Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/587

Rh the slightest difference of opinion with his neighbor prompts him to draw his sword or thrust with his spear. But, if he takes life, he, or his tribe for him, has to pay a heavy fine in camels. They can nearly always show several wounds, and are as proud of those which are behind as of those which are in front. They can also survive the gravest wounds, and recover quickly from injuries that would surely kill a European. They have quick tempers, which, when aroused, are absolutely beyond control, but, if they can once be got to listen to arguments, they are easily persuaded. They are great talkers, and every new plan is discussed for hours. The debaters sit in a circle, and divide themselves into parties, each appointing a spokesman; and he, holding a stick in his hand, will draw intricate geometrical designs in the sand while he holds forth on the subject in discussion. They are keenly sensitive to ridicule, so that, when trouble occurs among them, it is only necessary to raise a laugh against the leader of the disturbance, when he will cover his face and disappear from the scene. Mr. James had difficulty in getting his Somauli escort to submit to anything in the way of a leader. They rebelled when he undertook to put head-men over the guard-squads; and only the sense of a common danger when they got into strange parts, and a threat to expel troublesome persons from the camp, would keep them in order.

Earthquakes in China.—Dr. MacGowan, in connection with a record he has made of fifteen very perceptible earthquakes that were observed in China last year, remarked that three classes of seismic phenomena are distinguishable in that country, an insular, a littoral, and an inland class. Formosa and Hainan are both centers of seismic actions which often affect the mainland; and a considerable agitation of the sea has been observed in many cases of Formosan earthquakes. The Formosan earthquake of December 9th was the most violent one that foreigners so far have experienced; but the tall and slender pagoda towers that adorn all Southeastern China, having stood for centuries unaffected by earth-waves, afford evidence that the shocks, though frequent, are harmless. Occasionally earthquakes of the littoral region are followed by the appearance on the ground of substances designated "white hairs" by the Chinese. When Dr. MacGowan first gave attention to them he thought they might be acicular crystals precipitated by gaseous action, but further research seems to indicate that they are not mineral but organic. Three foci for interior earthquakes may be indicated, two of which, Szechuen and Shansi, are very far from volcanoes, while shocks are often reported from them as continuous for considerable periods.

A New Hot-Water Cooking Apparatus.—Mr. Edward Atkinson has invented a new process and a new apparatus for cooking, which he gives to the public. The apparatus is operated by the heat derived from a common kerosene-lamp or from a gas burner. The theory of it is based upon the non-conducting properties of certain materials with which the oven may be jacketed or incased. The inventor prefers pinewood, which he forms into a box having walls from one and a half to three inches thick, according to the time during which heat is to be maintained within it. This is lined with metal, to make it water-tight. From one side or end of the box is projected a metallic tube, starting from near the bottom, bent so as to form a rectangle, and returning into the box near the top. This serves the same purpose as the pipes affixed to the water-back of a range. Inside the lined box is put as much water as is needed, and in this are inserted the cooking-vessel or vessels, of whatever material, which may or may not fill the box, provided about half an inch of water is left between them and the metallic lining of it. The whole is provided with a safety-valve or open way, to let off steam if the water should boil. The box and its contents, including articles to be cooked, having been arranged, the heat of a kerosene-lamp or gas-burner is applied to the projecting pipe, whence the heat is transmitted to the water inside of the box. A variation in the construction of the box is to have double-walled linings, with a space of about half an inch between the walls, through which the hot water may circulate. These metallic