Natural History. 389- 



shoots. In place of the flax-stalks the leaves which fall from 

 trees in Autumn may be substituted, but they must be covered, 

 with waste twigs, or any thing- else that will prevent the v?ind 

 from blowing them away. — Phil. Mag. 



9. Mesotype from Mount Vesuvius. — II Conte Paoli has 

 ascertained the existence of mesotype among the products of 

 Mount Vesuvius. He describes the fibrous mesotype and the 

 hyaline mesotype, and has no doubt of their being real volcanic 

 products formed in the lava at the time of cooling. 



10. Native Sulphate of Iron and Alumina. — This is a salt 

 which has lately been found in abundance in the slate clay of 

 the deserted coal-mines of Hurlet and Campsie, and results 

 from the decomposition and mutual action of pyrites on the 

 clay. It was given by Mr. Macintosh to Mr. Phillips, who 

 describes it as existing in the state of soft, delicate, silky, 

 colourless fibres, resembling asbestos in appearance. By ex- 

 posure to moist air the iron becomes peroxidized. It dissolves 

 in water, yielding on evaporation crystals of sulphate of iron, 

 and a mother liquor of sulphate of alumina. Its solution with 

 salts of potash or ammonia yields alum. The salt on analysis 

 was found to be composed of 



1 1 . Bitumen in Minerals. — In a curious paper upon the ana- 

 lysis of minerals, lately communicated to the Royal Society by 

 the Right Hon. George Knox, he demonstrates the existence 

 of bitumen in a great variety of mineral products where it has 

 hitherto escaped observation, such as basalt, greenstone, ser- 

 pentine, mica, SjC. ; and shows the necessity of attending to this 

 volatile ingredient in all cases of analysis, where it has been 

 generally suffered to escape observation from the loss by igni- 

 tion having too commonly been ascribed to water. He recom- 

 mends, with this view, that distillation, in a proper apparatus, 

 should always precede the other steps of analysis, and that the 

 nature of the volatile products, thus obtained, should be particu- 

 larly examined. 



12. Italian Marble. — The workmen employed in working the 

 marble-quarry, discovered near Florence, proceed with activity ; 

 they have opened a way leading to Mount Altissimo, near Se- 

 varezza. The first blocks were sent to Paris, the others are 



