536 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII. , No. 175 



ing, as they cannot be distinguished by mineral 

 characters ; and both are usually at low angles of 

 inclination, while fossils are rare. It would seem 

 probable that the conditions of deposit which 

 prevailed in the carboniferous recurred at the com- 

 mencement of the cretaceous, after a long conti- 

 nental interval. 



The most important formation in Palestine is 

 the great cretaceous limestone, overlying the Nu- 

 bian sandstone, and constituting the mass of the 

 hills of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, while it ex- 

 tends northward into the Lebanon, and spreads it- 

 self on the south in the plateau of the Tih. This 

 great calcareous formation corresponds in age to 

 the chalk of Europe, and must be at least two 

 thousand feet in thickness. Some difficulty has 

 occurred in separating it from the Jurassic beds 

 which underlie it in Hermon and Anti-Libanus, 

 and from the eocene limestones which rest upon 

 it in some parts of Palestine, and more extensively 

 in Egypt. Our author does not deal very definitely 

 with these questions, and indeed the sphere of his 

 explorations was too limited to render this pos- 

 sible, except in the way of collating authorities. 



The later tertiary deposits are not conspicuous 

 in Palestine. Our author regards the calcareous 

 sandstones of Philistia as being probably upper 

 eocene : but the evidence which he adduces is not 

 at all conclusive, and there seems quite as much 

 reason to believe them to be a continuation of the 

 miocene beds of the Isthmus of Suez, or probably 

 of the still later isthmian series of that district. 

 The evidence of fossils is wanting; and I am not 

 aware of any miocene fossils in Syria, except per- 

 haps in the conglomerates resting on the cretaceous 

 in the vicinity of Tahleh in the Lebanon. On 

 the whole, there can be little doubt that, as Hull 

 believes, the miocene tertiary was in this region a 

 time of shallowing water and of prevailing land 

 conditions. This is well illustrated by the sand- 

 stones of Jebel A lunar, near Cairo, and their 

 petrified forests. 



A number of interesting questions connect 

 themselves with the great submergence of 

 northern Africa and western Asia in the early 

 pleistocene age, when Asia and Africa were sepa- 

 rated bya wide channel, the valley of the Nile was 

 an arm of the sea, the coast districts of Palestine 

 were submerged, and a great lake or inlet occu- 

 pied the Jordan valley. Hull illustrates this with 

 a map showing the probable geography of this 

 period. It is equally certain that this submergence 

 was succeeded in the later pleistocene or post- 

 glacial period by an elev.it ion of the land, when 

 an inland lake receiving the waters of the Nile 

 seems to have existed on the present isthmus. It 

 is this second continental period which is con- 



nected with the first appearance of remains of 

 man, — a subject in regard to which nothing new 

 seems to have been observed. Other points of in- 

 terest, and which Hull discusses at some length, 

 are the great Jordan valley fault, throwing down 

 the basin of the Dead Sea to a depth of 1,290 feet 

 below the Mediterranean. The remarkable geo- 

 graphical features resulting from this great dislo- 

 cation, the old marginal deposits of the Dead Sea, 

 the hot springs on its borders, the salinity of its 

 water, its climatic conditions, and its historical 

 associations would open a field so large, that 

 another article would be required for their discus- 

 sion, more especially as there are points on which 

 some difference of opinion may well exist. 



The collections made in the Bahama Islands 

 by the naturalists of the fish-commission steamer 

 Albatross contain several new species of birds and 

 reptiles. There are two new woodpeckers of 

 the genus Centurus, from the islands of Abaco 

 and Watlings, or San Salvador, and two new 

 warblers of the genus Geothlypis from Abaco and 

 New Providence, while there are possibly some 

 new races to be described also. Kirtland's warbler 

 (Dendroeca Kirtlandi) was found on Watlings, 

 Abaco, and Green Cay. Probably not more than 

 half a dozen specimens of this species have hither- 

 to been known. Another rarity was the Bahama 

 cuckoo (Saurathera bahamensis), of which four 

 specimens were obtained on New Providence 

 Island. An apparently new species of blind worm 

 (a peculiar family of snakes resembling worms, 

 and covered with fish-like scales) is interesting as 

 coming from a more northerly latitude than ani- 

 mals of this kind have yet been found in, having 

 never before been taken in the Bahamas. The 

 iguana was found in limited numbers on San 

 Salvador. It is not known to exist on any other 

 islands of this group except Andross. There are 

 several valuable snakes in the collection, one being 

 a very rare boa five or six feet long, from New 

 Providence. There are many new species of 

 lizards from Abaco and elsewhere. These shore 

 collections were gathered at such times as the 

 vessel anchored at suitable places, and are quite 

 distinct from the dredging of fishes and marine 

 invertebrates, the usual work of the vessel. There 

 is the usual variety of undescribed and interesting 

 material of the latter class, which appears to be 

 inexhaustible. The winter cruises of the Albatross 

 are undertaken with the co-operation of the fish 

 commission and the hydrographic office, on account 

 of the extensive series of deep-sea soundings fh.it 

 are taken for the latter department, and have 

 proved of great value to this service. 



