and volition to the more complex instinctive and reasoning faculties of higher animals.

Where, then, shall we draw the line in the evolution of mind between the high degrees of consciousness in animals, and self-consciousness, which is believed to be a peculiarly human attribute, and at the foundation of all that constitutes con-science and makes him a moral and responsible being? The beginnings of self-consciousness are traceable in animals, since many of the phenomena of sexual selection and the well-known sense of shame in our domestic associates could scarcely have resulted without it; and it seems to me illogical to argue, as some of our best writers on evolution have done, that self-consciousness is an attribute that must have been breathed into man by special, supernatural act.

From the consideration of the general subject of mind in nature, we are brought inevitably to the question of design. There can be no doubt that the tendency of evolution has been to remove further and further the idea of an infinite first cause. The argument for design, however, as Asa Gray has so well set forth, rests on the fact that the designed and the contingent can never be accurately discriminated, and that limitation, in the very nature of the case, is inconceivable. It seems to me that the evidences of design in nature are so overwhelming that its advocates have an immense advantage over those who would discard it. A fortuitous cosmos is, to most persons, utterly inconceivable; yet there is no other alternative than a designed cosmos.

The most philosophic view is probably that which, while recognizing an intelligent creative power, or mind, which has worked and is yet working through ordained laws, yet leaves the detailed manifestations to secondary causes and finite action. Limiting conditions or laws, since law is but a limiting condition and nature an active power, may act together in producing secondary causes, but the great and infinite cause may be looked upon as that which upholds the universe.

I have ventured just within the question of design, because of the prevalent belief that evolution eliminates it from our conception, and because I have felt that as between the extreme schools the middle ground chosen by our late lamented Gray is far the more satisfactory and philosophical. On the other great question of what life is, or how it originated, I commend the candor of Marsh in closing his address as president of the association in 1877 with the words, In this long history of life I have said nothing of what life is; and for the best of reasons, because I know nothing." The genesis or formation of individual life, in spite of saint and sage, is yet a mystery, and probably always will be.

66

All that evolution recognizes is the transmutability—the generic identity of the forces of nature, which, in their aggregate action, may properly be defined as omnipresent energy. We know, as a matter of the simplest observation, that this combined force or energy is essential to the continuance of life, not only upon our planet, but, deductively, in the universe. We are justified in inferring that it is capable, under fit conditions, of originating life from what we know as non-living matter. Evolution, in fact, inevitably leads to the inference that vital force is transmutable into, and derivable from, physical and chemical force.

SCHOOL OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. THIS school is founded upon the gift of one hundred thousand dollars by the late Samuel Miller of Lynchburg, Va., who provided that the income from this fund should be expended for "the advancement of agriculture as a science and as a practical art by the instruction therein, and in the sciences connected therewith, of the youth of the country."

A part of the income is used to maintain the work in agricultural chemistry, carried on in connection with the chemical department of the university, under the direction of Professors Mallet and Dunnington.

The residue, and the larger portion of the income, is to be expended in promoting instruction and research in biology. One floor of the medical hall (42 by 42 feet) is now being fitted up for a biological laboratory, including, as in the annexed plan, a laboratory-room for students, a private laboratory for the professor, a photographic room, and storerooms.

In connection with the advanced work of agricultural students in chemistry and biology, Professors Dunnington and Tuttle will also conduct a small field-experiment station. On this the more hopeful lines of investigation into problems of practical agriculture will be carried out.

THE ERUPTION OF BANTAISAN.

ON the morning of July 15 occurred a phenomenon of such magnitude, and with results so serious, as to place it among the most remarkable events of volcanic origin of which record exists.

The place of eruption was the mountain of Bantaisan, situated about four miles and a half from Lake Inawashiro, and about a hundred miles directly north-west of Tokio, in latitude 37°36' north and longitude 140°6′ east. The mountain is the terminal peak of a group of hills rising from an extensive plain, and attains an elevation of about 6,000 feet. Its summit is divided; and the lower or Sho-Bantaisan, with a height of about 5,000 feet, was the actual place of outburst.

erature contains numerous allusions to the mountain as emitting flame and smoke.

