Nov. 24, 1870] 
NATURE 
63 

nodules are bits of clay which have become imbedded 
with great quantities of bones, and in some cases, very 
probably—as suggested by Mr. Seeley, of Cambridge, with 
regard to the Cambridge nodules—with sea-weed too ; 
whence, by the intervention of gas-charged water, they 
have extracted the phosphate: hence all beds of phos- 
phatic nodules occur near to argillaceous strata of special 
character. Much of this process, no doubt, went on whilst 
the bones and clay-lumps lay on the ancient shores, and 
were daily washed and infiltrated by the sea-water, or lay 
entirely submerged in masses: but Mr. Dyer thinks that 
the process of transference would continue after the beds 
had been left high and dry, and may be now going on; 
though I think it is clear that the phosphate of lime in the 
nodules came from bones which have been destroyed 
and lost in the process, having been very different in 
mineral condition to the fragments which now remain 
amongst the nodules of these valuable “bone-beds.” Mr. 
Dyer notices Rhetic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary 
accumulations of phosphatic nodules. There is one which 
has not been hitherto recorded, and which is not alluded 
to in this paper, but is interesting, and in a well-known 
locality ; it occurs in the Wealden series, near Brook, in the 
Isle of Wight, and is in parts five or six feet thick. The 
nodules are light-coloured, and aggregated into masses so 
as to form a solid bed, and not a pebbly conglomerate, as 
is usual. 
The distribution and origin of Guano is briefly given. 
True guano is simply the dung of sea-fowl, and can only 
accumulate in rainless districts. Guano rock is the result 
of the action of water on this matter and subjacent cal- 
careous coral rocks ; the celebrated Sombrerite is of this 
nature. It is very possible that much of the palzeozoic 
phosphatic rock may have been produced in this way, in 
those beds, at any rate, which we may believe to have 
been formed subsequently to the evolution of terrestrial 
vertebrate forms of life. 
The other essays in this volume treat of more strictly 
agricultural subjects, and are accordingly of more limited 
interest. E. Ray LANKESTER 


SCIENTIFIC VEAR BOOKS 
The Year-Book of Facts in Science and Art. By John 
Timbs. Pp. 288. (London: Lockwood and Co., 1870.) 
Annual of Scientific Discovery, or Year-Book of Facts in 
Science and Art for 1870, Edited by John Trowbridge, 
aided by Samuel Kneeland, M.D., and W. R. Nichols. 
Pp. xxii. and 354. (Boston: Gouldand Lincoln; London: 
Triibner and Co., 1870.) 
L’ Année Scientifique et Industrielle. Par Louis Figuier. 
Quatorziéme Année (1869), pp. 606. (Paris: Hachette; 
London: Williams and Norgate, 1870.) 
Causeries Scientifigues. Neuviéme Année (1869). Par 
Henri de Parville. Pp. 363. (Paris: Rothschild ; Lon- 
don : Williams and Norgate, 1870.) 
Annuaire Scientifique. Par P. P. Dehérain. Neuviéme 
Année (1869), pp. 387. (Paris: Masson; London: 
Williams and Norgate, 1870.) 
Fahrbuch der Erfindungen. _Herausgegeben von H. 
Hirzel, und H. Greschel. Fiinfter Jahrgang, pp. 416. 
Leipzig: Quant; London: Williams and Norgate, 1869.) 
ROUPING thesevolumes according tothelanguagesin 
whichtheyarewritten, we may dismiss the first two with 
a very fewremarks. Mr. Timbs literally gives his readers 
nothing whatever but a collection of cuttings from the most 

miscellaneous sources, including the Pa// Mall Gazette, 
Times, Spectator, Illustrated News, Liverpool A lbion, 
&c. ; while Mr, Trowbridge and his coadjutors (who have 
a respectable scientific status) present us with a much 
more perfect, although still an incomplete, picture of the 
leading discoveries of the year. The introductory notes 
by the Editor constitute the most valuable portion of the 
American book, which treats of the progress of science, 
underthe respective heads of (1) Mechanics and Useful Arts, 
occupying 135 pages; (2) Natural Philosophy, to which 64 
pages are devoted; (3) Chemistry, (4) Geology, (5) Biology, 
(6) Astronomy and Meteorology, and (7) Geography and 
Antiquities. This volume, like that of Mr. Timbs, exhi- 
bits a too free use of the scissors, but the extracts are 
almost invariably taken from periodicals of good scientific 
repute. 
If our readers requireany specific evidence of the English 
editor’s unfitness for his office, we would refer them to the 
article headed “ Singular Plant,” in p. 200 of the “ Year- 
Book of Facts.” It is obvious from the most cursory pe- 
rusal of the history of this “singular plant,” that it is 
merely a fine specimen of coral, and the absurdity of the 
story was exposed in a number of the Gardener’s Chronicle 
subsequent to that in which it originally appeared. The 
correction was, however, overlooked by the learned editor. 
The French Year-Books differ materially from one 
another in their modes of arrangement. In this respect 
we prefer that of M. Figuier to the others. It includes a 
large number of subjects arranged in the following order :— 
Astronomy, Mechanics, Physics, Meteorology, Chemistry, 
Civil Engineering, Voyages and Travels, Natural History, 
Public Health, Physiology and Medicine, Agriculture, and 
the Industrial Arts. 
The science-gossips of M. de Parville are a collection 
of papers such as a physicist might contribute to a popular 
journal, The matter in this volume is more digested, and 
is in a far less crude and fragmentary state than in the 
other books we have noticed, and the individual facts are 
dovetailed together so as to make the style agreeable 
and the reading continuous. It includes in its range— 
Astronomy, Physics, Mechanics, Chemistry, Physiology 
and Medicine, Natural History, Engineering, and un- 
placeable topics. 
In some respects M. Dehérain’s volume is the best of 
the three. Although less comprehensive inits scope than 
that of M. Figuier, or even than that of De Parville, it is 
more perfect so far as it goes. It is divided into two parts, 
treating respectively of the pure and of the applied 
sciences. Under the pure sciences he places Astronomy, 
Physics, Chemistry, Meteorology, Botany, Physiology, 
and Anthropology; while the applied sciences include 
Civil Engineering, Applied Chemistry, Medicine, and 
Exploitation des Animaux, for which we have no exact 
English equivalent. Itis, we think, doubtful whether this 
sub-division of the sciences will bear criticism, but it is 
needless at present to discuss that subject. Instead of 
flying from flower to flower like the busy bee of our early 
days, M. Dehérain confines himself to one or two of the 
most important subjects in each department, and these 
he treats with far more fulness than the preceding writers. 
For example, under Chemistry we have an article on 
Explosive Compounds, containing a review of the works of 
Nobel, Abel, Berthelot, and Saint-Claire Deville, by the 
