160 The West American Scientist. 



at the bottom and five feet wide on top. The mystery about 

 the lake is that no one knows who built these massive walls 

 that inclose it, or where the stone was obtained from, unless 

 they were taken Irom the immediate vicinity; for surrounding 

 the lake, to the extent of five or ten miles, there are no stones, 

 although everywhere else in Wright county there are plenty ol 

 them. Another singular fact is that, although the water in the 

 lake is always clear and fresh, no one has been able to ascertain 

 where it comes from or where it goes. 



An Electric Plant. — In the forests of India there has been 

 discovered a very strange plant, which manifests a most aston- 

 ishing magnetic power. Anyone who breaks a leal Irom it re- 

 ceives immediately a shock equal to that which is produced by 

 the conductor of an induction coil. A magnetic needle at a dis- 

 tance of twenty feet is affected by it, and near by becomes very 

 much deranged. The intensity of this singular influence is very 

 variable. It is most powerful about two o'clock in the after- 

 noon, and almost without force at night or during rain. No 

 bird or insect is ever seen to alight on the electric plant; some 

 instinct seems to warn them of the danger of sudden death. 

 None of the magnetic metals, iron, cobalt, or nickel, are found 

 where this plant grows, so that the electric force undeniably be- 

 longs exclusively to the plant. The mysteries of light and heat, 

 magnetism and electricity, make the leaf and blossom of this 

 wonderful Indian plant a rare botanical problem. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 



(San Diego Society of Natural History, October 4. 1889.) 



The meeting was held at the residence of the Vice-President, 

 Rev. B. F. McDaniel. Dr. C. H. Eigenmann made some re- 

 marks on his trip in the Azalene to the Cortez Banks, describing 

 the embryology of the rock cods and the surf perches, both of 

 which bring forth their' young alive. The vice-president 

 presented fine specimens of Indian relics from El Cajon valley, 

 describing the locality whence they came. Tourmaline in quartz 

 was scattered over the hillside and it was evident the Indians had 

 mined there for flints for arrow heads. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



Malva Rotundifolia. The occurrence of this imported 

 weed in a pasture at Trinidad, Colorado, is announced in Field 

 and Farm, September 21, 1889. It is exceedingly abundant in 

 some localities in the East, as at Niagara Falls, but we had not 

 definite news of it before in Colorado. T. D. A. C. 



Joseph P. Nunn. The Fertility and Coloring of Birds' Eggs. 

 Science Gossip, September, 1889, P- 2 °4- Statistics are given of 



