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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



intensity is greatest, not in the yellow but 

 in the red ; and this effect is due to the 

 action of the prism, which narrows and as 

 it were condenses the colored spaces more 

 and more as we pass toward the red, in- 

 creasing the intensity of the light as it does 

 that of the heat. But in the grating or 

 diffraction spectrum the luminous intensity 

 is found by Dr. Draper to be equal in all 

 the visible regions, all the colors being si- 

 multaneously obliterated by an " extinguish- 

 ing light," that is, a light about sixty-four 

 times more brilliant. Dr. Draper describes 

 his new spectrometer in the " American 

 Journal of Science and Arts " for July. 



The Wild Cattle of Great Britain.— In a 



work recently published in England is given 

 an account of the origin, history, and pres- 

 ent condition of the wild " white cattle " of 

 Great Britain. The supposed primogeni- 

 tors of these wild cattle were abundant in 

 the Pleistocene age, both in the British Isles 

 and on the neighboring continent, and in 

 later prehistoric times they still existed, as 

 their fossil remains testify. Advancing to 

 historic times, the author, Rev. John Storer, 

 quotes from Herodotus a passage in which 

 mention is made of " large, ferocious, and 

 fleet white bulls " abounding in the country 

 south of Thrace. Poland, Lithuania, and 

 Muscovy were their last strongholds on the 

 Continent of Europe, and they became ex- 

 tinct there in the fifteenth or sixteenth cen- 

 tury. But they have still living representa- 

 tives in England, the Chillingham herd being 

 the most noted. This herd is kept in the 

 park attached to Chillingham Castle in 

 Northumberland, the residence of Lord 

 Tankerville. The earliest historian on this 

 herd, Mr. Storer says, is Thomas Culley, 

 whose book on "Live Stock," published 

 in 1786, is pretty well known. The date 

 of the inclosing of the park of course 

 would probably indicate the period when 

 the wild cattle were first confined, but 

 there seems to be no clear evidence on 

 this point. As long ago as the year 1692, 

 however, there is direct proof in Macken- 

 zie's " View of the County of Northum- 

 berland," published in 1825, that the herd 

 then existed, for among other curious notes 

 given therein are those of William Taylor, 

 the steward of Chillingham : " May, 1692 — 



Beasts in the parke. My lorde's, 16 white 

 wilde beasts," etc. Since that period they 

 have flourished in fluctuating numbers, 

 never increasing very rapidly, but retaining 

 all their wild characteristics. The herd is 

 now generally kept up to about threescore. 



Regarding the herd of wild cattle in- 

 closed in Chartley Castle Park, Stafford- 

 shire, the property of Earl Ferrers's family, 

 accounts alluding to them show of their 

 existence as far back as 1658. They are 

 more massive in character than their con- 

 geners of Chillingham, and are not so wild. 

 From what we gather from this most inter- 

 esting work, the characteristics of the two 

 herds are such as might lead one to infer 

 the descent of the domestic breed of short- 

 horns from the Chillingham herd, and the 

 old and almost extinct " long-horn " breed 

 from the Chartley stock. It is a remark- 

 able fact in connection with both these 

 iierds that the animals individually are built 

 on perfect lines, and their general contour 

 is such that many of our great fat-stock 

 breeders would be glad of such correctly 

 formed frames to work upon. 



Of the existing Scotch herds of wild 

 cattle, the only one now found retaining to 

 any great degree its pristine condition is the 

 Hamilton herd in Cadgow Park, Lanark- 

 shire. In 1874: this herd numbered some 

 forty animals. 



Other herds have existed, and some 

 half-wild herds still are preserved in a few 

 instances in the British Isles ; of all of 

 these Mr. Storer has given most entertain- 

 ing information. 



Circnlatlng Libraries and Contagions 

 Disease. — The question having been raised, 

 at a meeting of the directors of the Chicago 

 Public Library, whether books in circulating 

 libraries may become a means of spreading 

 contagious diseases, a committee was ap^^ 

 pointed to investigate the subject. Letters 

 of inquiry were addressed by this commit- 

 tee to medical and sanitary experts, also to 

 librarians in different parts of the country, 

 and the replies (nineteen in number) are set 

 forth by a member of the committee in a 

 communication to the "Library Journal." 

 None of the writers of the replies could give 

 any fact falling under his own observation 

 tending to show that a contagious disease 



