258 
Miscellaneous Notices. 
[Aug. 
The apparatus for drawing the water is equally simple with that which is em- 
ployed for boring. A bamboo tube 24 feet long, at the end of which is a valve, is 
let down into the well. When it has reached the bottom, a workman pulls at the 
cord which sustains it, giving it strong jerks ; each jerk opens the valve, and fills 
the tube with water. It is then drawn out by means of a kind of vertical capstan, 
or large windle, fifteen or sixteen feet in diameter, which is put in motion by 
two, three, or four buffaloes or oxen, and upon which the cord is rolled up.— 
Jameson's Journal of Science. 
Sir , 
2. Oh the Alligators of the Ganges. 
To the Editor of Gleanings in Science. 
• A. aSt ?° ld weather ha . vi ng; been a good deal on the banks of the Ganges in this 
neighbourhood, and having paid some attention to the Alligators found on its 
banjpj I beg to offer the following information which I received concerning them. 
natives state that there are three different animals of this description ; viz. 
the Goa, or long-nosed ; the Nacer, or snub-nosed ; and the Garial , or Magger. 
These three kinds I have minutely observed day after day with a good telescope, 
as well as examined the bodies ol several, which were shot by myself and other 
gentlemen of the party. 
In no instance did I ever see, or find any insects adhering to the internal parts 
of their mouth, and on no occasion ever saw birds very near the animal : on the 
contrary, their mouths were clean, and had a white and yellowish colour — in the 
Magger darker, but shewing no appearance of being at any time troubled with in- 
sects adhering to the tongue or root of the mouth. When the sun got warm, they, 
(particularly the Goa,) opened their mouths for the purpose of respiring more 
freely ; on cold cloudy days, however, they kept them shut, and were generally, 
when cold, unwilling to take to the water, unless much disturbed, which made the 
natives believe that they were frozen. I was also told that they come several 
hundred yards in land at night on low grounds, where cattle usually graze, for the 
purpose of eating cow- dung, and their marks were pointed out by the natives. 
Ihe Goa were the largest but most inactive, and, I was told, inoffensive kind. 
I he snub-nosed were active and bold ; they generally lie with their tail bent ready to 
stnke in case of sudden attack. But the most mischievous and active is the Garial , 
or Magger; although they were the smallest. When struck with a ball, they 
move with astonishing rapidity into the water; the head is nearly round, and quite 
a mass of bone j the muscle round the neck is like a muff, and gives enormous 
force to the jaw. Part of the jaw of one is now before me : it appears that some of 
the front teeth had been broken, and others are growing in their place ; this led me 
to break some of the complete teeth, and I find each to consist of two and some- 
times three, one within the other, so that when the outer one breaks, the inner 
ones take its place. They retain life in the most astonishing manner. After being 
shot, brought to the village, and the fat cut out by the natives, they still continued 
to move and shew signs of life. 
th * * a J e r hear< L P?°P Ie , who have been in the habit of shooting these animals, say, 
iase * anrfTnT effe ^! re P ,ace f° lod % e a bal1 is the neck- I have found this to be the 
s-etiino- thpm C T i ^ f rC f ^ 1 iaa£?b tbe spine there is scarcely a possibility of 
S wi t ; 1 haveatru ?k tbe A J a SS e r and snub-nosed on the head with a rifle 
ball, when it sung off as if it had struck a blacksmith’s anvil. The head of the 
Goa is easily penetrated. 
Anifsheher, 10 th June, 1830. ' am ’ ^ y ° Ur “° S ‘ obedient Sem “\ 
Sir, 
3. Sensible Temperature. 
To the Editor of Gleanings in Science. 
states tbe . autbor of a paper on Sensible Temperature 
had read a uaner >een notlce{ * m England by a medical gentleman, who 
the mowtnrwhkh I ,17 °” e ,l °" r mcdica ‘ Socicties - p "haps to 
given in 0 ^.11/. c £; k ? ,r T the , accomt of proceedings of the Royal Society, 
S 4 ea in the Annals 0/ Philosophy, vol. XI. p. 138. 7 
<< A "J * Al, p. 
with soZ^L™L7 ad ’ Oh^ations on the Heat of July, 1825, together 
“ These sensible cold i b y w. Heberden, M. D., F? R. S.” 
by means of therms ° S . were ,na ^e on the author's lawn at Datchet, in Berkshire, 
ometers suspended in the shade of trees : the highest tempera- 
