lying in the archives of the Smithsonian, until Major Powell, in 1876, received them to be "consolidated and published in connection with like material collected by himself and his assistants while among the Indians in the western portion of the United States." A succinct account of the work accomplished by the bureau completes Mr. Pilling's introduction. Major Powell has issued a more elaborate Introduction to the study of Indian languages than the instructions of his predecessors, of which the analysis will be found at the close of Mr. Pilling's preface. Besides those printed in former volumes, over three hundred manuscripts of various extent, from thick tomes down to a few pages, remain to be elaborated, and put in print. Mr. Pilling has in type, as far as the letter M, an exhaustive bibliography of North-American Indian linguistics, bringing the subject down to the hour of going to press. He goes to San Francisco this month to consult the Bancroft library.

—Rogozinski and his party, including a geologist, meteorologist, engineer, and mechanic (all Poles), sailed from Havre Dec. 13, 1882,, for Fernando-Po, on his African expedition.

-The proceedings of the Belfast nat. hist. and phil. soc., for 1881-82, contain, among other articles, papers by J. J. Murphy on the rainy or post-glacial period, and by Professor Cunningham, on corals and coral islands. The former claims, that, as the astronomical causes which produced the snowy or glacial climate faded away, the rainfall remained heavy for a time, as is shown by the deposits in the bogs of Norway, and the shore terraces of our extinct western lakes. It is supposed that the glacial time was preceded by similar rainy conditions, but their record is lost. The latter gives a general review of the question, and calls attention to Murray's view, that subsidence is not necessary to explain any of the characteristic features of barrier reefs or atolls. They might equally well be produced in regions of rest, or slow elevation as well as depression. The atoll form is taken because the chief supply of food for the coral polyps is on the outer margin, and the rock is carried away from the interior by solution.

- Dr. Cohn of Vienna describes two manuscripts of Dioscorides, on parchment, now in the imperial library at Vienna, which date from the latter half or the fifth century, and are still, for the most part, well preserved. One is known as the Codex Constantinopolitanus, the other as the Codex Neapolitanus; the former having been made for a grand-daughter of Emperor Valentianus III. at Constantinople, afterwards coming into the possession of the Turks, and in 1570 purchased for the imperial library, from the family of a former physician to Sultan Soleiman, for a hundred ducats. It consists of about four hundred folio leaves of fine vellum between worm-eaten wooden covers, with illuminated title, dedication, and

other prefatory pictures, followed by the botanical figures and text. Two opposite pages are given to each plant, on one side the drawing, with the name and synonyms; and on the other, the description in cursive character, without spacing, punctuation, or accent, together with various citations in Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew. The paintings in both codices are evidently copies from the same originals; and though somewhat conventional, and more or less incorrect or imperfect as to details, yet the general and often the specific characters of the plants are preserved in a remarkable degree.

One

Under the Empress Maria Theresa, and at the instigation of Gerard van Swieten, court physician and librarian, the figures of the Codex Constantinopolitanus were carefully engraved upon copper; but only two impressions are known to have been taken. of these was sent by order of the empress to Linné, and is now in the possession of the Linnean society of London, in an imperfect condition. The second was given by Joseph Jacquin (or only loaned, as afterward was claimed by Jacquin the younger) to Sibthorpe, from whom it passed by bequest, with the rest of his library and collections, to the University of Oxford, which still holds it.

The eleventh annual report of the curator of the Museum of Wesleyan university, Middletown, Conn., records some noteworthy accessions to the museum, particularly of Australian marsupials, and of the Sheldon collection of minerals. Attention is called to the fact, that this includes several specimens of the rare mineral samarskite from Portland, Conn. "This mineral, first discovered in the Urals, afterwards found to occur more abundantly in North Carolina, has never hitherto, to the writer's knowledge, been reported from this vicinity."

