44 



POPULAR SOIEI^OE NEWS. 



[March, 1888. 



PRESSURE. 



The average pressure the past month was 30.026 

 inches, with extremes of 29.12, on the 26th, and 

 30.66, on the 12th, — a range of 1.54 inches. The 

 average pressure in January the last fifteen years 

 has been 29.973, with extremes of 29.840, in 1879, 

 and 30.080, in 1880. The sum of the daily varia- 

 tions the last month was 9.73 inches, giving an 

 average daily movement of .314 inch. This aver- 

 age in fifteen Januarys has been .297, with ex- 

 tremes of .196 and .391. The largest daily move- 

 ment was .95, on the 26th, .91 being the fall in ten 

 hours, in connection with that sudden change of 

 temperature and a large precipitation. Only two 

 Januarys in fifteen years have had a higher press- 

 ure than the present. 



The direction of the wind in 93 observations 

 gave 16 N., 1 S., 2 E., 15 W., 4 N.E., 47 N.W., 

 1 S.E., and 7 S.W., — an excess of 58 northerly 

 and 62 westerly over the southerly and easterly, 

 and indicating the average direction to have been 

 W 43° 5' N. Full one-half the winds of the month 

 have been north-west. The westerly winds in the 

 last nineteen Januarys have uniformly prevailed 

 over the easterly by an average of 58.58 observa- 

 tions, and the northerly over the southerly, with 

 two exceptions, by an average of 21.37; indicating 

 the approximate general average direction in 

 January to have been W. 21° 45' N. The relative 

 progressive distance travelled by the wind the past 

 month was 84.89 units, and during the last nine- 

 teen Januarys 1,096 such units, — an average of 

 only 57.68 ; showing far less opposing winds the 

 last month than usual. But the month will be 

 chiefly memorable for the severity of its protracted 

 cold, and consequent frightful suffering and loss 

 of life in various parts of the country. 



D. W. 



Natick, Feb. 4, 1888. 



CorrtBponUente. 



Brief communicatioim upon tubjtcts of scieniijtc interest 

 will be welcomed from any quarter. The editors do not neces- 

 garily indorse all views and statements presented by their cor- 

 respondents. 



DO HORSES HAVE HORSE SENSE? 

 Editors Popular Science News : 



In a recent number of the Science News is re- 

 printed a short extract from the Chicago Journal 

 by a writer who asks, " Have horses horse-sense? " 

 lie tries to maintain that they have not by assert- 

 ing that he has seen horses that would wind them- 

 selves up to a post by walking round and round 

 until the halter was so short that they could no 

 longer move their heads. He brings forward 

 several similar instances, all true, to prove his point. 

 But the argument is inconclusive, as the writer 

 should have seen. There are horse-fools, as there 

 are man-fools ; and one would scarcely like to have 

 the writer of this paragraph quoted as an illus- 

 tration of the highest wisdom of the human family. 

 He is probably better acquainted with the story 

 of his life than any one else, and perhaps recol- 

 lection will bring to his mind times when he has 

 not done the wisest thing himself. Or, failing this, 

 he may find plenty of examples of folly in man 

 without going very far. I knew a servant who 

 was directed to make some pillow-cases, and who, 

 finding that the pattern had been torn, tore all 

 the new ones, and sewed them up again, to match 

 the pattern. This was as good as the story of 

 the Chinese who cracked every piece of a costly 

 set of ware, because the pattern was so cracked, 

 and then charged an enormous price on account 



of the difficulty of "making the crack." Not 

 to go into details, are not many of the absurd- 

 ities of modern dress and other fashions as in- 

 convenient and senseless as the tightness of a 

 wound-up halter? Are the human fools that are 

 so easily taken in by the confidence-man and the 

 card sharper very much ahead of the horse that is 

 startled because his foot is entangled in the bridle ? 

 It does not take so very much to startle some mem- 

 bers of the human family ; and when they are 

 startled, they will do the most outrageous and 

 senseless things. Who has not seen and heard of 

 such acts in the alarm of a fire? Fragile articles 

 are then thrown out of the window, and beds are 

 carried carefully down stairs. The question is not, 

 " Have all horses at all times and in all circum- 

 stances good horse-sense? " but, " Have any horses 

 at any times and in any circumstances this sense? " 



I will match the horse mentioned in the extract 

 from the Chicago Journal by one with which I was 

 acquainted, whose owner was unable to confine him 

 to his stall by any ordinary means. He learned to 

 lift the latch of the door, and let himself out, and 

 would then open the other doors, and let out the 

 other horses, apparently for his amusement. The 

 owner then bored a hole in the door at the back 

 of the latch, and put in a wooden pin. This an- 

 swered for a few days, but then the colt taught 

 himself to pull out the pin; and he invariably car- 

 ried it off, so that it was never found again. A 

 friend of mine has an old horse that will do the 

 same, and can open any stable door that is not 

 locked. Yet more : I was once acquainted with a 

 donkey that taught himself to unlock a door, and 

 let himself into a garden. This he did by putting 

 his tongue through the bow of the key, and then 

 turning it. It was a puzzle how he got into the 

 garden until the gardener watched and saw him 

 do it. 



It is no more fair to brand all horses as fools, on 

 account of the folly of some, than it would be to 

 adopt Carlyle's opinion of the human race in Eng- 

 land, because he had unfortunately met with some 

 not remarkable for wisdom. "There are in the 

 United Kingdom about thirty millions of people, 

 mostly fools." 



, E. W. C. 



