land was te lut y mike we of this mode A Velah mehbination, in 1862. In the 169ed States there is no lighthouse in which the sedne ugut ja sami. DISAPPEARANCE-It is said that a few weeks ago the creek under the great Natural Bridgs in Virginia suddenly disappeared, and subsequent investigation demonstrated the fact that the stream emptied itself into the earth through a number of newly-formed hssures of unknown depth, CHEAP PAINT.-According to the ScienLife American, a cheap paint for out-buildings may be made by taking milk and cement, or water lime as some call it, and mixing and applying three or four coats; a dry color may be added. This will last for years, and by renewing once in two or three AS IST OF Bars-An English are, says the Builder ecosists of £1272 vel square incnes; and an inch deep of rain so at scre Fields 6.272,640 cubic inches of water, which at 277,274 cubic inches to the gallon, makes 22,6225 gallons; and as a gallon of distilled water weighs 10 pounds, the rainfall on an acre is 226,225 pounds avoirdupois. As 2240 pounds are a ton, an inch deep of rain weighs 100.933 tons, or nearly 101 tons per acre. For every one-hundredth of an inch a ton of water falls per acre. THE AUGUST METEORS.-The meteoric showers of the 9th, 10th, and 11th of August last, were observed at several points on the continent of Europe, and the following results were obtained: At Turin, Italy, during the first night 127 shooting stars were counted; a fine aurora also took place, lasting thirteen hours. On the second night 334 meteors were noted, accompanied by an auroral light lasting three hours from midnight. The third night being cloudy, but fifty-four stars were observed. At Marseilles, France, 164 meteors were counted on the first night, and 170 on the second. The point from which all seemed to radiate was in the constellation Cygnus. A faint auroral light was remarked. At Geneva, nearly half of the stars composing the shower came from different directions. At Alexandria, Egypt, 1167 meteors were noted on the second night, and at Barcelona, Spain, 886. AN INSTRUCTIVE BRICK.-By a microscopic examination of a brick taken from the pyramid of Dashour, says the Scientific Monthly, a German philosopher has discovered many interesting particulars connected with the life and habits of the ancient Egyptians. The brick itself is made of mud of the Nile, chopped straw, and sand, thus confirming the accounts of the Bible and Herodotus concerning the Egyptian method of brick-manufacture. Besides these materials, the microscope has brought to light the remains of river shells, fish, and insects; the seeds of wild and cultivated flowers, corn, and barley, the field pea, and the common flax, cultivated probably both for food and textile purposes, and the radish, with many others known to science. Manufactured products were also found, such as fragments of tiles and pottery, and small pieces of string made of flax and sheep's wool. We have frequently seen, says the editor, in the Forty-Mile Desert, east of the lower Sink of the Carson, not less than ten or fifteen of these tall sand columns moving about over the plains at the same time. It is seldom that they come together, but when they do, they dart forward like two flashes of lightning, and an explosion like a heavy blast ends all, and the two columns of sand at once fall to the ground. Those who have not been upon our great deserts, and have never witnessed these grand sandspouts or the wonderful mirages, have but little idea of the romantic grandeur of these apparently uninteresting wastes of sand. GOLD MINING BENEATH THE SEA.-The Alta California says that the Pacific Submarine Exploring Company of New York is about to employ the kind of diving bell so successfully used at Hell Gate, for the collection of gold sand off the California coast. It is well known that at and off Gold Bluff, on the northern shores of California, the sea beach has extensive ranges of golden sands, which have been worked for years, and are now producing no small annual crop of gold, remarkable for its purity. The sand is black, and contains titaniferous iron and visible particles of gold. There was a rush some years ago to these new diggings, which failed because they fell short of extravagant expectations. The gold was there, and provokingly visible. Bnt the tide was great, and the period of low water too short for working. Then the LAND SPOUTS IN NEVADA.