[ 144 ] 
XXVII. Notices respecting New Boohs, 
Curtis's British Entomology. 
W E are happy to announce the publication of the Preface, General 
Indexes, &c. to this beautiful work, which is now completed, 
after sixteen years of almost unremitting application on the part of the 
author. The sixteen volumes which, if arranged systematically as 
proposed by Mr. Curtis, will form eight, contain illustrations of all 
the Genera of Linnseus, Fabricius, and Latreille that are recorded as 
native groups, as well as most of the interesting discoveries that have 
been made for many years past, comprising 770 copper-plates, giving 
faithful figures of our wild flowers, as well as the insects, beautifully 
coloured and finished with the greatest care. The letter-press, 
amounting to nearly 1700 pages, although scientific, contains concise 
accounts of the history and oeconomy of every group that is interest- 
ing and familiar to us, such as the Hive-Bee, Wasps, Cockroaches, 
Molecrickets &c. ; and there are two thick volumes of the Butterflies 
and Moths. 
XXVIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 
[Continued from vol. xv. p. 544.] 
Nov. 6. A NOTICE of showers of ashes which fell on board the Rox- 
1839. burgh, at sea, off the Cape deVerd islands, February, 
1839, by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, F.G.S., was first read. 
The object of this communication is to register an interesting oc- 
currence, though the author possesses no direct evidence of its pro- 
bable cause. 
On February 2, when the Roxburgh was in latitude 21° 14 N., 
long. 25° & W., the wind, which had blown from the north-east 
during the passage from Plymouth, changed to the east and south- 
east, and was accompanied with a thick haze of a peculiar kind. The 
same description of weather prevailed on the 3rd, when the ship was 
off St. Anthony, one of the Cape de Verd islands. 
On Feb. 4, the latitude'at noon was 14° 31' N., long. 25° 16' W. 
The sky was overcast, and the weather was thicker than before and 
insulFerably oppressive, though the thermometer was only 72°. At 3 
p.M. the wind suddenly lulled into a calm, then rose from the south- 
west, and was accompanied with rain, and the air appeared to be 
filled with dust, which affected the eyes of the passengers and crew. At 
10^- p.M. the wind returned to the east and blew strongly. During 
the continuance of the haze, which was as thick as a November fog, 
and extended all around the horizon, dust was gradually deposited 
on every part of the ship that offered a lodgement. At noon, on the 
5th of February, the Roxburgh was in lat. 12° 36' N., long. 24° 13' 
W., thermometer 72°, barometer 30°, the height at which it had 
stood during the voyage from England. The volcanic island Fogo, 
