August 29, 1884.] 



SCIENCE. 



173 



edge was ground off quite sharp, and the other 

 rounded. One of the rings was noticed to be slightly 

 flattened on one side. 



Fig. 1. 



The spectacles worn by the embassy (fig. 2) were 

 rather curious as regards form and size. They were 

 made of transparent, colorless, and smoky quartz, and 

 are worn more to rest the eyes than as aids to sight. 



Fig. 2. 



One pair, with glasses of smoky quartz, was very 

 curiously marked, or rather streaked, showing the 

 twinning of the crystal; and this feature was com- 

 mented upon by them as a desirable one. The mate- 

 rial of the glasses is obtained from Kyeung Ju, in the 

 south-western part of the province, and is manufac- 

 tured by thirteen spectacle-makers of note; there 

 being also, in addition to these, a number of inferior 

 workmen. The frames are made of horn, measuring 

 five inches and a half in length, and two 

 inches in width across the glasses. 



The amber beads which they wear (fig. 

 3) are all imported from Europe, and a 

 peculiar, long, rounded one was used as a 

 button. 



A curious button (fig. 4) is also used by 

 them. It is worn on each side of the 

 head, behind the ears, sewed to a velvet 

 band; and a string attached to the hat 

 passes under the button to hold the hat 

 on the head. When made of gold, they denote the 

 highest rank, and are worn only by the prince. 



Every Korean woman wears two rings, always 

 exactly similar in every respect, and as a rule per- 

 fectly plain. These are half oval in form, and are 

 made either of gold, silver, amber, or coral. The 

 coral, until recently, has been brought from China, 

 and must have been cut from 

 very large branches of this ma- 

 terial. 



They themselves say that 

 their ladies are the best, or 

 rather the most elaborately, 

 dressed women in the world. 

 In confirmation of this, the 

 prince gave as his reason for leaving his wife at 

 home, that her clothes would not have stood the wear 

 of the journey. 



Fig. 



Fig. 4. 



The prince described some crystals which must 

 be the most remarkable yet known for quartz, if there 

 is no error in his statements. They were described 

 as hexagonal in form, and in length six times the 

 height of a man, while over one foot across. After 

 being shown a sketch of stalactites, the prince made 

 a drawing of the crystals which showed the distinct 

 terminal planes of quartz; and he insisted that they 

 were not the same as the stalactites. They were 

 described as red and white in color. It is barely pos- 

 sible from their form, that they are crystals of trap; 

 but from their color and terminations it would seem 

 otherwise. They are found rising from the water at 

 Ohoong Sokh Chung, Kong Won Do, Tsing Chun 

 county, a province on the east coast of Korea. 



George F. Kuxz. 



THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN INSTI- 

 TUTIONS. 



Johns Hopkins university studies in historical and po- 

 litical science. Herbert B. Adams, editor. 

 Vol. i. Local institutions. Baltimore, Univer- 

 sity, 1883. [470] p. 8°. 



The first volume of the Johns Hopkins uni- 

 versity ' Studies in historical and political 

 science' for the year 1883 is devotee! to the 

 subject of American institutions of local self- 

 government, — a subject which has heretofore 

 been greatly neglected, or, at any rate, treated 

 in only a fragmentary and irregular manner. 

 The present is the first attempt made to in- 

 vestigate it comprehensively and systemat- 

 ically ; not exhaustively, by any means, or 

 with any pretence to completeness, even of 

 outline. Certainty, no person would look, in 

 a year of independent studies, for any thing 

 more than a commencement of so large a work. 

 As the second year's issue does not propose 

 to continue the same line of investigation, it 

 seems fitting to examine the results of last 

 year's labors, and determine what they have 

 accomplished, and what they leave to be ac- 

 complished. 



The studies before us embrace a wide range 

 and variety of subject, including no fewer 

 states than Massachusetts, Connecticut, Penn- 

 sylvania, Maiyland, South Carolina, Michigan, 

 and Illinois, — states far enough apart, one 

 would think, in origin and character, to include 

 every phase of American municipal life. Not- 

 withstanding the admirable judgment, how- 

 ever, with which the subjects have been 

 selected, it will be seen at a glance that there 

 are vital omissions. New York, which has 

 afforded the model for municipal government 

 for almost the entire north-west, and which 

 has some traces of the Dutch system still left ; 

 Virginia, the ruling state of the south, and 



