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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith.

On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his communication will be furnished free to any correspondent.

The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character of the journal.

Bibliographic Work in Vegetable Physiology.

I AM on the point of making a suggestion to students of botany, chemistry, and more specially of physiology. I would be glad to receive notes concerning the literature of any question in physiology, in order to use them in my bibliographical work concerning the physiology of plants. Under the head-title of "Contributions from the Missouri Botanical Garden" a series of bibliographical papers will be published, treating of every question within the range of vegetable physiology.

Students of any college in the country could assist me a great deal, if they would inform me of their being willing to pick up occasional notes on this or that question. The bibliographies of Inuline, and of the Tannoids, both with special reference to the rôle played by these constituents in vegetable physiology, have already been issued. The question taken up at present is that of the alcoholic fermentation. Anybody wishing to assist the writer in preparing his bibliography on this subject by sending lists of references- all of which will be welcome- or by looking through a journal or other periodical, thus saving a little time for the writer, without much loss of time for himself, will receive hearty thanks, and will be mentioned as a contributor.

This note being submitted to the attention of all students of science as well as professional scientific men, I wish that students of colleges and universities would act upon it. Often students are at a loss as to how to do scientific work and contribute to general knowledge. Here is one of the departments where much work is needed. References might be taken in the following way : 1. Select some chemical, botanical, or physiological journal.

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Begin with Vol. I., and go over the whole series carefully, noticing every place where the alcoholic fermentation has in any way been mentioned.

2. Write carefully: (a) Title of the paper, (b) name of the journal (for journals, see Bolton's Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals, 1665-1882, and his Catalogue of Chemical Periodicals, the first is found in any library, and was published by the Smithsonian Institution; the latter is found in the annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. III., Nos. 6-7, pp. 161-216, 1885, with supplement, ibidem, Vol. IV., pp. 19-22, 1887), (e) volume, page, and year.

3. Examine text-books and handbooks in which the question of the alcoholic fermentation is mentioned.

4. Examine also papers and works which do not bear directly upon this matter; sometimes interesting remarks may be found. J. CHRISTIAN BAY. Missouri Bot. Garden, St. Louis, Mo., July 18, 1893

A Plea for Botany in the Small Colleges.

The many pleas made for a better presentation of botany in the larger institutions of the country, have induced me to add a word for botany in the smaller colleges.

The present status of the science in these institutions is indeed discouraging as it is presented in their catalogues. The traditional term of botany given by an instructor in physics or chemistry is the common allowance doled out to the students. The conditions are, however, changing gradually, and chairs of biology are being established in many of the smaller colleges, whose incumbents are occasionally botanists. As a teacher of botany in one of these colleges, the writer wishes to add a plea for the introduction of botany in its proper proportion into the college curriculum.

The character of the work of the college is somewhat different from that of the university in that its courses are necessarily briefer and less specialized. Their students more frequently

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pursue a course which leads to the so-called general education, and the question naturally arises, what place has botany in such a scheme of equipment for life?

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To the average college graduate few if any of the sciences can to be directly useful, they profit him largely in the breadth w which they give, and the pleasure they are able to furnish in their contemplation or pursuit. In these latter respects one can scarcely conceive of a science which would rank higher than botany. There are certainly no phenomena which are met with more frequently by the non-professional than those which appertain to plants and plant life. Without becoming sentimental one may say with truth that to one who has an intimate knowledge of this field of nature the world around us takes on a new aspect, and new truths can be discovered and added daily to the fund already acquired. But it is on account of the peculiar adaptability of botany to teaching, that the science should appeal to the smaller institutions.

That science is best adapted to teaching which is able to present its material at first hand for investigation, and whose truths are within the ability of the student to discover.

The material for botanical study is abundant everywhere, and presents problems in a measure peculiar to each region. The early stages of investigation in the science are not difficult and do not require expensive apparatus. The live teacher who sends his students to the field and not to books, will find in botany a science in which enthusiasm can be aroused and progress made without an expensive outfit.

In the planning of our college courses in botany one must needs bear in mind two classes of students, those who are to go on with the science and those who pursue it as one of the elements of a general education. It is the former class who too frequently suffer in the average college.

