372 Foreign Notices: — Germany, Belgium. 



This well was commenced on December 30. 1833; and, during the 1200 days 

 which have elapsed since then, the works have been directed by M. Mulot, 

 jun., and have not been discontinued for a single day. From this it appears 

 that the average progress has been upwards of 1 ft. 1 in. per day. 



It seems that the administration are about to make an engagement with M. 

 Mulot to bore to the depth of upwards of 1800 ft., if water be not met with 

 before reaching this depth. {U E'cho du Monde Savant, April 5. 1837.) 



Colossal Elm Tree at Brignoles. — M. C. Aquillon, member of the Horticul- 

 tural Society of Paris, &c., gives the following details respecting the large elm 

 which exists in the Place Carami at Brignoles, a town about 20 miles north 

 of Toulon: — " On the 25th of October, 1564, Charles IX., being at Brignoles, 

 lodged in' the house of M. Desparra, which is opposite to this tree, and wit- 

 ' nessed, with great pleasure, a ball which took place under it. Michel de 

 I'Hospital, who was born in 1503, was Chancellor in 1560, and died in 1573, 

 speaks of this tree (as one even at that time likely to attract the attention of 

 travellers) in one of his works in Latin verse, composed on the occasion of 

 his being exiled into Provence. Tradition supposes that this elm was in 

 existence when the river Carami, which at present runs without the town, 

 flowed by the place of that name. This colossus of vegetation has been for a 

 long time supported on one side by a wooden post, and on the other by a 

 piece of masonry, which fills up a large hollow in the trunk. Without these 

 supports the tree would have been infallibly blown down ; for the part sup- 

 ported by the wooden post is hollowed out to the origin of the branches, and 

 even serves as a retreat for poor artisans. The circumference at the level of 

 the ground is about 23 ft., and in the narrowest part of the trunk about 18 ft. 

 The thickness of the wood of the trunk is from 9 in. to 12 in. ; and in the 

 projecting part it varies from 3 in. to 4 in." {JJE'clio du Monde Savant, Api'il 

 1. 1837.) 



GERMANY. 



Artesian Wells. — In many parts of Germany Artesian wells are begun ; and 

 Italy, of which the volcanic soil is totally unknown, is in her turn about to 

 make a trial. M. Mulot sets off in a few days for the villa of the director of 

 the Italian Opera, at Paris, near Bologna, for the purpose of commencing an 

 Artesian well. We have not the least doubt of his success. At the present 

 moment upwards of 30 Artesian wells are in progress in the departments of 

 France. 



A second Artesian well, begun at Dresden, had obtained, in October last, 

 an abundant supply of water at the depth of 840 ft. This source, having a 

 temperature of 68° Fahr., furnishes a supply of 14|^ gallons of good water per 

 second. They penetrated through 62 ft. of sand and gravel j 810 ft. of marl 

 and chalk ; 43 ft. of pure marl ; and 22 ft. of greyish freestone. Admitting 

 the above temperature to be that of the strata at this depth, and comparing it 

 with the mean tem.perature at the surface of the earth at Dresden (48° Fahr.), 

 we find a uniform increase of temperature of 1*20° Cels. for every 100 ft., or 

 l'-' for every 78 ft. of depth ; but this increase being greater than that actually 

 observed in boring, we must conclude that the water of this well comes from 

 a greater depth. {UE'clio du Monde Savant, April 5. 1837.) 



BELGIUM. 



Hybrid Fern. — Gymnogramma chrysophylla Sp)-eng., and G. calomelanos 

 Jfaulf., Hort. Brit., No. 25325. and 25329., are two beautiful ferns, natives of 

 the West Indies, which have been for some time under culture in the stoves 

 of Messrs. Loddiges, and in some other collections. They have also been in- 

 troduced into the stoves of the Botanic Garden of Louvain, where a hybrid 

 between them has been produced, of considerable beauty. This hybrid was 

 purely the result of accident : the head gardener, M. Donkelaar, wishing to 

 raise some plants of G. chrysophylla sowed the sporules of that species, and 

 found great part of the progeny to be intermediate between it and G. calo- 

 melanos. We have no doubt this hybrid will soon be introduced into British 



