460 Short Communications : — 



pear tree, a living bat, of a bright scarlet colour, which he 

 foolishly suffered to escape from fear, being fully persuaded 

 (with the characteristic superstition of that part of Cheshire) 

 that it was a " being not of this world." The tree presents 

 a small cavity in the centre where the bat was enclosed, but is 

 perfectly sound and solid on each side. {Chester Courant. 

 Date not preserved.) 



Perhaps by " of a bright scarlet colour," of a bright red 

 brown is rather meant ; unless it be supposed that the wood 

 of the tree had produced some dyeing effect on the fur of the 

 bat. — J. D. 



A Bird's Nest found within the Wood of a Tree, — Lately, 

 when two men were sawing a larch tree upon the estate of 

 Lynedoch, they discovered a bird's nest with eggs in the 

 centre of the trunk. It must have remained in that situation 

 for a considerable time, as the aperture by which the parents 

 had obtained access to the nest was entirely closed up by the 

 bark of the tree. [Morning Herald, June 15. 1825.) 



Chalk in Belgium. — The occurrence of true chalk 

 in Belgium has been observed, and noted by Omalius 

 d'Halloy ; also, along the Meuse, opposite to Vise, near 

 Maestricht, by Dr. Fitton [Proceedings of the Geological 

 Society, No. 14. p. 162.). On reference to the maps of Simon 

 Schropp of Berlin (Geog?iostiche Karate von Deutschland und 

 den Umliegenden Staaten, 1826), I see no locality marked to 

 the eastward of Aix la Chapelle; but I have observed a chalk 

 pit on the right of the chaussee, which is much elevated above 

 it, between Bercheim and Cologne ; and I am told it underlies 

 the plastic clay at Aldenhofen, and near Steinstras. The 

 roads there are macadamised with true chalk flints, and the 

 plastic clay may be traced on the uplands all the way from 

 Aix to Cologne, especially before arriving at Juliers. As it 

 is a matter of some interest to geologists, to trace the connec- 

 tion of the true chalk with the Maestricht beds, and the ter- 

 tiary formations above them, the notice of this locality may be 

 of some little service, especially as I believe it to be the first 

 mention of it. M. Wolff of Spa has not marked it on his 

 Carte GSologique du Departement de VOurte et dcs Environs. 

 — W. B. Clarke. Par/cstone, Jan. 9. 1833. 



The Lava of Niedermennig, employed for Millstones by the 

 Romans, found in Fragments in England. — The following 

 passages are taken from Dr. Hibbert's recently published and 

 most able work On the Extinct Volcanoes of the Basin of 

 Nieuwied. They occur at p. 236. : — " The lava of Mennig 

 was conveniently worked by the Romans. ... It was in chief 

 request, on account of its hardness and other qualities of 



