210 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Sepi. 1, 1865. 



GEOLOaY. 



EoEMATioN OE THE Alps.— Tlic opiiiiou sccms 

 to be gaining ground that this mass of moim- 

 (ains is the result of a number of independent 

 upheavals of strata at isolated points ; that there is 

 no such thing as the Alpine " chain," but that the 

 Alps consist of several mountains, or "central 

 masses," as thej' are termed, grouped together more 

 or less irregularly. These " central masses " are 

 formed of hard crystalline rocks, such as gneiss, 

 mica-schist, horneblende-schist, &c. ; and the inter- 

 mediate valleys consist of newer and softer material, 

 chiefly clay-slate of diifereut ages. This theory 

 assumes, of course, that the Alpine valleys are 

 essentially valleys of elevation, and not of denuda- 

 tion. But for further details we must refer our 

 readers to Professor Theobald's vv^ork on the 

 " Geology of the Grisous," and to M. Desor's " Die 

 Gebirgsbau der Alpen." — Geological Macjazine. 



Llandeilo Eossils from Cakadoc Strata. — 

 At the July meeting of the Severn Valley Eish 

 Club, held at Ludlow, Mr. Randall, E.G.S., exhibited 

 a number of Llandeilo fossils from strata near Cound 

 Brook (a tributary of the Severn), hitherto consi- 

 dered as of Caradoc formation. Mr. Randall read a 

 paper, descriptive of the strata and fossils, and 

 stated, in conclusion, that the fossils, particularly the 

 Agnostus and Triimcleus Lloyclii, must either be 

 regarded as having been found for the first time in 

 Caradoc beds or, as heretofore, of true Llaudeilo 

 type, and indicative of the Llandeilo character of 

 the Cound shales. 



EossiL Plants op Coal Seams.— Mr. E. W. 

 Binney has recently communicated a paper to the 

 Royal Society, in which he has endeavoured to show 

 iliat the Sigillaria vascularis with rhomboidal scars 

 gradually passes as it grows older into a ribbed and 

 furrowed Sigillaria ; and that this singular plant not 

 only possesses two woody cylinders, arranged in 

 radiating series, an internal and an external one, 

 divided by a zone of cellular tissue, both increasing 

 on their outsides at the same time, but likewise has 

 a central axis, composed of hexagonal vessels, 

 arranged without order, having all their sides marked 

 with transverse striae. Evidence is also adduced to 

 show that Sigillaria dichotomizes in its branches 

 something like Lepiclodeiidron, and that, like the 

 latter plant, it has a Lejnclostrohiis for its fructifica- 

 tion. The outer cylinder in large Sigillarice is com- 

 posed of thick walled quadrangular tubes or utricles 

 arranged in radiating series, and exhibiting every 

 appearance of the tree having been as hard-wooded 

 as the Finites j but as yet no disks or striae have been 

 observed on the walls of the tubes. 



Our Stock op Coal. — The extraction of sale- 

 able coal from British mines approaches a hundred 

 million of tons per annum, and the waste of coal 

 involved in getting this quantity is probably more 

 than one-fourth part more. Coal weighs rather less 

 than a ton to the cubic yard, and we are therefore 

 removing and using, or destroying, from the portion 

 of our own small island to which coals are limited, 

 125,000,000 of cubic yards every year of one of the 

 most valuable substances in existence. Assuming a 

 coal-seam to have an average thickness of two yard's, 

 it would take twenty square miles of such a seam 

 to supply one year's consumption. It behoves us, 

 then, to look around, and consider the resources we 

 possess, whether we can afford to expend this 

 portion of the capital stock of our national Vv^ealth, 

 and what chance there may be of this stock be- 

 coming exhausted. — Ansted's Practical Geology. 



Bituminous Oil. — The oil-bearing shales have 

 recently been discovered in Australia, and promise 

 to open up another important source of wealth. 

 Extensive seams of this mineral have been found 

 at Hartley and Wallongoug, both in New South 

 Wales. The seam at Hartley was accidentally dis- 

 covered in consequence of a piece outcropping 

 through the alluvial soil. The mineral is similar to 

 the Boghead coal, but is superior from yielding a 

 larger quantity of oil, and being free from sulphur. 

 Erom the experiments which have been made, it is 

 estimated that a ton vi'ould yield 140 gallons of 

 crude oil. In colour it is a dark brown, breaks with 

 a conchoidal fracture, and is so tough that when 

 struck by a hammer the tool rebounds. Preparations 

 are being made for working it. — IF, J. Sterland. 



EossiL Oak. — Oak occurs in the peat over the 

 boulder-clay at Hoxne, in Suffolk, and in the peat- 

 bed at the mouth of the river Cauche, which falls 

 into the sea near the embouchure of the Somme, 

 associated with the yew and fir, with the addition at 

 the last-named place of the hazel. It is also found 

 in considerable quantities in the peat-bed which ex- 

 tends over a considerable area in the county of 

 Gloucester, to which the writer has had the satisfac- 

 tion of first calling public attentioiL — /. Jones, in 

 Geological Repertory. 



The study of natural history is within the reac 

 of every one ; and he who is engaged in it, is pre 

 sented at every step in his progress with something 

 capable of awakening pleasing emotions. 



Every pound of cochineal contains 70,000 insects 

 boiled to death, and from 600,000 to 700,000 lbs. arc 

 annually imported to Europe for scarlet and crimson 

 dyes. 



The female cod-fish is supposed to carry in her 

 ovary more than 500,000,000 of eggs. 



