256 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A German resident on- the island of 

 Java has succeeded in domesticating the 

 native honey-bee {Apis dorsata). Tlie hope 

 is indulged that this Javanese bee may be 

 acclimated in Europe, and, if so, in America. 

 The only value hitherto set upon the insect 

 by the natives has been for its larvae, which 

 they used for food. 



The distinguished geologist and engi- 

 neer, Sir Richard John Griffith, Bart., died 

 in Dublin, September 22d, aged ninety- 

 four years. In 1854 was completed his 

 " Geological Map of Ireland," for which he 

 received the Wollaston Medal of the Lon- 

 don Geological Society. From an early 

 age till 1864 he was connected with the 

 Irish Board of Public Works, and was 

 chairman of the board for the last twelve 

 years of that period. 



The editor of the American Builder^ in 

 looking over the statistics of education in 

 the United States, observes some facts 

 which strike him as curious, for instaiice, 

 that while there are 579 colleges, univer- 

 sities, law, medical, and theological schools, 

 there are only 83 schools for the higher 

 mechanical and scientific education, includ- 

 ing all schools of design, mining, and en- 

 gineering. Again, the theological schools 

 are twice as numerous as the engineering, 

 scientific, and mechanical schools. " No 

 wonder," he remarks, "that many trained 

 preachers in this country go hungry to bed, 

 while thousands of enterprising mechanics 

 and artisans are floundering in a sea of 

 ignorance in search of higher scientific at- 

 tainments." 



Prof. Fischer, who was lately found 

 dead in the laboratory of the Prague Gym- 

 nasium, was the victim of a theory. Hav- 

 ing mixed sal-ammoniac with cyanide of 

 potassium, he bade his attendant to note 

 how " science has advanced so far as even 

 to be able to render harmless so dangerous 

 an agent as cyanide of potassium." With 

 that he tasted the mixture, and was quickly 

 seized with violent pains, and expired be- 

 fore a physician could arrive. 



A STRIKING illustration of the value of 

 the electric light at ses^ was given during 

 the homeward voyage of the telegraph- 

 steamer Faraday from New York to London 

 last August. About 10.30 p. m., July'lSth, 

 in the vicinity of George's Bank, in a dense 

 fog, with a fresh westerly wind, suddenly 

 was heard the sound of a bell ringing furi- 

 ously but a short distance ahead. The 

 steamer's engines were immediately stopped, 

 and the captain, supposing it to be a fisher- 

 man at anchor or almost stationary, ordered 

 the wheel to be ported ; at the same mo- 

 ment the electric light of the Faraday 

 pierced the fog, and plainly showed a ship 

 crossing her bows. Not a moment was to 



be lost, and only by the coolness and pres- 

 ence of mind of the captain was a fearful 

 calamity averted. The two vessels were 

 within a few feet of each other ; the look- 

 out men said they coidd have stepped on 

 the stranger's stern. She was full of pas- 

 sengers, and the cries of women and chil- 

 dren were heartrending. " Had I not been 

 able," writes the captain, " to see her so 

 plainly, and the way she was going, we 

 must have gone over her, or she might 

 have struck us on the port bow ; in either 

 case the loss of life must have been great, 

 and even now it seems terrible to contem- 

 plate." 



Color-blindness is, according to M. 

 Favre, consulting physician of one of the 

 great railways of France, a frequent result 

 of the abuse of alcohol and tobacco. He 

 would interdict to every railway-man hold- 

 ing a responsible position the use of to- 

 bacco or alcohol in any form, because they 

 tend to impair not only the power of dis- 

 criminating colors, but also that of estimat- 

 ing distances and of perceiving objects. 



The piano war having ended, at least in 

 the newspapers, the war of the mineral 

 waters appears to have succeeded to its 

 place. There are two kinds of mineral 

 waters, the natural and the artificial. The 

 natural waters alone possess all the me- 

 dicinal virtues of the sources after which 

 they are named — as' Apollinaris, Seltzers, 

 Vichy, etc. — at least so we are assured 

 by the " naturalist " faction. The other 

 side, the " artificialists," claim that their 

 product is best and purest ; besides, they 

 boldly assert that their adversaries are 

 no better "naturalists" than themselves; 

 that, in fact, the so-called "natural" min- 

 eral waters are freely doctored, and hence 

 artificial. One of the " artificialists " is out 

 in a circular, in which he quotes from the 

 very chemists of the opposite side, to show 

 that the Apollinaris water imported into this 

 country differs very much from the water 

 as it comes from the Apollinaris spring. 

 The natural-.water contains of chloride of 

 sodium 4.66 parts in 10,000, but the bottled 

 article contains 14.088 parts. Further, the 

 iron of the original water is removed, and 

 the water is charged artificially with car- 

 bonic-acid aas. Hence, it is claimed, this 

 product is strictly " artificial." 



The governor of the Chinese province 

 of Chihli has employed Mr. Arnold Hague, 

 of San Francisco, an expert mining engi- 

 neer, to examine and report on the mineral 

 resources of Northern China. 



On the occasion of the inauguration 

 of the monument to Giordano Bruno, the 

 Italian Government will publish the com- 

 plete works of that great and original phi- 

 losopher. 



