seems
strange that the same kind of honey is always peculiar for greater or
less acidity as the case may be. We often see bees with sting extended
and tipped with a tiny drop of poison; but how do we know that this
poison is certainly mingled with the honey? Is this any more than a
guess?--_A.J. Cook, in Psyche_.

* * * * *

CHLORIDES IN RAINFALL OF 1884.

We are apt to regard the rain solely as a product of distillation, and,
as such, very pure. A little reflection and a very slight amount of
experimental examination will quickly disabuse those who have this
mistaken and popular impression of their error. A great number of bodies
which arise from industrial processes, domestic combustion of coal,
natural changes in vegetable and animal matter, terrestrial disturbances
as tornadoes and volcanic eruptions, vital exhalations, etc., are
discharged into the atmosphere, and, whether by solution or mechanical
contact, descend to the surface of the earth in the rain, leaving upon
its evaporation in many instances the most incontestable evidences of
their presence. The acid precipitation around alkali and sulphuric acid
works is well known; the acid character of rains collected near and in
cities, and the remarkable ammoniacal strength of some local rainfalls,
have been fully discussed. The exhaustive experiments of Dr. Angus Smith
in Scotland, and the interesting reports of French examiners, have made
the scientific world familiar, not only qualitatively but
quantitatively, with the chemical nature of some rains, as well as with
their solid sedimentary contents.

Some years ago my attention was unpleasantly drawn to the fact that the
rain water in our use reacted for chlorine; and on finding this due
solely to the washing out from the atmosphere of suspended particles of
chloride of sodium or other chlorides or free chlorine, it appeared
interesting to determine the average amount of these salts in the rain
water of the sea coast. The results given in this paper refer to a
district on Staten Island, New York harbor, at a point four miles from
the ocean, slightly sheltered from the ocean's immediate influence by
the intervention of low ranges of hills. They were communicated to the
Natural Science Association of Staten Island, but the details of the
observations may prove of interest to the readers of the _Quarterly_,
and may there serve as a record more widely accessible.

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