POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



283 



monuments at once of the slow development 

 of organic types and of the prolonged vicis- 

 situdes of the terrestrial surface, have fur- 

 nished materials for a chronological arrange- 

 ment of the earth's topographical features. 

 Nor is it only from the organisms of former 

 epochs that broad generalizations may be 

 drawn regarding revolutions in geography. 

 The living plants and animals of to-day have 

 been discovered to be eloquent of ancient 

 geographical features that have long since 

 vanished. In their distribution they tell us 

 that climates have changed, that islands have 

 been disjoined from continents, that oceans 

 once united have been divided from each 

 other, or once separate have now been joined ; 

 that some tracts of land have disappeared, 

 while others for prolonged periods of time 

 have remained in isolation. The present 

 and the past are thus linked together, not 

 merely by dead matter, but by the world of 

 living things, into one vast system of con- 

 tinuous progression." 



House " Leader Pipes " as Lightning 

 Rods. — Mr. W. H. Preece called attention in 

 the British Association to a new danger in 

 the destruction of lightning protectors by 

 recent municipal legislation. He said that 

 the immunity of private houses from being 

 struck by lightning is very marked, and this is 

 considered to be due to the fact that the lead on 

 the roofs and the iron stack-pipes that drain 

 these roofs, connected as they are together, 

 form admirable lightning protectors. Any 

 charge of atmospheric electricity which may 

 fall upon a house so protected is conveyed 

 harmlessly away to the earth. British house- 

 holders are now required to remove these 

 pipes from direct connection with the drains, 

 and to leave an air-space between the end of 

 the pipe and the grating of the drain. The 

 result is that the electric conduction of the 

 pipe is broken, the stack-pipe ceases to be a 

 lightning protector, and houses are left ex- 

 posed to the danger of atmospheric elec- 

 tricity. The remedy is very simple. The 

 pipe need not be entirely cut away. Three 

 fourths of its circular section may be re- 

 moved for the distance required, and one 

 fourth may be left to maintain the old elec- 

 trical connection ; or, if the separation has 

 been effected, then the stack-pipe should be 

 connected with the drain by a wire or rod so 



as to restore a path for the charge to the 

 earth. Householders are also now compelled 

 to put up stack-pipes to ventilate their soil- 

 pipes, erecting above their roofs a metal tube 

 forming a prominent object exposed to the 

 atmospheric charge, and terminating fre- 

 quently in an earthenware pipe on the first 

 floor. They are thus liable to be struck by 

 lightning without being offered any means of 

 escape. The tubes should be connected elec- 

 trically with the earth either directly or indi- 

 rectly through the stack-pipes, which would 

 then make them sources of safety rather 

 than of danger. 



A Haida Indian Pole-raising. — The kee- 

 ang poles of the Haida Indians of the Queen 

 Charlotte Islands, according to Mr. Alex- 

 ander Mackenzie's account of them, were 

 erected to commemorate the event of a chief 

 taking position in the tribe by building a 

 house and making a distribution of all his 

 property. Each pole has also an individual 

 and distinguishing name. Thus, one of the 

 poles at Masset is named Que-tilk-kep-tzoo, 

 meaning "watcher for arrivals" or "look- 

 ing " or " watching for arrivals." It was 

 erected by a Haida chief named Stultah, on 

 his decision to build a new lodge. The oc- 

 casion, as usual, was marked by a large dis- 

 tribution of property, hundreds of blankets 

 and other valuables being given away to all 

 who assisted at the making of the pole, or 

 who were invited to the ceremony. When 

 it was decided to erect a keeang and build a 

 lodge, invitations were sent to the tribes in 

 the vicinity to attend, and on arrival the 

 people were received by dancers in costume 

 and hospitably treated and feasted. When 

 all the Indians from adjacent places were 

 assembled, at the appointed time they pro- 

 ceeded to the place selected for the erection 

 of the pole. A hole seven, eight, or ten 

 feet deep having been dug, the pole was 

 moved on rollers till the butt was in a proper 

 position to slip into it. Large ropes were 

 fastened to the pole and gangs of men, wom- 

 en, and children took hold of the ends at a 

 considerable distance away. The most able- 

 bodied men advanced to the pole, standing 

 so close all along on each side that they 

 touched each other, and grasping the pole 

 from underneath they raised it up by sheer 

 strength, by a succession of lifts, as high as 



