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THE

CALCUTTA JOURNAL

——

OF

}- ;

TATURAL HISTORY,
Py

CONDUCTED BY

JOHN M‘CLELLAND,

YOR MEMBER AND SECRETARY OF A COMMITTEE FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE MINERAL

RESOURCES OF INDIA—AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ZOOLOGICAL
AND ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF LONDON.

VOL. I.

A
. ve
CALCUTTA:
W. RIDSDALE, BISHOP’S COLLEGE PRESS.
, 7 MDCCCXLI.
Sd

Contributors to the first volume of the Calcutta Journal of
Natural History.

JOHN GRANT, ESQ.

THEODORE E. CANTOR, ESQ. M.D., Corresponding
member of the Zoological and Entomological Societies of
London, §c.

R. BAIRD SMITH, ESQ. Lieut. Bengal Engineers.

THOMAS HUTTON, ESQ. Capt. Bengal Army, Mem-
ber of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, $e.

WILLIAM JAMESON, ESQ. Member of the Asiatic
Society of Calcutta, §c.

DAVID LISTON, ESQ.
S. R. TICKELL, ESQ. Lieut. Bengal Army.
ALEXANDER JACK, ESQ. Capt. Bengal Army.

JOHN MACPHERSON, ESQ. Assistant Surgeon.

Page. line.
S70}
ESS ands
ee
LOI 203
— 26,
192, ile
193, ;
196; alo;
198 eS;
362, 18,

List of Errata.

For ‘ Astrobola’, read ‘ Astrabola’

For ‘abreading’, read ‘abrading’

For ‘ignious’, read ‘ igneous’

For ‘an’, read * An’

For ‘observing during’, ead ‘observing an instance of this during’
For ‘pegmatic’, read‘ pegmatitic’

For ‘was’, —— read ‘being’

For ‘ fissures’, read ‘ fissure’

For ‘were highly’, read ‘were in lustre highly.’

Omit, ‘the identity of’,

603, 14 from bottom, for ‘ Sophophorus’, read ‘ Lophophorus’

— 1%,

For ‘ Biverra’, read ‘ Viverra’

—— 10 from top, and also line 3 from bottom, for ‘ignatius’, read ‘ignitus’
Plate vili. omit, ‘soil calcareous’ on the uncoloured portion of the map.

_ ee

_* Wee.

THE

CALCUTTA JOURNAL

OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

*“« Warum ich zuletzt am liebsten mit der Natur verkehre, ist, weil sie immer Recht hat und
der Irrthum/bloss auf meiner Seite seyn kann. Verhandle ich hingegen mit Menschen, so irren
sie, dann ich, auch sie wieder, und immer so fort, da kommt nichts aufs Reine ; weiss ich mich
erst aber in die Natur zu schicken, so ist alles gethan.”—G oe the.

‘Why I after all prefer dealing with nature, is, because she is invariably in the right, and the
wrong must needs be on my side. When I on the contrary deal with men, then they are in the
wrong, then I myself, then they again, and so on continually, and it comes to nothing after all;
have I hewever once found out the ways of nature, then all is right.”

Tue usual apology for being without a periodical in the
metropolis of British India exclusively devoted to objects of
science is, that tt would not pay. ‘This may be the reason,
the only reason, why we have not long since had several
philosophical publications in Calcutta, eclipsing those of
Edinburgh, London, and other European Capitals. With-
out insinuating the existence of any more immediate cause
for the above defect in our periodical literature, we must be
permitted for the honor of the City of Palaces to doubt the
accuracy of the one assigned, as nowhere are persons more
liberal with their money on all public occasions, when interests
of far less moment are at stake than those of science.

VOL. I. NO. ¥. APRIL, 1840. B

2 Calcutta Journal of Natural History.

Without however having any serious design on the pock-
ets of the public, we are disposed to put its taste to the test ;
and although the task could hardly have devolved on worse
hands, we are determined to devote our pages solely to seve-
ral departments of science, which at present only meet with
a casual place in the Journals of this Presidency.

Although our Journal will be devoted exclusively to sci-
entific objects, and particularly to the various branches of
Natural History, it is hoped that if the multitudinous applica-
tions of these to useful purposes, mental as well as commer-
cial, be taken into account, there are few whose tastes and
interests will not be sufficiently concerned to give it their
support.

The great object of the publication will be less to afford
amusement than instruction; and above all, it will be our
ambition to make known the Researches of Naturalists in sub-
jects connected with Indian productions. With this view we
shall bring together such facts as may be collected from
time to time, and endeavour to keep before the public the
exact state of the several subjects of inquiry, and the claims
of those who are employed in them Having ourselves
experienced the disadvantages of many who labour in the
cause of science in the recesses of an Indian jungle, we shall
therefore be the better able, both as naturalists and men,
to appreciate results attained under disadvantages which
can only be understood by those who have been exposed
to them.

To answer all the above purposes to the full extent of
our wishes, it would be necessary that the Botanical,

Zoological, and Geological departments of our duties should

Calcutta Journal of Natural History. 3

be conducted by separate individuals. It is to be regretted
however that circumstances at present are not such as to
allow us to carry this wish into effect.

It would be impossible to define exactly the different
subjects which will legitimately come within the province of
our Journal, so as to lay down any rules for the manner in
which they are to be treated.

There are however some subjects, such as Topography,
Geography, Meteorology, Statistics, &c. which though not
strictly within the province of Natural History, are yet so
intimately connected with it as to render it impossible to
exclude them, and indeed when well executed they form
works of the very highest interest, and will, together with
journals and miscellaneous observations of naturalists, be al-
ways acceptable.

Geology is so connected with Natural History as to be
almost identified with it, since a knowledge of living forms
cannot be accurately appreciated without reference to those
that have become extinct, nor these last, which we owe to
the observations of geologists, without reference to existing
species. Geological descriptions of districts will therefore
form a much desired object of our Journal.

The philosophical subjects of comparative anatomy and
physiology have hitherto been hardly entered upon in India,
although the exuberance of both the animal and vegetable
kingdoms afford facilities rarely presented in other parts of
the world for researches of this nature.

On the subject of Natural History generally, it would be
presumptuous in us to offer any suggestions to the class of

contributors whose support we shall endeavour to merit,

a a na rn A SEE

4, Caleutta Journal of Natural History.

particularly as we are indebted ourselves to some of the
friends in question for the advice we are about to offer,
which is this,—That the subject should always be as fully
treated as possible, whether it be the description of a species
or of a group; its previous history, its rank, its characters,
its distribution, and its uses should all be attended to where
practicable. A subject so treated will always be more or less
finished according to the capacity of the naturalist. It often
happens however that in India the want of books prevents
the naturalist from treating so fully of the historical part of
his subject as could be wished, and of comparing the results

to which he has been led with those of others. These are

points however of comparatively less importance than such

as depend on observation, as they may be supplied by those
who have the advantage of libraries and leisure. Remarks
on the characters, uses, distribution, and habits, can only be
derived from observations on the spot, and if overlooked
in the first mstance may remain for years and even ages
unknown.

Such is also the case with regard to the structure of animals
and plants, such as are only met with stuffed or dried in col-
lections, as well as that of testaceous animals; in all such
cases observations, and when possible drawings, made on the
spot will be invaluable.

While we would be thus minute regarding many points
which persons ignorant of natural history would regard as
trifling, let us not be careless of other important matters
connected with useful properties which the naturalist is the
most likely person to discover.

Thus the geologist should never lose an opportunity of

Calcutta Journal of Natural History. 5

casting as much light as circumstances will admit of on the
important question of coal and various other minerals.
There are other objects to which the mind of the botanist
and zoologist should in like manner be constantly alive.
The causes of diseases, as the Goitre, Guinea-worm, Ele-
phantiasis, and other complaints, which there are good rea-
sons for supposing depend on circumstances which come
within the province of the philosophic observer of nature,
also hold out much encouragement to hope for important
results, without interfering in any way with the more imme-
diate object of his pursuits.

Having thus alluded to the objects to which we are to
devote our pages, we may observe, that although these
will be open to all communications calculated to improve
our knowledge of any fact, it will be our duty to point out
frankly, when necessary, our own opinions as to the manner
in which the subject appears to us to be treated.

As two other scientific Journals have possession of the
field, perhaps a word or two on the cause of our appearance
may benecessary. With the “ India Review’ we are not likely
to interfere, as the object of that work is chiefly the diffusion
of popular science. The other, the “ Journal of the Asiatic
Society,” is too closely identified with that institution to suffer
from so puny a rival, were we even ambitious enough to dis-
pute its claims to public favour; our field is altogether dis-
tinct, and although a new one, we doubt not that the laboine
of naturalists are sufficiently important to entitle them to a
separate and independent organ. Indeed it has often been
to us matter of surprise, that departments of science so im-

portant as those of Geology, Zoology, and Botany, should

6 Calcutta Journal of Natural History.

have been so long without a Journal of their own in India.
The consequence is, that neither the importance of those
pursuits, nor that of the persons devoted to them, is at all un-
derstood ; and naturalists at length find themselves without
any individual connected with the periodical press, or with
the learned Societies on this side of India, at all competent
to meet their wishes or their views, far less to promote the
object of their pursuits. Under these circumstances we have
reluctantly deviated from the less obtrusive occupation we
had prescribed to ourselves, and are prepared to use our
best endeavours to secure for Natural History the advantage
of a Journal hitherto much required in India.

The next subject on which we have to offer our remarks,
is the means by which our publication is to be supported.
As to matter we shall have no scarcity, as we trust we
shall prove ourselves worthy of the confidence of most of
the naturalists in India. The only difficulty we now expe-
rience, is to fix the rate at which we are to tax the pockets
of our subscribers. We have no desire to profit by the
work—our great object therefore is that its price should
be as low as possible. On the whole, we consider that a
subscription of sixteen rupees per annum will not only
cover the expenses of the Journal but allow a certain
sum to stand over for the publication of Transactions of an
“‘ Academy of Natural Science,” as proposed in our first
article, should that or any similar plan for the formation of a
Society in India be eventually carried into effect.

With regard to the latter object, little more need be said
than this—T hat if contributors of valuable articles will merely

state whether they wish them to appear also in the Acte of

Calcutta Journal of Natural History. vi

our new institution, their wish shall be attended to as soon
as our subscription list will bear the extra expense. In this
way we might soon hope to get up the name of the proposed
Society by the publication of a volume of Transactions, after
which its course would be smooth and simple. At some
future period indeed the geologists, zoologists, and botan-
ists might find that the interests of their respective pursuits
would be better attended to in separate institutions, and de-
clare their independence of the first Society of Naturalists
ever formed in India, just for the reasons we now quit the
Asiatic and other Societies in Calcutta. Instead of regard-
ing such movements or dissentions with jealousy or opposi-
tion, they are always to be hailed as favourable signs of
the progress of knowledge, and of the advancement of
Society to that elevated state of civilization, in which the
human mind is brought to bear independently on distinct

objects of research.

Prospectus of an Indian Association for the advancement of
Natural Science. |

THE additional interest that objects connected with natu-
ral history and geology has assumed within the last few
years, renders it desirable, if not altogether necessary, to
examine how far an institution solely devoted to such objects
would be calculated to facilitate the cultivation of those
sciences in India. It cannot have escaped those who are
devoted to natural history that existing Societies are not
adapted to promote that pursuit, as well from their paucity
of means, as from their objects being chiefly directed to
investigations in literature, agriculture, and medicine.

It appears also from the distance at which those natu-
ralists are scattered over India who are competent to give
a tone and character to the proceedings of a Society such
as we allude to, that periodical meetings for the discus-
sion of papers could not conveniently be held at any one
place, and that in the absence of competent members, it
were better that no such meetings were at all held.

With both these circumstances in view, it would be ne-
cessary in order to secure the efficiency and integrity of
a Society of the kind proposed, to limit its business to such
objects as should render meetings unnecessary.

The British Association as well as the Academia Nature
Curiosorum, hold their meetings, the first in all parts of
Great Britain and Ireland, and the second in all parts of
Germany; and in as much as they are not confined to any
particular town, assimilate to the character of the proposed
Society for India. The only difference is, that here there
could not conveniently be any meetings, as the cultivators
of science are so few, and the nature of their various duties

such as to prevent their assembling at any one place.

Academy of Natural Science. 9

However agreeable it may be for men who are engaged
in kindred pursuits to meet and discuss the several objects in
which they are interested, yet this by no means constitutes
an essential feature of the Societies in question, which must on
the contrary depend entirely on the character of their tran-
sactions. With the exception therefore of the reading and
discussion of papers, it would seem that we might possess
Transactions, and by their means secure all the positive
advantages which result from Societies such as those alluded
to. The only officer that would be necessary on the spot
would be a secretary, or agent, the latter term might be
_ preferable, as implying a strict obedience to the wishes of
those for whom he acts.

The elective body, or Committee, might consist of from
eight to twelve names, such as would be a security for the cha-
racter of the Society, and who would appoint annually three
or four of their body as vice-presidents, to settle any doubt-
ful points that might be referred to them by their agent.

It would not be advisable to have a larger number than
from eight to twelve on the Committee at once, from the in-
convenience that would be occasioned in deciding questions
upon which it might become necessary to collect their
opinions.

This last object could only be effected by means of circu-
lars. ‘The business of the Committee would be the elec-
tion of vice-presidents once a year from among their num-
ber, as already stated, as well as to fill up vacancies in
_ their own body; this, together with the occasional refer-
ence on matters of business would require, at some future
time, the indulgence of the privilege of franking letters on
the business of the Society to each of the members of
the Committee, only however from one to another, which
would enable them to keep up tliat intercourse with each

other on matters of science which it is almost essential that
G

10 . Prospectus of an Indian

the savans of every nation should possess to a certain extent,
but in India more particularly, from the impossibility of their
holding any other kind of intercourse. This would be almost
the only privilege which it would be necessary to solicit
from the government, and as it would not amount to the
general franking of letters, except from one member of
the scientific Committee to another, we might hope that an
application to the above effect would not be denied longer
than the benefit to be derived from it should be clearly proved ;
which naturalists can only do at a small sacrifice to them-
selves in the first instance in the shape of postage.

The next step would be to effect an improvement in the cha-
racter of communications, and from the examples which would
be afforded by the Society, authors would naturally be more
careful in their publications, and more zealous in their works;
the effect of which would be a gradual advancement to more
finished and carefully digested papers than have as yet be-
come frequent in India, in which specific subjects are taken
up at the beginning and carried through to the close, with all
the information to be had in the country made to bear upon
them. For this remark on what should constitute the object
of writers, we are indebted to our friend Mr. H. Walker.
Let us see now how a spirit and example of this kind would
operate. In the first place, those who devote themselves
privately to the study of the productions of the country
would be brought into communication with each other, and
both the government and individuals could refer to their
counsel and advice in all matters falling within the province
of naturalists to decide.

In the next place, the labours of many regarding the ap-
plication of the sciences to useful purposes would be brought
to bear from a focus, and the investigation of minerals, plants,
and animals would be conducted with more energy and effect
than if left to depend on the isolated exertions of individuals,
or mixed up, as at present, with other pursuits with which
naturalists have no sort of connection.

Academy of Natural Science. 11

Let us take the state of our knowledge on any one sub-
ject that should come within the scope of natural history,
and we shall find how much the interests of the country,
both as regards its intellectual and social improvement,
depends upon its investigation: as, for instance, our coal
fields, our tea plants, and our fisheries. In all these matters
we have every thing to accomplish, and although from their
importance, private enterprise and the isolated observations
of individuals may in time effect much, still in a country where
the mind requires to be as yet formed for all such inquiries,
both energy and example are requisite for conducting re-
searches successfully to practical results.

There are no instances of men stumbling at once on great
practical results in any thing, nor are there any instances
of nations changing their character suddenly from intel-
lectual darkness to wisdom; these things are not the results
of chance, or of sudden efforts, however they may be sup-
ported by wealth; but of sedulous and well directed exertion
of individuals and the force of their example on communities.

Seeing therefore how much depends on the exertion of
naturalists and the progress of their pursuits in India, it is
reasonable to expect that something should be done to con-
centrate and give energy to their labours; but this is less a
subject for the consideration of others than for that of
naturalists themselves.

It is one of the peculiarities of men engaged in the pro-
secution of original inquiry, that they are contented to go on
in silence with their pursuits, heedless of every thing but the
subject before them.

There are however occasions when it becomes necessary
to look around, and see if with very little inconvenience we
may not materially improve, not only our own facilities, but
the facilities of those who are to follow in our pursuits; and
it is a duty which we owe no less to the government than to
ourselves, to secure for those pursuits to which we devote a
large proportion of our time, such facilities as may be com-

12 Prospectus of an Indian

patible with the circumstances in which we are placed, so as
to render our labours useful to the country.

The plan now proposed for the constitution of a Society
strictly directed to specific objects connected with natural
science, differs but slightly, we are informed by our friend
Mr. Walker, from that of one of the oldest and most suc-
cessful Societies in Europe, the Academia Nature Curio-
sorum, which may have arisen out of somewhat similar cir-
cumstances in Germany, during the latter part of the six-
teenth century, at a period when too few naturalists were found
in any one city to carry on the duties of a Society. ‘That
Academy exists only in its Acte, or transactions; it has no
meetings or local habitation, and its business, which consists
merely of the publication of memoirs, is conducted by a tem-
porary secretary in any part of Germany where the individual
on whom that honor is conferred may happen to reside.

In principle this is precisely what is proposed, so that it
is so far fortunate to have an illustrious and successful ex-
ample of what some might otherwise regard as visionary
and impracticable.

One of the first objections that will be urged against the
proposed institution is, that it will have a tendency to injure
other Societies now existing in India; but the same objection
might have been urged against every Society that has sprung
up since the time the first was formed.

Our own little experience in India enables us to state, that
the greatest danger to which Societies are here exposed, is
the patronage of objects which are foreign to the peculiar
qualifications of their leading members. Each of our three
Societies of Calcutta afford instances, which have fallen with-
in our own observation, of the great and serious error of this.
So far therefore from a Society exclusively directed to the
promotion of natural history proving injurious to any of the
other institutions already existing, we feel assured that the
change would prove a great relief to some of them, especially
as we are prepared to show several instances in which they

Academy of Natural Science. 13

have been called upon to make large sacrifices of funds for
the purpose of promoting physical science, when the very
effort was attended with opposite effects.

The next point which we have to consider, is the means of
support for the proposed institution. As it is not proposed
to have any monthly or other meetings, or to have any source
of expenditure except that of the publication of transactions,
those who subscribe can have little inducement beyond that
of contributing to an object purely scientific.

If there be no transactions, there can be no expenditure,
and if there be transactions, subscribers will have so much in
return; but it is not merely to derive an equivalent in goods,
nor even the pleasure of attending meetings, that induces
persons to subscribe to Societies; they in general have far
higher objects than the possession of influence, or the vanity
of taking part in proceedings. It is reasonable therefore to
suppose, that the list of subscribers to the Society would
be sufficient to meet its expenses, beyond which there would
be nothing more required in the beginning. A museum and
a library might afterwards follow: the first object which
from its nature would be impracticable m any Society not
ruled by naturalists, would in this be a natural consequence
requiring no effort. In proof of this we may say, that our
residence is a perfect store-house of fishes, birds, and
insects poured in from all quarters, so that if we had the
means of preserving objects, as well as of collecting and
describing them, we could soon form a museum that would
be worthy at once of the patronage of the government, and
of the character of naturalists now resident in India.

The only security for the propriety of the requisite small
subscription would rest with the Committee, which would as-
sume the management of the Society; but as this Committee
would consist of men on whom the character of the Society
would depend, and who should have devoted their studies ex-
pressly to those objects which it is intended to promote, there
should be no hesitation on the one hand to incur the

14 Prospectus of an Indian Academy, §c.

responsibility, nor want of confidence to confer it on the
other. Could the difficulties attending this point be sur-
mounted, it is evident that a Society would then be formed
the sole management of which would be vested in the hands
of men entirely devoted to its object.

The object of the proposed Society would be to collect a
body of information regarding the natural history of the
country, and to concentrate the labours of our naturalists,
which have hitherto been interspersed throughout various
publications, in a manner to render it difficult to refer to
what really has been done.

The evil of scattered publication is in India the difficulty
of obtaining books. If our naturalists for the want of any
independent publication exclusively devoted to their own
pursuits continue to send their communications to various
Journals, and Societies here and in Europe, they must neces-
sarily increase their own difficulties by the greater number of
books which they will require to refer to. In consequence
of this practice it already often happens, that to refer to a
single paper on natural history it is necessary to purchase a
volume of extraneous matter, and this evil must continue to
increase until naturalists possess publications exclusively de-
voted to their own pursuits.

We have treated the subject of the proposed Society on
distinct grounds, and altogether independent of a Journal,
but we consider both to be indispensable to the advance-
ment of natural history, and doubt not we shall live to see
both flourish. The one as an independent advocate of truth,
and the organ of those who are interested in the progress
of natural history; the other, a repository in which the finish-
ed papers of naturalists in India may go forth to the world
under the auspices of men practically acquainted either with
their merits, or their defects.

15

- The Silurian System. By R. I. Murcuison, Esa.
F.R.S., F.L.S.

Vice-President of the Geological Society of London, General Secretary British
Association for the Advancement of Science, Member of the Royal Geographical
Society, Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy, ete. etc. etc.

WE propose in a series of articles to enter into an ana-
lysis of Mr. Murchison’s great work on the Silurian System,
for the perusal of which we are indebted to the liberality
of our friend, and lover of science, Mr. J. W. Grant, C.S.,; for
its title alone would be enough to exclude it from all public
libraries in this country. For the benefit of the uninitiated,
we will first explain, that the author comprehends under the
term Silurian* those beds of ancient strata from the Old
Red Sandstone down to the Crystalline, or primary rocks.

But the work is not confined to the investigations of these
beds; before their difference from more recent deposits
could be established, it was necessary to enter into an inves-
tigation of the latter as a preliminary object. The first
views of Mr. Murchison on the subject before us were
submitted to the first meeting of the British Association,
smce which time Mr. Murchison has been constantly en-
gaged in following up the inquiry, and extending his ob-
servations, so that districts made subject to the investiga-
tion consist of the counties of Salop, Hereford, Radnor,
Montgomery, Gloucester, Carmarthen, Brecon, Pembroke,
Monmouth, Worcester, and Stafford. And as the above
counties contain some of our most important repositories of
coal, much new information is afforded regarding them,
which we shall endeavour to lay before our readers. But
as this part of the work alone consists of nearly two hun-
dred quarto pages, we shall be able to convey but a faint
idea of its value.

* A geographical term derived from the S%dwres, whose power extended over
the region where these rocks are best displayed, and the name of whose illustrious
Chief, Caradoc (Caractacus) has been transmitted to us in a bold range of hills
composed of one of the most important formations of the Silurian system.

16 The Silurian System.

Mr. Murchison begins the investigation by a description
of the Oolitic beds which cross England from Dorsetshire
to Yorkshire, forming the high districts of Oxfordshire and
Gloucestershire, traces the limits of these beds, and points
out the peculiar fossils by which the inferior part of the
series is distinguished.

In a work devoted to philosophical objects, our readers
will hardly be prepared to expect observations of so much
practical importance as those which we are about to quote
regarding the importance of geological science in guiding
the operations of the practical miner, which we hope will
have good effect in pointing out the error of being guided
altogether by practical men in our investigations for coal.
“In the vicinity of Burley-Dam some of the beds of
Lias are so hard as to have induced Lord Combermere
to quarry them for slating purposes, and others in the
same vicinity being slightly bituminous have very much
the aspect of Kimmeridge coal. The mineralogical cha-
racters of this formation so closely resemble coal shale,
that those unacquainted with its stratigraphical position
and zoological contents, particularly in Oxfordshire and
other interior parts of the kingdom, have frequently sunk
into it in search of coal.” And a little further on, after enu-
merating the list of fossils in the lower Lias, Mr. Murchison
observes, “it was gratifying to observe in this detached basin
of North Salop shells identical with certain unpublished
species first brought to notice by my visit to Brora, Suther-
landshire, the strata of which distant tract, containing a
sort of coal, were by means of their organic remains identi-
fied with similar carbonaceous strata of the Oolitic System,
in the eastern moorlands of Yorkshire. Had the Lias of this
Salopian tract contained coal as good as that found in the
Oolitic formations of Whitby and of Brora, it might have
been questionable whether in a country so distant from any
deposit of the old or true coal, it would have been worth
extraction; but no trials have brought to light any por-

Murchison’s Silurian System. 17

tion of combustible matter, whether termed lignite or im-
pure coal, worthy of the name of a bed. To convince the
resident gentry and speculators of northern Salop who are not
aware of the value of the evidence afforded by organic re-
mains, of the hopelessness of their search after coal, I beg to
repeat, that the black shale is wnderlaid by the saliferous
marls of the New Red Sandstone. In addition to the instances
already given, I may state, that the sinkings of Sir Corbet
Corbet at Adderley, opposite Kent’s Rough, and near
the northern edge of the basin, proved this fact; for
upon piercing the black shale to the depth of 300 feet, a
brine spring was reached! Lastly, an examination of the
annexed wood cut* and the map will show, that the basin
not only rests upon marls and other strata of the New Red
System, but is surrounded by them; and a reference to
the general tabular view attached to this work will prove
that the whole of the enormously thick system of new red
sandstone (as fully expanded here as in any part of England)
lies between the black shale and the true coal measures. If
coal really passes beneath any portion of this country, it
ought to be first sought for at points nearer to Oswestry,
Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Wellington, Newport, and Madeley
in Staffordshire; in short, towards the out crop of the coal
measures which rise nearly on all sides from beneath the
new red sandstone. Now as this tract lies in the centre of
the circle above mentioned, it is necessarily the very spot in
the whole area where the search for coal is most hope-
less, being that were the overlying deposits are thickest.”
25.—On another occasion Mr. Murchison observes, that
he had learnt that sinkings for coal had been carried
on for some extent between Whitchurch and Market Dray-
ton; but on examining the district, he soon found that
the black shale supposed by the inhabitants to be coal-
shale, was nothing more than Lias, as was proved by an
abundance of fossils, and separated from the coal measures

* We regret we have not the means of introducing this cut.
D

18 Murchison’s Silurian System.

by the new red sandstone. Again,—‘‘ On Walliston Com-,
mon, Salop, in one of the attempts to find coal the Lias was
bored, after sinking 250 feet, to a further depth of 150 feet,
making a total of about 400 feet. A little black lignite or
jet was found, but nothing to justify the most remote pro-
bability of the formation containing coal.” At the mouth
of the trial pits Mr. Murchison collected twenty-six species
of fossil shells, six of which proving the formation to be
identical with the Brora beds, in which a lignite occurs.
In numerous other instances Mr. Murchison points out the
ruinous consequences of sinking for coal without the advice
and opinions of scientific men. Speaking of a spirited un-
dertaking of the Earl of Dartmouth, in which seven hundred
feet of sandstone was penetrated at Christ-Church, Mr.
Murchison observes, that it is impossible to mention the
success that attended the enterprise, without congratulating
geologists on the effect which their writings are now pro-
ducing on the minds of practical men, since it was entirely
owing to inferences deduced from geological phenomena
that this work was commenced, whilst its success was de-
rided by many of the practical miners in the adjacent coal
field. The south-east parts of the county of Durham have
been rendered by this means a great and productive coal
field, in spite of the prejudices and predictions of the old
school of miners, to whom such important matters used
to be entrusted. See p. 58—66.

The practical importance of the subject being established
on such facts as these, we need not apologise to our readers
for devoting a larger space to the notice of this work than
its title and scientific details would seem to demand in an
Indian Journal. The truth however is, that Mr. Murchison’s
work is the best medel that could be chosen by the Indian
geologists who would render efficient service either to sci-
ence or to the practical value of the minerals of the country.
To those who have not paid much attention to geology, we
would remark, that the true coal formations repose between

Murchison’s Silurian System. 19

two great formations of sandstones, named the New, and the
Old Red—that the lower beds of the first, and the upper
beds of the latter, may contain thin seams of poor coal, which,
in order to appreciate properly when met with in an unde-
scribed district, we should be able to refer to one or other of
the two formations. Ifthe thin seam of coal belong to the Old
Red Sandstone, boring or sinking in search of a better bed
would obviously be a waste of money, as we should rather
direct our inquiries to overlying rocks, and if these do not
occur, a further search for coal in the district would be useless.
If, however, the coal seam belongs to the New Red Sandstone,
our search should be extended to the older or underlying
strata, not by boring, for then we might, like the gentlemen
of Whitchurch and Market Drayton, have several thousand
feet of new red sandstone between us and the coal, even if
its existence were certain. It is only therefore where coal
seams are met with in coal formations, that borings and sink-
ings should be resorted to.

Then the question arises, How are we to become acquaint-
ed with these important distinctions, on a knowledge of which
the condition of society so much depends, especially in
India? Fortunately for us, coal seems to be so abundant in
India, that no great nicety is required to detect it; but to
pursue the discovery, and to bring it into use, is another and
more difficult task.

Mr. Murchison observes, that the Lias is succeeded in the
descending series by beds of green and red marl, constituting
the upper portion of the series of strata, called the New Red
System, which includes all those beds of marl, sandstone, and
limestone, which lie between the Lias and the carboniferous
rocks, and which, from their development, are capable of
being divided into formations by differences in lithological
and fossiliferous characters. 1. Saliferous marls; 2. Red

sandstone and quartzose conglomerate; 3. Conglomerate

20 Murchison's Silurian System.

and magnesian limestone; 4. Lower red sandstone. The
first of these is described as occasionally presenting the
appearance of a greenish kind of marlstone included in beds
of red or green marls, of different degrees of tenacity;
sometimes the colour is almost a grass green, and at others
as white as chalk. It passes occasionally into a slightly
micaceous calcareous grit. It would be exceedingly difficult,
however, to give a mineralogical description of a formation
which Mr. Murchison traces throughout a large tract of
England, always appearing under some new character. The
salt springs at Droitwich, and other places, have procured
for it the name it bears. Salt springs occasionally occur in
other formations perfectly distinct. Mr. Murchison considers
the ‘‘ Keuper” of foreign geologists is equivalent to the salife-
rous marls, and refers to a section made by Professor
Sedgwick and himself, on the continent, to prove the iden-
tity of the rock in the two remote localities, England and
Germany.

The “Keuper,” however, abounds in fossil plants as well
as animals; and Mr. Murchison has never been able to detect
any trace of organic remains in the saliferous marls of
England. ‘“ The fossils of the overlying and underlying for-
mations in England being of marine origin, there is little doubt
that the red marl must also have been deposited beneath
the sea. In Germany and in France this inference is establish-
ed by the presence of marine remains, in the “ Keuper,”
“* Muschelkalk,” and ‘“ Bunter” sandstein,—the three prin-
cipal formations of the system; the first of which, as before
mentioned, represents our saliferous marls. The second, or
great calcareous formation, has not yet been discovered in
the British isles; and the third is the equivalent of the mas-
sive beds of centralsandstones. The numerous brine springs,
as well as masses of rock-salt, which are contained in the red
marl, seems to offer additional proofs of the marine origin of

Murchison’s Silurian System. 21

these deposits, since Dr. Daubeny has shewn that in many
of these saline sources there is an admixture of iodine, a
principle which is confined to the sea and its productions.
This argument is not, however, to be considered decisive,
but only as forming a portion of cumulative evidence, which
taken in conjunction with that of the remains occurring in
the deposits of this age on the continent, fortifies the con-
clusion, that our saliferous marls are of marine origin; for it
might be said, that iodine and chloride of sodium have been
derived in the first instance from the interior of the earth,
and that the ocean may have owed its saltness to beds of
rock-salt, as well as that rock-salt owes its origin to the
evaporation of sea-water.” Notwithstanding the difficulty of
establishing the identity in remote quarters of the world,
of rocks so vaguely characterised as the saliferous marls, yet
when we have coal measures affording a certain fixed point,
or land mark to guide us, we cannot be very far out in fixing
upon the green marls, or often friable sandstone, which
extend along the lower ridges of many parts of the great
Himalayan chain, immediately adjoining the plains of Hindus-
tan, as the Indian equivalent of the beds in question. Along
the southern side of Assam we have the same rocks as well
as brine springs, and an earthy limestone, probably equi-
valent to the English Lias. On the face of the Cherra
mountain, the green marl rests unconformably on Old Red
Sandstone, (or that on which the coal formation rests), and
gives support to the deposits of sand in which the marine
remains are contained. It is here by no means destitute of
fossils as in other localities; on the contrary, we found in it
six species of univalve shells, a small species of Echinus and
a large spined Cidaris. In a note which we made on the
characters of a fragment of rock brought away from a sub-
merged reef near Arracan, by the hull of a ship which
struck upon it, we pointed out the resemblance between its
appearance and that of the green conglomerates in question.*

* Journ, Beng. As. Soc. 1838, p. 936. °

22 Murchison’s Silurian System.

A description of the salt formations at the head of the
Indus, and their relative position to the coal measures re-
cently found there by Mr. Jameson, will be the means of
casting much important light on this subject in regard to
India, and we have fortunately in the gentleman alluded to
a geologist near the spot, fully alive to the importance of this
and other questions of a similar nature. Another equally
important question is the situation of the great repositories
of salt in the vicinity of Ajmeer, and other situations in
Central India, where salt lakes abound. Lieut. Fraser, of the
Engineers, we recollect, sent us a fragment of rock-salt,
which was found imbedded in a basaltic rock, when sinking
a well at Mhow, about three feet from the surface. We have
not heard that this curious fact has led to any further dis-
covery or research in the neighbourhood alluded to.

The next beds of the New Red System described by
Mr. Murchison, are the sandstone and quartzose conglo-
merates.* It is difficult to characterise these beds, otherwise
than by the absence of saline impregnations, and occasional
appearance of fragments of the older rocks, as in the last;
fossils are said by Mr. Murchison to be rarely found in it
in England, but in Ireland a profusion of small fish} were
found in an equivalent rock at Rhone hill, near Dungannon.
On the continent it is still more distinguished by numerous
fossil plants, as Equisetacee, Felices, Conifere Liliacee,
the whole of which are said to have a certain community
of character peculiar to the age, and are very distinct from
the plants of the overlying and underlying systems.

The third, and only other member of the New Red System
hitherto detected in Great Britain, is the calcareous con-
glomerate, or lower new red sandstone, which in the central
counties is equivalent to the magnesian limestone of the:
north-east, and the dolomitic conglomerate of the south-west
of England. ‘‘ They do not, however, contain solid beds of

* Called Bunter sandstein by the Germans, and Grés bigarré by the French.
+ Pdaleniscus catopterus.

Murchison’s Silurian System. a3

magnesian limestone, and very seldom so much magnesia as
to entitle them to the name of dolomitic conglomerate, but
are for the most part simply calcareous conglomerates, con-
sisting of fragments of quartzy, silurian, and other rocks, as
well as of carboniferous and other limestones enveloped in a
calcareous matrix. In the Tortworth district, at the northern
extremity of the Bristol coal field, the true dolomitic con-
glomerate is considerably developed, and has been fully
described by several geologists. In the north of Gloucester-
shire, and south of Worcester, where the new red sandstone
is conterminous with the old red, there are no distinct traces
of this member of the series, unless we suppose that the
few thin courses of slightly calcarious conglomerates which
occur at intervals near the bottom of the sandy series, be
its representative.”

“In the great expansion, however, of the new red system in
the north of Worcestershire, in Staffordshire, and Shropshire,
there are calcareous conglomerates of considerable thickness,
which, as they pass beneath the great masses of red sandstone
already described, there can be no hesitation in referring
also to the age of the magnesian limestone. They occur
in great force in the north-eastern face of the Lickey.
See the Memoirs of Mr. Horner, Dr. Bright, Mr. War-
burton, Messrs. Buckland and Conybeare, and Mr. Weaver ;
Geol. Trans. vol. m1. and tv. old series, and vol. 1. of new
series. ‘This dolomitic conglomerate is also described in this
work in the chapter on Tortworth, and the position is mark-
ed near the south-eastern extremity of the accompanying
map, and Client hills, and appear also on the northern end
of the Lickey ridge of quartz rock, whence they range by
Kenelms to Hagley. In this course they distinctly overlie
a great formation hereafter to be described as the lower new
red sandstone, and rise high on the sides of the trap rocks of

the Clent hills. They here vary much in importance, parti-

24 Murchison’s Silurian System.

cularly near St. Kenelms and Hagley, some masses having
a thickness of fifty and sixty feet, others not more than six
or eight; at Garnow Green, near St. Kenelms, there are
extensive lime works in this rock, an account of which may
suffice for those at other localities.”

“The beds dip very slightly to the south, and are separated
from each other by sandy marls and clay. The greater part
of this rock is made up of angular fragments of a pre-
existing, very compact limestone, which, from the corals and
other fossils found in it, proves to be the carboniferous lime-
stone. In some parts of the quarries. the rock consists of
concretions of marl and fragments of sandstone and grits,
with coal plants, imbedded in a pink calcareous grit; but in
others, of small pebbles of quartz and still older rocks, enve-
loped in a red ferruginous, earthy basis, penetrated in all
directions by white, crystallized carbonate of lime. The
matrix and cement are throughout very calcareous, and the
colour of the rock varies with that of the ingredients, from
a reddish tinge, to shades of yellow and white. This con-
glomerate follows all the sinuosities and promontories of the
Clent hills, as is well seen between the hills of Romsley and
Walton, where associated with the red sandstone, it enters
into a deep recess. It also folds round Hagley park, (near
the parsonage,) accommodating its outline to the form of the
hills, where it has been described by the Rev. J. Yates, as a
calcareous breccia, consisting of grains of quartz, decompos-
ing felspar, and limestone. Transverse sections, from north
to south, across the strata, are exhibited on the sides of the
roads, which ascend to the Clent hills by St. Kenelms, or by
Hunnington, and expose several lower calcareous courses,
separated by argillaceous red marls and‘sandstone. Calca-
reous bands prevail so much in this district, re-occurring at
intervals in the scarpments, through a thickness of many
hundred feet, that if they were all included in this division,

Murchison’s Silurian System. 29

it would be impracticable to define with precision their limits, ©
since they graduate into, and form a part of the lower red
sandstone, which in its turn overlies and passes into the coal
measures. It will indeed be shown in the sequel, that other
calcareous beds, for the most part, however, of true concre-
tionary structure, are even traceable down into the coal
measures ; and for this reason, I restrict the comparison with
the magnesian limestone, or dolomitic conglomerate, to the
mass of this rock which immediately lies beneath the central
sandstanes,” (Bunter sandstein, or Grés bigarré.)

“‘ Calcareous conglomerates are to be seen at many points
round the outline of the Dudleyand Wolverhampton coal-fields,
generally at some little distance from the edge of the coal-bear-
ing strata, and always dipping away from, or overlying them.”

It is impossible in a work composed almost entirely of
important details, on which the principles of geological
science so much depend, to offer any abstract or comments
half so instructive as simple quotations from the observations
of the author, especially as sandstones and rocks of the coal
formation prevail very extensively in nearly all parts of India.
It is extremely important, that the relative position of the
sandstones and coal-bearing strata of India should be clearly
described, and that all the points in which they differ from,
or agree with, similar rocks in other parts of the world,
should be investigated. In a private letter from our friend
Mr. Jameson, we learn that he has observed extensive tracts
composed of silurian rocks, and sandstone of the Old Red
System, in the north-western parts of India. Under these
circumstances, we feel assured that we can render no better
service than by quoting largely from the pages of a work,
which otherwise would, from its price, be little known in India.

The calcareous strata of the New Red System at Coton,
where they are burned for lime, are described as coarse con-
glomerate, composed chiefly of fragments of carboniferous

E

26 Murchison’s Silurian System.

limestone, generally rounded and red on their exterior.
Some of them are of an oolitic structure; others a compact
limestone, containing encrimites, corals, and terebratule, and
discoloured, partly by films of green carbonate of copper;
secondly, conglomerate with fewer fragments of limestone
but containing pebbles of quartz, old red sandstone, &c.;
the whole cemented by pure white crystallized carbonate
of lime. This conglomerate passes into a pink calcareous
sandstone, with pebbles and minute fragments of jasper.
“In attempting to refer the fragments of limestone to the
original rock, the oolitic structure distinctly proves that some
of them have not been derived from any formation below the
Old Red Sandstone, while the nearest known masses of a
similar rock are in the carboniferous limestone of the Clee
hills, twenty miles distant. The included fossils belong like-
wise to the same deposit, while the rolled condition of the
fragments, accords with the idea of their having been drifted
from the quarter alluded to. At Coal-Brook Dale coal-fields
the conglomerate is not sufficiently calcareous to be burnt
for lime, being chiefly composed of rounded fragments of
sandstone and quartz, with some fragments of carboniferous
limestone, in a base of quartzose and calcareous sand.
Here, as in other localities before mentioned, the strata dip
away from the adjacent coal-field, from which, as we shall
afterwards perceive, they are separated by a great fault. The
extensive denudation of the whole series of the New Red
System between Newport and Shrewsbury, has obliterated
all traces of the calcareous conglomerates, which are not
met with again till we approach Shrewsbury where a small
face of the rock can be seen, which was formerly quarried
to burn for lime, but is rapidly lost, dipping to about
30° under the sandstone. To the north and west of this
spot, the relations to the various members of the New Red
System, which overlie the coal bearing strata of Poutes-

Murchison’s Silurian System. 27

bury, are much obscured by a thick cover of coarse gravel
and clay. In other situations north of the Severn, the calca-
reous conglomerate of the New Red System contains angular
fragments of cream-coloured limestone, in a reddish sandy
calcareous matrix, in which small cavities occasionally occur
lined with crystals of dolomite. Limestone containing mag-
nesia is abundant in some beds of mountain, or carboniferous
limestone in the same vicinity, and that rock being of older
date, may have supplied many of the enclosed materials, and
much of the cement of this conglomerate.”

Some fragments of limestone of large size, derived from
the breaking up of a peculiar fresh water limestone interca-
lated between seams of coal, are also contained in it, as well
as small round quartzose and other pebbles of more ancient
rocks. Although Mr. Murchison observes it has been stated
in the previous pages that no remains of shells have yet been
detected in the overlying members of the New Red System
in England, a considerable number of curious unpublished
species have recently been discovered at Manchester in beds
of the variegated marl. ‘These shelly marls are considered
by Professor Sedgwick to lie beneath the upper and central
members of the New Red System, and Professor Phillips,
who has recently worked out in some detail the relations of
strata in the environs of Manchester, is of the same opinion.
In a letter to Mr. Murchison, he describes these shelly
marls as lying between the sandstone and quartzose con-
glomerates, grés bigarré, and the lower beds of the New |
Red System, and observes, ‘‘ I view them as attenuated and
deteriorated magnesian limestone, the last term of the de-
gradation of this rock;” it is therefore inferred that the Man-
chester shelly beds are of the same age as the calcareous
and dolomitic conglomerates of Salop, Worcester, and Staf-
ford, which are the equivalents of the magnesian limestone.

These marls are said by Mr. Murchison to be of great

28 Murchison’s Silurian System.

interest as links connecting the lower new red sandstones
with strata of the same age in the north of England, which
are known to geologists through the labours of Professor
Sedgwick. Among the shells from the marls at Colyhurst
Professor Phillips recognises Axinus obscurus, or a large
variety of that species, as the most prevalent, associated with
an avicula, not very remote from A. sociales, and many small
undescribed univalves.

“‘ Having now described the three upper divisions of the
series in those districts where their characters and order of
super-position are distinct, I might at once proceed to the
examination of the subjacent sandstones where they are
most expanded, as around the coal fields of the central
counties. It is desirable however previously to invite atten-
tion to the prevailing characters of the lower portion of the
system in Gloucestershire and the west of Worcestershire,
where being little more developed the whole of its lower por-
tion consisting of conglomerates and sandstone is so intimately
connected that they can be considered only under one head.”

The members composing the bottom of the system are oc-
casionally difficult to identify in different localities, as their
characters are mixed, sometimes calcareous, at others quart-
zose, and occasionally containing a great abundance of peb-
bles and fragments of trap rock, intermixed with sedimentary
rocks of great antiquity.

Having traced the line of demarcation between the New
Red Sandstone and the older rocks on which they rest, “ I
commence by pointing out the manner in which from small
beginnings in the south their successive development is ac-
complished as we proceed northward. At Huntley soft red
sandstones first appear rising from beneath the marls, and
separating them from silurian rocks; and between that
place and Newent, where the sandstone attains a consider-
able thickness, there are traces of quartzose conglomerates

Murchison’s Silurian System. 29

occasionally cemented by calcareous matter. These rela-
tions prevail for some miles to the north of Newent, the
lower beds of the system overlying a thin zone of coal
measure; but in approaching the Malvern hills, the -sand- |
stones are much more exposed, and the conglomerate near
their base is of greater importance, and of ieuent litholo-
gical composition. In the absence of natural sections, the
presence of the sandstone above the conglomerate (Grés
bigarre), is clearly indicated by the “Rye Sand,” or sandy
loams, which uniformly give a dry agricultural character to
the surface of all the tracts occupied by that member of
the system. Between Huntley and Lynes Place are good
sections of the sandstone arranged in fine-grained, friable,
thickish beds, beds of deep red colours, and containing subor-
dinate irregular courses of a small conglomerate, in which
are fragments of the old red sandstone, and inferior rocks.
Some of these conglomerates are slightly calcareous, others
pass into mere grits, the whole resting upon and thinning
out in light-coloured incoherent sand, and the line of separa-
tion is sometimes defined by the nature of the surface, at
others by sections exhibiting thin patches of coal measures
interpolated between the New and Old Red Sandstones.”
Clear junctions of the New and Old Red Systems are seen
at Hoffield Camp, the first appearing as soft red sandstone,
and the second, of brecciated conglomerate, of a deep red
colour, containing fragments of syenite, varieties of silurian
rocks, quartz rock, and old red sandstone.

“Almost adjoining the sandstone of Black’s Well, and
constituting the southern side of the gorge at Knightsford °
Bridge, through which the Teme escapes from Herefordshire
into the plains of Worcestershire, is a remarkable cliff
called “Rosemary Rock,” the summit of which is about
three hundred and fifty feet above the sea; at this spot the
Old Red and New Red Sandstone are again conterminous,

30 Murchison’s Silurian System.

being separated by only an alluvial meadow. The northern
face of Rosemary Rock is the finest vertical section of the
coarse conglomerate near the base of the New Red, with
which I am acquainted. The fragments vary from a large
size to that of almonds, and are both rounded and angular;
the greater number and largest, consisting of a purple
coloured concretionary trap, hereafter to be described,
which occurs in the hills of Barrow, Woodbury, and Abber-
ley, the northern prolongation of the Malvern ridge. The
other fragments are chiefly referrible to the Silurian System,
and among them are quartz rock, indurated schist, and other
altered rocks. ‘The cement is partly calcareous, with a few
veins of white calcareous spar. Ona hasty inspection, this
rock and others resembling it along this chain of hills,
might be mistaken for the trap rocks, from which they have
been partly derived, but the admixture of fragments of
stratified rocks of the Silurian and Old Red Systems, dis-
tinctly proves its regenerated character. The summits of
those hills lying to the north of the Teme, which are marked
in the map as trap, exhibit on the contrary, no fragments ex-
cept those of a peculiar rock, predomenant in this range
and in the Clent hills.”

At Collins’ Green, conglomerates like those of Rosemary
rock, associated with beds of deep red sandstone, rise to the.
same height as the ridge of silurian rocks, from the flanks of
which they dip 20° to 25° south-east. In this conglomerate
are also many portions of silicefied schist, quartz rock, and
altered silurian rock. The silurian and trap rocks subsiding
to the west of Martley, the New Red Sandstone is again
conterminous with the Old; and with the depression of the
older and intrusive rocks we find a corresponding absence
of coarse conglomerate and trappean fragments ; the deep
coloured thick bedded sandstone of Martley, being nearly
free from all pebbles and foreign fragments. In the north-

Murchison’s Silurian System. 31

western parts of Worcestershire the New Red System begins
to expand; and conglomerates, such as those described,
are partially underlaid by soft red sandstone, both on the
eastern flanks of Walsgrave hill, near the Hundred House,
and at the termination of the Abberley Ridge. Thence
to the north, the boundary line of the New Red Sandstone
comes in contact with the stiff clays and flagstones of
the Old Red, but within two miles of Bewdley it begins
to flank the coal measures; and other examples of the an-
gular, coarse, and trappean conglomerate, or breccia, occur,
the fragments of trap having been derived, it is presumed,
from Stugbury hill. A similar rock is found at Wars Hill,
on the left bank of the Severn, also rising up on the
edge of the lower New Red, where it is bounded by the
Old Red Sandstone, the conglomerate being interposed
between the intrusive rock and the soft sandstone of Kid-
derminster! The same conglomerate, subordinate to, and
winding through masses of thick bedded sandstone, are
instructively displayed at Winterdine, near Bewdley, and
contain fragments of coal measure, grits, and concretionary
trap, both of which rocks being in site adjacent to the con-
glomerate, are of angular forms, whilst the quartz and peb-
bles of older rocks, which have been transported from
greater distance, are rounded. These strata are uncon-
formable to the adjoining sandstone and grits of the coal
measures, and pass beneath the Red Sandstone which forms
the cliffs on the left bank of the Severn, and ranges to the
town of Kidderminster.

“We may therefore proceed to the consideration of the
structure of these tracts where natural sections exposing a
full development of the lower members of the system, exhibit,
besides the calcareous and other conglomerates before describ-
ed, the Lower New Red Sandstone as a great and distinct
subjacent formation of sandstone, marl, and shale, with subor-
dinate courses of impure concretionary limestone, the whole
passing down gradually into the carboniferous system.”

32 Murchison’s Silurian System.

4. Lower New Rep Sanpstone.—Foreign Synonyms:
Rothe-tode liegende (Ger.) Gres des Vosges couches infe-
rieures. (Fr.) .

“When fully developed, asin the tracts of Worcestershire,
Staffordshire, and Shropshire, where I shall now describe
it, this formation differs essentially in lithological struc-
ture from any rocks we have previously considered.
As a mass it may be said to consist of sandstones
and grits, chiefly of a red colour, sometimes argillaceous,
very frequently calcareous, associated with deep brown red
shales and marls, occasionally spotted green. Grains of
whitish, decomposed felspar are frequent in a matrix of
dull red sandstone, iron in various states is here and there
disseminated, and bands of impure concretionary and mottled
limestone re-occur at various levels. ‘Towards the base,
many fragments of impressions of plants appear in beds of
sandstone, which graduate into other and lower strata,
containing thin seams of coal, from which there is a con-
formable descending passage into the true carboniferous
system. In general these rocks contain much argillaceous
matter, which on decomposing gives a striking resemblance
in the surface of the country to those tracts which are
occupied by the Old Red Sandstone; whilst some of
the calcareous bands above mentioned are associated
with hard flagstones. So completely, indeed, do these
bands resemble the cornstone of the Old Red Sand-
stone, that they were formerly described from a part of this
very tract as belonging to that formation. ‘There is now,
however, no doubt respecting their age, since besides their
clear superposition to the coal measures, some of these beds
contain fragments of mountain limestone, and sandstone
with coal plants. This is one of the many proofs (ample
testimony of which will be found throughout this volume,) of
the danger of testing the age of rocks by any peculiarity in
their mineral character, however striking: for the graphic
description of the cornstone of the Old Red Sandstone,

Murchison’s Silurian System. 33

given by Dr. Buckland, is derived from specimens now prov-
ed to belong to the New Red System. I cannot, however,
make this observation without remarking, that the mere
lithological character of many of these beds might still mis-
lead the most practised geologist, if he had not worked out
the relations of all the other rocks of the district.* Upon the
eastern face of the Clent Hills, the Lower New Red appears
as a highly argillaceous Red Sandstone, underlying the chief
bands of calcareous conglomerate of Frankley and Gannow
Green, and dipping away from small patches of coal, on the
north-eastern face of the quartz rock of the Lickey Hills, and
at the southern end of the great Dudley coal-field. There
is distinct proof in both tracts, that the Lower Red Sand-
stone is conformable to, and passes into underlying coal
measures ; but as the latter are of very poor quality, and are
in fact mere layers of carbonaceous matter, they have in most
instances not been wrought ; whilst in others where they have,
the works being abandoned, the relations are but little
known. It is certain, however, that to the east of Rubury
Hill the strata dip to the east at a slight angle, and
pass with apparent conformability beneath the Red Sandstone.
Between Hales-Owen and Hagley, at Wassall Grove and
Lutley, poor coal seams are apparent in natural sections,
forming the lowest portion of this system, or top of the carbo-
niferous strata, and dipping beneath the conglomerate and
Red Sandstone of the St. Kenelms and Clent Hills. Among

the most instructive excavations opened in these rocks, are

* << In my own case, for example, I am bound to acknowledge, that misled by
mineral characters in the first year of my survey, I laid down an adjacent tract
of the Lower New Red as Old Red Sandstone; an error which I only rectified by
‘working out the relations of all the surrounding rocks. Mr. Greenough in the
table of superposition illustrative of his map, has noticed the occurrence of corn-
stones, both in the New and Old Red Sandstone. It may be stated, that the
inhabitants make no distinction between the half-concretionary, half-conglomerate,
ealcareous masses in the New, and those in the Old Red Sandstone. In the coun
try, however, of the Old Red Sandstone, the name of ‘“cornstone’’ is restricted to
the coarse, sandy, conglomerate-like masses, and is never applied to the large con-

rections of purer limestone ”’
F

oF Murchison’s Silurian System.

those of the Quarry Hill, south of Hales-Owen, where
thick bedded, red, gritty sandstones, both soft and hard,
are extracted for troughs, slabs, and building purposes, and
contain irregular thin seams, filled with minute fragments
of coal; whilst lower beds rismg from beneath, pass into
layers of hard grey grit, in parts calcareous, their surfaces
being covered with fragments of coal and impressions of
stems of plants. From these beds there is a gradual passage
into the coal tract of the neighbourhood of Hales-Owen.
At Coleman’s Hill and Hodge Hill, in the same district, there
are other sections, the strata in which, though differing
somewhat in mineral characters, belong to this lower division
of the New Red System; and these also exhibit passages
into the coal measures. At Coleman’s Hill, the upper beds
consist of yellowish, soft, gritty sandstone, containing some
small, calcareous fragments, a few pebbles of quartz, blotches
of red shale, and fragments of sandstone with impressions of
stems of plants! This sandstone graduates into thick
bedded calcareous grit, spotted with bluish grey, black, and
yellow colours, and partially burnt for lime. The spotted
appearance is due to fragments of coaly matter, mixed with
imperfect concretions of crystallized carbonate of lime, and
blotches of ochreous decomposing sandy matter. The sand-
stones of this age occupy a distinct ridge from Hodge Hill
by the Two Gates, to near Hales-Owen. They are for the
most part of a yellow colour, are very cellular, and are not
unlike portions of this part of the system in the county of
Durham, which Professor Sedgwick has identified with the
Rothe-todte-liegende. I allude particularly to the soft, white,
yellow, and red sandstones on the banks of the Wear, at
Clack’s Heugh, &c., near Sunderland. On the sides of the
gullies poor and thin seams of coal are exposed; and one
of them occurring in grey calcareous breccia, similar to that
of Coleman’s Hill, is made up of fragments of coal, sandstone,
schist, and limestone, in a calcareous cement. In the bed of
a brook under Wassall Grove, I observed a seam of this coal

Murchison’s Silurian System. 30

three or four inches thick, overlaid by what may be termed.
a carboniferous cornstone, somewhat resembling that of
Coleman’s Hill, and containing small interspersed fragments
of bitumenized vegetable matter, rounded, and apparently
water-worn, like the pieces of drifted wood seen upon the
sea-coast. The calcareous bed passes upwards into thin
bedded, brownish yellow sandstone, weathering to a reddish
colour, in the fine natural sections seen as we descend.”

“J. Mr. W. Hamilton, then Secretary to the Geological
Society, accompanied me in one of my visits to the district
around Hales-Owen, and he can bear witness to the quantity
of impressions of stems, &c. of plants which we observed in
the strata of the Lower New Red Sandstone. Specimens of
these may be obtained in the Quarry Hill and Coleman’s Hill.
From these hills of yellow sandstones, to the edge of the great
Dudley coal-field, whether from the Windmills and Two
Gates, or from Hodge Hill, we find the following succession—

Ist. Beds of incoherent soft yellow sandstone, with cal-
careous courses, and thin seams and fragments of coal.

2nd. Argillaceous strata, generally red, and of consider-
able thickness.

drd. Sandstone, alternating with a peculiar trap-cuf. This
rock sometimes assumes spheroidal forms, and will be further
described in the chapter on Dudley. It contains quartz, peb-
bles, and fragments of coal plants, is often highly ferruginous,
and passes down into strata containing small concretions of
ironstone.

4th. Calecareous shale with seams of coal, which have
been, and are still worked.”

“It appears, therefore, that between Hagley and Hales-
Owen, there are all the proofs of a Lower New Red Sandstone
distinctly underlying the masses described in the previous
pages, and passing down into carboniferous strata so gradu-
ally, that it is difficult to draw the line of separation, or define
it with any accuracy upon a map. As this Lower New Red
approaches the Clent Hills, it is inclined to the south, and is

36 Murchison's Silurian System.

there surmounted by the calcareous conglomerate or central
and upper strata of the New Red System. At whatever
point we fix the limit between the overlying sandstones and
the coal measures, it must be borne in mind, that the only
carboniferous strata into which these beds graduate in this
immediate neighbourhood, constitute the poor and slightly
productive end of the Dudley field, and that speculations in
search of coal seams, by sinking to. great depths beneath the
Lower New Red in this tract would be quite ruinous,
since we know that the mineral thins out to mere shreds
in its course to the south: further explanations of this
point will be given in the account of the Dudley coal-
field. In following the margin of the great Stafford-
shire coal-field, we invariably find that wherever gravel
and superficial detritus does not obscure the relations
of the strata, a zone of red sandstones, of considerable
thickness, is interposed between the coal and the calcareous’
conglomerate. At the Stand Hills it is a hard, greyish,
partially reddish, and slightly calcareous sandstone, with a
few blotches of yellowish marl, and some veins of white car-
bonate of lime, passing upwards into a pebbly, deep red,
soft sandstone. At the straits between Himley and Turner’s
Hill, it is a thick-bedded, deep red, soft sandstone, in parts
slightly calcareous, full of irregular joints and those numer-
ous transverse striz or lines of false bedding so common in
the New Red Sandstone, with occasional lumps of harder cal-
careous grit. At Sedgely, it is a hard, red, slightly caleare-
ous sandstone, with spots of green passing upwards into red
argillaceous marl. These localities are all on the west side
of the fields, and the strata invariably dip to the west, or
from the underlying coal measures ! On the eastern side of
the coal field these sandstones are much more obscured by
coarse gravel, but in several situations they are seen to be
overlaid by a red calcareous conglomerate, which also dips
away from the coal-field, or to the east. The great thickness
of these lower sandstones has been recently proved by the

Murchison’s Silurian System. 34

spirited undertaking of the Earl of Dartmouth,” already
alluded to, to sink through them for coal. ‘‘ These workings
descended through a variety of red and spotted sandstones,
blotches deep red, and variegated marls, and thick courses of
red calcareous grit, concretions of impure limestone (corn-
stone) and ferruginous deep red, hard, calcareous sand-
stone; the fissures in the rock being sometimes coated with
crystals of coloured pink sulphate of barytes and sulphate of
iron. At my last visit the shafts, then at a depth of two
hundred yards, were passing through a light red micaceous
sandstone, in which blotches of ferruginous marl were mixed
with grains of carbonaceous matter. Some of the layers of this
rock were separated by laminz of black mica ; concretions
of calcareous sandstones as round as cannon balls, occurred at
intervals, and altogether there was so much calcareous matter
as to give the rock a very concretionary aspect. The reader
will perceive that these are the very same strata which overlie
the coal in natural sections at other places, and hence there
could be little difficulty in predicting that coal measures would
be found beneath them, particularly as it is well known that the
coal seams of the adjacent field of Dudley do not deteriorate or
thin out in the vicinity of these works, but are simply faults.
“The existence of the upper beds of coal having been as-
certained by borings carried down to adepth of more than
seven hundred feet below the surface, they (and the lower
beds) have since been reached by sinkings, an account of which
with a full description of the strata passed through, will be
given in the chapter on the Dudley coal-field. In the east-
ern parts of Shropshire, between Enville and Bridgenorth,
the Lower Red Sandstone occupies low terraces and depres-
sions beneath the calcareous conglomerate, and at Shatter-
ford is conterminous with a thin band of coal measures.
The uppermost strata are so very similar to those of the
great mass of rock above the calcareous conglomerate, that
the description of the one may almost serve for that of the
other. Thus, for example, in the cliffs opposite Bridgenorth,

o Murchison’s Silurian System.

and in the mass of rock on which the town itself is built, the
‘beds possess nearly all the characters of the sandstones in
the higher parts of the system, being thick-bedded, soft, of a
deep red colour, and traversed by innumerable lines of false
bedding, which often meet in wedge-like forms.

“‘ T may here remark, that whether considered in its central
or in its lower member there is no system of rocks which
occasionally offers greater difficulties for determining its real
laminze of deposit than the New Red Sandstone. Besides
the joints or fissures, the diagonal lines of false stratifica-
tion are sometimes so prevalent, that it is only by tracing at
wider intervals the true lamine of deposit, as marked by
herbage or moss, that we can correctly ascertain the real
dip of the strata. As these appearances sometimes re-occur
from top to bottom of cliffs two and three hundred feet in
height, and as the intervals between the true beds is often
fifteen or twenty feet, it at first sight does not seem easy to
assign an adequate cause for the accumulation of such a vast
number of interjacent laminz, parallel to each other in se-
parate wedges, yet divergent from the lines of true bedding.
Such appearances are to be found to a certain extent in
rocks of all ages, and however difficult it may be to explain
the precise method by which water can have deposited the
grains of sand in these positions, we have positive evidence
of precisely similar phenomena, not only in young tertiary
deposits like the crag, but also in those accumulations of the
modern era, which having been formed under the sea, have
subsequently been raised up, and occupy low cliffs along
certain parts of the coast of our island.”*

* «¢ See description of a raised beach on the north coast of Devonshire, by the Rev.
Professor Sedgwick, and Mr. Murchison, Geol. Proceed. xi. No. 48. Mr. Lyell has
given an ingenious explanation of the manner in which these transverse lamine
may have been formed by water, in showing how similar inclined planes of sand
are accumulated by wind. Mr. De la Beche also throws light on the origin of
this false bedding, Theoret. Res. in Geol. p. 88.’’ It appears to us unnecessary to
limit the cause of the phenomena alluded to, to the action of water alone; why
might winds not also have been engaged in producing them as they are at present ?
The traveller on the Ganges and Bramaputra has frequent opportunities of ob-
serving the peculiar structure alluded to in sands of many miles in breadth on
either side of the streams.—Ep.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 39

To the south and north of Bridgenorth the lower beds of
New Red, as exposed on both banks of the Severn, are similar
in all respects to those described elsewhere, consisting of
brownish, red, argillaceous and calcareous sandstone, flaglike
calcareous grits, with occasional underlying, slightly red and
yellowish sandstones, not unlike certain coal grits. Before,
however, we take leave of this tract, a little more detail is
called for, respecting the relations of the Lower New Red to
the south of Bridgenorth, where the formation has been
generally confounded with the Old Red Sandstone; though
it is clearly separated on many points from that system by a
zone of coal measures. Such is distinctly seen at Chelmarsh,
where a ridge consisting entirely of the Lower Red Sand-
stone and associated beds of calcareous concretions, overlies
in conformable opposition, and graduates downwards into
strata, containing seams of coal. ‘The descending order on
the western slope of Chelmarsh Common is as follows :—

1. Red Sandstones passing into calcareous conglomerates,
sometimes of concretionary structures.

2. Argillaceous marls and clay, with beds of whitish sand-
stone, occasionally with green grains.

3. First traces of coal measures, viz. dark and grey shale
and light coloured sandstone, with seams of coal, too poor
to be worked.

4. Top coal of this district twenty-two inches thick, the
highest bed in use.

5. Calcareous concretions of grey and green colours,
resembling certain varieties of the cornstone of the Old and
New Systems; a band of this limestone is seen in the bed of
the Borle Brook, dipping under the top coal.

6. Lower coal, two feet six inches thick, with associated
measures, lies at some depth beneath the limestone, but is

not now in work.

All these beds, from the lower coal to the overlying red

40 Murchison’s Silurian System.

and green sandstone with calcareous conglomerate, dip to the
south-east, about four inches in a yard.

This is indisputably one of the clearest natural sections
in the range of the Lower New Red Sandstone, exposing a
passage downwards to the coal measures. As these argilla-
ceous concretions are thus proved to belong to the Lower
New Red Sandstone, we thereby determine the age of other
sandstones, which distinctly overlying them, occur on both
banks of the Severn, at Hagley, Stanley, and Alveley, and
which most geologists, (myself included during my early
examinations of this tract,) erroneously considered to belong
to the Old Red Sandstone. Seeing the inter-stratification of
so many beds of stiff red clay with calcareous concretions
perfectly resembling the true cornstone of the Old Red, and
also beds in which the surfaces are occasionally covered with
large plates of mica, it was difficult to believe that these
rocks did not really belong to that system. By attention,
however, to the relations of these sandstones to the sur-
rounding strata, it becomes clear that they belong to the
New Red System; for besides the proofs of their superposi-
tion in this tract, they may be traced pursuing the same
course, and uniting with the sandstones of Hagley, the Clent
Hills, Hales-Owen, and the strata which surround and
overlie the coal-fields of Coal-Brook Dale and Shrews-
bury.

The Red Sandstone of Alveley, Hagley, and Stanley, which
contains calcareous concretions or cornstones, (several masses
of which are burnt for lime, is a thick-bedded sandstone,
without mica, the lamination frequently marked by purple
stripes, with here and there half-formed, small concretions
of green and red marl. The coarser, or gritty beds are
very largely quarried for grindstones, which are used at
Birmingham in the manufacture of gun barrels. The grind-
stones are not unusually three and a half feet thick, by ten

Murchison's Silurian System. 4]

or twelve in diameter.* These grits are frequently calca-
reous, and are composed chiefly of grains of deep red
quartzose sand, with white specks of decomposed felspar.
Although, therefore, they do not much resemble the ordi-
nary strata of the New Red Sandstone, they are unlike any
beds in the Old Red System. And though it may be diffi-
cult, nay, in some cases impracticable, to distinguish the
calcareous concretions of the one system, from the corn-
stones and limestones of the other, we have a safe guide in
the order of superposition ; and the absence of the fishes,
and organic remains of the Old Red Sandstone, is negative

evidence of some use in assisting the inquirer.

“In subsequent remarks upon the carboniferous deposits of these
tracts, it will be explained how the coal measures which appear in
patches in the bed and banks of the Severn, have been brought to light
from beneath this cover of the Lower New Red Sandstone. This
member of the system is developed on both banks of the Severn, north
of Bridgenorth, or between that town and Madeley, leaving no doubt of
its age since it is seen overlying, and dipping away from a thin zone of
coal at Tasley and Coughley; and where some of the harder courses also
contain calcareous sandstones.

A most instructive transverse section can also be made by passing
from the high terrace of Apley to the lower ridges, in which are situated
the park and house of Mr. Whitmore. The change observed in passing
from the fine sandy and loamy soil of the upper and middle portion, to-
the cold argillaceous surface of the lower division of the system, is quite
as marked, as the contrast between the agricultural surface of the New
and Old Red Sandstones, where those systems are brought together in
Gloucestershire and parts of Worcestershire. So complete is the resem-
blance between this lower member of the New Red and the Old Red
Sandstone itself, that I confess it was only the clear order of superposi-
tion which convinced me, that this zone of sandstone and clay really
formed part of the younger system. Near Apley Park Lodge, quarries

* “The stone was also formerly much extracted for the furnace hearths of

blast-houses, but experience has taught the iron-masters, that many other sandstones
are equally serviceable for that purpose. The coarser beds contain small fragments
and concretions of marl. They are also used as building stones.”’

G

42 Murchison’s Silurian System.

have been opened in this rock to the depth of thirty feet, exposing a
hard greenish and deep red sandstone, in parts calcareous, in others
slightly concretionary and conglomerated, the whole subordinate to
stiff red, argillaceous marl or shale. Here, as at Cantern Bank, near
Tasley, the beds lie conformably upon the coal strata, a band of which
appears below in the bed of the Severn, while the superior face of the
red rock dips beneath the overlying conglomerate of Apley Terrace.
As Mr. J. Prestwich, to whose labours in this coal-field I shall have
occasion to allude hereafter, has discovered plants in these Lower Red
Sandstones, the analogy to strata of similar age near Hales-Owen,
Hagley, Shrewsbury, and other places is complete.

“ On following this rock to Coal-Port Bank, we there see it exhibited
in deep vertical sections. Thick and thin bedded, red, argillaceous sand-
stones, yellowish and greenish grits, occasionally calcareous, with way-
boards of argillaceous marl, constitute the upper cliff, dipping to the
east 10° under an argillaceous cover, and resting upon thick bedded red
sandstone, having a slight tendency to conglomerate structure. The
other varieties of this rock contain rounded grains of quartz, and white
specks, probably of decomposed felspar, with little iron pyrites in a
calcareous paste, together with bands of coarse-grained, pebbly grit, and
specks of chlorite, in a cement of white crystallized carbonate of lime.
Some of the calcareous grits enclose concretions of green and red marl,
thus resembling the impure cornstones of the Old Red Sandstone. Between
Coal-Port and Madeley this sandstone is affected by powerful faults, to
the chief of which I shall advert in a subsequent chapter; it being
enough for my present purpose to state, that along the boundary of
this field, as in Staffordshire, great dislocations equally affect the carbo-
niferous strata and the Lower New Red Sandstone!* A transverse
section from Sturchley to Shifnal, across Nedge Hill, like those previ-
ously cited, exposes sandstones and flaggy grits, both green and red,
and thin courses of slightly calcareous conglomerates and flagstones,
associated with much argillaceous marl; the whole passing beneath the
younger group of Shifnal, &c. The country around Shifnal, Sheriff-
Hales, and Crackley Bank, is covered with the quartz pebbles of the
disintegrated conglomerate, beneath which a dark coloured, finely

laminated, soft sandstone is seen at intervals; but these beds, as well as

* These are all elaborately described by Mr. J. Prestwich, in whose Memoir,
preparing for publication in the Geological Transactions, will be found valuable
details of the dislocations of the carboniferous and associated strata in this vicinity.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 43

all those situated midway between Bridgenorth and Wolverhampton,
and occupying points intermediate between the coal-fields of Staffordshire
and Coal-Brook Dale, belong rather to the overlying or great central
mass of sandstone. At Lilleshall, the same instructive section as that
from Nedge Hill to Shifnal is repeated, with still greater clearness and
fuller development. In the slopes of the hills below the terrace on
which Lilleshall House is built, are stiff, argillaceous beds, which pro-
duce a cold and unmanagable soil. Other sandy beds, on the contrary,
are quite incoherent and very largely micaceous, a rare feature in
the supracarbonaceous strata. At Lilleshall Abbey, the lowest strata
apparent on the surface are thick-bedded, light brownish sandstones.

“ The junction of these with the underlying coal has never yet been
ascertained, but there can exist no doubt of these being the true beds
of passage into the carboniferous system. Portions of this sandstone
are seen at one or two points along the northern flank of the Ketley
portion of this coal-field, and they follow the outline of the promontories
of the trap and silurian rocks near Wellington, but are for the most part
in an incoherent and decomposed state, and the district is also much
obscured by gravel. The Lower Red Sandstone reappears at Woxeter,
Preston-Boats,* Shrewsbury, and other places on the banks of the Severn.

It dips away in slightly inclined masses from various small patches
of coal at Pitchford and Uffington; also near Longnor, where the coal-
bearing strata of Le Botwood pass gently beneath the red strata of
Condover and Stapleton. In that district these red sandstones enter
deeply into the recesses of the bays, or denudations which have been
formed at the north-eastern extremities of the Cambrian rocks, in many
situations resting directly upon their vertical or highly inclined strata ;
while in others, as in various hollows near Cound and Pitchford, they
are separated from the old rocks by thin patches and broken zones of
coal. In all such positions, even at the north-western end of the Lowley

* At Preston-Boats, the upper part of the old quarries exposes thin bedded,
hard, slightly calcareous beds, with small concretions of dark green impure lime-
stone, closely resembling certain cornstones of the Old Red Sandstone. In the
lower part of the quarry the beds become thicker, and consist of sandstones of deep
red colour, with a few blotches of marl. It is from beds of this age, that the Abbey
Castle, and many ancient buildings of Shrewsbury have been constructed. Though
I have looked in vain for any trace of organic remains in these calcareous beds, we
should never despair of such a discovery, when we recollect for how long a period
the existence of organic remains was unknown in beds of similar structure in the
Old Red Sandstone.

44 Murchison’s Silurian System.

and Caradoc ridge, these sandstones where not obscured by coarse
drifted gravel, are soft thick bedded building stones, usually lying in
slightly inclined strata. In a quarry at Condover, about thirty feet of
these beds dipping very slightly to the north-east, are arranged in the
following descending order.-—-

1. Gravel; 2. Thin-bedded Sandstone ; 3. Red, argillaceous Marl ;
4. Sandstone; 5. Argillaceous Marl as above; 6. Sandstone; 7. Marls as
above; 8. Thick bedded Sandstone.”’

Numerous other details are given from various districts
showing the connection of the lower beds of New Sandstone
with the coal measures and the older rocks; frequent impres-
sions and fragments of coal plants have been discovered in
the beds which form a covering to coal-bearing strata; many
of the impressions of plants are in an imperfect condition, but
Professor Lindley had no hesitation in referring them to the
carboniferous epoch. In coal-fields the junction of the New
Red Sandstone with the coal-bearing strata is often obscured
by superficial detritus, but where the rock is laid open it is
sometimes a dark red, soft, thin-bedded sandstone, made up
of black and white grains, in a thin paste, with a few harder
concretions and some blotches of red marl; at other times it
is harder, more siliceous, and intractable. Sometimes the
dolomitic conglomerate, the red sandstone, and the coal
beneath it are found resting upon the inclined edges of the
Silurian rocks. In the western extremity of Shropshire
the lower new red sandstone is directly superposed to the
coal measures and the new pits at Drillt, to the east of Os-
westry red sandstone marl and shale have been penetrated
to a depth of 100 yards before the first traces of coal mea-
sures were perceived, when after passing through several
layers of impure carbonaceous matter the usual coal seams
of the Oswestry field were reached, and are now largely
worked.

The following is a recapitulation of the different groups
composing the New Red System in the districts examined
by Mr. Murchison.

1. Saliferous and gypseous marls with beds of sandstone,

Murchison’s Silurian System. 45

constituting together the equivalent of the ‘‘ Keuper” forma-
tion of the continent.

2. Sandstone and quartzose conglomerates, representing
the Bunter Sandstein and Grés Bigarre.

3. Calcareous conglomerate, equivalent to the dolomitic
conglomerate of the south-west, and the magnesian limestone
of the north-east of England, shown by Professor Sedgwick to
be the representative of rocks known in Germany under the
names of Zechstein, Rauchwacke, &c.

4. The lower New Red Sandstone, overlying the coal-fields
of Staffordshire and Shropshire, equivalent to the Rothe-todte-
liegende, and probably the lower beds of the Grés des vosges.

Mr. Murchison concludes his account of the New Red
System by observing, that a practical acquaintance with its
lower beds “is of vast national importance; for as these
sandstones are now proved to graduate into the coal mea-
sures, we need not despair of eventually finding some of
the most valuable coal seams of the central counties ex-
tending beneath them.” It is unnecessary to remind the
reader of the importance of determining the nature and
character of the vast tracts composed of sandstones on all
sides of the great alluvial plains of India; and whether these
rocks belong to the Old Red or the New Red Systems, or
to both, considering the importance of this subject in re-
gard to India, we are satisfied that Mr. Murchison’s work
affords by far the best examples of the peculiarities of these
rocks, and of the methods for conducting our researches
towards the discovery of their equivalent types in India;
we shall therefore continue to follow him through the course
of investigation he has pursued, and endeavour to exhibit the
results of his researches in future numbers of our Journal.
We may thus put the India geologist in possession of details
and examples of the manner in which his inquiries may be
conducted with effect, no where to be found but in the
work of Mr. Murchison, which from its size and price could
not have a very general circulation in India.

46 Murchison’s Silurian System.

With regard to the purely scientific part of the de-
tails given by Mr. Murchison on the subject of the New
Red Sandstone, that author observes, that his inquiries may

“lead geologists to modify their previous theoretical views respecting
the relations of the coal measures to the overlying rocks, founded on
what must now be considered local phenomena, observed chiefly in the
Bristol district and south-western parts of England; where because
the New Red Sandstone reposes unconformably upon the carboniferous
strata the belief became prevalent, that this arrangement was indicative
of a general rupture, subsequent to the accumulation of the coal mea-
sures, and anterior to the deposition of the magnesian limestone and
conglomerate. That such, however, has not been generally the case,
has been established with regard to the north of England, by the
writings of Professor Sedgwick; and the preceding facts teach us the
same lesson in respect to the central counties: for it is clearly demon-
strated, that beds of the age of the dolomitic conglomerate are there
separated from those of the carboniferous system by an unbroken suc-
cession of intermediate strata of vast thickness, of which there are few
or no traces in the south-western parts of the island.

“ Notwithstanding, however, the distinctions which have been drawn
between the different members of the New Red System in the central
counties, a question it is feared might still arise among foreign readers,
concerning the true equivalent of the Rothe-todte-legende : for as most
continental geologists conceive that formation to be essentially connect-
ed with porphyritic and other rocks of igneous origin, they can scarcely
peruse the description of the trappean conglomerate without supposing
that those masses may represent the German deposit. If, however, we
are to understand the foreign synonym to express a series of strata,
elaborated in such a manner, as in some cases completely to connect
the carboniferous and overlying system; then it is clear we must consi-
der the Lower New Red Sandstone to be its true and full equivalent,
even should it not contain a single pebble of trap. That it contains few
or no fragments of trap in the north of England, has already been prov-
ed by Professor Sedgwick, and the same fact is now established in the
central counties. Whilst, on the other hand, the great trappean conglo-
merates have been shown to overlie this equivalent of the Rothe-
todte-liegende, and to be on the same parallel with the dolomitic conglo-
merate. Referring to former opinions on this point, Professor Sedgwick
has well observed, ‘In comparing the Bristol and Exeter conglomerates

Murchison’'s Silurian System. 4G

with the Rothe-todte-liegende, our geologists made use of the best
evidence with which they were acquainted. But the New Red Sandstone
group is now better understood ; and in future comparison with conti-
nental deposits of the same age, we should use as our types those sec-
tions which are most complete, instead of the Bristol or Exeter overlying
groups, in which more than one half of the series is absolutely wanting.

“The trappean ridges of Malvern, Abberley, and Clent, will be described
in the sequel; but in the mean time it may be observed, that as the red
conglomerates on their flanks contain angular and rounded fragments
of the trap composing those hills, the rocks from which such debris was
derived must have been in existence before the conglomerate was form-
ed. Now, the rupture between the New Red Sandstone and the car-
boniferous deposits, as marked by the dislocations along the line of the
Abberley Hills, would certainly lead us to suppose, that the eruptions
which gave rise to these hills took place, either during the accumulation
of the upper coal measures, or of the Lower New Red Sandstone; for,
without anticipating explanations which are to follow in the ensuing
chapter, it may be asserted, that nothing is more consistent with mo-
dern and ancient analogies, than that such volcanic eruptions should
have been mere local phenomena, which in the tracts where they
prevailed (Devon, Abberley, Clent, &c.) may have occupied the place of
the Lower New Red Sandstone, by interfering with its deposition, while
in the tracts not visited by these outbursts, the formation would natu-
rally be fully developed, and would there exhibit the unbroken con-
nexion between the New Red and Carboniferous Systems which has been

detailed in the previous pages.”

Before going into the description of the coal measures,
Mr. Murchison devotes a chapter to Trap Rocks. Ninety
years have scarcely elapsed, he observes, since two French
academicians collecting plants among the hills of central
France, were astonished by discovering numerous cavities
resembling the craters of volcanoes. From the lips of these
cavities currents of lava, as fresh in aspect as if they had
flowed yesterday, were traceable into the neighbouring val-
lies, following their sinuosities and stopping their ancient
water-courses, and moulding themselves into the inequali-

ties of the actual surface. To complete the analogy with

48 Murchison’s Silurian System.

active volcanoes, most of the mineral substances composing
these lava currents were found to be similar to those of Vesu-
vius and Etna. When M. Guettard, one of the naturalists,
first announced these discoveries, so unwilling were men of
science to believe im phenomena of which neither history
nor tradition had preserved a record, that scepticism long pre-
vailed. More recent discoveries in Iceland, South America,
and Asia Minor have brought to notice all the evidence
that can be required to convince us not only of the similarity
of modern and ancient volcanic eruptions, says Mr. Murchi-
son; but also of the great extent to which such phenomena
have prevailed. ‘‘ But Auvergne is not merely replete with
analogies of modern volcanic regions, it was further found
to contain many rocks which though from their characters
must have been formed from igneous agency, are yet
in many lithological features dissimilar from modern lavas,
whilst they resemble many of the so-called trap rocks”; thus
a succession of periods of eruptions and of long intervals of
repose have impressed on the various currents of lava and
deposits from lakes and rivers, which in a succession of beds
occur in central France, such character as to enable the in-
quirer to carry backward his researches from the connecting
links of existing phenomena, into volcanic operations of high
antiquity.

Mr. Murchison adduces the instance of Graham’s island on
the coast of Sicily, to prove the vast influence of volcanic agen-
cy and the manner in which the results are modified by the
sea under our own observation Soundings had proved the sea
to be 600 feet deep where the island rose to an elevation
of 200 feet above the sea, measuring three miles in circum-
ference; yet in three months from its first emergence it
again disappeared, and a year after, when the spot was survey-
ed, a dangerous reef, eleven feet under water, was all that
remained. Thus Mr. Murchison concludes that volcanic

Murchison’s Silurian System. | 49

~ eruptions to the extent to which they must have existed in
the early history of the planet could not have occurred
without producing striking changes in physical geography.
The volcano and the earthquake are said by Mr. Murchi-
son to be, the one a “ safety valve” by which heated matter
escapes at intervals from the interior, the other is the shock
which lacerates the earth when the heated matter and its
vapour is denied an access, and the task of the geologist is to
read off the proofs of successive eruptions amidst the ruins they
occasion.* Mr. Murchison then alludes to the observations
of Hutton, Playfair, Hall, and others, to prove that syenites,
porphyries, green stone, clink stone, and basalts are of
igneous origin, but as this is now pretty generally allowed,
we may pass over this part of the work. Mr. Murchison how-
ever adduces numerous circumstances, the result of his own
researches, to prove that the basalts which have overflowed
and dislocated the coal-fields must have been erupted sub-
sequently to the period of the New Red Sandstone, while
other great epochs of disturbance took place anterior to the
deposit of the Old Red and Carboniferous rocks. The
types of the Silurian system and the associated volcanic
* To afford an illustration of the manner in which geologists estimate the anti-
quity of rocks; let us suppose that fishes were buried in the ruins or debris of
Graham’s island, when the light materials of which it was composed, were scat-
tered over the bottom of the sea, by the violence of currents. If by some future
convulsion, that part of the sea should be raised up so as to compose dry land, and
so many ages to elapse as to destroy all record of the change, except such as the
remains of fishes imbedded in the rocks would afford, of the latter having been form-
ed beneath the sea ; the future geologist would then institute a comparison between
the remains of the fishes, and such species as might live in his day; if he found
them correspond, he would conclude the change from sea to land to have been
comparatively recent, but if many of the fossils presented the characters of
species unknown in his day as inhabitants of any part of the globe, he would con-
clude that they belonged to forms that have become extinct, and from all he could
gather regarding the period of duration assigned to species, he would form his
calculations as to the period in the earth’s history at which Graham’s island was

overthrown.—Ep.
H

50 Murchison’s Silurian System.

rocks have remained, says Mr. Murchison, so clear, that the
geologist has in them a record never to be mistaken. Thus
Professor Sedgwick has pointed out bands of prophyry
interstratified with slates, the whole of which have been
subsequently pierced by other intrusive masses of igneous
origin, thus evincing two widely different periods of igneous

action.
[To be continued. ]

Dr. Wicut’s Illustrations of Indian Botany.

We have recently received the xuith No. of the “ Illus-
trations of Indian Botany,” by Dr. Wight, and the x1ith and
xIvth Nos. of “Icones Plantarum Indiz Orientalis.” The
object of these works is, as our readers are aware, to supply
the means of reference to the student in Indian Botany at
the cheapest possible rate, consistently with due accuracy of
the plates, which are necessarily very numerous.

The first is intended, as the author expresses it, to ex-
plain the principles of grouping plants according to their
natural affinities, and illustrating these by figures of each
group. The second is intended to afford figures of Indian
plants described in the author’s ‘‘ Prodromus Florez Peninsulz
Ind. Orientali,” an octavo work in two volumes, containing
more information on the subject of Indian Botany than all the
costly quarto, atlas, and folio volumes that have been hitherto
published, with this additional advantage—that it may be had
for ten rupees. Even the “Icones” intended to illustrate the
** Prodromus” appears in monthly numbers, each containing
ten quarto plates, lithographed under the author’s eye for one
or two rupees. 'The grand object being to give to India, so
far as the limited resources of a private individual will permit,
that which England has so long enjoyed in “‘ Smith’s English
Botany,”—a standard work of reference, at the lowest possi-
ble price.

With the “ Prodromus” and the two works now in course of
publication, the student would be in possession of a botanical

Wight’s Illustrations of Indian Botany. 51

library which would only require the addition of “ Roxburgh’s
Flora Indica” to be nearly complete. ‘The cost of the four
books in question would we.think hardly exceed 50 rupees,
while they might all be packed in a writing desk of ordinary
dimensions; so that whoever desires to make himself acquaint-
ed with Indian plants in India, where the knowledge is of
most consequence, must be indebted to Dr. Wight for the
means of accomplishing his object. We regret to see a list
of subscribers to the “‘Icones” short of one hundred, even
including the 50 copies taken by the Madras Government.
This is perhaps owing to those only subscribing who have
the author’s “ Prodromus,” but surely there is no reason
why we might not all have that work, while we could adduce
a thousand reasons to prove its value to every one desirous
of making himself acquainted with the plants of this country.
Even without the ‘‘ Prodromus” we can conceive the “ Icones”
would be highly useful, as with every number there is a
closely printed quarto page or two, containing the characters
of all the species figured.

In the present number of the “Illustrations” the author
finishes the Leguminose and reviews the Rosacee, Salica-
rié, Rhizophoree, Combretacee, Memecylee, and Melasto-
mace, &c. pointing out whatever of importance in their uses,
or peculiar in their structure, that has fallen under his
observations. ‘To this number we also find a preface
and introduction attached. In the first of these the author
points out the object of the work, and offers some judi-
cious observations on the advantage of the natural, over
the artificial arrangememt of plants: and in the second, the
author shows what the natural arrangement is at present in
regard to Botany. On this subject we are scarcely entitled
to form an opinion, but we congratulate Dr. Wight on his
successful labours in the investigation of natural affinities,
and trust that the support which the works in which he is
now engaged will meet within India, may promote his for-
tune as much as they are sure to raise him in the respect

52 Wight’s Illustrations of Indian Botany.

and esteem of scientific men. We regret to observe sub-
scribers are but few from this part of India, which we trust
has been from some oversight, as we are acquainted with
no books that ought to have a wider circulation in India,
whether we regard the subject, the manner in which it is
treated, or the claims of the author.

Meteorological Observations. By Mr. J. M‘CLeLianp.

During the hot weather in all parts of India that we
have been in, subject to the influence of westerly winds,
there is a remarkable haze which lasts from April till the
rains set in about June. We have heard it ascrfbed to an
electric state of the atmosphere by some, and by others to
an unknown condition of the air indicative of sickness and
approaching famine, especially if unusually intense or long
continued.

The great fault of most persons in interpreting phenomena
of this nature is, that they look too far for their causes.
Heat and dryness may be favourable circumstances for the
development of electric phenomena, but that the atmosphere
is more charged with electric fluids during the hot weather
than at other seasons, or that such is the cause of the haze,
we have as little reason for supposing as. we have in ascrib-
ing to it any mysterious influence over either our health, or
the fecundity of the earth.

It is solely attributable to the high temperature of the
air, and the geological structure of the tracts over which the
prevailing winds pass, as is proved by the earthy precipitate
from the atmosphere, which takes place at night, when the
winds subside.*

After the first fall of rain, the peculiar effects above
noticed disappear, the rain is ushered in with storms of
thunder and wind, and the quantity that falls during the suc-
ceeding three months is never less than 25 inches, and often as

* Inquiries in Kemaon, page

Meteorological Observations. 53

much as 38 inches in the plains. In districts along the base of
the mountain ranges on the Malabar and Malay Coasts, as
well as along the whole North-eastern frontier, the fall of
rain is greater, although the lower strata of air in which we
live in Bengal is far more saturated than in districts where
the fall of rain is greater. We cannot therefore calculate
by means of rain-guages and other similar means, how the
condition of a climate in regard to moisture affects its salu-
brity, and hence much of the mystery malaria presents to us.
It may indeed be questioned, whether excessive humidity
in low flat countries is not itself sufficient to develop similar
effects on the constitution of man to those we refer to mala-
ria, without resorting to any more active or mysterious
agency. In India, it is after inundations and rains subside,
that intermittents most prevail ; is this universal? if not, what
are the circumstances of exceptions? But let us satisfy our-
selves that humidity itself is not the cause of intermittents,
before we go further and ascribe them to more subtile agency.
It would be very easy to argue one way or other on such a
question, but we ought to discard opinions, and even all evi-
dences short of direct inferences from such facts as are not
opposed to other facts. We cannot gain a knowledge of
the operations of natural causes without being acquainted
with nature, and recording the results of observations as we
advance. ‘The investigation of the causes of endemic dis-
eases and the physical effects of climate on the human con-
stitution, is one of the most beneficent and profound subjects
of inquiry; and though it concerns us more than any other
question in which the mind can engage, yet it ever has been,
and ever will be, more neglected than other subjects, simply
because those who are most competent, have least leisure to
investigate it; and it is unfortunately considered by philoso-
phers to be exclusively the province of the physician, to whom
they are consequently too much disposed to leave it.

The phenomenon of mists in Bengal depends on two
causes; and the season during which they are liable to

54 Meteorological Observations.

occur, is from the end of November to the beginning of
April. The mists of November and December depend on
different causes from those that give rise to the fogs of
February and March. The first arise from the peculiar in-
fluence of radiation, and the second from diurnal variations
in the winds.

During the day the surface absorbs heat from the clear
rays of the sun in proportion to the degree of moisture con-
tained on it. If the surface be arid, the absorption of heat
will be great under the action. of the sun’s rays, but when
these are withdrawn, the radiation and cooling will be
equally rapid and great; hence the diurnal variations of dry
sandy tracts, as the desert of Scind, will necessarily be
great, but here the atmosphere and the surface are both dry
together. In Bengal, on the other hand, where a larger pro-
portion of the surface is covered with water and vegetation,
the moisture of the air is greater and the dew-point conse-
quently lower, and wherever this last happens to come with-
in the sphere of diurnal variation, precipitation must take
place.* Since the extremes between the lowest and highest
diurnal temperature is greater on clear open spaces than in
forests, it is in the former we commonly perceive a thin
horizontal stratum of vapour suspended of a morning at sun-
rise over the surface.

Fogs, on the other hand, are more general, and arise
from diurnal changes of the wind. ‘The south-west monsoon
generally sets in as a southerly wind about the beginning of
March or the middle of February; it is naturally moist, and
blows steadily during the day, when the temperature of the
air, and consequently its capacity for moisture is greatest, sub-
siding gradually after night-fall; from this hour till sun-rise
temperature gradually diminishes, and we find every thing en-
veloped in fog. Night fogs which are not uncommon about
the change of the monsoon, when the winds are variable,

* The.diurnal variation in Calcutta during the N.E. monsoon amounts to as
much as 30°.

Meteorological Observations. 55

may be explained in the same way; the only difference is,
that the necessary cooling before a fog can take place, is
occasioned in this case by a light northerly wind of suffici-
ently low temperature setting in at night-fall, producing the
same effect as radiation in reducing the temperature of the
atmosphere.

Fogs during the day in the plains of India rarely happen,
because the temperature of the atmosphere at the surface is
such as to raise the dew-point above the influence of ordi-
nary changes of temperature.

The diurnal variation of temperature in Calcutta during
the north-east monsoon amounts to 30° Fahr. and the dense
mists which float along the surface about sun-rise may
be ascribed to the absorption of more moisture into the
atmosphere from low tracts during the day when the tempe-
rature is highest, than can be held in an invisible form at
sun-rise when the temperature is lowest, while these causes,
together with others dependent on the state of the pre-
vailing winds occasion mists.

Such changes are however only observed in the open
air. In houses the variation of temperature is checked to
within a range of 10° Fahr. and where houses closely
adjoin each other, their effect is communicated to the open
air so as to prevent the formation of mists and fogs in their
immediate vicinity. In removing a thermometer from our
house to the open air beyond its influence at sun-rise, we
have found the mercury suddenly fall from 75° to 64° or from
64° to 50°, according to the season. It is only such houses
as are built of brick or stone that display this effect in
resisting diurnal extremes of temperature in Bengal. For-
est trees however have a similar effect but in a minor degree,
a fact the recollection of which might be useful in forming
new stations where houses of the best description cannot be
built at once, and fine forest trees often occur.

The diseases here most common to man during each
of the three seasons, may be stated to be fevers during

56 Meteorological Observations.

the rains, visceral and organic diseases in the cold, and
epidemics during the hot months. The greatest proportion of
sickness is probably during the rains, that of death during
the cold months; cholera however has for the last three
years been a regular attendant on the accession of hot wea-
ther. It is easy to see from the few facts thus thrown
loosely together how much the study of meteorology, when
directed to the natural history of the atmosphere might
improve our knowledge of diseases. We know so little of
the influence of external nature over the animal economy
that we cannot be surprised that our knowledge of the
cause of disease should remain nearly stationary, and that
what we announce as discoveries to-day should be upset
by some new opinion to-morrow. The difficulty is to make
people sensible of the necessity of feeling their way with
a view to the elucidatiun of some specific point.

Remarks on an undescribed species of Civet. By Mr. J.
M‘CLELLAND.

The zoologist has no greater difficulty to encounter in the
mere descriptive part of his duty than in drawing just con-
clusions as to the specific value of characters in animals nearly
allied to each other, and there is nothing of more impor-
tance to know, than the amount of variation nature is capable
of assuming in a single form, and the circumstances to which
such variations are due.

We should not generally lay any great stress on slight
shades of difference in colour, but there are some groups
in which the distribution of particular spots and markings
on the external covering is of much more importance
than in others. In the Fere, or Cats, for instance, as well as
in their corresponding types throughout the animal kingdom,
we often observe each species distinguished not merely by
the number, size, and colour of spots, but by the particular
forms these assume on various parts of the body. It is”

Remarks on an undescribed species of Crvet. 57

curious also to observe this law of zsographism, if we may
use such ar expression, the more constant in those species
whose form and habits approach nearest to each other, and
which it would consequently be most difficult to distinguish
but for the constancy of some peculiar marks. Until
the time of Buffon, the difference between the Civet
and the Zibeth was unobserved, both being of nearly the
same form and colour, but the number of dark marks on the
tail being different in the two, might have earlier led to
a comparison of the number and form of the vertebral bones
of which the organ is constructed, when a difference we may
presume would have been detected that could only be
accounted for by the ordinary laws of variation in animals
of distinct species. Strange to say, however, that long after
the difference between the animals in question had been first
suggested, naturalists preferred dealing in opinions to search-
ing for facts; and so slow is the discovery of truth, that it
required some thirty years to reconcile naturalists to what
they had been unaccustomed to suppose in this instance.

The Civet ( Viverra civetta ) is most abundant in the hottest
parts of Africa and in Abyssinia, where the animal is reared
and an extensive trade carried on in cévet, a peculiar odori-
ferous substance like musk, once veg) fashionable in medi-
cine, and also as a perfume.

The Zibeth ( Viverra zibetta ) has been found in the Philip-
pine Islands, from whence the animal figured and described
by M. F. Cuvier seems to have been brought; but it is said
also to belong to India, but on what authority I have not
the means of ascertaining.

Colonel Sykes found Viverra rasse, Horsf. in the woods of
the table lands east of the western ghauts,* and V. indica, a
very nearly allied species tothe latter, in the forests of the
western ghauts. More recently Mr. Hodgson of Nipal men-
tions both these species as inhabitants of the Tarai.; The
species figured in Hardwicke’s Illustrations as Viverra ben-

* Proc. Zool. Soc. 14th Feb., 1832. ¢ lb. Proc. 26th Aug. 1834.
I

58 Remarks on an undescribed species of Civet.

galensis, Gray, seems to be V. indica, Geof. It appears
probable therefore that naturalists have fallen into a mistake
in supposing V. ztbetta to be an inhabitant of India, i. e. Hin-
dustan, and we shall probably be able to account for the
manner in which the error, if it be one, has arisen.

In a collection of about 200 animals of different kinds re-
cently formed by the plant collectors employed by our friend
Mr. Griffith m the Kasyah mountains, is an animal which
corresponds partly with V. z¢betta, Gm. in the distribution
of colour and size, but it has a shorter tail with only six
complete broad black rings, and a broad black band passing
below under the throat in addition to two black stripes
on either side of the neck. As this animal corresponds
nearly with the colour of the Zibeth, and is of the same size
and form, we may presume that it has been supposed to be
the same species. Without attempting to describe this
animal fully, we beg to offer a few more remarks regarding
its peculiarities.

Throat white, with black band passing from the ear back-
wards under the neck, a second interrupted black band on
the side of the neck, and a third passing along either side of
the nape and descending in front of the shoulder with a
black streak along the spine, forming a short mane. There
are six broad black rings encircling the tail. Head grey,
with a dark spot on the base of the outer side of the external
ear, general colour grey, darker above than below. The sides
are streaked transversely, the streaks longitudinal on the
hind quarters and shoulders, becoming closer and darker
on the limbs, which are nearly black. The length of the
tail is thirteen inches, length from the tail to the snout
two feet nine inches. Height about thirteen and a half
inches.

The tail of this animal is about the same length as that of
V. civetta, but the black rings which surround it are broad-
er, and this last peculiarity also removes it still farther
from V. sibetta; in which the rings on the tail are more

Remarks on an undescribed species of Cwet. 59

numerous and incomplete. It also differs from V. civetta,
in having a white throat, and from V. ztbetta, in the neck
being crossed below by a black band. Should it prove a
new species, as we have no doubt it will, we trust that its
name may be connected with that of the distinguished
botanist to whose liberality we are indebted for the first
knowledge of its existence; and who, while employed himself
in one extremity of India, can find means for supporting,
and time for organising establishments for collecting natural
productions in another.

The different animals of the Civet kind are in India called
Catas ; there is one in Bengal, probably V. indica, Geof.,
which is very common, and has been known even to enter
houses in Calcutta at night in search of poultry. A few
months ago an instance of the kind occurred in a house
surrounded by a high wall, and in which there were several
dogs. ‘The Catas on finding itself pursued, entered a large
pond, and appeared to rely with much confidence on its
dexterity in the water for its safety.

On two undescribed species of Skate, or Raide. By Mr. J.
M‘CLELLAND.

We are acquainted with five species of Ratde inhabiting
the waters of Bengal, though nothing seems to have been
written about them. Buchanan describes one, Rata sancur,
without a caudal sting or spine; it ascends in the Ganges, he
observes, as high as Cawnpore, and attains a great size; I
have not yet met with the species alluded to by this author.
I am therefore much inclined to suspect it to be the
Wolga tenkee of Russel, a species whose tail is armed with
a spine, but from the estimation in which this is held by
the Hindus as a charm, it is generally removed before the
fish is brought to market; should this conjecture prove cor-
rect with regard to Buchanan’s species, it may become
doubtful whether any species of stingless Rais ( Anacanthus

60 On two undescribed species of Skate, or Raida.

Ehrenb.), inhabits India. Russel describes ten species, of
which we have three in Bengal, namely, the Tenkee kunsul,
Russ. Isacurra tenkee, id. and the Wolga tenkee, id. The
following are two additional species to the three we have
just mentioned, which all belong to Bengal.

Myuiozatis Dumer.

Mytio. Macroptera, J. M. t. 11. f. 1.

A Myliobatis with an elongated depressed oval snout; the
breadth of the body and pectorals equal to twice its length, and
the length of the ventral fins at either side of the insertion of
the tail equal to a third length of the body. Tail equal in length
to twice the breadth of the body and pectorals. Dorsal placed
at the base of the tail, and in front of a narrow pointed sting.

Trycon ApDANs.
Trycon Varircatus, J. M. t. 11. f. 2.
A Trygon with the upper surface of the body variegated like
- tortoise-shell, and covered with osseous tubercles, with one large
tubercle on the back, and a serrated sting on the upper third of
the tail; the tail is slender, without a fin, and equal to thrice the
length of the body. Its breadth is about twenty inches. This is
a very beautiful species, and is found in the Salt-Water Lake near
Calcutta.

The first belongs to the singular group of Skates called
Sea-Eagles, and is a good deal like the figure given in
Hardwicke’s Illustrations of Indian Zoology as Myliobatis
maculatus, but the dorsal and ventral fins which are placed
at the base of the tail are short and rounded, while in the
species here described they are longer and angular.

The second is a very beautiful Trygon, or Sting-ray, of
which we can find no account in authors, we have therefore
described it as a new species.

Description oF Puare. II.

Fic. 1.---Mytiopatis Macrortera; 1. a. Lower part of the head;
1. b. lower view of the ventrals and base of the tail.

Fic. 2.---2, a front view of the head, shewing the altitude and
breadth of the body; 2. b. lower part of the head; 2. ec. lower
part of the body ; 2. d. the osseous tubercles on the centre of the
back, natural size.

ol

Desiderata in the Entomology of India. By the Rev. ¥. W.
Horr, F.R.S. &c. privately furnished to Dr. Cantor,
who has requested us to give them publicity.

1.—Parasites of Birds, Lice, (Nzrmz). Parasites of Reptilia
(Acari) the name of the genus and species should be given
on which they are found. Parasites of Quadrupeds, Ticks, &c.

2.—Endeavour to ascertain if the larger Beetles of India
live more than one year; it is important also to ascertain the
sexes of the Atlas Beetles, and the uses to which their horns
are applied.

3.—Ascertain the names of the trees which yield Resin
Anime ; and if any other resins in India contain insects.

4.—Among Coleoptera, attend chiefly to the Lamellicorn
Beetles, Cetonia, Copris, Scarabeus, and Baprestide.

5.—Ascertain by dissection of gigantic Coleoptera if the
organs of hearing are in the basis of the antenne as in
Crustacea; collect the larve of all large Beetles, and try if
they have the power of hearing.

6.—Send me an account of the habits of Paussus, and all
the species you can obtain.

7.—Any species of insects infested with worms, should be
noticed. The worms should have drawings made of them
before put into spirits.

8.—All hermaphrodite insects to be noticed, as well as
irregular copulation of different genera.

9.—All Carrion Beetles to be attended to. They are
supposed to be scarce in. India. The prejudice of caste
and of religion will not allow many of the natives to touch
a dead body of any animal.

62 Desiderata in the Entomology of India.

10.—All species of silk-bearing insects used in commerce,
with their local names and larva, eggs, &c. It is probable
we may breed the Atlas Moths in England. Send Larve
of any, placed in mould, when an opportunity occurs. Co-
lonel Withill introduced alive into England Bombya Selene.
Any reports of the annual produce of silk useful.

11.—Cochineal, new species ; intelligence wanted about its
range. How many species in commerce in India. Lac insect
also.

12.—Bees. All species of Bees to be collected. Any ac-
counts of the produce of honey. The native names of Bees
much wanted; any thing remarkable in the combs to be
figured. All parasite Beetles found in Bees’ nests much
wanted. Imports and exports of honey and wax. What
are the Bees which produce the wax of the Chinese candles ?
there are several sorts.

13.—Ants. Collect all species of Ants—males, females,
and neuters. Ascertain if they /ay up stores of grain, seeds,
&c.; be careful in marking the species. What Ants will
drive out the White-Ants? Are the different kinds em-
ployed by the natives, to drive out those which annoy them?
Experiment on the formic acid. If the White-Ants’ nests
are ever used as ovens.

14.—White-Ants. Collect all species; attend to their
parasites, particularly the Beetles, which attack them, and
are found in their nests.

15.—What insects are eaten as food? Their Indian
names. What Locusts are eaten, &c. ?

16.—Mark those insects which cause any particular de-
struction of crops, and if the destruction is periodical.

Desiderata in the Entomology of India. 63

17.—Mark all duminous insects... Ascertain if the Lantern
Fly is luminous, it is disputed.

18.—What species of Mygale are in India? Their habits.
What spiders yield silks, such as are found in commerce ?

19.—What species of vesicatory insects are used in India ?
If any besides Lytta and Mylabris. If any insects are used
medicinally. ‘Their names.

20.—Record any instance of death occasioned by insects,
by Bees, Wasps, Hornets, or by Flyblowing, &c. Any ail-
ments produced by insects swallowed in the larva state, &c.

21.—Is Resine Anime a preservative against the attacks
of insects? Said to be used in corking bottles. Is cloth
coloured by Indigo ever attacked by the White-Ants and
other insects ?

22,—Any native remedies against Cockroaches? Collect
all species of, and particularly all sorts of Earwigs.

23.—Native remedies used after the stings of insects, and
the attacks of Gnats, Scorpions, Centipedes, &c.

24.—Note all insects infesting houses. Does any true
Ptinus occur in the East Indies?

25.—Species of Astrus attacking quadrupeds; collect
them. Do any attack man in the East?

26.—Collect all Aquatic Beetles. Do the Gyrene of India
emit a peculiar smell? Do the Carabe emit an ammoniacal
odour ?

27.—Collect all Land-Crabs and inland Crustacea.

64: Desiderata in the Entomology of India.
28.—Observe particularly the insects which destroy corn,

rice, and all stores. What checks are in use?

29.—Note any extraordinary migration of Caterpillars,
and indeed of all other insects.

30.—The Mole Cricket of the East Indies. What-are its
habits ?

31.—Note the appearance of the clouds of Locusts.

32.—What are the preservatives used by the Indians in
guarding their feathers and shawls? Colocynth supposed
to be used.

33.—What genera and species of insects are used by the
natives, in necklaces and ornaments, &c. ?

34.—The habits of the large Stag Beetles. Do they
destroy leaves ?

35.—Note all odorous smelling insects.

36.—Are Beehives in use in India? Send specimens of
domestic Bees, if they are domesticated.

37.—Is the Sherifah, or Custard-Apple seed, injurious to
vermin? Flies are reported never to settle on the tree or its
fruits. Ants will attack both.

38.—From what quarters chiefly do clouds of Locusts
come ?

65

Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

November 27, 1838.---Lieut.-Colonel W. H. Sykes in the Chair.

Dr. Horsfield laid before the Meeting a series of Mammalia and
Birds collected in India by John M‘Clelland, Esq., Assistant Surgeon
E.1.C.S., and proceeded to point out the characters of some which were
undescribed.

A paper on the Fishes of the Deccan, illustrated with numerous
coloured drawings, was read by Colonel Sykes.

“In submitting to the Society an account of the fishes of Dukbun,”
observes Colonel Sykes, “it will scarcely excite surprise, that out of
46 species described no less than 42 are new to science, since they are
from a hitherto untrodden field, and from peculiar localities, on the
great plateau of the Dukhun (Deccan), none of them coming from a less
elevation than 1500 feet above the sea; many from near 2000 feet, and
others from yet higher situations. The chief features in the collection
are the paucity of orders to which the collection’ belongs, and the re-
markable prevalence of the members of the families of Siluride and
Cyprinide. There is but one apodal Malacopterygian, but 4 Acanthop-
terygit, and the whole of the rest of the fish belong to the order Abdominal
Malacopterygians. Of the families there are only eight: Percide, Scom-
bride, ‘ Pharyngiens Labyrinthiformes, Gobiade, Siluride, Cyprinide,
Esocide, and Murenide, comprising 15 genera and 9 sub-genera, in-
cluding one sub-genus, which I have been compelled to add to the
Cyprinide. An attempt has been made to methodize and distinguish
the multitudinous members of the families of Silwride and Cyprinide.
The fact is, the contmued imosculation in the character of the teeth, of
the cirri, of the spies (serrated or not) of the fins, the armature of the
head, and the position of the fins in the Siluride; and the number of
cirri, and form and position of the fins in the Cyprinide, together with
the character of the mouth, produce such approximations in species to
each other, and in individuals of one genus to another, that not only is .
there infinite difficulty in determining the genera of the fishes of these
families, but their identity as species is occasionally not less difficult.
Some of my Stluride do not exactly correspond with the generic charac-
ters of the genera of this family as now constituted, and I might have
added to the number of genera; but to this I have an objection, unless

as an evidently necessary measure. In the Cyprinide, however, I was
K

66 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

obliged to set aside my repugnance, for three species were not referrible to
any one even of the numerous sub-genera which Buchanan Hamilton wish-
ed to establish. It only remains to state that the whole of my fishes were
drawn from absolute measurement, and have a scale of size attached to
each figure; they were caught in the various rivers on whose banks I
encamped, as individuals were required; so that my draftsman, who
worked constantly under my own eye, never had to finish his drawings
from shrivelled and discoloured specimens. I have to a great extent
adopted the names by which the fishes are called by the Mahrattas as
specific names, so that naturalists who travel the country can always
obtain them.

Ord. AcANTHOPTERYGII.

Fam. Percide.
Ambassis, Agass.

Amb. Barlovi, Sykes. An Ambassis with the two back fins united,
with the first ray dented on the edge, and containing 7 spines,
and the second 14 spines; all the spines longer than the mem-
brane, with 18 rays longer than the membrane in the anal fin,
and with a short vertically compressed diaphanous body.

Closely allied to Changa Ranga of Hamilton. ‘Fishes of the Gan-
ges.’ This fish is dedicated to our Secretary.

Fam. Scombride.
Mastacembelus, Gron.

Mast. armatus, Sykes. A Mastacembelus with the fins of the tail,
back, and vent united, with thirty-nine to forty short sharp bony
spines along the back, and two behind the vent.

This fish has not the exact generic characters of Macrognathus,
Mastacembelus, or Notacanthus, and might probably constitute a
genus between the two last.

Fam. ‘Pharyngiens Labyrinthiformes,’ Cuv.
Ophicephalus, Bloch.

Oph. leucopunctatus, Sykes. An Ophicephalus with from 51 to 53
rays in the dorsal, and 6 in each ventral fin, and with the rays
of the dorsal and anal fins undivided; the pectoral fins ending in
a central point, and the fish covered with white dots.

T have never known this remarkably fine fish crawl on shore or in
the grass, as some species of the genus are said to do. It is
excellent eating.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 67

Fam. Gobiade.
Gobius, Linn.
Gob. Kurpah, Sykes. A Gobius with 7 rays in the first dorsal fin,
11 in the second, which is of similar size with the anal fin; 19 in
the pectoral, and 10 in the anal fin.
In different individuals of this species I have found the number
of rays in the fins slightly differ. Ofa sweet flavour.

Ord. Mauacorteryem ABpoMINALEs.
Fam. Cyprinideze.
Cyprinus, Linn.

Cyp. Abramioides, Sykes. A Cyprinus with 20 rays im the dorsal,
8 in the anal, and 18 in the pectoral fins, without tendrils, with
tuberculated nose, red edged fins, and with a red lunule on each
scale.

This very fine fish is called Tambra by the natives, from the general
prevalence of a copper colour over it. Attains the length of
21 inches and more: height 7 inches. Is excellent eating.

Cyp. Potail, Sykes.

A Cyprinus proper, deep and fleshy, slightly compressed without
tendrils, with the dorsal fin of 13 rays, pectoral of 14, and anal
of 9. Scales large and silvery ; length 10 or more inches ; height
32 inches.

Cyp. Nukta, Sykes.

A Cyprinus with two tendrils on the under jaw, and with two short
horns or bosses on the space between the eyes, which together
with the deflected upper lip are tuberculated ; large scales.

In the judgment of my friend Mr. Yarrell, to which I subscribe,
this very singular fish is considered a monstrosity of Cyp. auratus.
Dr. Riippell, who did me the favour to look over my drawings,
expresses the same opinion. Found very abundantly in the
Inderanee river 18 miles north of Poona. It is called Nukta
(or nob) by the Mahratta fishermen.

Varicorhinus, Riippell.

Var. Bobree, Sykes. A Varicorhinus with tuberculated nose, without
tendrils ; with 17 rays in the dorsal, and 8 in the anal fin; with
the form of a tench.

It may be a question whether this is not a real Labeo of Cuvier,
with long dorsal, no spines or cirri, and thick fleshy lips frequently
crenated ; size 6 inches by 1s high.

68 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Barbus, Cuv.

Barb. Mussullah, Sykes. A Barbus with 12 rays in the dorsal, 8 in
the anal, and 16 in the pectoral fins, with the mouth furnished
with 4 very short cirri, and tuberculated nose; sometimes 3 feet
and more long, and a foot high, and weighing 42 pounds.

Found in the Goreh river.

Barb. Khudree, Sykes. A Barbus with 4 cirri, blood-stained fins,
large hexagonal scales, elongated body, and with 14 rays m the
dorsal, 14 in the pectoral, and 7 in the anal fins.

Found in the Mota Mola river, 8 miles east of Poona.

Barb. Kolus, Sykes. A Barbus with 13 rays in the dorsal fin, 8 in
the anal, and 10 in the ventral; with moderate-sized scales ; with
callous tubercles on the head, and a short cirrus at each corner
of the mouth.

This fish shows the difficulty of drawing up generic characters to
embrace all the species of a genus. Having only 2 cirri, it should
not be a Barbel; but having cirri at all, it does not belong to the
next genus Gobio ;---moreover, it has a spine in the dorsal.

Chondrostoma, Agassiz, the first division of the genus Leuciscus of Klein.
Dorsal fin in the centre of the back.

Chond. Kawrus, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, without lateral line,
tubercles, or cir7i, with 12 rays in the dorsal, 8 in the anal and
16 in the pectoral fins.

A sub-cylindrical fish found in the Beema river; grows to a foot in
length, but is usually smaller. Proportion of length to height in
one specimen, 6 inches by 15, inch.

Chond. Fulungee, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, with dorsal fin of 10 rays,
anal 6, and pectoral of 10; of an elongated, not much compres-
sed shape. Length about a foot; height 4 inches.

Chond. Boggut, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, without tendrils or tuber-
cles on the nose, with 12 rays in the dorsal, 15 in the pectoral,
and 8 in the anal fin ; body of an elongated form. Length from 7
to 11 inches; height 12 to 2 inches.

Chond. Mullya, Sykes. A Chondrostoma, with a short, obtuse head,
without tubercles or tendrils ; sub-cylindrical body, with 11 rays

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 69

in the dorsal, 14 to 16 im the pectoral, and 8 in the anal fins ;
a red process or protuberance on the snout between the nos-
trils. Length 5 to 6 inches; 12 to 2 in diameter.

Chond. Wattanah, Sykes. A Chondrostoma of an elongated form,
without tubercles or tendrils, with the dorsal fin high, and
having 11 rays: and 9 or 10 in the ventral, and 8 in the anal fin ;
sub-cylindrical form. Length 43 inches, height 3 of an inch.

Found in the Beema river.

Chela, Buchanan Hamilton. A sub-genus of Leuciscus, with the dorsal
fin very far behind over the anal; straight back, and nose on the
level of the line of the back.

Chel. Balookee, Sykes. A Chela of the size of a minnow; back
straight; body elongated; dorsal fin situated far back, and having
8 rays, 14 rays in the anal, and 12 in the pectoral fins. Length 3
inches.

Very sweet eating, the bones as well as other parts. Common in
all the rivers.

Chel. Oweni, Sykes. A Chela, with straight back, elongated and verti-
cally compressed body; dorsal fin situated far back, with 11 rays,
12 in the pectoral, and 19 in the anal fins, with scales so minute
as to be scarcely discoverable. Length 5 inches; greatest size 7
inches.

Found in most of the rivers. The Cyprinus Cultratus of Bloch
would appear to be the type of the sub-genus.

I have dedicated this fish to my friend Mr. Owen, the distinguished
naturalist.

Chel. Jorah, Sykes. A Chela, with straight back, convex belly, dor-
sal fin far behind ; size of a large minnow; with 10 rays in the
dorsal, 12 in the pectoral, and 8 rays in the anal fin. Length
about 4 inches, height = ths. of an inch.

Excellent eatmg. Found abundantly in the Beema river near
Pairgaon.

Chel. Teekanee, Sykes. A small Chela, with nearly straight back;
snout on the continuation of the line of the back; belly arched;

70 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

with 10 rays in the dorsal, 12 in the pectoral, and 14 in the anal
fins. Length 21 inches, height $ inch.

Found in the Beema.

Chel. Alkootee, Sykes. An elongated, silver-white, slightly compres-
sed, minute Chela, with the dorsal fin about 8 rays, very far back;
ventral of about 7, and anal of about 10 rays, with burnished
silver gill covers and black orbits; rarely more than an inch long,
and not much thicker than a good sized crow quill.

This very beautiful fish has a sweet flavour.

Leuciscus, Klein. First division. The dorsal situated a little behind the
centre of the back, above the space between the ventral and

anal fins.

Leuc. Morar ; Cyprinus Morar, Buchanan Hamilton. A Leuciscus
allied to Chela, but with: the dorsal fin a little behind the centre
of the back, with 8 rays in each ventral fin, 12 in the anal, and
10 in the dorsal, and with the edge of the belly smooth. Length
43 inches; height -..

Differs slightly from Buchanan Hamilton’s LZ. Morar.

Leuc. Sandkhol, Sykes. A Leuciscus, with nearly cylindrical body ;
dorsal fin of 12 rays, pectoral of 14, and ventral of 10 rays; gib-
bous head ; 8 to 10 inches long by 12 to 2 inches high; eyes with
whitish narrow irides. The dorsal in this fish is situated a little
before the centre of the back.

Found in the Goreh river at Kullumb.

Leuc. Chitul, Sykes. A Leuciscus, with 14 rays in the dorsal, 14 in
the pectoral, and 8 in the anal fins; of a reddish grey colour, and
rounded head. Sub-cylindrical. Length about 5 inches, height
12 inch.

Found in the Inderanee river near Chakun.

It being found impracticable to arrange, in any of the sub-genera
described, the following fishes of the Carp family, it is proposed to place
them in a new sub-genus, which I will call by the native Mahratta

name of Rohtee.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 71

Routes, nov. genus.

Carps with a lozenge-shaped body, rather long dorsal and anal fins,
the former seated on the angle of the back with the first complete
ray serrated posteriorly ; scales minute.

Rohtee Ogilbit, Sykes. A Rohtee, with 12 rays in the dorsal, 9 in
the ventral, and 17 in the anal fins; the body very compressed,
and very high, with the back sloping to each end from the centre;
head sharpish; pectoral fins, narrow acuminated. First complete
dorsal ray, a strong bone, serrated behind. Length 42 inches,
height'14 inch. A bony fish.

Found in the Beema river near Pairgaon. This fish is dedicated to
my friend Mr. Ogilby, a distinguished member of the Society.

Roht. Vigorsi, Sykes. A Rohtee, with armed dorsal fin of 11 rays,
ventral of 10, and anal of 28 rays ; compressed body ; high in the
middle, and sloping to each end; head slightly recurved; eyes
very large. Length, 6 inches; height, 1 inches ; greatest length,
8 inches.

Found abundantly in the Beema river at Pairgaon. I have dedi-

cated this fish to my friend Mr. Vigors.

Roth. Pangui, Sykes. A Rohtee, compressed, deep, angular-backed,
with 12 rays in the dorsal, 14 or 15 in the pectoral, and 8 in the
anal fins, and with the first 3 or 4 rays of the dorsal fin black at
their tips; scales larger than in the preceding species. Length,
5 inches ; height, 12 inch.

Found in the Baum and Beema rivers.

Roht. Ticto; Cyprinus Ticto of Buchanan Hamilton. A Rohtee, 1%
inch long, with 4 to 6 black spots on the body; the 2nd ray of
the dorsal toothed behind with sharp incurved teeth; with 10
rays in the dorsal, 8 in the anal, and 8 in the ventral fins; pec-
toral fins narrow, acuminate.

Found in the Mota Mola at Poona. This fish differs slightly from
Dr. Buchanan Hamilton’s Cyprinus Ticto.

Cobitis, Lin.

Cob. Ritpelli, Sykes. A nearly cylindrical scaleless Cobztis, not much
thicker than a large goose-quill; from 2 to 3 inches long with
6 cirri; the lateral line marked with short brown bars, and the

12 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

rays of the dorsal and anal fins similarly barred; dorsal fin of
13 rays, pectoral of 12, and ventral of 8 rays.

This fish is much esteemed for food. Found in the Beema river at
Taimbournee and Mota Mola near Poona. I have dedicated
this beautiful little fish to Riippell, who did me the favour to
look over my drawings, and at the same time gave me his opi-
nion respecting the genera of the fishes. ,

Cob. Mooreh, Sykes. Differs from the preceding only in being of a
smaller size, in having 12 rays in the dorsal, and 7 in the anal
fin; the head is more obtusely pomted, and there are more
dark blotches on it; the bars on the lateral line are differently
arranged.

Cob. Maya, Sykes. Differs from the first species in having a spine
under each eye, and in having a blunter head; 9 rays in the
dorsal, 7 in the ventral fins.

Fam. Esocide.
Belone, Cuv.

Bel. Graii, Sykes. A Belone with the fin of the tail rounded and
emarginate, with both jaws elongated into a quadrangular beak;
with very minute scales; dorsal of 16 rays and anal of 16 rays;
closely allied to the Zsox Cancila of Buchanan Hamilton.

I have dedicated this fish to a gentleman well known for his contri-
butions in natural history.

Fam. Siluride.
Schilbe, Cuv.

Sch. Pabo; Silurus Pabo, Buchanan Hamilton. A Schilbe, with the
tail divided into 2 unequal lobes, both pointing downwards; with
4 cirri, 2 shorter than the head, and with from 68 to 70 rays in
the anal fin. Length from 12 to 15 inches, height 23 to 3 inches.

Found in most of the rivers. Differs slightly from Buchanan
Hamilton’s Silurus Pabo. No second dorsal.

Sch. Boalis, Silurus Boalis, Buchanan Hamilton. A Schilbe, with the
fin of the tail divided into 2 unequal lobes; with 4 cirri, of which
2 extend to the middle of the fish; all the fins unarmed ; dorsal
of 5 rays, pectoral of 15; ventral fins very small, of 9 rays; anal
fin of 84 rays. Attains the length of 3 feet, and the weight
of 8 lbs.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 73

Found in the Mota Mola at Poona. Differs slightly from the Stlurus
Boalis of Buchanan Hamilton. No second dorsal.

Hypophthalmus, Spix.

Hyp. Goongwaree, Sykes. An Hypopthalmus with 8 cirri, all longer
than the head, but not extending to the middle of the fish ; with
7 rays in the dorsal, and 52 in the anal fin, with an extremely
minute second dorsal; first ray im the pectoral, and first in the
dorsal, spinose and serrated behind. Greatest length 28 inches:
body vertically compressed.

Found in the Mota Mola near Poona.

Hyp. Taakree, Sykes. An Hypophthalmus, with 8 cirri, 2 of which
reach to the ventral fins, 2 very minute near the nostrils, and 4 on
the chin, nearly as long as the head; with the first dorsal and
pectoral rays serrated on the posterior edge, with 8 rays in the
dorsal and 50 in the anal fin. Length, 9 inches; height, 2 inches.

Bagrus, Cuvier.

Bagr. Yarrelli, Sykes. A Bagrus, with the firstrays of the pectoral and
dorsal fins terminating in long fleshy tendrils and serrated behind;
with 8 cirri, two of which are as long as the head, thick, fleshy,
and being lateral elongations of the upper lip; other cirri very
short; head broad, covered with a granulated bony plate; the fish
olive brown, marked with black blotches like a Dalmatian dog;
2nd dorsal fleshy, triangular. Length, 18 inches, but attains to a
very great size; body not vertically compressed.

Found in the Mota Mola at Poona.

Bagr. Lonah, Sykes. A Bagrus, with 8 small cirri; flat, granulated
head ; first dorsal fin of 7 rays, and pectoral of 10 rays, the first
ray of which is furnished on the posterior edge with long sharp
teeth ; anal fin of 10 rays; 2nd dorsal of a triangular form and
fleshy : something resembling the preceding in colour.

Platystoma, Agassiz.

Plat. Seenghala, Sykes. A Platystoma, with the tail fin crescent-
shaped, lobes unequal; with 8 cirri, two of which only are longer
than the head, reaching to two-thirds of the length of the fish ;
the first ray of the pectoral and ventral fins serrated behind;
head long, flat, spatulate, covered with a granulated bony plate.
Dorsal fin of 8 rays; high, ventral fins, very far back, of 6 rays.
Grows to a great size; flesh heating and soft.

L

74 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Phractocephalus, Agassiz. Pirarara of Spix.

Phract. Kuturnee, Sykes. A Phractocephalus, with 6 cirri, 2 of
which only are longer than the head ; the first pectoral spine
serrated on both edges; the Ist dorsal spine on the posterior
edge only ; these two spines terminating in a filament: the
shoulder-bone elongated into a point behind. Greatest length,
6 inches; dorsal fin of 7 rays; pectoral of 9 rays; ventral fin
small, of 7 rays; second dorsal replaced by a small adipose fin.

Phract. Ttchkeea, Sykes. A Phractocephalus, with 8 cirri, 2 of
which from the upper lip, extend to the end of the pectoral fins ;
the other 2 very minute, with the 4 on the chin nearly as long
as the head; with the Ist ray in the pectoral fins only serrated ;
with 8 rays in the dorsal, and 12 in the anal fins ; with a sharp
prolongation of the scapula. Fish handsomely marked on the
back with dark colours. Length, 2 inches.

This fish presents some slight deviations from the generic characters.

Phract. Gogra, Sykes. A Phractocephalus, with 4 shortish cirri ;
the plates of the shoulder elongated into acute, angular, broad
spines, with a dorsal fin of 8 rays ; first ray a bone serrated be-
hind ; pectoral fins of 10 rays, the first ray a broad compressed
bone serrated on both edges ; head flat and broad; second dor-
sal small, fleshy. Size 6 inches, but grows larger.

Pimelodus, Lacepede.

Pimelodus Seengtee, Sykes. A Pimelodus, with the caudal fin divided
into 2 unequal sharpish lobes, and having 8 cirri, 2 of which
reach to the tail fin, and 4 to the end of the head, and 2 are shor-
ter than the head ; the dorsal fin high ‘and without spine, of 9
rays; 12 rays in the anal fin; the second dorsal adipose, and ex-
tending from the termination of the first dorsal to near the tail-
Length of fish, 6 inches.

Ageneiosus, Lacepede.

Ageneiosus Childreni, Sykes. An Ageneiosus, without cirri, with the first
ray of the dorsal and pectoral fins serrated on the anterior edge
only ; with 8 rays in the dorsal, and 42 in the anal fin; with
two sharp lobes to the tail, the upper being somewhat the small-
est. Length of fish, 18 inches ; height, 42 inches, but grows to
a larger size. Second dorsal adipose, minute,

Fam. Clupeide.

Mystus, Buchanan Hamilton; Notopterus, Lacepede.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 75

Mystus Badgee, Sykes. A Mystus, with not less than 105 rays in the
anal fin, 7 or 8 in the dorsal, and in the pectoral from 13 to 16,
all unarmed; without apparent ventral fins, and with a single
small dorsal; the anal and caudal fins uniting, and terminating in
a point at the end of the body; posterior edge of the last gill
plate crenated; scales minute. This remarkable fish belongs to
the genus Mystus of Buchanan Hamilton, but not to the genus
Mystus of Cuvier. Fish vertically compressed. Length, 11 inches;
height 3 inches.

Ord. Apopes.
Fam. Murende.
Anguilla, Cuv.

Ang. Elphinstonei, Sykes. An Anguilla, with the lower jaw the
longest; with the back, tail, and anal fins united, and with a
broadish, flat head; body dark green, blotched with black; with
2 short tubular processes, one on each side of the upper jaw.
Attains the length of 3 feet, and diameter of 3 inches.

IT have dedicated this fine fish to the Honourable Mountstewart
Elphinstone.

In concluding my characters of the fishes of Dukhun (Deccan), I may
be allowed to state, that I have found the number of cir7i, whether in
the Stluwride or Cyprinide, insufficient as a generic character; different
species of the same genus varying in the number of the cir7?.”’

February 26, 1839.---Rev. F. W. Hope, in the Chair.

A communication from the Bishop of Down and Connor was read,
giving an account of Antilope Philantomba, Ogilb. lately brought from
Sierra Leone, by F. W. Mant, Esq. Also a communication by Lieut. H.
K. Sayers, on the habits of another species of Monkey from Sierra
Leone.

At the request of the Chairman, Mr. Ogilby proceeded to make some
observations upon a new species of Monkey, now living at the Society’s
Menagerie, which he characterized as follows :

Pario Mexanortus. P. cinereo-brunneus ; capite, dorso, lumbisque sub-

migris ; cauda brevissima, nuda ; facie, auriculisque pallidis.

The specimen from which this description is taken is a young male,
said to have been brought from Madras. It has at first sight a consider-

76 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

able resemblance to the common Barbary species (Papio sylvanus) both
in general colour and in physiognomy, but differs materially in the
blackish brown shade which covers all the upper parts of the head,
neck, shoulders, and back. The face and ears are of a pale flesh colour,
not unlike the shade which distinguishes extreme age in the human
species ; the naked part of the paws is dirty brown, and the temples are
slightly tinged with a shade of scarlet, which the keeper informs me
spreads and deepens when the animal is feeding. The tail is about an
inch long, very slender, and perfectly naked ; but whether the last cir-
cumstance be not accidental I shall not take on me to say ; it appears,
however, to be the natural condition of the organ. The general colour of
the sides, under parts of the body, and extremities, is that pale olive brown
so common among other species of this genus, such as the Bhunder
(P. Rhesus), the Maimon (P. Nemestrinus ), &c., and the hairs are equally
without annulations. The individual has all the liveliness, good-nature,
and grimace of the young Magot (P. Inuus and Sylvanus) ; but, like that
species, it will probably become morose and saturnine as it advances in
age and physical development ; qualities which, indeed, are common to
all the Papios, and pre-eminently distinguish them from the Cercopi-
thecs, Colobs, and Semnopithecs.

A paper, entitled “ Spicilegium Serpentium Indicorum,” was commu-
nicated by Dr. Theodore Cantor. This paper contams the followmg
descriptions of

A. Venomous SERPENTS.*
Genus TriconocePuatus, Oppel.

TRIGONOCEPHALUS ERYTHRURUS. Tz. supra lete viridis, squamis ovatis
carinatis subimbricatis, cauda cinnamomea, squamis levibus rhomboidalibus
tecta ; abdomine flavo-viridescenti linea nigra serrata utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 167.
Scutella subcaudalia 68.

Habitat. Delta Gangeticum.

Bright green above, with ovate keeled slightly imbricate scales ; the

tail cmnamon-red, with smooth rhomboidal scales ; the abdominal sur-

face greenish-yellow, inclosed on both sides by a black serrated line.
TRIGONOCEPHALUS MUCROsquAMATUS. JTvri. swperne, griseo-brunnescens,

* Dr. Cantor’s original specimens, drawings, and descriptions are in the posses-
sion of the Radcliffe Library, Oxford.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Ci)

annulis nigris albo marginatis, squamis ovalibus, semicarimatis, mucrona-
tis, imbucatim tectus ; subtus albidus, nigro punctatus.
Scuta abdominalia 218.
Scutella subcaudalia 91.
Habitat. Naga Hills, Assam.
Brownish grey above, with black white-edged rings, covered with
oval, half-keeled, pomted, imbricate scales; whitish beneath, dotted
with black.

Genus Bunearus, Daudin.

Bunearus tivipus. Bung. superne lividus, subtus albo-flavescens.
Seuta abdominalia 221.
Scuta subcaudala 56.

Habitat. Assam. .

Blackish-blue above, yellowish-white beneath.

Genus Hamapryas,* Cantor.

Hamapryas opnropnacus. Ham. superne olwvaceo-viridis, striis sagittal-
bus nigris cinctus, abdomine glauco nigro marmorato.
Scuta abdominalia a 215 ad 245.
Scuta subcaudalia a 13 ad 32.
Scutella subcaudalia a 63 ad 71.
Habitat. Bengal.
Hindustanee name : Sunkr-Choar.
Olive-green above, with arrow-shaped black stripes; beneath, glau-
cous marbled with black.

Genus Nasa, Laurenti.

Nasa varvata. Na. supra brunnea, stris subflavis transversalibus varie-
gata; disco annulo albo, larve haud impari, ornato, pone quem (a tribus
ad qunque) annuli albi ;---inferioris superficiet pars anterior annulis albis,
nagro-ceerulescentibus alternis circumdata, pars posterior glauco iridescens.

Habitat. Bombay, Calcutta, Assam.

Bengallee name : Doollah-Kewtiah Nag.

Brownish, with numerous faint yellow transverse stripes ; the hood
marked with a white ring, not unlike the form of a mask, behind which
there are from three to five white rings ;---the anterior part of the lower
surface with alternate white and bluish-black rings; the posterior part
iridescent-glaucous.

* Vide Proceedings of the Zoological Society, No. lxvi. p. 73.

78 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

A young specimen of this serpent lives at present in the Society’s
Gardens in Regent’s Park. The artificial temperature, 62° Fahr., in
which it is kept appears to agree very well with the serpent, which
in one respect offers a striking difference from the habits of this genus
when kept in captivity in India, for the keeper informs me that it feeds
occasionally upon living frogs and earth-worms, and that it drinks
milk; while those in Dr. Russell’s and in my own possession in
India, when deprived of liberty invariable refused to take any kind
of food.

Genus Exaprs, Schneider.

Exars Bunearorpes.* El. superne lividus, striis sagittalibus albis cinctus ;
infra albus alterne lividus.
Scuta abdominaha 237.
Scutella subcaudalia 46.
Habitat. Chirra Punji.
Black-blue above, with white arrow-shaped stripes ; beneath, alter-
nately white and black-blue.

Exars Fiavicers. El. capite flavo, dorso nigro vitta serrata alba cceruleo
pallide nitente utrinque circumdato, cauda flava linea nigra media
divisa ;---abdomine fiavo linea nigra utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominaha 275.
Scutella subcaudalia 45.

Habitat. Malacca.

The head yellow, the back with a serrate band on each side, shining
with a pale sky-blue colour; the tail yellow, divided in the middle by
a blach dorsal line ; the abdominal surface yellow, inclosed on each side
by a black line.

On my late visit to Copenhagen, Professor Reinhard pointed out an
undescribed species of Bungarus from Java, preserved in the Royal
Museum of Natural History (MSS. Cat., No. 128), which exhibits the
same distribution of colours as the Elaps flaviceps, viz. the head and tail
of a light yellow, the back bluish-black, the abdominal surface light
yellow, the scuta marked with a short black transverse band or check
on each side.

Exaprs nicromacutatus. El. swperne pallide brunneo-rubescens, maculis

nigris alba-marginatis, lineis nigris junctis ;---cauda fasciis daubus nigris

* From its resemblance to Bungarus ceruleus, Daudin.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 79

alba-marginatis cincla ; abdomine flavo albescenti, alterne livido, linea
nigra serrata utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 238.

Scutella subcaudalia 24.

Habitat. Sincapore.

Pale reddish brown above, with black white-edged spots, united by
black lines ; on the tail two black bands with white margins ;---the ab-
dominal surface whitish yellow, alternately blue-black, inclosed on both
sides by a black serrated line.

Exaps rurcatus,* Schneider, Var. El. swperne pallide brunneo-rubescens,
linea dorsali subflava nigro serratim marginata, cauda fascus tribus nigris
cincta, abdomine flavo albescenti, linea nigra utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 238.
Scutella subcaudalia 24.
Habitat. Sincapore.
Pale reddish brown, above with a light yellow dorsal line, with black
serrated margins; on the tail three black bands; the abdominal surface
whitish yellow, inclosed on each side by a black line.

March 12, 1839.---William Yarrell, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. Ogilby communicated a portion of a letter which he had received
from M. Temminck. It related to two species of Monkeys, Colobus fuli-
genous and Papio speciosus ; the former M. Temminck considers identical
with the Bay-Monkey of Pennant, and he states that this opinion is
founded upon its agreement with a coloured drawing now in his posses-
sion; this drawing having been taken by Sydenham Edwards from the
specimen of the Bay-Monkey formerly in the Leverian Museum, and
which is the original of Pennant’s description.

The Macacus speciosus of M. F. Cuvier is stated by M. Temminck to be
founded upon an immature specimen of a species of Macacus which inha-
bits Japan ; the habitat of Molucca Islands given by M. F. Cuvier being
founded upon error. The specimen was originally taken from Japan to
Java, where it died; the skin was preserved, and M. Diard having
obtained possession of it, sent it to the Paris Museum; and as there was
no label attached, M. F. Cuvier imagined it to be a native of the place
whence M. Diard had sent it.

* Russel, I1., No, xix.

80 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Mr. Fox exhibited several birds, which he stated had formed part of
an extensive collection made in Iceland by the Curator of the Durham

Museum. P

The second part of Dr. Theodore Cantor’s paper, entitled “ Spicilegium
Serpentium Indicorum,” was read. In this paper numerous new species

of Indian serpents are thus characterized :---

B. Innocuvous SERPENTs.
Genus Catamaria, Linne.

CaLamaria sacitTaria. Cal. partim cinerea, partim ferruginea, serie
dorsalt punctorum nigrorum, nucha capiteque albicantibus, imagine sagitte
nigre ornatis ; corpore squamis levibus imbricatim tecto ; abdomine citrino,
punetis lateralibus nigris, vitta livida utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 224.
Scutella subcaudaha 69.

Habitat. Bengal, Tirhoot.

Partly ash-coloured, partly rusty-brown, with a series of black dots
along the back; the head and neck whitish, with an arrow-shaped black
mark; covered with smooth rhomboidal imbricate scales; the stomach
of a citrine colour, with lateral black dots, and a blue black band on
either side.

Vernacular name, Doblee.

Catamaria monticota. Cal. olivaceo-fusca, collari lete flavo, linea dorsal
albicante, abdomine citrino.
Scuta abdominalia 125.
Scutella subcaudalia 44.
Habitat. Naga Hills in Assam.
Dark olive-brown, with a bright yellow collar and a whitish dorsal
line; beneath of a citrine colour.

Genus CoronELua, Boie.

CoRroNELLA ALBocincTA. Cor. viride-canescens, fasciis transversalibus albis
nigro marginatis, quorum intervalla nigro punctata ; scutis abdominalibus
albo-flavescentibus, alterne fuscis.

Scuta abdominalia 181.
Scutella subcaudalia 65.
Habitat. Chirra Punji, Assam.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 81

Greyish-green, with white transverse bands, edged with black, the
intervals dotted with black; the abdominal scuta alternately yellowish-
white and deep brown.

Assamese name, Patdei-hee.

CoroneLhA vionacea. Cor. violaceo-rubescens, squamis albo-marginatis,
subtus margaritacies.
Scuta abdominalia 196.
Scutella subcaudaha 38.

Habitat. Rungpore.
Reddish-violet ; the scales edged with white ; beneath pearl-coloured.

CoRonELLA cycLuRA. Cor. viridé-canescens strus nigris obliquis interruptis,
abdomine margaritaceo, vittd triste cinered utrinque incluso.
Scuta abdomiala 179.
Scutella subcaudalha 43.
Greyish-green, with black oblique interrupted stripes; the abdominal
surface pearl-coloured, with a deep ashy-grey band on either side.
Vernacular name, Tukkr-Bora. ’

Genus Lycopon, Boie.

Lycopon arro-purPurzus. Ly. atro-purpureus albo nigroque marmoratus,
abdomine margaritaceo.
Seuta abdominalia 257.
Scutella subcaudala 91.
Habitat. Mergui, Tenasserim.
Deep purple, marbled with white and black; beneath pearl-coloured.

Lycopon susruscus. Ly. subfuscus, abdomine albo flavescenti.
Seuta abdominalia 245.
Scutella subcaudalia 78.

Habitat. Bengal.

Light brown; yellowish white beneath.

Vernacular name, Chittee.

Genus Conuser, Bote.

CoLuBer pHumna. Col. olivaceo-viridis, squamis nigro-marginatis, abdo-
mine margaritaceo, scutis scutellisque nigro-clavatis.
Scuta abdominalia 187.
Scutella subcaudalia 119.

82 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Habitat. Carnatic, Orissa, Bengal, Nepal, Assam, Arracan, Tenasserim.
Olive-green ; the scales edged with black ; the stomach pearl-coloured,

edged with black. ,
Vernacular name, Dhumna or Dhameen.

Cotuser porpHyRAcgEus. Col. lete porphyraceus, lineis ngris transversalibus
albo-marginatis, pone quas linee due nigre dorsales, equidistantes ;
subtus lete flavus.

Scuta abdominalia 213.
Scutella subcaudalia 64.
Habitat. Mishmee Hills, Assam.
Bright porphyry-red, with black transverse lines edged with white,
the posterior portion of the body with two black parallel dorsal lines ;
beneath light yellow.

CoLuBER QuapRiFasciATus. Col. superne lete brunneo-viridescens fasciis
dorsalibus iv. nigris, albo interruptis ; infra flavus.
Scuta abdominalia 248.
Scutella subcaudalia 82.
Habitat. Assam.
Above light greenish-brown, with 4 black dorsal bands interrupted
with white; beneath yellow.

CoLuBER curvirostTRIs. Col. supra partim late olivaceo-viridis, punctis
et lineis obliquis albis nigrisque, partim eneus ; abdomine subfusco.
Scuta abdominala 220.
Scutella subcaudalia 85.
Habitat. Bengal.
Above bright olive-green, with white and black dots, and oblique
bronze-coloured lines ; beneath light yellow.
Vernacular name, Tukkr-Bora.

CoLUBER RETICULARIS. Col. superne brunneo-nigrescens, annulis albidis
reticulatis, contiguis et lineis eyusdem coloris transversalibus ornatus, cauda

brunnea nigrescenti, alterne griseo-flavescenti ; infra griseo-flavescens nigro-
maculatus.

