88 NATURAL SCIENCE. Feb., 



which the Younger Miocene and Cretaceo-Tertiary strata are tilted 

 and faulted so as to form nearly vertical strata in contact with the 

 crystalline and older sedimentary rocks between Kanieri Lake and 

 Hokitika River, and the manner in which the same, and even younger 

 beds, are involved along the western base of Mt. Greenland, and at 

 the same time appear on the top of the mountain and far below sea- 

 level, within a horizontal distance of some four to five miles, shows 

 conclusively that very great displacements have taken place." 

 Further, he claims that the various lines of dislocation prove the 

 subsidence of vast masses of land, which formerly extended westward 

 of Hokitika, and constituted the western wing of the great anticlime, 

 if not the central knot of the whole mountain system. And it was 

 this now vanished land that provided the materials of the older 

 auriferous gravels. 



Would that theory and practice might always walk so amicably 

 hand in hand ! But not every mining geologist is a McKay. 



"A Naturalist's Notes off Mull." 

 In Good Words for December last, there is an article with the 

 above title by one who gives the name of " Nether Lochaber." The 

 writer remarks that " As Saint Patrick is fabled to have banished 

 all noxious reptiles from Ireland, so, according to Adamnan, did Saint 

 Columna banish all noxious reptiles from lona, and so, according to a 

 very old tradition, did Saint Maluac from the island of Lismore. It 

 is a curious enough fact, account for it as we may, that not only is the 

 viper not found in lona, but even if captured ever so gently and 

 conveyed to the sacred isle hale and hearty, from the opposite shores 

 of Mull, where it is common, it will instantly sicken and die." 



He goes on to describe how " a friend of our own, a well-known 

 artist," carefully imported into lona a couple of vipers. They were 

 captured with an angler's landing-net and conveyed without injury 

 to the island ; and as soon as they were released they twisted and 

 wriggled about in a lively-enough fashion. The artist stated that 

 " As I was lighting my pipe, however, and preparing to sit down on 

 a knoll above them, so as the better to watch their movements, what 

 was my surprise to see one of them suddenly stretch himself out as 

 straight and stiiT as an ellwand, and with a visible shiver and single 

 gasp give up the ghost ! In a few seconds the other adder followed 

 suit — died precisely in the same manner as its companion ; . . . . 

 I am now persuaded that a viper will not live in lona." 



It would be interesting to know more of the circumstances under 

 which these observations were made. They appear to have been 

 characterised by scarcely sufficient scientific acumen and caution to 

 warrant so broad a generalisation. 



The argument from fossils as to former climatic conditions, 

 has often been recognised as exposed to many chances of error. 



