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THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL
THE
EDINBURGH NEW
/4)
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,
EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE
PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE
SCIENCES AND THE ARTS.
EDITORS.
THOMAS ANDERSON, M_D., F.R.S.E.,
Siz WILLIAM JARDINE, Barrt., F.R.S.E. ;
JOHN HUTTON BALFOUR, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.LS.,
PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND BOTANY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH.
FOR AMERICA,
HENRY DARWIN ROGERS, Hon. F.R.S.E.,
STATE GEOLOGIST, PENNSYLVANIA; LATE PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY,
UNIVERSITY, PENNSYLVANIA.
JANUARY ..... APRIL 1856.
VOL. III. NEW SERIES.
EDINBURGH :
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK.
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON.
MDCCCLVI.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY NELLL AND COMPANY, OLD FISHMARKET.
CONTENTS.
1. Notice of the Species of Meriones and Arvicola found in
Or
Nova Scotia. By Joun Witt1am Dawson, F.G.S.,
Professor of Natural History at Montreal. (Plate I.),
. Notes on the Natural History of the Province of Canter-
bury, in the Middle Island of New Zealand. By Sir
Tuomas Tancrep, Bart.,
. Astronomical Contradictions and Geological Inferences
respecting a Plurality of Worlds,
. On the Chemical Composition of some Norwegian Mine-
rals. By Davm Forsss, F.G.S., A.LC.E., F.CS.,
Part IT.,
. Introductory Lecture delivered to” the Students of the
Natural History Class, in the University of Edin-
burgh, at the opening of the Winter Session 1855.
By Professor ALLMAN, .
. On the relations of the Silurian and Metamorphic Rocks
of the South of Norway. By Davin Forsss, F.G.S.,
F.C.S., A.L.C.E. (Plates IT. & IIT.), .
. Contributions to Ornithology, by Sir Wirtram Jarpine,
Bart. No. II., Professor W. Jameson’s Collections
from the Eastern Cordillera of Ecuador continued.—
Expedition from Quito to the Mountain Cayambe,
(Plate IV.),
PAGE
39
66
79
90
10.
ad
12.
13.
Le
CONTENTS.
. On a remarkable pouched condition of the Glandule
Peyeriane in the Giraffe. By T. Spencer Copsotp,
M.D., Assistant Conservator of the Anatomical Mu-
seum, University of Edinburgh. (Plate V.),
. Notice of the Leaf-Insect (Phyllium Scythe), lately bred
in the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, with
Remarks on its Metamorphoses and Growth. (Plates
VI, VIL, & VIII.). By Anprew Murray, W.S.,
Edinburgh, . - : ;
On the Physical Geography of the Old Red Sandstone
Sea of the Central District of Scotland. By Henry
CiiFTon Sorsy, F.GS., . :
Traces of Unity of Form in the Individual Bones of the
Skeleton. By G. Dicxiz, M.D., Professor of Natural
History, Queen’s College, Belfast,
On the Different Branches of Natural History, the Chairs
which have been Instituted for their Illustration, and
the Manner in which they should be Subordinated.
By Joun Fiemine, D.D., Professor of Natural Science,
New College, Edinburgh,
On the Metalliferous Deposits of Kumaon and Gurhwal
in North-Western India. By Witi1am Jory Hen-
woop, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., lately Chief Mineral Sur-
veyor Hon. E.I.C.S., North-Western Provinces,
REVIEWS :—
Naturgeschichte der Vulcane und der Damit in Verbin-
dung Stehenden Erscheinungen. Von Dr Gerore
LANGREBE,
PAGE
93
96
112
122
125
135
141
CONTENTS.
. Meteorological Essays. By Francors Araco, Member
of the Institute; with an Introduction by Baron
ALEXANDER Von Humeoxpr. ‘Translated under the
superintendence of Cox. Sanine, R.A., Treas. and
W.B.E.S.,
. A History of the British Marine Testaceous Mollusca
Distributed in their Natural Order. By Witi1Am
CLARK,
. What is Technology? An Inaugural Lecture delivered
in the University of Edinburgh on November 7, 1855,
By Georce Witson, M.D., F.R.S.E.,
. Report on some of the Products contributed to the Ma-
dras Exhibition in 1855,
. Researches upon Nemerteans and Planarians. By
CuarLes Girarp. I. Embryonic Development of
Planocerea elliptica. 1854,
. The General Structure of the Animal Kingdom. By T.
Rymer Jones, F.R.S., : :
CORRESPONDENCE :—
. The Vegetable Productions of the Plains of Quito; the
Eastern and Western Slopes of Pichincha and the
Nevado of Cayambe. From Professor W. Jameson’s
Letters to Sir WILLIAM JARDINE,
. Letter from J. H. Gladstone, Ph.D., London, to Profes-
sor Anderson, M.D., F.R.S.E. Nias
il
PAGE
150
159
162
165
iv CONTENTS,
PAGE
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES :—
Royal Society of Edinburgh, . : : : 167
Royal Physical Society, ; ; : 168
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, - 169
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE :—
ZOOLOGY.
1. Hybridity—Fringilla ccelebs and montifringilla, ‘ 171
GEOLOGY.
2. On the Upper Ludlow Bone Bed near Malvern, 172
BOTANY.
3. Fossil Floras of Scotland, . : : : 173
CHEMISTRY.
4, Occurrence of Vanadium and Titanium in Spheerosiderite
from the neighbourhood of Bonn, : : 185
MISCELLANEOUS,
5. On the Injurious Effects of Cedar Wood Drawers.
6. Note on Plate of Malapterurus Beninensis, 185-188
THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.
Notice of the Species of Meriones and Arvicola found in
Nova Scotia. By Joun Witu1AM Dawson, F.G.S., Pro-
fessor of Natural History at Montreal. [Plate I.|*
Havine been perplexed by the uncertainties attending the
observation of the native Muride of America, the writer was
induced to attempt forming a collection of all the species found
in the province in which he hasresided. The following notes
exhibit the results at which he has arrived, and may be useful
at least as a contribution to local zoology. It is proper to
state, that in collecting specimens he has been aided by Mr
James M‘Kinlay of Pictou, Mr W. G. Winton and Mr A.
Downes of Halifax; and that in 1842 he contributed an ac-
count of two of the species to the Wernerian Society of Edin-
burgh.
I. Of the genus Meriones (Illiger) there appear to be two
species in Nova Scotia. The smaller and more abundant of
these was that with which the writer first became acquainted,
and he identified it with the Meriones labradorius of Sir
J. Richardson, and noticed it under that name in the paper
above mentioned. He has since, however, obtained speci-
mens of a larger animal, corresponding more closely with
Richardson’s description, and apparently distinct from the
* Mr Dawson having kindly presented to us the specimens above described,
we have thought it right to give a figure of the proposed Meriones acadiz-;s.
The size and proportions have been accurately kept in the drawing.
NEW SERIES.—VOL. III. NO, I.—san. 1656, A
2 Professor Dawson on the
former. The principal differences between these supposed
species are as follow :—
1. Meriones labradorius corresponds with the description
in the Fauna Bor. Am., except that the tail is five lines
longer, and has about an inch of its extremity clothed with
short white hairs, which also form a small pencil at the end.
There are also slight differences in the colours of the whiskers
and ears, a few hairs of the former being white, and the lat-
ter a little lighter coloured and more yellow. A young spe-
cimen, less than half grown, resembles the adult in form,
but has very short hair, and is lighter in colour on the back.
This young individual has, like the adult, the extremity of
the tail white.
2. Meriones, nov. spec.? [Plate I.] The smaller species is
similar in general form, but the feet are a little longer in pro-
portion to the size of the animal. and the fur is coarser and not
so close. The colouris much darker, there being a greater num-
ber of black hairs both on the back and sides, and the yellow
band on the side is less deep in colour. The lower parts are yel-
lowish or yellowish-white, shading gradually into the yellow
and black of the sides. I regret that, since I became aware
of the existence of another species, I have been unable to ob-
tain a recent specimen, for a more full description. The fol-
lowing are the dimensions of three prepared specimens :—
1, Head and body 3 in. 6 lines, tail 5 in. 01., hind foot lin. 6 1.
eae a eee eee es ee er ooo) Sil Seite
Siac Pe ee ee net eee eee Se “=: : 9 ie ee
These dimensions are sufficient to show the smaller size of
the animal, as compared with M. labradorius ; and a glance
at the specimen must render it evident that it is not the young
of that creature. It cannot be identical with the Dipus ca-
nadensis of Davies and Pennant, if that species has ears
shorter than the fur; and the Gerbillus canadensis, as de-
scribed by different writers, appears to be a creature as large
as M. labradorius, if not identical with it. Should this
prove to be a new species, I shall claim for it the name of J.
acadicus ; but until I have opportunity for farther compari-
son and inquiry, I do not insist on its being received as new.
Both species of Meriones inhabit grain fields; but my op-
Meriones found in Nova Scotia. 3
portunities of observation have been confined principally to the
last or smaller species, which is most easily observed in harvest.
At that time the animals are sometimes abundant. They do
not burrow, but make little furrows in the shelter of stones,
sods, &c., to which they return when driven away; and when
pursued, they shelter themselves beneath sheaves of grain, or
in the crevices of piles of stones. They lie so close that they
can scarcely be observed, and remain motionless till on the
point of being seized, when they suddenly escape by a few
rapid leaps, each about a yard in length, and then lie motion-
less as before, or run for shelter to any cover that presents
itself. I have not found the nests in which they rear their
young or pass the winter, and am not aware that they collect
any store of winter provision. They may be seen to feed by
day, and in their neatness and agility they resemble the
squirrels rather than the other mice.
It is often stated that these leaping mice are specially
adapted to open plains. It therefore appears singular that two
species should be found in a country originally densely and
almost continuously wooded. This may be explained by sup-
posing that the proper habitat of Meriones, in the wild state
of the country, was in those tracts desolated by accidental
fires, and overrun with herbaceous plants and small shrubs.
In the present state of the country, the peculiar powers of
both species admirably fit them for finding food and safety
in the grain fields.
II. The most common Arvicola in Nova Scotia appears to
be the A. pennsylvanica (Ord). It abounds everywhere,
both in the woods and cultivated grounds, and is very destruc-
tive. The year 1815 is especially remembered by farmers
in the eastern part of Nova Scotia as one in which these ani-
mals appeared in incalculable numbers, perhaps in conse-
quence of a failure of their food in the woods.
They excavate burrows under stones and stumps, or in dry
ground. These are sometimes a yard in depth, and have two
entrances or galleries leading from opposite directions to the
neatly-constructed nest of dried grass, which lies in the deep-
est and most central part of the burrow. In each gallery
A2
4 On the Meriones and Arvicola found in Nova Scotia.
there is usually a little antechamber, to enable the animal to
turn itself without going so far as the nest.
They are active during the greater part of the winter, and
form long galleries under the snow, devouring grass, roots,
the bark of young trees, and all other edible substances that
they meet with in their progress. In spring, when the snow
has disappeared, these galleries may be traced by the little
ridges of cut grass thrown up along their sides. Even in their
journeys at this season they seem to prefer travelling under
cover, as I have seen their galleries crossmg roads under a
very thin coat of recently deposited snow. In winter they also
congregate in barns, stacks, and root-houses. In its habits
this species closely resembles, and evidently represents in
the economy of nature, the European A. vulgaris, to which it
approaches so closely in appearance.
In the same situations with the A. pennsylvanica is found
another species or variety, somewhat more clumsy in form,
darker in colour, with the eyes set closer together, and a tail
twice as long, scaly, and tapering. It approaches more nearly
to the descriptions of A. novoboracensis than to those of A.
pennsylvaniea, and it may be the species described as A.
hirsutus in the Report on the Quadrupeds of Massachusetts
by Emmons.
III. The white-footed mouse, Mus leucopus, is also found
in Nova Scotia as a field mouse, and frequents barns and out-
houses; but in dwelling-houses it appears to give place to the
common domestic mouse. It corresponds with Richardson’s
description, and must be the animal named Arvicola Em-
monsii in the Massachusetts’ Reports.
TV. Both the brown and black rats of Europe have been
mtrodueced. The latter is very rare; I have seen only two
specimens, both obtained in the city of Halifax. The brown
species is abundant throughout the country, inhabiting houses
and sewers, and burrowing in the ground in the vicinity of
barns and root-cellars.
Natural History of Province of Canterbury. 5
Notes on the Natural History of the Province of Canterbury,
in the Middle Island of New Zealand. By Sir THOMAS
TANCRED, Bart.
Having lived for some months in the Middle Island of the
Colony of New Zealand, the few observations which the press-
ing avocations of a settler with a family enabled the writer to
make are confined chiefly to the neighbourhood of Christ-
church, in the province of Canterbury, and to the country
which would be traversed in a ride of about forty miles to the
north-west, and another of about sixty miles to the south-west
of that town.
The latitude and longitude of Lyttelton Harbour, in Banks’
Peninsula, are 43° 36’ south, and 172° 45’ east. The port town
of Lyttelton is situated on an inlet, of a depth of about eleven
miles, in the rocky coast of Banks’ Peninsula, the whole of which
district is composed of steep volcanic hills (from 1500 to 2500
feet in height), the scenery of which in many parts can hardly
be surpassed in romantic beauty. The more sheltered parts
are clothed with forests of splendid timber, and possess a cli-
mate of quite a different character from that of the more ex-
posed plains. At Akeroa, for instance, originally a French set-
tlement on another noble harbour in the peninsula, the grape
and peach ripen in the greatest perfection; whilst graceful tree-
ferns, spreading their delicate fronds beneath the forests,
attest the mildness of the temperature. The more exposed
parts of the hills of this peninsula are clothed with the
greenest grass when within the influence of the sun, whilst
fern covers those parts which are more constantly in the
shade.
Altogether, the beauty of this combination of hills, wood
and water, under the sparkling sunshine which generally pre-
vails, together with the balsamic odours of the pine woods,
and the abundance of fruit, make this district by far the most
attractive to the mere tourist; but for more utilitarian pur-
poses, it is fortunate that its character is quite distinct from
that of the rest of the settlement.
Leaving, then, the port and harbour, and proceeding to
6 Tancred on the Natural History of the
scale the hills to the north, behind the town of Lyttelton, by
the steep bridle-path which hitherto has afforded the only
means of exit by land, we are struck on reaching the dividing
ridge by the majestic chain of alps—
“‘ There soaring snow-clad through their native sky,
In the wild pomp of mountain majesty” —
by which the wide-extended plain beneath us is bounded, to-
wards the N. and N.W., ata distance of from fifty to sixty miles.
On examining the intervening space more closely, the mean-
derings of two or three rivers are seen here and there, pursuing
a tortuous course towards the low flat coast, against which the
ocean surf is beating along a great extent, as it sweeps round
in a wide curve to the north-east, where it ends at the Kai-
koras.
On descending the northern face of the peninsula hills,
and examining the level country more nearly, it will be
found to consist, towards the east or seaward, of a range of
sandhills of variable width, within which is a tract of rich
alluvial soils, interspersed with swamps, where the native
flax (Phormium tenaz), grass, a palm-like shrub, and in the
more decided bogs a kind of bulrush (Typha angustifolia),
called by the natives raupo, flourish. A tract of this swampy
land also runs along the base of the peninsular hills, and seems
to have been, there as elsewhere, caused by a stoppage of the
natural outfall of the land waters, either by those hills hav-
ing risen by volcanic agency, or by the sand banks which in
the course of ages have accumulated along the coast of the
ocean.
Most or all of these swamps, however, can be easily drained,
often by no other operation than the digging of the boundary
ditches to fence the land, which then proves of greater fertility
than that originally dry. This kind of country—viz., swampy
intermixed with drier tracts—extends round at the base of
the peninsula hills to the west and south as far as Lake Elles-
mere, and also parallel with the coast, for about twenty-five
miles northward from the peninsula hills, having a width of
from eight to ten miles. The same kind of country prevails
to the south of the peninsula, nearly to the boundary of the
province. There are also 100,000 acres of rich agricul-
Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. 7
tural land running up to Talbot forest, about eighty miles
south of Christchurch, and a fertile belt, of from one to
two miles in breadth, at the foot of the mountains. Over
these tracts are scattered some small “ bushes,” or woods,
the remnants of much larger tracts of wooded country, but
which have been unfortunately destroyed by fires, carelessly
kindled by the natives for the purpose of clearing land for
their cultivations. The exterior of these woods, therefore,
presents a very disappointing sight to one eager to see a pri-
meyal forest in a state of nature. You approach them over
ground rough with the charred stumps of burnt trees, many of
which, dead and scathed with fire, are still standing all round
the outskirts of the live trees, giving a desolate and blasted ef-
fect to the landscape. These isolated remnants of former forests
are generally in the midst of swamps, to which probably they
owe their preservation from the devouring fires which have
cleared the surrounding country. That these woods were, no
great while since, much more extensive than at present, is
proved by the stumps and roots of trees still encountered by
the plough where nothing of the kind is visible on the surface,
and also by the stems of trees found buried in great quanti-
ties in old water-courses, which have now become swamps.
It is in these swamps that we have seen bones of the Dinor-
nis disinterred from a trifling depth, and it seems a tradition
amongst the natives that the forests were burnt in order to get
rid of the Moa. Considering how little is yet known of the in-
terior of the middle island, or even of the large forests of the
settled parts, it seems by no means improbable that this gigan-
tic bird may yet be seen alive.
The rich alluvial tracts of country above described consist of
most fertile land, easily worked, not a single stone being usually
found in the soil, excepting where rivers may have deposited
banks of gravel. It varies from a sandy to a clayey consistency,
probably with little if any lime in it, the water of the rivers
and creeks which traverse it being exceedingly clear and soft.
It is capable of producing excellent crops of all the cereals,
as well as of potatoes, carrots, and turnips. It is favour-
able to the growth of English grasses, and of clover which
is generally excluded from permanent pastures from its lia-
8 Tancred on the Natural History of the
bility to overrun and choke the grasses. It may be observed
here, that the potato-apple ripens and becomes a highly-scent-
ed and agreeable fruit, like a plum, of which a preserve is
made. Potatoes have not been affected with any disease, and
are generally of very good quality. In good land, well tilled,
the second crop of wheat, by accurate measurement, has been
known to amount to seventy-six bushels per acre. Oats are
a very heavy crop, but cause great trouble to get them out of
the land, as the winter does not kill them, and the old roots
throw up fresh shoots in spite of ploughing. The barley is
generally a very bright and heavy sample. There seems every
probability that ale may very soon be brewed here (the hops
being procured from Van Diemen’s Land), which will become
an article of export to Australia, and even to India.
Carrots and Swedish turnips are calculated to produce from
20 to 25 tons per acre. The plants which succeed the worst
in new land are papilionaceous plants, such as pease, beans,
lucerne, &c. Onions, also, are apt to fail till the land has
been thoroughly cleared of the fern root.
All the common fruit and timber trees and shrubs of Eng-
land will probably flourish, though there has been a difficulty
in raising seedling pines, from their being scorched up by
the sun and hot winds; but this only requires to be guarded
against by providing shade and moisture at the proper sea-
son, whilst the plants are young. Quickset, gorse or whin,
flourish most luxuriantly. Most of our cultivated annuals,
when introduced here become weeds, seeding themselves, and
coming up next year, in spite of digging the ground.
The rest of the settled parts of the province of Canterbury
(lying at a higher elevation than the alluvial tract above de-
scribed) consists chiefly of widely-extended plains of light dry
land, sometimes actually shingle thinly covered with grass,
interspersed here and there, near the beds of rivers and creeks,
with tracts of the rich land above described. Over this coun-
try you may ride or drive a dray, for miles upon miles, steer-
ing a course either by marks on the mountains which bound
the horizon, or, if the weather is thick, by the compass, till
arrested either by swamps or by wide rivers, which have to
be forded. The chief exceptions to this character of country
Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. 9
are to the north and north-west, where rounded downs, with
steep ravines amongst them, are found.*
The plains, as far as we had any opportunity of examining
their geological character, are composed of an immense tract
of alluvial detritus, the shingle beds, wherever found, appear-
ing to consist of quartzose and micaceous sandstone. To-
wards the sea, beds of shells are found buried, or even still
lying on the surface. The Malvern Hills and the downs, al-
ready described, are partly composed of limestone (mountain
limestone), and in their vicinity coal appears, as well as iron-
stone, and it is said copper ore.
These extensive plains are clothed with grass, with ferns in
some plages, and groups of the Ti-palm, as it is called by the
natives (Cordyline australis), scattered here and there. In
some places a curious thorny plant, by the settlers called Wild
Irishman (Discaria australis), abounds ; whilst in others more
moist, the Wild Spaniard (Aciphylla squarrosa), a sort of
spear-grass, raises its formidable chevaux-de-frise. The root,
which tastes strongly of parsnip, is much relished by pigs,
and by the native rat, which forms numerous burrows, ren-
dering the soil unsafe for a horse. I have understood that in
some parts near the hills, the country is rendered inaccessible
by the abundance and formidable size of these plants.
In other parts there are extensive tracts of Manuka scrub,
consisting of shrubs, from 6 to 10 feet high of the beautiful
plant so called (Leptospermum scoparium), which is aromatic
like the sweet gale, and bears a flower from the time when it
is a foot high resembling that of the hawthorn. It is said to
be the same which in more sheltered situations in forests be-
comes a good-sized tree, and produces an excellent wood.
In other parts the herbage contains a quantity of an aro-
matic plant like anise (Anisotome 7), affording a very grateful
pasturage to all sorts of stock, and so abundant where it grows,
that when crushed by the horses’ feet, its scent perfumes the
air. In other localities great quantities of sow-thistles make
a rich food for cattle.
* The whole extent of the province, from sea to sea, and from north to
south, covers about 12,000,000 acres, of which much is occupied by inacces-
sible mountains,
10 Tancred on the Natural History of the
In some parts of the plains groves of the Ti-palm, as it
is called (Cordyline australis), occur, whilst in others only
single plants appear at intervals. They often assume a gro-
tesque appearance on the solitary plain; some with dead leaves
drooping beneath the crown, might be imagined at a distance
to be shepherds in loose coats in various attitudes, others like
persons with umbrellas behind them, running before the wind.
The heart and the pith of the stem are eaten by the natives.
On the extensive range of sand-hills which border the coast,
the prevalent vegetation is a sort of stiff bent-grass and the Ti-
palm. We found commonly a handsome Senecio, with a large
yellow flower, arising from a cluster of roundish-oval leaves of
a rich claret colour, and having spines on the upper surface, and
downy beneath (Senecio bellidioides); together with another
yellow composite flower with filiform leaves (Microseris For-
steri).
These widely-extended plains, and the downs of a low ele-
vation with which they are connected towards the north
and west, as well as the volcanic hills of the peninsula, and
much of what will ultimately be agricultural land, are oc-
cupied either as sheep or cattle runs, according to the dry
or more swampy nature of the soil; on the latter, herds of pigs
being also kept. The quantity of wool, as also of dairy pro-
duce and pork, is annually doubling itself; and the only ma-
terial impediment to a very rapid development of pastoral
wealth is the scarcity and great dearness of labour. So rapid
is the rise of the labouring class to the condition of independ-
ent farmers or proprietors, that every member of their fami-
lies, within a short time after their arrival, is employed in work-
ing for themselves at home, instead of for hire. This state of
things is being somewhat alleviated by sending out labourers
from this country ; and if a regular stream of labour can be
kept constantly flowing in, as the former arrivals become ab-
sorbed into the class of farmers, a very prosperous state of
things must be the result. Till this regular and sufficient
supply can be safely calculated upon, any undertaking which
exceeds the means of the proprietor and his family to conduct
themselves, with only occasional recourse to hired labour,
must be hazardous, and replete with vexation and disappoint-
Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. 11
ment. The supply, too, of domestic servants is so very limit-
ed, that persons with young families, unless they are accom-
panied by unmarried relations, willing and able to undertake
all sorts of household work and outdoor labour, will find it
almost impossible to remain there.
These, we may hope, are but temporary inconveniences,
whilst the permanent character of the country and climate is
most favourable to the rapid development both of agricultural
and pastoral property. The flocks and herds are here exempt
from those severe droughts from which stock-owners suffer so
frequently in Australia; and that most destructive pestilence
the catarrh is unknown in New Zealand. There is no race of
wild animals to molest the stock; though a few dogs which have
escaped and become wild are met with in unfrequented parts.
The scab is the only disease much to be dreaded, and strin-
gent laws have been passed to prevent the spread of the infec-
tion, which, in an open country like these plains, with few
natural boundaries, would without constant attention be liable
to spread with great rapidity. A good supply of grass all the
year round enables a larger amount of stock per acre to be kept
here than in most parts of Australia. The climate is also fa-
vourable to the breeding of horses, which will doubtless become
an important article of export.
Whilst upon the subject of the capabilities of the country,
it may be remarked that one of the most serious drawbacks
has hitherto been the want of easy access to a port from the
productive country which has been described. Some small
amount of produce is shipped, and stores received by means
of small coasters at one or two points on the coast; but the
only harbours where large ships can lie in security are those
of Lyttelton and Akerob, in Banks’ Peninsula. It is a pecu-
liarity of these, as of most of the harbours in New Zealand,
that they are not estuaries formed by rivers, or land-locked
bays bounded by low shores, but are mere indentations in the
high rocky coast of the peninsula, resembling in character,
we should suppose, the Fiords of Norway. * The formation of
a road by which heavy goods and agricultural produce could
be conveyed across such a ridge of hills is of course a serious
undertaking for so young a community. It unfortunately
12 Tancred on the Natural History of the
happens, also, that two rivers, the Avon and Heathcote, which
unite and form a shallow estuary to the north of the penin-
sula, have a bar at the mouth which frequently stops all in-
gress or egress for days together. The next river to the
north, the Waimakariri, though it also has a bar mouth, is
navigable by small coasters for some miles, and on it has
lately arisen the town of Kaiapoi. With the exception of the
above and the Cust and Halswell, the other rivers of the pro-
vince, the Ashley, Selwyn, Hurunui, Rakaia, Ashburton, Wai-
tangi, Rangitata, &c., are rapid torrents, forming obstacles,
rather than facilities, for transport of goods or communication.
No more desolate scene can be easily witnessed than is
presented to the solitary horseman who has to ford one of
the wider of these streams, such as the Waimakariri or the Ra-
kaia. After descending from one or two high terraces by very
steep slopes, which appear to have been ancient banks to the
river, you come to the present bank, from which you behold a
wilderness of shingle and sand of perhaps a mile wide, with
separate streams meandering through it. It is necessary
to be very cautious in determining whether the river is suffi-
ciently low to be crossed, or whether, from the melting of
snow in the mountains, it is swollen ; for such is the rapidity
of the streams, and such their icy coldness, that if of above a
certain depth, the horse would be swept off his feet, and the
rider probably be benumbed and perish. They thus become
impassable, except at a ferry, for weeks together at certain
times of the year. On descending into the shingly bed, often
composed of stones of the size of a man’s head, as the horse
plods his way slowly over the boulders, or through sand-drifts,
and over banks of shingle, the stranger is struck with the
utter desolation of the scene, appearing as if left by an infu-
riated torrent, which has swept down and half buried the
trees, whose bleached and withered arms appear here and
there sticking out of the shingle, amidst a mass of reeds or
withered grass. The wailing of the sea birds which soar about
adds to the impression, as if they were anticipating a feast on
the adventurous traveller, and the peculiar cry of the Paradise
duck, as he rises from a pool, seems to show how seldom a
traveller disturbs the solitude; and sometimes a strong wind
*~
Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. 13
rushing down the river bed, carries with it such a constant
cloud of sand, that objects are invisible beyond a short dis-
tance.
Arriving now at the brink of the first stream, into which
the river is divided, the experienced eye will determine by
the water being clear or discoloured, whether it is m a state
to be crossed, or whether the snow-water makes it white and
turbid. In the former case, he proceeds to ride slowly up
the stream, avoiding the still current, where it is deep, and
selecting a place where the water ripples over a shallow bed.
Having entered the stream, the swiftness with which it dashes
past, roaring over the stony bottom and splashing against the
horse, is apt to make the rider giddy ; and, except by keeping
the eyes fixed on the opposite bank, it is very difficult at first
to know whether the horse is advancing or going backwards,
or sideways, so that the sensation is by no means agreeable,
and it is a considerable relief to gain the opposite side.
Having crossed one stream in this way, another tract of
shingle has to be passed, and another stream to be forded,
(avoiding quicksands), and so on, sometimes to the number of
eight or nine. It may be conceived how tedious an operation
the passage of such a river must be, extending, perhaps, to a
mile between the banks, whilst the distance actually traversed
is much greater, especially with a dray loaded with bales of wool
or other produce. Already, ferries have been established at
deeper parts of the rivers where they flow in one channel ;
but the construction of bridges over streams of such a width
and swiftness, and subject to sudden and considerable floods,
must be deferred probably for many years.
Having thus given a general idea of the nature of the
country, we may proceed to note some of the features of its
natural history. The most striking fact seems to be the great
paucity of animated beings composing the native fauna. Of
terrestrial mammalia, a small rat (or vole) is the sole repre-
sentative, and this is being exterminated by that formidable
invader the Norway rat, which has been imported in ships.
The herbage and climate are favourable to the increase of the
ruminants, as well as of the horse, the hog, the dog, &c., which
have been introduced by Europeans, and would probably prove
14 ” Tancred on the Natural History of the
equally so to deer, hares, and rabbits, and many other quadru-
peds. It seems a very singular fact, that it should have re-
mained for ages untenanted, and ready to support at any
moment a vast amount of the useful animals which accom-
pany man. The only quadrupeds now wild, which have been
introduced, are a few dogs, which have escaped, and in unfre-
quented arts pare dangerous to the flocks ;—and pigs, which
have become very numerous in the swamps, and afford a con-
siderable supply of meat to cattle stations, on which they
abound. When Captain Cook discovered this island, he found
the natives in possession of dogs, and he introduced swine.
Of birds, the supply is more considerable. The water-
birds assemble in immense flocks on the lagoons, and parti-
cularly on Lake Ellesmere ; but as to the number of species,’
we have no exact information. The ducks are excellent eat-
ing ; one of them, called the gray duck, is something like our
wild duck, another, a shoveller (Spatula rhynchotis), one
like a teal, and a widgeon. There are also numerous shags,
or small cormorants—a black, a bronze green, and a gray
species (G. punctatus)—and several gulls, terns, and stilts
(Himantopus nove zelandice and H. leucocephalus). The _
very handsome bird called the Paradise duck (Casarca va-
riegata), but which in fact is a small goose, is of a more do-
mesticated nature, frequenting ploughed lands, as does also
a ring dottrel, closely resembling the English species (Cha-
radrius torquatula or bicinata). One of the terns and an
oyster catcher, also a large gull, come some distance inland.
It is singular that no species of snipe frequents the nu-
merous swamps, which appear so well adapted to their habits.
A very handsome bird, called the water-hen, by the natives
pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus), is plentiful amongst the bul-
rush swamps. A beautiful white crane, as it is called, na-
tive name kotuku (Z. flavirostris, Wagler), is occasionally seen
soaring at a distance, relieved by the purple of the hills be-
hind. It is of the most pure and snowy whiteness. There
are also some small birds in the swamps, one of which has a
very peculiar note, exactly like the squeaking of the iron
wheel of a plough, or of a wheel-barrow which wants grease.
Another, frequenting the same locality, has a very distinct,
Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. 15
short song, which it constantly reiterates, and seems to stop
short in the midst. Some idea may be given of it by saying
that it sings the first nine notes of the Agnes Polka; thus,
A bittern, native name, matuku (Botaurus melanotus), is occa-
sionally seen in the swamps; also a grebe (Podiceps rubipectus).
In the open plains, the land birds seem to be confined to the
quail (Coturnia nove zelandie), a buzzard hawk, probably
Circus assimilis (Jard. and Selb.), and the commonest of all,
a sort of ground lark, kotiki (Anthus australis). The quails,
which a few years since were very numerous, seem to be ra-
pidly diminishing, being destroyed by the wide-spreading
fires by which the coarser herbage is burnt off, and also by
the shepherds’ dogs. Perhaps when corn fields cover large
tracts of country, the quails will return. In the meanwhile, a
gentleman at Christchurch has, we trust, introduced the par-
tridge, several broods having been reared under hens, and
turned out in stubble fields. The pheasant also has been suc-
cessfully introduced in some of the forests in Banks’ Penin-
sula, where it seems to be naturalized. The hawk or buz-
zard above mentioned is abundant; it feeds on rats, and on
the carcases of sheep and lambs. The ground-lark resem-
bles in its appearance a wagtail. It has a peculiar propen-
sity for running along the ground just in front of a person
on horseback or on foot, and will sometimes go on for miles,
flying a short distance when nearly overtaken, and again
alighting and running, turning its head from side to side to
look behind. It is a very familiar bird, and replaces in that
respect the sparrow or robin at home. Of the gigantic moa
(Dinornis), as already observed, numerous bones have been
found near the embouchure of the Avon. ‘‘ Moa-bone Point”
is named from them. Besides bones, there are found on parts
of the plains little heaps of rounded agates and quartz pebbles
(far distant from any rocks of that nature), which are popu-
larly called “« Moa stones,” and are supposed to be the con-
tents of the gizzards of those birds which have died at the
places where these heaps are found.
16 Tancred on the Natural History of the
On entering the bush, or native forest, the ear, so unaccus-
tomed to the “ sweet charm of birds,” is delighted by the lively
and melodious notes of the tui or parson-bird (Prosthemadera
nove zelandie). The song is not so varied but is more liquid
than that of the thrush, which it somewhat resembles. Itis very
pretty to seethese birds, when the yellow Clianthus (C. puniceus)
is in flower, hanging in graceful attitudes to suck the honey from
the blossoms. A beautiful little fan-tailed fly-catcher, which
seems to be of the genus Rhipidura (Gould), flits like a large
butterfly close round your head, and perches on a neighbour-
ing shrub. There is a another beautiful little bird, with black
head, yellow breast, and white on the wings and root of tail.
The parrot—(of which the native name ka-ka, pronounced kaw-
kaw, indicates the sound of its note), (Nestor hypopolius,
Gould)—is seen seated on the topmost branches of some lofty
pine. There is also a small parrot (Platycercus nove ze-
landie). Pigeons are plentiful, fat and very good eating (Car-
paphaga nove zelandie). The New Zealand crow, kokako
(Caleas or Glaucopis cinerea), with red wattles hanging from
each side of his neck, we have found so full of a purple-
coloured berry, that the whole intestines were stained with
the juice, and the whole bird smelt strongly of it. The ele-
gant little cuckoo—pipi-warau-roa (Chrysococcya lucidus)
—appears in spring. It is said to have the same intrusive
disposition as its larger congener in Europe, and to lay its
eggs in the nest of the fan-tailed fly-catcher. There is also a
larger cuckoo (Hudynomys fasciatus, Forster). A singular
bird called the woodhen, by the natives wika (Ocydromus .
australis), is so ill provided with wings that it can only run
on the ground. It lays its eggs under a fallen tree or an old
stump. Its mode of defence when about to be seized is a most
unearthly scream, which, it is said, will terrify the most savage
dog when unaccustomed to it, and make him retreat in fear.
It has the mischievous disposition of the magpie, entering the
tent of a traveller at night, carrying off any small articles,
and letting them drop here and there. Two gentlemen were
occupying a tent by the side of a bush, and one of them, very
early in the morning, heard his companion, in a drowsy voice,
saying, “ Get away, get away ;” and looking out, saw that his
= PN
yess! 2 a oe
Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. By
friend’s slumbers were broken by a wika pecking the flies off
his head as he lay on the ground. This bird is remarkably
fat, its skin, which is very thick, being lined with a solid
coating of grease, so that only its legs can be eaten, which are
said to be excellent. There is also a hawk, karewarua (Falco
nove zelandie), and a handsome kingfisher (Halcyon sane-
tus). The belibird is also found; and doubtless there are a
variety of other birds in the forests with which we are still
unacquainted.
Reptiles are happily confined to a small harmless lizard.
It has often struck us as a matter of congratulation, when
trudging through high ferns and shrubs up to the middle,
where probably no human foot had trodden before, that one
might fearlessly proceed without the risk of dislodging some
venomous snake, noxious animal, or even a nest of spiteful
insects. The immunity indeed enjoyed in that part of New
Zealand from any kind of destructive, and from most kinds
of troublesome birds, insects, or animals (the rat being almost
the only exception), 1s very remarkable. Thus neither the
farmer nor the gardener see their crops destroyed by plundering
birds or eaten off by mice; they are undisturbed by the mole,
the rabbit, or the hare; their poultry is safe from the polecat,
the weasel, and the fox; their beasts—sheep, horses, &¢.—
never feel the stings of various flies; their corn fears not the
wireworm, nor their turnips the beetle, nor their vegetables and
flowers the attacks of slugs and snails; their fruit falls not
a prey to wasps. The only exceptions we know to the general
absence of these insects, is, that at a certain season a cater-
pillar is very destructive; but the remedy for this is to have
crops either too forward or not sufficiently advanced at that
short season of the year when the insects prevail, to be injured
by their attacks.
But to return from this digression. The fresh-water fish
do not seem very various. It will be perceived, by the de-
scription already given of some of the rivers, that neither fish
nor the food for them can exist in such furious torrents as the
Waimakariri, Raikaia, &c., at least only in the lower part of
their course, where they become more tranquil on approach-
ing the sea. In the Avon, Heathcote, Halswell, and in what
NEW SERIES.—VOL. III. No. I.—san. 1856. B
18 Tancred on the Natural History of the
are called creeks—i. ¢., deep, narrow streams of clear water,
generally flowing out of swamps—there are abundance of eels,
some of which attain a great size, up, it is said, to twenty
pounds weight. The natives catch great numbers, and dry
them for winter provision.
The colonist is generally too much occupied to devote much
time to the peaceful pursuits of the angler. We may, there-
fore, do injustice to the wealth of the rivers and streams in
attempting to give a list of the fresh-water fish; but it must
be understood that we only mention those which have come
under our personal observation in the Avon and Heathcote.
These are the white-bait, which is very transparent when
alive, but when boiled becomes opaque. There is also a bull-
trout, and shoals of smelts, with the peculiar taste of cucum-
ber belonging to that fish. In the Heathcote, and within
reach of the tide, are caught flounders and a sort of herring,
which are very abundant; and also the smelts. There are
also a fresh-water shrimp and large cray-fish. There are
abundance of sea-fish of several sorts in the harbour and
along the coast, but no one finds it worth their while as yet
to make a business of catching or curing them. The sperm
whale frequents the coasts, as well as numerous sharks. There
are also cuttle-fish ; and the natives have a legend, like one
of the old Norwegian tales, of a gigantic cuttle-fish twining
its arms round a canoe and drawing it under water. Of the
sea shells we regret not to be able to give any account. Mus-
sels are very abundant, and some grow to a very large size,
and furnish, with the cockles, a great article of food to the
natives. Small rock oysters are also abundant, and a large
shell, called from its shape the ear-shell, containing a purple-
black fish, which the natives eat. They are sought for the
sake of the mother-of-pearl with which they are lined, under
the name of paua-shells, and large quantities are exported.
A large periwinkle, with a green, stony operculum, abounds.
Shrimps and crabs are abundant. A polype, with a stem like
a pentacrinite, abounds. Laver, with several kinds of hand-
some sea-weeds, grow in Lyttelton harbour.
As, however, we may get out of our depth here, we will re-
turn to dry land, and observe the native vegetable produe-
al Pa ————
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Province of Canterbury, New Zealand. 19
tions of the plains. The general aspect of the vegetation
strikes a strangeras remarkably English—the fern, interspersed
with grass, daisies, buttercups, slender-stalked flowers resem-
bling campanulas, ragweeds, cranes’-bills, &c., have all an Eng-
lish character, though the rustling leaves of the Phormium
tenax and a species of Dragon-tree (Cordyline or Drace-
na australis), resembling a yucca with a high stem, remind
him that he is in a different country. On examining more
closely, we find the daisy (Bellis geifolia), a very small and
delicate representative of its northern congener; also a very
small land-cress, growing thick and close to the ground, with
other larger kinds. The English water-cress has spread and
thriven luxuriantly, and there is also another kind which
grows under water, and is very delicate in taste, but, from its
having long petioles and small leaves, is less agreeable to eat.
Pursuing our walk along the river bank, we admire the dark-
green leaves of the native flax (Phormium tenax), gracefully
nodding over the water, and its spike, of deep maroon-red
flowers, rising stiffly in the midst. Fine tufts of the large toi-
toi grass (Cordyline indivisa ?) wave their heads like ostrich
plumes in the breeze, six or seven feet in height, whilst their
root-leaves droop in long tresses on all sides, their serrated
edges inflicting a deep gash in the hand which should in-
cautiously seize them. In the water, where it is shallow, grows
a very curious sort of grass-like plant, from two to four feet
high, and as thick as a child’s body, with a tuft of grass at the
top. The interior of the stem consists of a loosely-compacted
bundle of tubular fibres, the outside being black, forming a
very singular and grotesque-looking plant, familiarly called
negro-heads or maori-heads. Amongst the minor flowers will
be observed the pretty white-flowered perennial flax (Linum
monogynum), like the yellow garden linum, only white and
more shrubby; also two or three sorts of ranunculus and
cranes’-bill (Geranium), as well as a very minute-flowered
pelargonium (P. clandestinum). Species of willow-herb (Epi-
lobium) also are found. A large sort of fern grows in locali-
ties by the river sides. A kind of celery also grows in moist
places, which Captain Cook used in large quantities. On the
hills between Lyttelton and the plains, a very pretty yellow
B 2
20 Tancred on the Natural History of the
oxalis (0. corniculata) grows in ¢lose tufts on the rocks, and
some species of gnaphalium, with woolly glaucous leaves, as
well as a minute daisy, before described. Along the cliffs
above the port are gay yellow ragworts, with thick succulent
leaves, and a pink-flowered mesembryanthemum (M. aus-
trale). A species of convolvulus, or Ipomcea—the kumera-
hoa—is cultivated by the natives, who eat the root. Being
very tender, it appears to be a plant brought by them from a
warmer climate. In some parts, especially about abandoned
native pas or villages, great quantities of a sort of brassica
grow wild, the young shoots of which make, when dressed, a
palatable vegetable, and in some soils the root is somewhat
tuberous and edible. It seems probable that it may be the
Swedish turnip degenerated by sowing itself without cultiva-
tion, as Captain Cook is known to have introduced many
vegetables into this island. Amongst plants resembling Eng-
lish ones may be mentioned a dock and a rough-leaved chick-
weed, and the sow-thistle. Mushrooms also abound, exactly
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A. PEARIGAL DELFT PAINTED IM COLOURS BY W.H.LIZARS EDINA
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CONTENTS.
. On the Geological Relations of the Secondary and Primary
Rocks of the Chain of Mont Blane. By James D.
Fores, D.C.L., Corresponding Member of the French
Institute, and Professor of Natural Philosophy in
the University of Edinburgh. (Plate IX.),
. On a specimen of Native Iron from Liberia, Africa. By
A. A. Hayes, M.D., Assayer to the State of Massa-
chusetts,
3. On the form of the Curve resulting from the binocular
union of a Straight Line with a Circular Are, or of
two equal Circular Arcs with one another. By Pro-
fessor Wiii1aMm B. Rogers,
. Astronomical Contradictions and Geological Inferences re-
specting a Plurality of Worlds,
. Contributions to Ornithology. By Sir Witiram JaRpDINE,
Bart. No. III. Ornithology of Eastern Africa.—
Natal Collections,
. Remarks on Professor Baden Powell’s Views respecting
the Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth, and the
Skeleton found in excavating Mickleton Tunnel. By
ALEXANDER THOMSON, Esq., of Banchory,
PAGE
189
204
210
218
238
ii CONTENTS.
7. On the Rare Lichens of Ben Lawers. By Hucu Mac-
MILLAN, F.B.S.E.,
8. On the Spores of Cryptogamic Plants. By Cuaries
JENNER,
9. An Account of an Earthquake-Shock on the 30th of
May 1855; and of an Extraordinary Agitation of the
Sea on the 6th of June 1855, in Penzance; with ob-
servations on the cause of the latter. By Ricuarp
Epnmonps, Jun., Esq.,
10. Report on the Chemical Composition of the Cleveland
Ironstone Beds. By Witi1am Crowper, F.C.S., New-
castle-on-Tyne,
11. On an improved Method of preparing Siliceous and other
Fossils for Microscopic Investigation, with a Deserip-
tion of a New Pneumatic Chuck. By ALExanpER
Bryson, F.S.A. Scot., F.R.P.S., &c.,
REVIEWS :—
1. A Manual of Elementary Geology, or the ancient changes
of the Earth and its Inhabitants, as illustrated by
Geological Monuments. By Sir Cuartes Lyert,
M.A., F.BS.,
2. Analytical View of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia. By
Henry Lorp Broveuam, F.R.S., Member of the Na-
tional Institute of France and of the Royal Academy
of Naples; and E. J. Rovru, B.A., Fellow of St
Peter’s College, Cambridge,
3. Historia Fisica y Politica de Chile, segun Documentos
adquiridos en esta Republica, durante Doce Anos de
Residencia en ella y Publicada bajo los auspicios del
Supremo Gobierno, Por Craupro Gay,
PAGE
257
269
280
286
297
305
328
CONTENTS. il
PAGE
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES :—
Royal Society of Edinburgh, . 2 : : 339
Royal Physical Society, : : : : 348
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, , 352
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE :—
ZOOLOGY.
1. Distribution of British Land-Shells. 2. Habits of the
Walrus. 3. Cheiramys Madgascariensis, Cuvier.
4. Artificial Breeding of Fish. 5. M. Charpentier—
Helix pomatia and arbustorum, 5 360-361
GEOLOGY.
6. Syenite of the Malvern Hills altered by the Heat of the
Malvern Bonefire, compared with Syenite in contact
with Trap-Dykes, : ; 362
CHEMISTRY.
7. On Acrylic Alcohol and its Compounds. 8. Action
of Phosphate of Soda upon Fluor-Spar at a Red
Heat, : ; : , : 362-363
BOTANY.
9. On the Varieties of ‘“ Chiretta” used in India. 10.
Ceylon Botanic Garden. 11. Extracts from Jurors’
Reports of the Madras Exhibition, 1855. 12. Orchids
in Brazil. 13. Ailanthus glandulosus. 14. Fossil
Fruits. 15. Scirpus lacustris. 16. Vegetation in
Brazil after burning the Forests. 17. Plants of Vic-
toria. 18. Ouvirandra fenestralis, Water- Yam.
19. Listera ovata, : ; ; 364-367
lv CONTENTS.
PAGE
MINERALOGY,
20. Fall of Meteorites in the Bremervorde, Hanover. 21.
Analysis of a Meteoric stone which fell in Norway, 367
METEOROLOGY.
22. A remarkable Meteor, observed in the Isle of Wight on
the 7th January 1856. 23. Abstract of the Meteor-
ological Register kept at Arbroath, for 1855, 368-370
Pusiications RECEIVED, . ; : : 371
INDEX, . E : ; . : 373
ERRATUM IN No. 5.
Page 55, line 12 from the bottom, for progressive read vestigian.
p=] oy Pp s
THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL
On the Geological Relations of the Secondary and Primary
Rocks of the Chain of Mont Blanc. By James D. ForBEs,
D.C.L., Corresponding Member of the French Institute, and
Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edin-
burgh.* (Plate IX.)
I have hesitated before making any remarks on an ingeni-
ous paper by Mr D. Sharpe, “ On the Structure of Mont Blanc
and its Environs,’} for three reasons: jirst, because my stu-
dies being at present differently directed, I would rather have
passed over the matter in silence ; secondly, because the facts
controverted by Mr Sharpe, mainly rest on the authority of pro-
fessed geologists, nearly all of whom are now living, and well
able to maintain their own viewsif correct; thirdly, because, as
far as the ultimate appeal to facts is concerned, I have no ex-
pectation at present of being able to add to those which I have
already collected on the subject, or of correcting my impres-
sions (if erroneous) on the spot.
On the other hand, I find reasons for putting on record my
convictions on the interesting geological question re-opened by
Mr Sharpe, first, On account of the prominent way in which
he has cited my name in connection with the views now gene-
rally maintained on the structure of the chain of Mont Blanc ;
a citation which he has made in terms only too flattering to
the share which I have had in fixing the opinions of geologists
* Read to the Royal Society of Edinburgh 21st January 1856.
T Quart. Journal Geol. Society of London, Feb. 1855.
NEW SERIES.—VOL. III. NO, 1.—APRIL 1856, )
190 Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
on this important matter; secondly, Because he has denied
statements of which I thought that 1 had given sufficient proof ;
but much more, thirdly, Because, in criticising the conclusions
of several eminent geologists, as well as my own, he has used
a sort of argument which appears to me to be extremely un-
usual, and even dangerous to the progress of science.
The principal fact supposed to be recognised in the structure
of the chain of Mont Blanc, but which Mr Sharpe undertakes
to controvert, is this ;—that there is a real superposition of the
primitive or granitoid, to the secondary or argillo-calcareous
rocks. Mr Sharpe appears also, in a more emphatic manner,
to deny that there is a conformity (as alleged) between the
stratification or bedding of the former and the latter rocks,
where they approach to contact.
This ‘ monstrous superposition,” as it was in one instance
termed by De Saussure, was a thing so abhorrent to the Wer-
nerian views of his time, that it is impossible to doubt that
it could have been admitted by him and his successors (includ-
ing his grandson, M. Necker) but with the extremest reluc-
tance, and consequently only after the most careful investiga-
tion. The dip of the calcareous beds at Chamouni, under the
granite or protogine of Mont Blanc, is a fact now received
after reiterated observations by De Saussure, MM. Necker,
Favre, Studer, and myself. The corresponding relations of
the two rocks on the opposite or Italian side of the same chain
has been more sparingly noticed, and perhaps first prominently
brought forward in my Travels in the Alps, as cited by Mr
Sharpe ; but the chief circumstances through which my name
has been brought forward in this matter are these,—that I
pointed out the symmetry of the two sides of the chain, the
conformity of the inward dip of the calcareous rocks in either
case towards the central granitic mass, and the coincidence of
it with the lamination of the primitive rocks which constitute
that “ fan-shaped structure” of those masses to which atten-
tion has of late years been so much directed. I also pointed
out the analogy of the granitic outbreak of the Mont Chetif, on
the Italian side of the chain, with that of the Aiguilles Rouges
at Chamouni. The section, Plate IX., fig. 2, from my Travels
in the Alps, will illustrate, at the outset, the general facts
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blanc. 191
as assumed, but which is now called in question. I take this
opportunity of stating that the broad distinction indicated
in this section of granite from limestone, without the specifi-
cation of intermediate varieties or transitions, was adopted
solely to simplify the task of the lithographer (no colour
being used), and to direct attention to the singularity of the
general arrangement.
Mr Sharpe’s refutation of the alleged facts consists of, I
think, two parts: jirst, he charges those who preceded him
with mistaking cleavage for stratification; secondly, he cha-
racterizes the conclusions from observation of all his prede-
cessors as unjustified assertions, drawing himself opposite re-
sults from the facts which he supposes them to have seen, and
denies, in the most positive manner, that they could have seen
what they have affirmed and represented by figures. It is this
last mode of criticism which I have ventured to call “ un-
usual and dangerous.” Mr Sharpe employs it quite as freely
in discussing the elaborate conclusions of De Saussure, MM.