Scuta abdominalia 229.
Scutella subcaudalia 75.
Habitat. Chirra Punji.
Blackish-brown, with whitish confluent netted rings and transverse
lines of the same colour; the tail alternately blackish-brown and
yellowish-grey ; beneath yellowish-grey spotted with black.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 83

Conuser sipunctatus. Col. supra triste vinoso-purpureus squamis albo
bypunctatis, subtus albo-ceerulescens.
Scuta abdominalia 181.
Scutella subcaudaha 52.
Habitat. Bengal, Assam.

Deep claret-purple above; each scale with two white dots; beneath
bluish-white.

Conuser monticotus. Hodgson. Col. superne luteo-rubescens fascus-
transversalibus nigris, scutis abdominalibus albo-flavescentibus nigro mar-
ginatis.

Habitat. Nepal.

Reddish dun-coloured above, with black transverse bands ; the abdo-

minal scuta yellowish-white, with black margins.

Subgen. Hurrian, Daudin.

Hurrian sANGUIVENTER, (CoLUBER SANGUIVENTER, Hodgson.) Hur.
superne vinoso-purpureus eneo nitens, abdomine sanguineo.
Scuta abdominalia 207.
Scuta subcaudalia 14.
Scutella subcaudalia 85.
Habitat. Nepal.

Above claret-purple, with metallic lustre ; beneath blood-coloured.
Genus Hurrerropryas, Boie.

HERPETODRYAS PRIONOTUS. Her. supra fusco flavescens, nigro-punctatus,
fasciaque dorsalt serrata ngricante ; abdomine flavo, fascia serrata nigri-
cante utrinque incluso.

Scuta abdomnalia 153.
Scutella subcaudalia 65.
Habitat. Malacca.
Above yellowish-brown, dotted with black, and with a serrated black-

ish dorsal band; the abdominal surface yellow, with a blackish serrated
band on either side.

Genus Psammopuis, Boie.
PsamMopuis ceraAsocaster. Psam. fulvus aureo pallidé nitens, squamis
hexagonis rhomboidalibus summis carinatis, ceeteris levibus tectus ; ab-
domine ceriseo, linea lete flava utrinque incluso.

84 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Scuta abdominalia 149.
Scutella subcaudaha 60.

Habitat. Bengal, Assam.

Yellowish-brown, shining with a pale gold colour, with hexagonal
rhomboidal scales, the uppermost of which are keeled, the rest smooth ;
the abdominal surface cherry-coloured, with a bright yellow line on
either side.

Vernacular name, Lal Mitallee.

PsaMMOPHIS NiGRoFAscIATUS. Psam. superne subflavo-rubescens fasciis
latis transversalibus nigris, lineisque duabus barbatis dorsalibus ejusdem
coloris, interstitium quarum nigro partim punctatum ; abdomine albido.

Scuta abdominalia 249.
Scutella subcaudaha 75.

Flabitat. Sincapore.

Light-reddish-yellow above, with broad transversal black bands, and
with two barbed dorsal lines of the same colour; the interval he-
tween these dorsal lines dotted with black; the abdominal surface
whitish.

Genus Denproruis, Boie.

Denpropuis Boi.* Den. superne nigro-brunnescens, vitta dorsali sub-
fusca, abdomine albo-flavescenti vittd ejusdem coloris utrinque incluso,
rosiro subobtuso.

Scuta abdominalia 186.
Scutella subcaudalia 129.

Habitat. Bengal, Ceylon.

Brownish black, with a light brown dorsal band ; the abdominal sur-
face yellowish white, with a band of the same colour on either side; the
rostrum subobtuse.

Vernacular name, Kalla Lawrynca or Nawdunga.

Genus Dirsas, Boie.

Dirsas FerruGinea. Dip, supra ferrugineo-brunnea, nigro alboque raré
maculata ; abdomine ferrugineo-fiavo, albo nigroque maculato.
Scuta abdominalia 171.
Scutella subcaudalia 57.
Habitat. Assam.
Rusty-brown, with a few black and white spots ; the abdominal sur-
face rusty-yellow, dotted with white and black.

* Chrysopelea Bou, Dr. Andrew Smith,

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 80

Dirsas MonTiIcoLA. Dip. superné triste fusca, stris aliquot nigris obliquis ;
infra fiavo-brunnescens.
Scuta abdominalia 193.
Scutella subcaudalia 82.
Habitat. Naga Hills (Assam).
Dull dark brown above, with a few black oblique stripes ; beneath
brownish-yellow.

Genus Tropiponotus, Kuhl.

TROPIDONOTUS QUINQUE. Tro. superné griseo-brunnescens, nucha numero
Quingue (v.) nigro inscriptd, fasciisque duabus nigris dorsalibus, albo
punctatis ; abdomine flavo-albescenti, fascia nigra utringue incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 259.
Scutella subcaudalia 97.
Habitat. Mergui.
Brownish-grey above, with the cypher V in black on the neck, and
with two dorsal black bands dotted with white ; the abdominal surface
whitish-yellow, with a black band on either side.

TROPIDONOTUS Ma@sTUS. Tro. superné triste olivaceo-nigricans, subtus fla-
DUS.

Scuta abdominalia 138.

Scutella subcaudalia 77,
Habitat. Bengal.
Dull blackish olive-colour above ; yellow beneath.
Vernacular name, Kalla Mittallee.

Tropiponotus surcens. Tro. lgte olivaceo-viridis, abdomine flavo linea
nigra serrata utringue incluso.
Scuta abdominalia 148.
Scutella subcaudalia 23.
Habitat. Bengal.
«Bright greenish-olive; the abdominal surface with a serrated line on
either side.
Vernacular name, Bahr.

TROPIDONOTUS PLUMBICOLOR. Tro. supra plumbeus, fascia sagittata occi-
pitak nigra et albé fasciisque nigris serratis transversalibus, squamis alte
carinatis tectus, mento albo, abdomine plumbeo.

Scuta abdominalia 162.
Scutella subcaudalia 51.
Habitat. Malwa (Saugor).
Lead-coloured above, with an occipital arrow-shaped black and white
band, and with black serrated transversal bands, covered with sharply-
keeled scales, the chin white; the abdominal surface lead-coloured.

86 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.
Genus Cerserus, Cuvier.

CERBERUS CINEREUS. Cerb. superné cinereus fusciis nigris transversalibus,
subtus albicans fascia nigra undulata.
Scuta abdominalia 143.
Scutella subcaudalia 59.
Habitat. Bengal.
Ash-coloured above, with black transverse bands; beneath whitish,
with a black undulated band.

Vernacular name, Jal Ginthea.

Genus Homatoprsis, Khul.

HoMALopsis oLivacEus. Hom. superné olivaceus lineis nigris inter squamas
variegatus, abdomine albicante, lined medid nigra diviso, vitti albo-vires-
centi utringue incluso.

Scuta abdominalia 167
Scutella subcaudalia 71.

' Habitat. Bengal.

Olive-coloured above, variegated with black lines between the scales;
the abdominal surface whitish, divided in the middle by a black line, and
with a greenish-white band on either side.

Vernacular name, Metillee.

“The descriptions and figures of these serpents were made in India
in 1835, 1836, and 1837. For the specimens from Assam I am indebted
to the kindness of the eminent botanist Mr. William Griffith; for those
from Chirra Punji, to the friendship of Mr. J. W. Grant, of Calcutta.
I have also to acknowledge the liberality of Mr. Hodgson, the Hon.
Company’s Resident at the court of Nepal, who allowed me to publish
the undescribed specimens in his collection of Nepalese serpents.”

Ninth Meeting of the British Association for the advance-
ment of Science.
Thursday, August 29.

Section A.---MaTHEMATICAL AND PuysIcaL SCIENCE.

The Secretary xead the report of the Committee, consisting of Sir J.
Herschell, Mr. Whewell, Mr. Peacock, and Prof. Lloyd, appointed to re-
present to Government the resolutions adopted by the Association in
August 1838, at Newcastle, recommending that Magnetic Observatories
be established in various parts of the British dominions, and that a
naval expedition be fitted out for the purpose of determining, by obser-

Proceedings of the British Association. 87

vations, the magnetic direction and intensity, in high southern latitudes,
between the meridians of New Holland and Cape Horn.

The successful result of the exertions of the Committee, and the ad-
mirable Report drawn out by the Royal Society, for the guidance and
instruction of the officers engaged in the expedition, and which we so
lately published (dthen. Nos. 616, 617), have so far anticipated the in-
terest which would otherwise have attached to this paper, that we are
reluctantly compelled, in the present crowded state of our columns, to
pass it over.

‘On certain Points in the Wave-Theory, as connected with Elliptic
Polarization, &c.’ by Prof. Powell.---The object of this communication is
to lay before the Section a general statement of some material condi-
tions which involve in a common relation the theory of dispersion, of
the wave-surface, and of elliptic polarization. These have been the
subject of some difference of opinion, and are still involved in consi-
derable difficulty and apparent contradiction; a brief and clear state-
ment of those pots may, perhaps, tend to their better elucidation and
ultimate solution. All the investigations set out from these equations
of es Ieee

{ @é b(r) AE
| de + Wr) Az[AzAg+AyAnt+AzAZ]

(A) | ao: p(r) An
| @ +r) AY ]

1 a? uy. g(r) AZ
[we = 14d de ]

By certain developements of AE An AZ, these forms involve as
factors of products such as

S (Pore Ay) ge.
If these sums are =o, the expressions are brought into forms in
which they are directly integrable, and we have for solutions :---
= [@ sin (nt---//)
1 —— Le sin (nt---kp)
C = [y sin we—zp)

which are shown to involve such a relation between n and k, as gives the
formula for the dispersion. ;

This condition, which I call (B), reduces the equation (A) to the

form---
[ @é
(C) } Heine { H+eOAe Jaz h

&e.
&e.

And it corresponds to the supposition that the molecules are so arranged
with respect to the axes x y x , that the sums with opposite signs destroy

| &e.
l &e.

i

88 Proceedings of the British Association.

each other. It is on this supposition alone that all the principal inves-
tigations proceed, from which the theory of dispersion is derived. And
in all these investigations we consider a rectilinear displacement or
vibration, which may be generally in any direction, and whose resolved
parts in the direction of the three axes are E n Z respectively. This may
apply to all cases of unpolarized or plane-polarized light. But for ellip-
tically (including circularly) polarized light, it is necessary to consider,
not a rectilinear, but a curvilinear displacement or vibration, which is
the result of two virtual rectilinear displacements acting at right angles
to each other, and in a plane transverse to the direction of the ray, and
one always in a phase ytarded behind the other by an interval (6). In
this case, therefore, it is necessary to proceed by making one of the co-
ordinate axes (as x) coincide with the ray, and E=o0, A&=o, &c., while
the other two in y and z coincide with the components, which give the
elliptic vibration, and are of the forms---

n= 2 [a sin (nt-—-ka ]
(hase Se [p sin (nt---kx +5) |

This case, I believe, was first considered by Mr. Tovey. Pursuing the
investigation thus, taking the axes generally as in any direction what-
ever, with respect to the arrangement of the molecules, it appears from
Mr. Tovey’s paper, (‘ Journal of Science,’ No. 71,) and from the somewhat
simplified form in mine (‘ Phil. Trans.’ 1838, part 2,) that in the case of
elliptic polarization, the condition (B) cannot hold good; while for com-
mon or plane polarized light it must hold good. The distinction there-
fore between the different states of light as to polarization, depends on
this characteristic or criterion, which I call (E). The discussion between
Mr. Tovey and Mr. Lubbock (‘ L. & E. Phil. Mag.’ Dec. 1837, Jan. 1838,)
seems to turn upon these propositions :---1. That every system of mole-
cules (constituted as supposed in all these investigations) has at every
point three axes of elasticity, whatever be the peculiar arrangement of
the molecules. 2. That if we take these axes for the axes of co-ordi-
nates, then the equations of motion are reduced to the form (C), or the
condition (B) holds good. 3. This form of the equation is necessary for
the investigation of the wave-surface: or at least, so much so, that
without it the deduction is immensely complicated. At all events, the
universal existence of such axes is essential to the nature of the wave-
surface. Now, since these considerations are essential to the application
of the theory to all media, it follows that in all cases there are certain
axes in reference to which the condition (B) holds good. This, then,
appears at direct variance with the distinction established above, or the
criterion (E). And if we set out with equations (C), and pursue a train
of deduction similar to Mr. Tovey’s or mine, we find corresponding for-
mul, but from which the conclusions in question cannot be derived.
It appears, then, essentially important, that this discrepancy should be
cleared up, and the fallacy, if any, detected.

Proceedings of the British Association. 89

‘On the Temperature of the Earth in the Deep Mines of Lancashire
and Cheshire,’ by Mr. Eaton Hodgkinson. These experiments were made
with thermometers belonging to the Association, and in the prosecution
of them the author has been very greatly assisted by the proprietors of
pits and others connected with them, who have kindly undertaken to ob-
serve the results themselves---thus saving the author the trouble, in
some cases, of going more than once into the mine. The object of the
experiments was to forward the views of the Association---which were,
to obtain, from observations made in various places, and at different
depths, some additional knowledge of the internal temperature of the
earth. In the salt mines of Messrs. Worthington and Firth, at Northwich,
in Cheshire, latitude about 53° 15’, a thermometer placed in a bore hole,
3 feet deep in the rock, 112 yards below the surface, indicated a tempe-
rature of 51° to 512° Fah., and varied little or nothing between summer
and winter. In the deep coal mines of Messrs. Leeses, Jones, & Booth,
near Oldham, a thermometer, placed in a bore hole as before, 3292 yards
below the surface, varied from 57° to 5840 Fah., from observations made
for a whole year, by Mr. J. Swain. In the Haydock colliery, 201 yards
deep, about eighteen miles west of Manchester, and differing from it but
little im latitude, the temperature varied considerably, both in the same
hole and in different ones, but approached to 58°. The cause of these
anomalies the author has not discovered. The experiments were made
for him by Mr. William Fort. Other experiments are in progress. The
latitude of Manchester is 53° 30’, and the mean temperature of the air
there is 48° Fah., from Dr. Dalton’s experiments.

Prof. Stevelly asked Mr. Hodgkinson, whether it was possible that
water could have access to those parts in which his thermometers had
been placed, particularly those placed in the stratum next under the
coal, at the floor of the mine?---Mr. Hodgkinson thought not.---Prof.
Stevelly said, that the reason why he inquired was, that there were
certain kinds of coal, which when exposed to the action of water deve-
loped much heat. This was the case with all coals which contain
pyrites. The substance of which the floor of the mine was composed, —
though nearly as hard as a metal, had such an affinity for moisture that
even the hygrometric moisture of the air would decompose it, and of
course develope more or less heat.---Prof. Forbes said it had been
clearly established that coal mines were improper localities for making
observations on subterranean temperature.

The President said, that as the Report which was next on the list
was nearly allied in subject to the one at present under consideration,
it would perhaps be convenient to permit it to be read, and to discuss
both at the same time.

‘Report on Observations on the Temperature of the Earth at differ-
ent depths, made near Edinburgh, by Prof. Forbes.---These observa-
tions were commenced in Feb. 1837, and have been regularly continued
since. They were instituted at the expense of the British Association ;

N

90 Proceedings of the British Association.

and the result of two years’ reductions was presented to the Section.*
The object was to ascertain the conducting power for heat of different
soils, and the measure of the sun’s influence at different depths under
similar external circumstances. The stations and soils were,

Observatory. Experimental Garden. Craigleith.

Trap Tufa. Pure loose sand. Compact coal-formation sandstone.

At each station four thermometers were sunk to the depths of 3, 6,
12, and 24 French feet respectively, the tubes of each being carried above
the surface, so as to be conveniently exposed side by side. The read-
ings were made every week, and corrected for the temperature of the
stem and scale, and the results were projected in the form of curves,
from which the following deductions have been made :---

[.---Annuat Report.

3 Feet (French). 6 Feet. ‘12 Feet. 24 Feet.
ay ro wo ry a! go AaAldfuea alg |[uo
3 a | es 3 r= as sia} eaa S)/a|eas
ae {a |ss|a|a |ds|/a]e]as|s/a | ae

1837. Fahr.| 18.95 | 19.65 | 17.25] 11.9 | 14.95]13.9 ]5.5 |7.55] 9.4 |1.45]2.1 | 4.1
Cent.| 10.53 | 11.23} 9.58] 6.61] 8.30] 7.72] 3.05]4.19} 5.22 | 0.80/1.16] 2.28
1838. Fahr.}.17.7 | 20.33 | 18.52] 11.2 | 14.57 | 14.25] 5.05]7.1 | 9.3 | 1.25]1.88] 3.83
Cent.| 9.83 | 11.30] 10.29} 6.22] 8.10] 7.91] 2.80]3.94] 5.16 | 0.70|1.05] 2.13

These numbers involve the data for computing the Conductivity of
these several strata; for the range in each case is found (as theory
indicates) to diminish in geometrical progression, as the depths increase
arithmetically, and the common ratio of the progression depends on

the value of =peellle iene which is the value of B in the follow-
Conductivity

ing formula A, = A-+By.

Where A, is the range, and p the depth from the surface. To obtain
the value of B, the above ranges were projected, and logarithmic curves
drawn through the points, so as to satisfy approximately the observa-
tions at each station; the result is shown for the year 1838 in the sub-
joined figure, from which it will be seen that the experiments are
perfectly consistent with one another, although (as at first sight might
be expected) the amount of the range does not follow the same order of
magnitude in the three soils at different depths.

The values of B, thus deduced, are---

Trap. Sand. Sandstone.
lil WES ¥/o sodec —.0545 —.0440 — .0316
In 1838...... — .0641 —.0317 = — .0345

* Some account of the first year’s experiments has already been presented to the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, and printed in their Proceedings.

Proceedings of the British Association. 91

The difference of these numbers, such as it is, is evidently not attri-
butable either to errors of observation or to the inadequacy of the
experiment to afford consistent results; a comparison of the curves for
two years, in which every observation is projected, shows the most
minute general conformity in their flexures and intersections. It is
rather probably to be attributed to the observations having been com-
menced too late in the winter of 1836-7 to obtain the true minimum for
that period, from which circumstance the superficial range would come
out too small, and B would therefore be diminished, as it is in each of
the three cases.

From the observations of 1838 we deduce farther this important
result, that the oscillations of annual temperature would be reduced to
aa of a Centigrade degree (or virtually extinguished) at a depth of

49 feet in trap tufa.
62 feet in incoherent sand.
91 feet in compact sandstone.

The differences in the value of B determimed by various observers
(varying in the results quoted by M. Quetelet in his excellent memoir
on this subject, from --- .0526 to --- .0384) do not depend upon difference
of geographical position, but on the various constitutions of the soil
operated upon, a circumstance hitherto wholly neglected.

II.---Epochs of Maximum and Minimum Temperature.
3 Feet (French). 6 Feet. 12 Feet. 24 Feet.

Sand-
stone.

Sand- Trap. | Sand. Sand- Trap. | Sand. Sand-
stone. ;

Trap. | Sand.
ap an stone. stone.

Trap. | Sand.

Minimum :
LIBBY GBare Mar. 31)Mar. 23)Mar. 20/Apr. 9}Apr. 5/Mar. 26|May 6|Apr. 30}/Apr. 10|July 26|/July 12/May 18
1838 ...... Feb. 26/Mar. 3]Feb. 23/Mar. 14)Mar. 19|Mar. 3]Apr. 20|Apr. 22|Mar. 20|July 18|July 8!May 12

1837 ...... Aug. 6 |July 31)Aug. 5|Sept. 2|Aug. 24) Aug. 19/Oct. 17/Oct. 6|/Sept.11)Jan. 8}Dec. 30}Nov. 11
1838 ...... Aug. 8 |Aug. 6)Aug. 16/Sept. 6|/Aug. 31}Aug. 23}/Oct. 19/Oct. 14\Sept.19|Jan. 5/Jan. 4|Nov. 2

These dates, derived by graphical interpolation, are only approximate.

The progressive retardation of epochs as we descend is too evident to
require to be pointed out. The maximum occurs 5% months after that
of the air in the two first-named strata, whilst the conducting power of
the sandstone is so superior as to accelerate this epoch by seven or
eight weeks, compared with the trap or loose sand. Were this result
deduced from thermometers placed at one depth only, its exactness
might be doubted. It is derived, however, also from the intermediate
ones.

By a simple graphical method it is easy to deduce approximately the
rate of propagation of heat downwards in each of these soils, resulting
from the whole observations taken together. The obsérvations at dif-
ferent depths confirm one another; but the minimum in 1837 was, as

92 Proceedings of the British Association.

already stated, too imperfectly observed for the upper thermometers to
be of much service. The remaining observations afford the following
results :---

Time of propagation of heat through One foot
(French), deduced from
Soil and

Locality,

Maximum, | Minimum, | Maximum, Mean.
1837. 1838. 1838.

Trap eee 7.5 days 6.5 days 6.8 days 6.9 days.

ry)
Sand (Exp. Gar- ean i geyals fas 1
a } 7.1 5.8 6.8 6.6

Sandstone — }

(Craigleith) 4.9 — He 816 Aig ae

These results confirm the relation of conducting powers indicated by
the constant B already found; but the numerical comparison of these
independent results is a matter of extreme complication---(see Poisson,
Théorie de la Chaleur, chap. xii.)

The President congratulated the members on the results likely to flow
from experiments conducted on so well-digested a system. Any person
who was conversant with the writings of Fourier, and other foreign
writers on this branch of mixed mathematics, must be aware how
necessary it was to be in possession of a sufficient store of well-ascer-
tained facts, on which any theory, if it be sound, must rest and be
dependent. The facts now collected were almost as complete as could
be expected or desired; that those are not merely accidental variations
of temperature which are indicated, must be observed on the most
superficial examination of the three curves. The general conformity,
while the thermometers, of whose indications they were as it were the
types, were placed at such distances and in substances differing so mate-
rially in structure and physical character, together with the repro-
duction of curves in successive years so coincident in their general
characters, were circumstances tending to stamp with the character
of truth the results, and to show the soundness of the system on which
these researches had been conducted. Theory had long been in advance
of practical knowledge on this subject, but practice was now coming up
and beginning to take her proper place as the handmaid and sure assis-
tant of theory. Heretofore, the scale upon which experiment had been
performed on the conducting power of the several substances of which
the crust of our earth is composed, were on so small a scale that the
analyst scarcely knew whether he was safe in using their results. In
every point of view, then, they were most important.---Mr. Snow Harris
observed, that an inspection of these curves would lead to the conclu-
sion that, as the depth increased, their curvature diminished, and that
therefore at some certain depth they would turn into straight lines, and
the temperature at that depth become constant.---Prof. Forbes said that
not only did this appear obviously from an inspection of the curves, but

Proceedings of the British Association. 93

also the formulze which he had investigated and placed on the board in-
dicated it.

‘On the Progress of the Meteorological Observations at Plymouth,
with the Barometer and Thermometer,’ by Mr. Snow Harris.---The
pressure of our atmosphere, as indicated by the barometer, being affec-
ted in these latitudes by many accidental circumstances, it is not without
difficulty we are enabled to trace the great periodical variations, and
exhibit them as they would appear in an undisturbed state. It is only
by a careful and extensive series of observations, such as those now
in progress in various places under the direction of the British Associa-
tion, that we can hope to examine successively great periodical variations
in atmospheric pressure, and bring them under the dominion of general
laws. The great periodical variation, as shown by the horary oscil-
lation, observed by Humboldt in the tropics, and by other philosophers
in different parts of Europe, is undoubtedly a phenomenon of high
interest in meteorology. In discussing the hourly observations with the
barometer at Plymouth, Mr. Harris has shown that this phenomenon
is distinctly traceable amidst a vast mass of accidental fluctuation. He
exhibited the mean hourly pressures for the years 1837 and 1838, and
the mean of the two years, and showed that a double wave was appar-
ent, when these points were connected by a continuous line. The points
in the waving line thus produced had been each determined from 730
observations; the whole number of observations from which the mean
pressure had been deduced being 17,500. The following general results
were then mentioned :---The mean height of the barometer at the Ply-
mouth dockyard, 60 feet above the level of the sea, and at a mean
temperature of 60° of Fahrenheit’s scale, was from the latest results
29.8967. It occurred in the mean hourly progression four times in
the day, viz. at 2, 20, and 8, 10, a.m.; 12, 30, and 6, 15, p.m.,---at which
times the waves crossed the mean pressure line. The difference on
oscillation from 5 to 10 a.m. amounting to .0113 of an inch, between 10
a.m. and 3, 30, p.m. amounted to .0118. The hours of greatest pressure
were 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. The hours of least pressure, 5 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Of the diurnal semi-waves, the ascent in the morning is the least, and
the ascent in the evening the greatest. Of the descending branches of
the curves, that during the day is less than that during the night. The
times of the oscillations differ. The wave by day, viz. that between
5 a.m. and 3, 30, p.m. being ten hours and a half. That by night, viz.
between 3, 30, and 5 a.m. being thirteen hours and a half. The size
of the daily wave, therefore, so far as the observations hitherto proceeded,
was less than that of the wave at night. Mr. Harris proceeded then
to discuss the observations as applied to the different seasons, of spring,
summer, autumn, and winter, and showed that the general hourly
progress of the pressure was greatly interfered with at particular
periods; the wave of autumn being that which coincided most nearly
with the general curve. Of the different monthly pressures, October

94 Proceedings of the British Association.

and December were the greatest, November and February the least,
January and September the two nearest the mean.

Mr. Harris now proceeded to discuss the supposed Influence of the
Moon onthe Barometer, and with this view had reduced about 4,000 of
the observations, so as to show the pressure at the time of the moon’s
southing, and for each hour before and after ; but he could not discover
any differences which could be supposed to arise from the moon’s
influence. He was therefore disposed to agree with the conclusion
lately arrived at by Mr. Lubbock, from a discussion of the Barometric
Observations at the Royal Society---viz. that no lunar irregularity is
observable from this method of discussing the observations---that, if at
any time established, it must prove extremely small. He could not,
however, avoid mentioning, as a singular coincidence in the results of
the two years, that taking the mean pressures about the four periods of
the lunar changes, it appeared that the pressure was less at the new
moon, and that it increased up to the last quarter, when it was the
greatest. The first object bemg to arrive at certain great periodical
variations, those had been principally kept in view; hence, mere ac-
cidental disturbances remained as yet unconsidered. Mr. Harris, how-
ever, had observed, as a very general result, that when the pressure
decreased at night, whilst the temperature increased, the succeeding
weather was always disturbed and uncertain---in winter, gales of wind
from the S.E. and S.W., with rain; whilst, on the contrary, a decreasing
temperature, with an increasing pressure, was generally followed by
fair weather, with winds varying from N.W. to N.E. The observations
hitherto made with the dry and wet bulb thermometer had not yet been
reduced. Of the ordinary thermometer, more than 50,000 hourly obser-
vations were now completed. Mr. Harris had received two very inter-
esting communications on the Hourly Changes of Temperature, which
enabled him to contrast the curves of Plymouth and Leith with those of
Frankfort Arsenal, near Philadelphia, and three places in Ceylon. The
Association was indebted to Major Ord, R.E., for the latter, and to
Capt. Mordecai, of the United States’ Corps of Ordnance, for the former.
Hourly observations had been obtained by these gentlemen, similar to
those which had already appeared in the Transactions of the Associa-
tion, and which fully confirmed the results arrived at by Sir D. Brewster,
to whom the scientific world is indebted for the first perfect series of
hourly observations of the thermometer, and also the results of those
arrived at by Mr. Harris in the discussion of similar observations carri-
ed on at Plymouth, at the request of the Association. Mr. Harris here
exhibited, under the form of curves, the mean hourly progress of the
temperature at these different places. It appeared, from these obsezva-
tions, that the line of mean temperature at the three stations in Ceylon,
between 6° and 8° N. lat., was crossed between 9 and 10 a.m., and at 9
p.m. The mean temperature at these stations bemg 74° at Kandy, and
from 80° to 81° of Fahrenheit at the others, which did not materially

Proceedings of the British Association. 95

differ from the times at Leith, in which the mean temperature is 48°,
and the lat. about 55° N. At the Frankfort Arsenal, the line of mean
temperature is crossed also about 10 a.m., but differed at night, being
between 7 and 8 p.m.; whilst at Plymouth, the line of mean temperature
was crossed soon after 8 a.m., and 7 a.m. by the latest observations. The
little comparative mean range of the thermometer at Leith and Kandy,
and in Ceylon, gave great similarity to the curves indicating the march of
the hourly temperature in these places.---The author concluded with
some general remarks on this subject.

Prof. Forbes and Prof. Whewell pointed out the necessity of reduc-
ing the observations to 32° of Fah.---Mr. Harris stated, that the tem-
peratures at which the observations were made had not greatly differed,
but that, before the Report appeared, the observations should be re-
vised and reduced.

‘On a New Calorimeter, by which the Heat disengaged in Combustion
may be exactly measured, with some Introductory Remarks upon the
Nature of different Coals,’ by Andrew Ure, M.D.---In these researches,
which are still in progress, the first point (said Dr. Ure) which I seek to
ascertain is the proportion of volatile and fixed matter afforded by any
kind of fuel---as, for example, pit-coal---when a given weight of it is
subjected, in a retort or covered crucible, to a bright red heat. The result
of this experiment shows how far the coal is a flaming or gas coal, and
what quantity of coke it can produce. The second preliminary point of
importance which I determine with regard to coals, is the amount of
sulphur they may contain: a circumstance which has not hitherto been
made the subject of precise investigation, in this country at least, but
which is of great consequence, not only as to their domestic use, but to
their employment by the iron-master and the manufacturer of gas. That
good iron cannot be made with a sulphureous coal, however carefully
coked, has been proved in France by a very costly experience. In ge-
neral, when a coal leaves 15 or 16 per cent. of ferrugimous ashes, we
may conclude with certainty that it contains sulphur in corresponding
proportion; for this substance exists always, I believe, in pit-coal, in the
form of pyrites, but often disseminated or combined, so as to be invisible,
unless by microscopic means. The most ready and exact method of de-
termining rigidly the quantity of sulphur in any compound, is to mix a
given weight of it with a certain weight of carbonate of potassa, nitre,
and common salt, each chemically pure, and to ignite the mixture in a
platinum crucible. A whitish mass is obtained, in which all the sulphur
has been converted into sulphate of potassa. By ascertaining, with
nitrate of baryta, the amount of sulphuric acid present, that of sulphur
becomes known. By such a process, applied to different samples of
coals, sent to me for analysis, I obtained the following results :---

96 Proceedings of the British Association.

Gas coals No. 1 Sulphur in 100 parts 3.00

D cccccccece ee peciecee . 3.90
D sesee er eeccccesacecs 2.42
4 secccccscccces ceseee 3.00
D cccncecieccoecs cic cess 2.50
Be ecccccceevecvocscce 0-20
7 scccvcccvcccccccsccs SAU
Siisiciseewiacjesielelvielss eees 3.00

Coals for puddling cast iron to be converted into steel :
1, hard foliated, or splent, sp. gray. 1.258 .... 0.80

BF i ditto Seer eee 1.290 .... 0.96
3, ditto Biateleialotelalateleielalerainiete UOA8) RAGA BEL
4, cubical, and rather soft....... 5 AY) aasoh Wet

The presence of much sulphur in a gas coal is a great evil, because it
affords, in its decomposition, so much sulphuretted hydrogen, as requires
an operose process of washing or purification, which impoverishes the
gas, and impairs its illuminating power by the abstraction of its olefiant
gas or carburetted hydrogen. Hence I found, in a specimen of coal gas,
as generated in the retorts of one of the London gas companies, no less
than 18 per cent. of olefiant gas; but in the same gas, after its purifica-
tion from sulphur, I found only 11 per cent. With a coal, such as No. 4
of the second series given above, at least 10 per cent. of the light might
be economized. The apparatus which I employ consists of a large cop-
per bath, capable of holding 100 gallons of water: it is traversed, for-
wards and backwards, four times, in four different levels, by a zig-zag
horizontal flue, or flat pipe, nine inches broad, and one inch deep, end-
ing below in a round pipe, which passes through the bottom of the cop-
per bath, and receives there into it the top of a small black lead furnace.
The interior furnace, which contains the fuel, is surrounded, ‘at the dis-
tance of an inch, by another furnace, which case serves to prevent the
dissipation of heat into the atmosphere. A pipe, from a pair of double-
cylinder bellows, enters the ash-pit of the furnace at one side, and sup-
plies a steady current of air to keep up the combustion, kindled at first
by half an ounce of red-hot charcoal. So completely is the heat which
is disengaged by the burning fuel absorbed by the water in the bath,
that the air discharged at the top orifice has usually the same tempera-
ture as the atmosphere. In the experiments made with former water
calorimeters the combustion was maintained by the current ofa chimney,
open at bottom, which carried off at top a quantity of heat very difficult
to estimate. My experiments have been directed hitherto chiefly to a
comparison of the heating powers of Welsh anthracite, Llangennech,
and a few other coals. I have found, that the anthracite, when burned
in a peculiar way, with a certain small admixture of other coals, evolves
a quantity of heat at least 35 per cent. greater than the Llangennech
does, which latter is reckoned by many to be the best fuel for the pur-
poses of steam navigation. One half pound of anthracite, burned with
my apparatus, heats 600 pounds of water 100 Fahr., viz. from 62° to 720,
the temperature of the atmosphere being 66°; so that there is no fallacy

Proceedings of the British Association. oa

occasioned either by the conducting powers of the surrounding medium,
or by achimney current. We thus see that one pound of anthracite will
communicate, to at least 12,000 times its weight of water, an elevation
of temperature of 1°, by Fahrenheit’s scale. For the sake of brevity,
we may call this quantity, or energy, 12,000 unities of heat. One
pound of Llangennech, in the same circumstances, will afford 9,000
unities : one pound of good charcoal, after ordinary exposure to the air,
affords 10,500: perfectly anhydrous charcoal would yield much more:
one pound of Lambton’s Wall’s-end coals affords 7,500 unities. It de-
serves to be remarked, that a coal, which produces in its ignition much
carburetted hydrogen and water, does not afford so much heat as a
coal equally rich in carbon, but of a less hydrogenated nature, because,
towards the production of the carburetted hydrogen and water a great
deal of latent or specific heat is required: indeed, the evaporation of
unburnt volatile matter from ordinary flaming coals abstracts unprofit-
ably a very large portion of their heat, which they would otherwise
afford. Hence, those chemists who, with M. Berthier and Mr. Richard-
son, estimate the calorific powers of coals by the quantity of carbon
which they contain, or the quantity of oxygen which they consume,
have arrived at very erroneous conclusions. The amount of error may
be detected by experiments on the cokes of flaming coals. M. Berthier
examines coals for their proportion of carbon, by igniting a mixture of
each, finely pulverized, with litharge, in a crucible, and estimates 1
part of carbon for every 34 parts of lead which is reduced. I have made
many researches in this way with both charcoal and anthracite, and
have obtained very discordant results. In one experiment, 10 grains of
pulverized anthracite from Merthyr Tydfil, mixed with 500 grains of
pure litharge, afforded 380 grains of metallic lead; in a second similar
experiment, 10 grains of the very same anthracite afforded 450 grains of
lead; in a third, 350 grains. In one experiment with good ordinary char-
coal, fresh calcined, 10 grains, mixed with 1,000 of litharge, afforded no
less than 603 grains of metal. The crucible was, in each case, covered
and luted. My future researches, which are intended to embrace every

important variety of fuel, natural and artificial, will be made with an
_ apparatus somewhat modified from that here described. Three furnaces
will be inclosed within each other, with a stratum of air or ground
charcoal between each, so as to prevent all loss of heat into the at-
mosphere, and thereby to transfer the whole heat disengaged by com-
bustion into a large body of water, of a temperature so much below
that of the atmosphere at the beginning of the experiment, as it shall be
above it at the conclusion.

‘On a method of fillmg a Barometer without the aid of an Air-pump,
and of ebtaining an invariable level of the surface of the Mercury in the
cistern,’ by Prof. Stevelly.---Prof. Stevelly said that it was very difficult
to fill a barometer tube so as to be quite free from air and moisture. Mr.
Daniell, in his Meteorological Essays, proposed to fill the barometer

O

98 Proceedings of the British Association.

under the exhausted receiver of the air-pump, and actually had the
barometer of the Royal Society so filled by Mr. Newman, under his
own superintendence ; but although an expert London working optician
might be found capable of executing successfully such a tube, yet few in
the country could hope for such an advantage; and, in fact, although
he had attempted the process at Belfast, he had never succeeded. After
some consideration, the following simple mode of using the torrecellian
vacuum of the tube itself, instead of the air-pump, in filling it, occurred
to him. He heated the mercury as hot as it could be used, and fil-
led the tube, in the common way, to within half an inch of the
top ; then worked out, in the usual way, all air bubbles, as per-
fectly as possible ; filled up the tube to the top, and inverted it in a cup
of hot mercury, when it, of course, subsided, in the upper part of the tube
to the barometric height ; he then placed his finger on the mouth of the
tube, under the mercury in the cup, and lifted it out ; and, still holding
his finger tightly over the mouth of the tube, laid it flat on a table,
when the mercury in the tube soon lay at the under side of the tube,
leaving the upper part along the length of the tube void. Upon then
turning the tube slowly round, still keeping the finger on its mouth,
every spark of air was gathered up. He then placed the tube in an
upright position, with its mouth upwards, and, placing a funnel of clean
dry paper about the upper part, an assistant filled the funnel slowly,
with hot mercury, so as to cover the fingers. Upon slowly withdraw-
ing the finger, the mercury went gently in, and displaced almost per-
fectly the atmospheric air which had gathered into the void space. By
renewing the process which succeeded the previous washing of the air
out of the tube, once, or at most twice, a column of the most perfect
brilliancy was obtained. He had mentioned this simple method to Dr.
Robinson, of Armagh, who suggested that, to get rid of the damp and
greasiness of the finger, it would be better to cover the mouth during
the process with clean and dry caoutchouc; and this was found a decided
advantage. The method of procuring an invariable surface in the cistern
was equally simple. From the imperfection of his sight, it was an object
of much interest to him to have as few readings or adjustments depend-
ing on sight as possible. He proposed, therefore, to divided the cistern
into two compartments, by a diaphragm of sheet iron or glass, brought
to.a sharp edge at top. Into one of these compartments, the barometer
tube dips; in the other is placed a plunger of glass or cast iron, which
can be raised or lowered by a slow screw movement. To prepare for an
observation, the plunger is first screwed down, by which it displaces
the mercury in one compartment, and raises its surface in the other
above the edge of the diaphragm; upon raising it slowly again, the
mercury drains off to the level of the edge of the diaphragm, thus, at
every observation, reducing the surface to a fixed level.

Proceedings of the British Association. 99

Section B.---Cuemistry and Mineratoey.---Thursday.

‘Notice of some Experiments upon a new Compound, called Lodosul-
phurie Acid, upon the true constitution of Chlorochromic Acid, and up-
on Chromamide,’ by Mr. Lyon Playfair.---The object which I proposed
to attain (said the writer) in commencing these experiments, was to dis-
cover some mode of isolating hyposulphurous acid. The experiments
are still unfinished, but I will here notice the results already obtained.
The best method of studying this subject appeared to be, to examine
the characters of those compounds which have an analogous constitu-
tion. Chlorochromic acid, according to MM. Walter and Regnault,
may be viewed as a compound of a hypothetical radical, ‘chromous
acid,’ united with an atom of chlorine. If hyposulphurous acid also be
considered as a combination of sulphurous acid with sulphur, both of
these acids would belong to the same class. But as the opinions of
chemists are much divided respecting the true rational composition of

‘chlorochromic acid, Mr. Playfair was anxious to ascertain which view
was the most correct. For this purpose, the behaviour of the solid com-
pound of chlorochromic acid and ammonia was examined. By various tests
applied to it, it did not appear to contain chromic acid. Now, if chlo-
rochromic acid be really a salt, the bichromate of the perchloride of
chromium, it ought to contain chromic acid; in short, it seems to be
a peculiar compound, chromamide united with muriate of ammonia, and
analogous to the sulphamide of Regnault. Chlorosulphuric acid is
a compound which did not suit my purpose, on account of its never be-
ing obtained free from a foreign substance---the liquor of the Dutch
chemists. It therefore became necessary to discover a substance of an
analogous constitution, and which might be obtained with more ease,
and with more purity. For this purpose, two equivalents of iodine
were mixed with one of sulphite of lead, and the mixture was subjected
to distillation : a dark red fluid passed over. This method, however, does
not yield it of sufficient purity, beg contaminated with iodine, which it
retains in solution. A better method, therefore, consists in dissolving
iodine in pyroxylic spirit, and sending a steam of sulphuric acid through
the solution until it be completely saturated. By evaporation, distilla-
tion, and allowing the substance thus procured to remain over sulphuric
acid, it may be obtained in a state of absolute purity; its taste is ex-
tremely acid, and when it is dropped upon the cuticle, a disagreeable
obstinate sore is occasioned. I hoped that hyposulphurous acid might be
isolated in a similiar manner, and, upon trying the experiment, with the
substitution of sulphur for iodine, a yellow liquid of an acid taste, dis-
tilled over; but it speedily decomposed with the deposition of sulphur.
A sufficient quantity was not obtained for analytical investigation. There
are many other modes suggested by the properties of iodosulphuric acid,
some of which I hope may succeed. I have merely stated the method
of obtaining iodosulphuric acid, but the same process is applicable to

100 Proceedings of the British Association.

many others of a similiar class, whose properties I am at present inves-
tigating. The circumstances which led me to enter into these experi-
ments, were to remove the objections which the opponents of isomorphism
have urged against that theory, on account of the great dissimilarity,
both in chemical and in physical characters, which exists between the
chromates and their corresponding sulphates. By boiling a sulphate of
the oxide required with chromate of barytes, soluble salts may be ob-
tained, isomorphous with the sulphates, and, in general, affecting the
same number of atoms of water. The insoluble chromates, generally
described in systematic treaties on chemistry as neutral chromates, are of
a very interesting constitution, but their analytical developement is ex-
tremely intricate, from the fact of there being several of each oxide.
There are many other points connected with this subject, with which I
cannot detain you.*

‘ A new theory of the Galvanization of Metals,’ by Prof. Schénbein,
of Basle.---The Professor began by stating, that the discovery of the
chemical power of the voltaic pile, made in the beginning of the present
century by British philosophers, drew the attention of the scientific
world to the relations which exist between chemical and electrical phe-
nomena; indeed, only a few years after this important fact had been
ascertained, Sir Humphry Davy and Berzelius did not hesitate to esta-
blish the theory which has since been generally adopted---viz. that che-
mical and electrical forces are essentially the same. Prof. Schénbein
considers, that the results of recent experiments are opposed to the
theory. The facts which he brings forward in opposition to it are as
follows :---1. A piece of iron was voltaically associated with a piece of
zinc, and each of these metals was put into a separate vessel, filled with
common water. The vessels did not communicate with each other. In
the course of a few hours after the immersion of the iron, light flakes of
oxide of iron made their appearance round the metal, and, after a cou-
ple of days, the latter was corroded to a considerable degree. The same
result was obtained when the iron was plunged into water, and the zinc
made to rise above the level of the fluid, so as to prevent the latter from
being in the least contact with water. According to Prof. Schénbein,
a piece of iron, when immersed in water without any voltaic associa-
tion, was as much corroded as under the circumstances detailed. 2. Two
pieces of iron were made, one of them the positive, the other the nega-
tive pole of a voltaic pile, which consisted of ten pairs of copper and
zinc, and was charged with water holding 5 per cent. of common salt in
solution. Each of the polar wires was put in a separate vessel, filled
with common water. Under these circumstances, both wires were
equally attacked and corroded in the same manner as if a single piece of

* The young chemist whose name is already associated with original researches came to
Calcutta in 1838, but was induced to return by the same ship that brought him out. Europe
undoubtedly presents a wider field to philosophical minds, but settle where he may, Mr. Playfair
will rise to the first eminence in his profession.

Proceedings of the British Association. 101

iron had been put into water, for, after the lapse of a couple of hours,
the polar wires were seen to be surrounded by light flakes of oxide of
iron. 3. A piece of iron being voltaically associated with zinc, was ex-
posed to the action of the atmosphere. Having left this voltaic pair for
some time to itself, the iron part of it appeared to be covered with a
thin layer of rust, and on comparing it with a piece of iron which had
also been placed within the atmosphere during the same space of time,
no evident difference could be detected between the states of the surfaces
of both pieces. 4. A piece of iron wire was connected with each of the
poles of a voltaic pile, without making the wires touch each other.
Being exposed to the action of the atmosphere under these circumstances,
hoth polar wires appeared, after some time, equally effected by rust, and
as much as another piece of iron which was not connected with a pile.
5. A piece of iron, being voltaically associated with zinc, was placed in
common water, so that both metals were deposited in the same vessel.
Although this voltaic pair has been kept in water for twelve months, the
iron part of it does not appear to be in the least degree oxidized, its
surface being perfectly brilliant. 6. A piece of iron wire was connected
with each of the poles of a pile, and each of these pieces made to plunge
into a separate vessel filled with common water, the vessels being
connected by means of a piece of platinum. That portion of the negative
polar wire which was immersed in the water did not rust at all, as long
as there was a current passing through the arrangement. 7. Copper
being intimately associated with zinc, and brought into an aqueous
solution of chloride of sodium (in such a manner that each of the metals
was plunged into a separate vessel), was soon chemically affected,---
provided that the vessels did not communicate with each other. 8. The
same experiment was made as in the preceding case, with the difference,
however, that both metals were plunged into the same vessel. Under
these circumstances, the copper piece was not in the least corroded by
the salt water, whatever the length of time was during which the metals
were immersed. 9. A piece of copper was connected with each of the
poles of a voltaic pile, and put into a vessel containing an aqueous
solution of common salt. Both pieces were attacked by the fluid just in
the same way as if they had not been attached to a voltaic arrangement,
provided the vessels did not communicate with each other. 10. The
experiment was made as in the preceding case, with the difference only,
that the vessels were made to communicate with each other by means of
a piece of platium. The positive polar wire quickly underwent oxidation,
while the negative one remained untouched. If an aqueous solution of
common salt was made use of as the exciting fluid in the pile, and the
latter left unclosed, the copper pieces of the voltaic pair rather readily
entered into oxidation, while they were not all chemically affected when
the pile was closed. 11. A piece either of copper or of iron was connected
with each of the poles of a pile; two tumblers were filled, partly with
mercury, partly with water, or with a solution of common salt, and the

102 Proceedings of the British Association.

vessels made to communicate with each other by platinum, so as to make
each extremity of the latter enter into the mercury of either vessel.
Things having been arranged in the manner described, the polar wires
were each introduced into one of the tumblers, so that the free end of
each wire was made to plunge into the mercury. Under these circum-
stances, both polar wires appeared to be equally affected---that is, they
were precisely in the circumstances as if they had not been connected
with any voltaic arrangement. From these facts, Prof. Schénbein
infers---1st, That neither common nor voltaic electricity is capable of
changing the chemical bearings of any body, and that the principles of
the electro-chemical theory, as laid down by Davy and Berzelius, are
fallacious. 2nd, The change which certain metallic bodies, when placed
under the influence of a current, seem to undergo with regard to their
chemical relations, is due to the production of some substance or other,
and its deposition upon those bodies by the agency of a current of
electricity. 3rd, The condition, sine qua non, for efficaciously protecting
readily-oxidizable metals against the action of free oxygen dissolved in
fluids, is, to arrange a closed voltaic circle, which is made up, on one
side, of the metal to be protected, and another metallic body more readily
oxidizable than the former, and, on the other side, of an electrolyte
containing hydrogen, as water.

Prof. Shepard, of the Medical College, South Carolina, gave an account
of the analysis of a Meteorite, in which he had detected chlorine and silicon.

‘On the Composition of Idocrase,’ by Mr. T. Richardson.---The com-
position of the Silicates has attracted a considerable share of the at-
tention of chemists, but until the discovery of the doctrine of Isomor-
phism, this department of mineralogy might be said to have remained
stationary. It is however remarkable, that, even with the advantages
of this beautiful law, many of the formule of minerals are very incor-
rect representations of their constitution, as, for example, in the
received formula of Petalite, there is a difference of six per cent, of
Silica between the result of the analysis and that computed; and this is
only one among many instances which might be adduced. Idocrase is
even in a worse state than this, for Berzelius says, (Die Anwendung
Lothrohres, p. 218,) that the formula is not known with certainty,
although Prof. Johnstone, in his reporton Dimorphous Bodies, has as-
signed to it the following formula in common with the Garnet---viz.

(‘Ai

CS ones

3 (Fe

The subject has moreover been lately involved in greater obscurity,

by the publication of M. Ivanoe’s analysis in Poggendorff’s Annalen,
which differs from all the analyses hitherto made. With the view then
of assisting in explaining these descrepancies, I have made the following -
analyses of Idocrase from different localities, with specimens selected

Proceedings of the British Assoceation. 105

from the cabinet of Mr. Hutton, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. It is needless
to give the detail of the analyses, which were made with every care :---
No. 1. was a specimen of Idocrase from Egg, in Norway; 2. Idocrase
from Slatoush, in Siberia; 3 Idocrase from Piedmont; 4. Vesuvian from
Monte Somma: 5. Egerane from Eger, in Bohemia.

] 2 3 4 5)

Sc armet eter tate tetera ielsieleisictcalelnicieiclsic|«isieleieley-= 38.75 37.45 39.25 37.90 38.40
PAM ATR Mee teteetetelelsielcie:cjelele:siele(e ojerele/sye)s «aie 17.35 18.85 17.30 18.1G 18.15
PYOLOXG LTO Marre tisis <isiele cise efais cre olciere vis lcinre SO Hey. love ANS) 7A
Protox. Manganese...ceeescseesrsecerere =f) trace 3.50 Fi trace
TENT CPP a erererate er erehatcteicie cleictevolalove e's sicicietae ei 33.60 35.25 32.25 34.69 33.69
IMM cere icaraetate alala!s)sialalal\=\a(als'=lals/a'e aleln\s\e/s) oleic 1.50 1.35 47 = 3.23 3.02

99.30 100.35 100.30 98.86 100.06

The result of these analyses is, that the composition of Idocrase may
be represented by the formula,

7 (FO, MO, CaO MgO);SiO; + 5 Aly O3 SiO3 which may also be
referred back to the fundamental formula of the Garnet, 3 RO,
SiO; + R203; SiO3. This result however, suggests the idea, that by
attending more to the exact representation of the analytical results in
the formula, some new light may possibly be thrown on some points
in Isomorphism.

‘Experiments on Fermentation,’ with some general remarks, by Dr.
Ure.*---A dispute having taken place between some distillers in Ireland,
and officers of Excise, concerning the formation of alcohol in the vats or
tuns by spontaneous fermentation, without the presence of yeasts, the
Commissioners of Excise thought fit to cause a series of experiments to
be made upon the subject, and they were placed under my general super-
intendence. An experiment was made on the 6th of October, 1837, with
the following mixture of corn.

2 Bushels of Barley weighing .........csecccssssseverssseesesessecesesscssseseee LOOLD. 5 02.
fy LBinsinall @? WEN Sy crscoocennoocetico cue da CLUCCOCCHERHC COC OCLOLEDEODELEEancEoeaa | el 7

2h Ternslaell or Qi coccnccoctococnocosdnancoocencoactoconasndsacnccencodecocnnoniionscn 240) 12
Total, 3 Bushels, weighing 142 8

The bruised corn was wetted with 26 gallons of water at the tempera-
ture of 160° F., and after proper stirring, had 8 gallons more of water
added to it at the average temperature of 194.. The mash was again
well stirred, and at the end of 45 minutes the whole was covered up,
having at that time a temperature of 138° F. Three hours afterwards, 16
gallons of wash only were drawn off; being considerably less than should
have been obtained, had the apparatus been constructed somewhat dif-
ferently, as shall be presently pointed out. The gravity of that wash was
1,060; or in the language of the distiller, 60 degrees. After a delay of

* From the pressure of business before the Section, Dr. Ure did not read this
paper, but gave merely a summary of its contents.

104 Proceedings of the British Association.

two hours more, twenty additional gallons of water at the temperature of
200° were introduced, when the mash was well stirred, and then covered
up for two hours, at which period 23 gallons of fine worts, of specific
gravity 1.242, were drawn off. An hour afterwards 12 gallons of water
at 200° were added to the residual grains, and in an hour and a half 11
gallons of wort, of the density 1.033, were obtained. Next morning the
several worts were collected in a new mash tun. They consisted of 48
gallons at the temperature 80°, and of a specific gravity 2.0465, when
reduced to 60°. Being set at 80°, fermentation soon commenced; in two
days the specific gravity had fallen to 1.0317; in three days to 1.018; in
four days to 1.013; and in five days to 1.012; the temperature having
at last fallen to 78° F. The total attenuation was therefore 347 degrees,
indicating the production of 3.31 gallons of proof spirit; while the pro-
duce by distillation in low wines was 3.22; and by rectification in spirits
and feints it was 3.05. The next experiment was commenced on the
12th of October, upon a similar mixture of corn to the preceding. 48
gallons of worts of 1.043 specific gravity were set at 82, in the tun, which
next day was attenuated to 1.0418; in two days to 1.0202; in three days
to 1.0125; and in five days to 1.0105: constituting in the whole an atten-
uation of 323 degrees, which indicates the production of 3.12 gallons of
proof spirits; while the produce of the first distillation was 2.93 in low
wines; and that of the second in feints and spirits was 2.66. In these
experiments, the wash when fermenting most actively, seemed to simmer
and boil on the surface, with the emission of a hissing noise, and the
copious evolution of carbonic acid gas. They prove beyond all doubt,
that much alcohol may be generated in grain worts, without the
addition of yeast, and that also at an early period; but the fermentation
is never so active as with yeast, nor does it continue so long, or proceed
to nearly the same degree of attenuation. I was never satisfied with
the construction of the mash tun used in these experiments, and had ac-
cordingly suggested another form, by which the mash mixture could be
maintained at the proper temperature during the mashing period. It is
known to chemists, that the diastase of malt is the true saccharifying
ferment which converts the fecula or starch of barley and other corn in-
to sugar; but it acts beneficially only between the temperatures of 145°
and 168° F.* When the temperature falls below the former number
saccharification languishes, and when it rises much above the latter it is
entirely checked. ‘The new mash tun was made of sheet zinc, somewhat
wider at bottom than top ; it was placed in a wooded tun, so much larger, -
as to leave an interstitial space between the two of a couple of inches at
the sides and bottom. Through this space a current of water at 160°
was made to circulate slowly during the mashing period. Three bushels

* M. Raspail’s observations upon diastase are entirely erroneous; and cannot be
allowed to invalidate the facts adduced by Payen, Persoz, and Guerin Varry. In
fact, were Raspail correct, wheat flour boiled with water should immediately form
sugar.

Proceedings of the British Association. 105

of malt, weighing 125 lb. 3 oz., were wetted with 30 gallons of water at
167°, and the mixture being well agitated, the mash was left covered up
at a temperature of 140° during three hours, when 19 gallons of fine
worts were drawn off at the specific gravity of 1.0902, or 90.2 degrees.
Twenty gallons more water at 167° were then added to the residuum,
which afforded after two hours 28 gallons of wort at the gravity of 1.036 ;
12 gallons of water at 167° were now poured on, which yielded after
other two hours 15 gallons at the gravity 1.0185. Forty gallons of fine
worts at 1.058 gravity, and 68° temperature, were collected in the even-
ing of the same day, and let into the tun with 5 per cent. of yeast.
The attenuation amounted in six days to 54 degrees. The third wort of
this brewing, amounting to 15 gallons, being very feeble, was mixed with
7 gallons of the first and second worts, put into a copper, and concentra-
ted by boiling to 11 gallons, which had a gravity of 1.058 at 60° F.
They were separately fermented with five per cent. of yeast, and suffer-
ed an attenuation of 482 degrees. The produce of spirit from both,
indicated by the attenuation was 5.36 gallons ; the produce in low wines
was actually 5.52, and that in spirits and feints was 5.33, being a perfect
accordance with the Excise tables.

The next experiments were made with a view of determining at what
elevation of temperature the activity or efficiency of yeast would be
paralyzed, and how far the attenuation of worts could be pushed within six
hours, which is the time limited by law for worts to be collected into
the tun, from the time of beginning to run from the coolers. When
worts of the gravity 1.0898 were set at 96° Fahr., with 5 per cent. of
yeast, they attenuated 26.9° in six hours ; worts of 1.0535 gravity set at
110° with 5 per cent. of yeast, attenuated i160 in about 5 hours; but
when worts of 1.0533 were set, as above, at 120°, they neither fermented
then, nor when allowed to cool; showing that the activity of the yeast
was destroyed. When fresh yeast was now added to the last portion of
_worts, the attenuation became 5.8° im 2 hours, and 28.4° in 3 days;
showing that the saccharme matter of the worts still retained its fermen-
tative faculty. Malt worts bemg brewed as above specified, were set in
the tun, one portion at a temperature of 70°, with a gravity of 1.0939,
' and 5 per cent. of yeast, which attenuated 66° in 3 days ; other two por-
tions of the same gravity were set at 120°, with about 10 per cent. of
yeast, which underwent no fermentative change or attenuation in 6
hours, all the yeast having fallen to the bottom of the tuns. When these
two samples of worts were allowed, however, to cool to from 74° to 72°,
fermentation commenced, and produced in two days an attenuation of
about 79°. It would appear, from these last two experiments, that
yeast to the amount of 5 per cent. is so powerfully affected by strong
worts heated to 120°, as to have its fermentative energy destroyed ; but
that when yeast is added to the amount of 10 per cent., the 5 parts of
excess are not permanently decomposed, but have their activity merely
suspended till the saccharine liquid falls to a temperature compatible

P

106 Proceedings of the British Association.

with fermentation. Yeast, according to my observations, when viewed
in a good achromatic microscope, consists altogether of translucent,
spherical and spheroidal particles, each of about the 6000th part of an
inch in diameter. When the beer in which they float is washed away
with a little water, they are seen to be colourless; their yellowish tint,
when they are examined directly from the fermenting square or round
of a porter brewery, being due to the infusion of the brown malt. The
yeast of a square newly set seems to consist of particles smaller than
those of older yeast, but the difference of size is not considerable. The
researches of Shulze, Cagniard de la Tour, and Schwann, appear to show
that the vinous fermentation, and the putrefaction of animal matters---
processes which have been hitherto considered as belonging entirely to
the domain of chemical affinity---are essentially the results of an organic
development of living beings. This position seems to be established by
the following experiments :---1. A matrass or flask containing a few bits
of flesh being filled up to one-third of its capacity with water, was closed
with a cork, into which two slender glass tubes were cemented air-tight.
Both of these tubes were passed externally through a metallic bath,
kept constantly melted, at a temperature approaching to that of boiling
mercury. The end of one of the tubes, on emerging from the bath,
was placed in communication with a gasometer. The contents of the
matrass were now made to boil briskly, so that the air contained in it
and the glass tubes was expelled. The matrass being then allowed to
cool, a current of atmospherical air was made constantly to pass through
it from the gasometer, while the metallic bath was kept constantly hot
enough to decompose the living particles in the air. In these experi-
ments, which were many times repeated, no infusoria or fungi appeared,
no putrefaction took place, the flesh underwent no change, and the liquor
remained as clear as it was immediately after being boiled. As it was
found very troublesome to maintain the metallic bath at the melting pitch,
the following modification of the apparatus was adopted in the subse-
quent researches. A flask of three ounces capacity, beg one-fourth
filled with water and flesh, was closed with a tight cork, secured in its
place by wire. Two glass tubes were passed through the cork; the one
of them was bent down, and dipped at its end into a small capsule con-
taming quicksilver, covered with a layer of oil; the other was bent on
leaving the cork, first into a horizontal direction, and downwards for an
inch and a half, afterwards into a pair of spiral turns, then upwards,
lastly horizontal, whence it was drawn out to a point. The pores of the
cork having been filled with caoutchouc varnish, the contents of the
flask were boiled till steam issued copiously through both of the glass
tubes, and the quicksilver and oil became as hot as boiling water. In
order that no living particles could be generated in the water condensed
beneath the oil, a few fragments of corrosive sublimate were laid upon
the quicksilver. During the boiling, the flame of a spirit lamp was
drawn up over the spiral part of the second glass tube, by means of a

Proceedings of the British Association. 107

glass chimney placed over it, so as to soften the glass, while the further
part of the tube was heated by another spirit lamp, to prevent its getting
cracked by the condensation of the steam. After the ebullition had been
kept up a quarter of an hour, the flask was allowed to cool and get
filled with air through the hot spiral of the second tube. When the
contents were quite cold, the end of this tube was hermetically sealed,
the part of it between the point and the spiral was heated strongly with
the flames, and the lamps were then withdrawn. The matrass contain-
ed now nothing but boiled flesh and gently ignited air. The air was
renewed occasionally through the second tube, its spiral part being
first strongly heated, its point then broken off, and connected with a
gasometer, which caused the air to pass onwards slowly, and escape at
the end of the first tube immersed in the quicksilver. The end of the
second tube was again hermetically closed, while the part interjacent
between it and the spiral was exposed to the spirit flame. By means of
these precautions, decoctions of flesh were preserved, during a period of
six weeks, in a temperature of from 14° to 20° R. (632° to 77° F.), with-
out any appearance of putrefaction, infusoria, or mouldiness: on open-
ing the vessel, however, the contents fermented in a few days, as if
they had been boiled in the ordinary manner. In conducting such
researches, the greatest pains must be taken to render the cork and
junctions of the glass tubes perfectly air-tight. The following more
convenient modification of the experiment, but one equally successful
and demonstrative, was arranged by F. Schulze. The glass tubes con-
nected with the flask, were furnished each with a bulb at a little dis-
tance from the cork ; into one of which globes caustic alkaline lye being
put, and into the other strong sulphuric acid, air was slowly sucked
through the extremity of the one tube, while it entered at the other, so
as to renew the atmosphere over the decoction of flesh in the flask.
In another set of experiments, four flasks being filled with a solution
of cane-sugar, containing some beer yeast, were corked, and plunged in
boiling water till they acquired its temperature. They were then taken
out, inverted in a mercurial bath, uncorked, and allowed to cool in that
position. From one-third to one-fourth of their volume of atmospheri-
cal air was now introduced into each of the flasks; into two of them,
through slender glass tubes kept red hot at a certain point, into the
other two through glass tubes not heated. By analysis it was found
that the air thus heated contained only 19.4 per cent. of oxygen,
instead of 20.8; but, to compensate for this deficiency, a little more air
was admitted into the two flasks connected with the heated tubes, than
into the two Others. The flasks were now corked and placed in an
inverted position, in a temperature of from 10° to 14° R. (544° to 6330
F.) After a period of from four to six weeks, it was found that fer-
mentation had taken place in both of the flasks which contained the
non-ignited air---for, in loosening the corks, some of the contents were
projected with force---but, in the other two flasks, there was no appear-

108 Proceedings of the British Association.

ance of fermentation, either then, or in double the time. As the extract
of nux vomica is known to be a poison to infusoria (animalcules), but
not to vegetating mould, while arsenic is a poison to both, by these tests
it was proved that the living particles instrumental to fermentation be-
longed to the order of plants of the Confervoid family. Beer yeast, ac-
cording to Schwann, consists entirely of microscopic fungi, in the shape
of small oval grains of a yellowish white colour, arranged in rows oblique
to each other. Fresh grape must contains none of them ; but, after be-
ing exposed to the air at 20° R., for 36 hours, similar grains become
visible in the microscope, and may be observed to grow larger in the
course of an hour, or even in half that time. A few hours after these
plants are first perceived, gas begins to be disengaged. They multiply
greatly in the course of fermentation, and at its conclusion subside to
the bottom of the beer in the shape of a yellow white powder.

Mr. Martineau objected to the low temperatures for making extracts
mentioned by Dr. Ure.---Mr. Black, on being referred to by Dr. Ure,
stated that the temperatures used by distillers and brewers were very
different, in consequence of the difference of the materials used in brew-
ing distillers’ wash and brewers’ wort. The distillers use sometimes
only one-tenth part of malt, and the remainder bruised barley, or other
corn; and were they to use such high temperatures, in the first mashing,
as those used by brewers who use only malt, the mass would get coagu-
lated like thin batter,---or the tun set, as it is technically termed. The
distillers, however, after making their first infusion at much lower tem-
peratures than brewers, bring them up, before running off the worts, by
the addition of water, at as high a temperature as any used by the
brewer. Mr. Black seemed also to object to so high a temperature as
Mr. Martineau mentioned for the first infusion, 180° F., but preferred 10°
or 12° lower, the heat being afterwards brought up in the same way as
in the distillery.

Section C.---GroLocy anp Gerocrapuy.---Thursday.

Mr. Bowman read a paper on some skeletons of fossil vegetables,
found by Mr. Binney, in the shape of a white impalpable powder, under
a peat bog near Gainsborough, occupying a stratum four to six inches in
thickness, and covering an area of several acres. It remained unchanged
by the sulphuric, hydrochloric, and nitric acids, and by heat, and was
concluded to be pure silica, in a state of extremely minute subdivision.
On submitting it to the highest power of the compound microscope, it
was found to consist of a mass of transparent squares and parallelograms
of different relative proportions, whose edges were perfectly sharp and
smooth, and the areas often traced with very delicate parallellines. On
comparing these with the forms of some existing Confervee, Mr. Bow-
man found the resemblance so strong, that he entertained no doubt they
were the fragments of parasitical plants of that order, either identi-

Proceedings of the British Association. 109

eal with or nearly allied to, the tribe Diatomacez, which grow abundantly
on other Algz, both marine and fresh-water, but are so minute, that
individually they are invisible to the naked eye. To enable the Section
to judge for themselves, Mr. Bowman exhibited highly-magnified draw-
ings of some of these, from the works of Dr. Greville, and also of the
powder, which showed the resemblance to be complete. They are,
therefore, the counterparts of the fossil Infusoria of Ehrenberg, and
occupy the same place in the Vegetable kmgdom as those do in the
Animal.

The President observed, that, as far as he was aware, the discovery was
quite new to science. He instanced, that some minute floating Confervee
had been found on the Lake of Neuchatel ; and Mr. Bowman said he had
observed something similar in the lakes near Ellesmere, which annually
took place, and rendered it probable that a like deposition of their, re-
mains was now going on.

Sir Charles Lemon reported, that an interview had taken place
between the Government and the Committee appointed at the Newcastle
meeting for taking steps towards the preservation of mining records ;
and Mr. De la Beche mentioned, that a person had already been appoint-
for the purpose, and would enter on the duties of his office next year.

Mr. Murchison then exhibited a Geological Map of Europe, coloured
by Von Dechen, and the first part of a work on Petrifactions, collected
by M. von Humboldt, in South America. This latter work has led to
some important conclusions---no oolitic or jurassic strata seem to exist
in South America, or perhaps even in North America; but there is a
large development of the tertiary series, and a still larger of certaceous
in the southern continent. Specimens of Silurian .fossils have been
brought to the present meeting of the Association, collected in North
America, by Prof. Shepard, of Newhaven.

In reference to the map of Europe, Mr. Greenough gave it as a highly
probable opinion, that under the morasses of Northern Germany a
valuable coal-field may exist.

Mr. Murchison then called the attention of the meeting to a section of
part of Germany which he had lately visited. Mr. Murchison stated,
that having, with Prof. Sedgwick, examined the older rocks of Western
Germany and Belgium, it is their intention to lay before the Geological
Society of London a memo1, illustrated by fossils, on the classification
of those ancient deposits, a succession of the Carboniferous, Devonian,
and Silurian systems. His present communication bore only on one
point of this analysis, offering to prove the geological position of the
anthracite or culm-bearing strata of Devonshire and Cornwall. Trans-
verse sections, in descending order, from the productive coal-field of
Westphalia on the N.N.E., to the uppermost division of protozoic
rocks on the 8.S.W., were explained; and one from Dortmund, by
Schelke, to the neighbourhood of Limburg and Iserlohn, was specially
adduced, in which the various masses of strata are clearly exposed, viz.

110 Proceedings of the British Association.

1. Coal shales, coal, &c.---a productive coal-field. 2. Millstone grit series,
with many impressions of small plants, and occasional thin seams of coal.
3. Thinly laminated carbonaceous sandstones and shales, containing
many plants, together with bands of flat bedded, black, bituminous
limestone and shale, charged with Posidonia and Goniatites, and alter-
nating with courses of ‘“ Kiesel schiefer,” or, flinty slate. 4. Carbonifer-
ous limestone, of great thickness, like the British, and loaded with many
well-known fossils. 5. Devonshire rocks, black schists, grey and red
sandstones, with occasional calcareous courses, and numerous fossils, the
old graywacke of the Germans. The order and sequence of these strata
are indicated and maintained along the lower edge of the whole range
of the Westphalian coal-field, the beds necessarily risimg to the surface
at angles of 30° to 40°, in perfect conformity, and showing throughout
the clearest and most complete transition into each other. It was parti-
cularly to the group No. 3, that Mr. Murchison directed attention, being
quite identical with the culm-bearing strata of North Devon and Corn-
wall, first described by him and Prof. Sedgwick as a portion of a true
coal-field, and as not belonging to the graywacke, or older transition
rocks---(see Athen. No. 461.) The Westphalian sections establish the
geological position of the Biddeford culm strata more clearly than any
stratigraphical evidence in Great Britain, by presenting five masses of
unequivocal mountain limestone, rising from beneath the black lime-
stone and culmiferous schists, and thus the precise age of the latter is
demonstrated. In regard to the rocks of the Devonian system, or old.
graywacke, which support in mountain masses the carboniferous system
above alluded to, Mr. Murchison offered a brief and general sketch, pro-
mising, that in the ensuing session of the Geological Society Mr. Sedg-
wick and he will show that these rocks fairly represent the. British old
red sandstone, or Devonian system. This latter term foreign geologists
do not seem disposed to adopt, although it might save much confusion,
it being now ascertained that black and slaty rocks occupy, in very ex-
tended districts, the same geological position as the red rocks of Here-
fordshire. Proofs of the existence of the same order and succession will
be hereafter pointed out in the countries of the Hartz and the Fichtelge-
birge, as well as upon both sides of the Rhine, while a splendid de-
velopment of the still older Silurian rocks, both upper and lower, will
be pointed out, chiefly on the left bank of the Rhine, also in Belgium,
at Liege, and Namur.

Mr. Greenough was inclined now to coincide with Mr. Murchison in
opinion as to the age of the culm-bearing strata of Devonshire.—Mr.
De la Beche said he was open to conviction on perfect evidence, and
that the proofs brought forward from Germany had been the best as
yet afforded by Mr. Murchison.---Mr. Williams could not give in his
adhesion ; and Dr. Buckland was glad that one opponent still remained
to the new theory.--Mr. Lyell referred to Mr. Lonsdale, who had been
the main instrument in determining the age of the Devonian rocks. By

Proceedings of the British Assocvation. 111

an inspection of the fossils, he had predicted that those rocks, although
different in mineral composition, would agree in age with the old red
sandstone, being between the Carboniferous and Silurian systems.

Dr. Buckland announced, that the fossil Flora 'of Great Britain was
about to be continued by Messrs. Hutton and Henslow, who solicited
the loan of specimens, which might be sent to the Geological Society, and
would be carefully returned, after drawings had been made from them.

Dr. Lloyd made some observations on the Geology of Warwickshire,
and announced the discovery of Saurian remains in that country. He
first alluded to the coal-field of North Warwickshire, between Tam-
worth and Coventry, in which the axis of direction has been ascer-
tained to be N.N.W. to S.S.E. Near Nuneaton, is a quartzy rock,
similar to that of Charnwood Forest, being, in all probability, an alter-
ed Caradoc sandstone; it contains manganese, and is without any
organic remains; some volcanic rocks occur. Greenstone is found at
Griff Hollow and at Marston Japet, showing that the district has, at
one time, been disturbed; indeed, Prof. Sedgwick considers that this
coal-field has been elevated during the deposition of the lower member
of the new red sandstone. Between Birmingham and Warwick may be
seen some outliers of lias, as at Knowle and Chesterton. At Warwick,
a different sandstone from the others may be observed; and at Stock-
ingford, coal, with a limestone underlying---black, smoky, and contain-
ing plants---also, occasionally, galena. In this district, there is no
magnesian limestone. In the bunter sandstein of Allesley, near Coven-
try, the remains of a coniferous fossil tree have been discovered, and in
the same formation a jaw bone, but it is uncertain whether belonging
to a fish or a saurian. At Garrison Hill there occurs a highly calcare-
ous rock, but it is uncertain if it can be regarded as muschelkalk: and
the absence of this rock renders the division of the Warwickshire
sandstone imperfect. There is a difficulty in what class to place the
sandstone at Warwick, which resembles bunter sandstein, but it contains
the salt springs of Leamington, and which springs are generally confined
to the keuper, or upper formation. Perhaps there may be a fault in
this locality, by which the sandstone has been elevated, but there seems
to be no disturbance of the adjacent strata. The organic remains found
in this sandstone have been regarded as belonging to the Dolichognathus,
Platygnathus, and Megalosaurus---with them coprolites are found. At
Shrewley Common, the sandstone is evidently keuper, containing Posi-
donia minuta ; it bears impressions of animals; also ripple marks and
worm marks. In the rag bed of the Warwick sandstone, organic remains
have been found; it contains some carbonate of lime. At Warwick a
little rock salt has also been found.

Mr. Strickland regarded the sandstone at Warwick as bunter sand-
stein, that had been elevated by a fault. At Droitwich a similar sand-
stone is overlaid by the salt marle.---Dr. Buckland said, that a like rock
is found on the top of the variegated marle.

112 Proceedings of the British Association.

Dr. Ward exhibited specimens and drawings illustrative of impressions
of the feet of animals on the Greensill sandstone, near Shrewsbury.
Greensill Hill consists of a steep escarpment of new red sandstone, and
contains four strata that have been described by Mr. Murchison, and in
the second of which the impressions were found. This stratum, when
exposed to the atmosphere, always splits so as to exhibit ripple marks,
and on these marks the impressions of feet have been observed, as well
as marks of drops of rain, These last are often in an oblique direction,
as if having fallen in a gale of wind, the direction of which is thus point-
ed out. The foot marks differ from those of the Cheirotherium, in hay-
ing only three toes, armed with long nails, directed forwards, and not
spread out. Nothing resembling the ball of the foot has been observed,
except in a few, which have some resemblance to the i impression of the
foot of a dog.

Dr. Buckland exhibited impressions in sandstone from Dumfriesshire.

Mr. Knipe read a communication on a Trap Dyke in Cumberland. It
commences on the east side of the river Petterell, about six miles south
of Carlisle, and about two from the limestone quarry at Broadfield ; its
composition is like onion basalt, decomposing in concentric layers. It
passes by Great Barrock Hill and Armathwaite, crossing the River
Eden ; then by Combe’s Peak and Stony Croft, Cringle Dyke, and Ren-
wick, about two miles from which last place a good vertical section of it
may be seen, on the west side of the Raven Water, which it crosses. It
is met with at Hastside Fell, cutting through the Pennine chain, its
eastern termination bemg about the source of the South Tyne River,
near which it appears to have altered the adjoining strata. Its length
is twenty-two miles, and its width from twenty to thirty yards. Its
course coincides with that of the great Cleveland Dyke, and it is not im-
probable that they may be connected; ifso, a basaltic dyke, 120 miles
long, crosses our island from the Solway Firth to the German Ocean.

A paper, ‘On the Structure of Fossil Teeth,’ by Mr. Nasmyth, was
then read, illustrated by several drawings. It had been stated by some
anatomists, that the proper dental substance consists of an uniform
structureless substance, and of fibres passing through it ; but the author
was led to believe that this structureless substance is organized, and
differently and characteristically in different animals, so as to be a
means of classification. He employed a magnifying power of the tenth
of an inch focal distance, with an achromatic condenser, and first found,
in the tooth of a fossil rhinoceros, the appearance of cells or compart-
ments, and afterwards found it to exist in recent teeth. He also examin-
ed the fibres of different teeth, and found that generally they presented
an interrupted or baccated appearance,as if made up of different compart-
ments, each class of animals presenting a different arrangement.

In a paper read before the Medical Section, Mr. Nasmyth treated
more fully of the organization of the dental inter-fibrous substance, and
entered also into some details on the structure of the pulp.

Proceedings of the British Association. 115

Mr. Darwin announced, that a work on fossil teeth, by Prof. Owen,
would shortly be published.

A communication on Peat Bogs, by Dr. G. H. Adams, was then
brought before the meeting. The author had examined microscopically
many specimens of peat, and had found them to consist of bundles of
little capsules, somewhat similar to bunches of raisins, attached to the
radicals of the plants growing on the surface of the bogs. These, he
thinks, have never been observed before, owing to old black portions of
bog having been examined. He considers that fallen trees have no
connexion with the formation of peat, except as furnishing carbonic acid
gas from their decay. He attributes great importance to the well-known
power of plants in separating carbonic acid from the atmosphere, and
conceives that the preservative power of peat is owing to tannin, which
substance may have escaped detection, from its bemg united to iron, so
abundant in heaths, accounting thus for the dark colour of the lower
parts of peat formations. The author considers, that the absence of peat
in America is owing to the non-existence there of the family of Erice.
He remarks, also, that peat does not serve as a manure, from its little
tendency to decomposition ; and he proposes to assist the decomposition
by means of sulphuric acid---thus rendering available for agriculture
large tracts of bog land now lying useless, especially in Ireland. He
compares the analysis of Apotheme, the chief constituent of vegetable
mould, with that of gallic acid, and thinks that the action of sulphuric
acid on the latter, as contained in peat, would probably produce the
former, which is the chief support of vegetation. If putrifying vegeta-
ble matter be mixed with peat, its unpleasant odour at once ceases. The
author urges the importance of destroying this preservative power of
peat, so that it may be converted into a manure---first, by destroying
the plants, next by burning or paring the surface, then adding dilute
sulphuric acid to it, collected into heaps.

Mr. J. B. Yates read a paper ‘On the changes and improvements in
the Embouchure of the Mersey.’---He referred to the new channel in
the harbour of Liverpool, which had been brought before the notice of
the Association by Capt. Denham. The intricacy of access to this har-

-bour arises from the accumulation outside of numerous beds of sand,
which are frequently and suddenly changing their position and elevation.
It can scarcely be doubted, that at some remote period the estuary of
the Mersey did not exist at all, or, at most, in a very limited form; a
forest and morass may have occupied the lard between Formby Point
and Helbre. Numerous trunks and roots of large forest trees are, to this
day, found along the Cheshire and Lancashire shores, while extensive
tracts of peat are observed in many places starting up among the sands.
A violent disruption must have taken place at the mouth of the estuary,
by which enormous masses of sand and marle have been thrown out,
perhaps proved by the homogeneous structure of the banks on either
side. In 1828, a number of human skeletons were disinterred opposite

Q

114 Proceedings of the British Association.

the Leasow Lighthouse, affording strong evidence that a burying-ground
had formerly existed there, and a similar cemetery is discernible at
Formby. This lighthouse stands in place of another, which was nearer
to the sea by more than half a mile---a site which, at the time of its erec-
tion, seemed to have been firm, dry land, but was rendered useless by
the encroachments of the water, which continued to increase. It was
not until the sea had broken down the ridge of sand which had formed
its boundary, that a strong embankment was made,”extending a mile and
a quarter in front of the present lighthouse. The sand banks in this
estuary are tossed to and fro by the force of the winds and tides, and are
constantly changing their shapes and elevations, and, having no escape,
they remain pent up in the bay. In 1687, an excellent channel existed
opposite to Formby Point, its depth from three to ten fathoms; but, not
being marked by buoys, the Rock Channel was at that time the entrance
in common use, though dry at low water. It has since become deeper,
and thus a change has taken place upon the Hyle Sand Bank. A ridge,
running along the middle of this bank, has been cut through by a chan-
nel having forced itself in a northerly direction, from Helbre island
towards the Light Ship. The channel described by Capt. Denham at the
Dublin Meeting is now useless, although used for sone time with advan-
tage; but it runs perpendicular to the course of the tide, which accounts
forits present state. Fears have also been entertained, that the other
channel, called the Horse Channel, was filling up. Lately, a diagonal
channel has been formed, by aiding the ebb current of the tide in its na-
tural diagonal course, between Lancashire and Cheshire. This was done
by dredging, by means of a double-toothed harrow, twelve feet across,
dragged backwards and forwards by a steamer of 100 horse-power over
the intruding banks, the inner part of which was stated to rise forty-
three feet higher than the outer or seaward part. An enormous wooden
scraper is also used. The matter taken up appears to contain a small
portion of peat, and weighs somewhat lighter than the sand found with-
in the estuary. This new channel has been proved to answer the pur-
poses of navigation beyond original expectation, and the approach to
Liverpool is even better than before.

Mr. De la Beche mentioned, that submerged peat is found along many
of the shores of Europe, being evidently the remains of forests that had
sunk. These have been covered with sand, and now there are encroach-
ments made upon the coasts near them, thus showing two sorts of
changes of level. He was averse to any great encroachments being made
on the shores of estuaries, as the natural process of scouring by means
of the reflux of the tide was diminished.

Proceedings of the British Association. 115

Section D.---Zootocy anv Borawny.---Thursday.

Dr. Pritchard read a paper on ‘The Extinction of the Human Races.’
He expressed his regret that so little attention was given to Ethnogra-
phy, or the natural history of the human race, while the opportunities
for observation are every day passing away ; and concluded by an appeal
in favour of the Aborigines’ Protection Society. The paper gave rise to
a long and desultory conversation, in which Dr. Hodgkin, Mr. Wilde,
Mr. Watson, Mr. Hall, Dr. Daubeny, Dr. Wilson (of America), Mr,
Thompson, and others, took part.

A Report on the Disbribution of the Pulmoniferous Mollusca in Bri- |
tain, and the Causes influencing it; drawn up at the request of the
Association, by Mr. E. Forbes.---The object of this inquiry was to ascer-
tain the geographical and geological distribution of pulmoniferous mol-
lusca in the British isles. The subject was considered under three heads:
first, a view of the various influences which affect their distribution ; se-
cond, a detailed view of the distribution of the indigenous species in the
various provinces of Britain; and third, the relations of that division of
the native Fauna to the Fauna of Europe, and the distribution generally
of the more remarkable species. Under the first head, after enumerating
the various species of pulmoniferous mollusca inhabiting Britain, Mr.
Forbes proceeded to review the causes influencing their distribution,
dividing such causes into primary and secondary. Under the head of
primary causes, he considered the two influences of climate and soil.
The influence of climate in Britain is indicated by the reduced number
of species found in the more northern or colder districts, as compared
with the number inhabiting the provinces of the south and centre. It
is also indicated by the disappearance of species which inhabit soils in-
differently, as we advance northwards, and by the presence of species in
certain situations in southern and warm districts, which usually avoid,
or are sparingly found in such localities. It is further shown by the
tendency of individuals to multiply in temperate situations, and by the
superior beauty of colouring displayed by species inhabiting warm dis-
tricts. The author then pointed out, that there existed in many places
a stronger influence than climate, and showed that this influence was in
its nature geological. He showed that various kinds of rocks influence
the distribution of mollusca; that calcareous rocks are especially fa-
vourable to their distribution ; and that all rocks containing much lime
tend to increase both the number of species and of individuals living on
them. Certain species are confined altogether to certain rocks, others
to a class of rocks ; and instances of the occurrence_of such phenomena
in Britain were enumerated. Some rocks influence the distribution ne-
gatively, diminishing the number both of species and individuals. The
order of influence of rocks on species in Britain, is as follows, commen-
cing with the most influential :---

1. Cretaceous and oolitic.
2. Carboniferous rocks and trap.

116 Proceedings of the British Association.

. Tertiary.

. Saliferous.

. Slates.

. Granite and Gneiss.

Ooo e w

Mr. Forbes noticed, that in certain cases climate neutralized the in-
fluence of the rock, and vice versdé ; and instanced Guernsey, as a locali-
ty where the neutralization of geological influence by climate is positive,
and Shetland, where it is negative. Under the head of secondary influ-
ences, Mr. Forbes considered the effect of the neighbourhood of the sea---
the neighbourhood and elevation of mountains---the presence of woods,
and the influence of the various trees found in them--the influence of
water, especially of artificial water, as canals, and the vitiation of the
Fauna by the agency of man, as in the case of the transportation of
species by ballast, &c. Instances were given of the effect of these various
influences in Britain, and the comparative effect of each on the existing
Fauna considered. It was stated, that, in our country, the influence of
elevation is always negative, but that in many other countries it is po-
sitive. It was shown also, that fossils, especially those of the newer
pliocene strata, materially influence the Fauna in certain _ localities.
A detailed view of the distribution of the species was then entered into.
They were arranged under ten districts, viz. 1. the Channel Isles; 2.
S. E. of England ; 3. S. W. of England; 4. N. E. of England; 5 N. W. of
England; 6. S. of Ireland; 7. W. of Ireland; 8. S. of Scotland; 9. W. of
Scotland ; 10. Shetland Isles. Tables were shown, exhibiting the rela-
tive importance of the various influences in each, and the causes of the
presence of the more local species were considered. Helix revoluta and
Helix naticoides were urentioned as additions to the British Fauna from
Guernsey. The researches of Mr. Alder, of Newcastle, and Mr. Bean,
of Scarborough, were particularly alluded to, and much novel informa-
tion contributed by those gentlemen mentioned. Mr. Forbes then con-
sidered the distribution of the principal British species in foreign
countries ; and in a table exhibited a comparison between the principal
published lists of Europe. The southern countries present much fuller
lists than the northern. In the number of native species of helix, Eng-
land exceeds Scandinavia by seventeen species, and Brabant by fifteen,
but yields to the other European lists of equal importance, especially
those of the southern countries of Europe. France exceeds Britain by
no less than forty-one species. The Helix fusca, the Clausilia Rolphii, the
Pupa anglica, and the Lymnea involuta, of Thomson, were mentioned, as
species, only found in Brita. Many remarkable instances of extensive
distribution were mentioned. The common snail, Helix aspersa, is equal-
ly common throughout southern Europe, and is found also in parts of
Asia, Africa, and North and South America ; and the edible snail is nearly
as widely distributed. The Succinea amphibia is very widely spread over
the world, being found throughout Europe, from Archangel downwards,
in North America, and in North and South Africa, as far as the Cape of

Proceedings of the British Association. 117

Good Hope; and the Succinea oblonga has also a very wide range. The
consideration of the distribution of native species in foreign countries,
was pressed as an important part of the examination, since, without
such consideration, many fallacies may arise in drawing our conclusions.

Mr. Lyell observed, there were several points in relation to the dis-
tribution of recent animals that geologists required to know. In the
first place, the influence of various kinds of rocks on the distribution
of species. Strata in various stages of their growth contained various
species. What were the laws which regulated this distribution with
existmg species? The mere chemical influence of strata is important.
Freshwater shells exist without marine, and vice versd ; and it was de-
sirable to know what was the influence of rocks in their neighbourhood
upon them. It was desirable to know the chemical composition of
rocks, as in many instances this must have great influence. Mollusca,
for instance, formed their shells from lime, which they must have taken
up as food. Again, a knowledge of the distribution of subaqueous
species became important; and the sediments in the beds of rivers, and
places where they are found, should be carefully observed and recorded;
also the depth of the waters in which they are found, and the fuci or
other plants which may grow in their neighbourhood. Shells are the
most frequent organic remains, and therefore the most important.
Mammalia, fishes, and reptiles are frequently absent in strata, but
shells never. One of the great difficulties in studying these shells, was
a want of knowledge of those which existed. As we passed through
each stratum, the shells of each resembled more and more those of the
strata above it, the nearer they were to it. Now the question presented
itself in some of the upper strata, as to whether conchologists might
not have overlooked existing species, and thus animals be thought
extinct which are not so. Mr. Bean, of Scarborough, had lately found
a shell that was supposed to be extinct. Another point of importance
is the relation of shells to each other in a given district, such as the
relation of the shells in rocks to those found in the sea near them. He
had lately proposed the question to Messrs. Gray and Sowerby, as
to whether there was any means of determining the relation between
the number of the species of shells in the Mediterranean and the seas
of the north of France. They told him there was no satisfactory means
of doing so. They differed in their estimate, and the amount of infor-
mation was of little value.

Mr. J. E. Bowman exhibited specimens of a species of Dodder (Cuscu-
ta epilinum), first found in Britain, two years ago, by himself; and again
im a new locality, within the present month. He believes it is to be
found exclusively upon flax, and has been overlooked for C. Europea,
from which, however, it is quite distinct in its pedunculated heads, glo-
bular tube of the corolla, and the insertion of the stamens above the
tips of the scales, which are geminate or bifid, with the lobes divaricate
or fimbriated. As he observed these scales to differ a good deal from

118 Proceedings of the British Association.

each other, even in the same corolla, he cautions botanists against trust-
ing too much to them as a specific character, with further observations.
Still less does this agree with the continental C. epilinum of Weihe, which
is described as ‘“‘ simplex, glomerulis ebracteatis, sub 5-floris ;” because
the new plant is sometimes branched, has its heads always subtended by
a broad bractea, and each head, when luxuriant, consisting of eight, ten,
or twelve flowers. Still, as the specific name is so strikingly character-
istic of its habit of growing always on flax, and is indeed as old as
Dodonzus and Gerarde, the author contends that it ought to be retain-
ed; and that Weihe’s plant (if such an one there be, though he suspects
some mistake,) should be named anew, or its character be revised. Mr.
Bowman then described the peculiarities in structure of this singular
parasite. When it has fixed itself upon the flax, the root and lower
part of the stem shrivel up and die away, and a group of little warts or
tubercles is produced from the inner surface of the spire between each
head, which strike into the flax and extract its juices. This economy
places each head nearly in the situation of an independent plant; so
that, if the stem were separated at intervals, each detached portion
would continue to flower and to ripen its seed. This view occurred to
him, on observing that the stem gradually thickened upwards as it
approached each head, and was again reduced to half its diameter imme-
diately above it ; each head being thus dependent on its own subordinate
system of exhausting suckers. Another beautiful compensation for the
loss of the root, and supporting the view just advanced, is found in the
succulent nature of the flowers, which are as fleshy as the leaves of the
mesembryanthemum tribe, and contain reservoirs of nutriment to insure
the ripening of the seed, and supply the deficiency consequent on the
desiccation of the flax. The author adverted to the total absence of
green colour in the dodder and other parasites, which is generally con-
sidered to be owing to their not directly elaborating their juices from the
soil. But the misseltoe is green, though truly parasitical. Others sup-
pose the want of colour to arise from their growing in the shade, or
being destitute of leaves; but the dodder, though leafless, grows in the
full sunshine ; and lathrza has real leaves, though they are buried in
the soil, amply furnished with stomata, which line the inner surfaces of
cylindrical cells, and are most wonderfully adapted to their anomalous
situation. In fact, they are true leaves turned inside out. The real
explanation of the absence of green in plants arises, in all cases, from
the want of stomata or pores in the cuticle or outer skin; for these
pores are the lungs, and through them alone the atmosphere can be
admitted, and chemically decomposed, by the action of light ; some of its
ingredients ministering to the support of the plant, and others entering
into new combinations to produce that beautiful variety of verdure,
which is the usual summer livery of the vegetable world.

A Paper was then read ‘On the Cultivation of the Cotton of Com-
merce, by Major-Gen. Briggs. The objects proposed in this paper

Proceedings of the British Association. 119

are---First, to excite inquiry on the various species of cotton plant that
produce the cotton of commerce. Secondly, to ascertain the nature of
soils adapted to each. Thirdly, to prove the practicability of cultiva-
ting the plant in India, for the supply of the British market to any
extent. Of the species that produce the various cottons of commerce,
we have at present very little accurate knowledge, and this has arisen
from the alterations undergone by the plant in the process of cultiva-
tion. But there can be no doubt that the plants which produce cotton
im America, Asia, and Africa, are of decidedly different species. The
plant that produces the Brazil cotton, probably the Gossypiwm hirsutum,
grows to the height of from ten to twenty feet, is perennial, and pro-
duces cotton with a long and strong staple, and moderatély fine and
silky. The plant common to the West Indies, said to have been im-
ported from Guiana, is triennial, bearing abundantly a fine silky long
staple, and is the Gossypium barbadense of botanists. This also is the
plant which produces the Sea-island cotton. When this plant was
carried from the coast into the interior of Georgia and Carolina, in the
United States of America, the seed changed from a black to a green
colour, and the staple became shorter, coarser, and more woolly. This
plant was afterwards introduced into Egypt, and is the same that pro-
duces the Bourbon cotton, cultivated by the French on that island. Mr.
Spalding, in a letter alluded to by Mr. G. R. Porter, in his work on
tropical productions, records several varieties, attention to which is of
the greatest importance to the cultivation, since they vary in the cha-
racter of their staple, in the shape and size of their pods, in the hue of
the cotton, and in the duration of the plants. The common. indigenous
plant of India is the Gossypium herbaceum of botanists, and differs in
appearance from the cottons of the Western world; besides which there
is the Gossypium religiosum, producing the brown cotton extensively
grown in China. It is of the former plant I would desire to speak more
especially. It is usually cultivated as an annual, but has been success-
fully treated and grown as a perennial by the process of pruning down
when the cotton is gathered. The produce of this plant is not inferior
in fineness, and is superior in point of richness of colours, to the best
cottons of America. The staple is however short, and by the great
neglect hitherto evinced in picking the produce at the proper time, and
carelessness in allowing particles of dried leaves, or the calyx of the
flower to adhere to the wool, it fetches a lower price, and is considered
an inferior article, in the English market, to the New Orleans and
Georgian of America, though really superior in quality and durability.
There is another kind of cotton produced from a species in Africa which
Dr. Royle considers allied to the Gossypiwm herbaceum of India. We
- now come to speak of the soils in which these plants are cultivated.
Several specimens of American soils on which cotton is grown, have
been analyzed by My. E. Solly, and he finds them generally to consist---
first, of a preponderating quantity of sand (silex). Secondly, of alu-

120 Proceedings of the British Association.

mina or clay. Thirdly, of the oxides of iron and manganese, which give
the warping colours to the soil. Fourthly, of very small proportions of
carbonate and sulphate of lime. And lastly, of organic matter in two
states ; a fibro-vegetable and a soluble matter forming from four to eight
per cent. Soils of this kind where hardly anything else will grow, are
adapted for the cotton plants of America ; a fact mentioned by Mr. Por-
ter, and confirmed by Mr. Gray, who was for some years a cultivator of
the plant in America. The land on which the indigenous plant of India
termed Gossypium herbaceum grows, is very different. It is composed
chiefly not of sand (silex) but of the results of the decomposition of trap
rocks, the debris of the mountains that constitute the extensive trap for-
mation of central India. This soil lies upon or borders on the limestone ;
it contains a large quantity of vegetable matter, abounds in oxide of
iron, is retentive of moisture, and forms a rich, tenacious loam approach-
ing to clay. Such is the soil of the indigenous cotton plant of India,
and therefore differs from that of America, so that we ought not to be
surprised to learn that all attempts at cultivating the American plant in
this soil have failed. But there are in India abundant other soils on
which the indigenous plant will not thrive. These prevail in Bengal,
on the Coromandel Coast, and in fact throughout India. They consist
mainly of the detritus resulting from the disintegration of rocks of the
primary and secondary formations, such as granite, gneiss, sandstones,
with here and there lime, producing a light soil, fertile or otherwise ac-
cording to the quantity of organic matter it may contain. The indige-
nous plant will not grow here, but the American plants thrive on it.
This has been proved by experimental farms near Bombay, and the
Western Coast, in Upper Hindustan, on the Malayan Peninsula, and on
the shores of Coromandel, in all of which tracts the American plants are
growing at present in much perfection, though not in quantities suffi-
cient to make any impression on the cotton market of this country. In-
dia could supply all the cotton Great Britain can ever require, even from
her indigenous plants, but for local obstacles. The soil, favourable to
the growth of this article, however, is situated in a central region re-
moved from the coast, and the trade consequently labours under the dif-
ficulty attendant on a lengthened journey by land. This will not be
the case when the cotton is grown on the lighter soils of the coast.
Here every facility exists for its exportation, for there is no doubt that
an article equally good might be obtained at a much cheaper rate than
that now procured from America. ;

Mr. Felkin stated, that there was no objection to Egyptian cotton on
account of its quality, but it could not be bleached. There was also
much sand in it; this was why it was not more used; and no cotton,
however cheap, ‘would be purchased in the market with these draw-
backs.---In answer to an inquiry, Gen. Briggs stated, that the nankeens
of commerce were made from a naturally brown cotton, probably the
Gossypium religiosum. This was a very different plant from the indigen--

Proceedings of the British Association. 121

ous cotton of India.---Mr. Danson had seen cotton from Peru equal to
Sea island, in point of silkiness, length of staple, &c. The specimens of
cotton from Burmah, now exhibited, he thought were of a very superior
quality. Other products, he thought, might be imported from the
East, such as wool.---Gen. Briggs did not know where the wool of the
East Indies was brought from. Shawls were embroidered at Delhi, but
not manufactured. Many of the products of the East Indies could be
imported ; but it was a curious fact, that at the present moment, although
we had possessed India so long, we absolutely knew nothing about its
productions and capabilities. We had sent annually from England
thousands of gallons of linseed oil to India, whilst millions of pounds of
the seeds of linum were rotting throughout the whole country. ‘There
were not less than fifty species of plants, from which we might obtain
caoutchouc ; and yet we had imported but little from thence.

Section E.---Mepicau Screncez.--- Wednesday.

Mr. Evans presented to the Section an extraordinary case of Spina
bifida. The patient was a boy of twelve years of age, enjoying excellent
general health in other respects ; he was strong and active, but his head
seemed enlarged from chronic hydrocephalus. The tumour occupied the
lumbar regions, was semi-transparent, and the size of a child’s head.

‘ Observations on Poisoning by the Vapours of burning Charcoal,’ by
Dr. Golding Bird.---Dr. Bird stated, that he was induced to examine into
the subject experimentally, from the discordant opinions hitherto pub-
lished on the various questions connected with it in a toxicological
point of view. An opinion has been held, that vapours of carbonic acid
were more injurious when produced by the combustion of coal and
charcoal, than from any other source, on account of the admixture of
light carburetted hydrogen gas. This opinion he dissented from, as it
was well known that in coal-mines the fire-damp, as this gas was called,
was inhaled, with perfect impunity. To ascertain the modus agendi, of
the gas when inhaled, he made numerous experiments, by immersing
animals in different mixtures of it and atmospheric air, as well as in the
pure gas. In the latter case, the animals died asphyxiated, as when
immersed in water or mercury, the spasm of the glottis preventing any _
portion of it from being inhaled. If not more than 25 per cent. be pre-
sent, then respiration will go on, and its true poisonous effects take
place. As to the amount of this gas necessary to produce fatal effects,
Dr. Bird found that as a general rule, any quantity above 34 per cent.
was capable of producing death. Two opinions prevailed on the nature
of these properties : the first was, that the gas acted negatively, as pure
nitrogen or hydrogen is known to do, by preventing the due supply of
oxygen. To test this opinion, he formed a mixture containing twenty-

R

122 Proceedings of the British Association.

one parts of oxygen, and seventy-nine of carbonic acid, and death follow-
ed instantly from immersion in it; and the same result followed when
the proportion were reversed, although a taper burned brilliantly in the
latter combination ; showing, that the burning of a light in any suspect-
ed situation is not always a safe test of the absence of danger. The se-
cond opinion is, that this gas, when respired, exerts a specific poisonous
action on the nervous system. This latter, Dr. Bird adopts, from various
considerations drawn from his direct experiments, and from the symp-
toms observed in numerous cases. These are principally those denomi-
nated cerebral, such as head-ache, vertigo, suffused eyes, mental horror
to an intense degree. Even with these symptoms, respiration may go
on freely. Death is frequently preceded by vomiting, which is a marked
symptom of cerebral disease. In cases where recovery has taken place,
the sequelze are decidedly of nervous character: they have been, partial
paralysis, dumbness, and idiotey; and this poisonous effect he thought
took place independently of absorption, from its immediate effects on
the nervous system, to which it was applied. Death has also been in-
duced by its external application to the body, without its being, at the
same time, respired. Dr. Bird related some experiments of Dr. A. T.
Thomson, in which the pain of inflamed surfaces was instantly removed
on their being plunged into carbonic acid. He dwelt on the pathologi-
cal effects of the gas as exhibited after death, and concluded by pressing
the importance of minute post mortem examinations in every case of
death from this cause coming under the notice of medical men.

A member stated from his own experience, that in the burning of
charcoal a quantity of carbonic oxide is generated in many instances,
and this must be taken into account in any accurate examinations of the
question.---Prof. Macartney observed, that when the egg which has been
for some time in process of incubation is placed in carbonic acid, and the
temperature preserved, the developement of the chick ceases ; and this
he deemed a strong proof of the action of the gas being on the nervous
system, as in this case there is no respiration, and the process supple-
mentary to it is not at all interfered with.

Prof. Macartney then read a paper ‘ On the Rules for finding with
exactness the Position of the principal Arteries and Nerves, from their
relations to the external forms of the body.’---He first alluded to the fact
demonstrated by painters and sculptors, that the proportions which
belong to the external figure of the human body are, in general, regulated
by the primary relations of duplicates and thirds, and their multiples;
and that he had discovered that a similar law of proportion prevailed
with respect to the internal parts of the body—more particularly with
regard to the trunks of the arteries and nerves, in relation to the limits
of external form. They sometimes take a middle line along the limb, as
may be observed in the sciatic nerve, but more frequently they occupy
lines dividing the external form into thirds, or proceed from the median
line of the side of an extremity to the middle of the opposite side; or

Proceedings of the British Association. 123

they may pass from the middle to the division into thirds, or from a
point placed on a line dividing the external form into three equal parts,
and then approaching the middle, so as to form, with the fellow, two
parts of a triangle. He illustrated this rule by applying it to the entire
course of the artery of the upper extremity, and its principal divisions,
from the subclavian to the palmar arches, and from the course of the
occipital arteries. He remarked, that the common mode of dissecting
arteries and dried preparations was calculated to lead into serious
errors, in consequence of which he had been in the habit of teaching re-
lative anatomy, by successive removal of the layers placed above them,
so as not to disturb their lateral connexions. The position of the three
facial nerves, where they emerge from their foramina, illustrate the same
rules, being placed on vertical lines, dividing a well-formed face into
three equal parts. Prof. Macartney laid down exact rules for finding
the exact points of their emergence. He was not aware that any at-
tempts to lay down proportional measurements had been made in Eng-
land as a guide in operations, though a few rules have been laid down
on this subject by Lesfranc and Manec, in France. After forty-one
years’ experience of those rules, he could relate numerous cases of their
great value in operations, and of the unfortunate results of ignorance of
such guides, in cases where operations were performed. In conclusion,
he showed that the same primary relations of two and three regulate
the progressive movements of animals provided with extremities, and
determine also their powers of perception and comparison; and that
they constitute the foundation of the rhythm of music and of language.
These positions he illustrated by reference to the perceptive powers of
man as exercised by the different senses, particularly those of sight and
hearing.

‘On the Cause of the Increase of Small-pox, and of the Origin of
Variola-vaccinia,’ by Dr. Inglis.---Dr. Inglis stated, that variola was
every year upon the increase, the cause of which was, not that vaccina-
_ tion was inefficient, or that the virus had degenerated, but that, from a
long immunity from small-pox, the public had ceased to think vaccina-
tion necessary; and he suggested that government should be petitioned
_ by the Medical Section of the British Association to enforce (as is done
aboard), not only the vaccination of every child born in the kingdom,
but the re-vaccination of every man in the British Service. He next ad-
duced proofs from the cow-pox Institution of Dublin, from foreign re-
ports, and from the imnumerable cases of successful re-vaccination, that
the vaccine virus had not degenerated, but that the human system did
undergo a change during some unknown number of years. In Ripon,
during the year 1837, variola prevailed extensively as an epidemic, and
Dr. Inglis observed at that time innumerable cases of varicella; those
affected with chicken-pox, were principally children upon whom vacci-
nation had not recently been performed, and those who had chicken-pox,
without vaccination, seldom contracted small-pox. The two diseases

124 Proceedings of the British Association.

appeared to Dr. Inglis to arise from one cause. Many cases, to prove
convertibility of the one disease in the other, were adduced. Dr. Inglis
having full faith in the efficacy of vaccination and of re-vaccination, after
first inserting the vaccine lymph, inserted into his arm in several places,
the virus from variolous patients in different stages of the disease, and
in one instance, from a patient who was dying from the disease, but in
none of them did he succeed in inducing an eruption: the inflammation
and pruritus was considerable for a day or two, but then gradually sub-
sided. That the vaccine virus, therefore, decreases in its preventive in-
fluence is a supposition at least difficult of proof, for, from the begin-
ning, this prophylactic power was imperfect in different degrees, and
even an attack of small-pox itself, is no certain security against a second
or even a third attack. The next point in the paper was to show that
the two visitations of small-pox and vaccination could and did go on in
the system at one and the same time, distinct cases of which were brought
forward. Now, since two dissimilar contagious irritations cannot run
. their course together without the one impeding the other for a time, Dr.
Inglis was led to suppose that variola and variola-vaccinia had the same
common origin, or rather that vaccinia sprung from variola. The paper
concluded by the following brief summary :-—-1st, That small-pox is de-
cidedly on the increase, and that during each successive epidemic there
is an increase of variolous patients from amongst those who were vac-
cinated in infancy. 2nd, That the vaccine virus is as effectual now as
ever it was, but that re-vaccimation is necessary after a period of years,
is yet unknown. 3rd, That the same cause which produces small-pox
duriug a variolous epidemic in the unvaccinated, may and does give rise
to chicken-pox in the vaccinated. And 4th, That there is every reason
to believe that cow-pox had its origin in variola.

‘On the new Vaccine Virus of 1838,’ by Mr. J. B. Estlin.—The paper
stated that the author had procured some fresh vaccine lymph from the
cow in August, 1838, and that in consequence of much dissatisfaction
among medical men with the matter previously supplied by the National
Vaccine Establishment, numerous applications were made to him for the
new lymph, and that it soon became extensively employed. The object
of the present communication was to show, that the powers of the new
virus diminished in intensity as successive vaccinations increased its
distance from the cow. The author had watched it through forty-eight
subjects in succession, and for nearly twelvemonths. During the first
three or four months, rather severe local and constitutional effects follow-
ed. During the latter months, however, of the year of trial, the activity
of the matter had greatly diminished ; while the vesicle at the present
moment produced by it retains all the characteristics of perfect cow-pox,
as described by Jenner. The author also referred to some experiments
lately made by Mr. Ceely, of Aylesbury, in which cows were inoculated
with the matter of small-pox, the result of which was, the appearance of
the regular vaccine vesicle upon the inoculated part of the animal. From

~

Proceedings of the British Association. 125

this vesicle, lymph taken and introduced into the human subject, pro-
duced the genuine cow-pox.

Dr. Baron informed the Section that he was about to publish a Report
on the subject of variola, and that therefore he would not enter fully
into the question, but he wished to state the principal arguments for the
identity of variola, and what Jenner denominated variola-vaccinia, or
cow-pox : the general conclusions he arrived at were as follows :—-1st,
That cattle in many ages and different countries have been affected with
small-pox. 2nd, That those invasions have been simultaneous with the
occurrence of the disease in man. 3rd, That it appeared in England, in
the year 1745, again in 1770, and continued until 1780. 4th, That the
casual transmissions of this disease, preventing the accession of small-
pox in man, induced Jenner to propagate the affection from one human
being to another. 5th, That when severe among animals, severe also in
the human subject. 6th, That as it has been propagated from the cow -
to man, it has also been transmitted from the human subject to the cow,
by inoculation. 7th, That the disease becomes milder when transmitted
to the cow, still preserving its protecting influence.

Sir James Murray again adverted to a subject brought forward by
him at the meeting at Liverpool (see Athen. No. 517), the urinary secre-
tions in the circulating fiuids.

Thursday.

‘On Alkaline Indigestion,’ by R. D. Thomson, M. D.---The author
stated that he had brought this subject before the British Association at
Bristol, but that since that period he had not only from ample experi-
ence confirmed the results of his former inquiries, but had elicited seve-
ral other conclusions of importance. In the healthy state, there is no
doubt that during a portion at least of the process of digestion the con-
tents of the stomach are in an acid state. Some had concluded that this
acidity proceeded from the presence of muriatic acid, upon what grounds
Dr. Thomson would discuss in the Chemical Section (see ante, p. 675) ;

others that it proceeded from acetic or lactic acid. 1. Whatever this

acid may be, there is no doubt that when it accumulates to a certain
extent, the stomach can no longer sustain it, and disease ensues in the
form of heartburn, acid eructations, &c. 2. Where the contents of the
stomach assume any condition offensive to that organ, either from too
much acid or from too small a proportion, the stomach, in many cases
ejects a clear fluid, which Dr. Thomson has found to be accompanied by
different symptoms, according to the chemical re-action of the fluid:
thus in heartburn an acid fluid is ejected, but without any cessation of
pain in the stomach; while, on the contrary, if a neutral fluid be ejected,
according to the experience of the author, the pain is alleviated on the
instant that the fluid is got rid of. This is a more rare case of indiges-
tion, but the author has met with it several times. It may be termed
Neutral Indigestion. 3. The third form of indigestion which Dr. Thom-
son has met with, is the alkaline state of the contents of the stomach.

126 Proceedings of the British Association.

He terms it Alkaline Indigestion. The peculiar features of this disease
are a violent pain in the region of the stomach, accompanied sometimes
with a feeling of fainting, head-ache, and more rarely an inclination to
vomit. Suddenly a sensation of spasm comes on, as if some contraction
were taking place, and the patient speedily finds his mouth full of water,
which he is obliged to empty. This operation he has no sooner per-
formed, than he requires to repeat it, and at last a continuous stream
flows from his mouth, which endures for some time, when it ceases, and
along with it the pain of the stomach. This, together with the chemical
re-action of the fluid ejected, appears to distinguish in a very complete
manner, alkaline and neutral indigestion from the acid state, all of
which have been confounded by former writers. The distinction is the
more important, because these different forms require, in some measure,
opposite modes of treatment. With regard to the cause of the alkaline
re-action, Dr. Thomson stated that after evaporating the fluid emitted
from the stomach, and igniting the residue, he had obtained, by crystal-
lization, fine crystals of carbonate of soda. The presence of these, how-
ever, he ascribed often to the decomposition of common salt by the
process, or to the previous existence of lactate of soda in the fluid. He
was more inclined to attribute it to the former source, because the
quantity of crystals was so very considerable. Dr. Thomson stated that
the ejection of these fluids from the stomach was much more common
than was usually imagined, as out of forty or fifty patients admitted
daily at the Blenheim Street Dispensary, in London, he generally found
one or two affected with such symptoms. For some years past he had
made it a rule always to examine these fluids, and the results of his
experiments were embodied in his present communication. He observ-
ed that these complaints were frequently symptomatic of diseases placed
in other organs, as the uterus, liver, &c. But the secondary disease
was often the more disagreeable, and therefore required to be as carefully
treated as the original one.

Mr. Hodgson read a paper, ‘ On the Red Appearance on the Internal
Coat of Arteries,’ which, he stated, did not depend on inflammation in
every instance, and from which it should be carefully distinguished ; it
might occur extensively, or in small patches, or in different parts of the
same subject, presenting different shades of colour. It was found in
subjects of all ages, in healthy as well as morbid coats, in the lining
membrane of the heart, and of the veins, but less frequently in the lat-
ter. It may be found when blood is present in those cavities after
death, or where they are completely empty. Mr. Hodgson related the
experiments of Laennec and Andral, which proved that this red appear-
ance might be communicated after death by immersing the vessels in
blood. As to the efficient cause, he stated, that it might proceed from
imbibition, in the same manner as we find the neighbouring membranes
stained with bile from the gall-bladder and its ducts ; the first changes
towards decomposition and putrefaction might allow of it more readily.

Proceedings of the British Association. 127

Some writers look on it in every instance as the result of inflammation ;
slight modifications of vitality may permit its occurrence during life, as
we find it, where chronic inflammation has existed, giving rise to depo-
sits of an atheromatous matter. When dependent on inflammation it
will be found affecting the inner coat only, but when on other causes it
will often pervade the elastic or middle coat as well as the serous. Fi-
nally, he stated that it might be found depending on the co-existence of
those causes which were capable of producing it singly.

Mr. Hodgson repeated the statements which he made after the read-
ing of Dr. Macartney’s paper, on Tuesday ; that, although nature does -
sometimes use other means for suppressing hemorrhage, the most fre-
quent mode was a vital constriction and contraction of the coats of the
artery, and that this constriction and narrowing of the arterial tube may
be produced by exposure and by pressure. That this is the mode adop-
ted to prevent the hemorrhage in cases of Gangrene, when separation
is effected. In support of these views, he presented to the Section some
preparations and drawings, particularly illustrating the various condi-
tions in which arteries are found, after successful operations for aneu-
rism: true anuerism, he pointed out as depending on a weakening —
degeneration of the middle coat of the artery.

Dr. Macartney thought that it was of importance to discriminate be-
tween the red appearances described by Mr. Hodgson and inflamma-
tion ; they had a painted appearance, were devoid of tumefaction, and
were most perfectly distinguished by being insusceptible of injection.
There was, he stated, much analogy in the red patches observed on the
pharynx and cesophagus in cases of hydrophobia ; he remarked that
these appearances might not depend on the putrefactive process, but be
caused more by changes in the blood itself than in the solids. Dr. Ma-
cartney dwelt on the important part played by the effusion of coagula-
ble lymph in the closure of arteries, independent of and even previous
to inflammation.

Mr. C. T. Coathupe detailed the results of a series of experiments on
the Respiration of Deteriorated Atmospheres, which he instituted to
determine whether the injurious effects which have followed the respira-
tion of charcoal vapours had depended on carbonic acid, as was gene-
rally thought, or on the specific agency of some other volatile product.
The volatile products of the combination of charcoal he stated to be as
follows :---

Carbonate of Ammonia,
Hydrochlorate of Ammonia,
Sulphate of Ammonia,
Volatile Empyreumatic Oil,
Carbonic Acid Gas,
Carbonic Oxide,

Oxygen,

Nitrogen,

Aqueous Vapour.

128 Proceedings of the British Association.

From a number of experiments on the elimination of carbonic acid
during respiration, he arrived at the following results :---that 266.66
cubic feet of atmospheric air pass through the lungs of an adult in
twenty-four hours, of which 10.666 are converted into carbonic acid,
yielding 5.45 ounces of carbon, or 124.628 pounds annually, which
will give a total of 147.070 tons of carbon as the annual product of the
inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland! The average amount of
carbonic acid found in atmospheric air in which animals had expired,
was found to be, for warm-blooded animals, 12.75 per cent., for the
cold-blooded animals, 13.116 per cent. When the animals were remoy-
ed, on becoming comatose, the average amount of carbonic acid was
found to be 10.42 per cent. On confining a taper until its extinction,
the quantity of carbonic acid found was 3.046 per cent. From hence it
would appear, that an atmosphere that has ceased to support combus-
tion can support animal life for some time, which Mr. Coathupe proved
by direct experiment.

Dr. Costello presented a report of ten cases of Calculus treated by
Lithotrity. The patients were of ages between fifty-three and seventy-
six, the stones varying in size from that of a pigeon’s egg to that of a
hen’s egg. The lithotrite was successively applied at sittings of from
thirty to fifty seconds. Dr. Costello strongly insisted on the necessity
of this point, especially at the commencement of the treatment, as the
constitution is thus saved from the shock and re-action which follow
protracted operation. One of the cases was remarkable: the collected
fragments of the removed calculus were shown to the Section; they
filled a bottle capable of containing at least four fluid ounces. The
patient had suffered upwards of ten years; during the treatment he su-
perintended the farming of his estate as usual, without any inconveni-
ence; the entire of the ten cases were cured, bearing high testimony to
the value of this improvement in operative surgery. In connexion
with these operations, Dr. Costello related an incident which, to use his
own words, “exemplified the progress of surgery and steam travel-
ling,’—he operated on three patients residing in three different coun-
ties, and travelled over a space ef upwards of 200 miles in eighteen
hours.

Mr. Nasmyth read a paper ‘On the Microscopic Structure of the
Teeth,’ in which he treated also of the covering of the enamel and of
the organization of the pulp. He first stated that his researches had
led him to a conviction contrary to that of Retzius, Purkinje, and
Frankel, for he had found that the enamel in all cases, possesses a dis-
tinct envelope or coating. On the incisor of the calf, and on several
other simple teeth, he had also traced in it the corpuscles of Purkinje,
analogous to those found in bone.* With respect to the microscopic

* A full description of this structure will be found in a paper by Mr. Nasmyth,
in the forthcoming volume of the Transactions of the Medico-Chirurgical Society,
accompanied by drawings.

Proceedings of the British Association. 129

structure of the teeth, Mr. Nasmyth treated principally of the interfi-
brous substance, which he said was not “structureless,” as has been er-
roneously stated, but decidedly cellular. The fibres themselves he
described as presenting an interrupted or baccated appearance, as if
made up of compartments, which differ in size and relative position in
various series of animals. He detailed their peculiarities in the human
subject, in some species of the monkey tribe, and in the oran-outan.
After the earthy matter of teeth has been removed by acid, the animal
residue, he stated, consists of solid fibres, and if the decomposition be
allowed to continue, these fibres present a peculiar baccated appearance.
The general appearance of the fibres treated by acid is similar to that
of the fibres of cellular tissue generally, and the diameter of each cor-
responds exactly to the calibre of the dental tube, as described by Ret-
zius, and which, according to that writer is pervious, although, at the
same time, he says, that it is always more or less filled with contents
of an earthy nature. With regard to the internal structure of the pulp,
Mr. Nasmyth stated that the number of minute cells presenting them-
selves in its interior, in a vosicular form, is very remarkable. They vary
in size from the ten-thousandth to one-eighth of an inch in diameter, and
are evidently disposed in layers. The parenchyma of macerated pulp
is found to be traversed by vessels, and to be interspersed with granu-
les. The arrangement of these cells or vessels, Mr. Nasmyth thinks,
may account for the shrinking or nearly total disappearance of the pulp
which he has frequently observed: their use in the economy of the part
he has not yet ascertained. They are evidently filled either with air or
fluid. He finds that they exist on the formative surface of the pulp.
Mr. Nasmyth next proceeded to the nature of the process by which the
ivory is developed. The formative surface of the pulp, which is in ap-
position to the ivory, and by which the latter is produced, he described
as presenting a general cellular arrangement, which he denominated re-
ticular, resembling a series of skeletons of a desiccated leaf. This reti-
cularity is found to have peculiar diversities in different classes of ani-
mals. Mr. Nasmyth has found that a similar appearance is presented
by the capsule and by the capsular investment of the enamel. The
leaves or compartments of the reticulation are surrounded by a well-de-
fined scolloped border, from which occasionally processes are observed to
arise at regular intervals. With respect to the formation of the ivory,
Mr. Nasmyth stated that he was not prepared with a satisfactory theory,
and would only submit a few observations based on his own researches.
On the surface of the pulp, he said, are found innumerable detached
cells with central points, which latter are at regular intervals corres-
ponding in extent to those existing between the fibres of the tooth.
The cellules of the fragments of the ivory which are found scattered on
the pulp, resemble exactly in size and appearance the cellules of the lat-
ter when in a state of transition. Mr. Nasmyth is of opinion that from
the spirally fibrous frame-work of the reticulations are evolved the spi-

s

130 Proceedings of the British Association.

ral fibres of the tooth. The diameters of the two sets of fibres exactly
agree. The projections on the formative surface of the pulp cor-
respond to the centres of the cells, may be traced to belong to
their structure, and are evidently fibres passing upwards from the
pulp. Mr. Nasmyth has also ascertained that the fibres of perfect ivory
resolve themselves by decomposition into similar granules. He has not
discovered the manner in which the osseous matter is deposited in the
cells of the interfibrous substance, but he has observed that these cells
are subdivided into minute cellules, for they present the appearance of
being filled with smaller cells in certain progressive stages of develop-
ment. But in whatever aspect, said he, we view the formative organs of
the tooth and the dental tissues, themselves, and whether we examine
the latter during the process of their development or after their forma-
tion has been completed, we are everywhere met by appearances which
denote acellular or reticular arrangement. Mr. Nasmyth concluded his
paper by a notice of Schwann’s work on the cellular character of pri-
mary tissues, dwelling on his views of the cellular organization of the
pulp, from which his own were essentially different.

Saturday.

Dr. Ludwig Guterbock exhibited a number of instruments made from
ivory, softened by the removal of the earthy matter by the action of
dilute acid. In a brief memoir on their origin, he showed, that the first
idea of the preparation was not due either to the German or Parisian
individuals who had claimed the honour, as it was contained in an Eng-
lish work, published some time ago, under the title of ‘ Useful Arts and
Inventions.’

Mr. Nasmyth read a paper ‘On the Structure of the Epithelium,’
which he described as being composed of cells. He first alluded to the
views of Leewenhoek on the subject, contained in letters to the Royal

Society, written in 1674, and 1684-5, and according to which, this tissue
is composed of scales. The researches of subsequent inquirers tend to
prove that scales or cells of various forms exist on the surface of all mu-
cous and serous membranes, on the inner membrane of the vascular
system, &c. Mr. Nasmyth described the epithelium as a layer of sub-
stance destitute of vessels, covering the vascular surface of mucous
membranes. The scales, as they were first termed by Leewenhoek, of
which it is composed are fiat bodies, with a thick portion or nucleus in
their centre, and with very thin and transparent margins, which are
sometimes curved; their surface often presents numerous transparent
points, with very fine lines. The nucleus of the scale generally contains
a small body, which has been called the nucleus-corpuscle. If the secre-
tion be removed from an irritated mucous membrane, these bodies are
found to assume the appearance of cells, but generally at the surface
they resemble scales, from having increased in size, and undergone
compression. Jn the foetus, the well-defined scales of the epidermis are

Proceedings of the British Association. 131

not unfrequently seen externally ; the rete malpighii consists of newly-
formed cells; and between the two may be observed other cells, in a
state of progressive development. In the epithelium generally, a
nucleus is first formed, and then a cell is formed around it. These cells
are connected by a gelatinous substance, interspersed with minute gran-
ular bodies, which displays considerable elasticity, and which sometimes
presents a fibrous appearance. The granules can be caused to dis-
appear by compression. In certain parts of the epithelium of the calf,
distinct fibres are observed to pass over the surface of the scales, and to
connect them together, thus forming a very delicate net-work. On the
surface of the body and of the mucous membranes of a man and animals
generally, the superficial scales are thrown off by pressure from the
cells beneath; but in some cases, as with frogs and efts, the epithelium
scales are removed in a continuous layer; and Mr. Nasmyth is disposed
to believe that it is the covermg which, according to naturalists, is
swallowed by the animal after having been shed. The cuticle and epi-
thelium then are evidently organized bodies. It would appear that
they are formed from a fluid secretion, and that their various stages of
development are as follows: Ist, the formation of nuclei and their
corpuscles ;---2nd, that of cells ;---3rd, the growth of the latter effected
by vital imbibition ;---4th, their compression and gradual conversion
into minute lamellz, or scales. The cells seem to have within them-
selves a power of growth, and it remains for pathologists to determine
what share the derangement of this function has in the production of
cutaneous diseases. Under certain modifications, the epithelium cer-
tainly presents vital phenomena, among which may be mentioned the
ciliary motions. Mr. Nasmyth concluded his paper by an especial des-
cription of the portion of the epithelium lining the cavity of the mouth.
In the foetal subject, previous to the extrusion of the teeth, it forms on
the alveolar arch a dense projecting layer, distinguishable from the sur-
rounding membrane by its whiteness, and by superficial and waving
ridges and sulci. The younger the subject, the greater is its thickness.
It is made up of a mass of scales, lying one above the other, and thus
presents no resemblance to cartilage though it has been generally clas-
sed as such. In the interior of its structure, where it corresponds to
the molar teeth, small vesicles may be frequently observed, varymg in
size from one-fourth to one-eighth of a line in diameter. On microscopic
examination, the particles of these are found to consist of attenuated .
scales, and their cavity to contain a fluid abounding in minute granules
and cells. They are probably the “‘ glands’ described by Serres as in-
tended for the secretion of the tartar. Larger vesicles are also found
implanted in the vascular mucous membrane, composed of a very deli-
cate tissue, and containing a transparent fluid, which coagulates on the
application of heat or acid. In this fluid float numerous globules and
scales, similar to those of the epithelium generally. The internal, or
attached surface of the alveolar epithelium presents numerous fringed

132 Nouveaux Memoires de la Sociéié

processes, which sink into the substance of the subjacent mucous mem-
brane. These are found to be composed of elongated scales. By im-
mersion in water or diluted spirits of wine, these fringes are much
enlarged, and their size, indeed, exceeds that of the dense epithelium
itself.

Mr. Hodgson made some remarks on organization without any per-
ceptible vascular connexions, and referred to the ovum at an early peri-
od, and the crystalline lens, as examples.---Dr. Macartney brought for-
ward the circumstances under which loose cartilages existed in the knee
joint as instances of the same phenomena, which he said increased and
decreased, and changed their structure, existing at first as coagulable
lymph, and afterwards as cartilage and bone, without any vascular con-
nexions.---Prof. Partridge adduced as instances the loose bodies in the
sheaths of tendons, which he knew to enlarge, though they were
previously completely detached.

Nouveaux Memoires de la Société Imperiale des Naturalistes de
Moscow, Tom. wv. (with 13 plates, and forming the 10th vol.
of the Collection). Moscow, 1835, 4to.

In noticing for the first time the Memoirs of a Society which is
likely to be little known to many of our readers, we may mention that
the Imperial Society of Naturalists at Moscow has existed for many
years, and has published numerous volumes of valuable transactions.
Its primary object is to investigate the natural history of Russia, and
for this purpose a museum is formed, and almost every year individu-
als are sent, at the expense of the Society, to examine the most remote
and least known portions of the empire. The whole expenses of the
Society are defrayed by the Emperor, who presents it with an annual
donation of 10,000 R. ass. In addition to this each member contributes
yearly 30 R. which forms a sum in reserve. Each member on admis-
sion must present to the Society a memoir, or a work known to scienti-
fic men. The meetings are held monthly. The memoirs are allowed to
be written in Latin, German, French, English, Italian, or Russian.

The volume of Transactions referred to above is almost exclusively
devoted to Entomology. The first paper, which occupies 113 pages of
the volume, is entitled, “‘ Additamenta Entomologica ad Faunam Russi-
cam,” and contains the descriptions of no fewer than 283 new species of
Coleoptera. These were collected in remote provinces of the empire by
Szovitz, an individual employed principally to examine the botany ;
but who devoted his leisure hours to what has been called its sister
science. This person having been carried off by fever while prosecuting
his researches, M. Faldermann was employed to render his entomo-
logical discoveries available to the public. While engaged in this
undertaking, another collector, named Ménétriés, returned from the

Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscow. 133

Asiatic provinces with numerous acquisitions, and it was deemed ad-
visable that the discoveries of both should appear together. The result
is the highly important addition to the number of known species men-
tioned above. Most of them have been referred to already existing
genera, but in four instances, M. Faldermann found it necessary to
establish new genera. These he has named Platynomerus, Microderes,
Tanyproctus, and Pachymerus. The former of these is nearly allied to
Pristonychus, the second to Platymetopodis of De Jean; the third
contains two lamellicorn insects, and its station is indicated between
Melolontha and Scarabaeus; the fourth likewise belongs to the lamelli-
corn section, and has considerable affinity to Amphicoma. Several
of the species are of considerable size and brilliant colours. Such
especially is the Carabus Humboldtii, which is equal in’size to any
of our native species, and has the elytra finely glossed with coppery-
red. Thirteen new Cetonias are described and figured, and many of
them partake of the lustre and rich colouring which distinguish that
beautiful tribe. The brachelytrous species amount to 16. Among the
malcodermata, a new species of Lampyris (L. orientalis pl. 6. fig 6, 7),
is introduced, so closely resembling our native glow-worm that it might
readily be taken for a variety. The eastern insect, however, is distin-
guishable by being broader, by having the elytra darker and more
dilated behind, while there are three distinct ridges along the surface
of each. Cicindela has received an accession of five species; Cychrus
1, Carabus 12, Harpalus 11, Cantharis 11, Silpha 6, Onthopagus 12.
This paper does not advance beyond the section Heteromera, but the
remaining tribes have to appear in a subsequent faciculus. The plates,
it may be added, are in general well executed, but in no instance are
dissections given. Magnified representations of the oral organs when
new genera are proposed, as in this case, should be regarded as quite
indispensable.------ II.---Description de quelques Coleopteres recueillis dans
un voyage au Caucase et daus les provinces transcaucasiennes Russes en, 1834
et 1835. Par T. Vicror. This paper is chiefly occupied with descriptions
of those minute and singularly formed insects composing the family
Pselaphide. Many new localities are cited for species previously
known, and a considerable number described and figured, which are
considered new. We are likewise made acquainted with a few minute
Coleoptera belonging to other families, which do not appear to have
been previously noticed by entomologists------ II1.---Lettre sur le genre
Xeranthemum. Par F. E. L. Fiscuer, et C. A. Meyer. The object
of this paper is to elucidate the structure and history of various species
of this interesting tribe of plants. Some new kinds are noticed, and
useful observations advanced on the synonomy of those formerly des-
cribed. It is accompanied with lithographic plates, illustrating the
structure of the flowers and pappus.

134 Bulletin de la Société Imperial

Bulletin de la Société des Imperial Naturalistes de Moscow. Tom.
ix. Accompagné de ix. Planches. Moscow, 1836. 8vo.

Art. 1. Tue first 115 pages of this volume, of which we need men-
tion only the principal articles, are occupied with a paper by Dr. Besser,
entitled “Supplementum ad Synopsin Absynthiorum, tentamen de
Abrotanis, dissertationem de Seriphidiis atque de Dranunculis,” designed
to convey additional information on these subjects, which had previous-
ly been treated more at length by the same author.-----2. Ueber die
erste ursache der unebenheit der festen erdoberfleche.-----3. Helices
proprie dictze hucusque in limitibus Imperii Russici observate, a Jo-
ANNE Krynicxi. This individual appears to have examined the terres-
trial mollusca of Russia with great care, and this communication forms
a sequel to others already published by him on the same subject. No
fewer than forty-one species are described in this paper very minutely,
with their synonyms given at length, and several new species are intro-
duced. In the genus Helicogena (Fer.) it is interesting to remark the oc-
currence of a species well known in more southern regious viz, H. poma-
tia, which has been found in the wooded and shady districts of Volhynia
anc Poltava, but it must be accounted very rare. Similar observations ap-
ply to H. nemoralis, which is likewise classed among the rarer kinds. H.
hortensis and H. arbustorum, well known species in this country, have
special localities assigned to them, a proof that they are by no means
generally distributed; the former has been formed in Volhynia, the
latter in Podolia.------4. Uber Irit und Osmit, zuei neue mineralien ; von
R. Hermann. Discovery of two new minerals, named Iridium and
Osmium, among the sandy residuum left after the extraction of platina.
5. Libellululinarum species nove, quas inter Wolgam fluvium et
montes Uralenses observavit, Dr. Enwarp Eversmann. This notice com-
prises descriptions of four new species of Libellula, two of ishna and two
of Agrion. 6. Lettre de M. le Conseiller d’Etat et chevalier de Geb-
ler, contenant un rapport d’un voyage dans les hautes montagnes Ca-
touniennes jusqu 4 la frontiere de la Chine, et description des trois nou-
velles espécés de coleopteres. The insects described (and figured) are
Heliophilus hypolithus, Clytus Altiacus and Chrysomela Kowalewskiz, the
latter an elegant species of a rich golden green, with blue ridges on the
elytra. 7. Orthoptera duo e montibus catunicis, descripta et icone
illustrata, auctore G. Fiscuer p—E Wa.perm. These insects, which do
not seem very dissimilar to other species of Grillide already described,
are named Cdipa Gebleri and G. rhodoptera.------8. Bereicherung zur
kafer-kunde des Russischen reiches, Von F. FarpErmann. A paper
containing descriptions (illustrated by figures) of a considerable number
of a new coleopterous insects. 9. Quelques mots sur le Caucase par
Jean Kateniczenkow. The writer was induced to visit the district of
the Caucasus by observing that every naturalist who had visited it from

des Naturelistes de Moscow. 135

the time of Pallas, had succeeded in discovering new objects of interest.
He set out in 1832, and the above paper gives a slight sketch of his
proceedings, it being his intention to give a more ample account at some
future time. He refers chiefly to the plants observed in his route. In
the district of [sioum he describes the mountains as calcareous, contain-
ing fossil shells and belemnites, and they produce many plants entirely
foreign to the flora of Kharkov. Beyond them appear the plants be-
longing to the Steppes properly so called, viz. Dictamnus Fraxinella, Sta-
tice Gmelini, Glycyrrhiza glandulifera (Kit.) Artemisia procera, &c. At
Moskovyskaia, in the government of the Caucasus, he observed on the
sides of hills mclining to the south, and even on their summits, Xeran-
themum Annette, Polygala major, Pimpinella Tragium, Roso pimpinelbfolia,
Vitis vinifera, &c. Near Jessuntouk, the ridges of the limestone moun-
tains are covered with Rhus cotinus, Aconitum Anthera, &c. The banks
of the impetuous river Podkoumok are fringed with Hippothoe rhamnoi-
des, Tamariz gallica and Palisii, Salices, &c. In a valley surrounded on
all sides by mountains, from which the Narzanza takes its rise, and
where there are thermal baths resorted to by invalids, the most conspi-
cuous and interesting plants are the following: Betonica grandiflora,
Polygala Sibirica (Linn.) Rhinanthus orientalis, (Linn.), Primula amoena,
Dianthus fragrans, Azalia pontica, (Linn.), Trollius Caucasicus, &c.------
Beschreibung einiger neuen in Liefland augefunden insecten, Von B. A.
GimuertuaL. Contains descriptions of several new dipterous and neu-
ropterous insects.

Muller's Archiv fiir Anatomie, Physiologie, &c. Parts iii. and iv.
1836.

Ueber de Metamorphosen des Kies der Fische u. s.w. Von M. Rusconi.
On the*changes which the Ova of Fishes undergo previous to the exclusion of
the Embryo.---In order to continue his observations on this subject, the
author repaired to the lake of Como early in July, being assured by the
fishermen that both Tench and Bleak deposit their spawn at that pe-
riod. On the 10th of that month he procured some eggs from a female
tench (Cyprinus tinca, Lin.), and placed them in a glazed earthenware
vessel filled with water from the lake. They immediately sunk to the
bottom, and two or three drops of milt were expressed from a male fish
upon them. The eggs were perfectly transparent, and of a greenish
yellow colour, like that of olive oil. The milt was of the colour of
milk, but much less fluid. In four hours after the fecundation, some of
the eggs seemed to have lost their transparency on one side, and others
by degrees assumed the same appearance, so that in twenty-four hours
they had all become opaque, and their vitality was considered to be
extinct. This the author supposed to have arisen from too large a
quantity having been Jaid one upon another in the vessel, and he ac-

136 Muller's Archiv fiir Anatomie, §c.

cordingly took a flat shallow dish, the bottom of which was covered with
paper, and filled it with lake water. Some more fecundated ova were
then placed in it, so that they did not come in contact with one ano-
ther. In five hours he again, remarked that some had become opaque
on one side, and in twenty-four hours the same thing had occurred to
nearly all. Some few, however, remained transparent, and these he
raised gently from the dish, by means of the paper that was under them,
and transferred them to glasses of water for farther observation, placing
eight or ten in each; in six or seven hours after this operation, he saw
by means of a microscope that the embryo had begun to move, and in
twenty-four hours (fifty from the moment of fecundation) the young
fishes burst through their envelope. The experiment was again repeat-
ed in order to ascertain whether the ova of fishes undergo similar
changes to those of the Batrachians (vide Analysis of Muller’s Archiv at
p- 292,) and half an hour after the eggs had been placed in the dish,
he lifted out those which remained transparent, and transferred them to
glasses as before. It was now his object to destroy the vitality of some
of them at each stage of their development, in order to examine the pro-
gress that had been made, at leisure, and for this purpose he dropped
into the water four or five drops of a mixture of one part of nitric acid
- and eight parts of water, which had the desired effect. This was appli-
ed at intervals of fifteen minutes during ten hours, and the following are
the results obtained: Soon after the application of the milt, the ovum
of the tench loses its spherical form, and swells out into the form ofa pear.
At the point where this swelling begins it is surrounded with a cluster
of microscopic globules, which before were spread all over its surface.
In half an hour the pear-shaped excrescence is divided into four glo-
bules ; these in a quarter of an hour more are subdivided into eight, and
in a similar period into thirty-two, still remaining clustered together
on the top of the egg. In another half hour more globules appear,
decreasing in size as they increase in numbers, till at length, from their
minuteness, the part of the egg to which they are attached becomes
almost as smooth as when they were undeveloped. The embryo fish
now becomes discernible in the form of a whitish semitransparent speck,
which is the rudiment of the vertebral column. The organization of the
skin then gradually proceeds, and the embryo increases in length, coiled
round the yolk, till the head becomes perceptible. In forty hours from
the fecundation, the embryo tench first gave signs of motion, and at
most, twelve hours later, it had freed itself from the skin of the egg.
The fish is then two lines in length, and the blood has already acquired
its natural colour. For some hours after leaving the egg, the young fry
appeared stupified ; they lie on their sides and are unable to swim, until
the swimming bladder is developed, when they immediately assume
their proper position and their natural activity. The intestines are not
fully developed until seven days after leaving the egg, when they begin
to feed voraciously, and exclusively upon animal substances. The fry

Muller's Archiv fiir Anatomie, §c. 137

ef the bleak, on the contrary, will only eat vegetable matter, at least
during this early period of their existence. The temperature of the
room in which these experiments were carried on, ranged from 72° to
77° Fahrenheit. The ova of the bleak are larger than those of the tench,
and are for that reason preferable for the purposes of observation,
besides being more easily procured. When they had reached the point
at which the globules disappear, their vitality was no longer destroyed
by the acid before-mentioned ; but they were then placed upon a piece
of black cloth, or more frequently on a plate of polished silver in a glass
of water, and the changes they underwent examined by means of a sin-
gle lens. The author afterwards had an opportunity of watching a
large shoal of Cyprinus Gobio in the act of spawning; he took up three
or four pebbles upon which about a dozen eggs were deposited, and
placed them in an earthenware vessel in his room, and paid no farther
attention to them. About eight or ten days after, he observed four
young fish swimming about with vigour, which were so transparent as
not to be easily seen except in dark-coloured vessels, and he appears to
have met with none of the difficulties in rearing fish from the ova, which
Herr von Bier states to have so much impeded his observation.

These numbers also contain a paper on the Spermatic Entozoa of
vertebrate animals, by Professor Wagner, and one on those of the inver-
tebrata, by Dr Siebold of Danzig. The latter author also has one on
the anatomy of the Asterias; and there is likewise the first part of a
paper on the effects produced by acetate of lead on the organism of
animals (dogs and rabbits), by Dr C. G. Mitscherlich.

On Collections and Museums. By Mr. J. M‘Cievuanp.

We make no apology for extracting the following from the Proceed-
ings of the Asiatic Society; chiefly consisting of the remarks of Dr.
Horsrietp, the Curator of the Honorable Company’s Museum, con-
tained in a letter in which he solicits from India contributions for the
collection under his charge, regarding which he observes---

“The Museum itself is not very extensive, but it is nevertheless of
much importance in connexion with Indian zoology, as it contains
. several extensive local collections.

“Tt consists mainly of the following Faunas, which are more or less
perfect :---

“Firstly. A collection of upwards of 200 species of birds from
Java, and a proportional number of quadrupeds. This was formed by
myself, and brought to England in 1819, when it constituted the nucleus
of our zoological collection.

_ “Secondly. We have a pretty complete series of Birds collected in
Sumatra by Sir Stamrorp Rarrues, and some of his Mammalia.
ay

138 On Collections and Museums.

“ Thirdly. We have a similar collection made by the late Dr. Finuay-
son in Siam and in the Indian Archipelago.

“ Fourthly. We have a nearly complete series of Mammalia and Birds
collected by Colonel Sykes in the Dekun, of the importance and extent
of which you can judge by the respective catalogues contained in the
Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1831 and 1832.

“ Fifthly. We have a few specimens from China, Nepal, and the Up-
per Provinces of Bengal, but these are imperfect and fragmentary.

“To these has now been added a series, almost complete, of the Mam-
malia and Birds collected by yourself in Assam, which have been mounted,
and form a valuable addition to the specimens exhibited in our Museum.

“All these separate Faunas are neatly arranged in our natural
history department, which consists of a large room well lighted, and
provided with excellent cabinets for the preservation of the subjects.

“‘This Museum I may say is established on a modest scale, and with-
out the pretension to extent or elegance of the national collections
(such as the British or Hunterian, or even the Zoological Societies) but
our specimens are generally good, being prepared by the best London
artists, and my endeavour is to have them correctly labelled.

“Our collection consists maily of Quadrupeds and Birds; but we
have also a small collection of Fishes, Reptiles, and Serpents, which
have recently been examined by Dr. Cantor, who has prepared a list
of them, agreeably to which they are arranged.

“It is my intention as soon as possible to prepare a general list of
the Mammalia and Birds which are arranged in our Museum for trans-
mission to you, so that you may form an accurate idea of what we have,
and be enabled to judge of what we want.

“‘T have no doubt the nature and importance of natural history is
more considered and appreciated now, than it was in former times; and
I cherish the hope that the countenance and support of Government
will ere long be extended to it in an effectual way; but this I can at
present only allude to as a wish or expectation. Meanwhile I may
enumerate some of the subjects which would be particularly desirable.
We want, for instance, many of the birds of Bengal. All the rarer
species, and some of the more common (of these I hope soon to send
you a provisional list); we want generally the Birds of Sylhet, the
Garrow Hills, Tenasserim, Arracan, Burmah, &c. &c., and duplicates
of the new, and of all the rarer species discovered by you in Assam.

“We want a complete series of the Birds of Nepal, also Mammalia ;
the smaller species would suit our purpose best, as we can more easily
accommodate them. But above all, and especially, we want a large,
full, and complete collection of all the Vespertilionide, or Bats of India.
This is the most important family, as it has never been sought after ;
and I beg and entreat you to have a large collection made generally
throughout all India; and I need not point out to you the localities
where these animals are most likely to be met with.” ji

On Collections and Museums. 139

Here Dr. Horsrretp enters into particulars regarding the genera
and species.

“ But besides these it is in the branch of Entomology that I would at
present strongly solicit contributions to the Company’s Museum. I am
more anxious on this head, as I have succeeded in bringing an ex-
tensive collection of Insects from Java in excellent condition, and with
the exception of these, and the collection of Colonel Sykes, we have
absolutely nothing from Bengal or from India generally.”

