turbed by the ship; a distinct species, differing from both the former in many points. This species is much smaller; the pectorals are so delicately transparent as to be almost invisible; the upper parts are of a fine deep blue; their flight is swifter, more hurried, and continued for a shorter distance; they often merely shoot along at the surface, just cutting the water, and sometimes emerge for five or six feet only. The former appears more tapered at the extremities than that of the species hitherto common.

Nov. 29th.—I noticed a Flying-fish curve its course so as to describe more than half a circle.

Nov. 30th. Before breakfast the motion of the ship disturbed multitudes of Flying-fishes of the blue-backed species, which flew in shoals every moment from each side of the bows. Many Bonitos pursuing them were likewise leaping from the surface; at length a seaman from the martingale struck one of the latter with the grains and secured it. It was a beautiful fish, remarkably plump and hard; the rainbow hues of the skin were most rich and lustrous, the pink predominating. Several black stripes running along each side marked it as the Thynnus pelanys of Cuv. and Val. We ate it for dinner,

and found the flesh pleasant, but rather dry. In its stomach were six of the Blue-backed Flying-fishes partly digested. Some large oceanic birds were likewise pursuing the little aëronauts, swooping down amidst the flitting shoals. As far as I remember, this is the only occasion in which the pursuit of the Exocatus, by either winged or finned enemies, has ever occurred to my observation; I incline to think that it is much oftener described than seen.

Here end my notes of the Flying-fish; except that long afterwards I saw two or three of the blue-backed species skimining the surface of Bluefield's Bay. Besides the fact, which these notes appear to me to prove, that the Exocati have the power of increasing, directing, and terminating their progress while in the air, by the action of their pectorals a true flight, those connected with the geographical distribution of the species are worthy of notice. The common Atlantic species, which I take to be volitans, suddenly appeared in considerable numbers in long. 41°, or just midway between Africa and the West Indies. They continued to be abundant until within a day's sail of Antigua, where they were replaced by the little blue-backs, and were seen no more. This beautiful little species suddenly became quite as abundant as the former had been, and so continued until we neared Hayti. The great Black-winged kind appeared three days to windward of Antigua, and continued to appear conjunctly with the Blue-back, but rarely more than two or three in a day. The last was seen near the west end of Hayti.—A Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica. By P. H. Gosse, p. 9.

MISCELLANEOUS.

9. Monticelli's Collection of Minerals at Naples for sale. This

collection, now in the hands of a nephew of the late Monticelli, the distinguished Italian mineralogist, is offered for sale. It contains 4000 specimens. There are over 400 Vesuvian specimens, containing the largest and finest suite of Vesuvian specimens and varieties extant, all thoroughly labelled. Besides these, it includes also a beautiful series of Elba and Sicilian minerals, and a general collection rich in the species of the most celebrated European localities.American Journal, vol. xii., No. 35, P. 301.

10. Science of Pisa.-Pisa is a fine city, and its university contains the best general collection in zoology, geology, mineralogy, and botany, in all Italy. It is justly celebrated at home for the high character of its scientific men, and deserves to be generally applauded for their sakes,-Chas. Matteucci,-the two Savi, sons of the renowned G. Savi, professor of botany at Pisa until his death,-Joseph Meneghini, professor of mineralogy and geology,-Piria, the chemist, are all names of just celebrity, and we found them most agreeable and enthusiastic men. Professor Meneghini is a young man, and has held his office only two years, in place of his unfortunate predecessor Professor Pila, who was shot in one of the republican battles in 1848. He is also a zoologist and botanist, and has edited "Observazione Postume di Zoologia Adriatica del Prof. Stefano Andrea Renier, Venezia, 1847," containing 16 plates, in folio, principally occupied with figures of sponges.-American Journal, vol. xii., No. 35, 2d Series, p. 300.

