32 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 362 



hills, supporting them, were unmoved ; ashes and ejected scorias 

 were spread upon their declivities, and thus, aided by subsequent 

 ■rains and a tropical sun, has unburied the hidden bones of various 

 animals in the water-ways. While those of the mastodon are also 



■ exhumed, their compeers of Siberia await for a distant future to 

 regain a tropical sun. Which of the two is the older.' That any 



: lived after the disappearance here of the glaciers, proves nothing. 

 With proper surroundings, they might exist to-day. 



I desire to state clearly that the Rev. Stephen D. Feet's assertion 

 that Dr. Brinton makes out on my own testimony that the foot- 

 prints did not belong to eocene times, is in error, and needlessly 

 so, as he had received from me an explicit denial of any con- 

 nection of sand with the shells. The leaves, or dust of leaves, if 

 - any were with the shells, came from trees growing around the lake. 

 No volcanic force has disturbed the location, at least in historic 

 times. The sandal, or some covering to protect the feet, the Rev. 

 Mr. Peet knew was ascribed to an impression sent to Harvard, 

 from a location forty miles distant from those at the quarry, to the 

 south-west, and on the other side, of the range of extinct volca- 

 noes. 



I never said that the "molten streams of lava found their way 

 into Lake Managua." There is nothing of the kind found there on 

 the lake border. Layers of tufa, made up of volcanic detritus, is 

 the formation of all the district we speak of ; and at Masaya, 

 Juotepi, etc., the Tiscapa lava flow spoken of by Levy must have 

 ■occurred to that gentleman in his dreams. If Dr. Brinton had not 

 quoted Levy in connection with my attempt to explain the history 

 of the impressions I sent him, no such erroneous data would have 

 .gone forth in regard to the outbursts of lava that occurred. The 

 ■mountain of Masaya, between Nindri and Managua, is the only nota- 

 ble locality. It passed over the old tufa. Monobracho also 

 ejected lava, and it spread over the plain to the south-west of Gra- 

 nada. These mountains were in action long subsequent to those 

 mentioned. 



The Rev. Mr. Peet's assertion that Harvard and the National 

 Museum have only slabs with impressions of feet to judge from, is 



■ also incorrect. If he will re-peruse his own Antiquarian, he will 

 find there bitter complaints, on my part, in regard to the lack of 

 care in the examination of fossils found with and separate from 

 them, which alone would identify their geological age. His aim is 

 undoubtedly to keep up the controversy. Truth is certainly not 

 obtained by making direct denials of phenomenal occurrences that 

 Dr. Brinton and Mr. Peet never saw or investigated. The " big- 

 toe " argument will not apply to an arched instep. A long os 



■ calcis and a flat-footed race have the big toe perfect. Let us wait 

 until one of the fossil feet are found. Before belittling finds of the 

 class mentioned they should be compared with similar ones occurring 

 under volcanic formations in other countries whose geological exami- 

 nation has been determined by competent men. " The great volcanic 



•outburst that overran northern and central California," says Dr. L. 

 ■G. Yates of Santa Barbara, "covered the relics of a race who were 

 there, and lived there, previously, whose implements were found 

 under Table Mountain, a bosaltic formation, two hundred feet in 

 ■thickness. These relics are unique, and were made, and covered by 



■ lava, so long ago, that the river bed down which the lava ran (and 

 where it still lies, forming the summit) is now high above the sur- 

 rounding country, forming the Table Mountain, and where the 

 mountains which were on either side of the old river-bed have 

 been washed away, and their places now occupied by valleys and 

 river-beds, and since which time the whole surface of the country 



■ has been changed, with a new surface soil, a new vegetation, and 

 • a new fauna." 



Facts of this nature, by men of Dr. Yates's character, should not 

 be ignored. No sceptic can doubt that man existed there in as re- 

 ■mote times as here in Central America. I have often r-eported that 

 there was a resemblance in the geological finds of the two. Cali- 

 fornia has no greater variety of minerals; gold, silver, tin, lead, 

 I bismuth, platinum, nickel, zinc, iron, etc., are among the metals. 



I want to call the attention of scientists to this neglected spot in 

 Nicaragua, and convince them that man existed here long prior to 

 ■the glacial era. Will some of the scientists in the United States do 



■ tire the favor to look over the few shells sent by me to the National 

 -Museum. These specimens will tell the exact time (geologically) 



when man lived here in the caves, and subsisted on the very oys- 

 ters (i.e., from the shells). The specimens may be seen among 

 those I forwarded a few years ago, and which are now in some 

 part of the National Museum. 



Science Text-Books. 



Is there to be found a really good " Physics " for lads of twelve 

 to fifteen, as good as Shaler's " Geology " and Packard's " Zoology "? 

 Several firms publish and manage to " introduce" a lot of old rub- 

 bish as science text-books. It is a scandal that ought to be ven- 

 tilated. I have just opened a " History" sent out by-a firm that 

 professes to patronize and popularize science, and my boys are 

 promptly told, " For the history of the Creation, Deluge, and Dis- 

 persion, the reader is referred to the Scriptural narrative." It 

 needs some patience to get through this Aufklavilng from stuff to 

 real science. P. 



INDUSTRIAL NOTES. 



New Electro-Medical Apparatus. 



An improved form of Laclanche Faradic battery for the use of 

 physicians and surgeons, is shown in the accompanying illustra- 

 tion. In this battery the exciting fluid is a simple and inexpensive 

 solution of sal ammoniac and water, which will last without re- 

 newal from six to twelve months. The zinc element is a pencil of 

 pure metal, the position of which is never disturbed, whether the 

 battery is in action or not. It usually lasts over a year, and is re- 



placed at slight expense. The carbon element does not require 

 renewal, as a rule, oftener than once in two years. 



The battery has a handsomely polished hard-wood case, open- 

 ing at the top and at the fronT. It is provided with a metallic han- 

 dle, which, together with all the metallic parts of the machine it- 

 self, is nickel-plated. The case measures nine and a quarter inches 

 high, five inches and a half wide, and seven inches and a half long. 

 In the case is a^commodious electrode pocket containing a pair of 

 interchangeable electrode handles, a pair of nickel-plated hand elec- 

 trodes, and a sponge electrode. The battery cell is inclosed in an 

 inner compartment, which, while it is closed up and completely 

 separates the cell from the rest of the apparatus, is arranged with 

 a sliding cover to give convenient access to it whenever required. 



A feature of special importance is the fact that the cell and all 

 its working parts are mounted on a polished ebonized slide, with 

 automatic electrical contacts beneath its surface. The act of pull- 

 ing out this slide a short distance serves to start the machine, and 

 closing it up cuts out the cell and stops the action. This makes it 

 impossible to close the case without cutting out the cell. This 

 battery is manufactured by E. S. Greeley & Company of this city. 



