56 
POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 
[ApitiL, 1S90. 
Idle Weeds," which appeared in the Swiss Cross in 
18S7. We were familiar with all the plants men- 
tioned, except the early saxifrage. This spring we 
found on some rocks over which we had passed 
many times, a cluster of leaves, which we brought 
home. When the flowers came, what was our sur- 
prise and delight to find it was the very Saxifraga 
Virgeniensis that we had wished to see. — Jessie 
Elvira Jenks, Sec. 
718, Athens, O., [A]. — Our Chapter was organ- 
ized in October, 1S88, with six members. We held 
our first meeting November 3. i888. We have been 
very successful under the supervision of Prof Mor- 
rill. We meet in his office every two weeks, and 
examine specimens. We have given more attention 
to zoology than any other branch. We have the 
use of a very fine compound microscope. We have 
a pretty good collection of animals, rocks, and min- 
erals. — Ralph Super, Sec. 
7H, Glen Falls, N. Y., [A].— There has been a 
thorough reorganization of this Chapter during the 
past year. Under the able management of the 
scientific instructor in the Glens Falls Academy, 
Mr. C. L. Williams, new members have been brought 
in and are doing good work in various branches of 
natural history, particularly in botany. The num- 
ber of active members is fifteen. Meetings are held 
every Tuesday evening. Miss Frances T. E. Boyd 
has been elected Secretary in my place. — Walter 
W. Haviland. 
744, New Brunswick, N. J., [A].— The work o 
the society in the last year has been to maintain a 
lecture course in popular science. The lecturers 
and their subjects were as follows : 
Rev. Dr. Powers — "Machinery." 
Mr. Isaac Holden — *'.Sea-Weeds." 
Dr. E. H. Jenkins— "Agency of Insects in the Fertilization 
of Seeds." 
Mr. Jacob A. Ries— "The Other Half." 
Mr. J. C. Bayles — "Common Sense Hygiene." 
Prof. A. C. Apzar— "Animal Life in the Sea." 
Prof. D. P. Todd — "An Astronomer's Visit to Japan." 
Prof. A. L. Willis— "The Human Face." 
Prof. J. Nelson— "The Life of an Oyster." 
Prof. E. A. Bowser— "Comets and Meteors." 
Prof. S. H. Cook— "The Ice Age." 
Mr. H. H. Ballard— "Curiosity and Credulity." 
Prof. S. Lockwood — "Diatoms." 
Rev. T. F. Clark— "Knapsack Journey of the World." 
Dr. T. O'C. Sloane — "Simple Scientific Experiments." 
Most of the lectures were illustrated by specimens, 
charts, maps, stereopticon, or gas-microscope. They 
were given in the chapel of Rutgers College. The 
attendance varied from 100 to 450. The total 
attendance is estimated at 4,(»oo.— Peter T. Austen, 
Pres. ; Harriet I. Anable, Sec. ; George L. Shirler, 
Treas. ; Amanda L. Voorhees, Asst. Sec. ; W. H. 
Myers, Chief Usher; P. Belts, in charge of appara- 
tus; G. II. Mitchell, in charge of stage; U. B. 
Ennis, Canvasser and Collector. 
949, New York, N. Y., [Z].— The past year has 
been a very successful one in our history. Our 
membership, both active and corresponding, has 
increased. Meetings have been held fortnightly, 
and the following are some of the papers that have 
been read: "Ferns," "Dwellings of Primitive 
Man," "Teeth," "Proiococciis viridis," "Micro- 
scopical Fungi,". " Caddis-fly Cases," "Occurrence 
of Hyalite in New York City," "Extinct Feathered 
Forms," "Salamanders," "Ascidians," "The Hu- 
man Mind," "International Weights and Meas- 
ures," "Trout Culture." Very instructive classes, 
which proved of great interest to the members, 
have been conducted in geology and mineralogy. 
f 
On March 2, 1889, we held our third annual exhibi- 
tion, which was largely attended. It is surprising 
to find, at the end of the year, how many names our 
" Visitors' Book" contains. In April, 1889, a course 
of lectures was delivered by Mr. William Freeland, 
LL. D., under the auspices of the Chapter, on 
Rome, Pompeii, and Naples. These were beauti- 
fully illustrated by colored lantern-slides, prepared 
for the occasion. The proceeds of the lectures en- 
abled us to enlarge our cabinets and pay other 
expenses. At present we have a surplus of $22 in 
the treasury. Our library is in a flourishing condi- 
tion, and contains fifty-two bound and eighty-five 
unbound volumes. The collections have been 
greatly increased during the year. The minerals 
have been arranged and catalogued by Mr. G. 
Stanton, and our collection of New York City 
minerals has become of such value that our rooms 
are visited by local collectors for the purpose of 
seeing our rare specimens. Several hundred insects 
have been donated, as well as a number of plants, 
especially cryptogams. A number of excursions 
have been made to points in the vicinity, and sev- 
eral sj^lendid collecting-grounds found. Within a 
short time we hope to issue a report of our work, 
upon which we are now busily engaged. Several 
persons have joined us as corresponding tneinbers, 
and we should like to hear from more. — Heinrich 
Ries, Columbia College, Cor. Sec. 
