sodium is to take place. The preliminary heating takes about half an hour, and the actual distillation about an hour and a half.

The lid of the crucible, to which is attached the condensing arrangement consisting of an iron pipe dipping into an iron box, is fixed in the furnace; it has a convex rim which makes a joint with the grooved top of the crucible, with the assistance of a little powdered lime. The crucibles are raised and lowered by means of hydraulic power, the work of removing a crucible from the furnace and replacing it by another being done with great rapidity.

The reaction which takes place may be represented by the formula

This formula is made up in reality of several taking place pari passu. The main point is that it clearly expresses

the final result. It will be observed that no carbonic oxide is given off, and the difficulties already referred to, caused by the presence of that gas, are got rid of. The iron is recovered, and used over and over again by coking it with fresh tar.

It is unnecessary to refer here to the arrangements for the production of the double chloride of aluminium and its reduction by sodium, as no special novelty is claimed for them.

Mr. Castner has shown great technical skill in devising the plant used throughout the works, and they are in every way a great advance on anything of the kind attempted before.

A novel feature is that hydrochloric acid, for the manufacture of the double chloride, is obtained direct by means of pipes from Messrs. Chance's glass-works, which are contiguous, and the carbonate of soda resulting from the operation in which sodium is produced is similarly conveyed to Messrs. Chance's, to be there purified and crystallized.

The estimated possible output of these works is stated to be 500 pounds of aluminium and 1500 pounds of sodium per day. The cost of manufacture of aluminium has hitherto been between 30s. and 40s. per pound. By Castner's process it is stated that it can be produced at 155. That this is so there is but little reason to doubt; and it is a substantial and important reduction, which will enable aluminium to be used much more largely than has hitherto been possible. Still, before it can be very largely used, the price will have to be further considerably brought down; and it is much to be hoped that Mr. Castner's success will stimulate him and others to work with this end in view.

THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE PRIZE ESSAY OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY OF LONDON.

PROBABLY the last of the Jubilee productions has seen the light by the appearance of an article in the Quarterly Record of the Royal Botanic Society of London for the three months ending March last under the title of "Fifty Years of Economic Botany." The article in question forms the essay to which the Council of the Royal Botanic Society has awarded its gold medal and a purse of fifty guineas. The author is Mr. John W. Ellis, L.R.C.P. It needs only a casual glance to discover how deficient this short essay is, not only in consequence of the numerous omissions of very important plants and products, but also on account of the imperfect information given under many of the headings. Thus the writer tells his readers that China grass and rhea are two distinct fibres furnished by allied plants, the former by Bæhmeria nivea and the latter by B. tenacissima, while the fact is that China grass and rhea are one and the same thing,

B. tenacissima being a synonym of B. nivea. In a cas reference to Moong" fibre the author is apparently q ignorant of the fact that its botanical source is Sacka munja, Roxb. New Zealand flax (Phormium tenoz introduced under textiles, but why is not apparent, for author concludes his paragraph as follows-“ Not he been introduced during the period to which this es refers, any further mention of this interesting fibrewhich it has frequently been attempted to find a pla~ the British market--is unnecessary." Why “gun o and its derivatives" should occupy a special chapter difficult to say, seeing that this explosive substance is a direct product of the vegetable kingdom; the ast however apparently looks upon it as a much important vegetable product than the species of cinch the ipecacuanha, coca, jalap, or the multitude of new cr. that have occupied such a prominent place in men'smir for the last twenty years. The success that has atter.

the acclimatisation of the cinchonas in our in: possessions, whither they were introduced some twent thirty years since, when there was a great fear lest supply of bark from South America should fail beca of the great demand, and the consequent reductio the price of quinine from a guinea to its present pr two shillings per ounce, are facts of sufficient importa one would think, to be noted in any record of the progr of useful plants. And the same might also be said regar to Erythroxylon Coca, considering to what par cocaine is now being put, but the author-a member the medical profession-has apparently a wholesome cr of drugs, and for once has ignored all consideration them. He seems to have been content to consult ve old books for his facts throughout and to have comple passed over modern authorities; consequently his sta ments are both antiquated and incorrect.

