938 The American Naturalist. [November, 
cian who fed his guests with cholera bacilli, and thus caused their 
deaths. This doctor is said to reside in Buenos Ayres, and his name 
is given. A New York paper publishes a reporter’s interview with the 
Governor of Illinois, in which that worthy is made to say that he is 
afflicted with locomotor ataxia. According to the Governor, the inter- 
view never took place. Here inaccuracy has passed into mendacity, 
as in the case of the New York World’s interview with the astronomer 
Secci, which were shown to have been pure inventions. One o 
the editors of this journal thought he would investigate the source 
of stories as to the frequent appearance of an alleged ghost on a moor 
south of Brooklyn last August. These stories had been published in a 
conspicuous way in several papers of New York and Brooklyn for 
several weeks, and it seemed worth while to look into a matter which 
they published as serious news. Nothing was seen, however, but a few 
young men, among whom were reporters of the Brooklyn Eagle, the 
New York Sun, and the New York World. The last-named confessed 
to having himself filled the róle of ghost on one night by using news- 
papers, so that this ghost, like most others, appears to have been of 
& purely subjective origin on the part of one newspaper at least. 
— LIEUTENANT PEARY’s party has returned, leaving him to prose- 
ute his researches with only two companions. The results to geogra- 
phy are not great, as he was compelled to abandon the expedition to 
the northeast coast of Greenland, owing to extreme severity of the 
weather. Some ofthe men who have returned, have been talking in a 
way which shows that they are not adapted for service on an exploring 
expedition, and Lieutenant Peary is, apparently, well rid of them. It 
is hoped that the next season will be more propitious. We express 
here our regret that the Academy of Natural Sciences of this city has 
not contiuued to interest itself officially in this important enterprise, 
as it did in the beginning. 
—AN artificial taste or custom has often interfered with healthy 
natural processes in human affairs. The follies of human fashions are 
innumerable. We refer now to one of minor importance, and yet one 
which well illustrates'the proposition—that is, the alleged fattening of 
oysters for the market: The nearer the habitat of an oyster approaches 
salt water, the better will its flavor be, as, for example, the Blue Points 
of Long Island Sound, the Chincoteagues of the Maryland Coast, the 
Norfolks of Virginia and the Baratarias of Louisiana. "These oysters 
all have, in the natural state, a brownish or yellowish tint, which, to 
the connoisseur, is a sure indication of their superior merits. Here, 
