POPULAR MISCELLANY 



859 



hybrids, grandchildren of the pure parents, 

 were extremely fine birds, and resembled 

 their hybrid parents in every detail. Mr. 

 Darwin's success was not equal to that of 

 Mr. Eyton, who reared eight hybrids from 

 one set of eggs ; and he attributes the dif- 

 ference in part to the close confinement in 

 which the hybrid parents were kept and 

 their close relationship. Another illustra- 

 tion of the possible fertility of hybrids to 

 which attention has been directed, is given 

 in Mr. J. A. Allen's " History of the Amer- 

 ican Bison," where it is said that that ani- 

 mal interbreeds freely with the domestic 

 cow, and that the half-breeds are fertile. 



The Highest Mountains of the Earth. 



ITermann von Sclagintweit Sakiinlinski, in 

 the last volume of his journeys in India and 

 high Asia, gives a table of altitudes, includ- 

 ing statements of the heights of the most 

 elevated mountains. The elevations are not 

 extraordinary south of the Himalayas, the 

 most marked ones being four mountains 

 from 11,000 to 15,300 feet high in Assam, 

 and the Sufed Koh peak in the Punjaub, 

 19,839 feet high. The eastern Himalayan 

 district, embracing Bhootan, Sikkim, andNe- 

 paul, contains the highest mountain known 

 on the earth, which is called Mount Ever- 

 est by the British, Gaurisankar by the people 

 there, and is 29,002 feet high ; and the 

 third highest, Kintchinjunga, 28,156 feet 

 high, and has besides thirty-two mountains 

 of more than 20,000 feet, and thirty-two of 

 more than 10,000 feet. The western Hima- 

 laya region, extending from Kumaon to Ha- 

 zasa, exhibits the Nanda Devi in Kumaon, 

 25,749 feet, as its highest peak, and has be- 

 sides twenty-nine mountains of more than 

 20,000 and 108 of more than 10,000 feet in 

 height. In eastern Thibet are ten Alpine 

 stations between Lassa and Guari Khorsum, 

 more than 10,000 feet high, two of them 

 reaching to 15,500 and 16,700 feet, and Las- 

 sa, the capital, is 1 1,700 feet high. Western 

 Thibet, from Guari Khorsum to Balti, ranks 

 next after the eastern Himalayan region 

 in its elevations, having within its boun- 

 daries the second highest mountain known 

 on the earth, the Dapsaug, 28,278 feet high, 

 with twelve mountains of more than 20,000 

 and seventy-three of more than 10,000 feet 

 in height. The highest point in eastern Tur- 



kistan is the summit of the Kwen-lun, 20,000 

 feet high. The great passes of the world are 

 in this territory. They include the Kizilko- 

 nira pass inYarkand, at an elevation of 17,762 

 feet, the Kilian pass in Khotan, 17,200 feet, 

 and the Elchi-Davan pass in the Kwen-lun 

 Mountains. The snow-line appears at a height 

 of 15,100 feet on the north side of the Kwen- 

 lun, of 15,800 feet on the south side, of 

 18,665 feet on the western slopes of the 

 Guari Khorsum, and 18,010 on the northern 

 slopes ; and phanerogamous plants reach 

 up to 19,237 feet on the western side. The 

 highest places inhabited by man are in 

 Thibet at a height of between 14,800 and 

 15,000 feet, but above these are the Hanli 

 Cloister, 15,117 feet, and the Thok Jalang 

 gold-field, 16,330 feet. In all, these moun- 

 tain regions contain seventy-three peaks 

 more than 20,000 feet high, of which seven- 

 teen rise above 25,000 feet. Dhawalagiri, 

 in Nepaul, 26,680 feet high, which was 

 formerly considered the highest mountain 

 on the earth, is remanded to the fifth place, 

 being exceeded, besides the three already 

 named as the three highest, by the Sisbut 

 peak, in Nepaul, 27,799 feet. 



Butter-making in Denmark and Sweden. 



Some of the best butter in Europe is made 

 in Denmark and Sweden, and commands a 

 price in the London market 23 per cent, 

 higher than the best Cork butter. Canon 

 Bagot, who has taken pains to investigate 

 this subject, ascribes this superiority to the 

 education of the dairy-maids, which has been 

 systematically pursued in Denmark since 

 1864 and 1865. In Sweden the dairy-maids 

 are sent to a college and educated in dairy 

 management for six months, at the end of 

 which time they receive certificates and are 

 considered competent to work in large dai- 

 ries. Their instructions are very definite as 

 to every .feature of the operation of but- 

 ter-making, including the quality of the salt 

 and the coloring matter, and the food of the 

 cattle ; the quality of the butter is conse- 

 quently uniform. A part of a lot of Cork 

 butter may sometimes be sent back by the 

 wholesale dealer because it is not equal to 

 the rest, but this is said never to happen 

 with Danish butter. The selection of the 

 cows and the feeding of them are the first 

 important points in the business. The Dan- 



