er a time it was found that the caterpillars were | sists in causing cold water from the centre of the swollen to bursting, white threads appearing be- tube to pass into a spiral worm in an adjacent tween the rings of the body, and ultimately caus- tub, filled with the water which it is desired to ing their death in such quantities as to save the cool. It will be understood, of course, that this forests from further injury. The same parasite cold water, passing continually through this worm, also attacks the common house-fly, as well as the and brought back again into the first-mentioned dung-fly, so as to almost annihilate them in cer- tank, will carry with it the heat which is disentain districts. The only order of insects not sub-gaged from the liquid in the tub to be dissipated ject to the attack of the Empusa is said to be that of the Neuroptera, while even amphibia and fishes occasionally experience its disturbing influences. ANDREWS ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF Professor Andrews, of Chicago, in a memoir recently published by him upon "The North American Lakes (Michigan and Huron especially), considered as chronometers of post-glacial time," comes to the following conclusions in regard to their history and chronology, assuming that their formation took place during or at the close of the drift period: 1. The upper beach of the lakes began to form immediately after the boulder-drift period, and continued to accrete for about nine hundred years. No animal fossils have yet been found in it. 2. The waters then fell suddenly to about their present level, where they remained till a thin bed of peat accreted on the marshy slope vacated by the waves. Data are not at present available for a calculation of this low-water period, but from the position of the soil-bed in the eastern dunes it probably lasted five hundred years. 3. The water rose again, submerging for a short time the upper beach, but soon fell to the line of the middle one, where it remained about one thousand six hundred or two thousand years. This period appears to be contemporary with the loess. 4. The water, which had already slowly fallen some feet, now retired more rapidly to near its present level, which it has maintained with only moderate fluctuations ever since. 5. The total time of all these deposits appears to be somewhere between five thousand three hundred and seven thousand five hundred years." TOSELLI METHOD OF COOLING LIQUIDS upon the evaporating surface of the refrigerative disk. The amount of cooling effected by this apparatus depends, of course, upon the temperature of the air and the amount of its moisture. In one experiment, conducted in the month of June, 1870, the temperature of the water in the tank at the beginning of the experiment was over 100° Fahrenheit, and in a short time was brought down to 660-a difference of 34°. VALUE OF REVACCINATION IN SMALL-POX. Most of our readers are aware of the extent to which the small-pox has ravaged France, and especially Paris, and of the continued discussion of remedies and indications of the disease. In response to a request from the Minister of the Interior to the Imperial Academy of Medicine the following statement of established facts was returned: First, vaccination is a preservative against small-pox; second, in every instance, after a certain time, revaccination is expedient to secure complete exemption from contagion; third, revaccination is an absolute security from danger; fourth, revaccination is useful at all ages; fifth, it can be employed without inconvenience during the existence of the epidemic, and it is perfectly well established that in certain localities-in the bosom of families, in boarding-schools, and other agglomerations of individuals-it has succeeded in arresting upon the spot an epidemic just begun; sixth, the actual epidemic of small-pox, which prevails in Paris and other points of French territory, has supplied a most convincing proof of the protective power of revaccination; finally, it was stated that in various army corps, and especially in the Garde de Paris, and in many public and private establishments, particularly in some of the municipal schools, the small-pox was entirely checked after revaccination; and also that the latest statistics, especially those collected in the civil hospitals of Paris, prove in the most positive manner that persons recently revaccinated have been attacked only in a very small proportion, and very lightly, and so as not to figure in the statistics of mortality. It is, therefore, concluded that it is in the highest degree important, both in the interest of the individual and of the public, to continue to extend in every possible way the practice of revaccination. EFFECT ON THE FROG OF THE REMOVAL OF M. Toselli, of Paris, has devised a new method for cooling liquids without the use of ice, which he thinks can not fail to become of much practical importance. It consists essentially in a disk formed by a metallic tube folded in a spiral upon itself, one end of which remains open, and the other is in communication with a horizontal tube, which constitutes the axis of rotation, and passes through its centre. This disk, placed vertically, is plunged for half its diameter in water contained in a tank, and is made to rotate about once in a second. During this action the external surface of the disk is continually moistened by the water, and, consequently, a considerable Some account has already appeared in the degree of evaporation takes place. This evapo- public journals of the experiments of Professor ration abstracts from the tube a certain amount Goltz, of Königsberg, upon the functions of the of heat; and since at