854 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



stones behind it, and beliind and over these 

 a mass of clay burned to all degrees of 

 hardness. The curator pronounces it one 

 of the most remarkable structures he has 

 ever seen. Lectures and instructions have 

 been delivered on some of the subjects cher- 

 ished by the museum, and an outline of a 

 course of American archaeology and eth- 

 nology for advanced students is published 

 in the report. The most important of the 

 later gifts is one by Mrs. Mary Copley 

 Thaw, of Pittsburg, for a fellowship fund, 

 of which Miss Alice C. Fletcher is to be the 

 first beneficiary. 



The Harvard Obseryatory Time-Serv- 

 ice. — In giving notice of the discontinuance, 

 after the end of March, of the time-service 

 furnished by Harvard College Observatory, 

 Prof. Pickering has taken occasion to give a 

 brief history of the operation of this branch 

 of the observatory's work. It has been 

 maintained for nearly twenty years, and has 

 given continuous signals — that is, signals 

 throughout the twenty-four hours, instead 

 of for a short time each day — to the cities of 

 Boston and Cambridge, the railroads center- 

 mg in Boston, and the Western Union Tele- 

 graph Company. Through the latter agen- 

 cies the signals were distributed over a 

 large part of New England and to New 

 York city. The subscriptions of the city of 

 Boston and the railroads, and the receipts 

 from jewelers who timed their clocks by 

 the signals, were sufficient to defray the cost 

 of furnishing the exact time, and for some 

 years formed a source of revenue to the 

 observatory, while no charge was made to 

 the city of Cambridge or the Western Union 

 Telegraph Company. The observatory was 

 one of the foremost and most earnest pro- 

 moters of the adoption of standard time, al- 

 though its revenues were likely to be dimin- 

 ished by it. One of the greatest advantages 

 of the time-service to the observatory was 

 that it kept before the public the practical 

 value of astronomical work. Many thou- 

 sands of persons, who take no interest in a 

 work of a purely scientific character, realize 

 the great financial value to the public of an 

 accurate standard of time. The observatory 

 desired to confer this benefit on the public, 

 and would have been ready to do so, even at 

 a financial loss ; but recently the time sig- 



nals of the United States Naval Observatory 

 have been offered to the public at very low 

 rates, through the Western Union Telegraph 

 Company, and the Harvard College Observa- 

 tory is relieved of the duty. The expense 

 of furnishing the time is borne by the peo- 

 ple through a Government appropriation. A 

 time-service, under which the people at large 

 within its sphere were supplied at the ex- 

 pense of a few who received special benefits 

 from it, gives way to a system under which 

 these special interests are supplied free by 

 taxation of the whole people. 



Preservation of Delicately Colored Speci- 

 mens. — A mounting fluid for specimens 

 compounded by Mr. Haly, of the Colombo 

 Museum, Ceylon, proves to be also an excel- 

 lent medium for preserving the colors of 

 fish and other animals. It is composed of 

 cocoanut oil and carbolic acid. The most 

 tender frogs and snakes, the delicate plum- 

 like bloom on the geckoes, the fugitive red- 

 dish tint on certain snakes, are not injured 

 but are beautifully preserved by it. Pre- 

 served fish-skins can be packed away in it 

 for an indefinite period, and, although they 

 do not preserve their sheen like fish in the 

 oil itself, they maintain a silvery and nat- 

 ural appearance, very different from that of 

 ordinary museum specimens. It appears to 

 be an excellent preservative for crustacca, 

 the higher orders of arachnids and centi- 

 peds, but has hitherto proved a failure for 

 marine invertebrates in general. The per- 

 fect miscibility of the two liquids opens up 

 endless possibilities. The absolutely une- 

 vaporable nature of the liquid, apart from 

 its other qualities, makes it invaluable in a 

 tropical climate. The acid makes it possi- 

 ble to mix cocoanut oil and turpentine, and 

 thus is formed a splendid microscopic fluid, 

 in which objects may be allowed to soak, 

 without any previous preparation, and in 

 which they become very transparent. 



Cnltivation of tlie Bermuda Onion. — The 



Bermuda onion is raised, according to Mr. 

 Russell Hastings, in Garden and Forest, in a 

 temperature which from November to June 

 ranges from 50° to 75°, never higher, never 

 lower, with never a greater monthly range 

 than 25°, or a greater daily range than 14°. 

 Its value lies in its mild and dehcate flavor. 



