190 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Survey have in the summer of 1891 actually proved 

 that the Torridon sandstone — the equivalent of the 

 strata which form the red mountains of Sutherland — 

 is really of a pre-Cambrian age. These pre-Cambrian 

 rocks are universally allowed to be of a volcanic origin ; 

 so that my original contention seems now established. 

 The history of the stratigraphical determination of 

 these Sutherland pre-Cambrians is rather amusing. 

 Nicol and the eloquent rhetorician, Hugh Miller, 

 called them Devonian. Murchison soon afterwards 

 referred them to the Cambrian system ; while now 

 from the summer of 1891, the Survey, after much 

 bungling, mathematical scratching, and a sort of 

 trembling hesitancy on the part of that splendid 

 rhetorician, Sir A. Geikie, have at last definitely 

 assigned the position to which anybody not too 

 densely stupid, would have immediately relegated 

 them at first sight. It seems, however, that Professor 

 Judd has uniformly regarded them as pre-Cambrian, 

 an opinion which I had never heard of till this 

 month, and one which, for aught I know, has sub- 

 jected that scientist to a fierce hurricane of inimitable 

 rhetoric from the matchless pen of his inveterate 

 opponent in the various interesting geological pro- 

 blems anent the north-west highlands. — Dr. P. Q. 

 Keegan. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



A Poughkeepsie inventor, Mr. Mulrey, has 

 devised an ice locomotive, or, rather, a steam engine 

 attachment for the ice-boat, which will make it 

 independent of the wind. The boat he uses is of the 

 ordinary ice-boat form, is provided with a small 

 boiler carrying 250 lb. pressure of steam, and a small 

 engine working on a pair of cogged drivers. Some 

 experiments with this vehicle made on the Hudson 

 river just before the breaking up of the ice were 

 • fairly successful. 



™" An eminent Prussian ornithologist, who has been 

 making a series of curious experiments, states that 

 cayenne pepper in the food of canary birds is known 

 to change their colour slowly from yellow to red. In 

 addition to a colouring substance, this pepper is found 

 to contain an irritating principle and an oily matter, 

 and as extraction of the two latter principles removes 

 the effect upon the plumage of birds, and the sub- 

 sequent addition of olive oil restores it, the oily part 

 of the pepper is supposed to be the necessary vehicle 

 of the colour. Wholly white hens were coloured by 

 the pepper food. These hens lay eggs with a very 

 bright red yolk, and themselves possess the remark- 

 able property of fore-shadowing a change in the 

 temperature by a decided change of tint. When fed 

 with alkanet root the birds become violet red in 

 colour. 



A Ground Upheaval.— I was witness lately 

 of what to me was a phenomenal sight, and I 

 should be interested to know whether any readers of 

 Science-Gossip have had a similar experience. I 

 was spending Sunday, June 19th, 1892, at a friend's 

 house in Ipswich, and at about a quarter to six p.m. 

 a short and violent thunderstorm commenced. There 



was a loud clap of thunder, followed almost imme- 

 diately by vivid lightning, and then a deluge of rain. 

 Suddenly my friend exclaimed, "Do look at the 

 lawn ! " and lo and behold from the level turf a 

 mound measuring 42J inches by 35 across had risen 

 to a height of about 8 inches. We called the rest of 

 the household to see it, and as we watched, two 

 small jets of water burst from one side. Anxious to 

 examine the mound closer, I waded out despite the 

 rain, and found on touching it that it had all the 

 elasticity of an indiarubber ball, and that by pressing 

 it I could squeeze the water out of one part into 

 another. The rain soon ceasing, the upheaval began 

 to subside, and took rather more than a quarter-of- 

 an-hour to sink to its proper level, the turf then 

 wearing a wrinkled appearance, as though it had 

 been much stretched. I confess to a certain dis- 

 appointment when I afterwards learnt that the cause 

 was not entirely natural, as there was a pipe under- 

 neath connected with the roof of the house, and 

 which was intended to carry off the water, that it 

 might there sink into the ground. Nevertheless, the 

 phenomenon was instructive to me as illustrating the 

 probable origin of many inequalities on the earth's 

 surface which are not due to volcanic action. I hope 

 that the matter-of-fact termination to the story will 

 not make it entirely devoid of interest. — Nina F. 

 Layard. 



A Fatal Fly-Sting. — The sad accident to Mr. 

 Frank J. Woods, is one of rare occurrence, although 

 the conditions for it are only too prevalent. Mr. 

 Woods died, after about ten days' illness, from 

 erysipelas and septicaemia supervening on a sting on 

 the lip inflicted by a gadfly. It was conjectured that 

 the insect must have been in contact with a diseased 

 animal ; but the transference of putrescent material 

 from any source may have been made by the gadfly 

 to the wound it inflicted on a highly vascular part. 

 The only thing to be done under such circumstances 

 is to subject the wounded part to powerful suction ; 

 and in the case of a bite on the lip this may be done 

 fairly effectively by the individual himself, for only in 

 this way is it at all possible to extract the poisonous 

 material. 



Electricity versus Caterpillars. — Edison 

 originated electrocution on a practical scale when 

 he waged successful war on cockroaches. We are 

 greater believers in the humanity of electricity as 

 a destroying agent when thus applied than when 

 used punitively for man. We now hear that Edison's 

 original device has been greatly improved upon, and 

 applied to prevent caterpillars from climbing up trees. 

 Alternate wires of copper and 2inc are run around 

 the trunk of the tree, at a distance of about half an 

 inch apart. The casual caterpillar begins to mount 

 the trunk of the tree, and unlimbers himself with the 

 confidence and vigour born of an impending feast. 

 Presently he reaches the copper wire, pokes his nose 

 over it, and lets another kink out of his backbone. 

 Half an inch further up his front feet strike the zinc, 

 the circuit is completed, and the unfortunate larva is 

 a martyr to science. 



Landscape Scenery. — When on the top ot 

 our Breconshire Beacons a short time ago, a friend 

 called my attention to the fact that the colours and 

 outline of the distant landscape were far more vivid 

 and distinct if looked at with the head on one side 

 than in the ordinary way. I have since then observed 

 the same effect elsewhere, and shall be glad if any of 

 your readers can explain why this is so. — C. Henry 

 James. 



