Ly ell's Address to the London Geological Society. 223 



of place in the pole of the earth, by giving a long list of places, 

 which, he says, have changed their latitude and longitude 

 within the last 200 years. The list is unsatisfactory: no au- 

 thorities are quoted ; and many of the places are so obscure, 

 that, without a collection of old gazetteers, it will not be easy 

 to tell where they are; and the supposed variations may readily 

 be attributable to the inaccuracy of observation and of calcu- 

 lation ; and we observe that, in the cases of Venice, Rome, 

 Stockholm, and Petersburg, and other known places, the va- 

 riations, as stated by him, are so exceedingly small as by no 

 means to keep pace with the large differences attributed to the 

 places remote and scarcely known. As little support will his 

 theory obtain form the fact, that many celebrated churches 

 are not now found to stand due east and west. Architects in 

 former days, were not mathematically exact in laying down 

 the points of the compass ; and we shall find very great variety 

 of direction in churches in the same county in any part of 

 England. 



Altogether, however, the pamphlet is ingenious, possesses 

 considerable novelty, and opens a discussion of points de- 

 serving the attention of able geologists and astronomers. — 



Lyell, C, jun., M.A. F.R.S. : The Address delivered at the 

 Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society of London, 

 on Feb. 19. 1836; and the Announcement of the Award 

 of the Wollaston Donation Fund for the same Year. By 

 C. Lyell, jun., M.A. F.R.S., President of the Society. 

 8vo, 38 pages. London. 



A comprehensive and, at the same time, detailed report of 

 the Society's progress in the extension of the knowledge of 

 geology during the preceding year : this appears to have 

 been very considerable ; and the address must be of great in- 

 terest to every one engaged in the pursuit of this science. 

 "The Wollaston medal has been awarded to Mr. Agassiz of 

 Neuchatel, for his work on fossil ichthyology ; and the sum of 

 251., from the donation fund, has been awarded to Mr. Des- 

 hayes, in promotion of his labours in fossil conchology." 



Sowerby's New Edition of the English Botany : to contain 

 Figures and Brief Descriptions of most of the Species of 

 Plants found wild in Britain. Published in fortnightly 

 Numbers. 



In V. 707, 708., and VI. 445., are notices of this work. 118 

 numbers have now (March 15.) been published. From an 

 inspection of the last two of these, the descriptive matter is 



