POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



137 



Geological Progress. — In reviewing the 

 progress made by geological science during 

 the last twenty-four years, Prof. W. Boyd 

 Dawkins mentions the advantages which it 

 has drawn from microscopic analysis of the 

 rocks, in the study of metamorphism, and of 

 the crushing and shearing forces that were 

 brought to bear on the cooling crust of the 

 earth ; and from deep-sea explorations, re- 

 vealing the structure and deposits of the 

 ocean abysses. From a comparison of these 

 deposits with the stratified rocks, we may 

 conclude that the latter are marginal, and 

 deposited in depths not greater than one 

 thousand fathoms, or at the shore end of the 

 globigerina ooze, and most of them at a less 

 depth — and that consequently there is no 

 proof in the geological record of the ocean 

 depths having ever been in any other than 

 their present places. In North America, the 

 geological survey of the Western States has 

 brought to light an almost unbroken series 

 of animal remains, ranging from the Eocene 

 down to the Pleistocene age. In these we 

 find the missing links in the pedigree of the 

 horse, and sufficient evidence of transitional 

 forms to enable Prof. Flower to restore to 

 its place in classification the order Ungulata 

 of Cuvier. These may be expected to occupy 

 the energies of American geologists for many 

 years, and to yield further proof of the truth 

 of the doctrine of evolution. 



Yucatan Hammocks. — With a couple of 

 straight poles, a shuttle, a thin slab of za- 

 poli-wood, and a pile of heniquen-leaves at 

 hand, says Consul Thompson, of Merida, the 

 Yucatecan is ready to accept contracts for 

 hammocks by the piece, dozen, or hundred. 

 The poles are placed a distance apart, ac- 

 cording to the required length of the ham- 

 mock. The thin slab of hard wood is fash- 

 ioned into a stripper, by the aid of which 

 the fiber of the thick heniquen-leaf is de- 

 nuded of its envelope, and a wisp of rasped 

 fiber is obtained. This having been bleached, 

 the fibers are separated into a certain num- 

 ber, and these are rolled into a strand. Two 

 or more of these strands are then taken out, 

 and by a similar dexterous manipulation 

 converted into a han or cord, from which 

 the hammock is made. The cord is riven 

 rapidly around the two upright poles, and 

 the shuttle, worked by the women, seems to 



move and seek the right mesh, says Consul 

 Thompson, with a volition of its own — and 

 in a very short space of time the hammock 

 is made and laid with its kind, to await the 

 coming of the contractor. Almost the entire 

 exportation of hammocks from Yucatan is 

 absorbed by the United States. All the dis- 

 tricts of the State produce hammocks, but 

 that of Tixcoco more than all the other 

 districts combined. Chemax hammocks are 

 noted for their fineness, and do not have to 

 seek a market abroad. 



What is Fire-proof? — The idea that 

 theatrical appurtenances of wood and cloth 

 can be made efficiently fire-proof by soaking 

 them with certain chemical solutions is, in 

 the opinion of Mr. Walter Emden, a serious 

 error. Theoretically, the soaking works 

 beautifully, and in practice for a time secures 

 immunity against the spread of fire. " But 

 for how long ? Of the majority of these 

 preservative solutions, it is a question if any- 

 thing is left at the end of a certain time. 

 They evaporate or sublimate or pass off into 

 the atmosphere. No one can say with any 

 degree of certainty for what length of time 

 a beam or a cloth will be fire-proof as the 

 result of soaking in any non-inflammable 

 solution. Now, miscalculations in respect 

 to this may lead to the most terrible catas- 

 trophes." A further point of the greatest 

 moment is that gas-flames raise the temper- 

 ature of wood and canvas in their vicinity to 

 140° F., and dry them to tinder. Obviously, 

 actual contact with a naked flame must, 

 under such circumstances, produce results 

 altogether different from those of the exper- 

 iments usually made with preservative solu- 

 tions. It is the materials themselves which 

 are used in the construction that must be 

 proof against fire. The aim should be, not 

 to make some combustible material incom- 

 bustible, but to use only fire-proof materials. 



Bread of Water-Lily Seeds.— The seeds 

 of various species of water-lilies form the 

 food of thousands of people in Asia and 

 some parts of America. The most important 

 species for this purpose are those belonging 

 to the genus Trapa, which are known in In- 

 dia as SingJiara, in China as Ling, and gen- 

 erally as water-chestnut. The fruit of the 

 Trapa bicornis, which grows in the lakes of 



