part, and from which they have been separated at a recent period by deep and precipitous valleys of denudation.

"4. The immense deposits of gravel that occur occasionally on the summit of hills, and almost universally in valleys over the whole world, in situations to which no torrents or rivers that are now in action could ever have drifted them.

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5. The nature of this gravel being in part composed of the wreck of the neighbouring hills, and partly of fragments and blocks that have been transported from distant regions.

“6. The nature and condition of the organic remains deposited in this gravel, many of them being identical with species that now exist, and very few having undergone the smallest process of mineralization. Their condition resembles that of common grave bones, being in so recent a state, and having undergone so little decay, that if the records of history, and the circumstances that attend them, did not absolutely forbid such a supposition, we should be inclined to attribute them even to a much later period than the deluge: and certainly there is in my opinion no single fact connected with them, that should lead us to date their origin from any more ancient era.

"7. The total impossibility of referring any one of these appearances to the effect of ancient or modern rivers, or any other causes that are now, or appear ever to have been, in action, since the retreat of the diluvian waters.

8. The analogous occurrence of similar phenomena in almost all the regions of the world that have hitherto been scientifically investigated, presenting a series of facts that are uniformly consistent with the hyphothesis of a contemporaneous and diluvial origin.

9. The perfect harmony and consistency in the circumstances of those few changes that now go on (e. g. the formation of ravines and gravel by mountain torrents; the limited depth and continual growth of peat bogs; the formation of tufa, sand-banks, and deltas; and the filling up of lakes, ́estuaries, and marshes,) with the hypothesis which dates the commencement of all such operations at a period not more ancient

than that which our received chronologies assign to the deluge.

"All these facts, whether considered collectively or separately, present such a conformity of proofs, tending to establish the universality of a recent inundation of the earth, as no difficulties or objections that have hitherto arisen are in any way sufficient to overrule."

ARTIFICIAL FORMATION OF HALOES.

The following experiment, which illustrates in a pleasing manner the actual formation of haloes, has been given by Dr. Brewster. Take a saturated solution of alum, and having spread a few drops of it over a plate of glass, it will rapidly crystallize in small flat octoedrons scarcely visible to the eye. When the plate is held between the observer and the sun or a candle, with the eye very close to the smooth side of the glass plate, there will be seen three beautiful haloes of light at different distances from the luminous body. The innermost halo, which is the whitest, is formed by the images refracted by a pair of faces of the octoedral crystals, not much inclined to each other; the second halo, which is more coloured, with the blue rays outwards, is formed by a pair of faces more inclined and the third halo, which is very large and highly-coloured, is formed by a still more inclined pair of faces. Each separate crystal forms three images of the luminous body placed at points 120 distant from each other in all the three haloes; and, as the numerous small crystals have their refracting faces turned in every possible direction, the whole circumference of the haloes will be completely filled up.

The same effects may be obtained with other crystals, and when they have the property of double refraction, each halo will be either doubled when the double refraction is considerable, or rendered broader or otherwise modified in point of colour, when the double refraction is small. The effects may be curiously varied by crystallizing, upon the same plate of

glass, crystals of a decided colour, by which means we should have white and coloured haloes succeeding each other.-Edin. Phil. Jour. vol. viii. p. 394.

A NEW FLUID DISCOVERED IN MINERALS.

A new fluid, of a very singular nature, has been recently discovered by Dr. Brewster, in the cavities of minerals. It possesses the remarkable property of expanding about thirty times more than water; and, by the heat of the hand, or be. tween 750 and 83°, it always expands so as to fill the cavity which contains it. The vacuity which is thus filled up is of course a perfect vacuum, and, at a temperature below that now mentioned, the new fluid contracts, and the vacuity re-appears, frequently with a rapid effervescence. These phenomena take place instantaneously in several hundred cavities, seen at the same time. The new fluid is also remarkable for its extreme volubility, adhering very slightly to the sides of the cavities, and is likewise distinguished by its optical properties; it exists, however, in quantities too small to be susceptible of chemical analysis. This new fluid is almost always accompanied with another fluid like water, with which it refuses to mix, and which does not perceptibly expand at the above-mentioned temperature. In a specimen of cymophane, or chrysoberyl, Dr. Brewster has discovered a stratum of these cavities, in which he has reckoned, in the space of one-seventh of an inch square, 30,000 cavities, each containing this new fluid, a portion of the fluid like water, and a vacuity besides. All these vacuities simultaneously disappear at a temperature of 83°.-Edin. Phil. Jour.

BOTANY.

Plants in flower, in the Mission Garden, in the month of April,

1824.