This dearth of any actual record of eruption, taken together with the appearance of the mountain (which presents from the distance no evidence of former volcanic activity, and is clothed with verdure nearly to the very summit, oak-trees growing high up its sides, and only here and there showing projecting eruptive rock), leads to the inevitable conclusion that the mountain must have been free from actual eruptive phenomena for probably a thousand years. Indeed, one ancient writer asserts that Bantaisan ceased its existence as an active volcano with the origin of Lake Inawashiro.

Evidences of slumbering volcanic force remained, however, in the presence, at three different elevations on the mountain-sides, of extensive hot-springs, the visitors to which were among the chief sufferers from the calamity of July 15.

Premonitory symptoms of an unusual disturbance were first experienced on the 13th, and continued, in the shape of rumbling sounds and slight earthquake shocks, for two days and nights; yet the phenomena were not of such a nature as to cause apprehension, and the final catastrophe found the people of the vicinity wholly unprepared, and took them by surprise.

Definite information as to the exact nature of the occurrence, and accurate details concerning the phenomena actually appearing, are, from the nature of the case, the remoteness and comparative inaccessibility of the locality, and the character of the rural people chiefly affected, not yet procurable. But the facts as at present demonstrated appear to be as follows:

About eight o'clock A.M. the residents of the villages around the base and sides of Bantaisan heard loud rumbling sounds, and experienced severe shocks of earthquake. These phenomena were immediately followed by the falling of showers of ashes, which darkened the sky when not illumined by flashes of dazzling flame, apparently emitted from the earth. Violent earthquakes shook the ground, and the crest of Sho-Bantaisan seemed to be lifted bodily upwards, fall again, and totally disappear, in the midst of a violent and deafening explosion.

This phenomenon was followed by showers of red mud, steam, boiling water, and large stones, but no gravel or small stones. Next followed a second shower of ashes mixed with mud, which continued till houses, thatched huts, were buried sometimes to a depth of twenty feet by the ingulfing mass. The phenomena continued in all their severity for about two hours, when the climax seemed to be reached, after which the forces seemed to gradually subside, till about four P.M., when they appeared to have spent their power, and the extent of the catastrophe could be discovered. All crops for an average radius of five miles from the mountain were destroyed, and great damage was done by the damming of the Okawa River, and consequent inundation of an extensive region. The number of houses totally destroyed was 195, while 63 more were more or less damaged. The total number of deaths is placed at 600, and 476 bodies have been recovered. The number of injured thus far reported is 41, while 1,000 persons are supposed to have been rendered destitute.

The mountain is doubtless of volcanic origin, consisting largely of scoriaceous matter; mostly in a very much disintegrated condition, however. The immediate vicinity has, nevertheless, been the seat of active volcanic disturbance within historical times; though the great earthquake of 1611, and the formation of the lake near Banzai-ya in the location of a mountain which disappeared about 1760, are the most recent phenomena of the region distinctively volcanic in nature.

Bantaisan itself is supposed to have been formed in the year 807, as the result of an eruptive outburst; but there is no actual record of any period of volcanic activity, nor of any definite eruption, though the extinct crater is well defined, and ancient Japanese lit

Two craters were opened by the eruption, one of which occupies the site of the former upper spring on Sho-Bantaisan, about two miles from the former summit. The diameter of the crater thus formed is little less than five miles, and the mountain-peak above this elevation has wholly disappeared, while one other of the four cones has materially diminished in size. Both craters are at latest accounts, the 26th of July, still in a state of constant though quiet eruption, emitting smoke, steam, and occasionally ashes, the latter having the appearance of disintegrated rock of a dull-bluish color.

Though an eruption of Bantaisan has never been considered a probable event, and the recent phenomenon has had no local precedent, the mountain is situated on one of the four lines of volcanic activity known to exist in Japan, embracing a series of several active volcanoes; in the light of which fact, the eruption, with all its attending phenomena and ensuing disaster, cannot be regarded as either exceptional or matter for surprise, though possessing unusual scientific interest, and demanding the fullest human sympathy.

