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YOL.. XX.



SMITHSONIAN lECTMS. VOL. XX.. "bVKRT man is a valuable member of society who by his 0BSEUVATI0N8, RE8EAKCHES, AND EXPEMMENTS PBOCUHES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN." 8MITHS0N.. —. L^^Tt^ WASHINGTON: PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 1881..

JUDD & DBTWEILER, PRINTERS, WASHINGTON, D. C..

ADVERTISEMENT.. The present. "Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collecembrace all the publications issued directly. series, entitled. tions," is intended to. by the Smithsonian. octavo form; those in quarto. Institution in. constituting the "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.". The. quarto series includes memoirs embracing the records of extended original investigations to. and researches resulting. what are believed. in. be new truths, and constituting positive additions. human knowledge.. The octavo. series. is. to the sum of designed to contain reports. on the present state of our knowledge of particular branches of science instructions for collecting and digesting facts and materials list and synopses of species of the organic and infor research ;. ;. organic world. ;. museum. catalogues. to bibliographical investigations,. ;. reports of explorations. etc.,. express request of the Institution, and at. The. ;. aids. generally prepared at the its. expense.. work in one or the other of the two series will sometimes depend upon whether the required illustrations can be presented more conveniently in the quarto or the octavo form. In the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, as well as in the present series, each article is separately paged and indexed, and the position of a. actual date of. its. publication. is. that given on. and not that of the volume in^ which it is works have been published, and largely. special title. its. placed.. In. many. page cases,. distributed, years before. their combination into volumes.. While due care. is. taken on the part of the Smithsonian Institu-. tion to insure a proper standard of excellence in. its. publicatious,. it. will be readily understood that it cannot hold itself responsible for. the facts. and conclusions of the authors, as. it is. impossible in most. cases to vertify their statements.. Spencer F. Baird, Secretary Smithsonian Institut?on..



COIMTENTS.. Article. I.. Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of. Washington. 1874.. Article. II.. November. vol.. xx-7. III.. J,. March, 1871,. to. June,. Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of. Washington.. Article. Vol.. Pp. 218.. 2,. Vol. 1878.. II,. October 10, 1874, to. Pp. 452.. Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of. Washington.. Vol. Ill,. June. Pp. 169.. 19, 1880.. November. 9,. 1878, to.



:. E U LE. S. FOR THE. PUBLICATION OF THE BULLETIN.. The general. rule will be maintained of publishing in the Bulletin only and abstracts of papers, and the latter only when presented to the Secretary by the author within three days after the evening of the read-. titles. ing.. The. President's annual Address will be published in. full.. II.. When. by the General Committee, any communication may full in an Appendix to eath volume of the Bulletin.. directed. be published in. III.. Of the remarks made consequent on. the reading of any communication,. only such will be published as are sent in abstract in writing to the Secretary within three days after the evening of their delivery.. IV.. Communications that have been published elsewhere so as to be geneappear in the Bulletin by title only, but, if possible. rally accessible will. with a refei'ence to the place of publication.. In reference to communications. made. to the Society previous to this. date. When script in. the original paper has been filed with the Secretary in manufull,. it will. be published. ordered by the General Committee.. Washington, January. 17, 1874.. in abstract only, unless otherwise.



BULLETIN. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. WASHINGTON.. PUBLISHED. B\-. THE CO-OPERATION OF THE 6MITHS0NIAN INSTITUTIOK.. WASHINGTON. 1874..



ANNIYEESAEY ADDRESS OF THE. PRESIDENT OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON,. PROF. JOSEPH HENRY. (Delivered November 18, 1871.). Gentlemen: I. have been requested. to. make some remarks on may serve. the character and object of this Society which to introduce. of in. its. to the. it. world through the pages of a Bulletin. proceedings or the public journals of the day, and. compliance with this request I beg leave to submit the. following.. ,. This Society was formed by the call for a meeting of a. number. of gentlemen impressed with the importance of an. association of a strictly scientific character in the city of. Washington.. At. the meeting which resulted from this call. a name and a constitution were adopted for the Society,. and without delay,. in a series of. subsequent meetings, the. objects of the association were prosecuted with such. marked. success as to fully realize the anticipations which had been. entertained with regard to the enterprise. fest. This. is. mani-. from the number, character, and variety of the com-. munications presented and discussed. In regard to the. name which. has been chosen, ". Philosophical Society of Washington," to. remark. that. it. it. is. The. proper. was adopted not without considerable. (V).

(. deliberation. to denote, as. bounded. The term it. vi ). .. " Philosophical"'. was chosen not. generally does, in the present day, the un-. field of. speculative thought, which embraces the. possible as well as the actual of existence, but to be used in its restricted sense to indicate those. branches of know-. ledge that relate to the positive facts and laws of the phy-. and moral universe.. sical. was selected. of. ". Washington,". to denote the fact that the Society is a local. establishment; that its. The second term,. it. arrogates to itself nothing on account. position at the national capital. ;. makes no claim. to. any. connection with the government, nor to being, in any respect, a special representative of the science of the country.. The importance. who. of such a society must be evident to. are acquainted with the history of science.. all. It. is. mainly thr-ough the influence exerted and the assistance rendered by such associations that science its. results given to. the world.. Man. a. is. being, and no incentive to mental exertion. advanced and. is. is. sympathetic. more powerful. than that which springs from a desire for the approbation of his fellow. men. :. besides this, frequent interchange of. ideas and appreciative encouragement are almost essential to the successful prosecution of labors requiring. thought and continued mental exertion.. Hence,. profound it is. im-. portant that those engaged in similar pursuits should have opportunities for frequent meetings at stated periods is. more. science,. ;. this. particularly the case with the cultivators of abstract. who. find but comparatively. few fully capable of. appreciating the value of their labors, even in a. how much. soever enlightened. it. may be on. community. general subjects.. The. students of history, of literature, of politics, and of art. find. everywhere men who can enter. pursuits,. in. some degree into their. and who can appreciate their merits and derive.

(. vii. ). pleasure from their writiDgs or conversation. while the. ;. mathematician, the astronomer, the physicist, the chemist, the biologist, and the student of descriptive natural history. meet with few, comparatively, who can sympathize with. them. who have. in their pursuits, or. knowledge. a sufficient. of their particular subjects to be able to award appreciation and encouragement. intelligent. and laborious. their sustained. that critical. judgment of. To them,. efforts.. consists of a few individuals, to. whom. their merits. that to. the world. they are to look for. which. is. to. adopted by the general public, and with these first. them. essential. be finally of the. it is. importance that they should have more frequent. inter-. course than that which arises from casual meetings.. Furthermore, a society of this kind becomes a means of instruction to. becoming, as there. is. a. it. all its. members, the knowledge of each. were, the knowledge of the whole.. common bond. of union between all branches of. science, since they all relate to the existence. the same universe in which the more. ledge the. more we. and laws of. we extend our know-. find of "unity in the midst of infinite. This connection. diversity.". Again,. is. obvious in the relations of. astronomy, mathematics, and physics, as well as in those of geology, chemistry, and biology, which are so closely related in. many. tional limits. tion,. cases as to be separable only. embracing. in its objects, as. science, each investigator. he can have not only. and. but. may. own by. separated from his. ciation,. by conven-. In a society, therefore, like the one in ques-. also, in. full. many. it. does, all brantjhes of. find others cultivating fields. insensible degrees,. from. whom. sympathy and adequate appre-. instances, important suggestions. essential aid.. The governing body of such. a society, in order that the.

