Acid Earth q/ Persia. — Varieties of the Lynx. 75 



ACID EARTH OF PERSIA. 



Lieut. Col. Wright of the royal engineers, who lately came 

 over land from India, brought a small quantity of this natural 

 production from Persia. The natives apply it to the same uses 

 that lemons and limes are used foi- elsewhere, namely, to make 

 their sherbets, of which considerable quantities are used, they 

 being prohibited the use of wine. The acid earth is found in 

 great quantities at a village called Daulakie, in the south of 

 Persia, between three and four days' journey from Bushire 

 on the Persian Gulf. 



Some analytical experiments made on a few grains of it by 

 W. H. Pepys, Esq. gave the following results: — About one fifth 

 is soluble, by trituration, in boiling distilled water. The solu- 

 tion changes litmus paper and solution of cabbage red. It 

 yields copious precipitates with nitrate and with muriate of 

 barytes — indicating the presence of sulphuric acid. The 

 triple prussiate gave a strong blue precipitate; and the sul- 

 phuret of ammonia a copious blackish brown precipitate — 

 proofs of die presence of iron. The solution, when evaporated 

 nearly to dryness, yielded crystals, which by their figure and 

 taste seemed to be acidulous sulphate of iron. The earthy 

 matter was not examined, — the principalaimof the experiments 

 being only to ascertain the nature of the free acid in a product 

 so abundant, where it is found, that it might be taken up in cart 

 loads. — 



VARIETIES OF THE LYNX IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 



The subjoined observations on some varieties of the Lynx 

 occurring in the norUi of Europe are extracted from Mr. De 

 Cajiell Brooke's Travels through Sweden, Norway, and Fin- 

 mark, to the North Cape; a work which contains many in- 

 teresting notices respecting the zoology of those countries. 

 They may assist, perhaps, in removing from the history of the 

 smaller feline animals principally characterized by having tufted 

 ears, a portion of that obscurity which seems at present to 

 pervade it 



" The lynx of the north, the tiger of the polar countries, is 

 not rare in this part of Norway (the province of Drontheim j. 

 In the Norwegian language it is called goupe, and in the north 

 of Sweden it is generally known by the name of 'warjelue. 

 From the skins of this animal, that were shown to me in dif- 

 ferent parts of Norway and Lajiland, three of which tliftered 

 very materially in their colour, it seems Uiat there are at least 

 as many species or varieties of the lynx. Of one ot these 

 Mr. Knudtzon had several. The largest measured five ieet 

 in length, not including the tail, which did not exceed an inch 

 and a half. The colour of ihem all was gray, willi a yellowish 

 tuige, beaulilully marked willi dark spots, and the ears were 



K 2 tufted. 



