146 Notes and Memoranda. 



plants could never have existed, because their remains have not been found. It 

 is, therefore, interesting to note a modern instance, in which naturalists are with- 

 out that kind of proof, furnished by a specimen, of the existence of an enormous 

 animal, apparently not uncommon. Dr. Gray, speaking of the Physetes, or Black 

 fish of the whalers, states in the Annals Nat. Hist.," there is not a bone, nor even a 

 fragment of a bone, nor any part which can be proved to have belonged to a speci- 

 men of this gigantic animal to be seen in any museum in Europe. This is the more 

 remarkable, as the animal grows to the length of more than fifty feet, is mentioned 

 under the name of the Black fish in almost all whaling voyages, and two specimens 

 of it were examined by Sibbold, having occurred on the coast of Scotland." 



Tiie Nile in Early Ages. — The Quarterly Journal of the Geological 

 Society, No. 77, contains an important paper by Dr. Leith Adams, who has been 

 collecting fresh-water shells in the Nile Valley at considerable elevations above the 

 present river level in flood seasons. The conclusions deduced from his observa- 

 tions are " that there is reason to infer that the Nile in early ages was a rapid 

 river, and that the force of the stream has been steadily declining ; at least, since 

 the upheaval ( ?) of the valley ceased." Dr. Adams adds that Mr. Rhind's 

 observations tend to show that " the change has been scarcely perceptible within 

 the long historical periods furnished by the records, excepting on certain points 

 caused by a change in the direction of the river's force." 



Artificial Rainbow. — M. J. Duboscq has contrived for the Erench theatre 

 a method of imitating the rainbow, of which Cosmos speaks very highly. He 

 employs an electric light, obtained with the aid of 100 Bunsen elements. The 

 first lenses of his optical apparatus render the rays from this source parallel, and 

 transmit them through a rainbow-shaped hole in a screen to a double convex 

 lens of very short focus, from which they pass to a prism, and emerge with 

 sufficient divergence to make an effective rainbow on a screen about six yards off'. 

 This rainbow is said to be brilliant even when the whole scene is lit up. 



An "Aerial Navigation Society." — A society under this title has been 

 constituted in Paris, to assist the experiments of M. Nadar, and promote atmo- 

 spheric travelling. 



Electrical Light at Cape de la Hkve. — The Erench government has 

 maintained an electrical illumination at this lighthouse, which is near Havre, 

 since 26th December. 



Tmm'strial Education of Spiders. — M. Duchesne Thoureau has * for- 

 warded to Cosmos a specimen of a sort of felt produced by spiders in confine- 

 ment, and lie states that a sufficient number of these creatures placed under 

 conditions of domestication, which he does notcxplain, will make soft, warm carpets 

 of any size ! The editor of Cosmos says that the specimen of spider manufac- 

 ture sent to him is like German tinder in appearance. 



Preservation of Meat. — M. Paglinrihassentanoteto the Erench Academy 

 on his method of preserving moat, lie washes it over with a liquid composed of 

 alum, benzoin, and water, this leaves a lilin of a protecting substance, which lie 

 states permits evaporation to go on. bui prevents the- access of the ferments of 

 putrefaction. Specimens of the preserved meat were exhibited, but they are said 



not to have presented a very enticing iippearance. 



[njbctiob or nwen into Veins.— M. M. Demarquay and Ijecompte have 

 shown thai considerable quantities of oxygen may be thrown into the vena cava 

 below the liver, or into the oena porta, without Killing an animal and without 

 changing the colour of venous blood. — Ootnptet AVmi/m.v, No. 4. 1864 



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