Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 3.djvu/671

Rh another of a different species. The result was that each grain bore a resemblance to the grain of the two impregnating plants, the base having the color of the one, and the upper half the color of the other. Thus it is seen that one ovule may receive an impress from the pollen-grains of at least two separate plants, even though a considerable time intervene between the first and second impregnation.

Madeira as a Health-Resort.—That invalids, who visit distant climes in pursuit of conditions more favorable to health than they can find at home, are but too often led by false hopes, is an every-day observation. A writer in the London Times, who went out to Madeira last year for the benefit of his health, has proved the truth of this observation by his own experience, and labors to convince other invalids that they can find, nearer home, advantages every way superior to those enjoyed at Madeira. The temperature of that island is no doubt remarkably equable, the thermometer very rarely indicating under 60° or over 78°; but yet from the latter end of February up to the date of the writer's letter, the beginning of May, the weather was as unpleasant as could prevail even in England. During March there were keen, piercing winds, and occasional hot sun, and April was a succession of chilly, damp, and rainy days. Thus the patient is almost sure to lose, in the discomforts of spring, all the strength he may have gained during the summer and winter.

A Portuguese never condescends to let apartments, and the invalid must put up with the very imperfect accommodation of the hotels, where comfort and sanitation are entirely disregarded. The writer regards the Madeira climate as especially unfavorable to youthful invalids. Finally, it would appear that every obstacle is placed in the way of those who wish to return home from the island. The writer's conclusion is, that the chances of recovery for a consumptive are far better at home, surrounded by the conveniences and comforts of life, than in Madeira, where the only favorable condition is the climate, and where even that advantage is more than balanced by the storms of the spring season.

Lacustrine Dwellings in Germany.—The remains of ancient habitations raised on piles are of rare occurrence in Germany, and hence the discovery last year of the débris of such structures in the bed of the river Elster, near Leipsic, awakened a lively interest. The discovery was made by Herr Jentzsch, of the Geological Institute of Austria. The order of the visible strata at this point is as follows: At the base is found a layer of sandstone; on this a lacustrine clay. Both of these belong to the upper portions of the quaternary rock. In the clay are two beds containing the remains of plants, and among these are found leaves of the willow and oak, fruit of the Acer, and sundry other vegetal fragments. Above these occurs a layer of roots some inches in depth, which shows that the surface of the soil remained at this level for a considerable period. The uppermost layer, two to three metres thick, was produced by an inundation. The piles discovered by Jentzsch in the bed of the Elster are set in the clay and covered over with this silt. They are arranged in circles, with their lower ends pointed, and their upper extremities connected by horizontal ties of oak.

Among the animal remains found here are, the lower jaw of an ox, with its teeth, stags' heads, the long bones of some mammal yet undetermined, and shells of the unio and anodon. No traces of human remains have been found, though fragments of pottery and charcoal are met with; also two stone hatchets.

Industrial Occupations of Women.—The following notes of avocations followed by women in the United States, taken from the last census returns, give a curious exhibit of the extent to which woman is now invading provinces of industry which once were supposed to belong exclusively to the other sex: Agricultural laborers, 373,332; stock-herders and stock-raisers, 75; architect, 1; auctioneers, 12; barbers and hairdressers, 1,179; clergy, 67; dentists, 24; hostlers, 2; hunters and trappers, 2; lawyers, 5; livery-stable keepers, 11; midwives, 1,186; physicians and surgeons, 525; scavengers, 2; sculptors, 4; teachers, 84,047; whitewashes, 391; bankers and brokers, 15; barkeepers, 70; boat-hands, 30;