SCIENCEA WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE

OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONFOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1905.

CONTENTS.The American Association for the Advance-

m-ent of Science:Section D, Mechanical Science and Engi-neering: PROFESSOR WM. T. MAGRUDER.... 721

The Fisheries Laboratory at Beaufort: DR.CASWELL GRAVE ................................732

Scientifie Books:-Castle on the Heredity of Coat Charactersin Guinea Pigs and Rabbits: PROFESSOpR T.H. MORGAN. Branner on the Stone Reefsof Brazil: DR. ORvILLE A. DERBY..........737

Scientific Journals and Articles ............ 740

Societies and Academies:-The Society for Experimental Biology andMedicine: DR. WILLIAM J. GIES. ThePhilosophical Society of Washington: DR.CHARLES K. WEAD. The Biological Societyof Vashington: E. L. MORRIS. MichiganOrnithological Club: DR. A. W. BLAIN, JR.The American Mycological Society........ 741

Discussion and Correspondence:-Audubon's Account of the New MadridEarthquake: M. L. FULLER. Suggestionsfor Facilitating the o7rk of Zoologists:T. D. A. COCKERELT. ..................... 748

Special Articles:-A Card Index Stock List for use in Univer-sity Departments of Organic Chemistry:PROFESSOR MARSTON TAYLOR BOGERT. AQuantitative Circulation Scheme; RockingKey with Metal Contacts: PROFESSOR WM.T. PORTER. Some Notes on the Myodomeof the Fish Cranium: DR. EDWIN CHAPINSTARKS ...... ............................. 75)

Botanical Notes:-Life History of the Pines; Limu; A NewGrass Book; The Useful Plants of Guam:PROFESSOR CHARLES E. BESSEY .......... 755

Scientifie Notes and News ................. 757

University and Educational News.......... 760

MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intendedfor review should be sent to the Editor of SCiENcES Garri-son-on-Hudson, N. Y.

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THEADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

SECTION D, MECHANICAL SCIENCE ANDENGINEERING.

THE meetings were held in the engineer-ing building of the University of Pennsyl-vania. The following officers were electedto serve during the meeting:

Councilor-P. W. McNair, president MichiganCollege of Mines, Houghton, Mich.Member of the General Committee-H. S.

Jacoby, professor of bridge engineering, CornellUniversity, Ithaca, N. Y.Member of the Sectional Committee, 1905 to

1910-A. M. Greene, Jr., professor of mechanicalengineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.

The secretary of the section was electedpress secretary; vice-president and chair-man of the section D. S. Jacobus, professorof experimental engineering, Stevens Insti-tute, Hoboken, N. J., was forced to be ab-sent, owing to illness in his family. Thesectional committee appointed Calvin M.Woodward, ex-vice-president of the section,to act as chairman of the section for themeeting.The program had been arranged so that

papers pertaining to civil engineering,mechanical engineering, metallurgical en-gineering- and general engineering, andto engineering education, should be readat separate sessions. The program ofWednesday morning, December 28, was de-voted to civil engineering. The first paperon the program was by C. G. Elliott, expertin irrigation and drainage investigationsof the Department of Agriculture, Wash-ington, D. C., and was on 'Irrigation andDrainage Investigations of the Department

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of Agriculture.' He showed that whilechemical analysis may show that two soilsare equally rich in plant food, yet on ac-count of unfavorable water conditions, oneof them may be quite unproductive, andthe different portions of even the samefield may vary in their production on ac-count of differences in the water content ofthe soil. The supply of water and the con-trol or regulation of its quantity in soils ofdifferent classes under varying climaticconditions for the production of crops of afirst-class character present an importantfield which now occupies the attention ofthe irrigation and drainage investigations.The objects of this work are to ascertainthe best methods and provoke their use inapplying water to soils where it is deficient,conserving and regulating its quantity, re-moving surplus from saturated soils andreclaiming and protecting lands from over-flow, all of which invokes a variety of en-gineering practise. The soil water neces-sary for the growth of plants is held aboutsoil drains in films and is removed from thesoil by capillarity, plant absorption andsurface evaporation only. Irrigation mustsupply this amount when deficient, andany surplus must be removed by drainage.The water-holding capacity of differentsoils is an important subject for investiga-tion. The part of the engineer is to pro-vide means for supplying, regulating andcontrolling the soil, water to meet the needsof the various kinds of soils encounteredand plants grown therein, and includes astudy of the movements of water, both bycapillarity and by gravity.Henry S. Jacoby, professor of bridge

engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca,N. Y., presented 'Some Notes on Rein-forced Concrete Arches,' giving the resultsof his study and investigations during the-past year and supplementing his previouspapers.

