276 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



The ' Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science ' for April (No. 10) contains 

 papers " On the Granite Rocks of Donegal, and the Minerals associated 

 therewith ;" and " On the Mineral Localities of Donegal, as ascertained by 

 Sir Charles G-iesecke and by the British Association Committee, 1861-2,"by 

 Mr. Robert H. Scott ; " Sketch of the Geology of the District of Shorapoor, 

 or Soorpoor, in the Dekhan," by Captain Meadows Taylor, with three 

 plates ; " On the Geology of Parts of Sligo, etc.," by Mr. H. B. Wynne, 

 E.G.S., with a plate and a list of fossils collected; "A Sketch of the 

 Geological Structure of Finland, by H. J. Holmberg, of Helsingfors. 

 The other geological papers which have appeared during the present year 

 in the former number of this excellent journal, are, " Notes on the Geology 

 of the East Coast of China," by Thomas W. Kingmill ; " The Dhurmsalia 

 Aerolith," by the Deputy Commissioner; " Note on the way in whicli the 

 Calamine occurs at Silvermines, Co. Tipperary," by Mr. J. Beete Jukes. 



_ The May number of ' Silliman's Journal ' contains with, as usual, other 

 highly valuable articles, papers " On American Devonian," and " On the 

 Flora of the Devonian Period in North-Eastern America," by Dr. J. W. 

 Dawson ; On the Glacial Origin of certain Lakes in Switzerland, the Black 

 Forest, Great Britain, Sweden, North America, and elsewhere," by 

 Professor A. C. Ramsay, F.R.S. ; " On some Questions concerning the 

 Coal -formation of North America," by Mr. Leo. Lesquereux, being " Con- 

 cluding Remarks on the Fossil Ferns," and remarks on " Calamitarise ; " 

 and " Observations upon some of the Brachiopoda with reference to the ge- 

 nera Cryptonella, Centronella, Meristella, and Allied Forms," by Professor 

 James Hall. 



REVIEWS. 



Natural Phenomena, the Genetic Record, and the Sciences, Harmonically 

 Arranged and Compared. By Alexander M'Donald. London : Long- 

 man and Co. Sheffield : J. Pearce. 1863. 



It would undoubtedly pass the ability of most critics to give a righteous 

 verdict on this little book. We are by no means sure we should succeed 

 in the task if we tried. It is the hardest reading we ever had ; we will not 

 say it is the driest. Its objects are evident. 



"The thoughtful mind," the author begins in his Preface, "when pausing to consider 

 why so many members of the Christian community should be so excited whenever 

 Biblical statements are tested, is apt to assign various reasous as the cause. One is the 

 fear of beholding a brother weaker in faith led astray ; another is the secret urgings of 

 vanity, causing fools to decide upon what they have not toiled nor striven to acquire; 

 and last, though not least, is that wavering uncertainty to which the human mind is so 

 liable during this our preparatory stage. 



""We have reason given us, and allowed its use consonant to the rauge of our abilities. 

 It is, therefore, the duty of each person to inquire concerning the truth of the Bible, 

 although it may be beyond the reach of his mental power to conclusively grasp the 

 whole." 



So too the book opens very well — " Infinite and inexhaustible as nature 

 appears to the investigator, the idea is continuously recurring that the 

 laws which regulate the forces abounding thoughout the universe, are 



