NOTES. 



863 



nal poisoning, the observation of an eminent 

 but unnamed chemist was quoted, that al- 

 kaloidal poisons are destroyed by burial as 

 well as by cremation, so that the only poi- 

 son that would not be discovered after crema- 

 tion and which might be detected after ordi- 

 nary burial is arsenic. 



Esdnranee in Animals. — The tradition, 

 says an English writer, which assigns to cer- 

 tain animals a daring and endurance diffi- 

 cult to match in man, is so old, and on the 

 whole so consistent, that it would be im- 

 possible to disregard it, even were the facts 

 on which it is based less clearly within the 

 limits of ordinary observation and compre- 

 hension than they are. It may even be 

 doubted whether our measurement of ani- 

 mal courage has yet been sufficiently extend- 

 ed, for there appear instances in which the 

 acts of daring are prompted by a sense of 

 obedience, of discipline, and even of duty — 

 something similar in kind to that which 

 marks and distinguishes the highest forms 

 of courage in man. 



NOTES. 



An English edition of the Reminiscences 

 of Werner von Siemens, to which we are in- 

 debted for the material of the sketch of him 

 published in this number, is now in press and 

 shortly to be published by D. Appleton & Co. 

 It abounds in stirring incidents and bright 

 anecdotes. 



A World's Congress of Evolutionists 

 has been called to meet in the Art Building, 

 Chicago, September 27th, 28th, and 29th. 

 Morning, afternoon, and evening sessions 

 will be held each day. A carefully arranged 

 programme of subjects has been provided 

 for the discussions. The first subject, set 

 down for the morning session of September 

 27th, is Constructive Evolution. Progress 

 of the Doctrine in Eorty Tears. Its Present 

 Scientific and Popular Status. Its Upbuilding 

 and Beneficent Character. Other subjects, 

 under each of which are several subheadings, 

 furnishing a wide and varied scope for ex- 

 pression by different speakers from their re- 

 spective points of view, are Biology as re- 

 lated to Evolution ; The Heroes of Evolution 

 (Darwin, Spencer, Wallace, Haeckel, Gray, 

 Youmans, etc.); Psychology as related to 

 Evolution ; Sociology, with Evolution's Prom- 

 ise for the Settlement of Social Problems and 

 the True Conservatism of Evolution; Eco- 

 nomics as related to Evolution ; Philosophy 

 as affected by Evolution ; Ethics, the Moral 



of Evolution ; and the final series, Religion : 

 how it is affected by the Doctrine of Evolu- 

 tion, Spiritual Implications in all Progress, 

 Materialistic Speculations Untenable, The 

 Immanent and Transcendent Power that 

 makes for Beauty, Order, and Righteous- 

 ness. The arrangements for the congress are 

 under the guidance of Dr. Lewis G. Janes, 

 James A. Skilton, and other persons of rep- 

 resentative character. All friends of evolu- 

 tion are invited to attend. 



A writer in the London Spectator sug- 

 gests that, in studying the intelligence of 

 animals instead of ourselves, we should com- 

 pare them with men who are more or less in 

 the same state of education with them. He 

 lives in Bolivia, in a country close to three 

 tribes of Indians who are more or less sav- 

 ages, although engaged in agriculture of a 

 desultory kind ; and he has had it forced 

 upon him on various occasions that the nobler 

 animals — such as the horse and the dog — are 

 quite as capable of "reasoning" or "think- 

 ing " out the ordinary problems of maintain- 

 ing their existence as those savages. " Of 

 the wild animals, many put whatever brain 

 power they possess to ' cunning.' Again, 

 what is ' cunning ' '? Their cunning is very 

 similar to that of the Indians of this country, 

 who would rank high among savage races." 



According to an observation by C. Mar- 

 gat, of the University of Geneva, when alu- 

 minum, previously well cleaned, is lightly 

 rubbed with an amalgam, its surface becomes 

 covered with an arborescence of alumina, 

 which can literally be seen to grow, and in 

 the course of half an hour the forest may 

 reach the height of a centimetre. The growth 

 ceases on the application of heat, to be re- 

 sumed on a new rubbing with the amalgam. 

 If the forest growth is brushed away, the 

 surface of the metal where the oxidation was 

 most rapid will be found to have been eaten, 

 as if with an acid. The mercury acts in some 

 way to make the aluminum more amenable 

 to oxidation. The experiment is more con- 

 veniently performed with an amalgam than 

 with pure mercury, because the amalgam can 

 be powdered and brought into more imme- 

 diate contact with the aluminum. 



In the investigation of the purity of the 

 ice supplied to Paris, Lac Daumesnil at Vin- 

 cennes, whence a considerable proportion of 

 the natural ice comes, has been found to be 

 polluted by the entrance of a sewer and by 

 an artificial stream from the plateau of Gra- 

 velle. It is proposed to limit the use of 

 this ice to applications in which it is not 

 brought into direct contact with the articles 

 to be cooled, and to enforce the use of arti- 

 ficial ice got exclusively from spring water 

 or from river water sterilized by heat, when 

 such contact takes place. 



Lake Memphremagog, on the line be- 

 tween Vermont and Canada, has been sub- 



