—s 
. 
Fune 15,1871] 
NATURE 
123 

interest in the subject as discussed both locally and in Parliament. 
Last week he visited St. Mary’s Loch, and took pains to com- 
pare it with its very various reputation. He was prepared to 
find it an oozy swamp, fed by a moorland drainage of bogs and 
peat mosses. 
A true poet is credited with seeing clearer and telling better 
than other people can, and in this case the credit is fairly earned 
by Sir Walter Scott, poet laureate of Scottish scenery. In the 
“Lay of the Last Minstrel” we read of “ Fair St. Mary’s silver 
Wave.” In ‘‘ Marmion,” 
Nor fen nor sedge 
Pollute the pure lake’s crystal edge. 
Abrupt and sheer the mountains sink 
At once upon the level brink, 
And just a line of pebbly sand 
Marks where the water meets the land. 
In plain prose your correspondent saw as follows :—St. Mary’s 
Loch, a practically inexhaustible natural reservoir ; in a district 
pastoral, not moorland. The surface of surrounding hills and 
flats, formed of loose rock, shingle, or gravel, with sprinkling of 
light earth, the very type of natural draining to prevent or exter- 
minate bog, morass, and swamp. Not a trace of peat, except 
peat-reek odour from Tibbie Shiell’s chimneys. Tibbie burns 
peats got from exceptional points high among the hills. The 
various feeders of the loch run in pure as water can be. That 
the loch, bedded in a shingly, gravelly flat, and surrounded with 
bare, smooth, lawn-like hill-slopes, should affear to contain 
brown-tinted water, arises from three concurrent causes. First, 
the extreme purity of the water ; second, the tawny-brown hue of 
aquatic growths, enveloping the shingle under water, by trans- 
mission ; third, the pipe-clay whiteness of the dry shingle on 
the beach, by contrast. From the first-stated cause the water 
varies in apparent tint according to the bottom hues. Aside 
from chemical analyses, the relative physical features at once de- 
cide St. Mary’s Loch to excel the famous Loch Katrine as a 
water source. 
The Edinburgh people are about to celebrate the centenary of 
Sir Walter Scott. His evidence, before cited, and the occasion, 
may serve to excuse the spontaneous testimony of 
A STUDENT or NATURE 

Sun Spots and Earth Temperatures 
I NoTIceD lately the deduction by Mr. Stone of a connection 
between Wolf’s solar spot periods and the earth temperatures at 
the Cape of Good Hope: and now Professor Smyth, at Edin- 
burgh, recalls to our attention the fact that his own investigations 
had, a year ago, led him to a similar conclusion. 
Will you permit me to call attention to a further discussion of 
this subject, as contained in a short article, published in _Silli- 
man’s ‘* American Journal of Science.” The compilations were 
mostly made in February, 1869, and afford interesting confirma- 
tion of the results, which I suppose to have been deduced by 
Messrs. Smyth and Stone. 
CLEVELAND ABBE, 
Director Cincinnatti Observatory, 
Washington, May 6 Meteorologist to the Signal Office 
Bessemer Bombs 
ALLOW me through the medium of your columns to call the 
attention of scientific men to the significant inference which, it 
appears to me, is to be drawn from the formation of “bombs” 
in the Bessemer process, incidentally described by Mr. Williams 
in a recent number of NATURE.* 
These ‘‘ bombs” are minute hollow spherules ; the smaller are 
for the most part perforated. These minute hollow spherules 
are formed of liquid incandescent matter, the smaller showing 
the true form—perforated spheres. 
The point to which I wish to direct the attention of Mr. 
Williams and other scientific men is this :—May we not have 
here an experiment which supplements those ingenious ones of 
M. Plateau on revolving liquid spheres? Mr, Williams will 
pethaps kindly examine some of the most perfect of these bombs, 
and let us know whether he sees trace of revolution in their forma- 
tion. I believe he will find such evidence, and that the revolu- 
tion is about the perforation. GE. 
Brighton 
* See Nature, vol, iii. p. 410, 

