering an inquiry in a back number of 

 Science regarding pearls, I thought it perhaps worth 

 recording that small black pearls are not infrequent 

 in the common Yenus fluctifraga, Y. succincta, and 

 Y. simillima of this coast. We also occasionally find 

 white pearls in the larger Pachydesma crassatelloides. 

 Haliotis splendens and H. Cracherodii are often pearl- 

 bearers, pearls found in them often being of value 

 and quite pretty. Martesia intercalata buries itself 

 in the shell of Haliotis; and upon boring through, 

 as it often does, the abalone covers the opening 

 with a black, pearly layer, that frequently becomes a 

 large protuberance on the inside of the shell. 



C. R. Oecutt. 



San Diego, Cal. 



The earthquake of Jan. 2. 



The earthquake of Jan. 2 was felt distinctly in 

 Washington. Making allowance for the error of 

 my watch, the shock occurred at 9 k. 12.1m. p.m., 

 eastern standard time, and lasted ten or twelve sec- 



1 Read before the Society of naturalists of the eastern United 

 States, Dec. 29, 1884. 



onds, accompanied by a rumbling sound, a rattling 

 of windows, and a ' chattering,' jarring, unpleasant 

 sensation communicated from the floor of the room 

 in which I was sitting. The place of observation was 

 about twenty-three hundred feet north-east of the 

 naval observatory. The time may be half a minute 

 in error, either way. William C. Winlock. 



Washington, D.C., Jan. 4. 



THE PROSPECTS OF THE NEW PSY- 

 CHICAL SOCIETY. 



The story of the persecution of Galileo is 

 now familiar to every one. In those clays the 

 church had ordained a certain system for the 

 universe, and was disturbed by the discoveries 

 of scientific men. Exactty the same feeling 

 has been shown by two or three scientific men 

 of the present day with regard to the prose- 

 cution of investigations of certain so-called 

 psychical phenomena. One of our foremost 

 scientific men has been heard to say, that, if 

 the facts claimed to be true by the committee 

 on thought-transference of the English society 

 for psychical research were true, life would not 

 be worth living. Men of this stamp sa} r that 

 they cannot in any way, or by any proof, be 

 led to believe in the facts ; but the} 7 would 

 have all stud} 7 of the alleged phenomena sup- 

 pressed. 



It is very fortunate that men of this ' dark- 

 age ' frame of mind are in the minority. An} 7 

 one who saw the reception among scientific 

 men which was given last summer to Professor 

 Barrett, the emissaiy of the English society 

 for psychical research, would see how deep- 

 seated is the interest in such investigations, 

 in spite of a healthy scepticism. There is no 

 longer a feeling that such matters can be 

 laughed out of court. As one result of Pro- 

 fessor Barrett's visit, at a meeting held in 

 Boston in September, a committee was ap- 

 pointed to consider the formation of an Amer- 

 ican society on a similar plan to that which 

 Professor Barrett represented. A professor- 

 ship had already been established in the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, and a man appointed 

 to the chair who should devote his time more 

 especially to the study of the physical mani- 

 festations known as spiritualism ; a late wealthy 

 citizen of Philadelphia having bequeathed a 



