26 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 336 



Another notable fact brought out in this comparison is the dimin- 

 ished number of mines producing these totals. At the commence- 

 ment of the decade there were about loo mines at work : last year, 

 only 50 were producing ore. 



— A recent issue of the French Journal Officzel contains the re- 

 port of the consultative committee for sea-fisheries in France, on 

 the subject of poisoning through the eating of mussels. The com - 

 mittee, in the first place, recognize that the oysters which cause 

 poisoning are those which have become stale, or have been kept in 

 water rendered foul by decomposed organic matter, and question 

 whether the same may not be the case with regard to mussels. 

 Various explanations of mussel-poisoning were made to the com- 

 mittee. By some it was attributed to a parasite crab {Pinnotheres 

 pisuvi). This explanation, however, was unsatisfactory, for in the 

 United States this Pvmotheres is sought after as food. By others 

 the presence of the poison was attributed to the spawn of star-fish, 

 and also to copper absorbed from wrecks. Both these suggestions 

 were, however, disproved. The theory of Orfila, also, that the 

 poisonous action of the mussels in the stomach is the result of 

 imagination, does not find acceptance at the hands of the com- 

 mittee. An authority on the sulDJect has found that the mussels 

 lose their poisonous property if cooked for a period of ten minutes 

 with carbonate of soda. The committee conclude that the poison- 

 ous nature of the mussels is due to the presence in them, espe- 

 cially in the liver, of a volatile organic alkaloid {mytilotoxine de 

 Briefer), developed under the influence of a particular microbe 

 which is only found in mussels living in stagnant and polluted 

 waters. Finally, they advocate the removal of all restrictions on 

 mussels in artificial beds, and recommend the sale at all times, at 

 fish-markets, of mussels coming from such beds, which are usually 

 situated in favorable localities, — a sale which is at present pro- 

 hibited in France during May and June. 



— There is being exerted at this time an effort for the establish- 

 ment in the University of Pennsylvania of a department of peda- 

 gogics. The university being without the necessary funds for this 

 work, two of this year's graduating class, as we learn from The 

 Philadelphia Telegraph, have undertaken the raising of ten thou- 

 sand dollars, which will provide for a three-years' salary for a peda- 

 gogic professor, and found a library ; and at the expiration of three 

 years it is believed that the department will be self-sustaining. A 

 short time ago Superintendent MacAlister of the Board of Educa- 

 tion addressed a letter to Dr. William Pepper, provost of the uni- 

 versity, in which he set forth the manifest urgency and value of 

 such a department. He said, " Until within a few years American 

 students were compelled to go abroad for the purpose of pursuing 

 their studies in this branch, and large numbers still find it advan- 

 tageous to avail themselves of opportunities which are but scantily 

 provided in this country. The German universities have long 

 maintained chairs of pedagogy. In the year 1876 a chair of edu- 

 cation was organized in the University of Edinburgh, and has since 

 been occupied by a distinguished scholar. Professor Laurie, who 

 has exerted great influence over the education of Scotland. Some 

 years ago, lectures on education were given for the first time in the 

 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and in both of these schools 

 lectures are now read regularly by men eminent as teachers. 

 The first chair of pedagogy in the United States was organized in 

 1879, in the University of Michigan, and this was followed by the 

 establishment of professorships in the Universities of Wisconsin, 

 Iowa, Cornell, and other less important schools. The only serious 

 attempt thus far made to furnish opportunity for the study of peda- 

 gogy in the older States was the work done by Professor G. Stan- 

 ley Hall before his retirement from Johns Hopkins ; and it is un- 

 derstood that this department will be recognized in the new Clarke 

 University in Massachusetts, of which Dr. Hall has been appointed 

 president. It is only a question of time when all the great schools 

 in the Eastern and Middle States will be moving in this direction." 

