288 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and on the blade of a steel knife inserted into 

 the gastric solution, the presence of copper. 

 The copper and its albuminate were digested 

 in solutions similar to those of the pancre- 

 atic and gastric juices, and in the stomach of 

 the living animal. Administered to a rabbit 

 and a pig, the salts of copper produced toxic 

 symptoms. 



A novel rice-pounding machine used in 

 the northern Shan states (Indo-China) is de- 

 scribed by Lord Lamington as including bam- 

 boo pipes through which water is led into a 

 hollow cut into one end of a pestle such as 

 is usually worked by foot. The other or 

 mallet end rises with the weight of the 

 water till the water is automatically dis- 

 charged, and then the pestle falls back and 

 does its work of pounding the unhusked 

 paddy. 



The Acarus saccliari, or sugar-mite, is 

 very frequently found in raw sugar, but not 

 in refined. In an inferior sample of raw 

 sugar, Prof. Cameron found five hundred of 

 the organisms in ten grains. They may be 

 avoided by eating only refined sugar, but it 

 is doubtful if they would do any harm if 

 they were eaten. The disease knowTi as 

 " grocer's itch," however, is probably due to 

 the presence of this mite, which works its 

 way under the skin and produces symptoms 

 identical with those produced by the common 

 Acarus scabiei, and the remedies are the 

 same for both. The parasites multiply very 

 rapidly, and Gerlach found that a single 

 female would produce fifteen hundred thou- 

 sand progeny in three months. The most 

 common agents for destroying them are mer- 

 curic chloride and sulphur. 



Discussing the value of the tree as a 

 schoolmaster, Garden and Forest presents as 

 the first of its lessons that " it teaches man 

 to reserve judgment by showing that the in- 

 significance of a germ is no criterion of the 

 magnitude of its product, that slowness of 

 development is not an index of the scope of 

 growth, and proves to him that the most far- 

 reaching results can be attained by very sim- 

 ple means. A barrel of acorns may be the 

 nucleus of a forest that shall cherish streams 

 to fertilize a desert ; a handful of cedar cones 

 may avert an avalanche, while a bushel of 

 pine seed may prevent the depopulation of 

 a great section of country by mountain tor- 

 rents." 



It should be mentioned pertinently to 

 President Jordan's article on Agassiz at 

 Penikese, that the buildings of the Anderson 

 School on that island were totally destroyed 

 by fire in August, 1891. The fire caught 

 Mr. George O'Malley, of New Bedford, in- 

 forms President Jordan under one corner 

 of the building, and in a very short time 



nothing was left. 



The Laboratory for Investigators of the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood's 



Holl, Mass., will be open from June 1st to 

 August 1st. The laboratory for teachers and 

 students will be opened July 6th for regular 

 courses of seven weeks in zoology, botany, 

 and microscopical technique. The number 

 of students will be limited to fifty, and pref- 

 erence will be given to teachers and others 

 already qualified. Students may begin their 

 individual work as early as June 15th without 

 extra charge. A spacious new wing of the 

 laboratory building will be ready for use on 

 July 1st. 



A summer course in botany is held annu- 

 ally in the lecture-room of the College of 

 Pharmacy, 209 and 211 East 23d Street, New 

 York, to consist of ten lectures, beginning 

 this year April 28th, and closing with the ex- 

 cursion of July 5th. The extensive appliances 

 for instruction of the institution are used ; 

 fresh material is collected weekly ; and com- 

 petent lecturers are provided by a committee 

 of the Torrey Botanical Club. In addition 

 to the lectures, the course includes ten ex- 

 qursions. The lectures will be given on 

 Thursdays, at four o'clock in the afternoon, 

 and the excursions will be made on Tues- 

 days and Saturdays, each member choosing 

 the series of excursions which he will attend. 



The fourth meeting of the Australasian 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 was held at Hobart, Tasmania, January 7th to 

 14th, under the presidency of Sir Robert Ham- 

 ilton, and was in every way successful and 

 creditable. The president, in his inaugural 

 address, gave a sketch of the history of the 

 Royal Society of Tasmania, and suggested 

 reasons why all intelligent persons in Aus- 

 tralia should do their utmost " to hasten the 

 advent of the time, which is undoubtedly 

 approaching, when science will form a much 

 more integral part of the life of the people 

 than it does at paesent." The next meeting 

 will be held at Adelaide, and Prof. Tate will 

 be its president. 



OBITUARY NOTE. 



Dr. Charles Metmott Tidy, an eminent 

 English chemist and analyist, died March 

 15th. He had been joint lecturer on chemis- 

 try and Professor of Chemistry and Medical 

 Jurisprudence and Public Health at the Lon- 

 don Hospital, and was at the time of his 

 death Official Analyist to the Home Office 

 and Medical Officer of Health for Islington. 

 He also held the office of Reader of Medical 

 Jurisprudence at the Inns of Court. Among 

 his publications were a course of Cantor Lect- 

 ures on the Practical Applications of Optics 

 to the Arts and Manufactures and to Medi- 

 cine ; a paper on the Treatment of Sewage ; 

 a work on Legal Medicine ; a paper on Am- 

 monia in the Urine in Health and Disease ; 

 and a Hand-book of Modern Chemistry, the 

 second edition of which appeared in 1887. 



