their plentiful supplies of Indian corn, sugar-cane, and other food, has more to do with their excellent condition than their posture when feeding. The walls of many houses are covered with circular cakes of cow-dung drying in the sun. This fuel is chiefly used for heating the flat surfaces of rock from which the slabs used in making tombs are procured.-Madagascar and its People. REVIEWS OF BOOKS. A Handbook of Phrenology. By C. DONOVAN. London : Longmans. 1870. WE E had thought-nay, we had hoped-that phrenology had met nearly the same fate as spirit-rapping, and had, with it, been consigned to the limbo of effete methods of charlatanerie. But we had hoped in vain. Here is a treatise, issued by the first publishing firm in the world, and written, the title-page tells us, by "C. Donovan, Professional Phrenologist, Doctor of Philosophy, and Fellow of the Ethnological Society." Whatever the scientific status of a "professed phrenologist" may be, we will not stop to inquire; but there can be no question as to the Doctor of Philosophy and the Fellowship of the Ethnological Society, a body of which Professor Huxley is the president. We cannot but express our astonishment, therefore, that a fellow of a society of such high standing as the Ethnological, could be found to compose a book full of the wild nonsense, the arrant absurdities, which the text of the work before us reveals in every page. It is throughout, from cover to cover, a tissue of the most unscientific dogmatism, without a single gleam of advanced anatomical or psychological fact or reasoning. So much good work has been done of late years in the investigation of both brain-structure and brain-function, that it would not have been too much to expect that a fellow of the Ethnological Society might at least have been expected to give us so much of a resumé as might have been picked up from the popular scientific periodicals. But when we find none of this, but in its stead an olla podrida of misplaced quotations from the poets, and a string of unsupported assertions, such as are to be found in the prospectus of every itinerant bump-feeler in the country, we may well ask if the Ethnological Society does not mean to take some steps to prevent its name being even indirectly associated with a work in every way so unworthy of modern science. Dr. Donovan's philosophy-of which he claims to be a doctor-is surpassed by the purity of his English style and the exquisite good taste and extreme suaviter in modo of his preface. In the concluding lines of this composition he says: "Phrenology has no rival theory. There is no other doctrine of mind and brain with which it can be compared. And so with opponents it is Hobson's choice '-that or nothing." Of the dignified and refined mode in which the author learned in philosophy discourses we shall say not a word; but we would just observe that, adopting the courteous expression of Dr. Donovan, and falling on the alternative he politely suggests, we should infinitely prefer the "nothing" to anything in the shape of the Boeotian philosophy which the "professed phrenologist" advances. Observations on Fundamental Principles, and some existing Defects in National Education. By NEIL ARNOTT, M.D., F.R.S., &c., Member of the Senate of the London University. London: Longmans. 1870. DR. R. ARNOTT'S experience as a teacher, and as an exponent of the principles on which education should be conducted, entitles him to speak on the question he has now taken up with more or less of the influence of authority. We think, therefore, that it is to be regretted that, in the pages of the present work, he has not confined his attention to the consideration of some of those great problems which now occupy the minds of our leading savants and statesmen. Instead of doing this exclusively, Dr. Arnott has allowed his pen to wander from the proper limits of his subject, and has gone into the investigation of, or rather, the expression of individual opinions on, some abstract questions which excite the attention of philosophers. In a work on education, we think it would have been better to have avoided such matters as those of primal causation and the probability or improbability of an intelligent Creator. Such matters have really nothing to do with a national practical scheme. Another defect which we observe is the author's "rule and compass" failing, if we may so style it; his tendency to schematic representation of the method in which ideas of scientific facts should be conveyed. Indeed, on the whole, we are not so well pleased with this production of the author's as with some of his earlier writings. It is too much of a made-up book. Notes of a Course of Nine Lectures on Light. Delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, April 8-June 3, 1869, by JOHN TYNDALL, LL.D., F.R.S. London: Longmans, 1870. DR. R. TYNDALL did not intend the notes of his last year's lectures to receive further publication than that resulting from their being placed in the hands of his pupils; but, at the request of various persons, he has consented to issue them as a small, convenient, and cheap manual, which will, we doubt not, prove immensely popular with students of Physics. These lecture-notes are, as the title implies, devoted to the subject of Light and its laws. They are arranged as a series of aphorisms, and they constitute one of the clearest treatises on Optics that we have seen for a long time. It is a book which we especially commend to the student, as it is brief, clear, accurate, and tolerably easily mastered. Airy's (O.) Geometrical Optics. 