-There was re- wet sand had to be carted over roads of cently visible, says a Nevada paper, on Twen- dry sand, and up the cliffs, and thence miles ty-two-Mile Desert, five or six tall columns to water for washing out the gold in a of sand, sucked up by as many whirlwinds. crude way. This kind of work does not At sea these would have been waterspouts, suit the crowds who rush to new places, but upon the desert they were only what we expecting to toil little and pick up much. might call sandspouts. The columns ap- As usual, the back-rush reported unfavorpeared to be ten feet in diameter, and one ably, and ever since, people only remember thousand feet in height. Although they the abandonment. It was found that the waltzed about over the plain for two or three sands grew richer the further the breakers hours, they never came together and never were penetrated, and life-boats that sounded lost their distinctive cylindrical form, and in six to ten fathoms beyond, found the when they did go down they went down sandy bottom still richer in gold of remarkat once-all falling together. These sand-able brightness. It seemed as if the gold spouts are well known to old prospectors, washed up on the beach came from these and seem to indicate a change of weather. | submarine banks, but it was deemed im practicable to realize the riches covered by such a depth of moving waters. Now it is believed that this diving bell will place the gold within reach of the searchers. HEALTH ITEMS. VACCINATION AND DISEASE. The most experienced vaccinators, on the one hand, and those who have had most to do with the treatment of infantile ailment, on the other, agree in belief that disease is not communicable by vaccination. Mr. Mason, an English physician, in the performance of more than fifty thousand vaccinations, "has never seen other diseases communicated with the vaccine disease, nor does he believe in popular reports that they are so communicated." Mr. Lees, whose observations were equally extensive, has borne similar testimony. Dr. W. Johnson, who in six years had some thirteen thousand sick adults and children under observation, states "that in no case had he reason to believe, or even to suspect that any constitutional taint had been conveyed from one person to another by vaccination." During a period of seventeen years Dr. West treated twenty six thousand infants and children with a similar experience; and Prof. Paget, after an extensive familiarity with the diseases of children, expresses the opinion that the worst which can be charged upon vaccination is that by disturbing for a time the general health, it may rarely give opportunity for the external manifestation and complete evolution of some constitutional affection which but for it might have remained rather longer latent. Where every person in a community has been properly vaccinated, there is little chance for small-pox to obtain a foothold; and it is also very certain that the presence of the unvaccinated is a standing invitation to the development and spread of epidemics. The opponents of vaccination, and a far larger number who, from ignorance or carelessness, neglect the precaution, thus become so far as the public health is concerned, a "dangerous class," which like other dangerous classes, it is for the interest of the community at large to remove. TREATMENT OF RHEUMATISM.-The treatment of rheumatism varies, according as the rheumatism affects the muscles or the joints, and relatively to the age of the patient, and the general state of health. We can only indicate a few general principles and remedies. People of a rheumatic constitution may greatly save themselves by care in regard to a few particulars. First, the avoidance of exposure to. cold, and especially to cold and wet together; flannel and other kinds of warm clothing being obviously proper. Their food, while it should be nourishing, should be simple. Beer and porter as a rule should be avoided-they are rheumatic drinks. When the patient can command a change of climate, one that is mild, uniform, and above all, dry, will be the best. Often one of the best remedies is to cover the affected part with a piece of flannel, and rub it over with a hot iron every night before going to bed. MYSTERIOUS INFLUENCES.-Persons sometimes feel remarkably well-the appetite is vigorous, eating is a joy, digestion vigorous, sleep sound, with an alacrity of body and an exhilaration of spirits which altogether throw a charm over life that makes us pleased with every body and every thing. Next week, to-morrow, in an hour, a marvellous change comes over the spirit of the dream; the sunshine has gone, clouds portend, darkness covers the face of the great deep, and the whole man, body and soul, wilts away like a flower without water in midsummer. When the weather is cool and clear and bracing, the atmosphere is full of electricity, when it is sultry and moist and without sunshine, it holds but a small amount of electricity, comparatively speaking, and we have to give up what little we have, moisture being a good conductor; thus, in giving up, instead of receiving more, as we would from the cool, pure i change is too great, and the wh guishes. Many become uneas circumstances; "they can't they imagine that evil is resort at once to tonics The tonics only increase out imparting any addit up the additional food, thus giving the system more work to do, instead of less. Stimulants seem to give more strength; they wake up the circulation, but it is only temporarily, and unless a new supply is soon taken, the system runs farther down than it would have done without the stimulant; hence it is in a worse condition than if none had been taken. The better course would be to rest, take nothing but cooling fruits and berries and melons, and some acid drink when thirsty, adding, if desired, some cold bread and butter; the very next morning will bring a welcome change. THE CAUSE OF CONSUMPTION.