"

The old name of Siphonia elastica is quoted for " Para rubber plant instead of the now better known of Hevea brasiliensis. Balata is referred to Sapota Mu instead of Mimusops globosa, and we read tha: Jenman's report on the Balata Forests of British Ga...” issued in 1885 "will probably assist in develo a demand for this material," while the fact is! balata has been going down in the estimation of ma facturers since that date in consequence of it having found not to be durable when exposed to the air; met factured articles made from it cracked on the surface: the inner portion lost its tenacity, so that some facturers have given up its use entirely. The Dika p of W. Trop. Africa, which has long been identified * the Simarubeous plant (Irvingia Barteri), is referre under the very old name of Mangifera Gabonene. genus belonging to the natural order An cardio: Again carapa or croupee oil of West Africa is said! obtained from the seeds of Carapa guineensis and ↑ oil of British Guiana from Carapa guianensis. T two were combined by Prof. Oliver under C. guyan in the "Flora of Tropical Africa" so far back as 18 These are only a few illustrations of the genera trustworthiness of the essay, the circulation of which is hoped, will not be large.

of the apparent apex of the zodiacal light from the sun. It will be seen that each sun-spot minimum corresponds with a maximum of the zodiacal light, and each sun-spot maximum with a minimum of the zodiacal light. The minimum in 1870 must be considered as masked by the forces tending to produce the enormous maximum of 1876. It will be noticed, too, that when the sun-spot phenomena are more extensive, as in 1850 and 1870, the following zodiacal light phenomena are also more extensive; where the sun-spot phenomena are less, as in 1860, the following zodiacal light phenomena are less extensive; and per contra, when the zodiacal light phenomena are extensive, as in 1880, the sun-spot phenomena are less extensive. As far as this series goes, the correlation seems to be complete.

We may gain some insight into the relation by tabu

lating the various spectroscopic observations in their order in the sun-spot cycle. Thus we have Lias, for four years during the rise in the sun-spot period, observing only a faint continuous spectrum; Respighi and Lockyer, just after sun-spot maximum, one bright line; Vogel, the same; Smyth, Secchi, Pringle, about the same date, no spectrum, or only a continuous spectrum; Tacchini, possibly a bright line; Wright, three years after maximum, generally only a continuous spectrum,-three times a bright line; Burton, fourth year after sun-spot maximum, continuous spectrum; generally a bright line; Arcimis, five years after sun-spot maximum, continuous spectrum and two bright lines' (1480 K and 2270 K). It would seem, therefore, that the zodiacal light is more gaseous at | sun-spot minimum, and only slightly, if at all gaseous, at and near sun-spot maximum.

The same story is told by the disturbances suffered by Encke's comet.'

We would consider, therefore, the zodiacal light a locus of condensation.

One may notice, too, that the light appears, in common with the frequency of aurora and the diurnal range of the declination-needle, to be affected by a disturbance of longer period. But for the present we must restrain our selves from the connections with terrestrial and cosmical physics with which the matter teems, and ask-what is the principal object of this communication-that those who re not observing will observe, and that those who have, or know of the places of concealment of, any observations, will kindly call them to our attention. Baltimore, Md. O. T. SHERMAN. ouli's Astronomical Journal.

CHEMISTRY AT THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION.

IT was hardly to be expected that the proceedings of

the Chemical Section of the British Association would be as remarkable at Bath as at Manchester. Nevertheless, at Bath some interesting discussions took place, and some valuable papers were read.

The President's Address was listened to with great interest, and formed a fitting introduction to the discussion, which afterwards took place, on the teaching of chemistry.

In the "Report of the Committee on the Action of Light on the Hydracids, in Presence of Oxygen," read by Dr. Richardson, some experiments were described, in continuation of those read before the Association last

year. The influence of traces of free chlorine and of moisture on the course of the reaction was investigated. In connection with the "Report of the Committee on the Properties of Solutions," read by Dr. Nicol, a new apparatus for determining solubilities at temperatures below 100 was shown. Excellent results had been obtained, owing to the very intimate mixture of the salt and solvent.

Dr. Johnstone Stoney exhibited to the Section a diagram illustrating the logarithmic law of the atomic weights. Many curious relations are brought out by its means. If, as seems probable, the logarithmic law be a law of Nature, there appear to be three elements lighter than hydrogen. Prof. Sterry Hunt, in his paper on "The Study of Mineralogy," advocated a system of mineralogy, based on the successive forms which are imposed upon matter: (1) the chemical form or composition; (2) the mineralogical form, or physical state; (3) the crystalline form, being the most accidental.

Some speculations suggested by Van 't Hoff's hypothesis were put forward by Mr. J. E. Marsh, attention being drawn to certain compounds, which appear to be geometrical isomers.

