will!" Read Don (or Doctor, we don't know which) Norverto de Arcas Benitez, and forsake the errors of your ways. We confess that we are not much flattered by the very small influence that the 'Quarterly Journal of Science' seems to have exercised on the blue blood of the Valentian savant.

66

From Valencia to Pisa is no great step; and thence we receive, "with the author's compliments," another little pink pamphlet (this time beautifully printed in English, by G. Barbera, Florence), on "Geology and Agriculture," by E. St. John Fairman, F.G.S., F.R.G.S., &c., whose object in publishing his essay appears to be to induce the Italian Government "to help by every means in its power the people to supply the expenses necessary for carrying on the business of the country.' 'Agriculture," he says, "is more attended to in Piedmont than in any other part of Italy; but although Sardinia abounds in mountains, mining is little practised, and the mineral wealth of the country, notwithstanding that it is believed to be great, has never been ascertained. In those parts of Italy where the principal occupation of the people is agriculture, it is allowed on all hands that it is not skilfully conducted." † "The Government, aided by men of science, should give their attention to this."

We must now wing our flight to Australia, but on the way let us take a glance at what is doing in India.

David Waldie, Esq., F.C.S., &c., sends us a paper reprinted from the Journal of the Asiatic Society' of Bengal, describing his "Experimental Investigations connected with the Supply of Water from the Hooghly to Calcutta."

"The subject has been under the consideration of the municipal authorities of Calcutta, who, as is well known, have organized a scheme for the supply of the town from the River Hooghly, for the carrying out of which arrangements are now in progress; "t and Mr. Waldie has arrived at the conclusion that "as regards its organic constituents, the Hooghly water taken near Calcutta is at least as pure as any of the waters supplied to London ;" "during the hot season it is mixed with sea-water under the influence of the tides, and thereby rendered brackish; this can be avoided by taking the supply of water from further up the river."§ Well, we suppose in the matter of beverages the good people of Calcutta cannot afford to be over particular; but to us the testimony in favour of the Hooghly water seems to be at least questionable.

The Geological Survey of India' send us some more of their magnificent publications, but those we must leave to our Chronicler, and continuing our flight, we will settle down for a moment or

two at

Melbourne, whence Mr. R. Brough Smyth, F.G.S., sends us

$ Pp. 32, 33.

some mining statistics of the Colony of Victoria. The progress of mining in the Colony is indicated in the following extract, and the pamphlet contains an exhaustive description of what is doing in the various mining districts:

"In the prefatory Essay on Mining in the Colony of Victoria, which was published with the Catalogue of the Victorian Exhibition in 1861, it was stated that the labours of the miners were confined almost exclusively to the working of, and the extraction of gold from, the auriferous rocks. It was observed that the extraordinary richness of the goldfields, absorbing nearly all the available labour in the country, had to some extent prevented the exploration of the deposits of tin, antimony, iron ore, and coal; and a hope was expressed that in a short time other minerals and metals as well as gold would attract the attention of the capitalist, and that new fields would be explored and fresh sources of industry opened up to the intelligent miner, which would afford employment to a great number of persons. This hope has not been disappointed. Whilst the yield of gold per annum has not fallen off, if we make proper allowance for the reduction in the number of miners, other minerals have been eagerly sought for, and large areas of country have been prospected, and in some parts thoroughly explored.

From St. Arnaud we have obtained silver; from Beechworth and the heads of the Latrobe, fresh supplies of tin; from the River Thompson, in Gipps Land, copper; from Heathcote, large quantities of antimony; from Cape Paterson, coal; from Lal Lal, near Ballarat, lignite; from Omeo, bismuth; from Yackandandah, molybdenite; from Pleasant Creek, the Upper Yarra, and other localities, manganese; from Bulla and Dunolly, clays suitable for the manufacture of the finer kinds of porcelain; from Castlemaine, magnesite; from Maldon, Castlemaine, and Meredith, roofing slates; and from Beechworth, diamonds.

"If all these are not fully represented in the tables, it is not less certain that they occur; and that in due time they will add greatly to the wealth of the country. Gold mining, however, continues to be profitable; and it is not probable that experienced miners will forsake the search for gold, in order to engage in other mining operations which do not offer sure prospects of success, so long as rich quartz reefs and auriferous alluvions lie neglected."

Commending the industry of Mr. Smyth, we once more flap our wings, and sailing through the sky for many a weary day, we alight at length at the door of the Essex Institute,' Salem, Mass. The directors must not be offended with us for enlightening our readers as to where Salem is, inasmuch as they set us the example, by informing the readers of their new and beautiful journal, 'The American Naturalist,' that it may be obtained from Messrs. Trübner & Co., London, England.

It is a beautiful periodical, and as we read its introduction, we have great hopes of its permanent success. It ends thus:-

"The editorial responsibility seems great, and nothing but the boundless wealth of nature spread out before us, the untiring good will of our scientific friends in contributing to our pages, and the promise of the kindly appreciation of the public, can be an excuse for our appearance, and for any apparent presumption in our bearing."

