1826.] Philosophical, Chemical, and Scientific Miscellaniet. 



mild — that if the standard temperature of 

 man, in a temperate climate, be about 98° 

 (which he considers the nearest approxi- 

 mation to the truth), in a hot climate it 

 will be higher, varying with atmospheric 

 variation from 98-5° to 101°, and that the 

 temperature of different races of mankind, 

 Coeteris paribus, is very much alike ; that 

 the temperature of birds is the liighest — 

 that of the mammalia is the next — that of 

 theamphibia, fishers, and certain insects next 

 in degree — and lowest of all that of the mol- 

 hisca, Crustacea, and worms : that as there 

 appears to be a decided connexion between 

 the quantity of oxygen consumed by an 

 animal and the animal's heat, there is good 

 reason to consider the two in the relation 

 of cause and effect. 



Suspension Bridges. — Suspension bridges 

 made of hide ropes, and which were found 

 exactly as they now exist by the Spaniards 

 when they first occupied the country three 

 centuries ago, are to be met with in Ame- 

 rica. There is one over the river Maypo, 

 at no great distance from the city of Sant- 

 iago, the capital of Chili, which bears a 

 remarkable similarity, even in minute par- 

 ticulars, to those of iron witli which we 

 are now so familiar in this country. This 

 does not, however, derogate from the claims 

 of Captain Brown to the most important 

 application of principles with which every 

 person was acquainted, but no one turned 

 to account, till the sagacity and perseve- 

 rance of this gentleman taught us their 

 use. 



Rail-roads. — It is generally considered, 

 that the day's work of a horse on a rail- 

 road will be about seven times and a half 

 that of the same animal on a turnpike- 

 road. 



Preservation of Zoological Specimens 

 from the depredations of Insects. — Put rec- 

 tified oil of turpentine in a bladder, the 

 mouth of which is firmly tied with a waxed 

 string, and nothing more is necessary than 

 to place the bladder thus prepared in the 

 box with the birds, or to tie it to the pe- 

 destal on which the birds are perched in a 

 case. For large cases of birds, a pig's or 

 a sheep's bladder is sufficient ; for middle- 

 sized cases, a lamb's or a rabbit's bladder 

 will do ; and for a small one, we may use a 

 rat's bladder. The turpentine evidently 

 penetrates through the bladder, as it fills 

 the case with its strong smell. This method 

 of preserving zoological specimens has been 

 most successfully employed, to a great ex- 

 tent, in the museum in the University of 

 Edinburgh. 



Greenlan'l. — Sir Charles Giesecke, who 

 spent eight years in Greenland, has put it 

 beyond all doubt that a part of the east 

 coast of West Greenland was formerly in- 

 habited by Europeans. Early history in- 

 forms us that it was colonized by Norwe- 

 gians from Iceland : the colony appears to 

 have been considemble, and to have ex- 

 tended BCMlhward to latitude 65'^ or 66'. 



179 



The destruction of the settlers is supposed 

 to have been produced by inundations, &;c. 



Falling Stars. — According to the obser- 

 vations of Dr. Brandes, of Breslau, and his 

 friends, it would seem that the most fre- 

 quent direction of falling stars is the oppo- 

 site of that of the earth in its orbit. 



Minerals. — Two new minerals, to which 

 the names of herschelite and phillipsite are 

 given, have been brought by Mr. Herschel 

 from Aci Reale, in Sicily. 



Palestine. — From the observations of 

 Professor Hall, Dr. Clarke, and other 

 naturalists, it appears that Palestine is 

 principally composed of secondary lime- 

 stone intermingled with trajj-rocks. 



Zoology. — Balls which have much re- 

 semblance to those of hair formed in the 

 stomachs of oxen, have been found on the 

 shores of the Mediterranean, and ap])ear to 

 be produced by the agglomeration of the 

 leaves of zostera marina in tlie stomach of 

 certain fishes. 



Prussian Universities. — The number of 

 students in the six Prussian universities of 

 Berlin, Bonn, Ilalle, Wittemberg, Bre- 

 slau, Greifswald, and Konigsberg, amount- 

 ed in 18-21 to 3,4.63. 



Platinum Strings for Musical Instru- 

 ments. — It was proposed some time ago, in 

 the Musical Gazette of Leipzig, to employ 

 platina strings instead of copper, steel, or 

 brass ones. This metal being more elastic 

 and more extensible than any other hitherto 

 employed in the manufacture of strings, it 

 is obvious that strings made of it would not 

 only give a fuller sound, but would also 

 have the advantage of keeping free from 

 rust, and the inconvenience of breaking, 

 as this metal is not induenced by hu- 

 midity. 



Collimator. — The invention of the colli- 

 mator by Captain Kater may be considered 

 as forming a new era in astronomy ; and it 

 is satisfactory to know that accounts have 

 been received from various observatories 

 realizing the expectations that were origi- 

 nally formed concerning this admirable in- 

 strument. 



Flying Fish in the Channel. — On the 23d 

 of August last, with light winds from the 

 E.N.E., inclinable to a calm, a rather large 

 shoal of what is commonly called the Jlying- 

 fish (Exocaetus of Linnaeus) was seen off 

 Portland. 



Method of curing Smoky Chimnies. — 

 This method is simply to contract the vent 

 as soon as possible, then gradually to widen 

 it for four or five feet, and then again to 

 contract it to the usual dimensions, and 

 carry it up in any direction. No register 

 grates are necessary. 



Mineral Waters of Windsor. — The fol- 

 lowing is an analysis of the mineral waters 

 from the two springs discovered last year 

 in Windsor Great Park. The specific gra- 

 vity of the stronger water=I010'l; that of 

 the weaker lOO?-?. Of the former, one 

 pint measure (holding one pound avoirdu- 



2 A 2 



