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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



await an opportunity to cross the Kara Sea to 

 the mouth of the Yenisei, which poiut will be 

 reached about August 1st. She will thence steer 

 with all expedition toward the northeast, navi- 

 gating a channel supposed to be kept open by 

 the waters of the Ob and the Yenisei, along the 

 Siberian coast, at least as far as Cape Tshelyus- 

 kin. Here the expedition, following its assigned 

 course, comes for the first and only time into 

 waters never before navigated, and this is gener- 

 ally held to be the most difficult part of the whole 

 northeast voyage. But it is expected that Behr- 

 ing Strait will be reached toward the end of Sep- 

 tember, and then the Yega will put into some 

 Asiatic harbor for a brief rest, previous to cir- 

 cumnavigating Asia, and passing through the 

 Suez Canal homeward. Should it so happen that 

 she cannot proceed eastward from Cape Tshe- 

 lyuskin, then she will either return home, or else 

 go into winter-quarters at the mouth of the Yeni- 

 sei, and make the attempt once more during the 

 following summer. 



Griibchucht is the title given by Oscar Berger 

 to a hitherto undescribed but well-defined form 

 of mental malady. Its symptoms consist of " an 

 irresistible current of ideas taking the form of 

 useless inquiries as to the how and why of every, 

 thing, pushed beyond the limits of what people 

 of any sense have treated as the usual range of 

 knowledge." This disease — which may be named 

 metaphysical mania — usually, he says, attacks 

 young people ; and he adds that it can be cured 

 by "mild doses of bromide of potassium com- 

 bined with the hydropathic treatment." This 

 metaphysical mania is not unknown in the United 

 States, nor are its victims in this country mainly 

 young people, by any means : it spares neither 

 sex nor age. We have made a note of the sys- 

 tem of treatment recommended by Herr Berger, 

 and hope soon to learn whether it is effectual. 

 Most of the contributors to our waste-basket 

 appear to be badly affected with this disease, and 

 would do well to try the bromide of potassium 

 and the water-cure. Our contemporary, the Bos- 

 ton Journal of Chemistry, supposes that "a cer- 

 tain reverend lecturer" has contracted his Giii- 

 belsucht in Germany; but we are inclined to 

 think that, in his case, the disease is of indigenous 

 origin. 



In 1870, the year of the Franco-Prussian War, 

 the number of deaths in France exceeded the 



number of births by 103,394 ; in 1874 the excess 

 was nearly half a million. But in 1872 the bal- 

 ance was on the opposite side, the births being 

 172,936 in excess of the deaths. Again, in 1870, 

 the number of marriages in France was in the 

 proportion of 0.60 per hundred of the whole pop- 

 ulation, but in 1872 the proportion rose to 0.98 

 per cent., a proportion considerably higher than 

 had ever been reached before in France since the 

 introduction of vital statistics. In 1869, the year 

 before the war, the number of deaths was 864,- 

 320; in the war year it was 1,046,909, the next 

 year 1,271,010, but in 1872 it fell to 792,064. 

 These figures teach a very instructive lesson as 

 to the elasticity of spirit of the French people. 



On the question whether the Rocky Moun- 

 tain locust is a wholesome and agreeable article 

 of food, Mr. Andrew Murray, the English ento- 

 mologist, declines to take sides until a commis- 

 sion of gourmets have passed judgment upon it. 

 Yet Mr. Murray has himself tried this dish more 

 than once, first in the shape of " locust-balls," a 

 mixture of grasshopper and acorns prepared by 

 the dainty Digger Indians of California ; and 

 again, three years ago, when Mr. Kiley exhibit- 

 ed some " dried potted specimens " in London. 

 Mr. Murray is a conscientious investigator, and 

 will not decide against the palatableness of the 

 locust after only two trials. In making up the 

 proposed commission of gourmets, he would in- 

 terpose a " challenge to the favor " to exclude 

 Prof. Riley from a place in it " on the score of 

 undue favor and partiality arising from too inti- 

 mate an acquaintance and familiarity with the 

 individuals under trial." 



In certain caves in the Cresswell Crags, on 

 the borders of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, 

 England, sundry tools and implements have been 

 found associated with the remains of mammoth, 

 woolly rhinoceros, and other mammals long ex- 

 tinct in Britain. In the lowest stratum of these 

 caves, according to Prof. Boyd Dawkins, imple- 

 ments of the rudest kind occur, made of quart- 

 zite pebbles. In the middle stratum implements 

 of flint appear mingled with the preceding ; but 

 in the uppermost stratum the tools and imple- 

 ments' are of flint and of the best kind. There 

 are bone needles and other appliances of bone 

 and horn, on one of which is rudely engraved 

 a figure of a horse. 



