It appears that of these thirteen Asteroids, three have been discovered by Hind of London, three by Gasparis of Naples, two by Hencke of Driessen, two by Olbers of Bremen, while Piazzi of Palermo, Harding of Lilienthal, and Graham of Markree, have each discovered one. Eight out of the twelve orbits ascertained have an inclination of less than ten degrees. The London Athenæum states that the Lalande Medal of the Paris Academy of Sciences has been awarded to M. de Gasparis for his discovery of the planet Hygeia. The prize for 1850 was shared between Gasparis for his two discoveries in November, and Mr. Hind for his discovery of Clio on the 13th of September.
Geology of Spain.—A late number of the Journal of the British Geological Society contains an interesting and valuable paper by Don Joaquin Ezquerra Del Bayo, on the Geology of Spain. The Geological constitution of the country is stated to consist of three principal divisions—the Crystalline, Transition, and Secondary formations. The gneiss rocks of the first division occupy about a fifth of the surface of the soil, extending longitudinally from north to south. The plutonic rocks which penetrate them are generally granite of various degrees of firmness. The most important of the granitic ramifications to the east passes by the Sierra de Gridos, Sierra d'Avila, and the Guadarrama, to Soma Sierra, in a north-east direction. The great granitic outburst of Truxillo and of the mountains of Toledo does not extend so far to the east. A third, which has probably given its present form to the Sierra Morena, terminates at Linares, in the province of Jaen. The rocks are not rich in useful metals compared with their great development, but lead and copper are found in great quantities in the district of Linares, and rich argentiferous veins have been lately discovered at Hiendeleucina. Other veins have become exhausted. The successive formations of the country present some curious features. "Our soil," says Don Joaquin, "has never been at rest, nor is it so even at present. Earthquakes are still often felt at Granada, and along the coast of the province of Alicante, where their effects have been disastrous." Among the numerous fossils found upon the coast of Spain are some species of mollusca of an extraordinary size, and in the vicinity of Cuevas de Vera the remains of elephants have been found, isolated and distributed in different directions, proving the existence of a more tropical climate in former times than now prevails in those districts.
In the Paris Academy of Sciences an extended Report was read at a recent meeting from a committee on M. Rochet d'Hericourt's third journey in Abyssinia, in the northern part. He started in 1847, and returned in 1849. In Geography he determined directly, by observation of the meridian heights of the sun, the latitude of a large number of geographical points in Egypt, in Arabia Petræa, along the coasts of the Red Sea, and in the north of Abyssinia. His meteorological observations were constant, and are pronounced especially exact. So, those of the magnetic inclination. The results are furnished in the Report. He attended closely and successfully to the geology of the regions which he traversed. The geological constitution of Abyssinia is now made known over the greater part of its surface. The herbary which the traveller brought to the Museum of Natural History, consists of 150 species, the most of them, however, of plants already known. Three new ones are described. He succeeded in getting home a sheep of Abyssinia, remarkable for the long hairs of its fleece. Some of his specimens of fish are new. Much attention is given to his new species of Epeira, or silk-spider. At the sight of the silk which forms the web of the insect, he conceived the hope that it might be turned to account for the silk-manufacture. It is very fine and soft, long and firm enough, and of a beautiful yellow color. This spider inhabits the large trees, shrubbery, and hedges, and extends its webs to the neighboring habitations; and the webs are nearly all more than a yard in diameter. The quantity is prodigious. "M. d'Hericourt," says the Report, "like every person who has attempted tissues with spiders' webs or cocoons, has not sufficiently regarded the difficulty of domesticating them, as is done with the silk-worm, in order to multiply them adequately, and provide them with such insects of prey, or sufficient nourishment." The Committee proposed the formal thanks of the Academy to the traveller, for the scientific harvest of his new journey, and an expression of the interest felt in the speedy publication of his narrative.
Shooting-Stars.—M. Quetelet states, in relation to the Shooting-Stars of August, 1850, that the number per hour on the evening of the 9th of August was about 60 for Brussels; on the evening of the 10th, 111 for Brussels, 180 for Markree, Ireland, and 58 for Rome. The direction was the same in each place.