great attention to hear any noise; but all was in vain. The guides came upon us, and forced us, 60 to express it, to come out of the crevice. They declared our search useless; they even refused the money that we offered them if they would wait; they laid hold of Dornford and Henderson; and while I was still sounding the snow (which had passed the crevice for a great space), they proceeded immediately with them to some distance; so that I was under the necessity of descending with only Coutet, who had not even a stick; but absorbed in the horror of the event, I was become insensible to danger, and I crossed all the crevices without thinking of them. I did not rejoin my two companions till I arrived at the Grand Mulet, from whence we set off for the Glacier des Bossons,* and at half-past eight in the evening, we returned to the Hotel de l'Union at Chamouny, without experiencing any great degree of fatigue. I was the more astonished at this, because, for an hour after the accident, I made great efforts in an elevated situation where the least exertion exhausts the strength.

"I shall here add a few words explanatory of our unfortunate accident. It appeared that the upper stratum of the snow on the

clivity lay upon another stra1 m, which was very slippery on

* In crossing the Glacier des Bosons, we found a young chamois upon an isle of ice, surrounded with enormous crevices, it had probably died from inanition One of the high seracs, under the shade of which we had reposed in our ascent, had fallen in the interval, and had covered the spot on which we had stopped, with its frag

ments.

the surface; and as our track cut the first stratum across, the part which was above us began to slip upon the other, forming what is called in the l'Oberland de Berne, suoggischnee, or rutschlavine. In that part where the first of our file walked, the acclivity was much steeper than near me where I had measured it a little before the accident; there it inclined at an angle of 28°. Further on, the mass of snow was also thicker, especially high up; for the wind usually drifts there the loose snow blown from the summit. For these reasons, the slipping necessarily began at this place, and the snow descended directly towards the crevice; while about me it took an oblique direction forward. It was on this account that the three first of the file fell so deep into the crevice, and were covered with snow, so that we were unable to discover them, while the fifth and sixth,† who had also fallen in, were able to disengage themselves. Coutet came up with his face of a blue appearance, and with symptoms of suffocation. Mathieu Balmat, who was a very strong man, and one of our principal guides, walked

• They were Pierre Balmat, brother of Mathieu, and eldest son of P. Balmat, one of the ancient guides of M. de Saussure; Pierre Carrier, a smith by trade, who had been 11 times upon Mont Blanc; and Auguste Terraz. This last, and P. Balmet, bad never been on Mont Blanc, and were the two guides who refused to remain at the Grand Mulet. These three carried the provisions, the struments, the pigeon, and a live forl No one of them was married.

Joseph Marie Coutet, one of or principal guides (his father was als with M. de Saussure), and Juliet Devvausson, who escaped being pür soned by oil of vitriol.

fourth, was the only one who could withstand the slipping of the snow. Thrown down and afterwards carried to some distance, he had the presence of mind to thrust his large stick down, like an anchor, into the hardened snow. The two other guides were, like us three travellers, buried in the snow, and forced towards the crevice, without, however, falling into it, The guides reckoned the surface of the snow which moved, to be nearly 100 fathoms broad, and 250 high in an oblique direction. From the firmness of the snow which had slipped, it was evident that it had not lately fallen. The guides most accustomed to the snow did not suspect any danger. At the moment the accident occurred, the brother of one of our principal guides walked first, and the second was a man who had been this journey 12 times. In coming from the side of St. Gervais, passing by the Aiguilles and the Dôme du Gouté, it is necessary to take the route to Chamouny, in order to reach the acclivity, which deceived us when we imagined all dangers were past.

"Whether we ascend one side or the other, even after having escaped as I did, the formidable rocks of the Aiguilles du Gouté, and passed the gulphs of the Glacier des Bossons, we incur

David Coutet, the brother of Joseph Marie, our principal guide, and David Foligue.

the danger, near the summit, of being swallowed up by the yielding of the snow which at first appears to be firm, but suddenly gives way-a species of danger against which it is difficult to find a preservative."

On this narrative Capt. Undrell makes the following remark :

"I cannot gather at what part of the ascent Dr. Hamel and his companions met with the deplorable calamity which ended so fatally to poor Carrier, and two other guides, as the account published in the Annals of Philosophy does not mention at what time the accident occurred. I should fancy it to have taken place shortly after quitting the Grand Plateau, and advancing towards the Rocher Rouge, as there are, or were (for the appearance of the snow is eternally varying), some deep chasms to the left in that direction, with many precipitous masses on the other hand which continue for a considerable space upwards. Portions of these heaps are frequently detached, and bear every thing before them, when set in motion from the slippery acclivity on which they rest. If my conjecture as to the place of the misfortune be well founded, Dr. Du Hamel must then have been more than three hours and a half from the summit of the mountain, which then seemed so near to him, so difficult is it to judge of distances at these elevations, and with such obstructions to encounter."

PATENTS.

TH HIBET Goats.—The Société d'Emulation having appointed a committee to report on the state of the Thibet goats, at present kept near Belbeuf, have decided that the climate of France agrees very well with those animals, that they do not seem to degenerate, but their hair appears to possess all the qualities necessary to the manufacture of the much-admired shawls. These goats are easy to feed, and have nothing of the disagreeable qualities of the common goats. Their milk is richer, and the male has not that strong odour which marks these animals in general. They do not seem to be subject to any particular disorders, and multiply with rapidity. From attempts already made, it seems that by crossing their breed with that of the indigenous race, great advantages will be obtained.

