REVIEWS, 



519 



on geological hammers, in which some queer specimens of stone-breaking im- 

 plements are duly figured, but not one of which is properly fastened in its 

 handle — if the woodcuts before us are to be trusted. 



The Committee announce their intention of having excursions next year to 

 Cambridge, Hastings, Harwich, and Lewes. We approve highly of this early 

 notice of these trips, as it is very desirable for the members of such a society 

 as this to read up and study beforehand the features and fauna of the districts 

 and strata they visit in their instructive excursions. The resumption of the 

 Society's meetings will take place on the 4th inst. 



The Coal-Melds of Gh-eat Britain. By Edward Hall, E.G.S. 



It is not many months since we read and reviewed a very admirable account 

 of our coal-fields, by Mr. Hull. The oft-mooted question, " How long will our 

 coal-fields last ?" and the commercial aspects of the probable increased expor- 

 tation of coal, through the late treaty with France, turned attention pointedly 

 to the subject, and with the maps, sections, and labours, published and 

 unpublished, of the Geological Survey, extending over two-thirds of the coal 

 districts of England, and assured of the cordial assistance of his colleagues, no 

 one could undertake the reply with a better collection of materials, or so good 

 a chance of success. And a very truthful answer Mr. Hull did produce, and 

 the public appreciation of it is proved by the enlarged second edition before 

 us. It is not to be expected that the answer first given should have been 

 perfect, and, consequently, we find slight modifications; but to the main 

 features the author consistently adheres, while in the intervening time fresh 

 materials have been gathered. Amongst the additions is an account of the 

 mineral resources of Scotland, which has been included with those of England 

 and Wales ; and sections of the coal series of South Wales and Somersetshire. 

 The production of the various coal-fields has been modified in accordance with 

 the "Mineral Statistics" for 1859, collected by Mr. Hunt, and a map showing 

 the area of the productive coal-fields, and the probable depth and extent of 

 the coal formation below the newer strata, is now furnished, besides an addi- 

 tional horizontal section of the formations in Lancashire. Chapters on the 

 " Duration of our Coal Supply," and on " The Physical Geography of the 

 Carboniferous Period of Britain," are also added, and in justice to Mr. Hull, it 

 may be fairly spoken, that he has produced what others have thought about 

 and talked about, but never accomplished — a complete handbook of the British 

 coal-fields. 



In his preface, Mr. Hull alludes to the criticism of Mr. Yivian, in his 

 " Lecture on Coal," and the statements of that gentleman on the resources of 

 the South Wales coal-fields ; but at present he makes no attempt at reply, giving 

 this rather witty reason for procrastination, that as Mr. Yivian places the 

 duration of the coal-field at 5000 years, and himself at nearly 2000 years, there 

 will be abundance of time for arriving at an amicable conclusion on the subject, 

 before the course of events shall have verified or falsified either of their 

 calculations. 



In the appendix, are some interesting notes on coal-mining in foreign 

 countries, amongst others, in China and Japan. In respect to the former, 

 mention is first made of the statements of Marco Polo, the traveller of the 

 thirteenth century, that coal was in use in his day in that country. At the 

 present time, the coal is "worked in the cliffs of the Pe-Kiang river, at 

 Tingtih, by means of adits driven into the side of the hill, at the outcrop of 

 the coal-seams. The works are carried on in the most primitive manner, 



