New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-12-01
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

tie month mctcore displays. there VII De Fp'ca' IN
forest attaching 10 the ouo w' appeared IL the day
time. tho 2oth nit, ovcr parts - Vr1.na. Al Mr.
| folk. TIE meteor was seen between and p NJ,
in the southwest SKY. desc,ndng slowly from an olera
ton Of abori 9Co. rs appearance is described as"ie
n great dazzling crys'a" It's track. i.no oi trans
parent vbtcucss and first quito straight, remained 10
view nearly fifteen minutes. AZ Danyc 10 WIS seen ~
f:4o 70 n according 20 enc statement ~ moved ID
westerly direction till reached tire z.uh; there II
/ stopped Ten or twenty minutes aiieTwarda no.r was
heard Ike prolonged AMI continuous roar OF tnanfcr
not very loud. bal ep and heavy Tho lam'nou, tIacs
looked Ike arear-gootcd iihbou, ond remained n Wow
! nearly haittuhour finally doubling upon iisei and
! aiiuc slowly uorjaw3I3 ns 10 iad away II VIII
be noticed that tie foregoing account describes The
II. tcor as proceeding ONWARD the zenith AZ Richmond
u aupcalcuih stcsted from meas tle zenith and fHi
ALMOST uCrpeudcuiIly tH lu-i A banA o c9uj hS'f
Ne. and Il Vas intensely BRIT Lima, tlcu,4 near 'ho
setting sun. lie track re'"'iAod visible Tor I"'Iy
| minutes
CHANGED SHAPE OF NIAGARA FALIs.-From
time 10 e portions of hc precipce that underies I'm"
| Falls OF Niagara sad leny way, changing tho con-
tour oi the cataract rccepiby. one OF these occnf
reuces which cnty taken place is said 10 lave 20
altered Tie shape te Horseshoe Fan that its tile is
rOw missioner us present Outline i8 dcs,gIued As
| nearly right angle
! DECREASE or POPULATION IL FRANCE.-In
work lust published by Dr. A. Proust, Of Pa,, re-
cline ia the number births bis country. Beginning
with the present century, the number Of births per
thousand OF he population has ranged steadily down
ward tahulsed successive periods OF ten years each
the figures are 329, 81. 800. 2s.7. 27', 2G1, 263
Most other European countries show, ~ me same period
a small but steady increase the spending figures
for Prussia ISL for England, 3D. The rate %
births foI the United states IS doubtless higher On the
other hand France not among the nations ''st sue
ccssu IN saving the lives of young infants, ana occupies
= siiion in this respect better dian midway In table
OF deaths OF infants (pcr thousand born occurring before
tcv were one year old Bavaria Is al exrome, with
372 DEATHS Scotland a. the other win oniy l36 EnS
land las 17O Belgium 1866 France, 2lG; Italy, POI
Russia. 3ll. Probably the record for Turkey an e'nd
b. oh aimed wOud exceed at OF bd'ura; We reasons
fort the excessive morality Of infants N ne la,,-amcG
surui,,d that uat nal custom of Wrapping babes very
ugatly in 5andlses may b. among the causes.
MOVEMENTS OF TIiE PLEIADEs-In the last /
volume OF Annals Of the Observatory OF Prs, prepared
under the superintendent of Ire late NJ IL Nerrer /
there is an elaborate essay concerning the Poads, by
C. Wolf A careful sudy OF the relative places OF these
stars goes 10 prove that their proper movement aces not
tend To scparat. them. They travel through space to-
gethcr IN group 1t may interest some readers who
have tried their eyes by endeavorng % count seven
nine or eleven stars that group that the tons If
Go stars have been mappc0 IN ~ VITA tac cle co e. ana
tncs, are row estimated Beside the stars, there arc /
patcHes nebuous matter pcIceptne within the group
! PANICs PERIODIC.-In "A recent volume Oh |
Stock Exchange securitl,s Mr. Robert Cilcn, Of Lon
dom investigates the popular theory that paucs III the
business world az regular periods about ten years
apart. regards tn variations in the state OF credit
as occurring with sufficient uniformity To he regarded as
a law and he sle ks oi il as "cyciicaL" Mr. Gil cites
Other authorities on political economy favorns this
view. The explanation offered or these recurring crises
starts with assumption that toeraby regular in-
teryas there periods when food Is unusually cheap;
| a stimulus j. thereby gwen successfully to maiuito-
lures trades commerce, credit aWd cuation ~ last.
w en- business Is oyoIdone the fabric OF dit suddenly
conapses crisis sets II, Lard times follow and alter
ward the cycle starts anew. The theory attractive
ana plausible but very druy based Oh facts Per
haps however some future inv -siigat4r VIII connect
business pauies wh tue suuspot pr Cd, as that Is sup
posed 10 govern The aiai le nsfFesi> ana lhe .4n-
there been occasionally space OF eleven instead of
ten yers between panics as eleven years Is Tue suhSpoI
! p ROD.
TEXAS GUANo FROM BATs-The Commits
oner OF Agriculture reported favoraby upon
pies OF euano from caves in Texas inhabited by bats.
lie reports the material worth from pa 10 $50 per
ton and comparing ayoraby with fish cuano for icriiz-
ing purposes There several caves containing such
deposits Texas and the estimated amount OF guano is
very greal-pcrhaps 1900 to 10000 tons Tor single
cave. As TO the bats tlcy simply inuumcrale; a
Traveller, who accompanied Gcncal Ord IN recent VISIT
to "A cave the little town o Selma. computed the
bats there at not less thal 3oooo000 II ia an uncx-
planned mystery how such numbers sustain their cct-
I've weight when cmgng 20 the roofs II the cave When
the bats issue forth they darken the air II great vol
/ uuc of smoke pouring out from the opening.
! THE HORSE-HAIR SNAKE.-Thcre Is a we'll /
known popular belief which stll largely survives in
spite the efforts Of natuTasts to the public Of
its faacy. the gordus. "horsehair SNAKE" is
actually live horsc-hair still many people
who firmly believe That If the hair from horses
or tail is left in running water the iu-
dvidual hairs viii vitality and come horse
hair snakes" Many country lad has tred this expert
ment GOngh OF course with unsatisfactory result At
a recent meeting of the Maryland Academy of Sciences
Professor Uher, the president, read interesting |
paper summing up knowledge OF this strange worm.
Dr. Lody las determined tAe fact that its adult
the horse hair snake does rot any food like many
insects their na stage Of life is then solely devoted
TO the reproducton OF ITS species. single female may
have enormous number 81 eggs Dr. Lcdys estimate
H. GG24. 500 The young gOrdius attaches itself a
Ia fishes and small and
length OF the mature gOrus IL about fourteen inches
its thckness the wcnty1 Of IN inch its tendency
TO coil ia knots las gwen lAc worm lis hcenhc hame
| PROSPECT OF SALMOS.-Ihc Fish COmmlS- |
s.oner OF MARYLAND DEPOSITED last week, 10000 Young
California salmon in the heaGw9ters Of the Potomac,
PiedmonW Va; they about ory days Old and arc
the los OF equal number recently placed in
the river. In the Delaware fine salmon has cen re-
! Gently caught Lewes. But the occurrence which |
has given greatest JOY TO the fish cuurss, IS the catch
irg If fine specimen of tie Northern salmon, Sai1s0
SGiGr in Bushkil Creek tributary OF the Delaware, in
The State OF Pcnnsy This decides in the afrna
tive the hitherto quite doubtful question whether the