I853.| 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



139 



Tbe attendance of members at the wei-kly meeting of tlie 

 Institute, on Saturday, January 15 th, was remarkably good, as 

 stated in the pi'oceding notice. A ver}' interesting paper on the 

 "Mineral Springs of Canada" was read by Professor Croft. We 

 hope to have tlie opportunity of introducing Professor Croft's 

 paper into tlie Februarj' number of tliis Journal. A considerable 

 number of candidates for admission into the Institute were pro- 

 posed. Their election will be confirmed on Saturday next. This 

 large weekly increase in the number of membei's is a \ery grati- 

 fying indication of the progress ^Yhich the Institute is making in 

 the favour of the public. At the close of the proceedings, the 

 President announced the subject of a paper to be read before the 

 Institute at theii- next meeting, on Saturda}', January 22nd, to 

 be " Notes on the Geology of Toronto," by Professor Hind. 



K E V I E W S. 



Tlie Canadian ArfrlcnUnrallst, and Transactions of the Board of j^grlcul- 

 ture of Upper Canada. — W. MoDougall, Toronto. 

 The first annual Report of the Board of Agricultiii'e for Upper Canada 

 is found on the first page of the January number of this very useful 

 publication. The Board recommended a few modifications in the 

 Agricultural Statute passed last Session of Parliament, such as the 

 rendering each County belonging to United Counties " distmct and 

 independent for agricultural purposes under the said act whenever 

 desired." They further suggest that the sura of £17 10s. required to be 

 raised by Township Societies before tliey can legally organize and 

 receive parliamentary aid, might be advantageously reduced to £10. 

 In relation to an Experimental Farm the Report states as follows : — • 



" The objects wh.ch the Board recommend in establishing an Experi- 

 mental Farm on the University Ground may be thus briefly stated : — 

 Fii-st, to afford the Professor of Agriculture a ready means of giving 

 practical illustration and effect to liis class lectures in the University ; 

 Second, to import from abroad new and improved kinds of seeds, 

 plants and implements, chiefly with a view of testing, by experiments 

 carefully conducted on the farm, their adaptation to the climate, soil, 

 wants and markets of this country, and in all cases of a favourable 

 result, to distilbnte such productions on easy terms throughout the 

 Province. An occasional importation of improved breeds of animalp, 

 the offspring being sold and distributed through the Province, would 

 be an efilcient means of advancing this very important department of 

 husbandry, and would tend to increase materially the wealth and pro- 

 gress of the countrj'. It is believed that in thus connecting the science 

 and practice of Agriculture in their vanovis bearings on each other, in 

 our Provincial University, it will be made more subservient to the 

 public good. 



The Board are desirous that these fifty or sixty acres for experimental 

 and illustrative purposes, should not be mistaken for a Model Farm, 

 which should consist of a lai'ger area, and which would consequently 

 involve a much greater outlay and risk. Whether Model Farms, 

 strictly so called, are adapted to the present wants of this young 

 country, fairly admits of a question. But something should at once be 

 done to connect the leading facts and principles of Agriculture with 

 the routine of instruction given in all the schools and colleges of the 

 Province ; and if smaU portions of land could be set apart for such 

 puiposes, the instruction would prove far more practical and efficient. 



The Board will feel much pleasure should the plan of an experimen- 

 tal farm on an inexpensive scale meet the approval of the Leg^sl^atnre, 

 so that they may feel autliorizeJ in taking final steps for the carrying 

 out of the same. The principal difficulty lies hi the necessary outlay 

 for the commencement A grant of £500 would enable theni to do so 

 with every prospect of success ; and it is believed that the oi'dinary 

 amount of funds placed at their disposal, would after the neccFsary 



preliminary expenditure had been made, nearly or quite meet all exi- 

 gencies hereafter." 



The correspondence of the January numl>er of the Agriculturist is 

 more than usually voluminous. We notice some views of doubtful 

 stability advanced which we do not wish to pass altogether unnoticed. 

