102 



SCIEXGE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 156 



But. to a cool-headed landsman, this will appear so 

 astoundingly incredible, that nothing short of the 

 most searching scientific investigation and rigid ex- 

 periment can give it even a tinge of probability. 

 Either this apparently transcendent miracle is capa- 

 ble of a rational explanation and demonstration, or 

 it is a myth and a delusion. To my mind, the use of 

 the oil-bag upon the ocean is strongly suggestive of 

 the idea of applying a liver-pad to a cyclone. 



It is of no avail to quote Pliny or other mere 

 chroniclers, ancient or modern, or to pile up the in- 

 exact and awe-inspired tales of seafaring men. I 

 admit that the history of the notion is interesting, 

 like the history of the acceptance of any other 

 prodigy ; but there is a wide difference between the 

 progress and persistence of a belief and its scientific 

 truthfulness. 



Now, I do not pretend to have seen all the evidence 

 which the hydrographic office has collected or pub- 

 lished on this subject, and I shall not undertake to 

 say that relatively large masses of oil, spread upon 

 comparatively small bodies of water, may not, under 

 some circumstances, modify or prevent the formation 

 of waves. But that oil filtered into the raging and 

 turbulent deep at the rate of a quart per hour, — or 

 even a gallon per hour, as reported in the letter 

 printed by you last week, — should prove to be an 

 adequate cause for the marvellous effects attributed 

 to it, is, to me at least, a thing utterly and absolutely 

 inconceivable ; and I confess to a disturbance of my 

 faith in any institution that gives such stories 

 credence or currency. C. F. Cox. 



New York, Jan. 21. 



The collapse of the theosophists, 



Permit me to take exception to the article entitled 

 'The collapse of the theosophists ' in your issue of 

 yesterday. 



I have no contention with any statement, correct 

 or otherwise, which the article contains, and offer no 

 argument pro or con ; but I beg to be allowed to use 

 this occasion to protest against and to obviate the 

 prevalent misconception that ' Blavatsky ' and ' the- 

 osophy ' are synonymous terms, or that either the 

 manners or morals of any individual theosophist 

 necessarily represent the methods, objects, and pur- 

 poses of the theosophical society. 



In my judgment, the ' collapse of the theosophists ' 

 is a prediction much safer to make after than before 

 the event : there being - , to my knowledge, no organ- 

 ized body of psychical researchers in the world less 

 likely to verify any such prophecy. 



Elliott Coues, F.T.S., 



President Gnostic branch, T.S., 

 President Amer. B. of C, T.S., 

 Member Exec. C. of India. 

 Washington. D.C., Jan. 88. 



Nectar-secreting plant-lice. 



Oregon is the place for nectar-secreting plant-lice. 

 During the past fall I received twigs of spruce and 

 willow from that state, which, though not more than 

 six inches long, contained at least a tabl^ spoonful 

 of crystallized sugar, which was both pleasant and 

 sweet. This insect is a species of Aphis, and though 

 possibly not equal to the bee, or to the manufacturer 

 of our best cane-sugar, in her power to form an 

 excellent article of sugar does surpass greatly the 



glucose factories in the quality of the product which 

 she turns out. A. J. Cook. 



Sea-level and ocean-currents. 



The value of the conclusions arrived at by Profes- 

 sor Ferrel in his article in Science, No. 155, headed 

 ' Sea-level and ocean-currents,' depends largely upon 

 a statement made by him; viz., "The recent im- 

 portant determination of the coast and geodetic sur- 

 vey by levelling up the Mississippi valley and across 

 to the Atlantic coast, that the meau level of the Gulf 

 of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi is about 

 one metre higher than that of New York harbor." 



An item so important in ocean dynamics for com- 

 parison of facts with theories should be known to be 

 most unquestionably correct. I am not aware of any 

 official publication of the coast and geodetic survey 

 to which the above statement could be credited, and, 

 what is more, such a line of spirit-levels has never, 

 to this day, been executed by the survey. Probably 

 a paper read before the American association at the 

 Philadelphia meeting in September, 1884, gave rise 

 to the supposed fact. On p. 446 (vol. ii.) of its Pro- 

 ceedings, we find, "Height of benchmark at St. 

 Louis above mean tide at Sandy Hook 3 feet " (sic), 

 and, " Precise line of levels from Gulf, by Mississippi 

 Eiver commission, along the river, shows an eleva- 

 tion of the Gulf of Mexico, near the mouth of the 

 Mississippi above mean tide at Sandy Hook, of about 

 40 inches.'' Here the responsibility is placed on the 

 commission. 



By permission of the superintendent of the survey, 

 I make the following extract from a report bv me, 

 dated May 24, 1883 : — 



Metres. 



1. Height of coast and geodetic survey bench-mark 



at the St. Louis bridge above the average or half- 

 tide level of the Atlantic at Sandy Hook, N.J., as 

 ascertained from six years of tidal observations. 126.91 



2. This bench-mark was placed at the same level as 



the so-called St. Louis city ' directrix.' 



3. From precise levels executed by the Mississippi 



River commission and the U. S. lake survey, St. 

 Louis city directrix above the Greenville, Miss., 

 bench-mark (on bank building), according to 

 letter from commission dated May 18, 1883 86.185 



4. By coast and geodetic survey levels, Greenville 



bench-mark above the Hampson bench-mark at 

 Carrollton, La 37.267 



5. From Humphreys and Abbot's work on the Mis- 



sissippi River (1861), p. 110, it appears that the 



Hampson mark is 8.06 feet or 2.456 



above the level of Lake Fontchartrain, which is 

 said to be at the same level as Lake Borgne and 

 Bavou St. Philip, and hence with that of the 

 Gulf. 



Putting these figures together, it would appear 

 that the Gulf level is about one metre above the 

 level of the Atlantic at New York. The report 

 further comments on this result : " While there is 

 nothing impossible in this result, the difference is 

 greater than I [the present writer] expected from the 

 conditions of the case, but it may possibly be greatly 

 reduced when precise data come to hand ; and, in 

 particular, more evidence is desirable as to the con- 

 nection of the Hampson mark with the average Gulf 

 level. We have no checks at present." 



It is evident that no probable error can be assigned 

 to the alleged difference, and that the amount itself 

 is greatly in need of confirmation, which it is hoped 

 will soon be reached through the direct line of levels 

 started by the coast and geodetic survey to run from 

 its Illinois line to the shore of the Mississippi Sound. 



C A. S. 



