NOTES. 



^3 



sioners will reserve for the Botanic Gar- 

 den all the space which may be required for 

 present and prospective use. Prof. H. H. 

 Babcock has been chosen as Botanical Di- 

 rector. 



NOTES. 



A. McDouGALL recently exhibited to the 

 Manchester Philosophical Society a speci- 

 men of carbon which had formed upon the 

 roof of a gas-retort, by the decomposition 

 of the hydrocarbon gas by heat. This car- 

 bon resembles graphite, and its mode of 

 formation might possibly explain that of 

 graphite. The latter mineral always occurs 

 iu association with rocks which have been 

 subjected to igneous action, and may have 

 been formed by hydrocarbon gases travers- 

 ing fissures, the sides of which were in a 

 highly-heated state. 



The adulteration of tobacco is exten- 

 sively practised in England. A cigar-maker 

 was recently found guilty of manufacturing 

 cigars which contained 74 per cent, of lime- 

 leaves, 1 per cent, of colored paper, and 

 only 19 per cent, of tobacco. 



Some one in Texas is examining the an- 

 nual rings on trees with reference to the 

 effect of very dry seasons upon tree-growth. 

 He has a theory that a series of such seasons 

 may return in regular periodicity, the dis- 

 covery of which would be of great value to 

 the farmer, since it would enable him to 

 anticipate short crops, and, by previous sur- 

 plus ones, prepare for them. He has se- 

 lected for his purpose the burr-oak, on some 

 of which he finds a record of the growth 

 of three hundred years. So far as he has 

 traced back human records, he finds each 

 very di-y season marked by rings of ex- 

 traordinary thinness. He is still tracing 

 back the records of man and Nature in the 

 hope of discovering the law above referred 

 to. Department of Agriculture. 



Antimony, equal to the best English, is 

 produced in San Francisco from native ore, 

 and might be sold there at a far lower price 

 than the imported article. In practice, how- 

 ever, the California metal has to be shipped 

 to New York, and then returned to San 

 Francisco as imported antimony, consumers 

 persisting in the belief that, unless it comes 

 from England, it is of little value ! 



A Western farmer communicates to the 

 American Chemist a method of preserving 

 wooden posts, so that they will last longer 

 than iron in the ground, while the cost does 

 not exceed two cents per post. This is the 

 recipe : Take boiled linseed-oil and stir into 

 it pulverized charcoal to the consistency of 

 paint, and put a coat of this over the timber. 



The case of the ecstatica, Louise Lateau, 

 who says that for years she has partaken 

 of no food, has been considered in the Brus- 

 sels Academy of Medicine. The opinion of 

 the Academy is : " That Louise works and 

 requires food. When she breathes, she ex- 

 hales water-vapor and carbonic acid ; her 

 weight has not decreased since she has been 

 observed ; she therefore consumes carbon 

 which is not furnished by her system. Who- 

 ever alleges that Louise Lateau is not sub- 

 ject to physiological laws, must prove it; 

 until this is done physiology will pronounce 

 the miracle a deception." 



A NEW mammalian genus, Mixocehxts, is 

 described by Peters in the Monatsherichte of 

 the Berlin Academy of Science. It is most 

 nearly allied to Lepidolemur, and is covered 

 with a brown fur, except the head and neck, 

 which are of lighter color. The tail is 

 longer than the body. The feet are, in 

 shape, not unlike human hands, and the 

 thumbs of all four feet are opposable. Hab- 

 itat, Madagascar, 



Sir Chasles Lyell bequeathed to the 

 British Geological Society 2,000 as a fund 

 for the promotion of geological research. 

 The award is to be accompanied by a " Lyell 

 Medal," and to be open to geologists with- 

 out distinction of nationality or of sex. 



An International Congress of "Ameri- 

 canists" is to assemble at Nancy, France, 

 on the 22d of July. The object is to bring 

 together those who are interested in the 

 history of America prior to its discovery 

 by Columbus, and in the interpretation of 

 the monuments and the ethnology of the 

 aboriginal races. 



At the Philadelphia Academy of Sci- 

 ences, Mr. Willard gave two instances of 

 the brittleness of iron under the low tem- 

 perature of the past winter. In breaking 

 up an old locomotive, the cutting off of the 

 rivet-heads, which usually requires heavy 

 sledging, was effected by a single blow. 

 Again, in the forging of a long steamboat 

 shaft of the best hammered iron, which 

 hung balanced in a crane, the hammering 

 of the heated end caused vibration in the 

 other end, which caused the beam to break 

 sharp near the point of support. 



There are now manufactured in England 

 candles containing in their substance some 

 of those gum-resins and balsams, especially 

 benzoin and storax, which have been found 

 useful in chronic pulmonary and allied 

 maladies. These " pulmonic candles" yield, 

 on combustion, a pleasing fragrance, and at 

 the same time give a good light. 



All the steamers afloat on the Caspian 

 Sea use petroleum exclusively for fuel, burn- 

 ing it with the aid of a blast of steam. 



