receive our messages; and for this not a single cent of money was asked or expected. It was found that fifty miles to the west of us, at Alhama, where were the observers from the Lick Observatory under Professor Campbell, there were thin clouds, while one hundred miles to the east along the Mediterranean coast the Englishmen were even more unfortunate in having the clouds denser. In the northeastern part of Spain at Burgos more astronomers were located than at any one place, and here too was King Alfonso of Spain. Five minutes before totality it was pouring rain there, but as if by a miracle a little blue patch of sky appeared, and the eclipse was seen under perfect conditions. The weather along the eclipse track was: in Labrador, cloudy, no observations made; in Spain, cloudy and clear; in the islands of the Mediterranean, cloudy; on the coast of Africa, slightly cloudy; but further inland and along the rest of the eclipse track the skies were perfect. All three parties of the Naval Observatory were fortunate in having their work unhindered by a single cloud. My own work was entirely spectroscopic. The photographic plates were developed within the walls of the college of Daroca, and in the long hours necessary for this work I was greatly encouraged and assisted by my good friend the rector of the college, Padre Felix Alvirez. Daily intercourse with this reverend father endeared him to me very much, and Srs. Lorente, Soria and Padre Felix made my stay in Daroca one of the most interesting spots of my whole life by the kindness with which they bore my imperfect Spanish, by the interesting bits of history they told of Daroca and by the deep insight each gave of the courtesy of a Spanish gentleman's heart. The developed plates show that a great amount of detail had been caught, on one plate there being no less than twenty-five hundred lines all in good focus. A careful and accurate measurement made of the position of these lines of the spectrum will give much of scientific interest about the constitution of the sun's atmosphere. As a result of the observations of this latest eclipse much valuable information will undoubtedly be gained about the sun and its immediate surroundings. These discoveries, however, will all be in minor details, and it is hardly probable there will be any wonderful or startling revelations made. It is a long time till the next eclipse to be generally observed in 1912, and astronomers will have plenty of time to fully investigate their photographs of this past summer. The instruments that took weeks to mount and adjust were easily pulled apart and packed, and in a few days after the eclipse everything was in readiness to be transshipped home. The writer left Spain with many regrets, and with many happy recollections of a pleasant and profitable time spent among the courtly Spaniards. SHORTER ARTICLES By foreign I mean exotic. A stream of Indian indigenous blood flows in the veins of a large number of Central there on some of the faces which surround our central picture. THE SPANISH AMERICAN TYPE still comparatively free from foreign THE twenty portraits reproduced admixture. here are those of Central American students taken in a haphazard way in a Costa Rican government college. The composite photograph expresses well Americans. It reveals itself here and enough the features common to most of them: the large, dark, dreamy eyes and the relief of both mouth and chin. Aside from that occasional modificaIt may be considered as a good illustra- tion the Spanish American is not untion of the Spanish American type. like his Spanish cousin. His features Mexico receives an increasing American are those of the Mediterranean race. element; Brazil and Chile are some- His skull is dolichocephalic. what Germanized; Argentine is flooded body is slender. The stature is variable with Italians; in Central America, the although generally inferior to that of race, the habits and the language are the Baltic race. The circumstances His COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPH GIVING THE TYPE OF THE SPANISH AMERICAN STUDENT. which determined the migration from Spain were not such as to induce a physical divergence between the two branches. In other words, those who departed did not differ in bodily appearance from those who remained. They differed greatly in mental propensities. When, under the reign of Charles I., marvelous stories concerning the strange and beautiful lands discovered by Columbus, Cortez and Pizarro were circulated in Spain, excitement prevailed all over the pen insula. The practical, matter-of-fact people smiled with incredulity, but the imaginative, the chivalrous, the restless, sold all and sailed. Here is the main fact which is to borne in mind when the present nature and tendencies of the Spanish Americans are considered. Restless, alas! they are and some what restless they may remain, yet they are neither dull nor obstinate; they see their worst defect as clearly as others see it and try to overcome it. If strifes are still frequent among them, on the other hand, the first international treaty of permanent arbitration was the work of two Spanish American countries, and that treaty was by far more comprehensive, and thereby more efficient, than any of the similar treaties recently made in the northern hemisphere. Restless and not practical, but also warm hearted, impulsive and generous, in olden times, many Spanish noblemen sailed because they felt sure to find in the American Eldorado the fountain which confers perpetual youth on all who bathe in it. They went through many vicissitudes, became old and died far away from the land of their fathers without having realized their dream, but it seems to-day as if some of the marvelous waters were present in all the rivers which run down from the Andes, for the defects of the Spanish American, as well as his qualities, are but those of youth. GUSTAVE MICHAUD. THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. THE EARTHQUAKE ON THE CALI-made fire-proof within as well as withFORNIA COAST out. They would then be earthquake The IT is too late to describe here the proof at least for such shocks as appalling disaster that has overtaken are known to have occurred—and would San Francisco and the neighboring re- be as effective as open spaces in stopgions and too soon to attempt to pre- ping the spread of a conflagation. San sent a scientific survey of the causes Francisco will take all needful preleading to the catastrophe