New-York tribune., 1879-04-26
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

IL
station Of Corceet earthenware vase the
Are of Bronze On the bottom of the vase was plainly
visible the impressions made by the fingers OF the pre-
historic potter the plastic clay. OF these hnEersor
rather, OF the thumb aud forefnger' Tor the o'h'i
digs are l9ckug-the professor has taken plaster VI
Paris cast and submitted them 20 minute ehamlua-
tiop He prououuces the maker Of the vase TO nave
hecn a woman. There are two impressions Oi tne
thumb nd three OF the orehuger The prints ieft by
the nails are perfcct-that OF the thumb Whch mus
have been regular, wellsbaped, and OF an eNcehen'
convcxlty, measures length IL mlIlimetres ln
breadth IL mhme;Tes; the length and breadth OF the
finger nail, equally well modelled, are IL ana
millime.res respectively, the traverse conNeNN
represeptiuc curve or rise OF mllmctreS'
These nails, considers ". Forel, can only nave u'-
iongcd TO female band The vase has been placed III
the cabinet OF antiquities IN the Nau0o's C"h'oH"
Museum at Lausanne. Another investigator WHO n"s
been cutting trenches ground left bare ly the abac
ment of the waters Of the lake. has arrived after care
fnl examination of the d6hris and relics which his cN
rlorations have brought TO light at some inteieso2
conclusions concerning the way IN when certain o'
these lake dwellings destroyed the time o the year
when they disappeared and The level OF the lake al 'he
enoch of their extinction. He believes they were
DESTROYED by fire. This opinion he bases on the iact
that in all his explorations he fluids the same mixture
of gravel and sand blaokcuCd and inteIspegscd with
charcoal and partly burnt seeds and bits Of wood ms
debris has evidently carried 70 It's present position
by the waters the lake. and varies in thickness ac
eordng TO the inclination Of the slope on which II mas
been deposited In other places besides those wheie
thc trenches nave Oech cuI s.hlal ,i' S,,
seryabc-fOT example, at BcJ, where, IN sAhluE IOI
some tlme ago discovered and at Coombicr, where
running over the dry bci OF tAe l@Hc 't'L
10 S and ~ opaut Of tIc Winter stores such as nuts
seeds and berries, found among these remains thc pun
ing of the lake dwellings probably occurred III SpAi
or early Summer. IL one place a'ycssci was found
lgI will N. q
Woud naturally il is presumed De lctt 20 the last n"
only used ~ del@gt 0i sCIfIAf X !. O.I fcrcd 1ai
al the when many, # not all the lake Villages .!
the he gut usual with them in surnC before their level
had been aruncIally lowered by the CnAinteIl.E o"
channels streams ot tnat pat OF the JuI4, In@'
winch dominates the valley OF Ne"'"'o4 anu Io'"''
SCIENCE AND NAyIGAuoN.-The French
Academy dcvotcs prize OF 900 francs TO re"aIdihg
PROGRESS calculated TO increase the efficacy Of naval
forces THIS year The prize has been divided between
two persous-ouc OF them, Lieutenant Bails, Tor BIS
method OF determining l0usitules by observing the oc
cutaous OF stars by the moons disc; the Other NJ
pcrroy naval engineer for his marine distilug appa
ratus The method OF Lieutenant Balls Is SAID 10 DC
tmple and OF much service 20 men who are Tot accus
toned TO intricate calculations The moon IS W~''ltd
passing over star and suddenly eclpsIDS IL THIS oO
servation when reduced gives the longitude OF the oD
server and Lieutenant Bsillss plan is understood 10
consist in making this reduction IN simple form as
10 bring It within the capacity OF the average sailor
or course the method VIII not furnish the longitude
daily In given place there are, ON an average SIX oe
ruItations in a month and one may reasonably expect
two atleast to escape cloudy weather or difficult CIR
cumstances such The smncss OF the star OF the 100
great luminosity OF the moon The value of NJ Perroys
astiing apparatus for az sea has been aDundanty
