POP ULAR MIS CELL ANY. 



137 



quantities, after a rain, a richer condition 

 of the air in oxygen, which of course would 

 have a corresponding effect upon all sub- 

 stances, organic or inorganic, susceptible of 

 oxidation. It is probable, also, according 

 to this theory, that the outward and upward 

 rush of air at Niagara Falls, with the seething 

 foam, is more than normally rich in oxygen. 



Surfacc-Cnrreats of the Oeean. — Some 

 experiments have recently been made by 

 Professor G. Pouchet, under the patronage 

 of the Prince of Monaco, with relation to 

 the superficial currents of the ocean. The 

 purpose was to determine the existence of 

 a current that might carry warm weather to 

 the coast of Europe. Ten copper spheres, 

 a foot in diameter, twenty kegs, like beer- 

 kegs, and a hundred and fifty well-corked 

 bottles, all bearing requests in several lan- 

 guages, to be taken care of by the finder, 

 were carried to the Azores, and dropped on 

 the 27th and 28th of July, 1885, on a line 

 about one hundred and seventy miles long 

 and running 14° north by east. It was 

 supposed that, if any of the floats reached 

 the coast of Europe, it would be at between 

 40° and 50° north latitude ; but none of 

 them have yet been seen in those regions. 

 Three of the floats were taken up after a 

 travel toward the east, in which they had 

 at the same time inclined toward the south. 

 Two bottles and one keg were found at 

 the Azores ; the bottles in positions which 

 showed that they had taken fifty-three days 

 to travel a distance of four hundred and 

 twenty miles, and the keg where it seemed 

 to show that the floats were continuing 

 their course toward the south. The posi- 

 tive though partial results thus obtained 

 appear to establish the fact that, from the 

 latitude in which the floats were thrown 

 overboard, not a drop of the surface-water 

 of the Atlantic reaches the coast of France. 



Milk for Infants.— Dr. T. Lauder Brun- 

 ton has some important remarks, in his pa- 

 per on " Poisons formed from Food," on 

 the quality of the milk that is given to in- 

 fants, and the dangers arising from care- 

 lessness in using it. Milk, he says, " may 

 apparently be quite sweet at the time it is 

 given, and yet it may really be ' on the 

 turn,' as the term is. When swallowed by 



the infant, it may rapidly become sour and 

 disagree, while a portion of the same milk, 

 especially if kept cool, may appear to con- 

 tinue sweet for some hours afterward. It 

 is highly probable that not the least advan- 

 tage possessed by milk drawn from the 

 breast, over that given by a bottle, is that 

 the former is free from bacteria with which 

 the latter is apt to be contaminated. Both 

 may appear equally sweet when adminis- 

 tered to the child, but the organisms pres- 

 ent in the baby's bottle will continue their 

 action after the milk has been taken, and 

 render it liable to produce vomiting and 

 purging, which are symptoms of poisoning 

 by putrefactive alkaloids. The risk of con- 

 tamination is much greater when a bottle 

 with a long tube is used, for the bacteria 

 readily find a lodgment in it ; and it is to 

 be remembered that not only do the bac- 

 teria present in the milk at the time it 

 is swallowed continue to decompose it in 

 the stomach, but they continue to multiply, 

 so that, if even a few are present in the 

 milk when it is taken, they may within a 

 short time multiply greatly, and produce 

 extensive changes in the food if they find 

 conditions favorable to their growth in the 

 intestinal canal." 



The Dakotas and their Holy Stones. — 

 Mr. II. C. Hovey gave before the American 

 Association a description of " Eyah Shah," 

 or Red Rock, a sacrificial stone of the Dako- 

 tas, which is near St. Paul, Minnesota. It is 

 a well-known custom among the Dakotas 

 to worship the bowlders that are scattered 

 among the hills, valleys, and prairies where 

 they may dwell. "When a Dakota was in 

 perplexity or distress, he would clear a spot 

 from grass or brush, roll a bowlder upon it, 

 streak it with paint, deck it with feathers 

 and flowers, and then pray to it for needed 

 help. Usually when a stone had thus served 

 its purpose, it was no longer regarded as a 

 sacred object, but might be disposed of in 

 any way that suited the savage whim. But 

 the peculiarity of the sacrificial stone now 

 described is that from year to year and from 

 one generation to another it was a shrine 

 to which pilgrimages were made and where 

 offerings were laid. Notwithstanding the sig. 

 nificance of its name, the 6tone is not nat- 

 urally red, but is merely an extremely hard 



