fact the hind legs are the longer by about one inch, the error having been caused by the great development and height of the withers, to give a proper base to the long neck and towering head.  The color varies a good deal, the head being generally a reddish brown, and the neck, back, and sides marked with tessellated, rust colored spots with narrow white divisions.  Many specimens have been brought to this country, the animal being extremely docile in confinement, feeding from the hand, and being very friendly to those who are kind to it.

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An experiment has been made in Vienna which proves that even with incandescent lights special precautions must be taken to avoid any risk of fire.  A lamp having been enveloped with paper and lighted by a current, the heat generated was sufficient to set fire to the paper, which burnt out and caused the lamp to explode.

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THE TEMPERATURE OF THE EARTH AS SHOWN BY DEEP MINES.

At a recent meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers, observations on the temperature of the earth, as shown by deep mines, were presented by Messrs. Hamilton Smith, Jr., and Edward B Dorsey.  Mr. Smith said that the temperature of the earth varies very greatly at different localities and in different geological formations.  There are decided exceptions to the general law that the temperature increased with the depth.  At the New Almaden quicksilver mine, in California, at a depth of about 600 feet the temperature was very high—­some 115 degrees; but in the deepest part of the same mine, 1,800 feet below the surface and 500 feet below sea level, the temperature is very pleasant, probably less than 80 degrees.  At the Eureka mines, in California, the air 1,200 feet below the surface appears nearly as cool as 100 feet below the surface.  The normal temperature of the earth at a depth of 50 or 60 feet is probably near the mean annual temperature of the air at the particular place.  At the Comstock mines, some years since, the miners could remain but a few moments at a time, on account of the heat.  Ice water was given them as an experiment; it produced no ill effects, but the men worked to much better advantage; and since that time, ice water is furnished in all these mines, and drunk with apparently no bad results.

Mr. E.B.  Dorsey said that the mines on the Comstock vein, Nevada, were exceptionally hot.  At depths of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet, the thermometer placed in a freshly drilled hole will show 130 degrees.  Very large bodies of water have run for years at 155 degrees, and smaller bodies at 170 degrees.  The temperature of the air is kept down to 110 degrees by forcing in fresh air cooled over ice.

Captain Wheeler, U.S.  Engineers, estimated the heat extracted annually from the Comstock by means of the water pumped out and cold air forced in, as equal to that generated by the combustion of 55,560 tons of anthracite coal or 97,700 cords of wood.  Observations were then given upon temperature at every 100 feet in the Forman shaft of the Overman mine, running from 53 degrees at a depth of 100 feet to 121.2 degrees at a depth of 2,300 feet.  The temperature increased: