POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



pink, blue, white, black, gray, orange, crim- 

 son, purple, and yellow, lying side by side. 

 Prof. Agassiz described precisely similar 

 formations in the valley of the Amazon. 

 Many of these barrancas show an upper 

 stratum of white or yellow quartz conglom- 

 erate exceedingly rich in gold ; and gold can 

 often be got out of the surrounding earth 

 from the top to the bottom of the sides, the 

 hill being, as it were, literally " peppered " 

 with the precious metal. 



Mingrclian Rituals.— The people of Min- 

 grelia, in the Caucasus, although professedly 

 Christians, are, according to Freiherr von 

 Guttner, addicted to practices and sacrifices 

 that smack of heathenism. Offerings are 

 established for all kinds of occasions, which 

 every countryman can tale off on his fingers 

 at will. Days are set for services to insure 

 the protection of live-stock against disease- 

 The most imposing of these is in behalf of 

 the horse. Cakes are baked, on which is 

 impressed the image of a horse or horse- 

 shoe, and are cast into a hollow tree, drenched 

 with wine .and blessed by the priest, while 

 the participants in the sacrifice hop around 

 the tree and Imitate the capering and neigh- 

 ing of horses. In case a person has the 

 measles, he and his attendants are dressed 

 in red and the room is hung with the same 

 color and adorned with red flowers, while 

 care is taken not to irritate the demon by 

 using a cutting instrument or admitting a 

 dog. For diseases of the eye, little round 

 cakes are made furnished with inserted pu- 

 pils to resemble an eye, and then swung be- 

 fore the eyes of the patient. The priests 

 are cognizant of these oflFerings, and are 

 said, in fact, to get the best part of the gifts. 



Melting away of the Mongolian Loess.— 



The process by which caves, sink-holes, and 

 ravines are slowly formed in limestone has 

 been observed by M. Potanin as going on 

 rapidly in the loess of Mongolia. The loess 

 is moved by water, and transported from 

 higher to lower regions with about the same 

 facihty and steadiness as the shifting sands 

 are moved by the wind. The underground 

 water which filtrates through it begins by 

 making in it a kind of cavern ; then a cir- 

 cular crevice appears on the surface over 

 the cavern, and a cylindrical vertical hol- 



low, which soon becomes a deep well, is 

 formed through the thickness of the up- 

 per layers of the formation. The whole 

 surface of the loess deposits is dotted with 

 such wells, which are very dangerous to cat- 

 tle. By and by the formerly cylindrical well 

 begins to extend in the direction in which 

 the underground water flows, and a narrow 

 ravine grows until it joins the main valley. 

 The ravine continually increases in width by 

 falls of new masses of loess, and the whole 

 is steadily carried " down-stream " by the 

 water. 



now a Desert was made Prodnctive.— 



Dr. G. V. Poore has told the way in which 

 the Landes of France have been reclaimed 

 and made habitable by carrying out the plans 

 first applied by Bremontier at about the be- 

 ginning of this century. By reason of the 

 light character of the sands of the region, 

 and its exposure to the powerful winds of 

 the Bay of Biscay, its drainage presented 

 special difficulties, which could not be over- 

 come by the ordinary resources of engineer- 

 ing. Recognizing that it was useless to 

 contend against the forces of nature, Bre- 

 montier determined to try to make use of 

 them for the accomplishment of his purpose. 

 Knowing the virtues of planting and pro- 

 moting the growth of a network of roots, 

 he planted a tract of the dunes with peas, 

 which would grow in the sand and send 

 their roots to a considerable depth ; and, for 

 more permanent effect, with the maritime 

 pine. The pine -seeds were sown mixed 

 with seeds of the common broom, whose 

 shrubs might serve as nurse-plants to the 

 infant pines, and the sowings were made in 

 a direction at right angles to the prevailing 

 wind. A screen of hurdles made of gorse 

 or of planks deeply driven into the sand 

 was placed on the windward side of the 

 seed-ground, and the seed-ground itself was 

 thatched with pine-branches and other suit- 

 able material. In the course of time the 

 brooms reached their full growth, while the 

 pines continued to grow, overtopped them, 

 and crowded them out. The maritime pines 

 have grown well and have proved a very 

 profitable tree, yielding moderately good 

 timber and much turpentine ; in addition 

 to which a good business is done in charcoal. 

 Thus the waste moorlands on the shores of 