-At a meeting of the Philosophical society of Washington, March 10, a paper by Mr. M. H. Doolittle, on Substance, matter, motion, and force, elicited an animated discussion. He was followed by Mr. E. B. Elliott, who developed a new formula for the computation of the position of Easter in any year, past or future.

"I sat quite in the front of the car, so that I could see the fate of my first friend, IIλýpes, — the full car. In a very few minutes it switched off from our track, leaving us still to pick up our complement; and then I saw that it dropped its mules, and was attached, on a side-track, to an endless chain, which took it along at a much greater rapidity, so that it was soon out of sight. I addressed my next neighbor on the subject, in Greek which would have made my fortune in those old days of the pea-green settees. But he did not seem to make much of that, but, in sufficiently good Italian, told me, that, as soon as we were full, we

should be attached in the same way to the chain, which was driven by stationary engines five or six stadia apart; and so, indeed, it proved. We picked up one or two market-women, a young artist or two, and a little boy. When the child got in, there was a nod and smile on people's faces. My next neighbor said to me, Anpes, as if with an air of relief; and, sure enough, in a minute more we were flying along at a 2.20 pace, with neither mule nor engine in sight, stopping about once a mile to drop passengers, if there was need, and evidently approaching Sybaris." (Sybaris and other homes, pp. 32, 33.)

RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS.

Continuations and brief papers extracted from serial literature without repagination are not included in this list. Exceptions are made for annual reports of American institutions, newly established periodicals, and memoirs of considerable extent.

Adam, Lucien. Du genre dans les diverses langues. Paris, Maisonneuve, 1883. 36 p. 8°.

Bertrand, O. Guide des trois musées du Jardin des plantes. Paris, Bandot, 1883. 96 p. 18°.

Cardot, J. Muscinées du département de la Meuse, catalogue des mousses et des hépatiques récoltées aux environs de Stenay et de Montmédy. Montmedy, imp. Pierrot, 1883. 42 p. 8°.

Chopy, S., et Dampierre, E. de. De la reconstitution des vignobles de la Saintonge à l'aide des plants américains, traitant du greffage du plant américain sur la vigne française phylloxérée. Paris, Marchal, etc., 1883. 28 p. 8°.

Clerke, D. The theory of the gas engine. N.Y., 1883. 160 p. 12°.

Curtis, M. M. The cause of variation. Marshall, Minn., Author, 1882. 115 p. 8°.

Dorlhac, J., et Amiot. Géologie des bassins houillers de Brioude, de Brassac et de Langeac. Paris, imp. Quantin, 1883. 323 p. 4°. 19 pl. fo.

Dubois, A. Histoire naturelle vulgarisée; ornithologie popu. laire. 4 tom. Limoges, Barbou, 1883. 124, 124, 125, 69 p. 12°. La science populaire. Dans les bois, notions populaires d'histoire naturelle. Limoges, Ardant, 1883. 304 p. 8°. Du Moncel, Theodore. Electro-magnets; the determination of the elements of their construction; transl. from 2d ed. N.Y., Van Nostrand, 1883. 122 p. 24°.

Echo (1') des inventeurs, journal mensuel illustré, scientifique, littéraire et politique. i. ann. no. i. Marseille, imp. Blanc, 1er janv., 1883. 4 p., carte.

sm. f.

Fabre, J. H. Nouveaux souvenirs entomologiques : Études sur l'instinct et les moeurs des insectes. Paris, Delagrave, 1883. 359 p. 18°.

Fennel, Otto. Die Wagner-Fennel'schen tachymeter der mathematisch-mechanischen instituts von O. F. in Cassel. Cassel, Freyschmidt, 1882. 43 p., 7 pl. 8°.

Foëx, Gustave, et Viala, Pierre. Ampélographie américaine. Album des raisins américains des variétés les plus inté ressantes cultivées à l'école nationale d'agriculture de Montpellier, photographiés d'après nature par M. S. Isard; 80 à 90 planches phototypiques, accompagnées d'un texte descriptif des cépages et d'une introduction à l'étude de la vigne américaine. Livr. i. Montpellier, Grollier, 1883. 2 p., 2 pl. f.