On this subject Dr. Horsriexp delicately alludes to the probability
of gentlemen connected with missions still holding collections of Insects
unappropriated, under the supposition, perhaps, that such objects would
be less appreciated than the large animals; on the contrary, Dr.
Horsrietp states that contributions to this department of the Museum
would be as likely as any other means to promote the interests of
science, and to secure the approval of those who are interested in the
collection at the India House.

With regard to Insects. The public collections which remain, I
believe, unappropriated, are those made by Dr. Wauuicu, Mr. Grirrits,
and myself, when employed on the Assam deputation, and Dr. Het-
FER’s Collection. That which was made by the Assam deputation is
still, I believe, at the Botanic Garden, and like Dr. HEtFrer’s collection
has not yet been transferred to the Government. With regard to the
former, perhaps the Society has no authority to interfere; but as the
Society has been authorized to take one series of Dr. Heurer’s col-
lection for its own Museum, and to select another -for that of
the India House, it might be necessary to address Dr. Hexrer on the
subject, particularly as his collection of birds for the Honorable Court
has been packed up for some time in the Museum, and are only detain-
ed till the insects which have not yet been submitted to the Society
should accompany them.

The large collections of birds and insects made by Captain PEMBERTON
during his mission to Boutan, and the officers who accompanied him on
that occasion, have been long almost unobserved in the Museum, owing
to the late repairs of the house. The greater part of the birds com-
posing that collection were previously in our possession, but such as
were new to it were transferred to our cabinets, and the rest enclosed
in cases for transmission to the India House. The insects of the same
collection which are numerous, and no doubt rich in undescribed forms,
are also in course of being dispatched with the birds; a series having
been reserved for our own collection. The pains taken during Captain
Pemserton’s Journey, to mark the localities in which the different
objects were collected, cannot be too highly applauded, especially as
this very important circumstance has been hitherto altogether neglect-
ed on such occasions.

Mr. Lyext in a letter addressed to Mr. M’Cuztuanp, dated 7th Sep-
tember 1839, states, that he is very anxious for accurate information res-

140 On Collections and Museums.

pecting the geography of living testacea and Indian tertiary shells, and
if furnished with duplicates from the Museum of the Asiatic Society,
proposes in return to supply the Society with fossil and recent shells in
exchange.

The Society, it is to be regretted, has few fossil shells from Indian
beds, and a very imperfect collection of recent species. Indeed the little
attention that has been paid to these important subjects in India, seems
to have induced collectors to send their contributions elsewhere. Seve-
ral friends, and others interested in the advancement of science, are
most favourably placed on the Malay coast, at various points from
Chittagong to Mergui, and we may look, I trust, with confidence for
large collections from this quarter in the peculiar department alluded to.
I have myself been already indebted for a miscellaneous collection of
shells from Dr. Hetrer, and slight contributions have been made to our
Museum, from time to time by different individuals ; but I question if
we have as yet a tenth part of the species of the Bay, while we are
altogether without the corals, polypes, and radiata, so abundant in
all the Eastern seas.

Mr. A. P. Puayre, assistant to the commissioner of Arracan, kindly
sent me some time since a few interesting specimens of the rocks in the
vicinity of Akyab, which are perforated to the height of six feet
above the greatest elevation of spring tides, the same as beneath the
level of the water, by a species of Pholas. Mr. Puayre justly
ascribes this to a change of level in the rocks composing this part ofthe
coast, and regards the perforations as identical to those which have been
observed in the sandstone at Cherra Ponji. With regard to the Cherra
Ponji rocks, I am indebted to Mr. H. Warxer for an observation of
very great importance when observing the number of Echinide in my
collection from that quarter; he suggested the probability of the elon-
gated moulds contained in what seemed to be perforations, being no-
thing more than the spines of a Cidaris,a species of Echinus. On this
subject, as well as the Echinide generally, which I find to be very
abundant in the Cherra beds, I hope soon to have a communication to
make, being now employed in an examination of the Indian species,
particularly those which I have found fossil.

These departments of the animal kingdom are of the more import-
ance to our collections, as we can hardly advance a single step in geo-
logy until our cabinets are complete, or nearly so, in recent species.

Mr. Puayre has liberally undertaken to collect for us at Akyab,
but we require equally zealous correspondents at Chittagong, Kyuk
Phyu, Sandoway, Moulmein, Mergui, and at all the different stations
along the coast, before our Museum can be considered in a progres-
sive state.

With regard to fossil species, our collection is equally defective ;
indeed so long as we are without a complete collection of recent shells,
fossil species would he of little interest in our Museum. As proof

On Collections and Museums. 14]

of the poverty of our collection, 1 may remark, that of one striking
and numerous family, affording probably some hundred species, most
of them found in the Indian seas, yet two species only are all we have
in our Museum, and these from unknown localities, probably New
South Wales.

As animals of this family have been found im a fossil state, in a bed
of sand, reposing beneath the common soil of the Sylhet mountains,
under circumstances which we are bound to investigate, the fact may
induce those who reside along the coasts above alluded to, to con-
tribute their share towards the inquiry, by forwarding specimens of
them to our Museum. The dried testa of Echinida, called sea-eggs,
are very abundant, I understand from Captain Brown, on the shores
of Rambree Island, and all the islands from thence to the Straits,
while the living animals usually named sea-hedge-hogs, from the
number of spines with which they are covered, may be had from
rocks in the same vicinity. The bleached shell is seldom perfect, so
that the livmg animals when put fresh into spirits form the more
valuable specimens ; but from the ease with which the former may
be collected and preserved, as well as from their beauty as mere
ornaments, they ought to form a portion of every collection, and from
the philosophical interest of the subject, they would be a welcome
addition to owr Museum.

Enough, I trust, has been said to induce-residents on the Malay coast,
and other situations where similar facilities are afforded, to enable
the Society to avail itself of the offer of Mr. Lyext, and at the same
time to enlarge, or rather form its own collections of Indian species.

The interest now awakening in Europe regarding the natural his-
tory of this country, is calculated to produce a more powerful effect
in exciting a spirit of inquiry here, than any arguments that could be
urged on the spot. Thus, we have not only a Museum at the India
House, now opened for the exhibitions of animals collected in India,
but the first philosophers are ready to co-operate with us and aid
our inquiries.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

For the circumstances that gave rise to the following report, we must
beg leave to refer our readers to the Journal of the Asiatic Society,
in which the Proceedings of the Meeting of February last are recorded.
The peculiarities of the case are simply these,--In May last we were
appointed Curator of the Society’s Museum on the usual salary of 200
Rupees a month. In July, it having been represented by the Secre-
tary that the expenditure exceeded the receipts of the Society, when
to prevent danger to the institution from this cause, we gave up the
salary attached to our office, and continued to discharge the duties on

142 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

this footing till 26th January last, when it appeared that the Government
had sanctioned what could be regarded neither more nor less than the
restitution of our salary, at the same time placing funds for the purpose
at the disposal of the Society. Conceiving that the stipulations insisted
on by the Society would only have the effect of rendering the office of
Curator a dead letter, as far as the objects of the Government, and the
interests of science are concerned, we declined to comply with them.
We give the report as we received it.

Stet Monumenrtum!

To Dr. J. M‘ Cretuanp.

We beg leave to inclose for your perusal the Report of the Com-
mittee of Papers of the Asiatic Society regarding the duties of the office
of Curator to the Museum.

The Report is based on the resolutions of the last Meeting, as set
forth in paragraph No. 2.

We will be obliged by your communicating to us your decision as to
accepting or declining the appointment. dnt

17th February, 1840. : Officiating Secretaries Asiatic Society-

That the office of Curator to the Society’s Museum be held in future
on the following conditions. Ist. Two hours at least to be devoted daily
to the duties of the Museum. 2nd. Monthly Reports to be made to
the Committee of Papers. 3rd. The objects of Natural History belong-
ing to the Society's collection not to be removed from the Museum.
It was further decided that the Committee of Papers should report to
the next Meeting on the nature and extent of the duties the Curator is
to undertake, with reference to the office as held in other Museums.

The Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal may be considered to
embrace two very distinct departments. Ist. That of Oriental Anti-
quities, Literature, Architecture, and Numismatics. 2nd. That of Natu-
ral History.

It would be of great importance to secure, were it possible, the ser-
vices of a Curator conversant with both these divisions, but such a
combination of acquirements is so rare, that the Society must trust the
arrangement, elucidation, and preservation of the articles appertainmg
to the first division to the honorary services of the “Oriental” Secre-
tary, the Librarian, and Pundits.

In the department of Natural History, it should be borne in mind
that the Curator’s great object should be to arrange and extend the
Society's collections, so as to make these available for the information of
the Student, conducive to the general illustration and advancement of
Science, and worthy of the place the Society holds among learned insti-
tutions. Viewed in this light, it is of far more importance to the Society,

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 143

that their Curator should assiduously apply himself to the collection,
naming, and arrangement oi all procurable specimens of the animal and
mineral kingdoms, than, that he should specially devote himself to the
minute elucidation of any sub-division of these subjects. By the elabo-
rate investigation of a group or family, he may doubtless distinguish
himself, and gain high individual reputation, but his utility to the
Society would be far greater, by his applying himself to the humbler
duties we have specified ; moreover, it appears to us that these duties are
in themselves more than sufficient to occupy the Curator’s time, were it
even to be entirely devoted to their discharge. Our collection of mine-
rals is an utter chaos, though rich in anonymous specimens, valuable
in themselves as illustrations of abstract mineralogy, but devoid of in-
terest in a Geological or Geographical light, owing to the neglect with
which they have been treated by some preceding Curators.

It appears to the Committee of Papers that the first object of the
Society, in remodelling its Museum, should be to form a grand collection
of minerals and fossils, illustrative of the Geology, Geography, and Pa-
leontology of our British Indian possessions.

A few of the existing minerals and some superb fossils in our Muse-
um are available for this object, but it is clearly within the scope of the
Society’s influence to procure within a few months, collections of speci-
mens from every part of India, and in such numbers as would find the
Curator in ample employment. While waiting for these additions to
our collections, he should proceed to name and label those already in
our possession. There is no need for delay for the preparation of Cabi-
nets.* The specimens should be named, labelled, wrapped in paper
with a number affixed, and then packed in boxes until the cabinets are
ready.

This duty the Committee think should supersede all others for the
first few months of the Curator’s employment, meanwhile his subordi-
nates would conduct the arrangement of such specimens of the animal
kirgdom, as might require immediate attention.

Duplicates of all specimens should be preserved for verification and
analysis. Triplicates should be retained where ever practicable, for
presentation to other Museums in exchange.

The monthly reports should be a statement of progress in this duty,
and affording a catalogue of the minerals adjusted. The specimens
themselves should be exhibited to each Meeting.

All correspondence connected with the Museum should pass through
the Secretary’s office, in conformity with the practice of all similar
institutions. It seems to the Committee of Papers an anomalous and
inexpedient practice, to commit the whole management of exchanges
and similar transactions to the Curator. The suggestions of that offi-

* Admirably consistent with the Secretary’s note, Journal Asiatic Society 1839,
page 244, in which he declares it would be quite futile to do any thing in this de-
partment till cabinets be first provided.

144: Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

cer will be always received with due attention and respect by the Com-
mittee, but it is manifest, that without their being referred to it, the
Committee cannot be responsible for the expenditure which the Cura-
tor’s measures and correspondence may entail, for the views on which
he may act in the management of the Museum, nor for the light in
which this department of the Society’s labours may be regarded by
scientific men and institutions in other countries.*

It seems necessary too to stipulate that all memoirs or papers drawn
up by the Curator for publication, as well as plates, models, &ec. on sub-
jects he may have investigated in discharge of his duties, should be in
the first instance placed at the disposal of the Committee of Papers,
also that all proofs of such papers pass through the inspection of the
same body. The Committee are led to this suggestion by the circum-
stance of a fly-leaf having been prefixed without their sanction or
knowledge to the last Volume of the Transactions. Although containing
nothing from which the Committee would dissent, the precedent is one
which they are desirous of avoiding, as it obviously may lead to many
objectionable results.

The Committee deem it highly desirable to secure, if possible, Dr.
M‘Clelland’s valuable services on the terms they have now set forth.
His acquirements in the various departments of Natural History, his
zeal for the promotion of Science, and the liberality and disinterested-
ness he has evinced in his past connexion with the Museum, entitle
him to be preferred to most. competitors for this appomtment. The
Committee have endeavoured in this Report however to discuss without
bias towards any individual, the stipulations for tenure of office which
they deem most conducive to the interests of the Society and of Science,
and most likely to receive the approbation of the Government, through
whose liberal grant the occasion of this discussion has arisen.

In the event however of Dr. M‘Clelland’s declining to accept the
situation on the terms now proposed, the Committee recommend that
candidates be invited to present themselves, that the testimonials of
such candidates be examined and reported on by the Committee of
Papers, and finally considered at a General Meeting. That the indivi-
dual selected be appointed for 12 months, and his permanent appoint-
ment be made dependent on the ability and industry, evinced during the
probationary period.

* This paragraph is only calculated to mislead those who do not think, or who
do not know the Society. In the first place the Society is not, and never has been,
in the habit of making exchanges of objects from the Museum ; in the second place
the Curator can enter into no engagements in the name of the Society or the Com-
mittee of Papers, so that neither of these bodies can be‘ held responsible for his
acts; in the third place, there is no correspondence connected with the office, and never
has been; and, lastly, it would be the height of absurdity to suppose that scientific
men and scientific institutions would or could for a moment holdany or all the
members of the Committee of Papers responsible for the scientific part of the
Curator’s duties.—Ep.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 145

Should no candidate of sufficient acquirements present himself within
three months, the Committee recommend that the president be requested
to communicate with the proper scientific authorities in Europe, autho-
rizing the appointment and dispatch to India, of a competent individual,
bound to serve the Society for a period of five years, and subject to the
rules herein expressed.

The Committee would not be disposed to extend to any other in-
dividual but Dr. M‘Clelland the privilege of devoting but two hours
daily to the Museum, and would require four hours at least actual atten-
dance at the Museum, from whatever other candidate might be selected.

(True Copy,)
W. B. OSHAUGHNESSY,
Offig. Secy. Asiatic Society.

Minute by Dr. J. Grani.

I regret that I cannot concur in the whole of this Report, agreeing
with much of the general principle that pervades it. I dissent from its
application to our peculiar circumstances. The Report closes with a
well merited expression of the desirableness of securing, if possible, the
services of a zealous, able, industrious, and disinterested naturalist
upon the spot, and yet proposes to fetter him with rules, which I fear
might damp his ardour and circumscribe his usefulness, without any
commensurate benefit to the institution, or perhaps alienate him alto-
gether from a situation which he is well qualified to adorn.

The Report proposes the consideration of the subject entirely on
abstract principles, without reference to individual fitness here, or con-
venience of availing ourselves of such at once, but sincerely believing as
I do that the readiest practicable plan is to avail ourselves of the
intellectual means at hand, rather than incur the delay of waiting for
remote and uncertain materials, I am averse to the adoption of rules
which I fear may deprive us of Dr. M‘Clelland’s services.

The three suggestions contained in the opening paragraph of the
report appear to me objectionable, for the reasons to be stated as I
proceed. 1st. I would not tie down Dr. M‘Clelland (supposing him ready
to undertake the office of Curator) to two hours daily im the Museum ;
though it is not unlikely that at an average Dr. M‘Clelland would de-
vote so much time to the duties of the Museum ;---yet I conceive that
the precise locality of duties bearing on the Museum, is of less impor-
tance than their being essentially well produced and looked after, not
merely iz the Museum, but out of it; since Dr. M‘Clelland might labour
very usefully for the Museum in his own house, without a scrupulous
and inconvenient measuring of time within the walls of the Museum,
that if left to himself might occasionally extend to more even than two
hours. 2nd. Monthly Reports, for some time to come, would almost

entirely be confined to mechanical arrangement. Quarterly or half
( U

146 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

yearly reports, I conceive, would answer every useful purpose, and give
less trouble. Let the Committee of Papers be a Committee of Manage-
ment, and by frequent visits to the Museum obviate any tendency to
inaction on the part of the Curator. 3rdly. The non-removal, under
any circumstances, of articles from the Museum, would impose a tanta-
lizing restriction. A Museum, especially in India, is not the most
favourable place for making minute observations, or recording results
and circumstances. There may be several articles that the Curator
would like occasionally to carry home to examine quietly in the pri-
vacy of his own study, and I should be sorry to cramp any Curator’s
convenience, by depriving him of this indulgence. To insist upon it,
would be like the rule that holds in some libraries, that books should
be looked at only on the premises. That rule may be a very proper one
in Europe, but I do not think it at present applicable here. Apply the
same rule to Numismatology, and it would be found very prejudicial.
Had it been strictly acted upon in that branch, I question whether
Dr. Wilson and Mr. James Prinsep, (the latter especially), would have
effected such splendid results. Neither would I pay our Curator the
bad compliment of implying by such a restriction, that he would not
take proper care of specimens. Instead of this, I would permit him to
carry away what specimens he required, for a reasonable time, the
vacant space being occupied with a card or half sheet of paper,
bearing the number and character of the article, and the date at which
it was borrowed, with the words “‘ Taken by Curator.”

Quite concurring in that part of the Report, which states that the
Curator’s great object, should be generalization of several subjects, and
not special devotion to minute observation of a sub-division, yet as I
conceive that the two objects are perfectly reconcilable, I have no
doubt that Dr. M‘Clelland would pay due attention to both. Neither
do I imagine that the claims of speedy and effectual mechanical ar-
rangement would at all suffer in the hands of Dr. M‘Clelland, or take
up so much time as the proposal to tie down that gentleman’s passing
two hours daily in the Museum would seem to indicate. In conclusion---
as far preferable to the plan of sending in three months to Europe for
a Curator, and procuring one who after his arrival in India would very
likely become discontented at finding himself tied down for five years
upon a salary which may sound imposing in Europe, but would be only
a pittance for a man of education in India, and scarcely on a par with
the pay of some mechanics, I would prefer closing for a twelvemonth*

* The objection to holding the office except on a permanent and independent
footing is, that after accomplishing the first step in bringing the collection into order,
the office would then hold out so much stronger inducements to those who are fond
of sinecures, that a man who relied merely on fitness, might find himself no longer
required. Witness the indifference of the Committee of Papers to the Museum as
long as the Society had not the means to pay: butno sooner did the Government
come forward with funds, than persons whose names had never before been heard

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 147

with Dr. M‘Clelland, or any other qualified gentleman in India, to whom
such a limited salary might be an object, should the conditions of offer-
ing the situation to the former be such as to make him decline it.

Caucurra,
15th February, 1840.

We do not blame persons for not being naturalists, but when they
assume that character under the garb of a Committee, we must hold
them responsible for their acts, particularly when directed against in-
dividuals whose pursuits might be supposed to be a protection, or when
their opinions are calculated to mislead the taste and judgment of the
public. The only inference to be derived from the foregoing report,
which was got up no one knows how, is, that we have been neglecting
the interests of the Museum for objects of more interest to ourselves---
that when we ought to have been sitting in the Museum, we have been
investigating “groups and families” at home; and every thing calcula-
ted to bear upon the disadvantage of this, is brought forward, while all
that should excuse it, is suppressed or misrepresented. It is insinuated
even that our paper on “ Cyprinidz” was written when we ought to have
been doing something else, forgetting that it was presented to the
Society nine months before the Committee had any claim upon our
time ; while they keep out of sight the fact of above 360 animals having
been added to their collection durmg the few months we held office,
a third of which were collected by ourselves in that short period. We
have merely to add the following extract from our reply to our late just
and liberal masters, and gladly leave them in possession of the Asiatic
Society.

“As the report professes to have framed the duties of the office
to which such new interest is attached on the established usage of
other Museums, I must be permitted to point out the error into which
the Rapporteur seems to have fallen.

“The Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London is
placed under a Board of Curators, over which the members of the
College have no authority. I allude to this Museum as one in which
the Government have an interest, and in all other Museums to the
support of which the Government contribute, the Curators are equally
independent. This Board may not only cut and dissect the specimens
in such manner as may be deemed essential, but may send them to
lapidaries and others to do the same; and Mr. Clift, as well as Mr.

of in connection with natural history, produced their maiden report. Would any
one be justified in reposing confidence where there is so little regard for appear-
ance ?— Ep.

148 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Owen, may make use of the results the same as if they had been derived
from their own private specimens.

“The Museum at the India House is placed entirely, I believe, in
the hands of its keeper, who may not only make such use of his des-
criptions of the objects contained in it as he conceives most likely
to promote the ends of science, but exhibit those objects when neces-
sary to the Societies of the Metropolis.

“Can the Committee of Papers reconcile this, with the stipulations
they require from their Curator? e. g. ‘that all memoirs or papers* drawn
up by the Curators for publication, as well as plates, models, &c. on
subjects he may have investigated in the discharge of his duties, should
in the first instance be placed at the disposal of the Committee of
Papers; also, that all proofs of such Papers pass through the inspec-
tion of the same body.’ The reason assigned for this very modest
stipulation is perfectly ludicrous, and shows how unfit the Committee
is to legislate in such matters, namely, that of a ‘fly-leaf having
been prefixed without their knowledge or sanction to the last volume
of Transactions, although containing nothing from which the Commit-
tee would dissent, the precedent is one they are desirous of avoiding.’

“ The Committee of Papers should surely have been aware that it
is the Secretary, and not the Curator, who must be held answerable
for irregularities of this kind, and yet the odd remedy they would
apply is, that of depriving the Curator of the literary property that
every one has a right to enjoy in his own free labours. How that
could keep ‘fly leaves’ out of the Transactions, I am quite at a loss
to know.

“ As the Committee do not profess to think much of the elaborate
investigation of a group or family, we cannot be surprised that they
should not be disposed to encourage such a waste of time; and hence
the clause preventing the removal of objects of Natural History from
the Museum. Why, it was only at the last Meeting of the British
Association, that Dr. Buckland announced the intention of Messrs.
Hutton and Henslow to continue the fossil flora of Great Britain,
and of their requirmg ‘the Joan of specimens from the Geological
Society, which would be carefully returned after drawings had been
made of them.’

“ Again, the Committee require that all correspondence connected
with the Museum should pass through the Secretary’s office, ‘in con-
formity with the practice of all similar institutions.’ Here the Com-

* The only literary work a Curator is expected to perform in the execution of
his duty, is the preparation of a catalogue of the collection under his charge.
Whether that be a memoir or a paper, I must leave to the legal learning of those
who would draw the distinction. Even with regard to a catalogue, I would advise
the Committee to imitate the Council of the Zoological Society of London, and
declare ‘‘ that they do not hold themselves responsible for the nomenclature adopted,
and opinions expressed in that publication.”

i

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 149

mittee no doubt evince the same intimate knowledge of the practice
of other institutions, as in the imstances already referred to.”’

It does not appear to have occurred to the Committee, that the
Curator being a naturalist can have little correspondence not con-
nected with the'Museum, so that to comply with this rule he should
require his friends to address him through the Secretary.

“ The Committee say, ‘our collection of minerals is in utter chaos,’ a
statement which is not the fact, for they are all arranged ; a Committee
that would lay down rules for the direction of a Curator, ought to know
the difference between minerals and rocks. ‘Though rich,’ say this
Committee ‘in anonymous specimens, valuable in themselves as illustra-
tions of abstract mineralogy, but devoid of interest in a geological or
geographical light, owing to the neglect with which they have been
treated, &c.’ We can easily understand that the Committee may have
been ignorant of the names of many minerals in the collection, espe-
cially as they do not seem to know the difference between minerals and
rocks, but it does not follow that such minerals are ‘ anonymous ;’ in
fact, the use of the term as the Committee have applied it, evinces a
total want of information on the subject; a mineral is not anonymous
because it is without a label, any more than a man would be so when
without a card in his pocket, with his name written on it: a person
acquainted with either minerals or men will always know them whether
labelled or not. Yet this is the Committee who are ready to take the
management of the Museum into their own hands, and as they say
themselves, examine the claims of such candidates as may offer for
the Curatorship within a period of three months!

“<<Tt appears,’ they say, ‘that the first object of the Society in
remodelling the Museum, should be to form a grand collection
of minerals and fossils, illustrative of the Geology, Geography,
and Paleontology of our British Indian possessions.’ But we
are at a loss to know how minerals and fossils could illustrate
Geography, and had always supposed that Paleontology was mere-
ly a branch of Geology; but perhaps the Committee intend to re-
model the sciences, as well as the Museum. ‘A few existing minerals ;’
(could there be any other kind? This is the report of a Committee
of Papers of a learned Society, claiming an authority quite unprece-
dented over the labours of others, it is therefore of importance before
their claims be sanctioned, to see how far the scientific character of
the Society would be safe in their hands) ‘and some superb fossils
in our Museum are available for this object,’ i. e., for making a grand
collection; but as the things in question are already in the Museum,
they are not merely ‘available’ for the object in view, but constitute
so much of the object itself already accomplished.

“ The Committee continue, ‘While waiting for these additions to
our collection, he,’ the Curator, ‘should proceed to label those already

-in our possession.’ It is within the recollection of the Society that

150 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

[ stated eight months ago that I could do nothing with the geological
collection until cabinets were first provided ; these were accordingly
sanctioned by the Society, but ordered by the Secretary from a native
for less than he could afford to provide them; the consequence is,
that they still remain unfinished. This is an instance of the ill effects
of leaving the Curator dependent on the Secretary, or any one else, for
things on which his own work depends; and as the circumstance is
brought forward rather unfairly in the report of the Committee, I must
be permitted to say, that had any member of that body required an
easy chair, we may presume he would have obtained it at once from
the best cabinet-maker, cost what it might.

“There is but one name attached to the report which can be at
all held responsible, in a scientific pomt of view, for the sentiments
embodied in it, and although Dr. Wallich may fairly be exonerated
from any great authority on the subject of Museums, yet his own ex-
perience ought to have suggested the difficulty of making monthly re-
ports on subjects connected with natural history, he himself finding
a single report too much to accomplish in the five years that have
now elapsed since his return from Assam.”

Directions for preserving Marine Olyects of Natural History.

During the expedition to China, there may be opportunities of adding
to the very scanty knowledge at present in possession of the scientific
world, regarding the productions of the eastern parts of Asia. A me-
morandum on the means of making collections of such objects as are
most likely to be met with in ships, and along the coasts, may therefore
be useful, especially to amateurs, who on such occasions may often be
in doubt as to the objects they should choose, since they cannot collect
all things that may offer. We are not aware that the marine plants of
the eastern seas have ever been examined, the following observations
on the method of collecting objects of this nature, may therefore be
useful. They are extracted from a very good paper on collecting sea-
plants, by Dr. Drummond of Belfast, in the Magazine of Zoology and
Botany, 1838.

“‘The first object to be attended to in preserving marine plants is to
have them washed perfectly clean before spreading. There should not
be left upon them a particle of sand or other foreign body, unless in
some rare instance a parasitic species may be thought worthy of keep-
ing, on account of its rarity, or because it may add an additional beauty
to the chief specimen. It is a good practice to wash them before leaving
the shore either in the sea, or in a rocky pool, or, as is sometimes more
convenient in some localities, in a rivulet discharging itself into the
ocean, though, as will be afterwards explained, the last practice proves
very destructive to the beauty of some species.

Directions for preserving Marine Objects, §c. 151

“The foreign bodies to be got rid of are fragments of decayed sea-
weeds, sand, gravel, and sometimes portions of the softened surface of
sandstone or argillaceous rock on which the specimens may have grown,
together with the smaller testacea, and the Corrallina officinalis, §ce. At
Cairnlough Bay I experienced most trouble in this respect from the
Ectocarpi, which conferve were so generally diffused, as to be entangled
with almost every other species of sea-plant.

“« After the greatest pains which we may take to clean our specimens
at the shore, there will generally be found much to do before they can
be properly committed to paper, since foreign substances will continue
attached to them with much pertinacity, even after we may have been
satisfied that they are perfectly clean. It is therefore necessary to pre-
pare each specimen by examining it in fresh or sea water in a white
dish or plate, so that every thing foreign may be detected and re-
moved.

“The next thing to be attended to is the quality of the paper on which
the specimens are to be spread: and here a great error is generally
committed, in using it thin and inferior, by which, if the specimen be
worth preserving, it has not proper justice done to it. Much of the
beauty, indeed, of many species depends on the goodness of the paper,
exactly as a print or drawing will appear better or worse, as it is execu-
ted on paper of a good or an inferior kind. Some species, too, contract
so much in drying as to pucker the edges of the paper, if it be not
sufficiently thick, for example Delesseria laciniata, and this has a very
unsightly appearance. That which I have from experience been led to.
prefer is a thick music-paper. It closely resembles that used for draw-
ing, and the sheet divides into four leaves, of a most convenient size,
each being about an inch and a-half longer and broader than a leaf of
this Magazine. These, again, divided into halves answer for small spe-
cies, and for large specimens we may use the entire folio. We have
thus three regular sizes of paper, and this serves to give a uniformity
and neatness to a collection not to be obtained by using papers at ran-
dom, and of casual dimensions.

“‘ Whatever pains we may have taken to clean the recent specimens, we
shall often find, when spreading them, that some foreign particles con-
tinue attached, and for the removal of these a pair of dissecting forceps,
and a camel hair pencil of middle size, will be found very convenient.
These, indeed, are almost indispensable, and will be found useful on
more occasions than can here be specified. A silver probe, with a blunt
and sharp end, is the most convenient instrument for spreading out,
and. separating branches from each other, but any thing with a rigid
point, such as a large needle, or the handle of the camel-hair pencil
sharpened, will answer. A large white dinner-dish serves perfectly well
for spreading the specimens in, and all that is farther necessary is a
quantity of drying papers, and some sheets of blotting-paper, with three
or four flat pieces of deal-hoard. Nothing answers better for drying

152 Directions for preserving Marine Objects

than old newspapers, each divided into eight parts, but it is necessary to
have a large supply of these.

“ The beautiful and common Plocamium coccinewm is one of the most easi-
ly preserved species, and may be taken as an example of the mode of pro-
ceeding with most of the others. The steps to be pursued are as follow.---

‘“‘], The specimen is to be perfectly well cleaned.

«2. A dinner-dish to be filled about two-thirds with clean fresh water.

“3. The paper on which the Bperiaiens is to be spread, to be im-
mersed in the water in the dish.

‘4. The specimen to be then placed on the paper, and spread out by
means of the probe and camel-hair pencil.

5. The paper with the specimen on it to be then slowly withdrawn
from the dish, sliding it over its edge.

‘6, The paper with the specimen adhering to it, to be held up by one
comer for a minute or two, to drain off the water.

“7. To be then laid on paper, or cloth, upon a table, and the super-
fluous water still remaining to be removed by repeated pressure of
blotting-paper upon the specimen, beginning this operation at the edges,
and gradually encroaching towards the centre till the whole can be
pressed upon without danger of any part adhering to the blotting-paper,
which probably would be the case, were the latter applied at once to
the whole specimen.

‘<8, The specimen then to be laid on a couple of drying papers placed
on the carpet or a table; two more papers to be laid over it, and then
the piece of board, on which latter a few books are to be put, to give
the necessary pressure.

“9. These papers to be changed every half hour or oftener, till the
specimen is sufficiently dry. (A number of specimens with drying papers
interposed, may be pressed at once under the same board.)

“Though the above method is in general the best, yet there are various
species, and among these the Plocamium coccineum itself, which dry per-
fectly well by simple exposure to the open air without pressure being
had recourse to at all; and some can only be preserved in the latter
way, being so glutinous that they will adhere as strongly to the drying
paper laid over them as to that on which they are spread. Pressure
however, is necessary after they have dried, for the purpose of flatten-
ing them.*

* An indispensable requisite in the drying of marine or fresh water alge is a
portion of old rag, neither of a quality too fine or too coarse. When the specimen
has been spread, as directed, upon the paper on which it is to remain, a piece of
rag sufficient to cover it should be laid over, and then it may be interleaved under
the boards for pressure. The rag prevents the necessity of so much care in taking
up the moisture as Mr. Drummond requires, never adheres to the specimens, but
when dry, leayes them, while most of the plants themselves stick firmly to the
sheets on which they have been spread.—Eps.

of Natural History. 153

“ After these general remarks, I will now offer some observations re-
lating to several genera and species, following the order in which they
are arranged in the English Flora.

“J believe all the species belonging to the Fucoidez are to be dried in
the manner of land plants, after having been previously steeped for
some time in fresh water to extract their salt and mucilage. Cystoseira
granulata, which I have repeatedly found on the Larne shore, will
adhere imperfectly if spread in water, but it is best treated as a land
plant, to be afterwards fixed with mucilage. Halidrys siliquosa, Fucus
vesiculosus, and F’. nodosus require very heavy pressure. ‘The air-vesicles
of the first may be in part cut longitudinally to show the internal parti-
tions, and of the two last, to diminish their diameter, but this must be
done after they are dried, for if done in the recent state they contract
and become disfigured.”

A very important part in the art of preserving marine plants is to
prune luxuriant specimens, especially such as without this would ap-
pear confused and unsightly, but some care is required to prevent the
removal of parts on which the character of the species depend; some
shrink by exposure to the air, but packed up under gentle pressure, they
retain their form, and even when shrunken or dried badly at first, they
may be restored to shape by moisture. When collected dry on the
beach some are so rolled that they cannot be unfolded, and in that
state are nearly useless; some are so thin as to dry readily, and others
if steeped in fresh water give out their colouring matter and become
changed in appearance. We should think the thick soft paper manu-
factured at Serampore would answer admirably for preserving marine
plants. With regard to land plants no instructions are required.

The only way of preserving animals is by putting them into spirits.
This may be conveniently practised with all the smaller fishes, reptiles,
birds and mammals, all insects expect Lepidoptera, most of the mol-
luses and annulose animals may likewise be preserved in spirits; of the
Radiata, the Echinodermata alone are to be preserved in any form, but
of these the several kind of star fish and sea eggs are very easily collec-
ted and preserved, either in spirits or in a dry state.

The skins of the larger mammalia, birds, and fishes, can only be preserv-
ed; all the wild species of every class of animals from China and Japan
are objects of scientific interest. The pipe fishes and sea horses (Syng-
nathus and Hypocampus) and the cuttle fishes of all kinds, especially
the Calamary from which the China ink is manufactured are objects of
especial interest, as well as the fresh water fishes of China. The extent
and nature of the trade in the Manilla red fish, as well as specimens
and the method of preserving and taking the fish, would be interesting.

Should room be scarce as well as paper for drying specimens in the
ordinary way, the fruits and flowers of plants, with a small portion of
the stem and leaves adhering, may be put into spirits.

Animals, such as fish, serpents, insects, squirrels, bats, &c. do not

x

154 Directions for preserving Marine Objects §c.

disagree with plants in spirits, but on the contrary mutually assist the
antiseptic property of the latter.

Some little attention is requisite not to collect clumsy specimens, or
many of the same sort of thing, as this would encroach upon the means
of preserving other objects, and limit the variety and value of the
collection.

Geological, of all collections, are of least interest unless connected
with notes; each specimen should be characteristic of some prevailing
rock, and ought to be rolled in paper, numbered, and notes regarding
the formation to which it belongs made on the spot.

Number every thing you collect, but mind not names, except such as
are indigenous, which are to be recorded, as well as the uses and pro-
perties of things collected.

Objects of Chinese Fauna likely to be least known and most interest-
ing, are reptiles of every kind, crustea, fresh water fish, land and
fresh water shells, and the smaller mammalia; next to these, fishes and
shells of the estuaries; above all, cuttle fish from which the Indian ink
is made. The sea horses and pipe fishes, starfishes and sea eggs of
every kind, leeches, worms, scorpions, centipedes, and imsects of all kinds,
except perhaps butterflies, from the difficulty of preserving them per-
fect, as well as the chance of their possessing fewer pRSUHAD HE than
other objects.

Where room may be valuable and carriage difficult, mostiins large
should be attempted, and of all such useless curiosities the proboscis
of the saw fish, polished shells, and mandarins tails should be eschew-
ed; even the tail of Lin himself would not be worth its room in such
circumstances.

It is useless to say any thing about birds, because every one will
collect them, and perhaps every one will find himself in possession of
precisely the same species; as will probably be the case with other
things.

A small test box with articles enough in it for the cursory examina-
tion of waters, as turmeric and litmus paper, nitrate of borytes, acetate
of lead, nitrate of silver, acetate of ammonia, prussiate of potash, a
blow pipe with two or three acids, and as many alkalies, might be use-
ful with collectors ; we never travelled without it.

J. M.

THE
CALCUTTA JOURNAL

OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. By Mr. J.
M‘CLELLAND.

Ir is now four years since the discovery of a raised sea-
beach was first announced, reposing on the face of the
Khasya mountains, inclining to the north-eastern boundary
of the plains of Bengal; more urgent occupations, as well as
the want of proper facilities for working out the details
on which the interest and importance of this fact depends,
have hitherto prevented my doing more than merely alluding
to it incidentally in different communications connected with
my late visit to Assam.* I have since then endeavoured
to collect as many specimens as possible of the animals
which now inhabit the Bay of Bengal, as well as books and
drawings of such as have hitherto been found either in a

* The interest already excited in Europe by this discovery has induced some
distinguished cultivators of science, of whom we may mention Mr. Edward
Charlesworth and Mr.S. V. Wood, to supply us with collections of secondary and.
tertiary fossils, for the purpose of assisting in working out its details. Their exam-
ple, I hope soon to find will be followed by other eminent individuals. Such col-
lections I shall always be happy to render available to any persons who may be
engaged in pursuits to which they may be useful. At first it was my intention to
deposit these collections, on the part of the liberal donors, in the Museum of the
Asiatic Society, but as that would, under the late Rules of the Society, render them
useless, as far as the object for which they were intended is concerned, I would ill
discharge my duty by doing so,

VOL. I. NO. I, JULY, 1840. Y

(

156 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

recent, or fossil state, that by the study and comparison of
these with the organic remains of the fossil beach, I might
be enabled to arrive at some conclusion as to the condition
of animal life at the period of its upheavement, and how far
the inhabitants of a sea that had covered the present plains
of India corresponded with, or differed from, existing forms.

It must be evident that if similar investigations are beset
with difficulties even in Europe, where national institutions
have been for centuries devoted to the collection and illus-
tration of natural productions, the task must be almost
hopeless in the present state of natural science in India.
Nevertheless the subject is one of so much importance to
the advancement of geological science, and holds out such
powerful inducements to further researches, that I have felt
desirous, even in the face of circumstances, to attempt a
beginning, particularly as the words in italics are those of
Sir John Herschel, expressed with regard to this subject.
The difficulty may however be lessened by taking up the
subject in parts, and the part we have chosen for this com-
munication is not the least interesting or important.

Before going into the subject of the fossils, a few obser-
vations on the general characters and nature of the group
of animals to which they belonged, will be necessary. Echi-
nida seem to have been very abundant about the period
of the chalk formation. Their first appearance is in the
Oolitic formation, from this they ascend to the green sand,
increasing in number and variety till the period of the chalk,
in which we probably find they were more numerous than at
any former or even subsequent time; from the chalk forma-
tion they are traced upwards through the series of tertiary
rocks, some species becoming extinct and others appearing
in their place. The structure and habits of such as now
live are not yet sufficiently known to enable geologists to
elucidate all that it would be desirable regarding extinct
species, far less to enable naturalists to make any great
advancement towards the natural arrangement of the order.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 15%

They are placed at the head of the class called Radiata,
consisting of animals in which the several parts of the
body radiate as from a centre. It is in the Echinida that
we first perceive a tendency to that bilateral disposition
of the several parts of the body which characterises the
higher classes. Mr. MacLeay has observed that those who
attempt to form accurate ideas of animal life by studying
it only in the most complex shape, are like persons who
would penetrate the depths of Newtonian philosophy with-
out being previously acquainted with the simpler elements
of mathematical science. An intimate knowledge of the
structure and habits of the simplest form of animals is
indeed no less important to the physiologist than indispen-
sable to the geologist.

The first is enabled to trace from them the progressive
development, and changes of organs according to their uses |
in different classes of beings, while the second, by a familiar
acquaintance with the forms of the lower animals is enabled
to decypher and explain the nature and character of great
physical changes that have repeatedly altered not merely
the condition of the earth itself, but remodelled from time
to time the beings which have been placed upon it. Thus
it is that a knowledge of the fishes, the reptiles, mulluscs,
and polypes, the worms, and creeping things which are
regarded with indifference by the vulgar, is calculated
not only to enlarge the sphere of reason, but also to exercise
a powerful moral influence over the human mind by ren-
dering us better acquainted with the extent and beauties
of the creation, and the infinite power and goodness of
the Creator.

It is not my intention to write a popular discourse on this
subject ; for it is one with which even the learned are as
yet but little acquainted, and the peculiar facts I am about
to detail are chiefly unknown even to them. It is there-
fore necessary to prepare the reader, as I have had to pre-
pare myself, by a consideration of the living forms which

158 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

now represent in India, the fossils which form the proper
subject of this paper. ‘They are extremely common along
the islands of the Malay coast, where they are called by
the natives sepe ka phul, or shell-blossoms; Europeans, if
they observe them at all, call them sea-eggs or sea-hedge-
hogs, according as they are found with or without spines
of a certain size. The only two specimens for which I am
as yet indebted to my European friends, were presented
to me by Captain Lloyd, but as they were contained in
a bottle with insects which I was desirous of placing in
the hands of Mr. MacLeay, I sent them unexamined to
that philosopher, who is now prosecuting his researches
in New South Wales. They were found by Captain Lloyd
on rocks in the Mergui archipelago, where they were said
to be very numerous. I have since heard that they are
also common on the coast of Rambree island, from which
quarter we hope soon to receive specimens; but in case
our solicitations have nct been sufficiently urgent, we again
entreat residents in that quarter to favour us with collections.
As yet our observations have been confined to the naked
crusts of some seven or eight species which we have been
enabled to collect in the shops of dealers, all of them from
the quarter above alluded to, except perhaps two contained
in the Asiatic Society’s collection, which may have come
from the coast of New Holland ; the one is an Echinometra,*
the other a Scwutella, both different from any which I have
known to come from the Bay of Bengal. Some Echinida
are globular, or spheroidal, others are raised as a parabola
from a somewhat flattened base, and some almost entirely
flat. Their bodies, which are covered by a shell, are fur-
nished with a powerful armature consisting of moveable
articulated spines, which surround every part of the body,
and serve also as organs of motion, with spiracles, which
penetrate in bands through the shell, serving as respiratory
organs ; with a mouth and peculiar dental apparatus, with

* Named ‘ Hchinus’ in the cabinet.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 159

organs of digestion, consisting of an alimentary canal and
stomach; they have also a vascular system consisting of
heart, arteries, and veins, together with reproductive organs ;
it is highly probable that they are possessed also of a
nervous system; this has not been yet proved, although it
has been found in the starfish. Their skeleton consists of an
external crust which surrounds the soft parts, and is one of
the most beautiful structures with which we are acquainted.
In a being so constructed, it is necessary that the skeleton
or crust should, on the one hand, be such as to resist external
violence, and on the other, to admit of the growth of the
soft parts within. A sphere composed of small plates with
concentric edges forming radii, would resist external pres-
sure while it would be capable of being expanded from
within, and would answer the object, but something is
required to enable such a structure to stand alone and
resist the gravity of its own materials. This is effected
in the shell of the Echinus, or sea-egg, by means of the
peculiar adjustment of the pieces of which it is composed,
so that its mechanism might become as instructive to the
engineer in affording new mathematical combination, as the
leaves and flowers of certain plants have long since proved
to the ancient artists, who first had recourse to them as
principles of embellishment in their designs.

If we take the genus Echinus as the type, we find the
shell spheroidal, somewhat flattened at the base, with five
pairs of porous bands, like the meridians of a globe, extend-
ing between the two poles of the testa, these were thought to
resemble the walks in a garden, and hence called ambulacra
by the older anatomists. Each pair of ambulacra consists
of a double vertical series of small plates placed together,
so that the horizontal axis of one plate falls between that of
the corresponding ends of the two opposite. Between the

different pairs of ambulacra there are broader intervals not

160 = On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

perforated, and hence called anambulacra, five in number;
each of these spaces is also composed of two vertical co-
lumns of large plates, equal in breadth to two of the small
series, and placed so that the horizontal axis of each small
plate is opposed alternately to the axis of the large, and
consequently also to that of the interval between the oppo-
site large plates, so as to interrupt the horizontal joinings.
Thus there are five large double series of plates, and five
small, which only require to be placed alternately together
in order to form a consistent moveable sphere, the walls of
which may be composed of any number of detached pieces.
Now as each plate in the large series is equal to two in the
small, consequently it requires nothing more than to preserve
the same principle of alternation in the axis of the different
plates in order to attain the end in view.*

With regard to the growth of these animals, naturalists
appear to have fallen into curious mistakes, and seem to
think that it takes place only at the apex, by the formation of
new pieces in that situation, rather than an uniform augmen-
tation of all the different pieces composing the testa. It ap-
pears to have escaped preceding naturalists that the differ-
ent plates of the testa of Echinida are nothing more than
so many centres of ossification, which in large species be-
come obliterated, the testa consisting merely of five pieces
(exclusive of the oviducal plates) instead of many hundred,
as writers on this subject suppose.

From an examination of different sized animals in various
stages of growth, I have reason to believe that the consoli-
dation of their testa begins at the base, in which situation

* Domes constructed of masonry cannot exceed the hemisphere, as the gra-
vitation of the materials of the lower part of the fabric would be unsupported.
What has been hitherto impossible to human ingenuity, might be accomplished
from the model of the shell of an Echinus, in which we see the materials so

adjusted as to overcome the influence of gravitation, the most prevailing law of

matter.

Mot

Qn Grioma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 161

the various pieces are first united, and as the animal ad-
vances in life the consolidation goes on from below up-
wards, and at the same time the expansion of the shell takes
place by the deposit of new layers around the edges of the
plates. Small papule also shoot out from the intervals
that formerly separated the different plates from each other,
thus obliterating in adult shells every vestige of distinct
plates.

On the inner surface of the testa however, elevated ridges
still mark the former lines of separation, and on holding the
shell to a strong light the various pieces composing it become
apparent, owing to the transparency of the central parts
of the plates, while the margins are rendered thick and
opaque by the accumulation of testaceous matter thrown
out, and by which their union is ultimately effected. How
long the animal continues to live after it is completely

-formed, we have not ascertained; but from the great va-
riety in the size of the testa in such as we have met
with, we should think that, like fishes, they continue to
increase in bulk with their age. The largest Indian species
I have seen were nearly five inches in diameter, but I be-
lieve Echinus esculentus attains a-still larger size on the
coasts of Europe. The large species which is very
common in collections from the Maldive islands, and
from the study of which much of my information is de-
rived, appears to live for a considerable time after the
different parts of the shell have been completely conso-
lidated, still progressing in bulk, but at a certain period,
which we should think corresponds with that at which
the augmentation of the animal becomes suspended, a new
set of actions then ensue, which are beautifully depicted
on the shell of the species in question. We learn from the
changes alluded to that these animals have an absorbent sys-

tem that performs a prominent part in their development and

162. On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil btinda.

decay, and that is subject to the same laws as the absorbents
in other beings. A vertical fissure is observed to form over
the situation of the suture, by which each pair of anambulac-
ral plates are joined together in species that have attained
a certain size, and this would seem to deepen with the
advancement of age, and finally the globe or shell separates
into five equal parts, the sections taking place from api-
ces of the five oviducal plates which surround the anus, and
descend from thence over the disc to the mouth. Thus the
complicated and beautiful skeleton consisting of 540 pieces
in the young animal, adjusted with mathematical precision,
are gradually consolidated in the adult, and as life advances
towards the close, the shell separates into five pieces, each
equivalent to 108 elementary plates, but which are at this
stage so firmly united, that if sufficient force be applied
the parts fracture through the middle of the former plates,
rather than separate at their respective junctions.

It is necessary now to compare these observations with
the views generally received on the subject up to this time.
Professor Grant has the merit of being the first comparative
anatomist in Great Britain, whose works afford any thing
like a complete view of what is known of the general struc-
ture of the animal kingdom, and has still the far higher
merit of having himself contributed materially to our know-
ledge of the structure of animals both by his lectures
and original researches. On this subject he observes in his
lectures, p. 271, “(In these animals,” (echcinz) “ when we
observe the manner in which the skeleton is constructed, we
find the same component pieces which surround the body
of the Asterias are developed, meet each other, become con-
solidated by numerous layers, and thus form the great
globular disc.” The words in italics were it not for the
next sentence, would convey the true state of the case; but
Dr. Grant continues, “ The ambulacra of the Asterias are

On Cyrtina, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 168

here bent up “o meet the anus, and the integuments are
a read out .5 enclose a sphere. The arrangement of those
Plecss in the Echinus is thus in perpendicular columns
disposed in alternate pairs. This you can best examine
when the shells have been well macerated and bleached,
and as the numerous sutures never anchylose, the structure
is equally obvious in the adult and in the young animal.”
A little further on, Dr. Grant observes, ‘‘ The number of
columnseis very uniform in these animals, but the number
of similar pieces composing a column varies with the
species, and the age of the individual. The new pieces
which are added as the animal enlarges, are inserted at
the anal margin, where they are consequently always small,
and they appear not to be added at any other point. The
pieces are thus gradually pushed down towards the mid-
dle or base of the column by those which successively
make their appearance at the upper narrow apex of each
perpendicular series. From the analogy of the articulated
and molluscous classes I had formerly imagined that these
plates of the Echinoderma were exuded from the surface
of the skin and beneath the epidermis, and that they increased
in every dimension by addition of calcareous matter to their
wmner surface and around all their margins. But the
homogeneous internal structure of these pieces presents
no trace of such successive depositions, and more closely
resembles the porous texture of shells which are formed by
one deposition, and which are periodically cast and renewed.”
Dr. Sharpey, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in
University College, London, in an article on Echinodermata,
Cyclop. Anat. Phys. Part 1x, 1837, speaking of the skeleton
of sea urchins, observes that the calcareous matter is
disposed in polygonal plates, which being firmly joined
one to another, form by their union a shell approaching

more or less to a speroidal figure ; by this Dr. Sharpey
Zi

164 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

means, we presume, no more than what Pxofessor Grant
states in his outlines of comparative anatomy, “ that the
plates are firmly joined or locked together by then1e-
entrant angles or sutures,” particularly as Dr. Sharpey
alludes to Echinus esculentus, in which Dr. Grant is
of opinion the plates never anchylose. Professor Agassiz,
the most recent writer on the subject, in an excellent
paper in the Memoirs of the Society of Natural Sciences,
Neufchatel, observes, “that in general the testa of the
Echini is not so immoveable as one who had not
observed them in a fresh state might be led to suppose.
All the plates forming the upper part of the dise are. often
set in motion, sometimes they sink, sometimes they rise,
and, in oblong species the longitudinal diameter is often
extended beyond its ordinary length.” As I have never had
an opportunity of examining these animals in a fresh state,
my observations will be of less value; yet if the motions
alluded to by Professor Agassiz depend on a moveable
articulation between the various plates, it is difficult to con-
ceive how all traces of such articulations should be ob-
literated in the dead shell, and how after death different
bony pieces should become soldered together, which during
life remained separate and distinct from each other. The
removal of gelatine and animal matter by bleaching would
undoubtedly render the shell generally harder and less
yielding than in a living state, but this would not account
for the consolidation of all the different plates of which it is
composed, if in a living state they were separate and capable
of being depressed and elevated at the will of the animal.
Since it is those plates only forming the upper part
of the disc that are said by Professor Agassiz to be
capable of being elevated and depressed, may we not
infer from this circumstance that had the individuals ex-

amined by him been older than they were, such movements

cas

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 165

would necessarily have been more limited, especially as we
have already stated, the consolidation of the plates commences
at the base, and slowly advances upwards towards the apex,
according to the age of the individual; a circumstance
which may have led to the supposition that they never
unite in this situation, thus accounting for the discrepancies
on the subject. This peculiar mode of development may
also have led to the supposition that the growth of Echini
depends on the formation of new plates at the apex, from
which they are gradually pushed down towards the base
as new pieces are thrown out above, in proportion as the
animal enlarges, for as the plates on the upper part of
the disc are last of all consolidated, it is easy to zmagine
that they are all new. Professor Agassiz carries this view
of the case much farther than Professor Grant, and refers
the difference between Echini and starfish to peculiarities
in the development of the new plates “since the large
growth of the plates in the summits of the spheroid, combined
with the contraction of the interradial planes would pro-
duce a starfish ; while, vice versd, the increase of the inter-
radial planes and the reduction of the central plates in the
starfish would produce a spheroid. Nor is this a mere
hypothesis ; we shall see hereafter that the essential differ-
ence between Echini and Asteriz consists in the different
modes of their growing.” However important such general
observations may be to the comparative anatomist, whose pro-
vince it is to investigate the form and functions of organs
in beings of different and sometimes opposite characters, they
can only be useful to the naturalist as far as they are calcula-
ted to establish relations either of analogy or affinity. We
can appreciate the very beautiful design of Dr. Grant in his
lectures, of tracing the gradual advancement of animals from
the simplest to the most complete forms, according to the
more prominent characters of their organization in different

166 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

groups, but in tracing the affinities of animals, the naturalist
has a duty to perform which requires that attention should
be equally paid to those peculiarities of species by which
animals of different groups represent each other. Thus
the observations of M. Agassiz seem intended to establish
a direct affinity between Asterie and Echini, founded on the
development of the plates of the testa, but before we can
establish an affinity between two groups, it is necessary to
trace the peculiarities of species composing them throughout
their various phases, from their source in one group to
the point to which they lead in another. It is customary
to regard Asterie and Echini as closely allied, but no
one has yet undertaken an analysis of the subject with a
view to point out the particular species in the two groups
which approach nearest to each other ; for my own part,
the only points of relation I can perceive between Echeni
and Asterie are, that both are radiated and both confined
within a testaceous case, the mechanism of which how-
ever is quite different in the two groups.

In the Asterias, beyond the circular body and five con-
centric branches, we find nothing of the radiated struc-
ture, particularly in the skeleton. In the first place the
form is flat, and the earthy pieces composing the upper
and lower parts are quite different from each other in form
and function, while those composing the lateral columns of
the branches are not radiated but divergent, or at least
arranged parallel to the rays; in some the pieces are im-
bricated like the scales of serpents, in others nodular
like those of Saurions; in all this do the Asterie
differ from Echini, every atom of whose skeleton forms
a part of a spheroid. M. de Blainville appears to have
named the plates composing the lower grooved surface
of the Asteriz ambulacral, and the upper plates inter-am-
bulacral, and supposes them to agree with those plates

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 167

known in the Echini by corresponding terms. To esta-
blish the affinity between starfish and Echini, M. Agassiz
thinks it will be necessary to represent the former as if
it were globular instead of flat, and “ as if the upper lateral
plate of one ray was soldered to the upper part of the next ;”
in other words, as if the axis of the upper and lower
faces of the testa were altered, and the rays bent down,
so that the apex of the upper surface of one should be
made to fall into the vertex of the lower surfaces of two,
and vice versd. If we were to take the liberty of making
so many alterations in animals, it would be a very easy
thing to construct affinities; but we think it the more
philosophical course to study nature as we find her.
Although my business on the present occasion is strictly
with the Echinida, yet in seeking a place in that little
known family for our new genus, we are desirous of exa-
mining in the first instance how the groups composing
it are constructed, and what their true rank and position
are, in the animal kingdom.

Before we place implicit faith in the above view of re-
duction of types, let us examine the principle on which it is
founded, namely, that the Astertas, Holothuria, and Echinus,
are subject to one law of development, and that law M.
Agassiz tells us is discovered in the growth of the Echinus.
The young Echinus has a small number of plates in each
vertical series; they appear to be slowly increased in size
by the deposition of calcareous matter at their circumference
until those that surround the mouth have completed their
growth. The superior plates continue to shoot out and
grow from the top downwards, on the periphery of the
body, which remains depressed so long as the inferior
are the only plates consolidated; but in proportion as a
greater number of plates become immoveable, and there

is formed in the upper region a greater number of plates

168 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

reaching down to the circumference of the spheroid, the testa
becomes rounded, and finally assumes a spherical form.
Thus M. Agassiz makes the growth to be at the apex.
It is singular that so profound an observer should not
have seen that instead of a spheroid, such a mode of deve-
lopment as that which he describes would produce a simple
tube, and that as the proportion of circles are to each
other as the squares of their diameters, so the growth of
the different plates composing the shell of an Echinus must
be augmented rather than diminished, as they fall from
the apex towards the diameter of the disc. The views
of comparative anatomists and naturalists being thus at
variance with this simple law, I put the matter to the test by
reducing the several parts of the testa of a large Echinus
to a thin transparent film,* when the successive layers of
deposit were every where observable around the margins of
each plate, and this was observable in plates belonging
to the base as well as in those of the apex of the shell, thus
proving nature to be in the right, and showing the fallacy
of supposing that the growth of these animals takes place
only at the apex. With regard to the formation of new
plates at the apex there can be no question, but it is too
much to say that the number of plates in each vertical series
depends on the size of the animal, or that they differ so
much as some suppose in individuals of different sizes. In
five individuals of the same species of Echinus, I find
the smallest two inches, and the largest four and a half
inches in diameter, yet the largest has but eighteen, and
the smallest as many as fifteen plates in each correspond-
ing vertical series, while those of three inch diameter have
also eighteen, thus proving that the animal continues to

* See figs. 6 and7, plate III. Fig. 6 represents the structure exhibited at the

base, and fig. 7 at the apex of the shell. The layers of deposit are distinctly
seen surrounding the different plates.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 169

increase in bulk after the number of plates have been
completed. Nor do we find the altitude between poles
of the spheroid correspond with the age and bulk of
Echini, as we might expect from the observations of M.
Agassiz; for of the five individuals I have examined, the
smallest has the same form as the largest, being depres-
sed or flattened between the poles, while another indi-
vidual, three inches in diameter, has an equal altitude
with the largest.* M. Agassiz reduces the various forms
of Echinodermata to three types, namely, the tubular
( Holothuria ), spheroidal ( Echini), and starfish (Asteria ),
but these types he observes may be reduced to one,
im as much as the tubular form may be considered as
an elongated spheroid, thus uniting the Holothuria with
the Hchini, and we have already seen how these last
are united to the starfish by MM. Blainville and Agassiz.
I confess that unless the object is to establish the above
as a natural series of affinities, I cannot very clearly see
how this reduction of types can simplify the subject; and
if the object was to trace the series of natural affinities, it
is singular that M. Agassiz though aware of the peculiar
relation between the starfishes and certain genera of flat
Hehinide, in which the upper and lower surfaces of the
body are distinct, should have laboured to establish a
direct affinity between the globular Echini and the As-
teri@. ‘The discovery by M. Agassiz of the bilateral
disposition of the parts composing the Echinodermata is
however a valuable addition to our knowledge, and will
doubtless prove an important step towards the natural
classification of the Radiata; but until we are far
better informed regarding the habits and structure of
these animals, and the investigation be undertaken by na-
turalists possessed of a clear perception of the difference

* Figs. 1 and 2, plate III, represent the elevation of two individuals, the one
four and a half inches in diameter, the other three, though the altitude of both
is the same.

170 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

between analogy and affinity, we can expect nothing but
additional confusion from the mere alteration of names and
groups.*

With regard to the situation of the Echinida in the animal
kingdom, M. Cuvier placed them next the starfish, at the
head of his fourth or last division Radiata, which embraces
at least two very distinct classes of animals, one of which,
the Acrita of MacLeay, presents but little of the radiated
structure. Even the term Echinodermata which was ap-
plied by Klein to the Echini of Linnzus, and intended only
for radiated animals whose bodies are incrusted and covered
by prickles, has been extended by Cuvier to a whole class
of animals, including the intestinal worms, the polypes,
sponges, and infusoria. M. de Blainville has restricted the
name to the Holothurie, Echinide, and Asteridz, which
nevertheless are three very extensive groups. With re-
gard to the first I have no personal knowledge, being merely
acquainted with them, from the description of authors. Ac-
cording to M. de Blainville, M. Bianchi was the first to detect
the affinity of Holothuriz to Echini, and he even names one of
them Echinus coriaceus, but Pallas and some others consider
that they ought to be placed in the class of Polypes near
Actinia. Asteriz appear to be more perfectly developed
animals than those of either of the other two groups, and
therefore deserve a foremost place, as well on account of
a nervous system having been discovered in some of the
species, as from the fact of the pieces composing their
testa approximating to the structure of articulated ani-
mals. In the Echini, which of all Radiata present the

* The difference between the new genus Diadema, Gray, and the old genus
Cidaris, is chiefly that the spines are smaller and more numerous ; again, the
genus Astropyga differs from Cidaris in the oviducal plates being longer, and
the genus Arabacia is made to differ from Diadema in having no perforation
in the large mammile. Now we require to be informed why such slight peculi-
arities should be considered of sufficient importance for the construction of
genera as Ophiocoma, Phytocrinus, Ganymeda, Melocrinus. We luckily get
rid of the genus Diadema, from the term haying been previously applied to a
genus of Cirrhopoda by Ranzani.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echimda. 171

most perfectly radiated structure, every one of the numerous
pieces composing their complicated skeleton forming a
part either of the radius, or the surface of a spheroid. In
the Asterias, on the other hand, although we see the radiated
form more conspicuously developed in those branches on
which the starlike figure depends, yet when we come to
examine the structure of these animals more closely, we
perceive nothing of that beautiful mathematical order which
we observe in the EKchinus. In the first place, the upper
and lower surfaces present two distinct kinds of structure,
in each of which the spheroidal disposition of the parts is
quite lost. In the next place, the plates composing the rays
‘are placed in rows which have no relation whatever to the
properties of a sphere, but a very considerable tendency to
the disposition of parts composing the annulosa, but whether
this be an analogy or an affinity, we are not sufficiently
prepared at present to decide. It is however important
to find amongst the Radiata a group which all natu-
ralists have agreed in placing at the head of the zoophytes,
and in which the radiated structure affords at least an ap-
proximation to the limbs of the higher classes, and still more
especially interesting when in this group alone, of all the
numerous tribes of polypes, and infusoria which follow
in the scale of nature, do we find any trace of a nervous
system. Next in importance to a nervous system having
been detected in the Asteriz, is the fact of their having the
dorsal and abdominal regions distinctly marked. In the
Echinide, as we have already remarked, M. Agassiz has the
merit of having pointed out for the first time a bilateral
disposition of the parts, but we have seen notwithstanding
how perfectly the spheroidal form is developed in every part
of their structure, and that below them in the scale no
tendency to the bilateral form has as yet been traced in the
animal kingdom. In ascending however to the higher forms,
we find not only the same signs of bilateral structure in
the Asterias, but the disc extended at certain points into
2A

172 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

radiated extremities, and the dorsal and abdominal regions
of the body which are lost in Echini again distinctly cha-
racterised. In the Encrinites, or fixed starfish, we find the
abdominal region attached to a column for the support of a
body, whose limbs as yet rudimentary are only sufficient for
the collection of food. In the Comatula and Euryale, of
Lamarck, we see a more highly developed system of extre-
mities, the abdominal and dorsal regions still better marked,
and the body left free without a stem or fixed support. Again
our next step introduces us to the Asterias, in which we find
the radiated limbs more highly developed and approximated
to the structure of the Annulosa. Here the spines which
were the only means of defence to the spheroidal body of the
Echinus disappear altogether on the abdominal region, or
are changed in form, and arranged along the margins of the
groove, so as evidently to direct objects into the mouth, thus
compensating for the immoveable character of the limbs.

The grooves on the lower surface of the Asterias indicate
the change from the perfectly incased Echinides to the high-
er classes, whose intelligence and organization are sufficient
to enable them to protect themselves from danger.

The annulose animals supposed by Mr. MacLeay to come
nearest to Echinodermata are the Crustacea, and the osculent
group by which the two are united is, he thinks, Cirrhopoda,
but I have no materials for the examination of this part
of the subject, and unfortunately Calcutta is not well adapted
. for collecting them without some intelligent and influential
friends on the coasts. The Asiatic Society in a late injudici-
ous report on the duties of Curator announce, that it is clearly
within the scope of their influence to procure within a few
months collections of specimens from every part of India.
Assuming this to be the case, can any thing be more disgrace-
ful than the fact of their collections being almost without a
single specimen of any one of the extensive classes of ani-
mals now under review?

The presence of a nervous system in the Asterias, together

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 178

with the peculiar form of the skeleton in which a tendency
to advance from the radiated structure to that of the higher
animals is evinced, having indicated their place at the head of
the Echinodermata, it is extremely probable that the depressed
pentangular Clypeasters will be found to connect the series
of affinities with the globular Echini by means of the Scutelle,
in which we find the altitude of the body gradually increase
from these to the new genus Cyrtoma; but as the majority of
the species of all these intermediate groups are extinct,
their natural arrangement becomes a matter of the greatest
difficulty, and can only be attempted with any chance of suc-
cess after the animals of existing species shall have been more
known than they are at present. From the oval Echinus
we may trace a connection to the elongated Spatangus, and
from this form to the Holothuria. It is singular the lit-
tle regard that has been paid to the natural affinities of
the Echinodermata, considering the rank of those naturalists
who have devoted themselves to their study. Thus M.
Agassiz and others place the Holothuria at the head of the
Echinodermata, and the Asterias at the lower end of the
order, and Scutella next to Cidaris and the true Echini.

M. de Blainville, who professes to be guided by the general
form and structure of Echinide, arranges them nevertheless
according to the situation and character of the mouth, and
introduces ten genera between the Galerites and the Anan-
chites, although the forms of these latter groups differ but
slightly from each other.

It is in the form of the disc that all these animals destitute
of moveable extremities or limbs afford the most constant and
significant characters. In the Asteride we see the disc
branched out into five equal points; in the Rotulz the body
is depressed, but the radiated points are small, and confined
to one part of the disc ; in the Scutelle no projecting arms or
radii are at all observable; but like the Rotule and Asteri-
dz the body is flat, and the upper and lower surfaces
are distinctly separated from each other by a sharp, thin

174 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

disc, and each surface is marked by a rosette peculiar to it-
self, the lower rosette still evincing an affinity to the fissures
in the lower surface of Asterias. This latter character is
strongly marked in our new genus Cyrtoma, which appears
to follow the Scutellz, and by its more elevated summit to
connect that genus with Echinus, from which we pass to
other forms without a distinct rosette on the base, as the
Nucleolites, in which the disc itself becomes raised, still
however presenting the elevated figure. The Nucleolites
lead directly to the Galerites, and these last to the Spa-
tangi. In the Echini we have the most perfect spheroidal
forms, as well as the most perfect radiated structure, as
far as the skeleton is concerned, of all the other Echino-
dermata. Here we: find the peculiar ambulacral grooves,
which were confined alone to the dorsal surface of the
star-fish, converted into double bands of tubes, passing like
the meridians of a globe from the base to the apex. In
the absence of limbs extended from the disc, as in the
star-fish, we find every part of the round and apparent-
ly helpless body covered with jointed spines which can
be turned in any direction from which danger threatens,
or wants may be supplied. The only difference between
these animals and the Cidarites is, that in the latter the
articulating pustules or tubercles for the joints of the spines
have each a depression in the centre, probably for a
ligament. Their separation on this account from the
Echini is at least highly useful, the species of both groups
being so very numerous as not to be distinguished without
difficulty, but for this convenient subdivision. We observe
at the extremities of the Echini and Cidarites (which are
both regarded as one natural group) remarkable variations
both in the axis and diameter of the body, which have
led to the formation of many new genera, as Diadema*
and Arbacia, when the shell is depressed, Echinometra

* This term, though adopted by De Blainville, Gray, and Agassiz, has been

nevertheless appropriated before for a genus of Cirrhopoda, as already observed
page 169.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 175

when it is oval, &c. From these irregular forms we again
return by means of the Ananchites and Spatangi, which
differ from the Scutella, and other genera connected by
direct affinities, to the star-fish, m presenting no dis-
tinct rosette on the lower surface of the body ; nothing
in fact equivalent to the fissures of the Asterias is to be
observed in these genera. In Spatangus pilosus, and those
lengthened oval species, particularly Echinondus lampus,*
we think a change of character may be observed to the
Holothuriz, while the flattened form of Spatangus bufo
evinces the return of the affinities again to the star-fish; but
this last remark I merely suggest as probably correct. The
very singular form Echinonaus lampus of De la Beche,
found by that geologist in the green sand near Lyme,
however unquestionably evinces a tendency of nature to
change her form from the spheroidal incrusted Radiata, to the
soft and elongated Polypes. From the genus Echinus, which
may be said to be the culminating point of the former,
we trace the change from the strong, unyielding bony
spheroid, constructed with such wonderful precision of hun-
dreds of thick pieces symmetrically arranged, to the vari-
ous forms of Spatangi, in which the testa becomes thin-
ner, and more various in shape, until its strength and
spheroidal form is gradually lost. In Echinolampus an-
gulosus, the recent species that approaches nearest to M.
De la Beche’s fossil already alluded to, we find the disc
slightly elongated between the two posterior ambulacra, a
change which is first perceptible in the Spatangi as well as
most of the other groups which have lost the rosette on
the lower surface, and have here been placed after the
Echini, until at length we find the fossil Echinolampus
present an almost complete transition to the Holothuria,
which are elongated, soft radiated animals, in which the
place of an external skeleton is supplied by a highly
organised coriaceous skin.

* Transac, Geol. Soc. New Ser. 1, plate 111. figs. 3, 4, 5.

176 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

The Holothuria have been usually stationed near to the
Echinida, some naturalists placing them at the head of the
Echinodermata, some at the end of the order, and some
altogether doubting their connection with it, but none
taking the trouble to examine the question; and the two
most recent writers, MM. De Blainville and Agassiz, as
if to prove how easy it is to retrograde in science, have
placed the Holothuria before the starfishes, although the
slightest attention to the philosophical views of Mr. MacLeay
on the subject of affinities, should have shown that they
were placed very nearly in their true position by Cuvier.

Before quitting this part of the subject, to which I trust
the kind offices of friends in forwarding collections from
the coasts will soon enable me to return, I must refer
to an interesting analogy which I observed between the
Echini and Chelonion reptiles, before I was aware that Mr.
MacLeay had noticed similar relations between these groups.
On the carapace, or bony plates composing the back of
several tortoises, after the upper crust or tortoise shell is
removed, we perceive deep lines or grooves marking the
boundaries between the plates of the latter, exactly similar
to the grooves already described on the testa of the Echini,
characterising the five divisions into which the skeletons of
aged individuals fall.

In both cases this appears to be owing to a peculiar
function in the external envelope of the skeleton. In the
tortoise, moreover, the plates of shell are radiated and
raised in the middle, so as to represent spines, and in some,
as Testudo serpentina, Lin. and T’. caretta, Gm. they are
actually accuminated to points. I now however find that
guided by the peculiar circumstances of the nervous and
osseous systems, as well as the general forms of the two
groups, Mr. MacLeay, in the Hore Entomologice, has made
them occupy corresponding places in the respective classes
to which they belong.

Having traced the affinities of Echinodermata sufficiently

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinda. 177

to discover the true position of our new genus, it is un-.
necessary to enter further into the question at present.
It is one of those subjects that seems to have been al-
most altogether neglected, and it is a curious fact, that
if we except the discovery of fossil forms which we owe
chiefly to geologists, and the researches of comparative
anatomists, the natural history of these animals remains in
almost as much obscurity as in the time of Aristotle, who
was acquainted with both sea-stars and sea-urchins, and who
separated the latter from Spatangi. In his system he
arranges them with Testacea, but he alludes to them in
another place as equivocal beings, between the animal and
plant; and to this day a similar uncertainty has prevailed
on the subject, Cuvier placing them at the head of his zo-
ophytes, and Mr. MacLeay, the first who has cast a clear
light on the natural relations of animals, conceiving that -
they ought to follow the Crustacea, thus raising them to a
higher rank than that in which they were regarded by
either Aristotle or Cuvier. With regard to the Holo-
thuria, they are still less known from their being less
beautiful, and consequently less likely to attract the notice
of collectors. Fortunately for science, it has been found
within the last few years that although neglected and
despised by enlightened Europe, various species of Holo-
thuria have yielded a trade of considerable extent between
most of the maritime nations of Asia and the Chinese, a cir-
cumstance which may now lead to their investigation.

In Crawford’s Indian Archipelago, we learn that the Tre-
pang, or sea-slug, called by Europeans Beche de mer, is found
chiefly on coral reefs in the Eastern seas, and is highly
esteemed in China, into which it is imported in large quan-
tities. It is said to be an unseemly substance, of a dirty
brown colour, hard, and rigid, scarcely possessing any power
of locomotion or appearance of animation. It varies from a
span to two feet in length, and from two to eight inches in
circumference. The yalue and use of the animal do not

178 = On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

depend on its size, but upon some peculiar property quite
unknown to those who have been long and extensively en-
gaged in the trade. In shallow water the animal is caught
with the hand, but in deep water it is either speared or
brought up by divers. It is then gutted, dried in the sun,
and smoked over a wood fire. ‘The fishery is carried on
from the western shores of New Guinea and the southern
shores of Australia to Ceylon, and within late years it has
been extended to the shores of the Mauritius, and might be
carried on successfully both in the Persian Gulf and Bay of
Bengal, as we learn from Capt. Lloyd the animal abounds on
all the sandy parts of the beach, between coral reefs in
particular, on the Tenasserim coast, and adjoining islands.
The whole produce goes to China. In the market at Macassar
not less than thirty varieties are said to be distinguishable
. by well known names, and varying in price from five Spanish
dollars per picul (1334 lbs.) to fourteen times that price.
The quantity of Trepang sent annually from this port alone, is
said by Mr. Crawford to be 7000 piculs, the price varying
according to the species from 8 to 110 and 115 dollars per
picul. ‘There is also a considerable export of Trepang from
Manilla and other ports. The first knowledge of this traffic
appears to be due to Capt. Flinders, who in 1803 fell in with
a fleet consisting of sixty proas, manned with a thousand
men, on an expedition from Macassar to the Australian coast
for Trepang, where Capt. Flinders had seen them in vast
abundance. The Trepang, Capt. Flinders observes, is carried
to Timor and sold to the Chinese, who there meet the proas
on return from the expedition. Capt. Flinders remarks
there are two kinds of Trepang, white and black ; the black is
sold to the Chinese at forty dollars the picul, the white or
grey is worth but half that sum. The black sort was found
by Capt. Flinders on the coral reefs near Northumber-
land islands, and were a colony established there in Broad.
Sound, or Shoal-water Bay, it might derive great advantage,
he thinks, from Trepang. In the Gulf of Carpentara he ob-

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Kchinida. 179

served only the grey kind. Capt. P. P. King, in his account
of the survey of the intertropical coasts of Australia, says
that he met with a fleet of proas in the Bay of Coepang,
and learnt from the Raja in charge of them that a fleet of
200 annually leave Macassar for this fishery in January
during the western monsoon, coasting from island to island,
and having fished till the monsoon breaks up they return,
steerig north-west, which brings them to some part of
Timor, from whence they retrace their steps to Macassar,
where Chinese traders purchase their cargoes. Capt. King
calculated that each proa carried 100 piculs of 'Trepang,
worth 500 dollars.

On the Tenasserim coast, where these animals are thrown
up by the sea, and may be had in great abundance without
diving, Capt. Lloyd informs me he observed two kinds—
namely, a white and a dark brown sort; the first is consider-
ed of most value. It is worthy of remark, that they are not
found in such numbers as to attract notice so high in the
Bay as Arracan, perhaps from the absence of sand and coral
rocks. In the harbour of Trincomalee, I have been informed,
they are numerous, are taken by divers, and yield some trade,
the particulars and extent of which nothing appears to be
known. Of the whole order of Echinodermata I have been
only able to collect information regarding the existence of ten
or twelve species in the Bay of Bengal; namely, 3 species of
Echini, 1 Echinometra, 1 Echinarachnius, | species of Scut-
tella, 1 Kchinolampas, and 2 species of Holothuria. There
are probably many more, but these are all I have been able
to discover in the shops, bazars, and collections, public and
private in Calcutta. ,

Figs. 1, 2, 3, plate III, Echinus concretus, spheroidal,
depressed, and flat at the base, verucose pustules in vertical
series of 15 to 18, a large one on the centre of each plate,
and a smaller one at either extremity of the obliterated
Junction of adjacent plates. Figs 1, 2, represent the manner
i which the diameter of the testa varies in different indivi-

i 268

180 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

duals, without any corresponding variation in the altitude,
as supposed by Dr. Grant and M. Agassiz. Fig. 3, c. c.
c. c. c. is an upper view of the disc, shewing the fissures by
which the testa is divided. Figs. 4, 5, represent the
inner surface of one of the separated divisions; fig. 6,
showing the structure of the testa at the base, and fig. 7,
at the apex, when ground to a transparent film; d. d. the
layers of deposit or growth of the anambulacral plates ;
8, a vertical, and 9, a transverse section also reduced in
ihe same manner to transparent films, for the purpose of
showing the layers of deposit ; fig. 10 the mouth.

].---Ecuinus concretus,* J. M. t. in. f. 1, 2, 3.

Shell spheroidal, below rather flat, about 18 anambulacral
plates and spines in each vertical series, three spines to each
plate placed in oblique rows, the largest spine situated in the cen-
tre of each series. Testa thick, strong, and solid.

Size from 2 to 42 inches in diameter.

Has. Bay of Bengal.

II.---Ecurnus sutcatus, J. M. t. iv. f. 1, 2.

Shell spheroidal, below depressed, and recurved round the
mouth, apex elevated, about 22 anambulacral plates and spines in
each vertical series. Three spines on each plate, above the disc
the plates are divided horizontally from each other by a furrow,
below they are consolidated. Ambulacra narrow. Alveolus, (fig.
2 a,) thin, continuous, and divergent.

Ordinary size about 1.3 inch in diameter.

Has. Bay of Bengal.

III.---Ecutnus atveatus, J. M. t. iv. f. 3, 4.
Shell spheroidal, below depressed, and recurved round the

* Authors in general think it sufficient to characterise the different genera of
Echinodermata, contenting themselves with merely enumerating lists of species
from rare works of reference in which they have been figured; such works indeed
as are only to be had recourse to in the great national libraries of Europe. La-
marck’s ‘‘ Histoire Naturelle Des Animaux sans Vertébres’’ contains numerous
descriptions of species, but these are for the most part insufficient; the form, the
colour, and the spines which are lost from the bleached shell, constitute the principal
characters enumerated in that work, which is also without figures. Under these
circumstances I have described the above species from characters presented by
the bleached testa, the part commonly met with, without regard to their biblio-
graphy. Should any of them prove to have been figured and described before,
the names I have given to them may be rejected.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 181

mouth, apex elevated, about 32 anambulacral plates with four
equal spines on each plate, and four vertical rows of spines be-
tween each ambulacrum. Anambulacral plates detached from each
other above the disc, below consolidated, ambulacra consisting of
one pair of holes disposed zig-zag and close. Alveolus (fig. 4. a.)
broad with a very small arch.

Ordinary size about 1.5 inch in diameter.

Has. Bay of Bengal Received from Captain Lloyd.

TV---Ecurnometra mecastoma, J. M. t. iv. f. 4, 5. A

Disc oval and depressed at the ends, base arched and recurved
round the mouth which is large, 13 anambulacral plates in each
short series on the sides, and 15 in the longer series on the
ends.

Has. Unknown. As. Soc. Mus.

V.---EcHinoLampus AncuLosus, J. M. t. iv. f. 6, 7.

Disc elongated between the posterior ambulacra; rosette
consisting of two double rows of pores converging slightly, but
not uniting towards the disc; united at the apex, which is also
marked by four oviducal holes, testa thin, anambulacral series
wedged out before they reach the apex.*

Has. Bay of Bengal.

VI.---Ecuinaracunius concnatus, J. M.t. iv. f. 8, 9.

Disc subpentangular, mouth large, and occupying the greater
portion of the inferior surface, surrounded merely by a narrow
flat margin, in the hinder part of which the anus is placed. Ambu-
lacra lanceolate, and converging to a slightly raised apex, in
which there are five oviducal holes.

Has. Bay of Bengal. Received from Captain Lloyd.

VII.---Scutetya arrinis, J. M.t. iv. f. 10, 11.

‘Disc circular, mouth very small and central, surrounded by
star-like divergent ambulacra; anus small, placed near the poste-
rior margin, apex slightly raised, surrounded by a petaloid star,
the pores of which are very fine, and four oviducal holes.

Has. Unknown. As. Soc. Mus.

The results of the foregoing observations on the natural
relations of Echinodermata may be stated as follows :—
1. In Asterias the radiated character is most conspicuous

* This fact must convince us that the growth of these animals cannot depend
on the formation of new plates at the apex, since the anambulacral series in this
species does not reach to that situation.

182 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

in the general conformation of the skeleton, but the parts of
which the star-like figure is composed, evinces a tendency to
pass from the radiated, to the annulose structure.

2. Such groups of Echinida as present a distinct rosette,
and central mouth, with the ambulacral and other series in-
terrupted at the disc, follow next after Asterias, connecting
that group with Echinus.

3. That in Echinus every part of the skeleton presents
aspheroidal structure, and the series of plates of which it
is composed continue to grow as long as the animal lives, by
means of layers of new deposit on their margins. That in
some species the plates all become united, so as to form a
thick unyielding shell, in which certain vertical fissures form
as life advances to the close, and the skeleton separates into
five sections like the ribs of a melon.

4, 'To the Kchini and Cidarites, the Ananchites, Spatang1,
and other groups in which there is no distinct rosette on the
lower surface of the body, next succeed.

5. That some of these last forms become elongated on
that part of the disc which lies between the two posterior
ambulacra, and approximate to the Holothuria; while others
become flat, and the disc either nodular or serrated as in
Rotula, and thus evince a tendency to return once more to
the branching depressed form of Asterias.

Having endeavoured to trace the affinities of Echino-
dermata, it will be seen that the interval between the
starfish and Echinus is wider than has hitherto been sup-
posed, and that the known groups which occupy this space
are few compared to those which succeed the genus Echinus.
There are however some, particularly of the Scutelle, for
distinct reasons already stated, that may be assigned to it ;
our new group Cyrtoma is evidently nearly allied to these,
and must assist in rendering the circle of affinities in this
place more perfect. The Scutelle and Cyrtome, together
with such other forms as may be found to possess a distinct
petaloid star on the lower, as well as the upper surface of

QD

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 185

the body, may be included under the term Disaster.* From
the nature of the interval between Asterias and Echinus, and
the crowded multiplicity of forms that occupy other parts of
the circle, there are here probably many new forms to dis-
cover, in addition to those we shall now describe.
Approaching the Khasya mountains from the ‘plains, at
a distance of ten miles, their outlines appeared to us flat
and unpromising; and the season being the early part of
October, there was no great prospect of making geologi-
cal observations of much interest. Nevertheless the flat
uniform plains began even at this distance to lose their
sameness, and rounded knolls rising out of jeels and swamp
became common. ‘They were found to be composed of
yellow clay, with occasional boulders and corroded nodules
of limestone. The clayey hillocks were not met with after
leaving Chattuck, but others composed of coarse sand, gravel,
and boulders in alternate layers were common, partially con-
solidated by iron, thick flakes of which in the form of oxide
were very abundant. For the last four or five miles of the
way even the sand hills disappeared, and the country still
continued low. Indeed we proceeded to within two miles of
the foot of the mountains in large boats, drawing two feet of
water. From thence we passed over a low, richly wooded
tract, composed of boulders and sand. On reaching the
foot of the mountains the acclivity seemed to rise gradually
about one foot in three or four on a slightly tortuous
road. ‘The first part of this ascent is composed of boulders,
sand, and clay, with here and there masses of nummulite
limestone standing erect as if forced upwards, many of them
assuming the appearance of architectural ruins, to which the
large creepers, air plants, and mosses which the moisture of
the climate render abundant, give a very beautiful effect.

* Etym. Ate twice or double, and acryno the star-fish.

184 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

Having gained about half the ascent, we found ourselves
on a narrow ridge which leads to a more precipitous part of
the road. It was here I found the first appearance of ter-
tiary fossils, and from a memorandum recently received from
Major Lister, I should suppose the altitude of the place
to be at least about 2,000 feet high. In a few hours I suc-
ceeded in raising as many specimens of marine shells as
I could convey. It was fortunate that I did so at once, as
I have never been able to revisit the spot. During the few
days we remained at Cherra Ponji, I made an excursion to
an opposite part of the declivity of the mountains, distant
probably ten or fifteen miles from the place at which I found
the fossils, and here at about the same elevation I came
again upon the organic belt, from which circumstance, as
well as the nature and character of the organic remains, the
presence of a raised beach could no longer be questioned,
although several hundred miles from the sea, as well ‘as
several thousand feet above it. As the Assam deputation
had to proceed on its journey the following morning after
this further discovery was made, I can give little infor-
mation more than an accurate description of the fossils
obtained, and a few general remarks on the circumstances
under which they are found.* In the first situation the re-
mains were such as are usually found in sheltered sea coasts,
subject to the ebbing and flowing of tides. Inthe second situa-
tion, which lies at least 12 miles to the north-west of the first,
and consequently so much further from the sea, the animals
most abundant are Echinida, which in a living state are
chiefly found on the exposed open rocky coasts of islands
and promontories, and never in estuaries or sheltered situa-

* Very copious geological notes were kept during this part of the journey to
Assam, which I may have occasion to refer to in future papers on the Cherra
fossils, should no opportunity offer for collecting better information on this interest-

ing subject.

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 185

tions. ‘The matrix in which the first were imbedded con-
sisted of fine sand with layers of dark paste, like the
alternate deposits that take place in estuaries. ‘The Echi-
nida, on the other hand, are imbedded in coarse sand,
as well as in a greenish grey friable sandstone, which
will probably prove to be equivalent to the green saliferous
marls of the upper new Red Sandstone,* which here forms
the most recent and superficial deposit next below the
vegetable mould of the district. In future papers I hope to
describe most of the more perfect specimens I have been able
to collect durmg my hasty visit to Cherra Ponji, but I must
regret the want of a suitable opportunity of following up this
interesting discovery in a manner worthy of its importance.

Genus---CYRTOMA,+ J. M.

Disc oval and thin, arched to the apex; ambulacra petaloid,
and either broad and flat, or more elevated, and placed on narrow
ridges radiating from the apex to the disc. The two posterior
ambulacra are closer together than the others, with an inter-
mediate dorsal ridge leading to a dentated anus, and a depression
or hollow between the latter and the disc. Inferior surface flat,
mouth small and central, with five clavate ambulacra prolonged
to margin.

Oss. All fossil from the Cherra Ponji beds.

Notr.—They are nearly allied to the genus Clypeus, Klien and Agassiz
(Echynoclypeas, De Blain,) which are all fossil from the jura, chalk, and tertiary
deposits.

J. Cyrroma nerscuetiana, J. M. t. v. figs. 1. 2. 3.

Apex either symmetrical or oblique,{ and equal in altitude to
about one-third of the shortest diameter; ambulacra converging,
lanceolate, with five rows of holes in each. The anterior ambu-
lacrum extends to the disc, the others to about half way between
the apex and disc, to which last they are each prolonged by a
narrow ridge.

* Vide our remarks on Mr. Murchison’s Silurian System, page 21.
} Etvm. from Kiorwmua, that which is bent or convex, a hump ora tumour.

{ This irregularity in some of the specimens has been doubtless occasioned
by pressure, to which these animals were suddenly exposed in a fresh and plastic
state, since the dead crust of Echinida becomes too brittle and unyielding after
death to beay pressure without breaking.

186 On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida.

I have named this species in compliment to Sir J. F.
Herschel, for the interest expressed by that philosopher
in the further investigation of the subject of these fos-

sils.

2. CyrToMa PRINSEPIANA. J. M. t. vi. figs. 1. 2. 3.

Apex symmetrical, and equal in altitude to about half the
shortest diameter of the disc. Petaloid star surrounding the
apex, and the clavate star surrounding the mouth, each limb ter-
minating in double rows of large ambulacral pores, which are
continuous across a narrow rounded disc.

I name this species in compliment to James Prinsep, Esq.,
Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, whose departure
from India in consequence of sudden and melancholy illness,
is here felt as a public loss by all classes interested in the
advancement of science.

3. Cyrroma crirriTuiz, J. M. t. v. figs. 4. 5. 6.

Apex symmetrical, equal in altitude to half the diameter, and
surrounded by a petaloid rosette; ambulacra each composed of
two rows of long transverse holes. Inferior ambulacra pro- —
minent and narrow. Disc thin and sharp. With large anambulac-
ral plates on the lower surface.

This species is named in compliment to William Griffith,
Esq., to whose subsequent visit to the Khasyah mountains
I am indebted for it.

4, Cyrroma pEnTATA, J. M. t. vi. figs. 4. 5. 6.

Apex anterior to the middle, and equal in altitude to half
the short diameter; anal ridge low and cbscure; upper rosette
flat; pores oblong, transverse and very close. Lower surface, con-
cave; anal denticulations prominent.

Cyrroma puracina, J. M. t. vi. figs. 7. 8. 9.

Apex anterior to the middle, and equal in altitude to half the
long diameter; below flat; ambulacra and anambulacra raised
on the edges and rough. Inferior rosette consists of sharp ridges
without pores.

5. Cyrroma pepresss, J. M. t. v. figs. 7. 8. 9. '
Disc nearly round, apex anterior to the middle, and scarcely

On Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinida. 187

equal in altitude to a third of the diameter ; anal ridge prominent ;
three anterior ambulacra broad lanceolate, with two rows of
transverse holes. Lower surface merely marked by five promi-
nent ambulacral ridges without pores.

6. Cyrtoma astrosota, J. M. t. v. figs. 10, 11, 12.
About one-sixth part of an inch in diameter ; disc oval; irom
and anus large, but the ambulacra are not dereinoed!

I should describe this last as a new genus, if I had the least
doubt as to its being the young of some one of the fore-
going species. Its oval disc, the situation of the mouth
and anus, together with the circumstance of its occurring
with the other forms, leave no room to question the fact
of its being a young individual of this group. It may indeed
be the young of some one of the foregoing species that had
but escaped from its ovum a few hours, at all events a few
days only before its destruction, the causes of which were
connected with such mighty physical changes. At all events,
the circumstance is one of deep interest, for we might
have expected that a succession of deposits would have
buried it much deeper in the earth than the superficial bed
in which its remains have been discovered. ‘There are
however a great many elements to be taken into account
before we can come to conclusions in subjects of this na-
ture ; and where the materials are so abundant it would be a
national reproach, to leave them unexplored, when their
Investigation might prove of so much importance in casting
further light on the history of the earth. One new fact is
however established in zoology by the fossil embryo in
question, namely, that the mouth and intestinal aperture
of young Echinida are developed before the ambulacra ap-
pear; and it is curious enough that while recent species are
so abundant, we should first acquire a knowledge of this
circumstance from one that has been so long extinct.

cos)
Qa

185

\

Notes illustrative of the Geology of Southern India.—By
Lieutenant R. Bairp Situ, Bengal Engineers.

The universal prevalence of primary rocks, with the ge-
neral quiescence of the agents of active reproduction tend
to give a degree of monotony to the geology of Southern
India, and to deprive it of that interest which naturally
attaches to activity and variety. The features of its hills
and its vallies alike exhibit indications of the long continued
reign of the decomposing and abreading powers of the
natural world. 'The fantastic turret-like peaks, the results
of the unequal disentegration of the granitic masses of
which they are composed, so frequently crowning the sum-
mits of the one, are the trophies of ages of resistance on
their part to atmospheric encroachments, while the boulder-
like masses and crumbling deposits met with in the other,
tell the same tale of long resisted but yet resistless power.
But amid these signs of decay we see nothing of those
active reproductive agencies which so abundantly charac-
terise more diversified regions. No great rivers are seen
bearing on their waters the fragments of one continent to
re-create or increase another; no inland lakes or seas are
gradually passing away from the face of the earth, year by
year perceptibly approaching the time when fruitful fields
will replace their “‘ waste of waters,” and when their solitude
and silence will yield to the glad voices of the labourers
rejoicing in the luxuriance of these new born lands.

Equally quiescent are all ignious agents, for no volcanoes
are here in active operation, and the existence of subterranean
forces is only occasionally indicated by slight tremblings of
the earth within very limited districts. Yet even with this
monotony the geology of Southern India is not devoid of
interest, since its very peculiarity in having been so long free
from any .powerful disturbing agents, either aqueous or
igneous, has admitted of the full display of those phenomena
which result from the unchecked sway of the decomposing

Geology of Southern India. 189

influence of atmospheric agents. These are neither trivial
nor uninteresting, since to this source there seems now but
little doubt that the formation of the laterite, so long an
apple of discord among the observers of Southern India, is
to be traced. A mass of observations gleaned from many
well developed lateritic localities both on the coast and
inland have recently been made public in an interesting
paper on this formation by Dr. Clark, H. M. 18th Dra-
goons; and by the careful examination and discussion of
these, the question of its origin seems to me to be satis-
factorily answered. Before this paper came to my know-
ledge, a conviction that the laterite was the result of the
ageregation of the decomposed constituents of the rocks
which it usually overlies, was forced on my mind by obser-
vations in several of those identical localities whence I
find Dr. Clark has gathered a considerable portion of his
information ; and it was with pleasure that I found a con-
clusion based on limited data, supported by an examina-
tion so extensive and so ably conducted as that of Dr.
Clark. In the vicinity of Bangalore where both the la-
teritic and lithomargic formations are largely developed,
an opportunity was afforded me of studying them in de-
tail. Many of the protruding masses of sienitic granite
and gneiss which are the prevailing rocks, exhibit nature
as it were in the simultaneous acts of decomposition and
aggregation. ‘Their surfaces are usually covered with a
coating of dark coloured and weathered matter resulting
from the felspar or hornblende, studded with small
undecomposed and ferruginous pebbles of quartz, while
round their bases the laterite forms a regular talus of
variable size. It is usually of the compact quartzose and
distinctly marked variety: sometimes however it assumes
the cavernous or vesicular structure, the dark red matrix
exhibiting a series of small cavities. One example was
of peculiar interest, for in consequence of the existence of
a basin-shaped hollow in the side of the rock, the materials

\
190 Notes Illustrative of the

necessary for the formation of the laterite had collected
there and a small nest of it formed. The circumstances
of the case excluded from consideration both the aqueous
and igneous causes, whose aid has usually been called in
to explain the origin of laterite, and the clear evidence of
its being due to the slow but certain operation of atmos-
pheric agents amounted to demonstration. The bewilder-
ing effect of a multiplicity of contending opinions gives to
such simple yet well marked observations on the point at
issue, additional value and interest.

As the resultants of decomposition, it is natural to ex-
pect. that the character and composition of both laterite
and lithomarge will be very variable, since the constitu-
tion of the parent rocks will necessarily influence that of
the derivatives. Hence it has been found by observation
that those rocks in which the proportion of quartz to
felspar and hornblende is considerable, decompose into
laterite, while those in which quartz is less abundant usual-
ly exhibit the lithomargic character. The same specimen
sometimes presents both of these formations, the one pass-
ing imperceptibly into the other and clearly establishing
the position that they are effects of the same cause modi-
fied by concomitant circumstances. These circumstances
are externally the variations of heat and moisture, and
internally the greater or less degree in which the consti-
tuents of the rocks predispose them to be affected by
the oxidismg influence of the atmosphere. Throughout
nearly the whole of Southern India sienite prevails, and
with it laterite is very generally associated. But sienite
contains hornblende as one of its principal ingredients,
and the large quantity of oxide of iron this contains pe-
culiarly disposes it to yield to atmospheric action. Hence
then follows the disentegration of the mass; the felspar
furnishes the alumina necessary for the matrix, and the
quartz resisting decomposition, and becoming ferrugin-
ous from the infiltration of the iron, forms the imbed-

Geology of Southern India. 191

ded pebbles, and thus a laterite results. Dr. Clark from
his own observations has subdivided the laterite into
three classes, the lithomargic, the quartzose, and the
detrital. The first is distinguished by the large quan-
tity of lithomargic earth present in it, which deprives it
almost wholly of tenacity, and'gives it a cavernous appear-
ance; the second, by containig numerous rounded pebbles
bound together by a clayey cement, occasionally also cavern-
ous; the third, by being merely a congeries of pebbles not
firmly aggregated, but yet exhibiting the features of laterite.
My own observations induce me to believe that this classi-
fication will include nearly the whole of the varieties of
this very variable formation, as I have never met with any
prominently beyond its range. To Dr. Clark’s most in-
teresting paper* I would ‘refer those who may wish to
see the grounds on which the present theory of the forma-
tion of laterite rests, fully illustrated; my sole intention in
alluding to it having been to confirm the accuracy of his ob-
servations on those localities which we had similar oppor-
tunities of examining, and to contribute my limited store of
facts for the elucidation of a point which has so long engaged
the attention of geologists.

The depth to which the decomposing influence of the
atmosphere will reach even through the solid rock is well
exhibited when sections are exposed in excavations, an
opportunity was afforded me for observing during the
sinking of a shaft for a mine in the vicinity of Bangalore.
The lithomargic earth commenced at eighteen inches or two
feet from the surface, and as the excavation proceeded the
sides of the shaft exhibited it beautifully variegated in colour.
At about 15 feet it began to get slightly more tenacious, and
the felspar appeared as white earth. Gradually to the
depth of 20 feet, the rock approached nearer and nearer
to its natural undecomposed state, though even at that depth
it was still crumbling. When the excavation ceased at about

* Madras Journal of Science, December, 1838.

192 Notes Illustrative of the

22 feet, the rock seemed to be pegmatic, as nothing but
quartz and felspar were distinguishable, and judging from
its appearance the atmospheric action had probably reached
a farther depth of 8 or 10 feet, making in all from 30 to 35
feet of solid rock penetrated by this destroying power. It
may be mentioned as an interesting fact, that the contents of
the excavations in this vicinity were frequently auriferous,
and small quantities of gold were obtained ‘by washing.
This is by no means an unfrequent occurrence in the Mysore
country. In blasting sienite at Chinapatam, a village about
40 miles from Bangalore on the road to Seringapatam, I
occasionally observed considerable quantities of gold dis-
seminated in small particles over the fractured surfaces, and
at one time in the vicinity of Wynaad this metal was ob-
tained from a rich yellow earth in quantity sufficient to em-
ploy a number of labourers, and to yield some return.

Travelling eastward from Bangalore towards Oossoor the
country presents but little either of natural beauty or scienti-
fic interest. The beds of the nullahs occasionally exhibit
a variety of laterite, whose formation seems to have been
materially due to the transporting agency of water. The
prevailing rock being the sienitic granite, its decomposition
has ‘supplied a large quantity of quartzy pebbles which
are strewed over the fields in every direction. A rush
of water after heavy rains transports these to the adjoming
nullahs, whose clayey bottoms form a matrix in which they
become imbedded, and during the dry season the whole
hardens into a compact mass, exhibiting the characteristics
of one of the varieties of the laterite. Detached and water-
worn fragments of the other varieties were occasionally met
with, but no extensive deposits were observed in situ.

The hills in the vicinity of Oossoor were found to be com-
posed of the universal sienite, exhibiting occasionally with
the addition of mica the striated appearance of gneiss.
Large veins of pure white quartz and dykes of greenstone
traversed the main rock in different directions, without how-

Geology of Southern India. 193

ever having caused any alteration at the planes of junction.
In many places the sienite had completely decomposed the
hornblende into a dark red impalpable earth, and the felspar
into a similar white one, the quartz was in ferruginous pieces
undecomposed, with highly vitreous lustre and splintery frac-
ture.

Passing from Mysore into the Barramahal district the
primary rocks still prevail. The features of the adjoining
country are now however altered, and the comparatively flat
and uninteresting plain is exchanged for mountain scenery
at once bold and beautiful. Lofty and precipitous hills
rising abruptly from the plain, sometimes clothed with rich
verdure and covered with trees and shrubs to their summits,
at other times presenting scarcely one solitary green spot
to relieve their desolate and rugged nakedness, bound the
view on every side, and the traveller following the road
which winds along their bases passes through a series of
valleys where kaleidescope-like, each turning brings new
beauties before him. On approaching, Kisuagherry, the’
principal town in this district, the distant hills occasion-
ally exhibit the ribbed-like appearance characteristic of
columnar basalt. The town itself is overhung by one
of these, but an examination of it, effected with considerable
difficulty and risk, proved that the ribbed appearance was
due, not to the existence of columns but to linear deposits
of earthy and fungoid matter, the dark colour of which,
alternating with the natural colour of the rock, produced
when viewed from a distance exactly the effect of a co-
lumnar arrangement. These deposits were formed along
the lines by which little streamlets of water trickled down
from the summit of the hill, these having doubtless led
to the partial decomposition of the rock, and the formation
of soil sufficient for the fungi to vegetate in. Nests of
hornblende and greenstone were abundantly met with, and
the whole of the sienitic mass was traversed by veins of
pure quartz. The cause of the constant BOOHNGHEE in

194. - Notes Illustrative of the

primary formations of these segregations of simple minerals
in the rocks of which they form constituent parts, is a
most interesting, but as yet unsolved question, and one
attended with peculiar difficulties when experimentally in-
vestigated, from the circumstance that the phenomena in
question require periods of such extent for their deve-
lopment, as to make it impossible to institute in the la-
boratory any experiments which would be \ strictly, and
in all points analogous to what obtains in nature. In their
original state of igneous fluidity, the operation of the at-
tractive affinities of the molecules of which the different
minerals forming granitic rocks are composed would be
free and uninterrupted, as has been satisfactorily shewn by
the ‘ pyrochemical” experiments of Maesterlich, and others,
who have succeeded in obtaining crystals of the minerals
alluded to, from the igneous fusion of their constituents.
But, the obtaining of these in their crystalline state, only
as detached and individual substances, leaves us still in
doubt as to the causes of some of them occurring massive
and disseminated. Thus among the others, a curious and
most interesting fact stated by Mr. Babbage inhis “ Econo-
my of Machinery,” appears to warrant the conclusion, that
such segregations take place when the substances are in
a state of aqueous fluidity; for he remarks, “ Flints after
being burned and ground are suspended in water in order
to mix them intimately with clay, which is also suspended
in the same fluid for the formation of porcelain. The
water is then in part evaporated by heat, and the plastic
compound out of which our most beautiful porcelain is
made remains. It is a curious fact, and one which requires
farther examination than it has received, that if this mix-
ture be suffered to remain long at rest, before it is worked
up, it becomes useless: for it is then found, that the silex,
which at first was uniformly mixed, becomes aggregated
together in small lumps. ‘‘ This parallel,” he adds, “ to
the formation of flint in the chalk strata deserves atten-

Geology of Southern India. 195

tion.”* Could an analogous observation to this, on the aggre-
gation of the constituents of minerals in a state of igneous
fluidity be obtained, a most important light would be
thrown on their occurrence in detached and massive por-
tions in rocks of igneous origin. In the present, as in
many other instances, geology must claim this boon from
the sister science of chemistry.

At Mallepandy, a village about ten or twelve miles from
Kisnagherry, a beautiful specimen of epidote, of the usual
dark green colour, was found imbedded in a mass of true
granite, which was here observed, though not to any consi-
derable extent. The sienite was found to be peculiarly
large grained, and the crystals both of the hornblende and
felspar distinctly defined; on one fragment of the rock,
which had been precipitated from the higher ground, a large
quantity of iron pyrites in cubical crystals was observed.
The country between this village and Wanianabaddy presents
the same general features, veins of porphyry outcrop at
about a mile from the latter place, exhibiting occasionally
small nests of chlorite. The road in many places passes
over the underlying granite, which is more abundant here
than usual, and the large quantity of mica scattered over its
surface causes it to glitter in the light of the sun like bur-
nished silver. Many water-worn fragments of different rocks,
greenstone, basalt, compact and vescicular, reddish coloured
sienite, so small grained as readily to be mistaken for sand-
stone, are found strewed over the sandy plain surrounding
Wanianabaddy. They are brought most probably from the
distant hills by the Palar river, which during the monsoon

* Note. Will carbonate of lime treated as above with alumina segregate
similarly to silex? If it does, then may not the occurrence of layers of nodular
kunkar in clay be explained on the same principle as the occurrence of like
layers of flint in chalk? The question admits of an experimental reply, and
an effort to obtain this is now in progress. R. B.S.

2D

196 Notes Illustrative of the

comes down with great violence, and often devastates the
adjoining country.

The aspect of the valley between Wanianabaddy and
Amboor is monotonous and uninteresting. At the latter
place I was much interested by the marked development of
the phenomena of crystallisation in the structure of the
trap dykes, which traverse the neighbouring hills in great
abundance. It is unnecessary however to describe these in
detail here, as I have elsewhere done so at considerable
length.* It may therefore suffice to remark, that the trap
invariably on being fractured exhibited cleavage planes, and
separated into obtuse angled rhomboids; that fissures tra-
versed the dykes always at right angles to the cooling planes
or sides of the including sienite; that the direction of cleav-
age was perpendicular to that of fissures; and that the trap
was evidently altered at its planes of junction with the
sienite. In attempting to trace the cause of these pheno-
mena we are carried to the unexplored domain of modern
science, for their development is dependant on the action of
molecular forces, whose origin and mode of operation are
alike enveloped in much mystery. Mathematical analysis}
has been successfully employed in demonstrating that, grant-
ing certain postulates, the phenomena of crystallisation may
result from the adjustment of electrical forces; and observa-
tion tends apparently to confirm such a theory, by shewing
that crystals do actually result from the action of forces
derived from this source. But, we are still required to ap-
ply these conclusions with diffidence, as their verification
cannot yet be considered as effected. The existence of
electricity during the passage of trap dykes from their ori-

* “On the crystalline structure of the trap dykes in the sienite of Amboor,
&e. &c.”? Madras Joumal of Science, July, 1839.

t M. Mosotti sur les Forces qui regissent la constitution interieures des corps
Whewell’s Hist. of Induc. Science. Sommeville Conn. of Phys. Science.

Geology of Southern India. 197

ginal state of igneous fluidity to that in which they now
exist, may safely be concluded, from the experimental truth,
that variation of temperature is one of the most fruitful
sources of this agent; and should it ever be satisfactorily
shewn that a subjection to electric agency confers on the
particles of matter that peculiar polarity, which disposes
them to group themselves in determinate figures, and under
determinate laws, no element will be wanting for the appli-
cation of such a principle of explanation to the present case.

The plain of the Carnatic is diversified by the occasional
occurrence of connected, as well as detached hills. A peculiar
feature is to be remarked in several of those in the immediate
vicinity of Vellore. Individual hills are observed to rise
abruptly from the plain, like islands in the midst of an
ocean of sand, of the most perfectly conical shape, and want-
ing only the crater, with its accompanying cloud of smoke,
to complete their resemblance to existing volcanos. These
hills are usually at some distance from the connected ranges,
and as an explanation of the peculiarity, it might be con-
ceived that the upraising force had in the one case acted
on a line to produce the range, while to produce these in-
sulated and conical hills it had been concentrated in a focus
or point.

At Palleconda, a small town about 14 miles south-west
of Vellore, I crossed a tract of country which has been
described by Dr. Benza, an observer who has added con-
siderably to our knowledge of the geology of Southern
India. The plain on which the town stands is sandy, and
strewed over it there are many weathered masses of
sienite, which natural sections afforded by the deep nullah
beds prove to be the underlying rock of the whole. ‘T'ra-
versing this there are as usual dykes of trap and por-
phyry. The latter is of a peculiar kind, the porphyritic
‘crystals being of felspar imbedded in a matrix of quartz.

198 Notes Illustrative of the

Investing a portion of this quartz-porphyry, were found
crystals of an ore which I am inclined to believe was spe-
cular iron ore. Its characteristics were highly metallic,
inclining to adamantine; colour dark grey, nearly black ;
hardness between 7 and 8; fracture splintery; structure lami-
nated; specific gravity not numerically determined, but high;
crystalline form a flat rhomboid. In the adjoining hills
felspar of the sienite was occasionally of a pink colour, and
dendritic on the surface. Transported masses of green-
stone, basalt, mica, and clay slate were found in the vicinity
of the streams, though none of these_rocks were observed
in situ.

The country between Palleconda and Vellore, while it
exhibits no variety in geological structure, is interesting
from the singularly wild and beautiful character of its
mountain scenery. On the summits of the hills the tor-
like masses of the sienite are grouped in the most varied
forms, sometimes shooting up like spires, at other times
strewed around like the ruins of some extensive edifice, or
again standing square and solid, like the massive walls and
donjon keep of some robber chieftain’s tower. The valleys
are covered with similar blocks piled on each other in the
wildest confusion, the whole seeming to tell of mighty con-
vulsions, rather than of the slow and scarcely perceptible
operations of the agents of disintegration and decay.

A monotonous and uninteresting plain, with but little to
attract the attention of the geologist, extends from Vellore
to Madras. The same sienite which forms the distant hills
underlies the whole of this plain, outcropping at several
points. It was met with immediately under the sand during
the progress of an artesian well sunk in the immediate
vicinity of Madras, which after passing some little distance
through the rock was abandoned ; and indeed it is singular
that considering the geological configuration of the district

Geology of Southern India. 199

it was ever undertaken at all, since it is scarcely possible
to conceive one less calculated for the success of such an
attempt. The immediate succession of a close grained,
hard, compact, primary rock of unknown thickness to a
bed of porous sand, would effectually prevent the percola-
tion of water to any depth exceeding that of the sand it-
self, and consequently the formation of those interior re-
servoirs on which the economical value of artesian wells
depends. ‘There are no porous strata beneath the sienite,
nor is the sienite itself a cavernous rock like certain lime-
stones in which water may collect in large basin-shaped
hollows; hence the attempt must have been made with but
little consideration of the principles by which such opera-
tions ought to be guided, and hence also an additional
motive for the encouragement of the study of a science
which promises to obviate such unnecessary expenditure of
. materials, money, and time.

CaucuTra, 9th April, 1840.

Remarks on the characters and habits of Ursus labiatus, with
a figure, Plate vu.—By Lieut. 8. R. Ticke11, 31st Regi-
ment, Bengal Native Infantry, Junior Assistant to the
Agent of the Governor General on the South-west Frontier.

Orper III. CARNASSIER.
Faminty, CARNIVORA. Tribe, PLANTIGRADEs.
Genus, Ursus. Species, LaBiaTus.

Ursus labiatus, Cuvier, Blainville — U. longirostris, of
Teidm.—Bradypus Ursinus, Shaw—genus Prochilus of
Illiger—the Long-lipped Bear, L’Ours—Bhaloo of Hin-
doostan and Oorissa—Baloo and Banna of the Koles—Beer
Mendee of the Orangs—Anonymous animal of Pennant and
old writers—(the Reench of upper India I imagine to be
the Black Bear of the Hills, another species. —Puate VII.

Teeth etic of a side.

200 Remarks on Ursus labiatus.

The Bhaloo is one of the commonest animals of the
Jungle Mehals, Singbhoom, Chutia Nagpore, and all the
central parts of India; and affords a constant source of
amusement to the sportsman, who follows them among
their rocks and fastnesses. In Singbhoom they are ex-
ceedingly numerous, and equally so at Sumbhulpore, the
species in question being, I believe, met with throughout
the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.

A large male or dog bear is a powerful, and at times
dangerous animal. He measures up to 53 feet from the
snout to the rump, and stands about 3 feet from the ground
to the centre of the back. The weight I never ascertained,
but it is a sufficient load for four men. The limbs are huge
and bulky, and the size of the head and neck, encased in
massive muscles and clothed in long shaggy hair, adds to
the animal’s formidable appearance. The large prolonged
muzzle is covered with short grizzly brown hair, which
reaches to within an inch of the eyes, a crescent of the same
colour, varying in different species from a dullish white to a
_ dirty cream colour, extends across the sternum, or collar
bone, to the outer edge of the fore arm. The rest of the
fur is a deep shining black. The hair on the forehead is
smooth and parted, lengthening as it reaches back till it
hides the ears, and falls shaggily on each side the cheeks,
a short beard also hangs from the chin. The fur of
the body is about six inches long, and on the centre of
the back still longer, forming there a thick, compact
hunch; on the fore part of the legs and feet it is shorter
and sleeker, and the belly is thinly clad. The tail is
about seven or eight inches long, lies close to the buttocks,
and is seldom or ever erected. The genital parts are
shaped much as in a dog, but the animal voids its urine back-
wards. The nostrils are flat and wide, flabby, moveable, and
constantly wet. The lips, but especially the under one, are
thick and fleshy, and capable of great extension, the bear con-
torting them in grimaces, similar.to those of many species of

Remarks on Ursus labiatus. 201

baboon, when affected by surprize or anger. They have five
toes to each foot. The fore claws are long (about three or
four inches) and exceedingly powerful; the hind ones are much
shorter. Inall four feet the points of the claws tend towards a
centre. The mamme2 are six, two pectoral and four ventral.
The fore leg or arm of the bear bows much outward, so
that the animal appears to tread on the outer rim of the
sole of the paw. ‘The hinder legs are much smaller and
shorter, presenting a caricatured likeness to those of a very
squat and corpulent man. ‘This gives it a heavy slow gait.
In running it moves in a rough canter, shaking up and
down ; but it is surprizing with what speed it gets over bad
ground, regardless of tumbles down the roughest places.
The teeth of the bear are numbered at the heading. The
incisors are small, with flat crowns; the canines are large and
powerful, but not trenchant behind, as in the feline species;
behind them follow in the upper jaw three very small in-
sulated false molars with flat crowns, and behind these on
each side three large compact molars, of which the first
has a slanting surface, presenting a trenchant edge, tri-
angular with three tubercles; the second molar is flat and
square, with four tubercles in the crown; and the last molar
long and oval, with five tubercles and an obscure ridge along
the centre. The lower jaw has six small flattened incisors,
a large hooked canine on either side, followed by three
very small flattened and insulated false molars, a trian-
gular trenchant molar, and three flat oblong ones obscurely
indented. The marks on the bear’s jaw teeth very soon
wear out by age.

The skull of the bear is almost as large as that of a full
sized tiger. ‘The occiput is much developed, containing a
large brain. ‘The nasal orifices are very full. The zygo-
matic arch large, giving room for most powerful muscles,
and the ascending ramus of the lower jaw is likewise adapt-
ed for vast strength in the development of the masseter
and pterygoid muscles.

202 Remarks on Ursus labiatus.

The ears of the bear are rounded, and of proportional
size. The sense of hearing is good. The scent is its
keenest sense ; and the eyesight, judging by the smallness
of the member, and the animal’s general action, must be
defective, or at least very short. The eye is small and round,
and when the animal is excited, appears almost starting from
the socket. |

The power of suction in the bear, as well of propelling
wind from its mouth, is very great. It is by this means
it is enabled to procure its common food of white ants
and larve with ease. On arriving at an ant-hill the bear
scrapes away with his fore feet till he reaches the large
combs at the bottom of the galleries. He then with violent
puffs dissipates the dust and crumbled particles of the nest,
and sucks out the inhabitants of the comb by such forcible
inhalations as to be heard at two hundred, yards distance,
or more. Larve, especially the large ones of the Atembeus
Sacer, are in this way sucked out from great depths under
the soil. Where bears abound, their vicinity may be readily
known by numbers of these uprooted ants’ nests and excava-
tions, in which the marks of their claws are plainly visible.

The bear likewise eats fruits of various kinds, coming out
at night in great numbers under such trees as have begun to
drop their ripened produce—the bur, peepul, jamoon, bél,
and mowhooa; but mangoes they do not appear to relish.
When thus congregated they now and then attack each other,
and their roarings disturb the neighbouring villagers. They
likewise rob birds’ nests and devour the eggs. Those that
I have reared from cubs eat flesh, whether cooked or raw,
fowls, birds, feathers, legs and all; also reptiles and in-
sects; their chief food was rice and sour milk, but vegetables
or fruit of all kinds they eschewed. This was of course
only the effect of education.

In concluding these remarks on the conformation of the
bear, it may be observed that the Bhaloo of India has not
the property of extending the tongue mentioned by natu-

Remuvis on Ursus labiatus. 203

ralists in describing the Malay or Thibet bear, which in
other points it closely resembles.

The sucking of the paw, accompanied by a drumming
noise when at rest, and chiefly after meals, is peculiar to all
the Ursus family, and has been often described and specu-
lated on. The idea that the bear does it to suck fat out of
its paw has been, I believe, exploded ; I should imagine it
merely to be a habit peculiar to the whole race. Some
bears, the property of Dr. Egerton of Calcutta, which I saw
many years ago, used to be as fond of sucking and humming
away at the hand of any person, as at their own paws.

The voice of the bear is loud and deep; when irritated he
sends out abrupt startling roars, putting to flight sometimes
the best shikarree elephants, who are not moved at the
hollow, guttural sounds of a roused tiger; when wounded
it whines and groans in a most lamentable manner, and the
voice has then a strong human expression. It is only during
rage or pain, that bears are ever heard. They have no calls
to each other, as other animals have, who wander alone through
forests at night time; but during the heat of the day, far
down in the fissures of rocks, they may be plainly heard
puffing and humming while sucking their paws. The cub is
at all times most vociferous, and the cries when the little
animal is distressed by pain or hunger closely resemble
those of a peevish wayward child. The female, or bitch bear,
scarcely differs from the male except in having a duller and
rougher coat. The period of pairing and gestation is very un-
certain ; it commences about the end of the rains and ceases
about April. I have killed she bears with cubs still blind in
November, and again while yet pairing with the male late
in March. About December or January is the common
period, I imagine, for bringing forth. They go with young
about seven months, and generally produce two at a birth.
The young are blind for three weeks, and covered with very
short, soft hair, which after two months begins to assume a
rough, crisped appearance. When born they are about the

24

204 Remarks on Ursus labiatus.

size of Newfoundland pups, and take upwards of two years
in reaching maturity. While young the bear is a fractious
but amusing animal, full of antics, and droll awkward ges-
tures. The male is easily reared, the female is much tenderer.
They are capable in general of being thoroughly tamed, will
take to any kind of food, and are delighted by any one
wrestling and romping with them; though when nearly full
grown, they are rough playmates. When the cubs have ac-
quired some strength the mother takes them forth on her
back, and in time weans them by teaching them to scratch
up and devour white ants. They ride about on her in this
way until of a tolerable size, especially if pursued or in dan-
ger, and stick so close into the long fur of the female’s
back, as to be with difficulty discovered until close. The
old one on these occasions is sometimes very fierce, rushing
out on the unwary passenger and cruelly wounding him.
Many instances of death occur in this manner, where these
animals are numerous, among those people whose occupa-
tion is to cut firewood in the jungles. In the hot season
and during the rains the Bhaloos resort to high rocky spots,
lymg during the day deep down in inaccessible caves, with
which the clusters of granitic rocks in Singbhoom and the
Jungle Mehals are every way permeated, and coming forth in
the shades of evening, to pass the night wandering through
the open country. During the cold weather they avoid the
chilly glooms of these caverns, and keep out in the plains
of brushwood, in the thickets on the banks of nullahs, or
along the ravines which fall into them. Very deep jungles
of tall forest trees and heavy grass, or large hills, they do
not appear to frequent so commonly, probably from fear of
the tigers, who will destroy and devour them. The Koles
have assured me that they have met with the half eaten
carcases of very large bears in places haunted by tigers.
This latter animal drops from an overhanging ledge of rock
on the bear’s back as it passes below, and quickly over-
powers all resistance by seizing it at the nape of the neck,

Remarks on Ursus labiatus. 205

tightening its bite till respiration ceases, at the same time
encircling the bear’s arms within his paws, so as effectually
to prevent its using its claws to scratch him off.

These animals afford, as I have said, good sport if pro-
perly pursued. Elephants are more in the way than of
use, becoming unmanageable if charged by a bear, and not
being able to traverse with sufficient speed the rocky places
where they are found. The most certain method in the
hot season is to lay wait for them on foot, before daybreak,
at the bottom of the low rocky hills they infest, so as to
intercept them while returning from their night’s rambles ;
in this manner four or five at a time may be seen leisurely
coming over the plain. When they perceive the ambuscade
they gallop about to various points, endeavouring to gain
the hill, but are repulsed by the line of beaters drawn
round the foot; at length as the day gets heightened, they
make a headlong charge through, and if not shot or dis-
abled in the attempt, gain the rocks where they speedily
go to earth, and cannot again in most cases be dislodged.
In the cold season when they lay out in the scrub, or
*“‘johar jungle,” the shooters lay in ambush in convenient
spots, and a line of beaters enclosing about a quarter of
a mile of ground drive the bear forward.

It is very rare that the Bhaloos show much fight on these
occasions. ‘They appear bewildered by the shouting and
drumming of the beaters, and only bent on urging on their
headlong course. At times however some of these animals
afford a strong contest, charging all that stand before them,
and inflicting cruel wounds. Few who have frequently
pursued this sport, but have stories of narrow escapes to
relate; the length of the fur deceives the aim of the sports-
man, and body blows, except immediately behind the
shoulder, appear to have no effect; the head is the most
vulnerable part, and a single ball striking between the eyes

at the root of the muzzle is of more effect than volleys
poured into the carcase.

206 Remarks on Ursus labiatus.

Another successful way of shooting them is to sit up
during the night time in the trees, the fruit of which they
come to devour. It requires however much patience,
caution, and silence. ‘The sportsman should mount very
shortly after sunset and secure a good position, the lower
down the better consistent with being well concealed. As
the gloom of night deepens, the puffing of the bears slowly
approaching may be heard, and they shortly after emerge
cautiously and gradually from the dark shades of the jungle.
If three or four are collected under the tree and one be shot,
the rest will not immediately take to flight, but run to and fro
with loud roars, attempting, if they have seen the shooter,
to charge or climb up the tree. This, unless it be an ex-
ceedingly accessible one, they take an infinite time to do,
and afford an unerring aim at the head. ‘T'wo or three more
reports of the fowling piece drive them off altogether, nor will
they return to that tree again for several nights. The bear
is a bad climber of trees, and cannot ascend them at all
unless very rough and gnarled, when he hooks himself up
with his long claws; in the midst of the branches they
get on better, but descend backwards like a man, looking
helpless and miserable. ‘Trees are often much injured
by their attempts at climbing, the back of the lower part
of the trunk being rent in every direction by the animal's
claws. The popular opinion appears to be that the bear
destroys the object of its attack by hugging it to death;
if this be true it refers to other species than our subject,
which has never recourse to such means. The Bhaloo,
if surprised or attacked closely, rears upright on his hind
legs, striking out swiftly with the fore paws, the claws of
which cut long deep gashes, and uttering short abrupt
grunts the whole time. If he can however surprise a
person, so as to approach him unseen through the under-
wood &c. his attack is silent and quick. The victim is
laid prostrate by a blow of the paw, and cruelly bitten and
shaken in the jaws of the animal, who will sometimes not

ley

Remarks on Ursus labiatus. 9207

relinquish the attack until life is fled; this is an event of
rare occurrence, but happens at times when the bear has
young ones, as has been before mentioned.

The Silurian System. By R. I. Murcuison, Ese.,
ERS: BLS?

The coal measures at Shrewsbury are described by Mr.
Murchison as fringing in the form of a broken, narrow, devi-
ous zone; the promontories of Silurian and Cambrian systems
extending from the Breidden hills on the west, to the Wrekin
on the east, the base line, or lower edge of which is determined
by the headlands and bays of the ancient rocks. Sometimes
the carboniferous strata are so completely isolated by these
protruding inferior masses, that they consist rather of a
number of patches than a continuous band. By this dis-
position the coal measures repose unconformably and suc-
cessively upon rocks of various ages, from the flanks of
which they dip in an opposite direction, and where not
obscured by overlying drifted materials, they are seen to
graduate upwards into the lower new red sandstone, passing
at slight angles of inclination beneath that formation. The
principal outcrop of the coal is in a semicircular bay, of
which Shrewsbury and Coedway are the eastern and western
extremities. Where most developed, this formation contains
three seams of coal, which in descending order consist of half
yard, yard, and two feet coals; the quality, thickness, and
number of these beds vary in different places, but it may be
stated as a general rule, that the lowest, or two feet coal, is
the best. ‘“ The most remarkable feature of this coal field,
and one quite new to geologists when I announced the disco-
very, is a band of limestone, varying in thickness from three
to eight feet, which lies between the seams of coal.” The
bed occasionally branches into two, an upper and a lower;

1 Continued from p. 50.

208 Murchison’s Silurian System.

the upper, cream-coloured, with a splintery conchoidal frac-
ture and dull lustre; the lower, though essentially the same,
is cellular, the cavities filled with crystallized carbonate of lime
and black bitumen, and veins of calc spar and sulphuret of iron
are also disseminated through it. “On first examination,”
says Mr. Murchison, “I was struck with the strong resem-
blance of this rock to certain lacustrine limestones of France
and Germany, which by their imbedded organic remains are
known to have been formed under fresh water; and when
I further discovered, in 1832, that nearly all the fossil remains
contained in it were of terrestrial and fluviatile origin, I
named it fresh water limestone. The characteristic fossil of
this limestone is a very minute discoid univalve, resembling
on first inspection Planorbis nautilus, Flem., and with this is
associated a small bivalve, having the form of a Cyclas, and
also asmall Cypris. In addition to the above named fossils,
the remains of fishes have been discovered, the most re-
markable of which is a new species, Ctenodus Murchisoniz,
Ag. and Megalichthys Hibberti.” We shall presently see
how these organic remains enabled Mr. Murchison to iden-
tify another bed of limestone, in a very different part of the
country, as belonging to the same age, and formed under the
same circumstances with the one just described. Among
the plants of the Shrewsbury coal measures, the most curious
is one nearly allied to the grasses, named Cyperites bi-
earinata, and which is also found in the culm-bearing strata
of Devonshire; a plant intermediate between Lepidophyllum
lanceolatam and L. Najus of the Newcastle coal field, and
hence called L. intermedium, it is supposed to be allied to
the coniferous genus Podacarpus; also Lepidastrobus varia-
bilts, Lind. and Hut. supposed to be the organ of fructifica-
tion of a Lepidodendron, it is also found in Newcastle-on- -
Tyne coal beds; a Lycopodites, the same as in Bohemian
coal fields ; Neuropteris cordata, Brong. also found in De-
vonshire culm-bearing strata, St. Etienne, and Alais in
France; Nuropteris gigantea, common to the culm-bearing

Murchison’s Silurian System. 209

strata of Devonshire, and to all the European coal fields ;
Odontopteris obtusa, found also in Terrasson in France ;
Pecopteris abbreviata, also found near Bath in England and
Valenciennes in France, and two other species of the same,
P. lonchitica, Lind. Hutt. and P. blechnoides, Brong. com-
mon to all the European coal fields. Upwards of three
years after Mr. Murchison had communicated his views re-
garding the fresh water limestone of the Shrewsbury beds to
the Geological Society, certain carboniferous rocks were
described by Mr. W. C. Williamson, with notices of numer-
ous fossils which had been collected. From the silence of
Mr. Williamson regarding Mr. Murchison’s observations in
Shropshire, it would appear he had been unacquainted with
them, and had therefore no suspicion that the calcareous
rocks he was describing bore any relation to this peculiar
coal measure limestone. Professor Phillips having visited
Manchester, he was furnished with a complete general sec-
tion of these beds, and at once detected the little micro-
scopic planorboid shell of the Shrewsbury rock, and follow-
ing up his inquiries he found. other corresponding points ;
and by these researches clearly proved that the limestone
and red marls of the coal formation at Ardwick near Manches-
ter were identical with the Shrewsbury beds described by
Mr. Murchison.

« The upper carboniferous zone of Lancashire is thus identified by
mineral characters and by organic remains with the Shrewsbury coal
field, fcom which, however, it differs in exhibiting a much greater deve-
lopment of limestone, and with this increase of calcareous matter we
perceive a corresponding increase in number and variety of the remains
of animal life, particularly in the ¢estaceous mollusca, whose existence
could not have been prolonged without an adequate supply of carbonate
of lime.” Similar circumstances showing the increase of fossil shells
where calcareous rocks prevail, will be pointed out amidst the more
ancient strata. It is further interesting to observe in these rich fossil-
iferous beds of Manchester, the occurrence of a fish, Paloniscus Freiesle-
bent, characteristic of the magnesian limestone; another member of the
coal formation associated with some peculiar animal remains, and with
many plants and other fossils common to the ordinary coal measures ;

210 Murchison’s Silurtan System.

an intermixture which affords zoological proofs that the zone in
question is made up of transition strata connecting the new red and
carboniferous systems. At the same time, (if the species be correctly
determined) this discovery tends to modify one of the strongly defined
stratigraphical characters assigned to fossil fishes by the researches of
M. Agassiz; for whilst occasionally some few species in other classes of
the animal kingdom are known to have lived on through various
successive periods, each species of ichthyolite is supposed by that author
to be peculiar to the formation in which it is found imbedded. Now in
the preceding chapter it has been shown, that the formation of the
lower new red sandstone, having a maximum thickness of nearly one
thousand feet, is interpolated between the magnesian limestone and the
coal measures, in both of which formations, thus widely separated, we
now find the same species of fish. It has, however, been my object to
show, that no violent interruption of the series of deposit of this age
has occurred in Shropshire or Staffordshire ; and hence we might well
imagine, why under such conditions, animals of the same species should
have continued to exist during a very long period. But at Manchester,
the stratigraphical relations are different from those described in the
central counties, the red sandstone and marles, including the equi-
valent of the magnesian limestone before mentioned, being uncon-
formable to the upper coal measures and fresh water limestone : yet not-
withstanding this dislocation, which interrupts the perfect sequence of
deposits, there is still a complete transition in mineral type and organic

contents.”

Regarding the rocks of the upper coal measures in Shrop-
shire, Mr. Murchison observes they are seldom inclined
more than five inches in a yard, except where the coal dips
at high angles beneath the oldest members of the new red
sandstone and dolomitic conglomerate. Among the number-
less faults that affect the strata, the chief one runs from
north-north-east to south-south-west, and is a downcast of
seventeen yards on the dip, whereby the limestone is thrown
down nearly to a level with the thin coal; as the coal ap-
proaches Shrewsbury it becomes thinner and more disjointed ;
a patch of it forms a broken and elevated trough extending
to Longden, where the coal rises to within a few yards of the
surface, resting on purple greywacke grits of the Cambrian
system, but is not worked. This purple greywacke advances

Murchison’s Silurian System. NV

from Lindley hills to the narrow promontory of Lyth hill,
round which the coal measure is folded, and forms an irre-
gular base; and hence the coal which occurs at one spot
in consequence of the older rocks lying at certain depths,
is cut out at other points by the protrusion of these ancient
formations. The upper coal is the only seam which has
been found near Shrewsbury, most of the old works having
effected little more than the clearing away of the basset
edges of the mineral as it rises on the sides of the under-
lying Cambrian rock. ‘‘ Mr. Hughes however has made, and
is still making, trials upon the dip of these beds, by which the
coal has recently been won beneath the lower new red sand-
stone. Though the shaft sections vary considerably in dif-
ferent parts of this tract, the following may be taken as
one of the fullest exhibitions of the measures sunk through
at Wellbatch.

Yds. feet. inches.

RC OCIS CLAY Ue ile edie oe) epoca a) a 0. O
of Lower 2 Sandstone of dull brownish red colour, . . 38 0 O
NewRed. (Red and green shale with fragments ofplants, 20 0 0

opmocka(erey sandstone) Walwic 1. es) ee) On O

Curdled poundstone (a mixture of sand, clay,

containing plants), . 5 0 0
Kind cold (shale), 400
Coal, 00 9
Poundstone, . 1 .@ ©
Kind cold, 5 0 0
Coal, 3 00 1
Curdled serie : Lae inal ps OEE.
Four yard rock, a greenish vie bad sand-

stone, 6 4 0 0
Light coloured aed one SEM pupietet eee Onna.
COLDS wien cule Newb tut hi rcg O ege veyioshiiiooe seamen en} Ot
Coal, 00 1
OUNGSTONC, he. ee ely 100
Cold, : St a UH sega OIE SO)
Coal, the aepeost seam of ne other sec- ;
OMSMMME MV EGhyececthtelw erm ones Soen Ove A dacts
Rotalyinl et G22 ee

ces)
L-

212 Murchison’s Silurian System.

“Tn this spot the limestone is no longer worked, but it has been
reached beneath the last mentioned bed of coal, which is therefore
proved to be the uppermost of the three seams before mentioned. In
sinking to the limestone, the shafts passed through a course of small
concretions of calcareous clay iron stone, called ‘Rattlers,’ in which
I observed nests and coatings of mineral pitch, and veins of white cal-
careous spar. This may represent one of the thin Manchester lime-
stones. There being no natural denudations in this district, it is only
from an occasional trial shaft, like this, that I have had any opportunity
of judging of the precise structure of the beds passed through, and it is
therefore probable that in the section at Pontesbury and in other parts
of this coal-field, the overlying strata may contain other thin courses
of impure concretionary limestone which have escaped the notice of the
miners, and if so, the analogy between the Shropshire and Lancashire
beds may be still more complete, even to agreement in mineral charac-
ters. This portion of the field is indeed exceedingly dislocated, it
being difficult to find a spot exceeding a few yards in width, in which
the strata are not full of faults. This is specially observable on the
sides and slopes of Lyth hill, the promontory of purple greywacke
or Cambrian rock which has been alluded to, and which, as we shall
shew, is penetrated in many points by trap rocks. Between Lythwood
and the brook at Wellbatch, a distance not exceeding half a mile,
there are four principal upcasts upon the dip of the strata, the greatest
of which is a rise of forty, the least of about eight yards. It is to
be remarked, that, here the beds are inclined to the north-west,
sloping away from the Lyth hill promontory, so that between the
coal works at Coedway and these near Shrewsbury the coal strata
dip on three sides towards a common centre. The coal which is worked
at Uffington, three miles north-north-east of Shrewsbury, is a beau-
tiful illustration of the manner in which this zone, following the
sinuosities of the more ancient rocks, reappears at intervals upon
their flanks, for there the same purple Cambrian sandstone as in
the Longmynd, Lyth hill, &c. (the most ancient rock in this region
and underlying the whole of the Silurian system) rises in an insulated
mural form, constituting Haughmond hill. The little patch of coal
measures occupying the low ground between that hill and the river
Severn, contains the usual fresh water limestone of the district, asso-
ciated, however, with one seam only of workable coal, as proved by the
following section :---

ies)

Murchison’s Silurian System. 21

Shaft section of the Coal-pits at Uffington.
Yds. feet inches.

Drift clay with boulders or red gravel, - - 14 0 0
Redclods, - - - - - - - - - - -
Poundstone, - - - - - - - - - -
Red clods, - - - - - - - - - - -
Grey clods, dark colours above, light below,
Lower Poundstone, - - - - - - - - - -
New Red 1) Red curly rock, - - - - - - - - -
into coal Cee ee ee
measures | A ed ‘ As Galea Seal

ed rock with grey partings,

Poundstone with some red (red marly clay,)
Bassy coal (mush or impure coal,) - - -
Poundstone, - - - - - - - - = -

Coal - = a me en
Poundstone both tender and strong, - -
Hard white and brown rocks (sandstone,) -
Clumper beds, Rattlers (concretions), red

Or COC eKH CO ew pny BK wow | ao
oeocce wi OrF OWOSSO &
SFO He em So Sore Oe 2 © ©

and whitecold, - - - - - .- 5 2 0
Mush, or impure, coal, - - - - - - - 01 0
Limestone of similar structure, and contain-

ing the same organic remains as that of

Pontesbury, -- - - ---- - 10 0
Reds, - - - = = = = = = = = - 5 0 0
Blue clods and roof of coals with plants, - 7 0 0
Coal, - - - = - = = ee = - - 1:0«~0
Poundstone, - - - - - - - - - - 2 1 0

“ Beneath this lies a whitish sandstone rock with brown stripes and
other measures overlying the only bed of good coal, which is worked
at a depth of thirty-five yards below the limestone.

“Tn the work, at Uffington an effort was lately made to find the lowest
of the two coals, which in so many parts of this district occur below
the limestone; but like the upper coal it proved to have thinned out
and disappeared, for at a few yards beneath the coal, the trial shaft
reached the purple schistose greywacke (Cambrian) inclined in nearly a
vertical position. 4 slight acquaintance with the mineral structure of this
part of the country would at once have checked the further prosecution of
a work which had reached the lowest rock, the fragments thrown up at the
mouth of this shaft being identical in structure with the adjacent rock of
Haughmond hill ; but notwithstanding such palpable evidence, the speculator
continued to sink for fifty additional yards in these ancient beds, and

214 Murchison’s Silurian System.

was surprised that no change of metal was met with, though the
youngest geologist would have told him that no change could occur where .
strata, of infinitely older date than any connected with the carboniferous sys-
tem, were in a vertical position. To point out more clearly the folly of
this and similar attempts, I annex a small general section of this little
carboniferous patch, showing its relations to the ancient and barren
rocks on which it rests. The coal strata here dip north-north-west at
a slight angle, and, as appears in the diagram, they are subject to many
faults, the chief of which run from north-north-east to south-south-west.
From Uffington we must travel some miles to the east or south before
we reach any other patch of coal, the intervening tracts being occupi-
ed either by old Cambrian rocks rising to the surface, or covered by the
lower members of the new red sandstone and great accumulations of
gravel. It is probable, however, that on many points the coal has
never been deposited, since we occasionally see the lower new red
sandstone reposing directly upon the older rocks.

“ One small deposit is found at Dryton, on the south-western slope of
the Wrekin ; and in the more superficial parts of it, near Longwood,
coal was long ago extracted; but it has more recently been followed to
a greater depth at the former place, where two seams are now in work;
the shaft is thirty yards deep, eighteen of which are sunk through over-
lying detritus of red sand and pebbles, &c. The uppermost of the beds
of coal is two feet, the lowest three quarters of a yard thick, separated
by clods and sandstone, and there are no traces of the limestone or of
the third bed of coal. The dip is three inches in a yard to the south-
east.

“On the south bank of the Severn, the bay formed in the older rocks
between the ridge of the Caradoc on the east, and Lyth hill on the
west, abounds with carboniferous patches, which vary in the amount
of their productiveness, precisely in the ratio of the depth at which the
underlying rock is found. For example, at Cound, Pitchford, and other
places, where these old rocks (upper Cambrian) occasionally protrude
to the surface, the adjacent carboniferous strata are mere shreds, some-
times covered by the newer red sandstone, but towards the centre
of the trough the coal strata thicken, and at Le Botwood, near
Longnor, we again meet with nearly the same development as in the
Pontesbury field. These beds dip east-north-east 10°, or away from the
contiguous promontories of older rocks. The shaft at Le Botwood is
sixty-three yards deep, passing through shales, limestone, and coal.
The shale or roof of the coal is particularly rich in the plants, and those
which J collected were identified by Professor Lindley, and form part
of the list previously given.

Murchison's Silurian System. 215

“The limestone at Le Batwood is extensively burnt for hme, and
is identical with that of Pontesbury and Uffington, containing also
the Microconchus carbonarius. It is about two yards thick, and lies
from eighteen to twenty yards below the surface. A three feet bed
of coal, found at eleven yards below the limestone, is of a sulphureous
quality; and six yards still lower is a seam, twelve inches thick, of
good coal. In the limestone, besides the usual shells, the remarkable
species of fish Ctenodus Murchisonit (Agassiz) was found by the very
Rev. Archdeacon Waties Corbet; and Professor Phillips detected, in
the shale, remains of the Megalichthys Hebberti, §c., on the western
edges of this bay. Amid the older rocks, coal has been worked near
Pulverbatch, Wetrains, &c.; and on the eastern side it has been de-
tected, and was partially worked in former days, running up in small
transverse valleys towards the Caradoc and Acton Burnel hills. One
of the most curious of these thin patches is displayed on the west
bank of the brook at Bitchford. The whole carboniferous series is there
represented by a bituminous breccia, from ten to twelve feet thick;
which is partially covered by the new red sandstone, and rests upon
the highly inclined edges of a greenish greywacke sandstone (Cambrian
rock), similar to that of the Longmynd.

“The highly inclined edges of these Cambrian rocks, which rise to the
height of only from twenty to thirty feet above the brook, are, on the
western side of it, covered with the carboniferous breccia arranged in hori-
zontal layers; but as the works were abandoned when I visited the spot,
I could not observe the junction between these beds and the inclined
edges of the older rocks. This breccia is composed of fragments of the
underlying Cambrian rock, on the surfaces of which are casts of ferns
and other coal plants, the whole being cemented by bitumen and de-
composed sandstone. The beds were formerly much quarried, and the
breccia being transported to Shrewsbury, and there subjected to heat,
a liquid bitumen was extracted, which, when prepared, was sold as a
medicine, under the name of “ Betton’s British Oil.” Contiguous to
this quarry is a well, on the surface of which is a constant accumulation
of bitumen exuding from the adjoiming strata. It will hereafter be
shown that where points of trap rocks penetrate the adjacent strata of
the Cambrian system there are frequently bituminous exudations near
the points of contact.

“From the preceding details respecting the carboniferous deposits
near Shrewsbury, it appears, that the coal was formerly worked in those
spots only where it actually rose to the surface; and that, even at the
present day, the speculation has not extended to any considerable dis-
tance beyond the mere outcrop. In the small irregular troughs at

216 Murchison’s Silurian System.

Longnor, Uffington, Longdon, Le Botwood, Pitchford, &c., where it is
evident from the nature of the sides of the trough, and also by the
shallow depth at which the Silurian and Cambrian rocks are met with,
that no coal can exist, further trials would be absurd.

