POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



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class ; and the differences between rural and 

 urban laborers to differences of housing and 

 sanitary surroundings ; for both classes 

 probably suffer about equally from poverty, 

 hard work, and hard living. The great re- 

 duction in the rate of mortality among the 

 inhabitants of the Peabody buildings, as 

 compared with other tenement-house dwell- 

 ers, points to one method of bringing the 

 mortality of the working-classes w ithin san- 

 itary control. These and other similar facts 

 indicate further reductions in the now rap- 

 idly declining English death-rate, the pos- 

 sible extent of which it is not easy to esti- 

 mate. 



Glaciation on the Pacific Coast.— Mr. G. 

 Frederick Wright has, in the "American 

 Naturalist," some notes on the " Glaciation 

 of the Pacific Coast in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington Territory." At Sims's Station, Da- 

 kota, forty miles west of Bismarck, the 

 passage from the glaciated to the unglaci- 

 ated region is quite marked, and can easily 

 be detected from the train. The next signs 

 of glaciation are near Lake Pend Oreille, in 

 Idaho, water-worn pebbles from whence are 

 observed in old water-courses far down in 

 Eastern Washington Territory. West of 

 the Cascade Mountains, all the streams com- 

 ing down from Mount Rainier and its com- 

 panions are heavily charged with glacial 

 mud, and can be traced to extensive gla- 

 ciers in the mountains. The largest of 

 them, White River glacier, on the north 

 side, is from one to one and a half mile 

 wide at its termination at about five thou- 

 sand feet above tide, is about ten miles long, 

 and in its higher level merges in the general 

 ice-cap which envelops the upper five thou- 

 sand feet of the mountain. The shores and 

 islands of Puget Sound have every appear- 

 ance of being a true glacial accumulation, 

 while the north shore of the Strait of Juan 

 de Fuca, near Victoria on Vancouver's Isl- 

 and, is remarkably clear of glacial debris ; 

 the rocks near Victoria exhibit some of the 

 most remarkable effects of glacial scoring 

 and striation anywhere to be found. About 

 thirty-five miles up the Stikine River, two 

 glaciers of immense size are encountered 

 coming down, one from the north and one 

 from the south, to the vicinity of the vast 

 canon through which the river runs. It is 



clear from observation of the situation that 

 a comparatively slight extension of these 

 two glaciers would make them unite and 

 close up the mouth of the river ; and the 

 Indians have a tradition that within historic 

 times these glaciers met and the Stikine 

 River made its way under them through an 

 immense tunnel. From the mouth of the 

 Stikine River northward, glaciers in great 

 numbers and of great size are seen coming 

 down from the mountains toward the sea- 

 level, while all the mountains upon the islands 

 are snow-clad through the whole summer, 

 and some of them contain glaciers of small 

 size. At the head of Glacier Bay no less 

 than four glaciers of great size come down 

 to tide-level, sending off immense numbers 

 of small fragments and bergs. The evi- 

 dence here of the vast extension of these 

 glaciers down the bay, and of the facility of 

 glacier-ice in adjusting itself to the local 

 topography, is of the most explicit and in- 

 teresting character. The present formation 

 of glaciers on the coast of Southwestern 

 Alaska is favored not so much by the cool- 

 ness of the climate as by the elevation of 

 the mountains, and the excessive amount of 

 precipitation. There is no evidence that 

 the elevation of the coast has materially 

 changed in recent times. Nor is there evi- 

 dence of any changes in the amount of pre- 

 cipitation. It would only be necessary to 

 suppose a slight diminution of temperature 

 to secure all the additional force required to 

 extend the present glaciers of Southeastern 

 Alaska, British Columbia, and of the Cas- 

 cade Range in Washington Territory and 

 Oregon, far down into the South, where the 

 marks of former glacial action are now seen. 



The Use of a Snake's Rattle.— The pur- 

 pose of the rattlesnake's rattle has been the 

 subject of much speculation. Mr. 0. P. 

 Ilay, in the " American Naturalist," thinks 

 that it is a warning to approaching enemies 

 to keep them away. The warning must have 

 been very efficient with most animals. The 

 snakes are, of course, in great danger of be- 

 ing trodden upon by animals which do not 

 intend directly to attack them — buffaloes, 

 for instance — and to attempt war on a herd 

 of large animals would be useless. But 

 through the simple device of sounding the 

 rattle, each animal as it approached would 