11. Nocturnal Forest Sounds. Various and strange are the sounds which strike the ear of one benighted in the forests of Jamaica. Some of these are the voices of night birds, the rapid articulations of the Piramidig, the monotonous call or startling scream of the White Owl, the shrill wail of the Dusky Owl, the hoot of the Potoo, or the loud and reiterated cries of the Clucking Hen; and some are insect sounds. But, besides these, there are some which are certainly produced by reptiles, though it is difficult to identify them. Nearly every night, at certain seasons, there ascends from the woods around Content a continual snoring of various tones, the voices of numberless Tree-frogs, or, as they are here called, Toads. They are said to reside in the large ventricose leaves of the greater Wild Pines, especially that fine one Tillandsia lingulata, which, about the end of July, sends up a magnificent flower, somewhat like a huge carnation, with broad outer petals of a rich crimson hue and polished surface, and a cluster of smaller interior ones of pale yellow. In the coolness and moisture of these natural reservoirs, always half full of water collected from rains and dews, the Tree-frogs delight to lie, finding in them circumstances eminently congenial for the maintenance of cutaneous humidity, so essential in these reptiles to respiration. They are very rarely seen, and, but for their vocal powers by night, we should scarcely be aware of their existence; the number and universality

of these sounds, however, in the mountain woods, during the hours of darkness, prove that they are very abundant. Even when seen by day, their agility in leaping renders it a difficult matter to lay hands on them. The sounds in question bear a strong resemblance to the objurgations of an inveterate snorer, but are much louder; or sometimes remind one of the groaning and working of a ship's timbers in a heavy gale at sea.

These are probably the voices of some of the greater Hyladæ. But there are other and different noises still. While I am writing this note at Content-it is a lovely night in June—all around I am saluted with strange sounds. Now and then comes the singularly harsh and cracked voice of the Gecko, like the notes of a child's penny trumpet, or like a stick drawn across the teeth of a comb:-this I am familiar with. But I hear another voice, far more abundant, but quite unknown to me. It is now (about midnight) coming up from every part of the moonlit forest below me, with incessant pertinacity. It is a clear shrill note, so like the voice of a bird, and in particular so like that of the Solitaire, that it might easily be taken for it, but for the inappropriate hour, and the locality. Like that, it is beautifully trilled or shaken, and, like it, the individual voices are not in the same key. As I now listen to the mingling sounds, I distinguish two particularly prominent, which seem to answer each other in quick but regular alternation; and between their notes there is the difference of exactly a musical tone. I have little doubt that this is the sexual call of some Tree-frog. The groanings and snorings, which are sometimes so incessant, I do not now hear, except one such sound now and then in the course of an evening.—A Naturalist's Sojourn in Jamaica. By P. H. Gosse, p. 358.

List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d September to 22d December 1851.

1. TO JOHN MACDOWALL, of Walkingshaw Foundry, Johnston, in the county of Renfrew, North Britain, engineer," improvements in cutting wood and other substances, and in the machinery or apparatus employed therein, and in the application of power to the same."-22d September 1851.

2. TO HENRIETTA BROWN, of Long Lane, Bermondsey, widow and executrix of the late Samuel Brown, " improvements in the manufacture of metallic casks and vessels."-24th September 1851.

3. TO ROBERT NEWELL, of the city of New York, in the United States of America, lock manufacturer, and a citizen of the said United States. "certain new and useful improvements in the construction of locks.”24th September 1851.

4. To LAMAN BAKER PITCHER, of Syracuse, in the State of New York, and United States of America, gentleman, "improvements in apparatus for regulating motive-power engines."-24th September 1851.

5. TO JOHN WORMALD, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, maker-up and packer, "improvements in machinery or apparatus for spinning and doubling cotton, wool, silk, flax, or other fibrous substances." -29th September 1851.

6. TO CHARLES WATT, of Kennington, in the county of Surrey, chemist, "improvements in the decomposing of saline and other substances, and separating their component parts, or some of them, from each other, also the forming of certain compounds or combinations of substances, and also in the separating of metals from each other, and in freeing them from impurities."-29th September 1851.

7. TO THOMAS KENNEDY, of Kilmarnock, in the county of Ayr, North Britain, gun manufacturer, "improvements in measuring and registering the flow of water and other fluids."--29th September 1851.

8. TO ELIJAH GALLOWAY, of Southampton Buildings, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, "improvements in steam-engines."-30th September 1851.

9. TO WILLIAM JOHNSON, of Millbank, in the city of Westminster, gentleman, "improvements in ascertaining the weight of goods."1st October 1851.

10. TO WILLIAM Barker, of Hulme, near Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, millwright, in the employ of Joshua Schofield and Sons, fustian dyers and finishers, of Cornbrook, near Manchester aforesaid, "improvements in machinery for chipping, rasping, and shaving dyewood and other materials, and in apparatus connected therewith.”—6th October 1851.