12mo. 3s. 6d. cl. 4to. 10s. 6d. cl. FRENCH. Assimilation de la Protogine des Alpes au Porphyre Granitoïde du Beaujolais. Par M. Ebray. Paris. Blot. Cours élémentaire de Botanique appliquée à l'Agriculture. Par Charles Cave, Docteur des Sciences naturelles. Paris. V. Masson et fils. De l'Aspiration pneumatique sous-cutanée. Méthode de diagnostic et de traitement. Par le Docteur Georges Dieulafoy. Paris. Masson et fils. De la Destruction des Vers blancs. Par la Jachère. 2e. Etude. Par E. Hecquet d'Orval, vice-président du comice agricole d'Abbeville. Paris. Sagnier. De la Prophylaxie de la Phthisie pulmonaire. Mémoire présenté au Concours de Médecine de Grénade (Espagne), par Edmond Metzquer. Strasbourg. Silbermann. Epoque préhistorique Station de Cubzac (Gironde), Camp de l'âge de la Pierre polie. Par M. Delfortrie. Bordeaux. Gounouilhou. Etude sur le Développement des Facultés intellectuelles. 1e. Nécessité de la Science; 2e. Etudes les plus profitables; 30. Défauts des méthodes en usage; 4e. Nouveaux préceptes pour réussir dans tous les genres d'études. Par L. M. U. Similieu, Professeur de Matématiques. Angers. Barassé. Etudes d'Hygiène. Par M. le Docteur A. Bouget, Médecin cantonal et membre de la commission centrale d'hygiène d'Arbois Poligny, Mareschal. Les Engrais chimiques, leur Emploi en Agriculture. Par le Docteur A. Mafilatre. Alençon. Thomas. Mémoire de la Société linnéenne du Nord de la France. Tom. II. Année 1868 et 1869. Amiens. Lenöel-Hérouart. [June 15, 1870. Mémoire sur quelques Espèces de Statice du groupe Limonium. Par M. Alexandre Lafont. Bordeaux. Degréteau et Cie. Précis de Paléontologie humaine. Par le Docteur E. T. Haury, prépa rateur d'Anthropologie à l'Ecole pratique des Hautes Etudes. Illustré de 114 Figures. Paris. Baillière et fils. Topographie Médicale de Baréges-Le Sol, le Climat, les Eaux. Par le Docteur Armieux. Paris. Rozier. CORRESPONDENCE. It is distinctly to be borne in mind that we do not, by inserting letters, convey any opinion favourable to their contents. We open our columns to all, without leaning to any; and thus supply a channel for the publication of opinions of all shades. No notice whatever will be taken of anonymous communications. ALPETRAGIUS AND URSA MAJORIS.-From H. MICHELL WHITLEY. SIR.-In June, 1868, Herr Schmidt wrote Mr. Birt, drawing attento Alpetragius &, which Beer and Mädler show on their map as a crater nearly a mile in diameter, and describe it in "Der Mond" as the small crater, which shines with a light of 8°; Schmidt stated that this crater has now disappeared and a white spot occupied its place, and in this Mr. Birt confirms him. I examined this region on the evening of June 8th, with a power of 250 on my silvered-glass reflector of 6" aperture:-I found no crater of the size which Beer and Mädler show, but in its place a very conspicuous bright white spot of about 8" diameter and from 6° to 7° of brightness, closely resembling, both in character and size, the white spot Linné. Beer and Mädler's little craterlet, south of ô, was plainly visible, and lay exactly on the edge of the white spot, and due south of its centre. On a careful scrutiny I detected in the centre of the white spot a most minute craterlet or blowhole, not more than half the size of the craterlet mentioned above; this minute pit is not shown in Schmidt's drawing or mentioned by Mr. Birt as having been seen by him when he examined this spot in June, 1868; and these observations, which are published in "The Student," vol. 2, p. 48, are the only ones I have met with. It appears to me, then, that we have here a remarkable analogy to the case of Linné. Firstly, a well-defined crater is shown by Beer and Mädler; secondly, a white spot is now on the site of this crater; and, thirdly, the discovery of a minute pit in this white spot. With regard to Ursa Majoris, the latest published measurement I have seen is one by Mr. Williams, of Liverpool. In the Astronomical Register for May, 1868, he gives "distance 1.85", epoch 1868-9;" it being, however, a binary star in rapid motion, the components are now closing up. I divided it last night, with a power of 250 on 6" aperture, and estimated the distance as being from 1" to 1.5". Penarth, Truro, June 10th, 1870. H. MICHELL WHITLEY. THE DOUBLE STAR & URSA MAJORIS.