256 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



At the recent meeting of the British 

 Association, Mr. Garner stated that he had 

 found from measurements of brain capacity, 

 and from casts of the interiors of skulls, 

 that the size of the brain in the dog does 

 not correspond very closely with the size 

 of the animal. No dog has so large a brain 

 as the wolf, nor one so small as the jackal. 

 The brain of a Newfoundland dog is very 

 little larger than that of a terrier. Prof. 

 Macalister, of Dublin, gave an account of 

 the brain of the celebrated greyhound 

 " Master Macgrath." He had weighed the 

 brain of many other dogs, but Master Mac- 

 grath's was the heaviest of all, and the con- 

 volutions were much more complex. 



In a balloon-voyage from Cherbourg, in 

 August, two French aeronauts, Moret and 

 Durnof, observed with surprise, at a height 

 of 1,700 metres, that the bottom of the sea 

 was visible in detail, though that part of the 

 British Channel must have a depth of 60 to 

 80 metres. The rocks and submarine cur- 

 rents appeared with great distinctness. It is 

 suggested that this fact might be utilized, a 

 means being afforded of giving accurate 

 representations of the bottom for the bene- 

 fit of navigators. 



In the Scientific Farmer we find re- 

 corded the death of Prof. Dimond, of the 

 New Hampshire Agricultural College. He, 

 no doubt, died of overwork. In the Agri- 

 cultural College lie was Professor of Agri- 

 culture, Botany, and Chemistry, farm-super- 

 intendent and steward, and at the same 

 time was Professor of Botany and Chemistry 

 in Dartmouth College. It is stated that 

 three men will be appointed to perform 

 the duties recently performed by Prof. Di- 

 mond. 



During the past year the French Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science 

 expended the sum of 7,000 francs in aid of 

 scientific research. Of this sum, 5,000 

 francs was granted to the astronomer Jans- 

 sen, to help defray his expenses as a mem- 

 ber of the expedition to observe the transit 

 of Venus ; and 2,000 francs to M. Chapelas- 

 Coulvier-Gravier, to enable him to continue 

 his observations of shooting-stars. 



At one point on the margin of Lake 

 Tanganyika (Central Africa), Captain Came- 

 ron saw large masses of coal. In the dis- 

 trict adjoining Manyuema iron is plenti- 

 ful : the people manufacture large quanti- 

 ties of iron, and many of the articles they 

 make are beautifully finished. 



Prof. H. N. Martin will lecture on ani- 

 mal physiology, in the John Hopkins Uni- 

 versity f Baltimore, on Tuesdays and Fridays 

 during the winter. The lectures will be 



accompanied by instruction in the labo- 

 ratory. After the spring vacation, Prof 

 Martin will deliver a course of lectures on 

 general biology, intended for elementary 

 students. There will also be organized, 

 during the latter part of the session 1876- 

 '77, a short course of more advanced lect- 

 ures on embryology. 



The formation of nickel-ore near Lan- 

 caster, Pennsylvania, is pronounced by the 

 American Manufacturer to be the heaviest 

 so far discovered in any part of the globe. 

 The ore is exceedingly rich, of a grayish 

 tint, very heavy, and so hard and closely 

 united to the surrounding substances that 

 it has to be got out by blasting. As soon 

 as the ore is mined, it is crushed into 

 small pieces, and then transferred to kilns 

 of a capacity of from eighty to ninety tons 

 each. It is then subjected to heat obtained 

 at first by burning wood, and which is con- 

 tinued by the conversion of the evaporating 

 fumes. The manipulation is concluded by 

 the fused metal being placed in a smelting- 

 furnace, and undergoing a process similar 

 to that adopted in the treatment of iron- 

 ore. 



A Berlin machinist has invented a 

 steam-velocipede. The boiler is heated 

 by means of a petroleum-lamp, and rests 

 on the axle of the hind-wheels. 



The Paris correspondent of the London 

 Times states that, in digging the new basin 

 at St.-Nazaire, animal remains, tools, weap- 

 ons, and utensils, have been found in a 

 sandy stratum 20 feet below the surface. 

 Last year a dolichocephalous skull was 

 found near the same spot. 



The Registrar-General of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, in his quarterly return, states 

 that the births of 296,350 children, and the 

 deaths of 171,082 persons of both sexes, 

 were registered in the United Kingdom in 

 the three months ending June 30, 1876. 

 The recorded natural increase of population 

 was thus 125,268. The registered number 

 of persons married in the quarter ending 

 March 31, 1876, was 117,760. The resident 

 population of the United Kingdom in the 

 middle of 1876 is estimated at 33,093,439 ; 

 that of England and Wales at 24,244,010, 

 of Scotland at 3,527,811, and of Ireland at 

 5,321,618. 



Dr. Magnus condemns the use of blue 

 glasses as a protection for the eyes, and 

 prefers the gray and smoky glasses used in. 

 England. He considers blue glass specially 

 irritating to the eye, and says that many 

 birds, reptiles, and amphibians, have yellow 

 or reddish oil-drops in the eye to neutral- 

 ize this blue color and protect the eyes. 



