September i8, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



159 



winter; of 1779-80, when for forty days, including March, there 

 was no perceptible thaw, and the snow was so hard and deep that 

 loaded teams passed over the fences in any direction, arches being 

 dug under the snow so that men on horseback could ride under 

 them, and which was long remembered as the hard winter; of 

 1784-85, when, as late as April 15, snow was two feet deep, and 

 frozen hard enough to bear cattle ; of 1785-86, when in the re- 

 markable storm of Nov. 35, the snow blew into balls, one of which 

 had rolled seventy-six feet, measuring seventeen and a half by 

 twenty-two inches; of 1794-95, when the "Betsey" was launched 

 in Salem on Christmas Day, the thermometer indicating 80° above 

 zero at noon, and men and boys went in swimming; of 1801-3, 

 when the "Ulysses," "Brutus," and " Volutia," three Salem ves- 

 sels, which sailed out of the harbor on a summer-like morning in 

 February, were all cast away at night on Cape Cod, in a terrible 

 snow-storm, which continued a week. He also referred to more 

 recent seasons, and to the cold winter of 1836-57, when in one 

 vreek in January was the coldest day by the thermometer ever 

 recorded of late years, mercury in Salem 30° below zero; travel on 

 the railroad between Boston and Salem entirely suspended from 

 Tuesday morning to Thursday afternoon. The recent mild winters 

 were also alluded to. 



— At the Bournemouth meeting of the British Medical Associa- 

 tion, a discussion on the subject of alcohol was initiated by a paper 

 by Dr. Samuel Wilks. In the course of his paper, as we learn 

 from Nature, he stated that he had no acquaintance with any 

 oi'ganic changes attributable to alcohol in the lungs and kidneys, 

 hut it seemed that the' digestive and nervous systems suffered, 

 Physiologists had failed to demonstrate the chemical changes which 

 it underwent in the body, and consequently it was imjiossible to 

 say whether it was of the nature of a food or not. No one had 

 yet seen a person who lived on alcohol, although there was evi- 

 dence of persons taking large quantities of alcohol who yet pre- 

 served their weight with a minimum of food ; and that supported 

 the theory that, although alcohol was not nutritive in itself, it 

 prevented the wear and tear of the body. The opposite theory 

 also existed, that alcohol acted as a spur to the nervous systeui and 

 quickly wore it out. He could not disapprove of the use of wine 

 and beer, if taken in moderation, by the masses of the people; but 

 as to spirits, or spirits and water, he had not made up his mind 

 that they were in any way useful, and he seldom recommended 

 them. Dr. Bucknill thought that the wise use of wine might cure 

 some cases and be useful in others. Dr. Norman Kerr said that 

 alcohol was a poison, analogous in many respects to other poisons. 

 Sir Risdom Bennett agreed with Dr. Wilks in not approving of 

 spirits as a beverage. He believed it to be useful in fever and in 

 some nervous diseases, but he did not think it desirable at the 

 present time to lay down any broad principles with regard to 

 alcohol with reference to the whole community. 



— In the hamlet of Sewardstone, England (as we learn from 

 Amatew Oardening), Mr. W. Melles, J. P., the leading landowner 

 in the district, has, at his own expense, supplied and planted a 

 collection of apples, pears, plums, cherries, and bush fruits for the 

 purpose of enabling the principles of fruit culture to form part of 

 the educational curriculum at the Sewardstone Board School. 

 The collection embraces all the most useful varieties, and the 

 trees are planted in such a manner that they form a border of 

 some width to the spacious playground. The boys and girls will 

 share in the work of attending to the culture of these trees, and 

 on certain days the head master, Mr. Spink, who is an enthusiast 

 on the subject, will give lessons on theory and practice. Mr. 