each turn of the disk a nervous system of the frog. This gentleman, quantity of water is introduced into the tube, having removed the brain of the frog with as this water gives up to the tube the heat which little effusion of blood as possible, found that it has been lost by the evaporation from the sur- would rest upon a table exactly in its natural face, and its temperature is correspondingly low-position, as if in perfect life, without exhibiting ered, the water ultimately falling back again the least indication of the wound which it had into the tank considerably colder than it was be- experienced, but without changing its situation A modification of the arrangement con- of its own accord. If pressed or pinched it fore. THE BRAIN. moved by turning or leaping, but remained mo- | plants of the surface soil, by reason of their long tionless in its new attitude. In the condition immersion in the stagnant rain-water, takes place, referred to it did not croak spontaneously; but this could easily be induced by rubbing the back gently with the moistened finger, which seemed to produce a croak or grunt of satisfaction. The equilibrium of the body was readily maintained by the mutilated frogs. When placed upon a book which sloped gradually they would crawl to the upper edge, and rest and hug themselves to it with their fore-feet, this manœuvre being repeated every time that the inclination of the slope was changed. A healthy frog, in a like case, would, of course, have immediately leaped to the ground. The movements of a frog deprived of the brain differ from those of a healthy frog in being executed mechanically, and with a constant regularity. It is inferred from these interesting experiments that the nervous centres of voice, and the power of keeping the equilibrium, reside not in the brain, but in the cerebrospinal axis. COMPARATIVE PERIOD OF MELTING OF NAT- The idea has been more or less prevalent that artificial ice is more readily melted than natural, and, consequently, that the values of equal weights of the two could not be compared, excepting the question of price be taken into the account. We are informed, however, that the French Navigation Company of the Messageries Impériales, wishing to test this question, in reference to the ice to be used on its vessels in the Indian Ocean, have made experiments, taking 100 kilogrammes of each kind, and exposing to the same temperature under similar conditions. The result is as follows: Natural Swiss ice required for complete melting.. 10 Hours, 115 130 138 Natural Norway ice required....... "ALLIOS" OF THE PLAINS OF SOUTHERN FRANCE. It is known to some of our readers that certain sandy soils in the south of France, formerly perfectly barren, and blown about by the winds, have been reclaimed, by planting with pines and firs, so as to become of much economical importance. A curious alteration has, however, taken place in the soil, in the formation, at a depth of about three feet, of a stony layer, of a brown color and of a moderate thickness, called, locally, allios, and covering a bed of indefinite depth of sand similar to that above it. The presence of organic matter in this allios seems to prove that it has been derived, in a measure at least, from the surface vegetation of the land. In winter and at the commencement of spring the level surface of the land is constantly covered, to a greater or less extent, with rain-water. The action of the sun during the warm portion of the year reduces this by evaporation to a depth of one or two yards in relation to the general level of the swamps and marshes bordering the interior of the chain of downs. A decomposition of the and the products are carried by this filtering across the upper layer, to the average depth of about one yard. In doing this they appear to cement together, to a certain degree, the sand at this level; and as the operation has been renewed every year for a long period, a layer of allios, more or less compact, is formed, which doubtless will continue to increase. One unfortunate result of this impermeable subsoil is the development of intermittent fever, which appears to prevail in this region; and the only way to avoid it is to produce a drainage by digging ditches, and by sinking pits in the allios to a depth of about one yard, and breaking holes in its crust, through which the water runs off very rapidly, leaving the surface perfectly dry. To prevent the terrible conflagrations which would be likely to take place among these forests should they be kept as dry as proposed, it is suggested that it will be necessary to divide them up into sections by lines of surface free from vegetation, across which any forest-fire would not be transmitted. BREEDING OSTRICHES IN CAPTIVITY. The many efforts made in Europe to breed ostriches in a state of captivity have finally resulted in success, the Zoological Garden of Florence being the happy possessor at the present time of several healthy young birds. The stock consisted originally of one male bird and of one old and one young female. One set of eggs was laid in 1868, but these did not hatch. In March of 1869 the laying commenced anew, and first one female and then the other deposited her eggs in the same nest until the number amounted to ten. These were then brooded upon in the dayally by the older female, the younger one showtime by the male, and in his absence occasioning great reluctance to approach the nest excepting at night and in the colder weather, when the eggs were divided among the three, each brooding over its share. In the morning, however, when the females left their nests, the male bird drew to himself, with his bill, the eggs which had been covered by the older