Necker and Favre, as in the case of my own, so that I feel that
I am blamed in good company; and I wonder chiefly at the
boldness of a tourist who spent, by his own account, but a few
days on ground most difficult to traverse, and far more diffi-
cult to understand, in setting aside at once the facts and the
inferences recorded by men so laboriously familiar with the
ground. Fig. 7 of Plate [X., being part of one of Mr Sharpe’s
sections, when compared with fig. 2, will at once illustrate
the difference between our opinions.
Mr Sharpe must be well aware that an extensive geological
section is seldom or never a precise copy of nature, capable
of verification at each and every point. In all cases of diffi-
culty or of extended investigation, it is a real induction from
numerous insulated facts, by means of which the geologist
draws a general conclusion.* ‘The general dip of limestone un-
der gneiss on the S.E. face of the Valley of Chamouni, is a
fact of this kind. If Mr Sharpe had recollected the intensity
of the evidence which alone could have convinced De Saussure
and M. Necker of so improbable, and apparently ‘‘ monstrous,”
* The sections which accompany Mr Sharpe’s own memoir, have so strikingly
this character, as to make it unnecessary to insist on the fact.
02
192 Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
an arrangement,—if he had recollected the difficulty of finding,
in the course of a few hurried rambles, the critical spots which
geologists, equally able, had perhaps been in search of for
weeks,—if, finally, he had considered the presumption of de-
ciding a fact negatively, in opposition to such authority; he
would probably have paused before writing some parts of his
present paper. I shall proceed to quote some sentences from
the successive geological authorities on the subject, and dis-
play some of their drawings of what they at least believed
themselves to have seen.
I. De Saussure has nowhere given a section of the relative
position of the crystalline and secondary rocks at Chamouni.
From his short descriptions of these rocks (Voyages, vol. il.,
chap. xxii.) we collect the following observations—(1.) At
Mont Lacha, at the S.W. extremity of the valley, calcareous
beds lie conformably to the position of the lower members of
the primitive series which he had already deseribed in § 656,
as gradually increasing in dip towards the centre of the chain
as he ascended the heights of Blaiti¢re, immediately to the
south of the village of Chamouni. As he adds that the same
arrangement continues throughout the whole extent of the
valley, it is not doubtful that the dip of the strata at Mont
Lacha are, if De Saussure be correct, conformable to that of
the gneiss rocks overhanging them to the S.E. (2.) The
gypsum and calcareous tufa at Tacconay, § 707, intermediate
between Mont Lacha and Chamouni, presented to De Saussure
no contact with the primitive rock, and no fixed plane of stra-
tification; such as appeared being rather discordant. (3.) At
Biolay, immediately to the south of the village of Chamouni,
and beneath the rocks of Blaitiére, is the most important sec-
tion described by De Saussure, § 708, in the following
words :—‘ Les couches sont situées precisement comme celles
de la montagne primitive @ laquelle elles sont adossées ;
elles courent de N.E. au S.W. et font avec Vhorizon un
angle de 45° en présentant leurs escarpements a la vallée
de Chamouni.” The rock is described as one “ qui tient
aussi de la nature du tuf”’ (4.) The calcareous strata of
the Céte du Piget, an insulated hill near the source of the
Arveiron, are described in § 709 as resembling those of
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blane. 193
Biolay, and generally conformable to the primitive rocks, rising
from 28° to 30° towards the N.W.
Summing up his conclusions from these observations in
§ 712, De Saussure very philosophically infers that the slates,
as well as the bluish-black limestones, are anterior to the re-
volutions which have modified the configuration of the chain,
have partaken of the fate of the primitive strata, and taken
an analogous position. The gypsums and tufaceous lime-
stones he considers as more modern, and not to have partaken
of the symmetrical arrangement of the primary rocks. An
exception to this, he says (in the last paragraph of chap. xxii.),
is to be found in the rocks of Biolay (which he had described
as tufaceous), inasmuch as they conform to the position of the
blue limestones and primary slates. This passage has been
strangely misunderstood by Mr Sharpe, who (p. 16) repre-
sents De Saussure as saying that ald the limestones are
more modern than the crystalline rocks, and as citing the
quarry of Biolay as an exception, “ which,” Mr Sharpe adds,
“the previous description [of De Saussure himself] by no
means justifies ;” the exception really being that the minera-
logical character of the limestone of Biolay was “ tufaceous,”
and therefore seemed to De Saussure to be more modern than
the “ blue or blackish limestones.’’ Resting on this evidence
of the great naturalist of the Alps contradicting himself in less
than three pages, Mr Sharpe puts his testimony on one side.
II. Next in order we have M. Necker, who still lives to
connect the views of his illustrious grandfather with those of
our own day. Like De Saussure himself, he has observed far
more than he has published, and has done so with the accu-
racy characteristic of the school of geology of which De Saus-
sure was in some measure the founder, and the traditions of
which descended through Théodore de Saussure to the present
Honorary Professor of Geneva, M. Necker. We may be
quite assured, therefore, that what M. Necker states to be
a fact, he has seen with his own eyes, and registered on
the spot. In a very remarkable Memoir on the Geology of
Valorsine,* read 17th April 1828, he points out the great in-
* Memoires de la Société d’Hist, Nat, de Geneve.
194 = Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
fluence of the granitoid masses connected with the Aiguilles
Rouges and the Valley of Valorsine on the configuration of the
secondary beds. He also gives a section of the strata between
Valorsine and the Col de Balme, in which the mineralogical
series of superposed beds is described, and the whole shown to
dip at a high angle under the primary slates and the protogine
of the main chain. This observation is fully confirmed by
M. Studer,* Mr Sharpe’s assumption, that his predecessors
have mistaken cleavage planes for bedding in this instance, is
a question of fact, which must rest on the authority of the re-
spective observers, and on the pains which they bestowed on
their observations. I suspect, however, that Mr Sharpe has
not seen this paper of M. Necker, nor examined his sections,
otherwise I can hardly imagine that he would have repre-
sented, as he has done in his section No. 3, the bedding of the
slaty rocks as lying in perfect conformity with the bounding
surface of the primary nucleus, or, as in section No. 2 (at the
Tete Noir), abutting against the same surface at right angles.
But in the paper I have quoted M. Necker has likewise given
a section—which I have copied, Plate IX., fig. 1—of the moun-
tains to the south-east of the Valley of Chamouni, showing the
fan-shaped structure, and the gradual increase of the dip of the
strata as we ascend their slopes. About the middle region
the inferior strata (marked A in the figure) are, he says, ge-
nerally primary slates; but at the two extremities of the val-
ley, near the Col de Balme and Mont Lacha, they are calca-
reous. At the latter point, he expressly says (p. 32), that the
secondary slates are evidently covered by the protogine. In
his more recent work,t he states that the tale slates, gneiss,
and superb protogine, “ peuvent étre observées avec la plus
grand evidence, recouvrant immédiatement, sur une longueur
de plusieurs lieues des couches de gypse, du lias, et du caleaire
ores comme cela a lieu dans toute la Vallée de Chamouni.”
Mr Sharpe cites this page; yet he dismisses M. Necker’s
conclusions, thus deliberately recorded after an interval of
thirteen years from his first publication of the facts, in three
lines and a half!
* Geologie der Schweitz, vol. i., pp. 170, 359.
J Etudes Géologiques sur les Alpes, vol. i. (1841), p. 138.
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blanc. 19%
III. I now come to my own observations made in 1842. I
must repeat that Mr Sharpe has mentioned my work with so
much courtesy, that I am convinced that only the force of
preconception could have led him, and that unintentionally, to
complain of want of precision, or of sufficient evidence for facts
which I unquestionably saw and proved, but which he, either
from haste or some other cause, has been unable to verify.
Besides, he has only treated my distinct averments with the
same liberties which he has used towards abler and professed
geologists; and so far I have no special ground of dissatis-
faction.
To touch on every point on which Mr Sharpe differs from
me would extend this paper too far, and might seem to give
an undue importance to my own share of the generalization.
The chief points are these,—both connected with the symmetry
of arrangement of the granite and lias on the two sides of the
chain of Mont Blanc, as compendiously shown in my figure
introduced in Plate IX., fig. 2.—(1.) the superposition of gra-
nite in the Valley of Chamouni; (2.) that in the Valley of
Entréves, near Courmayeur.
I cannot think that my descriptions are liable to the charge
of indefiniteness of reference to the precise points where the
alleged facts may be ascertained, as stated especially at pages
66 and 210 of my Travels in the Alps.
(1.) At Chamouni, p. 66 of Travels—“ If we continue our
survey of the glacier, ascending the ancient moraine of La-
yanchi, we reach the rock a little higher than the Pierre de
Lisboli, and the rock here is limestone, as already men-
tioned ;” {viz., at page 63, where it is added, ‘“.. . at the foot of
the Aiguille du Bochard, on the path leading from the village
of Lavanchi to the Chapeau. There is there a lime-kiln, and
it is burned for use.”] “ IT Is JUST IN CONTACT WITH THE
GNEISS, WHOSE BEDS LIE SLOPING SOUTHWARDS EXACTLY AT
THE SAME ANGLE WITH THE LIMESTONE,—NAMELY, ABOUT
30°. This limestone is no doubt of the same formation with
that which has been noticed in other parts of the Valley of
Chamouni, and especially by De Saussure, as underlying the
gneiss of the Aiguilles opposite Chamouni, towards the ham-
let of Blaitiére.’ How, then, does Mr Sharpe treat this spe-
196 Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
cific statement of facts? Could he possibly have missed the
way to a point so minutely specified? ‘“ On the path,’—a
mule-path, too, so he might ride to it ; “at a lime-kiln,”—a
mark not to be overlooked in a country where lime-kilns are
rare; and in proof that the narrator could not have mistaken
the nature of the rock, “it is burned for use.” As to the su-
perposition of the gneiss, can words more expressly affirm
that the limestone was seen to dip under it, than those which
I have printed in small capitals,—the dip of the whole being
30° towards the centre of the chain? But all this goes for
nothing with Mr Sharpe, who, it is to be presumed, did not at-
tempt to reach the spot described, but applies to this descrip-
tion his usual flat negative,—* The assertion that the lime-
stone dips under the granite in the Valley of Chamouni is
several times repeated by Professor Forbes, but the only points
especially mentioned at pp. 63 and 66 do not justify this
conclusion.” There is no possibility of arguing against mere
assertions.
I may add, however, that, having referred to my journal,
carefully written at the time, I find the section in question
twice specially referred to and figured, on the 23d and 28th
September 1842. Under the latter date I find the symmetry
of the two sides of the Alps indicated by a drawing, of which
I give a fac-simile in fig. 3, where, as Mr Sharpe will see, I
have not neglected to indicate the gneiss interposed between
the protogine and limestone. The entries in my journal fully
bear out the assertion in my book. They cannot do more.
But, to conclude this head, Mr Sharpe, who quotes Profes-
sor Favre of Geneva on the same page, could not but know that,
in the very paper which he there cites, M. Favre had found
and verijied my section at the lime-kiln under the Aiguille
of Lochard. For connection’s sake, I detach this from the
other parts of M. Favre’s evidence, and I cite it textually ina
note.* From this passage it clearly appears—irst, that M.
* “Dans cette localité..... la structure en éventail est frappante, les
couches sont inclinées, comme indique M. Forbes, d’environ 30° au S.E.; les
schistes crystallins paraissent plouger sous les roches de crystallisation, et re-
poser sur les calcaires dont les couches présentent la méme inclinaison. A la limite
des schistes crystallins et du calcaire, on trouve le calcaire cellulaire magnésien,
nommé Cargneule, et entre la Cargneule et le schiste crystallin se trouve une
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blane. 197
Favre found the junction in the locality indicated; secondly,
that the dip of the limestones wxder the primary rocks was
correctly stated ; and, thirdly, that the precise contact of the
rocks, one superposed on the other, was perfectly apparent,
and that for some space, since M. Favre describes the minute
mineralogical peculiarities observable ‘“ along all the line of
contact.”
(2.) Passing to the similar superposition on the Italian side
of the chain, as indicated in my sections, fig. 2 and fig. 4,
one of the localities where it was seen by me is thus specifi-
eally described at p. 210 of my Travels :—“< I obtained an ex-
cellent section by passing the moraine of the glacier of La
Brenva, to the west of Entréves, and ascending the ravine
marked on the sketch, between that village and the glacier.
There is there a complete superposition of gneiss to lias
shale, forming a precise counterpart to that described at p. 67
as occurring under the Aiguille du Bochard...... In the
ravine now mentioned the junction may be traced for a long
way towards the centre of the chain, the line of contact be-
tween the limestone and the overlying protogine or gneiss
being inclined in the higher part of the section 38° to the
horizon (dipping N.W.), and in the lower part of the section
50°. The strata are therefore bent at the junction, but at a
little distance they have a pretty uniform dip of 58°. There
is no difficulty in reaching the junction. The limestone-shale
is altered and crystalline near the contact. The gneiss is
altered also.”
How does Mr Sharpe reply to this most articulate state-
ment? In the first place, by telling us what he saw, or at
least ‘ satisfied himself of,” in a diferent ravine from that in-
dicated,—a ravine, namely, beyond Entréves, not to the west,
and between it and the glacier. “ I climbed the ravine,” he
says, “on the north* side of the village of Entreves, far
enough to satisfy myself that the slates rest against a steep
wall of gneiss” (Memoir, p. 22). From this it is at least
couche peu épaisse, d’une sorte de kaolin blanc ou verdatre. Cet arrangement
se voit sur toute la ligne de contact.” —Favre, Recherches Géologiques dans les
Environs de Chamoniz, Bibliotheque Universelle, Avril 1848.
* That is, N.E. from Entréves, my section being to the S.W. See sketch-
map facing p. 210 of Travels in the Alps.
198 Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
evident that Mr Sharpe did not ascend to the point of con-
tact. He does not even say that he sawit. In the next
place, after reference to the preceding and other similar
passages in my book, he thus disposes of the evidence they
contain :—‘ I can only conclude that this dip of the beds to-
wards the gneiss, coinciding in direction with the dip of the
planes of foliation of the gneiss itself, has led our distinguished
countryman to a belief in the actual superposition of the gneiss
over the slates.” How far such a supposition of negligent
observation or prejudiced inference on my part is compatible
with the precise description of the extract above cited, the
reader may judge; but, for Mr Sharpe’s satisfaction, I give,
in fig. 4, a copy of a sketch made on the spot in my pocket-
book, under date 12th July 1842, which tallies so precisely
with the published account, and is so clearly replaced by it,
that I thought it superfluous to introduce the figure in my work.
I have an equally distinct section of the junction at Mont
Frety, on the ascent of the Col du Géant; but, as it was ob-
served in early twilight, and sketched from memory in my
journal a day or two afterwards, I refrain from producing it
as evidence stronger than what I have given in the printed
account of the ascent ; it is also substantially embodied in the
section facing p. 210 of my Travels.
T shall not enter upon Mr Sharpe’s criticism of my descrip-
tion of the granitoid rocks of the Montagne de la Saxe, near
Courmayeur, and which, be it remembered, I traced for several
miles to the westward at the Col de Checruit, and several miles
eastward to the Croix de la Bernada. Mr Sharpe confines his
description and criticism to the section close to the high road,
concerning which, again, we are not agreed; but as I am sub-
stantially supported by the descriptions of De Saussure and of
M. Studer,* I shall leave the exactness of Mr Sharpe’s com-
ments to be discussed by competent observers on the spot.
* Mr Sharpe finds fault with my calling this mass granitic. I have already
observed, that for the convenience of the lithographer, and intending to repre-
sent the leading facts only, I did not distinguish granite from gneiss in my plan
and section; but at page 211 I have described it as “a great tabular body of
imperfect granite, greenish and slaty, and containing an excess of quartz.” De
Saussure, § 857, calls it “ un roc de granitoide, ou de roche feuilletée semblable
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blanc. 199
IV. We now come to the remarkable testimony of M. Favre,
Professor of Geology at Geneva, as to the position of the secon-
dary rocks at Chamouni. It is contained in a short memoir
printed in the Bibliotheque Universelle for April 1848, from
which I have already cited the confirmation of my own descrip-
tion of the junction below Le Chapeau. In this luminous paper
M. Favre gives the results of his most laborious researches
on the secondary rocks of the Valley of Chamouni, on both
sides, and in its entire length. It is not to my present purpose
to speak of his interesting and arduous discovery of the an-
thracite and Jurassic formations on the very summit of the
all but inaccessible Aiguille Rouge, and of the natural super-
position of the latter to the former in the Valley of Chamouni
itself, showing that the strata have not been tilted over beyond
the position of verticality by the elevatory action of the great
chain, but that they were elevated, as M. Necker* believed, by
the sole action of the chain of the Aiguilles Rouges, and that,
strange to say, the influence of the chain of Mont Blanc on
the position of these beds has been simply nothing.} Of all
a un granit.” M. Studer calls it “ Melspathschiefer,”’ and, in one place, “ unvol-
kommen Gneiss,” and distinctly states that it is a bed, “ Hinlagerung,”’ placed
conformably between the calcareous slates, as shown in his figure, p. 175 of
the first volume of his Geology of the Alps, which quite resembles mine ;
yet, from the details of the description, it is evidently drawn from his own
observations. As to Mr Sharpe’s criticism on my description of the beds dip-
ping under Mont Blanc as “ limestone,” [the term which I used was “ lime-
stone shale”’] being in fact blue lias containing much clay, and considerably
altered, it is really unworthy of notice.
I would invite the attention of geologists to the Mont Chetif. I have not
found any description of it beyond the short notices in my work. It seems
probable that it is a tabular mass of granite, like its prolongation at La Saxe,
that it is connected with the main chain (as shown in the ground-plan in my
book), though the union cannot be traced. The junction of limestone and
granite might possibly be traced above the Chapel of Berrier, on the north
face of the Mont Chetif. Altogether the circuit of this hill from Courmayeur
by the Col de Checruit is one of the most interesting and beautiful excursions
which can be made.
* I cannot help here noting that, since the publication of M. Favre’s paper,
M. Necker showed me, at his residence in the Isle of Skye, a drawing, which he
had made on the spot, of the summit of the Aiguille Rouge, which he indicated
as composed of horizontal secondary beds. But he had been unable to reach
them.
} M. Favre’s Memoir, p. 23.
200 Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
this I cannot now speak, but every page of the paper bears
witness to the exhaustive nature of M. Favre’s researches, and
the consequent dependence to be placed on his conclusions.
The section (in its south-eastern portion) is copied in Plate IX.,
fig.5. As to the superposition of primitive rocks to limestone, he
says (p. 8) that he has “ examined the junction of those rocks
from the Forclaz of Martigny to Mont Lacha, near Les Ouches”
[S.W. of Chamouni]. “ This junction,” he adds, “is visible in
avery great number of localities [trés grand nombre], amongst
others, on the right bank of the Glacier des Bois.” . . . . He
then proceeds to detail my section as quoted above, p. 196, and
adds,—* Cet arrangement se voit sur toute la ligne de con-
tact. Je l’ai retrouvé au Torrent de la Gria, au Col de Balme,
etc., etc.” The arrangement is, in fact, the superposition in
question.
How, then, does Mr Sharpe eliminate the testimony of the Ge-
neva professor here upon his own ground, and speaking with all
the weight due to his great acquirements and industry ? Why,
thus ;—‘ It is evident from these passages that M. Favre has
NOWHERE SEEN the crystalline schists of Mont Blane lying
upon the sedimentary beds in the manner represented in the
section which accompanies his Memoir !”
It was this statement, which I will not trust myself to cha-
racterize, which, more than any criticism on myself, impelled
me, unwillingly, to write these remarks. I leave it to the
judgment of competent geologists.
V. M. Studer of Berne, the geologist, of all now living, who
has most comprehensively studied the structure of the Alps,
published, in 1851 and 1853, a comprehensive work on the
Geology of Switzerland, which is quoted by Mr Sharpe. M.
Studer professes to borrow his information from all avail-
able quarters, and he cites his authorities with becoming
precision. But, as Mr Sharpe is probably aware from
knowing M. Studer personally, he is no granter of propo-
sitions. There is perhaps not an important statement in
the book just mentioned, nor an important geological sec-
tion, which has not been verified by the laborious diligence of
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blane. 201
the Swiss professor, during more than twenty summers of con-
secutive travelling amongst the Alps. M. Studer may, there-
fore, be cited as a competent judge both of the grounds on
which the authorities whom he quotes based their conclusions,
and of the accuracy of the more important facts which have
been at least verified by himself. As we have seen that
the force of Mr Sharpe’s arguments mainly depend upon
showing that previous observers drew conclusions unsup-
ported by sufficient evidence, M. Studer’s views are the more
important.
To dwell on M. Studer’s account of the Valley of Chamouni,
would be to repeat unnecessarily what has been already stated
at length. I shall cite but one passage. After describing
the fan-shaped structure of the mountains to the south-east of
Chamouni, he adds,—* Not only does the gneiss dip under the
superimposed granitic mass of the higher mountains, but
under the gneiss at the foot of the hill lies dipping in the
same direction a great series of strata of black slate, rauch-
wacke, gypsum, and dark limestones, and these formations
dip also to the south-east; wpon them lies the gneiss, and
upon the gneiss the granite. Also on the opposite side of the
chain, from the Glacier of La Brenva far up into the Val Fer-
ret, we find exactly similar relations of the strata. From the
foot of the mountain up to about the fourth part of its height,
[we find] black slates and limestones, which dip towards N.W.
within the hill, and over it protogine with a similar dip, of
which the strata become constantly steeper, until at last, at
the Col du Géant and in the summits of the chain, they be-
come vertical.”* The subsequent passage concerning the
environs of Courmayeur (pp. 173-5) has been already referred
to, and the observations which it contains are clearly original.
The whole is illustrated by the section which I have copied in
fig. 6, which clearly enough expresses M. Studer’s opinion on
the disputed points.
I have thus shown the unanimous consent of geologists,
from the time of De Saussure to our own day, as to the super-
* B. Studer, Geologie der Schweitz, vol. i., p. 171-2.
202 Prof. Forbes on the Geological Relations of the
position of the primary to the secondary rocks of Mont Blane.
The progress of observation has merely added to the number
of instances, and to the completeness of the proof. Mr Sharpe’s
determination to see things otherwise is the more surprising,
since the phenomena in question are not limited to this part
of the Alps, and since, therefore, the theoretical difficulties
which they no doubt involve are not to be removed unless
Mr Sharpe can also counteract the testimony of geologists
as to many parts of the chain both east and west of Mont
Blane.
The superposition of granitoid rocks to limestone in the
Bernese Alps had been noticed early in this century by Escher
and Studer, fathers of the present eminent Swiss geologists,
and studied by MM. Hugi and B. Studer, who published their
observations in 1828 and 1829. In fig. 8 I have given M.
Hugi’s section of the cliffs of the Jungfrau, taken from
his Alpenreise. About the very same time M. Elie de Beau-
mont described similar facts occurring in the district of
Oisans in Dauphiné, where the character of the rocks ap-
proaches very closely indeed to those of Mont Blanc, the gra-
nite having a more crystalline structure than in the Bernese
Alps. M. Studer’s sections in the Urbachthal, at the Metten-
berg and Jungfrau, with others equally remarkable, may be
found in his Geology of Switzerland, vol. i., p. 178, 186; vol.
ii., p. 167: M. Elie de Beaumont’s, in the fifth volume of the
third series of the Annales des Mines, from which I borrow
one section of the contact of limestone and granite (Plate IX.,
fig. 9), at Villard d’Areine in Dauphiné. In these various see-
tions the stratification of the limestone rock is almost invariably
parallel to its plane of junction with granite, and the superposi-
tion of the secondary beds to one another is well defined. Mr
Sharpe may indeed affirm, if he please, that these are mere
cleavage planes, but it is difficult to believe that the most
eminent living geologists are as ignorant of the distinction
as his descriptions would infer.
Any one, indeed, is entitled to controvert opinions, however
reiterated, put forth on authority however eminent. But he
is bound to make out a primd facie case by proving that he
Secondary and Primary Rocks of Mont Blanc. 2038
has studied the writings of his predecessors with impartiality,
and that he has examined the facts adduced by them with a
care and industry equal to their own. I submit that Mr
Sharpe has done neither. On the second page of his Memoir
he informs us that “ the time at his disposal only allowed him
to take a hasty view of the principal phenomena,” and that he
in fact only “ devoted ten days to the environs of Mont
Blanc.” It is not too much to affirm that M. Necker must
have spent at least as much time in the examination of the
Valorsine sections alone as Mr Sharpe did to the whole of Sa-
voy. I can say for myself that 1 spent in one summer out of
several in which I have visited Courmayeur a considerably
longer time in examining the environs of that place; and I
think I may venture to affirm that M. Favre has spent as many
weeks as Mr Sharpe occupied days in the region about Cha-
mouni. When we farther remember that the circuit of Mont
Blanc is reckoned at about forty leagues of the country; and
when we see in Mr Sharpe’s paper transverse sections to the ex-
tent of nearly sixty English miles across some of the most rugged
and geologically intricate country in Europe,—all executed
within these ten days,—we must own that he has improved upon
De Saussure’s warning, with which he concludes his essay,—
“Ce n’est pas avec des microscopes quil faut observer les
montagnes.”
EDINBURGH, Ist January 1856.
204 Dr Hayes on a Specimen of
On a Specimen of Native Iron, from Liberia, Africa. By
A. A. Hayes, M.D., Assayer to the State of Massachusetts.*
It is with pleasure that I submit to the inspection of the
Academy, a specimen of native iron from Liberia, believed to
have been taken from the tract of country bordering on St
John’s River, recently acquired by the New Jersey Colony.
This specimen was placed in my hands for examination by
the Rev. Joseph Tracy, Secretary of the Massachusetts Colo-
nization Society, and its physical characters at once arrested
my attention, as differing from those of any artificially-pro-
duced iron. As I deem the discovery of native iron existing
unalloyed a matter of much interest to naturalists and che-
mists, it is proper that the evidence on which the statement
rests should be submitted somewhat in detail. In the A/fri-
can Repository, vol. xxx., No. 8, August 1854, at page 240,
is a letter from Rey. Aaron P. Davis, a resident missionary
at Bassa Cove, from which the following extracts are taken.
* T send youa piece of African ore, in the state in which
it is dug from its native bed, or broken from among rocks.
I have seen and conversed with a number of natives, who af-
firm that it is actually the pure ore, as taken from its native
bed. I obtained a piece from Hon. Geo. L. Seymour, who
had tried in vain to analyse it, and he brought it to my
shop for that purpose. When he brought it, it appeared
like a craggy rock, of a yellowish colour on its surface, and,
with a very small exception, it could not be separated but
by heat, and hard pounding with my largest sledge-hammer,
and a chisel prepared for the purpose. I also send you a
tea-spoon which I made of some of the ore, which, in its
crude state, is superior to the iron brought here for sale by the
English merchant vessels.
« T am told by the natives that it is plentiful, and that about
three days’ walk from our present place of residence (Bassa
Cove) it is got by digging and breaking rocks. It is also
said to be in large lumps. In these parts the natives buy no
* Read before the American Academy of Sciences.
Native Iron from Liberia, Africa. 205
iron, but dig it out of the ground, or break the rocks and get
at it, as the case may be.”
The larger specimen before you, when received by me, bore
on one side the impress of the chisel, the coarse fracturing
of a tough metal, and marks of oxidation by fire; it was fur-
ther identified by Wm. Coppinger, Esq., of Philadelphia, as
the piece received with the letter of Mr Davis. Mr Coppin-
ger gave the specimen to Rey. H. M. Blodgett, who sent it to
Rey. Joseph Tracey, from whose hands I received it. Soon
after I had expressed to Mr Tracey my belief that it was na-
tive iron, he placed before me a large amount of written evi-
dence, showing that malleable iron, sufficient in quantity to
meet the wants of the natives, is obtained by heating and then
by fracturing the rocks of the country. The writers use the
term ore incorrectly, as Mr Davis does, apparently in the be-
lief that iron ore increasing in richness becomes malleable.
Their metallurgical knowledge is so limited, that they are un-
able to produce copper from the carbonate of copper (mala-
chite), which they carry five or six hundred miles as a medium
of traffic; while their weapons of iron, which I have exa-
mined, show the characters of native iron after it has been
heated and hammered.
Physical Characters.
On developing the internal structure of the mass of iron,
by immersion for a few moments in strong nitric acid, and
immediately after washing in a mixture of lime and water, it
was apparent that the minute crystalline particles were ar-
ranged in a manner closely resembling those of the pure iron
in meteoric iron, and entirely unlike the particles in artificial
iron.*
* The character which is here noted ‘has a higher value, in a research of
this kind, than would have been inferred from a cursory examination. In a
description of the remarkable meteoric iron, published in the American Jour-
nal of Science, Noy. 1844, I alluded to the fact, that these masses are not made
up of iron alloyed with nickel and other metals, but consist of pure iron, through
which are mixed portions of an alloy of nickel and iron, and iron and nickel,
and other bodies, as distinct electro-negative matter, in relation to the pure
iron.
The Texas meteoric mass, and the small particles of the Weston meteorolite,
NEW SERIES,—VOL. III, NO. 11.—APRIL 1856. P
206 Dr Hayes on a Specimen of
Where the mass had been heated, and had received blows,
there was an approach to the appearance presented by artifi-
cial iron; but the internal parts, and nearly the whole of the
mass, showed no marks of percussive or laminating action.
By the more complete development of the structure, certain
points appeared, which were evidently extraneous matter.
Inder the microscope these points showed crystalline mine-
rals, which, when separated, proved to be quartz and octahe-
dral oxide of iron. A mineral with a lime and soda base was
also found. The iron was most readily acted on by chemical
agents where it was in contact with these minerals: exposure
of a surface to the action of an acid, not only brought them to
view, but produced cavities at the points where they existed,
showing degrees of porosity, influenced by their number. The
specific gravity of the most compact portion was 6°708. Its
had the same mechanical constitution. Since the first publication of my re-
sults, the researches have been extended, so as to include the metals of com-
merce, and the well-known alloys. The numerous analyses made of these
forms of matter have not yet shown an exception to the condition, that the metal
existing in the largest proportion is in part pure, while one, two, three, or more
alloys may exist distributed through it. When we take the results furnished by a
mass of crude iron in the state of pig-iron, and by portions of the less and more
malleable iron of the different steps of the manufacture, we not only pursue
the constituents chemically, but the mechanical state of the iron is at the
same time open toview. A mass of pig-iron thus becomes associated with me-
teoric iron, in the mechanical arrangements of its parts, and generally consists
of perfectly pure and malleable iron, disturbed in the arrangement of its erys-
talline particles, by the interposition among them of a compound of iron and
carbon, and of graphitic carbon, besides sulphides, phosphides, and arsenides,
of the alkaline metals. In the ductile iron, these bodies have been nearly all
removed by heat and mechanical operations, and new features impressed upon
the metal. By simply removing the interposed foreign matter, by chemical
means solely, crude iron is left malleable, and its particles then show their
sub-crystalline forms, but not as they exist in the pure iron of the more perfect
meteoric masses. All manufactured iron presents them arranged in lines, and
interlaced by the action of the hammer, or extended in bundles, in the act of
drawing, while the laminating mill breaks them down, shingling them over,
and felting together their serrated edges, in striking analogy of effect to the
operations of textile manufacturing. The mechanical texture of a mass of iron
cannot be shown fully by the simple step of immersion, as above given; but
this is sufficient to enable one to observe whether the crystals have arranged
themselves as aggregates, or have been broken up and disturbed by violence ;
and often will serve to show the kind of mechanical action employed.
Native Iron from Liberia, Africa. 207
colour lighter gray than any sample of artificial ductile iron
Ihave seen. Repeated bending back upon itself did not se-
parate one fragment, but generally flaws would appear, and
these portions break when doubled close. The presence of the
minerals embedded is felt, when we file or saw the metal; but
when heated and hammered, these fuse into slags, and the
metal spreads and draws off like the best irons, yet showing
the cavities and flaws where the simple mineral had existed.
Chemical Characters.
It dissolves with effervescence in diluted hydrochloric acid,
and if the acid and water are perfectly pure, the evolved gas
has no odour. I dissolved 200 grains in hydrochloric acid.
The hydrogen gas was passed through pure alcohol, kept cool,
and was then allowed to bubble through an ammoniacal solu-
tion of nitrate of silver. The alcohol had not acquired odour,
nor was there any coloration or change in the silver solution.
The solution of iron was turbid, but soon deposited suspend-
ed matter, which was light-gray coloured ; some heavy, white,
sandy grains, and some dark, nearly black, particles had fal-
len. After collecting and drying these substances, they were
placed under the microscope, which showed the heavier bodies
to be quartz, with some facets and fragments of octahedral
crystals, proved to be magnetic iron ore. The light body was
silicic acid, rendered gray by iron oxide.
Chlorine was passed into the filtered iron solution, which,
after being heated and cooled, was precipitated in a partly-
closed flask, by gaseous ammonia passed into it in excess.
After being heated by a vapour-bath, the precipitate was se-
parated by filter and washed.
The filtrate and washings evaporated were reduced to a dry
mass, which afforded a minute quantity of soda and lime; no
other substance was present.
Separate parcels of the precipitate by ammonia were used for
the detection of phosphorus, arsenic, and boron, alumina, and
other earths and oxides; a little silicic acid only was found.
Fifty grains of the filings of the iron were wet with a few
drops of perfectly caustic soda solution, mixed hastily with
crystals of pure nitrate of soda and chloride of potash, and
208 Dr Hayes on a Specimen of
heated (twenty minutes) ina nearly-closed platinum crucible,
rapidly to bright redness, no deflagration occurred, and the
fused salts were colourless. The crucible after cooling, di-
gested in a close vessel with recently-boiled pure water, gave
its soluble part to the water. After subsidence, the clear fluid
was added to a dilute saturated solution of lime in ammonia in
one vessel, and toa dilute solution of baryta in another. These
vessels were closed and left twelve hours, and then presented
nearly transparent solutions; no precipitates had fallen, but
both showed the presence of silicic aeid.
The absence of sulphur and carbon was thus proved, and
other trials confirmed these results.
Analysis.
In the following analysis, and in repetitions, different slabs
of the metal were used, so as to obtain an average per-centage
composition of the mass.
A solution in pure water of about 150 grains of pure sul-
phate of copper was used as a medium, in which the iron dis-
solved replaced, by electrolysis, the copper deposited on the
negative electrode of platinum, connected with a small con-
stant battery; 26°30 grs. of iron solved in the fluid, and 29-78
ers. of copper were deposited on the platinum, while 0°52 of
matter was precipitated. The equivalent of pure iron being
28:0, the deposit of copper should have weighed 29-71, an ac-
cordance as near as the experiments allow. 0°32 grains of
matter consisted of angular portions of quartz, fragments of
crystals of magnetic iron ore, and a flock of silica; no trace
of carbon was observed under the microscope. 26:60 grs. were
the total loss from the iron. The partly-ferruginous solution,
decomposed by an excess of hydrosulphuric acid, evaporated,
and calcined, afforded barely traces of lime and soda, which,
in every case, have been known to result from the solution of
this iron. A sample of 100 parts of this iron, therefore, con-
sists of—
Pure iron, : : : : 98-87
Quartz, iron ore, and silicate, . : ’ 1-138
100-
Native Iron from Liberia, Africa. 209
Another sample, more nearly an average, from the centre of
the mass, afforded in 100 parts—
Pure iron, : ; ; ; ; : 98:40
Quartz crystals, magnetic iron ore, and silicate
of soda and lime, ; ) ; ; 1-60
100:
The little slabs, which had been the positive electrodes, had
not disengaged a bubble of gas, which always occurs when
the metals affording alkaline bases are alloyed. They also
exhibited, in their substance, the cavities which had contained
the mineral bodies found.
I was desirous of making some comparative experiments on
a specimen of iron, having the characters of native iron, as
distinguished from meteoric iron. My friend Prof. B. Sil-
liman jun., kindly supplied me with two slips, from the spe-
cimen well known as having been found at Canaan, Connecti-
cut. He expressed to me, at the time, a doubt respecting the
certainty of this mass being native iron. On subjecting this
specimen to analytical trials, it was soon determined that it is
an alloy, consisting of iron, iron and carbon, and pure gra-
phite. 100 parts afforded—
Pure iron, é : : 93-057
Iron and carbon, : ; 2-666
Iron from carbon, . : 1361
Graphite, : 3 F 2-916
100:
In the arrangement of the alloy of carbon and iron and the
lamina of graphite, it differed in no respect from “ kisky” iron,
which has been allowed to repose in a heated state, and is
unquestionably an artificial iron, a product of the blast fur-
nace.
16 BOYLSTON STREET, Boston,
July 1855.
210 Professor Rogers on the Binocular Resultant
»
On the form of the Curve resulting from the binocular union
of a Straight Line with a Circular Are, or of two equal
Circular Arcs with one another. By Professor WILLIAM
B. RoGErs.
A. Binocular resultant of a Straight Line and a Cirewlar Are.
Assuming the optical centres of the two eyes L and R, figs.
1 and 2, as fixed during the act of combination, it is evident
that the centre of the eye directed to the circular are ab or
AB may be regarded as the vertex of a cone whose surface
includes all the positions of the optical axis of that eye as
successively directed to the different points of the arc. This
cone will of course be right or oblique according to the direc-
tion, in relation to the plane of the paper, of the line joining
the optical centre with the centre of the circle of which the
are isa part. The axis of the other eye in ranging from end
to end of the vertical line cd or CD vibrates in a plane RCD,
which, during the binocular combination, intersects the coni-
cal surface in an attitude depending on the distance between
the optical centres, the place of the diagrams and the relative
position of the component lines ab, ed, or AB, CD.
The two optical axes directed each moment to correspond-
ing points of the vertical line and the arc, as m,n; a, ¢; B,
d or M, N; A, C; B, D, &c., meet in the conical surface,
forming optically a series of resultant points v, s, r, &e.,
which together constitute the binocular resultant curve. This
curve must therefore be a conic section, the nature of which
will depend on the direction of the cutting plane in reference
to the conical surface. The effects of the several conditions
of the experiment will be seen more clearly by considering se-
parately each of the following cases, which, taken together,
include all the variations that can occur.
First, When the arc is convex towards the right line, and
the two are combined by directing the optic axis beyond the
plane of the diagram.
These conditions are represented in the upper part of fig. 1.
Here the arc ab and right line ed have for their binocular
of a Straight Line and a Circular Are. 211
resultant the curve rvs. Since the points m and x unite
optically at a less distance behind the diagram than any other
pair of corresponding points in ab and ed, it follows that the
vertex vin which they combine must be the point of the resul-
tant curve nearest to the observer, and as this curve lies
wholly in the plane RCD, it must therefore present its
convexity obliquely forwards.
According to the proportions assumed in the figure, the line
RuN is more steeply inclined than the line Lr to the base
of the cone, and in these conditions therefore the curve rvs is
an hyperbola. But by placing ab and cd a little nearer one
another we may cause RN to become parallel to LA, in which
arrangement the resultant will be a parabola; andif we bring
ab and ed still nearer together so as to make RN converge
downwards towards LA, we transform the curve rvs into an
are of an ellipse. In the conditions included in the first case
therefore the binocular resultant may have the form of either
of the curves just mentioned.
Second, When the circular arc is concave towards the right
line, and the two are united in front of the plane of the
diagram.
This case is represented in the lower part of fig. 1. Here
the component lines are the cir- Fig. 1.
cular arc AB and the right line
CD, which by cross-vision are
made to unite in front of the
plane in which they are placed
during the experiment. The re-
sultant curve rvs will evidently
vary in form according to the dis-
tance between AB and CD. As
shown in the figure this curve is
an hyperbola, but by increasing
the interval between AB and CD
it may be converted into a para-
bola or into the arc of an ellipse.
Thus in the conditions of the
second case also the binocular re-
sultant may have the form of
either of these curves.
212 Professor Rogers on the Binocular Resultant
Third, When the circular are is concave towards the right
line, and the two are binocularly combined behind the plane of
the drawing.
The combination here specified is shown in the upper part of
fig. 2. In this case the Fig. 2.
vertex of the result- x
ant curve rvs being \
formed by the optical
union of the two points
m and n of the com-
ponent lines which are
farthest apart, must be
at a greater distance
behind the plane of
these lines than any / |
other point of the re- / / \
sultant. Hence, and , five
because the curve rvs
lies entirely in the y
plane of RCD, it must
always turn its con-
vexity obliquely away
from the observer. As the optical conditions here supposed
require that Rn produced shall intersect Lm produced, it
follows that the plane Red when extended will pass entirely
through the cone. In this case therefore the resultant curve
can never be either an hyperbola or parabola, but must be an
elliptic arc, varying in form according to the interval between
abanded. Where the visual cone is oblique, as is most likely
to happen, the curve rvs will, of course, become an arc of a
circle whenever the cutting plane takes the position of the sub-
contrary section.
Fourth, When the circular are is convex towards the right
line, and the two are combined in front of the plane of the
diagram.
The conditions here referred to are exhibited in the lower
part of fig. 2. In this case AB and CD are the component
are and right line, and rvs is their binocular resultant, formed
by cross-vision in front of the plane in which they are pre-
D
of two Circular Ares. 213
sented to the observer. Since in this mode of combination the
optic axes are required, for all points of the resultant, to inter-
sect somewhere between the plane of ABCD and the eyes, it
is evident that the plane RCD must pass entirely through the
cone. Hence the resultant curve rvs must be an arc of an
ellipse. As in the preceding case the form of the ellipse will
vary with the distance between AB and CD, and it will become
circular in the position of the sub-contrary section.
These various effects of the binocular union of a right line
with a circular arc may be thus summed up :—
(a). When the arc is convex to the right line and the
union is effected beyond the plane of the diagram, or when the
arc is concave to the line and they are combined in front of
the diagram, the binocular resultant may be either an ellipse,
a parabola, or an hyperbola ; but in either case it will turn
its convexity obliquely towards the observer.
(6). When the arc is concave to the right line, and they
are united beyond the plane of the diagram, or where it is
convex to the line, and they are combined in front of the
diagram, the binocular resultant is always an arc of an ellipse
turning its convexity obliquely away from the observer.
B. Binocular resultant of two Circular Ares,
In this as in the preceding combinations the optical centres
are to be regarded as immoveable during the experiment.
Each eye, while viewing the successive points of the are pre-
sented to it, revolves in such manner as to carry its optical
axis around in a conical surface. Thus two conical surfaces
are generated, having for their respective apices the centres
of the two eyes, and including all the directions which the
optical axes assume in combining the successive pairs of cor-
responding points of the circular arcs. In general terms,
therefore, the binocular resultant in all such cases may be
described as the curve line in which the surfaces of the two
visual cones intersect one another.
‘It is only, however, under special conditions that the resul-
tant thus formed is a plane curve; when the circular ares
214 ~— Professor Rogers on the Binocular Resultant
presented to the two eyes are of unequal curvature, the visual
cones, by their intersection, produce a curve which cannot be
included in a plane, but lies in an inflected surface, and this
accordingly is the form which the resultant takes whenever
circular arcs of unlike curvature are combined either with or
without a stereoscope.
In what follows the figure and position of the resultant will
be considered under the simplest conditions, viz., when the
circular arcs have equal curvature, and are so placed that the
intersecting conical surfaces are precisely alike.
These conditions are represented in figs. 3 and 4, where the
circular arcs ab and AB are respectively of the same length
and curvature as cd and CD, and are supposed to be so placed
that the visual lines directed to the several points of one are
shall be equal to those which are directed to the similar
points of the corresponding arc; thus making La, Lin, Lb,
&c., respectively equal to Re, Rn, Rd, &c.; and in like manner
LA, LM, LB equal to RC, RM, RD.
From this construction it follows that the corresponding or
intersecting visual lines LA and RC, LM and RN, &c., are
equally and oppositely inclined to the plane of ABCD or aéed.
Hence each point of the resultant curve, as 7, v, or s, is placed
at the apex of an isosceles triangle DrB, NvM or CsA, formed
by the lower segments of the visual lines.
Let us now assume a line ay midway between M and N,
and parallel to tangents at these points, and let us imagine a
vertical plane, including this line, to extend indefinitely up-
wards. Since v is vertically over the middle of MN, and
r,s and the other points of the resultant rvs are similarly
situated in regard to lines parallel to MN and connecting the
two ares, it follows that v, r,s, &., are situated vertically
above the line wy, and, therefore, that the resultant curve lies
in the before-mentioned vertical plane.
In combinations of this kind, as in the case of the right
line and circular arc before explained, the particular form and
attitude of the resultant will depend on the aspect in which
the two ares are presented to one another, and the place, in
regard to the plane of the diagram, in which they are com-
of two Circular Ares. 215
bined. In fig. 3 we have the resultant as produced either by
the union of mutually convex arcs beyond the plane in which
they are situated, or of concave ones in front of it: In fig. 4
we see the resultant of mutually concave arcs behind or of
convex ones in front of the plane of the components.
In the former case, the resultant curve as represented in
the figure, is an hyperbola. But if we suppose the component
arcs to be so placed that the outer sides Lh, Rk of the
visual cones are vertical, the resultant becomes a parabola ;
and if we imagine this change to be carried so far as to make
these sides converge downwards, the resultant takes the form
of an arc of an ellipse: As mand are the points of the
upper component ares which are nearest together, their result-
ant point v, the vertex of the resultant curve, must be nearer
the observer than any other part of the curve; and the same
conclusion follows from considering v as the binocular result-
216 Professor Rogers on the Binocular Resultant
ant of M and_N, the points of the lower component ares which
are farthest from one another. Hence in both cases the
resultant curve must be convex towards the observer.
Fig. 4.
In the conditions of union represented in fig. 4 the vertical
plane extending upwards from wy must necessarily pass en-
tirely through both of the visual cones: Hence the resultant
curve rus, which is at the same time the line of intersection of
the two conical surfaces with one another, and that of the
vertical plane with each surface, cannot be a parabola or
hyperbola, but must always be an arc of an ellipse. From
the construction, it is evident that v, the resultant of m and n,
the points of the upper component arcs which are farthest
apart, must be the point of the resultant curve rvs, which is
most distant from the observer, and, therefore, that this curve
will present its concavity towards the observer:
These several effects of the binocular union of circular ares
of equal length and curvature may be thus summed up :—
(a.) When the arcs are convex to one another and they
of two Circular Ares. 217
are combined behind the plane of the components, or when
they are concave to one another and combined in front of
this plane, the resultant may be either an hyperbola, para-
bola or ellipse, but in either case it will be convex towards
the observer, and situated in a vertical plane.
(b.) When the arcs are concave to one another and are
combined behind the plane of the components, or when they
are convex to one another and combined in front of this plane,
the resultant is always an are of an ellipse concave towards
the observer, and situated in a vertical plane.
It is scarcely necessary to add that, in either of these cases,
as in the combination of the right line and circular arc, when-
ever the resultant curve takes the position of the sub-contrary
section, it becomes the arc of a circle.
218 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
Astronomical Contradictions and Geological Inferences
respecting a Plurality of Worlds.
Conclusion.
So numerous and varied are the phenomena to be examined
from the close of the Paleozoic epoch, to that period when man
and his contemporary animals appear upon the scene, that it
is impossible to do more with the question before us, than re-
view, very shortly, a few of the leading principles and infer-
ences to be derived from a consideration of Neozoic Geology.
Whatever may be the truth of Professor E. Forbes’s theory
of “ polarity,” there are, without doubt, very striking general
modifications in the various orders of animal and vegetable ex-
istences that flourished in different epochs. Once pass the Pa-
LAHOZOIC zone, and, in the succeeding geological eras, all the
SPECIES both of plants and animals are changed. The fish,
crustaceans and molluses, of the Triassic epoch are all new, and
the vegetation altogether dissimilar to that of the Paleozoic
periods. The quadripartite arrangement of the lamelle of
Paleozoic corals is succeeded by the sextuple arrangement of
the Neozoic type, ‘‘ only one exception having as yet occurred
of a quadripartite coral in a Neozoic formation.”—(Lyell’s
Manual of Geol., 5th Kd., 408.) The Graptolite, Trilobite,
Orthoceratite, and Heterocercal type of fish, with the Paleo-
zoic plants, vanish from the scene. The Vestigian theory re-
specting the development of organic life has long since been
demolished, for both plants and animals of high organization
occur in strata of very high antiquity, and it is probable that
many more will be discovered. Many of these animals possess
a physical structure as wonderful as our own, and furnish as
certain evidences of DESIGN. The Earth, the seat of animal
life millions of years before the secondary types of life ap-
pear, affords evidence of the same principles of structure, the
same unity of purpose, and bears the impress of the same
Almighty hand. Periods arrived when the existing order
of things was changed. Races very closely resembling, but
by no means identical, peopled this earth, in the places of
those that were gone, while other tribes of beautiful and high-
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 219
ly organized creatures were from period to period introduced.
We have evidence that when the surface of this planet was
fitted to sustain animal life, animal life was created; and that
even the primeval solid framework, the consolidated crust, had
its evident Adaptation and Design.
The Palzozoic periods, and myriads of Paleozoic animals,
passed away. Physical changes went on; the solid rock was
ground down, deposited in ocean depths, and again consoli-
dated and upheaved ; continents became ocean beds, and ocean
beds were elevated into dry land. The forests of Paleozoic
ages are converted into coal; they fulfilled their purpose for
the periods during which they existed, and were succeeded by
the Voltzias and Equisetites of the Trias, and the Cycads and
Conifers of the Oolite. The Virginian coal-measures of Ame-
rica belong to the age of the Oolite; and the steamer that crosses
the Atlantic with its human freight is impelled by the remains
of Oolitic acrogens, as well as those of Paleeozoic ferns. The
brown coal of Germany is of the Eocene and Miocene epochs,
and the molasse coal of Switzerland has been determined by
M. Heer of Zurich, and M. De la Harpe of Lausanne, to be
made up of species of plants allied to our oak, beech, willow,
and ash. Thus the remains of vegetable worlds, separated in
time by myriads of years, contribute their fossil fuel to the
wants and comforts of man.
We pass by the revelations of the microscope respecting
the polieschiefer of Bohemia, and mountains of chalk and in-
dusial limestones, made up entirely of animal remains. These
are old tales, known to every tyro in geology, and the author
of the Essay would consider them only fit for Venus! One
word, however, on the Tertiary epochs, when thousands and
thousands of beautiful and active creatures of the highest or-
ganization enjoyed their appointed life, long before man was
formed of the dust of the ancient earth.
What shall we say of the accumulated changes in the crea-
tion of animals and vegetables since the deposition of the
Eocene strata, the tribes of magnificent and gigantic quadru-
peds that have become extinct? What of the Megatheroid
animals—the megatherium, megalonyx, and scelidotherium 2
What of the toxodon, that enormous gnawer, whose size
220 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
equalled the elephant and megatherium ; or the mylodon, or
macrauchenia, or any one of those nine magnificent quadru-
peds whose remains Mr Darwin found imbedded “ within the
space of about 200 yards square.”—(See Darwin’s Journal of
the Beagle.) Animal life was on the grandest scale between
the Eocene and recent periods. The dinotherium and mas-
todon, and the restored pachydermata of Cuvier, and a thou-
sand others, were created for some purpose or other, besides
that of exercising the genius of an Owen or a Cuvier! Are
we to believe, with the author of the Essay, that all these
splendid developments of Creative Power were merely “ brutes”
that “can hardly be said to have lived?” On the contrary,
we cannot but re-echo the words of Sir D. Brewster, in his
paper “ On the Triple Spectrum,” read at Glasgow :—* How
strange is it that individuals are found who rejoice inthe sub-
version of scientific doctrines which they never have examined,
and by the truth or incorrectness of which neither their feel-
ings nor their characters are affected!” Thus, when the geo-
logist is told that he is to consider this planet an “ abortive
world” until man’s creation, itis no great wonder if he doubts
the author’s astronomy, opens his eyes wider and wider at his
PECULIAR ideas of Divine design, and joins in the pleasantry
of the writer in the Times, when he remarks, that our author
shows “agility and fun,” “in calculating the force of gravity
in Jupiter,” and, “the extreme inconvenience which would
be felt by a stout gentleman in that planet when the horrible
fact burst on him THAT HE WAS BEING MULTIPLIED BY TWO
AND A HALF.” Seriously, stripped bare of its verbosity, what
does common sense tell us is the tendency of the author’s doc-
trine? Nothing more or less than an arrangement such as
follows :—
Paleozoic and Neozoic The Universe,
Oreation, with the exception of this
with the exception of the hu- | earth, “ slag,” or perhaps
man race, “ Brutes that can | masses, with “pulpy, watery
scarcely be said to have | creatures.”
lived.”
