300 Miscellaneous Intelligence. | 
that the destruction is sometimes at least a result of their numbers. The 
larves or wor 
—Mr. Stahl gives solidity to friable specimens, even if of loose material 
like a mould in sand of a shell or bone, by running in a mixture of resin 
and spermaceti melted together.—Les Mondes, May 
26. 
11. Elevation of Lake Geneva above the sea.—The mean level of Lake * 
Geneva has been determined, by levelling along the railroads here terml- 
nating, to be 372°362 meters above the mean level of the Mediterranean, 
and 371-562 meters above the mean level of the ocean.—Les es, 
ay 26, from the Arch. Sci. Phys. de Genéve, Jan., 1864. 
12. Investigations in Egypt.—A legacy of 20,000 francs has been be- 
queathed to the French Academy of Sciences by Miss A. Letellier, which, 
under the name of the “Savigny Foundation,” is to supply young 200 
ogists with the necessary means of continuing Savigny’s investigations m 
Egypt and Syria.— The Reader, June 25. : 
13. Isthmus of Suez.—The canal, which has for some time been in 
construction, from Ismailia to Port Said, has been completed, and fresh 
water is now furnished across the line of the desert, as well as at this 
important port. : 
14. Making of Oases.—Mr. Martins, in an address at one of the Soirées 
scientifiques of the Sorbonne, gives a glowing account of the effect over 
the African desert, through French enterprise, in sinking Artesian wells. 
He predicts the time when immense lines of railways shall run from the 
Mediterranean to Senegal, and from Senegal to the Red Sea; and whea 
Suez, with its finished canal, shall become “le foyer des relations avec la 
feconde Afrique, le boulevard de toutes les mers, la route de tous les 
15. Acclimation of English Birds in Australia.—The Thrush, Black- 
bird, Skylark, Starling, Chaffinch, various Sparrows, and the Wild Duck, 
are already domesticated in Australia through the efforts of the Acclima- 
tization Society of Victoria. Great success has also attended the Society ’s 
efforts to introduce good fresh-water fish into the rivers, and it is expect 
that the Salmon will soon be naturalized in Tasmania. al 
16. Dedication of the Museum of the Boston Society of Natu a 
History.—The new building, recently erected at Boston for the Natur 
History Scciety, was dedicated on the 2nd of June last. The —_— 
is an elegant and imposing structure of granite, brick and freestone, 
the classic style of architecture with Corinthian pilastres, nearly square 
in outline. At the centre of the east front there is a grand doorway 
of granite, supported by massive buttresses, o i 
_ to be placed life-sized figures of 