(viii). organization msij produce the desired. composed of men. effect,. must be largely. who, by education and experience in the. processes of investigation, are justly entitled to the appellation of "scientific,". and who, from their. j^ositive contri-. butions to the science of the day, are acknowledged the scientific world as worthy of this distinction. true, useful societies are. formed. It is. for the self-improvement. members by the production of essays on various. of their. by. subjects, or. cultivation of branches of natural history. requiring no previous special training ington,. by. however,. needs. :. the city of Wash.-. something of a higher. order,. namely, a society for the advancement of science, since in. no other city. in the. Union are there. so. many men,. in pro-. portion to the population, connected with scientific pursuits, or so. many. facilities for scientific investigation.. The Philosophical Society of Washington, though of local and unostentatious character, may, its. mission, accomplish. tation of the country. much towards. if. a. true to itself and. increasing the repu-. and influencing public opinion with. regard to questions of a scientific character.. However. wide the diffusion of general knowledge, public opinion in regard to scientific questions must eventually be determined. by the authority of. societies, journals,. established scientific reputation.. and individuals, of. It is therefore. of the. first. importance that the operations of this Society be conducted. with great. under. its. care,. and that nothing be given to the world. sanction which. is. not based upon thorough inves-. tigation or established scientific principles.. warned by the. some its. thirty years ago, which, although. members. We. should be. fate of a society established in this city. a few. trol principally of. men. it. included. among. of true science, was under the con-. amateurs and politicians, and therefore.

(. ix. ). Avas unfit to discharge the duty which its. claimed as one of. it. functions, to decide questions of a strictly scientific. character.. It. should have been borne in mind by this. -association that votes. on questions in science should be. weighed^ not counted!. Had. •of. the proposition of the motion. the earth been decided in the days of Galileo. by the. popular voice, this philosopher and his friends would have. been vastly in the minority.. The. society to. after achieving an unenviable notorietj'-,. which. I allude,. by assuming. to. be. the arbiter of the science of the country, gradually sunk into oblivion,. from which. called except as a in the It. same is. warning. memory should not be rethose who would adventure. its. to. line.. an essential feature of a. every communication presented to. scientific it. society that. should be subject to. free critical discussion.. Such discussion not only enlivens. the proceedings, but. is,. generally, instructive, frequently. eliciting facts which,. though insignificant when. when brought. isolated,. together mutually illustrate each other, and. lead, ultimately, to. important conclusions.. The extent. to. which discussions may be allowed evidently depends on the candor and temper of those. Among <}isra,. who engage. in. the things to be avoided are, merely verbal. them. criti-. undue harshness on the one hand, and unmerited. praise on the other, regard being had to truth rather than to victory or. mutual adulation.. which marks more. There. is. nothing, perhaps,. distinctly one of the characteristics of a. true scientist than the. manner. in. which he receives and ap-. may be made. propriates to his use the critical remarks that. upon. his communications.. He. can, in. many. cases, at least,. derive from them the indication that he has failed to present on. some points a. clear statement of his investigations;.

—. ). ^. (. or that in some other points his conclusions are not fullj sustained hy the premises.. Unfortunately,. it. frequently. happens that persons of a sensitive disposition are apt to consider criticism of the kind sonal attacks, and that. we have mentioned. as offensive to. it is. racy of their experiments or conclusions as their word.. most. It should,. as per-. doubt the accuit. is. doubt. to. however, be recollected that the. and that these criticisms are. gifted are liable to err,. j)rior to publication, and, therefore,. of value to the perma-. nent reputation of both the individual and the society.. Another important matter the publication of. its. in regard to such a society is. proceedings.. If. its. object were merelv. the intellectual and moral improvement of. its. members,. it. might dispense entirely with any publication whatever even with the announcement of it. aspires to the. more important. its. existence.. office. If,. however,. of advancing science,. or of enlarging the bounds of thought and assisting to. knowledge of new. fuse a if. of. truths,. it. dif-. should then publish,. not quarto volumes of transactions, at least a bulletin its. proceedings.. This publication should present an. exposition of the organization of the society, tion. and by-laws, give a. the contents of ation,. all. list. communications submitted. and an account of important. elicited. Such. facts. during discussions or recalled to. moment by a. its. constitu-. of the members, a synopsis of for consider-. which may be. memory. at the. association of ideas. bulletin will. enable the members of the so-. ciety to publish without delay, through a proper channel,. a synopsis of their investigations, and, also,. minor. and inferences not considered, in themselves, of importance to form a communication to a. facts. sufficient. scientific. or to occupy a place in philosophical transactions.. journal. Such.

(. facts. are,. xi. ). nevertheless, frequently found to be valuable. contributions to the general stock of knowledge. it. possessed. of the. funds, the. requisite. establish a higher reputation. pendent transactions.. society. by the publication of. Inasmuch, however, as. Were might inde-. this is not. the case, the next best plan should be adopted, namely, that of publishing papers in full through other channels,. such, for instance, as the Smithsonian Institution, the re-. ports of government bureaus, and scientific journals.. In.. such cases, the bulletin should contain references as to where the articles in full are to appear, and in this respect. would do good service. known. in assisting to. it. generally. the valuable contributions to science which are. diffused through. voluminous executive and congressional. documents not readily accessible. The. make more. to the scientific world.. editing of the bulletin should be under the direc-. tion of the secretaries and a committee appointed for the. purpose, and a rial of the. number should be. issued as often as mate-. proper character and of sufficient quantity. accumulated.. It. learned societies of this and other countries, and. may. be presented to leading journals in this and other. Without have I. at least. is. should be distributed to the principal also. cities.. such a publication, the society cannot. a recognized existence.. have stated that there. in proportion to the. are so. many men. is. no. number of. city in the. its. where there. of education actively engaged in pursuits. connected with science as in Washington. of this remark I. United States,. inhabitants,. may. refer to those. who. In illustration are engaged in. the Coast Survey, the Office of AVeights and Measures, the. National Observatory, the Nautical Almanac, Patent Office,. Engineer Department, Hydrographic. Office,. Ordnance De-.

xH. (. ). parfcment, Medical Departments of the. Army. and Navj,. Lighthouse Board, Signal Corps, Agricultural Department,. Bureau of. Statistics,. Census Of&ce, Bureaus of ISTavigation. and Steam Engineering, the Smithsonian In addition to. etc.. more ample. no city in the Union possesses. this,. facilities, in. Institution, etc.. the. way. of books and implements,. for the prosecution of scientific research.. The library. of. Congress, enriched by the Smithsonian Deposit with the transactions of all the principal learned societies of the. world,. is. almost unrivalled in. scientific. works.. If to this. extensive collection we add the special libraries of the. Patent Office, the Agricultural Department, the Coast Survey, the National Observatory, and of the Surgeon-General's Office,. we have a collection. accessible to the. by. members. of. modern books on. science,. of the society, scarcely surpassed. the collections of the most favored cities of the old. world.. any. Nor. are the articles of apparatus necessary for. line of investigation. beyond the reach of any member. who may. possess the knowledge and skill. of the Society. requisite to their proper use.. There. is. great liberality on. the part of the heads of departments in the nishing apparatus that. may. in. any degree. way. of fur-. facilitate the. special investigations under their direction.. Among. those connected with the various organiza-. tions just mentioned, a considerable. number. in original investigations, the results of rest to the scientific world,. are engaged. which are of. and which will be. and improved by the discussions of. inte-. facilitated. this Society.. Fur-. thermore, in the daily operations of the different establishments, facts of scientific importance are continually becom-. ing evident which would be lost. if. records of the Society.. however, alone to. It is not,. not preserved in the facili-.

