have found similar remains, though small and indistinct, from the Gribbon to beyond Fowey, and from Looe to two miles eastward of that place: they agree with those of Polperro, and at Fowey are in a similar rock with the "transverse fracture." I pretend not to advance any opinion on this discovery, but leave the matter in your hands, merely mentioning that the proof is furnished for those who argued so much against the proper position of the Cornish rocks "from the absence of fish remains;" that obstacle is now removed, and full proof supplied; and I trust that some one well able will soon take the matter up and do us that justice we require. As I am now on my legs, I will just mention that I have found a conglomerate near Caerhayes Goran, in which are large rounded limestones, enclosing corals, cruisidea, orthercerites, &c. These are mingled with green-stones, argillaceous schist, porphyry, &c. Mr. Murchison said that he felt much pleasure to be able to state that he could bear testimony to the truth of the specimens produced by the author of the paper being fish remains, and that they were of exceeding beauty. One which he held in his hand bore the name of (he trusted he should be pardoned in mentioning it) Onchus Murchisoni, and he could not distinguish it from the one figured in his silurian remains: several others also bore great resemblance to others figured and described in that work. There were some which appeared to differ, and which it would be necessary to submit to the inspection of Prof. Agassiz. Prof. Phillips then said, that, through the kindness of the author, he had been permitted to read the paper and inspect the specimens then produced; that they were of exceeding beauty and of great value he hesitated not to say, and would greatly facilitate the settlement of the long-disputed question of the age of the rocks of Cornwall. He well remembered when at Plymouth doubting the statement then made by Mr. P. respecting some of the specimens produced, but now all doubts were completely removed from the very perfect state of the specimens; his only regret was that more were not produced. His opinion, if he must give it, was, that before any decided steps could be taken, a very careful examination of the specimens must be made, as amongst them he observed new forms. He felt perfect sympathy with the author in his great delight in the discovery, and complimented him on his perseverance in carrying out his suspicions. Mr. Peach thanked the gentlemen for their kindness, and said that as he had to travel on horseback to get to the steamer, he could not conveniently carry larger specimens. He also said that it would give him great pleasure to render all the assistance in his power to any one who felt desirous of carrying on the researches, and that his collection might be used for that purpose; for he felt happy in stating that he had an extensive one of very good specimens. Prof. Owen read his report on British fossil mammalia, (to hear which a crowded auditory might be anticipated.) The present division of his researches was addressed to the remains of mammalia which were exclusively vegetable feeders, beginning with the order of Pachydermata of the largest size; respecting which he said he would, vivá voce, condense the pith of the paper, so as to bring it within the limits of the time which could be allowed for its discussion. He began with the genus Elephas, and noticed the early reports of its bones being discovered in countries where the animal was no longer to be found. These, together with the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, were referred to Pyrrhus and the Roman legions; insomuch that Cuvier's anatomical distinctions (about 1796) could not obtain much of public credence or attention. But the British specimens which had since been discovered fully confirmed all he had advanced; and Sir Hans Sloane's fossils were demonstrated not to be the ossemens fossiles of the elephant which Polinæus states to have accompanied the invading army of Cæsar. The rhinoceros and hippopotamus never could have been brought hither by the Roman armies; and the bones of the elephant were equally found in Ireland, where the Romans never were. Such remains were scattered over all the pleistocene strata of Europe; and those in the soil of Great Britain differed from both the living species of the El. Indicus and El. Africanus. He pointed out wherein this difference in the structure of the teeth (of which colored diagrams and sections were exhibited*) consisted, and showed that they must have been intended for crushing and comminuting coarse branches of trees. They bore, however, though distinct species, a greater resemblance to the Indian than to the African elephants. The skulls were also different; and he could say, from more than 3000 mammothteeth which he had examined from British strata, that the conclusions he had just stated were unquestionable. Here the professor pointed out a remarkable succession of molars, resembling the living elephant's-a constant growth to supply the place of those which were going out, the number of plates increasing in a regular geometrical ratio; and spoke of its correspondence with the general law of development, of all animal tissues from the primordial cells. Upon the