A Grand Aerolite.—The Galt Gazette (California) describes the fall of a meteor in that vicinity, witnessed by Dr. Goodspeed, which fell in a slough and so heated the water as to kill the catfish that inhabited it. It lies in the pond, and looks as if a hundred feet wide. A much more marvellous story has been published of an engraved meteoric stone falling in an obscure portion of Georgia near Clayton Court-house, which is a hoax, and has been so pronounced by the postmaster at Clayton.

Whether the California story is true I have not ascertained, but the fall of a great meteor in this region has developed a grand meteoric capacity for lying. The despatch first published by the Boston Herald described the stone as falling near McAdam Junction, not far from Bangor, Maine, making the crockery rattle at the Junction, and plunging into the earth all but about ten feet of the stone, which was so hot that no one could come within fifty yards of it. It has not been found at all, for it dropped into the Bay of Fundy; but it illuminated the whole country for a vast distance, and looked as large as the moon. It had a long trailing violet light behind it as it fell. Our meteoric showers generally occur in August, this was on the 15th of September.

The Boy Pianist.—Joseph Hoffmann is considered in London the greatest young pianist since the days of Mozart. He is coming to America. He is from Poland.

Centenarians.—The Rabbi Hirsch, born in Poland, died a few weeks ago in Brooklyn, aged 109. He saw Napoleon on his march to Moscow. Mrs. Paradis of North Grosvenordale, Conn., died Aug. 26, aged 120. The Boston Globe in making a record of old people in Maine, has mentioned Miss Betsey Sargent, of Canterbury, aged 100; Mrs. Ellen Scott, Portsmouth, 100; Mrs. Mary Mann, Oxford, 101; Mrs. Jane Wilson, Edgecomb, 102; John Chandler, Concord, 102; Mrs. Nancy Chase, Edgerly, 103; Perault Pickard, Colchester, 107; Robert Peters, Berwick, 107; George McQueen, Portland, 109; Giles Bronson, Castleton, 115; Mrs. Mary Ludkends, Portland, 117.

Samuel Zielinski, a Pole, who came to the United States after he was 100 years old, is now living a mile from Dubois, Illinois, with his descendants, at the age of 120.

Educated Monkeys.—The story comes from Brazil, by way of Panama, that on a hemp farm seven large monkeys have been taught to work as laborers, and that they work faster and eat less than negroes. If they can pull hemp, why not do other work? If this report is confirmed it may be of some importance.

A correspondent of the New York Times says that monkeys from Cape Town, Africa, have been introduced successfully into the hemp fields of Kentucky. One gentleman employs twelve near Shelbyville, Perkins & Chirsman have eleven, Smith & Murphy twenty-six, and J. B. Park, near Kingston, who introduced monkey labor, employs seventeen. The monkeys cost about $60 each, they are docile, easily taught, and cost about one fourth of human labor.

Causes of Idiocy.—Dr. T. Langdon Down, inquiring into the causes of idiocy, has found that intemperance of parents is one of the most considerable factors in producing the affection. His view is confirmed by some French and German investigators, one of whom, Dr. Delasiauve, has said that in the village of Careme, whose riches were in its vineyards, ten years’ comparative sobriety, enforced by vine-disease, had a sensible effect in diminishing the cases of idiocy. Nervous constitution and consumption exercise important influence. Of the professions, lawyers furnish the smallest proportion of idiots, while they are credited with the procreation of a relatively very large number of men of eminence. With the clergy, these proportions are more than reversed. The influence of consanguineous marriage, per se, is insignificant, if it exists.—Pop. Science Monthly.

A Powerful Temperance Argument.—A most powerful argument for temperance is furnished by the records of the British army in India for 1886, showing the comparative amount of crime, disease, and death among 12,807 soldiers, of whom 3,278 were temperate, and 8,828 were drinking men. The number of cases of crime among the abstainers was 172, among the drinkers 3,988, a difference of one to twenty-three in number, or more than ten to one in percentage. The temperate had but 4.32 per cent. of crime, the drinkers 45.17 per cent. The percentage of sickness and death was more than twice as great among the drinkers. Liquor, therefore, more than doubled the proportion of disease and mortality, and increased the criminality more than tenfold. Of the numbers tried by court martial there were 120 times as many proportionally among the drinkers as among the temperate. The destructive effects of drink are far greater in hot climates, and perceptibly greater in hot weather.

The Southern States of the Union are in advance of the Northern on the temperance question. The legislature of Georgia has passed a bill by a large majority which taxes wine rooms in prohibition counties $10,000. At present this covers nearly all the State.

The forty-fifth annual report of the Registrar General of England shows that estimating the average mortality of males in England at 1,000, that of brewers is 1,361, of innkeepers and publicans 1,521. Scotch reports show the mortality of males engaged in the liquor business to be 68 per cent. above the actuaries table for healthy males, and 49 per cent. over the English life table.

Slow Progress.—It was a long time before lobelia was recognized by the profession—before anything good was found to belong to it. Now one of our leading professors thinks lobelia will become the most valuable of our cardiac sedatives—regulator of the heart’s action. I wrote up the value of lobelia in surgery, obstetrics and practice over thirty years ago; also the valuable properties of hydrastis can., both of which were almost unnoticed then and since by regular practitioners. But now Prof. Bartholow has discovered their great merits and written the latter up especially, and what I and Prof. Dodd, (V. S.,) wrote a third of a century ago will be credited to others. Well, who cares? The tincture of calendule flavas I have tried to force upon the profession for forty years as a dressing for wounds, but it will require some one higher in the profession to give it a hurrah, boys!—Med. Summary.

Community Doctors.—It is manifestly the interest of society that the doctor should be engaged and paid by the year, so that his interest would be to keep the people well instead of sick. Moreover, it would be more economical, as a doctor, secure of steady support, would not be inclined to make heavy charges, and the patient would not find a fit of illness making a dangerous inroad on his finances, so as to double his misfortune. The scheme has been advocated in the