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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



or of a Western language. The general 

 tendency of their views, which varied as to 

 details, was in favor of exciting the curios- 

 ity and interest of intelligent Chinese in the 

 matter of Western knowledge by popular 

 expositions in the native tongue, reserving 

 a more adequate representation for a time 

 when a sufficient number of Chinese shall 

 have acquired foreign languages to consti- 

 tute a learned class in our sense of the ex- 

 pression. A further and final stage will be 

 reached when the member's of this class 

 shall become the conveyers of knowledge 

 to their countrymen in a vernacular im- 

 proved and adapted to the comprehension 

 of scientitic idea.-. 



Mr. J. W. Walker has discovered a site 

 on Pine Mountain, Georgia, where the an- 

 cient inhabitants of the region manufact- 

 ured their talc vessels for cooking, with 

 indubitable evidences of the use of stone 

 implements in the work. Other similar 

 sites have been found in the District of 

 Columbia, and in Southern California. 



Some doubt is thrown upon the " cavern 

 theory " of the origin of minor earthquakes 

 by the publication of Professor O'Reilly's 

 catalogue of British earthquakes and its 

 accompanying map. The data show that, 

 during the period embraced in the view, 

 Ireland has been less subject to earthquakes 

 than England and Wales. In the face of 

 this revelation is the fact that Ireland is 

 remarkably and excessively undermined by 

 cavernous formations, so that if they really 

 give rise to earthquake -shocks, it should 

 have suffered more from them than any 

 other country represented. 



A large group of mineral springs in the 

 Transbaikal region of Russia have gained a 

 high repute for their curative effects on men 

 and animals. Their temperature ranges 

 from 35° to more than 100° Fahr. Some 

 arc ferruginous, some alkaline, and others 

 sulphurous iu composition. 



The slopes and environs of the volcanic 

 mountains Etna and Vesuvius are and al- 

 ways have been famous for their fertility, 

 by which large populations are tempted to 

 live, where they are in constant danger of 

 being destroyed by an eruption. The rich- 

 ness of the soil has been traced to fertiliza- 

 tion by volcanic ashes, which have been de- 

 termined to be remarkably rich in their 

 phosphoric acid and potash constituents. 

 Accounts from the district in New Zealand 

 that was flooded with ashes by last June's 

 eruption indicate likewise that the disaster 

 there is likely to prove a " blessing in dis- 

 guise." 



Gold in quantities worthy of attention 

 ha- been found iu the neighborhood of St. 

 Sebastian Bay, Terra del Fuego. It exists 

 in little ilakes and oval grains. 



Professor W. Mattieu Williams ob- 

 serves that political economists condemn 

 the precept of the Sermon on the Mount, 

 which bids us take no heed of to-morrow, 

 and acknowledges that it is in opposition to 

 the established laws of our political econ- 

 omy. But, he asks, is our political economy 

 a universal science, or is it only the econom- 

 ics of the temperate zone ? The primary 

 reason for the duty of thrift that is imposed 

 on us is that in our latitude the earth only 

 yields its fruits during a part of the year, 

 and we have therefore to make stores of 

 food and other material produced by annual 

 harvests. In tropical countries, and to a 

 certain extent in such sub-tropical regions 

 as Palestine, there is little or no necessity 

 to gather into barns, as it is there quite 

 possible to have a daily harvest by arrang- 

 ing a suitable succession of crops. 



A woman's journal — called " La Rasseg- 

 na degli interossi femminili," or " Review 

 of Feminine Interests " — has been started, 

 under the direction of Fanny Zampini Sa- 

 lazaro. It will be adapted to Italian women 

 of all ranks and stations in life, and, while 

 it will not neglect the lighter matters, it 

 proposes to give prominence to those things 

 that are solid and will contribute to the eco- 

 nomical well-being and mental development 

 of its constituency. It will consider what 

 relates to women's duties, work, and recrea- 

 tion, and the fields of activity that may be 

 open to them. Domestic duties and the 

 care and training of children will also have 

 a place in it. " La Rassegna" will be pub- 

 lished on the 15th of every month, in oc- 

 tavo form. The first number is before us. 

 It is filled with matter of solid interest, and 

 presents a very creditable appearance. 



OBITUARY NOTES. 



Mr. Jcles Lichtenstein, whose name is 

 associated with researches with regard to 

 the phylloxera, is dead. 



The death of Professor M. Websky, one 

 of the most distinguished mineralogists in 

 Germany, is reported. 



Mrs. TnoMAS Say, widow of the eminent 

 naturalist, died at Lexington, Massachusetts, 

 November 15th. 



Mr. Arthur Grote, author of many pa- 

 pers on subjects of natural history, died in 

 London, December 4th. He was a brother 

 of George Grote, author of the " History of 

 Greece," and was born in 1814. He spent 

 thirty-four years in the civil service in Ben- 

 gal, where he was President of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of India, and of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal. Returning to 

 England in 1868, he became a prominent 

 member of the Linmcan and Royal Asiatic 

 Societies. 



