makes a great noise, and tries to fly from its pursuer, but is evidently under the influence of some feeling which it cannot control. Instead of rushing on an enemy so much smaller than itself, and crushing it, or flying away as quickly as possible, it remains obstinately in the place where it has been seeking honey, turning round and round; and, when tired and stationary, the Cònops darts upon it, and then flies off. M. Robineau thinks this to be a proof that fascination exists among insects as well as birds of prey and reptiles. The fifth contains an account of the A'silus diadèma, which plunges its trunk into the head of a bee, paralyzes it, and then, taking it to its nest in the ground, buries it as nourishment for the larvæ there deposited. Some new flies, one of which inhabits the Liliaceæ, form the subjects of the sixth and seventh memoirs. The same author has also sent a statement to the above-mentioned body concerning some caterpillars which were ejected alive from the stomach of a female by vomiting. She was aged fifty-seven years, and had been attacked with dropsical symptoms, for which six drops of the croton tiglium were administered, at three intervals; after which fourteen living caterpillars were thrown up, belonging to the Pýralis pinguinàlis of Linnæus. M. Robineau supposes them to have been swallowed in some greasy substance, in the state of eggs, and to have been hatched in the stomach. (Athenæum.) New Silkworm.· At Maragnan and Rio Janeiro are several species of Bombyx, the caterpillars of which enclose themselves in a cocoon, after having spun a thicker and stronger silk than that of the ordinary silkworm. It has been tried by Padre Mestre, and forms a very solid material. A species of mulberry, the fruit of which is small and inedible, grows near Rio Janiero, which it is proposed to cultivate for feeding the caterpillars. On the Use of Steam in the economising of Fuel. There is a most valuable paper on this subject in Jameson's Journal for July, p. 173., by Dr. Fyfe of Edinburgh. We have been for some time aware that the waste steam from boilers has been burned in manufactories, for example in that of Mr. Milne, the eminent brassfounder of Edinburgh; and also that it had been burned under boilers in wash-houses and breweries, in several noblemen's establishments in England. It was first introduced into wash-houses and private breweries, we believe, by Mr. Reynolds, late steward to the Marquess of Westminster; and was found by him so greatly to increase the heat produced, that, in the case of very large fireplaces, he was obliged to have a sort of double or protecting bottom to the boiler. It remained, however, for Dr. Fyfe to prove experimentally the great accession of heat produced by the burning of steam; so as no longer to leave any doubts as to the great advantage attending this practice. For this reason, we would recommend its adoption in the case of hot-houses heated by steam; or even by hot water, where the water is heated to such a temperature as to produce steam. The mode in which the steam is burned in a wash-house or brewhouse is very simple: the boiler is kept closely covered; but at one side, that next the wall, there is a flue of communication between the upper edge of the boiler immediately under the lid, and another flue which conducts air down to the ash-pit. By keeping the ash-pit door shut, no air is admitted to the fire but what is drawn down through this flue; and, of course, it draws down the steam along with it, and both air and steam pass upwards through the fire. By having the upper opening of the air-flue immediately under the ceiling, in the case of wash-houses, breweries, &c, any steam from the washing-tubs, or any vapour which may be floating in the atmosphere, will be drawn down and consumed; and thus the wash-house, which at present is a most unwholesome and disgreeable place, may be rendered as healthy and agreeable as any other department of the domestic offices of a house. See what we have said on this the Suburban Gardener, p. 78-80. The following are the results of a few of numerous experiments made by Dr. Fyfe: "The vessel contained two pints of water. Without Steam. With Steam. In 5 minutes, 130°; in 10 min., 180°; in 15 min., In 5 min., 1200; in 10 min., 1850; in 13 min., 200°; in 20 min., 210°. In 5 min., 1450°; boiled in 104 min. Ditto ditto in 10 min. 2080; boiled briskly in 14 min. In 5 mín., 1500; boiled in 10 min. Ditto In other trials only one pint of water was used. In 3 min., 120°; in 5 min., 160°; in 7 min., 190°; in 8 min., boiled. In 3 min., 1400; in 5 min., 190°; in 6 min., boiled. ditto in 9 min. In 3 min., 140°; in 5 min., 190°; in 6 min., boiled. In 3 min., 160°; in 5 min., boiled. In numerous other experiments, performed in a similar manner, the results were found to be always the same; the water invariably boiling more rapidly when the steam was transmitted through the furnace, so that there was evidently an increase of heat. The following experiments on the quantity of water evaporated in a given time are also