August 2, 1894J 



NA TURE 



I It would be interesting, however, to know how the 

 1 observations would differ, if Prof. Barnard and Schae- 

 berle had the use of the Arequipa instrument at a favour- 

 able opportunity, and Prof. Pickering the Mount 

 Hainilton refractor. VV. J. S. Lockver. 



' GEOLOGY AND SCENERY IN IRELAND.' 



MR. R. WELCH, of Belfast, well-known as a photo- 

 grapher of Irish scenery, has of late years utilised 

 his intimate knowledge of the country, and his keen 

 judgment as an artist, in the preparation of special series 

 of photographs illustrating archaeological and scientific 

 features. The brilliant exposures of volcanic and 

 sedimentary rocks along the coast of Co. Antrim hav e 



of the Geological Survey of Ireland have always beer* 

 willing to give information as to suitable illustrative 

 localities. 



Two samples will show something of the detail and the 

 range of these photographic records. Fig. i shows one 

 of the fine quarry-sections on Cave Hill, Belfast. The 

 chalk below, with lines of flints, and the basaltic lavas of 

 the upper plateau, are always an effective contrast ; but 

 at this point dykes of dolerite are numerous, cutting 

 through both series. The large one in the centre of the 

 picture is columnar in its upper portion, and has a some- 

 what wavy course. A smaller sinuous dyke climbs 

 towards it from the right. In the left of the original 

 photograph, a delicate bifurcating intrusive sheet is 

 clearly seen near the top of the horizontal lavas. Fig. 2 

 is a still more specialised illustration. The whole stream 



Fig. 



-K (Juarry Section on Cave Hill, Belfast. 



led him to form a group of pictures which might serve 

 as a companion to any ordinary text-book of geology ; 

 and he is rapidly extending the series by additions from 

 the counties of Down, Donegal, and even from the far 

 south-west. As I have had the pleasure of assisting Mr. 

 Welch in the production of his first geological catalogue, 

 I can make no comment on its character as a publication ; 

 but I need not hesitate to point out what valuable aid is 

 being given to science by the recording of the physical 

 features of Ireland, not haphazard in a series of general 

 landscapes, but with a special geological eye. The 

 excursions of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club have 

 been the means of calling attention to exposures in 

 places outside the ordinary tourist-track ; and the ofticers 



^ \ Catalogue of Geological Irish Views, by R. Welch, 49 Lonsdale 

 Street, Belfast. 



NO. 1292, VOL. 50] 



of Glenariff is seen pouring into a pot-hole some four 

 feet across, and the smooth sides of the hole, and the 

 swirl of waters in its still active portion, have been 

 admirably rendered. On the left, the rock, which is a 

 red Triassic sandstone, shows the grooving and smooth- 

 ing action of the stream. It would be interesting to 

 photograph this spot again after an interval of twenty 

 years. 



The reproduction of such views as these in the form 

 of lantern-slides makes them still more valuable to 

 teachers. It is pleasant to know that Co. Antrim has its 

 geological features now recorded for us more completely 

 than those of any other county in the British Isles : and 

 Mr. Welch may be congratulated on undertaking this 

 j and other scientific missions in the midst of more 

 I immediately popular professional work. The recen 



