Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/14

 return with his boat loaded with clams, the meat of which was given to the country-people in return of opening the shells, as they were ruined by boiling. The blue 'heart' of the clam, as it was called, was cut out, and made up into the beads used of the ground-work of belts. My informant said, further, that he had often paid out thousands of dollars per week, buying the beads of the white country-people, who manufactured them in their several homes. The ole of the bead was made with an 'arm drill,' and the beads were polished or rounded on grindstones. He xnys the white beads cannot Iw made from clam, but from conch shells, wbleb they hnre alnays im- ported from the Went Indies. The yonnji clams can- DOthe used, and tbeold have so decreased in number that this branch of the industry has been (jretitly re-

I iiiul wltlt me ati Iroquoi* wampum bell, bearing the marks of age, which ihey immediately pronounced to have been maile after their uiaunor. Although they had been familiar with f iidians. ihey bad never known of their making the beads. They had always depended upon Ihe trappers for their market, and re- lated incidents connected with their dealings with ' tar coinpiniea,' etc. The conch-shell la u&ed also in the manufaclure of the pipe beads, rosettes, etc. The holes in the pieces composing the rosettes are drilled, some of thetn, by the country-women in the vicinity. Specimens of the latter 1 shall take to New Orleans to repre^sent a mlnutebranchof- the industry.

If desired. I will resume this subject at a future time, and will present other jiroots whleli go far to- wards supportiua the statement made by the director of the Bureau ot ethnology.

Ebjii.sxik a. Suitu.

'Waa It Imapnatioii ?

The note on artifleial auroras, in Seienre for Nov. 14, reminds me ot an asiwrienea which occurreii to ' myself and party on a mountain summit two or three years ago. There was an unusually brilliant aurora, and It was remarked by several that the streamers seemed in b^ very near tis ; and prexeul ly. as we stood In Ihe open air with heads uncovered, we began to feel the sensations proiluceil by proiimlly to n body charged with electricity. The fact thatsucli a Htnsa- tlon Had actually been produced by the aururn. was doubtrd by some sclent iHc men to wbomlmentloiieil it ; and It was attributed to imagliiatlon, which, I feur, la guilty of ttincli. and often ttccused of luore. My object now U uhielly to inquire whether others liave had a stmllar experient^. 1(. during the exhibition of anauronk. such an artificial pillar of light can be formed. 1 see no reaion tor doubting the evidence of my own sense-; which, by the way, waa so deflnlle, and BO dittlnclly perceived, thai I couhl not dimbl it if 1 desired to du so. E. T. Qiimiiv.

��THE MANAGE US TO THE REAIiERS.

It Is not ollcn ttiat the tnanngers of this jouriia! feel i]is|)oaed to utidress Iheir i-eadera with eilitorial directncaa. Out- prmdiial duty is to record with fidelity nnd jiroiiiptiiess tin? Iii'ogieas of seieDcc. and to make etich com- mcDts upou its aebievements as will enable intelliffent jieople (o fellow with enso lite I'mii*--!'

��of iiiqiiirv in deiiartnieuta which arc rctuDtc from lltcir daily avocutiona. But the o|ieiiiiig of a filUi volume fnruislies us au opiiortttiiity for a few reti'os|)eetivt' and pfospet-tive obsei'- vatious.

We have sin-ccssfttlly passed wliot ia some- times calleil ' the dangerous second year.' A more intimate afqiiniiitnnce with our staff of contributors, aud a more accurate knowledge of the reciiiiivmeiits of ottr readers, have enabled tis from lime to lime to modify our original plans, and to .idii|jt llii'in more closely to the actual seieotifii; coiidilionor the country.

We nte constantly cx|xised to contrary ten- dencies. The cry often readies tts for ' more popular ' articles- The public nitpetile, which Las been whelteil for half a cetitiifv by muse- ums, lectures, m:i};aKines, liooks, atid Iracts. revealing the ' wonders of science.' • the curi- osities ' of nature, the mj'ateries of the micro- scope, the magnitudes of Ilic leloseope. and other like m.irvels, calls u|ion lis to give more entertainin'5 and sometimes more sensational papers. WJien this desire is somewhat mod- erated, it still looks for novelties, surprising dis- coveries, exlraordinaiy aiinouncenients, and is liable to di&np|K>intmetit if our weekly issue appears with ■ nothing striking in it.' On tlic other hand, the teachers atid leaders of science would generally lie glad lo have this Joiiniat become more scientiRc. and leas rtojiidar, by printing longer paiiers than we commonly offer, more abstracts of important memoirs, more elaborate discussions of controverted ijoints. Between these two opposing tendencies, it is no easy task to keep a steady course. A brief recapitulation of our principles may enable our readers to understand our position.

lu the first place. Sciem-t aims to gnllicr from original Americnn sources early and tfuslworthy information iti resjject to the sci- eutiflc work which is iti progress in every part of this land and utider all the various agencies, governmental, institutional, social, nnd indi- vidual. We do all in our iK>wcr to elicit from the universities, the learned societies, the labo- ratories, the surveys, the ohsorvatorios, nnd llie unlionni scientific departments, aocunite

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