«An examination, however, of the country on the south bank of the
Severn, has convinced me, that coal may be profitably extracted to a
certain extent in the tract lying between the Pontesbury and Asterley
coal-pits, and the escarpments of the dolomitic conglomerate, and
lower red sandstone of Cardeston and Alberbury. Trials in this dis-
trict or in the adjoining tract, south-west of Cardeston, could be made
at small expense, it being highly probable that if the coal measures are
not cut off by the rise of older rocks, which is discountenanced by the
form of the country, they are only covered by the thick accumulation
of gravel and argillaceous clay which overspreads this depression. At
the same time that we give apparent good reasons for finding the thin
or upper coal strata within a limited area, it is fair to state, that prac-
tical observation militates against the supposition of any great expan-
sion of coal beneath the lower new red sandstone on the right bank
of the Severn. In no one of the present works does it appear that the
seams of coal become thicker, or increased in number, when followed
downwards on the dip. And although these trials have hitherto pro-
ceeded to so short a distance, that no very decided conclusions can be
drawn, yet it must be allowed that they weaken the supposition of the
thin or upper coal-measures graduating downwards into richer fields.
We might, indeed, surmise that this zone of coal, which judging from
the nature of the limestone, was probably accumulated in a lake or
near the mouths of rivers, has merely resulted from a very partial accu-
mulation of vegetable upon its shores, and that beyond the drift or range
of these small gatherings of wood we should look in vain for a mineral
formed out of such materials. It might also be said that as these car-
bonaceous zones of the plain of Shrewsbury differ so essentially from
the largely productive tracts of coal in the absence of the underlying
deposits of carboniferous limestone, millstone, grit, &c., we ought rather
to presume, that the mineral thus wanting in its accustomed associa-
tions would be fully developed, On the other hand, it may be con-
tended, that according to analogies elsewhere, carbonaceous matter
formed upon the natural edges of such a basin would naturally thicken
towards its centre; or, in other words, that as a certain amount of
vegetable matter had been accumulated upon the shores of these anci-
ent rocks, still larger quantities were probably washed down their
shelving sides into the depths of a capacious bay or estuary, on the
opposite limits of which we actually meet with other and highly pro-

Murchison’s Silurian System. 217

ductive coal-fields, rising from beneath a cover of new red sandstone.
I do not throw out such suggestions as an inducement to proprietors,
north of Shrewsbury, to endeavour to penetrate the thick and massive
deposits of which the overlying new red system is composed, although
it is by no means impossible that a coal-field may there lie hidden,
which when the more accessible coal strata in other tracts shall have
been exhausted, may prove of value to future generations. Such infer-
ence is rendered more probable by the observations in the next chapter,
which show, that a band of coal measures of the same’ age, passing
similarly upwards into the new red sandstone, and containing a lime-
stone identical with this of the Shrewsbury plain, distinctly overlies the
edges of the most productive of all the Salopian coal-fields, and hence
it is no strained inference that carbonaceous masses equally thick may
also be found expanding beneath this upper coal of Shrewsbury, though
most probably at some distance from the outcrop, and if so, necessarily
at vast depths under the new red sandstone of the plain of Shrewsbury.
Observations leading to similar inferences, and extending their appli-
cation to other extensive tracts in the central counties, will be found
in subsequent chapters; again, however, I would repeat that much
caution, and many preliminary trials towards the edges of this great
basin are required before such speculations are attempted, since it is one
thing for the geologist to show the natural position of the coal, and
another for the miner to determine where it has been locally accumu-
lated in any quantity worthy of the industry of man. This latter point
may be most safely ascertained by followmg the coal seams upon
their dip from the points where they are now known, and if they con-
tinue to thin out in their extension beneath the red sandstone, then,
indeed, deep sinkings in the central parts of the basin north of Shrews-
bury would be absurd. The proofs which will be adduced in the
eleventh chapter, of the thinning out of the coal seams of the Oswestry
field where they dip under the lower red sandstone, point to the
necessity of much circumspection in all such operations.

Passing from these practical hints, I would conclude with a few gene-
ral theoretical reflections. These poor and thin stripes of coal measures
have been dwelt upon in some detail, and similar patches will again be
adverted to in the following chapter, on account of their peculiar cha-
racter and high geological interest, in aiding the proofs of a descending
passage from the lower new red sandstone into the carboniferous sys-
tem. Constituting the youngest member of that system, they fill up an
interval in geological chronology, precisely in that portion of the series
in which much obscurity previously existed ; for, with the exceptions in
the north of England, pointed out by Professor Sedgwick, it was the

218 Murchison’s Silurian System.

prevalent belief of geologists when my researches commenced (1831),
that in all other parts of England, a great break existed between the
new red system and the coal measures, the phenomena of disruption
in the environs of Bristol, being assumed as the true types or patterns
of the general order. These upper coal measures of Shropshire are fur-
ther remarkable in bringing to light, for the first time in Great Britain,
a peculiar limestone interstratified with coal seams, and which from its
prevalent organic remains and mineral composition, I have referred to
fresh water origin. Though never exceeding eight or nine feet in thick-
ness, and sometimes dwindling away to two feet, this band is so re-
markably persistent, that when followed along all its sinuosities the
length of its course is about forty miles; and even in a straight line
from Coedway, near the Breidden hills, to Tasley and Caughley, near
Bridgenorth, where it will presently be described, the distance is not
less than twenty-five miles; and yet throughout such a space this little
stratum preserves the same structure, and contains the same micros-
copic shell, Microconchus carbonarius. The subsequent discovery by
which the limestone of Ardwick, near Manchester, was identified with
it, has given to this stratum a considerable additional importance, in
carrying out over so wide an area the evidences adduced in this volume
of the passage of the coal measures beneath the new red sandstone of
the central counties. Besides the zoological proofs of this limestone
having been formed in fresh water, I have already stated, that in mineral
characters it strongly resembles the lacustrine limestone of central
France, and I may now add, that the origin of the rocks in the two
countries is probably connected with similar causes. For as Auvergne
is a region which has been eminently subjected to volcanic action
during past ages, so its extensive formations of finely levigated lime-
stone are supposed to have been the produce of hot springs (the usual
attendants on volcanos), holding calcareous matter in solution, and de-
positing it amid the fine silt of ancient lakes; in like manner the whole
of the surrounding region of Shropshire, in which limestone occurs, is
absolutely perforated by intrusive rocks of igneous origin, and hence
it is a fair deduction, that the peculiar limestone of this tract may like-
wise have been the result of volcanic hot springs. Other analogies will
strike those to whom the phenomena in central France are familiar,
such as bituminous exudations and sources of mineral pitch which issue
from the surface at those points where eruptive rocks protrude; but
these comparisons belong more properly to subsequent chapters. Diffi-
cult as it may be to reconstruct in imagination the condition of the
surface of this part of our island during the period of the coal formations,
the limestone and associated beds (whether formed exclusively in pure

Murchison’s Silurian System. 219

fresh water, or in bays in which fresh predominated over salt water)
afford convincing proof of the existence of neighbouring dry land, from
which rivers flowed, transporting terrestrial vegetable remains, and.
entombing them with shells, the greater part of which must, unques-
tionably, have lived m fresh water. That such streams, however, were
near the sea, and that in fact they soon passed into estuaries, will be
presently rendered evident by details of the undeniable alternation and
intermixture of fresh water, terrestrial, and marine remains in Coal-
brook dale, which tract, though only distant a few miles from that un-
der consideration, exhibits a vast expansion of the carboniferous strata ;
thus leading us to suppose, that whilst the Shrewsbury deposit has been
simply formed by streams issuing from the Cambrian and Silurian regions,
and giving rise to lakes to which the sea had little or no access, the
greater carbonaceous masses of Coalbrook dale have been accumulated
by the same waters where they united to empty themselves into an
estuary! The north-eastern edges of this great marine bay were form-
ed near Manchester, its western margin being marked by the zone of
carboniferous limestone which bounds the coal-fields of Oswestry, Chirk,
and Ruabon. An inspection of a general geological map of England
will indicate the extent of the area, which now appears as a vast trough
of new red sandstone encircled by carbonaceous deposits. Further
observations upon the origin of these coal-fields occur in the ensuing
pages, particularly im the concluding part of the eleventh chapter,
where a small map will be found, explanatory of the probable physical
geography of this region during the period at which the accumulation
of the carboniferous deposits took place.

Mr. Murchison here remarks in a note, that these cen-
tral coal fields contain fossil fishes, molluscs, and ento-
mostraca, identical with, or closely allied to those of Bur-
die House limestone, which was once supposed to be of
much greater antiquity than the coal measures. The iden-
tity of fossils in both strata, and the circumstance of the
Shropshire and Lancashire rocks being placed at the upper
series of the coal formation, and found to graduate up-
wards to the new red sandstone, are good inductive proofs
of the beds in both being equivalent, and also of the true
age of the Scotch rock, whose isolated position had render-
ed its rank doubtful in the series of ancient strata. )

In the next chapter Mr. Murchison passes, as he him-

26

220 Murchison’s Silurian System.

self expresses it, from the thin, and slightly valuable coal
tracts around Shrewsbury, to the great productive coal field
of Shropshire, in which are found nearly all the members of
the coal formation. Here Mr. Murchison refers to the
labours of Mr. A. Aikin, published in the Geological Tran-
sactions, as well as to those of Mr. Prestwich, now in pro-
eress of publication in the same work. The principal and
most productive part of this district spreads out on the north
of the Severn, flanked on the south by the old red sandstone
and upper silurian rocks; to the west by a thin zone
of lower silurian rocks, and by the trap rocks of the
Wrekin and Grecal hills ; but from the north-west and east
this tract is bounded and overlaid by the lower new red
sandstone ; the passage of the coal measures into that for-
mation is not however so clear, as in the Shrewsbury field,
being generally concealed by accumulations of drifted mat-
ter; no attempts like those of the Earl of Dartmouth (p. 18),
have yet been made to overcome these obstacles and follow
out the coal beneath the red sandstone. Here Mr. Murchi-
son’s remarks may be regarded as an instance of how near
scientific induction amounts in value to the costly experi-
ence of practical operations in these matters. If we make
a transverse section from the coal works at Donnington
across the hills to the east, we see that where the rocks
are nearest to the line of red sandstone, the coal strata dip
to the east, or beneath the adjacent sandstone. This coin-
cidence of inclination in the red sandstone and coal mea-
sures may be observed at several points. On the north and
on the south, and at Brasely, Mr. Prestwich has detected
a passage from the upper carboniferous strata into the
lower new red sandstone, similar to the one described in the
Shrewsbury field. At Tasley, a single thin bed of im-
pure and poor coal is worked by windlasses, at depths
varying from 12 to 30 yards, and in the overlying strata
is a bed of limestone, about three feet thick, identical with
the fresh water limestone of the Shrewsbury field. This

Murchison's Silurian System. 221

coal contains, in some parts, thin lamin and veins of white
calcareous spar, an appearance which Mr. Murchison ob-
serves is of frequent occurrence in the upper secondary and
tertiary carbonaceous deposits in various parts of Europe ;
an observation of some importance is, that it is this pe-
culiar calcareous character of the Singra coal that has
rendered such samples as have hitherto been received from
that particular bed of Palamow coal inferior. Mr. Mur-
chison remarks, that although seldom seen in the best or
most ancient coal, yet he has seen this peculiarity in other
parts of Shropshire and also in the Dudley field, where
the lower beds of new red sandstone begin to pass into
the upper beds of the coal measures.

Mr. Murchison next passes to the consideration of the
lower or productive coal and iron field; and his own words
are of so much importance in the following remarks, that
we shall quote them as they stand. ‘ It is not easy to
give a very precise notion of the structure of this portion
of the field without entering into a variety of details fo-
reign to my purpose. The labours of Mr. Prestwich however
teach us, that the mineral characters of the same strata
often change completely within very short distances, beds
of sandstone passing horizontally into clay, and clay into
sandstone ; that the coal seams wedge out or disappear ; and
that sections at places nearly contiguous often present the
most marked lithological distinctions. These observations,
which coincide with my own in various other coal fields,
demonstrate the hopelessness of determining the respective
ages of such rocks in different localities by shafts and sec-
tions, or by a mere comparison of their mineral characters.
Even the coal itself constantly tapers away, and disappears
amid the shales and sandstones, constituting what are
locally termed “symon-faults,” the character of which, as
distinguished from true faults, is, that the coal wedges itself
out and disappears. Mr. Murchison next adduces several
sections to show how little persistent parts of beds of

222 - Murchison’s Silurian System.

coal are, and how much they vary in different parts of the
same field; the united thickness of the mass of coal in
any one shaft never being dependent on the number of
the seams.

“A section of the Hill-Lane Pits, near Madeley, may be given as an
instructive example of the succession in one spot where the strata are
pretty fully developed. In a shaft two hundred and thirty yards in
depth, we are presented with twenty-one carbonaceous beds, of which
the eleven uppermost are sulphureous and impure. Upper coals, simi-
lar to those at Caughley and Tasley, alternate with clays, marls, sand-
stones both argillaceous and calcareous, and with calcareous breccia
or conglomerate. Some of these beds may represent the upper coal
measures of Manchester. The lower coals, or those extracted for use,
which in this shaft are reached at a depth of about one hundred and

ninety-eight yards, are named in descending order.
Feet. inches.

1 Viger coal, : : t : ; : any eS
2. Two foot coal, ie
3. Little Ganey, D7
4, Lower Ganey, 1 6
5. Best coal, Ge seed
6. Randle coal, . 2 8
7. Clod coal, . 1 4
8. Little flint coal, 266
9. Coal under crawstone, a0
10

. Lancashire Ladies’ coal, : : : cee OM

Total of good coal in this shaft, 15 11
“In the above list the beds which separate the seams of coal are
omitted. The following table will explain to the reader how little the
beds of coal are persistent, and how much they Vary in their dimensions
in different parts of the field, the united thickness of the mass of coal in
any one shaft never bemg dependent upon the number of the seams.

Pits. Thickness of coal. No of beds of coal.
Yd. feet. inch.
Hadiey, sn a et kor 0 Om aan tree
Sned’s Hill, - - - - 14 2 2 -- - - - 12
Malinslee,- - - - - 11 010 - --- - - 18
Longley, - - - - - ll 2 =e eS Nee es
Danley mh me ele O) Ol | AG
Inghtmoor, —— - = - 13 2 5 5 aS iy
Madeley, - - - - - 10 210 - - - - - 24 (21 to 24.)
Braseley;- 0 spr oe dd Om Orman ia! 5 RAS

Murchison’s Silurian System. 223

«The ironstone so largely worked in this field is both concretionary
and flat-bedded, but for the most part in the former condition, and the
various courses of it are known under these names : New mine (peculiar to
Madeley) Crawstone, and Pennystone, occurring generally ; white and blue
flats, im the north and middle districts; Chanestone and yellowstone,
in the middle tract; ballstone, brickstone, and blackstone, in the northern
district. The Ragged Rabins and Channe Pennystone are of irregular
occurrence. Of these twelve courses of ironstone more than seven are
never found in one locality. Intaking a general survey, it may be said,
that both the coal and iron are much more abundant in the northern
than in the southern part of the field. Mr. Prestwich has indeed
remarked the difficulty of identifyimg any particular stratum of the
upper portion over a considerable area, whilst he has found the lower
measures stronger and more persistent. Among the various rocks.
which alternate with the coal and iron, the stone of the Willey or
Shirlot obelisk is an example of a coarse variety, while the sandstone
occurring immediately above the “ flint-coal,” is of remarkably fine
quality for architectural purposes, the monument erected to the late
Duke of Sutherland on Lilleshall hill being built of it. Some of the
grits associated with the lower coals pass into coarse conglomerates
containing fragments of quartz rock, trap, Silurian and Cambrian rocks ;
and in the lower measures some of the beds of shale afford excellent fire
clay, long celebrated in the manufacture of pipes and pottery.

“ The ores of iron are peroxides in the sandstone, argillaceous carbo-
nates in the shale, and sulphurets in the coal. The sulphuret of iron is
the most abundant mineral, and next to it the sulphuret of zinc or
blende, which appears in the ironstone nodules of the Pennystone
measures both in granular and crystalline form. Petroleum is of con-
stant occurrence in the upper as well as lower measures; the chief
source of this mineral at Coalport, which formerly afforded one hogs-
head per diem, being in a thick bedded sandstone of the upper measures.
This supply has, however, much decreased with the opening of the new
coal works. Other tar wells have been discovered in the lower coals at
Prior’s Lee. In some pits, as at Dawley and the Dingle, the petroleum
exudes in such quantities that the works are necessarily boarded up or
“ plated” to prevent its infiltration upon the workmen. Besides these
minerals titanium exists in the iron ore.”

Of the fossils of Coalbrook dale coal field, Mr. Murchi-
son remarks that upwards of 50 species of plants have al-
ready been discovered, consisting of Euphorbiacee, Dyco-
tyledons of doubtful characters, Palme, Monocotyledons of

DOA Murchison’s Silurian System.

doubtful affinity, Equisetacez, Filices, Lycopodiacex, &c.,
the greater part of which are figured in the British Fossil
Flora by Messrs. Lindley and Hutton, others by foreign fos-
sil botanists, Sternberg, Adolphe Brongniart, &c.; of these
six species are common to this and other coal fields in Shrop-
shire, and the Museum of the Natural History Society of
Shropshire and North Wales, recently established at Shrews-
bury, contains an extensive series of these remains.

The animal remains consist of three species of Fishes,
namely, Gyracanthus formosus, Megalichthys, Hibberti, and
Hybodus of Agassiz. Of Crustacea, Cypris, Limulus trilo-
bitoides ; and three small species of undescribed Trilobites,
different from any species of those animals which we shall
afterwards see that Mr. Murchison found to be so numer-
ous in the rocks of the Silurian system. Of Mollusca, up-
wards of forty species have been found in this coal field,
most of them described and figured in Phillips’ Geology of
Yorkshire, or in Sowerby’s Mineral Conchology, as belonging
to the carboniferous limestone, but all these fossils are dif-
ferent from those of the Silurian system. Insects have
also been found in a fossil state in the ironstone concretions
of this coal field, two of which, published by Dr. Buckland
in his Bridgewater Treatise, have been supposed, according
to Curtis and Samouelle, to resemble African or South Ame-
rican forms. A figure of one of the wings of an insect is
given by Mr. Murchison, and although only a fragment, is
upwards of two inches in length. It was supposed to be
a plant, and was sent to M. Adolphe Brongniart, who imme-
diately perceived the transverse nervoures were unlike any
thing in the vegetable kingdom; and on being referred to
M. Audouin it was pronounced to be the wing of a neurop-
terous insect, closely resembling the living Corydalis of Ca-
rolina. Mr. Murchison pays a high tribute to Mr. Anstice
and Mr. Prestwich, the first for his collections of the fossils
of this coal field, and the second for his researches into
their character, as well as the relations of the alternating

Murchison’s Silurian System. 225

beds in which they are found. This copious list of fossils,
Mr. Murchison observes, enables us to speculate with cer-
tainty on the conditions under which the various strata of
this coal field were accumulated. Here we find the forms of
many terrestrial plants and even of insects, entombed amidst
a variety of shells, and some crustacea, the greater part ma-
rine, but others, such as Uniones, and cypris, unquestionably
of fluviatile origin. From these circumstances Mr. Murchison
concludes that this tract of Coalbrook dale must originally
have been an arm of the sea, into which streams of fresh-
water discharged materials derived from those lands the
contiguity of which has been previously inferred from the
existence of fresh water limestone in the adjacent coal fields.
This view is also (Mr. Murchison remarks) quite in accord-
ance with that of Mr. Prestwich, who is of opinion that the
alternation of marine and fresh water shells do not prove as
many relative changes cf land and sea, but that the coal
measures were deposited in an estuary into which a consi-
derable river flowed, subject to occasional freshes ; a position
rendered the more probable by the frequent alternation of
coarse sandstones and conglomerates with beds of clay, and
shale containing the remains of plants.

The rock called millstone grit, which forms the basis of
coal-bearing strata in other districts is here wanting, unless
we consider the grits, conglomerates, and sandstones con-
taining seams of coal and courses of iron stone its equiva-
lent. ‘These strata repose on the peculiar limestone of the
coal measures, but even this last rock is limited in Coalbrook
dale district, so that the greater portion of the coal-bearing
strata reposes in the southern part of the district on old red
sandstone, and in other situations where this is wanting, on
Silurian rocks. The limestone of this coal field is described
by Mr. Murchison as occurring in eight beds, having an ag-
gregate thickness of eleven yards, but varying individually
from 5 to 26 inches each, and are associated with impure lime-
stone and shale, amounting in all to upwards of one hundred

. 226 Murchison's Silurian System.

feet. The limestone is of a dark grey or black colour, in
which, as well as in the absence of a concretionary structure,
it is quite unlike the Wenlock limestone of the old Silurian
system.

It would be extremely important indeed if we could es-
tablish good distinguishing characters between the limestone
of the coal measures and that of the more ancient formations,
but this, if a matter of difficulty in England, is at least an
equally difficult thing in India. It is true the subject has here
been as yet little investigated, but we cannot place the least
confidence in those practical men who employ names with-
out thinking of their meaning, and speak confidently of lias,
and carboniferous limestone, primitive limestone, &c., ac-
cording as they happen to suppose any particular specimen
they meet with in India to be one or other. The limestone
so abundant in Kemaon, as to form the greater portion
of that mountainous district, is so much like the lime-
stone of the coal measures at Cherra Ponji, that no one
unacquainted with the peculiar relations of the two rocks
would suppose them to be at all different. ‘The geo-
logist however perceives the vast difference between them
at once; the one reposes on clay slate, the other on sand-
stone; the one occurs in thick continuous beds, the other al-
ternates with shale; the one abounds in fossils which scienti-
fic men alone would think of looking for, and in the other
the geologist alone would know that he might look for fos-
sils in vain. Speaking of the difference between the limestone
of the Silurian system and that of Coalbrook dale, Mr.
Murchison says that the organic remains which are in great
profusion in the latter, consist of shells and corals which are
characteristic of the carboniferous limestone in many other
parts of Great Britain, and never occur in the inferior lime-
stones of the Silurian system. Among these the most pro-
minent are the large Productus hemisphericus and many corals,
including Lithodendron sexdecimale (Clodocora of Ehren-
berg) which is so abundant that it constitutes the greater

Murchison’s Silurian System. 227 «

part of the layers of black calcareous shale which divide
the beds of limestone. The black limestone in which these
remains are found is overlaid by a sandstone which separates
it from the productive coal beds, and is underlaid by strata
belonging to the lower limestone.

Mr. Murchison particularly alludes to a specimen of Li-
thosortion fioriforme, a species of coral two feet five inches
broad, by one and a half high, which appeared in a quarry to
retain the original position in which it grew, and conveyed
the impression that it had remained undisturbed beneath the
sea, while fine red sand at one time, and mud at another,
were deposited around it.

These corals are also found in the limestone:of the Cherra
Ponji coal measures ; and in a large heap of limestone col-
lected by Mr. Inglis of Chattack for the purpose of burn-
ing for lime, I found the first fossil I had observed in a simi-
lar rock in India, thus indicating the presence of a coal
district. The object of the journey would not however
admit of my visiting the quarry, but there can be no ques-
tion that the rock alluded to is connected with the nu-
merous indications of coal formations that have been found
in that vicinity. One other corresponding character may
be mentioned between the Cherra Ponji coal beds and those
of Coalbrook dale, namely, that the coal measures do not
graduate downwards into the older rocks. The limestone
of Cherra, which alternates with beds of sandstone and
shale, seems to rest immediately on the old red sandstone,
as in the Coalbrook dale beds. Mr. Murchison observes that
the carboniferous limestone has not in Coalbrook dale any
regular downward passage into the old red sandstone, as
in other districts; on the contrary, the old red terminates
at the southern end of the tract, and has never been found
beneath the coal measures. On the north bank of the
Severn the underlying stratified rocks throughout the pro-
ductive coal field consists of various members of the Silurian

system.
20

°228 Murchison’s Silurian System.

Mr. Murchison concludes his observations on this coal
field by a notice of the faults and dislocations occasioned
by trap rocks. The district affords proofs of having been
raised up from beneath the surrounding new red sandstone
in separate wedge-shaped tracts, the most remarkable dis-
location being that which bounds the coal field to the east.
The coal measures along this line are not less than one thou-
sand feet thick, and as some of the lower seams of coal are
thrown up to the level of the overlying strata of new red sand-
stone, the upcast is thus shown to have exceeded one thousand
feet, though to what further extent has not yet been ascer-
tained. It will be recollected that we formerly explained
the elevated position of the Cherra coal measures in pre-
cisely the same way that Mr. Prestwich and Mr. Murchison
now account for the great upcast of the Coalbrook dale
field,* the only difference in the two cases being, that in
India the dislocation is not confined to the coal measures;
but extends to the old red sandstone, the whole series of
which, with the coal measures reposing on them, having
been at Cherra Ponji thrown 3000 feet above those which
have been recently found by Major Lister and others at
the bottom of the same mountains. It is of much im-
portance to draw comparisons between geological phenomena
of this nature in remote parts of the earth, as tending not
only to put our theories to the test, but also to correct
and give confidence to our views, which however compli-
cated they may appear when derived from a narrow field
of observation, become gradually simplified and important
in proportion as our data become general.

The millstone grit, an important member of the coal mea-
sures being absent in the Coalbrook dale district, we shall
select Mr. Murchison’s description of it from other parts of
the work.

In his description of the Knowlbury basin, Mr. Murchison

* See Report of a Committee for investigating the Coal and Mineral resources
of India. Calcutta, 1838, pp. 24.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 229

says that millstone grit consists of pebbly, quartzose con-
glomerate and thick-bedded hard sandstone, which rises
at many points from beneath the productive coal field.
It is most expanded in the sterile tract which lies between
the northern slopes of the basalts and the limestone hills at
Oreton. When the limestone is wanting, the millstone
grit rests immediately on the old red sandstone. (See p. 118.)
In Oswestry coal field the millstone grit or peculiar sand-
stone of the coal measures is largely developed, rising into
broad ledges between the productive coal field and higher
hills of limestone, from whence it turns round the coal field,
cutting off the productive districts from the older rocks.
In most situations the strata dip at very slight angles be-
neath the coal, rarely however they are much inclined.
From Oswestry the millstone grit advances in low hills to
the edge of the great plain of Shropshire, and exhibits
the following succession of strata in the descending order :—

1. Light coloured siliceous sandstone, containing a stratum some
feet thick, of a porous rock made up of fragments of chert, imbedded in
a matrix of fine white clay, or decomposed felspar and silex (kaslin).
This bed resembles that which occurs on a larger scale in the north-
western prolongation of these carboniferous tracts at Halkin in Flint-
shire. It is here underlaid by whitish or pinkish sandstones, sometimes
freckled with spots of decomposing oxide of iron : other and lower beds
forming the summit of Sweeny mountain are coarser, containing dis-
tinct pebbles of quartz. The finer varieties of these siliceous sandstones,
whether of whitish pink or deep red colours, afford excellent building
stones, and are capable of being wrought into the ornamental parts
of architecture.

This millstone grit, with its light coloured and whitish building-
stone, ranges over the grounds of Porkington, rising up in large masses
to Sallattyn mountain, where it rests upon the limestone. Towards the
bottom of the formation these sandstones become partially calcareous,
and present a honey-combed aspect, due to the unequal disintegration
of their surface. Occasionally the rock may even be termed a sandy
limestone. Fragments of encrinites and corals are also found in these
beds, announcing their approach to the calcareous masses beneath.
Such masses of calcareous red sandstone are seen also at Ponty-Cefn,
occupying a broad zone between the limestone and the productive coal-

230 Murchison’s Silurian System.

field. They are, however, completely separated from the underlying
limestone by a very thick development of pure sandstone, often of a
deep red colour, and they may therefore be considered as subordinate to
the millstone grit. The red sandstone, or lowest member of the forma-
tion, is well exposed to the east of Sweeny mountain, resting directly
upon the great carboniferous limestone, in which position the red rock
has the thick bedded structure, and exact appearance of many varieties
of the new red sandstone, thus affording one of numberless examples
which will be found in this work of the impracticability of defining
the age of strata by mere lithological aspect.

As the red variety of the millstone grit to the east of Sweeny is
in juxtaposition with the lower new red sandstone, the exact line of
demarcation between the two formations becomes difficult, particularly
where the surface of the lower grounds is much encumbered by detritus.
The apparent similarity of the red rock of the millstone grit to that of
the lower new red being likely to mislead speculators who do not
comprehend the structure of the district, I would therefore repeat, that
the first mentioned rock distinctly underlies the coal measures, and reposes
on the limestone, and hence that any effort to seek for coal beneath it
would be absurd.

Nothing could add to the importance of this last observa-
tion, or point out more clearly than the foregoing remarks
of Mr. Murchison, the advantage of a scientific knowledge
of rocks in the examination of districts in search of coal,
as well as in all operations that may be had recourse to
for its recovery.

The following observations on the character of coal,
and the various forms the mineral assumes in the same
district, is of much practical importance, and should point
out the error of deciding upon the quality of coal from
specimens alone, unless we know them to be taken from
the main’bed. Where there are numerous mines in a dis-
trict the main coal will be well known, but in a new coun-
try where no information is to be had, but what is to be
derived from natural sections, the difficulty is only to be
overcome by geological investigation, and however sceptical
we may be as to the practical value of geological science,
the authority of Mr. Murchison ought to be a sufficient

Murchison's Silurian System. 231

guarantee for its absolute necessity in all researches under-
taken for the discovery, and ultimate working of new coal
beds.

Of the Brown Clee Hill coal field, Mr. Murchison ob-
serves, these carboniferous tracts, the loftiest in Great Bri-
tain, are surrounded on all sides, and separated from each
other by the old red sandstone ; and as it rises to a consi-
derable height above the flanks of these hills, the thick-
ness of the overlying coal measures can at once be read
off by any geologist. Their dimensions are further proved
by numerous works which penetrate them, and in conse-
quence of the old red sandstone dipping inwards from the
sides of each of the hills, the coal is seen to lie in broken
basins of shallow depth.

In some parts of the field there are three beds of coal,
“the uppermost being about two feet, and the second, called
batty coal, about three feet thick, and the third, or single
coal, about two feet and six inches in thickness.

The two upper coals, usually pyritous and of a very infe-
rior quality, are separated from each other by only about
nine feet of clod shale. The batty coal indeed is frequent-
ly near the surface, the uppermost bed being often wanting.
The only seam worth extracting is the single or bottom
coal, which lies in some places twelve feet beneath the batty
coal; but this depth varies in different parts of the hill.
The intervening strata consist of clod and shale, known by
the workmen as petticoat measures, horse-flesh measures,
&c. and of one band of sandstone, about nine feet thick,
called level rock. Much of this coal, particularly that of the
upper beds, is in a half-consolidated state, the vegetable
fibres appearing prominently in the mass, and giving to it
the appearance of charcoal. Coals of similar character are
much less frequent in the Titterstone Clee field, where
they are termed mother, but they often occur in the poor
and thin coal tracts of Shropshire. Now the variety of
coal described in italics has been found to characterise the

232 Murchison’s Silurian System.

uppermost beds in nearly all coal fields where the newer
series of the formation is complete; and as the description
above quoted applies precisely to several samples both of
Cuttack and Palamaw coals, sent to Calcutta for trial, we
may conclude that the samples in question are but the
surface or batty coals of those districts, which from their
woody appearance have hitherto in India been erroneously
named lignite. This fact not only establishes a very wonder-
ful identity between Indian and English coal fields, but casts
a new and important light on the value of the former,
which under the supposition that the mineral they contain
was a lignite rather than a true coal were neglected, or
their value left in doubt and uncertainty.

We shall conclude the practical details in ovr present
notice, by the following remarks of Mr. Murchison on the
Brown Clee coal field, where operations have been carried
on under circumstances similar to those which would pro-
bably be found to prevail in some of the Indian coal fields.

Coal has been wrought on these hills from time immemorial, and
numerous old shafts attest the extent of these operations, by which
indeed nearly all the best coal has been extracted. As the ground,
however, has never been regularly allotted, each speculator having
begun his work where he pleased, and abandoned it when he encoun-
tered a difficulty, it is impossible to say how much of the mineral has
been wasted, and what quantity may remain beneath in unconnected
and broken masses. On the sides of the Abdon Barf most of the pre-
sent shafts are shallow, but in former times it appears that a pit was
sunk to a depth of seventy yards, first, through a considerable thick-
ness of disintegrating basalt, and afterwards through the batty coal to
the ironstone measures.

The deepest shafts in the Clee Barf are eighty yards, the shallowest
fourteen to fifteen, and between these two extremes, there are pits of
intermediate depths. They are all worked by the common windlass, a
single man sometimes raising coal from a sixty yard shaft, aided by the
counterpoise of only an oaken block or “Jack.” Owing to their lofty
position these coal works are almost entirely free from water, which,
except where it lodges in the decomposed basalt, termed “gravel,”
percolates as rapidly as it falls through the numerous cracks by which

Murchison’s Stlurcan System. 230

the hills are fissured. The workmen, however, have to contend with
rather an unusual natural obstacle to mining, in the winds which blow
with great force against this lofty and unprotected district, and which
not only render the labour at the pit’s mouth difficult, but, without
certain precautions, would, at times, entirely stop the works. The
most violent winds are from the west and south-west, and during their
prevalence the galleries are filled with powerful gusts, accompanied
with much noise. This furious ventilation prevents, of course, the
collection of any fire damp, so that the Brown Clee miner is compen-
sated for working in these cold and noisy chambers by the absence of
all noxious gases.

The coal measures of these hills are intersected by a vast number of
small faults, one set of which trend from north to south, the other from
east to west. In the Abdon Barf there are four principal faults, two of
which have north and south direction, the other two from east to west,
cutting the former at right angles. The north and south faults range
along the coal measures on the eastern slope of the hills, where no
basalt overlies them, one near the junction of the coal with the old red
sandstone, the other passing within two or three hundred paces of the
cap of basalt. The two transverse faults (termed facing faults) are
about eleven yards in width, and affect all the measures and faults up
to the edge of the basalt, and are therefore of the most recent date.
The north and south faults are upcasts towards the basaltic summit ;
the principal or lower south and north fault being an upcast of twenty-
six yards. The upper north and south fault is only an upcast of about
six yards, and neither of the east and west faults exceeds that amount
of dislocation. Besides these, there are innumerable minor north and
south faults, which are all upcasts, reckoning from the old red sandstone
of the surrounding low country as a base line.

In the Clee Barf the faults are not large, and unlike the Abdon
Barf the coal has been proved, if not worked out, under every part of
it. In this hill most of the faults are more or less from east to west,
producing small and trifling upcasts to the south. The fissures result-
ing from these dislocations are filled with an indurated breccia of coal
measures (clods, shale, sandstone, &c.), the miners persisting that no
fragment of jewstone or basalt was ever found in them.

The most extensive of the east and west faults are those by which a
large mass of the old red sandstone has been heaved up to the same
level as a portion of the coal, so as to occupy the depression between
the two basaltic summits, and thus to separate the coal measures into
the two small tracts described.

The bare recital of these various dislocations may have caused my

234 Murchison’s Silurian System.

readers to infer, that the same beds of coal must be found at many
different levels, and they will doubtless also perceive that such dis-
turbances, added to the ascertained fact of the thinness of the coal
seams, must ever render the Brown Clee coal field of slight economical
value.

The action of the wind in the galleries is checked by a pipe, one end
of which reaches the extremity of the working ground, and the other is
fixed in a “suff” to a vertical cylinder which rising to the surface ter-
minates at the pit mouth in a wooden trough-shaped funnel. The
result of this simple machinery is, that a strong column of air being
forced down this cylinder, the wind collected in the chambers is ex-
pelled by the shaft mouth, or in other words, an equilibrium is esta-
blished. q

It is believed by the workmen that the wind enters the galleries
through the cracks on the sides of the hills. The men at work at the
pit’s mouth shelter themselves from the tempest by hurdles secured to
large blocks of basalt. ;

The results of Mr. Murchison’s views on the Salopian
coal fields are, that the Shrewsbury district was formed by
rivers emptying themselves into lakes, all the fossils being
fresh water and terrestrial. Coalbrook dale, which contains
a mixture of fresh water terrestrial and marine remains,
is referred to an estuary origin, while the Oswestry fields,
in which nearly all the animal remains are marine, were pro-
bably formed on the shores of an open sea. The observa-
tions of Macculloch and Hatchet distinctly prove that it
is the resinous principles of plants which mainly contri-
bute to the formation of coal; and the geologist finds in the
most recent and superficial beds in which plants have been
buried the vegetable matter they contain to have lost
a portion of its original properties, approaching more or
less to the first stage of mineralization, termed brown coal.
Mr. Murchison refers to beds younger than the London
clay, in which vegetable bodies have been found in a con-
dition approaching to that of coal, and the Indian geolo-
gist will find hundreds of trunks of trees washed out
of the sands of the Bramaputra in Assam, in which the
form of the woody fibre and cellular tissue alone remains ;

Murchison’s Silurian System. 235

their character is however so completely lost that whole
trunks are found crumbling to pieces, which present the frac-
ture and other characters of coal. With such phenomena be-
fore our eyes, it isno wild hypothesis to suppose that if many —
parts of the basins of great rivers were elevated and laid dry,
we should find along their course a succession of changes
from the decaying drift wood down to coal itself. Thus it
is, says Mr. Murchison, that throughout the whole series of
sedimentary strata wherever impressions of plants occur, there
also do we find some traces of the existence of coal com-
mencing. In tertiary periods, when the relations of land and
water were approaching to their present condition, we have
many proofs of similar accumulations. In the deep gorges
of the Alps we find carbonaceous matter piled up with alter-
nating layers of sandstone and shale, on which are impressed
the forms of various plants; and in some places containing flu-
viatile and terrestrial shells. These were evidently heaped up
by rivers and lakes; while other accumulations of a similar na-
ture pass under strata charged with marine remains, little
differing from those of the present day. This state of things ©
would have been produced in a condition of the globe diver-
sified with continents, rivers, and lakes as at present; and
although. the plants found in the condition alluded to are ~
chiefly different from those that now exist, yet they belonged
to Dicotyledonous classes. Descending from tertiary to
newer secondary rocks, all the animals and plants which are
found in the strata are dissimilar to those now living, and
they are such as to prove frequent alternations from land to
sea, a condition of the surface less favourable to the pro-
duction of vegetables than animals. From this period we
_ descend into the ancient strata in which the fossil plants
are not only different from those of the present day, but also
from those of intermediate periods. The vegetation of this
distant epoch presents an exclusively tropical character in

the most northern latitudes in which coal formations have
been found.
(9) I

wo

236 Murchison’s Silurian System.

Whether therefore we descend, says Mr. Murchison, from
deposits lodged in lakes and estuaries, or ascend from the
rocks of the coal measures, we meet at successive stages with
distinct vegetable forms which were drifted at each successive
period from adjacent pre-existing lands, forming the materi-
als out of which coal has been elaborated.

[To be continued. |

Notes on the Distribution of Soils in the Goruckpoor
District—By Davip Liston, Ese.

[With a coloured Sketch Map. Plate v111].

Gorukpoor District is bounded on the west and south by
the rivers Gogra, Dewa or Surjoo; and three-fourths, or it
were perhaps more correct to say seven-eighths, of the Zillah
are watered by that great river and by the Raptee and other
tributaries which fall into it from the north. On the east, the
district is bounded by the great Gunduk, and the remain-
ing portion is intersected and watered by tributaries and
branches of that noble stream. But what seems rather a
remarkable circumstance, the lands under the rule, so to
speak, of the Gogra and its subordinates, are in general all
of a description of soil called Bangar, that is of a dry silice-
ous nature, and requiring irrigation for the production of
rubbee or winter crops, whilst the lands bordering on the
Gunduk and its branches or feeders are what is termed pro-
vincially Bhat, a soil retentive of moisture, producing cold
weather crops without artificial watering, and a very notable
portion of it being calcareous matter.

The little Gunduk may be considered as the boundary
of the Bhat or calcereous deposit to the west, as I believe
I am correct in stating, that this description of soil does
not obtrude to the left-side of the river in its whole course,
beyond what may have been an old bed of the river, or
where back water from it may have been stagnant during
wet seasons. The little Gunduk falls into the Dewa, and

Note on the Distribution of Soils, Sc. 237

therefore, agreeably to the general observation above made,
the lands upon it should partake of the nature of those
on that river; though the main portion of its stream
comes from the lower range of the Nipal hills, and is thus
so far independent of the great Gunduk, it also draws a
part of its supply from the latter river in the rains, and the
lands bordering on it are of a mixed nature; in fact we may
consider the characteristic of the soil bordering on the
little Gunduk as calcareous when nearest the great Gunduk,
but siliceous as it approaches the Dewa.

It strikes me that the portions of the country where silice-
ous soils prevail, abound more in kunkur beds or ridges
than where the calcareous soils are met with, however they
may only be concealed in the latter case; but admitting
the matter to be as now stated, a query arises as to whether
the lime incorporated with the soil in the Bhat division
of the country has in the Bangar portions been drawn
down, while the country was in a state of submersion, to form
the kunkur beds which are there met with? Another ques-
tion occurs—how came the kunkur bed to be formed at all ?
Were the nodules in which it is generally found, formed on
shells as nuclei? In looking at some of the kunkur knolls in
this district, one would readily fancy they originated in this
way, the ground work of them being from the materials of
shell fish, &c.

As this Bhat deposit is confined to the country of the
great Gunduk and its branches, being bounded on the east,
as I am well informed, by the Bhogmuttee in Tirhoot, and
extending down the little Gunduk in that portion of the
country to nearly opposite to Mongyr (and let it be ob-
served there are two little Gunduks, one to the east and
another to the west of the great Gunduk) the appearances
now mentioned might be accounted for by supposing a series
of high floods in the great Gunduk, which caused it to fill
and overflow its own bed, and that of other streams to which
it may have had access, occasioned, say, by the bursting of

238 _ Note on the Distribution of Soils

barriers in the upper portion of its course, (and it drains
a great portion of the Nipal territory) behind which masses
of loose calcareous matter may have accumulated, and which
the water as it escaped swept along with it. But though
such hypothesis would explain the fact of a pretty uniform
sheet of calcareous matter covering the region now spoken
of, it will not clear up all the appearances, for there are
alternations of soil, as of Bangar over Bhat, to be met with
in some places, which shew that various changes in the con-
dition of the tract have taken place.

North of Selempoor, and on the left bank of the little
Gunduk, small eminences abound; these have generally been
selected as sites for villages, and are Bangar, or siliceous
earth, while the lower lands are Bhat. But I am told in
digging wells on these elevations, after the Bangar strata are
penetrated, Bhat earth is met with. Did then a uniform sheet
of siliceous soil at one time cover this section of the country,
which has subsequently in great part been washed away?
If so, how come these knolls to form exceptions? Or if not,
how came they in their present places?

The Bangar countries, so far as I have observed, undu-
late more than the calcareous districts, and the water shews
a disposition to collect into shallow lakes. ‘The water in
the Bhat countries rather affects to form itself into streams,
hollowing out for itself in the rains canal-like beds, through
which water that would otherwise be stagnant is drained
off into the larger rivers. The Bangar country is more
congenial to the human constitution, and I may add to
horses and dogs also, than Bhat lands are; the inhabitants
are better grown, stronger, fairer, handsomer, and the children
more gamesome in the former, than in the latter. In the
calcareous damp lands goitre prevails, idiots are common,
and in general the people are feeble in mind and in body.

The following analyses of some soils will serve to give
a more definite idea regarding the land in different parts of
the country than is to be got from more general observations.

in the Goruckpoor District. 239

Analysis of Bancar Sot from Selempoor (specimen long

gathered. )

Water of absorption x 1-75

Taken off by filtering solution in icaled
water... Ape wi ee see ee
Carb. of Lime He ie sia te | OF
—_ Magnesia ... a sie ... 0°25
Ox. fron. ... ats sc das pe ERE
Alumina... Ab da} sey Bee SEL
Silex sak i ei oe: OO
9:69
Loss. de re Ora)
1-00

This specimen was gathered from a patch of uncultivated
ground, but which would grow good poppy or sugar cane, &c.

Analysis of a stiffer Soil (MurtEcaR Banear) from a
lower site in the same neighbourhood (specimen had been
exposed to rather damp weather before being manupulated.)

Water of absorption Hs . O98
Taken off by solution in aetilted’ water.. 35
Carb. Lime ae) 25h ae Tele
Magnesia... We so em)

Ox. Tron.) My ey, rf? a eto
Alumina... oe bas, ah Aso jdloe
Silex a ae Bt fa on LNs
9°79

Loss. nes bale alk

100-0

240 Note on the Distribution of Soils, §c.

Analysis of Buat Soi from Perruna (specimen long

gathered. )

Water of absorption Te. 3°25

Taken off by filtering solution in ‘sdistitied
water -.«.:. bad me te, con, SD
Carb. Lime... Sis ae: ht, i. . Boe
Magnesia... vy a AAS 72:0
Alumina __... 6a a ‘a ead a
Tron ae os i! ab a. MOZS
Silex nd he iB, an wns Ot OD
98°05
Loss. a sper el IES 15)
100-0

Soil adapted for growing Falginee indigo (i. e. sown in
March, and not irrigated) as in the Tirhoot factories, which
are generally on this kind of land, and confined to the cal-
careous region upon the great Gunduk.

It may also be worth stating, that matter deposited in the
reservoir of an Indigo factory supplied with water from
the Gogra, when treated with dilute muriatic acid (2 water
and 1 acid) shewed a loss of 7°5 per cent.; so that river
seems to bring down much more lime than the soil in its
neighbourhood, i. e. six or eight miles from it contains; again,
matter deposited in a reservoir supplied from the little
Gunduk at Selempoor when similarly treated to the above,
shewed a loss of 27°5, and thus seems to carry with it mud

as rich in lime as the soil about Perowne.
D. Liston.

Notrr.—Mr. Liston’s paper opens a wide field for researches of immediate in-
terest to geology, agriculture, and medicine, and the results to which he has been
led are already of deep importance to each of those branches of science —ED.

241

Annals of Natural History ; or Magazine of Zoology, Bo-
tany, and Geology.—Conducted by Str W. Jarpine,
P. J. Seisy, Ese. Dr. Jounston, Str W. J. Hooker, and
Ricuarp Taytor, Ese.

The November number of this Journal contains an article
by M. K. E. Von Baer, (translated from Wiegmann’s
Archiv, part 2, 1839) on Animal Life in Nova Zembla, which
we have transferred to our pages. 2. A paper on the
fructification of Lycoperdon, Phallus, and their allied genera,
by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A. ‘The development of the
reproductive organs of Trichogastres and Phalloidei was
quite unknown till Klotzsch examined a species of the former
group, Rhizopogon virens. In Lycoperdon ceelatum, or L.
gemmatum, Mr. Berkeley found the reproductive organs
correspond with those of true Hymenomycetes. Of the genus
Phallus, Mr. Berkeley had only an opportunity, of examin-
ing P. caninus, which also corresponded with Hymenomy-
cetous fungi. 3. Hore Zoologice, by Sir W. Jardine,
Bart. Notes on collections, and remarks of correspondents
on the habits of foreign birds. Mr. James Kirk remarked
that a species of Crotophaga inhabiting the island of Tobago
differs from the habits usually ascribed to other species, of
hatching in concert. 4. Conclusion of Extracts from rough
Notes of a Journey across the Pampas of Buenos Ayres
to Tucuman, by James Tweedie, Esq. 5. On Laurus Cassia of
Linneus, and plants producing Cassia Bark of commerce,
by Robert Wight, M. D. reprinted from the Madras Jour-
nal of Literature and Science, 1839, No. 22. The question
being referred to Dr. Wight by the Madras government
whether the Cassia bark is yielded by Laurus Cassia, Lin.
or some other plant, Dr. Wight first shows that Linneus
confounded three distinct plants under the above name,
which should therefore be expunged from botanical nomen-
clature. Two of the species included under the term
Laurus Cassia yield cassia. The one considered by Dr. Wight

242 Annals of Natural History, or

to be Cinnamomum iners, Nees, and the other C. aromaticum
of the same author, but the list of Cassia plants is not con-
fined to the two in question, but Dr. Wight believes extends
to nearly every species of the genus. There is one, a
native of the Malabar Coast, the bark of which is exported,
and three or four other species are natives of Ceylon, exclusive
of the Cinnamon proper, all of which greatly resemble that
plant, and in the woods might be mistaken for it, and peeled,
though the produce might be inferior. Thus we have from
Western India and Ceylon alone, probably not less than
six plants producing cassia, with as many more species of
Cinnamomum, all remarkable for their family resemblance,
and possessing aromatic properties. 6. On the discovery
of Fossil Teeth of a Leopard, Bear, and other animals
in a pit situated in the crag formation at Newbourne, in
Suffolk, by Charles Lyell, Esq. F.R.S., V. P.G.S. Mr.
William Colchester, of Ipswich, having pointed out to
Mr. Lyell these teeth, one was observed to be a carnivorous
mammifer, and on submitting it to Mr. Owen, he found
it the posterior grinder of a leopard, nevertheless Professor
Owen observes the teeth of feline animals agree so closely
in every thing but size, that the identity of the fossil with
any existing species could not be affirmed on the evidence
of a single tooth; the fragment, however, is decisive
evidence that a feline animal as large as a leopard
existed at the geological epoch of the rock in which it was
found. Mr. Searles Wood selected from amongst a collec-
tion of fishes’ teeth from the same formation others, referred
by Mr. Owen to a kind of bear, hog, and a large ruminant
of the size of the red deer; these fragments are all more or
less worn, and as no remains of terrestrial quadrupeds have
been previously met with in this formation, Mr. Lyell thinks
that as Mr. Wood had found two species of fresh water
shells, and estuary species, in the same vicinity, a river may
have washed these, together with the bones of land animals,
into the open sea. 7. On the occurrence of Fossil Qua-

Magazine of Zoology, Botany, and Geology. 243

drumanous, Marsupial, and other Mammalia in the London
clay, near Woodbridge, in Suffolk, by Charles Lyell, Esq.
F.R.S., V. P.G.S. Mr. Colchester found in a bed of sand near
Woodbridge, which he supposed to belong to the London
clay formation, a tooth which he conceived to be that of a
mammiferous quadruped. Mr. Lyell requested Mr. C. to
conduct him to the spot, where Mr. L. found the deposit to
consist of brown clay laid open to a depth of 12 feet, and
below this sand in layers, yellow and white, which had been
pierced to a depth of 12 feet without reaching the bottom.
Precisely at the junction of the clay and sand, Mr. L. found
numerous teeth of sharks, similar to those which had been
found with the mammalian tooth. Mr. Lyell considers the
bed in which these remains were found as belonging to the
Eocene period, as they underlie the crag, and contain
septaria, shells, fruits, and bones of turtles, such as cha-
racterise the London clay. The tooth on being shewn
to Mr. Owen, was pronounced to be a molar of an opos-
sum, about the size of Didelphys virginiana. When sub-
sequently Mr. Owen instituted a more minute and exten-
sive comparison, with a view of giving an anatomical de-
scription of the tooth above mentioned, he discovered
clearly that it was not a Didelphys, but the molar of a
monkey of the genus Macacus, constituting at once the
first terrestrial mammifer which had been found in the
London clay, and the first quadrumanous animal hitherto
discovered in any country in tertiary strata as old as the
Eocene period. Soon after this Mr. Searles Wood visited
the spot where the tooth was found, and prevailed on Mr.
Colchester to search in the sand that had been previously
thrown aside from the bed containing numerous teeth
of sharks; the result of his examination was the discovery of
a lower jaw, referred by Mr. Owen to the genus Macacus.
Pursuing his researches, Mr. Colchester afterwards met with
another jaw which Mr. Charlesworth has since described as
the jaw of an opossum, a genus to which it will be seen Mr.
2K

244 Annals of Natural History, or

Owen also considers it in all probability to be allied. Lastly,
Mr. Owen referred other teeth subsequently found by Mr.
Colchester in the same deposit to insectivorous bats. The
next article is Mr. Owen’s description of the above in-
teresting relics.

In the December Number of this publication, the first paper
is a description of a shell bank in the Irish sea, by Edward
Forbes, Esq. Mr. Forbes has been in the habit of making
observations on the character and number of species resort-
ing to this scollop bank, which lies five miles from the northern
coast of the Isle of Man, his attention being chiefly paid to
the manner in which the varieties of molluscs live and associate
together. The bank is about twenty fathoms below the sur-
face of the sea, and is thickly covered with Pecten opercula-
ris, among which there are a few common oysters and other
Pectens, as P. maximus and P. varius. The edge of the
bank is gravelly, and chiefly occupied with univalve shells, as
Murex erinaceus, Trochus zizyphinus, and Natica alder.
Between the bank and the shore, but nearer the latter, there
is a great tract of fifteen fathoms in depth, where Laminaria
and other marine plants grow, and which is covered with
stones of considerable size, consisting of porphyry, sienite,
granite, slate, and limestone.

The testaceous mollusca here most abundant are Pecten
opercularis, P. distortus, Modiola vulgaris, Hiatella rugosa
Chiton cinereus, Buccinum undatum, Trochus zizyphinus,
T. tumidus, Nassa macula, Lottia pulchella. Mr. Forbes
then enumerates lists of the different species that visit the
bank, and notices whether they are gregarious or solitary, re-
gular, or only accidental visitors. Mr. Forbes’ object in con-
ducting these observations are no less with a view to the ad-
vancement of our knowledge of the habits of animals, than of
their subservience to geological science. Supposing the bank
converted into a fossil bed, the relative proportion of bivalve
to univalve remaining would depend on the part of it exa-
mined. Of Echinodermata we should probably, Mr. Forbes

Magazine of Zoology, Botany, and Geology. 245

thinks, find the sea-urchins only, and as they generally fall to
pieces like chitons, we should be obliged to determine the
species from fragments. This however we do not find to be
the case with fossil species, which are generally very com-
plete with the exception of the spines. Mr. Forbes is right
in regarding such observations as calculated to promote
equally the interests of both geology and zoology.

The next papers are,—a continuation of Dr. Johnston’s
remarks on the British Nereides, in which séveral new
species, and three new genera of these interesting annulose
animals are described with much taste and ability. A continua-
tion of Mr. F. Walker’s description of British Chalcidites.
An excellent paper on the Anatomical Structure and Or-
ganization of the Stems of Plants, by Dr. M. J. Schleiden,
translated from Wiegmann’s Archiv. part 3, 1839. On the
Fungi of the neighbourhood of Bristol, by H. O. Stephens. On
the Arctium Lappa and Bardana, of Sir J. E. Smith, by C.
C. Babington. A continuation of the late lamented Mr. Cun-
ningham’s account of the Botany of New Zealand. Informa-
tion respecting Botanical Travellers, &c., with Bibliographical
Notices and Proceedings of Societies. From the latter we ex-
tract an account of Mr. Griffith’s collection of Insects of the
Khasiah mountains, by the Rev. F. W. Hope, President of
the Entomological Society ;* also a notice of the remarkable
diffusion of Corraline Animalcules from the use of Chalk in
the arts of life, by Professor Ehrenberg.

The January number contains a short paper on the distinc-
tions of two species of Allium, by C. Babington, Esq. A notice
of some Fungi collected by C. Darwin, Esq. during the ex-
pedition of the Beagle, by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A.,
F.L.S. Zoological notices by Dr. A. Philippi. Remarks
on Dr. Philippi’s paper, by J. E. Gray, Esq. Notices of

* These we believe formed no part of the collection seat by the Assam De-
putation, as Mr. Hope supposed, but were found by Mr. Griffith’s private collectors
in the Khasia mountains when he himself was employed in Boutan. The Entomo-
logical collection made by the Assam Deputation is still, for ought we know, in
possession of Dr. Wallich.

246 Annals of Natural History, §c.

Botanical Excursions in the neighbourhood of Trieste, by
Edward Forbes, M.W.S. On the habits of Apterix Aus-
tralis, by the late Allen Cunningham, Esq. Characters of
four new Cape Orchidacez, by Prof. Lindley. On the oc-
currence of Squalus spinosus, Lin. on the coast of York-
shire, by Arthur Strickland, Esq. Remarks by Sir W.
Jardine, Bart. on the Habits of the Crotophaga continued.
Continuation of information respecting Botanical, Travellers,
with several interesting bibliographical notices, from which
we make a few extracts, as well as from the Proceedings
of the Zoological Society for March, 1859, in which we find
several Indian species of Insects described in a paper by the

Rev. F. W. Hope.

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Conducted by
Professor Jameson, No. 55, October 1839, January 1840.

The January number of the Edinburgh Philosophical
Journal contains the Researches of Professor Reich on
the electrical currents in metalliferous veins, first discovered
by Fox in the copper veins of Cornwall, and published in
the Philosophical Transactions 1830, i. p. 339. <A fresh
surface being formed on the opposite points to be connected,
and on each of these a copper disc was kept firmly pressed
by means of a strut, when the naked end of a copper
wire spun over with silk was kept pressed on the copper
plate by means of a clamp. Near the points of contact
between the two wires Schweigger’s multiplicator, with a
very sensible double needle, was placed. The following
are the results deduced from forty-eight experiments.

I. Two ore-points separated by a non-metalliferous
mass, or between which occurs a cross vein, or the vein is
worked out, give rise to an electric current in a metallic
wire connecting them.

II. Two ore-points in uninterrupted metallic connection
with one another, induce no electrical current through a
wire connecting them.

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 247

III. If only one disc be connected with an ore-point,
and the other with the timbering, or held in the hand,
there is no effect produced.

IV. If an ore-point is connected with masses of ore
already won, a current sometimes manifests itself, some-
times none.

V. When an ore-point is connected with a non-me-
talliferous rock, frequently no current—frequently, however,
a current, though always feeble, yet distinct,—takes place in
the connecting wire.

In several cases Professor Reich found no trace of de-
viation in the force of the electric current.

A paper on the Glaciers of the Alps, by M. J. Andre
De Luc, from the Biblioth. Universelle de Geneve, 1839,
forms the next article. M. Agassiz, in a paper which re-
cently appeared in the same work, ascribed the movement
of glaciers to the expansion of water; but M. De Luc con-
siders that water infiltrating into the fissures beyond a cer-
tain depth cannot be frozen, and consequently cannot ex-
pand, since ice is so bad a conductor of caloric that water
at a depth of a few feet in it will not congeal. He ascribes
the movement of Glaciers to two causes, namely, the ac-
cumulation of snow on their upper surface, and the melting
of the ice. |

Previous to the year 1812, the lower extremity of the
Glacier des Bossons was surrounded with pines, the size
of which indicated that they must have been in undis-
turbed possession of the soil for ages. But in 1812, when
a succession of six cold summers commenced, the glacier made
successive advances both in length and breadth, and this
progression continued till 1818, when it had destroyed the
pine forests and covered meadows which it had never
reached before. In 1820 it began to retire, and in 1822
had retired considerably, and left the surface of the meadows
covered with blocks of stones and rocks of great size.
M. Agassiz supposes that by rolling stones beneath them,

248 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

glaciers polish the surfaces of the rocks over which they
pass, but this observation is not confirmed by M. De Luc.

This number also contains another interesting paper by
the same author, on the transverse valleys or openings in
chains of mountains by which rivers escape, together with
an article by the late Professor Hoffmann on rivers which
break through mountain chains. M. De Luc alludes to
the erroneous supposition of a late traveller, who thought
the Indus and Sutledge the only two rivers in the world
which traverse gaps at right angles to the mountain-chains
in which they rise, and instances the Rhone, the Rhine,
the Danube, the Elbe, the rivers of Asia, Africa, and
America, as examples of a similar course. M.: De Luc
alludes to the remark of Addison, who after observing the
source of the Rhone in the very heart of the Alps, and the
numerous clefts and rents by which it escapes, “could not
but think it has been guided by the particular hand of
Providence.” The Elbe finds a deep passage of surprising
aspect through the mountains which divide Bohemia from
Saxony, the particulars of which are described by De Luc.
The Rhine crosses the Jura chain, between Mont Terrible
and the Foret Noire, where the mountains are almost per-
pendicular. Again the Rhine encounters the Eifel, a chain
of mountains through which it passes by a gorge. M.
Ami Boué states that the first narrow passage of the Danube
is a rent which cuts a mountain across, and in its course
passes several similar defiles called Les Portes de Fer, the
opposite sides of which all appear to correspond, as if they
had formerly been joined, and now merely broken by their
gaps.

The Tigris issues from Diarbekir by a long defile, which
arrested the march of the Greeks under Zenophon from
the narrowness and steepness of the rocks.

The Irtisch and Yenisei, two great rivers in Siberia, both
traverse a continuation of the lesser Altai chain.

Burchell mentions six openings in mountain-chains which

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 249

run across Southern Africa, called kloof by the Dutch.
The kloof of the river Hex is a sinuous defile, on each
side of which mountains rise in majestic forms, the strata
of which appear to have been subject to much disturb-
ance. The Roodezands kloof, or red sand kloof, through
which the Berg flows, is a narrow defile, presenting a superb
appearance.

In America, the Susquehanna, which descends from the
crest of the Alleghany chain, cuts the Blue mountains in
Pennsylvania. The Potomack passes in the same manner
through another crevice in the same chain, as does the
river James in Virginia. M. De Luc then alludes to the
Tennessee, which perforates three mountain chains. The
description of a gap in the Blue-ridge is next quoted
from the American Journal of Arts and Sciences, vol. xix.
In South America the Orinoco forms the great cataracts
of Maypuris and Aturés, where it passes through a fis-
sure in a chain of mountains. The Amazon follows a
longitudinal valley of the Andes for 200 leagues, and fin-
ally issues in the direction of Borja by a very narrow
pass, twenty-five toises broad, and two leagues in length.

Hoffmann states that all large rivers of the globe burst
from transverse fissures, termed gates or passes (Pforten ),
and there is hardly any important chain of mountains which
is not at some point cut through transversely to its line,
of bearing.

The greatest range of mountains in the world, he says,
the Himalaya, is broken across by the Brahmaputra. We
have ourselves seen some of the great defiles of the Hima-
laya, and can bear witness to the magnificence of the scenery,
as well as to the narrow and precipitous character of the
fissures by which numerous rivers escape. The Gogra, on
the northern boundary of Nipal, issues from a fissure so
narrow and precipitous as to prevent the possibility of
forming a foot path within it. This defile extends across
a succession of mountain chains from the source of the

250 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

stream to its exit from the mountains, a distance of fifty
miles. The five great branches of the Brahmaputra emerge
from lateral fissures in the Himalaya into the valley of
Assam by as many gaps or Doars. We have never ap-
proached sufficiently close to any of them to become
acquainted with their local scenery, but this is probably
equal to the pass of the Gogra, if not still more magnifi-
cent. It does not appear from the papers of MM. De Luc
and Hoffmann that any attempt has been made to assign
a cause for this universal peculiarity, although we think
it may be accounted for by the following consideration.

Mountain chains are usually extended along the centre
of continents, where they run more or less parallel with seas.
The waters which their lofty summits attract from the at-
mosphere would thus be conducted along their narrow
vallies, instead of falling from their sides to fertilize, as
they do, extensive portions of the earth, which would other-
wise be uninhabitable. We cannot be surprised therefore
that Addison, De Luc, and others, should have perceived
something like the hand of Providence in directing the course
of the Rhine through the chasms that appear to have open-
ed for its escape, and that the attention of philosophers
should be now awakened to equal indications of design in
the lateral defiles by which nearly all the great rivers of
the earth emerge from their mountain barriers. With the
exception of MM. De Luc and Hoffmann, we are not
aware of the subject having specially occupied the minds
of geologists, and they seem to have merely noticed
the effect, without regard to the causes to which it may be
ascribed.

The power of water in overcoming resistanee, is in pro-
portion to the velocity of its current, or the obliquity of its
fall; the fall must always be more rapid in a direct than
in a circuitous course, and hence there must be a tendency
in all rivers to effect the shortest passage to the sea. Where
mountain barriers are in question, no hydrostatic power

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 251

could of itself effect a breach; but when this power is con-
joined with the effect of earthquakes, we can at once under-
stand, from innumerable instances of the power of such
combined agency, how fissures in the sides of mountain-
chains may be effected for the transmission of great rivers.
Here also we perceive a use in earthquakes which we were
not aware of before, for without their agency in effecting
lateral fissures in mountain chains for the transmission of
fertilizing rivers, three-fourths of the earth would be un-
inhabitable. Thus whatever mystery the cause of earth-
quakes may be involved in, and whatever local and temporary
desolation and dismay they occasion, we have the most
conclusive natural evidence of their good effects as the
agents of salutary changes and diversity on the surface of
the earth. Mr. D. Liston’s paper on the deposits of the Gogra
and other rivers, which will be found in our present number,
shows how the character of the most flat, and apparently uni-
form, plains may be diversified in their influence over plants
and animals by the various rivers which pass over them, de-
positing earths of various kinds, some suitable for one form
of vegetation and some for another; and some again exerci-
sing a peculiar influence over the health and constitutions
of animals, thus affording scope for the exercise of human
reason, enterprise, and industry, which would be altogether
wanting, but for the lateral fissures in mountain chains—
the salutary results of earthquakes, phenomena which, from
the neglect of physical science, have been hitherto regarded
only as calamities.

We are glad to see the Structure of Fishes’ Scales become
the subject of research in Europe. The notice of Dr.
Mandl’s labours which we have seen, is contained in the
January number of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,
from the Ann. des Sciences Naturelles, and although the most
important part of the work is omitted, or that which relates
to a description of the scales examined, still we may gather
something of interest from Dr. Mandl’s views and opinions.

2

252 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

Dr. Mandl observes, that the merit of having first called
the attention of naturalists to scales, is due to M. Agassiz ;
but being deprived of the aid of the microscope, not only
the organization of the scale remained concealed from him,
but he inevitably confounded scales of the most different
forms. Nothing, says Dr. Mandl, can be more different
than the scales of the Muges, Atherines, and Cyprini, though
all comprised in the same order by M. Agassiz, on account
of a supposed conformity of structure of their scales. Yet
Dr. Mandl thinks the study of scales may be made the
foundation of a natural arrangement of fishes ; just as much
we should say, as the study of any other part admitting of
an equal facility for examination. It is smgular how com-
pletely averse the naturalists of the Continent are to the
adoption of the more general method of viewing subjects
of this nature. An organ, whether it be a tooth, fin, wing,
or scale, an eye, or a mouth, can only become the founda-
tion of a natural system of classification when it is found to
present peculiarities sufficient to mark the structure of the
species to which it belongs. Scales appear to Dr. Mandl
to be sufficient for the natural classification of fishes, but
the microscope is required to reveal their form, and in conse-
quence of not having used it, the results of M. Agassiz are
in some degree vitiated.

In all ordinary cases, the value of characters depends
on their being easily accessible and plain. If, for instance,
we have as many points to take into account in determining
between two scales, as between two entire specimens of the
animals they belonged to, the difficulties of the case would
remain pretty much the same, while there might be additional
chances of error on the side of restricting our means of com-
parison within too narrow limits. It is in researches re-
garding fossil fishes, that the form of scales has proved so
important, and it may be doubted whether the results would
be rendered more striking under a more rigorous use of the
microscope.

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 253

““M. Agassiz, in recent times, has strongly drawn the attention of
philosophers to the form of scales, by assuming them as the basis
of his classification. After having said a few words, in the work
quoted below, on the structure of the skin, he speaks first of the
position of scales, and then of their form.

“ M. Agassiz explains the different forms of imbrication, without en-
tering into details on the disposition of the skin, and continues thus:
‘Jt results from this that the position of the scales varies much; how-
ever, we can usually distinguish pretty regular series, which enable
us to determine their position with accuracy, particularly in the case
of imbricate scales. The series are disposed obliquely from the fore
part backwards, from the middle of the back to the middle of the
belly ; these series may be called dorso-ventral. It is necessary further
to distinguish the superior and inferior demi-series, and I would call
those which extend from the lateral line to the back medio-dorsal, and
distinguish the anterior and posterior medio-dorsal, according as we
wish to indicate those which are directed from backwards, or those
which are inclined from behind forwards. The same thing should
be done with the series below the lateral line, which I call medio-
ventral, sach as extend from the lateral line backwards or downwards,
being the posterior medio-ventral, and those directed forwards anterior
medio-ventral.

“« ¢ Scales,’ continues M. Agassiz, ‘are contained in the mucous
cavities, or in small bags formed by the chorion, to which, however,
they do not adhere by means of vessels.. We may observe that this
point by no means appears to us to be settled; we shall afterwards
bring forward observations which contradict the idea. ‘They are
formed of corneous or calcareous plates or leaves, superimposed on each
other, and which are secreted at the surface of the chorion; these
leaves successively attach themselves to the lower surface of the pre-
ceding ones, to which they become soldered by layers of indurated
mucus. This is Leuwenhoek’s idea, only he called these leaves scales.
‘In order to form an accurate notion of this development, it must
be first examined in genera of fishes, in which the scales appear to
present these dispositions in the most simple state; for example, the
eel, blennies, cobitis, and leuciscus. . . . “It is easy to convince
oneself that the concentric lines of the anterior edge and those of the
posterior edge are continuations of each other.’ Nothing can be more
opposed to M. Agassiz’s opinion than the scales mentioned, the con-
centric lines of which are nothing more than insulated cells.

“« « After macerating scales for some time in water, they can be easily
divided into a great number of plates or leaflets, more or less thick, and

254 The Edinburgh New Philosophicat Journal.

of different sizes, but all retaining the shape of the scales. These
leaflets are disposed above each other in such a manner, that the
smallest occupy the centre of the scale and form its exterior part,
while the largest, with their margin projecting beyond the preceding,
are soldered successively to their lower surface. We thus see evidently
that the concentric lines visible on the surface of scales are simply the
edge of the leaflets composing them.’ The fact related by M. Agassiz
can refer only to the leaflets of the lower bed, which are separated
by maceration; his conclusion, therefore, is founded on a false
interpretation, which, in other respects, without the aid of the micros-
cope, cannot be correct. All the modifications observed in the form
and nature of the surface in scales, arise from the form of the augment-
ing leaflets, and the manner in which they are placed above each
other. Layers of enamel are deposited on the outside of some scales
(as among the Ganoides).

“With regard to the longitudinal canals, M. Agassiz calls them
furrows. ‘There are grooves at the margin of their outer surface,
which correspond to each other in the different leaflets, and multiply
during the growth of the scale.’ In describing the different external
forms which the contour of scales presents to the naked eye,
M. Agassiz likewise mentions the lobes, and continues thus: ‘When
these lobes are hardened in the form of small teeth or very sharp
serratures, and are only found in the last leaflet (the preceding suc-
cessively disappearing as they become blunter), scales are then pro-
duced having a simple serrated edge; but when they are found on
many consecutive leaflets, the edge of the scale is covered with nume-
rous rows of points, and it is then very rough to the touch.’

“We shall afterwards see that our explanation of these points differs
materially from that given by M. Agassiz; that we find them to be
distinctly organized formations, composed of an envelope and a
dentiform body, which presents roots, different surfaces, many degrees
of developments according to position, and different forms in different
families of fishes.

“Lastly, M. Agassiz establishes the principal divisions of the class
of fishes according to the form of the scales. ‘I believe that I have
found,’ he says, ‘in the differences presented by scales, a means of
tracing more exactly the natural affinities of all kinds of fishes. It
cannot at least be disputed that the animals of this class possess, in
their scaly integuments, a character peculiar to themselves, and not
found to exist in any other class. The following are the orders and
the names of the principal families: 1st Order: The Puacoipes.---Thus
named on account of the irregularity of the solid parts of their integu-

The Edingburgh New Philosophical Journal. 255

ments ; these consist of masses of enamel, often of considerable dimen-
sions, at other times reduced to small points, such as the rings of the
rays and the different shagreened surfaces of rays and sharks. 2d
Order: The Ganorpes.---The character common to all these is the an-
gular form of the scales, which are composed of two substances, namely,
corneous or osseous leaflets placed one above another, and covered
with a thick layer of enamel. M. Agassiz includes many families
both recent and fossil in this order, such as the Sclerodermes, Gymno-
dontes, Lophobranches, Goniodontes, Silures, and Sturgeons. 3d Order:
The Crenorpes.---The scales are formed of plates pectinated on their
posterior edge; the pectinations of these numerous plates superimposed
on each other, so that the margin of the under one projects beyond
that above it, rendering these scales rough to the touch. This structure
is particularly remarkable among the Chenodontes and Pleuronectes.
Here likewise are arranged the Percoides, Polyacanthes, Scienoides,
Sparoides, Scorpionoides, and the Aulostomes. We shall afterwards
have an opportunity of learning that these combs are very far from
being simple plates, so arranged that the under ones always project
beyond the upper: we shall see that they are true teeth, all the deve-
lopment of which admit of being traced. This structure must needs
have escaped M. Agassiz’s observation, in consequence of the insuffi-
ciency of the means he employed. For the same reason, this distin-
guished observer has not discovered the form of the teeth in many
of the families he has placed in the following order. 4th Order: The
Cycroipes.---The families belonging to this order have scales formed
of simple plates, with a smooth border; a structure which does not
prevent their surface being frequently ornamented with various designs,
imprinted at once on all the scales on their outer part, which is not
covered. Here we must place the Labroides, Muges, and Atherines,
Scomberoides, Gadoides, Gobioides, Murenoides, Lucloides, Salmones,
Clupex, and Cyprini. We shall subsequently see that this order
contains families whose scales present the most strongly marked
differences. Assuredly we cannot assimilate the scales of the Cyprini
to those of the Gobioides, nor arrange the Muges with the Atherines;
the Muges present distinct teeth, although it may be true that the
scales are not rough to the touch. In the family of the Cyprini there
is room for sub-divisions. In this case also, a simple magnifying
glass produced quite an insufficient enlargement of the objects for such
investigations. We shall revert to this interesting point, which has
acquired great importance since M. Agassiz’s inquiries regarding the
form of scales.

“In finishing the history of researches into the structure of scales,

256 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

we shall only remark, that nearly all authors have shared in the
ideas of Leuwenhoek; and that it was impossible for them to com-
prehend truly either the form or organization of scales, from not
having employed the most powerful means of investigation, that is
to say the microscope, which has procured more complete results

for us.*

Cuar. ILI.---Scales considered as affordiny Characters for Classification.

“The most important question in the study of natural history, is
the determination of natural characters, that is to say, of characters
which bring together the inherent properties of animals,---which are
proper to them in their natural state,---and which can be studied either
by observing an entire body, or only a few detached parts, and that
always without the assistance of other sciences. Now, what is most
important in these researches, is precisely to determine characters in
intimate relation with the nature of the animal, its organization, the
anatomy and physiology of its body, which are, in short, essential,
and undergoing no change with the accidents of habitation, food, &c.

“It is the just determination and appreciation of these characters
which can furnish us with true and precise notions of species, genera,
and families, and enable us to avoid the errors committed by those
who imagine they have found, in the most insignificant details, sufficient
characters to constitute a new species. Have we not thus seen botan-
ists make two different species of the same flower, as it happened
to grow on the sides or in the bottom of a ditch, and might, from
this cause, more or less differ in the brilliancy of its flower? Do we not
daily see ichthyologists and zoologists creating new species according to
changes of colour, size, &c.,—-changes which are altogether accidental,
and depend entirely on the influences of climate, food, &c. But, apart
from the small value attaching to such characters as these, there is
still another point most commonly overlooked by naturalists, on which
we wish to say a few words.

“‘ Any property whatever, which constitutes a natural character, may
vary in different degrees, and thus constitute in its successive changes
a continuous series. Relations unite all the members of this series;
no one is separated from another by a real difference, and each mem-
ber of this series may be replaced by another of the same series,
without changing the nature of the being. Thus, for example, white

“«* The second chapter of Dr. Mandl’s paper is devoted to the explanation of the structure
of scales. This we have been obliged, in the mean while, to omit, as it requires a greater
number of illustrative figures to render it fully understood, than we can at present find room for.

The omission, however, is less to be regretted, as it in no way affects the interest or value of the
two other chapters, each of which is complete in itselfi—Epiror, EpIN, PHIL. Jour.

Se Te

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 25%

and red colours, with all their variations, may be found in roses with-
out distinction, and yet no new species be created. All the shades
between white and red, form im this case, then, a natural series, the
members of which may be substituted for each other without changing
the nature of the rose. ;

« Professor Mohs has made a very successful application of these
principles to mineralogy, or, to speak more properly, these ideas of
natural characters and the series they constitute, owe thew origin to
this distinguished philosopher. The creation of the systems of crystal-
lization, such, for example, as the tessular, rhomboidal, pyramidal
systems, &c., gave birth to as many natural series, containing a multi-
tude of members, all of which may be substituted for each other, but
which are in themselves essentially separated, and cannot be confound-
ed. Thus it is of little importance, for the determination of a species,
whether the mineral be crystallized under the form of a cube, or any
other derived from that; but never can it present, for example, a
pyramid form, for there is no transition between a cube and a pyramid.

“It is only characters, then, which distinguish series, and which admit
of no transition, that can authorize us to establish distinctions between
beings, and create new species. Whenever there is a passage between
the characters of a new individual and those of one previously known,
we cannot make a real division. Unhappily the neglect, or perhaps
the ignorance, of these principles, has led many naturalists to create
a multitude of species founded on distinctions quite futile, and (if I
may be pardoned the expression) altogether foolish, producing an
incumbrance of new species sufficient to cause disgust for the study
of natural history.

“There is only one way to remedy this abuse, that is to study true
natural characters, to observe attentively the series they constitute,
and to make a rigorous application of them im the classification of
animals. Scales appear to us to offer one of these natural characters
for the classification of fishes. The intimate connection subsisting
between the tegumentary appendages and the organization of the
animal, of which we have already spoken in the former chapter, affords
a very strong argument in favour of our opinion. We do not wish
to rest our case on the reason that, because fishes can live when depri-
ved of their fins, but not when deprived of their scales, it therefore
follows that scales have a greater physiological value than fins. Such
an argument would be too imperfect and inconclusive.

“The physiological importance of scales has but little to do with our
present purpose; we only want to know, in this case, whether they
can afford a distinctive character between different individuals. Now,

258 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

scales preserve the same form, not only in the same individuals but in
all the individuals of the same species; they are essentially different in
individuals of another family; they constitute different series of form,
series which are very distinct in themselves, but the members of which
offer all the degrees of transition which unite them to each other.
Scales may therefore serve as a natural character in the description and
classification of fishes.

“The merit of having first called the attention of naturalists to scales
is due to M. Agassiz; but being deprived of the aid of the microscope,
not only the organization of the scale remained concealed from him,
but he inevitably also confounded scales of the most different forms.
It is thus that M. Agassiz states,* that, in the family of the Cyprini,
‘ all the body is covered with scales formed by a pretty considerable
number of plates with the edges smooth and entire; grooves or furrows,
more or less numerous, extend from the centre of growth to the edge
of the scales,’ &c., and he arranges the Cyprini in the family of the
Cycloides ; but these furrows are canals—these entire and smooth edges
of the plates are nothing else than lines resulting from the fusion of the
cells, lines which are repeated on all the scales. We thus see that,
from the organization not being well known, a characteristic description
of scales could not be given, and some were confounded with others
which yet offered true marks distinctive of families. We find an exam-
ple of this in the memoir of M. Agassiz above cited.

“This distinguished savant supposes (I. c. p. 48,) that the relations
which connect the Muges and Atherines with the Cyprini have entirely
escaped Cuvier, on account of the too great importance which this
celebrated naturalist attached to the presence or absence of spiny
rays on the back. M. Agassiz had therefore to seek some character
common to all these fishes, that he might be able to bring them
together, and he says that he discovered this character in their scales,
which are all composed of plates of growth with entire edges, and
which he calls Cycloides.

“Now nothing strictly can be more different than the scales of the
Muges, Atherines, and Cyprini. The difference is so great, that it
alone determined us to place the Atherines in a separate family,
a measure which had previously been hinted at by Cuvier, and which
he would not have hesitated definitively to adopt, had he known the
particular characters presented by their scales. We have seen with
pleasure that our opinion is supported by Professor Nordmann, who
makes an entirely distinct family of the Atherines, as well as of Mullus.

* Memoirs de la Societe des Sciences Naturelles de Neufchatel, t. i. p. 34.

——— ee ee eee

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 259

“ We can no longer affirra, with M. Agassiz, that Fitzinger has done
wrong in separating Cyprinus from Cobitis. We shall not here discuss
the reasons which determined the latter to effect this separation, but
. it is certain that the microscopic inspection of the scales justifies it
completely, and that this difference alone authorizes a distinction to
be made between these two genera.

“ We shall not say more in this place in confirmation of our opinion.
The examples adduced already demonstrate sufficiently, that the detail-
ed study of scales by the aid of the microscope, can alone reveal their
forms. Of this we find a convincing proof in the incomplete results
M. Agassiz obtained by studying them with the naked eye. His vast
knowledge, and the care with which he condueted his researches, could
not compensate for the insufficiency of his means of observation.

“ Another question here arises ; how far can the scales afford marks of
distinction between species, genera, and families? It will be readily
understood, that the detailed and continued study of a great num-
ber of well preserved individuals, can alone decide this. It may
even be found that the same form reappears in different families, and
that the other characters must concur in effecting a classification, in the
same manner as the same form of crystallization recurs in minerals
altogether different. Hitherto, we have found the forms very distinct
and characteristic in each family. If we have not been able to prose-
cute our researches to the distinction of genera and species, it is for
want of a sufficient number of individuals; at the same time we do not
believe that we will require to renounce the attempt altogether. Our
ulterior observations will throw light on this subject. Meanwhile we
have been able to establish differences between families, whose scales
M. Agassiz considered identical, as has been proved in the preceding

2

_ pages.

The following observations on Microscopic Animals in
Cretaceous Rocks, by Professor Ehrenberg, we give entire.

On the Caleareous and Siliceous Microscopic Animals which form the chief
component parts of Cretaceous Rocks. By Professor C. G. Eurenserc.*

“Tw the vear 1836, the author communicated to the Academy, that, in
the course of his examination of chalk and other limestones, he had
found a characteristic feature in the smallest grains of chalk, which, if
not identical with, was very similar to crystallisation, and consisted

* From the Reports of the Royal Prussian Academy. ‘Translated from Poggendorfft’s
Annalen, 1839, No. 7.
2M

260 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

in these appearing as regular elliptical granular-foliated particles.
Further researches regarding organic influence on the formation of
limestone have afforded him new and remarkable results. The chalk
of Puskaresz, in East Prussia; of the Island of Riigen; of Schonen ;
of the Danish Islands; of Gravesend, Brighton, and Norwich, in
England; of Ireland; of Meudon near Paris; and from Cattolica and
Castrogiovanni, to the coast at Girgenti, in Sicily, exhibits two different
conditions; one inorganic, which is distinguished by its extremely
regular elliptical granular-foliated particles, and their fragments or
beginnings; and the other organic, consisting of microscopic poly-
thalamiz. Every thing that has been said of microscopic calcareous
animals,---creatures so minute as to appear only like very small
grains,---of nautili, or polythalamiz of the sea-sand and of the tertiary
formations,---all that has been said of these, from the period of Janus
Plancus, and Soldani, now a century ago, up to the most recent
times, is far surpassed by the countless myriads of animals, much
smaller in dimensions, and much less visible to the naked eye, which
the author has observed forming whole mountains of chalk. Although
D’Orbigny, Nilsson, Pusch, and other distinguished geological and
zoological observers, since the year 1826, have noticed individual
larger forms of polythalamic nautili in the chalk of France, Sweden, and
the Bukowina; although the author himself (in 1836) proved to the
Academy the existence of many calcareous polythalamiz in the flints of
the chalk which enabled us to infer the presence of prodigious
multitudes of such bodies in chalk; and although, in the tabular view
printed in 1837, he named these Rotalites ornatus (Lenticulina, Londsdale),
and Teaxtularia globulosa (Discorbis, Londs.), as the chief forms of the
Polythalamie, and Cypris Faba? (Cytharina, Londs.), as an Entomos-
tracon of the chalk; although, moreover, Mr. Londsdale, of London,
lately (m 1837) reckoned, with the naked eye, 1000 white granules
in a pound of English chalk; yet the numbers and masses of forms,
chiefly invisible to the naked eye, which the author of the present
paper has very recently observed, though anticipated by him, are
very much greater. In these investigations he employed a new and
peculiar mode of observation. —

*« As limestone and chalk, by being mixed with water, and magnified
300 times, are seen to contain, besides the granular-foliated particles,
likewise coarser opaque particles, which at first seemed to be mere
dark parcels of these elliptical granules, or small fragments of larger
organisms, the author tried several oils and balsams that increase
transparency. These had previously been employed by the author
with advantage and success, in the case of infusory animals; but there

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 261

they were less useful, as they increased the transparency to such an
extent as to destroy all light and shade, and also the outlines. But
such experiments were eminently successful with the cretacecus ani-
malcules, more especially when turpentine was employed; and of this,
the best kind is that obtained from the Pinus balsamea, and which is
known in the shops by the name of Canada balsam. The use of this
substance on finely divided dry chalk, particularly after heat had been
applied, distinctly afforded to the author a result which had previously
been obscure, viz. that the said chalk contains so vast a multitude of
microscopic, and hitherto unknown polythalamiz, or nautilites, as they
have been termed, having a size of from 1-24th to 1-288th of a line,
that frequently there must be far above a million in each cubic inch,
and hence far above 10 millions in a pound of chalk. In the white
or yellow chalk of the north of Europe, the particles of a somewhat
crystalline nature, are equal to, if not greater in amount than, the
organic remains, according to the respective volumes of the mass ; but
in the chalk of southern Europe, these organisms, and their visible
fragments, greatly predominate ; and these consist, as it would seem,
exclusively of well preserved polythalamiz. But when we spoke of a
million of polythalamiz in every cubic inch, we include only those
which are well preserved, of which the fourth part of a cubic line, or
every 1-12th ofa grain of chalk, can be ascertained to contain 150 to
200, which would be equal to 600 or 800 in each cubic line, about
1800 to 2400 in each grain, and from 1,036,000 to 1,382,400 in every
cubic inch. |
“Besides the polythalamic cretaceous animalcules, siliceous infusoria
have been found in chalk at Gravesend, near London.* Professor
Ehrenberg has also found the cretaceous animalcules in the polishing-
slate from Oran in Africa (tertiary marl, according to Rozet), and
in the polishing-slate of Zante; and it has been discovered by him,
that even the chalk-marl of Sicily, which there forms whole ranges
of hills, and which Friedrich Hoffmann recognised as a member of the
chalk series, is composed of extremely well preserved siliceous infusoria,
including several of the characteristic chalk animalcules. He likewise
recognised three specimens of similar chalk-marl, composed of infusory
animals, or calcareous polishing-slate, among Greek minerals brought
by Mr. Fiedler; and it has been ascertained that many of the siliceous
infusory animals of the chalk-marl of Sicily, Oran, Zante, and Greece,
are identically the same, and at the same time do not occur in other

* In the flints of that locality the author also saw distinct scales of fishes, first of all
in the collection of Mr. Bowerbank of London; but he afterwards himself found similar
specimens, which he carried home with him.

262 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

localities. Lastly, by an examination of the nummulite limestone
of Cahira, and of the pyramids of Gyzeh, specimens of which he brought
with him from Egypt, the author has discovered that they contain
the microscopic animalcules of the chalk of northern and southern
europe.

“Tt appears that the following conclusions may be deduced in
reference to the whole subject.

“1, Many, probably all the chalk rocks of Europe, are the product of
microscopic, spiral, corallie animalcules, which, for the most part,
are quite invisible to the naked eye, some provided with calcareous,
and others with siliceous shells, and which are from 1-24th to 1-288th of
a line in size.

“2. The chalk rocks of Southern and Northern Europe contain, among
their component parts, many perfectly similar calcareous animals, of
which the most remarkable are, Textularia globulosa, Textularia aciculata,
and Rotalia globulosa. Rotalia ornata, Glabigerina bulloides (D’Orbigny),
Planulina turgida and sicula, Rosalina globularis, Textularia aspera, brevis,
dilatata, and italica, together with Escharella scutellaris (Eschara scutellaris,
Soldani), are the remaining characteristic forms of the chalk, to which
are also to be added some of the species mentioned by D’Orbigny,
and Pusch, and the Sperulina of Lord Northampton.

“3. The cretaceous districts bordering the Mediterranean im Sicily,
Barbary, and Greece, and generally regarded as tertiary deposits, are
therefore, judging from their organisms, to be considered as chalk or
secondary rocks; and the nummulite limestone of Egypt is to be
viewed in the same light |

“4, The chalk strata of southern Europe, round the basin of the
Mediterranean, are distinguished from those of the north and east of
Europe by their better preserved chalk animalcules, and by the smaller
number of their elliptical grains ; and the converse holds good.

“5. The chalk strata of the south of Europe contain few or no
flints. Those of the north present many extremely regular horizontal
beds, which are often only from one to six feet separated from one
another. This feature was previously well known; but, what seems
new and remarkable, is the observation made by the author, that in
the chalk strata of northern Europe, hitherto no marls of infusory
animals have been found like those which alternate with the chalk in
such prodigious abundance in Sicily, Oran, and Greece. A comparison
of the southern infusory-marls, and of the northern beds of flint, at
once presents itself to the mind. Thus, by means of this changed
relation, the formation of flmt would receive its full explanation. A
greater age, as deduced from the conversion of the infusory marl-beds

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 268

into flint-layers, and from the greater decomposition of the calcareous
animals, and their conversion into inorganic particles, might thus be |
assigned to the chalk strata of the north; but still, local circumstances
might produce different effects at the same periods, as is, from other
circumstances (from the similar chalk animalcules, &c.), more probable.

“6. The want of numerous and varied forms of siliceous in-
fusory animals in the chalk previously noticed by the author,
has now disappeared, and, in its place, great abundance has
presented itself.

“Tn all, the author has observed seventy-one different microscopic
calcareous and siliceous species of animals in the chalk; but, besides
these, also numerous larger calcareous animals (1-24th of a line in
size) and many included plants, Tethyze, Sponges, Confervee, and Fuci.
The varied forms of the genera Rotalia and Textularia of the Polythala-
miz, appear to him to constitute the great mass of the chalk of all lo-
calities. Hereckons altogether seven genera and twenty-two species of
polythalamic microscopic calcareous animals; and, moreover, microsco-
pic and larger nummulites, cypride, &c. Further, he has hitherto de-
termined forty species of siliceous infusory animals which belong to
fourteen genera, without including the eight forms previously enumera-
ted, and which were probably soft, and merely included in flint. He
has found five species of plants containing silica. In the flints of the
Jura limestone of Cracow, he detected well preserved peculiar Polytha-
lamiz, and remains of Sponges or Tethyze ; and lately, he has found Po-
lythalamize of the chalk in the flints occurring in the gault which lies
under the chalk at Cambridge in England.

“« A general table of these relations of the animals from the chalk and
chalk-marl of the fourteen localities observed by him, and also specimens
of the rocks, together with a collection of well-preserved microscopic
preparations, containing nearly a perfect series of the different species
of animalcules, were exhibited to the Academy.

“To this paper Professor Ehrenberg added a preliminary summary of
his examination of the Spiral-corals or Polythalamiz, considered in
a zoological point of view.”

The next paper on the Extinction of Human Races, by
Dr. Pritchard, we shall endeavour to abridge. While other
branches of Natural History are diligently cultivated, little
attention is paid to Ethnography, while opportunities for
pursuing that investigation are daily disappearing for ever.
Perpetuity of existence, as far as our ideas of time extend,

264 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

belongs alike to the smallest inorganic molecules, and the
great masses which have offered themselves to the view
of countless generations revolving in the heavens. But
the tribes of which the organized world consists, have but
a definite existence, and when changed, new organized tribes
replace the old ones. It would be interesting to inquire
whether such changes have any influence on the destiny
of ancient races of men. A prize was offered by the Geo-
graphical Society of Paris for an essay on the ancient
Negro races, stated in Chinese books to have occupied
a part of Central Asia; but it turned out that Kuen-lun, the
supposed region of these aboriginal tribes, was but the
designation of an island in the China Sea. In the remotest
part of northern and eastern Asia, tombs of magnificent
construction, containing various implements, and ornaments
of silver, gold, and copper, are found, which have satisfied
the learned academicians of St. Petersburg that they be-
longed to races which became extinct before the dawn of
history.

In the New World, tombs containing skeletons of a differ-
ent conformation from that of existing tribes have been
found on the borders of the Mississippi and Ohio. Even
in the islands of Polynesia vestiges are discovered, which
have been referred to a former race of inhabitants; and
numerous facts tend to prove that extensive tracts of Europe
were once peopled by races of different physical charac-
ter from the present natives, in times which preceded the
Celts and Goths. Whatever were the causes, says Dr.
Pritchard, which destroyed those ancient tribes, we know
to what agency we are to attribute the similar fate of many;
whole races have become extinct during the few centuries
which have passed since the modern system of colonization
commenced. The Guanches of the Canary islands, only exist
in their mummies. It would be endless to recount the names
of whole nations that have been extirpated in America.
Dr. Pritchard saw three individuals exhibited at Paris,

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 265

the only survivors of the Charreas, the last race that has
been destroyed. A similar extermination has been carried on
in South Africa, the former abode of the pastoral and peace-
ful Hottentots, now on the eve of becoming extinct. Wher-
ever the simple pastoral tribes come into relations with
agricultural nations, the allotted time of their destruction
is near, as when the first shepherd fell by the hand of the
first tiller of the soil. ‘ I cannot conclude this paper,” says
Dr. Pritchard, “‘ without making an appeal to the members
of the British Association in behalf of an attempt which has
been lately set on foot by individuals to record the history of
the perishing aboriginal tribes, and to consider whether any
thing can be done to prevent their extermination.

We cannot conclude our notice of the January Number
of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, without regret-
ting to see so much of its valuable pages occupied with a
report on the Manufacture of Tea, and the extent and produce
of Tea Plantations in Assam, by C. A. Bruce, Superintendent
of Tea Culture, “presented to the Committee appointed
by Government, consisting of James Pattle, Esq., T. W.
Grant, Esq., C. K. Robison, Esq., Dr. Nathaniel Wallich,
Rajah Rada Kanth Deb, and Baboo Ram Comul Sen;”
because we think the report is calculated to mislead the
public and occasion disappointment, instead of being likely
to clear up any of those difficulties that are as yet to be
overcome before the Assam Tea Company can expect to
reap any return for the outlay of capital.

Mr. Bruce states, that he submits his report with diffi-
dence, having had something more than tea to occupy
his mind; nevertheless his knowledge of Tea localities
is much extended since he last wrote, embracing no less
than 120 different tracts, some of them very extensive
both on the hills and in the plains. Mr. Bruce does not
state that this number includes the patches of wild tea
plants found by Mr. Griffith at Cujoodoo, Hookum,
and other places, and those found by Captain Hannay

266 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

at Jeypore, and we believe by Colonel White, Mr. Bigge,
and Captain Jenkins at Namroop, Jeypore, Boorthath, &c.
or the nurseries cultivated at Suddyah, by Capt. Charlton,
as early as 1834. We shall merely endeavour to examine
what information the report before us conveys regarding the
existence of 120 tea tracts alluded to above.

Mr. Bruce in crossing a hill 500 feet high at Jeypore,
found a tea-tract, which must be three miles in length, as
he could not see the end of it; and at the foot of this hill
he saw another tract, which he had not time to explore. He
next found tea on Cheriedoo, a small hill close to the Dacca
River; and again, after crossing the river, at a place called
Hauthoweah, near the old fort of Ghergong. Neither of
these four places Mr. Bruce had time to examine, with a
view to the collection of any further personal information than
that which we have above stated. Again, Mr. Bruce found
tea to the south-west of Gabrew; and thus the 120 localities
are reduced to five, in which he has himself seen the tea
plant growing, even supposing his experience to be such as
to render his mistaking some other plant for tea unlikely,
which is by no means certain, particularly as he mentions
having found on the west of the Dhunseree, a different
species from what we use, but still tea.

With this amount of new information, Mr. Bruce proves
by argument, as well as the reports of natives “ well ac-
quainted with the leaf, having been in the habit of drinking
tea,” that large tracts of the Naga mountains are covered
with tea plants. On information not one whit more satis-
factory than that on which Mr. B. clothed large tracts of
the Naga mountains with tea plants, has he covered a large
proportion of Upper Assam with them, though we have no
doubt it will be found, after all, that it is confined to a few
limited patches here and there, in various parts of the forests,
and by no means universally diffused, and abundant, as
Mr. Bruce’s report would lead the public to imagine.

As a specimen of Mr. Bruce’s way of showing the

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 267

extent of the wild tea plants, we may quote the follow-
ing: “In giving a statement of the number of tea-
“ tracts, when I say that Tingri, or any other tract, is so long
“‘and so broad, it must be understood, that space to that
“extent only has been cleared, being found to contain all
“the plants which grew thickly together; as it was not
“thought worth while, at the commencement of these ex-
“ periments to go to the expense of clearing any more of the
“forest for the sake of a few straggling plants. If these
“ straggling plants were followed up, they would, én all pro-
“ bability, be found becoming more numerous, until you found
“yourself in another tract as thick and as numerous as
“the one you left; and if the straggling plants of this new
“tract were traced, they would by degrees disappear until
‘not one was seen; but if you only proceeded on through
“the jungle, it zs ten to one that you would come upon a
“ solitary tea plant, a little further on you would meet with
“another; until you gradually found yourself in another new
“tract, as full of plants as the one you had left, growing ab-
“solutely so thick as to émpede each other's growth. 'Thus
“IT am convinced one might go on for miles from one tract
“to another.”
Most people in perusing this, would suppose that Assam
was covered with tea plants, and that so far from Mr. Bruce
_ exaggerating in saying you might go on for méles, the reader
would imagine that you might travel from one end of Assam
to the other through a succession of tea-tracts. For a
tract the reader must understand a patch, several patches
often occur too in the same vicinity, and it is between these
that strageling plants are found. Mr. Bruce, however, calls
each of these patches, tracts; and the common jungle, pat-
ches. ‘Thus he says, “ All my tea-tracts about Tingrz and
“* Kahung are formed in this manner, with only a patch of
“jungle between them, which is not greater than what could
“be conveniently filled up by thinning those that have

“too many plants. At Kahung I have lately knocked three
2N

268 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

“ tracts into one, and I shall probably have to continue doing
“the same until one ¢ract shall be made of what now con-
“ sists of adozen.” Mr. Bruce’s substitution of the term tract
for what is in reality a mere spot, is most unfortunate ; and yet
it does not appear to have been accidental, as he observes,
‘“‘T have never yet seen the end of Juggudoo’s tea-tract, nor
yet Kujudoo’s or Ningrew’s.” Now two at least of these
localities were visited by the Assam Deputation, and their
extent measured and found to be very limited, and not larg-
er than an ordinary cottage garden. ‘There may be other
two or three similar patches in the vicinity, but it appears
to us too great a stretch of the imagination to say, that the
plants of these isolated little patches “run over the hills,
and join or nearly join” similar little spots in distant parts
of the country; and to infer, from this supposition, that the
whole country is covered with tea plants, or tea forests, as
they have been very improperly styled. It is easy to imagine
how Mr. Bruce makes up the number of tea districts in
Assam to 120, when every patch of jungle in which a few
plants occur is considered by him a tract, however closely
it may be connected with several other similar little clumps
of plants in the same vicinity.

Any one rising from the perusal of Mr. Bruce’s report,
would suppose that Assam is covered with tea plants, requir-
ing no other cultivation than the mere destruction of the
surrounding forests. Mr. Bruce thinks fire is as beneficial
to the tea plant, as it is destructive to all others; and that
the only cultivation or care that plant requires is merely
to burn it down to the roots, by setting fire to the forests
in which it is so common. In the first or second year
after this, Mr. Bruce is of opinion that we shall have nothing
more to do than commence the manufacture of tea from
an unlimited stock of plants extended over 120 tracts,
which those who peruse Mr. Bruce’s report, may consider
equivalent in extent to as many districts, or even counties.

Instead of finding Assam one extensive tea garden, how-

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 269

ever, we suspect that the Tea Company will find that before
they can manufacture, they must begin to plant; and that
circumspection and skill will be required in the selection
of the most suitable lands. We have so poor an opinion
of the extent of the wild plant, that we think it would
hardly do more than afford sufficient seed for new plantations.
So far therefore from all things being ready in Assam for the
extensive manufacture of tea for commercial purposes, as the
public are led to imagine from the report of Mr. Bruce, we
think that every thing is yet to be effected, and that some
time and money have been spent in vain, and the public
exposed to encounter some degree of disappointment in
consequence of Mr. Bruce’s report being allowed to go abroad,
without a few remarks from the Tea Committee, to qualify
what appears to us the extravagant views contained in it
regarding the extent of the tea localities. With the Assam
tea, as with other objects of popular interest, nothing is
received with favour that does not flatter our expectations,
however unreasonable and even absurd these may be in
reality. We always find in the long run, however, that
we have to pay pretty dearly for our indulgence, for while
few have the moral courage to expréss an unpopular opinion,
thousands live and flourish for a time by the dissemina-
tion of popular error, until something happens to give the
- question another turn. With regard to the subject before
us; all we will venture to recommend is, that such flat-
tering reports as the one we have noticed, be not allowed
to impress us with the idea, that the present stock of
wild tea plants in Assam is of such extent as to afford
any thing like a return to the Assam Company. From
what we have ourselves seen of the tea plant in the
Sing-Pho jungles, in the Muttack, and in Raja Parunder
Sing’s territory—the only three tracts in which it occurs—
the whole, root and branch, if converted into tea, would
not make a single consignment such as would annually be
expected from the Assam Tea Company; and after a care-

270 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.

ful examination of Mr. Bruce’s report, as it appears in the
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, we regret to find that
in our opinion the 120 tea-tracts with which Mr. B. has
covered the map of Upper Assam, are for the most part
either imaginary, or altogether dependent on native report.
Mr. Bruce’s adoption of the term ¢ract, for each little
patch of jungle in which a few tea plants are found as-
sembled, is, as we have already stated, enough to lead
to misconception. It is not however more objectionable
than the term, Tea forests, we believe applied in the
same way by Dr. Wallich. In our own report we employ-
ed the terms colony, and locality; the latter term we believe
was adopted by Mr. Griffith, who also used the term patch
in preference to colony, which was objectionable, in as much
as it implied that the plants were introduced rather than
indigenous. We think, therefore, that Mr. Bruce should,
according to that respect usually paid to priority in such
cases, if not to avoid the appearance of exaggeration,
have employed some one of the above terms in preference
to tract, which it might be proper to confine to an assem-
blage of tea patches, as the Muttack tract, Tingri locality,
Sing-Pho tract, Ningrew locality or plantation, according as
the plants may be of the wild, or cultivated stock.

The remainder of Mr. Bruce’s report is chiefly made up
of details regarding the manufacture of tea; but as these are
derived entirely from the Chinamen employed, for whose
word Mr. Bruce, as well as the public can have no security,
this part of the report is to be received with some limitation.
The quality of the tea produced will be the best criterion of
the merit of the process or manipulation employed. The
proverbial neatness and delicacy of Chinese execution we
should have thought at variance with the following part of
the process of making souchong, as given by Mr. Bruce.
“The man then stands up, holding on by a post or some such
thing, and works the ball of leaves under his feet, at the same
time alternately pressing with all his weight, first with one foot

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 271

then with the other.” . . . “The tea is taken hot from the
pan and packed firmly in boxes, both hands and feet being
used to press it down,” &c. As tea drinkers are not the
least fastidious portion of the community, we would recom-
mend Mr. Bruce to endeavour to introduce a substitute for
the feet in these operations.

We think it would be a hardship to adopt Mr. Bruce’s
advice with regard to the prohibition of Opium in Assam.
The Assamese have few luxuries, and to deprive them of
such as they have, would be doing them a very questionable
kind of service. We doubt if levying high duties on opium
land would have the effect of preventing the cultivation of
the drug; if the Assamese are fond of opium they will have
it, and public measures for putting down its cultivation and
preventing its introduction, would be rather difficult to en-
force in an isolated province, surrounded as Assam is on
all sides by countries in which opium might be cultivated
without restriction. Mr. Bruce, however, states, that a
native of Assam will steal, sell his property, and even his
children for opium; and as Mr. Bruce himself dealt in the
drug up to the period of his employment as Superintendent
of Tea Cultivation, he had doubtless the very best oppor-
tunities of witnessing the immoral effects he describes.

Let us hope, however, that the cultivation of tea will in
that province be carried on to an extent that will sup-
ersede opium both as a source of profit and luxury. It
will be our duty to watch the progress of this new staple,
and while we shall hail with satisfaction every successful
step towards its introduction, we shall freely point out what-
ever appears to us likely to retard or endanger the final |
success of the scheme.

Norr.—We find the report published in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal to
be the same with that which appeared in the Journal of the Asiatic Society. How

it could have passed through the Tea Committee without eliciting some observation
from Dr. Wallich, we cannot imagine.

272 .

Description of Animal Life in Nova Zembla. By K. E. von

Barr.*

Not only the total want of trees, but also of every kind of shrub that
would be large enough to attract the eye without being looked for,
gives to the polar landscapes a peculiar and deeply impressive character.

In the first place all power of measurement is lost to the eye. From
the want of the usual objects of known dimensions, trees and buildings,
distances appear much less than they are, and for the same reason also
the mountains are thought lower. This observation has often been
made before and was not unknown to me, yet I found the deception,
for which I was prepared, much more complete than I had expected.
I knew indeed that on this very account an expedition which King Fre-
derick the Second of Denmark fitted out for Greenland failed in its
object.

Mogens Heinson, who at that time was considered an able seaman,
commanded the ship: he came within sight of the coast of Greenland,
and steered with a favourable wind towards it; but after sailing
several hours in the same direction it appeared to him that he came
no nigher to the shore. An apprehension seized him that some hidden
force at the bottom of the sea held him fast; he turned the ship
about and went back to Denmark, with the account that he had not
been able to reach the coast of Greenland, having been enchained by
a magnetic rock. With this experience and with the naive declaration
of Martens concerning Spitzbergen, ‘‘ The distances seem quite near,
but when they are to be walked over in the country it is quite another
matter, and one soon becomes very weary,’ I was well acquainted,
and yet I found the delusion much greater than I could have supposed,
and to my eye so perfect that no consideration could rid me of it.
-T am also convinced that it does not depend upon the want of the
accustomed objects alone, but likewise on a peculiar transparency of the
air, for it is never so complete on cloudy as on bright days, and not so
striking in level as in mountainous regions. In days or hours which are
quite clear the air appears to be almost without colour, and as the
heights in sight are partly covered with snow, and constituted in part of
a dark stone, which appears darker by the contrast, so the small degree
of colour which the air may possess cannot be perceived. The moun-
tains therefore apparently advance quite near to the eye, and this
perhaps in a greater degree to one who has been accustomed to see hills
through a different aerial perspective.

* From the Annals of Nat. Hist. Noy, 1839. Translated from Wiegmann’s Archiv, part 2, 1839.

Description of Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 273

Another effect of the want of trees and even of a vigorous growth of
grass is the sensation of loneliness, which seizes not only on persons of
reflection but even upon the roughest sailor. It is by no means a
sensation of fear, but rather a solemn and elevating one, and can only
be compared with the mighty impression which a visit to alpine regions
always leaves behind.

The once-conceived idea that the morning of creation was dawning
for the first time, and that life was yet to follow I found it impossible
to repress. Nevertheless an animal is now and then seen to stir in
Nova Zembla. Sometimes a great sea gull (Larus glaucus) is seen to
hover in the air at some distance from the coast, or a swift lemming
runs along the ground. These however are not sufficient to give
life to the landscape. In calm weather a want of sounds and motion
is felt, if, as in our case, an expedition be made into the interior, after
the departure of the numerous geese which pass their moulting season
on the sea shore. Besides, even the few land birds in Nova Zembla
are mute, and the insect tribe, proportionally much scantier, is also
noiseless. Even the polar fox is only heard at night. This total
want of sounds, which especially prevails on serene days, reminds
one of the stillness of the grave; and the lemmings, which coming
forth from the earth, glide along in straight lines, and then again
quickly vanish into it, appear like spectres. From the little motion
one sees, in spite of these signs of animal life, it seems to be wanting.
In other regions the leaves of plants and trees usually make even a
gentle breeze perceptible to us, but a slight wind does not ruffle these
lowly plants of the high north; one might take them to be painted.
A very few insects only are busy seeking to satisfy their little wants
upon them. Of the numerous family of beetles only one individual has
been found, a Chrysomela, which is perhaps a new species. On sunny
days and in warm spots for instance, about the small projecting.
points of rock, a humble-bee is seen flying about, but it hardly
hums, as is the case with us in moist weather. Flies and gnats
are rather more numerous; but even these are so rare, so peaceful
and languid, that in order to see them they must be sought for. I do
not recollect having heard that any one of us had been bitten by a gnat,
and one may truly long for the bite of a Lapland gnat, merely for the
sake of perceiving life in nature. The most manifest proof of the rarity
of insects in this country appears from the following circumstance, that
we neither found the least trace of insect larvee in a dead Walrus which
had lain above fourteen days on the sea shore, nor in the bones of
animals which had been killed in former years, even though they were
not without dried flesh on some parts. The common saying in our

O74. Kk. E. von Barr’s Description of

funeral service, that man becomes a prey to worms, is not true with
respect to the extreme north, and whoever dreads this lot, has only to
be buried in Nova Zembla or Spitzbergen, where even the universal
decomposing forces of nature will act upon him but very slowly.*

The abundance or scarcity of insects is, next to the vegetable king-
dom, the surest measure for the climate of a country. Both need
for their subsistence a certain quantity and a certain duration of
warmth. This never fails in the torrid zone, but as we approach the
north it does so in an increasing degree. Insects are however less
easily transplanted than plants. That we know of no true insects from
Spitzbergen may well be ascribed to this cause. M. Lehmann neverthe-
less observed ten species in Nova Zembla, and of these, seven which
are not parasitic. Fabricius described many more species from Green-
land, and amongst these even several butterflies, and Scorseby has
added to them some few new species from East Greenland. But
West Greenland, which in common life has been considered as the type
of all northernmost countries, from its having already been known for
a longer time through the Moravian missionaries, must, especially in
its southern districts, be a more highly favoured country, for it has
(even if we pay no attention to the old fabulous accounts) at the
present time, under 61° N. latitude, birch trees from 12 to 18 feet high,
and of the thickness of a man’s thigh, and among these mountain ash.
(Egede, Account of the Greenland Mission, p. 78.) Ecrpr, found the
corn, which he had sown as an experiment under the 64° of latitude,
not only in ear but already with small grains on the 13th of September
(1bid, p. 106 and 112). Things therefore wear avery different appearance
from those in Nova Zembla, and the meteorological observations show
sufficiently that it is much warmer there. But even regions which
enjoy a much lower mean yearly temperature than Nova Zembla are
much richer in animal life, if the summer do but develope more heat.
To select a less known example, I will refer to Nyshne-Kolymsk, with a
mean temperature of 10°C. According to Wrangell’s observations the
boundary of the lofty woods is not far off, and perhaps they would
extend to this place were it not for the nearness of the coast, for at
Nyshne-Kolymsk there are stunted Siberian cedars and bushes in plenty.
During the short summer there the gnats are an intolerable plague.

The coast of Nova Zembla is rendered far more lively than the
interior of the country by the sea-birds which make their nests there.
Their number and variety is indeed not so great as upon the
Norwegian coast or some isles and cliffs of Iceland, but even here

* At some depth the bodies remain frozen, but even above the earth they decay remarkably

slowly.

Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 275

one finds the coast thickly filled with them in some spots, and they
receive any one who approaches with loud cries. Above all, the
Foolish Guillemot (Uria Troile), which is perhaps as numerous as all
the other birds put together, dwells in such colonies, sitting in thick
troops and in many rows one above another upon the scarcely percep-
tible shelves of perpendicular rocks: they rouse themselves when
any one approaches, and cause the sides of the dark rock to appear
spotted with their uplifted white bellies. The Russians call such a
brooding place a bazaar. Thus this Persian word has been transplanted
by Russian Walrus-fishers to the rocks of the frozen ocean and applied
to birds in default of human inhabitants. Upon the points of isolated
cliffs, and enduring no other birds near it, lives the large grey sea gull
(Larus glaucus), which the Dutch whale-fishers, I know not why,
whether from respect or a want of it, have named the Burgomaster.
It seems to feel itself the lord of this creation, for before a whole
company of fishermen it is bold enough to pick and choose from the
fish that have been thrown upon the shore.

These birds are the best proofs that there is more to be had from the
bottom of the sea than on land. In fact here the chief sum of animal
life is sunk under the surface of the ocean. Small Crustacea are parti-
cularly numerous here, and above all the Gammari, which gather as
thickly around a piece of flesh thrown into the water as do the gnats in
Lapland about a warm-blooded animal. With a sieve one may take
them up by thousands. When we threw lines in Matotschkin-Schar,
the Walrus-fishers, who never took this trouble assured us that it would
be quite in vain, for in the first place there were hardly any fish there,
and moreover the Kapschaki (thus they call the Gammari) completely
consume within a few hours sometimes the bait and sometimes the fish
as soon as it is dead. In fact we seldom drew up anything but our
empty lines.

Scanty as is the vegetation, it yet feeds a quantity of lemmings.
Gentle declivities are frequently burrowed through in every direction
by them. But the number of animals is not near so great as might
be supposed from the quantity of burrows ; for by far the greater part
are empty, which one may soon be convinced of by tracking them
with dogs, but nevertheless their number is so considerable as to
force us to ask how so many lemmings can find support upon such
a vegetation. But it is also not impossible that the vegetation appears
so small to the observer because the lemmings make a considerable
portion of it invisible. If they devoured the roots not much of the
vegetable kingdom of Nova Zembla could long remain, and the lem-
mings themselves would soon perish from want of nourishment. But

20

276 E. K. von Barr’s Description of

those captured by us could in no way be brought to eat the smallest
root. Since, therefore, when they are at large they certainly devour
the flowers only and green parts, and since the plants of this country
are all perennial, in the following year they again put forth a stem.
I was still more surprised that when suffering the greatest hunger they
would touch no Cryptogamia. It is a pity that the small number of
ferns which have been found did not allow us to make trial whether
these practical vegetable physiologists direct themselves according to
the presence of spiral vessels, or follow the divisions of the Linnzan
system. There are two kinds of them; one seems to be Mus grenlan-
dicus, Traill, or Mus hudsonius, Auct. They quite agree with the de-
scription which Richardson gives in the ‘ Fauna Boreali-Americana;’
less with that of Pallas. The other species likewise appears to me
distinct from the Scandinavian lemming ; in the colour the difference is
truly striking. Pallas, who however seems only to have seen young
animals, has enumerated it as a Russian variety of the Scandinavian
lemming. The first is particularly distinguished by its tameness, for,
four-and-twenty hours after it had been caught, it hardly made any
attempt to escape when held free upon the hand, and one never sees
two individuals of this species quarrelling together. The second, yel-
lowish-brown species is much more ready to fight.

Next to the lemmings the polar foxes are also tolerably numerous.
They find in the lemmings, in young birds, and in the sea-animals
which are thrown up on the shore, a plentiful sustenance.

On the contrary, polar bears are seldom seen in summer, either
because they avoid the places where they scent men, or because they
only collect together on those parts of the coast where there is
ice. The rein-deer also appear to have become rare, on the
western coast at least, from the numerous winterings of late years
of the seal-fishers. Not only were very few killed during our resi-
dence, but one of the companies which had passed the winter before
in Nova Zembla, and had been advised to procure a provision of flesh
by hunting the rein-deer, had not been able to obtain any. Wolves
and common foxes, which, at least in the southern part of Nova Zem-
bla, also sometimes occur, appear never to have been numerous even
there. With this enumeration the list of land Mammalia would be
complete, if MM. Pachtussow and Ziwolka had not, during their
winter stay, seen a little white animal within their hut, which they
in their journal call a mouse. As the animal seen, according to M.
Ziwolka’s testimony, must have been larger than a common domestic
mouse, and therefore could not be an individual of the white variety
of this animal brought by chance in some ship, I am doubtful as to

Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 217

what it can be. On one hand it is stated that the North American
lemmings become white in winter, but yet not so completely white
as the animals of the weazel genus; on the other hand it might also
be possible that the little animal noticed was a weazel. In Spitzbergen
also a little white mammal has been observed, whose systematic deter-
mination is uncertain.

The sea Mammalia are of more importance, and expensive expeditions
are yearly fitted out for the purpose of catching them by the inhabitants
of the coast of the White Sea; but unhappily the booty is so uncertain
that they may be compared to a game at hazard. If the sea is unusu-
ally free from ice the losses are very great. One day however may
repay the loss of a whole year. For this reason these undertakings
have always been renewed for centuries even though they sometimes
entirely fail, The result of a fortunate year is usually this, that in the
following one too many ships go to Nova Zembla, and either destroy to
too great an extent these mostly gregarious animals, or at least scare
them away. Thus in the year 1834 some expeditions were very fortu-
nate, after a previous cessation ; in the year 1835 about 80 ships went
to Nova Zembla, for which may be reckoned at least 1000 men. In the
year 1836 the number of the ships diminished to one half. In the cur-
rent year there were hardly more than 20 ships; but only one, which en-
tered the sea of Kara, made a great profit: one or two captured nearly
enough to pay the cost of their fitting out, and of the rest the greater
part lost far more than a half.

The most important animal for this chase is the Walrus, and after
the Walrus the Dolphin (Delphinus Leucas), known under the name
of the white whale, but which is here called Bjelucha or Bjeluga.
Among the seals the sea-hare (Morskoi sajaz), Phoca leporina, Lep,
~ Ph. albigena, Pall., but probably not distinct from the Phoca barbata of

Fabricius, gives the richest produce, both as regards its size and quantity
_ of fat, as well as its thick skin. Phoca grenlandica bears among the
Russians very different names, according to age and sex: the old full-
coloured male is called Luisan or Luisun; the female, Utjailga; the not
yet full-coloured animals, of a year old, they call Sjirunok and Sjarka,
and the young ones, according to their different colours, Pljichanko,
Chochlutschka, Bjaka. But they are not quite accurate in the applica-
tion of these names to the young animals, for they also apply them to
the young of a third species of seal which occurs here, and which when
full-grown is called Nerpa. This seal, occurring everywhere singly on
the coast, is probably Fabricius’s Phoca hispida.
A fourth species of seal which belongs to these seas, though not
to the coast of Nova Zembla itself, but to the Timanic coast and to the

278 I. K. von Barr’s Description of

entrance of the White Sea, and even there is not frequently seen, the
Tewjak, is said to cover its face with a cap: it is therefore probably the
Klappmiits of the Dutch, or Phoca cristata, Erxl., Cystophora borealis,
Nilsson.

Of Cetacea this sea contains in the first place a species of whale of
the sub-division of fin-fish (Balcnoptera), with very short whiskers,
which I saw in Archangel. They rarely appear in the vicinity of Nova
Zembla, and one never hears of their being stranded on this coast.
Nearer to the north coast of Lapland, where they are almost yearly
thrown on shore in the Motowsker bay, they are so frequent that I
much wonder why the earlier attempts for the regular pursuit of this
animal, difficult it is true to slay, have not been renewed and perse-
veringly carried on. It is worthy of remark that the Greenland whale
never appears to stray into the district of Nova Zembla. For this
reason we must believe that the whale-fishery which the Northmen
carried on, according to Ohthere’s testimony*, in the ninth century,
in the neighbourhood of the North Cape, was for this very fin-fish.
Far more rare is the Narwal (Monodon Monoceros): and only in the
neighbourhood of ice. Of Dolphins, this sea contains, besides Delphi-
nus Leucas, Delphinus Orca (Kossatka), and a small species which the
Russians call Morskaja Swinja; but I have not been able to learn whe-
ther this is Delphinus Delphis, or Delph. Phocena.

The sea Mammalia in Nova Zembla would therefore be exactly the
same as those known in the Spitzbergen-Greenland sea, if the Green-
land whale reached as far.

On the other hand, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla are strikingly
different in their winged inhabitants. The latter country indicates
by its birds the vicinity of the continent. It is richer in species, but
less interesting to the naturalist; for many of these species are none
other than those which yearly pass through our country, and indeed
in part remain with us; whilst another part of them go as far as Nova
Zembla, in order to devote themselves to the business of brooding
where they may be undisturbed. Of land birds we found the Snowy
Owl (Stryx Nyctia), which indeed passes the winter there; the Snow
Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), Strepsilas collaris, Tringa maritima, and
a Falcon, which was not very rare in Kostin-Schar, but which could
not be shot and more closely examined. Earlier accounts also make
mention of an Eagle, but the Walrus-catchers whom I questioned said
they knew nothing of it. Perhaps however it is the same as the
Falcon.

* See King Alfred’s Translation of Orosius, ed. Barrington, p. 241, Forster’s note at
the end.

ii

Animal Life in Nova Zembla. 219

Among the web-footed birds which pass the season here the Saatgans
are so common, at least in the southern island, that the collecting their
fallen wing-feathers is an object of profit; the Ice-duck (Anas glacialis)
is frequent, and the Singing Swan (Cygnus musicus) not rare.

According to the assertions of the Walrus-catchers, only one species
of goose comes to Nova Zembla, and we in fact got sight of no other
than the Saatgans and the Brent Bernicle (Anser torquatus), which lat-
ter however does not pass for a goose among the Russians. The Eider
duck or Eider goose is also not rare. The web-footed herbivorous
birds however collect in much greater numbers upon the island of
Kolgujew, which is described as covered with swans and geese, than in
Nova Zembla, where the vegetation is too scanty. On this account
expeditions are sometimes sent hither to kill and salt these birds. A
merchant of Archangel told me that once 15,000 geese were killed here
in two hunts.

To the web-footed birds of Nova Zembla belong moreover Uria Troile
(in unspeakable numbers), Uria Grylle, Colymbus septentrionalis, Sterna
Hirundo, Larus glaucus, Larus canus, Larus tridactylus, Lestris catarractes, a
Procellaria, which we however could not procure. Somateria spectabilis
and Larus eburneus are stated to occur only on the northern coast.
There also, according to the descriptions we heard, is probably found
Mormon Fratercula and Mergulus Alle. It appeared very singular to me
that no one had seen, south of Kostin-Schar, a bird of the family of
Alcade, as Alea Pica does not belong to the most northern birds, and
even Mormon Fratercula occurs on the Norwegian coast.

There is no trace of the whole class of Amphibia in Nova Zembla.
The Batrachia and Sauria evidently cannot exist for want of insects.
Of fish, the extreme north, even where very rich in individuals, con-
tains generally but very few species, and partly for this reason, be-
cause the fresh water does not possess its peculiar forms so numerous
in warmer regions, but only the fish that ascend from the sea at certain
periods. Thus Scoresby says of Spitzbergen and of the neighbouring
sea, that it has but four kinds of fish. My catalogue of the fish of
Nova Zembla contains ten, all of which, with the exception of the
Omul (Salmo Omal, Pall.), which is said to occur on the east coast, we
have ourselves seen. Among these the most important is the Alpine
trout (Golez--- Salmo alpinus, Fabr.), which ascends in autumn into the
mountain lakes, and in many years is caught in immense quantities
and exported to distant countries. All the other fish are inconsi-
derable or of no value for commerce, and even in the ceconomy of na-

ture only Gadus Saida, Sep., and Cyclopterus Liparis are of any import-
ance.

280

Proceedings of the Linnean Society.

Nov. 5, 1839.--Edward Forster, Esq., V.P., in the Chair.

The Rev. William Wood, B.D., F.L.S., exhibited specimens of a va-
riety of Typha angustifolia, remarkable for its small size, and the
shortness of its female catkins, collected by himself in the extensive
marshes situate between Sandwich and Deal.

Read, ‘Descriptions of some new Insects collected in Assam, by
William Griffith, Esq., Assistant Surgeon in the Madras Medical Service.”
By the Rev. F. W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S., & L.S.

The insects described in this paper, some of which are remarkable for
their size and splendid colours, were mostly collected in Assam by
Mr. Griffith, during the stay of the late Scientific Mission from Calcutta,
to which he was attached. They chiefly belong to the longicorn beetles,
and to the family of Lamiade. The following are the characters of the

new genera and species :
LAMIA.

1. L. Horsfieldii.

Long. lin. 26; lat. lin. 83.

Corpus cinereum ; antennis corpore longioribus, elytrisque flavo-creta-
ceis maculisque ornatis, antenne articulis tribus primis subscabris.

This species, which has been named in compliment to Dr. Horsfield,
is the largest of the family, and is nearly related to Z. catenata of De
Haan from Japan.

G. N. EUOPLIA.

Corpus subdepressum. Antenne lamizformes, feré ut in Omacantha.
Thorax utrinque spinosus, dorso punctulatus. Llytra depressa, api-
cibus 2-spinosis spina suturali minore, lateralibus majoribus. In
reliquis Lamia convenit.

1. C. polyspila

Besides the one enumerated, the author possesses five other species,
all natives of India, and which still are undescribed.

G. N. OPLOPHORA.

Caput feré quadratum. Mandibule falciformes. Antenne corpore paull6d
longiores, articulis basi pallidis. Thorax utrinque armatus, dorso
fortiter rugoso, tuberculo in medio disci posito. Elytra thorace
4-pl6 longiora, basi sinuata subscabra, gradatim e humeris ad
apicem magnis tudine decrescentia, apicibus rotundatis. Corpus
infra annulis abdominis ad apicem sensim attenuatis. Pectus valde
convexum, mucrone armatum. Pedes difformes et robusti.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 281

1. O. Solliz.

This splendid species is dedicated to Richard Horsman Solly, Esq.,
F.R.S. & L.S., in whose cabinet the chief part of the insects described
in this paper is contained. To the same genus belong Lamia punctata
of Fabricius, and two undescribed Indian species.

G. N. ANOPLOPHORA.

Caput quadratum. Antenne corpore duplo longiores, ultimo articulo
valdé elongato. Thorax utrinque spinosus, medio depressus. Elytra
anticé et posticé feré sequalia, apicibus rotundatis. Corpus infra
squamosum, pectore inermi. Pedes difformes et robusti.

1. A. Stanleyana.

This insect, distinguished for its brilliant colours, which rival those
of some of the more splendid Lepidoptera, has been named in honour
of the Lord Bishop of Norwich, President of the Linnean Society.

CALLICHROMA, Laftr.

1. C. Cantori.

Long. lin. 21; lat. lin. 5.

Viride, nitidum; antennis violaceis, femoribus tibiisque leté cyaneis

tarsisque aureo-ornatis.

This species is named in compliment to Dr. Cantor, a distinguished
zoologist in the service of the East India Company, and whose va-
luable collection of Indian Reptilia and drawings are deposited in the
Radcliffe Library at Oxford.

2. C. Griffithii.

Long. lin. 203; lat. lin. 8.

Obscuré atrum; antennis tarsisque luteis, elytris nigris et flavo-

fasciatis.

This species is dedicated to its discoverer, an acute and enterprising”
botanist, and author of two valuable memoirs on the development of
the ovulum of Santalum and Loranthus, printed in the 18th volume
of the Society’s Transactions.

MONOCHAMUS, Megerle.

1. M. ruber.
Long. lin. 11; lat. lin. 42.
Ruber ; antennis corpore dupl6 longioribus, thorace elytrisque nigro-
maculatis, pedibus concoloribus.
Read also, “On Cuscuta epilinum and halophyta.”’ By Charles C.
Babington, Esq., M.A., F.L.S.

282 Proceedings of the Linnean Society.

The first of these species has been recently added to the British Flora
by J. E. Bowman, Esq., F.L.S., having been found by him growing
abundantly on flax, near Trelydan Hall, Montgomeryshire, in August
last. The other species, which occurs on the coast of Norway, growing
upon Chenopodee, has not been hitherto observed in this country. The
author gives the following characters of the two plants :

1. C. epilinum (Weihe), florum glomerulis bracteatis sessilibus, squa-
mis palmati-subsexfidis tubo corollz semper ventricoso adpressis,
sepalis carnosis basi deltoideis corolla vix brevioribus.

2. halophyta (Fries), “ florum glomerulis subbracteatis” sessilibus,
squamis bifidis tubo corolle ventricoso adpressis: segmentis bi-
fidis, calyce corolla multd breviori.

Nov. 19.---Edward Forster, Esq., V. P., in the Chair.

Read, “A Monograph of the genus Disporum.” By D. Don, Esq.,
Libr. L.S., Prof. Bot. King’s College.

This genus was first suggested by Mr. Brown, in his ‘ Prodromus
Flore Nove Hollandiz’; and the name of Disporum was subsequently
given to it by Salisbury in the first volume of the Transactions of
the Horticultural Society of London. It remained, however, unde-
scribed, and almost unnoticed, until the publication of the author’s
work on the plants of Nepal, in which a detailed description of the
genus, and the characters of two additional species were given. The
characters of the genus consist in its campanulate perianthium, with
the sepals produced into a pouch or spur at the base, in the cells of its
ovarium bearing two ovula, in its baccate pericarpium, and in its um-
bellate inflorescence. These distinctions will be found to be common
to all the Asiatic species hitherto referred by most botanists to Uvularia.
We subjoin the characters of the species described in this paper.

1. D. calcaratum, umbellis pedunculatis sub-5-floris, sepalis lanceola-
tis acutiusculis basi longé calcaratis, antheris, filamentis stigmati-
busque stylo tripld longioribus, foliis ovato-lanceolatis sessilibus.

Uvularia calcarata. Wall. Cat. n. 5087.

2. D. Wallichit, umbellis subsessilibus sub-5-floris, sepalis lanceolatis
acuminatis, calcaribus rectis abbreviatis, antheris filamentis 4-plo
brevioribus, stylo stigmatibus longiore, foliis ovato-lanceolatis sub-
petiolatis.

Uvularia Hamiltoniana, B. et. C. Wail. Cat. n. 5088.

3. D. Hamiltonianum, umbellis pedunculatis sub-5-floris, sepalis
lanceolatis acutis, calcaribus abbreviatis recurvis, antheris filamen-
torum longitudine, stylo stigmatibus subzequali, foliis ovato-lance-
olatis subpetiolatis.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 283

Uvularia Hamiltoniana, A. Wall. Cat. n. 5088.
U. Betua. Ham. MSS. ;

4. D. Horsfieldit, umbellis pedunculatis sub-5-floris, sepalis spathulatis
mucronatis puberulis, antheris filamentis duplo brevioribus, stylo
stigmatibus duplo longiore, foliis ovato-lanceolatis subpetiolatis.

Uvularia Hamiltoniana, 6. Wall. Cat. n. 5088.

5. D. Leschenaultianum, umbellis sessilibus 3---5-floris, sepalis ovato-
lanceolatis acutis basi gibbosis, antheris filamentis vix duplo bre-
vioribus, stylo stigmatibus ter longiore, foliis ovatis subpetiolatis.

Uvularia Leschenaultiana. Wall. Cat. n. 5089.

6. D. Pitsutum (Don, Prodr. p. 50.), umbellis pedunculatis 7---9-floris
sepalis cuneato-lanceolatis obtusiusculis basi gibbosis, antheris fila-
mentis ter brevioribus, stylo stigmatibus dupld longiore, foliis
lanceolatis subpetiolatis.

7. D. parviflorum (Don, Prodr. p. 50.), umbellis subsessilibus 2---7-
floris, sepalis lanceolatis acuminatis basi gibbosis, antheris filamen-
tis duplo brevioribus, stigmatibus stylo ter brevioribus, foliis
lanceolatis subpetiolatis.

8. D. fuloum (Salish. in Hort. Trans. i. p. 330.), umbellis sessilibus
sub 4-floris, sepalis lanceolatis acutis basi breviter calcaratis,
antheris filamentis vix brevioribus, stigmatibus styli longitudine,
foliis lanceolatis subpetiolatis.

The author concludes his paper with the description of a new and
nearly-related genus, founded upon a plant which was introduced from
New South Wales into the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, in 1823,
and which is remarkable for its unenclosed embryo, and for the singu-
lar appendages, similar to those of Parnassia, which are seated at the
inner base of the sepals. The followmg is the description of this
interesting genus :---

TRIPLADENIA.

Perianthium 6-phyllum, petaloideum, patens, zequale, deciduum : foliolis
estivatione involutis, basi biappendiculatis! sessilibus. Stamina 6,
toro, nec basi sepalorum inserta. Anthere erect, extrorse, bilo-
culares, duplici rima longitudinali dehiscentes. Ovarium liberum,
triloculare: loculis biovulatis: ovulis campylotropis, collateralibus,
erectis. Stigmata 3, recurvata. Pericarpium sub baccatum, 3-lo-
culare, 3-valve, loculicido-dehiscens: Joculis 1---2 spermis. Se-
mina sub-orbiculata, hinc convexa, inde angulata, v. concavius-
cula, glabra, nitida, colore succinea, hilo maximé fungoso-stro-
phiolato, chalaza orbiculaté concava fusca, raphide dimidio seminis

2p

284 Remarkable Diffusion of Coralline Animatcules, §e.

vix breviori, elevata : testd tenui, membranacea: albumen copiosum,
corneum, album. Lmbryo oblongus. albus, hinc convexus, inde
planiusculus, more Graminum extra albumen locatus eodemque
facie plana applicatus, funiculo maximé strophiolato solummodo
obtectus ! extremitate radiculari (cauliculari) paullo latiori.

Herba (Nove Hollandiz) perennis, rhizomate multicepite, caulibus sub-
simplicibus multangulis, foliis amplexicaulibus ovato-lanceolatis, pedun-
culis avillaribus solatariis unifloris infra medium articulatis involucel-
loque 3-phyllo munitis.

1. LZ. Cuninyhamia.

On the Remarkable Diffusion of Coralline Animateules from the
use of Chalk in the Arts of Life, as observed by Ehrenberg.

An examination of the finest powdered sorts of chalk which are
used in trade has afforded Professor Ehrenberg the following result,
that even in this finest condition not merely the inorganic part of the
chalk is become separated, but that it remains mixed with a great
number of well-preserved forms of the minute shells of Coral Animal-
cules. As powdered chalk is used for paper-hangings, Professor Ehren-
berg also examined these as well as the walls of his chambers which
were simply washed with lime, and even a kind of glazed vellum paper
called visiting cards, and obtained the very visible result,---demonstra-
ting the minuteness of division of independent organic life,-—-that those
walls and paper-hangings, and so doubtless all similar walls of rooms,
houses, and churches, and even glazed visiting cards prepared in the
above-mentioned manner (of which cards, many however, are made
with pure white lead, without any addition of chalk) present, when
magnified 300 diameters, and penetrated with Canada balsam, a delicate
mosaic of elegant coralline animalcules, invisible to the naked eye, but,
if sufficiently magnified, more beautiful than any painting that covers
them.---Pogg. Ann. 1839. No. 9.

On the Occurrence of Squalus spinosus, Linn., on the Coast of
Yorkshire. By Arruur Srrickianp, Esq.

On the 11th of August 1838, a large fish was brought on shore at
Burlington Quay, differmg from any I had seen before, which had been
caught that morning in a trawl net; its characters evidently bespoke it
to belong to the shark tribe, but differing in many respects from.any of
those usually met with. Its whole length was 74 feet; its girth in the
largest part (just behind the pectoral fin) was 3 feet 8 inches ; its whole
surface was covered with a skin strikingly different from the rough file-
like surface of most of the shark tribe, being very smooth and slimy ;
but the upper part of the back was studded over with sharp white
spines hooking backwards, the largest not above 4 of an inch long, but
varying greatly im size. Each spine was set upon a thin hard circular
base about the size of a fourpenny piece. In some instances two, and
in a few, three spines were clustered together, but were usually separate
about one inch asunder. I could not perceive that they were placed
in any order or pattern. These spines continued less abundantly down
the sides, and seemed to cease altogether as they approached the belly,
but were abundant upon all the fins. A distinct lateral line commenced
above the insertion of the pectoral fin where it was slightly bent,
and from thence ran in a straight line to the tail, where it bent
upwards, and followed its course nearly to the extremity. The top
of the head was quite flat, ending in a blunt round snout, the space
between the eyes being somewhat more than that between the eye
and the end of the nose; the eyes were large, and placed in the
projecting edge that overhung the mouth: nearly half-way between
the eye and the end of the nose were placed the nostrils, about 14
in extent the longest way ; they were partially divided in the middle by
two valves, the posterior one short and blunt, the anterior longer and
pointed. The distance from the end of the nose to the mouth was
6 inches; the whole of this space between the nose and mouth was’
covered with numerous small open pores, probably the glands for the
secretion of the mucus that covered the whole surface of the body. The
mouth was furnished with three rows of teeth, with the commencement
of a fourth row imperfectly formed. The outer or larger row was set
upon an edge, but evidently movable, as some of these were doubled
backwards; the rest were set behind these in lines, each tooth diminish-
ing in size to the last. The teeth were thin and sharp, about half an
inch broad, and a quarter of an inch high: the posterior edge was
formed into two longish points, the upper one pointing partly upwards;

286 Mr. A. Strickland on Squalus spinosus,

the anterior side was formed into two much smaller points, pointing in
different directions. There was no tongue, nor any appearance of one;
the bottom of the mouth being smooth and hard. Seven inches from
the mouth commenced the brachial openings, which were five in number,
all placed in front of the pectoral fin; the first was 3 inches long, each
increasing in size to the last, which was 6 inches. Immediately behind the
centre of these commenced the pectoral fin, which was 11 inches in length,
very thick and fleshy in substance, particularly at the base, the poste-
rior edge thin and flexible; but as in all the fins except the tail, there
were no perceptible fin rays or membrane, all being smooth and fleshy.
This fin opened perfectly horizontally, or at right angles to the sides of
the fish. Eighteen inches behind these commenced the ventral fins,
which were equally thick and fleshy, 14 inches long and 11 inches
broad, cut nearly square; between the posterior base of these fins was
placed the vent. The space from that to the lower end of the tail was
only 17 inches; from this point to the upper extremity of the tail was
23 inches, in one unbroken line, there being no distinct lobes of the tail
as in most of the shark tribe. The edge of the tail was composed of
indistinct fleshy rays covered with smooth membrane. A little behind
a perpendicular line above the anterior base of the ventral fin was
placed the first dorsal fin, which was 6 inches long, upon a base of
the same length ; 4 inches behind this was placed a second fin, similar
- in all respects, except perhaps being cut a little more square at the
end. From the front of the first of these fins to the end of the nose
was a space of about 5 feet, without any other fin or projection except
the small spines before mentioned. The colour of the fish was when
I saw it, a few hours after it was caught, a nearly uniform reddish
slate-colour, somewhat lighter on the lower parts; but it was
described by the fisherman who caught it as having been more of a
red cast, with blotches of a lighter colour, before it died.

The peculiar characters of this fish consist in the smooth slimy
spinous skin (resembling in this respect some of the Ray tribe), the
thick fleshy fins with the five brachial openings all placed in front
of the pectoral fins, in having no central dorsal fin, no temporal
orifices, no anal fins. In these respects it differs from any fish hitherto
described as a British species. Nor does it agree with any I have
been able to discover in any work I have yet had an opportunity of
referring to. ARTHUR STRICKLAND.

Burlington Quay.

_ This species is the Echinorhinus obesus of Smith, who says in reference
to it, “This shark is comparatively rare at the Cape of Good Hope.

found on the Coast of Yorkshire. 287

It is described by the fishermen as sluggish and unwieldy in its move-
ments, and but seldom to be observed towards the surface of the
water. When they obtain specimens it is generally at a time when
they are fishing in deep water, and when the bait with which the
hooks are armed is near to the bottom. In this respect it resembles
the Scyllus, or Ground Shark. If we were to regard only its internal
organization we should be disposed to consider it as closely allied to
that genus.”---Jilustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, by Andrew
Smith, M.D., Part I. Pisces, pl. 1.

After an attentive examination of the particulars on this subject
published in the Supplement to Mr. Yarrell’s History of our British
Fishes, part ii. p. 54, I have no doubt that all the specimens, and the
various synonyms employed, refer but to one and the same species
at different periods of its existence.---A. S.

Note.---Since the receipt of Mr. Arthur Strickland’s communication,
the second portion of a systematic arrangement and description of
sharks by Drs. Miiller and Henle, published at Berlin, has been received
in this country, a reference to which appears to confirm the opinion
given by our friend that the various published accounts of a spiny shark
refer but to one species. The following are extracts from this valuable
German work, p. 91 :--- |

Second Family. Scymnz.

Second Genus. Echinorhinus, Blainv.---Goniodus, Agassiz.
Species 1. Echinorhinus spinosus, Bonap.
Le Boucle, Brouss, p. 672. 21.
Sq. spinosus, Linn. Gm. 1500. 27.
Squale bouclé, Lacep. i. p. 30. tab. 3. f. 2. Cop Encyc. p. 11. n. 22.
Sq. spmosus, Bl. Schn. 136. /
Squale bouclé, Risso. Ichth. 42.
- Scymnus spinosus, Risso. Hist. 136. Cuv. 393.
Leich bouclé, Dict. des Sc. Nat. pl. 28. f. 2.
Echinorhinus spinosus, Bonap. 13.
Sq. (Echinorhinus) spinosus, Blainv. Faun. Franc. p. 66.
Goniodus, Agassiz. vol. i. tab. E. f. 13. (Teeth).
Hab. Mediterranean sea and the ocean. _

Examples stated to have been seen by the authors of the work :---
One in the Museum at Leyden; one from the Cape by Dr. Smith.

The coloured figure of this shark sent us by Mr. Strickland, so closely
resembles Dr. Smith’s figure, as to make a second illustration unneces-
sary.---Ep.

285

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.

Hlistoire Naturelle des Poissons d'eau douce de V Europe Centrale. Par Ls.
Agassiz. er Livraison, contenant les Salmones. Oblong folio. Neu-
chatel, 1839.

Natural History and Illustrations of the British Salmonide. By Sir Wil-
liam Jardine, Bart. Part First. Elephant Folio. _ Edinburgh, 1839.

On the Growth of the Salmon in Freshwater. By William Yarrell, F.L.S.,
V.P.Z.S., with Six coloured Illustrations of the Fish of the Natural
Size. Oblong Folio. Van Voorst. London, 1839.

The titles of the works which we have placed at the head of this
notice will show that the interest which the Natural History of the
Salmonide has of late excited, has in no way decreased either in this
country or on the Continent, and we sincerely trust that the individuals
who are now devoting their talents to the elucidation of the habits and
structure of this family of fishes, of much importance commercially and
possessing great scientific interest, may be enabled to carry on their
investigations until the complete history of the subject is attained.

At the commencement of the present century, the history of the
British fishes composing this family had for a considerable period
remained stationary. But then, various experiments began to be tried,
with the view of ascertaining the time required by the fry or smelts
to attain a certain weight after leaving the rivers, which was very
satisfactorily established, showing a remarkably rapid increase in weight
and size. This fact, previously surmised, had given rise to the conclu-
sion, that the young on hatching from the ova increased with equal
rapidity, while the history ofa little fish provincially known in Scotland
as the Parr, created much discussion, and no little difference of opinion,
whether it was a young state of the Salmon, or a full-grown and perfect
fish. The immense decrease of the Salmon fisheries also called for
investigation; and although the habits of the species which composed
the chief staple of the fisheries were practically known to the Taxmen,
the proprietors or their factors were not sufficiently conversant with
their growth, migration, or breeding, either to impose salutary restric-
tions in the leases, or to check the indiscriminate and over-killing of
the fish, which was almost the sole cause of the decrease; the latter
caused the appoimtment of various Parliamentary Committees, which
published reports containing an immense but undigested mass of infor-
mation, and which might have elicited much more had the members of
them given some attention to the obscure points in the history of the

Bibliographical Notices. 289

family before examining the witnesses. The difficulty of investigating
the subject is we acknowledge great, and when we know that it has
been undergoing strict research by persons well qualified for the task
for several years without complete information being obtained, we feel
even more anxious to understand the mystery which involves the “lives
and loves” of these very valuable inhabitants of our rivers and oceans.
My. Yarrell, Sir W. Jardine, Dr. Parnell, and Mr. Shaw of Drumlanrig
are all either now, or have been very lately working on this subject,
and the fruits of their researches will eventually leave little to be accom-
plished. Sir Francis Mackenzie of Garloch is about to form extensive
stews for the breeding of salmon, and to re-perform some of Mr. Shaw’s
experiments. The experiments of the latter observer detailed to the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, and published in Professor Jameson’s
Journal, are of the greatest importance ; they have been conducted with
great care, and so far as they have been prosecuted have been accom-
panied by results as satisfactory perhaps as we could expect from the
whole difficulty of the subject. The sum of our knowledge at the
present time, so far as regards the common Salmon, is, that we have
hitherto been in error in considering its growth to be rapid during the first
stages of its existence, and that it does not migrate until at least one
year’s residence in the fresh waters. On reaching the sea however the
increase in size becomes very great, exceeding one pound in weight
monthly. It has been further proved incontestably we think by Mr.
Shaw, that the great proportion of the small fish called Parrs, or in the
English rivers Pinks*, are the first state of the young Salmon previous
to its assuming the migratory dress; but the additional proposition that
the Parr does not exist at all as a distinct fish, is extremely question-
able, and still requires investigation. At present the opinions of all
our best ichthyologists are in favour of its distinctness, and the minute
and careful differences detailed by Dr. Parnell in his “ Fishes of the
Frith of Forth,” go very far to prove every thing that is wanting. The
history of the other migratory fish remains nearly in the same state in
which it has been for the last thirty years, though the works before us
have commenced their elucidation, and some experiments are now in
progress. The geographical distribution of the species has not been at
all attempted, and the facts which relate or bear upon it are few in
number.

