312 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 140. 



to the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay, or kept in 

 slavery by the victorious Amagwazas. The kraal 

 is on the Limpopo, about twelve miles north of the 

 Shangaii River, which enters the former from the 

 eastward, and is otherwise known as the Luize or 

 Mitti River. From a hill just eastward of the 

 Shangan the plain of Baleni could be seen extend- 

 ing northwest and southeast as far as the eye can 

 reach, and about twenty-five miles in width. In 

 the rainy season the plain is an immense pool or 

 lake, and all the kraals are deserted for several 

 months. Corn and millet reach a fabulous height ; 

 sweet potatoes, peanuts, melons, pumpkins, beans 

 and bananas aU seemed to flourish exceedingly. 

 The Shangan is salt, but good water can be had by 

 digging. The people call themselves Ama Shan- 

 gani, and aU the adults speak more or less Zulu, 

 which is the language of the ' court.' Thence to 

 Inhambane took nine days through a most popu- 

 lous country. Bingwana, a kraal of about 5,000 

 inhabitants, is about four days from Inliambane 

 on the river of the same name, a deep but narrow 

 stream, abounding in sea-cows. The route was 

 considerably south of tlie one taken in 1884. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The followmg extract from a letter of Mr. 

 Louis Pasteur, to Professor Jules Marcou, dated 

 Arbois (Jura), France, Sept. 7, is kindly furnished 

 us by Professor Marcou. " I take a great deal of 

 pleasure in the thought that, on my return to 

 Paris, I shall XDresent to the Academy of sciences 

 an account of what I believe to be a very valuable 

 prophylactic treatment against hydrophobia, apph- 

 cable after the accident both to man and dogs. 

 Do you not know some feature of this terrible dis- 

 ease which may be peculiar in America ? Is it of 

 frequent occurrence there? Remember that I 

 should have the courage to apply my treatment 

 even on x)ersons who, after being bitten, had made 

 the journey from Paris to America — although 

 under these conditions at least two weeks must 

 liave elapsed since the accident — so great is my 

 confidence m my method. However, I shall feel 

 more sure of myself when I have made a large 

 number of trials on man, which I shall do in 1885- 

 86. I have as yet made but one trial — on an Alsa- 

 tian boy, wliose mother brought him to me. He 

 had been bitten horribly on the fourth of last July, 

 and death by hydrophobia seemed unavoidable. 

 Up to the present time I have excellent news of 

 his health, although it is sixty-four days since the 

 accident." 



— At the meeting of the American forestry 

 congress, held in Boston, Sept. 22-24, the interest 



displayed by the public was extremely little ; the 

 attendance averaging from fifty to a hundred. 

 The following papers were read : Facts in regard to 

 the present state of American forestry. State of 

 forest legislation in the United States, by N. H. 

 Egleston; Forests of California, Prentice Mulford ; 

 The Middlesex Fells, Elizur Wright ; Massachusetts 

 forestry law. Dr. George B. Loring; Arbor day, B. 



C. Nortlnrop ; Forest economy in Canada, Walnut 

 culture in southern latitudes, Hon. H. J. Joly; 

 What have the different states done in regard to 

 their forests ? J. S. Hicks ; The forest laws of Colo- 

 rado, E. T. Ensign ; What are the requisites of an 

 effective forest fire legislation, S. W. Powell ; 

 Spark arresters for locomotives, J. N. Lander ; 

 Relation of forests to floods, T. P. Roberts ; Lum- 

 bering interests — their dependence on systematic 

 forestry, J. E. Hobbs ; Charcoal interests and the 

 mauatenance of forests, John Birkinbine ; Lumber- 

 men's waste as a fertilizer, B. E. Fernaw ; Trees 

 as educators, Prof. Edw. North ; Arbor day cele- 

 bration in schools, J. B. Peaslee ; Seacoast plant- 

 ing — its importance, practicability, methods •, 

 August planting of evergreens, W. C. Strong ; 

 Recuperation of barrens by tree planting, B. G. 

 Northrop ; The osier willow and red cedar, E. 

 Hersey ; On the distribution of economically im- 

 portant resinif erous pines in the southern United 

 States, and on the production of naval stores, C. 

 Moln- ; Profits of forest culture, B. P. Poore ; The 

 new version of the children in the wood. Rev. A. 



D. Mayo ; Needs of a national forest policy, Hon. 

 Warner Miller ; Profits of forest culture. State of 

 forest legislation in the state of New York, Hon. 

 H. R. Low. 



— The American astronomical society of Brook- 

 lyn, N. Y., issued in August last the first number 

 of its pubhcations, bearing the title ' Papers read 

 before the American astronomical society,' — a 

 pamphlet of thirty-two octavo pages. It appears 

 to be a selection from the papers read before the 

 society during the year 1884, and the first half of 

 1885 ; and among the papers we find, ' The disap- 

 pearance of the water and atmosphere of the 

 moon,' by Prof. George W. Coakley ; ' On the 

 structure and age of the universe,' by Garrett P. 

 Serviss ; ' Relation of sun-spots to meteorology,' by 

 G. D. Hiscox. It is a matter of congratulation 

 that a society in this country devoted solely to 

 astronomy is to be found in such a flourishing 

 condition as to be able to print its proceedings so 

 promptly. 



— Dr. D. G. Brinton of Philadelphia, has now in 

 press the sixth volume of his Library of aboriginal 

 American literatm-e. It is the annals of the Cak- 

 chiquels, written by a native about 1560, and never 



