Saunders, who described the ravages of the larvae of the Noctua segetum on the young of Swede turnips. Many acres of this important crop had been destroyed by these grubs, which, attacking only that portion of the root below the surface of the earth, were protected from the action of any ordinary remedy. Mr. Saunders suggested that the only probable remedy would be the destruction of the eggs of the moth before hatching. Mr. Stainton described the singular situation of the pupa of the Tortrix grandovana. The larvæ of this insect feeds on the roots of the common coltsfoot, on the shores of the Baltic, and subsequently forms tubes the size of the finger in the sand, turning to pupa in these tubes. Frequently the loose surrounding sand is blown away, when the exposed tubes are opened by birds, who devour the insect.

NOTES AND MEMORANDA.

THUNDERSTORMS AND THE MOON.-M. Bernardin calls the attention of the Belgian Academy to the fact that many thunderstorms have occurred about the period of the new or full moon, and he invites inquiry for the purpose of ascer taining whether there is any connection between the movements of our satellite and the electrical condition of the atmosphere.

ARTIFICIAL FECUNDATION OF PLANTS.-The Moniteur has published an account of the process of M. Hooibrenck, which is reported to increase the fertility of cereal and other plants. When the grain is in flower, he passes over it an apparatus consisting of a string set with tufts of wool, close together, and having small lead weights between them. He repeats this brushing of the flowers three times, at intervals of two days. Espalier fruit trees he deals with in another fashion. First, he touches the stigmata with a finger carrying a little honey, and then brushes the flowers lightly with a powder-puff. By this means pollen is brought into contact with the honey, and adheres. Larger trees he reaches with a sort of brush, composed of tufts of wool. A commission appointed by the Minister of Agriculture reports very favourably upon these processes, as increasing the yield of corn, and they observe, that the fruit trees operated on produced an abundant crop, but they could not so easily satisfy themselves to what cause it was due. The Emperor has directed that these and other experi ments of M. Hooibrenck shall be repeated on two of the imperial farms.

EFFECTS OF BELLADONNA.-In the month of September we saw a magnificent specimen of the Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna, growing in a chalk dell in Hertfordshire, near Wheathampstead. It formed a splendid bush, spreading out on all sides, the stems five or six feet long, and the berries quite as large as small damsons. Shortly afterwards, the plant was visited by a young lady, accompanied by a gentleman, who cut a branch, which she held while he cut some more, and then walked away with the branch in her hand. In a few minutes she felt uneasy, and shortly afterwards was seized with violent headache, giddiness, and nausea. These symptoms continued for the rest of the day, through the night, and through the following day, when her eyes were very heavy, and she found herself unable to walk on account of the giddiness. On the third day the headache was better, but pain in the side had come on, and considerable debility. Six days after the first attack, the headache and sickness began to return, but were removed by a little brandy and water. The pain in the side did not cease till some days later. These facts indicate the great caution that should be used in dealing with this remarkable poison, to the influence of which some constitutions are peculiarly sensitive.

NOVELTY IN CATTLE BREEDING. The Archives des Sciences, for September,

1863, contains a communication from a Swiss agriculturist, stating, that in February, 1861, he received from Professor Thury, of Geneva, a letter containing confidential instructions, which he was to carry out for the purpose of experimentally verifying an assumed law regulating the production of the sexes among animals. The result was, that in twenty-two successive cases, females were obtained, according to desire. The animals bred from, were Swiss cows and a Durham bull. M. Cornaz then purchased a Durham cow, and desired to procure, by breeding, a Durham bull, in which he succeeded. He also desired to breed six bulls, crossed between Durham and Schwitz, and by selecting cows of the colour and height he wanted, he was again successful, and regards Professor Thury's method as of the highest importance to breeders of cattle.

The law enunciated by Professor Thury, and confirmed by M. Cornaz, is, that sex depends on the degree of maturation of the egg at the moment of fecundation. In uniparous animals, fecundation at the commencement of the rutting period gives females, at its termination, males. In multiparous creatures, the first eggs that descend from the ovary generally give females, the last males; but M. Thury says, that in a second generative period that succeeds the first, circumstances are considerably changed, and the last eggs give females. Many of our rural readers, engaged in agriculture, will be able to verify these curious statements, which may have an important influence on the profits of farming.

NEW METAL.-M. M. Reich and Ritter have discovered a metal distinguished in the spectroscope by an indigo blue ray, and which they call Indium. They obtained it from a composite mineral, chiefly composed of sulphur, arsenic, iron, and lead.

NEW PLANET, 79TH.-We learn from the Astronomiche Nachrichten, that Mr. James Watson, of Ann-Arbor, U.S., has discovered a new planet of the 9.3 magnitude. It was seen by Oppolzen in Vienna on 6th October.