The same author, in another paper, suggested a new constitutional formula for camphoric acid.

On the Friday morning an interesting and well-attended discussion (at which the members of Section D were present) was opened by Prof. Michael Foster, on the "Chemical Problems presented by Living Bodies." In the course of his remarks he suggested several subjects for chemical investigation, such as the exact chemical difference of certain proteids, the changes which occur in the curdling of milk anl the clotting of blood, and, to the biologist, the all-important question of the relation in which water stands to the organism.

An animated discussion followed, in which several chemists and biologists took part. In reply to Prof. Thiselton Dyer's question, as to whether the processes employed by chemists had any connection with those which take place in Nature, Prof. Armstrong cited several cases in which the chemical changes occurring in Nature bore a suggestive relation to those brought about in the laboratory.

In their paper on the "Incompleteness of Combustion on Explosion," Prof. H. B. Dixon and H. W. Smith show that, on exploding a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen in a long tube, a considerable residue of gas is obtained, which is still explosive. Experiments were made to arrive at the cause of the phenomenon, and an explanation is suggested.

A new gas-analysis apparatus was shown by Dr. Nicol, which combined the advantages of the Hempel apparatus with the means of using mercury and of readily performing explosions.

Dr. Bott exhibited a modification of a vapour-density apparatus, previously described, which can be employed at any temperature or pressure.

On the Saturday morning Prof. Dunstan read the Report of the Committee on the Teaching of Chemistry," which was followed by a paper on "Chemistry as a School Subject," by the Rev. A. Irving.

In the ensuing discussion, which was confined to the teaching of chemistry in schools, many of the speakers seemed to agree with the opinions quoted in the report, viz.-.

(1) That chemistry should be taught in schools, first, and mainly, on account of the mental training it affords; and, secondly, for the sake of its applications, and its direct bearing on the facts of every-day life.

(2) The chief difficulties met with in teaching seem to be those which arise from (i.) defective organization and considerations of expense; (ii.) the lower value attached to chemistry in comparison with other subjects of the school curriculum; (iii.) the time which is devoted to the

subject; (iv.) preparation for various examinations; (v. absence of good text-books; (vi.) dearth of properlyqualified teachers.

(3) The older plans of teaching are felt to require modification.

The Committee ask for reappointment.

Dr.

A discussion on "Valency" was opened on Monday by Prof. Armstrong. The question of constant and variable valency was referred to in connection with such compounds as chloroplatinic acid, &c., and a few new terms were introduced. The constitution of such bodies as tetra-methyl-ammonium iodide was considered. Morley drew attention to the influence which one element in a compound often has in modifying the properties of another not immediately adjacent to it. Chemists were advised to study the facts connected with the question carefully before speculating.

Later on, Mr. Veley described an ingenious arrangement he had invented for studying the action of acids on copper, under simple conditions.

The closing sitting was opened by Prof. Armstrong. who read the "Report of the Committee on Isomeric Naphthalene Derivatives." It was shown that the existence of all the known dichlor-naphthalenes can only be explained by the use of space-formulæ.

In a "Note on the Molecular Weight of Caoutchouc and other Bodies," Dr. J. H. Gladstone and W. JHibbert attempted to apply Raoult's method to the determination of very high molecular weights, with fair results.

Some interesting compounds of silicon with thiocarbamide and with aniline were exhibited and described by Prof. Emerson Reynolds, together with several other new thio-carbamide compounds. An account of these exhibits was given in NATURE last week (p. 575).

Dr. Richardson, in his paper on "The Action of Light on Water-colours," drew attention to the very important part played by moisture in assisting their decomposition. Colours are divided into two groups: (1) those which bleach under the combined influence of light, air, and moisture; (2) those on which light exerts a reducing action, which is independent of the air, and in some cases takes place in the absence of moisture.

A paper on "Pyrocresols," by Dr. W. Bott and J. B. Miller, was illustrated by specimens of a large number of derivatives of a-pyrocresol, amongst them being two new azo colouring-matters.

With the reading of this paper the proceedings terminated.

By the courtesy of several chemical manufacturers in the neighbourhood, the members of the Section were enabled, during the course of the meeting, to visit several works where interesting operations were being carried on.

