SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
117 
had himself probably killed. Upon a re-examination of the remains, however, 
he was struck with the similarity in form between the indentation on the tibia 
and that on the antler tine ; and on putting them together it was found that 
they locked completely into each other, fitting with the most close and perfect 
adjustment. He had previously observed that the surfaces of these two inden- 
tations were stained with some irregular streaks of brown colouring matter, 
but he soon perceived that the pattern of these streaks was exactly the same 
on each surface, and would when in apposition correspond as closely as the 
marks of an ink-blot would on the opposite pages of a book, if they were 
squeezed together while it was yet wet. Moreover, there was a longitudinal 
crack or crevice on the surface of the tibia, running through the indentation, 
which at one part split into three little fissures ; and on the surface of the 
antler there were three little ridges, which exactly fitted into these cracks. In 
addition to this, there was a longitudinal ridge, running along the outer side 
of the tibia, and this could also be traced through the indentation, standing 
up as a slight promuience, and in the antler there was a corresponding hollow 
or shallow groove, exactly fitting the prominence on the bone like the cast of 
a mould. To us it would seem as if the two structures (tibia and antler tine) 
had been grooved by human agency, as we make a mortice now-a-days, for 
some peculiar purpose. Mr. Jukes, however, holds a different opinion, for he 
writes, “ It was of course obvious that the perfect correspondence of these two 
surfaces could only be produced by their mutual pressure against each other, 
under such conditions as would allow each to receive the impress of the other ; 
and it appeared to me that the whole amount of the indentation had been 
thus caused.” The specimens were found beneath a layer of peat forty feet 
in depth, and this Mr. Jukes conceives to have been capable of exerting suffi- 
cient pressure to cause the gashes which the bones presented. We must 
certainly say we think Mr. Jukes’s view a very far-fetched one, and we are 
exceedingly sceptical as to the power which such a pressure could exert, bqing 
capable of producing such even gashes as those so beautifully delineated in 
the large plate accompany mg Mr. Jukes’s memoir. — ^Vide Dublin Quarterly 
Journal of Science, No. XV. 
A neiu Species of Fossil Red-cleer has been discovered by Professor Haughton 
of Dublin. In the specimens he has found, there are fourteen dorsal vertebrae, ^ 
and the tarsal bones are soldered together in both legs. In the recent red- 
deer, there are but thirteen dorsal vertebrae, and the tarsal bones are free. 
Dr. Haughton modestly suggests that the specimen entitles him to regard it 
as a new variety, but we think it deserves to be called a species. — See Fro- 
ceedings of Geological Society of Dublin. 
MECHANICAL SCIENCE. 
Hooped Cannon. — Professor Treadwell of Havard University, who was one 
of the first to point out the method of strengthening guns by hoops shrunk 
on with initial tension, has published another memoir on the subject, in which 
he discusses the influence of the state of the iron in the hoops as to hardness 
on the ultimate resistance of the guns. It is Avell known that by continued 
cold hammering, and other processes, iron and other metals become hard and 
