HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



83 



just indicated. I venture to suggest that if paper 

 were superseded by the substitution of card, a great 

 improvement would be effected, chiefly because the 

 latter would admit of having a slightly raised border 

 put upon it; by which means the specimen would 

 be saved from undue pressure and contact. For the 

 purpose of storing away the specimens when 

 mounted, I would recommend that a box be made, 

 of either wood or card, capable of holding 100 of 

 them, the length and breadth of which must 

 (within an eighth of an inch) correspond with 

 those on the mounts. By adopting this plan, 

 sufficient room will thereby be allowed for easy 

 removal, besides, at the same time, being light 

 enough to prevent their shaking about, and from 

 getting confused when packed. To facilitate their 

 withdrawal, at pleasure, I would have at the end of 

 each card— in the centre— a small space cut, just 

 large enough to admit of the finger and thumb, 

 so as to guarantee their removal without fear of 

 injury. 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne. . John Harkisox. 



KECORDS OF THE ROCKS.* 



WE have experienced few pleasures more 

 genuine than that of reading through the 

 volume whose title stands above. Its author is a 

 well-known worker in the geological field, and his 

 pen has done much towards rendering geology 

 popular. In this book, however, Mr. Symonds has 

 certainly transcended all his previous efforts. It is 

 undoubtedly a good book, bearing rich evidence on 

 every page of its being a labour of love. The 

 author has selected those chapters of the geological 

 record with which he is most familiar, as illustrated 

 in districts to survey which has been the object 

 of repeated holidays from a country clergyman's 

 work. The archaeology and botany of the localities 

 investigated have been charmingly interwoven 

 with the geological narrative, so that the reader 

 can now understand how a book written in 

 pleasant and racy English has such a charm. Our 

 first thought, as we read chapter after chapter, was, 

 that the different spots, whose palseontological and 

 natural history treasures were opened out so 

 invitingly, should certainly be those selected for our 

 own limited summer ramble. And that notion, 

 thanks to Mr. Symonds, we shall certainly have to 

 indulge before we obtain peace. Nothing could be 

 more attractive or profitable than to take this 

 volume with us as "guide, philosopher, and friend," 

 through North and South Wales, and the Western 

 counties of England. Silurian geology has always 

 had a peculiar charm for ourselves. It is to be 



* " Records of the Rocks." By Rev. W. S. Symonds, 

 F.G.S., Rector of Pendock. London: John Murray, 

 Albemarle Street. 



studied in the most picturesque spots, on the flanks 

 of genuine mountains, or on the sides of hills almost 

 deserving the name. Where its fossils are to be 

 disentombed, there you may expect to meet with 

 many a rare plant not to be obtained elsewhere. A 

 feast of fat things to ihe naturalist is generally 

 spread over Silurian strata. And when, in addition 

 to these attractions, the same localities are fruitful 

 in archaeological lore, in grey ruiuj and prehistoric 

 remains — the student has to confess that he might 

 go farther and fare worse than work ground so 

 attractive. 



Such is the nature of the district whose geology 

 is [now popularized by Mr. Symonds. It is classic 

 ground to the geologist, for it is the " Siluria" of 

 Murchison ! Mr. Symonds has followed in the 

 steps of the great master, and has thrown the 

 charm of a pure literary style over his descriptions. 

 The illustrations of the work are numerous and 

 excellent, although some of the fossils bear a 

 familiar appearance. By far the best sketches in it 

 are those from the pencil of Sir William Guise, Bart., 

 who is himself well known as an able naturalist and 

 geologist. We have rarely seen anything more 

 effective than the frontispiece, "Eligug Stacks near 

 Pembroke." None but a true artist, as well as a 

 genuine naturalist, could have produced such a 

 sketch. Fig. 52 is a good example, although not 

 the best, of Sir William's pencil. It expresses 

 the influence of physical geology upon the scenery 

 in a remarkable manner. It is not at all difiicult to 

 see that two geological formations meet here, and 

 that the bay has been scooped out near the junc- 

 tion. 



The " Stiper Stones " are a well-known ridge of 

 quartzose'rocks, which havebeenrepeatedly sketched. 

 They are now known to belong to the Lower 

 Llaudeilo rocks. How they have withstood the 

 weathering, so as to present the appearance of 

 some ancient ruin, is well seen in the following 

 sketch. The district round about is full of proofs 

 of plutonic disturbance. Dykes of greenstone 

 ramify through the ancient strata, in which 

 latter the tubes of marine worms are still to be 

 identified. Bosses of trap stand out, the softer 

 strata through which they were thrust having been 

 slowly worn away since the disruption. No wonder 

 the scenery of such a district should be wild and 

 varied. 



Summer pedestrians, who like to flavour their 

 holidays with a little natural history recreation 

 (and we are glad to think the number of such is 

 increasing), will thank Mr. Symonds for the full 

 catalogue he gives, not only of localities where 

 fossils are to be obtained, but of the fossils them- 

 selves. The places where evidences of glacial 

 scorings and striations, where moraines with angular, 

 glaciated rocks are still to be seen, and where the 

 ancient elevated beaches containing shells— baro- 



