NOTES. 



287 



contracted, with the knees drawn up to the 

 breast, even when the chamber was long 

 enough to hold them extended ; and they 

 were not mummified No pottery was in- 

 terred with them, except one or two rough 

 vases in one tomb. This treatment was not 

 due to neglect, for the deceased were always 

 placed with great care and regularity, with 

 the head to the north, the face to the east, 

 and the body lying on the left side. Such 

 essential differences in the mode of inter- 

 ment, and the provision for the deceased, 

 point to a difference of race. The contracted 

 interment may have pertained to one of the 

 prehistoric races, and the extended inter- 

 ment with provision of vases, etc., to the 

 dynastic race. The skeletons were well pre- 

 served, but tender and friable ; the bones lay 

 in their places, and the linen cloth wrapped 

 around the body was intact. Rheumatic 

 disease and other maladies of the bones 

 were already well known at that period. 



Non-drinking Sheep and Cows. — The 



facility with which animals can adapt them- 

 selves to altered conditions of existence is 

 illustrated by Dr. A. J. Crespi in an article 

 in the Gentleman's Magazine on Curiosities 

 of Eating and Drinking. He quotes from 

 Miss Betham Edwards's account of her ex- 

 cursions in the barren, stony, wilderness-like 

 region of the Gausses of France the de- 

 scription of some of the interesting facts 

 which it affords to evolutionists. "The 

 aridity, the absolutely waterless condition of 

 the Larzac has evolved a race of non-drink- 

 ing animals. The sheep, browzing the fra- 

 grant herbs of these plateaus, have altogether 

 unlearned the habit of drinking, whilst the 

 cows drink very little. The much-esteemed 

 Roquefort cheese is made from ewe's milk — 

 that of the non-drinking ewes of the Larzac. 

 Is the peculiar flavor of the cheese due to 

 this non-drinking habit ? " 



NOTES. 



Mr. H. a. Hazen maintained in the 

 American Association that the opinion that 

 tornadoes whirl is a mistaken one. Of the 

 two ways of learning the shape of tornadoes, 

 that of observing them directly is burdened 

 with difficulties, and is neither satisfactory 

 nor accurate ; while the study of them by 

 observation of their debris is easy, and will 

 lead to correct conclusions. Reports of such 



observations of between two hundred and 

 three hundred tornadoes have been received 

 at the Weather Bureau during the past two 

 years, and the evidence from them is over- 

 whelmingly favor of the view that there is 

 no whirl. 



A DESCRIPTION of the methods pursued 

 in the Geological Survey of the United States 

 was given, with graphic illustrations, by Ma- 

 jor Powell to the International Geological 

 Congress. The speaker explained that, in- 

 asmuch as the Survey is a national institu- 

 tion, supported by taxes paid by the public, 

 the results of its work are made intelligible 

 to the people, and are not prepared so as to 

 be understood only by men of science. 



The Committee on Forestry in the Amer- 

 ican Association reported that, under a re- 

 cent law authorizing the President to with- 

 draw from sale or other disposal such public 

 timber-lands as he may deem fit, the bound- 

 aries of Yellowstone Park had been en- 

 larged. A necessary enlargement of the Yo- 

 semite Valley reservation was anticipated, 

 and a number of other reservations in Min- 

 nesota, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and Cali- 

 fornia, comprising several million acres, 

 would be asked for in a memorial prepared 

 by the American Forestry Association. 



The next meeting of the International 

 Geological Congress will be held in Berne, 

 Switzerland, in 1894. The Geological Sur 

 vey of Russia, supported by the Czar, in- 

 vites the Congress to hold its meeting in 

 1897 in St. Petersburg. 



According to a paper by G. L. Spencer 

 and E. E. Ewell, in the American Associa- 

 tion, wheat flour and bran mixed with mo- 

 lasses seem to be the favorite materials for 

 the manufacture of imitation coffees. It is 

 hardly prob.ible that the manufacturer se- 

 lects a good quality of flour, for a bad or 

 damaged article would be cheaper. Refuse 

 crackers and other waste of bakeries proba- 

 bly supply a portion of the material em- 

 ployed. A factory recently seized in France 

 employed a mixture containing 500 grammes 

 of ferrous sulphate, 15 kilogrammes of chic- 

 cory, and 35 kilogrammes of flour. With 

 the exception of such mixtures as this, imi- 

 tation coffee is not detrimental to health, 

 but especially affects the purse of the pur- 

 chaser. 



A CDRious featu-e of old-time life is re- 

 called in Mr. Freshfield's paper before the 

 British Society of Antiquaries on the wrought- 

 iron sword-stands in the churches of the city 

 of London. These sword-stands, of which 

 two leading and various subordinate types 

 were described, appear to have come into 

 fashion in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; but 

 only one or two of the older ones survived 

 the great fire, and most of those now exist- 

 ing are of the eighteenth century. 



