236 GeseUsclmft naturforschender Fretinde, Berlin. 



„Lenox, off Madagascar, Sept. 6. 1759. 



Madagascar is divided into a number of petty king- 

 doms Ol" States, the largest of which is that 6i Brecess. 

 which (as the natives informed me) abounds with gold mines, 

 as does the kingdom of Volambo with those of silver. 

 Aod there is great reason to credit this assertion; for the 

 teeth of many of the sheep and other cattle killed on board 

 our ship were so much covered with a metalline scale as 

 to resemble teeth of brass. This the miners are said to 

 look lipon as an infallible indication of a mine being under 

 the surface on which such cattle graze. I will not an- 

 swer for the infallibility of this trial, but am sure it is 

 more consistent with reason than the idle tales of the 

 divinlng rods. — — W. HiRST." 



Der Brief ist abgedruckt von S. Pasfield Oliver in 1. 

 „The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine". 

 Vol. IV (Nr. XIV, 1890) p. 193—195; obige Citation auf 

 p. 195; ferner 2. in der Einleitung von: „Madagascar: or 

 Robert Drury's Journal, during Fifteen Years' Captivity 

 on that Island . . . Edited with an Introd. and Notes by 

 Capt. Pasfield Oliver, London. Fisher Unioni 1890. 

 („„Ad venture Series"", Vo)." 



Referierabend am II. Dezember 1900. 

 Herr Fr. Dahl über Westberg, P.: Aus dem Leben der 



Spinnen. Korrespondenzbl.NaturfVer.Riga.Heft43. 1900. 

 Herr C. Hennings über Döderlein: Die Erwerbung des 



Flugvermögens bei Wirbelthieren. Zool. Jahrb. Abt, 



f. Syst., Bd. XIV. Heft 1. 

 Herr H. Virchow über His. W. : Lecithoblast und Angioblast 



der Wirbelthiere. Abhandl. mathem.-physikal. Classe 



Kgl. Sachs. Ges. Wiss., Bd. 26, 1900. 



Im Austausch wurden erhalten: 



Naturwiss. Wochenschr. Bd. XV. Heft 11. Berlin No- 

 vember 1900, 



