POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



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and Astronomy, G. C. Comstock, of Madison, 

 Wis. ; B. Physics, E. L. Nichols, of Ithaca, 

 N. Y. ; C. Chemistry, Edward Hart, of Eas- 

 ton. Pa. ; D. Mechanical Science and En- 

 gineering, James E. Denton, of Hoboken, 

 N. J. ; E. Geology and Geography, John C. 

 Branncr, of Little Rock, Ark. ; F. Biology, 

 Amos W. Butler, of Brookville, Ind. ; H. 

 Anthropology, W. M. Beauchamp, of Bald- 

 winville, N. J. ; I. Economic Science and 

 Statistics, J. R. Dodge, of Washington, D. C. 

 Treasurer — William Lilly, of Mauch Chunk, 

 Pa. Auditors — Henry Wheatland, of Salem, 

 Mass. ; Thomas Meehan, of Germantown, Pa. 

 The Secretary announced the selection of the 

 following committees, and their election fol- 

 lowed: On Chemistry Teaching — W. H. 

 Seaman, William L. Dudley, W. H. Wiley, 

 W. 0. Atwater, and W. A. Noyes. On Water 

 Analysis — G. C. Caldwell, J. W. Langley, 

 J. A. Myers, W. P. Mason, R. B. Warder, 

 and W. H. Seaman. On Organization of a 

 National Chemical Society — A. B. Prescott, 

 Alfred Springer, and Edward Hart. Dr. A. 

 B. Prescott was appointed substitute for 

 Dr. Scudder on the Committee on Indexing 

 Chemical Literature. The next meeting was 

 appointed to be held in Toronto, on the last 

 Wednesday of August, 1889. 



Metamorphosis of Caddis-Flies. — Mr. J. 



H. Comstock has had the opportunity of ob- 

 serving a caddis-fly — in his aquarium — leave 

 the water and take its first flight. " It swam 

 to the surface of the water repeatedly," he 

 says, in the " American Naturalist," " using 

 its long mesothoracic legs. When swim- 

 ming, these legs were extended at right an- 

 gles to the body, like a pair of oars. The 

 insect was unable to crawl up the vertical 

 side of the aquarium, and, after clinging to it 

 for a short time, it would lose its hold and 

 sink back to the bottom. After watching it 

 for a time, I lifted it from the water by 

 means of a stick. At this time its wings 

 were in the form of pads, which were but 

 little, if any, larger than the wing-pads of 

 the pupa, as shown by the cast pupa-skin 

 found floating on the water. The instant the 

 creature was free from the water, its wings 

 expanded to their full size, and immediately 

 it flew away several feet. In my efforts to 

 catch the insect, I found that it had perfect 

 use of its wings, although they were so re- 



cently expanded. The time required for the 

 insect to expand its wings and take its first 

 flight was scarcely more than one second ; it 

 was certainly less than two. As these insects 

 normally emerge from rapidly flowing streams 

 which dart over rocks, it is evident that if 

 much time were required for the wings to 

 become fit for use — as is the case with most 

 other insects — the wave succeeding that which 

 swept them from the water would sweep them 

 back again and destroy them." 



Some Laws of Heredity. — In a course of 

 anthropological lectures at the South Ken- 

 sington Institution, Mr. Francis Galton laid 

 down, as a measurement of the influence of 

 heredity, that each child inherits, on an aver- 

 age, one fourth of the personal peculiarities 

 of each parent ; one sixteenth of those of 

 each grandparent, etc. ; and that, if the pre- 

 vious ancestry ai-e left out of account, the 

 influence of each parent is raised to one 

 third. From these laws, schemes of children, 

 grandchildren, nephews, etc., can be con- 

 structed, though the particular place of any 

 individual in any such scheme can not be 

 predicted. Family likenesses and family dif- 

 ferences ; the stability of type in a popula- 

 tion ; the silent transmision of ancestral 

 characteristics, and blended and mutually 

 exclusive heritage, were illustrated by the 

 metaphor of vegetation on two islands 

 spreading over adjacent islets. The lecturer 

 spoke approvingly of the measures adopted 

 to promote higher physical culture by the es- 

 tablishment of special departments at Am- 

 herst and Harvard Colleges, and of the at- 

 tention paid to the subject elsewhere. The 

 purpose of the lectures was to discuss the in- 

 fluences that tend to produce the aggregate 

 of the most favorable conditions for healthy 

 and happy existences. 



Hispaniolan Smokers. — The aborigines 

 of Hispaniola, or Hayti, had a powder, cohoba, 

 the smoke of which they inhaled through 

 their noses. It was probably a preparation 

 of tobacco. Ovicdo (1526) describes the 

 smoking of it through the nose, thus : " The 

 instrument with which they inhaled the 

 smoke was a forked hollow tube about a 

 palm in length, and of the thickness of a lit- 

 tle finger, well polished, well made, all of 

 one piece. They inhaled the smoke as long 



