i84 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



experiments. Another excursion on tlie Saturday 

 will be by rail to Liskeard, passing over the Royal 

 Albert Bridge, and along the banks of the winding 

 Lynher ; and from Liskeard to the mines on the 

 Caradon Hills, — a bleak range of barren moorland, 

 but abounding in the picturesque, and stored with 

 hidden wealth. Arrangements have l)een made to 

 visit the well-known South Caradon copper-mine, 

 and the productive tin-mine of Phoenix, not far dis- 

 tant. Here the mining operations, which are the special 

 industry of the county, may be seen to the fullest 

 advantage. To the mineralogist, too, this district 

 sliould have much interest. South Caradon yields 

 many forms of copper ore— chalcocite, chalcopyrite, 

 and cuprite, with chessylite and malachite ; and 

 Phcenix, besides its cassiterite, has produced the rare 

 chalcosiderite, andrewsite, and the lovely turquoise, 

 henwoodite. It is intended also to visit the Cheese- 

 \\ ing, the most grotesque pile of granite rocks in the 

 county. Hard by are large granite quarries ; and in 

 the vicinity are the stone arches known as the Huslers, 

 the Trevethy Cromlech, and other antiquities. It is 

 understood that the good people of Liskeard will in 

 some way entertain their visitors. The third excur- 

 sion of the Saturday will be to the great China-clay 

 works at Lee JNIoor, on the borders of Dartmoor, 

 and within a few miles of Plymouth ; and this is 

 likely to be extended to embrace Prince Town and 

 some of the more accessible pre-historic remains of 

 Devon's great central waste, which stretches for many 

 a mile almost a trackless wild — a weird region, but 

 full of charm and interest. Finally, those who cannot 

 take part in either of these excursions will be able, 

 through the kindness of the Earl of Mount Edg- 

 cumbe, to visit his enchanting domain, unrivalled in 

 its loveliness even in this rightly named "garden of 

 England." The chief local excursion on the Thurs- 

 day will be up the river Tamar to Merwhellam, and 

 thence to the famous Devon Consols copper-mines. 

 The Tamar is one of the pleasantest rivers in Eng- 

 land ; and very {ew present such a comlnnation and 

 variety of charms. Above Saltash, where it is spanned 

 by the Albert Bridge, it spreads into a wide lake-like 

 expanse, beyond which the channel suddenly contracts 

 and commences to wind in the most romantic fashion, 

 the meadows which had lined its banks giving place 

 to stee]3 descents clad with wood down to the water's 

 edge. At Cotehele Quay, which is in the heart of 

 scenery of this description, the party Mill land for 

 the purpose of visiting Cotehele House— an ancient 

 seat of the Mount Edgcumbe family, and one of the 

 most perfect examples of the baronial mansion now 

 in existence. It has remained unchanged almost 

 from the first, and still contains the arms and the 

 furniture, the tapestry and the fittings, which it held 

 back in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 

 For the opportunity of seeing this fine old house the 

 members of the Association arc again indebted to the 

 noble owner. A little above Cotehele is Calstock, 



and about four miles beyond this, Merwhellham, 

 where the Tamar flows through a tree-shrouded 

 gorge. From the precipitous hill-sides, rising to a 

 height of over 200 feet above the river, jut out a 

 series of crags known as the Morwell Rocks. Here 

 is the grandest scenery on the river. From Mer- 

 whellham there is a mineral railway to the Devon 

 Consols mines. These mines are noted for having 

 paid considerably over a million in dividends, for 

 the magnitude of their operations, and for the extent 

 and completeness of their machinery. The largest 

 waterwheels in the West of England are here, and 

 the arsenic-works are the most extensive in the world. 

 The arsenic is driven off from the arsenical pyrites in 

 calciners, which obtain all the heat required from the 

 combustion of the sulphur and arsenic in the ore 

 itself. It is perhaps worth noting that when the 

 British Association visited Plymouth in 1841, its only 

 excursion was to the Tavistock mining district. 

 Devon Consols, however, was not then in being. 

 Another excursion will be to Torquay, but this will 

 be by invitation. Following the excellent precedent 

 set at the Exeter meeting, the Torquay folk intend to 

 play the part of hosts, and to issue invitations to a 

 distinguished party, whom they will conduct over the 

 manifold attractions of that lovely watering-place, — 

 in a scientific point of view chiefly famed for the 

 celebrated Kent's Cavern, to which, of course, a visit 

 will be paid. The mechanicians of the party will 

 feel a special interest in the experimental works of 

 Mr. Fronde, F.R.S., wherein the conditions of sta- 

 bility in various fonns of vessels are exhaustively 

 investigated. The pleasantest way of getting from 

 Plymouth to Torquay will be to go to Totness by 

 rail, thence down the enchanting river Dart by 

 steamer, and thence again by rail skirting Torbay. 

 Lastly, those who prefer to go West will find them- 

 selves consulted also. Arrangements are being made 

 for an excursion to Penzance, the most interestingly 

 situated town in all Cornwall : hemmed in by the 

 lieauties of sea and land ; environed by antiquities 

 dating back to the earliest times of recorded history, 

 and far beyond ; and with some of the most import- 

 ant mines in the whole county in the immediate 

 vicinity. St. Michael's Mount, the Logan Rock, the 

 Lizard, the Land's End, Botallack Mine, are the best- 

 known points of interest in this far-west region ; but 

 they are only a few of many. What Penzance will 

 do in the way of welcome is not yet definitely 

 settled.— A'. A'. J Forth. 



New Spkcies of Carnivora. — At a late 

 meeting of the Zoological Society, Dr. Sclater 

 described a new species of Cheetah from .South 

 Africa. It differs from Ft'lis jithata in having its. 

 body covered with spots of a dark yellow colour, 

 instead of black ; and the body is also more thickly 

 covered w ith hair. Dr. Sclater has given the name of 

 Fdis canea to this species. 



