in confirming or modifying this view. In Greenland it is associated with ferns of the order Gleichenialeæ and at least four species of Cycas, all of which goes to prove that the climate at the time they grew was probably tropical, or at least very warm. In North America the Laramie bread-fruit tree was associated with an abundance of palms, which also argue a warm climate, but in the same beds are found a host of genera (Salix. Populus, Quercus, Juglans, Carga, Magnolia, Ginkgo, Taxodium, Sequoia, etc.), which point with stronger force to a probably temperate climate. The Pacific coast species was found with genera usually relied upon to prove a temperate climate, and while it was undoubtedly warmer than now, for the present forest vegetation is mainly or largely coniferous, there is little beside this to show that it was actually tropical.

NOTES ON MARS AND METEORS.

BY E. MILLER, LAWRENCE, KANSAS.

THE recent opposition of Mars, the appearance of Holmes's comet, and the meteoric display of the night of Nov. 23, 1892, were events that concentrated the attention not only of the general scientific world, but of specialists also, more largely than such events ever did before. It was thought that some of the celestial riddles were about to be solved, that some positive addition, neither nebulous nor fragmentary in its character, was to be made. Now, that they have all become things of the past, and it becomes possible to sum up the results of all the labor performed, theories propounded and exploded, and computations made, it is no wonder that the "oi moλão" ever impatient to see tangible results, and always clamorous in demanding large returns for even the smallest expenditures of time, labor, and money, are shouting "imposture." But science is not to be alked in this way; there is no release from this war.

The position of Mars relatively to the earth was such during the recent opposition that the best instruments and the best observers were at a great disadvantage. The results were not altogether satisfactory and in many cases were at variance with old theories and with each other. The observations made in this country, east of the Rocky Mountains, were scarcely of any value at all in the most of them, owing to the hazy condition of the atmosphere, as well as the low altitude of Mars. But west of the Rocky Mountains, especially along the Pacific coast, notably at Lick Observatory and the mountain observatory, near Arequipa, Peru, the conditions were the best attainable. At Guaymas, Mexico, on the coast of the Gulf of California, in latitude 27° 30' N., the writer, about the middle of August, 1892, was impressed with the splendid appearance of Mars. The planet shone with a brilliancy that was almost, if not altogether, as great as it was at the opposition of 1877. Venus and Jupiter, also, seemed to have received extra touches of brilliancy that generally are not so pronounced in latitude 39° N.

Guaymas, located as it is on the shore of the Gulf of California, and surrounded by mountains ranging from a thousand to two thousand feet in height, with a sky that is always of the deepest blue, possesses advantages of a very superior kind, for an astronomical observatory. The great objection to such a location, to a northerner, would be the intense heat of the summer. In addition to the advantages for astronomical work, the harbor of Guaymas, as well as the Gulf itself, offers facilities and material for the study of marine life, that are beyond a doubt unsurpassed. A well-equipped biological station and some good biologists would soon furnish to the scientific world splendid results.

At midnight of August 18, 1892, as the writer was entering the open court of a large adobe house in Guaymas, in company with two or three friends, one of the most beautiful of celestial sights greeted their astonished vision. Suddenly from blue concave of the heavens, about midway between the zenith and the pole star, a meteor of the largest size shot out with a splendor of color such as is not often seen. The orange, red, violet, and other colors, were deep and most handsome to behold. Apparently, the meteor seemed to be moving from its initial point in a southerly direction, and had a disc, so to speak, almost equal to

that of the full moon, and a train following that was remarkable for its width as well as its length. The train was broken into blocks of color that made this celestial visitant in all its outline, size, color, and general appearance, an intensely interesting object.

The stream of meteors, called the Andromedes, which our planet encountered on the 23d of November, made a very good display here in Kansas. Although no attempt was made to count the number or estimate the total fall of meteors during the night, except at intervals of five or ten minutes, yet judging from what was done in this discontinuous manner there must have been an average of from sixty to one hundred meteors per minute from 9 to 11 P.M. The "radiant point" was in Andromeda, from which by far the greater number seemed to start. Many others, apparently, had no connection with the "radiant," for they shot out from other points of the sky and at every moment. Generally, the meteors were small, but at times one more brilliant than the others appeared, adding very much to the interest of the observer. During the next four nights following the night of the 23d, it was hoped that a finer display would make its appearance, but two of the nights were overcast with clouds, and the other two, although clear, offered no show.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's nume 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.

