gests that the bisulphide of iron may have been connected with the solvent by which the precious metal was held in solution.

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In a short paper in the 'Bulletin of the Geological Society of France, M. Gaudry announces that his researches at Pikermi have led him to doubt in some cases the generally received proposition, that if in a deposit we find the remains of vertebrata † which have not been derived from an older bed, the animals to which they belonged lived at the time that deposit was being accumulated, and that consequently they serve to characterize its age.

The American Journal of Science and Arts' for March contains two papers on recent geological changes in China and Japan, namely, one by Mr. Albert S. Bickmore, and one by Mr. Raphael Pumpelly. Both authors describe the gradual rise of the land in eastern China, and give more or less precise descriptions of the extraordinary changes that have recently taken place in the courses of some of the rivers, notably the Yellow River. Mr. Bickmore, however, believes that at Foochow and about the mouth of the river Min, there is an area which has for some time been slowly subsiding, presenting a remarkable exception to the general rule.

In the same number of that Journal is a paper by Mr. E. Andrews, on the Localities of Human Antiquities at Abbeville, Amiens, and Villeneuve, in which he advocates the theory that the annual rainfall at the period when the gravel was being deposited was immensely greater than it is at present; and that the time required for the deposition of the gravel was proportionately short, in consequence of the rapidity of the accumulation. It will be seen presently that Mr. Tylor has, in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,' advocated the theory of a Pluvial Period at the epoch treated of by Mr. Andrews.

Professor G. Seguenza has a note in the Atti della Società Italiani di Scienzi Naturali't on the Middle Cretaceous deposits of central Italy, in which he shows their complete correspondence with the Cretaceous rocks of Algeria belonging to the zone of Ammonites Rothomagensis. The geological conditions are stated to be precisely similar; and in a list of forty-four species of Italian fossils, forty-three are indicated as occurring also in the African formation. Professor Seguenza, therefore, seems perfectly justified in concluding that the Middle Cretaceous sea extended from Central Italy to the Province of Constantine.

The Geological Magazine' for the quarter has been characterized by many valuable papers. The contents of the March number include a reply to Dr. Sterry Hunt's views on Chemical Geology, by Mr. David Forbes; a descriptive paper on the Geo* Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. xxiv., p. 736. † "Quadrupeds" in the title. Vol. x., fasc. 2, p. 225.

logy of Charnwood Forest, which possesses considerable additional interest on account of its having been written by the late Rev. Baden Powell; the conclusion of Mr. Carruthers's admirable revision of British Graptolites; and some other articles and translations of value.

In the April number, Mr. Carruthers describes some British Fossil, Pandaneæ, or "Screw Pines," from the Inferior and Great Oolite and the Potton Sands. This group of Pines at the present day inhabits the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Old World. The other papers include a useful description of the Gault of Folkestone, by Mr. De Rance, and the commencement of a valuable account of the Fossil Insects of North America, by Mr. Scudder.

The last-mentioned paper is concluded in the May number, and from it we learn that 87 species of fossil insects have been discovered in North America. The Diptera (45), Hemiptera (6), Hymenop tera (3), and Lepidoptera (2), omitting one doubtful Carboniferous species, are restricted to the Tertiaries, as also are the Coleoptera (10), except one species from the Trias. The Orthoptera and Neuroptera (together numbering 18 species) are, the former Carboniferous, and the latter Carboniferous and Devonian, while the Myriapoda (2) are also Carboniferous.

Professor Huxley describes in the May number two new South African fossil reptiles, and there are several other articles of interest, especially one on Clacton, in Essex, by the Rev. Osmond Fisher.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

A large portion of the last 'Quarterly Journal' is occupied by the Annual Report and the Anniversary Address of the President (Mr. Warington W. Smyth). The latter includes notices of a variety of recent researches-especially on the origin of crystalline rocks, and on the geology of the Alps-and of the latest results of various geological surveys; but it is mainly occupied with discussions of three very interesting subjects, namely: (1) the physical structure of Palestine; (2) the climate of the earth's surface during past geological periods; and (3) the temperature of the earth's crust at great depths below the surface.

On the first subject we must draw attention to Mr. Smyth's able summing up of the arguments relating to the origin of the Dead Sea depression. So impartially does he weigh the evidence, and state the various conclusions which it has suggested, that it is difficult to ascertain his own convictions on the subject. It seems probable, however, that he favours the view suggested first by Hitchcock and adopted by Lartêt, "that a fault or dislocation takes

its course along the line of the valley, having a heavy downthrow to the west, and that, in fact, the present depression was produced by a relative descent of the eastern side of the hill-district of Judæa during the movements that raised the entire land from the sea." The change in the surface-level of the Dead Sea, and the speculations on the causes which have contributed to lessen the volume of its waters, lead Mr. Smyth by an easy step to a discussion of the numerous facts which prove oscillations of climate during past geological periods, and to an examination of the theories which have been advanced in explanation of the phenomena of the Glacial Period in countries which now enjoy a comparatively warm climate; and of a sub-tropical climate in Miocene times in regions which lie within the frigid zone of the Recent period. Considerable attention is given by the President to the familiar theory of the Swiss geologists, that the comparatively shrunken condition of the existing glaciers is due to the hot blast (called the Föhn or Scirocco) which keeps the snows and glaciers in check at the present day having its origin in the African deserts, while during the Glacial period this wind did not prevail in consequence of the deserts having then been submerged. It has, however, been shown by Professor Dove that the great bulk of the winds which descend hot, and full of moisture, on the Alpine regions has ascended from land and ocean far to the west of Africa. The inconclusiveness of the Swiss theory has also been illustrated on other grounds by Sir Charles Lyell, who has, in this connection, called attention to the fact that the sea of the North African deserts continued to exist in Post-tertiary times.

