57^ 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



There are important differences in the 

 quality of the virgin pine-wood of Michigan 

 and the second-growth pine of Massachu- 

 setts. As shown by Mr. E. K. Lake, of Lan- 

 sincr, the virgin pine from Michigan is tough, 

 and breaks splintering for three or four 

 inches, while the second-growth wood from 

 Massachusetts is more brittle and less fibrous, 

 and breaks off short and even. The differ- 

 ence is ascribed to the more rapid vegetation, 

 following the more direct exposure to the 

 light, of the Massachusetts second growth ; 

 and also to the more perfect maturity of the 

 Michigan pine — the specimen exhibited hav- 

 ing been eighty years old when it was util- 

 ized, while the Massachusetts pine was cut 

 at the age of forty years. 



Dr. George Harley, F. R. S., has made 

 an investigation which reveals abundant evi- 

 dence to prove that although man, during 

 his evolution from barbarism to civilization, 

 has increased in strength and stature and in 

 longevity, on the other hand, his power of 

 recovery from the effects of bodily hurt has 

 materially deteriorated. 



The existence and persistence of exclu- 

 sively local customs — that is, of customs 

 prevailing in a single village, without extend- 

 ing to those immediately around it — is a 

 phenomenon for which explanation is still 

 wanting. An instance of the kind has been 

 marked at Wurzen, on the borders of Carni- 

 ola, where, whenever there is a baptism, the 

 nurse, on leaving the house to go to the 

 church, takes a loaf of bread with her, and 

 gives it to the first person whom the party 

 meets. It is understood that the person to 

 whom it is offered must take it whether he 

 wants it or not. The custom is said to be 

 symbolical, and to be intended to make the 

 child charitable. But why has it been pre- 

 served here so long, while no other village 

 has it ? 



A PRACTICABLE method of promoting 

 forest growth is advocated by Mr. L. D. Wat- 

 kins, of Michigan, by covering the waste 

 places on the farm with trees. Besides 

 making the land of u?e and being commer- 

 cially valuable, they would serve a good im- 

 mediate purpose as screens. The author 

 recommends the common locust for steep 

 hill-sides, where nothing else can be grown ; 

 black-walnut and white oak for such spots 

 as may be fertile ; and cedar and tamarack 

 (larch) for damp, springy place. 



The reports of the British Meteorological 

 Office show that the mean rainfall for the 

 whole of the British Islands during 1887 was 

 only 25'8 inches, whereas the mean for the 

 twenty-two years from 1863 to 1887 was 35-3 

 inches. Thus there was a deficiency over 

 the whole area of the country of nearly 10 

 inches, or 27 per cent. 



Dr. Thorne Thorne has called attention 

 to the gradual decline of small-pox in Eng- 



land during the past fifty years. In the five 

 years from 1838 to 1842, the deaths from 

 this disease amounted to 672 per hundred 

 thousand living, while in 1880-'84 the death- 

 rate had sunk to 6"5 per hundred thousand. 

 It is believed that vaccination has not only 

 had a direct influence in causing this mar- 

 velous reduction in the number of victims to 

 small-pox, but has also had a tendency to 

 make the children of vaccinated parents less 

 liable to the disease. 



OBITUARY NOTES. 



Prof. M. N. Bogdanoff, an eminent Rus- 

 sian zoologist, died at t?t. Petersburg, March 

 16th. He was the author of several works, 

 relative to the animal life of different parts 

 of Russia, in one of which he treated in de- 

 tail the present geographical distribution of 

 animals in connection with the soil and cli- 

 mate of the country during the Post-Pliocene 

 period. His " Birds of the Caucasus " is the 

 authority on that subject. In 1885 he be- 

 gan the publication of what was to have 

 been his chief work, the " Ornithology of 

 Russia." Only the first part of it has been 

 issued. He was also the autlior of popular 

 zoological sketches, published in a period- 

 ical. 



V. N. Mainofp, an eminent Russian eth- 

 nographer, has recently died. He was best 

 known for his studies of the Mordvinians, 

 their anthropological features and customs. 

 He also prepared a Finnish grammar, and 

 was compiling a Finnish and Russian dic- 

 tionary. 



James Johonnot, a well-known laborer 

 in education and author of educational books, 

 died June 18th, at Tapton Springs, Florida, 

 aged sixty-five years. Ilis work in educa- 

 tion was begun when he was eighteen years 

 old, and was continued as teacher and insti- 

 tute instructor till 1885, and as author as 

 long as his health permitted. Among his 

 educational works, many of which were drawn 

 from science, and in effect were first steps 

 in it, are the " Principles and Practice of 

 Teaching," the " Geographical Reader," the 

 " Natural History Series of Instructive Read- 

 ing Books," six in number ; " How we Live," 

 an elementary physiology; the "Historical 

 Series of Instructive Reading Books," seven 

 in number; and the "Sentence and Word- 

 Book." 



Mr. Henry Pryer, an authority on Jap- 

 anese entomology and ornithology, died at 

 Yokohama, February 17lh. He was an old 

 resident in Japan, and spent most of his 

 time in business pursuits, while he also made 

 a name in science. 



Prof. R. D. Irving, of the United States 

 Geological Survey, died May 30th, in the 

 forty-second year of his age. He had charge 

 of the surveys in Wisconsin and Minnesota. 