The publication of the History of the Freshwater, Fishes of Central
Europe by M. Agassiz has been looked forward to with interest by
British ichthyologists. Some of the plates for it were engraved so

* See Mr. Yarrell’s figures in the work we have placed at the head of this notice.

290 Bibliographical Notices.

far back as 1832, and the long time which it has been known to be in
preparation, with the high scientific character of its author, raised
the expectations of those who were studying the same subject. The
first livraison of plates has now reached this country, accompanied
only with simple explanations, so that we do not yet receive the
views of M. Agassiz upon many of the obscure points, but can only
guess at what may be his probable conclusions. The mode of publi-
cation is however otherwise excellent, each livraison beg intended
to contain complete illustrations of a family or group, so that the
whole is brought under review at once, and is not scattered about as
so commonly occurs in works which appear in numbers. The descrip-
tive letter-press to this part is promised with the plates of the second,
which are to illustrate the Coregoni.

The plates are lithographic, are minutely executed, and those de-
voted to the details of the fins, scaling, and magnified figures are
very useful. A plate of details is given with each species. The
others represent the fish in its various states incident to age and
season. The first series show the Salmon, M. and F., in its breed-
ing dress, and a female.in the state of summer or high condition
after having newly entered a river. These figures lead us to believe,
what we have long suspected, that the Salmon of many of the
continental rivers differed or was not identical with the common
British fish. They are reduced from specimens upwards of three feet
in length; at this age and size the tail in both sexes of the latter
would be completely square, and the scale represented fig. 3. tab. 1 a.
is fully two-thirds less. The markings in tab. 2. also differ much. Six
plates are devoted to the illustration of S. fario. Some of the figures
are of importance as showing what is to be understood by the S. mar-
moratus, Cuv., and the S. sylvaticus of Shrank: but with the English
synonyms we cannot agree, they are given, “the Trout, the com-
mon Trout, the river Trout, the Gillaroo, the Parr (a young Trout).”
Now the Gillaroo of Ireland still requires investigation, and we have
reason to believe that it will form a distinct species. The Parr of
Scotland has no connexion with S. fario,* and the figure given as
the supposed “Parr or young Trout” has been undoubtedly designed
from a young specimen of true S. fario. We may also remark that
all the examples figured are from specimens agreeing with a very
marked but not uncommon variety of the Scottish S. fario found in

* For distinctive characters between the Scotch Parr and common S. fario, see Sir W.
Jardine in Proceedings of Berwickshire Club. For characters separating it from the young of
the Salmon and migratory Trout, see Mr. Yarrell’s British Fishes; and Dr, Parnell, Fishes
of the Frith of Forth.

Bibliographical Notices. 29)

the smaller alpine streams. On tab. III 0. are given representations of
the head of a deformed Trout, similar to that represented by Mr.
Yarrell, and which we know to occur in several lochs in Wales and in
Scotland, and to be not uncommon in the localities where it is found.
The malformation is extremely uniform or similar in all the specimens
or representations of it which we have seen, but the canse has not yet
been noticed, nor has it been attempted to be accounted for. Is the
race continued by breeding ?

Seven plates illustrate two species of migratory Trout which are
given under the names of S. ¢rutta and lacustris Linn.*. In these we
think we recognise the two British fishes which have been confounded
under the provincial name of “Sea Trout.” They are very distinct
in some of their states, and the form of the tail distinguishes them,
together with the colours during the breeding season, but we should
have preferred to have seen figures of these species when in high
condition; residence in a lake may in various ways influence the form.
The young of these fish constitutes the S. albus of Fleming. Should
the S. trutta of this work not stand as S. ertox of Willughb. ?

The Char are all placed under S. wmbla, Linn., and the “ Welsh Char”
is given as an English synonym. Although we know the Char to vary
very considerably, we are inclined to refer the British fish to two
species, chiefly distinguished by the great difference in the scaling.
Those figured by M. Agassiz seem all referable to the ‘“ Northern
Char” of modern British writers.

S. hucho of the Danube, unknown in the British waters, is represented
in the young and adult states, and the last plates delineate the Thymal-
lus vexillifer, Agass., or Common Grayling, found only by the Bri-
tish ichthyologist in certain districts in England.

In looking at the list of the Salmon of Britain and Central Europe
comparatively, we are prepared for a close resemblance of species ;
but from the work before us we perceive one species, S. hucho of the
Danube, which does not occur in Britain or Ireland, while we find
omitted the Bull Trout of the river Tweed, (the S. eriox of some authors,
but not of Willughby,) and the great Trout of the Scotch, Irish, and
North of England lakes. These we have no doubt in being distinct
species, and it appears to us remarkable that the latter should be want-
ing to the Swiss lakes. Among the common Trout, S. fario, we feel
inclined to adopt more species than those of the Swiss ichthyologist, but
as the specimens now figured are chiefly river varieties, and certainly
all one species, we are not so able to judge how the varieties in the lakes

* We are presuming that the S. Jacustris here given is a migratory species, and if so we think
f the name objectionable.

2e

292 Bibliographical Notices.

of Central Europe agree with those from the lochs of Scotland and
Ireland, or how the characters which we think entitle them to sepa-
ration are kept up in other localities. We shall look anxiously for the
appearance of the Second Livraison and the letter-press, when we shall
endeavour to enter more fully upon this curious subject; in the mean
time we would wish that encouragement to the work in this coun-
try which is due to the persevering zeal of its author.

The History of the British Salmonide, by Sir W. Jardine, which stands
next upon our list, is a work which has also been some time in prepa-
ration, and of which the first Fasciculus of six plates is now published.*
The figures are here drawn as near the size of life, as that of the paper
will admit of, and are engraved with the view of giving the effect of
the newly taken fish; all the details of anatomy, scaling, and outward
structure, which require most minute execution, being reserved for
the volume which will contain the descriptive letter-press, and which
will appear with the last fasciculus of the plates. The sketches for
the colouring we know to have been nearly all made at the water’s
edge from the fish when newly caught; thus endeavouring to preserve
an imitation of the rich tints which so quickly fade, and are lost in
preserved specimens ; and the department itself has been entrusted
to, and performed with much credit by Mr. Bayfield of London. It is
expected that the whole species found in the waters of Britain and
Ireland will be illustrated in six fasciculi, or upon from thirty-six to
forty plates.

On the two first plates before us are figured the Gilse or state of
S. salar before having spawned, the second being named with a? and
considered to represent the same state of the second species of British
Salmon, whose history has scarcely yet been noticed by our ichthyolo-
gists. Plate 3. represents S. albus of Fleming, given under that name
to identify without doubt the fish alluded to in the “ British Animals,”
and so often referred to by our modern writers. This is now known
to be the young of our migratory species confused together, and in
this state extremely difficult to separate. 4. is a variety of the large
S. ferox, which we noticed M. Agassiz does not include in his list of
the fishes of Central Europe; the specimen is remarkable for the close
and numerous spottings over the whole body. 5. are two beautiful lacus-
trine varieties of S. fario, and 6. exhibits figures of the Lochmaben
Coregonus C. Willughbeiit, Jard. The second fasciculus, which is in
preparation, will contain, 1. S. salar, adult male in the dress of the
spawning season ; 2. S. salar in a very young state; 3. S. trutta, adult

* See Prospectus published in Annals of Nat. History, vol. ii. p. 138.

Bibliographical Notices. 295

4. §. trutta in the dress of spawning season ; 5. S. fario, river varieties ;
and 6. S. fario in the spawning dress.

The work of Mr. Yarrell forms another interesting addition to our
knowledge of the Natural History of the Salmon. The young of the
Salmon (in the district where the experiments were made called Pinks)
were put into an artificial lake on the property of Thomas Upton, Esq.
of Ingmire Hall, having no outlet or feeder by which other fish could
gain admittance. These were afterwards taken at intervals of from
eleven to twenty-seven months, and Mr. Yarrell’s description and
plates detail and exhibit the changes and appearance of the fish when
taken from the lake. The experiments of Mr. Upton and Mr. Parker
corroborate in general what Mr. Shaw has so successfully proved in
Scotland, and are interesting as showing the change in colouring under-
gone by the Pinks at the period when the clear and silvery scaling
is assumed ; but beyond the time when the migratory change takes
place we cannot depend upon the increase of weight or size. Any one
accustomed to see many Salmon in different states fresh from their
native rivers, and to compare them with fish kept artificially, could
at once say that Nos. 4, 5, and 6, had been kept in fresh water ; this is
particularly evident in the form of Nos. 4 and 5, and we would account
for the comparatively fine condition of No. 6 by the lake being newly
completed, and unstocked (we presume) with other fish. It is well
known how much common Trout are influenced in their condition by
being placed in a newly formed pond or lake. The drawings by Mr.
C. Curtis illustrating Mr. Yarrell’s paper were exhibited to the British
Association at Newcastle, and were then much admired. The coloured
engravings from these now published, are executed with great minute-
ness and delicacy..

Narrative of an expedition into Southern Africa during the years 1836
and 1837, from the Cape of Good Hope through the Territories of the
Chief Moselekatse to the tropic of Capricorn. By Captaim W. C. Harris.
8vo. Bombay, 1838. Murray, London. (Reprinted) 1839.

This volume may perhaps be thought by some scarcely to come
under the range of works which should be noticed in the ‘ Annals,’
but as the author tells us that “both from education and taste,’ he
“possessed an ardent desire to contribute his mite to the geography
and natural history of the countries” he “was about to explore ;”’ and
that there are interspersed through the work anecdotes of several
rare animals, which though not written for the naturalist are extremely
interesting to him; we have thought it worth while to bring it under
the notice of our readers. Capt. Harris seems to have been born a

294 Bibliographical Notices.

sportsman, possessing the bump of destructiveness-in its fullest develop-
ment. At a very early age (16) he received a commission in the
army in India, where he was “entered” at the Lion and Tiger of the
East : but not satisfied with the gorgeous scenery and abundant game
which this continent produced; hankering after the tales of travellers
in the plains of Southern Africa, and considering that country as
the “fairy land of sport,” the “hunter’s paradise,’ he took advan-
tage of a banishment to the Cape of Good Hope by the Medical Board,
to project a realization of his young dreams of the interior; and,
having found a brother sportsman, they set out upon their expedition
with a retinue of horses, oxen, wagons, and Hottentots for Graham’s
Town, travel by Kuruman or New Litakoo to the residence of Mose-
lekatse the Matabili chief, penetrate still northward to the river
Limpopo, and return again to the colony by the route of the Vaal
river. The volume is pleasantly written, and carries on both the
sportsman and naturalist. Some of the descriptions of scenery are
beautifully sketched; and if some of the hunting scenes seem as if
coloured with a sportsman’s licence, and the rifle is used with Ken-
tucky precision, we can excuse the enthusiasm which prompted the
tale, and knowing the feelings which excite the comparatively puny
European sportsman, who has hooked and mastered his first twenty-
five or thirty pound Salmon, or sees his first red Deer fall in the
glens of Athol or the wild forests of Ross, we can join with the
“tingling excitement” experienced when galloping side by side
with the “ Swan-necked Giraffe,” and the “ bursting exultation” when
looking down on the first noble prize he had won.

To the naturalist the volume is interesting as detailing different
traits in the habits ofseveral of the rare Antelopes. It confirms
the remarkable manner in which many of the species are restricted,
as it were almost by a line, within certain boundaries, and the incre-
dible troops in which they migrate and are spread over the interior,
where the arrows and pitfalls or traps of the natives, and the ravages
of the larger Feline are as nothing compared with the increase. All
these animals are said by Capt. Harris to be easily overtaken by a
good and well-conditioned horse, their very speed being their destruc-
tion, frantic terror at such novel enemies causing them to spend their
strength in the exertions of a few miles. The speed of the Camelopard
is extraordinary, but “our best horses were able to close with him in
about two miles.”

The great fault of Capt. Harris’s book is a constant attempt to
assume a scientific character, which every page contradicts. There
is no precise information on the subject either of zoology or geogra-

eat

Bibliographical Notices. 295

phy, the two branches which the author particularly boasts of his
desire to investigate; he does not appear to have made a single ob-
servation to ascertain either the latitude, longitude, or elevation of
the places he visited, nor to have carried any instruments for that
purpose; and this is the more to be regretted, as he visited a part of
the country very seldom penetrated by Europeans. The positions
on his map are consequently laid down at least 20° wrong in lati-
tude, and their longitude of course must have been taken at random.
Though not a practised zoologist, Capt. Harris’s hints on habits and
localities are often valuable, and they are given but as incidental
to the great thread of his discourse, which is a lively narrative of a
shooting excursion and nothing more; but this very character deprives *
them of suspicion. To the end of the volume is added a descriptive
Catalogue of the Mammalia of Southern Africa, but which contains
little that was not previously known: it is in fact chiefly copied
(though without acknowledgment) from Dr. Andrew Smith’s “ African
Zoology,” a small work printed at Cape Town about eight or ten years
since, and we believe never published, though freely circulated among the
friends of the amiable and talented author.

We have thus attempted to give a fair and impartial account of Capt.
Harris’s volume. It is written in the lively dashing spirit of a soldier and
asportsman: no one can read it without amusement, and few without
some instruction ; and if truth has obliged us to mingle some slight
censure with our general praise of the performance, it is because the
pretensions which the author makes to scientific knowledge create
expectations which are disappointed in the perusal.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

March 12, 1839.---William Yarrell, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. Ogilby communicated a portion of a letter which he had re-
ceived from M.Temminck. It related to two species of Monkeys,
Colobus fuliginosus and Papio speciosus; the former M. Temminck con-
siders identical with the Bay-Monkey of Pennant, and he states that
this opinion is founded upon its agreement with a coloured drawing
now in his possession; this drawing having been taken by Sydenham
Edwards from the specimen of the Bay-Monkey formerly in the Leve-
rian Museum, and which is the original of Pennant’s descripticn.

The Macacus speciosus of M. F. Cuvier is stated by M. Temminck to be
founded upon an immature specimen of a species of Macacus which
inhabits Japan ; the habitat of Molucca Islands given by M. F. Cuvier

296 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

being founded upon error. The specimen was originally taken from
Japan to Java, where it died; the skin was preserved, and M. Diard
having obtained possession of it, sent it to the Paris Museum; and as
there was no label attached, M. F. Cuvier imagined it to be a native of
the place whence M. Diard had sent it.

Mr. Fox exhibited several birds, which he stated had formed part
of an extensive collection made in Iceland by the Curator of the
Durham Museum.

May 14, 1839.---Sir John P. Boileau, Bart., in the Chair.

The Rey. F. W. Hope exhibited a portion of his collection of insects,
in order to illustrate a paper entitled “A Monograph on Mr. William
Sharp MacLeay’s Coleopterous Genus Euchlora.”

Genus Evcutora, MacLeay.
Metotontua, Linn., Fab. and Olivier. —

Antenne articulis novem, basilari conico elongato, 2do, 3tio, 4to, Sto
_ et 6to brevibus subglobosis; capitulo ovato, triphyllo, elongato, anten-
narum longitudinis totius haud dimidium zequante.

Labrum prominulum, clypeo fere absconditum, margine antico lineari,
ciliato, emarginato, lateribus rotundatis.

Mandibule l\atitantes, subtrigonze supra plane, latere externo ro-
tundato, interno ciliato, ad apicem 3-dentato.

Maxille caule subtrigono-triquetro, ad apicem inflexze 6-dentate.

Palpi mazillares articulo terminali cylindrico ovato.

Labiales articulis 2do et ultimo longitudine zequalibus hoc subulato.

Mentum subquadratum, margine antico emarginato angulis trunca-
tis rotundatis ac lateribus sinuatis, posticé valdé convexis.

Caput subquadratum clypeo lateribus rotundatis margine reflexo.

Corpus ovatum convexum posticé elytris haud opertum. Thorax
subquadratus ad basin dupld longior quam latior, latere postico smuato
vix lobato.

Scutellum parvum cordato-truncatum. Sternum haud productum.

Pedes validiusculi tibiis anticis 3-dentatis. Zarsorum ungues postico-
rum indivisi reliquorum ex unguibus unus bifidus, alter indivisus.

“Tt is in the warm and tropical regions of the world that we find
vastness one of the leading characteristics of animal life. It is in
the same regions also, amongst the class of insects, that we find a
corresponding magnitude attended with a wonderful increase of spe-
cies, many examples of which might here be mentioned. It is suf
ficient for our purpose at present to note only a few of them, such
as the Sternocera, among the Buprestide ; Lamia, belonging to the

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 297

Longicorn beetles, and Melolontha and Euchlora, well-known genera
pertaining to the Lamellicorns. With regard to vegetation, there
will also be found an equal magnitude of stature and a luxuriance
of foliage quite in proportion to what occurs even in the animal
world. If we look to the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Ame-
rica, we shall find a similarity of character generally predominating :
but it is in the tropical jungle chiefly, and on the banks and estuaries
of mighty rivers, that insects will be found, not only formidable by
their size, but remarkably numerous im species and individuals. The
genus Huchlora of Mr. MacLeay, to which at present I wish to
draw your attention, is not very distinguished for its size, although
larger than all the allied genera belonging to the family. The pre-
dominating colour is green, and the abundance of individuals be-
longing to some of the species is incalculable. I may mention, en
passant, that the thousands which have annually been imported
into Europe, appear from inquiry not in the least to have thinned
their numbers. On one occasion I received forty Chinese boxes,
and in each of them (I speak greatly within bounds) there were at
least twenty specimens of Euchlora viridis. These boxes are import-
ed into England, and other parts of Europe, in great quantities, and
there is scarcely a museum at home or abroad, however insignifi-
cant it may be, but exhibits its Atlas Moths, its purple-coloured
Sagra, and less attractive Euchlora, in tolerable profusion. I have
stated above that the prevailing colour of the species is green, but
there are some exceptions. The under side of some of them is usually
a bronze, or a rose-coloured copper; some of them green above and
beneath; others green above and yellow beneath; while some again
are blue on the same side, with the play of light appearing of a
violet colour. With regard to the colour of insects, greens as far as
my observations go, naturally on one side merge into blues and violets,
and on the other into orange and yellows. Instead of occupying
the time of the meeting with a question at present (as far as re-
gards insects) comparatively little studied or understood, I proceed
to remark on the geographical distribution of the family Ewchloride.
Had some of the Continental entomologists been better acquainted with
Mr. MacLeay’s Hore Entomologice, they certainly never would have
considered Euchlora as an European genus. In a late work, published
in Paris, the ‘‘ Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulées” (at page 135),
we find under the generic name Euchlora, not only Mimela and Aprosterna
included, but also Anomala, &c. It is singular that the same appel-
lation is given to twenty-two species therein specified, a short analysis
of which I now place before you, and shall then allude more par-

298 Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

ticularly to the genera composing the family, the range over which
it extends, and mention the countries and localities in which they
severally occur.

“Of the above twenty-two species, five of them appear to be true
Euchlore, two others belong to Mimela, Kirby, another to Rhombonyx,
Kirby, and the remaining fourteen to Anomala of Megerle, as it now
stands. Before I conclude these remarks on the species of the genus
before us, it is necessary to state that I have elevated Euchlora to
the rank of a family, the following genera properly belonging to it.

Evcutoripz, Hope.

Genera. Country. Species known.
1. Euchlora, IS STR Cae Ie eee SL
2. Aprosterna, Hope . . . Asiaand Africa, . . 5
3. Mimela, RADY weigh (lps CANS eg cic Se eo ye
4, Rhombonyx, Kirby . . . Siberiaand China. . 2
5. Anomala, Megerle . . Oldand New World . 120
179

Genus 1. Eucnuiora.

“The family of Euchloride, from the above table, consists of five
genera, and nearly two hundred species, which have fallen under my
notice. True Euchlora, I state, belongs exclusively to Asia and its isles.
It occurs as far south as Manilla, appears at Singapore, and runs from
thence through the continent of India up to the Himalaya; the extreme
eastern point appears to be Japan, while its western range does not
reach Bombay, probably from the intervention of some physical barrier.
Captain Ezra Downes has taken it at Neemuch. The Entimology of
that district essentially agrees in character with that of Calcutta and
Madras, at the latter of which places Euchlora is taken.

Genus 2. APROSTERNA.

“This genus is not peculiar to Asia, as some of the species are found
in New Guinea.
Genus 3. Mrimeta.

“This elegant genus, rivalling in colour and splendour the Bupres-
tide, is confined to Asia ; it ranges wherever Euchlora is found.
Genus 4. Ruomsonyx.

“This genus is probably peculiar to Asia. One species is found
in China, and the other, I have reason to think, is only found in Asiatic
Siberia.

Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 299

Genus 5. ANOMALA.

“ Anomala is common to the four quarters of the globe, and may
properly be divided into three if not four sub-genera, which task I
willingly leave to other entomologists.

“ In concluding these observations on Euchlora, I have only to add,
that it may excite some surprise that this genus extends far into the
Himalayan regions; it may be explained however, satisfactorily, by
the influence of local causes. It is an ascertained fact that tropical
vegetation often extends into high latitudes, and why then may we not
expect to find insects which feed upon it, and are intended probably to
keep it within due bounds ?

“From information given to me by my friend Professor Royle, I
state that the tropic-girt base of the Himalayas is characterized by
a vigorous and luxurious vegetation.

“In the same regions there is also an uniformity or great equality
of temperature, well adapted for animal as well as vegetable life. The
exuberance of the latter adds to the humidity of the atmosphere,
as well by the exhalation of the foliage as by preventing free evapora-
tion from the soil. In the boundless forest and interminable jungle
there will generally be found a great equality of temperature, brought
about in consequence of the umbrageous shelter impeding the absorp-
tion of heat by day, as it checks the free radiation of it at night. It is
then, owing to the presence of tropical vegetation, united with moisture,
that there arises considerable uniformity of temperature ; in a word, it is
from local causes that we are enabled to explain the reasons why we
meet with the representatives of tropical genera of plants and insects
extending into higher latitudes than at first might naturally be ex-
pected.”

Remarks on an East Indian Turnip-fly ( Haltica Nigro-fusca ).
By J.T. Pearson, Assistant Surgeon.

{From the Transactions of the Agricultural Society of India.]

Desc. Cu. Insecta.---Auctorum.
Orv. Coleoptera.---Auct.
Sec. Tetramera.---Latreille.
Fam. Chrysomelide.---Leach.
Gen. Haltica.---Auct.
Se. H. Nigro-fusca.---Mzhi.
Black Haltica, with brown legs and antenne.

Colour, shining black, with a shade of blue. Form, oval. Head and
2k

300 Remarks on an East Indian Turnip-fly.

thorax, thickly and minutely punctated. lytra minutely punctated
in lines; but appearing, as well as the head and thorax, smooth to
the naked eye. Antenne, tibia, and tarsi brown; the antenne hirsute ;
tibie and tarsi clothed with short stiff hairs. Thighs black; minutely
punctated; clothed with coarse distinct hairs. Under surface, black,
slightly iridescent.

Sexes alike.

Length 0.10 inches ; breadth of elytra 0.05 inches.

Inhabits Darjeeling in the Himalayah mountains. Found in gardens
on the young plants of the cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, radish, and
others of that order.

Obs. This destructive little insect differs from any species of the
genus /altica, of which I have met with adescription. Its ravages are
but little, if any, inferior to those of the celebrated “ Turnip-fly,” or
flies, the Haltica nemorum and concinna of entomological authors; com-
plete rows of the young plants being sometimes destroyed by it soon
after they appear from the ground: its attacks are particularly destruc-
tive to the two first, or seed leaves; but it preys also upon the succeed-
ing ones, though not to the same extent, eating a few holes in them
only, and not destroying the plant.

Mr. C. D. Russell informs me that last year (and never before) this, or
a similar insect, committed great ravages on the Indigo throughout
the whole district of Rungpoor ; first attacking the young plant, and
after the rains, the crops for seed. He has promised to try to furnish me
with the specimens; and should he be able to do so, I shall have the
pleasure of laying a description of the insect, together with such informa-
tion as I may collect, before the Society. Perhaps other gentlemen in
the district will favour me with communications on the subject.

Among the expedients to get rid of the plague of “the fly” the
chief have been dressing the land with lime, with wood ashes, and even
with sulphur; but all without the least success. Mr. Le Keux, in
an excellent paper in the Transactions of the Entomological Society,
says, that in one instance he tried watering the ground on the fourth
day after sowing it with turnips, with a mixture of one ounce of tar, one
ounce of olive oil, and two ounces of strong caustic potash, shaken
up with a quantity of water (how much is not very clear) with apparent
success. Carbonate of Ammonia succeeded in killing the insect, but it
destroyed the plant also. Steeping the seed, as is done against the
vegetable parasitical destroyer, ‘the smut” in corn, would probably do
no good here; but it might be tried. In short, of all the expedients
hitherto resorted to, none have succeeded in keeping off “the fly,”
unless we may except the above quoted single experiment.

Remarks on an East Indian Turnip-fly. 301

Perhaps a remedy may be found in pitting one insect against another,
the insectivorous against the herbivorous tribes ; and by encouraging,
rather than scaring away, the insectivorous birds. In this way the
larvee of the lady-bird (Coccinella) devour the “Hop-fly,” (a species of
Aphis, and not a beetle) and save the plant: the parasitic larvee of the
Hymenoptere attack the insects they feed upon in all their states; and
those of the Diptere the Hymenopterous herbivore. Of this last Mr. Yarrell
gives an account in the Trans. Zool. Soc. in his paper on the “ Yellow fly,”
(Athalia centifolia) where a Dipterous parasite is described as inhabiting,
and having devoured the larva of that destructive insect.

Mr. Le Keux is of opinion that the antidote against these insects
will be found “in some effluvia, or odour, which may be either offen-
sive to the insect when near, or so overpower the scent of the turnip,
as to prevent the fly from distinguishing, and being attracted by it.”
He further remarks, that so long as the plants are kept wet,the insect
disappears; which agrees with my own observations on the Darjeeling
insect.

The attacks of the “Turnip-fly” are said to be diverted from a plant
by more attractive food. Thus Mr. Le Keux has “invariably” found
that the white stone turnip, mixed with the Swedish turnip, protects the
latter ; the insects preferring the former, so that the Swedish has time
to grow up beyond their power of destroying it, while they are engaged
in devouring the other sort. This appears to be the easiest of all
methods of defending a crop whenever it can be done; and well worth
making experiments upon. Should there be found a plant which the
Rungpoor insect prefers to the more precious Indigo, the advantage of
employing this expedient need not be dwelt upon.

As the subject of insects hurtful to Agricultural productions is at
present exciting much interest in Europe, I have thought it well to
present the foregoing observations to the Society: for, it is of the
ereatest consequence that attention should be every where awakened -
to it, m the hope of discovering some remedy against their ravages.
It cannot be thought a triflimg matter, when it is considered, that an
irruption of “ the fly,” will be as fatal to the prosperity of the planter as
an inundation of the Ganges.

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for December, 1839.

In the notice prefixed to the December number of the Journal of the
Asiatic Society, (which by the way appeared five months after its time),
we are told that the late severe Epidemic interfered so seriously with
the arrangements, as to render typographical mistakes unavoidable.

302 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

We doubt if contributors will be satisfied with this explanation for
the introduction of errors into their papers, which destroy their sense
and meaning; thus in one paper, the Himmaleh are made to run in
a north-east and south-west direction, instead of north-west and
south-east; and Avicula socialis, and Ammonites nodosus, are converted
into four genera instead of two, as follows; Avicula, Socialis, Ammo-
nites, Nodasus. We have also two other new genera unexplained,
viz. Enerinilis and Monitiformis. The curious thing is, that the Epidemic
should have confined its ravages to the typography of those sentences
which required some degree of intelligence in scientific nomenclature to
perceive; while the printer’s part is executed with the usual care,
accuracy and good taste for which the press from which the Journal
issues is remarkable. We do not think it below the dignity of
scientific persons when a thing comes before them, be it what it
may, to confess freely and unaffectedly that they do not under-
stand it, should that really happen to be the case. On the contrary,
such candour is absolutely necessary on the part of every scienti-
fic inquirer; so much so, that, whoever is without it, is unworthy of
credit as a scientific observer, because we cannot be answerable for
the lengths to which our moral weakness may carry us, either in
suppressing the truth, or in the statement of facts that may be in any
way opposed to our own views.

Indian Hand Book of Gardening, containing directions for the
management of the Kitchen and Flower Garden in India. By
G. T. Freperic Speeps. Bishop’s College Press. Ostell & Co.,
Calcutta. June, 1840. pp. 284.

Any attempt to render the improved practice of useful arts better
understood in India, deserves commendation; and although the Kitchen
and Flower Garden are luxuries of far less interest in the East than
elsewhere, still their improved culture might lead to more important
improvements.

We require however to be much better acquainted than we are
at present with peculiarities of soil and climate, as well as the nature
of cultivated plants, together with such as might be cultivated with
advantage in various parts of India, before we can hope for much good
from any general rules for Gardening. Mr. Speede’s little book is de-
dicated to the Superintendent of the H. C. Botanic Garden for that
zeal “which, while effectively employed in the higher walks of Botanic
“Science, could condescend to consult the good of society by afford-

Indian Hand Book of Gardening. 303

“img his able assistance in promoting the Horticulture of India.” This
is the most ironical dedication we ever saw; but if those whose duties
might be supposed to qualify them for the special improvement of
Agriculture and Gardening neglect their posts, they must put up with
ironical dedications, just as the Public must be content with such books
as are offered by more zealous individuals. Mr. Speede’s little book
treats chiefly of the cultivation of European vegetables, fruits, flowers,
and ornamental shrubs, and as the only work that has been hitherto
devoted to such subjects, we recommend it to all those who have
gardens.

News of Naturalists.

We alluded in our paper on “ Indian Cyprinide,” Asiatic
Res. vol. xix. part. 2, p. 258, to the intended visit of Mr. W.S.
Macleay to New Holland. We have recently been favour-
ed with letters from Sydney, dated the 12th of February last,
by which we were happy to hear of his arrival. As might be
expected, the time spent on the long voyage from England
to Sydney was not lost; the ocean indeed is a rich domain
to the philosopher. Mr. Macleay mentions having fallen
in with the American Scientific Expedition, which left the
United States about eighteen months ago, in two corvettes
and four schooners. They had visited, when Mr. Macleay
met them, the Cape de Verds, Brazil, Patagonia, Terra del
Fuego, Chilli, Peru, and the South Sea Islands, and had
made extensive collections in all departments of natural history.
The following are the scientific men which compose the
expedition, and their duties. Titian Peale for mammalia
and birds; Dr. Pickering for insects, reptiles, and fishes ;
Mr. Coulter for mollusca, and Mr. Dana for crustacea,
pelagic animals, and geology; Mr. Rich for botany; two
gardeners, and two artists complete the scientific corps.
The expedition is creditable to the United States, and we
trust will prove highly important to the advancement of
science. Extensive collections were making in every de-
partment of nature, which were forwarded to Philadelphia

304: News of Naturalists.

as opportunities offered. With regard to Mr. Macleay
himself, it is his intention to remain four or five years in
New South Wales, where he thinks he will have occasion to
publish some of the results of his investigations without
waiting for the remote prospect of his return to England.
He had made one journey to the Hunter river; there are
bones, he observes, in limestone caves of Wellington valley,
which prove to be those of gigantic marsupials, now extinct;
but with the exception of these, few fossils have been found
in New South Wales. The impressions of a fern and of a
fish, some corallines, molluscous shells, and a few radiata,
are all that he has yet seen or heard of. No crustacea or
annulosa. or cirrepedous shells have yet been found, nor
reptiles or birds. Indeed, he observes, this new country is
in reality a very old one, if we may judge from the low
organization of its fossil remains.

Mr. Macleay asks many questions regarding India,
which perhaps we will do better by publishing, than by at-
tempting to answer ourselves. He is particularly interested
in those fossil remains which, as he himself expresses it, “ fill
up gaps in the chain of living nature,” and asks if we have
any Trilobites. They occur, he says, at the Cape of Good
Hope, and might be expected in silurian rocks. He is desi-
rous of being informed if leeches abound in the dark damp
forests of India, and also if there be any insects parasitical
in ants’ nests, and whether bees and wasps are infested
with parasites in India. He is desirous of having some of
the Hymenopterous and Dipterous insects of India, with
all the parasitical kinds, and the names of the animals
they infest. We had sent a small collection of the com-
moner insects collected in the cold season, but Mr. Macleay
is now desirous of having some of those which are found on
plants of various kinds during the rains; and in making
collections during winter, he recommends stones to be
turned, and the bark of trees to be removed in search of the
rarer sorts. Calcutta is. not the most favourable place for

News of Naturalists. 305

making collections of any kind, but we shall procure what
we can; we shall also be very happy to forward to Mr.
Macleay any collections that may be intrusted to us for
the purpose by friends in the Mofussil. Myr. Gould, the
ornithologist, is also in New South Wales, and Mr. Swainson
is said to be on his way to New Zealand.

The Curator Question.

The Report to which so many high official signatures
were obtained,* is stated by the late Secretaries of the Asiatic
Society to be based on certain resolutions of the Society,
which in reality is far from being the case. ‘The only
resolution of the Society delegating any authority whatever
to the Committee of Papers on the subject of the Curatorship,
is the following (Journal Asiatic Society 1839, p. 1060): “It
“was further decided, that the Committee of Papers should
“report to the next Meeting, on the nature and extent of the
“‘ duties the Curator is expected to undertake,with reference to
* the office as held in other Museums.” 'The Committee by this,
were not authorised to go into any of the various questions
mixed up in the Report to which so many of the members lent
their signatures ; they were required merely to report on the
nature of those duties performed by the Curators of other
Museums, regarding which, there is not one syllable from be-
ginning to end of the Report in question; nor were the
Committee authorised to discuss the question of who should,
or should not, be Curator. The question proposed to the
Committee, was also one with which individual interests
had nothing whatever to do ; it was a question therefore
which did not render it expedient that any member of the
Committee should have been excluded during its considera-
tion. Lastly, the Committee were not authorised to submit
the Report to any one with a view to induce him to decide as

* See Journal As. Soc. of Beng. 1839, p. 1062.

306 The Curator Question.

to his accepting or declining the office of Curator. On the
contrary, it is expressly stated in the resolution of the Society,
that the Report should be brought up at the next Meeting,
without any thing whatever to justify the Secretaries in ma-
king any other use of the Report in the mean time. The use
they did make of it—namely, that of calling upon us to ac-
knowledge its authority, or resign the place to which we had
been invited a few months before by the same parties, under
other circumstances—left us no alternative but to point out
the very objectionable course that had been pursued.

Papers Received.

1. Plants characteristic of different nations, by PRorEssor
Scuouw ; translated from the original Danish, by Dr.
CANTOR.

2. Proressor Scuouw’s Physical Sketch of Europe ; from
the Danish, by Dr. Cantor, Assistant Surgeon, doing
duty with H. M. 26th Foot.

3. On the affinities of the Falconide, being an attempt
at a natural arrangement of this family. Part 1, by W.
Jameson, Ese. Bengal Medical Service.

THE
CALCUTTA JOURNAL

OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

On the Affinities of the Falconide ; being an attempt at a
Natural Arrangement of this Family. By Wma. Jameson,
Ese. Bengal Medical Service.

The number of species, and the numerous and various modi-
fications which they present, have rendered the Falconide
the most interesting and complicated group for illustration
in the whole ornithological kingdom. The various arrange-
ments which have as yet been proposed, are more or less
unsatisfactory, probably from authors not taking properly
into consideration the affinities which the different genera
bear to each other, which may be owing (at least in several
cases) to the extent of the collections examined; for in order
to render such an arrangement satisfactory, a vast series of
specimens must be examined to shew the general connexion
which each minor group presents.

The views of a circular arrangement of the objects of
Nature, first pointed out by Werner to exist in the inanimate
world, has been ably taken up, and extended to the animal
kingdom by several authors, but first applied to insects by
Macleay in his “‘ Hore Entomologice,” a work which has
produced a new era in zoology. Advocating a similar ar-
rangement in ornithology, the names of Swainson and Vi-
gors stand prominently forward ; nor is the botanical king-

VOL. I. NO. II, OCTOBER, 1840. 28

308 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

dom without its advocates. In this department we have
Fries, Lindley, Agardh, Decandolle, &c. attempting to
prove the same as applicable.

It is foreign to our purpose at present to enter into any
discussion upon the merits or demerits of the ternary or
quinary systems. But we cannot thus quietly pass over
the name of the illustrious Werner, who in the long and
animated discussion as to the authorship of the circular ar-
rangement, has been entirely kept in the back ground; and
where, let me ask, can a more beautiful illustration be seen
of the principles now advocated, than in his system of
colours. Moreover, in his mineralogical system we see the
same plan adopted, though from the imperfect state of mi-
neralogical science, not carried out to its full extent.*

The Rapacious Birds form in themselves a great group,
which has been divided into two grand divisions, viz. the
Diurnal and the Nocturnal Birds of Prey, the former compre-
hending the Vultures and Hawks, the latter—the Owls; and
these again have been divided into many minor groups and
genera; and some authors have even carried the subdivision
further into sub-genera; but it is much and deeply to be
regretted that such a term ever was adopted, seeing that it
has led to so much confusion, the characters ft to constitute
a genus being of such an indefinite and arbitrary nature, how
much more so must be those which constitute a sub-genus.

Although the division of Vultures, Hawks, and Owls into
minor groups serves generally the ends of classification, in
nature they do not exist, for it is impossible to say correctly
where one minor group begins and ends. No doubt we can,
if a typical species is presented, determine to which group it
belongs ; but when we examine all the species belonging to
any group, some will be found to blend so imperceptibly into
the next adjoining one, as to render it impossible to decide

* For an account of Werner’s Mineralogical System, see Jameson’s
System of Mineralogy, vol. 1. p. 475.

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 309

whether they ought to be retained in the group under con-
sideration, or be placed under the next adjoining. Such is
the case with all the works of Nature, presenting to the eye
of the observer one harmonious whole, leading the mind
gradually from the contemplation of Nature to Nature’s
God.

That the ancients were aware of these subdivisions, we
learn from the writings of Aristotle, who, in his elaborate
work, divides the Hawks into three groups, viz. aero, tsoa-
xé&¢, and ty7vot, and these again into minor groups. ‘Thus
under the tspayec are included all the Falconide belonging
to the families Hawks, Falcons, and Buzzards, properly so
called.* In fact, upon this arrangement all the great im-
provements which have within these few years been pro-
posed, are founded. Nor is it alone in ornithology that the
ancients excelled ; for we find that in regard to many qua-
drupeds they had much more accurate information than
either Buffon or Linneus. Thus what Aristotle has writ-
ten in regard to the organization, history, and manners of
the Elephant is much superior and more accurate than the
account given by Buffon. Neither Buffon nor Linnzus
were acquainted with more than one species of Elephant,
though both the Asiatic and African species seem to have
been not only well known to the ancient naturalists, but
also to the statuarists, for we find them both not only well
described, but also accurately represented on monuments,
models, &c.; Moreover there are many animals described
well by the ancients, which till lately were considered fa-
bulous. Thus, for example, we may mention the prickly
mouse, stated by Aristotle and /Elian as occurring in Egypt
and Lybia, which animal was actually found to exist there
‘by the French Scientific Mission which accompanied Bona-.

* Vigors on the Falconide, Zool. Journ.
+ Marcel de Serres, Edin. New Phil. Journ. vol. xvu. p. 274.

310 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

parte, a figure of which has been given by Geof. St. Hilaire
and Savigny.*

Brisson, in his elaborate work, divides the Diurnal Birds
of Prey into three grand groups, or genera; viz., lst genus
Accipitrinum ; 2d. genus, Aquilinum; and 3d. genus Vulture.
In the first of these divisions he includes the Sparrow-
Hawks, Goshawks, Falcons, Buzzards, and. Harriers; in
the second, the Eagles properly so called, Sea-Eagles,
Caracaras, and Harpies ; and in the third, all those species
which are popularly known under the name of Vulture, or
rather those Rapacious Birds whose necks are more or less
denuded of feathers, and including also, though an excep-
tion to this rule, the Lemmergeyer, or Gypaétos barbatus,
Cuv.

This admirable arrangement for the time was almost
entirely neglected by contemporary naturalists, its place
being supplied by one, which, though far inferior in merit, yet
it was much more simple, and well adapted for the state of
science at the time [ allude to than that of Linneus. In fact
most of the divisions of Brisson, borrowed in part from the
ancients, have been found to be based upon characters which
authors now have, and are adopting; and if ornithologists
had followed his system in many places, instead of clinging
reverentially to that of the illustrious Swede, the student
would not now have been perplexed with the innumerable
list of synonyms presented by many groups. For many
years the system of Linnzus was considered the standard
work, and adhered to with almost religious veneration, and
owing to the vast inroad of new species, we had arrang-
ed under one and the same genus, species that had scarcely

* Descrip. d’ Egypt ou Recueil des Observ. et des Recherches qui ont
été faites in Egypte pend, |’ exped. del’ arm. Frang. Zool. par Geof. St.
Hilaire and Savigny. A copy of this magnificent work is in the Li-
brary of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta.

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 311

any one generic character in common with each other,
authors being unwilling to make new genera. It was then
that ornithology appeared a mass of ill digested, and ill
arranged matter, and in many cases before it could be
determined whether a bird was a new species, it was neces-
sary to examine upwards of two hundred, and in no group
was the task more difficult than among the Hawks. La-
bouring under such disadvantages, ornithologists hailed with
much pleasure and satisfaction the admirable system con-
tained in the Regné Animal of the Baron Cuvier, who with
that wonderful sagacity, which is so conspicuous in all
his works, remodelled the whole of the Linnzan system, and
produced one, which for simplicity and elegance, stands,
as a whole, unrivalled, and probably, under certain modifica-
tions, will long remain so.

In the Linnean system we find the Diurnal Rapacious
Birds divided into two grand divisions—viz., Falcons and
Vultures. The former of which is thus characterized :—Ros-
trum aduncum, basi cera instructum, caput pennis arcti tec-
tum. Lingua bifida,—terms which however are not at all
applicable, and the latter statement is quite inaccurate if
applied to the whole group. The group of Falcons he
does not again subdivide, if we except that division where
he arranges them into those with the waxen-coloured and
those with the dusky coloured cere, acharacter which is only
a mark of age, not a real generic distinction.

The above simple arrangement, as already mentioned,
answered all the purposes required in order to point out
clearly the species then known, the number being only
twenty-four, three of which, however, are not species, but
young birds, or females of others previously described.

By the Baron Cuvier the Diurnal Birds of Prey are divided
into two grand groups—viz., the Vultures and Hawks; the
former being again subdivided into five genera, viz., Vulture
properly so called, Cathartes, Sarcoramphus, Percnopterus,

312 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

and Gypaétos; and the latter into other two minor groups,
viz., the Noble and I[gnoble Birds of Prey. Under the Noble
Birds of Prey, are comprehended the genera Falco and
Hierofalco ; and in the Ignoble, the genera Aquila, Haliaé-
tus, Pandion, Circaétus, Harpyia, Morphnus, Astur, Nisus,
Milvus, Pernis, Buteo, and Circus. But the genera will be
found, when properly examined, to be arranged in groups
which in many instances are not at all connected to each
other. Thus he has the genus Hierofalco (a genus which
has as its type the Falco islandicus, and which we have re-
tained as a connecting link between the genus Falco and
Cerchnis, it presenting all the characters, with the excep-
tion of the rather shorter tarsus and wings, common to the
typical species of the genus Falco properly so called,) follow- *
ing that of Aquila, the genus Nisus following that of Milvus,
whose affinity to each other is distant, or, in other words,
there are many genera which come between in order to con-
nect them. In other parts of his arrangement he follows
out, to a certain extent, the principles so well advocated and
beautifully illustrated by MacLeay and others in Britain.

In this rapid sketch we must notice a few of Cuvier’s con-
temporaries who have written upon this interesting depart-
ment; and there is no one who deserves more than the
celebrated Temminck, who by his profound views, acute
reasoning, and excellent generalizations, has done so much
for the advancement of ornithological science, but who by
his inveterate enmity to new genera, especially in the Fal-
conidz, shews that in many cases he is as much guided by
theory as by practice.

Temminck, in his excellent manual, divides the Diurnal
Birds of Prey into four groups—viz., Vulture, Cathartes, Gy-
paétos, and Falco, the last of which he again subdivides
into six divisions. In the first of these he includes all the
Falcons properly so called; in the second, the Eagles; in
the third, the Goshawks; in the. fourth, the Kites; in the

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 313

fifth, the Buzzards; and in the sixth, or last, the Harriers.
But as he in this arrangement only comprehends the birds
of Europe, we cannot with justice attempt to analyse it, all
-we can state is, that it has the same objections as that of the
Baron Cuvier. In fact, it is just a mere modification of it,
the former adopting the plan of the ancients, viz. sections
instead of genera.

Mr. Vigors in his admirable paper on the Falconide, pub-
lished in’the Zoological Journal, has divided the Rapacious
Birds into a series of groups, which he has denominated the
typical and aberrant. In the former he arranges the Hawks
and Falcons, and in the latter, Buzzards, Kites, and Eagles.
As a general character for the typical species, he has, Ros-
tra brevia, precipue dentata, prada aéria, terms which
though particularly applicable, will apply also to many
species among his aberrant group; for in many we find the
bill very short and toothed, and at the same time in their
habits truly aerial. Moreover to his so-called Stirps accipi-
trinum, we have only a festoon ascribed, which however is
entirely wanting in many species belonging to the genus
Accipiter. Again, in a bird in the Edinburgh Royal Museum,
sent by Major Clunie from Moreton Bay, New South Wales,
having almost every character in common with the genus
Pernis or Honey Buzzard, (the particular arrangement of
small feathers in the loral region excepted) there is a dou-
ble tooth. In another species also in the same collection,
more nearly allied to the genus Buteo than to any other,
there is a powerful tooth.

In his aberrant group we have as the characteristic
marks, Rostra longa, aut sublonga, haud dentata. Prada
terrestris. ‘The remarks made above are directly in opposi-
tion to these characters, and as the habits of not one-third
of the Falconidz are known, the character preda terrestris
is premature.

But Mr. Vigors, as also. Mr. Swainson, have pointed out,

314 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

and that correctly, that each of the groups present in them-
selves a circle. Thus the former remarks, “when we des-
cend into the details of any group which is subdivided into
stirps returning into themselves, it is of little consequence
at which subdivision we commence our examination ; form-
ing a circular series, they exhibit no natural break upon
which we can fix as a regular land-mark to start from.”
But although each minor group can thus be resolved into
itself in order to present a small circle, yet we shall find
on investigation that each of the terminations of a parti-
cular group is so connected with the other adjoining groups
as to form one grand circle.

Mr. Swainson has lately proposed an arrangement which
however is far inferior to that of Mr. Vigors; the following
is Mr. Swainson’s arrangement :—

ORD. I. RAPTORES.

Fam. VuLTURID.
Vultur.
Sarcoramphus.
Cathartes.
Neophron.
Catheturus.
Gypaétus.

Fam. Fanconi.

Subfam. Aquiline.
Pandion.
Aquila.
Harpyia.
Gypogeranus.
Circaétus.

Subfam. Cymindine.
Ibycter.
Polyborus.
Cymindis.
Nauclerus.
Elanus.
Gampsonyx.

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 315

Subfam. Buteonne.
Milvus.
Pernis.
Spyzaétus.
Buteo.
Circus.

Subfam. Falconine.
Falco.
Harpagus.
Lophotes.
Aviceda.

Subfam. Accipitrine.
Actinia.
Accipiter.
Astur.
Haliaétus.

To enter into a minute examination of this arrange-
ment, in order to point out its fallacies, would occupy too
much space, and at the same time it would be superfluous.
There are however one or two points which it is necessary
for us to notice. To the genus Aquila the following
characters are assigned, “ wings lengthened, (the first quill
short, the fourth and fifth the longest. Temnk.) tarsus
plumed almost to the toes, head not crested. Inhabits
chiefly the old world.” As examples, Mr. Swainson gives
the Aquila imperialis, chrysaetos, neevius, pennatus, albi-
cilla, and leucocephalus.* We have here species belonging
to two of the most marked genera among the Falconide
blended into that of Aquila; viz., the Aquila properly so
called, and Haliaétus. Now the Falco albicilla and leuco-
cephalus have not one of the essential characters given to
his genus Aquila. We say essential, for nothing is more
absurd than to enumerate as a generic character, a head
not crested, seeing that it is to be met with in species

* I write the specific terms as they are given in Mr. Swainson’s
work ; which is necessary for me to notice, as Aquila nevius, &c. must
strike the reader.

aE

316 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

belonging to several different genera. In the genus Spizaé-
tus we have some species crested and others not, and at the
same time both of them possessing the essential generic
characters. Moreover from the characters assigned to his
genus Aquila, the wedge-tailed eagle (Falco fucorus, Cuv.) of
New Holland is excluded ; little more than the upper third
of whose tarsus is feathered. But the characters of length-
ened wings and feathered tarsus are equally common to the
genera Morphnus and Buteo. As for locality, though his
observation in one point of view is correct, in as far as
the metropolis of the eagles is the Old world, yet still
we find the most typical species also in the New; thus
the Aquila chrysaetos, Haliaétus opipagus, and H. leu-
cocephalus are also found to occur in North America.
From what we have just stated, it therefore appears that
we have no character (unless the proportional length of
the quill feather, which we shall afterwards examine) to
distinguish an Aquila from Morphnus or Buteo. Nor
is the genus Haliaétus altogether done away with, it being
placed in the sub-family Accipitrine upon very erroneous
grounds. Thus the characters assigned to this sub-family
are, ‘ Bill short, suddenly curved from the base ; the upper
mandible armed in the middle of the margin with a large,
obtuse, rounded tooth or festoon; under mandible truncated
at the tip; cere moderate; feet moderate; tarsus in
general smooth, naked; middle toe lengthened ; hinder not
much shorter than the inner; anterior claws very unequal,
the inner being almost twice the size of the outer, and
nearly as strong as the hinder. Head small; wings short;
the quills internally emarginate at their base; tail rounded.
In regard to the above characters, in many instances they
do not agree with the genera; thus, as already stated, in
many species of the genus Accipiter there is no festoon, the
cutting edge of upper mandible being quite smooth. In
the genus Ictinia the tip of the under mandible is not

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 317

truncated but rounded. We shall only notice the cha-
racters of one more of his genera, viz. Haliaétus. Size and
form intermediate between Astur and Aquila; bill large,
straight when covered by the cere, strongly curved and
hooked beyond; margin with a slight festoon in the mid-
dle; cere rather large, occupying nearly one-third the length
of the bill; nostrils oval, obliquely transverse; wings length-
ened, the third quill longest, feet rather short; tarsi slen-
der, feathered beyond the knees; the front and back smooth ;
anterior scale transverse ; posterior as if in one entire piece ;
lateral scales, and those at the base of the toes, very small
and distinctly reticulate; toes strong; inner toe the short-
est of all; claws grooved beneath, unequal, hinder and inner
nearly of the same size, outmost much smaller than the
middle; tail broad, rounded. Type, H. pondicerianus.
How Mr. Swainson can make the above characters corres-
pond with those of his subfamily Accipitrinz, under which
the genus Haliaétus is arranged, is quite extraordinary. Thus
to the family he assigns, bill short, and cere moderate ;—
now in the genus the bill and cere are large. In the family
the wings are short; in the genus they are long. In the
family the tarsus is naked ; in the genus they are feathered
below the knees! These characters are quite sufficient
to shew that this genus has nothing to do with the family
to which it has been assigned. Moreover the absurdity
of giving size as a generic character, must be evident to
all who have paid attention to this department of Natural
History. For example, is the A. pennata not equally charac-
teristic in representing the genus Aquila as the A. imperialis,
chryraétos, or nigra? Is the Larus minutus not equally en-
titled to represent the genus Larus, as the Larus glaucus
or marinus? Again, by this character the male and female
of certain species of Falconide met with in New Holland
would be put under separate divisions, seeing that the former
is not a third as large as the latter. The same remark

318 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

has been made by Audubon in regard to some species met
with in North America. To the genus above mentioned,
Mr. Swainson also gives as a character, ‘tarsus slender.”
No doubt it is not so large in the Pondicherry Eagle as
in the Sea-Eagle, seeing that the former is not one-half
the size of the latter. It is however equally large in pro-
portion; and no person who has ever studied this bird
in its native haunts on the Hoogly or the Ganges, where
it occurs in vast numbers, in company with other Haliaéti,
would for a moment doubt where its proper position ought
to be in the ornithological system. Nor can we perceive
that this tribe bears to the other members of the so-called
sub-family Accipitrine, a greater affinity than any of the other
members of the Falconide in general. Probably the reason
is, that the genus Haliaétus has a scutellated tarsus, and
festooned bill, like the genus Astur; but these characters
are common to all the Sea-Eagles, properly so called, the
typical species of which Mr. Swainson, without assigning
any reason, has, as already stated, arranged along with the
Aquila, properly so called. Moreover, the members of
the genera Ictinia, Accipiter, and Astur, are in their habits
terrestrial; so is the type of the genus Haliaétus aquatic;
but probably it is his aquatic type of this division—one
method of making characters suit theory.

We might notice, if it was necessary, the various arrange-
ments which have been proposed by Illiger, Durmeril, Vieil-
lot, and others ; all of which are more or less defective. Let
us now give our own views in regard to this group, founded
on an examination of all the specimens contained in the
magnificent collection of the Edinburgh Royal Museum;
which in this department, at least in Britain, stands unrival-
led. We have also examined the extensive collections of
the Zoological Society of London, British Museum, India
House, Liverpool Institution, &c.

That the Falconide present in themselves a grand circle,

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 319

is quite correct; and as the centre of which we may take the
most typical group of that family, viz. the Falcons properly
so called, and from them, on either side, we have a group of
genera arranged. As the type of the genus Falco, we take
the Falco communis, or Peregrin Falcon ; from it we are gra-
dually led on to the genus Hierofalco; from it to Cerchnis ;
from this genus to Hierax; from Hierax to Harpagus; from
Harpagus to Astur; from Astur to Accipiter ; from Acci-
piter to Morphnus ; from Morphnus to Pandion ; from Pan-
dion to Cymindis ; from Cymindis to Haliaétus ; from Haliaé-
tus to Aquila; from Aquila to Circaétus ; from Circaétus to
Harpyia; from Harpyia to Torathropius ; from Torathropius
to Ibycter ; and from Ibycter to Daptrius.

Again, when we proceed on the other side from the genus
Falco properly so called, we have first the long winged typi-
cal Falcons; as a type we may take the Falco vespertinus of
Europe, adopting the generic name Erythropus of Boié, and
from it we are led into the genus Elanus; from Elanus to
Nauclerus ; from Nauclerus to Milvus ; from Milvus to Gy-
paétos; from Gypaétos to Brevitarsus; from Brevitarsus to
Pernis ; from Pernis to Buteopernis ; from Buteopernis to
Ictinia ; from Ictinia to Buteo ; from Buteo to Circus; from
Circus to Serpentarius ; from Serpentarius to Bacha; from
Bacha to Polyborus, which is connected again with the last
genus in the upper series, and both of the terminations of
the circle are connected to the Vultures through the genus
Neophron. This arrangement may be represented in the
following table :—

f Dapenus,
Ibycter,
Torathropius,
Harpyia,
Aquilide. Circaétus,
Aquila,
Haliaétus,

Cymindis,
Pandion,

320 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

Morphnus,

Accipiteride. { Aceipiter,
Astur,
Harpagus,
Hierax,

Rage Cerchnis,
Falconide. | Hierofalco,

* Falco,

Erythropus,

( Elanus,
Nauclerus,

eis
Milvide. | Grpitios

Brevitarsus,
L Pernis,

{ Buteopernis,
| Ietinia,
Buteo,
Buteide. Circus,
Serpentarius,
Bacha,
Polyborus.

By this arrangement we divide the genus Falco into
several divisions. In the first, we include the Falco com-
munis, subbuteo, &c. retaining the generic name of Falco.
In the third, the Falco tinnunculus, tinnunculoides, &c. are
included, and the generic term Cerchnis, Boié retained.
The long wing Falcons, of which the Falco vespertinus
may be considered the type, are arranged in the genus
Erythropus, and for the Falco bengalensis, and Falco biden-
tatus, we have adopted the generic terms Hierax* and Har-
pagus,} which have already been given by authors.

We shall now enter more into detail, and point out the
characters by which each of the genera is characterized, and
also the connexion which they bear to each other, in order

* Under the genus Hierax, two species are included, viz. the one
above mentioned, and another species lately discovered in South Ame-
rica, and which has been described in the Proceedings of the Zoological
Society of London.

+ Under the genus Harpagus two species are included, and both con-
fined to South America.

On the Affinities of the Falconide. 321

to shew upon what ground our system of arrangement is
based.
_ Characterising the genus Falco as we have restricted it,
we have the following characters.* Bill short, curved
from the base; cutting edge of upper mandible furnished
with a powerful tooth near its tip; cutting edge of under
mandible furnished with a notch corresponding to the tooth
in the upper. Tip of under mandible truncated perpen-
dicularly. Nostrils oval or rounded, and inserted into the
lateral part of the cere, which is broad and partially cover-
ed with feathers or naked. Gape reaching nearly as far as
the anterior angle of the eye. Plumage rather loose; wings
long and pointed, reaching nearly to the tip of the tail;
inner web of first primary quill and external web of second
truncated, second primary quill longest, first and third
nearly of equal length, and about half an inch shorter, the
second and fourth much shorter. Tarsus of moderate length,
reticulated, upper part feathered anteriorly. ‘Toes scutellated
and very long, the middle surpassing the external and
internal by one joint. Claws long, sharp, compressed late-
rally, and grooved below. Type, Falco communis, laniarius,
biarmicus, checquera, &c. Edinburgh Royal Museum.
Differing from the above characters, we have the Falco
islandicus, forming, as already mentioned, the genus Hiero-
falco of Cuvier. In regard to this species there has been
much dispute, owing to the Baron Cuvier having given as
one of its principal characters, ‘bill furnished with a fes-
toon,” which is met with in but few specimens. In all those
we have examined,} the bill was furnished with a powerful

* Our characters have all been drawn up from specimens in different |
collections which we shall refer to, for the information of others who
take an interest in this particular department.

+ In the Edinburgh Royal Museum these three specimens are adult
male and female, and a young bird of the second year. In Professor
Trail’s collection there is a fine adult female. In the collection of the
Zoological Society of London, there are two specimens.

322 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

and well marked tooth in the upper mandible, and cor-
responding to which there was a notch in the under, which
is wanting in all the Falconide, which are only provided
with a festoon. But the principal characters in which this
genus differs from the genus Falco, is in the form of the
tarsus, and in the wings not extending further than the
upper third of the tail.* In the Kestrels, and in its nu-
merous allied species, we have not only the wings consider-
ably shorter than the tail, but also the tarsi in part scu-
tellated, which is particularly the case with the Falco Cer-
chnis, Sparverius of America, forming a connecting link
between the preceding genus and the genus Hierax, which
presents the following characters:—Bill short, curved from
the base, compressed, but convex laterally, cutting edge of
upper mandible furnished with a prominent tooth, anterior
to which there is a deep groove;} cutting edge of under
mandible notched and truncated perpendicularly at the tip;
gape not extending as far as the anterior angle of the eye.
Nostrils rounded and inserted into the lateral and anterior
part of the cere which is very narrow above, and gradually
increases towards its base, and is partially covered with
feathers. Wings rather short and pointed; second and
third quill feathers equal, and longest ; first nearly equal to
the second and third; fourth nearly equal to the first; fifth
much shorter than the fourth. Tarsus robust, rather long
and scutellated, upper third feathered anteriorly. Toes very
low and scutellated, the middle one being much the longest,

* Lesson, without assigning any reason, arranges the Falco laniarius
along with the Falco islandicus in the genus Hierofalco ; its proper place,
however, as well as that of the Falco borigora, of which he is doubtful,
is in the genus Falco, as we have characterised it. See Lesson Traite
D’ Ornithologie, p. 97.

+ By many authors the species which is the type of this genus has
been described as double toothed, which is not the case if properly
examined,

On the Afinities of the Falconide. 323

the external longer than the internal. Claws large, much
covered and pointed ; the hind one much the largest. Type—
Falco Bengalensis, Edinburgh Royal Museum. From the
characters now given, it is evident that the genus Hierax
presents many characters in common with the genus Cerch-
nis; but others again, as the short wings, and scutellated
tarsus, lead us on to the next group, or Harpagus, which
may be thus characterised ;—Bill short, curved from its
base, compressed, but convex, and bulging out laterally as in
Hierax ; cutting margin of upper mandible furnished with
two teeth, the one a little anterior and above the other; from
the second tooth the hook of the bill makes a very oblique
descent. Under mandible furnished with a single notch, and
truncated as in the other genera mentioned. Nostrils
rounded, and inserted in the cere, which has the same form
as in the genus Falco. Loral region partially covered with
bristly hairs. Wings very short, not reaching within two
and a half inches of the tip of the tail First quill feather
very short, third and fourth longest, fifth longer than the
second, which is much longer than the first. Tarsus of mo- -
derate length, a small part of its tibial end feathered, the
remainder covered with broad quadrilateral scutelle. ‘Toes
scutellated. ‘The scutellated tarsus and short wings of this
genus at once lead us on to the next division, or genus As-
tur, which is thus characterised ;—Bill short, curved from
' the base, and much compressed laterally; cutting edge of
upper mandible furnished with a festoon, cutting edge of
under mandible smooth, truncated obliquely at the tip.
Gape extending to the middle of the eye. Cere broad and
naked. Nostrils oval, and inserted into the upper, lateral,
and fore part of the cere. Plumage rather loose; wings
short and rounded, reaching as far down as the upper third
or middle of the tail. Fourth primary quill feather the
longest ; third and fifth equal, and nearly as long as the
fourth ; first much shorter than the second, which is inter-
2U

324 On the Affinities of the Falconide.

mediate in length between the sixth and seventh; inner web
of the first, second, third, and fourth, truncated ; outer web
of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, also emarginated. Tail
rather long and rounded. Legs feathered down as far as
the upper third of the tarsus anteriorly. Tarsus strong, and
rather lengthened, scutellated anteriorly. Toes scutellated,
slender, and very long, middle one surpassing the others by
nearly a joint, external toe longer than the internal one,
hind toe very short. Claws long, much curved, pointed, and
grooved below, hind one much the largest, internal much
larger than the external. Types—Falco palumbarius, trivir-
gatus, albus, &c. Edinburgh Royal Museum. ;

By the above characters we are led into the next group,
which differs only in the tarsus being more lengthened and
slender, in the bill being devoid of a festoon, which however
is not always wanting, many species being furnished with it,
in the wings being proportionally shorter, and in the propor-
tional length of the primary quills.—To this group the term
Accipiter has been applied by some authors, Fringillarius by

others.
[To be continued. |

Umballa Political Agency,
May 30th, 1840.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges, as exhibited
by the Boring Operations in Fort William, a.v. 1836—40.
By Lieut. R. Barrp Situ, Bengal Engineers.

The increasing interest attached to the preservation of
detailed records of subterranean operations, and their ac-
knowledged importance as materials of economic and scien-
tific reference, have induced me to embody in the following
pages the information relative to the geological structure of
the Gangetic Delta, elicited by the boring operations re-
cently in progress at this place. It is not my design to enter
upon the mechanical details of these operations, as the Re-

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 325

port of the Committee under whose zealous superintendence
they have been prosecuted, renders this quite unnecessary ;
but as the practical character of that document necessarily
precludes all speculations on the interesting results obtained
(especially as connected with the geology of the locality), the
following notes are intended to supply its deficiency in that
respect.

It is now nearly six and thirty years ago (1804) since the
first attempt was made to supply the serious deficiency of
good fresh water in the town and vicinity of Calcutta by the
introduction of the method of boring. The same want of
success which attended this first effort, has attended each of
the numerous consecutive experiments which were subse-
quently instituted, and it is but a few weeks ago that the
most recent of the series was abandoned, after having been
carried to the depth of four hundred and eighty-one feet by
incessant labour, frequently during both night and day, for
upwards of four years. In every recorded case the cause of
failure has been of mechanical and not of natural origin,
arising either from the very unsatisfactory character of the
apparatus employed, the breaking of the rods in the bore,
the slipping of the joints of the iron tubing, the deflection
of the direction of the bore from the perpendicular, or some
similar casualty.* ‘The infant state of the art of Boring, and
the difficulty of reducing its details to the comprehension of
native workmen, to whom the whole was alike novel and
strange, furnish us with ready explanations of the earlier fai-
lures, and these are scarcely in any way calculated to excite
our remark, but it magnifies the difficulties of the undertak-
ing, when we find that though all the modern improvements
of tools, apparatus, and materials, were combined with in-
creased experience and dexterity on the part of those em-
ployed, success could not even then be attained. The in-

* Vide note A.

326 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

efficiency of common and known means to overcome the
difficulties encountered during the operations, threw the
Committee on their own resources, and the result was, that
new means were adopted, and new instruments designed to
meet the peculiar exigencies of the case, so that though the
main object of their labour has been left unaccomplished,
they have still the satisfaction of knowing that the resources
of the art of boring have been increased, and much interest-
ing collateral information been developed, by their long con-
tinued efforts.

In proceeding now to detail the geological information
elicited by the Fort William boring operations, it may be
premised, that as the strata of the Gangetic Delta have been
found on every occasion in which a section of them has
been exposed to be almost identical in position and consti-
tution, I do not deem it necessary to allude to previous
boring experiments, farther than to record such individual
circumstances connected with them, as may appear to throw
any interesting light on the general question of the structure
of the Delta.

The excavation of the bore was commenced on the 2nd
of April 1836,* and after penetrating to a depth of 10 feet,
through the artificial surface soil, a bed of blue clay, close
and adhesive in its texture, was entered. As the bore de-
scended this was found to become gradually darker in co-
lour from the admixture of decayed vegetable matter, till
from 30 to 50 feet, large portions of peat were brought up
with the clay. Both on this and former occasions branches
and fragments of the trunks of trees in a state of decay
were found, and Dr. Wallich} has identified such of these as
were red coloured with the common Soondri of the Sunder-
buns, while he considered the yellow coloured varieties to

* Committee’s Report.
¢ Asiatic Society’s Journal.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 827

be the roots of some climbing tree resembling the Brie-
delia. That the stratum of peat and decayed wood was
formed from the debris of forests, which at a former period
covered the entire surface of the Delta as the existing jun-
gles of the Sunderbuns cover so large a portion of it now,
admits not therefore of a doubt. In truth, the whole of the
present site of Calcutta was in 1717* covered with dense
masses of forest vegetation, and even so late as 1756, Fort
William and its Esplanade formed part of a complete jungle,
throughout which were scattered extensive salt lakes and
marshes. As the town of Calcutta extended, the jungle was
gradually cleared away, and the stagnant lakes filled in or
drained; and we have now in these boring operations laid
open the beds which the debris of these forests, accumula-
ting for centuries, and consolidated by the intermixture
of mud and silt from the waters under which they were so
liable to be submerged, have contributed to form. Similar
peat beds have been found in excavating the Circular and
Entally Canals, at the respective depths of 25 and 9 feet,
thus shewing the surface of the ground to have been slight-
ly undulating.+ It is much to be regretted that in the soli-
tary instance in which bones were found in this stratum, at a
depth of twenty-eight feet, they were destroyed by the work-
men before any means could be taken to identify them. A
most interesting opportunity of acquiring some information
relative to the denizens of these vast forests, and of compar-
ing them with those now inhabiting similar tracts through-
out the Delta, was thus lost. In 1813 a quantity of bones
was discovered in digging a tank in the vicinity of Dum-
Dum, at a depth of 18 feet from the surface, associated, as
were the above, with Soondri wood, and thus being satisfac-
torily shewn to have belonged to inhabitants of the then

* Hamilton’s Gazetteer, Art. Calcutta.
+ Vide note B.

328 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

existing Sunderbun forests and swamps. Dum-Dum is sur-
rounded by shallow salt water lakes, and it is stated,* that
many of the names of the adjoining villages indicate that
the whole neighbourhood at one period consisted of a series
of islands ; but we have no authentic record by which to esti-
mate the growth of the Delta in these places, and hence
it would have been doubly interesting to have been enabled
to assign an epoch to the above remains. It would be use-
less to attempt doing so with the imperfect information
recorded, but their great size led the officer by whom they
were found, to conclude, that they did not belong to any of the
animals now inhabiting the Sunderbuns. Succeeding these
peat-charged beds, a stratum of calcareous clay, ten feet in
thickness, is found, and intermixed with it are portions of
that concretionary limestone commonly known in India
as kankar. Occasionally this occurs in small grains with
the appearance of land shells, sometimes it is found in thin
beds of great hardness, and sometimes in its common no-
dular shape. Kankar occurs over nearly the whole of India,
and abounds in the alluvial formations of Hindustan. In
the vicinity of Calcutta, in the bed of the Salt Lake, it is
largely met with in the nodular form, and in some of the
jheels, or shallow salt marshes, it is known to be in progress
of formation now, in thin layers. As the locality of the bore
formerly presented features similar to these, we obtain a
ready explanation of the occurrence of the kankar above
alluded to. It has long been one of the desiderata in Indi-
an geology to account satisfactorily for the existence of this
singular formation, and the favourite theory appears to be,
that it was derived from calcareous springs. That in some,
perhaps in many, instances this may have been the case, I am
not prepared to deny, but there are some of the phenomena
connected with the occurrence of kankar, which seem to me

* Asiatic Society’s Journal, vol. ii. page 649.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 329

scarcely explicable on such a supposition. Thus the kankar
at Ghazipoor is described by the Rev. Mr. Everest as “ re-
sembling much in the shapes it affects, the flints of the chalk
strata. The bank of the river (the Ganges) shews a section
of a layer about four feet thick, formed of these pieces.
This layer is gradually lost in the clay above and below. In
some places the layer or seam is double, with an intervening
bed of clay, through which the lower kankar bed is said
to branch off and join the higher. The beds are farther
similar to those of chalk flint in the manner in which the
loose pieces are imbedded in the clay, and in the layers being
composed of detached pieces.” 'The origin of the kankar is
proved to be very modern, from the occurrence of existing
fresh water shells, small planorbes, &c. in the clay on which
it rests. The clay itself is calcareous. ‘The kankar of Mir-
zapoor is described by the same observer as exhibiting like
phenomena. In the sections exposed by the bed of the
Jumna the kankar is found similarly in layers, between beds
of clay and calcareous marl, and in every instance I have
been able to find it, has been associated with mechanical de-
posits containing carbonate of lime. Now it appears some
presumption against the whole of these vast collections of
nodules being due to calcareous springs, that recent though
their formation has been proved to be, there are no inde-
pendent indications of the existence of the springs whence
they could have been derived. So universal is the preva-
lence of kankar, that it is scarcely possible to believe the
whole traces of its originating sources have been obliterated.
Farther, from the appearance of the beds with which the
kankar is associated, it is evident that no springs have been
in action since they were deposited, and the nodules must
consequently have been brought from a distance. There is
some difficulty however in accounting for the occurrence of
beds 4 feet thick, with no intermixture of foreign substances,
but consisting entirely of nodular limestone, on this sup-

330 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

position. Detritus of such an origin is invariably mixed, and
contains specimens of the different materials which the force
of the transporting agent was capable of bearing along.
The shooting of branches and the gradual passing of the
kankar into the clay above and below, seem farther to mili-
tate against the idea of the operation of powerful, or even
any, transporting agency. It has been said, that the kankar
of India has no analogous formation in the world; but I con-
ceive this to be doubtful, as it is known that the London
clay* contains numerous contemporaneous nodules of hard
marl or clayey limestone, which occur in regular horizontal
layers at unequal distances, usually varying from four to forty
feet apart. These nodules are called Septaria, from their
being divided by partitions or veins of calcareous spar, and
in their cavities are frequently found crystals of calcare-
ous spar (carbonate of lime) and heavy spar (sulphate of
baryta.) The Septaria are surrounded by crusts which con-
tain a smaller proportion of lime than the central parts; and
of the Ghazipoor kankar, Mr. Everest remarks similarly that
its cavities are lined with crystals, and that while the fresh
fracture is of a brownish grey colour, exhibiting the stone
compact, the exterior is covered with a white or yellowish
white crust. The chemical composition of the Septaria
of the London clay is identical with that of the Ghazipoor
kankar, consisting chiefly of carbonate of lime with silica,
alumina and oxide of iron, or slightly ferruginous clay, and
the natural cement stones of Harwich, Sheppy, and other
places, are used for the same purposes in England as the
kankars are in India.+ In the tertiary basin of Paris si-
milar tuberose masses are found in the clayey and calcare-
ous marl of the fifth and sixth formations.{ It is scarcely
necessary to remark, that I do not mean to contend that the

* Cuvier’s Theory of the Earth. + Pasley on Cements, and Note. C.
t Cuvier’s Theory of the Earth.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 331

Indian kankars are contemporaneous with the similar con-
cretions of the tertiary formations of England and France,
I only wish to exhibit the analogy existing between them,
as this may help us to some explanation of their origin.
The analogy might be extended to several other members
of tertiary formations, as the strata of the Isle of Wight,
in which Mr. Webster,* informs us both the nodular and
the flat form of concretionary limestone are met with, but
I would now proceed to offer a few remarks on the probable
origin of these substances.

The forms effected by the nodules of kankar, and the
circumstances of their disposition in the clayey beds with
which they are associated, have frequently been recorded by
observers as being strikingly similar to those of the flints in
the chalk strata, and it was these analogies which first led
me to suspect that the information we possess concerning the
origin of the one, might be made to bear upon that of the
other. From the state in which the fossils of the chalk strata
are found, many of them perfect in their most delicate details,
some of the shells preserving even their fine pearly lustre,
and the soft scales of fishes being often found beautifully pre-
served in the structure of flints, we are warranted in conclud-
ing that they were quietly entombed near the spots where they
lived and died, and that consequently no transporting power of
energy sufficient to bear from a distance the associated masses
of flint could have been in action upon them. We are thus led
to believe the flint contemporaneous, or nearly so, in its origin
with the chalk in which itis imbedded, and as the flint occa-
sionally passes imperceptibly into the chalk, the nodules of
the one near the line of junction being replaced by those of
the other, there is thus afforded an additional argument for
the flints having been formed in the places were they
are now found, and against their having been derived either
from silicious springs, or other sources, and brought from

* Geological Trans. vol. ii. p. 209.
aX

o02 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

a distance. In like manner the flints which are found in
the lower beds of the great gypsum formation of the Paris
basin pass gradually and imperceptibly into the gypsum itself ;
a proof, (says Professor Jameson in allusion to this fact) of
the contemporaneous origin of the two substances.* Simi-
larly the peculiarly perfect and beautiful state of preserva-
tion in which the fossils of the London clay are found, would
lead us to infer the quiet and contemporaneous formation of
the horizontal beds of nodular limestone with which they
are associated, and in truth this is put beyond a doubt from
the circumstance that the Septaria have frequently been
found to include fossils similar to those occurring in the
body of the clay. From these analogous cases, and the con-
sideration of others I have thought it unnecessary to de-
tail, I have been led to consider the Indian kankar beds
as being formations “in situ,” and nearly contemporaneous
in their origin with the beds of calcareous clay with which
they are associated. This remark applies to the kankars of
those localities where no proofs of the previous existence or.
operation of calcareous springs can be detected, and where
the facts oppose the idea of transporting forces having been
in action.

Conceiving then that the kankar beds are actually “in
situ,” some explanation is still required to account for the
great difference between them and their associated strata;
and here it must be fully acknowledged that our informa-
tion is still but very limited, and that our reasoning must,
as before, be chiefly from analogy. It has been already
remarked, that kankar appears to be one of a class of sub-
stances formed under similar circumstances, and that if
we could throw any light on the formation of one of these,
we might thus gain an insight into that of the others. Now
it is known from experiment that if a mechanical mixture of

* Cuvier’s Theory of the Earth. English edition.

On the Structure of the Delia of the Ganges. 338

sand (silica) and clay (alumina) reduced to impalpable pow-
der be made, by suspending the two substances in the same
fluid, and if part of the fluid be evaporated till a plastic com-
pound result, the silica of the compound will after it has
stood for a short time undisturbed segregate into small hard
nodules similar exactly to those of flint in chalk.* On com-
paring the circumstances of this experiment with those
under which the class of bodies to which kankar belongs
are formed, a striking and interesting similarity will be ob-
served. ‘Thus we know the chalk to be an aqueous deposit,
and there must have been a period at which its consistence
would be plastic as the above, it seems therefore to be
no unwarrantable inference that those segregations of
the particles of silica disseminated throughout the mass
which now appear as flints, took place during this time.
Similarly, and more closely analogous to the kankar, the
London clay must also at one period have been in a plastic
state, and as by analysis it is well known that calcareous mat-
ter is largely disseminated throughout its mass, it is probable
that the nodular Septaria were then formed by the segrega-
tion of their constituents. It is only necessary to allude to
the other analogous cases in the strata of the Paris basin,
where the nodules are not confined to flint and limestone
alone, but are of gypsum, hornstone, celestine, &c. all of
whose associated strata are known to be of aqueous origin.
- These therefore furnish the grounds on which I have been
led to consider the kankar as formed by the segregation of
the particles of calcareous matter, disseminated throughout
the body of the clay with which it is associated, and to be
nearly contemporaneous in its origin with this. Of the pe-
culiar circumstances which dispose substances to this se-
gregation, of the proportion which the segregating material
should bear to the general mass, or of the exact nature of

* Babbage. Economy of Machinery.

334 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

the attractive affinities in operation, we as yet know nothing ;
and the only experimental fact connected with the subject
we possess, is that formerly alluded to. The great hard-
ness of the kankar may be explained from the peculiar
property bodies similarly constituted possess of forming
stony masses under water. ‘The chemical composition of the
kankars both of India and England is identical with that
of the artificial mixtures which have been formed for the
purposes of hydraulic architecture. To exhibit this in one
instance, I annex the results of the analyses of Roman
cement and Ghazipoor kankar.

Roman cement. Ghazipoor kankar.

Carbonate of Lime, aoe SE
Silica, me oh shit ened OTS
Alumina, ... we aie ate 4.0
_Oxide ofiron, ... oe eS sa 7.0
Loss, mn ays aaa On s 1.4
Carbonate of magnesia, a bs 0.4:
100 100

From these it will be seen how readily the induration of
the kankar may be explained from its close affinity to a sub-
stance of which the well known property is to harden imme-
diately on contact with water.

Underlaying the bed of calcareous clay in which the kan-
kar first occurs, there is a thin bed of green siliceous clay,
extending from 60 to 65 feet in depth. The clay then
loses its colour, and continues to a depth of 75 feet, the
lower portion of it furnishing nodules of kankar. At 75 feet
a bed of variegated sandy or arenaceous clay commences,
and continues to the depth of 120 feet, occasionally traver-
sed by horizontal beds of kankar. Beneath this a stratum of
argillaceous marl 5 feet in thickness is found, and succeeding
it, there is a bed only 3 feet in thickness of loose friable
sandstones, the particles of sand being held loosely together

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 385

by a clayey cement. Argillaceous marl, 20 feet in thickness,
follows the sandstone, terminating at the depth of 150 feet,
when it passes into an arenaceous clay intermixed with
waterworn nodules of hydrated oxide of iron, from which
metallic iron was procured by Mr. J. Prinsep. Weathered
mica slate is found attached to the clay of this bed, and
throughout the entire range of strata penetrated, scales of
mica have always been abundantly met with. At 175 feet a
coarse friable quartzose conglomerate occurs, composed of
pebbles of different sizes, though none are very large, ce-
mented together by clay. At 177 feet, this conglomerate
becomes smaller grained, and at 183 feet 3 inches, it is found
to pass into indurated ferruginous clay, which continues with
but little variation to a depth of 205 feet. Here another
layer of sandstone, soft in its upper portion, but becoming
more indurated, and assuming the lamellar structure as it is
passed through, occurs; the thickness being however no more
than 3 feet. Ferruginous sand with thin beds of calcareous
and arenaceous clay prevail from 208 feet to 380. Kankar,
with minute waterworn fragments of quartz, felspar, granite,
and other indications of debris from primary rocks, are met
with in the lower parts of this sandy deposit, where also are
found those fossil bones which have given to these boring
operations so much additional interest and importance.*
The first of these relics, Plate ix. fig. 1, a small bone, was
brought up from the depth of 350 feet, filled interiorly, and in-
crusted exteriorly with the micaceous sand in which it was im-
bedded. The bone, of which a full size sketch is annexed, was
considered by Mr. J. Prinsep to be the lower half of a hume-
rus of some small animal like a dog, resembling the drawing
of the corresponding bone of the hyzena in Cuvier, but entire
identification was then impracticable, from the want of ske-
letons for comparison. ‘“ The bone,” says the same gentle-

* Vide’ Pl. ix. fig. 1. a. 6. ¢.

336 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

man, “is not thoroughly fossilised, for when heated by the
blow-pipe it becomes slightly charred, and emits a percepti-
ble odour, but the animal matter left is exceedingly small,
and the whole loss on heating a portion of it to a white heat
was only seven per cent, the greater part being moisture
from the hydrate of iron with which it is impregnated. The
greater part of the phosphate of lime remains, with a portion
of the carbonate; the specific gravity is 2.63, the same as
that of a fine specimen of polished ferruginous odontolite
from the Himalaya; it requires the heat of an oxygen blow-
pipe to fuse a fragment of it per se on platinum foil.”

The second fossil was found in the same sandy bed, at a
depth of 362 feet (Pl. ix. fig. 2, a. b.) It was considered to
be part of the carapace or shield of a turtle, and to resem-
ble much some of the fragments found so plentifully among
the Jumna, Siwalik, and Ava fossils.” It was mineralised
to the same extent as the first specimen, having a specific
gravity of 2.5, and losing under a red heat 10 per cent.*

A third fragment of bone, unfortunately however so in-
jured by the auger as to make identification impossible, was
found at a depth of 375 feet. At 380 feet, there occurred a
thin layer, only two feet in thickness, of blue calcareous clay,
thickly studded with fragments of shells, and at 382 feet this
was succeeded by a layer of dark clay, composed almost en-
tirely of decayed wood. The appearance of the clay was
precisely similar to that of the black peat clay found at the
depth of from fourteen to thirty feet from the surface, and
formerly described. From the lower portion of it, several
fragments of coal, of excellent quality, were brought up.
The specific gravity of these curious and_ interesting
specimens was 1.20, and they exactly resembled the rol-
led pieces found now in the beds of mountain streams, and
which have always hitherto proved the means of leading to

* Vide Note D.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 337

the discovery of the coal “in situ.” Underneath this stra-
tum, and in the gravelly bed which immediately succeeds it,
there were found several other fragments of fossil bones.
One was considered to be a small caudal vertebra of a kind
of lizard, and the rest were fragments of turtles. ‘These
were discovered at the depth of 423 feet, and were associated.
with large rolled pebbles of quartz, both white and amethes-
tine, felspar, limestone, and indurated clay. At 450 feet
in depth two other fragments of fossil turtles were found,
and associated with them there was a rolled fragment of
vescicular basalt. Again at 4644 feet, and still in the
same, a fragment of rolled lignite, similar exactly to speci-
mens now obtainable in Cuttack,* was discovered, and short-
ly afterwards the auger brought up a mass of decayed wood,
rounded on the edges as if rolled in a stream, but not in the
least carbonised, and being like in all respects to the frag-
ments found in the Sunderbun alluvium. The gravel com-
posed entirely of the debris of primary rocks, continued
to the depth of 481 feet, where the bore was checked by
the auger becoming jammed at the bottom of the iron tub-
ing in such a way as to foil every attempt made for its
removal, and to force the officers superintending the opera-
tions to bring them to a final close in April, 1840.

From the preceding details it will be observed that the
Fort fossils were found in two distinct deposits, separated
from each other by the interposition of a bed of shelly calca-
reous clay, and a deposit of carbonaceous matter ten feet in
thickness, the remnants of some extensive forest which flou-
rished at a period anterior to the deposit of the 380 feet
of superincumbent sands and clays. The lithological charac-
ters of the superior and inferior fossiliferous deposits differ
considerably from each other, the former being a fine and
slightly indurated sandstone, the latter a coarse conglomerate,

* Journal Asiatic Society, vol. vi.

338 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

formed of the debris of primary rocks, imbedded in an arena-
ceous matrix. ‘The fossils of the upper bed, which is about
eighty feet in thickness, furnish the only specimens of the
bones of mammalia obtained during the operations. These
were associated with the remains of Chelonians, but no indi-
cations of the existence of Saurian animals were discovered
till the shelly clay and carbonaceous bed were passed
through, and from the lower conglomerate no mammalia were
obtained. It is necessary, however, in thus stating in gene-
ral terms the distribution of the Fort fossils, to recall to
mind the extremely limited foundation on which such con-
clusions rest. A space whose diameter was no more than
six inches, has furnished all the specimens described, and
though this circumstance may be deemed a strong proof of
the great abundance of such treasures in the strata penetra-
ted, it can warrant inferences as to their general distribution
and association only of the most limited range. It is, how-
ever, interesting to find that the conclusions drawn from the
Fort fossils are to a considerable extent supported by the
distribution of the remains in other localities which are pro-
bably of the same geological age as the lower deposits of the
Gangetic Delta. Thus in describing the succession of
strata, and the distribution of the fossils in the pass of Amb-
walla, of the Sub-Himalayan series, Captain Cautley states,*
“There are here three grand deposits ; first, the lower with
lignite, consisting of a coarse conglomerate full of remains,
highly impregnated with hydrate of iron, the leading ones
being Saurian and Chelonian, but abounding in bones and
teeth of mammalia, vertebra, and teeth of fishes, and a few
shells, but the latter are very imperfect and broken—their
thinness would probably prove them fresh water. Second,
the blue marl or clay filled with the fresh water shells
above mentioned. Third, the upper, or grand deposit of the

* Asiatic Society’s Journal, vol. vii.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 38

larger mammalia, the remains perfectly fossilised, and exist-
ing in abundance in the superior strata of sandstone. The
general inclination of all these strata varies from twenty to
thirty-five to the horizon.” It is most interesting thus to
find a succession of strata at the base of the Himalaya so per-
fectly identical with that extending from about 450 to 480
feet below the surface of lower Bengal. The singular oc-
currence of thin beds of blue marl with shells, in both in-
stances overlaying coarse conglomerate intermixed with lig-
nite, and underlaying beds of sandstone, links the two classes
of deposits in a remarkable manner, and would almost lead
us to believe that they owe their origin to the same mighty
ocean which reached to the foot of the mountains, and that by
movements of elevation in one locality, or of depression in the
other, their present difference of position was subsequently
attained. The similarity of the distribution of the fossils in
both instances will also be remarked, the mammalia chiefly
abounding in the upper deposits, Chelonians and Saurians in
the lower, while the mineralising material, hydrate of iron, is
alike in all. The fossils of the Jumna, of the valley of the
Nerbudda, of the Sub-Himalayan range, of the Irawaddi,
have been identified with each other, and it appears probable
that to this series may also be added the fossils of the Del-
ta.* The conglomerate forming the matrix of the Ava re-
mains, induced Dr. Buckland to assign them to diluvial for-
mations more modern than either the recent marine sedi-
ments of the tertiary formations, or the antidiluvian fresh-
water deposits, and to the same epoch the other members of
the above mentioned series most probably belong.

In conclusion, it only remains for me to express my grate-
ful acknowledgments to Colonel D. McLeod, Chief Engi-
neer, for the ready access he has granted me to all official
papers or plans connected with the boring operations, from

* Vide Note E.

re
a

340

which I have obtained

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

assistance.

much interesting information and

R. BAIRD SMITH,

Calcutta, 20th June, 1840.

NOTES.

Lieut. Bengal Engineers.

Note A.---List of the various Boring Experiments made at Calcutta,

from 1804 to 1840.

(From Committee's Report 1833 with additions.)

No. |Superintending} Date. Locality. Depth Cause of
Officers. attained. failure.
Foot,
1 |Colonel Garstin| Dec. 1804) Well near Powder Mag. 79
2 Ditto. Aug.1805 SW. of Arty. Barracks.} 119 | Auger broke.
3 Ditto. Sep. ,, |SE. of Reet. Parade. Bhs) Ditto.
4 Ditto. Oct. ,, |SE. of European Barks. 59 Ditto.
5 Ditio. Nov. ,, |SW.of ArtilleryParade. 80 Ditto.
6 Ditto. Dec. ,, Ditto. 127 Ditto.
7 Ditto. Feb. 1806 Ditto. 94 Ditto.
8 Ditto. March ,, Ditto. 124 | Earth fell in.
9 Ditto. April ,, |Sameoperationresumed| 127 Auger broke.
10 Ditto. May 1814'SE. of Artillery Parade.| 149 Suspended by
rains.
il Ditto. Nov. ,, Same resumed. 136 Auger broke.
12 Ditto. May 1819} On Artillery Parade. 130 Ditto.
13 Ditto. Apl. 1820 Ditto, 1222 Ditto.
44 Ditto. May_,, |Near Triangular Barks.| 128 Earth fell in.
15 | Wm. Jones. 1815 Not specified. 70 | Spring found.
16 |Doctor Strong.| 1826-28 Circular Canal. 70 Ditto.
17 Ditto. Ditto. South West Lake. 40 Ditto.
18 Ditto. Ditto. | Near Circular Road. 70 | Hard Kankar.
19 Ditto. Ditto. At Russa Paglah. 70 Earth fell in.
20 Ditto. 1832 | Lock Gates Chitpore. 70 Water rose.
21 | Strong, Ross
and Kyd. 1830 Near Fort Church. 176 | Shaft injured.
22 Ditto. 1832 |Near St. George’s Gate.| 164 Earth fell in.
23 Ditto. 1833 Ditto. 170 Auger broke.
24 | Boring Com. 1835 | Chief Engineer’s Yard.| 150 | Tubes deflected.
20 Ditto. * 1836-40 itto. 481 | Jumperjamed &
rods broken.
Note B.---Analysis of the Peat of the Calcutta Alluvium.
Volatile matter chiefly aqueous, - - - 62:0
Fixed Carbonaceous matter, - - - - - 167
Red ash, =. 9= =. = s=Ge so) -@ater 21-3
100.
J. PRinser.
.

Colonel D. McLeod, Chief Engineer, President.
Major Irvine, C.B., Engineers.

Captain Fitzgerald, ditto.

Doctor Strong.

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges. 341

Note C.---Analysis of Argillaceous Limes or Kankars.

Gaxipore. Jumna.* Boulogne.}
Kankar. Kankar. Stone.
Carbonate of Lime, - 720 - = - 42:2 - - - 616
Ditto of Magnesia, - Bemis mite bate lye” a tpn
Ditto of Iron, - - - Be Caer PE AA tepieemie ty ey 2 jal 0
Silica, - - - - - TOe2) = = = eSia = Hoon
Alumina, - - - - Ay Di misie ami thdere te Gee ae B
Oxide of Iron, - - - che Gimineia el Se See th CORO)
Water of Loss, - - 14 - - = .. = = = 96
100. 100. 100.

Note D.---Analysis of Indian Fossils.
(1.) Fossil Bones from the Valley of the Nerbudda.

Carbonate of Lime, - - - - 140
Phosphate of Ditto, - - - - 85:5

Siliceous Ascicular Fibres depo-
sited by infiltration, - - - 2)
100.

(2.) Fossil Bones from the Bed of the Jumna.
(a.) Carbonate of Lime, - - - 18-0
Phosphate of Ditto, - - - 80:0
Brown Ockreons Residue, - 2:0

100.

(6.) Phosphate and Carbonate of
Aine May ao aya Rhee 15

Red Oxide of Iron, - - - 765 ‘
Water, - - - - - - - &©
100.

(3.) Fossil Bones from the Banks of the Irawaddi.

ve Carbonate of Lime, - - - - 20°
Phosphate of Ditto, - - - - 35:

Silica and Oxide of Iron, - - 41°

100.

* Hard and thin Flag Kankar.
+ Identical with the Harwich and Sheppy Cement Stones of the London Clay.

342 On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

Note E.---The identity of Formation in the Sites of Indian Fossils.

The Fossils I have mentioned, Mastadon Elephantoides, &c., establish
an identity of formation, between the upper beds of the Irawaddi de-
posit and the upper deposits, included between the Sewalik and the Hi-
malaya Range. Several of them are the same as those found by Craw-
ford and Wallich, and it appears that all along the foot of Himalaya,
from the Punjaub down to the Irawaddi, there is a nearly continuous
series of Tertiary Formations, more or less upheaved at different points
along the line, but in all their great features, they are chiefly developed
in the Jumna Gangetic portion, where they are elevated to upwards of
1500 feet above the Plains.---Dr. Falconer, Jour. As. Soc. vol. iv.

There is in every respect a complete analogy between the fossils of
the: Jumna, and those fortuitously discovered by Crawford, under the
Banks of the Irawaddi. Their preservation is equally due to their con-
version into, and impregnation with, Hydrate of Iron, and the words of
Professor Buckland, would probably apply as well to the one as to the
other.---J. Prinsep.

Tt is a curious fact that the size and description of the gravel adher-
ing to the Fossil bones of the Jumna, exactiy resemble those attached
to the Jubalpur Fossils.

The Ava Fossils agree exactly with those of Central India, as regards
the rolled gravel forming their respective matrices, but differ in the
mineralising material, the first being Hydrate of Iron, the second
Carbonate of Lime.---J. Prinsep, Jou. As. Soc. vol. ii.

Descriptive Catalogue of a series of specimens from the
Delta of the Ganges, commencing at the surface of the
ground, and extending to the depth of four hundred and
eighty-one feet.

Range. |
No. Names ahd Characters. — Remarks.
Begins | Ends
at | at

Feet. Feet.

1 (Surface Soil,. ood anod 30 10

2 |Adhesive Blac Clay, seer siette 10 24

3 al Ditto Ditto with Peat, wstes 25 39

3 bj Ditto Ditto Ditto, ares ste Nes

4 |Adhesive Clay, Sc 40
5 |Dark Clay, with decayed wood,

largely intermixed, . oe 40 45

6 | Ditto Ditto Ditto, Sc 30
7 |Calcareous Clay with Nodular

Limestone or Kankar, oone 00 | 60

On the Structure of the Delta of the Ganges.

Catalogue,---( Continued.)

Green Siliceous Clay,.... poo6
Siliceous Clay with Kankar, ....
Kankar from the above, ..
Ditto Ditto, ier
Variegated Arenaceous Clay,
Variegated Clay,

Ditto Ditto, eso. eso
Ditto Ditto, cdo coo0
Clay with Kankar, .... A000
Variegated Arenaceous Clay, ....
Ditto _ Ditto, bood 3006
Ditto Ditto, 5000 door
Ditto Ditto, no00 S000
Ditto Ditto, Nereis Boab

Argillaceous Marl,
Loose Sandstone, ereete cores
Argillaceous Marl, .... 9008
Arenaceous Clay with weathered
Mica Slate and *Nodules of Hy-
drated Oxide of Iron, 600
Arenaceous Clay,
Ferruginous Clay,
Calcareous Clay, cece
Arenaceous Clay, d0d6 no06
Coarse Friable Quartzose Conglo-
merate, eos 0
Smaller Grained Ditto, Go06
Coarse Sand associated with Indu-
rated Ferruginous Clay,
Micaceous Clay, see
Yellow Impalpable Clay,
Ferruginous Micaceous Clay, ....

Ditto Ditto Ditto, nba
Ditto Ditto Ditto, sco
Ditto Ditto Ditto, eeras
Ditto Ditto Ditto, 56

Soft Sandstone, S006 Sects
Micaceous and Ferruginous
mellated Sandstone, ..
Ferruginous Sand with Clay, ....
Arenaceous Clay, S000 A000
Blue Ditto with Mica Scales, ....
Fine Argillaceous Sandstone, ....
Ditto Ditto Ditto, oats
Sandstone slightly Calcareous, ....
Sandstone 2...
Fine Soft Ditto, doo booe
Ditto with Nodules of Limestone,
Fine Loose Sand with fragments of
Quartz, Felspar and Granite,....
Sand slightly aggregated, poo
Ditto Ditto,

Shelly Calcareous Clay,
Adhesive Ditto Ditto, odd6
Blue Clay with large quantities of

decayed wood,

at

382

343
Range |
Bade Remarks.
at
Feet.
65
7d
120
»e |Found at 80 feet.
ae oye) 90
ee aie 95
ay Ao Lo)
se eee OS
ee eho
ye Ben
oy Sra U5}
os A) TW IPAO)
125
130
150

* Metallic Iron re-
duced from these.
.- {Found at 157 feet
ee 64.
W71.. 7Zinch

Arranged by R, BAIRD SMITH,

Lieut. Bengal Engineers.

344

Plants, characteristic of Different Nations. By Professor

ScHouw.

[No. 15 of a Series of popular Physical Lectures by Professor Schouw, published at Copen-
hagen, 1837. Translated for the ‘‘ Calcutta Journal of Natural History,” by Dr. Cantor.}

If we examine the geographic distribution and diffusion
of plants, we generally speaking do so with reference to the
different zones, climates, parts of the world, or to the dif-
ferent elevation above the sea, on which they are found ;
as for instance, when we inquire within which degrees of la-
titude the palms grow, in which parts of the earth the vine
is cultivated, or at what elevation, the alpine vegetation
appears.

At present, however, we propose to examine plants with
reference to the different races of men and nations, to in-
quire which plants were originally distributed to each of
them, and thus rendered of vital importance.

In the happy clime of the South Sea Islands, within the
tropics, appears the bread-fruit tree, almost entirely sup-
porting the inhabitants. This fine large tree with its rich
foliage, yields a great number of farinaceous fruits, which
when boiled, acquire a flavour like white bread. Three
such trees are sufficient to support a human being during
eight months of the year—the period during which the fruits
successively ripen, while the rest of the year is supplied by
roots that have been brought to perfection in the earth.
As Captain Cook observed, it is easy in these islands to pro-
vide for oneself and children ; a man needs only to plant ten
such trees, and his family will have plenty of food; and
besides, the wood affords material for boats, tools, &c. and
the woody tissue for clothing.

Another tree, conspicuous particularly on the low oceanic
coral islands, and no less so in the Indian archipelago be-
tween Asia, and New Holland, as well as on the coasts of

Plants, characteristic of Different Nations. 345

India, is the cocos palm. 'The stem is used, the fruit presents
the almond-like kernel, oil, and milk ; the shell is converted
to utensils, the woody tissue (coir) surrounding it makes
excellent cordage, the leaves are used as thatch, and, lastly,
the toddy is a produce of this tree.

To New Zealand, the ‘New Zealand flax’ (Phormium
tenax) is characteristic. The fibres of the leaves surpass in
strength, by far, our hemp or flax, and are by the natives
applied to garments and cordage.

Spices, such as the clove, nutmeg, pepper, and ginger, are
characteristic to the Malays of the Indian islands, although
India possesses all of these spices in common with the archi-
phelago.

The Maize (that of all kinds of grains which yields the
richest, but also the most uncertain harvest) was originally
given the American tribes, with whom it was largely culti-
vated at a considerable elevation; thus, for instance, at the
sun-temple of the Incas, on an island in the Titicaca lake,
1200 feet above the level of the sea, it was cultivated, with
difficulty, as an offering to the sun, and that the grains
produced at that spot might be distributed to the people,
who looked upon a single maize-grain, grown at the temple
as a sanctified and propitious object. In North America
also the maize was cultivated before the first arrival of the
Europeans.

America was endowed with another splendid gift—the
potatoe, which also succeeded in the higher regions, and the
farinaceous tuber of which afforded an excellent article of
food.

In the table land of Mexico the Maguey-plant (Agave
americana) the vine of the Mexicans, was cultivated long be-
fore the time of the Europeans. In its native soil this plant
shoots forth blossoms after a period of eight or ten years (in
other climates it requires a much longer time), and when the
gigantic peduncle is about developing itself, there is an im-

346 Plants, characteristic of Different Nations.

mense afflux of sap, which is daily tapped during several
months. This juice is allowed to ferment, when it is convert-
ed into a beverage (Pulque) of a pleasant acid taste, but a
very disagreeable, putrid, smell. In other respects also this
plant is important to the Mexicans, who from the fibres of
the leaves, know how to prepare an excellent substitute for
hemp. At an elevation greater than that of the Agave in
Mexico, and in Peru and Chili beyond the limit of rye and
barley, another characteristic plant appears—the Quinoa
(Chenopodium quinoa) the small, but numerous and very fa-
rinaceous seeds of which, afford an article of food which is
much in use either boiled into the consistence of a thin por-
ridge, or toasted (the chocolate of the high-land.)

The greatest number of the American aborigines, how-
ever, (particularly in the lower countries) were, and are still,
ignorant of agriculture, and occupy a low step of intellectual
culture; generally speaking, these tribes possess no charac-
teristic plants. And yet among them, there is an instance
of a nation, whose existence is closely connected with a single
wild-growing plant. The country of the Guaraun-Indians,
on the lower part of the Oronoco river, is annually inundated
during the rainy season, at which period this tribe lives
in trees, (the Mauritius palm,) the petiole of which the na-
tives convert into hammocks, which they sling between the
stems. In this manner they live, make fires, eat the plenti-
ful fruit of the palms, make a kind of palm wine from the
sap, and bread of the sago-like marrow.

If we turn our attention to Africa, we find in its northern
part, as in the north of Arabia, the large desert-zone, so very
poor in plants, where the nomadic Arabs received a valuable
heir-loom in the date-palm, the numerous fruit of which pro-
vide not only the people themselves, but also their camels and
horses with food; the stems yield wood, the petioles and the
leaves afford materials for cordage.

In the southern part of Arabia the coffee appears as the

Plants, characteristic of Different Nations. o47

characteristic tree, to which the Arabs are indebted for
their most common beverage. The Hindoos possess two
plants of high importance—the rice and the cotton ; the for-
mer of which forms almost the daily bread of these people,
who scarcely eat animal food, while the latter almost exclu-
sively provides them with clothing. Without these two gifts
of nature the Hindoo cannot exist, and a failure of the rice
crops causes an universal famine.

The shrub characteristic to the Chinese is easily found :
it is the tea, making a beverage, to them the same as wine
is to the vine countries, or beer and spirits to the north of
Europe.

The nations inhabiting Europe and the western part of
Asia, constituting what is denominated the Caucasian race,
have as original characteristic plants, wheat, barley, rye, and
oats (which are commonly called the European kinds of
grain, although scarcely with truth, as the western part of
Asia appears most likely to be their original home.) ‘These,
and particularly wheat, form the chief objects of agriculture,
and the principal bread of the Caucasian race.

The southern part of Europe, and that part of western
Asia which is bounded by the Mediterranean, possess a re-
markably characteristic plant in the olive tree, the product
of which, the oil, serves not only as an illuminating material,
but also as butter, to the southern Caucasian nations.

Also the vine is a gift belonging to those nations, with
whom its cultivation is of the greatest importance, as afford-
ing a beverage in common use between the 30th and 50th
degrees of north latitude.

The Laplanders, belonging to the polar race, possess no
characteristic plants, unless the retndeer moss be considered.
as such, which indeed forms the principal food of their do-
mesticated animal—the reindeer.

In the preceding sketch we have exclusively considered
such plants as were originally distributed to the different

22

348 Plants, characteristic of Different Nations.

nations; great revolutions, however, have taken place in
their distribution, and the existing relations are greatly differ-
ent from the original.

A. closer examination will however prove, that the Cau-
casian nations almost exclusively have effected those revolu-
tions, which also will be found to have gone hand in hand
with the rising culture. The Caucasian nations, and parti-
cularly the Europeans, have known by degrees how to trans-
plant the characteristic plants of other nations and. races to
their own home, and have thus fetched the nobler fruits, such
as the almond, the apricot, the peach, from Asia Minor and
Persia, the orange from China. They have transplanted
the rice and cotton on the coasts of the Mediterranean, they
have brought the maize and the potatoe from America to
Europe, where they support millions of human beings, and
have often prevented famine when other crops failed. By
industry and extensive trade they have obtained the pro-
ducts of such foreign characteristic plants as cannot thrive
with them, and thus procured for daily use the tea of the
Chinese, the coffee of the Arabs, the rice and cotton of the
Hindoos.

And yet, far greater appears the influence exerted by those
Caucasian nations, called Europeans, in the revolutions which
have taken place in the diffusion of characteristic plants, if
we look to their colonies, where countries have almost
changed into the possession of an European population. They
have not only introduced in their colonies their own charac-
teristic plants, or such as they had in early times transplant-
ed at their home, but having become possessed of countries

of different climates, they have carried there such plants as

could not succeed in the mother country, and by these means
have been enabled to collect the characteristic plants of al-
most every other nation. Thus we trace the cause to the
European sorts of grain being largely cultivated throughout
North America, in the highlands of Mexico and South

se 2 a ae

Plants, characteristic of Different Nations. 349

America, in Chili and Buenos Ayres, in South Africa, the
temperate New Holland and Van Dieman’s Land ; to the cul-
tivation of the vine at Madeira, the Canary Islands, in South
Africa, and the highlands of South America; to the extensive
cultivation of rice and cotton in the warmer parts of North
America and in the Brazils ; to the cultivation of the coffee
and sugar-cane in the West Indies and the Brazils; the nut-
meg and the clove in the Isle of France, Bourbon, and in
several of the West Indian islands; and, to conclude, thus
also we trace the cause of the tea plantations in the Brazils,
in Java, and India, and the cultivation of New Zealand flax
in New Holland.

The Europeans indeed have introduced characteristic
plants to other races of men, who knew how to appreciate
them ; several European and tropical plants, for instance, for-
merly unknown, grow now in the South Sea Islands.

The remnants of the aborigines inhabiting the table lands
of Peru, Chili, and Mexico, have received European plants ;
the negroes of the west coast of Africa have received the
maize, the tobacco, and several other American plants from
the Europeans. It is astonishing however to perceive how
little the other human races have contributed to the diffusion
of the characteristic plants; the Arabs indeed are entitled
to the merit of having spread the cotton, sugar-cane, the
coffee, and the date palm, but then they belong to the same
_ principal race of men as the other Caucasians. It would
however appear, that the Chinese have procured the cotton
plant from Hindoostan, and that the Japanese have intro-
duced the tea shrub from China.

The Europeans, or rather the Northern nations of Eu-
rope, consequently, are the people who, partly in their own
home, partly in their colonies, have collected the character-
istic plants of most other nations; thus it is that their own
country, and particularly the north of Europe, is very poor
in characteristic plants, for all the most important cultivated

350 Plants, characteristic of Different Nations.

kinds are introduced into the north of Europe, (the cabbage,
turnip, carrot, and asparagus are perhaps indigenous, but
then they are of less importance.) Here then, we find a
grand proof of the mental superiority of these people, who
at the same time have exemplified that the poor man’s child
endowed by nature with rich mental gifts, may get on in
the world better than even the rich heir himself. I am not
sure whether there might not be some one or another, who,
in this revolution, either fancies he beholds a dangerous
disturbance in nature, or fears, that the nations, by gradually
appropriating the peculiarities of their neighbours, might
sink more and more into a dull uniformity. Similar fearful
forebodings greet our ears now and then, and complaints
“have been heard, that the journals of modern travellers con-
tain fewer and fewer interesting sketches of the most differ-
ent nations. Not only in Europe have vanished so many
national characteristics, that being in a saloon in Moscow, one
might easily fancy oneself in Paris, but those charming pic-
tures of the Southern Islanders, which we received from the
' first circumnavigators, are now changed into reports of how
the natives dress in European style, launch ships, erect
schools on the Pestalozzian principle, and found churches.
High up in the Himalayas, some 7000 feet above the sea,
where the wilds of nature were seldom visited except by a few
Hindoo pilgrims, a sanitarium, or a Spa, has been erected,
with numerous European houses, where, as Jacquemont
informs us, the elite of fashion, dressed in pumps and silk
stockings, ride in their britzkas to stylish dinner parties,
and feast on champaign and hock.* Where not long ago
nature remained in her aboriginal grandeur in New Hol-
land, where savages on the lowest step of culture used
a few branches to protect themselves against the vicissitudes
of the weather, and fed upon sea-shells, the scene has

* May we hope to see the seats of British rule in India, character-
ised by higher instances of European improvement than this ?---Ep.

Plants, characteristic of Different Nations. 35]

changed into European towns, with hotels, caffées, billiard
rooms, reading cabinets, and horse races.

The incalculable advantages derived from the increasing
intercourse of nations, and by these means the accelerated
march of civilization, not only with regard to bodily well-be-
ing, but also with regard to intellectual life, ought in them-
selves to be sufficient to chase every complaint of increasing
uniformity. Nay, what is more, it might with reason be
asserted, that civilization far from producing uniformity be-
tween nations, on the very contrary sets the national pecu-
liarities off in stronger colours.

It ought indeed not to be overlooked, that by culture many
dormant intellectual powers, many new relations, are called
into existence ; but the thus awakened intellectual faculties
are not all developed in the same manner, the new relations
are not the same everywhere, and thus withal, in spite of the
uniformity, which to a certain extent undoubtedly is pro-
duced, a number of new discrepancies appear, which by far
exceed the original ones. Who, for instance, shall dare to
doubt, but that a greater difference exists between the
English and the French nation, than between the Negroes
of Guinea and Mozambique, or between the different savage
tribes in the interior of the Brazils ?

On the Method to be adopted in conducting Mineralogical
Surveys. By Wi.11AM Jameson, Ese. Bengal Medical
Service.*

Of all the departments of Natural History, there is pro-
bably not one which has made more rapid advancement
within these few years than that of geology; vast tracts
of country have been examined, and numerous observations
made in all the great continents, which tend to shew, that
there exists, as was first clearly pointed out by Werner,

* Revised and enlarged from the “ India Review.”

302 On Mineralogical Surveys.

in the crust of the earth, arrangement as perfect as is ob-
served in the zoological or botanical kingdoms. In the geo-
logical department we have every thing presented to our
view on a colossal scale, when compared with what we
meet with in zoology or botany; but the laws which regulate
the arrangement are as unchangeable, and unvarying, as we
see in either of these ; and the geologist can now tell with as
much certainty the relative position which mineralogical
specimens when presented to his view ought to hold in
the geological system, as the zoologist or botanist can with
regard to animals or plants. Moreover, the experienced geo-
logists from an examination of a few specimens, can, with
great precision, not only determine the relative age of the
country in which they have been found, but also point
out whether that country is likely to afford minerals of value
in an economical point of view. Each mineral has its own de-
terminate arrangement and distribution, and is accompanied
with its own suite of minerals. Thus, for example, bitumi-
nous coal is always found to be associated with several,
or all, of the following rocks, viz. sandstone, bituminous
shale, slate clay, fire clay, and clay ironstone, which occur in
greater or less quantity, and in extensive coal fields are
all found to exist. The same is the case with metals; and
if the minerals which are well known to be associated with
particular metals are found to occur in quantity in any district,
then we are entitled, even if the metal is not at first pre-
sented to our view, to infer, that it exists there, and that
upon proper search being made it will be found. We make
this statement in order to point out the value of mineralogi-
cal characters, which have been much neglected, and in no
country more than in India.

Before laying down the plan which ought to be adopted in
conducting mineralogical surveys, we shall first give a rapid
sketch of what has lately been done in this department.

In regard to Europe, there scarcely remains a tract which

On Mineralogical Surveys. 353

has not been more or less examined, and authorized geolo-
gical maps have been published by the respective govern-
ments. The French Government have lately published a
magnificent map, coloured geologically under the guidance
of Beaumont, and Dufrenoy. The Austrian and Prussian
Governments have also published splendid geological maps.
In addition to what has been done by the different govern-
ments, many splendid maps have been published by private
individuals, viz., Von Buch, Hoffmann, Boué, Von Dechen,
Oeynhausen, &c., and in the transactions of many of the
continental Societies and periodicals, an immense number of
valuable observations will be found. Nor is Great Britain
behind in this department. The island has been investigated
in all directions. In England many valuable observations
have been published by Smith, Greenough, Buckland, Phil-
lips, Sedgewicke, Lyell, Murchison, and others. In Scotland,
Jameson, MacCulloch, Playfair, Fleming, Boué, Necker, &c.
have by their labours left little to be done; and Griffiths,
Weaver, Portlock, &c. have given us much information with
regard to Ireland. Last year a geological map of Ireland,
coloured under the direction of Griffiths, was laid before
Parliament. At present the geological department connect-
ed with the great Trigonometrical. Survey is conducted
under the able superintendence of Major Portlock. Nor
must we omit to mention that Murchison has published a
most extensive work on the Silurian system—a name given
by him to a series of slates, limestone, and sandstones occur-
ring between the old red sandstone and greywacke series,
and probably, as supposed by Professor Jameson, a mere
extension of the former. It is not a partial formation con-
fined to England, for it has been met with in Scotland,* and
in many places on the European continent,; and no doubt
from the specimens which we have examined in the collec-

* Professor Jameson in Lectures. ; Phillips’ Geology, p. 85.

354: On Mineralogical Surveys.

tion of the A’siatic Society of Calcutta, it will be found in
great abundance in India.* In regard to North America,
we know a little from the excellent reports which have been
published by Rogers, Featherstonhaugh, &c. When we
draw a contrast however between what has been done, and
what remains to be done, the former forms a mere iota to
the latter. The whole of Asia, Africa, Australasia, and
South America are ina manner unknown. In the last of these
continents Humboldt, Pentland, &c., have done, no doubt, a
vast deal, but still it forms but a small part when compared
with the vast tracts of country which remain unexplored.
The same remark applies to India. From the researches of
Turnbull, Christie, Hardie, Adam, Heyne, Calder, Govan,
Voysey, Buchanan, Webb, Herbert, Gerrard, Jacquemont,
Franklin, Sykes, Malcolmson, McClelland, Hodgson, &c.,
we have acquired much information. The observations
however, of many of these authors are not always to be
faithfully relied on, being made in so loose and unsatisfac-
tory a manner, colour alone being frequently taken by them
as their prineipal character in distinguishing and classifying
rocks. It is now time for Indian geologists to be more
cautious in their statements, and allow the stigma, cast out
by foreign naturalists to be removed; viz., that every ‘‘ red
sandstone in India belongs to the new red sandstone,”
or that “ geologists in India are self-taught.” Many of the
topographical accounts lately published are any thing but
creditable, as far as geology and mineralogy are concerned ;
the observations in general being of no value either ina
mineralogical or economical point of view, no method what-
ever being adopted.

* In our conclusion in regard to the occurrence of the Silurian rocks
we are correct, having found them occupying large tracts amongst the
Himmalya. We shall afterwards give a much more detailed account
than we have as yet given. See Journ. As. Soc.

+ Jacquemont’s letters, &c.

On Mineralogical Surveys. 355

A new spirit of investigation is happily gaining ground in
this country; not only are geologists studying minutely the
relative position which rocks bear to each other, but also the
embodied fossils are receiving a share of attention, in order
to ascertain the relative age of the different formations.
Lately a most interesting discovery was made at Cherra
Poonjee by Dr. McClelland, viz. an ancient Sea-beach,
whose present height is upwards of 1500 feet above the
level of the sea. He has also shewn that most of the
fossils belong to species now extinct, proving that it be-
longs to the oldest tertiary series, or Eocene epoch of
Lyell. That nearly the whole of Bengal, the upper provin-
ces extending as far as the Himalayan mountains properly so
called, belong to a recent geological epoch we have ample
evidence to shew; we shall also prove, and that too from
phenomena, which admit not of a doubt, that extensive
voleanic convulsions took place at a time when species
belonging to every genus of mammalia, with the exception
of man himself had appeared; that after the destruction
of a vast number of these animals, many genera of which
are now extinct, by a deluge which extended its ravages
probably over the whole of India, that is over those parts of
India which had emerged from the waters of the ocean, we
had shortly afterwards another upheavement, caused in a
similar manner, and followed again by another deluge, which
‘swept across a large portion of the Himmalya. By the
fossils organic remains, the medallions of a former world, we
are thus enabled to connect bygone days with the present—
to state that there have been successively created, and suc-
cessively destroyed, whole worlds of animals and plants—that
the earth itself has existed for thousands and thousands
of years ;—but that man, the master-piece of creation, is com-
paratively speaking of very recent origin.

In regard to the geology of England, much, as already
stated, has been written, and excellent geological maps have

3A

356 On Mineralogical Surveys.

been published by Smith, and Greenough. At present Mr.
De la Beche is engaged in colouring geologically the maps
connected with the great Trigonometrical Survey. The geo-
logy of Scotland has also been minutely examined, and
lately a map was published from materials collected by
MacCulloch, most of which, however, were pillaged from
Professor Jameson, who for the last 12 or 14 years has had
in his possession materials collected, from personal examira-
tion, for a geological map, but his other numerous avocations
have as yet prevented him from making use of them. In
1838 he called the attention of the Wernerian Society to
the great want of a regular survey of Scotland, which led
to the appointment of a Committee of the Society, which
was ordered to communicate with the Royal, and Highland
Societies, and to request of them to draw up memorials,
petitioning government to recommence the Trigonometrical
Survey, which was immediately done; and upon the res-
pective memorials of each of the Societies being transmitted
to government, an order was given for a certain number
of the individuals engaged in the Irish Survey to be drafted
to Scotland, and before we left that country, Col. Colby,
the chief engineer, had arrived in order to see the survey
properly begun; we may therefore hope soon to see finish-
ed this important national work. In laying the report before
the Wernerian Society, Professor Jameson accompanied it
with a statement of the points of greatest importance to be
attended to in the mineralogical department, which however
he has not as yet published, and considering that it might
be of great importance to those engaged in drawing up
topographical accounts, we have been induced to give an
account of the method proposed.

‘ae Geographical Part.

1.—General and particular Geographical account of the
country.

On Mineralogical Surveys. 357

2.—Description of the surface of the country, a. Ranges
of mountains, extent, mode of connexion, shape, acclivities ;
heights, as ascertained by the barometer or sympesometer.
2. Single mountains, shape, acclivities, magnitude, height.
y- Valleys, extent, shape, character of cliffs and precipices,
inclination and nature of the bottom, height above the level
of the sea, and mode of connexion with neighbouring valleys.
6. Plains, extent, appearance of their surface, including
lands, steppes, deserts, oases, &c. height above the sea. «.
Caves and caverns, their position, how formed, rocks in
which they occurred, contents.

3.—Description of rivers, magnitude, under which is in-
cluded their length, breadth, and depth; direction and fall;
velocity ; inundations and their effects, retardations, eddies,
&c.; height above the level of the sea at different points of
their course; nature of their bank; character of their scene-
ry; comparison of their former with their present state; bars
at their mouths, and deltas; physical and chemical proper-
ties of their water; quantity of sediment contained in their
waters at different seasons of the year; temperature; and,
lastly, description of the animals and plants that inhabit
them. |

4..—Description of lakes, formation, situation, distribution,
magnitude, under which is included their length, breadth,
circumference, and depth ; temperature at different depths ;
colour; height above the level of the sea; chemical proper-
ties of their waters; animals they contain, plants that grow
in them; character of their scenery.

5.—Description of springs, magnitude, temperature, height
above the level of the sea; rocks from which they issue; their
chemical and physical properties, incrustations found around
them; quantity of matter brought from the interior of the
earth by them; geognostical situation and geographic distri-
bution ; animals that occur in them, and plants that grow
in their vicinity.

358 On Mineraiogical Surveys.

6.—General observations on the physiognomy of the sur-
face of the country, in relation to other countries.

Il.— Mineralogical Part.

1.—Description of the different soils in connexion with
the fundamental rock, whether transported or untransported.
Chemical analysis of the more remarkable and curious soils.

2.—Description of jungles, bogs, &c. their magnitude,
height above the level of the sea, various remains found in
them, uses, clearance, draining, &c., plants that grow on
their surface, and animals that live in and near them.

3.—Description of marl beds, their length, breadth,
and depth, their height above the level of the sea, rocks
on which they rest, the substances with which they are in-
termixed, and the alluvial matter and soil which cover them.
Chemical examination of the different marls, and mode of
digging and searching for them.

4. Description of the different rocks of which the country
is composed according to their various relations, age, &c.

5.—Mineralogical description of the mineral veins and
beds that occur in the country.

Il].—Economical Part.

1.—Description of the various kinds of ores found in the
country, with their distribution.

2.—The mode of mining in particular spots depending
on their local situation, the expense of mining and quarry-
ing, and the particular tracts pointed out where trials of
greater or less extent may be advantageously carried on.

3.—Descriptions of the different kinds of limestones and
marbles, quarter of the country where they occur, magni-
tude of the beds, mode of quarrying them, chemical analy-
sis of the different limestones and marbles in the country,
with the view of ascertaining their value in agriculture,
building, and statuary.

——

On Mineralogical Surveys. 359

4.—Description of the different kinds of slates that
occur in the country, places where the best kind are found,
mode to be followed in quarrying them, characters to be
used for distinguishing good from bad slate, and a statement
of those symptoms which indicate the presence of slate.

5.—Description of the different species of precious stones
that occur in the country, places where found, mode of
searching for them, and of estimating their value.

6.—Description of the different kinds of building stones
found in the country, places where found, most eligible
spots for quarrymg them, mode to be followed in quarrying
them, and the kinds of building for which the different
kinds are best calculated.

7.—General observations on the probability of finding
coal in the country, with a statement of the best mode of
following out such favourable appearances as may occur.

8.—General observations on the mineral riches of the
country, and a comparison of its mineralogical structure with
that of other countries.

Umballa Political Agency,
Aug. 15th, 1840.

Remarks on Dracunculus. By Mr. J. McCuEevuanp.

A communication from Mr. Brett, in the August number
of the ‘‘ India Journal of Medical and Physical Science,”
reminds me of a promise I had made to examine three spe-
cimens of Guinea-worm with which he very kindly favoured
me. About fifteen years ago the subject created much in-
terest in India, particularly in Bombay, where the disease is
very common throughout a large proportion of that Presiden-
cy. The first volume of the transactions of the Medical and
Physical Society of Calcutta contains no fewer than six papers

360 Remarks on Dracunculus.

on the subject,* and from the spirit with which the inquiry
seems to have been undertaken, and the scientific character
of those by whom it was carried on, we might have hoped
that some new fact, calculated to place our knowledge of
this tropical disease on an improved and satisfactory footing,
would have been by this time elicited. In each of the
communications enumerated below, a progressive advance-
ment may be observed, and had the Medical Society not
been diverted from its original object, and its transactions
discontinued, this disease, which is peculiar to hot climates,
might by this time have presented to the medical world,
a lasting monument of the zeal and public spirit of the
profession in India, with which the question naturally rests.
Dr. Bird, whose communication was presented to the Medi-
cal Society in March 1824, supposes this disease to be en-
demic in particular parts of the country, particularly in
Guzerat, and that it is chiefly prevalent from the end of May,
to the end of September. Dr. Smyttan and Dr. Kennedy
confirm the opinion of Dr. Bird as to the disease being con-
fined to certain tracts of country presenting, as before re-
marked in the West Indies by Dr. Chisholm, a peculiar
geological structure. They also concur with Dr. Bird
as to the season during which the disease is chiefly pre-
valent, and Dr. Singlton is further of opinion that it does

* Observations on Dracunculus, or the Guinea-worm. By James Bird,
Esq., Assistant Surgeon, Artillery, Bombay. 2. On Dracunculus, by
Richard Kennedy, M.D. Surgeon to the Residency, Baroda, Bombay. 3.
On Dracunculus, by George Smyttan, M.D. Surgeon of Artillery, Bom-
bay. To which may be added, as connected with a similar subject. 4. On
the worm found in the eyes of the horse, by P. Breton, Esq. Surgéon on
the Bengal Establishment. 5. Observations on the Filaria, or thread-worm
found in the eye of horses in India, by William Twining, Esq. Surgeon
to his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. The foregoing papers are
contained in the Ist volume of the work alluded to. In the 6th volume
the subject is resumed by C. Morehead, M.D. Assistant Surgeon, Bom-
bay Service.

:

lt a i as

Remarks on Dracunculus. 361

not prevail with equal intensity at all seasons in the same
place. Dr. Morehead however states that at Kirkee, where
the disease was very prevalent in 1832, it set in as early
as March, and that the admission of cases into the Hospital
of H. M. 4th Light Dragoons for the six following months
were as follows—April 7 cases ; May, 57; June, 64; July, 48;
August, 26; September, 3; but no mention is made of the
date at which the rains set in at this station, or the general
character of the place in regard to moisture.

Dr. Morehead coincides with the authors previously allu-
ded to, as to the peculiarity of the earth and soil in districts
in which this disease occurs, and offers certain general views
of much interest on this head. Dr. Scot, Surgeon of the
Ist. Battalion of Madras Artillery, in 1821 communicated to
the “ Edinburgh Medical Journal” the fact of Dracunculus
having appeared among the troops at St. ‘Thomas’s Mount,
Madras, in June, one year after they had returned from an
expedition to the banks of the Tumbudra; none were af-
fected but such as accompanied the expedition in question,
with which they were absent from the Mount from February
to June. Dr. Kennedy, in a note attached to Mr. Scot’s
paper in the work referred to, states, that the hill for-
tress of Copul, when it was taken from Tipoo Sultan in
1791, was notorious for being infested with Guinea-worm,
an observation which he remarks is at variance with the
- opinion which restricts the appearance of the disease to
moist soils, or humid atmosphere.

These are the main facts that have been elicited in India,
and it appears unquestionable from them that the disease is
peculiar to certain districts only; but it does not appear to
depend on the moisture of those districts, or to be contracted
at any particular season. A certain period of time, equal
to about twelve months from the first arrival in an affected
district, is requisite for the development of the disease. An-
other fact in the history of this malady may be considered

362 Remarks on Dracunculus.

also as ascertained, namely, that the endemic causes may be
overcome in affected districts by improved comforts and me-
dical police, particularly as we learn from Sir J. McGregor,
that Bombay was about forty years ago a common seat of
the disease, since which time however, as appears from sub-
sequent writers, the troops stationed in, and near the Fort,
have been almost exempt from the disorder.

Much of the discrepancy in the opinions of medical writers
on the subject of this disease, has arisen in my opinion from
regarding it as one and the same in whatever part of the
world it has been observed. The knowledge of the ancients
with regard to the Guinea-worm, was probably derived from
the only tropical parts of Egypt and Arabia in which the
disease was likely to occur, and with which they were ac-
quainted. ‘They are not, however, very good authorities on
the subject of worms; and as the species with which they
were acquainted must have been derived from the west-
ward of the Euphrates, it is possible that the identity of the
Indian as well as the West Indian species, which occasion
the disease we call Dracunculus, are different from the Dra-
cunculus of the Romans and the Greeks. It is probable even
from what is known of the distribution of animals, that the
Dracunculus of the West Indies is different from the Dra-
cunculus of the East, and that even in the East we may
have several species, subject to different laws of propagation
and development ; a circumstance that seems to have escaped
all those who have written on the subject. Nothing can be
more vague, more unscientific, or unsatisfactory, than the
various descriptions we have seen of the Guinea-worm by
medical writers.

Some speak of it as an animalcule, some as an insect, some
as a gordius, or earth-worm, some as a reptile, and some deny
its being any thing more than a detached absorbent vessel,
or a nerve. With regard to the manner in which it enters
the cellular tissue, little is to be expected from those who

Remarks on Dracunculus. 363

have so vague an idea of the nature of the animal, on which
of course its habits depend. Some contend that it is imbibed
into the alimentary canal with water, and others, that its ova
are absorbed by the skin. Neither of these conjectures
seem to be correct; the young which are extremely numer-
ous, are produced alive, and although full of life and activity
when first extracted, they soon expire after being emersed
in water, or separated from the blue milky fluid with which
they are exuded. These circumstances, as well as the in-
capacity of the parent to survive long after having been
removed from the body, would not appear to countenance
the idea of their identity with any kind of external worm.
Still, as certain authorities have declared that animals essen-
tially the same do exist in waters and soils, we should not
be justified in denying this to be the case, at fhe same time
it may be reasonable to hope that such worms when met
with out of the body will be in future preserved. Having
been requested by Mr. Brett to accompany him to the Body
Guard Hospital, for the purpose of seeing a case of Dracun-
culus, the animal was found protruding for about eight
inches from behind the inner right ancle, and when touched,
shewed evident signs of vitality, even at the narrow point-
ed extremity, although that part was somewhat shrivelled
and dry. It was examined by a small lens, and found
to correspond with the part usually presenting in such
cases, which seems to be the tail; the head being seldom
seen, unless when the animal is extracted entire. Of six
specimens examined, one only is possessed of the head ;
all six have the caudal extremity perfect, with the exception
of certain injuries to which they were exposed in the act of
extraction. The tail is attenuated to a very fine sharp
point, and bent like the point of a cobbler’s awl. _It is also
armed with a few rough points, probably for the purpose of
forcing its way through the cellular tissue. Some however
are without these points, having the tail smooth, but in other
3B

364: Remarks on Dracunculus.

- respects the same. We have represented these distinctions
Figs. 1, 2, 3. Plate x, because it is desirable to know whe-
ther they are sexual, as they are supposed to be, or whether
they may not be characteristic of different species. The
oral extremity, or that in which the mouth is situated, is re-
presented, Fig. 4 b. c. from the only instance in which I
observed it. I may here remark, that it is the radiations by
which the mouth is surrounded, and the low organization
of these animals, that induced Cuvier to remove them so far
from the earth worms, which are further distinguished from
Dracunculus by red blood, a semblance of a skeleton in the
circular rings by which the body is surrounded, as_ well
as by a distinct nervous system.

To return to the consideration of the tail, which from
being the part that seems generally, if not always, to present
itself under the skin, is that with which we are best acquaint-
ed. On separating the body within three inches of the extre-
mity, a bluish white fluid escaped. ‘This on having been
accidentally touched by a Codrington lens proved to consist _
almost entirely of young animals perfectly formed, and in all
respects like their parent, except indeed that they displayed
more energy and life. The number of young contained in
a single drop of this fluid must at least have been a
thousand. When immersed in a drop of water they seem-
ed to live so long as their mucous envelope continued
attached to them, but when exposed to the water they soon
died. Near the caudal extremity there are certain irregular
openings, probably connected with the generative functions,
or with the state of development of the young, particularly
as these apertures are not observed in all specimens; figs. 1,
3, are possessed of them, and figs. 2, 4, are without them. It
is right however to say, that they may have been occasioned
by violence in the two first mentioned specimens, otherwise
we should be inclined to refer the circumstance of the
caudal extremity always presenting to the surface, where it

Remarks on Dracunculus. 365

occasions an irritation, and eventually protrudes, to a na-
tural function connected with the distribution of the young.
It does not appear that these animals multiply in the
body to such extent as the vast number of young which
they contain would lead us to suppose them capable. In-
deed, considering the pain and irritation which a single
individual is capable of producing, we cannot suppose that
the powers of human life could long survive many of them.
What then becomes of the millions of young which a single
adult is capable of producing? To let them loose in the
unfortunate body which the parent parasite itself inhabits,
would be contrary to the ordinary economy we observe in
Nature for the preservation and distribution of the young ;
such a multitudinous brood would rapidly destroy the animal
on whose life their own would depend. We are therefore
rather inclined to the belief, that when the parent worm is
prepared to dismiss the young brood, it irritates the skin by
means of the sharp point of the tail, and thus causes a pus-
tule through which the point of the tail passes, and the
young are allowed to escape externally with the discharge.
Our observations on the young themselves may afford a
clue to their future progress, and to the cause of the disease.
A drop of the milky substance in which they were contain-
ed having been submitted to the microscope, the young were
seen in full enjoyment of life and energy. ‘Two or three drops
of water were then added, when a few of the young which
extricated themselves from the mucous, and entered the water
soon died, the others continued to evince signs of life as
long as the proper secretion in which they were enveloped
remained sufficiently soft to admit of their motions being
perceptible, which was for two hours after they had been
taken from the parent. They were then left on a glass
under the microscope, and 24 hours after, the mucous
being perfectly dry on the glass, they were then moistened
with tepid water, when several of the young were again

366 Remarks on Dracunculus.

seen to be in motion, the caudal extremity quivering and
flowing freely about, the body writhing, but still remaining
fixed by the head to the hardened mucous. They were
then rolled up in cloth and exposed to the steam of hot
water, with a view of setting the heads free, but this tempera-
ture being too great for them they were destroyed, thus
depriving us of the méans of making further experiments as
to the length of time the young are capable of remaining
torpid, and the circumstances most favourable to their re-
suscitation.

Fig. d.d. Plate x. represent the young magnified to
100 times their natural size. Their entire length would
consequently be no more than the breadth of the finest hair;
so that every case of neglected Dracunculus would, accord-
ing to these observations, yield thousands of minute imper-
ceptible particles, in which a numerous progeny of the young
are ready again to be called into activity, on coming into
contact with the moist relaxed skin.*

I had proceeded thus far in my observations, when Mr.
Brett pointed out to me a paper by Dr. A. Duncan, Bom-
bay Medical Service, in the 2nd part 7th volume Calcutta
Medical Transactions. Dr. Duncan had also found Dra-
cunculus in India to be a viviparous animal, filled with living
young. In an extensive practice he always found the large
ones full of young, and the small ones to be without them.
Whether this is owing to the latter being males, or to their
not having attained to Maturity, is a question which yet re-
mains to be determined. But from their not being usually

* The size of the young is still further diminished by their habit of
coiling themselves up. Dried in this state they would be no larger or
more formidable in appearance than the smallest mote we could discern
floating in a sunbeam admitted into a darkened room, and which we ad-
mit into our lungs by thousands, at every inspiration. It appears to
me to be great folly to dispute as to whether such minute particles
can enter the human body by the stomach or by the skin.

Remarks on Dracunculus. 367

found in pairs, they would appear to be hermaphrodite—a
conclusion to which I felt inclined from my own observa-
tions.

Dr. Duncan next remarked the tail of the young to con-
sist of a fine sting-like extremity, which they can fix to any
opaque object, and if appropriate to their nature they can
work themselves into it, thus affording, he remarks, an easy
solution of the opinion of Mr. Clot, and others, that attendants
on patients, and dogs moving about them, get the disease.

Dr. Duncan also conceives that when the time arrives for
producing its young, the worm exerts itself to get out of its
nidus, which also corresponds with the opinions already
stated.

Dr. Duncan however found that when the young are dis-
charged into a glass of water, they may be seen swimming
about in it; but he has omitted to say how long the young
live in water. The old, he says, live for six days in this ele-
ment, but he has never known any survive a fortnight.

After becoming dry, Dr. Duncan regarded the young as
dead, but it does not appear that he made any attempt to
resuscitate them by moisture—a very important point con-
nected with the elucidation of the disease, on which we are
desirous of seeing further experiments made, our own having
been confined to a single observation. Dr. Duncan found
the young very plentiful in the abcesses which form after
_ breaking the worm, but never found any alive, or at least so
lively as in other circumstances; but here also they may
only have remained in a torpid state, particularly as no at-
tempts were made to restore them. Dr. Duncan’s paper is
the most workmanlike and useful, both in a scientific and
practical point of view, we have seen on the subject. The
district in which he observed the disease, is composed of
trap rocks, and the soil and pools abound in the rains with
a worm smaller and more slender than the Nahroo, or Dra-
cunculus, but otherwise exceedingly like that species. Here

368 Remarks on Dracunculus.

however, we must find fault with the usual inference de-
rived from this resemblance, until we are either furnished
with specimens of the worms in question, or a satisfactory
description of them. Under these circumstances we would
confer a benefit on science in general, and our own pro-
fession in particular, by carefully collecting the most perfect
specimens of the worms we extract in practice, together
with all worms found in wells, tanks, and mud in affected
districts, particularly such as the natives believe to be identi-
cal with Dracunculus, and placing them in the hands of
some one conversant with the subject, and who would un-
dertake its elucidation. A few small phials might be suffi-
cient to hold a collection, if carefully chosen, that might
reconcile the most opposite opinions on the subject of
Dracunculus, now so nicely balanced that it were idle to
cast our own into either scale. It appears to us probable,
however, that we have many kinds of Dracunculus, even in
India; should this prove to be the case, some may be endemic
during the hot season, in dry arid tracts, some during
the rains in low moist situations, and some peculiar to the
cold, or winter months. We have hardly a reason for con-
cluding, as appears to have been taken for granted by Dr.
Chisholm and all subsequent writers, that the disease of
Grenada, which appears there during the winter, is the
same as that which appears in the East Indies during
the rains, however the general form of the animals that
occasion the disease in both cases may correspond. The
wide geographical range between the East and West Indies,
is of itself a sufficient reason to cast a doubt on the identity
of the two animals, independent of the difference of the
seasons at which they are developed, and the opinions
regarding the manner in which they are introduced to the
cellular tissue of the human body. Another supposition
which Dr. Chisholm and other writers on this subject seem
to have adopted, still more inexcusably, because it is in

Remarks on Dracunculus. 369

the face of well established facts, namely, that the parasites
of certain fishes, horses, &c. are the same as those found in
the human body. Not only are the parasites of fishes differ-
ent from those of the human subject, but each species of
fish in which they occur seems to have parasites peculiar
to itself; nor have any of these been found in the bodies of
mammalia, nor have those of the mammalia been found in the
human subject. Indeed this is altogether a terra incognita
in the philosophical world, and one of the first objects of
research should be to determine whether the same parasites
are peculiar to the same animal in parts of the world remote
from each other, or whether parasites, like most other beings,
are confined to certain geographical divisions, and if they are
subject to laws of distribution independent of those of the
animals they inhabit. Let us commence with the parasites
of the human species, as most important, and inquire—

1. If there be more species of Dracunculus in India than
one ?*

2. If any species corresponding with this, or these, inha-
bit the waters or soils of any part of India?

3. What are the species inhabiting waters, soils, plants,
or animals in India, corresponding most closely with Dracun-
culus ?

4. Is Dracunculus in India the Guinea-worm of Africa,
and Malis dracuncula of the West Indies? The method of
- proceeding should be by extensive analysis of what has been
done on the subject hitherto—by copious notes on the deve-
lopment of the disease in different districts, and on the ha-
bits of corresponding parasites in other bodies, as well as on
the worms of ponds, plants, and soils; in all cases collecting
and preserving specimens in spirits of the animals alluded to ;

* Before we could do much in this inquiry it would be necessary to
consult the work of Professor Rudolphi, on the entozoa of the human
body, of which we can find no copy in Calcutta. It is barbarous to
quote Linnzus as an authority on this subject.

370 Remarks on Dracunculus.

and, lastly, the preparation, of microscopic drawings, dissec-
tions, and descriptions of all these. I shall be happy to
undertake this last duty for those who may not have the re-
quisite facilities for performing it themselves.

Fig. 1, Plate x. The magnified drawing represents the
extremity that first presented itself, and which is probably
the tail ; the two pointed bodies situated at its termination, are
not of course perceptible to the naked eye. The other ex-
tremity of the specimen was imperfect, having been broken
off. Fig 1 a. natural size of the specimen.

Fig. 2, another specimen, in which instead of pointed spe-
cule the extremity is convoluted and smooth. The other
extremity of the specimen is imperfect, having been broken
off. 2 a. natural size.

Fig. 3, resembles the first, and is furnished with an aper-
ture on the side of the head.

The difference between the first and third figures may be
the result of violence used in the extraction of the animals,
but I can scarcely conceive that any appliance that could be
used could affect a part so minute as not to be preceptible
to the naked eye.

Fig. 4, represents the head and tail, of the only perfect
specimen I have seen. The tail, 4 a. is pointed and recurved
as usually observed ; 4c. is the mouth, the head being bent in
the specimen as here represented, and the mouth directed
upwards and radiated.

Figs. d.d. The young as seen under the microscope.

In conclusion, we may remark that cleanliness is the best safe-
guard against Dracunculus, and in the treatment of the dis-
ease care should be taken not to wound the animal. When
this accident has happened, it would be desirable to prevent
the lodgement or escape of any of the young. Scalding
water would be sufficiently destructive, but when the article
on which a lodgement may be suspected is not of much value,
the safest precaution would be to burn it. There may be

Remarks on Dracunculus. 371

certain districts in which the soil and air may be more con-
genial to the young in their torpid state than others. They
would be exposed to fewer dangers in the soft impalpable
soils of volcanic or of trap districts, than in sandy or stiff
clayey tracts, and once established in places like the former,
it would be more difficult to eradicate them. This how-
ever, is only offered as a probable way of accounting for the
curious correspondence that has often been observed in the
geological structure of districts affected with Dracunculus,
both in India and the West Indies.

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c. By

J. Grant, Esa.

At a discussion, or perhaps more properly speaking, con-
versation—held many years ago at a meeting of the Medical
and Physical Society of Calcutta, a few points of general
and scientific interest were mentioned, respecting which in-
formation was deemed desirable. One of these was suicide,
whether it prevails to a great extent or otherwise among the
natives of India, and if effected by poison—the sort of poi-
son most used, &c.? Another was regarding the existence
of the Biscopra, a description of it, &c. Waiving for the pre-
sent the first of these topics altogether, it has struck me that
a few notes though of a desultory kind respecting the second,
and one or two others, may not be unacceptable ; but I beg
the reader before hand to anticipate nothing of a novel, or,
strictly speaking, even of a scientific character in this paper.
Indeed, it is rather with the hope of exciting some of your
readers and correspondents to further inquiry, on the sub-
jects introduced in these observations, than from any idea
that they possess any merit of their own, that they are sub-
mitted.

