178 Revmcs — Brief Wofices. 



the coast is a remarkable series of raised beaches showing changes 

 of the level of land and water, and indicating that the sea must at 

 one time have stood at least 100 feet higher than at present. Photo- 

 graphs are reproduced in the volume to show the white gravels 

 that cover these raised beaches on the west of Jura. There is also 

 a fine view of pillow lavas associated with the black slate and 

 limestones of the Loch Awe Group at An Aird. The concluding 

 chapter contains an account of the mineral ores, glass sand, silica 

 bricks, building-stones, slates, and other economic products of the 

 district. 



VI. — Bkief Notices. 



1. Coals of the State of Washington. By F. Eggelston Smith. 

 Bull, cccclxxiv of U. S. Geol. Surv., 1911. pp. 1 -206, with 8 plates. 



THIS memoir contains a full account of eacli coal-working in the 

 State of Washington, with geological sections and chemical 

 analyses of the seams. There is also included an interesting detailed 

 report of the methods of sampling, the chemical and physical properties 

 of the coals, their impurities, and their uses. 



2. The IIecent and Fossil Mollusks of the genus Alvania from 

 the West Coast of America. By Paul Bartsch. Xo. 1863. 

 From the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 

 vol. xli, pp. 333-62, with plates 29-32. Washington, 1911. 



AYERY complete account of Gastropod shells of the genus Alvania 

 is given in this paper. Eighteen new species are described, and 

 two of these are found as fossils, and as fossils only, viz. A. pedroana 

 and A. fossil is, both from the Sand Bock at San Pedro, California. 

 A history of research and a key to the genus precede the description 

 of species. Most of the types of the new species were dredged by the 

 United States Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross. 



3. New Labtrinthodont from Kansas. — Labyrinthodonts are rare 

 in the Coal-measures of North America, so the description of ^r^t'^o.^^^^/m.s 

 kansensis, Moodie, is especially welcome. The specimen consists of 

 a fragment of a skull, two ribs, and the larger part of the left ramus 

 of a mandible. These are preserved in the U.S. National Museum, 

 and Mr. H. L. Moodie describes them in the Proceedings, vol. xxxix, 

 pp. 489-95, 1911. 



4. Water Divining and Eadio-activitt. — Mr. Beeby Thompson has 

 given an account of some experiments which showed conclusively that 

 three reputed 'water diviners', without any real knowledge of what 

 they were about, were afiected by the presence of radium emanation 

 (Journ. Northamptonshire Nat. Hist. Soc, xvi, September, 1911). 

 Mr. Thompson is not convinced that the diviners can be relied upon to 

 find water, as in thirty-six records of their attempts in Northampton- 

 shire, twenty were complete failures, and eight were virtual failures 

 by reason of the fact that water was present everywhere below ground 

 and one particular spot was no better than another. It is suggested 

 that experiments be made on waters and rocks that are known to 

 possess radio-active properties. 



