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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW, 
French Academy on the 14th of March, M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards gave 
an account of the Birds of various parts of France, and particularly of 
Bourbonnais during the Middle Tertiary epoch. The abundant remains of 
these animals is very great, and M. Alphonse Edwards has already discovered 
more than sixty, amongst which are some which indicate that the climate 
of France at this period must have been as warm as that of Southern Africa. 
The principal representatives of the Tertiary ornithological races are the 
Parroquets, Ibis, Pelican, Secretaries, &c. 
Death of Captain Drome. — Those who know, from Mr. Busk’s papers, 
what excellent work was done to the bone-caves of Gibraltar will regret to 
learn of the death of Captain Fred. Brome, who did so much towards the 
exploration of these caverns. Captain Brome died on the 4th of March. 
Morphology of the Crinoida Cystidea and Blastoidea. — A valuable memoir 
on the structure of these groups, illustrated by numerous woodcuts, is now 
appearing in the pages of the Canadian Naturalist. It is by Mr. E. Billings, 
F.G.S., Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of Canada. Its first part 
extends over some thirty pages, so that we could not possibly abstract it. — 
Vide Canadian Naturalist , vol. iv. No. 3. 
The Volcano Nish. — A paper having appeared some time since in a con- 
temporary, from the pen of the Rev. W. W. Spicer, in which the phenomenon 
of the expulsion of fish from volcanoes was spoken of as strange and astound- 
ing, and the idea being conveyed that the fish must have lived “in the line 
of fire ’’ before being expelled, Mr. Scrope,F.R.S., writes to Scientific Opinion , 
February 23, as follows : — This sensational version of a very simple fact is 
one only of several which, on the authority of “ the great Prussian traveller,” 
have been repeated by compilers of treatises on volcanic phenomena. The 
simple fact, I conceive, is that the fish in question lived in the open air in 
crater-lakes, such as are frequently found at the summit of trachytic 
volcanoes — for the reason that the fine ash, which is usually the last product 
of their eruptions, and therefore forms the lining of their craters, is very re- 
tentive of moisture, and consequently occasions the production of lakes at 
the bottoms of these hollows. Of course in these lakes the same kind of 
fish will probably be found as, by Mr. Spicer’s own statement, are met with 
in other lakes at an almost equal elevation on the outer sides of these very 
volcanoes. 
The Ratio of Temperature to Depth. — In the Proceedings of the Royal 
Society (January 27th), a paper appears by Mr. E. Hull, F.R.S., entitled 
“ Observations on the Temperature of the Strata taken during the Sinking 
of the Rose Bridge Colliery, Wigan, Lancashire, in 1868-69.” This paper 
is one of great interest and importance, for it establishes very clearly 
the truth of the 'general law of a rise of temperature of 1° F. for every 
00 feet of descent. Since the experiments on this subject by Ilopkins 
and others, and which are narrated in the bocks, little or nothing was 
done in this direction until the proprietor of the Rose Bridge Colliery, 
Mr. J. Grant Morris, determined to carry down the shafts from the 
“ Cannel ” seam to the il Alley ” seam of coal, which was known to lie 
more than 200 yards below it ; and consequently in the spring of 1803 
preparations were commenced for carrying out this project. In the in- 
credibly short time of one year and two months the Arley coal was struck, 