This leads us to a consideration of the doctrine of “ waste.”
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 221
That the existence of all living creatures up to man’s crea-
tion is of very small account, and the material universe, with
the exception of our planet, only “stone and vapour,” is cer-
tainly most vividly expressed in the Essay. We are, however,
told, that when the author speaks of “wasted means in the
works of creation—of failure in some parts of its plan—of
several sketches of which only one has been completed ;”
“such expressions imply the ignorance and blindness of man,”
and “they do not imply any imperfection in the Almighty’s
works.” ‘Consistently with the attributes of God,” “ corals
and oysters and sponges” may be regarded “as good employ-
ment of a spot of land or water.” “All the planets, all parts
of the universe, we have good reason to believe, are pervaded
by attraction, by forces of aggregation and atomic relation,
by light and heat. Why may not these be sufficient to pre-
vent the space being wasted in the EYES OF THE CREATOR 2”
“‘ Is waste of this kind considered as unsuited to the character
of the Creator ?’—“ we have the like WASTE in the occupation
of this earth ;’—*“ all its previous ages, &c., have been wasted
upon mere brute life.” We are then asked, “ Can it surprise
us that we do not fully understand this work?” Yet, strangest
of all the inconsistencies of this Essay, we are told in another
place, “ THAT THE MIND of Man has some community WITH
THE MIND of Gop; and however remote and imperfect this
community may be, it must be real!” All the “slag,” and
“brute life,” in the eyes of the author, is not real waste in
the EYES OF GoD; it is only in OUR opinion, only as far as
WE can see, that every other planet Is wasted, and that this
HAS BEEN wasted upon corals, sponges, &c., for millions of
years. What CAN the author mean by the mind of man hay-
ing community with the mind of God? Is that which the au-
thor believes to be waste—downright waste, and nothing else
—PERFECTION in the eyes of the Almighty? Alas for the
“noble” and “ spiritual” creature !
What, we ask, can be the condition of man upon earth,
what the “ condition of his intellectual progress,” upon which
the author insists so yehemently—where the much-talked-of
“special guidance and governance” exercised over the race
by the Author of his being—if the brightest intellects the
NEW SERIES.—VOL. Ill. NO. U.—apPrit 1856. Q
222. Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
world ever saw believe in a universe crowded with splendour
and filled with the energy of the Most High, believe in other
worlds of life and intelligence, and other celestial orbs teem-
ing with animation, when they ought to believe them to be the
VERIEST RUBBISH of the volcano’s vent ?
Again, as regards the geology of the Essay, we should like
to see the geologist who can explain one iota of the records of
his science with such ideas as the author presents to our
minds. ‘Can the pious man see plainly how EVERY THING has
its use?’ Will the author favour us with indicating any
SINGLE CREATED THING, from the animalcule to the elephant,
independent of man, that had its use or purpose according to
his theory ?
He has indeed advocated the doctrine of waste! There is
geological waste and astronomical waste ; and turn the expres-
sion as you please, waste and failure, as regards every created
animal or created world, save man and this planet, is the doc-
trine of the Essay on the Plurality of Worlds.
Fortunately for us all, there are astronomical contradictions ;
and great men and wise men and good men differ in toto et
extremis from the author! Nevertheless, without a vast
improvement in telescopes and astronomical apparatus, it does
not seem very probable that astronomers, differ as they may,
will ever settle for us whether the planets, &c., are inhabited
or not. When we refer, however, to the past history of our
own planet, and reflect that for myriads of years this earth
has been the dwelling-place of living things—that with the
first evidences of land and water, the first evidences also of
organized creatures make their appearance—that different
races of animals were adapted to different climates and
different physical circumstances—it is impossible to avoid the
conclusion, especially when we recall the almost universal
belief and statements of astronomers, that there must be a
certain analogy between this earth and the other planets as
regards their adaptation to life and their progression in time.
Suppose we agree with the author of the Essay ‘that this
earth, until the existence of man, was a world of mere brute
creatures,” our geological knowledge would at once prevent
our drawing the author’s inferences as regards other planets.
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 223
If the “slag” of this planet was adapted to the earliest crea-
tures, it would be surely contrary to analogy to argue that the
*‘ slag” of every other orb was adapted to nothing !
Supposing that all the previous ages of this earth were
** wasted in brute life,” our teaching from geology would lead
us to expect an analogous introduction of brute life on other
spheres, if the conditions of life were there. If we are to
argue from analogy at all, we must have LIFE for our sister
planets, if nine-tenths of what astronomers teach be true.
LIFE once granted, we believe geology, in conjunction with
astronomy, will furnish powerful arguments for the creation of
_intellectuality also.
Geological Inferences on the Argument from Design.
“The proof of design,” says our author, “as shown in the
works of creation, is seen most clearly, not in mere physical
arrangements, but in the structure of organized things, in the
constitution of plants and animals.”
«‘ The evidence of design in the inorganic world, in the rela-
tion of earth, air, water, heat and light, is to most persons less
striking and impressive, than it is in the organic creation.”
Nevertheless, whatever may have been the first conditions of
the solar system, whenever or however created, these physical
elements probably had a date previous to the creation of ani-
mal life. No astronomer questions the fact that the solar
system, the fixed stars, and the binary system, in short, the
universe, were in existence before the first organisms of
earth.
One hundred million of stars, as seen by the telescope, are
believed by many astronomers to be the suns of other systems
whose planets are invisible from their distance——(More
Worlds than One, p. 163.)
We must consider, then, these “ physical elements,” and
trace this enormous history of the heavens—we must reflect on
this awful grandeur of the material universe—before we specu-
late on the organisms of our own globe; and we say that we
must learn to trace the highest proofs of design as shown in
the creation of celestial bodies—design in “ mere physical
Q2
224 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
arrangements’”—before we can expect to read the history of a
single plant or animal of earth.
“A planet,” we read, “as to its brute mass, has really
nothing in common with a seed or an embryo. It has no
organization or tendency to organization ; no principle of life,
however obscure.” Nevertheless, itis certain that the Creator
thought fit to fill space with unnumbered and MATERIAL struc-
tures, and to light many of those of our own system with
gorgeous satellites, before he clothed our own “ brute mass”
with vegetables, or stocked it with animals.
‘“‘ No accumulation of material grandeur, even if it fill the
universe, has any dignity in our eyes, compared with moral
grandeur.”” By MORAL GRANDEUR, we suppose the author of
the Essay to mean the moral nature of man, as he allows no
other intellectual being. Man is of very recent creation, com-
pared with very recent geological changes; equally recent
therefore must be the author’s moral grandeur.
“ Tf there be a world of mind, that, according to all that we
can conceive, must have been better worth creating; it must
be more worthy to exist, as an object of care in the eyes of the
Creator, taan thousands and millions of stars and planets, even
if they were occupied by a myriad times as many species of
brute animals as have lived upon the earth since its vivifica-
tion.” We know that thousands and millions of stars and
planets were created. We know that this earth, at least, was
occupied by myriads of animals for unnumbered ages before
man’s creation.
We are told that “the majesty of God does not reside in
planets and stars, in orbs and systems; which are, after all,
only stone and vapour, materials and means.’? The majesty
of God cannot either reside in “ brute animals.” With our
geological knowledge, as to the introduction of the human
race, perhaps the author of the Essay, who has written so
boldly upon creation, would kindly inform us IN WHAT the
majesty of God did reside for the eternity that is past?
We THANK the author for his Essay. We believe that no
book that ever was penned is more calculated to promote a
belief in the “ plurality of worlds,” at least among geologists.
There must have been a world of mind ; there must have been
A
re
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 225
intelligence ; there must have been beings to adore and in a
degree comprehend the glorious Most High. The infinite
skill that produced such variety of life has not been lost; the
works and ways of God have not been “ wasted” ever since crea-
tion’s dawn, and the Maker of the universe has not left crea-
tion without MIND. But we know that such intelligence was not
here on our earth until within a very late period ; there WERE
no beings who could recognise the Creator, ON THIS PLANET.
The geologist has learned too much of the ways and works of
God, to allow him for a moment to concentrate all the energies
of his Maker upon himself and the little period of the human
race. A light from the contradictions of astronomers sheds
its gleam upon his path! Among the thousands and millions
of stars and planets, some must have been WORLDS OF MIND.
‘One star differeth from another star in glory.” We are not
bound to believe that Jupiter and his Moons, Saturn and his
Rings, Mars with his “ continents, oceans, and green savan-
nahs,” are all “ merry-go-rounds,” just because the author
thinks so! One of our geological INFERENCES, therefore, from
the author’s chapter on “ Design,” is, that as some of the celes-
tial orbs are considered, by ninety-nine out of one hundred
astronomers, of superior construction to our own planet, and
possibly of earlier creation, it is more than probable they
are tenanted by INTELLECTUALbeings, and thatthe Great Eter-
nal Mind did not leave the universe blank of intelligence until
the creation of the human race. We have several times al-
luded to the proofs of DESIGN even in the mineral masses of
the earth’s crust, but have not advanced one hundredth part
of what might have been urged respecting the design evi-
denced in the different animal creations revealed by geology ;
much more than our limited space would fail us, if we entered
upon this subject in all its fulness.
As geologists, we see no reason why the same design, the
same development, the same progress, we are taught by our
science was bestowed upon our own planet, was not bestowed
upon every other planet in our system. We would, how-
ever, shortly revert to our author’s arguments, and distinctly
protest against his comparing the primary planets with ‘“ male
teats,” “‘ images of breasts,” “ paps and nipples of a male aui-
226 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
mal,” or the “finger bones which are packed into the hoofs of
a horse.” A male teat is not a male animal—nor a horse’s
hoof, a horse: it would be more fair, and quite as delicate, if
our author had compared the horse with Jupiter, and the teat
with one of his satellites.
The author, having disposed of the solar system, says—
“« Perhaps it may be said, that to hold this, is to make nature
work in vain; to waste her powers; to suppose her to produce
the framework and not to build; to make the skeleton, and
not to clothe it with living flesh,” &c. ‘‘ We reply,” he says,
“ that to work in vain, in the sense of producing means of life
which are not used, embryos which are never vivified, germs
which are not developed, is so far from being contrary to the
usual proceedings of nature, that it is an operation which is
constantly going on, in every part ofnature. Ofthe vegetable
seeds which are produced, what an infinitely small proportion
ever grow into plants. Of animal ova, how exceedingly few
become animals.” “It isan old calculation, which used to be
repeated as a wonderful thing, that a single female fish con-
tains in its body 200 millions of ova.” And to which WE
reply that the author’s account of the universe is precisely the
case of a fish which produces 200 millions of ova, and but one
embryo of all these 200 millions becomes a tisH. Among our
fossil or recent fishes we cannot match the author’s analogue!
“Tf any number of the fixed stars were also found to be
barren flowers of the sky—objects, however beautiful, yet not
sources of life or development—we need not think the powers
of creation wasted or frustrated.” We have no hesitation in
saying that such ideas of waste in nature are more than un-
precedented, they are ridiculous. Fish with one lively ovum,
and syngenesious plants with one fertile seed, are worthy of
such arguments. Our geological INFERENCES respecting the
UNINHABITED portions of this planet’s surface, as compared
with those that are tenanted, differ entirely from those of the
author, when he argues as follows :—* It is sometimes said that
it is agreeable to the goodness of God that all parts of the
creation should swarm with life.” ‘To leave a planet without
inhabitants, would, it is thought, be to throw away an oppor-
tunity of producing happiness.” “ ‘To say nothing of the vast
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. — 227
intervals between planet and planet, which, it is presumed, no
one supposes to be occupied by living things; how large a
portion of the surface of the earth is uninhabited, or inhabited
only in the scantiest manner?’ He then instances the desert
tracts of Africa and Asia, and the snow regions of mountain-
ranges. Again, “there are many uninhabited islands, and
were formerly many more. The ocean, covering nearly three-
fourths of the globe, is no seat of habitation for land animals
or for man ; and though it has a large population of the fishy
tribes, is probably peopled in smaller numbers than if it were
land, as well as by inferior orders. We see in the earth,
then, which is the only seat of life of which we really know
anything, nothing to support the belief that every field in the
material universe is tenanted by living inhabitants.”’
In the first place, the passage respecting the intervals be-
tween the planets should have been omitted. There can be no
analogy between blank space and the surface of the earth,
between air and vapour and matter. The author tells us he
“ SAYS NOTHING ” of these vast intervals! On referring to the
earlier pages of the same chapter (p. 338, 339), we find a
strong predisposition to make as much as possible of “ blank
space.” Weremember the male pap and the planet! Our
author is far too good a theoretical geologist not to be aware
that it never was the will of the Creator that all parts of our
own planet should at the same time “ swarm with life.” There
always have been fallow places, barren for a time, and pro-
bably there always will be. But the sands of the African
deserts rest upon the ruined haunts of man; and a portion of
that desert waste was the home of civilization within the
period of man’s history. Again, before the human period,
within a late geological epoch, the desert tracts both of Africa
and Asia were the bottom of an ocean bed, and the abode of
every order of marine organisms. very geologist knows that
the highest mountain ranges, if deserted and untenanted now,
were not always so; the heights of the Andes and the Hima-
laya bear upon their flanks myriads of fossil animals that lived
in former geological epochs, and bear witness to the time when
the site they now occupy was anything but a desert or WASTED
field.
228 =©Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
“There are many uninhabited islands, and were formerly
many more.”
The author, when sneering at the idea of the planetoids
being inhabited, might also have remembered several INHA-
BITED islands of owr earth that afford PECULIAR and ESPECIAL
evidence. There is St Helena, with a flora so peculiar, that
out of 30 native species of the pheenogamous class, only ONE
OR TWO are to be found in any other part of the globe—St
Helena is about 30 miles in circumference ; Vesta is 250
miles in diameter, and Ceres 163.
Madagascar forms, with two or three small islands in its
immediate vicinity, a zoological province of itself, all the
mammalian species except two, and nearly all the genera,
being PECULIAR. The archipelago of the Galapagos, so ad-
mirably described by Mr Darwin, has its fauna and flora
PECULIAR, so much so that he calls it “a little world within
itself, or rather a satellite attached to America.” ‘One is
astonished at the amount of creative force displayed on so
many small, barren, and rocky islands, and still more so, at
its diverse, yet analogous action on points so near each
other.” (Darwin’s Journal of the Beagle.)
The Galapagos have been only inhabited by man within the
last few years; indeed, Charles Island is still the only colony-
St Helena was first discovered in 1501, and was then unin-
habited by man. The author appears to have no insuperable
objection to the theory of different centres of creation. Now,
if the Galapagos, St Helena, and Madagascar, have thus been
saved from “being wasted” by special creations, why not
Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus ?
Again, we read, “ The ocean, covering nearly three-fourths
of the globe, is no seat of habitation for land animals or for
man, and though it has a large population of the fishy tribes,
is probably peopled in SMALLER numbers than if it were land,
as well as by INFERIOR ORDERS.”
In answer to this we merely quote a passage from Sir C.
Lyell’s Principles :—“ The human race, fitted as it is, by its
bodily constitution and intellectual resources, to spread very
widely over the earth, is far from being strictly cosmopolite.
It is excluded both from the arctic and antarctic circles,’ and
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 229
“from three-fourths of the globe covered by waTER, where
there are large areas VERY PROLIFIC in animal life, EVEN IN
THE HIGHEST ORDER OF THE VERTEBRATE CLASS.” Now we
geologists have certain inferences respecting Cambrian oceans,
Silurian oceans, and a great many other oceans, and our in-
vestigations of the earth’s structure and history compel us to
believe that an ocean void of life is contrary to every prin-
ciple of analogy. This planet has been the theatre of con-
stant change, and the bed of the sea at one epoch has become
the verdant plain, sandy desert, or mountain top of another.
The author’s argument, therefore, on the waste places of earth
would apply so far, and no farther, to every other planet and
celestial sphere. Probably no other planet has remained UN-
ALTERED from its creation ; and if we are to draw any analogy
from our own, every other material orb MUST have undergone
various transformations. It would be ridiculous in any geolo-
gist to suppose that the hills and valleys, lakes and seas of
Mars had undergone NO CHANGE since our own Silurian or
Devonian ages. And if we can depend upon the statement of
astronomers that other planets have their seas and lakes, and
hills and valleys, it is very unlikely the geologist will believe
that throughout all time they have either been uninhabited or
tenanted by identical animals and plants. We believe in
PROGRESS as regards our earth; and this leads into a few
thoughts as regards the probable PROGRESS of the rest of the
solar system.
Universal Diffusion of Species, and Progress of Creation.
We perfectly agree with Sir C. Lyell, when he warns the
geologist against taking for granted “that the date of the
creation of any family of animals or plants, in past time, co-
incides with the age of the oldest stratified rock in which the
geologist has detected its remains.”
The climatal hypothesis of Sir Charles is, without any ex-
ception, the grandest and most correct theory ever propounded
by geologists ; it affords a key to many a difficult problem,
and it also affords powerful arguments in favour of the remark-
able and harmonious PROGRESSION of this planet throughout
230 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
myriads of past ages. The successive creations of different
forms of animals is an established truth, and particular ani-
mals appear to have been adapted to varying physical condi-
tions of the earth.
The universal diffusion of Silurian forms is well known to
geologists.
Trilobites,Orthides,and Orthoceratites range over enormous
distances. The Pentamerus galeatus of our Upper Ludlow
rock is the principal constituent of the Niagara limestone,
while Pentamerus oblongus of our Lower Silurians is a com-
mon fossil of Scandinavia and Russia.
The Chinese invalid swallows Calymene Blumenbachii, when
rolled into a ball like the woodlouse, and imagines it a pana-
cea for a disordered liver; while the Arctic sailor carried home
a Phacops, from amid eternal snow, “in the tail of his shirt.”
The grand Asterolepis and Holoptychius of the Old Red
Sandstone frequented waters as distant as are the sites of
Herefordshire, Scotland, and Archangel ; while the Brachio-
poda and shells of Devon, and the fishes of Cromarty and
Herefordshire, are found in Russia in the same strata.
The TERRESTRIAL plants of the carboniferous epoch must
have had a vast geographical range, for the same species ex-
tend from Arctic regions to widely separated districts in Eu-
rope, America, Asia, and Australia; while the same carboni-
ferous “ species of MARINE animals lived, from the latitude of
Spitzbergen to the parallels of Peru and Australia.”—(Silu-
ria, p.477.) Wecompare the fossils of the Himalaya with
the oolitic remains of Yorkshire and Gloucestershire, and are
often unable to distinguish the one from the other. The Arc-
tic Ichthyosaurus of Sir E, Belcher could not have existed un-
der the present climatal associations of the frigid zone; and
we have ourselves heard Professor EH. Forbes declare the
Pectines and Ostrea of Carpentaria in Australia to be iden-
tical with those of the inferior oolite of the Cotteswoldes.
That different regions of the globe are Now inhabited by en-
tirely DISTINCT animals and plants, is a fact which is familiar
to all naturalists; and this seems to indicate a progress in
creation throughout all TIME.
We find also very eminent geologists insisting on similar
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 231
progress, as regards the introduction of life itself. What says
the Knight of Siluria! “ Putting aside theory, and judging
solely from positive observation, we may fairly infer, first,
that during very long epochs the seas were unoccupied by any
kind of fishes; secondly, that the earliest discoverable crea-
tures of this class had an internal framework almost incap-
able of fossilization, and so left in the strata their teeth and
dermal skeletons only; and, thirdly, that in the succeeding
period the oldest fishes having bony vertebre make their
scanty appearance, but become numerous in the overlying de-
posits. Are not these absolute data of the geologist clear signs
of a progress in creation?’ “ Let the reader dwell on the
remarkable facts which the labours of geologists have elicited
in the last fifty years. Let him view them progressively, and
in the order indicated by Nature herself. Let him execute a
patient survey from the lower deposits upwards, and he will
find everywhere a succession of vertebrated creatures rising
from lower to higher organizations.”* Again, “ The reasoning
brain was not produced until the scene had undergone a slow
but thorough process of change, during which, at each pro-
gressive stage, it had furnished a platform for higher and yet
higher life.”’t
If, then, any inferences may be drawn by the geologist from
data furnished by the earliest stages of this planet, and ap-
plied to other planets of our system; progress and improve-
ment must be the Law of the Creator throughout the uni-
verse. We have no other evidence furnished by the researches
of the geologist ; and the knowledge of progressive creation
on this planet must always furnish arguments from analogy,
and militate against the “slag” theory of the author.
If there were seas of Jupiter contemporary with those of
the Silurian epoch, it is surely contrary to analogy to suppose
that they were not furnished with inhabitants; if Mars had
land during the carboniferous epech, it would be contrary to
all analogy derived from a consideration of the earth at that
period, to suppose that a terrestrial flora was confined to this
planet. If progress in creation be the rule, as far as we can
* Siluria, p. 462. } Footprints of the Creator.
232 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
read the revelation of the Creator, why limit that progress to
a planet with one satellite, when there are others furnished
with eight ?
Much as we object to the theory of the Essay, and contrary
as we believe its doctrines to be to every geological analogy
and astronomical truth, there are many arguments employed
by the author, setting aside his astronomy and geology, which
must always command the attention of the reflective and
thoughtful. Far be it from us to attempt to fix an odium
theologicum upon a work which, however we believe it to be
mistaken, bears the stamp of an honest and conscientious
spirit.
The principle that pervades the whole of the Essay has been
rightly characterized as “ the glorification of man.”’* Man’s
history and position is unique. Man is so special and pre-
eminent, born to so high a destiny—such a “ wonderful, so-
cial, political, spiritual creature’—that the author sacrifices
every other created thing, in his endeavour to support his hu-
man idol. All former life is “brute.” The universe all
“‘merry-go-rounds,”” and man’s period, though “ only a mo-
ment in the ages of animal life, the only period of intelligence,
morality, religion.” The arguments of the Essay all converge
in MAN; and to account for his Redemption is the moral of
the song. This is the question upon which every argument
turns, and to which every application of deep reasoning power
and much logical disputation has been devoted. The author
evidently thinks, that a belief in modern astronomy leads
many to doubt in the truth of the great scheme of Redemption ;
the consequence is, that he has strained at a gnat and swallowed
a camel; while in his attempt to demolish the doctrine of every
other astronomer, he has given publicity to a very “ unique”
book, which inculcates very queer ideas of creation and its
purposes.
The geologist must always regard the creation of man as
an era in the MORAL and not the PHySICAL world. Probably
very few physical features on the face of the planet have
changed since his introduction. That hyenas, elephants, and
hippopotami inhabited the British isles contemporaneously
* Times, Dec, 26, 1855.
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 233
with our present species of land and fresh-water shells is a
well known fact, and the “ Macacus pliocenus” roamed in our
forests myriads of years before his more intellectual successor
was called into being. It is a wondrous book the book of
nature, ‘‘ whose pen,” as it has been eloquently said, “is the
finger of God, whose covers are the fire kingdoms and the star
kingdoms, and its leaves the heather bells and the polypes of
the sea, and the gnats above the summer stream.” The same
may be said of geology and its history of myriads of ancient
tenants of our globe, which have left no living representative
behind, That science teaches her votaries truths of mighty
significance, and which no sneer of ignorance can destroy ;
teaches the simple truth that this planet has advanced from a
more simple to a more perfect state; that progress has been
the law of our earth, and is, we suspect, the law of the
universe.
THE PHYSICAL LAWS WHICH GOVERN THIS EARTH ARE THE
SAME THAT GOVERN THE PLANETS, and the law of progression,
so evident to the geologist, operates in all sober probability on
the other orbs that roll around us. The phenomena and the
results may be the same in kind, though different in form;
and as astronomers object to a universe of “‘ merry-go-rounds,”’
the geologist objects equally to denominating Pre-Ada-
mic animals as “brutes that can hardly be said to have
lived;” rather does he agree with Dr Chalmers, that “ the
same God, who sends forth an upholding influence among the
orbs and the movements of astronomy, can fill the recesses of
every single atom with the intimacy of his presence, and
travel, in all the greatness of his unimpaired attributes, upon
every spot and corner of the universe he has formed.” Pro-
gress, then, we believe, was the LAw, and was evinced on this
planet most especially by the creation of a moral and account-
able creature; and if there BE other regions of the mighty
universe, as astronomers tell us there are, physically MORE
HIGHLY developed than our own, our geological inferences
must lead us to expect that there are HIGHER SPIRITUAL IN-
TELLIGENCES. That there are other material worlds, we are
taught to believe in Holy Writ. Enoch, Elijah, and the blessed
Saviour went from hence with MATERIAL BODIES: where could
234 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
they have gone, but to some higher and nobler material and
moral system than our own? In the words of a power-
ful writer in the 7imes,—*“ All this time we have before us the
one grand and awful fact, that a body, which angels attended
in its life, its death, and its rising, was seen by steadfast eyes
to go up from the earth, ascending higher and higher into the
sky—a body which had walked, which had spoken, which had
eaten, which had been handled. We have before us the
assurance of Inspiration, that this body is now present among,
or beyond, the stars; living, breathing, moving; seeing, and
sympathizing with human cares and trials, and having the
scenery of earth, and the deeds of its inhabitants, mirrored in
one bright and unbroken reflection.”
The Essay speaks of man as an intellectual, moral, reli-
gious, and spiritual creature. Alas! we wish we were, what
we sincerely believe the author himself most heartily wishes
men to be. Men would be very different from what they are,
what they ever have been, or what, while on earth, we suspect
they ever will be! Rational, reflective, and progressive, as
far as worldly wisdom goes, we do not doubt that man is.
Religion and spirituality are, however, most assuredly his
exception, not the RULE. We also conceive that the author of
the Essay excessively exaggerates the POSSIBLE progress of
the human race. “In man, the possible progress from genera-
tion to generation, in intelligence and knowledge, and we may
also say in power, is indefinite.” The following warning of
Mr Hugh Miller strikes us at once as applicable to most of
the Essay, and the arguments upon the moral nature of man—
“ Man, though he has been increasing in knowledge ever since
his appearance on earth, has not been improving in faculty ;
a shrewd fact, which they who expect most from the future of
this world would do well to consider. The expectation of
any great advance in the present scene of things, great, at
least, when measured by man’s large capacity of conceiving
the good and fair, seems to be like all human hope when re-
stricted to time, an expectation doomed to disappointment.
There are certain limits within which the race improves ;
civilization is better than the want of it, and the taught
superior to the untaught man.” “Science is cumulative in its
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. 235
character; and so its votaries in modern times stand on a
higher pedestal than their predecessors. But though nature
produced a Newton some two centuries ago, as she produced
a Goliath of Gath at an earlier period, the modern philoso-
phers, as a class, do not exceed in actual stature the worse
informed ancients, the Euclids, Archimedeses, and Aristotles.”’
“Since genius first began unconsciously to register in its
works its own bulk and proportions, there has been no in-
crease in the mass, or improvement in the quality of individual
mind. As for the dream, that there is to be some extraordi-
nary elevation of the general platform of the race, achieved by
means of education, it is simply the hallucination of the age,
the world’s present alchemical expedient for converting far-
things into guineas, sheerly by dint of scouring; not but that
education is good—it exercises, and, in the ordinary mind,
developes faculty ; but it will not anticipate the terminal
dynasty. Yet, further—man’s average capacity of happiness
seems to be as limited and as incapable of increase as his
average reach of intellect: it is a mediocre capacity at best ;
nor is it greater by a shade now, in these days of power-looms
and portable manures, than in the times of the old patriarchs.”
We can easily apprehend that the soul of man, in its essen-
tial attributes, is of more consequence in the eyes of God than
any star or sun, or than all stars and suns put together; but
it is not HERE below that the “intellectual, moral, and reli-
gious creature” is to be PERFECTED; and therefore the state-
ment that man’s nature and place is “‘ unique,” and incapable
of repetition in the scheme of the universe, is as incompre-
hensible to us as to Sir D. Brewster. Man’s existence Is to
be repeated in some more glorious and MATERIAL world, if we
are to believe in Holy Writ. Strange is the doctrine, then,
which inculeates that there are no other worlds BETTER than our
own. God forbid that we should depreciate the race for whom
the Saviour suffered; truth however compels us to agree with
Sir David, that the history of the human species has nor been
a moral or a religious progressive history. The author of the
Essay dwells upon the medals and coins in which the anti-
quary finds the “records of reigns and dynasties.” ‘“ How
much does a coin indicate? Property, exchange, government,
236 Astronomical Contradictions and Geological
a standard of value,—the arts of mining, assaying, coining,
&e.” Did no other thoughts ever enter into his mind upon the
same subject—thoughts also connected with vice and sorrow,
outrageous cruelty and torture, tyranny, suffering, and sin?
We are informed that man is characterized by the “pos-
session of language.” Could not the author also characterize
his idol as a creature equally remarkable for his DIFFERENCE
OF OPINION on religious subjects? How many years have
passed away since the Inquisition tortured Galileo? Are there
no Jesuits of the present day, who would glory in the adminis-
tration of the faggot and the rack ?
Difference as regards religious opinions! Why, every reli-
gion partakes of it, and scarcely ten men think alike!
“ Religious controversy has lost somewhat of its bitterness,
and the indirect imputation of bad motives is falling into
disuse.’ Nevertheless, men’s opinions are as strange as ever,
as regards our common Christianity. And the thought should
even teach us CHARITY. But when we are told that man
is “such a religious and spiritual creature,’ we cannot re-
frain from inquiring in WHICH DIRECTION the apex of spi-
ritual and religious progress lies? Shall we find it towards
the horizon of Rome, or in the doctines of Calvin and St Au-
gustine ? Would the author recommend the tenets of Wes-
ley and Whitfield, of Mr Gorham or Dr Pusey? Will he, the
champion of the “ glorification of man,” indicate the lines
which “ converge” towards the saint or the fanatic, the sage
or the fool ?
Religious truth to one mind is often folly, nay worse, to
another ; and the popular belief of thousands of “ religious
and spiritual” creatures is altogether different from that of
thousands of their fellow-men on many very striking and im-
portant points.
That such is the fact as regards religious opinions in gene-
ral, few will be disposed to deny. The author has his, we have
ours ; may we be allowed to state them?
Putting together the facts of geology, with the general be-
lief of astronomers, we have no faith in the arguments of the
Essay, or that there is the slightest ground for believing this
earth anything more than the insignificant portion of the uni-
Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds. — 237
verse it has generally been believed to be. Progress has
been the history of this planet; and in due time God thought
fit to introduce an intellectual creature; that creature, we are
informed, fell through sin, and hence his successors have to
undergo a probation and preparation for another and higher
lot hereafter. Man is represented in Holy Writ as a rebel-
lious and fallen race, and hence the great fact of his Redemp-
tion. That very redemption proves of what consequence man
and his undying soul are in the eyes of the Creator; but it
should always be remembered that it affects him principally
as regards the life to come, and as respects an existence in
another world. We believe, also, that when we enter upon
such subjects as the Incarnation and Redemption, we are moot-
ing questions ‘‘ where the wisest of all philosophy is the phi-
losophy of silence, and a profession of ignorance is the best
evidence of a solid understanding.” We are told that these
are subjects which “angels desire to look into.” Yet is it not
on these very points that bigots dogmatize, and such a fertile
brood of dissensions, questionings, and disputations arise ?
Much that is to be believed cannot be explained; and there
should be, we humbly think, on such high subjects a submis-
sion to the will of Him who made us, without that morbid
straining after investigation and explanation of His mysteries,
which has been the tendency of every people and of every
age. It is nevertheless true, that the great truths of God’s
Word are so plain “that he may run that readeth ;” and that
perverse disputations usually originate with those who desire
to be wise above that which is revealed. There are also re-
vealed WorRKS which we may everywhere legitimately study,
and that “carry us away into the purer country, where we
may breathe the free air of heaven, and with invigorated
bodies and refreshed spirits, hold commune with the beautiful
and the good around us ;’—works that are untainted by the
cruelty of priests and the blood-stained fanaticism of super-
stition, and the cultivation of which in a proper spirit would,
we believe, tend much to overcome religious prejudices, dis-
sensions, and heart-burnings.
If the investigation of the Creator's works was duly held
NEW SERIES.—VOL. IIT. NO. 11.—APRIL 1856, R
238 = Inferences respecting a Plurality of Worlds.
forth to the popular mind, men would become familiar with
the grandeur of creation, and we should have fewer theories
which pretend to analyze the Most High. Man, with all his
boasted knowledge, knows but little of the material world,
and it ill becomes him to dogmatize concerning the spiritual ;
it is, therefore, with extreme regret that we find the author
of the Essay introducing the mysteries of Christian faith into
a philosophical discussion upon the stars. There are some,
no doubt, who will believe in the author’s doctrines, as there
always are some who believe ANY THING. It must not be, how-
ever, among philosophers, astronomers, geologists, or natural-
ists of any class, that the author can look for the disciples of
a “Slag” Universe; they turn from his expositions to the
searching test of their own experience through personal ob-
servation, and can have no faith in doctrines so contrary to
those they learn from a Higher Teacher, on the grandeur,
beauty, and marvellousness of His Creation, and his revela-
tions to his creatures of ‘Progress, Adaptation, and De-
sign.”
Contributions to Ornithology. By Sir Wit11aM JARDINE,
Bart. No. III. Ornithology of Eastern Africa.—Natal
Collections.*
The interest and importance of a correct knowledge of the
geographical distribution of animal life is becoming daily
more and more acknowledged. To accomplish this a record
of authentic facts is essential. In ornithology we have at-
tained these in part, by the ‘‘ Ornithologies” of countries and
districts which have from time to time been published, and
which have in most instances been kept quite restricted, either
from some local interest of the author, or as a natural boundary
within which to confine the work. These, however, were not
originally published with a view to geographical knowledge:
this has been of late much more assisted by the local lists, both
* For this interesting collection we are indebted to the exertions of Mr M.
M‘Ken, now residing in Natal, and actively investigating the natural products
of that district.
Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology. 239
continental and insular, which have been given from time to
time in the periodicals of this and other countries ; but to get
at the real position of our knowledge, these lists, as well as
the complete “ Ornithologies,” require to be analyzed or re-
ported upon.
Africa has had a great deal done for its geographic orni-
thology. Le Vaillant, though he mixed up much that was
non-African in his works, gave a tone and precedence to
African ornithology, and to that of the south in particular ;
and the subsequent labours of Dr Andrew Smith and the
Brothers Verreaux have made the ornithology of South Africa
comparatively well known. The works of Riippell, A. Smith,
Ehrenberg, Lichtenstein, Hartlaub, Malherbe, Muller, Swain-
son, Strickland and Sclater, with the local collections sent
home by Fraser, Stanger, Andersen, Gordon, Petherick, Ley-
land, &c., have given us a great mass of materials for ascer-
taining the range of species on the north, south, and west,
and partially in the interior; but from the eastern coasts and
regions of this continent we are yet much in want of informa-
tion. What we possess is detached, and our ornithological
collections have been very limited: our conveniences for
commerce, and the consequent facility of more easily pro-
curing information, have not hitherto extended continuously
in an eastern direction; and our communication with that
side of Africa and with the Mozambique Channel has been
very restricted,—scarcely extending northward of Delagoa
Bay. We are aware that M. Bianconi has commenced a
Fauna Mozambicana ; but this has not proceeded far, and
ornithology has not yet been much touched upon. Mr Vigors,
in an early number of the Zoological Journal, described
some birds from the Natal district; Dr A. Smith has intro-
duced some eastern species in his South-African Zoology ;
MM. Verreaux have described a few species; and there is a
very interesting account given by Mr Strickland* of a small
parcel collected by Mr James Daubeny upon the African
shores of the Red Sea, which included some new forms. There.
are also other notices of eastern birds; but we have no de-
* Contributions to Ornithology.
R 2
240 ~=Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology.
tailed list, such as that prepared by Dr Hartlaub for those of
the western side of the continent. Although the collection at
present received is of small extent, containing only between
fifty and sixty species, it is nevertheless authentic; and our
object in recording its contents is with the view of making a
systematic beginning to the knowledge of East AFRICAN or-
nithology,—of giving, as it were, a point to which information
can be sent. And we take this opportunity of requesting
that anything bearing upon this subject may be communi-
cated to us; and we have little doubt, when attention is once
directed to it, that materials will rapidly accumulate, and
enable us to give an extended list, and to make comparative
observations.
Our knowledge of the Eastern ornithology will be of great
interest and importance. Regarding geographic range, we
expected the southern and eastern regions to run into each
other, as they do; but we should not have expected to find
so many West-African birds extending across the continent.
This will be so far seen by the limited list we have given,
and which we have thought best to confine now to the collec-
tion before us. Other birds, known as almost cosmopolite,
range apparently indiscriminately over a great part of Africa ;
this is the case with the Falco peregrinus, which we find
at the Cape of Good Hope, Algeria (Malherbe), Conducia Bay,
Mozambique (Mus. Jard.). Some species, again, which have
their capitals eastward, stray to the south, and have been enu-
merated in the southern fauna—as, for example, the Vidua
axillaris of our list ; so also Pyrenestes frontalis. Of the last,
Smith says—*‘ The only specimens observed within the limits
of the colony were discovered in the forests upon the eastern
frontier. About Natal the bird is not so rare.” This is
clearly an eastern species. “ Mirafra africana is principally
confined to the eastern districts of the colony;” its limits
southward. We have others, again, which are only known as
eastern species; and as our researches extend, these will be
extended also. Caprimulgus natalensis, Cossypha natalensis,
Turdus guttatus, Dicrurus Ludwigii, are yet known only to oc-
cur eastward. Turacus porphyreolophus is characteristic of
Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology. 241
the east, as some of the beautiful Musophage are of the west.
The eastern ornithology will be of much interest on another
account—that of the proximity of the great island of Mada-
gascar, and the peculiarity of its fauna, as well as that of the
other smaller islands that are situate off this coast. Of 113
species of birds known in Madagascar, 45 only are known to
be common to Africa, while at the same time some continental
species are not found in the island. The alliances of Mada-
gascar ornithology have been thus summed up by Hartlaub :—
“Tt has a tendency to exhibit the African model, but bears
clear and characteristic traces of an affinity with the Indo-
Australian fauna.” In all probability, we shall be able to
trace a modification at least of the same characters in that of
the forms of the eastern continental coasts—and we have
specifically an example of an Indian bird mentioned by
Ehrenberg, and occurring in the present collection, which
agrees so closely, that although we have kept Ehrenberg’s
name to mark the African form, we can with difficulty
separate them.
All the species enumerated in the succeeding list are from
the immediate Natal district, a short distance east or west, or
to the interior—and their range elsewhere, with the authority
for it, is placed after each.
1. Spizdetus occipitalis, Daud.; South Africa, Caffraria
(Strickland, O. Syns.); Abyssinia and Sennaar (Riippell) ;
Abyssinia (Bruce), as the Black Eagle.
2. Tinnunculus rupicolus, Daud.; South Africa, Cape
Colony (A. Smith, &c.) ; Damara Country (Strickland and
Sclater); North-east Africa (Riippell).
3. Accipiter minullus, Daud. ; South Africa, Cape Colony
(A. Smith, &c.). ;
4. Milvus forskahli, Gmel.; Arabia (Forskahl); South
Africa (Le Vaillant); Damara Country (Strickland and
Sclater) ; West Africa, Island of St Thomas (Hartlaub); Old
Calabar River (Mus. Jard.)
5. Hirundo cuculata, Bodd.; South Africa (Mus. Jard.)
242 Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology.
6. Halcyon fuscicapilla, Lafresn. South Africa (A.
Smith); South-west Africa (Leyland, Mus. Jard.)
7. Ceryle rudis, Linn. ; Persia; South Africa, to a cer-
tain extent northward upon both sides; North-east Africa,
generally distributed (Riippell).
8. C. maxima, Pall.; South Africa (A. Smith).
9. Alcedo semitorquata. South Africa, (Mus. Jard.);
Great Fish River (Swainson) ; North-east Africa, Schoa (Riip-
pell).
10. Alcedo cristata, Linn.; South Africa (A. Smith).
11. A. picta, Bodd.; West Africa (Hartlaub) ; Old Calabar
River (Mus. Jard.) We only have hitherto known this spe-
cies from Western Africa, and it seems rare there, as it does
not frequently occur in collections sent to this country.
12. Merops egypticus, Forsk. The range of this species
is very great, if we are correct in referring to it M. persicus,
Swain. B. of West Africa. Asia, Persia, Candahar; Africa,
Egypt, Tripoli, Senegal; Europe, Italy.
13. M. erythropterus, Lath. Abundant during the year in
Abyssinia, Kordofan, Sennaar (Riippell.)
14. Coracias garrula, Linn.
15. Oriolus monachus. Abundant in Abyssinia, as O.
moloxitta (Riippell.)
16. Muscipeta perspicillata, Lath. South Africa (A.
Smith (Mus. Jard.) This is the species having the tail of
the same colour with the upper plumage.
17. Lanius collaris, Lath. Agrees with specimens from
the Cape district, but has a few sienna feathers above the
white covering the shoulders; Abyssinia (Riippell) ; Damara
Country (Strickland and Sclater).
18. Edolius musicus. S. Africa (A. Smith).
19. Malaconotus olivaceus, Vieill. West Africa (Swain-
son); Kordofan (Riippell).
20. M. sulphureopectus, Less.=M. chrysogaster, Swains.
This bird has a very extensive West African range; Cape
Coast (Gordon); Gambia (Hartl.; Mus. Brem.); Ilha das Rol-
las, Fernando Po, St Thomas (Hartl.). We have it also in
Abyssinia (Riippell), and now from Natal.
Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology. 248
21. M. gutturalis, Daud. =M. viridis, Vieill. West Africa
(Hartlaub, “ Malimbe,”’ Perrein); Sierra Leone (Afzelius).
Not an uncommon West African species, and not unfrequent
also on the south-eastern side, as Hartlaub records it from
Natal; and there is a specimen in Mus. Strickl. from the same
locality.
22. Telephonus senegalus, Linn. Kordofan (Strickland) ;
Damara (Strickland and Sclater) ; South Africa, Cape Colony
(A. Smith) ; West Africa, Elmina (Mus. Hamb. Hartlaub).
23. Dryoscopus ferrugineus, Lath. South Africa, Cape
Colony (A. Smith).
24. D.cubla. 8S. Africa, Cape Colony, common (A. Smith) ;
Damara Country (Strickl. and Sclat.) ; North Africa, Abyssi-
nia, Sennaar (Riippell).
Frequents ‘‘ wooded pastures.’’ We have received this spe-
cies from as far east as Conducia Bay, procured by Lieut.
William Jardine when in the Mozambique Channel. In West
Africa it is represented by a closely-allied bird, D. gambensis,
Licht. = Malaconotus mollissimus, Swains.
25. Drymeca stangeri ?
26. Parus niger. South Africa, Cape Colony (A. Smith);
Damara Country (Mus. Jard.). This Titmouse seems represent-
ed on the western side by P. leucopterus, Swains.=the Abys-
sinian P. leucomelas, Riipp. Are they not all local races?
They are very closely allied, differing chiefly in the presence
or absence of white on the outer tail-feathers.
27. Lamprotornis phenicopterus. South Africa, Cape
Colony (A. Smith).
28. L. morio. South Africa, Cape Colony (A. Smith).
Numerous in Abyssinia (Rippell).
29. L. leucogaster. Abyssinia (Riippell) ; Western Africa
(Swainson, Hartlaub).
30. Ploceus spilonotus, Smith. West Africa, as P. flavi-
ceps (Swains.), with which Smith and Hartlaub make it=.
There are slight variations.
31. P. subaureus, Smith. South Africa (A. Smith).
32. Hupodes xanthosomus, Jard. and Selby. West Africa,
(Mus. Jard.); West Africa, Sierra Leone, Senegal (Hartl.)
244 = Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology.
23. Vidua ardens, Bodd.= V. rubritorques, Swains. West
Africa, Senegambia (Hartlaub).
34, V. axillaris, Smith. We have little knowledge of the
locality of this comparatively rare species. It is described by
Dr A. Smith in the South African Zoology, but can scarcely
be placed as a really South African bird. He says, “ there is
reason to believe this species of Widow Bird occurs but rarely
in South Africa. The individual which our figure represents
was obtained upon the south-east coast, between 700 and 800
miles to the eastward of Cape Town, and at the time it was
shot, was perched upon some rushes growing out of some
marshy ground in Caffreland.”” Mr M‘Ken’s locality for the
species is “‘marshy places near Tongaat.” We have never
received it with southern collections, and it is one of those
more truly eastern species, which have allies in the south and
west resembling each other in their seasonal changes.
35. Estrelda estrild, Linn. South Africa (A. Smith).
36. Fringillaria flavigastra, Riipp. Kordofan (Rippell).
37. Crithagra flava, Swains. West Africa (Swainson).
Agrees with the description, &c., of Swainson’s bird, and dif-
fers, on comparison, from specimens of the South African C.
sulphurata, in the under parts being more uniformly yellow,
the olive pectoral band not distinct, and the yellow space on
the throat not insulated or defined. The yellow streak above
the eye extends completely over the auriculars.
38. Macronyx capensis. South Africa (A. Smith).
39. Nectarinia natalensis, Jard. This bird is one of the
more peculiarly eastern species, and represents WV. senega-
lensis of the western coast. These two can be easily sepa-
rated, if mixed together. They are at once distinguished by
different shades of colour, and by the form of the coronal
and gular patches. There is another bird, however, described
by Riippell from North-eastern Africa more difficult to sepa-
rate; itis the WV. cruenta of that ornithologist. That men-
tioned in the Naturalist’s Library as VV. natalensis, from the
collection of the Zoological Society, to which it was presented
by Dr Riippell, was the north-eastern bird, and then consi-
dered by usas =. WN. natalensis, certainly, so far as our in-
Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology. 245
formation reaches, does not extend its range southward or
to the western coast.
40. WV. coilaris, 41. N. olivacea (Smith), 42. NV. famosa,
are all southern, extending in their range considerably to the
northward.
43. Pogonius torquatus, Less.; South Africa (Burchel, A.
Smith, Temminck), not uncommon.
44, Campathera abingoni, Smith.; South-west Africa,
Damara Country (Strickland and Sclater).
45, Dendrobates fuscescens, Vieill. ; South Africa (Le Vail-
jant); South-west Africa, Damara Country (Strickland and
Sclater).
46. Turacus porphyreolophus, Vig. Algoa Bay (Vigors).
This fine species seems characteristic of the Natal portion of
the eastern coast: we have not yet ascertained its range
northward.
47. Cuculus nigricens, Swains.; West Africa, Senegal
(Swainson, Hartlaub). The specimen in the present collection
was procured in April.
48. Oxylophus pica, Ehrenb. In his “ Symbole,’’ Ehren-
berg describes a white-bellied oxylophus from Nubia under
the above name, and states that it corresponds very closely
with the Indian 0. jacobinus. In the Petherick Kordofan
birds, described by Mr Strickland, the white-bellied Nubian
species is mentioned as O. jacobinus. A specimen in M‘Ken’s
collection agrees very closely with specimens from India, and
we would only desire to compare a few more together before
discarding Ehrenberg’s name, which we have used provi-
sionally now to mark the African form. Its range in Africa
seems to be eastern and northward.
49. Chrysococcyx auratus, Gmel.; West Africa (Swain-
son); Senegambia, Gold Coast (Hartlaub).
50. C. cupreus, Shaw; Abyssinia, (Riippell). Swainson
has described a bird from Western Africa, very closely allied,
under the name of C. smaragdineus. The differences are the
very “ pale tint” of the under parts of the southern bird, and
the white under tail covers banded with green; while in the
western bird the under parts are “ bright yellow,” the under
246 «Sir W. Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology.
tail covers being also yellow and unspotted; in the bird be-
fore us from Natal the under parts are bright yellow, but the
tail covers are white and banded as described by Swainson.
These seem characteristic, but the depth of the yellow tint
does not seem constant, and the banding of the under tail
covers is the chief distinctive mark. Are these birds only local
races ?
51. Centropus senegalensis, Linn.; South Africa, Cape
Colony (Mus. Jard.); marked, “ scarce bird, found in the vici-
nity of water.” West Africa (Swainson); Senegal, Gold
Coast, Cape Palmas (Hartlaub) ; Cape Coast (Gordon).
52. Columba guinea. Kordofan, Sennaar (Strickland) ;
Damara (Strickland and Sclater) ; Kordofan, Sennaar, Abys-
sinia (Riippell).
53. Turtur vinaceus, Gmel.; Kordofan (Strickland and
Sclater) ; Gambia (Riippell).
54. Peristera afra, Linn.; Damara (Strickland and Sclater).
55. Treron calva, Temm.; West Africa (Swainson, Hart-
laub), as 7’. abyssinica, Kordofan and Abyssinia; (Ruppell),
as T. abyssinica; Kast Africa, Port Natal ( Verreaux).
56. Francolinus subtorquatus? This specimen is marked
9, but it is furnished with spurs 5” long. The entire head and
nape, chin and throat are sienna, with no marking of the
bands seen in the 6 of J’. torquatus. The fore-part of the
neck and the breast is distinctly and strongly marked with
broad black bars; altogether, we are not satisfied that this
bird is = to the species indicated with a? Our opportunities
at present do not admit a more extended comparison.
57. Scopus umbretta. A very generally distributed species.
South Africa generally (A. Smith) ; Northern and North-
east Sennaar and Abyssinia (Ruppell) ; Central Africa (Den-
ham and Clapperton) ; Leyland’s Collections (Mus. Jard.) ;
Western Africa, Turkey, Voy. Zaire (Hartlaub); Island of
Madagascar (Hartlaub).
Remarks on Professor Baden Powell's Views respecting the
Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth, and the Skeleton
found in excavating Mickleton Tunnel. By ALEXANDER
Tuomson, Esq., of Banchory.
We have no inclination to go over the various matters in-
troduced by Professor Powell into the volume of Essays lately
published by him; and it seems the less necessary to do so,
that the work is principally composed of hypothetic theories
which have long been before the scientific world, and, as we
imagined, had been conclusively disposed of by Sedgwick, Mil-
ler, Hitchcock, and others.
So far as we have apprehended their meaning, the Essays
are a reproduction of the dreary speculations of Laplace, La-
marck, Oken, and the author of “ The Vestiges,’—clothed in
popular and attractive language, but not better sustained by
facts and arguments than when we last encountered them.
We must confess we did not expect to see them so soon re-
appear, and least of all that they should come forth from the
pen of a Clergyman of the Church of England, and a Professor
of Geometry in the University of Oxford.
If Professor Powell’s theory of creation be true, and can be
proved to be true, then there is an end of all revealed reli-
gion, and of all natural religion too,—there cannot be an Al-
mighty personal God creating and sustaining all things. Per-
haps the most painful and the most dangerous part of the
book to common readers is the mixture of arguments tending
to destroy all religion, with professions of respect for Chris-
tianity. Surely the author cannot be ignorant of the tend-
ency of his own reasonings.
