SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1885. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 



We ake glad to learn that the Bureau of 

 scientific information of the Philadelphia acad- 

 emy of natural sciences, the organization of 

 which was briefly noticed in these columns 

 last autumn, is already in successful operation. 

 It is no small sacrifice upon their part when a 

 score or more of busy specialists volunteer to 

 receive and answer, without charge, reasona- 

 ble inquiries in their several departments. It 

 should be remembered, that while many per- 

 sons are well enough informed to know to 

 whom to write, and are courageous enough 

 to do it, others, from the want of such infor- 

 mation, from modest}', from fear of trespassing 

 upon the time of those to whom the}' would 

 gladly write, or from anxiety lest their request 

 might meet with inhospitality and rebuff, are 

 led, in fact, to refrain from questioning, and 

 become eventually contented with ignorance, 

 or, worse yet, half-knowledge. To mention 

 but a single one of the man}' excellent features 

 of this scheme, viz., bibliography, we need not 

 say what a boon it will certainly be to some 

 one, far removed from monographs, to feel free 

 to consult Dr. Nolan, librarian of the academy, 

 assured beforehand of his cordial co-operation. 



We are pleased to note that the views 

 regarding the proper functions of agricultural 

 experiment-stations, which have been advanced 

 in recent numbers of Science, have found inde- 

 pendent expression in a report to the regents 

 of the University of Nebraska by Prof. C. E. 

 Bessey, dean of the industrial college. His 

 report includes a plan for experimental work 

 in agriculture, horticulture, and entomology ; 

 which plan, we are informed, has been adopted 

 by the regents. It provides for two classes 

 of experiments, designated as ' popular ' and 

 ' scientific ; ' the first designed to reach imme- 



No. 107. — 1885. 



diate results, and the second to establish 

 general principles. Professor Bessey does not 

 fail to attach due value to ' popular ' experi- 

 ments, but he points out two facts which seem 

 to be frequently forgotten by those who make 

 such experiments. 



The first is, that while such experiments may 

 often be of great immediate value, they are 

 usually so only within narrow limits of both 

 space and time, while a scientific principle, if 

 once actually established, is true at all times 

 and under all conditions. The second fact is, 

 that many experiments of this character are 

 constantly being made by private enterprise in 

 all parts of the country. This is particularly 

 the case with tests of new varieties of plants 

 and new patterns of machines. Scientific ex- 

 periments, on the other hand, demand special 

 training and apparatus, such as private enter- 

 prise does not usually command ; and it is 

 therefore especially important that experiment- 

 stations and colleges which have the facilities 

 for such experiments should be encouraged 

 and supported in undertaking them to as great 

 an extent as may appear practicable in each 

 particular case. 



The knowledge of thunder-storms is ad- 

 vancing at a good pace. France has made 

 special study of them for a number of years ; 

 Bavaria and Belgium have more recently taken 

 them up ; and last summer they were made the 

 subject of special investigation by our signal- 

 service, with the aid of a large corps of volun- 

 tary observers, that is to be continued during 

 the coming season. A recent report by Lan- 

 caster, on the storms of 1879 in Belgium, con- 

 firms the conclusions previously announced 

 there, and discovered to obtain so clearly in 

 this country, that thunder-storms occur only 

 in the south-east quadrant of the barometric 

 depressions, or great cyclonic storms that fre- 

 quently sweep across temperate latitudes. 



