ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 59 



had to be "packed" up from this house, and in many instances 

 had to be brought from Asheville, 32 miles off, by rail for 12 

 miles, and by horses and men for 20 miles. Not more than 13 

 men were employed at any one time. The total expense of erect- 

 ing this monument, inclusive of the first cost, will approximate 

 $750. 



SOARING OF THE TURKEY VULTURE, 



( Ca thartes aura) . 



GEO. F. ATKINSON. 



The problem of the soaring of birds has occupied the atten- 

 tion of different observers for more than a century, and although 

 many of the puzzling manoeuvres, and translations, of birds 

 with outstretched wings have been satisfactorily accounted for, 

 there still remain many observed facts unsatisfactorily ex- 

 plained because of the great obscurity in which the problem is 

 veiled. Probably from the earliest dawn of human conscious- 

 ness man has marveled at, and coveted, the ease with which birds 

 move through the air over vast distances, or rise in a few hours, 

 on motionless wing, from within a few hundred yards of the 

 earth to several miles up in the frigid air of the heavens. Dur- 

 ing the last century it is noteworthy that, along with the great 

 progress made in the discovery of the laws of motion, this prob- 

 lem lias received its due share of consideration, but is refractory 

 (if the phrase will be allowed) in the matter of yielding the 

 subtleties of its nature. 



It may be interesting, in connection with the presentation of 

 this subject, to briefly review some of the chief discussions dur- 

 ing this period. 



Old treatises on falconry describe the interesting evolutions of 

 the birds employed in hunting. Huber, in 1784, published at 



