13 



was first called to the ideas of the Ancients 

 respecting crystal; they thought it was ice, 

 or water congealed by intense cold. This 

 error prevailed iintil Dr Browne refuted it in 

 his hook on vulgar errors. While the term 

 crystal is now applied to an almost endless 

 variety of substances, rock crystal is un- 

 derstood to mean one form of quartz which 

 is found in one of three forms : — I. A hexa- 

 gonal prism, with a pjTamid at each end ; 

 II. A double pyramid, with no prism ; III. 

 A prism, with a single ijyramid, the other 

 end being fixed to some other substance. Its 

 chemical constituents and properties, the 

 places where found in the greatest purity and 

 abundance, its emplojoneut in the arts in 

 ancient and modern times, its application 

 for optical purposes, and the superstitions 

 attached to it and other forms of precious 

 stones, were described and illustrated by a 

 very fine collection of specimens. 



Jinif. On the Recent Ornithology of the District, 

 by Mr Dennant. who gave an account of a 

 number of rare birds which had been recently 

 seen or shot in the vicinity of Brighton, 

 among which were the golden oriole ; the 

 very rare wood shrike (in the collection of 

 the Bishop of Oxford) ; the Peregrine falcon, 

 seen between Brighton and Eottingdean ; a 

 young osprey, killed near the tide mills ; the 

 very rare grey-headed wagtail, shot near 

 Clifton^-ille Station ; the little sand-piper, 

 shot the same morning ; Tennick's shrike ; 

 the grey phalerope ; the hoopoe, shot in the 

 spring — a very unusual time ; the pied fly- 