E. J. MeCaustland, assistant professor

in civil engineering, Cornell University,Ithaca, N. Y., next presented a paper on'Tests of Reinforced Cooncrete Beams,' inwhich he presented the data and conclu-sions obtained from the tests to failure oftwenty-three beams of concrete, reinforcedby plain and various forms of patentedbars of steel. They were 6 by 8 inches insize and 6 feet long. Plain square steelrods were used, varying in sizes from t toX inch and placed either 1j or 2 inchesfrom the lower face of the beam. Thebeams were made of a very lean concrete(1 cement, 2.5 sand and 9 broken lime-stone), so that in all cases the steel rein-forcing bars developed full strength of theconcrete before reaching the elastic limit.Deflections were measured, and also theextensions of the lower fibers. A carefulwatch was kept to determine the appear-ance of fine cracks. The loads were re-leased after each reading so as to measurethe set. Tests of the beams with plainsquare bars showed poor adhesion and theearly development of fine cracks, so thatthe smallest percentage of reinforcementseemed sufficient. The beams having rein-foreement 1j inches from the lower faceshowed greatest strength. In the secondseries sets of beams were laid up with rein-forcements of Ransome bars, Johnson cor-rugated bars, Kahn bars, corrugated barswith iron stirrups, Thatcher bars, and twobeams with plain bars for comparison. Theratio of reinforcement was made about 0.58per cent. and the center of the steel barswas placed 11 inches from the lower faceof the beams. The extensibility of the re-inforced concrete in these tests was one in1,621, while that of the plain concrete wasone in 11,000. The results show the su-periority of the corrugated bars underordinary conditions. They also draw sharpattention to an interior weakness in a rein-forcemenit having diagonal wings rigidlyattached. The tests show the folly of at-

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tempting to reinforce a concrete which willnot of itself clevelop a fair degree ofstrength, and they throw very seriousdoubts upon the wisdom of using certaintypes of diagonal reinforcements in beams.The paper will probably be published inthe Engineering Record.Owing to the absence of Mr. Richard L.

Huumphrey, consulting engineer, of Phila-delphia, his paper on 'Some Notes on theManufacture and Testing of Cement' wasread only by title.

In a paper on 'The Menace to the En-trance of New York Harbor,' by Lewis M.I-laupt, consulting engineer, Philadelphia,after reviewing the different projects whichhave been carried on by the general govern-nent for the improvement of the channelsleading into the lower bay, the authorshowed by means of charts that in the pastcentury the inlet to Jamaica Bay hasnioved seven miles to the west, and alsothat the spit at Sandy Hook has advancedabout a mile, and is now moving into thebay, depositing half a million yards ofsand every year. It was held that theseencroachments upon the entrance to NewTork harbor formed a menace which couldno longer be overlooked. The author founda remedy in a single reaction training wallwhich would concentrate the ebb of thecurrents and prevent the; continued depositof drift which threatens to convert ConeyIsland and Manhattan Beach into lagoons.The estimated cost of this would be butone-half of the present contract for dredg-ing the channel, which it is stated can notbe maintained, as it fills up very rapidly.The paper was subsequently read beforeSection E; and extracts of it were pub-lished in the New York daily papers andcaused much discussion in both engineeringand commercial circles.At the conclusion of this paper, Section

D joined the meeting of Section I to listento a paper and discussion on 'Specializa-

tion in Manufacturing' by Alexander E.Outerbridge, Jr., metallurgist of WilliamSellers & Company, Incorporated, of Phila-delphia. The paper gave data from actualexperience, showing the enormous econ-omies, as well as limitations, of the modernmethods of concentrated effort and capitalin a single production, as compared witholder methods in general practise. Thepaper will be found in full in the Januaryissue of the Annals of the American Acad-emy of Poltiticat and Social Science.On Wednesday afternoon after luncheon

the members of the section, in charge ofcompetent guides, visited the new electricpower station of the Philadelphia ElectricCompany. This station presented a nota-ble illustration of the many uses of con-crete, of which the most novel was prob-ably the installation of the high tensionwires and fuses in vertical cases made ofmonolithic concrete construction.

