386 Notes and Memoranda. 



nerves, under the skin of another, and when we plant a plume of feathers under 

 the skin of a dog, what a miracle to see the interrupted vital phenomena resume 

 their course, and the fragment of a bird receive nourishment from the blood of a 

 mammal." , ., 



Formation of Thick Ice. — M. Lucien de la Kive has recently read an 

 elaborate paper on the Conductibility of Heat by Ice, before the Soeiete le 

 Physique and d'Histoire Naturelle de Geneve, which is reprinted in the Archives 

 des Sciences. In this essay he enters, amongst other things, on the time required 

 to form thick masses of polar ice by gradual freezing of the water touching their 

 lower surfaces. One metre in thickness would, he states, require l - 42 years, 10 

 metres 142 years, 100 metres, 14,200 years, 200 metres, 56,800 years. The huge 

 masses seen by Scoresby and others, having a probable thickness of 200 metres, 

 may have grown by snow falling on their upper surfaces ; but if it were possible 

 to determine by difference of structure what portion resulted from this cause, and 

 what was produced by additions from below, the time consumed in the formation 

 of the latter might be computed according to the formulae which M. de la Kive 

 gives. 



Viewing Tadpole Circulation. — Those who are not familiar with -the best 

 arrangements for this purpose should consult Mrs. Ward's excellent Microscope 

 Teachings. All but the very youngest tadpoles are too thick for the live box ; 

 older ones may be placed, as in Mrs. Ward's sketch, on a slide, and partly covered 

 with a little tuft of wet cotton wool. They will generally be quiet enough without 

 tying down. When the gill circulation is to be viewed, the cotton should be 

 placed over the tail, and when the gills have disappeared, and the tail circulation 

 becomes a beautiful spectacle, the cotton should be placed over the creature's head 

 and body. 



Cure for Hooping Cough. — The Courier du Pas du Calais mentions seve- 

 ral instances of the cure of hooping cough by inhalation of the vapours evolved 

 by the lime used in purifying coal-gas. It affirms that two or three visits to 

 the gas-works have usually proved sufficient. 



Mr. GtAisnER's 18th Ascent took place on the 6th of April, at 4 - 7 p.m., 

 from Woolwich Arsenal. The sky was overcast at starting, and had been bo all 

 day, wind S.E. The balloon crossed the river into Essex ; at 500 feet elevation 

 the air was very misty, and increased in density as the balloon rose ; at 2000 

 feet wind was SW. or WSW. ; at 2500 feet dense white cloud; at 2500 feet 

 thin rain ; at 4000 feet clouds less dense, and increase of light ; at 4500 feet 6un 

 seen faintly ; at 5100 feet the sun cast a faint shadow, but cloud continued up to 

 6500 feet ; the air was still misty, and after reaching 8100 feet mist increased 

 till the height of 9000 feet ; at 9500 feet bright sunshine, and it was quite warm. 

 At 10,000 feet Mr. Glaisher says, " We were quite out of the cloud, and there 

 was a sea of white cloud, dazzling in its brightness, extending without break or 

 irregularity in its surface as far as we could see all around, that is, for more than 

 100 miles on all sides ; near to us on the cloud on the side opposite the sun was a 

 bright oval halo of immense extent, in the centre of which was situated the sha- 

 dow of the balloon and car, but without prismatic colours. This all appeared to 

 revolve with us, for it was constant, and we know we were turning round by 

 the .-uii now shining on our backs and then in our faces. At (he greatest eleva- 

 ti'ni, 1 1,000 fed, there was perfect repose, the sky was without a cloud, of a beau- 

 tiful deep blue." The temperature on leaving was 16'; at 1000 feet, 41 J°; at 

 1500 feet, 40 ' j at 2000 feet , B7" ; at 3000 feet, 32" ; from 3500 to 4000 feet, no 

 variation from 33"; at 5000 fed temperature rose to 36°; at 8000 feet, 40°; at 

 9000 feet, 84" ; between 10,000 and 1 1,000 feet, 46°. In descending, the highest 



temperature was at 8000 feet, 46°, at that elevation it is usually 30' to 40" lower 

 lb-Hi on the earth. Within two miles of the earth totally opposite currents were 

 found. No ozone was detected. 