It is true that ordinary religious belief in the most in-
structed and enlightened minds, depends on a class of facts
and arguments wholly unconnected with scientific cosmoge-
nies ; but it is equally true, that by false views of creation, the
student of science may be led to conclusions inconsistent with
the existence of a personal Deity, and suddenly find himself
248 Remarks on Professor Powell's Views respecting
deprived of all his religious belief, by the separation of him-
self from the basis of original truth on which the whole must
rest,—viz., the existence of a Supreme Intelligent Being, by
whom all things were made and are sustained.
We wish here, then, to draw the attention of our readers to
a portion of one of the Essays,—that on the “ Philosophy of
Creation,” in which the author forsakes the laborious path of
the inductive philosophy, and indulges in flights of unre-
strained imagination.
Of these the boldest, and perhaps the most remarkable
which ever appeared in a work professing to be scientific, oc-
curs in connection with the question of the date of man’s ap-
pearance upon earth.
“ To the same kind of misapprehension may be traced—but
even with less appearance of reason—the zeal with which the
belief in man’s recent origin on the earth has been maintained,
and the suspicion and animosity excited by even a hint or
conjecture at any possible higher antiquity of the race. The
prevalent belief in the very recent origin of man, geologically
speaking, depends wholly on negative evidence. And there
seems no reason, from any good analogy, why human remains
might not be found in deposits corresponding to periods im-
mensely more remote than commonly supposed, when the earth
was in all respects equally well suited for human habitation.
And if such remains were to occur, it is equally accordant
with all analogy to expect that they might be those of an
extinct and lower species. The only real distinction in the
history of creation which marks a supposed “human epoch”
is not the first introduction of the animal man, in however
high a state of organization, but the endowment of that ani-
mal with the gift of a moral and spiritual nature. It is a
perfectly conceivable idea, that a lower species of the human
race might have existed destitute of this endowment.”—(Pp.
464, 465.)
The Professor here complains of the zeal with which the
doctrine of man’s recent origin upon earth is maintained, and
the animosity excited by even a hint at the possibility of the
higher antiquity of the race.
the Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth. 249
We have no wish to defend animosity on any subject,—it
does no good; but we cannot think the zeal misplaced or mis-
directed which protests against baseless theories, the effect of
which, if established, would obviously be to overturn the whole
scheme of Christianity.
We admit that we do not find a perfect system of philoso-
phy, either moral or scientific, in the Holy Scriptures. They
were given to man for a higher and more important purpose
than to teach abstract knowledge. But we do not admit that
there is one word or statement in Scripture inconsistent with
sound philosophy, or opposed to it; and we go a step farther
and maintain that the steady progress of Truth in every de-
partment,—be it Biblical criticism, mental philosophy, physi-
cal science, or antiquarian research,—is rapidly adding to the
proofs, already innumerable, that the Bible contains the words,
while all nature displays the works, of the Almighty Creator
and Preserver of all things, and that His words and His works
are ever in perfect harmony—they cannot contradict each
other.
Now, if there be any statements clearly made in Scripture,
they are these: that “ In the beginning God created the hea-
vens and the earth;’’ and that ‘‘ The Lord God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life, and man became a living soul;” and, “ In the
day that God created man, in the likeness of God created he
him ;—male and female created he them, and blessed them,
and called their name Adam, in the day they were created.”
aie 6 sv. 4 2.
On these two assertions, that God made all things, and
that he made one man and one woman the progenitors of the
whole human race, every Christian feels that the whole scheme
of salvation, as revealed in Scripture, clearly depends, and
Professor Powell need not be much surprised if assaults on
these doctrines are not always received with perfect equani-
mity. It is no question, as he hints, p. 465, of doubtful
Hebrew chronology—the precise period is of no consequence to
it—the real question is, Did God make man, or did man make
himself, or did he grow because he could not help it?
250 Remarks on Professor Powell's Views respecting
Our author complains that the proof of man’s recent origin,
“ geologically speaking, depends wholly on negative eyi-
dence.”
We confess we cannot see what other evidence applicable
to the point in dispute can possibly exist.
The assertion is, that man did not exist on earth contem-
poraneously with the Ichthyosaurus, Pterodactylus and Belem-
nite, or even with the Anoplotherium and Palzotherium of a
more recent epoch of animal life on the globe—or in other
words, that man began to exist long after many races of plants
and animals had passed away ; and the proof is, that although
myriads of the remains of these older beings have been dis-
covered, no coeval trace of fossil man has been found.
What other proof can we have? True it is a negative proof
—but does the case admit of any other? What sort of proof
does the Professor expect? or what can we give but the fact
that not one solitary fossil bone of man has ever been dis-
covered, and until one be produced we are entitled to hold our
negative proof as perfectly satisfactory.
The author, however, does not seem satisfied with complain-
ing of the want of positive proof of the non-existence of man
in ancient geological eras; he quits the regions of fact, and
conveys his readers into the realms of fiction, and suggests the
hypothesis of the existence of a race of animal men “ destitute
of the gift of a moral and spiritual nature.”
The hypothesis is so monstrous that it is really difficult to
deal gravely with it. There is scarcely any limit to the ex-
cursions of the human imagination—scarcely anything so
ludicrous as not by possibility to enter at some time into a
human mind.
It requires no great stretch of imagination to conceive of
the possible existence of Lord Monboddo’s men with tails, or
Swift’s inhabitants of Brobdignag or Lilliput—but these would
be matters of fancy not of science, and until specimens of
them be produced to us we shall feel perfectly warranted in
denying their existence, and shall confidently rest our disbelief
on the negative proof.
There is something very repulsive in finding such a mix-
the Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth. 251
ture of fancy and philosophy in a work professing to treat of
so great, so holy a subject as Creation.
There is another objection to Professor Powell’s conception
of a non-spiritual man—he is very ingeniously confusing two
distinct things, and treating them as if they were one and the
same.
What is the distinctive characteristic of man as a genus?
nothing other than the inseparable combination of moral and
spiritual nature with a body; and we must confess our ima-
gination is not powerful enough to enable us to conceive of a
being of whatever form, without moral nature, being a mem-
ber of the human race—it is a gross solecism to speak of a
man in such a condition, to call a creature without this moral
nature a man of a “lower species ”»—man it cannot be, a
monkey it may be. We cannot reason about such a being—
we might as well attempt to discuss the merits of the learned
Professor’s book without the letter press, and call it in this
state a most valuable contribution to solid science, as argue
about the existence of this figment of the imagination.
Suppose for a moment that the fossil remains of such a being
were to be found, how are we to recognize it, what are the pe-
culiarities of the skeleton of an animal man? Shall we find the
bones of the foot and hand to indicate plantigrade or prehen-
sile members ? or may we confidently expect the intermaxil-
lary bone to be distinctly separate from the jaw as a proof of
inferiority? No time should be lost in informing the scien-
tifie world after what objects their researches ought to be
directed.
Had this subject occurred only in the passage quoted, it might
scarcely have deserved our notice, and might have been allowed
to pass as a mere idle flight of fancy, or at worst as one of
those ephemeral visions which occasionally afflict and annoy
the scientific world, for in the text there is no allegation of
fact to support it.
In the appendix, however, an attempt is made to supply this
want—not positively, but rather suggestively—not as a cer-
tain fact, but as a something which may possibly turn out to
be the desired fact, and yet so expressed, we think, as to lead
252 Remarks on Professor Powell’s Views respectin
4 g
many readers into the supposition that there is a presumable
basis for the soulless theory.
Every maker of theories is on the constant outlook for facts
which suit his purpose; and it is a great misfortune that mere
theorists, sometimes very clever and amusing, have a strong
propensity to make facts bend to their theories, instead of
accommodating their theories to ascertained facts.
We can conceive of Professor Powell glancing from one to
another of the thousands of ascertained geological facts, but
looking in vain for one which might serve as a basis, however
slight and unstable, for his theory. Probably he looked to
the Guadaloupe man; but he has long occupied his true place
in the geological world, and would loudly protest against any
soulless theory being erected on his bones.
At last, he seems to have remembered (for though the most
important assertion in the whole book, it is thrown into the
appendix), that certain human remains had been found in ex-
cavating Mickleton Tunnel in 1852, and this is the solitary fact
he has to produce in support of his theory, and even this he
does not exactly bring forward as a fact, but rather as a pos-
sibility.
He states, p. 501, that the discovery appeared to call for a
much more close examination of the case than it appears to
have received.
We entirely concur in this desire, and to assist in this ex-
amination we applied to Mr Gavey, the engineer, who executed
the works at Mickleton Tunnel, for information regarding it,
and we have the pleasure of laying before our readers his
simple statement of the facts.
Professor Powell refers to a paper by Mr Gavey, and a sec-
tion of the ground, which appeared in the Quarterly Geologi-
cal Journal for 1853, and from them he draws the distinct con-
clusion that these bones must have been deposited previous
to a very long series of physical events (p. 503). This, in
geological parlance, means long prior to the creation of
Adam.
Professor Powell leaves us altogether in the dark as to whe-
ther he regards these bones as those of a perfect or of an in-
the Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth. 253
ferior man, whether a specimen of the Homo sapiens of Lin-
neeus, or of the Homo non sapiens of Powell.
Mr George Edward Gavey. who was on the spot, and seems
to have observed all the details with great accuracy, and with-
out any thought of preconceived theories on the subject, comes
to the very opposite conclusion, and, as we think, for unan-
swerable reasons assigned by him. The following is the let-
ter received from Mr Gavey, dated
Langford, near Heytesbury, Wilts,
January 7, 1856.
“ T will try to answer your questions, and give you all the
information that I am possessed of respecting the skeleton
found at Mickleton Tunnel.
“Tam not acquainted with Professor Baden Powell, nor
have I seen his Essays; but if he brings forward the skeleton
(mentioned by me in a paper on the Mickleton Tunnel) as a
proof that man was in existence previous to Adam, he is
greatly at fault, and can know but little of the great, though
often imperceptible changes, which are continually taking place
on the surface of the earth.
“The spot where the skeleton was found was, at no very
distant period, covered with water, of about a quarter of an
acre in extent; and the springs which issued out of the sur-
rounding hills supplied this pond with water. One of these
springs was still flowing when I was there, and the only outlet
for the water was to the north into the Vale of Evesham.
* The hills which surrounded the pond on the three sides
were at one time covered with timber, the remains and roots of
which were seen during the excavation of the cutting; and the
fern roots were found to have penetrated through the peat and
into the blue clay, to a depth of nine feet below the surface.
“ As to the existence of a pond, there can be no doubt; for,
in the first place, we have the presence of light-blue clay,
which is almost always found at the bottom of ponds, &c.;
and, second, the remains of a large quantity of recent fresh-
water shells, lying between the blue clay and the bed of peat,
chiefly Planorbis and Pisidium, which are now to be found in
NEW SERIES.—VOL. III. NO. 11.—APRIL 1656. .
254 Remarks on Professor Powell’s Views respecting
the neighbouring ponds. During the excavation of the blue
clay, the workmen discovered the remains of a HUMAN skele-
ton lying in a slanting position, the head to the west, and
raised about two feet out of the horizontal. The head, arms,
and thigh-bones were preserved; they were quite sound, and
of a dark-brown colour. The skull and bones were examined
by my friend Mr Cooksey, surgeon, of Chipping-Campden,
and he pronounced them to be those of a man. The skull was
small, but beautifully formed, having the organ of Veneration
well developed. The thigh-bones would indicate that his sta-
ture was rather below the average height of men of the present
day. There were five feet of blue clay above the skull, and four
feet six inches of peat and loamy gravel resting on the clay;
this will make the position of the skeleton to have been 9 ft.
6 in. below the surface; so that the unlucky Druid, returning
from his sacrificial rites, must have fallen into the pond.
“In process of time the pond became more shallow, the for-
mation of peat commenced, and being surrounded by timber
and underwood, it became a resort for animals of various species,
such as wild boars, deer, oxen, and foxes, the bones of which
I found embedded in the PEAT, more or less broken. By de-
grees, gravel, loam, and drift pebbles were washed down from
the hills above, and covered the peat to a depth of three feet.
I therefore conclude that the time required to effect these
changes of surface after the individual was drowned would
not exceed 1800 years. The question may be asked, How
was it that the gravel and pebbles were not washed down into
the pond before the formation of the peat? To which I an-
swer, that as the hills were at that period covered with under-
wood, it would very naturally retard the action of the elements
upon the surface of the land; after the underwood which had
helped to form the peat had ceased to grow upon the hills,
from some physical cause, the surface of the country became
exposed to the action of the weather, and becoming decom-
posed, was soon washed down from the neighbouring heights,
and formed the superincumbent alluvial deposit covering the
peat. I carefully examined the clay above the skeleton, and
could not perceive that it had been disturbed, for the fern-
the Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth. 255
roots which had penetrated into the clay were all in a perpen-
dicular position. The skull, when found, was filled with blue
clay ; I did not perceive any fat, nor was the clay discoloured
by animal matter. The peat above the clay was full of ani-
mal matter, and when burning gave out a very peculiar odour,
differing from the smell of peat in general. The following is
a section of the ground.
West. East.
Section line
Marlstone
beds
/___Skeleton
Shales of the Lower Lias.
“ Such, my dear Sir, are the facts which I have collected, and
my opinion on the subject; and I shall leave it with you to draw
your conclusions respecting the skeleton, and its position in
the clay. I shall be glad to know how far your opinion agrees
with mine.”
Mr Gavey has also sent the following communication from
Mr Cooksey :—
Campden, 11th February 1856.
«The skull discovered at the Mickleton cutting was im-
perfect when it came into my hands; in fact, I have
only the calvarium. Its dimensions, carefully taken, are,—
from posterior edge of foramen magnum to insertion of na-
sal bones over the crown, 15,3; inches. From upper edge
of one meatus auditorius to upper edge of corresponding
meatus over crown, 13,8; inches, and the circumference taken
in a line over the greater occipital protuberance, and just
above the supraorbital prominences or ridges, 20,4, inches.
The skeleton was that of a person beyond the middle age,
judging from the density of the bones of the skull, the state
s2
256 Remarks on the Recent Origin of Man upon the Earth.
of the sutures, and of the styloid processes of the temporal
bones. No teeth came into my possession. Two or three days
after its discovery, I went to the cutting with the intention
of securing any remains I could discover, but I found the
bones in so fragmentary a state, evidently the result of recent
violence, that I did not remove them. As far as my remem-
brance serves, they were those of a person of average height,
and this is, 1 think, in some measure borne out by the di-
mensions of the calvarium. The jaw and part of the skele-
ton of a sheep were found in close juxtaposition to the human
remains. All the bones were in good preservation, as far as
freedom from decay is concerned, presenting much the appear-
ance of some which were known to date from the battle of
Worcester, and which were exhumed about eighteen years ago,
having lain in a dry and gravelly soil, but not inclosed in any
coffin. I fancy the pre-Adamite was a drunken sheep-stealer
who slipped into the pool or morass. The position of the body
agreed, I think, with the incline of the sides of the punch-bowl
shaped hollow.* I should tell you, that in the interior of the
skull there was next the bone, but not extending over the
whole cavity, a layer of fine sandy silt, and the remainder was
filled with blue clay. Sundry of the small foramina had fibrous
roots remaining in them, which appeared to me to have
grown there.”
After a very careful study of the diagram given by Profes-
sor Powell, and also of what he terms his six observations,
but which we would rather call his six unsupported assertions,
we could see no ground to think that even any considerable
portion of the Adamic period had elapsed since this skeleton
was deposited ; all the alterations of soil, even as stated by
Professor Powell, might well have occurred in two or three
centuries. The facts now stated so clearly and distinctly by
Mr Gavey and Mr Cooksey are at complete variance with the
observations of Professor Powell, and fatal to the use which
he wishes to make of the man of Mickleton Tunnel.
It is unnecessary to make any comments on these letters.
* The bones were in a slanting direction.—G, EH. G.
On the Rare Lichens of Ben Lawers. 257
Mr Gavey allows more time for the accumulation of the peat
and detritus than appears to be necessary. Both accumu-
late under favourable circumstances with great rapidity. Mr
Cooksey, from the appearance of the bones, compared with
others of known age, points to a much more recent date. The
exact age, even within two or three thousand years, is of no
consequence as to the matter in dispute.
It scarcely requires the exercise of imagination to suppose
that a man stumbling into a quagmire with a bottom of soft
blue clay, would necessarily reach the bottom and sink a short
distance into it, and the presence of recent shells now occur-
ring in the neighbourhood, immediately above the clay and
below the peat, the ordinary position of shell marl, is conclusive
of the whole matter, and a positive proof that the whole accumu-
lation is of very recent date, and probably not exceeding a few
hundred years.
On the Rare Lichens of Ben Lawers. By HucH Macmit-
LAN, F.B.S.E. +
Cryptogamie plants, and especially lichens, for very obvious
reasons, are more widely diffused over the surface of the earth
than phanerogamous plants. The extreme simplicity of their
form and structure fitting them to endure an amount alike of
heat and cold sufficient to destroy all vitality in more perfectly
organized plants ; the minuteness and profusion of their germs
of reproduction ; the facility with which these can be trans-
ported from place to place, and from one country, or even con-
tinent, to another, by the winds and waves, and various other
agencies; and their strong persistent vitality, by reason of
which they possess, unimpaired for centuries, the power of ger-
minating when the few simple circumstances necessary for that
purpose are present ;—all these qualify them in a peculiar man-
ner for carrying on their office as precursors or pioneers of vege-
tation in every region of the globe. Many of the lichens which
grow on our own rocks and trees, are precisely identical with
those found in similar situations on the continent, and in various
localities both in Asia, Africa, and America ; and some species,
+ Read before the Botanical Society, December 6, 1800.
258 Hugh Macmillan on the
and even genera, are cosmopolitan. Indeed, so widely are the
same species diffused, that a flora which should represent all
the lichens of one particular country, would, generally speak-
ing, comprehend most of the species found in any other. Itis
worthy of remark, however, that, unlike all other plants, lichens
are more widely distributed in proportion as they are higher
in organization, and more complex in structure ; all the British
species of the genera Usnea, Sticta, Stereocaulon, Spheropho-
ron, Ramalina, and Cenomyce, which exhibit the highest de-
velopment of lichenose vegetation, being found in one or other
of their numerous protean forms, under almost every condition
of latitude, altitude, and climate, although it is only in the’more
southern regions, where the humidity and temperature are
more uniform, that we find them in constant fructification.
Although, however, lichens are so amenable to the different
climatal conditions, and their zones of distribution in conse-
quence wide and indefinite, the lichenist will find, from nu-
merous examples, that they also, to a certain extent, obey the
ordinary laws prescribed by nature for the diffusion of plants.
Many species are confined to particular altitudes on the great
mountain ranges of the globe; and their position at such fixed
altitudes is to be accounted for by the same agencies and
geological circumstances concerned in the migration of foreign
flowering plants to the same localities. The lichens, for in-
stance, which occur on the summits of the loftier Highland
hills, and especially those of the great Breadalbane range,
have as good a right to be considered arctic and Norwegian
species as the flowering plants which bloom beside them ; and
hence the very ingenious and plausible theory which the late
Professor Edward Forbes advanced with regard to the origin
and distribution of our alpine phanerogamous vegetation,—and
which is too well known to need repetition here,—is equally
applicable to the lichens, for the same agencies were employed,
and precisely at the same period of time, in the transmission
of both. Other lichens, though sometimes very erratic in their
choice of habitats, generally display a particular and remark-
able attachment to certain kinds of rocks and certain soils,
and follow these occasionally over extensive regions, and are
found covering them in other countries, when all other cireum-
Rare Lichens of Ben Lawers. 259
stances are favourable; while many species affect particular
trees, and are found only in countries where these are pro-
duced. The amount of heat, light, shade, and moisture, as well
as other circumstances, in particular regions, are also to be
taken into account, as operating considerably in the restric-
tion or wide distribution of the lichens; for that they are as
much sensible to these as the flowering plants, is abundantly
shown, among many other proofs, by the varying quality and
quantity of the dyes yielded by such of them as are possessed
of colorific principles, according to the nature of the locality
and the circumstances in which they are developed. All these
conditions, then, of limitation or general distribution, furnish
the student of geographical botany with sufficient data for the
construction of lichen regions, which, if not so definite and
well-marked as those of phanerogamous plants and the higher
cryptogamia, is perhaps owing more to our extremely limited
information with regard to the range of particular species in
other countries, than to the actual vagueness and confusion of
these regions in nature itself.
With these general remarks, by way of preface, I proceed
to the more immediate object of this paper—the description of
the rare lichens gathered during a recent botanical excursion to
Ben Lawers. The importance and interest attached to this hill,
as, upon the whole, the best botanical locality in Great Britain,
producing a remarkably rare and peculiar alpine vegetation, are
amply evinced by the frequent visits paid to it by botanists
from all parts of the kingdom, who seem to regard it as a sort
of Mecca, to which some time or other in their life, their
science enjoins them to make a pilgrimage. These visits,
however, in most cases, have been entirely devoted to the col-
lection of the rare flowering plants and ferns with which the
hill abounds, and to which ample justice, in the way of descrip-
tion, has been repeatedly done ; while the lichens and mosses
which it produces in equal if not greater profusion, have been
very much overlooked, and but briefly and cursorily noticed,
even by those who have made these obscure but deeply-inter-
esting departments of botany the subjects of their particular
and favourite study. That the claims of Ben Lawers to our
notice, as a garden of rare cryptogamic plants, however, are
260 Hugh Macmillan on the
great, is abundantly proved by the fact, that a great many
lichens and mosses are found on its sides and summit which
occur nowhere else in Britain, and one or two species no-
where else in the world, except in similar situations on the
more elevated peaks of the great range of which it forms a
part. The following list contains a slightly detailed account
only of those species which are peculiar to the hill, or which
occur only at a high elevation on the Scottish mountains, and
which, from their rarity, their peculiarities of form, structure,
and geographical distribution, or the fact of their being lit-
tle known to botanists generally, would appear to possess
especial claims upon our attention.
Beeomyces roseus, Pers. In great profusion on turfy banks
at the foot of the hill. This lichen is very generally distri-
buted throughout Sweden, Britain, Germany, and Switzer-
land; and is also very abundant on sterile clayey soils and
sands in North America. The thallus forms very wide white
pulverulent patches, covered with innumerable subrotund gra-
nulations of a larger size, sometimes slightly tinged with red,
which seem to be the rudiments of apothecia. The stipes,
unlike the podetia of the Cladoniz, which they somewhat re-
semble in shape, are destitute of a cortical stratum. They
produce on their summits subglobose flesh-coloured mycine,
the whole surface of which forms a seminal layer, in which
the naked spores are imbedded, their interior being formed of
the substance of the stipes, and becoming at length empty and
araneous. In the structure of its stipes and mycine, and in
the peculiar odour which it exhales, this lichen bears a re-
markable resemblance to several species of Hymenomycetous
Fungi, particularly to some minute Leotia or Helvella. The
presence of a crust, and the peculiar situations which it affects,
alone prevent it from being included among the Fungi. Dr
Kiittlinger has a very valuable and elaborate paper upon its
structure in the ‘“‘ Allgemeine Botanische Zeitung,” 1845, pp.
57 7—584, and 't. vi.
Verrucaria Hookeri, Borr. Abundant on the bare soil,
composed of comminuted schist, and in the crevices of rocks,
in the hollow near the summit. This peculiar lichen has been
found nowhere else in the world than on the tops of the more
Rare Lichens of Ben Lawers. 261
elevated peaks of the great Breadalbane range and on Mynydd-
y-Myfyi, one of the Welsh hills, where the Rey. T. Salwey
states that he once collected afewmeagre specimens. The form
of the perithecium resembles that of Sagedia, a genus formed
by Fries, in order to receive those anomalous lichens which
form the connecting links or gradations between the genus
Endocarpon and Verrucaria. The peculiar form of the thallus,
however, consisting as it does of an aggregation of small
tumid scales of a white colour, internally green, and the black,
spongy, and somewhat hygrometric substratum upon which it
rests, and in which the ampulliform tubercles are immersed,
warrant us in giving to it what we imagine to be its proper
and natural position in the genus Endocarpon, to one or two
species of which it is certainly more closely allied than to any
known Verrucaria. The sporidia, as Mr Leighton observes,
and as I myself have ascertained by a careful microscopical
examination of several admirable specimens, consist of two
cone-like bodies. set base to base, with their sides somewhat
contracted, or rather excavated, marked by one, three, or five,
dark brown septa. The number of septa which I have found
to occur most frequently is three ; and, in some cases, as when
a sporidium has discharged its contents, only one is visible.
There is another terricolate species of Verrucaria described by
Acharius, under the name of spongiosa, which is possessed of
a thick, green, spongy thallus, and immersed ampulliform apo-
thecia, marked by a scarcely prominent ostiole; but from the
rude figure of it which he annexes, it appears to me to differ
widely from the Ben Lawers plant.
Endocarpon laete-virens, Turner. At an elevation of about
2000 feet, on the east shoulder of the hill, growing along with
Lecidea icmadophila, on broken banks of peat, or covering
decayed masses of Dicranum glaucum. I have frequently
observed this lichen, sometimes at a very low elevation, on
turfy spots among the Breadalbane mountains ; and I possess
specimens from Merionethshire, Shropshire, Sussex, Northum-
berland, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire. It is therefore, I think,
more generally distributed over Great Britain than is com-
monly supposed. From its peculiar habit and appearance, as
well as its total want of apothecia, I feel disposed to consider
262 Hugh Maemillan on the
it the primordial thallus, or rather the metamorphosis of the
squamules of some species or other of that very irregular and
protean genus Scyphophorus, and not a distinct species at all.
Schaerer, who often gathered it during his wanderings among
the Alps, and who enjoyed more favourable opportunities of
studying the development of lichens in their native haunts
than perhaps any other botanist, considered it a young unde-
veloped state, somewhat altered by circumstances of situation
and exposure from the normal appearance, of Solorina saccata,
to which indeed it offers many striking points of resemblance.
I have frequently observed minute, blackish, elevated, some-
what gelatinous points on the surface of the thallus. These
resemble in external appearance the tubercles peculiar to the
genus Endocarpon, but when examined under the microscope,
they are found to exhibit a very different structure, being, in
fact, nothing else than the Itzigsohnian corpuscles, or sperma-
goni, so ably described by M. Tulasne, in his elaborate paper
upon the reproductive organs of lichens, in the Comptes Ren-
dus for March 24,1851, and which are very common on the
surfaces of various species of lichens, and especially of such
as rarely produce their more normal organs of fructification,
such as ascigerous apothecia, gonidia, gemme, &c. They
bear a close resemblance to the Ascomycetous Fungi, and
especially the Coniomycetous forms Cytispora, Septoria, &c.,
consisting, as they do, of little cavities or utricles opening on
the summit by an orifice, and filled with a thin transparent
mucilage, in which are contained a number of linear filaments
of extreme tenuity, and somewhat curved, which vibrate slowly
in every direction, perhaps only with that molecular movement
so universally observable in extremely minute bodies, whether
living or dead, lying in a fluid. These bodies were regarded
by Major Von Flotow as young undeveloped spores; while
Itzigsohn considered them animalcules endowed with a move-
ment of translation, and capable of developing themselves,
like spermatozoids in the lenticular cells of lichens. By the
majority of botanists they are supposed to be the analogues of
the spermatozoids produced in the antheridia of the Algz and
Muscinee, and to perform the same functions.
Sagedia cinerea, Fries. On the summit, on rocks covered
Rare Lichens of Ben Lawers. 263
with earth, on the bare micaceous soil, or on decayed mosses,
very sparingly. This interesting lichen, the Endocarpon te-
phroides of Acharius, of which several specimens were ga-
thered during a late trip, is much more common on the moun-
tains of Sweden, Lapland, Germany, and Switzerland, than
in Britain, where only a few stations have been recorded
for it. The thallus, which is usually pruinose, somewhat fo-
liaceous at the circumference, and cinereous, although it va-
ries very widely during its different stages of growth,—is very
often broken and cracked, revealing the pale yellow or whitish
medullary layer, which, under the microscope, is found to con-
sist of slender linear cells, closely packed together, and with
few air-passages. It rests upon a dark, spongy, very compact
hypothallus, attached to the soil by numerous articulated
fibres. The membranaceous spheroidal exciple is remarkably
slender, and terminates at the apex in a very minute pore, for
the ultimate discharge of the narrow, oblong, uniseptate spo-
ridia, eight of which are generally contained in each ascus.
Endocarpon sinopicum, Ach. On masses of yellow hone
schist built into the walls at the foot of the hill. This rare
and beautiful species invariably affects this kind of stone, look-
ing as if coloured with the oxide of iron, which it contains.
It occurs in a very fine state, and in great profusion, on the
moorland dikes above Aberfeldy. In North America, accord-
ing to Tuckermann, it is frequent on the alpine and sub-
alpine rocks of the higher mountains. It is also found on
the Lapland and Swedish hills, and on the Alps and Pyrenees.
Fries was disposed to regard both this species and the Z£.
smaragdulum, which is also very common on the same walls
on Ben Lawers, merely as states of Patellaria badia, in
which the areole are dispersed and squamaceous, and the apo-
thecia not being sufficiently developed, subimmersed, and punc-
tiform. The appearance and colour of the thallus in normal
specimens of Patellaria badia are certainly widely different
from those of these two species of Endocarpon ; and the differ-
ence is still greater between the polished black apothecia of
the one, the disk of which is furnished with an entire persis-
tent thalline margin, and the minute. depressed, and immersed
tubercles of the other. There is one circumstance, however,
264 Hugh Macmillan on the
which seems to confirm the apparently unfounded opinion of
Fries, (provided it be proved in addition by specimens exhi-
biting all the gradations, that the thallus and apothecia of the
Patellaria become so degenerated as to assume the appearance
which these Endocarpa present) and that circumstance is the
presence, in H. sinopicum and smaragdulum, of curved and
somewhat branched paraphyses, of which the section of a tu-
bercle shows an immense number, arranged among the ob-
long obovate asci, in the peculiar manner which we observe in
the patellule of Parmelia, Lecidea, &c., it being proved by
Leighton and other investigators, that in the true Endocarpa
there are no paraphyses intermingled with the asci.
Lecidea sanguinaria, Ach. On pine trees at the foot of
the hill on the east side, in a very fine state, and in great pro-
fusion. This lichen is very common on trees and stones
throughout Europe and North America.
Tronstone, 3 c 3
Shale,
Ironstone, ¢ > .
Shale, é
Ironstone,
o
2
23
——
The Drifts.
es
FOSONHOM |) ODDO CO OOOO OC ONOWOS
ANROANS!] OP RWORWWWO Om OMAM
20 ft. 7 in.
It will be seen from this section that the principal beds of iron-
stone lie near the top, there being one of 3 feet 5 inches, and
another of 2 feet 8 inches, separated only by a parting of shale
5 inches in thickness. These three are the principal beds
which are at present mined. The work is carried on by drift-
ing into the hill-side in various directions.
U2
288 . William Crowder on the Chemical
A bed of iron pyrites overlies the ironstone, which, I be-
lieve, is now being worked and used for the manufacture of
oil of vitriol at Newcastle. In some places there are two beds
of pyrites overlying each other; in other cases only one is
found. This product I have also examined, and the result will
be found in the present paper.
The stone consists essentially of carbonate of protoxide of
iron, mixed with varying proportions of silica, alumina, lime,
and magnesia. Sulphuric and phosphoric acid are also pre-
sent, with invariably small quantities of iron pyrites.
Annexed are the results of analyses of the ironstone beds in
regular order of descent, omitting the shales. (See next page.)
From these analyses, it appears that the general proportion
of silica is about 15 per cent., although it is sometimes as
high as 20 per cent., and in one or two cases as low as 7
and 8 per cent. I have calculated the iron as peroxide,
although, in reality, a great part exists in the state of pro-
toxide. This, however, has been done to facilitate reference,
the object of my analysis being rather of a practical than a
theoretical character.
In the principal drifts the proportion of metallic iron is
about 35 per cent.,. whilst in many of the lower beds the quan-
tity does not rise higher than 25 per cent. Lime is present
in the stone in variable quantities of 3-to 6-per cent., and in a
few cases still higher. The magnesia generally ranges at
about 3 to 35 per cent.
Sulphuric acid (as sulphate of lime) occurs in small quantity
in every case.
Phosphoric acid is absent entirely, or nearly so, in some
specimens, whilst in many others it is present in considerable
proportion, more especially in Nos. 6 and 7, which contain
respectively 7-78 and 4°10 per cent.. The circumstance of the
presence of phosphoric acid in so large a quantity in an iron
ore is very unusual, and will, I anticipate, produce some ma-
terial modification in the properties of the iron; and Iam at
present engaged on a series of analysis which I expect to
throw some light on that point. Its general tendency is well
known to be that of producing the defect of cold shortness.
289
a
Composition of the Cleveland Ironstone Beds.
"OLOGSINY) MOU ‘S801 MOT UORNTT Ww spog eUorsu0LT fo soshjouy
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O0T OOT 001 001 00T O00 OOT 001 001 O0T 00T OOT O00T 00T 00T OOT
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[6G | GOT 866 | GST 998 | OLE | 996 HE | Gh | G66 883 | 698 | OL | GE | FOE BPG : ‘RIsoUse IN
BLZE | 2F | GG | 996 | OLG | Gas OFG | 689 | GEIL | OB | GOGL | GE | GE | BG | G6E | PPO ‘ ? ‘omy
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OF:4 | 901% | GOSE | 09-93 | 00-16 | GBBT | 09-06 | OF-BL | CLOT | GEHL | 9SET | OLOT | 966 | GBGI | OL9T | 93-9T : * BOTTIS
“Ok ‘QT FI “ST “ol Bn ‘Or 6 ‘8 ‘kL 9 a v € % I!
290 William Crowder on the Chemical
The proportion of sulphur as iron pyrites is exceedingly
small, especially in those beds which have already been mined.
The bed marked in the section “ Pyrites,” contains 30-25
per cent. sulphur, which is equal to 56°71 per cent. bisulphuret
of iron, and is about the same quantity as is found in the
Wicklow pyrites, used on the Tyne in the manufacture of oil
of vitriol.
The item “loss by heat’ is the proportion of loss sustained
by calcination. It includes water and carbonic acid, and the
two bodies have been determined together (by difference), the
object being to show the weight of calcined stone produced by
a given quantity of the raw ore. It is scarcely necessary to
remind the reader that it does not represent the actual quantity
of water and carbonic acid, because when carbonate of iron is
ignited, the protoxide of iron is converted into peroxide,
so that the loss by heat really gives the quantity of these sub-
stances minus the oxygen absorbed by the protoxide of iron.
This, however, makes no difference in calculating the ana-
lysis, because whatever quantity is lost by the carbonic acid
and water is gained by the protoxide of iron in its conversion
into perowide, in which state the whole of the iron results
have been calculated.
In the above samples the iron and alumina were determined
in the usual manner by precipitation with ammonia, and weigh-
ing together, but in the separate estimation of these two
bodies, the iron was determined by standard solution of per-
manganate of potash, and the alumina by the difference in the
two numbers.
The following is a similar series of analyses, the principal
difference being that the interposing shales have also been
examined, and have yielded highly satisfactory results. It
has not been thought necessary to determine the proportions
of sulphur and phosphorus, as in the preceding case sufficient
has been done to indicate the general proportion of those con-
stituents.
The determination of iron and alumina have in this case
been made by precipitation with ammonia, and subsequent se-
paration by potash, previously weighing the two substances
together.
The other constituents were determined in the usual manner.
291
Composition of the Cleveland Ironstone Beds.
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“OUOPS | “OTUUS | “OU0G | “oUYg | “oUoIg | “o[vYg | ‘eUOZg | ‘ouogg | ‘ogg “OINUS | “Ouoys | *oywyy | ‘oUuoIS | “OlV4y | “oUDZy | oUoZgG | ‘oUoZg ‘ouo}y “Bod
a ee ee eee a ee
FOLOQSINA) LOU “SSO MOT UONNTT Ww soup Oy? Woufsa~oYys puo souojsuosy fo sashyoup
292 William Crowder on the Chemical
It will be seen from the foregoing analysis, that with one or
two exceptions, both ironstones and shales have an almost
equal value, indeed it is my own impression that the beds may
be worked irrespective of the distinctions of ironstone and
shale. At present, however, the separation is made with some
degree of care, as I found when lately visiting some of the
furnaces, that the persons connected with the works were
weathering the ironstone, 7.e. exposing it to the action of the
air in order to cause the shale to detach itself from the iron-
stone. I collected some of this shaly matter which was peel-
ing off, and subjected it to analysis, with the following re-
sults :—
Analysis of Shaly Ironstone.
Silica, , F 4 ‘ : 23°75
Peroxide of iron, ‘ ; : 42:00
Alumina, . ; , : ‘ 9-65
Lime, : : ; ‘ ‘ 3°83
Magnesia, . : ; é , 1:26
Loss by heat, . ; : ; 19°51
100-00
Metallic iron, . ; ; ‘ 29°40
From this analysis it will be seen that the shale contains
a large proportion of iron, and should not hastily be thrown
aside as worthless.
The following are analyses of similar stones from the same
district :—
ilicass ware - - 13-00 15-95 11:90 17:50 31°15
Peroxide of iron, . 60°20 45°70 46°85 42-90 38°55
Alumina, 5 oo 7:05 5°45 6-85 7°45
Lime, - - = 06 2°52 6:16 5-71 3°81
Magnesia, : np ae Bye 1-27 6°56 2°87 1:06
Loss by heat, . . 24:37 28:20 23-08 24°80 20:10
SS aa OT
_-C—C( eC -.CUC<—C |---|: S'vowvVmWwvUEU—oOUT
Metalliciron, . . 4340 31:99 3279 3003 26:98
The remarkable similarity in the general composition of
the beds from different parts of the district is well shown by
the following series of stones collected by myself during the
summer of 1855, at a place called Scugdale, about twenty
miles from Hutton Low Cross.
Composition of the Cleveland Ironstone Beds. 293
The stone is not yet worked, in consequence of the absence
of railway communication, but there is no doubt that sooner
or later this will be supplied, and the beds be profitably
worked. The specimens were taken from out of the hill-side,
which consisted of a series of beds of stone and layers of
nodules, many of them 8 or 9 inches in diameter. Their dis-
position was as follows :—
At Top, . : . A bed of nodules.
No. 1 stone, ; : 2 feet thick,
Wa: 2- 4: ‘ : re
No. 3 14.
No. 4 fies ae
No. 5 1 ... (nodules),
No. 6 2s POSts
No. 7 9 ... (nodules).
No. 8
From Scarth Nick.
The last sample (No. 8) was obtained at about a quarter of
a mile distant from the other specimens, at the foot of the hill.
It is doubtful whether this is the outcrop of a bed which
couid be drifted profitably, and it has been suggested to me
that it may only be a trouble which would be lost sight of
after excavating any distance. The question, however, re-
mains an open one until the district has been properly sur-
veyed. It is, however, exceedingly curious to observe the great
similarity in composition of these stones with those I have
already given, showing clearly the identity in chemical com-
position of many of these beds with those at Hutton Low
Cross.
Analyses of Ironstone Beds at Scugdale (Swainby).
|
Thickness of beds. | 2 ft. | 5 ft. |14 ft. kts 1 ft. | 2ft. | 9 ft.
No- | | Nod. | Nod.
dules. | No. 1.| No.2. No.3. has, 4,| No.5. No. 6. | No. he No. 8.
Puli¢a,..-'s" 3 | 20°14 | 19-43| 22:15) 1050) 9:45) 14:94/ 19-50) 17-85 | 13° 98
Peroxide of i iron, 42-72| 59-88 38-84 19:00! 31:59) 17:26 20:10 38:50 | 61:70
Alumina, .. 8:09] 3:01| 7:14) 450| 1:47| 593) 420) 240| 398
[Witten Fa ec 1:55} 1:33} 8-96) 30-08] 23:25) 28-:00| 26-49| 14-61) 1-79
Magnesia, . . 0:30} 0-79) 326) 3-41] 513) 055| 1:97] 2:20) 0:75
Loss by heat, . | 26°47) 16:25) 20°18| 33:59} 30:55 30°56 27-52) 24°84 16:88
99°27 ‘100-69 10:53 101-08 101-44 97-24 | 99°78 |100:40 99:08
_—_————K |
Sa
Metallic iron, . | 29:90) 41:91} 27:19) 13:30 22-11 | el 14:07 | 26:95 43:19
294 William Crowder on the Chemical
In these analyses a curious fact is observable, viz. that the
three top and two bottom beds have a similar composition to
those at Hutton Low Cross and other places, whilst the middle
beds are very poor in iron and rich in lime. In fact, the agri-
culturists in the neighbourhood formerly burnt this substance
under the impression that it was a true limestone, but the plan
was of course abandoned so soon as it was discovered that
instead of obtaining quicklime, a semifused slag was produced.
No doubt, if the beds Nos. 1 and 2 were smelted together along
with a portion of Nos. 3 and 4, a mixture might be made which
would not require the use of limestone in the furnace. The
same be said of No. 8, if obtainable in any quantity. |
The following are analyses of other samples of Cleveland
ironstone from Rosedale, a few miles from Gainsborough,
where I understand it is found in considerable quantity.
Analysis of Ironstone from Rosedale.
No. l. No. 2.
Silica, 10-30 30°35
Peroxide of iron, 52:60 39-90
Alumina, : 7°40 5-60
Lime, ; 3°78 4:23
Magnesia, - 1:26 1:47
Loss by heat, 24:66 18°45
100-00 100-00
Metallic iron, : 36°82 27:93
The appearance of No. 1 was oolitic, of a light sandstone
colour, and quite different in that respect from the Gainsboro’
stone. No. 2 was similar in appearance and colour to that
obtained from the Hutton Mines. It will be seen, that al-
though the composition of these two stones differ widely from
each other, still their counterparts are to be found in other
districts. Thus, No. 1 corresponds pretty closely with No. 5
at Hutton Low Cross. No. 2 is very similar to No. 11 of the
same series. ‘There is another kind of stone found in Rose-
dale, which is different in appearance from No. 1, being of a
black colour, the oolitic structure is however still apparent.
Composition of the Cleveland Ironstone Beds. 295
This last is exceedingly soft and friable, whereas the former
are materially hard and consistent. The analysis was as fol-
lows :—
Analysis of Black Ironstone from Rosedale.
No. 3. No. 4.
Silica, : 5-70 —
Peroxide of iron, 64:90 79°30
Alumina, ; 9-25 —
Lime, : 3°53 —
Magnesia, : 0:99 —
Loss by heat, 16°15 _-
100-52 i:
Metallic iron, : 45°43 55°51
The two samples, it will be seen, are of great value; and I
understand it is already successfully worked, but the want of
railway communication here as in other places, has hitherto
prevented its extensive consumption. The following are two
or three samples of Cleveland stone which have been calcined.
I shall give here the Rosedale sample No.1, and the same
calcined, from which it will be seen that the quantity of in-
crease in the proportions of iron, lime, &c., are almost exactly
what they should be if we calculate off the quantity of loss by
heat from the raw sample.
Rosedale No.1, Burnt from Hutton Mines.
Burnt. Unburnt. The Small Dust. Masses.
Silica, 5 14:90 10-30 — 37°85
Peroxide of iron, 65:00 52°60 53°35 56-10
Alumina, . 11.00 7°40 13-00 —
Lime, d 5-29 3°78 a =
Magnesia, . 3°81 1:26 — _
Loss by heat, — 24:66 — —
100-00 100-00 — —
Metallic iron, 45:50 36°82 37°34 39°27
I add also an analysis of an ironstone collected at Eston
296 Ow the Composition of the Cleveland Ironstone Beds.
Nab, near Middlesborough, by Mr Hugh Taylor, and analysed
by him.*
Analysis of Ironstone from Eston Nab,
Silica, A ; ; ; 7°257
Protoxide of iron, . : ‘ ; 47818
Alumina, . 3 : , 6°499
Lime, : ; . ‘ 5-803
Magnesia, ; : 5 : 3°504
Manganese, ° ; . ‘ traces.
Sulphuric acid, : ‘ + ; traces.
Carbonic acid, : : 24:939
Water of combination and a jittle organic matter, 13°15
Chloride of potassium and a little chloride of sodium, 1-052
100:023
Metallic iron, : ; : 3 86-951
From a consideration of the foregoing analyses, I think the
following conclusions may be deduced.
1. That that part of the stone which is already worked is
the richest in iron.
2. That the maximum quantity of iron yielded by the prin-
cipal part of the stone at present worked, is about 37 or 38
per cent., and the minimum about 29 or 30 per cent., but that
the greater portion ranges in quality at about 35 per cent.
3. That there is a large quantity of poor stone containing
25 to 30 per cent., which is not at present worked.
4. That many of the beds of shale contain from 25 to 30
per cent. metallic iron.
5. The existence of great similarity in composition be-
tween the beds of stone taken from widely-separated loca-
lities.
I have to acknowledge the assistance of my pupil, Mr E.
C. Northcott, who has rendered me material aid 1 in conducting
several of the preceding analyses.
Newcastle, March 1856.
* Reports of the Northern Institute of Mining Engineers.
297
On an improved Method of preparing Siliceous and other
Fossils for Microscopic Investigation, with a Description
of a New Pneumatic Chuck. By ALEXANDER BRYSON,
F.S.A. Scot., F.R.P.S., &c.*
The art of slitting stones and other hard substances by the
method of impacting diamond powder into the edge of a thin
iron plate, seems, in this country at least, to be an ancient
one. I have failed to discover the date of its introduction or
invention; but most lapidaries who have expressed their opi-
nions on the subject, concur in believing the art to be at least
two hundred years old.
On the Continent the art seems to have been but lately
practised. In a series of fossil woods sent to me from Paris
by the celebrated Brongniart, some bear evidence that, in the
capital of France, this method was not practised until within
a few years ago, as some exhibit unequivocal traces of hay-
ing been cut by the slow process of slitting by a copper wire
with emery. Sisyphus rolling his stone and a Parisian lapi-
dary slitting one by such a slow method seem almost syno-
nymous.
In India and China the natives slit the hardest gems by a
copper wire stretched on a bow, the wire being constantly fed
with corundum powder moistened with water. This corun-
dum stone, which is the adamant of Scripture, is cheap and
plentiful both in India and China. In the Calcutta market,
it only commands the low price of 8d. sterling per pound, yet
strange to say. although much harder than either the emery
of Smyrna, or that harder still found at Naxos, it has been
very much slighted by the British lapidaries. The differ-
ence of price may, however, be to them the great objection ;
but to the amateur, whose consumpt is reckoned only by
pounds instead of hundredweights per annum, the corundum
is to be preferred.
The method of preparing fossil woods and other hard or-
ganic substances for examination under the microscope had
its origin in this city. But as the claims of two or three emi-
* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, December 10, 1855.
298 On an improved method of preparing
nent individuals (all deserving praise) are mingled in this im-
provement, I refrain from considering them.
The usual mode of proceeding in making a section of fossil
wood is simple, though tedious. The first process is to flatten
the specimen to be operated on by grinding it on a flat Jap made
of lead charged with emery or corundum powder. It must now
be rendered perfectly flat by hand on a plate of metal or glass,
using much finer emery than in the first operation of grind-
ing. The next operation is to cement the object to the glass
plate. Both the plate of glass and the fossil to be cemented
must be heated to a temperature rather inconvenient for the
fingers to bear. By this means moisture and adherent air are
driven off, especially from the object to be operated on. Ca-
nada balsam is now to be equally spread over both plate and
object, and exposed again to heat, until the redundant turpen-
tine in the balsam has been driven off by evaporation. The
two surfaces are now to be connected while hot, and a slow
circular motion, with pressure, given either to the plate or
object, for the purpose of throwing out the superabundant
balsam and globules of included air. The object should be
below and the glass plate above, as we then can see when all
the air is removed, by the pressure and motion indicated. It
is proper to mention that too much balsam is more favourable
for the expulsion of the air-bubbles than too little. When
cold, the Canada balsam will be found hard and adhering, and
the specimen fit for slitting. This process has hitherto been
performed by using’ a disc of thin sheet-iron, so much employed
by the tinsmith, technically called sfeet-tin. The tin coat-
ing ought to be partially removed by heating the plate, and
when hot rubbing off much of the extraneous tin by a piece
of cloth. The plate has now to be planished on the polished
stake of the tinsmith, until quite flat. If the plate is to be
used in the lathe, and by the usual method, it ought to be
planished so as to possess a slight convexity. This gives a
certain amount of rigidity to the edge, which is useful in slit-
ting by the hand; while by the method of mechanical slitting,
about to be described, this convexity is inadmissible. The
tin plate, when mounted on an appropriate chuck in the lathe,
must be turned quite true, with its edge slightly rounded and
Fossils for Microscopic Examination. 299
made perfectly smooth by a fine-cut file. The edge of the
disc is now to be charged with diamond powder. This is done
by mingling the diamond powder with oil, and placing it on a
piece of the hardest agate, and then turning the disc slowly
round; and holding the agate with the diamond powder with a
moderate pressure against the edge of the disc, it becomes
thoroughly charged with a host of diamond points, becoming,
as it were, a saw with invisible teeth. In pounding the diamond,
some care is necessary, as also a fitting mortar. The mortar
should be made of an old steel die, if accessible ; if not, a mass
of steel, slightly conical, the base of which ought to be 2 inches
in diameter, and the upper part l}inch. A cylindrical hole is
now to be turned out in the centre, of 3ths of an inch diame-
ter, and about 1 inch deep. This, when hardened, is the mor-
tar; for safety it may be annealed to a straw colour. The
pestle is merely a cylinder of steel, fitting the hollow mortar
but loosely, and having a ledge or edging of an eighth of an
inch projecting round it, but sufficiently raised above the up-
per surface of the mortar, so as not to come in contact while
pounding the diamond. The point of the pestle ought only to
be hardened and annealed to a straw colour, and should be of
course convex, fitting the opposing and equal concavity of the
mortar. The purpose of the projecting ledge is to prevent the
smaller particles of diamond spurting out when the pestle is
struck by the hammer. But even with this precautionary
ledge, some small pieces of the diamond will try to assert their
liberty ; and I have found it economical, when giving the
coup de gras to a lump of diamond, to place below the mortar
a sheet of unglazed black paper, so that the straying parti-
cles may be easily recovered. It is not necessary to give
many blows in reducing the diamond to powder; after being
merely mealed by the hammer, the pestle should be used in
the slightly-rotatory crushing method ordinarily employed by
the apothecary. In regard to the mortar in its first use, I
must warn the amateur lapidary, that should he put in two
carats weight of diamond, and expect to get the same weight
out, he will be most grievously disappointed. This is evident
when we consider that the diamond being so much harder
than the steel, the mortar becomes in its first use, thoroughly
300 On an improved method of preparing
charged and impacted with the diamond powder; so that, in
his first experiment, he will find he has lost nearly a carat in
making his steel mortar—that it becomes, both in fact and
name, a diamond one. All this is preliminary labour to be
gone through, whether working by the usual method, or by
that to be described.
Most lapidaries who have availed themselves of water power,
have used directing methods, by which the stones to be slit
are pressed slightly against the slitting-plate by mere gra-
vitation, acting in a determinate plane. The lapidaries of
Germany have long practised this method, favoured as they
are by so many streams in the midst of the rocks from whence
they obtain their pebbles. My first idea of slitting fossils by
these means for microscopic observation was obtained by ob-
serving the excellent method employed by Mr Gavin Young,
where, by the aid of a water-wheel, he has employed a consider-
able number of self-acting slitting-plates to perform an amount
of cheap and flat work, hitherto a desideratum in Edinburgh.
