NATURE STUDY IN INDIA. 143 



side we find the orifice of the now extinct calcareous spring. 

 The water, as evidence indicates, gushed out long ago and 

 deposited its calcareous load upon the surface over which 

 it flowed. The moss that grew, leaves and stems that w^ere 

 in its path were incrusted with carbonate of lime, and these 

 in time decayed, leaving the moulds. This deposit formed 

 in layers about a foot thick, binding each other like steps 

 now long covered with decayed vegetable matter, and upon 

 this the lichens and ferns established their abode. i\t this 

 spot the student of mineralogy eagerly excavates for the 

 layers and as the chunks are brought out one by one they 

 are carefully examined and the parts showing the organic 

 inclusions most interestingly are broken off, thoroughly 

 cleaned and washed in the creek below. Many minera- 

 logical-geological cabinets have this material already rep- 

 resented. However as long as the material is available 

 the lover of minerals will at lesiure often come to the spot 

 and as he will break off a slab will utter to himself, " This 

 is lots better than the one before." 



Nature Study in India. 



The report of deaths from venomous snakes and wild 

 beasts in India during 1902 has just been issued and adver- 

 tises the beauties of living in that tropical clime adjacent 

 to the isle ' ' where every prospect pleases and only man is 

 vile." Snakes are responsible for the death of 23,166 hu- 

 man beings and 9,019 cattle. Wild beasts, mostly tigers, 

 killed 2,836 people and 80,796 cattle. The total of all 

 these deaths is 115,817, while the wild beasts and snakes 

 that were killed, for which rewards were paid, numbered 

 87,578. The lower animals seem to be getting the best 

 of the contest. 



A goose flies by a chart the Royal Geographical Society 

 could not mend. — Oliver Wendell Holmes . 



