230 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY fJuly 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



The Scientific Skeleton. — Samuel Blodgett, Grafton, N. 

 Dak., 16 mo. 105 pp. 25 cents. The author in a quiet and 

 modest way sets forth very many plausible objections to 

 the received scientific teachings in regard to gravitation, 

 evolution, tides, winds, movements of the heavenly bodies, 

 etc. In contradistinction to the usual objector, he has no 

 theories of his own to substitute. He prefers to say we 

 do not know to saying such absurd things as he proves the 

 fundamental theories of science to be. He deals with the 

 allegations of such astronomers as C. A. Young, LL. D. 

 in away to command respect and thoughtfulness. Science 

 is materialistic in the sense that it takes no account of any 

 supposed intelligence inhering in matter. It would smile 

 at the idea of the sun being an enormous personality, self- 

 controlled, and accomplishing its purposes by means of 

 the material sun which astronomy studies. Though Blod- 

 gett does not say so, he reasons as if a proper study of the 

 sun's activities ought to proceed on a much larger hypo- 

 thesis than that the sun is only matter in motion. Suppose 

 man were studied solely as protoplasm in motion ! 



MICROSCOPICAL NOTES. 



Bloody Water. — There exists a very small Infusorlan, 

 the Euglena viridis, which is capable of enormous multi- 

 plication and after spending its youth in green it changes 

 at maturity to a beautiful crimson which deeply tinges the 

 water in which the colonies live. This bloody water has 

 been seen in the White Mountains and it is supposed that, 

 by causing great numbers of these animals to grow by 

 a psychic power, Moses and the Egyptian magicians pro- 

 duced the bloody waters described in Exodus 7 : 17-24. 



Bleaching. — The peroxide of hydrogen (Marchand) may 

 be used with advantage to whiten out the organs of small 

 animals. 



