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ance of the spectra shown by the prism, but I saw a great difference between the spectra. I believe that I saw spectra of the following kinds:

"A. Continuous spectra, or those in which the whole of the colors of the solar spectrum were visible, excepting the violet rays.

"B. Spectra in which the yellow greatly preponderated; but which in every other respect resembled those above described.

"C. Spectra of almost purely homogeneous yellow light, but with a faint continuous spectrum, that is, a faint trace of red on one side and green on the opposite side of the yellow portion of the spectrum,

"D. Spectra of purely homogeneous green light; of this kind I only

saw two.

"I observed through the prism spectra of several trains. The light which was mostly blue, green, or steel gray, generally appeared homogeneous; but this may have arisen from the light having been too faint to produce a visible spectrum. Stars below the second or third magnitude, although visible through the prism, fail from this cause to give spectra in which blue and red are perceptible."

As was indicated in the last number of the Journal (p. 88), the eastern limit of the shower must have been in Central Asia. It was a little east, however, of the line there given.

Several papers concerning the theory of the meteors by Schiaparelli, Faye, LeVerrier, Peters, &c., of which we had intended to give here an abstract, must be deferred to the next number of the Journal. H. A. N.

2. New minor planet, Antiope, .-Dr. Luther discovered a minor planet on the 1st of October, to which the name Antiope has been given, 3. New minor planet, .-The ninety-first minor planet was discovered by Mr. Stephan at Marseilles on the 4th of November,

4. Comet.-Mr. Stephan discovered a telescopic comet on the night of the 22d of January, in R.A. 2h 34m, and N.P.D. 74° 26′.

5. Aurora Borealis at Highland, Illinois; by A. F. BANDELIER. (From a letter to the editors, dated Highland, Madison Co., Ill., Nov. 11, 1866.) -I find in No. 119, 2d series of this Journal, (Sept. 1865,) observations on the aurora of Aug. 3, 1865, at your city, among which I notice some remarks on the change of color of auroral streamers, from white and yellow into a rosy hue; which the observer attributes to the effect of "sunlight striking the tops of those streamers at the height of several hundred miles—as it must have been at that hour-above the earth's surface.” The learned author of the said communication calling the attention of auroral observers to this fact, I venture to transmit to him, through your kind intermediary, some extracts from my auroral note-book (kept since 1860, and containing new observations of 47 displays), bearing on the points alluded to by him.

1860, Aug. 12, 94 P. M.-A group of splendid streamers appeared N. 15° W., white at first, but turning into purple above.

1860, Sept. 6, 833 P. M.-A bluish glow, N. 30° W., issuing a cluster of red streamers; they shifted slowly toward Ursa Major, color turning from purple into an intensive bloody red.

10.5.-The entire upper border of the dark segment dissolved into a smoky cumulated mass, out of which a perfect sea of streamers is seen to issue. The streamers are white below, purple above, the most vivid red being always toward the middle of the streamer.

10-25.-E. and W. the streamers incline toward the horizon, and assume the deepest red hue, while in the N. the color is much paler.

1861, March 9, 8-20 P. M.-The dark segment has completely vanished and a semicircle of streamers has taken its place. They reach as high as the pole-star, and assume a red hue above an altitude of 25°. The most beautiful color is at both the eastern and western extremities.

Observation made on Durham Terrace, Quebec, Aug. 7, 1862, in bright moonlight. Yellow streamers rose from N.E. to N.W., their base being at an altitude of 25°-28° and the tops reaching the zenith. . . . These streamers appeared stationary, but the intensity of the light moved regularly through their feet from E. to W. and backward, also flowing upward along the streamer. (Same observation at 8:10 P. M. of Aug. 8, on St. Lawrence river, near Trois-Rivières, moon shining very brightly. Streamers of yellow hue.)

1862, Oct. 3.-Full moonlight and display rather indistinct on account of it. I noticed the sky to turn purple in the E. at a low altitude, and at the beginning of the aurora.

Feb. 20.-Near the moon there was a patch of pale carmine, of alternately increasing and decreasing intensity.

In general, I have never seen a single streamer that was not originally white, but turned sometimes into purple or bloody-red upon reaching a certain altitude. At the moment of issuing, the beam is white and brightest at its base; as it increases in size, it generally attains a motion along the horizon to the west, and also the intensity decreases below and appears greatest in the middle of the beam. When the beam has reached its most westerly position, then the base vanishes and the top appears brightest, the streamer appears as an isolated cloud of more or less brilliant light of varying intensity, until it begins to vanish.

