The Normal (Illinois) "School of Natural History" will open on July 25th, continuing in session till August 25th. The course of study embraces comparative anatomy of vertebrates; comparative anatomy of invertebrates; analytical zoölogy; analytical entomology; botany. In the list of instructors are the names of B. G. Wilder, Cyrus Thomas, and J. A. Sewall. Fuller information given by S. A. Forbes, Normal, Illinois.
In the American Journal of Science for February, Prof. J. D. Dana corrects an error which for many years has circulated in geographies, gazetteers, and similar works. This error consists in representing the West and East Rocks near New Haven as being the termination of the Green and White Mountains respectively. "The fact is," writes Prof. Dana, "that East Rock is but a short appendage to the system of trap-dikes of the Connecticut Valley, and West Rock, a southern portion of the same system. The Green Mountains," he adds, "consist of metamorphic rocks, and are not younger than Silurian. But the trap ridges of the Connecticut Valley belong to the valley, and are of Jurassic origin."
A station for agricultural experiments has been established at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, by the State of Connecticut. Dr. Atwater, Professor of Chemistry in the university is the director, and Dr. W. C. Tilden, with two assistants, is the acting chemist. The State appropriation being insufficient to defray all the expenses of the station, the proprietors of the American Agriculturist have agreed to make up the deficiency.
The twin-steamship Castalia, which during four months of last year daily made voyages between Dover and Calais, appears to have given satisfaction in every respect, save speed. Arrangements have now been made by the Channel Steamship Company for the building of a large twin-steamship, which, uniting all the advantages of the Castalia with such improvements as experience has suggested, will have a speed of not less than fourteen knots an hour.
A wonderful case of recovery from a gunshot-wound was that of the late Commander Sanders of the British Navy, who died last February, at the age of ninety-one years. In 1803 he was shot in the head, the bullet passing clear through from ear to eye. He was kindly cared for by the surgeon of the French ship which he was attempting to "cut out" when he received the wound. At the end of five years' detention as a prisoner of war, he went back to England sound and well, with the exception of the loss of an eve
The relative strength of various substances is stated as follows in the Scientific American: A rod ¼ inch in diameter, of the best steel, will sustain, before breaking, 9,000 lbs.; soft steel, 7,000 lbs.; iron wire, 6,000 lbs.; good iron, 4,000 lbs.; inferior bar-iron, 2,000 lbs.; cast-iron, 1,000 to 3,000 lbs.; copper wire, 3,000 lbs.; silver, 2,000 lbs.; gold, 2,500 lbs.; tin, 300 lbs.; cast-zinc, 160 lbs.; cast lead, 50 lbs.; milled lead, 200 lbs.; box or locust wood, 1,200 lbs.; toughest ash, 1,000 lbs.; elm, 800 lbs.; beech, cedar, white-oak, pitch-pine, 600 lbs.; chestnut and maple, 650 lbs.; poplar, 400 lbs.
A new variety of bronze, containing manganese, and known as "manganese bronze," has lately been introduced in England. It is said to be very valuable for all kinds of small work wherein gun-metal is now used, and it is capable of being forged like iron.
During a visitation of extreme cold weather in the vicinity of Carson River, the quicksilver pump in the Eureka mill ceased to perform its proper functions; the machinery of the pump continued to work, but no quicksilver was raised. On examination, the mercury in the tank was found to be frozen solid.
The British Geological Society has this year awarded to Prof. T. H. Huxley its Wollaston Medal. Prof. Huxley has also been elected a Corresponding Member of the Danish Academy of Sciences. The Royal Academy of Rome has conferred a similar honor upon Mr. Herbert Spencer, having elected him a Corresponding Fellow.
Prof. D. S. Jordan, of Indianapolis, will conduct a summer School of Science, during the coming season, in the mountains of East Tennessee. The members of the school will collect specimens of the birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, and plants, of that region.
In a cave near Thayngen, Switzerland, Conrad Merck has discovered a quantity of animal remains, consisting of bones of the reindeer, cave-lion, mammoth, woolly-haired rhinoceros, urus, glutton, and other species. Relics of human habitation have also been found in great abundance—such as flint-flakes, implements of reindeer-horn, and several well-executed engravings on bone, horn, and lignite.
A writer in the Gardener's Monthly states that, when properly cured, the kernel of the American walnut is white and delicious, with a delicate flavor hardly surpassed by any nut. The nuts should be gathered as soon as they are ripe, and not allowed to remain in the hull. They should then be dried quickly.
