iH 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ly over the skull and terminating at the 

 posterior end of the bill, as usually depict- 

 ed in the text-books, were both carried to 

 the right of the median line of the skull, 

 and extended along the right side of the 

 upper mandible, nearly or quite to its tip. 

 Subsequent examination of numerous speci- 

 mens showed this to be an accidental vari- 

 ation, but characteristic of the genus. A 

 few of the black and pied species were ex- 

 amined, showing the same lack of symme- 

 try, and differing only in the horns or mus- 

 cles terminating at the base of the bill. 

 Dr. Lindahl offered no explanation of these 

 peculiarities, but called attention to the fact 

 that the food of the green species varied 

 considerably from that of the others, being 

 sought deeper in the trees, and hoped that 

 ornithologists and entomologists would con- 

 sider the points of sufficient interest to 

 seek their explanation. In the brief dis- 

 cussion which followed, the asymmetry of 

 position and the extension of the muscles to 

 the end of the mandible were spoken of as 

 of interest, and as being new to ornitholo- 

 gists. While it is always important that er- 

 rors in our text-books should be pointed out 

 and corrected, the assumption that the facts 

 are wholly new would seem to be somewhat 

 hasty. 



In this connection it may be sufficient 

 to point out that Huxley (" Anatomy of 

 Vertebrated Animals ") says: "The free 

 ends (of the posterior cornua) are inserted 

 between the ascending and maxillary pro- 

 cesses of the right pre-maxilla." In the 

 " American Cyclopaedia," the point of at- 

 tachment is stated to be " usually near the 

 opening of the right nostril ; " while Wil- 

 son, writing early in the century, describes 

 them as follows : " The os hyoides is di- 

 vided into two branches that pass, one on 

 each side of the neck, to the hind-head, 

 where they unite, and run up along the 

 skull in a groove ; descend into the upper 

 mandible by the right side of the right 

 nostril, and reach to within half an inch 

 of the point of the bill, to which they are 

 attached by another extremely elastic mem- 

 brane. In some species these cartilagi- 

 nous substances reach only to the top of 

 the cranium ; in other3 they reach to the 

 nostril ; and in one species they are wound 

 around the bone of the right eye, which 



projects considerably more than the left 

 for their accommodation." 



Bartlett's Ozone-Generator. An appa- 

 ratus for the generation of ozone was ex- 

 hibited to the Association by the inventor, 

 Dr. F. W. Bartlett, of Buffalo. 



The machine is divided into three parts, 

 each having a share in the process. The 

 base, or generator, is a glass vessel eight 

 inches high, with a projecting rim at either 

 end ; the interior space, four and a half 

 inches in diameter, being divided into eight 

 compartments by projections from the in- 

 ner wall, extending one and a quarter inch 

 toward the centre. This unoccupied cen- 

 tre has a movable cylinder which, when in 

 position, completes the walls of the sepa- 

 rate cavities. In each of these a tablet of 

 phosphorus, one by two inches, and one- 

 eighth of an inch thick, is suspended in 

 water by a fusible wire the fusible wire 

 being used so that in cases of ignition, 

 which sometimes occurs, the phosphorus 

 may be completely submerged and the 

 flame extinguished. Resting upon the 

 base is a conical cylinder, eight inches 

 high, and with a diameter at the top of 

 five inches, composed of double walls of 

 wire-cloth, between which lies some po- 

 rous material saturated with a strong alka- 

 line solution. This presents an effectual 

 bar to the passage of phosphoric acids, 

 while it permits the free transit of the 

 ozone. Above this eliminating-chamber is 

 a second glass cylinder about eight inches 

 in height, with an aperture at the top 

 through which passes a glass rod carrying 

 a plunger for displacing the water in the 

 base, and by means of which the tablets of 

 phosphorus may be raised or lowered. The 

 space thus provided above the phosphorus 

 is about eighteen inches, and is considered 

 by the inventor indispensable to the full 

 utilization of the phosphoric vapor in the 

 production of ozone. 



In its present form the machine is em- 

 ployed chiefly for disinfecting purposes, and 

 performs such work not only thoroughly 

 but very cheaply. For ozonizing the at- 

 mosphere of a house, the slow oxidation of 

 100 to 150 grains of phosphorus daily will 

 suffice. It is entirely manageable and with- 

 out any disagreeable odor. 



