282 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol, VIII., No. 190 



ing minimum thermometer at the base of Blue Hill 

 and at several surrounding stations seems to show 

 that the phenomenon recorded at the base fairly 

 represents what occurred over the whole of the sur- 

 rounding country. A minimum thermometer ob- 

 served by Eev. A. K. Teele of Milton, about two miles 

 north of Blue Hill, gave a temperature of 41°; and 

 one observed by Ur. Granger at Eandolph, five miles 

 south-east of Blue Hill, gave a temperature of 44^^, — 

 the same as that observed at the base of Blue Hill. 



These observations show very clearly the gradual 

 increase of temperature with height above the earth's 

 surface : 1", at the earth's surface in low places, the 

 temperature fell to or below 32° F., as shown by the 

 formation of frost ; 2°, at the height of a few feet 

 above the surface, the temperature fell to not quite 

 40°; 3°, at a height of 156 feet above ground, the 

 temperature only fell to 49°, as shown by the records 

 of the Boston signal office ; and, 4°, at a height of 

 650 feet above sea level, and more than 400 feet above 

 the surrounding land, the temperature only fell to 

 50.5°, as shown by the records at Blue Hill observa- 

 tory. 



I pointed out in my last letter that on the night of 



The two species of Solenodon, S. cubanus and S. 

 paradoxus, are indigenous respectively to Cuba and 

 Hayti. Of the latter species almost nothing is 

 known. The specimens of the Cuban species re- 

 cently received were obtained by John Gundlach, 

 Esq., in the interior of the Sierra Maestra, some 

 thirty miles from Bayamo. He writes to Professor 

 Batrd regarding them as follows: "A friend, who 

 has sent all the Solenodons to Professor Poey and 

 myself, has, after the promise of many years, re- 

 ceived a pair of living S. cubanus, captured in the 

 high mountains thirty miles from Bayamo. This 

 animal is very rare, and difficult of obtaining, be- 

 cause he lives in caves which in most cases pass 

 under great trees, and cannot therefore be penetrated 

 into." 



The female and young individual died on the way, 

 but the male arrived in excellent condition. Though 

 in reality a nocturnal animal, he shows no dislike of 

 sunlight. He has been fed on small pieces of raw 

 beef, of which he seems very fond. Some of his at- 

 titudes are quite singular : when inspecting the floor 

 of his cage, he rests the weight of his body on his 

 hind-legs, while the front feet barely touch the floor ; 



THE ALMIQUI. 



Aug. 22 the sky was clear, and that the air was very 

 dry, and must have descended from above over New 

 England, since the surface-wind blew out from this 

 region in every direction ; and the facts just given 

 seem to clearly indicate two opposing actions on the 

 air : 1°, a heating effect, due to compression of the 

 air by its descent ; and, 2°, a cooling effect, due to 

 radiation, chiefly from the earth's surface. At ele- 

 vated points, such as Mount Washington, where the 

 land surface is very small, the heating effect was in 

 the ascendency ; the temperature of the air was above 

 the normal, and actually increased during the night. 

 At lower stations the cooling from radiation was in 

 the ascendency, and the temperature of the air fell 

 continuously during the night. 



H. Helm Clayton. 

 Blue Hill meteor, observ., Sept. 10. 



when his attention is attracted, he raises his long, 

 flexible snout, and advances the abundant vibrissae 

 so that they stand at right angles with the head. Or- 

 dinarily the vibrissae lie back against the cheeks. 



The specimen measures about eleven inches, exclu- 

 sive of the tail, which is seven and one-half inches 

 long. He will be sent to the Philadelphia zoological 

 gardens. F. W. True. 



U. S. nat. mus., Sept. 13. 



The Almiqui. 



The Smithsonian institution has recently received 

 a living Almiqui, Solenodon cubanus, one of the 

 rarest of American mammals, and the largest of 

 American insectivores. Three individuals were cap- 

 tured, but only one survived. 



Revivification. 



Your correspondent V. in Science, No. 187, in- 

 quires concerning the fakirs of India, and the won- 

 ders of their voluntary suspension of vitalitj'. He 

 will find the information of which he is in search 

 very fully given — more fully than at any other 

 place of which I am aware — in a small volume pub- 

 lished in 1850 in London. Its title is ' Observations 

 on trance or human hibernation,' by James Braid, 

 M.R.C.S.E., C.M.W.S.,etc. (London, Jo/iJi Church- 

 ill, Princes Street, Soho ; Adam and Charles Black, 

 Edinburgh). Both the facts and the proofs are very 

 clearly set forth. W. 0. Atbes. 



New Haven, Conn., Sept. 13. 



