60 Bibliographical Notices. 



noids, recently obtained by a zealous collector, Mr. Wood, from the 

 mountain limestone near Richmond in Yorkshire, and which, from 

 the perfection of the specimens obtained, leaves little to desire respect- 

 ing its illustration. This genus, Woodocrinus, is allied to Cyatho- 

 crinus and Forbesiocrinus, differing from the latter in possessing sub- 

 radial pieces, and from the former in having five of these plates 

 instead of four. Another peculiarity is found in the stem, which, 

 unlike most of the Crinoids, is very slender at the commencement 

 and gradually increases in diameter with its length. 



Prof, de Koninck is at present engaged on a general treatise of the 

 Crinoidea, and has recently visited this country for the purpose of 

 obtaining specimens and examining the collections in order to perfect 

 his work ; therefore any assistance connected with this subject would 

 not be rendered in vain; for although two valuable works are in 

 progress, those of Mr. Austin and M. d'Orbigny, there is still room 

 for further researches on these singular lilyform creatures, which 

 swarmed so abundantly in the earlier seas, and whose almost entire 

 absence in the present ocean is probably compensated for, or at 

 least represented by, the higher members of the same family of 

 Echinoderms. 



A Lecture on the Geological History of Newbury , Berks. 

 By T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S. 



This pamphlet, containing the substance of a lecture delivered 

 before the members of a scientific institute, has however more than 

 a local interest. In treating of the physical history of a limited 

 district, the author has brought forward certain geological truths in 

 a clear and intelligible manner. Popular lectures are not always 

 satisfactory, partly from the ad captandum style, sometimes from a 

 discursive array of undigested facts, and frequently from the lecturer 

 speaking at and not to the audience. 



The value of elementary instruction depends upon the correctness 

 of the facts stated, and the clearness and methodical manner with 

 which they are enunciated. In this respect Mr. Jones has been suc- 

 cessful, by arranging the leading principles of geological science in a 

 concise and common-sense manner. Geology is treated as a history, 

 the records of which are to be sought for beneath the surface, in the 

 constitution of the soils and subsoils of the district, in the beds of 

 earth and stone, which compose the frame-work of hill and valley, 

 and constitute, as it were, the many-leaved stony volume of the 

 earth's primaeval history. Cuvier long ago remarked, that the geo- 

 logist was an antiquary of a new order. Just as the antiquary finds 

 materials for history in the many buildings of towns and cities, 

 whether perfect or in ruins, which have been erected for ecclesiastical, 

 military or civil purposes, at different periods, in distinct styles, of 

 various materials, and often rich with sculpture and inscriptions, — 

 so the geologist examines the many different rocks and soils of which 



