POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



7 l 7 



we reach the year 1789 that we find the 

 germ of the science, in a paper by Benjamin 

 Franklin, under the somewhat timid title, 

 for so bold a meteorologist, of " Meteorologi- 

 cal Imaginations and Conjectures." This 

 is followed by contributions from Lamarck, 

 Saussure, Playfair, and Ilumboldt. The 

 number of references to the year 1800, 

 when Humboldt's name is first mentioned, 

 is only three, while iu 1880 the number has 

 increased to eighty-four. America, as the 

 country affording most facilities for system- 

 atic observations, has the leading place in 

 the list all the way through. 



Enlargement of the Sun and Moon in 

 the Horizon. Various hypotheses have 

 been proposed to explain the apparent en- 

 largement of the tun and moon in the hori- 

 zon over the size they seem to present at 

 the zenith. Experiments recently made by 

 M. Stroobant, in Belgium, indicate that the 

 cause of the phenomenon is a physiological 

 one. In a darkened room, M. Stroobant 

 had fixed to the ceiling two electric stars 

 about eight inches apart, and on the level 

 of his eye two similar stars, the distance 

 between which could be varied at pleasure, 

 while the observer's eyes were at an equal 

 distance from either pair. When the pair 

 of stars on the level of his eye were so ad- 

 justed as to appear at the same distance as 

 the pair in the ceiling, they were proved 

 on measurement to be only six and a half 

 inches apart. He then transferred his ob- 

 servations to the- actual stars, selecting 

 pairs at sensibly equal distances apart in 

 the horizon and in the zenith, and after- 

 ward measuring their real angular separa- 

 tion as marked on the celestial globe. The 

 apparent separation of the stars in the 

 horizon was increased in almost precisely 

 the same degree, the ratio of the real dis- 

 tances, which seemed to the eye to be the 

 same, being as 100 in the zenith to from 

 795 to 8T5 in the horizon. 



The Vegetation of Cntter-Stones. Dr. 



Hugo Winnacker, who devoted eleven full 

 months to the study of the subject, has 

 published a paper on the " Vegetation of 

 Gutter-Stones and its Relation to Infectious 

 Diseases." The subject is one of no little 

 importance, for, if the gutters of our streets 



really harbor infectious plants or germs, 

 they are capable of being very dangerous 

 agents for the spread of disease. Parts of 

 them are exposed to being dried every day, 

 and when they are in that condition the 

 germs might be taken up by the wind 

 and scattered everywhere, to become active 

 whenever they are supplied with moisture. 

 Dr. Winnacker has found that the vegeta- 

 tion of the gutter-stones consists of green 

 algae and fungoids. The alga; are harmless 

 and even beneficial, for they grow over the 

 fungoids and at their expense, and help to 

 keep them down. They should therefore be 

 encouraged by not removing them, and by 

 flushing the gutters, so as to supply them 

 with the elements favorable to their nutri 

 tion. Most of the fungoids likewise appear 

 to be harmless, but some of them may be 

 dangerous, and, as it is hard to distinguish 

 their qualities, it is well to be on the watch 

 against them. Two of the fungoid forms, 

 quite abundant at Gottingen, are especially 

 described. One, a micrococcus and ferment, 

 grows in a reddish-brown coating from early 

 in the spring till late in the fall. Another, 

 a mold, grows in thick masses all the year 

 round. The character of the vegetation 

 may be different in different cities. 



Difficulties of Underground Telephony. 



The difficulties in the way of at once lay- 

 ing the telegraph and telephone wires un- 

 derground in London are succinctly stated 

 in the " Saturday Review." The inductive 

 effects in the telephone wires are already 

 annoying enough, when there is room to 

 spread the wires in the air. They would be 

 greatly multiplied if the conductors were 

 bunched together, as they would have to be, 

 to be put in a tube underground. The retarda- 

 tive effects would also be largely increased, 

 to a serious extent, in fact, in the case of 

 the telephones, for they depend upon abrupt 

 and rapid changes in the strength of the 

 current, and these would be so far nulli- 

 fied as seriously to impair the clearness of 

 the articulation if the line were of any con- 

 siderable length. The expense of construc- 

 tion would be largely increased by the ne- 

 cessity of coating the wires ; while the coat- 

 ing, mainly composed of gutta-percha, is 

 perishable, and constantly giving rise to 

 " faults." A system of sub-ways, like the 



