396 Miscellanies. 



throiigli the mass of rock, while passing to the soHd state from 

 that of igneous fusion." 



The occurrence of the metal in crystalline greenstone is of much 

 interest, especially if not associated with minerals of aqueous origin ; 

 and may possiblybe a case of the actual igneous origin of native cop- 

 per, though we should be inclined to suspect that the appearances 

 may be deceptive, and that it may have been introduced after the 

 cooling of the mass. Mr. Bryce quotes Prof. Dawson's Acadian 

 Geology as describing a similar mode of occurrence at Cap D'Or, 

 in Nova Scotia ; but in these two cases, though the metal occurs 

 in the crevices of burathe trap, the appearances are by no means 

 conclusive as to its igneous origin. D. 



Reptiles in Ireland. 



In a notice, in the Athenceutn, of the last volume of the "Na- 

 tural History of Ireland," by the late William Thompson, we find 

 the following on the popular belief of the absence of reptiles 

 from the Emerald Isle : 



"Of course, every one would expect that an Irishman should 

 discourse on the alleged absence of Reptiles from his native isle. 

 This is partly true ; for although the sand lizard is " common in 

 suitable localities," and the eft is " abundant in some localities," 

 and the natterjack is found in Kerry, yet there is not the slightest 

 doubt that where other common British reptiles, as the snake, the 

 frog, and the toad, have been found, they have been introduced. 

 The frog is common enough now, but Stuart, in his ' History of 

 Armagh,' says : " The first frog that was ever seen in this coun- 

 try made its appearance in a pasture-field, near Waterford, about 

 the year 1630. The grandmother of one of Mr. Thompson's 

 friends used to tell "that, Avhen a girl at school (1736), she was 

 taken some distance to see a frog which was exhibited as a show." 

 At one time, the Irish Frog was regarded as a distinct species, but 

 Mr. Thompson, after a careful comparison with English specimens, 

 regards them as identical. The toad appears never to have been 

 introduced into Ireland. It is curious that its first cousin, the 

 natterjack, or running toad, should be found in abundance in 

 Kerry. The Irish people have always a ready explanation of 

 these natural phenomena, and just as they ascribe the freedom of 

 their island from reptiles to the prayers of St. Patrick, so they 

 ascribe the presence of natterjacks in Kerry, as of potatoes, to 

 their having escaped from a ship. Mr. Thompson, however, be- 



