Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 53.djvu/446

430 vital, the most spiritual, the most progressive elements of life, woman is as much man's superior as he is hers in outer and material things." Everywhere, the circular continues, intelligent women of good character are effective agents in good work, public as well as private. It is only the women who are without moral influence who lack this power; and to give them the ballot would not only be a mistake in itself, it would place in their hands the power utterly to nullify the moral influence of the more enlightened of their sex. The pure and educated women of the nation, non-voting, and thus unbiased by the selfish considerations which naturally sway political aspirants, should form the strong. est and purest element of conservatism possible." The noblest and most useful work of woman has ever been and ever will be "in that domain in which man can never take her place, or become her peer or rival. . . . We believe that men do look to women, and it is our desire and prayer that they may never look in vain, for the maintenance of the home, the upholding of lofty, pure ideals of domestic and social life, the moral education and training of children. . . . It is the compensation which woman owes to the state for the protection which she enjoys in the home, and for immunity from public labor and service, that she should rear her children with right habits and instill into their minds true principles and noble ideals of life, and she can not do this while she is managing political machines and besieging legislatures."



a paper on oil-producing seeds, in the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, Mr. Gilbert H. Hicks estimates, supposing that two pounds of seed are produced for every pound of ginned cotton, nearly 4,000,000 tons of cotton seed were produced in the United States in 1894-'95. Deducting about one third of this, required for sowing, there would remain more than 2,500,000 tons of seed. Of this amount, about 1,500,000 tons were worked at the oil mills, each ton producing 45 gallons of crude cottonseed oil and 800 pounds of cotton-seed cake. This estimate gives a total of 60,000,000 gallons of oil and 600,000 tons of oil cake produced in the United States in a single year. At 30 cents a gallon, this crude oil was worth $18,000,000, while the oil cake exceeds $12,000,000 in value. Of this annual production of oil, about 9,000,000 gallons are used in making "compound lard," etc., while the rest is exported or is mixed with drying oils or used in the manufacture of soap. Cotton-seed oil is also largely used for adulterating other oils.

of the bright southern stars has been completed at the Arequipa station of Harvard College Observatory, each star having been compared by Argelander's method with adjacent stars slightly brighter and fainter than itself. Visual observations of the southern variables have been obtained every month as far as possible. Counts have been made of the number and distribution of stars in several clusters. The meteorological stations have been maintained at Mejia (elevation, 100 feet). La Joya (4,150), Arequipa (8,060), Alto de los Huercos (13,300), Mont Blanc station on El Misti (15,600), El Misti (19,200), and Cuzco (1,100). Interference with the carefully formed plans of the Astrophotographic Congress being undesirable and duplication of work unadvisable, the plan of preparing and publishing a complete map of the sky by the aid of the Bruce telescope has been abandoned, in the belief that more useful work can be done with the instrument in other ways. Glass copies of negatives, of any part of the sky, will be furnished to astronomers who desire to study them. It is believed that most valuable work can be done by careful study of particular regions by means of such photographs. The library of the observatory contained, October 1, 1897, 8,635 volumes and 12,992 pamphlets. Special efforts are made to render the collections of meteorological as well as of astronomical publications as complete as possible.

great power of adaptation of the lower and smaller animals has received the special attention of Prof. L. C. Miall, who remarks upon the readiness with which they assume new stages or drop old ones, and the bewildering variety of visible contrivances and changes of forms which they take on.