156 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
[October, 1890. 
this imirdcrous tool is creating imicli sensation. 
M. Gitl'ard obtains ikx) atinosplieres pressure, 
[12,000 pounds to tlie incli], wliile in the United 
States, M. Zalinski is reported to obtain only 
450. Only seems preposterous ! Of course, no 
smoke, no trouble in cleaning the gun, and hardly 
more noise than the pop of a champagne bottle. 
But experience must speak its word, and up to 
the present it has had but little chance of having 
an occasion to speak. Pleasant times, these we are 
living in now. 
Evolutionism, which does not approve of these 
methods, is gaining in France. Tlie Librairie Uni- 
verselle in Paris (Rue de Seine) is issuing a Dihlio- 
theque Darwinienne. The authors intend to deal with 
all the aspects of the evolutionary theory, and per- 
haps more especially with the sociological problem. 
The first and only volume out is by M. Paul Combes, 
a talented writer on evolutionary topics, who con- 
tributes a work on animal civilization and societies. 
It is well written and full of information, gathered 
from authoritative writers, such as Reaumur, 
Huber,* Sir John Lubbock, Romanes, Darwin, and 
others. Another similar publication is to be issued 
shortly. It is the Bibliotheque Evoluiioniste, pub- 
lished under the editorship of Mons. Henry de 
Varigny. This collection is intended to contain 
works on Darwinism and evolution, especially issued 
from the biological standpoint, and, to begin, will 
contain many works translated from the English 
especially. Wallace's Darwinism is to be the first 
volume ; then will follow Geddes' Evolution of Sex. 
But it will contain also works by French authors, 
and it is intended to publish in some volume the 
leading memoirs or papers, recent or old, French or 
foreign, which are of much importance for evolution, 
and are contained in various periodicals of diffi- 
cult access. The collection promises to be a very 
interesting one, and to give all the biological 
aspects of the matter. 
A very interesting book to evolutionists has just 
been published by the well-known ethnologist, 
Gabriel de Mortillet, under the title, Origines de 
la Chasse, de la Peche, et de I'Agriculture. The first 
half of the work is published, and deals with 
the origin of hunting and fishing. It gives a 
capital account of the methods used by our savage 
ancestors, and contains many excellent illustrations 
representing the implements formerly used, as they 
are collected in the Saint Germain Museums, and 
the way they were used, after the pre-historic art- 
specimens, which have come down to us. The book 
also deals with the domestication of animals, and 
this is also very interesting. The book is one 
which ouglit to be translated. 
Prince Tenicheff, a Russian, has published at 
Masson's library a book on I'Activite des Animaux. 
It is a good account of the mental traits of many 
animals, and affords some hours of pleasant and 
instructive reading to the general reader. 
n. 
Paris, August 23, 1890. 
A QUERY. 
All plants depend much in the struggle for life 
upon the facilities with which they are endowed for 
the sowing of their seeds. But these facilities vary, 
of course, in many manners and for many reasons. 
Some seeds are eaten by animals; others are more 
delicate and require special conditions, etc. These 
varying degrees might be measured somewhat. To 
do this, one should, in forests and uncultivated 
lands, selecting from any species, measure approxi- 
mately the area covered by each individual tree — 
■ taking for a basis, for instance, the smallest diameter 
of the cover afforded by the branches — and count how 
many small trees, probably some naturally, of the 
same species are growing underneath. It is prefer- 
able to do this for trees which are somf what apart, 
some twenty or thirty yards distant, so that the 
seeds of the one cannot interfere with those of the 
other. It may, however, be useful to do this for 
small clusters of the same species. This work, a 
very easy one to perform, must be done only where 
man does not interfere with nature, by cultivating, 
and destroying or multiplying young plants. It is 
well to observe whether the earth is usually dry or 
moist, whether the soil is even or slanting, also 
whether enemies of any seed are particularly 
abundant or rare. Of course the species of tree 
must be stated, and the more abundant the species, 
the better. Some of the members of the Agassiz 
Association might try to study this in a manner 
beneficial to all, and more especially to 
Your Correspondent. 
[Any information on the above point may be sent 
to the editor of the Science News, who will see 
that it is properly forwarded.] 
[Specially Observed lor Popular Science iV««fs.] 
METEOROLOGY FOR AUGUST, 1890, WITH 
REVIEW OF THE SUMMER. 
TEMI'KRATURE. 
Average Thsrmom 
BTER. 
64.81° 
74.33° 
67-5'° 
Lowest. 
Higliest. 
Range. 
At 7 A. M 
At a r. M 
At r. M 
Whole Month .... 
Second Average . . . 
