1 882.] Mineralogy 77 



of which an abstract is given in the October, 1881, Geological 



Magazine of London. The Bulletin of the Geological Society ot 



France for 1881, contains many important memoirs, principally 



relating to the geology of France, Algiers and Belgium. An 



analysis of the structure and age of the formations about Lake 

 Champlain is given in the same periodical, by Professor Marcou. 



Dr. Lemoine has added many important discoveries to those 



he has previously made in the Lower Eocene near Reims, France. 

 He has procured almost perfect skeletons of the Mammalian gen- 

 era Heterobonts, Platnishdotlicriitm, Piuhynolophus ; of the bird 

 Gastornis, and the reptile Champsosaurus. He has also discovered a 

 number of the Marsupial family /" ch is probably 



nearly allied to the Ptilodus, described from New Mexico in the 



November, 1881, Naturalist. Professor Newberry criticizes 



adversely Professor Spencer's view on the Ancient outlet of Lake 

 Erie, published by the American Philosophical Society. 



MINERALOGY. 1 



Systematic Mineralogy. — Bauer man. (Appleton & Co., New 

 York, 1 88 1.) The latest number of that excellent series known 

 as the " Text-books of Science " consists of the first volume of a 

 Text-book of Systematic Mineralogy, by H. Bauerman. The in- 

 troduction states the two-fold object of the work to be that it 

 should form (1) a guide to general students ; (2) an elementary in- 

 troduction to larger text-books. The greater part of the volume 

 deals with the principles of crystallography. Not only are the 

 simple and compound forms of the different systems fully de- 

 scribed and illustrated, but by means of shaded figures, the origin 

 of the hemihedrat and tetartohedral modifications is explained. 

 The optical properties of crystals are considered at length in 

 some well written chapters, and the volume concludes with an 

 elementary review of the physical and chemical characters of 

 minerals. The descriptive portion of the work is not yet issued. 

 We cannot help thinking that this work does not quite attain the 

 object for which it was written. While not sufficiently thorough 

 for the advanced student, the method of treatment is not such 

 as would recommend it for the beginner. The language employed 

 m a large portion of the book is by no means simple, and the 

 practical performance of mineralogical work is but slightly con- 

 sidered. 



Lime Crystals in a Lime-kiln. — Several years ago, Brugel- 

 mann succeeded in obtaining artificially microscopic cubes of 



ogical papers printed t-Uewlu 