11. TO HENRY CURZON, of Kidderminster, in the county of Worcester, civil engineer," improvements in the manufacture of carpets and rugs." -10th October 1851.

12. TO THOMAS Lightfoot, of Jarrow Paper Mills, South Shields, in the county of Durham, paper manufacturer, “improvements in machinery applicable to the manufacture of paper."-10th October 1851.

13. TO GEORGE ROBINS BOOTH, of Portland Place, Wandsworth Road, Surrey, "improvements in generating and applying heat."-15th Oc

tober 1851.

14. TO WILLIAM ONIONS, of Southwark, in the county of Surrey, engineer, "improvements in the manufacture of steel."-15th October 1851. 15. TO DANIEL DALTON, of Spon Lane, in the parish of Westbroomwich, and county of Stafford, iron-founder, " improvements applicable to railways."."-16th October 1851.

16. TO HENRY JOHN BETJEMANN, of Upper Ashby Street, Northampton Square, in the county of Middlesex, "improvements in connecting parts of bedsteads and other frames, and in machinery employed therein.” -16th October 1851.

17. TO THOMAS SANDERS BALE, of Cauldon Place, in the county of Stafford, china manufacturer, " certain improvements in the method of treating, ornamenting, and preserving buildings and edifices, which said.

improvements are also applicable to other similar purposes."-20th October 1851.

18. TO WILLIAM ONIONS, of Southwark, in the county of Surrey, engineer, "improvements in the manufacture of nuts and bolts; also of steps, bearings, axles, and bushes; also of mills and dies for engravers; also of bells, lathe, and other spindles; also of weft forks, shuttle tongues, and lips for looms; also parts of agricultural implements, chains, roller-guides, and throstle-bars, by the application of materials not hitherto used for these purposes."-20th October 1851.

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19. TO WILLIAM JEAN JULES VARILLAT, of Rouen, in the republic of France, manufacturer, improvements in the extraction and preparation of colouring, tanning, and saccharine matters, from various vegetable substances, and the apparatus to be used therein."-20th October 1851. 20. TO WILLIAM Fawcett, of Kidderminster, in the county of Worcester, "certain improvements in the manufacture of carpets.”—21st October 1851.

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21. TO ROBERT GRIFFITHS, of Havre, engineer, improvements in steam-engines and in propelling vessels."-21st October 1851.

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22. TO FREDERICK WILLIAM MOWBRAY, of Leicester, gentleman, improvements in machinery for weaving."-21st October 1851.

23. TO GEORGE FERGUSSON WILSON, managing director of Price's Patent Candle Company, Vauxhall, DAVID WILSON, of Wandsworth, Esq., JAMES CHILDS, of Putney, Esq., and JOHN JACKSON, of Vauxhall, gentleman, all in the county of Surrey, "improvements in presses and matting, and in the process of, and apparatus for, treating fatty and oily matters, and in the manufacture of candles and night lights."-22d October 1851. 24. To DONALD HENDERSON, of Glasgow, ironmonger, an improved apparatus for generating gas, which apparatus may be used for heating and other similar useful purposes, and other apparatus for heating and ventilating."-22d October 1851.

25. TO EDWIN DEELY, and RICHARD MOUNTFORD Deely, of Avdnam Bank, in the county of Stafford, flint and bottle-glass manufacturers, "improvements in the construction of furnaces for the manufacture of glass."-31st October 1851.

26. To Alfred Vincent NewTON, of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, mechanical draughtsman, certain improvements in the construction of railways;" being a communication.-4th November 1851.

27. TO WILLIAM SMITH, of Upper Grove Cottages, Holloway, in the county of Middlesex, engineer, "improvements in locomotive and other engines, and in carriages used on railways."-4th November 1851.

28. TO ROBERT HYDE GREIG, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, manufacturer and merchant, and DAVID BOWLAS, of Reddish, in the county of Lancaster, manufacturer, "certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for manufacturing weavers' healds or harness;" being a communication.-4th November 1851.

29. TO MICHAEL SCOTT, of John Street, Adelphi, civil engineer, “improvements in punching, rivetting, bending, and shearing metals, and in building ships."-5th November 1851.