Fouque, F., et Lévy, A. M. Introduction à l'étude des roches éruptives françaises; minéralogie micrographique (Mém. expl. carte géol. France). Paris, imp. Quantin, 1883.~ 6+515 p., illustr. 4°; atlas, 55 pl. 4°.

Gilder, William H. Ice-pack and tundra; an account of the search for the Jeannette and a sledge journey through Siberia. N.Y., Scribner, 1883. 10+344 p., illustr., maps. 8°.

Girard, Jules. La Nouvelle-Guinée; historique de la découverte, description géographique, la race papoue, moeurs et coutumes des indigènes, produits du sol, colonisation. Paris, imp. Levé, 1883. 55 p. 8°.

temperatures, by D. P. Penhallow. Newburgh, Ritchie & Hull, pr., [1883]. 57 p., 5 pl. 8°.

In memory of William Barton Rogers, late president of the society. Boston, Society of arts, 1882. 39 p., portr. 8°.

Iowa weather service annual, 1883. Iowa City, Central Station, 1883. 44 p., illustr. 8°.

Jeffries, Benjamin Joy. Color-blindness; its dangers and its detection. Rev, and enl. ed. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., 1883. 18+334 p. 12°.

Kleinenberg, N. Carlo Darwin e l'opera sua. Messina, 1882. 31 p. 16°.

Langlebert, J. Applications modernes de l'électricité; nouvelles machines magnéto-électriques et dynamo-électriques; éclairage électrique; telephone etc. Paris, 1883. 106 p., illustr.

12°.

Lommel, Th. G. Examen critique des nouveaux essais de tracé entrepris sous les auspices de la Compagnie Suisse Occidentale-Simplon pour la rampe d'accès méridionale du tunnel alpin du Simplon. Lausanne, 1883. 73 p., carte, tracé. 1. 8°.

Luke, A. Sammlung trigonometrischer aufgaben nebst eine anleitung zur lösung derselben. Heft 1: Goniometrische aufgaben. Halle, 1883. 8°.

Lyman, Benjamin Smith. On the utility of the Pennsylvania state geological survey in the anthracite field. Read [by title] before the American institute of mining engineers, Feb. 23, 1883. n.p., n.d. 8 p. 8°.

Menant, J. Empreintes de cachets Assyro-Chaldéens relevés au Musée britannique sur des contrats d'intérêt prive. Paris, Maisonneuve, 1883. 51 p., illustr. 8°.

Métallurgiste (Le), organe des chambres syndicales ouvri ères, de la métallurgie. i. ann. no. i. Lille, imp. Ragache, 17 Dec., 1882. 4 p. sm. f°.

Montreal. McGill university. Report on the Peter Redpath museum. No. ii. [Montreal], 1883. 22 p. 8°.

Morris, Herbert W. The celestial symbol interpreted; or the natural wonders and spiritual teachings of the sun, as revealed by the triumphs of modern science. Phil., McCurdy, 1883. 704 p. 8°.

Natura. Maandschrift voor Natuurwetenschappen. Jaarg. i., Gent, 1883. 8°.

Penn. Second geological survey. Report of the board of commissioners to the legislature, Jan. 1, 1883. n.p., n.d. 7 p., map. 8°.

Pisani, F., et Dervell, P. La chimie du laboratoire. Paris, Ballière, 1883. 402 p. 18°.

Poulsen, V. A. Microchemie végétale, guide pour les recherches phyto-histologiques, à l'usage des étudiants; trad. par J. P. Lachman. Ed. franç. considerablement augmentée (en collaboration avec l'auteur). (Bibl. biol. intern.) Paris, Doin, 1883. 20+119 18°.

p.

Révoil, B. H. A travers les prairies; les peaux-rouges de l'Amérique du Nord; excursions, chasses, etc. Limoges, Ardant, 1883. 304 p. 8°.