Later the members visited the high pres-sure fire service plant of the city of Phila-delphia. This plant is notable in that thelarge triplex power pumps are operatedby gas-engines supplied with artificial gasfrom the city mains. No standby lossesare incurred, full pressure is available intwo minutes from the time the fire alarmis sounded, which is much sooner than thecompany can get to the hydrant nearest tothe fire. The quantity of water is muehlarger than could be obtained by the nor-mal number of fire engines, while ampleprovision in the way of valves has beenmade for the bursting of mains.On Thursday morning, owing to the ab-

sence of the author, paper number seven,on 'Some Notes on Ventilating Problems,'by Charles B. Dudley, of the PennsylvaniaRailroad Co., Altoona, Pa., was read bytitle only. It was followed by an interest-ing paper by C. J. Zintheo, professor offarm mechanics, Iowa State College, Ames,

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Ia., on 'American M\achinery as a Factorin Agriculture':"Farm machinery has made it possible

to develop the vast agricultural resourcesof the country. During the first two hun-dred years after the Pilgrim Fathers set-tled on the American shore, the resourcesof the country failed to bring about anyincrease of importance in commerce or inthe products of agriculture. As late as1845, people did not raise enough whea-tfor their bread. With the advent of thesteel plow, the self-binding harvester andthe steam threshing machine, there was amarked change in the producing power ofthe American people. Our food supply in-creased from 4.33 bushels of wheat perperson in 1845 to 5.50 bushels of wheat in1859; to 7.45 bushels in 1869, and as highas ten bushels in 1889. During the sametime the population on the farms had de-creased to 80 per cent. in 1850 and 33 percent. in 1900. The American farmers ofto-day with one third the labor of the coun-try produce enough food to support, notonly themselves, but the other 67 per cent.that live in the cities, and exported farmproducts during the year 1904 to the valueof the enormous sum of $960,000,000, ac-cording to the United States Secretary'sreport. This same report states that in1830 it took over three hours' labor to raiseone bushel of wheat; in 1896 it took tenminutes. In 1830 the labor in one bushelof wheat cost 171 cents; in 1896 it cost 31cents. In 1850 the labor represented in abushel of corn was four and one half hours,while in 1894 it had been reduced to forty-one minutes. (This has, been greatly re-duced since then by the introduction of themore modern corn harvesting machines.)In 1860 it is estimated that the labo,r inone ton of hay in bales represented 351hours, while in 1894 this labor was reducedto 11. hours, or from a cost of $3.00 inlabor to $1.29 in labor. The report esti-

mates that in the year 1899 the agriculturalimplements in the United States saved inhuman labor the sum of $681,471,827.This country is the greatest maker anduser of agricultural implements in theworld, and this is largely due to the factthat this country is the most prosperousagricultural country in the world. It hasenabled the farmer to pay the high pricefor labor caused by the competition of our-manufacture, and has taken away fromfarm life much of the drudgery and man-ual labor and made it in the best sense anintellectual pursuit. Improvements inmachinery have brought about a steadydecrease in the cost of production, notwith-standing the steady rise in wages. Togive an idea of the vast sums of moneyinvested in farm machinery, take, for in-stance, the following states: Iowa has $57,-960,000 invested; New York, $56,006,000;Pennsylvania, $50,917,240; Illinois, $44,-977,310; and Ohio, $36,354,450. The totalvalue of implements on farms in this coun-try is $761,261,000, an averaffe of $133per farm and 90 cents per acre of farmland. The American farmers buy an-nually $100,000,000 of farm implements.New designs of farm machinery are beingconstantly added, so that the farm ma-chinery is surely the greatest factor in thedevelopment of American Agriculture."

In a paper on 'A Method of Determin-ing the Moisture Existing in Steam at At-mospheric Pressure,' D. S. Jacobusi, pro-fessor of experimental engineering, StevensInstitute of Technology, Hoboken, N. J.,illustrated with blue prints and describedthe method which he had adopted for de-termining the dryness of steam. It con-sisted of mingling a known weight ofsuperheated steam with a known weight ofsaturated steam at atmospheric pressure.The steam was still superheated aftermingling and its temperature was meas-ured. Careful measurements were made to

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determine the radiation of the apparatus.From data thus obtained the amount ofmoisture in the saturated steam was de-termined. This method is similar to thatemployed by Mr. George 11. Barrus in oneof the older forms of his calorimeters. Theparticular problemn to be investigated washow much mi-toisture would be contained insteam at atmospheric pressure after it hadpassed throug,h two separators of a certainform. The tests showed that the stea.m atatmospheric pressure leaving t.he separa-tors contained about one tenth of one percent. of moisture, a result which was withinthe probable error of the instrument, forwhich reason it was fair to conclude thatthe steam was dry.

