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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tion of railways has been improved by the 

 introduction of steel rails, the extension 

 of the block and interlocking systems, the 

 application of continuous brakes, and the 

 better adaptation of rolling-stock to turn- 

 ing curves ; and the use of steel for cross- 

 ties is anticipated. Arrangements are in 

 use by which the signal-man can cause the 

 whistle of the engine to sound at the same 

 time he gives the danger-signal ; and a 

 device to enable him also to turn off the 

 steam, apply the brakes, and stop the train 

 is desirable and not impracticable ; but this 

 should be accompanied with a registering 

 apparatus to reveal the negligence of the 

 engineer that may have made it necessary 

 to apply it. So much has been gained in 

 our knowledge of the theory of resistance 

 and the best dimensions and shapes of ships, 

 that we are now able to build vessels ap- 

 proaching the size of the Great Eastern, 

 and run them with a profit at a greater 

 speed than was ever attained before. Gas- 

 engines are made, the workings of which are 

 nearly as steady as those of the steam-en- 

 gine, and with Mr, Dowson's process for 

 making fuel-gas, power can now be obtained 

 from gas-fuel for less cost than in the ordi- 

 nary steam-engine. A curious application 

 of shifting ballast, which was once thought 

 to be one of the most dangerous agents to 

 equilibrium, has been made in the British 

 war-vessel Inflexible to check the rolling of 

 the vessel. Water, in a tank extending 

 across the vessel, by being on the lower side 

 at the moment the vessel turns to roll upon 

 the other side, and remaining there till the 

 position of equilibrium is reached, restrains 

 the violence of the oscillation, diminishes 

 its extent, and tends to bring the vessel 

 sooner to rest. 



Scientific Societies in Japan. Besides 

 having several bodies in the nature of 

 learned societies which have enjoyed a time- 

 honored existence, the Japanese have been 

 prompted, under the impulse given by the 

 introduction of European culture, to found 

 several new scientific associations. The most 

 important of these bodies is the Geograph- 

 ical Society of Tokio, with two hundred 

 members, among whom are included several 

 of the chief personages of the empire. 

 Its "Transactions" are neatly printed in 



pamphlets of about one hundred pages 

 each, and contain much matter, especially 

 the papers relating to Corea, that is valua- 

 ble to European geographers. A biological 

 society was established while Professor 

 Morse, of Salem, Massachusetts, was con- 

 nected with the University of- Tokio, and 

 is now conducted by Professor Yatahe, a 

 scholar educated in the United States. The 

 Kojunsha, or Society for the Circulation of 

 Knowledge, has branches in nearly every 

 town of importance in the empire. A 

 member desiring information on any sub- 

 ject applies to the secretary, who finds on 

 his books the names of any persons who 

 are likely to satisfy the applicant, and trans- 

 mits his questions to him. The answers 

 are forwarded to the inquirer, and, if im- 

 portant enough, are printed in the weekly 

 " Journal " of the society. This associa- 

 tion has nearly three thousand members, 

 some of them in Europe and America. 

 The Seismological Society has been insti- 

 tuted for the study of earthquakes, for 

 which Japan offers rare facilities. It is 

 given the use of the telegraphs by the Gov- 

 ernment for the instantaneous transmission 

 of news of phenomena happening in any 

 part of the country. The Numismatic So- 

 ciety, one of the old native societies, is very 

 active, and publishes a periodical describ- 

 ing the new and strange coins that are ex- 

 hibited at its meetings. The Antiquarian 

 Society and the Society of 6ro-players are 

 also ancient native organizations that still 

 flourish. 



A New Race in Course of Development. 



M. Gustave Le Bon has called attention 

 to a peculiar race living in the Tatras 

 Mountains, the process of whose formation 

 out of the neighboring peoples, from whom 

 it is now isolated, he believes can be traced 

 quite clearly. It is the people called the Podo- 

 lians. They are surrounded on different sides 

 by Ruthenians, Slovacks, Magyars, Germans, 

 and other races, yet are distinct from them in 

 many of the most essential characteristics. 

 Their land is walled by a circle of mountains 

 difficult to traverse, which interpose an ef- 

 fectual physical separation between them 

 and the races dwelling on the other side; 

 the climate is rigorous, the soil poor, and 

 adapted to the production of so limited a 



