May 23, 1859.] PHYSICAL ENQUIRIES. 277 



geologists were compelled to survey topograpHcally to some extent 

 for themselves before they could prepare the map now in my 

 possession, which is very creditably executed. Though it is out of 

 place here to expatiate upon the succession of the various rocks and 

 fossils of this great island, still the public will be glad to learn that 

 these geologists discovered several beds of coal which, though of 

 tertiary age, has been found to be of good quality and available for 

 steam navigation ; and as these strata crop out upon the shore, the 

 discovery is one of considerable importance. The work will be 

 illustrated not only by maps and sections, but also by a multitude of 

 beautiful sketches of the country as prepared by Mr. Sawkins. 



Geological Survey of India, — Professor Oldham, the superintendent 

 of this survey, and formerly Local Director of the Geological Survey 

 of Ireland, has lately issued a map of part of Central India, including 

 the districts of Nerbudda and Saugor, which is important in a geo- 

 graphical as well as in a geological point of view ; much of it being 

 from original surveys made by the geologists. The memoirs of the 

 survey, of which Part II. of Volume I. has just appeared in Eng- 

 land, comprise matters also of importance to geographers. Such 

 for instance is the description of the curiously flat-topped plateaux 

 of the range of the Khasi Hills, forming long swelling grassy 

 plains, marked here and there by small out-standing hillocks which 

 scarcely interfere with the general level. These suggest the action 

 of long continued denuding forces at tolerably fixed levels. Deep 

 and narrow gorges or valleys form another peculiar feature in the 

 Khasi Hills. In these the rivers in the northern portion find their 

 courses to the plains, the level of the stream being 3000 feet below 

 one of the hill stations. 



Remarkable evidences are adduced of the power of water in 

 translating huge masses of rock during great floods ; and altogether 

 the manner in which Professor Oldham has interspersed the descrip- 

 tion of physical and dynamical phenomena with his geological data 

 must commend this memoir and the accompanying maps and sections 

 to the attentive consideration of geographers. 



Physical Enquiries. 



Progress of Meteorology. — Meteorological science, as resting on 

 ascertained facts rather than on theoretical assumptions, has ad- 

 vanced steadily in this country, and also in France and other parts 

 of Europe. 



