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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



iron, on its surface, is transformed into the 

 blacli oxide. Iron pipes protected by this 

 process may be used instead of lead pipes 

 for conveying water through houses. Iron 

 for architectural uses may be made to resist 

 the weather ; the process may also be em- 

 ployed to protect cast-iron statues, which 

 would thus be rendered as enduring as those 

 of bronze. 



The Mystery of Pain. 



BY PROFESSOR GRANT ALLEN. 



On the crimson cloth 



Of my study-desk 

 A histrous moth 



Poised, statuesque. 

 Of a waxen mould 



Were its light limbs shaped, 

 And in scales of gold 



Its body was draped ; 

 While its delicate wings 



Were netted and veined 

 With silvery strings 



Or golden-grained, 

 Through whose filmy maze 



In tremulous flight 

 Danced quivering rays 



Of the gladsome light. 



On the desk close by 



A taper burned, 

 Toward which the eye 



Of the insect turned. 

 In its vague little mind 



A faint desire 

 Rose undefined 



For the beautiful fire. 

 Lightly it spread 



Each silken van. 

 Then away it sped 



For a moment's span ; 

 And a strange delight 



Lured on its course, 

 With resistless might. 



Toward the central source. 

 And it followed the spell 



Through an eddying maze. 

 Till it stagsered and fell 



In the deadly blaze. 



Dazzled and stunned 



By the scalding pain, 

 One moment it swooned, 



Then rose again : 

 And again the fire 



Drew it on with its charms 

 To a living pyre 



In its awful arms : 

 And now it lies 



On the table here 

 Before my eyes 



All shriveled and sere. 



As I sit and muse 

 On its fiery fate. 



What themes abstruse 



Might I meditate ! 

 For the pangs that thrilled 



Through its delicate frame. 

 As its senses were filled 



With the scorching flame, 

 A riddle inclose 



That, living or dead. 

 In rhyme or in prose, 



No seer has read. 

 " But a moth," you cry, 



" Is a thing so small I " 

 Ah, yes, but why 



Should it sufler at all ? 

 Why should a sob 



For the vaguest smart 

 One moment throb 



Through the tiniest heart ? 

 Why, in the whole 



Wide universe. 

 Should a single soul 



Feel that primal curse ? 

 Not all the throes 



Of mightiest mind. 

 Nor the heaviest woes 



Of humankind, 

 Are of deeper weight 



In the riddle of things 

 Than this insect's fate 



With the mangled wings. 



But if only I, 



In my simple song. 

 Could tell you the lohy 



Of that one little wrong, 

 I could tell you more 



Than the deepest page 

 Of saintliest lore. 



Or of wisest sage: 

 For never as yet 



In its wordy strife 

 Could Philosophy get 



At the Import of life ; 

 And Theology's saws 



Have still to explain 

 The inscrutable cause 



For the being of pain: 

 So I somehow fear 



That, in spite of both, 

 We are baffled here 



By this one singed moth. " 



Prof. Hebra on the Tse of tlie Bath. 



Prof. Hebra, of Vienna, dissents from the 

 generally-received opinions as to the bene- 

 fits of frequent resort to the bath. His 

 views on this subject, as set forth at some 

 length in the Boston Journal of Chemistry^ 

 are to the following effect: It is not true 

 that frequent bathing is conducive to health, 

 and harmless : millions of men take no 

 baths of any kind, at most only washing 

 the face and hands, and yet live to old age 

 in good health. It cannot be proved that 



