POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



573 



Fossil Rhinoceros in Siberia. In a com- 

 munication to " La Nature," A. Hoffmann, 

 of Moscow, announces the discovery, in Si- 

 beria, of the head of a rhinoceros (Rhinoce- 

 rus lichorkinus), which still retains, in a won- 

 derful state of preservation, nearly all its 

 covering of flesh. " This head," he writes, 

 " was found near a small stream, called the 

 Balantai', a tributary of the Yany, at the dis- 

 tance of some 200 versts from the city of 

 Vorshvianska. M. Gorokoff, to whom we 

 are indebted for this discovery, made haste 

 to communicate with the Imperial Geograph- 

 ical Society of St. Petersburg. A member 

 of that Society, M. Tshersky, to whom the 

 head was submitted for examination, says 

 that it must have belonged to a young ani- 

 mal, for some of the teeth had not as yet 

 quite come out from their alveoli. The en- 

 tire head is covered with a strong tissue, 

 hardened by time ; but one side of it is bad- 

 ly injured. Here the flesh is in part decayed, 

 and crumbles away. A portion of the skull 

 is bare, and we can see the dried muscles 

 and veins ; also, a portion of the spinal mar- 

 row, the latter having dropped out of the 

 passage through the second cervical verte- 

 bra. This curious fossil head retains in per- 

 fect preservation the muzzle, the lips, the 

 ears, the hair of half of the left side, a good 

 part of the forehead, and on the right side 

 the upper portion of the neck, and several 

 other parts. Further, we notice the places 

 for two horns." 



Drilling Reeks by Electricity. M. Gas- 

 ton Plante suggests a novel use for electri- 

 city, namely, as a borer of rocks, taking the 

 place of the black diamond. " We have 

 seen," he writes in a volume recently pub- 

 lished, " that one of the electrodes which 

 conveys a current of a certain electromotive 

 force, on being put in contact with glass in 

 presence of a saline solution, acts as a graver 

 or diamond in cutting furrows on the surface 

 of the glass, plowing it even deeply. Rock- 

 crystal can also be attacked, despite its hard- 

 ness, by the same method, and, if it does not 

 yield regularly, it at last bursts into pieces 

 under the action of the electrode, and ends 

 by breaking up. In America black dia- 

 monds are employed in rock-drilling for 

 wells and mines. Could these expensive 

 tools not be replaced by the action of the 



electric current in conditions analogous to 

 those which have been described, and the 

 perforation of rocks be performed by elec- 

 tricity ? Electrodes of platinum would not 

 be necessary, for it is not the metal of the 

 electrode which alters, but the silicious mat- 

 ter in presence of the saline solution. Metal- 

 lic points or studs conveniently distributed 

 at the end of the drill and put in rotation, 

 would direct the electric discharge to the 

 rock, which it would pulverize, as in the 

 case of the diamond drill. The recent ad- 

 vances in the production of electricity by 

 mechanical means would facilitate this ap- 

 plication."' 



Mr. Gladstone on Natural History Studies. 

 Mr. Gladstone, in addressing the pupils of 

 a Nonconformist school at Finchley, Eng- 

 land, advocated a more important place in 

 our systems of education for natural history. 

 " Natural history," he said, " is a continual 

 lesson a lesson at once easy and profound 

 of the wisdom and beneficence of Provi- 

 dence ; a continual confirmation of belief, 

 when you find the wonderful hand of that 

 Workman descending to the smallest object 

 with the same care with which he mounts 

 to the greatest. The religious use of natu- 

 ral history is one that all must delight in. 

 Again, learning is an admirable thing, but 

 it does not always make itself agreeable at 

 the first introduction. But it certainly is a 

 marked advantage in the study of natural 

 history that it leads you on by the hand 

 it inveigles you, so to speak, into learning 

 what is good and what is useful. Many a 

 one might have his mind first opened by 

 the attractions of natural history, and, once 

 opened, it might perhaps be capable of ap- 

 plying itself beneficially to harder and more 

 repulsive studies. Natural history, too, is 

 one of the best and most efficient means of 

 educating the senses. It may, perhaps, be 

 suggested that the senses are educated well 

 enough already, and claim quite a large 

 enough portion of our existence. That, of 

 course, is perfectly true so far as the gross- 

 er forms of enjoyment are concerned ; but 

 so far as the senses are connected with the 

 acquisition of knowledge, they are very in- 

 differently educated indeed. The habit of 

 minute, careful, and accurate observation, 

 which is inseparable from such a study as 



