The Red Cloud chief., 1878-12-26
THE WORLD or SCIENCE.
Mea md NOakcNs.

DIR. IL. G. Chapman, VI Philadelphia.
has been enlightcning the scientific mel
~ tina, city with u long communication
on the anatomy and geological position
Of the gorilla, based on the dissection
81 n young specimen sent 10 him from
Gaboon. carefully preserved lin rum.
A. the result 81 his examination. DR..
Chapman protested agains' the general
error. so common among o profes.
SIGNALS, that ovolutionists hold that man
has descended from the gorilla. He
did not think any monkey now known
could be- regarded ~ the prog.nitor II
man. On the contrary. he believed all
the facts 20 Ia show that the different
kinds 81 monkeys are the modified de-
scendan's OF n ancestor, and that the
different races of men have similarly
descended from n common ancestor:
and further, that the ancestors Of man
and the monkey had remotely a com
mon ancestry. II this view be correct,
II In vain, he thought, 10 look for the
missing link"
How % Wagon " heel Rans.
Proof that the top u n wagon wheel.
when running along the ground, moves
faster than the bottom. is given. by in
Simultaneous photographs Of u wagon In
rapid motion. IL In obvious, saws the
writer. that an instantaneous photo
graph 81 n wheel. revolving upon its
axle in the air, will show all parts Of
the wheel in equal distances. But IL the
wheel has u progressive motion. and
any one portion has u greater motion
than It's corresponding part, above or
below. there must bee n liability To
blurring In that part Of the picture.
These pictures are taken with 40 brief
an exposure that the horse, though
moving at n 2:2i gait, is sharply out
lined. The wheels Of the drivers
sulky. however. have a different tale Ia
tell. The lower third Of each wheel is
sharp and distinct ~ II absolutely nj
rest. Not 81 with the top. that part Of
the wheel showing "a perceptible move
ment during the two thousandth part
If n second Of the exposure Of the plate.
The upper end Of the spokcs and the
rim are blurred.
IL There % Stole T'hroaxh M~r.
cary?
In the course Of his observations du-
ring the recent transit Of Mercury, Mr..
X. a. Proctor, the eminent astronomer,
noted q very interesting circumstance.
A bright spot wa seen on the planets
disc, which appeared 10 him "a be per
fectly central and Of sensible size. II
looked, he says, just ~ IL the disk were
u round piece of black card. and the
bright spot n hole punched through
with the compass point in striking the
circumference. One feature seemed
decisive Of the subjective nature of the
bright spot-when small cloud passed
over u part Of the suns face, nearly the
whole If which was in the field Of view,
the spot perccptibly diminished In
brightness, though not crossed by the
cloud. Another feature was that, ~
the spot thus waSed and waned, it was
triangular In shape, but when the lus.
ter Ut the spot was steady, Mr.. Proctor
could not distinctly recognize this Pc
culiarity. The appearance of the spot
was not modified when the planet was
allowed tn approach the edge Of the
wide field" Commenting up
this remarkable observation, an
American paper suggests that Mercury
may have a hole through it, and that
the bright spot may have been nothing
more nor less than the sun shining
through; while the question IL also
asked whether. IL Mercury be tubular,
the earth may not DO 81 also. Cassers