186 Miscellmiies. 



9. Ice formed at the bottom of a river. — At the town of Scottsville, 

 on the James river in Virginia, many cakes of solid ice have been 

 seen adhering to the rocks at the bottom of the river, when the ice 

 above had broken away, and often when none had been formed on the 

 surface of the water. These collections of ice are usually formed in 

 shallow places, where the water runs pretty rapidly, but have been ob- 

 served two feet below the surface where the water moved along very 

 gently. • Ice has been taken out of this river, at the mouth of a small 

 stream, to the bottom of which fragments of brickbats and particles of 

 the soil, and grass of the bottom were attached, and this too, when the 

 water there was two feet deep, the ice five or six inches thick, and formed 

 apparently on the top of the stream. IIow to account for this undubit- 

 able fact, and for these partial crystallizations at the bottom, I am some- 

 what at a loss. By dropping one line of explanation, you will much oblige 

 your sincere friend, Hugh W. Sheffey. 



To Prof. Silliman. 



Remarks. — Facts similar to those described by our correspondent, are 

 not uncommon in cold countries, and have been often described in Ger- 

 many, Great Britain and North America. In the Elbe, the fishermen 

 are often annoyed by the ground ice on the bottom, which prevents them 

 from fixing their anchors, and it is often brought up on the hooks instead 

 of fish. The ground ice is found in the northern seas, at the depth of 

 more than one hundred feet, and in the Baltic, at still greater depths. 

 Flood gates are sometimes stopped by the ground ice and mills are thus 

 locked in winter. 



The ice sometimes rises to the surface, bringing up with it, mud, gravel, 

 sticks, and even in some cases, anchors and large stones, thus proving 

 that it is buoyant like common ice. 



We have just now conversed with a gentleman, whose saw-mills in Al- 

 legany county. New York, on the Genessee river, are frequently stopped 

 by the ground ice, which he remarks sometimes forms a foot in thickness. 



In his opinion it forms on the surface, as it is seen, every where in the 

 Genessee mixed with the water ; but it is not easy to understand why it 

 should sink, except it were carried down by eddies and currents. It is 

 stated by Dr. Jas. Mease, (Edinb. Enc, article, Ice,) that the ground 

 ice uniformly freezes at the bottom, before there is any ice on the top. 



10. Fossil fishes of the red sandstone. — In our number for Octo- 

 ber last, we noticed the discovery of a single species of fossil fish, by 

 Prof. Gale, in the red sandstone of New Jersey, and its apparent iden- 

 tity with an undescribed species of PalcBoniscus found in the red sand- 

 stone formation of Connecticut, at Middletown. The locality has 

 been further explored, and two fine specimens are now in the posses- 



