disease. Mr. MacDonald's own views are expressed with caution, and in many cases he confines himself to expounding the ideas of the author he is dealing with, without offering any opinion of his own. The question of alcoholism in its relation to crime is treated at considerable length, and the views of many different writers presented; but, as is usually the case in discussions of that subject, the variety of opinions prevailing and the lack of sufficient information about the actual physical effects of alcohol result in leaving the question unsettled.

Mr. MacDonald's book contains much that will be useful both to those who are beginning the study of criminology and to the original investigator. To the former it will suggest the most important topics for investigation and the proper methods of work, while to the latter it will serve as a guide to the literature of the subject in all its departments. In this last-named respect the book is especially strong, since it gives not only a great many digests of recent works, but also an extended bibliography of the whole subject, filling more than two hundred pages. On the whole, though we do not agree with all the author's views, we have found his book on many points both interesting and suggestive.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

*Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer. name is in all cases required as a proof of good faith.

On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his communication will be furnished free to any correspondent.

The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character of the journal.

ANIMAL VOCABULARIES.

CERTAINLY one who believes in evolution cannot deny the existence of a language, of some sort, which enables the lower animals to communicate in a more or less intelligent degree.

Even my five-year-old little girl feels assured of the fact that animals can talk, "but not in our words." Only yesterday 1 sent her to the barn with an armful of fresh corn husks for our pony. She came running back with beaming countenance, exclaiming: "Daisy was so glad, she wanted to kiss me.'

Several years ago I took great interest in some fine Brahma chickens we had raised from fluffy little chicks. There was one fine old grandmother hen which we bought to start with. She came recommended as a "good mother." And a good mother she proved to be, but she had her way of training a family. She went at it in earnest. She clucked and scratched and pointed out the best things to eat. She was fully impressed with the fact that she had a duty to perform, and she had the courage to devote herself entirely to this duty. But she always insisted upon early independence. She did not approve of chicks clinging to her and depending upon her when they were able to "scratch" for themselves, and hence she made it a rule to "wean" them early. She always gave them a parting lecture. She looked very wise and solemn, and "ca cawed" in a peculiar tone, while the chicks stood about her in a sort of dazed, sorrowful way, wondering, no doubt, what would become of them. One "talk" ended the matter. She went off to roost alone, and the deserted chicks huddled together, "vaguely thinking" what a cold world.

Another interesting characteristic about this old grandmother hen was her solicitude for young hens who were just beginning to experience the first inclinations to sit. She would stand before their nests, and "talk" in the most earnest, subdued tones; her vocabulary must have been quite extensive, for she could continue without any hesitation for such a long time. It always seemed to me

Cer

that she was relating her own experience and giving advice to the young and inexperienced of her kind. tainly the young hens appeared to listen with all the respect possible-they no doubt "thought" that she magnified the cares and responsibilities; at least she never dissuaded a young hen from her resolution to sit. I agree with the writer in the last issue of Science (No. 549), who says "there is no need of going beyond the barn yard to hear a definite animal vocabulary of a considerable number of words."

If our language is the result of evolution, it has come up through lower forms, and it is only legitimate to credit animals with a varying degree of power of communicability. MRS. W. A. KELLERMAN.

THE CIRCULATION IN FRESH-WATER MUSSELS. In order to demonstrate the course of the circulation in a fresh-water mussel the student is commonly directed to make six injections: from the ventricle forward into the systemic arteries; backward through the auricles into the efferent branchial vessels; from the vena cava forward into the organ of Bojanus, and backward into the system; and into one of the branchial sinuses forward into the gills and backward into the organ of Bojanus.

