336 REVIEWS — THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS. 



same time the application of this mineral as an economical source of pure magne- 

 sia and magnesian salts on a large scale, is one worthy of consideration. 



In Ms Report for 1856, Mr. Hunt takes up the composition of tlie 

 magnesian and other rocks belonging chiefly to the metamorphic re- 

 gion of the Eastern Townships, and to the older metamorphic or 

 Laurentian series of Grenville and the Ottawa. Following these 

 researches, and partly based upon them, the subject of rock-meta- 

 morphism then comes under review. Discarding the agency of intense 

 heat, Mr. Hunt seeks for the cause of metamorphism, in the action of 

 alkaline carbonates in solution at a temperature not greatly exceeding 

 that of the boiling point of water ; and he brings forward some in- 

 teresting experiments in support of this opinion. Although strictly, 

 this is but an extension of the views of Bischof and some other in- 

 quirers who have preceded our author in these investigations, it can- 

 not be denied that much praise is due to Mr. Hunt for carrying out 

 the inquiry in an original spirit, and contributing in no small degree 

 to render our knowledge of metamorphic action more satisfactory and 

 precise. Bischof, in his investigations, has certainly fallen into an 

 error which we trust Mr. Hunt will cautiously avoid — that of attempt- 

 ing to force all conditions of occurrence into harmony with his pecu- 

 liar views : an error which has told more or less, in many minds, 

 against the free reception of Bischof's conclusions, even when these 

 conlusions are manifestly exact. Finally, at the close of Mr. Hunt's 

 Report, analyses are given of the curious white traps of Montreal and 

 its vicinity. These we propose to notice in another place. 



E. J. C. 



The Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli. By Sir Edmund Walker 

 Head, Bart. J. B. Nichols & Sons, London, 1858. 



To the classic antiquary, the ancient divinity Serapis, and the 

 rites by which he was worshipped, have furnished prolific themes for 

 discussion. The Egyptian divinity was supposed, by some at least 

 of the Greek writers, to be identical with Osiris ; by later authors 

 he has been described as the Egyptian Apollo. But so difficult is it 

 to eliminate from Egyptian mythology anything strictly analogous to 

 classic faith and worship, that Serapis has been identified with Zeus 

 or Jupiter, with Pluto, with ^sculapius, and with Pan. But the 

 difficiilties grow still more complicated when we study the divinity 



