5«4 



NATURE 



[April 23, 1885 



being worked by private enterprise. I saw no fossils, but 

 the beds and the coal reminded me much of the older 

 Australian coals along the Hunter River. The mines are 

 of great value. They are rented lor a few thousand 

 dollars (by two enterprising Scotchmen) from the Sultan 

 of Bruni. The same sovereign would part with the place 

 altogether for little or nothing. Why not have our coaling 

 station there ? Or what if Germany, France, or Russia 

 should purchase the same from the independent Sultan of 

 Bruni ? 



The Sarawak coal beds I did not visit, but a collection 

 of fossils was kindly sent to mc by the Hon. Francis 

 Maxwell, the Resident. I recognised at once well-known 

 Australian and Indian forms, such as Phyllotheca aus- 

 tralis and Vertcbraria. These are entirely characteristic 

 of the Newcastle deposits in New South Wales. The 

 connection thus established between the Carboniferous 



deposits of India, Borneo, and Australia is exceedingly 

 interesting. 



I intend to publish in another form all the observations 

 I have made on the coal formations of Borneo and their 

 included fossils. The main result of all I have seen may 

 be embodied in the following conclusions : — 



(1) There are in Borneo immense coal deposits of very- 

 different ages. 



(2) These formations extend from the Palaeozoic to the 

 Middle Mesozoic periods. 



(3) The fossils from some of the beds are specifically 

 identical with those of certain well-known forms common 

 to India and Australia. 



(4) The Labuan coals are probably of Oolitic age, and 

 not connected with any marine formation, but apparently 

 of Eolian origin. J. E. Tenison-Woods 



Labuan, Borneo, November 25, 1884 



THE PARIS CENTRAL SCHOOL OF ARTS 

 AND MANUFACTURES 



A RECENT article in t La Nature describes the 

 new buildings of the Ecole Centrale des Arts et 

 Manufactures. The school was founded in 1829 

 for 200 pupils by Dumas, Lavallee, Peclet, and Olivier. 

 The buildings remained from that date until quite re- 

 cently in the rue de Thorigny, but the want of space 



became more and more perceptible as the scheme pro- 

 spered, and in 1874 the Council proposed that the old 

 buildings should be abandoned, and new ones erected on 

 a vacant plot of ground 6300 square metres in extent, the 

 site of the old St. Martin's Market, which abutted on four 

 streets. The principal advantage of this situation was that 

 it faced the garden of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, 

 and was therefore within reach of the immense technical 

 treasures of that establishment. The new buildings have 



Rue V&ucaneon 



a frontage of 99-60 m. and a depth of 6090 m. They 

 are rectangular, and inclose a large central court. The 

 first floor is reserved for the administration and for the 

 use of the first year's students, the second for the second 

 year's, the third for the third year's, while the fourth and 

 highest storey is reserved for the large laboratories. The 

 basement and ground floor are used for the mechanical 

 appliances, the kitchen, dining halls, the collections, and 

 small laboratories for special purposes. Taking the j 

 building more in detail, and starting with the basement, > 

 we find that its galleries contain a line of rails with small J 



Central School. 



trucks, presented to the school. It is used for conveying 

 fuel to the furnaces, and vessels full of acid to the lifts, 

 by which they are conveyed to the laboratories. The 

 offices of the administration are heated by hot air on the 

 Perret- Olivier system, the apparatus being presented by 

 the makers, while the rest of the building is heated by 

 hot-water pipes. The basement also contains the 

 kitchens of the rival restaurants, which are farmed out, 

 the gas-meters, and three large Geneste and Herscher 

 generators for heat and ventilation. The boilers also 

 work the engines necessary for the generation of the 



