NOTES. 



511 



These horns are now in the Museum of the 

 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



It is an error to suppose that the lion is 

 stronger than the tiger. i)r. Haughton has 

 proved that the strength of the lion in the 

 fore-limbs is only 69.9 per cent, of that of 

 the tiger, and the strength of his hind-limbs 

 only 65.9 per cent. Five men can easily 

 hold down a lion, but it requires nine men 

 to control a tiger. 



In the course of his researches into the 

 habits of insects, it was found by Lubbock 

 that an ant, which has a large number of 

 larvffi to carry from one place to another, 

 goes and fetches several other ants to aid 

 in the work, while, if there are only a small 

 number of larvte, only a few helpers are 

 called in. 



It is stated by Dr. George Maclean, of 

 Princeton, in a communication to the editors 

 of the American Journal of Science, that on 

 one occasion, after some experiments with 

 phosphuretted hydrogen, prepared from 

 phosphorus and solution of potash, on le- 

 tiring to bed, he found his body to be lumi- 

 nous with a glow like that of phosphorus 

 exposed to the air. Some of the gas, es- 

 caping combustion, or the product of its 

 burning, must have been absorbed into the 

 system, and the phosphorus afterward sep- 

 arated at the surface have there undergone 

 eremacausis. 



Three instances of extraordioarily rapid 

 growth of plants are recorded in the Gar- 

 dener's Chronicle. First, a Sequoia gigantea, 

 planted in 1855, iu Loire-lnferieure, France, 

 is now more than 72 feet high, and, about 

 a yard from the ground, has a girth of 7 

 feet. In the same locality, a plant o( Bam- 

 busa mitis threw up a stem of more than 22 

 feet in two months, while a Yucca albospica 

 produced an inflorescence 8 feet high. 



According to Dumas there are two dis- 

 tinct kinds of ferments : those which, like 

 yeast, are capable of self-reproduction, and 

 those which, like diastase and syuaptase, 

 are without this property. It has been ob- 

 served by iluntz that ferments of the for- 

 mer class are neutralized by chloroform ; 

 not so those of the latter class. 



Prof. S. P. Sharples, of Boston, has 

 drawn up tables showing the range of dif- 

 ference between different specimens of pure 

 milk as regards the amount of solid mutter 

 they contain. The highest percentage of 

 solid matter is 19.68, the lowest 9.3. 



It is stated in a French journal, Le Char- 

 bon, that experiments made at Bordeaux 

 with cork, as a substance for developing 

 illuminating gas, have led to such good re- 

 sults that it is proposed to establish a cork 



gas-house in that city. The waste of cork- 

 cutting shops is distilled in close vessels, 

 and tlie flame of the resulting gas is more 

 intense and whiter than that of coal-gas. 

 The blue portion of this flame is much less, 

 and the density of the gas much greater 

 than that of common illuminating gas. 



It is stated by Galton that in England 

 country boys, of Iburteen years, average an 

 inch and a quarter more in height, and seven 

 pounds more in weight, than city boys of 

 the same age, as shown by the examination 

 of a large number of boys in country and 

 city schools. 



Dr. Robert Barnes, writing in the Ob- 

 stetrical Journal, questions the propriety of 

 admitting women to the practice of medi- 

 cine. T'lie reason he assigns is, that there 

 exists a natural incompatibility between 

 science and the female brain. The church 

 and the law he considers to be the profes- 

 sions most congenial to the " somewhat ar- 

 bitrary character of the female intellect." 

 Clergymen and lawyers are, as a rule, the 

 enemies of science, says Dr. Barnes, and in 

 the women they find their most useful al- 

 lies. 



From observations made in Colorado by 

 a member of the Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ences, of Philadelphia, it would appear that 

 grasshoppers can foresee, and provide, some 

 time in advance, against certain changes in 

 the weather. It happened that, while a 

 party of persons were riding in a carriage, 

 the question of the probability of rain was 

 discussed, when suddenly the grasshoppers, 

 which just before had filled the air, de- 

 scended like a shower to the ground. In 

 two or three minutes, not a grasshopper 

 could be seen in the air, and very soon rain 

 commenced to fall. Immediately after the 

 rain had ceased, the insects took flight 

 again, but in the course of half an hour, 

 without any particular indication of rain, 

 they suddenly plunged to the earth again. 

 Again the rain began to fall. This process 

 was repeated by the grasshoppers three 

 times in one afternoon, and each descent 

 was followed by rain. 



Herr Marno, of Gordon's Nile Expedi- 

 tion, has reported to the Vienna Geograph- 

 ical Society the particulars of a journey 

 made by him for a distance of 150 miles to 

 the southwest of Lado. This brought him 

 to the Makraka territory, the natives of 

 which he says resemljle the Niani-Niams, in 

 respect of their diminutive stature, their 

 lighter color, and their general habits. 



In view of the recent barbarous exhi- 

 bition at the Tombs, the Scienfijic Ameri- 

 can recommends the employment of elec- 

 tricity, as not only sure and instantaneous 



