Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/876

854 stones behind it, and behind and over these a mass of clay burned to all degrees of hardness. The curator pronounces it one of the most remarkable structures he has ever seen. Lectures and instructions have been delivered on some of the subjects cherished by the museum, and an outline of a course of American archæology and ethnology for advanced students is published in the report. The most important of the later gifts is one by Mrs. Mary Copley Thaw, of Pittsburg, for a fellowship fund, of which Miss Alice C. Fletcher is to be the first beneficiary.

The Harvard Observatory Time-Service.—In giving notice of the discontinuance, after the end of March, of the time-service furnished by Harvard College Observatory, Prof. Pickering has taken occasion to give a brief history of the operation of this branch of the observatory's work. It has been maintained for nearly twenty years, and has given continuous signals—that is, signals throughout the twenty-four hours, instead of for a short time each day—to the cities of Boston and Cambridge, the railroads centering in Boston, and the Western Union Telegraph Company. Through the latter agencies the signals were distributed over a large part of New England and to New York city. The subscriptions of the city of Boston and the railroads, and the receipts from jewelers who timed their clocks by the signals, were sufficient to defray the cost of furnishing the exact time, and for some years formed a source of revenue to the observatory, while no charge was made to the city of Cambridge or the Western Union Telegraph Company. The observatory was one of the foremost and most earnest promoters of the adoption of standard time, although its revenues were likely to be diminished by it. One of the greatest advantages of the time-service to the observatory was that it kept before the public the practical value of astronomical work. Many thousands of persons, who take no interest in a work of a purely scientific character, realize the great financial value to the public of an accurate standard of time. The observatory desired to confer this benefit on the public, and would have been ready to do so, even at a financial loss; but recently the time signals of the United States Naval Observatory have been offered to the public at very low rates, through the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the Harvard College Observatory is relieved of the duty. The expense of furnishing the time is borne by the people through a Government appropriation. A time-service, under which the people at large within its sphere were supplied at the expense of a few who received special benefits from it, gives way to a system under which these special interests are supplied free by taxation of the whole people.

Preservation of Delicately Colored Specimens.—A mounting fluid for specimens compounded by Mr. Haly, of the Colombo Museum, Ceylon, proves to be also an excellent medium for preserving the colors of fish and other animals. It is composed of cocoanut oil and carbolic acid. The most tender frogs and snakes, the delicate plum-like bloom on the geckoes, the fugitive reddish tint on certain snakes, are not injured but are beautifully preserved by it. Preserved fish-skins can be packed away in it for an indefinite period, and, although they do not preserve their sheen like fish in the oil itself, they maintain a silvery and natural appearance, very different from that of ordinary museum specimens. It appears to be an excellent preservative for crustacea, the higher orders of arachnids and centipeds, but has hitherto proved a failure for marine invertebrates in general. The perfect miscibility of the two liquids opens up endless possibilities. The absolutely unevaporable nature of the liquid, apart from its other qualities, makes it invaluable in a tropical climate. The acid makes it possible to mix cocoanut oil and turpentine, and thus is formed a splendid microscopic fluid, in which objects may be allowed to soak, without any previous preparation, and in which they become very transparent.

Cultivation of the Bermuda Onion.—The Bermuda onion is raised, according to Mr. Russell Hastings, in Garden and Forest, in a temperature which from November to June ranges from 50° to 75°, never higher, never lower, with never a greater monthly range than 25°, or a greater daily range than 14°. Its value lies in its mild and delicate flavor.