very far from Calcutta. The idea that government always inaugurated every good work with human sacrifice was long current among the lower orders of the Indian people; but it might be supposed that it had died out long ago. It appears, however, to be as strong as ever. The boatmen on the Ganges near Rajmehal somehow came to believe that the government required a hundred thousand human heads as the foundation for a great bridge, and that government officers were going about the river in search of heads. A hunting-party, consisting of four Europeans, happening to pass in a boat, were set upon by the hundred and twenty boatmen with the cry, ‘Gulla katta,' or cut-throats, and only escaped with their lives after the greatest difficulty. The men were arrested, and thirty-one of them sentenced to terms of from one to three months' imprisonment. The demolition of the oldest Jewish quarter in Europe, dating, it is said, from before Caesar's time, is proceeding rapidly. The archeological commission, which is charged with the exploration and protection of ancient monuments, has applied to the Italian government that measures shall be taken for clearing the temple of Jupiter and the portico of Octavia from the buildings which have grown up around them, and also for putting them in such a state of repair as is necessary for their preservation. The commission also requests that the new streets which are to be laid down over the cleared area shall be so planned that their points of intersection shall coincide with the following ancient buildings, which are now within the Ghetto: the theatre of Marcellus, the crypt of the Emperor Balbus, and the porticos of the Flavian emperors and of the Emperor Philip. There is a supplementary request that these buildings shall be placed on the list of ancient monuments, for the preservation of which a small contribution is annually made by the state. -The African expedition which will leave England in August next, fitted out at the expense of the Royal geographical society, and commanded by Mr. J. T. Last (who, as a lay agent of the Church missionary society, has done admirable work in the Zanzibar interior), after making up its caravan at Zanzibar, will proceed south to Lindi, to the north of the mouth of the Rovuma River. Thence Mr. Last will proceed to the confluence of the Rovuma and Lugende rivers, and fix the longitude of the junction, - an important geographical point not yet settled. He will then go on in a generally south-westerly direction, and, before reaching the north end of Lake Sherwa, turn southwards, and make for the Namulli Hills, which, with other new features in this region, were discovered by Consul O'Neill in the end of 1883. Here Mr. Last will establish himself, and make a detailed study of the whole region in all its aspects. He will make a complete survey of the surrounding country, its topography, people, botany, economic products, climate, and languages. When this is completed, Mr. Last will enter the valley of the Likugu River, which rises in the neighborhood of these hills, and follow it down to the coast at Quizungu, whence he will travel south to Quilimane, or north to Angoche, and thence to Mozambique. Mr. Last will make a special point of collecting all possible information concerning the country he passes through, its changes, its people, their customs, languages, etc., the climate, its sanitary conditions, and its suitability for the introduction of European and other economic plants. The Lukugu valley is said to be very thickly populated, and must therefore be unusually fertile, and so of interest both to the colonist and the trader. -The fact that sheet-lead in storage-batteries decays very soon, is a serious drawback to its use; and Dr. Kalischer recently described a secondary battery before the Physical society of Berlin, in which iron was used as the anode, and a concentrated solution of nitrate of lead as the electrolyte. The iron, on being immersed in the lead solution, becomes passive, and resists corrosion in the liquid. When a current is sent through the cell, peroxide of lead is deposited on the anode in a firm mass all over it. When nearly all the nitrate of lead is decomposed, there is a greater liberation of gas at the anode. The development of gas is to be avoided at the beginning of the charge: otherwise the peroxide of lead, or, strictly speaking, the hydrated peroxide of lead, becomes covered with bubbles of the gas. A cathode of sheet-lead is employed; but, to prevent it short-circuiting the cell by sending out lead shreds in charging, Dr. Kalischer amalgamates it, a precaution which also saves the lead from corrosion by the nitric acid left in the cell after separation of the lead. The electromotive force of this cell is about 2 volts to begin with, but after six hours' discharge it falls off to about 1.7 volts. On leaving the cell at rest for twenty-four hours, it is found to recover some of the electromotive force lost. An attempt to substitute sulphate of manganese for nitrate of lead in the battery did not answer the purpose. - The German New Guinea company, at the head of which stands Herr Adolf von Hausemann, has received an imperial charter dated May 17. The charter covers the following limits: 1. That part of the mainland of New Guinea under neither English nor Dutch supremacy. This district, called by permission Emperor William's Land, stretches from 141° east longitude (Greenwich) to the point near Mitre Rock cut by the S° south, stretching thence south and west to where this parallel is cut by the 147° east longitude, then in a straight line north-west to where the 6° south latitude crosses 144° east longitude, and farther in a north-westerly direction to where the 5° south latitude crosses the 141° east longitude, then in a straight line north to the sea again. 