Another Ancient Argillite Quarry Near Trenton,

ON the left bank of Neshaming "Creek," Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about three-fourths of a mile above the mouth of Labaska or Mill Creek, I discovered at the base of the cliffs of metamorphosed slate that there overhang the stream, on June 23, another ancient work-shop where blocks of argillite, lying in situ, have been chipped into turtle-backs."

A layer of chips, hammer-stones, and the now familiar rude leaf-shaped forms is laid bare for several hundred yards where the stream has worn away the margin. The blocks of workable stone in various instances show peckings upon their sides, as do similar specimens at Point Pleasant, inferably made by the ancient workmen to split them with the grain.

No search has yet been made for diggings and refuse-heaps higher up the slope, nor has excavation been made into the exposed layers; but thus far the story of the workings on Gaddis' Run, near Point Pleasant (Bucks County, Pennsylvania), discovered on May 22, seems to be repeated, though on a smaller scale. There we were twenty-five miles from Trenton; here we are but fifteen. H. C. MERCER.

Do Nestlings Drink.

This question suggested itself to my mind very lately, when I observed the following, and to me, entirely new fact:

A piazza-roof, on which my windows open, is provided with a

CALENDAR OF SOCIETIES.

Agassiz Scientific Society, Corvallis, Ore. June 14.-Dr. Pernot, Aphasia.

B

Reading Matter Notices.

Ripans Tabules cure hives.

Ripans Tabules cure dyspepsia.

shallow gutter, in which there is a considerable accumulation of the winged seeds from a neighboring tree. These were standing in shallow water, left there by the recent rains.

I observed a robin alight on the roof, and noticed that she picked from the gutter a bunch of those seeds, which she held in her bill while she seemed to be preparing to fly away.

Presently, apparently dissatisfied with what she had picked up, she dropped the seeds, and moving to a place where they were lying in a thicker bed, she gathered a much larger mass of them, about as many as her bill would hold together. After gathering them and satisfying herself that she had enough, she deliberately dipped the mass into the water and flew away with it to a distant tree. Perhaps some. of your readers may suggest a truer explanation; but to me she seemed to be carrying a supply of water to her brood in what was no inadequate substitute for a FRANCIS PHILIP NASH.

sponge.

Geneva, N. Y., June 28.

BOOK-REVIEWS.

Logarithmic Tables. By PROFESSOR G. W. JONES. Ames, Iowa, the Author.

THE title of this book does not exactly describe its contents. The strictly logarithmic tables are only about one-half of those given. The arrangement of the tables, of which there are eighteen, has been made to meet the wants of those who desire to have, in a handy form, tables to be used in computations covering a wide range. Table I. is a four-place, of numbers from 1 to 1,000, followed by one of the same accuracy giving the six principal trigonometric functions, and of the lengths of arcs in radians. The first five degrees of the quadrant are given to each five minutes, the following to each ten minutes, with differences for single minutes. A table giving the squares, cubes, square-roots, cube-roots, and reciprocals of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 99 is also given. Table III. is a six-place table of numbers, the side numbering being carried to only three figures instead of four, as is usual in

For Liver, Kidney and Bladder Troubles.
For Gravel, Gall Stones, Jaundice.
For Dyspepsia, Rheumatism and Gout.
For Dropsy, Bright's Disease, Diabetes.
For Hemorrhoids, Etc.

It has been used medicinally and prescribed by physicians for nearly one hundred years. half-hour before each meal. DIRECTIONS:-Take one or two glasses about a

Case One Dozen Half-Gallon Bottles, $4.50.
Case Fifty Quarts (Aerated), $7.50.

Philadelphia Office, 1004 Walnut St.

Cataracts, scars or films can be absorbed and paralyzed nerves restored, without the knife or risk. Diseased eyes or lids can be cured by our home treatment. "We prove it." Hundreds convinced. Our illustrated pamphlet, Home Treatment for Eyes," free. Don't miss it. Everybody wants it. "THE EYE," Glens Falls, N.Y.

WORLD-ENGLISH.

Ex-President Andrew D. White, of Cornell University, says: "I believe thatthe highest interests of Christian civilization and of humanity would be served by its adoption."

"So set down, our tongue is the best for the world to unite upon."-Brooklyn Eagle.

"The idea of Mr. Bell has much to recommend it, and the presentation is charmingly clear."-Ameri can, Phila.

"The result is a language which cannot fail to meet with acceptance."-Boston Traveller.

"World English deserves the careful consideration of all serious scholars."-Modern Language Notes. Sent, postpaid, on receipt of price.

