POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



429 



lower lip and hanging from it ornaments of 

 different forms and natures. A paper also 

 appears in this volume by M. Fireira Peuna 

 on the eeramios of Para, low tumuli, which 

 are wholly composed of urns or other ves- 

 sels of terra -cotta, laid together and ar- 

 ranged in beds. The recent Brazilian An- 

 thropological Exhibition, which was very 

 successful, is to be followed by another, in 

 which it is hoped the whole American Con- 

 tinent will be represented. 



Itlagnetism of a Great City. — Mr. Rich- 

 ard Jeffries, in his essays on " Nature near 

 London," remarks upon the way in which 

 the magnetism of London is a force in its 

 remotest suburbs, and the influence of the 

 mighty city is felt in its most rural environ- 

 ments, "In the shadiest lane," he says, 

 " in the still pine-woods, on the hills of 

 purple heath, after brief contemplation 

 there arose a restlessness, a feeling that it 

 was essential to be moving. In no grassy 

 mead was there a nook where I could stretch 

 myself in slumberous case and watch the 

 swallows ever wheeling, wheeling in the sky. 

 The something wanting in the fields was the 

 absolute quiet, peace, and rest which dwell 

 in the meadows, and under the trees, and 

 on the hill-tops in the country." The inev- 

 itable end of every foot-path round about 

 London is London ; the proximity of the 

 immense city induces a mental, a nerve 

 restlessness ; and, as you sit and dream, you 

 can not dream for long, for something plucks 

 at the mind with constant reminder " that 

 the inland hills, and meads, and valleys, are 

 like Sindbad's ocean, but that London is like 

 the magnetic mountain which draws all ships 

 to it." 



Bacteria and Cbolera. — Dr. Koch, of 

 the German Cholera Commission, has 

 made a report of the commission's exami- 

 nations of cholera cases in Egypt. The dis- 

 ease was on the decline when the commis- 

 sion began its work, and this may partly 

 account for the unsatisfactory character of 

 the results. Twelve unquestionable cholera 

 patients were examined, and autopsies were 

 held on the bodies of ten persons who had 

 died of cholera. No micro-organisms were 

 found in the blood of the patients, and 

 but few in the matters vomited up, but a 



considerable number were found in the 

 dejections. In the autopsies, no infectious 

 organic matter, except a few probably ac- 

 cidental bacteria in the lungs, was noticed 

 in the lungs, the spleen, the kidneys, or the 

 liver. A well-determined species of bac- 

 teria was, however, found in the walls of 

 the intestines, and in some cases had pene- 

 trated to the tubular glands of the mucous 

 coat, and provoked an irritation there, and 

 had even reached the deeper layers of the 

 mucous coat, and sometimes the muscular 

 coat. It seemed evident that they had a 

 connection with cholera, but whether as 

 cause or merely as an accompaniment or 

 result was still uncertain. To test this 

 question, inoculations were made upon mice 

 and monkeys, and a few dogs and chickens, 

 and the bacterial poison was administered 

 to some of the animals, but without effect 

 in producing symptoms of cholera ; although 

 in a few of the cases septic affections fol- 

 lowed. The results actually obtained, how- 

 ever, seem to Dr. Koch to afford a good 

 reason why the experiments should be con- 

 tinued. 



Superstitions about Infants. — Dr. H. 



Ploss remarks, in his book (in German) on 

 " The Child in the Customs and Usages of 

 Peoples," that the birth of a child impresses 

 its relatives with the feeling that they are 

 brought into the immediate presence of one 

 of the mysterious powers of Nature, whose 

 kindness in conferring the gift is acknowl- 

 edged, and whose favor is invoked with ob- 

 servances in which feasts and offerings near- 

 ly always have a place ; and the ceremonies 

 observed on such occasions, and the toys 

 that are given the child, have frequently 

 an ingenious, sometimes an educational 

 significance. The natural process of birth 

 is brought, in the imagination of the people, 

 into relation with hidden or supernatural 

 causes : by many tribes it is supposed to be 

 superintended by particular divinities ; and 

 the dangers and diseases to which the child 

 is subject are ascribed to similar mysterious 

 agencies. The accidents of pregnancy, the 

 cries and calls, the influence of the evil-eye, 

 the substitution of a changeling for the 

 child, the ill-omened significance attached to 

 certain acts, form a stock of superstitions 

 deeply impressed in the popular imagina- 