I have frequently heard mention made of the Biscopra in

the Upper Provinces—but the Bengal reader most likely will
3 C

372 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c.

ask, what is a Biscopra? Popular report states it to be a
kind of lizard, whose bite is certain death. It is said to be
found in old walls and ruins, to be a few inches only in
length, and to be wonderfully agile and nimble, so that to
catch it is very difficult. Up the country I have spoken
with natives who declared, that they had frequently seen it,
and who spoke of it with entire conviction of its fatal capa-
bility. The belief in the creature’s existence, however, ex-
tends even to respectable Europeans ; who most likely de-
rived that belief from the reports of natives, without much
inquiry on their own part. At the time that the conversation
I have alluded to occurred at the Medical and Physical
Society, I wrote to several of my friends up the country,
requesting of them to procure for me, if possible, a living or
dead Biscopra—and sure enough, an old brother officer sent
me a specimen, preserved in spirits, of what he believed to
be a Biscopra. ‘

The probability is, that much of what has been reported
of the fatal result of the Biscopra’s bite is fabulous. It is
an old proverb—* give a dog a bad name, and hang him.”
Alas! the consequence may apply to nobler creatures than
the poor dog; but, be ‘that as it may—the ban of the vene-
rable saying applies to several harmless reptiles and insects.
I recollect as a boy believing that the bite of the dragon-
fly was a fearful thing. This was believed by hundreds of
children besides me, and for ought I know, may be cre-
dited by hundreds of children, even in this boasted age of
intellect. Some-.of the lizard family, as the Chalcides, the
Apodal, and Anguina, approach in externals, if not in habits,
so near to the snake family, that it is not surprising, they
should, by ignorant persons, be regarded with feelings of
dread, from their resemblance to that reptile, which men may
be said universally to hold in intuitive horror. Accordingly,
we shall find the ryot of Behar, and the highland peasant
concurring in the belief that there is a lizard in the moors

_ Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c. 373

and bogs of Albin, and the jungles, or weed-covered ruins
of Hindoostan, whose bite is deadly. But even in old
England we have the traces of a similar notion; thus, the
Duke of Suffolk, in the play of Henry VI. (part II.) eursing
his enemies, imprecates after the following fashion—
oe “« Poison be their drink !
Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest that they taste !
Their sweetest shade, a grove of cypress trees !
Their chiefest prospect, murdering basilisks !
Their softest touch, as smart as lizards’ stings !”
And again in the third part of the same drama—Queen
Margaret thus retorts on Richard Plantagenet (Richard III.)
wonenennee “ But thou art neither like thy sire, nor dam ;
But like a foul mishapen stigmatic,

Mark’d by the destinies to be avoided,
As venom toads, or lizards’ dreadful stings.”

In the highlands of Scotland, it is the Lacerta vulgaris
that is thus calumniated, and in India we have the Biscopra,
a serpent-headed lizard. An old brother officer I have said,
kindly sent me a Biscopra, preserved in spirits, from Meerut,
which I regret to say, is no longer in my possession, nor
procurable for the purpose of reference. The person bitten
by a Biscopra, it is said, either dies immediately, or lingers
for a day or two; the symptoms being the same as in a case
of snake bite. I have spoken with two respectable natives,
one of whom declared that he knew of an individual in Cal-
cutta having died in three days from the bite of a kind of
lizard, and he informed me that a Mohurrur of the late
Rajah of Burdwan, many years ago died from the same cause,
in the same space of time.

Not unfrequently beneath the surface of a popular belief
may be found traces of truth. Approaching as the Lacerta
family do in several respects to the snake tribe, it were
scarcely philosophical to deny the possibility of such a crea-
ture’s existence, as a fanged lizard. I was accordingly very

374 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c.

desirous of putting the matter to the test of experiment ;
and offered a reward to any one who would bring me a living
Biscopra, or a poisonous lizard of any kind. Several
janwars were brought to me accordingly, including some
ferocious Cobras di Capello with undrawn fangs, but no
Biscopra was. forthcoming. Indeed the word is not known
to Bengallees—but there is a medicine called Bis-kupra, or
Bish-khupra, used in Bengal by native practitioners, as a

remedy in pulmonary affections and intermittent fevers of —

long standing. I reiterated my desire to have a lizard
whose bite was considered deadly, and the common
Goshamp was brought to me. At length a friend (belong-
ing to the civil service) managed to catch for me in an old
wall at Baraset a most active’ Lacerta, which the natives
assured him was capable by its bite of inflicting instantane-
ous death. ‘‘ Now,” thought I, “or never, am I to be
blessed with the sight of a real and genuine Biscopra !”
Determined to lose no time in putting my formidable
friend’s powers to the proof, I confined him within a trans-
parent glass vessel where he was quite at his ease. He was
an exceedingly lively little fellow, about five or six inches
long, and his skin presented the appearance of irregular
streaks of small beads of a dark grey and a lighter shade,
alternating, as well as I can describe from recollection—for
unfortunately the specimen itself, preserved in spirits, and a
very accurate painted representation of it, which I presented
to my friend Mr. J. T. Pearson, of Darjeeling, have both
been swallowed by the Ganges, in one of those fits of gulli-
bility which that sacred river occasionally exhibits. Suc-
ceeding in catching a ‘ ridiculus mus,’ I determined to intro-
duce him to the Biscopra, which by the way resembled
very nearly the one forwarded to me from Meerut—save
that the latter was considerably larger, and his head more
pointed and snake-like. . I accordingly dropped mus into
the glass vessel, in which I could conveniently watch the

a

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c. 375

motions of both parties. No sooner was the lizard favoured
with the company of his unexpected visitor, than they two be-
gan to fight most desperately. I leave it to others to say why
these two, who had never met in their lives before, should
commence their acquaintanceship in a manner that threat-
ened to prove fatal to one of the parties. Perhaps it may
be regarded as an apt illustration of strong and active pre-
judice, or hatred at first sight. Be that as it may, it seemed
as if they had predetermined to devour, or to be devoured.
The combat, however, was but short and indecisive, though
extremely spirited. A not uncommon result of a quarrel
was also observable here, for both parties left off by mutual
consent, each ‘ went his ain gait’—or in other words, quietly
took up his position on one side of the glass house, nor
evinced afterwards the slightest desire to renew the combat,
in which it is proper to state, that the lizard was the offensive
and mouse the defensive party ; though as the battle thick-
ened, it was impossible to say which was plaintiff or defen-
dant. After leaving them together for half an hour I with-
drew the mouse by means of a string fastened to one of his
legs, and kept him for about seven hours, when not the
slightest ill consequence following the combat, I let the
little hero loose again. If this lizard then is to be regarded
as a Biscopra, it is plain that the bite of the creature is
not fatal even to so insignificant a being as a mouse. I
believe that the lizard in question, as well as the one I re-
ceived from Meerut, was a young Goshamp. I kept the
former alive for many months, feeding it on cockroaches,
which it always seized by the head, swallowing it rather slowly
as a Boa constrictor bolts his prey. He would devour four
or five of them at a time, and then stop till he felt hungry
again. At length after growing considerably larger than he
was when I first received him, the lizard died, perhaps from
want of sufficient exercise. One of my native friends to
whom I shewed it called it Godhoree (pronounced Gédree),

376 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c.

and said that it grew to the length of two or three feet, and
that when full grown its bite was deadly, which I very much
doubt; but the former portion of the opinion confirms my
own, that it was a young Goshamp. From all I have heard
then, I presume that there is no such creature as a Bis-
copra, though I have no doubt that the bite of a Goshamp,
young or old, may sometimes prove fatal, but not from the
operation of any specific venom. I have heard that the
Gecko of Java has produced serious inflammation by falling
on the hand. I have also conversed with intelligent old
officers, who informed me that during Lord Cornwallis’ ope-
rations against Tippoo Sahib in the Mysore, and the occu-
pation of Pulgatchery by the British army, there was a
general impression that the bite of the Chameleon and the
common Blood-sucker (known by the name of Girget) was
dangerous, and sometimes deadly. They were killed there-
fore wherever found. This was partly occasioned by the
death of an officer who laid hold of a Chameleon with his
naked hand. The creature is naturally very sluggish and
phlegmatic; but being frightened and squeezed in this way,
it in self-defence bit the officer in the hand, and he died
three days afterwards. This fact I had from a quarter that
left it beyond a doubt.

Although the Lizard tribe then may be acquitted of the
charge of producing deadly effects by means of fangs or a
specific venom; yet is it perfectly consistent with reason
that the mechanical injury of their bite may terminate in
erysipilatous or other form of inflammation, and even death
itself. A rusty nail, or a pin’s scratch may, in some peculiar
states of constitution merge in equally serious results. The
human bite may also prove very injurious; and I have
known the coijlision between the teeth and the back of the
hand in dealing a blow abrade the skin, and produce very
formidable inflammation. The scratch of a Tiger's claw is
well known to produce a wound, sometimes very difficult

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Tizard, $e. 377

to heal. Perhaps independent of the mechanical effect,
putrefactive matter from the tearing up of his prey may
adhere to the tiger’s claws, or it is possible that they may
have a noxious exudation, which by inoculation festers a
wound ?

In the second volume of Kirby and Spence’s excellent work
on Entomology, occurs this passage :—‘‘ Hasselquest says
that the Gecko is very frequent at Cairo, both in the houses
and without them, and that it exhales a very deleterious poison
from the lobule between the toes; he saw two women and a
girl at the point of death, merely from eating a cheese on
which it had dropped its venom. One ran over the hand of
a man who endeavoured to catch it, and immediately little
pustules, resembling those occasioned by the stinging-nettle,
rose all over the parts the creature had touched.”

I have seen a dog run up to the common house lizard
of this country (a variety of Lacerta agilis) and try to lay
hold of it, but he soon let go again, seemingly consider-
ably incommoded and his salivary secretion much increased.
A cat again will devour a lizard without hesitation, begin-
ning at the tail and crunching away—all but the head, which
he leaves. :

The house lizard in India in passing over the face or
any part of the human body, produces by the contact a
blistered surface. The common belief, so far as I have
been able to learn it, is, that this effect is produced by
the creature’s urine. Be that as it may, I have no doubt
of the fact that the contact of the creature does produce
the irritation of the skin alluded to.

A somewhat similar. effect is said to be produced by the
contact of a large species of house or godown spider. I had
often heard of this, but with some measure of incredulity. It
is not always easy to catch the spider in the fact, but cir-
cumstantial evidence is against him. I have now seen several
cases where the peculiar affection was attributed to the

378 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, $c.

contact of a spider. One of the best marked was that of a
mosaulchy, a servant of my own. He had gone to bed quite
well, but towards morning feeling something crawling over
his face, he slapped the part smartly with his hand, killing
a large spider thereon. The part immediately became very
painful, and when he shewed himself to me, the upper
side of his face was much swollen, and the surface parti-
ally blistered, while the lids of the eye of that side were so
swollen as to close them completely on the ball. A slight
irritative fever supervened, and the smarting for three or four
days was very painful, and it was some weeks before his face
lost traces of disfigurement, when the skin about the malar
region desquamated. The only remedy used was cold
cream, with the exhibition of a saline purgative. I send you
a representation of the spider that is accused of producing
these inconvenient effects by its contact, for though no
draughtsman, my rough sketch taken many years ago, from
the life, may be deemed better than none, and will give the
readers of these notes some idea of the insect. How then
is the effect produced? Here the insect was crushed upon
the part, but it is said that the creature’s mere contact will
prove injurious; supposing this to be true, how does its
contact prove injurious ?

In the 3d volume of Kirby and Spence’s work, in referring
to Puncta upon the integuments of some insects, occur the
following remarks—‘‘ The other impressed puncta so often
to be seen on the different parts of various insects, which
sometimes so entirely cover the surface that scarcely any in-
terval is discoverable between them, though in many cases
they appear to be mere impressions that attenuate but do not
perforate the crust—yet in others, perhaps equally or more
numerous, they are real pores, which pass through the in-
tegument. If for instance you take the thoracic shield of
the cockchaffer (Melolontha vulgaris) and after removing
the muscle, &c. hold it against the light, with the inner side

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c. 379

towards the eye, you will see the light through the punc-
ture. * * * * * Whether the pores in the other parts
of the body are for transpiration, is more than I shall ven-
ture to affirm; but as insects sometimes perspire, at least
this has been ascertained with respect to the hive bee, this
must be by means of some pores.”

We learn that some insects under alarm, discharge a
fluid from the joints and segments of their body. The
scorpion when assailed, or put in pain, appears as it were all
at once bedewed with a copious dark sweat. This coming
in contact with the human skin would in all probability
prove very irritating. Seeing that some insects undoubtedly
have pores, and the circumstance of a scorpion’s evincing a
perceptible exudation, being taken into consideration—is it
not probable that the irritation caused by the contact of a
spider may arise from acrid transpiration, involuntarily caused
by the insect’s alarm on finding itself on a warm animal sur-
face, or by the mechanical crushing it may undergo when
killed on some part of the human body? The spider of which
I have endeavoured to give a figure* has very formidable ten-
tacula,} perhaps fangs may be a proper term, but as I have
not dissected one of these insects, I cannot decide whether
they are hollow poison tubes or not. Lister relates (Kirby
and Spence) that he saw a spider, when upon being provoked
attempted to bite, emit several times small drops of very
clear fluid. At any rate, that some juice or fluid in the
spider is venomous and irritating, is sufficiently shewn in an
anecdote derived from Turner, a writer on cutaneous
diseases, quoted by the authors already cited, of a woman
whose custom it was, every time she went into the cellar
with a candle, to burn the spiders and their web—* she had
often observed, when she thus cruelly amused herself, that
the odour of the burning spiders had so much affected her

* Pl. xi. fig. 5. + Fig. 5 a.

380 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, &c.

head, that all objects seemed to turn round, which was
occasionally succeeded by faintings, cold sweats, and slight
vomitings: but notwithstanding this, she found so much
pleasure in tormenting these poor animals, that nothing
could cure her of this madness, till she met with the follow-
ing accident. The legs of one of these unhappy spiders
happened to stick in the candle, so that it could not disen-
gage itself; and the body at length bursting, the venom was
ejaculated into the eyes, and upon the lips, of its persecu-
trix. In consequence of this, one of the former became in-
flamed, the latter swelled successively, even the tongue and
gums were slightly affected, and a continual vomiting at-
tended these symptoms. In spite of every remedy the
swelling of the lips continued to increase, till at length an
old woman, by the simple application for fifteen days of the
leaves and juice of plantain, together with some spider’s web,
ran away with all the glory of the cure.”

Aprops de bottes. In the first number of the work in which
I have the honor of writing, a list of desiderata in the Enty-
mology of India is given. One of these runs thus, “ record
any instance of death by insects, by bees, wasps, &c.” This
is not very specific, since it does not state whether the death
to be noticed is that of man alone, or of various animals.
Be that as it may, in a little work entitled, ‘‘ Medico Topo-
graphy of the Ceded Provinces, South-west Frontier,” pub-
lished in 1826, by a friend of mine, now no more,* occurs the
following passage—* The bees usually construct their combs
on the thick branches of large trees, and a swarm of them
when disturbed are very formidable. I once saw several
officers and men of the Ramghur Corps, in Sumbhulpore,
considerably annoyed by a swarm of bees, and they avoided
a continuance of their stings only by flight from the spot.
Several valuable pointers and greyhounds belonging to the

* The late Mr. Breton, Surgeon to the Ramghur Battalion, and after-
wards Superintendant of the Seminary for educating Native Doctors.

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c. 381

commanding officer of the Corps, that were fastened to a
tree, and could not get loose when the dog-keeper ran away
and left them tied, were stung to death. A tattoo and a
bullock were also killed by the bees. Of this occurrence
Mr. Assistant J. Grant, who was present, and was himself
stung by the bees, can bear testimony.”

The occurrence alluded to took place on the 17th June,
1818, close to the Mahanuddee river, and within five or six
miles of Sumbhulpore, at a spot called Jumra. The detach-
ment consisted of the Ramghur Battalion, the left wing of
the 2d Batt. 4th Regt. N. I. (now called the 23d) and some
Resallahs of Irregular Horse. It was a cloudy and pleasant
morning, and after an agreeable march we halted at Jumra,
which had the appearance of being a forsaken village, or
rather the site of one, surrounded by deserted old groves of
mango, saul, and peepul trees. The clashies were in the act
of pitching the tents, and the officers were sitting down on
chairs, which were placed under the shade of the trees,
when suddenly we saw Lieut. Douglas (the son of Admiral
Douglas) running towards us in a most wild manner, and
two sepoys, one on each side, apparently furiously assault-
ing him with branches of trees. The scene was unaccount-
ably strange, and we were speculating upon what could
possibly be the meaning of it, when all at once, as if by the
fiat of an enchanter, myriads of enraged bees rushed upon
us, stinging us wherever the skin was unprotected. Some
rash hand, it appears, had disturbed the colony in breaking
down some peepul branches to feed the elephants. I never,
considering such an apparently insignificant foe, witnessed
such a scene of confusion. I remember, as if it were but
yesterday, that while still puzzled at trying to account for
poor Douglas’ extraordinary movements and those of his
pursuers, I happened to turn my head, and saw Major
Roughsedge, who commanded the brigade, suddenly turn his
horse’s head and gallop away furiously in the contrary

382 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c.

direction, while a shout arose of ‘‘ back again !” “ unpitch
tents !” I had soon enough to do to take care of myself, with-
out looking to others. But for the sepoys, we (I mean the
Europeans of the detachment) would have been most seri-
ously affected by these inveterate insects. With branches
of trees with which they- flogged away the bees, they suc-
ceeded in partially protecting us; I say partially, because
‘notwithstanding our utmost care, we were severely stung,
and the necessity of keeping the eyes closely shut, for fear
of their being stung too, rendered us all very helpless. The
scene too, though it was serious enough to the sufferers,
had a strong dash of the ludicrous in it, of which we
were not quite aware till we saw each other afterwards
face to face, and compared notes. Among those most
cruelly visited, was my lamented friend Capt. David Rud-
dell. Who that knew that fine soldier and generous and
accomplished man, that does not love his memory? Poor
David! I remember on going up to him that we both
burst into a hearty fit of laughter, and the reason was, the
ludicrous change in physiognomy which the little avengers
had produced, for independent of swelling and redness
where they stung, they left their stings in the skin, so that
Ruddell’s face looked exactly as if it had a beard of a hoary
hue, from his chin to the top of his forehead ; as others
came up, they presented with less or more variation, the same
appearance. He who suffered most, however, was Lieut.
Brett of the Ramghur Corps. In an evil hour he lost his cap,
and thought of getting under a blanket, (his bed and bed-
ding having reached the ground) but hosts of the enemy got
under his covering, before it could be folded round him, and
his struggles to get loose again from his diabolical tormen-
tors were misunderstood into efforts to keep himself under
the blanket, and at last poor Brett burst out, and it was
hard to say, whether he was most indignant with the bees, or
with his native friends, who in their kind endeavours to help

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §¢. 383

him made matters worse.—An admirable illustration of the
Spanish proverb, “Save me from my friends!” My friend
Capt. H. Templer, 23d Native Infantry, (one of the very few
survivors of the scene) escaped, if I remember right, indiffer-
ently well. But for the sepoys, we should really have suf-
fered very seriously. As it was, though we laughed it off, I
must say for one, that I felt as if a little more stinging would
have brought on a severe irritative fever. What made the
thing more ridiculous, was the deprecating tone in which a
veteran Sergeant, MacGregor, declared that they were cnly
moss bees, just as if their identification could have in the
slightest degree lessened the annoyance of their visitation.
All the time too, he affected to waive them off with an air of
indifference, but being rather bald, his head appeared to
offer a fine subject to the enemy, who forthwith belaboured
him in such numbers that he made a retrograde movement,
and ceased to say any thing further about moss bees. The
countless squadrons of these infuriated insects literally drove
us out of the encampment, and we had to move away in
another direction, some two or three miles, the bees gal-
lantly following us—though many of them might be seen
lyg about dead or dying. Major Roughsedge lost seven
or eight valuable dogs, (greyhounds and pointers) by this
onslaught of the bees; they were, as stated by Mr. Breton,
tied to a tree, and the Dooreah ran away, so that the poor
animals had no one to help them. With every one indeed
it was sauve que peut. People in the snugness of the closet
may laugh at details like these, but, from this and other
bits of experience, I am convinced that nothing can be more
terrible than a visitation of innumerable insects. Without
any affectation, I think an action between man and man,
even with the deadliest weapons, is far preferable, for the
worst of your insect foe is, that you can hardly get at him.
A tattoo and a bullock were also killed by the infuriated
bees. The former instinctively rushed towards the Maha

384 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c.

Nudee, pursued by thousands of them; but alas! the water
was so shallow at the place that he could not escape them.
I heard also that the Dooreah, or coolee who had charge
of the dogs, died in consequence of the inflammation pro-
duced by the innumerable stings of the bees, but for this I
cannot vouch; perhaps my very few surviving brother offi-
cers, who were spectators of the scene, may recollect whether
this was the case or not. I have nothing further to ob-
serve, save that no one thought in the confusion, and terror
even I may say, of the scene, to keep specimens of the
bees, but they were much of the size and appearance of
humble bees.

The point with which I mean to end this gossip, refers to
the existence of the Cobra Manilla. The belief in a reptile
so called, and reputed to be most deadly, is very general. I
have never seen the snake myself, and although for many
years I have been in the habit of inquiring after it, I have
never met a person who gave me any other than a very
vague and loose account of it, or who could positively de-
clare he had seen one himself; though, as is often averred
of ghosts, he knew very respectable individuals who de-
clared that friends of theirs had seen it. Its size is said to
be about that of a tobacco pipe, its length some eight or
ten inches, and its bite uniformly and speedily fatal! Dr.
Russell, the able author of the splendid and valuable work
on Indian Serpents, never saw a Cobra Manilla, although
some supposed specimens of the reptile were sent to him,
which, however, turned out to be the young of other venom-
ous sorts. Neither do I find in the able Spicilegium of
Dr. Cantor a description of a snake such as the Cobra
Manilla is said to be. I have heard it described as of a dark
blue or black colour, with light coloured slender bands or
spots. This description perhaps comes near the young of
the Karraitta (Boa Lineata of Shaw), the Gedi Para-goodoo
of Malabar. According to the natives, who generally exagge-

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, &c. 385

rate, its bite (the young of the Karrait, brought as a Cobra
Manilla,) always produces immediate death, which Dr. Rus-
sell was led to suspect the truth of, from finding that on
repeated trials, it seldom killed chickens in less than half
an hour, and dogs in an hour and a half; when full grown,
on the other hand, it is one of the most formidable of poi-
sonous serpents. <A friend of mine lost a beautiful male
spaniel at Baraset many years ago, which chasing a hare, jump-
ed into a bush, and was bitten by a snake, on which the poor
creature retreated instantly out of the bush, turned round two
or three times, and fell down dead, before his master could
tun up to him, and not surviving the bite more than a mi-
nute or two, if so much. The snake was killed, but unfor-
tunately not preserved. It is said to have been a thick
short one, marked with black rings. The dog’s mouth was
enveloped in foam, and its body immediately swelled enor-
mously.

There are two periods when the bite of a snake is pecu-
liarly deadly, viz. at the commencement of the hot weather,
when after hybernation it has all its energies fresh, and at
coupling time. The bite of large and old serpents is more
dangerous, generally speaking, than that of small and young
ones, and does not depend so much, it would appear, upon
the intensity, as the quantity of the poison inoculated. From
the experience of Dr. Reuzger, a German physician who
spent six years in Paraguay, where there is a great variety
of poisonous serpents of the genera Crotalus, Lachesis,
Cophias, Elaps, &c. it appears that the danger of their bite
varies according to the situation of the bite. Wounds of
vascular parts, and of large blood vessels, are generally fol-
lowed by speedy death. The effect, he states, is much slower
when the poison is applied to denuded tendons or nerves ;
and. in parts that contain no vessels, as the callous cuticle of
the soles, no effect is produced. The time in which the
bite of a snake may prove fatal, varies considerably. In the

386 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c.

year 1819, at Dinapore, I had a striking instance brought to
my notice of the deadly effect of the bite of what was called
a Karrait. About 1 o’clock a. m. I was roused out of bed to
go and assist a native woman who had been bitten by a
snake. I instantly threw on my dressing gown and went to
the door, where I found a woman of about thirty, strong and
healthy, though apparently in a fainting state, lying on the
charpoy, in which she had been carried by her male rela-
tives. One of the men was her husband, who told me that his
wife, while asleep by his side, on a mat on the floor, had
been bitten by the reptile, which she not knowing what it
was, gave a push to with her foot; when it fixed its fangs on
the great toe of one foot, and as there was a light in the hut,
he started up, and saw a black looking snake move rapidly
towards his brother’s bed, on the other side of the hut; the
reptile bit his brother too. He then gave the alarm to his
neighbours, and they instantly set out for cantonments.
From my inquiries, and the distance of the people’s hut
from my quarters, I am convinced that barely twenty minutes,
or half an hour at furthest, had elapsed from the time the
woman was bit to my seeing her. On being bit she felt
excruciating pain in the foot, which was speedily followed by
overpowering giddiness and sickness. While this conversa-
tion was going on I had my finger upon the poor woman’s
wrist, there was however no pulse, she was quite dead, and
the distracted husband could scarcely be made to credit it,
entreating that I would do something. To please the poor
man, I conveyed eau de luce in a spoon into the woman’s
mouth, but of course it ran out again, and he at length be-
came convinced that all was over. The brother who had
been bitten too, recovered, for the simple reason I presume,
that the greater part, or nearly the whole of the secreted-
venom had already been inoculated into the first victim.
The marks of the fangs were very distinct, and full of
thin blood that oozed out from them. Dr. Breton publish-

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, §c. 387

ed many years ago the case of a man bitten at Hazaribaugh,
who survived the bite of a Cobra Capello (if I recollect
right) 48 hours, or upwards. Lately there was a lamentable
casualty published in the papers, of Lieut. Atkinson, who
survived the bite of the reptile three or four days. I wish
we had the particulars of this case, for it is only by compa-
ring results, that accurate conclusions as to pathology and
treatment, can ever be arrived at; nor is the death by a
snake bite of a gallant officer in the prime of life so com-
mon an event, that the particulars should be a letter sealed
to.the scientific world in general, or at any rate to the me-
dical section of it. Dr. Reuzger (already quoted) says, that
in some instances the symptoms go on gradually, and that
the sufferer does not die till the 14th day. In cases that
‘do not end fatally again, he contends that serious after-effects
follow even at so long an interval as three years. Serpents
themselves die from the bites of venomous serpents, and
even from their own.

In a paper published lately by Dr. Knox of Edinburgh,*
he ventures to state that no external character whatever can
well be trusted in the determination of a snake; for there
are many innoxious snakes which are so closely imitated in
their external appearance by others truly poisonous and
exceedingly dangerous, that he feels warranted in declaring,
“that no snake, however much it resembles a harmless one,
or those of a class known to be harmless, should ever be
handled, until the person be perfectly assured of its death.
Again, on the occasion of a person being bit by a snake,
and the dead reptile being produced, the surgeon ought not
to rest satisfied with the external appearance of the snake,
but proceed, without a moment’s delay, to ascertain the pre-
sence or absence of poison fangs ; the result must direct his
practice. In case of the snake having escaped, excision of
the part bitten, ought immediately to be resorted to.”

* In the Lancet.
3 E

388 Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, &c.

According to Dr. Reuzger (who wrote on the subject be-
fore Dr. Knox, or at least published the results of his ex-
perience many years before him) the best method of treat-
ment, is the removal of the wounded limb, or the excision of
the bitten part, and the subsequent scarification and cauteri-
sation of the wound. If the necessary instruments are not
at hand, the wound must be sucked, and repeatedly washed
with acrid and pungent washes, as lemon juice, brandy, &c.
and afterwards covered with gunpowder and pepper, or
powdered cantharides. A tight bandage should be tied
round the limb, and an emetic should be given as soon as
possible, &c. With reference to the necessity of excision,
Dr. Knox coincides most emphatically in opinion with Dr.
Reuzger ; his words are these—“ I now come to the deter-
mination of the opinion so generally entertained, that the
bite of several poisonous snakes is almost inevitably fatal ;
and I believe that it is so, if proper remedial means be not
speedily adopted. The soLE REMEDY és the excision of the
part bitten ; all other means seem to me only dangerous de-
lusions.” Now as the field of Dr. Knox’s experience in this
matter was South Africa, where there are snakes of the
most deadly character, his opinion is entitled to the greatest
consideration. Indé@ed I may be allowed to observe, that
on any point of pathological science, it is so. Surely then,
the question of whether there be, or be not remedies apart
from excision and cauterisation for the bites of poisonous
serpents, is one of very great importance; so much so, that I
earnestly entreat those of your readers who may have it in
their power, to increase our stock of information on this sub-
ject, to do so. It is said, that the Mongoose or the Ichneu-
mon, after a combat with a snake, runs away to feed upon, or at
least to chew some herb, that acts as an antidote to the bites
he may have received. I was once a witness to such a com-
bat, and the snake, a fierce Cobra Capello with formidable
fangs, was soon demolished. I had placed the combatants

Notes on an alleged species of poisonous Lizard, &c. 389

in a six dozen empty wine box, so that neither could escape.
The snake from the first, appeared perfectly aware of the
‘formidable antagonist he had to deal with, and wanted to
avoid the combat. The moment he had killed his foe the
Mongoose wanted to escape, but I would not let him; at
length he evinced the greatest anxiety and restlessness, and
began to stagger, I then let him go, he kept staggering on
through a field of grass, in which I lost sight of him.
Suffice it, that in the course of an hour or so he appeared
quite well again; what he ate, or whether he ate any thing
of an alexipharmic character at all, I cannot say; but the
belief, or rather the averment, is very general that he does
so. It is also said, that the sawmp wallahs protect them-
selves, by rubbing their hands and bodies with the juice of
the plant, used by the Mongoose as an antidote, called Amrool,
which abounds in Bengal.

It may not be deemed irrelevant to state here, that at one
time entertaining doubts whether carbonic acid gas would
kill cold blooded animals, or at least reptiles, I determined
to submit the matter to the test of experiment. I procured
for the purpose one of the largest and most ferocious Cobra
Capellos I ever saw, and introduced him into a large glass jar,
to which I adapted the necessary apparatus for eliciting the
gas. For a considerable time the reptile appeared to care
nothing about it, but as the new element began to fill the
glass vessel, his alarm became extreme, and he instinctively
kept his head above the stratum of mephitic air. At length
his struggles to escape became terrific, and he tried to force
a passage through the upper part of the vessel with his nose,
and at length dropped down dead to the bottom, where I left
him immersed in the gas for half an hour, to make sure of
him. He had coiled himself, and was stiffand dead. Had he
been poisoned with prussic acid, I should have expected to

have found his body quite pliable. Whence the difference ?
Caleutta, 2d July, 1840.

390

‘Evrore:—a popular Physical Sketch. By Professor Scuouw.
Translated from the second edition, by Dr. Cantor, As-
sistant Surgeon, Bengal Medical Service, doing duty with
Hi. M’s, 26th Regt. on expedition to China.

PREFACE.

The imperfect and unscientific manner in which the manuals of
Geography treat of the physical condition of the earth, and the
ignorance so frequently displayed by persons, in many other respects
occupying a high step of intellectual culture, have chiefly called forth
this sketch. I have tried to render the physical relations intelligi-
ble even to those who possess no rudiments of the physical sciences, but
I have often felt how difficult a task it is, in geography, to exhibit
their results in a popular manner, if the acquirement of the rudiments
cannot be presumed. THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

Scandinavian peninsula.
South Sweden.
Finland.
Iceland.
Far Islands.
Shetlands and Orkneys.
British Isles.
North European plain.
Central European mountains.
East European plain,
Crimea.
Balkan and the Dinaric mountains.
The Alps.
The Pyrenées.
Spanish peninsula.
Italian peninsula.
Greek peninsula.
Comparison of the three South European peninsulas.
Comparison of Northern and Southern Europe.
General conspectus of Europe.
List of the heights quoted.
~ List of the mean temperature quoted.

Europe :—a popular.Physical Sketch. _ 391

Scandinavian Peninsula—Ilf a man supposes himself
transported to the Arctic Ocean in order from thence to
commence a journey through Europe, he will first have to
pass through an elongated peninsula, called Scandinavia
(Norway and Sweden), surrounded by the sea and _ its
gulphs, and connected to the rest of Europe by a rather
broad isthmus, proceeding from the eastern side of its
northern frontier. The length of the peninsula, as well
from north to south, as from north-east to south-west,
is about 960 geographical miles; the breadth from 200 to
380. ;

The sea cuts numerous very deep, narrow, and curved
friths or inlets into the west-coast, along the shore of which
are spread numberless rocky islands, whereas the east
coast, formed by the Gulph of Bothnia, is nearly without
any friths at all, and containing few islands, and those
of small extent. The greater part of the peninsula is occu-
pied by one continued chain of mountains, extending from
the Varanger Ford in the north, down to the south-western
extremity (from 71° north lat.*). This chain first proceeds
under the denomination of ‘ Lapland mountains,’ and Kidlen
from NNE. to SSW. forming the frontier between Nor- -
way and Sweden, then under the name of ‘ Dovre’ from
ENE. to WSW., and resumes to the southward its
former direction under the appellation of ‘ Langfield,’ ‘ Sog-
nefield,’ ‘ Hardangerfield,’ situated near the southern coast.

The north-eastern extremity of the chain slopes gently
towards the White Sea, while a number of extensive, lowly
situated lakes (“Wenner, ‘ Wetter,’ ‘ Hjalmar, ‘ Malar,’)
form a natural frontier towards the SE. The chain has no
ridge above, but is flat, forming numerous extensive tracts,
which although not even, at the most present an undulated
surface, and are called mountain-plains. Their height, and

* The distance between the line (Equator) and the North pole, is
divided into 90 degrees, each of which is about 60 geographical miles.

392 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

therefore for this reason very cold climate, render them mostly
uninhabited, and journeys from the one side of the mountain
chain to the other, are often performed with great difficulty ;
the usual distance from the last fixed habitation on one side
amounts from 40 to 48 miles, or even more, to the nearest
inhabited place on the other side, and even where high-
roads traverse these table lands, the traveller is still obliged
to cross tracts composed of the most rugged ‘and barren
rocks. That part of the road which runs along ‘ Dovre,’ a
distance from 32 to 40 miles, has for this reason been pro-
vided with what is called in Norwegian ‘ Fjeldstuer’ (i.e.
rock-chambers) for the accommodation of travellers, and the
change of post-horses, (‘ Skydsskifte.”) On ‘ Filefield,’*
where the chain is unusually narrow, the breadth still
amounts to some eight miles.

On the east side, the chain slopes very gently towards
the gulph of Bothnia, and its lower part terminates with'a
perfect plain. Side branches frequently form extensive trans-
verse} valleys, such as the valleys of ‘Herje,’ ‘Oster,’
‘ Guldbrand,’ ‘ Valders,’ ‘ Halling ;’ often the whole chain
deviates laterally, forming tolerably flat tracts above, such
as ‘ Lapmarkerne’ and ‘ Tellemarken, which mean the differ-
ent varieties of surface, as the ‘ Dal, (i.e. valley,) and ‘ Mark’
(i.e. field). 'The western side is very steep, and the deep nar-
row friths or inlets, like huge clefts cut into the solid rocks,
appear as substitutes for the valleys. To the traveller tra-
versing the mountain plains, these friths are very often not
perceptible till quite close, and then he may look down a
depth of several thousand feet, where small inhabited spots on
the banks, put him in mind of human dwellings. The rocks

* The road from Christiania to Bergen traverses Filefield; that from
Christiania to Drontheim runs over Dovre.

+ Valleys of the same direction as the mountain chain are called
longitudinal, whereas such as form a somewhat large angle with the
chain are denominated transverse.

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 393

themselves are so steep, that communication, even between
neighbours is kept up by water.

As a natural consequence from the quite different angle
of inclination of the two sides of the mountain chain, it follows
that the eastern side presents large and extensive rivers
(Tornea, Kalix, Lulea, Pitea, Umea, Angerman, Indal,
Liusna, and Dal, pouring their waters into the gulph of
Bothnia ;—Clara into the Wenner lake, and Glommen and
Louven into the North sea:) whereas the western side offers
small and short rivers only. The occasionally even surface
of the chain frequently causes two rivers to communicate ;
thus for instance in Lapland the Tornea joins the Kalix
river.—Lassovarkvand, a lake between Dovre and Lang-
field, sends rivers to both sides of the chain, and whenever
Glommen happens to have a surplus of water, part of it is
discharged at Kongsvinger through the Wrangs-river into
Wenner lake. On the mountain plain itself, and particu-
larly at the eastern foot of the chain, are found a number of
very large lakes, among the former, are the mountain-lakes
of Torneatrask, Lomijauhr, Oresund, Tamund, and Miés-
vandet; among the latter, Enaretrask, Lulea, Wattnen,
Storsion, Midsen, and the above mentioned four large Swe-
dish lakes. The western side possesses-no such lakes. The
Scandinavian mountain chain abounds with huge waterfalls,
among the highest of which are Rjukan-Fossen (1. e. the
smoking waterfall,) whose waters fall perpendicularly to a
depth of 853 feet,* and Borring Fossen, of 960 feet.

Taken altogether, the chain is loftier towards the southern
extremity ; the greatest heights are found in the Hardanger,
and Sognefielde, where an elevation of 4800 feet above

* Here, as throughout, the heights were left by Dr. Cantor as given
by Schouw in Parisian feet, but we have reduced: them to English.---A
work of considerable trouble, but which we trust will render the paper
more useful to the English reader, particularly as the list includes all
the principal altitudes in Europe.---Ep. Cau. Jour. Nat. Hisr.

394 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

the level of the sea occurs ;* in Dovre 3200, and in the
southern part of Lapland 2666; but among the highest
mountains are,

Gousta (Tellemarken,) .... ... ... 6,150 feet.
Justedalsbra, ...... iL tte. 6400
Skagestéltind Sogneila) its ® | SF1GO
odalskaabe,. petthee, Fanr Bt) CG02
Sneehatten (Dovre,) PY Soa
Sylionienier a: Cea 18 TNO A ee
Sulitelmiay 0G 20900, 28 2: iG 2 NG 182

The Scandinavian mountain this (with whieh are not
included the low rocks in the southern part of Sweden separ-
ated by the above mentioned lakes) consists chiefly of pré-
mitive formations} (Urformation) among which gneisst is the
prevailing rock; limestone, so frequently found in other
mountains, plays here a subordinate part; coal occurs not
at all, and fossils are scarce; but metallic ores, particularly
iron and copper, abound, and silver is also found.

The eastern and western side of this chain differ very
much, not only with regard to the temperature of the
atmosphere, but also with regard to its moisture. On the
western side, what is commonly called a coast, or island cli-
mate, is the prevailing, i. e., a damp, hazy atmosphere, fre- .

* Whenever an elevation above the level of the sea is given, it is the
_vertical height from the sea, without any reference to the nature of the
declivity.

+ Primitive formations are such as commonly form the basis for the
others; they are generally speaking chrystalline, and contain no traces
of fossil animal or vegetable remains. ‘Fléts rocks’ rest upon the
former, generally speaking in alternate strata, and consist frequently
of fragments of primitive rocks, and contain fossil remains of animals
and plants.

t Gneiss, like granite, consists of three parts: viz., quartz, felspar,
and mica, which last occurs more scaly, than in the granite, in which
the mica is granular, and placed in different directions ; whereas the mica
in the gneiss is placed in parallel strata.

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch: 395

quent rain, mild winters and cold summers; the eastern side
has a continental or inland climate, i.e., a clear sky, dry
atmosphere, little rain, warm summers, and severe winters.

Stockholm, Upsala, and Christiania, have pretty nearly
the same annual mean temperature,* viz. 42.12° Fahrenheit,+
which is 4.5° lower than that of Copenhagen, but the winter
is in the first mentioned place 5.6° colder than in Copen-
hagen, whereas the summer is only 2.2° less warm. The
mean temperature of Ullensvang, in the province of Bergen,
is 1.18° higher than that of the first named place, whereas
the winter is 4.5° milder, and the summer 1.1° colder. A
somewhat similar result is obtained on comparing Dron-
theim to Umea. At the North Cape the winter is but little
severer than in Stockholm, but the summer heat is not greater
than the heat of the autumn in Stockholm. In Enontekis, a
smail town in Lapland, the summer is 11.2° warmer, and the
winter 22.5° colder, than at the North Cape. The following
table, shewing the mean temperatures, will render the com-
parison easier. .

Latitude. Year. Winter. { Summer.
Stockholm, ...... 59° 30’ | 42.12° De 61.2
Ullensvang, ...... 60° 44.3 29.8 90.1
Drontheim, ©..... Gaga0 si52.85 aS: 59°
US eee en 64° 35.3° 14. 57.8°
Worth Cape,. ...... (ig te 32° 24,2 43.2
Enontekis, ...... 63° 30’ | 28.5 2. 54.5

* By mean temperature, is meant a mean number extracted from the
register of every day during a number of years.

_} The temperatures which were given according to Reaumutr’s scale,
we have reduced to Fahrenheit’s scale throughout this paper.—Ep. |
Cat. Jour. Nar. Hist.

{ By winter is understood the three months of December, January, |

February ;---by summer, June, July, August.
Qn *
oF

396 | Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

In Enontekis* the mean temperature of the year is 2.2°
lower than the mean temperature of the coldest month in
Copenhagen, the winter temperature is 29.2° below that of
Copenhagen, and yet the summer temperature is only 9°
below that of Copenhagen. Sixty-eight years’ observations
show the greatest heat in Stockholm to be 95° In
Umea and Enontekis quicksilver occasionally freezes, which
requires a temperature of 70° to 72° below the freezing
point of water.

The annual quantity of rain} is in Stockholm and Westeras
19 Paris inches, but in Bergen 77% inches.{

Although the results of those single places cannot be con-
sidered conclusive as to the whole of the eastern and wes-
tern side of the mountain chain, yet connected with general
experience, they induce us to believe that the quantity of
rain is much greater on the western side of the Scandinavian
peninsula than on the eastern. The exhalations rising
from the sea, and the causes by which currents of air
loaded with vapours are carried against steep rocks, and thus
converted into rain, account chiefly for the damp climate
and foggy atmosphere of the western side. Thus also the
influence of the sea renders the heat more equal, and causes
the summer to be less warm, and the winter less cold, be-
cause the sea is never frozen during the winter, and the
moisture of the sea-air diminishes the heat of the summer.

* Enontekis is situated 1,440 feet above the sea, and has consequently
a lower mean temperature than if situated on the sea level.

¢ The annual quantity of rain is found by collecting the rain in a gra-
duated vessel, measuring the quantity of water whenever it rains, and
by adding together the results. When the annual quantity of rain in
Stockholm is said to be 19 inches, it means, if the rain of the whole year
round was allowed to remain on the earth, the surface would at the
close of the year be covered with a sheet of water 19 inches in depth.
Snow comes in, of course, under the calculation of rain.

t The register of the Pluviometer, or rain guage, stands throughout
in Paris inches, as in the original.—Eb.

.

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 397

The mountain chain checks the influence of the sea on the

- east side.

A man ascending a mountain will find the temperature
decrease, and will, provided the mountain be sufficiently
high, arrive at an elevation, where the cold is so intense, that
the snow never melts. An imaginary line drawn through all
the points, above which snow never thaws, is usually called
the snow line. At the North Cape this line is met with at an
elevation of 2346 feet in the southern part of Norway, at a

' height of 5546 feet. On the western side the snow line is

lower than on the eastern, because the snow is not so easily
melted in foggy, damp summers, as it is under a clear sky.
From the large masses of snow at Folgefonden and Jus-
tedasbraen, in the province of Bergen, huge ice masses
(‘ lisbraer,’ ‘ Iokler,’ ‘ Gletscher,’ glaciers,) descend as far
down in the valleys as the corn fields, and in consequence of
their extent and slow descent from above, the summer is
not capable of thawing them. Below these glaciers appear a
kind of ice-hedges (moraines) i.e. huge accumulations of earth
and stones carried down by the avalanches, or falling glaciers.
All the rivers originating from these, are of a milky colour,
because they are loaded with dissolved particles of rocks.
In Finmark these ice masses, or glaciers, descend as far
down as the sea.

The Scandinavian peninsula abounds with forests, chiefly
consisting of two kinds—of fir, and birch. Oak is found as far |
as Sondmor (63° north lat.) on the western side, and on the
eastern only as far as Gefle (60° 30’ north lat.) Beech only

-at Laurvig, in Norway, (59° north lat.) and in Sweden not at

all to the northward of the large lakes. Of the three first
mentioned predominant forest-trees, the birch extends nearly
to the North Cape (70 to 72° north lat.), the firs to Alten (69
to 70° north lat.) and one kind to Kunnen, on the western
side (67° north lat.) On the eastern side, the last mentioned
fir extends a few degrees higher to the northward, finding

398 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

the climate more favourable than it is on the coasts. The
hazel bush thrives better on the western side, where it ex-
tends to Helgeland (65° 30’ north lat.) while Angerman river
(63° north lat.) forms its eastern frontier. The lime tree
also has a greater northern range on the western side, viz. to
the 64° north lat. (Greland) than on the eastern, 63° north
lat. ‘The elm reaches about 63° north lat. on both sides.
On ascending the mountains to a certain height, the traveller
loses both the firs and meets only with the birch ; still higher,
this tree also vanishes, and with it all forest trees; low
bushes only then appear, particularly the dwarf birch (a smaller
kind of birch,) and a few small kinds of willows, a number
of little herbs with proportionally large flowers of beautiful
pure colours (alpine vegetation), and several kinds of mosses,
among which are the Reindeer and Iceland moss, which
form the very extreme altitude of all vegetation.

Thus, taking height into consideration, a division of three
zones might be established ; viz. the zone of the pine trees,
of the birch, and of the alpine vegetation. At the southern
part of the mountain chain the firs reach 2986 feet, the
birch 3733 feet ; in the northern parts of Lapland the former
700 feet, the latter 1600 feet.

The cultivation of grain extends farther to the north
than might be expected. At Malangerfiord (69° north lat.)
grain ripens every year, and even as far as Lyngen and Alten
(70° north lat.); and on the eastern side, in the ‘ common dis-
tricts’ of the frontiers of Norway, Russia, and Sweden, grain
is still cultivated. At Enontekis, at an elevation of 1440
feet, is also found a little grain, which however arrives to
ripeness only every third year. Cultivation of grain is also
found in places where the annual mean temperature is below
the freezing point, while in Switzerland it ceases at a mean
temperature of 41° above freezing point, and in the South
American mountains at 54.5 above the same; from which
facts may be concluded, that the cultivation of grain depends

Europe -—a popular Physical Sketch. 399

more on the mean temperature of the summer, than on that
of the year round. The long summer days give to the
northern countries, in proportion, a considerable, although
brief summer heat, which indeed enables the grain to ripen. .
Yet not every kind of grain; only barley extends so far
northward. ‘The northern extremities for the different sorts
of grain may be fixed as follows:

West-side. Kast-side.
Barley, ... ... 70° north latitude ... 70°
Rye, Bey. PEROT: Exe pels Whe dsehl: 652 1td:66°
Oars oVsssick sh) Gor uesekow. cali. qeraatloy 63%B0'
Wjhicavas eds aie kerinO4 Fic cae. eh talcbsen!. Low62e

The cultivation of wheat however is of consideration only
to the southward of 60° north lat. Taking elevation into
consideration, cultivation of grain ceases in the southern
Lapland (67° north lat.) at about 853 feet; in the southern
parts of Norway (60°) grain is not expected to ripen at a
greater height than 2133 feet.

The extremities of the most important fruit trees, are :

‘West side. Kast side.
Apples & plums, 63° 40' N. L. Tuttero + 62° 30' Sundsvall,
‘Cherries,.......... 63° Ertvaago, ... ...... 63°
ease As. Sls 28 O22 Liles angen eee 62°

Peas are, generally speaking, cultivated to 64° 30’ on the
western side; and to the 63° on the eastern side. From
experiments which the Horticultural Society in London
caused to be made, peas succeed at Hammersfest (71° north
lat.) in favourable summers only, whereas cabbage, turnips,
carrots, spinage, and salad, are easily cultivated there.

Also potatoes thrive thus far to the northward, but aspa-
ragus is cultivated on the western side to 61° north lat.
only.

The most important domesticated animals with the Nor-
wegians and Swedes are the ox, sheep, goats, horses, and
swine; and the reindeer with the Laplanders ; for although

400 » Europe —a popular Physical Sketch.

the latter animal is found in a wild state from the southern-
most mountain plains in Norway to the most northern
extremity of the peninsula, (ie. from 59° to 70° north lat.)
it forms nevertheless the most important domesticated ani-
mal of the Laplanders. The great abundance of Reindeer-
moss on the table lands, renders it very easy to keep this
beast.

The elk is not found higher than 64° north lat., and is
scarce.

Of wild beasts, are found the bear, the lynx (Loss), the
glutton (Vielfrass) the wolf and the fox; the blue, and the
white fox, and the polar bear, are inhabitants of the northern
regions. The lemming (Mus lemmus, Pallas) is a kind of
mouse, now and then appearing in large herds.

To the inhabitants of the mountains belong, besides the
wild reindeer and the above mentioned beasts of prey, also
certain birds as the ptarmigan (Fjeldrypen), the capercallie,
and the snow sparrow. Remarkable is the great number of
gnats also that appear during the summer months in Lapland
and on the southern great mountain plains, by which the
inhabitants of the foggy western coasts are less annoyed.

On the west coast of Norway, particularly in the northlands,
where the fishermen congregate at Lofoden by thousands,
in the month of February, fish are very plentiful.

The most important fishes are the ‘ Cablian’ (Gadus
morrhua, Linné, Morrhua vulgaris, Cv.) the ‘ Torsk’ (Gadus
callarias, Brosmiuns, Cv.) the ling, and the herring. Whales
visit the coasts.

The greatest number of the inhabitants of Scandinavia be-
long to one principal race—Scandinavians (Norwegians and
Swedes). In the northern part are also found ‘ Laplanders’ -
(Norwegian, ‘ Finner?) who belong to a quite distinct race,
viz. the polar race; they are small, well knit, of a yellowish
colour, with broad faces, flat noses, and black bristly hair.
The southernmost Laplanders are found at Koraas.

: Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 401

The chief occupation of the Scandinavians is fishing, on
the western side; grazing and agriculture on the eastern,
where also hunting, wood-cutting, and mining, form impor-
tant occupations. A thin population, and few towns, cause
the peasantry in many parts to excel in mechanical and
domestic industry. The Laplanders lead a wandering life,
without fixed habitations, and subsist chiefly by their rein-
deer, and fishing, from which originate the denominations of
‘ Fjeldfinner’ (mountaineers) and ‘ Sofinner’ (See Laplanders).

South of Sweden.—It has already been mentioned that the
southern parts of Sweden are cut off from the rest of the Scan-
dinavian peninsula by a number of large lakes, and a consi-
derable depression in the country. The thus separated part
(55° to 59° north lat.) possesses no large continued chain of
mountains, but several smaller ones, with a few lofty mountain
peaks and ridges. The highest mountains are Taberg, near
Jonkjobing 1,120 feet, and Kinnekullen, near Wenner lake,
906 feet ; the small ridges Hallandsaas and Kullen are low-
er still, and the southern extremity of the peninsula termi-
nates in a perfect plain. In the south and east appear the
* islands of Bornholm, Oland, and Gulland; in the first of
which, Rytter Knagten is the highest point, 512 feet.

The south of Sweden although rich in lakes, possesses no
important river. The mountains consist not only of primi-
tive formations, but also of stratified rocks, in which appear
coals, which, however, do not belong to the older, or proper
coal formation. Of the mean temperature of this district an
idea may be formed by comparing Stockholm and Lund.

) Annual. Winter. Summer.
Stockholm 59° 30’ north lat. ......... 42.1° 25.3 61.2
Lund, ODP pO raise whe Sha Ty fon 45.5 29.8 62.3°

At Lund, situated near the southern frontier, the annual
mean temperature is consequently 3.4 higher than at
Stockholm (1.12 lower than in Copenhagen.) the winter is 4.5
warmer than in Stockholm, but the heat of summer exceeds

402 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

that of Stockholm by 1.1 only, which proves that the dif.
ference between the seasons is not so great as it is to the
northward of the large lakes. The annual quantity of
rain is—

Stockholm,... ............ 19 inches.
Weésterasy Uf 38 A GIN eo 9
Pid! 298! PAS Ae sor TOR

In more mountainous parts the quantity of rain appears
to be greater; thus, for instance, in Wexi0, it is 23 inches.

The forests, like those of the more northern parts of
the peninsula, consist chiefly of firs and birch, and in the
southern part the beech is not uncommon. On the western
side the latter tree extends to Gothenburg (58° north lat.)
but on the eastern to Calmar only (56—57° north lat.)
Oak, on the contrary, ranges all over the south of Sweden,
and in particular in the southern provinces.

The plain and warmer Scania (Skaane) is more calcu-
lated for agriculture, than any other part of the Scandina-
vian peninsula. _

Finland, like the south of Sweden, is situated SE. from
the great mountain chain in the southern part of the Scan-
dinavian peninsula; thus Finland is situated SE. from the
northern part, between 60° and 66° north lat., extending 360
miles from N. to S., and 280 to 320 miles from E. to W.
These two tracts of country display a similarity not only
in their situation, but also in the circumstances that they
abound with lakes, and possess but low mountains. The
Alands-Islands form a natural connecting bridge.

Finland is best imagined as a very low mass of mountains,
flat above, consisting of numerous: lake basins (depressions
with lakes in their centres) declining steeply towards the gulph
of Finland, more gently towards the gulph of Bothnia. The
highest mountain exceeds not 1280 feet. A greater number
of lakes, and still fewer rivers than in the south of Sweden,
are found here. The mountains of Finland blend imper-

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. — 403

ceptibly into the eastern, flat part of the Scandinavian and
Russian plain. The White sea, and the lake Ladoga, form
a tolerable line of demarcation.

Like the east side of the Scandinavian mountain chain it
is colder, and the difference between summer and winter, is

. greater than on the west side, thus the mean temperature of

\

Finland is still lower, and the difference between the seasons
still more considerable, which may be perceived by compar-—
ing the mean temperature of Scandinavia to Uledborg and
Abo. 3

Annual. Winter. Summer.

Umea, 64° north lat........ anes 140° 5'7.8°
Piero (G52) ds aidevvicaas 133.19 11.8° 57.8°
Stockholm, 59° 30’ ............ 42,1° 25,39 61.2°
ADK GO? GO es cei iors eek des 39.8° 21.92 60.1°

The quantity of rain in Abo, 22 inches, is a little greater
than that of the south of Sweden, most likely in consequence
of the situation between the two gulphs of the Baltic sea,
but it is much less than that of the western coast of Nor-

_ Way.

The forests consist particularly of fir and birch; oak, how-
eyer, extends to Biérneborg (61° 30' north lat.) Cultivation
of grain is considerable.

Iceland.—To the west of the Scandinavian peninsula, far
out in the ocean, this large island is situated between 63° 30’
and 66° 30’ north lat., extending about 260 miles from
K. to W. and 180 from N. to S. The outline presents a some-
what rounded form, although the northern part is an isolated
peninsula, connected to the rest by a narrow isthmus. On
the north and west side the ocean cuts many extensive friths

- into the island, (Eya-, Skaga-, Breida-, Faxa- fiord. This

is less the case on the east and south side.. The general
appearance is rocky, and the interior of the island consists
of one continued mass of mountains, the loftiest part of which
is situated in the south-eastern part of the island, tonne

404 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

precipices towards the sea. The highest mountains are
Orafa-Jokul, 6400 feet, Oster-Jokul, 5653 feet. Inthe south-
western part Hekla rises to a height of 5333 feet, from
which it will be perceived that the mountains of this island
are less lofty than those of Scandinavia.

In consequence of the: south-eastern being the highest »
part of the island, its waters generally speaking have a di-
rection to the north and east, and the greater number of
extensive rivers run towards the north country and the
south-west coast, whereas the eastern and south-eastern coast
receive but few rivers of considerable size. ‘The largest
rivers in the north are, Blanda, Herads, Vandene, Skial-
fandaflod, and Jokul-Aae ;—in the east, Fliotsdals-Aae ;—
and in the south-west, Olvessaae, Thiorsaae, and Hvitaae.
The most extensive lakes are, Thingwalle-vatn, Hvitaar-
vatn, and My-vatn. Iceland abounds in hot springs (‘ Hverar’)
the temperature of which frequently approaches, or even
reaches, the boiling-point. Many of them contain silex, which
when the water evaporates, accumulates in these springs to
such an extent as even to stop the water, which then is
obliged to find some new opening. The hot spring most
celebrated is Geyser,* a kind of natural spring, sending its
waters to a perpendicular height of 106 to 313 feet, not
however continually, but at regularly fixed intervals. The
cause of this phenomenon is attributed to subterraneous
vapours, which when accumulated to a certain quantity,
conquer the pressure of the water, and throw it high into
the air.

The mountains of Iceland are chiefly volcanic, i. e., pro-
duced by fire. In many the fire is still active, as in Hekla,
Krabla, Orafa-Jokul, Kotlugio-Jékul, and Eyafield-Jékul,

* This name is applied either to an entire district abounding with
hot springs, or to the largest of them, i. e. the old Geyser, which how-
ever of late but seldom and slowly sends forth its jets. ‘Strokken’ is
at present (1835) more active.

Europe -—a popular Physical Sketch. 405

from the interior of which flows lava (‘ Hraun’) which with
ashes, stones, water, sand, and clay, thrown out through the
craters, frequently cover extensive districts. Of useful mi-
neral productions, are found sulphur (the most extensive
mines at Husabig and Krisuvig,) and ‘Surtarbrand,’ i. e., flat
pressed, carbonized trunks of trees found among the strata.

Considering the locality, Iceland enjoys a mild climate,
and particularly mild winters.

Annual. Winter. Summer.
Reykiavig, ... 64° north lat. 39.8 29.8 55.6
Eyafiord, ... 66° 32 20.8 45.5
The mean temperature of Reykiavig is consequently equal
to that of Norway of equal latitude, and 4.5° higher than
that of Umea.

The winter is 6.8° milder than at Drontheim, and 15.7°
milder than in Umea, but then the winter is of much longer
duration, for during five months (November to March) the
mean temperature is below freezing point. ‘The mean tem-
perature of the summer in Reykiavig is 3.3° lower than
at Drontheim, and not quite so high as in Umea.

The climate of Reykiavig is still milder compared to that
of North America, particularly the interior part ; for at Nain
in Labrador, situated 7° more southerly, the annual mean
temperature is 7.8° below the freezing point, and the win-
ter 32.6° below the same. In Fort Enterprize, at the latitude
of Reykiavig, in which Capt. Franklin wintered, the annual
mean temperature, from probable calculation, appears to be
20° below the freezing point, and that of the winter —55.5°
below zero.

But the results found at Eyafiord tend to prove that there
is a great difference between the southern and northern part
of Iceland, much more so than might reasonably be expected
from difference of latitude.

At Eyafiord the mean temperature is 32°, about equal to
that of the North Cape, notwithstanding Eyafiord is situa ted

406 Europe :-—a popular Physical Sketch.

5° more to the southward. _—_ Nevertheless this climate even
becomes mild when compared to that of North America.

This considerable difference between the southern and
northern part of the island is probably produced by the
mountains which separate them, and by the drift-ice, which
by a current from NE. is carried towards the east coast of
Greenland, and from thence to the northern coast of Ice-
land, where it remains occasionally till the month of June
or July, when it is carried in an easterly direction into the
Atlantic ocean.

The atmosphere is rather damp and foggy, and the
weather variable.

As above mentioned, the snow line in Scandinavia is lower
towards the coasts than in the interior of the country and
on the eastern side of the mountain chain, because the
foggy and cloudy sky of the coasts prevents the snow from
melting. In Iceland, exposed to the influence of the sea to
a still higher degree than the west coast of Norway, the
snow line might fairly be supposed to be lower, which in fact
is the case, for it is met with at an elevation of 2666 to 3200
feet. All mountains covered with eternal snow and ice are
in the Icelandic language called ‘Jékler;’ and such enor-
mous masses of ice which descend into the valleys, are from
their slowly proceeding motion called ‘ Skrid-Jékler,’ syno-
nymous to the Norwegian ‘ Jisbraer,—i. e. avalanches.

The Flora of Iceland is nearly the same as the Norwegian.
On: the mountains the dwarf-birch, the little kind-of willows,
and the Iceland moss are common. Of trees, Iceland pro-
duces but two, the birch, and the mountain ash; and they
attain no great height. The scantiness of trees cannot
originate in want of heat, as trees are found both in Scan-
dinavia, in Siberia, and in North America, in localities whose
annual and summer climate is by far colder; the cause must
therefore chiefly be attributed to the misty, damp sea air,
the strong gales, and the variable weather. In Scandinavia

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 407

also the frontier of forest-trees sinks toward the sea; thus
no trees are found on the rocky coasts of Norway, and the
pernicious influence of the sea air on trees may be traced
on the west coasts of Jutland. These peculiarities in the.
climate, particularly the variable cold summer, prevent the
cultivation of grain in Iceland, although it succeeds much
higher to the northward, and under a more severe climate
in Scandinavia. Our common fruits do not arrive to per-
fection, but cabbage is cultivated to a large extent, potatoes,
turnips, radishes, and several other vegetables, succeed per-
fectly well.

The want of forests is made up by drift-wood floating
towards the coasts, particularly the northern. The drift-
wood consists chiefly of firs and birch, although trunks
of trees growing in warmer climates, are frequently found,
and it is supposed that this wood is partly brought, by a
north-eastern current, from Siberia, where the rivers carry
it down to the coasts; partly by the great current in the
ocean (the gulf-stream) proceeding NE. from the gulph of
Mexico. )

The most important domesticated animals of the Icelan-
ders are sheep, next to which the ox, the horse, and the
goat. The horned cattle are a small breed, and so are
the horses, which however notwithstanding are strong and
nimble. Wild birds, particularly water-fowl, one of which,
the eyder-duck, produces the highly appreciated eyder-
down, are found in plenty. Although the reindeer was not

«introduced till last century, it now abounds in a wild state
in the interior of the country. The polar bear, conveyed
from Greenland on the drift ice, is an occasional visitor.
The coasts swarm with seals. :

Various species of the genus Brosmius, Cuv. (Torsk)
salmon, and herring, are the most important fishes.

The Icelanders belong to the Scandinavian race of men.
Their food consists chiefly of mutton and fish; bread is

408 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

an article of luxury with them; also Iceland moss and
several kinds of sea-weed (S6l) are eaten, and in some parts
the grains of a kind of oats (Sandhavre, Melur) which is
found both in a wild state, and cultivated here and there.

Firislands. A group of small islands, the largest of
which are Suderde, Sirdmée, Osterd, and Vaagée, situated
between 61° 30’, and 62° 30’ north lat. to the south-east of
Iceland, and nearer Scandinavia. They are very rocky, and
steep promontories rise 1066 to 2133 feet above the sea. ‘To
land on the island of Dimon, it is necessary to be hoisted on
shore from the boat. The interior of these islands rises in
terraces (‘Hamre’), and terminates in lofty peaks (‘ 'Tinder’)
of which the highest are Slattaretind on Osterde, 2880 feet,
and Skiellingfield on Sirdmée, 2506 feet ; coal and opal (a
beautiful gem used for ornaments) are the most remarkable
mineral products. The climate is that of islands; the winter
is mild, the summer cold and damp, the atmosphere foggy,
and the weather variable. The islands possess no forests.
Of grain, barley only succeeds, and that even not always;
turnips and potatoes thrive, but gooseberry and red currants
never ripen. Agriculture of course is very trifling, and the
chief occupation of the inhabitants consists in sheep graz-
ing, and the manufacture of wool. Many are engaged in
hunting wild birds, abundant on the rocks of the coasts ;
as the precipices however, are all very steep, the sport is
extremely dangerous; the birds being caught in a little net
attached toa pole. The bird catchers sometimes allow them-
selves to be lowered by a rope down the perpendicular rocks.
Eyder-down is also collected. The fishery is rather consider-
able; the most important fish is the ‘Grind,’ a kind of
dolphin, which however frequently absent themselves from
the coast.

Shetland and Orkneys. These two groups of islands are
situated SE. of the Farislands, towards Scotland (between
58° 30' and 61° north lat.) They evince great similarity to

| Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 409

the latter island, yet they are, particularly the Orkneys, less
rocky, and ‘their rocks, chiefly sandstone and slate, are of
a less sharp form. They produce no trees, and agriculture,
(chiefly barley and oats) is insignificant.

The British Isles. (Great Britain and Ireland) between 50°
and 58° 30’ north lat. Both are of greater extent from N.to S.
than from E. to W., and are consequently of an elongated
shape, yet the length is proportionally greater in Great
Britain than in Ireland. The length of Great Britain from
N. to S. is 550 miles, that of Ireland 280; the breadth of
Great Britain varies from 60 to 280 miles; that of Ireland
from 80 to 160. Although the sea cuts many friths into the
west coast of Ireland, yet the general outline is pretty regu-
larly rounded, whereas in Great Britain, in consequence of
her many bays, the breadth is very variable, and in Scotland
those bays (friths) are very narrow and deep. On the west
coast of Scotland, and between England and Ireland, are
found numerous islands, although none of considerable size
appear on the west coast of Ireland, or the east coast of Great
Britain.

Scotland, or the northern part of Great Britain, is divided
by two natural lines of demarcation into three parts, viz.,
the Highlands, the Midlands, and the Lowlands. The one
of these lines is formed by two deep friths, Murray Frith
and Loch Linnhe, a number of elongated lakes, Lock Lochy,
Lock Ness, &c. and by the Caledonian canal, all of which
rise but little above the sea, and form a ditch as it were, from
NE. to SW. separating the Highlands from the rest. The
other line of demarcation, running more towards E. and W.
is produced by the Clyde and Forth, and by an intermediate
low tract of country, through which is cut a connecting canal.
In all three parts of Scotland are found mountain chains
from SW. to NE., viz. two in the Midlands, one in the
Lowlands, and a fourth in the Highlands. The NE. coast
of the Highlands is rather flat, and the higher parts are

%

410 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch,

situated towards SW. where Ben Vyvis attains a height of
3733 feet. ;

The northern chain, in the Midlands, is called the Inver-
ness mountains, among which Ben Nevis, 4373 feet, is
the highest in Great Britain. The second chain is called
the Grampians, among which Cairngorm is 4053 feet.

Both of these chains, generally speaking loftier and steeper
on the western side, are separated by a long lake, Loch Awe,
by Rannoch Moor, and by the river Spey, consequently by
a line running from NE. toSW. Less considerable are the
mountains of the Lowlands, the direction of which is the
same as that of the former, but whose north-eastern part,
(Hartfell, 3306 feet) is the highest.

In England the mountains are completely thrown on the
west coast, and appear in three separate portions; one in
the northern provinces, where Hellwyln is 3000, and Skiddaw
2986 feet; a second in North Wales, where Snowdon attains
a height of 3626 feet; and a third portion in the south-
western part (Devonshire and Cornwall) where Dartmoor,
1813 feet, is the highest. The rest of England presents
either hillocks, or is quite flat, which has caused the great
number of canal communications between the most distant
ports. Thus, for instance, the Thames is connected with
the Irish channel. :

The least connected are the mountains in Ireland, where
they, generally speaking, appear near the coasts, whereas
the interior of the island is either hilly or quite flat. A
flat tract runs across the country, from Dublin to the Bay of
Galway, which has nowhere an elevation exceeding 320 feet,
and where, in consequence, a canal has been cut. To the
highest points in Ireland belong Macgillycuddy’s Reeks,
3413 feet, and Nephin, 2666 feet.

From this statement it will be perceived that the mountains
of Scotland are higher than those of England ; but they all
fall short in height compared to the mountains of Iceland

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 411

and Scandinavia. As in Scandinavia, the mountains in Great
Britain rise, generally speaking, on the west coast, where
they are very steep, remarkably so in Scotland; in Great
Britain, however, there are many isolated masses of moun-
tains; in Scandinavia there is but one continued. In con-
sequence of the westerly situation of mountains, the larger
rivers have generally speaking an easterly direction, instances
are afforded by the Thames, Ouse, Trent, Tyne, Tweed,
Tay, and Spey. ‘The Severn indeed empties its waters on
the west coast, but it must be borne in mind its source is on
the eastern side of the Welsh mountains. The Clyde, on
the contrary, runs from E. to W. Ireland possesses but one
large river, the Shannon, which flows through a part of the
above mentioned flat transversal tract of country, and whose
mouth is on the west side.

Ireland and Scotland abound with extensive lakes (Erne,
Neagh, in Ireland; Loch Lochy, Loch Ness, Loch Lomond,
in Scotland;) whereas England possesses no lake of any
extent.

Scotland consists chiefly of primitive rocks, and has, with
the exception of the southernmost part but little lime, in
which respect this country is like Norway. Primitive rocks
are found in the eastern part of England, but it consists
otherwise of ‘ Fléets’ rocks, and more recent formations,
abounding with lime, particularly in the southern part. In
Ireland primitive rocks appear, as well as more recent for-
mations. In some of the Hebrides, on the west coast of
Scotland, and on the northern coast of Ireland, appears
basalt, which in many places forms pillars, and occasionally
picturesque grottos (Staffa, Giant’s Causeway.)

The products of the greatest importance in England are
the coals, which are found chiefly in the northern provinces,
in the central part, and in South Wales. Tin and copper
mines are worked in Cornwall; lead and other metals

occur also.
3M *

412 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

The following table will afford a notion of the climate of
the British Isles :—

Annual. Winter. Summer.

Edinburgh, ... 56° north lat. 47,.75° 38.75° 57.8°

Dublin, wpe, DO°.OW 48.87° 39.8° 99°
London, .... 51° 30! 50° 38.75° 61.20
Penzance, .«.. 50° see. ke? 42,12° 60.1°

The annual mean temperature of Edinburgh is but little
higher than that of Copenhagen, but the winter is 7.85
warmer, whereas the summer is 57.6° colder; Edinburgh
consequently partakes much more than Copenhagen of an
island-climate, (which indeed might be anticipated from the
locality of these two cities,) and this generally speaking
holds good with all the British Islands.

The difference between summer and winter is less in Dub-
lin than in London, which is situated farther distant from
the influence of the sea; but the difference between the
seasons is particularly small in Penzance, in the south-
western extremity of Great Britain, where the mean winter
temperature is equal to the mean temperature of the month
of April in Copenhagen, and yet the summer temperature is
not higher than that of Stockholm.

The climate of the British Isles is very damp and rainy,
and a hazy and cloudy sky is much more frequent there
than on the continent. The quantity of rain from a mean
number of observations in many localities may be fixed at
23 inches on the east coast, and 39 inches on the mountainous
west coast, in single places this quantity increases to 60
inches, or more. The number of rainy days also (the snowy
of course included,) is very great; thus 208 for Dublin,
178 for London, while the number in Copenhagen amounts
to only 134. The greatest quantity of rain falls in summer
and spring. Snow falls in less quantity than in the same
latitude on the continent ; in the south-west of England and
Ireland it seldom remains for any length of time. Perpetual

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. ALS

snow of any consequence, does not appear, because the
mountains are not sufficiently lofty, and yet on Ben Nevis,
Snowdon, and others, the snow remains the greater part of
the year, and single spots are covered even during summer.
In Scotland the forests consist chiefly of fir and birch,
also oak, and in the most southern part beech. Edinburgh
(59°) may be laid down as the northern frontier of the latter
tree,* which consequently does not extend so far north as in
Norway, but still much farther than in the eastern part of
Europe. Most of the Scottish mountains are without forests,
and are moorlands covered with heaths. In England and
Ireland oak and beech form the chief feature in the forest
vegetation, and in the most southern part of England (to
about 51°) appears also the chesnut. Hazel is common in
either island. With regard to the Flora, the British Isles
differ very little from the continent of the same latitude; in
the Highlands the dwarf-birch with many of the Norwegian
mountain plants appear. The damp climate, the mild win-
ters, and cool summers, render in England the grass-vegeta-
tion conspicuous, and the verdure of the meadows luxuriant.
‘Such plants as do not require beyond a certain degree of
summer heat and sunlight to develop the finest properties
of either fruit or seed, are in this country brought to high
perfection; for instance, all sorts of esculent vegetables and
fruits; but the more southern fruits never arrive at perfec-
tion in Great Britain. ‘Thus im a latitude of 55° to 56° (the
latitude of Copenhagen) walnuts and mulberries don’t ripen,
grapes fall green to the ground, and peaches are brought to
perfection by artificial heat only. Nevertheless some differ-
ence in this respect appears to exist between the east and

* Professor Schouw doubtless refers in this, and all similar cases, to
the range of indigenous plants, see page 418, where he speaks in doubt
of the forests of the north of Germany, many of them being plantations.
Beech trees have however been extended in Scotland at least as far as
Elchies in Strath spey.---Ep.

414 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

west side. In the south-west peninsula of England (Corn-
wall, 50° to 51°) neither apricots nor grapes arrive at perfec-
tion, and yet, in consequence of the mild winters, myrtles,
laurels, and other trees,* which do not thrive in a much
more southern latitude on the continent, are found here
in the open air. The effect may be traced even on
the grain; the eastern part of England is much more cal-
culated to ripen wheat than the western, for which rea-
son a corn trade is in England carried on from east to west,
while cattle are carried from west to east; and while wheat
succeeds exceedingly well on the east side of Scotland, the
northern part of the west side grows almost exclusively oats.

Wheat constitutes in England the predominant kind of
grain, and the most common bread; barley, however, (for
beer) and oats (for cattle) are also grown; rye is exclu-
sively cultivated in the northern provinces.

The east side of Scotland produces wheat and barley ;
the Highlands and the west side, oats. In Ireland potatoes
and oats form the chief objects of agriculture; wheat and
barley are less common.

Although Horticulture is in some parts of Great Britain
brought to the highest degree of perfection, this art is upon
the whole not very common, because vegetables and fruit form
no considerable items among the articles consumed by the
mass of the people. Of fruit, apples and gooseberries in
particular abound.

The breed of cattle is far advanced, particularly in Eng-
land ; the damp and temperate climate is, as before observed,
very favourable to the enterprise and love of improvement
innate in the British nation. Cattle, sheep, horses, swine,
and in Scotland goats, are the common domesticated animals.

The wolf and the bear are extinct in Great Britain.
Agriculture and grazing form the most important occupa-

* Camellia japonica, for instance.

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 415

tions of the inhabitants of the British Isles; but the situa-
tion of these islands, and the character of the people, have
rendered commerce, navigation, and manufactures, of greater
importance here than with any other nation.

North European Plain.—South of the Baltic, the North
Sea, and the British Channel, appears an extensive tract of
country, without mountains, which might be denominated
the North European plain. Towards the south this plain
is surrounded by several mountains, of which the Harz and
the Weser mountains proceed farthest to the north ;
towards east and west, the mountains continue diverg-
ing from the coasts, in consequence of which the plain
becomes broader towards. east and west, than in the centre ;
still the Danish peninsula is situated exactly to the north of
the Harz, and ought, from its physical condition, to be com-
prised under this plain, as well as the Danish islands,
(Bornholm excepted) Riigen, and some smaller islands off
the coasts of Holland and France. ‘Towards the west the
plain is circumscribed by the Atlantic ; towards the east it is
imperceptibly lost in the Kast European (Russian) plain. The
river Niemen and the sources of the Dnieper and Dnister
might represent the limits.

The western part of the plain is situated between 46° and 49°
north lat. (the west coast of France); the central between 52°
and 58° (from Harz to Skagen), and the eastern part between
50° and 55° (from the Carpathian mountains to the mouth of
Niemen.) The plain consists of Northern France, Belgium,
Holland, North Germany, Denmark, Prussia, and Poland.
In some parts the sea forms extensive bays, as Zuidersee,*
Lumfiord,} Pommersches-Haf,t Frisches-Haf,§ Curisches-
Haf.|| Although this tract of country is flat, and upon the

* At the estuary of the Rhine, { and the entrance of the Baltic.

{ The estuary of the Oder, § and the estuary of the Weichsel, || and
of the Neimen; Fiord and Haf, being equivalent to the English terms
Frith and Bay.---Ep.

416 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

whole uniform, yet it is not so altogether. In the north-
western part appears a ridge (Montagnes d’Arrée) of about
523 feet mean height (highest point 1013 feet) which is fol-
lowed by a tract of hilly country (north of France and Bel-
gium) and towards the southern part some low ridges appear,
as Cote d’or, Plateau de Langres, the Ardennes, the mean
altitude of which is from 853 to 1066 feet, and no where
beyond 1813 feet. Farther to the eastward is quite a flat
district, partly below the level of the sea, and therefore
protected by dikes, consisting of Holland, East Friesland,
north of Hanover, and the west coast of Holstein and
Slesvig ; after this again a somewhat hilly country appears—
Denmark and the southern coasts of the Baltic. The high-
est points are Himmelbjerg (Jiitland) 544: feet; Aborrebjerg,
(Moen) 476 feet; Veirhoi (Sjelland) 395 feet; Stubbenkam-
mer (Rigen) 576 feet. To the south of the hills, forming
a dike as it were to the Baltic, is spread the great North
German sand district (Hanover, Brandenburg) whose high-
est points are Golmberg, 592 feet ; Duberow Berg, 472 feet ;
upon which follows another ridge between the Vistula and
Niemen along the Baltic, whose mean height is 375 feet, and
where Hasenberg rises, 633 feet above the level of the sea ;
to the south of this ridge, plain varies with hilly country.

The plain is watered by several extensive rivers, as
Loire, Seine, Rhine, Weser, Elbe, which pour their waters
into the Atlantic and the North Sea; Oder and Weichsel
(Vistula) whose mouths are in the Baltic. The sources of
the Rhine are the Alps; those of the rest are the central
European mountains. Lakes occur in Holland, Holstein,
Sjelland, Meklenburg, and on the Prussian ridge.

Although naked rock appears in single spots, as primitive
rock in Montagnes d’ Arrée; lime in the north of France and
Belgium; gypsum at Segeberg and Liineburg; chalk at
Moen, Rigen, and other places, yet such instances are ex-
ceptions, for generally speaking the plain in question is co-

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 417

vered by strata of loose earths, particularly sand and clay,
which in most places contain loose stones of considerable
size, or, as they are called, boulders. The strata themselves
appear to be formed by a universal deluge, and the boulders
to be carried from the nearest mountains, particularly the
Scandinavian. The turf, a production still forming, is very
common, particularly in Holland, the NW. of Germany, and
Denmark. Amber is thrown upon the coasts of Prussia
and the west coast of Jiitland. Mines of course are not to
be expected in this tract of country.

The mean temperatures will be perceived by the Table.

Latitude. Annual. Winter. Summer.

Parisg aie. - 49° north lat. ol ge 38.75° 64:.6°
Hamburg, ... 53° 30’ ......... MBGGR i Bae ve 63.5°
Copenhagen, 55° 30’ ......... 46.62° 31.9 63.5?
Berlin; *;..:.. GOT ASAI Bales 46.62° 31.9 64..6°
Konigsberg, 54° 30’ ..... eenAa.e: 26.4 60.1°
Danzig,....5 ACER. oIES: 46.62° 31.9 64.6°
Mildesanr | Oe ke eI 4'7.75° 29:8) ei O8ze

By comparing these mean numbers among themselves, and
by what has been stated before under the head of British
Isles, it will be perceived that the mean temperature de-
creases, and the difference between the seasons increases,
towards east, and with the distance from the sea. At Copen-
hagen, the same latitude as Edinburgh, the winters are 7.85°
severer, but the summer heat exceeds that of Edinburgh by
5.76°. Warsaw, 3° 30’ more southerly than Copenhagen, has
severer winters than the latter city, but the summer heat is
greater than at Paris, situated 3° more southerly.

The difference between summer and winter at Warsaw is
38.2° at Paris 26.8°, and in London 22.45°. Berlin, 5° more
southerly than Copenhagen, but much more distant from

the influence of the sea, has nearly a similar temperature.

418 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

The quantity of rain is less on the continent than in Great
Britain ; it may fairly be fixed for Holland at 254 inches,

North of France and Belgium, .... __... 22 =

Denmark, north of Germany, and Prussia, 20 ,

Westerly winds prevail all over the extensive plain, which
is also the case in Great Britain, but this preponderance
decreases towards the East, and the westerly winds are more
prevalent in England than in Denmark, more frequent there
than in Russia. This is particularly the case during sum-
mer, but during winter on the continent the easterly winds
are as frequent as the westerly, which is also to “ certain
degree the case in Great Britain. In most places the easterly
is the most common spring wind.

The forests of the north of France and Belgium consist
chiefly of oak and beech, as also in Denmark, and on the coasts
of the Baltic. As for Denmark and the neighbouring parts
of Germany, beech decidedly predominates, and appears to
thrive better than in any other country. The sandy North
German plain produces fir and birch, many forests however
are plantations. In the eastern part of the plain (Poland)
pines as well as broad-leaved trees are found, as also some
remains of the huge aboriginal forests, particularly on the
frontier of the Russian plain (Lithauen). The beech there
does not quite reach the northern frontier of the plain, for
it ceases at 53°, whereas in Norway it still grows at 59°.
No less remarkable is the large tracts of the North European
plain covered with heather (Erica), the largest of which
is a zone extending through Hanover and the centre e the
Danish peninsula.

An extensive plain like this, with a temperate climate,
must be well calculated for agriculture, for which reason
this, as well as the East European plain, may with pro-
priety be looked upon as the granary of Europe. The dif-
ferent sorts chiefly cultivated are wheat, rye, barley, and
oats. With the exception of France and Belgium, where

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 419

white bread is common, rye bread is the most universal.
Barley is particularly consumed in brewing beer, which
is the common beverage, except in the NW. part of France,
where cyder (cidre) is used, and in that part of central
France, situated to the south of the vine-frontier. Also
buck-wheat, potatoes, beans, and peas, are much cultivated as
important articles of food. The North European fruits,
apples, prunes, cherries, pears, are common; the more
southern fruits are apricots and peaches; the latter however
are only brought to perfection by artificial means. The
cultivation of hemp and flax is important, particularly in the
eastern part of the plain.

The domesticated animals are, horned cattle (particu-
larly in the marshy countries) horses, (are of a strong breed,
in Normandy, Holstein and Jiitland) sheep and_ swine.
Goats are scarce, as they are more calculated for mountain
pastures.

Of wild beasts, stags abound, which is also the case on
the British Isles, whereas they are rare in the Scandinavian
peninsula, and even there they are confined to the southern
part. In the eastern part (Poland) are found elks, bears,
wild hogs, and the European bison (Urus); in the central
part the hamster (Cricetus) ; but hares, foxes, and wolves are
numerous all over the plain; the latter are however extinct
in Denmark. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agri-
culture and grazing cattle; but there are some manufactu-
ring districts, as Belgium; and owing to the great extent of
the plain an inland trade, particularly in the eastern parts,
is flourishing. The inhabitants of the coast, are chiefly
occupied in fisheries and navigation.

[To be continued. ]

420

Remarks on the Moschus Memina. By Lirvut.§.R.TicKext.
Geoffroy’s Cuvier, Memina (Knox’s Ceylon), Tragulus Memina (Boddaert),

Indian Musk (Pennant), Chevrotain & peau de marquét laches blanches

(Buffon) Miigee (in Hindustani) (Yar Kole), Gandwa (Oaria.)

The present drawing was taken from a stuffed specimen
which I had previously kept alive for several months.* It
was brought to me when quite young, and about 9 or 10 in-
ches long, by a Kole woman, who, while gathering sticks in
the jungle had surprised a pair of them among some rocks,
and secured one in a basket, which she threw over the
animal before it could escape. The other dived under the
rocks and was lost.

Its disposition was tame and unsuspecting, and it was easily
reared by suckling a goat, which it learned to do without
difficulty until strong enough to shift for itself, when it
readily ate Doob, and other sorts of grass. It was playful
at times, especially during the cool of the mornings, frisking
about like a kid, but did not show the agility possessed by
other kinds of Deer. The stride of the animal is limited
from the great curvature of the back, the legs appearing
drawn together or tucked under the body. During the heat
of the day it remained concealed- dozing behind some box,
and towards evening its faint plaintive bleating might be
heard ere it emerged in quest of food. Sometimes when be-
ing patted or played with, it emitted a different tone, like
the grunting of a rabbit.

* Lieut. Tickell has not favoured us with the drawing alluded to,
disappointed no doubt with our Calcutta lithographies of subjects
of this nature. Even a bad impression is perhaps better than none,
especially of objects that have not hitherto been faithfully figured.
If our native artists are ever to be improved, it must be by bold exam-
ples of drawing, such as Lieut. Tickell’s. Under these circumstances
we trust that we shall be occasionally favoured with his spirited sketches,
while we promise to devote more attention in future to this very
essential department of a Journal of Natural History.—Eb.

Remarks on the Moschus Memina. | 421

_ This and two other specimens I have seen (one of which
I kept alive in Chota Nagpoor) were all too young to show
the long canine teeth which, according to Geoffroy, project.
considerably beyond the upper lip. In these, the canines
were short and triangular, and entirely concealed. The
hoofs are extremely narrow, hollowed or scooped underneath,
and the animal walks entirely on their tips, this gives
the legs a rigid appearance—the only way I can account
for the erroneous idea prevalent among the Hindoos, that -
it has no knee-joint, and in resting leans against a tree. The
teeth are thus arranged : in the upper jaw, incisors 0, canines
1, molars 6, on each side. Lower jaw, incisors 4, canines 0,
molars 6, of a side. ‘The front incisor is broader at the
edge than the root, the other three being pressed together,
narrow, and sloping outwards. ‘The molars are trenchant,
(at least the two foremost ones) unlike those of ruminants
in general; but being unable to examine the teeth well,
without spoiling the skin of the only specimen I now possess, |
I must wait for another opportunity to describe the skull
more fully. The eyes are large and prominent, apparently
best fitted for a subdued light. ‘The fur is finer than that
of deer in general. The tail is not above an inch long, and
concealed by the hair of the haunches. ‘There is no lach-
rymal sinus in front of the eyes, which peculiarity together
with its being destitute of horns, is the generic trait separa-
ting it from Cervus (the deer proper.)

- The Memina is found throughout the jungly districts of
central India, but from its retired habits is not often seen.
It never ventures into open country, where its want of speed
would insure its easy capture, but keeps among rocks, in
the crevices of which it passes the heat of the day, and into
which it retires on the approach of an enemy. In these the
female brings forth her young (generally two in number) at _
the close of the rains, or the commencement of the cold
season. The male keeps with the female during the rutting
season (about June or July), at other times they live solitary.

422 Remarks on the Moschus Memina.

An idea prevails among the people in Singboom, not
altogether void of probability, that at the season of the fall
of the leaf, the ‘ Yar” never ventures beyond a few yards
from its cave, as in walking along it sticks its sharp pointed
hoofs through the fallen foliage, which accumulates in such
bunches on its legs, as to cripple its movements altogether,
should it prolong its rambles.

The young are about the size of a large rat, and the adult
animal does not exceed in bulk a full grown jack hare.
The body is thick and heavy in proportion to the legs, which
are exceedingly delicate and taper. The fur above is
olivaceous, each hair being ringed with dark-brown and
tawny. The throat, lower parts, and inner sides of the
limbs are dull white. From the jaws a pale stripe extends
in a broken line along the neck and sides, with several
longitudinal patches of the same colour above and below it.

Remarks on a species of Berée. By J. Macruerson, Ese.
Assistant Surgeon, Bengal Service. Plate xi. figure 2.

On the 29th of February, 1840, latitude 40° south, longi-
tude 31° 14’ east, the “ Jumna” sailed through several
patches of discoloured water, the brownish colour of which
was ascertained to depend on the presence of a number of
minute Acalephe. On examination, their organisation was
found to be uniform. The animal consisted of a transparent
gelatinous bag, nearly one inch in length; at one end round
and closed, with two tentacula; at the other, having an
aperture with rounded lips, which alternately contracted and
dilated. ‘The open extremity moved first, so that the tenta-
cula always remained in the rear. Near the closed end
there was a slight circular constriction, within which was
seen a double row of whitish yellow points, forming almost
a complete circle, in the centre of which, was a small yellow
body divided into three arms. ‘Two transparent folds (with -
something like a canal at their free borders) extended inter-

Remarks on a species of Beroe. 423

nally from one end of the animal to the other. About half
* a dozen circular lines constricted the sac slightly at regular
intervals. .

About two hours after their capture, the yellowish central
mass began partially to evacuate itself gradually through
the open extremity, and a few hours afterwards the double
row of yellowish points began to disengage itself, and escape
through the same opening. It immediately began to move
about with a lively vermicular motion, the whole mass
moving as one body. A few hours afterwards it began to
separate, and it became evident, that the double row was
merely an aggregate of independent globules. In a few
hours more, the globules had all separated from each other,
and increasing rapidly in size, resembling the parent animal
in every respect, the tentacula alone not being developed,
and the size of the young animal being only about a sixth
of that of the old. In less than thirty-six hours after their
capture all the Acalephe died.

I examined about eight of these Acalephe, and in all, the
same process took place. It is difficult to say what the
object of the previous partial evacuation of the yellow cen-
tral body could be. It was also difficult to determine in how
far the powers of the parent animals were impaired by the
act of reproduction, as the whole mass died so soon. They
certainly moved about with less vigour. The young animals
must have developed themselves very rapidly, for when the
double row of globules was at first examined with a pretty
powerful magnifying glass, it was impossible to discover their
structure. The animal showed no trace of phosphorescence,
and did not possess any stinging power. —

Description of the figures; 2, Plate xi., a. the animal as it appeared
when caught, with its circular transverse bands, d. the lower end with the

aperture, e e the tentacula of the upper end, b. the animal after the
evacuation of the double row of globules, c. the young animal.

424

Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects. By J. McCuriuanp.

I. Ona species of Aphis destructive to indigo, P\. xi. fig. 1.
—In the Jessore district, we have been informed that the
indigo this year suffered severely from a blight ; we have not
heard whether this has been general, or if it has only been
confined to particular lands, nor have we had any particular ac-
count of the period at which the blight appeared, or the kind
of weather that preceded it. The river, however, we know to
have been unusually high, and to have done considerable
injury to crops situated in low grounds, from which we should
infer that it was the higher lands that suffered from the
blight, the inundation being sufficient we should suppose, to
account for any injuries that could happen to the plant in
low grounds. Having been informed that an indigo plant
in Mr. Thomas’s garden, in Park Street, was affected in a
manner exactly similar to that of a considerable proportion
of the indigo crop in Jessore and the Midnapore districts, I
visited the garden, and found a single indigo plant in
the midst of a shrubbery having all its leaves, particularly
the younger ones, puckered and drawn together like the
frill of a cap. To common observation this appeared to be
the effects of blight, but as no other plant in the shrubbery
was affected in the same manner, it at once became appa-
rent from this, that the injury was occasioned by some insect ;
and on minute inspection, the larve of a species of Aphis, or
rather Gallinsecta of Degeer (since they appear to have but
one articulation in the tarsus) was seen. Fig. 1, plate xi. is a
magnified representation of the insect in its nymph stage; its
natural size is little larger than the point of a pin. The perfect
insect I have not seen, but among the Aphides the larva
is said to differ but little in appearance from the parent.
To the naked eye the larve appear to be contained in a
minute hairy secretion deposited on the upper suiface of
the leaf, causing it to contract and curl up, and the plant to

Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects. 425

wither. he larvz are inactive, hardly perceptible, and in
searching for them the nymph, or insect in its second stage
of development is seen running over the leaf; it is of a grey
colour, and covered with hair or down. Fig. 1, a. Pl. xi upper
part of the body shewing the elementary elytra. Fig. 0.
lower portion, with the oral orifice between the insertion of
the first and second pair of feet ; c. one of the antenne which
has six articulations, the last of which is, longer than any of
the others except the first, terminates in a hairy point; e,
anterior leg of the right side; f, middle, and g, posterior
leg of the left side. ‘The tarsi have but a single articula-
tion terminated by a minute hook, and the body, elytra, and
limbs are fringed, the latter irregularly, with tufts of bristles.

These insects do not destroy indigo by perforating the
leaves, but by causing their contraction into folds, apparently
for the retention of moisture after rain or heavy dew, which
seems to be essential to the larvae. I have collected several
specimens of this insect, which I shall place in the hands of
some eminent entomologist, so that any further description
or attempts to identify it from me would be unnecessary. It
is we may remark, quite different from the turnip fly des- -
cribed, p. 299, by Dr. Pearson, which also appears to be
another insect destructive to indigo.

II. Remarks on Delphinus Gangeticus, Roxb.—There
‘was a good opportunity afforded for collecting informa-
tion regarding the several peculiarities of the Gangetic
dolphin on the recent destruction of the sunken hull of
a ship by gunpowder, effected by Capt. Fitzgerald of the
Bengal Engineers. A column of water was thrown up to
a considerable elevation by the explosion, and with it, a
considerable number of fishes and other animals ; amongst
the rest, two fine specimens of the Gangetic dolphin, which
have since been preserved by Colonel Powney. About forty
years ago, Dr. Roxburgh described for the first time a male
specimen, since then no further information has been collect-

426 Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects.

ed regarding this interesting species, and unfortunately the
two preserved by Colonel Powney, (the female in particular,)
are so injured by the manner in which they are prepared,
as to render it difficult to glean much information from
them. ne |
The Cetacea, of all animals, are those which exhibit the
widest range of analogies with other classes. Their form,
and the element they inhabit so closely correspond with
those of fishes as to induce ordinary observers to consider
them as belonging to that class, and to regard it as an
absurdity in naturalists to place them in any other. From
the fact of their living in the ocean and the large rivers,
in which their motions are performed by fins, it is difficult
to conceive that they present a skeleton corresponding with
that of Mammalia, that the pectoral fins present an os hume-
rus, a radius and an ulna, bones of the carpus and phalanges
of the fingers, the latter corresponding both in the number
of fingers and articulations with the bones of the human
hand. Nor can ordinary observers, unacquainted with na-
tural history, be made to understand, without a doubt as to
the credulity of naturalists, that these animals which though -
consigned to inhabit the ocean, breath elastic air by means
of nostrils and lungs, the same as land animals, and like
them would. be drowned if prevented from rising above the
surface to respire. The male Gangetic porpoise is five feet
in length, the female about eight inches shorter, and is every
way proportionally more slender ; and this is almost the only
information we can derive from the two specimens before us
that has not been given in Dr. Roxburgh’s description of the
male. There is however much to be yet learnt regarding the
structure of both sexes of this species, for which fresh
specimens would be necessary. They are seldom caught,
but should this happen again by any accident, we trust the
opportunity of supplying many interesting questions con-
nected with their organization, will not be lost sight of.

Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects. 427

411. Ophiocephalus Barca. Buch. We have been favoured
by C. D. Russell, Esq. of Rungpore, with two specimens of
this species of fish, together with some very interesting par-
ticulars regarding its habits.

Buchanan, -who but few things have escaped, remarked that this
species which he found in the Bramaputra river near Goalpara, in-
habits holes, dug like those of the martin, that is, a kind of swallow,
(Mirundo, ) in the perpendicular banks; in these he says it lurks watch-
ing for its prey with its head out, and notwithstanding its strong
variegated colours, it is an ugly animal.* We have long been familiar
with this species, which is common throughout Bengal, but we were
never so fortunate as to see it on a high bank overlooking the waters,
or comfortably enjoining the fresh breeze, with its head projecting from
a bird’s nest. Indeed there are no high banks for the enjoyment of
either birds or fishes in Bengal. Hence perhaps, according to the fol-
lowing account (which has been published in the Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, 1839, p. 551) this species appears to visit Boutan, we
presume for the benefit of the mountain air.

“ On the Bora Chung, or Ground Fish of Bootan.
“ To the Secretaries to the Asiatic Society.

*¢ GENTLEMEN,---The following account of the Bora Chung, or as it may
be called, the Ground-Fish of Bootan, is so extraordinary, as to be
worthy I think of the attention of the Asiatic Society, for so far as I
know itis new. Iam indebted for it to Mr. Russell, of Rungpore.

“The Bora Chung is a thick cylindrical fish, with a body somewhat
like a pike, but thicker, with a snub nose, and grows from three pounds
weight, to a length of two feet. The colour is olive green, with orange
stripes ; and the head speckled with crimson spots.~ It is eaten by the
natives of Bootan, and said to be delicious.

“The Bora Chung is found in Bootan, on the borders of the Chail
Nuddee, which falls into the river Dhallah, a branch of which runs
into the Teestah at Paharpore. It is not immediately on the brink of
the water, however, that the fish is caught, but in perfectly dry places,
in the middle of a grass jungle, sometimes as far as two miles from
the river. The natives search this jungle till they find a hole, about
four or five inches in diameter, and into it they insert a stick to

* Vide Gangetic Fishes, p. 67, fig. xxxv,

3) K

428 Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects.

guide their digging a well, which they do till they come to the water ;
a little cow-dung is then thrown into the water, when the fish rises to
the surface. Mr. Russell has known them to be from six to nineteen
feet deep in the earth.

“Mr. Russell describes their other habits as not less curious. They
are invariably found in pairs, two in each hole; never more nor less.
He has not met with any less than three to four pounds; but as before
said, they grow to the length of two feet. He has seen them go
along the ground, with a serpentine motion, very fast, though the
natives say they never voluntarily rise above the surface. In some
places they are very common, and live a long time when taken out of
the water, by being sprinkled over occasionally with that fluid. One
which Mr. Russell thinks to be the female, is always smaller, and not
so bright in colour as the other.

“T regret this account is so imperfect, especially as I have seen the
fish, for when I was at Titalya in March last, Mr. Russell very
kindly sent me two of them. Unfortunately I was on the eve of
starting with my family for the hills, and in the bustle of packing up,
I had not time to examine them, intending on my arrival here to
describe, and preserve the specimens for the Society. And still more
unfortunately, I was unable to convey them up here, haying been for
want of carriage obliged to leave even many of the necessaries of life
behind. Mr. Russell undertook to bring them with him; but one
of them died and was thrown away in the plains, and the other made
its escape from the vessel in which it was confined at Punkahbarry.
He has promised to procure other specimens, so I hope soon to have
the pleasure of sending some to the Society’s Museum.”

“J. T. Pearson.”

“ DorsEELine, 10¢h July, 1839.

Through Mr. Russell’s kindness we have been enabled to identify
the Bora Chung, or Ground-Fish of Bootan, with Ophiocephalus Barca, and
it will be seen how fully Buchanan’s account of its habits correspond
with that of Mr. Russell, as given by Dr. Pearson. We are not yet fully
prepared to form an opinion on this subject, but we have long been
desirous of arranging the result of our observations on the Ophiocephali
of India, and when an opportunity for doing so arrives we shall endea-
vour to elucidate this curious habit in one of the species. In the
meantime if any of our readers could favour us with details regarding
the habits of any of the other species of the group, we should feel greatly
obliged. With regard to Ophiocephalus gachua, another member of the
same family, Buchanan observes that it is very common in the ponds

Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects. . 429

and ditches of Bengal, and is one of those fishes which are supposed
to fall with rain from heaven. In fact with the first heavy showers
of the season, it has often been seen leaping and wriggling in the grass;
and by both natives and many Europeans is supposed to have fallen
with the rain. I have, however, no doubt, says Buchanan, that the
animal when thus discovered has been in search of a more commodious
abode. During the dry season, he continues, it has suffered much from
being pent up in half putrid water, so that when the first heavy rain
falls, it is eager to enjoy the grateful supply of fresh-water, and wriggt!es
among the moist grass in search of more room, and of the food which
must have been nearly exhausted in the pools that it formerly occupied.
We have here given a figure of Ophiocephalus Barca, 3, Pl. xi.

They are very abundant in the plains of Bengal, but except in the
curious instance brought to notice by Mr. Russell, we never knew them
to inhabit mountains, but perhaps the Chail river, in the vicinity of
which Mr. Russell found them, is not much above the level of the plains.

IV. Stone and Marble quarries at Mirzapore.---We have been favoured
with a small box of geological specimens by Mr. Hay Stewart of Mir-
zapore, consisting of lithographic stone, roofing slate, flag stones,
marble slabs, limestone, common serpentine, iron ore, and coal, from
the hilly districts adjoining Mirzapore. We are happy to find that
Mr. Stewart intends to open quarries of the above useful stones, and
we trust he will find sufficient encouragement to justify the first
outlay, which must be considerable. The lithographic stone, flag
stones, and marbles, we should thmk would afford a handsome re-
turn; the former in particular, as the stones now in use are imported
from Europe. The sandstones are particularly well adapted for
pavement, and from the numerous variety of colour, from flesh red
to yellow, grey, white, and mountain green, are particularly well
adapted for ornamental floors. They would, we conceive, be next
to marble in appearance, and almost equal to it as a remedy for damp
floors. The beds of flag stones are naturally fissile, splitting easily
into large broad flags like the lower beds of the old red sandstone, or
Yorkshire paving at home. These flagstones are in fact identically the
same as the flagstones of Yorkshire and South Wales, the peculiarities
of which shall be pointed out in our next notice of Mr. Murchison’s
work. ‘The economical value of these stones for paving, flooring, and
roofing, will we trust secure for Mr. Stewart’s undertaking a liberal
encouragement. The specimens we have seen are cut into the form
of tiles. The slate appears to resemble the old blue roofing slate,

430 Remarks on Miscellaneous Subjects.

but it wants the metallic kind of polish of that variety ; it appears
however, as far as we can judge from specimens, to be sufficiently fissile
for roofing purposes; and if so, Mr. Stewart will we doubt not find a

large demand for it. A white soft earthy limestone or chalk, also oc-
curs, which is the only instance we know of any mineral like chalk
having been found in India; this article, as well as the limestone, will
be useful in many branches of art, particularly agriculture, building, soap
boiling, the reduction ofiron ores, &c. The lithographic stones are grey,
and reddish yellow, the latter is of course the best, for the nearer these
stones approach to the colour of white paper, the better they are; for
then the impressions are better seen on them. We hope Mr. Stewart,
will be able to render us independent of Europe for an article of such
increasing utility in India, for lithography is almost the only kind of
printing here practised.

A very excellent black marble has also been found by Mr. Stewart, who,
we hope will also succeed in finding quarries of other kinds, which will
save us from importing an article at once useful and ornamental for vari-
ous purposes from Europe, and we believe China. Nothing restricts the
demand in India for marble pavements, baths, tables, and other articles
of furniture and ornament so much as the exorbitant price attending its
importation from distant countries, while India itself abounds in so many
varieties of the most beautiful native marbles. To the above list of useful
minerals we have to add, red and yellow ochre and coal. The latter is
situated at some distance in the interior, near the village of Kotah, and
is that which is referred to by Captain Wroughton in the notes from the
proceedings of the Coal Committee;* the samples of this coal already
furnished are very promising, though quarried by ignorant natives. The
specimen contained in Mr. Stewart’s collection of useful minerals is,
however, a fair sample, of which the following is an analysis :-—-

Specific gravity, 1.29

Inflammable matter, vor. OA.
Carbon, 252%) 5 | es cieesh wooee
Earthy matter,... ... ... 13.8 parts m 100.

Mr. Stewart remarks that the Government have already opened a road
for a considerable distance into this new and valuable district ; we
trust the road will be extended not merely into it, but throughout the
whole tract, and that it will be rendered fit for wheeled carriages.

* We have been compelled from want of room in our present number to postpone the pub-
lication of the paper alluded to, but we shall endeavour to insert it in our next,—Ep. CAL. Jour.
Nat. Hist.

“ Official Correspondence on the attaching of Lightning Con-
ductors to Powder Magazines.”*
[Asiatic Society’s Journal, No. 99, 1840,]

The papers under the above title, communicated to the current number
of the Asiatic Society’s Journal by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, embrace the
discussion of a question of so much economical importance, and so
vitally connected with the welfare of our community, that we have been
induced to examine them in some detail, and under a sense of their
general interest, we have ventured to place before our readers the
following remarks upon them. The question of the efficiency of
Lightning Conductors to afford the requisite protection to Powder
Magazines during thunder-storms was brought under the notice of
Government in consequence of the explosion of the Magazine at Dum-
Dum, in June, 1836, from the effect of a stroke of lightning. The
Military Board were accordingly directed to report ‘on the expediency
or otherwise of attaching conductors to Powder Magazines;” and to
aid themselves in forming a correct opinion on the point, they applied
to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, and in due time received from that gentleman
a report unfavorable to the employment of conductors as usually
constructed and applied. The Government apparently desirous of
obtaining the opinions of some of the eminent Electricians at home,
forwarded the whole of the papers connected with the subject to the
Court of Directors, by whose instructions they were submitted to Dr.
Faraday, and Professor Daniell. The reports of these gentlemen are
published in full, and will be found most interesting and valuable,
embodying as they do the sentiments of two of the most eminent
Electricians of the present age. ‘Their remarks follow generally the
course of Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s original report (No. 2 of the series), and
as this gentleman classes under three heads, his reasons for consi-
dering it inexpedient to attach ordinary conductors to Powder Maga-
zines, we will first state these, and then follow Messrs. Faraday and
Daniell in their comments upon them.

Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s objections to the use of ordinary conductors on
Powder Magazines, are,

1. Because being of slight elevation, of rounded surface, and of non-
conducting materials, these buildings are scarcely more exposed to
lightning, than an equal area of ordinary ground.

* This communication, which is authenticated, was received from a correspondent 17th
_ August, 1840.—Ep.

43:2 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

2. Because a discharge may occur too great for the capacity of a
single conductor, in which case the electricity will divide itself to all
adjacent objects. ;

3. Because though the discharge may pass to the ground, the lateral
electric disturbance may occasion an explosion within the Magazine.

Dr. Faraday coincides in opinion with Dr. O’Shaughnessy on the
first point, remarking, however, that though Powder Magazines are
certainly but little liable to be struck, yet if they are struck the conse-
quent destruction and injury would be very great; and that though it is
very probable that under certain circumstances a conductor may induce
a discharge where no discharge would take place no conductor being
present, yet he has the strongest conviction in his own mind that con-
ductors well applied, are perfect defenders of buildings from harm by
lightning. This opinion cannot but carry with it the highest authority,
and the irresistible evidence of authenticated facts alone could induce
us to adopt another.

To the second of Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s objections Dr. Faraday scarcely
alludes, though we feel warranted to infer from the language he em-
ploys in one part of his report that he admits its existence, since he
states as one of his reasons for preferring conductors of copper, that
“‘ when struck it not only conducts the shock much better (than iron,)
“but in the predetermination of the stroke it determines more of the
“electricity to itself than would otherwise fall upon it, and therefore
“in any case of a divided shock, tends to leave less to fall elsewhere
‘“‘im the neighbourhood.” The possibility of the division of the stroke
is fully admitted, but no notice is taken of the opinion involved in
Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s statement, “ that a discharge may occur too great
for the capacity of the conductor, in which case the electricity will
divide itself to all adjacent objects.” The possible existence of division
is specified, the case or origin of division left unnoticed. Is it establish-
ed by satisfactory evidence that no such thing as a division of a light-
ning stroke prior to its impinging on a conductor takes place? Is it
not possible that when a rod and an adjacent object are struck by the
same discharge that the strokes are independent of each other? For
instance, did Dr. Goodeve see the conductor on Mr. Trower’s house part
with its superabundant electricity to strike upon his own, or did the
electricity which followed the course of his window bolts impinge di-
rectly upon them? It appears to us important to make this distinc-
tion, and as we have not yet seen any facts, bearing specifically upon
it, we may be permitted to direct attention to it. If Dr. Goodeve did
not see the electricity leave Mr. Trower’s conductor, we scarcely think

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 433

the conclusion that the electricity passing through it was greater in
quantity than it was efficient to discharge, is warranted by the facts
stated. Other facts advanced by Dr. O'Shaughnessy in his second report,
appear to us decisive as to the possibility of a charge quitting a con-
ductor after it has become engaged in it, but we conceive too much has
been based on the solitary case, above alluded to, and there exist
imperfections in the details, which it would have been preferable to
have avoided. We are ignorant of the dimensions, the material, and
the underground arrangements of Mr. Trower’s conductors, so that we
are ata loss to estimate fully and perfectly its efficiency, and to compare
it with the standard conductors recommended by Faraday and Daniell.
We feel assured however, we have only to express our sense of the
imperfection of Dr. O’'Shaughnessy’s details, in this instance, to insure
his furnishmg us many future communications with the fullest in-
formation available.

With reference to the third objection specified by Dr. O'Shaughnessy,
viz. the danger from the lateral discharge, Dr. Faraday conceives that
with a well arranged conductor it would be so slight as scarcely to
merit attention. He admits however that the existence of portions of
metal, as bolts, bell wires, &c. within a building, may, by establishing
imperfect conducting trains from the exterior to the interior, give rise
to lateral sparks when the conductor is struck ; and Dr. O’Shaughnessy
has very correctly pointed to the copper linings of the powder barrels
as furnishing such trains. The existence of these appears to us to add
much to the force of Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s third objection, since in a well
stored Magazine, the quantity of copper is very great, and the recipro-
cal action between it and the charged conductor may certainly be of
sufficient intensity to give rise to serious consequences. To do away
with these metallic linings, would enable us to fulfil the conditions
‘required by Dr. Faraday for the perfect safety of our Magazines, and
we are not aware of their being so absolutely essential to the pre-
servation of the powder from injury or accident, that it would be
impracticable to substitute some non-conducting substance for them.
Were this to be done, we cannot conceive any danger arising from
lateral discharge, since the whole of the materials subjected to the
inductive influence of the charged conductor would be non-conducting
substances, and a solid mass of masonry, seldom less than four feet in
thiclness, would be interposed between the inducing agent and the
inflammable matter. Having thus shewn that none of the objections
stated by Professor O’Shaughnessy have proved sufficiently powerful to
induce Dr. Faraday to alter his opinion as to the perfect efficiency of

454 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

well applied conductors, we would only now record the concluding
paragraph of the latter gentleman’s report, as it condenses into a single
sentence his sentiments on the question at issue. ‘In my opinion a
good conductor, well connected with the earth, cannot do harm to a
building, i. e. though it may induce a discharge on the building,
the discharge in itself cannot give rise to any secondary effects which
are likely to place the building in more danger than it would have
been subject to had the conductor not been there.”

We now proceed to submit to our readers an abstract of Professor
Daniell’s opinions on the subject before us, as they are detailed in
- his report on the papers forwarded to him. We feel ourselves con-
strained however before entering on this in detail, to notice the most
unworthy tone Mr. Daniell has permitted himself to assume in com-
menting on Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s statements. It is calculated to wound
the feelings of those who cannot coincide in opinion with Mr. Daniell,
and on the whole appears to us unnecessary in the discussion of a
physical question. We can only express our hope, that in any future
communication on the subject Mr. Daniell will lay aside that spirit
of contempt for his opponent which betrays itself so frequently in
the report before us. It is our duty however, in all frankness, to
bring to Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s notice, that while he has recommended
Mr. Daniell to avoid Scylla, he has himself fallen into Charybdis, and
has laid himself open to the same censure he has passed upon Mr.
Daniell, since his reply to that gentleman’s remarks gives evidence
of an angry state of feeling, which it would have been well had he
subdued. Unseemly personalities degrade science and its votaries
much more than those who yield to them are aware of, and we notice
them with regret.

To leave therefore this painful part of our subject, we find that Pro-
fessor Daniell is so strongly impressed with the conviction of the pro-
tecting power of lightning conductors, that he would rather have them
of inferior material, than be without them altogether. He quotes the ~
case of the unprotected Magazine at Dum-Dum, as a proof that Maga-
zines without conductors may be blown up by a lightning stroke, while
there is no recorded instance of a properly protected building of this
description having been struck. Dr. O’Shaughnessy certainly shews that
the construction and location of the Magazine at Dum-Dum, were by no
means those of a true Magazine, since it was acommon square building,
having large masses of metal in its vicinity. Such imsulation as Dr.
O’Shaughnessy claims for a properly constructed Magazine is seldom
however, attainable, and we may safely say, that in a Fortress it never is

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 435

so. Ordnance for the defence, ammunition, as shot and shells, tools,
and materials, for the construction of which metal is so largely employ-
ed, must always be at hand, and in the ease of an actual attack, these
are usually concentrated in the immediate neighbourhood of the Maga-
zines, so that practically, the Magazine at Dum-Dum, except in its form
appears to us a fair representative of the class. That we are not now
speaking unadvisably in this respect, the actual circumstances under
which the Magazine in Fort William is at this moment placed, will
prove. We have examined it with reference to the subject under dis-
cussion, and have found that it is closely adjoining to a yard in which
upwards of a thousand feet of metallic boring rods with chains, guns,
crabs, and large quantities of iron tools, have been constantly kept for
the last four or five years. Some little distance in rear of it is another
yard with large quantities of metal in it, and again a little way in rear
of this is a large assemblage of iron guns. In the exposure to inductive
influence Fort William Magazine appears to tis not at all inferior to
that at Dum-Dum, and though its elevation may#be less, and its form
more rounded, yet if the explosion in the one case is attributable to the
presence of large quantities of metals, it seems not unreasonable to con-
clude that the safety in the other has been in some degree at least de-
pendent on the presence of the conductor, which we have been informed
has been attached to the building for eight years.

Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s second objection is based chiefly on the circum-
stances attendant on the accident to Dr. Goodeve’s house, as he states
that this case seems to him to prove that occasionally in tropical cli-
mates, there is such a vast disproportion between the quantity or inten-

_ sity of the atmospheric electricity and the conducting “capacity of con-
ductors, that the excess must pass to adjacent bodies.” This is a
generalisation far too extensive it appears to us to be justified by a
solitary fact, even if that fact were more favorable to it in all its at-
tendant circumstances than that before us is; but we coincide in
opinion with Mr. Daniell, that the case of Dr. Goodeve’s house warrants
no inference more extensive than that the excess of electricity quits
the main conductor only to impinge on metallic bodies ; other facts are
necessary to warrant the wider conclusion that the excess quits the
conductor to impinge on all adjacent bodies. The electricity striking
Mr. Trower’s conductor quitted it---if it quittedit at all (on which point
the information afforded appears to us inconclusive)---to strike the
window bolts only, and close induction will not admit of our inferring
from this circumstance that a like result will happen if no bolts or
other metallic fastening are present. Nor is Biot’s opinion, that within

ale

‘

436 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

sixty feet interval between conductors no accident can happen, falsified
by the above fact; since the window bolts constituted an imperfect
conductor within twenty feet, and no satisfactory conclusion on the
point can therefore be drawn.*

* NotEe.—We have taken it for granted above that the distance of Mr. Trower’s conduc-
tor from Dr. Goodeve’s house has been correctly stated by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, but we acknow-
ledge that considerablé doubt on this point has been excited in our mind, and as in inquiries
like the present, statements cannot be too rigidly scrutinised, we have thought it right to
allude to the grounds of this doubt. In its present position Mr. Trdwer’s conductor is we
believe not less that 35 feet distant from the nearest part of Dr. Goodeye’s house, and we
cannot estimate its distance from the window at the corresponding angle on which the dis-
charge struck at less than from 55 to 60 feet. Not haying the means of verifying these dis-
tances by actual measurement, we regret much thatthe diagram alluded to by-Dr. O’Shaugh-
nessy has not been published, since from that, if it has been drawn to a scale, as every such
drawing certainly ought to be, we might have satisfied our doubts immediately. Of course
if there is so great a difference between the actual distances and that specified by Dr.
O'Shaughnessy, as on good grounds we suspect there is, the whole course of his reasoning
on the case of Dr. Goodeve’s house is essentially vitiated, and the conclusions he has based

_ upon it necessarily fall to the ground. It would be well if a drawing exhibiting correctly

the relative positions of the two houses were to be prepared, as any inferences on the case
would then be received with more confidence; but judging from our own acquaintance with
the premises, we should be inclined to consider it next to impossible for the lightning to
have quitted Mr. Trower’s conductor to strike upon the window bolts, without leaving some
indications of its course, as it must have traversed the venetians of the verandah part of
the angle of Dr. Goodeve’s house. And as we believe no such indications were given, we
are very doubtful if there is any warrant whatever to be derived from this case for Dr.
O’Shaughnessy’s opinion, that occasionally ‘‘ in tropical climates there is such a vast dispro-
portion between the quantity or intensity of electricity and the capacity of conductors, that
this excess of the discharge must pass to adjacent objects.’ The course of the lightning
after impact on Dr. Goodeve’s house was to be traced by the fusion of the ends of the
window bolts, all of which we presume exhibited appearances like these represented in Dr.
O’Shaughnessy’s sketch, and some such undoubted evidence as this fusion affords is necessary,
we conceive, to establish beyond dispute the true course of the lightning, since the dazzling
effect of the accompanying flash, and the natural confusion caused by the discharge, must
always tend to incapacitate an eye witness for giving a perfectly trustworthy account of
an accident ; and if but one individual witnessed the discharge, his opinion as to its haying
impinged on any particular spot must be received with considerable caution. Unless Mr.
Trower’s conductor gives some indication of the lightning having passed through it, we
conceive Dr. Goodeve’s assertion that the lightning struck upon it still requires confirmation.*
On farther consideration of the circumstances of the case under discussion, it appears to
us that so far from “ falsifying” Biot’s opinion, it is calculated to afford it signal confirma-
tion. No accident whatever occurred in the interval between the perfect conductor on Mr-
Trower’s house and the imperfect one formed by the window bolts of Dr. Goodeve’s, although
the distance of the two was not much less than 60 feet; and as the only damage which happened
arose from the want of metallic continuity in the path chosen by the lightning, we cannot
but express our strong conviction, that had Dr. Goodeve’s house possessed a well construct-
ed conductor it would have escaped uninjured. This impression is strengthened from the
efficiency of Mr. Trower’s conductor, which though very far from being what we consider
faultless in its construction, seeing it is of iron, and only about an inch in diameter atits
base, was certainly the means of saving the house under its protection, by opening up a
continuous path by which the lightning falling upon it might pass to the earth.

* Note by the Eptror,—“ Can you see lightning strike?” This is one of the questions dis-
cussed by M. Arago, who decides in the negative.—Ep.

"Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 437

The objection based on the possibility of a lateral discharge, may
at all times, Professor Daniell considers, be obviated by providing a con-
ductor sufficiently capacious to carry off all the electricity falling upon
it, and the standard size for this when made of copper, he states is
one inch in diameter, experience having proved that no rod of this
size was ever fused by an electrical discharge. He discusses the ques-
tion of the attractive power of conductors, and decides, that though “a
pointed conductor will draw off silently and safely a considerable portion
of electricity from a charged cloud, it can possess no power of deter- ~
mining a disruptive and destructive discharge when it would not other-
wise occur.” In his comments on this passage, we conceive that Dr.
O'Shaughnessy has misapprehended Mr. Daniell’s meaning entirely,
since this gentleman advances no sucli assertion as that a pointed bar
must cause a silent discharge without explosion. He could not but
know from historical records, that the whole range of our experience
contradicts this, and the indications his report itself gives us of his
close reasoning, convince us that Dr. O'Shaughnessy has here mis-
understood him.

Mr. Daniell it appears to us means to state that a conductor directly
opposed to a charged thunder cloud will draw off silently a portion of
that cloud’s electricity, but if the line of least resistance between the
cloud and the earth does not pass through it, no disruptive charge will
there take place. The conductor will diminish the quantity of electri-
city in the cloud, but it will not of its own attractive power determine
the entire charge to itself. In this manner we can account for the
circumstance stated by Mr. Faraday, that there is some evidence to
shew that the number of discharges in any given locality is dimi-
nished by the presence of conductors, since these may often operate
on charged clouds so as to diminish their electricity, and keep them
under “ the point of discharge,” if we may use such a term for that point
in the scale of electrical accumulation at which disruptive discharge
takes place. That the conductor is not so completely passive as the
water pipe which collects a portion of the falling rain, we think there’
are grounds for believing, and some attractive influence appears to be
involved in the property possessed by copper conductors of “ not
only conducting the-shock better, but in the predetermination of the
stroke, or determining more of the electricity to themselves, than would
otherwise fall upon them.”

We cannot conceive such a property existing independent of some
power of attraction resident in the body possessing it, and if copper
attracts the electricity in some degree, as the above would imply, so

438 Official Correspondence on the atlaching of

must also iron attract it, though in an inferior degree. On this point
however, facts are wanting to guide our opinions, and so much variety
of sentiment in regard to it pervades the scientific world, that we would
not be considered as expressing any decisive opinion on it. Dr.
O'Shaughnessy has proposed iron conductors protected by zinc plates,
but Mr. Daniell considers that this arrangement would not by any
-means be efficient in preserving the conductors from oxidation, and
in this opinion we coincide, though we cannot but express a wish, that
the suggestion be put to the test of experiment. Conductors are daily
being erected in Calcutta; would it not be well to settle the point in
question, by applying the zinc plates to them, and observing the result ?
We have now laid before our readers the sentiments of Mr. Daniell, and
as before, would only farther record a single sentence of his report, in
which these are condensed. ‘These two reports (referring to the in-
structions drawn up by a Commission of the Academie Royale des Sciences,
and M. Arago’s Report Sur le Tonurre) have really exhausted the sub-
ject, and ought to be sufficient in my opinion to convince the most pre-
judiced ; first, of the impossibility of any additional danger arising from
lightning conductors of proper construction; and, secondly, of the pro-
tection which they are competent to afford.” It is thus apparent that
there is an entire coincidence of opinion between Messrs. Faraday
and Daniell as to the perfect efficiency of good conductors, when ap-
plied to Powder Magazines, and when to their testimony is superadded
that of Arago, Harris, and Wheatstone, each a master in electrical
science, we conceive our government would incur a fearful amount of
responsibility, were it to allow any departure from a plan sanctioned
by their favorable estimation, and tested by the experience of nearly
half a century. The reasoning of Dr. O’Shaughnessy in favor of his own
views, is ingenious, and the facts he has adduced are valuable; but
to deprive our Magazines of the protection they now possess, on the
authority of these alone, is a step we cannot believe government would
ever take. Nor would we recommend the plan proposed by Dr.
O'Shaughnessy (although theoretically we see no special objection to
it) in supercession of that now in use, till it has experience to the same
extent to plead in its favor, and some additional advantages to coun-
terbalance the additional expense it involves. We entreat government
to take no hasty steps in the matter, for an amount of human life
and property is at stake, which might well make the boldest pause.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s Own experience of the consequences of hastily
reasoning from the model to the machine, will have prepared him
for our caution in taking the minute results of experiments in the

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 459

laboratory as the true exponents of satel operations. When we re-
collect that there is not one single recorded case of a properly pro-
tected Powder Magazine having been struck, and that the only facts on
which our reasonings can be grounded are derived from cases of dis-
charge on common buildings, in which, on Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s au-
thority we assert, that “all the circumstances differ so widely, that many
of the most important of the facts and arguments which bear on one, .
are altogether inapplicable to the other ;” we cannot be considered un-
reasonable in urging that no change should be made in the existing
system till information more strictly applicable to the question at
issue can be furnished us; meanwhile let the search for this be pro-
secuted with zeal and energy; let a list of the points specially to be
observed during thunder storms be printed, and widely circulated over
the length and breadth of the land; let a system of concentration for
the information thus obtained be established by its being publicly
announced that some party will receive all reports connected with the
subject, and let government encourage the spirit of inquiry thus excited
by instituting some experimental inquiries, on the large scale, so that
results may be obtained commensurate with the acknowledged impor-
tance of the question; but till all this is done, our parting recommenda-
tion to the authorities, is, to leave the existing system in operation,
till we have something more than minute experiments, and disputed
reasoning to advance in favor of another,

Posiscript. In his first report Dr. O’Shaughnessy makes several allu-
sions to the accident which happened to Government House, on the
30th of March 1838, and as the peculiarities of this case give it an addi-
tional degree of interest, it is of much importance that all information
published concerning it should be carefully authenticated. We have
been led to this remark by finding it impossible to reconcile some of the
statements made by Dr. O’Shaughnessy in his report with the informa-
tion relative to the accident now in our possession. We may be per-
mitted we trust to state “in limine,” that in expressing our doubts of
the correctness of the information collected by Dr. O’Shaughnessy we
are actuated by no unkind or uncourteous spirit, but simply by a desire
to arrive at the actual truth, and if Dr. O’Shaughnessy can satisfactori-
ly authenticate the statements alluded to, we will gladly acknowledge
the inferiority of our own information.

Dr. O'Shaughnessy in illustration of his opinion that fusion of con-
ductors takes place generally, (though certainly not universally) only at
the point of entrance and exit of the electricity falling upon them,

AAO Official Correspondence on the attaching of
a ‘
gives a sketch of the appearance exhibited by the spear head of the

Britannia on Government House, supposed to have been struck by light-
ning on the night of the 30th March 1838. Dr. O'Shaughnessy does not
inform us of what metal this spear head was composed, but simply
states it to have been metallic, and fixed on a wooden shaft. Supposing
the spear head to have been struck, it is natural to suppose that as the
‘discharge was sufficiently powerful to fuse the metal at its point of en-
trance, some similar indication of its intensity would have been given at
its point of exit, and we would therefore expect to find this at the
junction of metal and wood. We are not aware that Dr. O’Shaughnessy
is in possession of any evidence to prove that the metal was there fused,
or that the wooden shaft exhibited indications of having been subjected
to intense heat, and powerful disruptive force, as it must necessarily
have been, had the lightning passed through it in its course to the cop-
per sheeting of the dome, on which it is known to have impinged; but
we have reason to believe that neither of these circumstances can be
substantiated, we cannot therefore resist the conviction which all our own
information tends to support, that the spear head of Britannia was never _
struck at all. The accident occurred at night, and the sepoys on guard at
the time described the effect of the concussion as to them awful in the ex-
treme, so that from the noise and shaking of the chandeliers, the breaking
of the windows, and the general confusion, they believed, as they them-
selves expressed it, that the whole house was coming down. Now taking
this testimony as to the intensity of the concussion into consideration,
with the imperfect indication, afforded by the spear head and shaft as
to their having been struck (the actual fusion of the metallic point
being we conceive doubtful) and remembering that parts of the figure
itself were in a most insecure state, we cannot but think the fracture
of the arm which took place, arose not from the direct impact of the
lightning on the spear head, but from the concussion just described.
The opinion appears to receive farther confirmation from the circum-
stance that although the head of the Britannia was studded with iron
spikes, having their points upwards, no discharge, either direct or lateral,
took place to it---a result certainly unconformable to common experience
in such cases, since the lightning impinging on a conductor deficient
in capacity for carrying it off, generally passes to the nearest metallic
body. Experience it is true supports the idea of the spear head having
been struck, in so far as it shews that lightning usually strikes the
highest point first ; but in this case when we remember that this spear
head was no more than a small piece of insulated metal, and that
the entire dome around it was covered with copper, which independent

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 441
*

of its high conducting power possesses the singular property of deter- -
mining to itself a larger portion of a charge of electricity than any
other metal, we cannot but feel the opinion that the lightning impinged
directly upon it, without touching the Britannia in any way, notwith-
standing its presenting the most elevated points, to be better calculated
to explain the circumstances of the case than any other. Of course
we state this as our opinion, with the qualification that if Dr. -
O'Shaughnessy can assure us that besides “knowing” of this case,
he actually saw the spear head after it had been fused, we can consider
it no longer tenable, as such testimony would be fatal to it; but until
some such unexceptionable testimony can be produced as to the fusion,
_ we must, on the grounds above specified, continue to maintain our
doubts as to the charge having ever impinged on the spear head at all.
The necessity for having undoubted facts on which to base conclusions
which involve interests so varied and extensive as those linked with
the present discussion, will, we feel assured, plead our excuse for
dwelling at so much length on some of the details of a single case.
We may state, that it would be well if authenticated information relative
to the accident to St. Andrew’s Church could be collected and made
public. From the little we know of it, we believe a more striking
instance of the beneficial effects of conductors, could scarcely be cited,
but as our information is but meagre, we do not at present feel warrant-
ed in attempting to discuss it.

Note by the Evitor.---Regarding one point brought forward by our
correspondent, namely, the distance from that part of Dr. R. O’Shaugh-
nessy’s house which (while in the occupation of Dr. Goodeve) in 1837
was struck by lightning, from the conductor attached to the house of the
Secretary of the Asiatic Society, then in the possession of Mr. Trower,
Professor O'Shaughnessy has since (10th September, 1840,) acknow-
ledged his error, nearly one month after it had become generally known
to others. Thus we ourselves on 13th of August, the very day the error
was published, measured the distance, and found it to be above 60 feet
instead of 20, and three days after we received the communication
which we have given at length from another party who had also it
would seem been measuring.

The discrepancy between the actual condition of the spear and the
representation of it by Professor O'Shaughnessy is another point upon
which we think the Professor is called to explain.

442

Are the dangers which arise from Lightning so considerable
as to merit consideration ?

Is the danger of being struck with lightning so great, that we ought
reasonably to attach importance to the means of guarding agdinst it?
This question has different aspects, and it may be regarded in reference
to individuals, to dwellings, and to ships.

In the centre of the great towns of Europe, mankind, it would at first
glance appear, are but little exposed. Lichtenberg says that he had
satisfied himself that during half a century, five men only were seriously
struck with lightning in the town of Gottingen; of these five, three
only died. It it stated, with regard to Halle, that a single individual had
been killed by lightning in the interval between the years 1609 and
1825, that is to say in more than two centuries. At Paris, where tables
concerning the metropolitan welfare are kept with such regularity, the
chief officer of the Statistics of the Préfecture assured me that during
a great number of years not a single death had been notified as produ- ~
ced by lightning. Notwithstanding this, however, there were not want-
ing instances during the same period, and in the department of the
Seine, of individuals who had been so destroyed; thus there was the
workman of whom we have recently spoken at page 112, in connec-
tion with ascending lightning ; there was also an husbandman killed in
the fields in the commune of Champigny, on the 26th June 1807; and
likewise a mower killed at Romainville, on the 3d of August 1811, when
he was running for shelter with a pitchfork in this hand. Hence it
must have happened that the deaths from lightning were designated
and registered as deaths from accidents; hence, too, we should probably
be much mistaken were we to receive as accurate, and true to the letter,
the number of deaths which Lichtenberg reports for Gittingen and
Halle. Nor would the risk of error be less were we to generalize these
results, by applying to all countries over the globe what had been
observed in one only, and in wishing to deduce from the experience of a
village what ought to be dreaded in a great city. Gdéttingen, Halle,
and Paris, it is said, scarcely reckon a single accident in a century!
True; but let us notice what a little more accurate investigation
declares; and for this end, I opeh very much at hazard, a few volumes
in which I read such particulars as the following :---

On the night between the 26th and 27th of July 1759, a flash of light-
ning struck the theatre of the town of Feltre. Iv k1nLED A GREAT NUMBER

wey iy oO a”) Q
Danger from Lightning. 445

of those present, and more or less wounded all the others.* On the 18th of
February 1770, a single thunderbolt threw to the ground, without their
knowledge, aut the inhabitants of Keverne in Cornwall, who were assem-
bled in their parish church during their Sunday service. In the year
1808, the lightning fell twice in rapid succession upon the inn of the
town of Capelle, in Breisgau, and filled four persons and wounded a
great many more. On the 20th of March 1784, the lightning struck
the theatre at Mantua; of 400 people who were present 1T KILLED TWO
and wounded ten.t On the 11th of July 1819, the lightning fell during
the service, upon the Church of Chdteauneuf-les-Moutiers, in the neigh-
bourhood of Digne, Department of the Lower Alps, and killed nine in-
dividuals on the spot, and more or less wounded e?ghty-two. The same
flash killed in the middle of a stable, close to the building, five sheep
and a mare. :

In spite of these citations, no one will doubt me when I affirm that to
each of the inhabitants of Paris, or any other city, the danger of being
struck with lightning is less than that of being killed in the street by
the fall of a workman from a roof, or of a chimney-can, or flower-pot.
There is no one, I believe, who, in starting in the morning, dwells upon
the idea that a workman, or chimney, or flower-pot, will fall on his
head. If, then, fear reasoned, we should not be more uneasy during
a thunder-storm which lasted for a whole day. For the acquittal of our
understandings, however, it ought to be added that the vivid and
sudden flashes which announce the lightning, and its resounding thun-
ders, produce involuntary nervous effects which the strongest organiza-
tions cannot always resist. It ought also to be stated, that if the
descent of true thunderbolts is but rare, the total number of strokes of
lightning of one kind and another, throughout the year is, on the con-
trary, very great; that nothing distinguishes the harmless flashes from
the others; and that however insignificant in reality the danger may
truly be, it seems to be increased by the considerable number of its ap-
parent renewals. ‘This consideration will appear clearer if, returning to
our term of comparison, I suppose that at the moment when a work-
man, or chimney, or flower-pot was about to fall from a roof or a window, a
very loud detonation were to announce the event throughout the whole
extent of the city; every one might then conceive, many times a-day,

* Lightning often occasions extensive fires; on this occasion it was the reverse, for it put
out all the lights.

+ On this occasion, the lightning also melted ear-rings and watch-keys; it likewise cleaved
diamonds, and this without wounding in the slightest degree those who wore these several
‘articles.

3M

444: Danger from Lightning.

that he was precisely in the street where the accident was to happen ;
and his alafm, without being at all better founded, would become
conceivable. ’

I have been treating above of the accidents which occur in the middle
of great towns. Were we to rely upon general belief, there is much
greater danger in villages, and in the open country. Theoretical
considerations to which the review I am now taking forbids me to
advert, would tend to confirm this opinion. As for facts again, I see
not how it is possible to invoke their aid, since they have been so very
partially collected. To this must be added that no accurate account
has been preserved of the differences which exist as to the frequency
and the intensity of thunder-storms, or to their occurrence in different
countries, or even in different circumscribed spaces.

No one in the Republic of New Grenada willingly inhabits E/ Sitio de
Tumba barreto near the golden mine of Vega de Supia, on account of the
frequency of thunderbolts. The people have preserved the recollection
of a great number of miners who had been killed by lightning. While
M. Boussingault traversed Zi Sitio during the prevalence of a storm,
a flash of lightning struck to the ground a negro who was acting as
his guide. The Loma de Pitago in the environs of Popayan, possesses
the same melancholy celebrity. A young Swedish botanist, M.
Plancheman, obstinately persisting, notwithstanding the advice of the
inhabitants, to cross the Zoma, when the sky was covered with stormy
looking clouds, there met his death. Finally, in considering great
countries only, it appears that in some, entire years occasionally elapse
without a word being said of the tragical events occasioned by lightning,
whilst in others, on the contrary, in certain seasons they seem to
happen almost daily. For example, I find that in the summer of 1797,
from the month of June till the 18th of August, Volney counted in the
newspapers of the United States, eighty-four serious accidents, and
seventeen deaths ; whilst in France, the newspapers of the year 1805, if I .
am rightly informed, only announce one thunder-storm which was
productive of the death of one individual. In the year 1806, again,
they recount only the death of two children who were struck upon
their mother’s knee at Aubagne, Department des Bouches du Rhone: in
the year 1807, the same journals mention the case only of two young
peasants of the Commune de St. Geniex who were struck with lightning
when engaged in harvest-work; and in 1808 they allude only to a
waterman who was killed on the banks of the river at Angers. Notwith-
standing all this, the years are very far, even in France, from resembling
each other, in respect of the number of deaths from lightning. In one

Danger from Lightning. 445

year, 1819, the reported victims are the following:---On the 28th of
June, three horses, near to Vitry-le-Francais ; on the 11th of July, as
already stated, nine individuals in the church of Chdteauneuf; on the
26th of the same month, a man killed in the open fields at Maxey sur
Vaizxe (Meurthe) ; on the 27th, a husbandman, his wife, and son, who had
taken refuge in the portico of a chapel near Chatillon sur Seine ; on the
Ist of August forty-four sheep, near Beaumout-le-Roger (Eure) ; on the
2d of the same month, a labourer who had taken refuge under a tree at
Bourdeaux ; on the same day, a husbandman of Vigneux, near Savenay,
who was killed in his chamber; and, still under the same date, two
young students and two girls, between ten and twelve years of age,
in the house of M.]’Abbé Coyrier, at . . . . Department du Cantal ;
and, finally, on the 27th of September, at five in the morning, a female
domestic servant, who was killed in her bed, at Confolens, Charente.

But if few persons perish from thunder-storms in the heart of our
towns, the number of houses and edifices which are struck, and seriously
injured, is, on the contrary, very considerable. During the single
night from the 14th to the 15th of April 1718, the lightning struck
twenty-four steeples in the space comprehended along the coast of
Brittany, between Landernau and St. Pol-de-Leon. During the night
between the 25th and 26th of April 1760, the lightning fell three times,
in the short interval of twenty minutes, upon the chapel and other
buildings of the Abbey of the Notre-Dame-de-Ham. On the morning of
the 17th of September 1772, the lightning injured four different buildings
at Padua. A memoir of Henley, which is dated December 1773, informs
us that the same day, nay, that nearly at the same moment, the light-
ning over London struck the steeple of St. Michael’s, the obelisk in St.
George’s Fields, the New Bridewell, a house in Lambeth, another house
near Vauxhall, and a great number of other places very distant from
each other, not omitting a Dutch vessel which was lying at anchor
near the Tower.

A learned German found in the year 1783, that within the space of
thirty-three years, lightning had struck 386 steeples, and had killed 121
ringers*---the number of the wounded being of course much more
considerable. In December 1806, during a single storm, the lightning
destroyed, in whole or in part, the steeples of St. Martin at Vitré, of
Erbré, of Croiselles, and of Etrelles. On the 11th of July 1807, the

" * These numbers will not astonish any one, if I mention that, on the Ilth of June 1775,
lightning fell upon the steeple of the village of Aubigny, and killed at the same instant
three men, who were ringing the bells, and four children who had taken refuge under the tower
of the same steepie. t

446 Danger from Lightning.

steeple of St. Martin, was again struck, and five days before the light-
ning had fallen at la Guerche, and around that city, within the space
of a league in different directions, upon ten chapels and other edifices:
At Paris, on the night between the 7th and 8th of August 1807, the
lightning fell upon the sign-post of a shop in the Rue de Thionville, wpon
a house near la Halle, upon a reflector of a lamp of the Rue de Perpignan
in the Rue aux Féves at Vaugirard, and at Passy. On the 14th May 1806,
we find it damaging a joiner’s workshop in the Rue Caumartin; on the
26th June 1807, it injured nine portions of a house at Aubervilliers; on
the 29th of August 1808, it struck a public-house near the Barriére des
Gobelins, and killed and wounded many; near the Barriére Mont-martre,
it fell upon another public-house filled with people, many of whom
were knocked down in a state of insensibility; on the 14th of February
1809, it knocked to pieces a wind-mill, situated on the road to St.
Denis; on the 29th of June 1810, it did much damage to a house in
the Rue Aumaire; next day it broke and scattered about whatever it
encountered in a house in the Rue Popeleniére ; and on the 3d of August
1811, it fell upon a house at the Barriére de Pantin, and wounded many
individuals.

On the 11th of January 1815, during a thunder-storm which embraced
the space comprehended between the Northern Ocean and the Rhenish
provinces, the lightning fell upon éwelve steeples dispersed over this
great extent of country, set fire to many, and greatly injured others.
In leaving this recapitulation of recorded facts, it is scarcely necessary,
Timagine, to remark that I believe it very far indeed from being complete,
every one indeed will recognise that it reaches only the minimum limits
of the subject. ;

The necessity there is for protecting buildings against lightning,
should be measured by the nwmber of those which are annually struck
by it, and also by the extent and importance of the damage which it
carries in its train. Three or four citations will shew the importance
of this last-mentioned consideration. In the year 1417, lightning set
fire to the woodwork which terminated the steeple of St. Mark at Venice,
and the whole was consumed. This pyramid was reconstructed, but
another thunder-storm reduced it to ashes on the 12th of August 1489.
On the 20th of May 1711, a single thunderbolt not only did very great.
damage, both to the interior and the exterior of the principal tower
of the town of Berne, but it also devastated nine houses in its immediate
neighbourhood. The pyramid of St. Mark (on this occasion it was
built of stone) received a violent stroke of lightning on the 23d of April
1745. The repairs of the damage cost more than 8000 ducats. On the

Danger to Powder Magazines. 44.7

27th of July 1759, the lightning burned all the wood-work of the
roof of the Cathedral of Strasburg. In the month of October following,
this meteor struck the upper part of the magnificent tower of this same
town, and so completely divided one of the pillars which supported
the lantern, that it was discussed at the time, whether it should be
taken down. The reparation of the damage cost more than three hundred
thousand francs. ‘The three strokes of lightning which, in the night
from the 25th to the 26th of April 1760, struck the church of Notre-
dame of Ham, led to the burning and complete ruin of this great and
beautiful building.

In speaking of damage, I should not forget that which lightning
sometimes occasions when it strikes powder magazines. On the morning
of the 18th of August 1769, lightning fell upon, the tower St. Nazaire
at Brescia. This tower stood upon a subterranean magazine, which
contained 2,076,000 pounds of powder belonging to the Republic of
Venice. This immense mass of powder ignited in a moment. The sixth
part of the edifices in the great and beautiful town of Brescia were over-
turned, and the rest were much shaken; and threatened with destruction.
Three thousand persons perished. The tower of St. Nazaire was pro-
jected entire into the air, and fell down again a shower of stones.
Fragments of it were found at enormous distances. The destruction of
materials was rated at two millions of ducats.

On the 18th of August, lightning set fire to the powder which was at
the time in the magazine of Malaga. The building was overturned ;
and the whole town would assuredly have shared the same fate, had
they not, some time previously, transported the greatest part of
the powder into more distant magazines. On the 4th of May 1785,
a thunderbolt set fire to the powder magazine at Tangier. The maga-
zine and most of the houses in the neighbourhood were blown up. On

the 26th June 1807, at half past eleven in the forenoon, lightning blew
up a powder-magazine at Luxemburg, which was very solid, and long
before built upon a rock by the Spaniards; it contained upwards
of 28,000 pounds of powder. Thirty persons perished ; more than 200
were mutilated or grievously wounded. The lower town was a heap of
ruins. At nearly the distance of a league, very large stones of the ma-
gazine were found conveyed thither by the explosion. On the 9th
of September 1808, lightning fell upon a magazine of military stores at
the fort of St. Andrea-del-Lido at Venice, and blew it up. The explo-
sion completely destroyed a barrack, a neighbouring chapel, the wall
of a half-moon battery, greatly damaging, at the same time, the bar-
racks of the artillery.

I have multiplied these citations regarding the explosions of powder-

448 Danger to Ships from Lightning.

magazines, because, by a succession of qualifications, some have been
led to conclude, that even although lightning penetrates these buildings,
yet it never sets on fire the ammunition they contain. Having shewn
how completely untenable such a proposition is, I am free to avow
that in certain instances the meteor has presented anomalies which would
warrant almost any hypothesis. Thus on the 15th of November 1755,
lightning deseended near Rouen, upon the powder-magazine of Marom-
me, broke one of the rafters of the roof, and shattered to pieces two
casks which were full of powder without igniting it. The magazine at
the time contained 800 of these casks. Again, at day-light, on the
llth of June 1775, the lightning struck the tower of Saint Second at
Venice, entered the magazine, threw down the shelves, overturned the
powder-casks and, what appeared quite miraculous at the time, set fire
to none of it.

