GLEANINGS. 25 



tending thitliei-wards. The instriuuent was employed on the occasion 

 successfnlly. To cax'iy on a sustained conversation, it is found that two 

 instruments are required at each end, one to speak to and the other to 

 listen at. — A fuU rajjort vdll be found in the Times of November 29th, p. 6 



The PhonoCtR.vph is the name of an instrument, invented by Mr. 

 Eddison, which is described as an improvement on the Telephone. The 

 inventor has provided an arrangement, by which the undulations 

 produced by the human voice are recorded on a strip of paper, from 

 which the sentences uttered may be reproduced automatically. 



OUE COYEE. 



BY WOETHIXGTON G. SMITH, F.L.S., M.A. ., 



Every work of art, whether important or unimportant, should be 

 able to speak for itself, and tell its own tale. It has been suggested, 

 however, that the designer and engraver of the new Cover of the 

 " Midland Naturalist " should ^vrite a few Unes of description of the 

 picture on the outside wrapper, and he has complied, with pleasure, by 

 wiitiug the few brief sentences which follow : — 



Some of the ideas for the Cover belong to Messrs. Badger, Tait, and 

 Harrison, others are the writer's ; the general design is intended to give a 

 sort of conventional reflex of the chief Sciences. The study of animals 

 recently extinct is indicated by the sketch of the Mammoth, (Elephas 

 j)rimi(jenlus,) in the ice, and of living animals by the drawing of the Red 

 Deer, (Cervus Elaphus.) The philosophical instruments at the top, 

 spectroscope, microscopes, and telescopes, need no word of explanation. 

 The Cromlech, flint arrow-head, and stone hammer point to pre-historic 

 Ai'chaeology ; the Cromlech represents the magnificent monument still 

 standing near the \'illage of CljTiuog, in Carnarvonshire. The cap stone 

 of this Cromlech is profusely dotted over with the enigmatic "cup- 

 markings ; " the original sketch for this outhne was made by the WT.'iter 

 from the actual structure in August last. The botanical vasculum, the 

 geological hammers,'auemometer, ground thermometer, barometer, andrain 

 gauge point to the respective studies in which these instruments are used. 

 The Bee (Boinbus terrestris) is introduced as a typical British Insect to 

 represent Entomology, and the Wild Rose, (Rosa canina,) and Cowshp, 

 (Primula elatior,) are given to indicate the Phanerogamous section of 

 Botany. The Actinophrys, (Actinoplu-ys Eichontiij on the right points to 

 the EMzopoda, and the Ferns and Fungi beneath are representatives of 

 Cryptogamic Botany. The Apterj-x, (Apteryx Austvalis,) and Octopus, 

 (Octopus vulgaris,) represent rare and curious animals, and at the same 

 time point to Ornithology and the Mollusca. The Ichthj'osaurus at the 

 base is a representative of animals long extinct, and now found in a fossil 

 condition only. 



As there is always an interest attached to the method of doing things, 

 it may not be out of place here to say that the design, (with all its 

 defects,) was di'a^^Ti du'ect on the box-wood block, and engraved at once, 

 without a shj), false line, or alteration. Many readers of the " Midland 

 Naturalist " will probably be self-taught men, who busily follow 

 industrial occupations every week-day. It may therefore interest such 

 readers to know that the writer of these lines never had any teacher, 

 either artistic or scientific, other than he always found supphed to him 

 by close observation, careful reading, experience, and constant per- 

 severance. 