in proof of this. The same furnace and steam apparatus were used as in the preceding trials, but a smaller vessel was employed for the evaporation of the water. The furnace was in good condition, and contained coke; and there was half a pint of water in the pan. In 2 min., boiled; in 8 min., the furnace lost In 24 min., boiled; in 8 min., lost 5 oz. 4 oz. With one pint of water In 7 min., boiled; in 15 min., lost 4 oz. In 5 min., boiled; in 15 min., lost 7 oz. "In all of these experiments," continues Dr. Fyfe, "I found that, when the steam was used, it required the air to be freely admitted to the inflammable matter. Indeed, when this was not done, instead of there being an increase, there was less heat; the water in the evaporating pan not being made to boil so quickly when steam was passed through the fuel as when it was omitted." (Jameson's Journ., No. 45., July, 1837, p. 187.) Washing by Steam was invented, many years ago, by the celebrated chemist Chaptal, and the process has been since improved on by Cadet-Devaux, by Curandeau, and, lastly, by M. Bourgnon de Layre. It is now employed in all the principal hospitals in Paris. The process, by the last improvement, is conducted much in the same way that potatoes used to be steamed for cattle, in Scotland, about 30 years ago; that is, the clothes to be washed are placed over the boiler; the steam rises, and is condensed among them into water, which falls into the boilers, carrying the dirt with it, and is again sent up pure in the form of steam, the dirt, from its gravity, remaining in the boiler; and this alternate rarefaction and condensation is continued till all the dirt of the clothes has been abstracted from them and mixed with the water in the boiler, which is occasionally let off and removed. The saving of water, fuel, and labour is so great, that blankets can be washed in Paris at less than a farthing a pair. The principal part of the expense is that of soaking the blankets that are to be washed, in a mixture of soft soap and water previously to placing them in the steam apparatus. (L'E'cho du Monde Savant, June 7. 1837.) ART. II. Foreign Notices. FRANCE. ARTESIAN Wells. The Artesian well at the abbatoir, near the Barrière de Grenelle, becomes every day more interesting. The boring has already reached the enormous depth of 1360 ft. Whatever may be the result of this undertaking, says the Prefect of the Seine, in his last report to the municipal council, it cannot but be interesting to geologists, from its connexion with their science; and to the industrious, from its pointing out the chance of success in similar trials. Success will lead to another result, already foreseen by philosophers, which consists in the high temperature of such a well: consequently, the water may be instantly employed in warm baths. This well was commenced on December 30. 1833; and, during the 1200 days which have elapsed since then, the works have been directed by M. Mulot, jun., and have not been discontinued for a single day. From this it appears that the average progress has been upwards of 1 ft. 1 in. per day. It seems that the administration are about to make an engagement with M. Mulot to bore to the depth of upwards of 1800 ft., if water be not met with before reaching this depth. (L'E'cho du Monde Savant, April 5. 1837.) Colossal Elm Tree at Brignoles. M. C. Aquillon, member of the Horticultural Society of Paris, &c., gives the following details respecting the large elm which exists in the Place Carami at Brignoles, a town about 20 miles north of Toulon :- "On the 25th of October, 1564, Charles IX., being at Brignoles, lodged in the house of M. Desparra, which is opposite to this tree, and witnessed, with great pleasure, a ball which took place under it. Michel de l'Hospital, who was born in 1503, was Chancellor in 1560, and died in 1573, speaks of this tree (as one even at that time likely to attract the attention of travellers) in one of his works in Latin verse, composed on the occasion of his being exiled into Provence. Tradition supposes that this elm was in existence when the river Carami, which at present runs without the town, flowed by the place of that name. This colossus of vegetation has been for a long time supported on one side by a wooden post, and on the other by a piece of masonry, which fills up a large hollow in the trunk. Without these supports the tree would have been infallibly blown down; for the part supported by the wooden post is hollowed out to the origin of the branches, and even serves as a retreat for poor artisans. The circumference at the level of the ground is about 23 ft., and in the narrowest part of the trunk about 18 ft. The thickness of the wood of the trunk is from 9 in. to 12 in. ; and in the projecting part it varies from 3 in. to 4 in.” (L'E'cho du Monde Savant, April 1. 