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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ease and for productiveness. Dividing the 

 first twelve years of the fourteen into peri- 

 ods of four years each, he obtained for the 

 first period an average of sixteen tubers 

 from each single best seed-tuber ; for the 

 second period, nineteen ; and for the third 

 period, twenty-seven, or nearly double the 

 yield of the first period. This plan of se- 

 lection is on trial, in India, for cotton, and 

 the reports so far received show already a 

 marked difference in its favor. 



The Mound-Builders in Mexico. Mr. F. 



F. Hilder, in a paper on " The Archaeology 

 of Missouri," summarizes the results of the 

 efforts of Mr. S. B. Evans to follow the 

 works of the mound-builders down the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, and connect them with the 

 ancient works in Mexico. Beginning in 

 Minnesota, Mr. Evans has, by personal sur- 

 vey, found an unbroken chain of these works 

 along the great river to the Gulf, with colo- 

 nies on the principal tributaries traversing 

 the States that border on that stream. 

 " Mounds were found along the entire route, 

 and on the shores of the Gulf. Crossing 

 into Mexico, the chain, dropped in the sea 

 at Galveston, was recovered near Vera Cruz. 

 On the plain of Cholula is a mound that, if 

 transferred to Cahokia, would fit the land- 

 scape, and appear in general keeping with 

 the works. On the other hand, if the great 

 mound of Cahokia were brought in pres- 

 ence of Popocatepetl, it would not be 

 abashed, but would be a fit companion of 

 the pyramid. The pyramids of the sun and 

 moon at Teotlihuacan would be mounds in 

 Virginia and Ohio ; and the great mounds 

 of Grave Creek and Selzertown might em- 

 bellish the ' ancient city of the gods.' Ex- 

 cavations were made in Mexican mounds, as 

 they were made in the United States, and 

 substantially the results were the same." 



Elephant-Service in Africa. Mr. L. K. 



Rankin, of the Belgian Elephant Expedi- 

 tion in Africa, has made a statement of the 

 probable value of the practical service that 

 may be expected from elephants if their in- 

 troduction as carriers is attempted in that 

 continent. "When the expedition reached 

 Mpwapwa, a report was drawn up to be sent 

 to the King of the Belgians, which stated 

 that " the elephant expedition has now been 



proved a complete success." This assertion 

 was justified by Carter, the head of the ex- 

 pedition, now deceased, on the three counts 

 of 1. The immunity of the elephants against 

 the tsetse-fly after twenty-three days of ex- 

 posure to that insect ; 2. Their maintenance 

 during one month mostly upon the unculti- 

 vated food of the country, and therefore at 

 little cost (only about twenty -five rupees, or 

 fifteen dollars, for four) ; and, 3. Their abil- 

 ity to march over all kinds of ground, soft, 

 stony, sandy, boggy; to conquer all eccen- 

 tricities of topography hill and dale, river 

 and jungle while laboring under double 

 their due weight of baggage, some fifteen 

 hundred instead of seven hundred pounds ; 

 and this in a style that no other beast of 

 burden could hope to emulate. This brilliant 

 forecast received a seeming bitter contradic- 

 tion in less than a week, when the largest 

 and most valuable elephant, returning from 

 a day's expedition, in apparently good health, 

 suddenly lay down and died. Mr. Rankin 

 believes that the death, which was followed 

 shortly afterward by that of another ele- 

 phant, was caused by exhaustion brought on 

 by imposing too heavy loads and too severe 

 labors upon the animal, combined with too 

 great a change from the strong food it had 

 enjoyed in India to the wild grasses of Africa. 

 The animals had been stall-fed in India, " on 

 the fat of the land," while in Afiica they 

 were turned out to forage for themselves, 

 and very little corn and rice was bought for 

 them. Whereas, according to Sanderson, 

 seven hundred pounds is the limit-weight 

 an elephant should carry on flat ground for 

 a prolonged time, these animals bore at first 

 twelve hundred, then fifteen hundred, and 

 at one time seventeen hundred pounds ; 

 while they daily climbed the most tremen- 

 dous hills. These views are enforced by the 

 fact that, while the elephants were fat and 

 round at starting, they had lost so much 

 flesh by the time they reached Mpwapwa, 

 that their backbones stood up six or seven 

 inches from their flanks! These facts re- 

 sulted from faults in management, in insuffi- 

 ciency of preparations for the expedition, 

 and mistaken views of economy, and should 

 not be allowed to prevail against the com- 

 petency of elephants, under good manage- 

 ment, to endure reasonable service, on which 

 hardly any doubt is thrown. Dearly bought 



