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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



A tame crow, in the possession of a 

 writer in the Nuttall Ornithological Club 

 Bulletin, rids himself of parasites in a very 

 ingenious way. He takes his stand on an 

 ant-hill, and permits the ants to crawl over 

 him and carry away the troublesome ver- 

 min. The same habit was observed in an- 

 other tame crow formerly in the author's 

 possession. 



Died in Indianapolis, December 12, 

 1876, Prof. Herbert E. Copeland, aged 

 twenty-seven years. His scientific studies 

 were commenced at Cornell University, 

 where he devoted himself chiefly to nat- 

 ural history, graduating Ph. B. in 1872. 

 He then became, successively, principal of 

 an academy at Ravenswood, Illinois, and 

 Professor of Natural Sciences in the nor- 

 mal school at Whitewater Wisconsin, and 

 in the high-school at Indianapolis. His 

 premature death was the result of exposure 

 while studying the ichthyology of the State 

 of Indiana in company with Prof. Jordan. 



It is proposed in California to establish 

 at numerous points in the State experiment- 

 stations for the purpose of accurately de- 

 termining sundry agricultural problems, 

 such as the nature of the soils of different 

 localities, the best mode of maintaining and 

 restoring productiveness, etc. 



A fearful epizootic prevailed last fall 

 among the horses of Egypt. On the 18th 

 of September 200 horses died in Cairo 

 alone. The army-horses were specially 

 afflicted, and 50 per cent, of them had died 

 before the end of September. The carcasses 

 were transported into the desert and thrown 

 into those enormous bone-quarries of which 

 we can have no idea here. But many were 

 cast into the canals, and the consequences 

 may be disastrous. It is supposed that 

 this equine plague came from Abyssinia. 



Prof. Leidy, in dredging the bottom of 

 the Schuylkill near its mouth, was surprised 

 to observe that no living thing whatever 

 was brought up, the mud and sand being 

 black and saturated with bituminous oil. 

 The refuse of the city gas-works and proba- 

 bly of some coal-oil refineries run into the 

 river. The oils appear to have an affinity 

 for the suspended particles of clay, and the 

 result is a bituminous sediment. In the 

 same manner oils from decomposing ani 

 mals, and also from certain plants, may have 

 supplied the sedimentary muds of ancient 

 shales. 



A radiometer, in the shop of a Paris 

 optician, during the first two weeks of De- 

 cember, twice stopped entirely in the daytime 

 viz., on the 8th, during a thunder-storm, 

 and on the 13th, during a fog. The instru- 

 ment varied considerably as to the moment 

 of daily commencing to revolve the ex- 

 tremes being 8.15 and 10.25 a. m. The 



time of stopping was far less irregular the 

 variation being only from 3.30 to 4 p. m. 



Most of the monthly educational jour- 

 nals in the Western States have been con- 

 solidated to form one strong weekly the 

 National Journal of Education, published 

 in Chicago. The editors are W. F. Phelps, 

 editor-in-chief, Prof. E. Olney, and others. 

 Special editors will be employed to conduct 

 special departments. The subscription price 

 of the Journal is $2.50 per year. 



In the hope of eliciting further informa- 

 tion concerning the breeding-habits of the 

 American kinglets (Regulus), or at least of 

 putting observers upon the alert for further 

 information, Mr. Ernest Ingersoll publishes, 

 in the November number of the Bulletin of 

 the Nuttall Ornithological Club, a paper in 

 which is brought together whatever is at 

 present known respecting the nidification 

 of these birds. 



In consequence of the extraordinary pre- 

 cautions taken last Fourth of July, the losses 

 by fire from the use of fire-works were less 

 than usual on that anniversary ; but the 

 losses so caused were nevertheless enor- 

 mous. In the report of the National Board 

 of Underwriters it is stated that the invoice 

 value of all fire-crackers imported since 

 January 1, 1875, is less than $1,500,000, 

 and that the loss by two conflagrations 

 traceable directly to them amounts to up- 

 ward of $15,000,000 ! It is considered to 

 be not an extravagant statement that every 

 dollar's worth of fire-crackers imported into 

 this country occasions a direct loss by fire 

 of more than $100. 



In order to reduce to the minimum the 

 danger to health incurred by workmen em- 

 ployed in the manufacture cf white-lead, 

 the British Inspector of Factories recom- 

 mends that clothes, gloves, and caps, should 

 be provided for the employes to be worn in 

 the works ; water-proof boots for those 

 working with the moist white-lead, and res- 

 pirators for those working with the dry 

 white-lead. Besides, no workman should 

 be allowed to leave the works unwashed, or 

 in the factory-dress. 



There appears to be at present a con- 

 siderable degree of religious fermentation 

 in Russia, and sects of all kinds are daily 

 springing up. One of these new sects, the 

 Philipovtzi preach suicide by fire and star- 

 vation as the greatest of Christian virtues. 

 The " Child-Murderers " think it their duty 

 to people paradise with the souls of inno- 

 cent children. The " Stranglers " believe 

 that people can only enter paradise by a 

 violent death. Other sects are the " Flag- 

 ellants " and the " Skoptzi," or mutilates. 

 The Skoptzi number about 100,000 persons 

 of both sexes. 



