SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1885. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM, 

 Students of maps may have noticed upon 

 nearly all maps of Colorado issued during the 

 past twenty years a settlement indicated upon 

 White River, near the western boundary of the 

 state, denominated Golden or Goblin City. This 

 is a curious example of the persistence of a ge- 

 ographical blimder. Many years ago an army 

 expedition traversed this region, going from Fort 

 Bridger, Wyo., to old Fort Massachusetts, Col. 

 In this neighborhood are bad lands, eroded into 

 curious forms, which naturally suggest a ruined 

 city ; and the commander of the expedition gave 

 the locaUty the name of Goblin City, which name 

 appeared on his map. The map-makers, in their 

 haste to fill up the blanks in this unsettled region, 

 jumped to the conclusion that this was a veritable 

 settlement, and gave it a place on their maps, — a 

 place which it has ever since retained. Not only 

 have the commercial map-makers, almost without 

 exception, fallen into this en*or, but such authori- 

 ties as the U. S. engineer office and general land 

 office have adopted it. The name has, however, 

 been gradually changed from Goblin to Goldin, 

 and thence to Golden City, while more than one 

 enterprising map-maker, reasoning, probably, that 

 a city cannot exist without means of communica- 

 tion with other settlements, has constructed on 

 paper a road down the White River to it. It is 

 scarcely necessary to add that there is not, and 

 never was, a settlement in this neighborhood. 



In the April issue of the Druggists' circular 

 appeared an offer by the publisher of three prizes 

 for "the three most practical and otherwise valu- 

 able essays on disinfectants." In the May issue 

 the following gentlemen were announced as the 

 committee of award : Prof. S. A. Lattimore, Roch- 

 ester, N.Y. ; Dr. Henry B. Baker, Lansing, Mich. ; 

 Prof. Joseph P. Remington, Philadelphia. In the 

 June number it was announced that nearly two 

 dozen essays had been handed in, and several of 

 them, selected at random, were printed in that and 

 succeeding issues. Finally, in the October num- 

 ber, the successful names were announced : first 



No. 148. — 1885. 



prize, $125, to Mr. Marcus Benjamin, New York 

 City ; second prize, $75, to B. W. Palmer, M.D., 

 Detroit, Mich. ; third prize, $50, to R. G. Eccles, 

 M.D., Brooklyn, N.Y. The essays all appear in a 

 book issued by the Druggists' circular, entitled 

 'Disinfectants and their use.' From the editorial 

 remarks made in the issue announcing the decision, 

 we learn that the delay was caused by the difficulty 

 of arriving at a unanimous decision as to the merits 

 of the various essays, and that it was finally 

 decided by a majority of the committee. From a 

 letter which appeared in the New York medical 

 journal of Nov. 7, we infer that Dr. Baker's was 

 the dissenting voice. It is also distinctly stated in 

 the announcement of the award that the decision 

 of the committee is not to be regarded as an en- 

 dorsement of the accuracy and scientific value of 

 the essays, but is merely an indication of relative 

 value. 



The result reached by the committee has 

 been in many quarters adversely criticised. 

 Inasmuch as these essays were intended to meet 

 the urgent demand for reliable disinfectants, in 

 view of the possible advent of cholera, it is very 

 unfortunate that they should be sent broadcast 

 through the land, with what amounts to a state- 

 ment that their accuracy and scientific value are 

 not indorsed by the committee. Essays with these 

 qualifications were called for, and, if they do not 

 supply this want, they are of no more value than 

 so many school-boy compositions : indeed, they 

 may do infinite harm, as, this want of indorse- 

 ment being overlooked, a false sense of security 

 may be created in those who employ the remedies 

 suggested, to the exclusion of means which have 

 been found rehable and trustworthy. In the first 

 six essays, there being twenty-one in all, we find 

 no less than thirty substances mentioned as having 

 disinfecting value ; how many there are in all, we 

 do not know. We can imagine the satisfaction 

 which would be felt by one of those subscribers 

 asking for ' ' the most practical information in re- 

 lation to disinfectants," for whose benefit these 

 essays were obtained, when he tinned to this 

 volume for help. 



We have recently received " Outlhie of 

 matter and advance sheets of the Report of the 



