NOTES. 



2 SS 



Indergronnd Forests in the Thames Val- 

 ley, Au interesting geological discovery, 

 as we learn from Nature, was recently made 

 during excavations for a new tidal basin at 

 the Surrey Commercial Docks, London. 

 On penetrating some six feet below the sur- 

 face, the workmen everywhere came across 

 a subterranean forest-bed, consisting of 

 peat with trunks of trees, for the most part 

 still standing erect. All are of species still 

 inhabiting Britain ; the oak, alder, and wil- 

 low, are apparently most abundant. The 

 trees are not mineralized, but retain their 

 vegetable character, except that they are 

 thoroughly saturated with water. In the 

 peat are found bones of the great fossil ox. 

 Fresh-water shells are also found. No doubt 

 is entertained that the bed thus exposed is 

 a continuation of the old buried forest which 

 has been brought to light at various other 

 localities on both sides of the Thames. In 

 each ease the forest-bed is found buried be- 

 neath the marsh-clay, showing that the land 

 has sunk below the tidal level since the for- 

 est flourished. 



The Medication of Infants. From ex- 

 periments made by Dr. Lewald it appears 

 that sundry medicines are most advanta- 

 geously introduced into the system of an 

 infant through the mother's milk. Thus of 

 iron a larger quantity can be administered 

 to the infant in this way than by any other 

 means. Bismuth, however, is eliminated in 

 the milk only in very small quantity. Iodine 

 does not appear in the milk until ninety-six 

 hours after taking it ; iodide of potassium 

 appears four hours after ingestion, and 

 continues to be eliminated for eleven days. 

 Arsenic appears in the milk at the end of 

 seventeen hours, and continues for at least 

 forty hours. Oxide of zinc, though one of 

 the most insoluble preparations, is elimi- 

 nated by the milk ; it disappears sooner than 

 iron. The elimination of antimony is an 

 undeniable fact, and it is well to bear this 

 in mind during the period of nursing; the 

 same holds true in regard to mercurial prep- 

 arations. That alcohol and narcotics are 

 eliminated by the milk has not been demon- 

 strated. Sulphate of quinine is eliminated 

 very easily, and a child suffering from inter- 

 mittent fever was cured by administering 

 quinine to the nurse. 



NOTES. 



The printing-press at which Benjamin 

 Franklin worked in Loudon will be exhib-. 

 ited at Philadelphia. This press was at- 

 one time the property of Harrild & Sous, 

 of London, but in 1841 they allowed it to 

 be forwarded to Philadelphia. By way of 

 acknowledgment, a sum of money was to 

 be handed over to the Printers' Pension 

 Corporation, for the purpose of founding a 

 pension for an aged printer. This has nev- 

 er been done, and hence Franklin's press 

 by right belongs to Messrs. Harrild, and 

 should appear at the Centennial Exhibition 

 as an English and not an American exhibit. 



In the "Annual of Natural Science," of 

 Wiirtemberg, Otto Hahn has an elaborate 

 review of the Eozoon Canadtnse question. 

 This article, which is very long, is published 

 in the Annals and Magazine of Natural His- 

 tory, for April. The author, after an ex- 

 amination of the geological, the mineralogi- 

 cal, and the zoological tacts, pronounces the 

 so-called eozoon structures to be purely 

 mineral in their origin. 



In replying to Tyndall, Dr. Bastian cites 

 a number of investigators as supporting his 

 views on biogenesis. Among the authori- 

 ties thus quoted are E. Ray Lankester and 

 Dr. Pode ; but the former of these two gen- 

 tlemen now writes to Nature, saying that 

 their (i. e., Lankester's and Pode's) results 

 " conclusively and categorically contradict 

 the particular assertions contained in Dr. 

 Bastian's book, 'The Beginnings of Life,' 

 into the truth of which they set themselves 

 to inquire." 



Specimens of paper and cardboard made 

 from peat were recently presented to the 

 Berlin Polytechnic Association by Herr 

 Veyt-Meyer. The paper and cardboard 

 were very firm, and the latter was so thick 

 that it might be planed and polished. Pa- 

 per made of peat alone is like that made 

 from wood or straw ; but only fifteen per 

 cent, of rags is needed to give it consistence. 

 A large factory for the manufacture of peat 

 paper is to be established in Prussia. 



In order to act intelligently against the 

 cotton-worm, Southern planters are advised 

 by Prof. A. R. Grote to act in concert. He 

 further recommends that, whatever agent is 

 employed to destroy the worm, be used 

 against the first brood that appears in the 

 locality, so as to prevent its spreading far- 

 ther. It is highly desirable that the life- 

 history and habits of such insect-pests 

 should be thoroughly studied, with a view to 

 their extermination. 



Prof. Benjamin Silliman, of Yale Col- 

 lege, has patented a process for giving reso- 