I have, however, sometimes succeeded in demonstrating several of these connections by a single injection as follows: Cut away a small portion only of the outer lamina of the outer gill, make a little opening into the branchial sinus and with a very slow, steady pressure inject into it. The course of the injection may then be easily watched as it proceeds down the inner lamina of the gill, and after a little time begins to ascend in the outer lamina. Presently it will begin to escape at the cut ends of the efferent branchial vessels; enough of these are, however, left intact, so that most of the fluid passes on up to the auricle, thence into the ventricle, and it may be followed as it sets out from the heart towards the front and rear of the body on its systemic journey. At the same time, of course, the injection will flow from the starting point back into the efferent vessels of the organ of Bojanus. I have not succeeded in continuing the pressure long enough or steadily enough to make the fluid pass on into the vena cava; the small systematic vessels seem to offer so much resistance that the injection is pretty sure to make a break somewhere before it finally succeeds in making its way through them; and in the same way the renal vessels fail to transmit it backwards into the vena cava It is very likely that a steadier hand than mine might succeed better, or that an injection controlled by the force of gravity might be made to demonstrate the complete and orderly circuit of the blood around to the starting point; but even the injection of two-thirds of the entire circuit and the gradual progress of the fluid from point to point is instructive. GOODWIN D. SWEZEY.

Donne College, Crete, Nebr.

PROTECTIVE MIMICRY OF A MOTH.

A CORRESPONDENT of "Science," August 4, notes a case of protective mimicry of a moth. From the brief description given, the insect may be the Red Humped Apple tree Caterpillar Moth, Oedemasia concinna which has just been reared from larvae, at the University of Kansas, where work is being done in an economic and biologic collection of insects. About a dozen caterpillars were received from Delphos, Kansas, July 19, and after preserving two or three in alcohol, the remainder were put in breeding cages with apple leaves for food. By July 13, all had pupated, some going into ground at surface, while the majority made thin cocoons among the twigs and leaves in such manner as to be completely enveloped and hidden. Adults emerged by August 14, and then it was noticed how easily

they could be mistaken, while clinging to the limbs of trees, for short stubs of broken branches, and thus cheat their enemies out of a meal.

Taking this as the same species as described and figured in the article,it may be noticed that the distribution is wide, Ohio to Kansas, though it may be expected wherever apples are grown. From the adults, several lots of eggs were found on underside of leaves, and their development will be watched. E. S. TUCKER.

Lawrence, Kansas, Aug. 16.

EXPLOSIVE GAS IN LOCOMOTIVE EN GINES.

IN the article on p. 79 of Science, Aug. 11, 1893, concerning "Explosive Gas in Hot Water Apparatus," are some very pertinent questions to which I would like to add several in regard to high-pressure engines.

Assuming the facts stated as true, as they probably are, in the case of heating furnaces in houses, may they not be true also in, for instance, a locomotive engine under certain circumstances?

May not the hydrogen in a locomotive become mixed with common air?

May not this mixture be exploded under certain circumstances likely to occur in locomotives?

May not this be the real explanation of those sudden and terrific explosions that occasionally occur, where no apparent cause can be assigned? M. W. V.

.Ft. Edward, N. Y., Aug. 16.

COYOTE OR BEAR?

COYOTE or bear? "that is the question" which has apparently agitated Dr. Franz Heger, Curator of the Ethnographical Museum atVienna, ever since Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, Special Assistant in Mexican Archæology of the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., described and figured an ancient Mexican shield inlaid with feather-work and gold and bearing an animal device of a blue "monster" on a red field. (Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, Vol. V., Part 1, 1892).1

This shield Mrs. Zelia Nuttall found preserved at Castle Ambras, in Tyrol, and, recognizing its unique character, obtained permission from the Imperial Oberhofmeis