demonstrated The water it furnishes fresh. aeiaed
inodorous Iirniid aud quite drnkaDe The apparatus
has three principal parts an acIaor rerSeiator ana
case OF animal charcoal IL the first the steam passes
.hrough two cones the second ncOsng the first, ana
siris drawn in through second that the steam is
condensed in an aiT-current, and gives weliaciaed
water. The IerIgerGtOTls Is OF the CICUiuoIE WE d
ior cleaning and INC losed in through which sea
water crculates (eneung below, and icaYlpg, III q
then caused circulate IN the case OF animal charcoal
NJ PERCY adoIts three ypes ol nl7 @ i W
In tweuty-fOr hOurs, toe second OOoO, aud the uiH
$500 Tue system was first tired aboard the French
fIlgae La GOire, and II been generally adopted
where requHed, III tue French Navy
INrRA-MERCURIAL PLANETs.-M. Camille
Fammsrion, the well-known French astronomer, has
been examining in La Nature tho evidence in favor Of
ntra-Mercudal planets aud particularly that furnished
by Messrs Watson and swift. Ga the latter NJ Flam-
marion SAYS: While IL Is possible that the American
observers saw iutraMcrcurial planet or even two
we cannot view Of the special difficulties Of the stu
Alton the confusion of the figures ana the negative OBJ
,ervatons Of tire other Observers cOncedc il to be an
absolute and iucOuesable fast that hcy saw cvcl so
much as one. The fact is not yet certain" After
reviewing the whole testimony thus far available on
this iueres ing point. the French writer sums up as
FOL lows: The hypothesis OF a single body comparable
70 Mercury gravtatug in close proximity to the sun,
and on plane probably inclined to the solar equator
.eems 10 us 10 be 80 open objections 10 be unten
able Still. the mathematical theory Of universal at
fraction proves th,t there Is cause for e rttardaon
observed the motion Of Mercury and that Tins cause
rannot be found hy aucweutuE the mass OF Neuus-a
quantity now tormnrd win great eAacutudc-out
Eercurv ana the sun. Bat this mass may not be planet
worthy OF 'hc h'uir "i yl"ii'' ~ ! " III Ci
number OF asteroids like the minute fragments "ulch
rrayitaie between Mars and Jupl'crastCrOds so sma
the sun and OF eGhpses lho9Eh ssne oI ra, m 5 ~ ~
large enough to be seen under certain rare eohuIlIOu
This latter theory Is the one WhcA We "doPL
THE WORLD IN MINIATURE.-Mr. CRUDE, a
maker Of wax images in tins city, has constructed what
IS claimed 10 lie the largest globe Of the world showing
the ranges o! mountains aud other pecuarues of the
surface Of the earth in relief, now in existence Its
diameter IS feet and about inch. the scale being in
1OOOOOJO The range Of even the Himalayas would
not be visible upon TINS globe il the same scale were
odoped for the elevations for the map, and accord
ipgly the relief is made upon scale when cXaggcrates
heights twenty times. The oceans, seas AMI rivers
are colored blue; the continents are yellow; the
Glaciers. iccJcrcs aud floating cakes OF ice
white Plains and mountain ranges are clearly
shown, and every pant q the world is exhibited
o tt true character Red black and white lines cross
fhe ccbe toudcae the isothermal belts the variations
az the magnetic needle the date line where ships cor
rect their o-s by skipping from Saturday 10 Monday,
and vice versa auo other facts OF ike CHARACTER The
man been corrected IN the sht OF the latest dScON
erfs down 10 Two months ago The northern coast OF
Siberia has been much altered IN tho aliases by the Nor
denskC'Ct expedition, the ships salns ID over
laces marked As 500 miles inland aud being compelled
10 20 hUudIods OF miles around prOmOutOucs etc,
which are occupied OF the maps by bodies Of water
be globe made OF wood. Tie relief is formed by wax
MIR CRUDE has years IN perlcctng his globe,
and Chicf-JustiCC Ddy and other GcOgrapAcrs have
lately been giving attention 10 It,
TIM SprCTROSCOPE AND UIGU TFMPERA-