female. The younger one, however, always took up a position so far from the others that the male bird could not reach her eggs, and the attendants of the museum were obliged to push them near to him. The brooding lasted until the 27th of June, when the female remained quietly sitting on the eggs, the male running around the park in a very vicious manner. In a short time five ostriches made their appearance around the old bird, the remaining eggs producing nothing. One of the five young birds died, apparently from overeating; but the remaining four were in good condition at the latest report, and likely to attain maturity. Should it be found practicable to raise ostriches in a state of domestication without too much trouble and expense the broods may be rendered of much pecuniary value, since the plumes alone of the male birds will bring a price so great as to yield a handsome return, and the remaining feathers of the body generally of both sexes can be turned to economical account. How far ostriches can be utilized in civilized countries as animals of draught and beasts of burden, as they are said to be employed in Africa, remains to be tried. RATIO BETWEEN THE SIZE OF THE CHICK According to a German author the chick, at the moment of escape from the egg, weighs about two-thirds as much as the original egg. If, therefore, it is desirable to have strong and large chicks, it is necessary to see that only the heaviest eggs are hatched. The average weight of hens' eggs may be estimated at about ten to the pound; some weigh considerably more and others much less than this proportion. By pains in selecting large eggs, it will be possible, according to the usual theory of selection for breeding, to secure a race of chickens of large size. PURIFICATION OF GYPSUM WATERS. The water of many springs and streams, otherwise comparatively useful, is found to contain so large a percentage of gypsum as to render it unfit for ordinary purposes. Dr. Reinsch informs us that if finely ground witherite, or native carbonate of baryta, be added to the water in the proportion of about half a pound to forty gallons, and the whole well stirred together and allowed to settle, the superincumbent water will be found entirely free from gypsum, and to contain only a slight percentage of carbonate of lime, which, as is well known, when in a moderate quantity, is rather beneficial than otherwise to the health. Editor's Bistorical Record. UNITED STATES. were lost. She carried thirty-six passengers, OUR ore 8th UR Record closes November 23. On the 8th among whom was Mr. Jenkinson, a member of States. In Alabama, Delaware, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and Tennessee, Governors, as well as other State officers and Congressmen, were elected; in Florida a Lieutenant-Governor, to fill a vacancy; and in Illinois the highest office provided for was that of State Treasurer; while in Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin, no State ticket was elected. Altogether these elections embraced 126 members of the Forty-third Congress. Serious trouble had been anticipated in some quarters on account of the execution of the new election law of Congress, particularly in New York city; but there was no disturbance. It is impossible now to give an official estimate of the results of these elections. The following States were carried by the Democrats: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia. In the following the Republicans were successful: Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. On the 7th elections were held in Arkansas and Louisiana, the result in the former being a Democratic, and in the latter a Republican suc cess. The general result of all the State elections held during the past year indicates a pretty even division of the electoral vote between the two parties. The Republican majority in the next House of Representatives will consist of from forty to fifty members. Senator O. P. Morton, of Indiana, has declined the President's appointment of him as minister to England, in order to prevent the election in his stead of a Democratic Senator by the Indiana Legislature. General J. D. Cox has resigned his position in the President's cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. He is succeeded by Commissioner Delano. The steamship Varuna, on her way to Galveston, Texas, foundered during the night of October 20 off Jupiter Inlet, Florida, and all on board, except the second mate and four men, EUROPE. The principal events in European history since the close of our last Record are the surrender of Metz, the abortive armistice, and the revision by Russia of the Paris treaty of 1856. On the morning of October 27 Metz was surrendered by General Bazaine to the Prussians. The capitulation included 150,000 prisoners, besides 20,000 sick and wounded. Among the officers made prisoners were Marshals Bazaine, Canrobert, and Lebœuf, and Generals Frossard, L'Admirault, Decaen, D'Erville, Picard, and Changarnier. Metz had been isolated since August 22. It is the capital of the department of the Moselle, and its capture gave the Prussians actual possession of the entire territory of Alsace and Lorraine, which together include six French departments. The surrender occasioned very great indignation throughout France. On October 30 the government council at Tours issued a proclamation charging Marshal Bazaine with treachery. At this time General Trochu had a force of 230,000 men fit for offensive duty. Outside of Paris there were six armies, numbering 530,000 disciplined and well-armed men, not including the numerous detachments of francs-tireurs, garrison, and irregular troops. These were the Army of the Loire, General De Paladines, with 120,000 men; the Army of the West, General Kératry, with 100,000 men; the Army of the North, General Bourbaki, with 65,000 men; the Army of the Centre, General Tripaut, with 90,000 men; the Army of the Rhone, General Michel, with 110,000 men; and the Army of the Vosges, General Cambriels, with 45,000 men. A telegram dated at Tours, November 10, announced an important success gained by the French, the day before, south of Paris, resulting in the retreat of the German General Von Der Tann and the recapture of Orleans.