78 Reviews — Devonshire Association. 



far as his geology is concerned, for although he refers in many in- 

 stances to the best authorities, it is as frequently that he mis- 

 interprets their meaning. He mentions that " the conclusion of an 

 eminent man of science [Mr. Prestwich] only five years ago shows 

 that it is very doubtful whether the extinct animals, such as those 

 modelled in the gardens of the Crystal Palace, are of the great 

 antiquity hitherto assigned to them." (!) 



We cannot see that Mr. Savile has done much good by the slurs 

 he casts upon geological deductions, nor will contempt for the 

 teachings of the leaders in " the boasting philosophy of the present 

 age " (as he terms it) call forth more than a smile from any candid 

 reader. 



Geology, so far from rendering its sincere students "boastful," is 

 fully as well calculated as its sister- science Astronomy to induce a 

 humble frame of mind ; and those who, like the author, entertain so 

 unjust a view of its devotees, would do well to imitate our leading 

 geological writers, who never mix up religious dogmas with geo- 

 loffical facts. 



II. — ^The Devonshire Association foe the Advancement of 



Science. 



HAVING received a number of separate copies of papers read 

 during the past year before the Devonshire Association, and 

 which have been published in the Transactions of this Society, we 

 will briefly notice tlie subjects which are treated in them. They are : — 



1. The Modern and Ancient Beaches of Portland. By W. Pen- 

 gelly, F.E.S., F.G.S. 



The author first refers to the Chesil Bank, notes descriptive of 

 which he has compiled from the well-known paper of Mr. Coode, 

 C.E. He remarks upon the abundance of pebbles derived from the 

 Budleigh Salterton conglomerate, which he noticed in company with 

 Mr. Vicary, in the course of observations made upon the bank. He 

 however adds little to what is already known upon the subject, 

 merely concluding that the direction of transportation is from west 

 to east, in the direction of the prevalent winds. Turning his atten- 

 tion next to the raised beach at Portland,^ he adduces facts to show 

 that the so-called raised beach is really a consequence and proof of 

 an elevation of the coast to the extent of not less than 50 feet, and 

 that, during the " Eaised-Beach era," the direction of transportation 

 was, as it is now, from west to east. This latter conclusion comes 

 into collision with the opinion of Mr. Godwin-Austen, who, in 

 describing the raised beaches of Devon and Cornwall,^ regarded the 

 presence in them of numerous chalk flints as indicating that the 

 transportation of the materials at this time was from east to west. 

 Mr. Pengelly, however, in 1867, suggested that the flints were 

 possibly derived from submarine outliers of gravel at no great dis- 

 tance, and he mentions that recently he has been informed of the 



1 Described by Mr, Whitaker in the Geological Magazine, Vol. VI., p. 438. 

 » Quart. Joum. Geol. See, vol. vi., p. 87, 1849. 



