Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 15.djvu/589

 Fossil Rhinoceros in Siberia.—In a communication to "La Nature," A. Hoffmann, of Moscow, announces the discovery, in Siberia, of the head of a rhinoceros (Rhinocerus tichorhinus), which still retains, in a wonderful state of preservation, nearly all its covering of flesh. "This head," he writes, "was found near a small stream, called the Balantaï, a tributary of the Yany, at the distance of some 200 versts from the city of Vorshvianska. M. Gorokoff, to whom we are indebted for this discovery, made haste to communicate with the Imperial Geographical Society of St. Petersburg. A member of that Society, M. Tshersky, to whom the head was submitted for examination, says that it must have belonged to a young animal, for some of the teeth had not as yet quite come out from their alveoli. The entire head is covered with a strong tissue, hardened by time; but one side of it is badly injured. Here the flesh is in part decayed, and crumbles away. A portion of the skull is bare, and we can see the dried muscles and veins; also, a portion of the spinal marrow, the latter having dropped out of the passage through the second cervical vertebra. This curious fossil head retains in perfect preservation the muzzle, the lips, the ears, the hair of half of the left side, a good part of the forehead, and on the right side the upper portion of the neck, and several other parts. Further, we notice the places for two horns."

Drilling Rocks by Electricity.—M. Gaston Planté suggests a novel use for electricity, namely, as a borer of rocks, taking the place of the black diamond. "We have seen," he writes in a volume recently published, "that one of the electrodes which conveys a current of a certain electromotive force, on being put in contact with glass in presence of a saline solution, acts as a graver or diamond in cutting furrows on the surface of the glass, plowing it even deeply. Rock-crystal can also be attacked, despite its hardness, by the same method, and, if it does not yield regularly, it at last bursts into pieces under the action of the electrode, and ends by breaking up. In America black diamonds are employed in rock-drilling for wells and mines. Could these expensive tools not be replaced by the action of the electric current in conditions analogous to those which have been described, and the perforation of rocks be performed by electricity? Electrodes of platinum would not be necessary, for it is not the metal of the electrode which alters, but the silicious matter in presence of the saline solution. Metallic points or studs conveniently distributed at the end of the drill and put in rotation, would direct the electric discharge to the rock, which it would pulverize, as in the case of the diamond drill. The recent advances in the production of electricity by mechanical means would facilitate this application."

Mr. Gladstone on Natural History Studies.—Mr. Gladstone, in addressing the pupils of a Nonconformist school at Finchley, England, advocated a more important place in our systems of education for natural history. "Natural history," he said, "is a continual lesson—a lesson at once easy and profound—of the wisdom and beneficence of Providence; a continual confirmation of belief, when you find the wonderful hand of that Workman descending to the smallest object with the same care with which he mounts to the greatest. The religious use of natural history is one that all must delight in. Again, learning is an admirable thing, but it does not always make itself agreeable at the first introduction. But it certainly is a marked advantage in the study of natural history that it leads you on by the hand—it inveigles you, so to speak, into learning what is good and what is useful. Many a one might have his mind first opened by the attractions of natural history, and, once opened, it might perhaps be capable of applying itself beneficially to harder and more repulsive studies. Natural history, too, is one of the best and most efficient means of educating the senses. It may, perhaps, be suggested that the senses are educated well enough already, and claim quite a large enough portion of our existence. That, of course, is perfectly true so far as the grosser forms of enjoyment are concerned; but so far as the senses are connected with the acquisition of knowledge, they are very indifferently educated indeed. The habit of minute, careful, and accurate observation, which is inseparable from such a study as