KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 

127 

into their winter quarters, to flower in the green- | the sense of smell; then that of hearing; and 
house. As soon as the plants have stopped grow- 
ing, I withhold the dung-water, as a continuance 
of it would be likely to destroy them in the winter 
months.—J. H. 

Production of Oxygen Gas.—M. Boussingault 
has lately described a process by which pure 
oxygen gas may be obtained from the atmosphere 
at a trifling cost, so as to enable it to be collected 
in unlimited quantities and preserved in gasome- 
ters, like coal-gas, for application to many practical 
uses in the arts. This process depends upon a 
peculiar property possessed by the earth barytes, 
of absorbing the atmospheric oxygen at one tem- 
perature and evolving it at another; or, rather, 
the ready conversion of hydrate of barytes into 
peroxide of barium by a current of atmospheric 
air at a dull red heat; and the decomposition of 
the peroxide, by steam, at a lower temperature, 
even at 212° F., with re-formation of the hydrate 
of barytes—the process being in reality a con- 
tinuous one. It is found in practice, advisable to 
mix the barytes with hydrate of lime or mag- 
nesia; so as to prevent the fusing of the first. 
This mixture, when placed in an earthern tube 
heated to dull redness, is to be oxidised by 
passing a current of dry atmospheric air over it. 
So soon as the oxidation is completed, the tube 
is connected with the gas-holder, and a jet of 
steam allowed to act upon it. This re-converts 
the peroxide of barium into hydrate of barytes, 
the excess of oxygen being given off and collected 
in the gas-holder. The barytes is then again 
oxidised by a fresh current of air, and deoxidised 
by steam as frequently as required ; thus making 
the process continuous. M. Boussingault consi- 
ders that about 1000 cubic feet of pure oxygen 
gas could be obtained every twenty-four hours by 
the use of 10 ewts. of barytes,—which will answer 
for any length of time —Lynx. 

The White, or Barn Owl.—This bird is the 
victim of all who, ignorant of its value, can get a 
shot at it. ‘Asa constant destroyer of rats and 
mice,” says a writer on British birds, ‘‘the ser- 
vices performed by them for the agriculturist 
ought to obtain for them the toleration which they 
well deserve.” The number of mice this bird 
must destroy is very great, as a vigilant observer 
has seen him return to his nest witb his prey 
every five minutes. The gardener complains of 
the destruction of his early crops of peas by mice ; 
but he feels no hesitation or remorse at having a 
shot at the bird who would be of essential service 
to him in preserving his produce from these de- 
predators! Other useful birds are destroyed in 
hke manner; and the consequence is (of course) 
destruction to all sorts of produce by vermin,— 
lnsects, grubs, &c.—ARaus. 

Curious Facts attending Sleep.—Sleep does not 
come onall at once, it would seem ; but by degrees. 
M. Carbinis, the French physiologist, tells us 
that the legs and arms fail, before the powers 
which support the head; and these last sooner 
than the muscles which sustain the back. He 
illustrates this by the cases of persons who sleep 
on horseback. He conceives that the sense of 
sight sleeps first; then the sense of taste ; next 
finally that of touch—Jamus C. 

A. Gigantic Cedar.—There exists in California, 
says the Hecho of the Pacific, on one of the moun- 
tains of the country of Calaveras, a Cedar said to 
be the largest tree in the world. A correspondent 
of the Herald of Sonora, who has paid a visit to 
the spot for the purpose of examining this prodigy 
of the vegetable kingdom, describes it as follows :— 
“At the level of the earth its circumference is 92 
feet—4 feet up, it is 88 feet—at 14 feet, it is 61— 
and thence it gradually tapers. Its height is 285 
feet; and it has none of that deformity which 
commonly characterises trees with enormous 
trunks. From one end to the other, it is a model 
of symmetry. The age of this giant Cedar, counted 
by its zones, is 2520 years” (!) This king of the 
forests of the world has just had its bark—which 
at the base is nearly 14 inches in thickness— 
stripped away to a height of 50 feet, for the pur- 
pose of being sent to the Great Exhibition in New 
York, where, we understand, it now is.—J. B. 

The Swallow and the Sparrows—a Curious 
Circumstance.—I find the following in the “ Here- 
ford Journal:’—Under the eaves of a house in 
St. Owen’s Street, in this city, a swallow’s nest of 
last year, in which a young family had been 
reared, remained for occupation (probably by the 
same birds) on their return to this country from 
their continental winter sojourn. During their 
temporary absence, the nest was taken possession 
of, and inhabited by some house-sparrows, who, 
from their loud chirrupings, seem to have found it 
very snug quarters. The swallows, wishing to 
regain possession, had several skirmishes with the 
intruders, one of whom appeared always to remain 
at home to offer resistance from the interior; but 
they were unable to dislodge them until one day 
last week, when it was observed that a swallow 
pertinaciously attached itself to the outside of the 
nest. Here it was seen late at night, evidently 
keeping watch on the sparrow prisoner. The next 
morning, however, the sparrow had deserted his 
post; but from the entrance to the nest the dead 
Sparrow was suspended by one of its feet, which 
was firmly cemented to the outside of the nest, 
and where it still remains as an admonitory 
warning to all other burglarious sparrows.—Is not 
this a very remarkable circumstance, Mr. Editor ? 
—JanE D. 
[It reads well, Mademoiselle. Jf it be true, it 
as interesting. We fear, however, there is a trifle 
“too much color in the brush.” We want pure 
matters of “ fact.’’] 

A Curious Discovery of Roman Coins.—A 
Bavarian naturalist, Dr. Autenrieth, travelling in 
New Grenada, has, it is said, while excavating in 
the neighborhood of Panama, disinterred a terra- 
cotta vase, containing 364 Roman coins in bronze. 
They belong to the third and fourth centuries, and 
bear the effigies of the Emperors Maximilian, Dio- 
cletian, and Constantine the First. As there is 
no existing evidence of communication between 
the ancient Romans and Southern America, it is 
supposed, says a Munich journal, that these coins 
may have been buried by some Spanish numis- 
matist or archeologist who inhabited the ancient 


