96 Chronicles of Science. [Jan., 
and Devonian deposits; in the former have been found represen- 
tatives of the orders Newroptera, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera, in 
England, Westphalia, and the Western States of America; and 
last year Mr. Barnes, of Halifax, found a wing of a Neuropterous 
insect belonging to the Ephemerina on a piece of shale, partly co- 
vered by a frond of Alethopteris lonchitida. The Devonian insects 
consist of four species, all of which appear to be Neuroptera, al- 
though two of them cannot be referred to any existing family of the 
order. This paper is followed by one “On the Remains of Insects 
from the Coal-measures of Durham,” by Mr. Kirkby, who describes 
portions of the wings of two Orthopterous species. Both authors 
draw attention to the fact that here again we have evidence of 
the Paleozoic Insects being synthetic types; in other words, the 
ancient genera possess combined certain characters which in recent 
Insects are found in distinct groups, either genera, families, or even 
orders. The other papers in this number are, “ Railway Geology, 
No. 1,” by Mr. D. Mackintosh, and “The Moulded Limestones of 
Furness,” by Miss E. Hodgson, the latter being a description of the 
weathering of limestone by chemical atmospheric influences. 
The October number commences with a paper “On the Che- 
mistry of the Primeval Earth,” by Mr. D. Forbes, in which the 
author expresses his dissent from some of the views advocated by 
Dr. Sterry Hunt in his lecture at the Royal Institution mentioned 
in our last Chronicle, especially Dr. Hunt’s conclusion that the 
earth is “a globe solid to the core, which had solidified from the 
centre outwards to the exterior.”* Mr. Forbes also combats Dr. 
Hunt’s opinion “that granite is in every case a rock of sedimentary 
origin,” and follows him closely in his argument on this head also. 
We cannot do justice to this subject in a Chronicle, and we there- 
fore refer those interested in it to the reports of Dr. Hunt’s lecture, 
and to this very able reply by Mr. Forbes. Professor J. Morris 
contributes an important paper, “On the Fer:uginous Sands of 
Buckinghamshire, with remarks on the distribution of the equiva- 
lent strata,” which is chiefly descriptive; the author, however, ex- 
presses his opinion that the Purbeck and Portland strata probably 
never extended far beyond their present limits, which is a point of 
some interest. The other original articles in this number are (1) 
“On the Gorge of the Avon at Clifton,” by Mr. Jukes, in which it 
is shown that the same explanation, so ably given by the author, 
which accounts for the gorges of the rivers in the south of Ireland, 
is equally applicable to the Avon; (2) “On Subaérial Denudation, 
and on Clifis and Escarpments of the Chalk and Lower Tertiary 
* This opinion was held by the late Mr. Hamilton, although he supported it by a 
different argument from that advanced by Dr. Sterry Hunt. See ‘ President’s Address 
to the Geological Society,’ 1866; and ‘Quart. Journ. Science,’ No. xi., p. 420. 
