POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



427 



do not escape them entirely, they are less 

 generally and less severely afflicted by con- 

 tagious diseases ; they are comparatively 

 exempt from such diseases as consumption 

 and scrofula ; and they have the faculty of 

 becoming acclimated and multiplying in all 

 latitudes. These immunities are observed, 

 notwithstanding the apparent condition of 

 the Jews who enjoy them may be most 

 miserable, notwithstanding the frequency of 

 marriages of relatives among them, and not- 

 withstanding the unwholesome conditions of 

 the city life to which they mostly confine 

 themselves. They may be explained as the 

 consequence of the operation of a variety 

 of causes, among which are suggested an 

 inherent superior vitality in the race ; the 

 continued preservation of its purity from 

 admixture with foreign blood ; the faithful 

 observance of the rules of hygiene laid down 

 in Deuteronomy, which are particularly 

 adapted to hot climates and hot seasons ; 

 the salutary influence of early marriages, of 

 the spirit of order and economy, of modera- 

 tion in tastes, of a comparative severity of 

 manners, and of the domesticity of Jewish 

 family life. It may be, too, that the misery 

 in the Jewish quarters of European cities 

 is more apparent than real, and that their 

 inhabitants are really better off than the 

 people around them. The facts are brought 

 out in the statistics from which these con- 

 clusions are drawn, that Jews are quite liable 

 to cerebral affections, and also to diseases 

 that afflict mature and aged persons. The 

 latter fact is explained by the existence of 

 a greater proportion of mature and aged 

 persons among them. 



Constitution of Comet b, 1881. The 

 spectral phenomena and constitution of the 

 cornet were the subjects of several papers 

 at the sessions of the French Academy of 

 Sciences of June 27th and July 11th. Mr. 

 Hugging stated that the lines as shown in 

 his photographs indicated the presence of 

 nitrogen with carbon and hydrogen, prob- 

 ably as cyanogen. M. Berthelot remarked 

 that the exhibition of the lines of hydro- 

 cyanic acid would furnish an argument for 

 the hypothesis of the electric origin of the 

 light, as the spectra of acetylene and hydro- 

 cyanic acid are characteristic of the elec- 

 trical illumination of a gas containing car- 



bon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, whether free 

 or in combination. M. Thollon described 

 the nucleus as giving a brilliant continuous 

 spectrum, and the nebulosity around the 

 nucleus as showing three bands, one quite 

 distinct, the others dim, separated upon a 

 ground forming a continuous spectrum. The 

 spectrum of the bands resembled that given 

 by the blue flame of alcohol, and therefore 

 indicated the presence of carbon or some 

 of its compounds. M. Wolff recognized 1. 

 A wide continuous spectrum, pale, but vis- 

 ible in all the regions of the comet ; 2. A 

 continuous spectrum, almost linear, lively 

 bright, given by the nucleus ; 3. The spec- 

 trum of the three bands yellow, green, 

 and blue characteristic of the light of all 

 the comets hitherto examined. The exist- 

 ence of a solid or liquid matter, luminous 

 either by itself or by reflection, wa3 indi- 

 cated in the nucleus, and that of an incan- 

 descent gas, probably acetylene, in the sur- 

 rounding nebulosity, while the light of the 

 tail appears to come from a luminous or 

 simply illuminated pulverulent matter. The 

 polariscopic observations indicated the ex- 

 istence of reflected light, that is, of non- 

 gaseous matter endowed with the power of 

 reflection. M. Thollon noticed the modifi- 

 cations that took place in the spectrum as 

 the comet receded from the sun. The vio- 

 let rays were soon extinguished, while the 

 yellow and red rays continued of full brill- 

 iancy. The bands appeared nearer the nu- 

 cleus every day till the first day of July, 

 when they were seen on the nucleus itself. 

 M. Thollon supposes that the mass of the 

 comet is formed partly of an incandescent 

 gas, characterized by the banded spectrum, 

 and partly of an incandescent solid or liquid 

 matter in a state of extreme division, emit- 

 ting a proper white light, and also capable 

 of reflecting a part of the light it receives 

 from the sun. 



A Sonth African River-Antelope. Ma- 

 jor Serpa Pinto, the African traveler, found 

 on the Cuchibi a new antelope, of curious 

 and remarkable habits. It bears, he says, 

 among the Bihenos the name of qxdehobo 

 and among the Ambucllas that of buzi. It 

 is of the size, when full grown, of a one- 

 year-old steer, has dark-gray hair, extremely 

 smooth, straight horns, about two feet long, 