whole, he was not inclined to agree with those authors who from a difference in the number of dental plates were of opinion that there were several distinct species of mammoth (Parkinson supposed two, one in Essex, and another in the Yorkshire Museum; Von Meyer admits eight); on the contrary,-and the same was to be observed of the remains in the American drift, exhibiting the same varieties as the English,-the apparent difference depended entirely on the age of the animal, as the enamel-isles wore away, and blended into one transverse section. Neither was there any corresponding difference in the bones to warrant the inference that there was more than one species. There was also only one in Africa and one in India. Ours was identical with the Siberian. He then mentioned the measurement of parts of several skeletons in support of his position, and in demonstration of the gigantic size of the extinct elephant of the There appeared ridges and deep fissures of various forms, filled with enamel and transverse plates, which would work like millstones in crushing their food. northern latitudes. The humerus, or upper bone of Wight the remains were mingled with comof the fore-leg, of a Norfolk mammoth measured minuted shells and marl, and also with fresh4 feet 5 inches in length; that of the large Indi-water reptiles. The modifications of the teeth an elephant, Chuny, killed at Exeter 'Change, and bones, by which these extinct pachyderms 2 feet 11 inches. Corresponding comparisons connected the tapir and rhinoceros with the were made with the femurs and other bones. ruminant order, were explained. The lophioThe parts of England in which such fossil re-don, from the eocene clay, near Maidstone, remains occurred were numerous. They were sembled a huge hornless rhinoceros; and the abundantly dredged up (2000 teeth, we believe) still more restricted locality in the Isle of Wight off the Norfolk coast; they were found in Suffolk, yielded more anomalous genera of pachyderms. in Essex, in the bed of the Thames, in the gra- There was the jaw of a chæropotamus, 6 or 7 vel of the metropolis,* in the valley of the Med-inches in length, forming a transition between way, in the vicinity of Brighton, (where Dr. the hog and the bear, and having a more carMantell had made so valuable a collection,) in nivorous character in the upper teeth. It was Wales, and on the Severn; on the Avon, where something like the piccary. From the freshthey were mingled with fresh-water shells; in water formations of Seafield and Binsted there the coarse gravel of Scotland; in Cavan and were remarkable analogues. Prof. Owen now Tyrone, Ireland: and often crushed and broken referred to the cranium of a very remarkable by tremendous force. This he considered to be extinct small pachyderm, about the size of a effected by ice in motion. The bed of the Ger- hare's, discovered in the London clay, near man Ocean was also rich in similar organic re- Herne Bay, in 1839. From the structure of its mains; bones and teeth of the mammoth had teeth it was seen in this respect to resemble the been dredged up off the Dogger Bank and in chæropotamus, and he had given it the name of the British Channel.-The evidence of the next hyracotherium. It was the smallest example of genus examined related to the mastodon, an ani- the pachydermal order. Another species had mal also with a proboscis, of which there was been found in Suffolk, in the eocene sand, assonow no living representative. It was found in ciated with the remains of the fossil monkey dethe lower deposits, with fresh-water and marine scribed in the first part of the report.-The shells, forming Lyell's 'fluvio-marine crag,' in paper next passed to the fossil remains of the Norfolk and also at Whitlingham; the strata genus Sus, or hog. They were abundant in being less recent than that in which the elephant Auvergne, and also found in the miocene of was imbedded. It was identical with the re- Norfolk. There they were associated with a mains discovered in France and Germany, and Felis as large as a leopard, and with the mastoespecially in the miocene of Hesse Darmstadt; don. More recent remains of the hog had been and he considered it to be the same as Cuvier's found in a peat-bog, with immense quantities of M. angustidens; with which reasons were as-hazle-nuts. The next genus, Equus, was very signed for regarding the Mast. longirostris of Dr. Coup as being identical. The learned professor next adverted to the former existence of the rhinoceros, almost entire skeletons of which had been found in England. Thus, it was taken from a cavernous fissure in a limestone-quarry near Plymouth, also at Wirksworth; together with large deer, the ox, and cave carnivora, including the gigantic felis. Other caves were filled to the top with similar remains, which had either been drifted into them, or accumulated from the fall of the animals. This rhinoceros corresponded mostly with the two-horned rhinoceros of Siberia, and differed from all existing species in the form of the skull. The diagrams, to which we have alluded, on the walls of the room enabled the professor to explain the structure of the fossil-teeth of the rhinoceros, and likewise of the hippopotamus, and show that they were quite differ: ent from those of the living species now confined to Africa. These remains of hippopotamus were discovered near Brentford, 40 feet below the level of the Thames, and elsewhere. They identified the creature with Cuvier's H. major of the continent.