Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/200

 IVoi.. v., No. 108.

��fact that. Ihe soft palate is rnlaed during articulation, BwalloHing, and coughing, c&n tViiis lie r«ad)l; demon- strated, mid the length of ilB periiMls of ascent and ilesi^nt mensured. The |>alii(e is men to be railed once onlf for some wordi, twice for otbere. three times for others. The numbers of these motions are Invnriabla within ■ narrow range of individual Tnrl- ation. Tha nt olfcn a readj means of de- lecting; pacalyeis of the soft pnlatc; and it haij been suggested that It may be made available for the com- parative study of phonetics, for the Instruction of rbe deaf, and for the formation of a system of logog- rapby. One curious result we select In mention from the many details of the paper; less motion of the palate occurs in saying 'mamma' than 'papa.' Dr. Alien suggests that the smaller efTorl required may be one cause of children usiully learning the former word first. Like nil Dr. Allen's work, this also Is excellent.

— In the series of manuals of technology edited by Professor Ayrtun and Dr. Wurmell, and published by Ueasrg. Castell & Ctr., will soon be published a work on watch and olock making, prepared by Mr. David Olugow, the vice-president of the liritlsh liorological institute.

— We uudentand that PapiUo, whicb was re- moved a year ago from New York lu Philadelphia with a change of editor, is now praclicaliy to return li) N'ew York, as It is to be merged into the Bulle- tin 'if the Brooklyn entomological club. Both these names will be dropped at the close of the seventh volume of the Bulletin, in April next, and a new series commenced under the title of ' Entomologica (fc Americana,' a monthly journal of twenty pages.

— The Jotirnal of the IroD and steel Institute sums np the known distribution of iron ore in north-west Africa as foliowi: "In Morocco there are beds of liematlle of considerable size, and their continuity and re-appearance westwards is now an ascertained fact. Commencing from the Tunisian frontier, the Mediterranean seaboard offers an abundance of pay- able ore at various points, and these deposits were very extensively worked by the Romans, forming iii- deed their main supply. Tbe moat productive Alge- rian mines furnish a spathic carbonate containing sixty per cent of ferrous oxide, and a hematite con- taining ninety-two per cent of ferric oxide. The com- position of the Algerian ore is exceedingly uniform, and it is almost entirely fn-e from sulphur and plios- phorus. These beds re-appear as far west as the con- flnss of the provinces of llihomina and Dukkala in South Morocco. The deposits consist of red hema- tlta, and show an outcrop of very extensive area. Specimens brought from the Sahara caravan route either to TaBlelt orTinibuctoo prove the re-appear- ance of these iron-ore beds south uf the Atlas ranges."

— Tbe Broukvltte (Ind.) society of nataral history proposes soon to is^ue a bulletin containing articles, by moiubers of the society, oii the natural history of south-eastern Indiana. Mr. W. U. Fpgel of West Coluuibia. W, Th., ho* preaenlud the society a lai^e cnllectlon of arebaological specimens, including one

��of the finest series of hematite Implements in the United States. The society Is continuing tliia win- ter the courses of free lectures, devoted to scientific subjecU of popular inttirest, which it baa formerly supported. The second of these lectures, on the an- cient vegetation uf the glol)e, was given by Joseph F. James of Cincinnati, on Jan. M; and the third, on poisons, by Mr. J. U. Lloyd of Cincinnati, on Feb. 3.

— Mr. J. J- Thomson is to succeed Lord Kaylelgb OS professor of physics at the university of Cambridge.

— Mr. D'Arcy W. Thorap'on. formerly of Trinity college, Cambridge, bos been electe, the uianagemeirt, of the Neties jahrbuch /iir mineralonle, '/eoJojfe. vnd patafoittotojjieiMssea Into the hands nt M. Bauer of Marburg, W. Dames of Berlin, and Th. Liehisch of Krinlgsberg.

— Tbe modern Uiathematlcian linds the space of rhree dimensions. In whicb our visible universe is contained, entirely too contracted tor his conceptions, and is obliged to Imagine a space of n dimensions In order that his fancy may find room to disport itself. But It is a new Idea, on the part of the novelist, to make the coucepiions of Iranacenilental geometry the iMsii for an onuislng story. ' Flattand, a romance' of many dimensions, by A. Square ' (Boston, Hobertu tiTOthers, 188-5), is lu sulntanco a description of life as a geometer might imagine It to be In space of one, two, or n dimensions. Headers of ' Alice behind ttin looking-glass ' will not fail to notice the resemblance of the present work to that singular play of fancy- Curiously enough, a' scientific romance 'on thcfuurth dimension is just now announced In England by C H. HIntoii.

— A new application of the electric light, devl and used by W. E. Waters of Orange, N.J., improvement on the old style of illumination la astronomical observatory. It consists of asraaltll candescent lamp-bulb, about tbree-fjuarters of f inch in diameter, placed in the end of a cyltndrti bard-rubber handle, four inches long, with a pni button on the side. A flexible wire cord ( the apparatus with the battery-wires, and enables ll operator to carry this ' electric lantern ' about In U hand, ready for use at any moment. This lampti been used by Mr. Waters about two ye-ara, and 1 proved entirely satisfactory,

— It is announced that Mr. William Cameroa, «i baa given much time lo the exploration of "" ' countries, has just prepared at Singapore, r of half an inch to iho mile, a large and elabc map of districts recently explored by him In 6 gor, Ulu Selangor, Sungcl Ujong, and other p of the Malay peninsula.

— Dr. It, Neuhauss, a young German physician, 1| rchirneil to Berlin after extensive explorations al Ihe Soiith-Sea Islands, and has read a report of fi researches before the Berlin anthropological socl^ Pan of his ethnological cullectlon be has pi to the Berlin n

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