Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 34.djvu/146

136 on the convex surface of a sea-shell, the concave surface of which contained about a hundred small beads. The shell was carved with hieroglyphics. Two other skeletons, on either side of this one, also had their heads resting in the concave surfaces of shells, which were marked with hieroglyphics. Several other skeletons were found around and above the principal one, which was thought to be the remains of a chief. In another part of the cemetery were found skeletons of persons who had evidently been buried alive, their limbs having been held down by large stones placed upon them.

Sanitary Plumbing.—Dr. Sinclair White, recently medical officer of health at Sheffield, England, in a late sanitary report, recommends, for use among the poorer and less intelligent inhabitants of towns, the form of multiple water-closet known as the trough-closet or water latrine. The trough is composed of strong glazed earthenware, in sections, with a seat to each section. The seats are separated by partitions. The trough may comprise any number of sections. A pipe from a flush-tank enters one end, and it has a connection with the sewer at the other, a trap and inspection hole intervening. Water stands in the trough to the depth of three or four inches, and it may be flushed automatically or by hand.

Important Archæological Monuments.—The American Association's Committee on the Preservation of Archæological Remains recommended that measures be taken for the preservation of the following works; Chaco Cañon, from the forks of Escavada Cañon for a distance of eight miles up; Cañon de Chelly, Cañon del Muerto, and Walnut Cañon; the ruin of Fossil Creek, on the east branch of the Rio Verde, and about fifteen miles south of Camp Verde military reservation; ruins in Mancas Cañon, the Round Towers situated on the flat valleys of the Lower Mancas, and the Cavate Lodges in the cinder-cone, about eight miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona Territory. The report continues: "Besides these groups of ruins and dwellings, there are isolated remains in the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, numbering over forty, which demand preservation. The Pueblos, which are not on treaty reservations or grants, and the old Mandan and Arickaree village on the Port Berthold Indian reservation in Dakota, to be preserved when they cease to be inhabited by the Indians. Also certain burial and village sites in Alaska." The committee—Alice C. Fletcher and T. E. Stevenson—have caused a bill to be introduced in Congress providing for a reservation in New Mexico for the purpose of archæological study.

Uses of Photography in Science.—In describing some of the applications of photography to scientific purposes, Mr. H. Trueman Wood mentions, as among the advantages of the art for such uses, that it is an absolutely unprejudiced observer. The sensitive plate records, with absolute fidelity, the image thrown upon it. The sensitive surface further has the power of storing up feeble impressions of light, so that an image is produced by the long-continued impact of vibrations too feeble to have any effect until they have been allowed to impinge upon the plate for a considerable time; while, on the other hand, the light-rays, if of sufficient energy, can produce their due effect in a time which, to human appreciation, seems infinitely small. Again, the photographic plate is affected by rays to which the eye is quite insensitive, and thus by its aid we can take cognizance of, and observe, rays beyond the limits of the visible spectrum, of the highest and of the lowest refrangibility. Thus, the photographic lens will record the impression of an infinite amount of detail, to reproduce which by any other method would require immense time and labor. The most important services which have been rendered by photography to science are in astronomy; in photographs of the moon, of the sun, and of eclipses, in which possibly evanescent phenomena are put on permanent record for the study of after-years. The work of cataloguing and charting the stars, and accurately locating them, has been greatly aided; has been, in fact, set in a new aspect by means of photography. Then we have the photographs of the nebulæ, one of which, Mr. Common's view of the nebula in Orion, Mr. Lockyer has declared to be one of the greatest achievements in astronomy, of a value greater than that of all the eye-observations made during