Contents

Strange discoveries respecting the aurora -- The earth a magnet -- Our chief time-piece losing time -- Encke the astronomer -- Venus on the sun's face -- Britain's coal cellars -- The secret of the North pole -- Is the Gulf Stream a myth? -- Floods in Switzerland -- A great tidal wave -- Deep-sea dredgings -- The tunnel through Mont Cenis -- Tornadoes -- Vesuvius -- The earthquake in Peru -- The greatest sea-wave ever known -- The usefulness of earthquakes -- The forcing power of rain -- A shower of snow-crystals -- Long shots -- Influence of marriage on the death-rate -- The topographical survey of India -- A ship attacked by a sword-fish -- The safety-lamp -- The dust we have to breathe -- Photographic ghosts -- The Oxford and Cambridge rowing styles -- Betting on horse races; or, The state of the odds -- Squaring the circle -- A new theory of Achilles' shield.