'1869.J Geology and Palmontology. 439 



whilst along the hill-flanks the earth was rent, and the surface de- 

 posits of earth, houlders, rocks, lavas long-buried, trees, &c., were 

 hurled in one vast avalanche over the plain beneath, a distance of 

 several miles, filling the air at the same time with dry dust. On 

 the night of the earthquake the fires in the great crater went out, 

 and the central area of the great plateau sagged gently down about 

 300 feet, carrying with it its botanical garden of tree-ferns and 

 " ohele " bushes ( Vaccinium) still stancUng. 



A very full account of the entire group with excellent maps and 

 illustrations, and a description of all the modern eruptions, will be 

 found in the recently published ' Memoks of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History,' by WUliam T. Brigham, A.M.* 



Mr. Peacock's bookj ' On Evidences of Vast Sinkings of Land 

 on the North and West Coasts of France and the South- Western 

 Coasts of England,' is made up of an olla iiodrida of antiquarian 

 scraps and extracts from the writings of all sorts and conditions of 

 men, from Ptolemy the geographer, a.d. 117, down to Mr. Eaphael 

 PumpeUy in 1868. 



The author at the end of his labour concludes there is good 

 reason for believing that there has been considerable subsidence 

 on the coast and about the Channel Islands within the historical 

 period, which from an examination of the wear and tear of the 

 coasts on both sides of the Channel, and of the submerged forests 

 on the shores at low water, any geologist would be ready to admit, 

 on geological grounds, without the very doubtful assistance of 

 Ptolemy or Diodorus Siculus. 



The tract ' On Steam as the Motive-power in Earthquakes and 

 Volcanoes,' % bound up with the above and written by the same 

 author, contains a full compilation of geological authorities in 

 support of the doctrine that steam is the chief agent in volcanic 

 action, but without any original idea, unless the suggestion that the 

 vast necleus of the globe, about 6000 miles in diameter, consists 

 of jmmice. A serious objection to the book is the badness of the 

 typography and the great number of printer's errors, which render 

 it often unintelhgible to the general reader. 



Of Mr. Samuel Mossman's ' Origin of the Seasons,§ considered 

 from a Geological Point of View,' the most kind reflection we can 

 make is, " What a pity it was ever written ! " Imagine a man sug- 

 gesting that the curative qualities of the climate of Austraha || in 



* Vol. I., part iii., 1868. 



t ' Physical and Historical Evidences of vast Sinkings of Land on the North 

 and West Coasts of France, and South-vyestern Coasts of England, within the His- 

 torical Period.' Collected and commented on by R. A. Peacock, Esq., C.E. 8vo, 

 pp. 190. Loudon ; E. and F. N. Spon ; and the author, St. Helier, 1SG8. 



t Pp. 56. 



§ William Blackwood & Sous, Edinburgh, 1869. 8vo, pp. 472. 



II P. 424. 



