Among a number of the more interesting observations of Mr Lewy, which are illustrated by the specimens in the museum, are those which refer to the celebrated emerald mine of Muzo.

The repositories of the emeralds are situate in the middle of a formation of black carburetted limestone. They are accompanied with crystals of calcareous spar and of paricite. As Mr Lewy collected in the same limestone of Muzo, and at a considerable depth, species of ammonite peculiar to the Neocomien series, he appears to have established the remarkable fact that the repository of the emeralds in Muzo is situate in unaltered Neocomien deposits.

Examined in a mineralogical point of view, the specimens consist of,

1. Crystals of emerald and Paricite (carbonate of Lanthanium), from the mine of Muzo;

2. Native gold, from the mines of Antioquia;

3. Red silver and sulphuret of silver, from the mines of Santa Anna;

4. Fer oxydule, and iron pyrites, from Patcho;

5. Ores of copper, from Moniquira;

6. Different specimens of black compact limestone; many are crystalline and exhibit the lamellar texture.

The external characters of the last mentioned limestones do not enable us to judge of the period of their geological formation. But one of the specimens which contained crystals of sulphur, bore a strong resemblance to the limestone of Saliez in the Pyrenees, and that of Conil in Spain; both of which belong to the lower part of the cretaceous formations. The position of Palma from whence this limestone came, a little above Muzo, is in accordance with the presence of the crystals of sulphur, and which proves the identity of this crystalline limestone with the Neocomien series.

M. Dufrénoy, in studying on the beautiful map of New Granada, by Colonel De Costa, the position of the different minerals collected by Mr Lewy, concludes that these minerals form two distinct groups of formation, viz., 1. The black limestone of Muzo, the crystalline limestone of Palma, the schists of Moniquira, the pyrites of Velez, belonging to the

vast limestone formation of the acclivities of the Cordilleras, and constituting the subrock of the valley of the Magdalena, are Neocomien. 2. The greater part of the metallic minerals, viz., the Galena of Ubate, the fer oxydule of Santa Rosa, the native gold and silver ore, appear to exist in a zone of the limestone, which marks the separation of Muzo and the crystalline rocks of the chain of the Cordilleras.

Zoology.

The collection of birds made at Santa Fé de Bogota is truly magnificent. It contains, at least, 285 species. The collection of Humming-birds is extremely beautiful. In the class of Reptiles there are many interesting specimens; and among these there is a large tortoise which forms a new species, named Podocnemis Lewyanus. Mr Lewy also brought from Magdalena two young Crocodiles of the species Crocodilus acutus, Cuv., which are thriving in the menagerie of the Garden of Plants.

Humboldt, in the Memoirs of the Institute for October 1806, gave an account of two remarkable fishes from the river of Bogota. One of them, known in the country under the name of Capitan, was distinguished by Cuvier as a new genus, which Humboldt named Eremophilus. Of this animal a number of specimens presented by Mr Lewy to the museum, will enable anatomists to give a detailed account of the anatomy of this animal. The second species, from Bogota, is a small fish called Guapucha, about which much uncertainty prevails; this will now be removed by the examination of many specimens presented to the museum by Mr Lewy.

The river Magdalena afforded many species of fishes, particularly of the Siluride. These are well represented in Mr Lewy's donation to the museum.

The collection of Insects made by Mr Lewy contains many interesting and important novelties: the collection of Shells and their animals is very instructive. The collection of Fossils from the Neocomien rocks of the table-land of Bogota, is valuable in a paleontological point of view.

Lastly, the collection of the Bones of Mastodons have

settled many dubious points in the natural history of the species of that tribe.

Botany.

The collections of Plants, and their seeds and fruits, made by Mr Lewy, and the live plants brought by him to Europe promise to be of great importance. We may notice, among the vegetables of New Granada which of late years have attracted particular attention, the Cedron, a large tree growing in the warmer parts of the country. The grains of the Cedron contain an extremely bitter principle, which is employed with success as a very energetic febrifuge, and as an antidote against the bite of serpents. This plant appears to belong to the genus Simaba (Simaba Cedron, &c.)*

