POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



283 



goods. The national drink of the country — 

 its wine and cider, there called pulque — is pro- 

 duced from this plant. When pulque not 

 yet wholly fermented — then called agua miel 

 or maguey juice — is properly distilled, an al- 

 coholic drink called mescal is obtained. The 

 plants are cultivated on a large scale in the 

 lower and middle lands of which the agave 

 is native, and the consumption and exporta- 

 tion have attained a great development. The 

 maguey enjoys the advantage of flourishing 

 where nothing else can grow ; and immense 

 tracts of sterile soil on the seacoast have 

 been, under the stimulus of profit, made to 

 produce remunerative crops. Yet the plant 

 does not reject fertilizers, and those contain- 

 ing potash have been found very good. The 

 elevation and climates of the several prov- 

 inces varying considerably, many kinds of 

 agave are cultivated, according to their adap- 

 tations, and have been given as many local 

 names, which are Aztec or Spanish. Some 

 ten varieties are adapted to produce fibers of 

 henequen, or Sisal hemp — long, silky, elastic, 

 and durable fibers suitable for rope-making 

 or for coarse woven fabrics. Other varieties 

 called lechuguilla in Mexico, having shorter 

 and coarser fibers, furnish acceptable sub- 

 stitutes for hog's bristles in brush-making. 

 These fibers are called istle or tampico. The 

 thick and fleshy part of the root of some of 

 these agaves — called amole — is used for soap, 

 and when roasted furnishes what is consid- 

 ered a " savory food." The Agave ameri- 

 cana is planted in Algeria for hedges. The 

 dry flower stalks furnish materials for light 

 buildings ; and the pliant pith is made into 

 insect paste and dressing for razor strops. 



The Danger of the Celluloid Button.— 



An instance is related in England in which 

 a lady was put in great danger while stand- 

 ing before a bright but not blazing fire by 

 the burning of one of the fancy celluloid but- 

 tons of her dress. Experiments made by 

 Prof. C. Vernon Boys prove that articles 

 composed of this material are very suscepti- 

 ble to heat and take fire very readily. Prof. 

 Boys advises the public to guard themselves 

 from what is likely to be a grave source of 

 harm, even to the extent of fatal issues, by 

 taking the precaution of submitting to a very 

 simple test that resembling tortoiseshell, hair- 

 pins, combs, and other ornaments, and toys. 



On briskly rubbing the button on cloth a 

 strong smell of camphor is evolved. If this 

 ready test fails, a small portion may be ig- 

 nited ; it will burn energetically with a flar- 

 ing noise, and the fumes of camphor given 

 off can not be mistaken. If the article is 

 composed of other material, the smell will 

 probably bring to remembrance that pro- 

 duced on burning feathers. Celluloid, it is 

 said, may be made uninflammable and safe 

 by mixing with it certain metallic salts — 

 among them the chloride of tin. 



Evolution of the Color of Birds. — Mr. 



Charles A. Keeler, of the California Academy 

 of Sciences, has published a volume of 336 

 pages on The Evolution of the Colors of 

 North American Land Birds. In explana- 

 tion of how he arrives at the theories which 

 he advances he quotes the experiments and 

 researches of many celebrated scientists on 

 the evolution of the colors of butterflies, 

 goldfish, spiders, etc., and dwells particularly 

 on the effects of climate and the laws of 

 heredity — uninterrupted transmission, sexual 

 transmission, and mixed or mutual transmis- 

 sion — as the chief elements in the evolution 

 of the coloring of birds' plumage. Remark- 

 ing, en passant, that the plumage of birds, 

 confined or diseased, loses its brilliancy, and 

 that, should the confined wild bird breed, the 

 plumage of the offspring would be of less 

 beautiful colors than the parent, Mr. Keeler 

 cites Mr. Darwin, who says: "Each of the 

 endless variations which we see in the plu- 

 mage of our fowls must have had some effi- 

 cient cause ; and if the same causes were to 

 act uniformly during the long series of gen- 

 erations on many individuals, all probably 

 would be modified in the same manner." 

 And in relation to the fact that there is a 

 general constancy of coloration in the wild 

 birds, he remarks that this uniformity of col- 

 oration is preserved by free intercrossing, 

 and where this is prevented by isolation or 

 migration, variations of color very frequently 

 take place. Young birds of various species, 

 after the autumn molt, continue through the 

 winter to assume, by degrees, the more in- 

 tense colors characteristic of the adults, with- 

 out changing feather; and Mr. Yarrell says 

 that many birds appear to become more bril- 

 liant in color as the breeding season ap- 

 proaches, without either molting or the 



