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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



other seemed quite contented to sit without 

 protection in the sunniest corner of the in- 

 closure. The whole colony of porcupines 

 (six in number) . . . were abroad and in 

 the highest spirits, erecting and rattling their 

 quills, and sitting up to inspect their visitors 

 like gigantic rabbits." The demeanor of 

 the semitropical birds was even more in- 

 teresting than the power of adaptation to 

 climate shown by quadrupeds. The Argus 

 cock-pheasant from Sumatra or Borneo 

 " was displaying its beauties in the open air, 

 among leaves and grass tipped with icicles, 

 and showed plumage so close and perfect 

 that it was impossible to doubt that the 

 colder chmate had, if anything, added a 

 luster to its unrivaled wealth of ornament." 



Mental Growth tlirongh Physical Educa- 

 tion, In a paper on Mental Growth through 

 Physical Education Jakob Bolin begins his 

 argument by showing how muscular work, or 

 physical exercise, serves to keep the metabo- 

 lism of the body at a proper level. Then it 

 operates on the mind thus : " When you are 

 sitting at your desk for any appreciable length 

 of time, sunk in profound thoughts, these 

 thoughts, however pure and lofty, are actu- 

 ally slowly poisoning your brain, decreasing 

 its aptitude to the work at hand, and you will 

 find, as time passes, that you are not able to 

 keep your attention fixed, your will power has 

 lost its grip, your memory is deteriorated, you 

 can not grasp an idea as before, and there 

 creeps over you a certain feeling of lassitude 

 and dullness ; your temples throb, your face 

 is flushed, there is a sensation of fullness, 

 your head aches. And all this because your 

 thoughts your mental work have pumped 

 up into your head a quantity of blood giving 

 the necessary fuel for these thoughts, but 

 there has been no agent at work strong 

 enough to remove the ashes and refuse. But 

 rise from your table, take a few deep inhala- 

 tions, move your arms in i-hythm with the 

 respiration, walk for a quarter of an hour, 

 and you will probably find the unpleasant 

 symptoms gone and yourself ready to begin 

 anew ; your attention, which was wander- 

 ing, has become fixed, your will power is 

 stronger, your memory its own self, your 

 ideas from vague have become more clear 

 and your conclusions more logical. And the 

 temporary beneficial effects of occasional 



muscular work are easily made permanent by 

 applying the remedy steadily and systemat- 

 ically." Another purpose than this is also 

 served in systematic gymnastics, in which a 

 uniformity of movement and a definite rhythm 

 are cultivated. By these "we endeavor to 

 teach our pupils to have, by means of their 

 muscular sense, a due appreciation of the 

 proper order of things and also to do things 

 exactly each at its proper time, to let things 

 follow each other in a previously arranged 

 order, to complete one thing before they un- 

 dertake a new enterprise; we teach them 

 also by the same means not to feel as if each 

 were a completeness by himself, but try to 

 let them acquire the habit of considering 

 themselves as units of a greater whole, which 

 suffers if not each unit works with the aim 

 in view of gaining the greatest perfection for 

 the whole. In the gymnasium each one must 

 subordinate himself to the welfare of his 

 class ; in the baseball field that sensation of 

 identification with the team is created ; in 

 the rowboat each works in harmony with 

 everybody else ; and thus, through evolving 

 this feeling of belonging together, we hope 

 to react favorably upon the doings of these 

 same individuals as units of a greater whole, 

 the community, the nation, humanity, so as 

 to direct their mental as well as physical ca- 

 pacities toward the common welfare, toward 

 the progress of the race, to make not a better 

 man but better men." 



Domestic Birds of the Chinese, Fowls 

 form a considerable part of the food of the 

 better classes in China, and the breeding and 

 rearing of them constitute an important in- 

 dustry. Four varieties of fowls are described 

 in the report of the United States consul at 

 Ching Kiang, each of which has its peculiar 

 characteristics and qualities. Of the smallest 

 of the breeds, the choiv, a white cock, is car- 

 ried on the coffin at funerals and is sacrificed 

 at the grave ; and it is customary on the na- 

 tive boats to kill one on New Year's day and 

 sprinkle the blood on the bow for the propi- 

 tiation of evil spirits and to insure good luck 

 during the year. Ducks are reared in great 

 numbers, and are largely used as food, both 

 fresh and salted. They are all artificially 

 hatched. After fledging, the birds are driven 

 about in flocks through canals and from pond 

 to pond, where they find their food. They 



