Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/73

 Jjuccasy 10. :

��iM

��*tM« unUenlty, as it contains the only complete get of Uie Wisconsin rocks and fouils collected by the State geological survey. The aiilh Tolurae of the Traiisac- tioDs of the academy is nearly through the press, and Hill soon be distributed.

— The 'slitlely procession* of quarto volumes issu- ing from ibe census office has recently been increased by the addition of vols. is. aiid x. The former con- tiits of the report of Prof. C. S. Sargent upon the forests of North America (e^cclusive ot Mexico). The six hundred and twelve pages of the report are divided into ibree puts. Part 1., relating to forest-trees, sketches the general distribntloii of forests and of arborescent species and genera, wbile the great bulk ot the chapter Is devoted to an exhaustive descriptive cotfttogue of the forest-trees of the region. Part li. treats of the economic qualities of the principal woods, their specific gravity, fuel value, slrengtb, et^:. Part ili. is devoted to the lumber industry, treating incideotaliy, also, of many minor points connected more or less directly therewith, such as forest-HrcB, the pasturage of woodlands, etc. The maps in the report, of wblcb there are nu less than tblrty-nine, illustrate the different degrees ot density of the dis- tributjon of woodland, the distribution of merchant- able timber, and the areas deforested, the extent of forest-flres during the census year, and the character of the fuel used in various parts of the country. The report is accompanied by an atlas of cumbrous size, containing thirteen maps of the United States and of North America, illustrating the distribution of forests in general, and of a number of genera of forest'trees ; showing the position of forest, prairie, and treeless regions, and the natural divisions of the North- American foreata. Vol. x. contains tbree monographs bound together: 1°, ' On the production, technology, and uses ot petroleum and its products,' by Prof. S. F. Peckham; 2°, 'The manufacture of coite,' by J. D. Weeks; and, 3°, ' Building-stones of Ibe United Stales, and statistics of the quarry indus- try,' by Geoi^e W. Hawes et al. The report upoti petroleum is exceedingly full, comprising three hun- dred and one pages, illustrated by numerous cuts and maps, It is divided Into three parts, the Hrst of which relates to the history of the subject, the geology, geography, and chemistry of petroleum, and contains the statistics of production. The second is devoted t'> the lechnoli^ of petroleum, and the third to its prodacts and uses. The report upon coke (a hundred and fourteen pages) opens with the statistics of the industry, followed by descriptive matter relat- ing to its extent and importance in the United States and in foreign courjtries. and closes with the chem- istry and technology of the subject. The report is illustrated by numerous cuts. The report ujwn quarries and building-stones (four hundred and ten pages) opens with a discussion ot general matters pertaining to the subject, followed by chapters upon microscopic structure and chemical composition of bail ding- St ones, and the methods used in quarrying. The statistics of the industry follow, accompanied by detailed dcscrlptioiii of quarry regions. The succeed- ing chapter is devoted to the extent of s tone-construc-

��tion In the leading cities, in the course of which is found an admirable article upon stone-construction in Sew-Tork City, by Prof. A. A. Julian. This well- known aulbority makes a further contribution to the report In the form ot a chapter upon the durability ot building-stones In New- York City. The work it illustrated with eighteen heliolype plates from micro- scopic photographs of rock-slides, and thirty-two cliromo- lithographs (by Bien &Co.)of polished rock- surfaces. These are among the finest specimens of the lithographic art which have yet been produced in this country.

— The bark Helen Isabel recently arrived at St, John, N.F. Wbile in latitude 38° 51' north, longitude 39° 55' west, Dec. 18, a terrific earthquake was ex- perienced, lasting fifteen minutes. The submarine roaring was appaliiiig, and the vessel was shaken in every fibre. The weallier was ualtn and fine at llie lime. This Is of Interest In connection with the recent earthquakes in Spain.

— The commander ot the British steamship Bul- garian reports thai on Dec. 20, in latitude 49° north, longitude 34" SCf west, at two p.m., wbile the sea was smooth and the wind moderate from south and west, be ran through a regular bure. The water boiled and seethed. The surface of the bore was about two feet above the general level of the ocean, and its ex- tent about six miles long and from three to five mites wide, moving to the north-east. This is a very un- usual phenomenon for such a place.

— In a report by the committee on the metric sys- tem of weights and measures, of the Boston society of civil engineers, attention is called to a number of instances in which the metric system is now used in this country. A number of makers of surveyors' tapes now graduate them on the metric system, as well as in feet and inches. About the only case re- ported of the Introduction of the system for trade purposes is that of the Minneapolis fiour-mllls, which put up flour in bags containing fifty and a hundred kilos, tor export to Europe.

— A Journ'il of mycology is announced by W. A. Kellerman of Manhattan, Kan., under the charge of J. B. Ellis ot NcwQeld, N.J., and W. A. Keller- man, as editors. It is proposed to make the journal a monthly of from twelve to fifteen pages. It is to be hoped that the undertaking may prove successful ; but it is very doubtful whether there can be need for BO Special a journal, when we consider that it will be supported solely by American students.

— We have received a copy of an interesting statis- tical pamphlet, "Die slundenplone fiir gymnaslen, realgymnaslen und lateinlose realscbulen in den be- deutendsten staateu Deulschlands, Eusammeugestellt von G. Uhlig" (Heidelberg, Winter, 18S4). The tabu- lar views of each group ot schools are first separately given ; summaries compare in tables the number of hours given to each topic In the schools of the vari- ous states of the trcrman empire ; and seventeen closely prhjted pages of renultate discuss these statis- tics with grpAt completeness, and yet with great con- densation. It will bo seen that we have here an

�� �