Ihave in my collection a Scotch jasper, slit and polished by
Mr Young with this apparatus, measuring 100 square inches—
certainly a chef d’wuvre of lapidary work. The method I
have contrived, by which the sections now on the table were
prepared, is very simple, speedy, and certain in its action.
The instrument is placed on the table of a common lathe,
which is, of course, the source of motion. (See Woodeut.) It
consists of a Watt’s parallel motion, with four joints, attached
toa basement fixed to the table of the lathe. This base has a
motion (for adjustment only), in a horizontal plane, by which
we may be enabled to place the upper joint in a parallel plane
with the spindle of the lathe. This may be called the azi-
muthal adjustment. The adjustment, which in an astrono-
mical instrument is called the plane of right ascension, is
given by a pivot in the top of the base, and clamped by a screw
below. This motion in right ascension, gives us the power of
adjusting the perpendicular planes of motion, so that the ob-
ject to, be slit passes down from the circumference of the slit-
ting-plate to nearly its centre, in a perfectly parallel plane.
When this adjustment is made accurately, and the slitting-
plate well primed and flat, a very thin and parallel slice is ob-
tained. This jointed frame is counterpoised and supported by
Fossils for Microscopic Examination. 301
a lever, the centre of which is moveable in a pillar standing
perpendicularly from the lathe table. Attached to the lever
is a screw of three threads by which the counterpoise weight
is adjusted readily to the varying weight of the object to be
slit and the necessary pressure required on the edge of the
slitting-plate.
The difficulty first apparent in this self-acting slitting, was
to obtain an easy method of fixing the object to the machine.
Cements of all kinds were objectionable. Any cement requir-
ing heat for its adhesion to the glass on which the object was
already cemented by the Canada balsam, would, of course,
destroy its condition ; and any cold method involved a loss of
time in drying, as at once to be discarded. I therefore was
determined to try a pneumatic method, by which the pressure
of the air against the surface of a chuck might give me a speedy
method of adhesion, without risk of injuring the Canada bal-
sam. This pneumatic chuck gave me the utmost satisfaction.
It consists of an iron tube, which passes through an aperture
on the upper joint of the guiding-frame, into which is screwed
a round piece of gun-metal, slightly hollowed in the centre,
but flat towards the edge. This gun-metal disc is perforated
by a small hole communicating with the interior of the iron
tube. This aperture permits the air between the glass plate
and the chuck to be exhausted by a small air syringe at the
other end. The face of this chuck is covered with a thin film
of soft India-rubber not vulcanized, also perforated with a
small central aperture. When the chuck is properly adjusted,
and the India-rubber carefully stretched over the face of the
gun-metal, one or two pulls of the syringe-piston is quite suf-
ficient to maintain a very large object to the action of the
slitting-plate. By this method no time is lost; the adhesion
is made instantaneously, and as quickly broken by opening a
small screw, to admit air between the glass-plate and the
chuck, when the object is immediately released. Care must
be taken, in stretching the India-rubber over the face of the
chuck, to make it very equal in its distribution, and as thin
as consistent with strength. When this material is obtained
from the shops, it presents a series of slight grooves, and is
rather hard for our purpose. It ought, therefore, to be slightly
NEW SERIES.—VOL. III. No. I.—APRIL 1856. x
302 On an improved method of preparing
heated, which renders it soft and pliant, and in this state
should now be stretched over the chuck, and a piece of soft
copper wire tied round it, a slight groove being cut in the pe-
riphery of the chuck, to detain the wire in its place. When
by use the surface of the India-rubber becomes flat, smooth,
and free from the grooves which at first mar its usefulness, a
specimen may be slit of many square inches, without resort
being had to another exhaustion by the syringe.
But when a large, hard, siliceous object has to be slit, it is
well for the sake of safety to try the syringe piston, and ob-
serve if it returns forcibly to the bottom of the cylinder, which
evidences the good condition of the vacuum of the chuck.
After the operation of slitting, the plate must be removed
from the spindle of the lathe, and the flat lead lap substituted.
The pneumatic chuck is now to be reversed, and the specimen
placed in contact with the grinder. By giving a slightly tor-
tuous motion to the specimen, that is, using the motion of the
various joints, the object is ground perfectly flat when the
length of both arms of the joints are perfectly equal. Should
the leg of the first joint on the right-hand side be the longer,
the specimen will be ground hollow; if shorter, it will be
ground convex. But if, as before stated, they are of equal
length, a perfectly parallel surface will be obtained.
In operating on siliceous objects, I have found soap and water
quite as speedy and efficacious as oil, which is generally used ;
while calcareous fossils must be slit by a solution of common
soda in water. This solution of soda, if made too strong,
softens the India-rubber on the face of the pneumatic chuck,
and renders a new piece necessary; but if care is taken to
keep the solution of moderate strength, one piece of India-
rubber may last for six months. The thinner and flatter it
becomes, the better hold the glass takes, until a puncture oc-
curs in the outer portion, and a new piece is rendered neces-
sary.
Before concluding, I must warn the amateur lapidary against
the belief that all hard stones are equally easily slit by dia-
mond powder. As a general rule, the hardest stones are
easiest slit (this does not, however, include calcareous ones);
but some fossils on which I have operated, though not so hard
7
Fossils for Microscopic Examination. 303
as others, have completely resisted the action of the diamond
powder. For instance, the Yu stone of China, which is by
no means so hard as corundum, is much more difficult to slit,
and consumes an amount of diamond powder which renders it
the horror of the lapidary. This peculiarity is easily under-
stood. If, for instance, we should attempt to saw lead or cop-
per with our diamond slitting-plate, we shall find that the dia-
mond powder becomes thoroughly impacted into the latter,
because the softer metals, when instead of the original plate
becoming the operator, it is operated on. In the same way
with a soft tenacious fossil, the diamond is taken out of the
plate and impacted in the stone, and no work is accomplished.
The method of operating on such specimens is to use emery
by the usual method, by which much more speed will be ob-
tained.
The polishing of the section is the last operation. This is
performed in various ways, according to the material of which
the organism is composed. If siliceous, a lap of tin is to be
used, about the same size as the grinding Jap. Having turned
the face smooth and flat, a series of very fine notches are to
be made all over the surface. This operation is accomplished
by holding the edge of an old dinner-knife almost perpendi-
cular to the surface of the lap while rotating; this produces
a series of criddles, or slight asperities, which detain the po-
lishing substance.
The polishing substance used on the tin lap is technically
called Lapidaries’ Rot-Stone, and is applied by slightly mois-
tening the mass, and pressing it firmly against the polisher,
care being taken to scrape off the outer surface, which often
contains grit. The specimen is then to be pressed with some
degree of force against the revolving tin dap or polisher, care-
fully changing the plane of action, by moving the specimen in
various directions over the surface.
To polish calcareous objects, another method must be adopted
as follows :—
<
304 On preparing Fossils for Microscopic Examination.
A lap or disc of willow wood is to be adapted to the spindle
of the lathe, three inches in thickness, and about the diameter
of the other laps (10 inches), the axis of the wood being pa-
rallel to the spindle of the lathe, that is, the acting surface of
” the wood is the end of the fibres, or transverse section.
This polisher must be turned quite flat and smoothed by
a plane, as the willow, from its softness, is peculiarly diffi-
cult toturn. It is also of consequence to remark, that both
sides be turned so as that the lap, when dry, is quite pa-
rallel. This lap is most conveniently adapted to the common
face chuck of a lathe with a conical screw, so that either sur-
face may be used. This is made evident, when we state that
this polisher is always used moist, and, to keep both surfaces
parallel, must be entirely plunged in water before using, as
both surfaces must be equally moist, otherwise the dry will
be concave, and the moist surface convex. The polishing sub-
stance used with this dap is putty powder (oxide of tin), which
ought to be well washed, to free it from grit. The calcareous
fossils being finely ground, are speedily polished by this me-
‘thod. To polish softer substances, a piece of cloth may be
spread over the wooden ldap, and finely-levigated chalk used
as a polishing medium.
( 305 )
REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.
A. Manual of Elementary Geology, or the ancient changes of
the Earth and its Inhabitants, as illustrated by Geological
Monuments. By Sir CHARLES LYELL, M.A., F.R.S. Fifth
Edition. Murray, London. 1855.
There are two kinds of valuable geological Manuals. In one the
writer well versed in his subject merely collects and digests the seat-
tered facts and principles, which, in the course of time, have been eli-
minated by original investigators; in another the author not only
thoroughly appreciates, describes, and applies such established truths,
but in addition brings to bear upon them much valuable matter in the
shape of original investigations, or, by the depth of his views and the
breadth of his combinations, he imparts an original value to his work,
interesting to the most matured student, as embodying the deliberate
convictions of an author who regards the subject from a high point
of view, and whose authority carries with it a weight which may in-
fluence the opinions, and direct the labours of the rising generation
of geologists. To the latter class eminently belong the Manuals that
have at various times been published by De la Beche, Phillips, and
Lyell. We have ever looked on De la Beche’s Manual of Geology
(long out of print) as, in its day, a model of arrangement and treat-
ment of the subject. We may also, in passing, advert to the Manual
lately published by Professor Phillips, in all respects a remarkable
work, clearly and beautifully written, and so full of matter admirably
arranged, that it may be safely recommended as a text-book to every
student of geology. In the work before us by Sir Charles Lyell, we
have new proofs, not only of personal investigations in the field, but
of that ever-wakeful industry which allows no valuable novelty to
escape, and which, from a high and philosophical point of view, com-
bines the whole so as to bring vividly before the reader most of the
known essential points that bear on the study of rocks, their distur-
bances, metamorphisms, and chronological clagsification.
Throughout this book, as well as in Lyell’s yet greater work, the
“« Principles of Geology,” we mark the workings of the mind of one
of the profoundest thinkers that the geological world has yet pro-
duced. In spite of the warning voice of the great Hutton, it was,
and still is, with some authors, the fashion to build up systems of
creation and invent processes of action as if our knowledge of fact and
circumstance were alike complete. Such writers are ever apt to as-
sume, down to the latest epochs, the existence of special forces of a
kind and intensity more suited to the contracted notions of time
still prevalent with the many, than to those sober and sublime ideas
306 Reviews and Notices of Books.
which we believe are taught by a more modest interpretation of the
still imperfectly understood facts that a study of the earth’s crust
has revealed tous. The evidence is perfect in past times of the long
duration and slow extinction of species, genera, and whole classes of
animals; of the slow accumulation of all the ancient strata in the sea,
in lakes, and at river mouths, in the same manner that similar beds
are found at present ; and of the sinking of old sea bottoms, and the
submergence and emergence of lands as slowly as the subsidence in
these later times of the coral islands of the Pacific. All this can
be demonstrated, and much more besides ; whereas the advocates of
spasmodic theories are often less happy in their demonstrations,
since (to take one instance) no amount of contortion and inversion of
strata proves that this was the result of one act of violence. You
may bend a bow so slowly that it is only at intervals the eye can de-
tect the increasing curve. The author of this manual, and those who,
like him, most insist on the average uniformity of existing forces in
old geological epochs, are, however, often spoken of as theorists par
excellence, while in reality, as it appears to us, they form the least
theoretically inclined portion of the geological community. They
do not invent theoretical Titanic powers to explain all those wonder-
ful phenomena of disturbance of rocks, and extermination of races
which mark the varied strata, but simply accept what they see and
know, that the whole existing economy of nature is ever changing by
slow and sure degrees; and he is a bold theorist who asserts that, in
the long lapse of geological time, repetitions of seemingly small forces
may not produce accumulated results, equal in magnitude to those
assumed revolutionary powers which, if they existed, marred the face
of nature, and spread ruin and devastation over a world for long
periods of time. Avoiding such imaginations, Sir Charles Lyell in
his writings constantly insists on the fragmentary state of our know-
ledge of the history of the earth. He is content to wait and watch
till chance or diligent research may reveal to us other lost leaves and
chapters of the great book which it is the business of the geologist
to decipher. This “is only the last of a great series of pre-existing
creations, of which we cannot estimate the number and limit.”’*
The first six chapters of the Manual deal with the aqueous and ig-
neous characters of rocks, the composition of the rocks, their various
forms and peculiarities of stratification, their consolidation, the ar-
rangement and petrifaction of fossils, the elevation and disturbance
of strata, and the various effects and results produced by denudation.
The 7th explains the mode of the formation of alluvium, and the 8th
and 9th the principles of the chronological classification of rocks. From
the 10th chapter to the 27th, the author describes the position and
structure of the formations from the higher Tertiary to the Cambrian
rocks in descending order, copiously elucidating the subject by de-
scription and by pictorial illustration of the varied organic forms that
* P, 640.
Reviews and Notices of Books. 307
characterized the successive stages of the world’s history. From the
28th to the 33d chapter the author treats of volcanic rocks, their
structure and composition, their different ages, and the effects they
produced by melted contact with stratified deposits. In the 33d
and 34th chapters, he explains the nature of granite and other allied
plutonic masses, with their various ages and relations to volcanic rocks,
and in the 35th, 36th, and 37th chapters, he proceeds to develop
the theories of cleavage, foliation, and other points connected with
metamorphism, and to show that these remarkable phenomena are
common to rocks of all geological epochs. The last chapter is de-
devoted to the subject of mineral veins.
The whole work is alike profound and explicit, and written ina
style so interesting, that, apart from its scientific value, it is a plea-
sure to read the book, and no tyro in geology can rise from its in-
telligent perusal without at least having his eyes opened to the gene-
ral scope of the subject. At the same time, we think it would have
been better if in the account of the formations, the descriptions had
followed the ascending instead of the descending scale. As it stands
the order of nature is so far reversed that the history begins in times
that geologically immediately preceded our own epoch, and traces
events backward to the earlier ages of the world, thus sometimes ne-
cessitating allusion to facts with which the reader is yet supposed to be
unacquainted, rendering it more difficult for the author to point out,
and for the inexperienced reader to understand, the relation of cause
and effect in the chronological history of events. For instance, the
paleeozoic rocks were in places heaved up into lands and mountain
ranges, before the deposition of later strata which were formed from
their waste; but unless the reader prematurely refer forward to suc-
ceeding chapters, he knows nothing of these details. Again, the Pur-
beck and Wealden strata, and the Eocene rocks of France and Eng-
land were in great part formed at the mouths of rivers, and the ter-
ritories through which they flowed consisted, in the first case, of land
formed of oolitic and other secondary plains, and also of more ancient
hilly paleeozoic strata ; and, in the second instance, the tertiary waters
wasted the chalk, and the Hocene rivers Howed through more ancient
rocks of many ages, of which as yet the student is supposed to know
nothing. We are well aware, that in proving the aqueous origin of
strata and the nature of their fossils, it is essential to follow the
example long since set by Steno,* who, reasoning from the known to
the unknown—from the strata of to-day to those of ancient epochs
—thus proved their general identity of structure, and the analo-
gies in the manner of occurrence of their organic contents. But this
being done in the opening chapter of a manual, just as in the ob-
scure history of ancient empires we endeavour to follow events. in
their order of succession, so, in the history of the earth, it is most
instructive and intelligible to trace the order of ‘events as they oc-
* Prodromus to a Dissertation concerning Solids within Solids, 1671.
308 Reviews and Notices of Books.
curred, showing the successive upheavals and depressions of con-
tinents and islands, the newer strata that were formed from their
denudation, the disappearance of old forms of life and the approxi-
mate entrance on the world’s stage of new genera and species
during different epochs. While thus describing the rocks in ascend-
ing order, the occurrence of lost passages in the history are, it seems
to us, not only more readily comprehended, but also it is easier to im-
press on the mind of the student the nature of those grand opera-
tions on the earth’s surface that most probably conduced to the exist-
ence of local blanks.
Tho arrangement adopted doubtless arises from the circumstance,
that the present volume is an extension of previous editions, the first
of which originated in an amplification of the fourth book of the first
five editions of the Principles of Geology, a work specially intended to
demonstrate the relation of the world as it is, to the world as it has
been in ancient geological epochs. With this special end in view, it
was undoubtedly natural to adopt the arrangement employed in the
“‘ Manual of Elementary Geology,” as long as it formed a portion of
the “ Principles;” but when it was found expedient to divide that
work, it might, for the reasons we have stated, have been better to have
followed the natural order of succession in describing the strata. Let
no one suppose, however, that the arrangement adopted materially
interferes with the utility of the book. In its own manner the or-
der is so clear, and the descriptions so lucid, that beginners who have
all to learn, and experienced geologists who wish to consult it on
special topics, will here find a succinct summary of most of the lead-
ing points exhibited by the rocky masses ranging downwards from
the comparatively recent times of the glacial drift, through Crag and
Mioceng sediments, Eocene, Cretaceous, Oolitic, Triassic, Permian,
Carboniferous, Devonian, and Silurian systems, till he reach the un-
fathomed depths of the venerable Cambrian slates and grits which
in all the British isles nowhere authentically exhibit their base re-
posing on any older set of rocks, whether igneous or aqueous.
To criticise the subjects treated of in detail, would occupy a space
as large as the volume itself, and we shall therefore only offer a few
remarks on two or three of the themes brought before us.
In the third chapter, the fresh-water and marine origin of upheaved
strata is shown to depend on the generic character of imbedded fossils.
At the present day it requires no very profound knowledge of forms
to distinguish between the few genera of fresh-water shells and their
marine contemporaries ; and as we recede in time through the ter-
tiary and secondary periods, the generic forms of the fresh-water mol-
luscs, and a vast number of those found in marine beds, are so closely
related to those that still exist, that there is no difficulty in referring
some strata to a fresh-water, and others to a marine origin. If a
man find oysters, cockles, nautili, and volutes, grouped together, he
knows at once the stratum to be marine; and if he find in another
Reviews and Notices of Books. 309
cyclas, planorbis, paludina, and lymnea, he is sure of its fresh-water
origin.
When, however, we come to the palzeozoic rocks, the number of
extinct genera is so great that in many rich fossiliferous formations,
a collector might work for a week without disentombing one existing
generic form. Even then, however, we are not without sure guides,
for prolonged search has shown that these are sometimes mixed
with marine shells that, like the nautilus and lingula, have inhabited
the seas of the world through the larger portion of known time, or
again the extinct shells are associated with corals and sea-lilies, which
only exist in sea water. Apart from this special knowledge, were
some of these ancient paleozoic forms placed in the hands of the
palzontolgist for the first time, he might be puzzled (as he still is
in the case of some fishes) to give a reason why he should consider
them as necessarily marine. Even, however, were there no guiding
associations of genera and families, judging from present analogies,
the immense areas over which most of the formations occur would
of itself solve the question; for, formations that, like the Silurian,
Devonian, and carboniferous limestone, stretch across whole conti-
nents, cannot have been formed in fresh water. This point being
clear, it is a curious subject of inquiry what has become of the fresh-
water deposits, which, we presume, were in parts of the world through
all time, formed contemporaneously with marine beds. If, indeed,
as Mr Henry Rogers supposes, the absence of rock salt from the
primary rocks is to be attributed to excess of rain-fall during primary
times, then indeed we ought in these earlier periods to have had
larger rivers than even the mighty Amazons or the Mississippi, more
laden with sediment, and forming deltas of correspondingly ampler
magnitude. But not throughout all the ageregate eight miles of
thickness of the Cambrian, Silurian, and Devonian strata in the Bri-
tish isles, nor yet in any other region, do we find evidence of a delta,
except in a doubtful case in a small part of the Old red sandstone
of Ireland. It is not till we come to the Carboniferous rocks that
we can with decision speak of fresh-water beds at all; and there are
living geologists of unusual timidity or boldness, who even consider
these asdoubtful. What, then, has become of the fresh-water rocks
of the palzeozoic age—older than the Carboniferous—and why, in the
secondary and tertiary epochs, are they of more frequent occur-
rence ?
From the lowest Cambrian to the recent rocks inclusive, there are
twelve great groups, including thirty-five well-marked European
formations.
In the (1.) Recent, (2.) Post-Pliocene, (3.) Pleistocene, and,
(4.) Older Pliocene epochs, we have respectively of fresh-water beds
named in the Manual, Ist, The lake deposits and deltas now forming ;
2d, The Loess of the valley of the Rhine, the bluffs of the Mis-
sissippi (probably also of the Amazons and many other rivers) ;
3d, The fluvio-marine beds of the Norwich Crag; and, 4th, The
NEW SERIES.—YVOL. III. NO. U.—APRIL 1856. Y
310 Reviews and Notices of Books.
Aralo-Caspian beds (which are, however, like the bottom of the
modern Caspian, of brackish-water origin), together with the indi-
cations of rivers afforded by the presence of fresh-water shells in the
marine deposits of blue marl, that make part of the sub-Apennine
formations near Parma. The Miocene rocks contain fresh-water
beds in part of the Molasse of the Alps, and it is doubtful whether
or not the lacustrine mammalian beds of the Sewalik hills in India
may not be classed as of the same age. Wide tracts of the Eocene
strata in the London, Hampshire, and Paris basins, in Belgium,
Hanover, on the Rhine, and in other parts of Europe, are in great
part composed of fresh-water fluvio-marine and marine inter-
stratifications, and some of these marine strata in one place are
doubtless contemporaneous with the fresh-water beds of another. The
base of the Cretaceous series is distinguished by the presence of the
Wealden fluviatile rocks, and these are directly linked with or merge
into the Purbeck limestones and clays which form the topmost part
of the Golites. All the other six great British divisions of the Oolites
are undistinguished by fresh-water strata, excepting certain beds
that occur in the great Oolite of Yorkshire, marked by the presence
of Equisetums, Unios, and Cyprides. In some spots at the base of
the Lias, there also occur trifling estuarine deposits. The red Keu-
per marls and the New red sandstone are, by all geologists, consi-
dered to be true marine formations. The whole of the vast paleeozoic
masses, with the exception of part of the Carboniferous, and per-
haps a small part of the top of the Old red sandstone in Ireland, are
altogether marine.
The above enumeration gives a tolerably respectable list of fresh-
water strata of very different ages, but, at the same time, it must be
recollected that throughout the whole range of old geological time,
there are only known three great estuary deposits, 1st, The Carboni-
ferous; 2d, the Purbeck and Wealden; and, 3d, part of the Eocene
formations.
The true history of the first of these is still in many respects a
- mystery. As a general rule, it is certain that nearly all coal beds
lie on the under-clay soil, where the plants grew and decayed
probably in swamps and marshy territories. In Shropshire, for
instance, we find beds of marine shale, with ironstone, containing
Productas and Limuli, alternating with strata full of fresh-water
Unios and under-clay (the soil), on which rest beds of coal.* In
Scotland there are beds of marine limestone, charged with Pro-
ductas and Spirifers supporting similar soils, on which rest beds of
thin coal, formed of plants, the roots of which still indent the un-
der clay, and every where in this coal field, under various modi-
fications, there are indications of alternations of sea, fresh-water,
and land, pointing apparently to a deltoid origin. But there
were probably special conditions then in action, of which we have
now no actual example in progress. Consider the 12,000 or 14,000
* Prestwich Geological Transactions, vol. ii., pp. 5, 413.
Reviews and Notices of Books. 311
feet of coal measures at the South Joggins in Nova Scotia,* and in
South Wales, and it would be difficult to show that we know any-
thing of any other rocks formed or forming under precisely similar
circumstances. Consider also the vast extent of these deposits.
In the British isles the coal fields are but fragments, for once they
probably spread over the whole of the limestone district of Ireland ;
and in England many now isolated were once united, the exist-
ing fragments having been saved from the great planing process
of denudation, only by the accident of these portions having
been curved downwards into great and small basins, during the
contortion of the strata. Consider, again, the prodigious areas
occupied by the coal fields of North America, larger than some
entire kingdoms of the Old World, and which, in the cpinion of the
best American geologists, were once united. But though we may
allow their deltoid origin, it is not therefore to be supposed, that,
(for example) the American coal fields were in any time, however
long, formed at the mouth of one great shifting river, though we can
easily fancy a state of things by which the structure we now wit-
ness in the Coal measures might, by the agency of rivers, have
been partly brought about. Suppose a flat continental territory,
partly bounded by the sea, and through which many great rivers
wandered, similar to those that now traverse the plains of Siberia ;
then if these, instead of emptying themselves into an icy ocean,
formed their deltas in a “ moist and equable climate,” and if, as
the land slowly sank and oscillated, they often shifted their chan-
nels, and enlarged their deltas in width, length, and thickness,
we can understand how great accumulations of alternate sea, fresh-
water, and terrestrial strata might be formed over areas of unusual
size. With a vigorous and rapid growth and decay of plants fitted
for the purpose, thick accumulations of decayed vegetable matter
would be formed, sometimes over large continuous areas, sometimes
separated by broad unproductive spaces, or again in little patches
repeatedly interrupted. On the whole, all the evidence leads to the
conclusion that rivers and marshes had, at all events, much to do
with the origin of coal.
That the Purbeck and Wealden strata were deltoid and not lacus-
trine there can be little doubt, for beds containing plants, insects,
and fresh-water shells, alternate with marine bands, showing occa-
sional eruptions of the sea, due either to sudden depressions of the
land, or the sweeping away of river bars. With the exception of the
lacustrine strata of central France, the same estuarine character
belongs to the Eocene beds of England, France, and Germany. If
we might imagine the Loess of the Rhine and the bluffs of the Mis-
sissippi thrown far back in time and fossilized, they would probably
be classed but as lower subdivisions of deltas, the modern deposits
formed by these rivers constituting higher members, each subdivision
being of no more value than the beds of lower, middle, and upper
* Dawson and Logan, Geological Journal, vol. x., p. 39.
312 Reviews and Notices of Books.
Purbeck, in that formation. Eliminating therefore these late ter-
tiary deltas, as we have already stated, we have as yet only discovered
three great deltas throughout all the vast abyss of past geological
time, and yet at the present day there are about twenty-five first-
class deltas on the shores of the four continents, besides a multitude
of smaller ones, many of them of considerable importance. Suppose
that the eleven great groups that lie between Pliocene and Cambrian
rocks had each an equal average number of deltas, then had they
been by happy accidents preserved, we might expect to find a large
proportion of 275 great deltas, were they all accessible to research,
in addition to the multitude of smaller ones which we may be pretty
certain contemporaneously existed, if, as we believe, the general
economy of land, rain, rivers, lakes, and seas, resembled, in old times,
the arrangements of to-day. But (supposing this rough kind of hypo-
thesis to be admissible) we underestimate the argument if we only
calculate the probabilities for 11 great geological periods, for no man
who knows anything of geology will believe that this mere point in
time that we call recent, is comparable, for instance, to any one of
the great periods indicated by the Silurian, Oolitic, or Cretaceous for-
mations. The Oolitic period is divisible into three distinct groups
of formations, or four, if, with some geologists, we include the Lias,
and even in the subdivisions of any one of these groups, ( as for in-
stance between the lower and upper Lias, or the inferior and Bath
Oolite, or the Bath Oolite, and the Cornbrash,) there are differ-
ences in fossil contents far greater than those which mark the mol-
luscous faunas of the glacial and recent epochs. One main cause of
the difference between the marine fauna of the drift epoch, and that
of the present day, is easily traced to change of climate and other
physical conditions. During the glacial epoch we are certain that the
greater proportions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and America,
—sometimes one part and sometimes another,—were submerged and
again upheaved into dry land, and in this fact we discern but one pass-
age of many phases of physical geography that elapsed between glacial
and recent times. But were the drift and recent formations grouped
together, and thrown far back in geological time, they would be con-
sidered but as minor subdivisions of one formation, and nevertheless
during the existence of the lower subdivision alone, submergences and
emergences of continents slowly progressed, sufficient to alter, obli-
terate, and, with important changes, perhaps reconstruct many of the
great river systems of the world. Roughly considering each of the
Oolitic formations as of equal value in point of time, we find them di-
vided into ten or twelve subdivisions, each zoologically having differ-
ences as important or indeed of more value than the distinctions be-
tween the molluscs of the glacial and recent epochs. When there are
marked differences in the mollusca of two formations, one of which ap-
pears immediately to succeed the other in time, if we adopt the hypo-
thesis that in a given area the disappearance and appearance of new
species (apart from special creations) are due to ordinary physical
Reviews and Notices of Books. 513
causes, then it is impossible to deny that the Oolitic subdivisions may
not have witnessed modifications of climate, and revolutions of con-
tinental areas, equal to that recorded of the glacial epoch, with cor-
responding variations of continental drainage.
Taking all these things into consideration, it appears that with the
number of formations the probability of the ancient existence of a
number of large deltas (now lost) increases in a remarkable ratio, and
the structure of the rocks themselves helps us to this conclusion.
Neither Silurian nor Cambrian rocks show any traces of the begin-
ning of geological time. They are old, and have suffered all those
repeated contortions and metamorphisms that old age in rocks fre-
quently implies, but the deepest strata of Cambria are conglome-
rates formed of pebbles, that might, from their appearance, have been
derived from Wales, as it now stands, though, except in the water-
worn fragments, all trace of the old lands that yielded them is gone.*
We know nothing of the geography of the land whence these
fragments were derived, and it is therefore in our opinion an as-
sumption alike rash and unwarrantable, to hold, with some, that in
the earlier geological periods the world was a world of islets. The
greater proportion of the enormous masses of broad-spreading Silurian
strata are the measure of an equal amount of more ancient land de-
stroyed, wherewith to form them, and the original muddy character
of much of these (the lower Silurian strata of Wales, for instance
and the upper Silurian mudstones of Murchison), confutes the idea
that they were principally formed by the coast waste of scattered
islands. It seems more natural to attribute, in part, the origin of the
mud to the action of great rivers carrying it out to sea, where it gra-
dually accumulated, for, with rivers like the Ganges, the Mississippi,
the Amazons, and the Nile, a large portion of the sediment is car-
ried by ocean currents far beyond the limits of their deltas. The
same kind of reasoning that applies to the Silurian mudstones might
be applied to the Old red and Keuper marls and the clays of the
Lias and Oolites, and most geologists, without difficulty, grant that
great part of the carboniferous rocks were directly derived from
river sediments. We are sure of the fluviatile origin of most of
the Eocene clays. Let it not be supposed that we wish to under-
value coast waste; on the contrary we believe it to be one of the
mightiest agents that are for ever
“* Sowing the dust of continents to be.”
We only claim, for rivers past (though lost) as well as for rivers present,
their true value. True, it is easy to surmise that in old times great
muddy formations might have accumulated with a rapidity unknown
in modern days; how, through warmth and moisture, incessant rains,
and excess of carbonic acid in the air the decomposition of the fel-
spars of primeval granitic islands took place with unexampled faci-
lity; but this and such like notions we look upon as belonging to
* Ramsay Geological Journal, vol. ix., p. 168.
314 Reviews and Notices of Books.
the wide category of inventions, unsupported and insupportable by
true inductive philosophy, and little more deserving of attention
than such exploded ideas as that the wavy layers of gneiss were de-
posited in a boiling sea.
But if numerous deltas, both great and small, existed in olden
times, how does it happen that in all the long list of geological for-
mations, only three great ones and a few small traces of others have
been discovered ? This is due to a variety of causes. First, it must
be recollected, that at the present day there are vast ocean tracts
like the Pacific, where no large deltas exist, though chalk-like cal-
careous deposits from Java to the low Archipelago are everywhere
forming. 2dly, There are many long continental coasts absolutely
destitute of great deltas, like the west coast of America, the north
coast of Africa west of the Nile, and the major part of the south
and east coasts of that great continent, where there are no rivers
of first-class importance. In some cases certain marine deposits
in old periods may have accumulated under conditions like those
above cited, but it is in the highest degree unlikely that they
should apply to all. 3dly, If during older periods the lands were fre-
quently subject to oscillations of level, equal to that which marked
the epochs between the beginning of the drift and recent times,
(a safe conclusion), then we might expect that many deltas being
made of most perishable stuff (loose sand and mud), would at such
times be especially liable to destruction, before a happy set of cir-
cumstances occasionally admitted of a delta being preserved; and,
4thly, even if consolidated, many (especially the smaller ones) must
have been destroyed, for it most frequently happens with disturbed
marine formations, that their present margins have been formed by
denudation, and are removed to unknown distances from the original
coasts where contemporary rivers debouched, and under these cir-
cumstances, in consequence of repeated disturbances of rocks along
the same great lines, accompanied by constant denudations, the
greater the age of a formation the less chance is there of its contem-
porary deltas being preserved. When the geology of other parts
of the world is as accurately analyzed as that of England, and some
other parts of Europe and North America, more deltoid formations
will doubtless be discovered, but for the reasons above stated, they
will never bear the same proportion to the marine formations of any
period that existing deltas do to the marine deposits of the recent
epoch.
In accordance with these views we might expect a more frequent
occurrence of fresh-water strata in the later than in the earlier
epochs of the world’s history. An approximate result of an analy-
sis of this subject is given in the following table, in which the letter
F signifies that fresh-water strata are found im some part of the
formation or group that it is placed opposite, the evidence of the
occurrence of these fluviatile beds being always of a decided kind.
Reviews and Notices of Books. 315
Table showing the Geological Epochs, Groups of Formations, and Single
Formations, in which Fresh-water Strata occur.
Periods. Epochs. Groups. Formations.
Post-tertiary F § Recent F
F | Post-pliocene . F
F Glacial Drift, &e. 0
Upper x ertiary F Norwich Crag F
Red and Coraline Cr ag 0
Miocene F F | Miocene F
Post-tertiary, : ( Upper Eocene F tae Beds (Isle of W Wight F
Tertiary, or Bembridge Beds FE
Cainozoic. - Headon Beds . F
ee j Middle Eocene {| F 4 Headonhill Sand and Barton Clay F
Pp Ty Bagshot and Bracklesham Beds 0
; | London Clay 0
Lower Eocene F } Plastic Clay, &e. F
Thanet Sands 0
4F inall. 6 F in all. In all 14
9 F, or 9-14ths.
Chalk 0
Upper Cretaceous 0 { Cor. bbe Greensand 0
Cretaceous F Se ca 5 0
aoe reensan - 0
Lower Cretaceous F | Weald clay and Hastings sand F
Purbeck beds Be tS
Upper Oolite F Portland Oolite . : ae te
Kimmeridge clay - 0
< : Coral rag 0
Middle Oolite 0 { Oxford Clay
Secondary, Oolitic F Great Oolite F
or Mezozoic. Lower Oolite F } Fullers’ earth 0
Inferior Oolite 0
Upper Lias 0
Lias F { Marston 0
Lower Lias F
Triassic or Upper Trias O New red marl 0
New Red Series Middle Trias O Muschelkalk 0
0 Lower Trias QO New red sandstone 0
3 in all— 9 in all— In all 19
2 F, or 2-3ds. 4 F, or 4-9ths. 4 F, or 4-19ths.
Magnesian Limestone .
Permian 0 Permian 0 {! Sandstone, marl, and conglomerate 0
(Rothlingendes) i
Upper Carboni-
een ferous F } Coal measures F
Lower Carboni- \ Carboniferous limestone and shale A F
ferous F (with Coal, &c., in places)
Deyonian or -
_ | Upper Devonian F Upper Devonian #F
| is a8 A ree) tT Lower Devonian 0 Lower Devonian - 0
| Eumary, or f Tilestone a er ae, 7 a0
Palzozoic. | Upper Silurian 0 zu ee : ; ;
Silurian 0 4 Caradoc sandstone 0
Llandeilo flags 0
| tower Silurian 0 { Lingula flags 0
Cambrian 0 Cambrian Q Cambrian 0
5 in all— 8 in all— In all 13
2 F, or 2-5ths. 3 F, or 3-8ths. 3 F, or 3-13ths.
“4 some the fresh-water beds at the top of the Old red are considered as of Carboniferous age. This
seal strengthen the view adopted in this notice.
316 Reviews and Notices of Books.
The result of the foregoing table may be stated as follows, if, in
the column of groups of strata we consider Post-tertiary, Upper
Tertiary, and Miocene respectively, to be of no greater paleeontolo-
gical value than any one of the three divisions of the Eocene strata.
Proportion of Proportion of
SINGLE forma- | GROuPs of for- Froporkaa
zy aa : - |EPOCHS contain-
tions containing mations contain- sno frash ube
| | fresh-water | ing fresh-water | ‘78 siomke
strata. strata. F }
Post-tertiary and ae Se Wes
cies A Tertiary } 7,ths=0°6428 |All = 6-0000 lee: = 40000
Mesozoic or Secondary vs5ths—0°2105 |4ths — 0°4444 gds = 0°6666
Paleozoic or Primary +3 ths=0°2307 |gths = 0°3750|2ths = 0°4000
From this it will be seen that in regard to the proportional num-
ber of rocks containing fresh-water strata, if we consider the SINGLE
ForMATIoONsS, the primary rocks have a slight advantage over the se-
condary (0°0202), and the tertiary have a great advantage over both.
In the Groups of formations, the secondary rocks have a slightly
greater advantage over the primary (0°0694), than the primary
have over the secondary in the previous column, and all the siz groups
of the tertiary rocks contain fresh-water strata. In the column for
Epocus, the secondary rocks have a decided advantage over those
of primary age (0°2666) , and of course all the four tertiary epochs
exhibit fresh-water strata.
Notwithstanding our very imperfect knowledge of the detailed
structure of the greater proportion of the globe, from such data at
these, some might argue that in the earlier stages of the world’s
history there was perhaps less rain than at present, and others, that
though there was as much or more rain, there were no large con-
tinents to give birth to delta-forming rivers; while others, like
ourselves, might think it most probable that the later the epoch,
group, or formation in time, the greater is the chance of its more
local or fresh-water deposits being preserved.
Two of the most interesting chapters in the Manual are the 11th
and 12th, in which are described the phenomena of the icy-drift
and boulder-clay formations, and the evidences of the ancient exist-
ence of glaciers in the mountain regions of the British isles. These
subjects have attracted much attention among able observers, but
long after Playfair had indicated the ice-borne character of the
Alpine boulders that rest on the Jura, there was a powerful reaction
among geologists, the true doctrine fell into discredit, and most
writers adhered to the dogma that the heterogeneous mixtures that
cover great part of the surface of the northern continents, were the
result of mighty sea waves which rushed from the north across
Europe, Asia, and America, scattering rocky fragments as they went,
which polished and grooved the rocks over which they passed. A
Reviews and Notices of Books. 317
few able workers, in England and America, yet adhere to this
hypothesis ; while on the continent of Europe it is still a universal
favourite. In England, however, for some years it has been stea-
dily losing ground, and we believe it will ere long altogether pass
into the limbo of exploded theories, and be regarded as scarcely
less chimerical than some of the strange old fantasies of Moro,
Woodward, and the imaginative Burnet. We recollect well the un-
belief and ridicule that greeted the announcements of Agassiz and
Buckland in 1840-41, that glaciers once occupied the greater val-
leys of the Highlands of Scotland and of Wales, and how sceptics
and shallow wits, whose geology perhaps rarely extended beyond the
precincts of turnpike roads, attributed the grooving and striation of
the rocks to cart-wheels and hobnailed boots; and the ice-polished
surfaces, to the sliding of the caudal corduroys of Welshmen on the
rocks, to slickensides and sea-waves, and to every cause indeed but the
true one. Saner views, however, at length prevailed, and there are
now few geologists who have studied the effects of ice in the Alps,
or are familiar with its action in rivers, or who have carefully per-
used the writings of Arctic voyagers, but will readily recognize the
familiar indications of ice, and more especially those of glacier ac-
tion in the Highlands of Sac in Cumberland, Wales, the south-
west of Ireland, and the mountains of the Vosges.
Without criticising the details adduced by Sir Charles in his sum-
mary of this interesting question, it is now perhaps universally al-
lowed that all the more important general contours of hill and val-
ley in the continents of the old and new worlds were the same
as now previous to the glacial epoch. The land was then slowly
depressed beneath the waves, and as it sank its minor features
were somewhat modified, for terraces were formed on old shores,
and icebergs drifting from the north, and pack ice on the coasts,
as they grounded and grated along the shores and sea bottoms,
smoothed and striated the rocky surfaces over which they passed,
and deposited, in the course of many ages, clay, gravel, and scat-
tered boulders over wide marine areas that had once been land.
The grooves and striations on the ice-smoothed rocks (except
where locally deflected) still bear witness to the general south-
ward course of the winds and ocean-currents that bore the ice from
its birthplace into milder climates.* Evidence of this is abun-
dantly found both in North America+ and Europe, and in south-
ern latitudes the same agency of icebergs has transported boul-
ders far northwards over the low lands of South America.t In
many parts of our own islands it is sufficiently obvious, as for in-
stance on the shores of the Clyde, and the Firth of Forth at Granton,
North Berwick, Tyningham, Skateraw, &c., where, in quarries
* Manual, p. 127.
t Lyell, Journal of the Royal Institution. 1855.
{ Darwin’s Naturalist’s Voyage, 1852, 247.
NEW SERIES,— VOL. III. NO. 11.—APRIL 1856. Z
318 Reviews and Notices of Books.
1ewly cleared of till, the smooth surfaces and the ice-ploughed fur-
rows are often as fresh as they might be were a part of Baffin’s
Bay heaved up to sight and stripped of its overlying mass of modern
voulder-clay. These localities are only mentioned as examples of
what is common over much of Scotland, both in the plains and
iigh on the summit of Salisbury Crags, the flanks of Arthur Seat,
the Pentlands, and many a hill “in the great central valley be-
tween the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde.”* The same
phenomena are visible throughout the length and breadth of Ire-
land, in the north of England, and over many parts of Wales,
from Anglesea to Pembrokeshire. In Anglesea, which is a low
country, the whole of the contours of its undulations speak of the
moulding effects of ice, and, when freshly denuded of their cover-
ing of turf, heath, clay, or gravel, the rocks, like those in Scotland,
are often beautifully smoothed, the striations running on an average
from 20° to 25° E. of N., transverse to the courses pursued by
the great glaciers that contemporaneously descended to the N.W.
from one side of the Snowdonian chain.t On the coast also of that
island frequent cliffs occur of stiff roughly stratified boulder-clay,
with its complement of travelled blocks and well-scratched stones.
In Pembrokeshire, though the phenomena are less marked, the
experienced eye has no difficulty in detecting the effects of ice in the
peculiar rounded contours of the hills between St David’s Head and
Fishguard. True, the tooth of time is surely effecting their ruin,
but this only renders the origin of their peculiar forms more ap-
parent, in the marked contrast their mammillated forms occasionally
present to the broken outlines produced by subsequent ordinary atmo-
spheric disintegration. That the winter climate of the time was in-
tensely cold, is witnessed by the fact, that between the south coast of
Cardigan Bay and St Bride’s Bay, the low country is covered with
great boulders, derived from the higher greenstone hill-tops that rise
bare above the drift between Carn-Llidi and Strumble Head.t They
are neither foreign to the district, nor were they transported on far-
travelled icebergs, but resting on, or being mixed with the native
drift that forms the smooth slopes of the low lands, they must cer-
tainly have been floated and scattered by coast ice that in winter
gathered round the low islets, seeing that isolated hills of a few
hundred feet high never could have given birth to anything deserv-
ing the name of glaciers and large icebergs. This is but one ex-
ample of what is common in Wales, where it is stated such drift-
deposits rise on the mountains in the north to the height of more
than 2000 feet.§
* Maclaren, Edin. New Phil. Journal, 1849, p. 161.
t Ramsay, Geological Journal, vol. viii., p. 374.
t See De la Beche’s Map of Pembrokeshire. Geological Transactions, Ser. 2,
vol. ii., p. 1.
§ Ramsay, Geological Journal, vol. viii., p. 374.
—
eae ta
Reviews and Notices of Books. 319
The same kind of evidence is conspicuous on and around the hills
of Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, from whence long trains
of greenstone granite and syenite have been borne southwards, dot-
ting the drift-covered country as far south as Rugby. The highest
hill in the Forest is about 800 feet. The whole of Shropshire, Cho-
shire, and Staffordshire, are speckled with boulders of granite and
greenstone, some of them transported, it is said, from the moun.
tains of Cumberland ; and on the Derbyshire hills the drift rises
to the height of 1500 feet, while further south, in the valley of the
Trent, and on the Lias clay and tabulated Marlstone hills near Mar-
ket Harborough (and many other places), we find polished and
striated fragments of Derbyshire Mountain limestone and Millston
grit mingled with chalk flints, and fragments of Lias and Oolitic
limestones. The same indications of travelled drift are familiar to
the geologist in Northumberland and Cumberland, in the Silurian
valleys and hill-sides in the south of Scotland, in the broad spread-
ing boulder clays and sandy gravels of Ayrshire, Argyllshire, Dum-
bartonshire, and on the lower flanks of the mountains of Arran, where
the smoother swells that in places rise well up on the mountains,
mark with a clear outline the average limits of the glacial dri‘t.
Near Glasgow, it risegin places to the very summits of the Campsic
hills; and in the Lothians, it lies on the slopes of the Lammer-
muirs, and the Pentland hills ;* and in many other parts in Scot-
land, from north to south, too numerous to name. Indeed, ove:
the larger part of the British isles, its presence, or indications tha‘
it has been present, form the rule, its absence is exceptional, and
even such debateable land as that which lies between the Cotswold
hills and the Severn is not without some hint of ice.
The intensity and the wide-spreading effects of cold, in what
are now temperate climates, is one of the greatest marvels of geo-
logy. It has been suggested, that if the Isthmus of Panama were
submerged, the current that crosses the Atlantic from the Cape to
the Caribbean Sea would find its way into the Pacific, and there would
be no gulf stream abnormally to raise the temperature of the west 0!
Europe. But even this would not cause cold sufficient to originate
glaciers in the Highlands and in Wales ; and besides it is known that
the mollusca on the opposite shores of the Isthmus of Panama are
generally distinct, which would not be the case if a communi-
cation had been open so late as the glacial epoch, the shells of which
are almost all of existing species.t In the present state of ou
knowledge, therefore, the suggestion made by Sir Charles Lyell at
p. 147 is perhaps the best that has yet been offered, viz. that “if in
both of the Polar regions a considerable area of elevated dry land
* Maclaren.
+ There is some kind of evidence that this Isthmus was open during Miocen:
times ; for, according to Mr John Carrick Moore, there are Miocene shells found
fossil in St Domingo, some of which still live in the Inuian Ocean.— Geologica!
Journal, vol. vi., p. 39.
320 Reviews and Notices of Books.
existed, such a recurrence of refrigerating conditions in both hemi-
spheres might have created for a time an intensity of cold never ex-
perienced since; and such probably was the state of things during
that period of submergence to which I have alluded.”
It must, however, be remembered that this is but a suggestion, and
though there can be no doubt of the long duration of an intense state
of cold, still, before the whole mystery is cleared up, much remains to
be done; for it must not be forgotten, that from the Gulf of Fin-
land to the White Sea, and on the flanks of the Scandinavian chain,
there are traces of the glacial sea, and yet further north in the icy
regions lately traversed by arctic voyagers, deposits with marine
shells have been observed at heights, which, at some tertiary period,
would indicate considerable depression of the northern regions,
thetgh, whether that depression was contemporaneous with or sub-
sequent to our glacial epoch, no precise evidence has yet been af-
forded.
Sir Charles only devotes a short paragraph (p. 137) to the sub-
ject of ancient British glaciers ; but were the scattered information
that is afloat on the subject, respecting this and other quarters of the
world, collected, condensed, and printed, it might well claim an ex-
tended notice in Manuals from all who apprec®te the full importance
of glacial geology. It might be well to enumerate and give special
instances of the perfect nature of the proofs that indicate the past
existence of glaciers in regions where now the snow in mild
winters scarcely falls, and in the severest never lies for half the
year. Such proofs are to be found in the polishing, scratching,
grooving, and‘deep furrowing of the rocks over which the glaciers
flowed, magnificent examples of which occur in many a Highland
valley, in Cumberland, Wales, the south-west of Ireland, and the
mountains of the Vosges. The bottom of a glacier is covered with
fine sand, and dotted with imprisoned stones and blocks, which polish,
scratch, and groove the rocky floor over which its weighty mass pro-
gresses ; and wherever a tributary stream of ice flows into the greater
glacial river of the main valley, there the grooves will at first slightly
diverge from those made by the sweep of the main current, and as we
recede from the point of union of the two streams, the furrows will at
length curve fairly round and accommodate themselves to the trend
of the tributary valley. In fact, wherever tributary glaciers flow
into a main valley, a series of lines will be formed, branching
from the general direction of the grooves that mark the bottom
and sides of the main valley. This is what takes place at pre-
sent in all glaciers; and if in Wales any man will ascend the
pass of Nant Francon in Caernarvonshire, and examine its tributary
valleys, he will find that in the main valley the striz follow its
course (about 20° to 25° west of north), and in the tributary valleys
the strie run east and north-easterly according to their curves,
while in entering Cwm Idwal from Nant Francon they curve gradu-
Reviews and Notices of Books. 321
ally round from E.8.E. to N.N.E.* The same is equally striking
in the neighbourhood of Snowdon, where, in the Pass of Llanberis,
the grooves and striz first strike from 30° to 35° south of east, and
gradually curve round to the south, asa portion of them pass into the
high tributary valley of Cwm Glas ; or again, in Nant Gwynant, where
in the main valley they strike to the south-west and branch off first
to the north-west, and gradually curve round to the north in the
higher part of Cwm-y-llan, and in another instance generally to the
west in the vast rocky amphitheatre of Glaslyn and Llyn Llydaw.
“Tn the higher parts of such minor tributary valleys, the grooves
converge towards the hollows, at acute angles to the main direction
of the valley, in the manner that might be expected from ice press-
ing or flowing downwards to feed the main icy streams.” +
Again, if a great valley be filled with ice nearly to the brim, and
if there are short tributary valleys at its sides, bounded by lower spurs
that branch inwards from the crested ridges that flank the main valley,
the great stream of ice that fills the whole will in its flow over-ride
the whole depression, forming its striations on the rocky floor, often
transversely to the minor valleys, or in accordance to the course of
the average direction of the slope of the whole mass. But if by
amelioration of climate the glacier gradually decrease in size, then
we shall find roches moutonnées and striations (as in Switzerland
now), at far higher levels than the surface of the existing glacier.
The lower spurs that branch into the valley from the bounding crests
will then stand out denuded of ice, the high hollows between them
will contain tributary glaciers, and form new striations transverse to
those that were formed, wlfen from ridge to ridge the whole great
valley was full of ice. Such transverse striations actually crossing
each other, are observable in parts of Nant Francon and the Pass of
Llanberis; and in other cases close to the mouths of the tributary
valleys the grooves on the steep hill sides of the main valleys are
often at much greater elevations than many of the striations that,
transversely to these, follow the course of the tributary valleys almost
to the point where their brooks unite with the principal stream.
There is indeed proof in the longitudinal grooves and stria-
tions on the hill sides, that in the Passes of Nant Francon and
Llanberis the ice once attained the enormous thickness of about
1300 feet ; unless indeed, as has been supposed by Dr Hooker, many
valleys have been to a considerable extent deepened by glaciers them-
selves. In this case the present bottoms of the Welsh passes would
be lower than the original floors over which the glaciers flowed when
they formed the longitudinal striations that are now 1300 feet above
the river in Nant Francon and the stream that feeds Llyn Peris,
in the Pass of Llanberis. However this may be, by degrees they
* See Darwin, Phil. Mag., ser, iii., vol. xxi., p. 180; and Ramsay, Geologic: l
Journal, vol. viii., p. 371.
+ Reports of the British Association, 1854, p. 95.
