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Notice Of The Occurrence Of Nyctale Richardsoni, Richardson's Owl, In Nebraska, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

THE occurrence in this region of Richardson's owl, Nyctale Richardsoni, seems to be entirely established by the recent capture of one in Lincoln. This is a long distance below its southern limit, and its appearance is something of a surprise.

A New Habitat Of The Black-Throated Rock Swift, Micropus Melanoleucus, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

As curator of the museum, I have just procured for the State University of Nebraska a set of bird-skins prepared during the past summer, among which are five skins that must be of interest to ornithologists. They verify the discovery made by Professor Lawrence Bruner of the University of Nebraska, that the White-throated Rock Swift builds and breeds in the precipitous bluffs around Squaw Canon, Sioux Co., Nebraska, and, what is more likely, throughout the Pine Ridge regions, as Professor Bruner has observed them also at Crow Butte, near Crawford, Nebraska.

Living Fossils, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The great flat slab on which we stood seemed built there to command a view of stoneworts. In the clear lime water of Fall River, S. D., floated great streamers of Chara, fresh and green, yet fading insensibly, first into a dingy, then into a dead looking, and even into a stony mass, as the eye followed it up stream. It was a streamer of living, growing stoneworts that blended into the slabs of "petrified moss" strewn broadcast in the channel around us, and on one of which we stood. But the eye could trace this so-called living fossil or …

Attempted Extermination Of The Pocket Gopher, Geomys Bursarius, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The ravages of the pocket gopher extended very generally throughout the State of Iowa, but came under my own personal notice in the rich and fertile farm lands of Poweshiek County and surroundings. The annual loss they occasioned became a matter of such serious moment to the farmers of this county that on Jan. 8, 1890, an unusually liberal measure was voted by the board of supervisors, to the effect that "a bounty of ten cents a head be paid on gopher scalps taken in Poweshiek County, subject to the same laws and conditions that pertain to the payment of …

On The Determination Of Specific Heat And Of Latent Heat Of Vaporization With The Vapor Calorimeter, Harold N. Allen

University Studies (University of Nebraska) (1888–1984)

Joly, in 1886, and Bunsen, shortly afterwards, described two similar pieces of apparatus intended to determine the specific heat of substances by means of the condensation of water vapor upon them. The name given by Bunsen to this apparatus and adopted here is vapor calorimeter. Bunsen also intended his instrument to be used in the determination of the latent heat of vaporization of various liquids, and it is the object of the present paper to describe experiments testing the steam or vapor calorimeter in this direction. A rough experimental instrument was first constructed, combining to a certain extent the …

On The Color-Vocabulary Of Children, Harry K. Wolfe

University Studies (University of Nebraska) (1888–1984)

The very interesting investigations and discussions on the development of the color-sense in man, during historical times, have indirectly shown the deficiency of ancient languages in words for simple sensations. Even if the validity of the inference drawn by the original investigators is more than doubtful, their labor has not been in vain. In seeking evidence for the recent evolution of the sense of color, Gladstone, Geiger, and others have shown that few words denoting color are used in the earliest literature of several nations. Furthermore, most of the color-words found denote shades of red, orange, or yellow. Violet is …

Science., W. M. James

United States Public Health Resources

Census of Hallucinations

May I ask for the publicity of your pages to aid me in procuring co-operation in a scientific investigation for which I am responsible? I refer to the "Census of Hallucinations," which was begun several years ago by the Society for Psychical Research, and of which the International Congress of Experimental Psychology at Paris, last summer, assumed the future responsibility, naming a committee in each country to carry on the work.

The object of the inquiry is twofold: lst, to get a mass of facts about hallucinations which may serve as a basis for a scientific study …

The Winnebago County (Iowa) Meteorites, George F. Kunz, Erwin Hinckley Barbour, Joseph Torrey Jr.

