160 



SCIENCE. 



[February 20, 1885. 



plete text and symbols of the Walam olura, a new 

 translation, and an inquiry into its authenticity," by 

 himself. 



— At its annual meeting, Jan. 21, the Russian 

 geographical society awarded the Constantine medal 

 to A. Woeikof , for his researches on climatology, espe- 

 cially for his work entitled ' Climates of the globe; ' 

 Count Lutke's medal to Col. N. J. Zinger, in con- 

 sideration of his method of determining time by the 

 observation of two stars, — a method combining ac- 

 curacy with simplicity without the aid of heavy in- 

 struments, and especially suitable for geodetic work 

 (it has already been used in Caucasus, Bulgaria, and 

 other places) ; the medal of the ethnological section 

 to P. W. Schein, for his study of the folk-lore of 

 White Eussia; the medal of the statistical section to 

 Prof. T. Janskeel, for his report on factory statistics 

 of the Moscow region. 



Inferior gold medals 

 were given to Putkata, 

 Iwanow, and Bender- 

 sky (Ramir travellers); 

 to Professor Klossow- 

 sky, for his studies of 

 thunder-storms in Rus- 

 sia; and to Professor 

 Zomakion, for magnetic 

 observations at Kasan 

 in 1882-83 on the inter- 

 national plan. The 

 most important recent 

 publications of the so- 

 ciety are the map of the 

 Baikal by Chersky, and 

 the atlas showing Gen. 

 Kaulbars's work on the 

 Amu Sarja. 



— Among the promi- 

 nent members of the 

 Russian geographical 

 society who died dur- 

 ing the past year was 

 Count A. S. Uwarow, 

 one of the first arche- 

 ologists of Russia, and 

 founder of the Archeo- 



logical society of Moscow. His first work was an in- 

 vestigation of the archeology of southern Russia. 

 Later he made a very thorough examination of the 

 tumuli on the Oka (Wladimir), and published an im- 

 portant work on the Finnish people of the Meria, who 

 inhabited the country before its colonization by the 

 Russians. For this work he was awarded the Con- 

 stantine medal of the society. The last fifteen years 

 of his life were devoted to the study of prehistoric 

 archeology. 



— The electrical exposition, organized by the Inter- 

 national society of electricians at the Observatory of 

 Paris, will open March 15. The exposition will be 

 the first in a series of special expositions preparatory 

 to the great universal and international festival in 

 1889. 



A KANSAS TORNADO IN APRIL, 1884 



— Capt. Mitchell of the English steamer Went- 

 more reports that on Jan. 28, at half-past two a.m., 

 a ball of St. Elmo's fire fell between the bridge and 

 foremast, and afterwards played upon the foremast 

 and gaff. This ball of fire was so bright that for a 

 time it blinded the officer on watch. 



— Ambulance classes for railway employees have 

 been instituted in Berlin, and it is intended that in 

 future every German railway official shall be an ac- 

 complished student of the Esmarch ambulance sys- 

 tem. 



— Mr. Cochery, the French minister of posts and 

 telegraphy, was present at Rouen, Jan. 2, at some 

 experiments in long-distance telephoning. The ob- 

 ject was to test the application between Rouen and 

 Havre, a distance of about ninety kilometres, of the 



simultaneous transmis- 



sion system of Van Rys- 



selberghe. The result 

 was excellent, and Co- 

 chery announced that 

 the communication 

 would be open to the 

 public in a fortnight. 

 It is probable that be- 

 fore long there will also 

 be a connection be- 

 tween Rouen and Paris, 

 using either the Van 

 Rysselberghe system or 

 a special wire, accord- 

 ing to the cost. Since 

 Jan. 1 the first public 

 telephone - offices have 

 been in operation in 

 Paris. 



— The January num- 

 ber of the American 

 meteorological journal, 

 edited by Professor Har- 

 rington of Ann Arbor, 

 Mich., and published at 

 Detroit, is of more than 

 usual interest. Among 

 the meteorological pa- 

 pers, one by Mr. H. H. Clayton, jun., on the ' Thun- 

 der-squalls of July 5, 1884,' is of much value. A 

 new feature that appears in this number of the 

 journal is twelve pages of methodical review by 

 various contributors. If extended and continued, 

 this will form a current bibliography of great value 

 to many readers who are unable to consult a large 

 variety of publications. The number contains a 

 woodcut (here produced) prepared from a photograph 

 of a tornado that occurred in Kansas last April. 

 The view was taken by Mr. A. A. Adams, Garnett, 

 Kan., from whom copies may be bought. Another 

 tornado photograph was taken in Dakota last August 

 by F. N". Robinson of Howard, Miner county, from 

 whom copies may be obtained. The storm passed 

 twenty-two miles west of that town, moving in a 



