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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A short time ago a number of fossil 

 footprints, supposed to be human, were dis- 

 covered iu the carboniferous sandstone near 

 Metropolis, Illinois. A physician living in 

 that locality, Dr. Gebhart, took plaster casts 

 of these footprints and sent a description 

 of them, together with full details as to site, 

 to Mr. Darwin and other naturalists. The 

 almost unanimous verdict was, that the 

 tracks were those of a species of Labyrin- 

 thodon. According to Dr. Gebhart, the ani- 

 mals which made these fossil tracks were 

 most certainly bipeds. 



In countries where the coffee-tree is 

 cultivated the leaves are used to make an 

 infusion which by many persons is held to 

 be superior to the infusion from the berry. 

 Hitherto they have not been an article of 

 commerce, and the planter has studied to 

 obtain as large a crop as possible of the 

 berry, neglecting the leaves. But if a de- 

 mand for the latter should spring up in 

 foreign countries, the planter would find 

 it as profitable to cultivate the coffee-tree 

 for its leaves as for its fruit. The berry 

 would first be secured, with a sparing use 

 of the pruning knife, and then the leaves 

 would be carefully gathered and cured for 

 exportation. The result would be in a 

 great measure to drive out of the market 

 the spurious compounds that now too often 

 are sold as coffee. 



It was in 1865 that the phylloxera ap- 

 peared in the vineyards of the south of 

 France ; its ravages have been continued 

 ever since. The department of Gard, 

 which used to produce 126,000,000 gallons 

 of wine, now yields not one-fourth as much. 

 One commune, Castries, in the Department 

 of Herault, annually produced, before the 

 appearance of the phylloxera, 3,000,000 

 gallons ; one year later the product was 

 250,000 gallons ; three years later the vine- 

 yards had been entirely destroyed ! 



A scientific journal of Paris notes the 

 occurrence of a peculiar phase of insanity 

 among French cooks. It is called folic des 

 cuisiniers (cooks' insanity), and is due to 

 the carbonic oxide given off by charcoal- 

 stoves. The principal symptoms are hallu- 

 cinations of sight and hearing, vertigo, op- 

 pression, and syncope. The patient gener- 

 ally believes himself to be the victim of 

 persecution. 



The efficacy of the alkaline sulpho-car- 

 bonates as a means of exterminating the 

 phylloxera appears to have been demon- 

 strated by experiments made by Mouillefert, 

 at the instance of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences. It still remains, however, to de- 

 vise suitable methods of employing this in- 

 secticide. " Science," says M. Mouillefert, 

 " has accomplished its mission, and it is now 

 for agriculture to perform its part." 



Early in the present year a State Zo- 

 ological Society was organized in San Fran- 

 cisco, with the object of collecting material 

 for a public museum of Pacific coast rocks, 

 fossils, ores, and all inorganic substances 

 having a bearing on practical geology. An- 

 other purpose of the society is to promote 

 geological research. The cooperation of 

 mine-owners and mining-engineers on the 

 Pacific slope is solicited by the president 

 of the society, so as to make the proposed 

 collection fully representative of the geolo- 

 gy of that portion of the United States. 



Between Nice and Monaco is a locality 

 so unhealthy that the Paris, Lyons & Mediter- 

 ranean Railway Company have been obliged 

 to change every two or three months the 

 watchman at the crossing there. Planta- 

 tions of the eucalyptus have been formed at 

 this place, and at present the same watch- 

 man has resided there for several months 

 with his family without experiencing the 

 least inconvenience. 



On investigation, in Paris, of a case of 

 lead-poisoning, no lead could be found in 

 the cooking-utensils or in the food and drink 

 of the patient. Lead was discovered, how- 

 ever, in a piece of a Roquefort cheese, 

 which was enveloped in a metallic sheet, 

 composed of 12 parts of tin, 85 of lead, and 

 3 of undefined matter. The conclusion 

 drawn was, that the lead contained in the 

 cheese was imparted to it by the envelope. 



Trials have been made in Rome of a 

 solution of chloride of calcium as a substi- 

 tute for water in laying dust in streets. 

 The results are said to be highly satisfac- 

 tory. The dampness communicated to the 

 road, instead of disappearing quickly, as is 

 the case when water alone is used, remains 

 for a whole week. The road continues to 

 be damp without being muddy, and presents 

 a hard surface, on which neither the wind 

 nor the passing of pedestrians or horses has 

 any effect. 



Some fifty years ago two gangs of work- 

 ers in a Belgian coal-mine were at variance, 

 and one party made a fire so as to smoke 

 out the other. The coal in the mine be- 

 came ignited, and it continues to burn down 

 to the present day. Efforts have been made 

 again and again to extinguish the fire, but 

 in vain. Mr. Richard P. Rothwell, editor 

 of the Engineering and Mining Journal, 

 who mentions this case in a paper on fires 

 in mines, cites a few similar instances from 

 the history of mining in the United States 

 of seams of coal burning for several years 

 as the Summit Hill Mine, near Mauch 

 Chunk ; the Greenwood Company's mine, 

 near Tamaqua ; and others in Schuylkill, 

 Carbon, and adjoining counties of Pennsyl- 

 vania. Some of these mines have been 

 burning upward of twenty years. 