Au pôle et sous les tropiques, histoires recueillies par un voyageur autour du monde. Limoges, Barbou. 288 p. 8°.

Voyage autour du monde, histoire recueillies par u voyageur. Limoges, Barbou, 1883. 144 p. 8°.

Schröter, C. Die flora der eiszeit. Zürich, Wurster, 1882. 41 p., pl. 4°.

Scudder, Samuel H. The pine moth of Nantucket, Retinia frustrana. (Publ. Mass. soc. prom. agric.) Boston, Williams, 1883. 22 p., pl. 8°.

Smith, J. Alden. Report on the development of the mineral, metallurgical, agricultural, pastoral, and other resources of Colorado for the years 1881 and 1882. Denver, Chain & Hardy, 1883. 159 p. 8°.

Southarck, Albert P. Question book of zoology with notes, queries, etc. Syracuse, Bardeau, 1883. 40 p. 16°..

The same of chemistry. 37 p.

The same of geology and mineralogy. 36 p. Teissier, François. Les merveilles et les mystères de l'océan, ou Voyage sous-marin de Southampton au Cap Horn. Limoges, Ardant, 1883. 240 p. 8°.

Vilmorin-Andrieux. Les plantes potagères; description et culture des principaux légumes des climats tempérés. Paris, imp. Motteroz, 1883. 16+652 p. 8°.

Woelmont, A. de. Souvenir du Far-West. Paris, Pion, 1883. 275 p. 18°.

Wrangell, amiral de. Le nord de la Sibérie, voyage parmi les peuplades de la Russie asiatique et dans la mer glaciale; trad. par le prince E. Galitzin. Limoges, Ardant, 1883. 304 p. s. Williams, W. Matthieu. Discussions in current science. N.Y., Fitzgerald, 1883. 48 p., illustr. 8°.

FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1883.

SCIENCE AND THE NEWSPAPERS. WE hear a great deal about the educating influence of the press, and it cannot be denied that this influence is very great. Every one reads the newspapers, and is more or less affected by them. To say that the press exerts a great educational influence is, however, not necessarily praise; for this influence may be bad, and in some respects it undoubtedly is bad. Leaving out of consideration the obvious illustrations of this truth, it seems to be desirable to call special attention to one direction in which the newspapers, as a rule, signally fail in their attempts to educate the public; and that is, in reporting the transactions of the meetings of scientific associations. Fortunately the attempts are not often made; but, when they are, the results are quite different from what the editors probably desire. The intention of the editors is, we take it, really to inform the public, in an honest, straightforward way, what the papers presented at the meetings are about. Perhaps the gentlemen think that this is actually accomplished: nothing can be farther from the truth. Usually, instead of a clear statement, a column or two of the veriest nonsense is strung together by a young reporter entirely ignorant of the first principles of the simplest science. The matter passes into the office, and is accepted by an editor as ignorant of science as the reporter; and the result is, that science is belittled, and the public deceived certainly not educated. When ignorance alone is exhibited in these reports, they may be regarded with equanimity by those who are informed; for the ignorance of the writer appears on the surface, and no one can or does hold the author of the paper responsible. But when, added to the ignorance, there is a tendency to ridicule, to turn matters of grave importance into petty jokes, — in general, to betray a flippant spirit in the treatment of the subjects discussed, then it is time for science to enter a protest, not in the interests of scientific men (for newspaper reports, no matter how bad, do them lit

No. 8.-1883.

tle harm), but in the interests of science itself.

