27 
" question has been asked, Why the culture of the vine has 
" disappeared in these districts, and whether there has been a 
" gradual diminution of the heat of the atmosphere since that 
" time ? The Potsdam wine is now sour. Yet the culture of 
" the vine is carried above Konigsberg. (54. 42 N.L.)" At 
any rate, it is certain that no part of the earth's surface pos- 
sesses now, under the equator, a climate at all adequate to the 
production of either the size or quantity of the coal flora. 
These facts are, therefore, unaccountable, unless we admit that 
the tropics did once extend far to the North. Grant this one 
fact, a fact which is demonstrable, and not only are the tropical 
remains in Hyperborean regions at once accounted for, but 
also the mysterious statements in ancient history, the intricate 
problems in astronomy, and many other unaccountable facts 
are immediately explained, — as also in Nature each step is 
simple, and as this theory is simple, so we have harmony 
between the two. For well may we remark 
" How unlike the complex works of Man, 
Is Heaven's simple unincumbered plan." 
In continuation, — captain drayson, r.a., astronomer, etc., 
AT THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY, WOOLWICH, READ THE 
FOLLOWING ASTRONOMICAL EVIDENCE : 
In the commencement of Mr. Thorp's interesting paper, 
he states that as yet there has been no aid derived by 
geology from astronomy. Mr. Thorp very truly says that 
the botanist, the naturalist, and the chemist, have each given 
their assistance, but that astronomy has hitherto stood alone. 
When, however, we astronomers stand alone, it is quite 
within the bounds of possibility, that we may ere long be 
left alone, and the crowd which was once behind us, may 
soon be before us. 
Geology, which is comparatively quite a modern science, 
has made more rapid progress than probably any similar 