H. E. STOCKBRIDGE.

A MAGNETIC SURVEY OF JAPAN.

The

A RECENT number of the Journal of the College of Science of Japan contains the results of a magnetic survey of the islands, carried out by Cargill G. Knott and Aikitsu Tanakadate. determination of the magnetic elements of Japan is of peculiar interest, as the results of former researches led Dr. Naumann to the conclusion that intimate connections exist between magnetic elements and geological structure. This opinion was based on the magnetic survey of Japan, carried out by Messrs. Sekino and Kodari in 1882-83. A careful review of the methods and results of this survey was therefore very desirable, and Dr. Knott undertook this

a fairly good distribution, and a shunning of local disturbances' due to volcanic rocks. The second condition was extremely difficult to fulfil, particularly in the northern parts of Japan, where magnetic rocks abound.

Eighty-one stations were occupied in the course of the survey. As the results of the observation on declination are of particular interest in connection with Naumann's theory, we reproduce Knott's map of lines of equal magnetic declination. The lines were drawn by hand from consideration of the observations of contiguous stations. From these he has computed parabolic lines by the method of least squares. We have reproduced these also, although they seem to be of little value, considering the great amount of local

task. He found that it would be unsafe to deduce from them any definite conclusions as to the general magnetic characteristics of Japan. His principal reason was the inadequate selection of routes, and the fact that the observations were made in two sets, -one in the fall of 1882, the other in the fall of 1883, - the observations being made usually about 9 A.M. or 3 P.M., but not with absolute regularity. He found that no satisfactory attempt had been made to reduce all observations to one hour.

It thus appeared that the thing to be desired was a new survey, - what might be called a preliminary survey of all Japan, special attention to be paid to the distribution of stations. The work was carried out by two parties, one visiting the northern half of the territory to be studied; the other, the southern half. In selecting the stations, two considerations were principally borne in mind,

variation. The lines as constructed by Naumann are shown for comparison on the smaller map.

The following remarks of Dr. Knott are of interest in reference to Naumann's theory. Based on the broad features of Sekino's chart, Naumann finds in the form of the isogonic line of 5° W. a close relation to the so-called Fossa Magna.' Just where this great break in the geological continuity of the country occurs, there a large sinuosity seemed to show itself on the isogonic line. This great fault, the Fossa Magna, almost stretches right across the central part of Japan in a nearly north-and-south direction. The wellknown volcano Fujiyama is included in it, and so, it is generally supposed, is the line of volcanic islands stretching south-easterly. The Fossa Magna hardly reaches the northen coast of Japan; but, if continued northwards, it would be found to run between the penin

sula of Noto on the west, and the island of Sado on the east. Now, it is just at this region that Sekino's 5o isogonic line makes a great bend to the north, doubling back just over the island of Sado, and then, after an easterly sweep, continuing north-easterly across the country. It is extremely doubtful whether the observations warrant such a delineation of 5° declination. A careful scrutiny of Sekino's numbers brings out certain discrepancies which should not altogether be neglected. Further, there is a complete lack of observations along the coast to the south and south-west of Sado, - just where observations seem most called for. The stations chosen are all inland, and show striking irregularities in the values of the declinations. True, the declinations at the three stations on Sado are all considerably less than the values at mainland stations immediately to the east, whereas we should expect to find them greater. But that seems hardly a sufficient reason for making the isogone of the form represented; for it is well known that the isogonic lines at and near islands often present irregularities of quite a local description: hence, in default of evidence which could only be obtained by a series of observations along the coast of the main island, it seems more prudent to draw the isogonic line of 5° fairly normal, and represent the disturbance due to Sado by a small isolated contour round that island. In this way it is shown on the map. As a matter of fact, every volcanic region is certain to present magnetic irregularities, and in Japan there are two regions specially to be noted as such. The one is the great central mountainous region, just where the Fossa Magna is. The other is the part between the 38th and 40th parallels, but there is nothing geologically comparable to the Fossa Magna. In both regions a prodigious development of volcanic rocks occurs, and this is presumably the reason for the irregularities in both regions.

