Notes and Memoranda. 305 



capable of repetition under the very circumstances that determined the peculiarity 

 of its habitation. 



The Willow Leaves, or Eice Geains, on the Sen. — In that useful 

 journal of intercommunication between astronomers, the Astronomical Register 

 for March, is a letter from Mr. Nasmyth, containing his original paper on the 

 willow leaf shaped objects on the sun, the existence of which, except as rarities, 

 has been doubted by some other able observers. Mr. Nasinyth says a telescope 

 of very considerable power and denning capacity is necessary. Mr. Dawes has 

 seen the mottled aspect of the solar surface with a 2 § -inch glass, and a power of 60. 

 He finds, with a 6 or 8-inch telescope, and high powers, that the surface is 

 chiefly composed of luminous masses of all shapes, imperfectly separated by rows 

 of darker spots. Anything like Mr. Nasmyth' s willow leaves he finds very rare, 

 and only found in the vicinity of large spots in their penumbra. Mr. Nasmyth, in 

 the letter alluded to, says they are scattered over the surface, and he in all 

 imaginable directions. He says he considers the penumbra to be a true secon- 

 dary stratum of the luminous envelope revealed by the partial removal of the 

 outer and luminous envelope. When a solar spot is mending up, he sees the 

 willow leaves bridging it across. Mr. Dawes sees the spots under such circum- 

 stances bridged over by luminous masses like stray straws from a plat. Since 

 the subject was discussed at the Astronomical Society some weeks ago, the objects 

 in question have been seen at Greenwich with the great equatorial and a smaller 

 instrument, the result being the confirmation of Mr. Nasmyth's statement, with a 

 slight modification. The mottled appearance of the sun is now affirmed to be 

 produced by a multitude of bodies like rice grains, rather than willow leaves. 



New Anesthetics. — Dr. Georges has addressed a note to the French 

 Academy detailing various experiments. He states that purified keresolene, ob- 

 tained from petroleum oil, is a good ansesthetic, but requires the aid of heat. 

 Brom-hydric ether he especially recommends as safer than eholoroform, not 

 easily inflamed, and having an exquisite odour. 



Hearing- oe Crustacea. — M. Hensen has a paper on the auditory organ 

 of the Decopods in the Zeit. fur wiss. Zoologie, xiii., 1863, an account of which 

 will be found in the Archives des Sciences, No. 74. To show that these crea- 

 tures are quick of hearing, he placed prawns, or shrimps, in a vessel of sea 

 water, containing strychnine, which augments the reflex power of nervous centres. 

 A slight noise then caused the animals to bound away. He states that different 

 sounds cause different hairs, which are connected with the auditory cavity, to 

 vibrate. A particular note will make one hair vibrate, while its neighbours 

 remain quiet. 



Peoduction of Ozone by Agitation oe Air. — M. C. Sainspierre informs 

 the French Academy that he has ascertained that ozone is developed by the me- 

 chanical action of blowing machines and ventilators producing strong currents. 

 This fact may in part account for the healthy action of winds, and shoidd be 

 viewed in connection with Mr. E. J. Lowe's paper in our last number. 



Obtaining Palates oe Mollusca. — Mr. T. W. Wonfor obligingly sends 

 the following : — " If you have not heard from any other source of a simpler 

 method of obtaining the palates of mollusca than that mentioned in tho Rev. 

 E. Rowe's paper, I would call your attention to a plan suggested by Mr. 

 Hennah. I have tried it, and found it very simple and successful. It is to boil 

 the head of the mollusk in liquor potassa; in a test tube, by wliich means all parts, 

 with the exception of the palate, are destroyed. The palate may now be taken 

 out, washed in distilled water, and mounted. Those who have tried the dissec- 

 tion of minute mollusca will find this a saving of time and patience. It is 

 better to boil the potassse in a hot-water bath." 



Seeing Venus as a Crescent. — The recorded instances of this planet having 

 been seen as a crescent with the naked eye are very few, and the following extract 

 from Theodore Parker's journal adds an interesting case to the brief list : — " When 

 twelve years old I once saw the crescent form of Venus with my naked eye. It 

 amazed me. Nobody else could see it ; father was not at home. Nobody knew 

 that the planets exhibit this form. So I hunted after a book on astronomy, and 



