tion to bo the burrow of the larva of some beetle, filled up with excrement and rudimentary fiber, as such burrows commonly are filled. In support of his view he makes the points: that the object in advance of the so-called reptile's head to the unimaginative eye appears, not like an insect larva, but like a simple knot, similar to two knots which appear in the body of the more prominent formation; that the diameter of the formation is greatest at the point where the relief ends, as would be the case with a larva eating its way from the point corresponding with the "head" of the "serpent" and growing as it advanced toward the "tail"; that the first curve, which, on the serpent theory, the animal must have made in forcing its way under the bark, is so abrupt and the relief so doubled upon itself that a snake could not make such a bend without breaking its vertebræ; that the cephalic plates and scales are imaginary; that the curves shown, though natural to a burrowing larva, are not natural to a snake forcing itself into so confined a space; that the woody formation of the relief indicates a burrow beneath the larva, and not the forcing of anything between the bark and the wood, for such forcing would have loosened the bark for some distance on either side of the relief, and a forcing of the kind supposed could not take place without interference with the growth or soundness of the tree; that the granular appearance to be seen along the sides of the specimen and the fibers observable are just such as an insect-larva would leave, and can not be accounted for on M. Ollivier's hypothesis; that the animal matter in the center of the body may be accounted for as arising from the exuviæ and excrement of the larva; and that the work of human hands in heightening resemblances, particularly about the head and eyes, can be detected. The whole question, finally, could be readily settled by careful section, which would show traces of vertebræ or phosphate of lime along the vertebral line if there really were a serpent. Professor Gray, in the January number of the "American Journal of Science," suggests two explanations as more probable than that which depends upon the snake. One is, that the snake-like body is of the nature of a root, an aërial root, like those of a Clusia or a Ficus, which was making its way between bark and wood, and that the supposed larva is an incipient root of the same kind. The other, which was proposed by Professor Wadsworth, of Cambridge, while examining the specimen along with Professor Gray, "and is to be preferred," "supposes that the sinuous course is the track of a wood eating larva or some kind of insect, the burrowing of which had not destroyed the overlying fiber; consequently the new growth filling the space (except at certain points) had naturally assumed the likeness of a snake."
Vital Conditions affecting the Colored Population.—Dr. S. S. Herrick, Secretary of the Louisiana State Board of Health, presented facts and tables at the Savannah meeting of the American Public Health Association, showing that, as between the two races, the rate of mortality for all ages is invariably much greater among the colored than among the white, and that the disparity is more marked in the case of children under five years of age. The colored race appears to enjoy an advantage in malarial fevers and cancerous diseases, while it is at a disadvantage in all the other diseases. Mr. Patterson's tables, exhibiting the increase by decades of the colored population in the United States, given in "The Popular Science Monthly" for September, 1881, show that the rate of increase during the decade, including the war, fell off by sixty or seventy per cent. The rate was, however, brought up to near its highest figure in the returns of the last census. The last fact is held by Dr. Herrick to correct the belief that the African race is destined to disappear in the struggle for existence. "Apparently, this race is increasing more rapidly than its white compatriot." The fact, however, which seems to have been overlooked, should be borne in mind, that the mulattoes and quadroons are all reckoned as colored, so that the increase is partly due to the whites. If the rapid increase of the colored race proves anything, it is that there is plenty of room yet for that class of people. This leads to the consideration of what will probably be the future of the colored people when they are crowded upon. "Whatever
