Block System

in railroad parlance, the division of a railroad into a certain number of telegraphic districts, the distance between which is determined by the amount of traffic, each block station having signaling instruments by which the signal man can communicate with the operator on each side of him. When a train enters any block a semaphore signal is lowered, and no train is allowed to follow until the one in front has reached the end of the block. _ Blodget, Lorin, an American physicist, born near James town, N. Y., May 25, 1823; was educated at Hobart College; appointed A istant Profe or at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., in charge of researches on climatology, in. 1851. He is credited with having laid the foundation of American climatology. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 24, 1901.