Breathing Wells.

REFERRING to the article of Mr. J. T. Willard in Science for Dec. 16, with reference to a "breathing well" in Kansas, I would say that such wells are also common in Nebraska. I have compared their behavior with the fluctuations of the barometer, and my observations agree with those of the writer in showing the entire dependence of the air movements in the well upon the changes in the atmospheric pressure outside. The cessation of an outward current from the well always corresponds with a curve of barometric depression, but always occurs some hours later than the minimum of pressure, and the amount of retardation depends upon the slowness with which the barometer rises.

These wells have often given considerable trouble in cold weather as the influx of cold air is liable to freeze the water in the pump at a considerable depth below the surface of the ground. GOODWIN D. SWEZEY.

Crete, Neb., Dec. 23.

Hybridism in Genus Colaptes.

ACCORDING to the résumé of hybridism in the genus Colaptes by Professor Rhoads in Science for Dec. 9, it would appear that King's River was out of the limit of variation. Still I found one adult male of C. cafer at Dunlap, Cal., in the Sierra Nevadas, about 3,500 feet elevation, a perfect representative in every way save the occipital mark of C. auratus.

I also found an adult male in Cantua Creek, in the coast range, with the same marking. The former was in January, 1891, the latter in April, 1892. As both of these were found dead, I thought possibly the marking might have been caused by old age; but more probably they were stragglers from the north. Riverdale, Cal., Dec. 26.

How Shall I Study Ants?

ALVAH A. EATON.

BOOK-REVIEWS.

Waterdale Researches; or, Fresh Light on Dynamic Action. By "WATERDALE." London, Chapman & Hall, 1892. 12mo.

pp. vi., 293.

Cosmical Evolution: A New Theory of the Mechanism of Nature. By E. MCLENNAN. Chicago, Donahue, Hennenberry, & Co., 1890. 12mo. 399 p. $2.

IN these volumes we have interesting illustrations of those methods of thought, and their results, which are characteristic of the attempts of amateurs in science to bring contributions of new thought and novel theories to the attention of scientific men. In the first-named, the anonymous author, writing under the nom de plume "Waterdale," presents his "discovery of a cause for gravity other than the bypothesis of attraction," and "other theorems as important." That an amateur should, especially in physical science, have the courage to propose to lead the connoisseur in the serious consideration of presumably crude notions --- in these days of higher research, when even the professional expert finds himself entirely at a loss to find a way, even in following the specialist in other lines than his own, and entirely unable to propose original theories speaks well for the confidence, if not for the discretion, of the ingenuous adventurer. We regret to say that we must coincide with the reviewer in Nature and the critic in Science and Art, who are apparently unable to find anything novel in what is right in the book, or anything right in what is novel. The idea that some other explanation of the action of forces on matter than that provisionally held, that of an inherent attractive "action at a distance," is as old as Greek philosophy, and remains, no doubt, an admitted probability among the best thinkers and most expert physicists and chemists of the time; but our author and Sir Isaac Newton are alike in the dark as to the real nature of the action noted. The proposed substitution of

Dec. 27.-Continuation of Symposium, Is Simplified Spelling Feasible? Discussion by Alexander Melville Bell, E. M. Gallaudet, John M. Gregory, Benj. E. Smith, Charles R. G. Scott, and W. B. Owen.

another term for the well-understood and precisely-defined word mass, certainly affords no aid to either imagination or experi

ence.

The author introduces his book into the United States in the hope that there is there less clique prejudice among scientists than in England;" but we fear that, here as in Europe. the prejudice that the man who has made a life-work of the study of a subject and has acquired reputation through actual investigation and systematic research, through exact and productive measurement, is competent to act as the adviser of the laymen, and that the amateur with an unscientific imagination. unfamiliar even with the precision of scientific definition, can claim little consideration when thus out of his element, will be found unconquerable. This book is written in such vague and ildefined language that ita assertion that it presents "substantial evidence that energy pervades the ethereal fluid with which every sphere is surrounded" will hardly be taken as substantiated, however well established the fact may be; and its "law of induction" that "every substance, by exchange during pulsation of fine matter internally from one atom to another, sets up increased hydraulic force with fine matter, which force decreases inversely as the square of the distance through which the force has at any point reached" will hardly displace Newton's laws. Its author is not yet a sufficiently advanced student to be prepared to teach.

