144 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Mr. C. B. Atwell says, in the American 

 Microscopical Journal, that amcebas for lab- 

 oratory purposes are obtained at the North- 

 western University from the algae of Lake 

 Michigan. A quantity of the common alga 

 ( Cladophora canalicularis) is put into a tum- 

 bler of water and allowed to stand for six or 

 eight days, when a white film or ooze ap- 

 pears upon it which teems with amcebas 

 and other protozoa. It is sometimes possi- 

 ble, in the rich supply thus obtained, to ob- 

 serve six, eight, or ten amoebas in the field 

 at once. 



Most people are probably not aware that 

 there is one at least of the well-known stars 

 compared to which the sun is a mere pygmy. 

 Sirius, the dog-star, which is also a sun, is 

 believed to have nearly five thousand times 

 the volume of our sun. Its immense dis- 

 tance, probably a hundred million millions 

 of miles, makes such measurement as is ap- 

 plied to the planets impossible. Hence the 

 above estimate is based on a comparison of 

 the light of Sirius with that received from 

 the sun. It is the most brilliant star in the 

 heavens, being far brighter than the first 

 magnitude, and its light has a greenish tinge. 

 During the winter months the place to look 

 for Sirius is in the southern heavens. 



OBITUARY NOTES. 



Prof. Alexander Winchell, of the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan, died at Ann Arbor, Feb- 

 ruary 19th, in the sixty-first year of his age. 

 He was born in North East, Dutchess County, 

 N. Y. ; was graduated from Wesleyan Uni- 

 versity in 184V, and taught natural science 

 in several academies till 1854, when he be- 

 came Professor of Physics and Civil Engi- 

 neering in the University of Michigan. In 

 the next year he was transferred to the chair 

 of Geology, Zoology, and Botany in the same 

 institution. He was made Director of the 

 Geological Survey of Michigan in 1859, and 

 again, when the work was resumed after the 

 interruption by the war in 1869, but resigned 

 from the position in 1871. He was made 

 Chancellor of Syracuse University in 1878, 

 but gave up the office in the next year to 

 be Professor of Geology, Zoology, and Bot- 

 any there. In 1879 he returned to the pro- 

 fessorship in the University of Michigan. 

 Without giving up his regular duties, he also 

 served as Professor or Lecturer of Geology, 

 etc., in the University of Kentucky from 1866 

 to 1869, and in Vanderbilt University from 

 1875 till 1879. His office in the latter in- 

 stitution was abolished when he was found 

 to be an advocate of the doctrines of evolu- 

 tion and of pre-adamites. He lectured much, 

 and wrote numerous papers on geology. 

 Fourteen new fossil species were named 

 after him. He established the Marshall 

 Group in American geology. The list of his 

 books and papers includes about two hun- 



dred titles. His most important scientific 

 works were Sketches of Creation, 1870; a 

 Geological Chart, 1870 ; Michigan, 1873 ; The 

 Doctrine of Evolution, 1874; Reconciliation 

 of Science and Religion, 1877 ; Pre-adamites, 

 or a Demonstration of the Existence of Man 

 before Adam, 1880 ; Sparks from a Geolo- 

 gist's Hammer, 1881 ; World Life, or Com- 

 parative Geology, 1883; Geological Excur- 

 sions, or the Rudiments of Geology for Young 

 Learners, 18S4 ; Geological Studies, or Ele- 

 ments of Geology, 1886; and Walks and 

 Talks in the Geological Field, 1886. 



Prof. Felipe Poet y Aloy, the distin- 

 guished Cuban naturalist, died in Havana, 

 January 28th, aged ninety-one years. For 

 more than sixty years he had contributed 

 papers on natural history to the French, 

 Spanish, and Cuban scientific press, to the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia, the Annals of the New York Lyceum, 

 and to other American scientific publica- 

 tions. His chief work was his Cuban Ich- 

 thyology, in twelve folio volumes, containing 

 descriptions of about a thousand species of 

 fish, many of them noticed for the first time. 

 His papers are said by Prof. Jordan to be 

 the most valuable contributions yet made to 

 our knowledge of the fishes of the West In- 

 dies. Other works are a Geography of Cuba, 

 which reached nineteen editions ; a general 

 geography, and an elementary work on min- 

 eralogy. A sketch of his life and an ac- 

 count of his works, by Prof. D. S. Jordan, 

 who knew him well, and a portrait, were 

 published in The Popular Science Monthly 

 for August, 1884. 



Gottlieb Studer, one of the founders of 

 the Swiss Alpine Club and its honorary presi- 

 dent, died at Berne on the 14th of December, 

 in his eighty- seventh year. He was a zeal- 

 ous mountaineer before Alpine clubs existed, 

 was famous for his exhaustive topographical 

 knowledge of Switzerland, was a draughts- 

 man as well as a writer, and was the author 

 of a Panorama von Bern and of Ucbcr Eis 

 und Schnee, in four volumes. 



Dr. Jose Jeronimo Friano, who died in 

 Paris last fall, had made, before visiting 

 Europe in 1860, a valuable collection of five 

 thousand species of plants of New Granada. 

 His chief object in visiting Europe was to 

 determine his plants and prepare a Flora of 

 New Granada, and this he began publishing, 

 with the late Prof. J. E. Planchon, as a Pro- 

 dromus Florae Novae Gratensis. Being in- 

 sufficiently provided with funds, he became 

 engaged in consular and medical work, and his 

 Flora was suspended. He also published a 

 monograph on the Melastomaceae, and studies 

 on the Quinquinas. 



Mr. Lant Carpenter, eldest son of the 

 late Dr. William B. Carpenter, and himself a 

 lecturer on scientific subjects, died about the 

 1st of January. 