-The attention of the meeting was next directed in succession to vegetablefeeding Palæotherium and Anoplotherium, discovered in the older tertiary strata. In the Isle *As in Gray's Inn Lane, and in the county of Northampton, 6 feet delow the surface, and many other places. Dr. Buckland found them in great numbers, accompanied by the bones of the hippopotamus and hyæna. common in different formations. Like the American horse, it was distinguished by a greater degree of curvature in the teeth. It had been found of two sizes: the one might be a zebra, the other was thirteen hands high. Of the ruminants he now came to the gigantic deer, improperly called the Irish elk, for it was not confined to Ireland, but was spread over England, the Isle of Man, and other sites, and was in reality not an elk at all. It was a fallowdeer, with a slight affinity to the reindeer. The females had no antlers, (which had led some erroneously to imagine there were two species,) and there was a slight resemblance to the skull of the giraffe, in a middle eminence, which had been compared to a third horn. It was found in the Isle of Man in fresh-water basins, in strata posterior to the pleistocene period. The enormous extent of the antlers of the male was proved by one pair being 9 feet 2 inches from tip to tip. A second species of fossil cervus could not be distinguished from the red deer, and was very generally dispersed. A third species was identical with, and only a little larger than, the fallow-deer. A specimen of roebuck was also noticed. Genera of Capra, or goats, were next treated of; they were found with mammoth, deer, &c. But the professor had not traced the sheep to this remote period by any well-marked fossil remains. The last animal brought forward was the Urus, or oxen, discovered in fossiliferous caverns, and far larger than any now in existence. They were found in Essex till and drift, and might pos beria. A hundred years after, his grave was opened, and the corpse was found as fresh as when interred, the clothes and orders all perfect, and the whiskers and moustachios as in life. Such preservation might account for many geological phenomena. He concluded by warmly eulogizing Prof. Owen for his valuable report. sibly be the Auzochs still living in some parts Menzikoff, a Russian exile, who died in banishof Russia. Essex was rich in these and other ment, and was buried in full uniform, with all remains. An extinct species of short-horned his orders upon him, in the frozen soil of Siox was preserved in the late John Hunter's museum; and the same species had been discovered by Mr. Ball in bogs in Ireland. This species had a longer and narrower forehead than the modern favorite short-horned breed. There were many other remains, from more superficial deposits, in the beds of rivers, and bogs. There were sheep, hogs, dogs, and cats. A gravel-pit in Lincolnshire, two miles from the sea-shore, afforded all these; but they could not be regarded as true fossil or extinct re-order Nucleobranchiata, which he has added to mains. Zoology and Botany.-Prof. E. Forbes then proceeded to describe the sen needles of the the British Flora, and generally the genus SaAfter stating all the varieties, the professor gitta, a gelatinous animal with horizontal fins. took a comprehensive retrospect of the whole; He had first found the new order (of which two and his survey of extinct mammalia was listen- enlarged drawings were suspended on the wall) ed to with intense interest. The oldest re- while cruising in the Frith of Forth, and near mains were in the middle of the oolite series; Guernsey, and laid it before the Wernerian Soand they were entirely different from any exist-ciety, who coincided in his opinion that it was ing animal. They appeared to be allied to the anomalous, and might be the type of a genus, as Marsupialia of New South Wales. From hence he did not know what else to do with it. It dif to the tertiary there were no remains, till we fered from the Medusa in being symmetrical. came to the eocene clay. Here the very strange The only circulation he had been able to detect forms of Palæotheria, Charopotami, Anoplothe- was in certain globules in the tail. He had ria, Hyracotheria, &c. presented themselves, seen no more of them till he visited the coast of taxing to the utmost the skill of the comparative Greece, where he met with them in vast numanatomist; next came the miocene, with the bers. There they were much larger than in our mastodon, &c.; then the pliocene and post-plio- seas, and very active in their habits, darting cene, and unstratified drifts, in which were buried about the glass in which they were placed, and countless mammoths, with bears, hyænas, &c.; erecting a bristly process or fringe about their and so the ladder approached to the animal life head, as might be seen in the drawings he had of the present time. In conclusion, Mr. Owen made of them. They were about two inches alluded to the facilities afforded to future in- long. Dr. Allman stated that he had discovered vestigators and collectors of fossils by the classi- Sagitta