N. D. C. HODGES, 874 Broadway, N. Y.

EST

STEEL PENS.

OF SUPERIOR AND STANDARD QUALITY.

For Sale by all Stationers.

THE ESTERBROOK STEEL PEN CO. Works: Camden, N. J. 26 John St., New York.

Ladies or Gents. Best seller known. Need. ed atevery house, place of business or farm the year round. "Home" Electric Motor runs all kindsoflight machinery. Cheap. est power on earth. Connected instantly to wash or sewing machine, corn sheller, pumps, fans, lathes, jewelers' or dentists' machinery, &c. Clean, noiseless, lasts a life-time. No experience needed. To show in operation means a sale. Guar anteed. Profits immense. Circulars free. W.P. HARRISON & CO., X-7, Columbus, O

such tables. In Table IV. will be found all of the useful constants used in mathematics, chemistry, engineering, physics, and weights and measures. This table is a very complete one, containing, as it does, reference to almost every standard and constant used in the arts and science. Table V. is a reprint of the Gaussian sixplace addition-subtraction logarithmns. For determining trigonometric functions, there are two tables, the four-place already mentioned, and also a six-place table. The latter is a departure from the usual method. Generally, in a six-place table, the functions are given for each ten seconds. Professor Jones has made up the table for each minute of the quadrant, the proportional part being given for each second. The tables that follow those just explained consist of prime and composite numbers, squares, cubes, square-roots, cube-roots, reciprocals, and quarter-squares. Finally, we have Bissel's table of coefficients for interpellation, and a table containing the integral for finding the mean or probable error of a result in least squares. We judge from our examination that Professor Jones has prepared the tables with great care. He seems exceedingly anxious to free them of all errors, and to induce that condition of things he offers a reward for an error found in the tables. We have not critically examined the tables, but we note a slight error in the text. On the first page the reference to the pages containing Table IX. should read 118-133 instead of 114-133. We would commend these tables to the computer as being a help to have on one's desk. G. A. H.

Pioneers of Science. BY OLIVER LODGE, F. R. S., Professor of Physics in Victoria University College, Liverpool, with Portraits and Illustrations. London, Macmillan & Co. 404 p. 8°. $2.50.

In this work, Dr. Lodge has given the general public and the student a very interesting and readable book. As he states in his preface the book had its origin in a course of lectures on the history and progress of astronomy, delivered by the author in 1887. As is often the case with books based on a course of lect

Delicious

Drink.

Horsford's Acid Phosphate with water and sugar only, makes a delicious, healthful and invigorating drink.

ures, it is somewhat disjointed. It is full, however, of interesting matter, and is lavishly illustrated, an unusual feature in works of this class. Its title is unfortunately misleading as the author does not attempt to cover the whole growth of scientific knowledge, but confines himself to astronomy. The book, however, is unique in the endeavor by means of plain, unaffected writing and a wealth of illustration to bring the pioneers of celestial knowledge into almost personal acquaintanceship with the reader, tracing the history of their discoveries and the dependence of one discovery upon another. It is to be commended to students of the history of science as a most useful reference book, and to the genenal reader as a book at once entertaining and instructive. J. E. I.

AMONG THE PUBLISHERS.

THE career of the late Sir Richard Burton, the distinguished traveller, was most adventurous and romantic. He was an encyclopædic scholar, and much more than a scholar. He knew and had seen more of dark Africa than most men, and more of Mohammedan lands than any man. His biography, by Lady Burton,

will be published shortly by D. Appleton & Co. The book will be decorated with illustrations and maps, as well as portraits. The first part of the story, it is said, will in the main be told in Sir Richard's own words.

-The weekly paper known for the last twenty-five years as The Christian Union with its first issue for July changes its title to The Outlook. It will remain unchanged in other respects, except in the line of improvement and enlargement. It will be, as before, a family paper, non-denominational in religious matters, and giving large space to the current history of our times; to literature, economics and progressive movements of all sorts, and to home life. The Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott will remain as its editor-in-chief, with Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie as his associate, and an editorial staff of several members.

HREE teachers wanted for a male and female

tion, and relieves the lassitude so common in midsummer.

Dr. M. H. Henry, New York, says: "When completely tired out by prolonged wakefulness and overwork, it is of the greatest value to me. As a beverage it possesses charms beyond anything I know of in the form of medicine."

ica.

Fortress Monroe, Va.

References furnished. Address Taxidermist, Box 75, White Sulphur Springs, West Va.

WANTED A set of Allen's Commercial Organic Analysis, 4 vols. Vols. I. and II. particularly desired. Condition not important, all leaves being present and in place. Address Charles Platt, 34 Lewis Block, Buffalo.

