116 Progress in Science. January, 
porphyritic rock which occurs on Lambay Island, off the coast of Dublin. 
Nor should we forget a paper of considerable merit which has recently been 
communicated to the Geological Society by Mr. J. Clifton Ward, of the 
Geological Survey. In this memoir the author compares the microscopic and 
mineralogical composition of the modern lavas of Vesuvius with that of some 
of the old Welsh felstones, and of the eruptive rocks of the Cumberland Lake 
Distrid. He finds that, as a rule, the Cumbrian rocks are intermediate in 
chemical and mineralogical composition between the felstowes on the one hand 
and the dolerites on the other, whence he proposes to term them felsi-dolerites. 
Among foreign papers recently published we may refer to Prof. M6hl’s 
‘‘ Mikromineralogische Mittheilungen,” in which he describes some German 
basalts, and certain eruptive rocks from Java, Flores, and Arden ; Baronowski’s 
paper on the mineralogical and chemical composition of granite-porphyries ; 
and Kalkowsky’s memoir on the augitic felspar-porphyry near Leipzig. 
Finally, we may observe that a valuable monograph, entitled ‘‘ Die Krystal- 
liten,’”’ has recently been published as a posthumous work of Prof. Vogelsang, 
under the editorial care of his brother-in-law, Prof. Zirkel, of Leipzig. 
In the admirable course of leGtures on Crystallography now being delivered 
in London, by Prof. N. S. Maskelyne, an attempt is made to elucidate the 
Millerian system, which, to many English mineralogists, seems to require a 
greater amount of mathematical knowledge than the old and well-known 
system of Naumann. As we have so few writings upon Prof. Miller’s system, 
except his own, the student may be glad to know that a capital outline of its 
principles has been published by the Smithsonian Institution in their last 
Report. The. Essay to which we refer is translated from the German of 
Aristides Brenzina, by Prof. Egleston. 
GEOLOGY. 
Foreign Geology.—lIt is interesting to know that a Geological Survey is in 
progress in Japan. A preliminary report on the first season’s work has been 
issued by the Chief Geologist, Mr. B.S. Lyman, an American Mining Engineer. 
It relates to the Island of Yesso. Among his assistants, Mr. Lyman speaks 
favourably of eleven Japanese, who are the first Asiatics to undertake the 
study and practice of geology. The formations determined consist of a 
variety of volcanic, Tertiary, crystalline, and other rocks; at present they have 
been for the most part classified according to certain systems of disturbance. 
The useful minerals and rocks noted are coal, limestone, ironsand, sulphur, 
gold, rock-tar, silver, lead, zinc, manganese, and copper. 
Dr. Feistmantel has noticed the occurrence of workable coal-beds in Bo- 
hemia of Permian age. The lower part of the series contains the coal-seams, 
but both the upper and lower beds contain plants usually considered typically 
Carboniferous, e.g., Stigmaria ficoides, and species of Sigillaria, Pecopteris, 
Calamites, &c. ‘The Permian coal-beds are separated from the Carboniferous 
beds below, by shales with characteristic Permian animal remains. These 
Bohemian lower Permian beds may be paralleled, according to Dr. Feistmantel, 
with the beds containing Archegosaurus in the Saar and Rhine distri@, which 
he also considers as Dyas, and which lie upon the true Saarbricken coal- 
measures. 
The coal-bearing beds of Sweden, referred to in a recent report by Dr. Erd- 
mann, are of Jurassic age, but the precise horizon to which they belong is not 
quite settled. Prof. Hébert considers them of the age of the Lias. 
Among the fossils are Amphidesma donaciforme, Avicula inequivalvis, 
Pecopteris, and Cycads. Prof. Torell notices the affinity of the flora to that 
of the Yorkshire Jurassic beds, and mentions the occurrence of Solenites Mur- 
rayana. 
The relations between the Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in the United 
States have been the cause of considerable difference of opinion. The officers 
of the Geological Survey have lately take up the subject: Profs. Leidy and 
Cope, through the extinct Vertebrate fauna; Mr. Lesquereux, through the 
Fossil flora; and Mr. F. B. Meek, through the study of the Invertebrata. 
