380 Miicellaneotis Intelligence. 



2. Sensation experienced at great Altitudes. — Capt. Hodgson 

 in his journey to the head of the Ganges, which he found in 

 the midst of eternal snows, says, whilst speaking of the sen- 

 sations felt at great altitudes, " We experienced considerable 

 difficulty in breathing, and that peculiar sensation which is 

 always felt at great elevations where there is any sort of 

 herbage, though I never experienced the like on naked snow- 

 beds, even when higher. Mountaineers, who know nothing of 

 the thinness of the air, attribute the faintness to the exhalations 

 from noxious plants; and I believe they are right, for a sickening 

 effluvium was given out by them here, as well as on the heights 

 under the snowy peaks which I passed over last year above the 

 Setlej, though on the highest snow the faintness was not com- 

 plained of, but only an inability to go far without stopping to 

 take breath.— £'o?in. Phil. Jour. 



3. On the Action of Nitrogen in the Process of Respiration.— 

 Dr. Edwards, who is well known as an intelligent physiologist, 

 concludes, from different experiments, and from the circum- 

 stance of the opposite results which they give, some indicating 

 a diminution of the nitrogen of the air, others an increase of it, 

 during respiration, that this gas is absorbed into the circulation, 

 and afterwards discharged from it; and that each of these 

 actions is regulated by the constitution, habit, and circum- 

 stances of the individual, and by the influences to which he 

 may be subjected, the absorption being to a small extent, while 

 the exhalation is considerable, and vice versa. — Journ. de Phys., 

 January, 1823. 



4. Diabetes. — M. Van Mens says, " I have met with a very 

 singular diabetic urine ; it gives no indication of ammonia 

 with any chemical re-agent, nor does it possess the odour of 

 urine ; but this odour is strongly developed, and that also of 

 ammonia, at the same time accompanied by a brisk effer- 

 vescence, if a few drops of sulphuric acid be added to it. 

 These products are supposed to arise from the action of the 

 acid on the urea. — Giornale de Fisica. 



5. Toad m a Solid Rock. — The workmen engaged in blasting 

 rock from the bed of the Erie canal at Lockport in Niagara 

 county, lately discovered, in a small cavity in the rock, a toad 

 in the torpid state, which, on exposure to the air, instantly 

 revived, but died a few minutes afterwards. The cavity was 

 oiily large enough to contain the body without allowing room 

 for motion. No communication existed with the atmosphere, 

 the nearest approach to the surface was six inches through solid 

 stone. It is not mentioned whether the rock was sandstone 

 or limestone, but from the prevalence of limestone on the sur- 



