The sand was often observed deposited in tea-cups and tea pots, and on macerating some closely-twisted portions of tea, considerable quantities were separated, that had been introduced when the leaves were fresh. Phil. Mag. Ixiv. 151.

Fossil Remains. An immense assemblage of fossil bones has recently been discovered in Somersetshire, in a cavern of the Limestone Rock at Banwell, near the west extremity of the Mendip Hills, on the property of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The circumstances which led to this discovery are as follow:-Some miners engaged in sinking a shaft in search of calamine, intersected a steep and narrow fissure, which after descending 80 feet opened into a spacious cavern, 150 feet long and about 30 feet wide, and from 20 to 30 feet high. From the difficulty of descending by this fissure it was lately judged desirable to make an opening in the side of the hill a little below, in a line which might lead directly to the interior of the cave. This gallery had been conducted but a few feet, when the workmen suddenly penetrated another cavern of inferior dimensions to that which they were in search of, and found its floor to be covered, to a depth which has not yet been ascertained, with a bed of sand, mud, and fragments of limestone, through which were dispersed an enormous quantity of bones, horns, and teeth. The thickness of this mass has been ascertained, by a shaft sunk into it, to be in one place nearly 40 feet. Many large baskets-full of bones have already been extracted, belonging chiefly to the ox and deer tribes; of the latter there are several varieties, including the elk. There are also a few portions of the skeleton of a wolf, and of a gigantic bear. The bones are mostly in a state of preservation equal to that of common grave bones, although it is clear, from the fact of some of them belonging to the great extinct species of bear, that they are of antediluvian origin. In the roof of the cave there is a large chimney-like open ing, which appears to have communicated formerly with the surface; but which is choked up with fragments of limestone, interspersed with mud and sand, and adhering together imperfectly by a stalag mitic incrustation. Through this aperture it is probable the animals fell into the cave, and perished in the period preceding the inundation, by which it was filled up. The immense quantity of the bones shews the number of individuals that were lost in this natural pitfall to have been very great. In this manner cattle are now continually lost by falling into similar apertures in the limestone

hills of Derbyshire. There is nothing to induce a belief that it was a den inhabited by hyænas, like the care of Kirkdale, or by bears, like those in Germany; its leading circumstances are similar to those of the ossiferous cavities in the limestone rock at Oreston near Piymouth. The cave at Banwell has within these few days been examined by. Professor Buckland, and operations have been commenced for the purpose of thoroughly investigating its history and contents. The Bishop has already sent collections of the bones to the museums of Oxford and Cambridge, and intends to provide a similar supply for all the prin cipal public institutions in this country.

Cyanuret of Iodine. — Proceedings of the Society of Pharmacy at Paris, April 15.-M. Serullas read a memoir on a new compound of nitrogen, carbon, and iodibe, which he named cyanuret of iodine. This new product is obtained by heating an intimate mixture of two parts of cyanuret of mercury and one part of iodine in a small dry retort. When the temperature is sufficiently elevated, a white va-. pour rises, which condenses in the form of light flocculi or small brilliant plates, which are the cyanuret of iodine; there is produced, at the same time, protiodide of mercury, which remains in the retort." The cyanuret may be purified by a second sublimation. This substance has a strong poignant odour, exciting tears; its taste is very caustic, it does not alter litmus or turmeric paper. Thrown on hot charcoal it evolves violet vapours. It is soluble in water and alcohol. M. Serullas regards it, according to his experiments, as a compound of 828 of iodine, and 172 of cyanogen, Jour. de Phar. x. 256.

Turrell's Menstruum for etching Steel Plates. Take four parts, by measure, of the strongest pyroligneous acid, chemically called acetic acid, and one part of alcohol, or highly-rectified spirits of wine;. mix these together, and agitate them gently for about half a minute; and then add one part of pure nitric acid; and when the whole are thoroughly mixed, it is fit to be poured upon the steel plate. When the mixture is com-, pounded in this proportion, very light tints will be sufficiently corroded in about one minute, or one minute and a half;, and a considerable degree of colour will' be produced in about a quarter of an hour; but the effect may be produced.' much quicker, by the addition of more nitric acid, or it may be made to proceed slower, by omitting any convenient portion thereof. When the mixture is poured off the plate, it should be instantly