322 Reviews and Notices of Books.
decreased in size, and there is still beautiful evidence of their gra-
dual decline in the retreating moraines concentrically arranged one
within another, as, for instance, in the long mounds on the west side
of Cwm Idwal, and also in Cwm Glas and the upper part of Cwm
Brwynog on the sides of Snowdon, till at length we find only the
last relics of the ice in the remains of tiny moraines far up amid
the innermost recesses of the mountains.*
In many of the Vosges, Highland, and Welsh valleys, the moraines
are as perfect as those of the Glaciers du Bois and of the Rhone at
the present day. In proof of this we would cite the beautiful illustra-
tions of glacial phenomena in the Vosges published by MM. Henri
Hogard and Dolfuss ; or, to come nearer home, the moraines in Glen
Falloch, above Loch Lomond, and those of the Cuchullin Hills, men-
tioned by Professor J. D. Forbes; or of Ben More, Coigach, and
Glen Messan, noticed by Mr Robert Chambers and Mr Maclaren,
or that of Llyn Idwal described by Mr Darwin, or of Cwm Graia-
nogt in Nant Francon, or of Llyn Llydaw, together with others at
the upper end, of Cwm-y-llan, Cwm-y-Clogwyn, Llyn-du-’r-Arddu,
and Cwm Glas, on the flanks of Snowdon, and of Cwm Orthin,
near Ffestiniog, where there is a small but well defined moraine
less than quarter of a mile below the lake. From the peak of
Snowdon the educated eye at once perceives the moraine-shaped
form of the semicircular mound, that below one of the lakes stretches
partly across Cwm-y-Clogwyn ; and he who wishes to see a perfect
British terminal moraine may ascend Cwm Glas from the Pass of
Llanberis, till he get beyond the great roche moutonnée that lies half
a mile south of Blaen-y-Pennant. There a long curved ridge of
earth and large stones crosses the valley, almost as regular in form as
the huge mounds of chalk that form the boundary dykes of any one
side of the deep trenches of Old Sarum.
Another proof of glaciers is, that in Wales terminal moraines
frequently constitute the confining barriers of mountain lakes and
tarns. There are numerous cases of this kind in Switzerland and
the Himalayah,§ and the same causes have been at work in the
mountains of the Vosges, || In Caernarvonshire, Llyn Idwal forms
a striking example of this phenomenon, as also does Llyn Llydaw
on the flank of Snowdon. In some cases, as in Cwm-Llafar
below Carnedd Llewelyn, the ice has first ploughed a long nar-
row channel through the terraced drift from end to end of the
valley, then, the decreasing glacier formed a moraine near its
upper end, which, when the ice melted, confined a lake, till the
* Ramsay, Report of the British Association, 1854, p. 94.
Tt Edin. New Phil. Journal, Mr Maclaren, vol. xl., xlii., xlvii.; Mr R, Cham-
bers, vol. liv.
{ Ramsay, Geological Journal, vol. viii., p. 375.
§ Hooker, Himalayan Journal, vol. ii., p. 119.
|| Coup @’cil sur le Terrain erratique des Vosges, par Henri Hogard, 1848,
accompagnée d’un Atlas de 32 planches publiée par Dolfuss-Ausset, 1861.
Reviews and Notices of Books. 323
stream that flowed from it cutting a passage to the base of the
moraine, the tarn was thoroughly drained. There are other cases
of a like nature. Other moraines dam up lakes in a more peculiar
manner. The mouth ofa valley is surrounded by a high mound, or
a series of united mounds curving outwards, formed of earth, angular,
subangular, smoothed, and scratched stones and blocks (some of them
as large as a small cottage), so arranged that their origin, and the
places whence they came, are unmistakeable. A deep clear lake lies
inside, and the drift of the glacial sea (also full of boulders), with a
long smooth outline, slopes right up to the outside base of the
moraine, showing that the glacier descended to the sea-level, and,
pushing for a certain distance out to sea, formed a marine terminal
moraine, while the ordinary drift detritus of small sediment and
boulder stones (partly scattered by floating ice) was accumulating
beyond. In the meanwhile the space on and below the sea-level
occupied by the glacier was kept clear of debris, and when the land
arose, and the climate ameliorated, the hollow within the terminal
moraine became replenished with the water-drainage of the surround-
ing hills, just as in earlier times it was filled with a drainage of snow.
Such in Carnaervonshire are the lakes of Llyn Dulyn, Melynllyn,
Ffynnon Llugwy, Marchlynmawr, and Marchlyn-bach ; and in Scot-
land it might not be difficult to give parallel cases.* Judging by the
present average elevation of these Welsh lakes, when the moraines
that confine them were formed, the highest parts of the mountains
of Caernarvonshire (the snow drainage of which gave birth to the
glaciers), could not have been more than from 1400 to 2000 feet above
the sea. The average great intensity of cold may be inferred from this
circumstance, for the sea then flowed through some of the greater
valleys between the Menai Straits and Cardigan Bay, across the
present watersheds. The principal of these are the vale of Conwy,
the valley between Bangor and Capel Curig, the Pass of Llanberis,
opening into Cwm Gwynant (about 1300 feet high at the watershed),
and the valley of Afon Gain, between Caernarvon and Beddgelert.
The country was thus broken up into a group of islands, each one of
which in great part had its permanent covering of snow and ice.
Another sign of the past occupation of these valleys by glaciers
occurs in the roches moutonnées (already mentioned), in which they
abound. These are not merely “rounded bosses, or small flattened
domes of polished rock ;”t for, though often small, sometimes they are
of such dimensions, that they rather deserve the names of po-
lished hills than of bosses, rivalling as they do in magnitude some
of those immense isolated mammillated surfaces which rise in the
middle of the valleys of the Aar, of the Rhone, and of Chamouni,
marking the former great extension of the Alpine glaciers. In
all the British regions where glaciers once existed, they may be
* Phil. Journal, vol. liy., p. 231. Chambers.
t+ Manual, p. 137.
324 Reviews and Notices of Books.
found ot the most various dimensions. In the south-west of Ire-
land they are almost everywhere amid the mountains. The sides of
the Gairloch, Loch Long, and other sea lochs described by Mr
Maclaren (often far above the sea-level) are marked by their pre-
sence. Some of the rocks of Loch Lomond, that only show them-
selves when the lake is low, are rounded, polished, and striated ;
and the scattered isles that gem its surface present on a larger scale
all the smoothly curving outlines of ice-worn roches moutonnées, al-
though many may find it difficult to believe that the icy stream that
once flowed down Glen Falloch ever expanded into the broader space
that lies between Ben Lomond and the Luss and Tarbet shore. Si-
milar forms have been described by Mr Chambers and Mr Bryce in
Cumberland; and in Wales they may be counted by the hundred ;
in Merionethshire on the flanks of Aran Mowddwy, in the estuary
of the Mawddach between Dolgelli and Barmouth, by the lake in
Cwm Orthin,and in Cwm Croesor and Nant-y-mor between Ffestiniog
and Beddgelert, and also in Traeth-mawr and Traeth-bach. In
Caernarvonshire they are common in almost all the greater valleys of
the Snowdonian chain—in Cwm Eigiau, and on the banks of
Avon Llugwy and its tributary valleys, on the N.W. slope of Moel
Siabod, and also in Cwm Gaseg, Cwm Llafar, and especially in Nant
Francon. Magnificent examples occur in this valley above the famous
Penrhyn slate quarries, another small one lies opposite Ty gwyn,
others described by Mr Darwin at Llyn Ogwen and in the slopes
between Llyn Idwal and the waterfall by the bridge, where the
whole side of the hill has been mammillated by the grinding ice
that descended from Cwm Idwal to Nant Francon. Others not
less striking, at the base of Snowdon skirt the shores of Llyn Pa-
darn and Llyn Peris ; and further up the Pass, some of large dimen-
sions, plentifully sprinkled with great blocks of stone (roches perchés),
amaze the passing tourist, who cannot understand how masses rolled
from the neighbouring mountains have so frequently been arrested on
precarious points from whence they should naturally have made a final
bound into the lower depths of the valley, while the well-pleased eye
of the experienced glacialist at once divines that they were gently de-
posited where they lie by the final thawing of the glacier that
slowly bore them from the higher recesses of the mountains. Cases
scarcely less beautiful occur by Llyn Llydau, and in Cwm Dyli,
Cwm-y-Llan, at Llyn-y-Gader, and Beddgelert, where the curious
visitor may see in the hall of the hotel framed record of an imper-
fectly polished and grooved locality in the vicinity, in the writ-
ing of the illustrious Buckland.
In some of the valleys roches moutonnées peep here and there
from underneath a covering of drift, as for instance in Nant Gwryd,
and between Llyn Ogwen and Capel Curig. These may have possi-
bly been formed by floating ice when the country was deeply sub-
merged; but from the form of the valleys, it seems to us equally
s
~~
’
Reviews and Notices of Books. 325
likely that they sometimes indicate a set of glaciers that existed
before the deposition of the drift, which, (the cold still continuing)
was afterwards deposited in the valleys during their submergence. If
this were the case when the land subsequently emerged, the cold did
not cease, and glaciers, ploughing through the narrower valleys which
drained large and lofty areas of snow, cleared them of drift in the
manner first suggested by Mr Darwin, in his Description of the gla-
ciers of Cwm Idwal and Nant Francon.
We must add a few words about the appearance of the polish on
rocks and the weathering of glaciated surtaces. In the Alps, when
the glacier ice is freshly removed, the rock underneath, whether of
limestone, gneiss, granite, or even quartz, though striated, often
possesses the polish of a sheet of glass. In our own country, when
the impervious covering of till has been taken away, the surfaces
of limestones (as at North Berwick), though grooved and striated,
are often beautifully smooth. In a country so low, this may have
been due to the grating of icebergs. In other cases, as in some
parts of Wales, when the turfand glacier debris is lifted, the under-
lying surfaces of slate still retain a perfect glassy polish, marked
sometimes by flutings, and sometimes by numerous scratches as
fine as if they had been made by the point of adiamond. After
long exposure these finer markings disappear, and though the gen-
eral rounded form perfectly remains, the surface becomes rough-
ened, and the planes of the highly-inclined cleavage present on
their edges a slightly serrated aspect. The deeper flutings, how-
ever, often for a long time remain, but even these at length disap-
pear, though it is not for long after this has been effected that the
general rounded form of the roches moutonnées is entirely obliter-
ated. Phenomena of the same general nature are observable in the
igneous uncleaved rocks over which a glacier may have passed. The
original polished surface, on exposure, becomes roughened by atmo-
spheric disintegration ; but the general form remains to attest its gla-
cial origin, and in no case is there any danger of the experienced eye
confounding this with those forms produced by spherical decomposition
about which so much used to be said by Von Buch, and latterly by
the Messieurs Schlagintweit. Finally, in the long lapse of time,
the air, water, and repeated frosts tell their tale, the rock splits at
its joints, it crumbles, masses fall off, and it assumes an irregular
and craggy outline altogether distinct from the glaciated surface pro-
duced by the long-continued passage of ice; and thus it happens,
that on the very summit of some tower-like crag, the sides of which
have been rent by the frosts of untold winters, the student of glacial
phenomena sometimes finds yet intact the writing of the glacier,
while below on its sides all trace of the ice-flood has long since dis-
appeared. These things may seem almost incredible to those who
are unaccustomed to read the records of many terrestrial revolutions
in the rocks; but, nevertheless, of these extinct glaciers it is true,
NEW SERIES.—VOL. Ill. NO. IJ.—aAPRIL 1856. DEIN
326 Reviews and Notices of Books.
that just as a skilful antiquary, from the mere wrecks of some castle
or abbey of the middle ages, can, in his mind’s eye, conjure up the
true semblance of what it was when entire, so the geologist, from
the fragmentary signs before him, can truthfully restore the whole
systems of glaciers that once filled the valleys of the Vosges, the
Highlands, or of Wales.
It would be something could we form any idea of the years that have
elapsed since, in these latter days of geological time, the glacial mark-
ings were made on the rocks. But of this we can have no approxi-
mate guess; and the only hint may be inferred from Sir Charles Lyell’s
remark that it probably took 30,000 years to excavate the deep ravine
that lies below the Falls of Niagara, and that this was done since the
deposition of certain fresh-water marls that lie above the cliffs, and
which are of later date than the American drift.* There being nodoubt
that this drift was in general terms contemporaneous with our glacial
period, and if Sir C. Lyell’s calculation be correct, then the seemingly
slight glacial markings on our rocks have endured for a like period —
who can tell how much longer?—for no data exist by which we can
estimate how long the marls were formed before the excavation of
the ravine began, or, farther, how long a period elapsed between the
close of the accumulation of the drift, and the commencement and de-
position of the fresh-water strata. We may be sure that these pas-
sages consumed no mere minute fragment of time, for whole races of
mammals were created, lived their appointed time on earth, and dis-
appeared between the close of the drift and the commencement of
the human epoch.
One interesting point still remains of this fascinating subject.
Though the veteran Von Buch, in conversation, to the last denied
that the glaciers of the Alps had ever been materially larger than at
present, it is now almost universally admitted that many of them once
extended down the valleys 20, 30, or evena greater number of miles
beyond their present limits, and that they then were of much greater
thickness. The same holds true of the glaciers of the Pyrenees and
the Scandinavian chain, and, according to Dr J. D. Hooker, of the
glaciers of the Himalaya, which in places once descended to levels of
only 9000 feet above the level of the sea, or 5000 feet below their
present limits.t Was it during the presence of glaciers in the
British isles and in the Vosges, or, in other words, during part of
the Newer Pliocene epoch, that these glaciers attained their greatest
magnitude? We believe it is susceptible of proof that this was the
case.
Another important point to ascertain is the true nature of many of
the superficial deposits that lie on the flanks of the Alps, and in some
of the wider valleys and watersheds,—a good example of which occurs
* Manual, p. 145.
+ Professor James D. Forbes’s Travels in Norway.
t Himalayan Journal.
ae
Reviews and Notices of Books. 327
on the route between Meyringen and the Grindelwald by the Schei-
dega Pass. There, near the base of the Wetterhorn, at heights be-
tween 4000 and 5000 feet above the sea, stretching to the south-
west, is a broad, smooth slope, covered with comparatively small de-
tritus, not dissimilar to the shell-bearing clays and stony beds which
occur in some of the Welsh slopes, on the seaward flanks of the Snow-
donian chain, at heights of from 1000 to 2000 feet above the sea. On
the Alpine surface are scattered large limestone blocks from the Wet-
terhorn, arranged in rude lines. At lower levels, the upper and lower
glaciers of the Grindelwald invade this territory ; and in older times
the glaciers have cleared the valley below of the drift-like detritus, just
as in the Passes of Nant Francon and Llanberis the ancient glaciers
swept out the drift, and left untouched the marine deposits that lie on
the high grounds between Aber and the lower part of Nant Francon,
from thence to Llyn Padarn, and on the slopes between Llyn Pa-
darn and the river Ceunant. Are the deposits above the Grindel-
wald, and similar beds in other parts of the Alps, of marine origin,
and were the blocks of limestone that lie on them arranged on or near
an old sea margin by drift or pack ice? If so, perhaps they were
deposited at the same time that the granite and gneiss blocks on the
Jura, according to Playfair, were transported from the region of Mont
Blane, and that other boulders between the glacier of the Rhone and
Martigny were borne westward and left on the mountain sides, when
the Rhone above the Lake of Geneva was an arm of the sea, and gla-
ciers descended to its level, according to the hypothesis of Sir Roderick
Murchison.* Numerous blocks of granite and gneiss that lie on the
Italian side of the Alps, scattered around the Lakes of Como and Lecco,
were doubtless carried southward at the same period.t| However this
may be, it is much to be desired that geologists would search the
drifts (if such they be) above the Grindelwald, and similar suspi-
cious deposits for shells; and thatif these were found, investigations
were entered into to show the probable amount of depression that
the Alps sustained during the glacial epoch.t
We have already exceeded the limits we proposed to ourselves
when this notice was commenced, otherwise we would fain make
some remarks on the probable physical geography of the country
through which flowed the river that deposited the Wealden and
Purbeck strata; and also on the much vexed question of the denu-
dation of the Weald itself, taken in connexion with other denudations
of the Chalk and Oolites, of a like character but far larger in amount.
Something more, too, might be profitably said of the Bunter and Per-
mian rocks of Britain (subjects not yet clearly understood), and also
on various more purely theoretical points, such as the anatomy (so to
* Geological Journal, vol. vi., p. 65.
+ De La Beche’s Manual, 1833, p. 195.
{ Since the above was written, we have been informed thai Mr Daniel
Sharpe has produced a paper on this subject.
328 Reviews and Notices of Books.
speak) of paleeozoic volcanoes, the geological history of special areas of
metamorphism, and the manner in which deep fissures or lodes have
been filled with metalliferous and other more ordinary minerals, but
for the present we must take leave of these subjects and of the book
the perusal of which suggested them. The Manual itself requires
no commendation of ours. The rapid editions that Sir Charles
Lyell’s Elements and Principles pass through are the best tests
of their popularity, a popularity of the solid kind that makes his
works essential to every student of geology, wherever the name of
science is known.
Analytical View of Sir Isaac Newtons Principia. By
Henry Lorp BroucuHaw, F.R.S., Member of the National
Institute of France and of the Royal Academy of Naples ;
and E. J. Routu, B.A., Fellow of St Peter’s College,
Cambridge.
We have have not forgot the fright we experienced two or three
years ago, in turning up, on a friend’s table, a little treatise on the
Ellipse, for the Use of Schools, by His Grace the Duke of Somerset.
Farewell to our occupation, thought we: who shall enter into the
lists against such noble blood? Is it not enough that a prime minister
has taken on himself the drudgery of correcting the press, for the
life of a writer whose claim to national gratitude rests on nothing
higher than the power of elevating sentimental verse almost into
poetry, but that the House of Peers shall furnish treatises for the
use of our little children ? The shock soon subsided, the alarm wore
off, and we have since learnt to view with complacency the compe-
tition which has thus arisen, believing that it has tended to exalt
rather than to supplant the labours of our humblest compilers. Ac-
cordingly, when we took up the Analytical View, we experienced no
pangs of jealousy ; so far from it, that had Lord Brougham announced
on the title-page his intention of giving lessons on the Principia at
a reasonable fee, we verily believe we should have locked up our
ferule for a couple of months, and taken a ride to the south, to get
indoctrinated with deeper views of this, the noblest effort of the
mind of man. Indeed, we have not given up the hope that we
may yet do so; for we infer that, at any rate, one of the editors has
had an experimental class of an unacademical kind, for the purpose
of ascertaining how the work will answer as the basis of teaching.
We are informed in the Introduction, that ‘*‘ two classes of readers
may benefit by this Analytical View; those who only desire to be-
come acquainted with the discoveries of Newton, and the history of
the science, but without examining the reasoning ; and those who
ee
Reviews and Notices of Books. 329
would follow the reasoning to a certain extent, and so far as a
knowledge of the most elementary parts of geometrical and analytical
science may enable them to go. It has been found upon trial, that
readers of both descriptions have been able to peruse the work with
advantage ; even readers of the second description. These have easily
followed, not only the commentary upon the gradual progress of
discovery, and the state of the science before Newton; but, passing
over the exposition of the differential calculus, have pursued the
demonstration of the fundamental law of gravitation, and even ap-
prehended the proof of its universal action, according to the inverse
proportion of the squares of the distances.”” And to the same effect
at page xxvi.
The work is, therefore, we presume, a treatise adapted for teach-
ing; not a simple comment or exposition, such as may be found in
the writings of Pemberton, M‘Laurin, Emerson, and others of former
days; nor merely the results of the Principia brought out by the
processes of Laplace and Lagrange, as in the writings of Whewell,
Pratt, and others of our own times ; but the Principia itself translated
into the language of analysis, and illustrated by or compared with
the conclusions of succeeding philosophers.
We turn to the work, and find its object stated to be twofold:
“* First, to assist those who are desirous of understanding the truths
unfolded in the Principia, and of knowing upon what foundation rests
the claim of that work to be regarded as the greatest monument of
human genius; secondly, to explain the connection of its various
parts with each other, and the subsequent progress of the science.”
This is as it should be, and we enter hopefully on the inquiry how
it has been effected, proposing however to confine ourselves princi-
pally to the first object. We begin with an examination of the
Method of Demonstration.
Every one knows, that after having given two very valuable pre-
liminary chapters under the respective heads of definitions and
axioms, wherein the laws which govern the motion of bodies are, for
the first time, distinctly enunciated, the illustrious author of the
Principia commences to lay the foundation of his reasoning, by
means of eleven introductory propositions, with the somewhat inex-
pressive title of Lemmas. Whether in this term Newton referred to
the logical form of major propositions, or whether he understood the
word lemma simply to imply something which may be received as
the basis of reasoning, it is unimportant to inquire. It is certain
that these lemmas are a masterpiece of skill, and form an appro-
priate foundation, not for the Principia alone, but for all geometric
demonstrations in which continuous change is an element; and in-
deed some of these lemmas are the best foundation of an analytical
system too. Reflecting on this, we turned with almost breathless
anxiety to-see how one great mind would be the interpreter of another.
Judge of our mortification at discovering that Lord Brougham has
330 Reviews and Notices of Books.
altogether ignored the existence of this work of genius, and has sup-
plied its place by some (we can hardly help calling them) garbled selec-
tions from Newton’s other writings, in which the methods of infinitesi-
mals, indivisibles, fluxions, and prime and ultimate ratios are mingled
together in glorious confusion. We hope we may be excused if, for
the benefit of our own readers, as well as those of Newton, we en-
deavour to set the matter of this first section in its right light.
Whenever we are dealing with magnitudes or motions, which are
subject to continual change, it is very evident that we are compelled,
by the nature of the case, to reason on forms which exist only in de-
finition, and to apply our conclusions, by some process or other, to
things as they are. Thus, for instanee, when a stone falls from the
hand to the ground, its velocity is continually increasing, so that we
cannot strictly say that at any instant it moves with any particular
velocity ; for every instant of its motion sees a change of its rate of
speed. Under these circumstances, we are compelled to have recourse
to the artifice of defining velocity by reference to a state of things
different from that which actually exists; viz., by imagining the
gravity of the earth for an instant to cease acting. The hypothe-
tical state, however, approaches nearer and nearer to the real, as the
time during which the hypothesis holds is smaller and smaller ;
so that if the velocity, when uniform, be the quotient of the space by
the time, the velocity in the case we have supposed will differ
from that quotient less and less, as the time becomes smaller and
smaller. This velocity, which is not the real ratio of the space
by the time, is under these circumstances called by Newton its prime
or ultimate ratio. The words “ prime’’ and “ ultimate’ have reference
to this approach of the hypothetical to the real; but they are at the
best indifferent interpreters of the idea—and have given rise to
numerous misconceptions, and an infinity of quibbles. The word
evanescent, too, which Newton used, formed a tangible handle to the
real or pretended objector. Bishop Berkeley avails himself of it in
his Analyst, when he says (§ 85), ‘“‘ And what are these same eva-
nescent increments ? They are neither finite quantities, nor quantities
infinitely small, nor yet nothing; may we not call them the ghosts of
departed quantities ?” | Newton is not altogether guiltless of having
done his part towards the creation of this confusion of ideas. His
very 1st lemma, which is the definition of ultimate equality, or, if you
please, the statement of the conditions under which it may be pre-
dicated to exist, is marred by a sort of demonstration, although we
believe it was intended only as an aid to the better understanding of
the meaning of the phrase employed. Besides this, Newton has put
down something either wrong or unintelligible in a corollary or
two, thereby causing nightly fermentation in the brains of some of
his less-gifted followers. For example, in the first corollary to
the 3d lemma, speaking of a polygon inscribed in a curvilinear
figure, he says, that the two will ultimately coincide omni ex parte,
Reviews and Notices of Books. 331
which phrase Motte, in his Translation, renders “ in all parts,” but
which Newton probably understood to mean “part by part.”
However that may be, we cannot comprehend how his own univer-
sity can tolerate such inconsistencies as his followers fasten on him.
In an edition of the first three sections, of the date 1837, there
occurs a beautiful piece of reasoning in a circle, complete in all its
parts. The editor supposes Newton to assert in the 3d (4th) co-
rollary to Lemma 3, that the perimeters of the two figures are equal in
length, and therefore of necessity equal part by part. From this he
proves the 5th Lemma (a mere definition or statement of fact in
Newton), and thence the 7th, the very equality with which he
started! We forbear to say how many editions this has gone
through. Happily the recent publication of a few sections by Mr
Frost expunges the libel on Newton’s memory, we hope for ever
To return. This system of ultimate equality is the broad founda-
tion on which the Principia rests; and, however much modern
writers have extended and simplified its application, they have not,
and we believe never will cause it to be superseded. The 7th
Lemma, for instance, to which we have just referred, and without
which no system, geometrical or analytical, is possible, has never
yet been satisfactorily proved otherwise than by Newton’s process.
That process, which is a model of elegance and ingenuity, consists in
magnifying the figure in such a way that the magnified representa-
tion of one of the lines whose ultimate equality it is required to
prove, shall always continue the same. Thus, as the are and its
chord and tangent become smaller, their magnified likenesses continue
finite, and prove the existence of their ultimate equality, as tested
by the conditions of Lemma l. The demonstration is irresistibly
convincing.
It is a remarkable fact that this proposition, which is the key-stone
of the bridge that connects the simple geometry of Euclid with the
more complex curvilinear geometry of the moderns, should be found
only in a Treatise on Mechanics. A distinguished writer, Lagrange,
attempted, not unsuccessfully, to soften the road to the higher ana-
lysis, by excluding as much as possible the idea of indefinitely small
quantities. In 1797 he published his treatise, entitled Théorie des
fonctions analytiques, in which, with admirable skill, he sought to
reduce every demonstration to the domain of simple algebra. The
proposition of the ultimate equality of the chord, arc, and tan-
gent (Lemma 7) was supposed to be steered clear of by means of a
new demonstration of another proposition. Subsequently he pub-
lished his Caleul des fonctions, which he regarded as a commentary on
and supplement to his former work, The edition of 1806 is before
us; the author has abandoned his former demonstration, and has
adopted a mode of evading Newton’s lemma, which is singularly
ingenious. We give his own words (p. 42), “ I] est demontré ri-
goureusement par les théorémes d Archiméde, que le sinus est
332 Reviews and Notices of Books.
toujours moindre que Varc, et que la tangente est plus grande que
Pare, du moins dans le premier quart de cercle.” Now, if we are
to translate the word ‘‘ par’’ as usual by the English word “ by,” we
are thrown on the curious logical difficulty of proving a thing to
exist by the open assumption of the fact of its existence ; for these
are Archimedes’ theorems, neither more nor less. This is as bad
as making a man jump down his own throat. But if we give the
benefit of the doubt, and admit that the French idiom allows us to
translate “ par’? by “in,” we shall find ourselves referred back to
Archimedes himself for the demonstration of his theorem. Now,
Lagrange ought to have known that, although Archimedes is not
alive to plead his own cause, he has left behind him an immortal
work, bis treatise De sphera et cylindro. Amongst the axioms
prefixed to that treatise, but without one word of demonstration, are
the theorems in question. Some unfortunate individual had been
meddling with these theorems a century or two before. Barrow
says, in connection with them, Vide Rivaltum et stupe. We have
not taken the trouble of looking up this gentleman’s works, having
already experienced the gratification promised in the word stupe,
from Lagrange and Barrow.
We have stated that Lord Brougham omits the first section alto-
gether, and presents his readers, in place of it, with some illustra-
tions rather than expositions of other methods of demonstration. We
have an opinion as to the sufficiency of these illustrations for the use
of persons not previously conversant with analysis : we are inclined
to fear that few will attempt to travel by this royal (or we should
say noble) road. THappily, his Lordship does not quite desert the
old paths; and we rejoiced to recognise the familiar and simple
demonstrations of Newton in the earlier propositions.
Of his success in the work of simplification, we are not disposed
to speak at any length, but we are safe in asserting that he is more
at home in the matter of history. As might be expected, the ex-
hibition of the controversy which arose out of individual problems,
when presented along with the discussion of the problems themselves,
forms an interesting element in the work. We trust we shall not
be thought captious if we enter a caution to the reader even here,
The author’s anxiety (laudable enough in itself) to do justice to, or
at least to deal with, every writer who has contributed his share to
the progress of knowledge, sometimes causes him to do great injustice
to Newton himself. For.example, when speaking of the demonstra-
tion of Kepler’s third law, at p. 60, he states that, to the useful
propositions before given from the Principia, ‘* Demoivre added a
theorem of great beauty and simplicity, respecting motion in an
ellipse ;” which theorem is in reality a demonstration of Kepler’ S
third law, based on the assumption of the first. Now, an unin-
formed reader might be led from this to infer that Newton either
had left that law’ undemonstrated, or had given an imperfect or
Reviews and Notices of Books. 333
faulty demonstration of it ; neither of which inferences would be in any
degree correct, For beauty, simplicity, and completeness, Newton’s
demonstration in Props. E4 and 15, based on the law of force according
to the inverse square of the distance, is unrivalled. We take great
exception, then, to the conclusion of the paragraph which com-
mences with the name of Demoivre (p. 61),—*‘so that all Kepler’s
three laws have now been demonstrated @ priori as mathematical
truths; first, the areas proportional to the times, if the force is cen-
tripetal ; second, the elliptical orbit; and third, the sesquiplicate
ratio of the times and distances, if the force is inversely as the
squares of the distances, or, in other words, if the force is gra-
vity.’ If there be any thing demonstrated clearly, simply, and
completely in the Principia, it is these three laws, subject, of course,
to limitations, which did not form elements for consideration in the
earlier sections.
The treatment of the ninth section, on the motion of the apsides,
is as satisfactory as any portion of the work before us; and to the
eleventh section, we are not disposed to take great exception. The
attempt has been made to engraft on Newton’s brief expositions,
reasonings a little more conclusive, drawn from the results of the
Mécanique Céléste. With what success this has been done, those
who make their first acquaintance with the subject from those pages
will best determine. For our own part, greatly as we admire the
Corollaries to the 66th Proposition, we confess that we do not think
it possible to get at a thorough knowledge of the lunar inequalities
or planetary perturbations except through the complete analytical
investigation. To combat such giants as secular variations, with
nothing but the smooth pebble from the brook, requires the cunning
arm of a David. The astronomer-royal, Airy, has attempted it in
his “‘ Gravitation ;” but whether he has slain the giant or been slain
by him, we pretend not to determine. The exceeding speciousness
of fallacy in popular arguments may be judged of from a foot-note
in Herschel’s large Treatise on Astronomy, edition 1851. He is
discussing what is called the great inequality of Jupiter and Saturn.
Their distances from the Sun are such that five periods of Jupiter
and two of Saturn differ only by the comparatively small amount
of 146 days, or about ;3,th part of the whole. As a consequence
of this approach to a simple proportion, the analytical investigation
at once exhibits the existence of a considerable mutual disturbance
of the one planet by the other. The period of this disturbance, during
which it goes through all its phases, is 917 years, the one planet ex-
periencing a gain, whilst the other sustains a loss. Sir John Herschel
remarks at p.472, “ That an acceleration in the one planet must ne-
cessarily be accompanied by a retardation in the other, might appear at
first sight self-evident, if we consider that, action and reaction being
equal and in contrary directions, whatever momentum Jupiter com-
municates to Saturn in the direction PM, the same momentum
NEW SERIES.—VOL. III. NO. II.—APRIL 1856. 2B
334 Reviews and Notices of Books.
must Saturn communicate to Jupiter in the direction MP. The
one, therefore, it might seem to be plausibly argued, will be dragged
forward whenever the other is pulled back in its orbit,’ &e. He
adds in a note: ‘ Weare here reading a sort of recantation. In the
edition of 1833, the remarkable result in question is sought to be
established by this vicious reasoning. The mistake is a very natural
one, and is so apt to haunt the ideas of beginners in this department
of physics, that it is worth while expressly to warn them against it.”
We were, therefore, not sorry to find an expectation held out that
the discussion of the problem of three bodies would be conducted on a
platform inaccessible in the days of Newton, when the methods of
which he was the inyentor had not attained any thing like perfec-
tion. The right mode of treatment we conceive to be analytical de-
monstration, accompanied by full illustrative popular exposition.
The author of the Analytical View has taken the opposite course, as
regards this portion of the Principia, giving popular demonstrations,
illustrated and filled up by the forms and conclusions of the Méeca-
nique Céléste. Perhaps he had no alternative ; whether or not, his
task was a difficult one, and it would be unreasonable to expect too
much from its accomplishment. We cannot, however, help feeling,
as we read on, that the subject is too extensive for the Treatise. We
see Lord Brougham, like another great and ambitious man,
“ bold
In slender book his vast design unfold,”
and we are “held awhile misdoubting his’? success. In refer-
ence to this ‘* great inequality” of which we have been speaking,
the story of the problem, which the author appears to have ga-
thered from the Systéme du monde, has, for the sake of brevity,
been mixed up with that of another remarkable investigation
relative to Jupiter’s first three satellites, whereby no little con-
fusion has been created. It would seem as if the writer had
felt himself overwhelmed with an excess of materials. And how-
ever adroitly he may throw off the burden, the reader is in dan-
ger of being left in a state of considerable bewilderment. Relative
to the problem of which we have been speaking, the impression
likely to be received is (p. 120), that the motion of Saturn is always
retarded, and of Jupiter always accelerated; whereas, the planets
changed hands in 1790, and will pursue the opposite course of action
for four centuries and a half from that date. We cannot refrain
from quoting here another sentence from honest Andrew Marvell :—
“ T liked his project, the success did fear,
Through that wide field how he his way should steer ;
Lest he perplexed the things he would explain,
And what was easy he should render vain.”
We regret that our limits compel us to break off at this point ;
the more so, because we have an inward consciousness that our re-
marks may appear too disparaging; but as they are made in sin-
ee
Reviews and Notices of Books. 335
cerity, and from no captious spirit, and as Lord Brougham needs no
eulogy from us, we have thought it our duty to caution those who
shall do us the honour to seek our guidance in this matter, lest they,
coming to this Analytical View, as to a book of “ Reading made
easy,”’ shall founder in their studies, and for ever lose the gratifi-
cation of mastering the reasoning upon which the law of attraction,
whereby the worlds are held together in a bond, has been established.
We heartily applaud the devotion of our noble author to the cause
of truth; we cordially admire the untiring energy of a man, who,
instead of sitting down in his retirement at Cannes, to rest from the
labours of three quarters of a century, employs his leisure hours in
torturing the sunbeams of the south to bring back the image of his
early love, in the shape of diffracted fringes. It falls to the lot of
few men to give to the world new experiments in confirmation of
others published fifty-seven years before; and whatever posterity
may say of Lord Brougham as a politician, there will be many me-
mentos of his unchanging Jove of science, and of his patronage of its
humble supporters, which will stand out in sharp and beautiful relief
as the best and the last phases of his varied career, when time shall
have worn down the more prominent but less enduring features of
his character.
Historia Fisica y Politica de Chile, sequn Documentos ad-
quiridos en esta Republica, durante Doce Anos de Resi-
dencia en ella y Publicada bajo los auspicios del Supre-
mo Gobierno. Por Cuaupio Gay. Zoologia. Paris &
Santiago, 1847. 8vo & 4to.
We cannot better describe the work of Claudio Gay than by trans-
lating some of his observations in the short introduction to the first
number of the Vertebrata. The book is published in Divisions, any
one of which can be subscribed for and procured separately. That
devoted to the Vertebrata generally bears out what is promised.
The plates are partly engraved and partly lithographed; are well
executed, and some of them are devoted to osteological and other
anatomical details. These are of a 4to size; but the letter-press, as
has lately been practised in some of the foreign illustrated works, is
printed in 8vo, which is certainly an improvement, and is more ¢on-
venient than the latge folio or quarto, otherwise often very desirable
for the illustrations. A short Latin character is given with each
species; next the detailed descriptions and measurements ; and in a
lesser type, as notes, the author’s observations relating to the habits
of each. These latter, as indeed the entire work, except the specific
characters, are written in Spanish. When completed, this will bea
fine addition to the natural history of those rich divisions of the New
282
336 Reviews and Notices of Books.
World. The Invertebrata are also in progress, and some advance
has been made in the Botanical department of the undertaking.
‘©The part of our work which we now publish, with the title of
Chilian Zoology or Fauna, is the most complete catalogue we can
give of the animals which inhabit this great republican state, classified
according to the natural system ; to which are added descriptions and
specific characters sufficient to distinguish them,some notices regarding
their manners and habits, as well as the relations they bear to other
species. A work of this class is very useful to science, pointing
out to naturalists the geographic zoology of a district ; and also to
the inhabitants of the country, to whom it greatly facilitates the
study of this fine branch of natural history, no less interesting than
botany, for the infinite wonders which every species offers to the in-
quiring observer. To arrive at this result, it is necessary that the
naturalist should examine minutely the greater part of the country
which he wishes to make known ; that he should pass more or less
time in each province, and study carefully under their comparative,
and especially their geographical relations, whatéver objects he may
obtain. Only thus can the fauna of a country be well ascertained.
But unfortunately travellers, always desirous to augment their col-
lections, or to describe the greatest possible number of objects, only
remain a very short time in each kingdom, continually moving to
other regions in search of new forms, to satisfy their desire and ambi-
tion. Perhaps it is owing to this decided inclination to amass large col-
lections, that science possesses so few fauna of extra-European coun-
tries ; considering America alone, there are only some provinces of the
United States which afford sueh examples. Since 1815 all the other
republics were diligently visited by collectors and able naturalists, who
on their return made known the result of their discoveries, Thus
New Granada was studied by Boussingault, Goudot, &c. ; Guiana by
Scheenbrun, Leprieur, &c.; Brazil by Prince Max. Von Neuwied,
Aug. St Hilaire, Spix and Martius, Claussen, Lund, and an infinity
of naturalists no less accomplished ; Paraguay by Renger and De-
longchamp ; La Plata and Bolivia by D’Orbigny, Darwin, Ausene,
&c. ; Peru by Tschudi, and many other scientific travellers, content-
ing themselves with describing the objects encountered, without giv-
ing to their works a character of unity such as might enable them
to be compared with the great results of physical geography. Chili
has also attracted the attention of naturalists; it is some time since
historians, such as P. Ovalle and Figueroa, and the travellers Anson,
Frezier, and Feuillée, had given some information regarding a small
number of animals; and even the Abbé Vidaurre published a trea-
tise upon some of its productions, in which he speaks of their qua-
lities, and the uses which the inhabitants or natives make of them ;
but no one has examined this subject with so much attention and
information as the Abbé Molina, in his Compendium of the Geo-
graphical, Natural, and Civil History of the Kingdom of Chili—
a work which modern naturalists do not sufficiently appreciate, and
Reviews and Notices of Books. 337
against which such acrimony has been manifested, that at times it
has almost degenerated into injustice.
*‘ Notwithstanding, Molina’s work is deserving of general gratitude
among naturalists, since it gives an extensive idea of some sections of
Chilian zoology, principally of the first two classes, Mammalia and
Birds. No doubt very frequently the genera are equivocal, and the
descriptions almost always incomplete ; but, considering the time and |
the circumstances in which he published, it will be perceived that this
author, endowed with a penetrating genius, is worthy of the greatest
indulgence. Molina was scarcely twenty-two years of age when he
left his own country in 1768; his knowledge of natural history was
great for the time, and he prosecuted his labours with infinite care,
hoping one day to bequeath to his country all his discoveries and ob-
servations; unfortunately he was expelled as a Jesuit, and sought
refuge in Italy, where he employed the hours of recreation in the
study of the fine arts, to which in Chili he had dedicated himself with-
out masters, and almost without books; his rapid progress enabled
him to avail himself advantageously of a manuscript upon the pro-
ductions of his country, which chance presented to him, and assisted
by an active correspondence which he maintained with some of his
countrymen, he undertook the printing of his work, in which are
found a large number of species quite new to science, and de-
scribed for the most part so as to be easily distinguished; we trust
we shall receive favourable consideration when, for the sake of jus-
tice, we have sometimes preserved the names given by this learned
and diligent Chilian, always provided they are conformable to the
rigorous rules which science exacts.
“ In 1810 the second edition of his Natural History was publish-
ed, using in it, with the greatest care, the labours of Cavanilles, and
of Ruiz and Pavon. Novelties were confined to the Botanical part
only, so that the Zoology remained nearly the same as in 1788.
South America had been until then under the influence of a petty po-
licy which forbade foreigners to penetrate into these coveted regions.
The many naturalists sent from Spain occupied themselves with the
plants only, leaving aside the animals, which remained almost un-
known. But as soon as independence called foreigners to search dis-
tant regions, which the general peace made accessible, then was
manifested the greatest enthusiasm for such travels, which soon ex-
tended itself to all European nations, exciting a portion of their
savans to expatriate themselves in search of whatever might contri-
bute to the advancement of the sciences. Chili at this time began
to be explored, first along the coasts by the naturalists who were
employed in yoyages of circumnavigation, such as Lesson, Gaudi-
chaud, Soleyer, and particularly Darwin, who has contributed so greatly
to the knowledge of Chilian Mammalia ; afterwards by diligent indi-
viduals, who spared no effort, however troublesome and expensive, in
order to make large collections; among these last, we will cite Mr
338 Reviews and Notices of Books.
Cuming, so well known for his zeal and ardour in search of what-
ever might relate to the natural history of this beautiful region.*
* Whilst, by dint of labour and immense expense, these travellers
were forming the numerous collections which are now the most pre-
cious ornaments of the principal European museums, those savans
whom circumstances obliged to remain in their respective countries
were occupied in studying, classifying and describing all the objects
collected, enriching our libraries with a prodigious multitude of de-
scriptions well digested indeed, but wanting in that interest which the
unity of a formal work affords. It is, then, with such a scarcity of
faunas that we venture to undertake that of Chili. Fortunately the
materials which we possess for so arduous an undertaking are suffi-
ciently numerous and important, and are all the fruit of more or less
time spent in each province, and of the continual wandering jour-
neys which we made, always seconded by zealous hunters, who so ably
assist investigations. ‘To carry out so long and minute a labour, we
have obtained the co-operation of various distinguished zoologists, who
have kindly assisted us, charging themselves with those divisions
of the subjects which each has more particularly studied.
“« The Birds were confided to M. Desmurs, an advocate in the Royal
Court of Paris, and the continuator of the work of MM. Laugier and
Temminck, which is that of the illustrious Buffon.
** M. Guichenot, a member of the Scientific Expedition to Algiers,
and assistant naturalist of the Museum of Natural History in Paris,
has undertaken the Reptiles and Fishes.
“ The Arachnide and Crustacea have been undertaken by M. Nico-
let, who has made an especial study of these animals, and is the author
of an interesting work upon the great family of the Poduree. M. Gervais,
Professor in the Academy of Montpellier, will assist in the arrange-
ment of the Myriapodes and ef the greater part of the Apterous In-
sects.
“‘ The Coleoptera are confided to M. Solier, a captain of engineers,
so well known for his vast entomological knowledge, and for the ex-
actitude of his descriptions.
‘“‘'The Hemiptera and Hymenoptera will be described by M. the
Marquis Spinola of Genoa, one of the principal entomologists of our
age, and the one who has best studied those great orders of insects.
* The Mollusca by M. Huppé, a naturalist of the Museum, and
exclusively charged with the collection and classification of these
shells.
** Lastly, the remaining orders will be treated of by different savans,
and more especially by M. Blanchard, author of a Treatise on Ento-
mology, and of many academic memoirs, much esteemed in the scien-
tific world.”
* “Tn the geological, botanical, and zoological view which will be given of
Chili, and which will serve as an introduction to the natural history of this
work, we will include a historical resumé, with notices of those who have tra-
velled over the territory of the republic, and of the respective merits of their
labours and discoveries.”
Proceedings of Societies. 339
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES,
Royal Society of Edinburgh,
Monday, 7th January 1856. Dr Curistison, V.P., in the Chair.
Professor Christison delivered the Keith Medal to Dr Anderson of
Glasgow.
The following Communications were then read :—~
1. Geometry, a Science purely experimental. By Epwarp Sane.
After remarking that the perfect strictness of the demonstrations in
Geometry is generally admitted, the author of the paper cited the almost
universal belief in the soundness of Euclid’s reasoning as a notable ex-
ample of wide-spread credulity. He then enunciated and illustrated the
proposition that our knowledge of the truths of geometry is altogether
derived from experience.
2. Notice respecting recent Discoveries on the Adjustment of the Eye
to Distinct Viston. By Professor Goopstr.
The question as to the arrangement by means of which the eye is
adapted for distinct vision at different distances has for two centuries
strongly attracted the attention of physiologists. The numerous hypo-
theses, and untenable theories which have been advanced on this subject
are all, however, more-or less unsatisfactory. They are severally based
on—1l. The mere strneture or form of the refractive humours of the eye ;
2. A presumed process connected with change in the direction of the axis
of vision; 3. The movements of the iris; 4. Change in the position of
the retina; 5. Change in the position of the lens; 6. Change of form of
the cornea; 7. Change of form of the lens.
This important question has now been definitively determined by the
researches of Dr Cramer of Groningen, detailed in a prize treatise sub-
mitted to the Dutch Association for the Advancement of Medical Science
in 1851 ; but, which, except in the form of a short abstract at the time,
was only published at a later period. In 1853, Helmholtz also announced
to the Berlin Academy the same discovery, reached independently, and
by a method more complex than that employed by Cramer.
The entire question had been previously simplified by the conclusion
to which Volkmann had come, that the eye, when in a passive condition,
is adapted for the vision of distant objects, the foci of convergent pencils
being then situated in the retina; that when it requires to be adjusted
for a near object, an active process of accommodation is set up, which
brings the foci forward to the nervous membrane ; and that the return
to the passive condition, which again adapts the eye to distant objects, is
a passive process, following on the previous effort.
Cramer had therefore only to determine the nature of the active change,
by means of which the foci, for a near object, are brought forward to the
retina. Now, as Helmholtz had shown that the adaptation of the eye to
distance must depend upon a change of some kind in the refractive condi-
tion of the humours of the organ; and as Senff had previously proved
that no change takes place in the curvature of the cornea; and as the in-
genious theories of Ludwig and Stellwag had in no way removed the difii-
_eulties involved in explaining how the lens can be moved forward ; there
remained only, as a basis for investigation, the hypothesis of a change of
form of the lens. This hypothesis, as Volkmann had stated, could only
340 Proceedings of Societies.
be objected to as insufficient ; but not as involving any contradiction of
fact ; and might be verified by more careful and extended observation.
The question, therefore, which Cramer had to determine, was this—
Is the form of the lens changed in the adaptation of the eye to near
objects ?
Cramer was indebted to Donders for the fundamental idea on which
he proceeded in the solution of this question. Donders had previously
entered on the investigation, but had failed in his observations. He is
entitled, however, to the credit of having suggested the employment of
the experiment of Purkinje in this inquiry ; and of having subsequently
elucidated its successful results.
Cramer has discovered that in the adjustment of the eye for a near ob-
ject, there takes place a change in the form of the lens, consisting of an
increase in the curvature of its anterior surface, produced by the iris and
ciliary muscle, but withont alteration in the position of the lens itself;
while the return to its original form for the vision of a distant object is
the effect of its own elasticity, which in proportion to the pressure applied,
had co-operated in producing the increase of its anterior convexity. He
ascertained the occurrence of this alteration of form by watching, through
an arrangement of his own contrivance, magnifying from 10 to 20 dia-
meters, the change which takes place in the image of the flame ofa candle
reflected from the anterior surface of the lens during the adjustment of _
the eye to a near object. The eye having been adjusted to a distant
object, and the erect image from the surface of the cornea having been
brought nearly to the margin of the iris in the pupil, the erect image from
the front of the lens will be observed deeper and less distinct, a little be-
yond the centre of the pupil, and the small distinct inverted image from
the back of the lens will be close to the opposite margin of the iris. The
eye being now adjusted to a near object, the deep erect image advances,
diminishes, becomes more distinct, and moves across the centre of the
pupil to the immediate neighbourhood of the corneal image.
This change in the relative position of the three images was correctly
considered by Cramer as a distinct evidence of an increase in the curvature
of the anterior surface of the lens. It would appear, however, that he was
not entitled to conclude, as he did, from the immobility of the inverted
image, that no change oceurs in the posterior curvature of the lens.
Donders, in reference to this has asserted, that the immobility of the
inverted image affords satisfactory evidence that a change does actually
occur in the curvature of the posterior surface of the lens; and Stell-
wag has demonstrated that a change of this kind must necessarily take
place. That there is a contemporaneous i increase in the curvature of both
surfaces of the lens must be admitted, from the consideration that if
such a change did not occur in the posterior surface, the increased cur-
vature of the anterior would necessarily produce a change in the posi-
tion of the inverted images; which is not the case. The optical effect of
the increase of anterior curvature marks the slight movement of the in-
verted image.
The alteration in the curvature of the posterior surface is, however, so
slight, that we may safely assume that the essential alteration takes place
in the anterior surface.
Helmholtz has proved that the anterior curvature of the lens is in-
creased during adjustment of the eye to near objects, by measuring
accurately the distance between the images of the flames of two candles
reflected from that surface, in the active and passive conditions of ac-
commodation. According to his calculations the radius of curvature of
the anterior surface is, for distant vision, from 10 to 11 millimetres ; for
near vision about 5 millimetres.
Proceedings of Societies. B41
_ A change in the form of the lens having thus been ascertained to be
the mode of adjustment of the eye to distances; the next point to be
determined is the mechanism by which the change of form is effected.
It may be stated generally, that although the structures which act
upon the lens have been ascertained, the details and arrangements of
the process itself still require elucidation.
Cramer removed the eye of a seal immediately after the death of the
animal, and exposed a portion of the surface of the vitreous body at
the back of the organ. He then introduced the electrodes of an electro-
magnetic rotation apparatus into the opposite attached margin of the iris.
The flame of a candle at the distance of 35 centimetres from the cornea
was distinctly observed on the vitreous surface, with a microscope mag-
nifying 80 diameters. At each passage of the electrical current through
the organ, the pupil contracted, the image of the flame became broader,
less distinct, and less definitely outlined. This effect was visible to the
naked eye, and indicated the probability of the form of the lens being
altered by the contraction of the muscular structures in the interior of the
eye. Cramer ascertained that the iris is at least the principal agent in
producing the change; for when a cataract needle was introduced so
as to divide the iris, and produce a complete coloboma, the focus was
no longer affected by the electrical current. Cramer also removed the
cornea, annular ligament, and iris, after which the electrical current
produced no change in the adjustment ; although the ciliary processes
were observed to be put upon the stretch. The lens was also shown
by numerous experiments to be incapable of changing its own form.
It is not muscular; for when the recent lens was removed from the eye,
and the flame of a candle brought to a focus through it, on a piece
of oiled paper, the electrical current produced no change in the ad-
justment.
Cramer concludes, in this department of his subject, that the iris and
ciliary muscle alter the form of the lens. The ciliary muscle contracting
pulls the ciliary processes forward, and so prevents the lens from reced-
ing under the pressure of the iris. The latter produces the change in the
anterior curvature, by a primary contraction of its circular fibres; fol-
lowed up by contraction of its radiating fibres, which, from being curved
forwards, become straight, and thus pressing on the marginal portion of
the anterior surface of the lens, force the central portion forwards. Cra-
mer’s explanation of the action of the iris on the lens is based on Stell-
wag’s recent assertion, that the posterior chamber has no existence, but
that the iris rests immediately on the front of the lens, the ciliary pro-
cesses, and the zonule of Zinn, so that it projects like a dome into the an-
terior chamber. The pressure.is thus communicated by the iris to the
lens through the medium of the ciliary processes, zonule of Zinn, and con-
tents of the canal of Petit, the lens being supported and kept forward by
contemporaneous contraction of the ciliary muscle. Donders is inclined
to believe that a very thin layer of fluid is interposed between the iris and
the structures behind it; but practically Cramer’s opinion appears to be
correct.
