202 
SCIENCE. 
As the writer of this threat has no authority to dic- 
tate such an order, or the power to enforce it, it may be 
safe to assume that it was written under the instruction 
of those who have the power to give it effect. To such 
a menace there can be but one reply ; much as we de- 
sire to see justice done to authors and their rights as- 
sured by international treaty, we would, without hesi- 
tation, decline concessions thus tendered, and ham- 
pered with conditions which would destroy the essence 
of the gift. We would rather counsel literary men 
“ to possess their souls in great patience,” and 
calmly await the day when their adversaries’ souls may 
be possessed with moderation and justice, or public 
opinion be sufficiently strong to secure for them their 
just rights. 
The reported arrival at the port of New York of 
two male 7 voolly elephants of dwarfish dimensions, 
has resulted in a request from a subscriber for authen- 
tic information regarding these strange animals. 
It was alleged that the elephants in question were 
discovered upon the Himalaya mountains, and that 
the hairy covering found upon their bodies, and the 
great diminution of the natural size, were due to the 
cold of that region. 
The inference to be drawn from such a descrip- 
tion was, that the present specimens were in a 
measure a return to the extinct Elephas primigetiius , 
the remains of one of which was found at the mouth 
of the river Lena in Siberia, with the flesh still in 
a good state of preservation, showing the skin cov- 
ered with hair. 
We find that the new arrivals were not found on 
the Himalaya mountains, but were purchased at the 
Parah River, Malay Peninsula, after the ship had left 
Calcutta. Their size is normal, for their age is not 
four and six years ; but, probably, the smaller is about 
twelve months old and still feeds on milk, while the 
larger specimen is about two years old. 
All young elephants are covered with hair, which 
afterwards falls off as they increase in age. These 
animals have this infantine crop of hair somewhat 
abundant, but not to an extent to create any especial 
wonder. 
As Mr. Conklin, of the Central Park Menagerie, 
states, our knowledge of baby elephants is very limited 
in this country, and perhaps after all, the apparent 
excess of hair on the flanks of these animals may be 
normal. The young elephant, born at Philadelphia 
about nine months since, had a similar crop of hair, 
but not to the same extent. 
Dr. Spitzka, of New York, who has seen these 
young elephants, confirms the opinion we have given, 
and states that they are not a new species or even a 
variety; and he believes that the hair will eventually 
disappear, and even now finds, on the larger specimens, 
bald spaces. 
We do not desire to spoil the speculation on these 
animals by stating the price at which they were sold 
on their arrival here, but the multiplication table has 
not been without its use to create an artificial value. 
ACCURACY IN THERMOMETERS. 
By recommendation from the Winchester Obseva- 
tcry, a bureau has been established at Yale College 
with the practical view of accurate verification of these 
instrufnents. Any person may send thermometers to 
this institution for the purpose of having them com- 
pared with the standard thermometer, and any varia- 
tion from the accurate standard will be recorded. For 
the purpose of defraying the expense of these com- 
parisons, the following scale of charges has been 
adopted for this verification : For standard meteoro- 
logical thermometers, one dollar ; for ordinary meteor- 
ological thermometers, fifty cents ; for ordinary maxi- 
mum thermometers, seventy-five cents ; for ordinary 
minimum thermometers, seventy-five cents ; for clini- 
cal thermometers, fifty cents. In case more than 
eight instruments of one kind are submitted at the 
same time, twenty per cent, will be deducted from 
these charges. Clinical thermometers, in numbers of 
two dozen or more, will be verified for four dollars a 
dozen. For thermometers of exceptional pattern, the 
charge will vary according to the character of each 
instrument. Communications relative to this subject 
may be addressed to Leonard Waldo, New Haven, 
Conn. 
THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASH- 
INGTON. 
The accumulation of material at Washington illustrative 
of the several branches of Anthropology, has drawn together 
a large number of specialists in Comparative Anatomy, 
Archaeology, Ethnology, Linguistics, and Sociology. For 
mutual improvement a number of these gentlemen have 
organized the above-named society, with Major J. W. 
Powell as President, Dr. Elmer R. Reynolds as Secretary, 
and Professor Otis T. Mason as Corresponding Secretary. 
The facilities which the Army Medical Museum and the 
Smithsonian Institution, with its Bureau of Ethnology, fur- 
nish for the preservation of valuable papers obviate the 
necessity for a voluminous journal of the Society. We 
have made arrangements, however, to present abstracts of 
communications and discussions on the week succeeding 
the meetings, which take place on the first and the third 
Tuesday of each month. The following is a resume of the 
proceedings of Tuesday evening, October 20th : 
The Anthropological Society met in the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, Major J. W. Powell in the Chair. After the reading 
of the minutes the following papers were communicated ; 
“ Notes on the Identity and History of the Shawano or Shaw- 
nee Indians," by C. C. Royce ; “ Civilization,” by Mr. B. W. 
Hough. Mr. Royce stated that his paper was an introduc- 
tory effort to a thorough study of the Shawnese, who were 
the Bedouins and Ishmaelites of our territory at the time 
of its first settlements. The earl}' home of these people is 
shrouded in mystery. After carefully going over the Jesuit 
relations and other early histories, the author concl uded 
with the bold proposition that the Massawomacks, the Eries 
