1869.] MISCELLANEOUS. 119 



could throw an intermediate ray at any angle he desired. This 

 in principle, is a semi-circular illumination, but improved by 

 shutting out all but necessary light, and consequently intensifying 

 the shadows ; so much so that, with one of the admirable half- 

 inch object-glas'^es now manufactured by Mr. Andrew Ross, re- 

 sults are conspicuously obtained, which before were but obscurely 

 or were quite unattainable by quarter-inch and even one-eighth- 

 inch glasses. Mr. Mackie has suggested that the principle should 

 be applied to the illumination of opaque objects, the reflected 

 light from the Lieberkuhns being now likewise dispersed over 

 the shadows of the object by the circular radiation from tlieir 

 brightly polished surfaces and no artistic effects are produced, as 

 would be the case if the light were thrown down from one side of 

 the Lieberkuhn only. 



The " Naturalists Canadien." — We have received the first 

 number of this periodical, and hail with no small pleasure its 

 advent. It is under the direction of the Abb6 Provencher, Cur6 

 of Portneuf ; and is printed in our sister city of Quebec. It con- 

 tains twenty-four pages of printed matter ; and we fully endorse the 

 views of the author's prospectus, " that while furnishing to the 

 amateur the medium of the study of Natural History, it will, 

 at the same time, be the means of disseminating all new dis- 

 coveries, and form the means by which the public will participate 

 in these investigations." 



There is also a page devoted to the Meteorology of Portneuf, 

 which forms a new and important point of observation. We hope 

 that investigations will ere long be extended to other points on 

 the Lower St. Lawrence, and we sincerely wish the author that 

 success which his energy and devotion to the science so richly 

 deserves. c. s. 



Social and Sanitary Science. — One of the greatest social 

 problems in all civilized nations is, how to return to the earth 

 what is taken from it ; or, how to collect and return to the soil, 

 in a way profitable for cultivation, the refuse of man and animals 

 which now, under favorable circumstances, runs to waste, and, 

 under ordinary circumstances, remains to breed disease. 



The simplest of the modes yet adopted is now coming into 

 extensive use in England, viz., " Moule's Earth Closets." It is 

 simply a convenient application of the old principle, that earth is 