(xin). now going. tate operations. on, or to preserve facts that. may. have been casually discovered, but, also, to suggest newinvestigations and to encourage others to enter the field. of research direction.. room. who have. not yet essayed their hand in this. In the great domain of science, there. for an infinite. number. of laborers of different grades. A. of attainment and original powers of mind.. made with proper. careful observations. abundant. is. series of. instruments, with. regularity and precision, which requires. little. more than. the exercise of the senses and a conscientious regard for truth, is frequently a valuable contribution to science. series of analyses in. which prescribed formulas are ob-. served, and in the application of which no. required than that which. is. more. talent. is. possessed by the majority of. persons of ordinary ability and education, of scientific value.. A. may. For the production of. give results. results of the. kind mentioned, and those which are effected by the scientist. who. is. capable of detecting hitherto undiscovered facts. and developing new laws, there talent. is. room. for all grades of. and of powers of original investigation.. It is asto-. how much may be done by the association of minds determined Ofi a common pursuit how much, under such conditions as exist in the city of Washington, may be nishing. ;. effected in the. way. of directing attention to special lines. of investigation, in suggesting questions to be asked of nature, and in pointing out the ready. the answers. may be. elicited,. means by which. by arousing. into activity. and suggestion, would. talents which, v/ithout such stimulus. ever remain dormant.. The bane. of. many. details of business. and. societies. is. the time. consumed. in. in the discussion of non-essential. points relative to their government.. Happily, the organ-.

—. (xiv) ization adopted. bj. and. this Society obviates this evil. se-. cures the devotion of almost every evening exclusively to its. For the government of men whose. legitimate purposes.. object. and. is. the advance of truth^ but few rules are necessary,. these, unlike the laws of the. expressed in inexorable codes. Medes and Persians. — must. consist of simple. principles, readily adaptable to all contingencies.. In conclusion, I would say that with so as exist in the city of ence, this Society. Washington. would be. materially aid, through. many. facilities. for the pursuit of sci-. derelict of. communion. duty did. it. fail. to. of thought and con-. cert of action, the. advancement of the great cause of human. improvement.. am. I. happy, however, in cherishing the. opinion that the success of. Washington" this I. am. is. "The Philosophical. Society of. scarcely any longer problematical, and in. sustained. by the record of. its. transactions..

CONSTITUTION PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON. Article I. The name of this Society osophical Society of AYashington. Article. The. II,. officers of the. III.. There. shall be a. be. The. Phil-. Society shall be a Presi-. dent, four Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer,. Article. shall. and two Secretaries.. General Committee, con-. sisting of the officers of the Society,. and nine other members.. Article IV. The officers of the Society and the other members of the General Committee, shall be elected annually by ballot; they shall hold office until their successors are elected, and shall have power to fill vacancies.. Article V. to. make. It shall. be the duty of the General Committee. rules for the. transact all. its. government of the Society, and. to. business.. Article VI. This Constitution. shall. not be amended. except by a three-fourths vote of those present at an annual meeting for the election of. officers,. and. after notice of. the proposed change shall have been given in writing at a stated meeting of the Society at least four. weeks previously.. The General Committee for the. also reported the Standing Rules government of the Society, which had been enacted. under the. fifth article. of the Constitution. (. XV. ).

—. STANDING RULES FOR THE GOYEBNMENT OP THE. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON The Stated Meetings. 1.. of the Society shall be held at 8. M. on every alternate Saturday, the place of meetbe designated by the Greneral Committee.. o'clock P.. ing to. The Annual Meeting. 2.. the. first. be. for the election of officers shall. month of November. When Meetings may be called by the President.. stated meeting in the. necessary, Special. Notices of the time and place of meetings shall be sent. 8.. to each. member by one. of the Secretaries.. The Stated Meetings, with the exception of the annual. 4.. meeting, shall be devoted to the consideration and discussioa. of scientific subjects.. Communications intended. 5.. for publication. under. the-. auspices of the Society shall be submitted in writing to the. General Committee for approval.. New members. 6.. mittee, after. members. three 7.. sum. shall be elected by the General Comhaving been proposed in writing by at least. of the Society.. Each member. pay annually to the Treasurer the member whose dues are unpaid the annual meeting for the election of officers. shall. of five dollars, and no. shall vote at. The Committee further reported for the information of the members of the Society, the Standing Kules which they had enacted for the government of the General Committee, viz. (. xvi. ). :.

STANDING RULES GENERAL COMMITTEE. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON. 1. The President, Vice-Presidents, and Secretaries of the Society shall hold like offices in the General Committee.. 2.. The President. shall. have power. to call special. meetings. of the Committee, and to appoint SubComraitteea 3. The Sub Committees shall prepare business for the General Committee, and perform such other duties as may be entrusted to them,. 4. There shall be two Standing Sub-Committees, one on Communications for the Stated Meetings of the Society, and another on Publications.. 5.. The General Committee. shall. meet. at half past. o'clock on the evening of each stated meeting,. journment. seven. and by ad-. at other times.. 6. For all purposes, except for the amendment of the Standing Eules of the Committee and of the Society, and the election of members, six members of the Committee shall. constitute a. 2. quorum. (. xvii. ).



BULLETIN OP. THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTOJN".. This Society had. its. origin. in. the. following. letter:—. initiators ^. Joseph Henry, LL.D. The undersigned respectfullj request you to preside at a meeting which they propose to hold for the "purpose of forming Prof.. a society, having for scientific subjects, its. its. object the free exchange of view^ oa. and the promotion of. scientific. inquiry. members.. M.. Meigs,. C.. Benjamin Peirce, ThEO.. GrILL,. Peter Parker, F. B. Meek, T. R.. Wm.. Peale, B. Taylor,. Chas. a. Schott, E. B. Elliott, F.. y. Hayden,. J.. E Hilgard,. J.. H. Lane,. S. F.. Baird,. Walter L. JVicholson, Wm. H Dall, B.. Franklin Greene,. S.. Y. Benet,. Horace Capron, Thomas Antisell, J. J. Woodward, J. S.. J.. Billings,. K. Barnes,. C. H. Crane, George A. Otis, Albert J. Myer, A. A. Humphreys,. Asaph Hall, Simon Newcomb,. Wm. Harkness, B. F. Craig, J.. H. C. Coffin,. Thornton A. Jenkins, George H. Elliot, W. T. Sherman,. (19). among.

—. BULLETIN OF THE. 20. A. B. Dyer,. George. C. Schaeffer, Thos. Lincoln Casey, Jno. G. Parke,. J.. Wheeler,. B.. A. B. Eaton,. Elisha Foote,. B. F. Sands,. Salmon. P. Chase.. March. 1st Meeting. Prof.. Joseph Henry. In response to this. call,. 13, 18T1.. in the Chair.. a meeting of the subscribers thereto. was convened and held at the Smithsonian Institution, in the The outline of a Regent's room, on Monday, March 13, 1871. Constitution was adopted, and under it the following gentlemen, who collectively should constitute a General Committee for the transaction of the business of the Society, were elected officers. :. PRESIDENT.. Joseph Henry. VICE-PRESIDENTS.. M. J.. C.. Horace C apron,. Meigs,. Wm.. E. HiLGARD,. B, Taylor.. TREASURER.. Peter Parker. SECRETARIES.. Theodore Gill.. B. F. Craig,. MEMBERS AT LARGE OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. Thomas Antisell, E. B. Elliott, J. H. C. Coffin, W. T. Sherman, S. Newcomb, T. L. Casey, S. F.. T. a. Jenkins,. Baird, J. J.. The Constitution was then. Woodward. referred to the General. Committee. and the Committee was also empowered to propose Rules and By-Laws for the government of tlie Society.. for verbal expression. ;.

—. philosophical society op washington.. 2d Meeting.. The President. March. 18, 1811.. to the Society,. on behalf. in the Chair.. Baird communicated. Professor S. F.. 21. of the author, a copy of a memoir entitled. OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION OP 1870, LIEUT. G. C. DOANE, 2d U. S. CAVALRY.. BY. (^This Report will be. found puhlished in full as Official Document, Senate, No. 51, Alst Congress, Zd Sexnion.). 5d Meeting.. April The President. 1,. 18tl.. in the Chair.. The General Committee reported was adopted.. to the Society the " Consti-. tution," which. (For. the Constitution. and Standing Rules. The President announced that. see pp. 14, 15, 16.). the following gentlemen had. l)een appointed on the Sub- Committees, viz.. :—. SUB-COMMITTEES. On Papers and Essays. Chairman,. S.. On Publication. :. J. J.. Woodward. S. F.. Baird;. B. F. Craig,. Theodore Gill.. transaction of business being concluded, General M. C. laid before the Society a map of the head waters of the. Yellowstone and Lewis. Mr.. Hilgard.. :. Chairman,. The Meigs. ;. L. Casey, J. E.. J.. rivers.. E. Hilgard read a paper entitled—. ON THE DISTANCE TRAVERSED BY APPROACHING THE NORTH POLE ON A LOXODROMIC CURVE..

