Queries and Answers. 469 
to. know when to commence his search, and what to look to for. Inform- 
ation on this subject will oblige, yours, &e.— H. March 29. 1830. 
Forster’s Perennial Calendar, | vol. 8vo, or Forster’s Pocket Encyclo- 
pedia of Natural Phenomena, 12mo, will supply the wants of our corre- 
spondent to a certain extent. — Cond. 
Parochial Natural History. — Sir, If you would trouble yourself to draw 
up a list of questions to be proposed to the readers of your Magazine of 
Natural History, with a view of obtaining, from their answers, something of 
the natural history of the respective parishes in which they reside, you 
could not fail of accumulating much useful and interesting matter, and such 
as might afterwards be applied to very valuable purposes. 
A list of queries to this effect was inserted in the Gentleman’s Magazine 
for 1755, what success I know not. I have a small 12mo pamphlet, 
published at Edinburgh, entitled A Description of the Parish of Melrose, 
which appears to have been drawn up in answer to them; but it relates 
entirely to the history and antiquities of the place. 
The taste for natural history is so much increased since the year 1775, 
that answers to well selected questions on the subject may be obtained 
with much greater facility now than they could have been at that time. 
The following are a few of the queries proposed in the Gentleman's Maga- 
2ine.- — 
“ What is the appearance of the country in the parish, is it flat, or hilly, 
rocky or mountainous? Do the lands consist of woods, arable, pasture, 
meadow, heath, or what? Are they fenny or moorish, boggy or firm? Is 
there sand, clay, chalk, stone, gravel, loam, or what is the nature of the 
soil? Are there any lakes, meers, or waters; what are they; their depth; 
where do they rise, and whither do they run? Are there any subterraneous 
rivers, which appear in one place, then sink into the earth, and rise again ? 
Are there any mineral springs, what are they, at what seasons of the year 
are they reckoned best, and what distempers are they frequented for? Are 
there any periodical springs which rise and fall, ebb and flow; at what sea- 
sons? Are there any and what mines? Any marble, moorstone, or other 
stone of any sort? What are the chief products of the lands ; wheat, bar- 
ley, &c. &c.? What sort of fish do the rivers produce, what quantities, 
and in what seasons are they best? Are there any remarkable caves or 
grottoes ? On digging wells, or other openings, what strata of soil do they 
meet with, and how thick is each ? How low do the springs lie? Does 
the parish produce any quantities of timber, of what sort ? What is the 
nature of the air? Any petrifying springs? Any hot wells? Are there 
any figured stones, such as echinites, belemnites, &c.? Any having the im- 
pression of plants or fishes on them, or any fossil marine bodies, such as 
shell, corals, &c., or any petrified parts of animals? Is any part of the 
parish subject to inundations or land floods? If the parish is on the sea 
coast, what sort of shore, flat, sandy, high, or rocky? What sorts of fish 
are caught? What other sea animals, plants, sponges, corals, shells, &c. 
are found on the coasts? Are there any remarkable sea weeds? What 
are the courses of the tide on the shore, or off at sea; the currents at a 
mile’s distance ; and other things worthy of remark ?”’ 
Many of these queries might be expunged, and others substituted, but 
they cannot'be too particular or minute; and there are a great many sub- 
jects of interest which are not at all touched upon ; these you would frame 
new questions for, entirely divesting them of all technicalities. 
I do but throw out the hint to you, as being a matter particularly de- 
serving your consideration: if you think it worth attending to, I shall be 
most happy to give you such information as lies within my power. Yours, 
&e.— G. M. Lynn Regis, March 9. 1830. 
A pamphlet by the Rev. Edward Stanley, F.L.S., entitled Statistical 