THE STRASBOURG MUSEUM 
AK BRIEF notice of this Museum may not at this time 
be devoid of interest. It occupies ten large rooms 
in the Academy House of Strasbourg. Two rooms are 
devoted to Comparative Anatomy, and eight to the Zoo- 
logical, Geological, and Mineralogical collections. One 
large hall is exclusively devoted to a collection of species 
indigenous to Alsace, and here its flora and fauna, both 
fossil and recent, will be found well represented. The 
large hall of Mammals contains about 2,000 specimens 
belonging to between 600 and 700 species, among which 
may be noticed a fine series of Felidae, including two speci- 
mens of the rare Felis fardina of Portugal. Among the 
Ruminants are a grand specimen of the Owds nivicola of 
Kamtschatka ; four specimens of Tragelaphus from the 
mountains of Constantine, a large series in all stages of 
growth of the Antilope rupicapra from Switzerland, the 
Carpathians, and the Pyrenees; Capra sem/aica of the 
Nilgherries; six specimens of C. egagrvs from Kurdistan, 
of which two are magnificent adult males and the others 
females and young-; C. wa/ee from Abyssinia, male and 
female ; nine specimens of C. héspanica from the Sierra 
Nevada ; seventeen of C. zbex, representing it in all its ages 
and in all states of wool; not to mention excellent speci- 
mens of C. pyrenaica, C. caucasica, C. aliatca, and C. 
sinaica ; indeed, it may be doubted if there is in any 
Museum a more complete collection of this interesting 
group. Ofthe Antelopes the Museum also possesses a 
grand series, and the attention in this corner of the hall 
will be at once attracted by the case of Reindeer, contain- 
ing eight perfect specimens, representing the wild race of 
Norway, the domesticated animal of Lapland, and the 
varieties from Siberia, Greenland, and Labrador. There 
are also beautifully stuffed specimens of the European and 
American Bison, and among the Cervide we noticed a 
most interesting little variety from Corsica of Cervus 
elaphas. 
Among the Rodents the Collection of Hares and 
Rabbits from all parts of the world is very fine. The 
Collection of Madagascar Lemurs is nearly complete. 
There are also fine specimens of Colobus ursinus and C. 
vallerosus from the Gaboon, and a skeleton of the female 
Gorilla; one of the largest specimens known of the 
Walrus, and an immense series of Phocidz from the 
North Seas. We have omitted to mention two nice speci- 
mens of Chlamydophorus truncatus. 
The Bird Galleries are very extensive, and contain up- 
wards of 5,000 species and nearly 14,000 birds. The 
Collection of Vultures is very rich; Gyfatus barbatus 
from Switzerland, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada, the Atlas, 
and Abyssinia ; Aguc/a pelagica from Kamtschatka, Of 
Strix there are about 200 specimens and 60 species, The 
Birds of Paradise are represented by perfectly fresh 
specimens of Semiophora Wallacet, Paradisea alba, Cras- 
pedophora magnifica, male and female; Astrapia nigra, 
male and female; good specimens of both species of 
Cephaloptera; Turacus giganteus ; Anas Stelleri, male and 
female ; Alca zmpennts, a very old specimen. Passing 
by the grand series of Pelicans, of Grouse we record mag- 
nificent specimens of Oreophatis derlyanus, Lophalector 
Macartneyz, male and female, Baleniceps rex, &c. 
The Reptiles and Fishes occupy two large halls. _ 
The Entomological Collection is very fine ; a portion of 
it is exposed to the public in one of the halls ; but the 
greater part is kept in the Cabinet Room. Nothing can 
surpass the beauty and freshness of the collection of 
Alsace Insecta. The collection of Coleoptera numbers 
about 8,000 species. ; 
The Paleontological Collection is arranged according to 
the geological formations ; and one must remark a mag- 
nificent example of Ze/eosaurus Chapmant, 12 ft. long; a 
grand mass of Pentacrinus fascicularis, 5 ft. by 3, and 
containing 15 individuals established ona mass of oysters. 
