ii8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the Peabody Museum of American Archceology 

 and Ethnology. Cambridge : Printed by order 

 of the Trustees. Vol. II., Ko. 2. Pp. 230, with 

 Illustratious. 



Observations and Orbits of the Satellites of 

 Mars, with Data for Epliemerides iu 1879. By 

 A. Hall. Washington: Government Printing- 

 office. Pp. 46. 



Origin of Comets. By H. A. Newton. From 

 American Journal of Science. Pp. 15. 



Selenide of Bismuth. By J. W. Mallet. From 

 American Journal of Scunce. Pp. 3. Produc- 

 tion of Magnesian Nitride by Smothered Com- 

 bustion of Magnesium in Air. Same author. 

 Pp. 2. 



Paloeolithic Implements from the Glacial Drift 

 in the Valley of the Delaware, near Trenton, 

 New Jersey. By Dr. C. C. Abbott. From the 

 '• Report of the Peabody Museum." Salem : 

 Printed at the Salem Press. Pp. 32. 



Fermented Liquors. By Dr. A. J. Howe. 

 Pp. 8. 



Manual Education. By Prof. C. M. Wood- 

 ward. St. Louis : G. I. Jones & Co. Pp. 31. 



Report on Cold-rolled Iron and Steel. By 

 R. H. Thurston. Pittsburg: Priuted by Ste- 

 venson, Foster & Co. Pp. 109, with Plates. 



Rate of Earthquake-Wave Transit. By E. 

 Mallet. From Philosojjhical Magazine. Pp. 4. 



A Mass of Meteoric Iron from Augusta Coun- 

 ty, Virrfnia. By J. W. Mallet. From American 

 Journal of Science. Pp.2. 



Contributions to Natural History. By R. E. C. 

 Stearues. San Francisco. Pp. 6. 



Electric Constitution of our Solar System. 

 By J. Ennls. From " Proceedings of the Acade- 

 my of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia." Pp. IT. 



Some Seleniocyanates ; Electric Estimation 

 of Mercury; Some Specific Gravity Determina- 

 tions. By P. W. Clarke. From American Jour- 

 nal of Science. Pp.6. 



Illinois State Laboratory. Circular of In- 

 formation. Springfield : State Register print. 

 Pp. 14, 



POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Eflfeets of Oxygen inhaled at Different 

 Temperatnres. — Dr. B. W. Richardson finds 

 great diversity in the action of oxygen on 

 the animal economy according to the tem- 

 perature of the gas when inhaled. Care- 

 fully-purified oxygen may be inhaled at 55° 

 Fab. without a consciousness of the differ- 

 ence between it and common air. But be- 

 fore long, even though the products of the 

 combustion of the animal be all removed, 

 there is a gradual decline of the animal's 

 temperature, followed by a tendency to 

 sleep. At last death occurs in deep sleep. 

 At a temperature lower than 55", the nar- 

 cotism produced by the oxygen is very much 

 quickened. At 32°, in a chamber of oxy- 

 gen. Dr. Richardson has seen dee_p coma 

 induced in mice, pigeons, and Guinea-pigs, 

 within thirty-five minutes of the commence- 

 ment of the inhalation, death from coma 



supervening within an hour. In a raised 

 temperature (75°), the inhalation of oxygen 

 may be sustained without coma, indeed with- 

 out injury, for a considerable time. To de- 

 termine this point, Dr. Richardson con- 

 structed a small room that could be steadily 

 ventilated with pure oxygen gas. In this 

 room he kept adult warm-blooded animals 

 on one occasion for three weeks without 

 being able to observe any variation from 

 the natural life that could be considered 

 detrimental. In this instance the blood 

 was always of the same color in the veins 

 as in the arteries, viz., of a rich bright arte- 

 rial crimson. Another experiment showed 

 that, like heat, electricity modifies oxygen 

 as a supporter of animal life. Dr. Richard- 

 son placed three full-grown mice in jars, 

 each containing a hundred cubic inches of 

 pure oxygen gas. One of these animals 

 was placed now in a temperature of 45° 

 Fah. ; another in a temperature of 75° ; 

 the third was placed in the same tempera- 

 ture as the first, but with this diflFerence, 

 that into the jar containing the animal there 

 was introduced a pointed copper wire con- 

 nected with the positive conductor of a 

 frictional electric machine. When the ma- 

 chine was set in motion, a brush was pro- 

 duced at the point of the copper wire. 

 Every five minutes this electric brush was 

 excited within the jar. The animal in the 

 first jar would sleep to death in two or 

 three hours ; those in the second Hved for 

 many hours ; in the third the animal fell 

 into a narcotized condition, but nevertheless 

 continued to live in sleep so long as the 

 electrical excitation continued. Under these 

 conditions it lived for seventeen hours in 

 gentle sleep, and on being then set free 

 showed no sign of injury, and lived on as 



before the experiment. 



* 



A Torpedo Transport. — A war-vessel 

 of an entirely novel character, the Hecla, 

 lately arrived at Portsmouth, England, from 

 Belfast, where she was constructed for the 

 British naval authorities. The Hecla is de- 

 signed to carry fast torpedo launches and to 

 follow in the wake of a fleet as a depot, 

 ready to dispatch her flotilla of small craft 

 for its protection when needed. She is an 

 iron vessel, 390 feet in length, and is fitted 

 to carry six sixty-four-pounder rifled guns. 



