i 882.] 
427 
Analyses of Books. 
Mr. Ball, F.G.S., contributes an account of the coal-bearing 
rocks of the upper Rer and Mand Rivers. He is disposed to 
regard the economic prospers of the district favourably. 
Mr. Blanford, F.R.S., gives a full report on the Pench River 
Coal-field, in the Chindwara district. He pronounces the coal 
perfectly fit for railway purposes. The general condition of the 
country is favourable for the establishment of collieries. 
Mr. F. R. Mallet, F.G.S., reports on sapphires recently disco- 
vered in the north-western Himalaya. The exaCt locality is not 
given, but it is in the neighbourhood of Padam, in the Zamskar 
district, within the territory of Kashmir. Two specimens, sent 
officially to the office of the Geological Survey for examination, 
were found to possess the physical and chemical characters of 
true sapphire. Some specimens contained considerable cavities, 
enclosing two crystals of tourmaline. The sapphires are found 
dispersed in a stratum of a white material said to resemble soda. 
Below this is a blue solid rock. The thicker end of a large 
broken crystal “ looked for about an inch like topaz, the colour 
being that of deep-coloured sherry, quite transparent,” whilst at 
the other end it was blue, the two colours fading gradually into 
each other. Practical jewellers inform us that stones are occa- 
sionally met with which are sapphire in one part and ruby in the 
other. 
The Field Naturalist and Scientific Student fa Medium of Inter- 
communication. No. 1 . Manchester: Abel Heywood and 
Son. 
It is somewhat remarkable that whilst, with the single exception 
of elementary manuals, independent scientific works rarely make 
their appearance, new periodicals on scientific subjects spring up 
almost as plentifully as new religious seCts, with this difference, 
that they do not find so extensive constituencies. The journal 
before us approximates somewhat in its character and aims to 
our old friend “ Science Gossip,” and contains some interesting 
matter. 
Mr. C. E. Axon contributes a short paper on the “ Topo- 
graphical Distribution of the Nightingale in Britain.” Among 
the counties where this bird is a regular visitor the author omits 
Bucks, where, in the Aylesbury district, its song is heard every 
spring. Nor is the faCt brought out that the nightingale is more 
plentiful in the south-east of England than in the south-west. 
It is very sad that this charming songster is so much exposed to 
the snares of the bird-merchant and to the guns of brutish 
idiots. 
2 F 2 
