238 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



6thl}', The period during which the bone caves were formed was 

 extremely long. 



7thly, In certain caverns, the mud, bones, and pebbles have been 

 simultaneously introduced ; in others, on the contrary, the mud has 

 been deposited after the bones. 



The bones of the following animals have been found in the ca- 

 verns of the South of France : — 



Elephant. 

 Rhinoceros. 

 Wild Boar. 

 Horse. 



Ox, two species. 

 Stag, five species. 

 Antelope, very large. 

 Chamois. 

 Hyaena, fossil. 

 Hyaena, striped. 

 Hyaena, brown. 

 Dog, two species. 



Goat. 



Sheep. 



Bear, at least two 



species. 

 Badger. 

 Tiger. 

 Lion. 

 Leopard. 

 Lynx. 

 Wolf. 

 Fox. 



Pole-cat. 



Hare. 



Rabbit. 



Lagomys. 



Campagnol. 



Birds, several species. 



Land Tortoise. 



Lizard {Laceria ocel- 



lata ) . 

 Snake, size of the 



Coluber Natrix. 



Weasel. 



The only difference which exists between the caves of England 

 and Germany, compared with those of the South of France, is, that 

 in England the hippopotamus has been found, and at Sandwik in 

 Westphalia, the glutton. — Ann. de Chim. etdePhys. liL p. 161. 



ON THE VISIBILITY OF STARS BY DAY. 



Sir John Herschel, in his popular Treatise on Astronomy (p. 63), 

 notices the fact of stars being distinctly visible through the day- 

 light by telescopes, their brightness being proportionate to the 

 power of the instrument; but, which is unusual with that eminent 

 author, he omits to explain the reason. 



If the following be not the true reason, perhaps correspondents 

 of tshe Philosophical Magazine will be kind enough to correct me. 



The rays of day-light which enter the object-glass of a telescope 

 must, from our proximity to the points of their reflection, be much 

 more divergent than the rays of a distant star ; consequently none 

 of the former rays can be converged to so short a focus as the 

 latter. Hence, if a telescope be so adjusted as to bring the " pa- 

 rallel" rays from a distant star to a focus, none of the divergent 

 rays from the nearer atmosphere can be condensed at the si. me or 

 so short a focus, and the atmospheric light within the tube cannot 

 much interfere with the concentrated light of the star. As we cannot, 

 while looking through a telescope at a distant ship, see the flame of 

 a candle, or cross wires, held immediately before the object-glass, 

 by reason of the nearer flame or wires' requiring a longer focus 

 than the distant ship, so for the same reason we cannot, while look- 

 ing through a telescope at a distant star, see the nearer light of the 

 atmosphere which partially intercepts it. In either case that which 

 intervenes produces no other effect than a partial obscuration of 

 the distant object. 



