THE LIVINGSTONIA MISSION. 



91 



dissolves in acid, leaving a carbonaceous residue. 

 The composition of this remarkable " iron," if we 

 may call it by that name, has been found by 

 Wohler to be as follows : 



Iron 80. 64 



Nickel 1.19 



Cobalt 0.49 



Phosphorus 0.15 



Sulphur 2.82 



Carbon 3.67 



Oxygen 1109 



100.05 



It appears to be a mixture of about forty per 

 cent, of magnetite with metallic iron, its carbide, 

 sulphide, and phosphide, and its alloys of nickel 

 and cobalt, as well as some pure carbon in iso- 

 lated particles. 



From all this we see, though there is not a 

 particle of evidence to prove the persistence of 

 living germs on meteorites during their passage 

 through our atmosphere, it is quite clear that the 

 cosmical bodies, whatever they may have been, 

 from which our meteorites were derived, may very 

 probably have borne on their surface some forms 

 of organized beings. 



One objection which appears to have been 

 raised to Sir William Thomson's theory was to 

 the effect that germs could not exist without air ; 



another that the low temperature to which they 

 would be exposed before entering our atmosphere 

 would suffice to destroy life. Micheli, in his valu- 

 able " Coup d'ceil sur les principales Publications 

 de Physiologie vegetale," refers to the researches 

 of Uloth, 1 who found that twenty-four species of 

 plants which had been placed in a cave in the 

 centre of a glacier germinated after the lapse of 

 six weeks. Lepidium ruderale and sativum, Si- 

 napis alba, and £rassica Napus, had germinated ; 

 and at the close of four months other crucifers 

 and some grasses and leguminou^s plants had 

 germinated also. Haberlandt found that of a 

 number of seeds which had been exposed for 

 four months to a temperature of 0° to 10°, the 

 following species flourished : rye, hemp, vetch, 

 pea, mustard, camelina, two species of clover, 

 and lucerne. The influence of the withdrawal 

 of air from seeds on their power of germina- 

 tion has also been studied by Haberlandt. He 

 found that seeds after they had been placed in 

 vacuo germinated as usual. A slight retardation 

 was noticed in the case of the seeds of the oat, 

 the beet-root, and a bean, which appear to re- 

 quire the air contained in their tissues. In three 

 experiments fifty-eight, thirty-two, and forty per 

 cent, of the seeds germinated. 



— Popular Science Review. 



THE LIYIXGSTOXIA MISSION. 



NARRATIVES OF DRS. J. THORNTON MACKLIN AND JAMES STEWART. 



THE following interesting letters from Dr. J. 

 Thornton Macklin and Dr. Stewart, of the 

 Livingstonia Mission, have been forwarded to us 

 from the Cape by Sir Bartle Frere : 



" The site on which Blantyre Mission Station 

 rests is an admirable one in every way, and re- 

 flects great credit on Mr. Henderson, who, it 

 must be remembered, went out with the Free- 

 Church party, under Mr. Young, of the Royal 

 Navy, in 1875, for the purpose of looking round 

 the country and finding out a suitable place 

 where to establish our mission. In the course 

 of his travels Mr. Henderson came to the con- 

 clusion that the most suitable locality would be 

 somewhere in the Shire Highlands, among the 

 Ageneas, and, if possible, in the vicinity of Ma- 

 gomero, the scene of the University Mission la- 



bors. Accordingly, when our party had arrived 

 out in 1876, and had reached Ramakukau's vil- 

 lage, which it may be said is practically the head 

 of the Shire navigation, though seven miles be- 

 low Matili, to which place boats can reach, here 

 Mr. Henderson left us, and went up the hill to 

 fix definitely on a site for the settlement. I 

 should have gone with him, but was ill with fe- 

 ver at the time. The carefulness and discrimi- 

 nation shown in the selection — the result of a 

 long experience in Australia — clearly points out 

 that Mr. Henderson was well worthy of the trust 

 reposed in him, and well fitted to perform the 

 difficult task laid upon him. A short time ago 

 there was a village here, but it was deserted 

 some time before we came, as the head-man had 

 i Flora, 1ST5, No. 17. 