The paper will be published in the Engi-uieerinlg Review.

G. W. Bissell, professor of mechanicalenginieering, Iowa, State College, Ames, Ia.,next presented a paper ofn 'Hot Blast Heat-ing 'and Ventilating,' giving results of ex-perimnents on the heating and ventilationof the new engineering building of IowaState College. This building is equippedwith Sturtevant hot blast apparatus, thePaul system of vacuum steam heating, andthe Powers system of temperature regula-tion. The total steam condensation wasmeasured hourly, and continuous recordswere kept for two months. Forty-threeseparate tests were made at steam pres-suires, varying from 5 to 25 pounds andwith air pressures varying from 0.6 to 1.5inehes. The paper gave a series of testsshowingf the coefficients of condensationwith one or more sections of coils in use,and at different steam pressures, and withdifferent, quantities of air being forced overthe coils. The paper Awas published in theEingin.eerialg RL'eviev.

In a case where a man was killed by theburstinig of an elbow on a. steam main nearwhich he was working, the question aroseas to the number of pieces into which such

would be broken if it were struck with ahaimmer when under steam pressure. D.S. Jacobus, professor of experimental en-gineering, Stevens Institute of Technology,Hoboken, N. J., presented the results oftests which he had muade on fittings of thesame size and weight as the one whichcaused the accident and on some similarfittings. The former was an extra heavyelbow for a three-inch standard pipe. Thesmaller fittings which were tested were oftwo-inch stancdard size and of the ordinaryweight. In the tests, the elbows werebroken by hitting them with a hammerswung by hand when they were subjectedto pressures of 80 and 100 pounds persquare inch. The hammer, together withits handle, weighed four pounds. The fit-tings were struck on the outside directlyover each of the screw threads at pointsdirectly opposite the neck and in the planepassing through the pipe centers. Theextra heavy three-inch elbows broke in two,nearly symnietrical halves, the plane ofbrea.kage being that passing through thepipe centers. The two-inch fittings cfordinary weight, broke in two to four ormore irregular pieces. The paper waspublished in the Eiiguineering Record.

L. E. Lbewenstein, of the Department ofMAechanical Engineering, Lehigh Univer-sity, South Bethlehem, Pa., next presenteda paper on ' Somie of the Scientific Fea-tires and Developinent of the Steamn Tur-bine.' As the author is the Americantranslator of Professor Stadola.'s Germanwork on this subject, the paper was of muchiniterest to the audience which heard it.

In a third paper by Professor Jacobus,the angular displa-cement of the revolvingfields of two alternating current electricgenerators when connected in parallel wasdetermined by actual measurements andcompared with the computed amounts.The results were found to agree very closelywith each other. The generators on which

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the tests were made were of 1,500 kw.capacity and were located at the Manches-ter Street Station of the Rhode Island Co.,Providence, R. I. Large counterweightshad been placed on the engines in order toreduce the amount that they shook thebuilding. It was shown theoretically thatwhen the generators were coupled togetherwith the counterweights opposed, or at 180°fromn each other, the angular displacementwas about twice what it would have beenwithout the counterweights. The maxi-mum displacement due to counterweightaction and to irregularity in the effort ex-erted on the crank shaft was found bytheory to be 3.2 pole degrees and by ob-servation from 3 to 4 pole degrees. Theamount of angular displacement was ob-served to be the same, irrespective of theposition of the counterweights, but whenthe counterweights were opposed the dis-placements occurred every stroke, or-about94 times per minute, whereas, when thecounterweights were together, or nearly so,the displacements occurred at less frequentintervals, or about 30 to 40 times perminute. As the total displacement of thetwo fields from their true positions, as ob-served, was about the same irrespective ofthe relative positions of the two counter-weights, it follows that this displacementwvas produced as much through governoraction. as through any variation in the turn-ing effort during a single revolution.On Thursday afternoon, under the able

guidance of Professor Marburg, the mem-bers of the section were guests at luncheonof the contractor for the Belmont FiltrationPlant. After enjoying the social featuresof the afternoon, the members of the partywere conducted through the gate house,filtering galleries, and ha.d the details ofthe operation explained to them in muchdetail by Mr. John W. Hill, chief engineerof the bureau of filtration, and his son.The observations of the afternoon made the

succeeding illustrations of the eveningmnuch more real and valuable to those whohad the privilege of hearing both the after-noon demonstrations and the evening lec-ture.The Thursday evening session of Section