Of Mr. McLennan's book, it may at least be said that, although the author is an amateur in that lofty region of scientific philoso phy into which he endeavors to find entrance, and has as yet never earned that right of prophecy which only comes to the man who becomes known as thoroughly familiar with existing human knowledge and the grandest of modern achievements, and who himself has done his part in promoting positive learning, be has certainly collated numerous facts of real interest and of possible, if not probable, importance in the relations to which he seeks to attach them. But his supposed original matter seems based upon imagination rather than ascertained fact; and we can find little

Reading Matter Notices. Ripans Tabules cure hives. Ripans Tabules cure dyspepsia.

MINERALS.

Philosophical Society, Washington. Jan. 7.-G. K. Gilbert, Illustrations of the Physical History of the Moon (lantern slides); T. C. Mendenhall, The Use of Planes and Knife-Edges in Pendulums.

Appalachian Mountain Club, Boston. Jan. 11.—Warren Upham, Drumlins Near

Boston.

POPULAR MANUAL OF VISIBLE SPEECH AND VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY.

For use in Colleges and Normal Schools. Price 50 cents Sent free by post by

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

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connection between the undeniably interesting facts related and that "material connection" between the bodies of our universe, which he claims to have discovered. Whatever may be the real nature of that connection - and we doubt if our author has hit upon it-these facts will, unquestionably, be found perfectly consistent with it, and a part of it; but a thousand other schemes than this may be produced by the poetic imagination of the amateur in science into which these facts may be also worked, and it remains, most likely, for direct investigation, with all the aid of the most perfect modern apparatus and methods, to finally determine solutions of the still numerous problems of contemporary science. The Greek methods of speculation and non-scientific imagination are not of much promise where a "material connection" between the bodies of the solar and other systems of the universe is the subject-matter of investigation. The machinery of the universe must probably be ultimately revealed by expert and practised mechanicians.

Dynamics of Rotation. By A. M. WORTHINGTON. London, Longmans & Co. 1892. 155 p. 12°.

A LITTLE book on a very elementary portion of the science of mechanics, as here treated, but an excellent treatise for beginners. Professor Worthington has made his process of instruction a most practical and sensible one-giving first a statement of the facts and data as developed by experiment and then deducing the laws of mechanics applying to the case and finally applying those laws and the equations expressing them to the solution of prob. lems. Such applications are well illustrated by considerable numbers of well-chosen examples. This method of treatment is certainly well suited to the instruction of young students, and we are not sure that it is not the best for older ones in many cases in which the opposite course of enunciating the law and later illustrating it and deducing constants by experiment. We observe that the new term, "torque," is accepted by the author and that be also adopts the "poundal" and the conventional distinction

Dyspepsia

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"A wonderful remedy which gave me most gratifying results in the worst forms of dyspepsia."

pound for force and lb. for mass. We are not sure that either is needed or desirable; but fashion and convention have almost as much influence in science as in modes de Paris. They have probably come to stay, like the barbarous nomenclature of the electricians; but, in this book, the frequent use of the "engineers, or gravitation" units, as its author calls them, will go far toward relieving the mind of its readers of those misapprehensions and confusions which so constantly arise in the study of the older text-books.

Mechanical Drawing. By C. W. McCORD, A.M., Sc.D. New York, J. Wiley & Sons. 245 p. 4°.

THIS large and handsomely made book contains the line of work proposed for use in the elementary instruction of the technical schools, especially those of engineering. The exercises given are those which have proved successful, during twenty years of work, by its author. They are intended to train eye, hand, and judgment as well. "The artificial and often useless stage machinery of descriptive geometry" is kept out of sight as far as possible, although they are not considered entirely useless, nevertheless. Maxims, bits of condensed wisdom, are sprinkled throughout the work, as "Pencil lightly," "Pencil clearly," "Make haste slowly," and are clearly themselves the result of long experience and a fruitful observation. The methods are excellent, the manner of doing the work no less satisfactory; and the whole constitutes one of those rare treatises on a technical subject which can only be produced by an author who is wise in the principles of his craft and experienced, practically, in their application to the actual, live problems of the profession in which he is an expert. The principles of projection, the laying-out of curves, and the construction of problems in connection with the design and adaptation of gearing to its work, illustrate especially this advantage possessed by the author in the present case. This is an admirable work, and author and publishers are alike entitled to great credit.

Wants.