The courses should be given in such a manner as to give the student who wishes to pursue the science in a university a foundation which does not need repeating because it is antiquated or

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abbreviated. In this way I believe the small colleges can be
made centres of enthusiasm for botanical science, which will ma-
terially advance its teaching and its standing in this country.
It is to be hoped that botany will one day take its place in the
curriculum of the small college as one of its most important con-
stituents for the training of men.
X.

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-Professor Charles S. Minot's "Human Embryology" is announced to be translated into German. The translation is being made by Dr. S. Kæstner and will be published by Messrs. Veit of Leipzig. The author has revised the entire work for the German edition and has made a series of changes and additions, which will render the translation practically a new edition. Among the changes is the making of a new chapter in the Introduction, giving a complete account of the external development and growth of the human embryo through all stages. References bave also been added to important papers published since the original American edition was issued. The honor of a German translation has hitherto been accorded very rarely to American scientific works.

Exchanges.

[Free of charge to all, if of satisfactory character.
Address N. D. C. Hodges, 874 Broadway, New York.]

A complete set of Bulletins of U. S. Geological
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WANTED Assistant in Neutralamence office
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will be furnished upon application to the Commis-

DRAFTSMEN WANTED. The Civil Service Com

mission will hold examinations on August 15 to fill two vacancies in the War Department; one in the position of architectural draftsman, salary $1,400, the other in the position of assistant draftsman, Quartermaster General's office, salary $1,200. The subjects of the architectural draftsman examination are letter-writing, designing specifications and mensuration, and knowledge of materials; of the assistant draftsman examination they are letter-writing, tracing, topographic drawing and projections. The examination will be held in Washington, and if applications are filed in season, arrangements may be made for examinations in the large cities. Blanks will be furnished upon application to the Commission at Washington.

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Dr. M. H. Henry, New York, says: "When completely tired out by prolonged wakefulness and overwork, it is For exchange.-Hudson River fossils in good condition from the vicinity of Moore's Hill, Ind., also of the greatest value to me. As a bev-land and fresh water shells. Desire fossils and shells from other groups and localities. Address erage it possesses charms beyond any- Geo. C. Hubbard, Moore's Hill, Ind. AGRADUATE of an americane Polytechto posti. tution and of a German university (Göttingen), thing I know of in the form of medi-graphic camera, rosewood box, one foot square, similar institution. For sale at low price.-A fine old-fashioned photo-seeks a position to teach chemistry in a college or lenses, four inches diameter, made by C. C. Harri- teaching chemistry, Address Chemist, 757 Cary St., Five years' experience in son. Plateholders, troughs, baths, etc., all in large Brockton, Mass. wooden case, formerly the property of the late President Moore, of Columbia College. This is a fine example of an instrument of the best make for the old wet-process methods, and valuable to any institution or amateur interested in the history of photography in the U. S. Address M. S. Daniel, 286 W. 4th St., New York.

cine."

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Beware of Substitutes and Imitations.

I wish to exchange a collection of 7,000 shells, 1001 species and varieties, American and foreign, land, fluviatile and marine, for a good microscope and accessories. Address, with particulars, Dr. Lorenzo G. Yates, Santa Barbara, California.

experienced teacher in general biology wishes a position in a first-class college or university. Three years in post-graduate study. Extensive experience. Strong indorsements. Address E. W. Doran, Ph.D., 1827 & St., N. W., Washington, D. C.

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THE

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LIGHTNING DESTROYS!

Shall it be your house or a pound of copper?

Entirely new departure in pro

tecting buildings from lightning.

QUERY.

Can any reader of Science a case of lightning stroke in which the dissipation of a small conductor (one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, say,) has failed

One hundred feet of the Hodges to protect between two horizonPatent Lightning Dispeller tal planes passing through its structure of an electric telephone to be used (made under patents of N. D. C. upper and lower ends respective.