D was devoted to three extremely valuablepapers by notable engineers of the city ofPhiladelphia, on subjects which are ofmuch interest, both to engineers and citi-zens of Philadelphia and to engineers andscientists at large. They were very fullyillustrated by lantern slides. The firstwas by J. W. Hill, chief engineer of theBureau of Filtration of the Department ofPublic Works of Philadelphia, and was on'The Philadelphia Filtration System.'The second paper of the evening was by

Wim. S. Twining, chief engineer of thePhiladelphia Rapid Transit Co., and de-scribed and illustrated 'The Subway andElevated Railroad of the PhiladelphiaRapid Transit Company.'

The third paper was by George H. Web-ster, chief engineer, bureau of surveys ofthe board of public works of Philadelphia,and was on 'Modern Engineering in theCity of Philadelphia, under the Directionof the Bureau of Surveys.'

These papers were both most entertain-ing and instructive, and showed the greatadvances which have been made in the prac-tical applications of engineering science inthe municipal affairs of the city of Phila-dephia in providing for the citizens ahealthful water supply, rapid and con-venient methods o,f transportation, and up-to-date and modern methods of keepingrecords and performing the routine workof the office of city engineer in a largemunicipality.The first paper on the program of Fri-

day morning, December 30, was by ArthurH. Blanchard, assistant professor of civilengineering, Brown University, Provi-dence, R. I., and was on 'The Development

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of the State Highway System of RhodeIsland':"The first tangible step towards the es-

tablishment of a state system of continuoushighways in Rhode Island was the passageof an 'act to provide for the construction,improvement and maintenance of stateroads' by the General Assembly in 1902.The salient features of the 1902 act, are asfollows: the construction and maintenanceof the state highway system is vested in aboard, consisting of five members, whoserve without remuneration: the chief en-gineer is appointed by t.he board; the en-tire expense of construction and mainte-nance of standard roads is borne by thestate, resulting in a maximum benefit tothe state as a whole and to the urban aswell as the rural communities (the fifteentrunk highways comprising the state sys-tem of continuous roads have a total mile-age of 249 miles, 18.89 of which was con-tracted for by the state in 1903); an annualappropriation of $5,000 for general officeexpenses is included in the act: annualconstruction appropriations are based uponthe annual reports of the board ($100,000in 11903 and $100,000 in 1904); cost of ex-tra width, in excess of fourteen feet, is tobe borne by the towns concerned. Thestandard macadam road consists of 14feet of 6-inch macadam, built in twocourses of broken stone, with dust used asa top dressing only, the surface being inform, the two intersecting planes having atranverse slope of three fourths of an inchto the foot. By the knowledge obtainedfrom road metal tests made at Washington,together with information gained from ob-se rvations on how the material actuallywears and binds in practice, the boardhopes to reach satisfactory conclusionswith reference to the rocks that may beused for road building purposes in RhodeIsland. The recognition of the injuriouseffects of narrow tires upon macadam roads

resulted in the passage of an act in 1902 toprohibit the use of narrow tires after April,1905. It is believed that a- rigid enforce-ment of this law will materially reduce thecost of maintenance of the state roads."The next two papers on the morning's

program were on 'Lines of Progress inAeronautics,' and were intended to supple-ment the series of papers on this subjectwhich were presented at the St. Louis meet-ing of the association. Calvin M. Wood-ward, dean of the School of Engineeringand Architecture of Washington Univer-sity, St. Louis, Mo., described the effortswhich had been made and stated some ofthe reasons why they had not met withgreater success at the Louisiana PurchaseExposition during the past year. Being amember of the committee of the World'sFair on the subject of aeronautics, he wasable to speak with positive knowledge.The second paper was by Mr. K. Dients-

bach, of New York, who is the Americancorrespondent of Illustrierte AeronautischeMitteiltungen. He reviewed the recentprogress made in aeronautical science byMaxim, Langley, Zahm and the WrightBrothers.In the absence of the author, the paper

by David Todd, director, of Amherst Col-lege Observatory, on 'A Twelve-ton Ob-servatory Dome of Thirty-five Feet Diam-eter,' was read only by title.

