1868. | Geology and Palzxontology. 245 
plants are abundant in the valleys, whilst on the sides of Mount 
Sowayra (‘“Sowera” of Keith Johnston and of Wyld) sub-tropical, 
and then temperate, even English, vegetation is to be found; the 
latter ranges from 9,000 feet to 6,000 feet above the sea-level. Se- 
nafé is the boundary between the Mahometan and Christian in- 
habitants. The country seems fairly fertile, and a variety of animals 
afford employment for the naturalist. The whole of Mr. Markham’s 
communication, of which the above is but a slight sketch, is most 
interesting and well deserving of attention, at a time when our 
thoughts must be directed to the advance of our troops in a country 
otherwise so little known to us. 
8. GEOLOGY AND PALAONTOLOGY. 
(Including the Proceedings of the Greological Society.) 
THE second volume of the geological portion of the results of the 
Novara expedition has just been published. It contains essays of 
more or less interest on widely separated portions of the globe, 
some containing much new and important matter, while others 
chiefly confirm the observations of former explorers. In the latter 
category we must place the opening essay “On the Geology of 
Gibraltar,” for although it contains much additional information 
on the Pliocene beds of St. Roque, and a copious list of its fossils 
(chiefly Foraminifera), the general facts of the case were known 
previously ; and the same may be said of the Jurassic limestone 
forming the Rock of Gibraltar, and the caves with their bone-breccia. 
In the next memoir, “On the Gneiss of Rio de Janeiro,” Dr. Hoch- 
stetter distinguishes two varieties of that rock, and a surface-forma- 
tion—the result of its decomposition—analogous to the Laterite 
of India. The essay “On the Geology of the Cape of Good Hope,” 
which follows next, contains a clear and concise description of the 
facts, but Dr. Hochstetter’s interpretation of them does not differ 
materially from Mr. Bain’s. The description of the peculiar sur- 
face-configuration of the country will be read with interest now 
that so large a share of the attention of geologists is occupied by 
such phenomena. 
The geological description of the Island St. Paul, in the 
Indian Ocean, is remarkably interesting. This island is of volcanic 
origin; it has a form roughly resembling one-half of a pentagon 
which has been bisected by a line drawn from the apex to the 
centre of the base, and out of the middle of which bas been scooped 
a semicircular portion which shows the position and extent of one- 
half of the crater. We thus have a volcanic atoll of a peculiar 
