42 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY. [February, 



Duration of Life. — The age of various animals is said to average 

 in years as follows : 



Whale 1 ,000 



Swan, parrot, raven 200 



Elephant, camel, crocodile, tortoise, eagle 100 



Carp, geese 75 



Lion, beaver 50 



Stag, pellican, pike , 40 



Horse, ass, ox. hawk 30 



Tiger, leopard, jaguar, hyena, chamois, swine, crane 25 



Rhinoceros, deer, wolf, cow, peacock, goldfinch 20 



Alonkey, baboon, linnet, skv-lark iS 



Fox, llama, nightingale, salmon, cod 15 



Hen, pigeon, blackbird, red-breast starling 12 



Hare, sheep, thrush, eel S 



Squirrel, rabbit 7 



Queen bees 4 



Wren 2 



Bumble-bee in New Zealand. — The bumble-bee was sent to New 

 Zealand in order to secure the introduction of red clover. This has 

 been accomplished, the bee fertilizing the blossoms. Curiously, the 

 bumble-bee does not visit the indigenous plants, and it has multiplieii 

 extraordinarily, and does not hibernate at all. 



Preserving Botanical Specimens. — At the Paris Museum of Nat- 

 ural History 30 grains of salicylic acid to one quart of water are used 

 for the preservation of specimens in their original form and color. 



Diatom Multiplication. — Division takes place in not far from 24 

 hours and continues with such rapidity that a single frustule is capable 

 of producing a thousand million progeny in a single month. It has 

 been claimed that division occurs in from 3 to 6 hours instead of 24. 

 Moisture and light only are necessary for their reproduction. 



Watermelon Juice contains about 3J per cent, of sugar, 2^ per 

 cent, of levulose, and j'',, per cent, of glucose or dextrose. 



Biological Specimens lose color if put in alcohol, fall to pieces 

 easily if kept in glycerine, and their tissue disintegrates in carbolic acid. 



DIATOMS. 



Diatoms from new localities.— Mr. J. D. Hyatt, of New York, 

 has found marine forms in the filter beds of the Pokeepsie City Water- 

 works. 



As noticed in our July number, Mr. K. M. Cunningham, of Mobile, 

 Alabama, has discovered a deposit of diatomaceous material on the 

 west bank of the Mobile River. It is in tidal marsh mud taken from 

 thi^ee to five feet below the surface, and has probably not been seen 

 heretofore by diatom hunters. The vegetable growtli, mostly marsh 

 grasses, rests upon a stratum of a very soft, oozy mud, through which 

 a pole may be readilv pushed for a depth of six feet. When with- 

 drawn, the soft mud is scraped otfand subjected to the usual treatment 

 for the removal and concentration of diatoms. This mud proves to be 

 of unusual richness in variety of micro-organic remains. Associated 



