SCIENCE. 



77 



syrup, two ounces of finely powdered sugar are to be 

 added, mixed well with it, and the whole is then to be 

 spread out in the air to dry. The sugar locks up the 

 volatile parts of the coffee, so that when it is dry they can- 

 not escape. 



Ground coffee prepared in this way, and which lay 

 exposed to the air for one month, yielded, on being boiled, 

 as good a beverage as one made from freshly roasted 

 berries. 



I have described the mental influence of tea and coffee; 

 much could be written on their influence upon modern 

 society and civilization. 



Anne Boleyn makes mention in one of her letters of hav- 

 ing partaken of half a pound of bacon and a quart of beer 

 for breakfast ; now, after making due allowance for cus- 

 tom and habit, it must be confessed that modern ladies 

 must rise from the ; r morning meal of a cup of coffee with 

 some bread and butter and an egg, with many different 

 sensations and sentiments to those experienced by the 

 fur Queen after her more masculine repast. 



BACTERIA IN THE AIR. 



M. Miquel has succeeded in seizing and numbering the 

 spores or eggs of bacteria, and while confirming M. Pas- 

 teur's observation, that they are always present in the air, 

 shows that their number presents incessant variations. 

 Very small in winter, it increases in spring, is very high in 

 summer and autumn, then sinks rapidly when frost sets in. 

 This law also applies to spores of champignons ; but while 

 the spores of moulds are abundant in wet periods, the 

 number of aerial bacteria then becomes very small, and it 

 only rises again when drought pervades the soil, a time 

 when the spores of moulds become rare. Thus, to the 

 maxima of moulds correspond the minima of bacteria, and 

 reciprocally In summer and autumn, at Montsouris, one 

 finds frequently 1,000 germs of bacteria in a cubic metre of 

 air. In winter the number not uncommonly descends to 

 four and five, and on some days the dust from 200 litres of 

 air proves incapable of causing infection of the most alterable 

 liquors. In the interior of houses, and in the absence of me- 

 chanical movements raising dust from the surface of objects, 

 the air becomes fertilizing only in a volume of 30 to 50 litres. 

 In M. Miquel's laboratory, the dust of five litres usually 

 serves to effect the alteration of neutral bouillon. In the 

 Paris sewers infection of the same liquor is produced by 

 the particles in one litre of air. These results differ consid- 

 erably, it is pointed out, from those published by Tyndall, 

 who says a few cubic centimetres of air will, in most cases, 

 bring infection into the most diverse infusions. M. Miquel 

 compared the number of deaths from contagious and epi- 

 demic diseases in Paris with the number of bacteria in the 

 air during the period from December, 1879, to June, 1S80, 

 and certainly, each recrudescence of the aerial bacteria was 

 followed at about eight days' interval by an increase of the 

 deaths in question. Unwilling to say positively that this is 

 more than a mere coincidence, he presents further observa- 

 tions regarding it. ML Miquel further finds (contrary to 

 some authors) that the water-vapor which rises from the 

 ground, from rivers, and from masses in full putrefaction 

 is always micrographically pure ; that gases from buried 

 matter in course of decomposition are always exempt from 

 bacteria ; and that even impure air sent through putrefied 

 meat, far from being charged with microbes, is entirely puri- 

 fied, provided only the putrid filter be in a state of moisture 

 comparable to that of the earth at 0.30 metres from the sur- 

 face of the ground. 



DEYER'S ASTRONOMICAL RECORD. 



Mr. J. L. E. Deyer, of the Observatory of Trinity 

 College, Dublin, has prepared and published A Record of 

 the Progress of Astronomy during the year 1879. 



This interesting digest is similar in every way to the 

 summaries given for 1877 and 1878 by Professor Holden, 

 in the Amiual Record of Science and Industry. It was 

 intended originally to add a bibliographical list of books 

 and memoirs on Astronomy published during the year, 

 but for various reasons this was left out. Such a list 

 ought to embrace a longer space of time than a single 

 year, and besides, the " Bibliographie Generale " the 

 publication of which has recently been announced from 

 the Brussels Observatory, is to include the year 1880. 

 Mr. Deyer's paper theretore calls attention to such pub- 

 h'cations only as appeared to possess more than a passing 

 interest. These are mentioned under the following 

 heads : Spherical astronomy, theory of instruments, 

 celestial mechanics, the sun, the moon, the inter-mercu- 

 rial planet quest on, planets and satellites, comets, 

 meteors and meteorites, fixed stars, nebulae and clusters, 

 photometry, history of astronomy, bibliography ; obser- 

 vatories, miscellaneous notes. 



Although the number of working observatories in this 

 country is small, the present summary would indicate 

 that these few had been reasonably active, since nearly 

 one-third of the memoir (fifteen out of forty-seven pages) 

 is devoted to the results of astronomical work done in 

 the United States. O. S. 



The International Congress of Anthropology and Pre- 

 historic Archaeology holds its next meeting at Lisbon, on 

 September 20-29, this year. Several important questions 

 concerning the prehistoric archaeology ot Portugal will be 

 discussed. Excursions will be made to several places of 

 archaeological interest. 



THE LATE MR. GREENE SMITH. 



In regard to our statement in Science for July 31st, 

 respecting Mr. Greene Smith's offer of his collection of spe- 

 cimens of birds to the American Museum of Natural 

 History, we are reminded by Professor Burt G. Wilder, 

 M. D., that shortly after the opening of Cornell University, 

 in 1868, Mr. Smith presented that institution with a 

 collection of 362 birds, mostly from North America, all 

 perfect specimens and finely mounted. 



We have authority for stating, that in regard to the 

 present disposition of the late Mr. Greene Smith's col- 

 lection, for the present, at least, it will remain in the 

 possession of his widow. Mrs. Greene Smith informs us 

 that she will devote her attention to making the collec- 

 tion as complete as possible, by the addition of the speci- 

 mens now absent ; and at some future time when she 

 considers she has accomplished this task, she will 

 present the collection to seme institution, where it will be 

 most appreciated, and do the greatest good. 



The use of steel for marine boilers has of late increased 

 rapidly, but if the latest news from the Clyde is trust- 

 worthy, steel boilers have failed under the test, and have 

 been condemned. Some eminent marine t ngineers refuse 

 to use it, but several new passenger steamers have been 

 fitted with boilers of steel, and a grave responsibility has 

 been incurred by their owners. — Eng. Mech. 



