Notes and Memoranda. 163 



region of perpeUial snow, and about twenty leagues from the Baths of Chillon, 

 known for their hot sulphurous springs. 



The Petroleum Springs of Noeth America. — Dr. Abraham Gesner com- 

 municated to the Geological Society an account of these extraordinary springs, 

 and an abstract of his paper will be found in the Quarterly Journal. The oil 

 region comprises parts of Lower and Upper Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ken- 

 tucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and California, reaching 

 from the 65th to the 128th degree of longitude west, and there are likewise 

 outlying tracts. The oil is believed to be derived from silurian, devonian, and 

 carboniferous rocks, and is conjectured to be a product of the chemical action 

 by which ligneous matter is transmuted into coal. Dr. Gesner also suggests 

 that in some cases animal matter may have been the source of the hydro-carbon. 

 To obtain the petroleum, borings are made through various strata to the depth 

 of 150 to 500 feet. As a general rule, these borings pass through clay, with 

 boulders, sandstones, and conglomerates, shale, bituminous shale, and then the 

 oil, underlaid by the oil-bearing stratum of fire clay, containing fragments of 

 stigmaria and other coal plants. As soon as the oil stratum is reached there is 

 an escape of carburetted hydrogen gas, often violent enough to blow the boring- 

 rods into the air. When the oil comes it is ejected with much force, sometimes 

 rising to the height of 100 feet. Some wells have at first given 4000 gallons in 

 six hours, and the average daily yield of mineral oils in the United States is 

 estimated at about 50,000 gallons. 



Land Animals in the Coal Measures oe Nova Scotia. — Dr. Dawson has 

 obtained numerous animal remains from the cliffs of the South Joggins, Nova 

 Scotia, among them some reptilian skeletons, one of which, the Dendrerpeton 

 acadianum, he considers the most perfect carboniferous reptile hitherto discovered. 

 These were obtained from a tree trunk fossilized in situ, and it also contained, 

 amongst other treasures, many remains of insects, the most interesting being a 

 compound eye, with the facets perfectly preserved. Further details are given in 

 the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 



New Volcanic Island in the Caspian Sea. — In August last, the crew of 

 the steamer " Turkey" discovered a new island in the middle of the Caspian, 

 23 fathoms long, 12 fathoms wide, and the height above the water about 6 feet. 

 The soil is very loose, and smells strongly of petroleum. The new isle is in a line 

 of volcanic action, from the mud eruptions of Kertch to the fires of Bakou. An 

 account of its discovery appeared in the Russian Naval Revieio, a translation of 

 which by Lieut. Lutke was communicated to the Geological Society, through 

 Sir B. Murchison. 



Bakewell's Copying Telegraph. — We understand from Mr. Bakewell that 

 he considers Bonelli's telegraph, noticed in our last Number, to be an imitation 

 of his copying telegraph, to which a Council Medal was awarded at the Great 

 Exhibition of 1851. The latter effects with a single wire what Signor Bonelli's 

 telegraph does with twenty ; and it was at once evident, when the method of 

 copying writing by the means of electricity with one wire was shown, that a 

 greater number would do the work more quickly, if cost were no object. We 

 are informed that with eight or ten wires copies of writing may be transmitted 

 with Mr. Bakewell's instrument at the rate of 3000 letters per minute. 



Heliochromy. — M. Niepce de St. Victor has communicated to the French 

 Academy an important step towards the fixation of heliochromic tints, which 

 increases the hope that before long coloured objects may be successfully photo- 

 graphed. He states that he " obtains the heliochromic colours on a film of chloride 

 of silver formed on a metallic plate." In preparing this plate he employs hypo- 

 chlorite of potash, and he remarks, " this alkaline bath, although very variable 

 in its composition, generally gives fine colours, only the bottom of the image 

 remains somewhat dark, and divers causes occasion certain colours to dominate 

 over the rest." Continuing his description, he observes, " it is known that to 

 obtain the colours on a white ground it is necessary to heat the plate, before ex- 

 posing it to the light, until the chloride of silver assumes a rosy tint, or to sub- 

 stitute for the action of heat that of light, in the manner indicated by M. C. 