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

A remarkable meteor, or meteoric shower, passed over this State at 5.30 P.M., Friday, May 2. In spite of the brightness of the sun, shining at the time in a nearly cloudless sky, the light of the meteor was very noticeable. Its great size, powerful illumination, discharge of sparks, comet-like tail three to five degrees in length, and the great train of smoke which marked its course for a full ten minutes after its passage, made a strong and lasting impression on the minds of all who saw it. Unfortunately the clamor over an exciting game of ball prevented the …

Remains Of The Primitive Elephant Found In Grinnell, Iowa, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The one alluded to was found in 1884, while breaking ground for the Eagle Block, on the north-east corner of Main Street and Fourth Avenue. This animal, a large adult male, is represented by a tusk (eight feet long and nine inches in diameter), several grinders, lower jaw, and part of zygomatic arch, preserved in the museum of Iowa College. These bones occurred about five feet below the surface, and were in an exceedingly soft and perishable condition, as similarly situated remains usually are; but, owing to the skill of Professor H. W. Parker, the tusk and teeth especially were …

The Winnebago County (Iowa) Meteorites [ Part 2 ], Joseph Torrey Jr, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

A FRAGMENT of the 104-pound "meteorite" found in the northern part of Kossuth County has been examined by us, and we are perfectly well satisfied that it is not of meteoric origin at all. In outward appearance it is suspicious at first sight. The color is darker than that of the other pieces. There is no distinct crust, and no metal present. The gravity taken on a piece weighing about half a gram was 2.83, which is nearly a unit lower than that of the well-established specimens. Under the microscope the crushed mineral shows by reflected light a mass of …

On A Young Tortoise, Chrysemys Picta, With Two Heads, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

THE following is a brief description of a young two-headed tortoise, Chrysemys picta, which is a remarkably interesting specimen from the very perfection of its imperfection. It was found in the marshes bordering West River in New Haven, Conn., by Master Leighton Foster, the first part of June, and from appearances had been hatched but two or three days. The single body, with the usual four legs and a tail, carries two equal, and in every respect, normal and well-developed heads and necks, which are throughout entirely free and distinct. The two heads see, hear, eat, drink, sleep, breathe, and …

History Of Cass County, A. L. Child

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

In March, 1876, the U. S. Congress passed a joint resolution recommending throughout the republic a general observance of this hundredth anniversary of our national independence, and that, in addition to the usual observances, each county and town cause an historical sketch of said county or town, from its foundation to the present day, to be prepared, and that a copy of it be filed in the clerk's office of the county, as also in the office of the librarian of congress, to the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during …

Biographical Notices Of Henry Martyn Atkinson, J. L. Mitchell, Thomas B. Edwards, Sterling Perry Majors, William D. Gage, Harrison Johnson, Geo. B. Graff, Frank J. North, Maria Tiernan Murphy, Antoine Barada, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Hawke, And Peter Hugus

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

Approximately 1 page each, these are unsigned, except for the final one (Peter Hugus), which is by Robt. W. Patrick.

A Visit To Nebraska In 1662, James W. Savage

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

When, a few years since, a paper was read before this society,* containing some reasonable grounds for belief in the theory that Coronado, in his expedition to the mysterious kingdom of Quivira, reached the territory now embraced within the state of Nebraska, there was little foundation for an argument that the gallant and uxorious knight marched any considerable distance beyond its southern boundary. The relation of his patient and painstaking follower, Castaneda, and his own report, left him at the fortieth parallel of latitude, now the dividing line between the states of Kansas and Nebraska; and the only reason for …

John Mcmechan, A. C. Mcmechan

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

Died, November 3, 1883, at "Headwood," the family residence, in Otoe county, near Nebraska City, Nebraska, of the infirmities incident to old age, John McMechan, aged 83 years and 23 days. The McMechan family is of Scotch origin, and lived in Ayreshire, but being active and leading members of the" Solemn League and Covenant," was forced, by religious persecution, to leave Scotland in 1650, and settled in the county Antrim, in Ireland, near “White Abbey,” five miles from the city of Belfast.

