The New York herald., 1879-08-30
SCIENTISTS COMPARING NOTES.

| TOGA-DISCUSSIONS ON BUGS BuiIEhfiiEn
FISHES, MULES, ToADs, WATER IMPURITIES
AND THE THEORY OF LIFE.
| SARATOGA. N Y. August %. 1879.
At the opening of the general session Of the Asso
citation for heAdvancement of Science this morning
| eighteen new members were elected
| NJ Otto struve, the Russian astronomer. was in
troduced to the association aud made few REMARKS
expressing his pleasure at his introduction to this
body and spoke of his errand to this country and
of his confident expectation OF obtaining here
perior telescope for use in his observatory at
Putowa. t'4
Professor Barker. the president. replying said--
~Welcome. Professor Struve, not only as Astron-
| omer Royal of Russia. but for eminence In your
branch of scientific research" He also spoke of his
qualification as an American that Professor struve
secure Europe. the largest and best telescope In
| the world for use in his observatory. f
DEvELoPMENr OF BUrrERFLIKs.
After the general session had closed section
called to order by the Woe president. Major J. W.
Powell
The irst paper read was by Mr.. c. v. Riley. of the
United states Insect Commission. on the 'Philoso-
ply Of the Transformation OF butterflies from
Larva and Chrysalis. 1t WAS illustrated by numer-
drawings. showing the joints and the tip OF the
body. with Its hooks. by which the larva snspends
itself preparatory to casting of its outer skin and
| coming out the perfect butterfly.
| Professor Scudder said he thought that Professor
Riley had made good discovery which scientists
New BUG WITH TOUGH DESCRIPTION
Mr. ). Henry oOmssoSx sat roa1 S p1per .ha on new %
! described in the Club OF Entomology on Tuesday
evening. whose Larvae feed on tho bark louse a'
| pIoGRApHY MENHADEN, WITH MANY ALIASES.
Mr.. G. Brown Goode. OF Washington. gave short
biography of the menhaden being an abstract OF the
The menhaden has some thirty different namos.
according the section OF coast where 1t is found,
srst schools appear on the coast Of Maryland in
April and leave in December. They get to the coast
OF Maine in May and leave in September and Octo-
| ber Their migratons are governed by the tenn
| perature of the water along their route. They
fond shallow water. and ascend rivers quite dis
tance: They are capricious IN visiting Northern
coasts sometimes not coming to the in
shore fishing grounds tor few years.
They arc the most numerous of any kinds of Ash
| visiting coast. They seem to fced on sediment
found on the bottom of the sea near the mouths of
| breeding grounds are supposed to be shoals found
at distance from the shore. Menhaden are great
producing fish, being eaten in such large guam
titles that the number annually eaten by other fish
has been estimated at q million million million.
by sink Into insgnifcance. AS producers they
of moro value than any other marine animal Its
found to yield substance similar to Lebig extract
| of beef. In 1873 the capital employed In the mem
haden oil and guano industry was s2.sSo. .ooO and
1887 men, with "a steamers and 279 sailing vessels,
consuming III, 100000 fish. Ffty-six factories pro-
duced GA gallons of OIL valued at sAS0OOO; the
guano valued at S6O0.0O0 The yield of the men,
haden fishery in pounds was triple that OF any other
| in the United States.
| observation-disclosures IN ANIMALS. -
| Professor Burt q. Wilder spoke OF the numerous
stories published in Nature and other publications
regarding animals and their sagacity and proposed
edge of apparent disinterestedness In animals. One
| where quartermaster's mules at Pensacola.
the As gate % held closed By va ball and chain. By
| hooking his head over 1t, and then. after
mnss lacked aa and Se sss
| open for the one who had Arst opened the gate to
enter The other incident was where the profe.sors
| with his mouth something which he would not do
for himself. always requiring some OF the household
| to do the work for him, even when he could reach
| the burrs with his mouth. He only knew. OF mules
| opening gate once. and his dog only cleaned NE
| burrs out OF the cats tail once.
Professor Wilder next exhibited the froxsn
tions Of cats brain preserved in alcohol and spoke
| THEORY LIFE.
The nsx sssd BY s. On
| argued against the idea Of protopssm - most alb
surd We have been told that protoplasm. with
OF the laws of life. Words more alb
surd and disgraceful have been
germs OF life and holds peculiar power descended to
It from previous generations. but requires stimuli
processes of life There are cells In plants as we'll
In animals, but plants not endowed with con-
sciousness and have not the nervous powers to pro-
| duce the full consciousness found in animal life.
This article criticized by Dr. w. II. Trpett aud
| Professor B. q. Wilder.
| Dr. Minott said that Heckel was the leading advo-
| cate of protoplasm.
! Mr.. Il. b. Hare. of Canada. said Heckel losing
Major J. W. Powell said he was pleased to have
this paper offered. he thought the two great SUBJ
jects for contention among scientists in the next
few years would be the theory of lite and the laws
| of gravitaton.
The last paper read in this section was by Profess
crystals in the vertebr of the toad He said 1t had
been doubted IL crystals found In the toad such
them as appendages to the spinal nerve. He made
| enlarged drawing on the ckboard showing the
shape and size compared with those taken from the
| frog.
IMPURITIES WATER.
| In the permanent subsection q. Chemistry. the
only paper on the regular docket read entitled,
observations the Variations in tho Temperature
and Chemical Character OF the Water OF Fresh Pond
| in Massachusetts" by w. X. Nichols. He consid-
cred theory of Professor Siiman. that impurities
from the bottom OF deep lakes from fermentation
and minge with the water for cons umpton, and said
his investigation did not fully verify theory. He
thought the temperature OF the water caused the
rising OF the impurities. He said he had not made
d sufficient investigation to form any complete the
ory. The subject debated by Professors Brewer,
Peckham, silliman. A. X. Reeds Ordway Perkins
and Others during whick Wanklyn's method of the
analysis OF water criticised and the whole mat
ter water impurities in wells. from drainage and
other causes. was discussed. with humorous refer
enccs to water supply In towns and examples Of
the effects OF using impure water. The discussion
The papers of A. A. BRENNAN on Combustion of
Graphite in the Analysis of Cast Iron and on
"Colors in Salt Glazod Pottery, not on the Docket
| read without being discussed to accommodate
| the author. who had to leave town.
In subsection II, formed from section A. papers ON
"Anthro pology" were read. The first eth
nical Influences of Physical Geography" by Daniel
Wi son. showing tho influence which the climate and
| structure OF country have upon races. In the de-
| bate IL was mentioned that England has to thank
| holland for teaching rotation OF crops which was
rendered necessary by peculiar conditions IN Hol-
| land.
archaeological Notes from Japan" then read
by Edward y. Morse. He told of expedition
among shell heaps anu mounds. and OF finding hu-
man bones showing sigma OF canntbalism as we'll as
| finding different styles of pottery. Extonsive
| mounds open to tho south and east, the same as
| in Britain and Scandinavia The pottery In like
that which the introduced abo ut thousand
years ago. He found traces OF apes like those In the
Il Inn Ilx..... LII. Il.