Hueck, in attempting to explain ocular adjustment by the movement
of the lens by the iris, had stated that when viewed in profile, the iris is
seen to project into the anterior chamber during vision of a near object.
Volkmann denied this ; but the fact is undoubted; and Helmholtz has
ascertained that the protrusion is about one-third of a millimetre.
Ruete has objected to Cramer’s conclusion as to the agency of the iris
in altering the form of the lens, on the ground that in cases of congenital
deficiency of the iris the power of adjustment is not deficient. In such
instances some compensating arrangement must exist.
342 Proceedings of Societies.
Senile Presbyopia mainly depends, according to Cramer, on the di-
minished muscular contractility of the iris and ciliary muscle ; myopia,
again, on diminution of the elasticity of the capsule of the lens, which dis-
ables the lens from regaining its normal form after each act of adjust-
ment. He denies that the curvature ef the cornea is increased in myopia,
and states that the apparent increase is due to the continued increased
protrusion of the iris into the anterior chamber.
Monday, 21st January 1856. Colonel Mappen, Councillor, in the Chair,
The following Communications were read :—
1. Memoir of Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin. By Sir Joun
Ricuarpson, C.B. Communicated by Professor Batrour.
2. On the Geological Relations of the Secondary and Primary Rocks
of the Chain of Mont Blanc. By Professor Forses., (This paper
appears in the present Number of this Journal.)
Monday, 4th February 1856. Right Rev. Bishop Terror, V.P., in
the Chair.
The following Communications were read :—
1. On the Turkish Weights and Measures. By Epwarp Sana, Esq.
In this paper a short account was given of the comparison of the oka
with the imperial grain weight, and of the arsheen with the inch. The
oka was stated to be 19,807 grains, so that 18 cantar of 44 oka each make
one ton one pound. The length of the arsheen was determined by com-
parison with the ebony standard of Sultan Selim. The extreme length, as
obtained by contact, was 29°890 inches, but the ends had evidently been
tampered with ; on that account the divisions of the rod were referred to ;
these gave results varying from 29°944 to 29-949, and therefore the mean,
29°946 inches, may be taken as the true length of the Turkish arsheen,
2. Observations on Polyommatus Artaxerxes, the Scotch Argus.
By Dr W. H. Lowe.
Polyommatus Artawxerwes, or the Scotch Argus, is an insect not only
of great local interest, but has attracted, and continues to attract, the no-
tice of entomologists all over the world. Among the English, and still
more among the foreign students, who annually throng our University,
there are always a considerable number who arrive in Edinburgh anxious
to see ‘the rare butterfly from Arthur’s Seat,’’ or who are commissioned
by entomological friends to obtain it. Besides, there are the still more
destructive emissaries from the London and provincial dealers in insects,
who infest the hill during the season in which it is found. But although
the situation in which this insect is principally taken is extremely cireum-
scribed, I am not aware that its numbers are materially diminished by
this continuous drain upon them. The new road now in contemplation
beneath ‘‘ Samson’s Ribs,” and through the village of Duddingston, will,
I fear, go far to exterminate it, as it will pass, I believe, through the
exact spot upon which it is found, and to which it is in a singular degree
limited.
The first published account we have of this insect is by Fabricius, in
his Systema Entomologia, 1793, under the name “ Lycena Artaxerxes,”
in which he states its habitat to be “‘ Anglia,” but without any special re-
ference to Scotland. He does this on the authority of Mr Jones of Chel-
sea, in whose cabinet a specimen then existed ; but it would appear that
Fabricius himself never saw the insect, as it was at that time a frequent
custom to insert in entomological cabinets a painted piece of card, to sup-
ply the place of an insect then believed to be too rare to afford much pro-
Proceedings of Societies. 343
bability of its being obtained. I may here mention, that naturally feeling
some interest to know who this Mr Jones of Chelsea (so often quoted by
authors) was, I applied to Mr James Wilson of Woodville, who most
obligingly wrote to Mr Adam White, of the British Museum, and through
whom we find that Mr Jones had an excellent collection of native insects,
and also a number of illustrations, coloured by himself, which are still in
existence ; but from the higher degree of excellence now attained in such
delineations, of course greatly diminished in pecuniary value, however in-
teresting they may have been at the time alluded to. It was no doubt
one of these illustrations which Fabricius availed himself of in his Syste-
ma Entomologie. We find this insect next mentioned as Papilio Ar-
taxerves by Lewin (1795), a fellow of the Linnean Society, who, like
Fabricius, refers to Mr Jones’ specimen, but adds, that it was taken in Scot-
land. Inthe Natural History of Insects, by Donovan, in 1813, we have
the first full account of this insect; and his description is so animated
and enthusiastic, that the naturalists of the Society, if not the other fel-
lows, will excuse my making one quotation from him :—* To the great
astonishment of our English collectors of natural history,” he says, ‘“ Pa-
pilio Artaxerxes, an insect heretofore of the highest possible rarity, has
been lately found in no very inconsiderable plenty in Britain. For this
interesting discovery we are indebted to the fortunate researches of our
young and very worthy friend, W. E. Leach, Esq., who met with it com-
mon on Arthur’s Seat, near Edinburgh, and also on the Pentland Hills.”
It will not be uninteresting to the fellows of this Society to know that Mr
Wilson was with Dr Leach on this occasion, and joined him in his ento-
mological researches at that time. As I have entered so far into the his-
tory of this insect, 1 must now in fairness state, that the same authority
(Donovan) mentions the existence of a specimen in the “ extensive and
valuable” cabinet of Mr Macleay, taken in Scotland, previous to Dr
Leach’s discovery. It is the same Mr Macleay whose name is associated
with another interesting, but much more widely-distributed insect, the
- Erebia Blandina, or Arran Argus. Donovan concludes with the re-
mark—‘‘ As these insects fly in the day-time, there can be little doubt
they may be sought for by the collectors with success on the hilly spot
called Arthur’s Seat, near Edinburgh.”
Polyommatus Artaxerxes, thus established as a well-known British in-
sect appears successively in the works of Mr Stephens, 1828; Rennie
(Conspectus), 1831 ; Duncan, 1837 ; Wood (illustrated catalogue), 1839 ;
Westwood, 1841; and Captain Brown, 1843; but I do not think there is
in these works any important addition to the information I have thus
thrown together.
Having endeavoured to trace rapidly, and in a manner as little tedious as
possible, the history of P. Artaxerxes, I may remark, that great as is the
interest this insect has excited among naturalists, its habits, and especially
its transformations, were until recently entirely unknown. MrR. Logan,
who resides almost on the spot on which it abounds, endeavoured some years
ago, | believe, to obtain its larve by inclosing a number of the perfect but-
terflies beneath a glass frame in his garden, in the hope that the eggs might
be deposited; but as at that time it was generally believed to feed on the
Ulex ewropeus, amidst which it may be seen to flit, the eggs, if deposited at
all, naturally perished for want of their proper nidus; and this laudable ex-
periment of course failed. The same accurate and patient observer, how-
ever, subsequently arrived at the belief that the insect preferred the He-
lianthemum vulgare, which grows luxuriantly on the south side of the
hill, remarking, that while the Ulex ewropeus abounded all over the hill,
the butterfly did not, but was confined to the south, and only where the
Helianthemum grew, frequently indeed in conjunction with the Ulea-.
344 Proceedings of Societies.
This inference has since proved correct. So lately as 1851, Mr Logan,
in an article in the Naturalist for March in that year, after describing
the P. Artaxerses, as they may be seen gaily flitting over the banks of
Arthur's Seat in the sunshine, or resting on the tall culms of grass and
other plants while quiescent, remarks: ‘‘ Strange to tell, no one knows
anything of their history; where they lay their eggs, or what the larva
feeds on, and where the inactive chrysalid passes the long, cold months of
winter, are all in mystery ;” and adds, “ the discovery of the caterpillar
and chrysalis is a point much to be desired.” Struck with these remarks,
published, too, just before the insect might be expected to make its ac-
customed annual appearance, I determined to go to Arthur’s Seat for the
express object of finding this long-looked-for chrysalis. I spent several
hours diligently examining the stems of different plants, particularly the
Ulex curopeus and the Helianthemum vulgare; the latter of which, I
frequently tore up bodily, and examined piecemeal. I did this in the be-
lief that all the Polyommati attached their chrysalids to the stems of plants,
as is indeed the usual habit of this genus, and was ignorant that any of them
burrowed in the ground. My time and patience being nearly exhausted,
I now began to dig in the loose earth which lies beneath the bushes of
furze, the shade of which precludes anything from growing beneath them.
Here I was also unsuccessful, but seeing some tufts of Helianthemum
overhanging some barren patches of earth, I continued my examination
there also, and almost immediately found several chrysalids, the appear-
ance of which left me no doubt that they were those of P. Artawerwes.
The day was now declining, and I was anxious to show my acquisitions to
Mr Logan, to whose house I immediately repaired. That gentleman
showed the greatest interest in the discovery, and, like myself, expressed
his surprise that one of the genus Polyommatus should bury its chrysalis
in the ground instead of attaching it to the stem of a plant. He further
requested me to place the chrysalids in his keepiug, that he might figure
them for a work upon which he has long been engaged, and to which this
Society has become a subscriber. A few days after, I received the said
chrysalids from Mr Logan, and he at the same mentioned that, acting on
the information I had given him, he had pursued the search for the chry-
salids, and had found them in considerable numbers. Those I had in my
own possession emerged from the chrysalis, either that day or the follow-
ing; and since that time it has, of course, become easy to note the habits
of P. Artaverwes, and a beautiful delineation of it in all its stages of de-
velopment will appear in Mr Logan’s book, whenever its appearance shall
realize the expectations of his numerous subscribers.
To go further into the descriptions of its transformations at this point,
would be to trespass on the subsequent but as yet unpublished observa-
tions of Mr Logan, and I shall therefore leave it now, to say a few words
in conclusion on Polyommatus Agestis and P. Salmacis, two insects so
nearly allied to the one before us that they have been at different times
considered to be one species. On looking at the drawings of these three
closely-allied insects, for which very faithful and beautiful illustrations I
am indebted to my friend Mr Dallas, we perceive that P. Artaxerwes is
readily enough distinguished by the conspicuous white spot in the angle
of the upper wing, while P. Agestis has a black one in nearly the same
position. These markings, though affording in themselves but slight
grounds for specific distinction, are nevertheless permanent in their cha-
racter, and even before we were acquainted with the caterpillars of the
respective insects, gave great probability to the opinion that the two were
distinct, especially when taken in conjunction with the fact that P. Artaz-
erwes is confined to Scotland and the north of England, and P. Agestis as
exclusively to the southern counties of England. Still this was matter of
ad
Proceedings of Societies. 345
opinion, and it is only now that we are enabled by our own observations
in Scotland upon P. Artawerxes, and almost at the same time by simi-
lar observations by Mr Harding and Mr Stainton in London upon P.
Agestis, to determine, as I think, finally the specific difference of the two
insects. The gentlemen I] have just named have bred P. Agestis from
the caterpillar, and find that it feeds upon Erodium cicutarium, a plant
in natural affinity and every other respect widely removed from Helian-
themum vulgare. When, therefore, to the slight but permanent differ-
ences of its external markings and habitat is added the fact that the cater-
pillar of the one feeds upon a plant so different from the food upon which
the other is found, that probably the food of the one would poison the
other, it appears to me that the specific distinctions between the two in-
sects may be regarded as established.
We have, however, P. Salmacis still remaining undetermined, its ca-
terpillar and chrysalis not having as yet been found. The chief distinction
to be remarked in its external character is the slight but peculiar areola of
white scales which surround the black spot, occupying an exactly similar
position in the upper wing as in Agestis. Although Mr Doubleday re-
gards this insect as a variety of P. Artawerxes I have always felt and still
believe it to be much more closly allied to P. Agestis. During last year
(1855) I visited Castle-Eden-Dene, the habitat of P. Salmacis, and bear-
ing in mind my observations on Arthur Seat, felt sure I should, by digging
in similar places under the tufts of Helianthemum, find the chrysalids.
In this I was unsuccessful, although the Helianthemum was most abun-
dant. The spot on which P. Salmacis is found faees the sea (the German
Ocean), and the ground is a stiff wet clay, with dense, coarse herbage,
both ill suited for burying its chrysalid, if that be its habit; nor is the
Helianthemum the prevailing plant there. Mr Wailes observes, that he
has never found it more inland than a quarter of a mile from the sea;
and although the Helianthemum is most abundant in the upper part of
the Dene, Mr Tristram, the clergyman of the district, and other residents,
assured me it was never seen except on the spot I have named, by a high
cliff of clay overhanging the sea. This certainly suggests the idea of its
being dependent on some littoral plant growing only within a certain
range of the salt water. Iobserved theAnthrocera filipendula and Pro-
cris statices flying in great numbers together with P. Salmacis, and
their chrysalids attached to the stems of plants were abundant. I did
not at the time know of Mr Harding’s observations, and that P. Agestis
fed upon Erodium cicutariwm, and, consequently, did not particularly
note whether that plant grew there ; but having been accustomed to bo-
tanical observations all my life, I think I should certainly have noticed it
if it had been the prevailing plant,—a thing moreover, which the stiff
clay soil renders improbable. What I did notice was the Geranium san-
guimeum in great quantity (the flowers filled with Ceutorhynchus geranii),
a plant not far removed in natural affinity from the one I have just named.
Altogether, I feel inclined to predict that P. Salmacis may be found to
feed on Geranium sanguineum, and to attach its chrysalids to the stems ;
but this is mere surmise, and until its transformations have been observed,
it must still remain, as it now is, an undetermined species.
3. On Solar Light, with a Description of a Simple Photometer. By
Mungo Ponton, Esq. Communicated by Mr Swan,
The first part of this communication was occupied with a detail of some
observations, made in the course of last summer, on the quantity and in-
tensity of Solar light, as compared with familiar sources of artificial flame.
The instrument employed for these observations was a simple monochro-
matic photometer, whose construction was minutely described.
346 Proceedings of Societies.
The results obtained were stated to be, that a small surface, illuminated
by mean solar light, is 444 times brighter than when it is illuminated by
a moderator lamp, and 1560 times brighter than when it is illuminated
by a wax candle (short six in the lb.),—the artificial light being in both
instances placed at two inches’ distance from the illuminated surface. It
was then pointed out, that as the electric light may be easily obtained of
a brilliancy equal to 520 wax candles, three such electric lights, placed at
two inches from a given small surface, would render it as bright as when
it is illuminated by mean sunshine.
It was thence inferred, that a stratum occupying the entire surface of
the sphere of which the earth’s distance from the sun is the radius, and
consisting of three layers of flame, each y75,th of an inch in thickness,
each possessing a brightness equal to that of such an electric light, and
all three embraced within a thickness of ;,th of an inch, would give an
amount of illumination equal in quantity and intensity to that of the sur
at the distance of 95 millions of miles from his centre.
It was then shown, that were such a stratum transferred to the surface
of the sun, where it would occupy 46,275 times less area, its thickness
would be increased to 94 feet, and it would embrace 138,825 layers of
flame, equal in brightness to the electric light ; but that the same effect
might be produced by a stratum about nine miles in thickness, embracing
72 millions of layers, each having only a brightness equal to that of a
wax candle.
The various possible causes of the light proceeding from the luminous
envelope of the sun were then considered ; and an attempt was made to
show, that the shining particles in that envelope may possibly be minute
luminiferous organisms, floating in an elastie atmosphere, each emitting
only a small amount of phosphorescence, the enormous flood of splendour
emanating from the surface of the medium being due to the combined ac-
tion of these individually feeble agents.
Monday, 18th Feb. 1856. Right Rev. Bishop Terror in the Chair.
The following Communications were read :-—
I. On certain cases of Binocular Vision. By Professor Witttam B.
Rogers. Communicated by Professor Ketnanp. (This Paper ap-
pears in the present Number of this Journal.)
2. Theory of the Free Vibration of a Linear Series of Elastic Bodies.
Part I. By Epwarp Sane, Esq.
Monday, 3d March 1856. Dr Curisrison, Vice-President, in the Chair.
The following Communieations were read :—
1. Observations on the Diatomaceous Sand of Glenshira. Part II.
Containing an Account of a number of additional undeseribed Species.
By Wiiuram Grecory, M.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Chemistry in
the University of Edinburgh.
The author, after referring to his former paper on this subject, stated
that he had continued the investigation, and that the number of unde-
scribed forms besides those formerly figured had proved so large, that the
present paper does not conclude the subject, but that a good many forms
remain for a future communication. He added, that even now, after he
had explored 600 slides of it, new forms were occasionally found.
He then gave a list of about thirty additional known species, which
had been noticed since the former paper was read, many of them having”
been last year described by himself as new fresh-water species, and others
Proceedings of Societies. 347
not having been yet described, but to be described and figured in vol. ii.
of Smith’s Synopsis. These are :—
Amphora membranacea. Navicula Westii.
» hyalina. = Hennedii.
» Salina. oS Pandura, Bréb.
Cymbella sinuata. 5 rostrata.
Amphiprora paludosa Pinhularia megaloptera.
Campylodiscus Ralfsii. x biceps.
Actinocyclus radiatus. i3 linearis.
Actinocyclus (sp.?) This is a species to - subcapitata.
be figured in Vol. II. of the Synopsis, on gracillima.
but I do not know how it is named. Pleurosigma distortum.
Actinoptychus duodenarius (new to 5s intermedium.
Britain ?) Gomphonema subtile.
Nitzschia bilobata. | Diatomella Balfouriana.
Eupodiseus tenellus, Bréb. (new to | Orthosira spinosa
Britain ?) cs mirabilis.
He stated that he had actually found and sketched the last two forms
in this deposit three years ago, but had not been able to study them fully,
till after they had been found and named, the former by Drs Greville and
Balfour, and Professor Smith, the latter by Mr Okeden. He had also
found both these forms in soils from South America, and gave his reasons
for suspecting O. mirabilis to be an abnormal state of O. spinosa.
He then proceeded to describe the following new species, of which very
exact drawings by Dr Greville were exhibited :—
1. Navicula rhombica, n. sp. | 2. Navicula maxima, n. sp.
Both of these had been figured in the former paper, but were now bet-
ter understood. NV. rhombica occurs in packs, like packs of cards.
3. Navicula formosa, n. sp. 9. Navicula Hennedii, Sm., of which the
4, », pulchra, n. sp. deposit yields very fine specimens.
5. » macula, n. sp. 10. Navicula angulosa, n. sp.
6. » latissima, n. sp. 11. e Pandura, Bréb. ?
is » Quadrata, n. sp. 12: » nitida, Sm. ?
8. », solaris, n. sp: 13. - splendida, n. sp.
li. 3 incuryata, n. sp.
Nos. 11, 12, 13, and 14, form a very remarkable panduriform group,
the first two having entire coste, like Pinnularia alpina, the last two
moniliform strie. The author, on this account, tiames the first, No. 11,
Navicula, after De Briberson, and the second doubtfully, as no deserip-
tion of N. nitida, Sm., has yet appeared. The two others are quite new.
The author here stated that he had found in this deposit, N. didyma
with cost, so that he considers it possible that all these forms may be-
long to only one species, but the point requires investigation.
15. Navicula clavata, n. sp; 24. Cocconeis radiata, n. sp.
16. Pinnularia longa; n. sp. 25. lamprosticta, n. sp.
17. a fortis, n. sp. 26. Amphora elegans, n. sp.
18. 9 Ergadensis, n. sp. 27. = rectangularis, n. sp.
19. > inflexa, n. sp. 28. - obtusa, n. sp.
e acutiuscula, n. sp. 29. ss lineata, n. sp.
21. Stauroneis amphioxys, 0. sp. 30. pS plicata, n. sp.
22. Cocconeis distans, n. sp., inaccurately | 31. ef biseriata, n. sp.
figured in Part I. 32. 5 crassa; 0. sp.
23. Cocconeis costata, n. sp., a more cha- | 33, Greyilliana, n. sp.
racteristic specimen than that
figured in Part I.
The last three form a very remarkable group, either a subgenus or a
new genus. To this group belongs also Amphora Arcus, of which a part
is figured in Part I.
34, Campylodiscus simulans, n. sp.
The author showed that this form so much resembles, in its markings,
6
348 Proceedings of Societies.
Surirella fastuosa, as figured in Part I., that these two genera probably
form but one.
35. Campylodiscus bieruciatus, m. sp. 38. Nitzschia socialis, n. sp.
36. Nitzschia distans, n. sp. 39. Amphiprora minor, n. sp.
37. A insignis, n. sp. 40. < recta, D. sp.
The remaining forms will be described on a future occasion.
2. Theory of the Free Vibration of a Linear Series of Elastic Bodies.
Part II. By Epwarp Sane, Esq.
Royal Physical Society.
Wednesday, December 26. Rosert Kaye Grevitte, Esq., LL.D.,
in the Chair.
The following Communications were read :—
1. Notices of the Saury Pike (Scomberesox Sauris, Penn.), taken in the
Firth of Forth. (Specimens were exhibited.)
Mr R. F. Logan referred to the immense influx of the Saury Pike,
Scomberesow Sauris, which visited the Firth of Forth in the beginning
of November. With regard to its food, he had not been able to find any
direct statement in our Ichthyological authors, but suspected it must con-
sist of delicate marine Anwelides, possibly of the genus Nereis and its
allies, which the fish snaps across the body with its long beak, and swal-
lows at its leisure. The earliest notice of its occurrence in Scotland seemed
fo be that of Pennant, who mentions that great numbers of these fish were
thrown ashore at Leith after a storm in November 1768 ; and the Rev.
Mr Low, in his “ Natural History of Orkney,” says, that in 1774, such a
glut of them set into Kerston Bay that they could be taken by pailfuls,
and heaps were flung ashore.
Dr J. A. Smith read an extract from the Alloa Advertiser, showing the
extraordinary abundance of these fish :—‘‘ On the afternoon of Monday
(29th October), but especially on Tuesday, and partially on Wednesday
(31st,) vast shoals of fish, of the genus Scomberesow, technically known
by the name of Saury Pike, ascended the river Forth, and were gladly
welcomed by the citizens of Alloa, more especially by the humbler classes of
the community. The river Forth, betwixt Kincardine and Alloa, during
the days above mentioned (particularly Tuesday), was literally swarming
with these fish, and millions of them have from first to last been captured.
Hundreds of people lined both banks of the river on successive days, and
came away with bags, baskets, and boxes, laden with the herrings ; hun-
dreds of young people, while wading along the margins of the river,
picked up armsful of the fish; parties cruizing about on the river ga-
thered up the herrings as rapidly as they chose with their hands, from
the sides of their small boats; parties in Alloa, Kincardine, Kennet,
Alva, Tillicoultry, and Stirling, obtained cart-loads of them, and sold
them to ready purchasers; and numbers of the fish were destroyed by
the paddles of the Stirling steamers.” He believed they had been
found generally along the coasts of the Firth; the great body of fish,
however, appeared at the upper part, which was narrow, and perhaps,
from confining the shoals, brought them more distinctly under the no-
tice and reach of the people. A. Whyte, Esq., Queensferry, sent him
several specimens, and in a note, dated the 14th November, refers to them
io SY .
j ees —-
Proceedings of Societies. 349
having entirely and suddenly disappeared a short time before. One old
fisherman had known them for upwards of fifty years, but only once (about
forty-five years ago) had he seen them in such quantities as this year. A
few specimens were next taken about the 19th of November, and on the
22d a considerable number were caught in the herring-nets off Queens-
ferry. The east or north-east wind was very prevalent before and during
the first appearance of these fish; it then veered to the westward, and the
fish disappeared ; and, on its again changing to the east, we had their re-
currence at the latter part of November, to which he had just alluded ;
after which they finally disappeared. Dr Parnell, apparently, had never
met ia them. Vide “ Essay on the Fishes of the Forth,’ published
in 1838.
2. On the Galactite of Hardinger ; with Analysis of Scottish Natrolites.
By M. Forster Heppte, M.D.
After submitting six analyses of Galactite (from the following localities
—two from Glenfarg, red and white; from Campsie; two from Bishop-
town, white and pink; and from Glenarbuck), Dr Heddle showed that
this substance was merely Natrolite ; lime, in proportions from *16 up to
4312, replacing a portion of the soda, giving to the mineral its charac-
teristic whiteness and opacity, and doubtless preventing its assuming the
definite form, which the pure mineral, under favourable circumstances,
adopts.
Dr Heddle next submitted an analysis of a green mineral from Bow-
ling Quarry, Cochney, and Bishoptown, which has been sold under the
name of ‘‘ Stellite,’’ and which Professor R. D. Thomson considered Pec-
tolite ; this was shown to be also Natrolite; lime was here present, as
also magnesia and oxide of iron as impurities.
The analysis of a specimen from Dumbarton Moor also showed 3°76
per cent. of lime, so that out of six localities, no specimen was free of
this base.
_ The Bin above Burntisland and North Berwick were also mentioned as
localities of this mineral; no analysis of specimens from these places
were however submitted.
At Glenfarg alone in Scotland does this mineral occur distinctly erys-
tallized, the form being o m of Brooke and Miller.
3. Notice of a variety of Cod, termed the “Lord Fish.” By T.
Spencer Coppoip, M.D.
This variety consisted in a remarkable shortening of the body, arising
from the coalescence of a great number of the vertebre immediately suc-
ceeding the bones of the head. In the present example, twenty-one were
united together, and the shortening thus produced had given to the animal
a curiously grotesque appearance. The middle dorsal fin was shortened,
and the lateral longitudinal line arched very suddenly over the pectoral
fins. Length, about 20 inches; depth, 8 inches. It corresponded very
closely with the figure and description of this variety given in the-second
edition of Yarrell’s ‘‘ British Fishes,” vol. ii., p. 229. The notice was
accompanied with a preparation of the spine, and a coloured wax cast re-
presenting the external characters. ;
Mr George Logan exhibited a drawing of a smaller specimen of the
same variety, which he had obtained several years ago from the Firth of
Forth, near North Berwick.
4. Notice of a Curious Habit of the Common Seal. By Mr Witu1am
M‘Intosn. Communicated by T. Spencer Corzoup, M.D.
This communication, from an eye-witness, minutely described the man-
NEW SERIES.—VOL. Ill. NO. I1.—APRIL 1856. 26
390 Proceedings of Societies.
ner in which the common seal caught and devoured its prey,—in this
instance, a ballan wrasse, which the seal held in its fore-paws, and care-
fully denuded of its skin before devouring.
5. Notice of the Ferruginous Duck, or White-Eyed Duck (Nyroca leu-
copthalmos, Flem.,) recently shot near Musselburgh. By Joun
Atex. Smita, M.D.—(The specimen was exhibited).
The bird, an adult male, measured 162 inches from the point of the
bill to the tip of tail; and 273 inches in breadth from point to point of
its extended wings. Its weight was 17 ounces. The trachea, showing its
peculiar expansion in the middle part, was exhibited; the stomach, a
strong and muscular gizzard, was filled with seeds of the oat, mixed with
small pieces of quartz and gravel. ‘The bird is an occasional winter visi-
tant of England, but appears to have been very rarely seen in Scotland.
6. Dr J. A. Smith mentioned that, during the months of November
and December, several flocks of the Mealy Redpoll, Linota canescens,
Yar., had been observed in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and num-
bers had been taken by the bird-catchers. These birds were larger in size
than the Lesser Redpoll, Linota linaria, Yar., none of which had been
taken along with them. Specimens were exhibited, varying in brightness
of colour: in some, the cheeks, breast, and the white or greyish rump,
were tinged with rose-red; some had the plumage much edged with white.
They had not been found in such abundance in this neighbourhood for
many years. A collector informed Dr Smith he had tried in vain to get
specimens from all the bird-catchers for the last two or three years.
Dr Smith also exhibited a Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, recently
killed in the estuary of the Tay.
Wednesday, January 23. Wit1ram H. Lowe, M.D., President, in
the Chair.
1. Note on the Late Stay of Swallows in 1855. By Rozert F. Locan, Esq.
The late stay of the swallow tribe in this country during the past
autumn had, Mr Logan stated, considering the earliness and severity of
the winter, been somewhat remarkable. It was well known that the ordi-
nary period of the departure of the red-fronted or chimney swallow (Hir-
undo rustica), was the end of September or beginning of October, and that
of the house martin (Hirundo urbica) about the same time, or a few days
later ; but last autumn numbers remained during October, and towards
the end of the month a small flock of martins were to be seen every morn-
ing, briskly hawking for insects, over the village of Duddingston. He
saw some of them so late as the 10th of November, flying high in the air,
and circling about with as much apparent ease as in the middle of sum-
mer. In previous years, both species had occurred in England quite as
late, and in some instances later, than the cases now cited; but it was
rarely they were seen so late in Scotland. Mr Logan quoted instances
on record of these birds having been seen in England during each of the
winter months, and considered that it became a curious and difficult ques-
tion to decide whether or not any of these might have been instances of
reanimated hybernation. At all events, the facts went very far to prove
that swallows could occasionally remain in this country through the winter.
2. Notice of the Arctic Skua (Lestris Parasitica, Tem.), shot in Skye
in the Summer of 1855. By Prtrer A. Dassauvinte, Esq.
The specimen on the table was procured in Skye by John Richardson,
Esq., Pencaitland. It appeared to be in the adult summer plumage.
The two centre tail feathers gradually tapered to a point, and exceeded
Proceedings of Societies. ool
the others by eight inches. The season at which this specimen was taken
was not a little remarkable, as it was not known to breed even on our most
northern stations, and in the sparing notices of its occurrence it had ap-
peared in the autumn or winter.
3. On Mesolite ; Faréelite (Mesole) ; and Antrimolite. By
M. Forster Heppie, M.D.
By a series of analyses of these minerals, Dr Heddle showed that Me-
solite and Mesole were not only distinet from Scolezite and Natrolite,
but also from each other ; the Antrimolite of Thomson he referred to
Mesolite, under which mineral also he considered that the Harringtonite
of Thomson would fall.
The nomenclature of these zeolites seemed to be in a sad state of confu-
sion. We had Mesotype, Mesolite, Mesole. Dr Heddle proposed that
the unmeaning Mesotype be dropped for the expressive Natrolite; that
Mesolite, as being in reality the intermediate mineral, be retained, and
that Mesole give place to F'aréelite, from the locality whence we obtained
the choicest specimens of this substance.
From their composition, these minerals rank as follows :—
Natrolite, Na O, SiO, + Al, O,, SiO, + 2 HO.
Faréelite, (Na O, Ca O?) SiO,° + 3 Al, O,, 2Si0, + 8 HO.
Mesolite, (Na O, Ca O?) SiO,° + 3 (AL, O,, Si0,) + 8 HO.
Scolezite, Ca O, Si O; + Al, 03, SiO, + 3 HO.
4. Mr David Page exhibited specimens of the Woodocrinus Macro-
dactylus, a new genus of Encrinite recently figured and described by M,
de Koninck. This rare and beautiful crinoid had as yet been found only
in the upper beds of the carboniferous limestone in Yorkshire, and had
been named by M. de Koninck after its discoverer, Edward Wood, Esq.,
Richmond, one of the most zealous and indefatigable of English collectors.
The distinguishing features of the new encrinite were—its perfect sym-
metry of arrangements, the body and arms, when extended, presenting a
remarkable resemblance to the free-floating star-fishes. Its base consisted
of five pieces, which, branching into ten sub-basals, again subdivided
into twenty tapering fingers elegantly fringed with minute plumules.
The stem was also peculiar in its jointings, the pieces being of equal size
in the young stage, alternately large and small in the growing stage,
and in the mature form presenting a double alternation of larger with
smaller jointings. In few genera of the family were the parts so elegantly
and symmetrically disposed ; and from the peculiar construction of the
cap and fingers, ther> was little difficulty in distinguishing the Woodo-
crinite from other species. As yet it had been found only on the upper
verge of the limestone, and immediately under the millstone-grit of York-
shire; but he (Mr Page) had little doubt that the Scottish mountain
limestone (which had yielded all the English forms) would also be found
to contain the Woodocrinus. At all events, the Petalodus, which ap-
peared to be a regular accompanying fossil in Yorkshire, had been found
both at Carluke, at Bathgate, and in Fifeshire. ‘
5. Mr Page next exhibited some new Crustacean Forms from the For-
far flagstones, or base of the Old Red Sandstone in Scotland. The first
of these forms presented a remarkable union of phyllopod and isopod cha-
racters; was a small creature found in shoals among the fragments of
fucoid or aquatic plants ; and, from its curious caterpillar-like aspect, he
proposed to name it provisionally Kampecaris Forfarensis. The second
was a larger and still more remarkable form, presenting phyllopod, pe-
cilipod, and xiphosarus characters. To the head of a eurypterus was
united the body of a lobster, and to this lobster-like body was attached
2c2
352 Proceedings of Societies.
the sword-like tail of a king-erab. Its organs of motion were a pair, on
each side, of long-jointed arms; and from fragments found on the slabs,
it appeared to be furnished with minutely serrated jaw-feet, like the king-
erab and fossil Pterygotus. This fossil appeared to be quite new to Pala-
ontology ; and Mr Page proposed to name it provisionally Stylonarus
Powriensis, in allusion to its style-shaped tail, and after its discoverer,
Mr Powrie of Reswallie. A third form which Mr Page exhibited was
from the shaly mudstones of Upper Lanark, a series of strata apparently
on a somewhat different horizon, but containing, like the Forfarshire beds,
pterygotus, eurypterus, and other undescribed crustacea. This form Mr
Page proposed to erect into a new family (Slimonia, after the discoverer
of these Lanark crustacea) ; but as he intended to bring the subject be-
fore the next meeting of the Society, in conjunction with what was now
being done in London by Messrs Salter and Huxley, he would not dwell
longer on these new discoveries than merely remark—/jirst, that they
opened up altogether new views of crustacean affinities and arrangements ;
and, second, that their discovery established in Britain a great zone of
crustacean life, either on the upper verge of Siluria or on the lower
verge of Devonia, hitherto unknown to geology.
6. On recent Discoveries in Helminthology. By James Warpror, Esq.
Mr Wardrop gave a resumé of all. that was known on this interesting
and difficult subject.
Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
Thursday, 10th January 1856. Col. Mapvpen, President, in the Chair.
The following Papers were read :—
1. On some species of Epilobium. By Carzes C. Basrneton, M.A.,
F.R.S., &e.
The author directed attention chiefly to the plants included under the
names of Epilobium tetragonum and E. alpinwm. Under these have
been embraced several species which require to be separated. The cha-
racters to be considered in the arrangement of Epilobia are founded on
the stigmas, whether divided or undivided, and the mode of extension of
the plants from year to year. The following is the arrangement of Bri-
tish Epilobia, as proposed by the author :—
I, Turionate ; that is producing radical suckers.
1. Epilobium hirsutum.
II. Stoles autumnal, rosulate. Stem erect.
a. Stem mostly round. Stigma 4-cleft.
2. E. parviflorum. 3. E.montanum. 4. E. lanceolatum.
b. Stem with raised lines. Stigma entire.
5. E. roseum. 6. E. tetragonwin.
III. Stoles zstival, long-jointed throughout, with small leaves. Pri-
mary stem erect. Stigma usually entire.
7. E. obscurum.
1V. Stoles xstival, long-jointed, with small leaves, ending im autumnal
bulbs, which beceme detached. Base of stem cord-like.-
8. E. palustre.
¥. Stoles xstival, leafy, not rosulate..
9. BE. alpinum.
Proceedings of Societies. 399
VI. Stoles estival, leafy, not rosulate.
10. EL. anagallidifolium.
VII. Stoles estival, scale-bearing, not rosulate.
ll. E. alsinifolium.
The author then enters upon full details of the characters, and de-
scribes the following species :—EZ. tetragonum, L., E. obscurum, Schreb.,
E. virgatum, Grenier and Godron, E. alpinum, L., E. anagallidifolium,
Lamarck, and E. alsinifolium, Vill.
Finally, he calls attention to the occurrence of the Epilobiwm rosmari-
nifolium of Hencke in Perthshire, the station for it, as given by Mr John
Robertson, being ‘‘ inaccessible rocks that overhang the Tarf, a mountain
stream in Glen Tilt.”
2. Observations on the Pollen Tube, its growth, histology, and
physiology. By P. Martin Duncan, M.B., Lond., F.G.S., &e.,
Colchester.
3. Notes on the Chaulmoogra seeds of India. By Cartes Murcntson
M.D.,.M.R.C.P.L,
These seeds are furnished by the Chaulmoogra odorata, Rox., or Gy-
nocardia odorata. The plant is referred by Lindley to the Natural Or-
der Pangiacez, which, by some, is considered a section of Papayacex.
The seeds are sold in the bazaars in India, at about 13s. 4d. per ewt.
The tree is poisonous, but the seeds yield, by expression, a bland fixed
oil having a peculiar smell and taste. The seeds are used by the natives
of India in various cutaneous diseases, For this purpose, they are beaten
up with ghee or clarified butter, and applied to the diseased cutaneous sur-
face. The expressed oil is prized in the treatment of leprosy in India.
The surfaces of the ulcers are dressed with the oil, while a six-grain pill
of the seed is given three times a day. The dose of the latter is gradually
increased to twice the original quantity. The expressed oil is sometimes
given internally in doses of 5 or 6 minims. Too large doses are apt to
ee nausea and vomiting. The Chaulmoogra is also prized by the
Jhinese.
4. On the Gutta Percha Plant of India. By Dr Ciecuorn.
Professor Balfour read the following extracts from a letter from Dr
Cleghorn at Madras, dated 27th November 1855 :—‘‘ In the accompany-
ing Madras Atheneum of 22d November, you will find further particu-
lars regarding Peninsular Gutta Percha. Besides the specimens forwarded
from Travancore by General Cullen, and from the Neilgherries by Col.
Cotton, I have received samples from two coffee planters in Malabar,
showing that the tree extends from Trevandrum to Tellicherry, and with
200 trees growing in one locality, it may reasonably be supposed that the
Isonandra is found along the whole line of Ghauts.”
The following is an extract from the Jurors’ report on the Madras Ex-
hibition :—
“From different parts of the presidency valuable specimens have been
received possessing the useful properties of Caoutchouc and Gutta Percha,
in a greater or less degree. The exhibition of the inspissated gum elastic
juice of a number of trees, from different localities, and prepared in differ-
ent ways, renders it probable that there are a number of similar ve-
getable productions, which may be advantageously introduced into com-
merce.
‘* General Cullen has forwarded a drawing and description of a large
forest tree, abounding at the foot of the Ghauts, N.E. of Trevandrum.
The plant delineated is evidently one of the Sapotacee, and the Malayan
854 Proceedings of Societies.
name is ‘ pauchonthee.’ The product, of which a good sample is for-
warded, on examination bears a strong resemblance to Gutta Percha, both
in external appearance and mechanical properties. It appears to the
Jury, that this gum elastic is possessed of valuable properties.”
The editor of the Madras Atheneum remarks :-—
‘* We have seen the product which General Cullen has sent to Madras
Museum, and it resembles the best of the crude gum imported from the
Straits. Its outer surface is brownish-red, and mottled, but this deep
tinge may probably have been given to it by the plantain leaf which it
was wrapped in; a fresh fracture has a cream-yellow colour, slightly
tinged with red. The fracture is smooth but conchoidal, and it is plastic
under the heat of the hand. It has been ascertained to be a perfect non-
conductor, and, possessing this quality, could be applied to all the uses
for which the true Gutta Percha is adapted for isolating the wires of the
electric telegraph,” &c.
5. Notice of the Flowering of an American Aloe (Agave americana).
By Josrrn Lister, F.R.C.S.E. Communicated by Prof. Batrour.
A large American aloe, which there is good reason for believing to be
at least fifty years old, growing at Upton in Essex, this year (1855) sent
up a flowering stem about 20 feet in height, the flowers of which attained
their full perfection in the latter part of September, about three months
after the first appearance of the stem. Up to the present season the
growth of the plant had consisted in the annual unfolding of a few leaves
from the central bud, while at the same time a small offshoot was ocea-
sionally sent out from the portion of the stem below the surface of the
ground ; these offshoots resembling their parent in their mode of growth
when transplanted into separate pots. This year, however, the aloe
flowered, as aforesaid, with a mighty effort, which appeared to exhaust
all its energies, so that the huge fleshy leaves, which before stood firm
and erect, gradually shrunk, shrivelled, and drooped as the process of in-
florescence advanced, and the plant became a mere ghost of its former
self, except as regarded the addition of the magnificent flower-stem.
Some weeks ago a small offshoot appeared above the earth in the pot,
and, on examining this when in England a few days since, I observed, to
my great surprise, that instead of being, like its predecessors, a small
leafy repetition of its parent, it bore no leaves, but two flowers like those
produced a few months previously by the central stem. As it was evident
that the effort of flowering had so completely exhausted the aloe that it
would not live another season, it was determined to destroy it; and, the
flower-stem having been sawn off, the plant was turned out of the pot,
so as to afford me an opportunity of tracing the flowering offshoot
to the part from which it sprung. Below the surface this offshoot
consisted of a succulent under-ground stem, about 10 inches long, con-
nected with the under-ground part of the main plant. It now further ap-
peared that there were about a dozen or more other offshoots struggling
upwards through the earth towards the surface, which they had not yet
reached, terminated by pale green buds, which I found to contain, in the
case of two which I dissected, rudimentary flowers within the scales of the
buds. Thus, the whole constitution of the aloe appears to have been re-
markably affected with a tendency to flowering; and just as the part
above ground, instead of producing, as usual, a few leaves, shot forth this
year a stem with a multitude of flower-buds, so the under-ground portion
of the plant, instead of sending out, as usual, a few (one or two) sprouts,
terminating in leaf-buds, this year produced many (a dozen or more) off-
shoots ending in flower-buds, and destitute of leaves.
Proceedings of Societies. 355
Professor Balfour remarked that several specimens of American aloe had
bloomed in England last year. The first Agave americana which grew
and blossomed in the open air in Britain was in the garden of the late
James Yates at Salcombe, Devonshire, about the year 1814. In 1855 four
plants of the Agave are stated to have bloomed in different localities at
Salcombe.
6. On the Flowering of Plants, dc., in the Isle of Wight. By Dr T.
Bei Sauter.
7. List of Plants in Flower in the open air in the neighbourhood of
Ryde, Isle of Wight, in November 1855. By Dr T. Bett Satter.
8. On the Flora of Sleaford and the neighbourhood. By Joun
Lowe, Esq.
9. Notice of the occurrence of Silene dichotoma, Ehrhart, in the
neighbourhood of Gainsborough. By Joun Lowe, Esq.
The plant was gathered by Mr Lowe on the Trent Bank at Morton, near
Gainsborough, in 1853, and was then referred by him to a variety of S.
nutans, but it has since been ascertained to be S. dichotoma, and Mr Bab-
ington confirms this view. It has probably been introduced with foreign
corn or linseed, and may be placed in the same category with such plants
as Echinospermum Lappula, Amaranthus Blitum, &c.
Thursday, 14th February 1856. Colonel Mappen in the Chair.
Professor Balfour exhibited specimens of a spherical lichen sent by Sir
Walter Trevelyan, and read the following letter from that gentleman on
the subject :—
**T send you specimens of a remarkable form of Parmelia saxatilis,
which I met with on the exposed chalk downs of Dorsetshire, where I had
found it many years ago; and my attention was again drawn to it on see-
ing in the Paris Exhibition specimens of Lecanora esculenta, to which it
struck me that what I had before found in Dorset bore much resemblance.
I therefore took the opportunity, soon after my return to England, of
going again to the spot to search for specimens, and on the 14th of last
December I collected a considerable number on Melbury Hill, near
Shaftesbury. I have not had an opportunity of comparing them with
specimens of Lecanora esculenta and afinis of Lindley’s Vegetable
Kingdom, and Berkeley in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, but I have little
doubt that those and similar plants mentioned by other authors as occur-
ring on the elevated plains of Tartary, America, Siberia, &c., are to be
accounted for in the same way, viz., that a small piece of lichen (in this
case of P. sawatilis) carried by the wind from a tree or rock at a distance,
is lodged amongst the short grass of the doune or elevated plain (steppe),
and there continues to vegetate, and, being liable to be rolled about by
the wind, forms a nucleus, round which the plant increases on all sides,
and thus forms the globular masses. Their appearance in great quanti-
ties, as described by some writers, and esteemed sometimes by the natives
of the countries where they are used as food as miraculous, is to be explained
by their being carried together by a high wind prevailing for many hours or
days in one direction. The day on which I collected them was very stormy,
and I observed many instances of their being rolled along the grass by the
wind. I have sent specimens of them to Dr Lindley, Mr Berkeley, and Sir
W. Hooker. Idonot know what conclusions the two former have come to,
9
506 Proceedings of Societies.
but I am satisfied that Sir W. Hooker is correct in considering it a form of
P. saxatilis. I at first thought they were formed round the droppings of
sheep, but on more careful examination this does not appear to be the case,
there being no foreign substance in the interior, as was, I think, also ob-
served to be the case by Eversmann in Tartarian plants, as quoted in last
edition of Lindley’s Vegetable Kingdom, which, however, I have not here
to refer to.”’
Professor Balfour stated that a paper on this subject had since been pub-
lished in the Gardener’s Chronicle, in which the Rey. Mr Berkeley refers
the lichen to a very curious form of Parmelia cesia, of which he can find no
trace in any work to which he has access.
The following Communications were read, viz. :—
1. On Spores. By Cuartes Jenner, Esq. (This paper appears in
the present Number of this Journal). f
2. On the Effects of the Frost in the Winter of 1855 on the Furze
and Broom. By Dr Grucurist, Royal Lunatic Asylum, Montrose.
In early spring, the author observed that in the eastern part of Forfar-
shire, lying between the sea and the Grampians, the common furze was
so completely withered, that in a journey of 12 miles scarcely a green
twig was seen, even where acres of ground were covered with the plant.
Where the furze was protected by hedgerows and plantations, the destruc-
tion was equally complete.
In the same district, the broom did not suffer at all from the effects of
the frost. On Montrose Links (close to the sea), the furze escaped with-
out injury, which may be accounted for by the fact that the thermometer
there did not fall so low in winter by 10° or 15°, as in the more inland
district above referred to.
3. Note on the Connection between the Chemical and Morphological
Characters of Plants. By J. Warprop, Esq.
Plants are arranged by the systematist into a variety of groups, the
principle of division being their morphological characters. But their
sensible properties and medicinal virtues afford other principles of divi-
sion by which they may be, and have in some sense been, classed into
groups, which, generally speaking, coincide with those formed on the
morphological principle. This result indicates a correspondence of chemi-
eal composition and morphological structure in the economy of the vege-
table kingdom ; for the different sensible properties of plants and their
varying influence on the physiological action of animal tissues are to be
held due to distinctions in their constituent matter.
May we then expect, in addition, to find that the distinctions deter-
mined by the unscientific but crucial tests of sense and medicine are
satisfied by the rigorous results of analysis, reducible to scientific ex-
pression ?- Can we establish a consilience of chemical and morphological
constitution by formulating the distinctive chemical composition of groups,
and presenting the formule as chemical characters coinciding and co-
ordinate with the morphological? This is a question of the perfectibility
of chemical science, but already the attempt to obtain a general and dis-
tinctive chemical expression for a morphologically distinct group, and to
show that a definite form is associated with a definite composition, has
been initiated with a success, which, if small, is at least promising.
The possibility of obtaining a generic or ordinal chemical character
depends on one of two conditions. 1. On the presence of some one iden-
tical constituent in every individual of the group, in which case the em-
—
Proceedings of Societies. 307
pirical formule of the common constituent would present itself in the
common chemical character of the group producing it. This may be ex-
pected to occur the more frequently the less extensive is the group, é.e.
the fewer kinds of plants it contains, and may hence be the rule in genera.
Veratrine in the Colchicacee, Myrosine in the Crucifere, and Ericoline
in the Ericacez, are examples in the naturalorders. 2. It depends on the
ability of chemical theory to detect, where it exists, the same rational
constitution in different constituents, and thus to generalize their differ-
ent empirical formule into a common rational formula. The general
theoretical formula would be the chemical character of the group as a
whole, the individual formule, the respective characters of its subordinate
members. This condition may be expected to be the more frequently
necessary, the more extensive is the group, and hence it may be the rule
in the natural orders. The series of chemical principles whose constitu-
tion is thus generalized into an ordinal character would have a repre-
sentative substance in each species or genus of the order, though in each
it may be one different from all the others. Were the bases of the So-
lanacee, for instance, ultimately found to have the same compound radi-
cal, to be homologous with each other, to be typologous with each other,
or convertible into each other by substitution, or, by some other theory,
to be reducible to a common expression, while each genus would possess
a distinctive chemical character in the particular base found in it, all the
bases together would concur in one general formula to furnish a combin-
ing and distinctive character of the order. Similarly with the Labiate
oils. In neither of these cases indeed is this result as yet realized, because
the constitution of neither the bases nor the oils is as yet known. But
that it may be realized, we are warranted by analogy to expect, for in
what analysis has already effected in other groups, there are indications
that the artificial productions of the laboratory, allied by homology, &c.
into series, actually find a parallel in related natural constituents distri-
buted through a group of allied plants. The successive genera of an order
do sometimes, in their analyses, present a series of constituents, not iden-
tical, but analogous in properties, which, when rationalized, form a che-
mical series not empirically, but theoretically the same in constitution.
The general formula expressing what is common to the whole series of
constituents stands in the character of the order throughout which they
are found ; while the particular formula expressive of an individual mem-
ber of the series is the character of the corresponding genus by which it
is secreted. The Tannines of the Rubiacee, according to Rochleder’s
analysis, have the same carbo-hydrogen radical, with quantities of oxygen
varying with the different genera. Those of the Ericacee repeat the
same phenomenon, their radical having two equivalents less of hydrogen.
The establishment of the coincidence of a particular chemical composi-
tion with a particular morphological structure would have important re-
sults :-—
(1.) It would afford the strongest evidence of the ‘‘ naturalness” of
genera and of the falsity of development hypotheses.
(2.) It would aid the systematist in proportion to the discrimination and
certainty of the chemical processes and results.
(3.) The study of chemical constituents, on which so many changes are
rung by nature, through a series of allied plants, would be calculated to
reveal their rational constitution in at least not a less degree than their
artificial metallic and other compounds, now so much and so deservedly
investigated.
(4.) When the correspondence of form and composition has been finally
established as an empirical law, and its details worked out, it will then
be more seasonable than it is now for the venturous speculator to inquire,
558 Proceedings of Socicties.
if there be not thereby supplied some grounds on which he may speculate
a physical theory of the second causes of organic forms.
4, Continuation of Notice of some of the contents of the Museum at
the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. By Professor Batrour.
Thursday, 13th March 1856. Professor Batrour, V.P., in the Chair.
The following Communications were read :—
1. Notes on the Flora of Perth. By Dr W. Lauper Linpsay.
2. On the Occurrence of Cladophora repens (J. Agardh) in Malahide,
near Dublin. By A. C. Marneay, Esq.
“The plant to which I have to direct attention is one of great interest,
not only from the very small number of specimens hitherto obtained on
the British Coasts, but also from the connection in character between
these specimens and the Mediterranean form of the plant, described by
Agardh in his Algw Mediterranee, and quoted by Dr Harvey as being
doubtfully identical with the British form. Harvey first described the
plant as British, from a specimen in the Herbarium of Trinity College,
Dublin, one of four plants obtained by Miss Turner on the shores of Jer-
sey in 1846, adding to his description the remark, that since that time the
plant had not been noticed, and that to Miss Turner was due the credit of
having added the plant to the British Flora. It appears, however, from
the specimen now exhibited, that Mr M‘Calla collected the plant in Ire-
land in 1841, and that to him, therefore, is due the credit of its discovery
in this country. When he gathered it, he considered it as Conferva
Brownii, and communicated specimens to Professor Balfour under that
name. ‘The specimens are now in the Herbarium of the University of
Edinburgh.
