POP ULAR MIS CELL ANY. 



715 



the slugs were extracted, and he was soon 

 convalescent. At this juncture his master 

 returned, and the joy of the monkey was 

 unbounded. " He clung to him and fondly 

 embraced him over and over again, repeat- 

 edly kissing or rather licking his face and 

 hands, with every possible demonstration of 

 the most devoted attachment." When the 

 first paroxysm of delight was over, Peter 

 clasped the arm of his friend to bespeak 

 special attention, " pointed with his own 

 forefinger to each of the wounds whence 

 the slugs had been taken, trying at the 

 same time, in the nearest approach to speech 

 that he could accomplish, to tell the piteous 

 story of his narrow escape from a violent 

 death. ... It is questionable if the most 

 intellectual of human beings not gifted 

 with the power of speech could have acted 

 more pathetically, or indicated more vividly 

 what had occurred to them during the ab- 

 sence of their natural protector and dearest 

 friend." 



Aaaonneement of Astronomical Discov- 

 eries. — For the purpose of making astro- 

 nomical discoveries known to the public, 

 speedily and in a systematic manner, Lord 

 Lindsay has devised a plan for international 

 communication of such information, and 

 sent circulars to the leading observatories, 

 public and private, everywhere. He prom- 

 ises to distribute notices of discovery within 

 twenty-four hours of the receipt of the tele- 

 gram to those who favor him with their ad- 

 dresses. The following is the substance of 

 his circular: 



TnE Obseevatobt, Dun Echt, Aberdeek, 

 November 1, 1ST9. 

 Sir: I am very anxious to form some system 

 whereby information of astrouomical interest 

 may be rapidly and widely disseminated among 

 English observers, and I would beg to ask for 

 your assistance in carrying out my plan. In the 

 event of your discovering a comet, new star, or 

 other object of immediate interest, I would ask 

 you to send me a telegram announcing the dis- 

 covery, and giving such details as are usual. I 

 have purposely omitted to mention minor planet 

 discoveries, inasmuch as this branch is already 

 admirably carried out by the Berlin Observatory. 

 For convenience, the telegram should be in the 

 form recommended by the Vienna Academy in 

 the seventy-fifth volume of the " Astronomlsche 

 Nachrichten," No. 1785, page 142, as follows : 

 Comet (new star, etc.), discoverer, date, local 

 mean time of observation (in hours and minutes), 

 place of discovery, right ascension in arc (de- 



grees and minutes), north polar distance (degrees 

 and minutes), daily motion in R. A. and N. P. D. 

 (minutes of arc), plus or minus, description, 

 diameter of comet, etc. (in minutes of arc). 



Thus a telegram would run : 



Comet Wiunecke, 5 April, 1445. Strasburg, 

 3315707508. Motion 0, minus 60. 



This would read : 



Comet discovered by Winnecke, 5th of April, 

 14 hours 45 minutes mean time, Strasburg, 

 R. A., 331' 57', N. P. D., 75° 8'. Daily motion, 

 stationary, R. A., minus 60' in polar distance. 



Naughts should be put iu where there are no 

 significant figures, so as to make three figures 

 for degrees and two for minutes (five in all), in 

 R. A. and in N. P. D. ; similarly, four in the local 

 time. 



Telegrams, etc., should be addressed Observa- 

 tory. Dun Echt, Aberdeen. 



(Signed) Lindsay, 



President Royal Astronomical Society. 



Arsenic in tlie Bonsehold and School.— 



When somebody is accused of having dosed 

 a fellow mortal to death with arsenic, State 

 authority and newspaper interest immedi- 

 ately vie with each other in their efforts for 

 the protection of human life. Unfortu- 

 nately, however, both are much less alive 

 to other and far greater dangers arising 

 from the reckless employment in the arts 

 and manufactures, and the ignorant intro- 

 duction into our households, of this same 

 deadly poison. Its use in the preparation of 

 pigments is very common, and the employ- 

 ment of these for coloring articles of attire 

 and for the various styles of paperhangings is 

 scarcely less so. Not only are those engaged 

 in the manufacture of these coloring matters 

 exposed to the deleterious influence of the 

 poison, but far larger numbers ignorantly 

 purchase and use the articles containing it, 

 and in a way that makes its action but lit- 

 tle less virulent than the direct administra- 

 tion of the pure drug. Instances of this 

 are constantly recurring in medical practice. 

 Socks colored with compounds containing 

 arsenic have produced disease of the feet ; 

 boots lined with flannel colored with Scheele's 

 green have caused the death of their wear- 

 ers ; bright maroon-colored flannel worn next 

 the skin, paper collars, neckties, hat-linings, 

 gloves, artificial flowers, and even ladies' 

 dresses, have all been the cause of disease 

 from the presence of this poison. Its use 

 for coloring wall-papers, and especially the 

 cheaper sorts, is almost universal ; and, 

 while the greens are probably the worst 



