POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



contrasting in color with those forming the 

 ground. These diagonals are derived from 

 the diagonal rafters of the peculiar " long 

 houses " of the Iroquois. Other well-known 

 conventional symbols represent hearts, 

 houses, lands, the " peace path," etc. One 

 of the belts exhibited was itself a historical 

 record of some interest, as it depicted a pro- 

 posal of conversion to Christianity made by 

 the early Jesuit missionaries to the Indian 1 ?, 

 the message being effected by working into 

 a wampum belt a symbolic group consisting 

 of the lamb, the dove, and several crosses. 

 The investigations made by Mr. Hale seem 

 to show that the " Penn Belt," which is now 

 in New England, is not a record of the fa- 

 mous scene depicted by Benjamin West, but 

 of a more obscure treaty concluded with Iro- 

 quois chiefs. The intrinsic evidence afforded 

 by the belt convinced Mr. Hale that it was 

 made by Iroquois. In this way anthropology 

 has been able to correct history. The speaker 

 also illustrated the use of wampum belts as 

 records in modern times, exemplified by the 

 annual meeting of chiefs, at which all the 

 belts are carefully gone over, in order that 

 events of tribal importance may be kept 

 green. 



Elephants in a Lumber Yaid. No work 

 done by elephants perhaps requires at once 

 greater intelligence and strength on their 

 part than that of those which are used in 

 unloading and piling up timber in the lum- 

 ber yards of Burmah. The most important 

 of these lumber yards, at Rangoon, receives 

 the timber that comes down from the im- 

 mense forests of the Irrawaddy, with the 

 great logs lashed together into huge rafts. 

 The workmen cut the cords, and the task of 

 the elephants begins. Plunging without hesi- 

 tation into the muddy waters of the river, they 

 go at once toward the logs. Each animal se- 

 lects a stick, pushes, it with his trunk to the 

 shore, picks it up, and lands it, all that his 

 driver has to do being to indicate what log 

 he wishes taken. Twelve of these animals, 

 according to M. Charles Marsillon, eleven 

 males and one female, work constantly in the 

 yard. The female is the most intelligent of 

 all of them. At the sawmill she places the 

 piece to be cut before the saw. She uses 

 her trunk as a hand ; takes the boards away 

 as they are made, and piles them symmetri- 



cally in the drying heap. As the sawdust ac- 

 cumulates and threatens to cover everything 

 up, she blows it away with her powerful nos- 

 trils, keeping the place cleared so that the 

 work can go on unobstructed. When the din- 

 ner bell rings, nothing neither threats nor 

 caresses can keep her in the yard, industri- 

 ously as she has worked till then. She seems 

 to see to it too that her companions also stop. 

 The elephants return to work immediately 

 the signal is given. Sometimes one of them 

 comes upon a stick that is too heavy for him 

 to handle alone ; and then one of his compan- 

 ions, perceiving his trouble, will come to his 

 assistance. It seems to be one of the easiest 

 things in the world for these animals to ar- 

 range and straighten the pile of logs when- 

 ever it begins to take a crooked or uneven 

 shape. If they are not able to do this with 

 their trunks, they use their tusks until the 

 pile is got into order. They work willingly 

 and with interest, call for help when they 

 need it, and respond to one another's appeals. 



Substitutes for Glass in Germany. An 



interesting -account of glass substitutes is 

 given in a recent copy of the Journal of the 

 Society of Arts. Tectorium, which is used in 

 Germany as a substitute for glass, is a sheet 

 of tough, insoluble gum said to be bichro- 

 mated gelatin about one sixteenth of an inch 

 thick, overlying on both sides a web of gal- 

 vanized iron or steel wire, the meshes of which 

 are generally about one eighth of an inch 

 square. It feels and smells similar to the oiled 

 silk that is used in surgery. It is lighter 

 than glass, tough, pliant, and practically inde- 

 structible by exposure to rain, wind, hail, or 

 any shock or blow which does not pierce or 

 break the wire web. It may be bent into 

 any desired form, and when punctured can 

 be easily repaired. Its translucency is about 

 the same as that of opal glass, with a 

 greenish amber color, which fades gradually 

 to white on exposure to the sun ; so that 

 while arresting the direct rays of sunshine, 

 it transmits a soft, modulated light, which 

 is said to be well adapted to hothouses and 

 conservatories. It is a poor conductor of 

 heat and cold. Its surface is well adapted 

 for printing in oil colors, and is thus valu- 

 able for decorative purposes. The objec- 

 tions against it are that it is inflammable, and 

 is apt to soften in warm weather. For hot- 



