144 Miscellaneous — Ly ell's Elements. 



matter, but it did not seem to me at the time to do so, nor does it 

 now, for the following reasons : — 



Well No. 1 appears to have been sunk through 5 or 6 feet of peat, 

 then 1^ foot of clay ; the water coming from a seam of sand beneath 

 the clay ; the heat of the water being 69° on March 14th last, 

 while that of the air was 39°. 



At the adjoining farmyard, half a mile distant, Well No. 2 is 

 supplied from the surface water, and this showed on my visit no such 

 abnormal temperature ; but at the next farm, half a mile beyond, 

 where Well No. 3 pierces the clay, I found again the water to be 

 heated. 



If the heat were caused by the decomposition of manure (or of 

 the peat), one would suppose that the water nearest the surface 

 would show the highest temperature — the contrary being the case. 



At another farmyard, Well No. 4 shows water of only about 50° 

 Far., but I was informed by the proprietor that a short time since 

 an Abyssinian tube-well was put down temporarily, and at a few feet 

 greater depth it brought up heated water. 



Well No. 5, the water from which I found to be of 71^° of tem- 

 perature on March 14th, and 79|-° on June 2nd, that of the air being 

 at the same time 39° and 70° respectively, is sunk through gravel, 

 and the water from it is so pure that it is used for drinking purposes. 



Beside this, I am informed that the phenomenon has been observed 

 continuously for years, not only in winter, when the yards are full 

 of stock, but in summer, when they are unoccupied. 



Several samples of water have been analyzed by Mr. Francis 

 Sutton, F.C.S., and he can find nothing whatever to support the 

 hypothesis that the heat results from chemical decomposition. 



I feel with Mr. Fisher the difficulties of any other than a chemical 

 explanation, but I have called attention to the phenomenon because 

 I think there is a prima facie case for further investigation. 



Heigham Grove, Noravich, 



February 15ih, 1871. F. W. Harmee. 



Dvi:isoEXjXj.^iNr:EOTJS . 



Student's Elements of Geology. By Sir Charles Ltell, Bart., 

 F.R.S., 8vo. pp. 624. 1871. (London : John Murray.) 

 It may be of use to the readers of this work to learn that owing to 

 a " shift in printing," which happened during the production of the 

 copies first issued, certain passages in pages 452 to 454, are rendered 

 difficult of comprehension. The bottom line of p. 452 should be at 

 the top of p. 451 ; the bottom line of p. 453 at the t( p of p. 452 ; 

 the top line of p. 454 at the top of p. 453. This error is corrected 

 in the later copies, and those who possess the faulty volume can ob- 

 tain the four pages properly corrected on application to Mr. Murray, 

 50, Albemarle-street. They can also procure at the same time a 

 short list of errata, which have been lately printed, and in which the 

 most important correction is the substitution of the word " mag- 

 nesia" for that of ''lime " in the last line but one of p. 485. 



