Notices respecting New Books. 217 



difficult to say whether the movement has an upward or a down- 

 ward direction. Some account of Lake George, and interesting 

 notes on the gradual rise and fall of its waters, are given, together 

 with a description of a self-recording gauge, which gives a con- 

 tinuous record of changes of level by evaporation and otherwise. A 

 remarkable " impulse " was recorded on the 14th April, 1884, when 

 the water had been unusually still for the three previous days. At 

 11 a.m. the observer at the gauge saw a thunderstorm coming 

 from the JSTorth, and, watching the instrument, saw that the 

 lake rose at that point four inches in thirty minutes. As soon 

 as the storm passed, the water began to fall, reaching its previous 

 level in fifteen minutes, sank two inches more, and began to 

 rise again. The whole series of pulsations lasted five days. The 

 Lake is referred to as " a body of water eighteen miles long, five 

 wide, and 15 or 20 feet deep," and in its wet period " at least forty 

 miles long and ten or twelve wide." The " seiches " of the Lake 

 of Geneva are noticed in connection wdth this subject. 



Mr. Russell has also a paper on " Local Variations and Vibra- 

 tions of the Earth's Surface," in which he especially deals with the 

 effect of lunar attraction upon the solid portion of the globe. 

 After quoting from the British-Association Reports for 1881 and 

 1882, he proceeds to give the result of his own observations, more 

 particularly those taken with the Lake-George tide-gauge, and he 

 notes the " Level-errors of the Sydney Transit-Instrument " in 

 relation to the sandstone hill upon which the Observatory is built. 

 Important photolithographic copies of the sheets from the recording 

 instrument at Lake George, together with Level-, Temperature-, 

 Azimuth-, and Barometer-curves at Sydney Observatory are given. 

 This paper and Mr. Russell's Address form very important con- 

 tributions to our knowledge of the level-changes of the Earth's 

 surface. 



The Rev. P. MacPherson deals with " Some causes of the Decay 

 of the Australian Forests." After discussing the various theories 

 advanced to account for the decay, the author dismisses " Wet 

 ground," "Drought," "Bush Eires," "Differences of Soils," "Sheep 

 manures," "Caterpillars," and "White Ants," as inadequate to 

 effect the mischief observed ; and he refers the majority of the 

 damage done to the Opossums and a " Copper-coloured Beetle," 

 the name of which is unfortunately omitted. A plate is given in 

 illustration of the I'emarks. Another paper by the same author 

 deals with the "Stone Implements of the Aborigines of Australia 

 and some other countries " in Australasia. After describing the 

 specimens exhibited, the author discusses their antiquity, and 

 comes to the conclusion that "up to date, direct evidence for a 

 geologic antiquity on behalf of the Australian Aborigines seems to 

 be very scanty." Three illustrations accompany the paper, one 

 of which represents the incisions made by the natives into trees, 

 to get food and for other purposes, and shows the permanent 

 effect on the tree so treated. 



In a " History of Eloods in the Hawkesbury River," Mr. J. P. 

 Josephson gives a table of " heights of floods from years 1795 to 



Phil Mag. S. 5. Vol. 23. No. 141. Feb. 1887. Q 