When a newspaper in a semi-civilized region makes sport of death; when an execution is emphasized by mirth-provoking head-lines; when the most sacred things are ridiculed,

-the refined members of the community are shocked. So, too, when the earnest efforts of investigators are used by strangely incompetent young men for the purpose of exhibiting their sophomoric humor, those whose senses in matters of science are in the least refined feel outraged. They feel that the newspapers which lend themselves to such abuses are guilty of a sacrilege for which they should be held responsible. The harm done is both positive and negative, it is positive in so far as entirely false notions in regard to the work of scientific men are given currency, and ignorance is encouraged; it is negative in so far as the opportunity for really correctly informing the public is lost.

perhaps, for the most part, unaware of the importance and promise of the scientific activity developed in their midst by a small group of earnest workers. Although Brazil has, ever since the abandonment of the narrow, restrictive, colonial policy of Portugal which proscribed foreigners, been the chosen field of research of many eminent foreign naturalists, the Brazilians have, with a few honorable exceptions, been content to receive at second hand their knowledge of the natural history of their own country, and have seldom undertaken, on their own account, to supplement and correct the work of foreign naturalists, much of which is necessarily incomplete and erroneous. Nor has the government, until recently, granted welldirected and sustained aid in favor of scientific investigations; although it has for many years maintained, at considerable expense, scientific departments in all the higher insti-, tutions of learning, and in establishments like the national observatory and museum, and has, in a few instances, organized surveys and exploring expeditions. Through bad organization or insufficient support, the scientific results of all these efforts have, however, been of small value. While this unsatisfactory state of affairs, so natural in a new country, has been the rule, it should not be overlooked that the government has, for a number of years, given an annual subsidy of about five thousand dollars towards the completion and publication of von Martius' great Flora braziliensis; and several foreign naturalists have, like Agassiz, received important official and private encouragement and aid in the prosecution of their researches.

Towards the close of the colonial period a promising scientific movement was begun, which received a severe check from the political troubles attending and following the emancipation of the country from Portuguese rule, - a check from which science in the empire is only just beginning to recover. At that time the national museum was established, having as a nucleus the splendid mineralogical collection of Werner, that, after a strange succession of mishaps, came to a final resting-place in Rio de Janeiro. An able mineralogist and geologist, Baron von Eschwege, was made inspector of mines, and, for about a dozen years, investigated, with admirable proficiency, the geology and mineralogy of the gold and diamond regions; while Pohl and Sellew carried on investigations in other parts, in part at least under government auspices. Two Brazilian mineralogists, Andrada and Camara, were drawn into politics; and in the former an

able scientific man was transformed into the patriarch of Brazilian independence. At or about the same time, Friar Velloso prepared an important work on Brazilian botany, of which, unfortunately, only the plates were, until recently, published. The later work of Freire Allemão in the same field, being produced at a time of almost complete indifference to science, have for the most part been lost, or remain unpublished, as has also happened to that of Alves Serrão, Burlemaqui, and Capanema, in geology and mineralogy, and of the poet Gonçalves Dias in ethnology.

For a long period what passed for science. in Brazil was characterized by an almost complete absence of investigation; and although there are many names with a local, or even national, reputation as teachers or writers on scientific subjects, it is difficult to find any solid contributions in the field of either the natural or physical sciences. Even to-day there are many reputations that have no real basis in original work of merit. The appearance, therefore, of a group, however small, of real investigators, marks the beginning of a new era; and, although this beginning is as yet a very modest one, its effect is already being felt, and will increase from year to year. This awakening to a knowledge of what science really is, and of the true methods of pursuing it, may be ascribed to various causes. The increased facilities of communications, and the constantly widening relations with foreign countries, the new life and energy developed by a great struggle like the Paraguayan war, the visit of Professor Agassiz in 1864, and the visits of the emperor to Europe and the United States, have probably been the most important determining causes. Of these, the last is by no means the least. With a strongly developed scientific taste, and with such knowledge as could be obtained with the means at his command and in the non-scientific environment in which he was placed, the emperor profited to the utmost, in his travels, to associate with scientific men, to visit museums and schools, and to acquaint himself thoroughly with the means and methods of research; so that he returned with clearer conceptions of what was best to encourage and promote in his own country. Within the last ten or fifteen years the higher schools and scientific establishments have been reformed and given a better organization, new departments, and increased appropriations, which, although still very small for their needs, are princely in comparison with what they formerly received; an efficient mining-school has been established;

professors and specialists have been imported from abroad, though not to the extent that would have been expedient for some of the new departments and for work new in the country; a geological survey was organized, though, being somewhat in advance of its time, it was, from a spirit of short-sighted economy, suspended after two years of efficient work; the practice of attaching naturalists to engineering explorations has been adopted; and in many other ways scientific research is being promoted.

