January 23, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



49 



the coast from Collins Inlet to McCoy Islands, including the har- 

 bors of French River, Byng Inlet, and Point au Baril. In conse- 

 quence of the shoal water, low land, and innumerable islands in 

 this sheet, navigation is very difficult, and the extremely broken 

 character of the coast line shows the immense quantity of work 

 involved in making a thorough survey of this district. The sec- 

 ond chart referred to shows St. Joseph's Channel north of St. 

 Joseph Island, and will be of great use to American as well as 

 Canadian shipping. It includes the western limit of Capt. Boul- 

 ton's work, the west extremity of the sheet connecting with the 

 American Coast Survey charts. 



— At the cueetirig of the French Academy on Dec. 8, as we 

 learn from Nature of Jan. 1, 1891, M. Mascart presented a work 

 by Gen. A. de Tillo on the distribution of atmospheric pressure in 

 the Russian Empire and Asia from 1836 to 18S5. The work con- 

 sists of an atlas of 69 charts, and a discussion of the monthly and 

 annual values, as well as of the variability of pressure, and the 

 relations existing between the variations of pressure and those of 

 temperature at 136 stations. The highest pressure quoted is 31.63 

 inches (reduced to sea-level), in December, 1877, atBarnaoul; and 

 this is stated to be the highest reading on record. But in the 

 ^larterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society for July, 

 1887, Mr. C. Harding quoted, on the authority of Professor Loomis, 

 a reading of 31.72 inches on Dec. 16, 1877, at Seraipatalinsk. In 

 Nature, vol. xxxv. p. 344, Mr. Blanford quoted the lowest read- 

 ing on record at.any land station, viz., 37.12 (reduced to English 

 •standards), which occurred on Sept. 22, 1885, on the coast of Orissa. 

 These readings give a difference of 4.6 inches, probably the max- 

 imum range of the barometer ever observed at the earth's surf ace. 



— A microscopical study by Herr Schultz, of the skin of toads 

 and salamanders, has yielded some interesting results. As stated 

 in Nature, there are two kinds of glands, — mucus and poison 

 glands. The former are numerous over the whole body ; while 

 the latter are on the back of body and limbs, and there are groups 

 in the ear-region behind the eye, and in the salamander at the 

 angle of the jaw. The mucus-glands are spherical, have a clear, 

 glassy appearance, and contain mucus-cells and mucus : the 

 poison-glands, which are in regular strips on the salamander, are 

 oval, much larger, and have a dark, granular look, from strongly 

 refractive drops of poison, a good re-agent for which is copper- 

 lisematoxylin. The poisonous elements are from epithelial cells 

 lining the glands. The mucus-glands are for moistening the skin ; 

 and the liquid has no special smell, nor a bitter or acid taste. 

 The poison-glands are, of course, protective ; and the corrosive 

 juice is discharged differently in toads and salamanders, on stim- 

 ulating electrically. In the latter it is spirted out in a tine jet, 

 sometimes more than a foot in length ; whereas in the toad, after 

 longer action of the current, it exudes sparingly in drops. The 

 physiological action of the poison has lately been studied by some 

 Frenchmen. There is no reason, according to Herr Schultz, for 

 supposing that the mucus-glands sometimes become poisonous. 



— At a meeting of the Biological Club of Columbus. O., Jan, 5, 

 Professor Lazenby gave a report of the twenty-fourth annual 

 meeting of the Ohio State Horticultural Society, recently held at 

 Zanesville, saying that the principal interest seemed to centre in 

 three subjects, — new varieties of fruits; the use of fungicides; 

 and cross-fertilization, especially between the peach and cherry. 

 It was the decision of fruit-growers present that for them the 

 older, standard varieties are still much better than many of those 

 of only recent advent in the horticultural world. For the para- 

 sitic fungi, which do such great injury to many of our fruit-trees 

 and vines, it was recommended to spray with a solution of sul- 

 phate of copper and ammonia. All the difference in a fruit-crop 

 between success and failure may be seen by comparing those or- 

 chards and vineyards which have been sprayed with those which 

 have not. For cross-fertilization it may be said that the experi- 

 ment of crossing the peach and cherry was successful in eleven 

 instances last spring at the Ohio State University. Mr. W. C. 

 Werner next spoke of the varieties of the beautiful little ever- 

 green, much used for hedges, thearbor-vitae ( Thuyia occi<lentalis). 

