by eight papers in a total of thirty-four, but the relative interest declined after this to a low ebb for eight or nine meetings.

Botany has not been a feature in the association until recently, and its record shows a simultaneous increase in interest. It has not oscillated widely above or below the average, and has been maintained by a band of writers who, while they permitted it to reach extinction in the 11th (Montreal) meeting, have vigorously kept up its respectability. The new and younger botanists have made themselves felt, and it may be anticipated that in the next decade its percentage will rise.

Zoology

Botany

Microscopy, Microscopy has only in later years assumed any importance in the meetings of the association, and in the United States it is only in later years that the use of the microscope has been widely extended. Industrially, technically, in biological and botanical studies, it is beginning to make itself recognized as the handmaid of business and science. Microscopy is yet fitful and timid in its appearances at the association, but these erratic fluctuations probably precede a more even participation in its work.

Geology shows the highest percentage of interest (14.03), as might have been expected, amongst the departments. The association itself was the child of a geological club; and geology in a new country, abounding in new details, new material, new problems, apart from its intrinsic value and fascination, attracts numerous followers. Abundance of papers on this subject have always been forthcoming, in this arena met the veterans of the science, and here the everlasting quarrel over 'taconic' and 'primordial' has been fought over again and again, with the confusion of less noticeable collisions and the combat of less distinguished warriors. One thing of interest is observable; i.e., that geology is losing its hold: as with astronomy and other subjects, the growth of new departments, the increase of papers in other branches, is forcing its average down, though the actual numerical display of papers is higher.

Ethnology and archæology have been the elements of disturbance which have intruded numbers of papers in recent years, and brought down the percentage of interest in other branches not sufficiently recruited by new accessions. The significant coincidence in the general aspect of these two branches of study shows their important development in the last ten years. They threaten the supremacy of the older studies, both because of their popular character, the interesting nature of their results, and the fertile soil for anthropological investigation in our country.

And here we are suggestively reminded that a valuable analysis of the association returns might be made to determine in what quarters the scientific industry of the country is located. Finally, we offer these observations, imperfectly and too hastily prepared, as a contribution to the interest this meeting of the association should excite. L. P. GRATACAP.

A North Carolina Diamond.

A DIAMOND Weighing 4 carats and 873 milligrams was found on the Alfred Bright farm in Dysartville, McDowell County, N.C., in the summer of 1886, by twelve-year-old Willie Christie, the son of Grayson Christie, who was sitting on a box at a spring, and saw, about two feet from him, what he termed a pretty trick.' He picked it up and carried it home, where it lay on the shelf two weeks before he gave it another thought. It was then taken to the village grocer's, John Laughridge's, where various opinions were passed upon it, until at last the conclusion that it was a diamond was reached. It was then sent to Messrs. Tiffany & Co. for valuation. It is quite perfect, but not pure white, having a faint grayishyellow tint. In form it is a distorted hexoctahedron with partial

-Palaeontology ----Mineralogy

Geology Lithology Paleontology has a fair percentage of interest, has been quite uniform, but evincing a downward inclination, caused, as with other topics, by the enlarging horizon of the society's activities.

Mineralogy has an intermittent and rather low pulse, but from the 15th (Buffalo) to the 28th (Saratoga) meetings was in a rather healthy state, and has since kept below the average. Its average, indeed, has been sustained by the high percentages given in the earlier meetings, and its general temper is debilitated.

twinning (see figures of two views). Its specific gravity is 3.549+, and it measures 10 millimetres in length and 7 millimetres in width, This stone being more than an average find, the writer thought it would be of interest to visit the locality, and while there in June, 1887, he fully authenticated all the facts of the finding. Dysartville is sixteen and one-half miles from Morganton, twelve from Marion, eight from Bridgewater, and four from Capt. J. C. Mills's gold-mine. A number of supposed diamonds, which proved to be zircon or smoky quartz, have been found here before. No trace of garnet, peridotite, or any of the associations of the diamond, were found near the spot. The sediment at the bed of the spring was taken out and carefully examined, as also the small hollows on the adjacent hillside. This diamond must therefore have been transported in decomposing soil from distant higher ground in the vicinity, during a heavy freshet. Its value as a gem, not counting any value its American origin may attach to it, would be from about one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars. GEORGE F. KUNZ.

New York, Sept. 27.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1887.

