MISCELLANY 



375 



glaciers prove a climate of intense and con- 

 tinued cold. 



The cause of change in the sun's path 

 he finds in changes in the distribution of 

 the matter of the earth. He cites the fact 

 of the earth's equatorial protuberance, and 

 says the mass takes the form of an ellipse, 

 and is not circular, as assumed by some 

 mathematicians, and is itself a cause of 

 change, altering the poles of rotation and 

 the sun's path. Moreover, much may be 

 due to former upheavals and depressions 

 of the earth's crust. The increase of polar 

 ice is, according to Mr. Belt, contempora- 

 neous with increase of obliquity of the 

 sun's path, and must diminish the differ- 

 ence between the earth's equatorial and 

 polar diameters. The tendency of this 

 would be to diminish the obliquity of the 

 sun's path, ameliorate climate, and approxi- 

 mate to a uniformity of seasons and of day 

 and night. 



The coming of the cold climate, and 

 consequent increase of polar ice, he thinks 

 was gradual and continuous, and he finds 

 no evidence in Scotland, or elsewhere, of 

 interglacial periods of mild climate. Mr. 

 Belt claims that the glaciation of the north 

 and south poles was simultaneous, as the 

 climate north and south of the equator 

 must have been nearly the same. 



This accumulation of ice at both poles 

 accounts, in Mr. Belt's opinion, for several 

 phenomena usually attributed to elevation 

 of land. He thinks the level of the ocean 

 must have been lowered not less than 2,000 

 feet to supply the ice-sheets. 



In the ice once formed upon the polar 

 regions, Mr. Belt finds a dynamic agent 

 adequate to important geological changes. 

 Thus their weight would cause the polar 

 lands to sink until the earth attains its nor- 

 mal form ; by their melting, and flowing 

 toward the equator, the equilibrium is dis- 

 turbed. But the disturbance from this 

 cause is probably very small, " if," as Mr. 

 Belt concludes, " the earth's interior be as 

 cold as space, and movements occur only 

 in its upper strata." 



An Ornithological Land-lnbber. Toward 

 the end of last December, the Challenger ex- 

 pedition visited Prince Edward's Islands, 

 situated about 1,100 miles southeast of the 



Cape of Good Hope. We find in the Times 

 the following notes concerning the habits 

 of the albatross, a bird which frequents 

 these islands in enormous numbers : " The 

 whole of the wet, sodden, flat lands of Ma- 

 rion Island, one of the group, were studded 

 with albatrosses, sitting on their nests. The 

 magnificent birds, most of whom were asleep, 

 covered the ground in such numbers that 

 they looked like a flock of sheep scattered 

 over a meadow. The nests were freshly 

 covered with tufts of grass and moss, and 

 stood some two feet above the swampy 

 ground. It was evidently the beginning 

 of the breeding-season, as few eggs were 

 attainable. These splendid birds, weighing 

 19 pounds, and measuring 10^ feet from 

 tip to tip of wing, seen to such advantage 

 while in their glory at sea, so evidently at 

 home as they sweep gracefully through the 

 air, are, on land, 'completely at sea.' It 

 appears impossible for them to hover ; so, 

 on alighting at the end of a swoop, the 

 momentum of the body continues after their 

 feet have touched the ground, until they 

 literally turn head-over-heels on to their 

 backs, from which inglorious position their 

 efforts to regain their equilibrium are any 

 thing but graceful. While advancing to 

 the nest, the neck is extended and the 

 body lowered, as they waddle along, like a 

 goose. To rise in the air, they are obliged 

 to run, with extended wings, for some 200 

 yards, over the soaking grass, before they 

 attain sufficient velocity for the air to get 

 under their wings, and allow them to feel 

 themselves again masters of the situation. 

 Once landed, they are powerless to resist 

 attack : a sharp snap of the beak is their 

 only means of offense or defense. In taking 

 their eggs, the readiest way is to push them 

 backward with a stick forced against their 

 breast, which, balanced as they were, on 

 the edge of the raised nest, was easy work, 

 the drop of two feet being just sufficient to 

 send them on to their backs and prevent 

 them rising, until after the prize vtu& cap- 

 tured." 



Decomposition of Eggs. For some time 

 before his death, Dr. Grace-Calvert was en- 

 gaged, in company with Mr. William Thom- 

 son, in investigating the subject of the de- 

 composition of eggs. From these researches, 



