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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tion, but treating them with the greatest 

 consideration, in order to win theit confi- 

 dence, to get down to their level, to think 

 their thoughts, to charm from them the 

 sibylline secrets. It sounds something like 

 the old Jesuit relations to hear of Mr. Gush- 

 ing at Zuni eating vile food, wearing savage 

 costume, worshiping Nature-gods, subject- 

 ing himself to long fastings and vigils, com- 

 mitting to memory dreary rituals, standing 

 between disarmed Indians and their white 

 enemies on every hand, in order to save 

 their contributions to the early history of 

 mankind. You will recall the fact that an 

 honorable senator more than a year ago 

 offered, as an argument against sudden 

 disruption of tribal affinities, an elaborate 

 scheme of the Wyandotte Confederacy." 



Farming in Japan. — ^According to the 

 report of Consul Van Buren, the Japanese 

 farmer holds in public opinion and estima- 

 tion an exalted position. He is owner of 

 the soil he tills, is generally represented by 

 members of his class as officers in the agri- 

 cultural villages, and has electoral rights 

 which are in some instances exclusive. His 

 position has been raised, and his privileges 

 have been increased, during the last two 

 years. A considerable percentage of the 

 land-owners are able to employ laborers, and 

 are thus not themselves tied to labor ; but 

 the farm-work allows no rest, for in the 

 mild climate the hardier crops may be raised 

 in the winter as well as others in the sum- 

 mer. Almost every farmer can read, write 

 and keep his farm accounts. He sends his 

 sons to school, and his daughters are taught 

 needlework and music at home. The labor 

 on the farm is all mere hand-work ; a plow 

 is seldom seen, but a kind of long-toothed 

 harrow is sometimes used to follow the mat- 

 tock. The laborers are treated with great 

 kindness. Those engaged in the cultivation 

 of tea, silk, and sugar, need more skill than 

 the others, and are paid higher wages. They 

 live almost entirely on vegetable food, re- 

 fraining from the use of meat by virtue of re- 

 ligion, custom, popular prejudice, and neces- 

 sity. Their clothing is extremely light, and 

 does not cost more than about four dollars a 

 year. Several holidays are allowed each year 

 for religious festivals and family celebra- 

 tions, and the laborers generally have small 



gardens attached to their cottages. Women 

 and children are employed in tea-picking, 

 and in the lighter and in-door operations of 

 silk-culture, and are paid for skill. The 

 labor employed on the cotton plantations is 

 not skilled, and is paid for at low rates. A 

 farming population of 15,500,000 is engaged 

 on 12,000,000 acres of land, giving about 

 three quarters of an acre to each person. 

 The tillage is of the most thorough order. 

 Two crops are raised each year, so that the 

 producing capacity of the land is double 

 what it appears to be. 



Animal Plagues. — Mr. George Fleming, 

 in his recent work on "Animal Plagues," 

 remarks that no description of disease, suffi- 

 ciently exact to be identified with the type 

 of which pleuro pneumonia is an example, 

 is found till about two hundred years ago. 

 Even then, the earliest record suggesting 

 that disease is of a doubtful character. It 

 dates from 1613, when there had been a 

 course of years marked by phenomenal dis- 

 turbances, mildew, and blight. Oxen and 

 cows died in great numbers from a pulmonary 

 phthisis that appears to have been brought 

 on in part by severe cold after intense heat. 

 Men also were attacked with dysentery and 

 malignant fevers. In 1V13, again, a " cattle- 

 plague," distinctly so described, raged over 

 Europe, and wild creatures suffered with the 

 tame. In 1725 a wet and chilly year of 

 blight was followed by an exceedingly dry 

 and hot one ; honey-dew and rust were abun- 

 dant on the crops and foliage ; a great mor- 

 tality prevailed among cattle ; while the deer 

 perished in numbers, and even the fish suf- 

 fered. In 1*769, after a rainy year and a 

 bad harvest, a lung-disease, called murie in 

 Franche-Comt6, raged among the cattle and 

 horses a^ the north of France ; but it appears 

 to have been less virulent than genuine bo- 

 vine contagious pleuro-pneumonia. About 

 1779 the last-named disease, now thoroughly 

 ascertained and distinguished from other 

 cattle-plagues, appeared in Upper Silesia 

 and Istria ; then, after holding its ground 

 there for many years, it spread to Bavaria. 

 It was carried into France during the wars 

 of the French Revolution, into Italy in 1815, 

 and into Holland and Belgium in 1 827. Hav- 

 ing established itself upon the Continent, it 

 was introduced into England in 1841, when 



