340 transactions of the american institute. 



Coal in Minnesota. 



Cannol coal has been found on the Cottonwood river, about 100 miles 

 from St. Paul. The vein is 88 feet below the surface, and is six feet in 

 thickness. This discovery is of very great importance to the manufactur- 

 ing" interests of Minnesota. 



A Movable Island. 



A party of Eng-lish scientists are stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, 

 near the coast of Italj'', to watch the nriovements of an island supposed to 

 be of volcanic origin, which rises almost to the surface, and again sinks 

 out of sight. > 



Rescue of the Apparently Drowned. 



The person taken from, the water should be immediately placed horizon- 

 tally, with the face downward, and one arm brought up so that the fore- 

 head may rest on it. The tongue should be drawn out so as to leave a free 

 entrance to the windpipe. If breathing is not soon perceptible the body 

 should be gently rolled from the position, with the face downward, until it 

 rests on one side, then back again, this may be repeated once in four or 

 five seconds. Dr. Sylvester's method of imitating breathing may then be 

 tried, viz., place the patient on the back on a flat surface, inclined a little 

 downward; raise and support the liead by a folded dress; let the tongue 

 be kept out by bringing the teeth of the under jaw against it ; stand at 

 the patient's head, grasp the arms above the elbows, and draw them gently 

 above tlie head; keep them there for two or three seconds; by this means 

 air is drawn into the lungs ; then turn the arms down against the chest 

 for the same time ; thus the air will be pressed out of the lungs. This 

 should be repeated about fifteen times in a minute, until a spontaneous 

 effort to respire is perceived, immediately upon which cease to imitate 

 the movements of breathing, and proceed to induce circulation and warmth. 

 Rub the limbs upward, so as to send the blood in the veins to the heart. 

 Avoid rough usage. Do not allow the body to remain on the back unless 

 the tongue is out. Never hold the body by the feet. As soon as the power 

 of swallowing has rciturned, small quantities of wine, brandy and water, 

 or cofiee may be administered. 



Shooting Stars. 



Mr. Alexander Herschel, in his first lecture on shooting stars before the 

 Royal Institution of London on the 2 1st ult., stated tliat ancient philoso- 

 phers attributed them to inflamed vapors rising from the earth. This 

 opinion prevailed until the>rise of chemistry. In 1762 Muschcnbrook 

 ascribed them to exhalations of sulphur. In 1184 Dr. Blagden said a 

 meteor, which resembled Mars, was produced by the discharge of elec- 

 tricity. Chiadni was the first to describe these falling stars as cosmical 

 dust existing in the stellar and solar spaces, and coming occasionally 

 in contact with the planets. In 1198, lirandes and Brenzenburg, two 

 students of Gottingen, began the accurate determination ot the hight of 

 meteors, which was found to vary from 20 to 100 miles above the earth's 



