THE WEST AMEBICAN SCIENTIST. 89 



In Sweden wood oil is now made on an extt-nsive scale from stumps, roots and 

 the refuse of timber cuttings. In special lamps it gives a very ^satisfactory light, 

 and is the cheapest of all illuminating oils. 



A" boring made by the Prussian Government at Schladeback in search of coal is 

 said to be the deepest iu the world. Its depth is 4560 f e^ its breadth at the 

 bottom two inches, and at the top eleven inches. The temperature at the bottom 

 is lis degrees. 



A new species of boX'Wood from South Africa has just been described by Sir 

 Joseph Hooker under the botanical name of Buxus Macowani. As it is in consider, 

 able quantities and suitable for engravers uses it may prove a valuable addition to 

 the diminishing supplies of European box-wood. When seisoned without cracking 

 the wood is valued at two cents per cubic inch. 



The occurrence of poisonous mussles and star fishes in a German locality has 

 led to an investigation from which it api^eirs that simple stagnxtion of sea-water is 

 capable of giving lise to poisonous qualities in the animah inhabiting it; and that, 

 too, when it is free from sewage anl other impurities. The poison in the mussels 

 has been described as a ptomaine under the name of mytilot'>xin; but Prof. Virchow 

 says it cannot be a true ptomaine, as it is not a product of decomposition. It must 

 result from the conditions of the mollusk's growth. 



A safety cartridge of a novel kind has been introduced by Br. Kosmann of Bres» 

 lau, for use in coal-mines. A glass tube having two divisions contains finely divided 

 metallic zinc in one part and sulphuric acid in the other. The cartridge is introduc- 

 ed and the hole bored to receive it is firmly closed, when the tube is broken by 

 means of an iron rod. The sulphuric acid is thus brought into contact with the 

 zinc, and the rapid evolution of hydrogen gas which follows exerts a pressure on the 

 sides of the hole estimated at 37,000 atmospheres and rends the rock. 



In a recent geological paper. Prof. J. Starkie Gardner sketched the value and 

 importance of the grasses at the present day, remarking that they occupy under 

 cultivation one-third of the entire area of Europe, inclusive of lakes and mountains, 

 while exclusive of malt and spirituous drinks distilled from them, their products to 

 the value of nearly one hundred millions sterling are imported annually into Eng* 

 land alone. There are over 3,000 species fitted to occupy most diverse stations and 

 to overcome nearly every kind of vegetable competition, with the result that about 

 ninety-five per cent, of the plants growing in meadow lands are grasses. 



The recent French surveys have shown that the magnitude of the Algerian sea 

 project has been greatly exaggerated. No large part of Northern Africa can be 

 flooded, the Detert of Sahara proving to have an average height of 1100 feet, and 

 the only area below sea level being comprised in two 'choots' commencing about 

 100 miles due west of the Gulf of Gabes and covering only about 3100 square miles 

 — less than half the area of Lake Ontario. The flooding of the depressed region 

 would give a lake averaging 78 feet in depth. The creation of a new sea of such 

 size could hardly produce the great effects upon the world's climates and upon the 

 depth of the ocean which have been foreseen in the speculations of some scientific 

 writers. 