ACCORDING TO A Reuter's telegram, dated Sept. 9, from St. Paul de Loanda, Major Barttelot, who was left at the camp at Yambuya, at the foot of the Aruvimi Rapids, with a garrison of about one hundred men, has forwarded the following information to Leopoldville concerning Mr. H. M. Stanley's expedition: "Major Barttelot received news from Mr. Stanley, despatched about July 12, after he had made a ten-days' march from Yambuya towards the interior. Mr. Stanley was at that date still proceeding up the Aruvimi, which he had found to be navigable up to a certain distance above the rapids. Here he launched a steel whale-boat which he had brought with him, as well as several rafts manufactured by the expedition, and which had been utilized for conveying the heavy baggage. All the members of the expedition were in good health, and provisions were easily procured in the large villages near the river. The country through which the expedition was passing showed a gradual rise towards some high table-lands. Another caravan of 480 men was following the expedition on the left bank of the Aruvimi; the advanced guard, consisting of forty Zanzibari, under the command of Lieutenant Stairs, being composed of men lightly burdened, whose duty was to search for provisions. Mr. Stanley hoped to arrive about July 22 in the centre of the Mabodi district, and expected to reach Wadelai in the middle of August, or even before. The advance had been so peaceably accomplished that Mr. Stanley had instructed Major Barttelot, that, should it continue so, he would shortly send him orders to follow the expedition by the same route at the head of the one hundred men left at Yambuya." A later telegram, dated Oct. 2, from St. Paul de Loanda, states that the further progress of the expedition was very satisfactory. About July 25 the expedition had ascended the Aruvimi to the elevated country belonging to the Mabodi district. The river becoming too narrow, they left the rafts; and the men for several days had to carry a double burden of provisions. The steel whale-boat was carried past the narrows, and again launched. Stanley calculated, that, upon arriving at the summit of the table-lands giving shape to the basin of the Aruvimi, the expedition would halt two days for a rest, and would establish a camp there to be garrisoned by twenty men, with a European officer. The districts traversed were tranquil, and little difficulty was experienced in obtaining provisions from the natives. The progress of the expedition averaged twelve miles daily. Tippo-Tip, in his last message, wrote that he was still at his post at Stanley Falls, awaiting re-enforcements. He had gained the good will of several neighboring chiefs. Owing to the disturbed state of the country, Tippo-Tip could not, as he had agreed to, organize a revictualling caravan to despatch direct to Mvutan Nsige, but he intended to do so as soon as possible. Disquiet continued between Stanley Falls and the confluence of the Aruvimi and the Kongo, and many villages had been pillaged. It is believed that the garrison which Stanley left at Yambuya has been forced to interfere to maintain order in the neighborhood. It appears from all reports that Tippo-Tip, since he has become connected with the Kongo Free State, has some difficulty in regaining his former influence over his countrymen. The disquiet on the Upper Kongo, to which reference is made in the second telegram, probably refers to the ravages of the Arabs of Stanley Falls, who extend their slave-hunting expeditions down the Kongo. It is to be hoped that Tippo-Tip's influence, supported by Major Barttelot's troops, which are stationed near the mouth of the Aruvimi, will suffice to confine. their raids to the territory above Stanley Falls.

It is in accordance with Emin Pacha's former actions that he declares at the present time his intention to stay in his province, and to further the work of civilization he has so successfully begun. It appears from the meagre news that has reached America, that the messengers who were despatched to inform him of Stanley's expedition have met him, and that this is his reply to the message. Emin expresses the hope that England will help him to open a route of commerce to the Indian Ocean, but it seems more probable that communication with the Kongo will be opened by Stanley's expedition. Junker's travels show that there is no serious obstacle to travel in the region of the northern tributaries of the Kongo; and therefore it seems probable, that, while political complications close the routes of the Nile and of Uganda, Emin and Stanley may succeed in opening trading-routes from the Upper Kongo to the Equatorial Province.