and the cautions. Whether cities less likely to precautions that should be taken to suffer should do so is more doubtful. avoid its recurrence. We can but add The effects of an earthquake in New one more expression of the universal York City would be appalling. sympathy and a further appreciation people would rush into the streets, too of the undaunted courage which leads narrow to hold them, while the stones men to assert their supremacy even in would be shaken down on their heads. the face of the most terrible exhibition the conditions being similar to those of of the powers of nature. a vast theater fire. But more lives are needlessly sacrificed in New York City each month than have been lost in the California disaster, and more money is wasted each year than is needed to rebuild San Francisco. The causes of earthquakes are somewhat obscure and are doubtless of different kinds. They are part of the The progress of science and the conditions of modern civilization have been the chief causes of the calamity; yet we may confidently look to the same factors to prevent its recurrence. Earthquakes occur daily, and a shock such as that of April 18 would have done but small damage to a farming community. The trouble was due, on vast terrestrial phenomena which have the one hand, to large piles of masonry lifted the continents and the mountain or flimsy brickwork unsuited to resist ranges. The main stresses may be vibrations, and, on the other, to the due to contraction of the crust of the conflagation. The live electric wires, earth or to changes in its shape, while the methods of heating, lighting and the proximate causes are the local applying power, the dependence of a geological formations. The conditions modern city on its fire department at San Francisco are fairly well underand a supply of water through mains, stood. There is a fault in the pennot only explain the San Francisco fire, insula along the Portolá Valley, where but made it almost inevitable. On for about forty miles the rocks on one the other hand, the steel frames and side have at some time sunk two thouconcrete reenforced with steel wires, sand feet. At the time of the recent proved themselves, as had been fore- earthquake, the land on the west side seen, well fitted to resist destruction. of the fault was forced northward from The only trouble was the shaking off three to six feet, and the violent disof the stones and bricks and the in- location accounts for the shock. Mr. flammable contents. If it were not for G. K. Gilbert has been instructed by the esthetic effects, such buildings might the U. S. Geological Survey to make be covered with metal sheathing and be a thorough study of the causes, and we may be able to print a special article : foundation, in accordance with regulaon the subject in due time. In the tions imposed by the United Society. meanwhile there is given above an The following are the charter members article by Professor Turner on our of the corporation: Charles F. Scott, present knowledge of earthquakes. Bion J. Arnold and S. S. Wheeler, of There is also printed in this number the American Institute of Electrical of the MONTHLY a paper by Major Engineers; C. W. Hunt, F. R. Hutton Dutton suggesting a hypothesis to ac- and James M. Dodge, of the American count for the allied phenomenon of Society of Mechanical Engineers; A. R. volcanoes. Those of our readers who Ledoux, Charles Kirchoff and Theodore wish to inform themselves on the na- Dwight, of the American Institute of ture of earthquakes and the methods Mining Engineers. of recording and studying them should read the book on the subject by Major Dutton, recently published in the Science Series' by the Putnams. The building of the new society is in process of erection on the north side of thirty-ninth street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the site covering five city lots with a total front of THE ENGINEERING BUILDING OF 125 feet and a depth of 100 feet. The NEW YORK CITY new building utilizes only 115 feet of the front and as it controls the other side, space is left on all sides of the granite pile of thirteen stories, which thus presents an imposing monumental appearance. The plans are entrusted to Messrs. Hall and Rogers, and Henry G. Morse, associate architects, for the three engineering societies and Messrs. Whitfield and King for the Engineering Club. The building, as shown in the illustration, is a notably worthy product of the modern science and art of building construction that may well serve to typify the purposes for which it was conceived. THE corner stone of the United Engineering Building in New York City, already more than half completed, was laid on May 8 by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, to whose munificence the building is due. It will be remembered that, in view of Mr. Carnegie's gift of one and one half million dollars, the United Engineering Society was incorporated on May 11, 1904, under the legislature of the state of New York for "the advancement of the engineering arts and sciences in all their branches, and to maintain a free public engineering library." The Founder Societies' rep resented in the corporation are the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The building of the United Society will provide permanent headquarters for these three national engineering societies and for the Engineer's Club, and also places of meeting and office room for such other engineering and scientific societies as may from time to time be admitted as ' associates.' Power to administer the trust is invested in a board of trustees of nine members, consisting of three There is one large auditorium with representatives elected by each of the accommodations for 1,000 persons, on Founder Societies. The expense of the first floor above the street. The maintenance must be shared by the foyer and corridors afford ample space three societies participating in the for withdrawal from the assembly hall, Primarily it must serve the convenience of the individual societies which enter it as founders. To this end a floor provides adequate rooms for each of the societies, as shown in the case of the electrical engineers in the accompanying plan. In addition meeting rooms and auditoriums are to be furnished for the regular and special meetings of the societies and for scientific lectures and demonstrations. Other assembly rooms have been specially adapted to suit the various uses for which they may be required. |