SCIENCE. 



3; 



SCIENCE: 



A Weekly Record of Scientific 

 Progress. 



JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 



Published at 

 229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 

 P. O. Box 3838. 



SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1881. 



The advantages of having a good public library in a 

 large city are so obvious that it appears incompre- 

 hensible that the most important city in the United 

 States is practically without such an institution. 



The city of New York appears to have been fortu- 

 nate in being made the recipient of munificent testi- 

 mentary gifts for the purpose of founding a great pub- 

 lic library suited to the needs of such a community, 

 but also unexceptionally unfortunate in the disposi- 

 tion of the funds so bequeathed. 



The Astor Library contains a collection of books 

 which have been most judiciously selected to form the 

 nucleus of a good public library, and one peculiarly 

 suited to the needs of those residing in such a city as 

 New York. Unfortunately, the trustees of the library 

 permit its use only between the hours of 10 A.M. and 

 4 P. M., thus practically shutting out the majority of 

 those who desire to consult the literary treasures it 

 contains. 



Of the Lennox Library, recently bequeathed to the 

 citizens of New York, it may be premature to speak ; 

 possibly in time its doors may be open to the^ public ; 

 but under what conditions and restrictions can 

 only be conjectured from the eccentric formalities of 

 the past. 



Thus with the Astor Library open for a few fash- 

 ionable hours during the day, and the Lennox Library 

 closed altogether, the public of New York finds itself 

 after four o'clock, P. M., daily, and during the whole 

 of Sunday, without a free public library. Such a state 

 of things is not creditable to the largest and most im- 

 portant city in this Republic, and should not continue 

 a day longer. 



The good policy of establishing a public library for 

 New York city, which shall be under the full control 

 of the city authorities, is daily becoming more appar- 



ent, and we trust the time is not distant when the 

 wishes of the people in this respect may be fully 

 realized. 



A letter will be found in another page of this issue 

 relating to our notice of Dr. Beard's lecture on 

 " Mesmeric Trance." The writer is not correct in 

 stating that we threw a doubt on the genuineness of 

 the "phenomena, as a whole," as on the contrary our 

 remarks questioned the integrity of the "subjects" 

 produced by Dr. Beard. These men and boys, since 

 the lecture in question, have been nightly perform- 

 ing the same tricks in a room on Sixth avenue, the 

 advertisement for which is headed " Marvels and 

 Fun of Mesmerism." The propriety of bringing such 

 "subjects" before the New York Academy of 

 Sciences, may well be questioned, and so far from 

 accepting their performances as genuine exhibitions 

 of the phenomena of Hypnotism, we apprehend the 

 closest scrutiny should be made to test the genuine- 

 ness of their acts. 



Professor Hitchcock admits that he and others 

 observed what appeared to us as evidence of collu- 

 sion between Dr. Beard and his subjects, but ob- 

 jects to our having pointed out these facts, without 

 having first permitted Dr. Beard to give his explana- 

 tion of them. This amounts to a request to sup- 

 press all criticism, except that controlled by the 

 person criticised, which appears to us one of the 

 least inviting methods of arriving at the truth. 



The subject is one of undoubted interest, and as 

 we do not wish to prejudice the question, we defer 

 any detailed reply to Professor Hitchcock's letter 

 until others have had an opportunity of expressing 

 their views. Our columns will be open to any cor- 

 respondent who can add to our knowledge of this 

 subject, or who can give a rational explanation of the 

 phenomenon of Hypnotism. 



SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES IN WASHINGTON. 

 The Anthropological Society. 



NEW OFFICERS ELECTED AND A CHANGE OF LOCATION 

 AGREED UPON. 



The Anthropological Society met at the Smithsonian 

 Institution on the evening of January 18th, Major J. W. 

 Powell, the president, in the chair. The following new 

 members were elected : Dr. A. F. A. King, Dr. William 

 Lee, and Mr. Ivan Petroff for active membership, and 

 Mr. J. C. Tache and B. B. Redding for corresponding 

 membership. It being the evening of the annual elec- 

 tion, no papers were read. A motion to remove from 

 the present location to the lecture-hali of the National 

 Medical College of the Columbian University was in- 

 troduced by a committee of the council, and adopted by 

 the society. 



The election of officers to serve during the ensuing 

 year resulted as follows : President, Major J. W. Powell ; 

 vice-presidents, Colonel Garnck Mallery, Dr. George A. 

 Otis, Professor O. T. Mason, Dr. H. C. Yarrow ; corres- 