THE RECENT WESTERN BLIZZARD. 



Editors Popular Science News : 



During the commencement of the great blizzard 

 that swept over the north-west on the 12th of Janu- 

 ary, the strong wind was blowing snow directly from 

 the east, sifting it fine as flour into every chink and 

 keyhole it could find. About one o'clock p.m. there 

 was a partial lull, so that we could see the silvery 

 rills skipping over the drifts, and a dark shadow fell 

 upon the landscape, plainly visible, and engaging 

 the attention; and, in less time than I can describe 

 it, the wind reversed its compass, charging in 

 upon us from the west; and such a blinding storm, 

 and clash and fury of the elements ! It was, in- 

 deed, a sublime terror, chaining every sense to 

 look upon and hear, with a pitiful feeling going 

 out to forlorn travellers so suddenly overtaken 

 on the treeless prairie. That night special pains 

 were taken to have our room comfortably warmed 

 by extra fire. Our whole persons were electrically 

 charged, the hair of our heads " standing on end," 

 as in states of insulation. Flashes could be seen 

 playing around the picture-frames, and electric 

 shocks were felt when touching the cords attached 

 to them. While in bed, the clothes, with an extra 

 comforter, were so tucked in, it was impossible for 

 any wind to creep under them ; yet the concussion 

 of the storm against the wall of the house and the 

 glass of the double windows was sensibly felt, 

 trembling the nerves, and causing cold shivering. 1 



have had such experiences before during colliding 

 winds and snows, but never in so marked a degree. 



J. O. Barrett. 



Brown's Valley, Minn., Jan. 30, 1888. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



A Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry. By Professor Vic- 

 tor von Richter. Translated by E. F. Smitli, PhD. 

 P. Blakiston, Son, & Co., Philadelphia, publishers. 

 Price $2.00. 



This is the third American translated from the fiftli 

 German edition of Richter's admirable text-book on 

 chemistry. Its system of instruction is such that the 

 theories and facts of chemical science are taught at 

 the same time, to the great advantage and convenience 

 of the student. Unusual attention is given to the re- 

 cently discovered " periodic law " of the elements, and 

 this very important subject is fully and clearly ex- 

 plained. This chemistry is used in many schools and 

 colleges, including Yale and Dartmouth, and is to be 

 recommended as a most excellent work. 



This firm has also just issued the sixth edition of 

 Bloxam's Chemistry, both inorganic and organic, com- 

 plete in one volume, price S>4 50. This work is now 

 universally recognized as a standard, and we need only 

 say that this edition has been thoroughly revised, and 

 a large part rewritten, by its distinguished author, and 

 was completed just before his death, which occurred 

 last November. 



The same firm publish the Chemical Analysis of 

 Urine, by T. C. Van Niiys. Price 82.00. Both quan- 

 titative and qualitative methods are described, and 

 the subject is very exhaustively treated according to 

 the latest discoveries in this important branch of 

 medical chemistry. 



Astronomy for Amateurs. Edited by John A. West- 

 wood. Oliver, Longmans, Green, & Co., New York, 

 publishers. Price $2.25. 



This work is intended for the use of such persons 

 as have a [desire for original astronomical investiga- 

 tion, but whose instrumental means are limited. It 

 contains numerous hints and suggestions which ama- 

 teur observers will find of great value; and it will be 

 especially useful in teaching them how to make the 

 best use of such apparatus as they may passess. The 

 editor in compiling this book has had the co-operation 

 of some of the most eminent astronomers in England. 



This firm will also publish early in tlie present year 

 a new work on astronomy by Richard A. Proclor. It 

 will be issued in twelve monthly parts and a supple- 

 ment. It will treat, in a popular style, of all the 

 latest discoveries in this fa-scinating science, and will 

 be beautifully illustrated. Full particulars will be 

 announced later. 



TJie Manaqement of Accumulators, by Sir David 

 Salomons, will be of interest to all professional or 

 amateur electricians, from its very full and complete 

 directions for the care and management of this type of 

 battery which is now coming into such extensive use. 

 D. Van Nostrand, publisher. New York. 



The Evolution of Immortality, by C. T. Stoekwell, is 

 a well-written little treatise on the immortality of 

 man, based upon scientific and philosophical consider- 

 ations, which is worth reading by those interested in 

 the subject. Price $1.00. C. H. Kerr & Co., Chicago, 

 publishers. 



The Puzzler is a new monthly magazine of puzzles 

 and game-problems, published by N. D. C. Hodges, 

 47 Lafayette Place, New York, at .|l.20 per year. The 

 first niimber is at hand, and promises to fill a place 

 heretofore unoccupied in the journalistic field. 



Pamphlets, etc., received: The Movements of the 

 Earth, by J. Norman Lockyer, Macmillan & Co., New 

 York; English in the Schools and Enr/lish in the Pre- 

 paratory Schools, D. C. Heath & Co.. Boston; The 

 Galvano-Cautery Sound m Diseases of the Prostate, by 

 Robert Newman, M.D., New York; Should Physicians 

 be Pharmacists? by Charles L. Mitchell, M.D; The 

 Dentists' Manxial of Special Chemistry (.S2.25), by Clif- 

 ford Mitchell, M.D., 603 Rialto Building, Chicago; 

 Annual Announcement and Report of the Cooper Medical 

 College and Morse Dispensai-y, San Francisco; Report 

 of the Illinois State Board of Health, Agricultural Re- 

 ports of Nexo .Jersey and Georgia, and the Quarterly 

 Report of the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. 



