POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



427 



tea are used. But the drinking of this tea 

 has been nearly if not quite abandoned. A 

 study of its history has been made by Dr. E. 

 M. Hale, who has examined all the references 

 to it he could find, and has started an in- 

 quiry into the reason why it has been aban- 

 doned, and the expediency of reviving its 

 use. Its leaf, according to the analysis by 

 Prof. Venable, of the University of North 

 Carolina, contains caffeine. It is not so 

 pleasant in odor and taste as the Chinese tea ; 

 but it seems to have some salutary proper- 

 ties which the latter does not possess, and 

 may perhaps be more cheaply obtained. Dr. 

 Hale estimates the extent of the land over 

 which it grows as about forty thousand square 

 miles, and suggests that careful experiments 

 in cultivation and manipulation might result 

 in furnishing our markets with a product 

 that would be found in many cases an ac- 

 ceptable and useful substitute for the more 

 expensive imported teas. 



Many-toed Horses. The derivation of 

 the recent horse's foot with one digit from 

 ancestors with polydactyl feet has been care- 

 fully traced by Prof. 0. C. Marsh in his pub- 

 lished papers on that subject. Several in- 

 stances have come to the author's knowledge 

 of existing horses presenting more than one 

 toe. Julius Caesar's horse had this peculiari- 

 ty. Its feet are described by Suetonius as 

 having been almost human, with the hoofs 

 cleft like toes. " It was born in Caesar's own 

 stables, and, as the soothsayers declared that 

 it showed that its owner would be lord of the 

 world, he reared it with great care, and was 

 the first to mount it. It would allow no oth- 

 er rider." The main functional toe of each 

 foot of the horse is the third digit, corre- 

 sponding to the middle finger of the human 

 hand. In addition to these, two "splint- 

 bones," one on each side of the main cannon- 

 bone, are present beneath the skin the 

 remnants of two other toes possessed by an- 

 cestors of the horse. One or more of these 

 splint-bones may become enlarged below and 

 support phalanges, forming another digit be- 

 side the main one, or, more commonly, de- 

 veloping into a small external toe, with hoof. 

 The occurrence of such extra digits in the 

 recent horse is much more frequent than is 

 generally supposed. Prof. Marsh has exam- 

 ined several living animals presenting this 



peculiarity, and has received photographs, 

 drawings, and detailed descriptions of others. 

 The extra digit may appear on one foot, when 

 it is smaller than the main digit, and is usu- 

 ally on the inner side on the fore foot. It 

 may often be entirely under the skin, with 

 the only external evidence of it a promi- 

 nence, in which its form may be made out. 

 A corresponding extra toe may be present on 

 the other fore foot ; a second extra digit may 

 exist with the others, but outside the main 

 digit ; with the extra inner toes of the fore 

 feet, another of equal or smaller size may be 

 present on one or both of the hind feet, al- 

 most always on the inside ; in rare cases, both 

 fore and hind feet may each have two extra 

 digits fairly developed, and all of nearly equal 

 size ; or sometimes, besides the extra toes al- 

 ready described, which appear to be the sec- 

 ond and fourth, the first digit, or pollex, may 

 be represented by its metacarpal, supported 

 by a distinct trapezium, all beneath the skin. 

 A large majority of the polydactyl horses 

 known to Prof. Marsh in this country have 

 been raised in the Southwest, or from ances- 

 try bred there, so that their connection with 

 the mustangs or semi-wild stock of that re- 

 gion becomes more than probable. The fact 

 that the tendency to reversion is much 

 stronger where animals run wild must be 

 taken into consideration in discussing the 

 question of the origin of these animals. 



Temperature of Lake Waters. The in- 

 vestigations of Mr. A. T. Drummond on the 

 temperatures of some Northern lakes and riv- 

 ers have shown him that the Georgian Bay 

 is, in its main expanse, a large body of cold 

 water whose temperature, at its greater 

 depths, is not much influenced by the heat 

 of summer, while the central and southern 

 basins of Lake Huron, although also receiv- 

 ing surplus waters from Lake Superior, stand 

 in the line of inflow of the warmer waters 

 from Lake Michigan and of their ultimate 

 exit by way of the river St. Clair to the lower 

 lakes, and are consequently somewhat warmer 

 basins. Among the details of observations 

 recorded in his papers, we find that tests at 

 the rapids of the Richelieu River at Chambly 

 seem to show that the motion of the water 

 during the mile of continuous rapid raises the 

 temperature of the water perceptibly. Rapid 

 currents have, however, the effect of equal- 



