HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE -GOS SIP. 



213 



The Steppes of Siberia.— A paper on this 

 subject was read at the last meeting of the Geo- 

 logical Society by Thomas Belt, Esq., F.G.S- 

 The author describes the portion of the Siberian 

 steppes traversed by him as consisting of sand 

 and loam. The best section seen by him was at 

 Pavlodar, where he found one foot of surface-soil, 

 twenty feet of stratified reddish-brown sand, with 

 lines of small gravel, eight feet of light- coloured 

 sandy silt, fifteen feet of coarse sand, with lines 

 of small pebbles and one line of large ones, and 

 six feet of clayey uulaminated silt, with fragments 

 of the bed rock in its lower half, the bed rock 

 being magnesian limestone much crushed at the 

 top. South of Pavlodar the surface was covered 

 with pebbles, which became larger in advancing 

 southward, until the soil was full of large angular 

 quartz boulders. Further south the bed-rock 

 comes to the surface in ridges and low hills, increas- 

 ing in height until some of them attain 2,000 feet. 

 All the rock-surfaces were much shattered, as if by 

 the action of frost, but they showed no signs of 

 glacier-action. The ridges and hills were separated 

 by plains composed of sandy clay, with numerous 

 angular fragments derived from the rocks in the 

 immediate neighbourhood. This is accounted for 

 by the author on the supposition ttiat they formed a 

 series of shallow lakes, frozen over in winter, and 

 that the ice on breaking up carried away fragments 

 of the rocks. The distribution of the boulders on 

 the plain north of the ridges was also attributed to 

 floating ice. The generally accepted marine origin 

 of the great plain was said to be negatived by the 

 absence of sea-shells in its deposits, whilst Cyrena 

 fluminalis occurs inthem. The author regards them 

 as deposits from a great expanse of fresh water kept 

 back by a barrier of polar ice descending far to- 

 wards the south. In its greatest extension this 

 ice-barrier would produce the crushing of the bed- 

 rock ; and as it retreated, the water coming down 

 from the higher ground in the south would cover a 

 continually increasing surface. 



The Hematite Deposits of Whitehaven 

 AND EuKNESs.— J. D. Kendall, Esq., F.G.S., has 

 recently read a paper on this subject at the Geo- 

 logical Society. The writer states that the deposits 

 of hematite occur in the Silurian and Carboniferous 

 rocks, but chiefly in the latter, and nearly all those 

 worked in the two districts are found in the 

 Mountain limestone. They occur at all levels in the 

 limestone, and generally near faults ; their dip is 

 the same as that of the beds in which they lie. 

 Their longest axis almost always corresponds with 

 the magnetic meridian. Their internal nature 

 varies at the two localities. The Whitehaven 

 hematite is much more compact than that of Furness. 

 In the latter place it contains fossils from the Car- 

 boniferous limestone. The author considers the 



hematites to have been deposited by water, coming 

 probably from the coal-measures, containing bicar- 

 bonate of iron. The author believes that they were 

 pi'obably deposited after the Millstone-grit but 

 before the Permian. 



A Large Strutiiious Bird from the London 

 Clay.— Harry Govier Seeley, F.L.S., F.G.S., has 

 just described the tibia of a fossil bird from that 

 rich store-house the Isle of Sheppey. The author 

 describes the distal portion of a right tibia of a large 

 struthious bird from the London Clay of Eastchurcli 

 in Sheppey. The only living types approximating 

 to it are the Apteryx, which similarly has the shaft 

 at the back of the distal articulation, and the Emu, 

 which similarly has the shaft compressed from back 

 to front. The author considered that the skull 

 named by Prof. Owen, Dasornis, might, if it belonged 

 to a bird, be referred to Megalornis ; but he detailed 

 considerations which led him to suggest that 

 Dasornis may possibly be a fish. 



NOTES AND aUERIES. 



Preserving Animals, &c.— In reply to "D.H." 

 (Antrim), respecting obtaining skeletons of animals 

 otherwise than by placing the bodies near ants' 

 nests, the following is the plan usually adopted by 

 naturalists :— Carefully skin the animal and remove 

 the entrails, then place the body in soft (rain) water, 

 changing the water as soon as discoloured, till all 

 the blood is soaked out and decomposition takes 

 place, when the flesh may be removed with a hard 

 brush. In the foregoing proceedings, great care 

 must be taken not to strain or break any of the 

 ligaments which surround the bones. When all the 

 flesh has been removed, the skeleton may be set up, 

 supporting it with fine brass wire where necessary. 

 Then the ligaments may be cut off close to the 

 joints with a sharp pair of scissors, and the skeleton 

 must be put in an airy place to dry, but not in the 

 sun or near the fire, as that will turn the bones a 

 bad colour. By the above plan, with patience and 

 care, " D. H." will be able to obtain good skeletons. 

 — W. Z. Chivers. 



Ancient Trees.— In SciENCE-possip for June, 

 one of the contributors on this subject, " hopes that 

 the ancient trees of this country will all soon be 

 recorded." _ I have read with extreme interest the 

 brief mention of Uiany an ancient denizen of the 

 forest, &c., but have failed to observe any reference 

 to some venerable oaks and a very old yew, which, 

 in former years, I saw very frequently. When I 

 was a boy at school in Gloucestershire, I used to 

 visit a friend at Bit ton, near Bath, and sometimes 

 we went to church together, at the picturesque 

 village of Oldham. In the churchyard was a grand 

 old yew, wliich at first sight had the appearance 

 of three very large trees, the trunk having been 

 divided down to the very base. One Sunday morn- 

 ing after church I was sitting under the shade of 

 its wide-spreading branches, when I remember 

 hearing the clergyman of the district describing the 

 old church and its surroundings to some visitors. 

 " And," said he, " this fine old yew is known to be 

 over a thousand years old, and we have a record of 



