•26 



SCIENCE. 



[Voi_ II., No. 22. 



are aflBxed and compounded to au indefinite extent. 

 Gender is indicated by the affixes for male and female, 

 and there is no distinction between animate and in- 

 animate. The numeral system is decimal, and ends 

 witli tapUrisa (ended are the numbers), the word for 

 a million. There are two moods of the verb, — the in- 

 dicative and the imperative. There are two classes of 

 personal pronouns, — the inclusive of the speaker, and 

 the exclusive. Other peculiarities in grammar are 

 pointed out by Dr. Parker in an exhaustive diction- 

 ary of fourteen dialects, which unite the Malagasy 

 with the Malay stock-language. To account for this 

 anomaly of race and language. Dr. Hildebrand sup- 

 poses the Hovas to have first settled the Island, and 

 to have been overpowered by African marauders, who 

 killed most of the Hova men, and married their 

 wives. The children, learning their language from 

 the mothers, perpetuated at the same time their 

 African blood and their Malay language. But Dr. 

 Parker seriously objects to this explanation. Mr. 

 Keane is of the opinion that the Africans were intro- 

 duced as slaves, who, while gradually corrupting 

 the blood, would have little effect upon the language. 

 Dr. G. Oppert also commented upon the paper. — 

 {Journ. anthrop. inst., xii. 478.) J. Vf. p. [38 



The flora of ancient Egypt. — The student of 

 anthropology is repeatedly charmed and surprised by 

 the varied and brilliant illumination thrown upon 

 his subject by sister sciences. He is not less pleased 

 to know that quite frequently the light proceeds 

 in the other direction, and that liunian custom pre- 

 serves for other sciences their sibylline leaves. In 

 ISSl Emil Brugsch Bey discovered in the vault of a 

 king of the twentieth dynasty a large number of 

 plants contained in the funeral offerings, repasts, and 

 wreaths of the dead. Among tliese are several 

 species not known to have belonged to ancient Egypt. 

 Mr. G. Schweinfurth, dejnited by M. Maspero, has 

 studied these plants, and classified them in the Egyp- 

 tological museuiu of Boulak, according to the high 

 personages for whom they were intended. A very 

 extended and interesting account of these labors was 

 communicated to Sir Joseph D. Hooker, together with 

 a set of the wreaths, flowers, etc., described. Ex- 

 cellent illustrations accompany the paper of Mr. 

 Schweinfurth. These objects were exhibited at the 

 annual soiree of the Royal society on the 25th of 

 May, and are now on view at the Eoyal gardens, 

 Kew. — {Nature, May 31.) j. w. p. [39 



INTELLIGENCI] FROM AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC STATIONS. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

 Missouri weather service, St. Louis. 



Weather report for May. — The average tempera- 

 ture for May at the central station has been 63.4°, 

 which is 2.8° below the normal temperature, and 3.5° 

 above the temperature of May, 18S2. Since 1837 the 

 May temperature has fallen below that of last month 

 five times. The extremes during last month at the 

 central station were 38.0° and 88.4°; although, in the 

 suburbs of St. Louis, the temperature fell to 36.0° on 

 the evening of the 21st. In 1851 Dr. Engelmann 

 observed a temperature of 29.0° in May, but it was in 

 the early part of the month. The lowest minimum 

 temperatures reported were, 29.5° at Centreville; 

 31.0°, at Big Creek, Warren county; 32.0°, at Steel- 

 ville; all other stations reporting over 34.0°. The 

 highest minimum temperatures are reported from 

 Glasgow, 45.0°, and Harrisonville, 47.0°. The high- 

 est maximum temperatures reported were, Corring, 

 91.0°; Miami, 98.0°; Harrisonville and Big Creek, 

 90.0°. The highest average temperatures reported 

 were, Cairo, 111., 65.2°; Mascoutah, 111., 65.0°; Harri- 

 sonville, 64.0°: the lowest being at Keokuk, lo., 

 59.9°; Macon, 60.4°; Louisiana, 60.5°. 



The rainfall at the central station was 2.61 inches, 

 which is 2.2 inches helow the normal May rainfall at 

 St. Louis. In western Missouri, however, from Harri- 

 sonville northward along the Missouri valley, the rain- 

 fall has been over seven inches; and a small maximum 

 of over seven inches occurs in the region around Iron- 

 ton. An area of minimum rainfall of between two 

 and three inches occurs in south-west Missouri, 



around Greenfield and Lamar, and another occurs 

 along the lower Missouri below Chamois, extending 

 along the Mississippi as far south as Cairo. 



On the 13th, tornadoes occurred at various points 

 in Missouri and Kansas, as follows: the town of 

 Oronogo, Jasper county, was destroyed at about 7.40 

 P.M., two persons being killed, and forty injured. 

 This tornado is probably the one which passed about 

 two miles north of Carthage. Hailstones as large as 

 hen's eggs fell at Springfield at about 10 p.m. An- 

 other storm passed two miles south-east of Pattons- 

 ville, Davies county, on the same evening. Two 

 tornadoes passed through Kansas City at 5 o'clock, one 

 passing a few minutes later than the other. Several 

 persons were killed, and a great deal of damage was 

 done to property. These whirls were slender whip- 

 like vortices, the diameter at the surface of the earth 

 being only a few feet, although the destructive path 

 was about seventy feet. These storms originated 

 apparently in Wyandotte county, Kan., where they 

 caused great damage. A later development of this 

 storm passed through Macon City, one hundred and 

 twenty miles east-nortli-east from Kansas City, where 

 a tornado occurred about 8.30 P.M. The track was 

 from one-fourth to tliree-eighths of a mile wide. 

 Tliree persons were killed at Macon. 



On the 18th, tornadoes occurred in Missouri, Illi- 

 nois, and Wisconsin. At 7 p.m. a tornado did con- 

 siderable damage at Berger, Gasconade county. Mo. 

 At about 8.20 p.m. a tornado passed through Wentz- 

 ville from the south-west, causing great destruction 

 to property, and loss of life, as far as St. Paul, Mo. 

 At about the same time a storm passed from Cottle- 



