NOTES. 



431 



turn under the ground. If these products of 

 the activity of the lake were buried under 

 the soil, they inight produce very singular 

 fossils, which would be puzzling enough to 

 geologists of the future. 



Certain school studies are described by 

 Superintendent H. P. Emerson, of Buffalo, in 

 a paper read before the Thirty second Univer- 

 sity Convocation, as those which are of least 

 educational value, but are yet necessary be- 

 cause they are the tools for acquiring further 

 knowledge, such as reading, spelling, writ- 

 ing, drawing, and the most of number work 

 or arithmetic. Here children learn the signs 

 or symbols of knowledge rather than knowl- 

 edge itself. One of the great mistakes of 

 education in the past has been that these 

 vehicles of knowledge have been so exalted 

 as to occupy the most important place and 

 to be regarded as ends in themselves. 



In a paper on Corean Children's Games, 

 read in the American Association, Mr. Stew- 

 art Curlin said the Corean games agreed in 

 general with the children's games in modern 

 use, but more closely with those of the 

 neighboring countries of China and Japan. 

 Although they have departed somewhat from 

 the dramatic and divinistic forms to which 

 they can ultimately be traced, yet these early 

 sacred associations are more apparent in 

 them than in the children's games of other 

 countries of eastern Asia. Toys are looked 

 upon as sacred things. Mr. Culin spoke of 

 the common Corean games, such as the " tug 

 of war," in which villagers oppose villagers 

 at either end of a rope of straw, the archery 

 contest, the game with slaves, and others. 

 The Chinese names of a large portion of the 

 children's games indicate their Chinese ori- 

 gin. Respect for literature and the written 

 character is seen in the literary amusements, 

 something like the familiar word-games in 

 Amei'ica. The hatred of Japan and the Japan- 

 ese which permeates Corea is well illustrated 

 by the simple game of " fighting violets," 

 which the children call " o-ran ka got " i. e., 

 "barbarian head-cutting." 



A " Deseret professorship of Geology " 

 has been established in Salt Lake City, Utah, 

 endowed with sixty thousand dollars by Salt 

 Lake City, and Dr. J. K. Talmage has been 

 chosen and installed professor in it. The uni- 

 versity, although not technically its owner, 

 will enjoy the advantages of the Deseret Mu- 

 seum of the Academy. 



Prof. Btjchner has shown in a series of 

 experiments that the direct rays of the sun 

 act efficiently in destroying microbes in small 

 quantities of water, and that diffused sunlight 

 also has no insignificant power in the matter. 

 The experiments made to determine the 

 depth to which this action of sunlight pene- 

 trates showed that it diminishes very fast 

 between a metre and a half and two metres 

 and a half, at which depth it is hardly 



perceptible. From this result. Prof. G. C. 

 Frankland infers that the influence of light 

 in purifying water (that is, large bodies) can 

 not be regarded as of much importance ; and 

 it would hardly be safe to depend on its 

 operation in the "self-purification" of rivers. 

 Other experiments indicate that microbes 

 thrive in the dark and multiply in the night, 

 under favorable conditions of temperature. 



A MONUMENT to Quatrcfagcs was unveiled 

 at Valleraugues, France, August 20th, in the 

 presence of a deputation of the most emi- 

 nent scientific men of the country. The 

 scientific career of Quatref ages was described 

 in the addresses of MM. Milne-Edwards, 

 Hamy, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and Brongni- 

 art, of whom M. Hamy declared him the 

 creator of anthropology. The monument 

 consists of a bust in bronze of Quatrefages, 

 placed upon a pedestal of stone, on the prin- 

 cipal face of which is the statue of a young 

 native of the Cevennes presenting a crown to 

 the eminent naturalist. 



Attention is called by the English Dr. 

 Welply to a danger which has so far escaped 

 public notice. Creameries receive their milk 

 from a number of farms. After the cream 

 has been removed, some of the skim milk is 

 sent back to the farms for consumption. The 

 milk being all mixed together, a means is 

 thus afforded for conveying typhoid fever or 

 other disease existing on one of the farms 

 to all the others, and for creating fresh dis- 

 ease centers. An instance where this really 

 occurred is cited by the author. This affords 

 a fresh argument for always boiling milk be- 

 fore using. 



A NEW style of bottle for poisons is fig- 

 ured in the Lancet. It has the neck on one 

 side, and is otherwise described as of such a 

 shape that it will not stand up, and should 

 always be lying down in such a position that 

 the word " poison " and the label shall be in 

 view ; " and this peculiarity is as readily to 

 be distinguished in the dark as in the light. 

 A particular grip is necessary in handling it, 

 for the fingers have to touch the table when 

 lifting it. The peculiarity of the neck can 

 not be overlooked when corking or uncork- 

 ing." It is as cheap as an ordinary bottle. 



The work of preserving the White Moun- 

 tain forests has made some progress in spite 

 of selfish legislation. One step forward has 

 been the designation of the Appalachian 

 Club as a trustee to receive funds for the 

 purchase of forest lands. 



According t . the German journal Die 

 Nafur, a German chemist has discovered a 

 substance possessing the singular properties 

 of solidifying under the influence of heat 

 and becoming liquid at temperatures below 

 the freezing point of water. It is Obtained 

 by mixing equal parts of phenol, camphor, 

 and saponine, with a very small quantity of 

 turpentine, and has been named cryostaz, or 



