NOTES. 



575 



short wire, obtains a spark, without having 

 to employ strong currents, which is of suffi- 

 ciently high temperature to give the spectra 

 of all the known elements. Atmospheric 

 lines of the second order are not obtained 

 with it, and the nebulous bands of nitrogen 

 and the lines of the electrodes only rarely. 



Dr. Daniel G. Bkinton, of Philadel- 

 phia, has been announced a laureate of the 

 Societo Amcricaiue de France, and awarded 

 the medal of the society, for his works on 

 the " Aboriginal Tongues of America." 



Professor Enrico Caporali, in a paper 

 on the " Pythagoric P^orraula in Cosmical Ev- 

 olution," published in the Italian quarterly, 

 " La Nuova Scicnza," holds, in general, in 

 opposition to Herbert Spencer's theory of 

 mechanical causes, that all evolution is due 

 more to internal energy than to outward 

 conditions. 



The invention of binocular opera-glasses 

 is generally attributed to the Bohemian 

 Capuchin, P. Schyd. M. G. Govi, an Italian 

 investigator, has, however, found that the 

 first glasses of the kind were presented to 

 King Louis XIII, by an optician of Paris 

 named Choroz, in 1620. 



LuNDSTROii has made investigations of 

 the adaptations with which plants are pro- 

 vided for making the most of the water that 

 comes to them in the shape of rain or dew. 

 He has classified them as follows : Depres- 

 sions in the shape of leaf-cups or of grooves 

 in the epidermis ; hair-formations, in tufts 

 or borders ; hydroscopic membranes in the 

 shape of larger or smaller spots or stripes 

 on the epidermis ; and anatomical adapta- 

 tions, such as water-absorbing textures and 

 swelling glands. It is a noteworthy fact 

 that all of these adaptations are wanting in 

 the submerged parts of plants. 



M. C. Andre, who is connected with a 

 light-house at Pondicherry, India, tells of 

 a fog-cloud about six feet broad which ap- 

 peared at the top of the room-wall he was 

 facing, while simultaneously a quick, sharp, 

 and loud report was heard under his table. 

 It sounded as if the whole underside of the 

 table-top had been struck a hard blow, 

 yet the table did not appear to have been 

 moved, nor anything upon it. After the 

 report, his plate took to spinning around 

 on'j the table without any noise, showing 

 that, though it had been thrown up from 

 the tabic, it had not ceased to be touching 

 it. This account is a part of the proceed- 

 ings of the French Academy of Sciences of 

 November 5th, and is designated a " meteor- 

 ological phenomenon." 



M. PniLipPE TnoMAS has discovered 

 some very extensive deposits of phosphate 

 of lime in the Tertiary strata of Southwest- 

 ern Tunis, 



M. LcDovic Breto.v has propounded a 

 new theory of the formation of coal. He 

 believes it is produced by the sinking of 

 floating islands like those which now occur 

 on many lakes and rivers, and which are 

 conspicuous on the Upper Nile. These isl- 

 ands are composed chiefly of turf, which, 

 being swallowed up by the water, becomes 

 fossilized at the bottom. 



M. Treve has described to the French 

 Academy of Sciences a phenomenon of a 

 beautiful green ray which he has observed 

 to follow the disappearance, for a quarter of 

 a second after sunset, of the upper limb of 

 the sun's disk. The flash of the ray is as 

 quick as that of lightning, and can be seen 

 only under unusual conditions of clearness 

 of the sky. The author explains the ap- 

 pearance under M. Chevreul's theory of the 

 simultaneous contrast of colors. 



M. DE LoEioL announced to the French 

 Association the completion of his work in 

 the " Paleontologie Fran9aise," on the fossM 

 crinoids of France. He has described and 

 figured 209 species, 89 of which are new to 

 science. In the same work M. Cotteau has 

 described 525 species, belonging to 50 

 genera, of EcJddnce. Nearly all of these 

 species are characteristic of the beds in 

 which they are found. 



M. Wroblewski has observed that at- 

 mospheric air in liquefying does not follow 

 the laws of liquefaction of a simple gas, 

 but behaves like a mixture the elements of 

 which are subject to different laws. K air 

 so behaves that it has been possible, on su- 

 perficial observation, to speak of its own 

 critical point, it is because the difference 

 in the curves of tension of the vapors of 

 oxygen and nitrogen is so slight as easily 

 to escape notice. Air may be made to give 

 two distinct liquids, of different appearance 

 and composition, one above the other, and 

 separated by a distinct meniscus ; the lower 

 liquid containing by volume about 111 per 

 cent of oxygen, and the upper one, 17 or 

 18 per cent. 



A Merovingian sepulchre has been dis- 

 covered near Montceaux, France, which 

 seems to be so far unique in its way, and is 

 supposed to date from the fourth or fifth 

 century. It contained a mummified Prank- 

 ish warrior, with his arms and clothes. The 

 sarcophagus was made of a soft, calcareous 

 stone, and had lids of the same material. 

 The mummy was wrapped in a linen shirt 

 and a woolen robe, with a belt-buckle in 

 perfect preservation, and an iron sword. 

 The shoes were also in good condition, and 

 fastened with narrow straj-js of leather. At 

 the feet was a funereal vase. The discov- 

 erer had replaced the sarcophagus and cov- 

 ered it up, so as to have it in safe keepin[; 

 for future observation ; but thieves came 



