\c. 7, 1876] 



NATURE 



"5 



irdly be admitted ; the persistence over large areas 

 the different palasontological zones of this formation 

 ows that the Liassic sea formed one great life province, 

 id that however it may have been broken up by pro- 

 ;tiiig headlands or insular masses of land, there was 

 :e communication between all its parts. That the water 

 IS shallower in some places than others is likely enough, 

 d variations in depth would seem to be sufficient to 

 :count for the changes which occur in the lithological 

 aracter of the Lias in North Yorkshire without in- 

 king the neighbourhood of an extensive shore line. A 

 ry interesting fact is the decided unconformity between 

 e Lias and the Inferior Oolite east of Easingwold ; the 

 iheaval to which it is due was only the forerunner of 

 e still more important movements which a little later 

 drove back the sea and established estuarine and ter- 

 strial conditions over a large part of the North Riding. 

 |It is not necessary that a scientific work should be a 

 )del in point of style, but it is a matter for regret when 

 entific writers neglect the graces of composition, and 

 s certainly a blot on the work before us that the writing 

 occasionally obscure, and that instances of somewhat 

 !pshod English are not uncommon in it. 

 [f we stop here it is not for want of more to say ; a 

 ipk as rich in matter as this would furnish texts for 

 ijny another lengthy disquisition. We may fairly con- 

 [itulate the authors on having produced a mon ograph 

 tich will take a high place among standard works on 

 cal geology, and may be recommended as a model for 

 »tings of a similar kind. We wish every natural geo- 

 cical district in our island was likely to be worked out 

 iV the same amount of patient labour and faithful 

 licription as Messrs. Tate and Blake have bestowed on 

 I; Yorkshire Lias. A. H. G, 



OUR BOOK SHELF 

 Fauna der Clavulina Szabdi Schichten. Von Max. 

 on Hantken. I. Theil: Foraminiferen. Mit 16 Tafeln. 

 Buda-Pesth, 1875.) 



RY visitor to the Loan Exhibition of Scientific Appa- 



is at South Kensington must have noticed in the 



>logical Department some beautiful series of prepara- 



:i .s of Foraminifera and Bryozoafrom Hungary. These 



ii:e been sent by Dr. von Hantken, the Director of the 



Hngarian Geological Survey, who has greatly distin- 



^ihed himself by the remarkable skill with which he 



a: studied these minute fossil organisms. One of these 



icles of fossils, which English geologists have now such 



' able opportunity of studying, illustrates the remark- 



h Foraminiferal fauna of the zone of Clavulina 



in Eastern Europe, a fauna which is very admir- 



scribed in the work before us. This memoir is a 



of a portion of the fourth volume of the " Mittheil- 



aus dem Jahrbuche der kon. ungar. geologischen 



■," which is published in both the Hungarian and 



m languages. 



Clavulina Szabdi Schichten are a series of clays, 



1, . and marly limestones, sometimes glauconitic, 



h are situated at the junction of the Eocene and 



ene formations, and appear to have a wide distribu- 



Western Hungary. These strata are very remark- 



ir the wonderful richness of their fauna, especially 



aminifera, Bryozoa, Echinoderms, and Mollusca, 



a certain portions of the formation great numbers 



remains have also been found. No less than 213 



i of Foraminifera have been described by Dr. von 



^tn as occurring in these beds, and their distribution 



c Eocene and Neogene strata of Eastern Europe, as 



well as in the strata which most nearly correspond in 

 geological age with the zone of Clavulina Szabdi in Ger- 

 many and Italy respectively, are shown by the author in 

 a very useful table. The lithographic plates with which 

 this monograph is illustrated are beautifully executed, and 

 reflect the highest credit on the present condition of the 

 art of book-illustration in Hungary. Although the dimen- 

 sions of each of the forms described is given with 

 great exactness in the definition of the species, we think 

 it is unfortunate that the extent to which each figure is 

 magnified is not also indicated either on the plates them- 

 selves or in the descriptions which accompany them. 



J.W.J. 



Elements of Algebra for Middle-Class Schools and Train- 

 ing Colleges. By Edward Atkins, B.Sc. (CoUins's 

 School Series, 1876.) 



This is a handy book, covering the ground usually occu- 

 pied by similar treatises on the subject. It is a fairly 

 independent work, keeping near the beaten track as re- 

 gards results arrived at, but giving these results in many 

 cases by new modes of proof. The chief additional fea- 

 tures of interest are in some articles on " Imaginary 

 Quantities," " Properties of Numbers," and " Determi- 

 nants." We do not like the use of the expression, " It 

 is easily found," and so on, in a few passages, and we. 

 must point out that there are a great many mistakes, not 

 merely typographical ones. These are faults which can 

 easily be rectified in a second edition. Care also should 

 be taken to correct the numerous wrong references. 



LETTERS TO THE EDLTOR 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return^ 

 or to correspond with the ivriters of, rejected manuscripts. 

 A'o notice is taken of anonymous communications,'] 



Carl Jelinek 



Allow me to coirect a litlle inadveitency ia the necrology of 

 Carl Jelinek (Nature, vol. xv. p. 85). In lire 8 from com- 

 mencement "Prague" should be read instead of "Vienna," a3 

 the former and not the latter observatory was then under the 

 direction of Kreil. Jelinek passed four years (1843-1847) as 

 assistant in the Vienna observatory, then under my direction, 

 and j'uV)lishcd in that peiiod a valuable memoir on hygrometrical 

 observations made at Vienna in the years 1829-1845, besides 

 several astronomical observations and computations in the 

 Astronomische Nachrichten, and in the Annals of the Vienna 

 observatory. Ch. de LiTTROW 



Vienna, November 29 



Ancient Solar Eclipses 



In Nature, vol. xv. p. 65, is given the result of calculition of 

 the solar eclipse of June 14, B.C. 763. 



As soon as notice of the probability of this eclipse was given 

 by Sir Henry Rawlinson (m| May 1867), I asked the assistance 

 of Mr. Hind for its computation. Mr. Hind most kindly 

 acceded at once to my request, and sent to me on June 19, 1867, 

 the following results, which he permits me now to offer to 

 Nature. They were transmitted to Sir Henry Rawlinson on 

 June 20, i867,>nd to Mr. George Smith on October 17, 1867. 



Solar Eclipse, -762, June 14-15. 



Path of ToiaUty, according to the Lunar Tables of Hansen and 

 the Solar Tables of Le Verrier. 