"The patent itself is for the mechanical

to produce the electrical action on which the first patent rests. The third claim is for the

use in such instruments of a diaphragm, Hodges, Editor of Science) will ly? Plenty of cases have been made of a plate of iron or steel, or other ma- be sent, prepaid, to any ad

terial capable of inductive action; the fifth, of a permanent magnet constructed as de

scribed with a coil upon the end or ends dress, on receipt of five dollars.

nearest the plate; the sixth, of a sounding box as described; the seventh, of a speaking or hearing tube as described for conveying the sounds; and the eighth, of a permanent magnet and plate combined. The claim is not for these several things in and of them

Correspondence solicited. Agents wanted.

found which show that when the conductor is dissipated the building is not injured to the extent explained (for many of these see volumes of Philosophical Trans

selves, but for an electric telephone in the AMERICAN LIGHTNING PROTECTION CO., actions at the time when light

construction of which these things or any of them are used."

This Company also owns Letters-Patent No. 463,569, granted to Emile Berliner, No

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ning was attracting the attention of the Royal Society), but not

vember 17, 1891, for a combined Telegraph Fact and Theory Papers an exception is yet known, al

and Telephone, and controls Letters-Patent No. 474,231, granted to Thomas A. Edison,

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INDEX

TO VOLUME XVIII OF

SCIENCE

is in preparation, and will be issued at an early date.

N. D. C. HODGES,

874 Broadway, New York, N. Y.

SUMPTION. By GODFREY W. HAMBLETON, M.D. 12°. 40c.

II. THE SOCIETY AND THE "FAD." By APPLETON MORGAN, Esq. 12°. 20 cents.

though this query has been published far and wide among electricians.

First inserted June 19, 1891. No re

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NEW METHODS OF TREATING THE SICK. William C. Krauss..

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NOTES ON ARSENIC. Jas. Lewis Howe.

A NEW IDEA IN MICROSCOPE CONSTRUCTION. C. W. Woodworth.

SUMMER WORK IN MARINE ZOOLOGY AT NEWPORT. W. E. Castle..

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BACTERIOLOGY IN THE DAIRY. C. C. Georgeson. 60 INDIAN PAINTINGS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. David P. Barrows..

NOTES AND NEWS..

NOTES ON THE OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION
OF UREDINEE. M. A. Carleton...

IN MEMORIAM. THE REV. W. C. LUKIS, M.A.,
F.S.A. W. Gregson
OBSERVATIONS ON DUCKLINGS.
BACTERIA IN HEN'S EGGS.
A MALAY FIRE-SYRINGE
L'ORIGINE DES ARYENS.

61 61

62

AUGUST 4, 1893.

NEO-DARWINISM AND NEO-LAMARCKISM.

By LESTER F. WARD.

Annual address of the President of the Biological Society of Washington delivered Jan. 24, 1891. A historical and critical review of modern scientific thought relative to heredity, and especially to the problem of the transmission of acquired characters.

The following are the several heads involved in the discussion Status of the Problem, Lamarckism. Darwinism, Acquired Characters, Theories of Heredity, Views of Mr. Galton, Teachings of Professor 63 Weismann, A Critique of Weismann, Neo-Darwinism, Neo-Lamarckism, the American "School," Application to the Human Race. In so far as views are expressed they are in the main in line with the general current of American thought, and opposed 66 to the extreme doctrine of the non-transmissibility 67 of acquired characters.

C. Lloyd Morgan. 63
Melvin A. Brannon..
F. W. Rudler...
G. DeLapouge..

THE SCIENTIFIC ALLIANCE OF NEW YORK. Jos.
F. James...

A NOTE ON THE APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC
METHOD TO LITERATURE. C. Michener
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR..

BOOK REVIEWS....

AMONG THE PUBLISHERS.......

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.67, 68, 69

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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 it, 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 energy. 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 metals. 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?"

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 experience 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 place just as gunpowder burns when spread on a board. The objects against which the conductor rests 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 conductor 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 Small Conductor. Franklin, in a letter to Collinson read before the London Royal Society, Dec. 18, 1755, describing the partial destruction by lightning 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 ceiling of that second floor, till it came near a plastered 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 little 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; which latter wire was about the thickness of a goose-quill. 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 Science) will be mailed, postpaid, to any address, on receipt of five dollars ($5).

