494 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 124. 



and would thus have been led to provide for 

 the reasonable use of the instrumental equip- 

 ment as fast as it was put in place on the 

 mountain. The failure to make such provis- 

 ion constitutes the chief point of unfavorable 

 criticism on the part of astronomers, and is 

 in man}' respects unfortunate ; but sundry ad- 

 vantages also have arisen from it, which may 

 be recognized with more profit, particularly as 

 this condition of things must remain unalter- 

 able until the great telescope is completed, 

 and the entire institution comes under the 

 administration of the University of California, 

 in full accord with the terms of Mr. Lick's 

 bequest. 



Five years ago no one could have anticipated 

 that the year 1886 must pass with the great 

 telescope still unfinished. It is worthy of 

 note, however, that, while the delay in ob- 

 taining the necessary glass for the objective 

 has proven so great an embarrassment to the 

 work of the opticians, it has not as } T et sen- 

 sibly impeded the progress of the construction 

 of the observatory itself. To this fact we 

 alluded at page 377 of the current volume of 

 Science, stating as well the very reasonable 

 grounds for the belief that the plans of the 

 Lick trustees, in so far as they pertain to the 

 construction of the great telescope and the con- 

 joined observatory, will be completely exe- 

 cuted at the close of the year 1887. With its 

 unparalleled instrumental equipment, and an 

 unusual endowment for the prosecution of 

 astronomical research ; located where the sky 

 is cloudless most of the }'ear, and at such an 

 elevation as to be above the clouds a great 

 part of the remainder ; and situate in a region, 

 too, where the steadiness of the air permits 

 astronomical measurement of the highest pre- 

 cision to proceed uninterruptedly throughout 

 the entire night for months at a time, — the Lick 

 observatoiy is destined, under prudent manage- 

 ment, to take its place at once in the foremost 

 rank ; and , although it is the first established 

 mountain observatory, it may well expect to 

 hold its own in the emulation of similar in- 

 stitutions which may subsequently be inau- 

 gurated at greater elevations. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The 

 writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



A new standard cell. 



Since October last I have made some experiments 

 on the zinc-alkali-copper oxide cell with a view to 

 determine the practicability of some modification of it. 



The fact that copper and iron, and perhaps some 

 other metals, dissolve in potassium (or sodium) hy- 

 drate when used as cathodes, suggested to me the 

 possibility that the formation of the alkaline cuprate 

 might occur at a definite and practically convenient 

 difference of potential between the electrodes im- 

 mersed in the alkaline bath. As a matter of fact, I 

 find that a cell mounted with amalgamated zinc, 

 potassic hydrate, and metallic copper, gives, when 

 charged until a blue color appears, a deflection of 

 a hundred and seventy divisions on the scale of a 

 Thompson galvanometer; the Daniell, mounted with 

 saturated zinc sulphate and copper sulphate, giving 

 a hundred and fifty-six divisions. The zinc-alkali- 

 copper cell is joined by a double key to charging-cells 

 and to the galvanometer, a resistance of over nine 

 thousand ohms being included in the circuit of the 

 latter. 



The proper shunt is, of course, employed. This 

 deflection of a hundred and seventy divisions 

 seems to be invariable, and the cell experimented 

 upon promises to be a desirable practical standard of 

 electromotive force. Its excellence appears to con- 

 sist in the fact that the cuprate produced breaks up 

 before it diffuses to the amalgamated zinc, deposit- 

 ing oxide of copper, which settles. The zinc is sus- 

 pended about an inch above the copper, — which is a 

 spiral ribbon, exposing about two square feet of sur- 

 face, — and the resistance is less than an ohm. I 

 have used a ten-per-cent solution of ' depurated ' 

 potassic hydrate. After some trials, it is found tbat 

 the shifting of the cell from the charging source 

 to the galvanometer circuit may be done leisurely, 

 as the electromotive force does not seem to begin to 

 fall off for some minutes. Further testing of the effect 

 of cbanges of temperature, strength of solution, etc., 

 is in progress. Thus far, the temperature of the cell 

 has been allowed to vary very little, not enough to 

 affect the readings. I offer this preliminary note as 

 of possible interest to your readers. This type of 

 cell would be admirably adapted to furnish any de- 

 sired multiple of its electromotive force. 



F. C. Van Dyck. 



Rutgers college, New Brunswick, N.J. 

 June 13. 



Real and imaginary Americanisms. 



Your correspondent, whose identity is perhaps 

 scarcely concealed by initials, is quite right in saying 

 {Science, June 5, 1885, p. 454) that the peculiar use 

 of 'get' in Sir William Thomson's lecture is not an 

 Americanism. But he is not equally correct in his 

 remarks concerning ' would ' and ' should.' It is true 

 that speakers in the west of this country are appar- 

 ently unable to use these words as they are used by 

 writers of classical English, but the same peculiarity 

 is one of the most marked characters of the English 

 of Scotland, as shown in the current burlesque of it: 

 ' I will be drowned, and nobody shall save me.' The 

 confusion may be reaching England, as your corre- 

 spondent remarks, but not from America. Sir W. 

 Thomson has not 'caught the prevalent epidemic:' 

 it was doubtless born and bred in him. 



E. W. C. 