The Leech of Ceylon.-This animal is seldom more than half an inch in length, and is nearly semitransparent. It is very active, and is said occasionally to spring. Its powers of contraction and extension are very great when fully extended, it is like a fine cord, and its point is so sharp, that it easily makes its way through very small openings. It is supposed to have an acute sense of smell, for no sooner does a person stop where leeches abound, than they appear to crowd eagerly to the spot from all quarters. "Those who have had no experience of these animals," says Dr. Davy, "of their immense numbers in their favourite haunts,-of their activity, keen appetite, and love of blood, can have no idea of the kind and extent of annoyance they are to travellers in the interior, of which they may be truly

said to be the plague. In rainy weather it is almost shocking to see the legs of men on a long march, thickly beset with them, gorged with blood, and the blood trickling down in streams. In attempting to keep them off, they crowd to the attack, and fasten on quicker than they can be removed. I do not exaggerate when I say that I have occasionally seen at least fifty on a person at a time. Their bites are apt to fester, and become sores, and frequently degenerate into extensive ulcers, which, in too many instances, have occasioned the loss of a limb, and even of life."

Rain of Silk.-M. Lainé, the French consul at Pernambuco, says, in a letter, dated Nov. 1, 1820, that at the beginning of the preceding month there was a shower from the sky, consisting of a substance resembling silk, of which many persons preserved specimens. This phenomenon extended to the distance of 30 leagues inland, and nearly as many off to sea. A French vessel was covered with the silky material. He has sent a specimen of it to Paris.

Medicinal Plant.-A plant very celebrated at Chandernagore in the East Indies, under the name of Chirayita, has been imported into France, where a memoir has been published by M. Virey on the subject of its medicinal qualities, which he states to be very powerful. It is a strong bitter, and is celebrated in the East for its efficacy as a febrifuge. There is no doubt but that it might be advantageously employed in Europe for the gout, and for weaknesses of the digestive organs. At present we have no accurate and complete botanical description of

this plant; but M. Virey conjectures, both from the flowers and from the traces of the fructification adhering to the specimens he has received, also from the details respecting it in the Asiatic Researches, that it is a species of gentian, and accordingly denominates it Gentiana Chirayita.

American Spider..-There exists in America an enormous spider, whose size (the body alone being an inch and a half long), enables it to attack even small birds. M. Moreau de Ionnes has furnished a memoir on its manners, as observed by him at Martinique. It spins no web, but lodges in the crevices of the rocks, and throws itself with main force upon its prey; it kills humming-birds, flybirds, and small lizards, taking special care to seize them by the nape of the neck, knowing that they must be thus killed with the greatest ease. Its strong jaws seem to infuse a poison into the wounds which they inflict, for such wounds are considered much more dangerous than they would be by their depth alone. It envelopes its eggs, to the number of from 1,800 to 2,000 in a ball of white silk, and this fecundity, joined to its tenacity of life, would soon cause the island to be overrun with it, had it not active and innumerable enemies in the red ants, which destroy the greater part of the young spiders.

Dugong.-Sir T. S. Raffles has sent to England several skeletons of animals from Sumatra; among these is the Dugong. This creature grazes at the bottom of the sea without legs; and is of the figure and form of the whale; the position and structure of its mouth enables it to browse upon the fuci and submarine algæ like

a cow in a meadow, and the whole structure of the masticating and digestive organs, shows it to be truly herbivorous. It never visits land, or fresh water, but lives in shallow inlets, where the water is two or three fathoms deep. Their usual length is eight or nine feet. But a curious, and to some, perhaps, the most interesting part of the detail of the history of this animal is, that the flesh resembles young beef, being very delicate and juicy.

On the Phosphorescence of Marine Animals. During a voyage to the Shetland and Orkney Islands, Dr. Mac Culloch had various opportunities of investigating the phenomena of marine luminous animals. In proceeding from the Mull of Cantyre to Shetland, and in almost all the harbours of Shetland and Orkney, Dr. Mac Culloch found the water filled with a species of animal which he considers to have been undescribed. A cubic inch of water did not contain less than 100 of these animals. In the same view, and nearly at all times, the water was found filled with several different species, resembling in size some of the Infusoria. Other animals of larger dimensions, and of many species, were equally constant, and, if less numerous, yet ten or twenty were always to be found within the space of a common tumblerglass. In all these cases the water was luminous. The light of the whole of these species disappeared when they died, either from keeping the water too long, from warming it, or from the addition of spirits. Dr. Mac Culloch has added upwards of 190 species to the list of luminous marine animals. The most con

spicuous among these are about twenty small pieces of Medusa, in addition to those already known to be luminous. In the ancient genus Cancer, a considerable number of Squilla were also found possessed of phosphorescence. In the genera

Scolopendra and Nereis, five or six were luminous, which were all the species observed by Dr. Mac Culloch. The other known genera in which luminous species were observed, were Phalangium, Monoculus, Oniscus, Julus, Vorticella, Cercaria, Vibrio, Volvox; to these Dr. Mac Culloch adds, among the fishes, a new species of Leptocephalus. The remaining luminous animals consisted of new genera, or at least of animals which could not be referred to any as yet to be found in authors. Dr. Mac Culloch seems to think, that the Ling and other fish which inhabit the submarine valleys at depths to which the light of day cannot penetrate, must perceive their food, and pursue their avocations, by the phosphorescence of their prey, or of the animals which abound in the sea, or by phosphorescence elicited from their own bodies. Dr. Mac Culloch's observations were generally made in harbours, bụt never at a distance exceeding eight or ten miles from land. Quarterly Journal of Science.

The Unicorn-Mr. Campbell (the missionary), has given the following description of the head of a very singular animal which he has brought from the interior of Africa.

"The animal," says Mr. Campbell, "was killed by my Hottentots, in the Mashow couptry, near the city of Mashow, about two hundred miles N. E. of