5021 Miscellaneous Intelligence, 



in the morniug ; birds at sea take shelter on vessels ; wild iyeese 

 fly vei7 high, and in bands, going; towards the east ; water-fowls 

 cry, and are agitated ; the lapwing cries loudly ; the king-fisher 

 flies towards the earth : the rooks (corvus frugilegus) pass rapidly 

 through the air, and play on the borders of water. It is well known 

 that hares have a presentiment of wind, and will often set ten 

 hours in advance on the places where it will blow. — Sylvan, Jahr- 

 buclifur Fast Maenner, 



17. On ancient Aerolites, by Dr. Noggerath. — The following no- 

 tice, which has been partly omitted by Chladni, may be found in 

 the Laboratorium Chimicum of Becher, Frankfort, 1680. Albertus 

 Magnus relates from Avicenna, that a piece of iron of the weight 

 of one hundred pounds fell from heaven ; it is that which Chladni 

 places in the year 1009, on the borders of the Caspian Sea.. 

 Another piece fell at Grimma, in the country of Meissen, which is 

 placed by Chladni between 1540 and 1550. Petermann Eterlein 

 writes in his Chronica Helvetica that there fell from heaven during 

 a storm, a mass of iron sixteen feet in length, fifteen in width, and 

 two in thickness : he computes that this mass should weigh 48,000 

 pounds. Paul Merula says in his Cosmographie, that six iron 

 hatches fell from heaven : he adds that these were probably stones 

 in the form of hatches, called by the Germans donneraxt. Chladni 

 appears to have had no knowledge of the last two facts. — Journal 



fur Chimie. 



18. Fresh Water found at Sea. — Mr. Buchanan relates that "In 

 the beginning of September 1824, I embarked with the other offi- 

 cers of our regiment, in a country ship, for Chittagong. We 

 sailed out of the Madras roads with a fair wind, which continued 

 for four days, but on the fifth we were becalmed, and continued so 

 for fourteen days, having had only once or twice a very slight 

 breeze, which never lasted longer than a few hours. It was to- 

 wards the end of this calm that I observed a very strange appear- 

 ance on the surface of the glassy ocean. It seemed to be furrowed 

 in several directions, and much agitated in these furrows ; so that 

 when the ship was drifted into these parts, she was driven about in 

 all directions. On the night of the 14th, a breeze sprang up. 

 Owing to our unexpectedly tedious passage, we ran short of pro- 

 visions, particularly water. You may suppose what was our joy 

 and astonishment the next morning, in taking up the water along- 

 side to wash decks, to find that it was fresh and much more palat- 

 able than th<it which remained in our casks, which were imme- 

 diately replenished with it. By this day's observation, we were 

 one hundred and twenty miles from Chittagong, and about one 

 hundred miles from the nearest part of the Juderbunds. The water 

 was of a more yellow tinge than in most parts of the bay, and 

 those who drank a great deal of it suffered from it afterwards. — 

 Jameson^ s Jour, 1827, p. 369, 



