159 



the cliffs are found to consist of Limestone, characterized by Pro- 

 ductse, Terebratulae and Encrini. The hills near Cheriton are com- 

 posed of this limestone, and good beds of bituminous coal occur in 

 the same district. 



The relative position of the vast deposits of Coal and Anthracite 

 which have been discovered in America is not yet satisfactorily 

 ascertained. The great coal-field of Pennsylvania is said to occur 

 in the higher beds of grauwacke, but what are so called may 

 possibly be shown hereafter to correspond to the limestone shale 

 and millstone grit of Derbyshire. When skilfully treated, this an- 

 thracite is considered better than the best bituminous coal of En- 

 gland and the United States. Vegetable impressions are rare, and 

 I do not find that any of the Species have been identified with the 

 English, but the Genera, I believe, are the same. The next great 

 deposit of anthracite, that of Rhode Island, lies rather lower in the 

 series, and the anthracite of Worcester is said to occur in an imper- 

 fect mica slate, associated with gneiss. Dr. Meade states, that at 

 Rhode Island the veins of coal are separated by various coloured 

 sandstones of the transition series, yet fine specimens of indurated 

 talc and green asbestus in capillary crystals are also interspersed 

 through the shale, and form the immediate cover of the coal. 



The Rocky Mountains, as far as Mr. Rogers could collect from 

 the information of Mr. Sublette, a person engaged for eleven years 

 in the fur trade, and from the journals of Long and Lewis and 

 Clarke and Nuttal, are Primitive. The eastern chain, called the 

 Black Hills, consists of gneiss, mica slate, and greenstone, with 

 amygdaloid and other volcanic substances. Volcanic mounds are 

 frequently seen on the west of the mountains between the rivers 

 Salmon and Louis ; for the distance of more than forty miles the 

 Columbia river flows between perpendicular cliffs, from two to three 

 hundred feet in height, composed of lava and obsidian. The Mala- 

 dor branch of the Columbia takes its direction through a similar 

 gorge, and thermal springs abound in this part of the country. 



On the various organic remains of North Amei'ica, a Paper by 

 Dr. Harlan, which first appeared in the Transactions of the Geolo- 

 gical Society of Philadelphia, has been republished in Jamesons 

 Journal. 



A valuable Communication on the Bermudas, with which we have 

 been favoured by Lieutenant Nelson, R.E., has taught us that in 

 explaining the formation of strata our homage is not exclusively due 

 to Neptune, Vulcan, and Pluto, but that ^olus must also be re- 

 garded. 



This cluster of islands consists entirely of coral, of what kinds it 

 is unnecessary to specify here, though the author has bestowed upon 

 this part of the subject a large share of attention. Confining myself 

 to what relates more especially to geological science, I may state the 

 following as the most important conclusions which Lieutenant Nel- 

 son's observations tend to establish: 1. That the coral animal does 

 not build above water. 2. That coral islands now in process of 

 forming may and do attain a considerable height, say 260 feet above 



