RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



Itacolumyte — Flexible Sandstone. 



This interesting rock is found in Brazil, 

 the Urals, California, Georgia, and North 

 Carolina. It is of interest from the fact that 

 it frequentl}' accompanies the diamond, as 

 is the case in North Carolina, where several 

 have been found. Its most remarkable 

 feature is, however, its flexibility. From 

 this last-named state we have received fine 

 specimens that when cut in slabs 15 inches 

 long, by 1| inches wide, and | inch thick, 

 will bend in their shortest diameter 3 inches. 

 It is also extensible to a limited extent. 

 These peculiarities are due, according to 

 Prof. J. D. Dana, to hydrous mica in its 

 lamination. 



In the American Journal of Science, Vol. 

 XLIV., Dr. C. Wetherill published a paper 

 stating that b}' microscopical examination 

 he had decided that the "flexibility is due 

 to small and innumerable ball and socket 

 joints existing very uniformly, each joint 

 permitting a slight movement which is 

 greater in one direction. 



In The Natta-alist's Leisure /four, No. 11, 

 1880, Prof A. M. Edwards states that he 

 has " investigated this point of structure 

 and flexibility with care," and has never 

 been able to observe any ball and socket 

 joints, or in the light gray or white speci- 

 mens any mica, while the red-tinted speci- 

 mens contained very little. He states 

 that " the rock is made up of small, bro- 

 ken, irregular masses of sand with sharp 

 edges, which could not have been trans- 

 ported fai', and of extremely irregular out- 

 line. They settled naturally from suspen- ! 

 sion in water, distributing themselves for I 

 the most part with their greatest axes in | 

 the same direction, making a stone that is I 

 cleavable into more or less distinctly marked 

 laminae. In such a rock, if the particles 

 were not strongly held together, they would 

 possess a certain amount of motion, one 

 over the other, and this motion, as is the 

 case, would be most marked in a direction 

 at right angles to the lamination. Professor 

 Edwards also states that grains of the 

 crushed rock put up in Canada balsam, be- i 

 come very beautiful objects for examination ! 

 by means of the Micro-Polariscope, exhib- 

 iting a gorgeous displa}' of colors, when the : 

 interposing selenite film is used. ' 



SOCIETY NOTICES. 



The members of our various societies are 

 scattered abroad on their summer vacations, 

 and meetings are generally adjourned until 

 the autumn. 



The Newport Historical Society 



held a meeting Thursday evening, August 

 7, to consider the building of an aquarium. 

 A design was presented b^' Mr. Richard 

 Bliss, showing a building sixty-five feet 

 long by thirty wide, with two wings, each 

 about forty feet, forming three sides of a 

 rectangle, a large central tank in the 

 main building, and smaller ones, about five 

 feet long and four deep, arranged about the 

 sides of the building and connected by 

 pipes with the sea. Mr. George Gordon 

 King read a paper upon the subject of pro- 

 viding such an establishment for Newport, 

 and was followed by other gentlemen. A 

 committee will be appointed to collect 

 $10,000 for the construction of the aqua- 

 rium. The government commission will 

 assist in stocking the tanks, and the creeks 

 and bays of the vicinity offer remarkable re- 

 sources in the way of fish and vegetation. 



The Lonsdale Botanical and Field 

 Naturalist Society 



held its regular monthly meeting with a 

 good attendance of members. A very 

 nice collection of plants was laid upon 

 the table, and afterward very ably named 

 by Vice-President James Moss. After the 

 usual business the members interested 

 themselves examining a microscope, which 

 the societ}' has recently imported from 

 England. 



TAKE NOTICE. 



/ The eggs of Lawrence's Goldfinch are not 

 blue. Various Californian collectors have 

 sent Arkansas Goldfinch eggs broad cast 

 over the country under the name of Law- 

 rence's. We have had numbers of blue ones 

 sent us, but coming from collectors who did 

 not take skins as well as eggs, we always 

 refused them. We lately received white eggs 

 from an esteemed collector, and in reply to 

 a note written by us to Mr William Brew- 

 ster, he writes, " The eggs of Lawrence's 

 Goldfinch are cdicatjs pure irhite, despite 

 what C'oues affirms in his new • Kej'.' " , 



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