280 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



of the beautiful clothing that makes their ancient masses so enchanting to the 

 eye. 



Granitia brings into his account of the igneous rocks the famous Kowley 

 rag-stone, the Shatterford basaltic dyke, Munster's Hill, and the Titterstone 

 dew-stone, said by Mr. Roberts, much to our surprise, to be locally called jew- 

 stone. Stone-breakers on the roads may by indistinctness of pronunciation give 

 the impression to a stranger of their calling it jew-'sX^VL^, but the correct local 

 term is dew-'&iom,. It has acquired this name from its haying the property, 

 like other basalts, of condensing on its surface the moisture of the air ; hence 

 in damp weather, or when breathed on, it becomes darker in hue, and even 

 sometimes glistens with innumerable beads of water or dew. 



Siluria, after some remarks on the Cambrian rocks of Wales and the Long- 

 mynds, discourses pleasantly first of the Holly-bush sandstone, the black shales 

 of the Malvern, the Lickey quartz-rocks, and other notable strata of Silurian 

 age ; secondly, of the Old Red Sandstone-beds ; thu'dly, of the Carboniferous 

 deposits, up to the coal ; then of the Wyre Eorest coal-field and the coal- 

 measures ; fifthly, of the red-rock above the coal, or the Permian formation ; 

 and sixthly, of the New Red Sandstone. The Lias and Oolite then come in for 

 their share of notice ; and Siluria finishes his discourse, which is discursively 

 illustrated throughout with occasional excellent descriptions of the various 

 characteristic and rare fossils, with remarks on the post-tertiary period and on 

 modern geological changes. 



To Triassia nothing beautiful in the present scenery passes unnoticed ; 

 nothing growing, or living on the present surface, from the lichen cliiigmg to 

 the bare rock to the dense forest of luxuriant trees, from the snail or the 

 caterpillar browsing on dock or thistle to the cony burrowing in the quarry- 

 walls of the new red sandstone, but affords him an interesting and amusing 

 topic. 



In this bright summer-time, if with any excuse — geological, botanical, or 

 artistical — or with no excuse at aU, we should ramble over the beautiful hills 

 and fertile lowlands of Worcestershire, Mr. Roberts' book will be an agreeable 

 and useful companion. Small in size, we may put it in our pockets ; and when 

 resting after a morning's walk on stile, felled tree, or road-side heap of stones, 

 as we lazily inhale the fragrance of flowery odours we may read some passages 

 of Granitia's, Siluria's, and Triassia's gossip with pleasure and profit, and per- 

 haps within our reach we may pick up the stone, fossil, plant or insect that has 

 formed a topic in these agreeable conversations. The dilettante may think we 

 have npt given our excursionist the most luxurious resting-place, but if dilet- 

 tante likes it best, he can read Mr. Roberts' book at home. It may be well 

 read anywhere. But for the geologist what resting-place after a twenty 

 miles walk like a road-heap, where he can rest and luxuriate in his hammerings 

 at the same time? "Politics, love, theology, art, are full of thorns; but 

 Avhen," to apply a humorous quotation from Mr. Reade, "you see a man perched 

 like a crow uppn a rock, chipping it, you see a happy dog. The hammerist can 

 jump out of his gig at any turn of the road, and find' that which his soul desires. 

 The meanest stone a boy throws at a robin is millions of years older than the 

 Farncse lTt>rciilcs_, and has a history as well as a sermon. Stones are curious 

 tilings ; if a man is ])aid for breaking them he is wretched, but if he can bring 

 his mind to do it gratis he is at the summit of content." 