Clarence A. Waldo, professor of mathe-matics at Purdue University, Lafayette,Ind., presented samples of 'A New Engi-neering Product, and Some of Its Prob-lems.' The product consisted of metallicmaterials formed into hollow shapes, suchas flasks, floats, spheres, bottles and thelike. It was much to be regretted that theexact method of manufacture was not de-scribed, and the 'problems' which had beenmet were only stated and their solution notgiven.

A. J. Wood, professor of experimental

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engineering, Pennsylvania State College,State College, Pa., next read a paper givingthe results of his experiments on 'Tests ofCold Drawn Steel Elevator Guides.' Hestated that many engineers were of theopinion that the cold rolling improved thetensile strength of steel more than did colddrawing. The paper called attention totests recently made by the author showingthe comnparative strengths in transverseloading of hot-rolled and planed T-shapedelevator guide-bars supported on 24-inchcenters, as compared with cold-drawn barsmade froin hot-rolled bars. The openhearth steel which was used contained from0.12 to 0.15 per cent. of carbon. The hot-rolled bars weighed 142 pounds per foot,and after rolling 14 pounds per foot. Theautographic stress-strain diagrams of thebar show that the actual elastic limit wasincreased from 13,900 pounds with the hot-rolled bars to 35,000 pounads with the cold-drawn bars, and that the yield point wasincreased from 17,500 to 38,500 by theprocess of eold-drawing; that the cold-drawn steel not only deflected less under agiven load, but that it suffered less perma-nent set. The paper will be published bythe AmeriGan Machinist.

The last paper of the morning was byC. M. Woodward and was on 'The TrackPressure Resulting from an EccentricWeight.' The paper elicited considerablediscussion from the mnathematical engineerswho were present. It will be published bythe St. LIouis Academy of Science.The session of Friday afternoon was de-

voted to engineering education. The vice-presidential address of the retiring vice-president, Calvin AI. Woodward, dean ofthe School of Engineering and Architee-tuire, Washington University, St. Louis,MO., on 'Recent Progress in EngineeringEducation, was true to its subject, and asit has been presented in the pages of Sci-

ENCE for January 6, 1905, nothing furtherneed be said.Edgar Marburg, professor of civil engi-

neering, University of Pennsylvania, nextdescribed the new engineering building ofthe University of Pennsylvania. It isexpected that it will cost $700,000, andwith its new additional equipment will cost$800,000. It will be capable of providingfor 500 engineering students in civil, me-chanical and electrical engineering. Oneof the noteworthy features is that of alarge number of small rooms each contain-ing comfortably not over fifteen students.These are to be used for recitation roomsand quizzes. Larger assembly rooms forall the sections of the class are also pro-vided, where one of the instructors canlecture to the class as a whole. This sys-tem of instruction and also the details ofthe building were discussed at considerablelength by the educators present.

'Desired Requirements for Entrance toEngineering Colleges' was the subject of apaper by William Kent, dean of the Col-lege of Applied Science, Syracuse Univer-sity, Syracuse, N. Y. He stated that thepresent requirements included English,history, mathematics, physics, science andmodern languages, each of which cultivatesa separate group of intellectual faculties.At Syracuse University a change has beenmade in the direction of broadening theentrance requirements so as to require sixgroups of study, and including free-handdrawing as one of the essential subjects.It is niow proposed to make another changeso as to require studies in seven groups,which, besides free-hand drawing, physicsor ehemistry, shall include one or morenatural sciences. The following advan-tages are claimed for the proposed entrancerequirements. First, the requirement ofseven studies instead of eight makes iteasier for high schools to give a thoroughpreparation. Second, it will decrease the

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number of conditions of entering students.Third, seven subjects selected from theseven groups, each studied with properthoroughness, give a more liberal andbroader education than eight subjects fromfive groups, including electives which maybe selected from the same five groups.Fourth, they include drawing and naturalscience, without which no one can rightlybe Said to have a broad and liberal culture.Fifth, by making options in language andin physics and natural science, the require-ments favor those high schools which areequipped to give some optional subjectsbetter than others. Requiring either phys-ics or chemistry, and not both, is a con-venience to the college, so that either phys-ics or chemistry can be given in the fresh-man year to those students who do notpresent one or the other.The last paper scheduled for the after-

noon had been read at a previous sessionof the section and was on 'The Value ofCourses in Agricultural Engineering,' byElwood Mead, chief of irrigation anddrainage investigations, U. S. Departmentof Agriculture, Washington, D. C.:

