SCIENCE. 



69 



in the wide tube is gradually expelled by the air, and the 

 wet cloth secures that all of it will be driven out before 

 any air gets in. The water contained in the narrower 

 tube remains to indicate the depth by a suitable 

 scale engraved on the glass, and then is let out by with- 

 drawing the terminal plug. 



For actual use the wide inlet tube is made of brass 

 and the narrower tube of glass. Three sets of these 

 tubes are combined into one instrument, and in each set 

 there is a special ratio between the capacities of the inlet 

 and reiaining tubes, in order that the set in question may- 

 answer for certain depths. Flying soundings are usually 

 taken in depths ranging up to 130 fathoms, and the three 

 sets are designed to indicate depths, say, from Z2 to 28 

 fathoms, from 28 to 60 fathoms, from 60 to 130 fathoms. 

 They a-e fitted into a brass protecting cylinder, open at 

 one end to the water, and slotted out iu the sides to allow 

 the engraved scales on the gauge tubes to be seen from 

 the outside. The whole is then enclosed in a galvanized 

 iron guard-case drilled with small holes to allow the sea- 

 water to enter, and being attached to the sinker is low- 

 ered into the sea. The apparatus is manufactured by 

 Mr. Whight, of Glasgow, for Sir William Thomson, and 

 it has already been adopted on H. M. S Valorous, and 

 the Russian imperial yacht Livadia. 



While upon this subject we may also draw attention to 

 the "nipper" lead of Mr. Lucas, engineer to the Tele- 

 graph Construction and Maintenance Company. The 

 old plan of ascertaining the nature of the sea bottom, by 

 bringing up a specimen ot it in a tube, let into the bottom 

 of tne sinker and armed with tallow, is open to several 

 objections. For instance, the specimen is apt to get 

 washed out in rising to the surface, and when it is safely 

 brought on board it is usually so smeared wiih tallow as 

 to be objectionable. The nipper lead of Mr. Lucas, on 

 the other hand, retains what it catches and renders it up 

 in a pure state well fitted tor preservation. The bottom 

 of the lead or sinker in question is provided with two 

 hollow claws or spoons, not unlike the mandibles of a 

 crab. These are hinged to the sinker, and open out 

 against the resistance of a s.out spiral spring which is 

 contained in the body of the sinker. When fully opened 

 out they are kept apart by a locking device, consisting of 

 two crossbars which meet end to end and fit iuto each 

 other. The points ot the open claws, however, in s.rik- 

 ing upon the bottom, spring this lock, and the claws 

 snap together with great force, nipping up a specimen of 

 the bottom at the same tune, and irom their hollow 

 shape this specimen is retained. So effective is the nip- 

 per lead that the claws will nip a sheet of paper oft a 

 table, and they have been found to raisd a specimen of 

 the bottom from 2,000 fathoms. — Engineering. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



Every young naturalist needs to be on his guard 

 against deception which is a frequent cause of serious 

 mistakes. 



Many strange species and unheard of peculiarities are 

 sometimes discovered by the over zealous and credulous. 

 Most imitations of natural objects are so bungling as to 

 be readily detected, but occasionally something turns up 

 which is such a surprise, that the fact is noted belore its 

 improbability is made evident. 



The large spiings of the limestone districts of Penn- 

 sylvania are exceedingly clear, cool and transparent. 

 The principal plants living in them are species of Chara- 

 ceae, and Veronica Americana, whose large, lettuce-like 

 leaves have a very striking appearance when seen through 

 the sparkling water. While visiting a spring one day in 

 mid-summer, 1 was surprised to see some strange look- 

 ing plants which appeared to be Marata cotula. Men- | 

 tally noting this peculiar position for such a common and j 

 well-known weed of dry ground, I caught sight of some- 



thing still stranger — a garden aster ; another step and a 

 zinnia and dahlia came to view. Indeed there was 

 quite a garden "a immersion." 



The small boys of the neighborhood had acquired the 

 art of deftly binding flowering branches to small stones 

 which held the plants to the bottom, while the strong 

 upward flow of the water kept them neatly upright and 

 life-like. 



The search for plants upon vacant city lots, rubbish 

 piles, and the like, always leveals a greater number and 

 variety of species than one would suppose. 



As several of these " local " floras have been pub- 

 lished lately, I give one which interested me a good 

 deal at the time of noting it. In Kingsford's Oswego 

 Starch factory, large quantities of lime are used in the 

 manufacture of corn search. The refuse lime is a pasty 

 mass still having to a considerable degree the caustic 

 properties of fresn lime. Large quantities of it accumu- 

 late about the factory, and are hauled oft to get it out of 

 the way. Several hundred loads were once deposited in 

 the middle of a pasture, in a loose pile varying from 

 three to six feet in thickness. Cattie tramped over it 

 carrying more or less mud upon iheir hoofs, and their 

 droppings collected to a considerable extent upon it. In 

 time plants began to get a foothold there, and one mild 

 day in winter, about tnree or four years aitei ward, I vis- 

 ited it, and was surprised to find the folio .ving well estab- 

 lished : Cirsium, 2 sp., Rumex, Poa, Phlemn, Plantago, 

 Graphahum, Verbena, Tiifohum, 2 sp„ Solidago, Marata, 

 Chenopodium, Polygonum. 



The white clover was especially luxuriant, and covered 

 patches of several square teet with a perfect turf. 



W. A. B. 



A popular work on Alga?, by Rev. A. B. Hervey, to be 

 illustrated with colored plates, is announced. 



Professor Alphonso Wood, widely known as the author 

 of a Class-book of Botany and other botanical text-books, 

 died at his residence at West Farms, New York, on the 

 4th inst. 



Trimen's Journal of Botany, despite its long standing 

 and being without a rival in its chosen field, is obliged to 

 make a call for a more liberal support in both subscrip- 

 tions and contributions. This does not speak well for the 

 enthusiasm of English systematists. 



The second volume of The Botany of California has 

 made its appearance. It includes the remainder of the 

 Phanerogams not treated in Vol. I., the Pteridophytes, 

 and the Mosses, and brings this eminent work to a suc- 

 cessful close. 



A new manual of the mosses of the United States will 

 be published during the present year. The authors, Leo 

 Lesquereux and Thomas P. James, are the most able and 

 distinguished bryologists of America. The edition will 

 not be large, and for the present the price is fixed by the 

 publishers at $3.00. Such a manual has been needed for 

 a long time. 



In The American Naturalist for January, Professor 

 Bessey calls attention to the Fly Fungi belonging to the 

 genus Entomophthora. They have been but little 

 studied. The most common species (E. muscce, Fres.) 

 infests the house fly. Dead flies are common in autumn 

 covered with a white powder which fastens them to the 

 walls and other objects of the room. Upon examination 

 the bodies are found to be filled with the mycelium of the 

 asexual stage of the fungus, the white powder being the 

 conidial spores. This asexual form is described in many 

 books under the name Empusa. The sexual stage de- 

 velopes entirely within the host, filling it with a mass of 

 oospores and hyphae. The genus Tarichium is founded 

 on this sexual condition of the plant. The two genera 

 Empusa and Tarichium not being autonomous are re- 