When several arches or layers of auroral matter succeed each other and the tops of the streamers of one arch (still below our horizon) appear at their vanishing points behind the arch immediately preceding, we may sometimes notice the sky under an auroral arch in sight to turn purple also.

I have also noticed that the condition of the atmosphere has great influence on the color of auroral light. By hazy weather streamers appear red, nearer the horizon than by a clear transparent sky.

IV. MISCELLANEOUS SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE,

1. Analysis of a Meteoric Iron from Colorado; by Dr. C. T. JACKSON. (From a letter to one of the editors, dated Boston, Nov. 10, 1866.)—I received last Tuesday, Nov. 6th, a piece of meteoric iron from Rev. Mr. Thompson, who brought it from Colorado and who had negotiated for the large mass with the intention of presenting it to the Boston Society of Natural History. I have just learned that Prof. Shepard through the agency of a friend in Denver City has secured the original mass, said to be two feet in diameter, for his cabinet. It appears from Mr. Shepard's letter to me that it is the same mass that is mentioned in the last (Sept.) No. of your Journal, page 250. I made the chemical analysis of it be fore being aware it was the same meteorite described, and since no previ

ous analysis of it has been made, I offer mine to you for the Journal, Prof. Shepard expressing a desire that it should be published.

The piece of meteoric iron given me by Mr. Thompson, who brought it from Colorado, weighs four ounces. It has been heated in a forge fire in order to cut it more easily; but still the Widmannstättian figures come out, when dilute nitric acid is applied to the polished surface, as distinctly as possible and consist of a series of small nearly equilateral triangles with the lines well defined, and quite elevated. On one side of the specimen was a crust about one-eighth of an inch thick, consisting of sulphid of iron. This probably in the unaltered meteorite is a bisulphid of iron mixed with oxyd of iron.

A portion of the clean metal sawed off from the mass has the sp. gr. 7.692.

On chemical analysis by the most approved method, separating the iron from the nickel by succinate of ammonia and determining the nickel as oxyd of nickel and then analyzing this oxyd for cobalt and copper-a separate portion of the meteorite being employed in analysis for the tin which was twice determined, and the nitric solution being tested for phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid, &c.-the results per cent of my analysis are as follows:

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2. Hailstones in China; by S. W. WILLIAMS.-On Tuesday at 6 P. M. on June 5, 1866, a thunder storm came from the northeast, and broke over Peking with great violence. The hailstones soon followed the first dash of rain, and increased in size and quantity till the rain almost seemed to cease. The shower lasted forty minutes, leaving the yards white with hailstones, but as the wind was light no damage was done. The very largest stones were 4 to 4 inches in circumference; the prevailing shape was conical, and almost all the stones exhibited a kernel of clear ice enclosed in frozen snow, with a covering of ice outside. The strata of air through which they passed in their descent must have been of very different degrees of temperature to produce such distinct layers of ice and snow in the stones. Such hailstorms are not frequent in the North of China, and the people say that this one is the most remarkable since July, 1838, when the stones were like oranges and apples and melons for size, and did great damage to dwellings and trees.

3. U. S. Coast Survey.-The eminent mathematician, Prof. Pierce of Harvard, has been appointed to the office of Superintendent of the Coast Survey, left vacant by the death of Prof. Bache.

4. Chicago Museum of Natural History.-The late Major Kennicutt at the time of his death was Director of the Chicago Museum of Natural History, an institution of which he was essentially the founder. This office has recently been filled by the appointment of Mr. William Stimpson, one of the best zoologists of the country.

OBITUARY.

Prof. BACHE.--The death of Professor ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE, just announced, will awaken profound regret throughout a very large circle of scientific friends. For the last thirty years he has been intimately connected with the progress of American Science. In some important departments he, more than any other man, may be regarded as the leader.