 Mr. C. P. Sigerfoos described two Indian graves recently opened 

 in a gravel pit near the western extension of Lane Avenue at 



North Columbus. These graves were in a cultivated field situated 

 on a promontory near the Olentangy River at the new bridge jut^t 

 above the college farm. One contained the skeleton of a man 

 about twenty-five years of age, and the other that of a woman of 

 about sixty years. Each had evidently been buried in a sitting 

 posture; and tbe hand of the man was supported toward the 

 mouth with a mussel-shell near it, as though it had been intended 

 to serve as a drinking-vessel for the entombed individual on his 

 journey to the land of the Great Spirit. The bottom of this grave 

 was at least seven feet beneath the surface of the ground, so the 

 head was covered by about three feet of soil. For about one foot 

 under the skeleton was found disturbed gravel and dirt, and be- 

 neath this was yet two or three inches of ashes and cinders. The 

 charcoal, one piece being two and one-half feet long, showed that 

 there had been a fire which was smothered by the material thrown 

 over it. The woman's grave showed no evidences of fire beneath 

 it, although such were found above in the form of cinders mixed 

 with the material with which the grave was fUled. No relics 

 whatever were found excepting some pieces of pottery in each 

 grave. 



— In a report to the British Foreign Office, recently published, 

 Col. Stewart, the British consul-general at Tabreez, calls attention 

 to the curious system of lakes in that region, situated at a <;reat 

 elevation above the sea-level. According to Nature of Jan. 8, 

 these are the lake of TJrumia, situated 4,100 feet above the sea. 

 Lake Van, and the Guektcha lake. Lake Van is in Turkish 

 territory, and the Guektcha lake in Russian territory, though 

 both are near the bottom of the Persian province of Azarbaijan, 

 in which is situated the lake of Ui-umia, the largest and most im- 

 portant. It is 84 miles long and 24 miles broad, and is probably 

 the saltest piece of water on earth, being much Salter than the 

 Dead Sea. The water contains nearly 23 per cent of salt. Its 

 norlhei-n coasts are incrusttd with a border of salt glittering white 

 in the sim. It is said that no living thing can survive in it, but 

 a very small species of jelly-fish does exist in its waters. Many 

 streams pour down from the Kurdish Mountains, which border 

 Turkey, and render the country between them and the lake of 

 Urumia very green and fertile. This part of the country looks 

 more like India than Persia, but the climate is severe in winter. 

 The whole country being situated from 4,000 feet to 5,000 feet 

 above ocean-level, the snowfall in winter is great. At night in 

 winter the thermometer falls frequently below zero of Fahrenheit, 

 but in the day-time it rises considerably, generally reaching 28° 

 or 30°, and this with a bright sun over head. Many people are 

 frozen to death on the roads in winter while crossing the various 

 passes. The winter climate may be compared to that of Canada, 

 but the summer approaches that of northern India. 



— The wren is generally supposed to be a gentle little bird, yet 

 on occasion it seems capable of displaying anything but an amia- 

 ble temper. In the Selborne Society's magazine, Mr. Aubrey Ed- 

 wards gives from his note-book the following account (quoted in 

 Nature of Jan. 1) of what he calls " a disgraceful scene " between 

 two male wrens: "April 15, 1889. — I have just been watching two 

 golden-crested wrens fighting. They first attracted my attention 

 by getting up from the ground almost under my feet, and enga- 

 ging again and falling to the ground. Then rising again, one 

 chased the other into a yew-tree near, where I had a good close 

 view of them as they challenged each other, ruffling their feath- 

 ers, shaking their bodies, singing and dancing about with crests 

 erected, the sun shining on the orange-colored crests, — such a 

 pretty sight! After they had been talking big at each other for 

 some minutes, the hen arrived on the scene, and a desperate fight 

 ensued, the two cocks falling to the ground in fierce embrace, 

 rolling over each other occasionally, but for the most part lying 

 still on the ground with their claws buried in each other's feathers 

 for about a minute. The hen was close by them on the ground, 

 moving about, and looking very much concerned at the affray. 

 Her pale-yellow crest contrasted notably with the rich orange of 

 the males. After getting up, renewing the combat in a currant- 

 bush, falling again, and struggling on the ground, they rose and 

 had a chase round the yew-ti-ees, the hen following to see the fun, 

 and presently went off and were lost to view." 



