Makch 20, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



227 



The father (D. A. of Independence, Io. ) has un- 

 usually acute hearing. The degree of acuteness 

 cannot well he expressed in terms of normal audi- 

 tion : hut it will suffice to say that he distinguishes 

 voices, whispers, and other sounds at considerably 

 beyond the ordinary range ; that he frequently hears 

 sounds inaudible to his companions ; and that he per- 

 ceives, discriminates, and comprehends faint sounds 

 with great facility. His wife's audition was normal, 

 and that of the progeny is variable. Expressing 

 normal audition by N, and arbitrarily evaluating 

 acuteness above and below this standard, the status 

 of the family, including consorts (indicated by italics), 

 is about as follows : — 



First 

 generation. 

 D. A. 65-N+2 

 Mr&.L.S.A. 



(deceased) — N . 



SECOND 

 GENERATION. 



(G. W. 45-N 



'Mrs.M.A.W.42-N 



J. A. 40-N+l 



XMrs.M.D.A.W-TS 



G. M. 42-N-l 



Mrs. J. A. M. 



37-N-3 



MissM.A. 32-N+3 



D. H. A. 30-N-3 



L T. A. 28-N-3 



Third 



generation. 



(5 children, all -N) 

 (7 children, all -N) 



MissE.M. 11-N+l 

 J. M. 9-N 



Miss B. M. 7-N 



The partially deaf members do not perceive the 

 ordinary voice, but follow conversation readily if the 

 voice be raised as high, say, as that of an out-door 

 speaker. 



It is noteworthy that none of the family were born 

 deaf, but that sensitiveness of the auditory apparatus 

 diminished during youth, either progressively or by 

 stages coinciding with slight catarrhal attacks or 

 other physiologic disturbances. The grandchildren 

 born thus, scarcely reached the age at which deafness 

 began to appear in the second generation. 



W. J. McGee. 



Washington, D.C., March 11. 



Preservation of jelly-fishes at the Naples 

 zoological stations. 



Zoologists are to be congratulated upon the success 

 which has at last attended the efforts of Signore Lo 

 Bianco, the skilful conservator of the zoological sta- 

 tion in Naples, towards the preservation of Siphon- 

 ophorae. So extremely delicate are these complicated 

 organisms as to have rendered futile all efforts hither- 

 to made for their preservation ; and students have 

 been compelled to have recourse to drawings or mod- 

 els for the study of their structure in the absence of 

 living specimens. The least carelessness on the part 

 of the collector, results, as a rule, in the loss of many 

 of the slightly attached parts; and if, perchance, the 

 animals are brought in safety to the laboratory, they 

 are available for study only during a very brief period. 

 For over eight years Signore Lo Bianco has carried 

 on experiments, attended with the greatest patience 

 and skill and no small pecuniary outlay, only to meet 

 with the fate which has ever attended attempts at 

 their preservation, — to see them fall into a hundred 

 pieces. Every working zoologist can therefore readily 

 imagine the satisfaction following the discovery of a 

 method through which every museum may now place 

 upon its shelves specimens of Mediterranean Siphon- 

 ophorae retaining all the beauty and transparency of 

 living specimens, — a privilege of which the directors 

 of the various European museums are by no means 



slow in availing themselves, a large number of orders 

 having already been received at the station for 

 complete sets. Henceforth students of inland labora- 

 tories can study these interesting animals as satisfac- 

 torily as those at seaside laboratories, specimens 

 being furnished, if desired, prepared especially for 

 histological purposes. At no other place in the world 

 has the art of preserving marine animals attained 

 such perfection as in the Naples station, and at no 

 other place is it possible. Owing to the large corps 

 of skilled collectors, and to the rich fauna of the 

 Gulf of Naples, material is constantly on hand for 

 experimentation, and is manipulated by experts, who 

 are instructed to spare no time or expense in the 

 search for methods which shall retain the animals in 

 their natural expanded conditions, and, if possible, 

 with the brilliant colors of living specimens. A most 

 interesting example is that of Corallium rubrum ; the 

 precious coral in which all the minute polyps are 

 seen, with their tentacles fully expanded, furnishing 

 a much more instructive object than the bits of dried 

 twigs ordinarily to be seen in collections. Of the 

 Siphonophorae, the most difficult of preservation were 

 Forskalia contorta, Apolemia uvaria, Agalma Sarsii, 

 Halistemma rubrum, Physophora hydrostatica, and 

 Praya diphyes. These, besides many others, may 

 now be obtained at prices which barely cover the cost 

 of preparation, varying according to size, rarity, and 

 process required, from one to thirty francs. The last 

 two forms, owing to their habits, are not always 

 on hand, appearing one day in hundreds, months 

 elapsing before the collector again meets with them. 

 American institutions have thus far been much be- 

 hind those of Great Britain and the continent in taking 

 advantage of the unparalleled facilities afforded by 

 the Naples zoological station; Williams college and. 

 the University of Pennsylvania being the only ones 

 which have taken tables and sent representatives, 

 the latter being the only one represented at pres- 

 ent. Several Americans have been able to occupy 

 tables for short periods through the courtesy of Ger- 

 man universities ; but it would be much more credit- 

 able to America were her zoologists able to meet 

 with similar encouragement from home institutions. 



C. S. Dolley. 

 Naples, Feb. 28. 



Economy of fuel. 



In your No. 103 of Jan. 23, 1885, under the head- 

 ing ' Economy of fuel,' the coal-consumption of the 

 steamship Oregon is stated at 16 tons per mile, which 

 is equivalent to 48,000 tons for the Atlantic voyage! 

 [Corrected, vol. v. p. 122.] I beg to request that you 

 will publish, in correction of the above, the accom- 

 panying table, compiled from data furnished me 

 through the courtesy of Mr. A. M. Underbill of the 

 Guion line. 













Ss*b 



'S** 









05 



§ 





p h £ 













?3 c . 





Name of 

 steamer. 



Ton- 

 nage. 



Horse- 

 power. 



O 



<5 

 o 



M 3 6 









o 



ft 



o 



ft 



§j8«8s,5 



< 



2 S h« § 













Knots. 



Tons. 



Arizona . 



5,147 



6,000 



6 



36 



16.21 



162 



Alaska . . 



6,932 



11,000 



9 



54 



17.44 



243 



Oregon . . 



7,374 



13,000 



9 



72 



18.56 



324 



Bailey Willis. 



