from the numerous items of general interest in the Annual Report of
the Director of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, for 1897-'98, we
find mentioned the fall and spring courses of nine lectures each, as
having been more largely attended than ever before, hundreds of
persons having been turned away from some of them, and in one case
nearly a thousand. The library contains 9,003 books and 9,630
pamphlets, and has had some valuable additions, particularly in the
department of Americana. The additions to the collections include
specimens from Egypt, Italy (ancient Etruscan and renaissance
Venetian), Portuguese South Africa, Pacific islands, and Alaska, the
department representing which now numbers more than ten thousand
objects. Valuable contributions have been received from the expedition
of the curator of the anthropological (physical) department to
Arizona. The herbarium of the late Mr. M. S. Bebb, added to the
botanical department, represents much of the flora of the Western
States, and "about all" that of Illinois. Numerous other botanical
collections and additions to the geological and zoölogical departments
are mentioned. Field work was prosecuted by Mr. G. A. Dorsey among the
Hopi Indians in Arizona, C. F. Millspaugh in the collection of North
American forest trees, and O. C. Farrington in the Tertiary geology of
South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming. Other excursions were made among
the zinc-lead deposits of southeast Missouri, to the Olympian
Mountains of the Northwest, to "a point beyond which nothing unless
provided with wings could go," etc., all resulting in collections of
one kind or another. The museum was visited by 3,963 more persons than
in the year before.
=A Year at Harvard Observatory.=--The director of Harvard College
Observatory reports the addition to the resources of the institution
of twenty thousand dollars bequeathed by Charlotte Maria Haven, and
twenty-five thousand dollars by Eliza Appleton Haven, without further
restriction in the application of the income than that it shall be for
direct purposes connected with astronomical science. In these bequests
the legators fulfilled the wishes of their brother, Horace Appleton
Haven, as expressed half a century ago. By the peculiar organization
of the force of the observatory, with a single director to oversee all
and a large force of assistants, each having a special work and many
of them skillful only in that, an increased amount of work can be done
for a given expenditure, and great advantages for co-operation are
secured, but too much depends upon a single person--the director. In
the examination of the spectra of stars photographed in the Draper,
Bruce, and Bache telescopes by Mrs. Fleming, twelve new variable stars
were discovered by means of their bright hydrogen lines, and the
spectra of a considerable number of other stars were determined.
Valuable results, obtained by other examiners, are mentioned. An
instrument has been constructed by which prismatic spectra can be
converted into normal spectra or any other desired change of scale can
be effected. By photographs obtained of stars in the vicinity of the
north pole material is believed to be furnished for an accurate
determination of the constants of aberration, nutation, and
precession. Sixteen circulars were issued during 1897-'98. When fifty
of these circulars have been issued, a title-page and index are to be
published for binding.
=Putting Life in the School.=--The discussion of the hygiene of
instruction, said Dr. G. W. Fitz, in addresses which are published in
the American Physical Education Review, brings us at once face to face
with one of the gravest problems of our educational system--the
depressing effect of school routine. In the search for a remedy "the
school programme has been pronounced poor, and efforts have been made
to enrich it. The work has been pronounced abstract and object lessons
have been introduced; uninteresting and bright colors, varied shapes,
pictures innumerable, have been rushed upon the child until he has
been bewildered by the multiplicity of detail, and further exhausted
by the demand for more discriminating attention. The fundamental
difficulty has been that too much has been required of the child in
the beginning, and the attempt at enrichment and greater variety has
but increased the burden." Children begin learning to read before they
have acquired experience and ideas to match the text; and "experience
has shown over and over again that the child who begins to read at
eight or even ten years of age is in no wise handicapped in his later
intellectual progress. He has the inestimable advantage of intense
interest, roused by his growing ability to unlock the secrets of books
and papers after the fashion of his elders." Writing is taught before
the child has acquired the art of fine co-ordination, and the effort
demanded in the use of the pen "leads to a degree of nervous
exhaustion unapproached by any other school work." In arithmetic the
children "are unable to grasp the numerical relations involved, and
the drill, which makes it a pure exercise of memory, is necessary.