GEOLOGY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

THE

HE most important geological work done at Bath this year related to volcanic and earthquake phenomena. Dr. Johnston-Lavis gave an account of the recent eruption in Vulcano, and read the letter which has already appeared in the Times from Mr. Narliau, a deeply interested and much-injured witness of the whole occurrence. The chief features seem to have been the ejection of very large blocks to a great distance-one, measuring 10 yards in length, having been found three-quarters of a mile from the crater-and the occurrence of flames, probably caused by the combustion of sulphur deposits. was illustrated by lantern photographs taken by Dr. Tempest Anderson three months before the event. The latter gentleman also exhibited photographs of Vesuvius, Stromboli, and Etna, showing different phases of eruption.

This paper

Dr. Lavis presented a report on Vesuvius, describing various new sections cut through the tuffs and lavas of Vesuvius and the Phlegrean fields. The report announced the completion of the author's map of Vesuvius, and claimed to have established that the volcanic activity of the mainland had followed a regular course southwards. The same author announced the discovery of leucite in a lava from Etna, and in another paper attributed the conservation of heat in volcanic chimneys to latent heat set free on the passage of magma from a vitreous to a crystalline condition. Among the other papers were one by Dr. Claypole, who pointed out that in many places, and notably in the Appalachians, strata had been forced up from a depth greater than five miles, the supposed depth of the "layer of no strain"; and one by Mr. Logan Lobley, who attributed (1) the formation of lava to heat in the earth's interior inducing chemical action, (2) its ejection to the expansion due to change from a solid to a fluid state, and (3) explosive eruption to the access of sea- and land-water to the volcanic focus. In the discussion a good deal of misunderstanding seemed to arise from the confusion of "zone of no strain" with "zone of no cooling."

Prof. J. Milne gave tables to show the distribution of Japanese earthquakes in connection with years, seasons, months, and hours of the day. Further tables proved that the majority of earthquakes coincide with a high barometer, and that they are more frequent when the glass is falling or rising, than when it is steady. Earth-tremors are almost always associated with strong wind.

The local interest centred round papers on the Oolitic and Carboniferous rocks. Mr. Horace Woodward united the Cotteswold, Bridport, and Yeovil Sands under the name of Midford Sands; thought that the fullers' earth should be grouped with the Great Oolite which its upper beds sometimes replaced; and preferred to divide the Portlandian in Britain into an upper division, including the Portland, Tisbury, and Swindon stone, and a lower division, to hold the Portland Sand and Hartwell Clay.

A very interesting communication from Mr. Whitaker described the occurrence of the Bath Oolite at a depth of 1081 feet in the Streatham boring, the author hoping that the boring would be continued on the chance of meeting some porous rock under this which might have tapped off the Lower Greensand waters. Even if this did not take place, he trusted that the boring might be continued for purely scientific purposes, and as another opportunity of testing the question of coal under London.

Mr. Wethered correlated the Lower Carboniferous limestone of Gloucestershire with the Tuedian and Calciferous series of the north of England; and Mr. Handel Cossham described a series of trial shafts and headings which proved the existence of a reversed fault with very low hade on the northern part of the Bristol coal field: the effect of the faulting of the strata was nearly to double the known coal resources in the western part of the field. A similar overthrust, bringing Carboniferous limestone to rest in dolomitic conglomerate at Tytherington was described by Mr. Winwood; and Mr. Ussher called in similar faults to explain the position of the Vobster limestone patches in Somerset. The latter author considered the Watcombe terra-cotta clay to be of Triassic age. There were a few papers on the Archæan rocks, but little that was new was brought forward. Dr. Persifor Frazer considered that the central rocks of the nucleal ranges of the Antilles were Archæan; and Dr. Irving summed the evidence for life in this system, and found it wanting.

Mr. Bell's Report on the Manure Gravels of Wexford" concluded that these were immediately pre-glacial in age, and that the Killiney gravels, and the marls, clays, and brick-earths of the coast were of later date. Mr. Clement Reid recorded Betula nana, Salix polaris, and S. myr

sinites from the lacustrine deposit of Hoxne, to prove that it was formed in a severe climate preceded by a warmer one in which yew, bur-reed, and cornel flourished. A lengthy report from Dr. Crosskey on new erratic blocks in Yorkshire, Essex, Lancashire, and Leicestershire, was followed by a paper on a high-level boulder-clay (700 feet) in the Midlands, in which the same author inclined to the theory that it was floated from the nearest glacier and deposited by ice-foot and ice-bergs. Mr. Shore recorded Neolithic flakes and a hammer-stone found in peat below the tidal alluvium at the Southampton new dock excavation; and Mr. Lamplugh's report on the old subglacial sea-beach at Bridlington gave proof of some remarkable changes in the physical geography of the Yorkshire coast since the time of its formation.

