NOTKS AND QUHKIKS. 
410 
What is IJieir si<^iiillcati(iu ? Again, on (lie compass side of llie clinoiiiclcr isa 
tabic divided into vertical columns, the lirst marked degrees, the second C(nitain- 
iiig parts of the inch, corresponding to the degrees, llow do they correspond 
with each other ? — Sigma. 
Tiie mark 1 | 1 signifies that the angle is such that the base is equal to the 
perpendicular ; 1 in 2 that the base is double the jjcrpendicular, aud so on. 
The second column docs not signify parts of an inch, but for a slope of one 
decree the rise is one in fifty-seven (one foot in fifty-seven feet, or one inch 
in lift.y-sevcn inches, etc., etc.). Tor two degrees the slope or gradient would 
be one in twenty-eight and a-lialf, and so on. 
HociiSTETTER ON GiiiNESE EossiLS. — Groups of cvystals and organic re- 
mains arc highly valued in China as ornaments of opulent apartments, and 
fetch most exorbitant prices. A group of common quartz crystals, of very 
common appearance, was offered to Dr. Hochstctter at the price of twenty 
Mexican dollars (about £4 4s.). Plates of dark brown limestone embedding 
splendid specimens of Orthoceratites, are, when polished and framed, higlily 
esteemed as oi'iiaraeutal furniture for state apartments. They are said to be 
frequent at Yuuuan. Their Chinese name of " pagoda-stone," adopted by Mr. 
Muirhead in his "Manual of Geology," published in the Chinese language, is 
derived from the general opinion that these Orthoceratiles — showing indeed in 
their alveoles and in the septa; going through them a certain similitude with 
the structure of these buildings — are formed underground in places on whose 
sui-faee the towers of a pagoda project their shadows. 
Possil bones and teeth of mammalia, as also tiger bones are much in request 
among the Chinese, on account of their supposed medical virtues, and are con- 
sequently 3old by apothecaries at most reasonable prices. Two other sorts of 
organic remains occupy also a conspicuous place in the materia medica of the 
Cliincse, and arc sold in a pulverized state at about Is. 3d. the ounce. Oue of 
them is the " stone-bu-d" (Sa-ji), a brachiopod from the Devonian Limestone 
of Tche-Saifn-tsi ; the other is a crab, extremely well preserved in a (probably 
cretaceous) clay-marl, from Hainan Kukwang and Tclic-kwaug-tsi. 
The material generally used for ornamental objects is the well-known 
Chinese steatite in its natural state, or artificially tiuged with the most diversified 
colours. At Hiug-po (one hundred aud eighty sea miles south of Shanghai) 
and Tse-koug-sa, where these objects are prmcipally fabricated, they are ex- 
tremely cheap, but ia very low esteem compared with objects of crystalline 
limestone or marble. Objects made of "tade" or "yo" (a denomination indis- 
criminately used for any mineral substance of a hardness equal to that of 
quartz, or at least superior to that of marble) fetch enormous prices. Trifles 
are sold for 8s. 3d. to 21s. ; larger figures, dishes, vases, &c., are not to be 
had for less than £2 2s., £4 4s., aud even if particularly conspicuous, £105. 
[Further inquiries are necessary to establish a mineralogical determination be- 
tween several gi-een substances comprised under the general denomination of 
"yo," and to distinguish how far their colour is natural or artificial. 
Notes on the Eed and White Chalk of Yorkshire. — Having lately 
taken some trouble in getting specimens of the Red and the White Chalk of 
Yorkslure, and in examining them chemically and microscopically, I was 
interested in obtaining, with tlie aid of Mr. Dcauc, of Clapham, and of Mr. Nor- 
man, some Foraminijem from both of these hard varieties of chalk. 
Very little impression can be made on this indurated chalk by washing it 
with water and a brush, the usual plan adopted for obtaining Microzoa from 
chalk ; but Mr. Deane succeeded in breaking up the Ued Chalk iu the follow- 
ing method. He says, " Take any efllorescent salt (I prefer subcarbonate of 
soda, for the chance of its acting a little upon the silica) ; make a strong 
solution ; boil the hard chalk therein till it is fully saturated ; remove it from 
