May 3, 1885.] 



.SCIENCE. 



385 



goods-engines.' The steam-cylinders were inside the 

 frames. The forward wheels were coupled, instead 

 of, as usual, the after-wheels; thus getting a set of 

 small trailing-wheels, short outside coupling-rods, 

 and a large boiler. The centre of gravity of the en- 

 gine was purposely made high, as is the practice in 

 this country in the construction of the wide-firebox 

 engines of Mr. Wooten, for the purpose of making 

 the engine move more easily at high speeds, and, as 

 both these designers believe, making them safer; the 

 rolling being less serious at exceptionally high speeds 

 than in engines having a low centre of gravity. The 

 action of the high centre of gravity in throwing the 

 pressure mainly upon the outer rail, in rounding 

 curves, was thought to be another advantage of ap- 

 preciable value, permitting the inside wheels to slip 

 more readily. Six wheels were used, without truck 

 or ' bogie.' 



It was asserted that the cranked axle, and other 

 parts of the machine, do not break if properly pro- 

 portioned, although it was evidently felt that the axle 

 is a source of danger in greater degree than when 

 straight, as in outside-connected engines. The steam 

 was given an admission varying from twelve to seven- 

 ty-eight per cent, the engine running very smoothly, 

 and with great economy, at high speeds, with the 

 shorter cut-off. The compression is thus made ad- 

 vantageous in both ways. It was considered that 

 compounding would not be of sufficient advantage to 

 justify its adoption in such engines ; although it might 

 prove useful for heavy, slow-moving engines, work- 

 ing with little expansion the greater part of the time. 

 The Westinghouse brake was fitted to all these en- 

 gines, and gave thorough satisfaction. Its pump had 

 been fitted with a water-connection, and it could thus 

 be utilized as a boiler-feeder when on sidings. The 

 boiler was made of Yorkshire iron, with joints but- 

 ted, edges of sheets planed, holes drilled after bend- 

 ing the sheets, and all hand-riveted. The steam 

 used amounted to about twenty-six pounds per horse- 

 power per hour, on a road on which the average is 

 thirty. One pound of coal conveyed one ton thirteen 

 miles and a half, at the speed of 43.38 miles an hour. 

 Heating the feed-water saved two pounds and a half 

 per train-mile. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF THE LYCE- 

 UM OF NATURAL HISTORY AT WIL- 

 LIAMS COLLEGE. 



It will be news to many, that a natural history 

 society of college students has had an uninterrupted 

 existence of fifty years at Williams college, in the 

 little village of Williamstown, Mass. It is neverthe- 

 less true, and its semi-centennial was celebrated on 

 April 24. 



The exercises were opened by the president of the 

 society, Mr. Henry B. Ward, with a short historical 

 sketch. "Fifty years ago," said he, "on the 2d of 

 April, eight students of Williams college formed a 

 society for the study of natural history in its various 

 departments. At first secret, under the name of 

 i B 0, within six months it adopted its present 



name. Professor Albert Hopkins, speaking twenty 

 years later, said that it had sustained from the begin- 

 ning a spirit of enterprise. The history of its early 

 years remarkably verifies his assertion; for within a 

 year from its formation it was large and active 

 enough to send to Nova Scotia an expedition of 

 twelve members and three professors. This expe- 

 dition gave the lyceum a considerable reputation, and 

 it was referred to by a French scientific journal as 

 the first of the kind attempted in America. In the 

 spring of 1840, only four years later, an expedition was 

 sent through Berkshire county for study and collect- 

 ing. By these two expeditions and individual effort, 

 the collections well filled the society's rooms in East 

 college. When that building was destroyed by fire, 

 in 1841, the collections also perished. Contributions 

 from all sides, and hard work by the members, soon re- 

 stored them so well that the rooms in South college 

 became too small; and in December, 1854 a circular 

 was sent out, forcibly setting forth the needs of the 

 lyceum, and asking for twenty-five hundred dollars 

 to erect a building. This circular was brought to the 

 notice of Mr. Nathan Jackson of New York, a rel- 

 ative of Col. Williams, and grand-uncle of the pres- 

 ident of the lyceum at that time. He sent a check 

 for the whole amount; and in a few months Jackson 

 hall was completed. At commencement, Aug. 14, 

 1855, the lyceum was addressed in the forenoon by 

 Prof. William B. Rogers, and in the afternoon held 

 a public meeting in its new rooms in Jackson hall, 

 to dedicate the building, and celebrate its twentieth 

 anniversary. At this time Mr. Jackson sent a thou- 

 sand dollars to make up the full cost of the building. 

 In February, 1857, desiring to fill the cases in Jack- 

 son hall, the lyceum sent an expedition to Florida. 

 Sixteen members, under the guidance of Professor 

 Chadbourne, spent a month collecting on the Florida 

 shores, with great success. The expenses were pro- 

 vided for by the liberality of Mr. Jackson and other 

 friends of the society. In 1860 another expedition 

 under the charge of Professor Chadbourne was 

 arranged to Labrador and Greenland, a description 

 of which has been recently published by Prof. A. S. 

 Packard, a guest of the lyceum on that trip. In 1S67 

 an expedition under the joint auspices of the lyceum 

 and the college was sent to South America, under 

 the charge of Professor James Orton, a former pres- 

 ident of the lyceum. A small party proceeded from 

 the northern coast by the courses of the Orinoco and 

 Rio Negro to the Amazon: the main body crossed 

 the Andes from the western coast, and descended the 

 Amazon in canoes. In 1870 an expedition from both 

 the lyceum and college spent four months collecting 

 in Central America with great success. The expe- 

 dition of 1877 to the northern Rocky Mountains was 

 broken up by the death of Professor Tenney, its 

 leader, just as it had started. 



" Many have been the professors who have aided the 

 lyceum in its work; but to Professor Albert Hopkins, 

 Dr. Chadbourne, and Professor Tenney it owes a 

 debt of gratitude which can never be computed." 



Dr. W. K. Brooks, a former president, then ad- 

 dressed the tyceuni on Life. He spoke of the age 