washed with a compound made by adding one part of alcohol to four of water, and the stopping varnish laid upon any part that is sufficiently corroded, should be thoroughly dry before the biting is repeated. Care should be taken to keep the mixture out of reach of the sun or any artificial heat, because its valuable properties, for this purpose, would there by be changed, It will be necessary, also, to observe that no more of the ingredients should be mixed than are wanted for present use, as the mixture will be greatly changed if kept many hours. The stopping varnish that answers the purpose best, is made by dissolving the best Egyptian asphaltum in the essential oil of turpentine, which dries sufficiently quick for all desirable purposes, and perfectly secures the part covered with it, from the action of the menstruum.-Tech. Rep. vi. 134.

Oil of the Dahlia.-At the same time that M, Payen had occasion to signalize the existence of a peculiar vegetable principle in the dahlia, he noticed, in connexion with it, a peculiar vegetable oil. Further experiments with the oil have shewn it to contain two distinct substances, the one a crystalline body having many of the characters of benzoic acid, and the other a fluid uncrystallizable at low temperatures. Both are soluble in alcohol and acetic acid, but almost insoluble in water; they may be separated by cooling the mixture to the crystallizing point, decantation, and pressure of the crystals.-Jour. de Phar. x. 239.

Effect of light on colour of Sodalite. Mr. Allan observed a very interesting phenomenon, in relation to the action of light upon the colour of the Sodalite of Greenland. When the massive variety is broken up, many portions of it have the most brilliant pink colour; but after a day's exposure to the action of light this colour almost entirely vanishes. Having broken a specimen into two, Mr. Allan kept one of them in the dark, and exposed the other to light; the specimen kept in the dark retained its pink colour unimpaired, while the other lost it almost entirely.-Edin. Jour. Sci. x. 181.

Action of Nitric Acid and Charcoal.Professor Silliman formerly pointed out the production of hydrocyanic acid by the action of nitric acid and charcoal. M. Frisiani has also observed the same effect produced, in a very striking manner, during the action of nitric acid on the residuum obtained by calcining sulphate of baryta with vegetable charcoal, and removing every thing soluble in water by repeated washings. A strong odour of hydrocyanic acid was produced, and

when the action was made to take place in a Woulfe's bottle, the tube of which passed into a solution of potash, the liquor collected, when rendered slightly acid, and precipitated by persulphate of iron, gave a precipitate, which washed with muriatic acid became Prussian blue. Nitrates of the earths, or alkalies, boiled with vegetable charcoal, gave no result of this kind. When the nitrates and charcoal were mixed in the dry way and heated, the action was, of course, violent, but no important results were obtained. Gio, de Fis, vii. 240.

Preserving of Birds, &c. Mr. Temmick, director of the Dutch Museum, has for many years made use of no other means of saving preserved birds and quadrupeds from the attacks of minute insects, than placing a small wooden basin, containing tallow, in each case, which he finds to be more effectual than either camphor or Russia leather.

Concentration of Alcohol by Bladders.— The effect produced by inclosing diluted alcohol in a bladder is well known, namely, the concentration of the alkali. This fact was first observed by Soemmering, and it has even been proposed to improve wines by an application of it, as, for instance, by closing the mouths of bottles with it instead of corks. It is now stated that M.Soemmering has succeeded by the same means in separating the water from alcohol entirely, so as to have the latter, quite pure or absolute. The process is to put alcohol of 750 of the areometer of Soemmering into an ox's bladder, or else into a calf's bladder coated with isinglass, which is to be hung over a sand bath; in a few days the alcohol will lose one quarter of its volume, and be found quite free from water (absolute alcohol.)-Gio de Fisica, vii. 239.

