82 
SCIENCE. 
another specimen was sent to this University from Santa 
Ana in the same section of the country by a resident who 
stated in his letter that on throwing a match upon the ground 
he was surprised to see these rocks take fire and burn. He 
therefore sent a piece to be examined. 
The specimens furnished to Mr. Redding were examined 
by me and the result published in the above mentioned ar- 
ticle. The substance, which was extremely light, white and 
porous, almost chalky, was shown to be mainly a well- 
marked resin, leaving but a trace of an ash on combustion. 
No theory was advanced as to its origin, and attention was 
called simply to its structure : — 11 On fracture it presents a 
slightly fibrous structure. Under the microscope it exhibits 
a two-fold structure — a quantity of very fine, irregular fibers 
permeating a mass of a brittle, amorphous, structureless 
substance.” Since that paper was written I have endeavored 
to obtain more definite information as to the origin and oc- 
currence of this peculiar substance. The region of its occur- 
rence is so remote and so inaccessible that it has been im- 
possible for me to investigate the matter in person, and dif- 
ficult to find competent persons whose business takes them 
into that region. However, from reports obtained through 
the agency of Mr. Redding, I feel tolerably confident that 
the true nature and origin of this substance has been cleared 
up. 
It seems that there grows, and probably has grown for a 
long time, a species of conifer which exudes large masses of 
a resinous secretion from abrasions or wounds. These 
resinous masses are reported to attain considerable size, and 
to fall off from their own weight. However that may be, 
the detached resin either from fallen and decayed trees, or 
from living trees, becomes scattered over the surface of the 
country and mixed with surface soil and rocks. By a long 
process of evaporation, action of atmosphere, and the leech- 
ing and bleaching agency of the snow which covers the 
ground for a large portion of the year, these resinous masses 
lose all vestiges of volatile and soluble matter, and at the 
same time a fungus growth permeates and splinters the 
whole mass into minute fragments rendered coherent by the 
fibers of the fungus. Hence the two fold structure noted, 
the fungus growth as shown in the previous paper, amount- 
ing to less than 10 per cent of the mass. 
The perfect change which has taken place in the resin by 
these agencies evidence that the resin must have been ex- 
posed for an indefinite period to atmospheric agencies, and 
have attained a position of equilibrium toward its surround- 
ing conditions. It is therefore apparently entirely a surface 
formation, which however has in process of time become so 
mixed in with surface soil and rocks as in some instances 
to present the appearance of being in situ. ( American Jour- 
nal of Science.') 
University of California, May, 1880 
EDUCATION OF YOUNG ASTRONOMERS. 
France has of late shown a greatly increased activity in 
astronomical work, both in the improvement of existing, 
and the institution of new, observatories. The question of 
how to provide these with men thoroughly competent to 
carry on the work has come prominently forward. 
Hitherto, the recruiting of the observatories has taken 
place in the most irregular manner, and without the help of 
any special schools, such as are provided for other scientific 
careers. The candidates who have presented themselves 
have often neither possessed the theoretical knowledge, nor 
the ardor and special aptitude necessary for a career so 
difficult. 
At the Paris Observatory, where the staff is the most nu- 
merous, and the materiel of instruments most complete, a 
certain amount of practical instruction could be given, but 
this only at the expense of the ordinary service, and through 
the goodwill of the older officials, whose regulations did 
not comprise this surplus work. 
But in provincial observatories education has been more 
difficult, if not impossible. From lack of funds, it is unfor- 
tunately often the astronomical professor of the local faculty 
who is also director of the observatory, and he has to divide 
his time between these two functions. Sometimes, too, 
this director, an excellent professor of mathematics and 
celestial mechanics, has not been sufficiently initiated in 
the practice of the very delicate observations of astronomy 
requiring much experience and skill. Lastly, the mat/riel 
of these observatories has remained hitherto in a state of 
regretable inferiority, which could hardly inspire the ob- 
servers with zeal. It will be readily understood, then, how 
the number of astronomical observers has been very limited, 
to the prejudice of astronomical work and discovery in 
France. This is the more regretted since that country has 
not been wanting in great geometers, who have remarkably 
promoted the arduous science of celestial mechanics ; the 
illustrious names of Laplace and Leverrier will here readily 
occur. 
It was, then, an urgent matter to form as soon as possible 
a superior school of practical astronomy, and with this view 
a ministerial decree has recently been promulgated. With 
candidates carefully selected and instructed for some time 
in a systematic way under masters of the science, a number 
of able astronomers may be looked for, competent to make 
a good use of the excellent instruments and opportunities 
that are now being plentifully provided. 
The duration of the studies (to be carried on in Paris) will 
be two years. The first year will be chiefly devoted to the 
theoretical and practical study of the meridian service, the 
fundamental base of the astronomy of observation, and to 
the use of portable instruments, comprising those with re- 
flection, for it is necessary that every astronomer in an 
observatory should be capable of teaching the use of instru- 
ments employed in traveling, and methods of observation, 
to the explorers, now so numerous, who, on leaving, seek 
preparatory instruction, the determination of latitudes and 
longitudes, &c., in the course of their travels. The second 
year will be devoted to service of equatorials and physical 
astronomy. The first half of each year will be* occupied in 
lectures, studies, and exercises. During the second half, 
the students will make the regular service of observations 
along with the officials of the observatory. 
The lectures will be as follows : During the first year, 
theory of the meridian service, by M. Loewy ; practice of 
meridian observations, by M. Perigaud ; calculations of 
spherical astronomy, by M. Gaillot ; use of portable instru- 
ments, byM. Mouchez. During the second year, physical 
astronomy, equatorials, and physics of the globe, by M. 
Wolf ; applied celestial mechanics, by M. Tisserand. 
Moreover, MM. Jamin and Desains, the eminent profes- 
sors of the Sorbonne, will open their physical laboratories 
to the young astronomers, and direct them in their studies 
and the management of instruments and various experi- 
ments which may interest them, and facilitate their labors 
in physical astronomy. M. Mascart, director of the central 
meteorological office, will also put them au courant with re- 
cent progress accomplished by meteorological science and 
service. 
The work and lectures will be airanged so as to allow the 
students to attend other courses at the College of France 
and of the Sorbonne, having some direct relation to astron- 
omy, or capable of being useful to them for obtaining uni- 
versity diplomas. 
The science of human life has been the last to recognize 
that minute interaction of all the sciences which every 
other department of knowledge now readily admits. We al- 
low at once that no man can be agood physiologist unless he 
posesses a previous acquaintance with anatomy and 
chemistry. The chemist, in turn, must know something of 
physics, while the physicist cannot move a step until he 
calls in the mathematician to his aid. Astronomy long 
appeared to be an isolated study, requiring nothing more 
than geometrical or arithmetical skill ; but spectrum 
analysis has lately shown us its intimate interdependence 
upon chemistry and experimental physics. Thus, the 
whole circle of the sciences has become a continuous chain 
of cycles and epicycles, rather than a simple sequenc^i-pf 
unconnected and independent principles. — Prof. GrA«| 
1 Allen, Popular Science Monthly. 
