NOTES. 



H3 



on starch. Peptic and pancreatic digestion 

 of albuminoids were almost prevented by it. 

 The experiments show that the indiscrimi- 

 nate use of these agents, without sanitary 

 inspection, should not be allowed. 



Bells as Weather Indicators.— M. P. J. 



de Ridder, of Lebbeke, Belgium, has ob- 

 served that bells are heard further away when 

 the atmosphere is in cyclonic motion, and 

 that a calm atmosphere, saturated with moist- 

 ure, favors the transmission of sound, while 

 contrary winds are not always an obstacle. 

 Certain small bells six and eight kilometres 

 southeast from Lebbeke are called water 

 bells by the people there, because their be- 

 ing heard at Lebbeke is immediately followed 

 by a season of rain. And, generally, the 

 hearing of a distant sound, like that of a bell 

 or the rumbling of a railway train, is regard- 

 ed as portending the end of fine weather and 

 the approach of rain. One bell, which is ten 

 kilometres away, is heard twice a year — in 

 March or April, and in September or Octo- 

 ber — and always in identical conditions of 

 the sky. 



NOTES. 



We are indebted to the kindness of the 

 Tiffany Glass Company, of New York, for 

 the use of the photographs from which the 

 illustrations were engraved for Prof. Hen- 

 derson's article on " The History of a Picture- 

 Window," in this issue of the "Monthly." 



Alaska is commonly thought of as an 

 exceedingly cold place, but, except in the 

 northern part, this reputation is not justi- 

 fied. To be sure, in the Yukon district, 

 comprising the country north of the Alaskan 

 Mountains, the mean annual temperature is 

 about 25° Fahr., and the ground thaws in 

 summer only two or three feet down from 

 the surface, remaining frozen continually be- 

 low. In the Aleutian Peninsula and Islands, 

 however, the mean is from 36° to 40°, and 

 in a series of observations, extending over 

 five years, the greatest cold was found to be 

 zero, while the highest temperature was 77°. 

 A still warmer and a moist climate belongs 

 to the Sitka district, the strip extending 

 down alono: the coast of British America. 

 Here the mean is 44*7°, and the temperature 

 during the winter seldom goes so low as the 

 freezing-point. The mean annual tempera- 

 ture of the State of New York is 46-49°. 



The French Academy of Sciences has 

 awarded its Cuvier medal to Prof. Joseph 

 Leidy, of Philadelphia, for his eminent serv- 

 ices in zoology. The medal was accom- 



panied by a letter recognizing Dr. Leidy as a 

 leader in his specialty. 



The report of the United States Com- 

 missioner of Education shows the following 

 percentages of increase in ten years (1876- 

 '77 to 1886-'87), in the five divisions of the 

 Union, in population, school enrollment, and 

 school expenditure : 





= i 



£3 *j 



a a 



DIVISIONS. 



§..2 





B*-3 





P«.2 



w a 



W =3 





16-5 



57 



21-7 





26-7 



5S-7 



SO -4 





36-8 



83-4 



65-4 



North Central division 



32-0 



29-7 



51-1 





721 



58-3 



75-9 







United States 



29-0 



311 



41-1 







Some erroneous opinions respecting rep- 

 tiles are corrected by Arthur Ayling in 

 " Science Gossip." Thus, the slow-worm or 

 blind-worm (Anguis fragilis) is not blind, 

 but has eyes which, though small in com- 

 parison with its size, are very bright, and 

 are in fact the prettiest part of its body ; 

 and it can not inflict a poisonous bite. 

 Snakes do not "sting" with their forked 

 tongues. Reptiles can live a long time 

 without food— a triton, for instance, has 

 been kept in that condition for six months 

 — but they die in the end ; and stories of 

 toads having been imprisoned in rocks for 

 years or ages under circumstances where air 

 was excluded from them are false. Toads 

 can not " spit fire," and newts and lizards 

 can not inflict dangerous bites. 



Dr. F. B. Jessett, of London, claims to 

 have shown, from a comparison of the num- 

 ber of deaths in England and Wales in 

 various years, that the mortality from can- 

 cer increased from 4,966 in 1850 to 13,542 

 in 1881, and the deatb-rate per million in- 

 habitants from 320 to 520. In view of these 

 facts, he suggests that, instead of shirking 

 the subject, it should be met, the cause of 

 the mortality studied, and a remedy sought. 



Nervelessness is mentioned by the 

 " North China Herald " as the distinguish- 

 ing quality of the yellow race. A Chinaman 

 can go through the most tedious and monot- 

 onous work from hour to hour and from 

 day to day, without any appreciable sense 

 of weariness or irritation ; and a school-boy 

 can do the same with his lessons without 

 even longing to be at play. The Chinese 

 can also sleep under conditions which would 

 make a European very uncomfortable and 

 restless. This quality is one of the things 

 that make the Chinese such unwelcome com- 

 petitors in the labor markets. 



The hamlet of Nivez6, near Spa, in Bel- 

 gium, is infested with what the inhabitants 

 call " bad-air wells," or outlets whence car- 

 bonic-acid gas exhales. Dr. Parkin, of Spa, 

 describes eight spots whence the exhalations 

 are abundant, and most so in times of storm 