Knott does not refer to the great horizontal dislocation which Naumann considers the cause of the northern irregularity. The question at issue is one of great interest. Local variations are observed in every country, even in those where no volcanic rocks occur; and the problem formulated by Naumann, which is a study of the local variations of the magnetic force as connected with the geological structure of the country, is well worth a thorough and continued study.

THE ELECTRIC-LIGHT CONVENTION.

THE National Electric-Light Association met in New York at the Hotel Brunswick on Aug. 29, and continued in session for three days. Pres. S. A. Duncan opened the convention with an interesting address, in which he reviewed the growth of the association and of the electric-light industry. When the association was first organized, the foreign technical papers only noticed its proceedings in order to ridicule them: now the papers read at its meetings are copied by the leading electrical papers all over the world. The membership of the association has largely increased, as has the interest taken in it by the members.

The electric-lighting industry has rapidly advanced in the last six months, since the meeting of the association held in Pittsburgh. Then it was estimated that there were in the United States 4,000 isolated plants and central stations, supplying 175,000 arc lights and 1,750,000 incandescents. To-day there are 5,351 isolated plants and central stations operating 195,000 arc and 1,925,000 incandescent lamps, employing 459.495 horse-power of steamengines. The increase in the capitalization of the electric-light companies in the last six months has been $42,210,100.

Coming to the question of the distribution of power, there are at present 34 electric railways completed, having 138 miles of track, with 223 motor-cars; there are in course of construction 49 other electric railways, with 189 miles of track and 244 motor-cars; giving a total of 83 roads, with 327 miles of track, operating 467 motor-cars. Besides these, there are 39 other electric roads incorporated which have not yet begun construction.

Mr. Duncan then urged that the association establish a permanent office, which would be the headquarters of the executive committee, and which should contain a good reference-library, together with domestic and foreign electrical journals, and the repository of the archives of the association.

Mayor Hewitt was then introduced, and welcomed the association to New York in a characteristic and eminently common-sense speech. He dwelt particularly on the question of putting electric wires under ground, a subject in which New York is at present especially interested. To quote one of his remarks, "I congratulate you that it [the feasibility of putting high tension wires under ground] is going to be tested by a responsible company; and until it is tested, let me say to you frankly, that, if it were in my power to compel the other companies to do this thing now, to-day, I would not do it. . . . But I hope it will succeed; and if it does succeed, no public officer will be more prompt than I shall be in compelling every electric-light company to respect the intention of the Legislature." Again, speaking of the danger of the electric currents, Mayor Hewitt summed up as follows: "I found, that, with all the difficulties of this thing, the absolute results seemed to show that it was absolutely safer than any other useful agency at work in this city."

The various papers read before the association were hardly so important as those given at the last meeting at Pittsburgh, but some of them contain valuable information. The following abstracts give the main points in each:

Mr. S. S. Leonard, in his paper on 'Petroleum Fuel,' said that the advantages of oil over other fuels are many it is more easily regulated, there is less attendance required, the fires can be started or stopped instantly, there is no refuse to cart away, it is cleaner than any other fuel except natural gas. The arrangements for the use of oil under the supervision of the writer are as follows: the oil is received in tank-cars holding from 90 to 150 barrels each; it is then drawn off into storage-tanks holding 320 barrels. These tanks are boiler-shaped, and are placed under ground end to end, and are connected together. Each tank has a man-hole and ventpipe. The supply-pipes to the furnaces have valves at the tanks and at the furnace. These pipes are two inches and a half in diameter except about four feet at the furnace end, which is enlarged, and contains a small steam-pipe, which raises the temperature of the oil to 130° or 140°. The experience of the writer is, that the best burner for the oil is one that thoroughly vaporizes it before it is burnt, steam and hot air being used with it. As to economy over coal, there is a saving of from twenty to twenty-five per cent in fuel, and from forty to fifty per cent in labor. From tests recently made, the cost of oil was 70 cents per 100 horsepower per hour; of coal, at the rate of 86 cents per 100 horse-power per hour. Another test gave the cost as 80 cents for coal and 62 cents for oil. As for labor, one man can attend from seven to ten 150-horse-power boilers, while there is no dirt or ashes to haul

away.

