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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the brunettes predominate in Austria, and 

 in Switzerland with greater disparity. The 

 predominance of fair complexions in Ger- 

 many is greatest in the north, and grows 

 less and less in going to the south. This 

 appears to show the incorrectness of the 

 theory of the French anthropologists that we 

 must seek the real Germans in South Ger- 

 many, and that North Germans are a dark 

 race, a mixture of Finns and Slavs. The 

 deep-brown color of the south and middle 

 Germans, as well as of the Swiss, is traced 

 by Herr Virchow to the Romans, Rhsetians, 

 and Illyrians, and especially to the remnants 

 of the Celtic or pre-Celtic inhabitants, which 

 have now become mixed with the Germans. 



Contraction of Plant-Tissnes by Cold. 



Mr. Thomas Meehan has reported some ob- 

 servations which contradict the prevalent 

 idea that the sap in vegetable tissues ex- 

 pands in freezing, and is capable of burst- 

 ing the organs. Of a number of vigorous 

 trees measured at temperatures of 40 and 

 at 10 above zero, none showed any sign of 

 expansion, but one, a large maple, appeared 

 to have contracted a half-inch. In hardy 

 succulents, including several plants of the 

 cactus family, live-forevers, and stone-crops, 

 a marked contraction was observed ; and 

 opuntias showed no traces of congelation at 

 10, and were as easily cut with a penknife 

 as at a normal temperature. Plants which 

 contract so much as to shrivel in the cold 

 expand again after a few days of temperature 

 above the freezing-point. Expansion under 

 freezing, however, was evident in dead wood 

 soaked with water ; and the bursting of 

 trees, which has been noticed, may result 

 from the freezing of liquid in the less vital 

 parts of their trunks. Assuming, from the 

 facts brought forward, that the liquid in 

 plants which are known to endure frost 

 without injury does not congeal, a question 

 arises as to what power they owe their suc- 

 cessful resistance. It is probably a vital 

 power, for the sap of plants, after it is 

 drawn from the tree, congeals easily. 



Celtic Superstitions. Many primitive 

 superstitions of great interest to the an- 

 thropologist still linger among the Celtic 

 populations of the British Islands. "The 

 Celt," says a writer who has made much 



study of his character, " has turned every- 

 thing to supernatural uses ; and every ob- 

 ject of Nature, even the unreasoning dream 

 of sleep, is a mirror which flashes back 

 death upon him." Yet these people have 

 nearly lost the fear of death, and it is a 

 common salutation to wish one a decorous 

 and peaceful departure. The ancient Gaels 

 and Cymri believed in intercourse with fair- 

 ies, whom they called by any other name 

 than their own ; hence, the designation of 

 " the men of peace," " the hunters in 

 green," " the good people," etc. Then- 

 aversion to naming these beings was great- 

 er on Friday than at any other time, for 

 on that day their powers were greatly 

 increased. To wear their favorite color, 

 green, was an unpardonable insult. Rites 

 of a complex nature were gone through to 

 protect the unbaptized infant and its moth- 

 er from their clutches. Stories were often 

 current of persons who had been detained 

 by fairies for many years. The urisks 

 were a sort of intermediary race between 

 spirits and mortals ; if kindly treated, they 

 might render service to the family to which 

 they had joined themselves. Witches were 

 consulted and believed in in Wales so late- 

 ly as 1826. The Cymri also had their giant, 

 the good Foulkes Ty Du, who was always 

 helping them ; but, when evil was about to 

 overtake them, the Tybiath, or presenti- 

 ment, foreboded it. The Highlanders put 

 great faith in messages from the unseen ; 

 and a hundred little incidents, which oth- 

 ers would let pass unheeded, are for them 

 fraught with the most solemn meaning. 

 The cock which crows at midnight conveys 

 the intelligence of a death in the neighbor- 

 hood. Itching of the nose or ringing in the 

 ears bears the same message. If the High- 

 lander's cattle die, the evil-eye has gazed 

 upon them. The boat that drifts empty 

 out to sea has been pushed from its moor- 

 ings by the fairies. 



A Chinese View of Epilepsy. In China, 

 it is said, when a man is seized with an epi- 

 leptic fit, those about him rush away for a 

 few blades of grass, which they put into his 

 mouth. They believe that during an attack 

 of this kind the spirit leaves the body, and, 

 there being a vacancy within, it is immedi- 

 ately occupied by the spirit of an animal, 