“ Harvey, in his Phycologia Britannica, speaking of the Mediterranean
form of the plant, says,— Possibly the reference to the Mediterranean
Conferva simplex of J. Agardh may be incorrect, and yet I have little
hesitation in uniting our plant with that species. They agree in every
respect, except the length of the joints, which, in the Mediterranean
plant, are shorter than in ours, and the slight discrepancy seems scarcely
sufficient to separate plants so closely allied in so many remarkable fea-
tures. This slight doubt as to the British form of Cladophora repens
being the same species as that described by J. Agardh, is entirely dis-
pelled by the specimens now shown from Ireland, in which the arti-
culations, although variable, are in general shorter than in the Jersey
specimens, and intermediate in size between Agardh’s plant and that de-
scribed by Harvey.
‘« T have to thank Dr Greville for his kindness in communicating to me
the result of his examination of the plant, which confirmed the opinion I
had previously formed concerning it.”
3. On the British species of Arctium. By Cuaries C. Basineton,
M.A., F.R.S., &e.
The author thinks that we possess five well-marked species of Arctium
in this country, namely, A. tomentosum, A. majus, A. intermedium, A.
minus, and A. pubens. In describing these species, the points to be
chiefly attended to are, the arrangement of the capitula, particularly on
the central stem of the plant, the form of the heads and their size, the
shape and direction of the phyllaries in the inner and outer rows, the
proportion between the upper and lower part of the tubular florets, and
the relative length of the phyllaries and florets.
(1.) Arctium tomentosum, Pers, Heads subcorymbose, long-stalked,
Proceedings of Societies. 359
spherical, and closed in fruit, much webbed (purplish), phyllaries falling
short of the florets, subulate, inner row longest, and broad, inflated upper i
part of florets a little shorter than the lower part. A. Bardana, Engl.
Bot., t. 2478; A. Lappa, 6 Linn. Fl. Suec.; A. Lappa, Fl. Dan., t. 642.
_ (2.) A. majus, Schkuhr. Heads subcorymbose, long-stalked, hemi-
spherical, and open in fruit, glabrous (green), phyllaries equalling or
exceeding the florets, subulate, inner row shorter than the others, subcy-
lindrical upper part of florets more than half as long as the lower part.
Lappa officinalis, Reich. Icon. Fl. Germ., xv. 54, t. 812.
(3.) A. intermedium, Lange. Heads racemose, subsessile, ovate, closed
in fruit, slightly webbed, phyllaries equalling or exceeding the florets,
subulate, inner row lanceolate, shorter than the others, subcylindrical
upper part of the florets equalling the lower part. Reich. fil, Icon. Fl.
Germ., xv. 54, t. 812.
(4.) A. minus, Schkuhr. Heads racemose, shortly-stalked, spherical,
slightly contracted at the mouth in fruit, slightly webbed (greenish),
phyllaries falling short of the florets, subulate, inner row equalling the
others, subcylindrical upper part of the florets about equalling the
lower part. A. Lappa, Engl. Bot., t. 1228; Reich. Icon. Fl. Germ.,
xv. 53, t. 811.
(5.) A. pubens, Bab. Heads subracemose, stalked, hemispherical, and
open in fruit, much webbed (green), phyllaries equalling the florets subu-
late, inner row equalling the others and gradually subulate, subeylin-
drical upper part of the florets equalling the lower part.
4. Suggestions for Observations on the Influence of the Poison of Epi-
demic Cholera on Vegetation. By Dr W. Lauper Linpsay.
5.—Register of the Flowering of certain Plants in the Royal Botanic
Garden, from 14th February to 13th March 1856, as compared with
the jive preceding Years. By Mr M‘Nas.
| 1856. 1855. 1854, 1853. | 1852. 1851.
Jan. 24 | Jan. 24 | Jan. 28 | Jan. 17 |
ESOP 15 VES
Galanthus nivalis, . .j|Feb.14 Mar. 2
Eranthis hyemalis, . .| ... J4] ... 2} ... 26)Feb. 1
Corylus Avellana,. . .| ... 15 £°21)'} Marsl0: |. Mar.'94) > 5.5284) 6
Erica herbacea, .. .| ... 15! 5 | Feb. 20} Jan.28 | ... 24| ...16
Hepatica-triloba, ... .| ...16| ... 7 |Jan. 20 | Feb. 2 | |
Rhododendron atrovirens,| ... 16 Apr. 6 |Feb.18) ... 1 Jan.14! ...2 |
Garrya elliptica, . . .| .. 18 |
Crocus Susianus, . . .j| ... 18 |Mar. 5 | Feb. 14 | Mar. 8 | Feb. 3 | Jan. 26
Daphne Mezereum, . .| ... 19 | Apr. 6| ....18 | Feb. 1 |Jan.21] ... 28}
Arabis albida, . . . .| ... 24} ... 8| ... 15 | Mar.15 | Feb.18 | Feb. 7 |
Tussilago alba,. . . .| «... 24 | Mar.1o | LA ste oe ... 2f | Jan. 26 |
Crocus vernus, vars., . . eye) ene Onl ance, 2 |. 1a fe eons
oS a ae oo ee en 2 me Cg Meee 9 erie er
Symplocarpus fetidus, . |... 26 .20|Mar. 3| ...16| ... 20| Feb. 4
Leucojum vernum, . .|Mar. 1| ... 3/|Feb.15/ ... 21 | ... 21 | Jan. 20
Aubretia grandiflora, . eo Apr. S soo 1? | eeb.; Li Mar 18 || Mar ot
Nordmannia cordifolia,.| ... 8 | ... 9 | Mar. 1 Mar.24 10 | Feb. 20
Dondia Epipactas,. . .| ...10) ..: 9| ... 1] 12.25]... 8 |Jan. 4
Anemone Pulsatilla, . sue 10} 4) 2214 | Apr... 3d |Feb. 21-| Apr.35
Pulmonaria angustifolia, 11 | ... 20) ... 19 |Mar.20 }Mar. 1
Symphytum caucasicum,| ...12|) ...10) ... 11 | ... 26 Feb. 2 | Mar.23
Tussilago Farfara, . .| ... 12 | ase Pi ae bee L Apres | ... 21 | Feb. 19
6. Continuation of Account of some of the contents of the Musewm
at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. By Prof. Batrour.
560 Scientific Intelligence.
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
ZOOLOGY.
“ Distribution of British Land-Shells.—The French have ever been re-
markable for their attention to natural history, even under the most dis-
advantageous circumstances. Examples of this are recorded in the his-
tory of the great expedition to Egypt under Napoleon I., and of the more
recent French expedition to Algeria, We have now, in the Revue et
Magazin de Zoologie, for December 1855, a contribution to Crimean zoo-
logy by Dr L. Raymond, known by his researches made during the Alge-
rian expedition. These are published by M. Bourguignat in his ‘*‘ Amen-
ités Malacologiques,” and consist of a list of the land-shells of the genera
Helix and Bulimus, observed during the last winter in the East, among
which some new species are described. The following British species
occur in the localities given below :—
. H. carthusiana. Very common at Gallipoli, Constantinople, Balkan,
arna.
H. pisana. Constantinople, in the cemeteries, Silivri, on the shores of
the Sea of Marmora.
Hl. virgata. Gallipoli, Constantinople, Bosphorus generally. (H. ma-
ritima, Drapardn. with the preceding very common).
H. ericetorwm. Around Constantinople, Adrianople, &c., Varna.
Bulimus acutus. On all the coasts of the Sea of Marmora and Black
Sea.
B. obscurus. Near Constantinople.
Habits of the Walrus.—While encamped during one of the boat ex-
peditions, and waiting the return of Commander Richards, Sir Edward
Belcher shot four Walruses, and thus notices the conduct of these warm-
blooded animals on being wounded :—‘‘ The father, mother, and cubs
were of the party. On the death of the mother, or rather on her receiy-
ing her wound in the neck, it was painfully interesting to notice the ac-
tion of her young. One literally clasped her round the neck, and was
apparently endeavouring to aid in staunching the blood with its mouth or
flipper, when, at a sudden convulsive pang, she struck at her infant with
her tusks, and, repeating this several times with some severity, prevented
its farther repetition. ‘The male, with a very white beard (strong horny
bristles), came up repeatedly in a most threatening attitude and snorting
aloud his vengeance ; and well satisfied was I that the floe was my safe-
guard ; doubtless he would have wreaked his vengeance on the Hamilton,
and we should have met our punishment. Another, finding that she
could not swim, deliberately hauled herself up on tke floe to die. Now,
with all due deference to anatomists, who may afford us full proofs of the
capability of these animals to walk like flies on our ceilings, I must pro-
test, from frequent observation, against the use of the flipper of the Wal-
rus for this purpose. It does not appear to be of greater aid than that of
the seal is to that animal; and, strangely, its nails are placed on the upper
side of the flipper, some inches within its margin. That the power of
exerting the vacuum exists I doubt not. But here, within a few feet, de-
liberately did I watch the progress of the animal in effecting its purpose.
In the first place, the tail and fins, exerting their full power in the water,
gave such an impetus that it projected about one-third of the body of the
animal on to the floe. It then dug its tusks with such terrific force into
the ice that I feared for its brain, and, leech-like, hauled itself forward
by the enormous muscular power of the neck, repeating the operation
until it was secure. The force with which the tusks were struck into the
ice appeared not only sufficient to break them, but the concussion was so
heavy that I was surprised that any brain could bear it.”—Captain Str E.
Belcher, C.B.
Zoology. 361
Cheiramys Madgascariensis, Cuvier—A living specimen of the
singular animal, the Aye-Aye, a native of the west coast of Madagascar,
has lately been brought to Paris, and an account of its habits has been
read before the Académie des Sciences de Paris, by Dr Vinson. Some of
the more remarkable peculiarities are as follows :—
The fore-feet of the Aye-Aye are very slender, and the long fingers
are terminated by hooked nails; the longest of these is the ring or third,
next the middle finger. This last, black, slender, resembling the foot of
a large spider, is distinguished from the others, not by its form alone,
but also by the purposes to which it is applied. The animal climbs trees,
hangs upon them by its ordinary fingers, but with the slender one it takes
its food, carries it to its mouth, searches for larve in the bark of trees,
and with this filiform finger it drinks, which it never does with its lips
directly. When drinking, it dips the long finger into the liquid, and passes
it rapidly through the mouth, in; a manner licking it with its tongue; the
form of its lips, flattened horizontally, being wonderfully adapted for this
operation, which the animal repeats with great rapidity.
The most remarkable attitude of the Aye-Aye is that of repose. Squat-
ting upon its hinder legs, it places the head between the fore-feet, and
brings over it the thick and bushy tail, of which all the hair is then ex-
panded, and by degrees it covers itself entirely up as with a cloak.
It was at first wild and fierce, endeavouring to hide itself from the pre-
sence of any one, but in the space of two months it became tame, remain-~
ing at liberty, and not attempting to escape. It was extremely fond of
‘‘eafé au lait’ and “ eau sueré,” drinking by means of its long finger,
which it passed and repassed from the vessel to its mouth with incredible
agility. Soon after its arrival it one day escaped, and was with difficulty re-
covered. It exhibited the activity of a monkey on the trees, leaping from
branch to branch, and crossing wide spaces with an ease and agility equal
to that of the “ Lemur catta.”—Rev. et Mag. de Zool.
Artificial Breeding of Fish.—M. Coste brought before the Académie
des Sciences de Paris, a curious physiological fact, as well as one of some
importance in an economie point of view. A lake trout, Salmo lemanus
Cuy., reared from ova artificially impregnated, and hatched in his ponds
in the College of France, has spawned naturally on the 12th November,
upon a bed of gravel, previously prepared, at a particular part of the
reservoir, where it was wished to make it deposit its ova. This trout,
reared in the narrow fish-ponds devoted to the experiments of M. Coste,
was two years and a half old, 35 centimetres in length, weighed 750
grammes, and produced 1065 ova. These have now been impregnated by
the male of a common trout (Sulmo furio) of the ageonly of nineteen
months.—Rev. et Mag. de Zool.
M. Charpentier. Helix pomatia and arbustorum.—Conchology
has lost an active and venerable member by the death of M. Charpentier,
on 12th September last, at Dévens, near Bex, Canton de Vaud.
Jean de Charpentier was born at Freyburg in Saxony. His public
life was spent in the management or directorship of mines. His leisure
was devoted to Natural History, and especially to Geology and Miner-
alogy, Conchology and Botany, and he published various works and me-
moirs, both separately and in the scientific periodicals. He has bequeathed
to the Museum of Lausanne his herbarium of 30,000 species, indigenous
and foreign, as well as his collection of land and fresh water mollusca,
containing nearly 6000 species, made out and arranged. His favourite
branch appeared to be Conchology ; and he has lefta MS. catalogue of the
collection above mentioned ready for the press, of which it is to be hoped
his friends will not long delay the publication. In the “‘ Journal de Conchy-
liologie” he has published (1852) an ‘‘ Essai d’une classification natu-
relle des Clausilic>,’ a very elaborate monograph ; and previously (1837),
362 Scientific Intelligence.
separately, in 4to, the ‘‘ Catalogue des Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles
de la Suisse.” It is in this last that the remarks upon the two species
indicated in our title occur. Helia pomatia is found from the plains to
an elevation of 5000 feet above the level of the sea, and in an inverse
scale to the other species it increases in size according to the elevation
attained. He mentions a specimen found near Jorogne, at about 4000
feet elevation, which measured 50 millimetres in diameter by 58 in height.
A variety of Helix arbustorwm (H. alpicola) reaches a higher elevation
than any vther. He has found it at 7000 feet.—Drouet, Rev. et Mag. de
Zool., 1855,
GEOLOGY.
Syenite of the Malvern Hills altered by the Heat of the Malvern
Bonejire, compared with Syenite in contact with Trap-Dykes—*< The
president of the Malvern Naturalists’ Field-Club, in his annual ad-
dress to the members, 18th February, called their attention to an
interesting specimen of vitrified ‘ Rowley rag,’ sent by the Rev. J.
H. Thompson to their secretary. The Rowley ragstone was an ancient
basalt, and, when melted in a powerful furnace and quiekly cooled, be-
came a beautiful black vitreous mineral, which could be run into moulds,
and thus made to form exquisite mantel-pieces, and other works of art ;
but, when slowly cooled after melting, it assumed its original basaltic
eharacter. This led him to a curious cireumstanee in conneetion with
‘the great Malvern bonfire,’ for though ‘ an ill wind’ had prevented
the rising column of flame that had been generally anticipated, yet it had
thrown out an unexpected ‘ geologieal light,’ that illustrated the old
well-approved proverb. Sir William Jardine had written to him to
examine if the rocks on the summit were vitrified by the fire, as was the
case in some parts of Scotland where ancient fire-beacons had been
kindled. Although the Malvern summit was not vitrified, yet he found
that the heat from the fire had been so concentrated upon the foundation
rocks by the powerful wind bearing down the flame, that they were much
roasted and altered. Now, a quarry at the back of News Wood, at the
western base of the Herefordshire Beacon, which he had recently visited
with M. de la Harpe, a distinguished Swiss geologist, displayed a re-
markable section of trap or greenstone dykes intersecting syenite, and the
syenite in contact with the greenstone was not to be distinguished from
that roasted by the Malvern bonefire, thus showing the heated state of
the greenstone when intruded among the syenite.’’— Worcester Journal,
February 23, 1856. 7
CHEMISTRY.
On Acrylic Alcohol and its Compounds. By MM. Canours, Horrman,
Bertnerot, De Luca, and Zrn1n.
The discovery of a simple process for the preparation of the iodo-pro-
pylene by Berthelot and De Luca, has directed the attention of chemists
to the possibility of obtaining, by means of this substanee, a elass of com-
pounds analogous to the ethers. Zinin commenced the inquiry by the
discovery of the aeetate and benzoate of the radical, which he called pro-
pylenyl, and by digesting these eompounds with potash he obtained a
pungent fluid, which was in all probability the corresponding alcohol,
although he did not substantiate this point by analysis. MM. Cahours and
Hoffman have investigated the whole subject, and have given to the aleohol
the name of aerylic alcohol, for the purpose of connecting it with aeroleine
and acrylic aeid, which obviously bear to it the same relations that alde-
hyde and acetic acid do to common alcohol. By treating the iodide of
propylene with oxalate of silver, the oxalate of acryl C, H;O0 CO, is ob-
tained as a colourless fluid, heavier than water, having an aromatic
odour, and boiling at 404° F. When treated with dry ammonia, it is
transformed into oxamide and acrylic alevhol C, H,O,, which is a colour-
Chemisiry. 363
less mobile liguid, with a pungent odour resembling that of mustard, and
boiling at 217°. It burns with a luminous flame, and is miscible in all
proportions with water. It forms with potassium a compound corre-
sponding to ethylate of potash, and this, when treated with iodide of
aeryle (iodo-propylene), gives iodide of potassium, and produces the acry-
lic ether C,, H,,O,- By similar treatment with iodide of ethyl, a mixed
ether containing both these radicals can be obtained. The chloride,
_ iodide, and bromide of acryl are easily produced by distilling the alcohol
with the chloride, iodide, and bromide of phosphorus. Acrylic aleohol
dissolves in oil of vitriol, and forms a coupled acid, which gives a soluble
baryta salt, BaO SO,C;H;0,SO0,. By distillation with anhydrous
phosphoric acid it gives a gas, which burns with a luminous flame, and is
no doubt C, H,. Treated with oxidizing agents, it gives acroleine and
acrylic acid. All the compounds corresponding to the common ethers
can be obtained ; and the authors have examined a large number of them.
Oxamate of acryl is obtained by adding ammonia cautiously to the oxa-
late ; it forms magnificent crystals soluble in alcohol. The carbonate of
‘aeryl is prepared by the action of sodium upon the oxalate. The ben-
zoate, C, H,O C,,H, O,, is obtained by Cahours and Hoffman by the ac-
‘tion of chloride of benzoil upon the alcohol. Zinin prepares it by distil-
ling iodide of acryl (iodo-propylene) with benzoate of silver. It is heavier
than water, boils at 428°, and has an aromatic odour like that of benzoic
ether. The acetate, C, H,O C,H, O,, is obtained by the action of acetate
of silver on iodide of acryl. It is alimpid fluid, boiling at 217°, and hay-
ing a smell similar to that of acetic ether.
Cyanate of silver is rapidly acted upon by iodide of acryl, the heat pro-
duced being sufficiently great to distil over the greater part of the pro-
duet, which is the cyanate of acryl, C; H,OC, NO. It is a colourless,
limpid fluid, boiling at 179°, has an extremely penetrating odour, which
produces a copious flow of tears. Treated with ammonia, it rapidly dis-
appears, and on evaporation the fluid gives magnificent crystals of acrylic
urea, C, (H, C; H,) N,O,, which only differs from thiosinnamine by con-
taining oxygen in place of sulphur. When heated with water, cyanate
of acry! solidifies into a mass, which has all the properties of sinapoline,
—that is, of diacrylic urea, C,[H,(C,; H,),] N,O,. MM. Berthelot and
De Luca have prepared the tartrate, butyrate, and sulpho-cyanide of acryl
—or allyl, as they designate it—for the purpose of recalling its relations
to the oil of garlic, and they have also obtained the radical itself—acryl
or allyl. It is got by acting with sodinm upon the iodide, and is a highly
volatile liquid, with a pungent odour like that of horse-radish. It boils
at 138°. Its specific gravity is 0°684, tae density of its vapour 2°92, and
its formula is C;H,—2 vols. It is acted upon by bromine and iodine,
and forms crystalline compounds with the formule C,; H, Br, and C, H, I,.
—Zinin, Bulletin de ? Academie de St Petersburg, vol. xiii., p. 360;
Cahours and Hoffman, Comptes Rendus, vol. xlii., p. 217; Berthelot et
de Luca, Comptes Rendus, vol. xlii., p. 233.
Action of Phosphate of Soda upon Fluor-Spar at a Red Heat.
By A. Brrecres.
By fusing together tribasic phosphate of soda (8 Na O PO.), or a mix-
ture of pyrophosphate and carbonate of soda with three equivalents of
fluor-spar, a highly crystalline mass is obtained. The crystals are inso-
luble in water, and are apatite, various modifications of the crystalline
form of that mineral being visible under the microscope. When the fused
mass was boiled in water, a small part of it slowly dissolved, and the finid
gave a strong reaction of hydrofluric acid, and when evaporated fluoride
of sodium was deposited in crystalline crusts with all its ordinary charac-
ters. By various modifications in the proportion of the ingredients, at-
tempts were made to attain complete conversion into fluoride of sodium,
364 Scientific Intelligence.
but without success. When the fused mass is not boiled, but digested on
the water bath for some hours, the fluid filtered, concentrated, and allowed
to stand, fine transparent and colourless regular octahedra are deposited.
These crystals are hard, difficultly soluble in water, and havea disagree-
able alkaline taste ; when heated they melt in their water of crystallization,
and their solution when boiled for a long time, and then evaporated, de-
osits fluoride of sodium. They were found to have the formula
3 NaO PO,+NaF+24 HO. The specific gravity of the crystals is 2°2165,
and they require for solution 8°3 parts of water at 77° Fahr., and 1°74 at
158°. This salt may also be obtained by digesting pounded eryolite with
a mixture of phosphate of soda and caustic soda for some days, and eya-
porating the filtered fluid. No corresponding potash salt exists. When
arseniate of soda and fluor-spar are found together, a double arseniate and
fluoride is obtained in octahedral crystals soluble in 9°55 times their weight
of water at 77°, and 1:99 at 167°. Their formula is 3 NaO AsO; + NaF
+24 HO.—Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, vol. xevii. p. 95.
BOTANY.
On the Varieties of ‘‘ Chiretta” used in India.- By Huen Cure-
norn, M.D., Madras Medical Service.—I have frequently been struck
with the evident dissimilarity between bundles of “ Chiretta,” as received
through the commissariat, at different stations in the Madras Presidency ;
and although the stalk, when chewed, possessed the characteristic quality
of pure bitterness, and exhibited the many-seeded capsule, the tetragonal
stem, and opposite, sessile, exstipulate leaves by which the Gentian-family
is recognised, I could not help thinking that the supplies furnished on
indent contained séveral distinct plants. The collection of native drugs
brought together at the time of the Madras Exhibition furnished me with
an opportunity of testing the accuracy of my previous opinion, and it oc-
curs to me that a short notice of two distinct plants used in Southern India
may not be unacceptable.
I will premise by stating that the properties of the Indian species of
Gentianacee, with the exception of two or three of the Himalayan ones,
do not seem to have been at all investigated. After a diligent search in
the medical literature of India, I can find not a single notice of their the-
rapeutic action, although the remarkable property of bitterness exists in
the four genera Evacum, Ophelia, Halenia, and Adenema, as well as in
all the indigenous species which I have met with.
1. Exacum bicolor (Roxb.) Wight, Ie. Pl. Ind. Or. t. 1821. Stem 4-
angled ; leaves sessile, ovate, sub-acute, 3—5-nerved, with smooth mar-
gins; calyx deeply 4-cleft, segments subulate, with ovato-lanceolate
wings ; corolla white, tipped with blue, lobes elliptic, oblong, éuspidate,
three times longer than the tube, which is a little shorter than the calyx.
Corolla large, nearly two inches in diameter, cymes terminal sub-con-
tracted; middle internodes usually shorter than the leaves.—Griseb. in
Decandolle Prod., ix., p. 45.
Neilgherries, below Kotagherry, rare ; in pastures about a mile below
Nedawuttim abundant; flowering during the autumnal months. This
plant is well figured in Wight’s Spicilegium Neilgherrense, t. 163.
Cuttack, Roxburgh; Neilgherries, Baron Hugel; Malabar Chauts,
Cleghorn.
A bundle of the dried stalks of this plant was forwarded to the Madras
Exhibition from Mangalore, marked ‘ Country Creyat,’’ price 1 anna 6
pie per Ib. The name shows that it is used as a substitute for Creyat
(Andrographis paniculata). In this species, which enamels the sward
of the Western Ghauts with its beautiful blossoms, the same bitter sto-
machic qualitities occur for which the Gentiana lutea is so much em-
ployed, and I believe that it may be used with advantage for medicinal
purposes.
oe
een ieee hearin iets pein er i ce il el
Botany. 365
2. Ophelia elegans, Wight, Ie. Pl. Ind. Or., t. 1331. Erect, ramous
above, obsoletely 4-sided ; leaves sessile. narrow, ovate, lanceolate, taper-
ing to a slender point, 3-nerved; lateral nerves close to the margin ;
branches ascending, slender, bearing at each joint lateral few-flowered
eymes, forming together a large many-flowered leafy panicle ; calyx lobes
narrow, lanceolate, acute, about two-thirds the length of the corolla; lobes
of the corolla obovate cuspidate ; fovee bound with longish coarse hairs ;
flowers pale blue.
Pulney Hills, flowering August and September. A very handsome
species when in full flower, forming, as it does, a rich panicle of light blue
flowers, streaked with deeper coloured veins. It seems very distinct from
all the other species. (Wight).
This plant grows plentifully in the Jeypoor Zemindary of Vizagapatam,
and is largely exported as “ Silaras” or “ Selajit,” the amount being
valued at about 2500 rupees a-year. It is preferred by the hukeems to
the genuine Himalayan Chiretta, and is considered febrifuge. (Honour-
able W. Elliott zn literis).
The samples of the drug which I have seen as exported are about 16
inches long, and 4 inches deep, and are always tied up with the tough
bark and large leaves of Bauhinia Vahlii (W. and A.), which abounds
in the northern Circars.
Equal quantities of the two plants above mentioned, and of the Chi-
retta of the medical stores (which on examination was found to con-
tain some stalks of the Ophelia elegans), having been infused in the
usual manner (3 ij. toa pint), four competent parties were requested
to give their opinion on the respective qualities of the infusions. The
result was the unanimous opinion that the cold infusion of Exacum
bicolor, although a pure bitter, was much milder than that of Ophelia ele-
gans, which possesses a powerful bitterness, remaining for several minutes
in the mouth. Frequent trials confirm the belief that it exercises a tonic
influence on the digestive organs, thereby improving the general health,
while it appears also to have a febrifuge property.
Adenema hyssopifolia, Chota Chirayita, Hind., common in various
parts of South India, as at the mouth of Adyar, is likewise very bitter,
and is much used by the natives as a stomachic, being also somewhat
laxative—Indian Annals of Medical Science, No. V.
Ceylon Botanic Garden.—Mr G. H. K. Thwaites, the able superin-
tendent, in his Annual Report for September 1854 to August 1855, inclu-
sive, writes: That the cultivation of the West India ginger in Ceylon has
been successful, and that it is likely to prove ere long an important article
of commerce ; that the vanilla succeeds in the gardens, and has produced
abundance of fruit ; that the cochineal insects did not thrive. The Ma-
nilla hemp, the China grass cloth plant, and the Durian trees, were grow-
ing well. There are several oils which might be exported from the
island. Among these he notices—Keena ozl, obtained from the seeds of dif-
ferent species of Calophyllum ; Meeriya oil, yielded by the seeds of seve-
ral species of Isonandra ; and Madol oil, from the seeds of a species of
Garcinia. The resin called Doon-Doommalle is also likely to be a valu-
able article of commerce. Attention is being directed on the island to the
preparation of fibres from species of Musa.
Extracts from Jurors’ Reports of the Madras Exhibition, 1855.—
Woods grown at Madras.—Cedrela Toona, the Toon tree, Toon ma-
rum, Tam.; Toona, Hind.; Tundw, Can.—A valuable tree of large
size, wood reddish coloured, used all over India in cabinet-making, scarcely
inferior to mahogany, but lighter and not so close in the grain, often
NEW SERIES.—VOL. II. NO. 11.—aprit. 1856. 2D
366 Scientific Intelligence.
sold here under the general name of ‘‘ Chittagongwood.” It is the most
valuable of the woods known by that commercial name. It is said to be
abundant in Travancore. Chloroxylon Swietenia, Satin-wood tree,
Kodawah porsh, Tam.; Billu kurra, Tel. This tree grows abundantly
in the mountainous districts of the Presidency, but seldom attains a large
size ; occasionally, planks from 10 to 15 inches in breadth may be pro-
cured. The wood is very close-grained, hard, and durable, of a light
orange colour, takes a fine polish, and is suited for all kinds of orna-
mental purposes, but is somewhat apt to split. For picture frames, it is
nearly equal to American maple. The timber bears submersion well; in
some instances it is beautifully feathered. There is this peculiarity, satin-
wood loses its beauty by age, unless protected by a coat of fine varnish.
—Dalbergia Sissoo, Sissu, Tel. Introduced from Bengal at the recom-
mendation of Dr Wallich ; grows to a large size; has been planted on
the banks of the Toomboodra, and is thriving wonderfully ; it is growing
extensively in the cantonment of Masulipatam as an avenue tree, and has
been planted in some places on the banks of the Kistnah Annicut.
There are few trees which so much deserve attention, considering its ra-
pid growth, its beauty, and its usefulness. Wood hard, strong, tenacious,
and compact, whilst its great durability combines to render it one of the
most valuable timbers known. The tree grows rapidly, is propagated and
reared with facility, and it early attains a good working condition of tim-
ber. It is used in Bengal for gun carriages.—Tectona grandis, Teak,
Eng.; Taek marum, Tam.; Teck Chettoo, Tel. A native of the moun-
tainous parts of Malabar and the country bordering the Godavery, the
Moulmein, and Rangoon forests. This well-known and far-famed tree
grows straight and lofty, with cross armed panicles of showy-white
flowers. It seems to require eighty years to attain perfection. The
wood is very hard, but easily worked; it is soon seasoned, and being oily,
does not injure iron, and shrinks little. It is probably the most durable
timber known, hence its value in ship-building. The Malabar teak is con-
sidered the best, and is alvays most valued in our Government dock-yards.
A yaluable report by Dr Falconer, on the teak forests of the Tenasserim
Coast, was published lately among the selection of records of the Bengal
government. The price of teak wood at present is three rupees per cubic
foot, double the ordinary rate. It is matter of regret, considering the
vast importance of teak timber to England as a maritime nation, that
the preservation of the teak forests was so long disregarded.
Orchids in Brazil.—Pinel states that in soils in Brazil cleared of original
forests, the following epiphytic orchids appear :—Comparettia coccinea,
Oncidium flecuosum, O. pumilum, O. odoratissimum ; also the follow-
ing terrestrial species :—Neottia orchioides, Gqmenia Gardneri, Onci-
dium Pinelianum, and various species of Phaiws. In Brazil orchids
are epiphytes on dicotyledons; it is very rare to meet with them on mono-
cotyledons. Out of 200 species, Pinel only met with Zygopetalum
rostratum on the great tree-fern, and on that alone it existed. Lelia
epidendroides lived only on Vellozia. Psidium is favourable for the
growth of certain orchids, as Ionopsis paniculata, Burlingtonia ve-
nusta, candida, and picta.—Gardener’s Chronicle.
Ailanthus glandulosus.—This tree yields an excellent wood for furni-
ture. In some respects it resembles satin-wood. The tree thrives in
Britain. ;
Fossil Fruits—Dr Joseph Hooker has noticed the occurrence of Car-
polithes ovulum, a minute seed-vessel, in the Eocene beds of Lewisham.
It is probably allied to the sporangium of a fern. He has also observed
Folliculites minutulus, a small seed-vessel in Bovey Tracey coal (ter-
tiary). It seems also to bea filicoid sporangium. :
Mineralogy. 367
Scirpus lacustris—In South America Scirpus lacustris (Bullrush) is
used for making balsas or boats. This rush serves to form both the hull
and the sails. ‘The boats can only sail with a fair wind.
Vegetation in Brazil after burning the Forests.—When a forest in
Brazil is burnt down there succeeds a different kind of vegetation from
that previously on the soil. First come up ferns and herbaceous plants,
Sonchus oleraceus, some Solanacew, grasses, Lobeliacew, and several
Campanulacee. In the second, third, and fourth years the vegeta-
tion attains its final growth and dies. Then appear undershrubs.
Abutilon esculentum, species of Cassia, and other Leguminosae, Strych-
nos pseudo-quina, &c. After these, some of which die out in ten years,
succeed tall fruit trees of the genera Anona, Cerasus, &«.—(Pinel, Gar-
dener’s Chronicle.)
Plants of Victoria,.—Mueller mentions an Umbellifer in Victoria having
five petaloid sepals. It belongs to the genus Dichopetalum. He also
notices a peculiar Malvaceous genus, having a closed calyx, which bursts
only when the fruit becomes ripe. The little corolla never expands, and
sees consequently no daylight until long after fecundation.
Ouvirandra fenestralis, Water-Yam.—The cells of the parenchyma of
this curious plant are very delicate, full of fluid and granules of green
chlorophyll. There is a central rib of a few long green tubular cells, sur-
rounding several very slender spiral vessels in the main ribs, but a single
one in the secondary veins. There are no air-cells in the substance of
the leaf, nor on the apex of the petiole. The apex of the scape bears a
small lid which falls off, and seems to be composed of two gamophyllous
bracts.—Hooker, in Botanical Magazine.
Listera ovata.—The rostellum of Listera ovata is divided by parallel
septa into a series of longitudinal elongated loculi, which taper from the
base upwards, and end in two opake cellular spots, one on each side of
the apex of the rostellum. The loculi become distended with a viscid
grumous fluid full of chlorophyll granules. At the period of impregna-
tion the slightest irritation of the rostellum causes the sudden and forcible
discharge of the contents of these loculi (through the rupture of the cellu-
lar tissue at the apex of the rostellum) and its protrusion in the form of
two viseid glands which coalesce into one, after which the rostellum ra-
pidly collapses and contracts.
The pollen masses fall naturally upon the rostellum ; they are retained
there by their viscid gland-like contents, and breaking up, the pollen grains
become (by the contraction of the rostellum) applied to the subjacent
stigmatic surfaces.—J. D. Hooker.
MINERALOGY,
Fall of Meteorites in the Bremervérde, Hanover.—On the 13th of May
last, about 5 p.m., a fall of meteoric stones occurred, accompanied by a
sound like the firing of cannon, followed by a rattling and rushing sound.
The noise appears to have been so loud as to have greatly terrified the
peasants by whom it was heard. The sky at the time was cloudy, which
probably accounts for the fact that no meteor was seen. The largest
mass which fell weighed about 6 lbs., has an elongated form, and is covered
with the usual black crust. In its interior it has much the appearance of
the meteoric stones of Mezé-Madaras, and contains metallic iron, and sul-
phuret of iron. Several other stones are said to have fallen at the same
time, and two others have been found, one of which weighs 3 lbs. The
largest stone has been deposited by Professor Wohler in the Museum of
Gottingen Academy, the two others are in the collection of the Mining
School at Clausthal.—Poggendorff’s Annalen, vol. xevi., p. 626.
Analysis of a Meteoric stone which fell in Nerway.—This meteoric
368 Scientific Intelligence.
was sent by the finder to the University of Christiania, with the state-
ment that, on the 27th December 1848, in the evening, and when the sky
was clear, a loud noise like the firing of many shots was heard, and a very
bright light was seen. Two days afterwards the stone was found lying
on the iee, in which it had sunk to the depth of about half an inch, the
hollow having evidently been produeed by the ice having been melted.
In a direction south-east of the spot on whieh the stone was found, two
depressions were observed in the ice, into one of which an angle of the
stone fitted, so that it must have rebounded more than once before com-
ing to rest. The stone is nearly as large as a child’s head, and weighed
850 grammes. Externally its eolour is brownish-blaek. The interior has
a greyish-white colour and granular texture. Its speeific gravity is 3°539.
The stone was composed of several different mimerals which could be
separated partly by the magnet, and partly by the action of different re-
agents. The composition of the different substances was :
5 - Silicate decomposable Undecomposable
pao eee by Hydecihioris Acca. Portion.
Fe 84:20 Si O, 37°80 Si O, 57°10
Ni 14:42 MgO 3168 MgO = 19°46
FeS 0°49 Ca O 3°08 Ca O 1:47
FeO 27°44 M, O; 5°62
Fe,O,; 14°72
100-00 Chrome iron, eee
Tin stone. \ a
The decomposable silicate may be expressed by the formula 3 RO Si O,
and is therefore olivine. The undeeomposable silicate may be most nearly
represented by the formula 2 R, O,,7 RO, 8SiO,. The eomposition of the
entire stone is given below, along with that of the stone which fell at
Blansko in 1833, and whieh approaches it very closely in eomposition.
Blansko.
Nickel iron, x : : 8°22 171s
Sulphuret of iron, F ; 4:32 —
Olivine, - : ‘ 49-00 42°67
Undecomposable silicates, . 38°20 39°43
Chrome iron and tin stone, 0°26 O75
100-00 100-00
—Poggendorf’s Annalen, vol. xevi., p. 341.
METEOROLOGY.
A remarkable meteor was observed in the Isle of Wight on the 7th
January 1856. The following are the remarks of Dr Robert James Mann
in regard to it :—
** The accounts given of the appearance of the meteor of the 7th mst. at
Sevenoaks and Blackheath, suggests to me the propriety of placing one or
two facts regarding its aspeet at Ventnor on reeord in your eolumns. At
the instant of its dashing through the terrestrial atmosphere I chanced to be
passing along an open space, with my side towards the sea. The sky was
perfeetly cloudless, excepting for a low fog bank resting on the horizon, and
the twilight was so strong that it was searcely a departure from daylight.
Nevertheless, the light of the meteor was so intense that it startled me as
a vivid flash ef lightning would have done. My first impression was
that it wasa very brilliant rocket ; and it was only when I had had time to
make the reffection that it was going the wrong way, that my attention
was sufficiently fixed to enable me to notice carefully what was oceurring.
This, however, gave me abundant opportunity to observe that the descend-
ing luminary was of a bluish-white tint, and had a very large apparent
diameter, certainly not less than from seven to eight minutes of angular
Meteorology. 369
measure. It fell exactly as is mentioned in Mr Rogers’ description. For
an instant it left behind it a vividly incandescent line, very much re-
sembling the track of a Roman candle, but much more finely and strongly
defined against the sky. My attention was very closely given to this
part of the phenomenon. _ Gradually I perceived the fine line of incande-
scence was acquiring breadth. In three minutes I could distinctly see
that it was a broad column of refleetive vapour illuminated by the rays of
the sun, then below the horizon. But there was an interval before this,
when I could not satisfy myself, by the most exact inspection, whether the
line was emitting or reflecting light, whether it was a fire streak or a streak
of illuminated vapour. It is my impression that it very gradually passed
from the one condition into the other.
‘¢ The burst of blaze was so sudden and instantaneous that it attracted
my observation on the instant, and quite involuntarily. I fancied that I
was sensible of a distinct hissing sound, but, being at the moment deeply
engaged on a far different train of thought, I could not command the trust-
worthy evidence of my senses for two or three seconds. Upon reflection
afterwards, I was very doubtful whether it was not simply the first in-
voluntary idea of a sky-rocket having been fired, that carried with it by
association the notion of the sound always accompanying such an incident.
If I had been asked previously to this reflection whether I had done so, I
should unhesitatingly have said I did hear arush. Now, I am simply in
doubt whether I did or did not.
‘* The apparent dimensions of the vapour column, however, grew gradu-
ally less as it suffered dispersion. Before it faded entirely it was diminished
in apparent length by more than one-half. It evidently drifted rapidly
upwards and outwards as it faded. The form of the vapour column was
exactly that which Mr Kimber describes—wand-like with taper extre-
mities; then its ends began to drift opposite ways, and its general out-
line to become more and more sinuous. It was visible here for twenty
minutes after the first burst of the meteor. The column continued to
grow broader for several minutes before it began to contract its dimen-
sions ; then it afforded obvious indications of the “ approach of dissolu-
tion.” I think, however, that the rapid descent of the sun beneath the
horizon had as much to do with its final disappearance as the dispersion
of the vapour.”
Dr Mann further states that the meteor was first seen at Ventnor, as a
very minute star within 15 degrees of the zenith. The path was in a
plane nearly parallel with the earth’s polar axis. It began to throw out
a luminous tail at an altitude of about 52 degrees above the horizon, and
it was lost to sight in a low cloud bank, 7 degrees above the horizon.
The path of the meteor was slightly inclined towards the east, and very
slightly curved. The general bearing of its tail from Ventnor was about
5 or 4 degrees east of the true meridian. No doubt, the form of the path
from Havre or Cornwall (seen in profile) would have been a parallel
curve. From Sevenoaks the top of the tail had an altitude of about 17
degrees, and the general azimuthal bearing was about 21 degrees
west. From Havre it was seen over Cape de la Héve, a little north of
west. From Liskeard, Cornwall, its bearing waseast. The aérolite pro-
bably struck the earth somewhere near the meridian of Isigny or Bayeux,
and about 10 miles within the Norman coast. This assumes that the
parabola of the fall had very nearly approached the perpendicular when
within an altitude of 30degrees. The difference of the latitudes of Vent-
nor and Sevenoaks is 48 miles, estimated by the map, and the difference
of the longitudes is 60°8 miles. From these elements, the distance of the
top of the permanent tail of the meteor comes out as about 93°62 miles
from Ventnor, and 151°44 miles from Sevenoaks, and the length of the
fall, from the commencement of the permanent tail to the surface of the
earth about 61 miles,
Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology.
370
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\~—
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
Chappelsmith,—Account of the Tornado near New Harmony, in April
1852.
Lapham,—On the Antiquities of Wisconsin.
Leidy,—On the extinct Sloth Tribe of North America.
Leidy,—On Bathygnethus borealis, an extinct Saurian of the New
Red Sandstone.
Catalogue of the Library of the Smithsonian Institution.
Eighth and Ninth Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution for 1853 and 1854.
Report on Catalogues of Libraries.
Marsh,—Lecture on the Camel.
Baird,—Report on the Fishes of the New Jersey Coast. 1855.
Catalogue of Portraits of North American Indians. By Stanley.—
From the Smithsonian Institution.
Bibliothéque Universelle de Genéve. June, July, and August, 1855.
Schacht on the Microscope. Edited by F. Currey. Second Edition.
Lendon, 1855.
Wilson, A. S., on the Unity of Matter. London, 1855.
Neilson on Mesmerism in its relation to Health and Disease.
T. Rymer Jones on the General Structure of the Animal Kingdom.
Second Edition.
Martins sur le Froid Exceptionnel qui a regné 4 Montpellier dans le
courant de Janvier 1855.
L’Institut, from March 1855 to February 1856.
Aristotle on the Vital Principle. Translated, with Notes, by Dr
Collier. Cambridge, 1855.
Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. Vol. IX., Nos.
1-3, January, February, March, 1855.
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Nos. 72-76. 1855.
The Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society. July and October
1855, and Jan. 1856.
Natural History Review, No.7. July 1855.
Landgrebe, Naturgeschichte der Vulcanes. Gotha, 1855.
Symonds, Old Stones, or Notes of Lectures on the Plutonic, Silurian,
and Devonian Rocks of Malvern. 1855.
Arago’s Meteorological Essays. Translated under the superintendence
of Col. Sabine.
Youman’s Chemical Atlas. New York, 1855.
Dawson’s Acadian Geology. 1855.
a
She Publications Received.
Analytical View of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia. By Lord Brougham.
Proceedings of the California Academy of Natural Sciences, pages 7-34.
Wilson’s Introductory Lecture on Technology.
Microscopical Journal for April, May, July, and October, 1855.
Extracts from Jurors’ Report on some of the Vegetable Products of the
Madras Exhibition of 1855.
Holdsworth, Jos., Battle with the Basalts.
Dickinson, Supplement to Flora of Liverpool.
Proceedings of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society.
1854-55.
Wilcock’s Essay on the Tides.
The Micrographic Dictionary. By Griffith and Henfrey.
Baker on the Geognostic Relation of the Flowering Plants and Ferns
of Great Britain.
The Book and its Missions, Past and Present. Part I. Edited by
iy, Noe.
The Sewage Problem Solved. By James Fulton.
J. Van der Hoeven, over het Geslacht Icticyon. Amsterdam, 1855.
Trees and their Nature; or the Bud and its Attributes. By Alex.
Harvey, A.M., M.D. 1856.
Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Geologischen Reichanstalt. Nos.
3and 4. July—December 1854.
Das Christiania-Silurbecken Chemisch-Geognostisch Untersucht. Von
Theodor Kjerulf, Adjunct an der Universitat Christiania. (Mrom the
University of Norway).
The Chemist for January 1856.
Silliman’s American Journal. November 1855 and January 1856.
Ook een Woordje over den Dodo (Didus ineptus) en Zijne Verwanten,
door H. Schlegel. 1855. 8vo.
( 373 )
INDEX.
Acrylic Alcohol and its compounds, 362
Africa, Ornithology of, 238
Agave americana noticed, 354 i
Allman, Professor, Introductory Lecture by, 66
Andes, Vegetation of, 162
Arago, Francois, Meteorological Essays, review of, 150
Arvicolz, species of, in Nova Scotia, 1
Babington on the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain, 169. On British species of
Epilobium, 352. On British species of Arctium, 358
Ben Lawers, Lichens of, 257
Ben Lawers, Plants of, 170
Binocular Vision, 210
Bedekir, Professor, on Sphzrosiderite, 185
Botanical Intelligence, 173, 364
Botanical Society, Proceedings of, 169, 352
Breeding of Fish, 361
Bryson, Alexander, on a Method of preparing Fossils for the Microscope, 297.
On a new Pneumatic Chuck, 304
Cedar-wood, injurious effects of, in Cabinets, 185
Cheiramys Madgascariensis, 361
Chemical Intelligence, 185, 362
Chiretta of India, 564
Clark on British Marine Testacean Mollusca, review of, 154
Cleghorn on Chiretta, 364
Cleveland Ironstone Beds, Report on their Chemical Composition, 286
Cobbold, T. S., on the Glandule Peyerianz of the Giraffe, 93
Crowder, William, on the Chemical Composition of the Cleveland Ironstone
Beds, 286
Dawson, John William, on Species of Meriones and Arvicola, 1
Diatomacez of Glenshira, 346
Dickie, Professor, on Traces of Unity of Form in the Individual Bones of the
Skeleton, 122
Edmonds, on an Earthquake-Shock in 1855, 280
Eye, its adjustment to distinct vision, 339
NEW SERIES,—VOL. III. NO. I].—APRIL 1856. QE
374 Index.
Fleming, Professor, on the Study of Natural History, 128. On Cedar-wood
Cabinets, 185
Floral Register, 359
Fluorescence, Remarks on, 165
Fluorspar acted on by Phosphate of Soda, 363
Forbes, David, on the Chemical Composition of some Norwegian Minerals, 59.
On the relation of the Silurian and Metamorphic Rocks of Norway, 79
Forbes, James, on the Rocks of Mont Blanc, 189
Fossil Floras of Scotland, 173
Gay’s Chilian Zoology reviewed, 335
Geological Intelligence, 172, 362
Giraffe, Glandule Peyeriane of, 93
Girard, Charles, on Nemerteans and Planarians, reviewed, 159
Gladstone, Dr J. H., on Fluorescence, 163
Goodsir, John, on the adjustment of the Eye to distinct vision, 359
Gregory, Dr, on the Diatomacez of Glenshira, 346
Gutta Percha Plant noticed, 353
Hayes, A. A., on Native Iron from Liberia, 204
Heddle on Galactite and Natrolites, 349. On Mesolite, Fardelite, and Antri-
molite, 351
Helix pomatia and arbustorum, 361
Henwood, William Jory, on the Metalliferous Deposits of Kumaon and Gurh-
wal, 135
Hybridity in Birds, 171
Indian Metalliferous Deposits, 135
Iron, from Liberia, in Africa, 204
Jardine, Sir William, Contributions to Ornithology, 90, 238
Jenner on the Germinating Spores of Cryptogamic Plants, 269
Jones, T. Rymer, on the General Structure of the Animal Kingdom, review
of, 160 ;
Keith Prizes, 188
Land-Shells, their Distribution, 360
Langrebe, Dr George, on the Natural History of Volcanoes, review of, 141
Lawson, G., on Victoria Regia, 170
Leaf-insect, Notice of, 96
Listera ovata, 367
Lowe, W. H., on Polyommatus Artaxerxes, 342
Lyell’s Manual of Elementary Geology reviewed, 305
Macmillan, Hugh, on the rare Lichens of Ben Lawers, 257
Madras Exhibition, 158
Maingay, A. C., on Cladophora repens, 358
Index. 37
Malapterurus Beninensis, Note on, 188
Malvern Bone Bed, 172
Man, recent origin of, on the Earth, 247
Meriones, Species of, in Nova Scotia, 1
Meteoric Lead, remarks on, 169
Meteorites, 367
Meteorological Register, 370
Meteorology, 368
Microscopic Fossil Specimens, preparation of, 297
Miller, Hugh, on the Fossil Floras of Scotland, 173
Mineralogical Intelligence, 367
Minerals, Norwegian, Chemical Composition of, 59
Mollusca of Britain, 154
Mont Blanc, relation of its Rocks, 189
Murray, Andrew, on the Leaf Insect, 96
Natural History, on the Study of, 66, 125
Newton’s Principia, by Brougham and Routh, reviewed, 328
New Zealand, Natural History of, 5
Norwegian Rocks, Relation of, 79
Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, the Physical Geography of, 112
Orchids in Brazil, 366
Ornithology of Eastern Africa, Contributions to, by Sir William Jardine, 238
Ornithology of South America, Contributions to, by Sir William Jardine, 90
Ouvirandra fenestralis, 367
Photometer noticed, 345
Phyllium Scythe, Notice of, 96
Plurality of Worlds, Inferences respecting, 39, 218
Pneumatic Chuck described, 304
Polyommatus Artaxerxes, Remarks on, 342
Ponton, Mungo, on Solar Light, 345
Powell’s Views in regard to the recent Origin of Man on the Earth, 247
Quito, Vegetable Productions of, 162
Ranunculi of Britain, 169
Rogers, Professor W. B., on the Binocular Resultant of a Straight line and a
Circular Arc, 210. On the Binocular Resultant of two Circular Arcs, 213
Royal Physical Society, Proceedings of, 168, 348
Royal Society of Edinburgh, Proceedings of, 167, 339
Sabine’s Translation of Arago’s Essays reviewed, 150
Saury Pike noticed, 348
Scientific Intelligence, 171, 360
Skeleton found at Mickleton Tunnel, 253- -
376 Index.
Sorby, Henry Clifton, on the Physical Geography of the Oid Red Sandstone
. Sea of the Central District of Scotland, 112
Spherosiderite, containing Vanadium and Titanium, 185
Spores, Remarks on, 269
Symonds, Rev. W. S., on the Upper Ludlow Bone Bed, near Malvern, 172
Tancred, Sir Thomas, on the Natural History of Canterbury, New Zealand, 5
Technology, Inaugural Lecture on, reviewed, 156
Thomson, Alexander, on the Recent Origin of Man on the Earth, 247.
Trevelyan, Sir W. C., on a Form of Parmelia saxatilis, 355
Unity of Form in the Bones of the Skeleton, 122
Victoria Regia, Structure of, 170
Walrus, Habits of, 360
Wardrop, J., on the connection between the Chemical and Morphological Cha-
racter of Plants, 356
Wilson, Professor George, on Technology, 156
Woods of Madras, 365
Zoological Intelligence, 171, 360
END OF YOLUME THIRD—NEW SERIES,
Neiiyt & Co., Priuters, Edinburgh.
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