A list of a number of vessels, amounting to forty-two, which have
been struck with lightning, has been prepared, and is printed in ano-
ther part of this essay. At present we shall only remark that after
examining it, it seems quite superfluous to insist upon the utility of
the means which have been made available for the protection of ships
against these dangers. This list, however, which was prepared with a
particular object, contains only a small proportion of the names of the
vessels it might have included, if I had enumerated them without
a statement of their date and geographical position. Hence, in the
very restricted circle of my own information, I might add to the list
above alluded to, the following :---

The (name unknown) an English merchant ship, was struck with lightning in
the year 1675, near Bermuda.

The (idem) a merchant ship, was struck at Bencoolen, in the year 1741.

The (idem) a Dutch ship, was completely burned by lightning in 1746, in the
Roads of Batavia. When the fire reached the powder, the ship blew up.

The (idem) a Dutch ship, was struck and much damaged in 1750, near Malacca

The Harriet, English packet, in sailing to New York in 1762. The whole three
masts were entirely destroyed.

La Modeste, French frigate, completely burned, in 1766, from lightning.

Captain Cook’s vessel, and a Dutch ship, were both struck with lightning in
Batavia Roads. .

La Zephir, French frigate, struck at Port-au-Prince, St. Domingo, 23d September
1772; the top-mast was destroyed.

La Meilleur Ami, of Bourdeaux, struck, same place, 20th May 1785; the mizen
and two top-masts shattered to pieces.

La Prévost de Lingristin, of Rochelle, struck, same place, 29th July 1785; two
of the top-masts required to be replaced.

Ze (name unknown), French schooner, struck, same place and day; main-mast

destroyed. +

Danger to Ships from Lightning. 449

The Duke, British 90 gun ship, struck, 1793, off Martinico; one of its masts
shattered,
The Gibraltar, British-ship-of-the-line, struck, 1801, and much damaged immedi-
ately over the powder-room.
The Persius, British vessel, struck at Port-Jackson, in October 1802; the accident
led to the loss of the vessel.
The Desire, British frigate, struck at Jamaica, in 1803; one of the masts much
injured.
“The Theseus, British vessel, struck, at St. Domingo, 1804.
The Favourite, British corvette, struck, at Jamaica, June 1804; three sailors
killed, nine wounded, main-mast much damaged.
The Desire, British frigate, struck, near Jamaica, 20th August 1804; many parts
of the ship burned by the lightning.
The Glory, ship-of-the-line, in Admiral Calder’s squadron, off Cape St. Finisterre ;
the three masts were.made useless.
The Repulse, British vessel, struck in the Bay of the Rosas, in 1809.
The Deedalus, British frigate, at Jamaica, in 1809; some of the crew struck down,
the lightning fired the powder.
The Hebe, British frigate, at Jamaica, in 1809; one of the masts destroyed.
The (name unknown), British schooner, Jamaica, in 1809; sunk by the same
thunder-bolt as the two last.
The Glory, British ship-of the-line, off Cape Finisterre, 1811; had all its masts
cleft.
The Norge, British ship-of-war, and a merchant vessel, Jamaica, June 1813; the
Norge was dismasted.
The Palma, British frigate, Harbour of Carthagena, S. A., in 1814; one of its
masts destroyed.
The Medusa, British brig, in its voyage from Guayra to Liverpool.
The Amphion, American vessel, sailing from New York to Rio Janeiro, 21st Sep-
tember 1822; much damaged, all its compasses destroyed.
The Jessy, of London, abandoned in 45° N. L. and 16° W. L., in November 1833,
from the injury by lightning.
The Carron, British steamer, in passage from Greece to Malta, struck in 1834.

In running over such catalogues as these with attention, it is re-
markable, and such statements are truly striking, that in fifteen months
of the years 1829 and 1830, there were in the Mediterranean alone, five
ships of the British Royal Navy struck with lightning. These were the
Mosquito of 10 guns, the Madagascar of 50, and the Ocean, Melville, and
Gloucester ships-of-the line. All these vessels suffered considerably in
the rigging. I will add, for the benefit of those who imagine that the
damage arising from lightning is of small importance as a pecuniary
matter, that a large lower mast of a frigate costs about £200, and the
great lower mast of a ship-of-the-line costs as much as £400.

To all these authentic examples of the effects of lightning it must
be added, that the British ship Resistance of 44 guns, and the Lyne,
completely disappeared during a severe thunder-storm, in a convoy of
which they formed a part; that the ship York of 64 guns, which was

450 Remarks by the Editor.

never heard of after its entrance into the Mediterranean, was probably
blown up or sunk by this same meteor; and that the instances of
burnings in the preceding list, are by no means the only ones which
might be enumerated. Thus, for example, the Logan of New York, of
420 tons and of £20,000 value, was entirely consumed ; the Hannibal of
Boston shared the same fate in 1824. Moreover, the crews do not suf-
fer less than the masts, the cordage, and the hulks of ships. Thus
there were two men killed, and twenty-two wounded by the thunderbolt,
which, in the year 1799, struck the Cambrian at Plymouth; under the
same circumstances, the Sultan, at Mahon, lost jive men killed on the
spot, two thrown into the sea and drowned, and three more, severely
burned; nine men perished on board the Repulse, by the flash which
struck that vessel in the Bay of Rosas in 1809; and there were three
seamen killed, and jive wounded on board the Austrian frigate Leipsig,
when she was struck on the coast of Cephalonia.

The facts, however which I have already reported, ought to be suf-
ficient. They have been cited without exaggeration, and without con-
cealment. Every one, therefore, may appreciate at its true value
the importance of the various methods which have been proposed for
preservation against lightning. It is now time, then, to submit these to
serious consideration.*

Remarks by the Editor.

It is due to the non-scientific portion of our readers to
offer a few remarks in explanation of papers, devoted strictly
to pure science. Such communications are essentially the
most important that could occupy our pages, as their object
is usually directed to clear up or establish some fundamental
principle on which the extension of science depends. Mr.
Jameson’s paper, in our present number, on the natural
classification of Falconide, which we hope to continue, though
relating to the highest objects of science, would afford but
little interest to those who do not know what the natural
system is. We might quote very beautiful illustrations of
the importance of system or method in the study of nature,
by which all objects of the creation are classed in groups

* From M. Arago’s essay on Thunder.

Remarks on the Natural System. 451

according to such of their characters and properties as may
appear to be most obvious. As the properties of natural
bodies are infinite, so our knowledge of them depends on ~
the progress of science, and as this is now continually ad-
vancing, old systems founded on a more limited state of
knowledge are daily crumbling to pieces. Some great men
perceiving the disadvantage of this, have devoted their
minds to the investigation of natural laws throughout the
creation, with the view of deducing from these a natural sys-
tem, which the improvements of science will tend rather to
complete than to destroy. The design is one that cannot
like former systems, be accomplished by any single individual.
One of the great difficulties to overcome at the commence-
ment was, therefore, to devise a plan on which all might
labour towards the accomplishment of the one great end.
Although a thorough knowledge of the system of nature is
probably more than it was ever intended the human mind
should accomplish, yet it is something to know that we are
on a right path, and that we may hope to attain at least a
general insight to the mysteries and beauties of the creation;
and although some happy observation or general remark
may be found in various authors tending to shew that they
were not insensible of what should constitute the true path,
yet it was reserved for Mr. W. S. MacLeay, in a series of
essays specially deveted to the subject, not only to point it
out, but also to illustrate by his own profound researches,
many of the primary laws on which a natural method should
be formed. Mr. Jameson’s paper, as its title indicates, is
devoted to an investigation of the first order of birds, with a
view to discover the true relations which the members of
that group bear to each other in the order of their mutual
affinities. The subject is one of great philosophical interest,
as those who have leisure will find on the perusal of Mr.
Swainson’s popular treatise on the geography and classifica-
tion of animals,
3 N

452 Remarks on the Deposits

The second paper, by Mr. Jameson, in our present num-
ber, is one of great economical interest, and requires no ob-
servations from us to point out its importance.

In India, where so vague a notion seems to be entertained
of the legitimate objects of physical science, we trust the
translation of Schouw’s Popular Sketch of the Physical Geo-
graphy of Europe, will be useful, particularly to the Educa-
tion Committee. Dr. Cantor indeed remarks that he does
not know who the members of that Committee are, otherwise
he would supply them with a series of elementary treatises,
but whether for the special instruction of the members
themselves, or for that of their pupils, he does not mention.
Be this as it may, Dr. Cantor is now we are happy to say,
much better employed in China, in possession of all those
facilities, we trust, which are indispensable to the successful
results of his researches. His translations from Schouw,
amounting to above two hundred pages, were written be-
tween Calcutta and Penang, at the commencement of the
voyage, while passing. over that part of the sea with the
productions of which his former services on the Survey with
Capt. Lloyd had made him familiar.

Remarks on the Deposits of the Calcutta basin —We
should have thought it unnecessary to offer any remarks on
Lieut. Smith’s paper, which places the late operations in
search of an artesian spring in Fort William very clearly
before the public, together with some excellent observations
of his own on the formation of Kunkar, had we not been
requested by the author himself to offer such further views
on the subject as our experience, or rather he should have
said, his own observations, might suggest.

Lieut. Smith’s report on the work in question places one
of the most interesting operations of the kind that ever have
been undertaken in India in so clear a light before our rea-
ders, that any one on perusal of the details he has collected
and illustrated, may form as accurate opinions on the sub-

of the Calcutta basin. 453

ject, as if he had been engaged in the tedious and difficult
operation itself, during the five or six years which this work
has been in progress.

The sections of deltas can only become known by works
of this nature, which from the expense and difficulty attend-
ing them, must always be extremely rare. When they are
undertaken and carried on with so much spirit as in the
present case, it is due to the liberality of the Government, as
well as to those intrusted with their management, to make
the scientific world acquainted with the result, and this duty
could not have fallen into better hands than those of Lieut.
Smith, who has left nothing undone but what others may
accomplish from the details he has laid before them. The
first question that occurs after the perusal of Mr. Smith’s
paper is, whether the deposits beneath Calcutta have been
formed from Gangetic sediments similar to those now forming
at the head of the Bay? So great is the quantity of mud
and sand poured out by the Ganges into the Gulph at flood
season, says Mr. Lyell on the authority of Major Rennell,
that the sea only recovers its transparence at a distance of
sixty miles from the coast. ‘The general slope therefore of
the strata must be extremely gradual. By charts recently
published, it appears that there is a gradual deepening from
four to about sixty fathoms, as we proceed from the base
of the delta to the distance of about 100 miles into the Bay
of Bengal. If we suppose the deposits beneath Calcutta to
have the same inclination as those now forming at the head
of the Bay, and to have been formed by the same tranquil
causes that are now producing new lands from the deposits
of the Ganges, the sea face of the delta would necessarily —
have been situated 125 miles north of Calcutta, or half way
between Morshedabad and Malda, at a time when the coarse
conglomerate 580 feet below Fort William was deposited.
Mr. Lyell, from data furnished by Mr. Everest, calculated
the annual deposit of mud discharged at the mouths of the

454 Remarks on the Deposits

Ganges to be about 6,368,077 ,440 cubic feet, which, supposing
it to be deposited on a surface as much below the level of
the sea as the depth attained in the Fort, would be sufficient
annually to raise 6 square miles of dry land; and if we sup-
pose the Bramaputra to contribute equally with the Ganges,
these two rivers would require a period of 3,533 years,
to extend their delta to its present position from the point
it would have occupied (according to the present state of
things) at the period when the lower beds penetrated in the
Fort were deposited. Mr. Lyell remarked, that the Ganges
and Burrampooter have probably become confluent within
the historical era, and the foregoing observation rather
tends to confirm the conjecture. We have also to remark in the
consideration of this question, that the bones brought up
‘from a depth of 350 to 430 feet had not lost all their animal
matter; that is to say, they retained the character of grave
bones, and could not therefore be regarded as perfectly
fossilized, and the wood which was found at a depth of 390
feet retained its recent appearance. Whenwe say 3,333 years
as the probable period since the deposits penetrated in Fort
William were forming, of course we only mean this as an
approximation to the truth. The accuracy of the calculation
will, however, depend on the estimate we have formed of the
depth of the delta, and-the quantity of mud annually dis-
charged, as well as on the question whether the sedimentary
deposits were the same at the early period alluded to as
now, and whether they have been accelerated or interrupted
during the interval.*

Taking the two first of these elements to be nearly as
accurate as the present state of our knowledge admits, we

* We lhave just perused an interesting paper by Sir J. G. Wilkinson
on the deposits of the Nile, which may lead to some modification of the
_present views of geologists regarding the growth of Deltas. We shall
take an early opportunity of laying the result of Sir J. G. Wilkinson’s
observations before our readers.---Ep. Cau. Jour. Nat. Hist.

of the Calcutta basin. 455

will now consider whether the deposits took place during
the interval alluded to, as they do at present.

A submarine basin, or a lake filled up by the uniform dis-
charge of sediment from a great river, will exhibit in its
lower parts a deposit of water-worn fragments, more or
less coarse, according to the velocity of the current, and the
distance the transported matter has been carried forward.
As the cavity of the basin becomes obliterated, the velocity
of the currents entering it will also proportionally diminish,
and the sediment from being coarse gravel, will gradually
pass into fine sand, and this last into clay and mud. So far
from the section afforded by Lieut. Smith of the boring
operations in Fort William presenting this uniform gradation,
we find various beds of fine clay and sand alternating with
beds of gravel, several of these different beds being nearly
100 feet in thickness.

Thus proving considerable variation in the velocity of the
currents from which they were derived, and the lapse of
a considerable period of time in some cases from the termina-
tion of one change to the introduction of another.

The coarse conglomerate from 392 feet down to 480,
where the work terminated, corresponds with that which is
rolled forward, as Mr. Smith has remarked, by mountain
streams. The large branch of the Bramaputra which falls
into Assam from the Eastward, is the greatest and most
rapid torrent we have seen in India, and yet its power of
transporting gravel is lost at some distance above Suddyah,
or within about 30 miles of the Mishmee mountains, from
which the river falls. In the lesser, . but equally rapid
streams in Assam we find the distance to which gravel is
transported to vary from five to twenty miles, and on the
surface of these coarse gravels we often see occasional frag-
ments of bones of.various animals, pieces of coal, and trunks
of trees, the latter often changed to lignite, especially when
buried in the hot sands, which during the dry season are
‘exposed to a parching sun.

456 Remarks on the Deposits

Lieut. Smith remarks that from the lower surface of the
black peat clay, which rests on the lower conglomerate at
a depth of 390 feet, fragments of coal were found, and beneath
these, at some distance in the midst of the conglomerate
or gravel, bones of a kind of lizard or crocodile were found,
and still lower down, at a depth of 4644 feet, fragments of
lignite.

These remains, as well as the nature of the gravel in
which they are found, unquestionably indicate. the close
vicinity of bold rocky mountains at no greater distance than
20 or 30 miles, and from which similar torrents descended
to those which now fall into the valley of Assam.

Reposing on the coarse conglomerate, above alluded to,
there is a series of layers, twelve feet deep, consisting of cal-
careous clay and decayed wood, which from their nature
could not have been deposited at any depth beneath water.
We must conclude, in fact, that these beds were formed on
dry land, which afterwards by series of movements indicated
by the beds of gravel, sunk down bodily to their present depth
of 390 feet below the level of the sea, as it is quite impossi-
ble to understand how drift wood could be separately depo-
sited at such a depth. The lower conglomerate therefore
affords all the proofs of having been derived from mountain
rocks of sufficient altitude, within 30 miles of Calcutta,
to render the river currents as rapid as the falls of upper
Assam, and this would seem to have continued during a
period required to deposit a depth of at least 60 feet of gra-
vel, when the transporting power of the currents became
suddenly arrested; for we have reposing on the gravel a
bed of drift wood and lacustrine clay containing fragments
of a very soft friable shell, of which we find no example in
superincumbent beds, or in the recent deposits now forming at
the head of the Bay.* This last change clearly indicates a

* We are indebted to Capt. Lloyd Marine Surveyor General, for a

series of deposits from the head of the Bay, taken at various depths from
2, to 200 fathoms.

of the Calcutta basin. 457

depression of the land in the interior before the bed of
the basin itself began to sink, for the carbonaceous bed,
‘now at a depth of 385 feet, bears evidence of having been
slowly formed on a marshy surface covered with vegetation,
on this a thin bed of fine lacustrine clay rests, containing
the peculiar shell already alluded to.

After the shelly calcareous bed of two feet which rests on
the dark clay and drift wood above noticed was deposited, a
gradual subsidence of the basin appears to have succeeded,
when a sediment consisting of 60 feet of sand intermixed
with the bones of land animals took place. ‘The period
occupied in this last change may be estimated by the
time required for a deposit of sand of equal depth to
take place below Saugor island. ‘This bed of sand is
now converted into a slightly adherent sandstone by the
impervious nature of the fine calcareous clay on which it
rests. It is succeeded by a bed of loose sand, intermixed
with fragments of quartz, felspar, and granite, 25 feet deep,
indicating a more rapid change in the relative levels of the
land, by which the currents entering the basin became again
accelerated. ‘This seems to have been succeeded by a long
period of repose, during which a depression of 100 feet
occasioned by the last movement became gradually obliterated
by the deposition of 90 feet of fine ferruginous sand inter-
mixed with clay, the upper stratum of which is now con-
verted into soft sandstone, and lies 205 feet below the present
surface. ‘Towards the close of this long period of repose
the currents again became disturbed, and so continued while
a coarse quartzose conglomerate, ten feet in depth, took
place. This is situated at a depth of 175 feet from the pre-
sent surface, and is followed by a bed of fine calcareous clay,
five feet in thickness, and corresponding in its characters
with the lower calcareous clay at a depth of 380 feet, and
which we supposed to have been a lacustrine deposit. ‘This
is succeeded by a bed of sandy clay 30 feet deep, with frag-

458 Remarks on the Calcutta basin.

ments of mica-slate, &c. 150 feet below the present surface,
and which indicates the latest general change of importance
to which the interior of the land and the rivers passing over
its surface have been subject. From this to within 45 feet
of the surface the changes in the character of the deposits
are slight, and indicate a gradual fillmg up of a basin which
had suddenly sunk down to a depth of 75 feet when the
coarse quartzose conglomerate was formed. |

The Kankur appears to occur in siliceous clay at a depth
of 70 feet, and continues to within 50 feet of-the surface,
where the matrix becomes calcareous. This is succeeded by
dark clay with decayed wood to within 45 feet of the surface.
Adhesive blue clay, a deposit from marshes, continues to
within ten feet of the surface.

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THE
CALCUTTA JOURNAL

OF

NATURAL HISTORY.

On the Creation, Diffusion, and Extinction, of Organic
Beings. By Carr. Tuos. Hurron, Bengal Army.

It has been a matter of doubt and contention as to whether
the days of creation are to be considered merely of the same
duration as these of our present computation, or indefinite
periods of years.

It has been asserted, that like the human race, the plants
and animals have sprung from a single pair of each species,
and diffused themselves from a common focus or centre of
creation. With regard to the actual duration of the day,
facts will hereafter be adduced to prove it of the same
length as these of the present time, and therefore let us
now inquire what proofs can be found in support of the
other views, or whether they cannot be shown to be altoge-
ther untenable.

First, then, it has been asserted that all animals have
proceeded from a single pair of each kind.

There would appear to be no better reason for this belief,
than the assertion that mankind originally sprung from one
pair, for with regard to the numbers of the animal and
vegetable races, the Bible is altogether silent.

Now if we take the Mosaic account in a literal sense,
and believe them all to have been created on the fifth and

VOL. I. NO, Iv. JANUARY, 1841. 30

462 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

sixth days, as stated in Genesis, and that those days were
natural days of twenty-four hours duration, and that the
habits, instincts, and propensities of species were the same
then as now, it is evident that many would never have
multiplied at all; because eagles, hawks, owls, and others
of the raptorial order, as well as the carnivorous mammalia,
would have destroyed them in the very outset of their career,
and the loss of either a male or a female would at once have
crushed the species.

This view then is evidently incorrect.

Secondly ;—If we suppose that the creation and diffusion
of organic beings has been progressive,—each being called
into existence, as its services were required—we shall first
have the vegetable kingdom diffusing itself gradually through
a number of years, over the earth; and then, as some plants
became so numerous as to require a check upon their in-
crease, various species of the animate classes would be called
into being, and commissioned to restrain the vegetation within
certain limits. In like manner as these multiplied, it would
be found necessary to create other animals, until at length
after a lapse of many years, the whole animal kingdom
would have been successively supplied, and the earth ren-
dered fit for the reception of the human race.

In this view we must not suppose that the whole of any
class of animals, whether of insects, birds, mammalia, or
others, was at once called into existence, but that different
genera, or rather a few species of several genera, were
from time to time supplied as they became necessary ; and for
this reason, that as some plants and animals increase and
diffuse themselves more rapidly than others, they would con-
sequently need restraining long before those of a slower
growth. é

In supposing the creation of animals to have been pro-
gressive, we may also allow that they sprung from a single
pair of each, because, each would have had time to pro-

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 165

pagate and multiply itself, before the species destined to
prey upon it, would be called into existence.

But it may simply be objected in this case, that had crea-
tion been thus gradual and progressive, the Mosaic record
must necessarily be incorrect, for it states, not that a few
genera or species, but whole classes of animals had their
peculiar and simultaneous periods of creation; or in other
words, that on the third day “The earth brought forth
grass and herb, yielding seed after his kind, and the tree
yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind ;” that
on the fifth day, the waters and the air together were stock-
ed with every species peculiar to themselves; and on the
sixth, and last period, “the earth brought forth the living
creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast ©
of the earth after his kind; and God saw that it was good.”

Here then we have two conflicting statements, or rather
be it said, a modern theory, endeavouring to overthrow an
ancient and insured record of events; and either must we
believe that “ Heaven and earth and all that in them is,”
were created by an Almighty fiat on the several days, as
related by Moses, or we must reject his account, as narra-
ting what did not occur.

I shall endeavour to show that these modern theories,
and not the Sacred Record, must be rejected.

But if, in the meantime, for the sake of argument, we
allow that the six Mosaic days of creation were as many
periods of years, and that the different classes of animals
were being progressively called into existence during each
of those periods, we shall nevertheless overthrow the very
theory of progression which we are so anxious to establish ;
for we shall find that the vegetable kingdom would be
gradually increasing and diffusing itself over the earth,
without a check, not only throughout its own indefinite
and peculiar period of years, but also through the fourth
and fifth, with the exception of the slight check some

464: On the Creation, Diffusion, and

species might receive, during the latter period from birds,
and not until the sixth, and last period, when man him-
self was created, and by which time the earth would have
become a perfect wilderness, would the vegetable world
have been restrained by the ravages of mammalia, insects,
and all the other terrestrial classes.

It is evident also that if such were the order of creation,
those members of the feathered tribe whose food consists
of insects alone could not have had existence at all, for
the insects which constitute their food were not created
until the succeeding period of years, or sixth day; “so
that supposing, with some theorists, that each day was an
indefinite period of thousands of years, we shall perceive
that if the insectivorous species of the present time were
then in existence, we are reduced to the absurdity of believ-
ing that they must have been constituted to endure the
pangs of hunger, and to hve without food for thousands
of years.

It would seem therefore from the above line of reasoning,
that if creation occupied only six periods, each of the same
duration as one of our present days, and each of those periods
produced its peculiar events,—a single pair, or even several
pairs of each species of animals would have been insufficient
to stock the earth, because many, both among birds and mam-
malia, being carnivorous, would have destroyed the weaker
to satisfy the cravings of their appetites, and in like manner
the large herbivora would have destroyed the vegetation.

On the other hand, if we admit the six days of creation
were so many period of years, and that according to the
Sacred Records one period produced vegetables, another
birds and aquatic animals, and a third, mammalia and other
terrestrial creatures,—we shall still overthrow the doctrine
of progressive creation and diffusion; because the lapse
of years between the creation of the vegetable and ani-
mal kingdoms would be so great, that the former being

Extinction of Organic Beings. 465

empowered to “ increase and multiply,’ without a check
to preserve a due equilibrium of species, would in the
warm and probably humid climates of the infant world,
have choked and destroyed each other;—so that by the
time a check was furnished by the creation of some ani-
mate beings, many of the original and more tender plants
would have already become extinct.

* All the plants of a given country,” says Decandolle,
‘fare at war one with another ;—the first which establish
themselves by chance in a particular spot, tend by the
mere occupancy of space, to exclude other species ;—the
greater choke the smaller ;—the longest lives replace those
which last for a shorter period ;—the more prolific gradu-
ally make themselves masters of the ground, which species
multiplying more slowly would otherwise fill.”*

“‘ Every plant,” observes Wilcke, “‘has its proper insect
allotted to it, to curb its luxuriancy and to prevent it from
multiplying to the exclusion of others.—Thus grass in mea-
dows sometimes flourishes so as to exclude all other plauts ;
here the Phalena graminis with her numerous progeny find
a well spread table; they multiply in immense numbers, and
the farmer for some years laments the failure of his hay
crops; but the grass being consumed, the moths die of
hunger, or remove to another place. Now the quantity of
grass being greatly diminished, the other plants which were
before choked by it spring up, and the ground becomes
variegated with a multitude of different species of flowers.
Had not nature given a commission to this minister for that
purpose, the grass would destroy a great number of species
of vegetables of which the equilibrium is now kept up.”+

From these facts, therefore, it is easily perceptible that
if the plants were diffusing themselves for thousands of years
over the earth, before the creation of the insect tribes, as

* Lyell’s Principles of Geology, vol. ii. pp. 131 and 132.
+ Tbid.

466 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

the above theory supposes, many of them would shortly have
been exterminated, and the earth abandoned to those of
hardier and ranker growth. Thus we are led to acknow-
ledge the importance of the insect tribes in keeping in check
those plants which would otherwise soon cause the extinc-
tion of the weaker and less hardy species; and we are there-
fore unhesitatingly led to reject the doctrine which would
teach us, that the days of creation may be construed into in-
definite periods of thousands of years.

It has already been shewn, that if the Mosaic days were
‘the same as these of our present time; and if a single pair
only of each species was created, and that these species
were constituted as at present,—that many of them could ©
never have propagated or diffused themselves at all, but
would have fallen a prey to the fiercer tribes on the very
threshold or outset of their existence.

It may however be strongly urged as an objection to this
line of argument, and with every probability of truth, that
death and decay came into the world as a consequence
to man’s transgression, and therefore as they did not visit
the organic creation until after the Fall, no destruction of
species could take place at the outset.

' This point being ceded, as it necessarily must, and as
we know that the carnivorous races could not have subsist-
ed upon vegetable diet alone, unless their natures and
habits have undergone a total and radical change since
_ then, it reduces us to the necessity of believing, that none
of the purely carnivorous animals of our time could have
existed till subsequent to the fall of man ; for had they been
created previous. to that event, they must have been her bivo-
rous, and not, as now, carnivorous ; nor need this reasoning
in any way perplex or surprise us, for it is in strict accord-
ance with the doctrines of the Bible, as set forth in the
twenty-ninth and thirtieth verses of the very first chapter
of Genesis, wherein it is clearly stated, that to man was

Extinction, of Organie Beings. 467

“given for meat,” “every herb bearing seed, and every tree
in the which is the frudt of a tree yielding seed ;” while
to the brute creation it is as distinctly declared, that to
“every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air; |
and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein
there is life,” was given “every green herb for meat.”
Here is the line as clearly drawn as can be required ;
there is no mention whatever of carnivora, or animals of prey,
even in allusion, but the food allotted to the animal world
is solely that of the herbivora. Between man and the
brutes there is this distinction made, namely, to the one the
fruits of the earth, and to the other its herbs are given ;
but between the animal classes no line whatever is drawn.

In this view we are also supported by the testimony
derived from the fossil flora of the secondary strata, which
is precisely of that character which the above doctrine of
the sacred historian would lead us to expect.

“The antediluvian vegetation was very different from
the present.” ‘This is the statement of the most eminent
of the modern geologists, and the phenomena in the
fossil matters of the earth have suggested, and justify the
supposition. ‘The difference was of two kinds; it was that
of a tropical character, implying a temperature like that
of the torrid zone or equatorial regions, and displaying that
largeness of size which is only now found in regions where
that degree of heat prevails; and it was also not of the legu-
minous species—not the corn plants or the vegetables which
now constitute the food of man, but it was of the reedy, fern-
like, grassy, more aquatic and puny kinds, such as are
adapted for the nutrition of brute animals, and obviously
by its nature indicating that these were then living or pre-
dominating in those regions where the imbedded remains
of this character appear.”*

* Sharon Turner’s Sacred History of the World.

468 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

It may again be urged, that having shown the carnivora
to be posterior to the fall of man, the objection to the ani-
mals having sprung from a single pair of each, is at once
removed ; not so, however,—for the argument cannot be
maintained with regard to the animals alone, but to all
organised nature, and therefore it is still impossible that the
furnishing the earth with plants and animals could have
proceeded from single pairs of each species, because the
first pair of elephants, of oxen, or of hares, (if then in exist-
ence) having exterminated in a few days the greater portion
of the vegetation within the limits of their haunts, would
then in turn have become extinct from sheer starvation.

With regard to the creation of some animals and plants,
subsequent to the recorded days of Scripture, I shall again
take occasion to speak in the sequel, when I trust sufficient
proofs of the fact may be adduced, from the phenomena
observable in the strata of the earth.

In the meantime, let us proceed to inquire into the tena-
bility of the arguments adopted by former theorists, to ac-
count for the diffusion of plants and animals.

It has been suggested by Linnzus that the portion of the
earth which was first destined to be the abode of man, con-
tained climates suited to all classes of beings, as well vege-
table as animal; and that from this nursery or focus, a gra-
dual diffusion of species over the face of the earth took
place.

The various degrees of climate were produced by sup-
posing this region to possess some lofty mountain ranges, on
which, at various elevations, were to be found the plants and
animals destined for cool climates.

Now, this region must necessarily have contained aii the
plants and animals of the world, as it was before the Fall ;—
some of these were fitted for a residence in hot climates, and
could not live in a cold one; others, destined to inhabit cold
regions, could not survive in tropical countries. From this

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 469
focus, as it were, the various genera and species were to
multiply and spread themselves.

Now various objections might be raised against this
hypothesis ; and first, it may be asked, were these mountains
esolated, or connected by other chains or ranges with vari-
ous regions of the earth ?

Isolated they could not have been; for if they had, then
must the animals which delighted in cold climates have
been merely Jocal, and without the power of dispersing
their species over other parts, for being unsuited by reason
of their constitutions to undergo the heats of the plains
below, and their proper food also failing them, they would
undoubtedly have perished in attempting to find other
countries adapted to them.

Thus for instance, the yak of Tartary and Thibet,”) the
wild Himalyan sheep, the musk deer, sikeen, jahral,©
and various other animals peculiar to the higher and colder
regions of the mountains, will not live in the scorching
plains of India, and degenerate and die even in the lower
ranges. Again, the monaul,‘ the golden-breasted trago-
pan,” and others of the feathered tribes, whose natures fit
them for a residence in a cold climate, would all have
perished in seeking new countries adapted to their wants
and constitutions.

How then could such species have been spread from
their isolated cradle ?

I am aware it may be objected in this case, that if these
animals could not have spread themselves over the earth
before, so neither could they have done so since the Deluge,
for as they were taken into the ark, they must necessarily
have diffused themselves from a common centre or focus,

(1) Bos poéphagus. (2) Ovis nahoor.
(3) Moschus moshciferus ? (4) Capra jaela.
(5) Capra jahral. ° (6) Lophophorus Impeyanus.

(7) Tragopan Hastingsii.

3) 1

70 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

namely, from the spot where the ark rested on the subsi-
dence of the flood. I am however by no means prepared to
admit that these species did necessarily exist previous to
that event, and I have instanced them merely as illustrating
my argument; neither am I willing to admit that individuals
of every species which lived before the flood were taken
into the ark, for I shall take occasion hereafter to prove
the contrary.

But an argument might with a trifling degree of ingenuity
be brought forward, to show that in the primitive epoch
spoken of, no animals or plants of a cold or northern clime
were then in being. This argument indeed would find ample
support from the fossil phenomena of the secondary strata,
the whole of which can be referred only to a climate analogous
to the tropics of our present time. If then, the plants and
animals of that golden era in the history of our planet are
found to be such, as, reasoning analogically, could only
flourish beneath the smile of warm and sunny skies, we are
naturally lead to conclude that climates and their produc-
tions were mutually adapted to each other; and in conse-
quence, that the primeval condition of the temperature of
the earth’s climates, was wholly that of a tropical character.

If such reasoning be admissible, and the fossil phenomena
of our strata are allowed to furnish data by which we may
satisfactorily determine this point, then can we have no
hesitation in declaring that previous to the fall of man, or
the first geological revolution, the climates of the earth
were wholly tropical, and no animals or plants now peculiar
to the colder regions were then in existence.

Such reasoning too will show us that no mountain station
in the primitive focus, as suggested by Linnzus, was neces-
sary, since there were neither animals nor plants adapted to
such a situation.

On this subject, however, I shall have occasion to speak
again hereafter, and shall therefore for the present proceed

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 4-71

to examine farther into the tenability of Linneus’ theory of
central foci.

It is evident then that the mountains of the imaginary
focus of creation could not have been isolated ; nor indeed
is there greater reason to believe that they were connected
with various regions of the earth.

Let us however suppose that they were so, and it will
follow, that as the races multiplied, they would extend along
those ranges to various countries whose temperatures were
adapted to their comfort and well being, and thus in the
lapse of years be found in different and widely distant
regions of the earth..

From Lyell’s Principles of Geology, may be derived an apt
illustration of the absurdity of supposing that the vegetable
and animal kingdoms were originally diffused from a com-

" mon centre.

In speaking of the supposed foci of creation, he says,—
“let us imagine that about three centuries before the dis-
covery of St. Helena (itself of submarine volcanic origin) a
multitude of new isles had been thrown up in the surround-
ing sea, and that these had each become clothed with
plants emigrating from St. Helena, in the same manner as
the wild plants of Campania have diffused themselves over
Monte Nuovo. Whenever the first botanist investigated
the new archipelago, he would meet with individuals of
every species belonging to all parts of the archipelago, and
some in addition peculiar to itself, namely, those which had
not been able to obtain a passage into any one of the sur-
rounding new formed lands, In this case, it might be truly
said that the original isle was the primitive focus or centre
of a certain type of vegetation, whereas in the surrounding
isles, there would be a smaller number of species, yet all
belonging to the same group.”*

* Lyell’s Principles of Geology.

4G2 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

Now if we apply this reasoning to the primitive focus
from which all organic nature was diffused, it will follow
that the productions of its various climates are not only to
be expected partially in surrounding and similar tempera-
tures, but that species of every kind are to be found in one
particular country, in that region from whence each origi-
nally sprung, while at the same time it will probably contain
some peculiar to itself, ‘‘ naturally those which had not been
able to obtain a passage into any one of the surrounding
countries.”

Yet this is not found to be a fact, for although widely
separated regions may produce some apparently similar cli-
mates, still few of the organic productions are the same.
In the mountain tracts of tropical regions whose climates
are modified by the various degrees of elevation, animals
common to the cooler and temperate lowland countries of
other regions may be found, but the great proportion of their
products, both vegetable and animal, are quite distinct. Be-
sides this, many species and some genera are decidedly local,
and only to be met with in one peculiar region. Thus while
the Toucans (Ramphastus) inhabit South America, the Horn-
bills (Buceros) are confined to the east ;—while the Jaguar
and Puma are peculiar to the New, the Lions and Tigers are
peculiar to the Old World ;—the Kangaroo and Ornithoryn-
chus of New Holland, the Birds of Paradise, and the ex-
tinct Dodo are only a few, among many instances of this
predilection for peculiar and widely separated climates.
Thus too does D’Aubnisson truly remark, that of organic
beings—“some can only live in the bosom of the sea,—
others, in fresh waters; some are only to be found within
the torrid zone, while there are others which would perish
the moment they should be removed from the frigid zone ;
in a word, each species appears as if it were fixed to an
element or climate proper and peculiar to it.”

It might perhaps be more truly said, that apparently

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 473

similar climates seem in most cases to produce rather a
strong similarity, than an absolute identity of species. Thus
in the lofty ranges of the Himalaya, some climates may be
found (at least if we may judge of climates by their pro-
ducts) approaching to those of the lowland tracts of Europe.
Here ranging through the hills from an elevation of three
thousand feet to that of twelve, and probably thirteen thou-
sand feet above the sea, are found in numbers, the Tortoise-
shell,” Brimstone,” and Swallow-tail® Butterflies, identical
with those of Europe; the larva of the former still feeding
on a species of nettle (Urtica.)

In company with these may also be seen various species
of the white butterflies found in Europe, as well as the
painted lady,” (Cynthia cardui); the last named species
is likewise found at Candahar, in company with Pieris cra-
tegi, or the black-veined white butterfly, and Pontia rape,
the small cabbage butterfly.

These species are all identical with those of Europe, and
doubtless there are many more besides, but still this does
not by any means prove that the climates are identical with
those of Europe, but only that these species are so consti-
tuted as to be able to live and thrive in various tempera-
tures; for if the climates were the same, then might we
seek in Europe for the many species which are now ap-
parently peculiar to the Himalaya.

The animals common to both regions therefore, are few
‘in comparison of those which are peculiar to either; and
thus, although at first the identity of some species, and the
strong similarity of others, might lead one to agree with
some writers that species have no real existence in nature,
but have descended from a common source, and become
modified by climate, yet the absolute distinctness of others
peculiar only to certain regions, and often even to particular

(1) Vanessa urtice. (2) Gonepteryx rhamni.
(3) Papilio machaon.

AT4 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

localities in those regions, must at once upset the theory ;
for it is evident that such alleged modifications must have
been the work of ages, that is, since the first creation of the
species from which they are descended, and therefore that —
on the first extending or migrating of the original stock
into other climates than that of its creation or focus, it re-
mained for a few years perhaps in statu quo, and afterwards,
as the difference of climate told upon its constitution, it
gradually assumed different colours, or modifications of its
original colours. But as we find from the difference of their
general products that climates of Europe, of the Himalaya,
and of the Indian lowland provinces, are distinct,—how
comes it that the species of Lepidoptera, above enumerated,
have lived forages in the two former dissimilar climates,
without having undergone any change or modification? Or,
how again, is it, that we find in the three regions just men-
tioned, that is, in Europe, in the Himalaya, and at Neemuch
in the Western Provinces, species which are common to
them all, namely the “ painted lady,’ the ‘death's hawk
moth,” the “ humming-bird hawk moth,”® and others ?—or
how is it that the ‘Oleander hawk moth,’ found in the
latter, is identical with that of the former region?

In the case of man, or of the higher animal classes in gene-
ral, it might be said that change of food, together with that
of climate, is instrumental to this modification; though even
this is far from being proved to be the case :—“ a fair haired”
native of Europe migrates with his family and settles among
the woolly haired and swarthy inhabitants of Africa. Do
his descendants in the lapse of a century, born under a
scorching sun, begin to assume any of the characteristics of
the races that surround them? Do their lips gradually be-
come thick, their nose flattened, and their complexion black ?

(1) Cynthia cardui. (2) Acherontia atropos.
(3) Macroglossa stellatarum. (4) Sphinx oleandri.

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 475
Assuredly not; the supposition is refuted by actual experi-
ence to the contrary. Again, does an African diet, or a
change of costume, create any change in their form, or their
mental perceptions? Are their natural characteristics, in
short, in any degree lost so long as their race is preserved
pure? Let the Spaniards settled for more than two centu-
ries among the copper coloured Indians of Mexico and New
Spain,—the Dutch Boors of Southern Africa,—the descen-
dants of the whites who first settled in the West Indies,—
above all the Jews, now scattered “ among every nation under
heaven :”—let these, we repeat, tacitly reply to these ques-
tions. Such living testimonies, known to all, should at once
have dispelled. the illusion which many writers, and some of
them able ones, have indulged in,—that temperature, food,
clothing, and other secondary influences were the chief causes
of that extraordinary variation in the aspect of the human
species which the different nations of the earth exhibit, and
which, so long as each race is preserved pure, is unchanging,
and unchanged. Upon sucha subject the modest and ingenu-
ous mind may indulge conjecture; but when we attempt to
penetrate the darkness of primitive ages, and pretend to trace
the first causes of such things, we wander in regions from
which human knowledge is excluded. HE alone, that great
Bint Cause, ‘‘ by whom all things were made,” that are made,

‘is alone master of this impenetrable secret.”*

To the insect tribes this theory of change by Bl and cli-
mate, is still less applicable, since we know that larve of
many species will feed on one plant alone, and when that
fails them they must perish, so that climate alone must be
the cause of change in them. We see however from the
examples above given, that climate alone is not sufficient
to effect this change, and therefore we are forced to con-
clude that genera and species have not diffused themselves

* Geography of Animals by Swainson, Lardner’s Cyclopedia, p. 23.

476 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

from any central focus, but were placed “ ab initio,” in those
countries which were best adapted to them; and also that
species have a real existence in nature, independent of the
fact, that however much a change of temperature might be
instrumental in changing or modifying the colours of a spe-
cies, it could never alter its actual form,—so that we know
that the Comma, and large tortoise-shell butterflies, although
of the same genus, could never have descended the one from
the other.

But there is yet another class of beings to which the
remarks already applied to the insect world, may be still
better adapted, namely the terrestrial and fluviatile Mollusca.

Species occur apparently in every country, however widely
they may be separated from each other, yet at the same
time many are extremely local, even in their respective coun-
tries, While others again have a wider range, and appear to
defy alike both heat and cold.

Numerous species, for the most part peculiar to the Gan-
getic provinces of India, have of late years been brought to
notice by the researches of naturalists, while others again
have been discovered in the Sylhet and Himalayan mountain
ranges, with one or two exceptions quite distinct from the
lowland formas, and extending upwards to an elevation of
nearly fourteen thousand feet above the sea, upon the bor-
ders of eternal snows.

It is interesting to observe the wide distribution of these
tender beings, and to trace the gradual, and almost imper-
- ceptible yielding of one species to another, as the elevation,
or the climate varies.

The shells of the lowland provinces give place in the
Himalaya, as the temperature becomes cooler, to forms
more nearly resembling those of Europe, some, still ad-
vancing a short way into the hills, but as if impatient of
the chills of a mountain winter, confining themselves to the
valleys of the lower ranges.

=

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 477

One species, however, the “ Nanina vesicula,” found by
myself between Neemuch and Mhow, and subsequently dis-
covered by my friend Mr. W. H. Benson in the Rajmahl
range, seems alike to defy the heats of the provinces and
the winter of the hills, ascending even beyond the height of
ten thousand feet above the sea. It ranges therefore over
the central and western tracts of the Bengal Presidency, and
occurring in profusion along the verge of the hills at Mansir
Debi, mounts to Subathoo, Simla, and Huttoo mountain,
preserving: everywhere precisely the same habits.

Another species, the ‘‘ Nanina vitrindides” of Deshayes,
inhabiting the Rajmahl range, and extending also to the
western frontier, advances upwards only to Subathoo and its
neighbouring valleys, passing at Simla into a strong variety,
possessing the same form, and partaking of the same habits
and general economy.

“* Succinea crassiuscula” of Benson has also a wide range,
and is apparently to be met with throughout the provinces,
occurring abundantly, according to the above gentleman’s
observations, in the compound of the Asiatic Suciety’s rooms
in Calcutta, extending through Bahar and Allahabad to the
western frontier, and advancing to the hills as high as
Subathoo.

Yet although we find some species common to the plains
extending far into the hills, there is nevertheless a well
marked line of elevation beyond, which the welfare of the
general number forbids them to pass.

Thus while ‘‘ Nanina vesicula” is found roaming through
the hills apparently at all elevations up to 10,500 feet, other
species which in the plains of India are found in company
with it, and at the same seasons, never mount beyond a third
of that height, confining themselves to the warmer valleys at
about three to four thousand feet above the sea.

Among these are ‘“ Nanina vitrindides” and ‘“ Succinea
crassiuscula,” which around Subathoo are found in company

Q

o Q

478 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

with species peculiar to the hills, such as “ Helicarion cas-
sida,” (Nob.) and ‘‘ Pupa pulchella,” (Nob.) neither of which
are found in the plains, while the former are not met with
in the higher and colder hills. To this region also “ Pupa
pulchella” would seem more properly to belong.

Here then we have a well marked frontier line of elevation,
separating, as it were, on either hand, the animals of the
highlands from the lowlands. -

‘When temperature,” observes Lyell, “is the barrier
which arrests the progress of an animal or plant in a parti-
cular direction, the individuals are fewer and less vigorous
as they approach the extreme confines of the geographical
range of the species. In almost every district, especially if
it be mountainous, there are a variety of species, the limits
of whose habitations are conterminous,. some being unable
to proceed farther without encountering too much heat,
others too much cold. Individuals which are thus on the
borders of the regions proper to their respective species, —
are like the outposts of hostile armies, ready to profit by
every slight change of circumstances in their favour, and to
advance upon the ground occupied by their neighbours and
opponents.”*

With respect to the Mollusca of these regions, it will be
found, and indeed the remark is generally applicable to all
classes of animate beings, that although the same genera
may occur in widely separated countries, the species are
with few exceptions, entirely distinct.

Thus, although in the Himalaya genera, Pupa, pies.
Helix, Carychium, and Vertigo occur, yet the species are
distinct from those of Europe, and with the exception of one
or two species common to both regions,,they are totally
distinct also from those of the plains of India.

If climate, therefore, is instrumental in gradually chang-

* Lyell’s Principles of Geology.

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 479

ing or modifying a species, how is it that “‘ Nanina vesicula,”
so widely distributed through the provinces, still remains
precisely the same in habits, form, and economy, even on a
mountain rising to the height of nearly eleven thousand feet
above the sea, and where snow lies early in autumn, and
continues throughout the winter season, even till the end
of May ? .

Or, why, since the rigours of a cold climate are known
to be instrumental in clothing the animals of warmer regions
with a thicker and ‘more woolly covering, has it not altered
the habits and economy of these fragile beings; for we find
Nanna vesicula using the same thin vicid operculum, and
in every respect preserving the same habits on Huttoo moun-
tain, in the Himalaya, as it does in the hot plains of the Gan-
getic provinces ; and two other species, the ‘‘ Nanina mon-
ticola,” (Nob.) and ‘‘ Pupa sylvatica,” (Nob.) which I disco-
vered among juniper bushes at the Burrenda Pass, on the
Snowy range, make use, at the height of between thirteen
and fourteen thousand feet, on the verge of never melting
snows, of the same means to secure the aperture of their
shells, as their congeners whieh inhabit the lower and
warmer ranges near Simla?

It is obviously because a merciful Creator originally en-
dowed these species with constitutions to set the effects of
climate at defiance, and to preserve themselves distinct and
Sree from change or modification, alike among the snows of
a mountain winter, or the burning heats of a tropical summer.

‘But again, if we wander with these several species from
the original focus of creation, how shall we cross the many
streams and rapid rivers (to say nothing of the sea) which
intersect and divide the various countries in which they
are found ?

Or, how, since rivers in different quarters of the world are
stocked with species peculiar to themselves, could they have
wandered io their respective localities ?

480 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

Their distribution evinces too much design to admit, for
an instant, of the idea that their ova were diffused through
the agency of winds or aquatic birds, independent of the
fact, that there is no one region or focus which contains all
the species, and that the suddenness of such a transporta-
tion or diffusion would have tended rather to exterminate,
than to disseminate the species !-

Nor could they have wandered from a common centre in
the sea, for they are adapted solely for a residence on the
land, or in fresh waters, and perish instantly in salt waters.

These latter speculations then, like the former, must be
abandoned; for as the diffusion of the various races could
not have taken place from an isolated mountain, so neither
is there any country in which all animals are found; nor a
mountain range connecting all the portions of the earth;
and farthermore, if there had been, it would have formed,
as indeed mountains are often found to be, an insuperable
barrier to the diffusion of those species which, delighting in
warm and humid climes, were placed in the plains below
them.

The only rational answer then must be, that each was
created for specific purposes, and adapted at once to those
situations in which they were to perform their parts; and
being so adapted, they were placed each and all in such
numbers and proportions as an infinitely wise Creator saw
good, at once in the countries where their several services
were alone required.

It is now necessary that we should more particularly touch
upon a point to which we have already made allusion,
namely, to the fact of fresh creations of animals and plants
having taken place subsequent to the six recorded creative
days of Genesis. _

This position, which derives ample support from the
phenomena actually existant and observable in nature, may

be still farther substantiated by the the following passage

Extinction, of Organic Beings. “481

of Genesis, wherein it is declared that after the subsidence
of the deluge, ‘‘ God spake unto Noah and to his sons with
him, saying, and I, behold I establish my covenant with you,
and with your seed after you; and with every living creature
that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every
beast of the earth with you ; from all that go out of the ark,
to every beast of the earth !”

Is it not evident from this latter passage that a marked
distinction is made between the beasts that went oui of the
ark,—and some other beasts of the earth ? And what others
can-we refer to, save to those which God had seen fitting
to create, in order that the new climates which the late re-
volution had produced, might be stocked and replenished in
common with all other quarters and portions of the globe ?
The passage, in short, clearly declares that God had esta-
blished his covenant not only with the human race, but like-
wise with all organised nature, as well the beasts which
were already in the earth. .

We have a still more convincing proof, if indeed such be
required, in the mention of an olive tree springing up imme-
diately on the retirement of the waters; for as land trees and
plants could not survive beneath the deep waves of the
- deluge, during a period of ten months, especially since the
surface of the former earth was swept off and obliterated”
by the Almighty fiat on account of man’s transgressions,—
so it is evident that the olive tree (which Professor Jameson
has incautiously cited as a proof that no change took place
between land and sea*) must either have been an entirely
new creation, or what will answer fully as well,—a recently
created individual of a species formerly existing. We derive
indeed from this circumstance a positive and undeniable
proof, that fresh creations took place after the deluge, be-
cause we know by the destruction of the earth’s soils, that

* Jameson’s notes to Cuvier’s Theory of the Earth.

482 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

the vegetation which grew in those soils must also have
been destroyed with them; and we know likewise, that the
olive tree from which the dove plucked a leaf, was neither
planted nor sown by Noah, and consequently, that it was of
spontaneous and immediate growth, or an especial creation
after the deluge.

Now it has already been shown in a former essay,* and
that strictly in accordance with the rules of geological rea-
soning, that the vast mountains of the Himalaya were not in
existence previous to the visitation of the Mosaic deluge. It
will follow therefore, as a matter of course, that the climates
and stations now produced by the various elevations and
local peculiarities of those regions, were likewise not in
existence previous to that grand catastrophe; and it more-
over follows, that as some plants and animals are found to be
peculiar to those new climates and stations, they too must
date their origin subsequent to the event which called the
hills and climates into existence.

Thus it is evident that when our first parents were driven
out of Eden, and vast mountains were upheaved, the cold
summits of those ranges produced stations for which as yet
no proper or peculiar vegetation or animals existed.

Again, after the deluge, when the vast mountains which
now adorn the earth were first upheaved, they likewise tower-
ed to a height which was unknown in the warmer antedilu-
vian era, and consequently again formed climates and stations
for which few, if any, of the already created beings were
adapted. Fresh creations were therefore indispensably ne-
cessary, unless those regions were intended to be left barren
and untenanted.

As we perceive, however, that those elevated tracts pro-
duce some species peculiar to themselves, we are led at
once to acknowledge that fresh creations must positively
have taken place.

* J. A. Society, Geology of the Western Himalaya.

Extinction, of Organic Beings. "483

Among other examples of new climates and new crea-
tions of animal and vegetable species, may be cited the con-
tinent of New Holland, whose productions in many instances
are apparently peculiar to itself, and are not found in any
other country of the known world. It cannot be argued that
these animals were part of the stock preserved by Noah, be-
cause the isolated situation of that continent, so completely
separated from that region from whence the antediluvian
species were again to diffuse themselves, at once forbids the
supposition, and proves beyond a doubt, that a new creation
was absolutely required to replenish those regions.

With regard to the natives of that continent, the same
argument, however, is by no means necessary ; since we know
in the case of man, that storms and shipwreck have often
landed him on shores previously unknown and uninhabit-
ed ;* and even animals have been so wafted; but in such
cases they have still left species living in the countries
from whence they emigrated. To some of the animals of
New Holland we at once perceive that this reasoning will not
apply, since they have no living prototypes in any other
portion of the known world.

As we know therefore that the elevated regions of the
Himalaya, the Andes, the continent of New Holland, East-
ern Isles, and indeed every quarter of the globe, produce
some species, and even genera peculiar to themselves,} we
are lead at once to perceive that in these instances no diffu-
sion from a central focus could have placed them in their iso-
lated situations, and consequently we are again obliged to
acknowledge that fresh creations must have occurred.

From these clear and incontrovertible facts, we arrive at
the conclusion that new creations have invariably followed
the revolutions which the earth has undergone ; for it is evi-

* See Lyell’s Geology, passim.
t See J. A. S. Himalayan Geology.

484: On the Creation, Diffusion, and

dent that the plants and animals now peculiar to certain regi-
ons could not have existed previous to the formation of those
stations in which alone they are fitted to reside, and that if
the mountains of the Himalaya were not in existence before
the flood, so neither were their peculiar climates and pro-
ductions. 3

The proof already furnished of the truth of our posi-
tion,* must necessarily therefore prove the truth of all;
and thus we establish the fact, that many creations have
taken place since the six recorded days of Holy Writ.

But again, as we perceive that fresh creations of organic
beings have necessarily been attendant on the production
of new climates, so, by a parity of reasoning, since all things
tend to show that a reduction of temperature has taken place,
shall we be permitted to declare that many of the former
genera and species must have become extinct, when those
revolutions, by reducing the temperature, destroyed the ch-
mates in which alone they were able to exist; and thus we
are brought to substantiate and explain the doctrines of the
progressive theorists, and to show how nearly they have
approached the truth without being aware of it; and we
may therefore assert, in accordance with those doctrines,
‘that the creatures were constructed with a view to the
conditions of the surface of the earth;”’ ‘ that repeated
changes in species both of animals and vegetables in suc-
ceeding members of different formations give further evi-
dence of important changes in the physical condition and
climate of the ancient earth;” and that one race of beings
has become eatinct at a period when another sprung into
existence to supply its place.+

The various opinions or theories of a successive creation
and gradual diffusion of the animal and vegetable kingdoms

* See J. A. S. for an excellent paper on Zoological Provinces, by W.
Jameson, Esq.
+ Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise.

2

' Kaxtinetion, of Organic Beings. 485

have arisen from the unwillingness of geologists to admit
that the six creative days of the Mosaic record were of no
longer duration than these natural days of our common
computation; and truly if we are to measure the operations
of infinite and almighty Power, solely by such effects as are
clearly comprehensible to our weak and finite capacities, we
may be excused for so theorising; but it behoves us while
endeavouring to trace out the means by which the primeval
operations of nature were effected, to be careful, lest over-
stepping the bounds of prudence and sound reason, we
launch into the dangerous paths of scepticism and infidelity.
In all cases, therefore, where we cannot clearly reconcile
existing effects to the causes assigned by sacred history, it
will be but in accordance with sound philosophy and true
religion, to suppose that our inability to fathom those
causes, proceeds from our as yet imperfect knowledge of the
subject, and not from ignorance of the facts, or a disregard
for truth in the inspired historian; and we shall therefore
pause ere we reject his narrative, for our own wild fancies.
Having now, I trust, satisfactorily shown the untenability of
the various theories and opinions regarding the creation and
diffusion of species, it only remains ere bringing the subject
to a close, to take a summary view of the facts we consider ©
to have been established ;—namely, that proof has already
been given of the tropical character of the climates with
which the infant world was blest; and that we have also
gathered from the recorded facts of Holy Writ, and from the
nature of the fossil flora of those early times, that the animals
which then inhabited the earth, were solely of the herbivo-
rous kinds, and that no carnivora, properly so called, existed.
The dawn of our human existence was therefore ushered
in, in peace and gentleness; there was no strife, no thirst for
blood, but all was quiet and serene, and aptly termed in the
figurative style of scripture language, a garden or paradise.
Such term must be taken as applying to no one particular

ook

486 On the Creation, Diffusion, and

spot or garden, but to the earth at large, which then enjoyed,
during the short reign of innocence, a state of calm repose
and happiness, to which the appellation of paradise was well
suited.

But, alas! this smiling scene was not destined to be of
long duration ;—man fell,—and in his fall involved the ruin
of a world.

This, as we have already stated, was the period of the
first great geological revolution, by which the hitherto tro-
pical character of the climates was reduced to one of more
moderate temperature.

How this was effected, we may take occasion to treat of
hereafter, but at present it is enough for us to state, that
such is recorded in the pages of Scripture, in the declara-
tion that the earth was cursed for man’s sake, and would
henceforward produce nought but weeds, unless tilled and
subdued by the sweat of man’s brow. How true that declara-
tion is, we may see by every day’s experience, for to this
hour we eat our bread by “the toil and labour of our
hands.”

Supposing then that one great means of bringing about a
reduction of temperature consisted in the upheavement of
far loftier mountains than had hitherto adorned the surface
of the earth, it is evident that the cold currents sweeping
downwards from the snow-clad heights, would not only have
reduced the temperature, and checked the luxuriance of the
vegetation, but that it would also have caused the death
and extinction of the less hardy races, both vegetable and
animal, whose constitutions were such as to render them
unable to bear any other temperature than that which had
just been reduced. Such, we are inclined to consider, the
plants and animal exuvize of the secondary strata.

At this period it may be that the carnivora were first
called into being, and commissioned to restrain the other
animal races which were now, be it remembered, to multiply

°

Extinction, of Organic Beings. 487

their species through a far longer term of years than had
been accorded to the herbivorous classes before the fall,
and which would consequently require those checks upon
their increase which during the shortness of the first epoch
was not at all necessary. ‘This at least is but acknowledg-
ing the foresight, and in accordance with the wisdom, of the
Almighty, so conspicuously displayed in all His works.

Here then was a Creation subsequent to the recorded
days of Scripture; nor need we suppose that this creation
of the carnivora was the only addition to the fauna of the
earth, for we have seen that the reduction of temperature
may in some measure have been occasioned by the upheave-
ment of vast mountains, whose snow-clad summits furnished
climates and stations hitherto unknown, and for which per-
haps a peculiar fauna was required; fresh plants and animals
of various kinds were therefore the natural consequence
of the late revolution, and new species came into existence,
as the more tender beings of the former epoch became
extinct.

At a subsequent period the second geological revolution,
or Mosaic deluge, occurred, and here again the same opera-
tions were repeated, but only far more extensively; and,
- whereas the first epoch affected almost exclusively the
marine,—so the second acted most severely on the terres-
trial classes. |

This difference may have been a natural consequence,
arising from the diversity of the destructive agents, for as
the first revolution gave birth to a wider tract of dry land,
the inhabitants of the sea were necessarily those which
suffered,—while the second revolution, being accompanied
by a flood of waters, would most seriously affect the inhabi-
tants of the land.

In this last catastrophe perished the entire produce of the
land, both animal and vegetable, with the slight exception
of a few genera and species saved with Noah in the ark, and

488 Creation, Diffusion, & Extinction, of Organic Beings.

which were, in all probability, such as the Almighty foresaw
would be of service to mankind, and fitting to reside in the
altered temperatures of the postdiluvian era.

As the waters again subsided therefore from the face of
the earth, a fresh vegetation every where sprung up, adapt-
ed to the climates in which it was to flourish, and for which
alone it was proper. Animals, too, of various kinds, with
constitutions adapted to the varied temperature and circum-
stances of the earth, were again created to supply the place of
those which had again become extinct, and to tenant those
new climates which the revolution had produced.

Of this fact, too, proof may be gathered as well from the
doctrines of Holy Writ, as from the phenomena unfolded to
our view in the rich pages of Nature’s book.

Thus we perceive truly, that ‘the creatures have been
formed with a view to the varying conditions of the earth’s
surface,” and that each has been placed in those countries
and climates where its services were alone required, and for
which its constitution was peculiarly and particularly adapt-
ed, and we reject, therefore, as contrary to nature and re-
corded facts, the theory of progressive diffusions from a
central focus. ;

To enter farther at present into the causes and effects of
these geological revolutions, and the phenomena they have
given origin to, would be foreign to our purpose; but should
the farther elucidation of this important and interesting sub-
ject be desired, we shall have pleasure in recording our
opinions in some future essay. .

CaNnDAHAR,
16th September, 1840.

489

Official Correspondence on the attaching of ieee Con-
ductors to Powder Magazines.
{From a Correspondent. ]
II.

It has afforded us much pleasure to find that our remarks
on the Conductor question, published in the last number of
this Journal, have been so generally, we might almost say
universally, assented to ; and we return to the subject for the
purpose of noticing briefly the reply Dr. O'Shaughnessy has
published to certain passages of our paper, and also of sub-
stantiating more fully some of the statements we therein
ventured to make.

A regard for the simple courtesies of science, were there
no higher actuating motive, would induce us to pass over
in silence Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s misrepresentations of our
intentions in taking the part we have done in this discussion,
and we the more readily follow this course, as we are well
assured that unprejudiced readers have attempted in vain to
discover in our paper the grounds of his complaint. We
may however remark, that when any scientific man comes
forward and lays before the public, statements which are in-
tended to furnish materials for some important generalisation,
he ought to be prepared to submit them to the most care-
ful and rigid scrutiny, and he has no right to feel offended
if others demand an amount of evidence for their substanti-
ation greater than that which has satisfied his own mind.
An immunity from this process of verification would only be
productive of unmixed evil to science, and it consequently
never has been, nor ever will be, accorded to any one, how-
ever high may be our confidence in his habits of careful
observation, or strict honesty of scientific character.

We have no hesitation whatever in acknowledging that
the detection of one important error of measurement in Dr.
O’Shaughnessy’s papers shook our confidence in the other

490 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

statements associated with it, and we considered it right to
express our doubts, and thus afford an opportunity to Dr.
O’Shaughnessy to furnish further evidence by which we
and others might be satisfied ; this is no proper ground of
complaint, and Dr. O’Shaughnessy is doubtless too well ac-
quainted with the history of science in general, and of elec-
tricity in particular, to require to be more than reminded
that it is the course which under analogous circumstances
has invariably been followed, and that he by no means stands
alone in having to conform to it. We need only instance
the case of Dr. Wollaston, the whole of whose experiments
on the identity of common and voltaic electricity have been
called in question, because he mingled with his proofs an
experiment which had a resemblance, and nothing more, to a
case of decomposition by ordinary electricity ; nor were they
admitted among scientific facts till Faraday’s recent researches
confirmed their general correctness. Dr. O’Shaughnessy
will also recollect the case of M. Colladon of Geneva, whose
conclusions as to the identity of magnetism and common elec-
tricity were doubted, or totally denied, although he asserted
the experiments on which they were founded had been wit-
nessed by MM. Arago, Ampere, and Savary, because these
gentlemen did not publish their admission of the results. We
have briefly adverted to these instances, taken from the his-
tory of electricity, to convince our readers that the expres-
sion of doubt, when the evidence of a scientific statement is
not complete, does not merit the title of ‘‘ carping,” and that
Dr. O’Shaughnessy in being required to substantiate his as-
sertions in greater detail than he had done, has not been
unfairly dealt with.

In our former paper we were under the necessity of point-
ing out an instance in which Dr. O’Shaughnessy had entire-
ly misapprehended his opponent’s meaning, and consequently .
misrepresented his statements ; and we are now compelled to
point out a similar instance in which we have been the suf-

9

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 491

ferer. Dr. O'Shaughnessy states, that admitting the danger
from the lateral spark in a well stored Magazine, we propose
to do away entirely with the copper linings of the powder
barrels ; but he neglects to add, that this proposal was made
dependant on the POssIBILITY of SUBSTITUTING some NON-
CONDUCTING substance for them. Cheerfully acquitting Dr.
O’Shaughnessy, as we do, of wilful misrepresentation either
in Mr. Daniell’s case or our own, his failure in appre-
hending our meaning, and his entirely erroneous statement
of the nature of our suggestion (for it merits no higher title
in its present state) are matters not so much of complaint as
of surprise, since they indicate on his part a deficiency of
that perceptive power which is an element of primary im-
portance in the constitution of a scientific mind. The tri-
fling in which Dr. O’Shaughnessy has indulged on this point,
is unworthy at once of its author, and the subject under dis-
cussion; and having shewn it to be based on a mistake, we
may consign it to that oblivion which best befits it.

Having read both of Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s papers with
the utmost attention we could command, we are at a loss to
‘understand what he means by saying, that the case of Dr.
Goodeve’s house is therein referred to, especially in the
second paper, more for é//ustration than for proof. The op-
posite inference, we confess, would have suggested itself to
us, since we find it appealed to as a species of “ crucial in-
stance” between his opinions and those of Mr. Daniell; as
however Dr. O'Shaughnessy appears now inclined to esti-
mate the support to his opinions afforded by this case at its
true value, we do not consider it necessary to dwell further
upon it.

The information relative to the effect of the lightning on
Mr. ‘Trower’s conductor, contained in Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s
reply to our remarks, removes satisfactorily our doubts as to
its having been struck at all; and had it been furnished us
in the first instance, these doubts would never have been

38

492 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

expressed. The mere testimony of eye-witnesses as to the
points of impact or course of an electric discharge we con-
sider of the least possible value; and while the only proof |
of impact on Mr. Trower’s conductor was such testimony,
and from a solitary individual, it was impossible for us to
express ourselves satisfied. Our opinion as to the value of
ocular testimony was expressed in entire ignorance of M.
Arago’s sentiments on the point, as we have not yet had an
opportunity of seeing his celebrated essay; and since Dr.
O’Shaughnessy disputes the translation Dr. McClelland has
given of the question, which would prove he agreed with
us, we cannot yet appeal to his authority in support of our
views.*

Imperfect as are the details connected with the Accident
to the Purfleet magazine, with which Dr. O’Shaughnessy has
furnished us, they yet involve sufficient to shew that this
case forms no exception to Mr. Daniell’s assertion, “ that
there is no case on record of a properly protected maga-
zine having been struck by lightning.” We are informed
that the discharge impinged on an iron cramp in the roof

of the magazine, the presence of which of étse/f is sufficient

to shew that the building was not properly constructed,
nor could its conductor act efficiently with metal in its
immediate vicinity.

We considered Dr. O’Shaughnessy pledged to the accuracy
’ of every fact he had admitted into his papers, and finding
it there stated as a fact, that the spear head of the Bri-
tannia on Government House was fused by the discharge on
the 30th March, 1838, while we had good reason to doubt
it, we could not avoid allusion to the circumstance. Had
the spear point really been fused, the fact would have been
fatal to our preconceived opinion as to the course of the
lightning on that occasion, and we therefore felt an addi-
tional interest in haying the truth discovered.

* See Note p. 501.

Ua

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 493

From Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s published explanation, it ap-
pears that he stated the circumstance entirely from memory,
- and so imperfect does his recollection appear to be, that he
cannot say whether the iron was shewn him by Capt. Fitz-
Gerald or Mr. Barnes. He understood one of these indivi-
duals to state, that this piece of iron was the spear head
of Britannia, and he himself asserts that it certainly was
fused. So treacherous is the memory, as a sole record of
such facts, and so probable do we consider it that some mis-
take has been made by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, that we still hesi-
tate in receiving his explanation as satisfactory. ‘To con-
vince him that we are not now evincing a spirit of unfounded
or obstinate incredulity, we will state fully, and in detail, our
grounds for this continued doubt.

Firstly.—We have personally examined with the utmost
care the identical piece of iron alluded to by Dr. O’Shaugh-
nessy, and failed in detecting the slightest indication of its
having been subjected to fusion. This iron forms now the
point of the spear of Britannia on Government House, and
we have no doubt that Dr. O’Shaughnessy, by application to
the proper authorities, could satisfy himself of the correct-
ness of our statement. It appeared to us however more than
probable that had indications of fusion originally existed,
they would have been obliterated before the iron was re-
placed in its former position, and we therefore obtained—

Secondly,—The testimony of the individual by whom the
repairs were executed. In obtaining this, the precaution of
not giving him the slightest indication of the object of our
inquiries was observed, and he was simply requested to spe-
cify the nature and extent of the repairs he had made to the
spear head then before him. He assured us that no change
whatever had been made, with the exception of the repair
of a thin metallic strap by which the spear point was attached
to the wooden shaft, and which had been broken by the
fall of the arm of the figure; he pointed out to us the rivets

494. Official Correspondence on the attaching of

he had made, and repeatedly assured us nothing else had
been done. We then asked him if he had altered the poznt,
and he replied in the negative.

Thirdly.—Dr. O’Shaughnessy erroneously speaks of the
iron as if it had constituted the spear head, whereas it
formed only the spear point. Its entire length is not above 43
inches, and at its thicker extremity two thin straps are fixed
to admit of its being fastened to the wooden shaft. The
head of the spear is formed of wood covered with thin sheet
copper. On this no alteration whatever was made by the
discharge, although from its being in contact with the iron
point it formed the natural path of issue for the lightning in
its way to the sheeting of the dome. This is only negative
evidence, but it has weight notwithstanding, since, if the
discharge could fuse a thick point of iron, it must, we are
warranted to conclude, have had some effect on thin sheet
copper.

Fourthly.—Dr. O’Shaughnessy being acquainted with the
extent of the damage done to the furniture, &c. &c. of Govern-
ment House by the discharge, will admit that its disruptive
force must have been very great, at least so great as to have
shivered to pieces the wooden shaft of Britannia’s spear, had
that-proved an obstacle to its course ; yet we have carefully
examined the lower portion of this shaft, and have not
detected the slightest indication of its having been sub-
jected to intense heat or disruptive force. This may be
considered further negative evidence against the ee
having ever impinged on the spear head.*

Fifthly.—The entire absence of any indications of the
discharge having impinged either directly or laterally on the
iron spikes of the head of the figure, although these consti-
tuted a mass adjoining to the spear head.

* M. Arago proves, “ that lightning cleaves wood in the direction of
its length into thin laths, or still smaller fragments,”---Ep. Cau. Journ.
Nat. Hist.

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 495

Lastly.—The negative evidence against the fusion, afforded
by the fact, that neither Capt. Fitz-Gerald nor Mr. Barnes
have in any way publicly confirmed Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s
statement, though they are both in Calcutta, and could have
been appealed to.

The object which Dr. @ishineshnessy had in view in
stating that the spear head of Britannia was fused, cannot
of course in any way affect the fact itself; and although we
were fully aware that fusion of conductors takes place gene-
rally only at the points of entrance or issue of the electric
discharge, that formed no just reason why we should pass
over in silence a statement brought forward by him for our
acceptance as a scientific fact im the electrical history of
Calcutta, while we had the strong grounds, just detailed, for
doubting its correctness. Dr. O’Shaughnessy is urging on
Government the adoption of a plan, the expediency of which
is denied by nearly every one—the efficiency of which is
doubted by most; it is therefore of the utmost importance
that its claims should be sifted and discussed, and that the
true value of the foundation on which his plan has been
constructed should be ascertained. A regard for the inter-
ests of science, for the good of the community, demands that
this should be done, and we consider the determination of
the correctness of his observations to be a most essential
step in the process. For this reason, as we originally stated,
we have dwelt longer on the case of the Government House,
than we otherwise would have done. Our intention is not
“to carp” at Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s statements, but to ascer-
tain their scientific value ; and if in our manner of doing so
there has been any thing uncourteous, we regret it sin-
cerely, and will gladly correct it to the utmost of our power,
provided only no sacrifice of impartiality be required of us.

We dissent entirely from the concluding paragraph of
Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s reply, and instead of joining with him
in recommending the adoption of his plan, either in the

496 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

case of the Fort William Magazine, or the others through-
out the country, we cannot too strongly urge upon those
with whom the decision rests, to have nothing to do with
it in its present state. We cannot pronounce “ a priori” that
it can do no harm, for although theoretically we may not be
able to detect any source of danger from its employment, yet
this is a very questionable ground for adopting it in prefer-
ence to another plan, to whose efficiency every master in
electrical science bears willing and decided testimony, and -
which has a century of European, and many years of Indian
experience to plead in its favour. The latter is estimated as
of small value by Dr. O'Shaughnessy, and without dispu-
ting the point, we may simply state, that small as it is, it
would be sufficient, were there not other considerations, to
turn the balance against his plan, unsupported as that is
by even the experience of an hour. Our recommendation
(if we may venture to make one) would be, that no time
should be lost in erecting over every Magazine in the Bri-
tish dominions a conductor, or when the extent requires it,
conductors, of the material, the dimensions, and underground
arrangements specified by Messrs. Faraday and Daniell in
their respective reports; and in the event of any accident
occurring subsequently, Government would have the satis-
faction of knowing that the very highest authorities in the
whole scientific world would justify the course it had
adopted, as being that most consonant to the extent of our
knowledge on a still mysterious subject, most conformable
to the opinions of those best qualified to decide, and analo-
gous to that which every other government, under similar
circumstances, has followed. No government, however in-
tense its anxiety for the welfare of its subjects, could do
more ; and we must say we conceive that none would be
justified in doing less, or doing differently.

Having now noticed all that appears to us to require
notice in Dr. O’Shaughnessy’s reply to our papers, we trust

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 497

he will allow us, without offence, to urge upon him in conclu-
sion, the propriety of conducting this discussion temperately,
and of refraining from the indulgence of that spirit of injus-
tice which prominently characterises his remarks both upon
ourselves and upon Mr. McClelland, for no other reason that
we can see, than that we question the correctness of some of
his statements, and refuse our assent to some of his reason-
ings, on what we believe to be good and solid grounds: We
borrow the words of Sir John Herschell, in his elegant dis-
course on the study of Natural Philosophy, to embody what
we look for from Dr. O’Shaughnessy :—“ We are not so un-
- reasonable as to demand of him an instant and peremptory
dismission of all his former opinions and judgments; all we
require, is that he will hold them without bigotry, retain till
he shall see reason to question them, be ready to resign
them when fairly proved untenable, and to doubt them when
the weight of probability is shewn to be against them. IF
HE REFUSE THIS, HE IS INCAPABLE OF SCIENCE.”

POINTS FOR DETERMINATION IN ACCIDENTS FROM LIGHTNING.

With a view to obtain increased and trustworthy infor-
mation relative to the various circumstances connected with
accidents from lightning in this country, the following list
of points for determination has been prepared. It is very
far from being perfect, but it may still serve in some degree
to guide the inquiries of observers, and to direct their at-
tention to those leading points on which information is most
desirable, as well as to form a ground-work on which each
can rear his own superstructure. |

1. The Date of the Accident.

This should be specified with as much minuteness as cir-
cumstances will admit of, as much interesting information
relative to-the course and effects of thunder storms may be
developed by the correct identification of the time. ‘The

498 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

period of the commencement of the storm during which the
accident occurred, as well as that of its termination, should
also be noted; and if any remarkable circumstances should
have been observed during its progress, the periods of these
should further be recorded.

2. The Locality of the Accident.

It is of the utmost importance that every circumstance
connected with this should be carefully recorded and duly
substantiated. When it is possible, plans of the locality, drawn
to a scale sufficiently large to admit of the details being dis-
tinctly represented, should be prepared. On these every -
dimension, verified directly by the observer himself, should
be laid down in one colour, while those derived from others
should be laid down in a different one. A memorandum -
should be attached, specifying the authorities for the latter,
and furnishing an estimate of the value attached to them by
the observer. In the case of buildings being struck, their
general form and dimensions, both absolutely and with rela-
tion to surrounding objects, should be detailed, the nature of
their fittings, the quantity of metal they contain, the protec-
tion furnished to them by the attachment of conductors,
and any other circumstances of a like nature should all be
carefully specified. In the event of conductors having been
attached to the building, they should be examined with the
greatest care. The metal of which they were composed,
their dimensions, both as regards their thickness and height,
the degree to which they were oxidised, their distance from
each other, their height above the highest point of the
building, their mode of attachment to the building, and their
distance from the walls of the building, the state of their
points, and the nature of their underground arrangements
should all be recorded, and the authority for each statement
specified. The vicinity of metallic masses to the conduc-
tors should be noted, and generally any circumstance which

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 499

may appear to affect the action of the conductors, should be
recorded.

3. Details of the effects of the Discharge.
Under this head should be included all the consequences
of the discharge, and every effect which can be traced to it
_ should be recorded and substantiated. At

4, Determination of the course of the Lightning.

On this point mere ocular testimony must be received
with the utmost caution, and the true course of the dis-
charge from the moment of its original impact on the
building to that of its quitting it, can only be indisputably
established by its effects detailed in the preceding section.
By these, whether they have been due to the intense heat or
disruptive force which almost invariably accompany dis-
charges of lightning, the course of the fluid will be indicated,
and much care ought to be taken to trace its various steps.
Sometimes the discharge becomes subdivided, and follows
different lines; the determining causes of such separations
should if possible be established. The vicinity of metal to
the original point of impact, and its relations to the course
pursued by the lightning, should be most carefully noted.
All the information obtained relative to the course of the
lightning should be laid down on the plan previously allu-
ded to, but prior to doing so the observer ought to scrutinize
most rigidly every point brought under his notice, estimating
the value of the statements he has received, verifying them
where they can admit of verification, and whenever doubts
are excited in his own mind on any point, they should be
openly and fully expressed by him.

5. Meteorological and General Observations.
The state of the Barometer, Thermometer, Hygrometer,
and such other meteorological instruments as the observer

may have access to should be carefully noted, and also the
ou

500 Official Correspondence on the attaching of

direction, or changes of direction, of the wind, with the
disposition of the clouds during the continuance of the
storm. The kind of the light observed, whether it was like
a sheet of flame, a darting spark, or a broken zigzag. The
character of the accompanying thunder-claps, whether ex-
plosive like the discharge of a large cannon, dull and rol-
ling, or sharp and rattling ; their duration, and, its character-
istics, whether they succeeded each other rapidly, of the
same intensity, or gradually increased, or faded away, are
all important points for determination. The perception on
the discharge of lightning taking place of any shock, stroke,
or peculiar sensation of any kind, or of any strange taste
in the mouths of observers should be recorded, and the
exact time of the observation remarked.

v
6. Summary and Concluding Remarks.

In conclusion, the observer should give a general sum-
mary of the case, of the inference it warrants, of its relations
to recorded opinions, with such other remarks as many pre-
sent themselves in connexion with the information he has
collected. It is impossible to be more specific on this point,
as each observer will discuss the instance he details with
more or less precision, according to the state of his own
knowledge of the general principles of electrical science.
The chief object, however, to be kept in view, is the col-
lection of carefully authenticated facts, minutely and faith-
fully detailed, and there will never be wanting those by
whom such facts will be rendered subservient to the true
progress of our knowledge on this most important branch
of physical science.

October 26th, 1840.

C

te

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines. 501

Note.

Dr. O’Shaughnessy, who saw the lightning strike repeatedly not a
hundred yards from his house, objects to our note, page 436, and says,
M. Arago’s words are, “Can you see the lightning strike you?” As the
Doctor states that he is engaged in translating M. Arago’s essay, he is
probably in possession of the only French copy of the work in Calcutta,
and ought to know best. The following however is a translation of M.
Arago’s words from the “‘ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.”

“‘ Does the Lightning strike before it becomes visible ?

“T much question if any natural philosopher has, for some years,
hazarded publicly to propose the question at the head of this section.
During this period it has been supposed that nothing could, by possibi-
lity, be more rapid than lightning. A well determined velocity of
eighty thousand leagues a second, appeared so astonishing, that the
imagination never ventured to think of going further. The experi-
ments, however, of Mr. Wheatstone will probably effect a change upon
this point. These have, in truth, [ will not say demonstrated, but they
have at least led us to conceive the possibility of even greater velocities
than that of light; and that, in a substance whose identity with light-
ning, a hundred comparisons tend to establish. The suspicion then
announced at the head of this chapter, merits investigation in a theore-
tical point of view. Meteorology must gain by the inquiry; and I
imagine the problem has a relation, on some points, to physiology.
Finally, it appears to me that many timid individuals will be spared
many poignant moments during thunder-storms, were it proved that
nothing is to be apprehended when the flash has been seen.”’---Edinb.
New Phil. Journal, No. li, p. 143.

Indication of a Nondescript Species of Deer. By Joun

M‘CLELLAND.

Captain Guthrie, of the Bengal Engineers, employed in
the construction of a road from the valley of Katchar to
Moneypore, procured the horns of a Deer whose lower
or basal antler descends in the axis of the beam, ra-
ther as an extension of the horn itself than as a mere
shoot. ‘The horn may be compared to the segment of
a circle, the burr, or root from which both limbs extend
being placed on the outer circumference. The beam is
round, and terminates by a fork, as in the Russa Deer. The
lower prolongation of the horn beneath the burr may also

be said to terminate in a fork, for on the left horn, about two
*

502 Indication of Nondescript Species of Deer.

inches below the root there is a small snag directed forward.
We have represented the horns with a portion of the occi-
pital and frontal bones adhering to them, (Plate xii. figs.
1 a. b.)

We trust Captain Guthrie will endeavour to procure
more complete examples of this interesting species; and if
possible, a living male and female for the Zoological Society’s
Menagerie in Regent’s Park. This is one of the numerous
examples of interesting animals which are still to be found
in the forests of India, unknown and undescribed, although
many of them are doubtless calculated to confer important
benefits on society.

It is singular that although the vast range of climate
which India affords renders it suitable to aie every kind
of animal, from the polar bear to the most tropical form, yet
that it should have afforded fewer species to European
collections than the islands of the Straits, or the small
settlement at the Cape of Good Hope.

Of 77 species of Quadrumana in the Museum of the Zoolo-
gical Society, nearly all from British colonies, only 5 are from
continental India. Of 25 species of Lemuride in the same
collection, there is but one from India. Of 47 species of
Cheiroptera there are but 6 from India. Of 176 species of
Fere, only 30 are from India. Of 16 species of Cetacea
and Pachydermata, there is not one from India. Of 16
species of Ruminantia, only 15 are from India. Of 184 —
species of Rodentia, only 12 are from India. Of 18 Edenta-
ta, there is but one from India. Thus if we take the Museum
of the Zoological Society as exhibiting the proportion in
which different colonial possessions have contributed to the
present stock of known Mammalia up to 1839, the ratio
will be—Africa 141 ; South America 115; Indian archipelago
75; Continental India 66 ; New Holland 50. Were we to take
any- other class of animals than the most conspicuous, or
any other Museum than the principal Zoological collection
in -Great Britain as the means of comparison, the result
would be still less favourable to Indian Zoology. We are
happy however to perceive that the Zoological Society and

Synopsis of Mahomedan Science. 503

other public bodies in England have at length begun to
adopt measures for the removal of this reproach; as a first
step, the Zoological Society have authorised Messrs. Cantor
and Co. to ship at their expense such animals as residents
in India may feel desirous to present to their collection, and
Lord Auckland has offered the Barrackpore Menagerie for
the temporary reception of such as may arrive in Calcutta,
pending the necessary arrangements for their dispatch to
England. Other measures we believe are in contemplation,
which in the course of a few years will be attended with
the most favourable results.

Synopsis of Mahomedan Science, derived from the Preface to
the “ Jama Buhadur Khanee,” a Persian work on Mathe-
matics ; to which is added explanations of some of the scien-
tific terms that occur in the same work. Communicated by
D. Liston, Esa.

Mathematics belonging to the division of science known as
usy Bs Link> hikmut nuzuree, which we may translate
speculative science, the author of the work (the Buhadur,)
Khanee, as a preliminary gives a general view of the know-
ledge so denominated.

Hikmut nuzuree is defined to be the knowledge of enti-
tie Cissy>_,0 moujoodat, with the right apprehension of
them, and demonstration of their properties, so far as appre-
ciable by human faculties.”

The First Division of Hikmut nuzuree is threefold, viz.

I. Metaphysics, axqsb/} ax, bo ele idm ma bad ultubeeuh ;
lit. pera ta puouca 3 also hel ede ilm aulee, transcendental
science; axl} Jaslo wie tlm ma-qub-ul ul-tu-beeuh, q. d.
Metaphysics.

II. Mathematics, igehss es ilm talumee, called also

sel ) ele ilm reazee, abstract science ; Lae! ede am woosat

504 Synopsis of Mahomedan Science.

q- d. mean science, probably as holding a place between the
preceding and the next mentioned.

III. Physical science, stub eds ilm tubeeaee ; and each
of these three kinds of science is divided into several parts,
of which some are in the rank of stems or roots, ques
usool, and some in the rank of branches, ¢ 9% fuwrooa.

I. The stems of the first, or metaphysics, are two :—

Ist. oli xf, gf wmoor kooleeuhk namuh, universals (?)
CNa—e50 Slg=S uhwal moujoodat, ontology ; with the un-
derstanding that the subjects have being, as one and many,
necessary and possible, new and old, preceding and following,

cause and effect ; JoAx0 5 “ks ulut o malool, with their
parts, and that science is called the science of the first
philosophy.

2nd. The study of the Divinity, and of the spirits and intel-
ligences (Jg8¢ 5 Yx923 nufoos o ugoul, who under him are
ruling powers; and they call that science theology, and the
branches are various, as prophecy, priesthood, sanctification
of spirit, divination, power over true dreams, knowledge of
a future state, and such like.

II. Mathematics. The stems of this are four; viz. geo-
metry, arithmetic, music, astronomy. Of the branches, four
are also enumerated, viz. dioptrics, cetoptrics, algebra, me-
chanics.

II. Physics. The stems are eight ; viz. 1. physics of the
heavens ; 2. the science of simple and compound bodies, or
the science of the earthly or lower heavens, (i. e., of the four
elements of earth, water, air, and fire, simple and compound-
ed); 3. the science of growth and decay, slw3 9 WS hoon o
Jusad ; 4. meteorology, or science of the appearance of the
sky, usps bs usar ulovee ; 5. mineralogy, or the science of
mines rather ; 6. botany ; ‘7. zoology ; 8. psychology.

The branches are, 1. medicine ; 2. analysis? S=> hul ; 3.
synthesis ? composition of medicines ? a82 uqud ; 4. distilla-

Synopsis of Mahomedan Science. 505

tion; 5. caleming of metals urd tuklees; 6. husbandry ;
7. astrology. ;

In the above paragraphs I have given the original words,
in cases where I have been doubtful of the translation,
or where the meaning ascribed might not be found readily
in Richardson’s Dictionary (edit. 1806). The following are
a few words in the condition last mentioned, and to which
I have endeavoured to assign a correct interpretation. New
inquirers into Arabic philosophy may perhaps find the list, _
though small, of use; or the attempt may call the attention of
qualified individuals to supply effectually explanations of
scientific terms, in which respect it has been considered
by competent judges that there is room for improvement
in Arabic Dictionaries.

eka! uhukam, laws, properties.

REQ 0 Jac} usool mouzoouh, axioms or postulates.

05) 41,2) auraz lazumuh, essential properties, predica-

mental accidents (?)
sor, el3,$ urgqam hindee, Indian notation in arithmetic.

ustahw «SI urgam suteenee, is the literal notations em-
ployed by the Greek geometricians in arithmetical operations,
or the 5488 abjed, notations of the Arabians 3§ ila, besides
except is employed for the negative sign in algebra.

z 2) aouj, apogee.

lio Wolis) thhtulaf munzur, parallax.

«59222 byzooee, an ellipsis, |. an oval.

(320ve3 tusdeeq, demonstration.

tA pos? tujuzeer tulub, investigation of the square-
root.

2 tudweer, epicycle.

yas tuqween, right ascension.

506 Synopsis of Mahomedan Science.

i=? tujaooz, optical refraction.

ert ld zat ul ai name of a sort of micro-
meter.

tan > jyb, a sine, els) Grn> jyb auzum, is used for ra-
dius in trigonometry.

37392 jozuher, sphere of the moon, the poles of which
coincide with those of the ecliptic.

cols haduh, acute as an angle.

Uss2> huzeez, perigee.

Jols hamul, deferent in the old astronomy.

diladels bal=> hulquh shamil oofugee, name of a sort
of altitude and azimuth instrument.

Pts zat ul hulag, name of a sort of armillary
sphere.

rams o yl kharij qusmut, quotient.

SySle ots khariyj ul murkuz, the eccentric in which
the sun or a planet is supposed to move round the centre of
the world.

IJox< % Syl daeruh madul ul nihur, equinoctial circle.

z yslxalew0 ysley daeruh muntug ul burooj, ecliptic.

any $l bsly s 5 Lo aya d daeruh maruh baquteb urubuh, sol-
stitial colure.

a0 Syl, daeruh myl, circles of declinations are so
named.

Ueye 8d daeruh uruz, latitude.

3°) oofug, horizon.

hal ares nisf ul nihar, meridians.

‘Ctsgews$ Jal awal oos sumoot, prime vertical.

els) értif au, elevations.

uxJ, vas, is used for node, perhaps for a quadrant be-
yond it.

Synopsis of Mahomedan Science. 507

3); zaed, is used for a positive quantity; yas nagus is a

minus, or negative quantity.

Kew sumule, height or thickness.

fea suhum, an arrow, is used for an axis, as of a cone.

law sutuh, a plane ; a3lSi-0 cg sutooh mut kafeeah, ve-
ciprocal figures.

xd sudus, a sextant; yl} ywow sudus anakas is the

term employed for a reflecting sextant.

s* shee, the unknown quantity in an equation.
wersrticosS sat oos shabutyn, an instrument fitted to

mark chords of elevations.

J zul, tangent in trigonometry; ess Jb’ zul doam,
esi JB zul mustooee, and .s4J% zul sanee, cotangent ;
sini SB zul suteenee, and blot Jb zul usaba, (quere) Jo

zie digits, applied to the tangent according as the radius is
supposed divided into 60 or into 12 parts; esas JE zul uqu-
dam if radius is supposed, divided into seven parts. A tan-
gent to a curve is Qwleo mumas.

usdlele tlm tluhee, divine science; the term is also em-

ployed for intuitive knowledge in the preface to the Bu-
hadur Khanee.

23 Riv opts tloom muturufuh, axioms.
jad) els ilm ulabusar, optics.

La yal} ere ulm ulmuraeea, catoptrics; tlm ulanakas is

also used for this branch of science, see above.

upordas uqudutyn, nodes.

es yt Quads fuzul mushturuk, line of common sections

of two planes.

ux95 gous, an arc; yews and gayle pl,

iss)
(

508 Synopsis of Mahomedan Science.

3yS kuruh, asphere; %¢gsa0 %yS kuruh musnooah, an arti-
ficial globe. |

xia) Jubnuh, an astronomical instrument, being a semi- |

circle for observing altitudes of heavenly bodies.

oaSlg-0 mooaleed (1) productions ; X45 45y-0 mooaleed sulu-
suh, the three kingdoms of nature.

wae muecn, a rhombus ; etal sar shubeeuh bilmu-
een a parallelogram.

ywoune musudus, a hexagon.
yro mushur, a decagon.

zc gle) os jipK- ews, mujusum mutooazee us sutooh, a
paralleopiped.

bs 5° mukhrot, cone; bs >= uJ, ras mukhrot, apex
of a cone.

ehiao be »s° mukhro muzlu, a pyramid.

Beydio mutfurjuh, obtuse as an angle.

33° muhoor, axis as of a sphere.

uso muree, an object of sight.

Jle mal, a square in arithmetic and algebra, as is also
oe? mujuzoor. 3

epic mugusoom, dividend sols epic mugusoom ulech,
divisor.

hho ble; 5 hss waldo id x0 murfut mugqudeer iz-
lau o zoaeea musulus, means plane trigonometry.

x58 eouy? BS wed Ciahho lily 5 5 eis) olin L243 80
Spt a5— murfut mugadeer izlau o zoaeea musulus gous kuh
bur sutuht kuruh wuqu shownd, is spherical trigonometry.

cals erro mutumum hadee is used for the maximum

distance of a planet from the supposed centre of the world.

FE

Synopsis of Mahomedan Science. 509

SoS" wai mutumum mahovee is the minimum distance

of a planet from the centre.

Jheo KSA fuluk mumsul, corresponds to the primum mo-
_ bile of the old astronomy, its poles are those of the ecliptic.

rE? Kyo murubu muyjyb, an astronomical quadrant.
Belasxkes nugtuh tuqutu, nodes.

5 wutur, a chord; pl. 53! uwutar.

Evrore:—a popular Physical Sketch. By Professor Scuouw.
Translated from the second edition, by Dr. Cantor, As-
sistant Surgeon, Bengal Medical Service, doing duty with
HI. M’s. 26th Regt. on expedition to China.

Central European mountains. 'These mountains, bounded
by the last mentioned plain on the one side and the Alps
and Pyrenees on the other, form nearly a semicircular belt
(broadest north of the Alps, and narrower to the east and
west) round the Alps, the highest mountains in Europe.
Traversing from W. to E. a flat district on the west coast
of France, the traveller is stopped by the Auvergne moun-
tains, an oblong chain, eighty miles N. to S. between the
rivers Allier, Dordogne, and Lot, flat above, interrupted
by loftier, mostly conical peaks, many of which are exhaust-
ed volcanoes.

The chain attains an elevation of 3733 feet, and Mont
d’ Or is 6192, Cantal 5700 feet high. ‘The Cevennes form a
long chain E. and W. of the Auvergnes, about 180 miles
long, commencing in a direction from SW. to NE. and then
changing from’ 8S. to N. They are separated from the
Pyrenees by a deep ditch, in which is cut the Languedoc
canal, which, 533 to 640 feet above the level of the sea,
unites the Mediterranean with the Atlantic ocean. Towards

! Continued from page 419.

510 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

the east is the river Rhone, towards the west Tarn and
Allier. ‘The northern part is called Montagne Forez. The
mean altitude is computed to be 3733 feet; Pierre sur Haut
is 6400, Mont Mezin 5653, La Lozére 5653 feet.

Jura, an elongated chain, runs from SW. to NE. be-
tween the rivers Saone and Doubs on the one, and the Rhine
and the NW. part of Switzerland on the other side. Rauhe
Alp continuing this direction on the opposite side of the
Rhine, and consists of a similar kind of limestone, is pro-
perly regarded as a continuation. The length of Jura is
140 miles, or 240 including Rauhe Alp. The chain consists
of several longitudinal valleys, whereas the transversal val-
leys are remarkably small and few. The side facing Swit-
zerland is full of precipices, whereas it slopes with terraces
towards France. ‘The mean altitude is about 3733 feet, and
the highest peaks are pretty uniform, viz. Pré de Marmiers
5653 feet, Réculet 5653, Mt. Tendre 5546, and Dole 5546
feet. ‘The mean elevation of Rauhe Alp between the rivers
Necker and Danube (Donau) is only 1706 feet, and Hohen-
berg reaches to 3413 feet.

On either side of the Rhine, N. of Jura, appear several
mountains, which might be collected under the common
name of the Rhenish mountains. To the W. of the Rhine
the Vosges are situated, a longitudinal mass, extending 120
miles from S. to N., bounded on the W. and N. by the river
Moselle, of 2666 feet mean elevation, and with numerous
cupola-shaped rocks, of which Ballon de Sulz is 4586, Bal-
lon d’ Alsace 4160 feet in height. East of the Rhine is the
Schwarzwald, bounded by the river Necker and the chain
of Odenwald, which again is surrounded by the Mayn.
Schwarzwald is 2666 feet (Feldberg the highest peak is 4800
feet); Odenwald has a mean elevation of 1066 feet (Malchen
is 1706 feet). Lower still, and less connected, are the moun-
tains to the north of the Odenwald, on the eastern bank of the
Rhine, viz. Spessart, Taunus, Vogelgebirge, Westerwald,

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 511

which also is the case with Hundsrick, Eifel, &c. on the
western bank of the Rhine; which of course receives their
rivers.

The following mountains, which as they send their rivers

to the Weser river might be denominated the Weser moun-
tains, viz., Harz, a somewhat isolated chain flattened above,
of 2133 feet mean elevation (Brocken, Blocksberg, 3733 feet)
which is rich in minerals, chiefly iron, lead, silver, and cop-
per, also arsenic, zinc, and cobalt. Clausthal and Andreas-
berg, two mountain towns, are built 2133 feet above the
level of the sea. The Weser mountains, properly so called,
are much lower, of 440 feet mean elevation, with the highest
peaks about 1280 feet, also Das Rhéngebirge, and several
exhausted volcanoes belong to those low mountains. Thd-
ringerwald and Frankenwald, 1500 feet mean elevation, (Gros-
ser Beerberg 3413 feet) form a transition to those moun-
tains, which contain the sources of the river Elbe.
_ The centre of Bohemia is a basin-shaped depression, sur-
rounded by mountains, Elbe-mountains as they might be
termed, which are generally speaking flattened above, and
therefore approach to what is commonly called land ridges,
although loftier mountains rise from these. The surround-
ing mountains are Trtchtelgebirge, NW. of Bohemia, 1708
feet (Schneeberg 3413); Erzgebirge in the north, steep
towards Bohemia, sloping towards Saxony, 1600 feet (Sch-
warzwald 4053), Bohmerwald in the W. and S., a kind of
mountain-plain 2666 feet, Heidelberg 4160, Arber 4053 feet,
Sudetes (the northern extremity of which is called Riesenge-
birge) towards NE. 2666 feet, Schneekoppe 4213 feet, Glat-
zer Schneeberg 4586 feet. Of those the Erzgebirge are
particularly rich in ores (silver, copper, iron, lead; cobalt,
nickel.) In the Fichtelgebirge the remarkable limestone
caves contain bones of fossil mammalia, particularly bears.

In like manner as Bohemia, the large Hungarian plain is
also surrounded by mountains; in the W. and SW. by the

512 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

eastern part of the Alps, in the S. by the Dinarian Alps; but
nearly one-third of this almost circular plain is bounded by
a kind of flat rampart of 2133 to 3200 feet in height, ex-
tending about 560 miles, from which rise several consider-
able heights. This rampart is usually called the Carpa-
thians, the loftiest group of which is Tatra, in the north-
western part, the greatest elevations of which are Eistha-
lerspitze 8533 feet, Lomnitzerspitze 8479, and Hundsdorffer-
spitze 8320 feet, also the south-eastern Carpathians attain a
considerable elevation.

In all the central European mountains are found several
_ plains. and extensive valleys. West of the Auvergnes and
Cevennes, the country slopes into a flat coast land, and con-
siderable heath districts (Les Landes). Between the Ce-
vennes and Céte d’Or on the one side, and the Alps and
Jura on the other, is situated the Rhone and Saone valley.
The country between the Mediterranean and the British
Channel has here an elevation of 1491 feet, and here is a
canal communication. From this point the Rhone and
Saone valley slope by degrees towards the Mediterranean.
The Rhine passes through a valley which from Schwarz-
wald and the Vosges declines from 853 feet to a still lower
level. Between Rauhe Alp, Schwarzwald, Odenwald,
Thiringerwald, Fichtelgebirge, and Bohmerwald, the Fran-
conian plain is situated 965 feet above the level of the sea.
That of the Bohemian basin is 533 feet, that of the plain of
Mahrn, between the Sudetes and the Carpathian mountains,
640 feet. Between Bohmerwald and the Alps appears the
broad Danube valley, or the lower Austrian plain, 533 feet,
which is continued by the much more extensive circular
Hungarian plain, elevated from 213 to 320 feet above the
sea.

The most important rivers whose sources either are in
the central European mountains, or turn their course be-
tween them and receive branch rivers, are the Garonne

Hurope :—a popular Physical Sketch. 5135

from the Pyrenees, Cevennes, and Auvergnes to the Atlantic,
Loire and Seine from the two latter mountains and the
northern hilly country to the Atlantic and the British Chan-
nel; Rhone from the Cevennes, the western face of Jura —
and the Alps, to the Mediterranean; Rhine from the Alps,
receiving branch rivers from Jura, the Vosges, Schwarzwald,
Odenwald, and some smaller mountains; Weser, from the -
above-mentioned Weser mountains; the Elbe, from the Elbe
mountains, (the three last rivers send their waters into the
North sea); Oder from the east side of the Sudetes to the
Baltic; Weichsel (Vistula) from the north side of the Car-
pathians, also to the Baltic; Dnister from the east side of
the Carpathians to the Black Sea; and, lastly, the Danube
(Donau) from Schwarzwald and Rauhe Alp, receiving a
number of large branch rivers from the north and east side
of the Alps, and some from Bohmerwald and the Carpathians, ©
whose mouth is also in the Black sea.

Geat lakes are only found on the Hungarian plain; viz.
Platten, and Newsiedler lake.

Annual, Winter, Summer.

Bordeaux, 45° N. L. 56°75 43 71:4
Carlsruke, 49° 51°12 342 65°75
Prag ss... 50° 50 30°88 66:9
Vienna,... 48° 51:12 32 69°12
Ofen,...... 4'7°30' 51:12 30°88 70:2
Clermont,* 46° 51:12 36°5 36.5

From this it will be perceived that the mean temperature
somewhat decreases toward the east, and particularly that the
winter becomes severer, the summer warmer: the Rhenish
valley (Carlsruke) and the Bohemian basin (Prag) have a re-
markably high mean temperature. The winter in Prag is
about equal to Copenhagen, but the summer nearly 3:37° war-
mer. At Ofen the difference between summer and winter

* In Auvergne.

514 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

is 9°32°, in Vienna 37°12°, at Bourdeaux 284°. In the plateau
of Auvergne, the town of Clermont (1349 feet above the sea)
has a mean temperature equal to that of Paris, which is
situated 3° more to the northward. Clermont, compared to—
Bourdeaux, proves that a height of 1349 feet lowers the
mean temperature 5°62°, which is at the rate of 2°25° per 537°8
feet."

The annual quantity of rain on the west coast of France
is 242 inches, consequently little less than in Holland, and a
good deal less than in the west of England. Towards the
mountains the quantity increases; in the Rhine valley, for
- instanee, from Coblentz to Mihlhaunsen from 21 to 283
inches. On the eastern plains the quantity appears to be-
come less, more so even than on the north European plain;
thus the quantity of rain in Prag is 18 inches, in Ofen 16.

Notwithstanding the Carpathians attain an elevation of.
8533 feet, yet the snow on them is not perpetual; and on the
Eisthalerspitze but a little snow remains during summer in
the clefts, and there forms a small glacier ; nor do the rest of
the central European mountains, of which none is higher than
6400 feet, reach the snow-line. The higher mountains of
the Carpathians are of course covered with snow during the
greater part of the year, which some of their names indicate,
as Schneekopf,* Schneeberg.}

The western coast of France consists in a great measure
of heaths (Les Landes), but is also covered in some places
by forests, consisting of coast-fir, a species quite different
from the northern. The French mountains (Jura, Cevennes,
Auvergnes,) present chiefly beech and oak in the higher,
chestnut in the lower regions. The German mountains are
covered partly by pines and (hence the names of Schwarz-
wald, Tichtelgebirge, &c.) partly by beech and oak, and in
the Rhine, Mayence, and Neckar valley is also found the

* i.e. Snow-head. + 1.e. Snow-mountain.

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 515

chestnut. In the Carpathians, ‘ Krumholz’ (a kind of low
fir) and another kind of pine, form the upper forests; beech
the lower.

The cultivated vegetation is in a great measure the same
as that of the North European plain; yet some additional
plants appear in the valleys, on the plains, and on the sides
of the central European mountains. Thus the vine on the
west coast of France as far as the city of Nantes, in the
Rhone valley, in the Rhine valley and its lateral branches,
on the Austrian and Hungarian plain. The north frontier
- of the vine is more dependent on the temperature of the
summer than of the mean temperature of the year round.
On the west coast of France the north frontier is 47°, in
Champagne 49° to 50°, where the Rhine and Moselle unite 50°
to 51°, at Dresden 51°, and in Hungary 48° to 49°. The
almond and fig thrive in the open air in the warmer parts of
the Rhine valley (Pfalz to 50°). In the lowest part of the
Rhone valley, and on the south side of the Cevennes moun-
tains, the olive is found, with other trees peculiar to the
- vegetation of the countries bordering the Mediterranean.
The domesticated animals are the same as those of the
North European plain, with the addition of the ass. The
boundary of this animal, as domesticated, is 50° N. L.
In Hungary buffalos are found. East European plain. The
largest in Europe, is bounded on the E. by the Ural moun-
tains (running from S. to N.) and the Caspian sea; but be-
tween these, the plain blends into the basin surrounding the
Caspian sea; in the S. the Caucasus (the direction of which is
nearly E. to W.) the Black sea, and lastly the Balkan, form
_the natural frontiers. In the W. the plain is bounded by the
Carpathians, to the northward of which it blends into the
North European plain, and the Baltic ; but towards Finland,
_ no well defined line of demarcation appears, whereas the Arc-
tic sea and its guiph, the White sea, form the northern frontier.
The situation is between the 43° and 70° N. L., thus occu-

3.x

. S16 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

pying 27 degrees from N. to S., it extends about 1600 miles
from E. to W., 800 between the gulphs of Finland and Ural,
1200 from Grodno to Ural, and 500 from the Carpathians to
Astrakan on the Caspian sea. The sea, viz. the Arctic ocean
and the White sea, the Baltic, with the gulph of Finland,
the Black sea and the gulph of Asoy, touch a small part only
of this immense plain, the most part of which is continent,
and far distant from the ocean.

The entire plain is indeed not quite level, for the NW.
part presents some uneven tracts, which however either
form undulated plains, or plateau, or high banks of rivers, -
scarcely exceeding 853 to 1066 feet, and consequently do
not deserve the name of mountains. Such, for instance, is
the case with the tracts of country called the Waldai and
the Wolchonsky mountains, the sources of the rivers Volga
and Dnipr (E. and S.), Duna and Volkoo (NW. and N.).
The country between Dnipr on the one, Diina and Niemen on
the other side, consists of marshes, and there is a canal com-
munication between these three rivers, and between Dnipr
and the Vistula, and those rivers, although taking different
directions, occasionally communicate after heavy rains. The
NW. parts appear to be the highest, and from those the
plain slopes partly towards the White, partly towards the
Caspian sea, the surrounding countries of which (in NW.
and E.) form a basin; thus Saratov and Orenburg, situated
in opposite directions some 280 miles distant from the Cas-
pian sea, are only 320 feet, Burzuk, on the lake Aral, 130
feet, above the level of the Caspian. Gaisekaln, in Livonia, a
short distance from the Baltic, has an elevation of nearly
1024 feet above the level of the ocean. -

Some of the largest rivers in Europe, most of which have
their sources here, water the plain; thus the gigantic Volga,
whose mouth is in the Caspian sea, Don, Dnipr, Dnister, and.
the Danube terminating in the Black sea, Niemen and Dina
in the Baltic, Dvina and Petschora in the Arctic ocean.

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 517

The northern part of Russia has greater Jakes than any
other country in Europe, among which Ladoga, Onega,
and Peipus are the most remarkable Towards the south
and east the lakes become more and more rare; to the
westward many considerable marshes are found.

The greater part of the plain is covered with those more
recent strata of earth commonly called alluvium, containing
boulders; the south of Russia, however, presents in many -
places granite, chalk, and other kinds of limestone. The
climate may be understood by the following table.

Annual, Winter, Summer,
St. Petersburg,... 60° N. L. BCC" IGAS 62°37
Moscow, ... ... 56 38°70 10°63 65°75
Kasan, Meth OG 36°5 10°63 62°37

On comparing these cities with others of a more westerly
locality, we find that the temperature in Europe decreases
considerably towards the east. ‘The mean temperature of
St. Petersburg is 4°5 less than that of Stockholm, and 6°25
less than that of Ullensvang; that of Moscow is 7°87 less
than that of Copenhagen, and 9 less than that of Edinburgh.
The winter is extremely severe, whereas the summer is
comparatively warm. The summer in St. Petersburg is
warmer than in Stockholm and Ullensvang, but the winter
is 9:17 colder than in Stockholm, and 13°67 colder than in
- Ullensvang. The winter in Moscow is 21:27 colder than in
Copenhagen, 28°12 colder than in Edinburgh, nay, even
severer than at the North Cape, or the northern part of Ice-
land. 'The summer temperature, on the other hand, is 2:2
above Copenhagen, 7°87 above Edinburgh, and an equal
mean summer temperarture is not met with till we reach
Paris or Carlsruhe. Thus the climate of Copenhagen when
compared to Moscow, becomes a coast climate, whereas
compared to Edinburgh it is a perfect continental climate.

518 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

At Kasan, on the latitude of Copenhagen, mercury freezes
occasionally, which in western Europe only happens in
Lapland. Also in the south of Russia the winter is pro-
portionally severe; the sea of Asoy is frozen every year along
the coast, and so is the mouth of the Volga in the Caspian
sea. .

Too few observations exist upon the annual quantity of
rain, which, on a plain, generally at a great distance from
the sea, may be supposed to be trifling. At St. Petersburg
it amounts to 21 inchés. Snow is much more common, and
remains much longer on the ground, than in the same lati-
tude in western Europe, and the thus protracted sledge
communication increases the inland trade. From observa-
tions during one century, the river Neva freezes across at
St. Petersburg on the 11th of November, and is freed from
ice on the 9th of April. The river Volga at Kasan (on the
latitude of Copenhagen) is frozen from the end of October
till the commencement of April.

In St. Petersburg westerly winds prevail, (yet not to such
a degree as in western Europe,) so also at Moscow and
Kasan. Whether this also be the case on the southern part
of the plain, is not known, for want of observations upon the
subject.

The northern and central part of the east European
plain possesses many forests, whereas the southern part has
none. ‘These barren districts are, as far as they are uncul-
tivated, called ‘steppes,’ the soil of which towards the Cas-
pian sea contains salt (‘salt-steppes’). The predominant
forms of trees are, fir, pine, larch, birch, oak, lime, and elm.
The larch, which does not appear in a wild state in Scandi-
navia or the North European plain, is common in the north-
ern and north-eastern part of Russia. The lime tree is more
common on the east European plain than in any other part
of Europe. The north frontier of these trees may thus be
fixed::—

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 519

Birch, 69° N. L.
Larch, 68°
Pine, 68°
Fir, 67°
Lime, 63°
Elm, 62°
Oak, 60°

From which it will be perceived that these trees, notwith-
_ standing the severer climate in Russia, extend nearly as far
north as in Scandinavia, and even more to the northward
than on the islands of the Atlantic. The beech does not
thrive in this severe climate, and is found only in Volhynia,
and some other south-western provinces. The chestnut does
not appear in a wild state.

Except in the northernmost part, and in some districts
where the soil proves an obstacle, this plain is well adapted
for agriculture. The exportation of grain from the ports in
the Baltic and from Odessa is very important, and the sorts
exported are rye, wheat, oats, and in the central provinces
millet, and in the southern also maize. Rye is the common
bread from 65° to 48° N. L., below which wheat. The north
frontier of these kinds of grain may be fixed thus :—

Barley, 67° N. L.

Rye, 65°
Oats, 63°
Wheat, 60°

Millet, 55°
Maize, 48°
Compared to the agricultural frontiers in the western part
of the European continent, the difference will not be found
considerable, and even on the islands of the Atlantic, grain
extends not so far north as on the North European plain;
another proof that grain cultivation depends more upon the
summer temperature than upon the annual temperature.

520 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch.

Our northern fruit trees succeed but with difficulty at St.
Petersburg, which arises not so much from want of summer-
heat (there nearly equal to that of Copenhagen), as in con-
sequence of the winter and spring cold, which injures the
stems, and nips the trees in the bud. At St. Petersburg
experiments have been made to draw the stems along the
ground, thus affording them a cover under the winter snow,
and the results have turned out favourably, and fruit has
thus been produced even in less favourable years. As com-
monly cultivated, the fruit trees extend no farther than the
56° N. L. The apple stands the climate best, next to that
the cherry ; pears and plum trees find more difficulty.

‘The most northerly vzneyards occur at Zarizyn and Sa-
repta on the river Volga (48° N. L.), at Astrakan (46°); in
the western parts small plantations are found as far as 49° to
50° N. L.; from which it will be perceived that the cultivation
of the vine extends as far north in eastern Europe as it does
in the western. Hemp and flax are much cultivated in Rus-
sia, and thrive well up to 64° N. L.

The domesticated animals are the same as in central
Europe; though the ass is found in the southernmost parts
only. Camels are met with in Wallachy, Moldow, and some
of the southern Russian provinces, where these animals how-
ever require during winter to be sewed up in blankets in
order to stand the cold.

In the eastern parts of the Russian plain are found people
of the Kalmukian (Scythian) race, materially distinguished
from the Europeans; they are short, with broad faces,
with protruding jaws, and small half-shut eyes; their skin is
of a yellow colour. The rest of the inhabitants belong to
the European (Caucasian) race.

Crimea. This peninsula is united with the Eastern Euro-
pean plain by a narrow isthmus; its northern part is a
perfect plain; in the southern is situated a small, but pro-
portionally lofty mass of mountains, very steep toward the

Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 521

north, but. gently sloping to the south, and chiefly consist-
ing of limestone. The highest peaks are Tschadyrdagh
5058, and Babugan-Jaila 5038 feet. The summit is partly
covered with pines, farther down with beech and oak forests.
In the valleys inclined towards the south, which are flanked
by the mountains toward the north, the climate is very mild,
and here are found the Jaurel, the wild olive-tree, the jig-
tree, the manna ash, and other plants belonging to the
southern countries of Europe, and not only the vine is cul-
tivated, yielding excellent wine, but also jigs, almonds, and
even the cotton plant and the olive thrive, although the
latter produces but an inferior description of oil. In Crimea
also the camel is kept as a domesticated animal. By a num-
ber of mountain chains, pursuing a serpentine line from E. to
W. and interrupted in one place only, the southern Europe’
is separated from the northern: Balkan, the Alps, and
Pyrenees form this line.

Balkan and the Dinarian mountains. Of the former our
information is very imperfect; it is only known as a huge
and lofty chain between the Danube plain and the Grecian
Peninsula, following a course from E. to W. from the Black
sea to the Adriatic, a distance of about 320 miles. Orbelos,

the highest elevation, is computed to be 9600 feet.
[To be continued. ]

Self-Calculating Sextant. By ALEXANDER JACK, 30th Re-
giment Bengal Native Infantry.

The attention of the scientific portion of the public is
solicited to the validity of the principles on which the Self-
calculating* Sextant is constructed.

* The name requires explanation. A common Sextant affords data
for calculation. So also does our proposed instrument; at the same
time making, we trust, a step in advance, it saves the trouble of calcula-
tion, announcing, in the plainest terms, the elevation and distance, with
promptitude and fidelity.

gap 4 Self-Calculating Sextant.

They appear to be new in practice, certain to demonstra-
tion, and promise to become useful. .

lst. Reflex vision, which diminishes the scale on the cir-
cular arc to half its natural dimensions, enlarges the scale on
the line of cotangents to double its natural dimensions; thus
creating a difference of four to one in favour of the accuracy
of the latter.

2d. Besides the advantage of reading from a larger scale,
a farther benefit we think of importance, is obtained by the
introduction of a line of cotangents. Our knowledge is thus
advanced a step without trouble or thought, being told di-
rectly, or by inspection, the relative proportions of two sides
of a right-angled triangle, which otherwise could only be
made by indirect means, or calculations founded on a mea-
surement of the arc.

The instrument proposed, besides other advantages, pos-
sesses all the properties of a good Sextant.

Its form is convenient for ascertaining angles, whether
vertical or horizontal. ‘Thence it is adequate to every pur-
pose for which a Sextant is wanted.

Its chief peculiarity consists in the introduction of a lineal
scale, by the inspection of which, many important and fre-
quently recurring problems may be solved on the spot, with-
out a reference to books, or any calculation beyond the most
simple; thus saving much time, while we are made inde-
pendent of foreign aid, and obtain results we think more
satisfactory and accurate than can be had by instruments
in common use.

In a right-angled plain triangle, if one side be made radi-
us, the other side becomes the tangent of the angle opposite
to it, and the hypothenuse the secant of the same angle.
The scale in question is a line of cotangents, the several di-
visions of which are noted by the index converted into a
hypothenuse or secant.

Every movement of the index announces two things ;—on

Self-Caleulating Sextant. 923

the limb (as in other instruments), the measure of an angle ;
—on the line of cotangents, the relative proportion of two
sides of a right-angled triangle. ‘This last is a piece of in-
formation which no other instrument gives direct.

This additional information gives a command over the
quantities concerned much greater than otherwise could be
had.

Availing ourselves of the lineal scale, our first aim will be
to reduce the problem to a case of right-angled triangles.
In all that respects heights and distances on the vertical or
horizontal planes, this may, in general, be done with the ut-
most ease.

_On the vertical plane, every altitude may be viewed as a
perpendicular to the horizontal line passing through the eye
of the observer, and since the instrument affords the means
of ascertaining that line, and also the proportion which the
height bears to the distance, it is evident that we are put
in possession of considerable information on the subject.
If we wish farther to know the actual measurement of parts,
set the instrument a division backward or forward on the line
of cotangents, and advance or retreat. By measuring the
intervening space you may then proceed with facility and cer-
tainty.

Let BC be a mountain whose height and distance are un-

known; occupying the station A, apply the instrument ver-

tically to your eye, and having ascertained the horizontal line

_AB, look steadily along it by direct vision, and move the index

Ac until you see the top of the object C by reflex vision
oo X

524: Self-Calculating Sextant.

correspond with the horizontal line at B; fix the index
and the observation is complete. If you now consult the
instrument, as a common sextant, you will learn from it the
measure of the angle BAC. If, as a Self-calculating Sex-
tant, you will further learn the proportion which BC bears
to AB. Referring to the figure, the triangle Abc on the
instrument is similar to the triangle ABC in the field,
consequently, be to Ab on the one, as BC to AB in the other ;
thence, if you know the height you learn the distance, and
vice versa: if you know neither, move the index one full
division forward on the line of cotangents, and retreat until
_ the top and bottom again become coincident; you then have
the perpendicular projected on the ground, and by actual
measurement thereof, obtain the height, and thence the dis-
tance.

It is not pretended that a like result may not be obtained
by a common Sextant, but perhaps neither with the same
certainty nor equal dispatch. Take, for example, the
present most simple of all cases, to ascertain the height of
an inaccessible object above the horizontal plane. After

Cc

D A

two observations and one measurement backwards, as be-
fore, the trigonometrical calculations wanted in the latter
case are as follow :—

Sinz ACD: Sin D:: AD: AC;

B: Sin = CAB:: AC: BC the height;

and R: Tan —BCA:: BC: AB the distance.

Now, the purpose of all this apparatus of tables of Sines,

Tangents, and Secants, is learned from our instrument by -

Self-Calculating Sextant. 525

simple inspection, and more accurately, we think, by it than
by any circuitous process.* To say nothing of the pleasure
of being informed on the spot, which in many cases may be
most important, as in the vicinity of a hostile fortress, when
a person with this instrument in his hand, might in a few
minutes furnish information which could not otherwise be
had in as many hours; superseding at once the necessity for
books and tables.

We are also of opinion that the method now recommend-
ed is more scientific, and accurate in its results, than the

former circuitous one. The reasons of which are—
Ist. That, in respect of science, it is surely more scienti-
fic in design to ascertain the cotangent directly by inspection,
than directly by reference to the arc.

2d. That, on the circular limb, half the arc (by reason of
reflex vision) measures the whole angle; on the line of
cotangents (by reason of the same), double the radius be-
comes the measure of the cotangent; in other words, reflex
vision, which reduces the scale on the limb one-half, dou-
bles that on the line of cotangents, and thus creates a differ-
ence as four to one in favour of the accuracy of the latter.

dd. That all tables of Logarithms, Sines, Tangents, and
Secants give interminate decimals, or mere approximations,
which cannot vie in accuracy with direct results.

It may be objected to the instrument, that, taking cogniz-
ance only of right-angled triangles, the cases to which the
cotangent scale is applicable must be few. On the contrary,
it is surprising the number of important problems to which
it may be applied, whether on the vertical or horizontal
plane. Besides, it affords a fine exercise of ingenuity to

* The process of observation, in this case, is nearly identical with
the former, the only difference is that, referring to the line of cotan-
gents, we have a direct answer on a scale of four times the relative
dimensions.

526 Self-Calculating Sextant.

bring all problems, as far as may be, under the influence of —
this most simple rule.

Were the uncommon accuracy in detail, and facility in
practice attainable by this instrument generally known, we
think that it would supersede many of the contrivances at
present in use for purposes of surveying. For example, it
would prevent the necessity of dragging a chain for the
measurement of distances, thus removing at once the most
laborious, unpleasant, and painful duty connected with the
profession.

To measure a distance not exceeding four chains, nothing
more is wanted than a pole, with cross projections at top
and bottom, ten links apart. Erect the pole where you
please ; by a single observation (making the projections at
top and bottom coincide) you may at once tell your distance
in chains and links. Or sending a bearer off in any di-
rection, with the pole erect, you may tell him to stop at
any predetermined distance, ascertained by the coincidence
of the crosses.

For greater distances (even of miles) similar means are
resorted to, on the ground plane. From one extremity of
the line to be measured, set off a perpendicular (which the
instrument readily enables you to do), measure on this line
a convenient distance, not less than one-fortieth part of the
whole distance to be measured ; then proceed to the other
extremity of the original line, and using the instrument
horizontally, bring the two former stations into contact. By
a single inspection you ascertain the distance required.

The economy of time and labour, which this method
appears likely to effect, is obvious; it is independent of
temperature, seasons, crops on the ground, intervening ob-
stacles, and all the contingencies to which measurements
by the chain are liable. But what is more deserving of
notice is, that its accuracy seems to be superior to that of

Self-Calculating Sextant. 527

the ordinary means now in use, which may, at any time, be
ascertained by the test of experiment.

It has been objected to Hadley’s Sextant, that, by reason
of reflex vision, the scale on the circular arc is reduced
one-half. In the proposed Sextant, from the same cause,
the scale on the line of cotangents is doubled; for what-
ever halves the arc, doubles the cotangent; hence the latter
not only remedies the objection, but, doubling the original
scale, quadruples the chance of accuracy in a comparison
with the former.

Farther, by substituting the measurement of a right line
for that of a circular arc, the calculation necessary for a
mere transference of terms, is saved.

The Silurian System. By R. 1. Murcuison, Esa.,
. F.R.S., F.L.S.!

In our first notice we reviewed that part of Mr. Murchi-
son’s work which treated of those deposits which pass from
the oolitic beds down to the coal measures. In our second
notice we endeavoured to lay before our readers the chief
peculiarities of the coal measures, in all cases pointing out
any points of coincidence between Indian and English fov-
mations that our experience may have suggested, thus ren-
dering our notice of Mr. Murchison’s work of more interest,
we trust, than a dry barren criticism. The small coal-field
of Newcut, in Gloucestershire, is alluded to by Mr. Mur-
chison to show how the regular series of formations may be
interrupted, and how the new red sandstone may rest on
the old red without the intervention of the coal measures ;
and in some cases where even the old red sandstone itself
is absent, and the new red thus brought into contact with

1 Continued from p. 236.

528 Murchison’s Silurian System.

Silurian rocks. “ It was a very interesting task,” observes Mr.
Murchison, “ to trace the same strata from this narrow wedge
near Gamage Hall, through all their contractions and ex-
pansions between the new red sandstone and the old, to
their full development in the trough-shaped land to the
west of Newcut, and again to follow them till they finally
disappeared upon the sides of May Hill, where the new red —
sandstone reposes at once on the old red sandstone and
Silurian rocks.” Nor is this information without its econo-
mical importance. Attempts to raise coal at Newcut by spe-
culators, who were ignorant of the peculiar structure of the
district, ended in the ruin of all concerned. Nevertheless a
joint stock company was formed for renewing the attempts,
but without success. If coal works are ever to be renewed,
says Mr. Murchison, with any prospect of success, the trials
should be made to the east of Newcut, by sinking through a
thicker cover of new red sandstone than any hitherto pe-
netrated; ‘‘ for as it appears that the most important seams
on the west dipped to the east and south-east, so it is
possible that the measures may be found to have expanded
when followed upon their dip, &c.” Mr. Murchison next
describes the north-western and eastern edges of the great
coal-basin of South Wales, and the parts of the basin more
immediately connected with the more ancient rocks, to which
his work is particularly devoted.*

The rocks forming the northern and north-western escarp-
ments of this coal-basin are, Mr. M. remarks, of much
consequence in explaining the regular order and succession
of the strata between the carboniferous and Silurian systems ;
for these sections exhibit a full and unbroken sequence of

* Mr. Murchison remarks, that the Rev. W. Conybeare is engaged
in the investigation of the great coal basin of South Wales, and there-
fore he has not himself attempted various descriptions of the members of
this coal-field in detail.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 529

all the intermediate strata, nothing being left to hypothesis
or the imagination.

The carboniferous limestone forming the lowest member
of the coal measures, is a “strong regularly bedded mass,
partly light coloured, rarely oolitic, and occasionally of so
dark a tint as to be termed black marble. It is overlaid by
the conglomerates and sandstones of the millstone grit, or
base of the coal-field, and rests upon another conglomerate
very similar to the millstone grit, but generally of a redder
colour, which constitutes the uppermost stratum of the old
red sandstone. ‘The limestone in its course through Brecon,
Monmouth, and Czrmarthen, forms a tortuous girdle con-
forming to the shattered outline of the coal measures.

The thickness of the limestone varies from a mere band
to a thousand feet, and it is in those situations where it is
most expanded, as in the eastern division of Monmouthshire
and adjacent parts of Gloucestershire that the beds of
passage are best seen. ‘The passage from the lower beds
of this limestone to the old red sandstone is analogous to
that previously pointed out between the uppermost part of
the coal measures and the new red sandstone, the phe-
nomena being always best displayed in those districts
where the respective portions of these systems are most
developed. ‘The limestone shale, by which the lower lime-
stone is accompanied, is another peculiar character of this
member of the coal series, and the course of these shales may
be discerned even when covered by herbage and detritus, by
the surface consisting of boggy ground interspersed with
rivulets and springs, the waters of which having been ab-
sorbed by the pervious strata of the overlying coal grit and
limestones, are thrown out by this argillaceous sand, and fall
in rills over the scarped and lofty edges of the old red
sandstone. A peculiar glazed appearance of the surface of
the limestone, was pointed out to Mr. Murchison by the Rev.
H. Lloyd, on detached fragments which appeared to have

530 Murchison’s Silurian System. |

been subjected to fire. Mr. Murchison traced these glazed
or varnished fragments to a great escarpment, which haying
been subjected to a downcast, is for the space of a mile
submerged in a turf bog, the ends of the strata alone ap-
pearing in the banks of the stream. This glazed appear-
ance Mr. Murchison ascribes to long continued immersion in
the bog water, which is impregnated slightly with a vegetable
acid. ‘The course and flexures of the carboniferous lime-
stone is delineated on the map, which forms an important
part of Mr. Murchison’s work, together with its various eleva-
tions and subsidencies. At the Ferns of Czrmarthenshire,
where the rock is a thousand feet in thickness, it is thrown
up so as to form the highest point of land in South Wales;
and in other situations it dwindles in thickness to the size
of a mere bed, and disappears at the mouth of the Towy
river, and is no further traceable on the Sea cliffs.*

* The following is a list of the organic remains found in the carboni-
ferous limestone by Mr. Murchison.
Chief Localities.

*¢ Productus hemisphericus, M. C. t. 238. S Pegi Dale, and
SS Martinig MC ate ole 2a Clee Hills, &c.

—— ——_—— comoides, M. C. t. 239. Salop and South Wales.
———Costatis/ thi aplemeniene Oswestry, &c.

——_——__—— margaritaceus Phill, pl. 8. f. 8. )

——_———— sotossus, pl. 8. f. 9.

——_——_——_ punctatus, Phill Phill, pl. 8. f. 10. | 3

Spirifer attenuatus Phill, pl. 9. f. 13. ba Pembrokeshire.

——— connivens Phill, pl. 1]. f. 2.

imbricatus Phill, pl. 10. f. 20.

———— filiarus Phill, pl. 11. f. 3.

——-—— papilionaceus Phill, pl. Il. f. 6. 2 :

——-— radialis Phill, pl. ll. f. 9. Pembrokeshire.

———— resupinatus Phill pl. 11. f. 1.

———— semicircularis Phill, pl. 9. f.
— bisulcatus, M C. t. 494. f. 1

——_—— cuspidatus, M. C. t. 120.

= distans.) is Ont. 494: fa3

———— octoplicatus, M. C. t.562. f. 2.3 & 4.

Terebratula fungites, M. SS. Phill. ‘

—— ambigua, Phill, pl. 11. f. 21. - ( Pembrokeshire
—___ —— radiculis Phill, pl. 12. f. 40 & 41.

Crinoidea occur in vast profusion, including genera and species
described by Miller from the limestone of Bristol. Corals also are in
parts very abundant, Orthocerata are very rare, and I never found one
with well-marked characters. Trilobites are also scarce, but a few

.15 & 16. Littleton on Severn.
& 2.

Clee Hills, Shropshire.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 531

The dislocations of the carboniferous limestone along the
margin of the South Wales coal-basin are next pointed out,
and illustrated by many natural sections, afforded by the
rich mountain scenery of South Wales. ‘“‘ The western end
of that portion of the escarpment of the South Wales coal-
field, which is occupied by the Czrmarthen Ferns, exhibits
a very powerful transverse fault, by which the upper strata
of the old red sandstone have been so thrown up, as to
occupy the summit of Fan-sirgaer, 2200 feet above the sea ;
while in the contiguous mountain of Carreg-o-gof, the same
beds, covered by carboniferous limestone and millstone
grit, lie at the height of not more than 1500 feet ; and hence

examples of them have been detected by the Earl of Cawdor in the
coast cliffs near Stackpole, Pembrokeshire, among which are caudal
portions of Asuphus seminiferus and A. granuliferus of Phillips. The
Icthyodorulites of this formation are of peculiar forms, and have been
described by M. Agassiz ;»samong them is the Cotenacanthus tenuistriatus
of the Clee Hill limestone; other species occur near Bristol.

Considering this formation to be well known, I did not collect many
organic remains, so that after all the list is very incomplete. We may
however consider it as a sample of specimens taken from various locali-
ties; and viewing them in this light, it is worthy of remark, that every
species above enumerated has been previously described by Professor
Phillips as occurring in the limestone of this age in other and distant
tracts. On the southern edge of the South Welsh coal-field, particu-
larly between the Mumbles and Pennard, west of Swansea, the car-
boniferous limestone has been diligently explored by my friend Mr.
Dilhwyn, M. P., whose skill in conchology has enabled him to detect
many species in addition to those commonly observed in the formation.
Tn his list, which has not yet been published, he enumerates---

Ammonites? and Goniatites 2; Bellerophon, several species; Cirrus ?
several; Dentaleum 1; Euomphalus several; Eulima? 1; Littorina, 3;
Lutraria 1; Melania, 3; Natica, 1; Orthocera, several; Turbo, 1; Trochus,
3; Turritella, 4; Rotella 1; &c.; among these also Professor Phillips has
also recognised many published in his work, while Mr. J. de C. Sowerby
coincides with me in opinion that not one of these species has yet been
found in the old red or silurian systems.” 5

Z

532 Murchison’s Silurian System.

the old red sandstone of the Ferns is proved to have been
upceast to an extent of at least 700 feet. The direction of
this transverse fault is nearly from north to south, as mark-
ed by the fissure in which the rivulet Twrch-fechan flows
in its descent from the edge of the escarpment toward the
centre of the coal basin. On the left bank of this rivulet
all is old red sandstone, while a little to the right is the
millstone grit of Carreg-las, the limestone being entirely lost
for the space of nearly two miles. The elevated mass of
old red sandstone dips ten to twelve degrees SSE., the
limestone and millstone grit being inclined twenty degrees
to the south. This inclination of the limestone accounts for
its rapid disappearance beneath the millstone grit of Carreg-
las, and connected with the great upcast of the Ferns, ex-
plains how the latter rock has been thrown into juxtaposition
with the old red sandstone.

Immediately to the west of the great limeworks of Clogan-
maur, there is another considerable fault. After occupying
the terrace-formed ridge, on which the kilns are situated, the
limestone is abruptly snapped off, and thrown down about
200 feet beneath its usual level into a morass, the ends of the
lower strata only being visible on the side of the mountain
rill. This is the spot above Blaeu-Cennen, where the lime-
stone presents the peculiar glazed surface before described.
The strike of this dislocated mass is 10° to the north of
west, and the inclination, differing from that of the adjoining
lime quarries, is 25° south by west. This downcast, though
not exhibiting so great an amount of disturbance as that of
the upcast of the old red sandstone in Fan-sirgaror, exhibits
in one respect analogous phenomena. In both cases large
portions of the lip of the coal-field present the appearance
of having been extruded from their regular line of bearing,
and forced into the area of the old red sandstone by move-

>

ments which miners would call “ lateral shifts ;’ an expla-

nation which would naturally suggest itself by inspection of

Murchison’s Silurian System. 533

the relative position of the masses on the map. These ap-
pearances can, however, be more simply explained by the
upward and downward movement of the faults in question,
and by the different angles at which the separate masses are
inclined.

The limestone emerging from this morass at Paut-y-
gwasted, where the strike is true south-westerly, is well ex-
hibited in low parallel ridges crowned by high ridges of mill-
stone grit. The strata dip SE. and SSE. at angles of
about 30°. These calcareous terraces diminish successively in
height, and terminate near the cavern from which the river
Lwehwr bursts forth. Between this point and the house of
Cwrt-a-bard’dh the limestone is wanting, and the distance is
occupied by the old red sandstone or its detritus.

The surface of the ground near the source of the Swehwr
is singularly marked by several funnel-shaped cavities, which
are not peculiar to the limestone of this spot, but are also
observable along the lines of greatest dislocation around
the promontory of Carreg-o-gof, and beneath the northern
face of Carreg-las. They seldom exceed 60 to 70 feet in
their diameter at the surface, tapering downwards to depths
of 30 to 40 feet, and apparently terminating in vertical tubes.
_ As they occur at or near points of the greatest dislocation
of the strata, may we not be allowed to speculate upon their
having formerly been the spiracles by which certain gases
were evolved, during those periods when earthquakes
produced_the adjoining elevations and depressions of the
strata?

I invite special attention to the locality of Cwrt-a bard’dh,
because this portion of the margin of the coal basin is
directly opposite to the remarkable outline of carboniferous
limestone called Castell-cerrig-ceunen, with the position of
which I shall now attempt to prove that the break in the
escarpment is directly connected.

The picturesque limestone rock on which Castle-ceunen is

534 Murchison’s Silurian System.

erected, from its isolated position in the centre of a valley
formed by old red sandstone, might at first be supposed
to have been torn from a gap with which it corresponds at
Cwrt-a-bard’dh, and precipitated down the shelving escarp-
ment upon the surface of the old red sandstone ; an infer-
ence, Mr. Murchison remarks, that would not appear extra-
vagant in this region of violent disturbance. Mr. Murchison
however offers another explanation. It is evident, he says,
from the beds on either side of the valley, as well as from
those on which the castle stands, that the whole of the
district has been violently b .en up by those move-
ments of elevation to which the coal basin of South Wales
was subject. Earthquakes and subterranean forces suffi-
cient to raise the circular escarpment of this coal field
could not have acted, Mr. Murchison thinks, on such large
accumulations of sedimentary matter without occasioning im-
mense transverse openings or channels. On the supposition
that such operations were going on for a long time before the
deposits in question were raised above the waters, powerful
must have been the submarine currents set in action by these
changes of level! How must they have affected the bottom of
the sea, and how deeply must such currents have channelled
out the hollows into which they were deflected? By all
these operations Mr. Murchison conceives the vallies of de-
nudation on the skirts of the South Wales coal field have
been determined, deepened, and increased ; and we may here
remark, that the explanation applies equally to the dry sinu-
ous vallies in all lofty regions, as the Alps, and the Himalaya,
and the Khasya mountains.

We have dwelt longer on the details given by Mr. Mur-
chison regarding the different members of the coal forma-
tion, from the very great importance of the subject in India.
It is however difficult for the student to acquire a knowledge
of any branch of natural science by reading alone; all that
the best books can do, is to put him in the way of recording

Murchison’s Silurian System. 535

the results of his own observation whenever he may be placed
in circumstances favourable for prosecuting inquiry.

Old Red System.

Having followed Mr. Murchison through the coal mea-
sures, as well as the rocks which repose upon them, we shall
now endeavour to afford a view of the results of his obser-
vations on the more ancient rocks. The old red sandstone
consists of various strata, of conglomerate, sandstone, marl,
limestone, and tilestone, the newest beds of which dip
conformably beneath the coal formation, whilst the oldest
repose upon and pass into certain grey coloured rocks, which
form the upper part of the Silurian system.

Convinced that the old red sandstone is of greater magni-
tude than any of the overlying groups, Mr. Murchison
applies to it the term system, which in geology now implies
various groups or formations of strata, indicative of so many
distinct periods. Previous geological writers have generally
regarded the old red sandstone as a portion of the coal for-
mation, from which it is completely distinguishable both by
lithological characters and zoological contents. The coal
measures, or carboniferous system, Mr. Murchison therefore
proves to be surmounted by one red group, and to repose on
another, from both of which the coal measures are perfectly
distinct, constituting of themselves a distinct system.

The reason why the old red sandstone has not been
regarded as a distinct system Mr. Murchison thinks, is, that
in France and Germany its equivalents are ill, if at all, deve-
loped. It has however been recognised in Poland and
Silesia, while in Norway there are mountain ranges very simi-
lar in structure to the old red sandstone of the north of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland. There is a sandstone in India
corresponding with the old red in England, occupying the
same relative position to the coal measures, and presenting
the same lithological characters, but how far its zoological con-
tents will be found to correspond with those of the English

936 Murchison’s Silurian System.

rock, is a subject that must be decided by the observations
of geologists in India.
We shall endeavour to put the Indian student in posses-
sion of the principal details brought together by Mr. Mur-
chison in that part of the British isles of all others best
calculated to afford the true distinguishing peculiarities of
the old red system as it occurs in the western world. ‘“ The
enormous thickness of the old red sandstone, included be-
tween the coal measures and Silurian rocks, will at once be
comprehended. by any observer who places himself on the
eastern slopes of the latter near Kington, and casting his eye
to the south-east, the circle of vision although extending over
all the mountains between the Wye and the Usk, and termi-
- nating only in the Brecon mountains and Cermarthen ferns,
embraces nothing but old red sandstone; nor does this view
include a wide superficies occupied merely by undulating
masses of the same strata, but a territory, in which succes-
sive members of the system rise from beneath each other in
distinct mountainous escarpments.” Nor is Mr. Murchison’s
_ observations confined to this field, they are also extended to
Shropshire, where a similar succession of the old red sand-
stone is displayed, as well as to Herefordshire, where the same
rocks compose a great basin, the lower strata of which are
turned up on both banks against Silurian rocks.

This ample field may be taken as the fairest example
presented by the old red system in Europe; and Mr. Mur-
chison’s observations afford not only the latest, but the
safest standard with which to compare the results of our
observations on such rocks in India, as far as they appear to
be representatives of the old red sandstone in Europe. Mr.
Murchison divides the old red system into three divisions,
as follows—

1. Quartzose, conglomerate, and sandstone.
2. Cornstone and marl. ;
3. Tilestone.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 537

In the descriptions which follow, it will be seen, says Mr.
Murchison, that the distinctions implied by these names are
not absolutely peculiar to any one of the three divisions.
Thus fossil beds occur partially both at the bottom of the
first, and in the middle of the second division, while con-
glomerates ‘sometimes take the place of tilestone in the
lowest strata. |

Mr. Murchison’s descriptions are so connected with loca-
lities, that it becomes a very difficult matter to confine our
abstract to the rocks alone, without reference to places, and
still to preserve the true meaning of the author ; difficult
as this is, we must endeavour to do so, as it would be too
much to attempt to quote the whole of the valuable details
which Mr. Murchison has brought together. The southern
face of the Czrmarthen and Brecon mountains, like most
other parts of the edge of the South Welsh coal basin,
slopes in an inclination of from ten to twelve degrees to-
wards the centre of the coal-field, and is usually covered
with turf bogs, beneath the bog a conglomerate of white
quartzose pebbles in a red matrix forms the upper member
of the old red sandstone.

This stratum is seen dipping beneath the carboniferous
limestone, where it often assumes a slightly calcareous quali-
ty in the cement, with pink and white nodules of quartz,
from the size of mustard seed to two or three inches, some-
times mixed up with grains of a green compact felspar; other
and lower beds are however pure quartzose conglomerates.
“‘ When fresh quarried the conglomerate is sometimes of a
pink or reddish colour, but after long exposure it frequently
becomes nearly white, in which state it might be mistaken
for the coarser beds of millstone grit, but it is separated
from them by the carboniferous limestone. The conglome-
rate beds occupy a thickness of about 200 feet, and pass
down into chocolate-brown, and reddish coarse grained
sandstone, with blotches of red shale, and occasionally a

538 Murchison’s Silurian System.

very small pebble of quartz. Below, the conglomerate usu-
ally becomes finer, and passes into a pure sandstone of brown-
ish and occasionally gosling green, and deep red. colours;
other beds are much spotted with green blotches on a dark
red ground. Where roads are contiguous this sandstone is
quarried for troughs, cider presses, and building purposes,
and some of the lower layers of this division are so fissile
and fine grained as to allow of their being quarried for flag-
stones and grindstones. These rocks are distinguished from
the next division of the system by the absence of calcareous
beds.* In some of the ridges where the lower beds pass
into cornstone and marl, thin layers filled with fragments
of carbonised vegetable matter have been found, but never
in so perfect a form as to resemble fossil plants. These
appearances have induced ill-advised speculators to drive
galleries into mountains of this rock in search of coal.
These sandstones assume a very ancient aspect. “‘ We
must not, however,” says Mr. Murchison, “ judge of the
antiquity of rocks by their mineral aspect, nor even by their
lithological structure; for, as I shall have occasion to show,
there are many portions of the old red sandstone undistin-
guishable in these respects from the oldest grey wacke,
whilst strata of the underlying Silurian system, formerly
termed greywacke, so far from assuming an air of higher
antiquity, in numberless cases, and over very large areas, re-
semble closely some of the younger secondary deposits.”
The reader will be desirous to know how far this descrip-
tion of the upper division of the old red sandstone in South
Wales applies to any of the rocks of India. We have

* Very rarely, Mr. Murchison remarks; where this upper division of
the old red sandstone is much expanded, it occasionally contains thin
courses of mottled, red, and green, very impure limestone, not to be dis-
tinguished from some of the least calcareous beds of cornstone. In
one of these beds Mr. Murchison discovered the scale of a large fish
not yet described.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 539

learnt from Mr. Murchison that it reposes beneath the lime-
stone of the coal measures, and that the only fossil yet dis-
covered in it is the scale of a fish, already alluded to.

