TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 75 
student, it was a chapter in the earth’s history, over which may be inscribed in the 
most legible characters, ‘* Science made easy,” so well defined are the rocks of the 
several systems, and so distinct and remarkable are the organic remains by which 
they are classified and filled to repletion. 
On the Volcanoes of Central Asia, commencing with the Baikal, in Oriental 
Siberia, and extending into Mongolia and Chinese Tartary, illustrated 
by a beautiful series of drawings of the principal volcanic scenes described. 
By T. W. Atkinson, F.G.S. 
The author said he did not intend to furnish a strictly geological account, describing 
each stratum and mass of lava scientifically, his desire being only to point out and 
describe volcanic regions passed through in his travels, commencing with that round 
the Baikal in Oriental Siberia, and continuing to the Syan-shan ; extending over a 
country lying between 80° and 110° east longitude, and from 41° to 55° north lati- 
tude, and embracing a great variety of steppe and mountain, including a part of the 
desert of Gobi. 
The Baikal had by some persons been considered a vast crater, of which wonderful 
stories were told by those who inhabit its shores, It was said to be nearly 600 miles 
in length, varying from 30 to 40 miles in width. The northern shores of the Baikal 
were rocky, and rose from 500 to 600 feet above the water, and, in a few places, 
there were steppes or planes down to the water’s edge. The island of Olchon 
stretches along the northern shore ; it is about 60 miles in length, and from 12 to 15 
miles in breadth. ‘There was no appearance of volcanoes ever having been in action 
either on the northern shore or on the island. On the southern shore, near Tour- 
kniskaia and Bargouzin, volcanic action had most undoubtedly taken place. 
He next described the Kosso-gol, a lake 75 miles in length and 22 in breadth, 
bounded on the north and west by snow-capped mountains; on the lower slopes 
were several volcanic domes from which lava had issued, Nearly in the middle of 
the lake there was a conical-shaped island, probably 300 yards in diameter, and from 
250 to 300 feet high. This he also believed to be volcanic. 
In the valley of the Oka, which was 120 miles to the westward, he came upon a 
bed of lava more than a mile in width, extending nearly across the valley. The lava 
had a metallic appearance, and was very hard. As he proceeded along the valley, 
the lava increased in thickness ; in some places it rose up like a wall 40 feet high, and 
in others it was heaped into enormous masses, and with great chasms crossed the bed, 
as if formed by the mass in cooling. He then detailed his exertions to discover the 
source of this stream of lava, during which he found that there had been two other 
eruptions ; the first had added to the old another stratum of lava 24 feet thick; the 
second a bed of 35 feet thick and a mile in breadth. The description of what hap- 
pened to the expedition in search of the source of the lava was exceedingly interesting. 
After a five days’ journey the crater was reached; its length was 2 miles, and three- 
quarters of a mile in width. It was after many long and weary rides, extending over 
more than 500 miles, into Chinese Tartary, that he reached a singular dome-shaped 
hill, near which he discovered a bed of lava. On examining the spot, he was assured that 
the substance had gushed from several places on the side of the mount, and had run a 
short distance down the ravine. He determined to ascend the dome and examine the 
summit. The whole mass was of a dark purple-grey colour, with the appearance of 
having been forced up ina soft or fluid state into the shape of an enormous air-bubble, 
It was split and fractured in every direction, but not in regular strata, That this was 
the commencement of a volcano was quite certain, but the molten matter must have 
found an outlet elsewhere. ‘There was not a blade of grass or moss growing on the 
dome, to the summit of which he and a Cossack scrambled with great toil and diffi- 
culty. The distance from this place to Pe-shan, a volcano still in action, is about 
450 miles, 
On the Fructification of Cyclopteris Hibernica (Forbes), from the Upper 
Devonian or Lower Carboniferous Strata at Kiltorkan Hill, County Kil- 
kenny. By W.H. Batty, F.GS. 
Mr. Baily in a few short notes alluded to this beautiful and well-preserved fossil 
