Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/729

Rh much the same as he would without the telescope if it were only a hundred miles away. "The fact of mere elevation (less than a mile) above the sea-level," Mr. Todd observes, "will not, as is often supposed, greatly increase the apparent light of celestial objects, as the stars will appear to be only a small fraction of a magnitude brighter on the mountain than at the sea-level. But—what is incomparably more important—the gain in steadiness of the atmosphere has been much greater than any one expected at the onset, and will enable the astronomer not only to make good use of a multitude of clear nights which at less elevated stations are found to be of little value, but also to elevate the grade of all his work to the last degree of precision. Fewer observations will be required for the accurate determinations of the positions of stars. The elevation also makes effectively available a much larger region of sky than can be commanded at other stations in a like latitude, where observations at zenith distances much greater than seventy degrees are usually not worth the making."

Horse-Eating.—The origin of the use of horse-flesh as food is lost in the night of the past. The ancients held the meat in high esteem, and a number of modern peoples use it unhesitatingly. Several Latin and Greek authors mention it. Virgil, in the third book of the "Georgies," speaks of peoples who live on the milk, blood, and meat of their horses. Pliny and Martial refer to the same fact. Pliny says that the ancient Germans killed horses for food, and ate their raw flesh after they had made it tender by carrying it under their legs as they rode. Mixed with mare's milk and blood, this meat formed a royal dish; and the Sarmatian when pressed by hunger never hesitated to procure it for himself by cutting the veins of the animal on which he was riding. The ancient Persians held horse-meat in high esteem for their great feasts. Several Asiatic peoples offer it to guests as a mark of honor. The Tartars regard it as a most delicate meat, preferring the fat and viscera; and Tott, who was sent by the King of France on a mission to the Khan of Tartary, ate excellent smoked horse-sides at his Highness's table. The Yakut bride offers her spouse a cooked horse's head garnished with sauces from the same animal, and this dish constitutes the staple viand of the wedding-feast. The Arabs think as much of horse as of game, and the Chinese use it generally and daily. The South American Indians are passionately fond of horse-meat. The natives of Sumatra have a decided preference for it, particularly if the animal has been well fed on native grains. While horse-flesh was generally eaten among the Germans till they were converted to Christianity, or till the days of Charlemagne, it was regarded with aversion by the early Christians as a relic of idolatry. Gregory III, in the eighth century, advised St. Boniface, Archbishop of Mayence, to order the German clergy to preach against horse-eating as unclean and execrable. This prohibition being ineffective, Pope Zachary I launched a new anathema against the unfaithful "who eat the meat of the horse, hare, and other unclean animals." This crusade was potent over the defectively informed minds of the people of the middle ages, and they, believing the meat to be unwholesome and not fit to eat, abstained from it except in times of extreme scarcity. Nevertheless, it continued to be eaten in particular localities down to a very recent period. The present revival in the use of horse-flesh, concerning which the French papers have had much to say, is the result of a concerted movement among a number of prominent men, the principal object of which was to add to the food resources of the world.

Extremes of Weather in the Past.—Captain W. H. Gardner has examined, for the Alabama Weather Service, the records of the weather—such as exist from 1701 to 1885, and concludes from them that spells of severe weather of all kinds—extreme heat and cold, violent storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, disastrous floods, and parching droughts—were no more rare in the last century and the earlier part of the present century than now. In 1701 there were recorded at Biloxi, Mississippi, a winter cold that instantly froze water poured into a tumbler, and an August heat that made labor impossible except for two hours in the morning and two in the evening. In the