on the coast of Ireland; and Mr. Patterfied summaries given in the reports called for son inquired about some cavities in its head, by the British Association, and expressed his which he thought might afford means of identiacknowledgments for the aid and encourage-fying it with the genus Cydippe. Professor ment afforded by the Association in the prosecution of these researches. Forbes pointed to a difference: the Cydippe possessed the power of attaching itself to any body, which the Sagitta had not. Mr. R. Dowden read a paper on the phospho Mr. Murchison called the attention of the section to the geological points illustrated by the report; and referred particularly to the re-rescence of plants. In this he mentioned that mains in the eocene group, as he had but lately his attention was attracted to the luminous rays returned from the country. In the tertiary basin proceeding from a bed of marigolds; the light of Frankfort and Mayence, and the valley of the was vivid and scintillating, of a light golden Rhine, a vast multitude of animals were congre- tinge, and the weather was particularly warm gated together; and in one place a remarkable and dry. On turning his back to the light, the new group had been brought to light. It was, luminous appearance became more vivid; to he observed, difficult to resolve the ages of the test the source of the light he watered the flowtertiary deposits, and those who attempted to ers, which, not diminishing the effect, dispelled base a system upon shells might afterwards find the idea of its being electrical, and, on considerthemselves altogether in error. He mentioneding the color, he could not allow it to proceed the calicotherium, a link in the mammalian chain; also a saurian, or lizard, an inch or two long; a Pisodon Coleii of very remarkable structure. All the tapirs, rhinoceroses, &c. were of the Sumatran type, and differed from those of Europe. The question arose with regard to the superficial deposits, were they all of local character, and the animals living upon the adjacent hills? This seemed to be the case from entire skeletons being found, and many others where the bones were slightly detached from each other. Or, had there been a cataclismal and general destruction, such as Pallas supposed the great Asiatic drift to have been? Or, would change of climate explain these phenomena? This last idea he illustrated by a curious story of Prince from any irritation of the retina, or the complemental color of the marigold, a light green, would have been produced. He thought the source of the light to be phosphorescence; the double marigold was the only one suited for examination, as the other closes with the sun. He said that the Indian cress when shaken emitted flashes; and thought that all orange flowers were phosphorescent. Dr. Allman did not agree in the explanation given by Mr. Dowden, but attributed the appearance to a phenomenen mentioned by Sir D. Brewster, namely, that in obscure light, objects appeared, as it were, and disappeared intermittingly. This simple alternation, he thought, was sufficient to account for the curious effect. The analogy of the golden color with the shade of the flower supported this view; also the diminution of luminosity with increasing darkness, the reverse of which would occur if phosphorescence were the source. Dr. Lankester quoted Linnæus as an authority for a similar appearance: he was the first to describe it. Many others had mentioned it since, but without any attempt to account for it. Dr. Allman's was probably the best explanation. It was a singular fact, however, that it had never been seen in any but bright golden-colored flowers; and hence there was a possibility of the color having much to do with the appearance.-Mr. Babbington mentioned a moss in Cornwall which in caves threw out a phosphoric light. this paper, adopted its principles as his mode of arrangement. Buildings had now been erected on this principle, which contained from fifteen hundred to three thousand people, whom they perfectly accommodated, without difficulty, and with perfect comfort both to speaker and hearer. He had little doubt, from experiments he had recently made, that as many as ten thousand people might be so arranged as to hear a good speaker with ease and comfort. The principle of Mr. S. Russell's construction is, to place the speaker in the focus of a curve which he calls the curve of equal hearing, or the isacoustic curve, and to place the seats of all the auditors in such a manner that their heads shall all be arranged in this curve. Such is the vertical section of the building. The horizontal section Dr. Allman read a paper on the phospho- was either circular or polygonal, having the rescence of some animals of the annelidae family. speaker at the centre. This form had been He stated that in a bog lately, on turning up some found perfectly successful in affording the highpeat one night, he noticed a vivid green light, est degree of comfort both to the hearer and which on examination proved to proceed from speaker, and therefore he submitted it with consome worms. They were all luminous through-fidence to the section as a practical and estabout, and on irritating them, by holding them lished principle more than as a mere theoretical over alcohol, the