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seven volumes. Parties having these for sale will please address the undersigned, stating condition and price. R. Ellsworth Call, Louisville, Ky. GRADUATE ENGINEER will give instruction A evenings in geometry, trigonometry and surveying, mechanics, physics, mechanical drawing and general engineering construction. Five years' experience in field and editorial work on engineering journal. References furnished. C. S. H., 102 Tribune Building, New York.

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and a practical mineralogist of twenty years' GRADUATE of the University of Pennsylvania experience desires to give his services and a cabinet of 25,000 specimens, all named, with about the same number of duplicates, in minerals, crystals, rocks, gems, fossils, shells, archæological and ethnological specimens and woods to any institution de. siring a fine outfit for study. The owner will increase the cabinet to 50,000 specimens in two years and will act as curator. Correspondence solicited from any scientific institution. J. W. Hortter, M.D., Ph.D., San Francisco, Cal., General P. O. Delivery.

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THE AMERICAN RACE.

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Price, postpaid, $2.

FOSSIL RESINS.

This book is the result of an attempt to collect the scattered notices of fossil resins, exclusive of those on amber. The work is of interest also on account of descriptions given of the insects found embedded in these longpreserved exudations from early vegetation. By CLARENCE LOWN and HENRY BOOTH 12°. $1.

Jan. 1, 1892.

Aboriginal North American Tea.
Actinism.

Agriculture, Experimental, Status of.
Amenhotep, King, the tomb of.

Students.

Architectural Exhibition in Brooklyn.
Anthropology, Current Notes on.
Arsenical Poisoning from Domestic Fabrics.
Artesian Wells in Iowa.
Astronomical Notes.
Bacteria, Some Uses of.
Bird on Its Nest, The.

Birds Breeding at Hanover, N. H.
Botanical Laboratory, A.

Botanists, American and Nomenclature.
Brain, A Few Characteristics of the Avian.
Bythoscopidae and Cereopida.
Canada, Royal Society of.
Celts, The Question of the.
Chalicotherium, The Ancestry of.
Chemical Laboratory of the Case School.
Children, Growth of.

Collection of Objects Used in Worship.
Cornell, The Change at.

Deaf, Higher Education of the.

Diamonds in Meteorites.

Diphtheria, Tox-Albumin.

Dynamics, Fundamental Hypotheses of.

Electrical Engineer, The Technical Education of.
Eskimo Throwing Sucks.

Etymology of two Iroquolan Compound Stems.
Eye-Habits.

Eyes, Relations of the Motor Muscles of, to Certain
Facial Expressions.
Family Traits, Persistency of.
Fishes, The Distribution of.
Fossils, Notice of New Gigantic.

Four-fold Space, Possibility of a Realization of.
Gems, Artificial, Detection of.

Glacial Phenomena in Northeastern New York.
Grasses, Homoptera Injurious to.

Great Lakes, Origin of the Basins of.
"Healing, Divine."

Hemipter us Mouth, Structure of the.
Hofmann, August Wilhelm von.
Hypnotism among the Lower Animals.
Indian occupation of New York.
Hypnotism, Traumatic.

Infant's Movements.

Influenza, Latest Details Concerning the Germs of.
Inventions in Foreign Countries, How to Protect.
Insects in Popular Dread in New Mexico.
Inventors and Manufacturers Association.

Iowa Academy of Sciences.
Jargon, The Chinook.
Jassidae; Notes on Local.
Keller, Helen.

Klamath Nation, Linguistics.
Laboratory Training, Alms of.

Lewis H. Carvill, Work on the Glacial Phenomena.
Lightning,New Method of Protecting Buildings from.
Lion Breeding.

Lissajou's Curves, Apparatus for the Production of.
Malze Plant, Growth and Chemical Composition of.
Maya Codices, a Key to the Mystery of.
Mineral Discoveries, Washington.
Medicine, Preparation for the Study of.
Museums, The Support of.
Patent Office Building, The.
Palenque Tablet, a Brief Study of.

Bolles, Frank, Cambridge, Mass.
Bostwich, Arthur E., Montclair, NJ.
Bradley, Milton, Springfield, Mass.
Brinton, D. G., Philadelphia, Pa.
Call, E. Ellsworth, Des Moines, Ia.
Chandler, H., Buffalo, N. Y.
Comstock, Theo. B., Tucson, Arizona.
Conu, H. W., Middletown, Conn.
Coulter, John M., Indiana University.
Cragin, F. W., Colorado Springs, Col.
Cresson, Hilborne T., Philadelphia, Pa.

