FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



H3 



ensued, causing the animal to rush wildly 

 about the table, but failing to lift it into the 

 air. In this condition any impulse, such as 

 touching or pinching, induced a repetition of 

 ' shamming.' After a strong impulse the 

 shamming was prolonged, and, indeed, a 

 direct connection was obvious between the 

 strength of stimulus and the length of period 

 of quiescence. This power of response to 

 stimulus was maintained for two days, and 

 then weak fluttering set in for some hours, 

 followed by death. "We are forced, then, to 

 conclude that here, at any rate, death-feign- 

 ing is a purely reflex phenomenon, and that 



the sensory stimulus received by the surface 

 of the body caused inhibitory impulses to 

 arise reflcxly from the ganglia of the cen- 

 tral nerve chain, and prevented all movement 

 of the locomotor muscles. In confirmation 

 of this it may be mentioned that denuding 

 the wing of its scales over any area caused 

 a marked diminution of sensitiveness over 

 the area so treated. Since all stages be- 

 tween sensory hairs and ordinary scales oc- 

 cur in Lepidoptera., it is not unreasonable to 

 assume that the scales still function as tac- 

 tile end organs in spite of their modification 

 subserving decorative purposes." 



MINOR PARAGRAPHS. 



Navigators and other writers of the six- 

 teenth and seventeenth centuries speak of a 

 pretended art of controlling the winds which 

 was claimed by Finnish and Lapp wizards, 

 who sold wind in packages consisting of a 

 cord with three knots. " If the first knot 

 is untied," Grimm says, " the wind be- 

 comes favourable ; if the second, a still bet- 

 ter wind is secured ; but a tempest inevita- 

 bly follows the undoing of the third knot." 

 Speaking of Greenland, Nightingale says: 

 " The sailors of the north are so credulous 

 that they often buy these magical cords ; 

 and they believe that, if they follow the in- 

 structions concerning the way of untying 

 them, they will get whatever sort of wind 

 they want." Like accounts are given by 

 Leems and Scheffer; and the belief is re- 

 ferred to by Shakespeare in Macbeth. 



A SUMMARY is published in the journal 

 Himmel und Erde of reports made to the 

 Bureau of Statistics in Berlin, which seem to 

 show that cases of damage from lightning 

 are regularly increasing. Thus while, accord- 

 ing to Prof, von Bezold, the average number 

 of accidents per year in Bavaria was thirty- 

 two from 1833 to 1843, it has gone up from 

 period to period till in 1880-83 it was one 

 hundred and thirty-two; and, while in 1855 

 one hundred and thirty-four persons were 

 struck by lightning and seventy-three of them 

 were killed, the number struck thirty years 

 later was one hundred and eighty-nine, of 

 whom one hundred and sixty-one were killed. 

 The increase is ascribed to a variety of causes, 

 among which are the use of electricity in in- 

 dustry; changes worked upon the earth's 



surface by the cutting away of woods, drain- 

 age, etc. ; and the fouling of the air with 

 coal smoke. 



As presented by General Greely in a pa- 

 per at the recent International Geographical 

 Congress, arctic exploration has passed 

 through three important phases. The first 

 was a commercial phase, when the discov- 

 eries of Chancellor gave rise to the Mus- 

 covy Company and the institution of trade 

 between Great Britain and Russia. The sec- 

 ond was the geographical phase, which culmi- 

 nated in the beginning of the present cen- 

 tury, and under which an unparalleled wealth 

 of geographical results has been harvested. 

 The third phase of scientific investigation 

 has been prominent in later years, and now 

 dominates, so that no expedition can com- 

 mand support unless its aim is scientific. 

 Altogether, it can be proved that arctic in- 

 dustries have contributed some $12,250,- 

 000,000 to the wealth of the world. 



Herr S. a. Andree presented his plan for 

 a balloon expedition to the north pole before 

 the recent International Geographical Con- 

 gress. He advises that the balloon should 

 be capable of carrying three persons, neces- 

 sary instruments, and provisions for four 

 months ; that it should be so impermeable 

 that it can be kept afloat thirty days ; that it 

 be filled somewhere in the arctic region, and 

 be to a certain extent steerable. The start 

 should be made in July, as early as the 

 weather would permit, on a clear day with a 

 brisk south wind blowing, so that it may go 

 north quickly. The central and most inac- 

 cessible part of the polar region should be 



