Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/433

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POPULAR MISCELLANY.
421

Taylor, W. E. The Box Tortoises of North. America. U. S. National Museum. Pp. 16.

University of the State of New York. Report of the Examination Department, 1894. Pp. 122.

Warming, Dr. E. A. Handbook of Systematic Botany. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 020. $3.75.

Warren, Lillie Eginton. Speech Revealed in Facial Expressions. New York: E. S. Werner.

Wheelbarrow on the Labor Question. Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company. Pp. 303. 35 cents.

Wheeler, Oliver D. Sketches of Wonderland. St. Paul, Minn. Pp. 105.

Werner, The, Company. Self-Culture. Monthly. May, 1895. Pp. 48. 20 cents, $2 a year.

Wright, Mabel Osgood. Bird Craft. A Field Book of Two Hundred Song, Game, and Water Birds. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 317, with 15 Two-page Colored Plates.

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Legal Units of Electrical Measure in the United States. Pp. 2.—The Constant of Aberration as determined from Observations of Latitude at San Francisco, Cal. Pp. 10.—The Direction and Intensity of the Earth's Magnetic Force at San Francisco, Cal. Pp. 4.



POPULAR MISCELLANY.

Meeting of the American Association.—The forty-fourth meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science will be held in Springfield, Mass., August 28th to September 7th. Ample provisions have been made by the local committee for the accommodation of the association and its sections and for the entertainment of those who will attend. The meetings will be held in the Young Men's Christian Association building, where the offices will be and the general meetings will be held; the Art Museum, the high-school building, Christ Church Parish House, Unity Church Chapel, State Street Baptist Church lecture rooms, South Church Chapel, and Evangelist Hall. A large list of excursions has been arranged, to places in the vicinity of Springfield and some longer ones, adapted to almost every taste, a large proportion of them being to factories or laboratories where manufacturing processes and scientific methods are practically illustrated, and a considerable number to interesting geological fields. Meetings of affiliated societies will be held as follows: Geological Society of America, August 27th and 28th; Society for Promotion of Agricultural Science, August 26th; Association of Economic Entomologists, date not given; Association of State Weather Service, date not given; American Chemical Society, August 27th and 28th; American Forestry Association, September 3d; Botanical and Entomological Club of America, during the week. The president for the year is E. W. Morley, of Cleveland, O.; permanent secretary, F. W. Putnam, Cambridge, Mass.; general secretary, James Lewis Howe, Lexington, Va.; treasurer, R. S. Woodward, New York.

Lu Chu Islands Politics.—The history of the Lu Chu Islands for several centuries has consisted, according to Prof. Basil Hall Chamberlain, of "an attempt to sit on both sides of the fence." With China on the one hand and Japan on the other, "the kinglet of Lu Chu was driven into being a sort of Mr. Facing-both-ways; and the whole nation more or less, or at any rate the higher official class, came to have a double set of manners—one for use vis-à-vis the first of its inconveniently big neighbors, the other vis-à-vis the second. Thus the Japanese copper 'cash,' with which of late some of the commercial transactions of life had been carried on in the absence of any native money, were always carefully kept out of sight when the Chinese officials were by to see. On the other hand, the Chinese year names commonly current in Lu Chu were ignored as far as possible in diplomatic intercourse with Japan. Even in matters of food the poor little Lu Chuans tried to make themselves all things to all men." Of the two patrons China was the favorite, notwithstanding that Japan was more nearly allied by race. The Chinese overlordship was rather nominal than real, and the tribute-ships despatched annually to Fu Chau did such good strokes of business under the rose that the Lu Chuans actually requested to be allowed to send more tribute to China than the amount originally stipulated.

Undisturbed Nature.—M. de Conferon relates in La Nature that a fox, which had established itself on his place, made nightly excursions for several months into his garden and yard. He was rather pleased with the visits than otherwise, being a lover of animals, and interested in the study of the habits of this one. The marks the fox left behind him indicated that, while he might be fond of grapes, he could eat a great number of rats and mice, and of beetles and oth-