Miscellaneous. 2oL 
other, P. wanthipes, is rather smaller, and has a short but very 
thickly furred tail. It is yellowish grey above, becoming fulvous on 
the lateral membranes and feet. The body beneath is greyish. 
Ruminants.—M. Fontanier brought from Pekin a stag equal to 
C. elaphus in stature, and resembling that species in its general 
characters. It is distinguished by the more elongate form of the 
head, the greyer colour of the coat, and by the great development of 
the ischiatic patch, which is yellow. Hence the author names this 
species Cervus xanthopygus.—Ann. Sci. Nat. sér. 5. tome viii. 
pp. 374-376. 
Notes on some Alge from a Californian Hot Spring. By Dr. H. C. 
Woop, Jun., Professor of Botany in the University of Pennsyl- 
vania. 
Some time since, Prof. Leidy handed me for examination a number 
of dried Algze, which he had received from Prof. Seidensticker, by 
whose sister, Mrs. Partz, they had been gathered in the “ Benton 
Spring,” which is situated in the extreme northern point of Owen’s 
Valley, California, sixty miles south-west from the town of Aurora. 
Afterwards a number of similar specimens came to me directly from 
Mrs.Partz by mail. The subject of life in thermal springs is one of 
so much general interest, especially in connexion with that of spon- 
taneous generation, as to induce me to make a very careful exami- 
nation of the material and offer the results to the readers of this 
journal. In this connexion the following extract from a letter of 
Mrs. Partz to her brother is very relevant :— 
*“T send you a few samples of the singular vegetation developed 
in the hot springs of our valley. These springs rise from the earth 
in an area of about 80 square feet, which forms a basin or pond that 
pours its hot waters into a narrow creek. In the basin are produced 
the first forms, partly at a temperature of 124°-135° F. Gradually 
in the creek and to a distance of 100 yards from the springs are 
developed, at a temperature of 110°-120° F., the Algze, some grow- 
ing to a length of over 2 feet, and looking like bunches of waving 
hair of the most beautiful green. Below 100° F. these plants cease 
to grow, and give way to a slimy fungus growth, though likewise of 
a beautiful green, which, finally, as the temperature of the water 
decreases, also disappears. They are very difficult to preserve, being 
of so soft and pulpy a nature as not to bear the least handling, and 
must be carried in their native hot water to the house, very few at 
a time, and floated upon paper. After being taken from the water 
and allowed to cool, they become a black pulpy mass. But more 
strange than the vegetable are the animal organizations, whose 
germs, probably through modifications of successive generations, have 
finally become indigenous to these strange precincts. Mr. Partz and 
myself saw in the clear water of the basin a very sprightly spider- 
like creature running nimbly over the ground, where the water was 
124° F., and on another occasion dipped out two tiny red worms.” 
In regard to the temperatures given, and the observation as to 
