424 
birds. —— Mr. Romyn Hitchcock exhibited a series 
of specimens of Orbitolites, and made some remarks 
upon the results of the work of Dr. William B Car-’ 
penter as finally set forth in vol. vii. of the report 
of H. M.S. Challenger. Prof. C. V. Riley pre- 
sented some personal reminiscences of the late Dr. 
George Engelmann, which were supplemented by 
remarks from Dr. George Vasey and Professor Lester 
F. Ward. Mr. Richard Rathbun exhibited a large 
mass of coral (Oculina, sp.) recently obtained from 
Key West, growing on the end of a crowbar, which, 
when further studied, would probably yield some clew 
to the rate of growth of the species. Mr. M. G. 
Ellzey spoke on the prepotency of the male parent, 
giving the results of twenty-five years’ experience in 
breeding horses, dogs, and other kinds of live-stock. 
The male parent he believes to be prepotent in the 
transmission of hereditary traits, except where some 
extraordinary circumstance intervened. In the case 
of hybrids between the horse and the ass, a cross is 
always marked by prepotency of the ass; and in all 
crosses of two species the male is always prepotent. 
Mr. Dall called attention to the danger of drawing 
conclusions from observations upon the external 
characters of the products of the union of two species. 
Dr. Leonard Stejneger exhibited two magnifi- 
cently mounted specimens of the great Kamtchatkan 
sea-eagle, Thalassaetus leucopterus ; also a specimen 
of the bald eagle, Haliaetus leucocephalus, and a 
specimen in immature plumage of another species, 
probably undescribed, and probably in the adult state 
entirely white. The rivers of Kamtchatka abound 
greatly in salmon, and eagles are in consequence 
particularily numerous. 
Mathematical section, Philosophical society, Washington. 
Feb. 20. — Mr. H. Farquhar showed the application 
of two kinds of empirical formulae to observations of 
the diminution of amplitude of a freely oscillating 
pendulum at different atmospheric pressures. When 
the amplitude and the time were connected by the 
equation of a hyperbola with four constants (the 
term involving the amplitude square being omitted), 
the observations could always be perfectly satisfied. 
The chief advantage of this form, however, was the 
ease with which the constants could be calculated 
from the observations by least squares. A formula 
more convenient in practical application gave for 
the time a constant, divided by the nth power of the 
amplitude; where n was a fraction proportional to 
the square root of the atmospheric pressure, and 
equal to about one-third for a pressure of thirty 
inches. The initial time, or time of an infinite am- 
plitude, was a third constant to be determined; and 
it should be determined separately for all intervals 
within which the correction for amplitude is desired. 
Great nicety in the calculation of n was not neces- 
sary: the nearest tenth, or reciprocal, of a whole 
number, would suffice. The accuracy of this for- 
mula was shown by tables to be quite as close as 
the observations called for. When n became zero, 
the nth power was replaced by the logarithm of the 
amplitude, and the initial time was that of am- 
SCLENCE. 
1 
[Von. IIL, No. 61; 
plitude unity. The use of an empirical formula, 
of higher practical convenience than those usually 
adopted, —resulting from application of the theory 
that the diminution results from two resistances, pro- 
portional respectively to the velocity (or amplitude) 
and to its square,—was defended on the ground 
that this theory is itself empirical, and is well known. 
to fail altogether for very high velocities. The pro- 
posed formula supposed in effect one resistance pro- 
portional to the 1+ n power of the velocity of the 
pendulum. ; 
NOTES AND NEWS. 
From Nature we learn that Sir Joseph Hooker 
has been nominated one of the vice-presidents for the 
Montreal meeting of the British association. Instead 
of Mr. Crookes, Prof. W. G. Adams will give one of 
the public lectures. For the Aberdeen meeting in 
1885, Sir Lyon Playfair will be proposed as president, 
A well-attended meeting of the organizing committee . 
of the chemical section has been held under the q 
presidency of Professor Roscoe. Promises of papers 
were received from several well-known chemists, and 
a small executive committee was formed to draw up 
a list of papers, and to communicate with Canadian 
and American chemists. Section G has been par- 
ticularly active. The committee has prepared a list 
of subjects for papers which it is thought would be 
interesting to English visitors if treated by engineers 
and mechanicians in Canada: a good supply of papers 
is expected, both from this country and America. 
Sir J. H. Lefroy has accepted the presidency of the 
geographical section. We regret to learn that Pro- 
fessor Williamson, the general treasurer, will be un- 
able to be present; and the council have decided to 
‘engage the services of Mr. Hamy Brown as ‘ finan- 
cial officer,’ while Professor Burdon Sanderson has 
virtually consented to act as deputy for the treasurer 
at Montreal. \ 
— The last number of the Harvard university bul- 
letin contains further instalments of Mr. Winsor’s 
bibliography of Ptolemy’s geography and the Kohl 
collection of early maps; the former containing some © 
very interesting comments on the knowledge of 
America about the middle of the sixteenth century, 
the latter relating exclusively to maps of the new 
world issued in the first half of the same century. 
Mr. Bliss’s classed index to the maps in Petermann’s 
nittheilungen will be completed in the next issue, and 
we may expect its separate publication in afew weeks. 
It will prove a great convenience. A 
— At the request of the navy department, the fish- 
commission steamer Albatross, Capt. Tanner com- 
manding, was fitted out during the winter fof the 
purpose of carrying on a series of deep-sea sound- 
ings and dredgings in the Caribbean Sea, a region 
very little known in respect to its depths. The 
vessel left Washington Jan. 1, and reached St. 
Thomas on the 17th, and, after coaling, proceeded. — 
on her voyage, making the following ports: Curagoa, 
Trinidad, the Island of Oruba, Alta Vela, Jacmel, 
Gonaives, Santiago de Cuba, Navaza, and Kings- 
\ 
