Sept. 24, 185^4] 



NATURE 



419 



relating to iron are satisfactory. The author has de- 

 scribed the recent improvements made with a view to 

 supersede manual labour in puddling — such as the ro- 

 tative furnaces of Siemens and Danks. Siemens' process 

 for the production of wrought iron direct from the ore is 

 also given, and the excellent researches of Bell, Snelus, 

 and Dr. VV. M. Watts are duly noticed. In the rest 

 of ,thc book, the metallurgy of tin, antimony, arsenic, 

 bismuth, and platinum are somewhat briefly treated. 

 The various processes are illustrated by fifty-nine well- 

 chosen engravings. 



The book contains some curious verbal errors ; but, 

 viewed as a whole, we have no hesitation in saying that 

 the work is good, and may be recommended to the class 

 of readers for whom it is intended. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



[ The Editor docs not Jiold himself respo)isiHe for opuiions expressed 

 by his correspondents. No notice is taken of anonymous 

 communications^ 



Fossils in Trap 



The occurrence of fossils in the volcanic rocks of our Scottish 

 carboniferous series is by no means uncommon. A conspicuous 

 example was described by me in the " Transactions of the 

 Geological Society of Glasgow," vol. ii. p. 97. 



The plant remains thence derived were afterwards figured and 

 described by Mr. Binnie of Manchester, and Mr. Cariuthers of 

 the British Museum, and in the latter institution are deposited 

 large polished slabs of entire trees, together with specimens of 

 the enclosing rock. 



At a later period a tooth of Ctcnodus cristatiis was also dis- 

 covered in the same beds. The analysis of the rock was made 

 by the late Mr. John Wallace Voung.tand given by him in the 

 Chemical A'ivi'j-, vol. xiii. p. 73. 



The rock enclosing these remains is so'heavy and compact, so 

 completely devoid of any signs of ttratitication when fractured, 

 that all previi"is ir.vestigators, from Prof. Euckland in iSig, 

 down to Dr. Bi sc.- in 1865, dismissed it with a conclusive click 

 of the hammer as s.u.i ly trap rock not likely to contain fossils. 



The condition in \^'. i.-h the fossils are found may be de- 

 scribed in the precise wo\ ;- of your Nova Scotia correspon- 

 dent (Natiire, vol. X. p. 3yS), as ^^ indissoluhly united with 

 trap:" nevertheless, there is every probability that. originally 

 llie enveloping ma'rix must have reached the fossils in the 

 shape of volcanic ash, or, more likely still, in the shape of 

 a thick fluid sediment enveloping the trunks of the trees as 

 they stood erect, with their broken branches, leaves, and fiuit 

 stattcred around them. We have numerous instances of ash- 

 beds overlying limestone beds containing corals, and I suspect 

 Mr. lloneymm's "trap rock in a fluid state" would resolve 

 itself into a rock of the nature above indicated ; at all events, 

 it vvotUd be very interesting to geologists on this side to receive 

 specimens for closer examination. With regard to tlie possi- 

 bility of fossils being enclosed and preserved in fluid lava, I may 

 mention that when at Catania in 1S67, I was informed by I'r f. 

 Sylvestri that oak trees on Mount Etna when overtaken by lava 

 streams are not actually annihilated, but the lava forms a sort of 

 hollow cylinder around the trees, in which they are carbonised, 

 and the silex contained in the wood collects in a fused mass at 

 the bottom of the trunk. Such fused masses I met with at the 

 foot of some of the stems of trees excavated by me at Arran, and 

 numerous jiebblcs, evidently derived from the same source, are 

 to be 1 licked up on the shore l)el\\een the Fallen Kocks and 

 the Scriden at the north end of Arran. li. A. WuNScii 



Loch Kauz.r, Arran, Sept. 19 



Chrysomela Banksii 



In answer to Mr. Moggridge (Nature, vol. x. p. 355), his 

 conjecture as to Chrysomela Banksii is correct ; though wliother the 

 fluid it emits is irritating or not I cannot say. It is a habit pos- 

 sessed by the allied genera: Linoe and Timarcha-. 