2. The islands of this part of the coast of New Guinea, also the archipelago hitherto called New Britain, now to be called the Bismarck Archipelago, and all other islands north-east of New Guinea between the equator and the 8° south latitude, and between 141° and 154° east longitude. The company is made responsible, under imperial supervision, for keeping order within these limits, with right of possession, subject to previous agreements, and treaties with the natives. FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. AMONG THE COLLEGE ASSEMBLIES of this season of the year, the most unique is that of the Convocation of the University of the state of New York. The organization of that body is so peculiar as to be hardly understood in other states, and a word in respect to it may interest our readers. The regents of the university are charged by the state with certain functions which pertain to the control of the academies and high schools of the state, and with a mild oversight of the universities and colleges. Once a year the regents invite the heads of all these institutions, and representatives of the faculties, to assemble in the senate chamber in Albany, and discuss such subjects as may be of special importance to the educational concerns of the state. This is known as the Convocation. Formal papers are read, addresses are made, and deceased teachers are commemorated; but probably the most useful feature of the gathering is the discussion of selected topics by appointed speakers, in the presence of a company of specially interested auditors. For example: at the convocation on the 9th of July, the chancellor of the university left the chair, which was taken by the president of Hamilton university, who introduced the topic of the day, - college discipline. The theme which he opened was discussed by the heads of several other leading institutions in the state. The contrast between such an educational conference and the great conventions of teachers is very marked. The talking is not for the outside public, though anybody may be present who wishes, and the reports in the newspapers are very brief; but the parties interested learn to know one another. They compare their views as experts, and give and take suggestions as to the theory and practice of the work with which they are charged. No No. 129.-1883. mercantile element is allowed; or, in less euphonious phrase, no book-agents are allowed any privileges in these assemblies. OUR READERS ARE WELL AWARE that early in June the memorial statue of Charles Darwin, by Boehm, toward the erection of which popular contributions were received from many lands, was unveiled in its permanent site in the great hall of the new natural-history museum of South Kensington. An appropriate address was delivered on that occasion by Professor Huxley, president of the Royal society. We refer to the subject again for the sake of calling attention to one incidental but not unimportant feature in the ceremony, the presence of men from almost all parties and shades of religious opinion among English protestants. The appearance of the Prince of Wales, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Dean of Westminster, Mr. Beresford Hope, Archdeacon Farrar, not to name any others, is enough to show that the establishment' is not unwilling to honor the great naturalist of our age. When the obloquy encountered a few years ago by 'Darwinism' — obloquy not yet entirely dormant in some portions of the United States is borne in mind, the list of those who assembled on this occasion is as gratifying as the statement that contributions to the memorial were received from fifteen countries, besides the three kingdoms and the British colonies. - AN UNFORTUNATE CONTROVERSY has arisen in the ranks of the medical profession of this country with respect to the meeting of the ninth International medical congress. It is a controversy, however, in which all scientific men among us are interested. Indeed, the good name of American hospitality is involved in its settlement. The International congress, which meets triennially, had determined to meet in Washington in 1887. It is an asso ciation of the highest character and dignity, the meetings of which, for many years past, have been attended by the ablest men of the profession. Great benefits, as well as great pleasure, were anticipated from their assembling in this country. The American medical association, having a national name and a national constituency, appointed a select and judicious committee of arrangements; and this committee, having made good progress in their plans, and having secured the promises of cooperation from a large number of the profession, reported what they had done to the American medical association at its recent meeting in New Orleans. The report was received with unexpected disapprobation, in which it is not too much to say that personal and geographical jealousies were apparent. Another committee was appointed, which subsequently met at Chicago, and upset' nearly all that had been done so carefully by the first committee. Now, it appears that the first committee, though its work was upset,' commands, in fact, much more confidence from the profession than the second. The gentlemen invited by the new committee to co-operate have begun forthwith to make excuse. Washington, Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia, and perhaps in other places from which we have not heard, men of the highest professional standing and personal character decline to act with the revolutionary party. Their cards have been made public, and have begun to attract attention from the daily press. 