OX THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XV11 



at variance with the principles of chemistry, is, we think, dishelieved, in 

 whole or in part, by all scientific men in the country, and before the truth 

 shall be established by the only proper tribunal, we are not disposed to 

 give it credit. 



A recent letter of Baron Liebig to Prof. Horsford mentions a beautiful 

 process, discovered by himself, for analyzing atmospheric air. He has 

 found that one part of pyrogallic acid dissolved in five of water, and added 

 to a solution of potassa, gives a liquid that will absorb oxygen as rapidly 

 as a pure potassa solution does carbonic acid. Availing himself of this 

 f.ict, he has been enabled by a simple process to make analyses of atmos- 

 pheric air equal to the best heretofore obtained by other processes. 



Large quantities of phosphate of lime have been discovered in New 

 Jersey by Messrs. Jackson and Alger, of Boston, and the latter gentleman 

 has purchased the vein with the intention of introducing the mineral for 

 agricultural purposes. A deposit of the same substance, discovered near 

 Crown Point, N. Y., in 1846, by Dr. Emmons, is also being worked to a 

 considerable extent under his direction. The important bearings of these 

 discoveries iipon the agriculture of our country can hardly be overrated. 



Among the most valuable contributions made to American science 

 during the year are the results attained to by the expedition under Lieut. 

 Walsh, in the schooner Tancy, sent out at the instigation and under the 

 direction of Lieut. Maury. It appears that the depth of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, in some places, is more than six statute miles, which far exceeds 

 the height of any mountain upon the surface of the globe. In some 

 localities, at least, the water at a very considerable depth is found to be of 

 less specific gravity than that at the surface. 



The investigations of Messrs. Logan. Hunt, and others, upon the geo- 

 logical survey of Canada, show that the Silurian formation extends as far 

 north as the mouth of the St. Lawrence. 



The potato disease continues to prevail, and excites much attention. 

 Opinions as to its cause and origin, and consequently as to the preventives 

 and remedies, are as various as ever; but the whole matter is involved in 

 much obscurity, and all that can be said is, that it is a dark point, which 

 the lamp of science has as yet been unable to illuminate. It appears, 

 however, that potatoes raised from seeds of the native potato, procured 

 in South America, are as much affected by the disease as others. 



The discovery, that the function of the pancreas in the animal economy 

 is the dissolving of the fatty substances in food, forms another contribution 

 to our knowledge of the operations of nature. 



The discovery in New Zealand of a living specimen of the Moho, a 

 bird of which fossil bones had previously been found and described under 

 the name of Notornis ManteUi, has an important bearing on the question 

 of the existence of the fossil birds of that region contemporaneous with 

 those now living, and confirms the views of Prof. Owen and others on this 



