Abstracts of Memoirs. 355 
indestructible, it accumulates in little hillocks. It has been re- 
marked that bitumen is common in the schists of Auvergne. 
In the department of Cantal there are no less than 103 mineral 
springs, 83 issuing from granite and other crystalline metamorphic 
rocks, and 16 from volcanic rocks. They chiefly emerge in valleys. 
Of some of these the temperature is very high, but not constant. 
The Chaudesaigues springs, for example, not only vary from time to 
time, but seem permanently hotter now than formerly. The spring 
of Par in 1771 was described as having a temperature of 167° F.; 
and in 1828, 1774 F. Others are lower, but all are very hot. The 
quantity of water issuing is large, and the whole neighbourhood 
around feels the effect. The hot water is used for various econo- 
mical purposes, amongst others for warming the houses. It is eal- 
culated that the quantity of heat liberated each day by these waters 
is equivalent to the consumption of about six tons of coal. Although 
so hot, the waters of Chaudesaigues are not rich in salts and other 
minerals. 
While the springs of Par have increased in temperature since 
1788, those of Véris on the Allier have greatly cooled. The spring 
Grand-Puits bas lowered from 172° F. to 1264 F., and the Puzts de 
la Croix from 167° F. to 125° F.; the lowering not having been 
gradual, but by jumps. The great earthquake of Lisbon (1775) pro- 
duced very marked effects on this spring. In solid contents the 
Neris water is not remarkable, but it is unusually rich in organic 
matter, and a peculiar growth of Conferve takes place very rapidly 
after the water reaches the surface. 
We have given this very brief abstract of the contents of M. 
Lecoq’s very elaborate volume, in order that our readers may 
‘form some notion of the extent of material accumulated. Nearly 
300 springs are described, and some account given of each, in- 
cluding in most cases the volume of water, the temperature, and the 
contents as determined by analysis. It would be unfair not to 
recognize the great labour and care that have been taken, though one 
would have been glad of some general résumé rendering the facts 
more generally manageable. M. Lecoq bears constantly in mind his 
theory of the origin of mineral springs; but this does not prevent 
him from putting forward honestly the whole of the evidence that 
exists in the case of the springs he professes to describe. His work 
~nust always be valuable as a book of reference.—D. T. A. 
REVIEWS. 
—— 
1. Tae WATER-SUPPLY OF THE PERMIAN Rocks or DurHAM.* 
On THE Macyestan Limestonz or Duruam. By Messrs. Dacrisu and Forstsr. 
British Assoc. Report, 1863, p. 726. 
Water-supply.—The hydrology of the Magnesian Limestone and 
the Red Sandstone beneath it is first discussed; and there are 
* See GrorocicAL Macazinz, Vol. II. p. 29. 
AA 