1837.) GERMANY. Artesian Wells. In many parts of Germany Artesian wells are begun ; and Italy, of which the volcanic soil is totally unknown, is in her turn about to make a trial. M. Mulot sets off in a few days for the villa of the director of the Italian Opera, at Paris, near Bologna, for the purpose of commencing an Artesian well. We have not the least doubt of his success. At the present moment upwards of 30 Artesian wells are in progress in the departments of France. A second Artesian well, begun at Dresden, had obtained, in October last, an abundant supply of water at the depth of 840 ft. This source, having a temperature of 68° Fahr., furnishes a supply of 144 gallons of good water per second. They penetrated through 62 ft. of sand and gravel; 810 ft. of marl and chalk; 43 ft. of pure marl; and 22 ft. of greyish freestone. Admitting the above temperature to be that of the strata at this depth, and comparing it with the mean temperature at the surface of the earth at Dresden (48° Fahr.), we find a uniform increase of temperature of 1·20° Cels. for every 100 ft., or 1° for every 78 ft. of depth; but this increase being greater than that actually observed in boring, we must conclude that the water of this well comes from a greater depth. (L'E'cho du Monde Savant, April 5. 1837.) BELGIUM. Hybrid Fern. Gymnográmma chrysophylla Spreng., and G. calomélanos Kaulf., Hort. Brit., No. 25325. and 25329., are two beautiful ferns, natives of the West Indies, which have been for some time under culture in the stoves of Messrs. Loddiges, and in some other collections. They have also been introduced into the stoves of the Botanic Garden of Louvain, where a hybrid between them has been produced, of considerable beauty. This hybrid was purely the result of accident: the head gardener, M. Donkelaar, wishing to raise some plants of G. chrysophylla sowed the sporules of that species, and found great part of the progeny to be intermediate between it and G. calomélanos. We have no doubt this hybrid will soon be introduced into British collections; and the fact of a hybrid fern being produced accidentally affords a valuable hint for attempting to produce others according to art. The species and varieties furnished to us by nature may be considered as the raw material, and it is for man to improve them, for his various purposes of beauty or use, by all the different modes of culture with which he is acquainted, or can devise; and of these hybridising may be considered as one of the chief. (L'E'cho du Monde Savant, June 10. 1837.) SWITZERLAND. The Lausanne, March, 1836. You will receive with this a packet containing various dried specimens, sketches of trees, dimensions, and other particulars, which Mrs. B. and I have collected for your Arboretum. We have now been here exactly two years; and we set out, in a day or two, for Italy, whence you shall hear from us. We have made a great many excursions; and I need not tell you how much we are delighted both with the country and the people. most remarkable circumstance, in my opinion, connected with Switzerland, is the difference in climate and in productions which are to be met with in the same locality, and even within a few yards of each other. The old custom of leading a stranger to a spot, where with one hand he can touch a strawberry and with the other eternal snow, is still kept up; and the following quotation from a work published nearly a century ago is as true now as it was when originally written : "The climate of this country, and especially of the Jorat, in the environs of the lakes, in the smiling and fertile plains, which are found here and there, and along the declivities and hills which look towards the south, is very warm; the vegetation there is rich and forward; the productions those of countries situated under the most favourable latitudes. In the environs of Lausanne and Geneva, for example, which are protected from the north winds by the elevated parts of the Jorat and the Jura, and where the rays of the sun are reflected by the waters of the lake and the rocks of Savoy, the heat is such, that sweet chestnuts, walnuts, horsechestnuts, and even Lombardy poplars, thrive; it must be confessed, however, that the Lombardy does not attain the same height, erect growth, and beauty, that it does in Italy. Wheat generally comes into ear and flowers about the beginning of June, and is cut about the middle of July. Rye shoots up in April, comes into ear about the end of the same month or the commencement of May, flowers in the end of May, and is cut about the end of July. Oats come into ear about the middle of June, and are cut immediately after the wheat, in the end of July. The vine begins to shoot about the end of February; it is in full flower in the middle of June, and the grapes are commonly gathered about the beginning of October. The meadows are green at the end of February or the beginning of March; and are mown at the commencement of July, and a second time in the middle of August. Near Lausanne, it is observed that the harvest takes place about eleven days sooner at the foot of the hill than on the summit. On the border of the lake, at Cour, laurels grow in the open air; melons and figs ripen quickly and perfectly; pine-apples are kept in the green-house, and never