OCTOBEK 7, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



477 



tonshire, on the shores of the River Clyde, viz., 

 an undoubted crannog, or dwelling on piles. It 

 is about a mile east of Dumbarton Castle, is below 

 high- water mark, and about 50 yards from the 

 river at low tide. The circumference of the 

 crannog is 184 feet. The outer circle is com- 

 posed of piles of oak, sharpened by stone axes 

 at the lower end, and below the mud still quite 

 fresh. The transverse beams and pavements 

 are of wood — willow, elder and oak, the smaller 

 branches of fir, birch and hazel, with bracken, 

 moss and chips. The refuse-mound extends 

 about twelve feet outside, and in this have been 

 found the bones of stags, cows, sheep, etc. , to- 

 gether with evidences of fire, also numerous 

 firestones and a hone or whetstone. Near the 

 causeway a canoe, 37 feet long and 48-inch beam, 

 was found, hollowed out of a single oak tree. 

 The credit of the discovery is due to Mr. W. 

 A. Donnelly, a keen local antiquary. It is a 

 unique discovery (1) because it is the first ex- 

 ample of a crannog situated on tidal waters, 

 and (2) because only flint and bone implements 

 have yet been discovered, and this dates it back 

 into the Neolithic Age. All crannogs yet dis- 

 covered have contained implements of bronze 

 and other metals characteristic of the Bronze 

 Age, so that this latest find seems at present to 

 be the oldest crannog known. 

 ' Peofessor Robert H. Thurston, of Cornell 

 University, announces that Mr. P. T. Dodge, 

 of New York, has presented to the museum of 

 the Sibley College of Engineering what is prob- 

 ably, for its size, the costliest piece of machin- 

 ery ever constructed. This is the Paige type- 

 setting machine, the one in which Mark Twain 

 sunk a lot of money. It consists of 19,000 

 pieces, controlled by a keyboard, and handles 

 ordinary type, setting, justifying and distrib- 

 uting the matter, and leading it also, when re- 

 quired. It is believed to be one of the most 

 beautifully ingenious pieces of mechanism as 

 well as the costliest. The trouble with it com- 

 mercially is that it is too ingenious, and, al- 

 though perfect in the operation, cannot be built 

 for sale. Of course, most of the two millions 

 of dollars this, the original machine, is esti- 

 mated to have cost, was used in the incessant 

 changing and remaking in which years were 

 spent. The machine occupies a floor space of 



lljx3i feet, and its highest point is 6J feet 

 from the floor. The weight is a little less than 

 5, 500 pounds, and it runs without a perceptible 

 vibration. 



In a recent number of the Berliner klinische 

 Wochenschrift, as quoted in the British Medical 

 Journal, Professor Straussman gives an account 

 of a visit to the Medico-Legal Institute of 

 Bucharest. He says that the medical profes- 

 sion is treated with much greater respect there, 

 and is given a higher and more independent 

 position in the State than in any of our Euro- 

 pean cities. Professor Minovici, who is the 

 Director of the Institute, is also Coroner and 

 Director of the Morgue, where the bodies lie 

 until identified ; if not identified they are buried 

 by order of the Director. The Institute itself 

 is fitted up in the most elaborate manner ; every 

 detail has been carefully considered. A large 

 lecture theatre is now being erected near the 

 Institute for teaching purposes. The post-mor- 

 tem room is large and well ventilated, and on 

 the walls are hung diagrams of various parts of 

 the body, which can be referred to when neces- 

 sary. Bertillon's system of anthropometrical 

 measurement is carried out. A bacteriological 

 and chemical laboratory also forms part of the 

 scheme. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the London Times 

 writes : A short time ago the London County 

 Council addressed a communication to each of 

 the vestries and district boards throughout the 

 metropolis, asking them whether they would be 

 in favor of the Council applying for Par- 

 liamentary powers to establish a bacteriological 

 laboratory. The idea is to appoint an expert 

 or experts in connection with the projected in- 

 stitution, or otherwise to make arrangements 

 whereby medical ofiicers of health and medical 

 practitioners in London could obtain, at the ex- 

 pense of the county, the examination by a 

 competent bactoriologist of material from sus- 

 pected cases of infectious disease, with a view 

 to aiding in the diagnosis. Owing to the sum- 

 mer vacation of the various local authorities 

 the proposition has not yet been fully con- 

 sidered by the majority, but so far as those are 

 concerned who have paid attention to the 

 question the scheme has met with unanimous 

 approval. Among those authorities who have 



