Transactions of the Manchester Geological Society. Vol. ix., Parts 1, 2, and 3; Vol. x., Part 1. We have in these first three parts the President's Address and the papers read before the society during the session 1869–70. The papers are twelve in number, and embrace a variety of topics. Mr. Boyd Dawkins gives an account of some explorations in the Denbighshire caves. In one of these a large quantity of human bones was found intermingled with remains of horse, goat, hare, rabbit, badger, large birds, wolves, wild cats, foxes, and Celtic shorthorns, roe and red deer. He is of opinion that this cave has been used as a burial place at different times in the pre-Roman era. The skulls found belong to that type which Professor Huxley terms the “river bed skull,” and the tibiæ indicated the platycnemic character or the bandy-leggedness of the people to whom they belonged. There are other three papers on palæontological subjects—On a Specimen of Homalonotus Delphino-cephalus,” by Mr. Edward Holber; “On some Starfishes from the Rhenish Devonian Strata,” by Mr. J. Eccles, and “On two Species of Productus,” by the same author. To these may be added another by the president, Mr. J- Aitken, “On the Pholas-boring Controversy,” in which the author concludes, against the notion upheld by Mr. Macintosh, that the holes found in the faces of certain limestone rocks at many different levels, even as high as 1,435 feet above the sea, have been bored by pholades during a period of submergence. He inclines to the belief that the holes have been formed by land molluscs, as originally suggested by Dr. Buckland. There are several papers on physical geology, which will repay perusal. The longest of these is one by Mr. Spencer, “On the Millstone-Grit Rocks ” of Halifax, which will be of use as a guide to that locality. The author distinguishes four beds of grit separated by intervening thick shales. Lists of fossils are given, and these are not so meagre as one might have expected. Mr. J. Curry has a paper “On the Throw of the Pennine Fault,” which he thinks is not so great as is commonly believed. Some interesting “Observations on the Temperatures at the Pendleton Colliery,” by Mr. J. Knowles, are sure to be frequently referred to. “On some of the Causes of the Different Modes of Working and Ventilating Coal Mines,” by Mr. Warburton, contain some wholesome criticism. He maintains “that the systems of working coal, as at present practised, do not depend upon the nature or condition of either the coal or the roof, but upon the mining education of those who have the management.” Difficulties in the way of ventilation arise from ignorance and from the modes of working often interfering with well-known natural laws. Other papers in Vol.ix. are “On the Use of Gunpowder in Mines,” by Mr. Green well; “On two Dykes in North Lancashire,” by Mr. Eccles; and “Observations on some Specimens of Silver Ore from United States,” by Mr. Fletcher. Part r. of Vol. x. is occupied for the most part with the President's address, inaugurating the session 1870–71. Mr. Aitken treats of our coal supply in its various aspects, and a number of other, chiefly palæontological, topics. The other communications in this part do not call for any special remark. They are three in number, viz., “The Spirorbis Limestone in the Forest of Wyre Coal Field,” by D. Jones; “On Faults in Drift,” by J. Aitken; and “On the Underground Conveyance of Coals,” by G. C. Greenwell. We are glad to see from the report of the Council that the Society is flourishing, and that the number of contributors to the Transactions is increasing.
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Jan 1, 1872
James Linn 