 We allude in the present instance to a communication headed 'Agri- 

 cultuio and Coal Fields of Ohio viewed in reference to Canada.' We 

 would suggest a friendly caution to the eute; prising wilter against 

 causing the indulgence of the expectation that workable coal measures 

 will be found in Upper Canada. We are not disposed to agree with 

 him in the result of his deductions from an experiment with phospho- 

 rescent wood, or in the sujiposition that the same degree of heat neces- 

 ssary to drive off carbonic acid from common lime will 'destroy' the 

 phosphoric acid of phosphate of lime. 



The selected articles ai-e very good. One on butter making is well 

 worthy of attentive perusal and study. The Horticultural depart- 

 ment contains much useful and interesting matter. 



The Qenessce Farmer for January, 1853. — Daniel Lee, Rochester, N. Y. 

 The January number of this periodical is well supplied with excel- 

 lent wood-cuts and useful information. The ' Farm as a Manufactory' 

 is to be discussed in subsequent numbers of the Farmer. The subject 

 is one of great interest and importance, and if properly handled will 

 exercise a very beneficial influence. 



The writer of 'British and American Agriculture' is rather hard 

 upon English labourers, and scarcely institutes a fair comparison 

 between " a smart well fed Yankee and an English labourer who lives 

 on nothing but beer." The Horticultural Department is well sustained, 

 and contains much applicable information and advice. 



SCIENTIFIC IlVTEtLIGENCE. 



Geology. 



Abridgement of a Description of a Broun Coal Deposit in Brandon, 

 Vermont, with an attempit to determine the Geological Age of the principal 

 Hematite Ore Beds in the United Stales. . By Edwaed Hitchcock, D.D., 

 LL.D., President of Amherst College, and Professor of Geology. — 

 Silliman's Jouenal. 



In the autumn of 1851, Professor Sliedd, of Burlington, presented me 

 with a few specimens of beautifully preserved Iruits from Brandon, 

 Vermont. They were converted into Brown Coal, and retained exactly 

 their original shape and markings. Eailj' in the spring of 1859 I 

 visited Brandon, and found that the fruits were obtained ft'om a bed of 

 Brown Coal, connected with the white clays and brown hematite of 

 that place. 1 perceived at once that an interesting field was open before 

 me : and ever since I have been endeavouring to explore it. Great 

 dirflculties presented themselves ; and I have resorted to several gen- 

 tlemen, both in this country and in Europe, for aid. Their opinion has 

 yet been obtained only in part. But there are several points of much 

 interest to American geologj' cleared up by what I have aheady ascer-' 

 tained. I have concluded, therefore, to give a brief account of this 

 case ; hoping hereafter to make additions to it. 



I would here acknowledge my deep indebtedness to John Howe, jr., 

 the proprietor of this deposit of iron, clay, and brown coal. Not only 

 did he do all in his power to aid ray investigations upon the spot last 

 spring, but since then he has sent me, free of expense, numerous speci- 

 mens of the fruits and the coal ; especially at one time two barrels of 

 the coal containing the fruits, and at another time a gigantic mass of 

 lignite, — the ti'unk of a large tree, in fact, — which is now deposited in 

 the cabinet of Amherst College. 



I shall first give a description of the topogi'aphy and geological 

 associations of this carbonaceous deposit; next an account of the lig- 

 nites and fossil fi-uits; and, finally, deduce fi'om the facts some geolo- 

 gical inferences of importance. 



I. Topography and Geological Associations. 



Geologists are aware that along the west base of the Green and 

 Hoosac Mountains, from Canada to New York, occur numerous beds 

 of brown compact and fibrous hematite iron ore. That in Brandon lies 

 between two and tlu'ee miles east of the village. Passing easterly ii'om 

 the village the surface rises slightly and exhibits clay, drift, and lime- 

 stone rock in place. According to my measurements with the aneroid 

 barometer, Brandon village is 4G5 feet above the ocean, and the iron 



