HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



271 



The Antiquity of Man. — Some of my readers 

 may remember the discovery of the celebrated 

 Neanderthal skull, and the discussions which it pro- 

 voked. I am reminded of this by the discovery of 

 two skulls of the same type, and evidently belonging 

 to the same race of men, by MM. Puydt and 

 Lopest (see October number of this Magazine, 

 p. 237). The difference between the reception 

 which has been accorded to the announcement of 

 these two similar discoveries is very significant, and 

 very encouraging to all who are hopeful of human 

 progress. The discovery of the Neanderthal skull 

 provoked quite a keen — not to say bitter — theological 

 feeling. It was even asserted that the skull had 

 been fraudulently deposited where it was found. 

 The same with the " Abbeville jaw," which was 

 subsequently discovered, March 28th, 1863. A very 

 large number of abnormally good people were quite 

 satisfied that such a discovery of the existence of 

 human beings, so many tens of thousands of years 

 ago, was an act of great wickedness, and that the 

 conclusions of geologists concerning the antiquity 

 of man would seriously undermine the public morality, 

 if allowed to go abroad uucontroverted. Now we 

 find a further discovery of the same kind, one which 

 widely extencrs the range of Neanderthal type of 

 men, and carries their antiquity still further back, is 

 received with philosophic coolness, and the questions 

 are not those of orthodoxy or heterodoxy, not whether 

 or not human beings existed at the epoch indicated 

 by the associated fossils ; but what was the extent of 

 the migrations of the "Neanderthal race," how far 

 they penetrated the valley of the Meuse ? Whether 

 they made flint implements and utilised the tusks 

 of the Mammoth ; whether they baked the clay of 

 their earthenware vessels ; whether they buried their 

 dead, &c. 



Telephone v. Telegraph. — Many experiments 

 have been tried, showing the great distance to which 

 it is possible to work the telephone. This, of course, 

 has a scientific interest ; but the practical question is 

 how far can it be commercially worked ? This ques- 

 tion has been answered by Dr. Wietlisbach. Ac- 

 cording to his estimate a telephone line, 1250 miles 

 long, must cost above^50,ooo, and he tells us that it is 

 possible to speak over this distance ; but to make it 

 pay, such a line must earn five shillings per minute, 

 and hence a short conversation would cost two or 

 three pounds. The telegraph works at about one- 

 tenth the cost at such a distance. Up to about 

 300 miles the telephone beats the telegraph ; at 

 about 310 miles they run neck and neck, and over 

 this distance the telegraph is the winner. 



Balloon Photographs. — MM. A. and G. Tis- 

 sandier and G. Nadar succeeded completely last 

 summer in their balloon ascents, for the purpose of 

 making aerial photographs. During the first ascent, 



on July 2nd, when they were in the air above six 

 hours, thirty pictures of the country below were 

 taken. They were instantaneous photographs, and 

 twelve were quite satisfactory. Three good pictures 

 were obtained on a second ascent ; but it does not 

 appear that copies have been published. A com- 

 parison of these pictures with maps of the same 

 portions of the country will be curious. Assuming 

 that the maps are correct, they will not exactly 

 agree with the pictures, on account of the perspective. 

 That part of the country, perpendicularly below the 

 balloon, being nearer than the portions lying towards 

 the horizon, the picture will represent the landscape 

 as a circular plan on a scale continually diminishing 

 from the centre to the circumference. This variation 

 will be somewhat increased by the curvature of the 

 earth. 



The Lick Observatory. — It appears from the 

 published reports that $500,000 have already been 

 expended upon the great 36-inch refractor and its 

 appliances, leaving $200,000 for endowment. There 

 is reason to hope that the difficulties in working the 

 lens are at last overcome. Professor Holden de- 

 clares officially, that "the real gift of Mr. Lick was 

 to the world, and that the trustees will put the large 

 telescope at the disposition of the world, by inviting 

 its most distinguished astronomers to use it during 

 certain specified hours every day, when the obser- 

 vatory staff will relinquish it to such visitors." This 

 generous interpretation of their obligations by the 

 Californian Trustees will doubtless be fully appre- 

 ciated by all who are sufficiently educated to under- 

 stand the advantages of the offer. 



What strange reflections are suggested when we 

 compare this piece of Californian news with that we 

 usually received twenty or thirty years ago— with 

 such pictures of Californian civilisation as those 

 presented in "The Luck of Roaring Camp," &c. 

 With such progress in so short a time, what must we 

 anticipate for the future ? 



Refined Susceptibility. — The Superintendent of 

 the Government Museum of Madras reports a curious 

 instance of superfine fastidiousness, which suggests 

 comparison with some of our own genteel affectations. 

 He notes that the native visitors object to the 

 drinking-fountains in the grounds, owing to the 

 resemblance that the discharge of water from a 

 stoneware lion's head has to the act of vomiting. 

 If I remember rightly, it was Dr. Johnson who per- 

 petrated the enormity of taking a lump of sugar with 

 his fingers, and so painfully disgus'ed his hostess, 

 that she ordered the footman to remove the polluted 

 sugar basin. The Hindoo gentry, who cannot drink 

 the vomited water, are worthy rivals of this superior 

 person. 



Phosphography.— A paper was recently read on 



