In the February number of The Chautauquan, the address of Henry Hart, manufacturer of the C. L. S. C. badge, was given as Lockport, instead of Brockport, N. Y., as it should be.
A correspondent writes: “Then, according to Mr. Worman, ‘Goethe’ is pronounced ‘Gearte.’ Is it?” We sent the above question to Prof. Worman and asked him whether or not the r sound enters into the pronunciation of Goethe. Prof. Worman replies: “Of course the r is not sounded, but allowed to affect the sound of ea, so that we do say Göé-thê. Webster, last edition, page 1684 (explanation of abbreviation of signs) says: ‘ö has a sound similar to e in her.’ Compare page 1682 (14). Of course the r is not sounded. Compare Worman’s Complete German Grammar, page 16.”
A correspondent makes inquiry concerning Prof. Packard’s statement on page 52 of his “First Lessons in Geology:” “During the process of upheaval, as soon as the great plateau appears above the ocean, rain storms produce rills and brooks, the ocean leaves Mediterranean seas and land-locked lakes, whose waters gradually evaporate, their salts becoming fresh.”
Our correspondent says: “Our philosophies distinctly teach that bodies of water grow salt rather than fresh by evaporation, as only pure water is evaporated, while all salts and impurities remain. Will you be so kind as to explain the discrepancy. I read it with all care, and can not reconcile it with previous study and reading.”
To this criticism Prof. Packard makes reply: “Whatever be the fact stated in chemical works, the fact I stated is true, that land-locked bodies of the ocean become fresh,—more or less. This is owing, probably, to the supply of fresh water by rivers. If the Baltic Sea should be land-locked, it would make an inland lake. The great Salt Lake was formerly a fresh water lake,—shrinking in size, and losing its outlet into Snake River it became salt. Lake Superior was once an arm of the sea. So Lake Titicaca, in Peru. So with some of the Swedish lakes. Perhaps my statement that they evaporate their salts is inexact, but the original salt water dries up, and what is left is greatly diluted,—whatever be the process,—the geological facts above stated are true.”
“May I read books instead of The Chautauquan?” Better read The Chautauquan. You thus get a wide range of reading; a knowledge of the work of the C. L. S. C.; sympathy with its leaders and members; many practical courses for reading and study. It will be difficult to be an advanced and intense member of the C. L. S. C. without The Chautauquan.