t 
Miscellaneous Intelligence. 85 
oO” 
4. Papers of the erkshire Historical and Scientific Society. 
136 pp. 8vo. Pittsfield, 1886.—This first volume of the Berkshire 
Society contains four papers: On Berkshire Geology, by J. D. 
Dana; On the western boundary of Massachusetts, by F. L. 
PorE; the Judicial history of Berkshire, by H. W. "Tare; the 
Early roads and settlements of Berkshire west of Stockbridge 
and Sheffield, by H. F. Keirn. _~ 
5. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New 
South Wales, vol. xix, 1885. <A. Liversiper, Editor.—This 
volume of the Royal Society of New South Wales contains, 
among its papers, the following: on Local Variations and Vibra- 
tions of the Earth’s Surface, by H. C. RussExt, with five dia- 
grams; on Causes of Decay of the Australian Forests, by Rev. 
P. Macpurerson; on the History of Floods in the Hawesbury 
River, by J. P. " JOSEPHSON ; on the Characters of the Adelong 
Quartz-réels, by S. H. Cox; on the Ringal of the Northwestern 
Himalaya, by Dr. Brandes, besides others; preceded by the 
address of the President, H. C. Russell. The cause of decay in 
the Australian forests, after much investigation, was traced to 
the Opossums. 'The leaves of Eucalyptus were eaten and each 
margin thus deeply scolloped. This was proved to be the way 
with a captive opossum; and it was further proved that one 
opossum would devour about 200 leaves a night; and conse- 
quently shown that the 18,000 opossums killed annually in 
County Grant, Victoria, were sufficient to destroy upwards of 
13,000 trees and lay bare a space of 700 acres, or more than a 
square mile. 
OBITUARY. 
Isaac Lra.—Isaac Lea died at Philadelphia on the 8th of 
December last in his ninety-fifth year, after a life of enthusiastic 
devotion to science and great success in scientific work. He was 
born in Wilmington, Delaware, on the 4th of March. His resi- 
dence in Philadelphia began when fifteen years of age; and at 
twenty-two, in 1814, he and his friend, Mr. Lardner Vanuxem, 
later Professor Vanuxem, of the Geological Survey of New York, 
became members of the Academy of Natural Sciences of that city. 
His contributions to science began and ended with the depart- 
ment of mineralogy. But his chief memoirs and works are devoted 
to the departments of modern conchology and some departments 
of paleontology. His investigation of the American Unios 
began in 1825 on receiving some » specimens through Major Long, 
from the Ohio river; and when it closed in 1874, he had published 
thirteen volumes. The difficulties in discriminating species arising 
from varying forms in the shells he endeavored to overcome by 
a study of the animals, and accomplished much in this direction. 
His researches were extended to the fresh-water shells of other 
continents; and they included besides Unionidx, also species of 
Melanide, Paludinide, Helicide, and other freshwater species. The 
other large field ovcupied by him was that of the Tertiary shells 
