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 84 HURST HUSBAND AND WIFE finally arrive at Great Britain, or possibly at Portugal. Rules for the Avoidance of Hurri- canes at Sea. The researches of Bedfield first led to the suggestion of certain rules for the direction of navigators. The erroneous theo- ries of the purely circular and of the radial movement of the hurricane winds early led their respective advocates to the suggestion of rules for avoiding the dangers of these storms, which later and more correct views as to the spiral or vorticose movement have somewhat modified. It may in general be said that a vessel's safety can only be assured by the pos- session of a reliable barometer, either aneroid or mercurial ; and having this, the navigator should proceed thus : First, as soon as the ocean swell, the falling barometer, the clouds, and the rain announce that a hurricane exists, though it may be 500 m. from him, he should at once lay to long enough to ascertain how rapidly the barometer is falling and the wind increasing, and in which direction the course of the wind is changing. If the wind increases without materially changing its direction, the storm centre is advancing directly toward him ; if, however, the wind veers or backs, the di- rection in which the centre is at any moment may be approximately determined by the rule above given, viz. : " in the northern or south- ern hemisphere, stand with your back to the wind, and the centre will be on your left or right hand, and in front." The mariner may then by due consideration of his own desired course, and the customary track of hurricanes in that part of the ocean, so alter his course as to avoid the storm centre on the one hand and a lee shore on the other, and may indeed, if there be plenty of sea room, take advantage of the strong wind to hasten his own course. Further details on this subject are given in all works on navigation. It is very rare that a navigator cannot by cautious manoeuvring thus avoid the dangerous portions of a hurricane; on the other hand, it is said that many ocean steamers, relying upon the power of their en- gines, the strength of their build, and their great speed, deliberately plough through the heart of the severest storms rather than incur a possible delay of a few hours in order to avoid them. The hurricane of August, 1873, which destroyed over 1,000 vessels on our At- lantic coast, and those of October, 1873, and February, 1874, afforded numerous instances of such bravado. Ill KST, John Fletcher, an American clergy- man, born near Salem, Md., Aug. 17, 1834. He graduated at Dickinson college in 1853, taught ancient languages two years at Ashland, N. Y., went to Germany and studied theology at Halle and Heidelberg, returned to the United States in 1858, and for eight years was pas- tor of Methodist Episcopal churches, chiefly in Passaic and Elizabeth, N. J. In the autumn of 1866 he took charge of the theological depart- ment of the mission institute of the German Methodist church in Bremen, Germany, which was afterward removed to Frankfort under the name of the Martin mission institute, where he continued to be its director for three years, meantime visiting Russia, the Scandinavian countries, France, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, Greece, Syria, and Egypt. In 1871 he returned to the United States to become professor of historical theology in the Drew theological seminary at Madison, N. J. In 1873 he was elected president of that institu- tion, retaining his chair of historical theology. Dr. Hurst has published a " History of Ration- alism" (1865), "Outlines of Bible History" (1873), "Martyrs to the Tract Cause" (1873), and " Life in the Fatherland : the Story of a Five Years' Residence in Germany " (1874). He has translated portions of Hagenbach's "History of the Church in the 18th and 19th Centuries " (2 vols., 1869), Van Oosterzee's " Lectures in Defence of St. John's Gospel " (1869), and Lange's " Commentary on the Epis- tle to the Romans," with additions (1870). Ill It I KK, Fried rich Emannel von, a Swiss his- torian, born in Schaffhausen, March 19, 1787, died in Gratz, Aug. 27, 1865. lie studied the- ology at Gottingen, and was gradually pro- moted to high ecclesiastical offices ; but he was opposed on account of his high-church views, and his Geschichte Papst Innocem III. und seiner Zeitgenossen (4 vols., Hamburg, 1834- '42) resulted in 1841 in his withdrawal from the church over which he presided in Schaff- hausen, and he joined the church of Rome in 1844. In 1846 he was appointed historiog- rapher of the emperor of Austria, who en- nobled him. Among his later publications is Geschichte des Kaisers Ferdinand II. und sei- ner Aeltern (11 vols., Schaffhausen, 1850-'G4). Ill S!I AMI AND WIFE. The laws which gov- ern the marital relation, and determine the mutual rights and obligations of the parties, are among the most important of all laws ; and it is to he regretted that in the United States they are less accurately determined and less ascertainable than any others of equal conse- quence. The reason is that we received from England this portion of the common law, and have only of late years perceived its repug- nance to reason and justice. We now know that the feudal system, upon which the com- mon law is founded, did not give to woman that place and those rights which she ought to have. It not only regarded husband and wife as one, but the husband as that one. The sen- timent that the law needs vast change in this respect is proved to be universal by the fact that there is no one of our states in which it has not undergone great modification ; and the difficulty in making the change in such a way that the essential character of the marriage re- lation may not lie impaired, is proved by the great diversity in the provisions recently in- troduced, in the frequent changes among them, and in the very frequent expression of opinion that much harm has already been done. In the East woman has always been regarded as