-The French garrison at Neuf Breisach, on the Rhine, 5000 men and 100 guns, capitulated November 11. By the mediation of England arrangements were concluded between France and Prussia on the 4th of November for the negotiation of an armistice. The proposed armistice was to term inate November 28. A decree ordering the elec- | peace of the East. This infraction was not the tion of a Constituent Assembly was to be issued by the French government November 5, the Assembly to meet on the 15th. M. Thiers had received from the French government full powers to negotiate an armistice with Bismarck. But on the 6th he received an imperative order from his government to break off all negotiations. The protocol agreed upon between M. Thiers and Count Von Bismarck was not satisfactory to the French, as the proposition to allow of the revictualing of Paris was declined by the Prussians. 66 Russia has taken advantage of the present war to offer her protest against some of the provisions of the treaty of 1856. On the 19th of October Prince Gortschakoff, at the palace of TzarkoSelo, framed a circular, which was sent to the cabinets of all the great powers in Europe. This circular was handed to Earl Granville, of the British cabinet, on the 9th of November. It opens with these words: "The successive alterations which the compromises considered to be the foundation of the equilibrium of Europe have in these last years undergone have obliged the imperial cabinet to examine the influence upon the political position of Russia therefrom resulting." Prince Gortschakoff then goes on to speak of the treaty of 1856. Russia had in that treaty conceded her own disarmament on the Black Sea in return for the neutralization of that sea. The principle was to remove all possibility of conflict, whether between the powers bordering on the Black Sea, or between them and the maritime powers...... The experience of fifteen years has proved that this principle, upon which depends the security of the whole extent of the frontiers of the Russian empire in this direction, rests only on a theory. In fact, while Russia disarmed in the Black Sea, and even by a declaration recorded in the protocols of the conference loyally denied to herself the possibility of taking efficient measures of maritime defense in the adjacent seas and ports, Turkey preserved the right of keeping up unlimited naval force in the Archipelago and the straits; France and England reserved the power of concentrating their squadrons in the Mediterranean. Moreover, by the terms of the treaty the entrance into the Black Sea is formally and forever prohibited to the flag of war, whether of the riparian powers or of any other power; but by virtue of the convention called the 'Straits Convention,' the passage through these straits is closed to flags of war only in time of peace. It results from this contradiction that the coasts of the Russian empire remain exposed to all aggressions, even on the part of less powerful states, as soon as they possess naval forces, to which Russia would be able to oppose only a few vessels of small dimensions." After pointing out the infractions of this treaty by Moldavia and Wallachia, "with the consent of the Porte and the acquiescence of the great powers," and showing that these concessions were partial and exclusive, the prince continues: "The imperial cabinet, then, could not but be struck with the fact that it had been possible to infringe with impunity the treaty of 1856, but a few years after its conclusion, in one of its essential clauses, in the face of the great powers assembled in conference at Paris, and representing as a whole the high collective authority upon which rested the only one. At several intervals and under various pretexts the entrance to the straits has been opened to foreign ships of war, and that of the Black Sea to whole squadrons, the presence of which was a violation of the character of absolute neutrality ascribed to these waters in order to secure the repose of the East and the European equilibrium. His Majesty is convinced that that peace and that equilibrium will have a stronger guarantee when they shall have been placed on a more just and solid basis than those resulting from a position which no great power could accept as a normal condition of existence." Earl Granville in his reply to this circular, November 10, admits the reasonableness of the complaint made by Russia, but denies the right of that power, "upon the strength of her own judgment," to release herself from certain stipulations of the treaty, even while promising to observe others. He adds: "I need scarcely say that her Majesty's government have received this communication with deep regret, because it opens a discussion which might unsettle the cordial understanding it has been their earnest endeavor to maintain with the Russian empire, and for the above-mentioned reasons it is impossible for her Majesty's government to give any sanction on their part to the course announced by Prince Gortschakoff." The following are the articles of the treaty to which Russia objects: waters and its ports thereon, open to the mercantile ARTICLE ELEVEN.