288 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



immense numbers of individuals, and living 

 in various media, capable of developing at 

 the freezing point. One of them, a sea-water 

 species, produces phosphorescence at that 

 temperature. It is well known that to pre- 

 serve meat and other articles of food success- 

 fully it is necessary to employ a much lower 

 temperature than that of the melting of ice, 

 and experience has further shown that this 

 is best done when the atmosphere is deprived 

 of moisture. 



Electric currents were proved many years 

 ago to exist in plants ; and Kunkel was led 

 to think, by his experiments, that they were 

 caused by the mechanical process of water- 

 motion, set up on application of the moist 

 electrode. A new investigation of the sub- 

 ject has been made by Herr Haaske, and he 

 concludes that it is unquestionable that 

 changes of matter of various kinds are con- 

 cerned in the production of the electric cur- 

 rents, especially oxygen-respiration and car- 

 bonic-acid assimilation ; and that while water 

 movements may possibly share in their pro- 

 duction, their share is certainly only a small 

 one. 



Mr. Kedamath Basu has observed that 

 under the influence of enlarged education 

 and refinement, tattooing and the use of red 

 paint on the forehead and crown are dimin- 

 ishing among the women of Bengal. These 

 fashions still persist in the Northwest Prov- 

 inces, along with the insertion of thick and 

 heavy wooden plugs in the lower lobes of 

 their ears. 



A specimen of ruthenium, weighing two 

 kilogrammes, prepared by M. Joly, was re- 

 cently exhibited in the French Academy of 

 Sciences. The metal is very hard and brittle, 

 having a specific gravity of 12, and melts at 

 the temperature of the electric arc. It is 

 usually found associated with iridium, palla- 

 dium, rhodium, and osmium, in platinum ores. 



Herr Du Bois-Reymond has shown, in a 

 communication to the Physiological Society 

 of Berlin, that a sensation of heat follows 

 the immersion of the hand in a receiver 

 containing gaseous carbonic acid. A like 

 effect is produced by other gases which do 

 not enter into the composition of the air. 

 The heat sensation may be compared with 

 that produced by a temperature of 68° Fahr. 

 in the air. The phenomenon results from a 

 stimulation of the nerves sensitive to heat. 



Experiments are described by Herr We- 

 sendonck, the object of which was to deter- 

 mine whether electrification is produced by 

 the friction of gases. While ordinary air gave 

 considerable charges, negative or positive, 

 according to the adjustment of the apparatus, 

 no electrification was produced when the air 

 had been previously freed from dust and 

 moisture. Oxygen behaved in the same way. 

 Carbonic acid, evaporated from the liquid 

 state, imparted a strong positive charge, 



which was, however, reversed as soon as the 

 cold led to the precipitation of watery vapor. 

 Ordinary atmospheric dust was found to elec- 

 trify the brass negatively, and the charge 

 was increased by previous drying. It seems, 

 therefore, that pure gases are incapable of 

 producing electrification by friction, and that 

 the effects observed are conditioned by the 

 presence of solid or liquid particles. 



An account of a thunderstorm in which 

 the rain was mixed with live land mussels, 

 which is said to have occurred at Paderborn, 

 Germany, in August, 1892, is published in 

 Das Wetter. A yellowish cloud attracted the 

 attention of several people, both from its 

 color and the rapidity of its motion, when 

 suddenly it burst. A torrential rain fell with 

 a rattling sound, and immediately afterward 

 the pavement was found to be covered with 

 hundreds of the mussels. 



Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant has presented 

 to the Missouri Botanic Garden, St. Louis, 

 his entire botanical library, which is particu- 

 larly rich in pre-Linnsean works. 



The question of evaporation from the sur- 

 face of snow is discussed in a Russian mete- 

 orological journal by M. A. Miiller, of the 

 Observatory of Ekaterinberg. Authors who 

 have prexiously written on this subject, in- 

 cluding Nuckner, Woeikoff, and others, have 

 not been agreed as to whether the evapora- 

 tion exceeds the condensation from the air 

 in contact with the snow. The method usu- 

 ally adopted has been to compare the temper- 

 ature at the surface of the snow with the 

 dew point, and assume that if it is superior, 

 evaporation, if inferior, condensation, takes 

 place. M. Miiller's observations were made 

 from December 21, 1890, to February 28, 

 1891. His conclusion is that, according to 

 the method adopted, evaporation is superior 

 to condensation in the proportion of 73 to 27. 



The report of a parliamentary committee 

 on the plague of voles in Scotland shows, on 

 the authority of early Celtic chroniclers, that 

 as early as the year 895 Ireland was devas- 

 tated by a plague of " vermin of a mole-like 

 form, each having two teeth," which "fell 

 down from heaven," and were driven out only 

 " by prayer and fasting." There is also a 

 plsgae of voles in Thessaly (a Grecian land), 

 and the Mohammedans there have sent to 

 Mecca for some holy water. 



OBITUARY NOTE. 



The Rev. F. 0. Morris, of Yorkshire, 

 England, a well-known popular writer on 

 natural history, died April 10th, aged eighty- 

 two years. Among his many books were A 

 History of British Birds, in six volumes, and 

 Natural History -of the Nests and Eggs of 

 British Birds. 



