HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCR- G O SSIF. 



237 



to obtain four tons of sulphate, or six and a quarter tons 

 of coal for one ton of sulphate. In coal districts the six 

 and a quarter tons of fuel would cost about Ihirty-tive 

 shillings, and the total cost of producing the sulphate 

 of ammonia would be about £^ 10s. to ^5. As the 

 sulphate is worth about ;^I2 a ton, there is an ample 

 margin for profit and contingent expenses. Mr. 

 Mond points out that the process is one which would 

 prove particularly profitable for large consumers of 

 fuel in districts where coal is cheap ; and if only one- 

 lenth of the coal used in this country were treated by 

 it a sufficient supply of nitrogenous compound would 

 be provided to meet the requirements of the whole of 

 tlie Old World. 



A NEW method of preserving butter consists in 

 adding to it a very small portion of salicylic acid 

 dissolved in two parts of lactic acid and ninety-eight 

 parts of water. Little salicylic acid is required to 

 keep butter fresh for an indefinite length of time, 

 not more than one grain being employed for every 

 100 kegs of butter. 



Discoveries of gold quartz are said to have been 

 made in the Voel Vamman range of the mountains in 

 Flintshire. On the north side of the mountain, at 

 Glyn Arthur, a lode has been struck, which, on 

 analysis, yielded three ounces six pennyweights 

 fifteen grains "of pure gold to the ton. A Crown 

 licence has been obtained at a royalty of one-fifteenth. 

 On the north-east side of the mountain a lode has 

 been struck eight yards in width, and the analysis is 

 said to show it to be the richest goldfield yet found in 

 Wales. A level has been driven fifteen yards along 

 the course of the lode, and then intersected for a 

 •distance of eight yards, and at the end a sump has 

 been sunk a depth of four yards. Quartz taken from 

 the sump shows a yield of seven ounces three penny- 

 weights one grain of fine gold. Thousands of tons of 

 this quartz have been proved in the sett. The gold- 

 mining industry is attracting a large number of men 

 to the locality. 



A CONTINUOUS lode of the rare metal Uranium 

 ■has been discovered at Grampound Road, Cornwall. 

 The ore contains an average of twelve per cent, of 

 the pure metal. It is stated that the market price of 

 •the pure metal is ;^2,400 per ton. 



Measuring Waves.— The Honourable Ralph 

 Abercromby, while on board the steamer Tongariro, 

 succeeded in measuring the height of ocean waves by 

 floating a sensitive aneroid barometer upon the water. 

 The width and velocity of the waves were also 

 obtained by timing their passage with a chronograph. 

 The biggest wave he encountered was in 55° S. 

 latitude, and 105° W. longitude. It was forty-six 

 feet high, 765 ft. from crest to crest, and had a 

 velocity of forty-seven miles an hour. As the 

 •weather was not exceptional for the latitude, Mr. 

 Abercromby concludes that waves must occasionally 



reach a height of sixty feet, as has been stated by 

 Admiral Fitzroy. 



At the recent meeting of the Royal Archaeological 

 Institute in Norwich, Mr. Harmer, the deputy mayor, 

 a well-known geologist, exhibited a "section" of the 

 strata on which the enormous castle stands, and 

 proved to demonstration — that which never has been 

 proved till now, but which in future will not be 

 disputed — that the mound is certainly an artificial 

 structure, and composed almost entirely of " made 

 earth." The inference is very suggestive, com- 

 pelling us to postulate a very long interval of time 

 between the date of the first erection of such a 

 stupendous earthwork, and its settling down to a 

 condition of solidity firm enough to bear the weight 

 of so vast and ponderous a structure as the immense 

 castle, with its massive masonry, that has never 

 shown the smallest sign of settlement at any point. 



There are signs and tokens that the crusty 

 stupidity and niggardliness of our English Stationery 

 Office are giving way before public criticism. Here, 

 for instance, is the " Geology of London and Part of 

 the Thames Valley," by W. Whitaker, in two vols. 

 Vol. i., "Descriptive Geology," contains xii. -f 55 

 pages and a folding table. Vol. ii., " Appendices"' 

 (Wells, Borings, etc.), contains iv. + 352 pages. It is a 

 first-class and most useful work by a first-class author, 

 and one of which the whole Geological Survey will 

 be proud. Had Mr. Whitaker been an American 

 geologist, and had this volume been published by the 

 U. S. Government, copies of it would have been sent 

 out gratis to every scientific journal and society of 

 note in the world. Our Government never sends out 

 a single copy even for review, so that when our most 

 scientific men have published their best work, the 

 world knows nothing of what they have done. Still, 

 there is hope for the future ; for this is the cheapest 

 work (5^-. and 6^.) the office has yet issued. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Mr. Bowman's Ants. — I have read with interest 

 Mr. Bowman's paper on the Wood-ant in Science- 

 Gossip, for last month. I am not, however, convinced 

 by the experiment which he mentions as proving that 

 ants can hear. As I understand, the bell-glass which 

 he struck was standing on the table, and, in that case, 

 the vibrations would be communicated to the ants 

 through their feet. I would ask him to try again, 

 holding the glass bell in his hands. — jfokn Lubbock. 



Our Natural History Museums. — The British 

 Association Meeting at Newcastle, which commenced 

 on September loth, has shown no falling off as far as 

 numbers are concerned, or abundance of papers 

 dealing mostly with original work and observation. 

 The President, Professor W. H. Flower, delivered the 

 inaugural address, which related chiefly to museums. 