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teramt at Vienna to have it sketched and photographed. It proved to be an ancient Mexican feather-work shield, with an authentic history, like the head-dress of the time of Montezuma, still exhibited at Vienna, "unfortunately always upside down." This was restored by Dr. Ferdinand von Hochstetter and described by him as a standard or banner.2 Both head-dress and shield were sent by Cortez to Charles V., and subsequently formed part of the historical collection of armor formed by his nephew, the Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, and were duly recorded in the Inventories of that famous collection. Strangely enough, the shield was supposed to be lost, and Professor Hochstetter lamented "its total disappearance." All the while it was lying perdu, in a case labelled "Transatlantic and Oriental Curiosities," at Castle Ambras in Tyrol, until its importance was recognized by Mrs. Nuttall on a chance visit to the Museum Ambras. Soon after Mrs. Nuttall announced the continued preservation and whereabouts of this valuable Ancient Mexican relic to the Anthropological Society of Berlin, and the shield was consequently removed to Vienna. Some other Ancient Mexican objects were also transferred there at the same time, and these Dr. Franz Heger has described in a memoir published in the Annals of the Imperial Natural History Museum of Vienna, 1892.3

It is not altogether surprising that the Austrian curators should have felt a little sore that the real history of so valuable a relic should have been forgotten, although the specimen was duly taken care of, and that its whereabouts and unique value should have been made known by a foreign visitor and Mexicaniste scholar. But that is no reason why Mrs. Zelia Nuttall's critical and searching investigations on "ancient Mexican shields" in general, and the Ambras shield in particular, should be misrepresented and misquoted. Any one reading Mrs. Nuttall's original memoir, and Dr. Heger's more recent article, cannot help seeing such to be the case. For instance, Dr. Heger curtly states, "According to Z. Nuttall the mon1. See "Ancient Mexican Heraldry," by Agnes Crane. Science, Vol. XX., No. 503, Sept., 1892. 2. Standard or Head-dress," by Zelia Nuttall, Peabody Museum Papers. Vol. I., No. 1, 1888. 3. Altmexikanische Reliqu'en aus dem Schlosse Ambras in Tio!.

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ster on the shield represents the fabulous Ahuizoltl, or water animal," whereas, while duly considering the possibilities of such identification, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall stated, in conclusion, "that she was prevented from upholding it," and drew attention to the resemblance between the outlines of the Ambras "monster" and those of the coyote or prairie wolf, as depicted in the Codex Mendoza to express ikonomatically the name of the Pueblo Coyohuacanplace of wolves. Dr. Edward Seler subsequently endorsed Mrs. Nuttall's identification of the Ambras monster as a coyote or prairie wolf.

Dr. Heger, however, declines to recognize the device as representing a wolf, and declares it to be bear from "its fangs, claws and shaggy coat,"-characteristics, by the way, also common to the wolf. He admits that "the tail is rather long for a bear," but adduces, in support of his hypothesis, the fact that bushy tails are possessed by the smaller species of bears, and proceeds to evolve from his inner consciousness a Mexican species of small, long-tailed bear, unknown alike to ancient Mexican pictographers and more prosaic but exact modern zoologists. Such authorities as Wallace and W. H. Flowers state that only one species of bear, Ursus ornatus, is known to occur in the Neotropical region, which includes the American continent from the northern limits of Mexico to Patagonia, and that species is the spectacled bear, restricted to the Chilian sub-region.

Is it possible that Dr. Heger confused the true bears

4. "Geographical Distribution of Animals," Vol. II., p. 201. "Mammals Living and Extinct," p. 565.

5.

(Ursidae) with the raccoons (Procyonidae) familiarly known in Germany as "Waschbären," from their singular habit of washing their food. These, however, are not bears but small bear-like animals with long tails, commonly annulated. These raccoons do occur in Mexico, but they are characterized by "turn up" noses, which give them a mild and inquisitive appearance, differing widely from the wolverine aspect of the Ambras "monster," which looks as much like a wolf rampant with protruded claws as heraldic designs with that intent in general. The feet of the coyote or prairie wolf are more correctly indicated in the pictograph of the coyote from the Mendoza codex. The bears are flat-footed and cannot retract their claws, which form the only ursine feature of the Ambras monster.