MR. H. J. CARTER ON RHIZOPODS.-In Annals of Natural History this gentleman states that he has demonstrated the existence of chlorophyll cells in the body of Difflugia pyriformis as part of its organization. Starch granules, he affirms, form" part of its products," and he states that the tests conjugate. These circumstances, he considers, show the strong alliance between the Rhizopods, which he regards as animals, and the vegetable kingdom. He likewise describes a new Rhizopod, found in bog water, on the south coast of Devon. It is "globular, subround, green, loricated, spiniferous, and tentaculiferous. Spines straight, hollow, of uniform breadth in the shaft, bifid, or forked, at the distal, and discoid at the proximal extremity; very numerous, apparently rigid, radiating, or turned across each other, and moveable, as the spines in Echinus." Lorica, 1-411", species, 1-740' long.

SUNLIGHT ILLUMINATION FOR THE MICROSCOPE.-Mr. Wenham states, in Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, that fine markings on objects may be seen by placing the microscope in strong sunlight, and employing the concave mirror, and an achromatic condenser of large aperture. The eye could not support this blaze without protection, but by placing the red and green glasses of a sextant ov the eye-piece, it was toned down, and the markings on all the most difficult tests easily and quickly brought out with remarkable distinctness.

A

DRY MOUNTING FOR MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS-Mr. T. S. Ralph, of Melbourne, communicates to the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science his mode of mounting certain objects. He punches rings out of thin gutta percha. One of these rings is placed on a glass slide, and the object arranged in the centre. covering glass is then placed on the ring, the slide made warm to soften the gutta percha, and gentle pressure applied, by which it is made to adhere to both glasses. The edge of the cover is finally varnished.

USE OF DEAD SEA-WATER.-M. Roux has laid before the French Academy an analysis of this water, which shows that, in addition to considerable quantities of chlorides of magnesium, sodium, calcicum, and potassium, it contains bromide of magnesium to the extent of 0.364 grammes in 100 000 grammes. M. Roux considers that it may prove a very valuable medicine in scrofulous, syphilitic, and many other affections. Shall we have this locality converted into a fashionable

watering-place, and find dead sea-water figuring amongst the articles of our import trade? It is evident that if bromides come into greater demand for photographic, medical, and other purposes, they might be economically prepared on this spot, at least to the extent of evaporating the water in shallow basins by natural heat, and sending the solid residue to our laboratories for further manipulation.

THE COMPOSITION OF OZONE.-Comptes Rendus, No. 14, 1863, contains an important paper on ozone by M. J. L. Soret, presented to the French Academy by M. Regnault, in which, amongst other facts, he states that if ozone is destroyed by heat, by bringing a platina spiral passed up into a globe containing ozonised oxygen to a dull red heat, the volume of oxygen is considerably increased, while a very slight increase takes place in oxygen that has not been ozonized. For this and other reasons, the writer regards ozone as composed of more than two atoms of oxygen. M. Soret observes that many chemists regard oxygen in its ordinary gaseous state as composed of two atoms, OO, and he says we may conceive molecules of ozone to consist of three atoms of oxygen, 000, and to constitute a binoxide of oxygen. He thinks it may contain more than three atoms of oxygen, but to determine the exact number its density should be known.

INFUSORIA AND GERMINATION.-M. J. Lemaire states in a note to the French Academy that if powdered porcelain is placed over a mass of moistened beans, barley, or oats, bacteriums make their appearance in about twenty hours, and vibrions and monads in forty-eight hours. The porcelain fragments may be made red hot, and the distilled water used without changing this result. Phenic acid stops both the production of infusoria and the germination. If the acid is removed, the infusoria appear, and the seeds germinate.

NOVEL CASE OF MARINE PHOSPHORESCENCE.-M. Morellet informs the French Academy that after taking a sea-bath near Penols, Herault, the bathing dress he wore, and that of his companion, were rinsed in the sea-water, and placed in a basket, where they remained till nine P.M., at which time they were taken out, and emitted sparks when touched. Three days afterwards he repeated his bath, but the clothes were not affected. The first bath took place in August on a hot day.

BEAUTIFUL POLARISCOPE OBJECT.-F. R. Martin informs us that if the beau

tifully crystallizable compound called "Santonine (which is obtained from Artemisia contra), is dissolved in chloroform, and a little of the solution placed on a slide, and very gradually evaporated over a spirit-lamp, it will be observed, on making starting points for crystals with a fine needle, to form into beautiful satinlike rosettes, making a magnificent object for the polariscope, similar to the wellknown Salicine slides.

VOLPICELLI ON SPECTRAL ANALYSIS.-According to Cosmos, this observer states that "when solar light traverses our atmosphere, the rays appear in the same number and intensity, whether the air be dry or moist. This result accords with the ideas of M. Janssen, who attributes the telluric rays in the spectrum to the obliquity of the coincidence of the solar rays, and not to the influence of va pour of water. M. Volpicelli caused the solar rays to traverse an oxyhydrogen flame, the primitive atmosphere being dry; the telluric rays were not augmented in number or intensity." He concludes, in opposition to Secchi, "that the vapour of water is not the principal cause of the formation of the telluric rays."