7H 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



iiiont of Science in 1894. He estab- 

 lished a library and publishing house of 

 aboriginal American literature, and one 

 of his most notewortliy works was the 

 publication in this library of a series of 

 original texts in the languages of North 

 and Soiith American tribes, with com- 

 mentaries and translations, in the prep- 

 aration of which he called in other 

 Americanists to assist him. In this 

 way he contributed much to save a lit- 

 erature and a history that were fast 

 disappearing. A few months ago, as 

 was mentioned in the Monthly at the 

 time, he presented his entire collection 

 of books, pamphlets, and manuscripts, 

 many original and some unique, relat- 

 ing to the aboriginal languages of North 

 and South America, to the University 

 of Pennsylvania. 



Nebraska as a Home for Birds. — 

 Mr. Lawrence Bruner introduces his 

 Notes on Nebraska Birds with the ex- 

 pression of a belief, founded on his own 

 observations for twenty-five years, to- 

 gether with those of about fifty other 

 persons to whose notes he has had ac- 

 cess, that Nebraska, although a prairie 

 State, has an unusually large bird fauna. 

 The notes show 415 species and subspe- 

 cies as visiting the State, while there are 

 records of 227 species breeding within 

 its borders, and of more than 700 winter 

 residents. " When we learn that only 

 about 780 species are recorded for the 

 whole of North America north of the 

 Mexican boundary, it certainly seems 

 astonishing that from among them we 

 should receive so large a percentage. If, 

 however, we take into consideration the 

 variations in altitude above sea level, 

 the difTcrences in surface configuration, 

 climate, etc., that pertain to our State, 

 its location, and the relation which it 

 bears to the country at large, perhaps 

 the wonderment will become less." The 

 southeastern corner of Nebraska is only 

 eight hundred feet, the western border 

 almost six thousand feet, above tide wa- 

 ter. The State is divided into timber, 

 prairie, and plain regions. It lies in the 

 middle of the United States, with a high 

 mountain chain to the west and a giant 

 water way along its eastern boundary. 

 In fact, eastern, western, northern, and 

 southern fauna meet in Nebraska, and 

 it also has a fauna of its o^vn. Forms 

 are found there that belong to low and 



high altitudes, to wet and dry climates, 

 to prairie and timbered countries, and 

 to semi-desert and alkali regions. 



The Power of the Imagination. — 



The following interesting experiment is 

 described in the Psychological Review 

 for July by E. E. Slosson, of the Univer- 

 sity of Wyoming: "I had prepared a 

 bottle, filled with distilled water, care- 

 fully wrapped in cotton and packed in 

 a box. After some other experiments in 

 the course of a popular lecture I stated 

 that I wished to see how rapidly an odor 

 would be diffused through the air, and 

 requested that as soon as any one per- 

 ceived the odor he should raise his hand. 

 I then unpacked the bottle in the front 

 of the hall, poured the water over the 

 cotton, holding my head away during 

 the operation, and started a stop-watch 

 while awaiting results. I explained that 

 I was quite sure no one in the au- 

 dience had ever smelled the chemical 

 compound which I had poured out, and 

 expressed the hope that while they 

 might find the odor strong and peculiar 

 it would not be disagreeable to any one. 

 In fifteen seconds most of those in the 

 front row had raised their hands, and in 

 forty seconds the ' odor ' had spread to 

 the back of the hall, keeping a pretty 

 regular ' wave front ' as it passed on. 

 About three quarters of the audience 

 claimed to perceive the smell, the ob- 

 stinate minority including more men 

 than the average of the whole. More 

 would probably have succumbed to the 

 suggestion, but at the end of a minute 

 I was obliged to stop the experiment, 

 for some on the front seats were being 

 unpleasantly alTected, and were about 

 to leave the room." 



Government Scientific Work. — 

 Mr. Charles W. Dabney, Jr., of Knoxville, 

 Tcnn., while having a very high opinion 

 of the scientific Avork of the Government, 

 finds it greatly scattered and confused, 

 and often multiplied, among the depart- 

 ments. There are three distinct and sep- 

 erate agencies for measuring the land of 

 the country, four hydrographic olliees in 

 as many departments, and five separate 

 and distinct Government chemical lab- 

 oratories. I'he Coast Survey, the Naval 

 Observatory, and the Weather Bureau 

 are all engaged in studying the magnet- 

 ism of the earth. Three distinct branches 