—. BULLETIN OF THE. 22. Mr. J. E. HiLGARD stated that having had occasion to determine the geographical centre of the United States, or the centre of gravity of the surface of the country, he had ascertained it to be near the Black Hills of. Wyoming. Joseph Henry made an. Professor. Territory. oral. commanication. ON PHENOMENA OF SOUND AND EXPERIMENTS WITH TUNING FORKS: illustrating his statements. Dr.. Wm. Thomson. by means of a set of resounding cavities.. of Philadelphia. communicated a memoir. entitled. ON A NEW METHOD FOR DETECTING AND MEASURING THE OPTICAL DEFECTS OF THE EYE. (. TAe substance of. this. communication. is. published under the. title,. "An Addi-. and Correction of the Optical Defects of The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, N. S.,. tional Test for the Diagnosis the. Eye,". in. vol. lix.,. pp. 76-80.). April. 4th Meeting. The President. 15, 1871.. in the Chair.. Mr. J. E. HiLGARD exhibited a chronograph of the kind devised by Hippe of Neuehatel, and explained its construction. Gen. A. B.. Eaton made. a communication. ON THE PRESERVATION OF FOODS, and exhibited specimens Col. T. L.. Raymond, U.. of preserved meats.. Casey communicated S.. a Report by Capt. Chas.. W.. Engineers,. ON THE RESULTS OF TRAVELS IN ALASKA AND THE DETERMINATION OP THE POSITION OF FORT YUKON. (TAis Report. is. published as Executive Document No. 12, Senate, 42c? Congress, \st Session.).

—. —. philosophical society of washington.. April. 5th Meeting. The President. 29, 1871.. in the Chair.. Admiral B. F. Sands communicated,. Asaph Hall,. 23. in the. name. of Professor. au abstract of a paper. ON THE ELEMENTS OF THE COMET. I,. 18Y1.. (abstract.) This comet was discovered by Dr. Winnecke at Carlsruhe, April 7th, and was also independently discovered by Mr. Lewis Notice of Swift at Marathon, iS'ew York, on April 15th, 1871. its discovery was received at the Naval Observatory April 19th, and it was observed there on the 20th, 23d, and 24th, cloudy weather preventing further observations. Although the observations are not well situated to give a good determination of the orbit, the following elements have been computed :. Perihelion Passage, 1871, June 10, 496, Washington mean time. 140O 49' 13" ) Longitude of Perilielion, . ^ ^ Apparent^ Equinox 279 3 31 Longitude Ascending Node, .. 87. Inclination of Orbit Plane,. 42. 23. ^'^ ). Logarithm Perihelion Distance, 9.82206. Motion Direct.. Computing with these elements the Altona observation 9th, the. of April. following differences are found. dx. =—. 0'.8,. and dB. =. -{- O'.l. :. from which it appears that these elements must be a tolerable approximation to the truth. When first discovered the comet was about 95 degrees in true anomaly from its perihelion, and is therefore approaching the Sun, and the computations show that it is slowly approaching the Earth. Its motion, how^ever, in heliocentric longitude is so small Were it not for that it will be apparently very near the Sun. this it might become visible to the naked eye after the next full moon. Its distance from the Earth is about 1.8 of the Sun's mean distance, and as it is easily observed in the telescope it is in reality a bright comet.. Mr.. J.. E.. HiLGARD. exhibited a chronoscope devised by Hippe,. of Neuchatel, and explained. its. application in the determination. of the rate of transmission of nerve-power.. By. request.. Major King made a verbal report. ON T^E CONSTRUCTION OF THE BRIDGE ACROSS EAST RIVER BETWEEN BROOKLYN AND NEW YORK..

BULLETIN OP THE. 24 fiTH. May. 13, 1811.. a paper by Dr. H. B.. Butcher. Meeting.. The President Prof. S. F.. in the Chair.. Baird communicated. ON TWO IMMENSE METEORITES AT CONCEPTION AND SAN GREGORIO, MEXICO. (^Concerning the subject of position. by. of J.. communication, see "The precise geographical. ;. 3d. Dr. J. J.. this. mass of Meteoric Iron in Northern Mexico [eic] Laukence Smith The American Journal of Science, the large. series, vol. ii.,. Woodward made. pp. 335-338.). a communication. ON THE alleged HERMAPHRODITE DESCRIBED BY BLACKMAN, AND JACKSON. {This communication. is. published under the. title,. DRS.. ACCLY,. "Remarks on a Supposed. Case of Hermaphroditism," in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, N, S., vol. Ixii., pp. 123-125, July, 1871.). (ABSTRACT .) Dr.. Woodward. Dr.. Theodore Gill. exhibited a wet preparation of the generative organs in a case of supposed hermaphroditism, and a plaster cast The specimen was originally described in the of the same. American Journal of the Medical Sciences, July, 1853, and has subsequently been quoted in works on medical jurisprudence as one of hermaphroditism. It was recently presented to the Array Medical Museum, and being well preserved in alcohol, was subjected to further dissection and a careful microscopical examination. The parts supposed to be ovaries were simply little masses of adipose tissue, and the case was in fact merely one of undescended testicle in an otherwise well-developed male.. read a paper. ON THE characteristics AND ZOOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF MAN. (abstract.) Prof Gill adverted to the various beliefs respecting the origin of man, contrasted those of Lord Monboddo and Darwin, and successively enumerated those characters which man shared in common with animals generally, and in addition thereto, with Yertebrates, with all Mammals, with the placental mammals, with.

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON.. 25. the "Educable" division of the latter, and with those constituting After the the order Primates and the suborder Anthropoidea. elimination of those forms whose structure was thus shown to be successively removed from his, he contrasted man in a final term with the apes, and expressed his conviction that there exist no structural (morphological) characters which would be admitted to possess more than family value, were we able to divest ourselves of personal and psychological prejudices, and asserted that such was the view of the majority of the most approved students Man's relations might be exhibited in a quasiof the mammals. genealogical table by a stem from the same common branch as the higher apes, and if the doctrine of evolution is accepted at all, such a table would express for the believer therein the fact of a derivation of man and the" highest apes from the same com-. mon and. Iiji. specialized stock.. May. Meeting.. The President Dr. T.. Antisell. 21, 1811.. in the Chair.. exhibited, on the part of the. Department of. Agriculture, a vial of dust charged with organic matter from Bitliz,. Mr.. Armenia.. W. H. Dall. presented a paper. ON THE relative VALUE OP ALASKA TO THE UNITED STATES, AS COMPARED WITH THAT OF OTHER TERRITORIAL ACQUISITIONS. ( This article xoas published in full under the. ment?". in Harpers'. New. title. "Is Alaska a Paying Invest-. Monthly Magazine,. vol. xliv.,. pp.. 252-257, January, 1872.). (abstract.) After submitting estimates of the cost and value of Texas, Florida, and New Mexico (including Arizona^ and showing that the direct taxes paid into the Treasury of the United States cannot be taken as an index of the value to the community at large of any given region, Mr. Dall gave the following statement of items as the data on which to found an estimate of the present value of the productions of Alaska..