John McMechan, the father of the subject of our sketch, was a wealthy land-owner, and the family estate …

James Thomas Allan, Grace Allan

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

James Thomas Allan, the only child of James and Jean Bowman Allan, was born in Pontiac, Oakland county, Michigan, Saturday September 30, 1831.

From his Scotch father he inherited a strong intellect and a tenacity of opinion, which was chastened and refined by his more sympathetic English mother, while from both he received a reverence and faith in a higher power, which in times of deepest gloom never wavered.

His education was principally in the academy of his native city. There he earned the reputation of a scholar, not only in the English branches, but also in the Greek and …

Gold At Pike’S Peak – Rush For – Stampede, A. L. Child

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

There is no portion of the history of the past which is not largely obscured, distorted, or absolutely falsified through the omission of unwritten portions.

We are prone to forget or fail to realize how intense the interest of the future may be in the doings of to-day. Or if we feel the importance of leaving a record we are apt to note only the fading and vanishing items of the past. To make a record of transactions and happenings of to-day, of that which everyone knows all about, seems uncalled for and useless labor.

Through this neglect important springs …

Mrs. Caroline Joy Morton

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

Caroline Joy Morton was born on the 9th of August; 1833, at Hallowell, in Maine. Her father was Hiram Joy. He was of Irish descent. His ancestry, as far back as the family records in this country go, were seafaring people. They who go down to the sea in ship learn to cast out fear, and meet danger and toil and watching with steady nerve and toughened muscle. Their children have a heritage of courage and resolution, and the breath of the salt sea air is their constant stimulant. Her mother was Caroline Hayden. She, too, was reared in the …

The Philosophy Of Emigration, J. M. Woolworth

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

It is fit that in this year of grace, 1880, and in this month of January, we should, by public exercises now held for the first time, mark a period in the history of the state.

It was in March, 1854, that the Indians, by treaty, ceded these regions to the United States, and in May, that a system of government was framed for them. In October, Francis Burt, the first governor landed on these shores. In a few weeks he died, and the work of organization devolved on Thomas B. Cuming, the secretary. On the 21st day of October …

Transactions And Reports Of The Nebraska State Historical Society, Volume I [Complete Volume]

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

No abstract provided.

Letter Of S. F. Nuckolls

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

I thank you kindly for the honor done me in your letter of the 26th ult., in behalf of the Old Settlers' Association of Otoe county, Nebraska, extending to me an invitation to deliver the annual address before your Society at the fourth reunion, to be held this present month.

I would most gladly accept your invitation, but now is the busy mining season, and I have other and pressing duties that prevent, so that I must decline this opportunity of meeting my old friends in Otoe county-the best friends that man ever had.

It was October 1, 1846, when, …

The Place Of History In Modern Education, G. E. Howard

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

The following is• an abstract of an address delivered by. Prof. Howard at the opening of the winter term of the Nebraska University, at the time the Nebraska State Historical Society was in session, and by agreement before a joint session of the two organizations, to serve also as the annual address of the Historical Society.

The Discovery Of Nebraska, James W. Savage

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

We are apt to look upon Nebraska as a young state; young in its geological formation, in its political existence, and in its historical records. For descriptions of its soil, its climate, its fruits, or its inhabitants, few have sought to look further back than the commencement of the present century, and the published memorials of its history prior to the advent of the French trappers and traders have boon thought too meagre to serve as a basis for any exact account. But hidden away in the lumber rooms of wealthy Spanish and French families, and piled on the shelves …

Dr. Gilbert C. Monell And Hon. Phineas W. Hitchcock, G. M. Hitchcock

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

The biographies of these two old and prominent citizens were written by Mr. G. M. Hitchcock, grandson of Dr. Monell, and son of Mr. Hitchcock.

