Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

 Supplement on Crustacea and Mol- 



lusca, .... 575 

 Supplement on Microscopic discovery, 587 

 CHAP. I. The results of Microscopical 



Inquiry concerning the mi- 



Page 



nute formations and pheno- 

 mena of the natural world, 588 

 CHAP. II. Infusorial Animalcules, 623 

 INDEX, ... . 641 



Letter from Melbourne. 



Australian News. /%f 5 



[tfKOM OUB OWN OOBKE8PONDENT.]" 



MELBOURNE, 31st October, IfeST 

 The Flour Market at Melbourne-ProspecETof 

 the Harvest in Australia. 



Exploration of the Interior of Australia Charac- 

 ter of the Discovered Country. 

 Australia is not only a political phenomenon, but a 

 scientific one. M. Blandowski and a party of Ger- 

 mans have been making some explorations in the inte- 

 rior of this anomalous region, and have published a 

 very interesting account of their investigations. The 

 party did not proceed further than eight hundred milea 

 n the interior. Referring to the geological peculiari- 

 ties of the country, he describes an unusual stratifica- 

 tion of pale yellow sandstone, succeeded by brown- 

 colored ferruginous sandstone, which is again followed 

 ay a dirty-yellow limestone-like sandstone. He found 

 targe numbers of beautiful fossils, the hard outside of 

 which had resisted the action of the atmosphere and 

 water to a surprising degree, displaying the most ele- 

 gant forms in a state of perfect preservation. As to 

 the general aspect of the country, he confirms in every 

 respect the statements of the natives made some years 

 since, and generally esteemed fabulous, viz : " That the 

 sharply pointed stones and great rocks would fall down 

 upon and crush visitors; and that, even if they escaped 

 from this danger, they would be killed by the heat. 

 That neither grass, water nor wood are to be met with; 

 that the wells are very deep, and the cattle unable to 

 drink therefrom; that the water is salt, and that the 

 natiyes drop down bundles of rushes to soak it up;" 

 etc. etc. 



Discoveries in the Animal and Vegetable King- 

 domsThe Aborigines. 



Blandowski next proceeds to describe the animal and 

 other productions of this remarkable region. In the rivers 

 he found sweet water sponges ia great quantities a cir- 

 cumstance he believes to be quite new to the scientific 

 world. He also describes the discovery of a great variety of 

 spiders, a beautiful species of sperical lobster, two varieties 

 of cray fish, and three kinds of new shrimps, also eight dif- 

 ferent species of the muse 1 e, hitherto unknown, six bivalves 

 belonging to the family Unis, seven univalves to Lymnea 

 Suceinea and Physa, of which three prove viviparous. He 

 also describes twenty distinct forms of fish and five new 

 frogs. He has also gathered twenty-four distinct species 

 of snake, of which sixteen are entirely new. Among these, 

 the most remarkable is a reptile exactly cognate to the boa 

 of Bouto America, with the exception that it ia much 



SIZEABLE EGG. We were shown, yesterday, 

 an egg, the circumferences of which measured, 

 respectively, 7f and 5| inches. It was the pro- 

 duct of a email common barnyard fowl, that has 

 never cackled anywhere but in this city. Sacra- 

 mento Union. 



That's a pretty good sixe ; but, as strange as 

 the coincidence may seem, we were yesterday 

 shown two eggs, produced on the ranch of Mr. 

 Meeker, on the Mokelumne river, in this county, 

 each measuring in circumference, respectively, 

 7| and 6 inches. The two eggs weighed, col- 

 lectively, 5^ ounces. They were the product of 

 two hens, ,of the mixture of Shanghae and I 

 Poland breeds. San Joaquin Democrat, March 

 31*<. I 



smaller. This Australian boa is harmless, it climbs trees 

 and waits for its prey in the top-most branches of tne gun 

 tree, from which it pounces upon, ana" crushes and devours 

 its prey. Of lizards he has added eleven remarkable fo 

 to the six already known. He has also discovered three 

 varieties of turtle. 



With respect to birds, M. Blandowski baa added two new 

 forms, viz': the brown capped pomat^kmas, the r 

 tailed cuckoo, and the brown coated dumhiza. I 

 north he found the bee-eater and red-tailed parrot, al 

 the cos or rose-bellied cockatoo, and crested pigeon ; still 

 , iirther north he met with the ground dove, the porphyry- 

 crowned parroquet, and a peculiar kind of grass pa 



! Altogether, he discovered eleven distinct kinds ot 

 ution of birds. He was informed by the natives thatl 

 further in the ulterior the red-breasted cockatoo was to bf j 

 86 Of qoadrnprds, he has met with twenty-six well mrke</ 

 species, of which eleven are not marsupial, and five are er 

 firely np-v i ! i the creation. Among his new species, I 



j mentions a small animal called by the natives the yak* 

 which digs up and devours the dead bodies of the natives, 



; He next toneh.es on the aborigines, whom he descnl 



j as an athletic race, some of whom were of gigantic propoi 

 tions. They live principally on typha or cajamitez roots 



! which they bake. Sham fights are their principal amuse 

 ments, and the various tribes frequently engage in actus 

 war. The Craves are huts covered with the manur nets 

 the dead, in which the curriuetes have to sleep &t eight 

 The female relatives enter the tombs every morning befo 

 daybreak to give expression to their grief. Among som< 

 tribos they make a funeral pile in front of the grave an 

 cry bitterly. On leaving, the widow plants a green bong] 

 on the prave. Tn other tribes they burn tne body aftei 



! death on a scaffold. These customs bear a strong reacm 

 blance to those of India, and of some of the nations of an 

 Equity. M. Blandowski is now in Melbourne and inform 

 me that it is bis intention to prosecute his researches infr 

 the heart of the interior. 

 Artesian Wells-A Chance for California 



There is somethirg of a mania prevalent for bori 

 Artesian wells in the colony, which I think would aff 

 chance for California speculators in this line. 



RUNNING DOWN WILD HORSES. The 

 Mexicans sometimes reserve an old steed 

 in native wildness, for the purpose of tir- 

 ing down a band of mustangs. They 

 stuff a suit of cloths with t-iles, and then 

 tie it in an erect position tin his back, and 

 when a band of mustangs is discovered 

 b.3 is turned loose. The stud with strain- 

 ing flight, seeks the band ; they see him 

 coming, apparently with a rider on his 

 back, and away they go, he after them 

 wondering why they fly away so rapidly 

 from his presence. His native signals are 

 all useless, they heed them not they see 

 the figure on his back anxious fears lends 

 swiftness to their speed : straining his sin- 

 ews for a determined effort, he rushes af- 

 ter them with the pace sf the wind, urged 

 on by all the fury of revenge. The Mex- 

 icans are keenly watching the race, and 

 when they think the band is nearly used 

 up by running away from imaginary dan- 

 ger, thoy rush in ou fresh horses, and t' '' 

 tho sweeping lareat descends over the 1: 

 of the tired niustangs.~Mirip0$a " ! 

 \9trat. 



