Large quantities of turquoise from Los Cevillos, N.M., have been sold, both as cabinet specimens and gems; but, unfortunately, many of those of the finest color have been found to be artificially colored.

Malachite in large masses has been found at the Copper Queen mine at Bisbee, Oregon. One of these masses weighed 15 pounds and others were quite as large. All were of good enough quality and large enough for table tops.

In conclusion, Mr. Kunz says that "the National Museum collection of gems, formed by Prof. F.W. Clarke, is now one of the most complete, for species, in the United States, and as many of the gems are of more than average merit, and all can have access to them, this is one of the best opportunities afforded the student in this country."

* * * * *



THE BRAZIL NUT.



Every one is acquainted with the hard-shelled, triangular fruit called the Brazil nut, but there are, perhaps, but few who know anything about the tree that produces it, or its mode of growth. The Brazil nut tree belongs to a genus of Lecythidaceae of which there is only one species, Bertholletia excelsa. This tree is a native of Guiana, Venezuela, and Brazil. It forms large forests on the banks of the Amazons and Rio Negro, and likewise about Esmeraldas, on the Orinoco, where the natives call it juvia. The natives of Brazil call the fruit capucaya, while to the Portuguese it is known as castana de maranon.

The tree is one of the most majestic in the South American forests, attaining a height of 100 or 150 feet. Its trunk is straight and cylindrical, and measures about 3 or 4 feet in diameter. The bark is grayish and very even. At a distance, the tree somewhat resembles a chestnut. Its branches are alternate, open, very long, and droop toward the earth. The leaves are alternate, oblong, short petioled, nearly coriaceous, about 2 feet long by 6 inches wide, entire or undivided, and of a bright green color. The flowers have a two-parted, deciduous calyx, six unequal cream-colored petals, and numerous stamens united into a broad, hood-shaped mass, those at the base being fertile, and the upper ones sterile.

The fruit is nearly orbicular, and about 6 inches in diameter, and has a hard shell about half an inch thick, which contains from 18 to 24 triangular, wrinkled seeds that are so beautifully packed within the shell that when once disturbed it is impossible to replace them. When these fruits are ripe, they fall from the tree and are collected into heaps by troops of Indians called Castanhieros, who visit the forests at the proper season of the year expressly for this purpose. They are then split open with an ax, and the seeds (the Brazil nuts of commerce) taken out and packed in baskets for transportation to Para in the native canoes. The "meat" that the Brazil nut contains consists of a white substance of the same nature as that of the common almond, and which is good to eat when fresh, but which, by reason of its very oily nature, soon gets rancid. Besides its use as an article of dessert, a bland oil, used by watchmakers and artists, is obtained from the nut by pressure. Brazil nuts form a considerable article of export from the port of Para, whence they are sometimes called Para nuts.

The Brazil nut tree remained for a long time unknown to European botanists, although the fruit has been from a very remote epoch consumed in large quantities in certain southern countries of the New World. The first description of the tree we owe to Humboldt and Bonpland, who established the genus and species in the botanical part of the account of their voyage. The genus is dedicated to the illustrious Berthollet.

"We were very fortunate," say these authors, "to find some of these nuts in our travels on the Orinoco. For three months we had been living on nothing but poor chocolate and rice cooked in water, always without butter, and often without salt, when we procured a large quantity of the fresh fruits of the Bertholletia. It was along in June, and the natives had just gathered them."

The formation of a large woody fruit, often in the shape of an urn, from which the top spontaneously separates in the form of a lid, is one of the characteristics of the order Lecythidaceae, which includes the Couronpita Guianensis, or "cannon ball tree"; the gigantic Lecythis ollaria, or "monkey-pot tree," whose great woody pericarps serve as drinking vessels; and the Lecythis Zabucajo, whose fruit is known in the market as sapucaia nuts, and is greatly superior to the closely allied Brazil nuts as regards flavor and ease of digestion.

All the trees of this order are natives of South America, and especially of Guiana.

* * * * *



THE ACTION OF THE MAGNET IN HYPNOSIS.

Mr. Tamburini some time ago observed that, during a period of lethargy, the approach of a magnet produced in persons affected with hysterical hypnosis a series of modifications of the respiratory functions and of contractility.

