FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



H3 



time the water of this glacial lake was nearly 

 two hundred feet deep over the present site 

 of Detroit. The lake covered all the area of 

 Lake Erie and the low border lands, part of 

 the west end of Lake Ontario, and the south- 

 ern half of Lake Huron. Its outlet was west- 

 ward from Saginaw Bay across Michigan 

 through the valley of the Grand River to 

 Lake Chicago (filling the southern part of 

 Lake Michigan), and thence by the Chicago 

 outlet to the Mississippi River. The subse- 

 quent history of the lake, as disclosed by the 

 geology, is sketched in the paper. 



In a paper read to the American Associa- 

 tion upon the scale insects which secrete 

 wax, Dr. L. 0. Howard showed that although 

 industries of considerable importance have 

 been derived from the secretions of such in- 

 sects in Oriental regions, nothing of the kind 

 has so far been done in America. Yet sev- 

 eral species exist in the Southwestern States 

 which might possibly be of commercial value. 

 Thus a bark louse is found upon three species 

 of oak in southern California, in practically 

 unlimited supply. A partial chemical inves- 

 tigation has shown that while a very excel- 

 lent wax may be dissolved by means of chloro- 

 form from the insect mass, an insoluble resi- 

 due remains which has a general resemblance 

 in physical properties to India rubber. 



Of the difficulties attending the use of 

 expert testimony in court, Chairman Gal- 

 braith, of the Section of Chemistry in the 

 American Association, said that u we are now 

 possessed of so very little of that which may 

 one day be known, that no true scientist 

 hesitates to plead legitimate ignorance, but 

 what really troubles us upon cross-exami- 

 nation is that the court does not speak our 

 language, a language often difficult of direct 

 translation ; and the fact that it is but rarely 

 schooled in the principles of our science, and, 

 in consequence, frequently insists upon cate- 

 gorical answers to the most impossible kind 

 of questions." When the expert's testimony 

 has been muddled in this way in the cross- 

 examination, the confusion can not be reme 

 died on the redirect examination, because of 

 the lack of familiarity of the friendly attorney 

 with the subject. This leaves the witness in 

 the position of seemingly disagreeing with 

 his own testimony. As a remedy for this 

 the author favored an appeal to the court, 



urging that the oath requires the whole truth 

 and not a misleading portion of it. In order 

 to secure clearness the expert should avoid 

 technicalities as much as possible. 



NOTES. 



Of the twelve hundred and six species of 

 the animal kingdom which have been repre- 

 sented in the Zoological Gardens of Phila- 

 delphia up to the present time, one hundred 

 and four have bred. The propagation of 

 some of our native animals, which are be- 

 coming scarce in a wild state, has been con- 

 ducted with a fair measure of success. This 

 is notably the case with the American bison. 

 Sixteen individuals are now in the gardens, 

 nine of which are females ; and all have been 

 bred there except two, which were obtained 

 in exchange for those of the garden's breed- 

 ing, in order to infuse a new strain into the 

 herd. 



The chapter of Dr. White's Warfare of 

 Science with Theology, From Demoniacal 

 Possession to Insanity, is the subject of a 

 friendly and appreciative review by Dr. 

 Warren L. Babcock in the American Jour- 

 nal of Insanity. 



A Canadian dog story in the London 

 Spectator tells of a little cocker spaniel dog 

 which was accidentally left by its mistress 

 at a house she visited about a mile from her 

 home. He could not be made to go away 

 till he was taken to the telephone and the 

 trumpet was applied to his ear. Then his 

 mistress called from her house, " Come home 

 at once, Paddy." " Immediately he wriggled 

 out of the boy's arms, rushed at the door, 

 barking to get out, and shortly afterward 

 arrived panting at the rectory." 



It is announced by V. H. Veley and L. J. 

 Veley, in Nature of July 1st, that they have 

 found in shipments of rum from Demerara a 

 micro-organism belonging to the group Coc- 

 cacece, which they regard as a new species. 

 The organism was found as chains of small 

 cocci in the sediment from specimens of bar- 

 reled rum which had been returned as 42 per 

 cent over proof, equivalent to 746 per cent 

 alcohol by weight. 



It is generally said that the American 

 Indians at the time of discovery did not use 

 anywhere on the continent a stringed instru- 

 ment. Dr. D. G. Brinton has, however, 

 found four examples which seem to contro- 

 vert this, and has described them in a brief 

 paper in The American Antiquarian. One is 

 the quijongo of Central America, a mono- 

 chord with a gourd or jar as resonator. The 

 " Apache fiddle," specimens of which are in 

 the Museum of the University of Pennsylva- 

 nia, is an instrument of one cord, with a 

 hollow reed as resonator. A third instru- 

 ment is mentioned by James Adair, in his 