Much of the aversion to arithmetical problems found later is
undoubtedly due to this disheartening primary work. Here again the
child who begins arithmetic at eight or ten years of age finds himself
able to take it up quickly and has the liking for it that easy mastery
always gives." Nature work, on the other hand, "offers wonderfully
interesting and valuable material for awakening the intellectual
activities of childhood, and while its material for study and
description is unlimited, its demand upon the child may be perfectly
adapted to his power of observation. We must remember that physical
activity is the supreme factor in the development of the child." This
means spontaneous play under favorable conditions, not "that nervously
exhausting and deadening drill known as the Swedish gymnastics, which
... adds fatigue to fatigue, by taking the initiative away from the
child and forcing him to pay constant attention to the orders of the
teacher." As to discipline, "the child is self-disciplined when he is
held to his work by the reflex attention of interest. This can always
be secured when the work is adapted to his grasp, when he has the
sense of power which comes with easy conquest, when he is not
exhausted by the imposition of a sequence logical to the adult mind
but meaningless to him, when his attention is not dulled by a demand
for attention continued beyond a physiological limit."
=Beautifying the Home Grounds.=--The Horticultural Division of the
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station has been making
efforts during the past few years, under the auspices of the
agricultural extension work, to improve the surroundings of rural
houses, a part of which consists in the publication of bulletins
giving hints as to how improved conditions and simple adornments may
be obtained without great expense. One of these indicates as one of
the means of making the home attractive and "keeping the boy on the
farm" the brightening of the place with flowers. Assuming that the
main planting of any place should be of trees and shrubs, the flowers
are then used as decorations. They may be thrown in freely about the
borders of the place, but not in beds in the center of the lawn. They
show off better when seen against a background, which may be foliage,
a building, a rock, or a fence. "Where to plant flowers is really more
important than what to plant. In front of bushes, in the corner by the
steps, against the foundation of the residence or outhouse, along a
fence or walk--these are places for flowers. A single petunia plant
against a background of foliage is worth a dozen similar plants in the
center of the lawn.... The open-centered yard may be a picture; the
promiscuously planted yard may be a nursery or a forest. A little
color scattered in here and there puts a finish to the picture. A dash
of color gives spirit and character to the brook or pond, to the ledge
of rocks, to the old stump, or to the pile of rubbish." The flower
garden, if there is one, should be at one side of the residence or at
the rear, "for it is not allowable to spoil a good lawn even with
flowers."
MINOR PARAGRAPHS.
Of the twelve genera and fifty species of known North American frogs
and toads, Mr. William L. Sherwood says, in his paper in the
Proceedings of the Linnæan Society, New York, that five genera and
fifty species are found in the vicinity of New York city. Some of
these are less secretive in habit than salamanders, and therefore much
better known. As ponds and ditches have been drained, the aquatic
forms have removed to greater distances from human dwellings, and only
the more terrestrial toad and arboreal tree frogs have remained. All
of our species have been described, but the author believes that the
first mention of the cricket frog being found in this region is in a
paper on salamanders, read by him in 1895. The breeding habits of
these animals vary, but all lay their eggs in water or moist places.
The purely amphibious and really aquatic species are three. Of the
other eight species, one is burrowing, five tend to be terrestrial,
inhabiting the woods and fields, and two are arboreal. The eggs are
laid in gelatinous envelopes, which swell after leaving the adult. At
the time of hatching the young tadpole has three pairs of external
gills, but no mouth or anal opening. Two small suckers, just back of
where the mouth is to appear, enable it to cling to aquatic plants and
prevent its dropping to the bottom of the pond and getting smothered
in the mud. It soon develops into a tadpole, and proceeds to its
development; but if prevented from coming to the surface of the water
no metamorphosis takes place, and the changes are delayed by cold and
dark.