—. —. BULLETIN OP THE. 26. ....... Direct taxes as established by law Anuual rental of seal fishery Tax ou seal skins, 50,000 allowed to be taken by present :. regulations. Bonus, 62^ cents each, on such skins. $55,000 00. ..... 100,000 00 31,250 00. Bonus on oil 55 cents per gallon, of which the yield is estimated at one gallon for each seal killed Supplies and schools to be furnished to natives of seal islands .. Productions Value. 27,500 00. .. .. 2,000 00. :. of seal skins. ..... ........ above taxes. 318,750 00. Furs from Yukon district annually. 75,000 00. Other continental furs. 10,000 00. Fish and furs of Sitkan district according to Maj. Tidball's. Report. 51,000 00. .. Annual yield of sea otter trade, estimated annual yield of the last twenty years Walrus ivory and oil (1868) Salt codfish (10,612,000 lbs. in 1870). Cod-liver. Whale. oil. (10,000 gallons in 1866). at one-third the .. 65,000 00. .. .. .... ..... 7,500 00. 754,840 00. 10,00000. and bone from Alaskan waters, estimated at onethird the whole Behring Sea catch annually, viz., 466,666 lbs. bone and 1,179,000 gallons oil oil. 869,499 60. .. .. 28,000 00. Ice trade. Spars and timber. 2,000 00. Total annual production. From ritory. this are to be. $2,407,339 60. deducted the annual expenses of the Ter-. and the cost of production of the various. articles,. leaving. as a net profit over all expenses of every description, past and present, the sum of $674,201 30 annually. This is equivalent to. a net profit of eight per cent.. pays four per less. cent.,. ;. while by similar estimates Florida. Texas twenty per. cent.,. and. New Mexico. than nothing, annually.. The total cost of Alaska up to Jan. 1, ISn, is $8,873,370 and the present annual expenses are $529,468 50. Dr.. Theodore Hilgard,. of St. Louis,. made a. verbal. 25,. commu-. nication. ON THE number OF THE CEPHALIC VERTEBRA. {This communication. is. published in full in the Proceedings of the American. Society for the Advancement of Science, Twentieth Meeting.).

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 6f WASHINGTON.. June. 8th Meeting.. The President. W.. Mr.. B.. Taylor presented. 27. 10, 1811.. in the Chair.. a. memoir. ON THE nature AND ORIGIN OP FORCE. ( Thifs. communicntion. Nature. published in full under the title, " Thoughts on the of Force," in the Annual Report of the Board of Smithsonian Institution, for 1870, pp. 241-257.) is. (ind Origin. Regents of the. (ABSTRACT.). The. " Conservation of. Force". is not an axiom, as it seems naturegard it, but a corollary dependent on the coexistence in all matter of two opposing tendencies, attraction and repulsion. Were any form of matter absolutely incompressible (and hence inelastic), there would be in every case of the collision of such matter, a simple destruction of vis viva. Motion is not the only exhibition of force as we have a large array of static forces nor the measure of force, since it is not proportional thereto, but follows the law of the square root of the power originating it. Contrary, therefore, to a not unusual generalization, motion is not persistent, but may be destroyed, resulting in static force, and it may be created or produced from static force. The phenomena of so-called "latent heat" may be cited as an example. If we accept the nebular hypothesis of the cosmogony, all force was originally static and observation shows us that it is on the whole ever becoming more and more kinetic, ever more and more equably diffused ihe tendency being steadily to what Professor Sir William Thomson has designated the " Dissipation of Energy.'' The sum of the static or potential, and of the kinetic forms of energy, is of course forever constant, or unalterable. The so-called "vital forces" have been shown in I'ecent times to be but a portion of the preexisting store of purely mechanical energy. Not only organic nutrition, growth, and movement, but the more subtle processes of thought and emotion are maintained from without, and are dependent on material changes and the transference of molecular motion. All animal power (like all mechanical power employed by man) is derived ultimately from the vegetable storehouse of chemical energy and the store of static vegetable force is derived from the actinism of the solar. ral to. —. —. —. ;. ;. ;. rays.. These successive transfers of force through molecular changes and movements are therefore but expressions of dynamic evolution resulting from the collisions of gravitative or attractive forces with repulsive forces, in the matter of the celestial bodies. From which it results that the origin of all dynamic displays (no less.

BULLETIN OP THE. 28. than their perpetual conservation). lies. in. the static affections. stamped upon all material elements. The derivative and convertible forms of energy should not, therefore, be confounded with the primordial and immutable forces such as cohesive, affiniresident in the molecule and its atoms tive, and gravitative tendencies or affections. If molecular attractions and repulsions are really the parents of all dynamic energy, it seems wholly improbable that any form of such attraction or repulsion can ever be the offspring of dynamic energy. In other words, we must infer that such exhibitions of molecular attraction and repulsion as those of electricity and magnetism, however seemingly the product and correlatives of motion as of friction or percussion, of light or heat, of chemical activity or gravitative fall, etc. are really not so derived, but are to be regarded as being only unveiled or made manifest, from a previous condition of neutralization by a static equilibrium. either inherent in, or indelibly. —. —. —. June. 9th Meeting. The President Prof. A.. Hall. 24, 1811.. in the Chair.. read a paper. ON ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY. {This paper to the. is. published under the. title,. "On. the Application. of Photography. Determination of Astronomical Data,'^ in the American Journal. of Science and Arts (3),. vol. ii.,. pp. 25-30, July, 1871.). (ABSTRACT.). An. account was given in this paper of what had been accomplished in applying photography to the determination of exact astronomical data. Reference was made to the labors of Messrs. Bond and De la Rue, and it was inferred: (1) that in the case of ordinary observations of double stars the photographic method presents no advantages over the direct method with a filar micrometer or heliometer (2) that in the case of an eclipse of the sun, or of the transit of a planet, the results hitherto obtained are such as to give but little confidence in the accuracy of the photographic method. On account of the obvious advantages which the photographic method possesses over the observations of contact in the case of a transit of Venus, provided that the photographic observations can be rigorously and accurately re;.

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.. 29. duced, attention was called to the importance of making early and complete experiments for determining the real value of this. method.. Mr. E. B, Elliott made a communication. ON THE STATISTICS OF THE BORROWING POWER OF THE UNITED STATES.. Mr.. J. E.. Hilgard made. a communication. ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES.. 10th Meeting.. September The President. 9,. 1871.. in the Chair.. The evening was occupied by. verbal communications from. various parties.. 11th Meeting.. September. The President Prof. S.. Newcomb. 23, 1871.. in the Chair.. read a paper. on the transits of VENUS, PAST AND FUTURE, Dr.. Theodore Gill made some remarks. ON ADDITIONS TO THE FISH FAUNA OF MASSACHUSETTS, DUE TO THE researches OF PROP, S, F. BAIRD, U. S. FISH COMMISSIONER. {This communication was suhstantially as published under the additions. title,. "On. recent. Fish Fauna of Massachusetts," in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement oj Science, for to. the. 1873,. B.pp. 34-36.).

—. 30. ). ;. bulletin of the. 12th Meeting.. October The President. Prof.. A.. Hall. T,. 1871.. in the Chair.. read a paper, illustrated by a diagram,. ON A CURVE OF THE FOURTH DEGREE. (^Tliis. paper. is. published in the Educational Times,. vol. xix.). (abstkact.) be considered arises from the solution of the. The curve to lowing question,. fol-. proposed in one of the English annuals: "Through the focus of an ellipse a right line is drawn cutting the ellipse in the points D and e, and at the middle point of d e indefinite right line is drawn perpendicular to D e. It is required to find the form and area of the curve that this perpendicular always touches." Taking the centre of the ellipse as the origin of coordinates, and its principal axes as the axes of reference, the equation of the perpendicular is. an. a~y. where a and. 7n^ -{-. (a'x. —. c''). m^ -{- b^y. m -\-. b^x. =. o. ;. m. semi-axes of the ellipse, the tangent of the angle which the line d e makes with the axis of x, and c ae; denoting by e the eccentricity of the ellipse. The equation of the curve sought will be found by eliminating m between the preceding equation and its first derivative with respect to m. The result of such an elimination was called by the older mathematicians the renultant of the two equations, and in the phrase of modern algebra it is called the eliminant. Performing the elimination the equation of the curve is found to be 4 a^iy 4- (8 a^x'^ -\- 20 a'^c^x c^) bY 4 x (aZ^ o. c3)3 (1 h are the. =. —. Putting h. =a. e^,. and solving. —. +. for. y we. =. find,. y==±f^(yj±s/jrrrx)^{^s/T^VT:p8x)f. (2);. where the upper and lower signs in the radical expressions must be taken together. This elegant form for the value of y follows from this fact, that in the solution of (1) the terms in a: retain a cubic form through two successive reductions. Equation (2) shows the form of the curve.. It is confined to the limits. ar. =. -j-. =—-. h,. and x. If. we denote. o. and has double points for these values of area of the curve by A, we have •^-A. = r' U/h^^h^Sx)' "-. —J. x.. (^?j\/h—V h-\-8x)'dx. ¥^ (v/A__iv//,. 4.8. a:)-. (^d>/h. + \/h-{-8x). dx.. the.

