1866. | Mining, Mineralogy, and Metallurgy. 421 
England by Mr. Tawney, which has hitherto been supposed to be 
confined in Europe to the Triassic districts of the Alps. 
The only other paper we shall notice is that by Dr. J. W. 
Dawson, “On the Conditions of the Deposition of Coal, more 
especially as illustrated by the Coal-formation of Nova Scotia and 
New Brunswick.” The title of this paper is very unfortunate and 
very deceptive, for so far from the author believing in the “ depo- 
sition” of coal, he contends that the occurrence of Stigmaria 
under nearly every coal-bed proves beyond question that the 
material of the coal was accumulated by a growth 7m situ, and this 
reasoning has always obtained the full consideration to which 
it is entitled. Dr. Dawson’s paper treats of so many other points 
that in a chronicle of this nature it is impossible even to enumerate 
them. Amongst these is the contrast afforded by the characters of 
the intervening strata to what is yielded by those of the coal and 
the underclays—namely, while the latter prove the growth of the 
coal in situ, the former prove the abundant transport of mud and 
sand by water; that is to say, the conditions employed are such as 
prevail in the swampy deltas of great rivers. One subject touching 
on the philosophy of geology is discussed by Dr. Dawson with 
great effect—namely, the bearing of the lithological characters of 
the successive beds in each great formation on the interpretation of 
the sequence of events which occurred during their deposition, and 
his opinion is, that we must regard each of the great formations as 
the evidence of a period “ presenting during its whole continuance 
the diversified conditions of land and water, with their appropriate 
inhabitants,” and “as forming a geological cycle, in which such 
conditions were to a certain extent successive.” In conclusion, we 
may state that this is a capital paper, philosophically conceived and 
carefully executed. 
VITI.—MINING, MINERALOGY, AND METALLURGY. 
Mininc. 
‘Try and copper mining were never in a less profitable state than 
they are at present in this country. There are scarcely ten mines 
in the United Kingdom, producing those metals, which are not at 
the present time working at a loss. The aspect around is gloomy ; 
nowhere does there appear a bright spot to kindle hope. 
Never during any one year has there been a larger quantity of 
tin ore raised from the mines of Cornwall and Devonshire than 
during 1865. This rash process continues, and the tin ore sales of 
last month were larger than in any previous month, with one 
solitary exception. The consequences of the American civil war 
led to an extinction of the tin-plate trade, and thus greatly reduced 
