SCIENCE. 



FKIDAY, APKIL 24, 1885. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 



The work of the commissioners of the state 

 reservation at Niagara has advanced to the 

 point that the bill making the appropriations 

 for taking the necessary lands has passed the 

 legislature, and only awaits the signature of 

 the governor. There comes a suggestion from 

 Mr. S. A. Lattimore of Rochester, to the effect, 

 that, in the event of the acquisition of the land 

 around the falls by the state, a museum should 

 be erected there, to be devoted exclusively to 

 the elucidation and explanation of the physical 

 and geological history of the place. Its walls 

 should be built of rocks from local quarries ; 

 its rooms should contain only such objects as 

 possess a true scientific value ; mere curiosities, 

 and specimens from other regions, should be 

 carefully excluded ; every thing should have as 

 direct a bearing as possible on the history of 

 the falls. Samples of the famous rock series 

 from the gorge, with its fossils and minerals ; 

 plants and animals from the neighboring coun- 

 try ; and maps and models of the falls and the 

 chain of great lakes, — constitute the chief 

 parts of the museum as described by its pro- 

 jector. 



The plan is certainly a good one, and may 

 be successfully carried out at no great cost. 

 Such a museum could be made attractive as 

 well as instructive, and few visitors would fail 

 to see and profit by it. The exclusion of 

 curiosities, such as too often encumber mu- 

 seums, is well advised ; but to our mind the 

 collection needs two additional elements in 

 order to reach its full value, — waterfalls and 

 gorges in other parts of the world should be 

 illustrated by views, maps, models, and descrip- 

 tions, so that the inquiring stranger might gain 

 a true estimate of Niagara ; and the exhibit 

 should be described in some detail on the 



No. 116 —1885. 



labels. Few collections that are open to the 

 public have sufficient explanation accompany- 

 ing them ; and visitors are, as a rule, forced to 

 be discontented with mere names instead of 

 reading well-stated meanings of what the}' see. 

 Such descriptive labels might even be supple- 

 mented by brief papers prepared by specialists, 

 and accessible to the small share of visitors 

 who care to make some study of the place. 

 We commend Mr. Lattimore' s project to the 

 careful consideration of the commissioners. 



On April 16, Gov. Harrison (who is now 

 ex officio a member of the Yale corporation, 

 and who was, until his election as governor, 

 one of the corporators elected hy the Yale 

 alumni) signed the bill by which the state of 

 Connecticut terminated its contract with the 

 Yale observatory for furnishing standard time. 

 The legislation on this subject has had a his- 

 tory which strikingly illustrates the danger of 

 having scientific institutions depend on popular 

 assemblies for annual appropriations for their 

 support. When the ' standard time ' law was 

 enacted, in 1881, Connecticut had its full quota 

 of local times. The confusion in that manu- 

 facturing and busy community was so marked, 

 that the Yale observatory had comparatively 

 little difficulty in guiding an exceptionally able 

 legislature to a unanimous decision in regard 

 to establishing a standard time. The obser- 

 vatory, with an admirable plant, has conducted 

 the service with uniform efficiency and ac- 

 curacy. 



To the surprise of its officers, some two 

 months since, the appropriation committee re- 

 ported to the Connecticut house of represen- 

 tatives a bill repealing the appropriation by 

 amending the original act. This report was 

 made without a single hearing on the merits 

 of the case. When it became known that the 

 committee intended to push the report, the 

 friends of the observatory, and those interested 



