440 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 
clouds, hanging over the highlands of New Guinea, prevented their see- 
i much of this splendid country as they could have desired, but 
tered among the trees, gave additional charms to the view. The cur- 
published) ; and the movements of the Expedition were further ex- 
plained by several of the officers on the maps just finished and sent by 
Admiral Beaufort for that purpose. 
6. On Peat and its Products ; by Prof. Branpe.—(Proc. Roy. Soe., 
Jan. 31, Atheneum, No. 1217.)—A peat bog was described as a super- 
ficial stratum of vegetable matter, which at different depths is undergoing, 
or has undergone, various stages of change and decomposition. — Its 
humus and humic acid, among other products of slow decay ; and the 
abundance of moisture pervading the bog affects the character at once of 
the peat and of the district. The u 
loose and fibrous and of a pale brown color. Beneath the surface: 
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color. Trunks of trees and some curious geological phenomena occa- 
sionally present themselves. A peat district may be regarded there- 
exhibit a soil fit for the operations of agriculture. Prof. Brande then ins 
vited attention to different samples of peat taken from the upper, middle, © 
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+ Peat may be rendered valuable, either—l1. From the charcoal which 
“may be obtained from it; or—2. the various products derivable 
from what is called its destructive distillation. hen it is desired to 
