136 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ceives a lye formed from the residue or 

 refuse of the grapes after pressing, which is 

 either that obtained from the present year 

 or some that has been kept from a previous 

 vintage. The raisins, held in wire colan- 

 ders holding from five to eight pounds each, 

 are plunged in this lye while it is boiling. 

 After the immersion, the workmen exam- 

 ine the skins to see if they are shriveled 

 enough. If not, they immerse the grapes 

 a second time, which is usually the last. 

 The process of immersion is a very delicate 

 one, requiring skillful watching and keen 

 judgment on the part of the workmen. The 

 grapes must not be allowed to burst, nor 

 the skins to crack. The grapes must not 

 get too hot or be too 6wect, or the raisins 

 will mold. Raisins dried by this process 

 are considered inferior. To prepare rai- 

 sins by steam, the grapes, after having been 

 sunned for twenty-four hours, are put on 

 drying-shelves in a room heated by steam to 

 160 Fahr., and kept there for twenty-four 

 hours, when they are taken to a cooling- 

 room to be gradually cooled till they are 

 ready to be packed. Drying in the sun is pre- 

 ferred to the other processes wherever the 

 sun affords enough heat. Stagings are built 

 of brick or stone, on which the grapes are 

 exposed at such an angle of inclination as 

 to be in the sun throughout the day. A 

 temperature of 145 is thus attained in Au- 

 gust. At night, the grapes are covered with 

 canvas or with boards. During the process 

 of drying, those grapes that remain green or 

 are spoiled are carefully removed, and each 

 grape is turned, in order to preserve a uni- 

 formity in the darkening of color. Raisins 

 prepared by the scalding process dry in four 

 davs, while those dried in the sun take ten 

 days, but the difference of time is largely 

 compensated for by the economy of ex- 

 penditure. The raisins are not ready for 

 packing immediately after being dried, but 

 have to be kept for several days in the 

 stores on the planks on which they are car- 

 ried. Those that- are spoiled or defective 

 are picked out, especially if they appear 

 broken or bruised, for one drop of moisture 

 from them would probably damage a whole 

 box. The crop of raisins produced in the 

 Malaga district from the vintage of 1880 

 and 1881 is estimated at between 2,000,000 

 and 2,050,000 boxes of 22 pounds each. 



Centripetal and 'Centrifugal Movements 

 of the Limbs. Dr. G. Delaunay controverts 

 the theory of Carl Vogt, that the direction 

 of the lines in writing, whether from right 

 to left, the result of a centripetal, or from 

 left to right, the result of a centrifugal, 

 movement of the hand, depends upon ex- 

 terior conditions rather than a physiological 

 necessity. His investigations have taught 

 him to believe that the general direction of 

 all movements is determined by physiological 

 and anatomical influences. Quadrupeds, he 

 says, as a rule are capable only of vertical 

 or forward and backward movements ; a 

 few of them, as the cat and monkeys, can 

 make centripetal movements. Man is the 

 only one who can execute centrifugal ones. 

 The physiological evolution from vertical to 

 lateral first centripetal, then centrifugal 

 movements, is a result of an anatomical evo- 

 lution that has been well described by 

 Broca, in his work on the " Order of Pri- 

 mates." According to M. Delaunay's re- 

 searches, movements are rather centripetal 

 than centrifugal with primitive or inferior 

 races rather centrifugal than centripetal 

 with superior races ; and the change from 

 one to the other takes place as the race 

 advances. Formerly watches were wound 

 from right to left now they are wound 

 from left to right. Some English watches 

 are an exception, but the Americans, who 

 are more advanced in evolution (so M. De- 

 launay says) than the European English, 

 wind their watches from left to right. As 

 it is with watches, so it is with most other 

 machinery. Writing from right to left was 

 characteristic of the earlier nations, and is 

 still so of the less advanced peoples, but 

 has given way to writing from left to right 

 as the races have improved. As between 

 the sexes, women are more inclined to cen- 

 tripetal, men to centrifugal, movements; 

 this is seen in drawing and in the adjust- 

 ment of clothing. Children are more in- 

 clined to centripetal than to centrifugal 

 movements; they strike with their palms 

 rather than with the backs of their hands, 

 draw from right to left, and have a propen- 

 sity to spell and write in the same direction. 

 M. Delaunay sees in this a tendency to 

 atavism. As between individuals, the more 

 intelligent persons, better scholars, are more 

 ready in left to right, or centrifugal ; the less 



