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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



In the " History of the Fishes of the Brit- 

 ish Islands," Giraldus Cambrensis, a writer 

 of the twelfth century, is quoted for the 

 observation that in the Lyn y Own, or Pool 

 of Dogs, in Wales, the trout, the perch, and 

 the eel, were deficient of the left eye. A 

 recent work on " Trout and Salmon Fishing 

 in Wales," strangely enough, confirms in 

 part this observation, asserting that one- 

 eyed trout are still caught in the same 

 waters. 



Professor Smke recently, at the Berlin 

 Chemical Society, proposed a method for 

 detecting organic matters contained in the 

 air, and for effecting at the same time a 

 kind of distillation by cold. A glass fun- 

 nel, closed at its narrow end, is held sus- 

 pended in the air and filled with ice. The 

 moisture of the air is condensed, in contact 

 with the exterior surface ; it trickles to the 

 bottom of the apparatus, and falls into a 

 small basin placed for its reception. The 

 liquid obtained in a given time is weighed. 

 It generally contains ammonia, which is de- 

 termined by known methods. Distillation 

 by cold may be employed for separating 

 volatile substances which might be injured 

 by heat. Thus, if flowers are placed under 

 a large bell-glass along with the refrigerat- 

 ing funnel, a liquid is obtained in the basin 

 saturated with the odorous principles of 

 the flowers. 



At various points on the river Thames, 

 between Woolwich and Erith, there are 

 visible at low water the remains of a sub- 

 merged forest, over which the river now 

 flows. This fact, taken in connection with 

 other local phenomena, has led geologists 

 to conclude that the present outlet of the 

 Thames to the North Sea is of quite recent 

 origin, the waters having formerly passed 

 southward into the Weald by channels 

 which still remain. Excavations in the 

 marshes expose to view a deep stratum of 

 twigs, leaves, seed-vessels, and stools of 

 trees, chiefly of the yew, alder, and oak 

 kinds. 



A traveller in Zanzibar describes the 

 red and black ants as one of the greatest 

 scourges with which Eastern Africa is af- 

 flicted. These insects, he says, move along 

 the roads in masses so dense that beasts of 

 burden refuse to step among them. If the 

 traveller should fail to see them coming, in 

 time to make his escape, he soon finds them 

 swarming about his person. Sometimes, 

 too, they ascend the trees and drop upon 

 the wayfarer. The natives call them madi- 

 nodo, that is, boiling water, to signify the 

 scalding sensation produced by their bite. 

 These ants are of great size, and burrow so 

 deep into the flesh that it is not easy to 

 pick them out. In certain forests they are 

 said to exist in such numbers as to be able 

 to destroy rats and lizards. 



An eccentric and methodical man is Dr. 

 Rudolf, Danish governor of Upernavik, 

 Greenland. Dr. Rudolf is a scientist of some 

 distinction, and has contributed his share 

 to the scientific literature of his own coun- 

 try, yet it is his choice to live in a region 

 where darkness prevails four months in the 

 year, and where he can have no communi- 

 cation with civilized life beyond the annual 

 visit from the government storeship, and the 

 casual arrival of whalers. By the storeship 

 the governor receives annually a file of 

 Danish newspapers ; but instead of glan- 

 cing through them hastily, he takes a fresh 

 journal every morning, reading the Dagblad 

 of Jan. 1, 1872, on Jan. 1, 1873. He thus 

 follows, day for day, the changes in the mind 

 of Denmark : is glad in the order in which 

 Copenhagen is glad, and vice versa, but al- 

 ways precisely twelve months after the event. 



If the white of an egg be immersed for 

 some 12 hours in cold water, it undergoes a 

 chemico-molecular change, becoming solid 

 and insoluble. The hitherto transparent 

 albumen assumes an opaque and snow-white 

 appearance, far surpassing that of the ordi- 

 nary egg. Dr. John Goodman, writing in 

 the Chemical News, recommends this mate- 

 rial for diet in cases where a patient's blood 

 lacks fibrine. The substance being light and 

 easily digested, it is not rejected even by a 

 feeble stomach ; and as it creates a feeling 

 of want rather than of repletion, it pro- 

 motes, rather than decreases, the appetite 

 for food. After the fibrine has been pro- 

 duced in the manner described above, it 

 must be submitted to the action of a boil- 

 ing heat, and is then ready for use. 



One of the great dangers attending the 

 use of the various sedatives employed in 

 the nursery is that they tend to produce 

 the opium-habit. These quack medicines 

 owe their soothing and quieting effects to 

 the action of opium, and the infant is by 

 them given a morbid appetite for narcotic 

 stimulants. The offering for sale of such 

 nostrums should be prohibited, as tending 

 to the physical and moral deterioration of 

 the race. In India mothers give to their 

 infants sugar-pills containing opium, and 

 the result is a languid, sensual race of hope- 

 less debauchees. In the United States the 

 poisonous dose is administered under an- 

 other name ; but the consequences will prob- 

 ably be the same. 



During last autumn, says the Journal of 

 the Society of Arts, there were no less than 

 seventeen companies engaged in extracting 

 gold from the auriferous sand of Finland. 

 The alluvial deposits at Toalo are said to be 

 extremely rich in gold, the total production 

 last season being estimated at about 50,000. 

 One of the companies returned a dividend 

 of 70 per cent. The largest nugget weighed 

 40 grammes. 



