ands which have been raised continue to extend towards the south, and are now within four or five metres of the north of Micra-Kamméni. Formerly the channel was twenty-one inches deep, but it is not now more than three. The island of Aphroessa remains stationary, but Vattia is now divided into two islands. Around the newly-formed lands the sea is of a yellowish-green color, and has a temperature varying, according to the locality, from 25° to 75 centigrade. M. Cigalla, who has studied the volcanic phenomena very carefully, thinks another great eruption will soon occur, and that a true volcanic crater will be formed at the top of the George island. A Chemical method for effectually cleaning Glass is given in a recently published work on one of the processes of photography. It is simple, reliable, and completely efficient, and will, we doubt not, be found very useful by our readers. It is as follows:-Dilute the ordinary hydrofluoric acid sold in gutta-percha bottles, with four or five parts of water, drop it on a cotton rubber (not on the glass), and rub well over, afterwards washing till the acid is removed. The action is the same as that of sulphuric acid when used for cleaning copper; a little of the glass is dissolved off, and a fresh surface exposed. The solution of the acid in water does not leave a dead surface on the glass, as the vapor would; if a strong solution is left on long enough to produce a visible depression, the part affected will be quite bright. This method is recommended in some cases for cleaning photographic plates. Vide the "Tannin Process," by Major Russell; R. Hardwicke, 192 Piccadilly. An error in M. Leverrier's calculation of the sun's distance from the earth's parallactic inequality has been detected by Mr. Stone. The result is to reduce the estimate by 400,000 miles, or to give the value already obtained by M. Hansen. Mr. Stone has himself obtained a new estimate. His calculation, founded on the observation of Mars, gave, as our readers are aware, 8'94 for the sun's equatorial horizontal parallax-the same value, nearly, as had resulted from Leverrier's faulty calculation. Mr. Stone's examination of Greenwich lunar observations, bearing on the lunar parallactic inequality, gives a parallax of 885. The values now being obtained by different astronomers cluster closely round M. Hansen's value 8"-916. Mr. Stone has examined the question of the sun's motion in space, with results confirmatory of those already obtained. But he considers that the sun's motion is not so great as that of most stars. He has also examined the interesting question of possible changes in the earth's axis of rotation, accruing from the action of the tides. He finds no evidence pointing to the possibility of appreciable change, even in long intervals of time.-Pop. Science Review. VARIETIES. Sardines. Various fishes of the herring family are cured and pass as sardines, especially sprats and young pilchards, and not long ago, upon examining the contents of a tin, we found that the fish contained in it were true anchovies. According to Mr. Couch, "the sardine appears to be the only fish of this family, except the pilchard, that has the dorsal fin at the centre of gravity. Cuvier states of the sardine that it is so much like the pilchard that the only perceptible difference is its inferior size; but Mr. Couch mentions that "In the year 1843, six hogsheads of supposed pilchards were taken" (on the Cornish coast, we presume), "the fish about six inches long, and multitudes were so small as to pass through the meshes of the drift-nets. They were marked with spots along the sides, which grow faint aud disappear as the colors fade. Compared with a pilchard of the same size, I found the marking of the head different," adds Mr. Couch, "and guttered on the lower margin, where the pilchard is plain. These small fish abound at all distances from land, and, in consequence, all the fish in fine condition that were found a week or two previously had disappeared." It would appear that the able Cornish ichthyologist considered the small fish in question to be sardines.-Land and Water. The Hurricane at the Bahamas, in September, 1866.