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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



this gentleman fed them at first with worms, 

 slugs, and flies, and of the latter they 

 seemed very fond; yet they did not thrive. 

 One morning on entering the room in 

 which their tanlc was placed, he discovered 

 a sparrow which had got in through an 

 open window, and which in its efforts to 

 escape had fallen into the tank, when the 

 larger tortoise quickly seized it by the leg 

 and drew its head under the water until it 

 was drowned. Two hours afterward noth- 

 ing remained of the bird but the wing- 

 feathers, and cleanly-picked bones ; all the 

 rest of it having been devoured. After this 

 the animals would not touch even flies for 

 nearly a week ; but then, on offering them a 

 dead gold-fish about five inches long, they 

 ate it eagerly, leaving nothing but the head 

 and backbone. A week or ten days later, 

 a live mouse was dropped into the tank, 

 and, like the sparrow, this was soon seized 

 by the larger tortoise by the head instead 

 of the legs and pulled under the water 

 until drowned. The head was then torn off, 

 the skin turned inside out and rejected, and 

 all the other parts devoured except the 

 bones. This food appeared to agree with 

 them perfectly, and they were afterward 

 supplied with mice, on which they grew 

 rapidly and kept in excellent condition. 



Fielding Bradford Meek. The Ameri- 

 can Journal of Science and Arts for March 

 contains an obituary notice of Fielding 

 Bradford Meek, whose death occurred on 

 December 21st. From it we gather the fol- 

 lowing particulars relating to the life and 

 labors of that distinguished paleontologist: 

 He was born in Madison, Indiana, on De- 

 cember 10, 1817, and in early manhood 

 chose a mercantile career. Here he was 

 imsuccessful, and in 1848 he became an 

 assistant in the United States Geological 

 Survey of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minneso- 

 ta. In 1852 he was assistant to Prof. Hall, 

 at Albany, in the paleontological work of 

 the State of New York. Here he remained 

 until 1858, with the exception of three 

 summers spent on geological surveys of 

 "Western States and Territories. In 1858 

 he went to Washington, and there remained 

 till his death, except while in the field. 

 The invertebrate paleontology of the Rocky 

 Mountain region, as developed by Dr. Hay- 



den's survey, was intrusted to Meek. He 

 also helped to work up the invertebrate 

 paleontology of Illinois, Ohio, California, 

 and sundry Territories surveyed by other 

 expeditions besides Hayden's. Thorough- 

 ness, scrupulous exactness, and nice powers 

 of discrimination, are manifested in all his 

 labors. " No one in America," says Dr. C. 

 A. White, the author of the obituary notice 

 from which we quote, "has done more than 

 he to systematize and advance the science 

 to M'hich he devoted his life." His health 

 was always precarious, and for several years 

 before his death he was entirely deaf. He 

 never married, and left no near relatives. 



The Electrical Plienomena of the Torpe- 

 do. Marey has lately been engaged in 

 studying the electrical discharges of the 

 torpedo, with the aid of a very delicate 

 electrometer and an inscribing apparatus. 

 His experiments show that, on exciting a 

 nerve of the animal's electrical apparatus, a 

 flow of electricity follows in about one- 

 eightieth of a second, lasting about one- 

 fortieth of a second. The voluntary dis- 

 charge of the torpedo consists of successive 

 flows of currents, varying, according to tem- 

 perature, from twenty to one hundred and 

 forty shocks per second ; the direction of 

 the currents being from the back to the 

 belly. As the currents continue to flow for 

 a longer time than the intervals between 

 the times of their commencement, it hap- 

 pens that several currents flow simulta- 

 neously, and thus the intensity of the dis- 

 charge is increased by accumulation. The 

 phenomena correspond closely to those of 

 muscular work. 



The Appalacliian-Monntain CInb. Prof 



E. C. Pickering, President of the Appala- 

 chian-Mountain Club, in his annual address, 

 congratulates the club on the large attend- 

 ance of members at the ten meetings so far 

 held, and the interest manifested in the la- 

 bors of the club. The principal scientific 

 work of the club for the past season was in 

 the direction of topography collecting all 

 the available measurements from the works 

 of Bond, Lock, Vose, and Hitchcock. A 

 complete map of the White Mountains has 

 been made by Mr. Henck. One of the great- 

 est achievements of the club is the introduc- 



