42 



POPULAE SCIEIsrCE IS'EWS. 



[Makch, 1888. 



visited by liini. Such monuments are very 

 numerous on tliis mountain, and occur at a 

 height of about four thousand feet. 



These monuments consist of rough blocks 



Via. 1. 



of stone, mostly erratic bowlders, which have 

 been arranged either in long lines or in groups 

 of circles. One of the linear monuments is 

 eight hundred and fifty feet long, and is com- 

 posed of ninety-three stones, the largest of 

 which measures over 

 fifteen hundred cubic 

 feet. A plan of a 

 group of circles is 

 shown in Fig. 1 

 which contains one 

 hundred and sixty- 

 three stones. What- 

 ever may have been 

 the object of the 

 long lines of stones, 

 there is no doubt 

 that the circular 

 structures were sep- 

 ulchral monuments. 

 In the centre of 

 each circle is a rec- 

 tangular cavity from 

 one to three feet 

 deep, and about 

 eighteen inches 

 square, lined with 

 slabs of stone or 

 smallr pebbles, which 

 usually contains 

 fragments of char- 

 coal and calcined 

 bones. Cinerary 



urns have also been found which have been 

 referred to the time of the bronze age. M. 

 Sacaze also discovered two bronze bracelets 

 which were identical in form and ornamenta- 

 tion with ones found in the Swiss lake-dwell- 

 ings, and unquestionably' belong to the same 

 period of time. 



Another most interesting discovery on this 

 mountain was the so-called "basin-stones," — 

 large blocks of granite in which numerous hol- 

 low depressions have been carved by the hand 

 of man. They sometimes occur by themselves, 

 and sometimes in a line or circle of unmarked 

 stones. One of the finest examples of these 

 is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 ; the latter en- 

 graving giving an enlarged view of the de- 

 pressions — or cupules, as thej' are termed. 

 This stone (the upper one in the engraving) 

 is popularly known as the Calhau des Pourics, 

 or the " chicken-stone," and has ninety-eight 

 cupules upon its surface which measure about 

 an inch and a half in diameter, and three- 

 quarters of an inch in depth. The resem- 

 blance of these stones to those recently found 



on the Isthmus of Panama, and described in 

 the January number of this paper, is a very 

 remarkable and interesting coincidence. Cer- 

 tain other blocks have been found in which 

 the depressions are longer and deeper, and 

 are called by the peasants " the print of the 

 giants' fingers." 



The significance or use of these stones is 

 unknown, but they probablj' were connected 

 with the religious or superstitious practices of 

 the prehistoric people. Even at the present 

 day certain of these stones are supposed by the 

 native peasants to have magical powers, and 

 in 1871 their vulgar practices were carried so 

 far as to cause the parish priest to cut a cross 

 upon a rock known as the Arriba- Pardin, in 

 a vain attempt to suppress them. Whether 



While I am on the subject of disease-germs, I 

 will mention a rather singular case of lock-jaw 

 recently reported from Greifswalde. A young man 

 was playing at ten-pins, when, in projecting the ball, 

 he thrust a splinter under the nail of his middle 

 finger to the depth of three-quarters of an inch. 

 In seven days he was attacked with slight pains in 

 neck and back, and one day later with cramp in 

 breast and abdomen. The lower limbs and the 

 whole length of the spinal column were soon sim- 

 ilarly affected. An incision was made in the in- 

 jured finger, and a portion of the splinter, still 

 remaining under the nail, was removed. Yet, on 

 the third day after the first attack of cramp, death 

 followed. Dr. Beumer of Greifswalde now pro- 

 ceeded to examine more closely the cause of this 

 fatal attack. A piece of wood was taken from the 

 floor of the bowling-alley at the players' end, and 

 also some earth from the lower end. A number 



of rabbits and white 

 mice were then inocu- 

 lated, some with one 

 of these substances, 

 others with the other ; 

 and in every instance 

 the same phenomena 

 followed as in the case 

 of the young man, 

 proving to Dr. Beumer 

 the presence of the 

 bacilli, or germs of 

 lock-jaw, in the wood 

 of the alley and in the 

 soil beneath. 



these beliefs are a direct survival of the prim- 

 mitive ceremonies, or have originated in later 

 times, is unknown ; and unless unexpected dis- 

 coveries should be made, it is not likely that 

 we shall ever know much more about those 

 wonderful peoples, whose stone circles and 

 monuments have been found in all the parts 

 of the world. 



[Special correspondeuce of the Popular Science Jfews.] 

 BERLIN LETTER. 



The Crown Prince's illness is still the absorbing 

 topic here. Though we now trust it is not cancer, 

 yet Dr. Sehenerlen's study of the cancer bacillus, 

 the existence of which has been much doubted, has 

 produced results none the less important to science. 

 The bacteria collection of the Berlin firm of Klciune 

 & Miiller is enriched with a stock of these bacilli, 

 prepared for the microscope. They find a ready 

 sale both among Germans and foreigners. One 

 preparation in double coloring shows the spores 

 distinctly, and is furnished for three marks ; the 

 one-colored preparation is sold for two marks. 

 The first supply was soon exhausted, and a second 

 edition called for. 



. The scheme for im- 

 proving the Lower 

 Weser up as far as 

 Bremen, in order to 

 admit the larger ves- 

 sels which now have 

 to stop at Bremer 

 Ilaven at the mouth 

 of the river, is at 

 length to be carried 

 out ; and a tonnage of 

 one mark on all such 

 vessels will then be 

 imposed, to help re- 

 imburse the outlay of 

 thirty millions which the enterprise demands. 

 Only after long negotiations between Oldenburg 

 on the one side of the 'river, Prussia on the other, 



Fig. 3. 



and the municipality of Bremen, was this improve- 

 ment, which will vastly benefit the whole empire, 

 finally decided upon. The technical difficulties in 

 the way of the great enterprise, and, still more, 



