MISCELLANY. 



5ii 



lu9ks. Among the many naturalists who 

 have indorsed this radical change in classifi- 

 cation, Leidy, Mr. A. Agassiz, Hyatt, Pack- 

 ard, Barnard, Hartt, Tattle, and Dr. Coues, 

 may be named for this country, and Mr. 

 Darwin, Gegenbaur, Haeckel, and others, 

 abroad. Mr. Morse also pointed out in the 

 above memoir that, twenty years ago, Dr. 

 Steenstrup, of Copenhagen, had entertained 

 the same view respecting their affinities. 



Recently, Dr. Kowalevsky, the celebrated 

 Russian naturalist, has published in Mos- 

 cow a memoir on the embryology of certain 

 Brachiopoda studied in the Mediterranean, 

 in which he not only fully confirms the em- 

 bryological studies of Prof. Morse, but in- 

 dorses the latter's view, that the brachio- 

 pods are annelids. In a review of Kowalev- 

 sky's memoir, published in the last number 

 of the American Journal of Science and 

 Arts, Mr. A. Agassiz, after calling attention 

 to the striking manner in which the investi- 

 gations of this writer confirm the view of 

 Steenstrup and Morse regarding the affinities 

 of Brachiopoda with annelids, goes on to 

 say : " It is not out of place to recall the 

 very ungenerous treatment which Morse re- 

 ceived at the hands of many conchologists 

 for the heresies of his paper on the sys- 

 tematic position of the Brachiopoda; and 

 it certainly is a striking proof of the sagaci- 

 ty of Morse to have announced so positive- 

 ly, from the history of the American Brachi- 

 opoda, the vermiform affinities of brachio- 

 pods, now so conclusively proved by the 

 development of Argiope in Kowalevsky's 

 paper." 



A Curious Winter Climate. Prof. Frank- 

 land has communicated to the Paris Acade- 

 my of Science some curious observations 

 made by him in the Rhetian (Grisons) Alps, 

 and specially in two villages situated at an 

 altitude of 5,412 feet, and much frequented 

 by consumptives. Last December, while the 

 soil was covered with snow, at a tempera- 

 ture of 24 Fahr., Mr. Frankland found the 

 patients spending the whole day out-of- 

 doors, in the sunshine, and wearing the 

 same clothing they usually wore in spring 

 and autumn. On inquiring into the cause 

 of this, Mr. Frankland discovered that a 

 thermometer exposed to the sun's rays 

 showed an atmospheric temperature of from 



95 to 104 Fahr., that is to say, summer 

 heat. Providing the air is calm, living in 

 this atmosphere is very beneficial to per- 

 sons affected with chest-diseases. The au- 

 thor at the same time perceived that this 

 heating of the air takes place immediately 

 on the appearance of the sun above the 

 horizon, and that it continues till sunset. 

 Further, he observed that if a thermometer 

 be placed in an inclosed area, one of the 

 walls being of glass, and the others coated 

 with lamp-black, the inside temperature 

 quickly rises to 221 Fahr. 



Elongation of the Trunks of Trees. 



Mr. Elias Lewis, Jr., of Brooklyn, recent- 

 ly read a paper before the Natural History 

 section of the Long Island Horticultural 

 Society, giving the results of some observa- 

 tions on this subject. He said : " If a tree- 

 trunk lengthens by any process of interior 

 enlargement, it is quite certain that marks 

 upon its surface, or lateral branches, would 

 be carried upward as growth went on. A 

 branch projecting at a given height from 

 the ground would, later, become more ele- 

 vated." He cited an instance of an oak- 

 tree near Miller's Place, in Suffolk County, 

 L. I., which is evidently over a century old, 

 from which projects an enormous branch 

 at a height of seven feet from the ground. 

 This branch is thirty feet in length, two- 

 thirds that of the tree, and is just one-balf 

 the circumference of the trunk (which is 8 

 feet) where it issues. It is nearly horizon- 

 tal, the inclination, which is upward, being 

 very slight. At a distance of four feet from 

 the tree, it rests upon a bowlder of great 

 size, and spreads to a width of five feet ; 

 but the branch, in its under side, projects 

 squarely against the face of the rock. The 

 branch then rests on the rock about five 

 feet, and from this point of support rises to 

 its terminus. It is considered entirely cer- 

 tain that the branch began its growth when 

 the tree was very small, and its growth has 

 been contemporaneous with that of the 

 trunk. 



The under half of the branch, as re- 

 marked, is directly against the face of the 

 rock, and could not have increased in 

 length. The branch issued at about seven 

 feet elevation, and this distance has not 

 been increased, else, at its junction with 



