NOTES. 



H3 



is recent. The ^inundations by which the 

 lower country is frequently submerged come 

 from the Poyang Lake, concerning which 

 very little is actually known, either as re- 

 gards its floods or its rain-falls. It is known 

 only that there is evidence of a great thin- 

 ning out of forests on the mountains of 

 Southern Kiangsi, although it has not been 

 carried to the extent that Che-kiang has 

 experienced, where arboriculture is system- 

 atically pursued to meet demands for tim- 

 ber. In the hills near the coast, which are 

 stripped annually of grass, ferns, and bush- 

 es for fuel, the process of the gradual de- 

 nudation of the hills is distinctly observ- 

 able. The soil is never carpeted by leaves ; 

 no humus forms ; rain, instead of slowly 

 percolating as through a sponge, rushes in 

 water-courses as from the roof of a house into 

 gutters, speedily filling them, and carrying 

 with it soil, which tends to increase the evil. 

 In this way the lakes are destined to be- 

 come desiccated much sooner than they oth- 

 erwise would be. It is because of the occa- 

 sional sudden rush of waters that freshets 

 are always attributed to the spouting of 

 chias subterranean monsters. Several of 

 those are reported as being concerned in the 

 late floods. While there is conclusive evi- 

 dence that there has been in recent times a 

 great destruction of forests, it is not clear 

 that floods have proportionately increased 

 in number or rapidity ; it is, however, what 

 might be expected, and it is what is affirmed 

 by natives when accosted on the subject. 

 Deforestation has had one favorable effect 

 in the south of China, in reducing the rav- 

 ages of jungle malaria, which recedes with 

 the advance of agriculture. 



New Serviceable Metallic Alloys. Three 

 new metallic alloys have been recently in- 

 troduced, which seem fitted to serve as sub- 

 stitutes for bronze, imitation gold, and imi- 

 tation silver. Delta, a bronze made by Mr. 

 Alexander. Dick, of London, is a compound 

 of iron, zinc, and copper, the proportions of 

 the ingredients being varied according to 

 the color it is sought to obtain, and has the 

 advantages of extraordinary tenacity and 

 flexibility. It can be beaten, and forged, 

 and drawn when cold, takes a perfect pol- 

 ish, and, exposed to the air, is less liable to 

 tarnish than brass. Aphthite is a " gold," 

 which does not change, and is composed of 



eight hundred parts of copper, twenty-five 

 of platinum, and ten of tungsten. Its 

 shade of color may be changed by varying 

 the proportions of its constituent metals. 

 Sideraphthite is a similar "silver" metal, 

 and is composed of sixty-five parts of iron, 

 twenty-three of nickel, four of tungsten, 

 five of aluminum, and five of copper. These 

 alloys are capable of resisting hydrosulphu- 

 ric acid, are not attacked by organic acids, 

 and are only slightly attacked by inorganic 

 acids. 



NOTES. 



Mr. F. H. King, State Geologist, esti- 

 mates the bird population of Wisconsin at 

 sixty-six per square mile, or 3,565,000 for 

 the State. Each bird is assumed to eat fifty 

 insects a day, or 6,000 for the summer. 

 Hence all the birds will consume 21,884,- 

 000,000 insects a year. "Add to this 

 amount the work which these birds do in 

 their Southern homes, and we have a low 

 estimate of the influence they exert over in- 

 sect life." 



An improvement on the Bunsen cell, by 

 M. Azapis, consists in substituting for the 

 acidulated water a solution of about fifteen 

 per cent of cyanide of potassium, caustic 

 potash, common salt, or sal-ammoniac. The 

 intensity in the new form is as great as in 

 Bunsen's, and the advantages are, greater 

 constancy, less waste of zinc, and very little 

 smell ; further, the zinc does not need amal- 

 gamating. 



H. T. Cresson has obtained, from Aztec 

 clay flageolets, the fourth, seventh, and oc- 

 tave tones of the diatonic scale, and the ad- 

 ditional sounds or semitones which consti- 

 tute the chromatic scale. These notes are 

 produced by means of the four finger-holes 

 and by stopping or half stopping the bell of 

 the instrument. The flageolets are pitched 

 in different keys, and, if the Aztecs knew 

 the full capacity of their instruments, their 

 music must have far surpassed that of other 

 uncivilized peoples. 



Professor Archibald Geikie remarks, 

 concerning the future history of the Grand 

 Canon of the Colorado, that it has still about 

 a thousand feet to remove from the bottom 

 of its channel before its slope will become 

 so slight that its erosive power will nearly 

 cease, and that it is conceivable that, should 

 no geological revolution occur in the region, 

 the canon may still be deepened to that 

 amount. There are indications, however, 

 that a limit maybe set to the possible depth 

 of the chasm. As in the " creep " of a coal- 

 mine, the bottom of the canon, relieved from 