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETy OF WASHINGTON.. 31. Whence, performing the integrations and restoring the value of we have. Dr. B. F.. h,. Craig read a paper. ON THE FLUCTUATIONS OF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. (. This paper the. is. title, " Variations in the Temperature of American Journal of Science and Arts pp. 330-332, Nov. 1871.). published under the. Human Body,". in the. (3), vol. a.,. Mr. E. B. Elliott presented an essay. ON THE Mr.. J. E.. NEW COINAGE. Hilgard read an. OF JAPAN.. essay. ON AN EXPONENTIAL FORMULA HAVING REFERENCE TO THE TOLERANCE ALLOWED AT THE U. S. MINT.. October. 13th Meeting.. The President Prof.. 21, 18tl.. in the Chair.. Benj. Pierce read a paper. ON THE heat OF THE SUN. The author stated that he desired. to offer evidence confirmatory. of Mr. Lane's views as to the gaseous constitution of the sun,. holding that the outer limit was fixed by laws of heat.. Prof W. Harkness made a communication ON THE physical CONSTITUTION OP THE CORONA OF THE SUN. {This paper. is. published in. Washington Astronomical Observations, 1869,. Appendix. I.,. pp. 82-89.). Prof Joseph Henry made a communication ON OBSERVATIONS MADE ON A JOURNEY TO CALIFORNIA. ;.

—. BULLETIN or THE. 32 this. paper was illustrated by the. rain-fall. maps published by the. Smithsonian Institution.. November. 14th Meeting. Vice-President. W.. B.. Taylor. 4,. 18U.. in the Chair.. This being the annual meeting for the election of. officers,. the. Chairman announced the order of proceedings for the evening as determined on by the general committee. As the result of the election, Professor J(3SEPH. Henry was. unanimously re-elected. Barnes and M.. Meigs, and Hon. Peter Parker, Treasurer; Doctors Gill and Craig, Secretaries; and the following were elected members at large of the General President Messrs.. Generals J.. ;. K,. Hilgard and Taylor, Vice-Presidents. Committee. ;. :. S. F.. Baird,. T. L. Casey, J.. C.. H. C. Coffin,. E. B. Elliott,. S. J. J.. No amendments. a. Hall, A. A. Humphreys, T. A. Jenkins,. Newcomb,. Woodward.. to the Constitution. having been made, the. chairman announced that the annual address of the President was necessarily deferred until a subsequent meeting on account of his absence from the city..

PKlIiOSOPHlCAL SOCIETY. WASHINGTON.. 01'. 33. OFFICERS OF TUB. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON, FOR THE YEAR. 1871-1872.. PRESIDENT.. Joseph Henry. VICE-PRESIDENTS.. M.. W.. C. Meigs,. J. E.. HiLGARD,. J.. B. Taylor,. K. Barnes.. TREASURER.. Peter Parker. SECRETARIES.. Theodore Gill.. B. F. Craig,. MEMBERS AT LARGE OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. S. F.. a. Hall,. Baird,. A. A. Humphreys,. T. L. Casey, J.. H.. C. Coffin,. E. B. Elliott,. S.. JSTewcomb,. J.. J Woodward,. G. H. Elliot.*. * Subsequently elected. to. fill. a vacancy..

BULLETIN. 34. THE. Ob'. November. 15th Meeting.. The President. 18, 18T1.. in tlie Cliaii'.. the delivery of the annual address. The meeting was opened by of the President. {This Address. ivill'he. found printed. in full in the introductori/ portion. of. this. volume.'). A. letter to Professor. Henry from. Dr. Bessels. was. read, dated. on board the Polaris, August 16th, giving some account of the scientific operations of the North Pole Expedition up to that date.. Prof.. W. Harkness. read a paper. ON THE SPECTRUM OF ENOKE'S COMET, AND THE APPEARANCE OF TUTTLE'S COMET. {This paper. is. essentially as published in Washinrjton tions,. Dr. B. P.. Astronomical Observa-. 1870, Appendix II., pp. 25-49.). Craig made a communication. ON apothecaries' WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.. December. 16th Meeting.. The President Prof.. A.. Hall. 2,. 1871.. in the Chair.. read a paper. ON THE ASTRONOMICAL PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF A RESISTING. MEDIUM IN {This paper. is. published in fidl in the American Journal of Science. Arts (3),. Prof.. SPACE.. vol.. and. a. pp. 404-408, Dec. 1871.). W. Harkness made. a verbal communication regarding. some singular results that he had. lately arrived at. by the study. of the spectrum of Encke's comet.. {The substance of this communication cal Observations, 1870,. xoill be found in Washington AstronomiAppendix II., pp. 25-49.).

PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON.. Henry. Mr. Joseph. 35. read an eulogy. ON THE LIFE AND SCIENTIFIC LABORS OF THE LATE ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE,. who was one. of the founders of the scientific club from. which. this society took its origin.. (This Eulogy. is. published in full in the Report of the Secretary of the. Smilhsoniati Institution for 1870, Appendix, pp. 90-106.). Hth. Meeting.. December The President. 16, 18T1.. in the Chair.. Mr. J.'E. HiLGARD read a paper. ON THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. (This paper. is published under the title, "The Advance of Population in the United Slates,'^ in Scribner^s Mpnthbi Magazine, vol. iv., pp. 214-218,. June, 1872.). ^. Mr. C.. S.. Peirce read a paper. ON THE APPEARANCE OF ENCKE'S COMET AS SEEN AT HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. (The substance of this communication will be publi.died Harvard College Observatory.). in the. Annals of. the. 1. Mr. E. B. Elliott made a communication. ON THE LOCUS OF THE POINT OF EQUAL ILLUMINATION BY TWO UNEQUAL LIGHTS TREATED BY THE QUATERNION ANALYSIS. Mr. Cleveland. Abbe. read a letter from Mr.. S.. A. King,. aeronaut, of Boston,. ON THE AERIAL CURRENTS OBSERVED IN FIFTY BALLOON ASCENSIONS.. The thanks. of the Society were returned to Mr.. communication.. King. for his.