-There are two grand epochs of a similar visitation at these islands on record. The first is the memorable disaster known in the history of the West Indies as the Great October Hurricane of 1780; the other, remembered by the oldest inhabitants as the Great August Hurricane of 1813. Most of the latter say that the hurricane of Sun On day, September 30, 1866, exceeded in violence the gale of the 24th August, 1813. It is certain that Saturday, at Grand Turk Island, the wind blew more lives and property were then lost. moderately from the N.N.E. There were apprehensions of a coming storm in the minds of a few; but as there had been nothing like a hurricane since 1837, it was difficult, in the majority, to recognize anything of approaching disaster. On Saturday, at midnight, or on Sunday morning, the wind gradually increased; so that at sunrise there were no longer any doubts, especially from the indications of the barometer of a hurricane at hand. Throughout the day it blew with a terrific force, and until after mid-day, from about E.N.E., when it abated for half an hour, which gave a sufficient interval for the most daring to venture out to make a few general inquiries as to what had happened. The wind then shifted to the southeast, blowing with violence till about five or six o'clock, from which time it gradually abated. About twenty lives were lost, from direct inju ries, or from exposure. Eight hundred houses were totally destroyed, leaving more than 3,000 persons shelterless, and most of them in poverty. Government House, and the public offices, the public schools, armory, jail, poor-house, quarantine hospital, and almost all the places of public worship, were more or less injured. Upward of 1,200,000 bushels of salt, a great article of merchandise in this place, were blown away. Several vessels were also lost and their crews drowned. It was a cyclone storm on the vastest scale. At Salt Cay and the Caicos, the destruction was as great in proportion as at Turk's Island. The Water in the Bronze Vase found at Pompeii, upon which the Daily Telegraph was so eruditely classical, has been analyzed. It was found perfectly limpid, and was hardly rendered turbid by a prolonged ebullition. At the temperature of 20°C. its sp. gr. is 1001, about that of distilled water. The quantity of fixed matters left by evap 640 oration was 1.032 gr. per litre. The gases disengaged by ebullition consisted of air and carbonic acid. Lime and magnesia were found in it; also phosphates in a small quantity; also some traces of sulphates, and even silica and iron. There was not the slightest trace of copper.-Vide Comptes Rendus, May 20. A Californian Geologist has transmitted to Paris a number of very fine photographs of the various points of interest in the chain of the Sierra-Nevada. These exhibit numerous marks of striation similar to those seen on the surface of the rocks composing the Alps. The striations occur at different points between the heights of 1,800 and 3,300 metres above the level of the sea. Nature of the Earth eaten by the People of Borneo.-The Chemical News gives us the composition of the clay which is eaten so extensively by the natives of Borneo. It states that some years ago the manager of the Orange-Nassau colliery, near Zandjermasin, in the Island of Borneo, found that many of his workpeople (natives) consumed large quantities of a kind of clay; a sample of this material was forwarded to Batavia for analysis, and the following is the result in 100 parts:Pitcoal resin (organic matter volatile at red heat) 15:4 Pure carbon 14.9 38.3 27.7 Vide Chemical News. 100.0 The Fall Trade Sale was decidedly successful. Messrs. Leavitt, Strebeigh & Co. report a total of about 900,000 volumes sold, to a total amount of $300,000. The prices ranged not very far from the average of the last preceding two sales, books of intrinsic merit being perhaps a trifle better distinguished from poor ones. Buyers were also present from several southern localities not represented at any sale since before the war. The branch of the business in which most activity is reported is that of school-books, which are more like necessaries of life than are novels or even histories, and for which the freedmen's schools have opened a considerable new market. A. Macmillan, Esq., of the firm of Macmillan & Co., London, is now paying a brief visit to this country. The impression made by him upon those who have had the pleasure of meeting him, has been of the most favorable character, and as the guest, in this city, of Mr. J. B. Lippincott, he has had a favorable opportunity of becoming acquainted with many of our publishers and authors, and with our citizens generally. All of us have recognized in him a fine specimen of a most agreeable, intelligent, and high-toned gentleman. Though we now for the first time enjoy the gratification of welcoming him personally among us, he has nevertheless become well known throughout the United States by the fame of his "works." The list of Macmillan & Co.'s books comprises many of the best volumes, both as respects contents and manufacture, that have issued from the English press, and some of them -such as "The Golden Treasury Series "-have attained a very great general popularity. A just been announced by them as in preparation, 'Sunday Library for Household Reading" has which will doubtless be no less successful than the series just named. It will contain numerous volumes upon history in its relations to Christianity, and biographies of Christian heroes in art, science, divinity, and social action. It is to be hoped that the visits of such worthy gentlemen as Mr. Macmillan will tend to awaken and maintain friendly and courteous relations between the members of the trade on the opposite sides of the Atlantic.