The discussion on this paper brought out no new facts, excepting, that, in view of the repeated attempts and failures of the past, there was a tendency to mistrust oil as a fuel, both as regards expense and the deterioration of the boilers. It was stated, however, that Mr. Leonard had been using oil for nine months, and was satisfied with its economy and reliability.

Mr. S. S. Wheeler, in his paper on Overhead and Underground Wires in New York,' reviewed the history of the Board of Electrical Control, of which he is electrician, and pointed out the difficulties that they had encountered in their work. Besides the fact that there was no precedent to guide them, the wholesale putting under ground of electrical wires never having before been attempted, the local conditions were particularly unfavorable. New York being built on a long, narrow island, the electric wires are crowded to gether, and the distance between points increased. The ground is full of gas, water, and steam pipes, sewer and pneumatic despatchtubes, and the earth is saturated with gases. After describing a number of underground systems, Mr. Wheeler gave the history of the modified Dorset conduit used in New York. In the original system the conduit consisted of a bundle of parallel tubular ducts about two inches and a half in diameter, built of blocks made of a mixture of coal-tar, pitch, and gravel, cast with tubular openings running through them from end to end. These blocks were placed end to end so the openings were continuous, and were cemented together. The difficulty in this system was that the blocks were brittle and porous, and they would not remain water-tight. After various modifications, the plan finally adopted was to use parallel

iron tubes, bedded in concrete. There are water-tight man-holes at intervals. The electric wires are drawn into the tubes, and the circuits for the lamps, etc., are taken off at the man-holes. Conduits constructed in this manner seem perfectly water-tight.

There are in New York to-day 420 miles of single duct, containing some 4,000 miles of telephone and telegraph wire, and some hundreds of miles of incandescent electric-light conductors. The conduits for high-potential wires are separated from those for telephone and telegraph wires. Up to the present, no arc-lighting company has put its wires under ground, but the Brush Electric Company is going to draw wires into the conduit between 14th and 34th Streets.

Mr. Wheeler then spoke of the present condition of electric circuits in New York, and pointed out the danger of the great number of dead wires,' wires abandoned by the users, and allowed to remain because of the expense of taking them down. These come in contact with electric-light wires, and are a source of dan

ger.

Summing up, Mr. Wheeler stated that the telegraph and telephone problems were practically solved: 4,000 miles of their wires were already under ground, and 12,000 more were to go this fall. The saving in the cost of maintenance is estimated at $100,000 per year. The laying of electric-light wires is not so fully developed; but when the initiative is once taken, the difficulties will be overcome and the undergrounding will become a settled and accomplished fact.

Dr. P. H. Van Der Weyde's paper on The Comparative Danger of Alternating vs. Direct Current,' is a criticism on the experiments of Mr. H. P. Brown on the danger of alternating currents, which were described and commented on in the last number of Science. It is mainly an attack on Mr. Brown's methods of measurement, and it betrays want of acquaintance with Ohm's law and Cardew's voltmeter. 'After the lecture I examined the voltmeter, and found, that, according to the statements of Mr. Brown himself, its operation was based upon indications of rise in temperature. Now, it is well known that voltmeters based on this principle are based on false premises; rise of temperature is not produced by electro-motive force, but by amount of current. . . . This is so self-evident that Prof. G. Forbes from England, who last year exhibited . . . a meter for alternating currents, did not think of calling it a voltmeter, because its operation was based on rise of temperature, but he called it a current-meter." Dr. Van Der Weyde's suggestion for measuring the voltage of the current used possesses the charm of novelty. "In order to come to correct conclusions, it would be necessary to measure, by means of indicator-diagrams, the engine-power utilized, and measure the currents obtained by proper instruments, properly used and conscientiously observed.” After this is done, the volts are to be calculated by dividing the energy calculated from the indicator-diagrams by the number of ampères.

The paper, in fact, is of the type that brought the ridicule on the association at its early meetings, of which the president complained in his address.

The other papers read will be given in a later issue.

