10 British Association for the Advancement of Science. 



workings — although the pumping brought up one thousand gal- 

 lons per minute, the minei's were in such danger of being drown- 

 ed, that several left the employment. In the latter end of July, 

 the sea at length broke in, filling the mine in all its parts, in little 

 more than two hours, and destroying twenty miles of railway. 

 On one side of the Camperdown dyke, which ranges through the 

 mine, not a soul Avas saved, but several escaped from other parts ; 

 and one individual, an Irishman, called Brennagh, had not only a re- 

 markable escape himself, but saved three others by his intrepidity. 

 Prof. Sedgwick related to the Section this man's story, which was 

 so singular, and told with such a mixture of the serious and ludi- 

 crous — often in the language of the man himself — that it is im- 

 possible to convey to the reader an idea of the effect produced on 

 the audience. A remarkable fact in the escape of one of the in- 

 dividuals rescued by Bremiagh was, that he was actually bloimi up 

 the last open shaft of the mine by the enormous force of the air, 

 the noise of which was heard at a considerable distance in the 

 country. The first notice to Brennagh of the accident, was an 

 unusual undulation of air in the galleries, which • niade him sus- 

 pect that all was not right, and he took the precaution of moving 

 near to an air passage in the dyke, which he had been permitted 

 to use : he was thus enabled to save himself and his companions. 

 At the suggestion of the Professor, a subscription was made in the 

 Section for Brennagh, which amounted to 34/. 



Intestinal Worms.— Dr. Richardson conlmmiicated a paper 

 from Dr. Bellingham, on the frequency of the occurrence of Tri- 

 chocephalus dispar in the alimentary canal. The author alluded 

 to the difficulty of accounting for the origin of animalculse in the 

 human body. To say that they were secreted or not secreted by 

 the tissues of the body, was premature, as we knew so little of 

 secretion itself. Although in some instances parasitic animals 

 produced injurious consequences to the animal they infested, yet 

 in many others no injury was experienced. The Trichocephalus 

 was found in the majority of human beings, but produced no ill 

 consequences. The genus belonged to the division Neniatoidea 

 of Rudolphi, and contained eight species. The Trichocephalus 

 dispar was mostly found in the caecum, but sometimes occupied 

 the colon and small intestines. It had been found at Gottingen 

 in those who died of fever, and at Naples in those who died of 

 cholera ; and was there supposed to be the cause of that frightful 



