1 879.] 
Notes. 
33i 
Dr. Upmann, in “ Chemiker Zeitung,” in consequence of some 
experiments pronounces oxalic acid to have a harmless effedt 
on dogs. Dr. Pfeiffer, in reply, points out that the stomach 
and intestines of dogs generally contain considerable quantities 
of calcium phosphate by which the oxalic acid would be converted 
into calcium oxalate, an inoffensive salt. 
Geology. 
M. W. H. Hermite, in a paper read before the Academy of 
Sciences, concludes that the form of the earth is due not to a 
previous condition of igneous fluidity, but mainly to the con- 
figuration of its seas. The remarkable polar flattening of Mars 
is due, according to his hypothesis, to the different distribution 
of land and water upon the surface of that planet. Volcanic 
phenomena he finds also incapable of being referred to the ex- 
istence of a central fire, or even to the presence of a sea of lava 
of small extent. 
The First Part of Vol. vii. of the “ Proceedings of the York- 
shire Geological and Polytechnic Society ” contains a number of 
useful papers. Mr. Sorby gives an account of his new method 
of studying the optical characters of crystals by looking through 
them with a microscope at a circular hole or rectangular grating. 
The Rev. J. F. Blake communicates a paper on the geological 
history of East Yorkshire. The Rev. E. M. Cole describes the 
red chalk of the East Riding, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk, which 
lies at the base of the white chalk and is free from flints. Mr. 
J. W. Davis, the indefatigable Secretary of the Society and 
Editor of the “ Proceedings,” contributes an account of the 
fish-remains found in the coal measures and the evidence which 
they afford of fresh-water origin. He shows that the coal was 
deposited in a series of pools, into which the vegetable matter 
was carried whose decayed remains form the coal, and when 
mixed with the mud simultaneously brought down the“hubb,”or 
black bituminous shale. In this, as well as in the coal, large 
numbers of Coelacanths have been discovered, as well as Ganoids 
and Elasmobranchs, though much more sparingly. 
We learn from the “ Engineering and Mining Journal ” that a 
resolution of thanks to Prof. Hayden for his “ accurate and com- 
prehensive survey of the State of Colorado,” passed the Legis- 
lature of Colorado on January 14th, and upon which Senator 
Gaussion remarked : “ These reports, coming from a scientific 
and authoritative source, do more to answer and satisfy the 
inquiries of capitalists than every thing else. They tell the 
world what the great Western country is made of. The Western 
domain of the United States is, to-day, the glory of the nation.” 
Metallurgy. 
In a paper “ On the Relations between the Chemical Compo 
sition and the Mechanical Properties of Steels ” (Bull, de la Soc 
