SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIV. No. 346 



walnut trunks and oak staves for casks. The heights of the Nis- 

 chava valley, Stalatz, and Krushevatz furnish excellent building- 

 timber. Oak forests are abundant on the Turkish frontier of 

 Vrania. Walnut-trees, which attain to an enormous growth, have 

 been mercilessly dealt with, the value of this timber having at- 

 tracted the attention of Austrian merchants, who send agents to 

 choose and cut the wood for exportation. The fir and juniper are 

 found in the central and western valleys ; and on the great Ko- 

 pavnik range on the south-east, the pine on the heights of Zlatibor. 



— Mining for ice is a possible future industry, according to the 

 American Geologist, which states that an immense deposit of ice, 

 thought to have its date from the glacial period, has been found in 

 Pine Creek Canon, Idaho. Capitalists, it adds, are considering the 

 feasibility of mining it for commercial purposes. 



— The Industrie Textile has a long account of the treatment of 

 wild silks (that is, those which are furnished by silkworms other 

 than those of the domesticated Bombyx 7iiori) in their native coun- 

 tries. In India there are no less than fifty varieties of silk-bearing 

 insects, the most important of which is called " tussur ; '' that is, 

 " the weaver's shuttle." The caterpillar, like the moth, is of a great 

 size, and feeds upon more than thirty species of plants. The co- 

 coons of the tussur, which make their appearance twice in the year, 

 are found attached to the branches of trees in the jungle in large 

 oval masses. The caterpillar lives from thirty to forty days, and 

 then weaves its cocoon. In four or six weeks from this time the 

 moth comes out and lays eggs, from which comes a second gener- 

 ation of caterpillars. These wrap themselves in the cocoon, and 

 remain hanging to the trees throughout the rainy season ; that is, 

 for seven or eight months. The cocoon, which is about four times 

 the size of that of the mulberry silkworm, is composed of a double 

 and interrupted thread of about 1,400 metres in length. The 

 thread is impregnated with uric acid of sodium, which must be re- 

 moved by the aid of an alkaline wash before the thread is un- 

 wound. The tussur is tended with great care : in fact, for centu- 

 ries various religious usages have been employed in rearing it. The 

 moth, which is a large insect of a brownish color, having its wings 

 beautified by four transparent eyes, is venerated, and may be only 

 approached by people of a certain caste. Unlike the tussur, which 

 has been domesticated in India for some thousands of years, the 

 cocoons of the other species are collected in the jungle. Among 

 these is the Aitactis cytithea, which feeds on the castor-oil plant, 

 and of which the cocoon is white. Other species are the Antheraa 

 assama,'^XiA the Crictila trifenestra,vihich lives on the mangrove- 

 tree, and spins a cocoon of a bright golden color. The most im- 

 portant Chinese species is the Anthema pernyi, which is culti- 

 vated in the province of Sze-chuan. In China also is found the 

 most beautiful of all moths, the Attacus altas, which spins an 

 enormous cocoon, covered at both ends with a very thick silk, 

 known as " Fagara silk." In Japan are the Ailanthus caterpillar, 

 and the Yamatiai, which till lately was reserved for the exclusive 

 use of the Mikado ; and the exportation of the eggs was an offence 

 punishable with death. At present attempts are being made to 

 cultivate this species in France, and it is believed they will be suc- 

 cessful. 