Camberwell Road, Sept, 16 H. I'ow er 



Meteor 



The following is an account of a brilliant meteor which ap- 

 peared at 8.53 P.M. on Wednesday, Sept. 16 : — 



Size : about four times that of Jupiter. 



Colour : blue, with a red tail. 



Brightness : throwing a shadow deeper than that of a full 

 moon. 



Angular measurement of tail : from 12° to 15°. 



Duration : about 15". 



Direction of course : N.W. 



Zenith distance of point of disappearance : 75°- 



The brilliancy of the tad threw a red light on the surrounding 

 landscape. G. H. Hopkins 



Bisterne Close, Burley, Hants, Sept. 16 



THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 

 ORIENTALISTS 



'T^HE second meeting of students of Oriental Literature 

 ■'■ and Science has been brought to a successful ter- 

 mination under the presidency of Dr. Samuel Birch, 

 Keeper of the Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. 

 On Monday, the 14th inst., the Congress was opened at 

 the Royal Institution, 21, Albemarle Street, when the 

 president delivered a brilliant and highly interesting 

 address upon the scope and value of these annual meet- 

 ings. 



"Our century," said Dr. Birch, "has seen a striking 

 revival of C)rientalism, and the discoveries in Mesopotamia, 

 Egypt, India, and Persia have brought again into light, 

 ancient and almost forgotten monarchies, religions, and 

 tongues, as they existed 4,000 years ago. Modern travel- 

 lers have left no accessible monument uncopied, and 

 irnmense material is now at the student's disposal — for the 

 first time, a contemporary history of recorded events in these 

 old times. In Egypt only the other day, M. Mariette discovered 

 fresh inscriptions at Karnak recording the conquest of Thothmes 

 III. These enabled him, in a paper just read before the French 

 Academy of Inscriptions, to propose important reforms in our 

 Egyptian geography. Mr. George .Smith's excavations at 

 Kouyunjik have brought to light new Assyrian texts ; whilst in 

 India, General Cunningham's labours promise very important 

 results. Every facility should be given for excavations in the 

 East, especially for such as follow up the hints afforded by monu- 

 mental information. Two monumental discoveries made in 

 recent times are of supreme importance, namely the Canopus 

 triglyph tablet and a bilingual inscription of Dali, ' Idalium,' Jn 

 Cyprus. The Canopus stele has proved beyond a doubt, if 

 doubt still lingered in dark corners, the truth ol the decipherment 

 of the hieroglyphs, whilst the Dali text has led to the recovery 

 of the old Cyprian language, which turns out to be of Cireek 

 form. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian monumental disco- 

 veries make us acquainted with old submerged empires, and the 

 Moabite stone is the most ancient document of alphabetic 

 writing." 



On Tuesday the second day's work commenced with 

 the president's reception in the Egyptian and Oriental 

 Department of the British Museum. The meeting of the 

 Semitic Section, under the presidency of Sir Henry 

 Rawlinson, took place in the theatre of the Royal 

 Institution, where the learned Assyriologist delivered 

 his opening address, in wdiich he spoke on the great 

 importance of the Semitic group of languages. 



On the conclusion of this address Prof Jules Oppert, 

 in a lengthy speech delivered in French, brought befoi e 

 the meeting the result of his labours upon the second of 

 the three inscriptions of King Darius at Behistun. 



On Wednesday, after an entertainment by the Right 

 Hon. Sir Bartle Frerc, and a reception at Kew Gardens 

 by Dr. Hooker, in his capacity as President of the 

 Royal Society, the Turanian Section opened its session 

 at King's College, under the presidency of Sir Walter 

 Elliot. After his address a very interesting paper was 

 read " On the Study of Turanian Languages," by Prof. 

 Hunfalvy, of Hungary. In this paper the Professor showed 



