A singular feature of the last illness of Guizot was, that for three weeks previous to his death his memory was totally at fault during the greater part of the day; but from noon till 5 p. m. it was quite perfect, especially if the conversation turned upon his favorite study—the history of France. Again at five he would fall into a kind of somnolence, which lasted till noon of the following day.
The new Reclam-Siemens cremation-furnace has been tested at Berlin with satisfactory results. Two hundred weight of animal carcass was consumed in about 90 minutes, and reduced to white ashes at the cost of less than one dollar. Eighty-two German cities possess cremation societies.
From researches made by Phipson, it appears that thallium is much more widely distributed than has been supposed—as widely, indeed, as lead, he thinks. He has met with it especially in metallic cadmium, and the cupriferous pyrites of Spain and Norway, and in many of the other minerals and industrial products derived from them.
The molar tooth of a mastodon was recently exhumed near Waterloo, Ind. It weighs six pounds, is eight inches long, and has four prongs and four double crowns.
The French Minister of War, General de Cissey, has very positively prohibited the officers of the army from communicating to any scientific body, or publishing in any scientific journal, any "memoirs of a scientific character having reference to any branch of the military service.... Such publications," he says, "are absolutely contrary to the 'principles of (military) hierarchy.'" The Revue Scientifique naturally takes umbrage at this general order, and says that it cannot fail to do injury to the army, by placing it beyond the reach of fair criticism.
The American Museum of Natural History in Central Park, as we learn from the Tribune, has lately received the Wolfe memorial gift, which consists of a collection of shells gathered by Dr. J. C. Jay, together with his library of works on conchology. The collection embraces over 10,000 species, and probably 50,000 specimens. The library is supposed to contain every book treating of shells published before 1861, and most of those issued since then. It also contains full sets of the transactions of all the prominent scientific societies.
The Austro-Hungarian Government has decided to send out another expedition next year to ascertain whether "Franz-Josef Land" is part of the continent or an island. The expedition will be divided into two parties, one going by way of Siberia, the other by way of Greenland.
The use of aniline red for coloring hair-oils is condemned by the Laboratory, and an instance is cited in proof of the injurious effects resulting from the employment of oils so colored. A man in Boston, who had for some time frequented a barber's shop in which aniline-colored oil was used in hair-dressing, began to experience a disagreeable itching of the scalp, very similar to that produced by arsenic. On inquiry, the trouble was traced to the hair-oil, which contained arsenic present in the aniline color; and, by discontinuing its use, the eruption soon disappeared.
Mr. Richard A. Proctor says of our Signal-Office forecasts of the weather, that they are "singularly accurate, the percentage of error being little more than ten or twelve, and constantly diminishing." During the last three months of his stay in the United States, the weather announcements of the Signal-Office failed of strict fulfillment only twice; and even then the error consisted only in the announcement of a change in the weather a few hours before it actually occurred.
About two-thirds of the estimated cost of the Liebig Monument, at Munich, has been subscribed—the far greater part of the money coming, of course, from Germany. "England," says the Lancet, "numerous and deep as are her obligations to the father of agricultural chemistry, stands very low on the subscription-list, being, in fact, outstripped by Italy, which comes next, as a subscriber, to Germany itself."
A sandstone anvil has been discovered near Ironton, Ohio, supposed to have been used by the mound-builders. It is composed of very sharp grit, contains over 100 depressions, weighs about 500 pounds, and measures 8 feet 8 inches at its greatest circumference. This relic of an extinct race is to be presented to the Cincinnati Society of Natural History.
It may interest the consumers of Rhenish wines to learn that at Kehl there is a large establishment for the manufacture of wine without grapes. In the Rheingau and the Palatinate there are hundreds of similar establishments, according to the London Times correspondent. The Excise Bureau of the German Empire recognizes this product as grape-wine.
The English literary journals are discussing the question of forming one English word to represent what the French call a savant. "Man of science" is the only expression at present in approved usage that exactly corresponds to the French word. Scientist is "an American barbaric trisyllable." A writer in the Academy gives us our choice between "sciencist" and "scient."
