Jan. 20, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEAVS. 



65 



along an adj c;nt street, m'g'it possibly be thus dealt 

 with, as also the coal-dust in very dry mines, which 

 powerfully reinforces the explosive force of " fire-damp." 



Mr. S. W. Tj'ack writes on the " Physical Formation 

 of the Earth." He tells us that the sphericity of the 

 earth is now never called in question. He is here un- 

 fortunately mistaken. There exists a small clique who 

 pertinaciously maintain the flatness of our world, and 

 who must find funds to carry on their propaganda, since 

 they ever and anon send tracts and leaflets to the jour- 

 nals, both scientific and general, with the effect of 

 replenishing the editorial wastepaper-basket. 



At one of the meetings of the Society, Mr. F. F. 

 Tuckett, of Frenchay, sent in "a white variety of the 

 common blackberry, a single plant of which had been 

 found growing in an old quarry in the neighbourhood." 



A letter was read from Professor Raphael Meldola, 

 who is now acting as secretary to an association for 

 " Promoting the Investigation of various Phenomena on 

 which wide-spread Observations are much needed." 

 Among the subjects especially mentioned are the erratic 

 boulders of Great Britain and Ireland; the circulation of 

 underground water ; the migration of birds and the dis- 

 appearance of native plants from their original habitats. 

 The association in question deserves general encourage- 

 ment. 



There is further much interesting matter in this 

 volume, to which, from lack of space, we are unable to 

 draw attention. 



Inorganic Forms. By Rev. H. H. Higgins, M.A. Liver- 

 pool : Literary and Philosophical Society. 



This pamphlet is the reprint of a paper read by the 

 author in November last before the Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society of Liverpool. In it he sets aside the 

 common error that crystals are to be regarded as links 

 connecting the inorganic to the organic world. This is 

 a point of some importance, since certain writers have 

 put forward the distinctions between crystals and 

 organisms as an argument against Evolution. It is to be 

 remembered that nearly sixty years ago Lorenz Oken 

 maintained that the crystal, instead of forming a bridge 

 or a stepping-stone between the fragment of lifeless 

 matter and the plant or animal, was in reality a departure 

 in a different direction, and that consequently contrasts 

 between the two are what we should expect, and what 

 the true conception of Evolution demands. 



Mr. Higgins finds an approximation to living beings 

 " in these inorganic forms, and in the frequent repetition 

 of parts with a regularity almost rhythmical, and a kind 

 of prefigurement of what matter was quite capable of 

 doing." As instances, he mentions the ribbon jasper 

 from the Ural Mountains, the bloodstone, the variety of 

 granite known as Napoleonite, the arborescent forms in 

 moss-agate and in Mocha-stone, and, perhaps most of all, 

 in the so-called turtle-stones and beetle-stones, which are 

 by no means fossils. We should recommend the careful 

 examination of such minerals to our friends when visit- 

 ing museums. 



^--^t^f^MS- — 



New Professorship at the Sorbonxe. — The Paris 

 Municipal Council have recently voted i2,ooof. per annum 

 for a Professorship of Evolution, or biological philosophy, at 

 the Sorbonne, on condition of having a veto on the appoint- 

 ment of the professor. It was urged that the doctrine of 

 evolution was taught at Jena, Heidelberg, Wurzburg, Vienna, 

 Geneva, and Pavia, but was ignored in France, though the 

 Frenchman Lamarck (?) was its author. 



THE SUMACH. 



THE sumach, the Rlius Coriaria of botanists, is 

 one of the chief products of Sicily. It appears 

 in the market of England and America, packed in 

 bags of from 50 to 60 kilos, in the form of a more or less 

 coarse powder, produced by the grinding of the twigs Snd 

 leaves when dried. The dried twigs and leaves are 

 exported to France before being ground. This powder 

 serves both as a dye and as a mordant to fix other dyes 

 and for purposes of tanning. Good sumach contains from 

 20 to 30 per cent, of the dyeing or tanning principle. 

 The shrub is said to have been originally transplanted 

 from Asia, and flourishes most in high and dry soils, and 

 requires little attention after first planting. The plants, 

 when once set out, will last for a century or two. For 

 the first three years the leaves have little value, but after 

 that time they acquire the dueproportionof their peculiar 

 qualities. The plant is a low perennial shrub with long, 

 slender leaves. The harvest of the plant is made by 

 cutting off the leaves every year, after which the plant 

 throws out shoots. Sicilian sumach, especially that about 

 Palermo, enjoys a high reputation, much more than the 

 sumach of Spain and Portugal. The soil of Dalmatia is 

 also peculiarly fitted for this plant, and its cultivation is 

 fostered by the Austrian Government. The largest and 

 most luxuriant plants do not produce the greatest amount 

 of tannin, and even in Sicily there is great difference in the 

 quality of the powderproduced from the plant. Thesumach 

 powder produced in Sicily is of two sorts. The best is 

 of a rich green colour and carefully sifted ; it is soft to the 

 touch, of a rather pleasant smell, and of a strong astrin- 

 gent taste. The second has these qualities in inferior 

 degree, while its colour degenerates and takes a reddish 

 hue. The sumach grown in continental Italy is much 

 inferior to the Sicilian, and has a yellowish colour tend- 

 ing both to green and red. None of the inferior sorts are 

 prepared with such care as the best Sicilian, and they are 

 known by the prevalence of unground fibres and minute 

 chips, indicative of less pains taken in sifting. Various 

 adulterations are practised in preparing sumach for the 

 market. The most obvious — that of mixing it with 

 mineral dust — can be discovered by steeping the suspec- 

 ted powder in water, when the mineral portions will fall 

 to the bottom. Where vegetable substances, however, 

 are used chemical analysis must be employed. 



The Electric Light in Railway Trains. — According 

 to Itidwstries, the example set by the Boston and Albany 

 Railroad in lighting their trains by electricity is now being 

 followed by some Canadian railways. The first train in the 

 Dominion lighted by Julien storage batteries and incandes- 

 cent lamps is that running between Montreal and Ottawa. 

 On this train a Pullman drawing-room car, one first-class, and 

 one second-class car are fitted with incandescent lamps, the 

 total number being fifty-one. The battery is carried in the 

 first-class car, and the current is supplied to the Pullman in 

 front and to the second-class car behind by flexible connec- 

 tions, the contact plugs being protected by india-rubber 

 covers which automatically close when the car is uncoupled, 

 and so prevent moisture or dirt getting to the contacts. 

 Charging stations will be established at HaUfax, Moncton, St. 

 John, Point Levi, and Montreal. 



The Beluchistan Petroleum Wells. — The borings at 

 Khatan, in Beluchistan, are commencing to give indications 

 of a large and constant supply of petroleum. If these expec- 

 tations be realised, the Ouetta Railway will find a local 

 supply of cheap fuel, which it is sorely in need of. 