SCIENTIFIC NEWS IN WASHINGTON.

The Army Medical Museum: a Great Object-Lesson for Those who understand its Purpose and System of Arrangement: Interesting Subsidiary Work. An International Marine Congress: an Important Plan of the United States Hydrographic Office to be carried into Operation. - Disinfectants that destroy the Germicidal Power of Each Other.

The Army Medical Museum.

Of the thousands of people who visit the Army Medical Museum every year, not one per cent, probably, have any clear conception of the object aimed at in gathering and exhibiting a collection of what to most people are disgusting objects. They look upon the museum as a sort of chamber of horrors, placed there for the purpose of giving people an opportunity to gratify a rather depraved curiosity.

But to those who understand that the museum is a great, systematically arranged object-lesson, in which the physical history of

man in health and in disease, and at all stages of development, is given and illustrated, it becomes no longer a place in which to gratify a morbid curiosity, but one in which to pursue, under the most favorable circumstances, one of the most fascinating of studies.

The Army Medical Museum, which for many years was housed in the old Ford's Theatre building, the scene of President Lincoln's assassination, was removed last spring from its contracted and inconvenient quarters to a fine new building erected especially for its use and for the accommodation of the medical library. It is near the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum. A smaller building, to be used as a biological laboratory, has since been added, so detached from the main building and so scientifically and thoroughly ventilated as to make it impossible for gases or odors to pass from it into the main building or into the surrounding air. Congress has not yet made an appropriation to pay for fitting up this laboratory, but is expected to do so in one of the bills now pending.

The museum itself is provided with a large, airy, and well-lighted exhibition-hall in the second story of the new building. There is plenty of room to accommodate it for many years to come, although it is at present receiving accessions at the rapid rate of more than five hundred specimens a year, and is now one of the ten largest medical museums in the world. The aggregate amount of money appropriated by Congress for the museum itself, aside from the cost of the building, has been only about fifty thousand dollars. Several of the great museums of Europe have been in existence since the last century, and the great museum in London began with a collection for which one hundred thousand dollars was paid. In consideration of the short time since the museum in Washington was established, and the small amount of money spent upon it, the results are very highly creditable to Dr. Billings, who has charge of it.

In arranging the objects in the museum, the embryology of man as a complete individual in health is first illustrated. The specimens in this department are numerous and very interesting. The embryology of the lower animals is also shown, as far as it throws light upon that of man, but Dr. Billings does not enter deeply into the illustration of the comparative embryology of the lower animals, as that falls not within his province, but in that of the National Museum.

The next step in illustrating the physical history of man is to divide the body into its several parts, and to treat each separately. For instance, the head is first presented in its healthy state. This is shown in all stages of development, from its first appearance in the embryo, with its gradual growth and the appearance of new organs, to its state of development at the period of birth, — in childhood, youth, maturity, and old age. Not only is the head as a whole shown, but the separate organs are also presented in every form, at all ages, and in all their varying conditions. Here, also, corresponding portions of the lower animals are shown, but, as in the former instance, only so far as they illustrate, and assist in understanding, the organs and functions of that particular organ of the human body. Every part of the body is treated in the same systematic way. There is also a case showing remarkable monstrosities in man and animals.

ease.

Having treated and shown the body as a whole in its embryology and its anatomy, and all the parts separately, in its healthy, normal conditions, the next series of cases shows the body in disThe system of treatment is the same as that adopted in illustrating the body in health. Beginning with the body as a whole, in its earliest embryo state, and showing by actual specimens the effect of all diseases to which it is subject, its different great divisions are shown in all known conditions of disease, from the head, when it first appears in the embryo, through all its history, and in all its separate organs, and in every morbid condition to which its various parts and organs are subject, to the lower extremities. Thus the organ and its several parts are shown through their entire life-history whenever modified by disease. The entire series, therefore, includes a representation, by actual anatomical specimens, of the effect of disease upon every organ of the body. By the side of the diseased organs affected by bacteria that have been identified by biological research, such as typhoid-fever, diphtheria, cholera, yellow-fever etc., it is proposed to place the cul