6 In It now looks as if the revolters would not command the situation. Certainly men of eminence abroad will be slow to accept an invitation to an international congress upon this side of the Atlantic, if a large number of the most eminent physicians snd surgeons of this country, widely known professionally as well as personally, have been treated with discourtesy in the preliminary arrangements, and are therefore compelled to stand aloof. It does not look as if the new committee could enlist the general co-operation essential to success, and particularly because their authority is exercised in what appears to be the spirit of hostile reflection upon measures already initiated, against which no good objection has been made. The only solution of the problem seems to be, for the second committee to acknowledge their inability to form a government, and stand aside, allowing the original committee to go forward and perfect their plans, either in the name of the American medical association or in the name of the profession at large, by some concerted action, which there is time enough to mature. The latter alternative seems to us most likely to be successful. DURING THE PAST DECADE, Professor Elias Loomis of Yale college has read a series of twenty-one papers, entitled Contributions to meteorology,' before the National academy of sciences. The material for these studies has been drawn largely from the publications of the signal-service, and especially from the daily weather-maps, which now present so great an accumulation of observations that extremely accurate conclusions can be drawn from them. The results thus gained, as published in the American journal of science, constitute the chief source of generalized knowledge that a student can now consult concerning the behavior of cyclonic storms in this country, on which daily weather-changes depend so largely. The work has been throughout characterized by careful and discriminating methods, and forms as excellent an example of inductive research as can be placed before a student for a model. When put together, the contributions' now make a considerable volume, and form a fitting sequel to the early papers on the same subjects, written by Professor Loomis nearly half a century ago. 6 IN THE RECENT REPORT of the Yale-college observatory, Dr. Waldo complains, and apparently with great justice, that the legislature of Connecticut, at its last session, suddenly terminated its contract with the observatory for time-service' to the state at large. He says that this action was taken without a hearing from the railroad commissioners, the manufacturers of clocks and watches, the mayors or other authorities in the cities of the state, the telephone and telegraph companies, or the observatory. He states that no reason for this action was given except economy; and he claims that the observatory should be at least reimbursed for the considerable expense which it had incurred in preparation for this service. Unless there is some reason for the action of the general assembly not apparent to us, its conduct is certainly most discreditable to a state so intelligent and so wealthy as Connecticut. Nobody can believe that the moderate charge upon the treasury, in return for a service of such universal advantage, can have been burdensome. It is more likely that the action was due to a lack of acquaintance with the points involved, or to the prejudice of some individual. It is remarkable that a state which may almost be called the land of the clock-maker' should by its official action throw contempt upon accurate time-keeping. Such 'jerky' legislation is what the state universities of the west are wonted to, but nobody expected it in a matter like this from the land of steady habits. The first of steady habits is fidelity to an engagement, real or implied; and the second is like unto it, punctuality in all matters where time is an element in the obligation. 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. Untimely death of a chipping-sparrow. THE following tragic event occurred in the village of Wake Forest on the 15th of June. The nest was near completion: the lining of hair was being put in. Somehow, in the midst of this process, the sparrow's head became entangled in one end of a long horsehair, the other end of which had been securely woven into the bottom of the nest. When he rose to go, the half-knot tightened round his neck, and poor chippy was found dangling some twelve inches below the nest, hung by the neck, and quite dead. I am told that a similar event occurred here a day or two after that stated above. In this case, however, the sparrow was hung by a cotton string, and was found so soon after the mishap, that he was released, having suffered little harm. W. L. POTEAT. Wake Forest college, North Carolina. The Washington monument, and the lightning stroke of June 5. By one who was near its base, the stroke of lightning which injured the Washington monument is remembered as a ball of fire coming towards him. Does not this observation explain the ball of fire so often reported? An electric spark passing between two points, will, to a circle of observers, present various appearances. If two inches long, it will be seen as a line of fire two inches long by some, while to those in the line of its motion it will be a single spark. So when a flash of lightning (a line of fire) is directed toward the observer, it must appear as a ball of fire, motionless if the movement is directly toward the observer, moving with comparative slowness if slightly off that direction, and with electric rapidity if across the field of view at right angles with the line to the observer's place. M. C. MEIGS. Washington, D.C. Volcanic dust east of the Rocky Mountains. 6 My attention has recently been called to the interesting letter of Mr. George P. Merrill in Science for April 24, on Volcanic dust from south-western Nebraska,' and his subsequent paper on the same in the Proceedings of the U. S. national museum, 1885, pp. 99, 100. Since Mr. Merrill seems not to be aware of any earlier published notice of similar volcanic dust found east of the Rocky-Mountain region, a short note may not be amiss here. In October, 1882, my friend and colleague, Mr. Samuel Garman, placed in my hands for examination a fine gray sand found in Dakota. This, on examination, was seen to be composed of volcanic glass in shards, tubes, etc., mostly water-clear; but a few forms contained glass inclusions and vapor cavities. A few grains were brown, like many of the rhyolitic glasses; many were ribbed, or thicker on one side, thinning down to an edge on the other; others were apparently of uniform thickness; and none gave evidence of being wind or water worn. A very little earthy material was found mixed with the volcanic ash. Mr. Garman gave an account of this deposit of glass before the Boston scientific