SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
129 
Zoological Section — 
The Spontaneous G-eneration Controversy. 
The Colour of Corals. 
Action of the Cicatriculi of the Egg. 
Phenomena observed during the Death of Sponges. 
Anatomy of Anodonta. 
MINERALOGY. 
The Nephrite of New Zealand. — This mineral, which is held in high esteem 
among the natives as a material for weapons, tools, and various ornamental 
objects, occurs exclusively on the west coast of the south island which is 
called Te Wari Pooramoo, which means the place of the green stone. It ap- 
pears generally in the form of pebbles, in river-beds, and on the sea-shore ; 
it is, however, said to occur also in masses in the vicinity of considerable 
veins of serpentine. The natives distinguish by name a great number of 
varieties, differing in hardness, colour, and translucence. These varieties 
may be divided between the two following groups : — 
1. Those of an intense green (generally leek-green), more or less translucent, 
with a hardness between that of felspar and quartz ; compact, not schistose. 
2. This gTOup is of less value than the first, and its members are ana- 
logous in physical properties and chemical constitution to M. Damours’ jade 
hlanc" and probably belong to the family Amphiboles. — Vide Geological 
Magazine, No. III. 
Analysis of Pollux from the Island of Elha.-—Th.Q mineral pollux, which 
is of extreme rarity, and which has been only unperfectly analyzed by Platt- 
ner, who found in it silica, alumina, potash, and soda, has been investigated 
by M. Pisari. The latter chemist found that the metal csesium forms an im- 
portant constituent of this mineral. Its density is 2\9 ; its lustre glassy and 
colourless, and its hardness about 6 '5. The following is a tabulated arrange- 
ment of its constituents : — 
Silica 44*03 
Alumina 15*97 
Oxide of Iron 0*68 
Lime 0*68 
Oxide of Caesium 34*07 
Soda & a little lithium ... 3*88 
Water 2*40 
I Vide Bulletin de la Societe Chimique, VI., 456. 
j The Colouring Matter of the Emerald. — Contrary to the conclusion drawn 
I by Lewy in 1858, that the colouring matter of the emerald is organic and is 
destroyed by heat, MM. Wohler and Rose declare that the colour is due to 
oxide of chromium. They kept an emerald at the temperature of melted 
copper for an hour, and found that although the stone became opaque the 
colour was not affected. They then fused some colourless glass with an ex- 
ceedingly small quantity of oxide of chromium, and the result was a colour 
exactly like that of the emerald. Hence they concluded as above stated. — 
Comptes Rendus, t. Iviii., No. 26. 
VOL. IV. NO. XIII. 
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