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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



everywhere else, form an appreciable pro- 

 portion of its substance. In places where 

 silicious organisms like sponges and radio- 

 larias are numerous on the surface, their 

 glassy spicules form a considerable ingredi- 

 ent in the red clay, which, when the propor- 

 tion reaches a considerable value, is called 

 radiolarian ooze. Again, in the cool and less 

 saline water of the southern ocean, and in 

 other cases where the water is freshened, 

 the microscopic, silica-sheathed, self-moving 

 plants known as diatoms swarm in such vast 

 numbers that the deposit consists in very 

 large degree of their shells. When the pro- 

 portion reaches one half it is described as 

 diatom ooze. The red clay covers about 

 fifty-one million square miles of the ocean 

 floor ; globigerina ooze is spread over about 

 fifty million square miles ; and diatomooze 

 occupies a belt encircling the globe in the 

 southern ocean, with a total area of about 

 ten million square miles. These three kinds 

 of deposits are thus believed to spread over 

 a surface twice as extensive as all the land 

 of the earth. The terrigenous or land- 

 derived deposits occupy about nineteen mil- 

 lion square miles, and one of the strongest 

 arguments for the existence of an antarctic 

 continent is the fact that they border the 

 belt of diatom ooze on the southward wher- 

 ever it has been passed. 



Tenacity of Old Rituals. While explor- 

 ing an ancient cemetery near Cuzco, Peru, 

 Mr. George A. Dorsey observed a curious 

 ceremony performed by the Quichua Indi- 

 ans which illustrated to him the tenacity 

 with which the old rites are held, and the 

 manner in which recognition of living spirits 

 of the dead and sacrifice to them still pre- 

 vail The men had been unwilling to assist 

 him in disturbing the tombs of the dead, 

 because they contained the remains of their 

 ancestors, to remove which would be sacri- 

 lege, but were drafted into his service by a 

 peremptory order from the prefect. On ap- 

 proaching the tombs the men knelt and pro- 

 nounced in unison an invocation which be- 

 gan with a recital to the spirits of the chiefs 

 as sons of the great Pachacamac of the doc- 

 trine of the Trinity and continued with the 

 address : " Chiefs, sons of the sun, we have 

 not come to disturb your tranquil sleep in 

 this your abode. We have come because 



we have been compelled by our superiors ; 

 toward them may you direct your vengeance 

 and your curses ! " Then they made offer- 

 ings of coca, aguardiente, and chicha, and 

 called on a lofty, snow-capped mountain, 

 Sancahuara, to witness the truth of their 

 invocation. 



A New Bear. A new bear is mentioned 

 by William H. Dall, in Science, as having 

 been observed frequenting the vicinity of 

 the glaciers of the St. Elias Alpine region. 

 It is regarded by the Indians and hunters as 

 distinct from both the black and the brown 

 bears of Alaska. It is not large, no skin 

 being more than six feet long, is shy, and 

 not so fierce as the other bears. Its general 

 color resembles that of the silver fox. The 

 fur is not very long, but is remarkably soft ; 

 and it has a rich bluish-black under fur, 

 while the longer hairs are often white, at 

 least in the distal half. The dorsal line, the 

 back of the ears, and the outer faces of the 

 limbs are jet-black. The sides, neck, and 

 rump are black and silver. The under sur- 

 face of the belly and the sinuses behind the 

 limbs are grayish white or pure white. The 

 bright tan color of the sides of the muzzle 

 and the lower fore part of the cheeks is in- 

 variable, and has not been seen by Mr. Dall 

 in any other American bear. The structure 

 of the claws is adapted to the climbing of 

 trees. Mr. Dall believes that it is at least 

 a well-defined local race, and proposes for it 

 the racial name of Emmonsii. The Sitka 

 fur dealers call it the glacial or blue bear. 

 The Indians speak of another animal, un- 

 known to naturalists, as inhabiting the higher 

 mountains of the mainland. It is described 

 as resembling the mountain goat, with horns 

 nearly as long, but almost straight. 



Agriculture on City Lots. A satisfactory 

 report upon the working of the experiment 

 tried in Detroit in 1894, of engaging the poor 

 and unemployed of the city in the cultivation 

 of vacant lands and lots, is published by the 

 Sterling Publishing Company, New York. 

 About four hundred and fifty acres, or seven 

 thousand city lots, were divided into quarter- 

 and half-acre tracts, and about three times 

 as many applications for allotments were re- 

 ceived as could be granted. The crops were 

 planted, cultivated, and harvested by the 



