resulting from the manufacture of sugar and syrup from sugar cane. The importance of the supply of tanning materials and of the study of leathers in regard to strength, appearance and durability is also growing, and constant demands are made upon the Bureau of Chemistry for information on these points. Most important of the new work which was undertaken during the past year is the inspection of imported food products. Problems connected with the use of artificial colors, glucoses and preservatives have also been studied with a view of making the law more efficient. In the food laboratory important studies have been made during the year on the composition of tropical fruits and fruit products.

In the road material laboratory extensive tests have been made of all the materials used in road construction, both physical and chemical. The relations of colloidal structure to plasticity have been made the subject of especial research, the results of which were communicated to the society at the Philadelphia meeting by Dr. Cushman.

In the insecticide and agricultural water laboratory investigations of insecticides and fungicides, in connection with the Division of Entomology and the Bureau of Plant Industry, have been continued and an elaborate investigation of the character of mineral waters offered for sale has been partially completed. The work on the arsenic content of papers and fabrics sold on the American market has been completed and published as Bulletin No. 86.. F. H. POUGH, Secretary.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

6 BERYLLIUM' OR 'GLUCINUM.' THERE is apparently little difference of opinion between Dr. Howe and myself as to the facts upon which a claim to priority of 'beryllium' over 'glucinum' as a name for the element under discussion is based, and I am willing to leave the interpretation of those facts to chemists at large.

It has, I think, been supposed, by those of the profession who have not personally looked into the matter, that the oxide was named

'glucine' by Vauquelin himself. I understand that Dr. Howe in his reply to me in SCIENCE, for January 6, admits that Vauquelin did not name the element or the oxide; that he in fact would probably have liked to name it beryllia,' really adopting glucine in his fourth publication under virtual protest, and that the clause 'la terre du Béril' used by Vauquelin in place of a name was literally translated into German as 'Berylerde,' becoming a definite name, used to this day, before Vauquelin consented to the use of 'glucine.' I think also that he will not question the fact that when it came to the actual use of the terms themselves Wohler separated and described beryllium* before Bussy prepared 'glucinium 't although they were but a few weeks apart. With this summary I am perfectly willing to leave the question of priority to the ninety and nine' who are already using the more preferable term.

As to usage, it is quite evident that Dr. Howe's closing remarks are intended as a pleasantry, as I hardly think he wishes to give the impression that kalzium, kolumbium, etc., are the custom in German chemical literature. He does not question that the major part of the literature is German nor that the Germans, Swedes, Danes, Russians, Dutch and Italians use 'beryllium' exclusively. Next to the Germans the French have the most articles to their credit and use 'glucinium' exclusively, but the impression which Dr. Howe seems to wish to convey, that this is the customary term in England and America, is not correct. He made a lucky find in the index of the Journal of the Chemical Society (London) for 1903, which does read 'Beryllium, see Glucinum,' for some unknown reason, for the one abstract to which it refers uses 'beryllium' solely both in title and in subject matter, and 'glucinum' does not appear in this journal in index or abstracts on the subject for several years previously, although the abstracts are frequently from the French. This journal apparently leaves the matter to the wishes of the author, for Pollock in 1904 uses again 'glucinum.' For at least five years * Ann. der Phys., 13, 577.

Journal de chim. medical, 4, 453.

the term 'beryllium' has been used exclusively in the index of the Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry and, so far as I have noticed, in the subject matter as well. On the other hand, the Chemical News uses the two words interchangeably in its articles, abstracts and index, part of its articles being indexed under one head and part under the other, and, unfortunately, without any attempt at cross reference. In America only one original article has appeared on the subject in many years which has used 'glucinum.' The American Chemical Journal has used 'beryllium.' The American Journal of Arts and Sciences for some years has used 'beryllium' and it is here that some of the best articles have appeared. The Journal of Physical Chemistry uses 'beryllium.' The Journal of the American Chemical Society has allowed its contributors to choose, and one article and two abstracts have appeared on 'glucinum' since its publication.

