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 
Lmdle — if the woodcuts before us are to be trusted. 
■ The Committee announce their intention of having excursions next jear 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 4;th inst. 
The Coal-Fields of Great Britain. By Edward Hall, F.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 
cx)al-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unpublished, of the Geological Survey, extending over two-thirds of the coal 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 furnishea, 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. Vivian, 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. Vivian 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 fii'st 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. 
