Bibliographical Notices. 429 



The following are descriptions .of the two new shells found 

 in this deposit : — 



Planorbis helicoides. Lenticular, shining, above slightly convex 

 and minutely umbilicated ; edge obtuse ; whorls two and a half, 

 concealed, the outer one large; beneath convex, a little de- 

 pressed in the centre, where the whorls are visible. 

 Diameter about one-tenth of an inch. It resembles somewhat 

 Zonites {Helix) radiatulus, but is flatter, having more the form of 

 Segmentina (Planorbis) lineata, but wanting the septa. 



Helix conoidea. Short, conical, finely striated ; whorls about six, 

 convex ; base largely umbilicated, convex ; aperture oblong- 

 ovate, its upper half deeply impressed by the preceding whorl ; 

 its peristome confined to the lower half, prominent and straight. 

 This differs from H. rufescens in being regularly conical, and 

 having a more elevated pointed spire. See Plate II. figs. 4, 5, in this 

 volume. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



On the Relation between the Holy Scriptures and some Parts of Geo- 

 logical Science. By J. Pye Smith, D.D. r2mo. London, 1840. 

 2nd ed. 



The Certainties of Geology. By W. Sidney Gibson, F.G.S. Svo. 

 London, 1840. 



No two subjects would appear at first sight to be more chscon- 

 nected than those of Geology and Revealed Religion. The one is 

 engaged solely in examining the structure of the earth, and in thence 

 deducing conclusions as to the physical causes which have brought 

 it into its present condition ; the other treats of the moral history of 

 man, his relations to his Creator and to his fellow-creatures, and the 

 whole sphere of his duties and his destinies. So wholly distinct in- 

 deed are these two studies, that they cannot be said in the slightest 

 degree to aid each other. A geologist may reason with precisely the 

 same accuracy on the facts of his own science, even should he un- 

 fortunately be a disbeliever in Revelation ; and it is equally certain 

 that a knowledge of the discoveries of modem Geology is not (except 

 as connected with Natural Theology) in the remotest degree condu- 

 cive to the all- important studies and devotions of the Christian. 

 There seems, therefore, no reason why the two inquiries should not 

 be successfully prosecuted without encroaching on each other's do- 

 main. The fact however is otherwise : Geology and Revelation have 

 been very unnecessarily brought into collision by persons who seem 

 to have but an imperfect notion of the true limits and ends of each. 

 Volumes have been written accusing geologists as a body with being 

 inimical to religion, and denouncing the science itself as a delusive 

 and pernicious study. The geologist is hence compelled in self-de- 

 fence, however unwilling he may be to desert the legitimate fields 

 of his inquiries, to arm himself against these well-meaning, though 



