EDITORIAL NOTES. 



521 



SiGNOR Angelo Possi Ponti, after a long 

 study of the peculiar geology of the petroleum 

 region of Pennsylvania, concludes that the 

 causes of the volcanic forces in Mt. Vesuvius 

 are the same as those which produce the gases 

 in the oil region, and proposes by boring near 

 the mountain's base to draw off and utilize 

 for mechanical purposes the vast accumula- 

 tion of oil which has for ages been feeding 

 the flames. He prudently offers to attempt 

 it after stock to the amount of ^500,000 has 

 been subscribed and paid in for that purpose. 



Dr. Hahn's discovery of fossil organisms 

 in meteorites, has stirred up a lively discus- 

 sion among the savants. Charles Darwin is 

 reported to have declared his faith in their 

 presence in the specimens presented for his 

 examination, and pronounces the discovery a 

 most impor'ant one. 



The State coal shaft, at Leavenworth, 

 Kansas, is 732 feet deep, including a sump 

 of nineteen feet, to catch the dripping water, 

 which accumulites at the rate of sixty-five 

 gallons an hour. The main shaft is ioxi6 

 feet, and the air shafr, or up-cast, 4x10 feet. 



The working face of the mine is about 

 i,2co feet long, and extends entirely around 

 the mine at a distance of 125 feet from the 

 shaft. There are at present forty-nine men 

 working at the shaft, who are getting out 

 about 1,200 bushels of coal a day. 



The suggestions made by Mr. W. L, Camp- 

 bell, of this city, to the Missouri River Im- 

 provement Convention that met at St. Joseph 

 on the 29th ult., were eminently practical, 

 showing a careful study of the wants of the 

 West and the best manner of meeting them. 

 If adopted by the Convention and carried 

 out by Congress our River will assume the 

 commercial importance commensurate with 

 its size and the immense country it drsins. 



We call attention to the advertisement, in 

 this number, of the Noyes' Dictionary Hold- 

 er. It is an improvement upon anything of 

 the kind that we have seen, not only in style 

 and stability, but also on account of the at- 

 tachments or racks for magazines, etc. 



ITEMS FROM PERIODICALS. 



The December issue of the Popular Science 

 Monthly is the second number of Vol. XX, 

 which means that about ten years of the life 

 of that most valuable and popular magazine 

 have glided away already. In this time it 

 has furnished its patrons more than 16,500 

 pages of the best untechnical scientific mat- 

 ter, original and selected, that has ever been 

 offered the general reader in this country. 

 $5.00 per annum. 



Ihis magazine, as well as all other promi- 

 nent periodicals, can be procured through 

 this office by subscribers to the Review, at 

 club rates. 



The American Young folks, published at 

 Topeka, Kansas, by Messrs. Longshore & 

 Smith, was established in 1875, and is the 

 best and cheapest periodical in the West for 

 boys and girls. It is an eight page quarto, 

 issued monthly, well edited, full of illustra- 

 tions and furnished postpaid to subscribtrs 

 for 50c per annum. 



Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., have 

 secured the exclusive control of the Edinbtirg 

 Reveiw and the Quarterly Review in the Unit- 

 ed States. These, together with either of the 

 other periodicals published by this well 

 known house, viz: the Atlantic, the Boston 

 Medical Journal, the Law Reporter, and 

 Dwight'' s Journal of Music, can be obtained by 

 subscribers to the Kansas City Reviemt of 

 Science and Industry, at club rates. 



Wm. Hosea Ballou, of Evanston, 111., 

 read a valuable and comprehensive paper at 

 the Cincinnati meeting of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science, up- 

 on the White Pine, its origin, reproduction, 

 insectivorous enemies, natural history and sta- 

 tistics of the industry. The matter furnished 

 is well chosen and admirably condensed, 

 making an article worthy of preservation. 



The Evolutionist at Large^ by Grant Allen, 

 is the title of the Humboldt Library No. 26. 

 Price, 15 cents. J. Fitzgerald & Co., New 

 York. 