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

Probably you take

THE

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Every reader of "Science" should subscribe for the

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Club Rates. - For $10.15 THE LIVING AGE and SCIENCE will be sent for a year, postpaid.

Rates for clubbing THE LIVING AGE with other periodicals will be sent on application.

Sample copies of THE LIVING AGE, 15 cents each. Address,

Littell & Co., 31 Bedford St., Boston, Mass.

BRENTANO'S,

Publishers, Importers, Booksellers.

Ticknor & Co., 211 Tremont St., Boston. branches of science, and in all languages.

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We make a specialty of technical works in all Subscriptions taken for all American and foreign scientific periodicals.

Our Paris and London branches enable us to import at shortest notice and lowest prices. REPORTS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, MONOGRAPHS, GOVERNMENT REPORTS, etc. Correspondence solicited.

All books reviewed in SCIENCE can be ordered SEND FOR A SAMPLE COPY OF BOOK CHAT. A Month

from us.

ly Index of the Periodical Literature of the World. $1.00 per year.

BRENTANO'S, Union Square, New York, Chicago, Washington, London, París.

LIGHT, HEAT AND POWER.

Manufacturer and Builder. THE INDEPENDENT GAS JOURNAL

Published Monthly. A handsomely illustrated mechanical journal, edited by DR. WILLIAM H. WAHL. Every number consists of 48 large quarto pages and cover, filled with useful information on all subjects of a practical nature. Specimen copy free. sale by all newsdealers. Agents wanted everywhere. Address

HENRI CERARD,

For

OF AMERICA.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT PHILADELPHIA.

Subscription, $3.00 per year.

P. O. Box 1001. 83 Nassau St., N. Y. POPULAR MANUAL OF VISIBLE SPEECH AND

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A FIRST-CLASS WEEKLY MEDICAL NEWSPAPER. ESTABLISHED 1828.

Terms of Subscription: In the United States, and to Canada and Mexico, $5 00 a year in ad vance. To Foreign Countries embraced in the Universal Postal Union, $1.56 a year additional. Single numbers, 15c. Ten consecutive numbers free by mail on receipt of $1.00.

This JOURNAL circulates chiefly through the New England States, and is seen by the great majority of the profession in that important district. As a means of reaching physicians it is unequalled.

It is under the editorial management of Dr. George B. Shattuck, assisted by a large staff of competent coadjutors. Subseriptions and advertisements received by the undersigned, to whom remittances by mail should be sent by money-order, draft or registered letter.

DAMRELL & UPHAM, 283 Washington Street, Boston, Mass.

RACES AND PEOPLES.

By DANIEL G. BRINTON, M.D. "The book is good, thoroughly good, and will long remain the best accessible elementary ethnography in our language."-The Christian Union.

"We strongly recommend Dr. Brinton's 'Races and Peoples' to both beginners and scholars. We are not aware of any other recent work on the science of which it treats in the English language." -Asiatic Quarterly.

"His book is an excellent one, and we can heartily recommend it as an introductory manual of ethnology."-The Monist.

"A useful and really interesting work, which deserves to be widely read and studied both in Europe and America."-Brighton (Eng.) Herald..

"This volume is most stimulating. It is written with great clearness, so that anybody can understand, and while in some ways, perforce, superficial, grasps very well the complete field of humanity."The New York Times.

"Dr. Brinton invests his scientific illustrations and measurements with an indescribable charm of narration, so that 'Races and Peoples,' avowedly a record of discovered facts, is in reality a strong stimulant to the imagination."-Philadelphia Public Ledger.

"The work is indispensable to the student who requires an intelligent guide to a course of ethnographic reading."-Philadelphia Times.

Price, postpaid, $1.75.

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DRAWING INSTRUMENTS.

The Reichert III (vertical, No. 8) is a favorite pattern for laboratory work, and is fitted with his best lenses.

We are prepared to import the above instruments, duty free, for educational institutions, at extremely low prices. Correspondence Solicited.

QUEEN & CO.,

Sole Agents. Philadelphia.

1893 Catalogue

of Books on Building, Painting, and Decorating, also Catalogue of Drawing Instruments and Materials, sent free on application to

Wm. T. Comstock, 23 Warren St., New York.

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