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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



atmospheric conditions. If vte now trans- 

 fer the instrument to a room in the house 

 which has been closed for a few hours and 

 without artificial heating, we find the in- 

 ternal conditions. If the dry thermometer 

 is lowered, we may conclude that the walls 

 are cold, and so absorb heat. If the differ- 

 ence between the wet and dry bulbs is 

 lessened, we know the evaporation condi- 

 tions are lessened ; that is, that the internal 

 atmosphere is overcharged with moisture. 

 The two together will prove that the walls 

 are damp, and that the house is disadvan- 

 tageous to health. 



New Tanning Process. An exhibition 

 was recently given at Havre, France, of 

 Montoison's process of tanning. A variety 

 of skins were experimented on, from the 

 fresh skin of a calf, to the old skins of sheep 

 and goats burnt and hardened by a tropi- 

 cal sun ; more time of course was required 

 to unhair the latter than the former. The 

 skins were first soaked in hot water, then 

 they received two coats of a pasty liquid on 

 the inside, and were piled up, inside to inside, 

 to undergo the. action of the composition. 

 After the skins had been soaked for a short 

 time, the wool and hair came from them ab- 

 solutely intact. The manner in which the 

 wool came away from the skin by a touch 

 of the hand created considerable astonish- 

 ment in the minds of those who witnessed 

 the experiments. In a few seconds the 

 skins were dipped in two special baths to 

 neutralize the unhairing composition, and 

 the afternoon was devoted to tanning ex- 

 periments, which proved the invention to be 

 a complete success. Experienced tanners, 

 who were present, declared the leaflier pro- 

 duced to be, to all appearance, fully equal to 

 that produced by the tedious methods in 

 common use. 



The Economy of Vegetarianism. A writ- 

 er in the Quarterly Journal of Science makes 



a trenchant criticism of the arguments usu- 

 ally employed by vegetarians in support of 

 their system of diet. The author considers 

 the question from the economic, the moral, 

 and the hygienic points of view, but we have 

 not space to give more than an epitome of his 

 remarks on the first of these topics. One 

 hundred acres of good land, say the vegeta- 



rians, will support a greater amount of hu 

 man life if planted with wheat, potatoes, or 

 other crops directly consumed by man, than 

 if laid out in pasture or set with vegetables 

 intended for the food of cattle. This is 

 true, but all land is not good; in every 

 country there is abundance of land that is 

 unfit for tillage, and which, nevertheless, 

 yields excellent pasture. Under a vegeta- 

 rian regime such lauds would cease to sup- 

 ply the food-market. So too the produce of 

 the forest and moor game would cease. 

 More serious still, the waters would no lon- 

 ger contribute their share. It might be said 

 that poor lands could still be used for past, 

 ure, and the produce of flocks and herds 

 (wool, butter, cheese, milk) utilized. But if 

 the grazer cannot sell the meat, it would 

 be unprofitable to keep animals, unless he 

 could get, for the products above named, 

 prices a hundredfold higher than he gets 

 now. Besides, the use of milk, butter, and 

 cheese, is inconsistent with vegetarian prin- 

 ciples. In a strictly vegetarian country, tal- 

 low, hides, and hair, could scarcely be pro- 

 cured. Again, the refuse of the fisheries is 

 rising into importance as a manure fully 

 equal to Peruvian guano. But, if fish might 

 no longer be captured, the supply of this 

 fertilizer would be cut off, unless indeed the 

 destruction of animal life for purposes other 

 than food received an exceptional sanction. 

 Even then the cost of the raw material 

 would be greatly enhanced. 



Ancient American Civilization. In the 



" Congress of Americanists," held last July 

 at Nancy, France, a very learned paper was 

 read by Prof. Foucaux, of the College de 

 Prance, in favor of the theory that the an- 

 cient civilization of America is the work of 

 Buddhist missionaries. The theory was 

 hotly attacked by several of the distin- 

 guished men present, among them by Fried- 

 rich von Hellwald. The latter compared 

 the story of Huei-shen to that of the sea- 

 serpent. Dr. Hellwald is of the opinion 

 that this theory received its death-blow at 

 the Congress. Two other theories were 

 also very badly damaged, namely, those of a 

 lost continent of Atlantis and of Phoenician 

 settlements in America. M. Leon de Rosny 

 delivered a masterly address on the Maya 

 hieroglyphics. The Maya was the sacred 



