and the changes and additions of the later editions will be given in the form of supplements. The translation has been intrusted to Prof. Max Müller, and there will be an historical Introduction by Prof. Noiré.

THE subject of an international copyright between China and Japan is now under consideration. Chinese authors complain that their works are not only printed in Japan, but that cheap editions of them are imported into China and sold to their detriment. It is worthy of note that Chinese authors have perpetual copyright in their productions, and that any infringer of an author's rights is punished by receiving a hundred blows and being transported for three years.

printed according to more than one of the improved systems, such new systems might now be permitted as alternatives by the school inspectors in both writing and dictation.

A GREEK manuscript, which it is not unlikely may prove of considerable historical interest, has recently been discovered by Prof. Vassilyevsky in the Synodal Library at Moscow. The last and most interesting portion of the Ms. is, as it appears, a contemporary account of the Greek wars and the Bulgarian insurrection of 1040. The unknown writer describes the Bulgarian movement in considerable detail, and assigns its commencement to the Valachs. The geographical situation of these last is defined. They are spoken of as a branch of the Bessi who dwelt along the Danube and Save, chiefly in hardly accessible regions, whence they ravaged the surrounding lands. They are, moreover, characterized as insincere and treacherous, an account of them which tallies with that of Strabo.

that of the States, suffered severely, and were expatriated to Canada. It was therefore an event of some bibliographical importance when a copy turned up in a recent sale at Puttick and Simpson's auction-rooms. Mr. Quaritch was the purchaser.

WE are informed that Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps has just discovered in Warwickshire a valuable collection of documents throwing considerable light on the social position and history of Shakespeare's connections in that county. Among other matters of interest, it seems that, throughout the poet's youth, his uncle Henry rented a considerable quantity of land under Bartholomew Hales at Snitterfield, and, by a chain of curious evidence, the exact site of his farm has been ascertained. It was situated on the brow of the hill near the church, skirting the road to Luscombe. As Snitterfield is within an easy walk of Stratford-on-Avon, the youthful Shakespeare must have been very familiar with the locality.

THE English Spelling Reform Association have addressed through their president, Mr. A. H. Sayce, a memorial to the Educational Committee of the Privy Council, praying that certain changes may be made in the present code, and, also offering to lay their views persunally before the committee by means of a deputation. The special complaint of the spelling reformers is that the present code does not allow children, when examined in Standards I. and II., to offer any other system of spelling than that commonly in use. It is suggested that, as school-books have now been

AN interesting story is connected with the recovery by the Bibliotheca Palatina, at Hei

from it about 260 years ago. They are three Greek codices which in the sixteenth century were spoken of by the philologist Sylburg, and were supposed by him to have been lost. Lately the librarian of the University of Halle has discovered them among his treasures and established their identity. In 1862 they were taken from Wittenberg to Halle along with others. A certain Professor Erasmus Schmidt, who lived at Wittenberg in the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, took these manuscripts from Heidelberg and deposited them in the library of Wittenberg for safe keeping Subsequently they were all carried off to Rome, where, however, only the acknowledgment of their receipt remains, which was published in 1844. As soon as the librarian at Halle made his discovery known, the University of Hedelberg demanded back its lost treasure, and the Prussian Minister of Education directed that it should be returned.

SCIENCE AND ART.

HEARING THE GROWTH OF PLANTS. It is now possible to hear plants growing. At a recent meeting of the Silesian Botanical Society, an apparatus was shown, in which the growing plant is connected with a disc, having in its centre an indicator which moves visibly and regularly, and thus on a scale, fifty times magnified, denotes the progress of growth. Both disc and indicator are metal, and when brought in contact with an electric hammer, the electric current being interrupted at each of the dividing interstices of the disc, the

growth of the plant is as perceptible to the ear as to the eye.