-From HERBERT INGALL. SIR, With reference to the inquiry of your correspondent respecting the double star & Ursa Majoris, I beg to say that last night I examined the pair, and estimated the central distance at a little under 1.5". It seems to me somewhat extraordinary that your correspondent should not see them divided with 4 in. of aperture; perhaps he has not got his object-glass perfectly adjusted. The stars are finely separated in my telescope, which has an aperture of 5 in., and a very fine correction. The power used was 750. I am, Sir, yours obediently, HERBERT INGALL. 1, Champion-grove, Champion hill, S.E., June 11. METEOROLOGY OF MAY, 1870.-From the REV. F. B. FALKNER. SIR, I beg to send you a few particulars of the weather of last month, as deduced from observations conducted by myself in this midland region. The circumstances of atmospheric temperature and moisture refer to a stratum of air four feet from the ground. The "solar" thermometer has its bulb blackened and inclosed in a vacuum glass chamber, and is 34 ft. above the ground. Another thermometer is freely exposed to the sky, and indicates the June 15, 1870.] MR. PROCTOR'S "SATURN."-From R. A. PROCTOR, B.A., F.R.A.S. SIR, I should be hard to please, indeed, if your admission about Saturn did not satisfy me. Your note differed in one very marked respect from the altogether natural mistake you had fallen into. It was very new, indeed, to me to hear "Saturn" called a compilation; but it was nothing new to find the editor of SCIENTIFIC OPINION too generous and straightforward to be unwilling to withdraw an accidental misstatement.-Yours very truly, RICHARD A. PROCTOR. A LATE REPLY. SIR,-I am not sure whether Dr. Ingleby is a reader of SCIENTIFIC OPINION. He lately made some comments in Nature upon views of mine respecting the Moon's apparent magnitude. I made a brief reply, conceiving that courtesy required it; the editor of Nature forgot, however, to insert my letter. Perhaps you will not mind letting this apology for apparent incivility appear in your correspondence columns. -Yours truly, RICHARD A. PROCTOR. MILITARY EDUCATION. The SIR,-It may have occurred to you that one of the topics of the day, namely, Military Education, as reported on by the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into its present state, has called forth but little expression of public opinion, whether scientific or otherwise. professional notices in the military periodicals, the brief discussion in Parliament, and the few letters in the newspapers, have not exhausted all that may be usefully said of this Report-certainly not in relation to Natural Science, and Geology in particular, for which the Commissioners appear to have no interest; whilst, judging from a Royal Engineer's letter in the Times, criticising Sir J. Lubbock's speech in Parliament on the necessity of general scientific education in the Army, we may suppose that geological knowledge is neither exact nor extensive in the Scientific Corps, though it is invaluable to the military man, whether marching, camping, establishing forts, or building barracks. The form of ground, topography, or, more comprehensively, physical geography, means nothing without geology; the relative productiveness of routes and districts depends on geological structure and composition; drainage and water-supply are geological matters, and so are the supply and selection of building-materials, such as cements, mortar, slates, stones, bricks, and tiles; the nature of foundations, the making of earthworks and roads are ruled by geology, even when made by the dullest workmen by rule-of-thumb; fossil fuel and metallic and mineral substances, require in their finding and recognition geology, combined with mineralogy, as in the above-mentioned instances of the value of this knowledge, which comprehends, when complete, all branches of Physical Science. If the erection of forts be determined on, they must, of course, be placed where military men require them; and their arbitrary position often makes their building costly and their water-supply difficult. But why should not their full cost be estimated at first? Why should their construction be carried on through a succession of mishaps and blunders ? A western wall of the Vern Fort was built on the verge of flat Portland limestone, lying on sand and clay, and liable to be left unsupported by these soft beds when undermined by the waves of the Channel, as had often been the case before; and this the cliffs of the island show. Of course, the wall sank with the first slip of the limestone edge, and had to be reconstructed. For the great Portsdown Fort, a water-supply was, of course, indispensable; but why was money