Polar Land Expedition.-Extract of a letter from York Factory, dated Sept. 10, 1824. "Our living heretofore has been as good as a person could wish. We had plenty of excellent venison, and partridges in abundance. Our household consisted of about 100 souls, which is a greater number than I ever saw at one place before in this country; and never were people kept in better order, as the men were made to respect the officers. I never travelled so little in a winter season before, being altogether absent from the fort five or six days only; but I expect to have plenty of it this winter, as I rather expect to join Capt. Franklin. Great Slave Lake is situated in the route which Capt. Franklin intends to take, so that I have reason to suppose the sending me there is for the purpose of my joining the expedition, Two Esquimaux have al

ready joined the party, and have gone into the interior with the expedition men, I believe to Cumberland House, where it is expected they will pass the winter. Capt. Franklin comes by way of Montreal next spring, and will join his men before they reach Athabosca. They appear to be much better supplied with necessaries how, for such an undertaking, than Capt. Franklin was the last time he visited this country, to explore it. Eleven men and an officer came by the ship to ac company him, and seven have left the Company's service and agreed for the expedition. They brought with them three

FRANCE.

very pretty boats for the purpose of transporting their goods to the interior, which have left this place on that destination: the men are in high condition, capable of much fatigue, and in high spirits. One of the Esquimaux is au old acquaintance of mine; he was with Capt. Franklin on the last expedition to the Arctic Sea, where he proved himself to be a valuable attendant. 4 am more partial to the Esquimaux than to any of the Indians in this country, as they are more open in their manners, brave, and sooner -learn the customs of the whites,

The Geological, Mineralogical, and Botanical Academy of Auvergne, in its sitting on the first of September, heard an interesting report read by the President, Count de Laizer. He produced a plan and three sections of the great Plateau of Ba salt and Tuffa, which is between the two rivers of Coreze, from Champein to near Isoire he accompanied them with nume rous specimens. From this tuffa, which is entirely composed of pieces of pumicestones and various trachites, he has taken, 1st. Bones of very large animals completely petrified and transformed into carbonate of lime, without having lost either their form or their texture. 2d. A piece of horn, or antler of a stag's horn, transformed into agate. Lastly, he had found and taken out of a layer of pumice sand, which is under the tuffa, some teeth, the jaw-bone, and two horns belonging to two species of stag, now lost; also a skull with the two horns, belonging to a large species of stag, or clk, likewise a variety which no longer exists. Besides these and a great quantity of other fossil bones, M. Laizer produced a grinder of a mastodon, or mammoth, found a little lower in the testaceous limestone, which is between the volcanic tuffa and the primitive soil. We believe it is the first time that organized terrestrial bodies have been met with under ancient tuffa and basalt. This important discovery, due to the active and enlightened zeal of Count de Laizer, will throw a great light on the relative age of our ancient volcanoes.

The Duc de Brancas Lauraguais.-A Peer of France, and a Member of the Academy of Sciences, died lately, at the age of ninety-one years and three months, of a fit of the gout, which fixed itself in the chest. After having been distinguished as a Colonel, in the campaign of 1757, M. de Lauraguais devoted himself with ardour

to the cultivation of science and letters To him is owing the discovery of the decomposition of the diamond (at which he laboured in common with his unfortunate friend M. Lavoisier.) and the improve ment of the manufacture of porcelain. Inoculation for the small-pox is considerably indebted to him for the rapidity with which it spread in France. Nor will the friend of the dramatic art ever forget that it was be who, by a large pecuniary sacri fice, prevailed on the managers of the French Theatres to remove from the stage the seats (banquettes) which were absurdly placed there for rich spectators, and which destroyed all scenic illusion.

At a meeting of the French Institute on the 11th October, amongst the works of fered to the Academy was one by M. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, on the Calculi found in the auditive cells of fishes; and a Memoir of M. Audouin, on the Genera tion of Insects. M. Jomard read several letters written on the banks of the Gambia, in Africa, between the month of January and the end of July last, by M. Beaufort, officer of marine: they are filled with very important botanical details. M. de Beaufort found, to his great surprise, that the Gambia flows in an horizontal soil upwards of 120 miles from the mouth, as the two tides are felt there. Contrary to another opinion, equally accredited, he discovered scarcely any venomous plants in the country he visited, he did not meet with either moss or heaths, but a great many culinary and medicinal plants, particularly of the mallow species, and an abundance of fig-trees. He also found the butter tree in the vicinity of the Gambia. The young and interesting widow of the unfortunate Mr. Bowdich had sent, gratis, to M. de Beaufort, from St. Louis, all the instruments he stood in need of, and even more than he wished. Dr. Las sis read a memoir to prove the non-crist