heated. Towards the summit of the hill, nuts are rarely found, and all the figs perish: peaches never attain maturity there; and it is only apple and pear trees which ripen their fruit." (Hist. Nat. Jorat, i. p. 5.) There are, however, some elevated cantons, which are surrounded with rocks, and enjoy a mild temperature; these are mostly narrow valleys, and, amongst others, the smiling valleys through which the Broye flows, that of Mondon, and between Mondon and Payerne. It is different in other elevated cantons, such as those of Chalet-à-Gobet, Chalet de la Ville, &c. SWEDEN AND NORWAY. Zones of Vegetation observed in the Scandinavian Peninsula. —" At North Cape, lat. 71°, potatoes, broccoli, and gooseberries are reared with some diffi culty. One degree farther south, at Alten (70°), a little barley makes its appearance. At Enontekis (68° 30′), the crops (barley and bear) yield a remunerating harvest, on an average, once in three years. Rye and hemp cannot be successfully cultivated beyond the 66th, nor oats beyond the 64th, parallel. This latter is also the general limits of garden cultivation. The cherry tree, alder, and maple cease to thrive beyond the 63d; the ash and the willow, at the 66th; the elm, lime, and oak, at the 61st parallel. The natural beech woods of Sweden do not extend beyond lat. 57°. Finally, the mulberry, the chestnut, and the walnut arrive at perfection in Schonem (54°), at the southern extremity of the Peninsula. On the coasts of Norway, vegetation is less curbed by the rigours of winter than in corresponding parallels on the shores of the Baltic; and, according to Mr. Laing, pears, plums, and sometimes even chestnuts, ripen in the neighbourhood of Moldes, 62° 47′ north latitude." (Forsell's Statistics of Sweden, as quoted in Jameson's Journal, vol. xxii. No. 44., April, 1836.) INDIA. "The singular Form which many of the Trees assume [in the Island of Little Carimon, near Singapore] is not the least remarkable feature in the varied phenomena displayed by the vegetable creation. I allude more particularly, in the present instance, to a remarkable and very obvious disposition in the roots and lower part of the stem of the larger trees to form winged appendages of great magnitude. These tabular compressed appendages are three or four in number: they obviously serve as supports to the weighty incumbent mass of stem and leaves, thus compensating for the want of depth of soil, only a few inches into which the roots can penetrate before they are obstructed by the surface of the rock: they are thus forced to extend horizontally. A tree of this description, torn up by its roots, affords a singular spectacle, and one in which the economy of vegetable life is peculiarly remarkable, inasmuch as this economy is obviously exerted in overcoming the difficulties which oppose its developement. Every crevice in the rocky base, every chink, has been occupied by the root; a thin, but hardy, network extends along the ground, to a distance often equal to the noble altitude of the tree itself. The thin-winged appendages to the tree, or its supporting walls, as they may justly be termed, partake more of the nature of roots than of trunk, though altogether out of the earth. They possess, generally, a smooth, softish, and very thin cuticle, green underneath, abounding in the vegetable juices of the tree, and are remarkably hard. They sometimes extend horizontally, in a straight, but more commonly in a curved, direction, 15 ft. or 20 ft.; their edges being 6, 8, or more feet above the ground, gradually decreasing from the stem to the earth. In some instances they are formed into walls, resembling fortifications." (Finlayson's Mission to Siam and Cochin-China, as quoted for us by J. B. W.) "The most extraordinary Plant in these [the Sechang] Islands, is one bearing affinity both to Dioscorea and to Menispermum, but differing from both in some essential generic characters. The great beauty of the creeping stem, suspended in elegant festoons from the branches of the surrounding trees, were sufficient to attract attention. But the most singular property of this herbaceous plant is the disposition which it has of forming tuberous roots of a most extraordinary size; a circumstance the more singular, because, independently of the small size of its stem, scarcely larger than a quill, it is found growing in the most arid and sterile situations, without a particle of earth to conceal its roots; neither are its leaves succulent, nor its stem nor root of a texture apparently fitted to convey a large proportion of vegetable juice, both being hard and fibrous. The singular tuberosity of this plant is formed at the exit of the root from the rock, or surrounding stones, and is, in general, buried about one fourth under the surface. The part exposed is globular, of a dirty white colour, warty; and internally, the yam is tough and fibrous, rather than spongy. One brought on board, on account of its size, weighed 474 lb., and measured 9 ft. in circumference; others, of still greater size, were not uncommon. It will |