FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



857 



dark. It is becoming more and more evident 

 that molecular features of growth, and the 

 relation of this process to correlative forces 

 and those of the environment, are hardly at 

 all determined. 



United States Railway Statistics. — Ad- 

 vance sheets of the Tenth Statistical Report 

 of the Interstate Commerce Commission are 

 authority for the following statistics : The 

 total railway mileage in the United States on 

 June 30, 1897, was 184,428.47 miles, there 

 being an increase of 1,651.84 miles, or 90 

 per cent, during the year. The total number 

 of locomotives in service on June 30, 1897, 

 was 35,986, the increase in number as com. 

 pared with the preceding year being 36. The 

 gross earnings of the railways of the United 

 States for the year ending June 30, 1897, as 

 reported for an operated mileage of 183,- 

 284.25, were $1,122,089,773. In compari- 

 son with the preceding year this amount 

 shows a decrease in gross earnings of $28,- 

 079,603. The number of men employed by 

 the railways of the United States on June 

 30, 1897, as reported, was 823,476. A com. 

 parative summary is presented in the report 

 of the average daily compensation of the 

 different classes of employees for the years 

 1892 to 1897. Another summary is given in 

 the report which shows the total amount of 

 compensation reported as paid to railway 

 employees during the fiscal years 1895 to 

 1897. It covers the compensation of over 

 99 per cent of railway employees for the 

 several years. Regarding the year ending 

 June 30, 1897, it appears that the aggregate 

 amount of wages and salaries paid was $465,- 

 601,581. This amount represents 61.87 per 

 cent of the total operating expenses of rail- 

 ways, or $2,540 per mile of line. The total 

 compensation for 1896 was $3,222,950 great- 

 er. The total number of casualties to persons 

 on account of railway accidents for the year 

 ending June 30, 1897, was 43,168. Of these 

 casualties 6,437 resulted in death, and 36,731 

 in injuries of varying character. Of railway 

 employees, 1,693 were killed and 27,667 were 

 injured during the year. The total number 

 of passengers killed during the year under 

 review was 222 ; injured, 2,795. Ninety-three 

 passengers were killed and 1,011 injured in 

 consequence of collisions and derailments. 

 .Other than employees and passengers the 



total number of persons killed was 4,522 ; 

 injured, 6,269. Included in these figures are 

 casualties to persons classed as trespassers, 

 of whom 3,919 were killed and 4,732 were 

 injured. From summaries showing the ratio 

 of casualties, it appears that 1 out of every 

 486 employees was killed and 1 out of every 

 30 employees was injured during the year. 

 With respect to train men, including engine 

 men, firemen, conductors, and other train men, 

 it appears that 1 was killed for every 165 

 employed, and 1 injured for every 12 em- 

 ployed. One passenger was killed for every 

 2,204,708 carried, and 1 injured for every 

 175,115 carried. Basing ratios upon the 

 number of miles traveled, it appears that 

 55,211,440 passenger miles were accom- 

 plished for each passenger killed, and 4,385,- 

 309 passenger miles for each passenger in- 

 jured. 



Remains at Carnao, Brittany. — The name 

 of Carnac in Brittany, the site of one of the 

 most famous megalithic monuments in the 

 world, is Breton for " the place of the cairn." 

 As it IS described by Mr. T. Cato Worsfold, 

 just outside the town is a tumulus twenty-five 

 feet high, evidently artificial, and surmounted 

 with a grove of trees. This mound was ex- 

 cavated a few years ago ; the first remains 

 come to were Roman ; then, deeper down, 

 Celtic pottery, etc , were found, and finally 

 flint and granite arrowheads and celts, the 

 finds reminding one of the hill of Hissarlik, 

 with its layers of deposits. Close alongside 

 the mound have been found the remains 

 of a Roman villa, with hypocaust, etc., as 

 usual, the owner of which, living about 

 eighteen hundred years ago, must have been 

 an archaeologist, as some flint arrowheads, 

 celts, and prehistoric pottery were found 

 carefully placed on shelves in one of the 

 rooms excavated. The megalithic monuments 

 consist of numbers of great monoliths, from 

 twelve feet to twenty-five feet in height, dol- 

 mens, or "table stones," great flat stones 

 laid on a number of small menhirs and 

 forming a chamber ; and the ahgnments or 

 rows — eleven in number and about two miles 

 in length — of monoliths running from west 

 to east, and terminating in a quaint chamber 

 at the east end. The alignments — in three 

 divisions, meaning severally the place of in- 

 cineration, the place of mourning, and the 



