POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



861 



other States combined. They seem to be 

 most numerous in the effigy-mound region, 

 and have been found in the effigies them- 

 selves. Outside of Wisconsin copper imple- 

 ments have been discovered in nearly all the 

 other States east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 but they have been most frequently found in 

 Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Illi- 

 nois. There are also effigy mounds in all 

 these States, except possibly Michigan. 



The Phonograph in Indian Folk Lore. 



Dr. J. Walter Fewkes recently related to 

 the American Folk-lore Society experiments 

 which he had made with the phonograph in 

 recording the songs, legends, and folk lore 

 of the Passamaquoddy Indians. He claimed 

 extraordinary accuracy for this method, in 

 that it is rid of the liability of the trans- 

 lator to incorporate his own interpretations 

 with those embodied in the stories record- 

 ed by him. Besides fragments of legends, 

 stories, ancient songs, counting-out rhymes, 

 and conversations got from the older men of 

 the tribe at Calais, Maine, he obtained from 

 the lips of Noel Josephs, who sang it when 

 the ceremony was last performed, an old 

 song with archaic words and very ancient 

 music used in the " snake-dance." lie also 

 took records of war-songs, a curious " trade- 

 song," and the song sung by the chief on the 

 evening of the first day of the celebration 

 of his election. These songs have been set 

 to music from the records taken on the wax 

 cylinders of the phonograph, and the words 

 have been written out by the same means. 

 Forty cylinders were filled with these rec- 

 ords, some of which are stories yet unpub- 

 lished. The results of the experiment are 

 represented as showing that the phonograph 

 is an important help to the study of Indian 

 folk lore, both in preserving the tales and in 

 the study of the composition of the music 

 and the language. 



Fresh-water Sponges in Florida. Fresh- 

 water sponges of the genus Mezenia, de- 

 scribed by Edward Potts, were found in 

 Florida on the stems of grass and roots of 

 mangrove trees on the meadows near the 

 head of a creek. The meadow is about 

 twelve inches higher than the creek, and is 

 subject to floods of fresh water during the 

 rainy season, and occasional submergence in 



salt water. Notwithstanding the exposure to 

 salt water and subsequent desiccation of 

 weeks or possibly of months, the gemmules 

 of these sponges preserved their vitality and 

 germinated freely when placed in water. 

 Differences were observed between the rough- 

 ened gemmules of the sponges growing on 

 the mangrove roots and the smooth ones of 

 those growing on the grass stems. The 

 specimens, in another package, of the same 

 genus and of Spongtfla were found adhering 

 to the barnacles on the rocky bottom of a 

 rapidly flowing creek ; the barnacles having 

 been brought up by the backing up of the 

 salt water, and then become accustomed to 

 live in fresh water. The Spovgillas in cer- 

 tain features of detail resemble some lacus- 

 trine forms found on the Catskill Mountains 

 and at sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 



Philosophy of Spectacle-frames. The 



importance of a proper construction and 

 adaptation of spectacle-frames is enforced 

 by Dr. Charles Hermon Thomas in a paper 

 on that subject. The results of the most 

 accurate refractive measurements may be 

 vitiated by a faulty position of the correct- 

 ing glasses ; and new sources of eye-strain 

 may be created by the very means adopted 

 to remove an existing fault. The optical 

 center of a lens is generally that part of the 

 glass which we wish to bring before the 

 pupil, as that part of the lens and the area 

 immediately surrounding it are freest from 

 aberrations of all sorts distort the least. 

 Occasionally, however, it may be desirable 

 to displace that point by a definite amount ; 

 in any case, we should insist on having the 

 optician carry out our directions as regards 

 the manner of mounting and the position of 

 the glass with the same exactness that he 

 employs in making it of the proper strength. 

 The purpose of the spectacle-frame is to 

 hold a pair of glasses before the eyes in a 

 definite position and with the least possible 

 annoyance to the wearer. The plans for the 

 construction of spectacle-bridges devised by 

 the author in 1878 provided for a wide 

 range of adaptability to individual faces. 

 The material of the frames should usually 

 be gold of good quality, and of a weight as 

 light as is consistent with strength and 

 steadiness. Steel rusts too readily and is 

 not well adapted to the adjustments fre- 