light was greatly increased. speculation. buildings of the usual forms. One class of these evils arose from the known laws of reflexion of sound; a second class from the spontaneous oscillations of the column of air in the room. From this phenomenon he was enabled to explain the fact, that, in the generality of buildings, there existed a certain key-note or pitch in which the voice of the speaker is best heard. He showed how it was possible to predict what the key-note of a building would be, and gave rules by which a speaker might ascertain that pitch. A third class of evils arose from the phenomena of interference of sound; and the author pointed out the forms which were most liable to this evil. In one case he stated that a building constructed at the expense of the government expressly for the purpose of accommodating a large assembly, had been found so utterly unsuitable that it had been abandoned, and a new one, at a great expense erected in its stead. The evils in this case were those of the second and third class. The writer next proceeded to investigate the Mechanical Science.-Mr. S. Russell commu-nature and causes of such evils as are found in nicated to the section a paper on the application of our knowledge of the laws of sound to the construction of buildings. It is well known, as he stated, that the adaptation of buildings to the purposes of seeing and hearing, to the accommodation of speaker and hearer, was one of the most important tasks of the architect, and also one in which he was least successful. The blame of this subject was by no means to be laid on the architect exclusively, as had been too often done, but was at least equally to be shared by the man of science, whose duty especially it was to determine the laws of sound, and to develop their application in such a manner that the architect should have nothing more to do than simply to consult a scientific treatise, in order to find all the principles and maxims which should direct him in this important branch of acoustics. This, however, had not hitherto been sufficiently accomplished. The object of this paper was twofold. First of all, to apply our knowledge of the known laws of sound to the phenomena of speak- In Part 2 the author explained certain new ing and hearing, in a given building; and, sec- phenomena in sound which he had recently disondly, to develop certain laws of sound recently covered. He had been engaged, in another secdiscovered and not generally known, and to show tion of this Association, in the examination of their application to the same practical purposes. water-waves: and, from the phenomena discovPart 1 of the paper consisted of the application ered in these waves, he had been led to take a of the known laws of sound to the construction new view of the phenomena of the sound-wave. of buildings. The author prefaced this part of He had found in the water-waves of the first the paper by describing a form of building which order certain phenomena, which he denominated had been found to be perfectly adapted to the polarity, lateral accumulation, and non-reflexion; purpose of seeing and hearing with distinctness and on examining the phenomena of sound, he and comfort, and which appear to combine, in a found there analogous phenomena. By this great degree, the requisites of such a building means he was enabled to explain many phenomThis arrangement of building had been describ-ena of sound hitherto anomalous, and to discoved by him in a paper communicated to the Roy-er the cause of certain evils in buildings which al Society of Arts of Scotland some years ago, but had not been actually constructed on a large scale until lately, when a young and clever architect, Mr. Cousins of Edinburgh, having been employed to construct some large buildings, felt the necessity of studying the question of sound as an element of construction, and, lighting on | had not been formerly accounted for. The phe- MISCELLANY. the working of Mr. Vincent's apparatus at Bourbon, we are prepared to supply apparatus at least equally SUGAR. We gladly avail ourselves of the oppor-effective. tunity of giving publicity to the following facts, which recent experiences have brought to light and established, in the manufacture of sugar, and published by Messrs. H. O. & A. Robinson, of Old Jewry. 1. The cane contains 18 parts in 100 of its weight of pure saccharine substance, the whole of which is crystallizable molasses being the product of a vicious process of manufacture. : 2. Instead of the actual produce in merchantable sugar approximating to 18 parts of 100 of the weight of the canes of the sugar colonies, only 5 parts in 100 finds its way to the European market. 3. The waste (with the exception of the comparatively trifling value of the molasses) is, therefore, in the enormous proportion of 13-18ths, or 72 per cent. of the saccharine substance of the cane. 4. This almost incredible waste is solely caused by the defectiveness of the machinery and apparatus employed in the colonies, and by the want of skill in the manufacture. It may be divided thus: 6-18ths, or 33 per cent., is left unexpressed from the canes by the mill, in the shape of juice. 7-18ths, or 39 per cent., represents the proportion rendered uncrystallizable by the vicious treatment of the juice expressed, and that destroyed and dissipated by the action of fire with the common pans.