FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



575 



the formation of cliffs are the same process. 

 Sometimes the waves pile up a bank of sand 

 or shingle which protects the cliffs from the 

 direct action of the breakers. The cliff, 

 however, gives way under the actions of 

 wind, rain, and frost ; and the material car- 

 ried down to the base of the cliff by these 

 agencies is removed by the sea, so that the 

 cliff is maintained at an angle steeper than 

 the angle of repose, and is constantly falling. 

 When the jointing lines of a rocky cliff 

 slope downward from the shore line, the 

 waves undermine the cliff, and great masses 

 of superincumbent rock fall by their own 

 weight, as the masses of coal fall in the 

 mine through the skillful undercutting of the 

 collier. 



Mr. A. H. Thayer has an article in a re- 

 cent issue of The Auk entitled The Law 

 which underlies Protective Coloration. In 

 it he sets forth " a beautiful law of Nature 

 which, so far as I can discover, has never 

 been pointed out in print. It is the law of 

 gradation in the coloring of animals, and is 

 responsible for most of the phenomena of 

 protective coloration except those properly 

 called mimicry. Mimicry makes an animal 

 appear to be some other thing, whereas this 

 newly discovered law makes him cease to ap- 

 pear to exist at all. The newly discovered 

 law may be stated thus : Animals are painted 

 by Nature darkest on those parts which tend 

 to be most lighted by the sky's light, and 

 vice versa." The author's theory seems to 

 be that Nature, by a careful coloration, 

 effaces the ordinary lights and shadows by 

 means of which a solid body is recognized, 

 and that the various markings which at first 

 sight seem unnecessary are really for the 

 purpose of forming a background such as 

 one might see if the animal were trans- 

 parent. 



A curious instance of protective mimicry 

 combined with intelligence is found in the 

 nest of the dabchick, which, as described by 

 Mr. Harry F. Witherby, is simply a mass of 

 green floating weed common in streams and 

 ponds, like other masses of the same weed, 

 except that it may be a little higher and 

 more compact, but not sufficiently so to 

 enable one to distinguish it. When the 

 white eggs have been laid in it, means of 

 concealment are called for, which the bird 



provides by covering up the eggs with leaves 

 when it goes away, thus transforming the 

 nest again into apparently nothing more than 

 a floating mass of weed. In a few days the 

 eggs become so covered with dirt that they 

 are exactly of the color of the nest, and do 

 not need even this protection any longer. 



The results reached in the report to the 

 London Metropolitan Asylums Board on the 

 use of antitoxine in diphtheria agree sub- 

 stantially with those recorded by observers 

 in various other countries and confirm the 

 favorable opinions. The general reduction 

 in mortality obtained in the metropolitan 

 fever hospitals is less than that claimed in 

 some foreign institutions, but then, the Lon- 

 don Times suggests, "there was less room 

 for improvement in the former." In the 

 more dangerous class of cases, and especially 

 in those which came under treatment at an 

 early stage of the disease, the drug fully 

 maintained its reputation. These conclusions 

 were unanimously concurred in by the six 

 medical superintendents constituting the com- 

 mission of inquiry. 



The Third International Congress of Psy- 

 chology will be held at Munich, August 4 to 

 7, 1896. All psychologists and all educated 

 persons desiring to further the progress of 

 psychology and to foster personal relations 

 among students of the subject in different 

 nations are invited to take part in the meet- 

 ings in which women will enjoy equal con- 

 sideration with men. German, French, Eng- 

 lish, and Italian will be the languages used. 

 The programme of the work in the congress 

 is arranged under the general headings of 

 psychophysiology, psychology of the normal 

 individual, psychopathology, and comparative 

 psychology ; while the subheadings suggest 

 an extensive range and variety of topics. 

 The subscription price for membership in the 

 congress is fifteen shillings, twenty francs, or 

 about four dollars. Persons intending to 

 present papers twenty minutes in length 

 should give due notice of the same, before 

 the beginning of the congress, to the secre- 

 tary, Dr. Freiherr von Schrenk-Notzing, Mu- 

 nich, Max Josephstrasse, 2. 



The growing of flowers to be put into the 

 market as cut flowers has become an impor- 

 tant business, and many large gardens are 

 devoted to it in the vicinity of New York. 



