Miscellaneous Intelligence. 335 
Further, the whole country is divided into seven regions, one 
being assigned to each member of the Commission, who, on the 
occurrence of an earthquake in his section, will at once send prin- 
ted lists of questions in regard to it to all persons likely to give 
information. The replies will of course become matter of record. 
a= 20926629 feet. b=20925105 feet. c= 20854477 feet. 
Here a@ and } are the equatorial radii, and ¢ the polar radius. 
_ The ellipticities of the two principal meridians of the earth 
(i.e. the ratio of the difference of the semi-axes to half their sum) 
4 30577 
Col. Clarke adds :—“ The longitude of the greater axis of the 
equator is 8° 15’ west of Greenwich, a meridian passing through 
Ireland and Portugal, and cutting off a portion of the northwest 
in the 
1 
are :— PORN TREE Lr 
289-54 2" 
corner of Africa; i opposite hemisphere this meridian cuts 
northeastern corner of Asia, and passes through the 
southern island of New Zealand. The meridian containing the 
maller diameter of the equator passes through Ceylon, on the 
one side of the earth and bisects North America on the other. 
This position of the axis, brought out by a very lengthened cal- 
culation, certainly agrees very remarkably with the distribution 
of land and water on its surface.” 
The values of Listing corresponding to the above, quoted from 
the Astronomische Nachrichten in this Journal, vol. xvii, p. 74, 
=n. 1879) (employed by Todd, 1. ¢. xix, 62, Jan., 1880), are not 
Silver and lead smelting (52 pages); concluding with amalgama- 
'n, or the extraction of silver from its ores by means of mercury 
