Correspondence — Mr. F. W. Rudler. 427 



or not ; but from an examination of several casts the former is 

 probably the case. 



Some other species of Pentacrinus have the joint faces ornamented 

 with lines placed somewhat in a similar manner ; as, for instance, the 

 Pentacrinus Icevigatus of the St. Cassian beds (Laube, tab. viii. a, 

 fig. 21), and joints are found in the greensand of Chute Farm, with, 

 ornamentation of the same kind ; but in neither of these cases do the 

 lines meet at such a decided angle between th.e leaves as in the 

 Devonian specimens. 



It will be seen that in th.e fossil sketched one of the leaves is 

 imperfect. — I remain, &c., John Edward Lee. 



Villa Steacusa, ToRauAY, 

 Is^ August, 1873. 



ABSTRACTS OF GEOLOGICAL PAPERS. 

 Sir, — ^Any one who has occasion to follow the progress of Chemical 

 Science will readily admit that his labour has been much lightened 

 since the Chemical Society has introduced the plan of publishing 

 monthly abstracts of the more important papers selected from both. 

 British and Foreign JoiTrnals. It occurs to me that this example, 

 set by the Chemists, might be followed, with great advantage, by 

 the Geologists. The Journal of the G-eological Society, it is true, 

 publishes the titles of a great number of papers bearing upon our 

 Science ; but a bald list of titles, even if it extend to a complete 

 bibliography, can have but very limited value, and in many cases 

 must be well-nigh useless. Nor would it suffice to follow each title 

 by a notice limited to a few lines, as is done, for example, in the 

 ' Verzeichniss der Anthropologischen Literatur,' which forms an ex- 

 cellent feature in the Archiv fiir Anthropologie. Such short notices 

 have, of course, their measure of value, but would be scarcely full 

 enough to fairly represent the progress of an important science like 

 Geology. Even the publication of an annual volume, similar to The 

 Zoological Record, to Delesse and De Lapparent's Bevue de Geologie, 

 or to Kenngott's UebersicM der Besultate Mineralogischer Forscliungen, 

 would be far from satisfactory when compared with the admirable 

 system adopted by the Chemical Society. By means of that system, 

 the English chemist learns, as early as possible, what is going on in 

 each department of his science, and is furnished with abstracts 

 sufficiently full in most cases to put him in possession of the main 

 points in each paper. This, or something akin to this, is just what 

 the geologist needs. Perhaps the student who confines his attention 

 to British Geology may not fully realize the want of such a work as 

 that now advocated ; biit its value will assuredly be recognized by 

 those who have occasion to spend much time in frequent reference 

 to the Transactions of Foreign Societies. As the British Association 

 deems the publication of the Zoological Record and of the Chemical 

 Society's Abstracts sufiiciently important to aid both these works 

 by grants of money, it may be worth while considering — now that 

 we are on the eve of the Bradford Meeting — whether Geology has 

 not equal claims on the funds of the Association, 



Jermyn Street, F. W. KudLEE. 



Auffusl 18, 1873. 



