112 



8CIJEJJS/CJS. 



[Vol. IX., No. 30» 



of these pots the earth-extract mentioned above was 

 added. In a few days the plants took on a new 

 growth, totally out of proportion to what could have 

 been caused by the minute quantity of combined 

 nitrogen contained in the extract. The plants in the 

 pots not receiving this remained in a dying condi- 

 tion. The micro-organisms in the case just men- 

 tioned inhabit a small bulb which appears on the 

 reots of the plant, and in this laboratory the trans- 

 formation of the nitrogen appears to take place. 



These later investigations lend emphasis to the 

 statement I made in my Buffalo address : ' ' These 

 views of chemists so distinguished, based as they are 

 on a series of experiments, extended and laborious, 

 even if not above criticism, must command our most 

 serious attention. They expressly admit the possi- 

 bility of the use of the free nitrogen of the atmos- 

 phere, but are careful not to literally affirm it." 



H. W. Wiley. 

 Washington, Jan. 28. 



Halos seen at Denver. 



On the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 7, and in the 

 evening, there was a brilliant display of halos, etc., 

 at Denver. I have been told that it began at about 

 1 P.M., but I did not see it until 2.30 p.m. At that 

 time the sky was of a milky hue, from the presence 

 of the ice-clouds. The parhelic circle, passing 

 through the sun, parallel to the horizon, could be 

 traced entirely around the sky, except in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of the sun : parts of it were at times 

 temporarily obscured by small, swiftly passing 

 clouds. The two principal parhelia, 22° distant 

 from the sun, were very bright, and secondary par- 

 helia were seen at a distance of 120°. The halo of 

 22° radius, encircling the sun, was incomplete. In 

 the zenith was a faint circle of red light about 20° in 

 diameter. The quadrant nearest the sun was ex- 

 panded into a magnificent lune 2° wide at the broad- 

 est place : it displayed the prismatic colors from red 

 to violet, the red border being toward the sun. As 

 the sun descended toward the west, the lune grew 

 narrower and longer, being only 1° broad at 3.30 

 P.M. During the next ten minutes, clouds rising 

 from the western horizon obscured the sun, and 

 with it the parhelic circle. The lune was visible for 

 a short time after the sun had disappeared, but at 

 3.40 P.M. it too had vanished. By looking toward 

 the west during the display, the ice-crystals near the 

 earth's surface were plainly visible, and had the 

 form of slender needles. 



In the evening the sky seemed clear, and the moon, 

 lacking two days of being full, shone brightly. The 

 paraselenic circle was complete, and beautifully con- 

 trasted with the dark sky. It was 1^° broad oppo- 

 site the moon, and grew narrower as it approached 

 that luminary. It could be traced almost up to the 

 moon's disk. At 8 p.m. the halo of 22° radius about 

 the moon was very distinct : at the highest and 

 lowest points there were rudimentary tangent arcs, 

 and a consequent increase of brilliancy at those 

 points. The paraselenae were not at the intersection 

 of the halo with the paraselenic circle, but on the 

 latter aboiit 3° or 4° outside of the halo. The inner 

 edge of the halo was a red circle, but the outer edge 

 was an ill-defined ellipse, the major axis of which 

 stretched between the two paraselenae, while its minor 

 axis coincided with the vertical diameter of the red 

 circle. The space between the inner and outer edges 



was filled with milky light. At 8.30 p.m. the par- 

 aselenae had disappeared. Secondary paraselenae 

 were seen at distances of 120° from the moon, At 9^ 

 P.M. a bright arc having a uniform breadth of 3°, 

 and exhibiting prismatic colors, was seen in the south- 

 east, being a portion of a circle of about 40° radius,, 

 in the centre of which lay the moon. It passed 

 through the triangle of conspicuous stars ( s, e, yj )' 

 in Canis Major. At 9.30 p.m. all the circles except 

 this one had vanished, and at 10.30 it too had gone. 

 I have been told that after midnight the entire sys- 

 tem of circles re-appeared. There was no lune in 

 the zenith before midnight, or after, as far as I have- 

 been able to learn. It was possible to see the ice- 

 crystals floating down by looking toward the moon. 

 I regret that I had no instruments for making accu- 

 rate measurements of the angular distances which I 

 estimated. H. A. Howe. 



Denver university, Jan. 28. 



Consumption among Indians. 



In Science for Jan. 21 (p. 76) reference is made to« 

 a supposition that " it is change of diet which is the 

 most potent remote cause of consumption among 

 the Indians." Another cause, in my opinion, is. 

 change of dress. Before he came under the influence- 

 of civilization, the Indian was not clothed in gar- 

 ments that would interfere with the free action of 

 the pores of the skin. If a live rabbit be dipped in a, 

 solution of glue , so as to cover its body with a coat- 

 ing impervious to air, it is surprising how quickly 

 the frequency of the respiratory movements increases,, 

 showing that the work of the lungs is increased by 

 depriving the skin of free access to the air. 



The process of civilization has a somewhat similar 

 effect upon the Indian, though to a less degree. One 

 of the first lessons in the effort to civilize him teaches 

 him to envelop himself in clothing of a kind that 

 tends to impede and impair the normal action of The 

 skin, the pores of which are organs of excretion, — a 

 mechanism by which morbid and waste material may 

 be thrown out of the system. Deprived of the as- 

 sistance afforded under previous conditions by the 

 skin, the work of the lungs is greatly increased, ren- 

 dering them peculiarly susceptible to bronchitis and 

 pneumonia, — ailments which are commonly the fore- 

 runners of consumption. If we accept the theory of 

 Koch, they make the lungs a suitable habitation for 

 the bacillus tuberculosis. 



If we study the pre-tubercular history of man, we 

 find his clothing in those times far different from 

 what it is to-day, when the percentage of death from 

 consumption reaches so high a figure. 



The fact that the mortality from consumption 

 among the Indians immediately after they come 

 under the influence of our civilization is so much 

 greater than among the whites proves the truth of 

 what I have advanced. We have had our liability to 

 consumption from overworked lungs tempered by 

 hundreds of generations of ancestors habituated to 

 the use of clothing, so that our risk is much less. 



The facts underlying these views are, 1°, the 

 lungs are not the only organs of respiration ; 2°, 

 they are important excretory organs, and, like the 

 kidneys or liver, they may be overworked; 3°, the 

 skin, in its natural condition, as an organ of respira- 

 tion and excretion, is a most important adjunct of 

 the lungs. Hal. C. Wyman. 



Detroit, Mich., Jan. 32. 