-Lit. Gazette. A Railway Train turned into a Man-trup.-A branch in the Bombay presidency runs through a wild region, the inhabitants of which are unsophisticated savages, addicted to thievery. The first day the line was opened a number of these Arcadians conspired to intercept the train, and they placed some trunks of trees across the rails; have a glorious loot. To accomplish their object but the engine-driver, keeping a very sharp lookout, as it happened to be his first trip on the line in question, descried the trunks while yet they were at a considerable distance from him. The breaks were then put on, and when the locomotive had approached within a couple of feet of the trunks it was brought to a standstill. Then, instantaneously, like Roderick Dhu's clansmen starting from the heather, natives, previously invisible, swarmed up on all sides, and, crowding into the carriages, began to pillage and plunder everything they could lay their hands upon. While they were thus engaged, the guard gave the signal to the driver, who at once reversed his engine and put it to the top of its speed. The reader may judge of the consternation of the robbers when they found themselves whirled backwards at a pace that rendered escape impossible. Some poor fellows who attempted it were killed on the spot.-Central India Times, June 22. In the manuscript room of the British Museum, in London, there are some iron-bound boxes containing manuscripts, which, by a legal proviso made by the donor, are to be opened January 1, 1900. The story of this gift is a little singular. They contain the manuscripts of Francis Douce, who died in 1834. He was the author of the illustrations of Shakspeare, which, by every student of the great dramatist, is regarded as a text-book of high authority. When it first appeared, the critics assailed him with great fierceness, and being naturally of an irritable nature, he determined never to publish again. The legacy left to him by Nollekens, the sculptor, rendered him independent of the emoluments which he might have derived from his pen, and, excepting an occasional article in some magazine, he published nothing after the review appeared which embittered his whole life. Some of our enterprising Boston publishers will no doubt be on the qui vive when the grand opening of the iron boxes takes place. The British Quarterly. RECENT RESEARCHES IN PALESTINE.* RESEARCHES in Palestine have begun to assume a new form. Scientific expe ditions are taking the place of amateur travellers. The topography and physical geography of the country formerly occupied almost sole attention; now, (1.) The Comparative Geography of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula. By CARL RITTER. Translated by W. L. GAGE. 1866. (2.) Physical Geography of the Holy Land. By E. ROBINSON, D.D. London: 1865. (3.) The City of the Great King. By J. T. BARCLAY, M.D. Philadelphia: 1858. (4) Le Temple de Jerusalem, Monographie du Haram-eck-Chérif, suivie d'un Essai sur la Topographie de la Ville-Sainte Par Le Comte MELCHIOR DE VOGUE. Paris: 1864. (5.) Dritte Wanderung nach Palästina im Jahre 1857. Von T. TOBLER. Gotha: 1859. (6.) Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem. Made with the sanction of the Right Hon. Earl de Grey and Ripon, Secretary of State for War, by Capt. C. W. WILSON, R.E, under the direction of Col. Sir Henry James, R E., F.R.S., etc. 1865. (7). The Land of Israel. A Journal of Travels in Palestine, undertaken with special -forenes to (Old Series Com. plete in 63 vols. while these are undergoing a more systematic investigation, excavations are being made, and the long-buried monuments of past ages are being brought to the light of day. This is a decided step in the right direction, and if prosecuted vigorously and wisely, important results may be confidently expected. Notwithstanding all that has been done by private enterprise, much still remains undone. Every student knows how many vexed questions in Biblical topography are still unsolved; how many points of sacred history still require illustration; how many sites of old cities and villages, of old temples and tombs, still remain unexplored or unknown. Mere surface examination and archæological discussion cannot clear up such points as these. A week's work with spade and pickaxe (8.) Voyage en Terre Sainte. Par F. DE SAULCY. Paris: 1865. (9.) Palestine Exploration Fund,-A Society for the accurate and systematic investigation of the Archæology, Topography, Geology, and Physical Geography, Natural History, Manners and Cus toms of L |