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- The Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago, has just ready a second edition, revised and enlarged, of Gen. M. Trumbull's timely book on the tariff question, "The Free-Trade Struggle in England."

-Charles L. Webster & Co. announce that they will issue in book form Mr. Poultney Bigelow's Danube articles describing his canoe voyage down that river, the title of the book being "Paddles and Politics Down the Danube."

In Lippincott's Magazine for July " 'Peary's North Greenland Expedition and the Relief" is well and interestingly covered by W. E. Hughes and Benjamin Sharp. Gertrude Atherton contributes a short essay on " Geographical Fiction."

- Charles H. Sergel & Co., Chicago, have just issued in their series of Latin-American Republics "A History of Peru," by Clements R. Markham, which gives a complete history of the country from the conquest to the present time. They have in press for the same series "A History of Chile," by Anson Uriel Hancock; and in active preparation "A History of Brazil," by

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FOSSIL RESINS.

This book is the result of an attempt to collect the scattered notices of fossil resins, exclusive of those on amber. The work is of interest also on account of descriptions given of the insects found embedded in these longpreserved exudations from early vegetation. By CLARENCE LOWN and HENRY BOOTH 12°. $1.

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QUERY.

Can any

reader of Science cite

a case of lightning stroke in

TO THE READERS OF SCIENCE.

PUBLISHER'S ANNOUNCEMENT.

which the dissipation of a small Titles of Some Articles Published in Science since | Baur, G., Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

conductor (one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, say,) has failed to protect between two horizontal planes passing through its upper and lower ends respective. ly? Plenty of cases have been found which show that when the

Jan. 1, 1892.

Aboriginal North American Tea.
Actiuism.

Agriculture, Experimental, Status of.

Amenhotep, King, the tomb of.

Beal, W. J., Agricultural College, Mich.
Beals, A. H., Milledgeville, Ga.
Beauchamp, W. M., Baldwinsville, N.Y.
Boas, Franz, Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Bolley, H. L., Fargo, No. Dak.
Bostwich, Arthur E., Montclair, N J.
Bradley, Milton, Springfield, Mass.

Anatomy, The Teaching of, to Advanced Medical Brinton, D. G., Philadelphia, Pa.

Students.

Anthropology, Current Notes on.

Architectural Exhibition in Brooklyn.

Arsenical Poisoning from Domestic Fabrics.

Artesian Wells in lowa.

Astronomical Notes.
Bacteria, Some Uses of.

Botanical i aboratory, A.
Bythoscopidae and Cereopida.

Brain, A Few Characteristics of the Avian.

Canada, Royal Society of.
Celts, The Question of the.

Chalicotherium, The Ancestry of.

Call, E. Ellsworth, Des Moines, Ia.
Chandler, H., Buffalo, N.Y.
Comstock, Theo. B., Tucson, Arizona.
Conu, H. W Middletown, Conn.

Cragin, F. W., Colorado Springs, Col.

Davis. W. M., Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. Dimmock, George, Canobie Lake, N.H.

Farrington, E. H., Agricultural Station, Champaign, Ill.

Ferree, Barr, New York City.

Flexner, Simon, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

Foshay, P. Max, Rochester, N.Y.

Chemical Laboratory of the Case School of Applied Gallaudet, E. M., Kendall Green, Washington, D.C.

Science.

children, Growth of.

Collection of Objects Used in Worship.

Cornell, The Chauge at.

Deaf, Higher Education of the.
Diphtheria, Tox-Albumin.

Trans-Electrical Engineer, The Technical Education of.

conductor is dissipated the building is not injured to the extent explained (for many of these see volumes of Philosophical actions at the time when light. ning was attracting the attention of the Royal Society), but not an exception is yet known, although this query has been published far and wide among electricians.

First inserted June 19. No response to date.

N. D. C. HODGES, 874 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

JUST READY.

Eskimo Throwing Sticks.

Etymology of two Iroquoian Compound Stems.

Eye-Habits.

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Fishes, The Distribution of.

Fossils, Notice of New Gigantic.

Four-fold Space, Possibility of a Realization of.

Gems, Artificial, Detection of.

Glacial Phenomena in Northeastern New York.
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Great Lakes, Origin of the Basins of.

"Healing, Divine."

Hemipterus Mouth, Structure of the.

Hofmann, August Wilhelm von.
Hypnotism among the Lower Animals.
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Indian occupation of New York.
Infant's Movements.

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Inventions in Foreign Countries, How to Protect.
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Iowa Academy of Sciences.
Jargon, The Chinook.

Jassida; Notes on Local.
Keller, Helen.

Klamath Nation, Linguistics.
Laboratory Training, Alms of.

Lewis H. Carvill, Work on the Glacial Phenomena.
Lightning, The New Method of Protecting Buildings

Garman, S., Museum of Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Mass.

Golden, Katherine E., Agricultural College, Lafay

ette. Ind.

