324 



SCIEXCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 166 



versal time, in the course of which he paid a high 

 compliment to the railways of the United States 

 and Canada for having reduced the number of 

 local times from seventy-five to five, by adopting 

 the five standard meridians. The scheme of hour- 

 ly meridians, however, could only be considered 

 a provisional arrangement, which would ultimate- 

 ly lead to the adoption of universal time, for 

 which he thought the name ' world time ' would 

 be the best. The ' world ' day would commence 

 at Greenwich, midnight, and count from h. to 

 24 h. Among the authorities cited by Mr. 

 Christie in support of the twenty-four hours sys- 

 tem, was that of the president of the Western 

 union telegraph company (U.S.A.), who con- 

 sidered, that, in addition to diminishing risk of 

 errors, it would save the cost of a hundred and 

 fifty million letters annually. W. 

 London, March 27. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The fourteenth annual meeting of the Ameri- 

 can public health association will be held at 

 Toronto, Ont., Oct. 5-8, 1886. The executive 

 committee have selected the following topics for 

 consideration at said meeting: 1. The disposal of 

 the refuse matters of cities and towns ; 2. The 

 condition of stored water-supplies, and their rela- 

 tion to the public health ; 3. The best methods 

 and the apparatus necessary for the teaching of 

 hygiene in the public schools, as well as the means 

 for securing uniformity in such instruction ; 4. 

 Recent sanitary experiences in connection with 

 the exclusion and suppression of epidemic disease ; 

 5. The sanitary conditions and necessities of 

 school-houses and school-life ; 6. The preventable 

 causes of disease, injury, and death in American 

 manufactories and workshops, and the best means 

 and appliances for preventing and avoiding them : 

 7. Plans for dwelling-houses. The local com- 

 mittee of arrangements at Toronto, Ont., have 

 already actively begun the work essential to a 

 large and successful meeting. In addition to the 

 usual work incident to such an undertaking, they 

 will extend invitations to foreign sanitarians, and 

 secure such transportation facilities as will proba- 

 bly insure a good representation from abroad. 

 Communications regarding matters of transporta- 

 tion or of a local character should be addressed to 

 Peter H. Brvce, M.D.. chairman local committee 

 of arrangements, Toronto, Ont. Mr. Henry 

 Lomb of Rochester, N.Y., who is already well- 

 known through the prizes which he gave last year 

 for the best essays on certain sanitary subjects, 

 offers for the present year the sum of seventeen 

 hundred and fifty dollars, to be awarded as prizes 



on the following subjects : 1. The sanitary con- 

 ditions and necessities of school-houses and school- 

 life, one prize, $500 ; 2. The preventable causes of 

 disease, injury, and death in American manufac- 

 tories and workshops, and the best means and 

 appliances for preventing and avoiding them, one 

 prize, $500 ; 3. Plans for dwelling-houses, — (a) 

 A plan for a dwelling-house not to exceed in cost, 

 exclusive of cellar, eight hundred dollars (prizes : 

 first, $200 ; second, $100 ; third, $50 ; fourth. $25): 

 (b) A plan for a dwelling-house not to exceed in 

 cost, including the cellar, sixteen hundred dollars 

 (prizes : first, $200 : second, $100 ; third, $50 ; 

 fourth, $25). Accommodations to be provided 

 for families consisting of five persons. All essays 

 and plans for the above prizes must be in the 

 hands of the secretary, Dr. Irving A. Watson, 

 Concord, N.H., on or before Aug. 15, 1886. 



— The officers of Section D (mechanical science 

 and engineering) of the American association for 

 the advancement of science have issued a circular 

 stating that the steadily increasing interest and 

 importance of the meetings of Section D justify 

 the expectation of a large attendance of engineers 

 at the Buffalo meeting. The meetings of the 

 American association offer to students of mechani- 

 cal science and to engineers opportunities which 

 cannot be elsewhere obtained, of conveniently 

 meeting at one time a large number of gentlemen 

 eminent in branches of science to which engineer- 

 ing is closely related, especially mathematics, 

 physics, chemistry, geology, and economic science. 

 The scope of this section is broad enough to in- 

 clude all branches of engineering. It occupies a 

 field peculiar to itself, which by no means en- 

 croaches upon that of the various engineering 

 societies, but rather adjoins and supplements it. 

 These societies deal chiefly with accomplished 

 practical results, while Section D affords an oppor- 

 tunity for the presentation and discussion of 

 papers upon the application of scientific methods 

 to every department of engineering. The object 

 of the section, in accordance with the name of 

 the association, is the 1 advancement of science.' 

 The following may be named as among the gen- 

 eral classes of subjects which this section may 

 properly consider within its scope : mechanical 

 science in the abstract ; mechanical research ; 

 problems in engineering of national importance, 

 and such as are connected with more than one 

 branch of engineering : the education of engineers : 

 the relation of the government to engineers in 

 civil life ; the endowment and organization of 

 mechanical research. The officers extend a cordial 

 invitation to all to attend the meetings pf the 

 section, and to contribute such papers or discus- 



