POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



7i7 



ity of the cases and a more judicious propor- 

 tioning of the measure of treatment to that 

 feature. The gravity of the case appears to 

 vary somewhat according to the part of the 

 body that is bitten. The most dangerous 

 bites were in the head, with which the mor- 

 tality was 2"36 per cent; next were the 

 hands, 0*69 per cent ; and last the body and 

 limbs, 0'27 per cent. The inferior gravity of 

 the last class of bites may, perhaps, be at- 

 tributed to the action of the clothing in wip- 

 ing the animal's teeth. 



The Unexplored Regions of Canada. — 



It is commonly supposed that all parts of 

 Canada have been explored and are known. 

 Mr. G. M. Dawson thinks that this opinion 

 is not correct, and that the clearness of the 

 maps, on which it is chiefly founded, is due 

 to their makers having assumed for regions 

 of considerable extent what has not been 

 verified. Probably but little of the regions 

 which are really unknown is agriculturally 

 or climatically attractive ; but they may con- 

 tain mineral wealth, and some of them may 

 in time have value for cultivation. In mark- 

 ing out the districts which he regards as 

 unexplored, the author takes no notice of 

 comparatively small tracts of country lying 

 between explored regions, or of any having 

 an area of less than 7,500 square miles ; 

 and he also omits the arctic islands lying to 

 the north of the continent. With these 

 limitations he enumerates and defines six- 

 teen distinct regions in the Dominion con- 

 cerning which definite and satisfactory in- 

 formation is wanting, varying in area from 

 7,500 square miles to 289,000 square miles. 

 In all, it may be stated that " while the en- 

 tire area of the Dominion is computed at 

 3,470,257 square miles, about 954,000 square 

 miles of the continent alone, exclusive of 

 the inhospitable detached arctic portions, is 

 for all practical purposes entirely unknown. 

 In this estimate the area of the unexplored 

 country is reduced to a minimum by the 

 mode of definition employed. Probably we 

 should be much nearer the mark in assum- 

 ing it as about one million square miles, or 

 between one third and one fourth of the 

 whole. Till this great aggregate of unknown 

 territory shall have been subjected to ex- 

 amination, or at least till it has been broken 

 up and traversed in many directions by ex- 



ploratory and survey lines, we must all feel 

 that it stands as a reproach to our want of 

 enterprise and of a justifiable curiosity. In 

 order, however, to properly ascertain and 

 make known the natural resources of the 

 great tracts lying beyond the borders of 

 civilization, such explorations and surveys 

 as are undertaken must be of a truly scien- 

 tific character." 



Crystallization seen in the Act.— The 

 process of crystallization as observed under 

 the microscope is described by Dr. H. Hen- 

 soldt in a paper on crystallogenesis. The 

 commencement of the operation is always 

 signaled by the sudden appearance, in the 

 previously clear and colorless field, of innu- 

 merable dark points, which, in an incredibly 

 short time, augment in volume, till a diame- 

 ter of perhaps j^- G of a millimetre is reached. 

 It is then observed that the particles are 

 spherical in outline, and that their darkness 

 is only an optical illusion, caused by a broad 

 diffraction-ring, for in reality they are quite 

 transparent. They are evenly distributed 

 over the field, and their " growth " — a kind 

 of spontaneous swelling, which can be plain- 

 ly followed — is uniform and simultaneous. 

 The particles then appear to become sud- 

 denly endowed with polarity ; they change 

 their positions, roll about like billiard-balls 

 in every direction, yet always in straight 

 lines. For a moment all seems confusion, 

 but behold ! some invisible " floor-master " 

 is asserting his authority, and in another 

 instant we have the first manifestation of a 

 symmetry destined to culminate in that 

 perfect crystalline regularity which has ex- 

 cited the wonder of all ages. The globules, 

 originally scattered all over the field, are 

 now arranged in lines or rows, like so many 

 strings of beads. Some of these rows con- 

 sist of only three or four globules, in others 

 we can count ten, fifteen, twenty, or more; 

 and it would seem as if each spherical body 

 was surrounded by a delicate film or pellicle, 

 which prevents the dissipation of the inter- 

 nal molecular forces. A series of rapid 

 changes is now inaugurated, which can be 

 followed only with the greatest difficulty. 

 The globules in each line, by a sudden and 

 simultaneous movement, unite and form solid 

 rods, and there are grounds for believing 

 that this solidification is due to the ruptur- 



