POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



139 



in large plants, but the process is continually 

 going on ; and it is what occurs in plants 

 growing in an overwet soil. In an open, 

 well-aerated soil, on the other hand, even 

 though it be apparently very dry, the root- 

 hairs multiply and develop an astonishing 

 power to find and absorb water ; and a 

 healthy, well-rooted plant can take up water 

 from a soil which is to all appearance air- 

 dry ; whereas a plant which has not had 

 time to develop its root-hairs in sufficient 

 numbers to take in the firmly adherent water- 

 films from numerous particles of soil would 

 droop and wither. Soils are suitable for par- 

 ticular plants or not, according as they can 

 or not, under the circumstances, afford the 

 air at the roots that the plants need. Many 

 plants flourish in an open soil with plenty of 

 sand in it, but will not grow in a stiff, wet 

 soil. The heavier soil is unfavorable, not 

 necessarily because it does not contain the 

 right food-materials, but because its par- 

 ticles are so small, so closely packed, and so 

 retentive of moisture, that the root-hairs do 

 not obtain sufficient oxygen. Root-hairs and 

 roots can not grow or act unless the tem- 

 perature is favorable ; and a close, wet soil 

 may be too cold for the roots at a time 

 when an open, drier soil (exposed to similar 

 conditions as regards sunshine, etc.) would 

 have a degree of warmth favorable to their 

 growth. The opening up of stifter soils by 

 the various processes in use is to be regarded 

 as a means of letting in air, and therefore 

 oxygen, to the roots. 



The Cost of wasting Coal.— Prof. Chan- 

 dler Roberts estimates the weight of the 

 smoke-cloud which daily hangs over London 

 at about fifty tons of solid carbon, and two 

 hundred and fifty tons of carbon in the form 

 of hydrocarbon and carbonic-oxide gases. 

 Calculated from the average result of tests 

 made by the Smoke Abatement Committee, 

 the value of coal wasted from domestic 

 grates reaches, upon the annual consump- 

 tion of five millions of people, to £2,25'7,500. 

 The cost of cartage on this wasted coal is 

 calculated to be £268,750 ; while the un- 

 necessary passage of about 1,500,000 horses 

 through the streets in drawing it adds very 

 seriously to the cost of street cleaning and 

 repairing. Then there is the cost of taking 

 away the extra ashes, £43,000 a year. Sum- 



ming it all up, the direct and indirect cost 

 of the wasted coal may be set down at 

 £2,600,000, plus the additional loss from 

 the damage done to property caused by the 

 smoky atmosphere, estimated by Mr. Chad- 

 wick at £2,000,000 — the whole amounting 

 to £4,600,000, or $23,000,000. 



Wolf-nnrsed Children. — In " An Account 

 of Wolves nurturing Children in their Dens," 

 published in 1852, by Colonel Slceman, an 

 experienced officer of the Indian army, are 

 recorded a number of such cases as are in- 

 dicated in the title. In one instance, near 

 Sultanpoor, in 1847, a wolf was seen to leave 

 her den, followed by three whelps and a lit- 

 tle boy. The boy went on alUours, and ran 

 as fast as the whelps could. He was caught 

 with difficulty, and had to be tied to keep 

 him from rushing into holes and dens. He 

 was alarmed when grown-up persons came 

 near him, and tried to steal away. But if it 

 was a child, he would rush at it with a fierce 

 snarl, like a dog's, and try to bite it. He 

 rejected cooked meat, but seized raw meat 

 greedily, put it on the ground under his 

 hands, like a dog, and ate it with evident 

 pleasure. He would not let any one come 

 near him while he was eating, but made no 

 objection to a dog coming and sharing his 

 food with him. He died in August, 1850, 

 and after his death it was remembered that 

 he had never been known to laugh or smile. 

 He used signs when he wanted anything, but 

 very few of them except when hungry, and 

 then pointed to his mouth. When his food 

 was placed at some distance from him, he 

 would run to it on all-fours, but at other 

 times he would occasionally walk upright. 

 He shunned human beings, and seemed to 

 care for nothing but eating. 



Consangnineons Marriages. — Dr. Shuttle- 

 worth some time ago communicated to the 

 British Medical Association the results of the 

 inquiries which he had made into the influ- 

 ence of consanguineous marriages on off- 

 spring. For want of a uniform basis for 

 comparison, positively accurate conclusions 

 are hard to reach. His opinion on the sub- 

 ject, generally expressed, is that "first-cousin 

 marriages are to some extent favorable to 

 the production of idiot children." Extend- 

 ing his inquiries to the life-histories of the 



