Musical Stones.
A correspondent of Nature writes that, in roaming over the hills and rocks in the neighborhood of Kendal, near Lancaster, England, which are composed chiefly of limestone, he had often found what are called "musical stones." They are generally thin, flat, weather-beaten stones, of different sizes and peculiar shapes, which, when struck with a piece of iron or another stone, produce a musical tone, instead of the dull, heavy, leaden sound of an ordinary stone. The sound of these stones is, in general, very much alike, but sets of eight stones have been collected which produce, when struck, a distinct octave.
The new French scientific weekly, La Nature, copies the communication from its English namesake, and brings forward some additional instances of the same phenomenon. We are also informed of the accidental discovery of musical properties in a stone fountain at the French Institute. Its musical sound, when struck, corresponds with extreme precision to the perfect accord major of fa natural. The fountain in question is in the grand court of the institute.