Miscellanies. 387 
- power, is woven by the loom into those sumptuous tapestries and rich 
hangings, which have excited the. astonishment of all beholders. 
This curious manufacture alone is worth a visit to the Institution— 
Atheneum. 
11. Death of Olbers.—Henry William Matthew Olbers, M. D. ete. 
died at Bremen, on the morning of the 2d of March, 1840, in the 82d 
year of his age. He was born at Arbergen, duchy of Bremen, Oct. 
11, 1758, and during a long life has been an industrious and success- 
ful cultivator of science. In 1802 he discovered the planet Paillas, 
and in 1807, the planet Vesta. His mathematical and astronomical 
labors, particularly those relating to comets, have been extensive and 
of the highest order. He retained and employed his exalted faculties 
far beyond the term usually allotted to man, and gently breathed his 
last, beloved and venerated by his friends and the whole scientific 
world. : 
12. New fossil Shells from N. Carolina.—Mr. T. A. Conrad, in a 
letter to the Editors, says,— 
Having obtained a few interesting fossil shells from Duplin county, 
in North Carolina, I send you for publication descriptions of some 
species, I believe to be new. The formation is the same as that of 
Virginia, which I have termed Medial Tertiary. ‘The fossils belong 
to my friend Daniel B. Smith, and were found by Professor Mitchell, 
of Chapel Hill, N. C. 
Natica canrena.—This differs only from the recent specimens, in 
having the lines of growth on the spire more deeply impressed. 
Fulgur excavatus.—Shell pyriform, with spiral lines, very promi- 
nent on the inferior half of the large whorl; shoulder of large whorl 
with a wide concave depression; spire widely and profoundly chan- 
neled; the whorls bicarinated, and slightly tuberculated on the 
carine. Length 3 inches. HUST 
Fulgur contrarius.—Shell sinistral, pyriform, with wrinkled spi- 
ral lines, obsolete on the middle of the large whorl, shoulder obtuse- 
ly angulated, without spines or tubercles; summit of the whorls con- 
cave; whorls of the spire angulated in the middle, and slightly tuber- 
culated on the angle; beak very long, sinuous; labium with distant 
prominent lines within. Length 4 inches. 
Voluta Carolinensis.—Shell subfusiform ; whorls deeply channel- 
ed below the suture; superior margin of the channel carinated ; 
spire elevated, with prominent, rather distant acute spiral lines on the 
three or four superior whorls; large whorl with obscure, distant spi- 
ral lines, except towards the base, which is sulcated, and strongly 
striated. Length 3 inches. 