IF THE PRESIDENTS of all our colleges would follow the example of President Barnard of Columbia, and publish each year a full report on the progress of the institutions over which they respectively preside, it would be an advantage not only to the institutions themselves, but to the cause of higher education in general. Mr. Charles F. Thwing, always an observant critic of college methods, emphasizes this point in a recently published article. President Barnard's report for the last academic year has just been issued, and, with its appendices, is a most valuable document. It rehearses the changes and improvements of the year, traces the work of the various schools separately, and discusses such questions as those of attendance, scholarship, the marking system, elective studies, and the wonderfully successful public lecture courses of the past two winters. We are glad to notice the steady growth of the graduate department, as it augurs well for the future of the institution. President Barnard says very little concerning the finances of the college, and we are therefore led to infer that no appreciable part of the sum asked for three years ago has been obtained. An announcement reaches us with the president's report, which should be referred to in this connection. It is the programme of courses in the Oriental and Hamitic languages offered for the present year. From this we learn that the most complete department of its kind in America exists at Columbia, and that, under the inspiring leadership of so cultured a scholar as Dr. H. T. Peck, no fewer than nineteen courses in the Oriental and Hamitic languages are announced. This is a remarkable showing, and when considered in connection with the courses of Professors Bloomfield and Haupt at Baltimore, Whitney at New Haven, and Lyon, Toy, and Lanman at Cambridge, proves that a great impetus has been given to advanced philological study in this country.

THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF NORWAY.

THE Norwegian school-laws of the 17th of June, 1869, according to the Zeitschrift für das Realschulwesen, xii. 3, recognize three fundamental principles. First, all higher schools must have a lower course in common, so that it will not be necessary at the outset, with the choice of a school, to choose also one's ultimate vocation. Secondly, the length of the course must be so regulated that the pupil, upon its completion, shall be of an age to enter intelligently upon the active duties of his calling; the curriculum must also form in itself a whole, and be so arranged that the pupil who has completed it carries with him into life a good general education. Finally, the time devoted in the upper classes to preparatory studies must be so disposed that the pupil may confine himself more especially either to history-philology, on the one hand, or to mathematics-natural sciences, on the other.

The whole system of higher education in Norway is based upon the intermediate school. It is the preparatory school of the Gymnasium, the Latin as well as the Real Gymnasium, and has a six-years' course. The requirements for entrance are essentially the same as in the Prussian höhere Bürgerschule. The normal age at entrance is nine years. For the first three years the course is in common with the fourth year it is divided. The pupil preparing for the Latin Gymnasium receives instruction in Latin seven hours per week, which continues through the remainder of the course. All others have instead the so-called 'Real' course; in the fourth year, English and drawing; in the fifth and sixth years, English, drawing, and an hour more of German. Otherwise the courses are identical. In the fifth and sixth years two hours of French are elective. A certificate of proficiency from the intermediate school is required for admission to a Gymnasium; it also entitles its possessor to enter a technical school, and is required of a dentist. A certificate in the Real course only, admits to the naval academy and to the telegraph service; in the latter case the pupil must also have been proficient in French. The future apothecary must possess the certificate of the Latin course.

The certificate of proficiency from the Latin Gymnasium entitles its possessor to enter upon any course of study. If, however, the pupil desires to enter the military academy, he must pass an examination in mathematics, the natural sciences, and drawing, the requirements in these branches being the same as at the final examination of the Real Gymnasium.

The certificate of the Real Gymnasium entitles its possessor to enter the advanced technical courses, to pursue the study of jurisprudence, and admits to the military academy. If a graduate of the Real Gymnasium desires to study medicine, he must pass an oral examination

in Latin; the requirement, however, being the same as at the final examination of the intermediate school, not of the Real Gymnasium. The candidate must show that he has read three books of 'Cæsar's Commentaries,' twenty-four chapters of Cicero's Orations,' and five hundred verses of Phædrus.' • In addition, there is a short written translation from Norwegian into Latin, in which the use of a dictionary is permitted. Most of the graduates of the Real Gymnasium who are to study jurisprudence also take this examination; on the one hand, because Roman law is an important factor in the State examination, and because those who have passed this examination have especial prerogatives in the examen philosophicum which precedes the state examination. In order to study theology and philology, the graduate of the Real Gymnasium must pass an oral examination in Latin and Greek, the requirements being the same as at the final examination of the Latin Gymnasium.

The system of preparatory instruction here described has existed in Norway now for some twenty years, so that it is possible to judge, to some extent, of its efficiency. Statistics show that the great majority of those who discontinue their studies after the completion of the course of the intermediate school take the Real course. Of those who take a higher course in the university and the technical schools, two thirds have been graduated from the Latin Gymnasium, one third from the Real Gymnasium. This result, however, is to be explained by the fact that the transformation of the former Latin schools into Latin Gymnasiums necessitated comparatively few changes. Where circumstances, accordingly, allowed but one higher school, the Latin Gymnasium was chosen, which offers, besides, certain tangible, if not materially important prerogatives. Real Gymnasiums and Latin Gymnasiums exist side by side only in the larger cities, the number of which in Norway is very small. Eight cities have both a Real and a Latin Gymnasium, and twelve a Latin Gymnasium alone. W. H. C.

ACCLIMATIZATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

IN a former article (Science, viii. No. 197) reference was made to the various species of animals which had been purposely introduced into these islands. In all cases it is difficult to foretell what effect will be produced upon any species by bringing about a change in its environment, and this truth has been well exemplified in the case of many animals, now, alas! too well established in the colony. Unfortunately the age of experiments in this direction has only begun. Rabbits, having no natural enemies to keep them in check, have become such a pest and source of loss to the colony, that the latest move-taken up both by interested sheep-farmers and by the government has been to liberate sloats, ferrets, and weasels in many parts. Slowly as these animals increase, they have already made their presence felt; not, however, in the diminution of the rabbit-pest, but by their destruction of hen-roosts, and attacks upon children. Following in the wake of settlement, but not introduced purposely by man, are many other species, mostly small and noxious. When settlers first penetrate into the untrodden parts, especially of the South Island, they are attacked by hordes of bloodthirsty sandflies and mosquitoes; while the greatest care has to be taken to ward off an abundant blowfly, which lays its eggs, or ready-hatched maggots, upon every thing exposed. Blankets, flour-bags, and clothing are just as readily 'blown' as meat or offal. But as cultivation proceeds, and the ground is cleared, these insects disappear, while common European blue and house flies take their place. The latter, like the human being they follow after, even bring their diseases with them; so that every autumn their distended bodies are found attached to window-panes by the mycelium of Empusa muscæ.

As settlement progresses, and new trees and plants begin to take the place of the old vegetation, the familiar pests of the mother-country begin to appear. Aphides, Coccidæ, various beetles, moths, and flies, together with parasites which infest man and beast, become all too familiar. In many cases it would seem at first as if these were going to have it all their own way. Some twenty years ago it was considered nearly impossible to grow Swede turnips in this part of the colony, so enormously abundant was the Aphis upon them; but within these two decades a small bird almost certainly of recent introduction from Australia, called green-eye, wax-eye, or blight bird (Zosterops lateralis), has increased

very much, and coincidently with this has been such a decrease in the Aphis, that it has practically ceased to be a pest.

But the most conspicuous effects of man's influence is the introduction of numbers of species of plants which find themselves more or less at home in this new land. It is matter of common remark to every person coming to the colony, how English every thing looks. The wayside weeds, the grass with its daisies and ox-eyes, the fields and gardens with European chickweed, docks, and thistles, all remind him of the old land. English plants chiefly have spread themselves over the country, wherever the settler has gone. One might expect that Australia, or America, being so much nearer, would have furnished the greatest proportion of immigrants; but this is not found to be the case. It is what Sir Joseph Hooker has called the aggressive Scandinavian flora, which so strongly asserts itself on all sides. The reasons of this are perhaps not far to seek. Nearly all the seeds brought to the colony in the earlier days of settlement came from Britain. English grasses were brought and sown down, and along with them came the weeds of English pastures. Compressed hay was brought frequently with imported stock; straw-packed goods were, and are, scattered throughout the country; and thus, in one way and another, it is the European species of weeds which have found their way here in the greatest abundance. The conditions of acclimatization are very dissimilar in different parts of the colony, extending as it does through twelve degrees of latitude, and thus embracing very different climates. The southern parts of the South Island are as different from the Bay of Islands as Scotland is from Italy. Throughout the greater part of the east side of the South Island, night frosts are experienced during the winter, even along the coast; while inland the cold is much more intense and continued, the summer being at the same time hotter. But in all other parts, frost, at ordinary levels, is the exception, while in no portion of the country are the droughts prolonged, as in Australia.

