180 Reviews — Belt's Naturalist in Nicaragua. 



Greenfell, J. Gr. Minerals of Clifton and the Neighbourhood. 

 Trans. Clifton Coll. Sci. Soc, part iv. pp. 63, 64. 

 A list of 30 minerals, giving the formation in which they are 

 found, and the forms and conditions in which they occur. 



W. W. 

 Mello, Eev. J. M. On Coal : its Nature and Uses. Trans. Ches- 

 terfield and Derbyshire Inst, of Eng., vol. ii. part i. pp. 37-55. 

 The author first notices the chemical composition of coal, and the 

 evidences of its vegetable origin (in swamps that were slowly sink- 

 ing), and then treats of its uses and products. W. W. 



ToPLEY, W. On the Relation of the Parish Boundaries in the South- 

 East of England to great Physical Features, particularly to 

 the Chalk Escarpment. Journ. Anthropological Inst., vol. iii. 

 pp. 32-55. 



The author points out the connexion between the form of the 

 ground and the great physical features of the country, and shows 

 that a certain relation exists between them and the boundaries of the 

 parishes. This he illustrates more particularly by reference to the 

 geology of part of Sussex. 



Looking to the probable state of the country before the earliest 

 settlements were made, it appears that the low-lying clayey lands 

 were very thickly wooded, the higher lands of moderate elevation 

 were in great part covered with wood, whilst the high lands and 

 slopes of escarpments were generally open land. 



Escarpments being mostly formed of porous rocks, resting upon 

 strata more or less impervious, are generally found to give out springs 

 at their base. Hence the conclusion is justified that the earliest 

 settlements in the south of England would take place along the 

 wider chalk valleys, in which probably water then flowed, or along 

 the foot of the escarpment, where good water, a productive soil, and 

 a sheltered situation may be found. The author points out the rela- 

 tions of the manor or parish boundaries to the character of the 

 country in regard to agricultural and farming capabilities, and de- 

 monstrates how these older boundaries are simpler than those of 

 parishes subsequently formed. In conclusion he directs attention to 

 the physical origin of many of the names of the villages. H. B. W. 



ia:E"VIEAA7"S. 



I. — The Natubalist in Nicaragua : A Narrative of a Eesidence 

 at the Gold Mines of Chontales ; Journeys in the Savannahs 

 and Forests, with Observations on Animals and Plants in 

 Eeference to the Theory of Evolution of Living Forms. By 

 Thomas Belt, F.G.S., etc., etc. 8vo. pp. 403, with a Map and 

 numerous Illustrations. (London, John Murray. 1874.) 



THE name of the author of this book has already become 

 a familiar one in the pages of the Geological Magazine ^ 

 since its earliest volume. But although a good geologist and 

 ^ " On the Formation and Preservation of Lakes by Ice-action," by Thomas Belt, 