To play on Dr. Howe's own words, I think that with American, English, German, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Russian, Italian, etc., journals and chemists using 'beryllium,' we can afford to let the French cling to 'glucinium' (not 'glucinum') a little while longer.

It is true that the committee appointed by the American Association on the Spelling and Pronunciation of Chemical Terms did recommend 'glucinum,' and so far as I can find its members are about the only American chemists loyal to the term. I think it highly unfortunate that their recommendations as to spelling and pronunciation have not been more generally adopted in our chemical literature and language, but it is true they have not and in regard to 'glucinum' it is my humble opinion that they were wrong.

CHARLES LATHROP PARSONS. NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE, January 23, 1905.

THE ENGLISH SPARROW AS EMBRYOLOGICAL

MATERIAL.

DOUBTLESS many readers of SCIENCE who conduct courses in vertebrate embryology, in which the chick is one of the forms studied, have spent laborious hours in mounting serial

sections of embryos of from five to eight days' development. The chick embryo of this age has reached so considerable a size that, even though the sections be cut comparatively thick, a complete series will fill a large number of slides. Of course type sections may be selected, and slide-room thus saved, but it takes nearly as long to prepare such a selected series as it does to mount the entire series.

A convenient substitute for the later chick embryos may be found in the ubiquitous and generally disliked English sparrow. There are probably few localities where the nests of this little pest may not be found; frequently they are so numerous that a large number of eggs may be obtained without difficulty.

So far as size is concerned, the sparrow, even at the time of hatching, is small enough to section without especial difficulty, and at the stage corresponding to the eight-day chick it is so small that a complete series may be mounted on a comparatively small number of slides.

Many teachers have probably made use of this source of supply of material to illustrate some of the phases in avian development that are usually read about in the text-books without being studied in the laboratory, but there may be some who have not thought of this method of procuring material and at the same time of helping to reduce the English sparrow population.

The idea is not original with the writer, but he is sure that it is not patented.

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY.

ALBERT M. REESE.

DELUC VERSUS DE SAUSSURE.

TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In his letter of December 29 (SCIENCE, 525, p. 111), Dr. Eastman, returning to the question as to whom priority in the use of the term 'geology' properly belongs, says:

I am unable to see why Von Zittel was not scrupulously exact in his handling of facts when crediting Deluc with prior use of the term geology as compared with De Saussure.

His letter bears internal evidence that, like me, Dr. Eastman has been unable to obtain the 1778 edition of Deluc's letters, which alone

can be assumed to prove that priority. If this is the case, he is not justified in assuming that his quotation from the edition of 1779 is identical in wording with the original statement in the preface of 1778. This quotation is: 'L'usage ordinaire a consacré le premier des ces mots (cosmologie) dans le sens où je l'emploie.'

Geikie's statement with regard to the 1778 edition is: "The proper word he admits should have been geology, but he could not venture to adopt it because it was not a word in use."

Eastman, assuming that the statement in the second edition was word for word the same as that in the first edition, says that Geikie's rendering is not justified.

I reply that his assumption is unfounded, for so prolific a writer would be more likely than not to vary the wording of his phrases on a second writing. But even if the assumption were correct, Eastman's own rendering, 'the word cosmology is more generally used in an equivalent sense' is as free in one direction as Geikie's in another.

Entirely aside from this question, which is somewhat on the hair-splitting order, it is to be observed that my statement was, that De Saussure was the first geologist (in the modern sense, as Dr. Eastman kindly added for me) to use the word geology in speaking of his science. There is no question that De Saussure was such a geologist. Let us see, then, what authorities like Von Zittel and Geikie think of Deluc in this regard.

Von Zittel qualifies him as a remarkably busy but flighty observer, and a fantastic scribbler whose publications have, for the most part, fallen into deserved oblivion.

