Scientific Intelligence — Meteorology and Geology. 181 



pathians* (Magura Mountains, near Szlanicz). The masses from 

 both localities are very similar to meteoric stones. (Vide Erinan, 

 Archiv fur WissenschaftUche Kundc von Russland, vol, i., p. 315 ; 

 and Haidinger s Bericht iiber die Szlaniczer Schiirfe in Ungarn^ 

 — Humboldt's Kosmos, vol. i., p. 406. 



3. Infusoria in Volcanic Rocks. — Professor Ehrenberg formerly 

 stated that he had found microscopic animals in flint, which had ap- 

 parently been exposed to a high temperature, from the north of Ire- 

 land ; and in an earthy substance eaten by the Tunguses, brought 

 by Ernian from the Marekau Mountains, near Ochotsk, which re- 

 sembled decomposed pumice, and is supposed to be the decomposed 

 rock of the Marekanite. More recently he has examined rocks from 

 the Hochsinniier volcanic hill near the Laacher-See, in one of which 

 Noggerath had previously suspected the existence of infusory ani- 

 mals. Ehrenberg found that not only the Polirschicfer of that 

 locality is entirely composed of siliceous infusoria, but also that a 

 considerable proportion of the tuffs and pumice conglomerates is 

 similarly constituted. The two latter rocks, however, contain the 

 infusoria in a distinctly roasted {gefrittet) condition. Thirty-eight 

 species of Polygastrica were found, of which only two are new ; 

 and of the thirty-six known ones, thirty-five belong to living spe- 

 cies, and only one is tertiary. Infusoria were also found in the 

 pumice of the Kammerbiihl; in the Trass of the Brohl-Thal ; in a 

 substance resembling adhesive slate, which forms a coating on clink- 

 stone from the vicinity of the Hochsimmer ; and in a pumice from 

 Tollo, near Santiago, in Chili. A rock from Arequipa, in Peru, 

 described by Meyen as a decomposed porphyry, proves to be a 

 pure infusory PoUrschiefer. According to Meyen, the volcano of 

 that locality has never given out lavas, but has only ejected pumice. 

 Many pumices have been examined by Ehrenberg, in which he could 

 discover no organic remains, and some in which he found them only 

 with the greatest difficulty. (Leonhard and Bronn's Jahrbuch, 

 1845, Heft 2, p. 249.) 



4. 3Iaterials formerly or at present employed in the construc- 

 tion of the Cathedral of Cologne. — The principal material of which 

 the cathedral of Cologne is built, is the trachyte of the Drachenfels, 

 in the Siebengebirge. The chief causes which induced the selection 

 of this stone were, that it was known as a useful architectural mate- 

 rial from a very early period, and that the quarries, distant only 

 about 20 English miles from Cologne, were quite close to the Rhine, 

 and were, therefore, very favourably placed for cheap transport. As 

 t!ie quarries at the DniclicufLls were abandoned, it became necessary, 

 in 1824, to select anoth' r material for the restoration and complo- 



* Haidinger mentions that the meteoric iron of the Magura Moun- 

 tains lias been found in such abundance, that it has been employed for 

 practical purposes. Edit. 



