POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



287 



course of emigration seems to have been 

 from the Atlantic coast toward the inte- 

 rior might be regarded as evidence that 

 the ancestors of our Indian tribes were emi- 

 grants from Europe. Reference was made, 

 in support of this view, to the close resem- 

 blance in structure between the Basque and 

 the Indian languages. It was suggested, 

 also, that if the Aryan intruders, entering 

 Europe from the East, encountered and ab- 

 sorbed a population resembling the Ameri- 

 can aborigines, the fact would account for 

 the great change which the Aryan speech 

 underwent in Central and Western Europe. 

 It would also account for the remarkable 

 change which took place in the character of 

 the intruding race. The Aryans, who in 

 the East have always been a submissive and 

 contemplative race, devoid of the idea of 

 popular government, became, in Europe, a 

 high-spirited, practical, and liberty-loving 

 people. Mr. Hale concluded that the na- 

 tives of modern Europe were a people of 

 mixed race, forming a transition, in phys- 

 ical and mental traits, between the Eastern 

 Aryans and the aboriginal Americans. 



Wine from Beets. Induced by the havoc 

 wrought among the French vines by the 

 phylloxera, the Messrs. Brin, of Paris, have 

 patented processes for making red and 

 white wines from red and white beets. The 

 roots may be used raw, but it has been 

 found preferable to cook them. Perfectly 

 sweet and clean roots are chosen, and after 

 being cooked are reduced to a pulp. The 

 juice is then pressed out and strained, and 

 put into vessels of wood or cement, but not 

 of metal, with a certain quantity of water, 

 if desired, to ferment. This process is aided 

 by admitting steam or hot water through 

 serpentine coils placed in the receivers, and 

 adding some of the ordinary ferments, and 

 alcohol, according to the degree of strength 

 that is wanted. After fermentation the 

 whole is strained with tannin. The wine 

 obtained by this process is said to possess 

 all the properties of wine from grapes, and 

 is treated henceforth like grape-wine. It is 

 well adapted, by virtue of its sacchariferous 

 qualities, to improve wines poor in sugar 

 and rich in tannin. The red wine, more- 

 over, is good for adding color to other wines 

 that need it. The white wine is supposed 



to be improved by the addition of a little 

 nitric acid at the moment of fermentation, 

 after which the whole is " well shaken." 



Analogies of Ancient Old World and 

 American Customs. Dr. Phene called at- 

 tention in the American Association to some 

 hitherto unnoticed affinities between ancient 

 customs in America and other continents. 

 He mentioned customs which have been 

 shown to have existed in the great river- 

 valleys of our countries or have been re- 

 vealed in the mounds, that had parallels in 

 various European and Asiatic countries. 

 Among them were those indicated by the 

 occurrence of figures of serpents, alligators, 

 or mythical dragons, and the human form, 

 the characteristic features of which were 

 curiously persistent in each case. Some of 

 the shapes of the semi-barbaric age of Mex- 

 ico corresponded with forms in Devonshire 

 and South Wales. In the vicinity of some 

 such figures of this character in the west 

 and east of the south of England were 

 enormous intaglio representations of the 

 human form corresponding to the intaglio 

 forms at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing 

 attention to several other apparent corre- 

 spondences, the speaker said that they were 

 the result of a practice and culture trans- 

 mitted with concurrent customs by way of 

 the Pacific from one continent to another. 



Russian Geological Research. The 



mining department of the Russian Govern- 

 ment has founded a geological institute for 

 the purpose of centralizing all geological 

 research in Russia, and preparing a detailed 

 geological map of the empire. The empire 

 has been explored geologically in a general 

 fashion by several men of science, who 

 have given accounts of observations, the 

 most complete of which is that of the Eng- 

 lish geologist Murchison. This is still a 

 classic work, and all recent geological maps 

 of Russia are only improved editions of the 

 one prepared by him. A continuous series 

 of geological expeditions, which have con- 

 siderably advanced the knowledge of Rus- 

 sian geology, have been conducted by the 

 mining department and private scientific 

 societies in connection with the universities ; 

 but all these researches have wanted the 

 system and connection which can be given 



