Miscellanies. 399 
26. Lycopodium.—On the morning of May 22, 1839, between 2 
and 3 o’clock, a shower of rain was falling in Troy, (New York,) and 
soon after a yellow substance was observed on the tinned roof of a 
house, as well as on all the flat roofs in the vicinity,* and was wash- 
ed off by the rain. The highly characteristic flash which it gives in 
the flame of a candle, resembling lightning, leaves no doubt of its 
identity with lycopodium, or at least of its belonging to the same fam- 
ily. The ground pine or club-moss is the humble representative of 
this family in modern times ; none of the species ever attain a greater 
height than a few feet, whereas at the coal era there were trees of 
this family which attained a height of 60 or 70 feet in the stem. 
Prof. Eaton and the botanists in Troy have probably long since de- 
termined from what source this yellow powder was brought by the 
winds. The specimen has only now arrived, or it would have been 
mentioned before. 
The substance is probably a collection of the sporules, (or powder 
performing the office of seeds in the flowering plants) of the Lyco- 
podium clavatum, or other species of the Lycopodiacex, (or club 
mosses.) ‘These sporules are well known to be highly inflammable. 
The above facts as well as the specimen have been communicated 
to us by the politeness of Mr. Avery J. Skilton, of Troy.—Eps. 
27. The burning of Monkton Pond, Vi.—The following account 
was given me by Dr. Smith, of Monkton. He says his father, broth- 
er, and himself were burning briars early in the spring near the pond, 
and in an instant the pond took fire with a terrible roar; in a fright, 
they fled away from it, and when they looked back they saw the blaze 
to rise many yards high, and although it was a calm day, and the 
pond still till that moment, the water became agitated in great waves, 
and the roaring of ‘the fire was heard several miles. Dr. Smith was 
a man of strict veracity, and the statement of facts can be relied on. 
He says the blaze settled lower and lower till it was extinct. 
S. FansHeEr. 
28. Bone Cavern.—Extract of a letter to the Editors from Mr. W. 
Gaylord, dated Otisco, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1839. 
«© My dear Sirs—In looking over a Philadelphia paper a few days 
since, I saw it stated that a cave had been lately discovered on 'the 
bank of the Susquehannah, in constructing the railroad near Harris- 
burg, and in noticing it, the Harrisburg Keystone states ‘that its 
depth is about 20 feet, its extent unknown. Bones of various kinds 
* There is an account in Dr. Mitchill’s Med. Repos. (Vol. 3, p. 414,) of a yel- 
low deposit from rain, which fell at New York, April 12, 1800. 
