432 Correspondence and Miscellaneous. 
and there for a few inches by the surface of a fossil; but this, of 
course, is a distinct thing from regular cleavage affecting a large area 
of rock. In the latter case a coincidence between cleavage and the 
lie of a fossil could be but accidental, but that which is accidental 
may be of not unfrequent occurrence. W. Downes. 
FOSSILS IN HIGHLY CONTORTED AND CLEAVED SLATES 
AND FLAGS. 
Stz,—For many years the greatly cleaved and contorted Menevian 
strata of St. David’s in South Wales, and of Dolgelly in North 
Wales, were deemed wholly unfossiliferous. At length by piecing 
together the slates and looking at the bedding ends of a number of 
them placed together in their natural position, Messrs. Salter and 
Hicks were fortunate in discovering a large number of fossils, 
revealing an entirely new fauna. Many of these fossils, which I 
remember to have seen, collected by the late Mr. Thos. Belt, F.G.S., 
and by Mr. John Plant, F.G.S., at Dolgelly ; and by Messrs. Salter 
and Hicks at St. David’s; reminded me of nothing so much as a 
fashion, which was greatly in vogue among elegant triflers and 
amateur painters, 40 to 50 years ago; of painting portraits and 
landscapes on the edges of books (often Bibles’ were curiously 
enough chosen for this purpose). The single leaves themselves of 
course disclosed no evidence, but by pressing the book very slightly 
obliquely at the edges, a picture was at once revealed to the admiring 
gaze. The fossils may similarly be said to be, the pieced-together 
pages of old Cambrian records, cleaved into blank leaves by Time, but 
upon whose frayed and time-worn edges may still be deciphered a 
chapter in the life-history of our earth. F. G. S. 
1 A Reverend Divine, who admired and loved the Queen greatly (as of course we 
all do), being a man of leisure and of a whimsical taste in art, painted yearly a very 
pleasing landscape, or other subject, upon the front edge of a handsome gilt 4to. Bible 
bound in Russia or Morocco, and sent it to the Queen on her birthday. These 
volumes with pictured edges, which extend over very many years of the early life of 
Her Majesty, are preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. 
MisceLLANrous. — M. Delesse has published a useful agronomic map of the 
Department of the Seine and Marne (Extrait du Bulletin des Sci., December, 1879 : 
Paris, Jules Tremblay, 1880), which comprises the natural region of the Brie. In 
the above notice he has given some details respecting the mode of preparation and the 
principal results derived therefrom, the persual of which may be useful to those 
engaged in similar work. The map enables us to compare the revenue derived from 
the arable lands, the meadows, forests, vineyards, and shows how the fertility 
of the soil varies throughout the department, and also affords the means of appreciat- 
ing the relation which exists between the physical and chemical characters of the 
vegetable soil and the geological structure of the district. It gives also the com- 
position of the vegetable soil, which is further illustrated by two reduced maps 
appended to this short notice, one showing the lands with and without calcareous 
matter; the other indicating by different tints and curved lines the proportion of 
sandy residue corresponding to 20, 40, 60 and 80 per cent. in the soil. J. M. 
Erratum.—In Mr. W. H. Dalton’s letter on ‘‘ Post-Glacial,’’ in July No., p. 
333, line 11 from foot, for ‘‘ Further deposits,’’ read ‘‘ Further, these deposits,’ 
