POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



139 



tion of morality, health, and culture ; (3) 

 interference, not with a view to the econom- 

 ic production of wealth, but with a view 

 to its more equitable distribution (this is 

 often spoken of as " socialistic " or " semi- 

 socialistic ") ; (4) interference on the ground 

 that certain industrial classes are found by 

 experience not to take sufficient care of 

 their private economic interests (this is 

 sometimes spoken of as '' paternal legisla- 

 tion "), e. g., restrictions on freedom of con- 

 tract between landlord and tenant. The 

 same phrase is also applied to (2). As lead- 

 ing cases of class (6) may be noted — (1) 

 where for the production of a certain utility 

 or avoidance of detriment, a combination is 

 required of which the value largely depends 

 on its universality — e. g., protection of lands 

 against floods, protection of useful animals 

 against certain diseases ; (2) especially where 

 the combination of a large majority in- 

 creases the interest which the minority have 

 in standing aloof — e. g., abstinence from 

 certain times, places, or instruments in fish- 

 ing or hunting for the sake of future sup- 

 ply ; (3) where a branch of industry, for 

 technical or other reasons, has a tendency to 

 fall under the conditions of monopoly, total 

 or partial — e. g., provision of gas in towns ; 

 (4) where, from the nature of the required 

 utility, its producers could not be remuner- 

 ated adequately in the ordinary way by 

 free exchange of their commodit}' — e. g., 

 utility of forests in relation to climate or 

 scientific discoveries; (5) where the process 

 of exchange which would be required to 

 remunerate a certain social service, would 

 seriously detract from its utility, from waste 

 of time or otherwise — e. g., provision of 

 roads and bridges ; (6) where government 

 is peculiarly adapted to produce the kind 

 of utility required — e. g., if what is required 

 is security, as in the case of savings-banks, 

 or uniformity, or stability of value, as in 

 the case of currency. It is not argued that 

 government necessarily ought to interfere 

 in all cases that come under these headings ; 

 only that the general economic argument 

 for lais&cz-faire falls away in such cases, 

 wholly or to a great extent, or is balanced by 

 strictly economic considerations on the other 

 side ; and that it is important to bear this 

 in mind in discussing any particular prac- 

 tical case. 



The Luminous Organs of an Insect.— 



Dr. Dubois has investigated the light-emit- 

 ting organs of the cacuyo, or Pyrophorus 

 noctiluciis. They are three in number — 

 two prothoracic and one ventral. The pro- 

 thoracic plates give a good illumination in 

 front, laterally, and above, and serve when 

 the insect walks in the dark ; when it flies 

 or swims, its fine abdominal lantern is un- 

 masked, throwing downward an intense light 

 with much greater range. The insect seems 

 to be guided by its own light. If the pro- 

 thoracic apparatus is quenched on one side 

 with a little black wax, the cucuyo walks in 

 a curve, turning toward the side of the 

 light. If both sides are quenched, it walks 

 hesitatingly and irregularly, feeling the 

 ground with its antennae, and soon stops. 

 The light gives a pretty long spectrum 

 from the red to the first blue rays ; is more 

 green than the light of Lampyris iwctiluca, 

 and is capable of photography, but does not 

 develop chlorophyl. No distinct electric 

 action could be traced to the organs. The 

 luminosity does not depend upon oxygen, 

 for it is the same in pure oxygen, in air, in 

 pressures under one atmosphere, and in 

 compound oxygen. The organs are still 

 brilliant when separated from the body, but 

 the power of emission appears to depend 

 upon a supply of water, and it is recover- 

 able, after thorough drying, upon putting 

 the organs again in water. Dr. Dubois 

 found that the photogenic substance is an 

 albuminoid, soluble in water and coagulable 

 with heat, it entering into contact with an- 

 other substance of the diastase group ; part 

 of the energy liberated appears as light. 



The Drying np of Siberian Laltes. — 



Mr. Yadrintscff has furnished the St. Peters- 

 burg Geographical Society with evidence, 

 consisting of notes of surveys, and maps 

 made at four different periods, that the 

 lakes in the Aral-Caspian depression have 

 dried up within the last hundred years " at 

 a speed which will surely appear astonish- 

 ing to geographers." Lake Chany, the 

 largest of the three principal lakes, has much 

 diminished in size. Whole villages have 

 grown on the site formerly occupied by 

 Lake Moloki. Of Lake Abyshkan, which 

 had a length of forty miles from north to 

 south, and a width of seventeen miles, in 