ence of the yellow fever, which, if it existed, said the Doctor, would have already destroyed the whole world. His memoir was referred to a commission. M. Gay Lussac made his report on the Minerals brought from India by M. Leschenault Latour. The President engaged the Section of Mineralogy to present a candidate to replace M. Lesage, deceased. A new memoir was addressed to the Academy on the Quadrature of the Circle. The Institute has adopted an uniform answer to all those who may in future address them on the subject, viz. that the Academy regards it as impossible and in vain to treat, and engages the learned to apply themselves to other subjects. M. Fourrier read, in the name of M. Benoiston de Chateauneuf, a memoir relative to the observations of M. Caster on the benefits of Inoculation and the Vaccine, in Prussia, during the last forty years. At the commencement of this period, the Small-pox destroyed ten thousand children in one hundred thousand, while at present the mortality in the same number is only three hundred and thirty-three. The King of Prussia, in order to encourage vaccination, had it first tried on his own son. It is worthy of notice, that Louis XVIII. and Charles X. recommended inoculation in the same manner, by receiving it themselves on its first introduction in France. M. Caster afterwards examines the disorders, by some attributed to vaccination, and whether it increases the violence of other disorders to which children are subject. He denies the fact. M. Gaimar read a very highly curious and interesting memoir on the Phosphorescence of the Sea, and the Animalculæ that produce it. Account of the Expedition of M. E. de Beaufort into the interior of Africa, by the way of the river Senegal.* Extracted from two Letters from M. de Beaufort to M. Jomard. Guiauguianbourey,8th April, 1824.

Sir, I am hurried by the departure of the vessel, and fatigued by writing a number of long letters, and must therefore beg of you to excuse me for the shortness of this letter. I shall remain here two or three days, and during that time shall take an opportunity of writing to you at greater length. My first letter shall contain the solution of any questions I may have been able to solve since my arrival in

this country. I should wish to send you the observations I have made on the species of palm-trees which ornament the banks of the Gambia, but they are not yet complete. I have renewed, within these few days, the observation I made at the Senegal, on the subject of atmospherical electricity, but with more exactness: I passed the brass wire through a glass tube suspended in the air, leaving a long piece of metal to hang down. The result was the same, that is to say, entirely null, and by no means answered my expectations. I send you some Shea or Sectoulou butter, in order that you may have it examined; together with a bottle containing an oil extracted from butter of the palm, which I should be very glad to have analysed, particularly on account of a circumstance which gives a new interest to that tree. This oil is the result of the ebullition of the fruit of a palm-tree which I have not been able to refer to any genus, (1 follow the genera plantarum of M. Jussieu ;) the fruit is a drupa with a very thin covering on the outside; the kernel contains, as I understand, a considerable quantity of alkaline substance, of which a soap is made. I have not yet been able to procure any to send you as a specimen, but shall endenvour to do so by the next opportunity. Mungo Park's account of the Fang Jany is perfectly correct; it is of the genus of pandanus, and its maturity is announced by an explosion accompanied by fire; this fire is subject to communicate with the adjoining bodies, which prevents my sending you a specimen, it having already caused some accidents. I shall, however, carefully watch its progress, and shall endeavour to preserve some of it in oil. Up to my arrival in this place, I have observed a considerable difference between the vegetable products of the two great 1ivers, the Senegal and the Gambia.

RUSSIA.

Russian Poetry. The young poet, Fuschkin, has completed a new production, which, though of no great extent, surpasses, in the unanimous opinion of the critics, all his former productions. The title is, The Fountain of Baktschissarai; and M. Ponamarew, a bookseller of Moscow, has given him 3000 roubles for the copyright. The poem contains about 600 lines, so that five rubles per line have been paid for it, a thing quite unheard of in Russia. Puschkin is a literary phenomenon, endowed by nature with all the qualifications of an excellent poct; he has begun his career in a manner in which many would be happy to conclude. In his thirteenth year, when he was still a pupil in the Lyceum at Zarskoe-Selo, be composed his first distinguished poem,

