covered in, and it was furnished with a long neck or passage, through which the birds entered and came out. It resembled a longitudinal section of a Florence oil flask. This nest having fallen down after the young birds had quitted it, the same pair, as he is disposed to believe, built again on the old foundation in the month of February following; but he remarked on this occasion an improvement in the construction of it, which can hardly be referred to the dictates of mere instinct. In building the first, the birds were satisfied with a single opening, but this one was furnished with an opening at each side; and on watching their motions, he observed that they invariably entered at one side, and came out at the other. One object obtained by this improvement, was saving themselves the trouble of turning in the nest, and thus avoiding any derangement of its interior economy. But the chief object appeared to be, to facilitate their escape from the attacks of serpents, which harbour in the roofs of thatched houses, or crawl up along the walls, and not unfrequently devour both the mother and her young. 29. Discovery of Human Skulls in the same formation as that which contains remains of Elephants, Rhinoceri, &c.-Some years ago Admiral Cochrane presented to the British Museum a human skeleton, incased in a very compact alluvial aggrega tion of coral and other similar matters. This curious specimen was at first considered as a true Secondary limestone, and therefore as affording evidence that the human species had been called into existence during the formation of the Secondary strata. Geologists pointed out the inaccuracy of this opinion, and proved that the inclosing mass was not a portion of the older strata of the crust of the Earth, but merely a portion of one of those calcareous formations daily taking place on the shores of the West India islands. It is well known to geologists, that several extensive tracts in Germany are covered with a deep deposit of calcareous tuffa, which contains fossil remains of the mastodonton, megatherium, Irish elk, (Alci gigantea, Blum.), and elephant (Elephas primigeni), and other colossal animals, which are now considered as extinct. In this very ancient alluvial formation, human skulls have been discovered; and if the statements given in regard to this interesting discovery, at Meissen in Saxony, be correct, we have obtained a proof of the co-existence of the human race, with the gigantic megatheria, elks, and elephants. 30. Wolves of Hudson's Bay.—Mr Macnab informs us, that in Hudson's Bay there are three varieties of the species, distinguished by the size of their skins, and colour of the fur. In two kinds the colours of the pelt are alike, the greatest number are grey, interspersed with black hairs, particularly about the upper part of the hind legs; a few of both sizes are found black, and some of a dingey-white; the largest are always in woody regions, seldom seen in numbers together; seven is the greatest assemblage ever seen at one time The small sized are found in the plains and boundless prairies where the buffaloes resort: there they are numerous, and are often seen in dozens, annoying and feeding on these animals. These never change to a white colour in winter. The third are of a beautiful white, like the arctic fox, the fur being much longer, thicker, and more valuable; they are never found but in sterile and desert regions, where the solitary Esquimaux ranges the dreary waste. BOTANY. 31. Red Snow found to be produced by a Fungus of the genus Uredo.—Mr Francis Bauer, whose dexterity in the use of the microscope is well known, has published in the Quarterly Journal, No xiv. p. 222. a series of microscopical observations on the red snow found in Baffin's Bay by Captain Ross. He has put it beyond a doubt, that the colouring particles consist of a new species of Uredo, which grows upon the snow, and to which he has given the appropriate name of Uredo nivalis. He found the real diameter of an individual full-grown globule of this fungus to be the one thousand six hundredth part of an inch. Hence, in order to cover a single square inch, two million five hundred and sixty thousand of these are necessary. IV. GENERAL SCIENCE. 32. Detonating Mud in South America.-Don Carlos del Pozo has discovered in the Llanos of Monai, at the bottom of the Quebrada de Moroturo a stratum of clayey earth, which inflames spontaneously when slightly moistened, and exposed for a long time to the rays of the tropical sun. The detonation of this muddy substance is very violent. It is of a black colour, soils the fingers, and emits a strong smell of sulphur.-Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. iv. p. 253. Note. 33. Meteoric Phenomenon called the Lantern of Maracay bo. This luminous phenomenon is seen every night on a mountainous and uninhabited spot on the borders of the river Catatumbo, near its junction with the Sulia. Being nearly in the meridian of the opening of the Lake of Maracaybo, navigators are guided by it as by a lighthouse. This light is distinguished at a greater distance than 40 leagues. Some have ascribed it to the effects of a thunder-storm, or of electrical explosions, which might take place daily in a pass in the mountains; while others pretend that it is an air-volcano. M. Palacios observed it for two years at Merida. Hydrogen gas is disengaged from the ground in the same district: this gas is constantly accumulated in the upper part of the cavern Del Serrito de Monai, where it is generally set on fire to surprise travellers.