408 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
The ripple-marks left by undulating waters 
On limestones in Lake Killarney, and other quarters, 
May still be seen in progress. 
Yours faithfully, A Subsceiber. 
6iA August, 1862. 
[If our correspondent is not pleased with his communication being set up by our com- 
positor as a poetical effusion, he has no one to blame but himself; for, not sending us, 
in confidence, his name and address, we could neither send him a proof nor ask his 
instructions. "We are continually annoyed by this reprehensible conduct, and many 
things worth printing are often, for this reason, consigned to our waste-paper basket. 
The post-mark on this communication is Ryde, but we should only give the Dead Letter 
officers trouble if we posted a letter " To Subscriber " there. It would be a worse ad- 
dress than the memorable " John Smith, England." — Ed. Geol.] 
The Kirhdale Cavern. 
SiK, — In the September number of * Macmillan's Magazine * there is an 
article by Mr. John Taylor, concerning this place, upon which, as I take 
it to be a very important one (thus greatly differing from the majority of 
geological papers, which are combinations of the most obvious facts and the 
most unohvious speculations), I am desirous of making a few observations. 
That it presents an agreeable contrast to the views of some of " our best 
authorities " in geology, no candid person can but admit ; but, at the same 
time, I look upon it as perhaps the commencement of new inquiries, which 
probably will effect the demolition of similar irrational and far-fetched ex- 
planations. 
That any individual could consider the one in question, and yet main- 
tain the doctrine of Buckland, could, I think, only be accounted for on the 
ground of faith in this distinguished geologist, — the facts alluded to by 
Mr. Taylor being absolutely crucial as regards the conclusion drawn from 
them. We have here an example of an apparently geological phenomenon 
which is really an historical one, and of the utility which the knowledge 
of ancient customs is in the explanation of physical phenomena. In the 
present case, without this knowledge the explanation would have been only 
a speculation ; but as the explanatory circumstance is known to have been 
a fact, and it is not possible otherwise to account for the phenomenon, there 
is as much certainty as can be obtained concerning any unseen phenomena. 
In this sense the conclusion is warranted, or crucial, from the facts brought 
forward. I have here, of course, presumed that the alleged facts are such, 
concerning which, as far as I can understand, no discussion can be raised. 
J. Alexander Davies. 
[We are sorry to read the opinion formed by our correspondeot of the antiquated, 
absurd, and ignorant article in ' Macmillan's Magazine.' Want of space prevents com- 
ments on our part upon it in the present number, but we shall refer to the subject again. 
Two excellent articles in the * London Review' may, in the interim, be perused with ad- 
vantage by ]Mr. Davies and those who concur in his appreciation of Mr. Taylor's un- 
tenable article.] 
GEOLOGICAL NOTES IN THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 
Italy. — The Natural History Museum of the Royal University of Pisa 
exhibits the following plaster and wax models of fossils : — Mastodon Aver- 
nensis (jaws and separate teeth) ; Elephas meridionalis (jaws, part of 
upper jaw, teeth) ; Hippopotamus major (part of jaw, teeth) ; Rhinoceros 
Etruscus (skull, part of jaw, part of upper jaw) ; Lutra Campani (almost 
