Nov. 23, 1871] 



NATURE 



65 



strata were evidently fomaed under the influence of " a 

 warm, equable and moist climate," and I know of no 

 glacial phenomena in connection with this epoch 



But respeciing Permian times I attempted in 1855 to 

 prove the existence of ice-borne lioulder beds during part 

 of ihat epoch, and by degrees this opinion has been more 

 or less adopted. These boulder beds were derived by 

 glacial transport from the mountains of Wales, which then, 

 also, were necessarily much higher than now. As the Old 

 Red boulder beds were formed during a glacial episode or 

 episodes of parts of that epoch, so the Permian boulders 

 mark another glacial episode occupying part of Permian 

 time, just as our last great glacial epoch formed an episode 

 in those late Tertiary times of which the present time forms 

 a part. At the time of the publication of this paper, I 

 conceived the Permian boulders to have been deposited 

 in the sea by the agency of icebergs, but 1 now consider 

 them to have been deposited in inland lakes. 



This, if true, formed a second glacial epoch, of unknown 

 intensity, during the long continental period that lay 

 between the close of Upper Silurian and the beginning 

 of Liassic times. 



During the Triassic period there is no certain sign of 

 glacial phenomena in the British area. 



I have elsewhere attempted to show that at the present 

 day there is an intimate connection between past glacial 

 phenomena and the occurrence of lakes, large and small, 

 many of which are true rock-bound basins. 



1 further believe that this cause would be found to 

 characterise ancient Continental recurrent glacial epochs 

 through all past time, if perfect data were accessible, or 

 had been preserved from destruction by denudation and 

 disturbance of strata. In the Pateozoic cases mendoned 

 above, there is, in my opinion, an evident connection of 

 some kind between inland lakes and glacial action, and in 

 stating this it must be borne in mind that 1 do not con- 

 sider the Old Red and Permian strata of Britain to have 

 been deposited solely in two lake basins during two 

 epochs, but in various basins during each of two special 

 eras of geological time. For example, the Magnesian 

 Limestone beds of Yorkshire and Northumberland were 

 formed in a hollow quite distinct from the great conglome- 

 rates (locally called " brockram ") and sandstones of the 

 Vale of Eden. Prof. Harkncss in 1856* showed that in 

 the South of Scotland Permian beds, partly formed of 

 brecciated conglomerates, lie in rocky hollows entirely 

 surrounded by lips of Silurian and Carboniferous strata, in 

 fact, in rock basins ; and he attributed this singular cir- 

 cumstance to a sinking in of the Silurian strata in each 

 case underneath the Permian rocks. 



Ever since the publication of my paper, in 1862, on the 

 Glacial origin of certain lakes in rock basins, I have 

 suspected that these Permian rock basins may also have 

 been scooped out by the agency of glacier ice. I connect 

 this view with my paper on Permian glaciers, published 

 in the Geological Journal in 1855, but as I have not yet 

 seen the country where these hollows lie, I have not been 

 able either to verify or disprove this supposition. I ex- 

 pect, however, that some day this view will be proved, not 

 for these areas alone, but for others of larger area and 

 very different date, which as yet I have only partially 

 examined, in other European countries. 



The unravelling of nearly all stratigraphical phenomena 

 of every geological age resolves itself simply into attempts 

 to realise ancient physical geographies, and we may rest 

 assured that those forces that are now in action have 

 played their part in the world sometimes with greater, 

 sometimes with less intensity, through all knowii geologi- 

 cal time, as far as it can be studied by an examination of 

 the rocks that form the crust of the earth. If glacier ice 

 scooped out many lake rock-basins in the latest great 

 glacial epoch, it did the same during glacial epochs of 

 earlier date. A. C. Ramsay 



* Geol. Jour,, vol, xii, p, 254. 



T' 



WOOD'S "INSECTS AT HOME"* 



HIS bulky volume of 670 pages appears to us to be 

 altogether a mistake. It is far too voluminous and 

 too uninteresting for a beginner, while for the more ad- 

 vanced student it is almost valueless, being a very in- 

 complete compilation from the works of well-known 

 writers. It consists of brief and imperfect descriptions 

 of a selection of, perhaps, one-twentieth of the insects 

 inhabiting Great Britain, with occasional notices of their 

 habits and economy, and extracts from a few entomologi- 

 cal works. These descriptions are generally introduced 

 by such words as " Our next example," " We next come 

 to," " We now come to," " Next in order comes," " Next 

 on our list is," &c. &c. ; and for the most part are mere 

 amplifications of short technical characters, conveying a 

 minimum of useful information, with a maximum ex- 

 penditure of words. Let us take two examples at ran- 

 dom. At p. 76 we have two-thirds of a page devoted to a 

 beetle : — 



"Our first example of the Staphyhnidas is one of 

 the finest, in my opinion the very finest, of that 

 family. It is called scientifically C?-eop/tilus maxillosus, 

 but has, unfortunately, no popular name, probably be- 

 cause it is confounded in the popular mind with the 

 common black species, which will be presently de- 

 scribed. Its name is more appropriate and expres- 

 sive than is generally the case with insect names. 

 The word Crcopliilus is of Greek origin, and signifies 

 ' flesh-lover,' while the specific title, maxillosus, signifies 

 'large-jawed,' Both names show that those who affixed 

 them to the insect were thoroughly acquainted with its 

 character and form, for the Beetle is a most voracious 

 carrion eater, and has jaws of enormous size in proportion 

 to its body. The colour of this beetle is shining black, 

 but it is mottled with short grey down, 



" In some places this Beetle is tolerably plentiful, but in 

 others it is seldom if ever seen. It can generally be cap- 

 tured in the bodies of moles that have been suspended by 

 the professional mole-catchers, and, indeed, these unfor- 

 tunate moles are absolute treasure-houses for the coleop- 

 terist, as we shall sec when we come to the next group 

 of Beetles. A figure of this insect is given on woodcut 

 No. viii. Fig. 3. It is the only British insect of its genus 

 which is distinguished by having short and thickened 

 antennas, smoothhead and thorax, and the latter rounded." 



The descriptive portion of this characteristic passage 

 could be easily compressed into two or three lines. In the 

 other twenty we are told that the original describers of 

 the insect were well acquainted with it, that the public are 

 not, and that moles caught by professional mole-catchers 

 are unfortunate ! 



Turning to page 447, we have a moth described as 

 follows :— 



" The first family of the Geometrje is called Urapterydes, 

 or Wing-tailed IVIoths, because in them the hinder wings 

 are drawn out into long projections, popularly called 

 'tails,' In England we have but one insect belonging to 

 this family, the beautifu', though pale-coloured, swallow- 

 tailed moth {UrapUiyx sambiicata). The generic name is 

 spelt in various wa> s, some writers wishing exactly to re- 

 present the Greek letters of which it is composed, and 

 others following the conventional form which is generally 

 in use. If the precisians are to be followed, the word 

 ought to be spelt Ourapteryx. 



" There is no difficulty in recognising the moth, the 

 colour and shape being so decided. Both pairs of wings 

 are delicate yellow, and the upper pair are crossed by two 

 narrow brown stripes, which run from the upper to the 

 lower margin. These stripes are very clear and well 

 defined, but besides these are a vast number of very tiny 



* " Insects at Home ; Being a Popular Account of British Insects, their 

 Structures, Habits, and Transformations." By the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., 

 F.L.S., &c. With upwards of 700 Figures by E A. Smith and J. B. 

 Zwecker. Engraved by C, Feazwn, (Longnuuu, Green, and Co. 1872.) 



