768 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



junk and all on board frequently depended ; 

 the other worked hard from 3 a. m. to 10 

 p. M., and often longer. This cook had a 

 conserve of opium and sugar, which he 

 chewed during the day, as he was able to 

 smoke only at night. 



NOTES. 



By a mistake of the printer, the heading 

 to Di'. Jerome Kidder's advertisement in the 

 last number of the Monthly was made to 

 read, "Superior 'EXQcivo- Chemical Appara- 

 tus." It should have read, " Superior Elec- 

 tro-Medical Apparatus," as it now stands. 



Last summer the French Assembly voted 

 to M. Pasteur a life-pension of 12,000 francs, 

 in consideration of his public services as a 

 scientific investigator. Another pension of 

 6,000 francs was lately allowed him by a 

 decree of the Marshal-President. 



In conjunction with the U. S. Fisheries 

 Commission the Smithsonian Institution will 

 exhibit at Philadelphia the resources of the 

 United States derivable from the waters, in- 

 cluding the objects themselves, the products 

 derived from them, the apparatus by which 

 the objects are captured or utilized, and 

 finally the means by which they are multi- 

 plied and maintained in a healthy state. The 

 last section is intended to illustrate the 

 present state of pisciculture in this country. 



At the annual meeting of the American 

 Microscopical Society of the City of New 

 York, held on January 25th, Dr. John B. 

 Rich was elected President, and Mr. C. F. 

 Cox, 13 William Street, Secretary for the 

 present year. 



The Loan Collection of Scientific Instru- 

 ments, soon to be placed on exhibition in 

 London, will undoubtedly be the most suc- 

 cessfid enterprise of the kind ever at- 

 tempted. Nearly every civilized country 

 will be represented. Not only modern in- 

 struments, but also those possessing a more 

 strictly historical interest such as apparatus 

 once used by Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Lavoi- 

 sier, Priestley, Boyle, Herschel, etc. will 

 have a place in this collection. 



In some parts of Russia tlie young shoots 

 of the " cat-tail " ( Typha latifolia) are used 

 as asparagus ; they are said to be delicious. 

 The plant grows abundantly in the United 

 States in swampy localities. 



Captain Allen Young will sail again 

 next May, from England, to renew the search 

 after the remains of Sir John Franklin's 

 expedition. He will first visit the entrance 

 of Smith Sound, with a view to receive in- 

 telligence from the Alert and Discovery. 



The death is announced of George Pou- 

 lett Scrope, the geologist, lie was born in 

 l^QY, and received his education at Bar- 

 row School and Cambridge University. In 

 1825 he published his first scientific work, 

 " Considerations of Volcanoes." Two years 

 later he published a treatise on " The 

 Geology and Extinct Volcanoes of Central 

 France," a work of signal merit. In 1833 

 he entered political life as a member of 

 Parliament, and published a number of 

 pamphlets on a variety of governmental 

 topics. His later scientific writings consist 

 of articles contributed to the Journal of the 

 Geological Society and the Geological Maga- 

 zine. 



A SIGNAL for the use of the Coast Sur- 

 vey has been erected on the summit of 

 Mount Shasta, California, at an elevation of 

 14,402 feet. It is described in the Scientific 

 American as being a hollow cylinder of gal- 

 vanized iron 12 feet high and 2\ feet in di- 

 ameter, surrounded by a cone of nickel- 

 plated copper, with concave sides, 3 feet 

 high and 3 feet in diameter at the base. 

 The nickel-plated cone is a brilliant reflect- 

 or and will reflect the sunlight in such a 

 manner that the reflection can be seen for 

 a distance of 100 miles or over. 



One of the grandest engineering projects 

 of the time is the union of the Black and 

 Caspian Seas. The plan is to join by a 

 canal the tributaries of the Manytch and 

 the Kouma, two considerable rivers which 

 drain the northern slope of the Caucasus. 

 If these two seas were united, the naval 

 force of Russia would be practically dou- 

 bled, for then her Caspian fleet could, in 

 case of necessity, be added to that which 

 holds the Black Sea. 



An old lioness in the Dublin Zoological 

 Gardens was, during her last illness, much 

 worried by rats, against which she could no 

 longer defend herself. A terrier dog hav- 

 ing been placed in the cage to protect the 

 sufferer, the lioness at first received him 

 with a surly growl ; but, when she saw hira 

 kill the first rat, slie began to appreciate 

 her visitor. The lioness coaxed the terrier 

 to her, folded her paws round him, and the 

 dog slept each night on her breast enfolded 

 with her paws, and protecting her rest from 

 disturbance. 



It is stated in the Tribune that Prof. S. 

 S. Ilaldeman recently found in an excava- 

 tion in the vicinity of Chickies, Pa., a large 

 number of Indian relics. The collection 

 includes one hundred pieces of pottery, 

 sixty stone arrow-heads, an'd one of copper ; 

 a tomahawk, eight stone chisels, several 

 mallets and pipe-stems ; also a few of those 

 instruments commonly called " sinkers," 

 but the proper use of which is unknown. 