— At a recent meeting of the Kansas Academy of Science, Pro- 

 fessor F. H. Snow of the University of Kansas presented a paper 

 upon the species of fossil leaves of the Kansas Dakota rocks. One 

 of these species, of the new genus Betuliies, according to Lesque- 

 reux, but referable to Vibiirjium according to Saporta, is named 

 by Lesquereux Betulites Vestii, in honor of the indefatigable col- 

 lector of these fossils, Mr. E. P. West. A large proportion of the 

 specimens of this very variable species are found to be provided 

 with stipules, which leaf appendages were not previously known to 

 be connected with the Dakota leaves. These stipules, instead of 

 being uniformly in pairs, one upon each side of the base of the 

 petiole, as is the case in living dicotyledons provided with these 

 appendages, are either single (in which case they may be entire, 

 cleft, or parted), or they are in occasional instances entirely divided, 

 constituting a pair of stipules ; but, whether single or divided, they 

 are nearly always unilateral, i.e., situated upon one side of the leaf- 

 stem or petiole. In only one instance among at least one hundred 

 stipulate leaves examined are the stipules bilateral, so that their 



unilateral character fairly distinguishes them from the stipules of 

 modern dicotyledons. The significance of the discovery of these 

 cretaceous stipules lies in the fact that we have here an additional 

 proof of the descent of our modern forms of vegetation from the 

 ancient forms by a gradual series of changes. To the superficial 

 observer it would seem that our modern forest-leaves are absolutely 

 identical with the cretaceous leaves, which, according to Dana's- 

 time-ratios, flourished about five million years ago. The oppo- 

 nents of the modern theory of origin of species by descent have 

 derived a strong argument from the apparent identity of the mod- 

 ern with the ancient forms ; but the identity is apparent only, not 

 real. Lesquereux has noted the fact that the Dakota leaves, as a 

 rule, have entire borders, while the modern forms of the same 

 genera have denticulated or serrated borders. Another difference 

 between the modern and the Dakota leaves consists in the greater 

 thickness and toughness, or, in botanical language, the coriaceous- 

 character, of the ancient forms. But in the stipules of the Dakota 

 leaves we not only have a prevailing unilateral position of these 

 organs, as distinguished from their modern bilateral arrangement,, 

 but we are able to witness the gradual change from the single un- 

 divided form through the successive steps of transformation to the 

 completely separated and finally bilateral pair; each stage of dif- 

 ferentiation being indelibly stereotyped upon the sandstone matrix 

 by which the leaves are enveloped. 



— On Dec. i, 1888, the resident population of Switzerland was 

 2,920,731, and the total population 2,934,027. Males numbered 

 1,427,377, and females, 1,506,650. Those speaking German 

 amounted to 2,092,530; French, 637,972; Italian, 156,606; Ro- 

 manche, 38,305 ; and various, 8,574. There were 1,724,957 Prot- 

 estants ; 1,190,008 Roman Catholics; 8,386 Jews; and of various 

 or no religions, 10,706. The returns for the chief towns were. 

 Bile, 70,386 ; Geneva, 52,457 ; Berne, 45,966 ; Zurich, 27,632. 



— Mr. G. W. Roosevelt, American consul at Bordeaux, in a re- 

 port on the treatment of diseases of vines in France, says that in- 

 spite of the numerous inventions meant to destroy Phylloxera, it 

 still continues its ravages. One of the most recent plans is that of 

 an American, Mr. L. H. Davis, who inoculates the vine, through a 

 carefully made excision, with a preparation which he claims is de- 

 structive to the Phylloxera, while it leaves the vine uninjured. It 

 is too soon yet to speak of the results of this plan. Dr. Griffin 

 advocates a distribution, by a machine constructed by him, of a 

 substance which can be used in either a dry or a liquid state. Last 

 spring he operated on a vineyard placed at his disposal by the 

 French Government, and had the satisfaction of seeing the vines 



' treated by him sound and healthy, while other plants in the same 

 vineyard were perishing. The most generally employed remedy 

 has been found to be very serviceable, and free from the danger 

 that was thought to foUowit ; that is, the submersion, for not less 

 than forty days, in carbon of sulphur dissolved in water. In light 

 permeable soils a strong mixture is used, but on hard soils a weaker 

 solution is better. Within the past few years the actual area of 

 the vines destroyed by this pest is 1,200,000 hectares, or, roughly 

 speaking, one-half of the vineyards of France ; and, if we remember 

 that a hectare of vines is worth about 6,000 francs, we can see what 

 a terrible loss France has suffered. In the case of Oidiicm, as in 

 that of Phylloxera, no positive remedy has yet been discovered \. 

 but the usual mode ^ that is, the application of sulphur, pure or 

 mixed — checks the disease, and at the same time helps the growth 

 of tlie vine. In fact, so great have been the good results of the 

 use of sulphur, that it will for the future be used in most vineyards,, 

 even where O'idium does not exist. Till the year 1885 no remedy 

 was known for mildew. Since that year, however, salts of copper 

 have been successfully employed, though there is some doubt 

 whether that substance is really beneficial to the vineyards. The 

 most general method is to pluck off the diseased leaves and burn 

 them. Besides these, there are other methods, such as the use of 

 boitillie bordelaise, eau celeste, ammoniate of copper, and verdigris 

 with powdered sulphate of copper. On account of the recent ap- 

 pearance of the disease called " black rot," no satisfactory remedy 

 has yet been tried. With regard to anthracnose, if steps are taken 

 early in the spring, the disease may be brought under control. Per- 

 haps the best remedy is a mixture of lime and sulphur. A first 



