66 (Personal and Scientific News. 
county, bj the Ohio geological survey, was printed it contained an ac- 
count of this gas, and of successful efforts that had been made to use it, 
as early as 183S; that although Prof. Orton admits that it was a complete 
surprise to find the Trenton limestone a source of gas ; he also makes the 
following statement, (which Mr. White -could have quoted, and probably 
would if it had not been likely to spoil a sensational paragraph,) " It has 
been utilized here in a small way for more than fortv years. Prof. 
Winchell in his report on the geology of the county, in 1872, made men- 
tion of the interesting fact that Mr. Jacob Carr had, for a number of 
years, lighted his home on ISlain street with gas collected from wells on 
"his premises. * * * Other facts bearing on the gas supply were given 
by Prof, Winchell. The composition of the gas had been determined 
for Mr. Carr by Dr. Chilton, of New York, who pronounced it light car- 
bureted hydrogen and derived from petroleum. The first statement 
gave the result of an approximate analysis, and the second was a sagaci- 
ous inference." These facts, according to Prof. Orton, are published in 
the same volume which, according to Mr. White and Dr. Oesterlin, the 
"expert geologist and mineralogist " of Findlav, contained not a word 
about the gas at Findlay. Geological surveys are generally not supplied 
with funds for experimenting in practical tests in advance of expert 
manufacturers and large consumers. They announce the facts of obser- 
vation, the probable extent of economic products, and point out possi- 
bilities. It seems that the Ohio geological survey did all this, not only 
announcing the existence of gas in great quantities, but sagdcioKsly infer- 
red that it came from petroleum. 
TEKSONAL AM) SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 
On Novkmbek i8th the Regents of the Smithsonian 
Institution elected Prof. S. P. Langley, now president of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science, secre- 
tary of the institution to succeed the kite Prof. S. F. Baird. 
The scientific predilections of professor Langley are more in 
keeping with the researches conducted by the lamented Prof. 
Henry than with those of Prof. Baird, and it is very likely that 
astronomical and phvsical research by the institution will be 
revived with its wonted vigor. 
The United States coast and geodetic survey has 
V)een engaged during the summer, through the services of Maj. 
C. O. Boutelle, assistant in charge of state surveys, in making 
triangulation in Minnesota. One of the immediate objects of the 
summer's work, as requested by Prof. Winchell, the state geol- 
ogist, was the determination of the exact length, width and po- 
sition of the gorge of the Mississippi river between the falls of 
St. Anthony and Fort Snelling, to find reliable data for the 
discussion of the recession of the falls. The work is left in 
charge of Prof. W. R. Hoag, of the University of Minnesota. 
According to Prof. J. S. Newberry, who read a paper on 
