148 
POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 
[October, 1S90. 
aceic, polygoacea;, cyperacea;, graminea;, and fungi 
are represented by ninety, one hundred, one hun- 
dred and fifty, four hundred species, and so on 
throughout the list, hundreds of species are largely 
represented. 
At a lower altitude are found eurotia and abriplex, 
and here the flora gillias, eschscholtzias, and com- 
posita; are found. On the plains at the mountain 
bases are grasses and sedges, the great resource 
of the stocltmen. On the sandy plains and the 
dryest hills are the cactacea; and various members 
of the beet family. 
The total number of species is over twenty-five 
hundred, as is now known, and doubtless in time 
there will be found many more, enlarging the 
list to nearly twice that number; while in the area 
of any State in the Mississippi Valley the highest 
number of flowering plants is under five hundred. 
A strange, far off land is this land of the sun, and 
it is one that admits of much scrutiny in many 
ways, and is full of interest. 
[Original in Popular Science JVtwjj.J 
A FEW RHODE ISLAND ORCHIDS. 
BY S. E. KENNEDY. 
Along the margin of our little streams, among 
the ferns and mosses of our swampy pastures, or 
afar in the depths of our pleasant woods, grow 
several species of interesting orchids. Early in 
June we find the beautiful arethusa rising from a 
small, round bulb, hidden deep in the sprays of 
feathery moss, with its one large, fragrant flower 
crowning the short stem, clothed with its three 
lanceolate sheaths. I like to hold this dainty blos- 
som in the sunshine, and, looking across it, catch 
the silvery lustre reflected from the glistening 
surface of petal and sepal. To me this blossom is 
"spring-time's richest dower," and I cannot do 
otherwise than mourn its departure, although its 
loss is partially made up in coming of petal of its 
less comely' sister, the calopogon. This grows in 
much the same kind of soil, its delicate perfume 
leading the enthusiastic botanist direct to its locality. 
Its slender stem bears from three to eight large pur- 
ple flowers, remarkable for the inverted position 
of the lip, owing to the ovary not being twisted as 
in other orchids. 
Another denizen of our swamps is the pogonia. 
P. ophioglossoides bears a light-purple flower, quite 
pretty, but without fragrance. At about the same 
time that these are in bloom, Cypripedium acaule 
may be found in shady situations, its large, plaited, 
downy leaves being by no means the least interest- 
ing part of the plant. They say that the yellow 
lady's-slipper is found here also, but I have never 
been fortunate enough to obtain a specimen. 
Next in order of blossoming is the Habenaria 
virescens, whose long, thin spikes of inconspicuous 
green flowers entitle it to no particular respect. 
Somewhat more worthy of notice is the //. lacera. 
Its loose spike of greenish-white flowers, though 
not showy, are made interesting by the reflexed lip 
with its deeply-parted capillary segments. We find 
this, as well as //. virescens, among the tall grasses 
along the river bank. 
Contemporary with these is the Goodyera, with its 
curiously mottled leaves and small white flowers. 
This we find under evergreens in the woods and in 
shady places in swampy pastures. Spiranthes is 
another small but interesting flower, found in old 
woods and among the grass of our wet meadows. 
S. gracilis, with its fragrant white flowers upon 
their twisted rachis, was one of the wonders of my 
childhood — a feeling in no wise lessened by the 
research of later years. 
The next to bloom is the beautiful Uahenaria 
fimhriaia. It grows two to three feet high, bearing 
a long raceme of lilac-puple flowers, and is con- 
sidered by some the most superb of all the orchids. 
Somewhat resembling this, but inferior in size and 
beauty, is //. psycodes, also a purple-fringed orchid, 
common in our meadows. 
But if these are beautiful, what may not be said 
of If. ciliaris, the crowning glory of the genus? 
Its bright orange-colored flowers make it a conspic- 
uous object in any locality favored by its presence — 
for this is no common plant, and we may, perhaps, 
be forgiven for boasting of its partiality to our 
humble valley, although it must be confessed that it 
does not grow here in such abundance as the less 
beautiful varieties do. 
Moosup Valley, R. I. 
Correspoi?dei?ce. 
lirief commttniratioHs upon suhjectt of scientific interest 
mill be welcomed from any f/ttarter. The editors do not neces- 
sarily indorse all views and statements presented by their 
corresponden tf. 
AUTOGRAPHISM. 
