Natural History. 437 



Above dOOO quintals of the purified salt have been taken to these 

 parts for the purpose of trade. It may be very advantageously 

 used in the production of nitric acid. 



6. ilecen< IroK Pj/nVes.— Professor Meinecke observed, on the 

 Jclauer Heath near Halle, tables of an inch in breadth of iron 

 pyrites, intermixed with reeds, and which he observed continued 

 to increase in size ; thus proving their new formation. 



7. Remarkable Glaciers, containing Organic Remains.— Mr. 

 Otto von Kotzebue, in his Voyage to the South Sea and Behring's 

 Straits remarked a singular formation of ice in the western part of 

 the gulf which he discovered to the north of Behring's Straits, 

 and to which he gave his name. , c o 



On the 4th of August, having ascertained the longitude (101 

 42' 20" W. of Greenwich) and latitude {66° 13' 25" N.) of the 

 place where they had cast anchor, they left the Rurick, with 

 two boats provided with several days' provisions. In the place 

 where they passed the night, the earth rose rapidly from the 

 flat shore to a height of 120 feet, and then appeared as an im- 

 mense plain, covered with moss, a little herbage being found on 

 the inclined surface. An English mile from the shore the depth 

 of the sea was only five feet. 



In the place where they passed the fourth night, the rise of the 

 surface from the shore was not great, but after that it attained a 

 considerable elevation, abundance of herbs being found at the 

 bottom and above moss. 



On the 8th, a tempest prevented their return to the ship, but 

 gave occasion to the remarkable discovery made by Dr. Eschholz, 

 whose name was given to the bay. 



" We had travelled considerably in various directions, without 

 perceiving that we were upon glaciers. The doctor having made 

 an excursion to some distance, arrived at a ruin of the mountain, 

 when, to his surprise, he discovered that the whole of its interior 

 was pure ice. Immediately we all went to the spot, provided 

 with tools. We soon came to a place where the shore rose nearly 

 perpendicularly above 100 feet, and then continued to extend 

 with a slight inclination upwards. Here we saw masses of the 

 purest ice above 100 feet high, which were preserved under a car- 

 pet of moss and herbs. They must have been formed by some 

 terrible convulsion. The portion which had fallen down being 

 exposed to the sun and air, melted, and much water ran from it 

 into the sea. ... 



" An indubitable proof that the ice before us was primitive ice, 

 is afforded by a great number of the bones and teeth of the mam- 

 moth, when it is melted. I found one very fine tooth. We 

 could not explain to ourselves the cause of a very strong odour, 

 which exhaled from this country, similar to that of burnt horn. 



