SCIENTIFIC GOSSIP. 187 



Pre- Newtonian Discover!/ of ike Law of Gravitation. — At a meeting 

 of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, July 9, M. Cliaslea read extracts 

 from papers and letters to show that Pascal had discovered and calculated, 

 before Newton, the law of universal gravitation of masses in the inverse 

 ratio of the square of the distance. Pascal died in 1GG2, three years 

 before Newton made his great discovery. 



Increasing the Power of Bunsen's Batterij. — M. Zsilinski has dis- 

 covered a method of augmenting the power of Bunsen's battery, and 

 making it more lasting. lie uses two porous cells, one within the' other. 

 In the inner one containing the carbon he pours nitric acid, in the outer 

 sulphuric acid ; and in the outermost vessel a solution of chloride of 

 ammonium in contact with the zinc. With the modification he says there 

 is no effervescence, neither is any zinc consumed uselessly. 



New Material for Oas Making. — The Estafette of Lausanne lately 

 made the statement that between four and five millions of cockchafers 

 were recently sent to Fryburg for the manufacture of gas, and the residue 

 was found to form an excellent carriage grease ! 



Densitji of Ozone. — M. Soret has determined the density of this 

 remarkable body to be li times as great as that of Oxygen; and this 

 determination seems to be borne out by the results of experiments on its 

 rate of diffusion. 



Physiological Effects of Tobacco.— The Abbe ftroigno writing to the 

 Chemical News, says "In 1861, when writing our mathematical treatises, 



during our labours with M. Lindelof, we used snuff to excess, 



taking 20 to 25 grammes per day (about | ounce), incessantly having 

 recourse to the fatal box, and sniiffing up the dangerous stimulant. The 

 effect of this was, on the one hand, the stiffening of the nervous system, 

 which we could not account for; on the other hand, a rapid loss of 

 memory, not only of the present but of the past. We had learned several 

 languages by their roots, and our memory was often at a loss for a word. 

 Frightened at this considerable loss, we resolved, in September 1861, to 

 renounce the use of snuff and cigars for ever. This resolution Avas 'the 

 commencement of a veritable restoration to health and spirits, and our 

 memory recovered all its sensibility and force. The same thing happened 

 to M. Dubrinifaut, the celebrated chemist, in renouncing the use of 

 tobacco. We do not he.stitate in saying that for one moderate snuff- 

 taker or smoker there are ninety-nine who use tobacco to excess. 



The River Amazon. — Professor Agassiz, who has been engaged in 

 examining the Amazon and its tributaries, in a letter to M. °Elie de 

 Beaumont, says he has found that that part of the American continent is 

 formed of mud of diluvium resting on a cretaceous deposit, similar to the 

 basin of the Seine or banks of the Somme. Speaking of the fish inhabitin"- 

 the river, he states that most of them differ from those of other lar"-e 

 rivers ; and, what is still more singular even, the different sections of the 

 Amazon have different inhabitants. 



