170 



Scientific Journals, 



work. The foot-prints differ in size from that of a hare's paw to the hoof of 

 a pony. On a slab forming part of the wall of a summer-house in Dr. Dun- 

 can's garden at the Manse of Ruthwell, there are 24 impressions, 12 of the 

 right feet, as many of the left, and, consequently, six repetitions of each 

 foot. Professor B^ckland, with whom Dr. Duncan is in correspondence, 

 considers that the animals must have been crocodiles or tortoises. — On the 

 supposed Changes in the Meteorological Constitution of the different parts 

 of the Earth during the Historical Period, by Professor Schow of Copen- 

 hagen. This is a very interesting paper, but does not admit of abridgment. 

 The author estimates the climate of different countries in remote periods of 

 antiquity, by the plants mentioned in the Bible and other ancient works, 

 as growing in them, as compared with the fossil remains of the antediluvian 

 world. The paper is not completed, and therefore we cannot give his ge- 

 neral conclusions. — Zoological Collections. Three species of bears, natives 

 of India, are described, the crocodiles of the Ganges noticed, and an ac- 

 count of the white elephant of Siam, and of a fight between a tiger and an 

 elephant, from FinlaysorCs Mission to Siam and Thibet. From these notices 

 our readers will see that Dr. Brewster^s Journal is of very great interest, 

 even as a magazine of natural history. 



When the papers on chemistry, comparative anatomy, natural philosophy, 

 and other branches of science, and the high scientific character of the con- 

 ductor and his coadjutors are considered, it may safely be pronounced a 

 periodical of first-rate merit. 



JamesorCs Philosophical Journal for April, contains : — Observations on 

 the large brown hornet of New South Wales ; a very 

 curious and interesting paper, in which, among other , 

 things, the author supposes that the hexagonal plan of(- 

 the cells is derived from the structure of the fore- 

 legs of the hornet {Jig. 19). — Analysis of a sour clay, 

 used in acidulating sherbet, in Persia. The whitish- 

 grey earth here alluded to, is found on the margins of 

 sulphurous streams which issue from the bases of hills 

 near Dalkee; it has a sour milky taste, and consists 

 principally of sulphate of lime,with alittle siliceous matter, 

 acidulated by free sulphuric acid. — On the Natural His- 

 tory of the Salmon, by Daniel Ellis, Esq. There are seven 

 species of the genus (Salmo in the river Tay ; but this 

 paper is confined to the S. salar, or common salmon, 

 and treats of spawning and the evolution of the ova in the higher parts of 

 rivers and streams ; of the growth and movements of the young brood to 

 and from the sea during the first year of life ; and of the migration of the 

 salmon betwixt the river and the sea. In this very complete paper, it is 

 proved that the grilse, which used to be considered as a fish of a different 

 species from the salmon, is but a salmon in a certain stage of growth. For 

 the first thirty-three months of a salmon's life, it increases nearly at the 

 rate of 1 lb. 1 oz. per month ; but in the first five months of its existence, 

 that is, from April to August inclusive, it attains, in favourable circum- 

 stances, to the weight of 8 lbs. From a great number of facts respecting 

 the migrations of the salmon at different periods of its life, it would appear 

 that the ova can only be hatched, and the young fish live, in fresh water ; 

 that in the earliest period of a salmon's existence, salt water is fatal to it ; 

 that the causes of the alternate migrations of salmon are two — the search 

 for food, and the impulse of propagation. 



[The Rev. Mr. Hendrick, in his Survey of Aberdeenshire, assigns another 

 cause, the annoyance of insects which live on their skin.] It is certain 

 salmon receive a principal part of their food in the sea ; that the best are 

 always caught in or near the sea; and that they fall off in their condition. 



