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De Boekhont and De Vries recently described the spontaneous heating of hay as a purely chemical process. Miehe, on the contrary, regards it as a physiological phenomenon. For the purpose of studying its causes Miehe constructed an apparatus in which small quantities of hay could be sterilized and inoculated with germs at any desired instant. In this way he proved that sterilized hay never undergoes spontaneous heating, but that an elevation of temperature soon occurs in sterilized hay that has been sprinkled with water contaminated with ordinary hay or with earth. The organisms which Miehe finds most abundantly in hay are Bacillus coli, Oidium lactis, Bacillus calfactor, and Aspergillus fumigatus. The elevation of temperature is caused chiefly by Bacillus coli and Oidium lactis up to 50 deg. C. (122 deg. F.). Beyond this point Bacillus calf actor, which attains its maximum vitality at 60 deg. C. (140 deg. F.) comes into action. A curious fact discovered by Miehe is the complete sterility of hay extracted from the interior of a large, heated stack. This indicates that the microbes are killed by long exposure to heat and that hay sterilizes itself in the very process of spontaneous heating--a fact of great practical importance. Sterile hay is a far more wholesome fodder than hay which contains microbes, of which several species and especially Bacillus coli cause diseases of the alimentary tract, while the molds, Mucor and Aspergillus, are distinctly poisonous. An inscription is now placed upon the tomb of Christopher Columbus at Seville, where his remains were transported from Havana in 1898 after the Cuban war, and this inscription has raised numerous objections from Spanish-American visitors who pass through Seville. It reads thus: "When ungrateful America separated from the mother country, Seville received his remains." The term of course applies to Spanish-America in this case. The municipal council of Seville has lately made a request to the Duke of Vera-gua, the representative of the family of Columbus, in order to obtain his consent to have the inscription changed, and there seems to be no doubt that this will be granted. After the death of Columbus, his remains were not by any means left in repose, but were removed many times from one place to another. His expressed wish was to be buried at San Domingo in the island of Hayti, this being one of the first localities which he reached in his expeditions. In fact, he was buried at first at Valladolid, where he died in 1506. Then in 1509 his remains were transferred to Seville, and it was only in 1540 that his last wisb. was carried out, when the remains were transported to San Domingo. When this part of the island became a French possession in 1796, the remains were brought to Havana,- and they were kept there until recently. Upon the declaration of the independence of Cuba, a new removal was decided upon, leading to the erection of the present tomb at Seville.
