576 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Growers, Garden and Forest says, who aim 

 to get their flowers to market in the best 

 condition, place the stems in water as soon 

 as the flowers are cut. The flowers are kept 

 in a cool, dark, underground room. The 

 method of cooling by water is considered 

 better than that by the use of ice, as the 

 change of temperature on being taken to the 

 express car is not so violent. The flowers 

 are usually cut when the temperature of the 

 houses is not extremely high, rather in the 

 morning than in the evening. In summer as 

 little time as possible is lost in getting the 

 flowers to market, but in cooler weather some 

 are improved if kept from twelve to twenty- 

 four hours before being packed for shipment. 

 la packing, long, shallow wooden boxes are 

 smoothly lined with newspaper, above which 

 sheets of thin oil paper are laid. The heads 

 are usually placed at each end of the box. 

 On arrival at New York they are taken to 

 the rooms of the Cut Flower Company and 

 there examined and graded according to es- 

 tablished rules — roses, for instance, being 

 classified as fancy, extra, first, second, and 

 third. 



NOTES. 



Since the photographic method of ob- 

 servation was adopted, Prof. Max Wolf, of 

 Heidelberg, has discovered thirty-six aster- 

 oids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, 

 not one of which has he seen through the 

 telescope. 



The total output of gold in the United 

 States in 1895 was approximately $46,740,- 

 000. South Africa comes next, and Austra- 

 lasia third, with $45,835,000. Russia shows 

 an increase in output over 1894 of $7,350,- 

 000, the 1895 production being $35,405,000. 

 The estimated production in Mexico was 

 $5,835,000. 



In recognition of his labors in connection 

 with so eminent an American Institution de- 

 voted to the Encoui-agement of the Arts and 

 Manufactures, and of services rendered to 

 that Government, the French Government 

 has named Dr. William H. Wahl, for many 

 years Secretary of the Franklin Institute, 

 " Otticier d' Academic," and has conferred 

 upon him the decoration of the " Palmes 

 Academiques." 



Closing a description of Lake Louise, in 

 the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Mr. Walter 

 D. Wilcox observes that the characteristic 

 features of the region of Mount Temple (11,- 

 658 feet high) and of the Canadian Rockies 

 in general, as dift'erentiated from other moun- 

 tain regions, as the Alps, Andes, and Hima- 

 layas, " are found not so much in the geo- 



logical age and nature of the strata as in the 

 extent and character of those erosive forces 

 which have resulted in forming narrow, deep 

 valleys, often with precipitous rock walls of 

 great height and grandeur, thus making the 

 mountains relatively very high. Added to 

 this, climatic conditions sufficiently moderate 

 in summer to tolerate, and humid enough to 

 encourage, a rich vegetation, there results a 

 fortunate combination of beauty and grand- 

 eur which has already begun to attract the 

 attention of travelers. The by no means ex- 

 cessive precipitation of snow is offset by a 

 long period of nearly ten months for accu- 

 mulation, resulting in extensive glaciation on 

 the higher peaks. As these points are fa- 

 vored by the addition of a clear, cool, and 

 invigorating atmosphere, thei'c is but little 

 doubt that the Canadian Rockies will enjoy 

 an ever-increasing popularity and favor 

 among travelers and mountaineers." 



In the numerous scientific balloon ascen- 

 sions he has executed, Dr. A. Bersen has met 

 all the types of meteorological situations, and 

 has found in all seasons that the temperature 

 at great altitudes diminishes more rapidly 

 than, or at least as rapidly as, at lesser alti- 

 tudes, and that at heights exceeding seven- 

 teen thousand five hundred feet lower tem- 

 peratures exist than those deduced from 

 Glaisher's ascensions. So the increase in 

 the velocity of currents with the elevation 

 is also larger than has been supposed. A 

 marked preponderance of winds with a west- 

 erly component is established for gi^eat alti- 

 tudes — a fact that agrees with the results of 

 cloud observations made from below. 



The movement for the introduction of 

 horseless carriages is represented by two pe- 

 riodicals, the Horseless Age and the Moto- 

 cycle, in the United States ; the Autocar, in 

 London ; and La Locomotion Automobile 

 and La France Automobile, in France. The 

 Automobile Club of France, organized a few 

 months ago, already counts nearly five hun- 

 dred members, and has recently opened a 

 hall in one of the most frequented quarters 

 of Paris. It is arranging for races, compe- 

 titions, exhibitions, cenferences, and con- 

 gresses, and will form a library for the use 

 of its members. The French have bestowed 

 a nickname on the automobilists, and call 

 them Chauffeurs, or Warmers. 



La Revista Literaria (the Literary Re- 

 view) is a new bimonthly literary periodical 

 of twenty pages, published at Buenos Ayres, 

 under the editorial direction of Manuel B. 

 Agaste. Office of publication, Peru, 69. 



The death of M. Daubrde, the eminent 

 geologist, is announced. He was born in 

 Metz, educated at the Polytechnic School 

 of Paris, and from 1839 to 1855 was a pro- 

 fessor at Strasburg University. He was tlien 

 promoted to a chair at the School of Mines 

 and the Natural History Museum, Paris. 



