3 78 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 305 



-and other objects not diatomaceous, and even a calcareous fora- 

 •minifer. Nolhwithstanding these little discrepancies, the fertilizer 

 •received gratuitous indorsement from several of the leading scien- 

 1;ific journals of England and America. In one of the latter a col- 

 'lege professor gave it a splendid "send-ofT" in an article of very 

 ■learned appearance, entitled ' Silica of Grasses and other Plants 

 ■carried up as Diatoms or other Siliceous Grains, and not in So- 

 lution or as Soluble Silicates,' which was accompanied by the 

 (paradoxical plate above referred to. 



In the cases I have mentioned, both the wholly uninformed masses 

 ■and the broadly educated few were confidently calculated upon as 

 -easy victims to fraud when the recognition of some of the com- 

 amonest of microscopic forms was involved. Diatoms exist on every 

 ■hand, and, in both the living and the fossil state, are among the 

 •most plentiful of organisms ; their indestructible remains constitut- 

 ing strata from three to thirty feet thick, extending through several 

 ■of our seaboard States, while any Croton-water faucet will, in a 

 'moment or two, furnish abundance of living specimens of wonder- 

 ful interest and attractiveness. Besides this, they have a consider- 

 able commercial importance, at least one New York firm making a 

 'trade specialty of the diatomaceous earths and the silicates made 

 from them. And yet only a few weeks ago one of our daily jour- 

 nals devoted valuable space to sarcastic editorial comment on the 

 examination papers used in the College of the City of New York, 

 because they contained the supposed impractical and nonsensical 

 'question, " What is a diatom .' " It now seems that it would be 

 money in the pockets of some poor invalids if they only knew 

 "tlie difference between a diatom and a microbe. 



It is the greatest shame of these impositions under the guise of 

 tscience that professional men of some reputation at times lend them 

 their countenance and aid. And, even when the thing recom- 

 mended is not itself fraudulent, the mode of indorsing it often be- 

 "comes so. An example of this came under my notice not long ago, 

 when, in looking over a newspaper, my eye was caught by the 

 ■word ' microscopical ' occurring in a rather prominent advertise- 

 ment of a certain soap, and upon examination I found that a gen- 

 tleman of scientific claims had undertaken to give a certificate to 

 the merits of the article advertised. Now, soap seems to be a thing 

 about which comparatively little can be said from a sanitary point 

 •of view, except that a free use of it is desirable. But in the testi- 

 monial of which I am speaking there was manifested a wide-awake 

 ■•disposition to make the most of the passing public interest in infec- 

 'tion and contagion. With remarkably lame logic, the scientific 

 -attorney of the manufacturer declared, in substance, that, having 

 submitted the soap to microscopical examination, and having 

 found it free from disease-germs, he was prepared to recommend 

 it for its detergent qualities. 



While we do not wonder to see a Wiggins rush forward, upon 

 the very slightest excuse, as he did but lately, with a sixteenth- 

 -century astrological theory of yellow-fever, we cannot but feel both 

 astonishment and mortification when a good chemist publicly dis- 

 penses bad microscopy, or an eminent physicist plunges headlong 

 nto hygiene and therapeutics, as one did the other day. A man 

 may have almost superhuman insight as to the laws of electricity 

 and yet be as ignorant as the rest of us about the how and why of 

 a bacillus or a spirillum. It was not very strange that a gentle- 

 man hitherto absorbed in physics and mechanics should prove to 

 be uninformed as to the unsuccessful endeavors that had been made 

 ■to isolate and identify the microbe of yellow-fever, for he had come 

 -across-lots into a scientific region of which the literature and even 

 the language was unfamiliar to him. For the same reason, how 

 ■was he to know that what would kill an ant would not necessarily 

 kill a bacterium or a vibrio.' 