 Professor MacAlister remarks, that, if the great function of a uni- 

 versity is to teach and supply the world with teachers, it cannot be 

 said to fully perform its office if it does not provide adequate pro- 

 fessional preparations for the teacher's work beyond the studies of 

 the academic curriculum. He holds that in a department of peda- 

 gogy the instruction should consist of the following courses : his- 



tory of education, psychology and its relation to education, the 

 science and art of teaching, organization and administration of 

 school systems, school hygiene. He adds, " With the provisions 

 already existing in the university, the organization of such a de- 

 partment could be easily secured, and the financial responsibility 

 incurred would be very slight. A chair of the history and science 

 of education would be sufficient to begin with. The chair of psy- 

 chology, recently organized, the chair of philosophy, the chair of 

 political economy, the chair of hygiene, could be made available in 

 furnishing the additional courses required. The general course in 

 pedagogy would probably not extend beyond one year, but special 

 courses could be formed for those desirous of more extended study. 

 To give the department academic dignity, and make it really valu- 

 able, a degree should be granted. The degree of Ph.D. is sug- 

 gested, which might be given on examination in the courses in 

 pedagogy, with such additional electives — say, three or four — in 

 language, literature, science, or history as might be prescribed. In 

 this way the department of pedagogy would become affiliated with 

 the general instruction of the university, and would also fall into 

 place among the university courses created during the present aca- 

 demic year." 



— No other ancient works of the United States have become so 

 widely known, or have excited so much interest, as those of Ohio. 

 This is due in part to their remarkable character, but in a much 

 greater degree to the " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi 

 Valley," by Messrs. Squier and Davis, in which these monuments 

 are described and figured. The constantly recurring question, 

 " Who constructed these works ? " has brought before the public a 

 number of widely different theories, though the one which has been 

 most generally accepted is that they originated with a people long 

 since extinct or driven from the country, who had attained a cul- 

 ture status much in advance of that reached by the aborigines in- 

 habiting the country at the time of its discovery by Europeans. 

 The opinion advanced in a paper by Cyrus Thomas, on " The 

 Problem of the Ohio Mounds," published by the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology, in support of which evidence is presented, is that the an- 

 cient works of the State are due to Indians of several different 

 tribes, and that some, at least, of the typical works, were built by 

 the ancestors of the modern Cherokees. The discussion is limited 

 chiefly to the latter proposition, as the limits of the paper do not 

 permit a full presentation of all the data which might be brought 

 forward in support of the theory, and the line of argument is sub- 

 stantially as follows : First, A brief statement of the reasons for 

 believing that the Indians were the authors of all the ancient monu- 

 ments of the Mississippi valley and Gulf States : consequently the 

 Ohio mounds must have been built by Indians. Second, Evidence 

 that the Cherokees were mound-builders after reaching their his- 

 toric seats in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. This 

 and the preceding positions are strengthened by the introduction of 

 evidence showing that the Shawnees were the authors of a certain 

 type of stone graves, and of mounds and other works connected 

 therewith. Third, A tracing of the Cherokees, by the mound testi- 

 mony and by tradition, back to Ohio. Fourth, Reasons for be- 

 lieving that the Cherokees were the Tallegwi of tradition, and the 

 authors of some of the typical works of Ohio. 



— The Glasgow Herald states that last year, while some work- 

 men were engaged in drainage operations at Lochavullin for the 

 purpose of forming a public park, they discovered what was be- 

 lieved to be an old " crannog." or lake-dwelling ; and several ex- 

 perts who visited it were of opinion that it was a very good speci- 

 men of an ancient lake-dweUing. Arrangements were made by 

 the town council for its being properly investigated and preserved 

 as far as possible, but the weather has rendered operations im- 

 practicable till within the last few days. Workmen are now en- 

 gaged in excavating round the place ; and recently it was visited 

 by Mr. Cochran-Patrick, under-secretary for Scotland, and other 

 gentlemen interested. Among the articles turned up by the work- 

 men during the examination were a stone bullet, such as would 

 have been used in the slings of the period to which the dwelling is 

 supposed to have belonged, and portions of the wattle used in the 

 construction of the dwelling. Professor Hedley of St. Andrews 

 took some photographs of the place. 