-See Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. iv. p. 254. 34. Hot Springs of La Trinchera.-The hot springs of La Trinchera are situated three leagues from Valencia, and form a rivulet, which, in seasons of the greatest drought, is two feet deep and eighteen feet wide. Their temperature is 90.3 centigrade, from which it appears that they are the hottest in the world, excepting only those of Urijino in Japan, which are asserted to be pure water at the temperature of 100°. Eggs plunged in the Trinchera springs were boiled in four minutes. At the distance of forty feet from them, other springs are found entirely cold. The hot and the cold streams run parallel to each other; and the natives obtain baths of any given temperature, by digging a hole between the two currents.-Id. 35. Excavations of Ants at Valencia.-M. Humboldt informs us, that ants abound to such a degree near Valencia, that their excavations resemble subterraneous canals, which are filled with water in the time of the rains, and become very dangerous to the buildings. 36. Bottle thrown out from the Alexander.-One of the bottles thrown out from the Alexander, (one of the ships lately sent under Captain Ross to the Arctic Regions), on the 24th of May 1818, in north lat. 57° 52′, and west long. 44° 36′, was picked up on the Island of Bartragh, in the Bay of Killala, on the coast of Ireland, on the 17th of March 1819, having floated across the Atlantic at the rate of about four miles a day, by the influence, no doubt, of one of the deflected branches of the Gulf. Stream.-See Quarterly Review, No xli. p. 255. 37. Atmospherical or Meteoric Dust.-Professor Rafinesque of New York, in a paper on atmospheric dust, maintains, that an imperceptible dust falls at all times from the atmosphere, and that he has seen it on Mount Etna, on the Alps, on the Alleghany and Catskill Mountains in America, and also on the Ocean. This is the same dust which accumulates in our apartments, and renders itself peculiarly visible in the beams of the sun. He has found it to accumulate at the rate of from onefourth of an inch to one inch in a year, but in such a fleecy state, that it could be compressed to one-third of its height. Hence, he takes the average of the yearly deposit at about onesixth of an inch.-American Journal of Science, N° iv. p. 397. 38. Nicojack Cave, in which a River has its origin.—This singular cave, which has been only recently described by the Reverend E. Cornelius, is situated in the Cherokee country, at Nicojack, the N.W. angle in the map of Georgia. It is 20 miles S.W. of the Look-out Mountains, and half a mile from the south bank of the Tenessee River. It is situated in the Racoon Mountain, which here fronts to the north-east. The mouth of the cave, which is about 160 feet wide, and 50 feet high, is in a precipice formed of immense layers of horizontal limestone. Its roof is formed by a solid and regular layer of limestone, having no support but the sides of the cave, and as level as the floor of a house. This cave is traversed by a stream of cool and limpid water, which is 6 feet deep and 60 feet wide at the mouth of the cave. A few years ago, Colonel James Ore followed the course of it up the cave for three miles in a curve, but was stopped by a fall of water. The first direction of the cave was S.W., then S., and then S.E. by S. Great quantities of nitre are found in this cave. Mr Cornelius found 100 human skulls in the cave in the space of twenty feet square. -Id. No iv. p. 330. 39. New Weights and Measures.-The following note contains the substance of the report of the Commissioners appointed by the Prince Regent for considering the subject of weights and measures. 1. With respect to the actual magnitude of the standards of length, the Commissioners are of opinion that there is no sufficient reason for altering those generally employed, as "there is no practical advantage in having a quantity commensurable to any original quantity existing, or which may be imagined to exist, in nature, except as affording some little encouragement to its common adoption by neighbouring nations." 2. "The sub-divisions of weights and measures at present employed in this country, appear to be far more convenient for practical purposes than the decimal scale." "The power of expressing a third, a fourth, and a sixth of a foot in inches, without a fraction, is a peculiar advantage in the duodecimal scale; and for the operations of weighing, and of measuring capacities, the continual division by two renders it practicable to make up any given quantity with the smallest possible number of weights and measures, and is far preferable in this respect to any decimal scale." The Commissioners therefore recommend, that "all the multiples and subdivisions of the standard to be adopted should retain the same relative proportions to each other, as are at present in general use." 3. That the standard yard should be that employed by General Roy in the measurement of a base on Hounslow Heath, as a foundation of the great trigonometrical survey. 4. That in case this standard should be lost or impaired, it shall be declared, that the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds of mean solar time in London, on the level of the sea, and in a vacuum, is 39.1372 inches of the standard scale, and that the length of the French metre, as the 10 millionth part of the quadrantal arc of the meridian, has been found equal to 39.3694 inches. 5. That ten ounces troy, or 4800 grains, should be declared equal to the weight of 19 cubic inches of distilled water at the |