POPULAR MISCELLANY 



425 



agent at our command," and that " the ap- 

 paratus to be used should be arranged to 

 permit the current to pass through the cen- 

 ters of function and intelligence in the 

 brain," resuscitation under such condi- 

 tions being impossible. As to the appli- 

 ances, the commission said : " All that would 

 be essential would be a chair with a head- 

 and foot-rest, in which the condemned could 

 be seated in a semi-recUning position ; one 

 electrode would be connected with the head- 

 rest, and the other with the foot-rest, which 

 would consist of a metal plate." The cur- 

 rent of electricity might be supplied from 

 the wires used for street-lighting, or from an 

 independent plant at the place of execution. 

 The most effective machines for the purpose 

 are those known as " alternating machines." 



Mound-Bnilders' Units of Measure.— Mr. 



R. P. Gregg, of Buntingford, Herts, Eng- 

 land, has made investigations concerning the 

 units of measure among certain ancient na- 

 tions, including those of America. He con- 

 cludes that the Peruvians of the time of the 

 Incas, the Aztecs, Toltecs, and Central 

 .Americans, employed a common measure, 

 comprising a foot equal to llf inches Eng- 

 lish, or a fraction more than the old Ro- 

 man or Solon's foot, which foot, = 0"298 of 

 a metre, was divided into twelve equal parts. 

 These feet, being to English feet as 100 : 102, 

 are reducible by simply adding two per cent. 

 The mound-builders' measure, as derived 

 from a curious tablet found in Cincinnati in 

 1841, and from implements described by Dr. 

 Abbott and the investigators of Ohio mounds, 

 consisted of a foot equal to ten English 

 inches, or 0254 metres, which was divided 

 into twelve mound-builders' inches, seven of 

 which were equivalent to six Mexican inches. 

 Incidentally, the author has reason to sup- 

 pose also that the mound-builders' acre, or 

 larger unit of superficial measure, was equal 

 to from If to \-^^ English acre, with square 

 side of 300 mound or 250 English feet, and 

 that the favorite square and circle areas of 

 20, 27, and 40 (or 41) acres English, meant 

 16, 20, and 30 mound acres respectively. 

 A third unit was the prehistoric measure of 

 North America, the inch of which was inter- 

 mediate between the mound inch and the 

 Mexican inch, and of which the author is not 

 certain whether there were eleven or twelve 



to the foot. As no mound-builders' meas- 

 ures have so far been found in Central 

 America, Peru, or Mexico, that people are 

 apparently excluded from the presumption 

 of ever having lived there ; but from the oc- 

 currence of the southern measures along 

 with those of the mound-builders in the lat- 

 ter's country, it would seem to follow " that 

 the mound-builders, and the people allied to, 

 or the ancestors of, the Toltecs, etc., must 

 have, perhaps some two thousand years ago, 

 coexisted and lived together in large parts 

 of America, extending from New York to 

 Ohio and Tennessee, and not been exclusive- 

 ly confined to the mound districts par excel- 

 lence.'''' 



Flower - Farming. — Flower-farming and 

 the manufacture of essences constitute a 

 special industry in southern France. The 

 principal center of the business is at Grasse, 

 in the Alpes Maritimes, but it branches out 

 into other districts. The flowers grown in- 

 clude the violet and jonquil, which are 

 gathered in winter or early spring, roses, 

 orange-blossoms, thyme, and rosemary, in 

 May and June, jasmines and tuberoses in 

 July and August, lavender and spikenard in 

 September, and the acacia in October and 

 November, so that the season may cover 

 three quarters of the year. Thyme, rose- 

 mary, and lavender are usually side-products, 

 grown by farmers of the grape and olive, 

 who distill from them inferior essences, 

 which are used to dilute and adulterate those 

 of superior quality. According to Consul 

 Mason, of Marseilles, the best situations for 

 growing perfume flowers are at altitudes of 

 from five hundred to two thousand feet. 

 Flowers grown on such elevated positions 

 are said to be richer in perfume than simi- 

 lar varieties that bloom in valleys and low- 

 lands. The plantations want to be provided 

 with a soil rich in calcareous elements, and to 

 be sheltered from cold winds. The rainfall 

 being scanty, irrigation is necessary. All 

 fancy and " improved " varieties of flowers 

 are discarded, and the natural, simple, old- 

 fashioned kinds alone are grown. Middle- 

 men go through the flower districts every 

 day during the season, and deliver the 

 flowers to the distillers while they are yet 

 fresh and crisp. The manufacture of per- 

 fumes includes the making of pomades and 



