53 § 
Notes. 
[August, 
Among eminent scientific men recently deceased we must 
mention Prof. D. T. Ansted, F.R.S., and Count de Castelnau. 
According to a memoir communicated to the Academy of 
Sciences, the equatorial and polar diameters of the planet Mars 
agree with the hypothesis of an anterior fluidity. 
M. Schutzenberger, ex-Professor of the University of Stras- 
burg, gives, in the “ Revue d’Anthropologie,” a curious account 
of a dog which was in the habit of stealing carrots, not of course 
for its own use, but to give to a horse — un grand diable de cheval 
— for which he had a particular affeCtion. 
Since the commencement of the present year the deaths at 
Paris have exceeded the births. 
We hear with great pleasure that the manufactory of spurious 
university diplomas at Philadelphia has been broken up. Seve- 
ral barrelsful of fraudulent medical diplomas, just ready to be 
issued have been seized, and five “bogus” colleges, are in 
danger of suppression. 
According to the “ Medical Press and Circular ” a belief is 
spreading in Hampshire that the luminous properties of Balmain’s 
phosphorescent paint are due to an admixture of human fat ! 
It is not generally known that the superstitious practice of 
hoplochrism still prevails in Suffolk. If anyone injures himself 
with a tool or weapon he is at once exhorted to apply some 
healing ointment, not to the wound, but to the blade or point. 
The belief that stones are capable of growth is also still enter- 
tained in the Eastern counties. 
The Birmingham Science College will open on October ist, 
Prof. Huxley delivering an inaugural discourse. The course of 
Biology will be conducted by Prof. T. W. Bridge, F.Z.S. 
Mr. J. S. Kingsley, writing in the “ American Naturalist,” 
pronounces the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science “ a drag rather than an aid to progress.” He adds that 
“ aside from its grants of money to the Zoological and Geological 
Records, and to specialists, to enable them to carry out certain 
lines of investigation, its British prototype is no more worthy of 
its pretentious name.” 
Prof. Cope suggests that the mutilations and strains which 
plant-using animals have for long periods inflicted on the flower- 
ing organs may, as in some similar cases in the animal kingdom, 
have originated peculiarities of structure. 
According to R. E. Kunze, in the “American Naturalist,” the 
potato-beetle ( Doryphora decemlineata) is poisonous to man. 
The usual result from handling the crushed beetles, as well as 
from inhaling the fumes arising from vessels in which they have 
been scalded, has been likened to serpent and scorpion poisoning. 