THE FOSSIL MAN OF NICE.-Some human remains, evidently of great antiquity, were discovered a few months ago at Carabacel, near Nice, and have been reported upon by a local scientific committee, as well as examined by M. de Quatrefages. The bones had not been artificially interred, but were found embedded in a deposit of calcareous clay, at a depth of about nine feet from the surface. This deposit was irregularly stratified, and contained a mixture of Pliocene and Eocene shells, showing that it had been formed by the reconstruction of the pre-existing strata. Of the bones, the most remarkable is the lower jaw. This is sufficiently characteristic to enable De Quatrefages to refer it to the Cro-Magnon type. The fossil man of Nice, therefore, belongs to the same race as M. Rivière's skeleton from Mentone, both being probably of Palæolithic age. ELECTRICAL SPEECH-RECORDER.-A curious piece of apparatus has been devised by M. Amadeo Gentilli, of Leipsic, for the purpose of giving an intelligible record of speech. The natural movements of the mouth in speaking are employed to produce through delicate levers a series of electric contacts, and thereby sundry combinations of signs on a moving band of paper, similar to those of the Morse alphabet. The working parts are mainly arranged on an ebonite plate, from one end of which projects a piece to be taken between the teeth, whereupon the mouth-levers come into position. The nasal puff in sounding m and n affects a special delicate organ. It is mentioned by M. Guerout that the letters g and k, d and t, b and p, ƒ, v, and w, which are produced by movements very slightly different, are represented by the same signs. Thus of these letters the alphabet comprises only g, t, b, and f. Further, c, z, and x are represented by ts and gs.

THE RELATION, OF BRAIN STRUCTURE TO INTELLIGENCE.-There is plainly to be noticed a growing doubt among the most competent biologists as to there being any fixed relation between brain structure and mental function. That pet theory of a few years back is not now tenable. There is a tertium quid in the evolution and action of intelligence which we cannot yet put our finger on. One example in point may be mentioned, from a recent lecture of Prof. Calderwood of Glasgow. Speaking of insects, he quoted Sir John Lubbock with reference to their position in the order of developSir John said that, though the anthropoid apes ranked next to man in bodily structure, ants claimed that place in the scale of intelligence. Once he had watched an ant working, and it worked from six in the morning to

ment.

ten at night without intermission, carrying one hundred and eighty-seven larvæ to its nest. Prof. Calderwood said that it became apparent that anatomical structure was not in itself an adequate guide in determining comparative importance in the scale of organic existence, and that even comparative brain structure I could not be taken as a sole test of the measure of intelligence. The whole order of ants presented quite exceptional difficulties for the theory of evolution, and also for the theory of intelligence, which seeks to account for it by complexity of brain structure.-Medical Press

and Circular.

NEW VACCINATION STATISTICS.-Dr. Buchanan, the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board, has put out some very striking statistics on the subject of vaccination. The death rate from small-pox among people of all ages is 90 to a million of those vaccinated, and 3350 to a million of those unvaccinated. The death-rate from the same cause of children under five years of age, is 40% per million of those vaccinated, and 5950 per million

tent.

of those unvaccinated. The inference is that even vaccination is not an absolute and final security from death by small-pox, but that it is an insurance against it of the most effectual character, and most effectual of all at that time when the period of vaccination is nearest, and the consequences on the constitution most poOf course, the antagonists of vaccination may reply that the security which vaccination affords against death by small-pox, is either a positive addition to the danger of death by other diseases, or a positive subtraction from the vigor and healthiness of the lives which it lengthens. But if they maintain this, they ought to bring statistical proof of it of the same adequate kind; and no such proof has ever been offered, nor has the existence of any such proof ever, so far as we know, been rendered probable, on grounds of the smallest plausibility. The Spectator.

THE MASTODON IN RECENT TIMES.-Prof. John Collett, Ph.D., State Geologist of Indiana, gives some statistics in relation to the mastodon, that dispel the notion that these animals did not live in recent times. Archæologists who argue the great antiquity of man upon this planet, based upon the fact that his remains have been found with those of the mastodon, will be compelled to seek other lines of proof for their theory. We quote from p. 385, Geological Report for 1880. Pro. Collett says: "Of the thirty individual specimens of the remains of the mastodon (Mastodon giganteus) found in this State, in almost every case a very considerable part of the skeleton of each animal proved to be in a greater or less condition of decay. The remains have

always been discovered in marshes, ponds, or other miry places, indicating at once the cause of the death of the animal and the reason of the preservation of the bones from decay. Spots of ground in this condition are found at the summit of the glacial drift or in "old beds" of rivers which have adopted a shorter route and lower level, consequently their date does not reach beyond the most recent changes of the earth's surface; in fact, their existence was so late that the only query is, Why did they become extinct? A skeleton was discovered in excavating the bed of the canal a few miles north of Covington, Fountain County, bedded in wet peat. The teeth were in good preservation, and Mr. Perrin Kent states that when the larger bones were cut open the marrow, still preserved, was utilized by the bog cutters to grease their boots, and that chunks of sperm-like substance 2 to 3 inches in diameter (adipocere), occupied the place of the kidney fat of the monster. During the past summer of 1880, an almost complete skeleton of a mastodon was found six miles northwest from Hoopston, Iroquois County, Ill., which goes far to settle definitely that it was not only a recent animal, but that it survived until the life and vegetation of to-day prevailed. The tusks formed each a full quarter of a circle, were 9 feet long, 22 inches in circumference at the base, and in their water-soaked condition weighed 175 pounds. The lower jaw was well preserved, with a full set of magnificent teeth, and is nearly 3 feet long. The teeth, as usual, were thickly enamelled, and weighed each from 4 to 5 pounds. The leg bones, when joined at the knee, made a total length of 5 feet, indicating that the animal was no less than 11 feet high, and from 15 to 16 feet from