DR. GILBERT C. MONELL was born Oct. 20th, 1816, in Montgomery, Orange county, N. Y., and was his parents' second son. As his father could afford to do so in but one case, the elder brother was alone accorded a college education, and the subject of this sketch was thrown upon his own resources at an early age with a fair common school education. He, however, at once made the resolve to acquire himself what …

Admission Of Nebraska Into The Union, Charles Gere

Nebraska State Historical Society: Transactions and Reports

To discuss the events of 1866 and 1867 at this time has seemed to me presumptuous. Barely a dozen years have elapsed since Nebraska turned the sharp corner from territorial dependency to state sovereignty, and, as in all sharp historical turns, there was a blaze of excitement, a bitter political contest, accompanied by more than the usual amount of bumptiousness and belligerency, of heart-burnings and jealousy, over which fourteen years may have deposited a thin layer of forgetfulness, through which a foolhardy explorer might break, to the discomfiture of himself and the revival of volcanic memories. But, pressed by your …

The Perfectionists Of Oneida And Wallingford, Charles Nordhoff, Paul Royster (Depositor)

Electronic Texts in American Studies

The Perfectionists of Oneida, New York, and Wallingford, Connecticut, are best known for their practice of what they called “complex marriage,” a system of polygamy and polyandry devised by their founder John Humphrey Noyes (1811–1886). This account by Charles Nordhoff (1830-1901), a journalist based in New York, was drawn from his visits to the Perfectionist colonies, and includes a description of their history, organization, manners, beliefs, worship, faith-cures, and their practice of “criticism.”

A Speech On The Principles Of Social Freedom, Delivered In Steinway Hall, Monday, Nov. 20, 1871, Victoria C. Woodhull

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Spiritualist, stockbroker, publisher, activist for women’s suffrage, equal rights, and “free love,” Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1838 –1927) was the first woman nominated to run for President of the United States. The Principles of Social Freedom was delivered to a packed New York City audience in 1871. It called for a revolution in the legal, social, and sexual situation of women, for their liberation from the “despotic” control of men, and for their social freedom to live and love as they might choose. Mrs. Woodhull based this radical reimagining of social norms on America’s own values of freedom and equality, and …

Two Biographical Sketches Of Gabriel Furman, The Faust Club Of Brooklyn, William Gowans, Paul Royster (Transcriber & Depositor)

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The following two biographical sketches of Gabriel Furman (1800–1854) appeared in the reprint edition of Notes, Geographical and Historical, Relating to the Town of Brooklyn, on Long-Island published in 1865 by the Faust Club of Brooklyn. The first is by the (unidentified) editor and compiler of that volume; the second is by the publisher and bookseller William Gowans.

Gabriel Furman was a Brooklyn lawyer, judge, and state senator, and an eminent scholar, book collector, compiler, and antiquarian. He led an eccentric and solitary life, and died in poverty, the victim, some said, of an opium addiction.

His published works consisted …

A Lecture On The Railroad To The Pacific [1850], Calvin Colton, Paul Royster (Editor)

Electronic Texts in American Studies

DELIVERED, AUGUST 12, 1850, AT THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON.

Colton delivered this lecture in support of a proposal by New York merchant Asa Whitney (1797–1872) to build a railway from Lake Michigan to the Pacific. Whitney’s proposal called for Congress to sell him a strip of land sixty miles wide and 2,000 miles long through the public domain—a total of about 78 million acres at a price of 10 cents per acre. Whitney had spent time in Europe and in China, and was convinced that a rail link across North America would become the principal commercial route between Europe and …

An Address To The Slaves Of The United States Of America, Henry Highland Garnet

Electronic Texts in American Studies

Brethren and Fellow-Citizens :

Your brethren of the north, east, and west have been accustomed to meet together in National Conventions, to sympathize with each other, and to weep over your unhappy condition. In these meetings we have addressed all classes of the free, but we have never until this time, sent a word of consolation and advice to you. We have been contented in sitting still and mourning over your sorrows, earnestly hoping that before this day, your sacred liberties would have been restored. But, we have hoped in vain. Years have rolled on, and tens of thousands have …