A young American, Dr. James by name, was killed with his partner (a Swede) at Yule Island in September last, by the natives of New Guinea. They were hunting birds of paradise at the time. Dr. James left some valuable collections which have been described before the Linnæan Society of London.
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In extending the underground railway of London, the excavations disclosed Roman and other remains of considerable interest. Among the former there were found fragments of urns, specimens of pottery, and bronze coins. The most remarkable discovery was that of a thick stratum of bullock's horns, commencing about twenty feet below the surface, and extending to an unascertained distance beneath. Although the deposit was doubtless made many centuries ago, the horns had suffered so little by decay that they found a ready sale in the market. This road has carried in thirteen years 408,500,000 passengers. In 1863, the first year, the number was 9,500,000, which increased to 48,500,000 last year.
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Foreign papers say that Mr. Floyd, the President of the board of trustees for the Lick donation, has come to an arrangement with M. Leverrier, the celebrated French astronomer, for the better execution of the instruments to be made for the Lick Observatory. The masses of glass required are to be made in Paris, at Feil's glass works, and the object-glasses very likely by an English optician.
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Two distinguished men were officially superannuated last year: Profs. Milne-Edwards and Delafosse of the Paris Museum. The son of the former takes his place, and Descloiseaux succeeds to the chair of mineralogy. Professors Dove of Berlin and Wöhler of Göttingen have had their jubiläum or fiftieth anniversary of their doctorates. All these facts illustrate the conservative influence of student life.
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The Western mines of gold and silver have lately yielded some new and interesting minerals. Roscoelite is a vanadium mica from a gold mine at Granite creek, California. The vanadic acid varies from 20 to 23 per cent. Psittacinite is a vanadate of lead and copper, which occurs associated with gold, lead, and copper minerals at several mines in Silver Star district, Montana. It is considered to be a favorable indication, for when that is found the vein is said to become rich in gold. Coloradoite is a telluride of mercury, also a new mineral and quite rare.
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