At a meeting recently held in Berlin in behalf of a German antarctic
exploration, Dr. von Drygalski, speaking of the scientific, practical,
and national importance of the enterprise, said that from a
geographical point of view the fundamental problem attached to the
south polar region--the verification or disproof of a polar
continent--is still unsolved. No less important questions likewise
await solution with respect to the geological structure and character
of the southern lands--so important in connection with a knowledge of
volcanic action and the supposed former connection of South America
and Australia--and with respect to the conditions of inland ice. Even
the study of the floating ice broken away from the main mass may lead
to important conclusions as to its mode of origin and the nature of
the land from which it comes. Other problems to be investigated are
the origin of the cold ocean currents that take their rise in the
south, the conditions of the atmospheric pressure and temperature in
that region, and the questions relating to terrestrial magnetism,
which have a very important bearing on the practice of navigation. The
present seems to be a particularly favorable period for the resumption
of south polar research by reason of the unusual amount of drift ice
which has within the last few years broken away from the main mass,
and because, according to Supan, we are passing through a warmer
temperature period.
Over and above the statistics and the bare record of facts the annual
reports of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the
Blind afford a continuous and growing interest to friends of suffering
mankind in their stories of the development of mental life and
illumination. Pupils come there blind and deaf, and apparently without
any avenues of intelligent communication with the outer world, and are
there brought to full consciousness and keenness of intellect that
would be remarked even in many persons possessed of all their senses
perfect from birth. The record began with Laura Bridgman, was
continued with Helen Keller, and has been occupied for five or six
years past with the wonderful mental growth of Elizabeth Robin, Edith
M. Thomas, and Tommy Stringer. Before Dr. Howe began with Laura
Bridgman, such things would have been deemed impossible and not to be
thought of.
NOTES.
The Swiss Association for the Protection of Plants, which was formed
in Geneva in 1883, has more than 900 members, and publishes 1,500
copies of its bulletin, which is sent, besides the members of the
association, to the libraries of foreign Alpine clubs, the press,
botanists, _curés_, and municipalities in countries harboring plants
that require protection. Under its care, or the influence of its work,
gardens have been created in various places and devoted especially to
the cultivation of such plants as are most threatened with extinction.
Of these are the Linnea Garden in the Valais, 5,500 feet above the
sea; the Chanousia, founded five years ago by R. P. Chanoux, rector of
the Hospice of St. Bernard, 6,800 feet; and the Rambertia, at the foot
of the Rochers de Naye, 6,500 feet above the Lake of Geneva. Lectures
are given under the auspices of the association, and no occasion for
informing the public is lost. A neat chromo-poster calling attention
to the association and its purpose has been prepared to be put up in
railroad stations and hotels, to which is appended a motto emphasizing
the importance of caring for rare plants.
The report of Heinrich Ries on the Kaolins and Fire Clays of Europe,
published in the reports of the Geological Survey, is based largely on
notes collected by the author during visits in 1897 to most of the
important kaolin and clay deposits. To these such facts of importance
concerning the clays as have already been published have been added.
Some manufacturers have claimed that the foreign kaolins are superior
to the American, but the evidence, Mr. Ries says, does not seem to
bear out the statements. Notes are added respecting the clays and
clay-working industries in the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana,
Iowa, New York, and North Carolina.
According to the report of the _Commission Internationale des
Glaciers_ for 1897, thirty-nine out of fifty-six glaciers observed in
Switzerland are retreating, five are at a standstill, and twelve are
growing. Of the Italian glaciers, those of the Disgrazia and Bernina
groups and the glaciers of Mont Canin in the Julian Alps show a marked
retreat. Retreat seems to be almost universal in the Scandinavian
glaciers. The report includes also information from the Caucasus,
Altai, and Turkestan, and notes on a few glaciers in the United States
and Mexico, concerning which we have not the particulars.
In a book on social types among the French people, M. Edmond Demolins
tries to show that varieties of types are the products of constant
causes which it is possible to analyze exactly, and the most
fundamental principle of which is the nature of the place and of the
occupation. Thus there is a social type derived from the pastoral
occupation; another from the cultivation of fruit trees, among which
the several classes determine as many modalities of the type; one is
derived from petty gardening, and another from large farming; another
from manufacturing, and another from transportation and commerce.