From some very careful experiments made by him and Mr. Righi in common, upon the lady who was the principal subject of his observations, it results that (1) it makes no difference whether the magnet be presented by its poles or its neutral line; (2) that any mass of metal whatever acts like a magnet; (3) that an electromagnet produces exactly the same effect whether it be or be not excited by a current; and (4) that a glass tube filled with cold or warm water likewise produces analogous effects, which disappear when the water is raised to the temperature of the human body.

It seems, therefore, that the magnetic properties of the magnet count for nothing in the phenomena observed.—Journal de Physique.

* * * * *



THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT.

PUBLISHED WEEKLY.

Terms of Subscription, $5 a Year.

Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to subscribers in any part of the United States or Canada. Six dollars a year, sent, prepaid, to any foreign country.

All the back numbers of THE SUPPLEMENT, from the commencement, January 1, 1876, can be had. Price, 10 cents each.

All the back volumes of THE SUPPLEMENT can likewise be supplied. Two volumes are issued yearly. Price of each volume, $2.50, stitched in paper, or $3.50, bound in stiff covers.

COMBINED RATES—One copy of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and one copy of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, one year, postpaid, $7.00.

A liberal discount to booksellers, news agents, and canvassers.

MUNN & CO., Publishers,

361 Broadway, New York, N.Y.

* * * * *

PATENTS.

In connection with the Scientific American, Messrs. MUNN & Co. are Solicitors of American and Foreign Patents, have had 39 years' experience, and now have the largest establishment in the world. Patents are obtained on the best terms.

A special notice is made in the Scientific American of all Inventions patented through this Agency, with the name and residence of the Patentee. By the immense circulation thus given, public attention is directed to the merits of the new patent, and sales or introduction often easily effected.

Any person who has made a new discovery or invention can ascertain, free of charge, whether a patent can probably be obtained, by writing to MUNN & Co.

We also send free our Hand Book about the Patent Laws, Patents, Caveats. Trade Marks, their costs, and how procured. Address

MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York.

Branch Office, 622 and 624 F St., Washington, D.C.

* * * * *

THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS EDITION.

$2.50 a Year. Single Copies, 25 Cents.

This is a Special Edition of THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, issued monthly—on the first day of the month. Each number contains about forty large quarto pages, equal to about two hundred ordinary book pages, forming, practically, a large and splendid Magazine of Architecture, richly adorned with elegant plates in colors and with fine engravings; illustrating the most interesting examples of modern Architectural Construction and allied subjects.

A special feature is the presentation in each number of a variety of the latest and best plans for private residences, city and country, including those of very moderate cost as well as the more expensive. Drawings in perspective and in color are given, together with full Plans, Specifications, Costs, Bills of Estimate, and Sheets of Details.

No other building paper contains so many plans, details, and specifications regularly presented as the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Hundreds of dwellings have already been erected on the various plans we have issued during the past year, and many others are in process of construction.

Architects, Builders, and Owners will find this work valuable in furnishing fresh and useful suggestions. All who contemplate building or improving homes, or erecting structures of any kind, have before them in this work an almost endless series of the latest and best examples from which to make selections, thus saving time and money.

Many other subjects, including Sewerage, Piping, Lighting, Warming, Ventilating, Decorating, Laying out of Grounds, etc. are illustrated. An extensive Compendium of Manufacturers' Announcements is also given, in which the most reliable and approved Building Materials, Goods, Machines, Tools, and Appliances are described, and illustrated, with addresses of the makers, etc.

The fullness, richness, cheapness, and convenience of this work have won for it the Largest Circulation of any Architectural publication in the world.

MUNN & CO., Publishers, 361 Broadway, New York.

A Catalogue of valuable books on Architecture, Building, Carpentry, Masonry, Heating, Warming, Lighting, Ventilation, and all branches of industry pertaining to the art of Building, is supplied free of charge, sent to any address.

* * * * *

BUILDING PLANS and SPECIFICATIONS.

In connection with the publication of the BUILDING EDITION of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Messrs. Munn & Co. furnish plans and specifications for buildings of every kind, including Churches, Schools, Stores, Dwellings, Carriage Houses, Barns, etc.

In this work they are assisted by able and experienced architects. Full plans, details, and specifications for the various buildings illustrated in this paper can be supplied.

Those who contemplate building, or who wish to alter, improve, extend, or add to existing buildings, whether wings, porches, bay windows, or attic rooms, are invited to communicate with the undersigned. Our work exends to all parts of the country. Estimates, plans, and drawings promptly prepared. Terms moderate. Address

MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York.

THE END