Septkmbkr 21, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



413 



his companions. The failure to land supplies was 

 probably due to the conditions of the ice at I.iltletou 

 island, but nothing can l)e stated with certainty in 

 advance of more explicit information. Tlie Tantic, 

 with the rescued party, arrived at St. Jolins, Sept. 13. 



— At a meeting of the Scottish meteorological soci- 

 ety, July 26, the following scheme, according to 

 Nature, was adopted, looking to the establishment 

 of a zoological station in the Firth of Forth: — 



It is proposed to enclose the Granton quarry, which 

 has an area at high water of about ten acres, and 

 depths varying to sixty feet, so as to regulate the in- 

 flow and outflow of the tide in 

 sucli a manner, that, while ad- 

 mitting abundance of sea-water 

 at each tide, fish and other ani- 

 mals will be prevented from 

 escaping out of the enclosure. 

 This will be done by means of 

 stakes and wire, with other 

 kinds of netting. The quarry 

 will then be stocked with all 

 kinds of fish and marine inver- 

 tebrates. When it is desired 

 to separate fish or otlier animals 

 for special study, this will be 

 done by floating or fixed wire 

 and wood cages. 



A barge about sixty-four feet 

 by twenty-seven feet, of great 

 stability, will be moored in the 

 enclosure; upon this will be 

 built a house with laborato- 

 ries, workrooms, and a library ; 

 it will also be furnislied with 

 a small windmill to pump up 

 sea-water into a tank on the 

 roof. The water in this tank 

 will be conveyed by pipes to 

 the various tiled tables, glass 

 jars, and aquaria of the estab- 

 lishment. A small cottage will 

 be built on the shore for the 

 accommodation of the keeper 

 and engineer, with one or two 

 spare rooms. A steam pinnace 

 for dredging and making obser- 

 vations in tlie Firth of Forth 

 and the North sea will be at- 

 tached to the station. 



A naturalist will be appointed whose duty will Ije 

 to make continuous observations and experiments, 

 assisted by the engineer and keeper. There will be 

 ample acconirao<lalion for four other naturalists to 

 work at the station, and carry on investigations ; and, 

 so far as the accommodation will permit, British and 

 foreign naturalists will be invited to make use of the 

 station free of charge. 



Towards the carrying-out of this scheme, the Duke 

 of Buccleuch has liberally granted a lease of the 

 quarry at a nominal rent, with permission to erect 

 a cottage on the shore. A gentleman wlio takes a 



has offered 1,000 i. to construct the barge, and fit 

 it up with laboratories anil workrooms. Mr. J. Y. 

 Buchanan has promised to fit up one of tlie rooms on 

 tlie barge as a chemical laboratory suited to the re- 

 quirements of the station; Mr. Thomas Stevenson, 

 the society's honorary secretary, has agreed to give 

 his professional services in enelosing the quarry 

 gratuitously; and Mr. John Anderson has under- 

 taken to provide the station with a salmon and trout 

 hatchery. Mr. John Murray will furnish the labora- 

 tories with apparatus, and place his large zoological 

 library at the service of workers. A number of gen- 

 tlemen have promised to sup- 

 port the undertaking when 

 once commenced; and it is 

 expected that within a few 

 months the station will be pre- 

 sented with a steam-pinnace 

 and with funds for the erec- 

 tion of a cottage on the shore, 

 — the only desiderata to com- 

 plete the scheme. 



The society granted three 

 hundred pounds for the first 

 year, and two hundred and fifty 

 pounds each for the two suc- 

 ceeding years, toward the ex- 

 penses of the station. It is ex- 

 pected that by the beginning of 

 November the proper work of 

 the station will be begun. Al- 

 ready several distinguished 

 naturalists have signified their 

 intention to avail tliemselves 

 of the altogether unique facili- 

 ties which will be afforded by 

 this zoological station for the 

 successful prosecution of bio- 

 logical researcli. 



— In a report on the mineral 

 resources of the United States, 

 during 1882 and the first half 

 of 1883, shortly to be published 

 by the U. S. geological survey, 

 Mr. Albert Williams, jun., has 

 compiled a series of special 

 statistics, of which the follow- 

 ing totals will be of interest 

 to our readers. 



Omitting the local consump- 

 tion, there were mined 43,1.30,803 tons of Pennsylva- 

 nia antlir.icite. and 87,903,038 tons of other qualities 

 of coal, including a small amount of anthracite won 

 outside of Pennsylvania; the respective colliery val- 

 ues being $07,044,442 and $10i),'.l.53,797. Of iron, 

 1.350,000 tons were mined, wortli $44,'77;),OCO; while 

 there were consumed in all the iron and steel works, 

 including furnaces, 5,610,000 tons of anthracite and 

 9,740,000 tons of bituminous coal, 5,130,000 tons of 

 coke, 14.'>,7.')0,0OO bushels of charcoal, and 5,800,000 

 tons of limestone. The product of gold is estimated 

 at $48,750,0IK), and of silver at $70,2(10,000. In otlier 



warm interest in the progress of research in Scotland words, the mint value of the precious-mcial product 