-Dr. Henry MacCormac, of London, in a new book, puts forth the theory that tubercular disease of the lungs is caused solely by breathing air which has already passed through the lungs of either brutes or human beings, or air that is deficient in oxygen. If we assume the quantity of air in the chest at about 230 cubic inches, and that from twenty to thirty cubic inches are changed and removed during each respiration, about ten breathings will suffice to renew or exchange the gaseous contents of the chest cavity. At each inspiration from 4 to 5 per cent. of the oxygen inhaled is, or should be, replaced by about the same quantity of carbonic acid, an amount which in a few hours would be represented by an appreciable weight of solid carbon. If any portion of the inhaled air be rebreathed air, says Dr. MacCormac, the dead metamorphic carbon will be retained pro rata unoxidized within the organism. This effete unoxidized carbon-this "detritus of degradation" being retained-speedily becomes "tubercle." He says that without adequate ventilation we cannot possibly get rid of the ten or twelve hundred cubic inches of carbonic acid which the lungs eliminate hourly. He has also been at some pains to obtain the average death rate from consumption in various parts of the world. We learn from him that in the Austrian capital phthisis prevails to such an extent as to have been named morbus Viennensius; but he traces the cause readily enough to close stoves in stuffy chambers, to doubly glazed and padded windows, which are never opened, ventilation being entirely unthought of. A similar state of things he finds to exist nearly everywhere, the death being from 28 per cent. in some parts of America to 10 per cent. in Paris, while in St. Petersburg, out of 5,000 deaths, 1,900 are occasioned by phthisis! "Double doors and windows, every interstice being carefully closed with wadded cloth or voilok, exclude the current, and, along with the close stove or petch, render stagnant utterly the stinted, breath-fouled atmosphere, effectively hindering its replacement from without, and, in fine, entailing the direful scourge of tubercle, from which no class or condition of the community finds escape." than these. The workings of a young heart devoted to the Saviour are beautifully delineated in the every-day life of a little girl. Miss Warner's books have a charm which will always attract. WHO WON? By the Author of "Win and Wear." THE BEATITUDES OF THE KINGDOM. By J. Oswald The Christian Beatitudes are ably treated in nine chapters, prefaced by a Historical Introduction. The contents are: Spiritual Poverty; Mourning; Meekness; Hunger for Righteousness; Mercy; Purity; Peacemaking; Persecution; Salt and Light. For sale by Alfred Martien, Philadelphia. From the Presbyterian Board of Publication. THE WILDFORDS IN INDIA. By the Author of "Poke and her Sister," etc. Grandmother Wildford manages to convey a large amount of instruction as well as pleasant reading in this book. Having lived in India as a missionary's wife, she could tell of the habits of the people, the state of the country, the animals, plants, and particularly of the difficulties and encouragements of the noble band, who, taking their lives in their hands, have gone among the heathen to break to them the bread of life. From Porter & Coates, Philadelphia. SUNDAY HALF-HOURS WITH THE GREAT PREACHERS. With Brief Biographical Notices, and an Index. By M. Laird Simons, Author of "Companion Articles to the Pictorial Home Bible." Those who wish to see what the great preachers of the world have said, from the days of the Christian Fathers to the present time, may have an opportunity in this volume of fifty-two sermons,-one for every Sabbath in the year. The discourses are mostly evangelical, though a Roman Catholic or a Unitarian may find something from one of his own faith. This cosmopolitan feature of the book may render it more available for its general distribution, for we perceive it is furnished only by subscription. From Lee & Shepard, Boston. By Isa THE YOUNG FOLK'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lindo. The children of the present age have much to interest them in works of science and his tory. The present volume, written in pleasant, forcible style, finely illustrated, and bringing events down to the present year, is worthy of a wide circulation. It is a pleasant surprise, in opening this book of history, to find an event set forth so recent as the Thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales. For sale by Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, Philadelphia. From Alfred Martien, 1214 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. RUTH LEE AND HER COMPANIONS; or. WORKING FOR GOD. By the Author of "The Two Lucys." Pp. 132. 60 cts. Ruth, naturally sullen and despairing, learned at length, as many others have had to do, that in this life we are expected to improve present opportunities, and accept such discipline as our Heavenly Father chooses to send. She was led to learn the preciousness of enabled to say, a Saviour's love, and was "Henceforth my one desire shall be, That He who knows me best should choose for me, And so whate'er His love sees good to send, The readers of Our Monthly will be glad だと |