370 



SCIEXCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 168 



— The meeting of the engineers' club of Phila- 

 delphia on April 3 was spent in an interchange of 

 views as to how to best promote a more extended 

 discussion of the numerous subjects brought 

 before the club. Various methods of bringing 

 original papers to the early attention of members 

 likely to discuss them were proposed, and the sub- 

 ject was finally referred to a committee. This is 

 a serious question with most of the scientific clubs 

 of the country, which find their meetings generally 

 of a stiff and formal character, tending to stifle 

 all debate. 



— The chemical laboratory of Fresenius at Wies- 

 baden enjoys a very large attendance, says the 

 Chemical news. In the winter term, 1885-86, 

 there were 90 students on the books. Of these, 

 58 were from Germany, 6 from Austro-Hungary, 

 6 from North America, 5 from England, 5 from 

 Russia, 3 from France, 2 from Switzerland, 2 from 

 Holland. 1 from Luxemburg, 1 from Sweden, and 

 1 from Norway. Besides the director, Geh. Hof- 

 rath Prof. Dr. R. Fresenius, there are engaged as 

 teachers in the establishment Prof. Dr. EE. Frese- 

 nius, Dr. E. Borgmann, Dr. W. Fresenius, Dr. E. 

 Hintz, Dr. med. F. Hueppe, and Architect Brahm. 

 The assistants in the instruction laboratory were 

 two in number, in the private laboratory twelve, 

 and in the versuchsstation three. During the 

 last term, besides the scientific researches, a great 

 number of analyses were undertaken in the dif- 

 ferent departments of the laboratory and the ver- 

 suchsstation on behalf of manufacture, trade, 

 mining, agriculture, and hygiene. 



— The Woman's education association of Bos- 

 ton has made arrangements for a course of les- 

 sons, in botany by Prof. George L. Good ale of 

 Harvard university. The course is designed to 

 present the principal laws of life and growth of 

 plants, and will deal especially with methods for 

 cultivating and collecting plants for study. Each 

 lecture will occupy about half an hour, and, as 

 in former years, will be followed by a practical 

 exercise in the examination of plants. These 

 laboratory exercises are arranged for beginners, 

 but will also serve to supplement previous courses 

 of botanical practice. The lectures will begin on 

 Monday, March 22, and will be given on Fridays 

 and Mondays in the rooms of the Natural history 

 society. Tickets for the course, at ten dollars, 

 may be obtained at the Natural history rooms. 



— It is proposed to raise a fund by public sub- 

 scription for the purpose of presenting a testi- 

 monial to the Rev. H. H. Higgins of England, in 

 recognition of the services he has rendered to 

 the cause of education, and especially to the vari- 

 ous departments of science during the last forty- 



three years. Contributions may be sent to Baron 

 L. Bevas, 1 Lord Str., Liverpool, Eng. 



— The office of secretaire perpetnel of the French 

 academy, left vacant by the death of M. Jamin, 

 has been filled by the election of M. Vulpian. The 

 two principal candidates were M. Vulpian and M. 

 Alphonse Milne Edwards, the former of whom 

 received twenty-six, the latter twenty-four votes. 



— It has long been known that petroleum 

 existed in the vicinity of Jemsah, on the west coast 

 of the Red Sea, about one hundred and seventy 

 miles south of Suez ; but previous explorations 

 have produced no result. In September, 1884, a 

 Belgian mining engineer, M. Debay, was sent to 

 report on the possibilities of the practical working 

 of the oil-beds, and, after much trouble, he has 

 finally succeeded in reaching practical results. 

 After penetrating successively through gypsuin, 

 containing veins and nests of sulphur, shale, green 

 and blue clay, limestone, and sandstone, the drill, 

 on Feb. 28, fell suddenly forty centimetres, and 

 petroleum rose to a point two metres above the 

 sea-level. On receipt of the news, Nubar Pasha 

 arranged an expedition of experts, from whose 

 examination there has resulted the establishment 

 of the following facts : that petroleum undoubtedly 

 exists ; that the geological formation of the country 

 is favorable to the existence of larger quantities at 

 lower depths ; that the store of oil is generally 

 distributed over a large area in the neighborhood ; 

 that under existing unfavorable conditions a single 

 source yields about two tons daily ; that the spe- 

 cific gravity is .88 ; and that the spot is easily 

 accessible from the coast, where there is good 

 anchorage. 



— The ravages of the phylloxera have, din ing 

 the past year, extended into a number of cantons 

 in Switzerland where the insect has never been 

 hitherto observed, and have caused considerable 

 uneasiness in the wine-producing industry. In 

 connection with the continual extension of the 

 fields of its devastation in foreign countries, it is 

 of interest to note, that, in Professor Hilgard's 

 last report of the viticultural work in California, 

 it is stated that the habits of the insect in that 

 state deviate from those observed in foreign coun- 

 tries to such an extent that the dangers of in- 

 fection are much lessened. These differences in 

 habits consist in the rarity of the winged female 

 form, and the apparent absence of winter eggs, 

 both probably due to the climatic influences. 

 The mercurial vapor remedy, of which much has 

 been hoped, has, in the hands of Professor Hilgard 

 and his assistant Mr. F. W. Morse, failed to pro- 

 duce its promised results as a phylloxera insecti- 

 cide. 



