Aug. 1st, 1887.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEV^^S. 



127 



Great Alpine Lakes." In this paper the author brought 

 forward a new explanation of the origin of the lake basins 

 of the Alps. He is of opinion that these large troughs are 

 the direct result of that great movement of upheaval which 

 brought the Pliocene period of the Alpine regions to a close. 

 They owe their origin, he thinks, partly to fractures and 

 foldings of the strata, and partly to local subsidences and 

 elevations. Professor Geikie said he could not agree with 

 the author that the post-Pliocene elevation of the Alps and 

 Apennines had produced any notable amount of fracturing 

 and folding. The Pliocene strata occur in approximately 

 horizontal and undisturbed positions along the foot-slopes 

 of the Alps. And there was good evidence to show that 

 the great Alpine valleys were much older than the Pliocene 

 period, during which period they existed as fiords. If the 

 lacustrine troughs, with their irregular depths, were due to 

 earth movements — to fractures, foldings, or local elevations 

 and depressions — there should be abundant evidence of such 

 movements in the geological structure of the ground ; but 

 Dr. Sacco had not adduced any evidence of the kind required 

 in support of his views. 



Carnivorous Plants. — Attention has lately been called 

 by Herren Kerner and Wettstein, in the Vienna Academy, 

 to two carnivorous plants found in Germany. One of these 

 is the leadwort root {Lai/ircm sqiiaiiiaria), which has no 

 chlorophyll, and passes for a parasite, as it fixes, with 

 small nipples, on the roots of fruit trees. The pale stems, 

 appearingin shady, moist places in spring, are covered thickly 

 with scale-like leaves, each of which has its upper half rolled 

 back on the back of the lower, leaving a hollow space be- 

 tween. Into this open by small holes from five to thirteen 

 separate chambers, having on their surface numerous tufted 

 hairs and hemispherical horns connected with the vascular 

 bundles. Various small animals get into these chambers, 

 and ere long disappear. From both hairs and horns threads 

 of plasma stream out, when the animals come in contact 

 with them, and lay hold of them. Though it is not exactly 

 proved that the plant benefits by the animals it thus 

 catches, this seems very likely from its general character. 

 It is more remarkable that a plant containing chlorophyll, 

 and existing independently, like Bartsia olpiiia, should have 

 similar organs for the capture of animals, and should feed 

 on such, as the authors assert. The plant forms in autunm 

 underground buds covered with scales, whose lateral bor- 

 ders are rolled outwards, making a hollow in which are 

 organs very similar to those in the leadwort root. 



Electrical Searches for Bullets. — When President 

 Garfield was slowly dying at Elberon, and the attending 

 surgeons were locating the fatal bullet in spots far from 

 where it was discovered after death, an electrical apparatus 

 was constructed by Professor Graham Bell for the purpose 

 of finding the lead. The failure is known to all, but the 

 discovery has since been made that Garfield lay on a metal- 

 lic mattress, and that this frustrated the electricity. Under 

 the sanction of the New York Academy of Medicine, 

 another machine has recently been constructed and tested. 

 This machine consisted of a battery, coils, and other 

 familiar devices, but principally of a thin steel probe con- 

 nected with the wires in a manner invented by Bell. The 

 skin of a patient was cocained over the part where a bullet 

 was supposed to be embedded, so as to deprive the part of 

 feeling. Then the probe was thrust in. As the end of the 

 steel came within six inches of the bullet, the surgeon, with 

 his ear to a telephonic cup, heard a humming sound, which 

 grew louder as the metal was approached, and in this way 

 the position of the bullet was ascertained. Later, a veteran 

 submitted to a search for a bullet which had entered his 



chest and had remained somewhere in him for twenty years. 

 The needle hummed its way to the hiding-place of the lead, 

 which was then removed. Dr. John H. Girdner, who 

 applied the instrument, said that its use would in all pro- 

 bability have saved President Garfield's lifs. 



The Diatomite in Skye. — In our April number we 

 mentioned the important discovery of diatomite at Loch 

 Quire, in the Island of Skye, one of the Scotch Hebrides, 

 and we are glad to know that operations for using the 

 " find " have been undertaken energetically by the enter- 

 prising proprietor. The loch, the bed of which is quite 

 level, and covered with marshy reeds, has already been 

 successfully drained ; and a supply of peat has been cut for 

 kiln-drying during the sunless winter. Twelve timber 

 sheds, each 25 feet by 3A feet, have been erected, and others 

 are being built. In each shed are five drying-pans, one 

 above the other, and the sides are open. Two semi-circular 

 iron stores, 28 feet in diameter, are nearly finished ; and 

 two similar stores of double the size are being erected at 

 the seaside. The diatomite is found about 18 inches below 

 the mossy surface, and extends downwards to a depth of 

 25 feet. It is cut into blocks like peat, with a common peat 

 spade, and is carried on hand barrows to the drying sheds, 

 where it is left till it is dry. It is afterwards put into the 

 local stores until it is removed to the seaside stores. The 

 tramway of three miles has not yet been laid, and the diato- 

 mite is being conveyed down to the shore on horseback. 

 When cut it has a greenish appearance ; but on being dried, 

 it assumes a bright white colour. There seems to be an 

 inexhaustible supply of the valuable deposit in an ex- 

 ceptionally pure state. Other works are to be erected at 

 Loch Callum-kill, but the diatomite is not so pure as at 

 Loch Quire ; still, if it does not serve for ultramarine paint, 

 it can be used in the manufacture of dynamite. 



The Landslip at Zug. — From Industries we learn that 

 the catastrophe which has recently happened to the town 

 of Zug was not quite unexpected, although nobody supposed 

 the danger so near. When building the new embankment 

 three j'ears ago, the town authorities consulted Professor 

 Heim and Herr Moser, of Zurich, about some slight settle- 

 ments of the works which had taken place during the con- 

 struction. The report which was then made by these 

 gentlemen bears so directly upon the present case, that a 

 short abstract of it will doubtless be of interest to our 

 readers. It was explained that the greater portion of the 

 town is built upon the delta containing the detritus of the 

 different brooks and rivulets falling into the Lake of Zug at 

 that place. It is well known that at the mouth of every 

 water-course the sediment of the particles carried down in 

 suspension takes place by degrees, the heavier particles 

 being deposited immediately, but the lighter particles being 

 carried further out. Since the angle of repose for detritus 

 under water is less than when it is in a dry condition, the 

 upper and coarser layers, after they reach a certain height, 

 have a tendency to slip down into deeper water, where the 

 finer mud has been deposited. It may thus happen that 

 below an apparently solid stratum of gravel there is a con- 

 siderable thickness of fine mud, and, from soundings taken 

 in the soil on which the town stands, this has been found to 

 be the case in Zug. The sections representing the con- 

 figuration of the bottom of the lake near the quay show 

 very clearly the appearance of ground on which landslips 

 have taken place, and it was pointed out that special pre- 

 cautions would be necessary to prevent a slip of the 

 material on this muddy and treacherous soil. This report, 

 it will be seen, explains very clearly the reason of the 

 recent disaster. 