-The Black Sea is neutralized; its marine of every nation, are formally and perpetually interdicted to the flag of war, either of the powers possessing its coasts or of any other power, with the teen of the present treaty. exceptions mentioned in articles fourteen and nine ARTICLE THIRTEEN.-The Black Sea being neutral, according to the terms of article eleven, the maintemaritime arsenals becomes alike unnecessary and purnance or establishment upon its coasts of militaryposeless; in consequence, his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias and his Imperial Majesty the Sultan engage not to establish or to maintain upon that coast any military-maritime arsenal. The purpose of Russia in her present movement is not to bring on a war, but to lay the basis for a formidable naval armament on the Black Sea. It still remains to be seen whether she will persist in this purpose, and also whether, if she does, the British government will, in conjunction with Austria and Turkey, proceed to war. The nomination of the Duke of Aosta to the Spanish throne having been favorably received by all the European powers, a bill to ratify this nomination was submitted to the Spanish Cortes November 1. Señor Castellar offered a proposition of censure, which was rejected by a vote of 122 to 44. On November 17 the Duke was elected by a large majority. CHINA. All advices from China for several months past have indicated the imminence of a critical conflict between the progress and civilization introduced by foreigners and the ancient customs, religious and social, of the natives. The massacre of June 21, 1870, was but a straw showing the direction of the wind. It is feared that the conflict will develop very serious consequences unless foreign nations strongly interpose. Editor's Drawer. AMONG other poems particularly pat to this season of festival, the readers of the Drawer may find something to laugh at in the English ballad following: JOE BUGGINS; or, THE STORY OF A CHRISTMAS CARD. Joe Buggins was a lawyer's clerk, His face and frame were like his means, Of cash poor Joe knew well the want, But hard indeed must be the toils And Christmas yearly brought to Joe For then for one whole day at least, He ate, drank, made what jokes he liked, But ofttimes we are sufferers from And so it happened once with Joe, That he could not make matters square And when the Christmas dinner he A little voice his breast within ""Twould mar our joy-and yet," sighed he, "Besides, if we could get a joint On tick-why, then, I'm blowed!" (Here he cried "Oh!" some twenty times, Which showed how much he owed). "But still, though things so fishy look, And as two heads know more than one, And now observe, ye single men, When times are bad with you, what good For when Joe told his loving spouse She told him in return what brought "I've got," said she, "just two-pound-ten" "Ten shillings' worth of grocery And when they all sat down to dine- APROPOS of the recent elections, the following is capital, and will be especially relished by gentlemen who have been unsuccessful in their aspirations for office: In one of the towns of Pennsylvania the freemen had for many years deposited their votes solidly for the Democratic candidates. Such a thing as a Whig or Republican was unknown, and prior to the Grant and Seymour campaign no local Republican ticket had ever been run. At that time, however, the politicians of an adjacent township thought it an opportune occasion to attempt the establishment, in that town, of a Republican organization. To this end they persuaded a certain Mr. Green, who had recently settled there, to become their candidate for some minor office, hoping to procure for him a few votes under the popularity of the great name of Grant, and thus to get an entering wedge in the local affairs of the township. The day of election arrived, but Mr. Green was unable to get to the polls by reason of sickness. In due time the returns were published, and Mr. Green had just one vote. Chagrined at this, and annoyed by the accusation that he had voted for himself, he announced that if the person who had voted for him would come forward and make affidavit to the fact he would reward him with a good suit of clothes. A few mornings afterward a burly, stupid-looking Pennsylvania Dutchman called upon Mr. Green, and abruptly remarked: "I vants dat suit of cloes." "Ah!" said Mr. Green, "then you are the man who voted for me?" "Yah, I'm dat man. "Are you willing to make an affidavit of it?" "Yah, I swear to 'em." Mr. Green, accompanied by the intelligent voter, went to the office of the justice of the peace, and the required affidavit was made; after which the clothes were purchased and given to the deponent. So delighted was Mr. Green to be relieved from the unpleasantness of his situation, and so glad to learn that there was another righteous man in the township, that he had taken the Dutchman's Republicanism as a matter of course. However, at parting, he said: "Now, iny friend, you have your suit of clothes, just answer me one question-How came you to vote for me?" "You vants to know dat?" "Yes." "And you von't go back on de cloes ?" "No." "Vell," said he, slowly, and with a sly twinkle of the eye, "den I tole you; I makes a misdake in de dicket!" Wasn't that consolatory! Mr. Green avows his unalterable determination never again to appeal to popular suffrage for public position. WE are indebted to a friend in the government service at Washington for the following anecdote of General Cleburne, of the Confederate army, better known as the "Stonewall of the West." Before giving it, however, let us say to our friends every where, soldiers and sailors, and especially to our friends at the South, that |