wasted in boring down a vertical fissure in anticlinal (sharply-arched) chalk beds after water, which must have run away, on one hand or the other, as soon as ever it filtered through the soil, after a shower, to supply the known springs and wells at Fareham and elsewhere? "R. E.'s" letter in the Times of April 12, states that "boring in chalk costs little money, and we have certainly obtained plenty of water in similar situations." Similar situations, or broken anticlinals, are not common in the chalk; and it would be wonderful if any engineer obtained any water in such a case. The Royal Engineer appears to consider that one boring in chalk is likely to be as good as another, just as any part of a sound cheese may be stabbed by the cheese-taster with equal results. So we have known a Civil Engineer impressed with the notion that blue clay could never be bored successfully for water, as he thought all blue clays were one to an indefinite depth, and had failed in his few trials, not knowing aught of the relative lie and thickness of the clays he had had to do with. If, as "R. E." says, "boring in chalk costs little money," at least let the expenditure be made in proper situations; and if such wellknown unfavourable circumstances attend the boring as any geologist must have anticipated for Portsdown, the public money might from the first have been appropriated for rain-tanks, or other water supply. Look, again, at the unestimated cost of fort-building on bad foundations. Masses of brickwork were set on slippery clays in Hampshire, then unbuilt, and subsequently reconstructed on an arched base. If this plan be right, after all, it could have been anticipated at first, the necessary expenses estimated, and waste avoided. So in the Isle of Wight, a bad system of drainage, made on anything but geological principles, for the site of a new fort, had to be undone at a great cost. This result might have been anticipated, but geological conditions were not taken into due consideration. Sir John Lubbock stated that "when our army went to the Crimea, Sir R. Murchison applied to the Government to send out a geologist, but the request was not complied with." The newspaper report of Sir John's statement of the unfortunate position of the Commanding Engineer wanting water in the Crimea, and not knowing how to get it, is strikingly clear; and yet "R. E.," in the Times, appears not to have seen that, though Sir John Burgoyne did well to ask Sir Roderick about the matter, and to supply him with what information the young Officer of Engineers at hand could give, yet some one on the spot, well acquainted with geology and water supply, was what was needed; and such an expert Sir Roderick had urgently, but in vain, requested the authorities to provide. After all, it is satisfactory to find that "R. E.," like every officer in the army who has given attention to Physical Science, fully sympathizes with Sir John Lubbock, in his effort to press on the Government the necessity of scientific education among Military Men. The French, Prussians, and Danes fight none the worse for being scientifically educated. Their scientific education begins in boyhood; and this is a matter of course under several European Governments, whilst English gentlemen, if it so please their parents and guardians, may vegetate with inactive minds, or cultivate one or two faculties in learning Latin and Greek in a slow, blundering, old-fashioned manner. But who dares to say that our Engineers and Artillery Officers fight the worse because they have devoted some years to the sciences and belong to the Scientific Corps ? Are the present generation of scientific Staff Officers wanting in soldierly spirit? Are the thousand and more Cadets who have of late years studied Natural Science wanting in pluck and gallantry, though they have had an improved intellectual training? Nay, their bravery has been proved; and they possess additional accomplishments, which do not trench on the mental work required by any military study or pursuit-which will help them and others at need, and be always at command to enliven a dull station or weary route. The Commission, as well as "R. E.," asks for "practical science," and dreads the effects of "cramming." Viva voce examinations meet the latter, sound elementary instruction only can produce the former. The Royal Commissioners on Military Education, and others, seem to think that the practical results of Science can be got at without elementary teaching, as if "practical geology were an art to be taught at an hour's notice to a Military Surveyor, for instance, wishing to show his pupils how to seize and apply the geological features of a country, or as if even Sir Roderick Murchison could tell the Crimean Army by letter where they might strike the rocks for water! The above-mentioned points, and much else having reference to a liberal and useful education of Military Officers, would have been well worth the consideration of the Royal Commission, even though its members comprise no one devoted to, or eminent in, the Natural and Experimental Sciences. I am, Sir, yours truly, T. R. J. SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. Secretaries of Societies will oblige us by regularly forwarding "Abstracts of Proceedings;" and they would do much to enhance the interest and success of their meetings if they would enable us to publish in anticipation "notices of papers to be read." ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY. JUNE 7TH.-Special meeting at the Museum of Practical Geology, Dr. A. Campbell, V.P., in the chair.-R. H. Tiddeman, Esq., B.A., F.G.S., was announced as a new member. : Professor Huxley, LL.D., FR.S., president, read a paper "On the Chief Modifications of Mankind and their Geographical Distribution." After explaining the chief physical characters by which the several modifications are distinguished-such as colour, character of hair, and form of skull-the author described five distinct types of mankind :The Australioid, found in Australia, the Dekhan, and the valley of the Nile; the Negroid, including the Negroes and Bushmen of Africa, and the Negritos of New Guinea, Tasmania, &c.; the Zanthochroic, distributed through Iceland, Eastern Britain, Scandinavia, North and Central Germany, through Eastern Europe into Asia, as far as Northwestern India, and found also in North Africa; the Melanochroic, situated between the Xanthochroic and Australioid peoples; and the Mongoloid, a large and somewhat ill-defined group occupying Central Asia, the two Americas, and Polynesia. The paper gave rise to a discussion, which was sustained by Mr. George Campbell, Mr. Wallace, Dr. Ray, Mr. Luke Burke, Mr. Dendy, Mr. Squier, and others. At the same meeting Mr. E. G. Squier exhibited a large collection of drawings, plans, and photographs of localities of interest in Peru. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. A. R. WALLACE, Esq., president, in the chair.-Mr. F. V. Jacques, of Bristol, was elected a member. Exhibitions were made by Mr. McLachlan, Mr. S. Stevens, Mr. Albert Müller, Mr. W. Warwick King, Major Munn, and the Secretary. Communications were made by Major Munn, "On the Honey-bee;" by Mr. A. G. Butler, "On the possible identity of Argynnis Niobe with A. Adippe;" and by Mr. G. R. Crotch, "On the Genera of Coleoptera, studied chronologically" (second part, 1802 to 1821). AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY. AT a meeting of this society, held at the Society of Arts on Friday evening, June 3rd, Mr. Glaisher, F.R.S., in the chair, several papers were read and illustrated by models. An instrument for ascertaining the connection between velocity and pressure, exhibited by Dr. Smyth, of Maidstone, procured the encomiums of the chairman, who stated that it was calculated to supply information that was wanting in the instrument which he had been using.. In the course of discussion, Mr. A. Stewart Harrison strongly advocated the necessity of an experimental period, whereupon the chairman asked Mr. Fred. W. Brearey, the honorary secretary, to read an extract from the minutes of a late council meeting held at Stafford House, at which were present Mr. Glaisher (in the chair), Sir William Fairbairn, Bart., Mr. Brooke, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wenham, Mr. Ehren, and Mr. Brearey (hon. sec.), as follows:-" Sir Wm. Fairbairn observed that we know but little of the reaction or lifting power of various forms of screw blades in the atmosphere relative to the force employed, though such experiments might be easily tried and the data obtained. Mr. Brooke was of opinion that, if a successful aerial machine was to be constructed, the most simple and obvious plan was that of inclined surfaces impelled forward horizontally. The most successful experiment that he had ever witnessed was upon this principle, the motive power being a wound-up clock-spring, which, as long as the power lasted, sustained the machine; and further, that most large birds were capable, during long periods of their flight, of sustaining themselves exactly in this way. It was further remarked that we were practically ignorant of the correct laws of the sustaining power of inclined surfaces of different forms and areas; and this want of knowledge was a perpetual stumbling-block to those who were willing to spend time and money in experiments. From the fact that as the weight and size of birds increased, so did the relative wing area decrease, it would appear that the ratio of sustaining surface to weight or resistance was by no means in equal proportions. The chairman stated that, with respect to plane surfaces of various figures exposed to the direct impact of the wind, he