One of the results of such a distribution of climate is, that fewer introduced plants have succeeded in acquiring a foothold in the southern and colder parts than elsewhere in New Zealand; and as we go farther north we find the number of acclimatized species becoming more and more abundant. While those of Otago are chiefly such as are to be met with in England and Scotland, those of the north of Auckland are largely mixed with midEuropean plants, and many of tropical and sub-tropical distribution. This is well seen by comparing the appearance at different ports. On landing in the Bay of Islands, one sees large patches of Agave Americana marking the sites of old gardens, but spreading far and wide, as if quite at home. The ground is carpeted with the familiardoab-grass,' as it is called in Bengal (Cynodon dactylon). Lily-of-the-Nile (Richardia) blocks the water-courses, while other tropical forms (Amarantus, Aponogeton, Lycium, etc.) occur freely as wild plants, intermingled with others of much more temperate habitat. Pursuing his journeys south, the traveller enters Napier, and, passing from the landing-place to the town through a ravine-like cutting, finds scarlet geraniums and forests of fennel competing with mesembryanthemum and introduced fuchsias for possession of every bit of soil. He infers at once a climate quite free from frost. But now let him land at Dunedin, and none but old country friends meet him. Shepherd's purse, groundsel, and docks occupy the wayside with similar equally familiar weeds. The meadows and pastures are white with daisies and ox-eyes (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum), or yellow with cat's-ear (Hypocharis radicata), buttercups, and self-heal (Prunella), and, with a slight effort of imagination, he might almost fancy that he was back in bonny Scotland.' The tropical element is here wanting. While nearly four hundred (387) species have been recorded as occurring in the Auckland district, not more than 160 are known from Otago in the south.

It is a much-disputed question among local botanists, whether the native flora can hold its own against the introduced plants, or not. When we consider that species brought from old (from a human point of view) and long populated countries, in more or less close proximity to one another, have acquired their present characteristics after long ages of a keen struggle for existence with one another, and with herbivorous animals to fight against, we should certainly expect them to prove extraordinarily aggressive in such a

country as this. Here the animals are wanting, the climate is milder, moisture is abundant, and all the field seems to lie open. Accordingly, wherever the settler goes with the axe and plough, and, above all, with fire, the introduced plant follows him, and thrives. But it is now pretty well ascertained that if man stays his hand, the native vegetation does not continue to recede before the alien on the contrary, it seems once more to tend to re-assert itself. That, at least, is the testimony of our two most competent botanists, Mr. Cheeseman in Auckland, and Mr. Kirk in Wellington, as well as of the writer in Otago.

The

The way that some plants have spread is most remarkable. common thistle (Carduus lanceolatus) has gone over the country like smoke, especially following fire and cultivation. When first established, it forms thickets which frequently are impermeable; but this state never lasts long. The soil appears to refuse, at the end of two or three years, to yield up its former abundance, and the plant exhausts itself. This process in many parts is absolutely beneficial to the soil. In the limestone districts to the north of Otago, the writer has seen vast areas, which had been once ploughed, covered with an impenetrable forest of thistles six feet or more in height. In autumn the whole crop dies down, leaving the rocky soil penetrated in all directions by its long roots. As these decay, water finds its way down to the lower levels; and on ploughing the soil, and sowing a crop of winter wheat, the farmer is rewarded by a sixty-bushel crop.

Two or three species truly indigenous are now abundantly represented by the introduced European form. This is certainly the case with the dandelion (Taraxacum) and sowthistle (Sonchus), and most probably also with the smooth geranium (G. molle). The native form is all but extinct, the introduced being abundant.

In some cases characters are developed which appear to tend towards the formation of new varieties. Thus Bartsia viscosa, always considered a root-parasite in Europe, is truly established on its own roots in this country. Water-cress, which grows to a length of from two to four feet in its native habitats, attains gigantic proportions in many New Zealand streams. In the Avon at Christchurch it is frequently found with stems as thick as a man's wrist, and twenty feet in length. Sheep's-sorrel (Rumex acetosella) is here an unmitigated garden and field pest, especially in poor soils, where its tough underground stems will creep as much as a yard in a season, if the soil be kept well stirred. Equally remarkable is the changed character of Poa pratensis, so famed as a pasture-grass in the States. In New Zealand it gives a poor return as a permanent pasture-grass, while in arable land it is a curse, matting the surface soil into an unworkable mass. No doubt one cause of the troublesome nature of many of the common garden-weeds is the comparative absence of frost. Many plants which are strictly annuals in Europe or America, become biennial or perennial here. Chickweeds (Stellaria and Cerastium) and groundsel flower all the year round.

