NOTES. 



2 55 



certain proportions with the coal, and the 

 Gas Company of the Crystal Palace uses 

 this material only, to produce a rich gas. 

 The pitch is solid and glistening, and distils 

 very rapidly in the common gas-retorts, 

 leaving scarcely any residue. In case a large 

 amount of gas is required to be furnished 

 in a very short time, this property of rapid 

 distillation is of high importance. Its yield 

 of gas is said to be very considerable, being 

 765 to 850 cubic metres (830 to 930 cubic 

 yards) to the ton. The illuminating power 

 of this gas is equal to that of 33 sperm- 

 candles, 5 to the pound. It is too rich to 

 be used with the ordinary burner. It is 

 best employed to enrich gas made from in- 

 ferior coals. It contains scarcely any sul- 

 phur 0.87 per cent. The analysis of the 

 pitch is as follows : Volatile matter, 74.40 ; 

 fixed carbon, 21.72; ashes, 3.88. 



Antiquity of Man. The following letter 

 from Sir John Lubbock appeared in Nature 

 for the 27th of March: "I have received a 

 letter from Mr. Edmund Calvert, in which 

 he informs me that his brother, Mr. Frank 

 Calvert, has recently discovered, near the 

 Dardanelles, what he regards as conclusive 

 evidence of the existence of man during the 

 Miocene period. Mr. Calvert had previous- 

 ly sent me some drawings of bones and 

 shells from the strata in question, which 

 Mr. Busk and Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys were good 

 enough to examine for me. He has now 

 met with a fragment of a bone, probably 

 belonging either to the dinotherium or a 

 mastodon, on the convex side of which is 

 engraved a representation of a horned quad- 

 ruped 'with arched neck, lozenge-shaped 

 chest, long body, straight fore-legs, and 

 broad feet.' There are also, he says, traces 

 of seven or eight other figures, which, how- 

 ever, are nearly obliterated. He informs 

 me that in the same stratum he has also 

 found a flint flake, and several bones broken 

 as if for the extraction of marrow. This 

 discovery would not only prove the exist- 

 ence of man in Miocene times, but of men 

 who had already made some progress, at 

 least, in art. Mr. Calvert assures me that 

 he feels no doubt whatever as to the geo- 

 logical age of the stratum from which these 

 specimens are obtained. Of course I am 

 not in a position myself to express any 



opinion on the subject, but I am sure that 

 the statements of so competent an observer 

 as Mr. Calvert will interest your readers." 



NOTES. 



The population of France, as shown by 

 the census, was 38,067,064 in the year 1866. 

 The official estimate of annual increase is 

 130,078 or, for the seven years ending 

 January 1, 1873, 910,546. Total, 38,977,610. 

 But the actual census gave only 36,102,921, 

 showing a loss of 2,874,689. Deduct the of- 

 ficial estimate of Alsace-Lorraine, 1,595,238, 

 and the remainder, 1,279,451, represents 

 the decline of population during seven years. 

 The excess of females over males is now 100 

 per cent, greater than ever before. 



The epileptiform convulsions excited by 

 the internal administration of essence of 

 wormwood, and Japan camphor, may, ac- 

 cording to recent experiments in France, be 

 effectually prevented by the use of bromide 

 of potassium. This is regarded as addi- 

 tional evidence of the value of the bromide 

 in the treatment of epilepsy. 



The medical officer having under super- 

 vision the schools for pauper children in 

 three of the parishes of London reports that, 

 among those admitted, from thirty to forty 

 per cent, are afflicted with ophthalmia in 

 some of its stages, and that bringing the 

 children together in this way concentrates 

 and favors the spread of the disease. The 

 immediate cause of the affection in most of 

 these cases is held to be the dirt and dust 

 of the streets which is allowed to accumu- 

 late at the inner corner of the eye, where it 

 forms a semi-solid mass which irritates and 

 inflames the lids. 



Died, in Jersey City, on Sunday, March 

 9th, Charles F. Dcrant, aged 68 years. 

 Deceased was a diligent student of science, 

 and some years since published a valuable 

 work on the " Shells and Sea-Weeds of the 

 Harbor of New York." He was also the 

 author of a work on astronomy, which was 

 printed for circulation among scientific men. 

 In 1833 Mr. Durant made the first balloon 

 ascension ever made in this country. His 

 aerial voyages numbered in all fifteen. 



Petroleum has been found in large 

 quantities in Ecuador. Wells have been 

 sunk at various points between the sulphur- 

 ous springs of San Vicente and the sea-shore. 

 In some of these the petroleum is fluid, like 

 whale-oil, but in others it has the consist- 

 ence of butter. In the upper part of some 

 of the wells it can be seen in hard, compact 

 masses, which probably have been formed 

 by the evaporation of the more liquid por- 

 tions. 



