MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



859 



niferous limestone ; while thirdly, multitudes of species are clearly repre- 

 sentatives of European and American Carboniferous types." 



The other geological articles in the January number, are: — "Exposi- 

 tion of the true nature of Pleurodictyum problematicum" and " On Mr. 

 Hall's genus Leptocaelia," by Carl Rominger, M.D. ; " On the Actseonidss," 

 by F. B. Meek ; "On Tellurbismuth, from Dahlonega, Georgia," by D. M. 

 Balch ; "On Octahedral Galena, from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania," 

 by Dr. Torrey. 



The March number opens with an able article by Mr. T. S terry Hunt, 

 of the Canadian Survey, " Contributions to the Chemical and Geological 

 History of Bitumens and of Pyroschists or Bituminous Shales." Some of 

 the facts and deductions given in it have already appeared in Mr. Hunt's 

 " Notes on the History of Petroleum," printed in the ' Canadian Naturalist 

 and Geologist ' for July, 1861, and in the report of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution for 1862. Previous to the publication of these papers, Mr. Hunt 

 had, in March, 1861, in his lecture before the Board of Arts, maintained 

 that the source of the Petroleum of the West, was not as was generally 

 thought. The May number we noticed at p. 276. 



The interesting town of Manilla has been overthrown, almost in a mo- 

 ment, by an earthquake. Some accounts speak of the whole town being 

 in ruins : others say that half the place has been destroyed. At all 

 events, the Cathedral, the Eoyal Chapel, St. Domingo, St. Isabel, San 

 Juan de Dios, the Palace, several schools, the military hospital, the build- 

 ings occupied by the Tribunal of Commerce, and indeed all the public 

 buildings were razed to the ground ; and even those buildings which re- 

 main are mostly so shaken that they must be pulled down. All the houses 

 in Baracca fell. The Binonda, an ancient structure, was destroyed. The 

 only church that has escaped entirely is San Augustin, which also with- 

 stood the tremendous shock of 1645. An architect's report, after a minute 

 investigation of the peculiarities of the design and construction of this 

 edifice, would be an interesting and instructive one. The Eodrigues 

 property, left to the British nation, and where the British Consulate 

 was, has been completely destroyed. About 1000 persons have been 

 killed, and many thousands wounded. The survivors have mostly fled 

 from the city, as many of the remaining buildings threaten a sudden fall, 

 even though no repetition of earthquake should occur. The 3rd of June 

 was the date of the catastrophe. 



Professor Whitney, the State geologist of California, is reported to 

 have found on the Sierra Nevada, at about 200 feet above the sea, the 

 jaw of a rhinoceros. 



REVIEWS. 



The Mines of South Australia. 



Observing the growing importance of the mining interest in South Aus- 

 tralia, and the evident want of general and correct information respecting 

 its mineral resources, Mr. J. B. Austen, of Adelaide, conceived the idea of 

 making a tour of all the mines in that colony, and of publishing the result 

 of his observations. 



