VARIETIES. 
275 
Glycerin  Lotion  for  Chapped  Hands  and  Face. — Make  a  mucilage  of 
quince  seeds,  by  simmering  one  drachm  of  the  seeds  in  a  half  pint  of 
boiling  water  for  ten  minutes,  and  then  straining  ;  of  this  mix  one  ounce 
with  an  equal  quantity  of  inodorous  glycerin,  and  six  ounces  of  orange 
flower  or  rose  water.  The  above  is  an  excellent  wash  for  the  hands  and 
face  in  cold  weather,  and,  compared  with  many  of  the  lotions  sold  by  the 
t  druggists,  is  quite  inexpensive.  A  little  borax  may  be  added  to  this 
preparation  if  desired. — Jour.  Applied.  Chem. 
Fossils  Preserved  in  Ice. — About  40,000  pounds  of  fossil  ivory — that  is 
to  say,  the  tusks  of  at  least  100  mammoths — are  bartered  for  every  year  in 
New  Siberia.  As  many  as  ten  tusks  have  been  found  lying  together  in 
the  "  Tundra/'  weighing  from  150  to  300  pounds  each.  Notwithstanding 
the  enormous  amount  already  carried  away,  the  stores  of  fossil  ivory  do 
not  appear  to  diminish.  In  many  places  near  the  mouths  of  the  great 
rivers  flowing  into  the  Arctic  Ocean,  the  bones  and  tusks  of  these  antedi- 
luvian pachyderms  lie  scattered  about  like  the  relics  of  a  ploughed-up  battle- 
field. Entire  mammoths  have  occasionally  been  discovered,  not  only  with 
the  skin — which  was  protected  by  a  double  covering  of  hair  and  wool — 
entire,  but  with  the  fleshy  portions  of  the  body  in  such  a  state  of  preserva- 
tion that  they  have  afforded  food  to  dogs  and  wild  beasts.  The  mammoths 
appear  to  have  been  suddenly  enveloped  in  ice,  or  to  bave  sunk  into  mud 
which  was  on  the  point  of  congealing,  and  which,  before  the  process  of 
decay  could  commence,  froze  around  the  bodies  and  preserved  them  in  the 
condition  in  which  they  perished.  It  is  thus  that  they  are  occasionally 
found  when  a  landslip  occurs  in  the  frozen  soil  of  the  Siberian  coast, 
which  never  thaws,  even  during  the  greatest  heat  of  summer,  to  a  depth 
of  more  than  two  feet ;  and  in  this  way,  within  a  period  of  a  century  and 
a  half,  five  or  six  of  these  curious  corpses  have  come  to  light  from  their  icy 
graves.  A  very  perfect  specimen  of  the  mammoth  in  this  state  was  dis- 
covered in  the  autumn  of  1865,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Jennissei.  An 
expedition  was  dispatched  to  the  spot  by  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Science 
last  summer,  and  Mr.  Lumley,  Her  Majesty's  Secretary  of  Embassy,  states 
that  it  is  considered  the  result  of  the  expedition  will  disclose  some  interest- 
ing facts  in  the  natural  history  of  a  former  creation. — St.  Louis  Med. 
Rep.  Nov.  1867,  from  Exchange. 
The  Pyengadow,  or  Iron-  Wood. — We  learn  that  officers  who  conducted 
the  survey  made  in  British  Burmah,  in  passing  along  the  Beeling  Yalley, 
observed  this  magnificent  tree  growing  on  the  hillsides.  It  is  noun- 
common  thing  to  see  the  first  branch  of  these  trees  at  a  height  of  eighty 
feet  from  the  ground,  the  stem  being  perfectly  straight  up  to  that  point. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  up  to  the  present  time  no  means  have  been  found 
of  making  use  of  this  timber,  which,  from  its  hardness,  effectually  resists 
the  attacks  of  white  ants  and  other  insects.  This  valley  is  described  as 
rich,  and  adapted  for  almost  any  cultivation. — London.  Pharm.  Journ., 
March,  1868. 
