August 29, 1884.1 



SCIENCE. 



159 



become sx leading one in the near future; and 

 our statesmen will do well to begin soon to 

 give it their thoughtful attention. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 Increase in growth of young robins. 



The past season my attention had been attracted 

 to the rapid growth made by a nest of young robins 

 on our porch. Early in July another pair of robins 

 built a nest on a bracket on the same porch, in which 

 the female laid three eggs. I carefully watched the 

 nest, to note the appearance of the young, as I had 

 determined to accurately weigh the young birds daily, 

 after hatching, as I was curious to learn just how 

 much they might increase in growth during each suc- 

 ceeding twenty-four hours, up to the time of flight. 

 On July 28, two eggs batched, the third being infer- 

 tile. At two o'clock, July 28, I weighed the young 

 birds separately, as I did for the next twelve days 

 at about the same hour. I have designated the birds 

 as 1 and 2 ; and the following figures represent their 

 increase in weight in grams : — 





No. 



July. 





28. 



29. 



30. 



31. 



1 



2 



Grama. 



5.8 

 6 



Grama. 



8.7 

 10 



Grams. 



14.3 

 14.7 



Grama. 



21.15 

 24 



No 



August. 





1. 



2. 



3. 



4. 



5. 



6. 



7. 



8. 



9. 



1 . . . 



2 . . . 



Grams. 



25 



26.8 



Grams. 



33.8 

 34 



Grama. 



42.5 

 43.5 



Grams. 



43.75 



48 



Grama. 



51.2 

 52.6 



Grama. 



52.45 

 55.3 



Grams. 



52.2 

 57.6 



Grams. 



53 



57.8 



Grams. 



52.2 

 57.8 



The above figures are surely interesting, and will, 

 without doubt, surprise many readers who before had 

 no idea of the increase in growth made by the young 

 of birds. As can be seen, the growth made by No. 1 

 was not so constant and steady as that made by No. 

 2 ; and, whereas No. 1 lost some in weight Aug. 8 and 

 9, No. 2 sustained no loss. The loss in weight was 

 owing, I think, to the great quantity of lice which 

 infested the birds and nest. Chas. S. Plumb. 



N.Y. experiment-station, 

 Geneva, N.Y. 



The meng-leng. 



In China the sphex, or solitary wasp, makes a neat 

 mud-cell in a crevice, puts therein the store of young 

 insects which are to be the food of its own larva, 

 lays its egg in the midst, closes the entrance of the 

 cell, leaving only a minute window in the front wall, 

 and flies away, with reason for such complacency 

 as is produced in the feminine mind by snug house- 

 keeping. The egg develops, the larva sucks the juices 

 of the imprisoned spiders and flies, and finally the 

 little wasp issues through the window, equipped for 

 flight in the sunshine. 



The Chinese call this lone, busy, steel-blue insect 

 the 'meng-leng,' and have a peculiar notion of its 

 habits. They say that it has no domestic nor social 

 relationships, but longs, like other creatures, for little 

 folk of its kind. So it makes a cot, and puts therein 

 the child of some fruitful mother of another family, 



seals the infant carefully into its domicile, and then, 

 flying frequently back from commonplace occupations, 

 it puts its mouth to the little window of the cot, and 

 buzzes and sings 'meng-leng, meng-leng, meng-leng!' 

 And the little creature within, hearing itself con- 

 stantly called a ' meng-leng,' believes itself to be one, 

 and gradually and surely verifies its name, coming 

 out in due time a perfect sphex. 



So in China an adopted child is popularly and 

 poetically called a little ' meng-leng.' 



Adele M. Fielde. 



Indian languages in South America. 



Your interesting notice of recent works on 'Indian 

 languages of South America' (Science, Aug. 15, p. 

 138) requires to be completed by the mention of the 

 remarkably valuable treatise by the venerable travel- 

 ler, J. J. von Tschudi, — ' Organismus der Kechua 

 sprache' (Leipzig, F. A. Brockhaus, 1884, 534 p.). 

 For the first time in the history of American linguis- 

 tics, we have here presented an exhaustive analysis 

 of the lexical and grammatical structure of a native 

 tongue, fully adequate to the demands of modern 

 study. Von Tschudi has made a long investigation 

 of the Kechua. As far back as 1853, he published 

 his treatise upon it, and has twice edited the original 

 text of the celebrated Ollantadrama (1853 and 1875). 



The introduction to his last work occupies a hun- 

 dred and twenty-five pages, and contains a brief 

 exposition of his views on the ancient history and 

 mythology of the Inca race, and on the affinities of 

 their language. Based, as his opinions are, on a most 

 careful analysis of the tongue and on ample personal 

 observation, they must have great weight with future 

 ethnologists and antiquaries. To mention only one 

 of his many novel conclusions, he denies any affinity 

 between the Aymara and Kechua languages, and 

 considers Bertonio's grammar and dictionary of the 

 former (from which such affinity has been argued) 

 as based on a local and corrupt dialect. 



I would further add to your list the meritorious 

 treatise of Giovanni Pelleschi, ' Sulla lingua degli In- 

 diani Mattacchi del Gran Ciacco ' (Firenze, 1881), 

 where, in the scope of seventy pages, he imparts much 

 fresh information about this little-known tongue; 

 and, if not too remote to be called recent, it is worth 

 while mentioning the republication in Lima, in 1880. 

 of the extremely scarce 'Arte de la lengua Yunga,' 

 by F. de la Carrera, — an idiom presenting many 

 curious features, both in phonetics and structure. 



D. G. Brixtox, M.D. 



Media, Penn., Aug. 16. 



Fish-remains in the North-American Silurian 

 rocks. 



Mr. E. W. Claypole states in Science. July 11. 

 that he has come into the possession of some fossil 

 fish which lead him to the conclusion that there are 

 forms of fish more ancient in America than are known 

 elsewhere. From Mr. Claypole's letter, I gather that 

 he imagines that the upper Ludlows and the • bone- 

 bed ' are the earliest rocks which yield fish-remains. 

 I would direct attention to the fact that the lower 

 Ludlow rocks of England have yielded the remains 

 of fish; viz., the Scaphaspis (Lankester). The Sca- 

 phaspis ludensis was discovered at Leintwardine, in 

 lower Ludlow strata, which must have been deposited 

 long ages before the accumulation of the upper Lud- 

 low 'bone-bed.' Soon after the shield of this fish 

 was detected, I personally investigated the physical 

 position of the rocks in which it was found. * The 

 Leintwardine beds are the only localitv where the 