"Agricultural engineers have hithertohad little opportunity for practising theirprofession in the United States, the largeareas of cheap land and crude and wastefulmethods of cultivation preventing anylarge expenditures on engineering worksfor. the improvement or reclamation ofagricultural areas." These conditions are now rapidly

changing. The }uilding of canals anddams to irrigate the arid lands of the west,the construction of dikes'and drains, andthe installation of pumps to remove thesurplus water from our swamp and over-flowed lands are twe of a number. of linesof work which are opening up broad fieldsof usefulness and power to speciallytrained young men. Our agricultural col-leges are recognizing this and beginning to

provide adequate courses of instruction.Within the past year the Iowa State Col-lege has completed a commodious building,with a complete equipment for instructionin this branch of engineering. Wisconsinis erecting a building; Illinois, Minnesota,Nebraska and Wyoming have courses inagricultural engineering; while Coloradoand California make irrigation engineeringone feature of their courses in civil engi-neering. Special training in the ad-minis-tration of canals and in the laws and cus-toms governing the use of streams is re-quired by the irrigation engineer. This isbeing provided by the agricultural collegesand by the reports of the irrigation anddrainage investigations of the Office of Ex-periment Stations, U. S. Department ofAgriculture."Drainage engineering is becoming an

important factor in agricultural produc-tion. The reclamation of the swamp andoverflowed lands along our sea and gulfcoasts will add nearly 100,000,000 acres tothe productive area. Tile underdrains arebeing made use of to protect hillside farmsfrom erosion."Modern farm machinery includes mo-

tors run by steam, gasoline, electricity andwind. Where farmers do not understandtheir care and management, there is greatwaste and loss. Although this country isthe greatest maker and user of farm ma-chinery in the world, the agriculturalschools of the United States are far behindthose of Europe in the training given onthis subject."The last session of the section was.held

on Friday evening, and, like those whichhad preceded it, was provided with a veryfull program. The first paper of the eve-ning was by John Birkinbine, consultingengineer, of Philadelphia, and discussed'The Iron Ore Supply of the United Statesand Its Movement.' The author stated thatthe advances made in iron manufacture

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have been largely brought about by methodsof transporting and handling 35,000,000long tons of iron ore which form the prod-uct of the mines of the United States. Sosuccessfully has this transportation problembeen solved to cheaply handle ores from themines to cars and from cars through docksto vessels, again from vessels to stock pilesor to cars, that a number of deposits of ironore are lying dormant close to blast fur-naces because cheap transportation deliv-ered iron ore of superior quality to thefurnaces at a lower cost than it is believedthe local ores can be won and used. Theexcellent quality of the Lake Superior oresand their very low phosphorus and sulphurcontents make these ores especially de-sirable. The ore from the Lake Superiorregion forms over three fourths of all theiron ore mined in the United States. Alarge portion of it is not touched by thehand of man from the time it leaves itsbed in mother earth until it is charged intothe throat of the blast furnace. Steamshovels, automatic chutes, drop bottomcars, mechanical handlers, bridge tram-ways, bins and skip cars take the place ofmanual labor and permit handling andtransporting large quantities of iron ore ata marvelously low rate. By this meansthe American iron ores can be conveyedlong distances from the mines to the pointof consumption at an extremely low rateper ton.The paper will be found on page 56 of

the Iron Trade Review, March 16, 1905.'Science in the Foundry' was the sub-

ject of a paper presented by Alexander E.Outerbridge, Jr., metallurgist of Wm. Sel-lers & Co., Incorporated, of Philadelphia,Pa. It was illustrated with lantern slidesshowing the interiors of foundries in sev-eral large industrial establishments, givingrealistic- views of immense molds and ofcastings made therein; of the modern 'over-head traveling cranes,' capable of raising

