Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-08-25
AMONG THE SAVANTS.
ALI EIGHT SECTIONS or THE sciENcE
ASSOCIATION At WORK.
F SLOW. Cautions, and steady Advance
Tornadoes Do Not Whiri-Immense
Dcpsh of the Well ~ Wheeling.


Dcpth OF the Well ~ Wheeling.
fcorrespondence Of the Richmond Dlspstch.l
WASHINGTON, d. C.. August 0.-Ihurs-
day afternoon. by order Of the President
of the United States. who is absent rom
the city, the private grounds OF the white
House were thrown open to the members
of the Association for the Advancement Oh
Science. and the Marine Band gave them q
programme of excellent music, which they
seemed highly TO appreciate. FRIDAY was
the great working day OF the BODY anu
all of tho eight sections were busy potn n
forenoon and afternoon. Moro than zoo
papers were reported and distributed W
their proper sections TO be read, but many
of them. especially III the later days OF ths
meeting were read by title' only, ana
are 10 he printed. either in full or 6y ao-
strsct. in the annual proceedings in"se'
OF course, make one or more large voiut ir
and arc distributed TO the members. IN.
public does not always fully understann
these scientific meetings. and there Is ol.en
q feeling Of disappointment ABOUT tnein'
WHY DrsAPPoINTEp.
The popular idea is that at these gamer
Ings new discoveries. startling deveiop.
ments, great practical appiica,iohs, "
ciated. and the waiting people hold tnen
breath in expectancy of the coming reVe-
lations. These great results do not come
the reporter simply gives long, almost un-
ineligible titles of papers. sucn rs
"Di-nitro-sulfo- pbenow; or, PaTasitism
in Coleopter. in Diptera,. inIEbracpn. on
id@, and Ichneumonid@. ana ; naD
to say these papers were 81 nai tbs
of technical interest" and SO T rho
great public falls back disappointed; The
fact il the great workers in science 90 not,
a. a rule. bring their best work nIst 10
these meetings. There ore other ana pe'-
ter channels for making them known 10
The world-I mean to their world OF fellow,
workers. And. after all, the advance or
science in these days at least Is not Dy
bounds and vaultings and capricious leaps
into the darkness, but by SLOW ana cau-
tious and steady advance upon KNOWN
limos; q progressive siege, not nasty
sauIt: a planned campaign, not SET VI
guerilla surprises.
PROFESSOR MosLEY's PAPER.
Thus the paper which, in my hearing
was most praised was that OF Professor T..
w. Mosley, of Cleveland. o., ana its li'ic
was "Svntheses Of Weighed Quantities on
Water from Weighed Quantities OF Oxy-
gen and hydrogen" Its object really
wos 70 determine tho combining eQuiva-
lent" of oxygen, that of hydrogen being
one. His results were 1879, and the great
effort of weeks and months and even years
was TO determine whether the last inquire
representing hundred thousandths should
he an eight or nine. Ihis struggling
after accuracy. even 10 Tue very
last degree, is the characterletic
Of the true :, scientist, an9 niuch
81 his work, wholly unappreciated and I'M
appreciable by the general public, is Just
OF this character. Sometimes. however.
some so-called practical papers are brought
in. and sometimes some member OF para
doxcal turn OF mind makes little sensation
bv an exposition of peculiar views while
some other papers relate TO some matters
of present general interest. Thus on Sat-
urday in Section Is Professor ii. A. Hazen,
of the signal service, discussed the ques-
ton, DO Iornadoes Whirl u" attempting
to show, against the common OPINION anu
against the views Of those who took part
in the discussion. that they do not whiri.
ARTIFICIAL RAIN.
lie also discussed right fully the pracii-
cal question Of Artificial Rain He re-
ferrcd. Of course, to the great experiment
lust made in Texas. which has been fully
reported in the newspapers. He showed
pretty conclusively that the rain that fol-
lowed the great explosions was almost GER
taiply natural rain. rs the rain had be-
gun over part of the area before the explo-
slons were made. He gave the famous quo
tatIon from Plutarch as TO rain follow
ing great battles. and asserted that this
was true of only per cent. OF the battles
of the late war. Another practical matter
was the exhibition and explanation by DR..
~ hn a-pn
machine" Holes are punched IN cards
about the size of postal cards. and when
these are passed through the counting
machine every item of birth. nationality,
etc. :, is Immediately recorded on dials with
a rapidity and precision truly marvellous.
Some sixty or seventy OF these machines
are. OF have been, III use. Ihey are WORK
ing by electricity and are quite compll-
Gated.
DEEP WE'LL.
Another practical matter was resolu-
ton by tho ASSOCIATION expressing us IN
terest in the deep well at Wheeling, West
Va. which has been put down 10 the depth
of 1900 feet, and which has been formally
dedicated TO the cause of science. 1t was
stated that funds have been guaranteed TO
put 1t down LOO feet deeper. 1t IS now
the second in depth in the world; the
deeper one il near Leipzig, and Is 5,7iO
feet. The aid Of the. Government Is TO be
asked to carry the Wheeling well down u
600 or more feet. According to "a
paper read by Mr.. William Hallock,
called "A Preliminary Report OF OBJ
seryations at the Deep Well, Wheeling,
w. Va.,n the conditions are here extremely
favorable. II lisa ,.ywell; thestrata scarcely
dip at all: it il AZ inches IN diameter, and
thermometers and barometers can easily
bo let down into it. Records of some ex-
perIments are given. But we would eau
ton the readers of the DIspATcu about
overestimating the value of such well.
There is sort of popular demand for an
investigation with the very bowels of the
earth" Well. let the boring down its full
milo or more-what then? Take large
sound watermelon, say a good ten-inch
one: with a sharp pin prick hole IN II as
deep as the thickness of the pin-not Its
leneth-and you will, in proportion. have
gone trenty times as far into the bowels "of
the melon as your one-mile we'll Will 60
into the bowels of the earth" [ need
not add that such a boring" into the
melon would not give a very full or salts
factory exhibit of the nature of its interior.
The deep well is great desideratum,
nevertheless, let it 20 down as deep as pos
sible.
POPULAR LECTURE.
Friday evening a popular lecture was
rendered on behalf Of the association to
the citizens Of Washington. 1t was gwen
at the National Museum and notwlth-
standing the rain it was well attended.
The lecturer was DR.. John NJ. Macfarlane.
Of Edinburgh. His subject was " lliustra-
tons of Herodity in Plant Hybrids." He
defined hybrids as the products OF two pa
rents of different species, and his al III was
to show that the hybrid is almost exactly
the mean of its two parents, not only In
outward characteristics but even in its
most minute microscopic structure.
Through the cooperation of Dir.
Smiley, Of tho National Museum, he
had three oxyhydrogen lanterns, all
acting together so that greatly nagnihed
microscopic sections of root, leaf, ETC., OF
the two parents: and of the hybrid for in
stance OF a gooseberry and black cur
raut) were shown side by side and his posi-
tons enforced. The lecture was interest
ing and has practical bearing. Indeed
one can almost foresee the time when prac-
teal cultivators of animals and plants Will
receive and execute orders for any de-
scribed type of animal or plant as inyen-
tors and mechanics now undertake IA new
machine for specified work.
KSp OF TIE MEETING.
To-day is practically the end of the
meeting Of the ASSOCIATION SO far as its
actual work is concerned. The sections
,loso1 nm thar lists NJ papers tbis altar