POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



861 



the wind. . . . Every feature of the Bethel 

 bowlders under consideration is fully ac- 

 counted for by the hypothesis of sand-sculpt- 

 uring under the action of the wind." An 

 accessible locality for observing this action 

 is found about a mile from West Bethel, on 

 the east side of the road leading to Mason. 



Should Children go barefooted 1 The 



" Lancet " gives a decided affirmative answer 

 to the question, " May children go barefoot 

 without injury ? " It holds that, on physio- 

 logical grounds, it is manifestly a sound prac- 

 tice to accustom children to develop the circu- 

 latory and muscular systems of the lower 

 extremities, as those of the hand are devel- 

 oped, by free use and exposure. No one 

 thinks a child ought to be protected from 

 the weather, so far as its hands are con- 

 cerned, but it is recognized that the upper 

 extremities should be kept warm by exer- 

 cise and habitual exposure. The bones and 

 vessels need freedom for development ; and 

 if the blood-vessels of the foot and leg are 

 fully developed, as they can be only when 

 the foot is habitually exposed, the quantity 

 of blood which the lower extremities can be 

 made to receive, and if need be attract for 

 a time, is very considerable. Children who 

 are allowed to go barefooted enjoy almost 

 perfect immunity from the danger of " cold " 

 by accidental chilling of the feet, and they 

 are altogether healthier and happier than 

 those who go about with their feet done up. 

 For the poorer classes of children, "it is 

 incomparably better that they should go 

 barefooted than wear boots that let in the 

 wet and stockings that are nearly always 

 damp and foul." 



Development of Fleas. Mr. George 

 Ilarkus has succeeded in observing the whole 

 process of the development of the flea from 

 the laying of the egg up. He undertook to 

 begin his experiment with two egg-laden 

 females in a box, but the only result was a 

 fierce battle that compelled separation of 

 the two at once. Each individual laid a 

 batch of from three to twenty-four eggs 

 the average was about a dozen white and 

 oval. Each end of the ova appeared through 

 the glass surrounded by a spiral whorl of 

 oval punctures, eighty at one end and forty 

 at the other. The eggs were so nearly 



transparent that the whole process of de- 

 velopment could be easily watched, and the 

 exhibition, to judge from the wann terms 

 in which it is described, must have been 

 extremely interesting. The larvas resem- 

 bled elongated little worms, were desti- 

 tute of feet, and kept up the usual wrig- 

 gling motion of their kind. They absolutely 

 refused to be fed, and usually died in a few 

 days, so that very few chrysalides were ob- 

 tained. Perhaps, if they had been given 

 their natural way of feeding, whatever that 

 may be, the success might have been better. 

 Any exposure to cold or damp was immedi- 

 ately fatal. The larva?, as the pupa stage 

 is approached, assume a red hue, and, about 

 eight days from hatching, spin a cocoon like 

 a fluffy speck o'f white cotton. The threads 

 are closely woven and of extreme tenuity, 

 and, when attached to a textile material of 

 similar color, must be very difficult of de- 

 tection. A cocoon was opened after the 

 inmate had divested itself of the pupa-case, 

 but still remained enveloped in a filmy trans- 

 parent integument. This pellicle covered 

 the insect completely, following each leg 

 and antenna continuously. "About four 

 weeks is required to metamorphose the 

 speck of vitalized matter contained in the 

 minute ovum of Pulcz irrilans into a sucto- 

 rial tormentor." 



Seience in Japan. A wise step was 

 taken when the University of Tokio and 

 the Engineering College were merged into 

 one organization. This institution, now 

 called the Imperial University of Japan, 

 comprises five colleges, representing the 

 departments of law, medicine, engineering, 

 literature, and science. Each of these col- 

 leges has its special director. The College 

 of Science is showing great activity in bio- 

 logical work. Mr. Ishikawa, who recently 

 graduated, is now in Freiburg, studying un- 

 der Weissmann. Mr. Matsumura, the as- 

 sistant professor of botany, is in Wurz- 

 burg, under Sachs. A marine laboratory 

 is to be built at Misaki, Sagami. Mr. 

 Tsuboi, a student who graduates this year, 

 is to study anthropology as a specialty. 

 A new journal is to be established by the 

 College of Science, from which we infer 

 that the memoirs of the University of To- 

 kio will be discontinued. The first num- 