fifty tons or more, and transporting theseheavy castings and materials with safetyand despatch over the heads of the moldersand other workmen on the floor. Picturesshowing the characteristic appearance offractured bars of iron, and of castings ofdifferent kinds, ranging from tiny castingsweighing a few ounces up to immense ma-chinery castings weighing many tons, werethrown on the screen. Photographs of barsof cast iron which had been caused to'grow' in cubical dimensions in a remark-able manner, while in the solid state; alsophotographs of a number of castings whichhad been increased in size by a novel treat-ment were shown-for which discovery theFranklin Institute recently awarded to theauthor the 'Elliot Cresson Gold Medal,' thehighest in its power to bestow. Two barsof iron cast in one mold, and of preciselythe same size, were presented for criticalinspection, one bar remained exactly ascast, the companion bar had been causedto grow gradually in cubical dimensionsuntil it is now 46 per cent. larger than theother, the weight remaining the same' asbefore expansion. Both bars were 'ma-chined' on one side to show the texture andmetallic appearance; it was difficult to de-tect any change except the very apparentdifference in size. This extraordinarychange in bulk was produced by alternatelyheating and cooling the bar to a 'critical'temperatture a number of times, in themanner which has been fully described inthe 'Report of the Committee of Scienceand Arts of the Franklin Institute.' Im-portant practical applications have alreadybeen found for this remarkable discovery.The speaker said that formerly there wasno scientific method of supervision infoundry practise, and a chemist in a foun-dry would have been thought to be as muchout of his proper sphere as the proverbial'bull in a china shop' ! That day has goneby, and the substitution of scientific system

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for empirical methods in progressive foun-dries has gradually grown from very smallbeginnings Lntil it has now reached a rec'og-nized position of importance. This is truenot only in regard to the metallurgicalstudy of pig iron for castings, but also inmethods of molding and other cognatebranches of the founder's art. The recentgreat improvement in the design and con-struction of molding-machines has led tothe gradual substitution of machine mold-ing for hand labor in a large and rapidlyexpanding degree. The scientific examina-tion of molding sand and other materialsused in molding has led to important im-provements and economies. In fact, theinfluence of this newly awakened scientificinterest in foundry improvement is extend-ing in all directions. The result is that themanufacturer of machinery is enabled toobtain castings from foundries conductedon modern methods which are far betteradapted to the work for which they aredesigned than heretofore, and he is, there-fore, enabled to guarantee quality andstrength with an assurance which he couldnot formerly give. From these observa-tions it may be inferred that, although thefield for cast iron has been invaded to agreat extent by cast steel, the producers ofiron castings have been spurred on to im-prove their product, and thus to keep inline with the progress of the age, and toshow that in spite of this competition thefield is still open for their ocecupation.One of the most interesting papers of the

Philadelphia uieetinu was cn 'Recent Ad-vances in the Mechanical Science Involvedin the Coinage of 'Money,' by Edwin S.Clhurch, suiperintenident of machinery,IUnited States Mint, Philadelphia. It wasillustrated by lantern slides and describedin mnuch detail the process of manufactur-ing money from the power plant with itslarge engines, through the various. proc-esses required in the coinage of money byrolling, stamping, punching and mil ling.

and the great pressures wvhich are neces-sary to effect the results. Mr. Churchniade the interesting statement that it wasinmpossible for the new United States AMintat Philadelphia, with all its increased facil-ities, to supply the demand for coppercents during the two or three weeks imune-diately preceding the Christmas holidays,showNing to what a large extent Christmasis the children's festival, and how largelyit enters into the business of our country.The sectional comimittee of Section D de-

sires to express its cordial appreciation ofthe kindly attention and services renderedit by Professor Edgar Marburg and Pro-fessor H. W. Spangler, of the Universityof Pennsylvania, and to the engineers ofPhiladelphia who so kindly took part,either on the program or in the excursions,or permitted us to visit their works.

It is to be regretted that a larger numberof the menmbers of the association were notin attendance, and especially when it is re-membered that there has been a large in-crease in the membership of both the asso-ciation and the section within the past fewyears. Papers alone, even by eminent men,do not make a successful meeting. Theymay form an attractive program, but oneof their chief objects is to elicit discussion,without which any program, no matter howgood, is likely to fall flat. WThile there wassome discussion over some of the paperspresented at the Philadelphia meeting be-fore Sectioii D, neither the attendance ofmembers nor the discussions were as plenti-ful as was desired. The sectional commit-tee uiay procure and present a suitableprogram, but unless the members attendthe sessions and take part in the discus-sions, its work will be largely in vain.It is to be hoped that the members of theassociation will make a special effort, evenif it includes some sacrifice, to attend themeeting at New Orleans next December.

WM. T. MAGRUDER,Secretary.

?-,31MAY 12, 1905.]

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SCIENCETHE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF

Wm. T. Magruder

DOI: 10.1126/science.21.541.721 (541), 721-731.21Science 

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