* 5. The beet-root contains 9 parts in 100 of its weight of saccharine substance. 6. At the commencement of the manufacture a few years ago on the continent, 2 parts in 100 only was the produce obtained, equivalent to a waste of 75 to 80 per cent. 7. At the present time, by the aids of science and improved apparatus, the produce is 5 parts in 100 of its weight in merchantable sugar, i. e., the waste has been reduced to 37 per cent. These facts lead to the conclusion that a great increase may be obtained in the produce of the cane by similar aids. An experience of nine years of one of our firm as an engineer in the cane countries, added to our practice here as constructors of colonial sugar machinery and apparatus since the year 1838, enables us to state that such a conclusion is no longer problematical, and that it is perfectly practicable to obtain an increase of produce from the cane fully equal to that which is above shown to have taken place with the beet-root. In that part of the process which consists of converting the cane-juice into sugar, after its expression by the mill, the French, owing to the means of experimenting afforded their men of science by the beet-root juice, have taken the initiative in improvement. The late Mr. Vincent was the first to establish, at the Island of Bourbon, an improved apparatus for operating upon the cane-juice, by means of which upwards of 35 per cent. more sugar is obtained from the juice. Since then, Mr. Villa Urutia has had put on his estate at Cuba, a similar apparatus, with a favorable result, according to the Havanna mercantile circulars, of 30 to 35 per cent. and an improved quality. Having had the advantage of perfecting our knowledge of this part of the manufacture by actual and careful observation of In that part of the process which consists in ex pressing or extracting the juice from the cane, we have enjoyed the most favorable opportunities of perfecting the machinery, and we have recently invented a new description of sugar-cane mill and steam-engine, capable of diminishing, to the extent of 30 per cent., the waste of juice which takes place in the common vertical cattle-mill, and of 20 per cent. that which occurs with the common horizontal-mill and steam-engine. The result that we can accomplish by the adoption of both these improvements, may be briefly stated at, as a minimum, the delivery to consumption in Europe of double the present average produce from the canes, with an important amelioration in quality.-Colonial Magazine. NEWSPAPER REPORTING AS A POLITICAL ENGINE.-When Jefferson expressed the opinion that a free press is more essential to a country than a government, he only put two ideas in logical sequence-it is necessary to know what a country is and does, before you can tell how to govern it; and if the country itself knows what it is and does, public opinion must exercise a more effectual rule than a government acting in ignorance. The value of freedom in a press by no means consists alone in freedom of commentary. Commentary is in great part the concentrated reflex of public opinion; but public opinion cannot exist without information on facts as they arise: opinion is complete, mature, and potent, in proportion as that information is copious, correct, and freely circulated. The freest and most vigorous commentary, unsupported by a full statement of the facts on which it rests, would have little more influence than mere book-learning and abstract reasoning. Moreover, it is only with absolute freedom that the practice of giving unreserved information can obtain; for if the informant has to think at every sentence whether a particular statement will pass the censorship or whatever authority performs the function of one, sheer distaste at so irksome a task will at once teach him to reject all doubtful matters, and nothing but what is agreeable to the authorities will appear. Those who defy that rule will be parties hostile to established authority, and their information will have the discredit that attaches to extreme and irregular views. On the other hand, perfect freedom of statement tends very materially to encourage moderation, by neutralizing extreme opinions: the ample reports of the London papers go along with the inore decidedly colored commentaries of the original writing; every person of note in the country, of whatever party, has his opinions on the whole fully and faithfully developed in each of the principal papers; so that every newspaper reader throughout the country is supplied with facts and reflections, and ample materials for opinions of his own, independently of any one section of partypoliticians. In this way, the newspaper has come to perform a very important function, impossible to be rightly performed without thorough freedom of statement: it is the "channel of information" between all classes in the country-it tells the country what the Legislature and Government are doing; it tells the Government and Legislature what the country is about; it lets the rich and the poor know what is going forward beyond their own sphere. A newspaper is a political map of the country, as necessary to the statesman as a geographical map to the general. |