P OP ULAR MIS CELL ANY. 



379 



that "the substance when analyzed consist- 

 ed of sulphuric acid and lime, and, when 

 dissolved in water and the solution allowed 

 to evaporate, it crystallized in the well- 

 known form of gypsum ; the crystals being 

 all alike, there being no amorphous matter 

 among them." Mr. Murray's conclusion is 

 that in "placing Bafthybius among living 

 things the describers of it committed an 

 error." 



Eccentricity iu Wood-Growth. Mr. T. 



S. Gold writes as follows, in the Gardener's 

 Monthly, concerning the unequal deposi- 

 tion of wood in growing trees but partially 

 exposed to the action of the wind : " A choke- 

 cherry sprang from seed in front of my pi- 

 azza, close to it, and could only be moved 

 by the winds laterally. The section of the 

 trunk was elliptical, the longer diameter 

 being nearly double the shorter. Since the 

 tree has grown above the roof of the piazza 

 the trunk is becoming less elliptical. A 

 young plum-tree standing close by the side 

 of an out-miilding was killed by mice, and 

 the sprouts were allowed to grow. These 

 were all elliptical like the cherry, and made 

 most wood on the two sides. It appeared 

 to me that the trees made wood where it 

 was most needed, on the sides where the 

 strain of the wind came. Sometimes the 

 eccentricity is produced by large branches 

 or large roots on one side of the stem, and 

 in other cases these seem to have little in- 

 fluence." This accords with the view of 

 Mr. Herbert Spencer, who, in the appendix 

 to his second volume of "Biology," gives 

 the history of an interesting course of ex- 

 periments " On Circulation and the Forma- 

 tion of Wood in Plants." 



Notes on the British Arctic Expedition. 



Of the two ships constituting the British 

 Polar Expedition, the Discovery, Captain 

 Stephenson, wintered at Cape Baird, lati- 

 tude 81 40' ; and the Alert, Captain Nares, 

 at Cape Union, latitude 82 30'. The site 

 of the supposed " Open Polar Sea " was 

 found to be occupied by a rigid sea of ice, 

 called the Paleocrystic Sea, or Sea of An- 

 cient Ice. The thickness of this ice is 

 enormous, varying from 80 to 120 feet. 

 This Paleocrystic Sea is no doubt the accu- 

 mulation of many years, or even of centu- 

 ries. The lowest temperature experienced 



by the expedition was 104 Fahr. below 

 freezing, which is 20 below the minimum 

 observed by the Polaris Expedition. The 

 sun was absent 142 days. A sled-party 

 from the Alert planted the British flag in 

 latitude 83 20' 26" ; but, as they had to hew 

 a track through the exceedingly rough sur- 

 face of this frozen sea, seventy-two days 

 were spent in accomplishing the journey. 

 Another party explored the coast-line west- 

 ward for a distance of 220 miles. The 

 most northerly point of the coast of Grant 

 Land was found by this party to be Cape 

 Columbia latitude 83 7', west longitude 

 70 30'. The Greenland coast was explored 

 by a party from the Discovery, and its most 

 northerly point found to be in latitude 82 

 50', west longitude 43 30' ; thence the coast 

 trends in a southeastern direction. A good 

 seam of coal was discovered near the win- 

 ter-quarters of the Discovery. A brass tab- 

 let with the following appropriate inscrip- 

 tion was fixed on the grave of the gallant 

 American explorer, Captain Charles Francis 

 Hall : " Sacred to the memory of Captain 

 C. F. Hall, of the U. S. ship Polaris, who 

 sacrificed his life in the advancement of 

 science on November 8, 1871. This tablet 

 has been erected by the British Polar Ex- 

 pedition of 1875, who, following in his foot- 

 steps, have profited by his experience." 



Sexnal Selecticn among the Monkeys. 



Mr. Darwin, in his " Descent of Man," holds 

 that the brilliant coloring of the face in the 

 male mandrill, and of the posterior callosi- 

 ties in that and sundry other species of 

 monkeys, is the result of sexual selection. 

 He now, in a communication to Nature^ 

 brings forward some new observations on 

 this subject made by Joh. von Fischer, of 

 Gotha. Von Fischer finds that not only the 

 mandrill, but the drill and three other kinds 

 of baboons, which he names, also Cynopithe- 

 cus niger, Macacus rhesus, and M. nem.es- 

 trlnus turn the hind-parts of their bodies, 

 which in all these species is more or less 

 highly colored, toward him when they are 

 pleased, and toward other persons as a kind 

 of greeting. Many other facts of a like 

 nature are mentioned by Mr. Darwin, and 

 then he expresses the opinion that "the 

 bright colors, whether on the face or hinder 

 end, or, as in the mandrill, on both, serve 

 as a sexual ornament and attraction. Any- 



