SCIENCE. 
77 
syrup, two ounces of finely powdered sugar are to be 
added, mixed well with it, and the whole is then to be 
spread out in the air to dry. The sugar locks up the 
volatile parts of the coffee, so that when it is dry they can- 
not escape. 
Ground coffee prepared in this way, and which lay 
exposed to the air for one month, yielded, on being boiled, 
as good a beverage as one made from freshly roasted 
berries. 
I have described the mental influence of tea and coffee; 
much could be written on their influence upon modern 
society and civilization. 
Anne Boleyn makes meniion in one of her letters of hav- 
ing partaken of half a pound of bacon and a quart of beer 
for breakfast ; now, after making due allowance for cus- 
tom and habit, it must be confessed that modern ladies 
must rise from the ; r morning meal of a cup of coffee with 
some bread and butter and an egg, with many different 
sensations and sentiments to those experienced by the 
fair Queen after her more masculine repast. 
BACTERIA IN THE AIR. 
M. Miquel has succeeded in seizing and numbering the 
spores or eggs of bacteria, and while confirming M. Pas- 
teur’s observation, that they are always present in the air, 
shows that their number presents incessant variations. 
Very small in winter, it increases in spring, is very high in 
summer and autumn, then sinks rapidly when frost sets in. 
This law also applies to spores of champignons ; but while 
the spores of moulds are abundant in wet periods, the 
number of aerial bacteria then becomes very small, and it 
only rises again when drought pervades the soil, a time 
when the spores of moulds become rare. Thus, to the 
maxima of moulds correspond the minima of bacteria, and 
reciprocally. In summer and autumn, at Montsouris, one 
finds frequently 1,000 germs of bacteria in a cubic metre of 
air. In winter the number not uncommonly descends to 
four and five, and on some days the dust from 200 litres of 
air proves incapable of causing infection of the most alterable 
liquors. In the interior of houses, and in the absence of me- 
chanical movements raising dust from the surface of objects, 
the air becomes fertilizing only in a volume of 30 to 50 litres. 
In M. Miquel’s laboratory, the dust of five litres usually 
serves to effect the alteration of neutral bouillon. In the 
Paris sewers infection of the same liquor is produced by 
the particles in one litre of air. These results differ consid- 
erably, it is pointed out, from those published by Tyndall, 
who says a few cubic centimetres of air will, in most cases, 
bring infection into the most diverse infusions. M. Miquel 
compared the number of deaths from contagious and epi- 
demic diseases in Paris with the number of bacteria in the 
air during the period from December, 1879, to June, 1S80, 
and certainly, each recrudescence of the aerial bacteria was 
followed at about eight days’ interval by an increase of the 
deaths in question. Unwilling to say positively that this is 
more than a mere coincidence, he presents further observa- 
tions regarding it. M. Miquel further finds (contrary to 
some authors) that the water-vapor which rises from the 
ground, from rivers, and from masses in full putrefaction 
is always micrographically pure ; that gases from buried 
matter in course of decomposition are always exempt from 
bacteria ; and that even impure air sent through putrefied 
meat, far from being charged with microbes, is entirely puri- 
fied, provided only the putrid filter be in a state of moisture 
comparable to that of the earth at 0.30 metres from the sur- 
face of the ground. 
The International Congress of Anthropology and Pre- 
historic Archaeology holds its next meeting at Lisbon, on 
September 20-29, this year. Several important questions 
concerning the prehistoric archaeology ot Portugal will be 
discussed. Excursions will be made to several places of 
archaeological interest. 
DEYER’S ASTRONOMICAL RECORD. 
Mr. J. L. E. Deyer, of the Observatory of Trinity 
College, Dublin, has prepared and published A Record of 
the Progress of Astronomy during the year 1879. 
This interesting digest is similar in every way to the 
summaries given for 1877 and 1878 by Professor Holden, 
in the Annual Record of Science and Industry. It was 
intended originally to add a bibliographical list of books 
and memoirs on Astronomy published during the year, 
but for various reasons this was left out. Such a list 
ought to embrace a longer space of time than a single 
year, and besides, the “ Bibliographic Gfmerale ” the 
publication of which has recently been announced from 
the Brussels Observatory, is to include the year 1880. 
Mr. Deyer’s paper theretore calls attention to such pub- 
lications only as appeared to possess more than a passing 
interest. These are mentioned under the following 
heads : Spherical astronomy, theory of instruments, 
celestial mechanics, the sun, the moon, the inter-mercu- 
rial planet quest : on, planets and satellites, comets, 
meteors and meteorites, fixed stars, nebulae and clusters, 
photometry, history of astronomy, bibliography ; obser- 
vatories, miscellaneous notes. 
Although the number of working observatories in this 
country is small, the present summary would indicate 
that these few had been reasonably active, since nearly 
one-third of the memoir (fifteen out of forty-seven pages) 
is devoted to the results of astronomical work done in 
the United States. O. S. 
THE LATE MR. GREENE SMITH. 
In regard to our statement in Science for July 31st, 
respecting Mr. Greene Smith’s offer ot his collection of spe- 
cimens of birds to the American Museum of Natural 
History, we are reminded by Professor Burt G. Wilder, 
M. D., that shortly after the opening of Cornell University, 
in 1868, Mr. Smith presented that institution with a 
collection of 362 birds, mostly from North America, all 
perfect specimens and finely mounted. 
We have authority for stating, that in regard to the 
present disposition of the late Mr. Greene Smith’s col- 
lection, for the present, at least, it will remain in the 
possession of his widow. Mrs. Greene Smith informs us 
that she will devote her attention to making the collec- 
tion as complete as possible, by the addition of the speci- 
mens now absent ; and at some future time when she 
considers she has accomplished this task, she will 
present the collection to some institution, where it will be 
most appreciated, and do the greatest good. 
The use of steel for marine boilers has of late increased 
rapidly, but if the latest news from the Clyde is trust- 
worthy, steel boilers have failed under the test, and have 
been condemned. Some eminent marine engineers refuse 
to use it, but several new passenger steamers have been 
fitted with boilers of steel, and a grave responsibility has 
been incurred by their owners. — £ng. Mech. 