His use

of the term geology he says is first suggested in the preface to a volume containing fourteen letters addressed to Queen Charlotte of England, whom he served for many years as reader and traveling companion. This preface, he says, makes the pompous announcement that the book will contain the groundwork of a cosmology or earth history, but when examined the letters are found to be mostly filled with long-winded descriptions of the lands and peoples visited and very little of what the preface promises.

Geikie classes him with Richardson, the believer in fossiliferous basalt, Kirwan and others of that ilk, and says:

But though these men wielded great influence in their day their writings have fallen into deserved oblivion. They are never read save by the curious student who has leisure and inclination to dig among the cemeteries of geological literature. S. F. EMMONS.

SPECIAL ARTICLES.

NOTE ON THE VARIATION OF THE SIZES OF NUCLEI WITH THE INTENSITY OF THE IONIZATION.

1. I shall use the word fog-limit, to denote the difference (Sp) of pressure between the outside (constant pressure) and the inside of the fog-chamber, to which sudden exhaustion must be carried in order that condensation may just occur in dust-free air saturated with moisture. It is obvious that if the fog-limit is to be used as a criterion, the result depends in all cases (cæt. par.) on the particular type of fog-chamber used and all statements are to refer to a given type.

2. Nuclei of any size may be produced in dust-free moist air by varying the time and the intensity of the exposure to X-ray or other similar radiation. A particular fog-limit and hence a particular size of nucleus is reached for each case until the fog-limit vanishes. Thus in my experiments for

On leaving the fog-chamber for hours without interference, the fog-limit for the excited activity was found to be lower, the coronas (cæt. par.) larger than if but a few minutes elapse between the condensations. Thus it takes time for the induced activity to saturate the air within the fog-chamber with nuclei, and more time as its activity is weaker. Persistence in case of the larger (X-ray) nuclei must be reckoned in hours.

A little induced activity was obtained through the hermetically sealed glass tube (walls say .5 millimeter thick) vanishing completely in about fifteen minutes, to the foglimit of dust-free air. The same radium in the hermetically sealed aluminum tube (walls say .1 millimeter thick) left an excited activity behind in the fog-chamber, vanishing in about forty hours gradually to the fog-limit of dust-free air. It seems, therefore, as if something besides beta and gamma rays passed through these relatively thick tubes. Leaving this for further examination* I need merely instance here the adaptability and sensitiveness of the condensation method for the present purposes, where, moreover, the coronas will indicate the numbers of nuclei produced under any given conditions.

2. The general facts of the preceding paragraph are inferred objectively if an X-ray bulb is placed near one end of a long condensation chamber of waxed wood and the effect of sudden exhaustion viewed broadside through plate glass windows.† The coronas obtained after short exposure are all roundish, but taper in diameter from a large size near the bulb to a vanishing diameter (apex) near the middle of the chamber, with all inter

* An important question is here confronted: Can an induced activity having any period of decay (within limits) be produced by successive filtering of the contents of the sealed tube containing radium, through walls of different thickness of density. In such a case the induced activity (supposing that no emanation escapes) would be a kind of phosphorescence.

† Am. Journal, Vol. 19, February, p. 175, 1905.

mediate gradations of aperture in corresponding intermediate positions. All lie within two oblique lines symmetrically inclined to the horizontal axis and meeting near the middle. The pressure difference used is thus more and more in excess of the fog-limit as the line of sight is nearer the bulb. Beyond the apex, the pressure difference used is below the fog-limit. The number of nuclei within the given range of condensation, i. e., above a certain lower limit of diameter, increases with the intensity of the ionization. Smaller nuclei occur throughout the chamber and particularly within the reentrant region left blank after condensation.

3. If the number of nuclei (n per cu. cm.) is mapped out in relation to the corresponding pressure difference, Sp. the initial slopes of the curves obtained are steeper as the foglimit is lower. Thus per increment of dp of one cm. of mercury above the fog-limit of the ionized medium, and decidedly below the foglimit of dust-free air, I observed with Radium in sealed aluminum tube within fog-chamber, Radium in sealed glass tube within fog-chamber. Radium in sealed glass tube, 45 cm. from fogchamber, outside..

