POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



429 



Edward S. Morse on the Brachiopoda as 

 follows. Having made certain compari- 

 sons, they say : " After these analyses, it is 

 self-evident that the brachiopods must be 

 distinguished from the mollusks, and that 

 the two represent perfectly different types 

 of development. It is the merit of Steen- 

 strup to have first recognized this, and in- 

 deed, as early as 1847, to have sought a 

 connection of the brachiopods with the an- 

 nelids. Independently of him, Morse has 

 pursued the same road, and one may say 

 decided the question by comparing, with 

 great ingenuity and to the minutest details, 

 the anatomy of the brachiopods with that 

 of the worms and the mollusks, and has in 

 this connection proved throughout their dif- 

 ference from the mollusks and agreement 

 with the annelids." Gegenbaur also assumed 

 the position of Steenstrup and Morse, and 

 remarks in the second edition of his " Grund- 

 zuge " that the brachiopods have little more 

 in common with the mollusks than the pos- 

 session of a shell quite different from the 

 housing integument of the latter, and form 

 a small and sharply distinguished division, 

 the origin of which may be traced back to 

 the stem of the worm and specially of the 

 chaetopod. 



Death of Professor William B. Rogers. 



Professor William B. Rogers, ex-President 

 of the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 

 ogy and one of its founders, died very sud- 

 denly of apoplexy, May 30th, during the 

 exercises of the graduating class of the in- 

 stitution, which he was attending. He had 

 begun making an address, and was review- 

 ing what the institute had accomplished, 

 when he was attacked. He was taken from 

 the hall, and died in about twenty minutes. 

 Professor Rogers was born in Philadelphia 

 in 1805, and was one of four brothers, all 

 of whom have distinguished themselves in 

 science. He suceeeded his father, Dr. P. K. 

 Rogers, as Professor of Natural Philosophy 

 and Chemistry in William and Mary Col- 

 lege, in 1829, and was Professor of Natural 

 Philosophy and Geology in the University of 

 Virginia from 1835tolS53. He removed 

 to Boston, where he had since lived, in the 

 latter year. He was President of the Insti- 

 tute of Technology from \862 to 1868, and 

 was President of the American Association 



for the Advancement of Science in 18*75. 

 He was the author of works on the " Strength 

 of Materials " and the " Elements of Me- 

 chanical Philosophy," and of many scien- 

 tific papers. A portrait and sketch of Pro- 

 fessor Rogers were given in " The Popular 

 Science Monthly " for September, 18*76. 



The Mysterious Volcano of Apo. The 



Governor of Davao, Mindanao, Philippine 

 Islands, recently ascended a remarkable vol- 

 cano called Apo. An expedition to the 

 mountain had often been contemplated be- 

 fore, but had been prevented, partly by the 

 unexplored and difficult character of the 

 country, partly by the opposition offered by 

 the natives, who, though nominally Mo- 

 hammedans, believe that the summit of the 

 mountain is inhabited by a demon to whom 

 they are accustomed to make offerings 

 when they think he is angry with them, or 

 when they wish him to allow them to collect 

 sulphur. The crater of the volcano was 

 found to be 9,9*70 feet above the sea, extinct, 

 and covered with vegetation within, although 

 the temperature of the air was but little 

 above the freezing-point. A wide chasm 

 on the southern slope of the mountain was 

 the seat of numerous solfataras, which, furi- 

 ously spitting out sulphurous vapors with a 

 fearful smell and roar, might well inspire 

 fear in the minds of an ignorant populace. 

 The Tagalaya stream, which rises on the 

 mountain, and in the rough bed of which 

 the ascent was made, brings down lumps of 

 sulphur. A sharp cold prevails in the crater 

 and on the mountain for three thousand 

 feet below it, but the lava and ashes still 

 radiate enough heat to be perceptible, and 

 make one warm who lies down upon them ; 

 and, perhaps, to keep up the vegetation 

 which manages to subsist there. Two petri- 

 fied tree-trunks, which were noticed during 

 the ascent, indicate that a very different 

 vegetation formerly existed there. 



Eggs of Reptiles and Insects as Food. 



The eggs, even of animals which impress us 

 most Unpleasantly, have their value as food, 

 and seem to be capable of inspiring a relish 

 in the palates of those who have learned to 

 eat them. The eggs of most of the species 

 of tortoises are excellent for eating, nutri- 

 tious, and agreeable to the taste ; and those 



