84 Notes and Memoranda. 



Derivative Character oe Chinese Literature. — M. de Paravey, after 

 carrying on many investigation into the accounts of the Quadrwmana, given in 

 Chinese works, finds his opinion confirmed, that the ancient books now extant, 

 belonging to this singular people, were founded upon others, still older, and 

 written in countries remote from China. 



Movements of the Heart. — MM. Chauveau and Marey have applied a 

 self-registering instrument to record the movements of the human heart, and they 

 inform us that the systole of the auricle begins and ends before that of the ven- 

 tricle, and that the systole of the ventricle and the beating of the heart begin and 

 terminate simultaneously, From these observations they conclude that the beat- 

 ing of the heart is not the result of the auricular systole, but of the systole of the 

 ventricle. They publish in the Comptes Rendus (January 6, 1862), a diagram of 

 the lines of their registering instruments, corresponding with the movements in 

 the heart. 



Recent Eruption of Vesuvius. — The Abbe Giardono, professor of physics 

 in the University of Naples, contributes to " Cosmos " some interesting particulars 

 concerning the last eruption of Vesuvius. He states that the mountain has been 

 in nearly constant activity since 1855, when a great flood of lava overwhelmed 

 half the valley of Vetrana and the ravines to the west of the crater. In 1858 

 there was another outbreak which lasted two years, and devastated a fertile tract 

 of country. During this long period the grand crater at the summit of the cone 

 never ceased to vomit forth fire. Then followed three months' tranquillity, broken 

 at mid-day on the 8th December, by a violent shaking of the earth, which was 

 felt as far as Naples. The first shock was followed by eight others, at intervals of 

 ten or fifteen minutes, some of a vibratory and others of an undulating character. 

 Then came half an hour's rest, and at three o'clock, without any trembling of the 

 earth or other warning, a dense cumulus cloud of smoke rushed from the flanks of 

 the mountain, and towered above the cone, forming the fine-tree appearance so 

 famous in old observations, and rolling down in huge masses, driven towards the 

 sea by the N.E. wind. At Torre del Greco the darkness was excessive, and 

 volcanic ashes, not in an impalpable powder, but in a granular form, were 

 scattered over the surrounding country. This immense quantity of matter was 

 emitted from a chasm opened in the side of the volcano. At this spot the first 

 new crater was formed, and afterwards a second and a third in the same line. 

 They were about fifteen hundred yards from the craters of 1794, and opened in 

 the midst of cultivated ground, the first actually commencing under the house of 

 a husbandman named Abbrucei, who was fortunate enough to escape with his 

 family. About an hour after the first crater was opened, the flow of lava began, 

 accompanied by showers of scoriae and volcanic bombs. Dismal bellowing noises 

 were heard throughout the country, but nothing like the tremendous explosions 

 that occurred in 1850. At first the fiery torrent directed its course S.E. towards 

 Torre del Greco, and as it descended it acquired a breadth of more than three 

 hundred yards. It was not liquid, but like a stiff paste, full of large masses of 

 scoriae of curious forms. It moved slowly through the night, sometimes stopping, 

 sometimes advancing, and at five o'clock in the morning of the next day had 

 not progressed more than a sixth of a league. The lava was rich in augite, and 

 of a black colour. Dp to this time the grand crater had taken no part in the 

 eruption, but it began to pour forth smoke, cinders, and lava masses, which fell 

 at the base of the cone. The lesser craters diminished their energies, and the 

 lava torrent stopped as if by magic. This, which seemed to be the time of safety, 

 was the moment for the destruction of the buildings in Torre del Greco, as the 

 earth shook violently and opened in numerous crevasses, splitting the buildings 

 right and left. The eruption was also signalized by electric dischargee from the 

 great cone ; claps of thunder pealed every five or ten minutes from the interior 

 of the crater ; and flashes of lightning, straight and forked, illuminated the 

 clouds. 



