Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 43.djvu/109

Rh became numerous, gigantic, and sometimes strange. The paleontologists attached to the Geological Survey have brought to light these curious creatures. The monographs of the regretted Leidy, of Cope, and of Prof. Marsh are among the most beautiful paleontologic works accomplished since Cuvier.

Magnificent researches have also been made concerning the invertebrates and the fossil vegetables.

To resume, under the powerful impulse which the Federal Government has given to it, the geologic service of the United States has produced in twenty-five years results very considerable and very skillfully attained. It must be said that in no other region of the globe have been made such discoveries in so short a space of time. Moreover, this organization, all perfect as it is, could not have given such fruits if the galaxy of savants who have taken part in it had not given proof, at all times, of a valor and of a tenacity which, in the diverse and inhospitable regions in which they were exercised, recall the heroism of an army attacking the most arduous and most inaccessible obstacles.

The work of the Geological Survey, with the magnificent collection of results that it comprises, merits then that we should render to it a striking homage for the light so vivid and so unexpected that it has thrown upon the geologic history and the mineral riches of North America.

The Cuvier prize is decreed to this grand collective work, not only to the actual collaborators, but also to those who have ceased their labors. It will, we hope, be preserved in the archives of the Geological Survey as a witness of the high esteem of the Academy of Sciences.

studies of the planet Jupiter for the past thirteen or fourteen years have satisfied M. Terby that the conditions existing there are more stable than astronomers have of late years been supposing. Even if the phenomena of the spots and bands are atmospheric, their permanency and regularity point to some fixed cause, on the real surface of the planet, controlling them. Besides the "red spot," which has now attracted attention for many years, he finds permanent spots, even on the equatorial zone, having a movement of rotation corresponding with that of this object. The supposition may be legitimately drawn from this fact that this period of rotation agrees with that of the rotation of the planet itself.

At present, the Hon. Rollo Russell contends, in his book on the Causes and Prevention of Epidemic Plagues and Fevers, the science of "public life-saving" is far ahead of the practice. We teach, he observes, in compulsorily attended schools the names of "ancient and unworthy kings," of lakes, mountains, rivers, and so on; while we neglect to instruct in the weightier matters that concern life, health, prosperity, and happiness. The remedy lies in placing the knowledge of the first principles of hygiene within the acquisition of every person of the community.