NOTES AND QUERIES. 



207 



pleased to show them to strangers. I am, &c., Frank Dymond (Weston-super- 

 Mare)." — Will our correspondent furnish us with information as to the rock in 

 which the " potato stones" he refers to are einhedJcd, so as to enable us to explain 

 the circumstances of the concretion of the siliceous and calcareous materials of 

 those geodes probably in cavities in the rock. 



WoKK ON Pktralogy. — " SiR, — In the last number of the 'Quarterly Journal of 

 the Geological Society of London ' there is an abstract of what seems to be a 

 good German work, by Dr. Sen ft, on the Classification and Description of Rocks ; 

 and for this abstract we are apparently indebted to Professor Morris. Permit 

 me, through your very useful periodical, to enquire whether Professor Morris, or 

 any other of our English Geologists, intends to put that excellent work in an 

 English dress. I believe I am far from being alone, when I say that there is no 

 work so much needed among English Geologists, as a good one on Petralogy. So 

 far as I am aware there is no separate English treatise on this subject, except the 

 useful work of Dr. Macculloch, which, having been so long out of print, cannot 

 now be obtained for love or money. May I, therefore, ask whether the above 

 work, translated into English, or any other separate treatise on this subject, is 

 known to be forthcoming, to fill up that blank in our geological literature, or 

 whether there does already exist any good English work which may be 

 unknown to me. I am, Sir, &c., J. Simpson. (Mary Kirk, by Montrose.)" — We 

 cannot answer our correspondent's enquiry. We are quite aware of the necessity 

 of some good work or translation of the kind referred to, but we do not know of 

 the existence of any. A series of papers will shortly be commenced in this 

 Journal on the mincralogical structure and conditions of rocks, which we hope will 

 do much towards remedying this deficiency in our geological literature. 



TiiK Disproved Human Footprints. — " Sir, — I do not know whether your 

 attention has been called to a little work lately published, entitled ' Voices from 

 the Rocks,' in which the anonymous author deals very summarily with the con- 

 clusions of modern geologists. He produces proof of man's existence during the 

 earlier deposits, and gives an engraving of human foot-prints in the old red sand- 

 stone. Is there any authentic account of such a discovery, and what is it ? Can 

 you enlighten your readers, and amongst the rest a subscriber ? " E. G. — The fossil 

 character of these so called human foot-prints was suspected at the time of their 

 discovery, and their artificial origin has long been known. We have received the 

 book for review ; and beg to refer our correspondent to Mr. Rupert Jones's letter 

 on this point, in the present number, where the whole history of this aifair is 

 detailed. 



Geology of Aldeesiiott. — "Dear Sir : Will you kindly inform me the nature 

 of the strata of the district about Aldershott and Ash, and to what operation its 

 peculiar conformation can be attributed, and oblige one of your readers ?" J.H.B. 

 — The Aldershott district has a foundation of London clay, which rises up 

 against the chalk-hills of Guildford. At Ash begin the Bagshot sands, which 

 extend northward to East Hampstead, and to the east and west for several miles. 

 The lower Bagshot strata, about 130 feet thick, lying on the London clay, are 

 seen at Woking, Sunning-hill, East Hampstead, &c. A band of about forty feet 

 of green and clayey sands forming the Middle Bagshots, occur at Worplesdon, 

 Goldsworthy-hiU, Finchampstead, and Farnborough, and in these a few fossils 

 were found at the cutting of the Southampton Railway at Goldsworthy-hill. The 

 upper Bagshot sands, 150 feet thick, form the flat-topped ridges of Chobham, 

 Aldershott, East. Hampstead, Bagshot, and the Heaths, being capped with the 

 Pleistocene gravels, which, combined with these sands, are the cause of the wild 

 character of the scenery of those districts. 



Preservation of Pyritous Fossils. — "Sir, — Taking advantage of your depart- 

 ment of Notes and Queries, I shall be glad of information as to the best mode of 

 preserving specimens containing pyrites. I have several, of some curiosity, which 

 are daily decomposing." X. Y. — There is nothing so destructive to fossils as 

 pyrites ; and the wood of drawers in which such specimens have been kept becomes 

 impregnated with the sulphuric acid generated in the decomposition, and are thus 

 rendered unlit for future service, especially for chalk fossils, Tlie pyritous fossils of 