One of the most aggressive species in the country is the white or Dutch clover (Trifolium repens), which has shown great power of spreading, both laterally and vertically. Introduced plants are often met with also in most unexpected localities. The writer, when rambling along the slopes of Mount Torlesse, in the Canterbury Alps, was surprised to find some of the valleys — miles away from human habitation - full of a common mullein (Verbascum thapsus); but such instances are rare. The botanist rather wonders, that, considering how greatly specialized to their surroundings New Zealand plants are, they do not more quickly succumb to the intruders.

Finally, an interesting question, puzzling to the acclimatizer, is the difficulty of introducing certain - to him desirable plants. Primroses and cowslips, foxgloves, and many other sylvan and meadow beauties, will not run wild. They die out if removed from the garden. The cause seems to lie in the absence of the insects necessary for their fertilization.

Both in the case of plants and animals, then, an interesting field for future observation exists in this country; and fortunately, accurate information on the whole subject has been accumulating from the very outset, so that the future naturalist has no 'dark ages' to look back to, but will always have some trustworthy record GEO. M. THOMSON.

to refer to.

Dunedin, Aug. II.

MENTAL SCIENCE.

Brain-Growth and Body-Growth.

THE late Dr. Parrot of France was, at the time of his death, collecting anatomical material for a study of the progressive development of the several parts of the body as measured by such characteristics as size and weight. Some of this material has been arranged by Mlle. Jeanne Bertillon, and presented by her to the Anthropological Society of France. The problem there discussed is the ratio of increase in weight of the brain to the increase in weight of the body as a whole, of the height, of the heart, and of the spleen. This is ascertained for the two sexes and for the various ages, especially for the first years of life, when growth is at its maximum. As will be seen, the results given are founded on a sufficiently large number of measurements to make them generally reliable.

Expressing the weight of the body, of the heart, of the brain, of the spleen, and the height, as 1,000 at birth, their condition at several periods up to the sixth year is given in the following table:

Height.

Greater changes take place within the first three months than within the period from the third to the sixth month, but the maximum of growth takes place in the latter half of the first year.

The sexual differences in these respects are very marked throughout. The disparity diminishes within the first four years, to reappear in from the fourth to the sixth year with the same intensity as in the first months of life.

With which of the four measurements does the growth of the brain in weight keep the most constant ratio? Omitting the weight of the spleen as unimportant and variable by pathological and other causes, a glance at the following table will show that the body-weight and the height give no such constant ratio.

Thus it appears that at the end of this period the height has about doubled, the brain a little more than tripled in weight, and the weight of the body, as of the heart and spleen, more than quintupled. In another table is considered how much of this growth of the first five years has been contributed by each of the several periods of age above specified. From such a comparison, it appears that the brain develops sooner and more rapidly in early life than even the height. The percentage of the growth of the first five years, that takes place in the first six months, is, for the body-weight, only 13.66 for females, and 10.82 for males; for the heart, 11.43 and 11.88; for the spleen, 19.7 and 19.0; for the height, 20.8 and 11.40; while for the brain it is as much as 27.41 and 23.51; the first figure referring to the females, and the second to the males. The same fact is more clearly brought out by saying that at the beginning of the second year the female brain has already increased by 72 per cent of all the increase it will have made within the first five years, while the body-weight has not reached 50 per cent of the development it will have at the sixth year. Expressing the total progress at the opening of the second year in terms of the total progress at the opening of the sixth year, the following table shows in detail the relative amount of growth attained by the several parts :

3 years to 4 years.......

4 years to 5 years.

5 years to 6 years...... 6 years to 7 years.

166.6

186.9

175.8

163.1

147.4

128.7

118.1

726.5

46

865.7

56

1,006.0 1,220.0

1,174.0

1,371.0

48

1,531.0

It is probable that after the sixth year the ratio would tend to remain constant. Be this as it may, Dr. Parrot has pointed out an interesting line of research, and one calculated to shed much light on the normal development of children.

THE SAVAGERY OF BOYHOOD.- Mr. John Johnston, in an article in the October issue of the Popular Science Monthly, brings home the forcibleness of the analogy between the traits of savages and that of developing civilized mankind. He cites a case of wanton cruelty recorded, by a boy without any apparent feeling for the cruelty of the act. Mr. Johnston, opposing the sentiment that pervades much of the literature that is supposed to be written for boys, does not predict for this boy a life of sin, but gravely contemplates the trait as a step in the normal development of youth. Pity is a late factor in moral evolution, and