had already been trying some experiments with such instruments as were at his disposal, and that by employing two anemometers at the same time, so as to be sure of comparative results, he found that the indication of force increased with the size of the surface, also in the two instruments, equal surfaces shaped into different contours, gave different results. These interesting experiments, so directly bearing upon the question of ærial propulsion and resistance, were still occupying his attention, but at present he could tell us nothing from actual experiment of the resistance of inclined surfaces of various forms. It was then proposed that an experimental fund should be raised by subscription, and that a suitable and well-finished anemometer should be constructed, having the means of instantly setting various plane surfaces at any desired angle, and capable of registering both horizontal and vertical force simultaneously for all degrees of inclination. The results to be published for the benefit of the Society." Upon this proposition being put to the meeting, it was carried unanimously. 66 "On some New Forms of Extra-European Trichopterous Insects," by Mr. R. Maclachlan; and New Lichens recently discovered in Great Britain," by the Rev. J. M. Crombie. Professor Bell exhibited a flowering specimen of the wild tulip (Tulipa sylvestris, L.), of which a patch, of about 3 ft. in diameter, occurs in the park at Selborne, Hants. In a note to the librarian, which accompanied the specimen, Mr. Bell states that the plant is undoubtedly wild there, and that it also occurs in two other localities within a few miles of Selborne; viz., at Froyle, and near Theodore Grange, Alton. Mr. D. Hanbury exhibited the dried fruits of two species of Zizyphus, called by the European residents in China red and black dates. These fruits are used by the Chinese as articles of food, and are exported in large quantities from the city of Chee Foo. The red dates appear to be identical with the jujubes of the South of Europe. GEOLOGIST'S ASSOCIATION. JUNE 3.-Professor Morris in the chair.-A very interesting and instructive paper was read by C. T. Richardson, M.D., the result of a hurried visit to Cornwall, the Land's End, and the Scilly Isles, on the Physical Features and Geology of those districts. In the early portion of his address, the author pointed out the remarkable facilities which now existed for becoming practically acquainted with the general history of the geology of the western districts of Devon and of the whole promontory of Cornwall, as the result of the high level at which the West Cornwall Railway was com. pelled to be made, in order to cross the valley at Ivy Bridge, and also carried over the wide sinuous bay at Saltash, by which a very accurate general idea of the characters of the whole district may be obtained from the coup d'œil presented, even during the hurried passage of the train on its route to Penzance. Running as it does through some of the principal districts, furnishing both tin and copper, many of the facts connected therewith may be readily gathered, and some idea formed of the extent of area over which these minerals are developed, and also of the districts where the occurrence and preparation are to be seen of the interesting material known as Kaolin, or China clay, the basis or essential element in the manufacture of our improved porcelains or keramic ware. The author described successively in detail the several prominent features of the district-the serrated and sinuous coasts on both shores, with their lofty and precipitous rocky cliffs; the general high table-land, as it were, of the whole peninsula denuded and eroded into deep and numerous valleys constituting the well-known hilly character of the country; the great divisions and different nature of the rocks June 15, 1870.] forming the bulk of the district; the granitic, and the schistose, and the different features each gives to the aspect of the country; the isolated developments of granite at Dartmoor, Templemoor, Redruth, St. Austell's, St. Michael's Mount, the Land's End, and Scilly Isles, with all the rocky fragments fringing the coasts at greater and less distances, as at the Longslips, the Wolf Rocks, and the Eddystone. The conclusions sought to be conveyed by the author were, that Cornwall, as at present existing, was but the remnant of a former great and vast area extending seawards to the south and west, continuous with Scilly and the more distant similar rocks on the coast of Brittany; that this continuity was interrupted by some correspondingly extensive and powerful cause, operating, in all probability, as may be gathered from a consideration of the history of Dartmoor, at or about the period of the close of the Carboniferous era; that the Scilly Isles formed a part of the line of fracture, and were the advanced