April 9, 1886. J 



SCIENCE. 



325* 



sions as will aid in furthering its objects. It is 

 requested that all who intend to contribute papers 

 will notify the secretary (William Kent, 92 Reade 

 Street, New York) as soon as possible. The com- 

 mittee on the best method of teaching mechani- 

 cal engineering, — Prof. J. Burkitt Webb, Prof. 

 George J. Alden, Dr. Calvin M. Woodward, and 

 Prof. Arthur Beardsley, — and the committee on 

 the use and value of accurate standards, screws, 

 surfaces, and gauges, — Prof. William A. Rogers, 

 Mr. Oberlin Smith, and Prof. J. Burkitt Webb, — 

 are expected to present reports at the Buffalo 

 meeting. 



— The fish commission steamer Albatross ar- 

 rived at Nassau, New Providence. March 19, after 

 a most successful trip. The ship was chiefly en- 

 gaged in making soundings. Two naturalists 

 were landed at Watling's Island, San Salvador, 

 where much valuable scientific material was 

 gathered during a stay of two weeks. But little 

 dredging has been done, so that few accessions 

 of marine life have been made. At Rum Cay, 

 Conception Island, Cat Island, and Great Exuma 

 Island, the naturalists of the expedition obtained 

 many valuable specimens of fish, lizards, bird's- 

 nests, eggs, cave relics, pottery, and about five 

 hundred bird-skins. These islands are very small, 

 and thinly populated.. Vegetation is scarce, and 

 the islands themselves are formed almost entirely 

 of rock. Cocoanut-trees and bananas are abun- 

 dant, but oranges and apples rather scarce. The 

 Albatross is now at Key West, and will spend 

 some time dredging in the Gulf of Mexico and 

 vicinity. 



— General Hazen said recently, in his testi- 

 mony before a congressional committee, that 

 foreign signal stations were a necessity, and the 

 establishment of a station in the West Indies had 

 fully demonstrated this fact. It is quite probable 

 that congress will authorize the establishment of 

 stations at important foreign points. 



— The commissioners of the District of Colum- 

 bia have refused the gift of Judge Pacificus Ord, 

 of a tract of land along Rock Creek for a zoologi- 

 cal garden. The grant was made on the express 

 condition that the property should be used for a 

 free zoological garden and free public baths, to 

 be kept by officers created by congress for that 

 purpose. The commissioners think there is no 

 present need of a zoological garden or bath- 

 house, nor have they the means to establish them. 



— The U. S. fish commission is busily engaged 

 n stocking the Great Lakes with white-fish. Cars 

 ^os. 2 and 3 are now at Northville, Mich. About 

 V-pril 15 the shad distribution will begin. The 



eggs are hatched at the Fort Washington station, 

 and shipped to the central station of the com- 

 mission at Washinglon, the distribution being 

 made from there. The distribution of carp has 

 ceased for this season, as it has been found im- 

 practicable to ship these fish after the first of 

 March ; the young carp developing fungus, and 

 becoming emaciated. 



— No less than forty-four wrecks appear on the 

 April number of the 1 Pilot chart ' issued by the 

 hydrographic office. Some were seen in January, 

 but the greater number are reported from obser- 

 vations late in February and through March. 

 Three recent cases of disastrous collision with 

 sunken wrecks are quoted. It is announced that 

 the vessels of the National line, including all the 

 cattle-steamers, have made arrangements for the 

 regular use of oil in rough weather. 



— The bark Flora (Spanish) reports that on 

 March 21, Cape Hatteras, bearing W.S.W., dis- 

 tant thirty-five miles, three very large seas came 

 up from astern [vessel probably heading north], 

 and in passing caused the vessel to roll deeply. 

 At the time the sea was very smooth, and became 

 so again immediately after the passage of the 

 heavy swells. There was a light breeze from 

 S.S.W. The captain says he never saw or heard 

 of such an occurrence before. On p. 266, vol. ii., 

 of the ' Voyage of the Challenger,' Sir Wyville 

 Thomson says, " It must be a wonderful phenome- 

 non, an enormously heavy swell arising in a per- 

 fectly calm sea, without any apparent cause, and 

 breaking against the leeward coast of the island 

 (Ascension) with almost irresistible fury/' 



— A bottle was found floating near the beach 

 at Colon, on the 1st of February. It had the 

 appearance of having been some time in salt 

 water, and was found to contain two papers on 

 which was written as follows : " Lat. 12° 47' N., 

 Long. 24° 47' W., noon, Saturday, 20th December, 

 1884 ; ship Patriarch 69 days out from New Castle 

 (N.S.W.), and bound for London ; all well." 



— The New York Evening post states that " the 

 treasury commission for investigating the coast 

 survey have addressed a communication to the 

 secretary of the treasury in which they say, ' In 

 the light of the demonstrated inaccuracy of some 

 of the evidence upon which the committee relied, 

 and to the extent hereinbefore indicated it is but 

 just to admit that the criticism of Mr. C. S. 

 Peirce in the committee's report was unwarranted 

 by the facts.' It is understood to be admitted 

 that Mr. Peirce's expenditures were overstated, 

 and his work undervalued. The only criticism 

 the committee continue to maintain is, that he 



