SCIENTIFIC HEWS. 315 



Wr. cU Cubiere reada paper on the cultivation of t"he Culture <>f th« 

 bald cypress (le cypreS'ckauve), showing the advantages of cypress, 

 this hue tree. 



Mr. Leblanc, who has r<?sided several years in America, Vicugn*. 

 communicated his ideas of i!»e ease with which the vicugna 

 might be domesticated in the Alps and Pyrenees. 



Mr. Poyfere-de«Cere read an account of the mode of Wool, 

 washinj^ superfine wool in Spain. 



Mr. Percy related some curious observations on the fa- Alcarazis. 

 bvicatious of the jars and alcarazas, which the Spaniards 

 employ for preserving liquors, and tor cooling them. 



In the report of the Class of History and ancient Litera- Ancient bell 

 ture, a paper by Mr. Gregoire is mentioned, containing a of verylou<i 

 description of a singular ancient bell, from the convent of 

 Bobbis, in Piedmont. This bell is about 9 dec. [35'4 

 inches] in diameter, and of a spherical shape: one hemi- 

 sphere being complete; the other formed of ten branches, 

 broad at the base where they join the upper half, and ta- 

 pering to a point*. Its sound is much louder than that of 

 a bell of the common form of the same weight. A small 

 portion, taken from the ear, was analysed by Mr. Vauquelin, 

 and found to consist of 76 parts copper, 20 tin, and 4 lead. 

 I^lr, Vauquelin was satisfied, that these were the only metals 

 present; though, from the smallness of the quantity ana- 

 lysed, the proportions may not be strictly accurate. He 

 ^: supposes, that the lead was an adulteration of the tin, though 

 advantageous to the sound. Messrs. Molard and Montgol- 

 fier have cast four other bells of the same forrri and size, 

 before they had a knowledge of Mr. Vanqnelin's analysis^ 

 using ditierent compositions. That which came nearest 

 in sound to the original was a mixture of equal parts of. 

 copper, brass, and tin. 



Royal Society of Sciences at Harlem* 



The prize for the question concerning the insects most Insects in- 

 injurious to fruit trees, their natural history, and the means -'""'^"'^ '<^^r^* 



* Nothing is said of the thickness! of the metal, or of the space left 

 l)Oiweon the points of the branches, which appear fr«m the description 

 not to be unit td, C. 



pf 



