western limit of the province of Santa Catherina, has been for some time in doubt. Efforts hitherto made to settle it have been fruitless; and the disputed area between the Uruguay and Iguassu Rivers, a strip some seventy-five miles wide, has been regarded as neutral ground. In the littleknown region known as the Missiones, formerly governed by the Jesuit missionaries, an old treaty between Spain and Portugal fixed upon two rivers, the Peperi and San Antonio, flowing respectively north to the Iguassu, and south into the Uruguay, as the boundary in question. The determination in modern times of the particular rivers, out of many existing, which were entitled to bear the above names, has been fraught with difficulty. The two governments have now agreed to a joint exploration of the neutral ground, in order that the matter may be permanently settled.

In the report of Governor Swineford of Alaska, recently made public, an interesting résumé of affairs in the territory is presented. Educational matters have made some progress, though a want of tact on the part of the agent of the bureau of education, notwithstanding his energy and ability, has aggravated difficulties which, in the nature of things, were serious enough already. The value of the south-eastern part of the territory is warmly maintained by the governor, who upholds essentially views expressed by many travellers, which it has been the fashion, on the part of ignorant or interested persons, to deride as rose-colored.' The success of mining and fishing enterprises, and the practicability of auxiliary agriculture, are insisted upon. Hardy vegetables do well, and cattle are sleek and in the best condition. The white population of this part of the territory amounts to 1,900, and that of the partly civilized natives to 7,000 more.

In this connection the New York Times very reasonably points out the usefulness of exploration in Alaska, as compared with arctic expeditions. The prospect of a survey of the very dubiously defined boundary will probably before long require systematic and extensive work in this direction. The indirect results of such investigation can hardly fail to be important.

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

Standards of stellar magnitudes. The third report of the American committee on standards of stellar magnitudes states that the zones following the twenty-four selected equatorial stars have received a second careful revision with the Princeton 23-inch, which should make them include all stars down to about 16.0 mag., and that a revision

will probably be made with the Washington 26-inch. Four of the charts have been distributed to all observatories having large telescopes, with requests for all visible additions which will furnish comparisons of the penetrating power of different kinds of telescopes. Certain selected standards in each zone, about 0.5 mag. apart, have been measured at the Harvard college observatory with photometer I, and the two brightest, if not too faint, with the meridian-photometer. catalogue of these selected standards in the twentyfour zones, giving the positions and provisional magnitudes, is published, and also a table of twenty-one close circumpolars ranging in magnitude from 2.2 to 15.7.

A

Observing comparison stars. - Dr. Gill expresses the hope (Astr. nachr., 2,688) that some of the numerous well-equipped European or American observatories will take up the systematic observation of stars that have been used in comet comparisons, faint stars whose occulations have been observed, zones of stars employed for scale or screw values, or stars that have been used for geodetic purposes. The editor, Dr. Krueger, heartily seconds the proposal, and announces that Dr. Hirsch, director of the Neuchâtel observatory, stands ready to determine the places of such stars at the request of computers of orbits. He hopes to announce later that other observatories have promised co-operation.

The new observatory of Bordeaux. - This observatory, founded in 1871, has just now (Comptes rendus, ci. 690) published its first volume of Annales, containing a minute description of the instruments (a meridian-circle of 0.19 m. aperture, two equatorials of 0.22 and 0.39 m., and three clocks), and also a determination of the longitude of the observatory. An important piece of work has been undertaken by the director, M. Rayet, in the re-observation of the 23,000 stars in Argelander's southern zones between 15° and 31° of declination. Longitude of the Cordoba observatory. — In the Astromische nachrichten, 2,683, Dr. Gould publishes the finally adopted value of the longitude of the Cordoba meridian-circle, depending upon exchanges of longitude signals with Buenos Aires on the east, and Valparaiso on the west. Buenos Aires was determined by Capt. Green, U.S.N., via Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, and Valparaiso by Commander Davis, U.S.N., via Washington and Panama, and the two results agree within 08.05, a very satisfactory accordance. Dr. Gould adopts as the final definitive position of the Cordoba meridian-circle :—

The November meteors. The regular November meteors or Leonids, moving in the orbit of Temple's comet (1866 I), are due between the 12th and 15th of the month, probably reaching a maximum display on the night of the 13th. The investigations of Prof. Kirkwood seem to indicate the existence of three separate clusters moving in this orbit, and there is a possibility of the earth intersecting a portion of one of the clusters the present year. Mr. Denning has pointed out that toward the end of the month circumstances appear to be extremely favorable for a recurrence of the Andromeda meteors (see Science, vi. 279).