Davis, W. M., Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.
Dimmock, George, Canoble Lake, N.H.
Dixon, Edward T., Cambridge, England.
Farrington, E. H., Agric. Station, Champaign, Ill.
Ferree, Barr, New York City.

Fessenden, Keginald A., Lafayette, Ind.

Flexner, Simon, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Md.
Foshay, P. Max, Rochester, N.Y.

Gallaudet, E. M., Kendall Green, Washington, D.C.
Garman, S., Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Mass.
Gibbs, Morris, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Golden, Katherine E.. Agric. College, Lafayette, Ind. Grinnell, George B., New York City.

Hale, Edwin M., Chicago, Ill.

Hale, George S., Boston, Mass.

Hale, Horatio, Clinton, Ontario, Canada.

Halsted, Byron D., Rutg. Coll, New Brunswick, N.J. Hall, T. Proctor, Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Haworth, Erasmus, Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Hay, O. P., Irvington, Ind.

Haynes, Henry W., Boston Mass.

Hazen, H. A., Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C. Hewitt, J. N. B., Bureau of Ethnol., Washington,

D. C.

Hicks, L. E., Lincoln, Neb.

Hill, E. J., Chicago, Ill.

Hill, Geo. A., Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.

Hitchcock, Romyn, Washington, D.C.

Holmes, E. L. Chicago, Ill.

Hoskins, L. M., Madison, Wis.

Hotchkiss, Jed., Staunton, Va.

Houston, Edwin J., Philadelphia, Pa.

Howe, Jas. Lewis, Louisville, Ky.

Hubbard, Gardiner G, Washington, D.C.

Jackson, Dugald C., Madison, Wisconsin

James, Joseph F., Agric. Dept., Washington, D.C. Johnson, Roger B, Miami University, Oxford, O. Keane, A. H., London, England.

Kellerman, Mrs. W. A., Columbus, O.

Kellicott, D. S., State University, Columbus, O.
Kellogg, D. S., Plattsburgh, N. Y.

Lintner, J. A., Albany, N. Y.

Loeb, Morris, New York City.
Mabery, Charles F., Cleveland, Ohio.
Macloskle, G., Princeton, N.J.

McCarthy, Gerald, Agric. Station, Raleigh, N. C.
MacDonald, Arthur, Washington, D.C.
MacGregor, J. C., Halifax, Nova Scotia.
MacRitchle, David, Easter Logle, Perthshire, Scot-

land.

Marshall, D. T., Metuchen, N.J.

Mason, O. T., Smithsonian Inst., Washington, D. C.
Mill-paugh, Charles F., Morgantown, W. Va.
Morse, Edward S., Salem, Mass.

Nichols, C. F., Boston, Mass.

Md.

Rice-Culture in Japan, Mexico and the United

States.

Oliver, J. E., Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Osborn, Henry F., Columbia College, New York City.
Osborn, Herbert, Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa.
Pammel, L. H., Agricultural Station, Ames, Iowa.
Pillsbury, J. H., Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Preble, Jr., W. P., New York City.
Poteat, W. L., Wake Forest, N. C.
Prescott, Albert B., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Riley, C. V., Washington, D. C.

Ruffner, W. H., Lexington, Va.

Sanford, Edmund C., Clark Univ., Worcester, Mass. Scripture, E. W., Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Seler, Dr. Ed., Berlin, Germany.

Shufeldt, R. W., Washington, D.C.

Slade, D. D., Museum Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Mass.
Smith, John B., Rutgers Coll., New Brunswick, N. J.
Southwick, Edmund B., New York City.

Stevens, George T., New York City.
Stevenson, S. Y., Philadelphia, Pa.
Stone, G. H., Colorado Springs, Col.
Taylor, Isaac, Settrington, England.
Thomas, Cyrus, Washington, D. C.

Thurston, R. H., Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Todd, J. E., Tabor, Iowa.

True, Frederick W., Nat. Mus., Washington, D.C.
Turner, C. H., Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, O.
Wake, C., Staniland, Chicago, Ill.
Ward, R. DeC., Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.
Ward, Stanley M.. Scranton, Pa.

Warder, Robert B., Howard Univ., Washington, D.C.
Welch, Wm. H., Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Md.
West, Gerald M., Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Whitman, C. O., Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Williams, Edward H., Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, Pa.