148 



iiuxrks that at tlie present time there are three well-inarkod forms inhab- 

 itiDg Great Britain. These cougist of the hornless cattle, which have 

 lost the horns Avhich their ancestors possessed through the selection of 

 the breeder. The polled Gallov^ay cattle, for instance, are the result of 

 the care taken by the grandfather of the present Earl of Selkirk, in 

 only breeding from bulls ATith the shortest horns. The hornless is 

 altogether aii artiticial form, and may be developed in any breed. 

 Second, the Bos longifrons, or the small black or brown Welsh and 

 Scotch cattle, which are remarkable for their short horns and the deli- 

 cacy of their build. Third, the red and white variegated cattle de- 

 scended from the iirus, and which have, on the whole, far larger horns. 

 The large domestic cattle of the ttrtts type are represented in their 

 ancient purity by the Chilliugham wild oxen, (as generally called,) 

 which vrere probably introduced l)y the English invaders of Eoman 

 Britain, being unknown to that country during the Eoman occupation. 

 The Bos longifrons^ (long-horns,) on the other hand, were the sole oxen 

 which were domesticated in Great Britain during the Eoman occupa- 

 tion, and, in remote times, were kept in herds by the users of bronze, 

 and before that by the users of polished stone. The present distribu- 

 tion of the two breeds agrees almost exactly with the areas occupied by 

 the Celtic i)opuIatiou and the German or Teutonic invaders. Both the 

 Bos longifrons and the tirus were probably derived from some country, 

 to the south and east of Europe, and were introduced b}^ the herdsmen 

 and farmers of the polished-stone period, at a very remo^ antiquity. 



Brakdy FEOi-r SAWDUST. — The fact has long since been known that 

 if cellulose is boiled with dilute acids grape-sugar is produced, and a 

 similar treatment of lichens, according to a process devised by Professor 

 Stenberg, is the initial step to the • preparation of a very fair brandy.' 

 We now learn that quite a good brandy can be made from sawdust, 

 generally from a mixture of the sawdust of pine and of fir timber. 

 For this purpose 1) parts of very moist sawdust, .7 of a part of hydro- 

 chloric acid, and 33.7 paxts of water, making 43.4 parts in all, are to 

 be boiled together, under steam pressure, for eight hours and a half, 

 after which the mass is found to contain 3.33 parts of grape-sugar; and 

 after eleven hours 4.38 parts, in all over 19 per cent, of the entire mass. 

 The acid is now to be neutralized vrith lime, so that the mash, cooled and 

 ready for fermentation, is to contain one-half a degree of acid, (accord- 

 ing to the acetometer,) and a suitable amount of yeast is to be added. 

 After ninety-six hours of fermentation the masli is distilled, and sixty- 

 one quails of brandy of 50 per cent, of strength will be obtained, per- 

 fectly fre«i from any smell of turpentine, and of extreme excellence of flavor. 

 The experiment has not been conducted in a practical way on a sutii- 

 ciently large scale to determine positively the merits of this process, 

 but ii is not at all unlikely that the success may equal that with the 

 liche«!s, and that a large industry in this direction may be developed. 

 It is not improbable, too, that experiments will show that other kindis 

 of wood than those mentioned may be foun.d better adapted to tlie pur- 

 pose-in question. 



Imi'LUEi^TCE 01' HEAT ON PLANTS. — Hugo de Yrles, in a paper upon 

 the iitfluence of heat upon plants, discusses, in the first ijlace, the up- 

 ward limit of temperature for vegetable life, and finds occasion to agree 

 with Sachs, who gives this limit at 120"^ to 150°, Eahr., lor the air, and 

 112-^ to 117° for the vvater, although some latitude nuist be allowed for 

 the age and precise character of the plant. In cases of thermal springs 

 whicb,contain living alga^, this limit must, of coiu'se, be largely extended, 



