318 
THE Mining Record gives an interesting 
statement of an excursion made to Santa Fe 
by Mr. Vandermeer. In the course of his 
trip, he visited the Indian village of Tosoque, 
the inhabitants of which claim to have de- 
scended directly from the Aztecs. They are 
more industrious and intelligent than the 
Red Skins. They inhabit houses of two 
stories, and have no communication with 
the ground floor except by ladders. In case 
of alarm or surprise the ladder is drawn up 
into the second story, and the house thereby 
converted into a fortress. Each house has 
three or four rooms, and the village has al- 
together about 200 inhabitants. 
THE Columbia Seniinel reports that Mr. Rk. 
B. Gans, a farmer of B>one county, has con- 
structed several small telescopes, wh’ch are 
excellent instruments, and that he is now 
working upon one of seven inches aperture. 
He has also invented and constructed a ma- 
chine for griuding the glasses which is supe- 
rior to any now in use. One of his telescopes 
is now on exhibition at the Missouri Univer- 
sity, and is pronounced by Prof. Ficklin and 
His next 
effort will be upon one of 161% inches diam- 
eter and 20 feet focal length. The wonder 
in this case is that Mr. Gans has never had 
others to be a perfect instrument. 
any training whatever in this direction, but 
is an amateur in the strictest sense. 
Boston has at least two gosd periodicals 
in their respective departments, the /ourna? 
of Commerce and the Journal of Chemistry. 
Both are ably edited, widely read and per- 
fectly reliable. We frequently take occasion 
to borrow articles from them and always feel 
when we do so that we are giving our read- 
ers valuable and readable matter. 
JupciING from accounts in the Zngencering 
and Mining Journal, the absence of all of the 
precious metals in any one of the States or 
Territories would seem to be the exception 
to a general rule. Gold mines in New Eng- 
land, New York and New Jersey, Virginia 
and North Carolina are announced, (also in 
Nova Scotia,) while silver mines are spoken 
KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
of in Missouri and Arkansas, as well as both 
kinds all through the western mountains, 
California and Arizona, Truly, the outlook 
for the prosperity of the United States never 
was so promising. 
THE Journal of the Franklin Institute has 
its usual of interesting scientific 
articles. Among others we note one on the 
Limitations of the Steam Engine, by Prof. 
Wm. Dennis Marks, of the University of 
Pennsylvania, in which the author remarks 
quota 
that so far as evaporation is concerned the 
perfect boiler has probably been attained, and 
that the utilization of the steam after it 
reaches the engine is the principal point to 
be looked after. Next come concentration 
of power in asmall space and economy of 
steam. Then the prevention of condensation 
by cooling, which he proposes to accomplish 
by diminishing the condensation surface and 
increasing the number of the strokes of the 
piston; also the reduction of the diameters 
of the frictional bearings to their lowest prac- 
tical size and the attainment of high and reg- 
ular speed. The article is an interesting one 
but it cannot be condensed and we only give 
the above points, to stimulate the reader of 
mechanical turn to procure and read it in 
full. 
THE Phrenological Journal, for September, 
contains analytical articles upin Hancock 
and English; Studies in Comparative Phre- 
nology; Notes on the Psychology and Pa- 
tholo of the brain; Relation of food to 
morals ; Notes on science, agriculture, Edito- 
rial items, etc, 
THE essay upon the History of the word 
Chemistry, by Dr. R. Augus Smith, F. R.S., 
before the Manchester Literary and Philo- 
sophical Society, March 23d, an abstract of 
which is given in the Chemzcal News, contains. 
a good deal of new matter, showing a vast 
deal of research and study into the history of 
the Hebrews, Assyrians, Egyptians and 
Greeks, and furnishing results interesting 
not only to the chemist but also to the stu- 
dent of ancient languages. 
