MISCELLANY 



509 



method of obtaining fiicts upon wliicli to 

 base an induction was by diligent study 

 cf Burke's " Peerage," and by sending out 

 circulars of inquiry to members of the up- 

 per and middle classes, and to directors of 

 asylums for the insane. The result showed 

 that insanity, idiocy, and deaf-muteness, are 

 in the United Kingdom about evenly di- 

 vided, pro rata, among the progeny of con- 

 sanguineous and of unconsanguineous mar- 

 riages ; that is to say, Mr. Darwin's inves- 

 tigations have failed to show any evil ac- 

 cruing from the marriages of first cous- 

 ins. Mr. Darwin acknowledges that the opin- 

 ion of prominent medical men is against 

 such intermarriages, and that a general 

 consent of physicians possesses far great- 

 er weight than his own purely negative re- 

 sults. " My paper," he adds, " is far from 

 giving any thing like a satisfactory solu- 

 tion of the question as to the effects of 

 consanguineous marriages, but it does, I 

 think, show that the assertion that this 

 question has already been set at rest can- 

 not be substantiated. The subject still de- 

 mands attention, and I hope that my endeav- 

 or may lead more competent investigators 

 to take it up from some other side." 



A New Ornamental Evergreen. The 



myrtle-tree of Oregon attains a height of 

 from twenty to fifty feet, and a diameter of 

 from six to twenty inches. Dr. F. S. Matte- 

 son, who describes this beautiful tree, in the 

 Boston Journal of Chemistry, says that it is 

 an evergreen of very full foliage, with leaves 

 three inches long and half as broad, of a deep 

 shining green cplor; they are delightfully 

 fragrant. The wood is hard, heavy, fine- 

 grained, and takes a high polish ; when 

 varnished it is of a dark, variegated color, 

 and is scarcely inferior to rosewood. The 

 tree is very tenacious of life, sprouts freely 

 from the stump after the tree is felled, and 

 is a vigorous, upright grower. It blossoms 

 in early spring, and the best honey in the 

 world is gathered by bees which work in 

 the myrtle-groves. Settlers are cutting 

 down these groves for lumber and fuel, and 

 the timber is burned in heaps to clear the 

 land. Many trees are left standing for the 

 sake of ornament. The nuts afford good 

 food for swine. This tree must certainly 

 become a leading evergreen for ornamen- 



tation, as it is unsurpassed by any known 

 tree for all the qualities which make an 

 evergreen desirable. Dr. Matteson thinks 

 it probable that a highly-fragrant oil, useful 

 as a perfume, and perhaps for medical pur- 

 poses, may be distilled from the leaves. 



American Origin of the Chinese. The 



colonization of the American Continent from 

 the "Old "World," so called, is one of the 

 commonplaces of historical speculation ; the 

 colonization of a large portion of the " Old 

 World " from America is a theory of more 

 recent origin, and yet perhaps as plausible 

 as the one which it is intended to supplant. 

 At a meeting of the California Academy of 

 Sciences, Mr. Charles Wolcott Brooks read a 

 paper on the "Origin of the Chinese Eace," 

 in Mhich he very learnedly set forth the 

 evidence of their American origin. The 

 author's thesis is supported by a great mul- 

 titude of facts, but the space at our com- 

 mand will admit only of the barest outline 

 of his argument. According to Chinese 

 annals, Tai Ko Fokee, the great stranger 

 king, ruled the kingdom of China. In pict- 

 ures he is represented with two small horns, 

 like those associated with the represen- 

 tations of Moses. He and his successor are 

 said to have introduced into China " picture- 

 writing," like that in use in Central America 

 at the time of the Spanish conquest. He 

 taught the motions of the heavenly bodies, 

 and divided time into years and months ; he 

 also introduced many other useful arts and 

 sciences. 



Now, there has been found at Copan, in 

 Central America, a figure strikingly lilie the 

 Chinese symbol of Fokee, with his two horns , 

 and in like manner there is a close resem- 

 blance between the Central-American and 

 the Chinese figures representing earth and 

 heaven. Either one people learned from the 

 ottier, or both acquired these forms from a 

 common source. Many physico-geographical 

 facts favor the hypothesis that they were 

 derived in very remote ages from America, 

 and that from China they passed to Egypt. 

 Chinese .records say that the progenitors 

 of the Cliinese race came from across the 

 sea. But the Pacific is a wide ocean to 

 cross, and favoring winds must have been 

 taken advantage of to carry the emigrants 

 from shore to shore. Mr. Brooks then ex- 



