428 



Varieties. 



[OCT. 



genera, conthurellus, memlius, and Ichizo- 

 phyllum. 



' New Paper. In the last number but one 

 of the Builetin des Sciences, a process is 

 mentioned by which papjr can be made to 

 resist moisture : it is the invention of M. 

 Engel, and consists in plunging unsized 

 paper once or twice into a clear solution of 

 mastic in oil of turpentine, and drying it 

 afterwards by a gentle beat. The paper 

 pressed in this manner, without becoming 

 transparent, has all the properties of writing 

 paper, and may be employed for that pur- 

 pose. When laid by it is perfectly secure 

 from being injured by mould or millew ; and 

 is not likely to be destroyed by mice or in- 

 sects. For passports, account-books, and 

 registers, this paper seems well adapted. 



Fossil Mastodon. At the end 'of last year, 

 in repairing and cleansing the village spring 

 near Genesseo, Ontario County, New York, 

 United States, and the ditches connected with 

 it, which are dug in marl, that extends two 

 feet below the surface, it wus deemed proper 

 to deepen ihem, and in doing this the fossil 

 bones of a mastodon were found, about half- 

 a-mile east of the court-house at Genesseo, in 

 a small marsh that has some elevation above 

 the surrounding country. The tusks were 

 first seen, and then the head ; but these, as 

 indeed the whole skeleton, were in such a 

 state of almost total decomposition, as to 

 defy all attempts at preservation. The skele- 

 ton lay in the direction so frequently observed 

 in the remains of this animal, south-west and 

 north-east. The head rested upon the lower 

 jaw. The tusks were much decayed ; their 

 points were five feet apart, and measured at 

 least a foot from the centre. They were four 

 feet and two inches in length, the largest 

 diameter could not be ascertained on account 

 oftheirdecay ; but itwas preserved a conside- 

 rable distance, and then gradually diminished 

 so that at five inches from the point the diame- 

 ter was three inches. The laminated structure 

 of the tusk was rendered evident by decom- 

 position, which had in a measure separated 

 the laminae, and the whole was supposed 

 to be phosphate of lime. Of the two supe- 

 rior incisors no trace could be discovered, but 

 the eight under were in sight. The length 

 of the largest tooth was six and a quarter 

 inches ; of the smallest three and a half ; the 

 crown of the tooth was two and a half, and 

 the breadth of the enamel from one-eighth to 

 three-eighths of an inch, as was rendered visi- 

 ble by wearing away of the surface. The 

 roots were all broken and decayed ; the ani- 

 mal could not have been old, as eight under 

 teeth were found, old animals have only one 

 under on either side of each jaw. The pelvis 

 was twenty-two inches in its transverse dia- 

 meter, between the acetebula at the inferior 

 opening. The epiphyses of the larger bones, 

 and the patellae, were found nearly perfect, 

 not having suffered from decay. 



Mineralogy. In the imperial cabinet of 

 Vienna there is an opal 4 75 inches (Vi- 

 enna) in length, 2-5 inches .in thickness, 



and weighing 34 ounces. It eame from 

 Czervenitzia, in Hungary. Half a million 

 of florins have been offered for it, a price 

 very inferior to the real value of this unique 

 and magnificent specimen. 



An Italian Miracle. In the mouth of 

 August 1819, some polenta, a sort of food 

 made with the flour of maize, with salt and 

 water, of which the Italians are very fond, 

 placed in a house at Padua, in the situation 

 usually allotted to it, was found covered with 

 red spots. This was thrown away, but 

 what was prepared for the ensuing day's con- 

 sumption underwent the same alteration. 

 Some suspicion then arose that this was the 

 work of the evil one ; a dignitary of the 

 church came to bless the interior of the 

 house, and the kitchen in particular where 

 the occurrence had taken place, bnt in vain ; 

 the suspected colour did not disappear. Fast- 

 ing and prayer were had recourse to by the 

 unfortunate family ; masses were celebrated 

 on their account ; still with equal want of 

 success. Up to that time the secret had been 

 kept, but the curiosity of neighbours at last 

 discovered it, and from that moment the 

 family were regarded with a sort of horror 

 and terror ; their most intimate friends even 

 shunned them. The magistrates of the place 

 charged a physician, of the name of Sette, 

 to investigate the facts. Public rumour be- 

 came more loud, and the house wherein the 

 phenomena had taken place, was incessantly 

 surrounded with curious people. The cause 

 of the drops of blood on the polenta was at 

 length denned ; the family were eating the 

 old corn, which, during the famine of 1817, 

 they had refused to the poor, and in this way 

 the d ivine vengeance was now declaring itself. 

 Much prudence was required on the part of 

 Dr. Sette, for the moral contagion, now ready 

 to spread, was more to be feared than the 

 alteration of the food in a small number of 

 private houses. After many researches, the 

 physician, who was a skilful naturalist, ascer- 

 tained the specific character of this pheno- 

 menon, which was only a vegetation hitherto 

 unobserved, and of which the colour alone 

 had occasioned so much alarm. 



Statistics. On the first of January 1826, 

 the population of the kingdom of the Nether- 

 lands amounted to 6,059,506 souls, including 

 the inhabitants of the grand duchy of Luxem- 

 burg, who amounted in number to 291,759. 

 The births for the preceding year, in the 

 cities, were 68,0 11, viz. 34,967 males, 33,044 

 females; in the country 153,212; viz. 78,913 

 males, 74,^99 females ; of which numbers 

 the ratio is 0,943 ; the ratio of the population 

 to the births was consequently 27:1. The 

 marriages during the same year were 47,097, 

 whence the ratio of the population to the 

 marriages was 127:2. The deaths amounted 

 in the same year to 146,138; viz. in the 

 cities 25,445 males, 25,239 females ; in the 

 country 48,758 males, 46,496 females. The 

 proportion between the deaths of the two 

 sexes is, therefore, 0,967, and that of the 

 population to the deaths 41,0. During the 