4 A

Wospominanie O Zarskom Selo, Remembrances of Zarskoe Selo: this piece, was perhaps too loudly and generally admired; the boy aimed henceforward only at the Muses' wreath, and neglected the more serious studies which are so essential to the poet. However, up to this time, when he is scarcely twenty-five years of age, he has composed, besides a number of charming little pieces which have been received with great approbation by the literary journals, three more considerable poems, which are real ornaments of the Russian Parnassus; and what is a particular merit in these days of translation, they are quite original. The first of them is Russlan and Ljudmilla, which carries us back into the ancient days of chivalry and fable in Russia, and places before us Kiow, with its gilded domes; the magnificent Wladimir, the luxurious Bojars, the valiant heroes, and the bards of those times. The subject of the poem (in six cantos) is the carrying off of the Princess Ljudmilla by the magician Tschernomor, and her deliverance to her husband Russlan, a valiant knight. The plan is admirable, the execution masterly, and, notwithstanding the numerous characters introduced, and the episodes and events which cross each other, the narrative is rapid, the characters well drawn, the descriptionsanimated, and the language excellent. Russlan was soon succeeded by Kaw Koskoi Plennik, a smaller, though not less excellent poem; which describes the rude manners of the banditti of Caucasus, their mode of life, and the peculiarity of the country and its inhabitants, in the most lively colours. This poem is known to the German public through a masterly translation by M. Wulfert, which is inferior to the original only in the inimitable melody of the Russian language. Puschkin's new poem, the Fountain of Baktschissarai, is in many respects superior to his former productions. The subject is very simple: Ghiraj, Chan of the Crimea, in one of his predatory excursions, takes prisoner a Polish princess, Maria. She is in his harem; the charms of the beautiful Christian make a deep impression on the heart of the rude monarch. He forsakes his former favourite, Sarema, a passionate Georgian; she knows indeed that Maria persists in rejecting his love, but, tormented by jealousy, she murders her innocent rival. Ghiraj, inconsolable, sentences the Georgian to death, and dedicates to the memory of Maria, in a solitary part of his garden, a fountain, the cold drops of which, falling even to this day into the marble basin, remind feeling hearts of Maria's innocence and Gbiraj's grief, and the young girls in the neighbourhood still call it the fountain of tears!

SWITZERLAND..

The Glaciers.-Mention has been publiely made of the labours directed by M. Venetz, engineer of the bridges and roads of the department of the Valais, to accomplish the destruction of the ice which covers the Dranse. Last autuma there remained only 292 feet. The work was recommenced last summer; but the avalanches which fell from the upper glacier during the winter, so filled the breaches which were made last year in the lower glacier, that, at the beginning of June, the Dranse was covered again to an extent of more than 1000 feet. During the course of the same month, the work was considerably impeded by avalanches, which fell every instant; and even in July a great part of the pipes were covered with a huge mass of ice. In placing some new ones they discovered some remains of the last at more than 30 feet deep. It is truly a war against Nature that they carry on; scarcely have they been overcome on one point, ere they attack another; and when M. Venetz cannot reach the glacier by falls of water, he dams up and makes the Dranse overflow itself, in order to undermine it at the foot. It is thus that he is continually impeded by a thousand foreseen and unforeseen obstacles. Unfortunately, to this is added the most distressing circumstance of all-that of an illness brought on by the excess of his fatigues, and from which he is scarcely recovered. But he hopes still, in spite of all, to free the Dranse entirely. The whole mass of the glacier is already reduced about one-half of its cubic bulk. Ten currents of water at present fall upon it; and by means of a breach effected in its centre the spectator may observe at a glance, by the enor mous height which still remains, the incredible effect which these little waterfalls have produced. M. Venetz is unable to comprehend how he had the courage to begin undertaking the destruction of this glacier, but he now assures himself of success.

ITALY.

Giovanni Brocchi, the celebrated Italian natural philosopher, writes from Balbec, that since his return from Nubia be has established himself in that town to direct the operations of a coal-mine, which has been discovered near Mount Libanus. M. Brocchi's herbal is very rich in rare plants; and his mineralogical, or rather his geological collection, is not less considerable. He has not, however, found any curious plants on Libanus, and AntiLibanus,-the vegetation there differing but little from that of Sicily and Southern Calabria. He has been constantly travelling; and his journey to Nubia