:noy. 1. isas.i 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



259 



GEOLOGY. 



FoPvEST OF Cromeu PERIOD. — I am not aware 

 that there are any stratified deposits iu the West of 

 England ■which represent that preglacial period 

 known to geologists as the Forest of Cromer period, 

 — a period which preceded the great general sub- 

 mergence of a large portion of Europe, including a 

 principal part of the British Isles, below the waters 

 of the glacial seas, — that preglacial period when 

 England was a portion of the continent of Europe, 

 and when, though the species of shells living iu the 

 seas were the same as those now existing, and the 

 vegetation was Eui'opean, three extinct species of 

 elephant, the RJiinoceros etrmcus, the Hippopotamus 

 major, the extinct Irish elk, and the gigantic beaver 

 {Trogontherimi) lived iu the British forests and 

 haunted British rivers. It is on the Norfolk coast 

 that the geologist finds evidence of the preglacial 

 deposition of those strata which contain the relics 

 of so many extinct mammalia, by the superposition 

 of thick masses of boulder clay full of its ice- 

 witnesses, the scratched, grooved, and polished 

 erratic blocks. In the West of England such evidence 

 is wautiug.— i^e^?. W. S. Symoncls, 



Fossil Cone.— Mr. W. Carruthers, of the British 

 Museum, has recently described [Geological Maga- 

 zine, vol. ii. No. 10) a cone from the carboniferous 

 beds of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, which he proposes to 

 call Flemingites gracilis, placing it in a new genus 

 which differs from Lepidostrobus in each scale of the 

 cone, supporting a double series of roundish sporan- 

 gia, whilst in the latter genus each scale supports a 

 single oblong sporangium. 



AspHALTE is the technical name for the bitumen 

 commonly employed for pavements. It is found, in 

 France, at Seyssel, in the department of L'Ain, at 

 Gaugeac, in the department of Les Landes, at vari- 

 ous places (Lobrann and Bekelljronn) in the depart- 

 ment of the Bas-PUiin, and also in the Puj^-de-D6me 

 deiiartmeut. Abundant supplies are found in 

 Albania, VVallachia, on the shores of the Dead Sea, 

 and in Trinidad ; and no doubt many otiier places 

 would yield this material, especially in the Northern 

 States of America and in Canada. Mineral pitch is 

 found in the island of Za.nte. —A/isled's F radical 

 Geology. 



Fossil Spider usr Coal Measures. — Professor 

 PLomer has announced the discovery of a fossil 

 spider, which resembles the recent genus Lijcosa, in 

 the coal measures of Upper Silesia. The interest of 

 this discovery lies in the fact that hitherto spiders 

 have not been known from any rocks older than the 

 Jurassic, and that now the existence of them in the 

 Palffiozuic period is proved. — Geological Magazine. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Circulation in a Fly.— I was wishful to examine 

 a Blue-bottle Fly some time ago, and caught, and, as 

 I supposed, killed one for that purpose. 1 carefully 

 with my dissecting scissors opened it and removed 

 its intestines, and then examined its inside under a 

 l-inch objective. You may judge of my surprise 

 when I discovered that the blood was still circulating, 

 and that in a most beautiful manner. I had long- 

 wished for a sight of tJie circulation of the blood of 

 the fly, and I here had my curiosity satisfied most 

 unexpectedly. — Thomas R. Jones, 



An Insect Larva. — Mr. Ray Lankester has pub- 

 lished an interesting paper in the last part of the 

 Foptilar Science Revieio " On the Microscopic 

 Anatomy of an Insect Larva — Corethra plumicornis." 



Wire Clip. — It is but justice to state, since 

 continual reference is being made to Dr. Maddox's 

 Wire Clip as a new invention, that we some time 

 since received a similar clip from Mr. Adcock, the 

 principle of construction in which was precisely the 

 same, and which the latter gentleman had been in the 

 habit of using for two or three yeai's prior to the 

 publication of the description of the former. 



Maltwood's Finder. — Some makers are adding 

 to the stage of their microscopes a scale graduated 

 iu conformity with Maltwood's Finder, whereby the 

 use of a separate "finder" is dispensed with. 



Spicules oe Sponge. — These are often glass-like 

 in appearance and of various shapes ; many are 

 found resembling needles (whence their name) ; some 

 from the synapta are anchor-like, whilst others are 

 star-like, and of complex and almost indescribable 

 combinations. As some of these are composed of 

 silex and are consequently not injured by the use of 

 nitric acid, the animal substance may be got rid of 

 by boiling them in it. Those, however, which are 

 calcareous must be treated with a strong solution of 

 potash instead ; but whichever way is used, of 

 course they must afterwards be freed from every 

 trace of residue by careful washing. These spicules 

 may be often found amongst the sand which generally 

 accumulates at the bottom of the jars in which 

 sponges are kept by those who deal in them, and 

 must be picked out with a camel-hair pencil. The 

 specimes obtained by this means will seldom if ever 

 require any cleaning process, as they are quite free 

 from animal matter, &G.—Dauies on Mounting. 



WUWQW GAEDSFS AND AaUASIA. 



The Netted Dog-whelk {Kassa reticulata). — 

 This little marine mollusc is a very interesting 

 aquarium animal. I have several colonies of them, one 

 being in a shallow tank measuring five feet long, two 



