90 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
[June, 1890- 
be expedient for the Pharmacopooial commit- 
tee to comply with this suggestion, but we 
warn them that, if they wish to escape gen- 
eral complaint, they must couple every metric 
expression with its equivalent according to 
the system now in use ; no mere table of 
equivalents will be satisfactory." We have 
no doubt that this voices the Sfeneral feelin<j 
of the medical profession. Tlie time lias not 
come for substituting the new system for the 
old in the PharmacopoMa, but it is good 
policy to put the two side by side. This will 
gradually "educate" physicians and drug- 
gists to the merits of tlie metric S3stem, and 
be a stepping-stone to its complete adoption 
in "the good time coming:." 
SOME CURIOUS EFFECTS OF 
ATMOSPHERIC EROSION. 
In the Department of Arveiron, near the 
town of Montpellier-le-Vieux, in France, 
occur some remarkable geological formations 
illustrating the effect of erosion, and dupli- 
cating, on a small scale, the familiar forma- 
Hons of Colorado in this country. 
J-L- I I — J l , illiij i jn jaagjiti s a ai'^ " 1 1 11 i iI M I ^MI ■■ L_U.J" B I! I S!Ma'"!y g 
Fig. I. 
These formations are described and illus- 
trated in La Nature by M. Mautei,, who 
has explored this comparatively unknown 
region quite thoroughly. The surface rock 
is of limestone and dolomite, and the eiosion 
is probably due more to the action of water 
and frost than to the mechanical action of 
wind-blown sand, which has carved out so 
many fantastic figures among the Rocky 
Mountains. 
The natural bridge shown in Fig. i is 
about ten feet high and eighteen wide, with a 
minimum thickness of about two feet in the 
rock composing the arch overhead. A cart- 
path traversing the locality passes through 
the arch, thus saving a considerable distance. 
In Fig. 2 a more extensive view of this 
savage region is given, showing the shapes 
into which the rock has been carved, which 
closely imitate the ruins of an ancient city. 
The resemblance is increased by the fact that 
many of the formations are pierced entirely 
through by natural agencies, thus imitating 
doors and windows. In the foreground 
stands a column, or natural obelisk, forty-five 
feet high ; and the surrounding scenery is 
Fig. 2. 
said to he of the wildest and most fantastic 
description. A natural dungeon is found at 
one place, and one mass of rock is pierced in 
two places so as to form an excellent figure 
of a camel. Numerous otlicr columns, simi- 
lar to the one shown in tlie engraving, also 
occur ; and, from M. Martel's description, it 
would seem that the locality was well worthy 
the attention of geologists. 
[Special Correspondence ot Popular Scinirp Xt'irs.l 
PARIS LETTER. 
No very important scientific question is Iicing at 
present discussed in our circles; even Brown- 
Scquard's experiments are somewhat neglected, and 
few persons ciioose to investigate ttie matter. Each 
one works in his department, and at present nothing 
startling has been recently started. It proves a 
good moment for the perusal of Renan's last book 
on the " Future of Science." This book was written 
in 184S, and various circumstances have delayed its 
appearance. It must be confessed that it is of more 
interest to the historian than to the scientist — the 
experimenter. However, it is, of course, very 
pleasantly written and largely thought, so that it is 
really a suggestive book. 
Darwinism is slowly getting on in France. 
Thirty years have now elapsed since the publica- 
tion of Origin, and the clamours are somewhat 
abated. One cannot howl thirty, years; and, in 
fact, if only a theory contains some trutli, time 
ensures its acceptance, however badly it may have 
been received at first. But in France, queerly 
enough, the Darwinian ideas are gaining silently. 
Save two or three writers, who, in some papers, 
(Revue Scientijique interalia), now and then make 
their readers cognizant of prpgress recently achieved 
in this department of science abroad (especially in 
England and the United States) ; and save some 
ultra-radical politicians, who think that Darwinism, 
materialism, and so forth, are the same thing, an<i 
who foolishly and ignorantly twaddle in theories 
they hardly understand and thoroughly misapply, — 
the young naturalists seem to keep their ideas to 
themselves. The reason is not a difficult one to 
find. The officials are not in favor of Darwinism, 
and it is better to keep aloof — in appearance — from 
the unwelcome doctrine. But, certainly, when some 
of them are no more, Darwinism will be flourishing. 
Darwinian books are being translated in French; 
Wallace's Darwinism, Romane's Menial Kvoliition in 
Man, Gedde's Evolution of Sex, and others, will 
shortly come out. and stimulate the dispersal of 
Darwinian thought. 
Amateur photography — to pass from philosophi- 
cal grounds to very practical pursuits — thrives 
splendidly in France. The number of amateurs is 
gaining every day, as a result of the numerous and 
cheap instruments which have been devised for 
them, and they really do the thing well. Special 
reviews and books have proved necessary, in order 
to allow them to keep abreast with the progress of 
science, or art; for it must be noticed that they hate 
routine, and want the very latest methods and 
improvements. One of the best makers of photo- 
graphic apparalus, M. Fleury Hermagis, has just 
written one of these books, — and a capital one it is, 
— under the title of Traite des Ivxciirsinns Pholo- 
graphiqites, which is specially offered to travelling 
amateurs, and contains sound advice on the techni- 
cal part of the operatipns — the whole is described in 
the very minutest detail — and on the artistic side of 
the question. This is a very important part of the 
subject. Photographs are exact, of course, but thcv 
may be made artistic without any alteration of 
truth. This book, published by the Societe de Edi- 
tions Scientifiqiies, meets with a great success, and, 
if your readers are also photographo-philes, it would 
certainly prove interesting and useful to a great 
number. 
The transactions of the 1S89 international scien- 
tific meetings in Paris are appearing in turn. The 
last ones I have met with are those of the congres 
of hygiene, zoology, and colonial matters. It is a 
pity that the different transactions are published by 
any variety of publishers, in dilTerent sizes, on dif- 
ferent paper, and with different types. In 1S7S all 
the transactions of the thirty-two or thirty-six scien- 
tific meetings were published by the same printer, 
— the state printing-office, — and this uniformity was 
very pleasant to the eye. There is a good deal of 
useless matter, if not rubbish, in the hygiene trans- 
actions. Ilygienists love to hear their own voice ; 
they are addicted to over-elegant language ; they 
have literary pretensions. In scientific matters, 
clearness is the suitable literary quality. The 
zoological transactions are good, and contain mucli 
useful information and discussion. The two main 
documents are the report of M. Fischer on geo- 
graphical distribution and of M. R. Blanchard on 
zoological nomenclature. M. Fischer's task con- 
sisted mainly in calling the attention of the 230 
zoologists assembled in Paris to the points which 
present the most interest in the line of distribution, 
ancient and present; on the insular faunas, espec- 
ially when the Islands considered arc far from all 
main land, and have, most likely, never been con- 
nected with it, (such as volcanic islands, of which 
the Hawaiian group affords a very interesting sam- 
ple) ; on zoological connections — paleontological 
and actual — between Northern America and North- 
ern Europe; on the extinct race of horses in the 
United States; on Wallace's line in the Malay 
Archipelago, etc. M. Fischer's report is a very able 