Bale, Edwin M., Chicago, Ill.

Hale, George S., Boston, Mass.

Hale, Horatio, Clinton, Ontario, Canada.

Hall, T. Proctor, Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Halsted, Byron D., Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N.J.

Haworth, Erasmus, Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Hay, O. P., Irvington. Ind.

Haynes, Henry W., Boston Mass.

Hazen, H. A., Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C. Hewitt, J. N. B., Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D.C.

Hicks, L. E., Lincoln, Neb.

Hill, E. J., Chicago, Ill.

Hill, Geo. A., Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.

Hitchcock, Romr, Washington, D.C.

Holmes, E. L. Chicago, Ill.

Hotchkiss, Jed., Staunton, Va.

Howe, Jas. Lewis, Louisville, Ky.

Hubbard, Gardiner G, Washington, D.C.

Jackson, Dugald C., Madison, Wisconsin

James, Joseph F., Agricultural Dept., Washington, D.C.

Johnson, Roger B, Miami University, Oxford, O.

Kellerman, Mrs. W. A., Columbus, O.

Kellicott, D. S., State University, Columbus, O.
Kellogg, D. S., Plattsburgh, N. Y.

Lintner, J. A., Albany, N. Y

Loeb, Morris, New York City.

Mabery, Charles F., Cleveland, Ohio.

Macloskie, G., Princeton, N.J.

McCarthy, Gerald, Agricultural Station, Raleigh,
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MacDonald, Arthur, Washington, D.C.
Marshall, D. T., Metuchen, N.J.

Mason, O. T., Smithsonian Institution, Washington,

D.C.

THE LABRADOR COAST. Lou's Curves, Simple Apparatus for the Produc-Mill paugh, Charles F., Morgantown, W. Va.

A Journal of two Summer Cruises to that region; with notes on its early discovery, on the Eskimo, on its physical geography, geology and natural history, together with a bibliography of charts, works and articles relating to the civil and natural history of the Labrador Peninsula.

By ALPHEUS SPRING PACKARD, M.D., Ph.D

8°, 513 pp.,

$3.50.

tion of.

Maize Plant, Observations on the Growth and Chemical Composition of.

Nichols, C. F., Boston, Mass.

Nuttall, George H. F., Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md.
Oliver, J. E., Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

Maya Codices, a Key to the Mystery of.
Medicine, Preparation for the Study of.
Mineral Discoveries, Some Recent, in the State of Osborn, Henry F., Columbia College, New York

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THE RADIOMETER.

By DANIEL S. TROY. This contains a discussion of the reasons for their action and of the phenomena presented in Crookes' tubes.

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Teaching of Selence.

Tiger, A New Sabre Toothed, from Kansas.
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Weeds as Fertilizing Material.
Will, a Recent Analysis of.
Wind-Storms and Trees.
Wines, The Sophisticated French.

Zoology in the Public Schools of Washington, D. C.

Some of the Contributors to Science Since Jan. 1, 1892.

Aaron, Eugene M., Philadelphia, Pa.
Allen, Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa.
Baldwin, J. Mark, University of Toronto, Canada.
Barnes, Charles Reid, Madison, Wis.

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Smith, John B., Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N.J.

Southwick Edmund B., New York City.

Stevens, George T., New York City.

Stevenson. S. Y., Philadelphia, Pa.

Stone, G. II., Colorado Springs, Col.

Thomas, Cyrus, Washington, D. C.

Thurston, R. H., Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Todd, J. E., Tabor, Iowa,

True, Frederick W., National Museum, Washington, D.C.

Turner, C. H., University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, 0.

Wake, C., Staniland, Chicago, Ill.

Ward, R. DeC., Harvard University, Cambridge,

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JUL 12 1892

LIBRARY

SCIENCE

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES.

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIES SINCE COLUMBUS,

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THE STORAGE OF ELECTRICITY (illustrated), Prof. Samuel Sheldon.
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CULTIVATION OF SISAL IN THE Bahamas (illustrated), J. I. Northrop, Ph.D.
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SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BOTANY, Prof. G. L. Goodale.

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By ALPHEUS SPRING PACKARD, M.D., Ph.D. U. S. Entomologist, Washington, D. C.

Sportsmen and ornithologists will be interested in the list of Labrador birds by Mr. L. W. Turner, which has been kindly revised and brought down to date by Dr. J. A. Allen. Dr. S. H. Scudder has contributed the list of butterflies, and Prof. John Macoun, of Ottawa, Canada, has prepared the list of Labrador plants.

Much pains has been taken to render the bibliography complete, and the author is indebted to Dr. Franz Boas and others for several titles and important suggestions; and it is hoped that this feature of the book will recommend it to collectors of Americana.

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SCIENCE

NEW YORK, JULY 8, 1892.

DIAMONDS IN METEORITES.

BY OLIVER WHIPPLE HUNTINGTON.

