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THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



In the afternoon we rode to a place in a forest, called Ramsam, to view a salt lake, 

 a mud hillock, and various boiling, or rather bubbling pools. The lake was about half 

 a mile in circumference, of a dirty-looking water, boiling up all over in gurgling 

 bodies, but more particularly in the centre, which appeared like a strong spring ; the 

 water was quite cold, and tasted bitter, salt, and sour, and had an offensive smell. 

 About 30 yards from the lake stood the mud hillock, which was about 15 feet high 

 from the level of the earth. The diameter of its base was about 25 yards, and its 

 top about eight feet, and in form an exact cone. The top is open, and the interior 

 keeps constantly working and heaving up mud in globular forms, like the Bludugs. 

 Tlie hillock is entirely formed of mud which has flowed out of the top ; every rise of the 

 mud was accompanied by a rumbling noise from the bottom of the hillock, which was 

 distinctly heard for some seconds before the bubbles burst. The outside of the hil- 

 lock was quite firm. We stood on the edge of the opening and sounded it, and found 

 it to be 1 1 fathoms deep. The mud was more liquid than the Bludugs, and no smoke 

 was emitted from the lake, hillock, or pools. 



Close to the foot of the hillock was a small pool of the same water as the lake, 

 which appeared exactly like a pol of water boiling violently; it was shallow, except 

 in the centre, into which we thrust a stick twelve feet long, but found no bottom. 

 The hole not being perpendicular, we could not sound it with a line. 



About 200 yards from the lake were several large pools or springs, two of which 

 were eight and ten feet in diameter. They were Jike the small pool, but boiled more 

 violently, and smelt excessively. The ground around them was hot to the feet, and 

 the air which issued from them quite hot, so that it was most probably inflammable; 

 but we did not ascertain this. We heard the boiling 30 yards before we came to 

 the pools, resembling in noise a waterfall. The pools did not overflow ; of course the 

 bubbling was occasioned by the rising of air alone. The water of one of the pools 

 appeared to contain a mixture of earth and lime, and, from the taste, to be combined 

 with alkali. The water of the Bludugs and the lake is used medicinally by the Java- 

 nese, and cattle drinking of the water are poisoned Extract of a letter from S. T. 



Goad, Esq. East huKa Company's Service, Java. — Maij, 1815. 



GENERAL SCIENCE. 



T.IOUNT.ilNS AND VOLCANOS OF THE MOON. 

 We are less ignorant regarding the physical constitution of the moon than of any 

 other heavenly body, in consequence of the smallness of its distance from us. By 

 the assistance of the telescope we are able to observe the nature of those spots and 

 shadows with which its surface is always marked. Some parts cast a shadow on the 

 side farthest from the sun, and these must be mountains ; others again throw their 

 shadows on the side next to the sun, and hence are cavities. The appearance of 

 these spots on the moon varies according to the position of the sun, as the shadows 

 may be thro%vn in different directions, or they may be entirely destroyed by the sun 

 being exactly vertical to them. Further, the shadows appear exactly in proportion 

 to the length they ought to have, if we consider the inclination of the sun's rays to 

 that part of the m.oon on which they appear. Thus we m.ust conclude that the spots 

 on the moon are mountains and valleys analogous to those on our own globe. 



" The convex outline of the hmb turned towards the sun is always circular and 

 very nearly smooth," observes Sir .T. F. W. Herschell; *' but the opposite border of 

 the enlightened part, which (were the moon a perfect sphere) ought to be an exact 

 and sharply-defined ellipse, is always observed to be extremely ragged, and indented 

 with deep recesses and prominent points. The mountains near this edge cast long 

 black shadows, as they should evidently do, when we consider that the sun is in the 

 act of rising or setting, to the parts of the moon so circumstanced. But as the 

 enlightened edge advances beyond them, i. e. as the sun to them gains altitude, their 

 shadows shorten; and at the full moon, when all the light falls in our line of sight, 

 no shadows are seen on any part of her surface. From micrometrical measures of 

 the lengths of the shadows of many of the more conspicuous mountains, taken under 

 the most favorable circumstances, the heights of many of them have been calculated, 

 tlie highest being about 1§ English miles in perpendicular altitude. The existence of 

 such mountains is corroborated by their appearance, as small points or islands of light 

 beyond the extreme edge of the enlightened part, which are their tops catching the 

 sun-beams before the intermediate plain, and which, as the light advances, at length 

 connect themselves with it, and appear as prominences from the general edge." 



" The generality of the lunar mountains," continues the same accurate observer, 

 ** present a striking uniformity and singularity of aspect. They are wonderfully nume- 

 rous, occupying by far the larger portion of the surface, and almost universally of an 

 exactly circular or» cup-shaped form, fore-shortened, however, into ellipses towards 

 the limb ; but the larger have, for the most part, flat bottoms within, from which 

 rises centrally a small, steep, conical hill. Tliey offer, in short, in the highest per- 

 fection, the true volcanic character, as it may be seen in the crater of Vesuvius, and 

 in a map of the volcanic districts of the Campi Phlegrssi or the Puy de Dome. And 

 in some of the principal ones decided marks of volcanic stratification, arising from 

 successive deposits of ejected matter, may be clearly traced with powerful telescopes. 