Dr.

Amongst the palæontological work was Prof. Rupert Jones's "Report on the Paleozoic Phyllopods "; and Prof. Williamson's on the Carboniferous flora, in which the author showed that the central vascular bundle of the Carboniferous Cryptogams contained a germ which developed into a persistent pith, while portions of the medullary tissue assumed the functions of a cambium. Irving described experiments to show that the vigour of plant life is increased until the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere equals the oxygen; and Mr. Whidborne briefly described many new species of Cephalopoda, Gasteropoda, Crustacea, and Conchifera from the Devonian of various localities. An important communication was made by Mr. H. F. Osborn, who traced back the Mammalian teeth to the tritubercular and thence to the triconodont type, and proposed a new nomenclature based on this principle. Prof. Gaudry commented on the gigantic_size of some Tertiary Mammalia, Prof. Seeley on an Ichthyosaurus from Africa, and Prof. Marsh on the classification of the Dinosaurs. Mr. Smith Woodward and Prof. Bassani dealt with fish-remains from the Chalk, London Clay, and Lower Miocene.

Prof.

Among the petrological papers we may note :-Dr. Sterry Hunt on mineralogical evolution, in which the author attempted to correlate chemical resistance with hardness, and this with condensation, in minerals; and to show that the greater stability of those (silicates) which belong to the more condensed types was shown in their superior resistance to decay. Dr. Sterry Hunt concludes that the great successive groups of stratiform crystalline rocks mark necessary stages in the mineralogical evolution of the planet. Mr. Joly decolorized beryl at 357° C., and has discovered twelve-sided basal prisms of iolite in the Dublin granite. Prof. Seeley raised a discussion on Oolitic structure, in which Dr. Gilbert instanced the formation of recent Oolites in the Great Salt Lake. Blake presented a long report on the Anglesey rocks, in which he described the passage of dolerites into hornblende and glaucophane schists, and then into slate-like rocks; and of gabbros into talcose schists. Mr. Watts described an igneous succession in Shropshire from old acid andesites through younger dolerites into picrites, without any break in the sequence; and Dr. Persifor Frazer exhibited and described some curious specimens of glassy and spherulitic oligoclase and quartz with peculiar optical properties. Though not precisely belonging to this Section, some clay models exhibited and described by Dr. Ricketts may here be mentioned, in which, by vertical pressure in the centre, reversed folds and inverted faulting had been produced. The author attempted to apply this method to explain the folding and cleavage of the Silurian slates in Wales.

NOTES.

SOME time ago Lord Crawford offered to present to Scotland his valuable collection of astronomical instruments at Dun Echt, on condition that suitable accommodation should be provided

for it, and that it should be managed for the public benefit. The Secretary for Scotland, we are glad to learn, has accepted Lord Crawford's offer; and the Treasury has agreed to provide means for the erection of the necessary buildings. A committee of scientific men is engaged in examining different sites around Edinburgh which seem suitable for the erection of a national Observatory; and, according to the Edinburgh Correspondent of the Times, the choice seems to lie between the Braid Hills and the Blackford Hill, both of which are on the south side of the city. The same writer says that two proposals have been made for utilizing the old Observatory on the Calton Hill-the one that, after the instruments have been repaired, the place should be used as a popular Observatory; the other, that it should be attached to the Heriot-Watt Technical College for class-work in connection with the lectureship on astronomy there.

THE Mercers' Company, one of the oldest and wealthiest of the City Companies, is thinking of establishing an Agricultural College. A correspondent of the Times says it proposes to devote £60,000 to this object. According to the same authority, the intention is that the College shall be in Wiltshire, and that there shall be attached a farm of considerable extent, in which the pupils may practically apply the knowledge they gain, the institution being intended to benefit the sons of farmers and others who will be dependent on the successful culture of land for their future livelihood. The sum of £60,000 contributed by the Company would, it is hoped, be supplemented by a liberal donation from the Charity Commissioners, and the Company would of necessity be prepared to provide an adequate endowment.

THE new laboratories at Trinity College, Dublin, which are now open to all students of chemistry, comprise general laboratories for instruction in elementary chemistry, and quantitative and research laboratories. The latter are provided with all modern appliances, and have special rooms attached for analysis of gas and water, for assaying, and for ultimate organic analysis. The laboratories are under the general direction of Prof. Emerson Reynolds, F.R.S.