Editor of Popular Science News: 
While I was reading the article on "Autograph- 
ism," I was filled with wonder that the facts men- 
tioned should seerrt*hew to anyone. In my boyhood 
I had observed them, t. e. , I had seen that a scratch 
with the finger-nails, that did not break the skin or 
roughen it, was often followed by the appearance 
of a red line that seemed slightly raised above the 
general surface. This was recalled to mind when 
there appeared before the public, about the year 
1850, a so-called spiritual medium, who claimed to 
show on his arm, in raised red letters, the initial 
letter of a spirit friend's name. I then thought — 
and have since had no reason to change my opinion 
— that the so-called medium retired for a refreshing 
draught, or some other ostensible purpose, and 
then and there traced on his arm, with a smooth 
glass, wood, or metal point, a letter or letters. I 
have often demonstrated to friends that it could be 
done in this way, and on anyone's arm ; so that 
there is no call for a spirit presence, or diseased 
condition theory, to account for the facts. The 
newly-born infant has the redness of skin all over 
tTie body which is there observed, only under what 
seems abnormal conditions. In a few individuals 
where the warmth and nourishment are propor- 
tioned to the needs, the normal conditions continue, 
but in the vast majority of cases the skin shrinks 
and pales, and disease comes as a result of an 
abnormal condition, by which the heart's work in 
circulating blood is greatly increased, and the most 
poisonous waste of the body prevented from passing 
readily to the air to the detriment of those organs 
by which it is eliminated vicariously, or, being 
retained in the body, poisons the blood and causes 
death. I have relieved infants that had laid coma- 
tose from cholera infantum for three days, by 
producing, in a mechanical way, the normal condi- 
tion of the skin. The relief is immediate in the 
coma of cholera infantum, and, indeed, any coma, 
in sudden, acute mania, chills, and many other 
troubles that have their origin in this abnormal 
condition. I am sure that more than seventy-five 
per cent, of human diseases have their inception or 
acceleration in abnormal conditions of the skin. 
Even a burn may have the pain relieved and the 
surface more quickly healed by keeping the circula- 
tion in the skin normal. 
Dr. Mesnet can have a satisfactory explanation 
of all his phenomena from 
Yours truly, 
Geo. F. Waters. 
Boston, Mass., August 21, i8<p. 
BALLIIATCIIET— BAILHACHE. 
Editor of Popular Science A'ews : 
When I was on a pleasant visit in New England 
last month, an esteemed friend called my attention 
to a paragraph that occurred in your May number 
relative to the name Ballhatchet, and by this mail 
the friend in question has sent me a copy of the 
paper. I find the paragraph runs as follows : 
It is a well-known fact that, in ancient times, the Phoenicia: 
had numerous settlements on the southern coast of England. 
An interesting discovery has recently been made, in a little 
village in Devonshire, of some direct descendants of theKc 
ancient colonists. For many centuries a family by the naim- 
of Ballhatchet has resided on a farm known as Ballford, or 
Baal's ford. The family name is evidently a corruption ot 
Baal-Akhed. Immediately above the farm rises a hill, which is 
known to this day as I!aal-Tor, or rock of Baal. The last male 
survivorof the family, Mr. Thomas Ballhatchet, is seventj-foiir 
years of age, and is said to have a facial type quite distinct 
from that of the natives of Cornwall and Devon, and distinctly 
of a Levantine character. The long survival of this nanit 
of the Phoenician deity is very interesting, and it is quite 
possible that the present Mr. Ballhatchet is a direct descendant 
of an ancient Phoenician priest of Baal, whose temple formerly 
stood upon the ground now occupied by his farm buildings. 
This story seems to have originated in the iVan- 
chester Ouardian, wherein its London correspondent 
—the latter part of last year— wrote almost word 
for word the same. A writer in Aotes and Queries 
(London, Eng.) for January 4, 1S90, quotes it and 
says : " Surely such a statement deserves a niche in 
Notes and Queries, if only to show that this inarvel- 
lously mild autumn has produced big gooseberries 
in iTiore ways than one. The surname in question 
is simply a corruption of Bailhache, a family which 
has existed in Jersey (Channel Islands) from time 
immemorial, members of which, like those of so 
many of their compatriots, have doubtless settled 
on the opposite coast (Devon)." 
I may add that so far from Mr. Thotnas Ball- 
hatchet — his name, I see, is spelt Balhatchet in 
White's "Devonshire Directory" for iSyo— beiiiu; 
the last of his race, the patronymic is by no means 
an uncommon one hereabouts. • 
I am sorry that a story possessing so little founda- 
tion should have crept into your admirable little 
paper, and thank you greatly, in anticipation, for 
inserting this correction. 
Yours obediently, 
Harry Hems. 
Fair Park, Exeter, Eng., August 11, 1890. 
THE CHIGGER. 
Editor of Popular Science News: 
Your correspondent (H.M.Whelpley, F. R. M.S.) 
on the chigger would hear it called here in New 
Jersey "sand-tick," and it is the worst on the sweet- 
fern. It is said that it is to be avoided. I do not 
know as the native population use any remedy, but 
those that have come here to live from other 
sections of the country use salt-wash in strong salt 
water. In my family we frequently rub dry salt 
over us to prevent the itching caused by them. In 
East Tennessee it is called chigger. We find it 
worse on the raspberry than on the blackberry here 
on my place. Respectfully yours, 
Mrs. H. B. Perry. 
Lakewood, N. J. 
The Eiffel Tower to be Utilized. — It is 
stated that advantage is to be taken of the elevation 
of the Eiffel Tower to erect a manometric tube to 
contain mercury, so that at the bottom a pressure 
would 'oe obtained equal to 400 atmospheres (roughly 
speaking, about 6,000 pounds, or two and a half tons 
to the square inch). M. Cailletet proposes td utilize 
this enormous pressure in his investigations con- 
cerning the liquefaction of gases. 
