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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Islands, which is partly based on observa- 

 tions made during a visit to the leper set- 

 tlement on the Island of Molokai in Febru- 

 ary, 1880. The Hawaiian leprosy does not 

 differ essentially from the disease in Europe 

 and Asia, but its history is known from its 

 origin, and its development there may be 

 traced with greater accuracy of detail than 

 in other countries. It was introduced from 

 China with the coolie-trade, and was first 

 recognized in 1848. Its spread has been 

 furthered by the peculiar habits of the peo- 

 ple, particularly in eating, and their close as- 

 sociation in their houses, and is contributed 

 to by the exhaustion caused by the use of 

 the intoxicant Ixtva. To this may be added 

 impure vaccination, which was practiced in- 

 discriminately by all classes of people in 

 1852, and the prevalent licentiousness, which 

 is hardly concealed. All observers agree 

 that the disease is hereditary and that death 

 alone ends it. It is established that it is a 

 specific and well-marked disease not a form 

 of syphilis that it exists in two varieties, 

 the tubercular and anaesthetic, which may 

 be distinct or associated, that it is not con- 

 tagious, but is transplantable, and that men 

 are more liable to it than women. The 

 treatment has heretofore been merely pal- 

 liative, the most useful drug in affording re- 

 lief being the bark of the hoang - nan-tree. 

 The most effective preventive of the spread 

 of the disease is isolation. Few of the chil- 

 dren born of leprous parents survive infancy 

 and none survive adult age. Hence, is sug- 

 gested the possibility of stamping it out if 

 the lepers can be kept separated from the 

 rest of the population. The population of 

 the Pacific States are in no immediate dan- 

 ger from leprosy, but the increasing inter- 

 course with China and the Sandwich Islands, 

 combined with prostitution, offers a con- 

 stant menace, and makes vigilance a duty. 



The Roal Discoverer of Spectrum Anal- 

 ysis. Mr. Frank Cowan makes, in the "Pitts- 

 burg Telegraph," a strong presentment of 

 the claims of the late Dr. David Alter, of 

 Freeport, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, 

 who died last September, to be regarded as 

 the real discoverer of spectroscopic analy- 

 sis. Dr. Alter was born in 1807, and mani- 

 fested at a very early age an interest in the 

 study of electrical phenomena, and later in 



chemistry. He invented and perfected an 

 electric telegraph in 1836, which, being more 

 cumbrous than Morse's, and even than 

 Wheatstone's, he never attempted to bring 

 into use. He also invented an electrical 

 engine, and published a paper on electricity 

 as a motive power in 1837. His papers on 

 spectrum analysis were published in the 

 "American Journal of Science" in 1854 

 and 1855, five years before Kirchhoff an- 

 nounced his discoveries. The first paper, 

 published in the number of the "Journal" 

 for November, 1S54, was " On Certain Phys- 

 ical Properties of Light, produced by the 

 Combustion of Different Metals in the Elec- 

 tric Spark, refracted by a Prism." After 

 describing the appearance of the light of 

 the sky, of a petroleum-lamp, of a tallow- 

 candle, the flame of alcohol, and the light 

 from heated wire or charcoal as seen through 

 his home-made prism, he gives accounts of 

 the " separate colored bands " which he ob- 

 served in the spectra of the sparks caused 

 by the break of the galvanic or magneto- 

 electric circuit, from points of silver, zinc, 

 copper, lead, tin, iron, bismuth, antimony, 

 brass, and combinations of metals. The 

 second article appeared in May, 1855, and 

 was " On Certain Physical Properties of the 

 Light of the Electric Spark within Certain 

 Gases, as seen through a Prism." This pa- 

 per is explicit, and contains a paragraph 

 suggesting the application of the author's 

 discovery to the detection of the elements 

 in the aurora borealis, shooting-stars, and 

 luminous meteors. An abstract of the first 

 paper was published in Liebig and Kopp's 

 " Chemico- Jahresberichte " for 1854. The 

 second article was reproduced entire in 

 " L'Institut," of Paris, in 1S56, and in the 

 " Archives of the Physical and Natural Sci- 

 ences" of Geneva, vol. xxix, p. 151. A 

 full-page extract from it, containing its 

 most suggestive statements, was also pub- 

 lished in Koppand Will's "Jahresberichte" 

 for 1859. Kirchhoff announced his discov- 

 ery in the year last mentioned. 



Organic Remains in Meteorites. Pro- 

 fessor J. Lawrence Smith expresses a strong 

 disbelief in the alleged discovery by Pro- 

 fessor Hahn of organic remains in meteoric 

 stones. He says that, although he has prob- 

 ably examined more microscopic plates of 