WANTED, as principal of a flourishing technical school, a gentleman of education and experience who will be capable of supervising both mechanical and common school instruction. Special familiarity with some technical branch desirable. Address, giving age, qualifications, etc., J. B. Bloom

ingdale, Fifty-ninth street and Third avenue, N. Y.

WANTED. A young man as assistant in our

microscopical department.

Philadelphia.

THE

Queen & Co.,

HE undersigned desires specimens of North their pterylosis. These species are especially deAmerican Gallinae in the flesh for the study of sired: Colinus ridgwayi, cyrtonyx montezumae, deudragapus franklini, lagopus welchi, tympanuchus cupido and pedioecetes phasianellus. Any persons having alcoholic specimens which they are willing to loan or who can obtain specimens of any of the above are requested to communicate with Hubert Lyman Clark, 3922 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CONTENTS.

THE WRENS OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS. Chas.

D. Oldright......

METALLIC CARBIDES. F. P. Venable..

PHILOSOPHY

.....

IN THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM. Holmes Dysinger..

BRITISH STONE CIRCLES. III. DERBYSHIRE CIRCLES. A. L. Lewis

CHARAKA SAMHITA. F. A. Hassler.

15

16

16

17 17

A NEW THEORY OF LIGBT SENSATION. Ladd Franklin..

Christine

18

THE CAPABILITIES OF PHOTOGRAPHY NOT UNLIMITED FOR ILLUSTRATING ALL CLASSES OF OBJECTS. O. G. Mason....

20

Sm

SINGLE COPIES, TEN CENTS. $3.50 PER YEAR, IN ADVANCE.

NEW METHOD OF PROTECTING BUILDINGS FROM LIGHTNING. SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE HOUSE! Lightning Destroys. Shall it be Your House or a Pound of Copper?

PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING.

What is the Problem?

IN seeking a means of protection from lightning-discharges, we have in view two objects, the one the prevention of damage to buildings, and the other the prevention of injury to life. In order to destroy a building in whole or in part, it is necessary that work should be done; that is, as physicists express fr, energy is required. Just before the lightning-discharge takes place, the energy capable of doing the damage which we seek to prevent exists in the column of air extending from the cloud to the earth in some form that makes it capable of appearing as what we call electricity. We will therefore call it electrical ene gy. What this electrical energy is, it is not necessary for us to consider in this place; but that it exists there can be no doubt, as it manifests Itself in the destruction of buildings. The problem that we have to deal with, therefore, is the conversion of this energy into some other form, and the accomplishment of this in such a way as shall result in the least injury to property and life.

Why Have the Old Rods Failed?

When lightning-rods were first proposed, the science of energetics was entirely undeveloped; that is to say, in the middle of the last century scientific men had not come to recognize the fact that the different forms of energyheat, electricity, mechanical power, etc.- were convertible one into the other, and that each could produce just so much of each of the other forms, and no more. The doctrine of the conservation and correlation of energy was first clearly worked out in the early part of this century. There were, however, some facts known in regard to electricity a hundred and forty years ago; and among these were the attracting power of points for an electric spark, and the conducting power of meals. Lightning-rods were therefore introduced with the idea that the electricity existing in the lightning-discharge could be conveyed around the building which it was proposed to protect, and that the building would thus be saved.

The question as to dissipation of the energy involved was entirely ignored, naturally; and from that time to this, in spite of the best endeavors of those Interested, lightning-rods constructed in accordance with Franklin's principle have not furnished satisfactory protection. The reason for this is apparent when it is considered that the electrical energy existing in the atmosphere before the discharge, or, more exactly, in the column of dielectric from the cloud to the earth, above referred to, reaches its maximum value on the surface of the conductors that chance to be within the column of dielectric; so that the greatest display of energy will be on the surface of the very lightningrods that were meant to protect, and damage results, as so often proves to be the case.

It will be understood, of course, that this display of energy on the surface of the old lightning-rods is aided by their being more or less insulated from the earth, but in any event the very existence of such a mass of metal as an old lightning-rod can only tend to produce a disastrous dissipation of electrical energy upon its surface," to draw the lightning," as it is so commonly put.

Is there a Better Means of Protection?

Having cleared our minds, therefore, of any idea of conducting electricity, and keeping clearly in view the fact that in providing protection against lightning we must furnish some means by which the electrical energy may be harmlessly dissipated, the question arises, "Can an improved form be given to the rod, so that it shall aid in this dissipation ? "

The Popular Science News and

Boston Journal of Chemistry. Only one dollar till July, 1894.

