Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 16.djvu/745

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POPULAR MISCELLANY.
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the slugs were extracted, and he was soon convalescent. At this juncture his master returned, and the joy of the monkey was unbounded. "He clung to him and fondly embraced him over and over again, repeatedly kissing or rather licking his face and hands, with every possible demonstration of the most devoted attachment." When the first paroxysm of delight was over, Peter clasped the arm of his friend to bespeak special attention, "pointed with his own forefinger to each of the wounds whence the slugs had been taken, trying at the same time, in the nearest approach to speech that he could accomplish, to tell the piteous story of his narrow escape from a violent death. . . . It is questionable if the most intellectual of human beings not gifted with the power of speech could have acted more pathetically, or indicated more vividly what had occurred to them during the absence of their natural protector and dearest friend."

Announcement of Astronomical Discoveries.—For the purpose of mailing astronomical discoveries known to the public, speedily and in a systematic manner. Lord Lindsay has devised a plan for international communication of such information, and sent circulars to the leading observatories, public and private, everywhere. Ho promises to distribute notices of discovery within twenty-four hours of the receipt of the telegram to those who favor him with their addresses. The following is the substance of his circular:

The Observatory, Dun Echt, Aberdeen,
November 1, 1879

Sir: I am very anxious to form some system whereby information of astronomical interest may be rapidly and widely disseminated among English observers, and I would beg to ask for your assistance in carrying out my plan. In the event of your discovering a comet, new star, or other object of immediate interest, I would ask you to send me a telegram announcing the discovery, and giving such details as are usual. I have purposely omitted to mention minor planet discoveries, inasmuch as this branch is already admirably carried out by the Berlin Observatory. For convenience, the telegram should be in the form recommended by the Vienna Academy in the seventy-fifth volume of the "Astronomische Nachrichten," No. 1785, page 142, as follows: Comet (new star, etc.), discoverer, date, local mean time of observation (in hours and minutes), place of discovery, right ascension in arc (degrees and minutes), north polar distance (degrees and minutes), daily motion in R. A. and N. P. D. (minutes of arc), plus or minus, description, diameter of comet, etc. (in minutes of arc).

Thus a telegram would run:

Comet Winnecke, 5 April, 1445. Strasburg, 3315707508. Motion 0, minus 60.

This would read:

Comet discovered by Winnecke, 5th of April, 14 hours 45 minutes mean time, Strasburg, R. A., 331° 57', N. P. D., 75° 8'. Daily motion, stationary, R. A, minus 60' in polar distance.

Naughts should be put in where there are no significant figures, so as to make three figures for degrees and two for minutes (five in all), in R. A. and m N. P. D.; similarly, four in the local time.

Telegrams, etc., should be addressed Observatory, Dun Echt, Aberdeen.

(Signed)Lindsay,

President Royal Astronomical Society.

Arsenic in the Household and School.—When somebody is accused of having dosed a fellow mortal to death with arsenic. State authority and newspaper interest immediately vie with each other in their efforts for the protection of human life. Unfortunately, however, both are much less alive to other and far greater dangers arising from the reckless employment in the arts and manufactures, and the ignorant introduction into our households, of this same deadly poison. Its use in the preparation of pigments is very common, and the employment of these for coloring articles of attire and for the various styles of paperhangings is scarcely less so. Not only are those engaged in the manufacture of these coloring matters exposed to the deleterious influence of the poison, but far larger numbers ignorantly purchase and use the articles containing it, and in a way that makes its action but little less virulent than the direct administration of the pure drug. Instances of this are constantly recurring in medical practice. Socks colored with compounds containing arsenic have produced disease of the feet; boots lined with flannel colored with Scheele's green have caused the death of their wearers; bright maroon-colored flannel worn next the skin, paper collars, neckties, hat-linings, gloves, artificial flowers, and even ladies' dresses, have all been the cause of disease from the presence of this poison. Its use for coloring wall-papers, and especially the cheaper sorts, is almost universal; and, while the greens are probably the worst