28 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
At a recent meeting of the Academy of the 
Lincei Prof. G. Capellini drew the attention 
of the members to certain fossil remains j 
that had been discovered in the “Argile 
scagliose” of Gombola in Modanese, and 
which had originally been referred to as 
being the remains of a crocodilian. 
He entered somewhat at length into the 
distinguishing characteristics of the speci- 
men, and concluded by showing that they 
were the fragments of a trunk of Ichtho- 
savsvus camplodon , which had been washed 
from out of the inferior cretaceous strata of 
the district by the action of running water. 
r , 
The powder magazine explosion that 
lately occured at Porta Portese has been 
made the subject of a series of interesting 
observations by Prof. Tacchini, the results of 
which have just been published in t he pro- 
ceedings of the Lincei. 
The instruments in the meteorological 
observatory at Rome were particularly af- 
fected, and gave rise to some extraordinary 
phenomena, the most marked of which was 
the action of the air pressure on the barome- 
ter, which caused a sudden fall of the mercu- 
ry 11 J millimetres below the normal curve. 
The sound of the explosion was heard at 
Ischia, Pasaro and Forli, places that are si- 
tuated upwards of 156 miles distant from 
Rome. 
The earth-tremors, that followed the shock, 
powerfully affected theseismieal instruments 
of the districts around, and gave rise to the 
impression that an earthquake had occured. 
The undulations were felt some time 
before the sound of the expolsion was heard; 
and Prof. Tacchini proceeds to demonstrate 
that the earth movements were transmitted 
with a velocity, that was double of that of 
that of the sound-waves. 
Correspondence. 
Rome, June I2th. 1891. 
Sir, 
Will you permit me to direct the attention of 
your readers to the importance of making full and 
accurate observations of all earth-quake shocks 
that may, in future, affect the areas in which they 
dwell. The Mediterranean district is especially 
suited for the making of a series of seismological 
observations both on account of the constancy 
of the recurrence of earth-tremors, and of the 
limited areas that are usually affected. 
A complete seismic record for a definite earth- 
quake area would be of the greatest scientific 
value, and such accounts, and observations, if 
forwarded to the “Mediterranean Naturalist/ 5 
would serve as valuable sourse of information 
for future workers. 
Yours truly 
F. Baker. 
( We commend the above letter to notice of our 
readers, . We shall be glad to accord the space for 
any authenticated accounts of earthquakes in the 
Mediterranean area. Ed. M. N. ) 
Exchange Column. 
Notices are inserted in this column free of 
charge. We request that all exchanges may be 
signed with name (or initials) and full address 
at the end. 
Wanted dredgings containing foramini- 
ferous materials from any part of the Me- 
diterranean, papers on the foraminifera, or 
good micro-slides. A. Earland, 3 Eton 
Grove, Dacre Park, Lee S. E. 
Wanted : — “Le formazioni Terzarie nella 
Provincia di Reggio (Calabriay , memoria 
del Prof. G. Seguenza 1877. “Contribu- 
zione alia geologia della provincia di 
Messina.” 
Editor of “Mediterranean Naturalist” 48, 
Str. Mercanti, Valletta, Malta. 
Editor J. H. Cooke B,Sc., F.G.S. Malta, 
h Vl ' 
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