The possession, during the Miocene period, of a sub-tropical climate by the region of North Greenland, between the parallels of 70° and 80° N., is even more difficult of solution, as at present it is generally allowed that changes in physical geography are, alone, insufficient to produce the effect, while the probable results of cosmical changes are at present but slightly understood by geologists.

With respect to subterranean temperatures, Mr. Smyth gives an interesting summary of the principal facts and opinions, and succeeds in producing the impression that all existing theories on the subject are somewhat premature; but he most happily describes the efforts, successes, and failures of geologists in comparing them to the incidents in a voyage of discovery. "The region we make for is one of vast extent; and we sail on various courses and in very different varieties of craft. Some of us push rapidly forward in fast clippers; others cleave their way slowly, and yet not always surely."

Of the papers contained in the 'Proceedings of the Society, we must first notice that by Sir John Lubbock, "On the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy," in which the author objects to the commonly received opinion that these roads are the beaches, in the ordinary sense of the

term, of an ancient lake or arm of the sea. Sir John regards the roads as having been formed by material which fell from the hillside above the lake to lower levels beneath the water, until at the water-level a shelf was formed. He regards the loose material on the hill-side as lying at the angle of repose, so that all accessions would roll into the water and be arranged beneath it at the same angle. The width and slope of the roads would thus be dependent on each other, and would be determined by the depth to which the water was affected by waves. "In fact the lower level of the roads marks the lower edge of the disturbed water, just as their upper edge coincides with its upper edge. We thus see why the three shelves are so similar in size, and also why their width is least when their inclination is greatest."

Mr. Tylor's paper "On the Amiens Gravel" is an attempt to disprove the well-known conclusions of Mr. Prestwich respecting the relative age of Quaternary deposits, and the date and manner of the excavation of the valleys on the sides of which they rest. The Amiens gravel is selected for this paper because, probably, it yields a typical example, and one to which a large amount of attention has been drawn. Mr. Tylor's principal conclusions are, (1) that the surface of the chalk had assumed its present form prior to the deposition of any of the gravel or loess now seen resting upon it; and (2) that the Quaternary deposits indicate a Pluvial period, just as the Northern drift indicates a Glacial.

Dr. Nicholson's paper "On the Graptolites of the Skiddaw Series" is a contribution to descriptive Palæontology of a very useful kind, but, as recent criticisms appear to indicate, of somewhat debateable value.

The scope of the elaborate paper "On the Glacial and Postglacial Structure of Lincolnshire and South-east Yorkshire," by Mr. Searles V. Wood, jun., and the Rev. J. L. Rome, is difficult to chronicle. It is a description of local phenomena, and an attempt to assign to them the causes by which they may conceivably have been produced. On two points, however, it possesses a more general interest, namely, (1) in the separation of the Boulder-clay of Hessle from the true Boulder-clay of the eastern counties, and from the purple clay which in the district under consideration overlies it, and in the determination of the younger age of the first-named deposit than the true Boulder-clay; and (2) in the assignment of the so-called "Bridlington Crag" to an horizon included within the limits of the "purple clay."

We are glad to learn from the Annual Report that the Society continues in a flourishing condition, no less than sixty-two new Fellows having been elected during last year, amongst the names of whom we notice those of Earl de Grey and Ripon, Mr. R. H. Scott,

Director of the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade, Mr. A. W. Franks, Keeper of the Antiquities in the British Museum, and Mr. W. Carruthers.

Mr. Warington Smyth has been succeeded as President by Professor Huxley.

9. METALLURGY AND MINING.

METALLURGY.

MR. C. W. SIEMENS has recently communicated to the Chemical Society a paper "On the regenerative Gas-furnace as applied to the production of Steel." Although the question relates more strictly to chemistry, we refer to it in this place for the purpose of directing the attention of those who are at all interested in Metallurgy to the curious facts stated as to the power of tungsten in giving hardness to steel, and in enabling it to receive and retain the magnetic force. The regenerative gas-furnace was of course fully described, and its advantages in many processes especially pointed

out.

Ever and anon the combination of wolfram with iron, or more correctly speaking of tungsten and iron, claims our attention. The following extracts from a report on its use in Germany, which has been published by A. Keiffenheim and Co., may be worthy of attention:

The pulverized wolfram ore is weighed off for each raw iron charge in a quantity corresponding with the intrinsic percentage which it is thought desirable to allow. This quantity is mixed with one pound of powdered manganese, and half-a-pound of salt, and the mixture is put into bags.

The raw iron charge is smelted in the puddling-furnace, and after a strong heat begins to develop and ascend; the bags containing the alloy are to be pressed one after the other, and, at short intervals, into the liquid mass, and at the same time the puddler must quickly stir up the whole mass with the raker, in order that the alloy may be equally distributed throughout.

Such is the general description of the process. This wolfram iron is said to be remarkable for toughness and strength. If it be so, we shall soon hear more of it.

Large quantities of wolfram have been obtained from the Kit Hill and Drake Walls mines in the neighbourhood of Callington. At one time the combination of tin ore and wolfram was treated by a process patented by Mr. Oxland, but worked by M. Jacob at Drake Walls, and the tungsten, as tungstate of soda, preserved. The