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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



por from the soil is soon diffused and equal- 

 ized in the whole atmosphere, but in the 

 largest proportion when evaporation is tak- 

 ing place near the surface of the soil; and, 

 other things being equal, plants nearest the 

 earth have the most dew. 3. Dew under 

 haycocks, boards, and like objects on the 

 ground, could receive it from no other 

 source. 



Professor Baird has dissipated the 

 cloud of mystery which from olden time 

 has veiled the mode of propagation of the 

 eel by his finding the ripe ovaries of the 

 animal. It appears that what Professor 

 Baird shows to be the ovary of the eel has 

 been known under the name of "eel-fat." 

 This " fat," under the microscope, is seen to 

 consist of egg-cells, of which a single fish 

 may contain as many as 9,000,000. 



At a meeting of the Baltimore Academy 

 of Medicine, Dr. McSherry recounted the 

 case of a lady who took cold two years ago, 

 from sleeping in damp sheets, and has ever 

 since been devoid of the sense of smell. 

 Her sense of taste is also impaired to such 

 a degree that she can not distinguish be- 

 tween different sorts of meats and vegeta- 

 bles. Pepper she recognizes by its pungen- 

 cy. The hearing is acute. Another physi- 

 cian present cited the case of a lady who 

 lost the sense of smell several years ago, 

 from catarrhal trouble. She is unable to 

 distinguish the different kinds of food and 

 drink. Her mother met with the same loss 

 after typhoid fever, and never recovered 

 from it. In another case the sense of smell 

 was lost after illness, that of taste being re- 

 tained. 



An examination of the blood of Cephalo- 

 poda by Fredericq shows that in the oxidized 

 state corresponding to that of our arterial 

 blood, this liquid is of an intense blue color, 

 and that as it loses its oxygen it grows 

 pale. It contains a substance analogous to 

 hemoglobine, in which a metal plays the same 

 part as iron in the blood of superior animals, 

 but in the cephalopod the metal is copper. 



A Spanish technical journal, the " Gaceta 

 Industrial," pronounces American-made car- 

 tridges to be superior to all others, the su- 

 periority being due in part to the alloys 

 used in the manufacture, in part to the ma- 

 chinery, and in part also to the skill of the 

 workmen. Foreign governments have sent 

 experts hither to study the methods in use 

 in our factories, but the result has been un- 

 satisfactory. 



In 1872 the population of the city of 

 Tokio (formerly Yedo) was 595,905 souls. 

 It has since nearly doubled, for the last cen- 

 sus shows it to be now 1,030,771. The num- 

 ber of houses is 236,961, or one house per 

 4 - 37 of the inhabitants. 



A woman in England having received an 

 injury on the leg which caused a profusely 

 bleeding wound, applied a poultice of tobac- 

 co to the injured part. Soon the patient ex- 

 hibited alarming symptoms, and a physician 

 being called, found her extremely prostrated : 

 there were dimness of sight, dizziness and 

 confusion of thoughts, nausea, and vomit- 

 ing. The poultice was removed, an antidote 

 (strychnia) and stimulants administered, and 

 the patient slowly improved. 



The yearly consumption of quinine in 

 the United States is computed at 800,000 

 ounces ; at an average price of $2.50 per 

 ounce, this represents an annual outlay for 

 this drug of $2,000,000. Of opium the an- 

 nual consumption, whether as a medicinal 

 agent or as an intoxicant, is 220,000 pounds, 

 costing, at four dollars per pound, rather 

 less than one million dollars. 



The cremation method of disposing of 

 dead bodies is not making very rapid prog- 

 ress toward universal acceptance either in 

 England or the United States. The medical 

 press of the former country appears to be 

 opposed to the practice. The celebrated 

 crematory at Washington, Pennsylvania, the 

 only one in the United States, has, we learn 

 from the " Medical and Surgical Reporter," 

 been converted into a factory for canning 

 fruits ! 



In the present year occurs the eighteenth 

 centenary of the destruction of Pompeii and 

 Herculaneum by an eruption of Mount Ve- 

 suvius. It is intended to commemorate this 

 event in a becoming manner next November, 

 and invitations have been issued to the most 

 eminent Italian archaeologists to be present 

 on the occasion. 



The honey mesquite is one of the prin- 

 cipal forest trees of Texas. It is a short, 

 spreading tree, attaining an average trunk- 

 diameter of eighteen inches. It belongs to 

 the Lec/uminosw, and bears pods nine to ten 

 inches long, containing beans imbedded in 

 a sweet pulp. Both the beans and the pulp 

 are eaten by the Indians, and they form 

 good fodder for horses. The wood is very 

 hard and durable. 



In the summer of 1877 some remains of 

 an old Roman bridge viz., a number of oak 

 piles and beams were found in the bed 

 of the Neckar, at Heidelberg. Some of the 

 piles were drawn with the iron points or 

 shoes which had been used to drive them 

 into the ground, and these shoes were found 

 to be of the same shape and strength as 

 those used at the present day for like pur- 

 poses. Of the seven piers which supported 

 the roadway of the bridge, five were found 

 in situ at equal distances (thirty-four and a 

 half metres) from each other. 



