254 NATURAL SCIENCE. JJ-^^- 



chair being taken by the Lord Bishop. Mr. Hippisley thought that 

 the subject of " Dowsing" (or the use of the divining rod) might not 

 improperly be classed among those connected with natural history. 

 He mentioned some of his own successful experiences in finding 

 water by means of the rod, and, in explanation, referred to the fact 

 that running water is a good conductor of electricity ; his theory 

 being that persons having the " gift " are more susceptible to electric 

 or magnetic action, and that the manner of holding the rod forms a 

 circuit, whereby the operator is affected when passing over a sub- 

 terranean water-course. We may add that an interesting historical 

 account of the subject, by Mr. R. W. Raymond, was published by 

 the United States Geological Survey (" Mineral Resources of the 

 United States," 1883, pp. 610-626). In this article Mr. Raymond 

 remarked that the application of the rod dated from a very early 

 period, and that it had been used to divine character, and for various 

 other purposes, as well as in the search after mineral [treasures and 

 water. 



Some unknown fossil seeds from the Cromer Forest-bed, received 

 from Mr. Clement Reid, have just been identified by Professor A. G. 

 Nathorst as belonging to Naias marina, a plant now only living at one 

 locality in Britain, in Hickling Broad, Norfolk. Dr. Gunnar 

 Andersson, who first recognised the species in a fossil state, points 

 out that, like Trapa natans, it was formerly more plentiful, for he has 

 found the sub-fossil seeds in peat-mosses in various parts of southern 

 Sweden, and has also identified specimens in collections from 

 Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and Switzerland. 



Captain Bower and Dr. Thorold arrived last month at Simla, 

 having completed their journey from India to China across the Tibet 

 tableland, a distance of over 2,000 miles, all of which, except a few 

 miles, has not before been explored. Journeying east, from the 

 Lanakma Pass, they met with a chain of salt lakes, one of which, 

 Hor-Ba-Too, proved to be 17,930 ft. above the sea. The travellers 

 passed within a few marches of Lhassa, but, as is usual, they were 

 required to make a detour to the north. Captain Bower is now 

 engaged in writing his report and completing his maps. Another 

 •expedition to the same district (the Tibet tableland) and to the 

 Chinese province of Szechuen, is being promoted by the Russian 

 Government, who have voted 30,000 roubles for the purpose. 



