206 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
than carbonaceous stains and nodules, such as are described in " Siluria," p. 130. 
These are, of course, much older in the annals of terrestrial veccctatioa tbau the 
well-defined vegetables of the upper Tilestoues, first discovered by myself at 
Trimplcy, two miles north-west of Kidderminster. 
iNTERritETATioK OF Gen. II. V. 5. — " SiR, — I observB in your last number (IV.) 
p. 160, a reference made by a correspondent, E. K. J. (Farnborough), to (Jbu. 
ii. 5, ' where it is written that no rain had fallen up to the carboniferous period.' 
As you have not rectified the quotation, according to the authorised version of the 
Bible, I begin to surmise that there may be a new translation, agreeable to moderu 
discoveries, current and aceeijted by the geological world. If this be so, I should 
be glad to know where such translation or paraphrase of Scripture may be obtained, 
and the grounds on which the ' day ' mentioned in the 5tli verse is considered as 
the ' carboniferous period.' Tlie 2nd verse indicates an immense evaporable sur- 
face from the very beginning."' F. S. K. (Bromley). — We inserted R K .7. 's letter 
as being a question on the subject of rain-drops, and we restricted the answer given 
to assigning to them their correct geological position ; in doing which we neecs- 
siirily not only ignored, but refuted, E. R. J.'s reading of the passage he referred 
to, and pointed to such an ancient extent of water as that to which F. S. K. alludes. 
E. R. .I.'s interpretation of the 6th verse of Gen. ii. is his own, and not ours. We 
felt disinclined to talce up the question in its religious asj)ect or bearings. Of 
course (ieologists do not attempt to interpret the Bible ; they have only made 
from time to time, in their endeavoiirs to reconcile the proven facts of their science 
with the Mos.iic record of the Creation, various suggestions lor theologians to- 
admit or reject, as being in liarmony or discordance with the meaning and sense 
of the original words of the Biblical statement. 
(lEOLocY OF St. Ives. — "Sir — Could you please to inform me (a beginner in 
geology) whether I can find fossils here, and what formation this town is upon 
or near. 'i'hi« would much oblige me." R. A. C, St Ives, Huntingdonshire. — St. 
Ives is sitnaterl on the Kimmeridge elay. To the east of thai town are some of 
the Portland beds over-spread l>y " drift'" deposits ; to the west, the Oxford clay 
immediately succeeds tiie KimJiieridge clay ; and the whole suj'rounding county 
is greatly covered by the Boulder clay, the valleys being occupied by deep 
accumulations of gravel. In the valley of tlie Ouse, at Hemingford Abbots, the 
Ilev. Mr. De la Coudamine discovered a fiesh-water dejiosit, an account of which 
was read before the (ieological Society in 185.3. Fossils are to be found 
in all these deposits ; those of the Kimmeridge and Oxford clays are abundant, 
and beautifully preserved. Mammalian remains are. at all times, likely to be nu t 
with in the gravels, and, as a good many extraneous fossils are conmionly obtaineil 
from the Boulder drift in other localities, tliey are also likely lo be met with in tliat 
deposit in the neighbourhood of St. Ives. 
Nf.keites FiioM THE Irish Coal FORMATION — " Dear SiR, — Can anybody 
inform me whether any Nereites (such as the NenUea Cambremis of the 
Lower Silurian; have been found in the coal-measures at all— and if so, what 
is its name, and where is the description to be found ? I have some idea 
of one being found, and described, from Ireland. I have a fine injpression from 
the ' hard reck ' between the coal measui-es, and shoidd be glad to knew if it i.s 
a unique fossil." G. P. Bevan, M. D., Beaufort — The querist probably refcjs lo 
Professor Ilarkness' description and figure of Nercilcs ctirbonanus from the Mill- 
■ stone grit of Clare, given in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 1855, 
"Vol. I., p. 278. 
Potato-stones. — " Sir, — It may be useful to such of your readers as are visit- 
inc; this part of the c ^untry, to learn tliat the ' potato stones,' alluded to in your 
Jinswer to E. A. W., are only found in a field at the foot of Sandford Hill, and not 
generally upon the Mendip range. A stranger will readily be directed to the place 
by enquiring for the ' potato-stone-ficld.' Will you oblige by telling me the 
scientific name of tliese curious bodies ? How are they supposed to have liecn 
formed? Arc they known to have been found in any other part of England ? 
Is'o geologist ought to visit Somersetshire without having a view of the remarkable 
collection of fossil bones, the property of Mr. Beard, of Wint Hill, who is always 
