way with the public health. If this question, however, be viewed in a purely sanitary aspect, the arguments in favor of cremation are almost irresistible, and those who work at preventive medicine should add it to their code of subjects, and urge it continuously on the attention of the public."
The most unhealthy city in Europe is Berlin. According to the Lancet, its death-rate amounts to 5.5 per cent. Munich comes next after Berlin. These figures speak ill for sanitary science in the German Empire.
A dispatch from the Washington Naval Observatory, dated August 10th, states that Prof. Newcomb has completed the approximate elements of Borelly's comet. It would pass its perihelion about August 25th, and would be visible with a telescope in the evening till about the end of the month, and in the morning during the whole of September, but would never be visible to the naked eye. The orbit, as determined by Newcomb, indicates that it is a new comet.
The practice of dyeing Easter eggs first led to the discovery of the value of albumen as a mordant.
Two expeditions are projected to set out from Archangel: the one to explore the traces of ancient glaciers in Russian Lapland; the other is to make zoological explorations of the littoral of the White Sea. Dr. Yarjinsky, who lately explored this region, found in the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean species of fishes and crustaceans entirely unknown hitherto.
To determine the action of coal-gas on plants, J. Boehm placed the ends of willow cuttings in flasks containing a little water and filled with coal-gas: the cuttings developed only short roots, and the buds on the upper parts died soon after unfolding. Again, of ten plants in pots, with access of gas to the roots, seven died in four months. In all these cases the gas acts indirectly, poisoning the soil, and through the soil the plant.
A writer in the Chemical News calls attention to a source of error in mercurial thermometers, which does not appear to be generally known. His thermometer having been placed in a Wurtz tube, so that the column of mercury was entirely surrounded by the vapor of a distilling liquid, was, after some days, noticed to indicate three degrees too little. The discrepancy was found to have been caused by volatilization of the upper surface of the mercury and condensation on the upper part of the tube. By causing the mercury to flow to the end of the tube and back, the condensed portion was gathered up, and the correct temperature indicated.
A lunar rainbow of unusual brilliancy was recently seen by Mr. Charles W. Cottel, of Wilmington, III. It appeared about eleven o'clock on the evening of July 26th. The moon was nearly full, and almost due south; a light rain-cloud passed in a northwesterly direction: soon the moon was unobscured, and the conditions were the best for the observation of the phenomenon. A perfect bow was seen in the passing cloud, its apex having an elevation of about 40°. The bow continued visible for some twenty minutes. Much to his regret, Mr. Cottel was riding alone, and was unable to have his impressions of color verified by better eyes (his own in that respect being unreliable from disease); but to his vision the bands of orange and indigo were plainly distinguishable.
One of the precepts of the Law of the Twelve Tables, the most ancient code of the Romans, forbids the burying or burning of dead bodies within the limits of the city. It was but the other day, as it were, that this simple dictate of sanitary prudence came to be recognized among the moderns.
English physicians are not allowed to practise their profession in the republic of Chili, without undergoing an examination in medical science, conducted in the Spanish language. The Chilians pretend to an excellent and wide-spread knowledge in medicine not attained by other nations, and they deny that English doctors are equal to their standard.
From Joubert's researches on phosphorescence, it appears that this property is possessed by arsenic and sulphur under certain conditions, viz., when subjected to a temperature of 200° C. and high pressure.
A curious phenomenon was observed by M. Tresca, on hammering the bar of platinized iridium recently prepared for the International Metric Commission. At each stroke there were produced rectilinear luminous flashes, which crossed each other in the form of an X, extending from one side of the bar to the other, and always in the same manner. No explanation is offered of the phenomenon.
A sort of flute, dating from the age of polished stone, has been found by E. Piette in a layer of charcoal and cinders, in the cavern of Gourdan, Haute-Garonne, associated with flint implements of neolithic types. The instrument is of bone, and pierced with two well-made holes. This is the first discovery on record of a musical instrument belonging to prehistoric man.
The Forty-seventh Congress of German Physicians and Naturalists will assemble at Breslau on September 1 8th, the sittings to continue till the 24th.
