280 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
of the beautiful clolliing lliai makes tlicir ancient masses so ciicliautiiig to tlic 
Grauitia brings into his account of the igneous rocks the famous llowley 
rag-stone, tlie Shatterfovd basaltic dyke, Muuster's liill, and the Titterstoue 
deic-slone, said by Mr. lloberts, niucli to our surjirise, to be locally called jcw- 
slone. Stoue-breakcrs on the roads may by indistinctness of pronunciation give 
the impression to a stranger of their calling it _;>?r-stoue, but the correct local 
term is f/cw'-stouc. It has acquired tliis name from its having the property, 
like other basalts, of condensing on its surface the moisture of the air ; hence 
iu damp wcatiier, 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 Ilolly-bush sandstone, the black shales 
of the Malvern, the Lickey quartz-rocks, antl other notable strata of Silurian 
age ; secondly, of the Old Red Sandstone-beds ; thirdly, of the Carboniferous 
deposits, up to the coal ; then of the Wyre Forest coal-field and the coal- 
nieasiu'cs ; 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 \a\\\ occasional excellent descriptions of the various 
characteristic and rare fossils, with remarks on the post-tcrtiary period and on 
modern geological changes. 
To Tiiassia nothing beautiful in the present scenery passes unnoticed ; 
nothing growing, or living on the present surface, from tlie lichen clinging 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 all, we should ramble over the beautifid 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 stde, felled tree, or road-side heap of stones, 
as we lazily iidiale 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 agi'ccable conversations. The dilettante may think wc 
have not 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 
when," to apply a humorous quotation from Mr. Reade, "you see a man perched 
like a crow upon a rock, chipping it, you see a happy dog. The hannnerist can 
jump out of his gig at any turn of the road, and find that w'hich his soul desu-es. 
The meanest stone a boy throws at a robin is millions of years older than the 
Parnese Hercules, and has a liistory as well as a sermon. Stones are curious 
tlungs ; if a man is paid for breaking them he is wretched, but if he can bring 
his mind to do it gi'atis he is at the summit of content." 
