POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



859 



between solar disturbances and terrestrial 

 meteorology. He has successfully photo- 

 graphed the sun and the moon with instru- 

 ments of his own manufacture, and has 

 gained fame as a microscopist by his ar- 

 rangement of diatom test plates. Mr. Lewis 

 Swift, another astronomer, " for years, while 

 engaged in the occupation of hardware mer- 

 chant, devoted every clear night to his favor- 

 ite study, perched upon an apple-barrel on 

 the near-by flat roof of a rickety cider-mill. 

 Here, while inhaling the pure air of heaven 

 from above, mingled with the fumes of acet- 

 ic and pomic acids from below, he scanned 

 the skies night after night with an absurdly 

 inferior instrument. But perseverance and 

 love for the science, in the absence of a well- 

 equipped tower, urged him to discovery after 

 discovery, forcing the great astronomers of the 

 world reluctantly to acknowledge the power 

 and genius of the man on the cider-mill." He 

 has been the first discoverer of ten comets, 

 the last one a most remarkable one with 

 twelve tails, and has observed nine hundred 

 and seventy new nebulae. Rochester is the 

 home of Prof. Ward, the learned biologist, 

 whose labors and undertakings in behalf of 

 science are well known in both hemispheres. 

 It was there, too, that Lewis H. Morgan, an- 

 thropologist, lived, labored, and died. The 

 University of Rochester some years ago be- 

 gan teaching anthropology to a small class ; 

 other institutions followed the example ; but 

 " to this university belongs the credit of 

 having introduced or added in America this 

 important branch to its curriculum." Side 

 by side with scientific labor in the city has 

 grown an optical manufactory which holds 

 a position peculiarly its own. In short, sci- 

 entific activity has taken deep root in Roch- 

 ester, and " is there to stay." 



The Temperature of the Brain. From 

 observations made upon animals under vari- 

 ous narcotics or anaesthetics, and man, with 

 an instrument capable of detecting changes 

 of not more than 0'002 C, Prof. Moso has 

 found that, as a rule, the temperature of the 

 brain is lower than that of the rectum, but 

 that intense psychical processes or the action 

 of exciting chemical substances may cause it 

 to remain - 2 or - 3 higher. An ordinary 

 interrupted current causes a rise in the tem- 

 perature, which is observed earlier in the 



brain than elsewhere. Observations made 

 on an animal when awake seem to show that 

 the development of heat due to cerebral me- 

 tabolism is considerable, and that the mere 

 maintenance of consciousness belonging to the 

 wakeful state, apart from all intense psychical 

 activity, involves considerable chemical ac- 

 tion and consequent change in temperature. 

 But the variations of temperature as a result 

 of attention, or of pain or other sensations, 

 are very small ; and when an animal is con- 

 scious no change of consciousness, no psychi- 

 cal activity, however brought about experi- 

 mentally, produces more than a slight effect 

 on the temperature of the brain. 



Roasted Potato-pulp. A new method 

 of preparing and preserving potatoes to be 

 fed to cattle or to be made the basis of dishes 

 for the table has been devised by M. Aime 

 Girard, of the Conservatoire des Arts et 

 Metiers, Paris. The potatoes having been 

 ground, the pulp is exposed to pressure for 

 the exclusion of all the water that can be 

 removed by mechanical means. The pulp is 

 then sliced and heated in a furnace till it is 

 entirely dried, at a temperature high enough 

 to give it a pleasant taste, without being so 

 high as to convert the starch into dextrin. 

 The substance thus prepared is called by the 

 inventor torrefied pulp, and is suitable for 

 feeding to cattle. With boiling water it 

 forms a palatable soup ; ground and mixed 

 with wheaten or rye flour it forms a good 

 breadstuff. 



Saxon Mnsical Instruments. According 

 to the report of the Turkish consul at Leip- 

 sic, the making of musical instruments has 

 been from time immemorial the occupation 

 of the mountain villages of Klingenthal, 

 Georgenthal, Upper and Lower Lachsenfeld, 

 and Gera, in Saxony, and the instruments 

 are exported to all countries. Musical ma- 

 chines aristons and orchestrions are made 

 in Leipsic itself at six factories. Some of 

 the manufacturers in the country at large are 

 famous, like Herr J. Bluthner, who has 

 bought large forests in Galicia and Poland, 

 so that he can provide his own woods. The 

 factories do much work for tropical countries, 

 whither they send instruments the inner 

 parts of which are chiefly of iron. The 

 manufacture of German organs, harmoniums, 



