bed 
3098 
of Princeton, Gens. Humphreys and Warren of the 
Corps of engineers, Dr. LeConte of Philadelphia, and 
Professor Lawrence Smith of Louisville. Dr. Engel- 
mann, whose death we recently announced, was an 
honorary member, and, like all the others excepting 
Gen. Warren and Professor Smith, a foundation mem- 
ber. Only eighteen of the fifty foundation members 
of 1863 now remain. We shall soon print memoirs 
and portraits of Dr. Engelmann and Gen. Hum- 
phreys. 
— Another effect of the great eruption of Mount 
Krakatoa has been recently noticed. 
by a series of barometric waves which seem to have 
spread almost over the entire world. Professor Fors- 
ter of Berlin says, The great eruption in the Straits 
of Sunda, which happened on the morning of Aug. 
27, gave rise to an atmospheric wave which showed 
itself for five or six days in the records of the self- 
registering barometers in all parts of the world. In 
the barometric markings which are registered by the 
Commission of weights and measures in Berlin, in 
order to have a permanent record of the minuter 
variations, these effects of the volcanic eruption ap- 
pear with striking clearness. 
The first atmospheric wave from this source ap- 
peared in Berlin about ten hours after the catastrophe. 
Supposing it to have taken the shortest course from 
its origin to Berlin, this time would indicate a speed 
of somewhat more than a thousand kilometres per 
hour, agreeing very closely with the velocity of sound. 
This result is in complete accord with barometric 
records in other parts of the world. About sixteen 
hours afterward a second and entirely similar baro- 
metric wave appeared, which, however, is to be con- 
sidered as the arrival of the same wave by the longer 
circuit over America and Europe. In fact, if we take 
the difference of the two courses, — the one from the 
Straits of Sunda to Berlin over the East Indies, and 
the other over America, —we shall find that to the 
above velocity of propagation corresponds the delay 
of sixteen hours in the arrival of the wave by the 
American route. It thus appears that the entire 
wave completed the circuit of the earth in a time 
which must have amounted to thirty-six hours, In 
fact, thirty-six hours later there did appear in Berlin, 
in a direction from the East Indies, another percepti- 
ble wave corresponding closely to the first one, but 
somewhat diminished in strength. The correspond- 
ing return from America took place in a period of 
some thirty-four or thirty-five hours. This is brought 
into agreement with the other period by the consid- 
eration that the atmosphere in general has a motion 
from west to east. A third wave was recognized after 
an interval of thirty-seven hours from this time. The 
diminishing strength of the waves prevented the 
returns of the single waves from being accurately 
followed, but small variations of an unusual kind 
are seen in the record until the 4th of September. We 
can therefore be satisfied that the atmospheric waves 
caused by the volcanic eruption were powerful enough 
to make the entire circuit of the earth three or four 
times, and that in the beginning the variations of 
pressure amounted to one five-hundredth of the entire 
SCIENCE. 
It was followed — 
[Vou. IIL, No. 58. 
atmospheric pressure. We are thus obliged to recog- 
nize the operation of force through which the heated 
gases and masses of volcanic dust might be carried 
into very high regions of the atmosphere. 
Mr. Baillaud of Toulouse has communicated to the 
French Academy of science similar observations of 
the phenomena, from which he concludes the velocity 
to have been 349 metres per second. ‘This, also, is 
very nearly the velocity of sound. From the intervals 
between the waves, he finds that the waves made the 
circuit of the earth at the average rate of 324 metres 
per second. 
The most important conclusion to be drawn from 
these extraordinary observations is, that a mass of air 
or gas of which no one had before formed a concep- 
tion must have been ejected by the volcano. 
— The entomologists of Washington and Baltimore 
have decided to form an entomological society. A 
preliminary meeting was held at the house of Dr. C. 
V. Riley on the evening of Feb. 29, at which Rev. 
J. G. Morris of Baltimore presided, and Mr. B. P. 
Mann acted as secretary. A committee was appointed 
to draw up the necessary regulations, and to call a 
future meeting for organization. 
—<A vineyard proprietor near Nimes, having had 
several complaints made to him about his wines, re- 
quested M. Barthélemy, of the Faculty of sciences 
at Toulouse, to analyze them for him. In some of 
them a rather large proportion of arsenic was found, 
larger than the trace sometimes found in red wines. 
The wine from one barrel tested contained no arsenic 
at all, and in this instance the cask containing the 
wine was a new one: it had not been previously used. 
The other barrels had been cleaned, after use, with 
‘drogue,’ which, in point of fact, is diluted sulphu- 
ric acid; and the sulphuric acid of the central dis- 
tricts of France has of late years contained so much 
arsenic, that M. Barthélemy has sometimes used it to 
obtain a supply of that material. 
— Mr. Winter Blyth has recently been employed to 
analyze imported canned fruits (apricots, tomatoes, 
ete.) in order to ascertain the amount of contamina- 
tion by metal in them. In twenty-three samples 
the amounts found, calculated as stannous hydrate, 
ranged from 1.9 grains to 14.3 grains per pound, the 
mean amount being 5.2 grains. The juice and fruit. 
in some instances had a metallic taste. Several of 
the tins showed signs of corrosion. The Journal of 
the Society of arts says, ‘‘ The little that is known 
of the action of stannous hydrate may be summed 
up in a few lines. Doses of about .174 gram per 
kilogram of body-weight cause, in guinea-pigs, death 
with signs of intestinal irritation; but with doses 
smaller than .17 to .2 gram the effects are uncer- 
tain, and, the animals generally recover. Hence, 
supposing a man to be affected in the same pro- 
portion, he would have to take from three to four 
drams, or consume at a meal ten pounds of the 
most contaminate of Mr. Winter Blyth’s tinned 
fruits. But it is not a question of immediate dead- 
liness: it is rather one for inquiry as to the action of 
small repeated doses continued for a long time. 
