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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The Canadian Climate. — In a paper on 

 "The Influence of the Canadian Climate on 

 Europeans," which he read at the British 

 Association, Professor W. H. Hingston said 

 that the heat of the summer in Canada was 

 more easily endured than the humid sum- 

 mer weather often experienced in Europe. 

 The skin was called into greater activity, 

 and the heat of the summer weather acted 

 very strongly on the liver ; but if European 

 residents adopted the indigenous customs 

 of the country, lived moderately and tem- 

 perately, and led an active existence, their 

 livers would give them no trouble. The 

 cold weather in winter stimulated people to 

 activity. The mortality in early life was 

 large, because in no country in the world 

 were there so many children, but the mor- 

 tality in adult life was not large. With the 

 exception of Malta, the Canadian stations 

 U3ed to be considered the healthiest posts 

 of the British army ; and there were really 

 no diseases peculiar to the country, while 

 many which prevailed in England and on 

 the Continent of Europe had no existence 

 there. 



The Carpet-Beetle.— The carpet-beetle, 

 which is commonly, but with no good rea- 

 son, called the buffalo-moth, is a dcrmestoid 

 beetle whose scientific name is An/hrenvs 

 scrophulari<e. It is a foreigner, and was 

 introduced into this country from Europe in 

 1872. It has since made itself at home in 

 every part of the United States. It is about 

 one twelfth of an inch long, and is prettily 

 marked with regular patches of white and 

 red upon a prevailing black ground. It 

 feeds upon the pollen of flowers, of which 

 it gives the preference to spiraea. It is 

 destructive to carpets, and to nearly all ani- 

 mal substances, in the larval state. Car- 

 pet-linings give protection against the pest 

 to all of the carpet they underlie, but the 

 part of the carpet near the base-board is 

 unprotected, and is liable to be infested and 

 eaten by them. It is there that defensive 

 measures should be applied. The beetles 

 are nearly proof against ordinary moth-ex- 

 terminators, and call for stronger remedies. 

 Benzene is one of the best of them ; it is effi- 

 cient, Bimple, not dangerous, and easily ap- 

 plied. It can be poured on from a tin can 

 having a slender spout, with a nozzle that 



will let out a stream as large as a knitting- 

 needle. Naphtha, kerosene-oil, and gasolene 

 are remedies of similar character and like- 

 wise easily used. Kerosene and naphtha are 

 a little objectionable on account of their 

 odor ; kerosene also on account of its greasi- 

 ness, and gasolene on account of its inflam- 

 mability. Ironing wet cloths applied over 

 the edges of the carpet is recommended ; 

 the beetles are killed by the steam that is 

 generated. Painting with corrosive subli- 

 mate bed-bug poison is a sovereign remedy for 

 all vermin. The beetle does its worst work 

 in June, July, and August. The larvae live 

 in the cracks of the floor during the winter; 

 and it is feared that, under the present meth- 

 ods of heating, the habit of producing a sec- 

 ond brood in the colder months is likely to 

 be induced. 



The Bnins of Qnirigna, Central Amer- 

 ica. — The ruins of Quirigua, in Central 

 America, according to the account of Mr. 

 A. P. Maudsley, are completely hidden in a 

 thick tropical forest, on the left bank of the 

 river Montagua. They consist of numerous 

 square or oblong mounds and terraces, vary- 

 ing from six to forty feet in height, some 

 standing by themselves, and others clus- 

 tered in irregular groups. Most of these 

 mounds were faced with marked stone, and 

 were ascended by flights of stone steps. 

 " The interest centers in the thirteen large 

 carved monoliths which are arranged ir- 

 regularly round what were probably the 

 most important plazas of the pueblo. Six 

 of these monuments are tall stones measur- 

 ing from three to five feet square, and 

 standing from fourteen to twenty feet out 

 of the ground ; five others are oblong or 

 rounded blocks of stone shaped so as to 

 represent huge turtles or armadillos, or 

 some such animals. All these monuments 

 are covered with elaborate carving ; usually 

 on both back and front of the tall mono- 

 liths is carved a huge human figure stand- 

 ing full-face, and in a stiff and conventional 

 attitude. The sides of the monuments are 

 covered with tables of hieroglyphics, most 

 of them in fairly good preservation. In 

 addition to these tables of hieroglyphics, 

 there are series of squares or cartouches of 

 what appears to be actual picture-writing, 

 each division measuring about eighteen 



