^'OTES A>'D QUERIES. 



109 



liill give also, in my humble opinion, evidence of the existence, at one 

 time, of a Lirge mass of ice. The folIoTring sketch shows the strange 

 manner in which granite can be smoothed and polished by natural causes. 

 The sketch represents a granite boulder found several feet under the sur- 

 face in the immediate neighbourhood of Jordanhill House, where it now 

 lies not far from the garden-wall. The questions, What kind of force 

 rounded this piece of granite. Does the fact that a portion of it — the vein 

 almost in the centre — has not been removed, prove the said force to be ice ? 

 are questions not easily answered. 



^ The vein of quartz, a a, has been left un- 



touched by the force that has removed the granite 

 ^-'^ originally on a level with it, b b ; the force that 



I i^^M M\ ^^^A I has done this appears therefore to have been too 

 weak to cut the vein of quartz. A stronger force 

 ^^^^^^m^^^' iii^y have previously cut the vein, or, what is more 

 - - likely, the force that was polishing this travelled 



boulder, has sent it into a groove or furrow, 

 which has prevented the vein of quartz from being lessened so quickly as 

 the granite on each side of it. 



I am inclined to imagine that this boulder and other similarly scratched 

 boulders, brought to the surface in this neighbourhood, proves the exist- 

 ence of stones carried along upon ice, called in Switzerland the "moraines" 

 of the glacier. Sir C. Lyell asserts that " all sand and fragments of soft 

 stone which fall through fissures and reach the bottom of the glaciers^ or 

 which are interposed between the glacier and the steep sides of the valley, 

 are pushed along, and ground down into mud, \a liile the larger and harder 

 fragments have their angles worn off." This quotation is taken from the 

 last edition of the ' Principles of G-eology.' — P. S. WhiteincJi, Glasgow. 



Permanency of Yegetable Organisms. — The powder of a brick 

 found on the site of the ancient Egyptian town of Eileithy^a, examined 

 under the microscope, proved to contain several fragments of animal and 

 vegetable remains, among which those of eight species of plants were still 

 in a state fit for specific determination. These eight species are in no way 

 d'fl'erent from those at present growing and cultivated in Egypt and I^ubia ; 

 a proof that a period of 3500 to 4000 years (the probable age of the brick 

 under examination) has passed away, without an}" notable change taking 

 place in the climate and vegetation of Egypt. More extensive examina- 

 tions of similar materials may be expected to throw new light on the former 

 flora of this seat of ancient culture. — Peoe. Ungee, Imp. Acad, of Science ^ 

 Vienna, Jan. Wi, 1862. 



Earthquake Phenomena. — Dear Sir, — It is with some reluctance I 

 venture to trouble you with an inquiry, but I know of no other from whom 

 I could expect a reply which would be of equal value to me. 



1. Suppose the direction of earthquake undulation were from east to 

 west, would there be any probability of a valley or deep chasm being 

 formed at right angles with the direction of the earthquake, i.e. from north 

 to south ? 



2. Would it be probable that earthquake waves would run parallel with 

 the mountain systems with which they were associated ? 



3. Suppose an earthquake to emanate from a given point, would there 

 be a probability of its undulation extending in opposite directions from 

 that point ? — Subsceiber. 



1. Earthquake undulations {i.e. shocks) are incapable of forming valleys 

 or deep chasms, by their direct action, at all. 



Whatever chasms or fissures are produced are due to " secondary ac^ 



