276 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 
The ' Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science ' for April (No. 10) contains 
papers " On the Granite Rocks of Donegal, and the Minerals associated 
therewith ; " and " On the Mineral Localities of Donegal, as ascertained by- 
Sir Charles Giesecke and by the British Association Committee, 1861-2,"by 
Mr. Eobert H. Scott ; " Sketch of the Geology of the District of Shorapoor, 
or Soorpoor, in the Dekhan," by Captain Meadows Taylor, with three 
plates; " On the Geology of Parts of Sligo, etc.," by Mr. H. B. Wynne, 
E.G. S., with a plate and a list of fossils collected; "A Sketch of the 
Geological Structure of Finland, by H. J. Holmberg, of Helsingfors. 
The other geological papers which have appeared during the present year 
in the former number of this excellent journal, are, " Notes on the Geology 
of the East Coast of China," by Thomas W. Kingmill ; " The Dhurmsalia 
Aerolith," by the Deputy Commissioner; " Note on the way in which the 
Calamine occurs at Silvermines, Co. Tipperary," by Mr. J. Beete Jukes. 
The May number of ' Sillimau's Journal ' contains with, as usual, other 
highly valuable articles, papers " On American Devonian," and " On the 
Flora of the Devonian Period in North-Eastern America," by Dr. J. W. 
Dawson ; On the Glacial Origin of certain Lakes in Switzerland, the Black 
Forest, Great Britain, Sweden, North America, and elsewhere," by 
Professor A. C. Eamsay, F.E.S. ; " On some Questions concerning the 
Coal -formation of North America," by Mr. Leo. Lesquereux, being " Con- 
cluding Eemarks on the Fossil Ferns," and remarks on " Calamitariae ; " 
and " Observations upon some of the Brachiopoda with reference to the ge- 
nera Cryptonella, Centronella, Meristella, and Allied Forms," by Professor 
James Hall. 
EEVIEWS. 
Natural Phenomena, the Genetic Record, and the Sciences, Harmonically 
Arranged and Compared. By Alexander M'Donald. London : Long- 
man and Co. Sheffield : J. Pearce. 1863. 
It would undoubtedly pass the ability of most critics to give a righteous 
verdict on this little book. We are by no means sure we should succeed 
in the task if we tried. It is the hardest reading we ever had ; wc will not 
say it is the driest. Its objects are evident. 
" The thoughtful mind," the author begins in his Preface, " when pausing to consider 
why so many members of the Christian community should be so excited whenever 
Biblical statements are tested, is apt to assiga various reasons as the cause. One is the 
fear of beholding a brother weaker in faith led astray ; another is the secret urgings of 
vanitV; causing fools to decide upon what they have not toiled uor striven to acquire ; 
and last, though not least, is that wavering uncertainty to which the human mind is so 
liable during this oui' preparatoiy stage. 
" "We have reason given us, and allowed its use consonant to the range of our abilities. 
It is, therefore, the duty of each person to inquire concerning the truth of the Bible, 
although it may be beyond the reach of his mental power to conclusively grasp the 
whole." 
So too the book opens very well — "Infinite and inexhaustible as nature 
appears to the investigator, the idea is continuously recurring that the 
laws which regulate the forces abounding thoughout the universe, are 