The uncertainty connected with the relative position of
rocks in districts not regularly investigated, must expose all
casual observations on the identity of structure in remote
situations on the earth’s surface to serious difficulties.

To compare one district, the peculiarities of which have
been thoroughly investigated with another but partially
known, in a remote part of the world, we have not only to
be on our guard against various forms which the same rocks
are liable to assume under different circumstances, but we
have also to recollect that the laws of geographical dis-
tribution of animals should prevent our expecting to find
the same organic remains every where in the same rock.

In the first reports of the Coal Committee we stated our
reasons for regarding the beds of sandstone which form the
basis of the coal measures at Cherra Ponji as equivalent
to the old red sandstone. The relative position of the beds
in question to the coal formation, as well their position and
lithological characters as far as we are acquainted with them,
are all in favour of their belonging to the upper group of the
old red sandstone, which formation, according to observa-
tions of Mr. W. Jameson not yet fully before the public, is
largely developed in the North-western parts of India.

There is really nothing in the name that ought to deter
us from using it to designate a formation agreeing at least in
all its main characters with the English rock, and occupy-
ing the same relative position between the coal measures on
the one side, and the more ancient rocks on the other.

Thus the vast extent to which the old red sandstone
occurs in India is the best proof of the importance of the
subject to the Indian geologist, and of the necessity of his
being in full possession of all the particulars brought for-
ward by Mr. Murchison in his valuable work. Our review

4a

540 Murchison’s Silurian System.

would ill supply the place of that work itself, but we trust it
will prove useful to such as cannot have recourse to the ori-
ginal in India; we shall therefore endeavour. to give the
reader as practical and concise a view of Mr. Murchison’s
details as possible. The second division of the old red sand-
stone is the

Central, or Cornstone Formation.

The central masses are chiefly composed of alternations
of red and green argillaceous spotted marls, affording rich
soil. These argillaceous beds sometimes alternate with sand-
stone, but more frequently with irregular courses of concre-
tionary impure limestone, mottled also red and green. When
compact the calcareous beds are termed limestones by the
quarry men, but when mixed with sand and marl, giving
them a brecciated or conglomerate aspect, they constitute
the well known cornstone of Herefordshire and the adjoining
counties. |

“We may commend the detailed description of this formation in
Czrmarthenshire, because, although the cornstones in that county are
of very impure quality, their relations are clearly exposed in a section
exhibited in descending from the Czrmarthenshire fens towards the
bridge called Pont-ar-lleche. The river Sowdde here runs in a nar-
-row cleft or channel, which cuts the strata at right angles to their
strike. The inclination of the beds is towards the south-east, and the
dip varies from 65° near the superior limits of the formation, to 75°
towards its base, or junction with the tilestones. In the short distance,
therefore, of about three-quarters of a mile, we obtain by means of
the high inclination of the strata, and the clearness of the section,
a perfect knowledge of all the beds comprising the cornstone division,
which, owing to their slight inclination and gentle undulations, are
expanded over the low and fertile tracts of Brecknockshire and Hereford-
shire, and are there rarely well exhibited as a whole. The strata consist
of deep red shale, argillaceous sandstone, and hard, quartzose, dingy
purple, or brown sandstone, slightly micaceous; with interculated
calcareous beds, of a concretionary and pseudo-concretionary structure.
These calcareous concretions, yarying in colour from red to green, and
in diameter from half an inch to three or four inches, are disseminated

Murchison’s Silurian System. 541

through the mottled marl, which becomes occasionally an impure
limestone. They are arranged in bands occupying vertically from eight
to thirty feet each.

“‘The finest example of limestone of the old red system in Czermar-
thenshire, occurs in the cliff under the castle at Llanstephan, near the
mouth of the Tawey. The rock is there from twenty-five to thirty feet
thick, the upper part consisting of a number of small concretions, which
are underlaid by three massive beds of impure limestones, mottled
green, blue, and red, rising in a dome-shape, and slightly inclined;
this calcareous mass is overlaid by red and green marls; and further to
the south, or towards the marine headland, are flagstones, sandstones,
and other well characterized beds of the system. In a subsequent
account of Pembrokeshire, I shall have occasion to show that although
the calcareous matter becomes much scarcer in the old red sandstone of
that county, we still meet with mottled, imperfect, concretionary mass-
es, which are in parts calcareous, and represent the cornstone forma-
tion.

“To the east of Brecon, the stones rise from beneath the uppermost or
quartzose strata in the escarpment of the mountains of the Bock forest,
where they are much more strongly developed than in Czrmarthen-
shire, as attested by different lines of lime-kilns which mark the lower
limits of the mountains S. and SE. of the town of Hay. Some of the
subordinate beds in the immediate vicinity of Hay, afford a most excel-
lent thick-bedded freestone, of a delicate green colour, and of which the
town is built. The cornstones, which are here so prevalent, rise to
considerable heights on the sides of the escarpments, and dipping gra-
dually to the south-east, occasionally reappear in deep demiductions
in the valley of the Usk, near Abergavenny; and finally disappear under
the great mass of overlying sandstone and quartzose conglomerate
which has been described as forming the extreme margin of the south-
west coal field. At the northern escarpment of the Skirrid, the re-
markable ridge to the north of Abergavenny, before alluded to, thick
beds of cornstone are exposed, dipping under red, brown, chocolate, and
green sandstones, with blotches and concretions of red marl. Other
courses of cornstone extend along the lower sides of the Skirrid, and are
exposed in the transverse valley between that mountain and the Sugar-
loaf; and a few thin layers have been already alluded to as appearing in
the face of the great escarpment of the Blorenge.

“T refer the reader to the map, to obtain a notion of the large tracts
in Brecon and Monmouth where these limestones prevail. A good de-
scending section of the whole system of old red has recently been

542 Murchison’s Silurian System.

laid open by making the new road from Chepstow to Usk, which runs
directly across the strata. On this road the traveller first passes over
the quartzose formation of sandstone and conglomerate, rising from
beneath the lower carboniferous limestone shale, next the marls and
cornstone in the bold escarpment of Golden Hill, and thence traversing
sundry calcareous courses, he meets with the Silurian rocks in the hills
north of Usk, throwing off upon their eastern slopes the marls and
tilestones. In the southern parts of Herefordshire (between Mon-
mouth Cap and Whitefield), are numerous courses of small round con-
cretions, which not being firmly bound together by the matrix, readily
separate from the imbedding sand and clay, and are used as gravel for
the roads. In the same tract, however, are strong courses of very
pure concretionary limestone, of purple and green colours, one variety
of which appears to have been formerly used as marble.

‘“‘ To the north of the river Wye, the same system is prolonged in the
central hills of Herefordshire; and traverses made across these hills
from Hereford to the Vale of Woably, afford good sections of the corn-
stone group. The descending section of it may be thus enumerated,
the beds dipping to the SE. or SSE. at angles of 12° and 15°.

“‘a. Slaty beds quarried for tiles in the hills above Mr. Peploe’s Park
(contain broken portions of vegetables often in a state of carbon).

‘>. Marls, red and green.

“‘¢. Cornstone, in parts semi-crystalline, seldom exceeding 4 to 5 feet
in thickness.

“qd. Argillaceous marls with impure limestone, fit only for road-mend-
ing.

““e, Great sandstone quarries (at Rauen’s causeway, for example),
from 30 to 40 feet in depth contain fine large flaggy beds of light
greenish colour, used for tombstones; and strong beds of micaceous,
finely grained sandstone ; the lines of deposit being sometimes marked
by purple and light green stripes. This stone is of excellent quality for
building. 5

“ f. Argillaceous mars.

‘“‘g. Courses of impure concretionary limestone appear here and
there in the slopes and lower sides of the hills; these descend into the
rich low ground around Weobly. If powerful denudation had not
destroyed the strata and covered them with gravel, the valley of the
Wye, between Hereford and the Hay, would doubtlessly have afforded
similar sections, for the same succession of argillaceous marl, sand-
stone, cornstone, and flagstone is displayed in the hills of Moccas
on the south or right bank of the Wye, as those described in the

Murchison’s Silurian System. 543

Weobly Hills. There can, indeed, be no doubt, that the strata of
these two hilly ranges on the opposite banks of the river were once
‘continuous, because whenever the gravel has been removed, the cliffs
exhibit the red argillaceous beds.

“Similar arrangements of strata are exhibited in the escarpments of
all the hills extending from Weobly to Leominster, and thence to
Tenbury and Bromyard; the vast thickness of the formation, including
many masses of strong bedded sandstone, being remarkably well dis-
played in the hills crossed by the new road from Leominster to
Hereford. Wherever the marls have prevailed, the denudations have
been most extensive, as is remarkably exemplified in the lateral valleys
on the sides of the Pyons, two small conical hills probably saved from
destruction by the hardness of the concretionary rock and gritty
sandstones near their summits.

“Nearly the whole of the central and northern parts of Herefordshire
and the contiguous parts of Salop and Worcestershire, are occupied by
this formation, those hills having best resisted denuding influences,
which contain the hardest concretion of cornstone, or the firmest ribs
of sandstone. In the northern portion of this range, the subordinate
limestones become thicker and more crystalline.

“Bands of cornstone appear at intervals in all the country lying be-
tween the Clee Hills and the southern extremity of the coal-field of
Coalbrook Dale; the same suite of beds forms also the base upon which
the greater part of the coal tracts of Billingsley and Forest of Wyre
have been deposited. At Lower Harcott, on the west side of Kinlett,
the cornstone dips south and south-south-west forty-five degrees, is
five or six feet thick, and is burnt for lime. It here ‘reposes upon a
good sandstone of greenish colour. This cornstone, as in other parts,
is of very irregular dimensions, contracting and expanding in the most
capricious manner. In one district only I have traced it on the east
bank of the Severn, where the existence of the old red sandstone had
not previously been noted in geological maps.

“‘ The formation is there displayed in a narrow and detached ridge on
the south side of the thin zone of coal measures of Arley and Shatter-
ford, ranging between these rocks and the new red sandstone of Wars
Hill and Horsley Bank, near Kidderminster. The old and new red
sandstones are in abrupt and unconformable junction on the sides of a

new cut in the road ascending from Kidderminster to Shatterford gate,
near which beds of true cornstone are burnt for lime. These beds are
there clearly distinguishable from the calcareous bands of the adjacent
lower new red sandstone, by their unconformable position.

544 Murchison’s Silurian System.

“The extent of the changes made in the map of the boundary lines
of previous observers, defining the junction of the old, and the contigu-
ous new red sandstone of Worcestershire, can be best understood by
comparison with such authorities. Much ambiguity, indeed, prevailed
in this part of the region, owing to the anomalous lithological charac-
ters of the lower new red sandstone, (already explained in chapter 4,)
which, on the confines of Worcestershire, Salop, and Herefordshire,
puts on so much the characters of the old red, with which it is in
contact.

“On the right bank of the Tenu, the hills of old red sandstone,
ranging from Tenbury to the villages of Stamford and Shelsley Walsall
to Lapey, &c. consists of marls, clays, sandstones, and flags, with some
thick zones of concretionary limestones. In one of these bands rear
Hill Top, east of Tenbury, I found the crevices partially filled with
minute thin coats of anthracite, mixed with white crystallized car-
bonate of lime. Besides the principal bands of limestone, which here
vary in thickness from four to ten feet, there are, as in other places,
thinner courses of cornstone, alternating with beds of deep red and
greenish sandstones, of a flaggy structure. Much calcareous matter
is disseminated throughout these hills, and gives rise to the superficial
deposit of travertine and stalactite, which will be described in a sub-
sequent chapter. F

“‘ The sandstones associated with the marls and cornstones sometimes
expose upon their surfaces certain small depressions, frequently of
circular and horse-shoe forms, occasionally having a raised central disc.
These forms, which are remarkably exhibited in the bed of the Sapey
Brook, near Knightsford bridge, appear to be due to the action of |
water upon blotches, or imperfect concretions of party-coloured marls,
or soft argillaceous sandstones, which being of less consistence than
the mass of the rock, have been corroded, leaving these cavities. Similar
forms, indeed, are found in numberless portions of the old red sand-
stone. I may particularly cite the escarpment of the Skirrid, three
miles north of Abergavenny, and the cliff called the Dareu, north of
Crickhowell, as situations where they may be seen in countless profu-
sion, imitating in their outline, herse-shoes, rings, almonds, &c. It
is quite manifest that by exposing rocks of the varied composition of
these in question, to the action of running water, as in the Sapey
Brook, or to long continued atmospheric influences, as in the Skirrid,
the inevitable result would be the wearing away of these blotches or
concretions, which are softer than the inclosing mass of rock.

‘«‘ There is no district in which the nature and relations of the cornstone

Murchison's Silurian System. 545

can be better studied than to the north of Ludlow, where the for-
mation occupies a distinct range of hills rising to the height of four
or five hundred feet above the low country, and presenting escarpments
io the valley of Corvedale. In these hills are several calcareous zones,
separated by thick masses of sandstones, flagstone, and argillaceous
marl, the strata dipping slightly to the north and south of east.

“Some of the best flagstones of these hills are quarried at Bouldon.
The upper beds consist of marl, impure cornstone, and thin beds of
deep coloured red sandstone. Beneath these lie about twelve feet of
sandstone, which splits into flags. This stone is of a greenish colour,
and highly micaceous, and its surfaces are marked by those undulations
or ripple marks, so frequent in the sandstones of all ages, and which
are supposed to have resulted from the action of water during the
process of deposition. The flags are from three to eight inches thick,
and sometimes of great extent, and they are largely used for staircases,
doorways, wall tops, lintels, &c.; a course of impure cornstone un-
derlies the flagstone. Similar flagstones, but generally of dull red
colours, are extracted at the southern end of the Brown Clee, and on the
south-western slopes of the Titterstone Clee. In the quarries of Sir
W. Raughton, Bart. at Downton Hall, flags are often quarried of the
. great size of one hundred square feet.

“ A section of the strata between the slopes east of Downton Hall and
the valley of Corvedale is seen by reference to Pl. 31. fig. 3., and the
structure of these beds is already sufficiently explained to render unne-
cessary the encumbering of these pages with similar details in other
places. The courses of concretionary limestone are as usual not con-
tinuous; on the contrary, they expand and diminish, disappearing and
re-appearing in their horizontal range.

“Similar exhibitions of concretionary limestone wrap round the sides
of the Clee Hills.

“On the western face of the Titterstone Clee they rise to a great height,
both at and above Bitterly Court; they surround the Brown Glee, and
are largely quarried at Abdon, Ditton, &c. It is not possible to include
these cornstones under one mineralogical description. In most places
they are of red and lightish green colours; in others, however, they
are light brown, with veins of dark chocolate and green, a variety
of which in a highly crystalline form is extracted at Targrove, near
Downton Hall. At Ditton, white and green colours prevail; at Broms-
grove the mass is brown, with light grey patches; while at interme-
diate places they consist of marl, limestone, and sandstone, irregularly
concreted, and have the aspect of a conglomerate. In the last mentioned

546 Murchison’s Silurian System.

form alone, they constitute the cornstones of the inhabitants, and
in this state are quarried exclusively for the repairs of the roads, and
are not burnt for lime. The best courses are, however, almost crysta-
line, and if polished might be considered not inelegant marble, though
the concretions are usually too small to afford large slabs. In some
of the great works at Ditton and Abdon there are two zones, the
lowest and largest of which is quarried to a depth of twenty feet, in
caverns under the slopes of the Brown Clee Hills. It is needless to
mention other localities in this neighbourhood, for the formation here
ranges Over a very wide area. Throughout the whole ofits range, with
the exception of this space between the coal field and the older rocks
of Czrmarthenshire, and its protrusion through some of the poor coal-
fields of Bewdly Forest, the strata of this cornstone are very little
inclined, an arrangement which might naturally have been looked for in
the central parts of a basin or triangle of large size. The spotted marls
can never be distinguished from those of the new red sandstone,
except perhaps when they are separated from each other by beds of
hard micaceous sandstone. In districts where the argillaceous cha-
racter exclusively predominates, there is some difficulty in persuading
the inhabitants that they live upon the old red sandstone, although that
name, when applied to the whole system, is as unobjectionable as any
in the nomenclature of geology.

‘“‘ Whenever the order of superposition is not apparent, the fragments
of fossil fishes, which occur in abundance throughout the cornstones,
constitute the best distinction between this formation and the lower
new red sandstone, which it so much resembles. These fishes, which will
be described in a subsequent chapter, are of very peculiar forms, and
their fragments being often of brilliant purple and blue colours, are
excellent points of attraction for the eye of the geologist, since they
present a strange contrast to the surrounding dull red and green matrix
in which they are enveloped.”

We have given Mr. Murchison’s detailed account of the
cornstone in his own words, because we have yet to discover
this member of the old red system in India. The fishes al-
luded to as characteristic of this rock in Britain, are various
species of Cephalopsis, Ag. whose form somewhat resembled
the Siluridz; one of the most perfect examples that has
been found is that of Ceph. Lyelliz ; we need not here give a
figure of it, as it is already represented in Lyell’s Geology

Murchison’s Silurian System. 547

and other popular works; and as to the other three species of
the same genus they depend upon fragments which would
hardly be intelligible to any one but M. Agassiz himself.
They appear however to indicate a genus of considerable
variety and extent, all the remains of which are confined to
these beds, but not to this locality; for Dr. Malcolmson,
who distinguished himself by his geological and medical
researches in India, also discovered the remains of Cepha-
lopsous fishes in Scotland, in beds of calcareous conglome-
rate, which he regards as equivalent to the cornstone of
England. We now come to the third, or lowest member of
the old red system, named by Mr. Murchison

Tilestone.

This lowest member of the group has very distinct cha-
racters both in structure and fossil contents from either of
the foregoing divisions of the old red sandstone. Its upper
beds pass into cornstone and marls, such as we have first
described ; while the lower beds change into Silurian rocks.
The tilestone runs in nearly a straight course from a place
called the Bridge of Tiles in Ceermarthenshire to near Builth,
on the north east, occupying the loftiest part of the escarp-
ments of wild mountainous tracts, at heights of fifteen to
sixteen hundred feet. In this range the tilestones are ex-
tensively quarried, and the strata which inclined at angles
from 45° to 80° dip invariably to the south-east. After a
great flexure on the Wye to east of Builth, the tilestones are
again found in similar relations, overlapping the Silurian
rocks in the Clyro and other hills in Radnorshire, and ex-
tending from thence to Kington in Herefordshire, in which
part of their range they are much less inclined. Through-
out their course from Czrmarthenshire to Kington the dis-
tinguishing beds are finely laminated, hard, reddish or green
micaceous quartzose sandstones, which split into tiles. Al-~

though the greenish colours prevail, these beds are usually
4B

548 Murchison’s Silurian System.

associated with reddish shale, and the decomposition of the
mass uniformly produces a red soil, by which character alone
the outline of the division is easily defined, being always
clearly separable from the upper beds of the Silurian sys-
tem, which decompose into a grey surface.

In Shropshire and the contiguous parts of Herefordshire,
this lower member of the old red sandstone rarely occupies
high ground, and being for the most part recumbent on the
talus of the upper Silurian rocks, where the latter sink
down into vallies, it is generally much obscured by detritus.
In a gorge near Ludlow, flag-like micaceous dark red sand-
stone, “ bur-stones” of the peasantry, rise at an angle of about
fifteen degrees from beneath the red argillaceous marls
of Oakley park, and pass down into a light coloured grey,
yellowish, and greenish grey freestone, which will presently
be described as constituting the upper stratum of the Silu-
rian system.

The “ bur-stones” are here seldom so fissile as the “ tile-
stones.” ‘They occasionally contain a few organic remains,
such as Avicula, and a small Lingula, which will presently
be described ; but in some parts the remains of fishes prevail
more than Mollusca, particularly Dipterus macrolepidotus,
Sedg. et Murch., and others of the genus Onchus, Ag., palates
of fishes and bufonites.* In the southern parts of Czr-
marthenshire and in Pembrokeshire, the tilestone cannot be
traced as a persistent zone, and the triple subdivision of the
system can no longer be observed, but the previous sketch
of the lower member of the old red sandstone Mr. Murchison
derived from numberless transverse sections along an in-

* We shall probably give examples of the fossils illustrative of the
important distinctions here pointed out by Mr. Murchison. Weare only
anxious before entering upon this part of the subject, to be favoured
with the examination of any organic remains that may have been found
in ancient beds in India, which there may be reason to suppose equi-
valent to the rocks described by Mr. Murchison.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 549

terval of ninety miles. We may quote the following remarks
on one of those sections.

Between Trecastle and Llandovery, “ tilestones are quar-
ried, rising at an angle of sixty degrees from beneath the
marly and sandy beds of the cornstone group, the lower
tilestones graduating downwards into the equivalent of the
Ludlow rock. The uppermost beds are of a dark purple
colour, the surface being covered by large plates of a grey
mica, and here and there certain impressions resembling those
in the old red sandstone of Scotland, called ‘ Kelpie’s feet.’

‘«‘ The lower beds, as worked on the steep acclivity of Horeb
chapel, have their dip increased to sixty-five and seventy
degrees, and are of greenish and grey colours, but these
again are underlaid by other beds of a reddish colour, so
that the whole of the tilestones are clearly subordinate to
the old red system. The greenish beds split to an average
thickness of three or four inches, are much jointed, and have
frequently an imperfect slaty cleavage transverse to the bed-
ding; they are highly charged with mica, both disseminated
and in lamine. The joints are for the most part vertical,
and their faces are frequently coated with crystals of white
quartz. Organic remains are abundant, and indicate clearly
the lmes of deposit, whilst the transverse cleavage and the
faces of the joints are strongly marked by sharp planes
cutting obliquely through the fossil layers. The fossils
consist of unpublished genera, Arca Avicula Bellerophon, °
Cuculloa Lingula Orthocera Terebratula Turbo Turritella
Trachus with the Tentaculites scalaris Scholothein. This
assemblage furnishes convincing proofs that certain genera
of Molluscs, such as Arca Turbo Trachus Cuculloa, &c.
which have been supposed to be confined to the young
tertiary and secondary deposits, have co-existed with Ortho-
cera, Terebratula, Bellerophon.”

__ Mr. Murchison, in conclusion, estimates the depth of the
old red system as it rises from beneath the South Welsh
coal basin and oyer the Silurian rocks of Radnor, to be not

550 Murchison’s Silurian System.

less than nine or ten thousand feet—a vast accumulation of
strata interposed between the coal measures and Silurian
rocks, the importance and extent of which has been little
understood until pointed out in the work before us.

Trap dykes, and other dislocations which were so com-
mon in the coal measures, are comparatively rare in the old
red sandstone ; but two examples of trap rocks are known
throughout the whole extent of the old red sandstone of
Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Monmouth-
shire. One of these dykes which is exposed for a length of 120
feet and a depth of 50 feet, is in a quarry near Bartestree.
The direction of the dyke is WSW. and its width varies
from 60 to 20 feet. The prevailing variety of trap is a
highly crystalline greenstone, made up of hornblende and
felspar, the central masses having more or less of the
speroidal, hard, compact structure with the minerals alluded
to, finely and intimately mixed. Other portions of the dyke,
particularly near the sides, assume a prismatic form, the
ends of the prisms being directed towards the walls, and con-
tain much felspar, a little quartz, and something like serpen-
tine that gives the whole a greasy feel. The dyke passes
through the central or cornstone division of the old red sys-
tem, and on either side the rocks lie nearly horizontal. The
spotted marls and cornstone are converted in contact with
the dyke into a purple amygdaloid with kernels and nests of
- calcareous spar, and in the sandstones the grains of sand
are converted into white quartz.* The effect of these
changes extends to a distance of several feet into the adjoin-

* Mr. Murchison refers this effect to the calcareous parts of the
cornstone acting as a flux. The aid of a flux may have been neces-
sary to change the sandstone into quartz where there was so great
a disproportion between the volume of heated matter, and the rocks
exposed to its action ; but we find the great sandstone formation in India,
where it lies in contact with igneous rocks, converted into quartz rock
over whole tracts of country, particularly Muflong in the Kasyah hills,

the Chittore range on the northern confines of Malwa. Vide report of
Coal Committee, p. 26, 79.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 551

ing beds. Mr. Murchison remarks that the dyke lies in
the direction of the elevated mass of Shuckness Hill, distant
three miles from the spot at which the dyke is opened, and
infers accordingly that the hill is connected with a line Ge
_ disturbance occasioned by this dyke.

‘The second dyke is exposed by quarries near the Teme,
eleven miles north-east of Worcester, and distant about a
mile from the Abberley Hills, which follow its course. The
dyke is at one place where it is exposed to a depth of 40
feet, about eight paces wide, and near its walls the trap
assumes a prismatic form, decomposing like the basaltic
columns of the Giant’s Causeway. ‘The composition of this
dyke is unique, being partly dark green syenite, and partly an
amygdaloid, containing kernels of carbonate of lime, which
on exposure fall out, leaving cavities in the sides of the
prisms. On either side of the dyke the sandstone is
hardened and of dark purple colour, and the variegated
marls and cornstone are converted into an indurated mass,
resembling many trappean amygdaloids, and the lime is dis-
seminated in veins and coatings of white crystallized car-
bonate of lime. This dyke is analogous in its structure, Mr.
Murchison states, to some parts of the Malvern ridge, and as
it points to the most prominent of those elevations, we obtain
one of the proofs that volcanic forces have been in activity
along the great fissure of eruption subsequent to the conso-
lidation of the old red sandstone. ‘ Again, from the highly
dislocated condition of the patches of coal which adhere to
the flanks of these hills, no doubt can remain that volcanic
action was also continued upon this line after the deposit of
the carboniferous system”. With the evidence we shall after-
wards adduce, says Mr. Murchison, of the frequency of
trappean eruptions during the formation of the Silurian sys-
tem, and with the proofs we have already given of the out-
burst of such rocks subsequent to the consolidation of the
coal measures, it is surprising that during the accumulation

552 Murchison’s Silurian System.

of the widely expanded series of old red sandstone, there
should apparently have been a total cessation of the erup-
tions, for the dykes just described must have been intruded
after the old red strata were deposited.

The old red sandstone contains no metallic veins of any
value. Throughout the whole extent of the system, Mr. Mur-
chison found but two instances of metalliferous veins, which
have been deemed worthy of the slightest attention; both
were copper ore; nor is there any coal in the old red sand-
stone, or any vestige of the vegetable matter out of which
coal has been formed; an exception however is mentioned
in favour of one place on the banks of the Tweed, in which —
coal seams do occur beneath the mountain limestone in the
upper member of the old red system.

Mr. Murchison next describes isolated patches of old red
sandstone, under the term outhers. ‘The most extensive
outlier composes a district of nearly one hundred miles in
extent, of which the forest of Cleen forms the principal part.
The soil of this tract is red, and numerous natural sections
of the rocks beneath it show they belong to the lower beds
of the old red system, or tilestone, resting on Silurian rocks,
which support the sandstone at low angles of inclination.
The transition or passage between the Silurian and old red
systems is here marked, as in other places, by hard, greenish,
and reddish, highly micaceous sandstone, which contain Sep-
teena lota and Terebratula nucula, together with casts of
several shells identical with those found in the tilestone and
upper Silurian beds. The casts of these fossils, though
fragile, are beautifully preserved, and the cavities in which
they are situated generally contain a black powder. Three
other outliers are described in various parts of Radnorshire,
but the largest of them is not above five miles in extent.
They show the relations of the old red system to the Silurian
rock, and confirm the accuracy of the sections of the former,
previously described.

Murchison’s Silurian System. 553

On the agricultural character of the old red sandstone,
Mr. Murchison remarks, that in the higher mountainous
tracts which are composed of the upper member of the sys-
tem, the soil is light, sharp, and poor, but over the cornstone
beds the soil is rich and productive, the red soil of Here-
fordshire being an instance. The most loamy of the cal-
careous soils afford the finest crops of wheat and hops, and
bear the most prolific apple and pear trees, and the heavier
or clayey tracts are renowned for the quality of oak timber.
Water is plentiful, and found at various depths.

[To be continued. ]

Correspondence,

Extract of a letter from Captain A. Jacx, 30th Bengal N.I. dated Neemuch,
31st August, 1840.

I am very busy in the way of collecting birds, spiders, fishes, &c.
for you, and shall send you some presently. I should like to send
some things of that sort through you to Dr. Fleming. Though I
cannot get up a Natural History Society here, yet I get great assist-
ance from a number of the officers in collecting specimens of all sorts.
I think I shall be able to get all the Vespertilionide of this part of the
country for Dr. Horsfield shortly, and shall send down all birds merely
skinned; they prefer getting them so at home. I have this morning got
two of the pendent nests of the bea bird with four eggs in one of them,
and five in the other, (and a pair of the birds) which are the numbers
they commonly lay. I want another pair for the other nest. There is
a bird here called the taylor bird, which builds a very curious nest by
stitching a large broad leaf into a bag, and then constructing its nest in
the bag. I shall try to get one of them. The Leek, a sort of florikan,
is also met with here; it is different, I believe, from the florikan of
' most other parts of India, and the bustard is not uncommon. On the
other side I give you the continuation of my thermometrical table,
from which you will observe that this is a most salubrious climate,
and although this is the most unhealthy season of the year, low fevers
prevailing among the natives, yet they are not dangerous.

Correspondence.

554

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pally indurated clay, after heavy rain, four hours is sufficient to leave

the roads which are not raised, comfortably dry.

Correspondence. . 555

I have sent a box of insects to you by Colonel Seymour,’and was
collecting away at a great rate, but this order puts a stop to all opera-
tions, until we get some arrangements made as to carriage.

I shall have an opportunity on the march of giving you a rough
sketch of the geology of the country we pass through. I shall send
you some fishes, &c. &c. before I leave this.

From the same, on the march from Neemuch to Feroxpore.

“Nyagong is 9 miles from Neemuch NNW. the whole is clay slate
overlying hard basaltic rock, except at one place called the Stony Ghat,
which is composed of a soft clayey shale, containing large round nodules
of acrystallised rock, very similar to gniess, from three inches to a foot in
diameter; they are so loosely bound in the shale that the whole surface
of the ground is covered with them. The whole so much resembled
the Cromarty fish beds, that I broke a great number of these nodules,
in hopes of finding some organisms, but found none. It appears as if it
might have been formed by the vomiting of a volcano sending forth mud
and water, and masses of melted rock falling therein. 17th October.---
Mungrowl, 13 miles NNE. clay slate. 18th., Chittore, 14 miles north---
clay slate running nearly north and south, the dip near the hills
being from 45° to 60° ; long lines of it in this position, run along the
road, resembling a pavement formed of slates upon their edges.

The rock on which the fort of Chittore is built, is quartz and horn-
stone, the clay slate on the west side of the rock dipping to the west,
that on the east to the east; the rock rises precipitously 400 feet above
the surrounding plain. 20th October.---Puttowlee, 6 miles N. by W. clay
slate, small hillocks of quartz shooting through it here and there. 21st.---
Soonera 13 miles, rock same as last, N. by E. 22nd.---Mundapeeah 9 miles ;
N. by E. the clay slate becoming micaceous. 23rd.---Bheelwarrah 6 miles,
the mica slate appears generally on this march, and its direction is at
right angles to the direction of the clay slate, the dip is very variable.
24th.---Mhowah 9 miles N. by E. all deep sand. 25th.---Shahpoora 16 miles
NNE. deep sandy soil, the hillocks about are of quartz in some places,
containing particles of hornblende, which has been used in building
some of the temples, and resembles white marble. 27th.---Khodera 15
miles N.by E.; soil deep, sandy, the rock granitic; all traces of clay and
mica slate have disappeared. 28th.---Kekroe 14 miles NNE. deep sandy
soil, with a small quantity of clay. 29th.---Deogong 13 miles NNE. in the
bed of a river, some miles from camp large masses of sienite, the rest
is all deep sand, seemingly disintegrated sienite. 30th.---Malpoorah 13

4c

556 Correspondence.

miles N. by E. soil the same as last. 31st.---Chourah 12 miles NNE.
granite appears in a few places above the soil, which is same as before.
1st. November, 1840.---Phughie 10 miles NNE. 4 E. deep soil same
as before, no rock above. 3rd.---Raenwal Cowise NNE. 9 miles, quartz
which appears in hummocks above the soil. 4th.—-Neutah 7 miles
NNE. deep sand. 5th.---Jhootwarrah 13 miles N. by E. 4 miles west
from Jeypore, very deep heavy sand; the river near Jeypore shews the
sand to the depth of from 40 to 60 feet; the rock on which the fort and
palace are built rises very precipitously from the plain, particularly on
the side next the town; it appears to be of quartz and mica, and a great
part of it is hornstone, of which the buildings around are principally
built; but there is very good mica slate around it, which is also used in
the buildings. I am informed that there is very fine marble got some-
where near, but I have not seen it. The town of Jeypore is well
watered and extensive, the streets are wide, and would be handsome if
the aqueducts which have been built along the centre of the principal
ones were kept up, but they have been allowed to go to ruin, and in
fact like all towns under native Raj, the greater half of the whole is ruin-
ous; the original design has been splendid. 7th.---Nangul 8 miles, course
north, sandy soil. 8th.---Samote, 12 miles N. by E. soil alluvial, the hills
are all of quartz, and quartz united with nfica in minute plates. 9th.-—-
Munohurpore 13 miles NNE. deep sand, hills same as before. 10th.---
Bhabra 12 miles NNE. sandy hills as before. 11th.—-Prangpoor 11 miles
N. by E. sandy ditto. 12th.---Khote Pootlee 9 miles N. by E. same as last,
the hills some miles to the westward granitic; the pillars of a tomb at
this place are of a very fine close granite, identical with the best
Aberdeen granite; in the same range of hills there are copper mines,
worked very imperfectly, at Suhamah, about 15 miles from this; it is
principally the copper pyrites the natives work upon. There is also gold
found in this range, generally I believe in the arborescent form. 14th.--
Shunwar, 10 miles N. by E. an upturned ridge of blue clay slate which
has the appearance of a trap dyke, and which is decidedly trap in some
parts, forms the ridge at the back of which the town is built, having a
couple of round tewers built on the summit of it; to the west, the hills
about a mile off are of lime, which appears of volcanic formation ; it is
twisted and turned, and as if it were in the state of slag, with thin
layers of quartz, about % of an inch in breadth, running through it, at
about a distance of 8 to 10 feet from each other. There are crystals of
copper pyrites in it, I got also malachite, and I found in one place in
a mass of the rock a considerable lump of spathose iron, brown spar,
Carb, Fé. Thereabouts it has every appearance of rich copper. 15th.---

Correspondence. | , 557

Narnoul 14 miles north, sandy soil; the hills are some distance, but the
town must be built from them, and presents in every wall clay slate, mica
slate, quartz, limestone, gneiss, and granite, indifferently used. 16th.---
Nagul 10 miles north ditto. 17th.---Bhowanee 14 miles N. by E. the rock
is here generally quartz with asmall portion of hornblende in it. 18th.---
Doodha 9 miles NNE. rock ditto. 19th.---Dadree 9 miles N. by E. 3 E.
same formation. 2lst Munhiervo 10 miles, course NNW. light sandy
soil, no rock, country very level. 22d.---Burra Rawanee 8 miles, level
country, all same course NNW. 4 W. Chota Bowanee, course NW.
soil more clayey. 24th.---Hansi, country the same, bearing rich crops
along the canals, with which the immediate neighbourhood is in-
tersected.

| ty . °
Date. | Day. |Night.] Date. | Day. |Night.| The Thermometer in tent, highest
Oct. | 870 |} 800] Nov.

16 | 92 | 62 Mipalhs Bary | 82 during the day and lowest during the

17 | 92 | 62 Bisih) Bb ia] 08 night, in the sun it sometimes rose to

18 | 93 | © | 5 | 92 | 58 |101° not above 1020. It may fall a

ia | 96 |} 55-} 6 | 90 | 52

males 7 | 87 | 54 | degree or two lower than what I have
8 | 89 | 64 ?

21 | 95 | 63 9 | 89 | 53 |marked for night, as we march gene-

22 | 95 | 63 | i? | 8 | 28 |rally at 4 o’clock a. m. and it is then
ee 2 a 12 rail 23 |at the lowest it has been during the
os; | 95 | 6¢ | is | 91 | 24 | Bight, and certainly falls steadily until
26 | 94 | 65 daybreak at least, though on the whole
27 | 95 | 64 | 18 | 80 | 55 |] would not allow above 30’ difference
Pome Ga se Sa | ee

20 | 89 | 54 | between 4 a. m. and the coldest time of
29 | 94 | 63 | 21 | 84 | 51 °
30 | 93 | 6s | 22 | 82 | 60 | the morning.

31 93 62 24 77 51

Extract of a letter from Cart. Tuos. Hutton, dated Cpe a0, 12th sea
tember, 1840.

This country (Affghanistan) I believe has hitherto been pronounced
destitute of zoological novelties; believe it not,---there are forms well
worth the naturalist’s attention, and I am preparing papers on several
interesting subjects; the want of my books of reference however is a
drawback to the completion of any at present. We have two species
of wild goat, to which, as I believe them to be undescribed, I have
assigned the names of “ Capra collaris,” and ‘“ Capra megaceros.” The
wild sheep is also most interesting, and I think will prove to be the
proper “ Bearded Sheep” of Pennant. It is entirely distinct from the

558 Correspondence.

species which the French naturalists discovered near Cairo, and which
Cuvier and Desmarest have considered to be Pennant’s Bearded sheep, and
have placed in our systems as the Ruffled Mouflon ( Ovis tragelaphus oy
as mine is distinct from it I have, in order to interfere as little as possi-
ble with established names, assigned to the Afghan sheep the title of
Ovis cycloceros, from the circular position of its horns;---but this per-
haps I may see reason to change, when I can get access to my books.
There is also an antelope, of which at present I am loath to speak, for
fear of blundering. :

The jerboa (Dipus jaculus ) is abundant in the plains. °

There is a small species of Lagomus, on the hills.

A Gerbillus and true rat, as also a mole at Quetta, which I think may
prove to be the “ Chrysochloris asiaticus,” or Golden mole. Of this I am
not certain however as yet; there are three lynx, the common striped
hyena, the wolf, jackal, and a fox allied to Pearson’s Vulpes mottana
of the Himalaya. An otter, leopard, hedgehog, porcupine, mongoose,
and a ferret (which I also think new.) There is a hare, if not two.

In the winter, ducks and waders are abundant. Among the former,

European forms as follows :

The Mallard, Anas Boschas,
---- Golden Eye, Clangula vulgaris,
---- White Eye, Nyroca leeccophthalma,
White Goosander, Mergus albellus,
-------- Shoveler, Spathulea clypenta,
---=-- -- Teal, Anas Crecca,
The Coot, Fulica atra,

A Grebe, Pelican, Spoonbill, Brahminee Duck,
---- Snipe, Scolopax gallinago,
---- Snipe, Scolopax gallinula,
---- Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola,

Summer birds are abundant, and among them the English swallow
(Hirundo rustica) appears in immense numbers about the beginning of
March, although some are seen earlier.

The tree sparrow (Fringilla montana) is very numerous, and holds the
place of the H. domestica, or common house sparrow.

The magpie (Pica Europea) and the Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus A
the first perennial, the latter a winter visitant. The raven and the rook
(Corvus frugiligus) are also seen, the former in summer, the latter in

winter. Neophron percnopterus arrives in summer and retires in au-
tumn.

Correspondence. — 559

Several English wagtails are summer visitants, as are other birds too
numerous to mention here.

Snakes are not abundant, and very few are venomous; I only know
of two decidedly so, and one is a banded Cobra from the hills west
of the Argandab river, the other is a species common in the upper and
Western Provinces of India. There is said to be also a large Black
Cobra, but I have not seen it. Lizards are abundant, and I think in the
“Sand fish” of the Afghans, I have got a new genus, but books are
wanting to determine. The animal inhabits the desert sands which
stretch along the southern part of the Candahar district, away west-
ward through Herat into Persia; it is caught and dried, and thus sold
as a nutritious and invigorating diet. I have many curiosities in
spirits, and among others three distinct species of Scorpions, and two of
Galeodes. On the former I shall be able to write an interesting paper,
I hope when I recover my Indian specimens also.

Land and fresh water mollusca are not wanting either, and in Ento-
mology there are some English and Indian forms. Indeed the natural
objects of this country are a mixture of Tropical and European forms.
In the winter the latter, and in summer the former prevails.

The Geology of the country passed over from Dadur to Candahar is
most interesting, and furnishes some valuable facts; the secondary
strata in the Bolan Pass, have furnished me with some beautiful speci-
mens of fossils, both marine and fresh water; but of this hereafter.

Of fish there are four or five species, and as I perceive you are engag- ~
ed on the subject, I will endeavour to get you a specimen of each.
Would that I could get them for you from the Lakes of Tartary and
Thibet.

Arracan.

-We have been favoured by Lieut. Phayre with two fishes from
Arracan, one a species of Cyprinus from the Lemgoo river, the other
a kind of Pike, of which we shall take as cue) an opportunity as
possible of furnishing further particulars.

Lieut. Phayre has also favoured us with the skull of a species of
goat-antelope, which inhabits the forests of Arracan, and which is call-
ed Sha by the Burmese, who say it is not above two feet high, although
from the size of the skull Lieut. Phayre thinks it might be expected
to be much larger. On referring to specimens for which we are indebted
to Lieut. Phayre’s kindness on former occasions, we find the horns and
part of the skull of a much smaller species of the same group, Nemerhe-
dus, Plate xii. fig. 3; the latter is probably the Sha of the Burmese,

560 Correspondence.

while the large skull to which Lieut. Phayre alludes belongs to a
species at least twice the size, or as large as the Nemerhedus sum
matrensis, see fig. 2. pl. xii. That there are more species of this group in
continental India, than have as yet been identified or described, we may
perhaps infer from the circumstance that Lieut. Phayre had before
favoured us with the horns of what we should conceive to be a different
species, being much smaller, as well as from there being two heads in the
‘Asiatic Society’s collection both referrable to the same group, but one
a light reddish yellow colour, and the other blackish brown; we trust
Lieut. Phayre will be able to capture a pair of these interesting animals
for the Zoological Society's Gardens.

Lieut. Phayre mentions that wild dogs or wolves are said by the
Mugs to inhabit the Arracan mountains, but strange to say there are
no jackals, nor do the natives of Arracan know this animal, which is so
familiar to the inhabitants of Bengal. A short time since Lieut. Phayre
relates that he ventured up the river Naf, which forms the boundary
between Arracan and Bengal, and to his astonishment about the close
of the very first evening after his arrival on the boundary he and his
party heard the cry of jackals, a sound which he had nearly forgotten
during his residence in Arracan, and which the Mugs or Arracanese
who accompanied him had never heard before. Lieut. Phayre remarks
that the climate of the southern part of the Chittagong district must
be the same as that of the northern parts of Arracan, yet the Naf river
he considers is the extreme southern limit of the distribution of this
animal. Nor is it to be found in any of the Malayan provinces south
of Arracan. In addition to the above interesting observations, we are
also indebted to Lieut. Phayre for two specimens of fossil crabs, one
from the island Chaduba, and the other, which is more perfect, was
found on the sand of the sea-shore, twelve or fourteen miles north of the
mouth of the Myoo river; these specimens we hope to describe more
fully on a future occasion. What we have now particularly to notice,
is the fossil tooth of a monstrous species of shark of the genus Carchari-
as, Cuv. which we have figured plate xi. fig. 4. To show the vast dif-
ference of size between the fossil and a recent species of the same
genus we have also figured 4 a, the corresponding tooth of an individual
four and a half feet long, a comparison with which will show what a vast
difference of size exists between the fossil and the existing species; for
although the latter attain a great size, yet we can hardly conceive the
difference to be so immense as the comparison of the teeth seems to
indicate.

The jaw of a species of Scyllium with which we have been favoured

Correspondence. — 561

by a friend, measures 114 inches wide, from which we may suppose the
body could not have been less than 10 feet long. The length of its
largest teeth is scarcely one inch, yet as each tooth is an inch in
breadth, with sharp cutting serrated edges, it must have been a fright-
ful monster, particularly when we recollect that there are 22, vertical
rows of teeth, and 12 in each row, making a total of 264 teeth. How-
ever formidable such an animal must be, yet it sinks into insignifi-
cance when compared with one whose single tooth is equal in volume
to twelve of the largest teeth of the Scyllium, just alluded to, whose jaws
are twelve inches broad.

The fossil tooth has a perfectly recent appearance, the only injury it
appears to have received is the loss of the point, which is broken off;
before this accident happened the length of the tooth could not have
been less than 2% inches, while the breadth is 14; the edges are sharp
and serrated, thickness from the inner to the outer surface half an
inch. We found the base of the tooth below the enamel only afford
10 per cent. of animal matter, while the corresponding part of the tooth
of the large Scyllium contained about 67 per cent. of animal matter,
and it is for this reason alone that we regard the former as fossil, for
the enamel is as perfect, and the marks of dentition are as fresh look-
ing upon it as on a recent tooth. The individual to which it belonged
must have corresponded very closely with the white shark found in the
Bay, whose tooth, fig. 4 a, though comparatively minute, corresponds
almost exactly with the fossil.

These gigantic teeth are found on the sea-shore of the Arracan coast,
10 or 12 miles north of the Myoo, along with the fossil crabs, and are,
says Lieut. Phayre, called by the natives Moo-gyo-Rhyouk, or lightning
stones. Further researches in that neighbourhood it is probable will
lead to the discovery of some great fossil deposit.

Plants resembling Thea viridis, in Arracan and Tipperah. We were fa-
voured by Capt. Bogle, the Commissioner of Arracan, some time since with
the leaf of a plant which is found in that province, and which the na-
tives believe to be the tea plant. We have also been favoured by Mr.
Wise, of Dacca, with a similar leaf of a plant in the Tipperah hills, of
which the natives prepare a tea which they use. We have seen so
great a difference between the leaves of the veritable tea plant itself, as
to render it impossible to decide in such cases from the leaf alone ; as far
as can be decided from the leaves in question, we are inclined to regard
neither of them as the tea leaf, but from their appearance we should

562 Correspondence. —

suppose them to be the leaves of a camillia, or false tea. In neither of
the leaves in question do the veins setting off from the midrib form so
acute an angle as is observed in the leaves both of the true and false tea
plants of Assam. ‘This difference is more perceptible in the Arracan
leaf than in that of the Tipperah plant, but the anastomoses of the
veins round the margin of the leaf in both is far Jess distinct than in
the Thea viridis, or true tea plant.

Naptha and Petroleum. Capt. Bogle, the Commissioner of Arracan, has
reported to the Coal and Mineral Committee the existence of several
springs of these minerals at a place called Paidong, about 5 or 6 miles
distant from Ramree, 2 or 3 miles distant from the Cheduba roadstead,
with a good road all the way ; the wells are about 8 or 10 fathoms deep,
and around them the surface is scantily covered with stunted jungle.
Three wells yield about 10 or 12 maunds of Naptha in three months.
Captain Hannay also reported to the Committee the existence of several
springs of petroleum in Assam, and Mr. H. Inglis has also communi-
cated to the Committee the existence of springs of petroleum in Sylhet.
Samples of these have been arranged in the Committee’s collection of
useful minerals, and reports on their extent, &c. are in course of prepa-
ration.

Dr. Spilsbury has communicated to the Coal Committee intelli-
gence regarding the existence of a bed of good coal* within nine miles
of the station of Jubbulpore, at the head of the Nerbudda valley. The
coal appears to be of very superior quality, only containing about 2.9
per cent. of ashes. The situation of this bed is of great extent, and is
intermediate between that of the Hoosingabad coal brought to notice
at Bombay by Major Ouseley, and the coal recently found at Kotah in
the Mirzapore district by Captain Wroughton. Dr. Spilsbury also has
forwarded information of other indications of coal occurring in various
situations in the Rewah and Nerbudda territories, but as these will
be noticed in the reports of the Coal Committee, it is not our intention
to say more on the subject here than to acknowledge the information
received, and at the same time to solicit further particulars from this
and other quarters where coal and useful minerals occur. Along with
the coal Dr. Spilsbury forwarded several specimens of substances which

* We were indebted to Capt. Ludlow for the first specimen of this coal, which induced us to
write to Dr. Spilsbury for particulars regarding it.

Correspondence. 563

he observes were noticed as fossils in the “ Madras Spectator,” and also
from a different situation several globular bodies, which have been
regarded as fossil fruits of various kinds. In addition to the specimens
received from Dr. Spilsbury we have been favoured with others from
the same quarter by Drs. Row and Drummond, as well as a very curious
form of agate, supposed to be a fossil palm. Except the last, we doubt
if any one of these bodies which we have as yet examined be of organic
origin, but as the question is one of interest, we shall on a future
occasion endeavour to examine them with more care. The substances
supposed to he alcyonites or fossil zoophytes, appear to be radiated calc
spar, which is found in two forms in the Nerbudda, namely globular, in
which the crystals extend uniformly on every side from a common
centre, which is hollow, and filled with calcareous earth, giving it the
appearance of a fruit. In other cases the radii extend in fan-shaped
clusters, so as to form portions only of the speroidal shapes, and several
of these clusters are aggregated so as to give the whole a coralline
appearance. While the former were considered to be fruits, the latter
were regarded as a kind of coral or alecyonite. The general colour of
these specimens is reddish yellow, the external surface is dull, with a
silky glimmering kind of lustre.

“ Other kinds of these fossil-like substances are spheroidal earthy
bails, one of them is labelled as follows---‘ spheroidal balls found in lime-
stone, some 6! inches in diameter with a distinct corticle, inner part all
crystallized carbonate of lime. Small hills near Jubbulpore.’ Another
is marked, from its external form, as a fossil mangoe, a third has merely
a ticket indicating the locality in which it was found, attached to it.
Its form also resembles that of a mangoe. First, as to the spheroidal
earthy balls, nothing can present a stronger external resemblance to
large fruit, and this general resemblance is further supported by the
appearance of a distinct outer rind, but when we come to examine
more closely we find the part within the rind to be composed of coarse
and fine pebbles imbedded in a calcareous matrix, and the rind to
consist of fine globular crystals of calespar, without any thing organic
in their arrangement more than in that of the sandstone on which
they are deposited. Some of them appear from the label above
quoted to contain radiated calcspar, perhaps such as that composing
the substances supposed to be of a coralline character. These re-
marks will apply almost equally to the substance, called fossil mangoe,
except that the outer layers enclosing the nucleus form a compact
earthy crust, either to a nucleus of sandstone or a smaller nodule
composed also of various layers as the crust itself. Some of these
earthy spheroids are more calculated to impress on the observer an idea

4D

564 Correspondence.

of their organic character than any of those previously described, from
their being composed of dark earthy, as well as light earthy particles,
more or less in alternate layers, with an intermixture of particles of
different colours, grouped so as to resemble vessels very much, particu-
larly when examined with a common lens, but with a higher power,
which ought te develop organic structure more perfectly, this resem-
blance is not confirmed ; but we shall consult Mr. Grant, whose experi-
ence in observations of this nature is equalled by few, regarding all
these specimens.

The appearances in agate are often so very deceptive, that the trans-
verse section of fossil palm would not have been received by us as fossil
had not similar specimens been identified by Mr. Grant, after much
careful observation, as the roots of palm trees. Before this point was
decided, Mr. Grant, from the want of mechanical aid in India, sent
specimens to lapidaries in England to be cut into longitudinal and
transverse slips for the microscope, and these, when compared with
the roots of certain living palms, leave no doubt as to their identity.

Remarks on Dr. Lord’s account of Affghanisthan.
[From a Correspondent. ]

By good fortune I have been able to get a sight of the reports and
papers of Dr. Lord and others regarding “ Scinde, Affghanistan, and
adjacent countries;” I say good fortune, for if the “ march of intellect,”
or the ‘schoolmaster when abroad,” had made any advance in those
mountainous regions, I would have in vain endeavoured to have accom-
plished my object, as no doubt the Gilzie chiefs would have prized
more a learned disquisition about their own country than a bag of grain,
the more so, as they might by chance have their own person, house,
horses, &c. described in glowing and enthusiastic terms.

In the immense folio work now before us, there are many interesting
and valuable articles, but in a scientific point of view those by Dr. Lord
are most worthy of notice. I shall therefore endeavour to give you
some idea of the substance of these papers ; as for extracting the cream
of them, I shall leave this to be done by abler hands; do not for a mo-
ment allow this to lead you to suppose that at present it does not abound,
this may, or may not be, as the case, or rather circumstance of the case is.
We differ however on many points, and there are many sentences very
ambiguous, I shall therefore take notice of these in order that your ex-
perience may be thrown into the balance. The first article is entitled,
Some account of a visit to the plain of Koh-i-Damun, the mining district of
Ghorbund, and the pass of Hindu Kush; with a few General Observations
respecting the structure and conformation of the country from the Indus to

Correspondence. 565

Cabul. A parallel of latitude, says he, drawn through Kalabagh, and
west of the Indus, would present a remarkable difference in the course
of mountain chains, as observed to its north and south sides. In the
latter direction the Soliman and Kala ranges, the one of which may be
looked upon as a continuation of the other, generally preserve an almost
perfect parallelism with the course of the Indus, while on the other
side, every range, and they are numerous from the Himalaya and Hindu

Kush to the salt range, inclusive, are at right angles with the direction of
the stream. In other words, the general line of the former is north and
south, of the latter east and west; it is of the latter, and the country
they include, that I would at present more particularly speak.

“Tn addition to the general course of the chains thus laid down,
there is another fact of no less importance, towards determining
the physical formation of this part of the country. When the two
mountain ranges have for some time preserved their parallel east
and west course, the northern is observed to deflect, or send off a
branch towards the south, while a corresponding deflexion or ramifica-
tion of the northern chain comes to meet it, and the plain which other-
wise would have been one continued expanse from east to west, is thus
cut into a number of vallies, the longitudinal axis of which is still in ge-
neral to be found in the same direction. If we can conceive these val-
lies to be few, spacious, and well marked towards the north and south,
while in the central, or Kohat region, they become small, numerous,
and crowded, so as to present a tangled maze, or net-work, we shall
have just a general conception of that tract of country west of the
Indus, which may be familiarly described as lying between Kabul and
Kalabagh.” The remarks here given are interesting, as they in part
confirm what we have elsewhere stated, viz. that all the principal ranges
among the Himalayas parallel with the central or high mountain
range, and that all the principal secondary, &c. valleys, are longitudinal,
or, in Other words, have a direction from NW. to SEK. as the central or
high mountain chain has, that an eye not accustomed to geological sur-
veying may be misled by the grouping of the small subordinate ranges,
to form a different idea, is easily accounted for, seeing that the individu-
al is not at all prepared to follow out the dip and strike of the different
strata, and might consider himself in a “tangled maze,” as Dr. Lord ex-
presses himself, although he might have presented before him the most
beautiful order of superposition. To the groupings of mountains, but
little attention has, as yet, been paid by geographers, even our best
maps are lamentably inaccurate ; we hope that in the map of Affehan- i
istan and Cabul, about, it is said, to be given to the world by that ac-
complished observer Major Garden, this subject will receive its due

566 Correspondence.

share of attention ; we need scarcely venture to hope---for it 1s scarcely
possible for the practised eye of this veteran officer to have overlooked
such an important matter, that the grouping of the mountains will form
the basis of his maps, and on the manner in which this department
has been executed will depend the accuracy of his labours.*

“Ind. Unquestionable geological facts, such as the structure of igneous
rocks, poured out under strong pressure, the presence of fossil shells,
&c. lead me to the belief that several, if not all, of these vallies,
(Jalalabad, &c.) were at some former time the receptacles of a series of
inland lakes, and the nature of the shells found (principally Planorbis
and Paludine) seem to indicate that the water of these lakes had
been fresh. In this manner these grand sheets of water, separated
by the mountaim deflexions before alluded to, would appear to have
occupied the entire country from Cabul to the Indus, and their
basins may now be distinguished as the plains which afford sites
to the three cities of Cabul, Jalalabad, and Peshawur. The drainage
of the basins is most tranquilly carried on by the Cabul river, which
runs along the northern edges of each, conveying their united waters
to the Indus; but in former times, when more energetic means were
necessary, the mountain barriers were burst, and the shattered frag-
ments and rolled blocks that now strew the Kyber Pass, bear testimony
to its once having afforded exit to a mighty rush of waters, while
the Gide-gulla (Jackall’s neck), or long defile east of the plain of
Peshawur, clearly points out the further course of the torrent towards
the bed of the Indus, whence its passage to the ocean was easy and
natural. While at Jamrud I had an opportunity of observing a fact
which strongly supports the idea I have ventured to propose; for a
well which the Sikhs were employed in sinkimg within their new
fort, Futehgurh, and which had already proceeded to the depth of 180
feet, had altogether passed through rolled pebbles of slate and lime-
stone---the constituents of the Khyber range of hills. But the wells of
Peshawur, generally 20 or 30 feet deep, have passed through anything
but mud and clay ‘strata. Now the fort I have mentioned is situated
at the very mouth of the Khyber Pass, and Peshawur is 12 or 14 miles
distant, towards the other extremity of the plain. If then this plain
were once the basin of a lake, into which a stream had poured through
the Khyber Pass, it is obvious that such a stream would at its very
entrance into the lake have deposited the rolled pebbles and heavier
matter with which it was charged, while the lighter mud and clay
would have floated on to a considerable distance---in other words, the

* We have since heard from our correspondent, who states that he has seen Major Garden’s
maap, Which is a highly creditable and important work.—Ep. Cab. JouRN. Nat. Hist.

Correspondence. . 567

former would have dropped at Jamrud, the latter gone on to Peshawur,
and this is precisely the fact.”

The conclusions of Dr. Lord are exceedingly plausible, and that the
tracts of country which he has marked out were originally the basins
of lakes, is not at all improbable; such was originally the case with the
valley in which the town of Bilappore on the Sutledge is built, and here
you have evidence of the lake having occupied a level some three
or four hundred feet above the present bed of the Sutledge. The
same we shall prove---and that too from incontrovertible facts, to
be applicable to a series of other valleys on the banks of that river ;
we shall also prove that the great valley through which the Sicat
river flows, whose waters are discharged into the bay at the city of
Mundi, was also in the same position, but that the time when these
lakes were emptied is geologically speaking comparatively recent, and
connected probably with those convulsions and upheavings which raised
the Sevalick or sub-Himalayan range to its present position. But we
are quite at a loss to make out what he means by unquestionable
geological facts, such as the structure of igneous rocks, poured out
under strong pressure, &c. :

That igneous rocks are distinguished from volcanic rocks by their
structure, by the method of their formation, as he has mentioned, and
also in not presenting any crater of eruption, is generally known. But
he does not inform us whether those so-called igneous rocks have been
the means of causing those convulsions which converted these lakes
into valleys ; if so, then they (igneous rocks) must belong to an epoch
of comparatively recent date, because he mentions the presence of
fossil shells belonging to the genera Planorbis and Paludine, both of
which belong to the tertiary series, and many species of which are now
in existence. If then he met with these shells imbedded in a rock
upraised by the “igneous rocks,” thus,---

~

a Igneous rocks.

Reg

a 6 Lacustrine depasits,

\ “ containing Planorbis, &e.
\

he is entitled to infer that the eruption of “igneous rocks” took |
place posterior to the deposition of the fresh water deposits, as the
shells mentioned have only been met with in deposits of this descrip-
tion. If again, on the other hand, he found the lacustrine formation in

568 , Correspondence.

a horizontal position at the line of junction, then he was entitled
to infer that the “igneous rocks” were erupted anterior to the deposi-
tion of the lacustrine formation; for if it had taken place after the de-
position, then both the position of the strata and the structure of the
rock at the line of junction, would have been altered. To pay attention
to these two circumstances is of the utmost importance, in order to —
ascertain the relative ages of the Neptunian and Plutonian or volcanic
rocks, and we would therefore direct particularly the attention of Dr.
Lord and Capt. H. Drummond, the latter of whom is now engaged in
making a geological survey of Cabul and Affghanistan, to these points.

Ne
ie b
aS a Igneous rocks.
—— SS
¢ a ja paneraiaane 6 Lacustrine deposits.
3 :
\ )
‘

3rd. ‘Connected with these three basins, and joining that of Cabul al-
most at a right angle from the north, is the plain of Koh-i-daman (the
mountain’s skirt) which stretches away to the very foot of Hindu Kush,
and gives exit at its northern end to four several routes,* by which
that chain may be passed. It is an extensive and fertile plain, bounded
on all sides by primitive hills, those to the north-east and south being
chiefly of slate, including all the gradations from clay to mica, and
even at times closely bordering upon gneiss, while the ridge to the
west shews at the base granite, and it is at the base and along the
windings of this, that occur the vineyards, orchards, and gardens of
Shuterdarra, Istalif, and Isterkhech, so famed in the commentaries of
the Emperor Baba.”

On the first day’s march towards the plain above mentioned, he says---
‘<The trees had already put on their autumnal tint. The mountains ex-
hibited the grandest varieties of light and shade. Clouds still lingered
amongst their inequalities, and rested here on a spiral cliff, there on a
lengthened streak of snow, which deep in a ravine had resisted the whole
force of the summer’s sun. The dead nettle, the thistle, the dog-rose
covered with hips, the may-flower, glistening strawberries, the wild mint,

* From a point towards the centre of the plain (Dush-i-Bagram) I found the bearings of these
four passes as under—

Punjthan, wee aan es a N.
Ghutuh, at os ao aoe N.W.
Purwon, ae oc ssc acca! NO Ve

Goorbund eae aco “5 eee 00 NG Wis

Correspondence. 569

fennel, lavendar, and a thousand other well known plants, perfumed the
air, or recalled our recollections to our native land. The morning was
calm, grey, and autumnal. We were filled with a tranquil pleasure.

“ Tt struck us not a little singular, that amidst so great a profusion of
vegetables, animal life seemed all but totally extinct, a few magpies, spar-
rows, and pigeons, with an occasional chikor ( Tetrao rufus) were the sole

‘representatives of the winged tribes, as were a small lizard and a frog of
the reptiles. The greater number we were told had emigrated for the
winter towards the warmer regions of Jalalabad and Peshawar, and even
some, as the Kulung or Indian crane, to the plains of Hindostan. The
thermometer in our tents at this time, ranged between 45° and 65° Fahr.”’

In regard to the migrations of birds throughout Asia, we know
nothing, and this department presents a wide and interesting field for
investigation. The magpie mentioned by Dr. Lord, is identical, with
the Pica vulgaris of Europe. What the sparrows and pigeons are we
cannot say, but his chikor, erroneously named Tetrao rufus, is, if iden-
tical with the chikor of the Himalayas, the Perdix chukar, (Gould.)
Having spent a few days on the lower hills, but finding that the snow
had commenced to fall above them, they were forced to hurry on, or
relinquish for a season their attempt to reach the Hindu Kush.

“The entrance,” says he, “‘of the Ghorbund Pass, which we meant to
penetrate, was but 4 or 5 miles ina N. W. direction from the town of
Charikar, but though the foot of the mountains was thus near, the
road through them was no less than 50 miles in length before it
led us to the top of the pass over Hindu Kush, by which the great
Caravans from Tartary or Turkhistan annually arrive in Cabul. As
the Usbeks at the other side of the pass are notorious slave dealers,
secrecy and dispatch were alike advisable; accordingly on the morn-
ing of the 18th October, equipped as Affghan horsemen, and accompani-
ed by four mounted attendants, and a guide to whom alone we had
entrusted our plan, we marched from Charikar, and halting an hour
at noon to rest the horses, succeeded by sunset in reaching Gherikze,
the last inhabited spot at this side of the pass, from which however it
was distant 18 miles.”

The summit of the pass Dr. Lord found to be composed of syenitic
granite, resting upon it gneiss, which was succeeded by mica slate and
clay slate, all of which passed imperceptibly into each other. At Sokht-
i-chenar he found imbedded in the gneiss a large and valuable bed of
sparry iron ore, which however is not worked; the iron afforded by this
ore is admirably adapted for making steel. In the mica slate, immedi-
ately over the entrance of the pass, and on the very summit of the
mountain, he found a small vein of silver ore, of but little value; he

570 Correspondence.

was informed however that there was a much richer vein in the pass
of Pungshur, which is said to have been worked to a SE extent in
the time of the Ghazatais. be

The height of the pass was calculated to be about 15,000 feet above
the level of the sea. Here they were informed by the natives that
individuals are frequently seized with giddiness, faintness, vomiting, and
symptoms exhibited sometimes by travellers in ascending Mont Blanc. —
Even at Simla many individuals labor for some time under the rarefac-
tions of the air, in a short time however they become habituated to it.

Associated with the gneiss, mica slate, and clay slate mentioned,
limestone in many places is to.be met with, and near to Mydan of a
pure white colour fit for statuary purposes, and this same limestone is
said to extend west to Herat, and south to Candahar. Till the time of
the Emperor Shah Jehan this marble was unknown, he having received
his information from a Herati marble cutter, not until however he had
brought from a great distance, at immense expense, a large portion of
the marble required in the construction of the mausoleum to his great
progenitor Baber. Secondary limestone is also met with in many loca-
lities. ‘‘ But,” says Dr. Lord, “to attempt a generalization more exten-
sive perhaps than I am strictly warranted in offering, though derived
from many sections, in various directions, I would say, that an observer
in passing south, from the top of Hindu Kush, the parallel of Kalabagh,
would see first a core of granite (syenitic granite) with coating of slate
as in the grand mountain chain, next a core of slate with a coating of
limestone, as at Attock and Khyrabad, then hills of ancient limestone,
now blue, and now fossiliferous, as in the ridge between Peshawar and
Kohat, then a core of more modern limestone (fossiliferous) with a
coating of new red sandstone, as in the hills south of Kohat, and then
would find himself amongst aluminous clay, sulphur, gypsum, bitumi-
nous shale (bituminous marl slate) and rock salt, which occurs near
Lachi, Ismael, Khyt, and Tiri.”

ee ; Hindu Kush
so : 3 Primitive series.
Wh A P Carboniferous.
LOVEE : Pp : G Saliferous series.
‘ i. ‘ Ve ie a Granite.

6 Mica slate.
ais teh cre a Sree Iie ec Clay slate.
er d Limestone.

ut e Secondary limestone.
ay 5 uk Ff New red sandstone.
\ g Bituminous marl slate.
Fi GANG as hk Gypsum.
‘ 2 Rock sait.

This rough section will explain Dr. Lord’s views.

Correspondence. — 571

At Layagard the mountains presented:to Dr. Lord a very extraordi-
mary appearance, which he thus describes---“ The hitherto uniform tints
of the mountain were soon to be variegated with red, green, and ashen
grey, which on examination we found to be produced by ochre, red in-
durated clay, decaying green-stone, and strata of volcanic ashes. These
indications of ancient volcanic action, carried along with them efflores-
cence and sheets of sulphate of lime, the deposits of springs which had
whitened large tracts on the side of the range extending westward
as we continued our course to Chandi, the volcanic indications being
generally at an inconsiderable elevation, and in most instances capped
by conglomerate, or beds of clay, to a depth of 50 to 200 feet ; the valley
we were told stretched away west and south-west, until it nearly reach-
ed to Bameean, but the upper end of it was inhabited by the Kaikh Ali, a
lawless tribe of Hizarahs, who acknowledge no ruler, and rob every one
that comes within their grasp, so that for along series of years this
road has been closed to the traveller and the merchant; we were there-
fore obliged to terminate our researches at Chandi, but it gave me no
little pleasure, on a subsequent journey, to recognise the very same vol-
canic indication with basalt and amygdaloid superadded in the vale of
Tohak, which is distant about 40 miles SW. from the point where we were
now to turn back, and to trace these indications through Topchi up to
Bameean itself, and finally to identify by its mineralogical characters,
as well as by its geological connexions, the conglomerate from which
the caves of Bameean are scooped, and its gigantic idols carved, with
the conglomerate of the vale of Ghorbund.

Here we think Dr. Lord has fallen into an extraordinary error in
considering the “ ashes,” as he calls them, to be volcanic. From the
account he has given, we are led to suppose that these so-called ashes
are nothing but decomposed claystones, claystone porphyries, and
claystone tuffas. We have frequently examined the Pentland hills in
Mid Lothian, Scotland, in company with individuals who were well
acquainted with the volcanic district of Auvergne, &c. and who remarked
the similarity between the decomposed claystones, porphyries, and
tuffas of the former, with the volcanic tuffas and ashes of the latter.
In the Pentland hills you have the claystone tuffa, which in many
places is much decomposed, passing into claystone porphyry, and it
into felspar porphyry or compact felspar, and these again are associ-
ated with amygdaloid, &c. and all bursting through or displacing
the Neptunian strata, which consists of greywache, greywache slate,
clay slate, old red sandstone, conglomerate, and sandstone. But before
we can be correct in our premises, we must see a collection of rocks from

Ak

572 Correspondence.

the places mentioned by Dr. Lord; probably however the learned Geolo-
gical Committee of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Calcutta,
whose zealous exertions deserve every commendation, will be able to
settle the point, seeing that as they have manufactured a geological
map of the whole of India---they might as well daub with brown, blue,
grey, or with as many party colours as they like, a map of the country
west of the Indus. We hope and trust that the /abours of the Committee
will not be thrown away, and that the Society will soon publish this
laudable undertaking. It matters not whether some of the members
of the said Committee, as has been reported, do not know the differ-
ence between clay ironstone, and coal, without an analysis has been
resorted to! and even when that has been undertaken, the specimen re-
mains a nondescript! that is a trifle---30 some individuals may think.

We shall only notice one other paragraph of Dr. Lord’s paper.
“‘ Temperature of wells,’ says he, “ as generally taken, without refer-
ence to the formation in which they occur, must needs be a most imper-
fect, indeed erroneous method of approximating to the mean tempera-
ture of the place, inasmuch as different rock formations, like different
metals, vary much in their powers of conduction. Thus a well at
Peshawur gave me a temperature of 640° while one at Attock, almost —
under the same parallel of latitude, and the same altitude above the sea,
was as high as 78°, the thermometer at sunrise of each standing at
about 80°; but the well at Peshawur was in a loose clay mixed with
vegetable mould---a notoriously bad conductor of heat, while that at
Attock was in hard black slate; which would thus appear to have a
very different quality; again, a well at Akroford, in limestone, latitude
350 N. shewed a temperature of 540 F., while another in slate, a few
miles further north, stood at 480 ---the altitude of both being nearly
equal, and the thermometer at sunrise below the freezing point; so that
in this instance also the slate would appear to have had superior
powers of conduction.”

From the above observations it would appear that Dr. Lord is not
at all awareofthe attention that has been paid to this subject for some
years past, in Europe. In Professor Bischoff’s admirable work* on the
temperature of hot and thermal springs, “the unequal power of conducting
heat, possessed by different rocks, causes differences in the progression of the
increase of temperature towards the centre of the earth,” is ably treated in
the 16th chapter, and of which the sentence in italics is the title.

* First published in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1837 and 38, and since
reprinted.

Correspondence. . 573

Fox* observed im a mine in Cornwall that thermometers sunk into a me-
talliferous vein, stood in general 2:25 higher than when placed in holes
bored in the rock, particularly granite, and that tin veins usually shew-
ed themselves colder than copper. From observations made in the
Prussian Mines, Von Dichen} has proved that the increase of tempera-
ture is, in general, much more rapid in metalliferous mines, but whe-
ther this is owing to the decomposition of the iron pyrites and coal, or
the locality of the mine, he does not decide. Condier also mentions, in
his observations on mines, the great influence of a metalliferous zone on
the subterranean temperature, owing to its superior conductibility of heat.
_ Professor Forbes has long been engaged in Scotland in carrying on a
series of experiments, in order to shew the relative powers of conduc-
tions of each rock. It has also engaged the attention of the British
Association, and Arago§ considers this phenomenon of such import-
ance, as to state that its further investigation would not only serve to
prove the existence of a superior temperature in the interior of rocks
and metalliferous veins, but would afford an additional objection to the
hypothesis supported by several philosophers, that the high tempera-
ture in mines is the result of the action of the air upon substances, par-
ticularly the pyrites, on the walls of the galleries. To prove that the
observation alluded to indicates a more important source of heat in the
interior, he adds two mathematical formule from Fowrier’s Theorie de la
Chaleur, from which it follows that, ceteris paribus, the temperature of the
mass of a lode which is in contact with the atmospHere is greater, the more
easily heat is conveyed into the interior of the mass. There is however a
certain depth throughout the whole earth, varying from 40 to 100 feet,
where the temperature is invariable at all times|| and seasons, and which
differs but little from the mean annual temperature of the place above.
Thus it has been remarked that the temperature of the earth at a depth
of 90 feet in the caves of the observatory at Paris, has never in the
course of half a century been above or below 53° Faht. which is only 200
above the mean annual temperature of the city. “‘This zone,” remarks
Mrs. Somerville,{] “‘unaffected by the sun’s rays from above, or by the
internal heat from below, serves as an origin, whence the effects of the
external heat are estimated on one side, and the internal temperature
of the earth on the other.” By experiment it has been proved, that for

* Annal de Chimic de Phys. vol. xvi. p. 80.

+ Poggend, Annal. vol. xxii. p. 497. ‘

< Mem. de l’Acad. Royal des Sciences des Paris, vol. vii. p. 473.

§ Bischoff. loco citato, p. 126.

|| Transactions of the Association.

{ Phillip’s Geology, vol. ii. p. 231, and Mrs. Somerville on the Physical Sciences, p. 266.

574 Correspondence.

every 80 or 100 feet of perpendicular descent beyond this limit, we gain
lo Faht. which ratio of heat would render the hardest substances fusi-
ble at little more than 300 miles of descent, and thus shewing that our
earth is a mere crust surrounding a vast globe of liquid fire. The ar-
guments pro and con have been ably discussed by many authors, so that
we need not allude to them at present. We must now conclude our
notice, but shall probably take another opportunity of examining Dr.
Lord’s papers further.

As we were just finishing this article, the melancholy intelligence
of the death of Dr. Lord reached us. Our remarks we send for pub-
lication, in order that the attention of others may be drawn to the
subject. In Dr. Lord, the Honorable Company have lost an able,
zealous, and accomplished officer, whose talents promised to have raised
him, ere long, to a most prominent place. Some of his actions may
‘have been condemned, and they may or may not have been injudicious
for aught we know, but in what place, in what society, will you find it
otherwise; a talented, bold, and enterprising officer, raised by merit, is
always exposed to the shafts of envy. To the medical profession of
India, Macneil and Lord, in these stirring times, form bright ornaments,
and a beacon, as it were, by which others may mark out their career, as
in them we have examples of meritorious service receiving its due re-
ward. If however Dr. Lord’s career has been but short, it has been
brilliant, and his death though sudden, has been honorable. To him
the scientific world are deeply indebted, seeing that, until he visited
those countries, their structure was quite unknown. From, however,
the short time that he was there, and the important duties he had to
fulfil, he has still left a vast field to be explored, and whoever enters
on the investigation with the same energy, resolution, and enthusiasm,
cannot fail to be amply rewarded for his trouble.

October, 1840. M. A.S. B.

Hew Publications.
Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, July, 1840.

In an excellent article in the number of the Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal, July 1840, on Phenomena necessary
to be acquainted with in Preliminary Mining, Professor Mohs
states that mining districts usually lie between two or more
mountain groups, or constitute a portion of them. A know-

New Publications. 575

ledge of the external form of mining districts, though not
without its value in the search for useful minerals, is never-
theless not altogether to be relied upon, as phenomena occur
within a short distance to support, as well as contradict,
known rules. The Professor first explains the peculiarities
of granitic structure, together with the structure of slate
rocks, and next points out the peculiarity of classes and
formations, and the relations of these amongst themselves,
together with their subordinate members, as porphyries,
syenites, greenstones, and limestones. The paper is to be
continued, and as the part which has appeared scarcely dif-
fers from the geognostical views of Professor Jameson, pro-
posed to the Wernerian Society in 1813, we need not dwell
on them in this place.

The next paper is on Danish Oyster Beds, by M. Kroyer,
from which we learn that oyster beds are not essentially
elevated portions of submarine land, or rocks. Oysters at-
tach themselves by their valves to loam, sand, or mud,
either of which answers equally well, only on such banks
the oysters must necessarily lie loosely, or merely attach
themselves to each other’s shells, thus appearing in clusters.
We must therefore be prepared to tolerate this incon-
venience, in such oysters as may, out of consideration for
the good people of Calcutta, establish a settlement within an
available distance of the city.

The third article is'a short notice by M. H. von Meyer,
of a Fossil Passerine Bird, about the size of a lark, ina slate
supposed to be of the age of the chalk, which is the more
valuable, perhaps, as M. Meyer himself had long doubted
the existence of birds in formations antecedent to the ter-
tiary series, having referred many of the so-called bones
of fossil birds to Pterodactyles, in whose bones M. v.
Meyer discovered air cells as in those of birds.

The fourth article from Dr. Holland’s work on the Influ-
ence of Weather on Disease, is interesting, but too long to
quote, nor do we see any thing in it either new or curious to

576 New Publications.

condense or distinguish. The paper is divided into sections ;
viz. temperature, moisture, pressure, and electricity of the
atmosphere in relation to disease. ,

The fifth article, on the Colouring Matter of Red Snow, by
R. J. Shuttleworth, Esq. is curious. The author learnt that
some patches of snow near the Hospice du Grimsel, where
he happened to be at the time with several distinguished —
naturalists, were red, and proceeded to examine these appear-
ances, and found them to depend on the presence of various
undescribed infusoria, which are destroyed by heat at a few
degrees above the temperature of snow, and with them a
kind of Algze, Protocuccus nivalis, which served to afford
them nourishment.

Sixth, a paper translated from the Comtes Rendus, on the
Mollusca of the Schelles and Amirantes Islands, in which the
services of M. Dufo, who visited those Islands for the purpose
of investigating their living mollusca is pointed out by MM.
Dumeril, Milne, Edwards, and Blainville.

Seventh, a summary of the discussions arising from M.
Mandl’s recent publication on the Hair and other Tegumen-
tary Coverings. The most interesting remarks elicited on the
occasion were those relative to the art by which the Chinese
are capable of permanently changing the colour of hair.
M. l?Abbe Imbert, now favourably known by his account
of the Chinese method of sinking artesian wells, or spouting
fountains, was remarkable in Paris before his departure to
China for glaring red hair. On arrival at his destination,
those interested in his success, to prevent his detection
as a stranger among people universally black-haired, sub-
jected him to a constitutional and internal treatment, by
which the hair became permanently black. Another mis-
sionary whose locks became grey before he was allowed to
hold intercourse with the inhabitants, was on his arrival in
the celestial empire subjected to medicinal treatment, by
which his hair was also changed into a permanent black.

Kigth, on the lake of Zirknitz in Carniola. 'Two large

New Publications. 577

caverns at the foot of one of the mountains of the Julian alps,
of which wonderful narrations have been given in the older
works of Sartori, Valvassor, &c. which it is the object of M.
Knopfer, whose paper is noticed, to correct. The basin
of the lake is surrounded by mountains, so that the waters
rushing into it could find no exit but for the loose and
perforated limestone through which it forces a subterranean
passage. When the water entering the lake is lessened, as
in the dry summer months, the discharge being always the
same, the lake falls. If at this time there should be storms
or continued rain, the lake rises. The monks of Freudenthal
in the seventeenth century, who like most people of the
present day were fond of fish, and to whom the perio-
dical drying up of the lake was particularly inconvenient,
prevented this by covering the opening with an iron grat-
ing on which they placed slabs of stone: in this manner
they often succeeded in keeping the lake filled for several
years, until the dissolution of the fraternity, when the lake
was. left to ebb and flow its own way. M. Knopfer says,

“That when he obtained a view of the village of Zirknitz, and the
small towns lying around it in the plain, he looked in vain for a sheet
of water resembling a lake, he could only see on the opposite hills
a longitudinal white stripe, which at a distance has the aspect of a
sandy steppe. This was in fact the deep bed of the lake, in which the
small quantity of water remaining behind flowed in separate large chan-
nels like artificially formed canals (which rendered impossible an ascent
for any great distance,) towards several larger openings, into which
it fell with a rumbling noise. Two of these breaches were distinguished
by their size and considerable depth. Several, perhaps all, of these
passages for water, might soon unite in their subterranean course into
one and the same canal, or might soon again separate, according as the
power of the water could, by its natural pressure, form passages in the
weathered and perforated beds of limestone. Eventually the water
again makes its appearance in Freudenthal, near Ober-Laibach, from
copious springs, and forms, by being united in a channel, the river
Laibach, which, with exception of the time during which the lake is
dry, is navigable at its very source.”

573 New Publications.

The next paper we may notice is that of Dr. Barry,
a continuation of his researches on Embryology. Being
aware that observations alone do not suffice in researches of
this nature, unless extended to the very earliest stages, he
again directed his attention particularly to the ovum while
it still remained within the ovary, and he has found that the
germinal vesicle is the essential portion of the ovum. This
vesicle becomes filled with cells after fecundation, and these
multiply till the vesicle becomes opaque. Dr. Barry details
the various stages by which this change takes place.

It was shewn, he remarks,

* that in the production of the embryo out of a nucleus, layer after layer
of cells come into view in the interior, while layers previously formed
are pushed further out, each of the layers being so distinctly circum-
scribed as to appear almost membranous at its surface. The same
membranous appearance presents itself at the surface of the several
layers of a nucleus in many situations. Further, in the formation of
the embryo, a pellucid centre is the point around which new layers of
cells continually come into view ; a centre corresponding to that giving
origin to similar appearances in every nucleus described in the present
memoir. It was shewn that in the embryo this mysterious centre is
present until it has assumed the form of the cavity, including the sinus
rhomboidalis, in the central portion of the nervous system.

“The process above described, as giving origin to the new being in the
mammiferous ovum, is no doubt universal. The author thinks there is
evidence of its occurrence in the ova of batrachian reptiles, some osseous
fishes, and certain of the mollusca; though the explanation given of
these has been of a very different character. It has hitherto been usual
to regard the round white spot, or cicatricula, on the yolk of the bird’s
egg, as an altered state of the discus vitellinus in the unfecundated
ovarian ovum. So far from thinking that such is the case, the author
believes the whole substance of the cicatricula in the laid egg to have
its origin within the germinal vesicle, in the same manner as in the
ovum of mammalia. ¥

“The author shews that neither the germinal vesicle, nor the pel-
lucid object in the epithelium, is a cytoblast. He suggests, that the
cells into which, according to his observations, the nucleus becomes
resolved, may enter into the formation of secondary deposits, for
instance, spiral fibres, and that they may contribute to the thickening
which takes place, in some instances, in the cell membrane.

New Publications. 579

“The germ of certain plants passes through states so much resem-
bling those occurring in the germ of mammiferous animals, that it is
not easy to consider them as resulting either from a different funda-
mental form, or a process of development which, even in its details
is not the same as what has been above described; the fundamental form
in question in mammalia, and, therefore, it may be presumed, of man
himself, being that which is permanent in the simplest plants, the single ~
isolated cell.”

On the frequency of storms in the Polar Regions. M. v.
Baer, whose description of animal life in Nova Zembla we
have given in page 272, during his travels in the extreme
north of Europe in 1837, extended his observations to the
peculiarity of storms in ‘those regions, where M. Arago in
his work on thunder states beyond the 75° N. latitude
thunder is never heard, either in Islands or in the wide
Ocean. M. v. Baer remarks, that no one knew better than
M. Arago that the further we are from continents the more
rarely do we encounter thunder storms at sea; but no
northern latitude ever yet attained by man is so free from
thunder that it has not been heard by some passing tra-
vellers, whose records have been overlooked by M. Arago,
who, M. v. Baer remarks, confined himself chiefly to the
reports of English navigators, and consequently formed his
conclusion on too narrow a basis. M. v. Baer remarks that
it thunders at Spitzbergen, though rarely ; and he himself wit-
nessed a thunder storm beyond the 73° in Nova Zembla, and
the Journals of the hunters of the walrus contain many accounts |
ofthunder. ‘Thunder is moreover of frequent occurrence in
the northern and southern parts of Iceland, although not so —
common as in other parts of Europe of the same latitude, but
it is rarely known on the western side of the peninsula. In
Greenland thunder is still more uncommon, but is sometimes
though seldom, heard in America. On the coasts of Hudson's
Bay, thunder storms have been witnessed, though less fre-
quently than at Archangel and similar latitudes in Europe,
which leads M. Baer to conclude that thunder storms are in-

4 F

580 New Publications.

fluenced by isothermal, or still more by isotheral lines, ra-
ther than degrees of latitude. .

We may here remark with reference to the desiderata of
our correspondent on this subject, page 497, that India affords
an excellent field for deciding this question, were meteorolo-
gical registers simultaneously kept at different points from
Cabul to Ceylon, exhibiting the duration and number of
thunder storms in a given number of years at each place.*

Notice of elevated Sea-Beaches, by Allan Stevenson. The
notice refers to two ancient raised beaches in the isle of
Mull, one 25 and the other 40 feet above the level of the sea.

On the difference of level between the Dead Sea and the Me-
diterranean. Professor Schubert, Messrs. Moore, Beek, and
Berton were each separately and simultaneously employed
on this problem, when the last Russian expedition was oc-
cupied in its solution. Professor Schubert fixes the eleva-
tion and depression of various points as follows :—

The edge of the mountains of the upper valley of the
Jordan he found to be 850 above the sea. The plain of
the Jordan near Jericho 528 below the sea. Lake of Tibe-
rias 535 feet below the sea level. Northern corner of the
Dead Sea 600 feet below the Mediterranean. The above
are Parisian feet. M. Callier, from the table of Barome-
trical observations made by Berton without regard to any
great nicety, calculates the level of the Dead Sea at 1249.8
Parisian, or 1,330 English feet below the Mediterranean.
M. Callier, from the observations on the boiling point of
water by Messrs. Moore and Beek, which they found to be
216.5. Fahr. makes the depression of the surface of the

* Capt. J. Campbell, Assistant Surveyor General, Madras, has propos-
ed to keep a meteorological register in conjunction with other obser-
vers in various parts of India, with the view of determining this and
other questions of similar importance in meteorology. We shall be
happy to keep a diary in Calcutta, and communicate with observers in
other parts.--Ep. Can. Journ. Nar. Hist.

New Publications. 581

Dead Sea 2000 feet below the level of the Mediterranean ;
but Messrs. Moore and Beek themselves have made the
result of their observations to correspond nearly with that
of Professor Schubert. There can be no doubt, notwith-
standing these discrepancies, of a great difference of level,
the real amount of which it is to be hoped will soon be
satisfactorily attained.

The object of the last Russian expedition has been di-
rected to the difference of level between the Sea of Azov
and the Caspian; their measurements were trigonometrical
and barometrical, and the results of five different methods
vary from 73.1 to 81.3 English feet, the Caspian being the
lowest.

The next paper is a notice of Professor Schouw’s work on
the climate and vegetation of Italy, and also on the climate
of those parts of Africa and Europe, which are situated be-
tween the equator and 60° north latitude. There is also an
elaborate article in the same number by Dr. Morton, on the
erania of aboriginal races in America, in which he goes far
to establish the connexion between the intellectual capaci-
ties of the various races of mankind and the form and ca-
pacity of their crania, but without the figures of the heads
of the different tribes the paper could scarcely be under-
stood. We would propose it as an example for a similar
work on the aboriginal races of Asia, in which there is no
less diversity than amongst those of America. The laws
and customs, the languages, and crania of various native
tribes which have been brought within the influence of Bri-
tish rule in India, alone would afford an ample subject for
the anatomical philosopher. - :

582 New Publications.

Annals of Natural History, July and August, 1840.
Information respecting Botanical and Zoological Travellers.

It will give satisfaction to many of our friends to learn that letters
have been received from our valuable contributor Dr. Parnell. He
is now about to leave Jamaica, after a residence of nearly nine months,
during which time he has investigated much of the zoology of that
island. His entomological collections have suffered considerably from
insects, but in ornithology he states, ‘‘ I have been more fortunate, hay-

ing obtained 140 species in a good state, several of which are very rare,
- and two or three of them I suspect have never been before noticed. In
ichthyology I have been most successful, having obtained about 500
specimens.” At the date of his letter. (22nd March), Dr. Parnell was
about to sail for Cuba, whence he expected to return to Britain in No-
vember or December next.

We have also letters from another gentleman, T. C. Jerdon, Esgq.,
Assistant Surgeon 2nd Madras Light Cavalry, who has been for some
years resident in India in the prosecution of his profession, and has
employed his leisure time in studying the Zoology of that country,
particularly its ornithology. Our parcel contains a partial result of
researches in the latter department. in the first part of a “ Catalogue of
the Birds of the Peninsula of India, with brief Notes on their Habits and
Geographical Distribution* ; “ and notwithstanding the information con-
tained in the illustrated works of Hardwicke and Gould, and in the
valuable Catalogues and Papers of Franklin, Sykes, Hodgson, and
Eyton, several species among the Raptores are given as new. Mr. Jer-
don divides the peninsula into four great districts or divisions. Ist,
The Northern Circars, comprising a narrow tract of land (between 16°
and 20° N. lat.) from the sea-coast on the eastern side of the peninsula
to the Eastern Ghauts, by which itis separated from the Great Table-
land; 2nd, The Carnatic, including the whole of the country lying
south of the Northern Circars along the coast as far as Cape Comorin,
and bounded on the west by the Eastern Ghauts, except the Coimbotoor
district, where the eastern as well as western range is broken ; 3rd,
Western coast, including Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar, and compri-
sing a strip of land of various width lying between the sea on the wes-
tern side of India, and the range of Western Ghauts, which it in-
cludes; 4th, The great central table land, mcluding Mysore, the Bara-

* Published in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science for September 1839. The Rap-
tores.

New Publications. 583

mahl, the ceded districts (Bellary and Cuddapah), the kingdoms of
Berar and Hyderabad, the Southern Mahratta country, and the,Decan.
The species already noticed in this range are 390, and the list will
probably be extended before the completion of the catalogue, which
now reaches only to a part of the Strigide. Of the Falconide, 32 spe-
cies are noted; and among those belonging to the British list we have
_ Pandion Haliaétos, Aquila Chrysaétos, Circus cineraceus and rufus, Falco
peregrinus and tinnunculus, Accipiter fringillarius, and Astur palumbarius.
It is possible however that some of these may require a more rigorous
comparison with the birds of Europe. This part of the catalogue is
illustrated by a lithographic figure of an owl (Huhua pectoralis), very
neatly engraved; and if figures can be produced in India equal to that
now attempted, they will be of much importance in illustrating the
views of the gentlemen who may in future attend to the zoology of this
very interesting region. Our correspondent states, ‘I have 50 or 60
drawings in the same style*, drawn by myself and finished by the native
artists I kept at Trinconopoli, most of them of birds hitherto unfigured.
T shall commence sending my specimens next month, and hope by the
end of the year to have forwarded to you a series of all I have procured,
for the identification of species, &c. As you requested, I now add a few
remarks on the Indian Fox and Wolf. Canis Bengalensis, Shaw, C. Kokree,
Sykes, lives chiefly on the open plains, burrows in the ground, generally
four or five openings to the burrow, some of which communicate with
each other; others are blind: it feeds chiefly on lizards, locusts, grass-
hoppers, beetles, small snakes, and occasionally crabs and rats; runs
with remarkable speed ; the chase with greyhounds is a favourite pursuit
in India.---Canis Lupus, C. pullipes, Sykes, Wolf: hunts in small packs
and runs down antelopes and hares, seizes also sheep in a very daring
manner in daylight, and carries off young calves, goats, sheep, &c.
during nights, and not unfrequently children. It possesses great speed
and most extraordinary powers of endurance. Though often chased by
the best horsemen, unless it is gorged, it always outlasts the fleetest
horse, keeping generally 20 or 30 yards ahead at whatever pace the
rider may go. i

_ “ Dr. Krauss’s Return from Southern Africa.

It will be remembered, that about two years and a half since, Dr.
Ferdinand Krauss of Stuttgard, left England for the Cape, on his way
to explore the interior of Southern Africa, with a view to collect
objects of Natural History from those regions. He has within the last

* Specimens accompany the packet well drawn and beautifully finished.

584 New Publications.

month returned to London with his extensive collections of both ani-
mals and plants, collected principally in Natal and Amazoola land,
where he resided about twelve months ; during which period he assidu-
ously devoted the whole of his time and attention to preserving objects
in every department of natural history. The zoological collection com-
prises Mammalia, Birds, Fishes, Amphibia, Crustacea, Insects, Shells
(land, freshwater, and marine), Zoophytes, &c. The Botanical collection
comprises about 3000 species of native plants, carefully preserved, and
in most instances 30 specimens of each species ; those of Natal, amount-
ing to about 1000 species, are offered to botanists at forty shillings the
hundred; and those collected in the Cape Colony at twenty-five shillings
per hundred species. A series of the zoological and botanical collections
we understand are about to be purchased by the British Museum; the
remaining sets will be disposed of to those desirous of possessing them.

In addition to the above collections Dr. Krauss attentively examined
the geological features of the country through which he travelled, with
a view especially to record the exact position and situation of the .
coal fields, very imperfectly known to the farmers in the interior of
Africa. He has brought with him specimens illustrative of the different
formations, including the coal and fossils from the beds: we anticipate
giving a more detailed account of this traveller’s expedition in a future
Number.

Mr. Schomburgh’s recent Expedition in Guiana.

“JT have been told of eight varieties of Opossum which inhabit
Guiana, five of which have come under my notice, I have identified four
species with those described by authors, as Didelphis cancrivora, L., D.
guica, Temm., D. philander, Temm. and D. dorsigera, L. and Temm. ; but
the fifth appears to me to stand intermediate between D. virginiana and
D. Azare, Screb. Temm. It differs from the latter in the absence of
the black markings on the head, black neck, and the black and white
ears, which in the Guiana species are of a uniform black colour. If we
could reconcile the geographical distribution of D. virginiana over a
space so different in temperature, I should consider the specimen which
I am now describing a variety of that species : the circumstance that the
ears are of a uniform black would scarcely constitute a specific differ-
ence. Its body from the nose to the insertion of the tail measures 15
inches and a half, the tail 15 mches. The latter, which is prehensile,
is for the length of 3 inches clothed with thick fur, the remainder scaly
for about 4 inches, of a black colour, and afterwards white. The scaly
part is covered with a few short hairs, black on the back part, and

New Publications. 585

white for the remainder. The fore leg to the maileolus measured 3
inches, the hind leg 4 inches. The fur is of a brownish yellow, short
and silky, but intermixed with longer hair of white colour and some-
what stiff. These white hairs are along the vertebral line from 4 to 5
inches in length, intermixed with shorter silky hair, which being black
above and white beneath, give it the appearance of a black band
stretching from the head along the back to the insertion of the tail.
The fore and hind feet are of a dark mouse colour, intermingled with a
few white hairs. The ears somewhat compressed at the base, naked,
black, and about 1:2 inch in length. Round the eyes is a dark spot of
an oblong figure, but otherwise the head is almost entirely of a brown-
ish yellow. The neck is covered with the same short fur of a brownish
yellow as the belly, while in D. Azare@ it is of a black colour. The
specimen which has served me for description was shot in the neigh-
-bourhood of Georgetown, but as it was the only one of its kind which
I ever saw, I hesitate to establish it as a separate species, until I have
had opportunity of procuring individuals of the same appearance. It
is said to be very common at the coast region, and is called the white
Yawarri by the colonists, Nopu by the Warrau Indians, Yawarri by
the Arawaks and Macusis. It does great injury to the feathered stock,
and frequents the sugar-cane fields, being apparently partial to sweets.

The black Yawarri (Didelphis quica, Temm.), called so by the colo-
nists from its appearance when at rest; the hair being long and black
at the tip, but yellow towards the root. The tail is longer than the
body, clothed with hair for one-fourth of its length, the remainder
naked and scaly. Its size is that of a marten, but in its head it resem-
bles a fox, and the muzzle ends with a whitish spot. I do not possess”
an actual measurement, but I should estimate the length of its body
about twelve or thirteen inches, and the tail from fifteen to sixteen
inches. The latter, which is prehensile, is of great assistance to them
in climbing. They are very destructive to poultry and likewise to
fruit. They are often found on those savannahs where the wild pine
(Bromelia, spec.?) flourishes, to the fruit of which they appear to be
partial. Like its congeners, the female possesses a pouch in which she
carries and suckles her young until they are as large as half-grown
rats. They produce from six to seven young ata time. They sleep
during the day and hunt at night. They are sometimes eaten by the
Creoles and Indians, but as they have a rank and disagreeable smell I
doubt if they would prove palatable to us.

The Didelphis cancrivora is too well known to deserve more than a
passing remark; moreover, I am not able to add anything about its

586 New Publications.

habits, as it is more peculiar to the sea-coasts than to the interior of
Guiana.

The Yawarri cusinai of the Macusi Indians, or Picanappa of the
Warraus (Didelphis philander, Temm.) has an extensive range in Guiana.
It is met with in the coast regions as well as in the interior. It resem-
bles in size a full-grown rat; the fur, short and silky, is of a rust-
colour, lighter beneath the belly; length of the body nine inches, tail
ten inches and a half, clothed with fur for about two inches, the remain-
der naked and of a uniform brown colour. A deep furrow divides the
nostrils, and the eyes are brown and very prominent, and surrounded
by a reddish spot. Possessing all the peculiarities of its tribe, it ap-
pears to be more lively than the rest, and climbs with the alacrity of a
squirrel. Although I have seen many in the day time, I am inclined
to think that the night is their favourable time for going abroad in
search of food. I have had tame ones that slept the greater part of the
day. In their wild state they live principally on fruits and insects,
but I have been assured by the Indians that they have the art of sur-
prising small birds, and in this I am corroborated by Mr. Vieth, who
found animal food in their stomach. In a tame state scarcely any thing
comes amiss; boiled rice, yams, flesh, and fish seem equally agreeable
to them.

One of the Opossums of that species which I had in a tame state was
a female. It was kept in a bird cage of wire-work which permitted me
to watch its habits. I have already observed that it passed the greater
part of the day in sleeping, and that it fed alike upon fish or flesh. It
might have been in my possession for about a fortnight, when one
morning,* on feeding it, I observed five young ones of the size of a
new-born mouse crawling about in the cage. They were perfectly naked
and blind. The mother allowed them to crawl about and did not ap-
pear to care for them. Next morning I found only four; the fifth had
been eaten by the mother during the night ; the four remaining ones had
however returned to the pouch. The succeeding night two more were
eaten by the mother, and the last two were crawling about in a helpless
state, and the following day fell a prey to the voracity of their unnatural
mother. It is remarkable, that although I had the animal longer than
a fortnight, I never was aware that it had young ones until I found
them crawling about, and it remains now a riddle to me how the mother
could secrete them so well. I thought her with young all the time, but
had no idea that they were already in a state so far advanced. Confine-
ment no doubt was the reason of her acting so cruelly towards her
offspring. She died a few weeks after.

New Publications.. 587

The fifth species which I have observed during my journeys in
Guiana is Didelphis dorsigera, L. and Temm. It is nearly the size of the
former, its fur of a brownish-grey, the tail thin, covered with hair for
about the fifth part of its length, the rest scaly, and of a uniform brown.
The spot which surrounds the eyes is of a darker brown than in the
former, but it is distinguished chiefly in the female’s being without
an abdominal pouch, and merely provided with longitudinal folds near
the thighs, within which the young continue to suckle, or which serves
as a place of security in case of danger. I have seen this species in
a tamed state; it appeared however shy, and was fed upon milk
and bread, and plantains. They are said to be very partial to the
latter, and they frequent therefore the plantain fields in large numbers.
They produce from six to seven young ones.

An individual of that kind, which had been kept for some time in
the house where I resided during my stay in Georgetown, met with
a tragical end. I had procured two young Jabirus (Mycteria Ame-
ricana): the first exploit when landed and introduced to their new.
domicile was, that one assailed the cage which contained the opos-
sum, and having seized the poor animal with its beak, drew it by force
through the bars of the cage, and swallowed it without further hesi-
tation.

Having brought these Jabirus under the notice of the reader, I shall
leave the class Mammalia, and turn for a few moments to the Aves, in
order to indulge in a biographical notice* of these two interesting
individuals with an introductory remark on the whole tribe.

The Jabiru, or Negrokoop, as it is generally known to such of the
colonists who have seen this bird in its natural haunts, frequents the
great savannahs of the interior and the marshy environs of the rivers
Pomeroon and Guainia, where they live on mollusca, crabs, frogs, and
other amphibious animals. While at Pirara, I saw them in flocks of
several hundreds feeding at lake Amucu, or on the marshy tracts along
the Pacaraima mountains. During our stay in that village several were
shot. Their flesh is palatable, and when prepared with the necessary

¥ These notices of animals which inhabit Guiana are gleanings from my Journal, taken at
random as they occur, and without tying myself to any scientific arrangement or description.
Those who have thought the preceding observations worthy of their perusal, will be aware
that they do not pretend to scientific dissertations ; it has been my wish to make the reader
acquainted with the manners of such of the animated beings of Guiana as have come to my
knowledge and under my personal observation, disclaiming all scientific descriptions and dis-
cussions, which we will leave to a period when I may have gained by experience, and when,
not further urged by the desire of extending my travels, leisure may permit me to digest what
practical knowledge I possess.

4G

588. New Publications.

ingredients, as a steak, so strikingly resembles beef, that one unac-
quainted with the fact would pronounce it such. One was winged in
shooting at a flock, and was brought alive to us. The bill measured
13 inches; it was laterally compressed, thick at its base, and ended
rather sharply. The upper mandible was straight and triangular, the
lower rather thicker and slightly turned up. The nostrils are narrow,
as the bird seeks its food in the water; the feet with three anterior toes
slightly united by a membrane ; the hallux, or hind toe, high up on the
tarsus.

From the head to the toes, that is to say, standing upright, it
measured 6! feet, from the tip of the beak to the tail 4 feet 4 inches,
and to its end 4 feet 11 inches; from the end of the toe to the knee-
joint 14 foot, from ditto to the thigh-joint 2 feet 10 inches. Its wings
when spread out measured 8} feet; it has therefore, next to the Con-
dor, the greatest extent of wings. Its plumage is pure white; the
bill, head, and upper part of the neck are black, and with the excep-
tion of a few scattered downy feathers, quite naked. The lower part
of the neck is red, and likewise set with a few downy feathers. The
skin of the neck, but particularly of the gullet, is generally wrinkled,
but the bird can extend it. The neck measured 1 foot 10 inches. A
species of Ampulluria (guyanensis) is found in prodigious numbers in
the lakes and swamps, as well as in the rivulets which meander through
the savannahs, and it appears they constitute the chief food of the
Jabiru. In spite of their unshapely beak, they are able to remove the
operculum most admirably, and to draw the mollusc out of its shell.
I have found it difficult to procure perfect specimens of that Ampullaria
for my collections, although shells partly broken or devoid of the
operculum covered the low savannahs extensively, while in other parts
I found the opercula equally numerous, but no shells.

The Jabiru builds its nest generally on trees, sometimes on rocks.
It is constructed of dry branches, lined with a few feathers, in which
the female deposits two eggs, which are perfectly white and some-
what larger than a swan’s egg. The young ones are gray and not
roseate as has been asserted.

When the waters subside after the annual inundations, they frequent
in small groups the sand banks of the river Rupununy in search of
crustaceous animals. Nothing can surpass the gravity with which they
stalk along; their measured step and upright bearing frequently amu-
sed my military companion while on our first expedition in the interior,
who was forcibly reminded of the parade, so that he could not refrain
while passing the beach from giving these feathered recruits the word

New Publications. 589

of command, and they ever afterwards among ourselves went by the
name of his recruits. Before they rise on the wing they prepare for
their flight by taking two or three hops, by which they are the better
enabled to get on the wing. Their flight is light and graceful; and
before they alight, or when rising, they first wheel round the place in
gyral motions, either lessening or extending the circles according as it
is their intention to do the former or the latter. They soar uncom-
monly high, and might vie with the eagle. Indeed they appear some-
times as a mere speck in the air. It is a beautiful sight to see a
numerous flock on the wing; all appears confusion when they are first
disturbed and rise in the air: they cross each other in the flight, and
one would think from below they could not avoid coming in contact;
but scarcely have they reached a height of 80 or 100 feet, when order
is restored, and they begin flying in circles, rising with each circle
higher and higher. When on a more extensive journey, they fly in a
horizontal line, and change the leader like the cranes. When feeding
on the savannahs, a party is always on the alert while the others seek
for their food.

The Macusis call them Tararamu, the Brazilians Jusu, the Arawaks
Mora-CoyvasEnaa, which signifies spirit of the Mora tree (Mora excelsa,
Benth.), the Warraus Dorn.

In my former remarks I gave some account of the manners and ha-
bits of the Jabiru (Mycteria Americana), and alluded to two young ones
‘which I received while in Georgetown. They were brought to me from
‘the Pomeroon, and when keeping their neck erect they were about five
feet high. Their plumage was still gray, and they might have been
about a year old. They were so tame that I allowed them to run about
the yard, to which, however, they did not restrict their perambulations,
and they extended their walks frequently to the street. As they were
a great curiosity, they had frequent visitors; or when in the street, a
crowd collected generally around them, until annoyed by too great fa-
miliarity, they would begin to clack the under chap against the upper,
and partly spreading their wings, those unacquainted with the bird fan-
cied these to be the first preparations for a formidable attack ; and the
little knot of by-standers which had formed round opened their ranks
without further contention, and allowed them to return leisurely to the
yard. ;
I shall never forget the effect which the sight of them produced upon
a woman of colour, who no doubt had never seen a Jabiru before. The
woman with a tray on her head was walking down the street, when

590 New Publications.

one of the Jabirus came with its measured step out of the gate. At the
first sight of this gigantic bird she stared with half-open mouth at what
she must have considered a monster; at that moment the bird spread
its wings to their full extent, and changing its leisurely step into a
hop, it approached her rapidly: this was too much for her ; and throw-
ing the tray upon the ground, she fled for protection as quick as her
legs would carry her to the nearest shop, throwing together her arms
during her rapid flight violently over her head. The ridiculousness of
the scene cannot be described; it must have been seen to conceive it.
I wished I had possessed the skill of a Cruikshank, inorder to sketch
it when yet fresh in my memory.

While they were in my possession I fed them on butcher’s meat and
the offals of the kitchen. They sometimes got fish, but its high price
in Demerara did not permit me to feed them exclusively with it,
although they appeared to prefer it to any other food. When the food
was thrown in the air they caught it with great skill. They were very
voracious, and would frequently quarrel with each other for a favourite
piece.

When irritated they clacked their beaks violently, and partly spread-
ing their wings, their appearance was certainly calculated to cause
some precaution. I have seen them strike with their beak towards
the face of those who irritated them; and in one instance a wound was
inflicted, fortunately of no great moment. A dog stood no chance, as
the clattering noise and their appearance was quite sufficient to fright-
en him away. In their wild state they are fierce; and I have seen
them, although mortally wounded, defend themselves valiantly.

The season was too far advanced to send the two young Jabirus to
Europe: and as I was on the eve of my departure to the interior, I
gave them away, and am not acquainted with their fate.

All the pictures which I have seen of this bird are poor representa-
tions of it. It appears to be scarce in European museums; and the one
which is preserved in the British Museum is not only in itself a poor
specimen, but is besides so injudiciously stuffed, that it does not convey
to the spectator any true resemblance of the bird in its natural state.

The representatives of the swine in South America are the banded
or collared, and the white-lipped Peccari ; but although their form of
body, the length of the snout, and the shape of their legs are not mate-
rially different from the European swine, there are nevertheless differ-
ences, even in the outer appearance, which become evident when we
come to examine them nearer. Their body is not so bulky, the legs

New Publications. 591

\

are shorter, in lieu of the tail there is merely a short protuberance ; but
the greatest difference consists in a gland upon its back, which although
concealed, is easily perceptible from the turn of the hair around it, and
which gland secretes a liquor of a strong smell. Both species appear
to be common to Paraguay and Guiana. In the latter province, where
they have come under my notice, they are seldom met with on the
plains or savannahs, and frequent more the thick forests and swamps. |

The collared or banded Peccari (Sus Tajussu, L., Dicoteles torquatus,
F. Cuy.), the lesser of the two species, is generally met with in small
families of eight or ten, frequently only in pairs. They are of a gray
colour, that is, their hair, which is ringed alternately with black and
yellowish white, appears gray at a short distance. The belly is almost
bare, and the bristles on the sides are rather short, but they gradually
increase in length as they approach the ridge of the back, where they
form a kind of bristly mane. From the shoulders round the neck
extends a narrow collar or band of whitish hair. Their legs are short
and the hoofs long; they run nevertheless with great swiftness, and
when hunted by dogs, take refuge in a hollow tree. They feed on
seeds, particularly on those of different species of palms, which they
crack with their strong jaws, and devour the shell as well as the
kernel. They also turn up the soil like the domestic hog to search for
worms or insects, and to procure them are often and more generally
found in swampy situations: the assertions that they are only found
in mountainous parts of a country, and very seldom in lowlands or
marshes, may be correct with regard to Paraguay, but not so, as to
Guiana, where we have found them generally in marshy situations,
wallowing like our domestic hogs in quest of worms. They bear one
young at a time, rarely two, which follows the dam until it can provide
for itself.

They swim across rivers, but seldom take to the water when pursued
by dogs, as they do not dive. Indeed they are awkward in the water,
and the Indian hunter is sure of success if he can drive a herd into the
river. They are then easily killed by striking them a blow on the
nose; however, the Indian does not stop to pick them up when thus
killed ; he is well aware of the peculiarity which they share with few
animals, namely, that they float on the water, while almost every other

_animal sinks : the Indian therefore kills as many as he can, and picks
them up when he is no longer able to add to their number.

When taken young they are easily tamed, and will follow any one
they take a liking to, like a dog ; but are apt to bite and snap at those
to whom they take a dislike. They appear very fond of being scratch-

592 New Publications.

ed ; and so pleasing must this operation prove to them, that they gra-
dually lie down on the ground and give signs of their great delight by
a low grunt. _ In a tame as well as in a wild state they show the great-
est aversion to dogs; in a domesticated state their bristles rise and
they begin attacking the enemy with their tusks. When hunted they
make a desperate resistance, and severely wound dogs that are not ac-
customed to hunt them. Those which have been trained by the Indians
separate one from the herd and keep it at bay until the huntsman ar-
rives to shoot it with his arrow; the dog then sets off after the herd
again and acts in like manner. I have known a hunter with a well-
trained dog to bring three and four hogs as the fruit of his hunting ex-
cursion. The Indian who is not provided with a dog, on coming up
with a herd climbs the first tree, and begins to imitate the barking of a
_ dog ; if young ones should be among the herd, at which period they are
particularly fierce, this sound is quite sufficient to urge them to attack,
and they soon gather in numbers round the tree, threatening with
their tusks. This is the time for the Indian to discharge among them
the contents of his gun, if provided with one, and with what success
may be imagined: off sets the herd in full flight; the Indian is equally
quick to follow them, and should he be nimble-footed enough to
outstrip them and to get before the herd, he climbs another tree, and
again imitating the barking of a dog, he is sure to assemble them in
full rage around the tree, and has opportunity of firing a second shot
at them. This method is now frequently practised, where guns, and
even double-barrelled ones, are no rarity among the Indians of the
coast regions. An Arawak Indian from the Lower Essequibo nearly
paid this ruse with his life; the branch on which he sat when he was
about to fire among the incensed herd which had gathered round the
tree, broke, and he would have fallen among them if he had not caught
one of the lower branches, not high enough however from the ground
to be entirely out of their reach. His legs were almost literally torn
to pieces by their triangular tusks; still he did not let go his hold, and
kept presence of mind enough to try to swing himself upon the branch,
in which he at last succeeded. Their victim having escaped, they ex-
hausted their ire on the gun, and at length left the Indian, who in spite
of the loss of blood crawled homewards and escaped narrowly with
his life.

Their flesh is savoury, though drier and leaner than that of the
hog; but precaution must be taken soon after the animal has been
killed to cut off that part on the back which contains the glands,
otherwise it communicates a musky taste to the meat. They form

New Publications. 593

one of the chief articles of sustenance of the Indians; and as their
being hunted with a well-trained dog insures more certain success, a
dog of that description commands a good price. The Peccari is called
Apuya by the Arawak Indians, Paraxa by the Macusis, Paxrra by the
Paravilhanas, Paxirye by the Warraus.

The white-lipped Peccari or Kairuni (Dicoteles labiatus, Cuv.) is
considerably larger than the preceding, of a darker colour, and white
upon the cheeks and lips; and the hair about the head is so long that
it almost covers the ears. The young are of a chesnut colour, and
their cry resembles the bleating of a goat. Their manner of feeding
and habits in general are not different from the Peccari, but they
travel together in herds of several hundreds. They are more fierce
when hunted, and often kill the dogs that attack them by ripping them
up with their tusks; and they are also known to have attacked the
huntsman. When they once take to flight they can be followed with-
out much danger, as they seldom retain their courage or turn round
upon their pursuers. The Jaguars commit great carnage among them;
they remain generally in the rear and seize upon the last and all
stragglers; but it is asserted by the Indians, and corroborated by wood-
cutters and others who live in the interior, that the white-lipped
Peccaris frequently surround the Jaguar and tear their enemy to pieces.

Of all the rivers in British Guiana, the Berbice offered the greatest
difficulties to our ascent, either in the shape of cataracts or from
large trees, which we frequently found lying across where the river
narrowed, which either the wind or age had prostrated. Our advance
amounted on the 2nd of January (1837) scarcely to two miles, the
trees which barricaded our passage were so numerous. While we were
thus engaged in cutting through a large mora-tree, one of the Indians
who had been straying about, brought us information that a herd of
the larger Peccari were feeding at a short distance from a river. Our
guns were put immediately in requisition, and off we started.

Akuritsh, the Caribi, armed with bow and several iron-headed ar-
rows, accompanied us. I came first up with the herd and found them
in a pool of water, where they wallowed in the mire like the common
hog. One stood apart apparently as watch; and scarcely had it
perceived me, when the bristles on its back rose erect, and turning
round towards me, it began chattering with its teeth, and the whole
herd rose: not a moment elapsed, and it lay prostrated in the mud
pierced by my rifle-ball. How can I describe the bustle and the rush
of several hundred, which at the:report of the gun were seen flying in
the opposite direction! An Indian who had come up by this time shot

594 New Publications.

another, and the retreat was now complete. I had loaded again, but
hesitated to wade through the swamp, when the Arawak chieftain
Mathias, who had observed my hesitation, requested me to lend him
my rifle; I gave it him, and he started off, while I remained at the spot
where I first fell in with them. I heard four or five shots fall, appa-
rently at some distance, and while I was yet considering how many of
them might have told, I heard a rushing noise like a whirlwind approach-
ing through the bushes towards the place where I stood: the peculiar
growl and that awful chattering of the teeth, did not leave me long
in doubt as to its cause; it was evident that the herd had divided and
were coming directly towards me. I stood alone, unarmed; these were
my last thoughts; the next image which stands fixed in my memory
is, that I stood on the lower part of a mora-tree and looked down upon
a herd of about fifty Kairunis rushing by in full speed, their rough
bristles standing erect, their muzzles almost sweeping the ground, and
their white triangular tusks clapping in concert. They came and pas-
sed like a whirlwind, and before I had recovered from my astonishment,
I heard them plunge into the river to swim across. How I came on
that tree I know not; to the rapid execution of what I must have con-
sidered my only means of escape I owed my life. The other hunters
had not been so fortunate as I expected; excitement or fear made them
miss, where it would have appeared almost impossible. Including the
one which I had shot, three more had been killed with guns, and
one by Akuritsh with bow and arrow: they were a most welcome addi-
tion to our reduced Commissariat.

I had never a better opportunity of watching their proceedings
when on march than offered itself while traversing from the river
Berbice to the Essequibo. We had fallen in with the herd and shot
two, of which we took as much as we could carry, and continued our
journey. A preconcerted signal called us shortly after back to our
camp at the banks of the Berbice, where only a case of urgency could
have induced those who were left in command to fire that signal.
Anxious to learn the cause, I had distanced my party, and unaware
and unperceived I fell in with the herd of the Kairunis; they were
in regular line of march, and walked with slow step, though single,
nevertheless so that the preceding covered partly the following; the
young were walking under the belly of the mother. We shot two
more, which as time did not permit to carry with us, we hung up on
a tree, to send for them if circumstances permitted. A large party
of Caribi Indians had arrived at the camp, which had been the reason
of firing the signals for our return; they came, however, as friends;

New Publications. 595

and we returned next day for our hogs, and were not a little astonish-
ed to see no vestiges of them. They had been carried away by a
Jaguar. After some search we found them, however, dragged to a
thicket, where they were yet untouched, and of course we put an end
to any further question as to who should possess them. Their meat is
justly esteemed, and many prefer it to the lesser Peccari. The liquor
which flows out of the gland is equally offensive as in the latter, and is
peculiar to both male and female. They bear only two young ones,
frequently only one; but they are more difficult to tame than the
collared Peccari. I do not think that any attempts have been made to
domesticate either one or the other species. The Indians tame some-
times the young ones, but never with the avowed purpose of breeding,
although I have little doubt that their meat would vastly improve by
regular attention; and after two or three generations they would be
familiarized. There is no instance known of their having bred with
the European hog and produced an intermediate race.

The white-lipped Peccari is equally indigenous at Paraguay as in
Guiana. It is called Karruni by the Arawaks, Poincz by the Ma-
cusis, Ipurr by the Warraus.

Mr. Cuming, some letters from whom, while at Manilla, were given
in the 1st vol. of Annals, pp. 57 and 147, we are most happy to state
has lately arrived in London; bringing with him, as we understand,
very extensive collections of the animals and plants found in the
Philippine islands. Of shells, the quantity is large; there are said to
be a very great proportion of new species. He has also brought alive,
and presented to the Zoological Society, a fine specimen of a new
species of Gibbon, a species of Paradoxurus, a large Flying Squirrel
(Pteromys nitidus), the Argus Pheasant, a Fire-backed Pheasant, a
Hornbill, &c.

Neuchatel, June 12.---Recent accounts have been received from the
naturalist Tschudy, who some years ago, assisted by the late King of
Prussia and some other gentlemen with four thousand francs, went out
with the Edmond to Lima, in order from thence to make excursions
into the Cordilleras and adjacent country. A considerable transport
of objects of Natural History collected for the Museum of our town
(Neuchatel) has already come to hand. He is still in the mountains
of Peru; and having consumed the money taken out with him, lives by
the chase, and is awaiting fresh assistance, which is on the way for
him. He had much to suffer from hunger and want of shelter during

4H

596 New Publications.

the rainy season ; this however did not abate his zeal. His collection
for our Museum has considerably increased; for he announces 70
Mammalia, more than 500 Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, 1,100 Coleoptera,
200 Lepidoptera, and a hundred Conchylia, with several other remark-
able objects, plants, and fossils. The assistance sent will enable M.
Tschudy to embark with his rich booty, and return to his native coun-
try.—Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung, June 19.

Miscellaneous.
Of the Flower or Fruit of Ferns.

At a recent meeting of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin
(March 19, 1840), Prof. Link read a paper, in continuation of his previ-
ous memoirs on the structure of Ferns, treating of the flower or fruit.
The sorus is in general situated on a receptacle which, when roundish,
consists entirely of short spiral vessels, so called, vermicoid bodies,
similar to the thickened extremity of the leaf nerves, which might
therefore be regarded as abortive recepticles. In the elongated re-
ceptacle, straight spiral vessels are met with. A spiral vessel never
extends to the fruit. The parts which Sprengel years ago, Blume and
Presl at present consider to be male organs of fructification and indis-
tinctly figured, have been more accurately examined by Prof. Link, and
illustrated by drawings. They are long hollow filaments, separated by
septa into articulations, generally simple, rarely ramified; the last
articulation is thicker, and filled with a delicate granular mass. It may
also at times be observed that this mass is exuded at the last articula-
tion, and surrounds this as a crust. These parts are frequently longer
than the capsules, and are easily distinguished from the young capsules.
It is certainly probable that they are the stamina of ferns, and Prof.
Link has indeed found them, after frequent search, in most of the ferns
which he subjected to microscopical examination. The germination of
ferns is simple; the shell of the seed bursts regularly or irregularly, out
of which the embryo grows forth in a foliaceous expansion, which
subsequently first forms a bud, whence the plant proceeds in the form
which it retains. This mode of germination presents, therefore, a
similarity to that of Monocotyledons, only that here the evolution
of the embryo is a state, and one of rapid transition.

Miscellaneous. . 597

Potamogeton Prelongus.

This rare plant occurs plentifully in the river Waveney, which divides
Norfolk from Suffolk, in the neighbourhood of Harleston and Bungay,
where I gathered it in June last. The only other station, to the south
of the Tweed, is in ditches near Caversham Bridge near Reading, where
it was found by Mr. Borrer in May 1836.—Cuartes C. Basineton.

The Cocos de Mer.

The singular plant known by the above title, was for many years a
source of inquiry, and gave rise to some most absurd and monstrous
conjectures. Its gigantic fruit was occasionally picked up floating at
sea, and sometimes carried by the currents to various shores of the
Indian ocean. Astonishing virtues were attributed to it, and were
supposed to be communicated to medicines drunk out of its capacious
shell. It is stated that as much as four hundred pounds sterling have
actually been paid for a single nut.

The colonization of the Seychelles Archipelago by the French under
M. de la Bourdonnais, the talented and patriotic governor of Mauritius,
set the matter at rest. The Cocos de Mer was found growing in the
islands of Praslin and Curieuse, whose mountains were abundantly
covered with this stupendous plant. It is a palm, and like several
other members of that family, the male and female flowers are found on
different individuals. Its stem rises to the height of from 90 to 100
feet, and is crowned with the most superb leaves that can be imagined,
which form a kind of pent-house around it is as impervious to water as
if covered by a roof.

The leaves exactly resemble in form those of the fan-palm, but their
dimensions are vastly superior. There are many of them that, mea-
sured from the base of the stem, are 20 feet in length, and their ample
folds cover a width of from 10 to 12 feet. It is not till it has attained
the age of from 20 to 25 years that it begins to bear. The enormous
drupes, hanging in clusters of four or five, are so heavy, that a plant of
less strength would give way beneath a single bunch, and they hang
three or four years before they are ripe enough to fall. Thus although
only one fruit branch is put forth in the year, the produce of three or
four seasons burdens the stem at a time, the aggregate weight of which
is very considerable.

Description cannot do justice to the beauty of these forests, nor con-
vey an adequate idea of the singular fruit they furnish. The nuts are
mostly double; but triple, quadruple, and sometimes, though very

598 Miscellaneous.

rarely, quintuple specimens are found. When green they contain a

sweetish jelly-like substance of a refreshing quality. But when ripe

the kernel is as hard as dry beach wood, quite white, and of a some-

what silky grain. They are left in a marshy spot to rot, a process

which requires six or eight months before the shell can be emptied.

They are applied to various uses, being very strong and light. Simply

bored at the end they serve as very convenient buckets and kegs,

which are in general use amgng all the inhabitants of the group of
islands in which they are found; many of them hold upwards of
three gallons. Many thousands of the shells, sawed in half, are sent
to Mauritius and Bourbon, where they are universally employed by

the blacks for holding food and water; they form also the best vessels

that can be devised for baling out boats. The leaves are as good a

covering for a house as shingle; a roof well thatched with them lasts

ten years without any repair. They are also employed, when young

and white, for a great many purposes; hats, bonnets, baskets, fans,

flowers, and many other articles being manufactured from them.

It is a very remarkable fact that this plant will not flourish on any
of the surrounding islands. Many have been planted on other islands,
but they merely vegetate, and are widely different in appearance from
the plants of Praslin and Curieuse.

Propagation by Hybrids.

In the autumn of 1838, a male bird, the produce of a Goldfinch and
a hen Canary bird, escaped from my aviary, and was not seen again
until the following spring, when we were agreeably surprised by the
reappearance of our lost favourite, in company with a Goldfinch. As
the pair were inseparable, we at once suspected that they had mated,
and in a few days our suspicions were confirmed by seeing them feed
each other, and collect materials for building. By watching their
movements we soon discovered their nest in a cedar-tree near the
aviary. In due time four eggs were laid, which I carefully removed
and placed under a Canary bird; they however all proved abortive.
In a few days after this disappointment a second nest was built by
them in the same tree, which we left undisturbed, and the result was
favourable; five birds were hatched, which I took from the nest when
about ten days old and brought up by hand; of this number two cocks
and two hens are still living.

I am aware that hybrids in a state of captivity and restraint have
not unfrequently proved prolific when brought to pair with a mate

Miscellaneous. ~ 699

of either of their parent stocks; but I do not remember that I ever
heard an instance of an animal of pure breed in a wild and unrestained
condition by choice selecting an hybrid mate.

The following are the results of my experiments made during this
spring and summer. .

Early in the spring I paired one of these young cock birds (which I
have described as being three parts Goldfinches to one part Canary
bird) with a hen Canary ; a nest was soon made and three eggs laid;
the cock bird, however, destroyed the nest, but I succeeded in saving
the eggs, and placed them under a Canary bird: of this number one
young bird was hatched, which is now full-fledged and in good health.
. After this partial failure a second nest was built, which shared the fate
of the former one; I then removed the cock bird and turned him into
the avairy, when he almost immediately selected another Canary bird
as his mate. Upon my putting this pair into a breeding-cage a nest
was formed in less than a week, and four eggs were laid; I had now
taken the precaution to line the nest basket with flannel, so that al-
though the nest was pulled to pieces, as on former occasions, the eggs
escaped destruction, and upon them the Canary bird is now sitting. I
again removed the cock bird, and upon his return to the avairy he
at once made up again to his former mate, and she has this morning laid
anegg. In truth I never saw a bird more ardent for propagation than
this hybird.

My second experiment has been made by pairing my other hybrid
cock bird with an hybrid hen of the same nest; the result has been
three eggs, one of which was hatched yesterday morning by a Canary
bird.

Now as the second pair have proved prolific (which are three parts
Goldfinches to one part Canary bird), I do not see any reason why
I may not obtain next year an equally successful result by putting ©
together a pair of birds (if I succeed in rearing a male and female), the
produce of my first experiment; and if so, a cross breed might be per-’
petuated, which would be five parts Canary birds to three parts Gold-
finches.—GrorceE Cookson.

600

Death of N. A. Vigors, Esq.

In the intelligence of deaths brought by the last Overland mail, we observe with
much regret a name which is familiar to all zoologists—N. A. Vicors, Esq. Mr.
Vigors was the first naturalist who availed himself of the views of Mr. MacLeay,
regarding the natural affinities of animals. In a paper published in the fourteenth
volume of the Linnzan Transactions, entitled ‘‘ Observations on the natural affini-
ties that connect the orders and families of birds,’? Mr. Vigors, after an elaborate
analysis of the whole ornithological kingdom, found the divisions to correspond
with five types, corresponding with those which had been discovered by Mr.
MacLeay in the Lamilicorn insects. These types he distinguished as Raptores or
rapacious birds, Insessores, perching birds, Rasores distinguished from the latter
by their size, docility, and importance to man, as well as by several natural
characters, Grallatores, or waders, and Natatores, or swimmers. With a philosophy
and familiarity with the details of his subject unknown before, Mr. Vigors next
pointed out the number and relations of the minor groups composing each order,
and his results have been confirmed and adopted by all subsequent writers.

In the succeeding volume of the same transactions Mr. Vigors, in conjunction
with Dr. Horsfield, described the rich collection of Australian birds in the Museum
of the Linnean Society, applying the same views to the numerous new groups of
New Holland species. The immense labour bestowed on this undertaking can
only be appreciated by those who know what it is to have the unknown productions
of an uninvestigated continent before them for elucidation.

Mr. Vigors was one of the principal supporters of the Zoological Journal, in
which his papers were more numerous, and no less valuable than his contributions
to the Linnean Society. He was also one of the founders of the Zoological Society,
and a constant contributor to its proceedings and transactions. Yet as an instance
of the public indifference to science in England, the only subject of regret con-
nected with the death of Mr. Vigors, as announced in the various English news-
papers is, that it leaves a vacancy in the representation of Carlow.

List of the principal objects of the Zoology of continental
India required in Menageries and Museums in London.
Living animals, when practicable, should be sent in pairs,

male and female ; birds should be confined in cages, and their

tail feathers cut short.

1. Any peculiar varieties or species of horned cattle that
may be known to exist in the vicinity of Assam and the
Nerbudda, or other remote parts of India.

2. The large black deer of Rungpore, Orissa, Nerbudda,
and Terai, of which naturalists suppose there are in the

Desiderata for European Collections. 601

plains of India two distinct species, they are called Cervus
hippelaphus and Cervus aristotelis. They both belong to
what is called the Russa group, i.e. horns round, forked at
the top, with a small antler over the brow; one of the above
species is lighter coloured than the other, being in winter
greyish brown, and in summer a more yellow tinge, with
rough shaggy hair about the upper part of the neck.

3. There is a third species of the same group, an inha-
bitant of the Himalaya, about the size of the Roebuck.
Its native name is unknown, as well as the animal itself,
except by a skin described by Cuvier as Cervus Wailichit.
Further information regarding the existence of this species,
and living examples of the animal itself, would be very
desirable.

4. The Buhraia, or Maha, and the Bura singha, are
also two species of deer of which it is very desirable to ob-
tain livmg specimens. ‘They are somewhat allied to the
stag, and have three antlers presenting forward from each
horn, the summit terminating in a fork. The first is named
Cervus elaphoides, and inhabits the Terai, and probably other
dense forests; and the second, Cervus elaphus, inhabits the
Himalaya.

5. There is an undescribed species of deer in the moun-
tains between Cachar and Moneypore, nearly allied to the
Russa group, but distinguished from known species by the
basal antler descending down in front over the eye on
either side. See page 501.

6. The antelopes of continental India are no less numer-
ous, and no better known than the deer; living specimens
of the following kinds are highly desirable for the public
collections :—

Antelope acuticornis, De Blain, only known by a mutilated
skull and horns in the Museum of the College of Surgeons,
and supposed to be ‘the small deer” alluded to by John-

602 Desiderata for European Collections.

ston in his sketches of Indian field sports, and known to
be an inhabitant of the forests of Ramgur.

7. Antelope subulata of Colonel H. Smith, is another
species only known by its horns, which were likewise
brought from India and deposited in the Museum of the Col-
lege of Surgeons.

8. The Indian antelope, A. cervicapra ; with long, straight,
undulating horns; dark brown above, beneath white.

9. The four-horned antelope, or Chekara of the natives,
common in Bengal, Bahar and Orissa.

10. The Thar antelope of the Himalaya.

11. The Ghoral antelope of the Himalaya.

12. The wild goat of the Himalaya, called Jharal.

13. The wild sheep of the same quarter, called Nayour, or
Nahoor by the Napalese.

14. The Chira antelope of Nepal. Two species of wild
goat and one wild sheep are named and described by
Captain Hutton, the two first as new species inhabiting Aff-
ghanistan. ‘Two species of wild goats, called Jaral by the
Madras sportsmen, or jungle sheep, are known in southern
India; one is an inhabitant of the Neelgherries, the other
of the plains at the foot of those mountains. There is also
the Burral, or wild sheep of Nepal, which may be one or
other of the above species.

15. A brown or yellow antelope, of the goat-like group
Nemorhedus, inhabits the forests of Arracan. This, from a
skull and horns furnished by Lieut. Phayre, and a head of
the same animal in the collection of the Asiatic Society,
seems to be an undescribed species.*

16. It is unnecessary to specify the smaller quadrupeds of
continental India which it would be desirable to procure, as
scarcely any of them are known in Museums, much less in

* The Nyl ghau appears to be the only antelope of India introduced
to England, where it is found to breed and thrive so well, that it is
not now an uncommon animal.

Desiderata for European Collections. 603

Menageries; in all cases therefore where living specimens
cannot be conveniently obtained, dried skins, with the skull
and bones of the feet (freed from soft parts) remaining will
be desirable.

17. Of birds, those kinds which approach nearest in their
nature and habits to the domestic poultry are much desired in
Menageries, and from their importance are entitled to our
interest and attention. Colonel Sykes has remarked in the
proceedings of the Zoological Society that the Phaszanus
leucomelonos, Phasianus lineatus, and Phasianus ignatius are
intermediate species between the pheasants and the com-
mon fowl; so indeed they really appear to be, and therefore
may become useful additions to the farm yard. The first of
these birds, which is entirely black except the round tips
of the feathers on the rump, is most abundant in the forests
of Assam; the male bird has a crest of a few black
feathers, the female is brown, and scarcely differs from the
appearance of the common domestic hen, except by the
naked spot round the eye, on which her character as a
pheasant depends. “Since this was written, a pair of these
birds, now called Sophophorus Cuverii, have been received
from Captain Bogle, the Commissioner of Assam, for the
Zoological Society, along with two species of Biverra and
several other interesting birds, and Mammalia, now deposited
in the Barrackpore menagerie, till arrangements are entered
into for their despatch to Regent’s Park.

-18. The Phasianus lineatus, or lineated pheasant, is as
abundant in Kemaon as the former is in Assam; so abundant,
that in some ravines, particularly near villages and cultivated
fields, almost every bush contains one. In this species the
feathers are nearly all lance-shaped as in the common
cock, and variegated with grey and black.

The third species, P. ignatius, belongs to the higher parts
of the Himalaya.

19. The Java hen, Gallus furcutus, and the Siam hen,

|

604 Desiderata for European Collections.

Gallus Stanlyanus, as well as the Malabar hen, Gallus
Banksivus, are three superior kinds of the common poultry,
some of them twenty-six inches in height.

The Chittagong poultry, celebrated in India for their
size, is probably a mixture of these breeds.

20. Other birds of this division are so remarkable for
their beauty, that independent of any direct utility, they must.
always be regarded as objects of interest ; such are P. melo-
nocephalus ; this bird is red below, grey above, with a black
head and crest, and all parts of the body covered with
ornamental spots. It is brought down to Assam from the
Abor mountains; it also occurs in the higher parts of the
Himalaya.

Polyplectron Hardwickii, or Peacock pheasant, an inhabi-
tant of Lower Assam and the Sylhet jungles.

Phasianaus purvasia, a grey bird with flowing lance-
shaped plumage and a drooping crest. It is found in Ke-
maon and Nipal, and is larger than any of the other phea- _
sants. | ;

21. The Japan Peafowl, as it is called, but which neverthe-
less is very common in the forests of Arracan, is equal to the
ordinary peafowl in size and appearance, with this additional
ornament, its head is decorated with the brightest yellow
and purple tints that can be imagined; when caught they
become as domestic, and thrive as well as the ordinary
peafowl. It is singular, notwithstanding the ease with which
this bird may be procured, and its contentment in confine-
ment, that it should be mentioned by Lord Derby as one of
their desiderata in collections at home.* The Pigeons of

* Since this was written a pair of these beautiful peafowls has been
procured from the Chittagong Jungles by Christopher Webb Smith,
Esq. of the Civil Service; a third dividual has also been presented
by Capt. Bogle, forming part of the collection already alluded to as hav-
ing been received for the Society from Arracan.

Desiderata for European Collections. 605

India are no less abundant than beautiful, and yet they
are very rare in menageries in England.

22. The several kinds of Green Pigeons, and that remark-
able bird Geophilus nicobaricus, or Nicobar Pigeon, would be
very easily procured. ‘The former are common in all parts
of India, and the latter on the Tenasserim Coast, from whence
several are often brought to Calcutta, where they do well
for a time in cages.

There are other fine examples of this family in India, as
the Vinago aromatica, with a cinnamon coloured back, green
body, and short wing feathers fringed with yellow; and the
Vinago oxyura, a green pigeon with a long sharp tail; both
these last are common throughout India, and may be pro-
cured without any difficulty.

23. Of Waterfowl, perhaps the Adjutant alone is the only
one that has hitherto been sent home, it is therefore almost
unnecessary to enumerate those which it would be most de-
sirable to forward. ‘The Bengal Ibis,* and the Anastomus
Coromandelicus, which last, notwithstanding its name is a
constant and common resident in our swamps, and which
may be known by the interval between the mandibles of its
bill, would be two desirable birds in menageries at home,
as well as the Jabiru, or large black and white wader, with
black recurved bill, and scarlet legs. When taken young
they become perfectly tame like the Sazrus, which is another
crane required in collections in England. It is scarcely ne-
cessary to mention the black-headed stork with white neck,
and blackish wings, so common in Bengal and Assam, the
white spoonbill, and the white heron, whose scapular fea-
thers are divided in long narrow filaments or egrets, which
are eagerly collected as ornaments; these birds are seldom

* Our collector has just procured from the neighbourhood of Cal-
cutta a beautiful specimen of the Ceylon Ibis, Yantalus leucomelanus,
which we were not aware was an inhabitant of Bengal.

606 Desiderata for European Collections.

distinguished from the white heron, Ardea orientalis, or pad-
dy bird of the English sportsman.

24. Since most of the remarkable species both of galli-
naceous birds and ruminants of continental India are un-
known in collections of animals in England, it would be quite
unnecessary to attempt an enumeration of the less remark-
able species, which are still wanting in European collections.
It may be sufficient to mention the several sorts of wild
geese and wild duck, and, lastly, all the numerous kinds of
granivorous and carnivorous birds which might easily be
supplied with their natural food during the voyage, as most
_ of the Conirostres, Hawks, and Jays.

25. Of the class of fishes there are many which might
be presented to Menageries in England with every prospect
of their becoming eventually beneficial, such are the Ruee,
Catla, Meerica, and other herbivorous carps; as objects
of scientific interest, examples of those genera of fishes
peculiar to India might be sent home alive, such as the
Bura chung, or ground-fish of Boutan, and many others,
while all should be forwarded in a prepared state or pre-
served in spirits to the several Museums in London. But
as fishes may be collected for transmission in Calcutta, it
is unnecessary to bring them from the interior, unless where
peculiar sorts occur.

INDEX.

Page.
Affinities of the Falconidz, by William Jameson, Esq.. On the ... 307
Animal Life in Nova Zembla, Description of Sie Bre Senge Gi
Asiatic Society of Bengal, Proceedings of the Si bee nose eu
Barrackpore Menagerie, ob se ies ae ronk fray) OE:
Beroe, Remarks on a species of, by J. Macpherson, Esq. ... ws 442
Boring operations in Fort William, R. B. Smith, Esq., on the ... 324
Bibliographical Notices, oe wat sis Be bos ioce | ZS)
British Association, Proceedings of the ae 3 SES
Bulletin de la Société des Imperial Naturalistes de ee 1836, 134
Calcutta basin, Remarks on the as ae ae us rei 4o2
Cantor Dr. on Indian serpents, 508 bie oes ene eleAG
Civet, Remarks on an undescribed species of 545 a0 Bea KS)
Collections and Museums, On.. Are bo dlB32/

Coralline Animalcules from inf use of Chalk i in Ale mer of Life,
as observed by Professor Ehrenberg, On the remarkable Dif-

fusion of aa fe coe Se du0 ae S56 -.. 284
Coal formations, Bie ne 15, 39, 207, 228, 231, 480, 527, 562
Correspondence, “be oe O08
Creation, Diffusion, at Extinction of f Organic Beiies a Captain

Hutton, On the Ne hoe a ie a Ane .. 461
Curator question, The ... ao bod ae ge oe .. 3805
Cyrtoma, a new genus of Fossil Echinidz, On abo cc SL ceo
Dangers from Lightning ae ore ae S50 ae Ban ay
Death of N. A. Vigors, Esq. ... aoe Sc ror 205 --- 600
Deer, Indication of a Nondescript species of aoe a GON!

Desiderata in the Entomology of India, by the Rev. F. W. rs Hope, 61
Directions for preserving Marine Objects of Natural History, ... 150

Dracunculus, Remarks on 259

~ East Indian Turnip-fly, (Haltica Nigro-fusca), Remarks on an ... 299
East Indian collections, ... aes ... 187,502, 600
Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch, By Prof. Schouw, 390, 500

608 Index.

Page.
Fishes of the Deckan, by Colonel Sykes, ... sie Ets SS CIMMGD

Geology of Southern India, by R. B. Smith Esq. Notes illustrative of 188

Indian Botany, Dr. Wight’s Illustrations of cee aa ae OD
Indian Hand-book of Gardening, _... she “ oe see Oe
Introduction,~ ... site iat Ab ke Sa He ia i
Jack, Captain A., Self-Calculating Sextant, . 308 Peep a4!
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, for pee 1839, “=..8 GOL

Lightning Conductors to Powder Magazines, Official Correspon-

dence on the attaching of, from a Correspondent, .. 4381, 489
Linnean Society, Proceedings of the sac .., 280
List of the principal objects of the Zoology of Contineneas India

required in the Menageries and Museums in London, ... .-- 600
Mahomedan Science, by D. Liston, Esq. Synopsis of oe .. 503
Meteorological Observations, ne he BAT ae
Mineralogical Surveys, by William Tae ‘Bog. ‘On aes cae ero
Miscellaneous Subjects, Remarks on aoe on S00 424, 596
Mochus Memina, by S. R. Tickell Esq. Remarks on a .. 420
Muller’s Archiv fur Anatomie, Physiologie &c. parts 3 a 4

1836, ... soc ae st Son NSE

Murchison’s Silurian System, I R. L Esq. Bye R. S. ME ‘ Hoa Lh ADH Sr

Naptha and Petroleum, Soi se eee ae ne aa OZ,
Natural History, Directions for preserving Marine objects of ... 150
Natural History, or Magazine of Zoology, Botany, and Geology,
Annals of... 353 255 ses “on abe be ww. 241
Natural History, Remarks on aed oe eae ae «. 450
News of Naturalists, ... oe 1a: baa ee Seu eeu teas
New Publications, wide $22 aye aes sits au we O74
Nouveaux Memoirs de la Société Imperiale des Naturalists de
Moscow, Tom. IV. ... Bee ee are ABE Sec wae ld,
Philosophical Journal, The Edinburgh New.. aa wie | 246

Plants characteristic of different Nations. By Prof. una aij (eee

Index. 609

Page.
Poisonous Lizard, Notes on an alleged species of ... Sue 2. 3d]
Prospectus of an Indian Association for the advancement of Science 8

Skate, or Raidz, On two undescribed Species of ... 30 59
Soils, in the Gorruckpore Districts, by D. Liston, Esq. Aout on

the distribution of ... 506 S50 S60 400 S06 se. 236
Specilegium Serpentium Indicorum, by Dr. Cantor on pie

Squalus spinosus, Linn. on the Coast of Yorkshire, the occurrence
of ae 305 eae S06 S00 BSc ae ee «. 285

Thermometrical Register at Neemuch, from 29th March, 1840 to
27th September 1840, by Capt. Jack, 360 eae -. 459, 554

Ursus labiatus, Remarks on the characters and habits of, by Lieut.
S. R. Tickell,... «.. vive a Bh des oe -. 199

Zoological Society, Proceedings of the So aie Sao key AR

W. RIDSDALE, BISHOP’S COLLEGE PRESS.

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