Lick observatory. In a letter to the Sidereal messenger, dated Oct. 20, Professor Holden expresses his thanks to the many astronomers and societies that have generously contributed to the library of the Washburn observatory, and he bespeaks a similar generosity for the Lick observatory, of which he is about to take charge. He requests that parcels intended for the observatory be addressed to the Library of the Lick observatory, San José, Santa Clara county, California, while such as are intended for himself personally be directed to Berkeley, California. Professor Holden says, "Real astronomical work at the Lick observatory will begin as soon as possible. Under the provisions of the trust, no salaries can be paid to observers until after the completion of the observatory; and this date depends upon the time at which the large telescope is finished by the firm of A. Clark & Sons. Every thing else is practically complete. I have hopes that some arrangement may be made by which the meridian circle and the 12-inch Clark refractor may soon be put to use." If the immediate inauguration of systematic observations at this observatory is contingent merely upon obtaining a fund sufficient to employ assistants during the two years, more or less, which must elapse before the permanent funds are available, we sincerely hope that the well-known liberality of California will come to Professor Holden's aid in advancing the interests of her magnificent gift to science.

NOTES AND NEWS.

THE Scientific American of October 31 contains an article by John C. Goodridge, jun., entitled 'Can the temperature of the Atlantic states be changed?' It is neatly illustrated by two charts, and presents a dangerously entertaining, one-sided statement that will doubtless be pleasant reading to the uninformed. The error that vitiates the whole argument is the implication that the low mean temperature of our Atlantic states depends on their being next to the Labrador current that

brings cold water down the coast, and shoves the Gulf stream out to sea. To remedy this defect, it is proposed to dam up the Straits of Belle Isle, as if all the cold water came through that narrow passage, and none reached us from the east coast of Newfoundland! But even if we grant this, and build the dam, our winters would still be cold, for their low temperature depends on the winds from the great north-western interior, and not on the chill of the Atlantic waters.

- A circular has lately been issued by the University of Michigan, descriptive of a scheme of undergraduate geological study, leading to the degree of bachelor of science after four years' work. The subjects belonging strictly to geology are taught by Professors Winchell, Pettee, and Cheever, and embrace general geology and paleontology, mineralogy and lithology, economic geology and metallurgy. Besides these, the curriculum includes a certain amount of mathematics, chemistry, physics, French, German, and drawing, and allows moderate excursions among elective studies. Field-work has no special time allotted in the course, although it is noted that students 'will incidentally acquire skill' in it. This, and the omission of surveying as a required study, seem to us as defects in the plan; the amount of French and German also seems to fall short of that needed to give an effective use of these essential languages; but, as a whole, the course must give a good knowledge of theoretical and practical geology to the inquiring student.

- The Appalachian mountain club announces that a room of moderate size, suitable to the purposes of the club, has been rented in the Ticknor mansion, on Park Street, Boston, possession to be given about November 15. The club is not yet in condition to employ a paid librarian or attendant, but it is expected that by unpaid attendance the room can be open to all club members, without charge, during the afternoon hours of several days in the week, and perhaps, if a sufficient volunteer force can be organized, every afternoon. It is confidently believed that when the books, maps, and photographs of the club are brought together, and made for the first time accessible, the room will prove a very attractive resort to members, and that the plan may be even so successful as to warrant, within a few years, a removal to larger quarters in the same attractive building.

At the meeting of the association the prizes offered by Mr. Henry Lomb of Rochester, for the best essays on subjects of sanitary importance (Science, v. 80), will be awarded.

William Benjamin Carpenter, the eminent English physiologist, died in London, November 10, from the effects of terrible burns caused by the upsetting of a lamp while he was taking a vapor bath for rheumatism. Dr. Carpenter was born at Bristol in 1813.

