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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



and others, the rocks which, in the geology of Ireland, 

 I have classed among the eruptive rocks. Such a 

 classification I am aware is scoffed at by very many 

 chemists and geologists, notwithstanding that in 

 every place in which I have examined them in 

 Ireland, they seem to partake more of the nature 

 of eruptive than of metamorphic rocks. — G. H. 

 Kinahan, Ovoca, Ireland. 



Large Glacial Block in the River Wye. — 

 While walking down the valley of the Wye, on May 

 17 of this year, from Rhayadr to Builth, and the 

 water being exceptionally low from long-continued 

 dry weather, I passed under a boldly-curved line of 

 cliff, doubtless eaten back by the river, and about 

 one-third of a mile north of the village of Newbridge. 

 Walking in the bed of the stream, I came upon a 

 remarkably fine glacial block, several yards in the 

 river, and mostly covered, or at least partly covered, 

 by the water. The precise position is indicated by 

 3° 26' 40" west longitude, 52 13' 20" north latitude, 

 for the curving cliff. The block is about two yards 

 and a half long, by about one and a half high, roughly 

 estimated, and has its lower surface — facing rather 

 down stream— well exposed to view, at such low 

 water, by resting on a few points unevenly. This 

 lower surface is largely and smoothly planed over in 

 beautiful curves by ice action, in that distinct and 

 peculiar manner so characteristic of travelled ice- 

 blocks ; and running along this are numerous well- 

 defined striae passing right along the face and follow- 

 ing its beautiful curves over large spaces. The block 

 appears to be Lower Silurian, of some measure of 

 the district, and may have travelled with the ice out 

 of one 'of the large cwms,*or hollows, in the lofty 

 mountain range of central Wales. Its large size 

 would lead me to suppose it has not been rolled far 

 by the present action of the picturesque river. — 

 Horace Pearce, F.G.S., Stourbridge. 



Arch^eopteryx Macrurus. — In the May number 

 of " Le Monde de la Science et de l'lndustrie," under 

 the above title appeared an interesting account of the 

 discovery of Arclneopteryx macrurus in the litho- 

 graphic limestones of Solenhofen in Bavaria. This 

 is the second specimen which has been obtained of 

 this early bird, the contemporary of the great saurians 

 of the lias. The first specimen was also found in 

 the same beds in the year 1862, and is now in the 

 British Museum. This is far from complete, while 

 the former specimen (which is exhibited in Berlin) is 

 marvellously preserved. It has been bought for 

 ;£iooo, and is now on view. A person who has seen 

 this magnificent fossil gives the" following description 

 of it: "The bird stands out of the stone in good 

 relief; its outlines are so well marked that there is 

 little to cause one to suppose it was a creature which 

 had lived millions of years ago. Imagine a bird 

 lying on its back, whose wings measure about seven 



and a half inches from tip to tip ; whose extreme 

 length from the beak to the end of the tail is about 

 ten inches ; an animal as large as an average-sized 

 hen. The feathers of the wings are so clearly pre- 

 served that one is able to follow out the minutest de- 

 tails ; we have counted six beautiful plumes for each 

 wing. The neck was found underneath the breast- 

 bone, bent round like a note of interrogation ; the 

 head, which resembled a fowl's, was in such a 

 position as to clearly show the right eye ; the beak 

 (the point] of which is not yet completely divested of 

 stone) is larger and much stronger than a fowl's, and 

 with a glass we can see the teeth of this curious 

 winged animal. Perhaps the parts most accurately 

 preserved are the four limbs which are complete in 

 every respect. The front pair have each two hollow 

 bones (radius and cubitus) while the hinder have 

 only one (tibia). Each of the four limbs has three 

 very sharp talons at the ends of the long four-boned 

 fingers. The structural details of the feet resemble 

 those of the lizard. The feathers of the tail — of 

 which we have counted twenty-eight — are also well 

 preserved, and are grouped as admirably as though 

 prepared by a naturalist. The tail itself is very long ; 

 and fourteen caudal vertebrae, which are extended 

 amongst two lines of feathers, dividing them on each 

 side, can be clearly distinguished." 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Can a Parrot reason ? — In the December 

 number one of your correspondents gives an "anecdote 

 of a parrot," which has just now come under my 

 observation, and has brought to my recollection the 

 following circumstance. Some years ago I was on 

 a visit to my brother-in-law, who is a "fiscal," in a 

 town not far from Glasgow. Late one evening he 

 received the intelligence that a murder had been com- 

 mitted in a lonely spot some miles away in the 

 country. He had to proceed that night to investi- 

 gate the case, and I went with him. We arrived 

 there at midnight. The murder had been committed 

 in a solitary house (of two floors), in the upper floor, 

 communicating with the road by a staircase, in the 

 occupation of a married couple. The wife was the 

 victim, and the husband was charged with the murder. 

 The woman had been most brutally treated, ribs 

 were broken, and the body otherwise frightfully 

 injured. Marks of blood were found on the floor 

 and wall. It was necessary to have a post-mortem 

 examination, and for the purpose the fiscal instructed 

 a doctor to make the examination the next day. 

 While he was doing it he was suddenly startled by 

 hearing a voice saying, " It's a bad job. Puir body, 

 puir body ! " He looked round to learn who had 

 uttered the words, and found that they had come 

 from a parrot in the room, which he had not before 

 noticed. Query : Were the words the result of the 

 parrot's reflections in the struggle it must have 

 witnessed ? — John Lee. 



Morbid Sensations. — It so happens that I have 

 the literal sentiments of a common man, written down 

 some considerable time ago, upon the precise question 

 in discussion between your correspondents. At the 



