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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



way with the public health. If this ques- 

 tion, however, be viewed in a purely sani- 

 tary aspect, the arguments in favor of cre- 

 mation are almost irresistible, and those who 

 work at preventive medicine should add it 

 to their code of subjects, and urge it con- 

 tinuously on the attention of the public." 



The most unhealthy city in Europe is 

 Berlin. According to the Lancet, its death- 

 rate amounts to 5.5 per cent. Munich 

 comes next after Berlin. These figures 

 speak ill for sanitary science in the German 

 Empire. 



A DISPATCH from the Washington Naval 

 Observatory, dated August 10th, states that 

 Prof. Newcomb has completed the approxi- 

 mate elements of Borelly's comet. It would 

 pass its perihelion about August 25th, and 

 would be visible with a telescope in the even- j 

 ing till about the end of the month, and 

 in the morning during the whole of Septem- ! 

 ber, but would never be visible to the naked 1 

 eye. The orbit, as determined by Xew- ! 

 comb, indicates that it is a new comet. 



The practice of dyeing Easter eggs first 

 led to the discovery of the value of albu- 

 men as a mordant. 



Two expeditions are projected to set 

 out from Archangel : the one to explore the 

 traces of ancient glaciers in Russian Lap- I 

 land ; the other is to make zoological ex- I 

 plorations of the littoral of the White Sea. ' 

 Dr. Yarjinsky, who lately explored this re- 

 gion, found in the White Sea and the Arc- 

 tic Ocean species of fishes and crustaceans 

 entirely unknown hitherto. j 



To determine the action of coal-gas on 

 plants, J. Boehm placed the ends of willow I 

 cuttings in flasks containing a little water ' 

 and filled with coal-gas : the cuttings devel- 

 oped only short roots, and the buds on the 

 upper parts died soon after unfolding. 

 Again, of ten plants in pots, with access 

 of gas to the roots, seven died in four 

 months. In all these cases the gas acts in- 

 directly, poisoning the soil, and through the 

 soil the plant. 



A WRITER in the Chemical Keios calls 

 attention to a source of error in mercurial 

 thermometers, which does not appear to be 

 generally known. His thermometer having 

 been placed in a Wurtz tube, so that the 

 column of mercury was entirely surrounded 

 by the vapor of a distilling liquid, was, after 

 some days, noticed to indicate three degrees 

 too little. The discrepancy was found to 

 have been caused by volatilization of the 

 upper surface of the mercury and conden- 

 sation on the upper part of "the tube. By 

 causing the mercury to flow to the end of 

 the tube and back, the condensed portion 

 was gathered up, and the correct tempera- 

 ture indicated. 



A LUNAR rainbow of unusual brilliancy 

 was recently seen by Mr. Charles W. Cot- 

 tel, of Wilmington, 111. It appeared about 

 eleven o'clock on the evening of July 26th. 

 The moon was nearly full, and almost due 

 south ; a light rain-cloud passed in a north- 

 westerly direction : soon the moon was un- 

 obscured, and the conditions were the best 

 for the observation of the phenomenon. A 

 perfect bow was seen in the passing cloud, 

 its apex having an elevation of about 40°. 

 The bow continued visible for some twenty 

 minutes. Much to his regret, Mr. Cottel 

 was riding alone, and was unable to have 

 his impressions of color verified by better 

 eyes (his own in that respect being unre- 

 liable from disease) ; but to his vision the 

 bands of orange and indigo were plainly 

 distinguishable. 



One of the precepts of the Law of the 

 Twelve Tables, the most ancient code of 

 the Romans, forbids the burying or burn- 

 ing of dead bodies within the limits of the 

 city. It was but the other day, as it were, 

 that this simple dictate of sanitary pru- 

 dence came to be recognized among the 

 moderns. 



English physicians are not allowed to 

 practise their profession in the republic of 

 Chih, without undergoing an examination 

 in medical science, conducted in the Span- 

 ish language. The Chilians pretend to an 

 excellent and wide-spread knowledge in 

 medicine not attained by other nations, 

 and they deny that English doctors are 

 equal to their standard. 



From Joubert's researches on phospho- 

 rescence, it appears that this property is 

 possessed by arsenic and sulphur under cer- 

 tain conditions, viz., when subjected to a 

 temperature of 200° C. and high pressure. 



A CURIOUS phenomenon was observed 

 by M. Tresca, on hammering the bar of 

 platinized iridium recently prepared for the 

 International Metric Commission. At each 

 stroke there were produced rectilinear lumi- 

 nous flashes, which crossed each other in 

 the form of an X, extending from one side 

 of the bar to the other, and always in the 

 same manner. No explanation is offered 

 of the phenomenon. 



A SORT of flute, dating from the age of 

 polished stone, has been found by E. Piette 

 in a layer of charcoal and cinders, in the 

 cavern of Gourdan, Haute-Garonne, asso- 

 ciated with flint implements of neolithic 

 types. The instrument is of bone, and 

 pierced with two well-made holes. This is 

 the first discovery on record of a musical 

 instrument belonging to prehistoric man. 



The Forty-seventh'Congress of German 

 Physicians and Naturahsts will assemble at 

 Breslau on September 1 8th, the sittings to 

 continue till the 24th. 