Among recent deaths we note the following: Dr. Wm. A. Guy, at London, in his seventy-sixth year; Jean Claude Bouquet, mathematician, at Paris, in his sixty-seventh year; Dr. Max Sagemehl, in Amsterdam, August 2; Professor Hjalmar Holmgren, mathematician, Stockholm; Ernest Dubrueil, founder and publisher of the Revue des sciences naturelles, at Montpellier, May 14, in his fifty-sixth year; Dr. J. Baeyer, president of the Royal Prussian geodetic institute, at Berlin, September 11, in his ninety-first year.

LONDON LETTER.

THE inauguration of the first practical' telpher line' seems to have passed into history without adequate notice, though it is, in fact, the commencement of a new means of transportation which wil probably develop into an important feature of industrial, if not of social, life. It is not intended to compete with railways, but to do cheaply the work of horses and carts, since by its means mineral or agricultural produce of any kind may be conveyed over considerable distances in large quantities at a comparatively small cost, and up and down steep inclines, without the need of constructing a road. The term 'telpher' is a legitimate, or at least convenient, abbreviation of a Greek compound word signifying 'carrying afar,' and a telpher line may be briefly described as an aerial light railway, driven electrically. The system is the invention of the late Prof. Fleeming Jenkin, F. R. S., and it has been severely tested for some months on a large experimental scale. Prof. Jenkin did not live to see the first practical line completed, and the final arrangements were worked out by Prof. Perry, the engineer to the Telpherage company. The line now under consideration is constructed at Glynde, on the Sussex estate of Lord Hampden, late speaker of the house of commons, and conveys clay from a clay-pit to a railway siding. It was opened on October 19. It consists of steel bars, 4 of an inch in diameter and 66 feet long, supported 18 feet above ground on T-shaped posts about one chain apart. Two lines of way, an up and a down line (one

bar sufficing for each), are supported 8 feet apart on the cross-head of the T, the general appearance of the whole being not unlike gigantic telegraph posts and wires. The carriers, or 'skips' as they are technically termed, are iron trough-shaped buckets, each holding about 2 cwt., and suspended from the line by a light iron frame, at the upper end of which is a pair of grooved wheels, running along the line of rods. A train is made up of ten of these, the electric motor being in the centre. An automatic block system is provided, so that as many as twenty trains can be run on the line at once without possibility of collision. Moreover, an electric governor has been devised, so that the trains run at the same speed both on rising and falling gradients, even when the incline is 1 in 8. The initial source of power is a Ruston & Proctor engine, controlled by a Williams electric governor; this drives a Crompton 6 unit' shuntwound dynamo. The maximum difference of potential is 190 volts, and the current for one train is 8 ampères. The Reckenzann motors run in parallel arc, and the resistance of each is large compared with that of the rods used to support the train and convey the current. The uniform speed is about four miles per hour, and it is claimed that material can be conveyed at a cost varying from 4 to 15 cents per ton per mile. A friend of the present writer has proposed to the Telpherage company to lay down a line in Trinidad, to bring material to the coast, the conveyance of which on muleback at present costs nearly $2 per ton.

The death of Dr. Thomas Davidson will be severely felt at Brighton, where he had resided for some years past, as he was accustomed to devote a considerable amount of time and trouble to the arrangement of the geological and zoölogical collections in the town museum.

The beginning of the academical year at Oxford has been signalized by the opening of the new physiological laboratories, at the back of the university museum. The anti-vivisectionist party, in convocation, headed by some prominent resident members of the university, have made two determined attempts to prevent Professor Burdon Sanderson from teaching physiology as it should be taught; but, fortunately for science, their efforts have been unsuccessful, and another great step has been made towards improving the medical school of the university.

On Nov. 9 the International inventions exhibition will be closed. The attendance up to the present time has been nearly 3,750,000 persons, and at present cheap excursion trains are being run from all parts of the British islands. The nightly simultaneous illumination of 10,000 glow electric lamps, and the marvellous chromatic dis

plays with the electric light and the fountains, under Col. Sir Francis Bolton, still attract large crowds.

At a recent Gilchrist trust' lecture in Greenock, by Mr. William Lant Carpenter on the telephone, transmitters were placed on the lecture-table, and a party of ladies in the office of the Glasgow herald, twenty-five miles away, heard nearly the whole of the lecture.

