Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/149

Rh quantities, after a rain, a richer condition of the air in oxygen, which of course would have a corresponding effect upon all substances, organic or inorganic, susceptible of oxidation. It is probable, also, according to this theory, that the outward and upward rush of air at Niagara Falls, with the seething foam, is more than normally rich in oxygen.

Surface-Currents of the Ocean.—Some experiments have recently been made by Professor G.Pouchet, under the patronage of the Prince of Monaco, with relation to the superficial currents of the ocean. The purpose was to determine the existence of a current that might carry warm weather to the coast of Europe. Ten copper spheres, a foot in diameter, twenty kegs, like beer-kegs, and a hundred and fifty well-corked bottles, all bearing requests in several languages, to be taken care of by the finder, were carried to the Azores, and dropped on the 27th and 28th of July, 1885, on a line about one hundred and seventy miles long and running 14° north by east. It was supposed that, if any of the floats reached the coast of Europe, it would be at between 40° and 50° north latitude; but none of them have yet been seen in those regions. Three of the floats were taken up after a travel toward the east, in which they had at the same time inclined toward the south. Two bottles and one keg were found at the Azores; the bottles in positions which showed that they had taken fifty-three days to travel a distance of four hundred and twenty miles, and the keg where it seemed to show that the floats were continuing their course toward the south. The positive though partial results thus obtained appear to establish the fact that, from the latitude in which the floats were thrown overboard, not a drop of the surface-water of the Atlantic reaches the coast of France.

Milk for Infants.—Dr.T.Lauder Brunton has some important remarks, in his paper on "Poisons formed from Food," on the quality of the milk that is given to infants, and the dangers arising from carelessness in using it. Milk, he says, "may apparently be quite sweet at the time it is given, and yet it may really be 'on the turn,' as the term is. When swallowed by the infant, it may rapidly become sour and disagree, while a portion of the same milk, especially if kept cool, may appear to continue sweet for some hours afterward. It is highly probable that not the least advantage possessed by milk drawn from the breast, over that given by a bottle, is that the former is free from bacteria with which the latter is apt to be contaminated. Both may appear equally sweet when administered to the child, but the organisms present in the baby's bottle will continue their action after the milk has been taken, and render it liable to produce vomiting and purging, which are symptoms of poisoning by putrefactive alkaloids. The risk of contamination is much greater when a bottle with a long tube is used, for the bacteria readily find a lodgment in it; and it is to be remembered that not only do the bacteria present in the milk at the time it is swallowed continue to decompose it in the stomach, but they continue to multiply, so that, if even a few are present in the milk when it is taken, they may within a short time multiply greatly, and produce extensive changes in the food if they find conditions favorable to their growth in the intestinal canal."

The Dakotas and their Holy Stones.—Mr.H.C.Hovey gave before the American Association a description of "Eyah Shah," or Red Rock, a sacrificial stone of the Dakotas, which is near St.Paul, Minnesota. It is a well-known custom among the Dakotas to worship the bowlders that are scattered among the hills, valleys, and prairies where they may dwell. "When a Dakota was in perplexity or distress, he would clear a spot from grass or brush, roll a bowlder upon it, streak it with paint, deck it with feathers and flowers, and then pray to it for needed help. Usually when a stone had thus served its purpose, it was no longer regarded as a sacred object, but might be disposed of in any way that suited the savage whim. But the peculiarity of the sacrificial stone now described is that from year to year and from one generation to another it was a shrine to which pilgrimages were made and where offerings were laid. Notwithstanding the significance of its name, the stone is not naturally red, but is merely an extremely hard