Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 9.djvu/137

Rh language of the ancient inhabitants of Yucatan, and the monuments of that country bear a number of inscriptions in a hieroglyph which has been only very partially deciphered as yet. M. de Rosny first critically analyzed the attempts at decipherment made by his predecessors, the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg and H. de Charencey. The Bishop Diego de Landa first discovered a clew to the meaning of these hieroglyphs; he made out the meaning of seventy-one signs, and the number has been increased to one hundred and thirty-two by De Rosny. The latter has also determined the order in which these signs should be read. As a rule, they run from left to right, but in exceptional cases from right to left. M. Oscar Coraettant, of Paris, a musician and composer, attended the Congress expressly for the purpose of reading a deeply interesting paper on "Music in America before its Discovery by Columbus." The author described the Peruvian flute, and, to give the audience an idea of ancient" Indian music, had a few simple native Peruvian melodies performed by members of the garrison band. The effect was very pleasing. A comparison of this music with that of China shows that the two are in no respect alike. Here was a new and unexpected argument against the truth of the Huei-shen story. The next meeting of the "Congress of Americanists" will be held in 1877, in the city of Luxembourg.

Climatology of New Zealand.—The two large islands of the New Zealand group, North and South Island, are both very mountainous. In the North Island the mountains occupy about one-tenth of the surface, and in the South nearly four-fifths. The rivers are very numerous, and of large size in proportion to the area of the country; but few of them, however, are navigable. The greatest height of the main range in North Island is 6,000 feet; but in the South Island there are peaks from 10,000 to 14,000 feet in height. The changes of weather and temperature in New Zealand are very sudden; calms and gales, rain and sunshine, heat and cold, alternate so frequently and suddenly as to defy previous calculation, so that there is no uniformly dry or wet season in the year. But, though these changes are sudden and frequent, they are confined within very narrow limits, the extremes of daily temperature varying throughout the year by an average of 20° only, while in Europe, at Rome, and other places of corresponding latitude with New Zealand, the same variation is 30° or more. In respect to temperature, New Zealand may be compared either with England or Italy; but London is 7° colder than the North, and 4° colder than the South Island, and is less moist. Strong winds are prevalent, and particularly in the straits. Rain falls frequently, but seldom in such excessive quantity, or for such long periods, as in Australia. The rainfall, in 1871, was 54½ inches; that of New York City in 1873 was 42½.

Science-Teaching for the Young.—The master of a school for young boys gives an account in Nature of his method of teaching his young pupils science. For the purposes of scientific instruction, the pupils are divided into three classes, the lowest of which contains about twenty boys, whose average age is nine years. Class II. is composed of ten boys, of an average age of twelve years, while the first class contains twelve boys, of an average age of twelve and a half years. The time weekly devoted to science-instruction is, for Class III., two lessons in botany of three-quarters of an hour each, and one hour's lesson in physical geography. The pupils are taught to distinguish the parts of a flower, and, by the aid of a chart, to discover the order to which any plant belongs. The second class gives two and a half hours per week to botany. The standard of knowledge aimed at is such as is contained in Prof. Oliver's books, and the boys are expected to be able to find out any given plant in Bentham's "British Flora." The boys in the first class study chemistry, and spend one afternoon of an hour and a half at practical work in the laboratory. Another afternoon is employed in listening to a lecture founded upon a chapter in a text-book of chemistry. The boys, after the lecture, study up its subject-matter in the text-book, so as to be able to answer questions on it at the beginning of the next lesson. The standard aimed at is the power to discover a simple acid and base, and an acquaintance with the text-book.