headland of Cornwall, as does the Land's End now form the extremity of a similar coast line traceable through the Wolf Rocks to the Eddystone, and still further eastwards. In conclusion, the author impressed with earnestness the necessity for students, at the outset of their studies, visiting such scenes as the Land's End, in order, as early as possible, to acquaint themselves with the visible and acting operations of nature on a large scale, so as to be able to form a somewhat proximate idea of the extent of area over which her influences are exerted, and endeavour to estimate the power and might with which her never-ending forces are felt. In proposing the thanks of the Association to the author, Professor Morris pointed out the several points suggested by the author which might well admit of extensive discussion, and supplemented most interesting details bearing upon the subject, in relation more especially to the mineral productions of tin and copper, the modes and variations in their occurrence, as well as to that of China clay. Specimens of several of the varieties of granite from St. Mary's, Scilly, and the neighbourhood of the Land's End, were exhibited, presenting many of the well-known characteristic variations of chemical and mineral composition, and elicited very instructive demonstrations; as did also a quantity of sand from Porthcurno Bay, the material forming the artificial soil in which is raised the enormous quantity of early cauliflowers and potatoes sent to our London markets, it being composed principally of the felthspathic materials of the granite and the comminute remains of marine shells. The author recommended the Scilly Isles as being well worthy a visit to all natural-history students, as possessing much interest; the access being very easy, a mail steam packet sailing from Penzance three days a week, and from Scilly on alternate days, the passage occupying four hours; and very good accommodation being to be met with at the hotel. SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY. ST. GEORGE'S HALL, LANGHAM-PLACE.-On Sunday evening last, W. B. Hodgson, Esq., LL.D., lectured on "The Writings of Turgot." This truly meritorious French reformer engaged himself strenuously, for some years immediately previous to the Revolution, in behalf of the people, the lower classes of whom were, at that time, in a most deplorable condition. By reason of his assiduous labours, physical and mental, he enfeebled his bodily powers, and this only to be hated by those in power-a power wielded to the disadvantage of the classes he sought to protect. In speaking of Turgot's writings, the lecturer confined himself to those the subjects of which were most closely connected with his life as a statesman and as an orator. There came from his pen much that was then new, but which is now looked upon as mere matter of fact. At times, one knows not whether most to admire the originality of his views, or to acknowledge the manner in which they have made their way in our time. A large number of quotations from the writings of Turgot tended to show the almost endless diversity with which he wrote, and the general correctness and truthfulness of the whole. "A society exists," he said, “for individuals it is constituted to accomplish the rights of all." authoritative when based on justice." The right to labour was one of the great truths upon which Turgot insisted. God, by creating man with hands, has made the right to labour the property of every one. We regard it as one of the acts most worthy of our beneficence." Such were the words which he put into the mouth of his one-time kindly-disposed master, Louis XVI. Turgot was no believer in the gospel of tied hands; and it is almost superfluous to say that he considered the state of slavery to be the worst state of humanity, and serfdom next to it. Property is nothing more than the free disposal of what we possess legitimately." Conquest he held to confer no lasting or solid right. He did not even admit the power to bequeath by will without important distinctions. There is every reason to presume that a bequest or foundation, no matter how good in intention, may one day become useless. Turgot long prophesied the good to be derived by the separation of the American Colonies from the Mother Country. His principles with regard to trade in corn and other produce, were absolute freedom from restrictions of any kind. : "Law is Dr. Hodgson frequently elicited the hearty applause of his hearers, both from the piquancy of his style of delivery, and on account of the evident justness with which he delineated the character of a worthy man by his writings-the undoubted benefactor of his country-the friend, in no small degree, of his kind. BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. THE following papers have been read at the meetings of the