168 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 134. 



American association for the advancement of 

 science : these were, Messrs. Newton, Lesley, 

 Newcomb, Asa Gra}', Cope, Ililgard, Putnam, 

 James Hall, J. W. Langlej', Morse, Eaton, 

 N. H. Winchell, Wormlej, Thurston, Eddy, 

 Springer, and John Trowbridge. 



It was prepared by Mr. W. Curtis Taylor of 

 Philadelphia,^ who had never seen a composite 

 before preparing it ; and it is therefore less 

 successful than might otherwise be expected. 

 As in the previous composites published b3^us, 

 it makes a younger and handsomer man than 

 the average of those whose faces enter into it. 

 The avei'age age of these seventeen gentlemen 

 can hardly be less than fifty. 



THE YACHT PURITAN. 



The yacht Puritan, which has just raced so 

 successfully with the New- York sloop Priscilla, 

 was designed b}^ Mr. Edward Burgess of Bos- 

 ton with a view to combine the speed of the 

 ordinary type of American sloop with the 

 weatherliness of the English cutter. The race 

 for the Goelet cup at Newport, Aug. 3, seems 

 to show that we have, at last, a successful 

 compromise. Puritan measures 93 feet on 

 deck from the fore side of stern to the aft 

 side of her long and slender taffrail. Extreme 

 beam, 22 feet 7 inches. Draught, <S feet 4 

 inches. Displacement, 105 gross tons. The 

 lead keel weighs 25 tons ; and 20 tons of lead 

 are stowed inside, four or five tons of which 

 are run into the garboards. The centre-board 

 is 21 feet long and 10 feet deep. The spar 

 measurements are : mainmast, 78 feet ; top- 

 mast, 44 feet ; boom, 76 feet ; gaff", 47 feet ; 

 bowsprit, 38 feet (outboard) . Lower-sail area, 

 5,500 square feet. 



Many yachting critics ])redicted that Puritan 

 would not carr}' her sail ; that her lead keel, 

 combined with so much beam, would make her 

 very uneasy in a seaway ; and that, like other 

 compromises, she would be slow. Her record 

 so far has, however, been entirely satisfactorj'. 

 Li the Newport race, while the fastest cutter 

 3'et built in America — Bedouin — plunged into 

 every sea, finally losing her bowsprit, Puritan 

 never put her bowsprit under, and beat the 

 cutter one hour in the twenty-mile thrash to 

 windward. 



Puritan's rival, Priscilla, is undoubtedly a 

 very fast craft ; and with her rig reduced, she 

 may yet prove a troublesome antagonist, with 

 her five feet extra length. 



The success of both boats, which a new 



I We are indebted to the couiie>y of this gentleman for the 

 opportunity of reproducing it. 



book on the America's cup calls ' experiments,' 

 points to a brave defence of the cup, and holds 

 out good hope that it ma}' still remain on this 

 side of the Atlantic. 



The midship section of Puritan, given here- 

 with, is published for the first time. Her lon- 

 gitudinal section shows a rather deep forefoot 

 with a rocker keel and raking stern-post. 

 Both fore and after bodies are unusually fine. 



The load water-line shows about five inches 

 hollow. 



The picture, showing Puritan under lower- 

 sails and club-gaff topsail, is reproduced from 

 a photograph taken by N. L. Stebbins in the 

 p]astern yacht race, June 30, when she beat 

 the next boat in her class nearly half an hour 

 over a short course. 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.^ 



My Feiends: I have the honor to address you this 

 evening as an association of representatives of Ameri- 

 can science in all its branches, — as students of the 

 sky and all its elemental forces, of the earth and all its 

 mineral constituents, of the animal and vegetable 

 kingdoms in their past and present ages, of the his- 

 tory and constitution of tbe human race, — and I may 

 be easily pardoned for some trepidation in view of 

 the draughts you may have drawn in advance on my 



1 Address to the American association for the advancement of 

 science at Ann Arbor, Aug. 26, 1885, by Prof. J. P. Lesley of 

 Philadelphia, the retiring president of the association. 