Monandria Monogynia.-Canna indica-coccinea-coccinea maculata nepalensis--limbata--polymorpha. Phrynium dichotemum-spicatum-capitatum. Kempferia rotunda-

angustifolia. Curcuma Zedoaria- Zerumbet-zanthorrhizaelata-casia-æruginosa--ferruginosa rubescens--comosa -leucorhiza. Alpinia nutans-calcarata.

Diandria Monogynia.-Jasminum Zambac, var. simplicifl. fl. plen. arboresce s-angustifolium-grandiflorum. Veronica elatior-media-exaltata. Justicia ecbolium-picta―echioi. des-polysperma-Careyana--tinctoria--ganderussa. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis-prismatica-mutabilis. Lycopus exaltatus. Salvia coccinea--cana--rubicolor.

Triandria Monogynia. -Tritonia crocata fenestrata. Iris cuprea. The Grasses are omitted.

Ixora coc

Teti andria Monogynia.-Spermacoce tenuior. cinea-Bandhuca-cuneifolia-stricta-alba-alba, var. incarnata-parviflora--barbata-undulata--Pavetta tomentosa-rosea---villosa--acuminata. Scoparia dulcis. Oldenlandia

alata-biflora. Rivina lævis.

Pentandria Monogynia.-Cynoglossum racemosum. Trichodesma zeylanica-indica. Cyclamen hederæfolium. Heliotropium indicum-coromandelianum-curassavicum. Convolvulus purpureus-Nil. Ipomoea phoenicia-sepiaria. Campanula Bononiensis. Psychotria undulata. Webera corymbosa. Mussaenda corymbosa. Gardenia florida-latifolia―lucida. Posoqueria uliginosa---turgida--uutans--longispina. Morinda tinctoria. Lobelia radicans. Mirabilis Jalapa. Erycibe paniculata. Verbascum Thapsus. Datura Metel. Nicotiana Tabacum--glutinosa---angustifolia---plumbaginifolia―-petiolata--decurrens-Leymania. Physalis flexuosa. Solanum pubescens auriculatum-spirale---lycopersicum--macrocarpon-Melongena-Jacquini-hirsutum-indicum--stramonium-æthiopicum. Serissa foetida, single and double. Cesttrum foetidissimum. Celastrus nutans. Impatiens Balsamina. Musa ornata. Achyranthes aspera-lappacea-lanata-incana. Celosia argentea. Carissa Carandas-diffusa-villosa. Ophioxylon serpentinum. Cerbera Odallam-fruticosa---Thevetia. Allamanda cathartica. Vinca rosea. Nerium odorum, white, red, single and double. Cerathamnus convolvulaceus.

Echites acuminata-macrophylla-suberecta. Wrightea tinctorea. Alstonia venenata. Plumeria acuminata-alba. Tabernæmontana coronaria.

Pentandria Digynia.—Calotropis gigantea. Chenopodium urbicum-album-laciniatum-ambrosioides. Apium involucra, tum. Turnera trioniflora-angustifolia. Pharnaceum pentagynum. Alsine media.

Hexandria Monogynia.--- Crinum amoenum-Toxicariumprocerum--scabrum-zeylanicum-latifolium-capense-scabro-capense-brevifolio-capense-erubescenti-capense. Hippe

astrum fulgidum-miniatum--rutilum-equestre—reginæ—

Johnsoni-equestri-vittatum-rutilo-fulgidum-splendens, vel rutilo-equestri-vittatum. Sprenkelia formosissima. Zephy

ranthes tubispatha. Pancratium verecundum. Hymenocallis speciosa-amona-ovata-caribbea-disticha. Phalangium Liliago. Aloe lingua-verrucosa. Hemerocalis fulva. Ophiopogon japonicus. Achras Sapota. Mimusops Elengi. Triphasia aurantiola. Eustrepus latifolius.

Heptandria Monogynia.-Jonesia Asoca,

Octandria Monogynia.-Oenothera sinuata-tetraptera-rosea-grandiflora-stricta-nocturna. Epilobium alpinum. Roxburghia viridiflora.

Octandria Trigynia.—Polygonum lanatum -pilosum-tenellum-rivulare-flaccidum-elegans. Cardiospermum Halica

cabum.

Decandria Monogynia-Bauhinia acuminata, Cassia Fistula -auriculata-speciosa. Poinciana pulcherrima. Murraya exotica-Tribulus lanuginosus.

Decandria Digynia. -Hydrangia hortensis. Dianthus chinensis-prolifer-hyssopifolius-petreus-asper--sylvestris—

diutinus-bicolor-suaveolens.

Decandria Trigynia.-Cucubalis Behen--tataricus. Silene indica-alpestris-inaperta. Stellaria media. Malpighia coc

cifera-lucida.

Decandria Pentagynia.-Oxalis quadrifolia-violacea-corniculata. Lychnis Chalcedonica.