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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in the great demand for narcotics, the sale 

 of beer and wine by grocers, and the divis- 

 ions of saloons by general and family en- 

 trances, with separate rooms for each. The 

 vice is considered a pronounced form of 

 brain and nerve degeneration coming from 

 well-marked physical conditions, largely con- 

 trolled by social and psychical states pecul- 

 iar to the country. The symptomatology 

 of the disease " more nearly resembles that 

 of insanity and general paralysis ; its course 

 is in waves and currents; its progress is 

 shorter ; and among women the use of nar- 

 cotics is more prevalent than that of other 

 forms of alcohol." In estimating the value 

 of remedies, Dr. Crothcrs believes that all 

 efforts by moral means have failed, and are 

 of value almost exclusively as agitations 

 that will call attention to the evil. Lescal 

 means, by CQcrcion and punishment, are 

 likewise inefficacious, although there may be 

 a value in prohibition, to be determined by 

 the experience of the future. In his own 

 view, inebriety being regarded as a disease, 

 like insanity, should be, like insanity, treated 

 as a disease ; and the cure should be sought 

 in the enlightened treatment of the inebri- 

 ate asylums. 



How to expose Thermometers. — Dr. H. 



A. Hazen discusses, in the " American 

 Journal of Science," the conditions of ther- 

 mometer exposure best adapted to secure 

 uniform accuracy in the indications of tem- 

 perature. One of the first conditions to be 

 regarded is that of securing a good height 

 above the ground, on which considerable 

 diversity of opinion prevails. Much de- 

 pends upon the immediate conditions of the 

 locality. When this point is decided upon, 

 a uniform and satisfactory shelter or screen 

 should be provided for the instrument. 

 The height and the screen should be so ad- 

 justed that the thermometer shall be free 

 from the influence of ground-fog and that 

 access of the air to it should be perfect. 

 The shelter should shield from all reflected 

 heat, from all direct radiation, from the sun 

 by day, and from the earth to the sky by 

 night, and from all radiation from sur- 

 rounding objects, as well as from moisture. 

 Many different forms of shelter have been 

 contrived in different countries. In experi- 

 menting upon the merits of these devices, a 



standard of comparison is found in the 

 swung thermometer, or, as the French call 

 it, the thermometre fronde^ which is a com- 

 mon thermometer attached to a string or 

 wire, and rapidly swung through a circum- 

 ference whose radius is the length of the 

 string. The theory of this arrangement is 

 that, as the instrument is rapidly brought in 

 contact with a large mass of air, it must 

 give the temperature of the same unless the 

 results are vitiated by other causes. From 

 a number of experiments described by Mr. 

 Ilazen, the following conclusions as to the 

 best dispositions of shelters are advanced : 

 When exposed to direct sun-heat, they 

 should be at least thirty-six inches long ; 

 with proper precautions the thermometer 

 " fronde," both dry and wet, will give the 

 most correct air-temperature and relative 

 humidity ; a single louvre shelter is suffi- 

 cient. The interposition of a second louvre 

 prevents the free access of air, and if venti- 

 lation is used it must affect the air which is 

 propelled to the thermometer. For obtain- 

 ing even approximate relative humidity in 

 calm weather, single-louvred shelters are 

 necessary, and for the best result an in- 

 duced air-current is essential, especially in 

 the winter in northern countries. Where a 

 window shelter is used, there should be a 

 free air-space of from six to twelve inches 

 between the shelter on the north side of 

 the building and the wall. The simplest 

 form of screen would be four pieces of 

 board ten or twelve inches square, nailed 

 together box-fashion, leaving the bottom 

 and the side toward the window open ; the 

 thermometers, dry and wet, should be placed 

 five inches apart near the center of this 

 screen, with their bulbs projecting below 

 the plane of the lower edge. Shade may 

 be given, at such times as the sun is shining 

 on the north side of the house, by the ad- 

 justment of the window-blinds. 



Numismatics in the United States. — 



From a paper read by Mr. W. Lee before 

 the Philosophical Society of Washington, 

 we learn that an extended interest in nu- 

 mismatics began to show itself in this coun- 

 try in 1858, at which time there were prob- 

 ably not as many as a hundred coin-collect- 

 ors in the United States. The interest has 

 grown rapidly, until now there must be on 