* We find the following notice by M. B. Seemann, on the Simaba Cedron, in the Pharmaceutical Journal for December 1851 :-"A tree, which has attained great celebrity, is that called Cedron (Simaba Cedron, Planch.) The most ancient record of it which I can find is in the History of the Buccaneers, an old work published in London in the year 1699. Its use, as an antidote for snakes, and place of growth, are there distinctly stated; but whether on the authority of the natives, or accidentally discovered by the pirates, does not appear. If the former was the case, they must have learned it while on some of their cruizes on the Magdalena, for, in the Isthmus, the very existence of the tree was unsuspected until about 1845, when Don Juan de Ansoatigui ascertained, by comparison, that the Cedron of Panama and Darien was identical with that of Carthagena. The virtues of its seeds, however, were known years ago from those fruits imported from the Magdalena, where, according to Mr Wm. Purdie, the plant grows in profusion about the village of San Pablo. In the Isthmus it is generally found on the outskirts of forests in almost every part of the country, but in greater abundance in Darien and Veraguas than in Panama. The natives hold it in high esteem, and always carry a piece of the seed about with them. When a person is bitten, a little mixed with water is applied to the wound, and about two grains scraped into brandy, or, in the absence of it, into water, is administered internally. By following this treatment, the bites of the most venomous snakes, scorpions, centipeds, and other noxious animals, have been unattended with dangerous consequences. Doses of it have also proved highly beneficial in cases of intermittent fever. The Cedron is a tree from twelve to sixteen feet high; its simple trunk is about six inches in diameter, and clothed on the top with long pinnated leaves, which give it the appearance of a palm. Its flowers are greenish, and the fruit resembles very much an unripe peach. Each seed, or cotyledon I should rather say, is sold in the chemist's shops in Panama for two or three reals (about 1s. or 1s. 6d. English), and sometimes a much larger price is given for them.

Mr Lewy, during his residence at Bogota, made many experiments with the grains of the Cedron, and brought with him not only specimens of the wood, the leaves, and the fruit of that tree, but also a young live specimen, which is expected to thrive in our conservatories, and may be distributed from thence to our colonies.

Lately, Mr Rayer has made a series of experiments with this bitter, which confirm the facts announced by Mr Lewy, as to the efficacy of the Cedron against intermittent fevers. We may add, that Mr Lewy did not neglect the study of Fossil Plants, as proved by the interesting collection of Fossil Plants, which he deposited in the Museum.

Of the Occurrence of the Remains of the Rein-deer in Scotland. By JOHN SCOULER, M.D., F.L.S. Communicated by the Author.*

It is remarkable, that although remains of the rein-deer have been found in the south of England, and that even so late as the time of Julius Cæsar, this animal lived in the north of Germany, no authentic evidence of its former existence in Scotland has yet been recorded. The late ingenious Dr Hibbert attempted to prove, that even down to the twelfth century wild rein-deer were found in Caithness, where they were hunted by the Norwegian chiefs. The quotations which he gives from the northern chronicles although plausible, will scarcely be esteemed conclusive, especially as no bones or horns of the rein-deer have hitherto been found in Caithness or Sutherland. The rarity of the remains of the rein-deer in Scotland, is probably more apparent than real, for the bones found in bogs and marl are but little attended to, unless remarkable for magnitude; and fragments of horns will be referred to the red-deer, or fallowdeer, according to their form, whether round or palmated. The fragments which I have to notice were found several

* Read before the Natural History Society of Glasgow, 2d December 1851. ↑ Hibbert, Edinburgh Journal of Science, vol. v., p. 50.

years ago (1833) in the alluvium of the Clyde, on the north side of the river below its junction with the Kelvin. This alluvial matter consists chiefly of finely laminated sand, of which sections are disclosed by the operations now in progress for improving the navigation of the river. It was in the alluvial matter thus exposed, that the remains were found, and but for the attention of Mr Smith, of Jordan Hill, would have been thrown aside and forgotten, as has no doubt been the fate of many equally interesting relics. The remains consisted of a cranium of the extinct Ox, Bos primigenius, along with a number of fragments of deer's horns, most of them so imperfect, that it was difficult to decide whether they should be referred to the red-deer or the rein-deer. The imperfect fragments were smooth, and somewhat compressed, circumstances which afforded a presumption that they did not belong to the red-deer, but fortunately there was among them an antler, which removed all ambiguity. This fragment was 3 inches in breadth and 10 in length, and corresponded precisely to the brow-antler of a fine head of the rein-deer, preserved in the Andersonian Museum. This portion was flat and smooth, as in the rein-deer, and terminated in three distinct digitations precisely as in the recent specimen in the Museum.

It has already been stated that these fragments were found in the river alluvium, associated with the cranium of the Bos primigenius. Whether they were contemporary with man is an interesting question. In Denmark such topics have excited much interest, and given rise to some very curious investigations. In that country the remains of the rein-deer and the Bos Urus are found associated with flint arrow heads, stone hatchets, charcoal, and other relicts of man, but no such direct evidence is to be obtained in the present case. It is, however, certain that remains of human art, of equal if not greater antiquity, are to be found in the

*

* Undersögelser i geologisk-antiquarisk Retning af Forchhammer. Steinstruap og Worsaae. Kopenhagen, 1851. These interesting geologico-antiquarian researches form a short memoir of 57 pages, and their translation would confer a favour on the English reader.