THOS. K. DOWNING-, City Inspector. 

 CITY INSPECTOR' 8 OFFICE, New- York, Nov. 17, 1855. 



Wild Beasts at Auction Great Sale at the \ 

 Hippodrome. 



The sale of the remainder of wild beasts of the 

 American Menagerie at the Hippodrome on Monday, 

 was not so well attended nor so spirited as was ex- 

 pected. The attendance was doubtless affected 

 somewhat by the advertised requirenfent of one shil- 

 ling for admittance ; and bidders were probably in 

 some fear that a purchase would place them in the 

 unenviable position of the indiscreet gentleman who 

 bought an elephant and had no place, with the ex- 

 ception of a small carpeted back parlor, to keep him 

 in. 



When the hour arrived at which the sale was ad- 

 vertised to commence, Mr. A. C. TBTTLE, the auc- 

 tioneer, proceeded to dispose of the animals in as 

 cool and every-day business-like as if he were knock- 

 ing down second-hand furniture, or retired om- 

 nibus horses. The first animal offered for sale was 

 a large white bear said to be the only one living 

 in America ; and if the price at which he was sold 

 is a fair criterion by which to judge of the general 

 estimation in which these Polar gentlemen are held, 

 it is not probable that another will voluntarily leave 

 his dear native ice.^o become a wandering exile in 

 America, for man^^ars to come. Mr. E. M. SHIELDS 

 was the only bidder present who evinced anything 

 approaching to an adequate appreciation of the val- 

 ue of his society ; and to him the only living white 

 bear was knocked down for the sum of $475, cage 

 and all. His bearship heard himself disposed of 

 with as little apparent concern as hardened criminals 

 " exhibit on hearing a sentence that they be hanged 

 by the neck. His only expression was.that he had a 

 feverish desire for a nice clean piece of ice. 



Royalty went at a still lower price. A Bengal 

 tiger with a royal title, fierce expression of coun- 

 tenance, huge paws, and a powerful inclination to 

 lie down, was sold to Mr. HENEY BUTLEK for $225. 



The next lot was two performing lions and a 

 lioness, with their den. The lions were noble fel- 

 lows; but, notwithstanding they shook their manes, 

 wagged their tails, and roared majestically, they 

 were knocked down, in their den, to Mr. H BUTLBTI, 

 lor the insignificant sum of $375. The same gentle- 

 man purchased a zebra, a beautiful little leopard, 

 and a cage, for $285. 



The greatest insult ever offered to the race of 

 iorest kings was now given by a Republican Auc- 

 tioneer. He put a lion and a hyena up for sale to- 

 gether. His majesty was sorely mortified so much 

 FO that he lost his hair at the bare thought. Both 

 were sold to Mr. BCTLEE for $75 less than the cage 

 cost when new. Mr. E. G. JABVIS purchased a 

 mzly bear and cage, for $150. The bear did 

 when Mr. JOSEPH CUSHINO gaTefSW forarhS^roI 



le man who is generally known as He who bought 

 the elephant, turned up again near the close of the 

 le, and what is remarkable, had another man with 

 him of alike propensity. As with all evil practices 

 t-o is it with elephant-buying 



" It grows by what it feeds upon. " 

 ntleman, who did not know what 





For elephant Canada. . 

 For elephant Fanny. 

 For elephant Mogul 

 Tor etephant Mickey. 



' 

 1>10 ' J 



en, tut that of b^partners-MeSnf E T 

 t 



!, but duty compels us to do it 

 The sale of a camel, now in Ohio, on condition that 

 J,U purrhagpr pay for hi keeping from Au* 30 to 



the p*. !icluded 



Earthquake Waves on tlie Coast of Califor- 

 iiitt. * // / { 



At the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Seu'iu-i', which met last month at Providence, R. I., 

 P re lessor A. D. Bache read a paper on the Earth- 

 quake Waves which'took place on the Western Coast 

 of the United States 6u the 23d and 28th of Decem- 

 ber, 1S-'H. The following report on the subject ap- 

 pears in the X. Y. Tribune of August 20th : 



Oa the 23d of December, 1854, at 9 A. M., an 

 earthquake occurred at Simoda, on the island of Ni- 

 phon, Japan, that resulted in the wreck of the Rus- 

 sian frigate Diana. The harbor was first emptied of 

 water ; then came in an enormous wave, which again 

 receded. (It appeared from the Rev. Mr. Jones that 

 the whole character of the harbor of Simoda, pre- 

 viously surveyed by the Poichattan, has been changed 

 by the earthquake.) A report from the Bonin Isl- 

 ands is not sufficiently exact to use for our main 

 purpose, but points to Simoda as the centre oi 

 disturbance. (Simoda, according to Mr. Jones, is 

 volcanic; Bonin appears not to be.) Now the Coast 

 Survey has three self-acting tide-guages, at Astoria, 

 ori Columbia River, San Francisco, and San Diego. 

 They record the rise of the tide on a cylinder turned 

 by a clock. The apparatus is protected more or less 

 from the oscillations that wind-waves would cause, 

 which only cause a trembling of the index or stylus. 

 The guage at Astoria was but slightly arfected by the 

 earthquake wave, owing to the bar on the river and 

 the distance it had to ascend. At San Francisco, 

 4,800 miles from Simoda, the wave arrived 12 hours 

 16 minutes after the beginning of the earthquake. A 

 series of seven waves, each about half an hour in du- 

 ration, or 35 minutes, each series successively smaller, 

 and separated by a quiet time of an hour from the 

 preceding, was recorder at San Francisco. At San 

 Diego the wave had traversed 5,200 miles in 12 hours 

 38 minutes, and produced likewise a series of sever 

 waves, each nearly corresponding to those at San 

 Francisco, but the second series stronger than the 

 first and third. In height they were less, the high- 

 est at San Francisco being .7 of a foot, at San Diegc 

 The waves at San Diego could not have com* 



jm San Francisco, as they would have arrived 

 much later. The velocity with which a wave travels 

 depends on the depth of the ocean. The second anc 

 third series were but repetitions of the first wave thai 

 had reached the same points, traveling through shal- 

 lower water. The calculations based on these date 

 give for the Pacific Ocean a depth of from 14,000 tc 

 18,000 fathoms. It is remarkable how the estimates 

 of the ocean's depth have grown less. La Place as- 

 sumed it at 10 miles, Whewell at 3.o, while this esti- 

 mate brings it down to about 2 miles. 



OfVj- The Pacific Ittantodon. 



We have now lying upon" our table a fossilized 

 mammoth grinder of the- Mastodon Maximum 

 which was found in a small branch at Canemah 

 by Mr. Saml. K. Barlow. The grinder was pn- 

 tect when discovered and weighed three pounds. 

 Ao less than seven species of the Maatodon have 

 been discovered in different parts of the world 

 three in Europe, two in South America, one 

 in India, and one in the United States. 



That which has been found in the United 

 Mates is the largest specimen the world has ever 

 produced and has consequently received the name 

 01 Mastodon Af axioms. In the Museum of Mr. 

 ? u* of X hllad elphia, there IB a skeleton put up 

 which measures fifteen feet in length, and eleven 



it in height. The bones of the Mastodon have 

 'ever been discovered further east than Burling- 

 ton, Conn, whilst vast numbers of them have been 

 Kentuck nei g hborh od of Big Bone Lick of 



We have now the pleasure of announcing the 

 nt discovery of the kind on the Pacific coast by 



over ]h T- d S ' K ' Barlow ' who is known all 

 the Lmon as the old pioneer who cut the 

 first wagon road through the Cascade Mountains, 

 Urcgon Argus. 



