452 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. V., No. 121. 



reported. The result is strongly in favor of electri- 

 city. The electric light could be seen fourteen miles 

 when the others were lost sight of at eight miles ; and, 

 when the others were at a maximum power of ten 

 miles, the electric light could be seen at fourteen and 

 a half; and, though its power is much diminished 

 by fog, it is still superior to all other lights, — a point 

 hitherto doubtful. 



— In consequence of the increase of shortsighted- 

 ness, and the theories current as to its cause, a new 

 departure in book-printing has been made in Holland, 

 the letters being printed in dark blue on a pale-green 

 page. Messrs. Issleib of Berlin have also printed one 

 of their latest publications, ' Die naturgeschichte der 

 Berlinerin,' in this manner, but the result is not 

 wholly satisfactory. 



— Scandinavia states that H. C. Muller, who, as 

 'Sysselmand,' has been present at a large number of 

 ' drivings ' of whales at the ' Faroer,' has recently de- 

 scribed, in the Proceedings of the Natural-history 

 society at Copenhagen, the process of catching the 

 grindehval. The largest number are caught in the 

 months of June, July, August, and September. A 

 few wounded specimens are found to be troubled with 

 parasites, small white crustaceans, rarely by cirri- 

 pedes. It has an enemy in Delphinus orca, the marks 

 of whose teeth have often been observed on it ; but 

 that Lagenorhynchus Eschrictii or Delphinus turrio 

 should bite it, is a fable, for its mouth is too little and 

 its teeth too small to do the grindehval any harm. 

 Besides, it feeds on the same food as the grindehval, 

 viz., squids. The news of the arrival of the whales 

 spreads like fire. From every village people hasten 

 to the place. By throwing stones the whales are 

 driven into the bay, whence they are either dragged 

 on land and killed, or slain with knives on the shal- 

 low places. Then, after the whales have been killed, 

 a division of the catch is made by the participants, 

 certain portions being reserved for the state, church, 

 and school funds. 



— Professor Kiessling of Hamburg has given 

 especial attention to the famous sunset question, and 

 during the past year has devised a number of ex- 

 periments for illustrating the action of minute solid 

 or liquid particles on sunlight, by which sky colors 

 are produced. He has lately summarized his results 

 in a pamphlet entitled ' Die dammerungserscheinun- 

 gen in jahre 1883 und ihre physikalische erklarung.' 

 Diffraction is considered the most important optical 

 process that contributes to the result, as the dull 

 reddish ring around the noonday sun, the horizon 

 colors at sunset, and the purple and other glows half 

 an hour later, are all ascribed to this action. The 

 explanation of the purple and pinkish glows is espe- 

 cially apt and ingenious, and more to the point than 

 any other solution of the question that has been 

 presented. An important supplement to his pamphlet 

 describes the construction of an apparatus designed 

 to illustrate his explanations experimentally. He is 

 a strong supporter of the volcanic origin of the par- 

 ticles on which the diffracting water-particles have 

 condensed. 



— We learn from Scandinavia that Professor Falbe 

 Hansen of the University of Copenhagen delivered 

 recently a very interesting lecture upon the progress 

 of Denmark in recent times, especially after the free 

 constitution of 1848. During the last century, the 

 yearly increase of the population was nearly 2,000; 

 after 1840, 17,000. Copenhagen had, in 1840, 124,000 

 inhabitants, while it now has 330,000. The provin- 

 cial towns rose in the number of its inhabitants from 

 148,000 in 1848, to 304,000. Early in the century, at 

 the accession of King Frederick VI., the national 

 wealth could be computed at 530,000,000 crowns; in 

 1848, at the accession of Frederick VII., at 1,000,000,- 

 000; at his death in 1863, at 2,300,000,000; and now, 

 at 4,000,000,000. Denmark cannot any longer justly 

 be named, as formerly by the poet, ' a poor little 

 country.' 



— Miss E. A. Ormerod has just issued her eighth 

 annual report of " Observations of injurious insects 

 and common farm pests during the year 1884, with 

 methods of prevention and remedy." It embodies 

 the remarks of numerous observers in various parts 

 of Great Britain on the occurrence of insects injurious 

 to farm and garden crops, on their habits, and on the 

 best ways of getting rid of them. It is not a little 

 remarkable, says Nature, to notice how observant, 

 of ten of minute and interesting details, Miss Orme-' 

 rod's correspondents are; and, though many of them 

 probably have little or no scientific training, their 

 aptitude for studying the habits and effects of certain 

 insects makes their records of considerable value. 

 Aside from the scientific interest of the report, Miss 

 Ormerod has done a good work in inculcating habits 

 of observation among farmers and gardeners, who 

 have opportunities such as few others have for noti- 

 cing facts connected with the life-histories of insects. 



— In the January number of the Journal of anat- 

 omy and physiology, Dr. Alexander Hill describes a 

 very interesting parasitic monster which he recently 

 dissected. The parasitic twin consisted of a lobulated 

 mass projecting from the anterior nares of a more 

 perfect foetus. The mass is about as large as the 

 head of the other foetus, and is divided into three 

 large and six small cotyledons. In one of the large 

 lobes there is an embryonal form of liver; in another 

 a central irregular mass of bone, full of cysts. From 

 a study of this parasite, Dr. Hill concludes that the 

 foetus is a double monster, one part of which has 

 been arrested in development by some mechanical 

 advantage which the more perfect foetus possessed 

 over the other in the beginning; and that the parasite 

 did not begin to develop until after the perfect twin 

 was rather far advanced. The parasite is well sup- 

 plied with blood, and the skin is well developed ; but 

 the larger part of its mass is made up of jelly-like 

 embryonic tissue. 



— A German engineer is reported to have invented 

 a method of ascending and descending in a balloon 

 at pleasure until he finds a current of air moving in 

 the horizontal direction he wishes. The agent he uses 

 is compressed carbonic acid, with which he is enabled 

 to condense or expand the gas. 



