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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The Normal (Illinois) " School of Natural 

 History" "ill open on July 25th, continu- 

 ing in session till August 25th. The course 

 of study embraces comparative anatomy of 

 vertebrates ; comparative anatomy of in- 

 vertebrates ; analytical zoology ; analytical 

 entomology ; botany. In the list of in- 

 structors are the names of B. G. Wilder, 

 Cyrus Thomas, and J. A. Sewall. Fuller 

 information given by S. A. Forbes, Normal, 

 Illinois. 



In the American Journal of Science for 

 February, Prof. J. D. Dana corrects an 

 error which for many years has circulated 

 in geographies, gazetteers, and similar 

 works. This error consists in representing 

 the West and East Rocks near New Haven 

 as being the termination of the Green and 

 White Mountains respectively. " The fact 

 is," writes Prof. Dana, " that East Rock is 

 but a short appendage to the system of 

 trap-dikes of the Connecticut Valley, and 

 West Rock, a southern portion of the same 

 system. The Green Mountains," he adds, 

 " consist of metamorphic rocks, and are 

 not younger than Silurian. But the trap 

 ridges of the Connecticut Valley belong to 

 the valley, and are of Jurassic origin." 



A station for agricultural experiments 

 has been established at the Wssleyan Uni- 

 versity, Middletown, by the State of Con- 

 necticut. Dr. Atwater, Professor of Chem- 

 istry in the university is the director, and 

 Dr. W. C. Tilden, with two assistants, is the 

 acting chemist. The State appropriation 

 being insufficient to defray all the expenses 

 of the station, the proprietors of the Amer- 

 ican Agriculturist have agreed to make up 

 the deficiency. 



TnE twin-steamship Castalia, which dur- 

 ing four months of last year daily made 

 voyages between Dover and Calais, appears 

 to have given satisfaction in every respect, 

 save speed. Arrangements have now been 

 made by the Channel Steamship Company 

 for the building of a large twin-steamship, 

 which, uniting all the advantages of the 

 Castalia with such improvements as experi- 

 ence has suggested, will have a speed of 

 not less than fourteen knots an hour. 



A wonderful case of recovery from a 

 gunshot-wound was that of the late Com- 

 mander Sanders of the British Navy, who 

 died last February, at the age of ninety-one 

 years. In 1803 he was shot in the head, 

 the bullet passing clear through from ear to 

 eye. He was kindly cared for by the sur- 

 geon of the French ship which he was at- 

 tempting to " cut out " when he received the 

 wound. At the end of five years' detention 

 as a prisoner of war, he went back to Eng- 

 land sound and well, with the exception of 

 the loss of an eve 



The relative strength of various sub- 

 stances is stated as follows in the Scientific 

 American: A rod \ inch in diameter, of 

 the best steel, will sustain, before breaking, 

 9,000 lbs. ; soft steel, 7,000 lbs. ; iron wire, 

 6,000 lbs. ; good iron, 4,000 lbs. ; inferior 

 bar-iron, 2,000 lbs.; cast-iron, 1,000 to 

 3,000 lbs. ; copper wire, 3,000 lbs. ; silver, 

 2^000 lbs. ; gold, 2,500 lbs. ; tin, 300 lbs. ; 

 cast-zinc, 160 lbs. ; cast lead, 50 lbs. ; milled 

 lead, 200 lbs. ; box or locust wood, 1,200 

 lbs. ; toughest ash, 1,000 lbs. ; elm, 800 lbs. ; 

 beech, cedar, white-oak, pitch-pine, 600 

 lbs. ; chestnut and maple, 650 lbs. ; poplar, 

 400 lbs. 



A new variety of bronze, containing 

 manganese, and known as " manganese 

 bronze," has lately been introduced in Eng- 

 land. It is said to be very valuable for all 

 kinds of small work wherein gun-metal is 

 now used, and it is capable of being forged 

 like iron. 



During a visitation of extreme cold 

 weather in the vicinity of Carson River, the 

 quicksilver pump in the Eureka mill ceased 

 to perform its proper functions ; the ma- 

 chinery of the pump continued to work, but 

 no quicksilver was raised. On examination, 

 the mercury in the tank was found to be 

 frozen solid. 



The British Geological Society has this 

 year awarded to Prof. T. H. Huxley its 

 Wollaston Medal. Prof. Huxley has also 

 been elected a Corresponding Member of 

 the Danish Academy of Sciences. The 

 Royal Academy of Rome has conferred a 

 similar honor upon Mr. Herbert Spencer, 

 having elected him a Corresponding Fellow. 



Prof. D. S. Jordan, of Indianapolis, will 

 conduct a summer School of Science, during 

 the coming season, in the mountains of East 

 Tennessee. The members of the school will 

 collect specimens of the birds, reptiles, fishes, 

 insects, and plants, of that region. 



In a cave near Thayngen, Switzerland, 

 Conrad Merck has discovered a quantity of 

 animal remains, consisting of bones of the 

 reindeer, cave-lion, mammoth, woolly-haired 

 rhinoceros, urus, glutton, and other species. 

 Relics of human habitation have also been 

 found in great abundance such as flint- 

 flakes, implements of reindeer-horn, and sev- 

 eral well-executed engravings on bone, horn, 

 and lignite. 



A writer in the Gardener's Monthly 

 states that, when properly cured, the kernel 

 of the American walnut is white and deli- 

 cious, with a delicate flavor hardly surpassed 

 by any nut. The nuts should be gathered as 

 soon as they are ripe, and not allowed to 

 remain in the hull. They should then be 

 dried quickly. 



