SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
97 
(1) That the surface of the chalk in the valley of the Somme had assumed 
its present foim prior to the deposition of any of the gravel or loess now to 
he seen there ; (2) that the whole of the Amiens valley gravel is of one 
formation, of similar mineral character, contains nearly similar organic 
remains, and belongs to a date not much antecedent to the historical period ; 
(3) that the gravel in the valley of the Somme at Amiens is partly composed 
of debris brought down by the river Somme and by the two rivers the Celle 
and Arve ; and partly of material from the higher grounds washed in by 
land-floods ; (4) that the Quaternary gravels of the Somme are not sepa- 
rated into two divisions by an escarpment of Chalk parallel to the river, as 
has been stated ; (5) that the evidence of river floods extending to a height 
of at least 80 feet above the present level of the Somme is perfectly proved 
by the gradual slope and continuity of the gravels deposited by them ; and 
(6) that many of the Quaternary deposits in all countries, clearly posterior 
to the formation of the valleys in which they lie, are of such great dimen- 
sions and elevation that they indicate a Pluvial period just as clearly as the 
Northern Drift indicates a Glacial period. 
Eocene Shells. — It is reported that M. Deshayes’ splendid collection of 
Eocene shells, from the Paris Basin, has been purchased by the French 
Government for the Museum of the Jardin des Flantes, at a cost of 100,000 
florins. 
The Silurian System of Bohemia. — M. Barrande has issued four new volumes 
of his splendid treatise on this subject. They embrace descriptions of all 
the fossils included in the orders Pteropoda and Cephalopoda. 
A Perfect System of PalcBontology is arrived at by M. Paul Gervais, who is 
now publishing a comprehensive work on General Zoology and Paleeonto- 
logy.” The first four parts of his treatise have been presented to the French 
Academy. They deal with the subject of the Antiquity of Man and the 
Animals of the Quaternary period. 
Middle and Upper Lias of the South-West. — We have received from Mr. 
Charles Moore, F.G.S., a reprint of his valuable memoir on this subject, 
which appeared in the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Natural History 
Society. It extends over more than 100 8vo. pages, and is illustrated by 
several admirably drawn plates. It deals minutely with the characters and 
distribution of the Liassic deposits of the South-west of England, and 
describes the organic remains which they contain. Essays like this are 
extremely creditable to our provincial societies, and they show that 
advanced research is not confined to metropolitan workers. 
The Eruption of Vesuvius. — A letter has been received at Paris by M. St. 
Claire Deville, from Signor Palmieri, in which the latter gives an account 
of the last and still existing eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The eruption 
commenced on the 12th of November. About the end of October it was 
found that the temperature of the older craters was getting higher than 
usual, and that large quantities of vapour were from time to time evolved. 
Early in November the disengagements became continuous and the sismo- 
graph gave indications of a series of slight shocks. Then, at the date men- 
tioned, the discharge of incandescent matter commenced ; and the enormous 
masses of compact lava which had before filled the crater were lifted out, 
thus opening up four new and small craters, which afterwards became larger, 
VOL. VII. — NO. XXVI. H 
