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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of the Deluge. The clean of the cathedral 

 stoutly defended Moses, but he was badly 

 defeated by the geologists. The next Sun- 

 day he preached a sermon on the Deluge, 

 and proved, to his own satisfaction at least, 

 the absolute accuracy of the story in " Gen- 

 esis." He thus had the last word, for, as 

 he remarked afterward, " none of those fel- 

 lows could answer him there ! " 



According to Mr. A. C. Ranyard, of the 

 British Astronomical Society, maxima of 

 sun-spots, though their average periods are 

 11.11 years, occasionally occur at intervals 

 of 13 or 14 years. In one instance, in com- 

 paratively recent times, viz., 1788.1 and 

 1804.2 16.1 years elapsed, while between 

 the maxima years 1829.9 and 1837.2 there 

 was an interval of only 7.3 years. An ex- 

 amination of the records of sun-spots proves 

 the irregularity in their appearance to be so 

 great that only vague prognostications can 

 be made as to the time of an approaching 

 maximum ; and what is true of periods of 

 maxima is also true of periods of minima. 

 M. Faye, too, in a communication to the 

 Paris Academy of Sciences, shows that the 

 two phenomena of sun-spots and magnetism 

 are not related, as they have not the same 

 period. According to Wolf, the sun-spot 

 period is 11.11 years, while the declination 

 period of the magnetic needle is, according 

 to Lamont and others, 10.45 years. 



While exploring the desert region east 

 of the Lob-No r, the Russian traveler, Colonel 

 Prejevalsky, made inquiries of the natives 

 concerning the existence of wild camels in 

 that country, and learned from them that 

 those animals were still to be found in the 

 Kum-Tag Desert, which extends over three 

 degrees of longitude from east to west (91 

 -94 east), and is bounded north and south 

 by latitude 39 and 40 north. The wild 

 camels in summer seek the upper valleys of 

 the Altyn-Tag, a mountain-chain on the 

 southern edge of the Kum-Tag, and retire 

 into the most inaccessible deserts in winter. 

 Their sight, hearing, and smell, are exceed- 

 ingly quick, in striking contrast to the do- 

 mesticated camel, in which these senses are 

 very dull. Colonel Prejevalsky employed 

 hunters to procure the skins of these ani- 

 mals, and three skins were brought to 

 him, representing a male, a female, and a 

 colt. 



In Germany, according to the Polytech- 

 nic Review, sawdust is employed in the pro- 

 duction of sundry articles both useful and 

 ornamental. A plastic mass is prepared, 

 composed two-thirds of hard-wood sawdust 

 and one-third glue, resin, or other binding 

 material. This is compressed in brass moulds, 

 and the moisture driven out by heat. The 

 articles made are bass-reliefs, piano-keys, 

 door-knobs, brush handles and backs, etc. 



The excessive " militancy " of the people 

 of Montenegro is well illustrated by their 

 estimate of the comparative values of male 

 and female infants. If a man has a daughter 

 born to him, he regards the event almost as 

 a misfortune at least as a sore disappoint- 

 ment ; he goes and sits on his threshold 

 with downcast eyes, as though begging par- 

 don of his neighbors and friends ! But if 

 several daughters are born in unbroken suc- 

 cession, the mother must call in seven priests, 

 who bless oil and sprinkle it about the house, 

 remove the old threshold and put in a new 

 one, thus purifying the house which was be- 

 witched on the wedding-day. On the other 

 hand, if a boy is born, the entire household 

 is almost crazy with joy ; a feast is spread, 

 and friends and acquaintances come throng- 

 ing in to offer their congratulations and to 

 express the wish so characteristic of the 

 national spirit that the new-born babe may 

 never die abed ! 



Workmen employed innail-manufactories 

 are liable to contract a grave lung-disease 

 known as " nailers' consumption," caused by 

 the deposit of iron particles in the cells of the 

 lungs. The best preventive of nailers' con- 

 sumption is no doubt the use of a respirator, 

 such as that contrived by Prof. Tyndall for 

 the use of firemen. The respirator would ex- 

 clude from the respiratory organs the mi- 

 nutest particles of solid matter; it is far more 

 effectual than any of the other devices which 

 have been proposed, such as moist sponges 

 or false mustaches. 



The exorbitant price demanded by the 

 patentees of the Bell telephone for their in- 

 struments causes no little discontent in 

 England, where that form of the telephone 

 has the field to itself, so far as the law is 

 concerned. It does seem rather extortion- 

 ate to levy from twenty-five to thirty-five 

 pounds sterling on the purchase of an in- 

 strument that could be sold with a profit for 

 half as many shillings. The result is, that 

 the patent is boldly infringed : the separate 

 parts of the telephone are for sale every- 

 where at a low price, and so people are en- 

 abled to make telephones for themselves. 

 It is not probable that the decrees of courts 

 which seek to uphold so odious a monopoly 

 can be enforced. 



William Laidlaw rativeof Congo, now 

 a freedman living in the island of Dominica, 

 was born with six fingers on each hand. He 

 is the father of four children, two boys and 

 two girls, each born with six fingers on the 

 hands, one of the girls having also six toes 

 on each foot. One of the sons is the father 

 of two boys who have six fingers on each 

 hand ; and the five children of the other 

 son were born with the same peculiarity. 

 This family well illustrates the wonderful 

 persistence of sedigitism. 



