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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



A singular feature of the last illness 

 of Guizot was, that for three weeks previ- 

 ous to his death his memory was totally at 

 fault during the greater part of the day ; 

 but from noon till 5 p. M. it was quite per- 

 fect, especially if the conversation turned 

 upon his favorite study the history of 

 France. Again at five he would fall into a 

 kind of somnolence, which lasted till noon 

 of the following day. 



The new Reclam-Siemens cremation-fur- 

 nace has been tested at Berlin with satis- 

 factory results. Two hundred weight of 

 animal carcass was consumed in about 90 

 minutes, and reduced to white ashes at the 

 cost of less than one dollar. Eighty-two 

 German cities possess cremation societies. 



From researches made by Phipson, it 

 appears that thallium is much more widely 

 distributed than has been supposed as 

 widely, indeed, as lead, he thinks. He has 

 met with it especially in metallic cadmium, 

 ajd the cupriferous pyrites of Spain and 

 Norway, and in many of the other minerals 

 and industrial products derived from them. 



The molar tooth of a mastodon was re- 

 cently exhumed near Waterloo, Ind. It 

 weighs six pounds, is eight inches long, and 

 has four prongs and four double crowns. 



The French Minister of War, General 

 de Cissey, has very positively prohibited 

 the officers of the army from communicat- 

 ing to any scientific body, or publishing in 

 any scientitic journal, any "memoirs of a 

 scientific character having reference to any 

 branch of the military service. . . . Such 

 publications," he says, " are absolutely con- 

 trary to the ' principles of (military) hier- 

 archy.' " The Revue Scientifique naturally 

 takes umbrage at this general order, and 

 says that it cannot fail to do injury to the 

 army, by placing it beyond the reach of 

 fair criticism. 



The American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory in Central Park, as we learn from the 

 Tribune, has lately received the Wolfe me- 

 morial gift, which consists of a collection 

 of shells gathered by Dr. J. C. Jay, together 

 with his library of works on conchology. 

 The collection embraces over 10,000 spe- 

 cies, and probably 50,000 specimens. The 

 library is supposed to contain every book 

 treating of shells published before 1861, 

 and most of those issued since then. It 

 also contains full sets of the transactions 

 of all the prominent scientific societies. 



The Austro-Hungarian Government has 

 decided to send out another expedition next 

 year to ascertain whether "Franz-Josef 

 Land " is part of the continent or an island. 

 The expedition will be divided into two par- 

 ties, one going by way of Siberia, the other 

 by way of Greenland. 



The use of aniline red for coloring hair- 

 oils is condemned by the Laboratory, and 

 an instance is cited in proof of the injuri- 

 ous effects resulting from the employment 

 of oils so colored. A man in Boston, who 

 had for some time frequented a barber's 

 shop in which aniline-colored oil was used 

 in hair-dressing, began to experience a dis- 

 agreeable itching of the scalp, very similar 

 to that produced by arsenic. On inquiry, 

 the trouble was traced to the hair -oil, 

 which contained arsenic present in the ani- 

 line color ; and, by discontinuing its use, 

 the eruption soon disappeared. 



Mr. Richard A. Proctor says of our 

 Signal-Office forecasts of the weather, that 

 they are " singularly accurate, the percent- 

 age of error being little more than ten or 

 twelve, and constantly diminishing." Dur- 

 ing the last three months of his stay in the 

 United States, the weather announcements 

 of the Signal-Office failed of strict fulfill- 

 ment only twice ; and even then the error 

 consisted only in the announcement of a 

 change in the weather a few hours before 

 it actually occurred. 



About two-thirds of the estimated cost 

 of the Liebig Monument, at Munich, has 

 been subscribed the far greater part of 

 the money coming, of course, from Ger- 

 many. " England," says the Lancet, " nu- 

 merous and deep as are her obligations to 

 the father of agricultural chemistry, stands 

 very low on the subscription-list, being, in 

 fact, outstripped by Italy, which comes 

 next, as a subscriber, to Germany itself." 



A sandstone anvil has been discovered 

 near Ironton, Ohio, supposed to have been 

 used by the mound-builders. It is com- 

 posed of very sharp grit, contains over 100 

 depressions, weighs about 500 pounds, and 

 measures 8 feet 8 inches at its greatest cir- 

 cumference. This relic of an extinct race 

 is to be presented to the Cincinnati Society 

 of Natural History. 



It may interest the consumers of Rhen- 

 ish wines to learn that at Kehl there is a 

 large establishment for the manufacture of 

 wine without grapes. In the Rheingau 

 and the Palatinate there are hundreds of 

 similar establishments, according to the 

 London Times correspondent. The Excise 

 Bureau of the German Empire recognizes 

 this product as grape-wine. 



The English literary journals are dis- 

 cussing the question of forming one English 

 word to represent what the French call a 

 savavt. " Man of science " is the only ex- 

 pression at present in approved usage that 

 exactly corresponds to the French word. 

 Scientist is " an American barbaric trisyl- 

 lable." A writer in the Academy gives ua 

 our choice between "sciencist" and "sci- 

 ent." 