society, Nov. 8, 1882, and a notice of it was published in the Boston transcript for Nov. 10. Attention was further called to this glass in my Lithological studies,' published early in November last, on p. 17. Mr. Garman has given me the following information regarding the deposit: "It was found about fifty miles south by east from the Black Hills, between the Niobrara and the White rivers, just north of the watershed, not far from the head of Antelope Creek. The bed is horizontal, and, as I remember it, nearly two feet in thickness at its thickest portion, and several rods in extent. The deposits in the immediate neighborhood are late tertiary. A small stream had cut away the bank in which the glass lay, exposing a considerable portion of it. From the exposed edge the powdery material is carried away by the wind as a fine, smoke-like dust. The glass in the bed is as clean as in the sample, except near the upper and lower surfaces, where it is mixed with other matter. To be so clean, it must have been deposited by water almost free from other impurities, for the winds would have mingled other dust with it." M. E. WADSWORTH. Museum of comparative zoology, HUMANISM IN THE STUDY OF IN a liberal education we must hereafter recognize a twofold division of our labor. On the one hand will be placed those studies which serve the purpose of humanizing the youth, i.e., of bringing him into a state of sympathy with his fellow-mortals; and, on the other, the studies which will serve to give the required measure of knowledge concerning the unhuman world, the realm of physical and organic nature. The great profit of the present discussions concerning education has been found in the fact that it has brought this dual character of the work of education clearly into view. What, however, has this lower world of facts to give, that can be of such value that the student is told to turn from the field of man for its study? We will pass quickly by the commonest argument. Unhuman nature, say many, concerns us because we have to live in it: it is a great engine, whose power may grind our grists, or whose merciless wheels may crush out our lives. Master its movements, that you may have power at your command; keep your frail self from its dangers, that you may live long. This is the way that some look upon the outer world. It is a sensible view, but in itself it little concerns the problem of education. From this point of view, nature is for the economist, for the practical man. But for the purposes of a general education, the realm of nature beyond human interests should be approached with the view, first, to get some sound general idea of the construction of this realm, and its relations to the life of man in the largest sense of that life; next, to secure some clear sense of the nature of scientific evidence; and, lastly, to gain an idea of the order and control which exists in the extra-human world. Purely human education is deficient in perspectives: it finds man as man; it considers his relations to his fellows, and leaves him separated from the universe, alone amid a world of physical and organic life. But to secure a sound understanding of man's place in nature, we must give the student some general ideas as to the ways of that nature. This end should be secured by studies which begin with the human body and its functions, and afterwards extend progressively farther and farther away. We have thus the help of the human interest which surrounds our own personal affairs, and extends, through immediate sympathy, to the lower world of living things. The elements of human anatomy and physiology should be the first thread to guide the student to the world beyond man. This may profitably lead to the study, in outline, of organic life below man, - a study which should aim at a clear understanding of a few lower animals and a limited number of plants. After the student has some accurate knowledge of the bodily parts and functions of a cat, a bird, a frog, and a fish, his mind is prepared to receive a little general truth given in words concerning the vertebrated animals. In the same way, an insect, a lobster, and a worm will give the basis for understanding the articulate animals; a snail, a clam, and a squid will show him his way to an understanding of the molluscan affinities; and so on. In the plants, a seaweed, a fungus, a fern, and an ordinary flowering plant, will, if well known, serve to make real a great many important general facts which have to be presented in a didactic fashion. In this teaching, constant effort should be made to give the matter a human interest by referring to man's body and habits, or his physical relation to the lower world, for comparison or illustration. The next step will necessarily take the student into the realm of geology, or earth-history. Here the world of our day should be shown with especial reference to its relations to human life and its development. It is easy so to knit the considerations of the existing conditions of the earth with the interests of man. Over the bridge of human sympathies we may easily find a way for the student into the wider realm of the world-life. Climate may be studied with reference to human history, or the geographical distribution of organic beings, including man; volcanoes and earthquakes, with reference to their effects on the life of our species: so nearly every department of the earth's history may be made to have a relation to the natural human interests which the child brings with it to the study of the outer world. I know that there are those who will object to the anthropocentric, the over-humanized view of nature which this form of teaching tends to inculcate; but to the mass of men this is a necessary way of looking at the world. The worst failures in teaching science have come from a neglect of the all-important fact that nature is to most minds only interesting because of its relations to man. It may bebut may a merciful Providence defend us from the evil that in time many children will be born to whom crystals are as interesting as human lives, and a geological period as full of |