brow to rump. On inspecting the remains

closely, a mass of fibrous, bark-like material was found between the ribs, filling the place of the animal's stomach; when carefully separated, it proved to be a crushed mass of herbs and grasses, similar to those which still grow in the vicinity. In the same bed of miry clay a multitude of small fresh water and land shells were observed and collected, which still prevail all over the States of Illinois, Indiana, and parts of Michigan.'

MISCELLANY.

COLORING WALLS.-Ceilings and walls are often finished in distemper, but very often turn out unsatisfactory, from the want of knowledge in the mixing and laying on. Absorption in the wall should be checked or stopped, or one part will absorb more color than another, and an uneven or spotty appearance results. Various preparations are used for preparing walls

and to stop absorption. One of these is to mix about a dozen pounds of the best whiting with water, adding thereto enough parchment or other size to bind the color, about two ounces of alum, and the same weight of softsoap dissolved in water; mix well and strain through a screen or coarse cloth. In mixing the distemper, one writer says, "Two things are essentially necessary: clean and wellwashed whiting, and pure jellied size." The whiting should be put to soak with sufficient soft water to cover it well and penetrate its bulk. When soaked sufficiently, the water should be poured off, which will remove dust from the whiting. It may then be beaten up to a stiff paste by the hand or spatula. Size is next added and mixed together. Care should be taken not to break the jelly of the size any more than can be avoided.

Another caution is that distemper should be mixed with jellied size to lay on well-the color then works cool and floats nicely; but when the size is used hot it drags and gathers and works dry, producing a rough wall. A little alum added to the distemper hardens it and helps to dry out solid and even. The best size is made from parchment clippings, which are put into an iron kettle filled with water and allowed to stand twenty-four hours till the pieces are thoroughly soaked, then they are boiled for five hours, and the scum removed. The liquid is then strained through a cloth. For mixing colors the whiting and the color required, finely ground, are dissolved separately and then mixed to the required tint. For example, lampblack mixed with whiting makes gray, and the most delicate to the darkest shades may be obtained. For French gray the whiting required is taken and soaked in water, and Prussian blue and lake finely ground in water are added to produce the necessary shade or tint. Buff may be made by dissolving in like manner, separately, whiting and yellow ochre. A little Venetian red gives a warm tone. A good salmon tint is produced by adding to the dissolved whiting a little of the same red, just sufficient to tinge. Drabs of various tints can be easily made by grinding up finely a little burnt umber and mixing it with the dissolved whiting. The sooner the distemper color dries after being laid on the better, and the best plan is to close windows and doors during laying, and throw them open afterward.-Building News.

AN UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF DR. JOHNJON.-To Mr. Hector, in Birmingham, Oct. 7, 1756. Dear Sir: After a long intermission of our correspondence you took some time ago a very kind method of informing me that there was no intermission of our friendship, yet I know not why, after the interchange of a let

ter or two, we have fallen again into our former silence. I remember that when we were nearer each other we were more diligent in our correspondence, perhaps only because we were both younger, and more ready to employ ourselves in things not of absolute necessity. In early life every new action or practice is a kind of experiment, which, when it has been tried, one is naturally less eager to try again. Friendship is indeed one of those few states of which it is reasonable to wish the continuance through life, but the form and exercise of friendship varies, and we grow to recollect (?) to show kindness on important occasions, without squandering our ardor in superfluities of empty civility. It is not in mere civility that I write now to you, but to inform you that I have undertaken a new edition of Shakespeare, and that the profits of it are to arise from a subscription. I therefore solicit the interests of all my friends, and believe myself sure of yours without solicitation. The proposals and receipts may be had from my mother, to whom I beg you to send for as many as you can dispose of, and to remit to her money which you or your acquaintances shall collect.