A STATUE of Ampère was unveiled on October 9, at Lyons, his native place. The ceremony took place before the President of the French Republic; and M. Cornu, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, delivered an elaborate address, in which he spoke of the importance of Ampère's discoveries.

THE Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers has issued a list of subjects upon which, among others, original communications are invited for reading and discussion at the ordinary meetings, and for printing in the minutes of proceedings of the Institution. For approved papers the Council has the power to award premiums, arising out of special funds bequeathed for the purpose.

THE Society of German Engineers offers a prize of 5000 marks (£250) for the best essay containing a critical estimate of experimental investigations concerning the passage of heat through heated surfaces, in its relation to material, form, and position of the latter, as well as to the kind, temperature, and motion of the heated substances. Competitors are to forward their treatises to the General Secretary of the Society by December 31, 1890.

THE Tokio Mathematical and Physical Society proposes, in order to commemorate the tenth anniversary of its foundation, to award a prize not exceeding 20 yen (4) in value for the best original paper on the properties of the so-called asymptotic curves, and the relations (if any) existing between these curves and straight lines on a surface-in particular, an algebraic surface.

SEVERAL influential Chinese have subscribed large sums of money to aid in establishing a zoological garden at Shanghai. At present the institution will be merely a commercial undertaking, but it is hoped that ultimately the State will take it over. Amongst others, the Governor of Formosa has promised his help in the collection of specimens.

IN the last issue of the Journal of the Russian Chemical and Physical Society there is an interesting article on Prof. S. A. Wroblewski, whose death at Cracow we lately recorded. While a student of the Kieff University, Wroblewski took part in the Polish insurrection of 1863, and was exiled to Siberia, where he had to remain for six years. During his term of exile he elaborated a new cosmical theory, which on his return he hastened to submit to German men of science. Helmholtz received the young man cordially, but advised him to make at the Berlin laboratory certain experiments which would convince him of the erroneousness of his ideas. Wroblewski at once began earnest physical and chemical work, and never afterwards spoke of the theory of his youth. In 1874 he went to Strasburg, and there he published his first serious work, "Ueber die Diffusion der Gase durch absorbirende Substanzen." The flattering opinion expressed about this work by Maxwell in NATURE encouraged Wroblewski to continue physical work on the same lines. He was offered the Chair of Physics at the Cracow University, and the authorities of that institution gave him permission to spend a year at Paris in the laboratory of Sainte-Claire Deville, before beginning his University teaching. There Wroblewski discovered, in the course of his work on the saturation of water with carbonic anhydride under strong pressures, the hydrate of carbonic oxide, and that discovery became the starting-point of a series of works on the condensation of gases. His capital discoveries, made in association with M. Olszanski, which resulted in the condensation of oxygen, azote, and hydrogen, are well known. He was making preparations for an elaborate volume on the condensation of hydrogen, when he perished by accident. While working late in the night in his laboratory, he fell asleep, and in his sleep he overthrew a kerosene lamp. His clothes began to burn, and the wounds thus received resulted four days later in death. Journal gives a complete list of Wroblewski's works.

The

AN interesting archæological discovery has been made in the tidal river Hamble, near Botley, Hants. A boathouse is being built at the point of the junction of the Curdridge Creek on the river, some distance above the spot where there is a still existing wreck of a Danish man-of-war. While the mud and alluvial soil were being re noved to make sufficient waterway, something hard was encountered, which on being carefully uncovered proved to be a portion of a prehistoric canoe. It is about 12 feet long by 2 feet wide, beautifully carved, and in a fairly good state of preservation.

THE other day a peasant at Vestervang, in West Jutland, found a splendid piece of amber in a marl pit, weighing 1 pound.

M. HALLEZ has published, in the first number of the Revue Bio'og que du Nord de la France, an interesting paper on the natural scavengers of various beaches of Northern France. At Boulogne, the species Nassa, which is very abundant, performs the useful office of destroying all dead animal relics. At Portel, Nassa is scarce, but Eurydice pulchra is very abundant, and takes the business in hand. At Cape Alprech, there are neither Eurydice nor Nassa, but Ligia oceanica fulfils their duties. At Equihen, these duties are undertaken by numerous Orchestiæ. It is worth noting that these four points are quite close to each other.

THE chemistry of the modern advantageous method of manufacturing chloroform from acetone and bleaching-powder has