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—. —. BULLETIN OP THE. 38. Washington, Dec.. Gentlemen naut. In the pursuit of professional duties as an aero-. :. have constantly endeavored to elevate my calling, and to any knowledge I may have acquired in my voyages through. I. utilize. the. 16, 1871.. Possibly. air.. it. may. interest. you. even a simple. to receive. table of the directions of the aerial currents that have prevailed. my. during. I have therefore attempted to compile. excursions.. such a table from some of the most interesting of the 162 voyages that I have. made. and have the honor herewith to present The labor of compiling this table [pp. 36, 37,] has been considerable, owing to the desultory nature of the accounts that have been published, and to their being, as you it. for. ;. your acceptance.. well understand, scattered through. present table comprises but about. deem. it. hundreds of newspapers. fifty. ascensions. :. if. The. the Society'. desirable, however, I should be pleased to complete this. work, by adding, at some future time, similar tables for the re-. mainder of It this. my. voyages.. would aiford me great satisfaction to learn that you deem humble, and as I believe novel contribution to meteorology. worthy of your acceptance. Respectfully,. Saml. a. King, Aeronaut, of Boston.. The. following remarks were. made by Mr. Abbe. In laying this communication before you I. :. may. state that I. have examined Mr. King's Table of Fifty Balloon Voyages, and have formed the following synopsis, showing how many times each current has been recorded COURSE.. :.

y. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. In this table each current. is. counted once, and a decided pre-. dominance of westerly currents. is. i.. e.. This. evident.. plained by the fact that ascensions are in settled pleasant weather,. 39. made by. is. in part ex-. preference only. on the front side of an advancing. are, however, also made when on our Atlantic coast the sumbreeze would tend to increase the number of. area of high barometer.. Ascensions. generally in the afternoon,. mer afternoon. sea. easterly winds in the lowest stratum of. Mr. King's table gives the currents. air.. in the. position, beginning with the surface wind,. —. it is. rare to find. a direction opposed to the lowest or surface such generally deviate but 90° -135° from each other.. an upper current. wind. order of their super-. and. in. The ascensions have. rarely exceeded ten thousand feet in altiand thus can give us an insight into the nature of only the lower system of currents that precede extended storms. tude,. From. seven balloon ascensions made on July. ent points. in. 4,. 1811, at differ-. the United States, I have deduced the velocity of. the upper currents as about four times that of the surface wind. then prevailing.. January. 18th Meeting,. The President Mr.. W. Harkness. 13,. 18Y2.. in the Chair.. read a paper. ON THE density OP THE HYPOTHETICAL RESISTING MEDIUM IN SPACE. (This communication. is. published in Washington Astronomical Observations. 1870, Appendix IL, pp. 33-38.). Mr. T. Gill read a communication. ON THE TAPIR OF THE ANDES AND ITS ALLIED FORMS. Mr. R. D. CuTTS presented a paper. ON THE MISAPPLICATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS, AS BEARING ESPECIALLY ON THE QUESTION OP THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FISHERY RIGHT TREATIES..

40. BULLETIN OF THE (abstract.). Reference was made to the general misapplication, in the United States, of the term "creek" to fresh water streams and rivulets to the long international dispute as to the point where the Rhine terminated, and especially to the authoritative determination of ;. mouth of the River St. Lawrence. Under the late Reciprocity Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, made principally with a view to settle the. the. question of the in-shore fisheries, a Joint Commission was appointed to examine the coasts of the North American British colonies and of the United States as far south as the 36th parallel, being over 6000 miles of coast, including indentations, and to designate the "rivers and the mouths of rivers. ^^ These were to be reserved from the common liberty of fishing, while "bays, harbors, and creeks^\ were free. Here was an immense field opened for the discussion and international interpretation of the above terms. The commissioners were directed to examine each "place^' which could in any sense be considered as a "river,^^ and if decided to be a river, then to agree upon a line which should mark the outer limit of its mouth. The number of "places''' presented for examination on the Provincial coasts was 167, and 54 on the coast of the United States. Of these, 105 were declared to be rivers, and their mouths were designated on official charts. The Commission was in existence for a period of ten years, 1855 to 1866, although, owing to the late civil war, only about five years were strictly devoted to the duty assigned it. There was a large number of cases in which a difference of opinion was expressed. Some were reconciled, and in others an appeal was taken to an umpire, under the authority of the treaty. As the U. S. Surveyor attached to the Commission, the examinations on the part of the United States were principally conducted by me, and it frequently occurred that special reports and long discussions became necessary as to the right of this or that The designations "2ylace^' to be designated by this or that term. found on the maps and charts were not considered as definitive authority. The only rule which we could adopt was that prescribed by international law, that terms employed in treaties should be interpreted according to the definition given of them by the science to which they belonged. To show what divergence of opinion may be entertained in the discussion of such apparently simple questions, it may be stated that inlets of the sea, of greater or less extent, were called "rivers" by one party and "creeks''^ by the other; that "bays" of large size were claimed as the "mouths of rivers''' on the ground that streams, inconsiderable in size, emptied into them and that a "river'''' was not only an inland current of fresh water, but was one also when the inlet owed its waters almost entii-ely to the sea. ;.

;. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON,. 41. Of the many questions which arose, however, the most important was in regard to the line which should mark the outer limit During the discussion which preof the River St. Lawrence. <;eded the settlement of the Northeastern Boundary, the British Government indirectly claimed that the mouth of -that river was defined by a line drawn from Cape Rozier to the Island of Anticosti, and thence to the Mingan Islands on the north shore, and until very lately the Gazetteers and many maps have assigned to The British Commissioner under it the same relative position. the Reciprocity Treaty presented a claim to the same line which, if it had been yielded to, would have excluded the fishermen of the United States from a part of the sea more extensive than the Bays of Chaleur, Fundy, Delaware, and Chesapeake put together. To meet this claim, the river from Quebec to the Gulf was examined, and an argument prepared, based upon the discharge of the inland current of fresh water the parallelism or divergence of the banks the freshets and their effects, the tides and currents and the depth, specific gravity, and coldness of the water between the mouth of the Saguenay and the Island of Anticosti', which showed that the river and its mouth terminated perhaps at Red Island Bank, and certainly at Pr. de Mouts. The area embraced within the two lines claimed respectively by the United States and Great Britain contained over 10,000 square miles of sea, valuable for its fisheries. The British Commissioner finally yielded, and the outer limit of the mouth of the St. Lawrence was established by a line drawn from Pr. de Monts to Cape Chatte. The watei's between that line and the Island of Anticosti constitute the northwest arm of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. ;. ;. January. 19th Meeting.. The President Mr,. J. J.. 21, 1872.. in the Chair.. Woodward made some. remarks. ON the -DESIRABILITY OF REPRODUCING PHOTOGRAPHS OF SCIENTIFIC OBJECTS, AND ESPECIALLY OF MAGNIFIED MICROSCOPICAL PREPARATIONS, IN A PERMANENT FORM BY SOME PHOTO-MECHANICAL METHOD..

BULLETIN OP THE. 42. (abstract.) Like M. Alexander Agassiz,* he had recently tried both the process, practised by Mr. Joha Carbutt, No. 1002 Arch Street, Philadelphia, and the Albertype method, used by Mr. E. Bierstadt, No. 902 Broadway, New York. Tlie first had reproduced a negative representing an ovule in situ in a mammalian ovary magnified 400 diameters, and had furnished an edition of five hundred copies of excellent quality and great uniformity. These prints were cheaper and handsomer, as well as more permanent, than silver prints, but like them required careful mounting on good stiff card-board. Mr. Bierstadt had furnished proofs by his method from a negative repi'esenting a section of mammary cancer, also magnified 400 diameters. These proofs were quite equal to the Woodbury prints, and had the advantage of being on flexible paper suitable for binding. If the edition should turn out to be equal to the proofs, this method would certainly be the more desirable one, and would be a valuable aid to those who wish to obtain trustworthy representations of scientific objects. Dr. Woodward then exhibited the illustrations above referred to.. Woodbury. Mr.. Henry. presented a report from Mr. E. J. Earquhar. ON CERTAIN REMARKABLE EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING, Mr. B. F. Craig made some remarks. ON THERMOMETERS exhibiting a. number. ;. of instruments of different kinds.. 20th Meeting,. February The President. Mr.. J. S.. Billings read. a.. 5,. 18T2.. in the Chair.. paper. on some minute fungi, illustrated. by numerous drawings and specimens.. * Application of Photography. Alexander Agassiz.. to-. illustrations of Natural History,. by.

43. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON.. (abstract.) the After a brief description of the system of classification of the microscopic fungi at present in use, attention was called to imperfect, and can only fact that this system is in many respects be improved by learning the life history of these organisms. Various forms of culture apparatus and growing slides were exMaddox, and the hibited, including those of Hallier, De Bury, speaker. The nature and. ,. mode. of propagation of bacteria. •. ^. were explamed,. series of experiments on spontaneous generabeing a repetition of those described by Dr. H. C. Bastiau, Tliese results did not correspond with those were exhibited. tuljes sealed given by Dr. Bastian. Solutions of turnip placed in reheated— by while boilinf were allowed to cool, and were then 210 ^ 220\ sets of three-to 100^ 120^ 140^ 160^ 180\ 200^ appearedand 240' F. respectively. No signs of change or hie fluid in a part of The upwards. 180' and to heated tubes in the The from bacteria. the tubes not heated to 180= became turbid forms of growing results of attempts to cultivate bacteria in various In no case could slides and on different substrata were shown. into Hypho- or Physo-mycetous forms be considered. and the results of a tion,. development. things of It is probable that the microzymes include as proven. cannot be disvery diverse origin, properties and powers which from each other by any power of the microscope at. tinguished. our couimand. pattern, Mr. B. F. Craig submitted two thermometers of new. and explained OP VERIFYING. A METHOD. WITH EXACTNESS THE INDICATIONS OP A THERMOMETER.. stated certain views entertained by himself more elaborate on the subject of the Aurora Borealis, promising a communication at an early date.. Mr.. W.. B.. Taylor. February. 21sT Meeting. '. Mr.. W.. B.. The President. Taylor presented. in the Chair.. a communication. ON THE AURORA.. 24, 18*72..

;. BULLETIN OF THE. 44. (abstract.). The two generally recognized circumstances of an annual penumber and brilliancy of auroral displays, and of. riodicity in the. —. —. frequently attained of several hundred miles the great elevation by their arches and streamers, an elevation to which our atrao sphere can hardly be supposed to extend, having led to a question whether extra-terrestrial matter in the form of cosmical dust or gaseous rings (similar to the August and November rings of meteors) might not be concerned in the phenomenon, by being periodically grazed by our planet or its atmosphere causing the discharge of electrical brushes the recent elaborate Memoir of Prof. Lovering on Auroras was consulted with much interest, to see what light, if any, might be thrown upon the speculation by his carefully tabulated results. As the summing up of a large number of local observations, two independent. tables, classified by months, are given; the first table being derived from catalogues reaching back some 575 years from 1864, and embracing an aggregate of 9885 observations and the second or supplementary table covering about 50 years, reaching down to 1868, and embracing an aggregate of 2497 observations (amounting together to 12,382 observations) both show when presented graphically the same characteristics, namely, two very notable maxima of frequency, in March and October, and one very remarkable minimum in June the second minimum in December being much less marked. By plotting a third curve giving the summation of the two curves, this is still more clearly presented the total maxima of March and October being respectively 1436 and 1341 and the two minima of June and December being respectively 455 and 1090. Mairan in 1754, from a tabulated catalogue of 1441 auroras, estimated the number occurring at our perihelion (in the early part of January), as being about seven times that at our aphelion (in the early part of July). Prof. Lovering, however, from his much larger collection, has pointed out that the two minima agree very nearly with our solstices, and the two maxima with our equinoxes. The great minimum of June occurs when our nights are shortest but after making due allowance for this, there is still a very marked deficiency observable. Plotting in a corresponding manner the monthly frequency of meteoric displays, in three separate curves, representing, first, an aggregate of 1358 observations collected by Biot from the Chinese annals (reaching back considerably beyond the Christian era) secondly a table of Arago, comprising an aggregate of 813 observations of noted fire-balls and thirdly, a table of Baumhaur, of aerolites and fire-balls observed previous to 1845, amounting to an aggregate of 767, we see that while there is a rough correspondency in these three curves, they show apparently no relation whatever to the curves of aurora frequency.. —. —. :. —. :. ;. ;. ;. ;.

—. PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP WASHINGTON.. -io. The inference deducible, therefore, from this brief and hasty survey is that no indication is afforded by Prof. Lovering's results, of an extra-terrestrial matter playing any part in the auroral discharge and that we must regard the phenomenon as a terrestrial one, notwithstanding the reach of 400 and 500 miles, which has been ascribed to the luminous beams. ;. Following this communication, remarks were made as follows. :. Mr. E. B. Elliott thought that the frequency of auroras had a simple relation to the change in the length of the earth's radius vector. Auroras occur most frequently when the earth is most rapidly approaching to or receding from the sun. when the. radius vector. illustrate this. is. — that. most rapidly changing. its. is,. at times. length.. To. view Mr. Elliott presented a table comparing by. months the frequency of auroras, with the monthly differences in the logarithms of the earth's radius vector. The monthly periods of maximum frequency of auroras being in March and October, while the periods of the most rapid increment and decrement of the logarithm of the radius vector were likewise respectively in the months of. March and. October.. The data employed by Mr. Elliott to show the frequency of auroras embraced from ten to twelve thousand observations, as given in the general catalogue of auroras published by Professor Lovering.. Mr. C.. Abbe stated that he had lately carefully studied. the valu-. able tables of Prof. Lovering, and had, moreover, during the past. year, systematically collated. all. the observations of auroras ac-. weather charts of the Array. cessible to him, with the tri-daily. Signal Office, and had arrived at a firm conviction that the aurora stood. in. sphere acting. ;. an intimate relation to the condition of the earth's atmothat, in fact,. — might be. although. its. ultimate cause might be ever. cosmical, and might therefore be subject to. periods of one, eleven, and. fifty-five. that cause could not produce. years. —yet on the other hand. its visible effect,. the aurora, except. in certain conditions of the earth's atmosphere, and that therefore. between auroral phenomena some of the details of which he then. certain remarkable relations existed. and. terrestrial atorms, &c.,. briefly indicated..

:. BULLETIN OF THE. 46. Mr.. Newcomb. S.. thought the. difficulties of parallactic. determi-. nations rendered the estimate of the elevation of auroral streamers quite unreliable, and that the height. had been greatly exaggerated,. the British observations not indicating. much over 100. In. miles.. regard to the tabulated monthly frequency, as auroras were mainly seen betv^^een 8 and 10 o'clock, the fact that these hours. in. fell. June and July in the northern account for the small number of auroras. the months of. twilight during. countries might of itself. seen in those months.. On. Mr. J. E. HiLGARD perfectly agreed with Mr. Newcomb.. one or two occasions Prof. Henry, with others, had attempted. to. obtain the parallax of notable and characteristic auroras, but while. a distance could, of course, be assigned from the angles given. Jby. any two observers, so soon as a third observation M^as combined there. was no accord, and no parallax. possible.. In addition to. the uncertainty of the monthly numbers from the changed lengths. of the evenings,. it. appeared that no allowance had been made for. the average cloudiness of nights, which would also be found to. have an annual law, and the omission of which would introduce ot uncertainty and source of error in comparing. another element. monthly numbers. \. Mr. J.. Henry. said that the. phenomena of the aurora were. evi-. dently electrical, and as such thei'e were two facts to consider first,. the electrical discharge; and second, the matter illuminated. by the discharge.. He. had, during a visit to. years ago, repeated an experiment light,. in. Lake Superior a few. which a beam of the auroral. concentrated by a small concave mirror,. which were. became. visible. writing. when. He had. fell. on a paper on. and which same invisible. letters written with sulphate of quinine,. also. as in the experiments with the. illuminated by a discharge of electricity.. made an. observation on the effect produced by the. aurora on the needle of a galvanometer, one end of the wire of. which was connected with the water pipes, and the other with the gas pipes of the city.. In the exhibition of the aurora, on one occasion the needle was deflected 90°, and was only stopped by two pins placed at this degree to prevent farther motion.. A. similar effect. was always observed. v/heii. a flash of lightning. took place within the visible horizon of Washington..