Be so kind as to mention my undertaking to any other friends that I may have in your part of the kingdom, the activity of a few solicitors may produce great advantages to me. I have been thinking every month of coming down into the country, but every month has brought its hindrances. From that kind of melancholy indisposition which I had when we lived together at Birmingham I have never been free, but have always had it operating against my health and my life with more or less violence. I hope, however, to see all my friends, all that are remaining, in no very long time, and particularly you, whom I always think on with great tenderness. I am, Sir, your most affectionate servant, SAM. JOHNSON. - Notes and Queries.

INSTINCT OF THE WASP.-M. Fabre has continued and added to very interesting observations on the solitary wasps which he published some years ago. He then described the singular state of paralysis into which they throw their victims, which if killed would decay, and if buried alive would in their struggles almost infallibly destroy the egg or young larva of the wasp. The wasp, however, stings them in such a manner as to pierce the ganglia, and thus, without killing them, almost deprives them of all power of movement. One species of Sphex, which preys on a large grasshopper (Ephippigera), obtains the same result in a different manner. After having almost paralyzed her victim in the usual manner, she throws it on its back, bends the head so as to extend the articulation of the neck, and

then, seizing the intersegmental membrane with her jaws, crushes the subœsophagal ganglion. Truly a marvellous instinct. M. Fabre found that after this treatment the victims retain some power of digestion, and he was able considerably to prolong their life by feeding them with syrup.—Sir John Lubbock.

ANCIENT VINTAGES. The Italian winegrowers are doing their best now to improve the products of their vineyards, and to study the

methods of fermentation which are best suited to enable them to make good wine. If they are, as is doubtless the case, a good way behind the French and the Spaniards in this matter, some progress has been made. Italian wines have even already come to bear a high value in the markets of other countries. It is, however, little likely that the modern cultivators will ever send out from their vats anything resembling the wines which were formerly so much prized in Rome. A curious account of these ancient Roman wines was that which was written toward the end of his life by M. Grenier, of the Canstitutionnel, who died a few days ago. He assures us that all our precon

ceived ideas as to wine must be abandoned in

thinking of these liquias. They were rather to be compared to the sweetened drinks, and even to the confections of our own day, being either sweet by nature or rendered so by mixing with them a compound of various solid substances. Honey, cheese, essence of flowers, and many other ingredients were thus used, and in such quantities as often to convert the wine into a sort of jelly. New wine was used for pouring upon slices of bread, which were then eaten much in the same way as children eat bread and jam. When it was older, it was formed into cakes, and at afty years of age, if M. Grenier is right, it was "hard enough to build walls of." The old wine was thus quite solid, and when intended to be taken, was broken up into pieces and put into a cup to be mixed with hot water and so dissolved. -Globe.

OASIS.

Let them go by-the heats, the doubts, the strife;
I can sit here and care not for them now,
Dreaming beside the glittering wave of life
Once more-I know not how

There is a murmur in my heart; I hear

Faint, oh so faint, some air I used to sing, It stirs my sense; and odors dim and dear The meadow-breezes bring.

Just this way did the quiet twilights fade

Over the fields and happy homes of men, While one bird sang as now, piercing the shade, Long since I knew not when.

EDWARD DOWDEN.

THE River Annan, rising above Moffat in Hartfell, in the Deil's Beef Tub, descends from the mountains through a valley gradually widening and spreading out, as the fells are left behind, into the rich and well-cultivated district known as Annandale. Picturesque and broken in the upper part of its course, the stream, when it reaches the level country, steals slowly among. meadows and undulating wooded hills, till at the end of fifty miles it falls into the Solway at Annan town. Annandale, famous always for its pasturage, suffered especially before the union of the kingdoms from border forays, the effects of which were long to be traced in a certain wildness of disposition in the inhabitants. Dumfriesshire, to which it belongs, was sternly Cameronian. Stories of the persecutions survived in the farmhouses as their most treasured historical traditions. Cameronian congregations lingered till NEW SERIES.-VOL XXXIV, No. 3

Old Series Complete in 63 vols.

the beginning of the present century, when they merged in other bodies of seceders from the established religion. In its hard fight for spiritual freedom Scotch Protestantism lost respect for kings and nobles, and looked to Christ rather than to earthly rulers. Before the Reformation all Scotland was clannish or feudal; and the Dumfriesshire yeomanry, like the rest, were organized under great noble families, whose pennon they followed, whose name they bore, and the remotest kindred with which, even to a tenth generation, they were proud to claim. Among the families of the western border the Carlyles were not the least distinguished. They were originally English, and were called probably after Carlisle town. They came to Annandale with the Bruces in the time of David the Second. A Sir John Carlyle was created Lord Carlyle of Torthorwald in reward for a beating

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