January 29, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



93 



small, out-of-the-way place, and the opportunities 

 for having a good time were insignificant. The 

 meeting in New York was apparently of a differ- 

 ent character, very possibly not less beneficial to 

 the members. Wednesday was devoted to the 

 routine business of the society and the discussion 

 of papers ; but on Thursday the members of the 

 society took advantage of the invitation of the 

 managers of the new Croton aqueduct, and made 

 an excursion of inspection along the line of the 

 work. 



Two prizes were awarded at the meeting, — one 

 for a paper by Mr. Elliot C. Clarke of Boston, on 

 a report on cement tests ; and the other to Mr. 

 A. M. Wellington, for a paper on experiments on 

 journal friction at low velocities. The committee 

 on uniform standard time reported encouraging 

 progress, and stated that seventy- one managers of 

 railways in America have favorably considered 

 the twenty-four o'clock system, and that the 

 Canadian Pacific railway has adopted it, and has 

 changed its time-tables, its clocks, and the em- 

 ployees' watches, to adapt them to the new stand- 

 ard. 



At the last meeting, Prof. T. Egleston of Colum- 

 bia college presented a paper on the cause and 

 prevention of the decay of building-stone. At this 

 meeting Professor Egleston had something to say 

 in regard to the disintegration of the surface of 

 the obelisk in Central park, and took ground simi- 

 lar to that of Mr. Arnold Hague, whose views 

 were published in Science for Dec. 11, and held 

 that the disintegration was due to the great 

 changes in temperature to whicli the obelisk is 

 now exposed, and that the coating of paraffine 

 might arrest the decay, but that nothing short of 

 housing would stop it entirely. He stated that 

 granite will absorb about one per cent of moisture, 

 but that he had found that specimens from the 

 side of the obelisk in London will absorb over 

 seven per cent, this increase being due to its disin- 

 tegrated condition. So far as the paraffine keeps 

 out moisture, and thus prevents the formation of 

 ice in the cracks, it would aid in the preservation 

 of the stone. 



Dr. Roth well exhibited a system for submarine 

 tunnelling. The company which Dr. Rothwell 

 represents is contemplating tunnelling the North- 

 umberland Straits to Prince Edward Island, 

 which is now often cut off from all communica- 

 tion with the rest of the world for a month at a 

 time, on account of the ice. 



The next meeting of the society will probably be 

 in or near Denver. The officers for 1886 are : 

 president, Henry Flad ; vice-presidents, T. F. Row- 

 land, T. C. Keefer. The secretary and librarian, 

 John Bogart, was re-elected. 



ACCESSIONS TO THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The most complete catalogue ever printed of 

 the Catlin collection of Indian paintings, now in 

 the national museum, will shortly be issued, and 

 will be profusely illustrated. The manuscript is 

 now in the hands of the printer. This catalogue 

 will form an appendix to the ' Report of the 

 national museum for the half-year ending July 30, 

 1885.' 



The national museum has recently received 

 from Paris four life-sized models of Africans, 

 executed by Jules Hebert, — a Wolof , from Cape 

 Verde ; a Bambarra, from the upper Niger ; a 

 Soumali, from Cape Gardafui : and a Masai, from 

 Lake Victoria Nyanza. These models are clad in 

 native costume, and form a very attractive group 

 in the museum. 



An interesting example of the manner in which 

 the Eskimo amuse themselves is afforded by a 

 collection of twenty-five ivory carved figures, 

 made by Mr. J. W. Johnson at Fort Alexander, 

 Alaska. The group represents the game, ' the tug 

 of war/ Two Eskimo on a raised platform are 

 pulling at a drum-hoop, each one trying to dis- 

 lodge the other from his position. A group of 

 musicians are playing instruments in the fore- 

 ground, and the spectators are located on the 

 sides, enjoying the fun. The effect is very spirited, 

 and the whole scene exhibits rare ingenuity. 



One of the old tally-sticks used by the bank of 

 England to keep account of loans, before the 

 present system of banking was invented, has 

 recently been acquired by the museum. This 

 specimen bears the date of 1776, and represents a 

 hundred thousand pounds of a loan made at that 

 time. The stick is about four feet in length, and 

 notches are cut on both sides of it. The stick is 

 then split, the government holding one half, and 

 the creditor the other. It is impossible to make 

 any change in the condition of the loan by either 

 party, because the notches on the two sticks would 

 no longer fit, and thus fraud would be detected. 



WORTHLESS BAYONETS. 



The examination of bayonets at Aldershot has 

 revealed a state of affairs which is disgraceful to 

 the English war-office, and most discouraging for 

 the public. Three regiments have submitted their 

 bayonets to the test, — the first Royal Lancashire, 

 the second West Riding, and the first Seaforth 

 Highlanders. All turned out very badly, but the 

 badness was not uniform. Out of 700 bayonets 

 belonging to the West Riding regiment, 55 broke 

 under test, and 180 were found soft and otherwise 

 defective, giving an average of failures of a little 