Dr. Heger's fallacies, misquotations and self-contradictions are amusingly exposed by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, in the current number of the Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, Part 6, 1893. To use a familiar metaphor, it will be seen that the lady has left neither Dr. Heger nor his hypothetical, long, bushy-tailed, smnall Mexican bear a leg to stand upon. Fac-similes of both the Ambras shield and the feather head-dress of the time of Montezuma are exhibited in the Ethnological Department of the Chicago Exposition. We believe Mrs. Nuttall is about to enter on the official duties connected with her appointment as "Judge of ethnological exhibits in the Women's Department," to which she has been recently nominated.

Brighton, Eng.

AGNES CRANE.

Indigestion

Horsford's Acid Phosphate

Wants.

I WOULD be grateful to receive replies to any of the following questions.-Is copper found native in Mexico? Is it found native in Cuba? If so, in either or both cases can I purchase authentic specimens? Can any one furnish me with results of analyses of native Mexican or Cuban copper, also analyses of unalloyed copper reduced from the ore from Cuba or Mexico? Is it possible to procure aboriginal implements of copper from Cuba Mexico? Answers to these questions will greatly aid the preparation of a report for a scientific institution. C. B. Moore, 1321 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pa.

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Vol. 2,

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A tution and of a German University (Gottingen),

seeks a position to teach chemistry in a college or similar institution. Five years' experience in teaching chemistry. Address Chemist, 757 Cary St. Brockton, Mass.

WANTED. Assistant in Nautical Almanac office,

Navy Department. The Civil Service Commission will hold an examination on August 15 to fill a vacancy in the position of assistant (computer) in the Nautical Almanac office. The subjects will be letter-writing, penmanship, trigonometry, rudiments of analytical geometry and calculus, logarithms, theory and practice of computations, and astronomy. Each applicant must provide himself with a five-place logarithmic table. The examination will be held in Washington, and if applications are filed in season, arrangements may be made for examinations in the large cities. Blanks will be furnished upon application to the Commission at Washington.

NEW METHOD OF PROTECTING BUILDINGS FROM LIGHTNING. SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE HOUSE! Lightning Destroys. Shali it be Your House or a Pound of Copper?

PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING.

What is the Problem?

IN seeking a means of protection from lightning-discharges, we have in view two objects,-the one the prevention of damage to buildings, and the other the prevention of lujury to life. In order to destroy a building in whole or in part, It is necessary that work should be done; that is, as physicists express it, energy is required. Just before the lightning-discharge takes place, the energy capable of doing the damage which we seek to prevent exists in the column of air extending from the cloud to the earth in some form that makes it capable of appearing as what we call electricity. We will therefore call it electrical energy. What this electrical energy is, it is not necessary for us to consider in this place; but that it exists there can be no doubt, as it manifests itself in the destruction of buildings. The problem that we have to deal with, therefore, is the conversion of this energy into some other form, and the accomplishment of this in such a way as shall result in the least injury to property and life.

Why Have the Old Rods Failed?

When lightning-rods were first proposed, the science of energetics was entirely undeveloped; that is to say, in the middle of the last century scientific men had not come to recognize the fact that the different forms of energyheat, electricity, mechanical power, etc.- were convertible one into the other, and that each could produce just so much of each of the other forms, and no more. The doctrine of the conservation and correlation of energy was first clearly worked out in the early part of this century. There were, however, some facts known in regard to electricity a hundred and forty years ago; and among these were the attracting power of points for an electric spark, and the conducting power of metals. Lightning-rods were therefore introduced with the idea that the electricity existing in the lightning-discharge could be conveyed around the building which it was proposed to protect, and that the bullding would thus be saved.

The question as to dissipation of the energy involved was entirely ignored. naturally; and from that time to this, in spite of the best endeavors of the Interested, lightning-rods constructed in accordance with Franklin's principle have not furnished satisfactory protection. The reason for this is appar nt when it is considered that the electrical energy existing in the atmosphere before the discharge, or, more exactly, in the column of dielectric from the cloud to the earth, above referred to, reaches its maximum value on the surface of the conductors that chance to be within the column of dielectric; so that the greatest display of energy will be on the surface of the very lightningrods that were meant to protect, and damage results, as so often proves to be the case.

