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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of positive and rigorous experiment. He 

 claims to have establishecLjdirectly, by ob- 

 servations that may be verified, that matter 

 passes from the non-living to the living 

 state, and he aims furthermore to show that 

 this fact is consonant with the whole scheme 

 of Nature's working. His preliminary chap- 

 ters on the correlation of the vital and 

 physical forces, on the nature and theories 

 of life, on organized and organizable matter, 

 on the relations of the animal, vegetable, 

 and mineral kingdoms, and on cell-phenom- 

 ena and cell-doctrines, form the clearest 

 and most readable exposition of these 

 subjects that we have yet seen, and they 

 have a value quite independent of the spe- 

 cial inquiry to which they are an introduc- 

 tion. 



Geological Survey of Ohio. Report of 

 Progress in 1870, by J. S. Newberry, 

 Chief Geologist, including Reports by 

 the Assistant Geologists, Chemists, and 

 Local Assistants. (Columbus : Nevin & 

 Myers, State Printers, 1871, pp. 568.) 



The labors of Prof. Newberry and his 

 colleagues during the year 1870 have re- 

 sulted in the accumulation of a great many 

 details relating chiefly to the structure of 

 that portion of the great Appalachian coal- 

 field which extends over a considerable part 

 ;f Ohio. Without the aid of a good map it 

 is somewhat difficult to follow the descrip- 

 tions given in this report, the numerous 

 local references and details having a ten- 

 dency to bewilder the reader. This, how- 

 ever, is unavoidable under the circumstances ; 

 and those who desire to obtain a full and 

 clear conception of the geological struct- 

 ure of Ohio will have to wait the completion 

 of the map and final report promised by Dr. 

 Newberry, the present volume not pretend- 

 ing to be more than its title implies. Never- 

 theless, it contains a very large and varied 

 amount of information, which will, no doubt, 

 be duly appreciated by those for whom it 

 has been prepared. Especially noteworthy 

 are the numerous illustrative sections of 

 Carboniferous strata, and analyses of coals, 

 iron-stones, fire-clays, and soils, as also two 

 ably-written sketches, " On the Present 

 State of the Manufacture of Iron in Great 

 Britain," and " On the State of the Steel 

 Industry," both of which will repay perusal 



by those who are interested in these mat 

 ters. 



Scattered through the purely geologica. 

 portion of the report are many points of in- 

 terest, which arrest attention as one glance3 

 over the pages. Thus we are told that " at 

 Zaleski, in mining the Nelscnville coal, a 

 fine bowlder of gray quartzite was found 

 half embedded in the coal, and the other 

 half in the overlying shale. The quartzite 

 is very hard, and the bowlder was rounded 

 and worn by friction before it came to the 

 coal." It measured 17 in. by 12 in., and 

 had adhering to it in places bits of coal and 

 black slate which showed a slick en-sided 

 surface. The stone appeared to have 

 settled into the coal when the latter was in 

 a soft state. Prof. Newberry speculates 

 with diffidence on the possibility of the 

 bowlder having been "brought down by 

 river-ice from some higher and colder part 

 of the old continent, which was skirted by 

 the coal-producing lowlands." In connec- 

 tion with this, it is somewhat interesting to 

 find that a local deposit of quartz conglom- 

 erate occurs here and there underneath and 

 skirting the coal-strata, and is believed by 

 Dr. Newberry to represent an old beach>of 

 the period. From some such gravel and 

 shingle deposit the bowlder may have been 

 transported, but whether by means of ice, 

 water-plant, or land-plant, who shall tell ? 



Another exceedingly interesting and 

 readable portion of the Report is the " Ag- 

 ricultural Survey," by Mr. J. H. Klippart, 

 in which the writer discusses, among other 

 subjects (such as prairies, forests, etc.), the 

 origin of the soils in certain districts of the 

 State. Those geologists who believe in the 

 former existence, during the Glacial epoch, 

 of mild interglacial periods, will find much 

 here to support their opinion. We are told 

 that the succession of the drift-materials, 

 beginning with the oldest, is as follows : 



a. Glacial drift. 



b. Erie clays. 



c. Forest-bed. 



d. Iceberg-drift. 



e. Alluvium. 



/. Peat, calcareous tufa, shell-marl. 



The oldest deposit is believed to be the 

 product of land-ice, and the presence of the 

 Erie clays betokens that, after the disap- 



