SCIENCE-GOSSIP, 



59 



over the chalk of the North Downs and the 

 Chiltern Hills, and the extension of the Lower 

 Greensand in patches over the oolites in Buck- 

 inghamshire. The outcrops of the secondaries 

 throughout the Midlands are faithfully portrayed 

 in all their meandering and almost confusing 

 details. A series of four horizontal sections, which 

 are given, will be of great value to our readers. 

 They are coloured geologically, and are as follows ; 

 (i) across England and Wales from Holyhead to 

 Beachy Head ; (2) across the centre of England 

 from Denbigh over the Cheshire Plains, the 

 Derbyshire Hills, and the Plains of the Trent, to 

 the coast of Lincolnshire at Saltfleet ; (3) from 

 the Solway across the Lake District and the 

 Pennine Chain, to Yorkshire at Flamborough 

 Head ; (4) section across the Isle of Wight. We 

 would venture to express an opinion that the 

 map would possibly be more serviceable if it 

 were not fastened into the cover containing the 

 "Explanatory Notes," as these render the top left- 

 hand corner of the map inconveniently weighty 

 when it is extended. 



Werner and Hutton.— On reading Mr. Edward 

 A. Martin's review of Geikie's " Founders of 

 Geology" (ajite p. 11), the fact was suggested that 

 Sir Archibald's criticisms anent Werner might 

 be very truly and justifiably applied to certain 

 other "founders" whom he extravagantly extols. 

 Of Werner it is averred that " what was true in 

 doctrine was borrowed from his predecessors, 

 what was his own consisted largely of unwarranted 

 assumptions." The influence of the man who 

 " put back the geological clock for half 

 a century " might have been disastrous to the 

 higher interests of geology ; but I have never heard 

 that he positively set his face against or scouted 

 any of the methods of research which we now 

 know to be truly scientific and solely adapted to 

 the discovery of truth. What about James Hutton, 

 the author of the extravagant theory which was 

 so rhetorically defended by Professor Playfair, 

 whom Geikie so fulsomely extols ? When Sir 

 James Hall essaj'ed to perform some fully 

 correct and admirable experiments on the fusion 

 of rocks, etc., he was sharply pulled up by his 

 theorizing master, Hutton, who deeply mistrusted 

 any attempt "to judge of the great operations of 

 Nature by merely kindling a fire and looking into 

 the bottom of a little crucible." After this, indeed, 

 one might well wonder if we had quite got beyond 

 the age of Bacon and the despised schoolmen 

 of the middle ages. A very humble and obscure 

 student of geology, provided, of course, that he 

 was endowed with the faintest scientific intelli- 

 gence, might well exclaim, " surely the man who 

 scouted experiment was nothing but an imagina- 

 tive theorizer, backed up by a rhetorical declaimer; 

 his influence, indeed, must have been truly disas- 

 trous to the higher interests of geology." But not 

 so the Director-General of the Geological Survey. 

 He exhorts every young student to read and 

 re-read, and read yet again, the consummate 

 masterpiece of geological rhetoric penned by 

 Prof. Playfair, a copy of which, I understand, 

 cannot be found in the geological library of the 

 Natural History Museum. I therefore entirely 

 fail to see the justice of the distinction herein set 

 forth. Werner's exertions effected something for 

 geological classification; but I have yet to learn 

 what Hutton did that a little experiment and 

 less rhetoric might not have far more fully and 

 satisfactorily accomplished. — (Dr.) P. Q. Keegan, 

 Patkrdale, Westmoreland. 



Henry Perig.\l. — Longevity has undoubtedly 

 been a feature of the Perigal family. The subject 

 of this notice died on June 6th at the advanced age 

 of ninety-seven years. His father lived to upwards 

 of ninety-nine years, being one of thirteen children, 

 nine of whom reached the remarkable collective 

 age of 750 years, three of them totalling 291 years. 

 Henry Perigal was to the time of his death the 

 treasurer of the Royal Meteorological Society, a 

 Fellow of the Royal Astronomical, Royal Micro- 

 scopic, and some other scientific societies and 

 clubs, which he regularly attended up to somewhat 

 more than a year ago. Mr. Perigal wrote various 

 works on divers scientific subjects, his tendency 

 being mathematical. They include astronomy, 

 bicycloidal and other curves, kinematics, the laws 

 of motion, probable mode of constructing the 

 pyramids, etc. It is only about a couple of years 

 since Mr. Henry Perigal called upon us and had a 

 long chat, avoiding the passenger lift with scorn, 

 instead, mounting numerous stairs to pay his visit. 



OsBERT Salvin.— Natural science has suffered a 

 severe loss by the death of Mr. Osbert Salvin, 

 F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.E.S., etc., which took 

 place on June ist, in his sixty-third year, at 

 Hawksfold, near Haslemere. Mr. Osbert Salvin 

 was educated at Westminster and Trinity Hall, 

 Cambridge, where he graduated as Senior Optime 

 in 1857. He is best known to ornithologists and 

 entomologists for the magnificent work done, in 

 connection with Mr. Frederick Godman, on the 

 fauna of Central America. Mr. Salvin first joined 

 in a natural history exploration of Tunis and 

 Eastern Algeria. After a stay there of five months 

 he proceeded to Guatemala, whither he returned 

 a year afterwards, and again in 1861, accompanied 

 on the latter occasion by Mr. Frederick Godman, 

 where they stayed until 1863. In 1865 he married 

 Miss Caroline Maitland, of Loughton, Essex. 

 He afterwards again visited Central America. 

 Mr. Salvin was appointed Strickland Curator 

 in the University of Cambridge on the founda- 

 tion of the office in 1874. This he held until 

 1883, when, on the death of his father, he 

 moved to Hawksfold. In conjunction with his 

 friend, Mr. Godman, he founded the magnifi- 

 cent work, " Biologia Centrali - Americana," a 

 natural history of the countries between Mexico 

 and the Isthmus of Panama, a region most richly 

 endowed by nature. There is no doubt that this 

 work is the finest of its character ever attempted, 

 and has required a considerable staff of collectors 

 and skilled naturalists continually employed in 

 working out the material for its publication. 

 Previous to commencing this gigantic undertaking, 

 Mr. Salvin edited the third series of " The Ibis," 

 of which he was one of the founders. Besides 

 other works, we note that the list of papers standing 

 in his name in the Royal Society's " Catalogue of 

 Scientific Papers " reaches forty-seven, and in asso- 

 ciation with Mr. Godman or Dr. Sclater there are a 

 further seventy-seven titles. Mr. Salvin was a man 

 of most extensive and accurate knowledge and one 

 who can indeed be badly spared. 



