SCIENCE, INVENTION, DISCOVERY. 



305 



of the fraternity, however, can be spoken of 

 only with commendation, for it enforced acer- 

 tain weight of material in each bonnet, as well 

 as durability in the color. 



Botanic "Gardens. In 1309 A. D., the 

 first approach to a botanic garden was made 

 in the garden of Matthaeus Salvaticus, at Sa- 

 lerno, botanic science, however, being merely 

 subservient to medicine ; and it was not until 

 1533 that the first true botanic garden was 

 formed. This was made for Gaspar de Ga- 

 brieli, a wealthy Tuscan noble at Padua, and 

 was followed by similar gardens at Pisa, 

 Florence, Bologna, and Rome, the first public 

 garden being that at Pisa. In 1545 a public 

 garden was established at Padua by decree of 

 the Republic of Venice. In 1580 the Elector of 

 Saxony established a public botanic garden at 

 Leipzig, which was soon followed by others. 

 There was no botanic garden in France till 

 Louis XIII. established the Jardin des Planter 

 at Paris, which was completed in 1634. The 

 first public botanic garden was established in 

 England at Oxford by the Earl of Danby, al- 

 though numerous private gardens had existed 

 in England for the greater part of a century. 

 The botanic garden at Edinburgh, the first in 

 Scotland, was founded about 1680. The bo- 

 tanic garden at Kew occupies a high place 

 among British national institutions, and pos- 

 sesses one of the richest collections of plants 

 in the world. The gardens connected with 

 the imperial palace at Schonbrunn, in Austria, 

 and that of Berlin, are the greatest in Germany. 

 The Jardin des Planter in Paris undoubtedly 

 may be regarded as holding the first place on 

 the continent of Europe, both with reference 

 to the strictly scientific study of botany and to 

 the care bestowed upon the introduction and 

 diffusion of useful or beautiful plants from all 

 parts of the world. In the United States the 

 botanic gardens of New York and Philadelphia 

 are the most worthy of notice. 



Brain. The latest classification of races, 

 according to Bastian and other experts, shows 

 weight of brain, in ounces, as follows : Scotch, 

 50.0; Germans, 49.6 ; English, 49.5 ; French, 

 47.9 ; Zulus, 47.5 ; Chinese, 47.2 ; Pawnees, 

 47.1; Italians, 46.9; Hindoo, 45.1; Gypsy, 

 44.8; Bushmen, 44.6; Esquimaux, 43.9. 

 Compared with size of body, the brain of the 

 Esquimau is as heavy as the Scotchman's. 



The measurement of that part of the skull 

 which holds the brain is stated in cubic inches 

 thus: Anglo-Saxon, 105 ; German, 105; Ne- 

 gro, 96; Ancient Egyptian,' 93; Hottentot, 

 58 ; Australian native, 58. 



In all races the male brain is about 10 per 

 cent, heavier than the female. The highest 

 class of apes-has only 16 oz. of brain. 



A man's brain, it is estimated, consists of 

 300,000,000 nerve cells, of which over 3,000 

 are disintegrated and destroyed every minute. 

 Every one, therefore, has a new brain once in 

 sixty days. But excessive labor, or the lack of 

 sleep, prevents the repair of the tissues, and 

 the brain gradually wastes away. Diversity of 

 occupation, by calling upon different portions 

 of the mind or body, successively affords, in 

 some measure, the requisite repose to each. 

 But in this age of overwork there is no safety 

 except in that perfect rest wh.ch is the only 

 natural restorative of exhausted power. It has 

 been noticed by observant physicians in their 

 European travels that the .German people, 

 who, as a rule, have no ambition and no hope 

 to rise above their inherited station, are pecul- 

 iarly free from nervous diseases ; but in Amer- 

 ica, where the struggle for advancement is 

 sharp and incessant, and there is nothing that 

 will stop an American but death, the period of 

 life is usually shortened five, ten, or twenty 

 years by the effects of nervous exhaustion. 



After the age of 50 the brain loses an ounce 

 every ten years. Cuvier's weighed 65, Byron's 

 79, and Cromwell's 90 ounces, but the last 

 was diseased. Post-mortem examinations in 

 France give an average of 55 to 60 ounces for 

 the brains of the worst class of criminals. 



Beds. The ancients slept on skins. Beds 

 were afterwards of loose rushes, heather, or 

 straw. The Romans are said to have been the 

 first to use feathers. An air-cushion is said 

 to have been used by Heliogabalus, 218-222 ; 

 air beds were in use in the sixteenth century. 

 Feather beds were used in England in the reign 

 of Henry VIII. The bedsteads of the Egyp- 

 tians and later Greeks, like modern couches, be- 

 came common among the Roman upper classes. 

 Bells were used among the Jews, Greeks, 

 and Romans. The responses of the Dodonean 

 oracle were in part conveyed by bells. The 

 monument of Porsenna was decorated with 

 pinnacles, each surmounted by bells. Said 

 to have been introduced by Paulinus, bishop 

 of Nole, in Campagna, about 400 ; and first 

 known in France in 550. The army of Clo- 

 thaire II., king of France, was frightened from 

 the siege of Sens by the ringing of the bells of 

 St. Stephen's church. 



Bells were used in churches by oTder of 

 Pope John IX., about 900, as a defense, by 

 ringing them, against thunder and lightning. 

 Bells are mythically said to have been cast by 

 Turketul, Abbot of England, about 941. His 

 successor improved the invention, and caused 

 the first tunable set to be put up at Croyland 

 Abbey, 960. In most Catholic states, bells are 

 baptized as we do ships, but with religious 

 solemnity. 



