POPULAR MISCELLANY 



S6 5 



the East included the starting-point of the 

 epidemic of influenza that prevailed then, it 

 is presumed that this atmospheric condition 

 favored its extension toward the West. The 

 views expressed by M. Masson, of Paris, be- 

 fore one of the medical societies of that city, 

 substantially agree with these. The period 

 of greatest mortality from grip in Paris, 

 from November, 1889, to February 1, 1890, 

 was marked by a constantly higher pressure 

 than the average ; the temperature did not 

 fall below 5 C. ; the hygrometric condition 

 was high, and radiation fell off from the 

 very beginning of the epidemic. In the 

 principal capitals of Europe, according to M. 

 Masson's investigations, the grip coincided 

 in general with a humid, foggy condition of 

 the atmosphere, and only moderate cold 

 and an unusual height of barometer. It 

 was so at Vienna, Berlin, and Brussels. 

 But in Russia, where the grip is endemic, 

 the mortality increased when the barometer 

 fell and the thermometer rose, and the mean 

 humidity was augmented. At St. Petersburg 

 it disappeared when the pressure rose and 

 the cold became more intense. For all other 

 regions M. Lang's and M. Masson's rules 

 were verified. 



The Parapee Palm. According to a 

 note in Garden and Forest, the Parapee 

 palm (Guiliehna speciosa) is cultivated by 

 the Indian aborigines of the Guianas for its 

 fruit, which they use largely as food. They 

 plant it about their settlements, and, where 

 it is found apparently wild in the forests, 

 examination will show that such situations 

 were formerly occupied by the Indians. In 

 some seasons the fruit is produced without 

 seed, while in other seasons it contains 

 seeds, the variation occurring in the fruit of 

 the same trees from season to season. When 

 boiled or roasted the fruit has something of 

 the texture and taste of a dry, mealy potato. 

 It is palatable and very nutritious. The 

 fruits, which are individually about the size 

 of a pigeon's egg, are borne in bunches of 

 from forty to sixty together. There are two 

 or three bearing seasons in a year. 



Preservation of Minerals and Fossils. 



Minerals and fossils are not exposed to the 

 ravages of insects, like zoological collec- 

 tions ; but many of them are liable to de- 



struction by deliquescence and efflorescence. 

 Deliquescence is the property possessed by 

 some bodies of attracting moisture from the 

 atmosphere and dissolving in it. There is no 

 means of preventing these accidents, except 

 inclosing the specimens in hermetically sealed 

 envelopes. Efflorescence is a property pos- 

 sessed by other bodies of falling into powder. 

 There are several ways of protecting speci- 

 mens against it. Fossils converted into white 

 pyrites, or the substance of which is impreg- 

 nated with salts and not susceptible of being 

 washed, should be fully dried and covered 

 with a varnish that will not scale, and they 

 can also be dipped in oil. Impressions in 

 danger of being rubbed off can be consoli- 

 dated by impregnating them with a thin so- 

 lution of gum arabic, a little sugared to pre- 

 vent its cracking. Mr. Chalande recommends 

 for the preservation of rocks, fossils, bones, 

 etc., liable to split or fall into efflorescence, 

 placing them for from one to twenty-four 

 hours, as the case may demand, in a bath, 

 made by mixing equal parts of silicate of 

 soda or potash and water, and drying after 

 the bath. This gives the piece a considera- 

 ble degree of hardness. For the preserva- 

 tion of pyritous fossils, M. Andre Fonville 

 recommends preservation in paraffine ; this, 

 however, is only adapted to small specimens ; 

 and for fossils of considerable size, like ferns, 

 sigillaria, etc., he advises the silicate-of-soda 

 method. To consolidate fossil bones, M. Lam- 

 bert recommends coating with boiling melted 

 whalebone. The hot matter penetrates the 

 pores and becomes very hard. If any of it 

 remains on the outside of the specimen, it 

 may be removed with blazing paper. Gela- 

 tine and strong glue, used by many persons, 

 are good, but not so good as the whalebone 

 application. 



The " Silver Thaw." The " silver 

 thaw," as described by R. C. Mossman, of 

 Ben Nevis Observatory, occurs during an in- 

 version of ordinary temperature conditions, 

 when the temperature is considerably lower 

 at the surface than at higher altitudes, and 

 the rain congeals as it falls. In the six 

 years from 1885 to 1890, 198 cases of silver 

 thaw were observed at Ben Nevis, with a 

 mean duration of four hours and a half in 

 each case. They nearly all occurred between 

 November and March, during times of per- 



