284 



P OP ULAR S CIENCE MONTHL Y. 



widely spread form, the shores of the Arctic 

 Ocean on one side and on the other passes 

 across the one hundred and forty-first 

 meridian of west longitude into Alaska. The 

 orographic features of this region are very 

 complicated in detail. No existing map yet 

 properly represents even the principal phys- 

 ical outlines, and the impression gained by 

 the traveler or explorer may well be one of 

 confusion. There are, however, the two 

 dominant mountain systems of the Rocky 

 Mountains and the Coast Range. As a 

 whole, the area of the Cordillera in Canada 

 may be described as forest-clad, but the 

 growth of trees is more luxuriant on the 

 western slopes of each of the dominant 

 mountain ranges, in correspondence with the 

 greater precipitation occurring on these 

 slopes. This is particularly the case in the 

 coast region and on the seaward side of the 

 Coast Range, where magnificent and dense 

 forests of coniferous trees occupy almost the 

 whole available surface. The interior pla- 

 teau, however, constitutes the southern part 

 of a notably dry belt, and includes wide 

 stretches of open grass-covered hills and 

 valleys, forming excellent cattle ranges. 

 Farther north, along the same belt, similar 

 open country appears intermittently, but the 

 forest invades the greater part of the region. 

 It is only toward the arctic coast, in rela- 

 tively very high latitude, that the barren 

 arctic tundra country begins, which, sweep- 

 ing in wider development to the westward, 

 occupies most of the jnterior of Alaska. 

 With certain exceptions the farming land of 

 British Columbia is confined to the valleys 

 and tracts below three thousand feet, by rea- 

 son of the summer frosts occurring at greater 

 heights. There is, however, a considerable 

 area of such land in the aggregate, with a 

 soil generally of great fertility. In the 

 southern valleys of the interior irrigation is 

 necessary for the growth of crops. 



The u Rabies " Bacillus. — Ever since 

 the discovery of Pasteur that an attenuated 

 virus made from the medulla or spinal cord 

 of a dog affected by rabies was, when ad- 

 ministered in graduated doses, a specific 

 against the disease, bacteriologists have been 

 eagerly seeking to isolate the rabies bacillus. 

 A number of observers, among them Toll, 

 Rivolta, and San Felice, have succeeded in 



staining a bacillus which they claimed to be 

 that of rabies. Memno, of Rome, confirmed 

 the observations of the preceding, and 

 proved the virulent character of the micro- 

 organism, which he described as a blastomy- 

 cete. He has quite recently succeeded in 

 cultivating the bacillus in artificial media 

 and producing typical rabies in dogs, rodents, 

 and birds by inoculations. He found that 

 the bacillus grew better in fluid than in solid 

 media, the best being bouillon with glucose 

 slightly acidulated with tartaric acid. The 

 growth did not become manifest under a 

 week, and was easily arrested by " air infec- 

 tion." It would thus seem that we have at 

 last certainly established the bacterial origin 

 of rabies. 



The St. Kildaus.— St. Kilda, the farthest 

 out to sea of all the British Isles, is a rounded 

 mountain with " stack rocks " and islets 

 round it, rises twelve hundred and twenty 

 feet in height, and contains a settlement of 

 about seventy-five men, women, and chil- 

 dren — almost the only representatives left 

 on the British Islands of man in the hunt- 

 ing age. On one of the subsidiary islands, 

 Boreray, is gathered the main body of the 

 sea birds for which the island is famous ; 

 and on a third, Soa, are the diminutive de- 

 scendants of Viking sheep, left by old sea 

 rovers. Mr. R. Kearton, who has recently 

 visited the islands for recreation among the 

 sea birds, represents that in the little com- 

 munity of its people the ordinary and ex- 

 traordinary operations of fife seem inverted. 

 Sport is a serious work ; sheep herding and 

 shearing are an exciting sport. A St. Kil- 

 dan qualifies for marriage by proving his 

 courage and skill as a fowler, by standing on 

 a dizzy precipice called Lover's Stone, and 

 goes out bird snaring with a serious face. 

 When he wants a sheep for the butcher, he 

 asks his friends to a sheep hunt in the island 

 of Soa, in which dogs and men pursue the 

 animals from rock to rock. An offer made 

 by a factor to supply the people with nets, 

 so that they might catch the sheep with 

 more humanity and less waste of life, was 

 rejected by them. They preferred the old 

 methods, which supplied plenty of danger 

 and excitement. While the sheep are hunted, 

 the cows are thoroughly .spoiled. Every day 

 the women are seen hard at work picking 



