162 



2. Notices of a Flood at Frastanz, in the Vorarlberg, in the 



Autumn of 1846. By William Brown, Esq. 



The author noticed the general effects of running water, in dis- 

 solving, rubbing down, and transpoi'ting to a lower level, the solid 

 parts of the earth's surface ; and referred to the gradual change 

 which it is producing on the relative level of sea and land. He then 

 described an occurrence which he had witnessed in the Vorarlberg, 

 during the autumn of 1846. 



After a hot and dry summer, a succession of heavy rains for nearly 

 a fortnight, swelled all the streams flowing into the river 111, flooded 

 the lower grounds, and inflicted a great deal of injury on the fields, 

 roads, and bridges. At Frastanz, a small stream brought down 

 from the mountains an enormous quantity of gravel, which continued 

 for at least three weeks after the rains had ceased. When first seen 

 by him, on the 6th of September, the volume of water in the stream 

 was not very great, nor was its velocity unusual ; but immediately 

 beneath the surface of the water, which was quite transparent, in- 

 numerable stones were seen to be in motion. These stones were 

 generally of the size of an egg. The quantity of gravel brought 

 down was so great, that the bed of the stream was elevated to the 

 height of 25 feet in one part. The village of Frastanz was consi- 

 dered to be in danger, from this curious torrent of stones rolled along 

 by the water ; and several hundreds of men were employed to bank 

 it in by large trees laid lengthwise, and supported by strong posts 

 driven into the gi-ound. In the course of the following year, a 

 wooden canal was formed in the lowest pai't of the stream, by which 

 about a third of the mass of gravel has been washed down. This 

 has raised the level of the 111, into which the Frastanz stream flows, 

 for two or three miles. The quantity of loose stones in the upper 

 part of the ravine is still so great as to threaten a i-enewal of the 

 catastrophe at any time when an unusual flow of water shall set it 

 in motion. 



3. Contributions to the Phenomena of the Zodiacal Light. 



By Professor C. Piazzi Smyth. 



The purport of this paper was to place on record certain observa- 

 tions made during the years 1843-4-5, in the southern hemisphere. 



