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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of them on paper are of little scientific value, 

 because no paper copy can repeat all the 

 minute accuracy of the original negative on 

 glass ; and prints are not taken from them 

 for scientific use, but only for illustration. 

 If one is destroyed it can never be replacpd ; 

 and it is impossible to predict what fact one 

 of them may embody of the greatest impor- 

 tance to the labors of some future astronomer 

 desiring to compare the aspect of his special 

 object of research at his period and ours. 

 Mrs. Fleming's name is frequently mentioned 

 in the reports of the observatory, and she 

 has distinguished herself in several lines of 

 stellar investigation. She has about a dozen 

 women assistants, some of whom are com- 

 puters of long experience, and some are 

 known by the discoveries they have made. 



Forest Planting on the Plains.— Mr. 



Charles A. Keffer, in a report to the Forest- 

 ry Division on Experimental Tree Planting 

 in the Plains, defines the forestless region of 

 America as including all the States between 

 the Mississippi River north of the Ozark 

 Mountains and eastern Texas and the Rocky 

 Mountains, together with the plateau west of 

 the Rocky Mountains. The possibilities of 

 forest growth in this vast area are yet to be 

 proved. Roughly speaking, any species that 

 thrive in the adjacent wooded region can be 

 grown in Iowa, the Red River Valley of Min- 

 nesota and North Dakota, the Sioux Valley 

 of South Dakota and the eastern counties of 

 Nebraska, and in the more southern States. 

 We know that difficulties of cultivation in- 

 crease as one goes westward, but we can not 

 say where the western limit of successful 

 tree culture is. We can not even define the 

 limits of successful agriculture in the plains, 

 for with increased facilities for irrigation 

 splendid crops are now produced where only 

 a few years ago it was thought desert condi- 

 tions would forever prevail. It is admitted 

 that forest planting, as a financial investment, 

 will probably be profitable on the plains only 

 in a limited degree. Favorable sites may en- 

 able the profitable raising of fence posts and 

 other specialized tree crops, but the growing 

 of timber on a commercial scale can hardly be 

 expected. 



A Siamese Geological Theory. — The east 

 coast of Siam as far south as Champawn is 



characteiized by wide bays, with detached 

 masses of limestone set on steep-sided islands 

 or high-peaked promontories with serrated 

 ridges, the most conspicuous of which is Sam 

 Roi Yawt, or the three hundred peaks. The 

 relations of these various rock masses to one 

 another, Mr. H. Warington Smyth observed, 

 in an address to the Royal Geographical So- 

 ciety, have been long ago lucidly set forth 

 by Siamese geologists, who are unanimously 

 agreed on the subject. " It appears that 

 one Mong Lai and his wife once inhabited 

 the neighborhood (they were giants), and 

 each promised their daughter in marriage, 

 unknown to the other, to a different suitor. 

 At last the day of the nuptials arrived, and 

 Chao Lai and the Lord of Mieang Chin 

 (China) both arrived to claim the bride. 

 When the horrified father found how mat- 

 ters stood — having a regard for the value of 

 a promise, which is not too common in the 

 East — he cut his daughter in half, so that 

 neither suitor should be disappointed. Chao 

 Lai, in the meantime, on finding that he had 

 a rival, committed suicide, and the peak of 

 Chaolai is the remains of his body. The un- 

 fortunate bride is to be found in the islands 

 off Sam Roi Yawt, the peaks of which are 

 the remains of the gifts which were to be 

 made to the holy man who was to solemnize 

 the wedding; while Kaw Chang and Kaw 

 King, on the east side of the gulf, are the 

 elephant and buffalo cart in which the pres- 

 ents were brought." 



"The Hell of War."— The Cost of a 

 National Crime and The Hell of War and its 

 Penalties are the appropriate names which 

 Edward Atkinson has given to two essays 

 bearing upon the craze for expansion in 

 which the nation has been abruptly plunged. 

 In them an evil which has not yet received 

 due attention, if any, is presented as sure to 

 be inflicted upon us if the policy of milita- 

 rism is persisted in. " How much increase 

 of taxation," Mr. Atkinson asks, " are you 

 willing to bear, and how many of your neigh- 

 bors' sons are you ready to sacrifice by fever, 

 malaria, and venereal disease, in order to ex- 

 tend the sovereignty of the United States 

 over the West Indies and the Philippine 

 Islands ? " Another question is put to the 

 missionary enthusiasts : "It may be well to 

 ask all who are imbued with this missionary 



