136 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



on the convex surface of a sea-shell, the 

 concave surface of which contained about a 

 hundred small beads. The shell was carved 

 with hieroglyphics. Two other skeletons, on 

 either side of this one, also had their heads 

 resting in the concave surfaces of shells, 

 which were marked with hieroglyphics. Sev- 

 eral other skeletons were found around and 

 above the principal one, which was thought 

 to be the remains of a chief. In another 

 part of the cemetery were found skeletons 

 of persons who had evidently been buried 

 alive, their limbs having been held down by 

 large stones placed upon them. 



Sanitary PInmbiag.— Dr. Sinclair White, 

 recently medical ofBcer of health at Sheffield, 

 England, in a late sanitary report, recom- 

 mends, for use among the poorer and less 

 intelligent inhabitants of towns, the form of 

 multiple water-closet known as the trough- 

 closet or water latrine. The trough is 

 composed of strong glazed earthenware, in 

 sections, with a seat to each section. The 

 seats are separated by partitions. The 

 trough may comprise any number of sec- 

 tions. A pipe from a flush-tank enters one 

 end, and it has a connection with the sewer 

 at the other, a trap and inspection hole in- 

 tervening. Water stands in the trough to 

 the depth of three or four inches, and it 

 may be flushed automatically or by hand. 



Important Archseological Monnments.— 



The American Association's Committee on the 

 Preservation of Archaeologic Remains recom- 

 mended that measures be taken for the pres- 

 ervation of the following works ; Chaco Ca- 

 rion, from the forks of Escavada Canon for a 

 distance of eight miles up ; Canon de Chelly, 

 Canon del Muerto, and Walnut Caiion ; the 

 ruin of Fossil Creek, on the east branch of 

 the Rio Verde, and about fifteen miles south 

 of Camp Verde military reservation ; ruins in 

 Mancas Caiion, the Round Towers situated on 

 the flat valleys of the Lower Mancas, and the 

 Cavatc Lodges in the cinder-cone, about eight 

 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona Territory. 

 The report continues : " Besides these groups 

 of ruins and dwellings, there are isolated re- 

 mains in the Territories of New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, and Utah, numbering over forty, which 

 demand preservation. The Pueblos, which 

 are not on treaty reservations or grants, and 



the old Mandan and Arickaree village on the 

 Port Berthold Indian reservation in Dakota, 

 to be preserved when they cease to be in- 

 habited by the Indians. Also certain burial 

 and village sites in Alaska." The commit- 

 tee — Alice C. Fletcher and T. E. Stevenson — 

 have caused a bill to be introduced in Con- 

 gress providing for a reservation in New 

 Mexico for the purpose of archaeological 

 study. 



Uses of Photography in Science.— In 



describing some of the applications of pho- 

 tography to scientific purposes, Mr. H. True- 

 man Wood mentions, as among the advan- 

 tages of the art for such uses, that it is an 

 absolutely unprejudiced observer. The sen- 

 sitive plate records, with absolute fidelity, 

 the image thrown upon it. The sensitive 

 surface further has the power of storing up 

 feeble impressions of light, so that an image 

 is produced by the long-continued impact of 

 vibrations too feeble to have any eifect 

 until they have been allowed to impinge 

 upon the plate for a considerable time ; 

 while, on the other hand, the light-rays, if 

 of sufiicieut energy, can produce their due 

 effect in a time which, to human apprecia- 

 tion, seems infinitely small. Again, the pho- 

 tographic plate is affected by rays to which 

 the eye is quite insensitive, and thus by its 

 aid we can take cognizance of, and observe, 

 rays beyond the limits of the visible spec- 

 trum, of the highest and of the lowest re- 

 frangibility. Thus, the photographic lens 

 will record the impression of an infinite 

 amount of detail, to reproduce which by any 

 other method would require immense time 

 and labor. The most important services 

 which have been rendered by photography 

 to science are in astronomy ; in photographs 

 of the moon, of the sun, and of eclipses, in 

 which possibly evanescent phenomena are 

 put on permanent record for the study of 

 after-years. The work of cataloguing and 

 charting the stars, and accurately locating 

 them, has been greatly aided ; has been, in 

 fact, set in a new aspect by means of pho- 

 tography. Then we have the photographs 

 of the nebulffi, one of which, Mr. Common's 

 view of the nebula in Orion, Mr. Lockyer has 

 declared to be one of the greatest achieve- 

 ments in astronomy, of a value greater than 

 that of all the eye-observations made during 