 This I state from my own observations. What is, moreover, extremely singular in 

 the geology of the Moon is, that although nothing having the character of seas can 

 be traced (for the dusky spots which are commonly called seas, when closely examined, 

 present appearances incompatible with the supposition of deep water), yet there are 

 large regions perfectly level, and apparently of a decided affiuvial character." 



Sir William Herschell, in 1787, observed three volcanos in the moon; one of 

 which, he says, was an actual eruption of fire or luminous matter. Captain Kater 

 remarked, on the 4th February 1821, a luminous appearance in the daik part of the 

 moon, represented at A. 



This spot is believed to be identical with the mountain called Aristarchus. Heve- 

 lius called it Slons Porphyrites, and he considered it to be volcanic. 



This volcano, as observed by Captain Kater, appeared like a small nebula, subtend- 

 ing an angle of about 3 or 4 seconds. Its brightness was very variable; a luminous 

 uoini, like a small star of the sixth or seventh magnitude, would suddenly appear in its 



centre, and as suddenly disappear, and these changes would sometimes take place in 

 the course of a few seconds. On the evening of the 6th the same phenomena were 

 observed as before, only in an inferior degree. It had become more faint on the 6th, 

 and the star-like appearance less frequent; and on the 7th it was scarcely visible. 



The existence of volcanos in the moon must therefore be considered as fairly esta- 

 blished by observation. Independently of these observed facts, analogy would lead 

 us to expect that the same laws which are found to regulate the internal constitution 

 of our globe should also prevail in the other heavenly bodies. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



HuMA^- Horns. — Excrescences of a horny nature have been occasionally observed 

 on the human head. A portrait of a woman with excrescences of this description 

 is deposited in the British Museum, and one of the horns is, we believe, still pre- 

 served in the Museum at Oxford. 



A far more recent instance, however, was observed by Dr Wm. Roots, of King- 

 ston-npon-Thames, who, in February 1811, amputated an excrescence of this sort, 

 exactly resembling a ra7iis horn, from the head of a man, between fifty and sixty 

 years of ago, a drawing of which, in its growing state, as well as the horn itself, were 

 presented by him to the collection of Sir Astley Cooper. 



The account given by Dr Roots of this extraordinary case is, that John Kennedy, 

 a gardener at Thames- Ditton, in Surrey, in the year 1796, had a tumour growing on 

 the superior part of the occiput, which was taken off with the knife by the Doctor's 

 father in about three years from its commencement. Soon after its removal, a horny 

 substance began to make its appearance on the same place, which continued "-rowing 

 for four years, till it accidentally fell off in a most unexpected manner, beino- at that 

 time not more than three inches in length ; and it should be observed, that the surface 

 of the part it grew from, on its dropping off, was perfectly smooth, without the 

 shghtcst hemorrhage, and resembling the superficies of the stag's head when his horns 

 have recently dropped. In a short time afterwards, a new horny sprout shot forth 

 which, as it grew, took on the exact form and crooked figure of the ram's horn. 

 Having increased during seven years, without any disposition to fall off, to the great 

 inconvenience of the poor man, he consented at length to its removal; in the per- 

 formance of which, from the parts underneath being very vascular, a considerable 

 hemorrhage ensued. 



It appears probable from this, says Dr Roots, that had the horn been suffered to 

 remain longer on the head it would have attained a much larger size, as Nature in a 

 playful mood, had most abundantly supplied it with vessels for that purpose. Its 

 having hkewise been shed, in the former instance, without bleeding, induces Dr 

 Roots to conclude, that as the sources of its nutriment continued open, it had not 

 arrived at that state of perfection, when the grad)ial closing of the vessels would occa- 

 sion spontaneous removal without any hemorrhage taking place, as is always observed 

 to be the case with animals which drop their horns at regular and stated periods. It 

 would appear that these horny excrescences, which are occasionally formed on the 

 skin of the human subject, were originally encysted tumours, the cyst of which very 

 curiously assumes the power of secreting horn instead of fat, a pappy substance, or a 

 fluid like honey, as sometimes happens in particular cases. This case mentioned by 

 Dr Roots tends to corroborate the above opinion, since, before any horn made its 

 appearance, there was observed a tumour ; and after the first horn dropped ofl", a sur- 

 face, which was quite smooth, and did not bleed at all, presented itself to notice. 



We may remark that the ease of the human head assuming the power of secreting 

 horn, is an example of that tendency, in the higher animals, to assume the characters 

 of others lower than themselves in the scale of creation. 



The Rogue Elephakt is a curiosity in Natural History. He is an individual 

 completely banished from the herd, which will not suff'er him to approach or mingle 

 with them. No cause can be assigned for the fact ; but this animal is always more 

 savage and ferocious than any of the rest. He attacks man, and faces every danger 

 which the others would avoid. 



To CoRKEsroNDEKTS We shall not have room for F. F. F.'s notices. 



Edinburgh: Published for the Proprietors, at their Oflice, 16, Hanover Street. 

 London: Sjiitii, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Glasgow and the West of 

 Scotland: John Smith and Son, 70, St Vincent Street. Dublin: W. F. 

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THE EDINBURGH PRINTING COJIPANT. 