He was graduated at the Military Academy at West Point, in 1825, holding the first rank in his class. He was immediately appointed Assistant Professor of Engineering in the Academy, and occupied the position for one year. After serving as an officer in the Corps of Engineers for three years, he resigned to accept the professorship of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, to which he was elected in 1827. After filling this place with distinguished success, for a number of years, he was called, in 1836, to the presidency of the Girard College, then recently established in Philadelphia by the princely bequest of Stephen Girard. Six years later he received and accepted the appointment of Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, a post made vacant by the death of Professor Hassler. He entered upon this office in November, 1843. Since that time, a period of twenty-three years, the results of his labors have been public property. It would be out of place in this brief notice to speak of the magnitude or the importance of that great national work, the Coast Survey. It is proper to say, however, that few men could have carried to it such ample scientific preparation, so much practical wisdom, and such signal, almost unrivalled, administrative talents. His annual reports to Congress, growing in fulness and extent as the work advanced, form an invaluable series of scientific papers. They have justly won for him not only an American but a European reputation. It is well known that eminent scientists in Europe, engaged in the vast labors of geodesy undertaken by the different governments, have sought with eagerness for the Reports of the American Coast Survey, and have placed them, as regards accuracy and exhaustive thoroughness, in the first rank of works upon that subject.

He has contributed many memoirs to our scientific journals, and many to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of which He was twice president, and always a leading member. These memoirs, often very elaborate, have generally been devoted to the discussion of original researches in the more progressive branches of physical inquiry, and are well worthy of attention not only as substantial contributions to science, but as models of research.

During his presidency of Girard College from 1836 to 1841, he spent a year abroad under the direction of the Board of Trustees, to examine and report upon the state of education in Europe. The results of this examination, executed with great care and minuteness of detail, were given to the public in a full and very instructive octavo volume in 1839. On the establishment of the National Academy of Sciences, by the Act of Congress, in 1863, the members of that body, intended to represent and direct the highest science of the country, unanimously elected him their first president for a period of six years. Unhappily for the interests of science that period has been cut short. The disease which has now terminated fatally, induced perhaps by over mental action, has for many months been making inroads upon his fine physical constitution, and

impairing the vigor of his large and well-balanced powers of mind. His friends have watched its progress with alternate hopes and fears, and have only recently yielded to the sad conviction that his allotted work was done.

In the administration of his office as Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Prof. Bache was always kind and considerate to his subordinates -but never blind to any remissness in duty. He was himself a great worker and he expected every body under him to follow his example.

In society he was eminently genial. No one knew better than he, how to throw off the care of business when a task was done, and give himself up to the mirth and merriment of the hour. To his friends he was most generous and obliging, and very many of them will feel his death as a sorrowful, personal bereavement. He leaves a devoted wife, who has been many years literally the sharer of his labors, to mourn her irreparable loss and bear the burden of solitude in the midst of society.

A. C.

J. BURKHARDT.—Mr. Burkhardt, long associated with Prof. Agassiz as his artist, died on the 20th of February last, from the effects of a disease consequent on exposure in the course of the late Brazilian expedition.

VI. MISCELLANEOUS BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. First Annual Report on the Geology of Kansas; by B. F. MUDGE, A.M., Prof. of Geology and Nat. Hist. in the Kansas State Agricult. College, and State Geologist for 1864. Lawrence, 1866. 56 pp., 8vo.

Preliminary Report of the Geological Survey of Kansas; by G. C. SWALLOW, State Geologist. Lawrence, 1866. 198 pp., 8vo.

The first of these Reports gives the results of a reconnoissance made in 1864. It contains some facts of general interest to the people of Kansas, -especially in regard to the saline springs, and the manufacture of salt, but nothing new to science.

The second Report is a more important work. It contains the results of an examination of Eastern and Central Kansas, made in 1865, and includes the separate Reports of Dr. C. A. Logan on the sanitary_relations of the State, that of Dr. T. Sinks on its Climatology, and the Report of the Assistant Geologist, Major F. Hawn.

A detailed section of the rocks of Eastern Kansas is first given, in which the classification of the Permian proposed by Swallow and Hawn is essentially retained. This makes the formation in that region about 700 feet in thickness, or nearly three times that admitted by Meek and Hayden (this Journal, [2], xxvii, 424). These geologists regarded the intermediate strata, which contain both Permian and Coal-measure fossils, as part of the Upper Coal-measures, resting conformably upon those below. In this Report these strata are considered as Permian; and it is claimed by Prof. Swallow that a want of conformability may be detected between them and the true Coal-measures, by comparing sections made at different localities. This question of conformability in the series is a very important one, and deserves further investigation.

According to this Report the oldest rocks in the State are Lower Carboniferous. The Coal-measures occupy the surface of Eastern Kansas over an area of 17,000 square miles, and dip beneath the Permian to

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