414 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 170 



by Zeiss ; but, as it was decided to establish a 

 manufactory for the production of the glass with 

 the aid of the money — $15,000 — voted by the 

 Prussian government, Messrs. Zeiss were obliged 

 to abstain from using it until it should be accessi- 

 ble to other opticians also. In a few months it is 

 expected that the preparation for the supply of 

 the borates and phosphates, as well as the siliceous 

 glass, will be perfected, when both objectives and 

 glass will be obtainable in the usual way. Mr. 

 Nelson, who has examined one of the objectives, 

 writes thus : " The great benefit which will 

 accrue to microscopists from the use of lenses of 

 this construction will be due, not so much to the 

 absence of color, as to the greater freedom from 

 spherical aberration. ... It is decidedly the most 

 brilliant objective I have ever seen." 



— The department of physical education in 

 Amherst college has lately included among its 

 statistics those relating to the condition of each 

 student's eyes upon entering college. The 

 summary of the results obtained from the ex- 

 amination of the classes of 1888 and 1889, com- 

 prising 199 men, shows a larger percentage of im- 

 paired visual organs than might be expected. In 

 the following table the percentages are given for 

 the two classes combined. 



Perfect vision, in both eyes, 14 ; in oneeye 13. 



Far-sighted, " " 36.5; " •« 8 



Near-sighted, " " 15.5; " " 8.0 



Astigmatic, *' " 15.0 : " " 7.0 



Other defects 1.0 



With good color-sense 93.5 



With feeble color-sense 3.5 



Partially color-blind 1.0 



Completely color-blind 1.5 



With blue eyes 54.0 



With brown eyes 32. 



With gray eyes 13.5 



The percentage of those with perfect vision in 

 one or both eyes was nearly the same in both 

 classes ; but a considerable variation was ob- 

 served in the number of the far-sighted, near- 

 sighted, and those with imperfect foci (astigmatic). 



— Mr. Scudder's ' Systematische iibersicht der 

 fossilen myriopoden, arachnoideen und insekten,' 

 from Zittel's * Handbuch der palaeontologie,' is a 

 valuable resume of our present knowledge of fossil 

 insects, and one which fills a long-felt want. It 

 is richly illustrated with excellent figures of the 

 principal forms, and contains a concise and care- 

 ful summary of the extinct genera. Entomolo- 

 gists, to whom the work should have its greatest 

 value, will be glad to learn that it will shortly be 

 published in English. 



— The additions to the literature of bacteriology 

 during late years have become so extensive and 

 numerous that even the specialist can hardly keep 



pace with the publications constantly appearing. 

 For this reason the new " Jahresbericht fiber die 

 fortschritte in der lehre von den pathogenen micro- 

 organismen" (Braunschweig, Bruhn, 1886), by 

 Professor Baumgarten, will be welcomed by all 

 those interested in this broad field. The first 

 volume, for 1885, is a work of one hundred and 

 ninety-two pages, comprising bibliographical lists 

 of the separate papers and volumes that appeared 

 during the past year, with abstracts of their con- 

 tents, under the titles, ' Text-books and compen- 

 diums,' 'Parasitic micro-organisms (including 

 micrococci, bacilli, actmoniyces, and pathogenic 

 spirillae, hyphomycetae, and protozoa),' 'Sapro- 

 phytic micro-organisms,' and ' General technique.' 

 The work cannot help but be very useful to both 

 biologist and physician. 



— The Societe philomathique of Bordeaux has 

 organized an international congress on technical 

 instruction, which will be opened on Sept. 20 

 next, at Bordeaux. 



— The falling-off in the average size of families 

 in France, as shown by recent statistics, has in- 

 duced the enactment of a decree re-affirming the 

 law whereby every father of a family having 

 seven living children may have one of his sons 

 educated at the expense of the state. 



— The Spanish Royal academy of sciences has 

 offered premiums for papers on bird migrations 

 and habits, as observed in the littoral and central 

 regions of the peninsula. The particular sub- 

 jects to which attention is directed, as given in 

 Cronica cientifica, are very similar to those pro- 

 posed by the bird-migration committee of the 

 American ornithologists' union. 



— Dr. E. Reyer of Vienna, who made a geo- 

 logical tour tlirough this country two years ago, 

 has lately published two profiles through the 

 Sierra Nevada in a supplement to the Neues jahr- 

 buch fur miner alogie. He finds the evidence of 

 faulting, down to recent dates, very distinct on 

 the eastern slope of the range, even glacial striae 

 being displaced at many points, and the down- 

 throw nearly always being on the eastern side of 

 the fracture. The eruptive masses, by which the 

 sedimentary strata of the range are much dis- 

 turbed, are generally regarded as younger than 

 the sediments. Dr. Reyer modifies this view by 

 supposing them to be older than the oldest strati 

 which lie conformably upon them, although great- 

 ly disarranged from their original attitude by 

 massive eruption-like overturnings. In the down- 

 faulting origin of the Yosemite valley, and in 

 many other points, he confirms the views of 

 Professor Whitney. 



