Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/881

Rh the wind. . . . Every feature of the Bethel bowlders under consideration is fully accounted for by the hypothesis of sand-sculpturing under the action of the wind." An accessible locality for observing this action is found about a mile from West Bethel, on the east side of the road leading to Mason.

Should Children go barefooted?—The "Lancet" gives a decided affirmative answer to the question, "May children go barefoot without injury?" It holds that, on physiological grounds, it is manifestly a sound practice to accustom children to develop the circulatory and muscular systems of the lower extremities, as those of the hand are developed, by free use and exposure. No one thinks a child ought to be protected from the weather, so far as its hands are concerned, but it is recognized that the upper extremities should be kept warm by exercise and habitual exposure. The bones and vessels need freedom for development; and if the blood-vessels of the foot and leg are fully developed, as they can be only when the foot is habitually exposed, the quantity of blood which the lower extremities can be made to receive, and if need be attract for a time, is very considerable. Children who are allowed to go barefooted enjoy almost perfect immunity from the danger of "cold" by accidental chilling of the feet, and they are altogether healthier and happier than those who go about with their feet done up. For the poorer classes of children, "it is incomparably better that they should go barefooted than wear boots that let in the wet and stockings that are nearly always damp and foul."

Development of Fleas.—Mr. George Harkus has succeeded in observing the whole process of the development of the flea from the laying of the egg up. He undertook to begin his experiment with two egg-laden females in a box, but the only result was a fierce battle that compelled separation of the two at once. Each individual laid a batch of from three to twenty-four eggs—the average was about a dozen—white and oval. Each end of the ova appeared through the glass surrounded by a spiral whorl of oval punctures, eighty at one end and forty at the other. The eggs were so nearly transparent that the whole process of development could be easily watched, and the exhibition, to judge from the warm terms in which it is described, must have been extremely interesting. The larvæ resembled elongated little worms, were destitute of feet, and kept up the usual wriggling motion of their kind. They absolutely refused to be fed, and usually died in a few days, so that very few chrysalides were obtained. Perhaps, if they had been given their natural way of feeding, whatever that may be, the success might have been better. Any exposure to cold or damp was immediately fatal. The larvæ, as the pupa stage is approached, assume a red hue, and, about eight days from hatching, spin a cocoon like a fluffy speck of white cotton. The threads are closely woven and of extreme tenuity, and, when attached to a textile material of similar color, must be very difficult of detection. A cocoon was opened after the inmate had divested itself of the pupa-case, but still remained enveloped in a filmy transparent integument. This pellicle covered the insect completely, following each leg and antenna continuously. "About four weeks is required to metamorphose the speck of vitalized matter contained in the minute ovum of Pulex irritans into a suctorial tormentor."

Science in Japan.—A wise step was taken when the University of Tokio and the Engineering College were merged into one organization. This institution, now called the Imperial University of Japan, comprises five colleges, representing the departments of law, medicine, engineering, literature, and science. Each of these colleges has its special director. The College of Science is showing great activity in biological work. Mr. Ishikawa, who recently graduated, is now in Freiburg, studying under Weissmann. Mr. Matsumura, the assistant professor of botany, is in Wurzburg, under Sachs. A marine laboratory is to be built at Misaki, Sagami. Mr. Tsuboi, a student who graduates this year, is to study anthropology as a specialty. A new journal is to be established by the College of Science, from which we infer that the memoirs of the University of Tokio will be discontinued. The first