MISCELLANY. 



123 



Oxus. At the time when the river emptied 

 itself into the Caspian the conditions of its 

 rer/hne were such that the volume and ve- 

 locity of its summer or flood water were 

 sufficient to clear away annually from its 

 bed the deposits of mud resulting from the 

 smaller volume of its winter course. From 

 certain data it is concluded that the dlfter- 

 ence of the delivery of water between win- 

 ter and summer is as one to three: thus the 

 bed would not undergo any deteiioration, 

 its course would remain unchanged, and the 

 river vould continue to discharge itself into 

 the Caspian. But, as soon as the volume 

 and velocity of its summer waters were di- 

 minished by the action of irrigation canals, 

 those compensatory arrangements of Nature 

 would be upset, and a proportion of the 

 muddy deposits of winter would escape the 

 annual scouring. In course of time bars 

 would form in the bed of the river, and in 

 the end prevent it extending its course to 

 the Caspian. That the Oxus has changed 

 its lower course is proved by numerous his- 

 torical documents. 



Antiquity of the Divining-Rod. A paper 

 on "Rabdomancy" (or the use of the "di- 

 vining-rod ") and " Belomancy " (or divina- 

 tion by means of arrows) was read by Miss 

 A. W. Buckland. According to the au- 

 thor, the staff as a sceptre was probably a 

 later form of the horn which was thus used 

 in prehistoric times, and in that character 

 adorned the heads of gods. From this use 

 of rods or horns arose a veneration for 

 them as possessing the power of healing. 

 Hence their use by magicians, whose chief 

 instruments have always been a ring and a 

 staff. These symbols conjoined are found 

 in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Peruvian sculpt- 

 ures, and may be traced in some of the 

 stone circles of Britain and in the shape 

 of ancient Irish brooches. Belomancy, or 

 divination by marked arrows, said to be of 

 Scythian origin, was practised in Babylon, 

 Judea, and Arabia, and traces of it may 

 still be found in the popular tales of Russia 

 and Siberia. " That the arts of magic and 

 divination are a remnant of pre-Aryan re- 

 ligion is proved," said the author, " by their 

 present existence among aboriginal non- 

 Aryan races ; and they might even be used 

 as a test of race, so that those who in the 



counties of Somerset and Cornwall claim 

 the power of divination by the rod might 

 possibly have some remote affinity with the 

 aboriginal inhabitants of Britain." 



The Clinical Thernioscope. Dr. Seguin, 

 of this city, has devised an ingenious little 

 instrument, called the clinical thernioscope, 

 to be used as an aid in diagnosis. It is em- 

 ployed for detecting the vari- 

 ations of temperature on the 

 surface of the body, and es- 

 timating the rate of radiation 

 going on therefrom. In the 

 words of the inventor, it is 

 " intended as a quicker and 

 more delicate test of differ- 

 ential temperatures than the 

 thermometer ; and less to give 

 the degree of heat than the 

 velocity of its radiation." 

 We present a cut of the in- 

 strument half the actual size. 

 It consists of a glass tube 

 seven inches long, with a mi- 

 nute bore open at one end, 

 and terminating at the other 

 in a bulb. An adjustable scale 

 is attached to the outside of 

 the tube. To prepare it for 

 use, immerse the bulb in hot 

 water, which rarefies the air 

 inside. The open end is then 

 phmged into cold water and 

 quickly withdrawn, when a 

 drop or two will be foimd to 

 have entered the tube. This 

 forms a " water-index," which 

 should become stationary 

 within an inch or two of the 

 bulb. If it falls into the bulb, or does not 

 approach it sufficiently, too much or too 

 little heat was applied in the first instance, 

 and it will be necessary to jar the water 

 from the tube and try again. When the 

 index is provided, adjust the scale, bring- 

 ing its lowest figure on a level with the top 

 of the column of water in the tube, and it 

 is then ready for use. It may be applied to 

 any part of the surface, where disturbance 

 of temperature is suspected, but its habit- 

 ual place in the hands of Dr. Seguin is, not 

 the axilla, but the shut hand. The claims 