Society, held during May, in the Midland Institute : On the 3rd inst. Mr. II. S. Scollick read a paper on "A Day's Collecting at Lulworth, Dorsetshire." Mr. Scollick gave an interesting account of a day spent in this locality in August, 1869, in search of Lepidoptera, some of the rarer species of which are there met with in great abundance on the chalk hills which slope down to the sea. The following were among the species obtained :-Colias edusa (the clouded yellow), an insect much prized by collectors; it occurs in some years explained, it is very rare. in great abundance, but in others, from causes which have yet to be Arge galathea (the marbled white); this somewhat local species was met with, abundantly flying over a narrow strip of ground about a mile in length. Polyemmatus corydon (the Chalk Hill blue), apparently not so common at Lulworth as in other chalk districts. Pamphilus action (the Lulworth skipper); this insect is highly prized by collectors from its rarity, and not from any beauty that it possesses. It is said to have been taken only in three or four localities in England. At Lulworth Mr. Scollick met with it in the greatest profusion. The paper was illustrated by a beautiful collection of insects captured during the day above mentioned. In conclusion, Mr. Scollick observed that he believed the botanist would find that locality as rich in objects of his research as he had in entomology. On the 10th inst. Mr. James Lancaster read a paper entitled "The Eye Piece examined and discussed." In commencing he stated that he intended to treat only of the action of the different eye pieces upon the rays received from the object lens, omitting all reference to the refractive and dispersive power of the glass best adapted for eye pieces, and to the various kinds of lenses used, and the principles involved in their arrangement for correcting chromatic and spherical aberration; the various eye pieces now used by the first makers of microscopes, and the advantages and actions of each were clearly described. Mr. Lancaster offered some practical hints on the manipulation of the microscope, which excited considerable interest among the members of the microscopical section. On the 17th inst. a paper was read by the Rev. H. W. Crosskey, entitled "Notes on the Post-Tertiary of Norway." The paper described observations made in the neighbourhood of Christiania, and various islands in the fjord. The writer had also visited Skien, on the north-west of the fjord, entered the Thelmakeen district, visiting the Gousta mountain, and the waterfall of the Rjukampos, returning to Christiania by Konsberg and Drammen. In the course of this route typical beds belonging to various parts of the Norwegian post-tertiary series were examined. The physical signs of ice action over this district, during the period when North Britain was in the condition of Greenland, were pointed out. The boulder clay of Norway is analogous to that of Scotland, having the same general characters resting upon the grooved and polished rocks. A large number of sands and clays occur containing Arctic shells, indicative of an extreme degree of cold. The fauna contained in these beds is well developed, and slightly more Arctic than the fossil fauna of the British glacial clays. The shells in the clays of this part of Norway are more Arctic in character than the shells found living off the coast. There is a greater difference, however, between the living British shells and the fossils in our clays than between the Norwegian living shells and the fossils The change of climate has been greater in Britain than in Norway. During the glacial epoch, the south-west of Norway was much colder than at the present; and North Britain experienced nearly the same degree of cold. Succeeding the extremely Arctic beds, a series of clays and sands occur, containing shells marking the amelioration of the climate and the elevation of the present land surface. The change took place gradually, and is marked by specially characteristic shells. In the island of Barholmen a sandy clay is found reaching the height of 100 feet. In this bed Oculina prolifera is abundant, a coral now found living at a depth of 150 to 300 fathoms. The shallowest depth which can be assigned the living coral thus marks an elevation of the land of 550 feet. The coral is associated with shells characteristic of very deep water, and belonging to the Finmark fauna. The fauna does not belong to the extreme glacial epoch, but marks deep sea conditions, with the temperature off Finmark, in the present fjord of Christiania. In beds near Skien a few Arctic shells linger with a large increase of species now found on the coast, denoting the gradual approach of the present climate. A collection of specimens from a series of beds was exhibited and described, and the paper concluded by referring to the |