3 18 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



generalization, and warmly admired the creative genius of which 

 it was the offspring. But he did not adopt it till he had himself 

 tried its conformity with actual phenomena; and even then he 

 admitted that it was by no means free from difficulties. In the 

 course of this scrutiny, several new observations occurred to him, 

 which are detailed in a series of memoirs published in the Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His only separateWork 

 is an octavo volume on Mineralogical Nomenclature, which passed 

 through two editions, and which it would now be desirable to re- 

 print, with the additions rendered necessary by the present state of 

 the science. 



The mind of Mr. Allan was one of considerable original power 

 and of great and general activity. " In every sense of the word" (as 

 it has been expressed by one who knew him well,) " he was an emi- 

 nent citizen of Edinburgh." During the last twenty years, his name 

 has been associated with every scheme for the improvement of that 

 beautiful city j and on this subject he was completely an enthusiast, 

 devoting a large portion of his time and thoughts to the public good. 

 Of the various Institutions of Edinburgh, whether for charitable or 

 other purposes, there was scarcely one to which he had not ren- 

 dered important services ; and those, more particularly, intended for 

 the promotion of science, were the objects of his constant and 

 fostering care. At the meeting of the British Association in Edin- 

 burgh during the ensuing year, to which he looked forward with 

 great delight, the loss of his zealous cooperation and of his kind 

 attentions and friendly offices will be felt as a serious calamity. 



The following is a list (probably incomplete) of Mr. Allan's publi- 

 cations : — 1. " On the Rocks in the Vicinity of Edinburgh:" Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. vi. — 2. " Remarks 

 on the Transition Rocks of Werner:" Ditto, vol. vii.— 3. " An Ac- 

 count of the Mineralogy of the Faroe Islands :" Ditto. — 4*. "Descrip- 

 tion of a Vegetable Impression found in the Quarry of Craigleith :" 

 Ditto. — 5. u Observations on Chalk Strata, and on the Construc- 

 tion of Belemnites." — 6. " On a Mass of Native Iron from the 

 Desert of Atacama in Peru." — 7. " Remarks on a Mineral from 

 Greenland, supposed to be Crystallized Gadolinite." — 8. " An Ac- 

 count of the Geology of the Environs of Nice." — A few Articles in 

 Dr. Brewster's Encyclopaedia. W. H. 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW AND INTERESTING OBJECT FOR THE 

 MICROSCOFE. BY C. GOULD. 



Having occasion to prepare some of the scales from different fish 

 for the microscope, in viewing one as an opake object, in a drop of 

 water, I observed a very curious phenomenon j which was, a number 

 of minute shining particles in motion, moving in all directions, ap- 

 pearing and disappearing, and when on the surface reflecting the most 

 brilliant prismatic colours, producing a beautiful microscopic effect. 

 I have examined them with various forms of the microscope, par- 

 ticularly under a fine achromatic belonging to Mr. Joinville; and they 



