Vol. XXIII. No. i3.] 



POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



15 



rude pendant of the same mineral. Fig. 2 is 

 an object of remarkable interest — a small 

 image of a prairie dog, carved from white 

 marble, with eyes of turquoise set into the 

 stone. Its neck is encircled by a collar, to 

 which is attached a piece of mother-of-pearl. 

 This object was an ancient fetich of the 

 Pueblo Indians, and was supposed to have 

 the power of causing rain. Fig. 3 is a silver 

 ring set with a turquoise, and Fig. 4 a heart- 

 shaped piece of the same mineral, engraved 

 vvitli a figure of two crossed arrows, and pro- 

 vided with a silver ring by which it can be 

 suspended. 



Turquoise is still found in the southwestern 

 part of this country, and the descendants of 

 the ancient inhabitants at the present day 

 offer specimens of the mineral to the traveller 

 while the trains stop at the stations. Really 

 fine specimens, however, are very rare, and 

 are quickly bought up b}- local collectors and 

 agents. 



[Special Correspondence ot The Popular Science New8.\ 

 PARIS LETTER. 



The seventy international scientific meetings 

 wliich were to be held in Paris, at the occasion of 

 the Exhibition, now belong to the past, and the sec- 

 retaries are busy in preparing the volumeiiPwhich 

 contain the transactions of tliese meetings and the 

 papers read by the contributors. This collection of 

 seventy or more volumes will remain as a fine 

 memento — scientifically speaking — of intellectual 

 activity in 1889. It would certainly be interesting 

 work to review in a few pages, and very summarily, 

 the progress achieved in the last century in all 

 departments of science. How many of the, at 

 present, most crowded parts of science, — those in 

 which tlie most activity is displayed, — were little 

 dreamt of a hundred years ago; what wonders for 

 the e^es of our fathers, if they could come to life 

 again ! And if, at the end of the next century, the 

 progress realized is on a par with that of which we 

 are spectators, what will huinan knowledge be .' We 

 can no more surmise the future than our 1789 fore- 

 fathers could, and can but regret that our eyes will 

 be closed and will not see the future. The collection 

 of the seventy transactions will be accompanied by 

 another very interesting document — a voluminous 

 work, in which all the lectures given in the Exhibi- 

 tion, concerning the exhibits, will be published. 

 These lectures have been delivered by competent 

 •men in all departments of science, either practical 

 or speculative; they all pertain to the Exhibition, 

 explaining different parts of the grand whole, and 

 will serve as a retrospective guide in many a case. 

 It is expected this work will be published in the 

 course of a few months, and the seventy volumes 

 will be ready in about the same time. 



A few days ago a statue was unveiled in Alais, a 

 small town in the south of France, in the pleasant 

 region of the olive trees at the foot of the Cevenne 

 mountains, — a statue erected to the memory of the 

 great chemist, J. B. Dumas. The ceremony was a 

 very imposing one, as M. Pasteur was in attendance 

 and delivered a very good speech. M. Pasteur stood 

 on one of his best battle-grounds, since it is at 

 Alais, and in the neighborhood, that he conducted 

 his studies on the disease of the silkworm, and dis- 

 covered the cause of the malady. 



M. Mosso, of Turin, in Italy, published, a few 

 months ago, a very curious paper in the Archives 

 Haliennes de Biologic, concerning the toxic proper- 



ties of the blood of different fishes, lie has seen 

 that when this blood, although quite fresh and pure, 

 containing no bacteria of any toxic power, is injected 

 into the circulatory system of mammals, even in the 

 dose of a few drops, it gives birth to very peculiar 

 symptoms, which end in a rapid death. In a recent 

 paper, the same author has studied the phenomena 

 he has described, and trys to give an explanation 

 thereof He has seen that the liquid part of the 

 blood, i. e., the serum deprived of the blood- 

 corpuscles, is the part in which the toxic property 

 resides. The poison is destroyed by mineral and 

 organic acids, carbonic acid being excepted. Alka- 

 lies also destroy the poisonous power, and if blood 

 serum treated by alkalies is next saturated with 

 acids, the toxic power does not return. On the 

 other hand, dialysing the blood gives no clue to the 

 question ; or, at least, it shows that the poison is 

 neither a free acid, nor a peptone, nor a dialysable 

 salt. The poison differs, therefore, from the .serpent 

 venom, which, as Mitchell and Reichert have shown, 

 consists of an albuminous body. When introduced 

 into the digestive system, the venom causes no harm 

 whatever, and the gastric fluids seem to enjoy the 

 property of rendering the venom entirely harmless. 

 The putrefying process also destroys the venom, 

 and the same result obtains when the venom is 

 heated over 700° Cent. What, then, is this venom, 

 whose toxic power is so great, and the effects so 

 sudden .' M. Mosso shows, through careful experi- 

 ments, that it consists of an albuminous body, which 

 is contained in the serum of the blood. Such is the 

 present conclusion of M. Mosso. While writing 

 about venoms, I wish to call the attention of readers 

 interested in the matter to a book recently published 

 by M. Bottard, on the venomous fish, {I.es I'oissons 

 Venimeiix, Paris, Doin, 18S9 ) It is a good work 

 concerning the toxic power of many fishes, either 

 tropical or European. It gives a description of the 

 glandular apparatus which secretes the venom, and 

 of the weapons through which the fishes inflict 

 injury. Finally, it gives some account of the influ- 

 ence exerted by the venoms on man and animals. 