It will be understood, of course, that this display of energy on the surface of the old lightning-rods is aided by their being more or 1-8s insulated from the earth, but in any event the very existence of such a mass of metal as an old lightning-rod can only tend to produce a disastrous dissipation of electrical energy upon its surface,-"to draw the lightning," as it is so commonly put.

Is there a Better Means of Protection?

Having cleared our minds, therefore, of any idea of conducting electricity, and keeping clearly in view the fact that in providing protection against lightning we must furnish some means by which the electrical energy may be harmlessly dissipated, the question arises, "Can an improved form be given to the rod so that it shall aid in this dissipation?"

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As the electrical energy involved manifests itself on the surface of conductors, the improved rod should be metallic; but, instead of making a large rod, suppose that we make it comparatively small in size, so that the total amount of metal running from the top of the house to some point a little below the foundations shall not exceed one pound. Suppose, again, that we introduce numerous insulating joints in this rod. We shall then have a rol that experience shows will be readily destroyed-will be readily dissipated when & discharge takes place; an 1 it will be evident, that, so far as the electrical energy is consumed in doing this, there will be the less to do other damage. The only point that remains to be proved as to the utility of such a rod is to show that the dissipation of such a conductor does not tend to injure other bodies in its immediate vicinity. On this poin: I can only say that I have found no case where such a conductor (for instance, a bell wire) has been dissipated, even if resting against a plastered wall, where there has been any material damage done to surrounding objects.

Of cour-e, it is readily uuderstood that such an explosion cannot take place in a confined space without the rupture of the walls (the wire cannot be boarded over); but in every case that I have found recorded this dissipation takes lace just as gunpowder burns when spread on a board. The objects agalust w ich the conductor rests may be stained, but they are not shattered, I would therefore make clear this distinction between the action of electrlcal energy when dissipated on the surface of a large conductor and when dissipated on the surface of a comparatively small or easily di-sipated conductor. When dissipated on the surface of a large conductor, -a conductor so strong as to resist the explosive effect,-damage results to objects around. When dissipated on the surface of a small conductor, the conductor goes, but the other objects around are saved

A Typical Case of the Action of a Small Conductor. Franklin, in a letter to Collinson read before the London Royal Society, Dec. 18, 1755, describing the partial destruction by lightning of a church-tower at Newbury, Mass, wrote, "Near the bell was fixed an iron hammer to strike the hours; and from the tall of the hammer a wire went down through a small gimlet-hole in the floor that the bell stood upon, and through a second floor in like manner; then horizontally under and near the plastered ceiling of that second floor, till it came near a plastered wall; then down by the side of that wall to a clock, which stood about twenty feet below the bell. The wire was not bigger than a common knitting needle. The spire was split all to pieces by the lightning, and the parts flung in all directions over the square in which the church stood, so that nothing remained above the bell. The lightring passed between the hammer and the clock in the above-mentioned wire, without hurting either of the floors, or having any effect upon them (except making the gimlet-holes, through which the wire passed, a little bigger), and without hurting the plastered wall, or any part of the building, so far as the aforesaid wire and the pendulum-wire of the clock extended; which latter wire was about the thickness of a goose-qu'll. From the end of the pendulum, down quite to the ground, the buil ing was exceedingly rent and damaged. . . . No part of the aforementioned long, small wire, between the clock and the hammer, could be found, except about two inches that hung to the tail of the hammer, and about as much that was fastened to the clock; the rest being exploded, and its particles dissipated in smoke and air, as gunpowder is by common fire, and had only left a black smutty track on the plastering, three or four inches broad, darkest in the middle, and fainter towards the edges, all along the ceiling, under which it passed, and down the wall." One hundred feet of the Hodges Patent Lightning Dispeller (made under patents of N. D. C. Hodges, Editor of Science) will be mailed, postpaid, to any address, on receipt of five dollars ($5).

Correspondence solicited. Agents wanted. AMERICAN LIGHTNING PROTECTION CO. 874 Broadway, New York Citv.