536, Long Ashton Lodge, Clifton-Bristol, Eng- 
land. — One of our members has been elected to the 
British Conchological Society of Great Britain and 
Ireland. She has twice observed a Testacella 
mangei devoured alive by Achaiince and "wire- 
worms." She has found Clausilia Rolphii, Helix 
aciiteata, and Zoniies fulviis, besides a curiously dis- 
torted Helix rvfescens. We have a present from our 
President of some valuable eggs, among them those 
of the buzzard, crane, Egyptian vulture and grifTon 
vulture. Mrs. Falloon, Long Ashton Vicarage, 
will be pleased to correspond with members with a 
view to exchange. — Theo. L. Dyke, Sec. 
Reports from the Fifth Century (Chapters 
401-500) should reach the President by May i. 
All are invited to j'oin the Agassiz Asso- 
ciation, either as corresponding members or 
by forming Chapters. Local societies of 
kindred aims are especially invited to unite 
with us. No surrender of present name, 
purpose, methods. Or independence is re- 
quired. Application blanks sent on request. 
Address, Harlan II. Ballard, President A. A., 
Pittsfield, Mass. 
[Written for "The Out-Door World."] 
ALASKAN BURIAL. 
BY TAMES T. WUITE, M. D., 
Of the Agassiz Association. 
For a number of days in last July, I was in the 
vicinity of Point Hope, Alaska, and made frequent 
visits to the village of Tigarah, and the neighboring 
cemetery, which is one of the largest on the Arctic 
coast, and extends over most of the Point west of 
the village. Here the Innuits place their dead — not 
in graves, but upon platforms, raised, perhaps, four 
feet from the ground on four rude posts. In the 
older cemeteries these posts are the' ribs of whales, 
but in the newer portions wooden' supports are used. 
Upon these platforms the bodies lie flat on their 
backs, with their heads toward the east. I was care- 
ful at first not to let the natives see me disturbing 
their dead, but I soon found that they did not mind 
it; at least, they made no expression of disapproval. 
The heavy winter gales play sad havoc wjth the 
bodies, particularly the older ones, scattering the 
bones about in every direction. By digging care- 
fully in the loose sand between the whale-bone 
uprights that marked the location of an old plat- 
form, I found quantities of flint and bone arrow- 
heads, slate knives, bone adzes, and various pieces 
of broken bows, sleds, and snow-shoes; but in the 
more recent ground were found pieces of guns. 
bullets, steel knives, and the like, for the whalers 
have taught the Eskimo the use of modern imple- 
ments. Near one of the old posts I found fragments 
of a coarse black pottery, evidently portions of a 
good-sized bowl, of considerable interest to me, for 
I did not find any pottery among the natives at the 
village. They used metal utensils, obtained from 
the whalers in exchange for whale-bone, furs, and 
ivory. 
A party of us landed one day just in time to wit- 
ness the ending of a funeral ceremony. The body 
— that of a woman — had already been wrapped in 
skin blankets, and placed in an open box supported 
above the ground. At the head was gathered a 
party consisting of the inother, three other women, 
a man, and several children. The mother was sit- 
ting on the ground beside a small fire, smoking, 
while the others were arranging some garments. 
As we approached, one of the women gathered up 
the remaining clothes of the dead, and, tearing 
them into strips, scattered them about on the 
ground. When this was done, the old man took a 
black stone and made a mark on the ground behind 
the mother, who had moved a little way from the 
fire. Then, handing the stone to the next, she, too, 
made a mark; and so with each one, the old woman 
moving a little each time, until a circle was com- 
pleted. Inside this circle the mother knelt, and, 
muttering something, dropped the stone down 
inside her outer garment, or parka; and so in 
succession each of the others — even to the little 
children, some of whom had to be held while the 
stone was dropped inside their 2^'^rkas for them. 
The old man gathered up an armful of articles, 
and, placing some in the box near the head of the 
dead, took his place at the head of the line that had 
been formed, and in single file they marched around 
the foot of the platform, back to the village. 
In a good many cases, I founri small strips of 
fresh whale-blubber, or r/iitkiiik, placed at the head 
of the dead, on three small, flat stones, arranged to 
form a triangle, with the apex towards the head. 
All articles left with the dead are first broken or 
torn. Bows, arrows, and sleds are broken so as to 
make them useless, and all clothing and blankets 
are torn to pieces. The natives will not use articles 
found upon a corpse, believing they will bring them 
bad luck. 
At the villages of Noo-wook, at Point Barroiv, and 
Oo-tiah-wik, at Cape Smyth, tlie natives dispose of 
tne dead in a somewhat different manner. They 
are wrapped in their skin blankets as before, but, 
instead of being placed on frames, they are dragged 
a short distance from the village, where, with pegs 
driven through their clothing, they are ■ securely 
fastened on top of the ground, and, like the others, 
with their heads to the east. Formerly, however, 
the natives say, they buried their dead under the 
ground ; and a little way behind the old signal- 
station, the ground is dotted over with numerous 
small mounds, from which may be recovered various 
relics of the past. 
According to Brown and Morris, the molecular 
weight of soluble starch is 32,400. 