 Many of these venomous fishes are very dangerous, 

 especially in tropical parts, — the wound, in some 

 cases, being followed by death, or, at least, by severe 

 symptoms. 



To pass to a neighboring topic, I would also 

 recommend to those interested in bacteriology, a 

 pamphlet on La Maladie Pyocyanique, by M. Char- 

 rin, published by Steinheil. Pyocyanin is a chemi- 

 cal substance, well known in many respects, which 

 is made up by a microbe, which is not exactly a 

 pathogenetic one, but which enjoys the singular 

 property of coloring wound-discharges blue. This 

 microbe produces, through its vital activity, a blue 

 matter, which gives its color to the discharge. This 

 blue matter, which can easily be separated through 

 chemical methods, gives birth to peculiar morbid 

 symptoms, when inoculated into animals — to rabbits, 

 especially. M. Charrin has studied very thoroughly 

 this microbe and its effects on animals, the influence 

 of various matters and conditions upon its patho- 

 genetic action, and many other allied questions, 

 and has produced a very able and useful document, 

 in which very useful hints as to the method of 

 studying bacteria and microbes, and the way in 

 which the^' are harmful, are given. In fact, this 

 pamphlet has won for its author a prize among 

 those which are awarded by the Academy of Sci- 

 ences of Paris. 



M. Giard, the well-known professor of Darwinism 

 in the Faculty of Sciences, has recently discovered 

 an interesting fact. He found on the sea-beach, 

 one day last summer, one of those so numerous 

 amphipoda which hop about in the sand and peb- 

 bles. One of these small and transparent crusta- 



ceans seemed weak and miserable, and M. Giard 

 kept it, in order to examine it at home, and was 

 much surprised in perceiving that it was luminous, 

 or phosphorescent. M. Giard carefully studied the 

 matter, and has arrived at the conclusion that the 

 phosphorescence of these crustaceans is the sign of 

 a peculiar disease, which is easily transferred from 

 one individual to another by injecting into his body 

 a small quantity of any part of the others. The 

 disease is due to a peculiar microbe, which may 

 easily be cultivated in appropriate media, and 

 which may be inoculated on many animals, with 

 the same eft'ect of rendering them luminous. The 

 animals I speak of are other crustaceans, and the 

 reader must not believe that a cat or dog may be 

 rendered phosphorescent! 



In a recent number of the bulletin of the Jardin 

 d' Acdimaiation , M. A. Crette delivered some inter- 

 esting remarks concerning the destruction of birds 

 by telegraph wires. In many parts of France, 

 especially in the parts where towns are scarce, and 

 where railways cross long tracts of farm lands where 

 dwellings are infrequent, and less apt to frighten 

 away wild birds, considerable numbers are found 

 along side of the railways, killed by violent contact 

 with the telegraph wires, which they encounter, 

 mostly at night, in their rapid flight, without having 

 time to avoid them. This is one, and only one, of 

 the numerous ways in which civilization indirectly 

 affects wild animals, — apart from those in which it 

 is directly obnoxious to them, — and it certainly 

 would be an interesting task to try to summarize a 

 number of these instances. They are certainly very 

 varied, and the number and variety would surprise 

 the uninitiated. 



An idea which might be submitted to the origina- 

 tors of the United States exhibition of 1892, if it 

 does t,ike place : Among the most interesting 

 features of the Palais des Arts Liberaux, although 

 it has been but little noticed by the gros public, 

 were two maps of France — industrial France in 

 17S9, and industrial France in 1S89. Of course, as 

 only two years were employed in preparing the 

 maps, all branches of industry were not represented, 

 but only the principal ones. It is very interesting 

 to watch, by comparison of the two maps, the pro- 

 gress of industry, and such maps, concerning the 

 United States, would certainly prove of the greatest 

 interest. I suppose the 1792 map could be easily 

 enough gotten up, and statistics are not wanting to 

 indicate the present status. In no better manner 

 could the prodigious progress of the States be sum- 

 marized ; none could be more easily understood by 

 all ; none could be more graphic and precise. If 

 some persons are interested in the manner in which 

 the maps were prepared and are made, I will be 

 happy to give them the necessary information. At 

 all events, if anyone purposes doing the work, it is 

 time to begin. Ji_ 



Paris, Oct. 23, 1S89. 



<♦» 



[Specially Observed for The Popular Science NeiDi.] 

 METEOROLOGY FOR OCTOBER, 1889. 



TEMPERATURE, 



Average Thermometer. 



At 7 A. M. 

 At 2 p. M. 

 At 9 p. M. 



Whole Month 



Last 19 Octobers . 



44-32 



46^2° 

 4S.44* 



50^3° 



Lowest. 



3>' 



40° 

 30° 

 30° 



I 46.60' 

 ' in 188S. 



Highest. 



63- 



7'° 

 61" 



7i° 



.S6.16' j 

 in 1S79. 1 



Range. 



3'" 

 3'" 

 41° 



9.56' 



The lowest point of the mercury the past month, 

 at the hours of observation, was 30°, on the evening 

 of the 23d. It stood at 31° on the mornings pre- 

 ceding and following. The 23d was the coldest day, 

 averaging 36.33". The next coldest were the day 



