POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



861 



Birds from the Himalaya Mountains," tlie 

 figures of a small collection of birds which 

 were then rare and little known in Great 

 Britain. He then undertook the " Birds of 

 Europe," on a similar plan, which was fin- 

 ished, in five large folio volumes, in 1837. 

 In 1838 he made extensive journeys in 

 Australia and the neighboring islands, and 

 collected specimens for the " Birds of Aus- 

 tralia," a work which he gave to the public 

 in seven folio volumes, in 1848, and which 

 contained much that was new on the range 

 and habits of sea-birds. The "Birds of 

 Asia," " Mammals of Australia," and " Birds 

 of Great Britain," which followed, were on 

 the same comprehensive plan, and revealed 

 the same thoroughness of preparation and 

 accuracy in the representation of typical 

 specimens as the previous works. Besides 

 these great undertakings, Mr. Gould was 

 the author of monographs on the toucans, 

 the trogons, the humming-birds, the ant- 

 thrushes of the Old World, the partridges 

 of America, and the birds collected during 

 the voyage of the Beagle by Mr. Darwin, 

 for all of which, as well as for the larger 

 works, he prepared the original designs, 

 from which the splendid colored plates 

 constituting "the most beautiful series of 

 pictures of animal life which have yet been 

 produced " were executed. 



The New Mineral, Peckhamite. Pro- 

 fessor J. Lawrence Smith has found a new 

 meteoric mineral in the analysis of the great 

 meteorite which fell in Emmett County,Iowa, 

 in May, 1879, and has named it Peckhamite. 

 He describes it as decidedly different from 

 any mineral he has seen associated with me- 

 teorites. It is a silicate of iron and mag- 

 nesia, opalescent, of a light greenish-yellow 

 color, of greasy aspect, and cleaves readily. 

 In two or three specimens the mineral pro- 

 jected from the oiiter surface of the stone, 

 with a dingy-yellow color and a fused ex- 

 terior. It differs widely in structure from 

 olivine, which was abundant in the stone. 

 Professor Smith states, as an additional fact 

 concerning the meteorite, that its fall was 

 attended by a shower of fragments like 

 hailstones, of which several thousand, vary- 

 ing from the size of a pea to five hundred 

 grammes in weight, have been picked up. 

 All the smaller pieces are lumps of nick- 



eliferous iron, and even the larger ones 

 have but little stony, material attached. 

 They lay on the wet prairie for nearly a 

 year, and are yet not at all rusted ; many 

 parts are still bright, and some look like 

 nuggets of platinum. 



Qnarantine and Systematic Medical In- 

 spection. The " Lancet " denies that there 

 is any value in the ordinary practice of quar- 

 antine. The reasoning on which the sys- 

 tem is founded is plausible and seductive, 

 but it is impossible to make it practically 

 efficient. Contraband the secret escape 

 of infected persons and goods through the 

 lines is one of its commonest accompani- 

 ments, and most often defeats its purpose. 

 " Moreover, in all great extensions of disease, 

 the initial extension has generally occurred 

 before the danger was anticipated, and the 

 imposition of quarantine has taken place 

 after the mischief which it was designed to 

 avert had been accomplished." Quarantine 

 is generally credited with having prevent- 

 ed the extension of the recent plague from 

 the Volga to Europe, but wrongly ; though 

 enforced, it did not prevent the convey- 

 ance of the pest from Persia to Russia ; 

 and it had no effect upon the transmission 

 of the disease from the Volga, for the 

 plague had practically ceased to prevail be- 

 fore any measure of quarantine was adopted. 

 It has been, in fact, an evil, both on account 

 of its futility and because it has diverted 

 attention from a true means of preventing 

 infectious disease. "In so far as it may 

 have contributed to a clearer knowledge of 

 the conditions under which the isolation of 

 persons and things is desirable and may be 

 advantageous, and of the hygiene of ships 

 and of masses of persons, such as pilgrims 

 and emigrants, journeying both by sea and 

 by land, quarantine may indirectly have 

 yielded certain advantages, but advantages 

 wholly disproportionate to the cost at which 

 they have been gained, and which were at- 

 tainable in a much simpler and more effec- 

 tive fashion." England and Denmark have 

 ceased to rely upon quarantine as a protec- 

 tion against infection, though they still keep 

 up the forms in order to obviate disabilities 

 that would be imposed on their shipping 

 by other governments which adhere to the 

 practice. The system of medical inspection 