Close analysis permits the detection of still more delicate shades of
types of varieties in each of the categories named, whereby notable
modifications are produced in the same region and the same work.
The brewing industry in Germany is credited with the following output
of beer for the year 1897-'98: Germany proper, 8,055 breweries,
exclusive of Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, and Alsace-Lorraine,
916,000,000 gallons; Bavaria, 6,364 breweries, 351,000,000 gallons;
Würtemberg, 6,285 breweries, 90,000,000 gallons; Baden, 946 breweries,
60,000,000 gallons; Alsace-Lorraine, 127 breweries, 21,230,000
gallons--a grand total of 1,438,230,000 gallons, from the taxation of
which the Government received a revenue of $22,305,150.
Speaking in his society of the Relation of Britain to Folklore,
retiring President Alfred Nutt urged that it was the privilege of that
country to enshrine in its literature the ancient customary wisdom of
many races, as the English system of law was itself largely derived
from custom. The accidents of the geographical position and historical
circumstances of Britain had made it the preserver of a great body of
archaic tradition, which it was the function of the Folklore Society
to study and interpret.
We have to record the deaths of Dr. William Hankel, Professor of
Physics in the University of Leipsic; Prof. F. K. C. L. Büchner,
author of the famous book, Force and Matter, at Darmstadt, Germany,
May 1st; Dr. Francis W. MacNamara, State Examiner of Medical Stores at
the India Office, London, formerly Professor of Chemistry in Calcutta
Medical College, and later Chemical Examiner to the Government of
India, March 5th, aged sixty-seven years; he was author of a number of
books and papers on hygiene and medical chemistry; Jeremiah Head,
engineer, President of the Mechanical Science Section of the British
Association in 1893, and President of the British Institute of
Mechanical Engineers in 1885-'86, March 10th, aged sixty-four years;
who was instrumental in introducing into England important American
improvements in the manufacture of iron and steel; Franz Ritter von
Hanse, Austrian geologist, Intendant of the National Museum in Vienna,
Director of the Imperial Geological Survey in 1866, and author of the
Geological Map of Austria, Bosnia, and Montenegro, and of geological
books, March 20th, aged seventy-seven years; Surveyor Major G. C.
Wallich, March 31st, in his eighty-fourth year, and Count Abbé F.
Castracan, of Rome, the two oldest Fellows of the Royal Microscopical
Society; Dr. P. L. Ryke, of the University of Leyden, aged eighty-six
years; Joseph Stevens, honorary curator of the museum at Reading,
England, author of archæological and geological papers; Dr. C.
Brogniart, entomologist, and author of a memoir On Fossil Insects of
the Primary Period, at Paris; Charles L. Prince, author of papers on
meteorology and astronomy, at Tunbridge Wells, England, April 22d; Dr.
Wilhelm Jordan, Professor of Geometry and Geodesy at the Technical
Institution, Hanover, April 17th, aged fifty-seven years; Sir William
Roberts, of the Royal College of Physicians, author of lectures and
papers on digestion, diet, uric acid, the opium habit in India, etc.;
Prof. Karl Scheibler, chemist, at Berlin, aged seventy-two years; Dr.
Josef Wastler, docent in geodesy at the Technical Institute in Graz;
Dr. H. A. Wahlforso, Professor of Chemistry at Helsingfors, aged sixty
years; and Philip Thomas Main, Fellow of St. John's College,
Cambridge, England, author of a treatise on astronomy.
Transcriber's Notes:
Words surrounded by _ are italicized.
Words surrounded by = are bold.
Obvious printer's errors have been repaired, other inconsistent
spellings have been kept, including inconsistent use of hyphen (e.g.
"widespread" and "wide-spread"), and proper names (e.g. "Siddânta" and
"Siddhânta").
Some illustrations were relocated to correspond to their references in
the text.