55 
86° 
24- 
33- 
30° 
34° 
34° 
Last 20 Augusts . . . 
Second Average . . . 
68.94- 
68.36° 
1 in 1874. 
6S.'7' 
in 1873. 1 
71.11° 
5-93° 
S-94* 
Summer of 1890 . . . 
Last 30 Summers . . . 
68.03° 
67.37- 
5>- 
1 in I'sfe. 
90* 
71.67- j 
in 1876. i 
39" 
4.48° 
The lowest point reached by the mercury the last 
month, at the hours of observation, was 53°, on the 
25th ; the highest was 86°, on the 5th, — a range 
of 34°. The extremes on the 12th were 66° and 63° 
— a range of only 3°. The 24th and 25th were the 
coolest days, with a near average of 58° ; while the 
5th, 4th, and 6th were the warmest, averaging 
77.66°. The first week was quite warm, averaging 
74.3°; and the month was three-fourths of a degree 
below the mean of the last twenty Augusts, while 
the summer exceeded the average of the last twenty 
by the same amount. Extremes are shown in the 
table. 
SKY. 
The face of the sky, in 93 observations, gave 46 
fair, 15 cloudy, 28 overcast, and 4 rainy, — a percent- 
age of 49.5 fair. The average fair the last twenty 
Augusts has been 61.6, with extremes of 49 5 in 1890, 
and 75.3 in 1882, — showing the present August to 
have been the least fair in the last twenty years. 
The 23d was noted unusually dark. 
The average fair the present summer was 53 per 
cent., while the average for the-last twenty summers 
has been 60.3, witli extremes of 45.6 in 1889, and 
71.4 in 1876. Only three summers have been more 
cloudy than the present. 
PRECIPITATION. 
The amount of rainfall the last month was 3 25 
inches, usually in small quantities and well dis- 
tributed. It fell on fourteen days, usually between 
observations, the largest amount being 1.08 inch, 
on the 27th. It was attended with lightning and 
thunder on the loth, 14th, and 17th. The average 
amount the last twenty-two Augusts has been 4.05 
inches, with extremes of .48 inch in 1S83, and 10.03 
inches in 1872. The amount since January i has 
been 30.81 inches, while the average for the same 
months the last twenty-two years has been 32 
inches, — showing a deficiency of 1.19 inches the 
present year. 
The amount the past suinmer was only 6 42 
Inches, while the average for the last twenty-two 
summers has been 9 94 inches, with extremes of 
4.39 in 1883, and 18.13 in 1872. Only three summers 
have had a less amount than the present, viz., in 
'70, '82, and '83. The drouth in June and July was 
severe. 
PRESSURE. 
The average pressure the past monti) was 29 980 
Inches, with extremes of 29.58 on the 27th, and 
30.18 on the i6th, — a range of .60 inch. The aver- 
age for the last seventeen Augusts has been 29 966 
inches, with extremes of 29.868 and 30.041 — a range 
of .173 Inch. The sum of the daily variations was 
3.65 inches, an average daily movement of .iiS inch, 
wliile this average the last seventeen Augusts has 
been only .088, with extremes of .051 and .125. The 
largest daily movement was .51 on the 27th, in con- 
nection with the largest rainfall. 
The average pressure the present summer was 
29973 inches; the last seventeen summers, 29 933. 
The average daily movement was .104 inch; and 
the last seventeen summers, .099 inch ; — showing 
higher pressure: and larger movements this summer 
than usual. 
WINDS. 
The average direction of the wind the last month 
was W. 12" 24' N., (a full W. by N.), while the 
mean direction the last twenty-one Augusts has 
been W. 13° 52' S., (a large W. by S.), with extremes 
of E. 78° 40' N. .in 1873, and W. 84° 15' S. in 1874, 
— a range of 185° 35', or nearly sixteen and one half 
points of the compass. 
The average direction the last summer was W. 3° 
19' N., while the average summer in twenty-one 
years has been W. 19'- 28' S. The present is the 
only summer in twenty-one years when the north- 
erly winds have prevailed over the southerly. 
In general, it may be said that the present August 
was chiefly distinguished for its extreme cloudiness, 
high pressure, and northerly winds ; the entire 
summer for its extreme drouth, cloudy sky, and 
northerly winds. 
COMPARATIVE METEOROLOGY OF NEW ENGLAND FOR 
JULY, 1890. 
The table below is gathered from the Bulletins 
of the New England Meteorological Society for July, 
1S90, exhibiting the mean temperature and precipi- 
tation. State by State, with that of New England 
combined ; also the extreme localities, range, and 
number of reports combined. 
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