At present the national museum and observatory in Rio, and the school of mines at Ouro Preto, are the principal centres of scientific activity. The latter, being a comparatively new establishment, remote from the centralizing tendencies of the capital, organized on European models, and controlled by an able corps of French specialists, has escaped many of the vices of organization of the older institutions. The two former, although badly handicapped by lack of means and defective organization, have outstripped the other institutions that ought naturally to be important scientific centres, because in them the reform was more radical and complete, and, the working-corps being small and for the most part new, the chances of filling the places with competent specialists have been far greater than in the medical schools of Rio and Bahia, the polytechnic school and the Dom Pedro Segundo college at Rio. In these a greater number of the defects of the old organization are still retained, and some of the new features are of doubtful utility, while the whole organization is still too cumbersome and centralized for efficient special work in any department. The system of filling the professorships by competitive examination, as it has been conducted, too often gives the showy qualities of rhetoric and smartness the preference over solid merit as proved by original research; and the most competent often refuse to enter, or, if they do enter, are beaten in a competition in which a majority of the examining board has only very superficial knowledge of the subject of the chair to be filled.

The national observatory, now under the direction of Dr. L. Cruls, has of late years been completing its equipment, and has recently commenced the publication in French of a series of annals. Aside from its regular work, it organized four parties for the observation of the passage of Venus, two of which were outside of the limits of the empire. Astronomical work is also being carried on in a small private observatory by Dr. Pereira Reis, the former vice-director of the national observa

tory, and by some of his colleagues of the polytechnic school. The organization and equipment of this observatory by private individuals, assisted by voluntary contributions, is one of the most hopeful signs of the new scientific movement.

The national museum commenced in 1876 the publication of its Archivos, of which six volumes have already appeared, containing papers prepared in connection with the museum or with the extinct geological commission, the material of which is now incorporated with the museum. Among these papers, those of the late Professor Hartt on the archeology and ethnology of the Amazonas, of Drs. Lacerda and Peixoto on Indian crania, of Dr. Ladislau Netto and Ferreira Penna on Brazilian archeology, of Professor Derby on geology, of Dr. Lacerda on the physiological action of snake-poisons, and of Fritz Müller on insects and crustaceans, are worthy of special mention. A splendid monograph on the cretaceous invertebrate fossils, numbering over two hundred species, mostly new, collected by the geological commission, is now being prepared for the Archivos by Dr. C. A. White of the National museum of Washington, and will probably be followed by monographs on the equally rich carboniferous and Devonian faunas by Messrs. Derby and Rathbun, former members of the geological commission. The museum is at present devoting special attention to anthropological researches; to which the director, Dr. Ladislau Netto, is giving a large portion of his time, and lately held a very creditable exposition in this branch, by means of which considerable public interest was aroused, and large additions to the collections secured. The botanical work of the museum is under the direction of Dr. Nicolau Moreira, assisted by Mr. Schwache, an able German botanist. In the geological department Messrs. Derby and Freitas are chiefly occupied in the study, and preparation for publication, of the rich material accumulated by the geological commission, and, as far as circumstances will permit, in the prosecution of the geological study of the empire. The geological reconnoissance of the great São Francisco valley, and of the auriferous and diamantiferous belt of central Minas Geraes, by Professor Derby, is the most important of recent work done in this department. the direction of Dr. Couty of the polytechnic school, and Dr. Lacerda of the museum, a laboratory of experimental physiology was established some three years ago, annexed to the museum. In this, carefully conducted in

Under