In a district of London known as the Borough, and inhabited by a similar population to that in the Bowery, New York, a large theatre has recently been taken, mainly at the cost of the Duke of Westminster and Mr. Samuel Morley, and has been converted into a temperance music hall. For three or four years, on one night a week, for seven or eight months in the year, popular lectures on science are delivered, in which many very eminent men take an interest. Sir John Lubbock will lecture there on Nov. 3, upon ants. Temperance meetings, ballad concerts, and variety entertainments' occupy other nights in the week, and the managers are constantly receiving remarkable testimony to the good done by the Vic,' or Royal Victoria coffee-hall. London, Oct. 31.

ST. PETERSBURG LETTER.

W.

THE meteorological conditions of the last summer have attracted general attention in Russia. It is but too common to hear of the coldest or hottest season remembered by the oldest inhabitant; but the heat of the end of June, and of the whole of July, in the greater part of European Russia, was truly exceptional. In St. Petersburg the mean temperature of July was 21°.2 C.,—the highest since the observations began (1743), with the exception of July, 1757. In Moscow the mean temperature of July was 22°.5 C. the highest in the seventy-five years' observations, except July, 1826, when it was 0°.1 higher. But as the mean of the present July is from observations outside the city, while in 1826 the observations were made in the city, it is probable this July was hotter. The heat was especially remarkable for its unabated continuance. It seems that longcontinued anticyclones existed in the north and north-east of Russia, and thus warm and dry south and south-east winds were prevailing.

A very

great scarcity of water followed, especially in the south, where already the spring months had been dry. Lakes, ponds, and wells dried up, and some villages were obliged to sell all their cattle for want of water; and that for drinking purposes had to be brought from many miles away. In the north and centre of Russia many swamps dried up

entirely, and, in July and August, forest and peat fires occurred in many parts of the country. The large rivers were exceedingly low, and navigation seriously impeded; so that on the Volga there was low water as far down as Stavropol, below Simbirsk, while formerly it was not observed lower down than the mouth of the Kama.

From the beginning of August in some parts of the south, and later on in other parts of Russia, heavy and protracted rains followed, seriously damaging the harvest, and interrupting the building of the railroad from Ekaterinburg to Tjumen,

in Siberia.

The first general meeting of the geographical society this season was held on the 14th of October, and the following news was communicated by the secretary: two additional government grants had been received by the society; five thousand rubles for the classification of the collection and publication of the travels of the deceased zoologist, Sjevertzof, and two thousand rubles for the collection of the music of the songs of the people. The first expedition, to start in 1886, will consist of the musician, Dutsch, and the secretary of the ethnographical section, and will visit the northern part of Russia, where the old folklore has been better preserved, owing to the absence of railroads and great cities. A thousand rubles have been bequeathed by the deceased member, Prince N. M. Galitzin, for geographical exploration. The proposed expedition to the glaciers of the Chang-Tengri, in the Thian-Shan, for which the society had granted an allowance, was postponed till 1886.

Besides the Iswestia (transactions), the following volumes of the memoirs have been issued, or are in preparation : vol. xiv., on general geography, containing Dr. Sperck's Russia of the far east." This is a general description of the Amur country, including topography, climate, fauna, flora, ethnography, etc. The most interesting part is that on the colonization. The author has long resided in the country. Vol. xv., part i., will also soon be issued. It will contain the results of the Siberian levelling. This is certaily the most important levelling yet made, from its extent as well as from the importance of the results arrived at, bearing on the geography of Asia, the climate, etc. Part ii. of the same volume is issued. It contains A. Woeikof's paper, 'On a covering of snow, its influence on climate and weather.' Vol. xvi. is in print, and consists of a description of Lapland by Dr. Bucharow, formerly Russian consul at Hammerfest, the fruit of extensive travels in the country.