The trouble is, that a large part of the people who are most ready 

 to discuss the new phase of biological science have not the faintest 

 idea of what a microbe is. Most of them seem to fancy that merely 

 a new name has been invented for what used to be called a spore 

 or a germ; and of course every one knows what a germ is, for he 

 has only to look at the seed of any well-known plant ! This seems 

 to be the difficulty with a famous military commander who has 

 recently taken up the ■weapon more powerful than the sword, and, 

 by means of it, given to the world, through one of our magazines, 

 his a priori exposition of the mode of origin and spread of epidemic 



diseases. He may fairly claim experience in keeping yellow-fever 

 out of a community, but, after reading his article, we may well 

 doubt whether he really has much information as to how it gets in. 

 In short, pseudo-scientific humbuggery is very prevalent just 

 now ; but I suppose we may console ourselves by regarding it as 

 a popular tribute to the worth of true science, since we are told 

 that "hypocrisy is a sort of homage that vice pays to virtue." 



Charles F. Cox. 



New York, Nov. 20. 



New York Archseology. 



The Bureau of Ethnology has been doing some work in western 

 and central New York, the results of which will soon appear ; but 

 researches quite as important and exhaustive have long been going 

 on without public aid. If the State, or individuals in it, would take 

 the lively interest in preserving accounts of its perishing antiquities 

 that is shown in other things, valuable results would be certain to 

 follow. In carrying on my own investigations, I have been sur- 

 prised to see how many are working in various places on similar 

 lines, and in the way of comparison these quiet seekers have helped 

 me much. 



The leading feature in all this is the connection of relics with 

 sites. All use maps; and on these all local sites are indicated, and 

 a record is made of their extent and character. All articles are 

 numbered or labelled with reference to these sites, so that the cab- 

 inet generally shows whence the relic came. This is not always 

 possible, but in most cases it can be done. A good antiquarian 

 who has thrown unexpected light on one group of sites has but one 

 arm, and yet makes drawings of the more interesting forms. I 

 draw and describe all in my own collection, and obtain figures of 

 large numbers of those in others. Without such a comparison, I 

 could not have arrived at some sound conclusions. 



In all these cases precision has been aimed at, and the general 

 agreement is the more surprising when we find there has been no 

 consultation in the matter. A large county map or atlas is used 

 for the sites, when it can be had ; and this allows of an exact rec- 

 ord of the town, lot, farm, and even part of a farm, when desired. 

 In making records, however, the Smithsonian code of signs is al- 

 most useless in New York, and is very little employed. The his- 

 torical societies aid a good deal in the preservation of relics, but 

 there is less aid to the scientist from their collections than might 

 be expected. A few articles are labelled in a general way, some- 

 times very oddly ; but care is seldom taken to connect them with 

 the sites from which they came. Their value would often be ten- 

 fold greater were this done. It should therefore be urged upon all 

 societies and individuals to make records of sites and relics in this 

 way. 



For scientific purposes there is frequently a deficiency in the col- 

 lection of the ruder articles, as flat sinkers, chipped celts, grooved 

 and hammer stones, but in a number of instances care has been 

 taken of these also. Some of these are still in use in New York. 

 It is well known, however, that some common articles in other 

 parts of the land are very uncommon here. This is the case with 

 the grooved axes ; and the absence of early small wampum west of 

 the Hudson River is so noticeable, that I quite agree with early 

 writers in their statement that it was little used until the Dutch 

 made it. 



A collection of sites and relics has thrown much light on the 

 early Indian migrations in northern and western New York, bring- 

 ing out curious facts in regard to the routes chosen and the origin 

 of the travellers or residents. It has dispelled much of the vague- 

 ness attending the occupation of the Iroquois territory, and en- 

 abled us definitely to connect historic with prehistoric times. That 

 the facts brought out by field-workers have not always agreed 

 with the theories of students is not surprising, but theories must 

 always be regarded as but a temporary convenience. 



In connection with this, I may call attention to a branch of 

 ethnology which needs speedy attention, and has already received 

 some. New York embraces within its limits a portion of the noted 

 Six Nations, who still preserve some of their old customs, orna- 

 ments, and implements ; but all who frequently visit their reserva- 

 tions are aware how rapidly the old is giving place to the new. To 

 gather up the fragments is all that we can now do. Whoever un- 



