The highest point yet reached by a kite was attained by the leader of a tandem sent up from the Blue Hill Observatory by Messrs. Clayton and Ferguson, August 26th, 12,124 feet above the sea, 277 feet higher than had previously been reached by any kite. The five miles of line weighed seventy-five pounds, and the weight of the whole was one hundred and twelve pounds. With a temperature of 75° and wind velocity thirty-two miles an hour on the ground, the temperature was 38° and the wind velocity thirty-two miles an hour at the highest point reached, while the highest wind velocity recorded was forty miles an hour at 11,000 feet. THE EARLIEST WRITING IN FRANCE. BY M. GABRIEL DE MORTILLET. The ancient Celts and Gauls of France had no real letters. A few Celtiberian pieces of money bear characters belonging to the Phœnician and Carthaginian alphabets. In Cisalpine Gaul we find Gallic written in ancient Italian characters. The Greeks, when they founded Massilia and spread themselves along the Mediterranean coast of France, brought their language and writing into the country. The Gauls took advantage of this, and many Gallic inscriptions in Greek characters occur scattered through the south of France, among much more numerous inscriptions in the Greek language and character. When the Romans came, the Latin alphabet rapidly took the place of the Greek, and the few Gauls that continued faithful to the old tongue used Latin characters in engraving the inscriptions they have left us. Similar changes took place in Gallic pieces of money. Excepting the Celtiberian coins with their Semitic legends and characters, which are found only in a very limited district in the southwest of France, Gallic coins, when they have characters upon them, may be classified as those with Greek and those with Latin legends. The former are very abundant in the south of France, and extend, growing more rare, as we go on into the center and north. Gallic coins with legends in Roman characters gradually become more numerous, and were general after the conquest of Gaul by Julius Cæsar, some of the Gallic populations having only begun to coin money during the earlier period of the Roman occupation. There are some evidences of the use of a symbolical and hieroglyphical writing before alphabetical writing. On some of the megalithic monuments, principally in Morbihan, stones are found bearing incised engravings, and sometimes sculptures in relief. Are the engravings simply ornamental motives, have they a symbolical meaning, or are they hieroglyphic emblems? Opinions are divided.