128 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



England is the subject of a learned paper, 

 by Prof. Dana, in the American Journal of 

 Scie?ice for March. From it we learn that 

 in Northern New England the glaciers were 

 from 5,000 to 6,500 feet in thickness. At 

 the White Mountains the ice-surface was 

 6,000 feet above the sea-level, and the mass 

 had a depth of nearly a mile. On Central 

 Long Island the surface of the glacier was 

 2,100 feet above the surface of the sea, and 

 in the Connecticut Valley 3,200 feet. The 

 slope of the ice-surface from the White 

 Mountains southward was about 24 feet to 

 the mile, and about 19 feet to the mile in 

 the Connecticut Valley. The glacier ex- 

 tended beyond the present coast-line, possi- 

 bly some 90 miles southward of Long Isl- 

 and. Its forward movement is thought to 

 have been one foot in a week, or about 100 

 miles in 10,000 years. The crushing and 

 erosive power of such an enormous mass 

 of ice may be appreciated when it is known 

 that, if 6,000 feet thick, it would lie upon 

 the earth with a pressure of about 300,000 

 pounds to each square foot. 



NOTES. 



A monument is to be erected in Bir- 

 mingham, England, to the memory of Dr. 

 Joseph Priestley. In his lifetime his heter- 

 odoxy disqualified him for a berth in one 

 of Captain Cook's ships, though he would 

 have been a most valuable aid to the com- 

 mander. The time has at length come 

 when England and America can do honor 

 to the man who " embraced what is called 

 the heterodox side of every question." 



Five living sea-fish were recently sent by 

 mail from Naples to London, the journey 

 consuming a little over four days. The fish 

 were each about two inches in length, and 

 were packed in damp sea-weed, from which 

 all but one came out in good condition, 

 and, soon after being placed in their natural 

 element, became as lively as ever. 



Prof. Leidt is of opinion that conta- 

 gion is frequently transferred from one sub- 

 ject to another by the agency of the com- 

 mon house-fly, and his observations in mili- 

 tary hospitals have led him to the conclu- 

 sion that flies should be carefully excluded 

 from wounds, particularly if gangrene is any- 

 where about. 



Weltwitsch tells of a plant, an oxalis, 

 growing in Angola, Africa, which is so sen- 

 sitive that it closes its leaves on hearing (so 

 to speak) a footfall in its neighborhood. 



A dying pauper in Ireland willed his 

 body to a surgeon for dissection. The 

 poor-law guardians are indignant, and de- 

 mand that the surgeon, who is medical 

 officer to the Board of Charities, resign. 

 The ground on which it is sought to annul 

 the pauper's will is, "undue influence." 

 This is probably the first case in which a 

 pauper's last will and testament is brought 

 into dispute. 



Berlin has grown rich by war, but her 

 poor are growing poorer. About half of 

 the population live in dens which have usu- 

 ally two chalk-lines crossing each other on 

 the floor. A room is thus divided into four 

 compartments, one for the sleeping-place, 

 another for the nursery, the third is hired 

 to a lodger, and the fourth is kitchen, liv- 

 ing-room, and workshop. 



A San Francisco paper says that oys- 

 ters can be imported into California from 

 Mexico at a cheaper rate than from New 

 York. The coast of Mexico, from Guaymas 

 to Acapulco, abounds in oysters of large 

 size and excellent flavor. They can be put 

 on board the Mexican steamers at Mazat- 

 lan, at less than $15 per ton, and the 

 freight thence to San Francisco would not 

 be over $10. 



The following is in striking contrast to 

 the " devil-may-care " policy of our laws in 

 regard to the safety of railway -passengers : 

 In England it is against the law to attempt 

 to get on or off" a railway-train while in 

 motion, and, more than that, the law is en- 

 forced. Recently a young man nearly lost 

 his life in the attempt to board a train 

 which was slowly moving out of a station. 

 He was brought up for trial, and fined five 

 shillings with costs. A woman who stepped 

 off a moving train was also convicted, and, 

 having no money, was sent to jail for ten 

 days. Americans, about to travel in Eng- 

 land, may save some of their loose change 

 and perhaps their personal liberty, by mak- 

 ing note of this. 



Prof. Voght records an instance of 

 what may be called self-cannibalism. He 

 cut in two a male cricket, and immediately 

 the fore part, probably experiencing a sen- 

 sation of emptiness in the ventral region, 

 turned upon the hinder part and devoured 

 it! 



A French apothecary has discovered an 

 excellent and very cheap substitute for qui- 

 nine, in powdered laurel-leaf. The leaves 

 of the laurel (Laurvs nobilis) are slowly 

 dried over the fire in a close vessel, and 

 then powdered. One gramme (15| grains) 

 is a dose, and is taken in a glass of cold 

 water. The drug so taken produces no bad 

 effects, and soon, it is said, breaks up the 

 most obstinate intermittent fevers. 



