Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/198

 r7oL. v.. No. 108.

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��— The effect ol magnets upon artlflciall; incnbailed ben'a eggs tormeU ilie subject of some very interesting experiments, of which an account was given b; Pro- fesBor Carlo Na^ioranl la a recent paper berare Itae Academy dei lincei. Duriiig the liatchiug-process lie kept one set of eggs under tlie Influence of power- ful magnets, wbile another set was incubateil awa^ from ail such Influence. Cases of arrested develuji- (nent were very numerous among the first set, and after birth the rate of death among these was four times as great as in the naturally incnbatert chickens. Only six chickens out of a hundred and fourteen eggfl arrived at maturity. Of ilieae, two were cocks of a splendid stature, and endowed with an insatiable reproductive appetite. With the four pullets the case was quite the reverse. One of Ihe^e never laid at oil, and the three others generally produced very minute e^lB without yolks, without germinal spot, and, in a word, sterile.

— An experiment is being tried in the Jefferson physical laboratory, which promises to be suceessfu]. All ordinary seconds clock, with a wooden pendulum, is controlled by the signals from the Harvard college observatory, with no other mechanism than a Gne spring connecting the pendulum to the armature of n telegraph instrumeut in the circuit. If the signals are interrupted during the day or ulglit, the error of the clock, which seldom exceeds half a second in that time, will generally be rectlQeil within an hour of their recurrence. The rate is in no way affected by the Irregular signals caused in storms by the Inter- ference of the wires, and the regular impulses con- veyed at intervals of two seconds Increase but slightly the swing of the pendulum. The attachment can easily be uiiule to any seconds clock at the cost of a few dollars, and may be of interest to those intolerant of the rates chained by companies for the rise r<f electric dials.

— Aside from the muniQcent charities of the Salem Eastlndia marine society, extending over an unbroken period of eighty-six yeara, there is a scientific history covering a less extended period, which at this late day is by many persons forgotten, and to the younger generation is unknown. One visible result of this scientific work, although incidental to the more im- portant objects for which the society was formed, Is the rai-e ethnological collections now In the custody of the Peabody acadeniy of science. When the mu- seum was transferreil to the trustees of the academy in 1S6T, such old catalogues and manuscripts accom- panied the specimens as were supposed U> relate to the collections. These were iaid aside for a time, and foi^tten. Au examination of the various papers re- ferred to, clearly shows that an earnest spirit of scien- tific research pervaded the early work of this society. The act of Incorporation places charitable objects of the society first, and ' the promotion of a knowledge of navigation'' seeond: the museum followed as inci- dental to the latter. Upon the foundation of the society, blank journals were immediately distributed, under the by-laws, to "every member bound to sea, ... in which he shall enter the occurrences of his voyage, and particularly his observations of the varia

��tions of the compass, bearings and dlstatices of capes and headlands, of the latitude and longitude of ports. Islands, I'ocks and shoals, and of soundings, tide and currents, and on bis return shall return the same for the use of the society." This latter clause was In reality meant tor the benefit of the commercial Inter- ests of the country, which at that time lai^ely centred in Salem. Many of the joumals'are beaatifnl exam- ples of neatness and fine penmanship, and are embel- lished here and there with diagrams, maps, drawings uf coasts, and even with sketches of native crafL _

— The ' age of horn ' is a term applied by Hr. (B Kaiser to the petlod of certain relics which he tUH^ found in his investigations of the Forel and C'ort*tt-' lod stations on Lake Neuenburg in Switzerland, where he has been excavating under the auspices of the historical society of Neuenburg. The JVne Ziirclier ;eJ(iini7 of Jan. IS states that he found a stratum at a depth of from 1.20 m. to 1.30m., which contained various horn objects, — such as amulets, cups, knives, daggers, mattocks, rings, buttons. bracelets, abield-studs, etc., — all uf which were en- graved either with dots or with straight lines; and he concludes that they are older than the bronze or stone implements found in similar localitlM. Bat some Implement, presumably of stone or metal, i have been employed In cutting the horn; and talnly a single find hardly gives ground for a wide general IxBti on.

— Two Important expeditions are now in progreM by Russian travellers, — that of Prjevalskl in nonbera Tliibet, in part to discover the sources of the Yellow River; and that of Potantn to north-western China and south-eastern Uongolia. A large number of barometrical observations have been taken, which are to be worked up by Col. Schamborat.

— A full account hy Lieul. Gordon, of the procMd- jngs of the Hudson-Bay exploring expedition of 1884, with a track-chart of the steamer Neptune, and a report on the geology, etc., of the district visited, by Dr. Robert Bell, who accompanied the expedition in the Interests of the Geological survey of Canada, have just been published in an appendix to the an- nual report of the Canadian department of marine.

— Among recent deaths we note the following: Pro- fessor Lauritx Esmark. director of the zoological mu- seum of the university of Christlanla, at Cbrlitiania, In December, 18S4; Searlpj V, Wood, geologist and paleontologist, at T^^udon, Dec. II); Dr. Philipp ron Jolly, physicist, at Sluitich, Dec. 24, in his serenty- fiftb year; Kev. James Buller of New Zealuid ; Alex- ander Murray, director of the geological survey of Newfoundland ; Alfred Tylor, anthropologist and ge- ologist, at London, Dec 31 ; Dr. Friedrlch von Stein, professor of zoology in the university of Prague, at Prague, Jan. 9, In his sixty-seventh year; Major-Gen. K. Sonklar von Instadten, at Innsbruck, Jan. 10; Dupuy de LOme, engineer at Paris, Feb. 1, at the age of sixty-eight; E. H. von Baumhauer, secretary ol the Socl£t£ hotlandalse des sciences; E. C. Kye, libtarisu of the London geographical society, Feb. 7, aged flf^- two; and S. Q. Thomas, raetallurgltt at Paris, Feb. ' aged thirty-four.

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