Do., 200 cm. from fog-chamber

Dust-free air (op above 24.5 cm., radium at infinity )...

Sn = 12,000

6,000

4,000

1,000

4,000

Fire Brigade, at thirty of whose stations daily temperature observations were made at fixed hours. The majority of the fogs are found to be due to radiation during calm, clear nights. Others are due to the passage of warm air over a cooled surface, and a third group is identified as 'cloud' fog. Some fogs could not be included in any of these categories. These fogs were accumulations of combustion products in an almost calm atmosphere, and were termed 'smoke' fogs. A fog scale, based on the extent to which traffic is impeded by land, river and sea, has been established as a result of this inquiry. As a first step in the direction of greater precision in fog forecasts, a night service at the Meteorological Office is recommended. Forecasts issued at 5 A.M. would have a much greater chance of being verified than is the case with those now issued at 6 P.M., for fogs are chiefly caused by nocturnal radiation. Radiation depends largely on the state of the sky, and an observation of the state of the sky in the early morning would make it possible to give several hours' warning. The present forecasts rarely, if ever, contain any indication of the intensity of the fog to be expected. A detailed study of the distribution of temperature within the London area during fogs shows that the thickest fog is usually to be found in the coldest region.

MOSSES, TREES AND POINTS OF THE COMPASS.

A RECENT number of Ciel et Terre (December 16, 1904) contains a note on the orientation of moss growths on trees. It has been stated that mosses grow so much more frequently on the north sides of trees that a traveler who has lost his way in a forest can by this means determine the points of the compass. Lately, further investigation of this matter shows that the mosses grow by preference on the sides of the trees which, for one reason or another, are least likely to lose their moisture. On horizontal branches, the mosses usually grow on the upper side, because the water remains there most readily. The bases of the trunks are more moss-covered because they receive a larger quantity of water. The unequal distribution of light also plays a part.

MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW.

THE October, 1904, Monthly Weather Review (dated December 22) contains the following original articles and notes: Studies of Raindrops and Raindrop Phenomena,' by W. A. Bentley, illustrated by photographic reproductions; 'The Advancement of Meteorology,' by T. H. Davis; 'Thunderstorms at Tampa, Fla.,' by J. Bily, Jr.; 'Mount Tsukuba Meteorological Observatory,' by S. T. Tamura; September Floods in the Southwest'; 'Royal Meteorological Society'; 'LongRange Forecasts,' by H. B. Wren; Seasonal Rainfall Régimes in the United States,' by V. Raulin; 'Tropical Storm of October 1020, 1900'; 'The Dechevrens Anemometer: Cold Waves.'

6

NOTES.

THE Bulletin of the Philippine Weather Bureau for July, 1904, just received, gives details of a remarkable rainfall which occurred on the eleventh to the fifteenth of that month. Between 8 A.M. of the twelfth and 11 A.M of the thirteenth the total fall at the Manila Observatory was 17.19 inches, a quantity much greater than the normal rainfall for July (14.89 inches), which is also the normal monthly maximum for the year. Three half-tone views show the character of the inundations in the city of Manila.

R. DEC. WARD.

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. AT the meeting of the Society of American Bacteriologists, held in Philadelphia on December 28, 1904, the following officers were elected: President, Professor E. O. Jordan; Vice-President, Professor S. C. Prescott; Secretary and Treasurer, Professor E. P. Gorham; Council, Professor F. G. Novy, Dr. Erwin F. Smith, Professor F. D. Chester, Dr. J. J. Kinyoun; Delegate to the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Professor W. II. Welch.

OFFICERS for the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science have been elected as follows: President, Dr. H. P. Armsby, State College, Pa.; Secretary and Treasurer, Professor F. Wm. Rane, New Hampshire College, Durham, N. H.; Executive Committee, Dr. J.