IVesf American Scientist. T4S 



A German chemist, Prof. C. Winkler, has discovered a new 

 element, ' Germanium,' in a mineral named Argyrodite, which 

 consists chiefly of sulphur, silver and mercury 



Salts of copper — usually regarded as very poisonous — have 

 been administered by a French chemist to dogs and rabbits with- 

 out serious effects, either from large doses or from a long continued 

 regular use of the substances. 



An ItaHan physicist, Signor Bombicci, seeks to account for the 

 fact that meteorites are largely composed of iron by supposing 

 the earth's magnetism to be the influence which chiefly attracts 

 the floating fragments of space. This view is supported by the 

 lar^e finds of meteoric stones near the accessible pole of our 

 planetary magnet. 



NECROLOGY. 



A young Italian mycologist, the Abbe Ben. Scortechini, an 

 explorer of Australia and further India, died lately at Calcutta. 

 A genus of fungi commemorates his services. 



Dr. Didrik Ferdinand Didrichsen died on March 19th, aged 

 seventy-two years. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



LOWER CALIFORNIA. 



[The following is in reply to a criticism of the International 

 Co. of Mexico for indicating, on the maps issued by them, as 

 "rich farming land" the eastern part of northern Lower Cali- 

 fornia that forms a portion of the so-called Colorado Desert. Ed.] 



*' I note what you say about the words on a portion of our map, 

 "Rich Farm Land." These were put there under the following 

 circumstances: When I took hold of Kansas in '68, '69, '70 and 

 '71, all the maps then extant of this country had the words 

 "Great American Desert" printed across the Western half of 

 Kansas. I had the lands examined by Agassiz and found that 

 under the light surface soil or sand there was a deep black loam. 

 I published his analysis of the soil widely, with the result that the 

 " Great American Desert" was effaced from the maps and I had 

 the pleasure of doubling the population of Kansas within two 

 years. I was at this time General Manager of the Company 

 which handled the lands of the Kansas Pac Road, extending 

 from Kansas City to Denver. I mention all this in connection 

 with these words which you refer to on our map of Lower Cali- 

 fornia. I had the examination of a man, a practical farmer, and 

 one of the best land men I know, for the district you refer to. 

 He reported to me that under the light surface soil or dust there 