The branches of the geographical society are generally late with their reports, so that they have but just sent in those for 1884. From the East

Siberian branch (Irkutsk) it is learned that Sannikow travelled on the upper Man River, following it five hundred versts, to its confluence with the Yenisei. He met with numerous and interesting pictured rocks, all on hard, nearly vertical surfaces. Later he visited the Minussinsk district, and described many tumuli, statues, and peculiarly disposed stones, probably having a signification in the burial ceremonies of the former inhabitants. The Caucasian branch (Tiflis) reports generally on the geographical work in the Caucasus. As before, the Caucasian military topographical section has done good work, especially east of the Caspian. The telegraphic determination of longitude between Batum and Nikolaiew has been made. General Stebnitzky has prepared a large work on the orography of the Caucasus. The hydrographical work on the east coast of the Black Sea, under Admiral Zarudny, continues. Four new meteorological stations have begun work, and it is hoped soon to have two stations on the road across the Caucasian chain, and one at Kars. These reports also contain a large amount of information in regard to the other geological and ethnological explorations going on.

St. Petersburg, Oct. 15.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

O. E.

THE articles upon the Flood Rock explosion contained in your issue of October 16, to which my attention has just been called, though evidently the utterances of men who are more familiar with the quiet work of the study than with the varied and complicated requirements of engineering practice, demand an answer through your columns, in order that the fair-minded portion of your readers may not be misled into erroneous judgments through the unjust and unfriendly remarks concerning the delay in firing the mine that have been placed before them.

The story of the Flood Rock explosion may be told in a very few words. For ten years a great work of engineering, costing a large amount of money, had been going on, the successful accomplishment of which depended upon the successful explosion, by electrical action, of 290,000 pounds of high explosives. The whole work required the most careful study and forethought, to avoid accident to life or limb, and to eliminate, as far as possible, the chances of damage to any part of the system, upon whose good order, at the critical moment, the success of the undertaking depended.

It was essential that, as soon as the mine should be ready, it should be fired, for at any moment there was a possibility of accident to the apparatus, which would delay, if not ruin, the work of years; but at what time precisely we should be ready for the explosion could not be certainly predicted, though from the way in which the work was progressing, we hoped to be ready to fire at high water, 11 A.M., on Satur

day, October 10. Work on the mine had been going on night and day under the personal direction of Lieutenant Derby, who spared himself no inconvenience and avoided no danger connected with it, in order to get the thing through in time; and yet, as it happened, the preparations could not be quite completed until a few minutes after 11 o'clock on the day appointed, when the mine was fired. I hardly need say that this delay was unavoidable.

General Abbot, who had been requested by General Newton to take charge of the photographic and the seismoscopic arrangements for the explosion, had by personal application to the superintendent of the Western union telegraph company, secured the use of a wire for a short time, from the firing point at Astoria to Patchogue in one direction, and to West Point in the other; and when the representative of the geological survey applied to him for information in regard to the explosion he offered to send chronometer ticks to the Western union office in New York, so that they might be transmitted to the observers who were not under his (Gen. Abbot's) orders. No advantage was, however, taken of this offer, though the Western union company would doubtless have been as willing to grant the use of their wires to these gentlemen as to General Abbot.

One of our engineer points of observation, that at Willet's Point on Long Island Sound, was not connected electrically with the firing point; the nearest telegraph station being three miles distant, at Whitestone. Yet the young officers who were detailed to watch the seismoscope there, watched until they got their observations, and would have watched for an hour if necessary, or until notified to stop. Observations, it is stated, were also successfully made at Columbia college, Yonkers, Princeton, and Cambridge, though none of the observers at these places were in electric connection with the firing point.

The same degree of intelligence which secured successful results in these instances would doubtless have prevented Professor Paul from losing his observations at Staten Island, and would have saved him the discredit of having written a very ill-tempered letter; and an intelligent study on his part, of the results of the explosion at Hallet's Point in 1876, would have prevented him from mistaking the slight disturbance which he observed, for that which would necessarily be produced by the explosion of nearly 150 tons of high explosives.

If, then, there was, as has been charged, any blundering or want of intelligent co-operation in this matter, it is evident that it was on the part of those who failed to take the necessary precautions to insure the success of their observations, and not on the part of the corps of engineers of the army, whose long and honorable service has been uniformly marked by an intelligent and faithful performance of its duties, and by freedom from mean and degrading jealousies.

New York, Oct. 28.

WALTER MCFARLAND, Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers.

I fully acknowledge that the time observations upon the explosive waves from Flood Rock were a matter of secondary importance, mostly of scientific interest, and, even in the 'quiet of the study,' think I can appreciate, perhaps not fully, but in a high degree, the complicated difficulties in the way of