POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



575 



sively American; the Emballonura have 

 only one representative in Europe a Mo- 

 lossus found on the shores of the Mediterra- 

 nean, and which visits Switzerland in sum- 

 mer ; two species of Rhmolophus (the great 

 and the less horseshoe bat) are found in 

 Great Britain, and the former of these spe- 

 cies is distributed as far eastward as Japan. 

 The Vesperlilios constitute a truly cosmo- 

 politan family, extending in latitude from 

 the border of the Arctic region down to the 

 Strait of Magelhaens. The Scrotina occurs 

 throughout Europe, in Asia, and in Africa 

 down to the Gaboon ; and one race of this 

 species is found in America as far south as 

 Guatemala. But in those parts of both 

 hemispheres which lie farther south, the Sero- 

 tina is succeeded by nearly allied species 

 of the same subgenus Vesperus. Of fossil 

 Cheiroptera we have but very few. The 

 gypsum strata of Montmartre have yielded 

 to science Vcsperuffo parisiensis, which is 

 closely analogous to, if not identical with, 

 the Serotina of France. Again, among the 

 Eocene Cheiroptera of North America de- 

 scribed by Marsh occurs a Serotina, resem- 

 bling the race now existing in the same 

 region. And as the power of flight pos- 

 sessed by the Cheiroptera accounts for their 

 geographical distribution (which is analo- 

 gous to that of birds), so, too, it affords a 

 probable explanation of the inconsiderable 

 changes which the order has undergone 

 since Tertiary times. Undoubtedly it is 

 through this power of flight that they were 

 enabled to escape amid the geological cata- 

 clysms which long ago annihilated the giant 

 land mammals which were their contempo- 

 raries in the Eocene. 



Ancient American Pottery. A very re- 

 markable collection of ancient American pot- 

 tery is now on exhibition at No. 77 Maiden 

 Lane, New York. It consists of about twelve 

 hundred pieces, and is the fruit of explora- 

 tions conducted by Mr. J. A. McNiel in an 

 ancient cemetery in Chiriqui, Panama. The 

 graves in which these articles of pottery 

 were found lie scattered along the Pacific 

 slope of the foot-hills of Mount Chiriqui, and 

 the " cemetery " covers thousands of square 

 miles. The graves do not appear to have 

 been disposed according to any definite 

 plan, nor do they lie with reference to any 

 one point of the compass. They are found 



at varying depths, sometimes being as much 

 as fifteen feet below the surface, and some- 

 times not more than two or three feet. 

 Many of them appear to have been opened 

 again and again for successive interments. 

 They are walled up on the sides and at the 

 ends with large round stones, which are 

 plainly water-worn, and must have been 

 brought from river-beds at a considerable 

 distance. The graves are covered with flat 

 stones, some of them weighing three hun- 

 dred pounds. These stones do not belong 

 to the local formations, and can only have 

 been procured from situations several miles 

 distant up the mountain-side. As there are 

 no indications on the surface as to where 

 the graves arc hid, they are discovered by 

 thrusting an iron rod into the earth till it 

 strikes a stone. The articles of pottery 

 found in these graves are principally jars 

 and tripods, with a few small objects, toys, 

 and whistles, and certain thin, flat disks 

 pierced with a hole in the center, that may 

 have served as wheels of toy carts. 



Adulteration of Drugs. In France all 

 pharmacies are subject to inspection with re- 

 gard to their general management, and more 

 particularly to their practice in dispensing 

 poisonous substances, and to the purity 

 of the drugs and medicines kept on sale. 

 But even in that country unscrupulous phar- 

 macists are found who palm off upon the 

 public adulterated drugs. Indeed, so com- 

 mon is this practice that careful physicians, 

 whenever they prescribe any medicine that 

 is difficult to prepare or specially costly, are 

 wont to advise their patients to have the 

 prescriptions made up only by pharmacists 

 of approved integrity. At a meeting of one 

 of the medical societies of Paris the follow- 

 ing instance was given of the ill effects of 

 using adulterated medicines : A physician 

 having been called to attend a girl suffer- 

 ing from a violent attack of fever, pre- 

 scribed a strong dose of quinine sulphate, 

 hoping thus to prevent, or at least to miti- 

 gate, the second attack. But this second 

 attack was worse than the first, and the 

 patient's condition became very serious. 

 Seeing that the quinine was without effect, 

 the physician procured some of it for analy- 

 sis, and procured at a reputable pharmacy 

 another dose of the drug. This having been 

 administered to the patient, the third attack 