THE mineral cabinet of Harvard College received some time ago, through the liberality of Francis Bartlett, Esq., one of the two large masses of meteoric iron first brought by Dr. A. E. Foote from Arizona, and called by him the Cañon Diablo iron. This mass of iron, weighing 154 pounds, is in many ways unique, and chiefly so for the circumstance that it contains diamonds.

This fact was first made known by Professor G. A. Koenig of Philadelphia, who found in cutting one of the fragments that the cutting tool refused to penetrate the wall of a small cavity which it chanced to encounter, and this cavity was found to contain small black diamonds. One white diamond of microscopic dimensions was said to have been found but subsequently lost, and no further account of this interesting occurrence appears to have been published.

In order to determine whether other portions of the Cañon Diablo iron contained diamonds, the author dissolved a mass of about one hundred grams weight in acid, assisted by a battery. The iron was supported on a perforated platinum cone hung in a platinum bowl filled with acid, and the cone was made the positive pole and the dish the negative pole of a Bunsen cell. When the iron had disappeared, there was This was left on the cone a large amount of a black slime. This repeatedly washed and the heavier particles collected. This residue examined under a microscope showed black and white particles, the black particles being mainly soft amorphous carbon, while the composition of the white particles appeared less easy to determine, though when rubbed over a watch-glass certain grains readily scratched the surface.

The material was then digested over a steam-bath for many hours with strong hydrofluoric acid, and some of the white particles disappeared, showing them to have been silicious. Most of them, however, resisted the action of the acid. These last were carefully separated by hand, and appeared to the eye like a quantity of fine, white, beach sand, and under the microscope they were transparent and of a brilliant lustre. A single particle was then mounted in a point of metallic lead, and when drawn across a watch-crystal it gave out the familiar singing noise so characteristic of a glass-cutter's tool, and with the same result, namely, of actually cutting the glass completely through. To verify the phenomenon, successive particles were used for the purpose, and with the same result. The experiment was then tried on a topaz, and the same little mineral point was found to scratch topaz almost as readily as it did glass. It was finally applied to a polished sapphire, and readily scratched that also, proving beyond question that this residue of small, white, transparent grains must be diamond, though no well-formed crystals could be recognized.

It has long been known that carbon segregates from meteoric iron in the form of fine-grained graphite; and, when

1 American Journal of Science, Vol. XLII., November, 1891.

Haidinger found in the Arva iron a cubic form of graphite, it was suggested by Rose that the crystals might be pseudomorphs of graphite after diamond. More recently Fletcher described a cubic form of graphite from the Youngdegin meteorite, under the name of Cliftonite.'

Finally, a meteoric stone which was seen to fall at NowoUrei, in Russia, in 1886, was discovered two years later to contain one per cent of a carbonaceous material, which not only had the crystalline form of the diamond but also its hardness, so that, instead of being regarded as a pseudomorph after diamond, it was compared with the black diamonds of Brazil, called "carbonado." ." And, lastly, in the Cañon Diablo iron we have true diamonds, though of minute dimensions. Thus it would appear that, under certain conditions, metallic iron is the matrix of the diamond.

There

Now, we further know that when cast iron is slowly cooled a considerable portion of the carbon separates in the condition of graphite. Moreover, the high specific gravity of the earth as a whole, as compared with the materials which compose its crust, give us ground for the theory that the interior of our planet may be a mass of molten iron. fore it would seem to be not an unreasonable hypothesis, that diamonds may have been separated from this molten metal during the formation of the earth's crust; and a support for this hypothesis may be found in the fact that at the Kimberley mines of South Africa diamonds occur in, what appear to be, volcanic vents, filled with the products of the decomposition of intrusive material thrown up from great depths.

The late Professor H. Carvill Lewis, in examining the materials from the greatest depths of the South African mines, came to the conclusion that the diamonds were formed by the action of the intrusive material on the carbonaceous shale there found, and on this ground predicted the discovery of diamonds in meteorites; but it must be remembered that a similar geological phenomenon appears on a grand scale in Greenland, and no diamonds have as yet been found in the Greenland irons, though they have been so carefully studied by the late Professor J. Lawrence Smith and others.

It is difficult to conceive of any chemical reaction by which diamonds could be formed from the action of melted igneous rock on coal, and all attempts to prepare diamonds artificially by similar means have signally failed.

The writer would urge that the segregation of carbon from molten iron is a well-known phenomenon, and the association of diamonds with amorphous carbon in the meteorite from Arizona indicates that under certain conditions such a segregation may take the form of diamond. The chief of these conditions is doubtless the length of time attending the crystallization, though it may also be affected by pressure; and if the earth, as many believe, is simply a large iron meteorite covered with a crust, it seems perfectly possible that if we could go deep enough below the surface we should find diamonds in great abundance.

• Min. Mag., 7, 121, 1887.

3 American Journal of Science, xxvi., p. 74. British Association, 1886, p. 667.

Ibid, 1887, p. 720.

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