1896. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 157 



Drausensee — one is led to the conclusion that it is a Viking boat. 

 It came from the north through one of the then existing channels 

 into the Frische Haff, and on through the Elbing into the Drausen. 

 Obviously it had a bad journey, since one plank has been 

 repaired ; and finally it became a complete wreck by running on a 

 sandbank near the mouth of the Sorge. Since, however, the water 

 was shallow and the shore close, the occupants saved their goods. 

 Through the continuous movement of the waves the woodwork 

 became loosened, and some pieces drifted away with the tide. By 

 the gradual drying up of the water, the wreck became covered over 

 by slime and marshy earth, and in this way the wood and the few 

 iron parts have been preserved by complete isolation from the air." 



Dr. Conwentz aims, he says, at making his Museum repre- 

 sentative not only of the purely scientific relationships of western 

 Prussia, but also (within limits) of the province of applied sciences. 

 To this end the collection of fishing appliances belonging to the 

 Fisheries union, as well as its library and collections of maps, and the 

 valuable collection of appliances from the Apicultural Society, have 

 been put in charge of the Museum, and stored in a room till extension 

 of the main building will permit their being removed. The attendance, 

 especially on Sundays, is very satisfactory, although the number of 

 schools visiting the Museum might be larger. 



The geological mapping of this province is proceeding slowly ^ 

 but, through the generosity of the State and the Council of Land- 

 owners, who recognise the importance of this work, two more 

 geologists will probably be added to the staff. 



" Light ! Light ! more Light ! " 



The health-giving power of sunlight has long been believed in,. 

 but the belief has been acted on in an half-hearted way. With one 

 hand we enlarge our windows, with the other we draw curtains across 

 them; we send our children to the sea-side for a summer holiday,. 

 encouraging them to bathe and paddle, while for the rest of the year 

 we make them wear boots and shoes and all the other necessary evils 

 of civilisation, and coddle them up indoors as much as possible. A 

 special retreat even has been provided among the mountains of Illyria, 

 far from the eye of the police, where, as in a paradise regained, the 

 sedentary sufferers of city life may wear no other covering than that 

 which nature has provided, and may bathe themselves in pure sun- 

 shine. The belief then exists, but only recently has it been set upon 

 a scientific basis. In his address as president of the chemistry and 

 engineering section at the recent meeting in Glasgow of the British 

 Institute of PubUc Health, Professor Wm. Ramsay explained how the 

 violet rays of sunlight act upon moist organic matter, producing 

 hydrogen peroxide ; how this peroxide bocomes water and hands on 

 the remaining portion of oxygen to the organic matter, which it thus 