A scientific newspaper for unscientific readers. Address POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS CO., 5 Somerset St., Boston, Mass.

The Batrachians and Reptiles of Indiana.

A Work of 204 pages, with 3 plates of 12 figures. Contains full descriptions of nearly one hundred species of Batrachians and Reptiles, together with abundant notes on their habits. The identification of the species made easy by means of analytical tables. By O. P. Hay, Ph.D. Price, in paper cover, postpaid, $1.00.

Bowen-Merrill Book Co, Indianapolis, Ind.

USEFUL HAND-BOOKS.

The Ornamental Penman's Pocketbook of Alphabets, for sign-writers, engravers, stone-cutters and draftsmen, 20 cts. A System of Easy Lettering, by Howard Cromwell, 50 cts. Practical Electrics: Å Universal Handybook on Every-day Electrical Matters, 135 pp., fully illustrated, 12mo, cloth. 75 cts. Notes on Design of Small Dynamo, by G. Halliday, 79 pp., with a number of plates to scale, 12mo, cloth, $1. The Phonograph and How to Construct It, by W. Gillett, 87 pp., 12 folding plates, 12mo, cloth, $2. SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, Publishers, 12 Cortlandt St., New York. Illustrated and descriptive catalogues, 10 cts.

As the electrical energy involved manifests itself on the surface of conductors, the improved rod should be metallic; but, instead of making a large rod, suppose that we make it comparatively small in size, so that the total amount of metal running from the top of the house to some point a little below the foundations shall not exceed one pound. Suppose, again, that we introduce numerous insulating joints in this rod. We shall then have a rod that experlence shows will be readily destroyed - will be readily dissipated when a discharge takes place; and it will be evident, that, so far as the electrical energy is consumed in doing this, there will be the less to do other damage.

The only point that remains to be proved as to the utility of such a rod is to show that the dissipation of such a conductor does not tend to injure other bodies in its immediate vicinity. On this point I can only say that I have found no case where such a conductor (for instance, a bell wire) has been dissipated, even if resting against a plastered wall, where there has been any material damage done to surrounding objects.

Of course, it is readily understood that such an explosion cannot take place In a confined space without the rupture of the walls (the wire cannot be boarded over); but in every case that I have found recorded this dissipation takes lace just as gunpowder burns when spread on a board. The objects agati st which the conductor res's may be stained, but they are not shattered, I would therefore make clear this distinction between the action of electrical energy when dissipated on the surface of a large conductor and when dissipated on the surface of a comparatively small or easily dissipated conductor. When dissipated on the surface of a large conductor, -a conducter so strong as to resist the explosive effect, - damage results to objects around. When dissipated on the surface of a small conductor, the conductor goes, but the other objects around are saved

A Typical Case of the Action of a Smail Conductor. Franklin, in a letter to Collinson read before the London Royal Society, Dec. 18, 1755, describing the partial destruction by lightuing of a church-tower at Newbury, Mass, wrote, "Near the bell was fixed an iron hammer to strike the hours; and from the tail of the hammer a wire went down through a small gimlet-hole in the floor that the bell stood upon, and through a second floor in like manner; then horizontally under and near the plastered celling of that second floor, till it came near a p'astered wall; then down by the side of that wall to a clock, which stood about twenty feet below the bell. The wire was not bigger than a common knitting needle. The spire was split all to pieces by the lightning, and the parts flung in all directions over the square in which the church stood, so that nothing remained above the bell. The lightning passed between the hammer and the clock in the above-mentioned wire. without hurting either of the floors, or having any effect upon them (except making the gimlet-holes, through which the wire passed, a litle bigger), and without hurting the plastered wall, or any part of the building, so far as the aforesaid wire and the pendulum-wire of the clock extended; whi h latter wire was about the thickness of a goose-qull. From the end of the pendulum, down quite to the ground, the building was exceedingly rent and damaged.... No part of the aforementioned long, small wire, between the clock and the hammer, could be found, except about two inches that hung to the tail of the hammer, and about as much that was fastened to the clock; the rest being exploded, and its particles dissipated in smoke and air, as gunpowder is by common fire, and had only left a black smutty track on the plastering, three or four inches broad, darkest in the middle, and fainter towards the edges, all along the ceiling, under which it passed, and down the wall." One hundred feet of the Hodges Patent Lightning Dispeller (made under patents of N. D. C. Hodges, Editor of Scienc) will be malled, postpaid, to any address, on receipt of five dollars ($5).

Correspondence solicited. Agents wanted. AMERICAN LIGHTNING PROTECTION CO., 874 Broadway, New York City.