Whether or not the little cut is meant to represent the "appearance" of the Editor, we are at a loss to explain; but we do hope that it is not intended to illustrate the mode of progression of the scientific world in America, or we should have to recommend our friends to exchange with the Instituto Medico Valenciano,' rather than with us. But as we have said, it is a beautiful periodical. The first two parts contain some valuable and well-illustrated papers. Amongst these we commend to the general reader (in No. 1) Mr. W. T. Brigham's visit to the volcano of Kilauea, Hawaiian Islands, in 1864-65:

"Boston could easily be accommodated within this crater, and Vesuvius would not much more than fill it."* "As we were sitting on the brink, a shrill shriek broke through the night air. We could see the black walls of the crater all around us, and between us and the pathway leading out, a line of watchfires, and I was quite as much impressed as my natives with the direful stories they had been telling me. The shriek was repeated, and it was evidently the utterance of a human being in great agony. Lighting the lantern we had brought for any emergency, we went slowly towards the place, until the shriek was uttered at our very feet. We hastily examined the cracks and called, but there was no answer, and all was still. We looked everywhere, finding no one, and turned to go back, thinking some poor kanaka, venturing down in the dark, had fallen into some crack, and at last died.

"We had gone but a few rods when the shriek was repeated. The natives clung to me in mortal terror, but I insisted on going back, and placing the lantern on a rock, we sat down to await developments; it seemed as though the question, 'Are there any

* P. 17.

spirits present?' was quite superfluous. We sat more than five minutes in silence, and I could feel the poor fellows tremble as they sat close up to me. Then the shriek was repeated, but we saw the spirit that made it-a jet of steam-and my boys were encouraged."* The crater may be correctly depicted in the plate, but it is not well executed.

On technical subjects we have beautifully illustrated papers on "The Land Snails of New England," by E. S. Morse (Nos. 1 & 2); "The Moss Animals or Polyzoa," by A. Hyatt (No. 2); "The American Silkworm," by L. Trouvelet; also, "The Fossil Reptiles of New Jersey," by Prof. E. D. Cope (No. 1); "Winter Notes of an Ornithologist," by J. A. Allen (No. 1); and "The Fertilization of Flowering Plants."

The leading men of science in America are amongst the contributors to the American Naturalist,' and it is in every way worthy of the great nation which it is intended to interest and instruct.

And now we must close this brief notice of a few of the pamphlets and periodicals which find their way to us from every quarter of the globe. The motley collection may have induced us to smile a little over their appearance, but not the less do we value their contents. They betoken a growing spirit of research all over the world; and the very delivery of an Inaugural Address in Valencia, and the publication of a charming popular periodical on Natural History in Salem, Mass., are evidences of the spread of scientific knowledge; of an increasing taste for the study of nature and her laws; and we should feel grateful to Providence, that, through this interchange of thoughts between nation and nation, between mind and mind, we are permitted to obtain a glimpse of an ever unfolding, ever spreading Wisdom, destined one day to illuminate the whole world.

* P. 22.

CHRONICLES OF SCIENCE.

1. AGRICULTURE.

THE Cattle Plague is still one of the leading agricultural topics. Its reappearance in the London cowhouses within the past few weeks, after so long an interval, has startled us all; and Agricultural Societies, believing that it is the result of an imported poison, are urging upon Government the need of altogether forbidding the landing of live cattle from the continent, or at least of killing all fat stock at the port of debarkation, allowing milch cattle and other stock in "store" condition to leave only after a sufficiently long quarantine. During the last weeks of May the disease, which had since January altogether left the metropolis, reappeared in many cowhouses in the east and north of London; and in several cases large herds have been swept away; the virulence of the attack being just as great as ever. No fewer than sixty cows in one herd of ninety-five were taken in three days from the first detection of a symptom, and the whole were then slaughtered; and the same fate has overtaken several other stocks. The whole of the cattle grazing on Wormwood Scrubs, for example, have been thus disposed of: and it is to be hoped that the severity of the measures which have been adopted may hinder the further extension of the malady. No attempt at cure has hitherto succeeded. Mr. H. Dixon, who has as large and particular acquaintance with English herds as any man, relates in the current number of the English Agricultural Society's journal the few examples known to him of any attempt to deal with the disease. His evidence amounts to little more than that isolation has saved many a herd that was in danger, and that remedies have done hardly anything whatever. Thus, Mr. Davies, of Cheshire, had saved his herd for some months by using chlorine gas constantly in the houses, and hyposulphite of soda in the water given to the cattle; sawdust, too, was used as litter, being more cleanly than straw; but whether the safety of the stock was due to mere isolation or to this disinfection of their houses and this medication of their food cannot be certainly declared. It was not, however, until they had been turned out to the pasture field that they were attacked, and then many of them died. An iodine ointment rubbed on the chest and acting as a counter-irritant, served in two or three cases to give relief when applied early enough; but in only nine cases out of thirty-six did the patient recover. Mr. Aylmer, of Norfolk,