 Spink has drawn up a graduated scheme for teaching fruit culture 

 as a specific subject to his scholars, and this is being submitted to 

 the inspectors for their approval, so that the children may in due 

 course be examined thereon. According to Mr. Spink's scheme, 

 the children will first be taught the botany of an apple blossom 

 and fruit, followed by difference hetween seedling and parent, 

 planting, mulching, summer and winter pruning, thinning the 

 fruit, insect pests, packing, and storing the fruit: this will con- 

 stitute the first stage. The second stage will deal with the food 

 of fruit trees, manures, course of sap; and the third, the art of 

 propagation. The first stage in the scheme covers a variety of 



subjects, but Mr. Spink has been obliged to do this because most 

 of the boys leave the schools when they have passed the fifth 

 standard, and hence it is needful to let them know as much of the 

 first stage as possible before they do so. This is an excellent idea, 

 and one which might be followed with advantage by other schools 

 in country districts. " The exterior walls of schools might be 

 turned to good account for growing peaches, apricots, and the 

 finer kinds of pears and plums. If the head master could not 

 undertake the jiractical management of such trees, some of the 

 gentlemen who reside ini the parish would, in such a case, be do- 

 ing an excellent service by allowing their gardener to pay occa- 

 sional visits, and advise, as well as give practical illustrations of 

 the systems of pruning, disbudding, etc. If the correct principles 

 of fruit culture could only be firmly instilled in the minds of boys 

 and girls when at school, they would grow up into men and 

 women armed with information that would, whether as servants 

 or masters, be of the greatest possible value to them and to the 

 welfare of the country generally." 



— The Photographic News says that the great progress that has 

 been made in the methods by which rapid movements can be 

 analyzed is well seen in a series of photographs lately taken by 

 Anchiitz of Lissa, who has already given to the world some of the 

 best instantaneous pictures ever taken. The subject of the pictures 

 at present under consideration is a dog jumping over a small bush. 

 In the act of making one jump the animal has been photographed 

 twenty-four separate times, and each picture is not a mere sil- 

 houette, as was the case with Muybridge's first attempts of this 

 kind, but a little picture showing half-tone and detail. Some of 

 the attitudes are, of course, comic in appearance, for they repre- 

 sent phases of a movement which the eye is unaccustomed to, and 

 cannot possibly appreciate. Notably is this the case in the com- 

 mencement of the jump, when the dog's hind toes only touch the 

 ground; and again at the finish of the jump, when his legs are 

 gathered together in a heap. 



— -We have received from Mr. Mostyn, says Nature, an inter- 

 esting letter on the well-known appearance of the green ray at 

 sunrise or sunset caused by the refraction of the air. He states : 

 "This 'green ray' is seen to best advantage at sun-rise, owing, I 

 imagine, to the eye not being wearied with watching the previous 

 glare, as is apt to be the case at sunset. At the same time, I had 

 many very satisfactory observations at sunset, one in particular, 

 when we were running before a very heavy sea in the Southern 

 Ocean, and the ' green ray ' was seen no less than three times in 

 as many seconds, as the ship rose and fell on the huge waves, 

 causing as it were two sunsets, with a sunrise between them. The 

 best displays took place when the refraction near the horizon was 

 of such a character that the sun assumed a balloon, or vase, shape 

 as he came close to the sea-line. When, on the contrary, the sun 

 appeared fiattened out in its horizontal diameter, the ' green ray ' 

 was either entirely absent, or was seen only in an indistinct and 

 uncertain manner." 



— • Public interest in industrial and commercial exhibitions will 

 doubtless be somewhat stimulated this year by the extensive 

 preparations now making for the World's Columbian Exhibition 

 at Chicago. Among the many attractions of this kind offered to 

 the public, and presenting valuable opportunities to inventors and 

 artisans ready to invite attention to their work, perhaps there are 

 none which have a longer or more useful record than the annual 

 fairs of the American Institute of this city. The sixtieth exhibi- 

 tion of the institute will open this year on Sept. 30, and continue 

 in operation until Nov. 38, giving two months' time to exhibitors 

 improving the full period. The general superintendent, Mr. 

 Charles Wager Hull, is ready at the offices of the institute, No. 

 113 West 38th Street, to give information and receive applications 

 for space. The fair will be held in the Exhibition Hall on Third 

 Avenue, which is now open for the reception of machinery. 

 Other exhibits will be received on and after the 31st. The entries 

 for the forthcoming exhibition already show a continued interest 

 in the American Institute, and indicate that the exhibition of the 

 present year will be in no respect less successful than its many 

 predecessors. 



