New-York daily tribune., 1855-08-22


Of the day. This bss ten appreciated better by ply
sioists thar by mathemscisns. Agasss has given us
such On index ii Natural Hstory, giving The tite 81
ever, vorx and essay ex,ant. Ike labor u -ded
for all other bra. ches Of science. Lieut.. Hunt has
been emplOye q on OF limited range FOR those topics
nscessar1 in the Coss, Suvey Office, but berc llean
task which is only shadowed forth 10 Young L tta-
lo.ue. IL would serve an especial seryl.e oy making
known in Europe mach that is valuable, but when
has rot been placed within The knowledge OF seen'nc
men in Europe.
LoNGiruDEs 5y the Ooculati0Hs 0f the Pleid.lcs.
The occuhations of the Peisdes can be made ss a.
cursie as the stem of the observer il capable Of re-
cording, owing to tie difficulty of appreciatins mi
mute portions of tine TIE theory Of the Noon must
be corrected before isolated operations be relied on
for the highest degree Of accuracy Combined obser-
va,ions must be employed on groups, and OF these
there are but two iha, can be used the Peiades and
Hvaces. The latter have not get been measured with
sufficient accuracy among themselves The Pieiades
have been tbOrous bly, measured ana by numerous oo-
seryaiions them the precise path OF the Moon over
them would be ascer' 'siDahle. But the great diff guilty
il owpg the irregularities of the edge OF the Noon,
and this cannot be remeded by direct oDseryaons on
the Moon. We mus; use for taat the occultations
thomselves By combining all observations possiole
the x CT form of the edge beiOund approximately
The wi ole number Of occultstiOns now recorded u
much over goo. Tske each degree OF the Moon as
sort Of curve BY itself and w. have more than zen oo
servaiiOus already esch degree Arrangements arc
being made for facilitating these obiervalods oy pau
fishing and distributing charts of the Pleiades which
will enable the observer 10 know the tine and SLATE OF
Occuli aiiCn.
one important measure should be urged on the Coast
survey: the introduction Of Heliomeier, OF which
We have not in this country The task OF mappns
the Moon edge may be increased somewhat by hbra
ton uni, S. il may be neglected, as Is probable.
SECTION sF CHEMISTRY AND NATURAL HISTORY
Os THE MISERALs Of the Wkeatley Lead Mines.
BY J. LAWRENCE SMITH.
NJ Wbea,ley has rare localities for minerals in his
vsr;ous mines and be makes use of them gentle
man and naturalist and he is good type of either
should The show before us was beautiful
Os TIE METHOD Of analysing the Salphdtc Arse-
nate and Nolybdate ot Lead. BY j. Lawrence
A paper very apropos 10 the preceding.
LAWS or REPRODUCTION, considered UlN rCiere1ct
10 the marriage Of near blood relations. BY the
Rev. CHARLES Brooks.
Stern, yet benignaDt laws, unknown to Us, underhe
the great sgencies of reproductn IN. We can only sp
preach to knowledge of them by facis developed by
them In the offspring Of near relations there seems
often TO be an arrest of normal development of body
or mind Mr. Brooks produced long and not very
agreeabs list of examples many from his Oyn obser-
| walton on Martbas Vineyard, where they can per-
| sua6e few strangers TO settle. These prove nothing,
as they contain 10 statistics and the statistics be used
are not new. lie comes to the folio wing CONCLUSIONS
| which probably are correct: TIE laws OF breed are
the same in man in other anlmals that an unus1al
number OF mbeciIes fouCd in the families OF those
| who have married fret COUSINS aod that ieT, II
any children, bonn OF cousins exceed heir parents IN
bodily strength mental power. He thinks that iur
ther investigations and statistics are wantidg, and
con mends the matter TO those who have to do with
Islonders, indians Gipsies and jews
Mr.. VIZ. p. BLAME gave some remarks in relation
TO the MAMMOTH TREEs, of which is in the Cfys-
tai Palace. The grove Of mammoth trees be said
was pear the sources Of the Caaera, near California
in sheltered valley about 5000 feet above the sea-
This valley was densely wooded with evergreen trees,
and tie great trees tower above them. presentinga
magnificent spectacle when viewed IRON the surround
! ing hills hotel had been erected IN the grove oy
NT Lsphan and be bad counted upward OF 1870 trees,
| including oupg and old. They were mostly found
ce, era n grSSuaes Suae 9gsr.er o. me square soa s'e
Of these trees variable, the diameter ranging from
IL feet 10 over 80 and the hight from $50 TO 800 feet
Mr. Blake measured one tree nov standing and found
! il "a ffct in circumference. The tree which was cut
down ives partly used for lumber, and the top part was
- ~sod for a bowling-aley. This tree was bored
| Gown by pump-auger. Another tree had recently
Intention & he b SH5 Sse 20 sbon so hs
visitors conld ascend TO the top aud overlook the
| grove The geology OF that vicinity was simple.
The underlying rocG is hard granite and the soil is
apparently derived from IFS decompOe ion. II is
deep rich ard well watered. In swer TO inquiries
Mr.. Blake stated that he had measured the rings suti-
cinily to satisfy him that they did not much exceed
| LEGO in number.
DR.. TorREY made some remarks spon this peculiar
! goye and said that fiom recent examinations he had
been led to decide that the of the oil genus
Sequoa and not new one "a is supposed by Indy,
who ad proposed the name of IeRiHgtOAia gigaHtea,
the name now became SequOia gigaptea.
The next psper was also by Mr.. BLAME on "a Pc
" culiariiy Of the Redwood genus Sequoa)." lie
showed that the wood becomes black almost instantly
when washed with akal. smooth board being
ire ated with solution OF potash became black and
showed the grain most distinctly.
AFTERSoos SESSION.
The Association met in general session at II. NJ.
The Committee on Reception sent in an invitation
to members and their ladies' to a complimentary din.
ner on Wednesday at 2 r. II.
Prof. CAswELL said that they hoped that none
would leave previous TO the dinner unless they were
absolutely compelled to.
The invitation was accepted.
Officers for the year ensuing were then elected as
follows:
President-JAMES HALL
Gen. Serefdry-B. A. GOULD
Ireosgre-Dr. ELWIN
SECTION OF MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS AND As-
TRoSOMy-AFTIRNOoS SESSION.
OS TIE EAsIERoID PLANET BY Prof. 5. ALEXANDER
By most mastery use of circumstantial evidence
Of delicate nature Prof Alexander has arrived at
almost certainty that in the space between Mars and
Jupiter once revolved plane, little more than 2s
times as far from the Sun as our earth. The equato
rial diameter was about 20, 900 miles, but the polar
diameter only miles 1t was not q globe but
wafer nay disk of thickness of only 10000 of it
diameter. lis time of revolution was, 369s days,
say days Is hours 45 minutes. The inclination OF
lis orbit TO he ecliptic about q. 1t met fate
Il. III