XOTES. 



127 



portion as a fraction of the vapor is elimi- 

 nated from the lungs, an equal quantity is 

 absorbed by the same organ. 



Silicious and calcareous rocks are mere 

 commonly broken up by chemical than by me- 

 chanical action, but the contrary is the case 

 with felspathic and slate rocks. For sub- 

 aqueous structures silicious stones are gen- 

 erally preferable to those of a calcareous 

 nature. 



An electro -magnetic copying -machine 

 has been devised by Hencker, of Munich, 

 which transmits by telegraph, and that, too, 

 without the assistance of an operator, writ- 

 ing, portraits, plans, maps, etc. An impres- 

 sion of the object to be copied is taken with 

 a prepared ink on a sort of silver paper, 

 which is then rolled on a revolving cylinder, 

 and the message, whether in writing or in 

 the form of a drawing, is at once forwarded 

 to its destination, a perfect fac-simile of the 

 writing or drawing being produced at the 

 other end of the wire. 



The Paris Acclimatization Society has re- 

 quested and obtained of Mr. Seth Green per- 

 mission to publish a French translation of 

 his work on trout-culture. 



At Mariupal, Russia, a teacher was re- 

 cently denounced to the entire parish, by 

 the village pope, as unfit to teach children, 

 owing to his " habit of taking walks on the 

 steppe, and collecting useless grasses, dis- 

 gusting insects, and every conceivable abom- 

 ination, and making these things objects of 

 public instruction." This wicked teacher 

 was also censured for his disuse of the rod, 

 and his aversion to the good old Russian 

 practice of pulling out bunches of hair from 

 the heads of refractory children ! 



The salaries of male and female teachers 

 in the schools of San Francisco have been 

 equalized. 



An exhibition was recently made in Scot- 

 land of a process of clearing forests by 

 steam. A traction engine of 12 horse- 

 power is stationed some distance from the 

 wood, and a wire chain is fastened to the 

 tree. Steam is then put on, and the tree is 

 pulled forcibly out by the roots. In the 

 course of five hours, upward of 300 trees, in 

 a plantation nearly 100 years old, were pulled 

 out. It is hoped that the method may prove 

 applicable in the clearing of new tracts of 

 forest-land. 



From a synopsis communicated to the 

 Philadelphia Academy of Sciences by Prof. 

 Cope, of his work in connection with Hay- 

 den's survey in 1873, it appears that the 

 whole number of species of vertebrata ob- 

 tained was 150, 95 being new to science. 

 The species from the Miocene numbered 75, 

 of which 57 were new. 



A Fren t ch patent has been granted for 

 the preparation of leather from tripe, intes- 

 tines, and other animal membranes ; these 

 are worked in milk-of-lime while still fresh, 

 then washed and immersed in water, and 

 finally in a paste made of starch and white- 

 of-egg. The substance thus formed is to be 

 used for glove-making, etc. ; the material 

 may also be tanned or curried. 



In 1865 there were in France 4,833 school 

 libraries containing 180,854 volumes; in 

 1869 the number of libraries was 14,395, 

 and of volumes 1,239,165. At the present 

 time there are (the Seine Department not 

 included) 15,623 school libraries, and 1,474,- 

 637 volumes. Notwithstanding the events 

 of the last few years, the state, provinces, 

 communes, and private individuals, have 

 liberally contributed funds for maintaining 

 this important work. 



The problem of pure-water supply for 

 London has probably been solved by Mr. 

 J. Lucas, of the Geological Survey. Exam- 

 ining the green sands and chalk of Surrey, he 

 finds over 1,000 feet of porous strata resting 

 on absolutely impervious clay. He contends 

 that a tunnel driven along the strike of the 

 beds, or water-level, must arrest all the wa- 

 ter that is flowing down as far as the gallery 

 is carried. 



The question whether snakes eat toads 

 is answered affirmatively by a writer in 

 Hardwicke, who speaks from direct observa- 

 tion. Having discovered a garter-snake in 

 a strawberry-bed, he struck the creature a 

 sharp blow w*ith a stick, and out flew a me- 

 dium-sized toad. Before the blow, only the 

 hind-feet of the toad were visible, protrud- 

 ing from the snake's mouth. 



In removing grease-spots from clothing 

 with benzole or turpentine, the usual way 

 is to wet the cloth with the detergent and 

 then to rub it with a sponge or the like. 

 This only spreads the grease, and does not 

 remove it. The proper method is given by 

 the Scientific American : Place soft blot- 

 ting-paper beneath and on top of the grease- 

 spot, after the latter has been thoroughly 

 saturated with the benzole; then press well. 

 The fat is thus dissolved and absorbed by 

 the paper, and entirely removed from the 

 clothing. 



The British Meteorological Society has 

 organized a system of observations of natu- 

 ral phenomena connected with the return 

 of the seasons, as affecting the development 

 of animal and plant life. It is expected 

 that in this way much valuable information 

 will be gained with regard to the influence 

 of climate on plants, insects, birds, and other 

 animals. The Royal Agricultural, Horti- 

 cultural, Botanical, and other societies of 

 Great Britain, have promised their coop- 

 eration in the scheme. 



